On Monday, December 28, 2020 at 7:04:28 PM UTC-6, Master Bruce wrote:
> On Mon, 28 Dec 2020 16:56:11 -0800 (PST), Bryan Simmons
> > wrote:
>
> >We're buying a house for my son. It's only $85K. We have to be the
> >borrowers, and can't even have my son on the mortgage at all because he
> >doesn't have 2 years of steady income. He'll be making the payments. It
> >won't cost us anything, but we'll be solely responsible for the loan. No
> >worries. That kid will be outearning me pretty soon. He figures he'll be
> >living there for 2 or 3 years, and by then he'll have sufficient demonstrable
> >income to buy a house that he really wants, and can keep that one as a
> >rental property. It's not in one of those tiny municipalities (like Bel Nor),
> >but in University City, about 12 minutes from here in light traffic.
> >
> >What's a trip is that when he emailed some of his friends about the house,
> >it turns out that one of his friends lived in that very house when he was a
> >small child.
> >
> >We're not spending a penny of our own money on the house, but merely
> >guaranteeing the loan. The one thing that the house doesn't have is a
> >washer/dryer, and for a move-in present (he doesn't know this yet), we
> >are going to buy him a nice Speed Queen washer, and a cheap ass dryer.
> >
> >He mentioned that he'll be having us over for dinner often, and I'm sure
> >he'll be coming over here for dinner often as well. This is a nice transition
> >to him moving out. He's fiercely independent. A lot of kids go though a
> >stage where they want little to do with parents for several years, whether
> >that's going away to college or just moving out. He established his
> >autonomy earlier, doing his own laundry, buying his own clothes, etc.
> >while he was still in high school, and it's already like he's a fully adult
> >child in many ways.
> >
> >Truth be told, my only disappointment with him is his politics, which is
> >decidedly libertarian compared to his parents. That's not going to go
> >away, maybe not ever, but he's his own person, and I never wanted a
> >clone of myself.
> Libertarian is non-religious right-wing?
>
Pretty much, though he's not extreme, just not as lefty as me, and certainly
not as much as my wife. He's not a kook, and doesn't deny climate change,
or hold any beliefs that contradict science. This is a person who has read
*War and Peace* (the whole book) and *Crime and Punishment*. Sure, he's
still naive, but he's 19. I should recommend Adam Smith, especially *The
Theory of Moral Sentiments*. One book that I feel that everyone should
read is *A Christmas Carol*.

******************
"Do you have a favorite book?"
Winter had to think. "No, but I'm crazy about Shakespeare, and I love Dickens."
"A Christmas Carol always makes me cry. If I start thinking about it, I'll be
blubbering again."
Winter almost told Ann that Ian had said almost exactly the same thing, but
didn't voice it because she needed to keep the two of them separate in her
own mind.
"My parents didn't approve of the story. They thought it was heretical
because it had ghosts, but the ghosts in A Christmas Carol were like angels.
It was just that they were called ghosts. They couldn't get past that.
Scrooge finds Jesus' love, and he's changed."
"Ann, it's one of the most wonderful stories ever. A person rejects
selfishness, and embraces generosity. Whatever one's religious beliefs."
"Do you believe?"
"No. Can you, are you OK with that?"
"You've made me believe even more. Are you OK with that?"
"I am."
******************

--Bryan