https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322

Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses
are hard pressed between sharp increases of rents and
utilities (beyond freight, product, payroll increases).
--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 10:29:53 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
> https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322
>
> Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses
> are hard pressed between sharp increases of rents and
> utilities (beyond freight, product, payroll increases).

The Brown and Gavin Loathsome strikes again. I could add the Biden inflation but then the mentally ill six would start crying that the largest inflation in 49 years is just a coincidence and that Trump was worse. Lets see what Poland Kragowski has to say about things when his retirement pay from a university won't cover his expenses. I have been moved into nice safe government bonds that will maintain my net worth and suspend any taxes that all of the sick six will be paying.l

On Sat, 3 Sep 2022 12:07:58 -0700 (PDT), Tom Kunich
<cyclintom@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 10:29:53 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
>> https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322
>>
>> Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses
>> are hard pressed between sharp increases of rents and
>> utilities (beyond freight, product, payroll increases).
>
>The Brown and Gavin Loathsome strikes again. I could add the Biden inflation but then the mentally ill six would start crying that the largest inflation in 49 years is just a coincidence and that Trump was worse. Lets see what Poland Kragowski has to say about things when his retirement pay from a university won't cover his expenses. I have been moved into nice safe government bonds that will maintain my net worth and suspend any taxes that all of the sick six will be paying.l

An impressive change of topic, from bicycle stores having to deal with
rent and cost increases, to your personal financial problems. I
should turn you in to Andre for rehabilitation.

I read "I have been moved into nice safe government bonds..." to mean
that someone took almost all your savings and invested it all into
something that produces a modest, but stable income stream. Is that
the financial advisor you've previously mentioned?

See:
<https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DGS10>
(Click on 5Y)
The graph is a few months out of date. Today's rate is 3.19%:
<https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates-bonds/government-bonds/us>
On the graph, notice how 10 year bond interest rates were on the rise
when Trump took office in 2018, continued to rise for about 1 year,
and then proceeded to slide downward through the end of his term in
2022. Nobody invests in a government that can't be trusted. Also
notice how interest started to climb again when Biden took office in
2022.

Very astute of you to buy bonds when the interest rate is rising,
which locks you into a potentially low fixed interest rate.

You could buy TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities), but then
the interest on a 10 year bond is currently only 0.72%.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272 http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Sat, 03 Sep 2022 14:16:01 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:

>On Sat, 3 Sep 2022 12:07:58 -0700 (PDT), Tom Kunich
><cyclintom@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 10:29:53 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
>>> https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322
>>>
>>> Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses
>>> are hard pressed between sharp increases of rents and
>>> utilities (beyond freight, product, payroll increases).
>>
>>The Brown and Gavin Loathsome strikes again. I could add the Biden inflation but then the mentally ill six would start crying that the largest inflation in 49 years is just a coincidence and that Trump was worse. Lets see what Poland Kragowski has to say about things when his retirement pay from a university won't cover his expenses. I have been moved into nice safe government bonds that will maintain my net worth and suspend any taxes that all of the sick six will be paying.l
>
>An impressive change of topic, from bicycle stores having to deal with
>rent and cost increases, to your personal financial problems. I
>should turn you in to Andre for rehabilitation.
>
>I read "I have been moved into nice safe government bonds..." to mean
>that someone took almost all your savings and invested it all into
>something that produces a modest, but stable income stream. Is that
>the financial advisor you've previously mentioned?
>
>See:
><https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DGS10>
>(Click on 5Y)
>The graph is a few months out of date. Today's rate is 3.19%:
><https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates-bonds/government-bonds/us>
>On the graph, notice how 10 year bond interest rates were on the rise
>when Trump took office in 2018, continued to rise for about 1 year,
>and then proceeded to slide downward through the end of his term in
>2022. Nobody invests in a government that can't be trusted. Also
>notice how interest started to climb again when Biden took office in
>2022.
>
>Very astute of you to buy bonds when the interest rate is rising,
>which locks you into a potentially low fixed interest rate.
>
>You could buy TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities), but then
>the interest on a 10 year bond is currently only 0.72%.

Well, lets see. The inflation rate for 2022, thru August was, I read
some 8.5%
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi

And Tommy states that
"moved into nice safe government bonds that will maintain my net
worth".

