I don’t know about you folks but every time Sarah Palin talks it makes me more and more happy that I voted for the Obama/Biden ticket. First she refuses to admit that she did unethical things while in the office of the Governor of Alaska even though an inquiry found that she did. Now there are reports from within the McCain camp that she won’t do what she’s told to do, like stop talking. It’s admirable that she doesn’t let the party tell her what to say or how to say something, but come on, when you start making up terrorist connections and running off at the mouth with views that are completely opposite to what the party has been saying the entire campaign then you aren’t doing any good except for the opposite side.
I honestly wonder how many people in the Republican Party have actually looked around for a rock to hit her in the head with, and of course then put the thought away since the Secret Service would pounce on them like the proverbial 900 lb gorilla. Personally I want her to keep talking, it makes me more secure in my decision and most likely makes even the slowest witted people stop and say, “Damn she just won’t shut up will she?” Good Night and have a Bacon Tomorrow.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Educational Politics
YES!!! Less than a week and this election crap will finally be over and we can get back to our regular lives of television without fear of being interrupted by a debate or updated poll counts or some other silly scandal. So that being said I’d like to put through perhaps for the next election or maybe even an amendment since so many people keep coming up with amendments to screw up peoples’ lives that I might as well come up with one that should help people. I propose that whenever we elect a new Government Administration we also elect a panel of children to sit alongside these officials. These children would then have the responsibility of going over anything the President, his cabinet, the Senate or the House comes up with to change a law or other decision that would affect the country. If these children couldn’t understand what was said in the documents then it goes back to be revised and simplified until these children can understand it. Now I haven’t got all the details worked out yet like child labor laws or how they’ll be able to go to school while these government bodies are in session, but this is still a rough draft of an idea.
How many of us have gone to vote and had to re-read one of the amendments or listened to a news broadcast about a new law and said to yourself, “Oh well I’ll know if I do it wrong when they arrest me for it”. I early voted last week and to be honest I x-mas treed the sections I hadn’t heard of before or just couldn’t understand the wording without having to read it over and over in my head until a blood vessel almost burst. “Repeal the Reform of the Addendum to the Proposition for the Reform” What the hell does that mean?
I say that if a 10 year old can’t understand what is said in the documents then the majority of America can’t either. The reason I say that is my wife is a teacher at a high school and every day when I pick her up I get to hear the daily gossip and stories of what has happened. That being said, this is what I have learned about the state of at least my local school system; there are teachers in the classrooms who do not have the training to teach some of the classes they are assigned to teach, students at the high school level repeatedly have shown that they haven’t received the necessary background teaching to be successful at the high school level (because there are teachers who don’t know the subjects they are assigned to teach), counselors who are supposed to know the best placement for the students rarely put them in classes that they need or are able to do (resulting in continuous shuffling of students and classes for nearly half the school year), and placement of “learning difficulty” students into classes where they will not fail which would hurt the school’s success grade but they don’t learn anything either.
When I was going to school there were the placement problems all the time but they never happened after the first month of school and if they did it was because of a discipline problem. These days teachers just don’t know how to deal with obnoxious and unruly students in the classroom. One teacher I’ve heard stories about has a single student that gave him trouble once, and now the teacher sends this student to spend his classroom period in another teacher’s class. He never wrote a referral to be sent to the office to be disciplined for that first time and refuses to keep the student in the class to even find out if he will act up again. Just sends him out and the child doesn’t get any credit for what was done in the class that day. He participates in the class he is sent to but that is just because the teacher he goes to doesn’t want to see him sitting there doing nothing. However what he does in the second classroom has no effect on his grade from the first room and of course neither the first teacher nor the counselors will do anything about the problem. Another teacher doesn’t have the training to teach the class she teaches and is always asking for help in figuring out how to do this project or that lesson. There is an automotive class that is offered at this high school so naturally when we learned of this my wife and I were eager to turn our vehicles over to them for any minor maintenance like an oil change or windshield wipers (don’t look at me like that, I’m mechanically stupid). We were even hopeful when she broke her little VW last month when the water pump blew up that the advanced class students would be able to fix it for us. But alas when she inquired of the instructor if any of his students would be able to work on a VW or even a water pump he told her that not only were none of his students able to work on the problem but they weren’t even allowed to go near a car. As it turns out this automotive program, which is touted as an academy of sorts, is where the school and the counselors put all of the “educationally challenged” students. This is the class that they put students into so that they get credit for passing a class and I suspect it is one of the loopholes that the schools use to increase their passing rates so that they can continue to be graded well on this A-school grading system. You are not a school if all you do is put students into classes where they don’t learn anything, that’s what is called a day care facility.
Now I’m all for bonuses to teachers but it shouldn’t depend on how many students graduated or how many improved on a statewide test. Don’t ask me how it should be done, I didn’t go to college the teachers did so ask them how it should be done. And from that the administrators should be smart enough to make something that is fair and works for everyone. Okay that’s it from me for now time for some nice yummy bacon (and not that nasty turkey bacon).
How many of us have gone to vote and had to re-read one of the amendments or listened to a news broadcast about a new law and said to yourself, “Oh well I’ll know if I do it wrong when they arrest me for it”. I early voted last week and to be honest I x-mas treed the sections I hadn’t heard of before or just couldn’t understand the wording without having to read it over and over in my head until a blood vessel almost burst. “Repeal the Reform of the Addendum to the Proposition for the Reform” What the hell does that mean?
I say that if a 10 year old can’t understand what is said in the documents then the majority of America can’t either. The reason I say that is my wife is a teacher at a high school and every day when I pick her up I get to hear the daily gossip and stories of what has happened. That being said, this is what I have learned about the state of at least my local school system; there are teachers in the classrooms who do not have the training to teach some of the classes they are assigned to teach, students at the high school level repeatedly have shown that they haven’t received the necessary background teaching to be successful at the high school level (because there are teachers who don’t know the subjects they are assigned to teach), counselors who are supposed to know the best placement for the students rarely put them in classes that they need or are able to do (resulting in continuous shuffling of students and classes for nearly half the school year), and placement of “learning difficulty” students into classes where they will not fail which would hurt the school’s success grade but they don’t learn anything either.
When I was going to school there were the placement problems all the time but they never happened after the first month of school and if they did it was because of a discipline problem. These days teachers just don’t know how to deal with obnoxious and unruly students in the classroom. One teacher I’ve heard stories about has a single student that gave him trouble once, and now the teacher sends this student to spend his classroom period in another teacher’s class. He never wrote a referral to be sent to the office to be disciplined for that first time and refuses to keep the student in the class to even find out if he will act up again. Just sends him out and the child doesn’t get any credit for what was done in the class that day. He participates in the class he is sent to but that is just because the teacher he goes to doesn’t want to see him sitting there doing nothing. However what he does in the second classroom has no effect on his grade from the first room and of course neither the first teacher nor the counselors will do anything about the problem. Another teacher doesn’t have the training to teach the class she teaches and is always asking for help in figuring out how to do this project or that lesson. There is an automotive class that is offered at this high school so naturally when we learned of this my wife and I were eager to turn our vehicles over to them for any minor maintenance like an oil change or windshield wipers (don’t look at me like that, I’m mechanically stupid). We were even hopeful when she broke her little VW last month when the water pump blew up that the advanced class students would be able to fix it for us. But alas when she inquired of the instructor if any of his students would be able to work on a VW or even a water pump he told her that not only were none of his students able to work on the problem but they weren’t even allowed to go near a car. As it turns out this automotive program, which is touted as an academy of sorts, is where the school and the counselors put all of the “educationally challenged” students. This is the class that they put students into so that they get credit for passing a class and I suspect it is one of the loopholes that the schools use to increase their passing rates so that they can continue to be graded well on this A-school grading system. You are not a school if all you do is put students into classes where they don’t learn anything, that’s what is called a day care facility.
Now I’m all for bonuses to teachers but it shouldn’t depend on how many students graduated or how many improved on a statewide test. Don’t ask me how it should be done, I didn’t go to college the teachers did so ask them how it should be done. And from that the administrators should be smart enough to make something that is fair and works for everyone. Okay that’s it from me for now time for some nice yummy bacon (and not that nasty turkey bacon).
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Boat Picture
This is one of my favorite pictures and arguably the finest picture that I myself have ever taken. I used one of those Kodak a disposable camera that when you get it developed you get your pictures and the camera itself is thrown away. The picture is of the USS West Virginia during a port visit to Souda Bay, Crete in the Mediterranean Sea in late May of '96. That was an interesting cruise because of the difficulty of navigating the Med while submerged and dragging a floating antennae behind you and very few of the crew had been in the area before. I've never really talked about my experiences while in the Navy other than passing on sea stories that I had heard to the amusement of my friends. It really wasn't all that eventful mostly due to the fact that the boat I was on had only one job really, wander the ocean and not get found. That was it really, being a submarine and the naturally secretive attitude of the submarine community within the US Navy we only got two separate port calls while I was aboard; Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico and Souda Bay, Crete. Don't get me wrong those places were amazing, driving around the island of Puerto Rico going from the base up to San Juan for the night then walking around and looking at the sights was just like home in Miami and not just because of the familiarity of the language spoken but the horrible crazy driving on the roads. Crete was my favorite though simply because it was the farthest away from home I have ever been, and the general friendliness of everyone there.
Anyways back to the picture, we had pulled in and tied up the day before and luckily my section pulled the first day of duty in port. After all lines were across and we were securely tied up and shore connections made for fresh water and sanitary lines hooked up the off-duty sections quickly changed and abandoned us to our lonely lot at the pier farthest from anything else in the bay. Our boat was tied up far away from everything and everyone else and accessible by only a single horribly maintained road that ran along the edge of the bay on the side of a mountain, mostly because the boat has a nuclear reactor that could power the entire island and yet if something went wrong could also wipe out the entire island so it was safer to keep everyone away and safe (not that us crazy bubbleheads couldn't run and maintain a reactor because we could and we did a damn fine job thank you). Down the road from us at another pier was a Kriegsmarine minesweeper (I can't remember the name even though I have it on some of the things we traded) and some of their crew came down to visit and gawk at our big metal tube o'death and being nosy kid sailors like the rest of us we all proceeded to trade stuff with boat emblems with each other. Almost everything changed sides from lighters to hats to shirts, I myself made off with two epaulets, a ship patch, and one of those fabric strips that are tied around the white hats of many European naval personnel all in exchange for a gold t-shirt with blue qualification emblem and the words "USS West Virginia - Food Service" printed on the left side. Yep, all for a shirt that I wore while washing dishes.
Again back to the picture dang it. After an uneventful night of watch standing under a beautiful sky my duty section came topside after the next section took over and gathered for the bus ride into town on the other side of the island. Of course the bus was late so I decided to walk a bit down the road to get a view of the boat from another angle, I honestly don't know how the light turned out that way in the picture but it just came out to look awesome. Souda Bay is an amazing looking port, it is like most islands an extinct underwater volcano that grew until it broke the surface and the island itself is actually the upper rim of the volcano. This means an extremely deep water port and quite safe anchorage during a storm. The water is amazingly clear and is evident although you cannot see the bottom even while tied up at the pier; the port is so deep that I don't think we ever found the bottom while using the fathometer (device that finds the bottom so the boat won't run aground).
