Coping: When are Couples Married?

My friend Howard Hill (web site) who writes most excellent from the insider perspective on markets – having been there – sent me a note today wondering in all marriages in Texas are illegal.  Took me a couple of seconds of reading the McClatchy papers web site “Texas’ gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages” to figure out what he was talking about, but the long & short seems to be that in their zeal to make one kind of marriage illegal, the other may have been screwed up.

 

But, it raises an important question about when people are married.  Seems there are tons of definitions out there – depending on whether you’re looking at it from a governmental standpoint, a tax standpoint, common law, civil law, Church law, credit laws, and all that before you get into the basics of  (as “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” points out) being excellent to one another.

 

I hadn’t worried too much the matter of legality until reading this thing in the news today.  Now I’m wondering if Elaine and I are ‘legally’ married here in Texas.  The problem is that we were married in Victoria, British Columbia, in a park on the inner harbor with the Empress Hotel in the background. We had other ideas, but knot-tiers tend to hang out near big cities, so logistics of getting one to go climb a mountain and do the vows on a mountaintop at sunrise (which I’d thought about) wasn’t as simple.

 

You see the problem?  We’re for-sure married when we go to Canada – except in Quebec, who knows what they’re doing.  Since it’s all properly registered, I never thought any further than that…

 

But this gives me a wonderful idea for a new intrusive government operation that will create lots of government employment, justify more record-keeping, and impose more social control in the holy name of “Security”:  Maybe what’s coming is marriage police.

 

Yessir – think of it.  Thousands of ‘marriage auditors’ could be hired and that would mean a huge database – so one (or more) of those would have to be built.  Cars to get these people around to various interviews, layer upon layer of management – yes, I see perhaps 100,000 jobs directly7 and indirectly coming from this – why it’s a grand economic stimulus.

 

Not that the problem of who should be the ‘marriage police’ wouldn’t be controversial; IRS has the most skin in the game from a money standpoint, but Census has already been in nose-counting and going to people’s homes.  You saw the Census news release Wednesday?

“The U.S. Census Bureau today opened its last of three data capture centers that will process 2010 Census questionnaires as they are mailed back by households across the nation next spring. The 212,000 square-foot facility in Phoenix will bring more than 2,800 jobs to the area.

“Processing the 2010 Census questionnaires accurately and safely at the data capture centers is a crucial step to a successful census,” said Census Bureau Associate Director for Decennial Programs Arnold Jackson. “The responses from each form processed at the facility will help provide a complete count of the nation’s population and a new portrait of America.”

Which reminds me – and don’t tell anyone else this – but since we’ve got about 30-acres here, I thought we might jack up our house and move it a thousand feet from its present location after the Census is done – no clue why they would need my home’s GPS location, unless its so a SWAT team should ever need to be dispatched, or so aliens looking to harvest fat old white guys as hors d’ orderves will know where to go to harvest them…but that’s another worry.

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I suppose I’m tilting at windmills on this marriage police concept.  But since someone sent me a copy of US Patent # 6,971,031 (“National identification card system and biometric identity verification“) which is “A method and system for preventing or obstructing a person from negotiating a transaction with another person, group, or entity in a population, include verifying and crosschecking the identity of the person and the stratus of the national identification card carried by the person, as a prerequisite to negotiating or entering into a transaction such as….” and it goes on from there, perhaps I’m not just tilting, after all.

 

The concern is underscored when you watch the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions – which seems focused this week on how to co-opt the small family farms in America to hand over the reigns of food production to corpgov agribiz.

 

Of course, the senate can be expected  to take up issues like ‘food safety’ because elections are costly things and contributions from agribusiness are more than from the home average working folks.  But I’m seeing the outline of some more here:  The reinforcing of the foundations of the Command Economy – where you & I get commanded by those who we’re told are working for us.

 

There’s a great – slow motion- shift underway:  A patent issued on technology to restrict people’s right to free exchange, subtle jabs at the family farms, and on top of the so-called voluntary National Animal Identification Act…. it all sounds worrisome to me: 

 

I’ve got a terrible memory but I don’t remember the Framers of the great Constitution putting in a provision that freedom has to be so closely regulated – seems the concepts are diametrically opposed.  Then again, Elaine & I thought we were married but now….who knows?

 

Making Light of Things

A nice contributed report showed up this morning on home lighting progress made by a reader:

“I changed most of the bulbs to florescent several years ago and noticed a 1/3 drop in electric usage.

Florescent comparisons. 20w uses 3w 60w uses 13w 200w uses 40w

I went from 200w incandescent in the basement to 200w florescent which use 40w. I had to get rid of the dimmer switches. After working 2 jobs for 3 years I now have the job called “Light Switch Controller.” Telling everyone to turn off the lights or turning them off myself has resulted in 12% less electric usage and we even changed to an electric oven (gas stove with electric oven) and bought a electric dehydrator.

