Follow Up: Following Evidence

Yes, time for a short update to yesterday’s post on Following the Evidence.

Two things happened today. First, I went down to the “new” house and did some more digging in preparation for meeting with a different attorney. My suspicions were confirmed about the door that the seller added in:

My picture was crooked, BUT you can see the bubble in the center shows that the threshold for the door IS level. BUT… when you put it on the floor near the threshold:

We’ve got some seriously uneven floor there. The ONLY way to get that door assembly level was to compensate for the uneven floor / foundation. Ergo, the seller HAD TO know that the house is sinking.

Side note; that MAY be asbestos flooring that was underneath the carpet also. Yet another thing to have checked.

We bought a tripod to put our laser level on, and assuming all was done correctly, I got some interesting readings from the various rooms of the house. The den is by far the worst area for foundation issues. There are other problem areas however. The other end of the house SEEMS to have the front corner rising and the back corner sinking. Both by just an inch or so. The entire center 1/3 of the house seems to be pretty level.

Notice I’m hedging my words here a little. The reason being is that I re-checked the wall which was in yesterday’s post, and this time it read as level. My best guess for the difference in readings is that yesterday the laser MAY have had it’s switch stuck in the ‘lock’ position, which would have kept it from self leveling.

I can’t help but wonder though, if that whole portion of the house is sinking, why is it only showing on two walls running North – South and NOT on the East – West running wall that connects to both of them? The sinking extends beyond the East-West wall by at least 15 feet, so something should be showing with it as well.

And THEN There Was The Lawyer:

Without going into a ton of particulars, this lawyer was a good deal more optimistic regarding our chances. There couldn’t be any commitments just yet, as we’d forgotten our paperwork, and he said he’d want to have a contractor that he uses look at the house to determine what he can offer expert testimony on.

So, what the case is going to come down to is what can shown that the seller at least SHOULD have had reasonable knowledge of, and therefore an obligation to disclose.

He MIGHT be able to play dumb about the termites for example. They were inside the wall. HOWEVER, a neighbor says he was warned about termites, and the seller had the carpeting up to do work, so an argument could be made that he might have seen a crack in the slab and termites.

On the other end of the spectrum, there’s the side door and the windows. I’ve already proven in this post that he had to make corrections for the foundation sinking in order to install those doors and windows correctly.

Things are also looking pretty good for building a case against the realtors and the inspectors as well.

Reality is we’re not going to know anything until Monday on the paperwork end of things. I’m delivering that in the morning. Regarding the physical condition of the house, that won’t be until Friday.

So, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. The primary question is what kind of light.

Friday Night 80s!

Back in the 90s, when I lived outside Atlanta, the local pop station (Star 94 FM) did “Friday Night 80s”; all the best fun songs from the 80s. I’m bringing it back as a little change of pace for the blog. Every Friday will have a 80’s video and song, maybe a movie clip with a song.

So, let’s start out with one that reflects where I’m at and flashes back to one of the best comedies of the 80s:

Spring Has Sprung

Well, actually it’s pretty overcast here today and supposed to rain later, but the temperatures are nicer, and the flowers are starting to bloom. I had no idea we even had daffodils in our backyard. I just walked out there a few days ago and there they were:

Devilishly Good News

In honor of my hitting 666 followers today:

Yeah, I know… I don’t know whether to cringe or celebrate, LOL…

Still, I have some good news that’s vaguely related if you’re superstitious. 😯

Lucifer was renewed for Season 6 at Netflix!

I guess this is old news for truly rabid fans of the show. Like Seasons 4 and 5, I’d heard alot of up and down about if it was going to happen. Last I’d heard, it was a no-go.

Those who have followed me carefully for any amount of time know I’m not big on evil or glorifying it, so I admit this show’s premise was hard for me to swallow when I first heard about it. HOWEVER, I loved it once I started watching. Here’s the rundown:

THE BASIC PREMISE:

The show is based on the Lucifer comic books by Vertigo (a subsidiary of DC Comics) and developed by Neil Gaiman, the creator of American Gods. Safe to say he has a strong interest in religion and myth, lol.

Anyhoo, Lucifer gets bored of ruling over Hell, and decides he needs a break. He goes to Los Angeles and opens up a Night Club there. He also frequently plays piano for the crowd, as a side note. After a murder case lands at the doorstep of his night club (named Lux), he decides police work is amusing and weasels his way into becoming a consultant for the LAPD, and gets partnered with Detective Chloe Decker.

His consulting typically takes the form of knowing shady people (who end up providing leads on cases), and being able to get people to tell him their deepest wish, OR outright scaring the literal hell out of them by showing them his true nature. Of course he’s super strong and has a few other abilities also.

The Neil Gaiman Twist: Lucifer’s Character

In order to make Lucifer a more palatable character for audiences, the writers went OLD OLD school, and reverted Lucifer from the modern boogeyman to more of a loose interpretation of old (perhaps traditional would be a better word) Judaism. Lucifer is more of a jailer and punisher who watches over Hell (or used to in this case). As he puts it “I don’t MAKE people do anything, I just punish them for it.”