While in port we were treated to sights of A-7 Corsair II's of the Greek Air Force flying overhead while landing at the nearby airbase, after a few double takes we saw an outbound submarine of unknown nationality since it wasn't flying an ensign (flag), and while on our bus trips, which became known in my head as Souvlaki's Wild Rides, we realized just how serious Greece was in their disputes with Turkey when we saw caves dug into the side of the mountains with artillery and anti-aircraft guns on rails to be slid back in and hidden or kept safe in the event of an attack. One sonarman, who shall remain nameless, in a drunken trip almost closed the deal on a trade for an American flag in return for a 155mm howitzer but the deal fell through when he was reminded that we had no transportation to get it down to the boat. We had already figured out a way to mount the gun in such a manner as to be retractable within one of the missile tubes and be a surprise to any vessel that came too close.
I was not this sonarman because I was a quartermaster, and contrary to all you that think a quartermaster is a supply depot type of person WRONG that's only for the land locked services. A quartermaster is someone who deals with the charts and courses and safely navigates the ship wherever she goes. That means I knew where we were going and where we were all the time which was good for me because I'm a naturally nosy person. It also meant that I didn't have to deal with all the mechanical workings and such on a regular basis, yes I still knew how the systems worked and how to operate most of them like any qualified fish wearer does but I have never been very mechanically astute so it was safer for all that I didn't work with the diesel engines or lining up valves to pump something from point A to point B since it probably would have ended up at Point W. Oh well that's enough for one day, time to go walk the "turd machine" again.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Apologies
For those of you who are in the West Palm Beach area I will go ahead and say this right now, I’m sorry. I apologize for the long lines that I will most likely be the cause for on Monday, October 19th during the early voting times. I apologize now because this is my first time voting ever and I have no idea what I will be doing. Contrary to popular ideas among my online gaming friends I am not old enough to have voted for FDR, though I have been around for a few elections already. This will be the first time though that I have voted for anything other than in the Pepsi Challenge which I admit backing the wrong party in that one.
So as I go towards my booth with my brand new ballot I will be in a world unknown to me, paper punches, chads, and electronic beeps are sure to astound and confuse me. So I say this again, I’m sorry. Maybe I’ll convince the wife to buy me ice cream for being good afterwards. OH or maybe a chocolate shake, yummy.
So as I go towards my booth with my brand new ballot I will be in a world unknown to me, paper punches, chads, and electronic beeps are sure to astound and confuse me. So I say this again, I’m sorry. Maybe I’ll convince the wife to buy me ice cream for being good afterwards. OH or maybe a chocolate shake, yummy.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Season Tickets or Car Payment?
I’ve never been much of a sports fan. Yeah as a kid I played baseball and football with my friends in the neighborhood, yes we played in the street and it was safe and fun. It was a game so of course it was fun but later on in life when my mom and dad insisted that I go to baseball camp during the summer it stopped being so much fun. Because while at the camp for the majority of the summer the coaches there tried to imbed into my thinking that the point of the game was to win, to support your teammates, and of course to hustle. Hustle, huh that word brings so much more meaning to the game now than fun ever did.
Team owners nowadays are doing their best to hustle in their attempts to separate game fans with their money. From selling team jerseys to hats to bobble-head dolls that kind of look like a player teams are selling merchandise for multi-million dollar profits every year, and yet they still want public assistance to build new stadiums. New stadiums are popping up like wild flowers all across the country these days, bigger and better stadiums that can accommodate more and more fans to come watch their favorite teams do battle against rivals from far and near. These new stadiums have everything these days including wireless Internet access, misting stations to cool down under on hot days, and even restaurant franchises. All within the same building and most likely from all of which the teams get a percentage of profits or in the least there is a lease agreement of some kind involved. So even with all the money they make from merchandise and all the money from public grants from cities and even states to help build these stadiums team owners feel the need to raise the price of tickets. It is not unknown for tickets to cost at the minimum of $100/seat in even the mediocre rated sections of the stadium, a support pylon or even a bundle of camera wires might block some of your view. What is worse is that even lifetime season ticket holders, who paid a flat fee long ago for tickets every year, must now pay new charges since their tickets were for the old stadium and not for the team itself as they saw it when they purchased them originally. Not only do they have to pay again, but also pay more and in some cases they have to pay thousands of dollars just to have the “privilege” of paying even more money for new season tickets. At one stadium the price of season tickets has gone up an average of over $50/seat and since most season ticket holders have more than one ticket the price they have to pay goes up immensely. Many people see this as a way of making viewing a sports event something that only the rich are able to do on a regular basis since the price of tickets can now sometimes run the price of a mortgage payment. Businesses have long used sporting events as a way of courting clients or rewarding employees and now many of the small businesses, the backbone of the American economy are finding it harder to continue to do business this way and will more than likely lose out on clients to the bigger companies who can afford to treat buyers and investors to a free game and food.
Players also are doing their best to hustle to try and get money from the team owners for their abilities. These days it is not unusual to see an athlete sign a multi-million dollar contract to play for a team, yes I said “play” because after all their job is a game. You don’t work at a game you play, if I could work at a game then the gold pieces I have in my online games should be taken as payment for my rent and food bills. But alas this is not to be, apparently only certain games can you get paid for. I admit that these players practice and train and strive to be the best they can in their game but they still just play a game. For the most part many of them have played these games since they were kids, just like kids all across the world, but they made the decision or it was made for them that they would play a game for a living. They were drafted to their professional team right out of their college team which before that convinced them to play for their college team. All through their lives many of these players were handed rewards and incentives for what they did during game time; whether it was a passing grade, expensive new clothes, jewelry, or even a new car they were being paid in some way or form for their actions. Yes if any of that happened before they were a part of a professional team it would have been not only unethical but illegal, but rarely has anyone been called out for something like this since most people are sports fans and are even such intense fans that they wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize their teams abilities to be successful. As wrong as this may seem it is done at every level in every form of employment from athletes to pizza delivery and from clergy to bank financiers. It isn’t like you can really blame these players for wanting huge contracts to play for a team, they know that their actions are what is going to bring fans to the stadiums and get them to buy merchandise to fatten the wallets of the team owners so they just want a piece of the pie for their part.
So in my opinion there should be a salary cap for every professionally played game, that way players can’t demand huge amounts in their contracts forcing the teams to raise prices to cover the wage of a single player. On the other hand I don’t think it’s fair that teams can tap into municipal funds to pay for a stadium either. They make enough money as it is that it is not fair to ask taxpayers to pay for their new constructions as well as pay a higher cost for tickets. One or the other not both, if they want to pay out of their own pocket for their new stadium then yes they should be allowed to raise ticket prices. However if they want taxpayers to pay higher sales taxes or get less municipal projects done all to help pay for a stadium that not all of them will go to, since not everyone is a hometown fan and some people actually work on game days, then they should keep their ticket prices low so that these fans can still afford to attend a game. But there actually is a third option here, it has happened in other places where a team built a new stadium with the help of public funds but were required to also build other amenities to the community they built in. These included not just a new stadium for fans to come and be comfortable in but also parks, sporting venues for local school teams, parks with public game areas, and also road improvements to offset the heavy traffic that is sure to occur on game days. Now this isn’t supposed to turn you off from going to watch a game or watching it on television, this is just my usual ranting on a random subject that irks me. So don’t throw empty beer bottles or dump your nacho cheese on me, recycle the bottles and eat the nachos. Or you can leave the nachos and I’ll eat them for you, mmmmm cheese.
Team owners nowadays are doing their best to hustle in their attempts to separate game fans with their money. From selling team jerseys to hats to bobble-head dolls that kind of look like a player teams are selling merchandise for multi-million dollar profits every year, and yet they still want public assistance to build new stadiums. New stadiums are popping up like wild flowers all across the country these days, bigger and better stadiums that can accommodate more and more fans to come watch their favorite teams do battle against rivals from far and near. These new stadiums have everything these days including wireless Internet access, misting stations to cool down under on hot days, and even restaurant franchises. All within the same building and most likely from all of which the teams get a percentage of profits or in the least there is a lease agreement of some kind involved. So even with all the money they make from merchandise and all the money from public grants from cities and even states to help build these stadiums team owners feel the need to raise the price of tickets. It is not unknown for tickets to cost at the minimum of $100/seat in even the mediocre rated sections of the stadium, a support pylon or even a bundle of camera wires might block some of your view. What is worse is that even lifetime season ticket holders, who paid a flat fee long ago for tickets every year, must now pay new charges since their tickets were for the old stadium and not for the team itself as they saw it when they purchased them originally. Not only do they have to pay again, but also pay more and in some cases they have to pay thousands of dollars just to have the “privilege” of paying even more money for new season tickets. At one stadium the price of season tickets has gone up an average of over $50/seat and since most season ticket holders have more than one ticket the price they have to pay goes up immensely. Many people see this as a way of making viewing a sports event something that only the rich are able to do on a regular basis since the price of tickets can now sometimes run the price of a mortgage payment. Businesses have long used sporting events as a way of courting clients or rewarding employees and now many of the small businesses, the backbone of the American economy are finding it harder to continue to do business this way and will more than likely lose out on clients to the bigger companies who can afford to treat buyers and investors to a free game and food.
Players also are doing their best to hustle to try and get money from the team owners for their abilities. These days it is not unusual to see an athlete sign a multi-million dollar contract to play for a team, yes I said “play” because after all their job is a game. You don’t work at a game you play, if I could work at a game then the gold pieces I have in my online games should be taken as payment for my rent and food bills. But alas this is not to be, apparently only certain games can you get paid for. I admit that these players practice and train and strive to be the best they can in their game but they still just play a game. For the most part many of them have played these games since they were kids, just like kids all across the world, but they made the decision or it was made for them that they would play a game for a living. They were drafted to their professional team right out of their college team which before that convinced them to play for their college team. All through their lives many of these players were handed rewards and incentives for what they did during game time; whether it was a passing grade, expensive new clothes, jewelry, or even a new car they were being paid in some way or form for their actions. Yes if any of that happened before they were a part of a professional team it would have been not only unethical but illegal, but rarely has anyone been called out for something like this since most people are sports fans and are even such intense fans that they wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize their teams abilities to be successful. As wrong as this may seem it is done at every level in every form of employment from athletes to pizza delivery and from clergy to bank financiers. It isn’t like you can really blame these players for wanting huge contracts to play for a team, they know that their actions are what is going to bring fans to the stadiums and get them to buy merchandise to fatten the wallets of the team owners so they just want a piece of the pie for their part.
