Fall, Selling Assets and Malfeasance

We walked today, up the big hill.  It was 49F when we left at high noon.  There was bright sunshine, very little wind blowing.  It actually would have been biking weather, but neither one of us wants to drag the mountain bikes up the stairs out of the basement, which is where they have been all summer.

I wore: Light green jacket, capilene shirt with stand up collar, black fleeced tights, ear bra, hiking hat, Marmot gloves.  I ended up being too warm, and took off the ear bra and the gloves.

Jim wore:  Undershirt, capilene shirt with stand up collar, brown shelled rain jacket, black fleeced tights, Carhart glove liners, blue Turtle fur hat.  Jim ended up too warm and took off the hat and the gloves. 

Here is Jim at the big rock.  That's a great hat, it used to be mine, but it's too small for me. 

We recently bought a new fire proof box.  We failed to adequately appreciate the interior volume, mostly focusing on if if would fit where the current card board box has been living.  It wouldn't fit, and it weighs a ton.  So, it will live on the floor.  Some items had to come out of the box, due to lack of space.  Here are two of them.  These are gold sovereigns that Jim's parents bought in London in 1977.  They had them for years, then we had them for years.  What does one do with stuff like this?  We decided to sell.  The first photo is a young Queen Victoria.

This is old Queen Victoria.

They are actually gold.  Gold is currently $1644 an ounce.  So, that was worth the drive to the coin place.  GPS sent us on the most stupid route imaginable.  We took it just to see what we would see.  First off was a giant, partially abandoned factory area.  There's no signage, I don't know who was there before.

Then there was a narrow road for awhile.

Then we drove through the Bigelow Gulch.  It has become a major arterial carrying a lot of truck traffic between North Spokane and Spokane Valley.  Apparently the plans to widen it have not been popular with the locals.

We finally reached the Coin Corner and showed them what we had.  They bought the two gold coins, four .25 carat diamonds that Jim's parents bought years ago, and that we had been carrying around for years, and a very unattractive ring that my Dad bought in Hong Kong decades ago.  The guy running the store was an amazing font of knowledge and he had a 9mm Glock on his right hip.  That always weirds me out some. Given that he's in a store full of coins, cash and other guns, I can understand his desire for personal protection.  Jim and I were both masked, which did not set off any alarm bells for him, which was interesting.

From twitter, pre-Musk, here is a picture of a Space-X launch.

The turkeys have been in the neighborhood.  They're also on the walking trails, there is a lot of turkey poop up there.

Yesterday the husband of the Speaker of the House, who is second in the line of succession to the presidency, was attacked by a hammer wielding Q-Anon, right wing wacko, MAGAT, conspiracy theorist.  Mr. Pelosi was able to successfully struggle with the intruder until the police arrived.  The intruder was yelling "Where's Nancy."  Mr. Pelosi's skull was fractured, requiring surgery, but it is expected that he will recover.  This was an assassination attempt.  What has been the republican response?  Two of them, Senator Romney and I can't remember the other one's name, expressed shock and dismay.  The rest of the party is either silent or giggling about it.  The right wing media is calling for investigations into Mr. Pelosi and calling it staged.  No one in the right wing media has expressed any concern or thoughts and prayers for him.  These people are animals, they have forfeited their right to live among civilized people.

I have voted, my vote has been accepted.  So, I've done what I can.  If you haven't, please take the time to vote.  If these people take over the government, it's going to be bad.  

Here are some random quotes from Democrats.

For every extra $1 you’re paying due to inflation, 54¢ is going right into the pockets of big corporations. Wall Street is price gouging families to earn sky-high profits, jeopardizing our entire economy in the process.  Representative Katie Porter

Just for emphasis, look at what the oil giant Shell posted yesterday: double the profits this quarter over last year at this time. Folks, it ain’t the permit shortages, supply chains, or labor shortages, it’s sheer greed.  Christine Riter

Exxon released its earnings today. You know how much they made in the third quarter? $18.7 billion in 90 days. That’s nearly triple what Exxon made last year, and the most it’s made in its 152-year history, while the rest of America is struggling. President Biden

The republicans have voted against every piece of legislation that would have helped some of these problems.  Even with a divided Senate, Biden has passed a lot of good stuff, but there is more to do, and I hope he runs again and continues the streak.

Finally, here is how Ukranian soldiers do personal hygiene.  Make sure you look under the tub.

That's it - that's all I've got!