California is the Bluest of Blue states. Democrats control all statewide elected offices, and have super majorities in both houses of the State Legislature. Any new tax can be imposed or new law passed without a single Republican vote. But there is one process that Democrats do not completely control: the ballot initiative.

Citizens have the power to gather signatures to put a measure on the ballot for a direct vote of the electorate, bypassing the governor and the legislature. Thus did California voters manage to stage a property tax revolt with Proposition 13 way back in 1978. Even in California, there are enough red enclaves (like Linden, Redding, Valley Springs and Brumby Road) to provide the required number of signatures for ‘conservative’ causes. Proposition 39 is a case in point.

I seem to recall that when I first registered to vote, I had to produce a copy of my birth certificate and a photo ID. That was way back in 1976. I don’t know what the process is now, but every time I renew my driver’s license I am urged to sign up. I’m supposed to provide an address and ‘attest’ that I am a citizen and eligible to vote. Since CA issues drivers’ licenses to both legal (green card) aliens, and illegal aliens, I’m curious how many ineligible voters there are on the rolls. Or people registered at two different addresses. Or dead people.

Enter Proposition 39. This measure is supposed to tighten things up and make voting a little like opening a bank account or getting onto a commercial airliner. Nothing too draconian, but at least providing some assurance that ‘one citizen (alive) gets one vote’.

Here is what appeared on the petition, which enough people signed to qualify for the ballot this coming November:

ORIGINAL PROP 39 TITLE (September 19, 2025):
ESTABLISHES ADDITIONAL VOTER IDENTIFICATION AND CITIZENSHIP VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.
Initiative Constitutional Amendment. This measure would amend the California Constitution to further require that voters present government-issued identification at the polls or the last four digits of a government-issued identification number when voting by mail; the State provide voter identification cards on request; and elections officials annually report percentage of each county’s voters whose citizenship they have verified.

Nothing too serious there. As I wrote before, many other countries, including France, have stricter rules. If you want a refresher on how the French do it, check this out: https://freehtt.org/2024/08/09/the-french-way/

For some reason, Democratic office holders are opposed to the idea of voter id’s. I have no idea why. Maybe they don’t want to have to verify citizenship because it would add too much to their workload. Maybe they like the blueness of our state election results and don’t want to endanger their choke hold on power. This Proposition must be defeated, so they are starting by rewriting the title: this is what our State Attorney General came up with:

REVISED PROP 39 TITLE (July 21, 2026):
PROHIBITS CITIZENS FROM VOTING UNLESS THEY PRESENT GOVERNMENT-ISSUED IDENTIFICATION.
Initiative Constitutional Amendment. Invalidates mail ballots that do not have last four digits of designated government-issued identification number written on envelope. Prohibits in-person voting without presenting government-issued identification.

Initiative titles that appear on the ballot are supposed to use neutral language that accurately describes what the measure will do. The AG has the power to revise titles to make sure that is the case, but it seems to me that Banta went far beyond fair and neutral language.

The lawsuits have started, so what will actually appear on the ballot in November is still unknown. But if ‘Banta’s BS’ version makes it, just remember that you are being played and vote yes anyway.

Stoker purchases almost everything from Amazon. So much so that the trucks are creating ruts in our gravel driveway. We occasionally have multiple deliveries in a single day. On one memorable occasion, there were two Amazon trucks in our driveway at the same time! Traffic is normally light on Brumby Road (cherry season excepted) but Stoker’s deliveries are changing that.

Stoker also gets her prescriptions delivered, and pays extra for the service. She even includes a nice gratuity, so the drivers leave happy. But I still head for CVS and stand in line for my drugs. While I’m there, I may purchase some needed OTC meds or toiletries. This used to be a simply matter, just grab stuff off the shelves, pay and go.

But shoplifting has become such a problem that many items are in locked cases. You have to ring a bell and wait for a clerk to unlock the case so you can choose your shampoo or razor blades or shaving cream. At one store in Stockton, the clerk wouldn’t even let me put my Head and Shoulders in my shopping basket; he had to walk it up to the cashier, and put it behind the plexiglass screen for me until I reached the checkout.

So far the Raley’s I shop at has all the goods undefended with the exception of some high end liquor items. But that may have to change:

Roseville police have arrested a woman they say is responsible for stealing vodka and bacon from two grocery stores in Placer County.