So in my opinion there should be a salary cap for every professionally played game, that way players can’t demand huge amounts in their contracts forcing the teams to raise prices to cover the wage of a single player. On the other hand I don’t think it’s fair that teams can tap into municipal funds to pay for a stadium either. They make enough money as it is that it is not fair to ask taxpayers to pay for their new constructions as well as pay a higher cost for tickets. One or the other not both, if they want to pay out of their own pocket for their new stadium then yes they should be allowed to raise ticket prices. However if they want taxpayers to pay higher sales taxes or get less municipal projects done all to help pay for a stadium that not all of them will go to, since not everyone is a hometown fan and some people actually work on game days, then they should keep their ticket prices low so that these fans can still afford to attend a game. But there actually is a third option here, it has happened in other places where a team built a new stadium with the help of public funds but were required to also build other amenities to the community they built in. These included not just a new stadium for fans to come and be comfortable in but also parks, sporting venues for local school teams, parks with public game areas, and also road improvements to offset the heavy traffic that is sure to occur on game days. Now this isn’t supposed to turn you off from going to watch a game or watching it on television, this is just my usual ranting on a random subject that irks me. So don’t throw empty beer bottles or dump your nacho cheese on me, recycle the bottles and eat the nachos. Or you can leave the nachos and I’ll eat them for you, mmmmm cheese.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The Only Children Here
Well I told you I’d post pictures of the puppy and Penny so here they are. First a little background: Penny is what is called a Teacup Chihuahua mostly because when she was first brought home (long before I met her) she would fit into a teacup. It was not uncommon for her to be carried around in the shirt pocket of her mommy. Penny has met all the friends she cares to already and doesn’t plan on being nice to anyone else. Unfortunately this includes high pitched yapping, snarling, and taking bites at fingers or objects brought too close. It is not uncommon for her to get a bug up her butt and start taking snaps at any of us, of course most of you know already that she has a deep hatred for “the boy” especially since he takes great delight in tormenting her whenever he can. But she is our girl and she always has a shoulder and head to curl up next to and do the Chihuahua shiver.
Brutus on the other hand is a Boston Terrier/Beagle mix, which is called a Boggle. Oddly enough he will end up growing to look like a miniature Boxer, go figure. He also likes to nip and gnaw on whatever he can find; rolls of toilet paper are his latest discovery. In contrast to Penny he gnaws and nips because he’s still a puppy and is still in the age of discovery and what better way to investigate something than chew on it. Both of them are a constant sleeper which is not really a good thing since he sleeps most of the day when we’re not playing with him and then keeps us up all night whining and wanting to sleep in a lap. While Penny is stuck at her full grown weight of 3lbs Brutus in contrast will get to about 20-25lbs depending on how much crap food we give him. So far he tries very hard to play with Penny and chases her under the bed and barks at her with that little nub of a tail wiggling until she jumps up onto the bed or the couch which, for now, he cannot get to. So here are the pictures, enjoy. I need breakfast. Okay so I haven't figured out how to post pictures and text artfully yet so hush you.
Florida's Amendment 2 (stupidity in action)
Well look at this two blogs in one day; I bet you never thought you’d see this did you? Now you’re probably wondering what drove me to post a second time today aren’t you? It’s called Amendment 2 and it is an issue included on the November ’08 ballot here in Florida. This Amendment would remove all rights and benefits of couples registered as Domestic Partners. This would affect a number of people that I can’t even begin to count since I am too lazy to do so. At least two other states have implemented similar amendments with results that the people of Florida really need to think about. This is a state that relies heavily upon tourist dollars to support our economy and to get tourists to come to our state and spend their money we need to keep an image that promotes trust and equality.
The Domestic Partnership registration is something that is available for couples to do instead of going through the motions of a traditional church wedding or even a service by a justice of the peace so that they are able to take advantage of being able to enroll in insurance programs within their places of work. Over 50% of Florida businesses offer insurance benefits for registered Domestic Partners; though they are still at a slightly higher rate than if they are officially married they at least get to have coverage plans that are more efficient than if they had to get a separate policy for each person. This is seen as a sort of loophole in the four laws already passed that make it illegal for same-sex couples to get married in the state of Florida in that it allows these couples to become Domestic Partners and therefore entitle them to sign up for shared benefits with their employers (if it is offered by the employer). This amendment however would make it against the law for not only same-sex couples but opposite-sex couples as well to register and get these benefits. In doing this it would not only make it more difficult for all of these couples to get insurance or other benefits since they would now have to get separate policies or even none at all and costing them even more money per month as they pay for these new benefit policies. If this happens then what happened in Michigan when that state passed a similar law just a few months ago might just happen here; it was nothing short of a mass exodus by people affected by the law to pack up and leave the state to move elsewhere that would allow them to live their lives happily and able to have peace of mind when it came to medical and life insurance.
This law would mar the happy friendly image that Florida is always trying to put forward to entice tourists to visit our sunny state and spend their money and make us happy friendly people with some money. If I was in a Domestic Partnership, which I am, and I lived elsewhere I would seriously be looking for another place to visit on vacation other than Florida; because the way the state treats these partnerships of their own citizens makes me think that if I visited then I would be treated unfairly by them as well; so why would I want to visit sunny happy Florida at all then. So if these tourists choose not to visit Florida then they won’t be spending their money here; if they don’t spend their money here then our great and all-knowing political leaders will put into effect more taxes so that they can keep their special jets for flying around and to pay for public works projects (maybe then they’ll finally stop building stuff on the Turnpike) and we will all end up with less money than we have now. Try and buy gas for your car when you’re $10/hour paycheck ends up after taxes, insurance, and food to feed yourself and your family to be about $1 for every hard worked hour.
I bet you are wondering why my “domestic partner” and I haven’t just gotten married the traditional church way or even just go to the courthouse and get it over with that way. Well I’ll tell you why, this was faster and cheaper since all we had to do was show up with $50 and proof that not only do we both live in the same dwelling but also that we share responsibility of bills. There was none of the hurdles needed to jump over just to get a marriage license and then sitting through counseling with a clergyman so that he can decide whether or not we should get married; all of which would cost a heck of a lot more than $50. This is not something that should be decided by someone who most often isn’t even allowed to get married in the first place by the rules of his own sect nor is this a decision that we want celebrated in a church anyways; especially since the two of us have views that differ towards the heretic or pagan even by the thoughts of standard clergy. Yes eventually we will go ahead and pay that extra money for an official marriage license and get married by a justice of the peace (pretty much anyone who is a notary public can do this…so what are you doing in a year or so Mom?).
This amendment also affects me because it is another way that religious fanatics in this country are trying to force their views on the rest of us. Things like that really tic me off; and for some reason lately the religious faiths have decided that their fight against homosexuality is the reason everything happens. Idiots in their camp have blamed homosexuality for things as far-fetched as Hurricane Katrina, deaths in Iraq/Afghanistan, and even the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001. Of course those things are not cause by anything logical like weather or the acts of other religious fanatics; no of course not why should anything sensible be at fault when they can come up with homosexuality is the reason for all things bad happening. Does anyone else think that these people might possibly be spending too much time reading just one book? Try something new once in a while, read a new book and immerse yourself into a story that allows you to use your brain for something other than putting innocent people at fault for random acts; or you can just go ahead and burn them like you probably have been lately anyways. Why do these people feel the need to push their beliefs on everyone else; why do they feel the need to implement their own religious rules to be the rules of the entire country for even those who are not members of their religion? I don’t know why someone would be homosexual whether they are born that way or just one day out of the blue they decide to be that way; I just don’t know and neither does anyone else and you know what I really don’t care. I think that the way someone wants to live their life is their choice and nobody else’s, remember that the basis of the founding of this country is that every person is created equal and entitled to their life, their liberty and the pursuit of happiness as they see fit.
They have already won their fight against same-sex couples actually being officially married and listed as married couples in the past; FOUR (4) times in the past. Now here in Florida same-sex couples can become Domestic Partners, not husband/husband or wife/wife (or however they choose to describe themselves), but merely Domestic Partner. I have a domestic partner and the two of us describe ourselves as husband and wife; why do you ask? Well because in our hearts and minds we were married already three years ago and we don’t particularly like having to say in a conversation or when relating a story about the other “oh well my domestic partner did this the other day” that’s just too much to say to keep someone interested in the story; in addition to confusing them and now they want some clarification on that term. Anyways the church-whackos (my term) have won their fight four times already against same-sex marriages so why are they doing this amendment to take the last bit of equality away from people, I don’t think even they know why beyond that they believe that they are right and so everyone should do as they say.
Here’s another reason why this amendment is not just a bad idea it’s an extremely stupid and potentially damaging one. If two people (their sexuality doesn’t matter) were to be living together as Domestic Partners and this law went into effect they would no longer be Domestic Partners; therefore if either of them decided one night to beat the crap out of the other one it would fall under the crime of battery and not the more serious crime of domestic battery or even spousal abuse. Therefore if they were no accused of the lesser charge and it is a first offense then they would most likely get a reduced sentence or probation and a minor fine instead of the jail time they deserve.
Now doesn’t Amendment 2 sound like a fair deal and a good idea to vote into effect? If you don’t think so then I hope you vote against this act of hatred and discrimination. However If you do think that it is a good idea, well then you’re a big poopie head and I can say whatever I like since this is a land of the right to free speech so nyah. VOTE NO to Amendment 2 (if you’re in Florida, if not then vote NO to whatever amendment you don’t like in your state that is on the ballot). Puppy pictures will be up next
The Domestic Partnership registration is something that is available for couples to do instead of going through the motions of a traditional church wedding or even a service by a justice of the peace so that they are able to take advantage of being able to enroll in insurance programs within their places of work. Over 50% of Florida businesses offer insurance benefits for registered Domestic Partners; though they are still at a slightly higher rate than if they are officially married they at least get to have coverage plans that are more efficient than if they had to get a separate policy for each person. This is seen as a sort of loophole in the four laws already passed that make it illegal for same-sex couples to get married in the state of Florida in that it allows these couples to become Domestic Partners and therefore entitle them to sign up for shared benefits with their employers (if it is offered by the employer). This amendment however would make it against the law for not only same-sex couples but opposite-sex couples as well to register and get these benefits. In doing this it would not only make it more difficult for all of these couples to get insurance or other benefits since they would now have to get separate policies or even none at all and costing them even more money per month as they pay for these new benefit policies. If this happens then what happened in Michigan when that state passed a similar law just a few months ago might just happen here; it was nothing short of a mass exodus by people affected by the law to pack up and leave the state to move elsewhere that would allow them to live their lives happily and able to have peace of mind when it came to medical and life insurance.
