I got an email saying that I had suddenly got a charge on my credit card and wanting to know if it was me that did it.

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t me, my replacement card I got a few months ago after the old one expired is sitting on the little cabinet I use for a catch all that was my Dads and it is still unsigned and still has the sticker on it with the phone number to activate it on it.

I hate credit cards.

So I clicked on the link to dispute it and find that no, there is no charge there and Fuck You Very Much for scaring the shit out of me first thing in the morning.

There was a little message at the top of the screen saying that the people in this country who have ONE, credit card, owe over $7,000 on it.

Good Lord, these people are fucked.

I did a Credit Karma check on my credit and found this.

All zeroes.

Just the way I like it.

Other than the monthly bills, I don’t owe anybody anything.

I can thank The Wifely Unit for that.

She is very frugal, pays our bills on time every month and gets on my ass constantly about spending money.

She pretty much has to, I am allergic to the stuff.

Although I’m pretty sure she carries a balance on hers.

When the Scandemic hit and I got laid off and they were sending an extra $600 for unemployment, she took that extra money and paid everything off instead of us just blowing the money on a new flat screen like some people.

I have used my credit card twice since then and paid it off at the end of the month both times.

They hate my ass because I don’t use it and have had 5 other accounts close for non use since then.

The current state of the economy is killing people, especially people with kids and especially people with teenagers who will eat you out of house and home because they are growing so fast.

Grocery bills are starting to equal what I used to buy junker cars for and drive away in.

I would love to retire but there is no way we can afford that right now. Inflation is killing everyone.

Still, having zero debt is going to go a long freaking way as the economy continues to shit the bed and roll around in it.

Update;

Dammit. Here I was bragging about not owing anybody anything…

I just remembered I owe those fucking doctors $2400 for the recent Endoscopy and Colonoscopy.

I just paid those medical bills off in June, another $2400, to catch up from LAST YEAR!

That’s why I couldn’t afford the $850 for Hosting fees.

So I am actually in the hole for that and am making payments on it every month.

Completely forgot about that until just a minute ago.

Even better, now the Vascular surgeon wants an EKG from the Cardiologist I have seen one time almost a year ago and yet another Cat Scan, which hits me in the ass for $1500 a pop, before she does surgery on me. Hopefully, fingers fucking crossed, that will happen in late October, early November.

So I’m not as debt free as I thought.

Shit.

I received your envelope yesterday. I couldn’t find an Email address for you so I am posting this to let you know I got it and to say Thank You Very Much!

I would also like to thank each and every one of you for your donations. I started a new bank account just for that and am still waiting on a new debit card for it so I can use it for the hosting outfit when I go to renew.

So far as near as I can figure, there should be enough to pay for THREE years of hosting when all I was trying to do was to get enough to pay for one.

I just wanted to let you know that this debit card is all I am waiting for at this point plus a chat with the hosting company to see what kind of deal they will give me for a three year renewal instead of just one.

Your unbelievable generosity has rocked me back on my heels and it starts getting dusty at the thought of just how many of you answered the call and how many of you went way above and beyond.

This will be a done deal probably some time next week and I just wanted everyone to know what is going on there.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart,

Phil@ Bustednuckles.com.

I would feel naked if this was all I had in my pockets.

It’s crazy How much crap I lug around in my pockets every day.

The front pockets have two sets of keys, a bunch of change, a 4 inch crescent wrench, 2 mini flashlights, at least 1 but usually 2 razor knives, various nuts, screws, electrical connectors etc., at least 1 but sometimes 2 Bic lighters and this is just an average day.

The left hand back pocket has my cell phone and also often at least 1 shop rag hanging out.

The right back pocket has my wallet, at least 1 but right now 2, 6 inch crescent wenches and a 5 inch pair of Knipex Cobra adjustable pliers.

I also usually wear some kind of jacket or hoodie until the temperature hits 75 at a minimum and there is usually a full size 4 In 1 screwdriver, a pack of smokes, a 4 inch flashlight plus a small Klein 4 in 1 pocket screwdriver. Sometimes there is a 1/2 used roll of electrical tape and a few more nuts, screws and electrical connectors.

Add all that shit up and it starts getting heavy. Heavy enough that my elastic suspenders are crying their eyes out trying to keep my pants from falling around my ankles.