Two of my favorite items, although I consume vodka a lot more often than bacon. But certainly a conundrum of a combination. Maybe she was pilfering pasta ingredients and got ‘penne ala vodka’ and spaghetti carbonara mixed up.

Authorities said 39-year-old Shanae Watkins stole six bottles of vodka and 14 packages of thick-cut bacon from a Bel Air store on June 4. According to police, store employees tried to stop her, but she left with the items in her bag.

That would have to be one big, big bag. Or perhaps the police report was hastily written, or the reporter was lazy. And I’m kind of surprised the employees tried to get involved; I thought most big chain stores have a ‘hands off’ policy for shoplifting.

Police said Watkins then targeted a Safeway store, where employees recognized her from prior incidents and called authorities.

Officers said they arrested Watkins with six bottles of Tito’s vodka, five packages of bacon, and six reusable bags in her possession.

Tito’s is distilled from 100% yellow corn, so it can proudly claim is is ‘gluten free’. That is true if you are thinking about wheat gluten. Corn has gluten in it too, but no one is accusing corn gluten of causing health problems. Stoker and I find Tito’s a little too smooth and we prefer the somewhat sharper mouth feel of Stolichnaya. Perhaps Ms. Watkins’ preference is due to health concerns.

BTW, Stoli makes a gluten free version, and charges extra for it. All that means is that whatever is fermented for the distillation feedstock hasn’t got any wheat in it. I have my doubts that regular, non-gluten free Stoli actually has noticeable levels of gluten either. Boiling turns the alcohol into a gas, and since alcohol boils at a lower temperature than water, all the other liquid and grain residue is left in the pot and not in the bottle.

It is almost time for some non-gluten free vodka from Latvia. We aren’t planning BLT’s for dinner though.

As of yesterday, that is the decade of life I am beginning. 3 score and ten…thank you to everyone who offered me best wishes via text or Facebook.

One very clever friend took pleasure in informing me that I am no longer a “sexagenarian”. Sir, a gentleman does not bandy the name of a woman. What happens on Brumby Road stays on Brumby Road. Perhaps our well water is the fountain of youth.

Besides “sexagenarian”, I have discovered a whole bunch of other things I’m not, thanks to the Pride promoters who are working for Microsoft and their Edge browser, which launches every time I open my computer. I’ve tried to stop it but the evil Windows people have me flummoxed.

This is a schematic of the 73 Shades of Pride, which showed up on my desktop uninvited a couple of days ago. Refresh your knowledge of the combinatorial mathematics of gender relations here https://freehtt.org/2024/12/21/your-tax-dollars-at-work/ . With 73 Shades we are going to need an AI data center just to get started.

In addition the previously discussed “Pansexual” and “Panromantic”, I now see that there are quite a few other states of being to be proud of. They include Polysexual and Polyamorous and Polyromantic and Polygender, as opposed to Pollyanna.

Asexual, Androsexual, Bisexual, Demisexual (as in demi rosé, 500 ml?), and Multisexual. From none, to one, to two, to many. God created the natural numbers, all else is the work of man…

Most of the terms are beyond understanding, unless you are operating Through the Looking Glass: When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’ Gender Studies professors have mastered that!

I did recognize Gay Men, and Lesbian, which is somehow different from Sapphic. Pretty tame stuff compared to the other more confusing identities. There is “Queer” and “Straight Queer”. There is even a label titled “Unlabeled”. Perhaps this is a catch all in case none of the 73 Shades fits, but one still wants to have Pride.

I don’t know if any of the labels refer to married heterosexual couples. But I hope so. I’m no longer a “sexagenarian” but I’d like to think Stoker and I have something to be proud of besides cycling up Stoney Creek Road on our tandem. Once…

…or how retail shopping is going to push me into therapy.

First it was Costco. A couple of months back I was at the self service check out, since there was no line and I didn’t have any Veuve Clicquot in my cart. Self check out doesn’t permit alcoholic beverages.

I scanned all my items, tapped the pay now button and inserted my card. Suddenly the screen blinked and all my transactions disappeared. I was nonplussed. I love to use that word, it perfectly captures how I feel interacting with a lot of technology.

The Costco in Lodi has really good people. The self check attendant was on the scene at once. When he saw what had happened he was almost as nonplussed as I was, but since there was no receipt we both assumed that the transaction had been cancelled somehow. He rescanned all my items, much faster that I could have, and this time my card was accepted and I got the receipt for the door monitor person to examine on my way out.

