I drove in this morning, with relatively few problems and generally light traffic. I did not look at fuel economy screen on my SuperDuty, as it’s something I shouldn’t care about because the truck is mine, and it’s fun to drive. Still I am not a fan of driving to work. I get it most people drive to work. It might be quicker and more practical with the suburban office with acres of parking, but I still prefer biking and busing it work most days when I can do it that way. Beats the stress and headaches of driving, he cost of gas, especially for a big SuperDuty truck, the risk of accidents and tickets.
I really do like my big truck, and it will be great once I get the camper shell and get all wired up. I am thinking about it more, I do need to get a spray-in bedliner, that really is way for durable, safe camping surface for years to come, even if that does add another $1,000 to the build cost that I am kind of loathe to spend at this point after the camper shell itself came in over costs. Bed liner insulates me from the steel bed in thunderstorms, keeps gear from sliding around more. Makes it less cold in winter for camping. I thought it would be fine without the cost of a spray-in bed liner but I really should just get it done. It will make campiing so much better.
But beyond that there is the cost miscellaneous hardware – antenna mount, connectors, wire, for moving equipment over to the SuperDuty, and maybe the cellphone booster and diesel heater come the autumn. But I can dip deeper into my savings account, and maybe slow my non-retirement additional investments over the next few months. Even if my camper rig with all equipment comes out closer to $70k then $60k, it’s still $5,000 a year for 14 solid years of adventures. I am not planning to lift this truck or add too much additional equipment beyond the cap and now maybe the spray in bed liner. I really enjoy traveling, I like the big truck, but maybe not so much all the front-loaded costs, from the truck, to the cap, and now the bedliner. I got to call shops about this sooner then later, before the cap arrives. I keep reminding myself how I make good money, but it seems like I am only digging deeper with the SuperDuty, as gas prices go up every gas station I drive by.
And certainly not rack up many miles – the only reason I drove in today is deal with the the bike shop selling me the wrong, hopefully more expensive tubless tire when I needed a tube tire. Regardless, I didn’t get to Wally World over the weekend, so I need to go to Walmart too on the way home, and stay off Old Glenmont Road, which I can’t legally drive anymore with commercial plates or cut over Murray Avenue with it’s 3 ton limit, as my truck is registered with a 3.5 ton GVWR.
I will drive in safely today, fighting traffic, staying off the roads that say no commercial vehicles and away from cops with their dicks sticking out the window taking pictures of your speed. As I sing along with everybody’s favorite eye-patch watching cowboy from Maine, Dick Curless.
Hopefully traffic won’t be too bad, 🚗 and the F-350 won’t gallop that much fuel as I commute into the office for this one time. The bike store is open until 6 PM. ⚙️ Shit happens, the bike tire blow out was predictable, but I was so happy when I got to the bike store, and the gave me the exact product I needed down to make and model, except it was a tubeless tire and not an old fashioned tube tire like my bike uses. Such an obvious difference, but I was desprate to get out of the bike store and up to hiking up Blodgett Hill before heading out to see the folks. 🚶 I just hate driving to work, especially not on a 13th. Hopefully they’ll have the proper tire, and I can be back on the road the second half of the week, though maybe not tomorrow as I have a Pine Bush Meeting to go to so I ‘ll be busing it in. 🚍 But at least that’ s not driving the SuperDuty to work. Of course, once I get a cap and I’m heading off to the wilderness, I’ll probably have a different view on the matter.
Shit happens, 💩 and I can be pissed about it all, but hopefully my bike 🚲 will be back on the road by tomorrow. It will be fine driving to work, as much as I hate it. Most people drive to work. 🚗 I haven’t in years except for those occasional times I head out of town. It’s really not that costly, and I make good money, still I hate to piss my life away waiting in the traffic. But it’s one day, I should keep it all in context. It won’t cost me anything but a bit of gas, I am sure they’ll happily exchange the part and credit me for the difference for the less expensive tire. Plus I just found 🖥️ that I am going to be the only supervisor again in the office, so I’ll have a busy day.
