I wrote this a few weeks ago, but in reading it now, it seems pretty accurate. This is a bit of a 'goodbye to 2011' before I contemplate 2012. Oh, lovely, not much humor in it, but possibly some mature wisdom? Experience is often the best teacher, if we pay attention!
Life just is. It's weirder than ever, and you may have noticed. Things are moving faster, kind of like an avalanche building up speed rolling downhill. I rather think I've heard less from others lately simply because they, too, are caught up in the movement. A rundown of topics pertaining to 2011, since we're into December:
Weather. It's wacky. We (Minnesotans) can't complain right now, but if we start freezing hard and don't get any snow cover, folks will be hurting. We also just had the driest autumn on record. However, winds blew through the west, drought and fires in the south, tornadoes rampant in the east, flooding in south central and northeast, and a major storm hit the Alaskan coast - I didn't forget the northern relatives. This was after the blizzards and ice storms of the first three months of 2011. The rest of the world had its own share of rocking and wild weather; it wasn't isolated to the U.S. of A.
Politics. It's not getting any better. More posturing going on with world leaders, sometimes I think they want a war. Of course, war is profitable and it is one way to reduce the population of now 7 billion while keeping folks distracted on what the global shadow powers are doing. The Occupiers are taking a stand, but they haven't figured out what the problem is or how to correct it. The irony is that it all stems from one fatal flaw and nothing can be fixed until this is: the debt-based system of borrowing money from the Federal Reserve banks. Think of it like a computer code where there's an error early on, and everything down the line will be screwed up. No matter how you try to correct the output end of things, until this 'original error' is resolved, the results will be scrambled. Trying to correct the end products by shuffling them around won't work. Borrowing our way out of debt is guaranteed to fail on the same principle.
Jobs. More flawed thinking, in that we don't need to 'create jobs'. Jobs should develop from the needs of society and be beneficial to it, not created to keep folks busy most of their lives. There is plenty of work to be done, but we don't need to create anything - we just have to realize what we're doing and the way we're divvying up the labor. If I had a say in it, we'd get rid of most of the paper-pushing jobs - insurance claims, medical billing, stock brokers, and so on that stem from the above monetary dynamic. These folks could join the other workers getting something sustainable done, and there is a lot of work we need doing. If we can run society smoothly with everyone working 20 hour weeks, then it'd be wiser to do so rather than 'creating jobs' for no good reason but to keep folks busy.
I will expand on that. If we're not ready for my extreme thinking on 'jobs', then I feel it'd be best to create jobs that do the least harm. Creating a manufacturing plant that takes more fuel and natural resources to produce more stuff no one needs or building in planned obsolescence to keep expanding is foolish. It's harming the planet and future generations just to give people paychecks. We should be honest about what we're doing and generate the least amount of harm in pursuit of job creation. Ergo, if we must 'create jobs' then I feel it'd be less harmful to have some folks dig holes and others fill them in. It's a self-sustaining system that will always keep them busy the required 40 hours, and someone can be in charge of counting shovels. My idea is no more bizarre than 'creating' a factory for one-time use CD's that are then disposed of in landfills; my suggestion is greener in every area and better for society overall.
Weather, politics, jobs, Occupiers. I won't start on pharmaceutical companies; profit, greed and corruption rule the world at this time, it's no surprise. That we don't even recognize it for what it is... First commercial, 'Pill X' for everything was followed by a second commercial on a class action lawsuit on 'Bad Pill'. Back-to-back within minutes, a display of what's running the country is presented and we're so desensitized to it, we don't even see it: "There's Money to be Made." Deja vu, we're at the original irony that our money is made by 'borrowing it into existence' - trying to keep up with the interest payments drives the economy and is killing us as long as we collectively buy into the system.
