Cop Car's Beat

Airplanes and Spaceships

From xkcd:

I guess the point is that, tomorrow, we'll be flying into hyperspace? (That's assuming that we've not already, unknowingly, done so.

From Slashdot.com

Fed Says Millennials Are Just Like Their Parents. Only Poorer (bloomberg.com) 215

Posted by msmash on Thursday November 29, 2018 @11:05AM from the closer-look dept.

Millennials, long presumed to have less interest in the nonstop consumption of goods that underpins the American economy, might not be that different after all, a new study from the Federal Reserve says. From a report: Their spending habits are a lot like the generations that came before them, they just have less money at this point in their lives, the Fed study found. The group born between 1981 and 1997 has fallen behind because many of them came of age during the financial crisis. "We find little evidence that millennial households have tastes and preference for consumption that are lower than those of earlier generations, once the effects of age, income, and a wide range of demographic characteristics are taken into account," wrote authors Christopher Kurz, Geng Li and Daniel J. Vine.

Their findings [PDF] are grounded in an analysis of spending, income, debt, net worth, and demographic factors among different generations. The conclusion that millennials aren't all that different also holds for the researchers' more granular examination of expenditures on cars, food, and housing. "It primarily is the differences in average age and then differences in average income that explain a large and important portion of the consumption wedge between millennials and other cohorts," they conclude. So much for the young folks favoring "experiences" over tangible goods.

Week in Review

Having completed a couple of rosettes for Bogie's quilt and having given Elegant Friend a reprieve from Old People's Hell, I have to admit that not much else has gotten done this week. Well...I tried making the filling to a Shaker Lemon Pie, but the lemon rinds came out so chewy that it reminded me of one of the reasons I don't cook very much: we don't care to eat the product! Just now, I've an eggplant casserole in the oven - which casserole I shall be consuming for several lunches henceforth. (Hunky Husband learned to hate eggplant when he was "forced" to eat so much of it during a business trip to Israel in the 1980s; so, count him out.)

We had a beautiful sunset last evening and, when I noticed that we were having a lovely sunrise this morning, I snapped a few photos through the kitchen window. Yes, the coloration really did shift a lot during the minute between photos. The fiery wedge of clouds in the first photo has cooled down a bit when appearing at the left hand side of the second.

Now, it's time for me to shower, dress, and get my morning walk in. If the day is as nice as yesterday (in the 30s, Fahrenheit, but sunny and little wind) I shall try to, once again, clear our front lawn and gutter of our neighbors' latest donation of tree leaves - three different leaf species from three different neighbors' trees that blew in with the gale during the weekend.

Addition of 11/29/2018 3:30pm - Info for Bogie

Polly & Becky's mom is having an estate sale this weekend (including, tomorrow). Don't know where she is going, but I sent an email to Pat Baber (since they share grandkids) asking if she knows. I would not have seen the ad in the Derby paper except your dad had noticed an ad a couple of inches below it for someone to replace Cindy (our guess) at Tender Care. I thought I'd go apply - NOT. "Applicants must have a degree in accounting, must be detail-oriented, able to multi-task and work in a fast-paced environment. Applicants should be proficient in accounts payable and receivables, QuickBooks, Microsoft and Excel." Better yet, you should apply!

Bogie's Quilt - Semifinal

While cutting out the first three blocks' worth of medallions for Bogie's quilt, I realized that, as the medallions are laid out on the fabric, all of the medallions cannot be used. Yes, I had previously mentioned that there was less room between pairs of medallions in one direction of the fabric than in the other; but, I found that the room between medallions is not constant - especially from one "hunk" of fabric to another. After cutting out eight blocks' worth of medallions (photo, below) and determining that only 2/3 of the medallions in the fabric could be cut to the measurements I wanted, I decided it was time to do a complete trial layout - rather than the four-block layout that I showed at the bottom of a previous posting.

Using Paint, I laid out blocks in what I considered to be a pleasing arrangement, observing a couple of "guidelines" that Bogie had given me to work with. Then, before having Bogie look at the rosette layout, I played with the sashing layout a little. At the end, I had three sashing options (photos, below) to present to Bogie for her consideration. (I used a "dummy" set of borders - borders can be chosen much later in the process.)

Bogie chose the first option, above, so I could have saved myself the effort of doing the other two; but, the design phase is the most fun for me, so I did not mind at all. More importantly, Bogie approved the rosette layout, as is; so, I shall be able to continue cutting pieces from medallions!

It's not all quilting.

Although I may post a bunch about quilting, that really is not the only thing I've been doing - and I have evidence to support my contention. The other day, while raking leaves from the front yard, I was careless enough to let the bin (photo, below) ride up over my heel as I was moving one load of leaves to the back yard.

A nasty bruise resulted. Hunky Husband tells me that I will live!

 

Bogie's Quilt - small progress

As previously mentioned, Bogie and I have been working (long distance) on getting the design for her quilt more-or-less "set". We are making progress. Similarly to the way I proceeded with Dudette's quilt, I have started to experiment with trial blocks. Below is the first trial block. It is very probably not what Bogie's blocks will look like, but it is a start toward her being able to make required decisions.

Through the magic of the Paint app, below is how four of the above blocks assembled together would look.

Not only does the one block's look differ from the way Bogie's final design will probably look, the assembly of four blocks is misleading, at least in regards to where I think Bogie wants to go. Not all of her rosettes will be made from the same medallion. Her rosettes won't follow the assembly used by the designer, but there will be at least three or four different medallions used in her rosettes - unless Bogie changes her mind, that is. Always her option.

As a reminder, here is how the designer's version of the quilt would look.

