Land of Oz

Science?

One of the problems today is that we are getting are information from all the wrong people. Today I read an article about vaccines and that people see "a fight between Jenny McCarthy and Amanda Peet" that is going on over the safe use of vaccines. This fight is about whether vaccines are safe for children or not. Note the two experts mentioned here; Jenny McCarthy and Amanda Peet. It makes me so happy to see that America is turning to a couple of actresses to determine what kind of healthcare to give their kids.

Next thing you know, we'll be relying on politicians to learn from about global warming or some actor dude to teach us about psychiatry or a musician who will teach us about world peace.

How about listening to one of those boring scientists who have spent their life studying the subject? Wouldn't that be a stretch?

Labels: celebs

Sears

At one time I had the highest respect for Sears and its products. Craftsman was my tool of choice and Diehard batteries couldn't be beat. Now Craftsman tools are found in K-mart and their quality is something that I would expect to find in K-mart. And their salespeople are climbing out from under rocks.

I made the mistake the other day of signing up for a Sears free home estimate for some doors. I was told that they wouldn't call until Monday (this being a Weds) to confirm the appointment. About two hours after talking to Sears in Saginaw, my cell phone gets a no name call (407-551-6000) from Florida. When I answer there's someone just talking on it. I wait for a pause, but it doesn't happen, so I hang up.

There's a pretty cool Web site (http://800notes.com/) you can search for telemarketing and other annoying calls. I checked the 407 number there's a long list of complaints about Sears. I called an 800 number to Sears and canceled the appointment. Since then, even after canceling within three hours, I got at least on other call at home, and have received snail mail ads from them. I'm glad I canceled since this seems more and more like a scam as the harassment goes on.

Labels: gripes, scams

Idiot Drivers

Yesterday a friend of mine told me about an early morning (1 a.m.) accident near his house out in the boondocks. It seems he was getting ready for bed when he noticed flashing lights outside. It turned out to be the emergency response to a tanker truck in a ditch. His worry was that the truck might have been carrying hazardous materials.

It turns out the truck was hauling "nitrogen-based products" that weren't hazardous. Hmmm, ever heard of TNT? Anyway, I looked in the next day's paper for information about the accident and found a couple of column inches on it. Seems the idiot driver , Leonard Paszek from South Bend, Ind. turned where his GPS told him to turn instead of looking at the road and turning where he should have turned! Just how lazy must you be when you don't even want to look out the window when making a turn on a dark country road? I don't care how good GPS gets, I'm still going to want to confirm I'm driving on a road with my own low-tech eyes.

Labels: driving, tech

Detroitblog

Here is a very cool collection of essays on Detroit. It explores and displays what's left of the glorious past of Detroit. At the same time, it emphasizes what is happening now. This guy has a way with words and pictures to show what's left of what once was. Boarded up wrecks still show flashes of old-time elegance among the winos and drug addicts. This guy brings it to life. It must have been quite amazing to wander the streets of prewar Detroit. For all our accomplishments and advances of today, those days of the 19-teens had some cultural significance that is a major loss.

Like most cities, especially those of the midwest, much of Detroit is collapsing upon itself. What was once known as MoTown and was at one time the center of automotive excellence is now a festering expanse of abandoned and dying neighborhoods and retail areas. Sure, I know there are new developments going on, but much of Detroit looks like the aftermath of a war. A couple of times when I've had to drive there, I made a wrong turn or looked out while motoring down the expressway and have seen buildings and people that are boarded up and have given up. Flint and Saginaw are part and parcel of that metropolitan disease of abandonment to crime and apathy. It is really sad to see just how far Michigan has fallen.

Labels: gripes, michigan, oldies

$tupid

Here's a few quotes from a recent story from Los Angeles about a person buying a condo there:

The widow of producer Aaron Spelling paid a whopping $47 million for a two-story condo atop a Century City residential tower that's still under construction, her lawyer said.

Her current abode, a 123-room mansion that she and her husband dubbed "The Manor," is the largest home in Los Angeles County at 56,500 square feet.

The house in the affluent Holmby Hills neighborhood sits on six acres and has 11 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms and amenities such as a bowling alley, doll museum and gift-wrapping room.

