Category: Lifestyle

Say Wut?

Lifestyle, Real Estate

Seems as though a few areas in the U.S. have seen large growth in real estate values since the Covid thing.  Mostly, it should be said, this is because property in the area was relatively inexpensive — i.e. the growth is off a low base.  Some of the towns, though, are inexplicable.

Top 10 cities and how much the value of their homes has increased since 2019:

  1. Knoxville, TN – +86% — I’d live there
  2. Fayetteville, AR – +84.5% — low base
  3. Charleston, SC – +81.3% — I’d live there
  4. Scranton, PA – +78.4% — inexplicable;  shit hole
  5. Syracuse, NY – +77.6% — inexplicable;  shit hole
  6. Portland, ME – +75.7% — I’d live there
  7. Rochester, NY – +75.2% — inexplicable;  shit hole
  8. New Haven, CT – +73.8% — expensive became more expensive
  9. Charlotte, NC – +73.1% — sorry, nope
  10. Chattanooga, TN – +72.9% — low base, but I’d live there.

See any on the list where you’d care to live?  Your comments are welcome.

Followup Thought

Deep Thoughts, Lifestyle, Technology

…to the above QOTD:  I wonder whether this irritation towards the modern world’s increasing (and likely over-) complexity is just a generational thing?

I have no idea as to the age of the commenter in this case, but I know that this disenchantment and hankering after a simpler life seems fairly common among people of my age, for the simple reason that it’s a common factor of life among my friends and, lest we forget, Readers of this here website.

But do the various “Gen” types feel the same way?  I mean, we Olde Pharttes can remember (a bit) how much earlier times were less complicated and simpler.  But in the case of Teh Youngins, are they even aware that life can be simpler, given that all they’ve ever experienced is Smartphones, the Internet, self-drive cars and refrigerators that can tell you when you’re running low on milk?

And considering that most Millennials, let alone the Gen X/Y/Z tribe don’t know how to change a flat tire, cook a meal from scratch and drive a stick shift, would they embrace a simpler world when so much of their daily life is smoothed by technology?

I suspect not, for the same reason that people of my generation would have no idea how to drive a horse-drawn carriage or be able to transmit a telegraph message in Morse code.

So our final few years of life on this planet seem doomed to be techno-centric instead of simple.  What joy awaits us.

Transplanted

Lifestyle

This story (ordinarily the type I’d ignore) really struck a chord with me:

I decided, four years ago, to leave London, selling the flat I owned in Dalston and moving to Somerset.

The life I’d been building in London evaporated and I felt broken. The country seemed to offer a gentle place where I could retreat, lick my wounds and start again. After all, the countryside is where I had always been happy. Or so I told myself.

Of course, the reality blew a ten-foot hole in that dream, because of course life in the country isn’t as idyllic as it’s often painted.  Read the thing for the details.

Anyway, the reason why this silly woman’s article interested me is that I’m a little like her (minus the foolishness).

I’ve often thought about finding a small place out in the boonies — “small” in country terms, i.e. just large enough to where I could make a short .22 range where I could bang away for hours on end without disturbing the neighbors — but of course there are several factors which have always stopped me from doing just that.

The first is that I’m a city boy by inclination.  I mean, most of my life has been spent in the ‘burbs, but the times when I’ve really enjoyed my life was when I lived in downtown Johannesburg and Chicago, and spent lengthy periods in places like London or Vienna.  I liked having a dizzying choice of places to eat out and drink, the movie houses and auditoriums, the shops which sold pretty much anything I needed (outside the gun world, of course), and even art galleries:  all within walking distance of my living room.  For that, I was prepared to put up with the noise of the city, the proximity of neighbors and all the things which would drive other people away.

Likewise when I’ve traveled abroad, I’ve always preferred to stay in the great cities (London, Paris and so on) over the small countryside towns.  Then again, it must be said that I really enjoyed living out in rural Hardy Country at Mr. Free Market’s country estate as well — probably the first time in my life that I’ve properly lived out in the sticks.

I have no illusions about living in the city, because I’ve been there and done that, on two continents.  Also, having spent half a year out in the company of The Englishman and Mr. Free Market, I have no illusions there too — although it must also be said that the Brits do a good job of making their small towns very livable, as anyone who’s ever been to places like Marlborough or Devizes will attest.

So while I often ask myself the question:  if you won the lottery, where would you spend most of your time?  the answer is probably “close to or actually in a city” more than “out in a country retreat”.

If for some reason I did choose the country option, however, I know I’d make a better job of it than the stupid woman who wrote that article.

Sad Trend

Bad News, Lifestyle

I read this article with a great sense of sadness:

Founded in 1759 by the pioneering Josiah Wedgwood, the housewares brand quickly rose to prominence, earning fans in high places. Its elegant, often hand-painted china was used in Buckingham Palace, the White House, the Vatican, and even the Kremlin.

But fast forward to today, and once-prized porcelain pieces that were lovingly gifted at weddings, and saved for anniversaries and Christmas dinners are gathering dust, or worse, going for pennies on online marketplaces. 

The sparkle has well and truly faded for the formal dining crockery, pieces that once fetched hundreds of pounds are now struggling to sell at car boot sales, with some saying they can’t even ‘give the sets away’.

Why?

Expert and prolific author on ceramics and glass, John Sandon, who makes regular appearances on the BBC Antiques Roadshow, revealed the decline in demand for traditional porcelain is less about quality and more about shifting cultural attitudes. He told the Daily Mail: “Most people consider their best china and family inherited crockery is ‘old fashioned’, whatever that means. Most old sets are regarded as impractical for everyday use, and very, very few people want to use them.”

