Well…another night at home last night since G went home and fell asleep…something I think she needed so I’m okay with that…and it saved some cash so that’s not all bad. I was quite bored with a no cocktail night and I didn’t sleep much but that’s just how it goes these days….I did get some resumes out yesterday but I think I have to broaden my search and get ready to move out of state…but that’s okay, too…I have one more start over in me and I probably should get to it. How do you get achilles tendon problems when you don’t run? I could barely walk yesterday with the pain in my right foot…it is better today but still is tender and stiff…and don’t have a clue how the heck I hurt it….I hope it doesn’t develop into the same pain I had in my elbow last year that lasted most of the summer….not much to do today…pool with Tom and more cleaning but that’s about it….more later….
Monthly Archives: April 2011
A couple of musings…
Well…if you don’t live in Michigan, you’ve probably not heard of the huge controversy we have going on in the East side of the state concerning the new US/Canada bridge that has been proposed to alleviate the congestion at the privately held Ambassador Bridge that connects Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. Today’s article in the Detroit Free Press sheds a lot of light on why the Mattouns, the owners of the bridge, are spending so much money on trying to prevent another span being built…a big part being that they own the fuel sales rights on the bridge plazas and have a sweetheart deal where they don’t pay taxes on any of those sales…yep, they make a profit of almost 60 cents per gallon on each and every gallon of gas or diesel sold there, along with the money from tolls. A license to print money that they will fight to the death to protect…no matter what is good for the people of Michigan or the country….just another instance of the rich not giving a damn about anything but their money and power….who allows important border crossings to be privately owned anyway? This is one of only two in the US and needs to be run for the benefit of the country….not just one family.
The other thing that I wanted to talk about today is a neat article by E.J. Dionne in the Washington Post this morning where he notes that people are starting to tire of the false choices that the repubs have been presenting to the country that are increasingly framed in the “either/or” and not the “both/and” that the country wants to hear…and the earlier presents a pessimistic view of the countries future that is not how you run a democracy. E. J. goes on to assert that this type of political rhetoric is one of the big reasons why we can’t find compromises anymore….I ask the question: why can’t we have a social safety net and lower deficits? Why can’t we cut government spending and still have the services that the majority of the country expects from government? I think it’s because politicians have gotten lazy and dogmatic and I agree with E.J. again that this type of false choice has substituted for thought and is the real reason that we can’t seem to solve any of the countries problems…geez…
April 25th
Well…it was just a lump day yesterday and I didn’t do a whole lot but watch movies and ride the bike….not even any cooking; just leftover chicken so the boredom quotient was quite high…and I feel that bleeding over into today since I really have no plans for anything. I do need to clean this place up since they are coming to work on the furnace Wed and that means lots of work for me…but that’s not bad being forced into doing something that I should do anyway….and it will give me something to pass the time other than just watching the tv….not much to do today….just resumes and coffee….and the bike, of course…there will be topics later since I have discovered I don’t really need to be spurred on by current events; I can actually have ideas of my own…you’re surprised too, huh? More later…
I understand this one….
Well…just reading an article that, in the weird way my head works, brought to light other small articles and congealed into something I want to talk about. I know, still burying the lead in some of these but this isn’t a newspaper and those rules don’t apply here….and, how long does it take to read a couple of sentences? So, on to the subject….the whole thing was started by an article about a guy who couldn’t figure out how to get the security to work on a new wireless router, gave up, and left the thing running overnight. Later that night, a pedophile neighbor logged on to his router and downloaded millions of child porn pictures. Of course, the police and their captive judges don’t really need probable cause anymore and issued a warrant for the guy whose only crime was that he couldn’t figure out a wireless router. But that’s not the worst part…the FBI, ICE, and local police then had to form up a swat team that kicked in his door, threw him down some stairs and held him at gunpoint until they took him in to be charged, tearing up the house and confiscating all of the electronics in the house; many of those belonged to his wife. The question I want to ask is “when did every police action in the US become one that these thugs have to abuse American citizens? What is wrong with a couple of detectives just walking up to the door, knocking politely, and asking if they can talk? What, in this man’s history, would make them think he was violent? The answer to that one is nothing….that’s right, never in trouble, no violence, no nothing. and, if the police would have done the very simple job of checking out the username that was involved…they would have seen that it was not him…but that doesn’t matter to the thugs that infest our police today.
