Being a highly addictive sort, I've gone back and forth with smoking forever. The main trick with addiction is to actually want not to be tied to the habit. It is never that I want to quit smoking, just that I don't want to have to hide in back alleys and under bridges to do it without getting arrested or harassed, or offending people.
That is until now. All the government BS about smoking and cost to society, etc. just makes me want to light up. I hate that sort of hall monitor authoritarian mentality. Now we have Obama weighing in on the matter, and he is a sneak smoker. But, because he's president, he figures he can do whatever he wants and still tax the behavior of those who can least afford it, and who have plenty of reason to seek chemical and other escape. It irks me that anyone assumes the right to tax in order to modify personal habits of others. Spare me the arguments for such things. There are a million factors not included in the statistics, and much has to do with whether people can be free or not.
The biggest motive I now have for not smoking is to be unlike Obama. He can't quit. Yet he gets in the thick of all the tax grabbing efforts to mess with others who smoke. I can quit, and that further separates me from someone I deem philosophically and morally at odds with most of what I believe makes life worth living. I'm for individual freedom and he's big on group action. Mandatory volunteerism and the like. How can something be volunteer service if it is mandatory? Also if you get paid and it is considered volunteer, then any job is part of that glorious world of volunteerism.
I hope Barack never stops smoking. If he does, I'm oppositional enough to smoke six packs a day just because. But what would be his motive anyway? He does what he wants and gets by with "do as I say, not as I do". The big press just goes along. Lots of people do. They like him and want him to be bigger than life, the savior of planet earth and humanity. I just want him and all the others to back off and get out of private life, quit fighting vague wars, and for God's sake revamp the tax system and abolish the IRS. Get out of as many facets of life as is possible. The ideal free state does not allow or warrant a parental government, nor a charitable one. The people, who fuel the government anyway, can and will do that. But you have to back up a million steps from where we are. Couldn't happen overnight, but it could happen.
Light up, Barrisimo, light up. Knowing you, too, have to dodge the daylight while you puff does me a world of good and makes me get a strange pleasure from suffering through the cravings without giving in. Thank you. Maybe you really are the hero they say if you can piss me off enough not to smoke. I quit for a good while before so maybe I will again. I go days at a time frequently.
I guess I can safely say I feel his pain. That strikes me funny for some reason. If only he were a few dozen degrees more libertarian in his philosophy. What a waste of a smoke buddy. Well, I guess some of his pals to the south smoke. Cigars mostly.
It'd be really great if he admitted to sniffing glue. "I struggle with this glue habit, but I'm all for a glue tax and road blocks to check for blood glue levels. Kids, do not sniff glue. It is bad for society."
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Wood Putty, just add water
So, in the course of my run of the mill life, I thought to myself, "here's a job for that wood putty stuff--the kind that comes in powder form. You add water and that's it". I happened to have a very ancient can of the stuff, and wonder of wonders, I knew where it was.
Sure enough, add one part water to three parts powder, and it is ready to solve all the problems of the close tolerance challenged builder. Then my mind wandered, as I read the decades old container. Dries rock hard. Wood, hard, solves problems and they had a cartoon of a "real man" named Buck or some such with a quote about the stuff. It occurred to me that this may have secretly been the precursor to viagra. Viva wood putty doesn't have the same ring though. However, if people aren't too sophisticated or clean, I bet it could work even better.
Alright, that was just plain stupid, and sophomoric. Not up to my usual high brow drivel. Still, it is one of those items one might want to keep on the back burner just in case it ever becomes a useful bit of knowledge.
Aside from that, the stuff worked well on the sort of pump house, but not for a pump, that I built at the secret job site. The one where I did teak extravaganza #1. Not the Duke of Earl dwelling where I did teak extravaganzas #2 and #3. Glad I clarified that. It was a weird thing I had to build and it had to be strong but it could only have a top and one side, plus maybe .20 of another side. An engineering marvel containing a zillion screws and tons of galvanized sheet metal plates. Both the flat ones and angled ones. It might break if I ran over it with my car, but it might not.
The word for this project was "belt sander". Properly used, a belt sander can round edges and make a thing look like you did a good job and know what you are doing. Worked well in this case.
By the way, I have nothing against large vehicles. Only the ones driven by people who are so dangerous in small vehicles that they went to the big tank so they wouldn't suffer from their inability to drive anything. And those who feel so impotent otherwise that they need the feeling of power it gives them to loom above other vehicles while they tailgate incredibly close. It seems the smaller the vehicle the closer they get. What sort of idiot tailgates motorcycles with a fifteen foot high hell car? I'll tell you; one who feels no sense of intrinsic power or potency, and who has dreamed of being a bully his whole life. His wife is doing the pastor at his church because he fails to rise to the task unless he can inflict pain without fear of retaliation. He's the last to know.
OK. So I made it all up. That doesn't mean it isn't true.
I've not paid much attention to news in a few days. Is anyone buying the spin they are putting on Afghanistan or the Olympic strangeness? I will say that I find it criminal to put soldiers in places that pose such danger unless you go in so heavy that they cannot be caught up short. But if there is not a sane logical goal related to truly protecting this country, then I can't get behind such actions. That place will never be stable. Maybe at this point, either go heavy to squelch the enemy as much as can be identified then get the hell out. Leave the alleged good guys a fighting chance. Leave being the operative word. Limited wars are a crime against the military. You want diplomats then send the people from the state department, and let them observe all the insane rules of engagement and sensitivity regulations.
