Juneteenth! [DOT 19/6/21]

19/6/21 MegMegMcGee 20

I think I mentioned yesterday that it’s about time my birthday was recognized as a national holiday. Oh, wait, that’s not it? Darn. Oh well I hope you get/got a day off, or like me at least got free municipal parking.

What’s open and closed on Friday now that Juneteenth is a federal holiday
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/17/politics/juneteenth-federal-holiday-government-shut-down/index.html

Azealia Banks: 1, Candace Owens: 0

This is a wild story. Who just shows up in a town and starts asking for money?

Powerball mystery: Someone in this tiny town won $731 million. Now everyone wants a piece of it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/powerball-jackpot-maryland-lonaconing-winner/2021/06/16/501a958c-caed-11eb-81b1-34796c7393af_story.html

If this were you, how long do you think you’d have to stay at the Waffle House? I feel like I would be out of there fairly quickly.

This made me legit LOL:

Have a great day! See you for Brain Drain at 10.

avataravataravataravataravataravataravataravataravataravatar

20 Comments

  5. Happy Birthday @MegMegMcGee! Are you doing something fun today? 
    If Waffle House has wi fi I’d have no problem hanging out. I like the food and there’s always something interesting to see. Especially in the middle of the night. 

    • Happy birthday, Meg!
       
      Waffle House story: Many years ago, my wife and I went on vacation with another couple. They wanted to drive their van. It broke down outside Macon, GA. We managed to get it to a garage off the interstate, where the local mechanic, named Cooter or similar, informed us he couldn’t get the parts for three days. There was a Holiday Inn within walking distance, so we dragged our luggage over there and got rooms. The only restaurant within walking distance was Waffle House. We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Waffle House for three days. I’ve never set foot in one since. 

  10. “Who just shows up in a town and starts asking for money?”
     
    Thousands of people. I mean, you’ve got $379 million and you can’t break me off $5K? Lottery winners are deluged with this. The winners in this article are actually taking the right steps.  I’ve probably mentioned before that I did marketing work for an investment firm that specialized in lottery winners. As a practical matter, 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt within a few years. This firm focused on helping winners invest and retain their money. Effectively handling large sums of money takes training and experience, though literally everybody thinks they can do it themselves. Dunning-Kruger. 
     
    First step was, ideally, maintaining anonymity. Many states publish the names of winners and winners need to relocate immediately. And by immediately I mean go straight to a hotel and register anonymously. It can be literally dangerous. Crowds will show up at their houses begging for handouts, and criminals and grifters come sniffing around. Even if the state maintains anonymity, people can’t resist telling their relatives and then they’re screwed. Relatives will tell everybody, even if they promised not to. The firm basically had kind of a triage team that would work with winners. There are also ways to maintain anonymity even in states that publish names if you get the right legal help before claiming the prize. 
     
    Step two. Winners need to separate themselves from their (extended) families until they’ve got a very firm handle on the money. That’s easiest if they don’t know you won (see step 1). Almost none of the winners do this. The vast majority of those bankruptcies comes from giving/loaning money to family. Oh, cousin Fred needs money or he’ll lose the bait shop. You’ll never get it back from cousin Fred, and when you’re declaring bankruptcy, he’s not going to give you a job selling bait. (This is true of successful professional athletes, too, by the way. The ones who keep their money essentially cut off their extended families and “friends.”)
     
    It’s possible to give back to the community and help people,  but writing checks isn’t the way to do it. One of the early big winners of the Florida Lottery, Sheelah Ryan, set up a charitable foundation that I think is still in existence today (she passed away) (she actually used to live in my current town). If you want to effectively give back you need to work through professionals. Handing out checks pretty much guarantees the money gets wasted, and none of those people will look out for you when the money is gone. 

  11. happy b-day!
    When I heard the news yesterday, I was talking with coworkers, and I’m both surprised it passed so easily, and almost looking forward to the ridiculous objections and renaming that will inevitably come from the various Southern and other racist states.  Like, how a bunch of states renamed MLK day “Robert E. Lee day”…
    I’d be in that waffle house for 20 hours.  I’ve got a fairly slow metabolism, and don’t eat a lot of food.  Maybe if I knew it was happening in advance, I could skip eating the day before, and maybe get that down to 18 hours, but I’d still be there too damned long…

    • …I know it says july 4th on the paperwork for the declaration but didn’t the actual vote that “declared” it happen a couple of days earlier than that?

      …I mean, if anything charlie there is saying is worth talking about then I assume that must be, too

      …no wonder he’s become a kind of meme cliché…he’s like a human-shaped incarnation of whattaboutism

  13. My company added Juneteenth to the list of paid holidays, starting 2022. 
     
    I was kinda disappointed when i joined my local nextdoor. Everyone else’s seems to be rife with racism and drama. Mine is 95% people seeking services or “I saw a fox/coyote/loose dog at X intersection” and people responding “so?” 

Leave a Reply