So when Gus ate the controller for the gas fire place and we had to get a knew one it has a thermometer. The odd thing was that the reading on it did not really match what the thermostat was set at. SO - I got out my Kestrel 2000 pro thermometer (the same one Jim Cantore uses on The Weather Channel) and did some temp testing.
It seems when our house was set at 70 degrees - the REAL temperature in the house was 65. WHAT THE F*CK. No wonder DJ was always cold. This also meant at night when it was set for 63 . . it was REALLY 58!
Electronic thermostats DO save you money I guess. Just like my old Subaru which was 3 MPH off the real speed. Probably why I never got a ticket (actually it is tens of thousands of hours on racing games - never a MOVING violation or accident . . .I don't think . . plus - I'm a law abiding citizen).
This is good to find out since we are finishing our basement and need more heat down there. Ten years in the making for this project. We didn't have enough money when we built the house (thank you GOP for freezing my poker $$ overseas for 6 months JUST when we needed it to build).
SO - it begins.
HOWEVER - there are some issues to fix before things get to far along. Remember the refrigerator leaking issue? Gotta get that floor fixed before the ceiling gets put in (we thought) so we had a guy come over and look at the dry rot and he said it MIGHT have leaked under the cabinet next to the frig so that might need to come out.
ALL RIGHTY THEN - DEMO DAY just like on the fix-it shows and I was ready to get the sledge hammer just like Chip and Joanna. YEA BABY - I'm gonna be like Chip!
Wait, what? The cabinet, it just screws out? hmmmmm - and this is why you never want to see me with a hammer in my hands.
SO for the last few days we have had worker men in the basement hammering away and pounding and so forth. Gus was fine with all of this until it sounded like 3 guys with hammers all pounding on the cross beam at the same time. Iggy is worried, Sophie is freaking and Gus is ALERT.
Then Steve comes upstairs and looks at our kitchen island (more of a peninsula actually) to see if our granite counters were broken. Luckily we do not have granite counters. He said the area under that island had sunk 1/4 inch from the island weight which made some framing of a wall problematic.
All fixed.
All fixed.
So that is my world. OH - DJs right side mirror and dumpster had a fight, dumpster won. Mirrors on newer cars cost $600 to replace. Just sayin'
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The sad news is La Tolteca closed for good in Columbus and don't even say Columbus does not support businesses. They were busy all teh time but it seems they had to close the lowest performing restaurant and because of James Street - GONE!
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https://youtu.be/CTyiysI2Kh0
Watched episode 1 of The Deuce on HBO (if you have AT&T and DIRECT TV you get Free HBO for life - sweet). It's an "X" rated series about Times Square in the 70s. Not XXX but X and it stars two of my favorite actors James Franco, Maggie Gyllenhaal (who I get to see both naked - not that I REALLY wanted too).
Lots of full frontal nudity a sex by everybody . .even Terry Bradshaw . . oops wrong show . . more on Terry next.
It's gritty story with whores, gambling, drinking, sex and everything raunchy and we could not stop watching it.
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Then there is naked Terry Bradshaw which is also raunchy and rather disconcerting and funny in the show "Better Late Then Never" and yea - it's actually good.
This is season #2, we watched Season #1 and were totally surprised that it was not as hideous as we thought it would be and actually funny.
Basically Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw, George Foreman and Jeff Dye have a vacation across Europe. These guys did not know each other before Season 1 and while many of the adventures are scripted "reality" in between there are so actually funny parts.
For instance, they are in Germany and Jeff Dye (their handler) takes them to Germany's largest park not telling them that clothing is optional. WELL they are astounded and then wonder where Terry is.
Terry is behind them buck naked except for a cowboy hat and having a great time. At one point Terry spots two clothed woman walking on a path and yells out "HI LADY'S WE'RE FROM AMERICA!! and starts waving!
The 4 stars are completely different. Winkler embrace's his celebrity-ness, Shatner wants to embrace the culture, Bradshaw just wants to drink and Foreman wants to survive. Yes - they have real anger and drink a lot and so forth but it's rather a fun ride. Seriously - check it out Monday
https://youtu.be/okpYPQBxjKs
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So ya want to move to the west and be a pot farmer - FORGET IT! The legal weed business is not for the small entrepreneur. Huge drop in cannabis prices cutting into the bottom line for one thing.
In 2014 a gram of legal gram of cannabis wholesale was about $35.00 and retail it was about $9 a gram. In 2017 a gram retail is $7.45 a gram and wholesale $2.53 a gram.
Add to it that you need some high class equipment and now cannabis is the new craft beer with hundreds of strains that do different things, some increase your productivity (sativa's), and some glue you to the couch (indica's - or in da couch).
Prices are declining, the industry is consolidating, product variety is exploding and really nobody is surprised. The book "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know.” written in 2012 has predicted everything perfectly so far. The one thing I'm not sure about is that it says midrange cannabis will be so cheap it will be given away like ketchup packs.
My feeling is that if you want to reap some rewards of the coming of cannabis explosion don't grow - sell what the growers need. Like the gold rush, the people that made millions were the ones that sold the shovels and picks. The green rush will be the ones that sell the grow lights and so forth.
Want to create jobs? Want to fund Police Departments with an extra million a year to fight real crime? Want roads and education?
Top news stories for 2017
Cannabis will be legal in Canada soon and will be exporting medical cannabis to Germany, Croatia, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Portugal and Chile and Mexico will import infused medical cannabis FROM Canada.
July 1 Nevada opens it doors for legal cannabis.
Germany is 100% medical cannabis and insurance companies now cover the cost of medical cannabis.
Mexico is now 100% legal medical cannabis.
California and Massachusetts opens legal cannabis Jan 1
Cannabis has become the goto for opioid alternative and states with legal cannabis has sen a huge drop in opioid-releated deaths.
The two stats that legalized cannabis in 2012 has seen an overwhelming success. Teen use has fallen, arrests are down by 95%. Traffic fatalities did NOT increase, Violent crim did NO increase and Washington has used it's 185 million a year to fund drug abuse education and prevention and school construction.
149,000 new jobs nationwide in the industry.
And here is the weird thing - the more conservative, the more cannabis is wanted. Cannabis has become a conservative cause.
ANYWAY - that is my take on THAT!
Then there is the NFL. Hue Jackson the coach of the Cleveland Browns is 1-30 at the moment. How does a coach get to be 1-30.
The Weather - I suppose I need to mention the weather. sigh! The warm up is still 10 days away when we can get above 20. Lots of single digits still in the forecast. I figured if we are this freaking cold, where is it warm so I checked the Short Term forecasts for the world.
Basically EVERYWHERE NOT America - it's warm. No seriously, any region that does not have America in the name is above average. South America? Cold. Europe - super warm. Asia pretty warm. Australia way above average. So yea - it's all about us. TRUMP!!!!!
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OK - nuff said - Have a great and very very cold weekend. Be careful driving.
