"We're gonna take other countries' jobs"

 Another bit of idiocy by Mango (low-budget) Mussolini. Yeah I know how we're gonna take other countries' jobs. If he wins and institutes the huge prison camps he'll need to to fulfill his policies, American slave labor will indeed be cheaper than labor in other countries. 

We got a little taste of how he intends to run things when he enacted the War Production Act to force pork plant workers to work to fulfill a contract to China. Workers died, because Covid was in full swing, but the important thing to him was the contract was fulfilled. 

After making the mad dash to get the UPS next day air package out, I got back here at one and started packing small things. The guy came by to pick up the CRT so that went well, and I left here at 6 with something close to 20 small packages for the post office. 

On the way back I checked my usual places, and behind the gym found a bunch of food stuff. The more sugary stuff I bagged up for Ton, keeping things like nori seaweed (used to wrap sushi) and seasonings for myself. 

So I stopped by Tom's, handed off the stuff, and ended up hanging out with Tom for quite a while, talking about things and laughing it up, then James came by and said there's a gambling hall going on in "my" complex here, which explains the sudden influx in the middle of the night of people dressed like they're going out "clubbing". This didn't happen last night though. I'm gonna keep an eye on the situation because I think it's hilarious. At least until someone gets stabbed or shot. 

Also yesterday I decided to take action on that little interaction where I was checking in at Friday night's service and the lady checking me in asked if I'm going to be a member of the temple and "they're very diligent" or something like that, about such matters. I'd replied that this year I'd spent $1500 on the two plaques to remember my maternal grandparents by, that that sure seemed to shut her up, but this tells me it's time to look into this, as I've been attending there since Passover. 

So I'd sent an email with questions, like are the dues paid according to the Jewish or Gregorian calendar, and what the recommended dues are for a single person with a gross income of $20k and a net income of $17k. Apparently the person I emailed, the person who officially handles temple dues, punted this to the executive director of the temple of all people, so I'm meeting with them on Thursday. 

I'm prepared for this. If it were the standard 10% tithe, that would be $2k if it's based on my gross income, and $1.7k if it's based on my net income. The actual dues for a single person are about $1800 a year so that's right in between. But they might look at my income and go "Oh shit, we don't charge that much for people making what most of us spend on just gasoline each year" and suggest, from their side, a much lower figure. 

We'll really discuss brass tacks! Officially, the expression seems to be trace back to how many decorative tacks to put on one's coffin and goes back to the Lincoln assassination. But personally I think it goes back further than that, when a man was buying a rifle, probably the most valuable possession he'd own. Rifles back before the Lincoln assassination, your Kentucky squirrel type rifle, featured "furniture" that is, brass ornaments on the stock. One type of ornamentation was ... brass tacks. So a man might bargain for a rifle, and in the end would get down to, literally, how many and what kind of brass tacks. 

In the end I don't mind paying the full dues because I'm serious about this thing. But it might make *them* feel better to charge me less so they don't feel like they're taking advantage of someone of modest means. 

After hanging out really too long at Tom's, I got back here and got into the stuff I'd taken home for myself. I have tons of nori now so I should look into making low-carb sushi with it. And I got a package of "Little Sheep" hot pot base. 

I cooked this "Little Sheep" hotpot base, it's for 6 cups of the stuff so I divided it up, saving 2, 2-cup portions in the fridge and then putting fish, vegetables in the last and trying it out. It's very salty! I tried to get through it but wow. I ended up dumping the last bit out, and it made me feel lousy. I looked up "hot pot" and it's more of a dipping sauce, like shabu-shabu you keep it simmering and dip things into it. And not necessarily healthy! So I dumped it *all* out. 

I got up, rounded up 10 things to list, did that, packed things and took them to the post office, then did some shopping at Sprouts and Ross, and lucked out this time at Ross. I found a good shirt and a package of three belts. 

I stopped by Tom's again because he had his door open and we talked about things and laughed it up. James came and went; he keeps finding very Ebay-able stuff but he's got ADHD so bad he can't even get his shit together enough to get his ID and "PayPal doesn't like me". 

Dinner was tuna salad, and it was the usual futzing around here and then bed.