Yep. Get the hell out, but leave them plenty of wood putty. You'd be surprised what clever things can be done with that which would psych out the Taliban and other after-life virgin seeking zealots.
Sure enough, add one part water to three parts powder, and it is ready to solve all the problems of the close tolerance challenged builder. Then my mind wandered, as I read the decades old container. Dries rock hard. Wood, hard, solves problems and they had a cartoon of a "real man" named Buck or some such with a quote about the stuff. It occurred to me that this may have secretly been the precursor to viagra. Viva wood putty doesn't have the same ring though. However, if people aren't too sophisticated or clean, I bet it could work even better.
Alright, that was just plain stupid, and sophomoric. Not up to my usual high brow drivel. Still, it is one of those items one might want to keep on the back burner just in case it ever becomes a useful bit of knowledge.
Aside from that, the stuff worked well on the sort of pump house, but not for a pump, that I built at the secret job site. The one where I did teak extravaganza #1. Not the Duke of Earl dwelling where I did teak extravaganzas #2 and #3. Glad I clarified that. It was a weird thing I had to build and it had to be strong but it could only have a top and one side, plus maybe .20 of another side. An engineering marvel containing a zillion screws and tons of galvanized sheet metal plates. Both the flat ones and angled ones. It might break if I ran over it with my car, but it might not.
The word for this project was "belt sander". Properly used, a belt sander can round edges and make a thing look like you did a good job and know what you are doing. Worked well in this case.
By the way, I have nothing against large vehicles. Only the ones driven by people who are so dangerous in small vehicles that they went to the big tank so they wouldn't suffer from their inability to drive anything. And those who feel so impotent otherwise that they need the feeling of power it gives them to loom above other vehicles while they tailgate incredibly close. It seems the smaller the vehicle the closer they get. What sort of idiot tailgates motorcycles with a fifteen foot high hell car? I'll tell you; one who feels no sense of intrinsic power or potency, and who has dreamed of being a bully his whole life. His wife is doing the pastor at his church because he fails to rise to the task unless he can inflict pain without fear of retaliation. He's the last to know.
OK. So I made it all up. That doesn't mean it isn't true.
I've not paid much attention to news in a few days. Is anyone buying the spin they are putting on Afghanistan or the Olympic strangeness? I will say that I find it criminal to put soldiers in places that pose such danger unless you go in so heavy that they cannot be caught up short. But if there is not a sane logical goal related to truly protecting this country, then I can't get behind such actions. That place will never be stable. Maybe at this point, either go heavy to squelch the enemy as much as can be identified then get the hell out. Leave the alleged good guys a fighting chance. Leave being the operative word. Limited wars are a crime against the military. You want diplomats then send the people from the state department, and let them observe all the insane rules of engagement and sensitivity regulations.
Yep. Get the hell out, but leave them plenty of wood putty. You'd be surprised what clever things can be done with that which would psych out the Taliban and other after-life virgin seeking zealots.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Tennis Tip, and no telling what
Whether the ball is one of those fast low ones that bounces before it gets to you, or just a line drive, step aside and let the racket connect, do not, under any circumstances stop it with your groin parts.
==============
If you have no crank and sprocket puller for the bike and you want that stuff off of there, just undo the nut holding it and then ride up the street. After about a block it will all fall off.
================
If a person drives one of those gigantic war wagons, like Ford Explosion, Perdition or whatever. for the sole reason that he and/or she thinks it will be safer in case it hits someone, and then drives as if it doesn’t matter what it hits, no turn signals and no logical reason for various maneuvers, then that person should be registered and outed they way they do sex offenders. Maybe like fishing, there should be a license required for dimwittedness at large. Use the money to tear down intersection cameras used to ticket those unaware that the duration of the yellow light has been shortened.
==================
Why would anyone except hotdog or peanut vendors want the Olympic games in their crowded city? In the case of Chicago, they have iffy weather, overbooked airports which are notorious for delays and having a normal schedule which, if all went perfectly, O’Hare could not actually accommodate on time. It is not clear that the investment required would yield a return even close to the break even level.
The Olympic committee must be peopled by nut cases. They pass on one high crime, difficult place, for an even crazier place. Rio is more able to lay down martial law, sweep the streets of the riffraff, and generally do a China style routine to keep it all pretty. Plus they have the beach and all those hot chicks, and no telling what diseases.
No doubt the benefit of hosting the games is something only a few of the in crowd ever experience. The corruption in that must be extreme. The mayor’s buddies and their cousins get the juicy contracts while any normal living thing which gets in the way is bulldozed.
Due to the vulnerability from a security standpoint, and the level of corruption already present in most big cities and in federal circles, I am glad the USA is out of that one. Why cities like NYC and Chicago bid is a mystery. It made sense for the winter Olympics to hold it at Lake Placid or places like that, but what is the point in a crowded urban area in which many lives have to be disrupted to accomplish the logistics of making it work? Why not just hold them in Afghanistan or somewhere like that?
When Mayor Daly is disappointed, you can bet he missed picking some pockets. So sorry. I feel his pain.
