How the math is mathing

 Since I can't post links on here, I can only describe what I was just reading on r/hawaii on Reddit. 

People are talking about who moved from Hawaii to the mainland for cheaper living. Right away I started laughing internally because in my experience the mainland is more expensive than Hawaii, by quite a bit. 

But they're talking about having engineering jobs and such jobs, jobs that take special connections to get and a quarter-million or more for the education to get started. Jobs that apparently it's against the order of the Universe for me to get, no matter how smart and hard-working and I know; I tried. 

So horray for them, I guess. 

In my experience, if you're making the same $5 or $10 an hour in Hawaii or on the mainland, your $5 or $10 an hour will go almost twice as far in Hawaii. This is because in Hawaii you can live like a local, which means no A/C because no real local ever needs it or misses it, maybe in a 2nd or 3rd floor walk-up with an extra charge for parking but who cares because no one in their right mind would have a car, given how expensive they are. 

So for one instance one commenter talks about topping out at $77k for his engineering job and the same job starts at $90k on the mainland but is generally $125k, well, great for him. 

The most I've made, with my own Ebay thing going, was a gross around $70k. Taxable income was about half that. So the most I've made is $35k, which is just a bit more than minimum wage pays here in California. But then there are California expenses, 2X Hawaii expenses, for everything. 

And my Social Security, about $1400 a month I think, or $16k, will be the same here or back in Hawaii. I'd be a fool not to go where expenses are 1/2 or at most 2/3rds what they are here. Plus it being easier to get around, this area being arranged where everything is 30 miles from everything else. 

What's funny about Social Security is, I'm allowed to make a bit more per year than I do now, about $20.6k, before they "claw back" some of the monthly payment. And even then, if my understanding is correct, the money "clawed back" is kept for me and added to my payment at age 70. 

I actually practiced last night. I need to get back in shape to get out there busking regularly. 

 

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today"

 I finished a load of laundry and hung it up, did my Mop & Glo routine in the bathroom and on the plastic chair shield thing under my desk, vacuumed, had the place all spiffy, and right on time, Ken showed up. This is becoming the exception to the rule. 

He'd brought a hamburger for me because Real Americans must eat at least one hamburger or... they turn ghey or something. Ken had one too and fries, and his blood sugar alarm kept going off because his blood sugar was high. He told me he's forgotten to bring insulin so he'll just have to deal with it. 

We talked a bit and then I raised the subject of a pay check. This started a big search through his car and he was sure he didn't have his check book, and I said, "Let me get my flashlight and be a second set of eyes" and started searching myself when, miraculously, he found it. 

So I got my check, but dated for Monday. So I guess if I'm lucky, each week I'll get the pay from the week before. 

I asked again if he'd gotten involved with Bitcoin or "crypto" of any type because it's halved in value over the last 6 months and would fit in well with the money problems we've been having. He said that no, it was more a matter of timing. He throws money at problems, on credit. So he's paying a loan on his new furnace and on some other things. 

I asked about this reverse mortgage thing he's getting into, and he said it's an HEI, and mentioned the name of the company again but they're so dodgy I don't remember the name now, only that it's an "HEI" and totally, totally, not a reverse mortgage. No, this is better because it can be traded on the open market ... wtf? Anyway he's waiting for an appraiser to come around and put a value on his house and that's why it's been taking so long. 

He said the main reason to get into this is to pay off high-interest things like credit cards. and I said that might be one of the very few "use cases" for something like this. Ken, myself, and a friend of ours have all gone through this, where credit cards at say 6%, went up to around 36%. 

I talked about how, when I lost everything in the crash of 2008, I was sure I'd have to do a bankruptcy, but I hit the books and learned that a bankruptcy only makes sense when one has an asset they want to protect, like a house. In my case it made more sense to just drop off the grid for a while. Ken can't do this, of course. 

However Ken pulls his fat out of the fire, the effects should last a year or so and that's all I need. Of course I made more noises about the eminent sensibility of waiting until I'm at my "full retirement age" of 67 to retire, which means a little over 3 more years. 

I packed 10 things and took them to the post office, went up to Dai Thanh Market for a few things, then to 99 Ranch then H Mart, then on my way back found a bunch of neat stuff behind the gym, like 4-5 different kinds of seeds (millet, flax, etc.) to make a bird seed mix for the birds, and 4 kinds of instant dashi, 2 kinds of katsuobushi, and ryukakusan for if I get a cold plus some health food store cold tablets, probably homeopathic but who knows may they'll work. Plus a few things I decided to toss or donate, plus I left behind a lot of things I didn't want like tons of toothpaste and medicines, flour, dried figs, things like that. Instant dashi is great for soup, better than salt. 

