Another telltale sign that AI is now beyond human control and is running amok.

 

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💣

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/Z@X

Empty stores and empty streets tell a tale

My instinct says that things are gonna suck for the remainder of this year and at least half of next year before our current leader decides to perk things up for the remainder of his final term in office (this "third-term" shit he is blathering makes him sound like a third-world dictatorial lunatic).

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😎

I could be wrong 

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/Z@X

NAUGHTY STONKS! BAD BAD BAD!

GO TO YOUR ROOMS WITH NO DINNER!  BAD STONKS!

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😡

NO GAINS, GUBMINT GETS NO TAX $$$

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/Z@X

STONKS!

I do it to relax and earn a few extra coins here and there.

Umm, yeah, it does make tax-time a bit more bothersome.  

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Uphill or down, the markets are always an entertaining ride.

😎

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/Z@X

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

 

I'm (hopefully) done with organizing / tabulating the calendar-year 2024 

income tax bullshit.

I'll drop it off at my tax-dude's office on Thursday and keep my fingers crossed that he finds nothing amiss and can officially file it with the gubmint.  

I may need to pay a bit more than what was withheld; I'll see what my taxpro has to say.

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ONWARD!

😎

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/Z@X

I'M BUSY WITH FEDERAL & STATE INCOME TAX BULLSHIT!

 

"DOGE" is the newest naughty-4-letter-word.

"GOVERNMENT" and "EFFICIENCY" are mutually exclusive.

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😎

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/Z@X

 

THE CELEBRITY I’M MOST MISTAKEN FOR

 

(I gotta admit that on some days I catch my reflection in a window and all I can say is “DAAAYUM!  They’re right!”

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😎

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/Z@X

Beating the Winter Blues

 

PLAN A

(IF PLAN A DOES NOT WORK, GOTO PLAN B)

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PLAN B

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😳

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/Z@X

Good Day Miss Moneypenny.

The dime is the new penny

The $10-bill is the new $1-bill

The $100-bill is the new $10-bill

Any of ya 'll out there remember the Ben Franklin 5-and-dime stores?

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😎

🎶"The times, they are inflating..."🎶

(Apologies to Bob Dylan)

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FINALLY tracked down the originator of this quote

It's often tagged on an image of James Woods but I could never find it attributed to him.

I'd add that people are divided by the cars they drive, sports teams, wealth, political parties, gated communities, ghettos, choice of beers and / or bourbons, blondes, brunettes, redheads, skinheads, etc. etc. etc.

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😎

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/Z@X

 

Winter storm warning for our area

 

READY!

Bought this two-stage blower new in 2019 and I have no regrets.  It has moved TONS of heavy slush for me.  It is far above the abilities of the single-stage blowers I bought and wore out during the prior couple of decades. 

This will be snow-season #6 (which, so far, has been unusually mild) to challenge this machine. I did a running checklist on it and everything seems fit and ready for what Mother Nature is sending this way. All the same, I hope this storm blows by us.

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😎

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/Z@X

Went to FATMAN'S for our Super Bowl dinner

The food was delicious as always. At best, the place was only half-full; apparently many folks chose to watch the Super Bowl from home.

Fatman's (named by the prior old-school bar owner who was a REALLY HUGE DUDE) has, under the new owners, evolved into a very popular local sports-bar and diner with many wide-screen TVs that are visible to all booths, tables, and the bar.  It has many outdoor dining areas for use during their spring thru autumn volleyball season.  

Anyhoo, we were there for the opening kickoff and finished eating by half-time when we decided to head back home.  Dunno who won the big game.  

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😎

It's nice to just mindlessly kickback and relax every now and again.

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/Z@X

NO SURPRISE! Many (perhaps most) folks assumed massive FRAUD back in 1981 when it first went over $1Trillion

 

The U.S. federal budget for fiscal year 2024 includes total revenues of approximately $4.9 trillion and total expenditures of about $6.8 trillion, resulting in a deficit of around $1.8 trillion. This deficit represents 6.4% of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) for that year. (source = Wiki)

Debt has to be serviced.  Care to guess how much is paid on the EXISTING debt? 

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Less fraud is a good start.

Please keep on digging!

💪

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/Z@X

One of my many fond childhood memories.

Back during my very early years in the suburbs, a bunch of neighborhood kids and I got together in a vacant lot across the street from my parent's house. We raked dry autumn leaves into a huge pile beneath a towering oak tree.  Each of us would take turns climbing as high as we dared into that big tree and then we'd jump down into the leaf-pile.  This evolved into a daredevil contest that eventually narrowed down to a tie between another kid and me. There was no possible way for either of us to climb any higher than we did, so I hollered down to the bunch of kids on the ground to set the pile of leaves afire.  Well, I jumped and the other kid in the tree didn't, and at that very moment my eye caught sight of my Mom kicking open the breezeway door of our house like some sort of female super ninja warrior. She raced across the street at an unearthly speed, faster than the rate that gravity had me falling toward the flames.  That Wonder Woman somehow covered around 50-yards in warp-speed-time and she slapped my butt a nano-second before I splashed into the inferno.  She then dragged me all the way back to our house, beating the still-smoldering seat of my pants each step of the way.

Mom would tell HER VERSION (slightly different than mine) of that story (and many other such stories) to everyone she met for the rest of her life;  “OH? You think YOUR kid is/was a problem child?  Lemme tell ya about one of MINE!"

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(Mom with her roses years after the above story)

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Mom was the very best of the best!

Ummm, let's just say that I wasn't the best behaved of her 5 sons ...

😈

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/Z@X

The countless hazards of Old Age

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I'll finish the list as soon as I remember ---

😖

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/Z@X