Then recently I changed out bulbs in multiple bulb fixtures. For example the ceiling fan with the 3, 4 or 5 bulb fixture that had all 60w florescent I changed one to a 20w and unscrewed the others only until they turned off so only the 20w is on. This works well for most applications and if we need more light just turn in as many of the other bulbs you need. I found that instead of five, 13w fluorescents (65w) we got by on one 3w most of the time, especially when you have lights on just to walk through the house. And if we needed more light we tightened one or two additional instead of all. With incandescent and dimmer switches I could adjust the light level as needed. With fluorescents the dimmable type are expensive, there are 3 way, I have one. I found the florescent light annoying at times and found myself trying to block the glare. I went through each room and hallway and looked closer at the light levels and room light needs. Initially I replaced a 60w incandescent with a 60w florescent without any though to real lighting needs. By looking closer at the lighting and replacing bulbs with smaller or combination bulbs I reduced electric consumption. This is recent so I do not have data but I can give examples. This is an example based on the changes not my real savings since the lights are not on always and sometimes more bulbs are on than at other times. Maximum wattage reduction 310w.

I bought a new bicycle this year. Courtney needed a new larger bike and we could not find her size, one we liked or what we were willing to pay. Well as a result we finally found Courtney a new bike and everyone else also. I haven’t ridden my bike often for years. It is a very nice bike but it is the racing style and was not comfortable anymore. Maybe if I rode more often I would adjust but I decided to get a more upright bike. (If you think you are still in shape try keeping up with the kids on their bikes.)

Anyway when I bought my bike I saw 1w LED for night riding, they were blinding. (Planet Bike Superflash) I was looking on eBay for the bike lights cheaper and came across 110 volt LED’s and purchased a few to try. I was impressed when I got them and have since ordered a variety more to try to better determine which size works best. They come from China and are a bit more expensive than florescent. A 50w LED uses 5w compared to the 60w florescent using 13w. There are also 1w to 2w LED’s at 21, 24, 48, 60, 72 LED. You know what I did next! I replaced the 3w florescent with the 1w LED and the 13w with the 5w. They produce a bright very white light but still have a far amount of glare unlike the dimmed incandescent. I put one 90 LED bulb on a dimmer and it works as a high low switch, only two choices. When you turn on the switch the LED lights dimmer than when the switch is all the way up but there is no variation in between. For example the light we leave lit in the bedroom once it gets dark until I go to sleep has been on since 5pm and it is now 2am. The florescent was using 3w and the led now uses 1w that’s 18w so far today. I have not received all the bulbs I ordered yet and I just received some today so the change to LED is new. The change to LED is a couple of months after the florescent change mentioned above so I will not be able to determine the difference between them. I do like them they provide adequate lighting. Last months electric bill $108, of course rates are also a factor. It will be better to determine after one year.

Let’s see if I can’t get those soda can furnaces built.

I paid for a lighting up grade at the laundry; only it was done the same day as the new dryers were installed. I was expecting $150 to $180 month saving in electric which would have paid for the upgrade but so far $0 savings. The electric bill is exactly the same. Maybe the dryers use more electric than the old ones. They have 2 motors, the old ones only had 1. If that is the case than I am saving but I do not see it.

That’s it for now.

Light controller signing out”

Very encouraging report.  I’ve been using a 48-led desk lamp for about 6-months now although the payback for the higher price means it won’t be profitable until long after I’m dead…

 

My last venture into decreasing energy use was simply turning off lights resulted in an increase in medical bills from running into things and falling down and getting stitches was more than the energy savings.  I’m hoping there’s something in the mega-long health care bill to cover “injuries due to energy saving devices” but somehow  I doubt it. 

 

Flu shot Update

I went to the doctor’s office yesterday (normal visit) and the doc asked me if I wanted a swine flu shot.  “No, thanks.”  How about a pneumonia vaccine shot?  “Pass”.  How about….and the list went on.  He finally shrugged and said something like you’re one of those if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it guys….presactly.

 

Want to see something interesting, go watch video “M.D. Retracts H1N1 Vaccine Advice after Reading Insert.”  No, this is not medical advice….viewing suggestion.

 

And Most Important of All:

Only 36 days until Christmas or 1128 days until 12/21/2012.  Depending on your outlook.

 

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Send your comments to george@ure.net

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The UrbanSurvival Mall:

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“Live on $10,000″ A Year

With another round of layoffs due to start later this month…a round which will start to axe many of the middle managers who have managed to avoid the HR grenades…might I suggest a preemptive tactical move?  Voluntarily dropping your lifestyle back a bit, since we’re all being marched down that road by either circumstances or some out-of-control-PTB types who write checks to Washington lobby and to anti-reformers in California!  A good starting point, at least if you’ve still got $10-bucks is my e-book “How to Live on #10,000 a Year…or less!”

 

 

 

It’s an automatic download.  It’s written in an information dense style: The whole thing runs about 65 pages, but it gives you a vision of how to not only live on the cheap, but also how to migrate up the economic foodchain if you have a little hustle left…  Click here for the index and details.

 

MyGroPonics

My commodity broker JB Slear and I have written a simple book to get you started on high density hydroponics.  It’s an example of how someone with a little creativity, access to a few ‘dollar stores’ and willing to try out some new farming techniques can grow an amazing amount of produce sin a very small space – like even an apartment balcony (if it gets some sunlight).  Sound interesting?  It’s just $10 bucks here…

 

       

 

Pass It On

The business model of this website is base Simply click here and send a link to this site to everyone on your distro list…Nothing more dangerous than sharp, clear-thinking upstarts who ask a lot of questions, eh?  Unless you believe WTC-7 fell over on its own, of course….

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