This law would mar the happy friendly image that Florida is always trying to put forward to entice tourists to visit our sunny state and spend their money and make us happy friendly people with some money. If I was in a Domestic Partnership, which I am, and I lived elsewhere I would seriously be looking for another place to visit on vacation other than Florida; because the way the state treats these partnerships of their own citizens makes me think that if I visited then I would be treated unfairly by them as well; so why would I want to visit sunny happy Florida at all then. So if these tourists choose not to visit Florida then they won’t be spending their money here; if they don’t spend their money here then our great and all-knowing political leaders will put into effect more taxes so that they can keep their special jets for flying around and to pay for public works projects (maybe then they’ll finally stop building stuff on the Turnpike) and we will all end up with less money than we have now. Try and buy gas for your car when you’re $10/hour paycheck ends up after taxes, insurance, and food to feed yourself and your family to be about $1 for every hard worked hour.
I bet you are wondering why my “domestic partner” and I haven’t just gotten married the traditional church way or even just go to the courthouse and get it over with that way. Well I’ll tell you why, this was faster and cheaper since all we had to do was show up with $50 and proof that not only do we both live in the same dwelling but also that we share responsibility of bills. There was none of the hurdles needed to jump over just to get a marriage license and then sitting through counseling with a clergyman so that he can decide whether or not we should get married; all of which would cost a heck of a lot more than $50. This is not something that should be decided by someone who most often isn’t even allowed to get married in the first place by the rules of his own sect nor is this a decision that we want celebrated in a church anyways; especially since the two of us have views that differ towards the heretic or pagan even by the thoughts of standard clergy. Yes eventually we will go ahead and pay that extra money for an official marriage license and get married by a justice of the peace (pretty much anyone who is a notary public can do this…so what are you doing in a year or so Mom?).
This amendment also affects me because it is another way that religious fanatics in this country are trying to force their views on the rest of us. Things like that really tic me off; and for some reason lately the religious faiths have decided that their fight against homosexuality is the reason everything happens. Idiots in their camp have blamed homosexuality for things as far-fetched as Hurricane Katrina, deaths in Iraq/Afghanistan, and even the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001. Of course those things are not cause by anything logical like weather or the acts of other religious fanatics; no of course not why should anything sensible be at fault when they can come up with homosexuality is the reason for all things bad happening. Does anyone else think that these people might possibly be spending too much time reading just one book? Try something new once in a while, read a new book and immerse yourself into a story that allows you to use your brain for something other than putting innocent people at fault for random acts; or you can just go ahead and burn them like you probably have been lately anyways. Why do these people feel the need to push their beliefs on everyone else; why do they feel the need to implement their own religious rules to be the rules of the entire country for even those who are not members of their religion? I don’t know why someone would be homosexual whether they are born that way or just one day out of the blue they decide to be that way; I just don’t know and neither does anyone else and you know what I really don’t care. I think that the way someone wants to live their life is their choice and nobody else’s, remember that the basis of the founding of this country is that every person is created equal and entitled to their life, their liberty and the pursuit of happiness as they see fit.
They have already won their fight against same-sex couples actually being officially married and listed as married couples in the past; FOUR (4) times in the past. Now here in Florida same-sex couples can become Domestic Partners, not husband/husband or wife/wife (or however they choose to describe themselves), but merely Domestic Partner. I have a domestic partner and the two of us describe ourselves as husband and wife; why do you ask? Well because in our hearts and minds we were married already three years ago and we don’t particularly like having to say in a conversation or when relating a story about the other “oh well my domestic partner did this the other day” that’s just too much to say to keep someone interested in the story; in addition to confusing them and now they want some clarification on that term. Anyways the church-whackos (my term) have won their fight four times already against same-sex marriages so why are they doing this amendment to take the last bit of equality away from people, I don’t think even they know why beyond that they believe that they are right and so everyone should do as they say.
Here’s another reason why this amendment is not just a bad idea it’s an extremely stupid and potentially damaging one. If two people (their sexuality doesn’t matter) were to be living together as Domestic Partners and this law went into effect they would no longer be Domestic Partners; therefore if either of them decided one night to beat the crap out of the other one it would fall under the crime of battery and not the more serious crime of domestic battery or even spousal abuse. Therefore if they were no accused of the lesser charge and it is a first offense then they would most likely get a reduced sentence or probation and a minor fine instead of the jail time they deserve.
Now doesn’t Amendment 2 sound like a fair deal and a good idea to vote into effect? If you don’t think so then I hope you vote against this act of hatred and discrimination. However If you do think that it is a good idea, well then you’re a big poopie head and I can say whatever I like since this is a land of the right to free speech so nyah. VOTE NO to Amendment 2 (if you’re in Florida, if not then vote NO to whatever amendment you don’t like in your state that is on the ballot). Puppy pictures will be up next
Monday, October 13, 2008
Politics Part 2
Okay here I go again about politics but hey it has been long enough since my last comments on the subject and things have changed since then however my views haven’t since what has happened as only clarified how I feel. There have been debates between all the candidates and there have been comments made by both sides and by investigative groups. How will these things affect the outcome next month? Well how about we try and figure it out.
Barrack Obama and the Democratic Party have repeatedly said that they won all of the debates but so does the Republican Party. Now I did not see any of those debates since all they did was get in the way of useful television though they did not interfere with my schedule since I am usually watching cable channels (go Mythbusters) so my comments are based on what was said the next day on news channels and websites concerning the debate. That means that there are some things I probably haven’t read or heard but so what this is my blog so I can use whatever sources I want to.
I have come to believe that John McCain is a very honorable and nice man who truly wishes to help America in these difficult times and to change what has become a broken and ruined system. However I think that the Republican Party does his thinking for him and is the so called man behind the curtain pulling the switches of his entire campaign. I don’t think he wanted Sarah Palin as his running mate in this campaign and I don’t think he has forgiven his party just yet for such a hasty and foolish decision. I like that the bulk of what McCain actually says is related to what I think should be the real issues in a presidential campaign race; economy, taxes, and improving foreign relations. Unfortunately for McCain his running mate and the majority of his political party seem to have no problem what so ever in trying to bring religion, past choices, and even racism to the fore front of discussion knowing that there are many people in America who don’t have an open mind or seem to think that religion should run the government because of the wording of certain documents. Sarah Palin seems to delight in particular with bringing religion into her speeches especially when the supposedly controversial Roe v. Wade becomes a subject.
Though Sarah Palin has repeatedly said that she is not an ultra religious type of person even though she was raised in and has been recorded giving sermon-esque speeches in the church she is a member of. I don’t know what genius in the Republican Party thought she would be a good running mate for McCain let alone an effective Vice President of the United States because not only is she so religious that you can’t help but know for certain that whatever decisions she makes or laws she proposes or backs that she is doing so because it outlaws or makes wrong something that is against the rules of her religion. She would probably try to overturn Roe v. Wade simply because her religion insists that not just abortion but any type of birth control goes against the teaches of the bible and therefore should not be allowed. This is a woman who promoted and preached about abstinence being taught in schools to curb teenage pregnancy and did such a good job of it that her 17-year old daughter proclaimed her first pregnancy shortly after Palin was announced as the Vice Presidential nominee. Good Job.
The main reason that I don’t think Sarah Palin was McCain’s choice as a running mate is that he has said on many occasions that he is intent on changing the way things work in Washington and yet within days of her being named the Republican nominee for Vice President that information began coming to light about an investigation into possible misuse of her power as governor when she fired a public official for not letting go a state trooper who just so happened to be her ex-brother in law. Recently a bipartisan committee released a report saying that Sarah Palin did in fact misuse her power as governor when she fired that man. Of course as soon as she was asked about report she told reporters to read the report for themselves saying that it did not state that she had broken a law or done anything unethical. Clearly abstinence isn’t the only thing she has trouble teaching. When a committee releases an official report saying that you misused your powers as governor; a position that the public voted you into and that you swore, upon your precious bible as well, to uphold the laws of the state and rules of the land it means that perhaps nothing actually unlawful happened but ethics wise you did wrong. So again an outstanding feat of stupidity on the part of the Republican Party in choosing Sarah Palin, maybe next time they won’t just choose names out of a hat and actually look into the actions of their choices before finalizing it.
The Republican Party also seems to be campaigning extra hard in so called “swing states” lately as the election gets nearer, but not all of these states though. They seem to be pushing extra hard in states that historically are not the most, how shall I say this, “racially friendly”. Time and again lately I have heard reports about people stating that they refuse to even consider voting for Barrack Obama simply because he is a black man and now there are people who even after all that has been said and made publicly available to read or hear that they still think that Barrack Obama is a Muslim and since they think this they will spread lies that he negotiates with terrorists and that he might be a terrorist leader in disguise. Once again this all comes down to education. People who are so stupid and set in their ways that were taught by their parents who grew up hating others and now teach it to their kids. These same people who preach hate against those who are not like them in one breath in the same proclaim their patriotism to this country. This country which is based on being fair and equal to everyone still has people who think that only they belong on its soil, completely forgetting that their ancestors were not native to this land either. I wish that these ignorant foolish and hateful people would finally shut up and go to school. Go to school and learn how people from all walks of life have not only improved this country but improved the way of life of even those whiny stupid people who hate them. I’m going to go eat some bacon.
Barrack Obama and the Democratic Party have repeatedly said that they won all of the debates but so does the Republican Party. Now I did not see any of those debates since all they did was get in the way of useful television though they did not interfere with my schedule since I am usually watching cable channels (go Mythbusters) so my comments are based on what was said the next day on news channels and websites concerning the debate. That means that there are some things I probably haven’t read or heard but so what this is my blog so I can use whatever sources I want to.
I have come to believe that John McCain is a very honorable and nice man who truly wishes to help America in these difficult times and to change what has become a broken and ruined system. However I think that the Republican Party does his thinking for him and is the so called man behind the curtain pulling the switches of his entire campaign. I don’t think he wanted Sarah Palin as his running mate in this campaign and I don’t think he has forgiven his party just yet for such a hasty and foolish decision. I like that the bulk of what McCain actually says is related to what I think should be the real issues in a presidential campaign race; economy, taxes, and improving foreign relations. Unfortunately for McCain his running mate and the majority of his political party seem to have no problem what so ever in trying to bring religion, past choices, and even racism to the fore front of discussion knowing that there are many people in America who don’t have an open mind or seem to think that religion should run the government because of the wording of certain documents. Sarah Palin seems to delight in particular with bringing religion into her speeches especially when the supposedly controversial Roe v. Wade becomes a subject.
Though Sarah Palin has repeatedly said that she is not an ultra religious type of person even though she was raised in and has been recorded giving sermon-esque speeches in the church she is a member of. I don’t know what genius in the Republican Party thought she would be a good running mate for McCain let alone an effective Vice President of the United States because not only is she so religious that you can’t help but know for certain that whatever decisions she makes or laws she proposes or backs that she is doing so because it outlaws or makes wrong something that is against the rules of her religion. She would probably try to overturn Roe v. Wade simply because her religion insists that not just abortion but any type of birth control goes against the teaches of the bible and therefore should not be allowed. This is a woman who promoted and preached about abstinence being taught in schools to curb teenage pregnancy and did such a good job of it that her 17-year old daughter proclaimed her first pregnancy shortly after Palin was announced as the Vice Presidential nominee. Good Job.
