Writing
Essays, Now Written and Posted
Over the years I’ve written many essays I’ve never posted here. Some of them are ideas that are under developed, others are things forgotten. Sometimes I just want to wait to post commentary on an issue once it’s fully played out. But over the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to post more, post some things written long ago, because I think they are either relevant or quite interesting for people to read.
Households with More then $1 Million in Investable Assets
Sixty Miles of Backwoods Freedom (from 2004)
When is the last time, you just grabbed your camera, filled up your tank, and drove, with few parameters? The only limitations where I wasn’t going to go farther then 60 miles or so round trip, and had a rough idea of going through Rensselaerville SF and Partridge Run.
Well, I tried that on Tuesday. It was kind of a way to escape. I got some really nice pictures, and saw some interesting things along the trip.
First off, was the triangle I came upon. I actually went to triangle intersections —they are interesting to photograph, and get a look at them close up. A triangle is a beautiful shape, I must say.
Then it was west. Big open roads, cruising away. Stop for a shot at Johnnie Cake Road in Rensselaerville, with a picture of a barn and the Catskills in the background.
I turned down the road, and drove down it, the hills and all. Stopped at the end, and got another picture of the Catskills, facing down 357 (or one of those 350-399 Renselearville Alb County Roads ;). A farm field, with a trailer, bailing equipment, and a bunch of junk in the center. An interesting view, to say the least.
Then it was to the other triangle. No, I don’t remember what the name of these corners are —does it really matter? I drive past a farm, with a freshly painted sign advertising their holstein cows. Far better, then the rusty, ugly farm signs that tend to dot the roads.
I have to mention the beauty of the bright blue sky, on the green grass. There is something so nice about spring. And being out where it’s open. And not having a plan.
Winding down Cheese Hill Road, was interesting. Some interesting views of the valley, and the rolling hills. I stopped to get a picture of the turkey that was on the road, set my parking brake, and reached out with my camera. By then, the turkey was gone.
Is corporate greed to blame? : NPR
NPR crunched financial disclosures by a dozen of the largest grocery-item makers and sellers, including Walmart, Pepsi, Oreo-maker Mondelez and Procter & Gamble, which makes Pampers and Bounty.
The idea was to track changes not in the sheer dollar amount, which rides the waves of our shopping sprees, but in the percentage of money that stays in corporate coffers after a sale. Economists and accountants use different metrics for this. The gross profit margin is one of them — the portion that companies keep after paying just the direct costs to make or stock their goods.
Companies' financial disclosures cover global operations, meaning lots of variety in costs and prices. But for almost all companies that NPR analyzed, between 2018 and 2023 the margins either declined or grew less than 1%.
Apparently the internet marketers have decided I am interested in meal services, and are now serving up a series of advertisements in my social media feeds and even when I open up the browser
Apparently the internet marketers have decided I am interested in meal services, and are now serving up a series of advertisements in my social media feeds and even when I open up the browser. Probably because I often blog about going to the grocery store, if only because that’s just something that is regularly on my to-do list for once a week, like going to the laundromat or washing Big Red.
I should become a better cook, and make healthier food but my kitchen is small and rundown, and I’m busy. When I own my own land, I probably get more into cooking so I can harvest more of my own food from my animals and plants. But I can’t imagine paying money for an overpriced meal service, one that comes in styrofoam and tons of packaging — even if I lived out in the country and had a burn barrel to burn up the packaging. I always buy bulk in store, and try to minimize packaging — so I have less to bring to transfer station. I don’t do TV dinners or anything excessively packaged — why pay for something your going to have buried in landfill or burn on up?