The “Prosecuting Attorney” aspect of Lucifer is missing. He’s also humorously hedonistic, and self-absorbed to the point of being completely obtuse and clueless at points. He did still rebel against Heaven in the show, and has daddy issues because of it.

he actually goes to therapy also, and his counseling sessions are some of the true highlights of a show that is literally overflowing with wry, dry humor.

They were actually a little funnier in the first two seasons, when Linda thought Lucifer was speaking in metaphors about being the devil. The one below is a bit profound actually, and I suspect was Neil Gaiman’s influence / interpretation.

Season 1, Episode 6… A fairly profound counseling session after Lucifer tries to come to terms with having his self-amputated wings stolen. She doesn’t know yet that he really is THE Lucifer.

Over the course of the four seasons I’ve watched thus far, “Luci” has actually grown a bit ‘as a person’ also.

There have been a few biblical ‘guest stars’ also; Tom Welling of Smallville fame played Cain in Season 3. Cain turned out to be the big villain for the season also. At first it looked like he was a good guy operating as a LAPD Lieutenant and trying to make amends for his past sin(s). Lucifer’s “Mother” also appears, as do a few non-scripture angels and demons. THE Eve also appears in Season 4 as Lucifer’s foil, and I understand Micheal the Archangel appears in Season 5. In the show and comics, he’s Lucifer’s “twin” brother (in the comics he has blond hair and blue eyes).

The Crisis on Infinite Earths:

Probably one of the most fun scenes for fans of Lucifer and the CW Network’s lineup of DC Comics related shows was when the CW did their own version of DC’s now-legendary “Crisis on Infinite Earths” story arc. The story arc was the first reboot of the DC Comics Universe.

As the name suggests, there was a great deal of hopping between alternate realities as the heroes try to stop the threat. In the scene below, John Constantine and friends pay a visit to Lucifer looking for some assistance with the threat:

What truly makes the show Lucifer great though is more than the outstanding writing. Every on the show seems to fit PERFECTLY into their respective role and into the group dynamic of the show. Tom Ellis does a perfect job portraying Lucifer, and the same can be said for all the other actors.

I’ll be honest. IF you’re a strict “The Devil is responsible for all the world’s evil” kind of interpretation person, you’ll very likely be offended by the show. If you have a sense of humor, enjoy someone tripping over their own foibles regularly but growing SLOWLY, and understand that human misery is created by humans, you’ll likely LOVE this show.

Personally, I highly recommend it… To all my 666 followers, LOL. 😈

A Lesson in Hope and Truth:

This is something we came across a couple days ago while on a trip to the store. We had heard nothing about it ahead of time either.

It’s very hard to make out, since I was on the wrong side of the street on the way back home (I was NOT the one driving, relax), BUT what you see here is part of a group of I’d estimate 100 or so people all politely protesting.

What makes it noteworthy is that about 60% of them had Trump 2020 signs, and the other 40% had Black Lives Matter signs, and they were all intermingling peacefully, and getting along fine. I had a great view of this display while we were driving the other direction, but didn’t have time to get my phone out for pics.

The lesson(s) here: People can and are getting along fine with one another.

Trump supporters do NOT want to see all Black people killed or in chains.

Black people do NOT want to kill all conservatives or whatever.

The ONLY people telling you otherwise are the ones profiting off of the human misery and drama from that false narrative; the media and various “leaders”.

This is small town Southern America too. The media spun stereotype is that the BLM crowd should have all been lynched and dragged behind pickup trucks. Yet here they are all coexisting and getting equal amounts of honks and waves.

MAYBE *gasp* they were even Trump supporters carrying BLM signs!

I posted a story here before about how the local and Nashville media tried to spin the last big BLM protest as a violent event. I also posted pictures of protesters and cops side by side showing how that was a lie:

Everybody got along fine, but the media lied and reported violent confrontations between the police and protesters that day.

Take this as a sign of hope on this All Hallow’s Eve. The world is not nearly as far gone as the talking heads and dividers who pretend to be leaders say it is.

The “other side” isn’t your enemy either, and probably is doesn’t think too much different than you in most cases. It’s the hatemongers and their handful of unthinking extremist followers on all sides that are setting everyone against each other.

Open your eyes, look around you. You’ll see plenty of scenes like the ones above if you’re truly paying attention. Reject the narrative you’re being fed also. It’s poison.

Double Rainbows!!

Time for another Friday Fun Day post. 🙂 This one inspired by Eugenia’s similar post a few weeks back. I got lucky and was riding shotgun in the Subaru when we got our own double rainbows about a month ago now…

The second one wasn’t too bright unfortunately, but it’s there. 🙂

And the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar. 😁😁😁

Best burgers I’ve had hands down.

And Now Some Good News!

The last couple of posts have been me venting. I think it’s time to get back to posting some good news. Here are links to stories if you need something uplifting to read:

HOME DEPOT STOPS SELLING MASKS, DONATES THEM INSTEAD:

The company also said it will execute a so-called ‘Stop-Sale’ order on all N-95 face masks, and will redirect shipments to be donated to hospitals, healthcare providers and first responders around the country.

