My thoughts on the Acadamy Awards

Did not watch.

Do not care.

Same old ennui

What Winnie the Pooh would call a 'blustery day' is on tap here in the Hoosier Heartland. It is going to be warm and windy. I like the warm part of the forecast. I'm not crazy about the windy portion. Still, one would be foolish to complain about temperatures in the sixties at the end of February. Since the warm wind will be blowing from the south maybe the house will block the breeze enough I can sit on the patio and burn a cigar. Or not. I will advise. Or probably not. You really don't care one way or another, I'm certain.

Hillary won the Democrat primary in South Carolina. Yawn and ho-hum, I don't care. I'm pretty sure Bernie believes everyone should vote for their candidate of choice but when the results are tabulated each candidate gets an equal share of delegates. After all, it is not fair that Clinton gets all of those delegates when he gets fewer for working just as hard. Spread the votes around. Does that notion sound silly? Then why would it be any less idiotic when applied to economics?

My coffee mug is empty, and so is my blog idea tank. Have a great Sunday.

I ain't complaining

You likely find that hard to believe. I woke up at about 5:30 this morning. I have been sitting here in the old recliner sipping coffee and surfing the interwebz. Life is good. Oh there are bills to pay and work to worry about and stuff I need to do. What is the point of griping about It all of the time?

My trusty three-plus year-old iPhone 5 has been showing signs of age and wear. Several times in the past few weeks it has displayed a "no SIM card present" warning and would only make calls if I rebooted it. Worse, the charging port was worn, shorted, whatever. I had to wiggle and jiggle and finagle the cord while holding my tongue just right while lifting my left foot in the air just to get it to charge. Yesterday I said "enough" and now I am the proud owner of a brand new iPhone 6S. I ordered a new Chicago Cubs cover for it last night. I will have to just be careful until it arrives. I'm not sure how I'm gonna like the bigger phone, but I'll get used to it.

I've had a cell phone since about 1993. The first one was a bag phone, then some mounted in the car. I had several of the Nokias, then a succession of smaller and smaller flip phones. The last of those was about two inches square. Since then, the phones have become increasing larger. I guess in another decade bag phones will again be all the rage.

Since most of you are just starting your day or are still sleeping, it won't take me long to peruse your unupdated blogs. Don't you ever think about me? You should stay up late posting stuff so I have fresh content to read when I get up early.

Enjoy your weekend.

Friday Fish Fry

Friday at last. This has been a long week. Did someone pop in an extra Tuesday while I was not paying attention? 

I woke up at about 5:00 with a pounding headache. I think the promised warm front must be approaching. I dropped a couple of redacted over-the-counter headache pills and was able to get back to sleep for another hour, but the pressure is building already as I type this. 

Reading the news this morning once again leads me to ask what the hell is wrong with people? Not just crazed shooters, but all of it --rapes, murders, perverts targeting teen girls, hit and runs.  When will the lawyers start suing the automobile manufacturers on behalf of hit and run victims? Ford, Chevy, and Toyota are making a dangerous product that kills tens of thousands every year. In 2010 cars killed more than 32,000 people and injured 2.2 million more. Well, that idea is no more idiotic than filing suit against gun manufacturers for the actions of a crazed shooter. Guns, knives, hammers, and even rocks are tools used by humans to harm other humans. They are inanimate objects and only dangerous when handled. I can't believe that judge in Connecticut did not throw out the suit against Bushmaster instantly. We have gone crazy as a nation. Is there no longer the concept of logic or even common sense?

We need some Friday Music today

Inquiring minds

Fried Spam, Kraft Deluxe Mac and Cheese, water to drink.

How about you?

I am so ready

Hurry up spring.

Stuff I wish I said -- Volume XLII

If you don’t want minimum wage, don’t have minimum skills. 

 From GOC.  Read the whole thing.

Perpetual Change

It looks like Mother Nature is uncorking a big bottle of unpleasantness today. The StormTeamScareTeam is all in a frenzy predicting lots of wind, rain, and snow. It appears da Region is going to get slammed along with northern Illinois. I was supposed to be on my way this morning to the Chicago/Rockford area but I postponed the trip. These customer visits were not essential and driving in blizzard conditions is no fun. I guess I get a pseudo-snow day. I still have to work, but I don't have to travel.

