Oh this is new.  My anti-virus software now warns me against clicking on anything from SavingAdvice's blog section, mostly because it does not offer HTTPS.  That's never come up before, but it does make sense I guess.

While I'm here, the stock market dropped again today, because our Stable Genius of a President decided that he has the power to fire the Chair of the Federal Reserve and is "considering it". 

Like, seriously, what is wrong with this guy?  Better yet, what is wrong with the people who support him and his agenda?  I mean, this stuff is obvious, isn't it?  Shake the legitimacy of the Federal Reserve, and you shake the market's faith in the Fed's ability to maintain a stable economy.  This is not rocket surgery.

And this is only month #4 into his 4 year presidency....

Anyways, it was "fun" watching my life savings take another hearty $20K drop from today's Oval Office hubris.

I've always liked the idea of adopting pets, but was too busy before to take care of them.  I had said to myself that, some day, when I retire, perhaps I would finally adopt some.  Well, that day is finally here, but I am still dragging my feet.

The usual concerns would come up.  As a pet novice, would I find the learning curve a bit too much?  Would I find the cost of raising pets too much as well?  I am also concerned about pets that might be too sad or something being around me?  I don't know.

It wasn't until recently, when would-be burglars nearly broke into my house that I started to give this topic a serious look.  Specifically, I am thinking maybe adopting dogs to help guard the house, even though I am also a big fan of cats.

If I do this, I would really, really like two dogs (or cats) at the same time, ideally from the same litter, if only because I'd like them to be able to socialize well and play with each other, and not just rely on me.

Of course, I am also very worried about the cost.  I read online that the cost of taking care of pets are at least $1k per pet, per year, and I am sure that cost is only going to increase as time goes by.

Anyway, does anyone have pets, or have thoughts they want to chime in on this?

Please don't forget days like earlier today.  Please.  Don't let anyone sugar coat this, or blame it on their (Democratic) opposition, or drink the GOP apologist Koolaid that this is somehow "normal".  It's not.

The Dow hasn't fallen like this since the Covid lockdown only a few years ago, and that was a global pandemic that shuttered the entire country and its businesses.

And you know what's really sad about this whole thing?  If Trump had literally not picked up his pen to sign for a tariff war, all this could have been avoided.  All of it.  The Covid pandemic was unavoidable, but this one is.  Easily.

It's a good thing I had already liquidated my Roth IRA positions (mostly due to my weird tax situation), because otherwise, this single day would have costed me another six figures.  I mean I still lost a bunch, so that's just me trying to look at this as glass half full.

And yes, I could rant more about it, but I won't.  I know this isn't the site for politics, although I think mentioning it to some extent is also kind of inevitable, especially when it affects our life savings so directly.