How Housing Prices and Incomes Changed in the U.S. Between 1985 and 2025 Visual Capitalist used data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Motio Research to compare median sale prices of new homes to median annual incomes. While this draws an interesting comparison, it doesn’t truly represent a more localized comparison. For instance, it is generally understood that someone moving from the northeast will find housing prices in the south less than the home they are moving from.

Finished watching Widow’s Bay on AppleTV. It is a dark horror-comedy following Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys), the mildly cowardly mayor of a foggy, technology-deprived New England island. Determined to build a future for his teenage son, Tom sets out to turn the struggling town into a bustling tourist hotspot. Tom is forced to team up with eccentric islanders to survive the supernatural nightmare he accidentally invited in. I have mixed feelings on this one. It was entertaining and sometimes I was drawn in by the quarky characters, but some of the supernatural stuff just didn’t grab me.

My rating: ★★★★★★★

Well this is getting to be a habit…forgetting to post my Midjourney image on Monday. I’m going to have to create a reminder so I can stay on track. I don’t recall where I originally got the prompt for this post from, but it was fun to play with.

Prompt: What if we all got along, Magazine cover art in the style of Norman Rockwell, a small town street where everyone is smiling except for one, old, grumpy curmudgeon, crisp details throughout –ar 4:5 –raw

From my Morning Brew email newsletter this morning: “Google Maps updated the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for users in the US, following President Trump’s executive order last week.” I certainly hope this is due to some legal parameter, otherwise I’m extremely disappointed in Google Maps. I also find a certain amount of irony in that the current government administration wastes resources, time and money on stuff like this while talking about contolling government expenses and waste.

So I did a thing this weekend. I bought a car. Not the car I had intended to buy, but one I ended up liking better and will probably, ultimately be happier with in the long run.

Monday is my last full-time day and work and then I will be semi-retired. I’ve agreed to help and train my replacement in the months ahead, so I won’t be “fully” retired until that is done. I decided some time ago that I was going to buy a new car when I retired. I wanted something basic, reliable and that I could reasonably maintain for the next 15 years or so.

My car search started a few months ago: reading articles and reviews., checking and shopping on various auto sales websites, watching YouTube videos, and basically consuming any kind of information on my quest for my next vehile. Now mind you, I usually buy a vehicle and drive it until the wheels fall off it or it is no longer logical to repair and maintain. I’ve owned a total of X cars in my lifetime:

• Pontiac Tempest - my grandparents gave me when I was in high school
• Volkswagon Sicrocco - my grandfather helped me purchase when I was in college
• Chevorlet S10 Durango truck - I purchased aftet my Scirocco had been hit and was on it’s deathbed
• Honda Civic LE - 2 of them (I had to purchase a new one after the original got totaled on I-85)
• And now a Toyota Camry LE

I won’t go into deep details, but the entire puchase process ended up being much more stressful than I would have liked. After several communications with my salesperson, I headed into the dealer on Saturday morning ready to take a test drive and place my order. I was already aware that the exterior color (Celestine Blue) and interior color (Grey) was not on the lot and would have to be special ordered or traded for with another dealer.

After my test drive the sales rep casually mentioned that since it was the end of the month, the manager was making “special deals” to move some cars off the lot. He said he had never heard deals this good before and just thought I might be interested. I told I appreciated the sales pitch, but had done all of my homework and was ready to go in and see if he could find my specfic request anywhere that would trade.

I’m going to finish this in a post tomorrow.

Facing El Chapo (La Captura) is a tense crime thriller following a determined law-enforcement team pursuing a dangerous fugitive. As the manhunt intensifies, shifting loyalties, personal motives, and mounting pressure complicate the mission. Blending suspense, action, and moral ambiguity, the film explores the risks and consequences surrounding the pursuit of justice.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this movie. One momoent I was crying, the next moment I was laughting, the next moment I was angry…a whole plethoria of emotions in a single movie. I rarely give a movie a 10 rating, but for me this is one of them.

I Swear is a moving biographical drama based on the life of John Davidson, who developed Tourette syndrome as a teenager in 1980s Scotland. Facing misunderstanding, ridicule, and a society with little awareness of the condition, John struggles to make sense of his uncontrollable tics while finding people who see beyond them. The film follows his journey from an isolated young man to an outspoken advocate for Tourette syndrome awareness. Anchored by a compassionate performance and moments of humor amid the hardship, I Swear is an uplifting story about resilience, friendship, acceptance, and finding purpose in life’s unexpected challenges.

My rating: ★★★★★★★★★

Explore how childhood religion and background characteristics relate to adult religious participation and affiliation. (2023–24 Religious Survey Study)

Below is where I landed:

Take the Quiz

Well my Midjourney Monday post is a little late this week. Today is Wednesday and I just realized that hadn’t made the post on Monday. I guess I’m going to have to create a posting calendar with reminders.

Prompt for this creation was adapted from a Facebook post:

pop art, vapor wave blend, surfer with athletic defined physique at the beach holding a surf board, Hawaii coastline, native flowers, linear and atmospheric perspective, high angle –sref 283922423

Top Commanders Told Hegseth Not to Cut Civilian Protection Program, Poll Showed. He Did It Anyway.:

Shortly after taking office last year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth polled the nation’s top commanders about cutting a program designed to protect civilians during U.S. military operations.

Hegseth had bet senior officers would endorse his view that focusing on civilian security was “woke” and out of step with “maximum lethality,” current and former defense officials told ProPublica.

Instead, every commander rebuffed the idea.

Leadership that doesn’t listen…seems to epitomize the entire administration.