Personal lives. Life is nothing but change from the day we're born. Stability is in Spirit, the Higher Power within each of us. It's the only thing that'll get us through the muck of life and the consequences of living. I'm not saying there won't be hollering and tears and grief and pain - actually, I'm saying there will be. I'm saying the only thing that will see us through to the other side of it is gifted within each of us at birth. We just gotta find it. It's that bit that always loves and wants you, no matter how badly you screwed up or others screwed it up for you. It's being right between you and your god, however you define it. Definitions don't change things, just our perception of them; it's the same sky, whether we call it blue or azul or maple. Spirit's like that, and though I am quite nonreligious, I figured this out with Nature as one of my main teachers.
It's the only thing that will get us honestly through the muck, be with us every step of the way if we wish to acknowledge it or not, hang onto us because we're worthy, and never judges. Spirit doesn't need to judge us; we'll do that quite well ourselves and we know when we're out of line. I really have no use for a hell-condemning god; facing ourselves will be a tough enough challenge. (Been there, done that, repeat.) Thing is, we don't figure this out easily either; usually it has to be hammered into our thick skulls. Spirit goes with Power.
Claim your own Power. I'm thinking this is a good idea. Don't give anyone power over you; they can't take it unless you allow it. Okay, yes, I am talking relationships here, but it applies to anything - jobs, houses, pills, alcohol, etcetera. Relationships and our social concept have to be the work of the devil, because we hitch our lives on it even as the fail rate is extreme. Few couples are happily married long-term, and the best to those who have chosen this path together! But the statistics are in favor of failing: dating, broken relationships, divorce. If our cell phone service worked this well, we'd be p.o.'d. Yet we'll suffer another round of the Relationship Game.
Spin back to the first sentence on that paragraph: claim your own power. I don't want power over anyone, nor do I want anyone to have power over me. I'd rather have a lifelong friend than a commitment that has a good chance of failing and ties and insecurities under the guise of 'love'. Yep, I refused such advances recently, and someone may be blaming me for not playing the game right and breaking hearts and giving him reason to drink. Sigh, I'm too emotionally worn out to invest my time and energy on 'making someone happy'. I don't want this power over him and never did, nor will I be held responsible for his current misery. I gotta get along with me, and I won't do the 'all or nothing' with another. I said 'friend' from the beginning, but you know the old song, "A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." I finally had to hit him straight between the eyes to get him to hear me.
Take Two, Scene Two... Dennis is home, girlfriend told him to leave out of the blue end of October. He's emotionally invested in her, they planned on marrying - heard this story before, haven't you? He hasn't found his own power, and he's letting this jerk him around. Classic pattern, it's too much to deal with so you drink a little or smoke a little, self-medicated emotional avoidance. He's not drinking, which is good. But when you run out of ways to avoid yourself - bam, there you are, waiting to get through the pain. Some folks drink, some throw themselves into work, some pop pills or focus on dieting. It's all fine for the initial shock, but sooner or later you have to go through the muck if you want to come out the other side of it.
It's still going to be there, a sense of loss. Because it is a loss. The changes might be for the best, but there's still memories of shared times and we shouldn't lose these to bitterness. We just can't go back and have another day, we can't capture it and stay in it. We're not supposed to - we're supposed to grow through it. That's when we find what Spirit is and the gift of Higher Power within ourselves. Or we can try to avoid it with drugs and such; it doesn't go away, and it'll be waiting for you to deal with it sooner or later. This is actually what killed my sister, not alcoholism; the drinking started to avoid the amount of pain she perceived in her life, which grew more pain and created a deepening rut of self-misery she couldn't get out of. Oh, and that's why Spirit created others to help us up when we need it, when we're flat in the muck and need a hand. But then we're supposed to dust ourselves off and lend a hand to others as we get on down the road of Life.
Seems to me, that's the way Life Is. Mostly screwed up, and the human potential for this has not yet been realized; eventually it'll be Royally Messed Up and we'll have to collectively admit we're idiots. (Read this post again - we're not the brightest stars in the sky, hey?) That's okay, because despite being idiots, we're still loved and wanted and worthy. Just slow learners.