I have no doubt much tax money would have gone toward the effort, and arguments would abound regarding job creation. Temporary at best. Tax can be spent in better ways, or even cut to let the people have a break which yields more lasting results anyway.
==============================
Sometimes my communication options on Ballistic Mountain do not function well at all. That may be a relief to the weary, I don’t know.
=====================
Free floating anger is a strange thing, but it happens. It usually turns inward so a person like me rages inside at himself for no discernible reason.
======================
==============
If you have no crank and sprocket puller for the bike and you want that stuff off of there, just undo the nut holding it and then ride up the street. After about a block it will all fall off.
================
If a person drives one of those gigantic war wagons, like Ford Explosion, Perdition or whatever. for the sole reason that he and/or she thinks it will be safer in case it hits someone, and then drives as if it doesn’t matter what it hits, no turn signals and no logical reason for various maneuvers, then that person should be registered and outed they way they do sex offenders. Maybe like fishing, there should be a license required for dimwittedness at large. Use the money to tear down intersection cameras used to ticket those unaware that the duration of the yellow light has been shortened.
==================
Why would anyone except hotdog or peanut vendors want the Olympic games in their crowded city? In the case of Chicago, they have iffy weather, overbooked airports which are notorious for delays and having a normal schedule which, if all went perfectly, O’Hare could not actually accommodate on time. It is not clear that the investment required would yield a return even close to the break even level.
The Olympic committee must be peopled by nut cases. They pass on one high crime, difficult place, for an even crazier place. Rio is more able to lay down martial law, sweep the streets of the riffraff, and generally do a China style routine to keep it all pretty. Plus they have the beach and all those hot chicks, and no telling what diseases.
No doubt the benefit of hosting the games is something only a few of the in crowd ever experience. The corruption in that must be extreme. The mayor’s buddies and their cousins get the juicy contracts while any normal living thing which gets in the way is bulldozed.
Due to the vulnerability from a security standpoint, and the level of corruption already present in most big cities and in federal circles, I am glad the USA is out of that one. Why cities like NYC and Chicago bid is a mystery. It made sense for the winter Olympics to hold it at Lake Placid or places like that, but what is the point in a crowded urban area in which many lives have to be disrupted to accomplish the logistics of making it work? Why not just hold them in Afghanistan or somewhere like that?
When Mayor Daly is disappointed, you can bet he missed picking some pockets. So sorry. I feel his pain.
I have no doubt much tax money would have gone toward the effort, and arguments would abound regarding job creation. Temporary at best. Tax can be spent in better ways, or even cut to let the people have a break which yields more lasting results anyway.
==============================
Sometimes my communication options on Ballistic Mountain do not function well at all. That may be a relief to the weary, I don’t know.
=====================
Free floating anger is a strange thing, but it happens. It usually turns inward so a person like me rages inside at himself for no discernible reason.
======================
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The War on Poverty, and Modest Means
It was LBJ, I believe, who conned voters with the War on Poverty. Since then others used the ploy with names like War on Drugs and War on Terror. You take something people don't want, like poverty, then claim you are waging a war against it. All the real details, like exactly what does that mean, remain vague as people rally to the cause. None of these wars carries a solid, specific definition or intelligible plan of action. But al do become an excuse for otherwise questionable actions.
In the case of terror, regular citizens and babies undergo humiliating scrutiny because we all have to make sacrifices if we are to lick this terror thing. Same with drugs. Bend due process a bit, and only slightly obliterate certain rights, because if you got nothing to hide, you shouldn't care. It's patriotic, dammit. Why am I not rich when the public demonstrates over and over again that they will buy anything?
So now the war on poverty takes a new twist. The assault is exactly what it says for a change. A change you might believe in, to steal a phrase, sort of. The war is on, and if you are in poverty or of modest means, your ass is going to get kicked, or you've already been bulldozed.
Take the Cash for Clunkers scam. If you are at whatever the legal poverty level is, your best bet for buying a car was under attack. They not only wanted to outbid the market so you could not compete as a buyer of the vehicle, but they wanted to destroy the item, Forget that it probably takes more energy and resources to do that than leave it alone. The "Save the earth" excuse was lame and bogus. Full of holes. Next time someone asks if I've been saved, I think I'll get hysterical and reply, "Me? Forget me. What about the Earth?" How will we know when the earth is finally saved? From what? People? Does this mean that to save the earth we have to all vacate the premises?
OK. The cash for clunkers scam hurts the poor by disrupting the cheapo car market. It also hurts them by removing a treasure trove of potential salvage parts, in case they have a car that might fit the clunker category and are handy enough to keep it going. Lots of people get parts from junk yards. That is why they are in business. Repair shops sometimes get things there, too, which lowers the cost of repair. And who needs low cost repairs the most? The poor, and those of us who are trying to get by with not so much cash flow in our lives.
Fortunately I think that program may be bust and with luck it will never happen again. But, then there are the rumblings of health care for all. Yippee!! If that goes through as many want it to, then once again those of modest means are forced to buy or be smitten. Maybe it will get gridlocked and fail. One can only hope. It does make it difficult. I can see someone trying to establish a life from scratch being faced with a choice--buy a cheap car, pay all the licensing fees, insurance and such, or get health insurance and have no reasonable way to work. If you go the "government option" whatever that really means, then I suppose they charge according to how much you make. And you have to subject yourself to a sort of welfare line bunch of garbage. No thanks. Maybe if you are very sick it won't be so bad, except that you may have better options now since you don't have to have the same degree of bureaucratic approval, and doctors are a little bit more free to treat as they deem advisable, without that added oversight which could be like trying to reason with the El Cajon branch of CA Highway Patrol.