Apparently the folks in Nevada have succumbed to Trumpamania. Next week is Super Tuesday and the GOP race will begin to settle. The Stupid Party has no one else to blame for Trump. They have refused to listen to the strong message their voters have sent repeatedly for the past six years, opting instead for politics as usual. Now they have a bunch of voters mad as hell who want to poke "the establishment" in the eye, but who still won't pull the lever for The Bern or Hillary. In 2008 voters heard Obama say what they wanted him to say but not his real words. Trump followers are the same. They hear how he wants to address illegal immigration, but not his inconsistent message on everything else. They imagine he represents conservatives because he says he does. Then his supporters must quit listening. I just keep thinking of Jessie Ventura and his run as Governor of Minnesota. I think there are many parallels.

Inside out, outside in, ev'ry day.

I have been reviewing my past efforts at this old piece o'crap blog. I have focused on past Februaries to be precise. Two thoughts come to mind. One, some of you have been coming around and commenting for a very long time. Mucho gracias. Second, I was able to occasionally cobble together some coherent and cognizant posts on occasion. More in the 2008-2012 years than lately. It just proves you can always find something of small value in the garbage pile if you look hard enough. For a number of years I used a different commenting system, and those comments are lost. Too bad.

I have yet to make up my mind on the presidential hopefuls. I know I want nothing to do with Hillary and her lies. Didn't we have enough sleaze and scandal the last time they were in the White House? I still do not how any self-proclaimed feminist can look at the actions of either Clinton and offer support and still look in the mirror. Your hypocrisy proves once again that for a liberal orthodoxy trumps morality every time.

I watch in ev'ry single way

I had a great weekend. I hope yours was tolerable. My trusty earbud/ headphones (not those painful pieces of crap that came with the phone) died during my walk yesterday morning.  I was walking along and there was a pop and the music suddenly sounded like it was coming over a tin can and string. A block or so later there was some scratching static and they quit altogether. After I got home I tried various pseudo-scientific experiments with other headphones and other devices and it is clear; the old headphones, to phrase it in the colloquial, is broke. This necessitated a field trip down to the Big Yellow Price Tag for replacements.

As usual, I found lots of stuff I wanted, needed, must have now. I refrained, however, and walked out not with the Klipsch model I wanted, nor the Bose version I could not afford. I opted for a medium priced pair of Sony earbuds. I have not tried them yet. I'm sure they will be fine as long as they don't hurt when I push them into my tiny ear canal. I browsed the computers, drooled over the TVs and played with the high end audio. No one bugged me. I had the run of the store. I knew my way around. I worked there last year when I was unemployed and again over the holidays. Too bad I have to pay full price for my stuff. The small employee discount could have pushed me to the higher end headphones.

Today is paperwork day for the job. Trip reports for last week's efforts and preparation for this week's customer visits are on tap. I hope you have a great Monday, intrepid followers.

And watch the hills roll out of sight

My wife says it defeats the purpose of my daily walk if I light up cigar to smoke on my rounds through the neighborhood. I just give her a dose of my baby blues and a slight grin. I point out that I did not tote along a beer.

Jeb! Is no longer running for president.. I am not distressed. I have stated it often around here; we have had enough Bushes and Clintons in the White House.

We got a taste of spring yesterday as the mercury hit seventy. It is projected to be slightly cooler today with highs in the fifties. That is still great weather for February, but I want my warm weather back! We will return to snow and cold by midweek. So it goes.

This entry has been a waste of your time on a Sunday morning. That is 30 or 40 seconds of your life (depending on your reading speed)* that you can't get back. I won't apologize.

* it took me 29 seconds to read the post, not counting this sentence. Your experience may vary. This post was full when written. Some content may have settled during shipping. Offer void where prohibited by law. Not valid in Massachusetts, mostly because everyone there is a liberal asshat and/or a Patriots fan. Plus, I don't like Boston Cream Pie nor Boston Baked Beans. So there. Buy an 'R' jerk wads.  Ok, I admit it, this is not by best effort, especially when this is my 5,100th published post ( there are 83 more in the draft folder --they must really suck). When one writes five thousand posts there is bound to be a few thousand clinkers in the total. Wadda ya want for nuthin?

Man I need a vacation.

I see the cold mist in the night

It looks to be a great day in Hoosierland. Temperatures may well climb into the 60s. I don't know that we have any plans for the weekend. The wife said something about cleaning the house but I ignored whatever mumbling she said about that. She said "we need to clean" and I heard "blah, blah, blah".

The wind finally died down. It was a real gale yesterday. My grill cover did not make it. A small tear developed last fall and yesterday the wind ripped it to shreds. It is drooping around the legs of the grill like your undies bunch around your ankles when you are sitting on the crapper.

Pitchers and catchers have reported and everyone else arrives this weekend for spring training. I'm as giddy as a school girl. I just hope the young Cubs don't wilt under the weight of expectations. A century of failure and disappointment is a heavy load.

