Last summer, Nathan Connolly and his wife, Shani Mott, welcomed an appraiser into their house in Baltimore, hoping to take advantage of historically low interest rates and refinance their mortgage.
But 20/20 Valuations, a Maryland appraisal company, put the home’s value at $472,000, and in turn, loanDepot, a mortgage lender, denied the couple a refinance loan.
Dr. Connolly said he knew why: He, his wife and three children, aged 15, 12 and 9, are Black. A professor of history at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Connolly is an expert on redlining and the legacy of white supremacy in American cities, and much of his research focuses on the role of race in the housing market.
Months after that first appraisal, the couple applied for another refinance loan, removed family photos and had a white male colleague — another Johns Hopkins professor — stand in for them. The second appraiser valued the house at $750,000.
The industry standard, in other words, if we are to believe the Newspaper of Science, is to apply a 37 percent discount to a Black-occupied house.
An appraised-low house is a curse if you’re the typical spend-like-a-drug-dealer American and want to pull the last dollar of home equity out to spend on bling. But an appraised-low house is a blessing if you’re faced with paying the annual property tax bill.
I’m wondering what this means for sharing out the property tax burden in the U.S. Wouldn’t most members of the laptop class eagerly grab their one Black friend to stand in for them when the local tax assessor comes buy to set the house’s value for property tax purposes? Let’s consider the appraisal discrepancy that affected Dr. Connolly, M.D., above: $278,000. At Baltimore’s 2.25 percent property tax rate, a subtraction of $278,000 in assessed value would save $62,550 over a 10-year period.
Here’s some new construction near the Stuart, Florida airport, maybe evidence that someone managed the PPP and other coronarelief programs correctly. I’m betting that he/she/ze/they would pay good money to a Black family willing to move in for a couple of hours while Martin County’s assessors try to figure out how much to hit them for.
what disgusted me the most was not the intellectual corruption. It was the careerism. It was the sense that all of this—all the posturing, all the position-taking—was nothing more than a professional game. The goal was advancement, not truth. The worst mistake was to think for yourself. People said things that they obviously didn’t believe, or wouldn’t have believed if they had bothered to subject them to the test of their own experience—that language is incapable of making meaning, that the self is a construct—but that the climate forced them to avow. Students stuck their fingers in the air to see which way the theoretical winds were blowing, designing their dissertations to catch the swell of the latest trend.
I managed to publish a couple of articles and get some decent recommendations from professors over 50, and when I ventured on the job market, the year I finished my degree, I was offered interviews at five institutions (out of the 20 to which I applied). Four were lower-tier places—Auburn, the University of Montana, Georgia State, and Cal State Los Angeles—and the fifth was Yale. The explanation of this strange assortment is that Yale’s was still a very conservative department—meaning, it was still run by people who shared my intellectual values. Being able to write, for example, was not considered a liability.
After nine years in graduate school, uncertain the entire time about my future, I had been granted a new lease on my professional life. Given Yale’s generous 10-year timeline, plus leaves of absence in the fourth and seventh years, I should’ve been able to make it work: publish, get another job, make it to Castle Tenure.
For those getting ready to pony up tuition, room, and board at a research university:
The problem with spending time with students, or on students, or writing book reviews or essays, is that none of those activities do anything for you professionally. Academics are rewarded for one thing and one thing only: research. Scholarly publication. Nothing else counts; anything else is a step toward professional suicide.
After he can’t get tenure at Yale?
… 39 schools and 46 applications. Prestigious universities, public and private; non-prestigious universities, public and private; Canadian universities; liberal arts colleges. Institutions in the Northeast, the Midwest, the South, the West, and north of the border; schools urban, suburban, and rural. I would’ve gone just about anywhere. But with all that work and all that hope, I got a total of five interviews, two callbacks (the final stage in the hiring process), and zero offers.
At this point he’s presumably mid-40s, a time when an intelligent hard-working person is reaching the zenith of his/her/zir/their career prestige, and unemployable within his field.
I recommend this essay if you know anyone who is considering investing in a Ph.D.!
Finally, this seems like a good time for me to remind everyone that the cafeteria staff at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh needs to remind the academic geniuses that pecan pie contains nuts:
Oslo, Norway is the only nonstop European destination reachable from FLL (not too far from Jupiter, Florida where we moved). I’ll be on the ground Monday through Thursday next week (August 29-Sept 1) and would be delighted to meet any readers (just email philg@mit.edu).
