Go Memphis

That's right, I, the ultimate despiser of Memphis and the "Mid South", one for whom basketball normally holds no appeal whatsoever, am morally supporting Memphis to win the college hooplah madness. For one thing, Memphis is a school which doesn't have to cheat for their players academically. The other students are equally illiterate and dimwitted on average. Other schools have to pretend that their athletes are up to snuff academically. They are big cheaters. Not Memphis. They do it fair and square.

And their coach actually has some true affection and sense of caring. It means a lot to him that his players remain out of jail and don't commit or get caught committing any major crimes.

In a Perfect World

I decided it was drivel and deleted.

All Better

There is always that tendency to think if I just just find the missing piece of the puzzle, things would be all better. That is a mentality to be avoided. There is no all better. Things just are, and either some benefit can be seen in that or not.

I decided the rest was tediously expressed nonsense so I deleted it.

The Tour Continues; notes and neuroses

First let me thank Wisconsin, assuming that is where Milwaukee Tools are created. I'll pretend they are from that fair state even if they are really from China. It's rare I don't settle for the 29.00 model when it comes to these things. This time I refused to settle, although I did not go for the high end whatever because that would have been no advantage, and I don't have that in the budget. I'd rather save my money for adventure of some kind. You never know.

That's why I call it the ballistic tour; it's like being shot out of a cannon blindly, so where you land is anyone's guess. If the launch didn't kill you, then the ride can be splendid. It helps if you open your eyes and take it in, rather than clench your eyes shut, all tensed up waiting for the hard landing. metaphorically speaking, of course. Still, stranger things have happened. Just saying.

So, the great state of Wisconsin has done well. Good thing they don't keep these things confined within their borders. The variable speed random orbital sander has proven a versatile, comfortable, companion which makes one's work less strain and more joy. Life is better post sander.

Wherever Dewalt is made deserves praise as well. It is pretty good, but the Wisconsin product is the best all round unit. the two together seem to cover most of the territory that ought be covered for a good overall result.

You can't force things with these tools, just let them flow as they will, with a little helpful guidance and gentle pressure here and there. You never know how this stuff will turn out until it is done. I can tell when it will probably be a good result. Already one work of art is almost ready.

I could hear a band nearby. I think it was at the main resort building. I think they have suites and an event area. It is hard to say. I just explore when it is appropriate and so far just on need to know basis. I go where invited and leave it at that. What I heard sounded world class.

I'm too tired to cover it all. I did see a hot air balloon hovering at 10 feet with a basketful of people. Maybe they were waiting for a landing crew to show up. I guess the high flying drifting is fun but it seems like landing is no piece of cake. When I think of it, that makes sense.

Maybe I should take Sunday off to let the arm heal and so I won't risk being too noisy on a weekend.

Great Day in the Neighborhood

The debut at playing tennis, keeping score and not throwing things or crying when I did it all wrong went well. Everyone had a good time and a couple of times I did things right. That may be of not interest, but I like to write these things down.

Living a charmed life, I was fortunate to have some home cooking with great friends that was as good as any dinner I've ever had anywhere. Maybe better. I would have gone for seconds after a huge plate but it was so good it seemed somehow wrong to stuff. The amount I had was perfect and I figured if I turned glutton it would somehow be a blasphemy.

They had visitors from out of town. A four year old boy and his dad. What a fun bright child. This kid is way more articulate than many adults, and his coordination is remarkable. A more delightful child I have never seen. His dad is strict and requires the most high level of respect and behavior. It is all done by means of example and consistency. The kid seems to eat it up. Within the framework of the boundaries his dad sets the boy is allowed creativity and expression. This child is definitely thriving. What a fun person. His dad is clearly an exceptional human being as well. He was once a teacher who had very profound positive influence on on of my younger friends. Very cool.

