Just got the bill for a minor repair on the fireplace at a rental of mine and to repair the gate. $1900. Since it's proving to be the best hedge on inflation I've ever owned I'm threatening to buy another rental. Was just in a meeting with one of my company's accounting managers to discuss billing on some projects I'm working on and I was very candid about it. If the price of stuff keeps doing what it's doing and I buy another rental I'll have to quit my professional work and just acquire a few more tools and become a full-time caretaker of some rentals...fixing stuff myself. I think a major component of this problem is the cost of labor. If you can find somebody with an IQ approaching 3 digits and who's willing to climb a ladder and turn a screwdriver you can charge an arm and a leg for them. Ultimately, over time I can see that I could end up selling everything else. Just have an old pickup with tools, a rusty bicycle, and a fridge with beer in it. That'd round out my Gulch. Show no earned income. The cost of just maintaining decent stuff, let alone acquiring it, is becoming what I refer to as "a material fact". Can no longer be ignored. I almost can't make enough in my job designing top-of-the-line medical facilities to pay for a guy to climb a ladder with a hammer. Something's going on here...

I think we're getting to the point where "working for the man" (not being self-employed and/or business owner) is an absolute non-starter. It will be a massive blow to the American middle-class if I'm right.