Our 7-year-old suggested to a COVID-concerned friend that he “dress up like Dr. Fauci” and hand out N95 masks to fellow passengers on commercial airline flights. I may try this if it seems that there are diseased deplorables on the Norse Atlantic 787.
New York wants to welcome new immigrants. Its economy and vibrancy depend on them. But an influx has strained a social safety net already on the brink.
The influx of migrants to the city this spring and summer, most fleeing crime and cratering economies in Central and South America, has tested New York’s reputation as a world sanctuary. And it shows no sign of slowing, thanks in part to Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, whose decision to send busload after busload to Washington and New York to goad Democrats on border policy has helped turn the normal north-flowing river of humanity into a wave.
New York City has long been powered to a large extent by the sweat and toil of immigrants, but its ability to help them get on their feet has been increasingly strained.
The delivery of 129 migrants to the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Wednesday was the biggest one-day total so far in Mr. Abbott’s campaign. But it was just part of the larger migration of thousands: According to the city, the shelter system now houses 4,900 asylum seekers.
Never mentioned in this article: New York City is home to more than 8 million people, nearly all of whom evince a Progressive political point of view, which includes #NoHumanIsIllegal. If we consider the metro area, the total size of the welcoming committee is 20 million. Given the above numbers, there should be roughly 5,000 New Yorkers assisting each asylum-seeker. How do the 4,900 compare to the overall flow across the border? Here are the numbers for the subset of migrants who are apprehended by La Migra:
The Progressives of New York City, in other words, are currently hosting 1/400th of the total quantity of apprehended migrants so far in FY2022.
Department of possibly low skill, but certainly not low intelligence:
“Imagine that we came all this way walking,” said Carolina Flores, 31, who fled Venezuela with her husband and four children and has settled with them at a shelter in Brooklyn. “Everything is very good, a hotel and house for free — that is something that would never happen in our country.”
The above comment raises a question: Why did she and her children have to walk? If we are are eager to provide asylum to those who need it, why do we insist that the asylees and refugees be fit enough to walk to the U.S.? Why not send a daily Airbus A380 to Caracas to pick up those who say that they need asylum? Mkm, a reader from NYC, asked the same question in a comment:
Why not just run free flights from Central America to JFK. Cut out all the misery in between.
From a reader in Harvard Square:
It seems much of the ire aimed at illegal immigrants is their getting something for free and straining local economies. Interesting that no one comments on the true freeloaders: the wealthy who proportionally pay significantly less in taxes than the middle class and the working class. But their venality is camouflaged by propaganda.
Wonder what all those taxes could do to repair our infrastructure and to create a safety net that serves all who deserve aid. No one seems to complain about the skimming done by the 10 percent. But give a poor person a break, and people scream.
If only the rich would pay their fair share, all of our dreams would come true and, also, all of the dreams of every non-working migrant who chooses to come through our open borders. But what stops New York City from being a shining example of fair taxation? Even many of the richest New Yorkers identify as Progressive and espouse Progressive political points of view. There are no Republicans in positions of power in NYC. Nothing would stop New York City voters from imposing higher property taxes, higher income tax rates, and/or a straight-up wealth tax. (Same question for San Francisco! With no Republicans in the way, what stops the implementation of every Progressive dream, including universal housing and health care?)
Circling back to the “unrich” (as our kids say), employers in New York City depend on migrants to keep wages low:
The city’s desire to absorb these migrants as it has earlier waves reflects the fundamental fact that New York has always relied on immigrants in every sector of the work force, from restaurants and health care to the arts, technology and finance. When New Yorkers move away, immigrants take their places, often working essential low-wage jobs that others do not want.
Progressives claim to follow Rainbow Flagism, but have neglected to build housing specifically for the 2SLGBTQQIA+ migrant community:
The newcomers’ reviews of the shelter system have been unenthusiastic. “I don’t feel good at the shelter because I’m gay,” said Pedro Gutierrez, 30, who arrived from Venezuela on Aug. 4 and was assigned to a shelter on Wards Island. “Some people there are saying bad things about me, harassing me.”