These are not beneficial things for those in poverty. The ones who have succumbed to the government's solutions and dubious methods of "help" in the past have found themselves in perpetual poverty, government style. Their kids join gangs or live in fear and the idea of opportunity is just not in their minds. The war on poverty has made a hell of an impact on the poor. It has convinced them there is no way out. And the various assaults have cut down the escape routes rather effectively.
Penalizing private endeavor through unreasonable regulations and taxation take away the initiative to start your own enterprise from nothing, or to grow to the point of hiring anyone. Hiring people is a can of worms the sole proprietor is loathe to open unless he/she (can we please have the universal pronoun back?) is confident he has the means to deal with the liabilities (read "lawyers"), ever changing and more bizarre regulations, and general harassment. You get duped by an illegal, it is your fault, so you get punished for the crime of a non-citizen. You have to get involved in all kinds of things you may find distasteful, like serving as KGB agent for the government to help them keep tabs on whomever you might hire.
And there are always fees, permits and things that catch you by surprise. None of which have anything to do with the actual business you want to conduct. If you want to be your own company and you don't have triple the start up cash you think you need, stay under the table. There is a good reason the underground economy is so large, and growing. It is not lack of patriotism, or greed, or any of the garbage we may be told. It is simple survival. Some of us refuse to seek government loans or other traps they set to get their sticky fingers in our business. I mention that because people often point to "programs that are there to help people" who want to launch a small business. Once again, I fail to see why freedom is such a foreign concept in modern America.
I don't know where it will end up. Mama don't take my clunker car away...
The best step toward any true reform is term limits. Senate--no more than two terms, and those cannot be consecutive, House, no more than three consecutive terms, and no more than 5 terms total. President two terms, consecutive or not.
Take away all pension and health care, special gas pumps, and other undue compensation from these people. It was never supposed to be a career. When it is, by necessity it becomes unbelievably corrupt, and what we have is a sort of royalty. Back to the lord of the manor routine. Don't fly them around on military planes because they want to visit europe or the North Pole. If it is not the president or ambassadors and cabinet, they have no excuse to go on tax money. They rape and pillage enough at home, we needn't pay for ridiculous vacations thinly disguised as some sort of fact finding mission or goodwill tour.
If someone has no chance to be in power for long, then they may have less incentive to keep broadening the powers of office, which then entices private interests to bed down with them in order to get special legislation, direct wars, and otherwise run amok behind the scenes, using the power of government to further their ends and kill competition.
I wish politics had no personal impact, but it has come to a point that there is no escape, especially for those of meager means. Although the ones who have had the means to hire and drive commerce are also threatened, unless they are in with the in crowd. Good time to be a Chicago thug.
How can the poor fight back against this war on them? A good first step is not to take the bait, or take as little as possible. And get rid of the TV.
In the case of terror, regular citizens and babies undergo humiliating scrutiny because we all have to make sacrifices if we are to lick this terror thing. Same with drugs. Bend due process a bit, and only slightly obliterate certain rights, because if you got nothing to hide, you shouldn't care. It's patriotic, dammit. Why am I not rich when the public demonstrates over and over again that they will buy anything?
So now the war on poverty takes a new twist. The assault is exactly what it says for a change. A change you might believe in, to steal a phrase, sort of. The war is on, and if you are in poverty or of modest means, your ass is going to get kicked, or you've already been bulldozed.
Take the Cash for Clunkers scam. If you are at whatever the legal poverty level is, your best bet for buying a car was under attack. They not only wanted to outbid the market so you could not compete as a buyer of the vehicle, but they wanted to destroy the item, Forget that it probably takes more energy and resources to do that than leave it alone. The "Save the earth" excuse was lame and bogus. Full of holes. Next time someone asks if I've been saved, I think I'll get hysterical and reply, "Me? Forget me. What about the Earth?" How will we know when the earth is finally saved? From what? People? Does this mean that to save the earth we have to all vacate the premises?
OK. The cash for clunkers scam hurts the poor by disrupting the cheapo car market. It also hurts them by removing a treasure trove of potential salvage parts, in case they have a car that might fit the clunker category and are handy enough to keep it going. Lots of people get parts from junk yards. That is why they are in business. Repair shops sometimes get things there, too, which lowers the cost of repair. And who needs low cost repairs the most? The poor, and those of us who are trying to get by with not so much cash flow in our lives.
Fortunately I think that program may be bust and with luck it will never happen again. But, then there are the rumblings of health care for all. Yippee!! If that goes through as many want it to, then once again those of modest means are forced to buy or be smitten. Maybe it will get gridlocked and fail. One can only hope. It does make it difficult. I can see someone trying to establish a life from scratch being faced with a choice--buy a cheap car, pay all the licensing fees, insurance and such, or get health insurance and have no reasonable way to work. If you go the "government option" whatever that really means, then I suppose they charge according to how much you make. And you have to subject yourself to a sort of welfare line bunch of garbage. No thanks. Maybe if you are very sick it won't be so bad, except that you may have better options now since you don't have to have the same degree of bureaucratic approval, and doctors are a little bit more free to treat as they deem advisable, without that added oversight which could be like trying to reason with the El Cajon branch of CA Highway Patrol.