Reflecting on changing attitudes toward inherited tableware, John noted the growing disconnect between sustainability messages and modern family preferences. He added: “The much quoted ‘Antiques are Green’ message has tried to emphasise that old china sets are the ultimate recyclables. And Granny’s china sets should be used. But most modern families don’t want to.”

Highlighting the gap between appreciation and practicality, John pointed out that admiration for antique ceramics doesn’t always translate into everyday use.

“Not using your old china tea services and fruit sets is nothing to do with the reason people choose plain white from Ikea and The Range instead of very expensive Wedgwood.”

One of my abiding regrets about emigrating was that I couldn’t bring over my (inherited) dinnerware with me.  What was it?

It was Wedgwood Signet Platinum, and it was the classiest, most elegant dinnerware ever.

At dinner parties, even my rowdy, uncouth friends would comment on how lovely it looked, and how it set off the meal perfectly.

It’s profoundly sad, but not altogether surprising, that people nowadays would rather use cheap shit from Ikea or Walmart than bother to put out a decent table setting for their guests.  I guess that utility wins over style and grace.

I think I’ll go and eat some worms.  Off a paper plate.

So That’s What I’ve Got

Health, Lifestyle

This article caught my eye a while back:

Harry Judd’s wife Izzy has claimed that one of their children suffers from what some experts describe as ‘pathological demand avoidance’ – a controversial behaviour pattern said to make even simple requests, such as tidying their room or saying please and thank you, trigger anxiety.

I have no idea who the Judds are — some obscure Brit celebrities, I guess — but reading that sentence would have made my mother go “AHA!”

If “pathological demand avoidance” could also be described as a hostile (and sometimes even violent) attitude towards authority figures, then oh boy:  that would describe me perfectly.  There’s an old English expression that my former housemaster actually used to describe my attitude:  “He’s always kicking against the pricks.”  (Look it up;  it’s quite funny.)

The only thing that sets me aside from the kid above would be the fact that if said authority figure has earned my respect, then the process will sometimes become easier (for them).  The only problem is that my respect is seldom given, to just about anyone and anything.  And by “anything”, I mean conventions, rules, regulations and even — on occasion — laws, if they make no sense.

My attitude is probably the cause of at least a third of the problems I’ve experienced during my lifetime (my love of women is about half, and I couldn’t be bothered trying to think of what constitutes the balance).

Anyway, whenever the occasion presents itself and I stand accused of willful disobedience / outright rebellion,  I can now just trot out the excuse that I’m not a stubborn and disobedient asshole;  I just suffer from this “pathological demand avoidance (PDA)” thing, and claim victim status.

No I won’t.  What a load of old bullshit.

Next thing you’ll be seeing one of those foul Big Pharma TV ads that features — guess what — a pill that promises to alleviate PDA (at $400 per pill, no doubt), as long as you don’t mind the side-effects that include eventual cessation of heart function, a 90% risk of cancer and toenails that grow six inches per hour, in no specific order, and you should talk to your doctor to make sure that Rebyniflorbitylhexacholate (brand name:  Rebate) is right for you.

In case anyone missed it, I am NOT in a good mood today and I’m going to go for my personal cure for the condition:  a couple hours at the range.  Fortunately, the range I call home has few if any range safety nazis, because nothing gets up my nose like some 19-year-old wanker wearing a SIG 320 in a plastic holster telling me about range safety as though my 60-years-plus experience with handling Teh Dangerous Guns doesn’t mean anything.  That doesn’t “trigger” anxiety, but rage.

Bloody hell, I get irritable just thinking about it.

Lifestyle Choices

Food & Drink, Lifestyle

From some Spanish chick SOTI about her country’s lifestyle:

‘Everything slows down in the afternoon heat. Between 2pm and 5pm, shops close, streets empty, and we like to rest up.

‘Embrace our slower afternoons and you’ll have more energy to enjoy dinner the Spanish way; late, leisurely, and alfresco at 10pm.’

I have to say that when I went to Chile — where they have the same outlook — I grew to love that way of doing things.  Granted, it’s not the best business practice, and you can mock it all you want, but it sure as hell is more restful.  I loved that when we Americanos  went out for dinner at 7pm, we found most restaurants still closed or at best staffed only with people cleaning the place.  Two hours later and there’d be a queue of hungry Chileans with their families waiting for a table.  Then after the meal — which would end at about 10.30pm — the streets were filled with people strolling about the streets, or going home.  Bedtime, I would guess, was no earlier than 11pm, maybe later.

Small wonder that their workday only begins after 9am.

One of the worst aspects of our Murkin work ethic is that nonsense about eating lunch at your desk.  Apart from being a filthy habit — sauces and crumbs scattered all over the place — it denies the necessity of taking a break from work. When I was working for Big Corporations, I never had a lunch break of less than an hour, unless there was a deadline looming in which case I just didn’t eat at all and worked through lunchtime.  But those situations were few and far between, because I planned my workload efficiently to account for a long lunch.  I might have worked late — sometimes past midnight — but only during crunch times.

Over Here?  Don’t ask.  Work, work work, even for a shitty wage, and annual vacations that are totally inadequate for allowing people to take a proper break from the grind.  Ten working days / two weeks?  What a load of crock.  Whenever I hear about some asshole saying proudly that he hasn’t taken a break from work for ten years, I want to kick his ass.

And we wonder why some people burn out.

I don’t want to hear that our relentless work ethic is what makes our economy the powerhouse that it is.  What causes that is not the number of hours we work, but how efficiently we work.  (Europeans and Latin Americans are the worst:  they work less time and only at about 60% of our efficiency, so it’s small wonder their economies lag behind ours.)  There must be a happy medium somewhere between Euro sloth and American drive, and we should try to find it.

To quote the best summary ever:  Nobody ever lay on his deathbed wishing he’d spent more time at the office.