While I only did a fast reconnoiter I see "government bonds" might be
as high as 6%, one assumes annually.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mf/analysis/high-tax-payers-can-lock-into-tax-free-bonds-earn-more-than-bank-fds/articleshow/92399013.cms?from=mdr
It is difficult to see how a bond paying 6% over a 12 month period can
compete with a 8.5% inflation over 8 month period rate.

If you simplify it the bond pays 1/2% a month and the inflation is
1.06%/month (and yes I do know about interest works but I don't want
to confuse Tommy with a lot of numbers)

So, while Tommy's "net worth" in dollar terms may actually increase
his "net worth" in purchasing power is slipping backward at a pretty
fair rate.

--
Cheers,

John B.

On 9/3/2022 1:29 PM, AMuzi wrote:
> https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322
>
> Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses are hard
> pressed between sharp increases of rents and utilities (beyond freight,
> product, payroll increases).

The free market can be hell. So can survival of the fittest.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On Sun, 04 Sep 2022 06:59:48 +0700, John B. <slocombjb@gmail.com>
wrote:

>While I only did a fast reconnoiter I see "government bonds" might be
>as high as 6%, one assumes annually.
>https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mf/analysis/high-tax-payers-can-lock-into-tax-free-bonds-earn-more-than-bank-fds/articleshow/92399013.cms?from=mdr

Careful. That article refers to financial conditions in India, not
the USA.

I'm trying to decode this article on 9.62% US Treasury Bonds:

"People Are Snatching Up Treasury I Bonds Paying 9.62 Percent"
<https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/budgeting/treasury-bonds-treasury-notes-news.htm>

The stock market starts to drop and the article suggests that everyone
should switch to high yield Treasure Bonds. Ok, but where does the
9.62% rate come from? Apparently, they are "Series I Savings Bonds":
<https://www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/research/indepth/ibonds/res_ibonds.htm>
Kinda looks like the 9.62% is not for a Treasury Bond or Note.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272 http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 2:08:00 PM UTC-5, cycl...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 10:29:53 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
> > https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322
> >
> > Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses
> > are hard pressed between sharp increases of rents and
> > utilities (beyond freight, product, payroll increases).
> The Brown and Gavin Loathsome strikes again. I could add the Biden inflation but then the mentally ill six would start crying that the largest inflation in 49 years is just a coincidence and that Trump was worse. Lets see what Poland Kragowski has to say about things when his retirement pay from a university won't cover his expenses. I have been moved into nice safe government bonds that will maintain my net worth and suspend any taxes that all of the sick six will be paying.l

As Jeff pointed out, Federal Treasury bonds are 3% right now. And state bonds would be about 2% right now. As for suspending taxes, do you Tommy even understand how this works? Probably not. If you buy Federal bonds, you pay zero state income taxes on the interest. But you do pay federal taxes on the interest. And if you buy state bonds, you pay zero federal taxes on the interest. But you do pay state income taxes. They are not tax free from both federal and state taxes. Do you even understand this Tommy? And as John pointed out, you are really losing on net worth because inflation is higher than your return. Prices go up 8% and you gain 3%. You Tommy lose 5%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now as to the rent going up on the bike shop. Yes. House prices have been skyrocketing for years now. Everyone, homeowners anyway, loved it. Everyone was rich rich rich. And along with home prices going up, I suspect commercial real estate prices went up too. And almost certainly rents went up too. I want to pay the same price for a bike I did 20 years ago. And I want to pay the same price for a car I did 20 years ago. And I want to buy an Apple iPhone for the same price I paid 20 years ago, And I want to pay the same price for a TV I did 20 years ago. Wiat!!!!! Wait!!!!! Wait!!!!! Cut that one out. TVs are cheaper today than they were 20 years ago and far better and more high tech. Bad example. Most things go up in price over time. And a few things go down in price. Rent for businesses usually goes up. Minimum wage also used to be $3.35 an hour long ago when I worked for minimum wage. Now its an astronomical $7.25 per hour.