There are too many stories like this in our country today…that the citizens are more scared of the police and government than they are of terrorists….if that is the case, then who are the terrorists? And, to those that always come back with the tired old saw “if you aren’t doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear”…..that’s just not true anymore….if this man would have defended his home and his family, he would be dead…dead for an unprotected wireless router…is that what we’ve come to in this country?
April 24th
Well…another night with cocktails so I am running a little late this morning…I did have a little fun yesterday with going out to have a couple with K and V but that was the extent of the variation from the normal Saturday routine….it is nice that it has gotten back out of the forties again and I can get back into shorts….I wonder if you can get dyslexia in your fingers? I have had a heck of a time typing the word from lately..it always comes out form and then I have to go back and correct it…yep, you knew I was weird when you started reading this thing…not much to do today…I do have a movie to watch and I will be getting on the bike for a nice leisure ride this morning, but right now, the coffee is done and I need to read the paper…more later…
April 23rd
Well….it’s after 8 so that means I’m running late this morning…didn’t even get up until 7:45 but all that sleep didn’t really help…feel pretty crappy this morning and the allergies are wreaking havoc on me already…sneezing, coughing, and my head feels like it’s full of concrete….didn’t take much for it last year but I think this year will have to be different..or not…who knows….when is the coffee going to be ready? Okay..it is so I’m going to stop and go get a cup and read the papers….
Okay…I’m back after reading the papers and much coffee but that hasn’t really helped me feel better…so I’ll just adjust and get into go slow mode for the rest of the morning and maybe even into the afternoon….it was a pretty good night last night and I resisted the temptation to text anyone…I may have to dump the dish here pretty soon and see if I can get the same programming on the internet services since they just raised the price again….we’ll see…I think I only watched about an hour on it yesterday and that is way too little to justify the price….not much to do today…trying to get motivated to get the bike out but I just don’t want to be cold today so I think I’ll wait until later this aft….making a whole chicken for lunch today and I am looking forward to having something different….it’s a pain to cook for one…have had leftover ham all week and I don’t think I can even look at it again for quite a while…will probably make salmon tomorrow since I have to eat out of the freezer…..but you don’t really care about that do you? On that note, I’m going to stop here and head back to the couch to lick the wounds and let the caffeine do its magic….more later…
Wandering around in my head on Friday….
Well….there are quite a few things going on in my head today so I thought I’d just free form it and let them come as they will…oh, free speech and the first amendment….read an article in the Detroit papers about the idiot Terry Jones and his plans to protest Islam outside a mosque in Detroit today…if you remember, he’s the one that burned a Koran in Florida that set off the rest of the idiots in Afghanistan and across the middle east and the protests there killed almost 50 people….so it’s not okay to burn a Koran, but it’s okay to kill 50 people protesting it? I just don’t understand that whole mindset….but, back to Detroit…the government there wants Mr. Jones to post a huge bond to cover the costs of security….since when does the first amendment come with a price tag? While I abhor the supposed preacher and his hate speech…we must all defend his right under the first amendment to that speech…and you do not have to pay for the privilege….so, kudos to the ACLU for defending him….
Hmmm….oh, to all of you who bitched and moaned about the bailout loans made to the auto industry in the meltdown….I have a bit of “I told you so” to throw back at you…the CEO of Chrysler today announced that they will be paying back the remaining 7.5 billion they owe 6 years early…yep, that’s right 6 years early and in full….another success story of the targeted government intervention that I advocate and it just adds to the success of the TARP programs that is going to show a 40-50 billion dollar profit for you and me…and these were things that the free market was unwilling or unable to do…take that repubs….
