Four years ago the Marshall fire here in Colorado destroyed around 1000 homes. Everything you point out for problems is true here. There are still plenty of homes that have not been rebuilt as off yet. You start off by staying with friends, family or a hotel. Then you realize this may take years. The red tape has been a nightmare for many. Adding insult to injury here all the homeowners that lost everything are still responsible for their HOA fees. They went to court over this but lost. There are people that just said screw it and choose not to rebuild. Colorado has become much like California ( sadly in just my opinion) politically. Seeing what the people here have gone through I truly feel sorry for what’s coming to the people in California that have lost everything. To answer your question would we rebuild here in Colorado my guess is extremely unlikely.
My first stock purchase was when I was 17 in 1974. Since I was under 21 had to convince my parents to open the account with them as custodian. Went with Merrill Lynch, there were no discount brokers at the time. I bought 50 shares of Sony at $5 a share. The commission was around $24. Why Sony, because back then they had the best color tv. Good enough for me. I still have the paper confirmation of the trade that they would mail to you. Around a year later sold my shares for a little over $10. At the time I was working in a grocery store making $2.25 an hour. I tracked the price every day and could not believe how easy it was to make money in the stock market. The Dow was around 600 at the time. That started my lifelong investing interest. Eventually I did learn stocks also do go down. Who would have known that!
Working in the grocery industry I had my share of rude customer encounters. I rarely took it personal, it was just about something with the store. One day a woman approached me to ask about a product that was empty on the shelf. I told her we were probably out but would check our back room. She proceeded to explode and completely went over the top in her rudeness. I went into the back room and happened to find the item she wanted. I thought what a witch and would be happy to be done with her. When I brought her the item(Oreos) she took it and proceeded to break down crying. She apologized for being so mean, but said she had just dropped off her sister from her doctor appointment. Her sister had terminal colon cancer and was going to be entering hospice. I started talking to her because my mom had died from colon cancer just a month earlier. Now we were both crying .Customers walking in the aisle were definitely looking. Once in a while that person you encounter who is being a jerk might just be having one of the worst days of their lives.
In the late 1970’s I spent around $500 for a VCR so I could record a show to watch later. Wow, what amazing technology. A couple months ago I paid $69 for a year of HBO. With all the streaming services out there I think, Wow what amazing technology!
Where I live we have good water so I have no reason to buy. But respectfully I don’t think you are making an apples to apples comparison on prices. All venues like concerts or sporting events the food and drink is massively overpriced, no disagreement with you on that. Comparing water from home to a grocery store isn’t going to be accurate. That’s like me comparing vegetables I grew to the cost at the store. Of course the store is more. With bottled water the company has to account for its costs, the plant, materials, labor, fuel etc. At my local store a gallon of water costs 76 cents. The simple reason you see so many varieties of water is because the demand is there.
Boy this feels like a rare post that brought out the knives. I can’t say I disagree with the post, all I get is it wondering why times are so different. Are some important things more expensive now, yes but so are wages. Do people have more stuff, yes partly because there are a lot more choices than when I was younger. To me that’s a good thing. I think the political posts started to take this a little off base. I do have to respectfully disagree with the one implying money and corruption in politics has something to do with things now. Both have always been around. It’s just with social media it is easier to bring things to light. But all that is for a different post.
Comments:
I want to compliment you on such a well written column. For me this was one of the most thought provoking posts I have read on this site.
Post: Would You Rebuild?
Link to comment from January 12, 2025
Four years ago the Marshall fire here in Colorado destroyed around 1000 homes. Everything you point out for problems is true here. There are still plenty of homes that have not been rebuilt as off yet. You start off by staying with friends, family or a hotel. Then you realize this may take years. The red tape has been a nightmare for many. Adding insult to injury here all the homeowners that lost everything are still responsible for their HOA fees. They went to court over this but lost. There are people that just said screw it and choose not to rebuild. Colorado has become much like California ( sadly in just my opinion) politically. Seeing what the people here have gone through I truly feel sorry for what’s coming to the people in California that have lost everything. To answer your question would we rebuild here in Colorado my guess is extremely unlikely.
Post: Would You Rebuild?
Link to comment from January 11, 2025
I taped a blueberry to a sheet of paper. Exclusive offer for HumbleDollar readers the bidding starts at $100,000. Act fast.
Post: Worth Repeating
Link to comment from December 30, 2024
My first stock purchase was when I was 17 in 1974. Since I was under 21 had to convince my parents to open the account with them as custodian. Went with Merrill Lynch, there were no discount brokers at the time. I bought 50 shares of Sony at $5 a share. The commission was around $24. Why Sony, because back then they had the best color tv. Good enough for me. I still have the paper confirmation of the trade that they would mail to you. Around a year later sold my shares for a little over $10. At the time I was working in a grocery store making $2.25 an hour. I tracked the price every day and could not believe how easy it was to make money in the stock market. The Dow was around 600 at the time. That started my lifelong investing interest. Eventually I did learn stocks also do go down. Who would have known that!
Post: No Barriers to Entry by Jonathan Clements
Link to comment from December 28, 2024
Working in the grocery industry I had my share of rude customer encounters. I rarely took it personal, it was just about something with the store. One day a woman approached me to ask about a product that was empty on the shelf. I told her we were probably out but would check our back room. She proceeded to explode and completely went over the top in her rudeness. I went into the back room and happened to find the item she wanted. I thought what a witch and would be happy to be done with her. When I brought her the item(Oreos) she took it and proceeded to break down crying. She apologized for being so mean, but said she had just dropped off her sister from her doctor appointment. Her sister had terminal colon cancer and was going to be entering hospice. I started talking to her because my mom had died from colon cancer just a month earlier. Now we were both crying .Customers walking in the aisle were definitely looking. Once in a while that person you encounter who is being a jerk might just be having one of the worst days of their lives.
Post: Quality of Life by Marjorie Kondrack
Link to comment from November 24, 2024
In the late 1970’s I spent around $500 for a VCR so I could record a show to watch later. Wow, what amazing technology. A couple months ago I paid $69 for a year of HBO. With all the streaming services out there I think, Wow what amazing technology!
Post: Good Old Days?
Link to comment from November 19, 2024
Do the right thing even when no one is looking.
Post: What life lessons would you like to pass on to the next generation?
Link to comment from November 19, 2024
Where I live we have good water so I have no reason to buy. But respectfully I don’t think you are making an apples to apples comparison on prices. All venues like concerts or sporting events the food and drink is massively overpriced, no disagreement with you on that. Comparing water from home to a grocery store isn’t going to be accurate. That’s like me comparing vegetables I grew to the cost at the store. Of course the store is more. With bottled water the company has to account for its costs, the plant, materials, labor, fuel etc. At my local store a gallon of water costs 76 cents. The simple reason you see so many varieties of water is because the demand is there.
Post: A clarification of the bottled water post
Link to comment from October 3, 2024
Couldn’t have put it any better.
Post: In defense of billionaires
Link to comment from September 29, 2024
Boy this feels like a rare post that brought out the knives. I can’t say I disagree with the post, all I get is it wondering why times are so different. Are some important things more expensive now, yes but so are wages. Do people have more stuff, yes partly because there are a lot more choices than when I was younger. To me that’s a good thing. I think the political posts started to take this a little off base. I do have to respectfully disagree with the one implying money and corruption in politics has something to do with things now. Both have always been around. It’s just with social media it is easier to bring things to light. But all that is for a different post.
Post: How did it all work for us? Why not now?
Link to comment from September 27, 2024