Subj : I'm not back yet.. was: To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Thu Dec 26 2019 08:58:00 Hi Nancy! BM> On this morning's news the chances for a white Christmas went down to BM> 2%; was 5% yesterday. NB> And you probably ended up like us, with a green Christmas... NB> except for the leftover piles here and there.... ;) And not that many piles except at the business sites. Yesteday's (Christmas Day's) official high was 62ø!! Average is 32ø; and from glancing through the on-line charts to get this looks like the previous high was 59ø -- and record low was -18ø. BM>> If no reason to go out sometimes just let Mother Nature remove the BM>> snow she put on the car! I did have to scrape the frost off my BM>> windshields yesterday before my errands -- if I had been able to wait a BM>> half-hour or so would have melted. NB>> Yeah... it's always nice when one has the luxury of waiting for the NB>> snow/frost to take care of itself... ;) BM> I've had it where the dew/moisture on the windshield, apply the wipers BM> and it turns to frost and stays frozen, so still have to scrape. NB> If one has time in that situation, the windshield defrost might NB> melt the frost, at least eventually... Generally I don't have time to sit and wait at that point so get out to scrape but do have the defogger on and set to high. There have been other times when the ice layer is too thin or too thick for the scaper and I do wait until the defogger has melted the attaching layer. BM> Sort of speaking of Malls, the sister Mall on the Illinois side was BM> closed all day Monday due to a fire. Occurred early mid-morning in BM> one of the little shop-stores. AFAICT not much fire damage, just a lot BM> of smoke. Went on-line to check and no details. NB> So apparently easily taken care of, then... Yes, apparently the initial problem was smoke inside the mall but why the fire deparment didn't allow or the Mall decided to stay closed all day I don't know. BM>> Once in a while would splurge and buy lunch as a treat to myself; BM>> more a spur of the moment thing. NB>> Not really what I was referring to, either... the occasional splurge NB>> as part of an overall pattern of sound financial practice isn't the NB>> "I'm entitled" syndrome... :) BM> True; must have been hungry and that was only example I could think BM> of. The "I'm entitled" thing is more buy a huge-screen TV to show off BM> (to oneself). Probably better is the 'rolling house sized' brand new BM> SUV when a one- or two year old car would work just as well if not BM> better. (And again all depends: maybe a SUV is better for one's BM> situation.) NB> I think I'd refer to that sort of thing more as conspicuous NB> consumption... the always wanting bigger and more expensive NB> whether or not it is needed... Yes, I'd agree. :) My thinking on entitlement might be tempered by acceptance: "OK, so you have eight billion dollars and want to buy a yacht. You can afford it and not make sacrifices elsewhere. Can I come someday? I'll bring some snacks!" BM>> As far as entitlement-I-want-because-they-have, I don't think I've had BM>> that, or if it crept in I was able to boot it out. I don't want a BM>> huge screen TV, I don't want a 1-billion watt sound system. I'll admit BM>> to wanting and getting higher-level computer systems, but because I BM>> want faster, not because someone else has. (And then I stick them in BM>> plain black cases!) NB>> And that is maybe a little closer, but not really what I was talking NB>> about either... your purchases are still well within your budget, and NB>> your general wants are well within your means... :) BM> I think we're (or at least me) are stuck giving 'too small' BM> answers because the over-the-top ones don't come to mind. NB> I'm thinking that you are stuck more because the concept of being NB> entitled to more than you could possibly afford doesn't apply in NB> your case.... You can afford generally just about anything that NB> you'd tend to want to get, and things beyond that tend to seem NB> ridiculously over the top, so wouldn't be even considered past a NB> fleeting thought.... If I were trying to come up with examples NB> from my own life, I likewise would be having difficulties.... :) That's probably it. I/we just naturally live within our means, have a fun little splurge every so often but even that is reigned in. LIS in the yacht example a little earlier, the friend has money and wants a yacht. And I probably wouldn't be friends if the other person was doing the "I'm entitled" thing because conflicts with my attitudes. NB>> I was thinking more of those of very modest means, possibly even NB>> struggling to make ends meet because of limited income, that think NB>> that they still deserve to have this that or the other thing, even NB>> though they clearly don't have the money for it... saving to get it NB>> is probably out of the question, since by the time the couple of NB>> pennies (probably literally) they can squeeze out of the money at NB>> hand grew to be closer to enough to pay for such, the item would be NB>> hopelessly outdated, and no longer of interest..... for them, the NB>> credit