Tag Archives: NYC

Vitiated

Posted on by
Reply
Lupin

We live close enough to the racetrack Laguna Seca that at the end of our walk, we can see the races going on over there. This last weekend they had bicycle races there, part of the Sea Otter Open. Across the CA 68 valley, we could see the mountain bikes doing their time trials down the hill. Those events are over, and the cyclists have dispersed. I went to the grocery store and saw one woman loaded for bear, headed towards the coast. It was too soon to know, if she was headed south, along the coastal highway to LA or north towards San Francisco. She was certainly hauling enough gear to go wherever she wanted to go. On the way back from the store, I encountered another bicyclist. He was climbing the hill to the house. At 1200′ it is quite the climb. When I passed him, he was close enough to the top that I am sure that he made it. This afternoon, the roar of motorcycles could be heard across the valley. They are getting ready for this coming weekend’s event.

Hear Yee, Hear Yee, Odor in the court. This week’s long list of Donald Trump’s trials and tribulations kicked off today. At the top of this list is the beginning of his Hush Money Election Interference trial. Opening arguments began this morning. Running in parallel to this trial, at a courtroom just down the hall from the first, the NY AG has questioned the legal validity of Trump’s bond from his previous civil litigation and has sought to vitiated or reject it. Later this week there will be a hearing on Trump’s gag order and the consequences that he may face for violating it. This so-called trial of the century has churned up so many memes that talk of this gag order has been paired with rumors of Trump first falling asleep in court and then farting. Everyone loves a fart joke. Talk about a whole new spin on the gag order. Not to be outdone, SCOTUS will hold a hearing on Trump’s presidential immunity plea. There does not seem to be much chance that that will go anywhere for him. These are truly the days of wine and roses. It seems that the days that were promised are finally here.

Livin’ la Vida Loca

Posted on by
2
American Stock Exchange

Next month, my bride will be a septuagenarian and she will begin drawing on her social security. She has waited until now to begin taking this retirement benefit, much to my consternation. I quit work at 62 but waited until my full retirement age to begin receiving social security checks. I thought Anne should do the same, but she did not. Instead of beginning at 66 and 2 months, she has waited until now. We are about to enjoy the fruits of her patience. Her benefit will now be roughly the same as mine. If she had begun drawing social security at her full retirement age, her benefit would have been little more than half of mine. She will enjoy the 8½% per year raise that has been further compounded by cost-of-living increases. With inflation those have been hefty as of late. Her patience is its own reward. This new revenue stream will flip the equation on how we support ourselves. Up until now, we have primarily relied upon our savings, but going forward, social security will become the biggest contributor. These financial sea changes will roil our taxes. This last year we got burnt by poor tax planning; I hope going forward to avoid any further such consequences.