Later when the e bill arrived at my bank I thought it seemed a little high. I know it is easy to spend a lot at Costco, but even so this seemed excessive. So I went to the Citibank website and looked at my statement. Sure enough there were two identical charges for $215.61 on the same date.

Double Billing

I disputed the charge, giving ‘duplicate transaction’ as the reason. I did it on line, not on the phone. To their credit Citi gave me an instant, provisional credit and said they would contact the merchant (Costco) on my behalf. Citi also sent email updates on the investigation.

So I was kind of surprised when I got an email from Citi saying that the Costco claimed the charges were valid. Now I have to call Citi and get a real person and plead my case. I did so, and while the person was nice they said that since the merchant claimed the charges valid, Citi couldn’t help and they suggested I call Costco. They even gave me a number and connected me.

Unfortunately, that Costco number was only for on-line sales and issues from Costco.com. That person suggested I should call the Lodi store directly. I did, and a really nice and competent person saw the duplicate charges, said something like ‘tsk, tsk’ and reversed one of them. After multiple e mails and phone calls I’m all square, and only a little peeved.

Today it was Raley’s. We do a lot of shopping at Raley’s, and are ‘Something Extra’ members. They track our purchases like a casino tracks their players, and every 3 months we get a cash coupon along with targeted coupons for things we often buy. This week is was bread, broccoli, eggs, pasta, frozen fruit and and some gluten free crackers. And our cash coupon was for $11.

I handed the coupons to the clerk, and he put them next to the scanner. He had to scan the groceries first, then the coupons. The computer would pair the coupons with the items and reduce my bill.

Except he forgot to scan them. He sent the pre coupon total to the computer, which checked my credit card. The ‘Approved’ screen came up, and then the signature screen. Oops!

I pointed out the omission, and the clerk asked me to press the red ‘x’ to cancel the transaction. But we both learned that once the signature screen is up there is no going back. My Visa is being charged the full amount.

Since there was a line of people I didn’t stick around to plead my case. I also didn’t yell or scream. I did tell the clerk that I bought some of the items specifically because of the coupons, and he did say ‘sorry’.

I told a different clerk monitoring the self checkout area (limit 15 items, which is why I didn’t use it) what had happened and if there was anything I could do. Her suggestion was that I could return all the items and get a credit, then they could rescan them and this time (hopefully) not forget the coupons. I sighed, said quietly “life’s too short’ and left my $20 of free money behind.

I left considering changing supermarkets in the future, but Raley’s is close and convenient and the quality seems ok. And I know where almost everything we buy is located, unless Stoker puts something new on the list and I have to go hunting. And there is a good side to all this: blog material! Writing about it is my version of ‘retail therapy’.

…is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Rider B was not having a good day. His tubeless tire set up, normally so reliable, was causing problems. First he diagnosed a slow leak and added air with a mini pump. Then the slow leak became less slow, so at the Dustin Road regroup he dragged out the heavy artillery. Rider L carries one of these new fangled battery powered pumps and offered to loan it in lieu of a CO2 cartridge.

Rider B put the device in action, but nothing happened. The pump made pumping noises but no air seemed to be getting into the tire. Someone asked if Rider B had unscrewed the Presta valve. Oops! After making the adjustment the air flowed and we rode on.

3 miles later at Acampo Road, the tire had gone down again. This time a CO2 cartridge was used and the tire got hard, but after another mile it was nearly flat and it was time for a major repair. On Orchard Road Rider B pulled off and told everyone else to ride to the coffee stop a mere 5 miles away.

Rider F and Rider R ignored him and stopped to assist. These two are old hands at dealing with flats, dating back to a day when a nature break in a goat head infested walnut orchard caused a Four Flat Fiasco. In 2 miles! You can read about that here.

https://freehtt447235573.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1386&action=edit

Tubeless tires have sealant inside, and that stops most punctures. However if the cut is large enough the sealant won’t work. Also if the sealant has all leaked out or dried out, you need to try an alternate fix.

One way to do a fix is to put a plug in the tire. Rider F offered to do so, and produced his plug kit. Despite multiple tries he was unable to push the pointed brass head of the plug through the Gator Skin tire. Rider R, who also has experience with plugs, couldn’t do it either. Gator Skins are known to be heavy, long lasting road tires that are puncture resistant. Whatever Rider B hit on the road managed to get through, but our plug efforts failed.