From the reader comments, Lucia Gutiérrez of New Jersey:
I work in a domestic violence shelter and now refugee women from South America are coming more and more frequently to use ours services and we are straying from our original mission to help true survivors of domestic violence. As a member of the middle class and wife to a legal immigrant, whom we had to wait 2 years for the whole process to proceed, it’s frustrating to see all these people shamelessly coming through the border and asking for services, like subsidized housing, free school supplies, free healthcare, etc., all at tax payers’ expense. The worst part of all is that they lie about their employment status. Many do work but for cash, which makes it easy to hide their income, and hence qualify for services. As a person who’s always followed the rules, it’s so unfair. The worst part of all is that if we even mention any hint of criticisms towards these migrants, we are viewed as racists and non compassionate.
Meena, from California:
I cannot believe I am agreeing with Trump era policies.
Hazelmom:
Welcome to our reality in Texas! I can’t believe y’all are whining about a measly few thousand migrants-some months we get 60K crossing the border. Good to share the burden.
Sue from NJ:
But wait, I’ve heard time and again that migrants don’t cost American taxpayers anything. And yet now NY is saying they need federal dollars to house, feed, provide medical care for the influx. Oh, and also need to find room for 1,000 kids (so far) to enter the school system.
A physician echoes Milton Friedman on whether a open borders and a welfare state are compatible:
I run a mid size ICU in Iowa currently. 2-10% of our ICU patients are undocumented. … every hospitalization runs between $15,000 -$250,000. … The cost is passed on the paying patients. The labor & Delivery dept. also has its share of undocumented who deliver newly minted US citizens who qualify instantly for Medicaid. In New York, the hospitals rent apartments to keep patients who cannot be discharged home( strokes, brain injury)and Nursinghomes wont take these non citizens. They stay in the apartments indefinitely. … can we sustain this welfare state model?
From Nevada:
The spend per student in NYC public schools is $25,000 and even more for special needs and ESL students as most of these students will be. The cost of the hotel room or apartment is at least $4k per month. The cost of health care is at least $25K for a family (even if they don’t have actual insurance they do get cared for and that care costs money). So a family with 3 kids creates a minimum $150K public spend. No amount of labor will ever pay this back. And the tragedy is $150K per year could provide basic education health care and and housing for an entire village in Guatemala or El Salvador. This does not make sense.
Gulf Coast Cynic:
The only change I would make to Abbott’s policy is having the busses unload at the front door of the New York Times & Washington Post.
From Gotham:
In 1986, we were promised that if we accepted a ONE TIME ONLT amnesty, immigration issues would be effectively addressed with workable, humane legislation, strict enforcement with sufficient BP staff and a robust employer verification system. Well, we got the amnesty but none of the rest.
(The above is unfair, in my opinion. The U.S. welfare state, as it has evolved since the mid-1980s, made the employer verification system irrelevant because there is no longer any need for a migrant to work or, certainly, to work a non-cash job.)
Joe (from Arizona) and I can team up:
I would be willing to pay for the airfare to fly an immigrant family of four back to their own (country of origin) or to any sanctuary city in the USA.
(He will pay for transportation to the sanctuary city and I will pay for food from Costco for any migrant family that a Progressive homeowner wishes to host in his or her home for at least one year.)
From a variety of commenters:
Why aren’t New Yorkers sending their own buses down to Texas to pick up more immigrants?
I’m unclear as to why we have immigration laws.
A poem on a statue is not a reason to keep expanding our society beyond carrying capacity.
After Great Smoky Mountain National Park, our family’s next stop on the way to Oshkosh was Indianapolis. We parked at Signature IND and Ubered into town for lunch in a sacred space:
Despite the sanctified-by-2SLGBTQQIA+ nature of the restaurant, it was tough not to notice that workers were unenthusiastic about being there, a sharp contrast to Gatlinburg in which genuine warmth is the usual attitude of a server.
First sightseeing stop, July 22, 2022, the children’s museum:
The museum has an epic dinosaur section with real fossils that visitors can touch. Real paleontology is going on in this museum and visitors can arrange to take part.
The museum reminds children that they can make a difference, but only if they can first be classified as victims (of the Nazis (including Donald Trump), of prejudice against Blacks, of prejudice against those with AIDS, or of the Taliban).
