Mental Spinning

 Back to the gym today, and it was glorious; back and shoulders, and a smidge of cardio (blood sugar a bit low for more).  I do need to get back in the habit of regular doubles, for a bunch of reasons, mainly due to fitness, but also some forced reading time -- 30 or 40 pages while on the bike is nothing to sneeze at, especially given my reading goals, or the fact that I keep getting books at author events...

Made a commitment to answer some emails tonight -- I know, hardly glorious on a Friday night, but certainly adulting, which is something one has to do sometimes.  Also trying to delete some links, which is proving to be less successful, for a bunch of reasons.  I think this weekend I will be doing more of both -- have some SVDP business to attend to, for one, and the prospect of a mostly free Sunday (aside from the gym double, ahem) should allow me to do that.  Unless, of course, I find some other task to do; I keep thinking about how I need to go through closets... not only could they use some cleaning and organizing, but I seem to have more clothes than hangers.  Yes, I could buy some, but... I could pare stuff I will simply never wear.

Will We Ever See Affordable Housing Prices Again? - A Wealth of Common Sense

I think the lack of supply is the main issue, honestly, with the high interest rates being a further factor (albeit temporary, I hope)... I was looking at the details of my mortgage (it was refinanced many moons ago, with a car payment and some insulin purchases included for good measure.  My rate is 3.85%; originally 5.25%, and when I redid I was told they would never be so long again... and then they were 3.1%.  I tried to refi again, and the math couldn't be made to work...not that I tried that hard, or that I complained; even then I was quite happy with 3.85%, and now...financially, I don't need the blue pills, to mix metaphors.  Anyways, people can and do buy houses at 7.5%, but -- after a decade of much lower -- the number will be small, and buyers will do what they can to limit their exposure (more on the down payment, for interest).  Plus, if people think the Fed will keep rates high for a while... well, that is a tough pill to swallow, and no "love the house, not the rate" approach will help.

Troubled Waters: Reading Urine in Medieval Medicine – The Public Domain Review
This was unintentionally hilarious, but also quite informative and interesting...