Puncture Resistant, not Puncture Proof

We are running out of options. Time to remove the tire and put in a tube. Did I mention that Gator Skins are also very difficult to get off of the rim? They are. I once broke a plastic lever trying to change a tire for Rider J, who identifies as female with she/her pronouns, and was happy to accept the help. Chivalry is not dead.

Rider B managed to remove the tire, and as expected there was very little liquid sealant left, and quite a bit of dried stuff that is useless for sealing new punctures. He put in a tube and unscrewed the Presta valve, not making the same mistake twice. He reinstalled the tire and used his last CO 2 cartridge. The CO2 hissed out but the tube remained flat!

It turned out that Rider B’s emergency inner tube was defective. It happens. Tubes can get old in the saddle bags, and sometimes they get wet and we forget to dry them out, so the rubber breaks down.

Without Rider F and Rider R on the scene, Rider B would have been on his cell phone begging for a ride from his wife. He was out of flat fixing supplies. But Rider R provided a tube, Rider F produced a CO2 inflator, and voila! We are back on the road.

We made pretty good time to the coffee stop. Rider R and Rider F kept trading short pulls into the wind, and Rider B hung on. We finally arrived at Brew House Coffee, where our fellow riders sitting on the patio gave us a (slightly derisive) round of applause. At least I didn’t have to wait in line to order my panini.

How many riders does it take to fix a flat, especially if two of them might be Italian? Oops, maybe the innocent are not being protected…

When Lucia arrived on Brumby Road, Stoker decided to send a DNA sample off to find out what breed (or more likely, breeds) she was. We thought she might be a Lab mix, since she had the big head, smooth black coat and calm demeanor common to that breed.

It turns out that Lucia is mostly Pit Bull Terroir (48%) and Staffordshire Terroir (42%). Based on our experience with her, Pit Bulls have gotten a bad rap. She is about as gentle a dog as anyone could want.

Stoker and I have a secret vice. We watch dog shows on cable TV. We both recognize that the ‘judging’ is just a beauty contest, especially when different breeds ‘compete’ against other. When the announcers refer to ‘our sport’ I break out in giggles. But we do like looking at the dogs and their handlers.

We have watched the movie Best in Show multiple times, and it never fails to entertain us. We even recognize ourselves as a hybrid of the yuppy couple (J Crew) taking their dog to an analyst, and the Norwich Terroir owners (one with two left feet) creating merchandise and music cd’s after they win the blue ribbon. Anyone who has seen me dance will believe the ‘left feet’ part.

But because I watch dog shows and pay attention, I learned this:

In dog shows, “honorable scars” refer to injuries, such as those from working in the field, that do not penalize a dog, according to breed standards.

The idea is that if a dog is supposed herd sheep or cattle or chase vermin, and they get scars from barbed wire or cow horns or brambles in the course of their duty, those scars are not considered a defect.

Lucia has a perfectly comfortable dog bed in the family room, but during my morning coffee or pre prandial cocktail she prefers to become my 42 lb. lap dog. I have a big stuffed chair, and she hops up into my lap and stretches her back legs out onto the stool. Getting up to get my second cup of coffee requires a bit of contortionism on my part. She ain’t giving up her spot voluntarily.

So the other morning she joined me for coffee and Sudoku, and I noticed something under one of her eyes. I thought it might be a speck of dirt, but it turned out to be a scab covering a scratch.

I said Lucia is a calm dog, and she is, with one exception:

Pit Bull Terriers, due to their high prey drive and tenacity, can be effective in vermin control, particularly for rats on farms, acting as a natural, non-toxic alternative to poison. They, along with terrier mixes, are used to hunt and kill small pests efficiently.

Living on Brumby Road, small pests are a given. Squirrels, mice, rats, voles and gophers, possums and raccoons are around, as well as semi feral cats. Lucia hates them all. When I’m walking her on her lead I have to be alert lest she spy a pest and forget all her training and try to tear my arm off. The dog trainer we hired really helped, and she told us we have to make our walk ‘sexier than the squirrel’. But her primal instinct is more powerful than a treat or a loud “NO!”

I think the scratch on her head came from prowling around in our dense juniper bush, where critters are known to hang out. She probably didn’t even notice the scrape.

So far she hasn’t caught anything, but if a squirrel inside our fence isn’t alert Lucia might get a few more ‘honorable scars’ from its claws before she ‘controls the vermin’.