Comic books are available to flip through via touch screen, but only those featuring female superheroes.
Note the two guys wearing surgical masks in their lonely fight against an aerosol virus:
They’re concerned enough about COVID-19 to wear masks, but not concerned enough to refrain from sharing the museum’s indoor air with 100+ other folks nor to refrain from taking a bus ride around the track (I can’t remember if they actually kissed the bricks or not, a seemingly less-than-ideal way to #StopTheSpread).
Next stop was the Eiteljorg Museum, which specializes in Native American and Western art. The museum acknowledges that it is on land that rightfully belongs to others, but it refuses to give the land back:
And then there is the posted DEI “commitment”:
Just a few steps beyond the righteous floor sign, we get the Native American perspective on white say-gooders and their land acknowledgments:
A couple of cloth-masked visitors again raise the question for me… why are they in an indoor public place?
Native-created masks for horses and humans:
Prevent COVID-19 from spreading by shutting down the water fountains:
Will Florida ultimately be the only state left with working water fountains?
If you’ve got kids, don’t miss the basement of this museum, which has a lot of hands-on activities. Back on the main floor, the scale of the Western paintings is literally awesome:
Another museum (Newfields), another pair of masked visitors:
They’re enjoying “THE LUME”, an animated version of the Impressionists set to music. But if they’re worried enough about COVID-19 to wear a mask, why aren’t they worried enough to stay home?
Our kids loved this production (see below; #LoveIsLove) and were reluctant to leave even after two hours. “This is the best place ever,” was the explanation. There is a bar/coffee shop within the exhibit and also bathrooms, so it would actually be possible to stay the whole day.
One idea had been to leave for Oshkosh on Saturday night. The “shelter in place & stay safe” text message was not promising, especially given that it was being sent to people whose shelter options were a 10 lb. tent and a 1500 lb. (empty) airplane.
The next morning was not a lot better for getting to our actual destination of Appleton, Wisconsin:
Southwest Airlines was delayed 3.5 hours getting into Chicago, according to a friend coming into Oshkosh the easy/smart way, so we didn’t feel bad trying to wait out the weather at the Indiana State Museum.
What’s interesting about the U.S.S. Indianapolis? Not that the U.S. Navy failed to heed a distress call from the torpedoed cruiser. Not that the U.S. Navy failed to notice when the massive ship did not show up in port as scheduled. Not that nearly 900 men died, 600 of them unnecessarily (left to float in the water and be attacked by sharks until a PBY crew accidentally discovered them). Not that the tragedy figured prominently in the movie Jaws. See the sign below for what visitors can learn next to the model.
Suppose that a visitor wonders about the merits of low-skill immigration. He/she/ze/they will learn that “Securing the rights of all Hoosiers has been fought by many. Individuals and communities rally together to fight against hate and social injustices.” A migrant who shows up on a Monday morning is a “Hoosier” by lunchtime and, certainly, it would be “hate” and “injustice” if anyone were to regard the migrant as illegal somehow.
There’s a hands-on cardboard engineering lab on the top floor. Here a 2-year-old learns to build a park that is welcoming to the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community:
Is there room in Indianapolis for every American who identifies as 2SLGBTQQIA+ and for the entire populations of Haiti (11 million) and Honduras (10 million) to become Hoosiers? It sure feels as though there is! Downtown, at least on the weekend, feels empty.
“no one with a federally held loan has had to pay a single dollar in loan payments since President Biden took office.” I think that this is the more significant driver of near-term inflation. If no one has had to pay a single dollar in loan payments then no one needs to put down the Xbox controller, leave mom’s basement, and look for a job. An employer will have to keep bidding up wages in order to woo some of the limited number of Americans who’ve decided, perhaps out of habit, to stay in the labor force.
With Americans anxious about inflation, how could it make political sense for a politician to do something that will obviously stoke inflation? Nate Silver explains why this is not an irrational move for a federal government run by Democrats:
The thing about student loan debt relief is that, while other policies would be more economically progressive, it fairly efficiently redistributes well-being toward people in the Democratic coalition. Youngish, middle-class-ish college/grad school attendees = a *very* D group.
