Downtown Jubilee

This morning was my town's annual Downtown Jubilee, and as always, I got up and went.  It seems to me it's really fallen off these last few years -- maybe because they no longer have the car show.  I don't know why they stopped, but they did.  That was one of my favorite parts, and I'm not even a classic car person.  It's still cool to see all of them.  Still, they had the vendor booths, and food trucks, and bouncy stuff for the kids, and several entertainers up there singing.  

I walked around a bit and looked at all the little craft booths, but nothing jumped out at me as something I just had to have, so I didn't buy anything.  The Adult Education center was handing out free books, as they usually do, and let me pick whichever one I wanted.  I got Charlie And The Chocolate Factory in hard copy. 

I only stayed an hour, then came home and got inside my air conditioning.  It wasn't that hot, but the humidity was so high I could feel my hair curling.  I did manage to walk one of the Pokémon Go routes down there and earned a new route badge, but the routes around the Square are kind of weird.  I may walk it a few more times to get the badges, but mostly, I'll stick with the ones down by the lake. 

As I said, I didn't stay long, and made it home in plenty of time to watch football.  LSU got really lucky today.  If South Carolina's quarterback hadn't been knocked out of the game, they wouldn't have won.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Brian Kelly is not the coach LSU needs -- especially after the hissy fit he pitched when they lost to USC.  

While I was watching the game, I asked Meta AI to create an image for LSU Tigers, and this is what they gave me:  

I sent it to Cody, and he said, "I see no inaccuracies."  

And now for today's meme debunkeration.  I've seen this -- or something very similar -- going around social media for a while now.  

And while it's true that taxes have gone up, prices have gone up (wages have gone up, too, but nobody wants to mention that), and inflation is out of control, the fact of the matter is that we had a much, much lower standard of living back then, too.  In those days, a three bedroom one bath 1200-1500 square foot house, and not just for a starter home.  Those were the forever homes people bought to live in the rest of their lives.  

These days, young people would turn up their noses at a house like that.  "I'm not going to live in a shack!" they pout, and so they buy the five bedroom four bath 2500-3000 square foot house with a game room, man cave, swimming pool and "space to entertain", then struggle to pay the mortgage -- not to mention how much more it costs to heat and cool such a house.  In the days when a HS diploma could support a family of five, they didn't even have air conditioning.  

And they didn't have cable TV, or internet, or a cell phones for each member of the family, or three or four cars-- each requiring gas, maintenance, and insurance -- or multiple gaming systems, each with its own subscription price.  And they didn't eat out or order in nearly every day, either.  Eating out was a rare treat.  Normally, Mom cooked, and if she was like my mom, she used a lot of rice in what she prepared.  

Seriously, I was grown before I realized that chili isn't normally served over rice.    BTW, at the risk of stirring up an old controversy, beans were added to chili to stretch the meal as well. 

Then you ate leftovers until they were gone.  Our parents and grandparents didn't waste food the way we do today.  

So yeah, they could live comfortably, but they had a vastly different definition of what was comfortable than we do today.  And you know what?  I'll bet if you find people willing to go back to that standard of living, they could survive on one salary, too.  

And finally, I almost got my Fall decorations out this afternoon, but got lazy and didn't do it.  Maybe next weekend...when astronomical autumn starts...

Now, if you'll excuse me, the Texas ball game is about to start and I must go...

Laters...

And Hook 'Em.