Crack agents of fish and foolishness departments raided Gibson guitar factory. The instrument manufacturer must prove its innocence, and will no doubt receive no compensation for the cost of doing so. Their fret boards are of exotic wood that must be shown to come from approved sources. I do not think Gibson has gone black market on this.
If you own a vintage guitar, you can be asked to prove and document where the ebony fret board or other parts came from, when they were built etc. Before a certain date, it is grandfathered in, and after it has to meet certain criteria. The thing is, you have to prove it in any case, especially if you travel with it in or out of the country. Customs can take it away from you if you bring that old family heirloom, the old old Martin guitar, if you do not have papers and proof of every detail. And who generally has that?
Maybe now that guitar players are being touched by the police state, they'll be less likely to jump on every ridiculous bandwagon that results in more power to the state. Isn't it about time people refused the encroachment of totalitarian, police state tactics in this country? We need to insist that the burden of proof be put back on the accuser--the state--and let the accused be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Gibson's CEO supported Obama's opposition in the election. Hmmm...much like the various profitable GM franchises who were forced to close, although some of their less profitable competition wasn't, when that company was semi nationalized. I so much wish we'd trash this two party dynasty.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Trouble on the Horizon?
Here in east San Diego back country we experience mini micro climate. My weather may vary significantly from that of points east, west and north which are near enough to see from my cluttered, yet lovely, back deck.
Just now as I gazed to the east I noticed dark clouds and a pocket of rain slightly to the northern edge. I also heard thunder and witnessed long lightning bolts at the southern edge of the eastern clouds. The troubling aspect of this is that, where the lightning was, there was no rain, and everything out there is highly flammable dry weeds and such. It is a mystery to me why you can't mow down swaths of that stuff near roads and in ways which would contain brush fires. There is no shortage of volunteers who would supply the labor to do that.
People don't realize that much which could be done to mitigate fire dangers in the west is forbidden due to odd ideas that it protects habitats and certain vegetation. So, in the name of protection we ensure that these things are likely to be destroyed by fire. I guess it satisfies everyone involved in making these rules since it also ensures the destruction of human habitats and property. You know, down with people and all that.
I hope the lightning did not manage to ignite the landscape. It is troubling that there was lightning but no rain for miles around it. I'm not sure I've ever seen that before.
In the mean time, I keep trying to find out what shape the Outer Banks of NC and the Norfolk area are in as Irene saunters through. I am really sick of the AP reports which are so completely obsessed with NJ and New York and Bloomberg. Your mayor is a fuquit, NYC. Sorry you can't do what LA and New Orleans did and ignore the incompetence of local officials by blaming Bush. Truth is, the mayor and governor were guilty of criminal neglect, incompetence and hobbled the federal effort. Not to say FEMA activities aren't rife with corruption, stupidity and bizarre practices. Farther up the ladder you go, the more that happens.
Anyway, so what is what in God's country east--NC and VA? I did see that Nags head beach houses were in the water a bit---an absolutely predictable situation. The pic I saw showed them still standing but the water was up the stilts on which they stand a foot or two. I very much like Nags Head and the entire area. The stick houses which show no signs of aerodynamic design and consideration still puzzle me.
Just now as I gazed to the east I noticed dark clouds and a pocket of rain slightly to the northern edge. I also heard thunder and witnessed long lightning bolts at the southern edge of the eastern clouds. The troubling aspect of this is that, where the lightning was, there was no rain, and everything out there is highly flammable dry weeds and such. It is a mystery to me why you can't mow down swaths of that stuff near roads and in ways which would contain brush fires. There is no shortage of volunteers who would supply the labor to do that.
People don't realize that much which could be done to mitigate fire dangers in the west is forbidden due to odd ideas that it protects habitats and certain vegetation. So, in the name of protection we ensure that these things are likely to be destroyed by fire. I guess it satisfies everyone involved in making these rules since it also ensures the destruction of human habitats and property. You know, down with people and all that.
I hope the lightning did not manage to ignite the landscape. It is troubling that there was lightning but no rain for miles around it. I'm not sure I've ever seen that before.
In the mean time, I keep trying to find out what shape the Outer Banks of NC and the Norfolk area are in as Irene saunters through. I am really sick of the AP reports which are so completely obsessed with NJ and New York and Bloomberg. Your mayor is a fuquit, NYC. Sorry you can't do what LA and New Orleans did and ignore the incompetence of local officials by blaming Bush. Truth is, the mayor and governor were guilty of criminal neglect, incompetence and hobbled the federal effort. Not to say FEMA activities aren't rife with corruption, stupidity and bizarre practices. Farther up the ladder you go, the more that happens.
Anyway, so what is what in God's country east--NC and VA? I did see that Nags head beach houses were in the water a bit---an absolutely predictable situation. The pic I saw showed them still standing but the water was up the stilts on which they stand a foot or two. I very much like Nags Head and the entire area. The stick houses which show no signs of aerodynamic design and consideration still puzzle me.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Case Closed; re news nonsense
OK. There is a hurricane hitting the east coast. That part is almost assuredly correct.
But try to get specifics on what is happening on the VA or NC coast--particularly the most vulnerable areas--and what do you get? Panic over Atlantic City and NYC. They may not care about flyover country, and may think the world revolves around them, but almost no one even likes them except them. I really have no interest in New Jersey and assume the feeling is mutual.
Like a place, or not, I'd like some current, relevant info on what is happening now in the areas being hit. Is the storm surge formidable, are major structures holding up, did Amelia Earhart come blowing in, maybe Jimmy Hoffa bobbed in with the surge?
But noooo. We get all the inside scoop on stuff way up there in Atlantic City and hear about Bloomberg's babblings in NYC.. Let's get to that when it is their turn. What the hell is with news departments and those who teach journalism these days? Really, this latest crop of decision makers and reporters doesn't even deserve to be labelled by a word as polite as "incompetent". They are a notch or two shy of even that.
This instance makes my case that big time news organizations are unreliable and not in touch with the subject at hand. They'd rather stand on the beach up the coast and pretend they might blow away, but they are on the scene, action reporting FOR YOU!!
But try to get specifics on what is happening on the VA or NC coast--particularly the most vulnerable areas--and what do you get? Panic over Atlantic City and NYC. They may not care about flyover country, and may think the world revolves around them, but almost no one even likes them except them. I really have no interest in New Jersey and assume the feeling is mutual.
Like a place, or not, I'd like some current, relevant info on what is happening now in the areas being hit. Is the storm surge formidable, are major structures holding up, did Amelia Earhart come blowing in, maybe Jimmy Hoffa bobbed in with the surge?