Note the “redistribute well-being” from the working class to the laptop class, just as low-skill immigration does according to a Harvard prof and just as the newly expanded $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit does. I’m beginning to wonder how much more the working class can be made to pay to the laptop class. In which year of the Biden administration does the Walmart cashier begin to have to subsidize the laptop class member’s purchase of a new fuel-efficient Cirrus airplane?
Conventional wisdom says that as long as interest rates are below the rate of inflation, inflation will rise. Inflation in July was 8.5%, measured as the one-year change in the consumer price index. The Fed has raised the federal funds rate only from 0.08% in March to 2.33% in August. According to the conventional view, that isn’t nearly enough. Higher rates are needed, now.
This conventional view holds that the economy is inherently unstable. The Fed is like a seal, balancing a ball (inflation) on its nose (interest rates). To keep the ball from falling, the seal must quickly move its nose.
In a newer view, the economy is stable, like a pendulum. Even if the Fed does nothing, so long as there are no more shocks, inflation will eventually peter out. The Fed can reduce inflation by raising interest rates, but interest rates need not exceed inflation to prevent an inflationary spiral. This newer view is reflected in most economic models of recent decades. It accounts for the Fed’s projections and explains the Fed’s sluggish response. Stock and bond markets also foresee inflation fading away without large interest-rate rises.
The learned and credentialed author concludes with no conclusion about who is right. Even our most notable economists aren’t going to get rich via financial market trades, it seems, based on their superior predictive abilities for inflation rates.
In an August 2020 book, “The Great Demographic Reversal,” former British central banker Charles Goodhart and economist Manoj Pradhan argued that the low inflation since the 1990s had less to do with central-bank policies and more with the addition of hundreds of millions of low-wage Asian and Eastern European workers, which held down labor costs and prices of manufactured goods exported to richer countries.
Mr. Goodhart wrote that global labor glut was giving way to an era of worker shortages, and hence higher inflation.
Meanwhile, the U.S. labor force has roughly 2.5 million fewer workers since the pandemic began, compared with what it would have if the prepandemic trend in workforce participation had continued and after accounting for the aging of the population, according to an analysis by Didem Tüzemen, an economist at the Kansas City Fed.
The low-inflation environment of the past 30 years caused consumers and businesses to not think much about price increases. Fed officials now worry that even if prices rise temporarily, consumers and businesses could come to expect higher inflation to persist. That could help fuel higher inflation as workers demand higher pay that employers would pass onto consumers through higher prices.
The expert witness world could serve as an example for the last paragraph. An expert witness engagement usually lasts no more than 3 years and, with inflation expectations low, it was conventional for a contract to call for a fixed rate for the entire engagement. Starting in 2022, however, it became conventional for contracts to allow for annual price increases.
[I should do a separate blog post at some point about how economists don’t seem to account for human nature in forecasting labor force participation. The assumption is that humans don’t get habituated to either working or not working. So an American will jump in and out of the labor force as soon as wages or conditions are adjusted. The American’s value of leisure time will be constant and won’t depend on whether the American has just spent the last two years not working, participating in a bunch of online games, in-person clubs and leagues, etc. Because of this flawed model of humans, economists are surprised on a daily basis that higher wages haven’t lured more Americans back into the labor force. There is nothing in the economics models that says if you play a lot of Xbox for a year you will get better at Xbox and enjoy playing Xbox more and, therefore, require a higher wage to tempt you out of the house.]
Related:
Have colleges raised tuition by $10,000 yet or are they waiting a few days first
Florida held a primary election yesterday. Democrats overwhelming chose Charlie Crist, an elderly white man, as their candidate to challenge Ron DeSantis. The 66-year-old won by 60:35 (CNN) over the 44-year-old Nikki Fried. (Voting was suppressed by Florida’s ID check requirement, yet CNN reports that millions of Floridians managed to vote anyway.)
DeSantis desperately needs to win in November, simply to keep his family housed. He had a net worth of $319,000 at the end of 2021 (law.com), not enough to buy a 1BR condo in a decent neighborhood thanks to Florida Realtor of the Year 2020 Andrew Cuomo and Florida Realtor of the Year 2021 Charlie Baker (of Maskachusetts).
