tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post8339252365181086656..comments2024-03-28T19:58:31.110-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: Coming soon to a business district near you - if it hasn't already arrivedPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-76229442330146708832020-07-30T19:13:00.029-05:002020-07-30T19:13:00.029-05:00Peter, it's been reported in many places that ...Peter, it's been reported in many places that people are looking for property outside of cities: Cooper's tax grab has exacerbated that in Middle Tennessee. I live in rural Robertson county, north of Trashville, and was thinking of getting a little further out; at 55, I figured I'd pick my final place, sufficiently remote, and not have to move again, at least in this body.<br />It now appears that I'll be paying a bit more than I'd anticipated. Prices, already rising, show no signs of changing their acceleration. I do have one advantage, being a hermit at heart, in that I'm looking for places further out than most folks consider convenient, or even reasonable. I'm further blessed in that my lady agrees.<br />--Tennessee BuddAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-91885254349637988872020-07-30T11:52:36.627-05:002020-07-30T11:52:36.627-05:00The Covidiocracy was the perfect storm that could ...The Covidiocracy was the perfect storm that could have yanked Sears or JC Pennys back from oblivion.<br /><br />But both of them, and so many other store-chains, decided a long time ago to not do ecommerce. Even though both Seas and JCP were kept alive and thrived on catalog sales (anyone remember a Sears Catalog Store, where you go in with your order and Sears Main somewhere ships it to your podunk place?)<br /><br />This covidiocracy has shown what stores and businesses are luxuries, and what are essential. <br /><br />And, well, we have had too many darned restaurants, eateries, fast food places and food trucks. Many people I talk to in the store are all revelling in the new-found power of having all that money that they previously wasted on buying prepared foods. <br /><br />It's what happens during recessions and troubled times. Non-essential businesses fall by the wayside. Workarounds for people getting what they need appear. Prosperous times return, and slowly people return to non-essential businesses. Really, who needs movie theaters these days? Who needs a choice of 100 different ways to make a mediocre hamburger or fries?<br /><br />And, in all places except apartment complexes, I have seen a return of Victory Gardens and raising small meat animals. <br /><br />Self-reliance, even partial self-reliance, is a good thing.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-32036558452734696962020-07-30T09:51:17.823-05:002020-07-30T09:51:17.823-05:00Malls, and suburban strip mall sprawl, are arifact...Malls, and suburban strip mall sprawl, are arifacts of a previous era of prosperity and homogeneity. When a working man's wage paid for a house and two cars and a stay at home mother to raise the kids, nice places to shop made sense. Now that the "9 to 5" has turned into the "7 to 5 with two hours commute on each end" and both parents have to work (dog parents, by the way. Who can afford to raise human babies when both partners owe $75,000 in student loans?) There's no time for mall shopping. Anything you need gets bought online from a smart phone on your lunch break.<br /><br />There's no reason to go to the malls anyway. All the big stores like sears have been hollowed out by horrifically inept boomer management and offer goods on par with harbor freight or discount thrift stores. As Craftsman goes, the anchor store goes.<br />You don't want to even stroll through and browse because block-busting racial tactics and section 8 forced diversity have festooned the mall-shopping suburbs with hordes of violent, fatherless urban youfs who are paid to exist and paid to breed and have nothing better to do than loiter around the mall committing low level assaults, thefts, and property crimes whenever the impulse strikes them. "Diverse" "urban" "youths" are kryptonite to the middle class white shopping experience. <br />Malls are a dying boomer memory even without imported chinese pandemics.ADShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12108188405628955164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-42383683160586756442020-07-30T08:56:45.350-05:002020-07-30T08:56:45.350-05:00I note with some interest that a number of city-ba...I note with some interest that a number of city-based malls have started converting all the unused/unwanted space into apartments and/or condos. It attracts a number of seniors who desire the enclosed (perceived) security, and the built-in walking track.Rev. Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04588179227576383679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-21467165510640776262020-07-30T07:37:39.845-05:002020-07-30T07:37:39.845-05:00Side note: getting rid of government employees at ...Side note: getting rid of government employees at any level--federal, state, or municipal--can be extraordinarily difficult, which is one of the attractions of government work. I rather suspect that a lot of these mayors would like to trim some deadwood rather than raise taxes (after all, they'd like to be re-elected, if nothing else) but they can't.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16315985596383975403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-7827407902445249352020-07-30T07:11:19.774-05:002020-07-30T07:11:19.774-05:00I work for a major shipping company. We have seen...I work for a major shipping company. We have seen our Christmas level volume since the lock down. I was just at a major location 2 days ago, and packages were stacked everywhere. The volume on Monday was overwhelming.<br /><br />We have a mom and pop hardware store in town, and I hesitate to buy anywhere else. They have a lot of what you need, and can order in if you don't. The truck comes mid week. I know I could probably get it cheaper online, but I haven't yet.<br /><br />I started "networking" with folks I meet now... An electronics engineer that is on his pension and working as a security guard (terribly underutilized, he is brilliant), a welder that just started a business a few months ago.... I aim to help them find work to fill out their days, keep an out out for opportunities, as well as learn what I can from them and hopefully reciprocate.<br /><br />I don't know if that even has a title... I'm working to facilitate as much as I can. At this stage of the game, it seems to be what I do best. I find things that others need and hook them up. Case in point: I wound up with a bunch of old western magazines from my dad, and found an author that could use them as background for his writing. I got such a charge from passing those on... it started a new chapter in my life. (no pun intended, but if you want it, it's yours, proof reading not included) I found some equipment that was about to be scrapped and got it to the welder as he needed it to do a project. His margin will be better with free material, and I traded for some welding lessons. <br /><br />STxARhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04588850178293194825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-35161319997216894892020-07-30T05:55:28.633-05:002020-07-30T05:55:28.633-05:00I imagine the worst isn't over in many ways. I...I imagine the worst isn't over in many ways. I see that fourteen or more colleges in New York State are likely to close. With that, all the associated local businesses will take a hit. The shift to online purchasing is huge, as who wants to go to any store and be treated like you are Typhoid Mary, when with a few clicks, something is delivered to your door?<br /><br />Amazon now takes whatever time they choose to deliver, you don't suppose that is saving them money, do you? They take your Prime membership money, which was predicated on two day delivery and keep it. There might be a class action suit right there to make a few lawyers wealthy.<br /><br />No one has seen the unintended consequences of this virus, it will change almost everything.libertymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13987591250148492879noreply@blogger.com