It’s a huge relief to come home at the end of the day and unload all that crap onto the little cabinet next to my recliner.

This cracked me up.

And it rhymes with SEASON

@wallstreetapes

The US Government has started an investigation into BlackRock after BlackRock was exposed for investing $429,000,000 into the Chinese military Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna sold $130k of BlackRock stock just 4 months before the investigation How did he know? Insider trading.

I have covered this subject before but the idiots hating on this guy don’t know what the fuck they are talking about and he proves it.

This is my personal favorite that is out in one of my tool boxes,

It is one handy little sumbitch to have.

And this country is losing it an alarming rate.

Sure this meme is tongue in cheek, implying that the guy is about to go around some safety protocol but the underlying message is that he knows how things actually work.

The outfit I work at now and the last place I worked at, both being perfect examples of what I am driving at.

Out of all the maintenance people at both places, the youngest guy was fifty years old.

The last place, the oldest guy finally retired at 76!

For two years before he finally said Enough, I kept telling the managers that they needed to find some young guy and tether him to the hip of the old guy so he could save some of the knowledge the old dude had.

Over and over I warned them that the old guy knew that plant inside and out and when he left, all that knowledge was going to go with him.

This was a very specialized industry and no joke, it took YEARS to get even half way competent. High pressure gas systems, high voltage electrical systems, high heat/pressure vessels, all kinds of very dangerous equipment and very strict safety measures to keep form blowing the entire plant and a half square mile of neighborhood from getting blown to Smithereens.

Did they listen?

Hell no.

Even worse, when the Plandemic hit, they started whittling down their maintenance team. At the end when me and my biddy got shit canned, when we left, they had gone from 16 maintenance guys, down to 4.

You can not tell me that they weren’t pencil whipping all of the calibrations and required maintenance schedules at that point because we could barely keep up with all of it with 16 people. That plant was running 24/7 and now I believe they are down to 2 shifts Monday through Friday.

They literally had permanent job opening ads in several outlets and could not get anyone to even apply.

The outfit I work at now has the same aging maintenance team issues and they also refuse to see the writing on the wall.

I am the oldest of 3 guys. The next guy is 60 and the youngest is a guy I worked with at the other place. He is 50.

This place also runs 24/7, with just 3 guys on Dayshift to keep the joint running. They rely heavily on outside vendors and extra Millwrights when things break down.

Somehow they justify this great expense instead of hiring a full time guy to pick up the slack.

When I was first hired, it was with the expectation that I would move to Swing Shift after a few months and every once in a while they bring that up.

It isn’t safe for one guy to work by himself and they kinda know that if they split up the Dayshift crew they have now that they will be fucked.

But they still refuse to hire just one more guy.

I’m sure it’s like that all over this country and they are cutting their own throats over the cost of one guy’s salary and benefits, when they wind up paying six times that amount to outside help.

It’s hard for me to have any sympathy for this behavior and when I finally go, they are losing forty five years of mechanical repair experience. Apparently they think experienced maintenance people area dime a dozen.

The here and now reality is, all us old farts who have that experience are either retiring from the work force or are falling over dead and there isn’t anyone coming up behind us in large numbers.

The Airline industry and the Automotive industry are already suffering this shortage of experienced people and this DEI bullshit is already getting people killed.

Frankly, I don’t see any good solutions on the horizon.

I think the late, great George Carlin saw this coming a few decades ago and said it best,

They are getting exactly what they wanted and they are going to reap what they have sown.

On purpose.

I fucking love memes.

I’m always looking for new ones, the nastier the better.

Not sex nasty, vicious, cut like a knife, sick humor nasty.

Especially the political ones.

Ya gotta be quick.

I think this is what the younger generations are calling “Based”.

Anybody wanna take bets on how long that transmission lasts?

Update: this is what Phil is referring too, my two trailers…

A jaw dropping new worlds record longest putt,

Oh you know this is going to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court but the fact that a judge actually ruled the ban Unconstitutional under the 2nd Amendment has to have the ATF and every Gun Grabber in the country absolutely shitting rings around themselves!

Watch, I’m not pulling your leg.

Btw, you should be following and watching William Kirk’s videos on Youtube to stay informed of what is going on in the legal world when it comes to our firearms and the scumbags who keep trying to take them away.

He’s a good dude.

And this was completely unthinkable just yesterday!