That's my take on 2011. It's been the Year of the Cars for me, and I do have two out of two with problems right now. I made the mistake of telling my friend 'he was a friend' before the car was repaired, which proves I have lousy timing but great integrity. Yay. And how far does integrity get anyone...? Hmm, JFK and Jesus came rapidly to mind, and we saw how that turned out! Total irony, in that they both messed with the money system. Still, integrity is honoring your own inner power and acting accordingly as you grow through life. The angels delight when we get it right, and know being human is no easy task. Now if they'd just lend a mechanical hand...
Going into 2012, and my best advice is 'Claim your own Power'. If you let anyone or anything knock you down, it's your own choice - but you don't have to. A friend going through diabetes has the choice to let it rule his life or disempower it, a bad relationship can rock your life if you allow it. We're all going to struggle through critical events in our lives, some are brutal. Some take a longer time to sort out and send us reeling. Hang on then to your own Power and accept the help the Universe provides. It could be in the form of a person or a dog or a sunset, just that boost to carry on another day. Sometimes it seems we're alone with it, but Spirit's with us and little gifts are offered. Sometimes we have to holler and wail and cuss to get the hurting out, and that's okay, too. Hollering 'dumps the junk' so we can rediscover who we really are, inside.
When it's all said and done, what do we really have left but ourselves? It's the only person you have to sleep with every night, everything else is temporary and prone to change. Headaches and heartaches, it's part of being Human. We learn the most through the hard lessons, and that's when we find ourselves. I was pondering the "moms of yesterday" where we were taught if we made the husband happy and the kids happy, then the house would be happy and we would be happy. Except, of course, no one can make another happy, and they will be as miserable or irritable or crabby or dissatisfied as they choose to be, no matter what you do, and losing yourself in this attempt to jolly them all up is damn near fatal. (Been there, done that.) The drug equivalent we were striving for would be to put them all on valium, live in a valium world of rosy pleasantries.
But I have to be completely honest with myself, and I realize I wouldn't gift this to others even if I could. If I wished everything to be pleasant and smooth and easy for everyone all the time, I'd be denying them the opportunities for personal growth. We've all gone through situations where we say, "I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy" yet realize we learned something valuable from the experience that we wouldn't undo. Am I right?
2012 may be like this. A wonderful old tree falls, but within a few years a small shelter of wild roses and hummingbirds exists from the tree's fate. Then should we wish the tree to never fall? Or should we wish for strength and wisdom and the ability to adapt to Change, because Life never stands still for long?
Then may you find 2012 interesting and enlightening, may the rope you're swinging on be long enough to reach the next tree. Yee-ha, it is the time of your life, and the time is Now. Always.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Pumping Iron, or What Not To Do, Again
So... Someone, for a few years now, has thought it'd be slick to have a hand-pump as a secondary water source in case of power outages and similar events. Someone knew just how much water is used in this house, for flushing the toilet and watering dogs and washing up. This was highlighted awhile ago when we had to replace the well pump and bucketed home water for a week, gallons and gallons of it.
So someone thought it'd be a good idea to get on with this project...
Par for the course, I've never done this before. It didn't seem too complicated, you hammer in a pipe and add more pipe until you hit water; then you attach a hand pump. If you don't hit water, you try again elsewhere or give up for another year or so or talk to the 'well guys' about putting a second pipe inside your deep-well housing. (I hear the latter can be done, if you use check valves and such for the shallow pump to pull up from, but I'm not sure if it works - and I didn't want to mess with the wires in the well.)
Living on faith and intuition... Universe nudged me that way, and I had the opportunity to pursue it. Not sure if it was logic or divine guidance, but it seemed the place to set this up was outside 'where the back door used to be'. I can say, when they show the dudes on "Dual Survival" digging an eighteen-inch hole in the desert and finding water is not exactly how it worked here - and we're surrounded by water. (Go figure.)