On Sat, 3 Sep 2022 22:20:13 -0700 (PDT), "russellseaton1@yahoo.com"
<ritzannaseaton@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 2:08:00 PM UTC-5, cycl...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 10:29:53 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
>> > https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322
>> >
>> > Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses
>> > are hard pressed between sharp increases of rents and
>> > utilities (beyond freight, product, payroll increases).
>> The Brown and Gavin Loathsome strikes again. I could add the Biden inflation but then the mentally ill six would start crying that the largest inflation in 49 years is just a coincidence and that Trump was worse. Lets see what Poland Kragowski has to say about things when his retirement pay from a university won't cover his expenses. I have been moved into nice safe government bonds that will maintain my net worth and suspend any taxes that all of the sick six will be paying.l
>
>As Jeff pointed out, Federal Treasury bonds are 3% right now. And state bonds would be about 2% right now. As for suspending taxes, do you Tommy even understand how this works? Probably not. If you buy Federal bonds, you pay zero state income taxes on the interest. But you do pay federal taxes on the interest. And if you buy state bonds, you pay zero federal taxes on the interest. But you do pay state income taxes. They are not tax free from both federal and state taxes. Do you even understand this Tommy? And as John pointed out, you are really losing on net worth because inflation is higher than your return. Prices go up 8% and you gain 3%. You Tommy lose 5%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
>Now as to the rent going up on the bike shop. Yes. House prices have been skyrocketing for years now. Everyone, homeowners anyway, loved it. Everyone was rich rich rich. And along with home prices going up, I suspect commercial real estate prices went up too. And almost certainly rents went up too. I want to pay the same price for a bike I did 20 years ago. And I want to pay the same price for a car I did 20 years ago. And I want to buy an Apple iPhone for the same price I paid 20 years ago, And I want to pay the same price for a TV I did 20 years ago. Wiat!!!!! Wait!!!!! Wait!!!!! Cut that one out. TVs are cheaper today than they were 20 years ago and far better and more high tech. Bad example. Most things go up in price over time. And a few things go down in price. Rent for businesses usually goes up. Minimum wage also used to be $3.35 an hour long ago when I worked for minimum wage. Now its an astronomical $7.25 per hour.

The interesting thins about Tommy's finances is that when he got
married he mentioned something about having to be very careful
otherwise his wife would lose her Social Security.

At another time he announced that his investments had made (I think it
was) $200,000 one month.

The question is does a guy who's investments are making $200,000 a
month worry about Social Security?

Frank never mentions Social Security. Andrew never mentions Social
Security. In fact nobody here, except Tommy, mentions Social Security.

Does this mean that everybody's investments are making $200,000 a
month?

Except for mine (:-(

--
Cheers,

John B.

On 9/4/2022 12:20 AM, russellseaton1@yahoo.com wrote:
> On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 2:08:00 PM UTC-5, cycl...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 10:29:53 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
>>> https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322
>>>
>>> Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses
>>> are hard pressed between sharp increases of rents and
>>> utilities (beyond freight, product, payroll increases).
>> The Brown and Gavin Loathsome strikes again. I could add the Biden inflation but then the mentally ill six would start crying that the largest inflation in 49 years is just a coincidence and that Trump was worse. Lets see what Poland Kragowski has to say about things when his retirement pay from a university won't cover his expenses. I have been moved into nice safe government bonds that will maintain my net worth and suspend any taxes that all of the sick six will be paying.l
>
> As Jeff pointed out, Federal Treasury bonds are 3% right now. And state bonds would be about 2% right now. As for suspending taxes, do you Tommy even understand how this works? Probably not. If you buy Federal bonds, you pay zero state income taxes on the interest. But you do pay federal taxes on the interest. And if you buy state bonds, you pay zero federal taxes on the interest. But you do pay state income taxes. They are not tax free from both federal and state taxes. Do you even understand this Tommy? And as John pointed out, you are really losing on net worth because inflation is higher than your return. Prices go up 8% and you gain 3%. You Tommy lose 5%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Now as to the rent going up on the bike shop. Yes. House prices have been skyrocketing for years now. Everyone, homeowners anyway, loved it. Everyone was rich rich rich. And along with home prices going up, I suspect commercial real estate prices went up too. And almost certainly rents went up too. I want to pay the same price for a bike I did 20 years ago. And I want to pay the same price for a car I did 20 years ago. And I want to buy an Apple iPhone for the same price I paid 20 years ago, And I want to pay the same price for a TV I did 20 years ago. Wiat!!!!! Wait!!!!! Wait!!!!! Cut that one out. TVs are cheaper today than they were 20 years ago and far better and more high tech. Bad example. Most things go up in price over time. And a few things go down in price. Rent for businesses usually goes up. Minimum wage also used to be $3.35 an hour long ago when I worked for minimum wage. Now its an astronomical $7.25 per hour.
>

The most significant effect of which is to prevent the least
capable, least experienced people at the margin from any
work whatsoever. Minimum wage laws are pernicious and
morally wrong.

