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Today's ghosts

5/31/2021

For both more and less years than I'm comfortable with, I've become used to today being full of ghosts.
Normally, they're pretty comfortably quiet. The same way that friends who know there's nothing that needs to be said, but all manner of worth in being present. They hang around, watching the crowds and listening to the music. And more or less they're just there.
I've never heard them laugh in sheer joy before.
In happy reunion after happy reunion, they delighted in witnessing eyes meeting across ways, in hugs that lasted long enough to lose sense of time, in excited chatter held in for months all let out at once.
There's plenty of ugly in this world if I want to talk about it.
For that matter, plenty in my feed if I want to see more of it.
But today what I want to remember is that I went home; where I heard the joyful laughter of the ghosts.

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Hold onto your butts

5/30/2021

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That's mostly what I've been thinking lately.
This weekend begins the start of the summer tourist season in the U.S.
A lot of small towns around the country make their money for the year in the weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day, like farmers tending a crop that pays for the entire year at harvest.
That industry, and adjacent ones like hospitality and leisure, took it in the shorts last year.
The ones that survived rely on a steady supply of cheap seasonal labor, which is hard to find.
Meanwhile, we've cracked over half of American adults vaccinated, and Biden's consistent under-promising and over-delivering puts him on track to have 70% of Americans vaccinated by July 4.
Back at Wayne Manor, feds started hemming and hawing that a record 8.1 million jobs were available, but the unemployment rate actually went up a tenth of a percent.
For whatever reason you want to claim, about half of the states are opting out of federal unemployment programs early. (They were set to expire in September anyway, most states are ending their involvement sometime in June).
Not a lot of people are pointing out that this doesn't just affect the "extra" 300/week payment. It includes the program that allows gig workers to be on unemployment in the first place (they're normally unqualified for state programs).
Hrm. A large number of gig workers back on the market just as the tourist season kicks in.
Unfortunately, a good number of the real cesspits turned out to be in the restaurant industry. And while a good number of them did fail forever, almost every fast food joint with a drive-thru survived. Being able to isolate staff, prepackage food, and have minimal in-person contact was exactly what the market wanted, and they delivered.
Meanwhile, forcing grocers into disbursing "hero pay" to their employees by force of law backfired spectacularly in the areas that enacted it. Forcing people to operate in the red at gunpoint. Yeah, that'll learn 'em. Not that any of their champions are going to realize it's their fault when they start bitching about food deserts in those areas in a few years.
The other big hammer that kicks in at the end of June is when the eviction moratorium expires.
While a good move to make in the midst of a pandemic, fuckery has abounded around it.
On the one hand, at best the moratorium only prevented eviction for nonpayment of rent. Other reasons like lease violations or criminal activity on the premises were fair game. This led to the kind of Karening you'd expect.
On the other hand, there were also cases of people stimmied to the gills, more than capable of paying, saying ha ha fuck you the fed says I ain't gotta.
While I don't know how ugly it's going to get once courts start clearing the backlog, I can guarantee ugly.
I can also take a good guess that a lot of mom-and-pop landlords get out of the business entirely. It used to be that owning rentals was a decent side hustle for upper-middle-class professionals. Unfortunately, unless you were already a skilled handyperson, it was a recurring pain in the ass. And I can easily see a number of people who had been relying on these units as a supplement to pensions or such saying "Fuck you back. I'm out. Have fun dealing with the bank, jerkoff."
End of the day, I think we're going to see a big load of evictions and a lot more rental units owned by big companies. Which means a lot of people with hits on their credit report entering the market when more units are owned by folks less likely to cut you slack about such things.
Oh, and then there's the owner's market. It's looking more and more that one of the more reliable assets out there are higher-end and larger residential rental properties. Which means more companies buying houses because paying renters grant a better ROI than traditional blue chips. Especially with the volatility in the oil market, the chip shortage, and the worldwide struggle to pull out of pandemic mode.
So yeah, if you're trying to buy a house now, you're bidding against some brokerage firm, possibly multiple ones.
As for what it all means?
I think the tourist industries are going to have a good but not great season. There's enough people out there who have been cooped up with money to burn that they'll go out for the summer. But I think consumer spending's going to start going down in August as more people realize how ugly it's getting. At the same time, the chip shortage is going to make prices go up just as people don't have as much to spend on holiday retail this year, leading to a crap fourth quarter.
We might really wind up ripping the class divide wide open, resulting in a call for Biden to throw yet more spaghetti at the wall in the hopes he'll pull an FDR.
But it's just as likely we'll slowly course correct back into the hustle we spent the 2010's in, just trying to keep heads above water.
Take care of yourselves out there.