It is Saturday and I'm sure you have better things to do than read my rambles.

Oh, and a note to the people down the street: it is time to unplug your fucking Christmas lights.

Since I'm already mouthing off...

The Pope can go suck a lemon. I don't see Vatican City opening its doors to a flood of immigrants and refugees. His Popeness should lace up his fisherman's shoes and worry about the Catholic Church, not US elections. I'd say that newly reinstated policy of "don't ask and definitely don't tell" when it comes to child diddling priests would be a good place to start.

That is what he said

This guy is a genius.  From February 2012:

It must have been a sadist of the highest order who determined our National Elections should be held in leap years. Thus we are subjected to an extra day of politics, electioneering and all around unpleasantness.

It may be my age, but is seems every election the crop of candidates becomes increasingly unacceptable. Seriously, this is America, the greatest nation in the history of Earth, and this is the best we can do?  I am not just talking the Presidency either. Prospective candidates for nearly every office are the kind of self-serving power-hungry bossy-pants individuals most of us hated in high school, and today we would never hang out with on a dare.  You know it to be true.

Why is it the seekers of office are the people who always seem to think they know what is good for us?  They were the kid in class that always had to make all of the rules anytime you played a game. The jerk that put himself in charge, even if nobody recognized it.  My ancestors came here because they did not like the King or Clergy or local I'm-in-charge asshat telling them what to do. That has not been bred from my genes in the intervening centuries. Perhaps I am an anachronism from our Country's past. I hope not, but I cannot understand the willingness of so many Americans to expect the Government to provide food, healthcare, the basics of life? 

The problem with being a sheep is that there is always a sheep dog around to keep you in line.

The politicians are always calling the GOP the party of NO.  That is a joke, the Repubs are just the party of "not-as-much -as-the-Democrats" and they are trying their very best to be bigger Governmental meddlers than their counterparts.  Across the land we see so-called conservatives advocating smoking bans and even mandatory vaginal ultrasound at abortion clinics in Virginia.  I can only mutter a depressed "What the Fuck are they thinking"? Those big-government jackoffs are no more conservative than the strongest supporter of Lenin. Is there no politicians who understand the concept of personal freedom?

I want a Party of No. I will donate my time and treasure to help elect the first politician who proclaims he is truly the NO candidate.  I am sick of hearing what would-be office holders are going to do for me. What they want to impose upon the collective nation/state/county/city/neighborhood housing association. We do not need more laws and rules.  We do not need more regulation. We need less of government at every level. I want someone to tell me what he is not going to do. What regulations will she strip, what laws will he repeal? I want to vote for the woman who will ask before casting her vote upon any proposed law "what is the role of Government here? Why are we doing this? Is this necessary for the basic tenets of the Constitution?

I don't need the Government to tell me what to feed my kids. The laws and regulations of this nation are ponderous. We are all criminals. We have gone from protecting us from each other to protecting us from ourselves.

I say No. Enough already.

End disjointed nonsensical rant.

Oh wait, that was me. My opinion has not changed.

Something

I suppose I should write something.

That was uncomfortable

I told the middle-aged frumpy hostess there would be one for dinner. She made a cryptic mark on her table pictogram and said "All you single men sitting alone tonight. I'd like to sit with you". She gave me a myopic look through her thick glasses.

"My wife probably wouldn't think much of that" I said.

She shook her head and sighed as she led me to my table.

Not so urgent update

I spent about 8 hours in the car today, stopping at seven different customers in southeastern Michigan*. I wish I had something of interest to report as I meandered the highways and interstates. Last night's Hampton Inn was a little different than tonight's, but not much. I do have a suite tonight, that is very cool, but it doesn't really matter when I'm here just for one night. The good news is I have one appointment in the morning, and he is actually right on my route home. I should cross the line into Hoosierdom long before noon and I will be back home in the early afternoon.

On the positive side of the ledger the weather was fine and I have gained 2 more nights towards keeping my "diamond" status next year with the hotel chain. On the negative side the trip was a waste of time from a sales view. I'm starting from scratch in the new territory. No one has been to these customers in 4-5 years. That was true of the customers I took over last year too. I now have ten states full of mostly cold calling. What fun. Is the sarcasm font turned on?

* sorry Ed, I am on a tight schedule, even though I drove right through Y-town

Things that make you go "hmmm"

watch this.

I'm sure the situation is waaaayyyy different now.

Monday, Monday can't trust that day

There is an inch or two of snow on the drive. Most of it fell in a hurry yesterday afternoon. I have to head out in a bit to shovel it off. I'm in no rush since my daughter has the day off and won't be bringing the granddaughter over. The local schools must be closed for President's Day too. The kid across the street hasn't cleaned off his car.