But noooo. We get all the inside scoop on stuff way up there in Atlantic City and hear about Bloomberg's babblings in NYC.. Let's get to that when it is their turn. What the hell is with news departments and those who teach journalism these days? Really, this latest crop of decision makers and reporters doesn't even deserve to be labelled by a word as polite as "incompetent". They are a notch or two shy of even that.
This instance makes my case that big time news organizations are unreliable and not in touch with the subject at hand. They'd rather stand on the beach up the coast and pretend they might blow away, but they are on the scene, action reporting FOR YOU!!
Reasoning With Misanthropes
More than once I have tried to reason with people who love it when "Mother Nature" wreaks havoc upon the "arrogant" elements of mankind who dare to do things like build bridges and create flying machines. One recently went so far as to say, "down with people, Mother Earth will have her revenge". WTF?
Such conversations are best defused and dropped because those who claim to hate humanity get extremely angry at the drop of a pin (an item invented and made by humans). Usually the words "greedy" and "corporation" enter the discussion. Not always in that order. If you are lucky "The Rich" will get mentioned. Makes me want to change my name to Richard, marry a woman with an eastern european accent then instruct her to tell anyone who calls, "The Rich is unavailable. He's out defying new taxes.
Guess you had to be there.
It is this hurricane that has me thinking. First, we are not victims of nature. Neither are bears, oak trees or anything else.
Anyone knows if you live near a big river, it may flood. If you live in CA you may be there for a big ass earthquake that topples everything, if you live in hurricane land, that friggin big blow is going to visit. And for God's sake, realize that if your city is surrounded by water and built below sea level, you just might find yourself in over your head if a storm comes. It is up to you to know how you will react. So sad that people actually believe master government is going to take care of them and make it OK. Let's get off the manor and quit being serfs. It is the plantation mentality being shoved down our throats in a clever backhanded manner.
Anyway. We are part of the universe, life, nature, and what is. And what is is not a static or overly stable system. Nature is like that. Nothing pristine and peaceful to it in the grand scheme of things.
That is why birds build nests--the environmentally unaware little bastards. They actually commit unnatural acts like assembling mud, sticks and anything else their greedy little beaks will carry to build a place to lay eggs. Why? Because the damned things will fall and break if they just sit on the branch dropping those babies out, expecting them to somehow stick to the limb.
They make use of nature to protect themselves from elements in their environment to promote their survival. Some species run their course and disappear. Do you think other species give a damn? No, they don't.
Beavers radically screw with their surroundings for their own greedy selfish purposes. I bet Mother Earth is going to kick their little beaver butts, but good! How dare they soil the pristine benevolent Nature just because they are hungry? Dams!! The nerve of them. Down with beavers!
That is the character of life. Everything does what it can to make it easier to thrive in an often hostile environment. Humans are no different. But humans have the capacity to use their heads to change how they cope, and to examine the side effects. They often don't do it, but if most of the prevailing religions and political philosophies would take a sabbatical, I believe you'd see that such sane practices would be the norm and possibly the concept of being free AND responsible would catch on. As it is, neither of those concepts is in fashion.
Where people go awry is when they do things that may give a quick bump in the wealth department but have impoverishing consequences down the line. That is because myopia and small minded greed, envy and avarice are contagious. But this does not mean that brilliant invention and use of resources is automatically wrong. Plastic, in and of itself is Not evil. Neither is steel, or fiberglass or concrete.
I know, I'm either preaching to the choir or talking to a brick wall.
What I was really wondering is why things like buildings in seriously vulnerable hurricane zones always get built back pretty much the same way instead of trying new methods and designs which anticipate the inevitable. The same happens in ice storms. Power lines get coated with ice, they fall down, power goes out and it gets put right back waiting to do the same thing next year.
The usual excuse is that it is too expensive to do anything different. That is BS. Good engineers are supposed to be there to work within given parameters to solve the problem. You can find ways that are not so expensive, then when proven, that will be the norm until something better is figured out.
In construction this is tough because of vested interests in the status quo, backed by government enforcement of the status quo. Be sure to turn the evil eye on unions as well as those greedy corporations because they are built on a structure of not changing how things are made or done. I only include them in the mix. I do not hold the others in the system blameless. All pieces of the short sighted, destructive scheme.
Anyway, I have been thinking of a number of ways to radically change how a few things are done, and I believe if my ideas were put into practice, the result would be a house on the Outer Banks of NC which would withstand not only a tremendous storm surge bigger than any in history, but also substantial winds of double or more the force they are getting tonight from Irene. And it is highly unlikely the place would flood.
Maybe my ideas wouldn't totally work, maybe they would. I know it can be done, and I do not think that the cost need be prohibitive. I suppose it would not be as natural as just living naked on the beach and dying in the hurricane, but I don't think it would destroy the planet or earn the retribution of Mother Earth, whoever that bitch is.
PS: it might be cool to live naked on the beach until the storm hits, then go inside the clever dwelling and ride it out
Such conversations are best defused and dropped because those who claim to hate humanity get extremely angry at the drop of a pin (an item invented and made by humans). Usually the words "greedy" and "corporation" enter the discussion. Not always in that order. If you are lucky "The Rich" will get mentioned. Makes me want to change my name to Richard, marry a woman with an eastern european accent then instruct her to tell anyone who calls, "The Rich is unavailable. He's out defying new taxes.
Guess you had to be there.
It is this hurricane that has me thinking. First, we are not victims of nature. Neither are bears, oak trees or anything else.
Anyone knows if you live near a big river, it may flood. If you live in CA you may be there for a big ass earthquake that topples everything, if you live in hurricane land, that friggin big blow is going to visit. And for God's sake, realize that if your city is surrounded by water and built below sea level, you just might find yourself in over your head if a storm comes. It is up to you to know how you will react. So sad that people actually believe master government is going to take care of them and make it OK. Let's get off the manor and quit being serfs. It is the plantation mentality being shoved down our throats in a clever backhanded manner.
Anyway. We are part of the universe, life, nature, and what is. And what is is not a static or overly stable system. Nature is like that. Nothing pristine and peaceful to it in the grand scheme of things.
That is why birds build nests--the environmentally unaware little bastards. They actually commit unnatural acts like assembling mud, sticks and anything else their greedy little beaks will carry to build a place to lay eggs. Why? Because the damned things will fall and break if they just sit on the branch dropping those babies out, expecting them to somehow stick to the limb.