As with other Democrats, Nikki Fried says that Republicans are “a danger to democracy”. Now that the Democrats control both the White House and Congress and talk about “treason,” “insurrection,” and “democracy in peril,” why don’t they imprison and/or execute Republicans in order to save our fragile democracy? A couple of examples:
I just held a press conference in Tampa, in front of @AndrewWarrenFL’s rightful office, to remind voters why this election is so important: DeSantis is a danger to democracy.
“Donald Trump is the greatest threat to our national security, but Ron DeSantis is the greatest threat to democracy.” A person who lacks even the power to collect income tax is the greatest threat to American democracy, in other words (most taxing power in Florida belongs to the counties).
If Democrats believe what they’re saying, why don’t they take real action to eliminate Republicans from the United States? If they don’t believe what they’re saying, why are they saying these things?
We know that she was against Ron DeSantis and his plan to end American democracy. What was Nikki Fried actually for? Abortion care and marriage for members of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community:
The pending Supreme Court decision doesn't stop with women’s rights — gay marriage is likely next.
When the power comes back to the states, it's vital we have a governor in office who will protect us. DeSantis is not that governor.
CNN agrees that the most important question facing Florida voters is whether abortion care should be limited to 15 weeks into a pregnant person’s pregnancy (3 weeks more than in most European countries) or if abortion care should be available as part of reproductive health care at 34 weeks, as is legal in Maskachusetts (the law) or Colorado (Wikipedia).
The question of who is best suited to take the abortion fight to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — seasoned Rep. Charlie Crist or Nikki Fried, the state agriculture commissioner vying to be the state's first female governor — has sparked a bitter war of words https://t.co/Nu41rC6Uq1
(It’s the “abortion fight” and not the “abortion care fight”? Where are the copy editors at CNN?)
How about the old white guy who won? He promises “reproductive freedom” and is endorsed by Planned Parenthood, the world’s largest provider of pregnancy-ending reproductive health care (abortion care to more than 300,000 pregnant people every year):
I’m deeply honored to receive the support of @FAPPA!
We will defeat Ron DeSantis and defend reproductive freedom for all in Florida. https://t.co/NSKwMyJpAX
Charlie Crist also promises to consider a state-wide governor-ordered mask mandate (source). This is against the spirit of Florida law, passed by the legislature and signed by Governor DeSantis, but maybe not against the letter of the law since it could be a state-level order instead of one imposed by counties or school districts.
The Feds had to force companies to hire those over 40 but even this law allowed putting anyone over 65 out to pasture if important decisions were being made in that position. Given how much prejudice there is against hiring old people for regular jobs, I am mystified by American voter behavior in favor of the elderly for seemingly much more important jobs (state governor, President of the US, etc.).
Who wants to forecast the Crist v. DeSantis result in November? It was 49.6:49.2 for Ron D. back in 2018, but Democrats were a majority of Florida’s registered voters then. If we go by simple party registration (source) DeSantis wins by 51:49. However, my bet is that DeSantis gets a boost of 2 points from young people who don’t want to be locked down and/or ordered to wear masks the next time a respiratory virus appears. And then he gets another 3-point boost from parents of K-12-age students who don’t want to see public schools (a.k.a. “free daycare”) shut down. So that would be a 56:44 victory for DeSantis. It is rare for Floridians to say much about politics beyond Palm Beach County, but the most common expression that I have heard is gratitude to Ron DeSantis for keeping schools open and preventing local Covidcrats from imposing their Science-guided will regarding masks, vaccine papers checks, lockdowns, etc. The second most common expression is from older Democrats who are transplants from the Lands of Science, cursing DeSantis for failing to follow Science. So the 2018-2022 result spread will be an interesting referendum on the voter-perceived appropriate level of coronapanic!
Related:
“Most DeSantis-endorsed school board candidates win their Florida primaries” (Politico): “The majority of local school board candidates backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis — at least 21 out of 30 — won their elections Tuesday, results that underscore how the Republican governor’s stance on education has gained support throughout Florida. … DeSantis-backed candidates also scored big wins in Miami-Dade County, another school board that went against Republicans on masking students. In one race, Monica Colucci, an educator with GOP support, defeated Marta Perez, a 24-year school board member despite raising about $70,000 less than her opponent.”
