ancona
Praying Mantis
So this week started out pretty weird, what with the .Gov shutdown and all, then it proceeded to get absolutely surreal. It seems that these federal workers who just came off a two week paid vacation have decided to take out their apparent anger and frustration on all of us contractors because you know…..it’s all our fault and everything, so let’s make them squirm. I got a shitty e-mail that also went to half the people on the planet, directing me to have all of my submittal documents prepared by the end of next week for full review by engineering and environmental. Keeping in mind that we have only just been awarded a lot of this work and are not even under contract yet. These asswipes are all torqued up to have us fall out of the sky on these projects and they appear to be pulling out the stops to make it happen come hell or high water. Ordinarily we have thirty days to prepare documents for submission, then engineering and environmental reviews take a minimum of 21 days. After that, there is a PAK meeting [project kick-off], a meeting of mutual understanding to go over contract terms, a “partnering meeting”, where we sit around eating hors ‘d oeuvres and agreeing to play nice with each other, a nuts-and-bolts meeting and a pre-construction meeting [pre-con]. This time it looks like we’re going straight to the pre-con and starting work in a few weeks. I’ve never seen this before. Our initial plan with the largest project was to lay down a bit on paperwork submission, use all the time allotment, then stretch out the NTP until after Christmas, since the holidays suck the motivation out of everyone.
We absolutely do not want to start this monster before Christmas, so we’re going to start the whole thing by throwing the yellow flag on the play and calling foul. I sure hope it works, because to have this paperwork completed and turned in by next week is impossible.
On the local front, the house next door continues to deteriorate each week, as neither the “owner/broker" nor the real estate agent want to lift a finger to do a damn thing to the property. The “grass” in the back yard is chest high now and the front yard just a bit shorter. There are now scrubby bushes throughout the yard since it hasn’t been cut in something approaching forever. We have tried and tried to get the county to do something about this damn eyesore, but no banana’s. I’ve gone to code enforcement, which is all over people giving them fines for having accumulated water in flower pots because it promotes mosquito population growth, but they have yet to respond to what in real estate terms is a very real, attractive nuisance. The windows are broken out, the copper wires stripped out, the septic tank lid is smashed in as is the gray water tank lid. The walls inside are moldy and the place has become a petri dish with a whole rainbow of colors as the mold flourishes inside this wide-open nightmare. Meanwhile, my property sits in stark contrast, losing value each and every week this shit-hole sits vacant. Multiple offers have been rebuffed, since each successive owner believes they will be able to extort thirty five or forty grand from some sucker or another. The local miscreants have taken to use it as a place to go and do drugs, so it’s probably a matter of time before someone finds a dead body inside. What makes it all so aggravating is the fact that I helped install the ceramic tiles throughout the house and put in a very nice, completely updated bathroom. Now, it’s a total loss.
A lesser man would have arranged for a clear-air lightning strike a long time ago.
The world-wide monetary subterfuge is threatening to become real and in the forefront, as China continues to forge economic agreements which eliminate the need for dollars in transactions and replaces it with the Yuan. Our arrogance has come back to bite us in the ass, possibly for the last time. We’ve used up our credibility and pushed the world one time too many, so the world is quietly fighting back with the best tool they can use; economics. The days of dollar hegemony are coming to a close, although I don’t see us going down without a fight. I believe the one thing keeping China from going all in is the sheer volume of dollars in the world. Until recently, China has kept the Yuan strictly at home, buying foreign currencies to do business in other nations. Recently however, they have struck large monetary accords which require use of Yuan in transactions, something that appears to be working. The strength of the Chinese currency is obviously tied to world consumption of their goods and services, so if we really wanted to we could collapse the dollar, and with it all demand. While it would inflict untold pain upon our people and indeed, the entire world, it would also destroy China in one fell swoop. This material fact has not escaped the planners in China, who are buying up the worlds resources with their dollar reserves [bonds] like a plague of locusts in a cornfield.
It feels a lot like the end-game is in play, only there’s no chatter, no discussion, and seemingly anyway, no fear. When this blows sky high no one will have seen it coming and no one will go to jail [again]. We’ll all be completely on our own, and those who were in the know will be sitting in their chalet sipping 40 year old scotch bitching about how hard it is to get any decent steaks anymore. By doing absolutely nothing in ’08, and by allowing these fuck masters get away with trillions of dollars of loot with little more than a few billion dollar wrist slaps, we have assured our ultimate destruction. Justice delayed is justice denied. Those who have savings will be bailed-in and destroyed. Those who have nothing will starve. Whether by design or by simple benign greed, the outcome is assured already, it really is just a matter of time.