These are not beneficial things for those in poverty. The ones who have succumbed to the government's solutions and dubious methods of "help" in the past have found themselves in perpetual poverty, government style. Their kids join gangs or live in fear and the idea of opportunity is just not in their minds. The war on poverty has made a hell of an impact on the poor. It has convinced them there is no way out. And the various assaults have cut down the escape routes rather effectively.
Penalizing private endeavor through unreasonable regulations and taxation take away the initiative to start your own enterprise from nothing, or to grow to the point of hiring anyone. Hiring people is a can of worms the sole proprietor is loathe to open unless he/she (can we please have the universal pronoun back?) is confident he has the means to deal with the liabilities (read "lawyers"), ever changing and more bizarre regulations, and general harassment. You get duped by an illegal, it is your fault, so you get punished for the crime of a non-citizen. You have to get involved in all kinds of things you may find distasteful, like serving as KGB agent for the government to help them keep tabs on whomever you might hire.
And there are always fees, permits and things that catch you by surprise. None of which have anything to do with the actual business you want to conduct. If you want to be your own company and you don't have triple the start up cash you think you need, stay under the table. There is a good reason the underground economy is so large, and growing. It is not lack of patriotism, or greed, or any of the garbage we may be told. It is simple survival. Some of us refuse to seek government loans or other traps they set to get their sticky fingers in our business. I mention that because people often point to "programs that are there to help people" who want to launch a small business. Once again, I fail to see why freedom is such a foreign concept in modern America.
I don't know where it will end up. Mama don't take my clunker car away...
The best step toward any true reform is term limits. Senate--no more than two terms, and those cannot be consecutive, House, no more than three consecutive terms, and no more than 5 terms total. President two terms, consecutive or not.
Take away all pension and health care, special gas pumps, and other undue compensation from these people. It was never supposed to be a career. When it is, by necessity it becomes unbelievably corrupt, and what we have is a sort of royalty. Back to the lord of the manor routine. Don't fly them around on military planes because they want to visit europe or the North Pole. If it is not the president or ambassadors and cabinet, they have no excuse to go on tax money. They rape and pillage enough at home, we needn't pay for ridiculous vacations thinly disguised as some sort of fact finding mission or goodwill tour.
If someone has no chance to be in power for long, then they may have less incentive to keep broadening the powers of office, which then entices private interests to bed down with them in order to get special legislation, direct wars, and otherwise run amok behind the scenes, using the power of government to further their ends and kill competition.
I wish politics had no personal impact, but it has come to a point that there is no escape, especially for those of meager means. Although the ones who have had the means to hire and drive commerce are also threatened, unless they are in with the in crowd. Good time to be a Chicago thug.
How can the poor fight back against this war on them? A good first step is not to take the bait, or take as little as possible. And get rid of the TV.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
News From The Old Country
My old friend PhotoLady got a gig covering the Dali Lama. I wonder what his friends call him. Dali? Maybe something like Biff. Anyway, that's only minor compared to hearing that at least one ex band member says they miss me and my fired up way of playing (paraphrasing), it's not the same. PhotoLady ran into one of the guys and his wife, so that's where that came from. Fun knowing my replacement probably falls short. That could have gone either way. For all its faults Memphis has some very good harp players. I've never seen so many really good ones in one place anywhere else. It is fun having friends in high places.
It is more fun have friends in high up on the map places. Once again I am flying my new favorite airline up the coast to the other best city by the sea. It seems these places are at the two extremes, one on the north corner, one on the south corner. Same side of the box, though. We went west, young man, by golly. I finally have license plates so I guess I'm really here. Good number letter combo. Very acceptable numbers. I memorized it easily because it all fits and makes sense. License plates don't always do that.
Soon, I get to make that journey north, anyway. Just a week plus a day or so. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I stole that line from Casa Blanca. It is a great line and quite apt.
I'm really hoping this health care debacle falls flat. The idea of being fined for not having insurance is spooky. Surely you can pay as you go or opt to die of appendicitis or whatever. If you can afford the fine you could probably afford the stupid insurance. If you can afford neither and refuse government help, then I guess the rumors of jail time and a bigger fine may have some truth. Back to the days of Dickens and debtor's prison. How quickly people went from understanding the goal of being free of such intrusions to thinking everyone's business is their own. I do not know how I will be able to deal with it if it comes into action, or many other plans in the works. Either I get rich quick, or I find ways to dodge the jackboots out to save me from myself.
Oh well. I know a bed I can hide under once I manufacture the bridgework to hold it up off the floor. Perhaps a secret compartment, or apartment, can be designed into the structure, just in case times get dicey. But that's another story
It is more fun have friends in high up on the map places. Once again I am flying my new favorite airline up the coast to the other best city by the sea. It seems these places are at the two extremes, one on the north corner, one on the south corner. Same side of the box, though. We went west, young man, by golly. I finally have license plates so I guess I'm really here. Good number letter combo. Very acceptable numbers. I memorized it easily because it all fits and makes sense. License plates don't always do that.