They make use of nature to protect themselves from elements in their environment to promote their survival. Some species run their course and disappear. Do you think other species give a damn? No, they don't.
Beavers radically screw with their surroundings for their own greedy selfish purposes. I bet Mother Earth is going to kick their little beaver butts, but good! How dare they soil the pristine benevolent Nature just because they are hungry? Dams!! The nerve of them. Down with beavers!
That is the character of life. Everything does what it can to make it easier to thrive in an often hostile environment. Humans are no different. But humans have the capacity to use their heads to change how they cope, and to examine the side effects. They often don't do it, but if most of the prevailing religions and political philosophies would take a sabbatical, I believe you'd see that such sane practices would be the norm and possibly the concept of being free AND responsible would catch on. As it is, neither of those concepts is in fashion.
Where people go awry is when they do things that may give a quick bump in the wealth department but have impoverishing consequences down the line. That is because myopia and small minded greed, envy and avarice are contagious. But this does not mean that brilliant invention and use of resources is automatically wrong. Plastic, in and of itself is Not evil. Neither is steel, or fiberglass or concrete.
I know, I'm either preaching to the choir or talking to a brick wall.
What I was really wondering is why things like buildings in seriously vulnerable hurricane zones always get built back pretty much the same way instead of trying new methods and designs which anticipate the inevitable. The same happens in ice storms. Power lines get coated with ice, they fall down, power goes out and it gets put right back waiting to do the same thing next year.
The usual excuse is that it is too expensive to do anything different. That is BS. Good engineers are supposed to be there to work within given parameters to solve the problem. You can find ways that are not so expensive, then when proven, that will be the norm until something better is figured out.
In construction this is tough because of vested interests in the status quo, backed by government enforcement of the status quo. Be sure to turn the evil eye on unions as well as those greedy corporations because they are built on a structure of not changing how things are made or done. I only include them in the mix. I do not hold the others in the system blameless. All pieces of the short sighted, destructive scheme.
Anyway, I have been thinking of a number of ways to radically change how a few things are done, and I believe if my ideas were put into practice, the result would be a house on the Outer Banks of NC which would withstand not only a tremendous storm surge bigger than any in history, but also substantial winds of double or more the force they are getting tonight from Irene. And it is highly unlikely the place would flood.
Maybe my ideas wouldn't totally work, maybe they would. I know it can be done, and I do not think that the cost need be prohibitive. I suppose it would not be as natural as just living naked on the beach and dying in the hurricane, but I don't think it would destroy the planet or earn the retribution of Mother Earth, whoever that bitch is.
PS: it might be cool to live naked on the beach until the storm hits, then go inside the clever dwelling and ride it out
Too Hot to Dance
How brilliant of me to take that trip while my part of the country was experiencing moderate weather, and everywhere I went was 100 degrees and high humidity. In east SD county the hottest time is just beginning. So while NC is in the 70's, or under water, we are getting the 99 degree junk, with higher than normal humidity--still low compared to Florida or Memphis.
I've about had it with super hot weather. If I honestly thought it would cool the world off, I'd do whatever it is they convince kids in school will save the planet. Well, only if saving the planet meant cooling things off.
I've about had it with super hot weather. If I honestly thought it would cool the world off, I'd do whatever it is they convince kids in school will save the planet. Well, only if saving the planet meant cooling things off.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Oh Yea, The Real Reason Storms Get My Attention
Shrinks have had their theories on this, none of which help me cope with civilization. I'm at my very best, or have been in the past, when something like a hurricane hits.
I am good at preparing with minimal materials, and when the traffic lights go blowing down, streets are largely impassible, power is out, and all that, I am at my sharpest. Not sure why.
Maybe it is the leveling effect when everyone is having to work things out without the usual outside resources. It all gets down to the basics. The powerful and wealthy can't travel that road any more than anyone else. Problems that need solving arise, and I never felt so much energy as the last time I was in that circumstance. It puts most people into a sort of shock, but it makes me clear headed, energetic, and, I suppose, helpful.
After all, the City of Miami did give me a certificate of appreciation. I still don't know why. I have made up stories like how I saved babies who were drowning in the bay in the middle of the storm, and stuff like that. I was too busy to remember.
My car was blocked in by a downed tree which just barely touched the bumper, so I got on a bicycle and made my way around to deal with problems of friends and relatives. I guess I felt in control. In immediate storm aftermath the only rule is shoot looters and dump the body down the street. I soon had the tree out of the way, but I accomplished plenty on the bike. It was better than trying it by car for a day or two. Roads were bad. I got medicine for people, gave a cop the real story of what happened in a traffic dispute I witnessed. Cut a tree up so emergency vehicle could get through. Gave the national guard some 2 cycle gas mix, just a peddling fool back and forth.
So, for awhile, I lived by my wits and my rules, and had no confusion. As soon as things go back to normal, I am again less confident and far less enthused about my purpose and life on this planet. Too bad I can't see man-made societal structures and institutions as forces of nature like a storm, or as things that just are, like trees in the road--deal with it accordingly--but I can't seem to do it.
I wish I was up in Bobbyland or on the Outer Banks to help prepare, and help in the aftermath.
People with front loaders and stuff will show up from Georgia and all over. Many will be ripping people off, charging a fortune to remove a stump and doing bad work. People in aftershock feel compelled to say yes to the first charlatan who offers to fix something. I hope the storm people will be patient and resist the temptation.
The big ass storms take a long time to clean up. One place can take a month. You figure an acre full of tropical trees like mango, plus oak and all these other large tropical things I can't name, can be a hell of a task. Especially since you have the house in the way of any easy path. All that stuff gets cut into smaller stackable pieces and you make a ten foot high by hundred foot long stack at the road's edge. Maybe 15 feet deep. And you try not to wreck what survives of the sprinkler system while you are at it.
The saddest aftermath thing is to watch, like I did, a lady pull a perfectly good couch out the front door and hose it down and throw dirt on it, put it back in the house and break a window pane so she could get insurance money.
I am good at preparing with minimal materials, and when the traffic lights go blowing down, streets are largely impassible, power is out, and all that, I am at my sharpest. Not sure why.
Maybe it is the leveling effect when everyone is having to work things out without the usual outside resources. It all gets down to the basics. The powerful and wealthy can't travel that road any more than anyone else. Problems that need solving arise, and I never felt so much energy as the last time I was in that circumstance. It puts most people into a sort of shock, but it makes me clear headed, energetic, and, I suppose, helpful.
