OlDawg

The Big news of the day wasn’t the Market. It was the slim passage of the budget framework—which sets up for ‘permanent’ tax reductions. I also say again: For Trump’s big plan to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., we need an emphasis on building/training a skilled workforce. We don’t have the people anymore. Crafts, skills, & trades. Let’s have some thought about incentives for people to go to trade schools like the $$$ the Ivy League schools get from the taxpayers. Redirect some of the funds going to the colleges now to some form of ‘accredited’ vocational training schools. Numbers I read are we’re already about a million skilled workers short.

Secure your online accounts. Xi will not be happy.

This. Around 40% of the country isn’t affected by market volatility investments. They don’t participate because they are barely getting by as it is. Fixed income folks—or those living on their own savings right now—are getting hit. Those on medication (typically older, but I’ve read reports that state 70% of Americans of all ages are on at least one prescription) will get an unexpected hit, and insurance costs will drastically rise if this continues very long. As a free trader, that would be my preference. I’ll settle for fair trade. I understand what is being attempted. But, I wish the tax cuts had come first. The blame between D’s, R’s, MAGA’s, Progessives is really silly. We’ve had bad policies from all sides for a long time. The U.S. began its own problem when we moved away from making stuff to simply making money from money. As a big Mike Rowe fan (and a retired engineering person), I wish we would again put more emphasis on crafts, skills, & trades vs. many of the worthless degrees kids are being suckered into now. This emphasis would help our security, economy, and individual balance sheets all the way around. We need doers. Offshoring nor AI can take away jobs that require technical support at location. JMHO

May want to read up on GLBA 1999. Heck…you can even go back to 1977, CRA & Carter to get the full story since apparently you aren’t old enough to really know how another well intentioned idea came back to bite us in the butt.

The deregulation you speak of occurred during the Clinton Administration. Fannie & Freddie were forced to make risky loans & Glass-Steagall was repealed in 1999. Clinton said it was dead and useless anyway. The Fed had to start raising interest rates to combat inflation in 2006ish, and the poop hit the fan. Then, we first heard the wonderful acronym QED. So yes. The policy changes allowed the banking industry to create predatory loans, and no one was watching the hen house any more because “it was everyone’s right to own their own home” mantra time created by new policy, and repealing safeguards. My original statement stands. This isn’t the first self-inflicted recession. (If it even becomes one. Won’t know for a few quarters per definition.) And, we know the outcome of a recession. No one wins. You should get off the idea that when I say ‘liberal policies’ it necessarily means Dems. A policy is a policy. Reps have liberal policies sometimes as well. I should’ve given you a clue what I think about political parties & the role of government in our lives with my earlier post.

This is actually untrue on both counts. Liberal policies that attempted to allow everyone to buy a house were the major contributing factor to the global meltdown & global recession in 2008. I’m not a D or R as they’re opposite sides of the same coin. Government rarely does anything well when it meddles with the economy. Regardless of elephant or ass.

Have you ever been to a game at La Porte before? If not, just be aware the LP crowd can get kinda feisty! LOL

As a retiree living on my own savings without a retirement pension, the recent volatility is concerning. But, all is not lost. Your mandatory distributions can be reinvested--if you choose/can--and many dividend aristocrat stocks are now on the cheap. You can also pick up some very solid REIT’s at good rates right now. Interest rates are coming down. Gas is getting cheaper. There are some trade-offs. No one likes to see their investments lose ground. But, people who scream for major pay raises and jobs always forget that higher wages and better jobs create higher costs. Many have gotten used to having basically 'slave labor' producers with safety issues and living conditions they would never work or live under producing our cheap goods. I would rather pay less and make more also. But, we're on an unsustainable path. Something has to change. As a conservative libertarian--for lack of a better description--I'm not a fan of tariffs or currency manipulation. But, it will never stop. It can only be minimized. We'll have to wait a little to see if any of these actions help. For perspective sake, my investments are still up almost 8% even with the recent sell-offs over the last 10 years. If you have a fairly balanced portfolio, yours should be somewhat similar. Remember, the Dow closed above 16,000 for the first time ever November 21, 2013. Barely 10 years ago. At close Friday, even after the large losses, it closed at 38,314. Roughly 2.5x growth. Perspective. Don't let the fear-mongers get you. You say you've been investing for 40 years. The market was around 5,000. You're still way ahead of the game.

One thing about 9-5A. Whoever makes the PO’s gets a pretty much free ride to the Area Rd. Has to be the easiest first round matchup besides Pasadena schools in the Region.

