I read an article this morning, “Housing is now unaffordable for a record half of all US renters, study finds.” Then this afternoon, I found out we had someone living in a tent just down and across the road from the barndo! Rain for days doesn’t make for comfortable living conditions, but the fog sure helps hide you.
I feel horrible for people that don’t have a warm place to sleep… BUT…
I’m also not a fan of strangers just secretly setting up and living where they’ve not been invited. The property owners weren’t happy about it either, and they don’t even live out here yet. They’ve cleared the ground and put in a driveway preparing to build their dream home. In the meantime, the town police had to do an eviction notice.
They waited for him to load his stuff and dropped him off at a truck stop in neighboring Seymour. But then what?
According to a 1/25/24 report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, US homelessness rates hit a record high last year. There aren’t enough houses; rent has gone up; and federal housing subsidies are chronically underfunded. And we have a few migrants. 😏
Sure, the solution to prevent homelessness is affordable housing, but it will have to be large corporations or the government providing them. Even in Jackson County, Indiana, you can expect to pay at least $2500 a year in property taxes for a non-owner occupied house — add insurance and it’s at least $350/m before you figure in repairs, upkeep, profitability and a mortgage payment if you still owe on the property. (Yes… I KNOW from experience!)
It’s a crisis and it keeps getting worse. 🙁
Now you know: The original LEGO building bricks were based off a building toy made by British company Kiddicraft in 1947. LEGO started selling their redesigned version in 1949. In the late ’50s LEGO contacted Kiddicraft to ask if they objected to LEGO bricks. They did not, and wished LEGO good luck with them.
You know how you talk to yourself in your head? It’s ok, everybody does it! The act of talking to your own mind goes by many names. Some call it internal dialog or internal monologue, while others refer to it as self-talk. It’s basically how you reflect, deliberate or ponder just about everything.
I wonder if dogs do it too only in barks and grunts.
Maybe I should READ books instead of listening to them.
I’ve often said that I prefer to listen to books rather than sitting down to read them. That way, I have something to occupy my mind when I’m cleaning house or cooking a meal.
I consumed my latest audio book over a shorter time period because the weather outside is atrocious. (It was ZERO degrees when I woke up this morning.) The entire book was narrated by a woman with a British accent, so her dialect was pumped into my subconscious for multiple hours.
Imagine my surprise when my self-talk voice was me sounding all British! Yup — it’s true. Stuck at home during this cold weather snap might be driving me a bit mad. 🤪
Now you know: David Bowie was born David Jones. When starting out, Davy Jones of The Monkees was already famous and so he had to choose a different stage name. His first choice was Tom Jones.
Just as no two fingerprints are alike, our quirks, passions, and perspectives form patterns that belong to no one else.
Your home should tell the story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love.
NATE BERKUS
My home says that…
I love big dogs and candles. I’m far from fancy… more classic and less modern. I’m organized and don’t like things out of place.
No matter what room you walk into here, those things remain consistent.
It doesn’t matter if you have the home of your dreams or rent an apartment, right?
For example, my dining room table is there because Katie needed to get rid of it — not because it’s one I’d pick out or even like. (I don’t.) If I purchased a new one tomorrow it wouldn’t be fancy; it would still have a candle resting on it; and it would be a comfortable place for a family meal. It would still say the same things about me.
I’m sure you can think of other homes you been in that you simply loved. For example, I love the table and chairs at my favorite brother’s house — and love the living room too. I even think his doggos are cute. But conversational sofas, little white dogs, and gold flecked chairs are not me, for sure.
So now, what about you?
Take a look around. What does your home and the collections you love say about you?
Now you know: In 2010, officials in Tokyo went to congratulate the oldest man in the city, Sogen Kato, on his 111th birthday, but instead found his skeletal remains on his bed. He’d been dead for 30 years but his family had kept it secret to continue collecting his pension money.
You’ll notice whatifitdid.com is sporting different colors and a little different layout. Before I started, I did some digging around about blogs/journaling to see what type of lifestyle blogs people look for. Crazy, but this site gets a decent number of hits, (significantly more than my favorite brother’s business blog that he pushes across social media), and I’ve never understood why.
Currently, people visit blogs/journals on the following in order of popularity: 1. food 2. fashion & beauty 3: health and fitness 4. lifestyle 5. travel 6. photography
I guess I throw a bit of everything in there except there’s no fashion and beauty around here, for sure! I did find a food blog I liked during my search (other than the ads). It’s https://julieblanner.com/.
I must be feeling creative lately!
I’ve already tackled a 365 day project (one post every single day for a year), and I did one sunset a week photo on shelleyerwin.com (you can see those here) in 2023. So now what?
I haven’t decided yet, but it’s time to get the party started.
The only thing I know for sure is it won’t be a self-portrait a week project. 🙂
And tonight I will be in front of the TV at 9:00 PM ET.
Casey Anthony’s trial (accused of killing her daughter Caylee) was in 2011. I thought the jury got it wrong. Tonight is a special on A&E that I don’t want to miss. George and Cindy (Casey’s parents) are taking lie detector tests. OoOooOo!
Watching the preview, I’m not sure if I’m more worried about George or Cindy. OR if I’m most worried about how I’m going to watch it since nothing I have carries A&E. ARG!
Now you know: JAXA (Japanese NASA) tests astronaut candidates by making them fold a thousand origami cranes. This helps determine how the person deals with boring, repetitive tasks and time constraints.
The ole’ wood boiler is keeping us warm and our water HOT. It’s just chuggin’ away out there all alone with temps hovering just above freezing as we plan to ring in the new year tonight.
We don’t have party plans this year. Not sure if that’s because I’m too old to enjoy it anymore, or if it’s because Perry’s been spending all his waking hours at his store. At least he’s off tomorrow (as it stands right now) and his big plan is to smoke a ham with cherry glaze in his new Pit Boss.
Photos are sure to follow tomorrow.
The Pesky Neighbors will be here to eat but I’m willing to bet $100 bucks they won’t be here at midnight. I’ll be surprised if they don’t head out soon after dark.
2023 was a great year for the most part.
As we stand at this intersection between the past and the future, let’s carry the wisdom of yesterday into the promise of tomorrow, embracing the chapters yet to unfold.
(How’s that for a flowery way to say our country hasn’t yet imploded and Biden only has 386 days left in office?) 🙂
Now you know: In the 1890s, the U.S. government created the Alaska Reindeer Service in an attempt to persuade Alaskan natives to become reindeer herders. Reindeer were imported from Siberia, and Sami herders were brought from Norway to teach the Alaskan natives.