The main reason that I don’t think Sarah Palin was McCain’s choice as a running mate is that he has said on many occasions that he is intent on changing the way things work in Washington and yet within days of her being named the Republican nominee for Vice President that information began coming to light about an investigation into possible misuse of her power as governor when she fired a public official for not letting go a state trooper who just so happened to be her ex-brother in law. Recently a bipartisan committee released a report saying that Sarah Palin did in fact misuse her power as governor when she fired that man. Of course as soon as she was asked about report she told reporters to read the report for themselves saying that it did not state that she had broken a law or done anything unethical. Clearly abstinence isn’t the only thing she has trouble teaching. When a committee releases an official report saying that you misused your powers as governor; a position that the public voted you into and that you swore, upon your precious bible as well, to uphold the laws of the state and rules of the land it means that perhaps nothing actually unlawful happened but ethics wise you did wrong. So again an outstanding feat of stupidity on the part of the Republican Party in choosing Sarah Palin, maybe next time they won’t just choose names out of a hat and actually look into the actions of their choices before finalizing it.
The Republican Party also seems to be campaigning extra hard in so called “swing states” lately as the election gets nearer, but not all of these states though. They seem to be pushing extra hard in states that historically are not the most, how shall I say this, “racially friendly”. Time and again lately I have heard reports about people stating that they refuse to even consider voting for Barrack Obama simply because he is a black man and now there are people who even after all that has been said and made publicly available to read or hear that they still think that Barrack Obama is a Muslim and since they think this they will spread lies that he negotiates with terrorists and that he might be a terrorist leader in disguise. Once again this all comes down to education. People who are so stupid and set in their ways that were taught by their parents who grew up hating others and now teach it to their kids. These same people who preach hate against those who are not like them in one breath in the same proclaim their patriotism to this country. This country which is based on being fair and equal to everyone still has people who think that only they belong on its soil, completely forgetting that their ancestors were not native to this land either. I wish that these ignorant foolish and hateful people would finally shut up and go to school. Go to school and learn how people from all walks of life have not only improved this country but improved the way of life of even those whiny stupid people who hate them. I’m going to go eat some bacon.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Battletech vs. Robotech
When I was growing up during my formative years of elementary and middle school I rarely missed an episode of Robotech, a cartoon that was on early mornings and was based off of a Japanese anime cartoon series. For the most part it was a cartoon that was simply redubbed in English without much actual animation change before being aired. Battletech was a game I became familiar with long after they stopped showing Robotech on television except on rare occasions. Both of these genres were for the most part a potential future of our planet and the galaxy in itself. Today we will discuss the differences in the two and also the similarities between them; as well you will hear my opinion on the troubles between this pair of anime doppelganger-esque genres.
Robotech was based in a time after what was labeled as a Global Civil War; multiple factions fighting all across the globe for unknown reasons. This conflict came to an immediate end when a strange object crash landed on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean; a joint operation went to the island and investigated this almost supernatural occurrence. What they found there forced the entire world into a permanent peace and a happy thriving planet almost overnight. All to rebuild this object which turned out to be an alien warship and to take advantage of pioneering new technologies that were found within the vessel. The story of Robotech mainly revolves around humans; with fighting vehicles (primarily fighter jets) which can mechanically change shape into various modes to fit a changing battlefield environment defending themselves against an alien species that comes to Earth to reclaim the crashed spaceship that the humans have taken as their own. Long story short it evolved into a storyline spanning three generations of characters and conflicts that spanned the length of the universe and once again saw the Earth almost completely devastated by warfare. The end lesson of the cartoon show was, for the most part, love conquers all. A good lesson but not a completely true statement, especially these days where hatred and cruelty run rampant everywhere from the streets to the schools our children go to. A potential future that is a somewhat hopeful one with the global peace and new technologies to make life easier and more productive and yet also not a future wanted with the devastation possible from the weapons that allow those good technological advances. Aliens throw into the story are a good thing just to keep a storyline going and to make people want to think that there might actually be life out there other than us.
Battletech while also based in the future instead focuses on a strictly human universe. There are thousands of colonized planets that have their own inhabitants and yet they are all originally from Earth. Five separate houses of government whose areas of rule all border each other and the borders between them are constant areas of conflict. Battletech started as a board game with plastic miniatures representing the multi-ton combat machines that you would control to fight your opponent on a map sheet laid out with hexagon squares. Now while it was still in the future Battletech still revolved around humans fighting humans and over the same petty reasons as we do today; one House wants this world or this House insulted another so fighting was a means of saving face. A major source of storylines for Battletech revolved around mercenary units working under contracts for minor skirmishes or raids with the concept of saving the House’s regular line units for the major conflicts (smaller repair bills). Instead of the major combat events revolving around fighter combat and later guerilla warfare with personal armor like Robotech; Battletech’s main combat actions revolved around battlemechs or ‘mechs. Large multi-ton machines walking around like robots but with a pilot inside controlling the combat machine with a helmet that used the pilot’s own brainwaves and equilibrium to maintain stability, however Battletech units were unable to change their appearance like the Robotech “mecha” could.
Robotech was mainly a cartoon show on morning television and was also adapted to a series of books. And if you had read the books then you knew what was going to happen each episode, of course I was introduced to the books long after the show was gone. Later though Robotech was adapted as a role-playing game and then video games and although the role-playing game was fun and easy to play the timeline of the game was already set in stone for the most part and didn’t allow for much new content or storylines that would affect any outcome of the original story.
Battletech on the other hand began as a tabletop combat simulation game, much like military personnel use a sand table to practice tactical planning and maneuver. That evolved into small descriptions within the books used as reference for the different ‘mech units which became a large collection of books by many authors. From huge multi-book storylines that affected vast happenings throughout the game universe evolved a role-playing game that although confusing at times in relation to character skills and abilities could be used with good compatibility with the original map sheet combat system. A player could make a character and play that individual character as part of his gaming group on the streets of any number of planets within the game that were left open and largely unexplained, allowing the storyteller to mold a game campaign as he saw fit. And when it came time to use his character in a battlemech in a battle that the storyteller led up to he could then use his character’s skills in the miniatures combat giving even more life to his character, which is what makes playing an RPG so fun. Eventually the books and tabletop games evolved with the changing gaming industry and made the move to video games both console and desktop computer versions where you controlled your battlemech from a cockpit view with a joystick (or if you were a serious game geek you could use the rudder pedals from a flight simulator game).
So what happened to these two games and what they started? They literally fought each other over their content is what happened. Robotech sued Battletech (well their respective owning companies did) over the images used for some of the battlemechs in their game manuals and later their video games. Another long story short, the courts pretty much told both sides that they were both wrong but Battletech was no longer allowed to use certain images that Robotech had lay claim to. Unfortunately for Battletech these images were some of the more popular ‘mechs that were played in the game, though the players didn’t stop using the ‘mech miniatures that they already owned they were unable to purchase anymore of those types unless they were bought second hand. After some struggling years Battletech’s parent company bought the company that was the main producer of the metal miniatures used in the game and then became quite successful with the release of many more books based in their game universe which led to even more miniatures being designed and sold. When they ventured into the video game side of gaming they went with a large company that proved to be a very good choice. However after some serious setbacks that I have no idea about, but I’m sure their failure to pay some of their authors the full amount in regards to their book sales had a major part to play, the parent company of Battletech closed its doors. The miniature company stayed on its feet by itself again and the gaming division became part of that larger company that starts with an “M”.
Robotech didn’t have very much success after its show went off the air. They released video and later DVD collections of the episodes, re-released some of their toys when they were added by some other cartoon show that didn’t last long. They also attempted the video game market however where they had the television contacts to keep Battletech from achieving cartoon success, Battletech had the gaming contacts to keep Robotech from achieving video game success. They tried making cartoon movies that fit within certain time frames of their series but it always came across as a stretch and as if it was hastily put together in desperation to make a profit.
In the end I would have to say that I like Robotech for that connection back to my childhood and the sight of the good old skull and crossbones visage striking fear into the hearts of aliens. However Battletech as well holds a special place for me in that so many of my friends and I would set up a huge map on the floor of a spare room and literally take days to fight a huge battle between two companies of ‘mechs (that would be 12 ‘mechs on each side). I still have the set of pictures that my mother took while we were discussing a certain rule and how it pertained to the tactics we were using, two of us standing there for a bird’s eye view of the battlefield while another player lounged awaiting his turn and yet another was eyeballing sightlines from ground level. Our battlemech miniatures were all hand painted because that’s the way it was supposed to be, though you didn’t have individual characters that you controlled they were still your unit and they had whatever specific paint job that you wanted them to have. Whether it was for easy identification so you that you weren’t confused which ‘mech was yours or you put some flair into the design to show off your art skills. Those ‘mechs became “your boys” and you actually had to think hard over the idea of sending that light ‘mech forward to recon a pass before your heavies advanced to ensure there was no ambush. So you hard-core that know what I’m talking about, watch out for me and my Hatchetman doing a DBA on you. Time for some sleep.
Robotech was based in a time after what was labeled as a Global Civil War; multiple factions fighting all across the globe for unknown reasons. This conflict came to an immediate end when a strange object crash landed on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean; a joint operation went to the island and investigated this almost supernatural occurrence. What they found there forced the entire world into a permanent peace and a happy thriving planet almost overnight. All to rebuild this object which turned out to be an alien warship and to take advantage of pioneering new technologies that were found within the vessel. The story of Robotech mainly revolves around humans; with fighting vehicles (primarily fighter jets) which can mechanically change shape into various modes to fit a changing battlefield environment defending themselves against an alien species that comes to Earth to reclaim the crashed spaceship that the humans have taken as their own. Long story short it evolved into a storyline spanning three generations of characters and conflicts that spanned the length of the universe and once again saw the Earth almost completely devastated by warfare. The end lesson of the cartoon show was, for the most part, love conquers all. A good lesson but not a completely true statement, especially these days where hatred and cruelty run rampant everywhere from the streets to the schools our children go to. A potential future that is a somewhat hopeful one with the global peace and new technologies to make life easier and more productive and yet also not a future wanted with the devastation possible from the weapons that allow those good technological advances. Aliens throw into the story are a good thing just to keep a storyline going and to make people want to think that there might actually be life out there other than us.
Battletech while also based in the future instead focuses on a strictly human universe. There are thousands of colonized planets that have their own inhabitants and yet they are all originally from Earth. Five separate houses of government whose areas of rule all border each other and the borders between them are constant areas of conflict. Battletech started as a board game with plastic miniatures representing the multi-ton combat machines that you would control to fight your opponent on a map sheet laid out with hexagon squares. Now while it was still in the future Battletech still revolved around humans fighting humans and over the same petty reasons as we do today; one House wants this world or this House insulted another so fighting was a means of saving face. A major source of storylines for Battletech revolved around mercenary units working under contracts for minor skirmishes or raids with the concept of saving the House’s regular line units for the major conflicts (smaller repair bills). Instead of the major combat events revolving around fighter combat and later guerilla warfare with personal armor like Robotech; Battletech’s main combat actions revolved around battlemechs or ‘mechs. Large multi-ton machines walking around like robots but with a pilot inside controlling the combat machine with a helmet that used the pilot’s own brainwaves and equilibrium to maintain stability, however Battletech units were unable to change their appearance like the Robotech “mecha” could.