--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On 9/4/2022 10:06 AM, AMuzi wrote:
> On 9/4/2022 12:20 AM, russellseaton1@yahoo.com wrote:
>>
>> Minimum wage also used to be $3.35 an hour long ago when I worked for
>> minimum wage.  Now its an astronomical $7.25 per hour.
>>
>
> The most significant effect of which is to prevent the least capable,
> least experienced people at the margin from any work whatsoever. Minimum
> wage laws are pernicious and morally wrong.

I'm curious. What does The Yellow Jersey bike shop pay its lowliest
employee? IOW, what's the actual minimum wage at that shop?

--
- Frank Krygowski

On 9/4/2022 12:14 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
> On 9/4/2022 10:06 AM, AMuzi wrote:
>> On 9/4/2022 12:20 AM, russellseaton1@yahoo.com wrote:
>>>
>>> Minimum wage also used to be $3.35 an hour long ago when
>>> I worked for minimum wage. Now its an astronomical
>>> $7.25 per hour.
>>>
>>
>> The most significant effect of which is to prevent the
>> least capable, least experienced people at the margin from
>> any work whatsoever. Minimum wage laws are pernicious and
>> morally wrong.
>
> I'm curious. What does The Yellow Jersey bike shop pay its
> lowliest employee? IOW, what's the actual minimum wage at
> that shop?
>
>
Recently changed from $18 to $20.
We do not have entry level/general labor positions any longer.

But I have hired drivers, janitors etc at very low hourly
rates, for limited part time work, satisfying to employer
and employee. I have also worked well below official minimum
and was grateful for those opportunities.

--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On 9/4/2022 1:47 PM, AMuzi wrote:
> On 9/4/2022 12:14 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
>> On 9/4/2022 10:06 AM, AMuzi wrote:
>>> On 9/4/2022 12:20 AM, russellseaton1@yahoo.com wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Minimum wage also used to be $3.35 an hour long ago when
>>>> I worked for minimum wage.  Now its an astronomical
>>>> $7.25 per hour.
>>>>
>>>
>>> The most significant effect of which is to prevent the
>>> least capable, least experienced people at the margin from
>>> any work whatsoever. Minimum wage laws are pernicious and
>>> morally wrong.
>>
>> I'm curious. What does The Yellow Jersey bike shop pay its
>> lowliest employee? IOW, what's the actual minimum wage at
>> that shop?
>>
>>
> Recently changed from $18 to $20.
> We do not have entry level/general labor positions any longer.
>
> But I have hired drivers, janitors etc at very low hourly rates, for
> limited part time work, satisfying to employer and employee. I have also
> worked well below official minimum and was grateful for those
> opportunities.

I don't think I worked for actual minimum wage since I was a teenager
delivering papers. Honestly, I don't know how that hourly wage worked
out. We got paid per paper delivered.

I had one menial part time job when a college freshman, and that was a
little above minimum wage. Otherwise, all my summer jobs, etc. were
significantly above minimum, as I recall. They were the sorts of jobs I
had to take a test to qualify for (e.g. hydraulics lab technician,
substitute mailman, etc.).

The teenagers who have cut my grass have been paid more than minimum
wage by my figuring - currently $25 for a job I used to do in just over
an hour when I was in good shape.

I remember trying to raise one kid's hourly rate by teaching him how to
mow more efficiently. Unfortunately it didn't sink in. He'd still
sometimes stand in one place while he pushed and pulled the mower back
and forth, instead of walking at a good pace on an efficient path.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On Sun, 04 Sep 2022 09:06:06 -0500, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:

>On 9/4/2022 12:20 AM, russellseaton1@yahoo.com wrote:
>> On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 2:08:00 PM UTC-5, cycl...@gmail.com wrote:
>>> On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 10:29:53 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
>>>> https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322
>>>>
>>>> Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses
>>>> are hard pressed between sharp increases of rents and
>>>> utilities (beyond freight, product, payroll increases).