Anything else? Oh, another myth about taxing the rich fell today….that if their state tax rates rise, they will just move out of that state to another one that has lower taxes….doesn’t happen….the outflow and inflow of rich to those states was exactly the same as it was before the tax increases….so, let’s add this one to the myth that cutting taxes on the rich creates jobs and the corresponding one that says cutting taxes on corporations creates jobs…just doesn’t happen…..but the repubs will just keep lying about this until enough of us start paying attention and pushing back…..
That’s about it….for now, wanted to get this one out before lunch so you’d have something to kill time with when you come back from lunch….it is Friday, after all….
April 22nd
Well…up a little too early and was surprised to have a text waiting from T since she has the day off and thought she’d sleep in….pleasant surprise, though…stayed in last night and just watched tv but was really annoyed with the episode of “Bones” that was on where they used it as kind of a pilot for another new show and the main characters were only in about 10 minutes…disappointing to say the least….yeah, I know….but I don’t have a whole lot going on in my life so this stuff is more important than it should be….it was nice to get out on the bike yesterday but today looks a little iffy with the rain and cold….can’t wait for the weather to get a little more consistent so I can count on getting some aerobic exercise and lose the winter weight….not much to do today…groceries, of course, and maybe HH with K later but who knows? I need to get started on my day so I’ll end here….more later….
The Red Wings Sweep…
Well…should have gotten to this one earlier in the day but, as you know, my brain has not been working as well as it should and I’m not sure of the reason….I really hope it’s not the slow decline that is supposed to come with age….it could be staying up late to watch the Wings or it could be the couple of cocktails…or I could be dying and I don’t know it…wouldn’t that be ironic…eat right, take care of yourself, get plenty of exercise and die anyway….okay, don’ know how this one got away from me…let’s get back to the Wings. It looked close for most of the game last night even playing without Hank and Frantzen but then the Wings had some hockey luck and a couple of good bounces and put the game away with about 4 minutes left. We did get some reasonable goaltending from Howard but he still let in three which is something we won’t get away with in the next round. Finishing our series first with a sweep is going to help with the injuries since we should get about 8 days off before the next round starts…but any time we have that long of a layoff I feel a little concerned that we’ll have to shake off the rust and the second round teams very seldom let you get away with that. On that note, I’m going to go through hockey withdrawal over the next couple of days and Netflix should be the tonic to help me cope. On to the second round!!
One last thing…it was just such a cool sight to see guys that were pounding on each other a few minutes earlier shake hands in the center of the rink after the game and even cooler was the salute the fans gave the Coyotes since it may have been their last game in Phoenix…possibly moving back to Winnipeg where they used to be the Jets…
Still struggling…
Well…just thought I’d get a shorty out to let you know that I am working on getting another one going in my head but this whole day has been a weird jumble of things happening and I am so far off my normal routine that I haven’t even read the online papers yet…so I’m going to do that now and then come back in a while to finish this…
Okay, I’m back…had to run an unexpected errand and still haven’t found anything to write about….maybe the hurt feelings of Paul Ryan would be appropriate…I just had to laugh after Obama attacked Ryan’s radical budget proposal, with Ryan calling the speech “overly partisan”…oh, poor baby, you should be happy he didn’t call you the idiot that you are…well…he kind of did, and as time goes by and people other that the Heritage Foundation take a close look…we’ve learned that it does nothing to lower the deficit, yep, that’s right…nope, I can’t even fake surprise at this one….these guys have taken “voodoo” economics to a new high, and I am so happy they did it, finally letting the curtain fall on their agenda to end the social contract that has existed for the past 90 years. It is a little heartening to see the same kind of thing happening here in Michigan with gov Snyder losing support even from his own party where they still have some realists…..I can’t wait to see the ads for the next election where the dismantling of Medicare is going to be the subject…and it will make it easier to believe when the left says the repubs want to end Social Security, too….going to be interesting time over the next two years…strap in and hang on…