 

A trip downtown.

 I woke up around 3, got ready and went downtown. Dropped off trash, dropped off a couple of packages at the post office, got a few bubble mailers at the Amazon place, and deposited the check I was given last week, in the bank. 

There were what looked like a father-son pair trying to do something, maybe set up an account for the son or transfer his old account at Wells Fargo to this bank, something, and it took forever. But I finally got to do my deposit and the numbers agree to the penny. 

I had some chicken and Indian spinach stuff at Whole Foods, and got $40 cash back. The food was rather pricey though and I could have gotten my favorite banto at Nijiya and spend a dollar less. And I only got one bubble mailer from there. 

I hit all my favorite places to find free stuff and found nothing. Of course, I thought, it's a Depression economy. I'm glad I sold off those silver coins I had, maybe a month ago, as silver keeps dropping every day. It wasn't any sort of a grand plan; it's just part of lightening the load in preparation for having to leave on short notice. 

That's what I have to do. I have to keep Ken thinking I'm set to stay here for about 3 more years, while actually planning to be out of here in one, or less than one if things get worse. 

 

 

The dreaded phone call - "Not yet!"

 I'd just woken up at 1:30 and was deciding how long to lay in bed when the phone rang. It was Ken and he sounded nervous. He wanted to know if I'd deposited the check he gave me last week yet. "No", I said, "I'm about to in a couple of hours". He told me to wait, and he'll tell me when to deposit it. I asked if he's coming over Wednesday night and he said he is. 

I'll have to ask him then, if he got involved in Bitcoin. That particular scam has halved in value in the last 4-5 months and that would fit neatly with the advent of our continuing financial problems. Especially, like a lot of old boomers, he got involved in some form of Bitcoin where they dress it up on a plate with some mystery sauce and a sprig of parsley on the side, figuratively speaking, in other words, it's "leveraged" in some weird way, so he gets screwed even more than those who simply buy the magic beans straight across for cash. 

I guess I'd better have some plans on deck in case I have to leave very soon. It will take a while for Ken or anyone to change the locks, although a hostile takeover by the landlord or an auction company could have me "trespassed" I suppose. 

My plan would be to put a LOT of my stuff into the storage across the street, I think. In any case I have plans to give 95% of the stuff I have, away. There are a few things I want to sell on Craig's List but it's really, really slow because we're in a Depression economy. 

I also need to get my "Real ID" ASAP and I'm not going to try to retain my car and motorcycle ratings because I've not had any use for these qualifications in 12+ years for car, and 15+ years for motorcycle. So I'll just need to show up with some things verifying my legal address, and that I am who I am, which would mean my new passport. 

Then when I get back to Hawaii, I can, again, go to the DMV and get my state ID for there, probably with zero problems because they greatly respect California ID's. 

I gave myself a haircut and got cleaned up and went downtown anyway. I dropped off USPS packages at the downtown post office, dumped a bag of trash, picked up some bubble mailers at the Amazon place, and checked in with my bank - my last payment from Ken had *not* bounced, whew! 

I went by Whole Foods to buy a bag of macadamia nuts, and that was that. It was windy as hell, but I suppose if I were busking I'd just do so at the Sunnyvale Whole Foods where there's some shelter from the wind, or down in Downtown Campbell, where there's an ex-movie-theater with a nice large recessed area in front where I've had decent luck. 

Other than picking up a couple more bubble mailers, that's all I did at Whole Foods. Use the loo, pick up the mailers, buy the $12 bag of nuts, and be on my way.  

On my way back from Whole Foods I scanned the streets for little free libraries I might not know about, and things left on the curb. I stopped at an almost-uninteresting bunch of bags and found three "upscale" purses + three coin purses, plus a big "Sports Sac" bag to put them in which I'd also call upscale except for a small tear in a mesh exterior pocket. But all the other stuff fits in it so it's useful too. 

I got back here and loaded up the FedEx packages and took those to FedEx. I called up Ken to tell him to be sure to come by tomorrow because I have three purses for his wife, Suzy. He said I can deposit the pay check now so I guess I'll go back downtown tomorrow and do that.  

$3.50 in H Mart got me two "Sesame donuts", actually sesame flavored balls of glutinous rice that are deep fried, and a can of seltzer water. So I had my nice little snack, sitting out front. 

I got back here and among other things, took care of the rest of the "weeds" growing in the cracks in the driveway. Ken does *not* like the way my garden grows. I was happy to let 'em go, as once in a while some people come around and trim them so they never get huge. But Suburbians hate to see green things growing other than manicured grass so they had to go. 