card is a very enticing trap.... "But I DESERVE it... why NB>> can't I get what everyone else has..." BM> That's probably a much better way to give an example than to try to BM> give an actual example. NB> I could probably come up with specific instances that I've seen NB> in people I've worked with, but the more general description is NB> probably more understandable to someone in our circumstances.... Probably so: trying to 'self-analyze' it appears I probably would not get into the understanding the situation because it's just not me. And can excuse (up to a point) those of the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous group because that's the way things are. (OK, some do some stupid things and should know better, $1 or $1,000,000,000.) NB>> From our discussions, I'd say that neither you nor I are exactly NB>> rich, by most standards anyway... but we do have more leeway in NB>> allocating funds beyond the bare necessities, and we do tend to be NB>> more balanced in making financial decisions whether on a small scale NB>> or on a large scale, and a willingness to postpone gratification NB>> where wiser... ;) BM> Bingo! Not exactly rich, nor poor. I want/need something I can buy BM> it, but there had better be a reason for it, then I'll spend time BM> looking for the best or close-to-the-best deal: time is money! If it BM> appears $22.99 (and free shipping!) is the best price I'm not going to BM> spend time looking for a $22.95 deal. (See? My real life examples are BM> even chump change! ) NB> But it does underscore my point... being not rich, but also not NB> poor, we've developed good habits of being reasonably frugal... NB> using our resources wisely... But, when poor, there tends to be NB> a different sort of mindset... a feeling of "I should be able to NB> get it, even if I can't afford it, it just isn't fair NB> otherwise"... which is what I've been calling the entitlement NB> syndrome.... If I hadn't come up across it in various situations NB> with various people in straitened situations, I'd likely not have NB> noticed it quite so clearly.... Quite probably, and maybe I haven't been in the situation. Right now I'm thinking back to my college days and we'd sometimes do study groups at our homes. I lived in a decent apartment, two others live in trailers (now 'mobile homes').... One guy was reluctant to have us over because he lived in a semi-rundown apartment building because he didn't have much money. Essentially he 'broke down' when I said "we're friends with you, not the apartment". NB>>> I figure that DMV will send me the renewal in plenty of time, like NB>>> they always do... :) BM>> Hmm, guess they do! I don't know if the government sents BM>> out renewals for passports. IMO double-reminders are better than BM>> none! NB>> From my experience, no they don't send reminders... you are on your NB>> own for that renewal... which is why I'll need to reapply at this NB>> point... ;) BM> OK - I was pretty sure the state sent out driver's license reminders BM> but not sure about the federal reminder for passports. BTW, you'll BM> probably need a visa to accompany the passport -- seems like that was BM> starting in 2021. Two separate items; AFAIK don't need a visa until BM> making the trip; get the passport ahead of time. NB> Yeah, I heard something about that... That's actually been in NB> effect for many decades, at least for some countries... What's NB> changing, I guess, is that more countries are going to require NB> visas along with the passport... Right: off-hand don't know which countries but they have required a visa for decades. (And hence the joke 'but what about my MasterCard?'.) Not sure why the EU (European Union) will require visas, though I'd guess may have something to do with immigrants from the Mediterranean area. BM>>> Yes, they kept the balloons closer to the ground where protected from BM>>> wind gusts by the buildings. Not sure if part of Festival of Trees or BM>>> a different event around the same time but a ~10' sphere balloon -- BM>>> just round with a logo on it -- escaped. Depending on a variety of BM>>> factors like upper lever winds, air temperature and the strength of the BM>>> balloon material it could land anywhere between Illinois and New BM>>> England/New York. So if you happen to see a big white balloon with red BM>>> lettering on it...... NB>>> I'll keep my eye out for it... ;) Not that I expect it would fly NB>>> this way... more likely to skip us and land in NE... :) BM>> OK, thanks! Haven't heard if their balloon has been found yet -- BM>> might be partway to England! NB>> Could be.... or went too high and deflated over the ocean.... BM> Awwww. ;( NB> Probably you'll just never hear anything about it, but if you do, NB> tell us... ;) I'll probably end up like the news reports: vague comment to follow-up and that's the end. I think I saw a replacement balloon at the rebroadcast of the (local) Festival of Trees parade. ¯ ® ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ® ¯ @Q.COM ® ¯ ® .... I suppose there's some sort of poetic justice to this.If so,it eludes me. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .