Saturday, February 27, 2021




I liked the skull holograms in the window.

Friday, February 26, 2021

Soon, all of this will be gone like tears in rain.



I don't know how long these are going to last. I think it's going to be a short season. So I'm getting whatever I can. 

Close enough.


Because I'm an adult.


Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Explain to me how this works again?

 
The government prints a shit ton of money that clearly found it's way into housing. Then everyone screams that interest rates have to rise. 

I don't know if it's true or not, but someone I read says that 40% of all the money printed was done last year. It could be wrong.

Clearly anyone thinking this isn't a bubble is delusional. We are almost up to housing crisis highs. 

I guess there is one bright spot. Trump was finally able to achieve inflation unlike many of the others. I voted for Trump twice, but I'm super frustrated with his last year. No one can believe this continues. Right? During the housing crisis we said things that couldn't go on forever - won't. And they eventually didn't.

 

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Temporary toy.

 

It's been a couple of years since I've been in a VR headset. Even before the pandemic I had become extremely germaphobic about trying them out. And I didn't see the need to buy one -still-.

But... Mr S. is working on a project. So, I guess I get to try out one of the highest resolution headsets on the market. 

A few days ago Mr S. said - what if we like it? I've been shitting on VR for so long. Which is funny because we met at an early VR company. It's not his first project. 


Lockdowns eventually will be one of the greatest benefits to humanity. Just not in the way you think.

Working from home is not exactly a new or novel concept in The Valley. It's been a thing my whole working career. Back in the day - your company would have a T1 installed in your house depending on how important you were. Generally managers or engineers. 

Working from home had actually become pretty ingrained.... I want to say about five years ago. Maybe a little longer. I thought it was really going to stick hard then. But IBM wanted to fire some of it's older workers and started taking away their work from home privileges. You know, in an effort to get people to quit on their own.

Then you could see the wave in The Valley. Everybody started bringing their people back in. And work from home waned a bit. So when the lockdowns happened I figured we would snap back to normal pretty quickly. Because you can't underestimate managements need to feel important.

A year into this, I'm starting to believe that a substantial change is underfoot. Companies that were resistant to the work from home situation are changing because they have had a full year to see if it works or not on a large scale. Not just select important people.

But this is not technically the reason humanity will benefit. The real benefit for EVERYONE is the reduction in traffic. Before the lockdowns people were spending two hours ~each way~ in traffic. Or MORE. Life in traffic had started to be a surreal situation. It really changed you. Working a full days then having to grind it out in traffic for a couple more hours. Imagine how much better your life is if you don't have to spend all that time just sitting in a car. And this benefits everyone from the white collar engineer to the restaurant worker who lives several cities over. In a way, you get a few hours of your life back every day. And this should not be underestimated.

And none of this would have happened without a forced lockdown sadly. Companies are going to trust some people and not others for working at home. But this made it so they had to take a chance on everyone. This is why I support the ~ability~ to lockdown, but not the lockdowns. I've sort of been going along with the rest because I've seen this cycle before.

Separately, I look at the world through the lens of - the population has doubled in my lifetime, and probably will double again by the time I die. Where are we going to stick all these people? My grandfather used to tell me that the whole Valley was cherry fields. That changed in one generation.

The same transformation that has happened with malls will now happen to corporate buildings. And we need it because we aren't making more land.

Sunday, February 21, 2021

No shame in this game.

 
I only noticed this car because I know a guy that was doing this with his wheels. One side had one set, and the other side, a different set. I was never completely sure if it was for cops or not.

Do you think he gets half price on the wrap? 




Saturday, February 20, 2021

Friday, February 19, 2021

If a lie gets repeated often enough.

"On Tuesday, we noted how California and Florida have strikingly similar COVID numbers despite polar opposite approaches to dealing with the virus; Florida has remained a largely open state without mask mandates or lockdowns, while California has imposed strict lockdowns that have devastated small businesses and contributed to a national mental health crisis." Source.

I'm sick to death of people trying to score political points. Like this article from ZeroHedge and others really. It's LAZY journalism and just completely false honestly.

Anyone can go to google and see that California was OPENED August 2020. Let me help you. Just type in "California business open 2020". Even Disneyland! And stayed open until the beginning of December., 

Every time someone says we have been on "strict" lockdowns is just lying. We have NOT been on strict lockdowns since last April. Our cases accelerated BECAUSE we were not locked down, and I just hate the way people argue about this shit.