Soon, I get to make that journey north, anyway. Just a week plus a day or so. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I stole that line from Casa Blanca. It is a great line and quite apt.
I'm really hoping this health care debacle falls flat. The idea of being fined for not having insurance is spooky. Surely you can pay as you go or opt to die of appendicitis or whatever. If you can afford the fine you could probably afford the stupid insurance. If you can afford neither and refuse government help, then I guess the rumors of jail time and a bigger fine may have some truth. Back to the days of Dickens and debtor's prison. How quickly people went from understanding the goal of being free of such intrusions to thinking everyone's business is their own. I do not know how I will be able to deal with it if it comes into action, or many other plans in the works. Either I get rich quick, or I find ways to dodge the jackboots out to save me from myself.
Oh well. I know a bed I can hide under once I manufacture the bridgework to hold it up off the floor. Perhaps a secret compartment, or apartment, can be designed into the structure, just in case times get dicey. But that's another story
Monday, September 28, 2009
The Anti-Logic School of Critical Thought; they get paid
So, here I am on my fourth level of GEICO hierarchy, heading for the home stretch, in which they are trying to give away the farm, cost themselves much money, and generally screw the goose (or is it pooch? maybe goose the pooch. queer the deal, at any rate). The most common phrase I have heard from them is, "Yea, but that's hard to prove".
If you look at a basic algebraic equation, it could appear hard to solve, but people do it on a daily basis. Example: What's your gas milage?
Wull, I dunno, that's hard to figure out.
Why don't you fill the tank, drive 100 miles then fill it again and see how much you
used?
Uh, but how will I know my milage?
Milage = miles driven divided by gas used
Well, I have driven over 100,000 miles in this car and don't know how much gas I
used.
Here's a pistol with one bullet. Do the right thing and use it wisely. I'll
leave you to it.
That's the nature of conversation I am having with these people. My accident was a strange one, but anyone with a brain can check out the scene, take into account it was at night, on an unlit road, note the nature of the damage as shown in good photos, note the intrinsic contradictions in the police report, and the obvious cover up by the other party, and by simply comparing other stories with mine conclude that there is only one way things could have happened. That result would put obvious responsibility on one Mr. Kennedy of Over the Hill Transport, of Sacramento, CA.
The good Mr.K sent pictures of his tractor trailer rig, showing he had all the lights and reflectors you could ever want on his 48' step flat bed trailer. One problem--it is not the same trailer he was hooked to when he parked with a corner of it sticking out three feet into the road, on a curve on a 55 mph highway, with shrubs and dirt hill obscuring the rest of the lovely rig.
If the unit in the pictures were the one which I met, then the damage would have included front fender and more, instead of just taking out everything four feet above ground level on the passenger side. Simple observation shows that. So, he's lying, or the axles had to be retracted toward the front of the trailer, which that type is made to do. That moves all the lights up there too. So, no markings where they can be seen.
I know, too much info, but the point is, even without directly trying to prove he was pulling a different trailer, the fact that no reflectors or lights were back there can be proved---even assuming the ringer he photographed were legit. GEICO says, "Oh, it's hard to prove."
They are at the mediation stage with some CA insurance board and decisions are based on the case and info they send in. If they do not drive home the important points, they don't collect from the other company and I don't get my 1K deductible paid to me.
I do not like it from many standpoints. First, the man lied, the police lied in their report about what I said, no one actually investigated, the police barely even asked the guy for his license while harassing me (I assume they saw TN plates and assumed I was whatever redneck CA cops think is stereotypical Tennessee). The only thing the got right was my name. They had the marked speed limit wrong, misspelled the road name, noted incorrect point of impact, etc. I think the place is prone to shady activity and that the cops were crooked, as well as the truck guy.
Every single step of the way I have had to cajole and do the legwork myself. GEICO did not have the initiative to get the police report. The investigator for his insurance company sent me a copy, plus I went to the dreaded HP station to get it myself the day before that. To their credit, GEICO finally agreed to list it as not negligence on my part which allegedly won't raise rates. Once this is done I'll switch to another company. It would be easier to do with that 1000 dollars in my pocket.
I gave up on describing the real trailer and asking questions about the picture because terms such as "axle" were over the head of the dimwitted agent. After I convinced them to send me copies, I realize they did not understand the diagram I sent them or any of the discussions we've had. They actually encouraged me to send a diagram and explanation of things way back whenever this began. I ran it by a field investigator for another company and he found it intelligible, and legible.
Rather than keep going up the ladder, I've decided to go to the top and let them send me down the ladder. I believe the higher ups may have at one point in their lives been exposed to the rudiments of logic and reason so one of them may get it. They may not be as happy to let the company lose roughly 15K as the underlings, especially when no one made a sincere effort to prevent the loss.
It is disturbing to realize that these mindless agents, presumably each with his/her own little cubicle, are getting paid a living wage while a great number of better people are unemployed in this state. That is part of what has happened in the realm of both governmental and corporate bureaucracies; the idiots remain employed, while those with a sense of purpose and values, not to mention ability to think, fall by the wayside.
OK. I had to spout off just a bit.