I dug out an area for a foundation of sorts, since the shed itself will be freestanding (just next to the house with a doorway between) and then post-holed down a couple of feet. We have been terribly dry here and the clay was hard as stone, thought I'd mention this. Then I banged in the sandpoint for the first time.
I had about a 6-foot section of pipe, but the method of whacking that is not recommended stripped out the threads. Mendards thought I could whack a spare coupling as a drive cap in order to use a fence post pounder, since a regular drive cap wouldn't fit in it. Mendards was wrong. The bottom threads broke in the coupling to the sandpoint. I took the pipe to Ace Hardware so they could re-thread both ends, then I had to blast out the sandpoint (most of it was whacked in the bottom of the post hole) to pry the bad coupling off it. Spent a day undoing things; the hose in section of fence pipe blasted the soil loose around the sandpoint, then the shop vac sucked up and clogged on the dirt - repeated that about 100 times until I retrieved the sandpoint.
Friend Marvin then loaned me a 'real pipe pounder', about a 60-pound one, and I bought a drive cap. FYI, Mendards doesn't sell 'real pipe pounders' or I'd have bought one the first day. If you're counting, that is now two ruined couplings - the one I was using as a drive cap stripped threads and the other one had 'snapped pipe' jammed in it. I was beginning to wonder if the Universe really wanted me to do this, or if I should just go bake a cake or something. However, I persisted.
Then I actually got a couple of sections of pipe in! I didn't get any water, but I was feeling pretty confident that I was on the right track. Bought another 5-foot pipe to finish 'er up with, and...
Bent the durn thing trying to hoist off the pounder to make sure the drive cap was still tight and snapped off the 'pounded' pipe at the coupling - yee-ha! It was about a foot out of the hole yet. So I learned about re-threading pipe via renting a pipe threader from General Rental. Pete stopped to assist, but it was more than he had oomph for; he offered to try and find some Muscle to send over. Since I am a patient kind of person, I waited until he left (I think he was trying to run to his truck to get out of here, but he was still winded) and then I applied 'my muscle' - i.e. foot.
Sitting in the dirt, bottom wrench in both hands holding the pipe, foot forcing the pipe threader 'one more click'... and I managed to re-thread the pipe! (Another First in my life, yay.) Got the coupling on straight and the last section of pipe on, banged it down...
And the string with the washers on it came back up wet.
Shocking moment, almost surreal - maybe I'd actually done it?! Then I realized I had just filled in the hole around the pipe to add support, using the hose to wash the dirt down - could just be hose water in the sandpoint. Tricky, tricky... Universe could be spoofing me. I did have to get the pipe threader back to the shop, so called it another day.
If you're counting, that is three mangled couplings. I didn't know I could 'break pipe'.
It does seem we now have a secondary water source. The hand pump isn't installed yet, needs a shelf (and a floor and a few walls and a roof), but it's ready to be attached.
Hell of an exercise program.
Around Day #2 or #3, I started questioning this 'acting on faith and intuition' - I wanted the Universe to give me a reassuring sign that water would be forthcoming. Hmm. I realized if a person (me) wants the results guaranteed before acting, then it's hard to say it's 'faith and intuition'. I realized all I could do was proceed to the best of my ability, and if it failed, then at least I tried - and I'd have to suck it up. It did challenge me several times, wondering if I should just give up or holler for help; cussing and cross-eyed frustration - when you don't know if things are going to work out or if it's beyond your abilities no matter what you do. But you keep on tackling it 'one more time' until you prove it.
I got lucky - it worked. For all the people in the world everywhere digging and banging with the hope of finding water, I'm not that exceptional - and I wish them all the best. If we ever need this back-up here, it will make it all worthwhile. Somehow, I feel like I followed 'gut instinct' on this one, and that's what I was supposed to do.
My back-up plan, should water not be forthcoming and we had a power outage, was to hand everyone their own 'bathroom bucket' and let them manage on their own. Life just gets tougher when water isn't easily accessible - lived it a few times. That's why I did this.