After all, the City of Miami did give me a certificate of appreciation. I still don't know why. I have made up stories like how I saved babies who were drowning in the bay in the middle of the storm, and stuff like that. I was too busy to remember.
My car was blocked in by a downed tree which just barely touched the bumper, so I got on a bicycle and made my way around to deal with problems of friends and relatives. I guess I felt in control. In immediate storm aftermath the only rule is shoot looters and dump the body down the street. I soon had the tree out of the way, but I accomplished plenty on the bike. It was better than trying it by car for a day or two. Roads were bad. I got medicine for people, gave a cop the real story of what happened in a traffic dispute I witnessed. Cut a tree up so emergency vehicle could get through. Gave the national guard some 2 cycle gas mix, just a peddling fool back and forth.
So, for awhile, I lived by my wits and my rules, and had no confusion. As soon as things go back to normal, I am again less confident and far less enthused about my purpose and life on this planet. Too bad I can't see man-made societal structures and institutions as forces of nature like a storm, or as things that just are, like trees in the road--deal with it accordingly--but I can't seem to do it.
I wish I was up in Bobbyland or on the Outer Banks to help prepare, and help in the aftermath.
People with front loaders and stuff will show up from Georgia and all over. Many will be ripping people off, charging a fortune to remove a stump and doing bad work. People in aftershock feel compelled to say yes to the first charlatan who offers to fix something. I hope the storm people will be patient and resist the temptation.
The big ass storms take a long time to clean up. One place can take a month. You figure an acre full of tropical trees like mango, plus oak and all these other large tropical things I can't name, can be a hell of a task. Especially since you have the house in the way of any easy path. All that stuff gets cut into smaller stackable pieces and you make a ten foot high by hundred foot long stack at the road's edge. Maybe 15 feet deep. And you try not to wreck what survives of the sprinkler system while you are at it.
The saddest aftermath thing is to watch, like I did, a lady pull a perfectly good couch out the front door and hose it down and throw dirt on it, put it back in the house and break a window pane so she could get insurance money.
If a Hurricane Is Headed Your Way
Number one, do NOT hole up with a bunch of people and throw a drunken hurricane party. That only works when no one decides to drive drunk in the storm, climb a tree to experience the full ambiance of the occasion, or use fire as a means of illumination if the power goes out. It only works if you aren't getting that much of the brunt of the thing.
A powerful hurricane blowing through the 'hood is not reason for celebration. Being on top of things is, but not drunken celebration. Of course I have little tolerance for drunks anyway. Reminds me of dark days in the past, and I hate the flow of conversations and emotional dynamics.
The last thing you want if trees come through the roof or sticks break windows is to be in the middle of a bunch of drunks. If you've done your best to batten down the hatches, taken measures to secure the property, planned for power outage and possible flooding by having ample light sources, exit plans, easy food, plenty of water and all that, then just relax and slow your system down. You can't change it by constantly expecting some earth shattering info from the weather channel in the middle of the fray. They said the hurricane was here 30 secs ago, and it still is--look outside.
Don't expect light trailers, flower pots and anything with significant surface area to stay put on its own. Stow those things inside that will fit, and tie those other babies down. If you have trees that could go onto the house, depending on size and such you can tie them off to one another in order to influence the trajectory of their fall. I've done it and it works, but you have to think and look at it for awhile. It usually takes tying up high in one and down low in the other.
I can't stress the tying down of things like camper trailers enough. When Hurricane Andrew was about to hit southwest Miami I helped a guy tie a camper down. He was more in a hurry than I was and it was his so I did it his way. The early gales were blowing in and it started to work on me. I went back and tied it the way I thought would work--overkill in his mind. I finished when things were getting way to dicey to hang outdoors. Within the hour the first tree in their yard blew down. I was trying to sleep. My girlfriend comes in all aghast, "John, a tree blew down!!"
Did it come through the roof or in the house?
"No"
So, do you want me to go outside and put it back up? This is not a thing I need to know right now. By morning there will be more trees down.
By the time it was all over it was clearly evident that the only thing that kept that camper from blowing into the house were the extra lines I added. Do not think in terms of the least in such cases. You never regret over engineering such things.
Having experienced many major hurricanes growing up, and being responsible for major cleanup since age 9, and because I like to give advice, I thought I'd offer this public service announcement. It is certainly of more value than telling you that taking the stairs rather than the elevator burns more calories. Seriously, if you have to be told that you are probably a burden on society and everyone around you. Why would I want to prolong your life? Boy I am mean.
Oh, and do not assume government agencies will take care of you and that they are there to think for you. Use your own head and if the water is getting high, start figuring ways to get out of it. And for God's sake don't claim you wanted to evacuate but no one (meaning government agency) showed up to give you a ride. In other words, do the opposite of almost everything the press showed people doing during Hurricane Katrina.
Unless I lived in a really flimsy house, about the only reason I'd evacuate is if there was strong change of a serious storm surge which would put me under water. Or if I had a helicopter. If you do have a helicoptor and it is not parked in a very solid hangar, I suggest flying it out of there asap.
I'm hoping for the best for all areas in the path. Bizarre that I was just out there on that side view window of North Carolina, Ocracoke Island, and my buddy Joel was saying that the way they've built up some of the outer banks they are fried if the big one hits. So, there we are.
People will be in shock that three story stick houses on tiny islands in the Atlantic suffer greatly when hurricanes hit. They are shocked every time it happens, and it happens a lot. They'll probably come back with four story stick houses.
A powerful hurricane blowing through the 'hood is not reason for celebration. Being on top of things is, but not drunken celebration. Of course I have little tolerance for drunks anyway. Reminds me of dark days in the past, and I hate the flow of conversations and emotional dynamics.
The last thing you want if trees come through the roof or sticks break windows is to be in the middle of a bunch of drunks. If you've done your best to batten down the hatches, taken measures to secure the property, planned for power outage and possible flooding by having ample light sources, exit plans, easy food, plenty of water and all that, then just relax and slow your system down. You can't change it by constantly expecting some earth shattering info from the weather channel in the middle of the fray. They said the hurricane was here 30 secs ago, and it still is--look outside.
Don't expect light trailers, flower pots and anything with significant surface area to stay put on its own. Stow those things inside that will fit, and tie those other babies down. If you have trees that could go onto the house, depending on size and such you can tie them off to one another in order to influence the trajectory of their fall. I've done it and it works, but you have to think and look at it for awhile. It usually takes tying up high in one and down low in the other.