I pulled the bed mat out of the Silverado yesterday, it is so small in the SuperDuty as it originally came off my old Ford Ranger years ago. I was thinking about a bed liner – my new truck doesn’t have one – but I also don’t think it’s necessary though I liked how on my old truck it insulated me from the steel in thunderstorms. ⚡ I’ll think about it how to cover my bed. Maybe I should do a simple plastic bedliner before I get the cap. They kind of suck, but I don’t want the cost of a spray-in bed liner. Or maybe I don’t do. And I am not going to be putting in a lot of rough loads, and with the aluminum body I’m less worried about the rust. 🛻 It’s just more fucking money, that’s the thing. I kind of don’t love the idea of camping on a bare steel bed for obvious reasons. Ugh, maybe I should get some quotes and budget for a spray-in bed line for my truck. But 14 or 15 years will come and go so quickly, though think of all those adventures in the mean-time. I just fear how much they’ll cost these days with inflation. And I didn’t really budget for this, but maybe I should. And maybe should I have gotten a Toyota Tacoma, and everything would be cheaper but I like the big trucks. The SuperDuty is so much fun to drive, ⛽ when I don’t look at the MPG gauge.
When I got back from the arboretum this afternoon, I noticed my bike ride was becoming increasingly wobbly. I thought I had a broken spoke, but it turned out the worn-out tire had completely failed with a blown-out sidewall and a ripped bead. After showering, I decided to swing by Steiner’s to get a new one. They had the exact model—pricey at $84, but whatever, inflation. I make good money, I guess.
What I didn’t notice was that they sold me a tubeless tire, while I run old-fashioned tubes on my mountain bike. That explains the high cost; tube tires are much cheaper, even if they have inferior performance. When I discovered this in the evening, I was pissed because it meant no riding the bike to work tomorrow. Traffic was so bad in Glenmont this afternoon, and Steiner’s was a zoo, too. Maybe I’m just a bit freaked out about driving an F-350 through traffic. Even worse, I’m going to have to drive to work so I can swing by Steiner’s afterward. I can’t help but think of the bumper-to-bumper traffic, the cops with their penises sticking out their windows, and the drivers all looking to crash into a brand-new Super Duty. There are few things I despise more than having to drive to work, and I’ll have to burn all that gas in the truck to make the trip. It’s not that much money, really—I just bought the truck with cash.
I keep looking at the MPG calculator, which has gone down since I drove more in traffic on Central Avenue and in Glenmont. Rural driving with all the hills isn’t quite as easy on gas as I expected, though highway driving is remarkably efficient. It’s stupid; the Super Duty is not a commuting car, and I don’t plan to make a habit of driving it to work every day.
The truck is paid for, except for the $4,900 remaining on the cap after my $500 deposit, plus maybe a bit for miscellaneous parts to move the electrical components over. That’s just one more bank check in May when I take delivery, as Ruth’s charges 3.5% on credit cards and doesn’t take personal checks. And maybe a bed liner and undercoating in the autumn. Still, this has felt like such a costly project. Maybe I should have kept “Big Red” on the road, but he needed to be retired since I still want to travel. I could have gotten a smaller truck, but I didn’t want a lift kit and the alternators were too small on the other models. I’m just freaking out a bit over the cost of it all, even though I knew what I was getting into.
The truth is, I really like the way the Super Duty drives now that I’ve got things adjusted, especially on rural highways. It feels at home with the big tow mirrors that make it easy to spot the lines on the road and find my position. With those mirrors, I think it’s easier to drive in traffic than the lifted Silverado. The views are great and it has a solid ride—which, as the frame got floppy on the Silverado, wasn’t the case anymore. I like the true big-truck feel and the roar of that 6.8L “Minizilla” V8. It really is a fun toy, something that reminds me of the years I’ve spent working hard and saving for a little fun. I don’t buy many toys, and my idea of a good vacation is camping at a dispersed site for free. Once the cap arrives, it will be great. I just have to keep my eyes off the MPG gauge.