G.M. CONVERTS PLANT IN 7 DAYS TO BUILD VENTILATORS:

General Motors is working with the UAW to call in at least two dozen paid volunteers from its hourly workforce to make millions of face masks at its once-shuttered Warren Transmission plant.

COACH WHO STOPPED SCHOOL SHOOTING GETS CIVILIAN CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR:

Coach Keanon Lowe is set to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor nearly a year after his heroic efforts to stop a distraught student from using a shotgun at an Oregon high school, announced the group that grants the award.

MY PILLOW COMPANY TO MAKE FACE MASKS:

Minnesota pillow manufacturer MyPillow announced Tuesday it would make face masks to help hospitals combat the growing coronavirus pandemic.

ITALY CORONAVIRUS DEATHS TRENDING DOWNWARD:

The number of new coronavirus deaths in Italy dropped for the second straight day after a record high on Friday. Current Italy Stats Here.

GASOLINE PRICES LOWEST SINCE 2017:

This story focuses on San Diego (one of the most expensive gas markets in the US), but the same is true almost everywhere. Contrary to some reports, this is NOT Coronavirus hysteria either. It’s a price war between Russia and the Saudis flooding the market with cheap oil.

WALMART HIRING 5000 PEOPLE A DAY TO KEEP UP WITH DEMAND:

They’re not the only company either if you do a little searching online

FIRST RESPONDER SAYS CORONAVIRUS UNITING PEOPLE:

The coronavirus pandemic is uniting people in ways that one New York first-responder told Fox he hasn’t seen since the September 11 attacks.

CITIES WORLDWIDE CLAP RING & HOWL FOR FIRST RESPONDERS:

In a show of support for emergency responders, people in cities across the country are stepping outside to join in applause, or even howl together. The noise-making follows similar community action abroad. 

People and Businesses are rising up all over to meet this virus head on. We will beat this. We will take some lumps along the way, but we WILL come out OK.

Remember that stress and a positive attitude both have a real physical effect on your body and immune system. Keeping positive helps keep you healthy.

You Won’t Hear It On The News:

Yes, in the midst of all the high drama, there IS good news out there that’s barely being reported. For instance, the stock market had two nearly 100 year record gains in the last three days:

The economy is NOT going to implode, leading to the zombie apocalypse. Recovery speed is still uncertain, but recover we will.

Let me explain to readers what happened with the stock market the last few weeks.

As the virus started to spread, we had a stampede of lemmings start. It was a combination of paranoid whackadoos, automated sell orders set to occur if the trading company’s computers detected a drop, AND yes, a few savvy yet ruthless people who sold high knowing that the panic mongers would be running amok. The vast majority of it was just paranoia and automated trading systems.

When the market hit the low it did a few days ago, rich folks with available money, and those few savvy investors all jumped back into the market. There’s NO vast conspiracy here. All that’s going on here is people following the basic rule of “buy low, sell high”.

Rich people buy when something is a bargain, and sell when the price has risen and may show signs of going down.

Most middle and lower class people simply don’t take the time to learn basic economics. To be fair, it’s not all their fault either. The banks and government count on financial ignorance to get away with the things they do. It’s no accident that financial education disappeared from schools ages ago. Investment companies make everything sound overly complicated so that it’s intimidating to the average person as well.

The end result is that while wealthy people buy real estate and stocks when the prices are low, the average person sits on the sidelines scared. They wait until the price has gone up, feel like they’re missing out and then jump on the band wagon too late. Then they ride the crash all the way down, panic sell and take a loss.

That pattern leads to the uneducated person having less money to invest next time, and the educated ones having more money to apply to the whole buy low sell high pattern next time. Financial literacy is vital.

RECOVERY RATES:

Also not being mentioned in the fear monger media. As of late Wednesday, over 113,000 people have completely recovered from the coronavirus. With a known infected total of roughly 461,000 at the time of the article, that’s about 25% already recovered completely. That MSN article actually has some other fairly positive stats worth looking at.

The one stat I did extrapolate from the article which was NOT mentioned is that the death rate (20,000 out of 461,000 infected) equates to 4.3% Note the decimal point there also. That percentage is actually UP from when I first started blogging on the outbreak. It was .9% at that point. Most of that spike is occurring in Spain and Italy, as the article shows.

Pray for those folks and people in general.

My point with highlighting that stat is to counter the “it’s all a fake” crowd. This virus is NOT the 1918 Spanish Flu. It may not even turn out to be as serious as the H1N1 outbreak of 10 years ago. It IS serious though.

Saying social distancing is not needed is like the government banning… Let’s take an extreme example here and say hand grenades. THEN critics turn around and scream “See?!? Nobody died from hand grenades! This ban is stupid!”

The steps in place are working if they seem to be complete overkill. Yes, it’s a balancing act with civil rights, but individual rights have to be balanced with social responsibilities. Neither exists in a vacuum.

I’ll be blunt. With all the morbidly obese people, diabetics, people with hypertension, and other secondary conditions that make COVID-19 much more dangerous, I’m surprised we haven’t had more deaths here in the U.S.

That’s NOT a judgment BTW, just a statement of the reality that the U.S. is NOT a healthy nation. I hope people will use this mess as motivation to improve their health.