I can't stress the tying down of things like camper trailers enough. When Hurricane Andrew was about to hit southwest Miami I helped a guy tie a camper down. He was more in a hurry than I was and it was his so I did it his way. The early gales were blowing in and it started to work on me. I went back and tied it the way I thought would work--overkill in his mind. I finished when things were getting way to dicey to hang outdoors. Within the hour the first tree in their yard blew down. I was trying to sleep. My girlfriend comes in all aghast, "John, a tree blew down!!"
Did it come through the roof or in the house?
"No"
So, do you want me to go outside and put it back up? This is not a thing I need to know right now. By morning there will be more trees down.
By the time it was all over it was clearly evident that the only thing that kept that camper from blowing into the house were the extra lines I added. Do not think in terms of the least in such cases. You never regret over engineering such things.
Having experienced many major hurricanes growing up, and being responsible for major cleanup since age 9, and because I like to give advice, I thought I'd offer this public service announcement. It is certainly of more value than telling you that taking the stairs rather than the elevator burns more calories. Seriously, if you have to be told that you are probably a burden on society and everyone around you. Why would I want to prolong your life? Boy I am mean.
Oh, and do not assume government agencies will take care of you and that they are there to think for you. Use your own head and if the water is getting high, start figuring ways to get out of it. And for God's sake don't claim you wanted to evacuate but no one (meaning government agency) showed up to give you a ride. In other words, do the opposite of almost everything the press showed people doing during Hurricane Katrina.
Unless I lived in a really flimsy house, about the only reason I'd evacuate is if there was strong change of a serious storm surge which would put me under water. Or if I had a helicopter. If you do have a helicoptor and it is not parked in a very solid hangar, I suggest flying it out of there asap.
I'm hoping for the best for all areas in the path. Bizarre that I was just out there on that side view window of North Carolina, Ocracoke Island, and my buddy Joel was saying that the way they've built up some of the outer banks they are fried if the big one hits. So, there we are.
People will be in shock that three story stick houses on tiny islands in the Atlantic suffer greatly when hurricanes hit. They are shocked every time it happens, and it happens a lot. They'll probably come back with four story stick houses.
Once Upon a Time in Tallahassee
I went to FSU for two reasons; they accepted me by about Halloween of my senior year of high school and I was too lazy to jump through the hoops where I should have gone, and if I did not go right into college I would have no student deferment from the DRAFT (truly a dirty word in this context). Could have been 1 2 3 what are we fightin 4, don't know, don't give a damn, next stop is Viet Nam. Many of my friends and acquaintances went. Many got injured and a few never came back alive. I wasn't a protestor. For one thing I never hated the military just because they had short hair.
The period of time in question was the hippie era. Contrary to what you hear, the seeds may have been planted in the earlier 60's but it did not catch on big time until late 60's through early 70's.
No free country should have a draft, and no free country should enter a "limited police action" in which people can get hurt, go crazy, and lots of money is wasted. Thank you to all those who made Korea, Vietnam, Bosinia/Kosovo, Iraq, and all the others possible and a way of life. IDIOT BASTARDS.
If we conducted personal home security the way we conduct our "defense", people would be raiding other neighborhoods on the grounds that they are likely thieves and home invaders and if we wait they'll get strong and kick our ass.
Or we might go there because they just don't do things right and it isn't fair to their residents. Who knows
Sorry. This was supposed to be about a stout little Mr Potato Head of a man who was my first engineering professor. He covered the basics to get everyone up to speed on reading engineering drawings and drafting techniques; finding true angles and lengths from drawings of parts and such.
I think his name was E F Kumpe. Dr. Kumpe. Like most of my favorite teachers, he was so distant from pop culture or any thought of being cool, he had no clue what people were talking about if they made reference to even themost well known of things.
Dr Kumpe had a cheerful aspect but it wasn't like a smile in which he was smiling at anyone, but more just an expression of pleasure that most of mechanical engineering fits very neatly into Newtonian physics. He would get an extra twinkle in his eye after explaining something like the concept of a point in space. It is there but takes up no room.
The coolest thing he did--professors could smoke while teaching back then--was to take a huge, prolonged drag off of his Benson and Hedges 100 menthol cigarette, and never visibly exhale any smoke. He hit that thing like it was a big joint. His one drag would burn the cigarette halfway down. Then he'd commence to talking while using a wooden calipers that had chalk in both ends.
He'd walk that sucker all over the board which contained the plan in question, and with increasing rapidness saying, "this distance equals this distance, this distance equals this distance...", and pretty soon it just sounded like he was whistling--sss, ssss, sss, sss.
Oddly, what I learned form him was directly applied to a job I had later on. No one else in that place could find true angles and such on blueprints of exhaust systems for yachts. Well the prints showed the exhaust in the yacht.
The whole last half of this got lost due to connection issues. Here on ballistic mountain, it is no simple matter if you don't have satellite tv.
I'm not going to re-write it, but it was the best entry I've ever done and would have radically changed the world for the better, saving mankind at least 300 years of heartache, trial and error, uncertainty and over-use of helmets.
The period of time in question was the hippie era. Contrary to what you hear, the seeds may have been planted in the earlier 60's but it did not catch on big time until late 60's through early 70's.
No free country should have a draft, and no free country should enter a "limited police action" in which people can get hurt, go crazy, and lots of money is wasted. Thank you to all those who made Korea, Vietnam, Bosinia/Kosovo, Iraq, and all the others possible and a way of life. IDIOT BASTARDS.
If we conducted personal home security the way we conduct our "defense", people would be raiding other neighborhoods on the grounds that they are likely thieves and home invaders and if we wait they'll get strong and kick our ass.
Or we might go there because they just don't do things right and it isn't fair to their residents. Who knows
Sorry. This was supposed to be about a stout little Mr Potato Head of a man who was my first engineering professor. He covered the basics to get everyone up to speed on reading engineering drawings and drafting techniques; finding true angles and lengths from drawings of parts and such.
I think his name was E F Kumpe. Dr. Kumpe. Like most of my favorite teachers, he was so distant from pop culture or any thought of being cool, he had no clue what people were talking about if they made reference to even themost well known of things.
Dr Kumpe had a cheerful aspect but it wasn't like a smile in which he was smiling at anyone, but more just an expression of pleasure that most of mechanical engineering fits very neatly into Newtonian physics. He would get an extra twinkle in his eye after explaining something like the concept of a point in space. It is there but takes up no room.