The wife took me to see Star Wars finally. She even admitted the movie was pretty good. Now we have to wait two years for a resolution to the cliff hanger ending. Disney is going to milk this cow.

I think I'm gonna go shovel before I have more coffee. Then I have a little paperwork to do before I hit the road.

Have a good Monday. As a bonus here is some Monday music for you:

Double Feature

first the Battle of the Bulge, now this one:

My Sunday

You have to admit that the Nazi bastards had some catchy tunes

Way to be classy liberals

I'm not going to repeat the tweets here, but the joy and meanness expressed over the death of Judge Scalia is sickening.

I will say this too; Cruz and Rubio are wrong. The President has a Constitutional duty to find a replacement for the Supreme Court. The Senate has a right to make sure the candidate is acceptable. The notion that President Obama should hold off appointing a replacement is wrong. As a strict Constitutionalist no one would agree with me more than Judge Scalia on this matter.

Again

I have been awake since 4:08 am. That was the readout on the 35 year-old digital clock next to the bed. Despite its age, the old clock radio keeps good time. I fought to go back to sleep to no avail and now I'm here on the iPad, sipping my second cup of coffee, trying to decide if I want to brave the cold to go get some fresh-baked donuts or wait until tomorrow as a pseudo-Valentine's Day offering. Diagram that sentence bitches. Do they still do that in school or has sentence diagramming too gone the way of memorizing the multiplication tables?

I have again gone off subject. In fact, I'm not even sure what the subject of this post was originally. I'd like to pretend it is just not all fluff and stream of conscious typing, but in truth that is 96% of the content here. It has been since the beginning. That's a fact.

I still haven't seen the new Star Wars. I'm a bit peeved about that. The wife promised she would go as payback for the decades of chick flicks I have endured. Now she keeps finding flimsy excuses to keep from going like she is sick, or we are broke, or we have other plans. The whole point is to make her watch a movie she does not want to see. You know -- petty, juvenile payback. My oldest boy would drive down without hesitation to see it with me. He loves the whole Star Wars franchise. He has seen the new flick four times.

We are babysitting the granddaughter this evening. The kids are going to dinner and a movie. Today is the SIL's birthday so it is a combo celebration. I don't mind. She can hang out here any time. Since my wife provides her daycare our house is her second home. Some days that little smiling face is all that keeps me from driving my car straight into a brick wall at high speed. What? Do you think you are the only one with problems?

Well, that took a dark turn.

The donut shop just opened. I think I'll wait until tomorrow, but if you are going out could you grab me an egg and sausage McMuffin? I think I'm going to pop in a John Wayne movie because I'm in a cowboy kind of mood. Have a great Saturday.

A Movie Review

The wife went to hang out with a friend last night and I was on my own. I grabbed some takeout from the Chinese place down the street and read a bit. I decided to check the DVR and found that I had recorded Easy Rider a couple of days ago.

Until last night I doubt I had seen that flick in 20 years. Sorry, my impression has not changed. The plot is thin, the acting stiff (you can tell they were stoned most of the film), and the editing choppy. Basically, I just don't get it. In the end I'm left thinking "f-ing hippies". Then I think "f-ing rednecks" and "f-ing lawyers" and "f-ing cops". Mostly I just want to kick everyone at that commune right in the crotch.

Just one of the ways our robot overlords will kill us

I'm puzzled. You are probably not surprised. Nearly a dozen different companies are vying to create a driverless car. Why would I even want a driverless car? I cannot imagine the boredom of just sitting in the car on a long trip. I might as well ride a bus. Perhaps that is the long-term insidious plan: wean Americans from their cars and force them to mass transit.

So your driverless car has a malfunction (call it an error code if you like) and smashes into another driverless car, killing the occupants. Who do the sleazy TV ambulance chaser lawyers sue? The owner of the vehicle, the car manufacturer, the software company that designed the controls? Who is liable?

Can a computer ever make the decisions a human brain does in a crisis? Can it weigh in a split second the choice between swerving to avoid the deer that just jumped in front of your car or have a head-on with on-coming traffic? Will the car know that bumping over a dead rabbit in the middle of the road is permissible but one should avoid running over a dead skunk?

I drive more than the average bear. I logged more than 45,000 miles last year in my company car. I don't know how many more miles I spent behind the wheel of the family SUV. If you have ever driven the flat prairies of central Indiana and Illinois, the roads and highways of Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota, or either Dakota you know the definition of tedious, boring, uninspired driving. And yes, that is where most of my miles were accumulated last year. Still, I could not think of anything worse than spending those endless miles as a passenger in a driverless car. I can think of no reason I would ever want one.