Then I was headed home and decided to take the back way. I also decided to call my renegade friend from the north and put it on speaker phone--to stay legal and so I had my hands free. It is tough to admit to voluntarily being one of those people talking to mid air while cruising down the road; missing my turn off and not realizing it until almost in Mexico. That proved to be a longer back way home than originally anticipated. It was much more interesting and enjoyable than expected, too. Left me feeling surprised at myself, kind of excited about things, and at the same time it seems perfectly natural.

Tomorrow is another day in the land of the rich and teakly distressed. It's like being forced to work at your own pace at the Huatulco Club Med, with no one over your shoulder. The labor aspect can be a little painful but in the main it is not very difficult. Besides it is a good excuse to expose myself to mind altering fumes.

My mind is kind of spinning in a good way. There is more to life than meets the eye, much of it good.

Hints Not Habits

In case I caused alarm, the last post detailing a helpful hint was just a piece of wisdom acquired over the years, not a reaction to an unfortunate amputation or mishap in current times.

Helpful Hints #000001-420

Avoid cooking, especially if frying and/or using large sharp knives, naked.

For those who hate it when I talk revolution and freedom

OK, so the tennis/teakology elbow and wrist are getting a break today. Tomorrow I will try my luck playing tennis where they keep score and you have to know which side to be on. It isn't a league or million dollar tournament, just a friend or two and someone I never met. I was hoping it would be all women. Oddly, it is easier to take losing to them. This event will be a mix. It is hard to be the most macho guy on a tennis court when everyone else there is twenty times more experienced and better. Even the chicks are mas macho.

Maybe I can compensate; rent the biggest Hummer made and drive it there, or get and extra large, very long, macho racket. Or I could just divert their attention by wearing a tinfoil hat and periodically mumbling into my lapel.

Because my work is only done when the client is long gone, my present project is on hold for about a week. People there. The new job, no excuse. I'll start in earnest on Saturday. I like working weekends.

Domestic Threat to The State

According to some things I've seen, tips on how to spot The Enemy---I'd be considered a domestic threat. Not because I advocate violence, which I do not, generally, but because I vote third party almost always, I suggest that the IRS is a terror group and should be abolished, and I think the UN is an evil collection of corrupt dictators, warmongers, and freeloaders. I oppose the draft, support any state's right to secede. I think most drugs ought to be decriminalized, and traffic laws should not be a source of revenue obtained through sneaking around in bushes, entrapment or photographic processes. It ought to be illegal to be dangerous to others and that ought not be reasoned and extrapolated into the stratosphere the way it is now.

Those beliefs are considered dangerous in many circles, and more and more they could get you put on a list. I believe I should be able to carry a weapon, concealed or not without permission. To me, concealed makes more sense because a bad guy doesn't know what he has to defeat. Either way it should be OK. The drug thing would reduce a lot of the need.

Although some of it may have been blown up a bit, I read the report, and according to Missouri law enforcement, I could very well be a militia member or sympathizer. I'm not big on groups, especially if they are all dressed in cammo and have racial issues.

I watched the Freedom to Fascism movie on line. That is supposed to be a sign. Aaron Russo was not a nut case. He was a film maker and did a good little documentary. If you love the IRS, their tactics, and that system of things, then you're OK. Missouri thinks anyone who displays anti-IRS, anti-UN, or anti government symbols or materials may be a member of a secret militia and a domestic threat. I think it is just a sign of the times; those who object to the state of the state are the enemy and painted as kooks, lumped in with groups that have yet to kill as many people as hospital mistakes every year, or gangs and all that. I don't support the groups.

If they make it sound like these people are skulking about in the woods all around us, then lump people who don't accept republican and democratic politics in with them, they discredit by association, sidestepping the issue of a growing police state, nanny state, and general over abundance of rules and twits creating them.

Maybe those, who looked askance much of my life, and still do, when I divulge the essence of my beliefs and the passion behind them, are right. It could be I am too much of a simpleton and pathological rebel, or oppositional disordered miscreant to understand the finer points of living a civilized ordered life. Obviously, I think those people are seriously misguided and full of it.