This summer we stayed in a hotel that was hosting a Knanaya Catholic Congress of North America convention. There were some very fine people attending the KCCNA convention, but others couldn’t resist partying until 4 or 5 am in the hallway outside our room and there were elevator issues. I decided to see if there was a way to contact Marriott’s “unhappy customer” line. Here’s the “Customer Care” section of the Bonvoy app:
What is the #1 concern of a hotel guest who requests “care”? “Where Can I Find Information on Diversity & Inclusion?”
To escape the crowds of Great Smoky Mountains National Park during our five-night visit to Gatlinburg, we went to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. Is a jammed theme park actually less crowded than a national park? It feels less crowded because it is properly engineered for crowds. Unlike in the national park, it is possible to find a parking space at Dollywood (pay up for premium parking; there is a separate entrance from the premium lot and no waiting in line for security or ticket scanning). Unlike in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge, it is fairly easy to get a counter-serve or table-serve meal (plan ahead for dinner, perhaps, but overall the food-to-customer situation is vastly better than at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom). Here’s the health food shack (pork rinds):
In addition to long lines and hassles to get basic food, the Orlando theme parks suffer from a lack of local feeling. Few of the park workers are from Orlando and, except perhaps for Legoland (in Winter Haven, FL) with its botanical gardens and water ski show, there isn’t much that relates to Florida. Disney is reasonably successful at finding people who are happy to be working at Disney, but the other parks are often staffed with people who seem disappointed that they couldn’t get a job at Disney and/or that they have to work at all. Dollywood is the opposite, being centered in eastern TN culture and staffed with people who grew up in the area, love the area, and are happy to be working at Dollywood.
Dollywood is built into a hillside and retains the mountain steam train ride from which it was seeded. In addition to the expected terrifying rollercoasters there are a lot of music shows. One artist that you won’t hear too much, not even covers of her songs, is… Dolly Parton. She uses the park to showcase lesser-known musicians. There are some craft demonstrations. Our boys (7 and 8) were fascinated by the blacksmith shop in which visitors can participate (makes sure to wear closed-toe shoes and stop by early in the day to book a slot).
The associated water park is underwhelming by Florida standards and there weren’t enough slides to handle the crowds of a hot weekday afternoon. Definitely invest in the line-skipping pass if you’re going to hit the water park.
The evening fireworks were worth staying up for, though the Oshkosh blow-out puts them to shame! There is a creative pre-fireworks drone show. Traffic into and out of the park is well-organized so you won’t be stuck trying to get out.
Budget $1,000 for a family of four if you want to hit the main park, the water park, and pay for line-skipping and premium parking. (If $1,000 seems like a lot, remember that you don’t have to take the day off work so long as you’re a member of the laptop class. Just answer the occasional email from your phone while in line for a ride.) The day after you can return to Great Smoky Mountain National Park with a renewed appreciation for the woods:
Rivian has addressed this by creating a pet comfort mode that will maintain a temperature between 68 and 74 degrees Fahrenheit in the car while you are away. All you need to do to turn it on is hit the paw icon in the upper right corner of the climate control screen. This will stay on while you’re taking care of business away from the vehicle. If you don’t set a specific temperature, it will automatically set to 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Rivian addresses this by alerting anyone who passes by that the pet comfort mode is on and your dog is OK.
The companies that could easily do this with a bit of programming, e.g., Ford, GM, Toyota, Hyundai/Kia, Mercedes, BMW et al., apparently can’t be bothered. Only the startups (Tesla, Rivian, and maybe Lucid (according to a salesperson I talked to in a San Diego mall in June 2022)) provide this.
In other car news, a dealer here in South Florida had a new C8 Corvette in stock(!). With the Z51 (but not Z06!) performance package, convertible body, 3LT trim, and 75th anniversary color scheme, the machine carries an MSRP of $108,000. They expressed a willingness to sell it for $138,000, which includes a $30,000 “market value adjustment.” The high-end used car lot at the northeast end of Jupiter says that C8 Corvettes in yellow are the easiest to sell and that, within a day or two of being parked within sight of the road, are gone.
Related:
“Buying a new car in the U.S. has never been more expensive” (CBS, August 11, 2022): “The average price Americans paid for a new vehicle in July hit a record high of $48,182 … And prices are likely to continue rising because demand for new vehicles is unusually high while inventories are low compared to previous years, experts told CBS MoneyWatch. … Prepare to pay through the nose“