Related Cos., developer of the Century project, said Spelling's new digs will have a living room with two working fireplaces, a dining room for 25 guests, a 4,000-square-foot master bedroom suite and a conservatory with a rose garden, as well as a swimming pool and deck.

Goldberg said Spelling was moving in order to downscale her living space after her husband's death in 2006. She'll now seek to sell her lavish estate, which was built between 1986 and 1990, he said. (emphasis mine)

Believe me, there is no envy here on my part. Not that I wouldn't mind having a few of her millions to waste on my own. But I find it amazing that one person could be such a pig. What on earth can any person possibly do with a 4000 sq. ft. bedroom? That's over three times bigger than my entire house! Actually, when looking at new houses, we passed on an affordable 3300 sq. ft. house because the size would have been wasted on us. One of the big problems in the USofA is reading something like this in the same week where I read a letter about a local charity that gives $350 to a person so he won't be kicked out of his one-bedroom apartment (I'm guessing that bedroom is a tad under 4,000 sq. ft.). I find it a little sad that we live in a country where one person can spend $47 million on a second residence and another person can't come up with $350 to pay the rent.

Labels: celebs, gripes

Fuel Prices

Yep, they're high and getting higher. I don't see anything that can really be done about. It's that old supply and demand oddity. The more the demand, the higher the price. And right now, demand is going sky-high and I can only see it getting higher. India is coming out with a $2500 car for its 1.5 billion prospective drivers. Most of whom will be spending most of their time burning gas in traffic jams. The bike jams of Beijing have long since given way to good old western style traffic jams of cars, buses and trucks. And what happens if Africa ever gets it head out of its ass and moves up to the 19th century - even more cars.

To be honest, I'm surprised it's taken so long. While on active duty in the USAF, I used to wonder in the 80s if I'd be able to buy and afford a car in the 90s after I retired. I was really surprised when I bought my car in 1995 and found that gas still appeared to be cheap and plentiful I can remember spending $3 plus in US dollars for a gallon of gas to put into my VW Thing when in England in 1982. So $4 doesn't surprise me too much 25 years later. The only surprise is that it took 25 years.

There's a lot of talk about knocking back the gas tax - wow, big mistake. First, it's not going to amount to that much. Even if it's all the tax instead of just the fed's tax. And you will pay that tax back in other forms. With no maintenance tax money roads will get worse and your car will need more repairs. Freeways will become toll roads. We take a 50 km expressway shortcut in Toronto now that costs us $15 in tolls. With no road tax coming in, where do you think the money is going to come to pay for fixing that crumbling overpass or repairing the pot holes along I-94?

Let's do some real easy stuff first. Fifty-five mph - big savings in gas and safety there. How about a proportional gas guzzler tax for everything getting under 30 mpg? Buses and trains - how about getting them back with useful schedules and destinations? Stop lights - get a little intelligence in them. How many times have you been stopped by a red light at an empty intersection or go down a long road where every light seems change at random times. Set the timing on those things so when you go the speed limit and hit one green, you'll hit all green.

And think about it. Is gas really that expensive? People pay $4 for a cup of coffee and $2 for a bottle of water they could have pulled from a tap. In fact, I just paid $8.99 for 72 ozs. of some Brazilian managed, German style beer (Becks) which works out to $15.98 a gallon.

Labels: driving

Favre

Say it ain't so, Joe...
What a revolting change of affairs. Last year he retired like a hero - the old grizzled iron-man of football from a storied team. Now he's sounding just like any other whining, multi-millionaire, spoiled sports person. Waaa - they won't let me play; Waaa - they won't let me not play; Waaa, I wanna take my ball home.

Damn, Brett; why couldn't you have just faded away like the hero you were? Why do you have to do this crap? Why couldn't you just settle down to catfish hunting back in Mississippi, or open up a Brazil-based beer distributorship in Green Bay? Noooo. You have to play the spoiled prima-donna now. I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I am.

Labels: gripes, oldies

Codgerdom

I've officially hit codgerdom. Here's just a few of the many things happening to this old guy in the last few days to prove it:

Clothes

This weekend I picked up a pair of pants on sale at the local grocery store for $15.95 and actually like them. In my defense, they are Dickies bluejeans, but still; from a grocery store?