>>> The Brown and Gavin Loathsome strikes again. I could add the Biden inflation but then the mentally ill six would start crying that the largest inflation in 49 years is just a coincidence and that Trump was worse. Lets see what Poland Kragowski has to say about things when his retirement pay from a university won't cover his expenses. I have been moved into nice safe government bonds that will maintain my net worth and suspend any taxes that all of the sick six will be paying.l
>>
>> As Jeff pointed out, Federal Treasury bonds are 3% right now. And state bonds would be about 2% right now. As for suspending taxes, do you Tommy even understand how this works? Probably not. If you buy Federal bonds, you pay zero state income taxes on the interest. But you do pay federal taxes on the interest. And if you buy state bonds, you pay zero federal taxes on the interest. But you do pay state income taxes. They are not tax free from both federal and state taxes. Do you even understand this Tommy? And as John pointed out, you are really losing on net worth because inflation is higher than your return. Prices go up 8% and you gain 3%. You Tommy lose 5%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>>
>> Now as to the rent going up on the bike shop. Yes. House prices have been skyrocketing for years now. Everyone, homeowners anyway, loved it. Everyone was rich rich rich. And along with home prices going up, I suspect commercial real estate prices went up too. And almost certainly rents went up too. I want to pay the same price for a bike I did 20 years ago. And I want to pay the same price for a car I did 20 years ago. And I want to buy an Apple iPhone for the same price I paid 20 years ago, And I want to pay the same price for a TV I did 20 years ago. Wiat!!!!! Wait!!!!! Wait!!!!! Cut that one out. TVs are cheaper today than they were 20 years ago and far better and more high tech. Bad example. Most things go up in price over time. And a few things go down in price. Rent for businesses usually goes up. Minimum wage also used to be $3.35 an hour long ago when I worked for minimum wage. Now its an astronomical $7.25 per hour.

>The most significant effect of which is to prevent the least
>capable, least experienced people at the margin from any
>work whatsoever. Minimum wage laws are pernicious and
>morally wrong.

Yep. So rather than fix the minimum wage, we might soon have a living
wage.
<https://livingwage.mit.edu>
The numbers are accurate to Dec 31, 2021.

For my area:
<https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/06087>
the living wage per hr and annual income (before taxes) should be:
0 kids $27.44 $57,084
1 kid $52.73 $109,683
2 kids $63.53 $132,146
3 kids $84.38 $175,520

For Columbia county, WI:
<https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/55021>
the living wage is:
0 kids $16.19 $33,669
1 kid $32.26 $67,100
2 kids $40.67 $84,590
3 kids $54.57 $113,515

Egads. Kids are expensive.

The county of Santa Cruz enacted its own living wage ordinance in July
2022. It includes various benefits:
<https://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/Departments/GeneralServices/Purchasing/CurrentLivingWageOrdinance.aspx>
Fortunately, it only applies to county contractors.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272 http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Sunday, September 4, 2022 at 4:58:43 PM UTC-4, jeff.li...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> For Columbia county, WI:
> <https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/55021>
> the living wage is:
> 0 kids $16.19 $33,669
> 1 kid $32.26 $67,100
> 2 kids $40.67 $84,590
> 3 kids $54.57 $113,515
>
> Egads. Kids are expensive.

I could have told you that, first hand!

- Frank Krygowski

On Sun, 4 Sep 2022 17:12:02 -0700 (PDT), Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Sunday, September 4, 2022 at 4:58:43 PM UTC-4, jeff.li...@gmail.com wrote:
>>
>> For Columbia county, WI:
>> <https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/55021>
>> the living wage is:
>> 0 kids $16.19 $33,669
>> 1 kid $32.26 $67,100
>> 2 kids $40.67 $84,590
>> 3 kids $54.57 $113,515
>>
>> Egads. Kids are expensive.

>I could have told you that, first hand!
>- Frank Krygowski

I haven't had any kids that I know about[1]. This is fairly new to
me.
For my area:
<https://livingwage.mit.edu/counties/06087>
the living wage per hr and annual income (before taxes) should be:
0 kids $27.44 $57,084
1 kid $52.73 $109,683
2 kids $63.53 $132,146
3 kids $84.38 $175,520

Assuming the living wage is an average figure and inflation doesn't go
out of control, three kids, ages 0 to 18, would require:
18 * $175,520 = $2 million (before taxes and deductions)
before I can safely throw them out of the house. It's times like this
that I'm thankful that I somehow forgot to get married, have kids,
live like a normal family, etc.

