January 10, 2015
Despite today being sunny and cold, here, with the promise of a warm-up later next week, things are looking pretty cloudy in the oil patch over the unfolding year ahead – and, sadly, what happens in the oil patch doesn’t stay in the oil patch. Here are some articles that point out the many ways that what’s happening with oil could go badly wrong.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-10/oil-drillers-bail-on-u-s-boom-idle-most-rigs-since-1991.html
http://www.dailyimpact.net/2015/01/09/the-crash-of-2015-day-9/?utm_content=bufferbf710&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer (Very doomy; not for the faint of heart)
And of course, there are other problems leaking over from last year that may have implications for our economy this year, despite all the happy news from the government.
http://www.activistpost.com/2015/01/edge-of-economic-crisis-62-percent-of.html?utm_content=bufferfd1d6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
As will our continuing economic warfare with other countries that may yet blow up in our faces. (Think Russia/Ukraine, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea and who knows how many other countries in less overt ways.)
http://www.businessinsider.com/weaponization-of-finance-eurasia-group-2015-1?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+clusterstock+%28ClusterStock%29
As will the softening of the world economy – Europe, China, Japan – not to mention the effects of the strong dollar and the promise of raising interest rates by our Fed on emerging market debt.
http://www.theautomaticearth.com/the-biggest-economic-story-going-into-2015-is-not-oil/
The world economy is too intertwined to be otherwise.
So, hopefully, having given those of you who don’t pay much attention to such things enough to get you thinking, here are my basic resolutions for the new year:
(1) Expect the worst; hope for the best
(2) As much as possible, get my ducks in a row
Fortunately, the repairs and other chores on the to-do list from last year have been done. And, in that spirit, here is the beginnings of this years list:
(1) Get that plumbing issue resolved! (This after consulting with two different plumbers, each of which thinks the other is wrong on what the problem is.)
(2) Small health issue which will hopefully be resolved by the end of the month.
(3) Start the transplants for the two gardens over February and March.
(4) Get some hooks and accessories for the newly installed pegboard panels and organize my tools so I can actually find them when I need them.
As for this winter’s activities, the three heads of cabbage growing in the back room appear to be forming heads – unlike last year’s cabbage- and I have had some small salads from the lettuce and spinach, with more to come. Small victories in the ongoing battle to be more self sufficient.
Overall, it seems to me, 2014 was the year of the Empire sawing away at its own nose to spite its face. I fear that 2015 might be the year the nose falls off, so I’m getting as ready as I am able. You might want to do something similar.
The Conflicted Doomer 
On Jan.15, 2014, I paid $3.059/gal. for gas at the Pilot truck stop East of Dallas. If someone had told me that day that I would be paying under $2.00/gal. by next year, I would have considered them totally insane. On Jan. 4, 2015, I paid $1.839/gal. at the same truck stop.
It’s always exciting to see how far out in left field I really am.
Sure wish I was closer so I could help with that plumbing problem. I don’t care much for video or card games or puzzles, but I love a good plumbing or electrical problem.
The water is supposed to be in the pipes and the smoke is supposed to stay in the wires.
That’s understandable.
This International Finance business isn’t understandable……unless you peel back the ridiculous cover stories that they put out and see the fraud for what it is.
It’s all a scam.
The Feds have been printing eighty plus billon dollars a month from out of no where for a couple of years and now the dollar is getting stronger? How’s that work?
Oh well.
Thursday morning it was 17 degrees and the lettuce in the hoop house was frozen solid. By noon it was all back to life pretty as a picture.
Spike, the pit Chihuahua, had to wear two coats that day.
Stay warm.
Hi Aubrey, thanks for the kind thought about the plumbing. Guess I’ll just try a healthy dose of liquid plumber before I spend any more money. Should have done that in the first place. 😀
Glad your lettuce survived the cold. We got down to 1 degree one night last week, with the high that day of 19, but it’s supposed to be in the mid fifties by Friday. Life on the Ozark Plateau.
Well, I hope you and Spike, the pit chihuahua, stay warm too. Scratch him behind the ears for me.
It’s become a practice between myself and my husband to spend as little time analyzing news as nothing represents a true representation of what we would once have considered anything related to anything we can comprehend as common sense. We, therefore, stick to the basics …. not knowing what your plumbing problem is – perhaps freezing pipes? In MO, always drip your water – i.e. keep it flowing a bit, when temperatures dip below 32 degrees – if frozen – you have to wait until the temperature rises and buy water. you can try and put heat tape around your pipes and it’s a good idea to get advice online, maybe? Being from Minnesota – we always “blew” the water from the pipes when cold – so the pipes were empty – and made a hose “by-pass” within the warmth of the house which solved our running problem until warmer weather. Feel free to let us know your problem and we can, perhaps, give you some advice …. which may save big bucks.
Take care, Linda. These are very strange times …. and very challenging to us with extra years on our frames…… Nadia
Hi, Nadia. Plumbing problem was a clog that caused a backup into my tub whenever the gal upstairs emptied her tub. The plumber the warranty co. sent out had me go upstairs and run water into that tub and then empty it while he watched what happened in my tub, then he went down to the basement and checked out all the pipes there where they all run into the sewer pipe, decided it was a clog in the sewer pipe and that the warranty wouldn ‘t cover it since it was outside the house, gave me a receipt for the service fee, suggested I call a sewer guy and left.
Called the sewer guy and described the situation and he said, “no, if it was in that sewer drrain pipe it would have been the toilet that backed up with sewage (which it, thankfully, did not!) and he thought it was a hair clog or something like that in the drain pipe from my tub (which the upstairs tub drain into, too. Told me to call the other plumber back, since the warranty should cover that and he didn’t want to charge me to come out, himself since I would have to pay out of pocket.
I did call the first plumber again, three times, but when he never returned my phone call the girl upstairs and I got a whole bunch of drain cleaner and put half a bottle in each of the drains upstairs and down, let it sit the required time, flushed them out (not all at once!) and then I repeated it, again, downstairs the next day.
So far, it looks like that solved the problem. (fingers crossed.) 😀
Another way I grew up was with hair traps in the sinks and tubs. Our family had 3 women with long hair – and dad insisted on it. My dad again!!!
Oh, by the way …. my Flemish father always said …. “Bishka, plan for the worst … hope for the best and always expect the worst”.. He died in 2010 at 86 and I miss him terribly. He saw so much pain in his life and, yet, managed to “pull it out” as a marvelous father in the end.
Sounds like my mom. Wise elders. May we both live up to them. ❤