Internet

Both google and yahoo have changed their home page to a new and improved version that I hate. Google just pushed it without a hint. Bam - new and crappy page full of text. What happened to minimalist google? At least yahoo let me know it was coming and allowed me to keep my old version. This week the old was gone and I'm stuck with the new. Why do things that work well have to attempt to become new and improved; What's wrong with old and good?

Driving

I'm now one of those hunched over the wheel drivers doing just at or under the speed limit, droning along in the right hand lane, complaining about speeders and cell phone users passing me. And if you're the lady who passed me last week yakking on your cell phone with one hand and gesturing at the caller with your other, will you shut up and put at least one hand on the steering wheel?

The Fourth

I actually looked forward to a nice, peaceful and quiet Fourth of July. And I actually got it. Our neighborhood was abnormally quiet over the Fourth. I doubt I heard twenty illegal fireworks go off for the whole weekend - unlike the warzone I last lived in.

Music

Not only don't I recognize the music on award shows any more, I don't even recognize the artists any more. And the music I used to drive my parents crazy with? It's now elevator music.

Video

I mention Pong or Asteroids to the guys at work and no one knows what I'm talking about. I have no desire to watch TV on a 2 inch screen. I can remember fiddling with the horizontal and vertical hold knobs trying to get my picture to settle down.

Communications

Don't bother calling me on your cell phone to ask if I've read the email you sent ten minutes ago. I'm so old I may not check my email for a day or more. And all I want a cell phone to do, is phone. I don't need pictures, MP3s, cameras, silly-ass ring tones or designer colors. Why can't I just get a cell phone that has clear sound and is easy to dial?

Clothes

Yep - me too. Sorry about that, but I really think wearing your pants down around your knees like they are full of poop and need emptying is pretty stupid. I have no idea if it's gang related or not, but it sure looks dumb.

Body Modification

See above. If you want to stick holes in yourself and fill them full of bits of metal, plastic and bone, fine. But don't expect to serve me dinner with a stud in your mouth. I'll go elsewhere - and I have. If you want to talk to me with a ballbearing in your tongue, you'd better be ready for me to spend more time staring at tongue than listening to your message. Same with tats. You may think a blue flower on your butt is sexy, but I think it looks stupid now and in twenty years, it'll look like a wrinkled old weed or worse. Narrow-minded? Probably, but that's the way it goes.

Labels: gripes, oldies

A Private Remark

The latest political brouhaha is over some comment Jesse Jackson made about Barack Obama. My understanding about it - I haven't heard it - is he said something derogatory about Barack's speeches towards blacks and their social responsibilities. It's amazing how often famous people get caught making nasty remarks and then saying, "oops, oh my, I didn't really mean that." Obviously they meant it, what they really mean to say, is "shit, goddamn reporters keep sticking their fucking noses into other people's business - fuck off, leave me alone and let me talk like I damn well want to talk."

Come on. This is 2008 - there is no privacy. Congress says so. If you say something, plan on it being recorded, filmed, videoed, taped, or otherwise recorded and put up for billions of people to see and hear within seconds after you've said it. Congress just passed a secret bill that many in congress haven't even been cleared to read. It basically says the USofA government can listen to whatever, wherever and it doesn't have to justify itself to anyone. And that anyone (telcom companies) who helps is also above the law. If you say it or write it (and shortly thanks to brain scans - think it) people are going to know.

So if you say you want to cut candidate X's nuts off -- he's going to hear about it and so potentially will some 6 billion others.

Labels: freedom, government

Guns, Law, and Order

Here is the kind of thinking that drives me to distraction. A Washington D.C. Councilman, Phil Mendelson, stated:

"I think an individual possessing a handgun that can fire 18 rounds — that is loaded and can fire 18 rounds semiautomatically — is a problem for public safety in the District," Mendelson said. "I don't know what the correct number is, but something less (than 18 shots)."

This means that an individual carrying a weapon with 18 rounds in a magazine is a bloodthirsty, kill-crazy nut, while another person with only, say 15 rounds is not a problem.

Where do people come up with this stuff? Is there some critical-mass of lead and brass that affects the mind of someone who is carrying a weapon? I'm guessing at the point of the eighteenth cartridge, the mass has increased enough to suck the blood from the brain of the weapon owner, turning him into a mindless, cold-blooded killer? Whereas some trash talking, meth taking drunk, with nicotine for brains with a six round revolver is a happy camper?