[1] Our purpose on this planet is to consume, pollute, and
over-populate.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272 http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 9/3/2022 10:29 AM, AMuzi wrote:
> https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322
>
> Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses are hard
> pressed between sharp increases of rents and utilities (beyond freight,
> product, payroll increases).

The owner of the strip shopping center where the shop was located (the
third location that I remember) is tearing it down to build housing and
retail. It took many years after the project was proposed for it to move
forward. California is forcing cities to rezone retail and commercial
land to meet housing mandates.

<https://goo.gl/maps/c4aKCuVw8wPgUV3C6>.

I guess this is partially my fault since we could have rejected the
property owner's project for that parcel, but it was approved.

Most of that shopping center was vacated years ago but the bike shop was
in a separate building and Vance was allowed to stay until recently.
They moved to an old Kelly Moore Paint Store, in San Jose, temporarily,
but that site is also slated for redevelopment. We are also going to
lose some other iconic businesses.

What's odd is that there are still a lot of empty storefronts, but
there's a disconnect between what the owner expects to lease the space
for and what businesses are willing to pay. Like the Chain Reaction
store (a Trek-only shop) that Mike J. owned with his brother. They
closed in 2017, but five years later the space is still empty and for
lease <https://goo.gl/maps/k3Hdc4ZZKQdb3gfm7>. That shopping center
owner had expressed an interest in tearing it down for housing but
abandoned those plans.

Bicycle shops are being especially hard squeezed with Specialized and
Trek doing direct sales and cutting margins that the shops get for
fulfilling those online orders. You also have big box retailers like
Dick's Sporting Goods selling some bicycles that are at the low-end of
LBS bicycles, as well as REI, and around here, Sports Basement which has
a full service bicycle shop inside the store. Now you have eBikes mostly
being sold direct to the consumer. There must be fifty different eBike
brands competing for direct-sales. Even Costco and Best Buy are selling
eBikes.

On 9/3/2022 2:16 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

<snip>

> An impressive change of topic, from bicycle stores having to deal with
> rent and cost increases, to your personal financial problems. I
> should turn you in to Andre for rehabilitation.

LOL, actually, who struck again was Wiener and Atkins, but Newsom
enables them.

At the request of developers, they are mandating that cities zone for an
enormous amount of housing, far more than is needed. So cities are being
forced to rezone retail and commercial space for housing. The parcel
where Cupertino Bike Shop was located is going to be turned into housing
with ground-floor retail
<https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/departments/community-development/planning/major-projects/canyon-crossing>.
This has been in the works for many years, but the bike shop was allowed
to remain even as all the other businesses in the shopping center closed.

On 9/3/2022 10:20 PM, russellseaton1@yahoo.com wrote:
> On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 2:08:00 PM UTC-5, cycl...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 10:29:53 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
>>> https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322
>>>
>>> Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses
>>> are hard pressed between sharp increases of rents and
>>> utilities (beyond freight, product, payroll increases).
>> The Brown and Gavin Loathsome strikes again. I could add the Biden inflation but then the mentally ill six would start crying that the largest inflation in 49 years is just a coincidence and that Trump was worse. Lets see what Poland Kragowski has to say about things when his retirement pay from a university won't cover his expenses. I have been moved into nice safe government bonds that will maintain my net worth and suspend any taxes that all of the sick six will be paying.l
>
> As Jeff pointed out, Federal Treasury bonds are 3% right now. And state bonds would be about 2% right now. As for suspending taxes, do you Tommy even understand how this works? Probably not. If you buy Federal bonds, you pay zero state income taxes on the interest. But you do pay federal taxes on the interest. And if you buy state bonds, you pay zero federal taxes on the interest. But you do pay state income taxes. They are not tax free from both federal and state taxes. Do you even understand this Tommy? And as John pointed out, you are really losing on net worth because inflation is higher than your return. Prices go up 8% and you gain 3%. You Tommy lose 5%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Now as to the rent going up on the bike shop. Yes. House prices have been skyrocketing for years now. Everyone, homeowners anyway, loved it. Everyone was rich rich rich. And along with home prices going up, I suspect commercial real estate prices went up too. And almost certainly rents went up too. I want to pay the same price for a bike I did 20 years ago. And I want to pay the same price for a car I did 20 years ago. And I want to buy an Apple iPhone for the same price I paid 20 years ago, And I want to pay the same price for a TV I did 20 years ago. Wiat!!!!! Wait!!!!! Wait!!!!! Cut that one out. TVs are cheaper today than they were 20 years ago and far better and more high tech. Bad example. Most things go up in price over time. And a few things go down in price. Rent for businesses usually goes up. Minimum wage also used to be $3.35 an hour long ago when I worked for minimum wage. Now its an astronomical $7.25 per hour.

