Slow boats from China

I don't care if those coolies work for free, how can the fish companies afford all that shipping?

By coincidence, the topic of shipping costs was discussed at the recent seminar.  I've forgotten the context, but I recall mentioning to Uncle Ken that what used to cost hundreds of dollars to ship a container to Brazil from China now costs $50.  But that figure is wrong.  In 2008 it cost $2000 to ship a 20 ft. container from China to Brazil and now it costs $50.  Considering the amount of crap you can stuff in a 20.ft box (or the larger, more common 40 ft. box) I would say shipping costs are negligible.

These lower costs are attributed to an excess of shipping capacity.  Older ships aren't being mothballed (some are still being financed) and newer, larger, and more fuel efficient, ships are being built.  It's complex, tied into a lot of international banking mumbo-jumbo and the competition between shippers is fierce.  One of the larger companies recently went bankrupt and the ships were kept at sea, unable to dock because the ports didn't think they'd get paid.  Not a good thing for international trade, knowing your cargo is floating out there somewhere, unable to be delivered.

There is a good market for used shipping containers, though.  According to what I saw on eBay there are good deals to be made.  A used 40 ft. container costs about a thousand (and up) bucks.  Some are sold as is, some are sold kitted out as homes, kitchens, refrigerated storage units, you name it.  There's a whole new cottage industry developing around the use of those boxes; they're weatherproof and stronger than shit. A fella with the proper acreage could make some dandy additions with a cutting torch, once they were delivered on site.

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Speaking of the seminar, Uncle Ken had a book for me that he got from the "book exchange" nook in his laundry room.  A fine book, indeed: the Pocket Ref by Thomas J. Glover.  If Mr. Beagles hasn't heard of it he should take a peek; it's available on Amazon, almost 800 pages of useful information.  Well, not useful to Uncle Ken which is why he was giving it away.  It's like the Woodchuck Manual, as used by Huey, Dewey, and Louie, an amazing compendium of useful info for a discerning clientele.  I had to take a pass on his offer, as it was the 3rd edition and I already have the 4th edition, which has about 100 more pages.  Need to know the different Cement/Sand/Gravel ratios for various concrete applications?  It's in there.  Curious about how many tons of force are needed to punch a half-inch hole in quarter-inch structural steel?  That's in there, too (11.8, BTW).  It's the only book I have that describes Small Animal Artificial Respiration and CPR (Dogs & Cats), should I ever need it.  Maybe Uncle Ken should have kept the book in case an emergency arises with his feline pals, god forbid.

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I read recently that Windows 10 now "infested with annoying ads."  The ads are all for Microsoft products and apparently pop up in the most unlikely places.  Is this true, Mr. Beagles?   I imagine Win7 will cease to be supported in a few years, but I don't want to have to deal with needless ads and bloatware.  It would be different if the OS was free, but it isn't.

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Except for the purported cameras in the microwave ovens I haven't read any good White House rumors lately.  Tomorrow, the FBI guy, Comey, is supposed to give a press conference, maybe putting an end to all the wiretap nonsense once and for all.  Should be fun, I don't think Trump can fire the guy if he doesn't like what he hears; he's stuck with him for quite a few more years (it's a 10 year term, if I recall correctly).  I expect the  implications to be yuuuge.