 

 

 

USS Liberty Day

 I was pretty busy yesterday, listing things but also throwing things out that have not sold for years and years and will likely never sell (keeping in mind also it'll be a miracle if this place is still going 6 months after I leave). 

The illegal night club did its thing but they didn't have tons of cars and noisy people over on this side, so I didn't see any need to call the cops. 

I woke up today and had some mocha coffee and nuts and packed 10 things and got 'em to the post office. I actually got rained on a little bit on the way back. 

 

Reefing the sails

 Last night I: Put things away that had been listed, a bigger deal than it sounds because I've been prone to putting that off until I have a stack of boxes of things yet to be put away that have to be hunted through to find things that had sold. And listed 15 things. And called the cops on the bozos and their stupid illegal night club. 

I have $30 until Tuesday which seems like no problem. I don't think the Owners realize how much we workers can reef our sails, in terms of spending. 

I watched a "Metal LEO" YouTube video; the "GONE Nowwww!" guy. It was entertaining but also a nice virtual walk down good old Pacific Avenue. It brought back memories of hustling my "awareness ribbons" and other things I'd come up with. But thinking back, I'd hustle my shit and then get some restaurant meal. I'm kind of amazed at old-me spending that much. These days, I'd bring a bottle of cold tea I'd brewed here, 3 hard-boiled eggs, something to sprinkle on them, and that would be my reward meal for a good few hours' work. 

(Of course going down there really doesn't pay well on an hourly basis, since it's 2-3 hours each way to go there, plus the time making whatever handicraft I'm selling, then the actual time hustling. It adds up to $5 or $6 an hour.) 

But good old Metal LEO, he does such nice walks. The New Leaf health food store is ... GONE Nowwwww.... The Motif book store is long gone. A whole lot of things are gone. His video was done on a Friday afternoon, and the street was just dead. I think he found one busker. One. I used to count a dozen guitarists, not counting those playing other instruments or doing other things, along Pacific. 

I'd really like to go down there and play, on a Saturday or a Wednesday, since Wednesdays are their farmer's market days if there's still one.  

What I'm getting at here, or what the World is trying to tell me, is that things feel even more bleak than they were in 2008. As bad as things were in '08 the streets were far livelier than now, there was the feeling that there were sectors of the economy where, with training, one could get a job. That all seems to be .... GONE Nowwwww..... 

This is where the owners/small-hats may start to see their comeuppance. We The Consumers can stop buying our damn energy drinks and our fast food and economize, really economize. 

We're starting to ask "antiseptic" questions like, Why does Israel get free health care and free education through postgrad and free this and free that, when the bottom 90% in the US are getting utterly screwed? We the workers are getting angry. 

I propose that the amount of money sent to Israel by the US taxpayer be added up, everything since 1948, and be given back to the US taxpayer in the form of ... universal health care, free education through post-grad, etc. Not one penny more for the small-hats, and the small-hats to pay reparations to the US. 

 

Taking stuff apart

 .... is good therapy I guess. I took a bunch of stuff apart and put a bunch of stuff out for the scrappers. Like some big used motors; we've not had good luck with used motors as they have a way of coming back and we lose money. 

If Ken depends on this operation for his finances to work now, then I have to keep the numbers good. So I not only took some things apart just to get 'em out of here, but also took another HP gadget apart because of the circuit boards with gold plated traces, which sell well. 

If Ken's 14 years older than myself, then he's got to be 77 or 78. Advanced age often brings poor financial decisions. This (I think it's a) reverse-mortgage thing he's taking so much time to get approved might be a good example of a very poor financial decision. 

Or, did he "bet the farm" on Bitcoin? Apparently it's halved in value over the last 4-5 months, and that would sync with the recent money troubles. 

I left here around 6PM, went to Nijiya for some instant dashi and got myself a bottle of tea and a musubi and $40 cash back. Then went back in for tea bags I'd "forgotten" and a small bag of spicy potato chips on sale, and another $40 cash back. So that's just under $100 out of my bank account. 

I went to the Amazon place but it's never that great on a weekend, and I got zero bubble mailers.

Then I rode down to Walmart and got necessities like T.P. and paper towels, a new water filter cartridge, some sunflower seeds and pepitas because they're both good and very cheap as "nuts" go, and a few different flavors of sardines to fill out my "fish library". That leaves me with $30 to last until Tuesday when I can deposit last week's pay check and see if any prior checks have bounced.  

 I know I should be out busking but I'm just not feeling it right now. I can get by fine on $30 for the next 3 days and .... I don't think the owning class really has a handle on how much we, the workers, the producers, can decrease our spending and get by. I see cutting back on spending as good practice for when I'm back in Hawaii and may have to be very thrifty, at least for a while as I get settled in.