Robotech was mainly a cartoon show on morning television and was also adapted to a series of books. And if you had read the books then you knew what was going to happen each episode, of course I was introduced to the books long after the show was gone. Later though Robotech was adapted as a role-playing game and then video games and although the role-playing game was fun and easy to play the timeline of the game was already set in stone for the most part and didn’t allow for much new content or storylines that would affect any outcome of the original story.
Battletech on the other hand began as a tabletop combat simulation game, much like military personnel use a sand table to practice tactical planning and maneuver. That evolved into small descriptions within the books used as reference for the different ‘mech units which became a large collection of books by many authors. From huge multi-book storylines that affected vast happenings throughout the game universe evolved a role-playing game that although confusing at times in relation to character skills and abilities could be used with good compatibility with the original map sheet combat system. A player could make a character and play that individual character as part of his gaming group on the streets of any number of planets within the game that were left open and largely unexplained, allowing the storyteller to mold a game campaign as he saw fit. And when it came time to use his character in a battlemech in a battle that the storyteller led up to he could then use his character’s skills in the miniatures combat giving even more life to his character, which is what makes playing an RPG so fun. Eventually the books and tabletop games evolved with the changing gaming industry and made the move to video games both console and desktop computer versions where you controlled your battlemech from a cockpit view with a joystick (or if you were a serious game geek you could use the rudder pedals from a flight simulator game).
So what happened to these two games and what they started? They literally fought each other over their content is what happened. Robotech sued Battletech (well their respective owning companies did) over the images used for some of the battlemechs in their game manuals and later their video games. Another long story short, the courts pretty much told both sides that they were both wrong but Battletech was no longer allowed to use certain images that Robotech had lay claim to. Unfortunately for Battletech these images were some of the more popular ‘mechs that were played in the game, though the players didn’t stop using the ‘mech miniatures that they already owned they were unable to purchase anymore of those types unless they were bought second hand. After some struggling years Battletech’s parent company bought the company that was the main producer of the metal miniatures used in the game and then became quite successful with the release of many more books based in their game universe which led to even more miniatures being designed and sold. When they ventured into the video game side of gaming they went with a large company that proved to be a very good choice. However after some serious setbacks that I have no idea about, but I’m sure their failure to pay some of their authors the full amount in regards to their book sales had a major part to play, the parent company of Battletech closed its doors. The miniature company stayed on its feet by itself again and the gaming division became part of that larger company that starts with an “M”.
Robotech didn’t have very much success after its show went off the air. They released video and later DVD collections of the episodes, re-released some of their toys when they were added by some other cartoon show that didn’t last long. They also attempted the video game market however where they had the television contacts to keep Battletech from achieving cartoon success, Battletech had the gaming contacts to keep Robotech from achieving video game success. They tried making cartoon movies that fit within certain time frames of their series but it always came across as a stretch and as if it was hastily put together in desperation to make a profit.
In the end I would have to say that I like Robotech for that connection back to my childhood and the sight of the good old skull and crossbones visage striking fear into the hearts of aliens. However Battletech as well holds a special place for me in that so many of my friends and I would set up a huge map on the floor of a spare room and literally take days to fight a huge battle between two companies of ‘mechs (that would be 12 ‘mechs on each side). I still have the set of pictures that my mother took while we were discussing a certain rule and how it pertained to the tactics we were using, two of us standing there for a bird’s eye view of the battlefield while another player lounged awaiting his turn and yet another was eyeballing sightlines from ground level. Our battlemech miniatures were all hand painted because that’s the way it was supposed to be, though you didn’t have individual characters that you controlled they were still your unit and they had whatever specific paint job that you wanted them to have. Whether it was for easy identification so you that you weren’t confused which ‘mech was yours or you put some flair into the design to show off your art skills. Those ‘mechs became “your boys” and you actually had to think hard over the idea of sending that light ‘mech forward to recon a pass before your heavies advanced to ensure there was no ambush. So you hard-core that know what I’m talking about, watch out for me and my Hatchetman doing a DBA on you. Time for some sleep.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Financially Stupid And Able To Start Immediately
I've never been a financial genius, usually I just buy stuff that I want and go hungry later. Not recently of course since my wife is always giving me dirty looks when I look at new video games or lately that new Nerf gun that just came out. It's awesome; it is basically a toy crew-served gun. There is a removable tripod, carry handle for firing it while on the move, ammo box, and my favorite part is that it is belt fed. A belt of 25 containers that hold one of their darts that is then fed through the gun either by single shot or battery powered motor. Where the heck were these toys when we were kids? That would have made all those shooting games running around the neighborhood more fun of course it also would have cost a small fortune in new darts after we kept losing what we had.
Anyways back to financial stuff that I know nothing about. I have never had a credit card and now I have been turned down for every single one of those offers that come in the mail. Why, I don't know but it usually said something about "Your credit score sucks worse than a broken drain pump" or something to that effect. I don't have any clue as to how my credit score got so bad or even when I actually got a credit score to screw up. We ran into a lot of that credit score discrimination when we were looking for a new apartment here in West Palm Beach. So many companies turned us down or wanted us to pay two and three months' rent up front as well as the first month and deposits. One place which we had a huge problem with and we have sent letters dripping with hatred to their home office simply said "No" and hung up the phone. When we called back we were told that the best they could offer us was if we paid for an ENTIRE YEAR'S worth of rent up front. If we had that much money we wouldn't be renting would we? Hell no we'd be buying a damn house. Of course the main point that they based these requirements on was that both of us have horrible credit score ratings. No matter that we had paid the rent at our previous apartment on time every time for over 2 years. No matter that the property manager of our previous apartment had a glowing recommendation ready to give to anyone who called to ask about us. In fact none of the apartment companies that we looked at and spoke with that first trip down here called about a referral. Just credit rating check then required more money to live there.
I will honestly say that I have no idea what so ever what people these days are talking about on the news when it comes to interest rates, buyouts, stock offerings and stuff like that. I am financially stupid which is why I think I would be a perfect choice to run a bank or brokerage firm (whatever a brokerage firm is). You don't think so? Well let me tell you sonny, I know that I can expertly sit in a board meeting while gaming on a laptop or hand held gaming device. I know that I can go flying around the world spending company money on booze and souvenirs. In fact I know without a doubt that I can happily take a huge bonus for good work all while doing absolutely nothing and not feel bad about it.
So if you have a bank that you want to fly through the Wall Street world with the abilities of a rock then I'm the guy to do it for you. If you want someone to take your hard earned money and spend it on online games, expensive food, international trips, and solid silver toilets then let me know and I'll be there in no time. Why solid silver do you ask? Because silver tarnishes and I want to do what I can to keep jobs here in America; and by getting solid silver toilets then it will mean plenty of work for people who know how to clean. I'm sure there are plenty of executives at AIG who know just how to manipulate crap and make it shine. Time for some bacon.
Anyways back to financial stuff that I know nothing about. I have never had a credit card and now I have been turned down for every single one of those offers that come in the mail. Why, I don't know but it usually said something about "Your credit score sucks worse than a broken drain pump" or something to that effect. I don't have any clue as to how my credit score got so bad or even when I actually got a credit score to screw up. We ran into a lot of that credit score discrimination when we were looking for a new apartment here in West Palm Beach. So many companies turned us down or wanted us to pay two and three months' rent up front as well as the first month and deposits. One place which we had a huge problem with and we have sent letters dripping with hatred to their home office simply said "No" and hung up the phone. When we called back we were told that the best they could offer us was if we paid for an ENTIRE YEAR'S worth of rent up front. If we had that much money we wouldn't be renting would we? Hell no we'd be buying a damn house. Of course the main point that they based these requirements on was that both of us have horrible credit score ratings. No matter that we had paid the rent at our previous apartment on time every time for over 2 years. No matter that the property manager of our previous apartment had a glowing recommendation ready to give to anyone who called to ask about us. In fact none of the apartment companies that we looked at and spoke with that first trip down here called about a referral. Just credit rating check then required more money to live there.
I will honestly say that I have no idea what so ever what people these days are talking about on the news when it comes to interest rates, buyouts, stock offerings and stuff like that. I am financially stupid which is why I think I would be a perfect choice to run a bank or brokerage firm (whatever a brokerage firm is). You don't think so? Well let me tell you sonny, I know that I can expertly sit in a board meeting while gaming on a laptop or hand held gaming device. I know that I can go flying around the world spending company money on booze and souvenirs. In fact I know without a doubt that I can happily take a huge bonus for good work all while doing absolutely nothing and not feel bad about it.
So if you have a bank that you want to fly through the Wall Street world with the abilities of a rock then I'm the guy to do it for you. If you want someone to take your hard earned money and spend it on online games, expensive food, international trips, and solid silver toilets then let me know and I'll be there in no time. Why solid silver do you ask? Because silver tarnishes and I want to do what I can to keep jobs here in America; and by getting solid silver toilets then it will mean plenty of work for people who know how to clean. I'm sure there are plenty of executives at AIG who know just how to manipulate crap and make it shine. Time for some bacon.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
What is a Blog
What is a blog? Many people these days are asking what a blog is. They see it mentioned in newspapers and they hear it mentioned on television and radio. "According to a blog" is an opening statement becoming more and more frequent in news and general conversation. Some people use blogs as a source of news and some use it as a form of self expression.To me a blog is a combination of my self expression, news stories that interest or affect me in some way, and a way for others to hear about how my life is going and any changes that have happened. I'm not good with talking on the phone or even keeping in touch with people, family included. I don't know why I'm like this but I really suck at calling home to mom and catching up on what has happened in the neighborhood. My wife is more often the one who even emails mom telling her what has gone on here recently. That is one reason why I started this blog, as a way for everyone to know how I'm doing and how we're coming along in our home here.Another reason that I started this blog is to practice my writing and share some of my stories with whoever wants to read this. Yes most of these stories will be in the same general genre but so what, that's what I like. I can dream and hope that someone randomly reads this and just happens to be a publisher or editor of a magazine or newspaper and wants me to work for them. Don't crush my dreams you fart. Of course I don't know who reads this blog or how often they do. I get some feedback from a few of my online friends who read this and let me know what they think, but I don't know they read it until they tell me they did. The only sure thing about this blog so far is that I know that so far there is only one (1) follower of this blog. That would be my wife because it says it is her and she told me so. Nobody else has subscribed or decided to follow the blog so far. Nobody out of the several people on my email list that I informed of this. But that's okay; it won't stop me from writing and updating this. I'm going to go eat some mongolian beef from last night.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
How To Change the Water Pump on a VW Cabriolet
Hello and welcome to todays episode of How To. For my first attempt at being a helpful guide we're going to change the water pump of a VW Cabriolet. I don't know what year your car is or even what mine is, nor do I know what type of car you're driving so here's hoping you have a VW Cabriolet. This guide will attempt to help you understand how I fix things and suggest ways for you to become a helpful fixer around your house.