About last night

Carolina quarterback Cam Newton likes to gloat and celebrate and talk when he wins. His pouting after game press conference after last night's loss was pathetic. No one likes to lose. The insistence by the media that the loser show up and answer as to what happens is silly, but that is also part of the job. If you want to be the new face of the NFL, if you want to be a role model then you have to be that face in a loss as well. You can't just be the man when you are 17-1.

Sunday Stuff

It is the day of The Big Game. We are going over to my daughter's to watch. My heart is with 18 and therefore the Broncos, but I won't lose any sleep no matter the outcome.

I was glad to see Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy get voted into the HOF. Harrison should have been in two years ago.

I got an email from the electric company offering a messaging service that would tell me if my power is out. Really? If I'm home then I would know my power was off. If I'm somewhere else then so what? It is not like I can rush home and shinny up the utility pole and fix the downed lines or malfunctioning transformer. And what does it say about the company's service that they have to create an app to tell the customers their power is out yet again? If Duke loses power that often to that many people then perhaps they should focus on fixing the problem as opposed to creating an app that tells the customer "Whoops, we f-ed up again" or " Hey there was a tornado and power lines are down".

Who is so damn stupid that they are confused that the light does not come on when you flip a switch then checks their smartphone to verify that "Yep, according to my phone the power is indeed not working. That must be why it is dark and my TV won't work". Sheesh. What next, an app to tell me it is now daytime or nighttime? It is called a window, dumbass.

No, I did not sign up. When the lights, stove, TV, refrigerator, computer, and furnace all quit at exactly the same moment I am smart enough to conclude the power is out without getting a text message.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Saturday cartoon

I've seen snow and i've seen ice

It is Friday and it has been a long week. A most shitty week at that. I won't elaborate. I doubt you came here to read about my woes and complaints.

It is Super Bowl weekend. Who will win? This weekend the voters also make the pro football HOF selections. Will Marvin Harrison once again be bypassed for candidates who have significantly less impressive stats and accomplishments? We shall see. Lately the HOF is about rewarding guys because they have waited a long time as opposed to the best players.

Here is some Friday music. Listen and enjoy. Or don't. I get paid the same meager salary for my efforts at this blog either way.

Love Hurts

On the morning of their fiftieth wedding anniversary a couple was eating breakfast together. He was reading a newspaper, she flipping the pages of a magazine.

The wife suddenly jumped up from the table, tightly rolled her magazine and began beating the man about his head and shoulders. The attack was notable for its ferocity. Finally, spent, exhausted, and out of breath, she collapsed in her chair. She fixed her husband a look of malevolence and told him "That is for fifty years of bad sex".

The man slumped in his chair.  He was battered and bruised. Blood seeped from small cuts on his scalp. His glasses were askew. He stared at his wife in shock. He slowly stood. He rolled up his newspaper and proceeded to attack his wife with reciprocated fierceness until she too was beaten bloody.

"That", he told her, "Is for knowing the difference".

I wonder as I wander

Are the Democrats really interested in electing a socialist, or are they determined to vote for anyone besides Clinton?

On Iowa

I have spent a considerable amount of time in Iowa over the past 12 months. That gives me absolutely no insight about the political climate in the state. Further, I don't want to know.  I am at that " I don't give a shit" point of the Presidential campaign. I have not invested a lot of time or energy studying the candidates positions. At first blush my choice is a clear "none of them", but perhaps by the time the Indiana primaries roll around I will like one of the choices a bit better. Still, is this the best we can do?

On the Democrat side we have the choice between an old math-challenged hippie socialist and an old compulsive liar who is also a socialist.

On the Republican side we have a blowhard billionaire, a Narcissist, a supporter of amnesty for all and another damn Bush. On the bright side a recent poll reported that 25% of the federal workforce said they would quit if Trump was elected. If he promised not replace them he would get my vote.

Anyway, I don't care about Iowa politics. Good for you if the cornhusker vote has a deep interest to you.

Evil, Pure Evil

I just read an article that those fanatics in Nigeria just slaughtered hundreds of people at a refugee camp. The report claims dozens of children were burned alive.

I'm not an expert. God does not speak to me direct. I will stake my eternal life that no matter which Diety you worship, there is not one that condones the slaughter of innocent children.  I happen to believe there is a Hell, and it will be filled with foul evil people who do such things.  I personally think such heinous acts committed in the name of religion are more evil and a far greater sin than ordinary murder.