Only a few people know this, but without Bennie there would never have been a Stoker.

In 2005 Bennie had a tandem he wasn’t using, and he suggested I give it a try with Diane. We did, and after some very tense and uncertain early rides we found a new shared activity that became a big part of our lives. Diane became ‘Stoker’, a term I use with great respect and affection for my pedaling partner.

Bennie was so, so encouraging to Diane and helpful to me. When he was on a ride with us he would pedal ahead at intersections and tell me if it was clear so I wouldn’t have to unclip and stop, which is not so easy on a tandem. He really kept an eye on us and his presence gave me a much needed dose of confidence as an inexperienced tandem pilot.

I think I’ve ridden more miles with Bennie than anyone else. Starting around 2002 when he first started riding with the Stockton Bike Club. We did club rides together. We went to an Athletic Camps training camp together. Occasionally we would do intervals together. He worked as a guide for Cycling Escapes, and I was a client on tours all over the western United States. That’s 24 years of cycling and at least 70,000 miles, probably more.

His nickname was ‘Lonerider’. No one wanted to do the kind of long rides that he did, day after day. Consequently he spent lots of time pedaling alone. He would often ride to the start of a 40 mile club ride in Ione or Wallace, do the ride, then pedal home. Another century in the books. One year he did over 130 centuries. But to me his most impressive year was when he managed to climb 1,230,000 vertical feet. You could ride up Mount Diablo every single day for an entire year, and you still would be short of that total.

Bennie was a talented magician. At coffee stops he would bring out a deck of cards, and put on a show. He was really good with cards and coins and straws. But Steve Fentress and I witnessed what had to be the best trick ever. We were sitting at Donkey J’s in Lockeford having lunch after a ride. Actually it was after the ride for Steve and me, since Bennie wasn’t content with our 50 something miles and was going to ride back to Lodi.

Bennie took a salt shaker and wrapped a napkin around it. On the table, right in front of us. He arranged the napkin so that it covered the salt shaker and then removed his hands. He may have waved them around or chanted some incantation or cracked a joke. I don’t remember.

What I do remember is that suddenly he raised his hand and smashed it down onto the napkin. There was a loud thump. The napkin was squashed flat on the table top and the salt shaker was nowhere to be found. Steve and I were stunned, and then incredulous. That salt shaker HAD to be there, but it wasn’t.

Now, like the salt shaker, Bennie has vanished. And, like that magic trick, I’ll never forget him. If there is a heaven and we both wind up there, I’m going to ask about that salt shaker. Then we’ll go for a ride.

This time it is about the original use of the phrase, at the grocery store.

I’m old enough to remember when only paper bags were on offer. Some came with paper handles to make carrying them easier, but the handles had a very limited weight capacity and could break easily, scattering the goods all over the parking lot. And heaven help you if you had to carry the bags in the rain for any length of time.

My late mother in law told a delightful story of bringing groceries home when she and her husband were young and nearly broke. He was playing minor league baseball and they had no car, so one day she was lugging the groceries home and got caught in a downpour. The paper bags fell apart and she had to get on her knees to chase the potatoes rolling around on the sidewalk.

Somebody came up with the idea of plastic bags. Lighter, stronger, and water proof. And since trees had to die to produce the paper, at first we were told they were more planet friendly. The plastic bags were ‘single use’, but when we got them home we found multiple uses after they were unloaded.

Then we were told that the bags had a decomposition 1/2 life of something like 1,000 years, and they were clogging up landfills. What was an environmentally concerned consumer to do? The stores responded by offering both types and asking that question, leaving each shopper to wrestle with her own conscience.

This being California, our state is in such great fiscal shape that the legislature is looking for something to do. As of January 1 we have an official State Snake (the giant garter snake (Thamnophis gigas)) and an official State Shrub (the bigberry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca)). And this…

“Paper or plastic?” will no longer be a question in California grocery stores and convenience stores. Starting in January, the stores will no longer be allowed to offer plastic bags to customers because of a new state law. This new law bans an exception in a previous law that allowed the sale of thicker plastic bags that can be reused.

Actually single use plastic bags were verboten in our state a while back. Stores could offer paper, or thicker, reusable plastic bags. And they charged for both types. The fee was mandated to encourage consumers to bring their own reusable planet friendly totes.

