Reality based...

Reading today's news from the USVI, I could not help but notice that the top money guy (in what passes for a government) is simply clueless where actual economics is concerned and, apparently, can't do simple math... That said, not really very unusual these days where politicians are concerned as we seem to live in an age of reality-light thought process.

I mention that because while some folks can afford to live in a world where laws of physics and a finite universe are not the order of the day, folks of the VolksCruiser persuasion simply can't afford to be anything but reality based.

Which brings me around to the yearly blow-out sale that is coming up at Defender...

Well, blow-out might no longer be the best description these days as I've noticed that every year the deals seem a lot less like deals. It's just more of the same old same with a lot of hype, and with most of the so-called "great" deals being just cheap crap they bring in so they can entice you with $250-VHF-for-$50 sort of come on.

Still, it's a big sale and it is worth your while if you need stuff to at least check it out. As for my want list, the only real thing is an AIS transponder because I expect that sooner rather than later a shitload of countries are going to start requiring cruisers to have them and once that happens the price of AIS is going to go up in a big way. Then again, do I really want to cruise police states places where they require you to be tracked 24/7/365?

So, if you happen to have a shopping list and the Defender sale is in your to-do list you might want to really check out what a good price is for the items of interest. A little homework now will save you the day after "Did I really pay that much for this stuff" blues.

Also it wouldn't hurt to do a reality based Need/Want assessment and a "can I really afford this thing?" accounting exercise as well...