Split P Soup — Book 5: Whaddaya Know?

Description

About Maharg Ydobon

Bio Info for Maharg YdobonAge = Old; birthdate lost in ancient history and political disruptions. Maybe he was born soon after WW2 somewhere in a now dislocated jurisdiction, possibly Europe or South America or somewhere else. But, it seems he must have been in elementary school in the early 1960s. He claims to have been in anti-war and civil rights protests during the Nixon years.Ethnicity = Other; has ties to various ethnicities and claims allegiance to none of them. Claims to have come from “the old world”, and that most of the Ydobon family didn’t choose to come to this backwater planet… (Maybe there will be something of this vein in future books?)Language = Spanglish (border mixture of Spanish & English) and BuHdobyan (huh?), but his first language is “ba-baba-baby-talk…”Family = Multiple members of extended family, many of whom are now deceased. Favorite Auntie just passed away in her late eighties. Mama died at the same age a few years ago. Some brothers are still in contact, and through them are many nephews and nieces. Heck, life goes on and you lose some and gain some and it all comes out “even steven” – except when it doesn’t.Work = Various Jobs & Businesses. “The first regular job I remember was walking bean fields in the brutal heat and humidity of the Mississippi River Valley, hoeing out all of the weeds while being careful to protect the plants. Yeah, I made a whopping 65 cents an hour for that menial labor.”Over the years there have been many jobs and businesses. Gradually the pay got better as did the amount of control I had over my life.”Recently a client told me my rates were way too low for the market, and that I should increase my base rate (for just showing up and not doing any real work) to more than double. I considered that absurd, but increased my hourly rate (including work) by about 20 percent. “Reality Check! My rates haven’t really gone up that much. Our economy is in such a mess that our dollars are becoming worthless, and you have to get a lot more of them to buy the basic stuff that most people need. That’s called ‘transitory inflation’, and has been going on for hundreds of years…”So, somebody’s $100 per hour rate now is maybe equivalent to a wage of $10 an hour back when I was growing up. Okay, that was a living wage for a seasoned technician. You could support a family on that if you were frugal. “Frugal is one thing I have been all my life. As Uncle Harveigh says, ‘There’s no sense spending senselessly on senseless extravagances. Going into debt for non-essential spending is even worse. It’s all just senseless.'””So, if you have any sense, mind your dollars and cents.”Sorry, I got off track there — maybe starting to show my age. Financial stupidity is one of my pet peeves.”There are many other things of importance about me, but not all is relevant here….”I do enjoy woodworking and creative art. My workshop is outdoors, but shaded, with big trees and a shade canopy, and surround-sound organic birdsong music all day long. “One of my best buddies out there is a large Wood Bee (aka Carpenter Bee) who hangs around and talks to me in Buzzlish. He (or maybe she; most of nature seems to be non-binary when it comes to gender) looks a lot like a Bumblebee, except for being all black. Unlike its cousins, Wood Bees are very mellow and don’t attack or sting unless they are threatened. It would be nice if more people were like that.”