Thursday, February 18, 2021

They can't all be glamour shots.



When everybody gets tired of dragging Texas they can circle back to California. That should keep you busy all summer long because we are going into another drought.

We barely just turned green, and we are already drying out,. And I don't know what crop damage Texas had, but California isn't growing anything this year.


Masi's never make it to the blog anymore because they are too common and boring. Yes... I just said that. Snootie much? 

But the tail pipe cluster caught my eye. I don't remember that particular configuration.

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Sad for Texas.

Man,  Texas is a mess. And I'm not gloating. No one deserves that. We only give Texas shit because they are the first to give everyone else shit. But I have never seen a disaster where so many pipes burst.

They are already saying this might be their most expensive disaster. And knowing how long it takes to get things right now - that all really sucks. Texas just spun the wheel of inflation.

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Bouncing around the top.

I went through the MLS this morning because when someone you know tells you they got "stupid money" for their house - that's what you do. I estimated that he probably got 10% over asking. So I had to see how often that was happening.

It looks like a fairly recent developement. The first house I hit went for 18% over. The second house 11%, and the third house only 2%. But I've been reading about other places where the same thing is happening.

When word gets out, that is going to bring a lot of supply onto the market because everyone wants to get in on the gold rush. This will probably happen just as moratoriums are expiring. If they ever expire. I mean, I don't know how this economy works anymore.

Update - One day later more houses are showing up that went for crazy money. Hope none of these pop out because that would suuuuuuck. I don't want that to happen for that guy I know. He's going to retire and is a nice guy. He deserves some lotto money.

But it looks like everything that sold in Feb was just irrational. I saw one house go for 150 grand over.

Monday, February 15, 2021

Nothing truly matters.



If I wake up tomorrow and the market is up 250 points like the futures are right now, while all of Texas is shut down - I'm just gong to be despondent. This is hurricane level shit, and normally disruptions in the energy market don't make the market go up.. 

But I'm sure this will add 700 points to the DOW. Because why not.

Warm soapy bubbles are lulling everyone to sleep.

A guy I know just told me he sold his house for 140 grand over asking. He's moving to Paradise to snap up some of those burnt up lots. When I asked him if it felt like 2008 he just kind of gave me a blank stare. Because people always get 140 grand over asking. Said in the most sarcastic way.

I don't know when this market is going to correct, but I'm guessing it's going to be a surprise to literally everyone based on who I talk to.

I know another guy who is playing in Dogecoin. At least he was last week. I tried telling him here is nothing under this market but money printing.  I also got the same blank stare.

So yeah... there is that.

Sunday, February 14, 2021

I told you Texas is just California with humidity.

 
I'm guessing a few people who moved to Texas are regretting their decisions today.  Which is funny because aren't you guys sitting on oil or something? At least when ~our~ power goes out, it isn't freezing. 

All I know is... I don't want to hear shit from Texas the next time we have problems.


Sunday, February 07, 2021

Never speed through Fresno California.

I am pretty terrified of road trips right now because I have poor impulse control when it comes to speeding. When whole freeways of cars are doing 80 miles an hour - it doesn't take me too much to get twitchy. 10 over and you are doing 90mph. 

On roads like 1-5, everybody is doing 90 - if you aren't junked up by trucks passing. So, 10 over is 100mph. And I've gotten that ticket.

Those of us who like to speed sort of group up. We aren't racing each other as much as we are racing "with" each other. Taking turns on who is the lead car. Which isn't me anymore. Everybody else is the lead car.

But on that way back from my day trip an Audi and a Taco truck (Toyota Tacoma) were grouped up. I was doing 95 and they were totally walking away from me. I completely lost them.

About ten minutes later Waze lit up alerting about police, so I really slowed my roll. Only to find out that they got Audi guy! I'm pretty sure he got the big ticket. Oooh that's a painful one.

Sadly, I only mostly kept it under 100. So....it's not like I really trust myself to go anywhere out of the Bay Area. No one sane does 100 in the cities. 

But seriously. Never speed though Fresno. They are good at hiding. And you are going to have to hire a lawyer if you are doing over 100. Just sayin.

Saturday, February 06, 2021


I am now one full birthday cycle into the pandemic. It feels weird. You will feel it too when your birthday comes around.

Friday, February 05, 2021