Hot Days and Product reviews

where to get a haircut in Misenheimer, NC. 4 stars out of 5.

Even after a few years here I marvel at the significant variance in temperature and general conditions from day to night and from one location to another less than ten miles apart. Yesterday I left my house where it was 90 deg. F. and went to work in Rancho Santa Fe where it was 75. Today it was up to about 95, and now it is hovering between 68 and 70. It will cool down more as the night progresses.

When I left work last evening, it had already dropped to 66 in a matter of a couple of hours. The cool nights save me because it tends to warm up in the Ballistic cabin after awhile. Insulation can save you for only so long when the sun is beating down unimpeded by cloud or tree.

That brings me to the most poorly designed aspect of the Subaru Forester. Underneath the engine is a rubbery plastic splash guard. You can't really call it a skid plate. It has a panel held with very unreliable plastic fasteners which, when unfastened, allow one to rotate it out of the way to provide access to the oil filter and oil plug.

I've battled to keep it fastened for a long time now. The fasteners tend to fall out when you aren't looking. One time a rabbit bumped it's head or hind end on it as I was driving a night. I noticed a scraping sound when I was on the interstate so I stopped to see what was what.

The panel was hanging down scraping the road. I had a coat hanger and my trusty Leatherman tool so I made clips and put it back. They held better than the plastic things. I was going to some event which required me to be somewhat dressed up. The whole operation was tricky.

Anyway, when I had some things done at the dealer they installed new plastic clips. Some shook loose. This time I did not hear the scraping. But I did notice something was awry.

The thing rubbed half itself into oblivion. I fastened what was left of it but don't like the big gap exposing the pan. I'm considering getting an aftermarket skid plate made of aluminum. Or whatever. One outfit makes these and it is talked up on forums of Subaru owners.

One place sells the panel I need but won't ship to a PO Box. When an item is not that large I think refusing PO shipment is stupid. I'll just go to the dealer and see what's what if I don't hear back from the skid plate people soon.

None of this would be under discussion if A) Subaru used decent fasteners for this item, or B) they put a decent skid plate on the cars from the start. The problem with this item and with their clips is almost universal among Subaru owners, at least through 2008, yet they did not change it by the time my car was made. If they aren't careful I'll buy a Kia or a Hundai next time. Maybe even a Toyota, although now matter how much I like them, they never feel quite right on me. But you give me an FJ and I'll adapt.

I'm optimistically assuming I'll have the money to do such a thing. Unfounded optimism is one thing I do like about myself. I may dislike plenty but it makes life easier believing all will be OK, and I will be able to make marketplace statements by tailoring my purchases to reward or punish in some small way.

But, to be honest, if I had lots of money, I'd probably just buy another Subaru, and if it had a flimsy underneath splash guard, I'd get the best skid plate available to fix that flaw. Their cars just feel right and I like them.

Norton sandpaper is still the best. A 3M company, but not made in Minnesota. Made in Canada by mounties and hockey pros.

The Ridgid 1/4 sheet sanders have done well under hours of rough continuous use.

Also the pressure washer made by Green Works, sold at Lowes, is a very good item for medium duty stuff, and for cases in which finesse is required to avoid over doing it so the object under the wash won't be damaged. That is the name of the game in the teak cleaning business.

There are several things I like about that item for the jobs on which I employ it.

A little tip--do not attempt to rinse off your rubber gloves, even under the 45 deg nozzle while wearing them. It will slice them quickly. Most of you wouldn't have to be told, but I had to try it, thinking I could be quick and cheat destruction.

Gettin' While The Gettin' Is Good

Oh forget it. There is nothing you can do. You're whizzing in the wind. You can't change it. What makes you think you know better than the brilliant people who have been at this for decades? Really, it is not that simple. Would you have old people dying in ditches, and children go hungry? And what about...blablabla.

All the usual reasons why expressing my views, theories, and thoughts on issues which might involve government in some way is asinine and ought not be done. The problem is, from the time the speed-trap mentality, and random road blocks became an accepted part of our daily lives, I've suspected that this could lead to variations of tyranny which could affect the lives of the innocent. Namely, my life.

Obviously, the health care thing puts me in a bit of a crunch. Considering that insurance for one my age would easily cost $500 or more per month, and that it is unlikely I would spend even half that in the average year, and considering that I do not want to seek medicaid, nor do I expect others to pay for my care, I do not benefit from this.

I would much rather pay as I need to, directly, for whatever medical things I need. If I can't pay, then I may have to simply die. My choice. Or it once was.

I have a friend who works for a large retail outfit. He says that due to the intricacies of the new laws, and expense to his employer that they simply do not hire replacements when someone leaves. In his case, three are now doing the work that six could barely handle, and they are adding more responsibility on those three.