Best line I heard all week was from Dennis Miller. Referring to Nancy Pelosi: "Her head is so far up her toucas they'll have to cut switch backs to get to it"
If you look at a basic algebraic equation, it could appear hard to solve, but people do it on a daily basis. Example: What's your gas milage?
Wull, I dunno, that's hard to figure out.
Why don't you fill the tank, drive 100 miles then fill it again and see how much you
used?
Uh, but how will I know my milage?
Milage = miles driven divided by gas used
Well, I have driven over 100,000 miles in this car and don't know how much gas I
used.
Here's a pistol with one bullet. Do the right thing and use it wisely. I'll
leave you to it.
That's the nature of conversation I am having with these people. My accident was a strange one, but anyone with a brain can check out the scene, take into account it was at night, on an unlit road, note the nature of the damage as shown in good photos, note the intrinsic contradictions in the police report, and the obvious cover up by the other party, and by simply comparing other stories with mine conclude that there is only one way things could have happened. That result would put obvious responsibility on one Mr. Kennedy of Over the Hill Transport, of Sacramento, CA.
The good Mr.K sent pictures of his tractor trailer rig, showing he had all the lights and reflectors you could ever want on his 48' step flat bed trailer. One problem--it is not the same trailer he was hooked to when he parked with a corner of it sticking out three feet into the road, on a curve on a 55 mph highway, with shrubs and dirt hill obscuring the rest of the lovely rig.
If the unit in the pictures were the one which I met, then the damage would have included front fender and more, instead of just taking out everything four feet above ground level on the passenger side. Simple observation shows that. So, he's lying, or the axles had to be retracted toward the front of the trailer, which that type is made to do. That moves all the lights up there too. So, no markings where they can be seen.
I know, too much info, but the point is, even without directly trying to prove he was pulling a different trailer, the fact that no reflectors or lights were back there can be proved---even assuming the ringer he photographed were legit. GEICO says, "Oh, it's hard to prove."
They are at the mediation stage with some CA insurance board and decisions are based on the case and info they send in. If they do not drive home the important points, they don't collect from the other company and I don't get my 1K deductible paid to me.
I do not like it from many standpoints. First, the man lied, the police lied in their report about what I said, no one actually investigated, the police barely even asked the guy for his license while harassing me (I assume they saw TN plates and assumed I was whatever redneck CA cops think is stereotypical Tennessee). The only thing the got right was my name. They had the marked speed limit wrong, misspelled the road name, noted incorrect point of impact, etc. I think the place is prone to shady activity and that the cops were crooked, as well as the truck guy.
Every single step of the way I have had to cajole and do the legwork myself. GEICO did not have the initiative to get the police report. The investigator for his insurance company sent me a copy, plus I went to the dreaded HP station to get it myself the day before that. To their credit, GEICO finally agreed to list it as not negligence on my part which allegedly won't raise rates. Once this is done I'll switch to another company. It would be easier to do with that 1000 dollars in my pocket.
I gave up on describing the real trailer and asking questions about the picture because terms such as "axle" were over the head of the dimwitted agent. After I convinced them to send me copies, I realize they did not understand the diagram I sent them or any of the discussions we've had. They actually encouraged me to send a diagram and explanation of things way back whenever this began. I ran it by a field investigator for another company and he found it intelligible, and legible.
Rather than keep going up the ladder, I've decided to go to the top and let them send me down the ladder. I believe the higher ups may have at one point in their lives been exposed to the rudiments of logic and reason so one of them may get it. They may not be as happy to let the company lose roughly 15K as the underlings, especially when no one made a sincere effort to prevent the loss.
It is disturbing to realize that these mindless agents, presumably each with his/her own little cubicle, are getting paid a living wage while a great number of better people are unemployed in this state. That is part of what has happened in the realm of both governmental and corporate bureaucracies; the idiots remain employed, while those with a sense of purpose and values, not to mention ability to think, fall by the wayside.
OK. I had to spout off just a bit.
Best line I heard all week was from Dennis Miller. Referring to Nancy Pelosi: "Her head is so far up her toucas they'll have to cut switch backs to get to it"
Friday, September 25, 2009
For All In Tents and Purposes
I should be a consultant to the diplomatic corps, or maybe ambassador at large, offering solutions when conventional wisdom gets in the way.
Case in point: Mo’s tent trouble. That’s Muammar Qaddafi, colonel.
Why would the top dog only be a colonel?
If it were me, I’d opt for the southwestern hemisphere favorite, (name of country) Strong Man, Generalisimo Juan.
Be that as it may, I would have spelled Mo’s name way different if I didn’t have google.
But I would have never spelled Bret Favre’s name the way he does if I hadn’t seen it. Come to think of it, I don’t believe I have ever had reason to spell his name, except maybe when writing checks or making hotel reservations.
Back to Mo, and diplomatic solutions.
Had the unofficial mayor of Coney Island, or the Mayor of New York, or even Hillary,
called or emailed begging for my thoughts on what they should do, I’d have said,
“I have three words for you–K O A”.
Really, what could be simpler? They have Kampgrounds all over the place, and it’s a name you can trust.
One has to wonder that a veteran camper and man of the world like Mo didn’t think of it himself.
No excuse for the others, either.
That’s the problem with people in power; they are dimwitted and unworthy.