Minimum wage has become irrelevant. You'd be hard-pressed to find any
business offering only the federal minimum wage, or even the local
minimum wage. There's such a shortage of workers that everyone is paying
more.

My neighbor asked a fencing contractor how much his workers were being
paid, because they were working really hard, and he said $62.50 per
hour. Even fast-food places are paying $20 per hour, far about the local
minimum wage. Many restaurants are moving to ordering by tablet or phone
so they can have their employees actually preparing food.

On Mon, 5 Sep 2022 18:06:00 -0700, sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com>
wrote:

>On 9/3/2022 2:16 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>
><snip>
>
>> An impressive change of topic, from bicycle stores having to deal with
>> rent and cost increases, to your personal financial problems. I
>> should turn you in to Andre for rehabilitation.

>LOL, actually, who struck again was Wiener and Atkins, but Newsom
>enables them.

"Wiener-Atkins Plan to Bring Son of SB 1120 Back Very Soon! To Upend
Your Street with Dense, Unaffordable Homes"
<https://www.livablecalifornia.org/wiener-atkins-will-bring-sb-1120-back-in-fourth-effort-to-upend-your-street-with-dense-unaffordable-homes/>

We have the same thing happening in Santa Cruz county. Plenty of new
housing available in the form of lot splits, zoning variances,
creative conversions, rollback of setback requirements, etc. The
theory is that if we create more housing, the price of housing will
fall. However, as predicted, even the most rudimentary hovel is
financially beyond the reach of low income buyers.

>At the request of developers, they are mandating that cities zone for an
>enormous amount of housing, far more than is needed.

I think that's called "urban planning for the future" or something
similar.

>So cities are being
>forced to rezone retail and commercial space for housing. The parcel
>where Cupertino Bike Shop was located is going to be turned into housing
>with ground-floor retail
><https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/departments/community-development/planning/major-projects/canyon-crossing>.
>This has been in the works for many years, but the bike shop was allowed
>to remain even as all the other businesses in the shopping center closed.

Shopping centers, strip malls, and retail in general have been mostly
replaced with online shopping:
<https://www.cbinsights.com/research/retail-apocalypse-timeline-infographic/>
Lots of causes, but not much in the way of help and solutions. I
believe that converting retail to housing is probably inevitable.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272 http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 9/5/2022 6:27 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
> On Mon, 5 Sep 2022 18:06:00 -0700, sms <scharf.steven@geemail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On 9/3/2022 2:16 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> An impressive change of topic, from bicycle stores having to deal with
>>> rent and cost increases, to your personal financial problems. I
>>> should turn you in to Andre for rehabilitation.
>
>> LOL, actually, who struck again was Wiener and Atkins, but Newsom
>> enables them.
>
> "Wiener-Atkins Plan to Bring Son of SB 1120 Back Very Soon! To Upend
> Your Street with Dense, Unaffordable Homes"
> <https://www.livablecalifornia.org/wiener-atkins-will-bring-sb-1120-back-in-fourth-effort-to-upend-your-street-with-dense-unaffordable-homes/>

One San Francisco Supervisor dubbed Wiener and Atkins "Real Estate
Republicans." They try to promote themselves as progressives, but they
actually promote displacement and gentrification in service to their
masters. See
<https://www.housinghumanright.org/selling-out-california-scott-wiener-money-ties-to-big-real-estate/>.

> We have the same thing happening in Santa Cruz county. Plenty of new
> housing available in the form of lot splits, zoning variances,
> creative conversions, rollback of setback requirements, etc. The
> theory is that if we create more housing, the price of housing will
> fall. However, as predicted, even the most rudimentary hovel is
> financially beyond the reach of low income buyers.
>
>> At the request of developers, they are mandating that cities zone for an
>> enormous amount of housing, far more than is needed.
>
> I think that's called "urban planning for the future" or something
> similar.