- Find a VW Cabriolet (please don't break any laws in obtaining one for yourself).
- Find the water pump that is attached to the engine and I think the alternator by a series of belts (or even by one long belt, I can't tell).
- Break the water pump (my wife has been kind enough to do so already for me, but I suggest you not let her near yours).
- Curse the car gods for making parts of the car difficult to reach.
- Email the instructor of the auto-repair classes at your wife's school to ask how much it would cost to use your car as a training tool and get it fixed for dirt cheap prices (it's not really child slavery since it's school and they're learning).
- Curse the car gods and the density of the skulls of the youth today after the instructor informs you that a water pump replacement is far beyond the ability of his students who are still having trouble changing a tire.
- Drink Heavily (I suggest a good single malt whisky on the rocks along with a block of cheese, 8 cheeseburgers, and a bowl of ice cream.
- Go out to the car and yell at it while throwing the little pickles from the cheeseburgers at the car windshield.
- Tell your wife to take your car to work in the morning since you will be buried neck deep in the Temple of the All Powerful Porcelain God.
- Suggest to your wife to dress in her most hoochiest clothes and walk the dog downstairs asking the guys in the parking lot, who are working on their cars, for suggestions.
- Lock the bedroom door to keep the dogs and children out after your wife comes back upstairs and proclaims victory (rawr).
- Post a blog online with a list of things to do and how to not go about fixing something.
Well I hope that you take these suggestions to heart and get your repairs done. With luck this will help you to become better at getting your wife to dress all hoochie like for your own benefit. Thank you and bring me some fried rice.
Turd Machine
Some of you might know by now, and still others will probably find out by reading this, that we got a new critter in the house this past weekend. He's a Boggle, a Boston Terrier/Beagle mix that looks just like a miniature Boxer. He walks with that bowlegged bulldog type of walk, with both front and back feet, so his name is Brutus (Brute for short). I call him "The Turd Machine". Now we've had Penny our 3lb Chihuahua for quite some time, longer than I've even been with my wife, and at most Penny will drop a turd pile no bigger than a 50 cent piece (if any of you remember what one of those look like). But cute little Brutus eats so very little each meal and yet still is kind enough to deposit piles so large that it clogs toilets. He's 5lbs and growing yes, but GOOD LORD ! ! ! he did it again. Maybe he just goes back to a pile that we haven't seen yet and makes it bigger until we do find it. Perhaps he saves up and makes one big dump all at once. I don't think so, these piles are so numerous and so frequent that it can't be anything but the work of a turd machine.
And sleeping, geez this dog gives couch potatoes lessons on how to be lazy and sleep all day. Which is not a good thing because he wakes up whenever you try and pick him up to put him in his little cage for the night. It's not a bad cage we're just trying to crate train him. He has water and a comfy foofy blankey and this cool stuffed puppy that you put a warming pad in and a battery powered thumper that makes it feel like a heart beat. That stuffed puppy is his little pal, but he doesn't want to sleep with it that often anymore, he mostly just drags it around and gnaws on the ears. He's a nipper too, when we first saw him at the store he nipped my chin and drew blood. He still tries to nip at our toes and fingers and noses when we're not looking or even when we are watching him.
Penny of course still hasn't gotten used to having a new brother around here, but all of us here agreed that she was going to need a new friend sooner or later ever since we lost Missy (another story another time). She spends most of her time either running away from him and hiding on the beds where he cannot jump up (yet), or growling and barking in her high pitched evil goblin sounds. She is especially not happy now that Brutus has found the comfy bed we made for her under our desks so that she could be with us while we were on the computers. Oh you should have seen her come in here and start to push under the blanket on top only to find his nose and sasquatch paws sticking out, she jumped back so far she almost left the room.
We're all very happy to have him of course, who wouldn't be. "The Boy" is especially happy, the two of them take regular naps after his classes every day. Right now he reminds us a lot like the baby bulldog from the Tom & Jerry cartoons. Always trying to pick a fight with anything he can find especially those bigger than him. Oh well time to go pick up "Boy" from school maybe he'll start cooking dinner more often. Dangit he did it again. TURD MACHINE ! ! !
And sleeping, geez this dog gives couch potatoes lessons on how to be lazy and sleep all day. Which is not a good thing because he wakes up whenever you try and pick him up to put him in his little cage for the night. It's not a bad cage we're just trying to crate train him. He has water and a comfy foofy blankey and this cool stuffed puppy that you put a warming pad in and a battery powered thumper that makes it feel like a heart beat. That stuffed puppy is his little pal, but he doesn't want to sleep with it that often anymore, he mostly just drags it around and gnaws on the ears. He's a nipper too, when we first saw him at the store he nipped my chin and drew blood. He still tries to nip at our toes and fingers and noses when we're not looking or even when we are watching him.
Penny of course still hasn't gotten used to having a new brother around here, but all of us here agreed that she was going to need a new friend sooner or later ever since we lost Missy (another story another time). She spends most of her time either running away from him and hiding on the beds where he cannot jump up (yet), or growling and barking in her high pitched evil goblin sounds. She is especially not happy now that Brutus has found the comfy bed we made for her under our desks so that she could be with us while we were on the computers. Oh you should have seen her come in here and start to push under the blanket on top only to find his nose and sasquatch paws sticking out, she jumped back so far she almost left the room.
We're all very happy to have him of course, who wouldn't be. "The Boy" is especially happy, the two of them take regular naps after his classes every day. Right now he reminds us a lot like the baby bulldog from the Tom & Jerry cartoons. Always trying to pick a fight with anything he can find especially those bigger than him. Oh well time to go pick up "Boy" from school maybe he'll start cooking dinner more often. Dangit he did it again. TURD MACHINE ! ! !
Friday, October 3, 2008
Stupid people should be in front of the car, not driving
We were driving around quite alot today (2 dentists, vet, lunch, and pharmacy) so I had a larger exposure to stupid drivers today than I usually do and more than I normally prefer. Personally I think that you should be given a common sense test as well as an exam to determine if you can drive while doing other activities. I don't mind people talking on the phone while they drive, it's not the safest thing in the world but there are people who can multi-task safely. Most drivers however seem to think they are able to do this even after they've screwed up. Today I saw a driver try to make a u-turn at an intersection, but since she had one hand holding the phone to her head she wasn't able to turn the steering wheel enough times to smoothly turn and enter the lane on the other side. Instead she kept one hand on the wheel, one on the phone, and stopped and reveresed and moved forward several times to line up in the lane. Meanwhile the light had changed and traffic flow resumed in the lanes she was in, and now that she was slowly jockeying her car into position since she clearly felt it was more important to stay on the phone instead of actually GET OUT OF THE WAY of oncoming traffic. I seriously need to put a PA system in my car and install a HUGE speaker on the roof (I'm thinking kinda like in Blues Brothers). That way I could inform all these idiots on what they're doing wrong and how they could rectify the situations. Of course the solutions would most often include another act that involves a word that starts with "rect".
Now that was a beat up old truck that woman was driving. Earlier today it was a shiny new SUV, once again this lady (who quickly received the nickname "Ho" from us) was talking away on her cellphone AND smoking a cigarette. Normally one or the other isn't a bad thing but since both of those items require a hand to hold onto them there were several moments where it seemed she wanted to drive in two lanes at the same time. Drive, smoke, talk on the phone. Pick two and quit the other all together or even be a responsible person and quit two of them. Stupid driving is an affliction had by all levels of people. Poor folks might not have been able to get the driving classes other people could afford and merely had an outdated handbook to go by when studying for their drivers test, if they took the test at all. Rich folks might feel that they're too important to even learn how to drive the larger more expensive cars with all the special doo-dads in them. They might have bought their car simply because it matched their hair color when it was dyed. Or perhaps they just don't know how to drive because they never took the test either.
I don't know why people drive so stupid and I don't know why people can't be responsible enough to make driving safer for everyone by simply following the rules. I enjoy it to no end to go the speed limit and watch people pile up behind me because they want to faster, and when they get fed up and speed past me I roll my windows down and laugh maniacally as they are getting a brand new speeding ticket written for them. This is fair warning that if you are following me so close that all I see is the backseat of your car, I will come to a complete stop. I won't be suicidal and slam on my brakes, but I will take my foot off of the gas and coast to a stop. If there's no room for you to pass by the time we stop then I hope you learn to back off and slow down. Driving that close is just another way of just asking to be a statistic. Some people live for that life on the edge adrenaline rush, most other people live for that breathing on your own living kind of life rush. I'm a Star Wars geek but I have no wish what so ever to actually have a machine breathe for me like Darth Vader. For goodness sake people those cars at minimum weigh just under a ton. If you don't have a clue how much a ton weighs, then go look it up, my wife is the teacher not me. Things break when you drive stupid and hit something or someone and not just the precious paint job and fender ding on your pretty Mercedes.
There was a saying back when I was growing up, "Stay within the lines, the lines are our friends". I think it was relating to coloring in a book but it fits so much better when applied to driving. Those lines on the ground are there for a reason. Go between the lines don't put one set of lines under your seat as you drive. OHH another thing, what the hell is wrong with you people these days that you have to park backwards? Time and time again I have been following someone in a parking lot and see them pass an empty slot. At first I thought "Oh they want a closer spot or they're leaving" only to have to slam on my brakes because this idiot has thrown his car (usually a sports car or HUGE SUV) into reverse and is now taking 30 minutes just to back into that parking spot. You're going to take extra time to park just so that it takes you less time to pull out? Or sometimes I'll be pulling into a parking spot and come face to face with some fool pulling through the opposite side of the spot and trying to now park on top of my hood. How can people turn something so simple as parking a car into a complicated manuever that aggravates everyone around them? Do everyone a favor and drive smart. Take it simple at first, just drive smart one day out of the week. When you find that it is easier than you thought then hopefully we can eradicate stupid driving completely and then we can start working on that world peace thing. Now bring me a doughnut that made me hungry.
Now that was a beat up old truck that woman was driving. Earlier today it was a shiny new SUV, once again this lady (who quickly received the nickname "Ho" from us) was talking away on her cellphone AND smoking a cigarette. Normally one or the other isn't a bad thing but since both of those items require a hand to hold onto them there were several moments where it seemed she wanted to drive in two lanes at the same time. Drive, smoke, talk on the phone. Pick two and quit the other all together or even be a responsible person and quit two of them. Stupid driving is an affliction had by all levels of people. Poor folks might not have been able to get the driving classes other people could afford and merely had an outdated handbook to go by when studying for their drivers test, if they took the test at all. Rich folks might feel that they're too important to even learn how to drive the larger more expensive cars with all the special doo-dads in them. They might have bought their car simply because it matched their hair color when it was dyed. Or perhaps they just don't know how to drive because they never took the test either.