Any tidbits? It's getting really late...

LP would have to win a coin flip for Area Round or Regional Semi's. We play 12-5A Bi-District. Next realignment may make some changes for a possible district game again though. Doubtful if predistrict is possible since PO's are a distinct possibility.

In a district with this many new staffs, after the top 2, it's really all a guessing game to me. This district is kind of wide open. I'm giving BH the benefit of the doubt because of the young talent I saw in the PO game last year. But, it may even be rough for them in the beginning. Should be interesting.

Tried to look up some numbers for capacity. Of course, there are usually some design changes as the project progresses. But, I saw where there were supposed to be 500 more seats than old Bulldog. Numbers for seating (without Press Box, Viewing Deck, and possible allowable overflow by Fire Marshall using Concourse viewing) seem to range from 9,000-10,000. Not sure if any viewing will be allowed from Development Center deck during sold out games or not. Should be enough seating for most events, but not feel empty because of oversizing. Spring game is May 14. So, I'll try to go and get some pics. Being told the bands/drill teams will sit on the horseshoe sections where the direct field viewing is all for paying fans. Also being told all the technology is set up for broadcasting even better than LPSportsnet now, and the video screen is definitely jumbo sized. There's a rumor that LPSportsnet may partner with Texan Live--but still provide all the camera work, commentary & audio/visuals. Don't know truth of the rumor right now. The cameras now don't do the size and scope of everything justice when seen in real life. If you've been to the Bulldog Centre for volleyball, basketball just due east of the stadium, you can kind of see the size difference, and Bulldog Centre isn't small at all. It's like a college arena complex. The Board and Administration said they--as always--try to have the best facilities possible since they know many will not move on to college facilities, and they want the experience to be as good as it can be at LPHS for those that don't participate in activities at a higher level. Now all we need is approval for DQ delivery via drone. Or, just have a DQ pickup counter in the stadium since it would still be fresh from the 5 minute walk. 😁

Been told seating is the same (10,000) because it had to fit in the same footprint. District didn’t want to buy more land. Prudent move. The horseshoe allows for the bigger/UIL regulation track setups and press box while keeping the seating the same. I think it’s a pretty unique setup for a high school stadium. I really like it as well.

Finishing touches are starting to go on... New, quick drone video from press box angle. [Hidden Content]

Haven't seen a peep on this one yet. Any word?

Not a BH person, but I always thought BH was pretty well prepared when they played La Porte. Just wasn't a good matchup for them against a very physical, smash mouth team. They seemed to do really well against more finesse type teams. They always had a pretty balanced attack. I liked it for their style of play. I don't think there's a team currently in 9-5A that plays a style matchup that will give Lufkin unusual problems with the style game that's called. I'd go Lufkin, PAM, BH--in that order--with 4th a toss-up at this early stage.

Are there normally this many late changes in the coaching ranks? Seems like quite a few are happening pretty late into Spring this year... My imagination, or more than normal?

Enjoyed the broadcast. Thanks!

Found it. Had totally forgotten. Sent you a message. Back to the regularly scheduled, way too late coaching moves that just screwed up a year’s worth of eligibility for some young men. 😁

I guess so. Who was the FB I’m forgetting? We ran the full bone then. I’m forgetting someone… I’ll have to dig up my old yearbooks.

Didn’t know they’d done that. That’s a shame. Guess it got too old to repair. Kinda like me. Ha!

Before I went into the Service, I was a WSII (water safety instructor instructor—one of two in SE Texas), and taught lifeguards & Water Safety Instructors at the pool at REL. Used to be one of the better indoor pools I could use in partnership with Red Cross in the area. Trained the first group of lifeguards for Waterworld/Astroworld there.

Haven’t been there in years. But, Snowflake used to be on the northbound side in an old white rundown place that looked like an old drive up joint. You had to know where it was because it was kinda back from the highway and looked like a real dive. Maybe across from the old Bonanza? When TSO was still on Texas. Used to get my glasses there. Used to go to Snowflake just for their humongous apple friitters. Best fritters I ever ate & hard to eat one by yourself.

Reminds me of a funny time we took my grandmother (she was in her 70’s at the time) to a hamburger joint on old 146 kinda across from Snowflake. We tried to order her a hamburger—but, they called them gander burgers there. We almost died laughing because she kept saying she didn’t want a duck burger. She just wanted a plain old hamburger. LOL Don’t remember the name of the place. But, they were good burgers. It’s been decades back.