He's a hard worker, but not a kid, and it is wiping out his morale, and his health. He is going to quit. There are other incentives because of his age, and the punitive laws against collecting social security if you earn money somehow.

All that is confusing because he doesn't qualify for some things and does for others. The rules changed. He has some IRA money to carry him awhile.

Since I do not know the specifics of his company's situation regarding what they have to do under this un-affordable healthcare act, understand I'm just relaying what he said. We were discussing other matters so cross examination would have been inappropriate.

I do know my circumstances, and think I am better to do things I might have put off, rather than wait until all of this is in full swing and the heavy boot of the law prevents me from living as freely as I now can. That leads me to think that the plan for now ought to be a carpe diem sort of deal.

It is funny, and sick, how people who are neither poor nor without something like health insurance pretend to know how those in other circumstances think, and what they need. Have you ever attempted to avail yourself of any government program? Do you know how powerless and demeaned it can make you feel?

That is why I would rather opt out. I do not find it morally acceptable to place clerks and bureaucrats in the position of judging me worthy, and I find it tough to give them the power of permission over my personal decisions.

Does it still not cause people to question the motives for all this when those who pushed it through excepted themselves from its requirements, as well as exempting certain special interest big campaign donor organizations as well?

I think that the more powerless people feel, the more willing they are to see things enacted which impact others, or even themselves sometimes. Knowing there are people opposed to such authority gives them the thrill of being on the side that won and was able to overpower the dissenters.

Sort of a vicarious path to possessing muscle.

Talk about crony capitalism; buy or die insurance, yet I can't seek the better deal in Tennessee or wherever because they don't allow competition across state lines. People have been duped for a long time.

The first step was to convince you that insurance was the only way to handle medical care. For it to work, everyone has to pay more than what the average cost of care for an individual would be. It is like the casinos, they aren't in business because people win more than they lose.

I'd be happy to see everyone get all the medical stuff they want, all the drugs they can handle, operations like crazy. The reality is that this set up is designed so that the executive branch of the federal government gains power over your life and your decisions in ways which were once unthinkable. The pure weight of this new bureaucracy will be staggering.

And isn't it comforting that the always respectful, fair, and true to your liberties IRS is the arm of enforcement?

In the mean time, reportedly more US casualties have occurred in Afghanistan is the last four years than in all the years of the Iraq whatchamacallit; can't really call it a war, and the goals there were not much clearer than they are in Afghanistan. If anyone is claiming to "liberate" the place, or stabilize it so that they can enjoy some kind of democracy, that is purely nuts. That goes for all those countries.

So..It's one two three, what're we fighting for

don't know, don't give a damn

next stop is whatever-stan

etc.

I have little faith in Romney or republicans, but they are the only ones at this point who at least pretend not to be Bolsheviks and Castro clones.

Maybe I'll end up checking out the free state project and moving to New Hampshire. If it weren't for the constant fire worries, and knowing there are always legal roadblocks thrown up to plans which would mitigate this threat, I'd find it unthinkable to leave the West. It is just a hint of an idea, not a resolve by any means. The trouble is, CA is as over reaching and authoritarian, and broke, and money grubbing as the federal, alleged, government.

If only I could be on board with the cool people, like the babes in Hollywood, then it would be so much easier. But I can't unless my mind is rendered ultra numb by drug or scalpel. So, I remain uncool. When will the Leave Me Alone party ever gain traction? REpublicans sometimes talk a good game economically and 2nd amendment, then they get all legal about whether you stay pregnant or be gay.

These days they tend to be a little better on first amendment as well, but after Bush firing up the unneeded Homeland Security dump, I wouldn't think that assertion would stand much scrutiny.

Just get government out of pregnancy and who people diddle, and let it go whether you like it or not. Otherwise you'll never know freedom. Besides, if you look around, you must agree that the world would be better had many of its inhabitants been snuffed before having a chance to take a breath. Cruel reality.

I may have a personal code that precludes something, but often I would vote against making my code law because it leads to tyranny. Plus I think you should have a few years to decide if you really want that kid. Animals and human cultures throughout history have rejected the young they don't want, often in quite cold and heartless ways. Or maybe it is actually kind. Leave it to the parents, painful as that may be.

So, repubs, if those of you who claim to champion freedom actually do, choose the essential battles and realize you just can't have it both ways. There are battles which are best left to the dynamic of the culture. Like using a fork as well as a knife to eat. No law against using your fingers for all of it, as far as I know.

I gave up on the dems because I've heard too many who openly praise Castro, the Chinese system, and who think the little people need their parentage. They also pretend not to be tied to big money and that is one whopper of a lie. The very biggest money, the kind that can tip the stock market, almost at will, is firmly pulling many of their strings.

Of course, there is that one democrat representative who tried to save Guam from capsizing. He certainly deserves to be in office.

They said I'd change with age, but the longer I live, the more Libertarian my sentiments.