I don't know why people drive so stupid and I don't know why people can't be responsible enough to make driving safer for everyone by simply following the rules. I enjoy it to no end to go the speed limit and watch people pile up behind me because they want to faster, and when they get fed up and speed past me I roll my windows down and laugh maniacally as they are getting a brand new speeding ticket written for them. This is fair warning that if you are following me so close that all I see is the backseat of your car, I will come to a complete stop. I won't be suicidal and slam on my brakes, but I will take my foot off of the gas and coast to a stop. If there's no room for you to pass by the time we stop then I hope you learn to back off and slow down. Driving that close is just another way of just asking to be a statistic. Some people live for that life on the edge adrenaline rush, most other people live for that breathing on your own living kind of life rush. I'm a Star Wars geek but I have no wish what so ever to actually have a machine breathe for me like Darth Vader. For goodness sake people those cars at minimum weigh just under a ton. If you don't have a clue how much a ton weighs, then go look it up, my wife is the teacher not me. Things break when you drive stupid and hit something or someone and not just the precious paint job and fender ding on your pretty Mercedes.
There was a saying back when I was growing up, "Stay within the lines, the lines are our friends". I think it was relating to coloring in a book but it fits so much better when applied to driving. Those lines on the ground are there for a reason. Go between the lines don't put one set of lines under your seat as you drive. OHH another thing, what the hell is wrong with you people these days that you have to park backwards? Time and time again I have been following someone in a parking lot and see them pass an empty slot. At first I thought "Oh they want a closer spot or they're leaving" only to have to slam on my brakes because this idiot has thrown his car (usually a sports car or HUGE SUV) into reverse and is now taking 30 minutes just to back into that parking spot. You're going to take extra time to park just so that it takes you less time to pull out? Or sometimes I'll be pulling into a parking spot and come face to face with some fool pulling through the opposite side of the spot and trying to now park on top of my hood. How can people turn something so simple as parking a car into a complicated manuever that aggravates everyone around them? Do everyone a favor and drive smart. Take it simple at first, just drive smart one day out of the week. When you find that it is easier than you thought then hopefully we can eradicate stupid driving completely and then we can start working on that world peace thing. Now bring me a doughnut that made me hungry.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Customer Service
What the hell happened to customer service? The other day my wife and I were on one of her trips to (Insert name of random store here). Which as always ended up being a trip to that store, that store, this one over here, and OOH I love this store. You know the kind of trip I'm talking about, you know you do. Well a Kohl's store recently opened nearby and we decided to stop in and check it out. The first contact with anyone in the store was at the front door where someone asked us if we wanted to apply for their credit card. Like many people these days we said "No thank you", but that didn't stop them they kept on asking and we eventually left their jurisdiction somewhere along the back wall. Yeah I exaggerate but get used to it. There is a lot of nice stuff that they carry. Much of it was out of our price range but they also had a fair amount of items that were reasonably priced if not a bargain. However some items that we were curious about didn't have a price attached to them and there was no sign on the shelf or display. Unfortunately there were no employees in sight to ask for information, it was only after noticing the small scanner on a pillar that we were able to find the prices we sought. But where were the employees to point this out? Where we the employees assigned to those areas who might actually know the price of something off the top of their head because it was their responsibility? They were clustered in groups of two or three talking to one another. And when we passed by these groups we overheard that they weren't talking about anything work related at all. Not once did someone turn to look at us, or any other customer, and ask "Can I help you find something?" or "Do you have any questions about something?" Nope, just talk about the Marlins game or what Lulu did last night at the club. As we left the store, my wife and I decided that we wouldn't come back to that store unless we needed something and they were the only solution. Leaving the parking lot we finally saw the banner posted on the side of the building, GRAND OPENING TODAY.
Many people these days have come to expect that kind of service when they shop and they really shouldn't. I worked for over 12 years in a customer service related job. I stocked shelves at a grocery store, a company that prides itself of making the customer happy and getting what they want whatever it takes (within reason). I always enjoyed asking a customer if they needed help with anything and if they did, making sure that they got what they wanted or a promise to get more if we were out. Many times they asked for something we didn't even carry as a regular item so I would offer to special order it for them, if that would take to long then I would try to suggest other stores where they might check for what they were looking for. I learned that helpful tactic from Miracle on 34th Street, it's a movie go rent it if you have no idea what I'm talking about. How hard is it for people these days to at least say good morning to you or actually try and help a customer.
Flip side of the argument now, this is where it gets good. Many people these days have come to expect the kind of service where they get whatever they want. I have seen people come into a grocery store expecting to find lumber and concrete, and then get upset and let out a big disappointed sigh when they can't find it there. My favorite of course is the customer who comes in and asks for a product and when you tell them that we don't carry it anymore because it was discontinued by the manufacturer, they say "But I bought it here last week". Of course they don't realize that their "last week" was about 18 months ago. Just because the saying "the customer is always right" is plastered across front desks and nailed into your brains, doesn't mean it's true. Bringing back a carton of milk with just the dregs of backwash left in it and complaining that it didn't taste right does not mean you should get your money back or even another carton. It means either you were too stupid to figure out the taste difference or that you're a liar. The other day I was in the grocery store trying to get the person behind the counter to get me the lottery tickets I wanted, a chore in itself, when someone came up and explained to a manager nearby that they had accidentally forgotten some bags and didn't realize it until they got home. When the manager asked what was in the bags the customer said it was two frozen turkeys and pot roast. Without asking anymore questions or even a raised eyebrow the manager told the customer to just go ahead and get replacements of what she had forgotten and to bring them to the front desk so that she could sign it out for her. Did the manager ask for a receipt? No. Did the manager even think of asking questions to try and determine the validity of this customers claim? No. This manager, who has been with the company quite some time to rise to that level of responsibility merely did the quickest and easiest thing to do to make this customer happy. No matter that it probably cost the store at least $60 in lost profits to make this lady happy. Did she actually forget two frozen turkeys and a pot roast? I don't know. But if you forget to bring home something like that then you deserve to starve that night. A trip to the store where you get two frozen turkeys and a pot roast is something that you have probably planned and written down because you're going to cook a big dinner for some festive occasion, how the hell do you forget to bring home the main parts of that dinner?
Customer Service starts with both sides, the customer and the employee. Both have a responsibility to act with respect towards each other and not treating the other as a nuisance to their day. Common sense and courtesy are not something that takes a great deal of effort, in fact it doesn't take any effort at all to do. Please, Thank You, Yes Sir, No Ma'am. How hard is that to actually say? Managers give pep talks to their employees and usually say something to the effect of putting forth that extra effort to help a customer. There is no effort to it, it's easy and simple to help the customer and you shouldn't need a pep talk to do it. Especially if you work at a section of the store called Customer Service Desk. It's stupid proof to figure out what to do there. However customers these days are more and more becoming irresponsible with everything from their purchases to their children in the store. Go shopping and have fun. Don't turn it into a trek across the Sahara where you drag your kids and scream at them for being kids. Go shopping and get what you are looking for, but be responsible enough to go to the right place to find what you want. You don't have to settle for whatever is on hand, if you ask nice enough and are polite you'll either get what you want or find out where to find it. That's enough for now I think go shopping, buy stuff and support the economy. Blah blah blah. Make me a turkey dinner.
Many people these days have come to expect that kind of service when they shop and they really shouldn't. I worked for over 12 years in a customer service related job. I stocked shelves at a grocery store, a company that prides itself of making the customer happy and getting what they want whatever it takes (within reason). I always enjoyed asking a customer if they needed help with anything and if they did, making sure that they got what they wanted or a promise to get more if we were out. Many times they asked for something we didn't even carry as a regular item so I would offer to special order it for them, if that would take to long then I would try to suggest other stores where they might check for what they were looking for. I learned that helpful tactic from Miracle on 34th Street, it's a movie go rent it if you have no idea what I'm talking about. How hard is it for people these days to at least say good morning to you or actually try and help a customer.
Flip side of the argument now, this is where it gets good. Many people these days have come to expect the kind of service where they get whatever they want. I have seen people come into a grocery store expecting to find lumber and concrete, and then get upset and let out a big disappointed sigh when they can't find it there. My favorite of course is the customer who comes in and asks for a product and when you tell them that we don't carry it anymore because it was discontinued by the manufacturer, they say "But I bought it here last week". Of course they don't realize that their "last week" was about 18 months ago. Just because the saying "the customer is always right" is plastered across front desks and nailed into your brains, doesn't mean it's true. Bringing back a carton of milk with just the dregs of backwash left in it and complaining that it didn't taste right does not mean you should get your money back or even another carton. It means either you were too stupid to figure out the taste difference or that you're a liar. The other day I was in the grocery store trying to get the person behind the counter to get me the lottery tickets I wanted, a chore in itself, when someone came up and explained to a manager nearby that they had accidentally forgotten some bags and didn't realize it until they got home. When the manager asked what was in the bags the customer said it was two frozen turkeys and pot roast. Without asking anymore questions or even a raised eyebrow the manager told the customer to just go ahead and get replacements of what she had forgotten and to bring them to the front desk so that she could sign it out for her. Did the manager ask for a receipt? No. Did the manager even think of asking questions to try and determine the validity of this customers claim? No. This manager, who has been with the company quite some time to rise to that level of responsibility merely did the quickest and easiest thing to do to make this customer happy. No matter that it probably cost the store at least $60 in lost profits to make this lady happy. Did she actually forget two frozen turkeys and a pot roast? I don't know. But if you forget to bring home something like that then you deserve to starve that night. A trip to the store where you get two frozen turkeys and a pot roast is something that you have probably planned and written down because you're going to cook a big dinner for some festive occasion, how the hell do you forget to bring home the main parts of that dinner?
Customer Service starts with both sides, the customer and the employee. Both have a responsibility to act with respect towards each other and not treating the other as a nuisance to their day. Common sense and courtesy are not something that takes a great deal of effort, in fact it doesn't take any effort at all to do. Please, Thank You, Yes Sir, No Ma'am. How hard is that to actually say? Managers give pep talks to their employees and usually say something to the effect of putting forth that extra effort to help a customer. There is no effort to it, it's easy and simple to help the customer and you shouldn't need a pep talk to do it. Especially if you work at a section of the store called Customer Service Desk. It's stupid proof to figure out what to do there. However customers these days are more and more becoming irresponsible with everything from their purchases to their children in the store. Go shopping and have fun. Don't turn it into a trek across the Sahara where you drag your kids and scream at them for being kids. Go shopping and get what you are looking for, but be responsible enough to go to the right place to find what you want. You don't have to settle for whatever is on hand, if you ask nice enough and are polite you'll either get what you want or find out where to find it. That's enough for now I think go shopping, buy stuff and support the economy. Blah blah blah. Make me a turkey dinner.
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