Irony of ironies: when Covid came stores were forbidden to let consumers bring their own bags. I remember going to Costco, wearing a mask or course, and bringing my large tote. An employee was at the door, also masked, checking Costco cards and turning back all bags. I wasn’t aware of the ban and had to return to my car with my dangerous carryall, shaking my head at the pandemic panic and marveling at how sheeplike we had become. Never forget…

In France we bring our own cloth shopping bags, since none are provided for free. You can purchase some very nice totes at the Super U checkout counter for about 2 euros. And something similar is going on in the U.S.

The Trader Joe’s tote, which sells for $2.99 in the U.S., has joined the ranks of geographically specific status bags like those from London’s Daunt Books or Paris’s Shakespeare and Company. In addition to London, they’re being carried in Seoul, Melbourne, Australia, and Tokyo. Because there are no Trader Joe’s stores abroad, the bags are listed on resale platforms like Depop, eBay and Korea’s Karrot market for up to $10,000—with some eBay listings reaching $50,000.

A $10,000 tote bag has to say something about human psychology, but it is above this blogger’s pay grade.

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

I’ve written before that when someone asks about my hobbies, I usually say cycling, chess and monogamy. I’m trying to be funny, and anyone who has seen me on a bike or playing chess will have a bemused smile.

But apparently the subject of ‘cleaving unto thee only’ is grounds for scientific inquiry.

The Wall Street Journal reported about a study written by Mark Dyble, a University of Cambridge evolutionary anthropologist. He attempted to determine which species are more monogamous than others. Clearly important research with wide ranging implications. Here are the results

The methodology is suspect, especially in the case of humans. The study measured the frequency of half siblings: same mother with genetically different fathers. More half siblings means less monogamous behavior. But not all human dalliances result in offspring. We humans have ways to take precautions. Or post coital-cautions.

But there are exceptions that I think the professor missed which might push humanity down the list. Back when the SNAP funding was put on hold by the budget battle, some moms took to social media to demand assistance.

“It is the taxpayer’s responsibility to take care of my kids,” one emotional mother said in a video posted online.

Of course it is. Glad to do it. Then someone else chimed in:

“Because of the government shutdown, now I can’t get my SNAPs for next month,” she shared on social media.”

The user went on to ask how she was supposed to feed her seven (! ed.) children.
“I have seven different baby daddies and none of ‘em no good for me,” she said.

I found this so outrageous that I suspected she was simply trolling and trying to get a lot of clicks and shares and heated comments. But if it is true Professor Dyble has another data point that may change the rankings.

Here on Brumby Road we operate in California deermouse territory, although if there are any of those under our house they won’t be there long after they eat the mouse bait. They may be virtuous, but they are still vermin.

Way back in 1993 I purchased 3 gold coins. I had a cash windfall and decided that was a good investment. I paid $350 each for the 1 ounce coins.

Today the price of gold is $4228/ounce, so you might think it was a fantastic investment. Since the IRR function in Excel tells me I averaged 8.1% per year, it seems that I did very well. Sure beats CD rates for the last decade or two.

But suppose instead I had put the $350 into an S and P 500 index fund and reinvested all the dividends. That same $350 would have grown to $9,600. Gold had an internal rate of return of 8.1% over those 32 years, while the S and P did 10.9%. That 2.8% difference produces a return over twice as large for the stocks. Einstein called compound interest ‘the 8th wonder of the world’, and this is an example.

If you select different starting years you can get different results, but for most periods of 10 years or more the returns are similar. Stocks beat gold, and by a significant amount.

Gold is pretty, and the coins feel solid in your hand. Paper money goes down in value every year, with long run inflation in the 3% area, unless Covid spending spikes up the money supply and PQ=MV takes effect. So given the choice between greenbacks and gold coins over a decade, I’ll take the metal.

But that isn’t the choice. I’m glad my brief flirtation with bullion was limited to those three pieces of lucre.

Gold prices have doubled over the last 2 years. That has got some people excited and lots of promoters taking to talk radio and cable tv networks to hype gold investing and earn high fees and commissions. Costco made headlines when they offered 1 ounce coins to their members, and they sold out quickly. As the price went up and made the coins more expensive, they sold out even quicker.

Rising prices that increase demand for something don’t really make sense, except for the rare ‘inferior goods’ or even rarer ‘Giffen’ goods (I don’t want anyone to think I slept through microeconomics). I never thought of gold as a Giffen good, but maybe it can be if FOMO is strong enough. Dutch tulips anyone?