The coolest thing he did--professors could smoke while teaching back then--was to take a huge, prolonged drag off of his Benson and Hedges 100 menthol cigarette, and never visibly exhale any smoke. He hit that thing like it was a big joint. His one drag would burn the cigarette halfway down. Then he'd commence to talking while using a wooden calipers that had chalk in both ends.
He'd walk that sucker all over the board which contained the plan in question, and with increasing rapidness saying, "this distance equals this distance, this distance equals this distance...", and pretty soon it just sounded like he was whistling--sss, ssss, sss, sss.
Oddly, what I learned form him was directly applied to a job I had later on. No one else in that place could find true angles and such on blueprints of exhaust systems for yachts. Well the prints showed the exhaust in the yacht.
The whole last half of this got lost due to connection issues. Here on ballistic mountain, it is no simple matter if you don't have satellite tv.
I'm not going to re-write it, but it was the best entry I've ever done and would have radically changed the world for the better, saving mankind at least 300 years of heartache, trial and error, uncertainty and over-use of helmets.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Ocracoke in Danger Due to Mirror-like Qualities
That's the island on the outer banks which is accessible only by ferry, boat or other means which need no road or bridge.
Now that a hurricane is looming in the distance they are evacuating. No surprise there. What is a surprise is that the Associated Press never ceases to outdo itself in its endless quest to confuse, dumb-down and generally bring incompetence to new levels.
How do AP writers manage to get a job? News language has long been a little different and rife with bizarre and inapplicable metaphor, not to mention that if you were ever close to a story personally, you were aware that the reporting mangled fact and quote---it never fails. It is almost as if they purposely do that, like it is a compulsion.
Anyway, according to AP, here is why Ocracoke and the Outer Banks are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes:
All the barrier islands have the geographic weakness of jutting out into the Atlantic like the side-view mirror of a car, a location that's frequently been in the path of destructive storms over the decades. emphasis mine. Does that mean that the side view mirror of a car is a location "that's frequently been in the path of destructive storms over the decades" ? Well, I suppose that is true if the car was outside or you drive in hurricanes. (I'm not Shakespeare, but this writer really sucks)
Jee Suss H Keeryst!!! The side view mirror of a car? Stick to talking about Florida, Champ. Even you might get that one halfway right.
Yep. I drove over bridges and then took a ferry to the side view mirror of North Carolina.
View Larger Map
See Ocracoke out there to the right of the mainland? (bottom center of map)
Do you see anything that just smacks of side view mirror on a car?
This is the trouble when people live their entire lives in NYC or some such place, and never actually draw the connections between nature and life; like cow=steak, tree=wooden chair, etc. They yearn to be colorful artistic writers of newslike fiction, but they have little reference with which to compare things like islands in the sea. Now they could compare restaurants, subway lines, and things like that.
I'll bet the writer doesn't even drive. He or she probably got nailed by a side view mirror one night, while walking on a crowded sidewalk trying to catch a cab home from Club Spankme. I've bumped into side view mirrors myself, in less urban settings. That was what the writer termed, "an aha! moment". Ever since he/she heard the phrase, aha moment, he/she had been dying to have one so he/she could then say, "and that was my aha moment!". So the old side view mirror had been boiling in that pot on the back burner of it/he/she's mind ever since, just waiting fora chance to come to the fore to clarify a news story. And boy, did it!.
I really want a job with AP. Fact doesn't matter, logic is irrelevant and I can compare anything to anything. It is like sleeping with a dust pan in a gold mine, while stalking the wild grizzly with a grain of salt.
Now that a hurricane is looming in the distance they are evacuating. No surprise there. What is a surprise is that the Associated Press never ceases to outdo itself in its endless quest to confuse, dumb-down and generally bring incompetence to new levels.
How do AP writers manage to get a job? News language has long been a little different and rife with bizarre and inapplicable metaphor, not to mention that if you were ever close to a story personally, you were aware that the reporting mangled fact and quote---it never fails. It is almost as if they purposely do that, like it is a compulsion.
Anyway, according to AP, here is why Ocracoke and the Outer Banks are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes:
All the barrier islands have the geographic weakness of jutting out into the Atlantic like the side-view mirror of a car, a location that's frequently been in the path of destructive storms over the decades. emphasis mine. Does that mean that the side view mirror of a car is a location "that's frequently been in the path of destructive storms over the decades" ? Well, I suppose that is true if the car was outside or you drive in hurricanes. (I'm not Shakespeare, but this writer really sucks)
Jee Suss H Keeryst!!! The side view mirror of a car? Stick to talking about Florida, Champ. Even you might get that one halfway right.
Yep. I drove over bridges and then took a ferry to the side view mirror of North Carolina.
View Larger Map
See Ocracoke out there to the right of the mainland? (bottom center of map)
Do you see anything that just smacks of side view mirror on a car?
This is the trouble when people live their entire lives in NYC or some such place, and never actually draw the connections between nature and life; like cow=steak, tree=wooden chair, etc. They yearn to be colorful artistic writers of newslike fiction, but they have little reference with which to compare things like islands in the sea. Now they could compare restaurants, subway lines, and things like that.
I'll bet the writer doesn't even drive. He or she probably got nailed by a side view mirror one night, while walking on a crowded sidewalk trying to catch a cab home from Club Spankme. I've bumped into side view mirrors myself, in less urban settings. That was what the writer termed, "an aha! moment". Ever since he/she heard the phrase, aha moment, he/she had been dying to have one so he/she could then say, "and that was my aha moment!". So the old side view mirror had been boiling in that pot on the back burner of it/he/she's mind ever since, just waiting fora chance to come to the fore to clarify a news story. And boy, did it!.
I really want a job with AP. Fact doesn't matter, logic is irrelevant and I can compare anything to anything. It is like sleeping with a dust pan in a gold mine, while stalking the wild grizzly with a grain of salt.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Econ 01 by Professor Ballistic
Hello class! Sit down, shut up and put your smart and dumb phones on silent. I do not care if you attend class, text or draw, just don't annoy me or I'll have to use the TASER (air quotes) on you.
Today we'll explore the bizarre topic of Job Creation.
So, just how are jobs created?
Put your hands down. It was a rhetorical question, as almost all questions I ask in this class will be. I hate audience participation events.
OK. Some think jobs are created by LEADERS (air quotes)
I suppose this depends on how you define the word leader (air quotes). Most define it as a charismatic preacher who extracts his salary and much more from you at the point of a gun. ie; politician. I will discount this method of job creation.
My beloved students.
Now I have their rapt attention
...as they pore over the ledger accounts of last night's drug transactions and prostitution proceeds...