Honestly, the fewer miles I drive the Super Duty, the longer it will last. It’s a pretty amazing truck. I don’t know how to compare the fuel economy to my old truck, since the big tires on that one threw off the mileage calculations anyway. One trip into the office to get the correct bike tire won’t change much. The truck fits my needs, and since it’s primarily a recreational vehicle, who cares if it drinks slightly more fuel? The big expense—paying for the truck—is done, and soon the cap will be too. Selling Big Red will also bring in some money. Choosing this truck isn’t going to permanently alter my life; I didn’t even touch my savings or investments.
The repulsive chemical smell of the new interior is rapidly fading. The hard plastic of the steering wheel is irritating my hands less, and it feels less “plastic-y” now that I’ve broken it in a bit. I was going to get a cover because it annoyed me so much at first, but I think I’m becoming okay with it. I’m also figuring out the ins and outs of the various features, personalizing it, and getting to know it. The things I didn’t love I am overcoming, and the things I did love—like how it handles rural roads—I am loving even more. It’s big, but not so big that it’s hard to drive; it’s only slightly larger than my lifted Silverado. I am adapting. Still, change is hard, and the cost of both the truck and the cap is a bit of a shock.
The breeze blows in with a heavy flair, A gift we call the “dairy air.” The tractors crawl across the dirt, Spreading “perfume” till your nostrils hurt!
The children grimace, pinch, and poke, “That smell!” they cry, “It’s not a joke!” But Farmer Dan just shakes his head, “That’s the smell of money, kids!” he said.
It’s the tangy scent of life anew, Where brown turns green beneath the dew. Soon little rows of corn will peep, While alfalfa wakes from winter sleep.
From hay and grass and clover sweet, Comes a feast for bossy cows to eat. And happy cows with heavy silk, Turn that salad into golden milk.
So when you gulp a glass so cold, To beat the summer heat, be bold! Or pull a slice of pizza high, With melted cheese to catch the eye. When ice cream drips on a sunny day, Remember how it started—the stinky way.
For every scoop and every treat, Began with the smell of a muddy street!
Baumol’s Cost Disease is an economic theory explaining why the costs of certain services—like healthcare, education, and the arts—rise over time, even when their productivity does not.
The Core Concept
The phenomenon occurs because of a mismatch in productivity growth across different sectors of the economy:
Progressive Sectors: Industries like manufacturing or tech constantly use new tools and automation to produce more with less labor. This higher productivity allows them to pay workers higher wages.
Stagnant Sectors: Services like education or live music rely on human labor that cannot be easily automated. For example, a string quartet still takes four people the same amount of time to perform a piece today as it did 200 years ago.
The Wage Pull: Even though stagnant sectors aren’t getting “faster,” they must raise wages to compete for talent. If a hospital or school doesn’t increase pay, its doctors and teachers will leave for higher-paying jobs in progressive industries.
The Result: Because stagnant sectors can’t offset these higher wages with more output, they are forced to raise their prices, leading to costs that consistently outpace general inflation.
Key Affected Sectors
Healthcare: Relying on person-to-person care makes it difficult to scale productivity without sacrificing quality.
Education: The time required for a professor to mentor a student remains relatively fixed despite modern technology.
Performing Arts: Live performances are the classic example; you cannot “speed up” a play to increase profit without ruining the product.
Government Services: Public sectors like law enforcement and the court system are highly labor-intensive and susceptible to this effect.
Is it a “Disease”?
While the name sounds negative, many economists view it as a side effect of a healthy, growing economy.
Positive Perspective: It is a sign that the overall economy is becoming so productive that it can afford to pay more for vital human-centric services.
Challenges: It creates massive pressure on public budgets and can lead to income inequality if lower-income families cannot keep up with the rising costs of essential services like medical care.