Another option which could be a money maker, and to Mo’s delight, keep him in the limelight,
would be to supply him a barge on the Hudson, or thereabouts, and hold an event in which Robbie Knievel
jumps over the tent.
Find a relatively narrow spot.
It’l be a hit if he makes it, or if he lands on Mo’s big top.
Win-win.
Mo could get a cut of the tickets and advertising dollars if he insisted.
Another murderous dictator placated while Americans make some money.
Pay per view would be big in many parts of the world. Let them pay US, I say.
Kissing ass to lunatics needn’t always be a financial burden, as I think this example proves.
Are you as outraged as I am that I’m not on some sort of government payroll,
maybe on a retainer, to offer solutions to such situations?
No doubt, you are.
I’d settle for only two or three hundred thousand per annum, plus expenses, company car, plane, and ultralight.
Feel free to write your local charlatan representative on my behalf.
Thank you.
Case in point: Mo’s tent trouble. That’s Muammar Qaddafi, colonel.
Why would the top dog only be a colonel?
If it were me, I’d opt for the southwestern hemisphere favorite, (name of country) Strong Man, Generalisimo Juan.
Be that as it may, I would have spelled Mo’s name way different if I didn’t have google.
But I would have never spelled Bret Favre’s name the way he does if I hadn’t seen it. Come to think of it, I don’t believe I have ever had reason to spell his name, except maybe when writing checks or making hotel reservations.
Back to Mo, and diplomatic solutions.
Had the unofficial mayor of Coney Island, or the Mayor of New York, or even Hillary,
called or emailed begging for my thoughts on what they should do, I’d have said,
“I have three words for you–K O A”.
Really, what could be simpler? They have Kampgrounds all over the place, and it’s a name you can trust.
One has to wonder that a veteran camper and man of the world like Mo didn’t think of it himself.
No excuse for the others, either.
That’s the problem with people in power; they are dimwitted and unworthy.
Another option which could be a money maker, and to Mo’s delight, keep him in the limelight,
would be to supply him a barge on the Hudson, or thereabouts, and hold an event in which Robbie Knievel
jumps over the tent.
Find a relatively narrow spot.
It’l be a hit if he makes it, or if he lands on Mo’s big top.
Win-win.
Mo could get a cut of the tickets and advertising dollars if he insisted.
Another murderous dictator placated while Americans make some money.
Pay per view would be big in many parts of the world. Let them pay US, I say.
Kissing ass to lunatics needn’t always be a financial burden, as I think this example proves.
Are you as outraged as I am that I’m not on some sort of government payroll,
maybe on a retainer, to offer solutions to such situations?
No doubt, you are.
I’d settle for only two or three hundred thousand per annum, plus expenses, company car, plane, and ultralight.
Feel free to write your local charlatan representative on my behalf.
Thank you.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Time Travel
Sometimes you make time stand still, even though the clock doesn't
Best not to ask myself questions if I can't answer
It is, and it is good
Best not to ask myself questions if I can't answer
It is, and it is good
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Sing not Harmonicize
RE: request for covers: it has to be something I can do vocals on. They want me to front a song, which means sing like a bird or maybe some other wild beast.
I guess I wasn't clear. I play anything instrumentally but rarely want to. I did do Silent Night for a studio in Greensboro once.
This is a sing song.
I guess I wasn't clear. I play anything instrumentally but rarely want to. I did do Silent Night for a studio in Greensboro once.
This is a sing song.
Need a Song I can Cover
I'm not the biggest fan of covers because the original artist usually did it better than it will be, however I know that theory is full of holes. Anyway, not to be a coward, I am trying to acquiesce to wishes from the group and decide on a song I could do. It has to be something that works pretty much acoustically, so most Led Zeppelin is out, and I don't think Doors will fit the general tone. I hear old songs and think about it sometimes but just haven't settled. I'm sure even closest associates doubt my ability to pull it off, but I know better. The right thing and it will be legendary or, at worst, mediocre.
I'm toying with Catch the Wind, but I think maybe something else.
Something sexy and insane, yet sedate.
It must have an identifiable melody, not like the stuff Merv Griffin used to sing. Did anyone else ever see his show years ago? He would sing stuff that had no melody or anything. It made me worry about the composer. Holy smoke. I couldn't imagine anyone actually being excited about writing whatever that song was. Was it a song or maybe Merv was given to fits of insanity which led him to sing non songs. He seemed like a nice guy. Some of the tunes were, I don't even know the word.
Not tappers, those.
Help me, but no Merv Show debacles.
Do any of the thousands of readers of my blog have an idea?
I'm toying with Catch the Wind, but I think maybe something else.
Something sexy and insane, yet sedate.
It must have an identifiable melody, not like the stuff Merv Griffin used to sing. Did anyone else ever see his show years ago? He would sing stuff that had no melody or anything. It made me worry about the composer. Holy smoke. I couldn't imagine anyone actually being excited about writing whatever that song was. Was it a song or maybe Merv was given to fits of insanity which led him to sing non songs. He seemed like a nice guy. Some of the tunes were, I don't even know the word.
Not tappers, those.
Help me, but no Merv Show debacles.
Do any of the thousands of readers of my blog have an idea?
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About Me
- John0 Juanderlust
- Ballistic Mountain, CA, United States
- Like spring on a summer's day