In the world of nature in which humans dwell, surprise, surprise, a job is created when someone comes up with a good and/or service which others want and will trade for. Because not everyone needs a house built and who would give you a house for that shirt you made, we have money, which ideally represents a fairly universal unit of value, or effort combined with skill, need, etc. Brain surgeons used to be paid more than electricians due to skill level, need, and scarcity of talent in that field.
OK. So, someone figures out how to make your house cool in summer. That is worth a bundle to many sweltering souls. This person finds that more people want what he has to offer and will pay an amount that covers costs plus affords him a decent standard of living. He or she then reasons that people could be paid to help do the work, distribute the magic machines, etc.
It's easy, right? Oh maybe not so easy. Now he has to satisfy a dozen government agencies, buy a license, get bonded, be inspected purchase insurance and pay various agencies an amount equal to at least 40% of his employee's salary. Better not hire too many. Looks like we'll let part of the demand go unsatisfied. Competitors will take up the slack once they figure out how to make these things.
Oh, by the way, if you are wondering what the difference is between macro and micro economics, think of it like this:
micro economics is a dollar bill, or a gold piece.
Macro economics is a roll of toilet paper with pictures of dollar bills stamped on it. That's all you need on that.
In short, when someone or some group makes things or does things that people will give up something to have, jobs are created. I'm not sure I really count census workers in the mainstream of that. Especially if they gather information which is not useful or voluntary.
This applies whether you talk public sector or private sector. The only difference between the two is that it is legal for the public sector to demand wealth from the private sector at gun point. That door don't swing both ways.
The real trouble comes from elements cloaked as private getting in bed with elements of the public sector. Then you have preffered members of the private sector getting theirs at gunpoint through a convoluted legal process. This presently makes up 81.5% of our commerce. Many of the others would salivate at the thought of a cushy, unneeded government contract. People are mostly thieves, as long as no one knows or it is given some other name.
Anyway, the public sector does not produce much of anything. They provide services, some of which the population at large want, need, and find it best to accomplish in that sort of collective fashion. Defense of the country and border was once one of those functions---not sure what it is now. Protecting people from force and fraud perpetrated by riffraff was another. Presently it is impossible to discern the private riffraff from those who allegedly protect against it.
All that said, a job is still created when someone is willing to make or do something for someone who is willing to pay more than it costs that person to do or make it. (anything less and they can't cover cost of production or eat so they cannot keep operating) The only way the public sector can aid in job creation is to make it easier for someone to do these things. One way is by refraining from taking too much of a cut off the top. And another is by making rules and regulations streamlined. When dealing with government, complicated tax codes, city codes, state codes and the goddammed united nations requires hiring full time employees, in even a small firm, job creation suffers.
There are many culprits in the mix on this job thing. A huge portion is attributable to the "partnerships" between government entities and business. That is mostly due to the lack of constraints on government function. They are into the charity business, research, giving money to other countries for totally unknown purposes, negotiating contracts overseas for corporations, deciding how and who regarding marriage, the list goes on and on. It all costs money and the only producer of wealth is everyone but government.
Many have come to see "profit" (air quotes optional) as a dirty word. Were it not for the tax structure, the issue would rarely arise. Profit is what is left after you pay your bills. Since it costs more to take your money and put it away for whatever, or use it to buy a bunch of stuff, they have it set up so the owners pay themselves a salary and then put the rest back into the company or otherwise juggle it around without it appearing to go into their own pockets. If it were in their pockets they'd probably spend more and that might mean some hapless company gets to hire more and that means there is more to do for those willing to do it.
Like I said, there are certain things that are best left to government to do--it is a necessary evil. Veteran's hospitals and police, for example--although I think tactics and scope ought to be drastically changed in the latter realm. Some might argue for private veteran's hospitals, but it would still have to be paid collectively.
But we are talking economics. Neither George Bush nor Barrack Obama held/hold a position which actually has the right or the authority or the wit to create jobs. They did/do have the opportunity to remove stumbling blocks and get out of the way. Putting the private sector and everyone else in debt to pretend to make work is ludicrous and short sighted. As we've seen, only a few of their private sector bedfellows benefit and it leaves the rest of us poorer.
I'd get into unions but I doubt you'd understand. The only reason unions were ever even marginally justified is because some companies were in bed with government to the point that they violated the code against force and fraud in various ways, with the aid of the body sworn to protect against it. Now the unions themselves have become big corporations who live by the creed "might makes right" and do it with the help and blessing of government and many corporate interests which would surprise some.
So, you want to create a job? Just try franchising lemonade stands or starting a home window washing enterprise and see how much it costs or if it is even legal.
Alright, get the hell out of here. The test will be on the economic and spiritual implications of Shakespeare's Hamlet, or the movie Artois the Goat, or the movie Boondock Saints--your choice. If you can adequately impersonate Wilem Defoe in his role in Boondock Saints, you get an automatic A..
And if you want to bitch to someone about "creating"(air quotes) jobs, don't go asking would-be kings, dictators and charlatans who've never had a regular job to do it for you. Just tell them to back off, to quit funding crazy ass things all over the world, and to shut up unless they are suggesting laws and agencies to be repealed or abolished. If they utter the phrase "new program", wash their mouths out with soap.
Hold it!!! Sit down. Just want to quickly add that forcing you to pay more so I can hire more people to be sure you pay, and more people to make you safe from enemies I enriched with your money and my clever people skills, is not really creating(air quotes) Jobs(air quotes). You might just decide to quit your enterprise and do something simple like work for CALTran holding a sign that says Slow on one side and Stop on the other.
It's fun. You can hold it edgewise to traffic so they don't know whether they're coming or going. And you can avoid all those new hires paid by money I intended to take from you, But if you do that, I'll just borrow the money in your name and call it job creation.
OK. Let's flee this scene. Go away.
ps: I secretly envy G1 for managing to be a college/university professor. I would so love that opportunity--captive audience on a daily basis and you don't have to take the crap a high school teacher deals with from students with no recourse.
You just cope with the usual phony pressures of academia---I have a tweed coat with elbow patches and a pipe picked out just in case. The beard part is easy. Once you've got tenure, you have a license to be nuts and they'll call you eccentric and brilliant
Today we'll explore the bizarre topic of Job Creation.
So, just how are jobs created?
Put your hands down. It was a rhetorical question, as almost all questions I ask in this class will be. I hate audience participation events.
OK. Some think jobs are created by LEADERS (air quotes)
I suppose this depends on how you define the word leader (air quotes). Most define it as a charismatic preacher who extracts his salary and much more from you at the point of a gun. ie; politician. I will discount this method of job creation.