Here's my outlook on this. If you carry a weapon; whether it be rock, knife, one shot derringer, 100 round belt fed semiautomatic, or even a small tactical nuclear weapon, and you commit a crime against another person - you go away to jail for a long, long, long time. And if you hurt that other person, and I don't care if it's because you dropped your rock on his toe, you get a short trip (and please make it a short wait) to the gas chamber.

I'm getting tired of hearing about people shooting people and getting off with a few years in the hoosegow, then returning to their 'hood as a hero. I don't care what, if someone is old enough to carry a weapon and use it against someone else, they're old enough to take the punishment - and the punishment should be harsh.

Labels: crime, freedom

UFC

Here's something on TV I discovered since getting my digital converter box. And to tell you the truth, I'm a bit embarrassed to be watching it. UFC stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is just one minor step removed from the Roman gladiator bread and circuses fights. In one of the matches I watched a couple of weeks ago, the blood ran so freely, the fighters were literally fighting in a puddle of it.

First, let me say, the I realize these are mostly superbly trained and conditioned fighters. Six pack abs and bulging biceps are the norm and there is without doubt highly trained combat moves going on during a fight. It looks like several minutes of free-form mayhem, but you can see the skills there. They may squirm and tussle about on the mat for several minutes and all of a sudden one guy is tapping the other guy because he's in a hold he can't escape.

Secondly, however, I'm a little ashamed I'm enjoying this. Many of these guys have bizarre haircuts and tattoos ranging from mom on a shoulder to practically full body artwork. At the end of a fight, they are often blood spattered and the loser is often barely able to get up. I've seen cuts over their eyes so large, they look like an extra mouth. It makes you wonder just how bizarre people will behave to make a few bucks. It's actually pretty shameful that we are willing to pay to watch events like this.

The only thing we're missing is a thumbs down signal from the emperor watching in his private suite for the winning gladiator to finish his opponent off with a trident. I can see in a year or so, when the UFC seems everyday and is losing their audience, that they'll go to the next level and have them fight until the loser is unconscious. And then how long before they have a celebrity sitting in a box suite giving the thumbs up or down for the losing fighter.

Labels: gripes, misc

Stuff

Crime

This week a black car drove by a house in town three times over a couple of hours shooting a different kid on each drive-by. One lady in the area was on the news complaining about the violence and how her kid was shot and killed just last year. Police have no leads because no one will cooperate. Lady; as long people follow that stupid no snitch crap, your kids and neighbors will keep getting shot.

Sales

I stopped at my local Home Depot to pick up some gutter downspout material. After first checking to see they had some (there were five stacked and I need four) I returned after work to pick them up. Four of those were broken so I could only pick up one.

Hummingbirds

In the last couple of weeks I've finally seen hummingbirds in the wild - on our deck. I watched a male buzz and sip at our hummingbird feeder and then watched the female ignore the feeder for some lavendar flowers my wife had planted. They are the coolest birds ever.

Frogs

Two nights ago as I was watching a DVD from Netflix, while taking a break from cooking beans. I happened to look out the window and saw a rather large frog clinging to the screen - strange. Did I mention all the tiny toads that scatter every time I open our garden shed?

Hoppin' John

Our company recently had a July 4th shindig and I volunteered to bring in some Hoppin' John (see the recipe here). That morning I put it in the back of my car and navigated 11.3 miles of the 11.4 to work of neighborhood roads, four-lane highways, and a shopping street stretch of stoplights and potholes. As I braked into my parking spot at work, the slow cooker rolled over and spilled beans and rice all over the trunk.

Mosquitos

Ye gads and little tadpoles! There are a bunch of shin loving mosquitoes running rampant around our little country home. I read where Chicago has five times their normal allotment and water-logged Iowa has hundreds of times more. Here in wet Michigan, all I know is that they are hungry.

Manual Lawn Mowers

No - not as in gas powered, but pushed. But as no gas or electric. I have a Scott reel lawn mower (bought a few years ago) I use on our lawn (under .24 acres). With the amount of grass we have to cut it takes me just under an hour to do the front and back. The only drawbacks are it doesn't do well with wet grass, and it doesn't do well with long grass. Best advantages? It's very quiet and doesn't smell of gas and oil, oh, and people keep stopping me to ask about it, as in, "Wow, I haven't seen one of those since..."

Labels: michigan, misc