That's because they are.

It is no longer as comfortable as it once was to freely state one's opinion, or the truth, but I suspect more people are beginning to see the truth of it than in times past. On the down side, I feel a sense of a somewhat hostile split in this country. That's because people buy into cults of personality. Instead of philosophy they look to people. When power is the game the only safe thing is definition. We've lost that so people go for who they feel will wield it to their advantage or liking. Missed the goddam point, they did.

It is really crazy. Because I think Obama is not a supporter of freedom or the Constitution. some assume I must be big on Bush or republicans. I think we have been given progressively dangerous presidents for some years now, and that the potential for all out martial law and nationalization of any or all business has increased dramatically over that time. The rules are in place. Not saying it is going to happen or not, but it easily could. Look how hard it is to disagree any more, how insanely hollow and one-sided news is, and how many people look at what is going on now, saying, "well we had to do something", even though they see the sacrifice is in terms of one freedom or another. If the market ain't free then neither are the buyers and sellers. You cannot be a free country without a free economy. It is impossible.

I'm rambling. May as well spout off while it is still legal. Since I'm not in Missouri and I'm blissfully ignorant of most laws in California, I figure I can type out my radical domestic threat drivel. The only militia I'm joining is one that has comfortable tanks they'll let me drive, or jets they'll let me fly without the license.

Pep Talk, and nausea treatment

First a word on the nausea issue. If you were one of those who had an early education in the principles involved with the idea that inherited royalty and the attendant power have no place among people who believe in freedom, you don't seek saviors in "the public sector" (I hate that term).

The phrase "all men are created equal" is meant in the context of not being born to a caste; having the right to make the most you can of what you have. It does not mean all are born, or should be, to a level playing field. The kid down the street might be stronger, faster, better looking, smarter, etc. The "advantaged" youth may even be richer. But you have as much right to try for whatever goal you choose as anyone else. Many of the most successful people came from humble beginnings, poverty, and weren't considered exceptional in early life. They chose and they persevered. I guess they somehow managed to avoid the brainwashing and propaganda in the process.

That's how free people do it, which is why these alleged town meetings make me sick. Here's a guy living on public money, ragging on those who supply the majority of the public money, telling the little people what He is going to do for them. HE cares. And worst of all, these star struck nincompoops actually believe not only that it is the job of government to do these things, but that HE is somehow going to bestow upon them a miracle of healing. This is mass hysteria. It truly is sickness. It is also the psychology that has kept the world at war, kings and dictators in power and great civilizations destroyed.

Somehow I thought things would get bizarre beginning a few years ago. I wonder how much of that influenced my move. It didn't hurt, although motives were more personal than that.

Wow, I almost used all my space on the barf factor. The pep talk part is that, regardless of anything you hear, despite the destruction of the monetary system and value of the dollar, as long as there are people, there will be needs to meet, skills that can be traded, goods produced, etc. I know the implicit mantra which has become internalized belief, like the pull of gravity, is the idea that government makes these things happen; they design fuel efficient engines, power plants, mouse traps, and Gulfstream jets. People make those things, and it all starts with someone's need or passion or both. What is happening is that those who don't create are believing that all things come miraculously forth if you legislate it, or if you march in unity or come together, stand up, and all the other fool's games that give the warm fuzzies to so many.

I feel OK because I was lucky enough several years ago to make it a point to get out of debt and to stay that way. I own what I need and very little that would be easy to take away. If I owned large tracts of land, buildings and the like, I'd be nervous. But not that nervous. People are compelled to produce and survive. We may have created huge segments of the population that haven't moved past the stage of crying loudly to get what they want. Even very dimwitted folks can comprehend the truth when it is stark enough, simple enough and obvious enough. It has to be pretty clear before that happens, but it does sometimes. So, when the crying to get the warm milk fails, after awhile they'll catch on.