My beloved students.
Now I have their rapt attention
...as they pore over the ledger accounts of last night's drug transactions and prostitution proceeds...
In the world of nature in which humans dwell, surprise, surprise, a job is created when someone comes up with a good and/or service which others want and will trade for. Because not everyone needs a house built and who would give you a house for that shirt you made, we have money, which ideally represents a fairly universal unit of value, or effort combined with skill, need, etc. Brain surgeons used to be paid more than electricians due to skill level, need, and scarcity of talent in that field.
OK. So, someone figures out how to make your house cool in summer. That is worth a bundle to many sweltering souls. This person finds that more people want what he has to offer and will pay an amount that covers costs plus affords him a decent standard of living. He or she then reasons that people could be paid to help do the work, distribute the magic machines, etc.
It's easy, right? Oh maybe not so easy. Now he has to satisfy a dozen government agencies, buy a license, get bonded, be inspected purchase insurance and pay various agencies an amount equal to at least 40% of his employee's salary. Better not hire too many. Looks like we'll let part of the demand go unsatisfied. Competitors will take up the slack once they figure out how to make these things.
Oh, by the way, if you are wondering what the difference is between macro and micro economics, think of it like this:
micro economics is a dollar bill, or a gold piece.
Macro economics is a roll of toilet paper with pictures of dollar bills stamped on it. That's all you need on that.
In short, when someone or some group makes things or does things that people will give up something to have, jobs are created. I'm not sure I really count census workers in the mainstream of that. Especially if they gather information which is not useful or voluntary.
This applies whether you talk public sector or private sector. The only difference between the two is that it is legal for the public sector to demand wealth from the private sector at gun point. That door don't swing both ways.
The real trouble comes from elements cloaked as private getting in bed with elements of the public sector. Then you have preffered members of the private sector getting theirs at gunpoint through a convoluted legal process. This presently makes up 81.5% of our commerce. Many of the others would salivate at the thought of a cushy, unneeded government contract. People are mostly thieves, as long as no one knows or it is given some other name.
Anyway, the public sector does not produce much of anything. They provide services, some of which the population at large want, need, and find it best to accomplish in that sort of collective fashion. Defense of the country and border was once one of those functions---not sure what it is now. Protecting people from force and fraud perpetrated by riffraff was another. Presently it is impossible to discern the private riffraff from those who allegedly protect against it.
All that said, a job is still created when someone is willing to make or do something for someone who is willing to pay more than it costs that person to do or make it. (anything less and they can't cover cost of production or eat so they cannot keep operating) The only way the public sector can aid in job creation is to make it easier for someone to do these things. One way is by refraining from taking too much of a cut off the top. And another is by making rules and regulations streamlined. When dealing with government, complicated tax codes, city codes, state codes and the goddammed united nations requires hiring full time employees, in even a small firm, job creation suffers.
There are many culprits in the mix on this job thing. A huge portion is attributable to the "partnerships" between government entities and business. That is mostly due to the lack of constraints on government function. They are into the charity business, research, giving money to other countries for totally unknown purposes, negotiating contracts overseas for corporations, deciding how and who regarding marriage, the list goes on and on. It all costs money and the only producer of wealth is everyone but government.
Many have come to see "profit" (air quotes optional) as a dirty word. Were it not for the tax structure, the issue would rarely arise. Profit is what is left after you pay your bills. Since it costs more to take your money and put it away for whatever, or use it to buy a bunch of stuff, they have it set up so the owners pay themselves a salary and then put the rest back into the company or otherwise juggle it around without it appearing to go into their own pockets. If it were in their pockets they'd probably spend more and that might mean some hapless company gets to hire more and that means there is more to do for those willing to do it.
Like I said, there are certain things that are best left to government to do--it is a necessary evil. Veteran's hospitals and police, for example--although I think tactics and scope ought to be drastically changed in the latter realm. Some might argue for private veteran's hospitals, but it would still have to be paid collectively.
But we are talking economics. Neither George Bush nor Barrack Obama held/hold a position which actually has the right or the authority or the wit to create jobs. They did/do have the opportunity to remove stumbling blocks and get out of the way. Putting the private sector and everyone else in debt to pretend to make work is ludicrous and short sighted. As we've seen, only a few of their private sector bedfellows benefit and it leaves the rest of us poorer.
I'd get into unions but I doubt you'd understand. The only reason unions were ever even marginally justified is because some companies were in bed with government to the point that they violated the code against force and fraud in various ways, with the aid of the body sworn to protect against it. Now the unions themselves have become big corporations who live by the creed "might makes right" and do it with the help and blessing of government and many corporate interests which would surprise some.
So, you want to create a job? Just try franchising lemonade stands or starting a home window washing enterprise and see how much it costs or if it is even legal.
Alright, get the hell out of here. The test will be on the economic and spiritual implications of Shakespeare's Hamlet, or the movie Artois the Goat, or the movie Boondock Saints--your choice. If you can adequately impersonate Wilem Defoe in his role in Boondock Saints, you get an automatic A..
And if you want to bitch to someone about "creating"(air quotes) jobs, don't go asking would-be kings, dictators and charlatans who've never had a regular job to do it for you. Just tell them to back off, to quit funding crazy ass things all over the world, and to shut up unless they are suggesting laws and agencies to be repealed or abolished. If they utter the phrase "new program", wash their mouths out with soap.
Hold it!!! Sit down. Just want to quickly add that forcing you to pay more so I can hire more people to be sure you pay, and more people to make you safe from enemies I enriched with your money and my clever people skills, is not really creating(air quotes) Jobs(air quotes). You might just decide to quit your enterprise and do something simple like work for CALTran holding a sign that says Slow on one side and Stop on the other.
It's fun. You can hold it edgewise to traffic so they don't know whether they're coming or going. And you can avoid all those new hires paid by money I intended to take from you, But if you do that, I'll just borrow the money in your name and call it job creation.
OK. Let's flee this scene. Go away.
ps: I secretly envy G1 for managing to be a college/university professor. I would so love that opportunity--captive audience on a daily basis and you don't have to take the crap a high school teacher deals with from students with no recourse.
You just cope with the usual phony pressures of academia---I have a tweed coat with elbow patches and a pipe picked out just in case. The beard part is easy. Once you've got tenure, you have a license to be nuts and they'll call you eccentric and brilliant
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About Me
- John0 Juanderlust
- Ballistic Mountain, CA, United States
- Like spring on a summer's day