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Faire and Convention PSA

5/28/2021

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Corsetry ain't consent.

Kilts ain't consent.

Open Carry Cutlery ain't consent.

Enjoy the nice view for a deep breath or a count of three, then look somewhere else for a bit.
Going longer is staring; which is rude, creepy, and unstylish.

Any vendor you meet has spent the last year clawing their way out of a financial apocalypse and somehow still managed to come back. Don't even think about asking for a discount, haggling, or any flavor of retail Karenage.

Same goes for any performer. If you liked the bit, the show, or the tune, find the hat and act accordingly.

Before you even get there, get cash for aforesaid purposes. I know some of us are having to get used to using it again. Start and break a twenty or two before you pass through the gates.

Enjoy the weekend and the season.

Take care of yourselves out there.

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Found in some old Barbarian faire persona notes

5/21/2021

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"Barbarians have a multitude of words that loosely translate as 'friend,' with each one showing a high level of nuance denoting desired level of intimacy, trust held in the moment, and acknowledged prowess in combat. These reflect the Barbarian virtues of straightforwardness and knowing how they stand in the regard of a given individual.
The Russian word 'Comrade' devolved from the barbarian greeting 'Cumreach.' 'Cumreach' itself being a contraction of the phrase, 'Come within my sword's reach. I have no desire to kill you today.'
'Cupmate' is one of the most commonly used terms. Its nuance reflects similarity to the colloquial English term 'drinking buddy.' Implied to be pleasant company in public, but neither obligated to fight at one's side nor trusted to do much beyond avoid major public embarassment.
'Shieldmate' is one of the more focused terms. It implies one who is trusted to fight at one's side at that particular moment against that specific opponent. There are no connotations of long-term trust or any particular affection. An 'enemy of my enemy' friendship at best.
'Knifemate' is a rarely used term for a rarely found relationship. Reserved for the deepest of intimates, it physically describes one trusted with a knife at one's back in the dark. Multiple tragic sagas have been written about knifemates who did not live up to the term."

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Because some of you aren't clear on this.

5/19/2021

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One, HIPAA. It's spelled with one P and 2 A's. Stands for Health Insurance PORTABILITY and Accountability Act.

Two, HIPAA is not a law on any level. It is a compilation of federal regulations.

Three, HIPAA only applies to what are known as "covered entities." These are businesses and professionals like hospitals, doctors, medical staff, and medical records contractors that have access to medical data as a part of normal course of their business operations.

Four, you as a private individual can neither charge nor sue anyone under HIPAA. You can call the HHS office of civil rights to complain under that statute if you believe your rights have been violated. Their responses will vary. If someone from Holistic Harry's House of Insurance started selling your info on the dark web, you probably got a case. If the bouncer at Cori the Callipygean's topless bar and pizza kitchen requires you to wear a mask or otherwise prove you're not a plague rat, HHS will back them up, not you.

Take care of yourselves out there.

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Today's ghosts

Hold onto your butts

Faire and Convention PSA

Found in some old Barbarian faire persona notes

Because some of you aren't clear on this.

Jay Peterson

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Certa Bonum Certamen

Today's ghosts

Hold onto your butts

Faire and Convention PSA

Found in some old Barbarian faire persona notes

Because some of you aren't clear on this.

﻿Jay Peterson﻿

Archives

Categories

Certa Bonum Certamen

Jay Peterson