I was talking with a friend last night and he was asking questions about Medicare and Social Security. I told him when his full retirement age was (a year from February) and he said he wasn’t sure if he could make it that long. It’s sad that so many business decisions are made out of a fear of rocking the boat, fear of making a decision, and short-term gains.
My full retirement age is around the same time as your friend -- I’m taking my SS early. It’s a numbers game looking at how much do you get before FRA and how many years it will take before you start “losing” money based on the difference in payouts between the two dates. In my case, it works out to about 8.5 years.
It is well known that California has been among the worst-performing states in the country in terms of job growth. But the latest statistics show that nearly all jobs that are being created in California are government jobs. Between January 2022 and June 2024, total California jobs grew by about 156,000, with government jobs accounting for 96.5 percent of that growth.
Two broods of cicadas emerged at the same time -- 13 year and 17 year -- but their areas did not overlap, so for any given area, it was no different than any other cicada season.
Thanks, Paddy -- maybe I’m misremembering it -- I thought it was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event fostering huge coverage of billions of insects attacking entire cities.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime event that last happened in 2015. At an estimated rate of one million cicadas per acre, there would be billions of insects. In fact, there were estimated to be about 1 trillion cicadas, but they prefer riparian woodlands to cities. The expected overlap of areas also didn’t occur. In other words, the media once again over-played an event.
Apparently they are edible, as long as you don’t have a shellfish allergy. Keeping your pets from overeating cicadas is also, apparently, a thing.
I wonder how many devotees of the Sustainable Church of the Climate Apocalypse put their faith into action? I’m guessing the limit rapidly approaches zero.
I broke down my turkey today and roasted the neck, back, wings, and giblets with some root veggies. I’ve now got it all simmering in a stock pot with parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. I’m hoping that all this prep work will make Thanksgiving day go a lot easier.
The turkey will be cooked on the grill again, but this time broken down into parts, rather than just spatchcocked.
We’ve been up in the air about Thanksgiving this year. Friends have died or moved out of state; family has died or moved out of state. We’ve had one invitation from one friend, but we’ll pass and go to my BiL’s place -- he’s a trucker but now will be home Thursday, so a truncated meal, but it will be good for Mrs Sven to spend some time with him.
That sounds like a good plan. Just an FYI, you and Mrs. Sven are always welcome at our home. The same goes for any Gerbils who find themselves in the area.
Like the thread pic kitten, I got nuthin’.
Happy Tuesday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Sven!
I was talking with a friend last night and he was asking questions about Medicare and Social Security. I told him when his full retirement age was (a year from February) and he said he wasn’t sure if he could make it that long. It’s sad that so many business decisions are made out of a fear of rocking the boat, fear of making a decision, and short-term gains.
Hi, Paddy.
My full retirement age is around the same time as your friend -- I’m taking my SS early. It’s a numbers game looking at how much do you get before FRA and how many years it will take before you start “losing” money based on the difference in payouts between the two dates. In my case, it works out to about 8.5 years.
Why we need govt:
https://californiaglobe.com/fl/96-5-of-new-jobs-in-california-this-year-were-government-jobs/
Why, without government, we wouldn’t have any jobs at all!
It’s the GiG (Govt is Good) economy.
Wasn’t 2024 supposed to be the year of the cicada explosion? I remember a lot of hype, but no breathless news reports.
Two broods of cicadas emerged at the same time -- 13 year and 17 year -- but their areas did not overlap, so for any given area, it was no different than any other cicada season.
Thanks, Paddy -- maybe I’m misremembering it -- I thought it was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event fostering huge coverage of billions of insects attacking entire cities.
Maybe they raised taxes and the crisis was avoided. It was supposed to work on global warming, wasn’t it? Or did we give up some freedom to do it?
It was a once-in-a-lifetime event that last happened in 2015. At an estimated rate of one million cicadas per acre, there would be billions of insects. In fact, there were estimated to be about 1 trillion cicadas, but they prefer riparian woodlands to cities. The expected overlap of areas also didn’t occur. In other words, the media once again over-played an event.
That’s a lot of protein -- I hope the greenies harvested appropriately.
Per our AI overlords:
Apparently they are edible, as long as you don’t have a shellfish allergy. Keeping your pets from overeating cicadas is also, apparently, a thing.
I wonder how many devotees of the Sustainable Church of the Climate Apocalypse put their faith into action? I’m guessing the limit rapidly approaches zero.
I broke down my turkey today and roasted the neck, back, wings, and giblets with some root veggies. I’ve now got it all simmering in a stock pot with parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. I’m hoping that all this prep work will make Thanksgiving day go a lot easier.
The turkey will be cooked on the grill again, but this time broken down into parts, rather than just spatchcocked.
We’ve been up in the air about Thanksgiving this year. Friends have died or moved out of state; family has died or moved out of state. We’ve had one invitation from one friend, but we’ll pass and go to my BiL’s place -- he’s a trucker but now will be home Thursday, so a truncated meal, but it will be good for Mrs Sven to spend some time with him.
That sounds like a good plan. Just an FYI, you and Mrs. Sven are always welcome at our home. The same goes for any Gerbils who find themselves in the area.
Thank you, Paddy.
I’m not making turkey. I’m way to busy making failure.