Gyroscopic Investing

Maddy wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 8:29 am
Groceries have gone through the roof. Last week, I paid $6 for a bunch of organic celery and $10 for a 1.5-pound head of organic broccoli.

Maddy wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 8:29 am As for the state of the economy, .....

If there is anyone here who has a contrary view of the economy, I'd sure like to hear it. (I could use some good news.)

glennds wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 10:13 am I can't argue with most of your examples, so not necessarily a contrary view of the economy here. But since you asked for some good news, I can tell you with certainty that the price of lumber has come down significantly from the spike levels we were seeing last year and the year before. Not quite back to where it was pre-pandemic, but getting close.
Lumber is a major commodity so to me this is an indication that maybe not all the price escalations are a one way street.

Mountaineer wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 9:03 am
Maddy, my anecdotal experience is in line with yours. To me, the most important thing is that so many people expect to be taken care of by other people or the government. Playing video games is so much easier than having to work to support yourself. Sad.

On the brighter side, I do know many younger people who share the traditional view of ethics and ambition and care about others. Thank goodness for those whose mantra is not “it’s all about me”.

glennds wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 10:13 am

I can't argue with most of your examples, so not necessarily a contrary view of the economy here. But since you asked for some good news, I can tell you with certainty that the price of lumber has come down significantly from the spike levels we were seeing last year and the year before. Not quite back to where it was pre-pandemic, but getting close.
Lumber is a major commodity so to me this is an indication that maybe not all the price escalations are a one way street.

glennds wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 10:13 am
Kinda surprised you trust organic labeling to be anything more than a license to charge more. I've had more than one farmer tell me it's a scam of bureaucracy. This said, I've noticed how much better produce seems to look and taste in developing countries where mass farming is not an organized industry. Soil nutrient depletion is one example issue. So I'm a fan of farmer's markets more than organic labeling in large retail grocery stores.

* * *

I scored some spinach yesterday from a farmer's market that I used on a pizza and it was amazing how intense the taste of the spinach was compared to the grocery store, organic or not. The church of Alice Waters. I pureed some of the spinach with ricotta cheese and used it as the base, and then topped with grated mozzarella and the rest of the spinach tossed with garlic and olive oil first. Try it.

Maddy wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:39 am

Re your spinach concoction: Sounds great. When you say "the rest of the spinach tossed with garlic and olive oil first," do you mean whole-leaf (un-pureed)? Any cooking involved?

vnatale wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:31 am

Mountaineer wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 9:03 am Maddy, my anecdotal experience is in line with yours. To me, the most important thing is that so many people expect to be taken care of by other people or the government. Playing video games is so much easier than having to work to support yourself. Sad.

On the brighter side, I do know many younger people who share the traditional view of ethics and ambition and care about others. Thank goodness for those whose mantra is not “it’s all about me”.

What percentage of the many younger people would you say fall into that category and what percentage of them if into the "so many people" above?

What would the similar percentages be when you yourself were the "many younger people" age bracket?

glennds wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 12:02 pm

Maddy wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:39 am

Re your spinach concoction: Sounds great. When you say "the rest of the spinach tossed with garlic and olive oil first," do you mean whole-leaf (un-pureed)? Any cooking involved?

Yes, the remaining spinach was whole leaf. So a spinach/ricotta base, then mozz, then whole leaf spinach thrown on raw (after being tossed with garlic and olive oil) and the heat of the oven wilted/cooked it. I had extra of the spinach/ricotta mixture so dabbed it on the top before going into the oven.

Mountaineer wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 1:03 pm

vnatale wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:31 am

Mountaineer wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 9:03 am
Maddy, my anecdotal experience is in line with yours. To me, the most important thing is that so many people expect to be taken care of by other people or the government. Playing video games is so much easier than having to work to support yourself. Sad.

On the brighter side, I do know many younger people who share the traditional view of ethics and ambition and care about others. Thank goodness for those whose mantra is not “it’s all about me”.

What percentage of the many younger people would you say fall into that category and what percentage of them if into the "so many people" above?

What would the similar percentages be when you yourself were the "many younger people" age bracket?

My totally anecdotal observation:
In the small relatively rural area where my wife and I grew up (rural plus a few small towns of a couple hundred to a couple thousand people) and attended a 7-12 grade high school (500 or so kids) we knew of literally no one after graduating who did not move out of their parents home and go to work, college, trade school, get married or join the military. We knew several early teens (12-15) who had paper routes, made grocery deliveries, helped at the local gas stations, worked at the movie theater, and such; don’t think that happens much anymore. It did seem to build a strong work ethic early in life.

Currently we know of several adults in their 20-40s who still live with their parents; some have employment. I hear stories that the situation in the inner city is far worse. Percentage wise, I have no idea. We do hear stories from local restaurant and store managers who say they have a difficult time getting the help they need and that the people they do get really don’t want to work. Our daughter works in a small medical facility on the west coast. She says the physicians and RNs work hard; the MAs are another story, frequently calling out and trying to change their schedules at the last minute for “personal reasons”. She says it’s constant drama that the managers refuse to address because the potential pool to hire from is minuscule. YMMV.

DogBreath wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 3:28 pm

glennds wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 12:02 pm

Maddy wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:39 am

Re your spinach concoction: Sounds great. When you say "the rest of the spinach tossed with garlic and olive oil first," do you mean whole-leaf (un-pureed)? Any cooking involved?

Yes, the remaining spinach was whole leaf. So a spinach/ricotta base, then mozz, then whole leaf spinach thrown on raw (after being tossed with garlic and olive oil) and the heat of the oven wilted/cooked it. I had extra of the spinach/ricotta mixture so dabbed it on the top before going into the oven.

That does indeed look delicious. Did you make that crust yourself or was that some sort of store bought premade shell?

vnatale wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:31 am

Mountaineer wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 9:03 am Maddy, my anecdotal experience is in line with yours. To me, the most important thing is that so many people expect to be taken care of by other people or the government. Playing video games is so much easier than having to work to support yourself. Sad.

On the brighter side, I do know many younger people who share the traditional view of ethics and ambition and care about others. Thank goodness for those whose mantra is not “it’s all about me”.

What percentage of the many younger people would you say fall into that category and what percentage of them if into the "so many people" above?

What would the similar percentages be when you yourself were the "many younger people" age bracket?

Snowden has pointed out the real scandal [relating to the discovery of classified documents in the possession of Biden] is the DOJ’s role in suppressing the information released about the Biden documents which predate the November elections. He points out that you can be sentenced to 5 years in prison per document. Of course, you will remember California Democratic Senator Diane Finestein wanted to have Snowden charged with TREASON for revealing classified information on the internet about how the government was ILLEGALLY surveilling all Americans conducted by the National Security Agency (NSA).