I guess I should be happy that summer finally broke and it’s a lot cooler and drier these afternoons. The oranges are ripening on the tree and the winter garden is in full swing. We’ll be canning by Christmas and should have a hell of a harvest. The mother hen that sat on a turkey egg is doing a fine job with the turkey chick and at this point, she still doesn’t realize it’s not her chick, but that doesn’t matter to her and she takes on all comers when they come around to check out the baby. It really is pretty funny to watch. In a month the turkey will be bigger than the hen!
I am going to sit back, and to the extent possible anyway, watch it all unfold in third person. We’ve “installed” all the “insulation” we could and set ourselves up for the worst, so I guess anything better than the worst is a bonus at this point.
Milder than usual but nevertheless, sorry about the rant.
We absolutely do not want to start this monster before Christmas, so we’re going to start the whole thing by throwing the yellow flag on the play and calling foul. I sure hope it works, because to have this paperwork completed and turned in by next week is impossible.
On the local front, the house next door continues to deteriorate each week, as neither the “owner/broker" nor the real estate agent want to lift a finger to do a damn thing to the property. The “grass” in the back yard is chest high now and the front yard just a bit shorter. There are now scrubby bushes throughout the yard since it hasn’t been cut in something approaching forever. We have tried and tried to get the county to do something about this damn eyesore, but no banana’s. I’ve gone to code enforcement, which is all over people giving them fines for having accumulated water in flower pots because it promotes mosquito population growth, but they have yet to respond to what in real estate terms is a very real, attractive nuisance. The windows are broken out, the copper wires stripped out, the septic tank lid is smashed in as is the gray water tank lid. The walls inside are moldy and the place has become a petri dish with a whole rainbow of colors as the mold flourishes inside this wide-open nightmare. Meanwhile, my property sits in stark contrast, losing value each and every week this shit-hole sits vacant. Multiple offers have been rebuffed, since each successive owner believes they will be able to extort thirty five or forty grand from some sucker or another. The local miscreants have taken to use it as a place to go and do drugs, so it’s probably a matter of time before someone finds a dead body inside. What makes it all so aggravating is the fact that I helped install the ceramic tiles throughout the house and put in a very nice, completely updated bathroom. Now, it’s a total loss.
A lesser man would have arranged for a clear-air lightning strike a long time ago.
The world-wide monetary subterfuge is threatening to become real and in the forefront, as China continues to forge economic agreements which eliminate the need for dollars in transactions and replaces it with the Yuan. Our arrogance has come back to bite us in the ass, possibly for the last time. We’ve used up our credibility and pushed the world one time too many, so the world is quietly fighting back with the best tool they can use; economics. The days of dollar hegemony are coming to a close, although I don’t see us going down without a fight. I believe the one thing keeping China from going all in is the sheer volume of dollars in the world. Until recently, China has kept the Yuan strictly at home, buying foreign currencies to do business in other nations. Recently however, they have struck large monetary accords which require use of Yuan in transactions, something that appears to be working. The strength of the Chinese currency is obviously tied to world consumption of their goods and services, so if we really wanted to we could collapse the dollar, and with it all demand. While it would inflict untold pain upon our people and indeed, the entire world, it would also destroy China in one fell swoop. This material fact has not escaped the planners in China, who are buying up the worlds resources with their dollar reserves [bonds] like a plague of locusts in a cornfield.
It feels a lot like the end-game is in play, only there’s no chatter, no discussion, and seemingly anyway, no fear. When this blows sky high no one will have seen it coming and no one will go to jail [again]. We’ll all be completely on our own, and those who were in the know will be sitting in their chalet sipping 40 year old scotch bitching about how hard it is to get any decent steaks anymore. By doing absolutely nothing in ’08, and by allowing these fuck masters get away with trillions of dollars of loot with little more than a few billion dollar wrist slaps, we have assured our ultimate destruction. Justice delayed is justice denied. Those who have savings will be bailed-in and destroyed. Those who have nothing will starve. Whether by design or by simple benign greed, the outcome is assured already, it really is just a matter of time.
I guess I should be happy that summer finally broke and it’s a lot cooler and drier these afternoons. The oranges are ripening on the tree and the winter garden is in full swing. We’ll be canning by Christmas and should have a hell of a harvest. The mother hen that sat on a turkey egg is doing a fine job with the turkey chick and at this point, she still doesn’t realize it’s not her chick, but that doesn’t matter to her and she takes on all comers when they come around to check out the baby. It really is pretty funny to watch. In a month the turkey will be bigger than the hen!
I am going to sit back, and to the extent possible anyway, watch it all unfold in third person. We’ve “installed” all the “insulation” we could and set ourselves up for the worst, so I guess anything better than the worst is a bonus at this point.
Milder than usual but nevertheless, sorry about the rant.
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