Economic thoughts...

This is a prime example: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124580784452945093.html

It would be nice to know how much corporate bribery it takes to get a member of congress to espouse an idea/plan that is flawed on that many levels.

More (and more risky) debt does not equal economic growth or recovery.

It will be interesting to see how the government thinks they can influence corporations to grow the US economy and provide jobs for US citizens. Once the average citizen feels well off enough they'll buy the houses and condos in question.

As long as there is cheap, exploitable labor in other countries, and that there is no tax disincentive for companies who are based in the US yet use cheaper foreign labor this disparity will continue.

Let's take a simple example. The apple juice in the office fridge here has ingredients of water and apple juice concentrate from "China, Chile, Argentina". Approximately half (per USDA statistics) of the apples grown in the US come from about 100 miles east of where I'm sitting. It is shocking to me that the cost of growing and harvesting apples is that much cheaper in China, Chile and Argnetina to make up the cost of transportation. Or conversely, how much more expensive would it be to buy apples from the farmers in the country where this corporation is based and pays its corporate income taxes? Would the foreign apples still be cheaper if the company had to be based in the country of their suppliers and deal with the (arguably less stable) sociopolitical climate or tax laws there? Should the company not be allowed to be based in the US if a majority of its people are foreign or a majority of its product is imported?

It may be a fallacy, but I am thinking under the assumption that if companies were more localized then the business, and thus the economy in the region in which they operate, would be more stable/sustainable in the long term (less money would go to transportation, more to the producers), than always having to find new sources of exploitable labor, and new markets. The reason they're mentioned separately is that the producers and consumers of so many products in the modern world are thousands of miles apart. How many Chilean/Argentinean/Chinese would pay the prices that this juice company asks for their product in the US? I'm betting it's an unsustainably small number.

There isn't an easy answer given the current global trade situation, so I can't offer much in the way of insight here... it's easier to see the unsustainability of the current situation rather than a path to a long term stable solution.

Small details.

http://maslows.net:12110/2.jpg

A month or so ago I picked up a second watch. A simple cheap Timex in the submariner style. I had been wearing the dressier not for US sale Seiko hiking and thought it might be a good idea to not do that, since I would rather not want to mail it back to Japan for repair if I were to hit/drop it against a rocky trail.

Today I just felt like wearing the Timex for the orange strap. It's a cloudy/drizzly day, I'm wearing dark brown pants and a dark grey shirt. Brighten life up a bit.

Unfortunately it also uncovered a new unconscious twitch - the Seiko is an automatic winding mechanical watch. The winding mechanism makes a barely audible clicking noise as it rotates when you move your wrist. It also has a slightly impreceise fitting leather band, so I have to shake my forearm slightly to center the watch on my wrist occaisionally.

The Timex has a quartz movement. It has neither the feedback nor the odd band, but I've done the centering shake of the wrist a couple times expecting it to do something.

It's a Virtue

Blogger apparently limits importing of old entries to 50 per day, so I will slowly back-fill the few hundred livejournal entries I had into here. Patience.

Abandoning Ship

I've gone google.

http://npmaslow.blogspot.com

It makes it easier to follow multiple sites at once.

Time

In the last week 1) It has been hot - over 80. Today is back in the 70's though. It is nice.

2) I have been thinking of things to do. The mode of life I've chosen out here allows for frankly obscene amounts of free time. Set work hours. No notable commute. No house to rebuild. No homework.

In the winter the free time is easy to fill. It's cloudy and gets dark early. Make some tea and pick up a book (or dozen over the course of the winter). Problem solved.

In the summer it is nice, so I feel the need to be outside. Wandering parks and around the city after work is nice, but not really that productive.

I see why retired people take up golf. It formalizes the whole walking around in a park thing and calls it a sport.

If a garage space was not over $100 per month in this neighborhood I'd pick up another old German car and start working on it. Something to think about when choosing the next place to live.

I also like the idea of sailing, though it too involves expensive parking and lots of maintenance and ordering expensive bits and pieces from the internet.

The whole reading thing... I've read more in the last year than in the previous 5. It has been nice. Some serious books, some frivolous yet fun. There are still many 'classics' to read though. Perhaps that could be a goal for the next year. Or learn another language. Though that is near impossible without daily use/immersion.

I think the whole idea of a goal, or lack of one presently, is what is causing me to run in circles about this. Life is presently good, though the state of the economy makes me very risk averse presently so I'm to keep my options open and not be too ambitious or burdened.

It's odd to be able to think like this. Life to this point has been one interminable series of next steps... there has always been something that needs to be accomplished. I'm still young in a relative sense. There should be something out there better to work toward.

But lately, sitting on park bench looking out over the mountains, with nothing to do but enjoy the breeze, it has been hard to see what that step could be.

Wallet Longevity

Tumi Meridian Slim Single fold in black leather. Purchased immediately after I moved back to Charlotte for the bank job, 6 years ago today. Just noticed that the leather is worn through on the spine. Not bad for a $60 wallet (about 2.74 cents per day of use). That's good value.