It's dark in the house, again... something not so unusual in our corner of the world, where wind and trees often take down power lines.
This time, however, there is no wind or snow and it is perfectly dry outside. According to the power company's twitter feed, a "pole fire" is responsible for 1,500-odd families eating dinner in the dark.
Ironically Enough...
The last conversation Mrs. Denmarkguy and I had before the world went dark was her sharing a post from a Facebook friend's feed in which she lamented living in a world where the main worry is whether we are going to "get the plague and die" when we go out and whether we'll be able to afford a dozen eggs today, if eggs are even available.
"Why can't we have 21st century problems, instead of 16th century problems?" she continued...
Fair enough question, I suppose...
Earlier Today...
I did a town run to get various things we have been desperately out of, for both cost reasons, as well as availability reasons.
To say that I came home with a bad case of "sticker shock" would be an understatement!
A ream of cheap copy paper for the printer, and a box of 50 envelopes? About $18.00. Just a year ago, paper was about $7.00 and the envelopes $2.69. Yikes! But at least they had some...
Next, two light bulbs and a small tin of wall spackle from the hardware store. $34.44. Yes, it's lovely that we have LED bulbs that save power, but they are expensive.
While there, I noticed that the kind of spray finish I use for my painted stones is now $12.99 a can. A year ago, it was $6.99.
At the supermarket (this is the part that came to mind when aforesaid comment about the 16th century came up) I felt like I had really scored when I managed to get a box of Borax laundry booster for the first time since about November... $11.00 price tag notwithstanding.
And then, of course, eggs. For the first time I can recall, I actually saw "$10.99" on the egg shelves. Granted, it was for an 18-pack of the nice brown organic ones... but it was such a nice symmetry with that Facebook post...
Meanwhile, we're still sitting in the dark. Mrs. Denmarkguy is reading a (paper) book by the light of the fire and a couple of candles, while I am laboriously slowly trying to create this Hive post on my phone...
Is There a Point, Here?
I suppose most of my point here is that the actual inflation rate in the USA - at street level, where we live - is so far removed from the "official" 8-9% that they might as well be from different planets.
As a stark counterpoint to that, my businesses repeatedly face the assertion by potential customers and clients that "I should probably be HAPPY to accept a lower price offer since times are tough and I probably need the money," which essentially results in an untenable financial squeeze.
And such is life, here in 16th century USA!
Thanks for stopping by, and apologies in advance for a lower-than-normal grade post, but I loathe trying to do anything more than make calls and send few short textson a phone.
In the meantime have a great remainder of your week!
2023.01.24 21:10PST
And well, the biggest irony is that Vzlans in Vzla have been suffering of this malaise and from these shortcomings and awful difficulties typical of the sixteenth century, applied to us with impunity from decades ago by the same external US actors who in connivance and complicity with the same MoFos elsewhere in the "1st world" are now applying the same recipe to their own people at home.
It already seemed to me that we Venezuelans have been like a stupendous species of resilient guinea pigs in this worldwide mad laboratory.
Fact. The entire world seems to have a major issue with greed preying on people's fear.
Fear yeah, the "infallible medicine" with which in large doses these greedy MoFos have tried to control the world and keep people in line and subject to their whims and misdeeds. But don't worry mate. Perhaps already neither you nor I will witness it personally on this planet. But I have the hunch that sooner than expected these same greedy MoFos will have to swallow a large ladle full of their own medicine.
And with all this chaos in everything from housing to household goods, I see people blaming the "free market" in spite of massive corporate/government collusion and central bank inflation with their fudged numbers for the rates.
Sadly, I don't think there are any free markets... they are about as elusive as the economic theory of "perfect competition" which also doesn't actually exist outside think tanks in ivy-covered buildings.
Whereas I am skeptical of the value of government, I feel that we do need a rule set that keeps the playing field level.
The problem is once you have a monopoly power interfering with regulatory power, regulatory capture by certain interests becomes inevitable. The very problem the regulators claim to prevent is what they will cause.
Perfect competition is not a necessary aspect of market economies any more than the assumption of perfect information and perfect rationality. A good economist must recognize that imperfect people with imperfect information and prone to errors in reasoning are the only market (and political) actors in any scenario.
Yup. And hence my (typically unpopular) suggestion that it should be a requirement for anyone to call themselves an "Economist" that they complete at least two years each of Industrial Psychology and Human Psychology. People don't behave like nice quantifiable numbers in a chart!
I prefer the Austrian school precisely because it begins with analysis of human action instead of some ivory tower academic model of idealized (and often completely imaginary) theories.
Recently I was going through some old receipts (2020) and comparing costs to now. Some items haven't change, while others have risen ridiculously. I rarely purchase potato chips, and only when they are on sale. But my husband has a sore throat and prefers to soothe it with salty chips, so yesterday I bought a bag. One brand was sort of on sale, but it was still $4.58 for a very small bag of potato chips.
What I really find disturbing is the shortage of repair people. I plan to write a post about that later.
Chips are an interesting item... we happen to "snack" a lot around here, and I've noticed that not only have the prices of most potato chips gone up to $4-6, BUT a number of brands have also shrunk the size of the bag... so you pretty much get to feel the effect at both ends.
Repair people are an interesting situation. Our son-in-law is a home contractor, and he pointed out that during (recent) better times people would often choose to just "buy new" instead of repair... which lowered the demand for repair people. Now things are bad so people want to repair their old things rather than buy new... but that increase in demand for repair people is meeting a reduced number of available hand to repair things.
Our infrared sauna went on the fritz after a power outage, so my wife called to see about a repair, and it was going to be $300 for someone to just show up... and that would be in March! Meanwhile, there would be parts and labor on top of the service call.
I've seen it coming for quite a while, but things seem to snowball lately...
Yes, lately things seem to have been taking a marked uptick, in almost all areas.
Nothing against the post just the rewards were a bit too high imo.
No worries @acidyo, I think the post got hit by a trail that rancho, haejin and a few other unliked individuals follow... I was actually expecting some "corrective" votes...
Nothing to apologize for or acknowledge in the very clumsy, greedy and stupid action of @acidyo my friend @denmarkguy. Claim and demand your well-deserved rewards to be reimbursed immediately. It is precisely to this type of stubborn brainless MoFos which can't find anything else to entertain themselves that I was referring to in my previous comment in response to your post.
¡WTF! @acidyo
Rewards were a bit too high according to ¿WHAT? MoFo?
Don't be such a jerk & asshole and reverse the stupid, brainless and mindless damage you've done. Immediately fucker!!
You better be trolling cause there's no way you're that stupid.
¿Trolling? Yeah, just keep avoiding answering my question directly with a convincing answer and refuse to correct your stupid mindset, clumsy behavior and wrongdoings. That very soon you and those of your ilk will know what a true troll can achieve.
There was a time you called me douchebag, but everyone over here actually knows the biggest douchebag in the entire Hive ecosystem is you, among many others of your same lineage. Yeah kid, to learn what trolling is, you actually need to come with me in the same car for a good and sobering ride very soon douchebag!