They promote huge quantities of market-rate housing that they claim will
turn into affordable housing as it deteriorates. It's the "trickle-down"
theory of affordable housing. Except what actually happens is that when
the housing deteriorates sufficiently, after 50-70 years, it's torn down
and new, high-priced housing replaces it. Here's lovely home for sale in
Cupertino for $2.78 million <https://goo.gl/maps/EUMKrm2PHeiEpexy7>,
obviously a tear-down (or as my wife calls them "knocker-downers").

Rent control makes it even worse:
<https://www.mv-voice.com/news/2020/05/20/council-reluctantly-approves-razing-of-116-rent-controlled-apartments>;
"reluctantly," my xxx. The City is actually okay with this: higher
property tax, more sales tax, more money for schools, impact fees for
parks, etc.. Since rent control began in Mountain View there have been
three such tear-downs of naturally affordable housing.

> Shopping centers, strip malls, and retail in general have been mostly
> replaced with online shopping:
> <https://www.cbinsights.com/research/retail-apocalypse-timeline-infographic/>
> Lots of causes, but not much in the way of help and solutions. I
> believe that converting retail to housing is probably inevitable.

Except some malls, that have reinvented themselves, are doing great.
Valley Fair and Oakridge in San Jose, Stanford Shopping Center next to
Palo Alto, etc.. Costco is still building new stores (11 in 2022).
Online shopping still accounts for only 13% in terms of value. About 50%
of retail sales are for items that are not generally bought online:
vehicles, fuel, and groceries.

Even the mall in my own city, was well on its way to being revitalized
with a high-end health club, a new movie theater, and some high-end
restaurants. The department stores were doing well but the smaller
retail stores were not. All that remains now is a bowling center,
Benihana, and an ice-skating rink, and the shell of a JC Penny.
Everything else was razed, and plans for commercial office and housing
are on hold because of toxic contamination found on the site.

On Sunday, September 4, 2022 at 7:06:12 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
> On 9/4/2022 12:20 AM, russell...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 2:08:00 PM UTC-5, cycl...@gmail.com wrote:
> >> On Saturday, September 3, 2022 at 10:29:53 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
> >>> https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285322
> >>>
> >>> Not only bicycle stores but a great many small businesses
> >>> are hard pressed between sharp increases of rents and
> >>> utilities (beyond freight, product, payroll increases).
> >> The Brown and Gavin Loathsome strikes again. I could add the Biden inflation but then the mentally ill six would start crying that the largest inflation in 49 years is just a coincidence and that Trump was worse. Lets see what Poland Kragowski has to say about things when his retirement pay from a university won't cover his expenses. I have been moved into nice safe government bonds that will maintain my net worth and suspend any taxes that all of the sick six will be paying.l
> >
> > As Jeff pointed out, Federal Treasury bonds are 3% right now. And state bonds would be about 2% right now. As for suspending taxes, do you Tommy even understand how this works? Probably not. If you buy Federal bonds, you pay zero state income taxes on the interest. But you do pay federal taxes on the interest. And if you buy state bonds, you pay zero federal taxes on the interest. But you do pay state income taxes. They are not tax free from both federal and state taxes. Do you even understand this Tommy? And as John pointed out, you are really losing on net worth because inflation is higher than your return. Prices go up 8% and you gain 3%. You Tommy lose 5%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> >
> > Now as to the rent going up on the bike shop. Yes. House prices have been skyrocketing for years now. Everyone, homeowners anyway, loved it. Everyone was rich rich rich. And along with home prices going up, I suspect commercial real estate prices went up too. And almost certainly rents went up too. I want to pay the same price for a bike I did 20 years ago. And I want to pay the same price for a car I did 20 years ago. And I want to buy an Apple iPhone for the same price I paid 20 years ago, And I want to pay the same price for a TV I did 20 years ago. Wiat!!!!! Wait!!!!! Wait!!!!! Cut that one out. TVs are cheaper today than they were 20 years ago and far better and more high tech. Bad example. Most things go up in price over time. And a few things go down in price. Rent for businesses usually goes up. Minimum wage also used to be $3.35 an hour long ago when I worked for minimum wage. Now its an astronomical $7.25 per hour.
> >
> The most significant effect of which is to prevent the least
> capable, least experienced people at the margin from any
> work whatsoever. Minimum wage laws are pernicious and
> morally wrong.

Leftists love minimum wage laws. It gains them votes from the same people that are too stupid to know that they are just as likely to lose their jobs from such laws as make more money.;