Addition of 11/18/2018 Noon

Bogie and I have a breakthrough. She has made a final choice on fabrics and layout, leaving only the borders up for grabs. Borders, I leave until the quilt top is nearly completely pieced together. Somehow, the looks can change too much to consider making those decisions too early.

 

 

Broken Tree

Last week at this time, we were enjoying balmy weather. Then came the deep freeze from the Arctic - down to 16 degrees Fahrenheit. During the day, Friday, it reached into the high 50s, as I recall - and stayed in the 30s that night. Saturday night was clear, so got colder, again. Last night it stayed in the low 30s. Clouds had moved in. This morning, it has stayed in the high 20s; but, look at the lovely snow we have accumulated. Tonight, it's supposed to go down into the mid-teens, again.

A few flakes are still coming down, but we don't expect significantly more snow. However, there is already enough snow that I had a bowl of snow ice cream for breakfast. At breakfast, I looked out on the above scene. Something jumped out at me: One of the trees had lost its trunk!

It occurred to me to compare today's photos with one from last Tuesday Wednesday, when JoJac's team was working here. Aha! That tree had already been compromised. (I'm not sure whether it is our tree or whether it is on The Dentist's side of the line.)

Another annual event

Our ginkgo/gingko tree did its annual strip, last night, standing perfectly nude this morning. Last year, the tree shed its leaves while they were still green - about 1/2 at a time - ending on the night of 11/9/2017. This year, as usual, the leaves are golden, and about 1/4 of them were shed the night before last. The remainder came down the night of 11/10/2018. In 2016, the tree shed on 12/1/2016.

“And I hope to God nobody else sends me any more prayers." Susan Orfanos

It seems to be an annual thing

Three years ago, I engaged JoJac's to come do cleanup and tree work in our woods, following big-time flooding of the woods. I thought it would be a one-time thing. Actually, because it was too wet to let the crew work in the woods, I re-scheduled the work and then cancelled it when Elder Brother had his first cardiac arrest and I spent a month with him. The following year (2016), the crew did come out to work and then, in 2017, they came out twice. Each time, the crew of three put in a full day's work. Final chapter - back woods shows some photos from the December 2017 work. The photo, below, shows the view of the woods (from our back porch) after the crew went home.

  


Yesterday, JoJac's crew (Benny is the crew boss) came out to take out four dead trees, cart off my accumulated brush pile (trees and limbs that I'd downed and/or picked up since last December), and transplant two black walnut saplings.

This photo (below) shows the edge of our woods as it appears, today.

One of our neighbors had expressed an interest in having some of the wood (actually, he thought he wanted it all); so, I showed Benny where to put the firewood-appropriate limbs and trunks. Our neighbor had said that he will buy a chainsaw, come over to cut the branches/trunks into firewood-length pieces, and carry them over to his own property. There is a gully between his land and ours which I did not want the crew to have to deal with or the wood could have been left on the neighbors land to start with.

When I explained the situation to Benny, he said that it would be easier for his crew to go ahead and cut the wood to fireplace length before stacking it within our woods. This (below photo) is the first stack they made, of the large branches that had, a few weeks ago, fallen from the dead tree closest to the house. (Photos at What's happening in my world?)

The photo, below, shows the second stack of wood that the crew made. I'm not sure from which tree(s) this wood came.

Extrapolating from those two stacks of wood, I could see that our whole woods would be stacked with fireplace wood. I asked Benny to go ahead and cart away the largest pieces of wood.

This (photo, below) is what JoJac's trailer looked like after they loaded the first three chunks of tree trunk (diameters are a bit over two feet). They over-filled the trailer before they left. It took two men to load each of those chunks onto a hand truck and pull it up the hill. Unfortunately, with the rain we've been getting and the new sodding along the edge of the woods, they could not take motorized vehicles back to the woods, this time. The fluorescent green on the bark is paint (originally, in the form of a large "X") that I sprayed on the trunks of the trees to be downed.

Most of the trees taken out were fairly regularly shaped, with a more-or-less circular trunk cross-section. One, however, was quite irregular. The measuring stick that I placed across the base is NOT a yard stick; it is a 4-foot stick that Hunky Husband's late father gave us.

For the first time, I had more work planned for Benny's crew than they could accomplish in one day. We will arrange for them to finish when they can work it into their schedule. In the meantime, I'll speak with our neighbor to see how much of the large tree trunks he thinks he can handle! He would need to rent a wood splitter (or become very conversant with an axe and/or wedge and maul.) Somehow, I can't picture our neighbor, the dentist, doing that. He's good at aerobic stuff (bicycling, for instance); but, he is accustomed to working with tiny tools.

Addition of 11/10/2018 - Update

Our neighbor, The Dentist (TD) came over, late this afternoon, to walk through the woods with me to see what wood we were willing for him to take (all of it!) He said that, if we could give him a little time ("Can you get it done in my lifetime?"), he would take it all - that there was no reason to have JoJac's crew come back - he would cope with the large pieces. O...K....

Here are photos of the rest of the wood we were talking about, below.

The longer wood in the stack, below, is logs from ash trees cut down last year. I told TD that he could take 'em if he wanted 'em.

 

The trunk, below, is from the tree that had the beautiful cross-section at the ground. Still, nice wood, but not as interesting.

"That's a lot of wood!", said TD. "Are you sure you won't use it?" Really? We've nothing in which to burn wood!

An hour later, he had thrown each of the pieces of wood shown in the first stack (BTW: I replaced the old photo with a better one of that first stack) over his fence into his yard, brought a steel-pipe wood rack out of his garage, and stacked the wood in it. He may be sore, tomorrow. Or not. He is young - not more than 1/2 our age. Obviously, I wouldn't be able to move.