So someone thought it'd be a good idea to get on with this project...
Par for the course, I've never done this before. It didn't seem too complicated, you hammer in a pipe and add more pipe until you hit water; then you attach a hand pump. If you don't hit water, you try again elsewhere or give up for another year or so or talk to the 'well guys' about putting a second pipe inside your deep-well housing. (I hear the latter can be done, if you use check valves and such for the shallow pump to pull up from, but I'm not sure if it works - and I didn't want to mess with the wires in the well.)
Living on faith and intuition... Universe nudged me that way, and I had the opportunity to pursue it. Not sure if it was logic or divine guidance, but it seemed the place to set this up was outside 'where the back door used to be'. I can say, when they show the dudes on "Dual Survival" digging an eighteen-inch hole in the desert and finding water is not exactly how it worked here - and we're surrounded by water. (Go figure.)
I dug out an area for a foundation of sorts, since the shed itself will be freestanding (just next to the house with a doorway between) and then post-holed down a couple of feet. We have been terribly dry here and the clay was hard as stone, thought I'd mention this. Then I banged in the sandpoint for the first time.
I had about a 6-foot section of pipe, but the method of whacking that is not recommended stripped out the threads. Mendards thought I could whack a spare coupling as a drive cap in order to use a fence post pounder, since a regular drive cap wouldn't fit in it. Mendards was wrong. The bottom threads broke in the coupling to the sandpoint. I took the pipe to Ace Hardware so they could re-thread both ends, then I had to blast out the sandpoint (most of it was whacked in the bottom of the post hole) to pry the bad coupling off it. Spent a day undoing things; the hose in section of fence pipe blasted the soil loose around the sandpoint, then the shop vac sucked up and clogged on the dirt - repeated that about 100 times until I retrieved the sandpoint.
Friend Marvin then loaned me a 'real pipe pounder', about a 60-pound one, and I bought a drive cap. FYI, Mendards doesn't sell 'real pipe pounders' or I'd have bought one the first day. If you're counting, that is now two ruined couplings - the one I was using as a drive cap stripped threads and the other one had 'snapped pipe' jammed in it. I was beginning to wonder if the Universe really wanted me to do this, or if I should just go bake a cake or something. However, I persisted.
Then I actually got a couple of sections of pipe in! I didn't get any water, but I was feeling pretty confident that I was on the right track. Bought another 5-foot pipe to finish 'er up with, and...
Bent the durn thing trying to hoist off the pounder to make sure the drive cap was still tight and snapped off the 'pounded' pipe at the coupling - yee-ha! It was about a foot out of the hole yet. So I learned about re-threading pipe via renting a pipe threader from General Rental. Pete stopped to assist, but it was more than he had oomph for; he offered to try and find some Muscle to send over. Since I am a patient kind of person, I waited until he left (I think he was trying to run to his truck to get out of here, but he was still winded) and then I applied 'my muscle' - i.e. foot.
Sitting in the dirt, bottom wrench in both hands holding the pipe, foot forcing the pipe threader 'one more click'... and I managed to re-thread the pipe! (Another First in my life, yay.) Got the coupling on straight and the last section of pipe on, banged it down...
And the string with the washers on it came back up wet.
Shocking moment, almost surreal - maybe I'd actually done it?! Then I realized I had just filled in the hole around the pipe to add support, using the hose to wash the dirt down - could just be hose water in the sandpoint. Tricky, tricky... Universe could be spoofing me. I did have to get the pipe threader back to the shop, so called it another day.
If you're counting, that is three mangled couplings. I didn't know I could 'break pipe'.
It does seem we now have a secondary water source. The hand pump isn't installed yet, needs a shelf (and a floor and a few walls and a roof), but it's ready to be attached.
Hell of an exercise program.
Around Day #2 or #3, I started questioning this 'acting on faith and intuition' - I wanted the Universe to give me a reassuring sign that water would be forthcoming. Hmm. I realized if a person (me) wants the results guaranteed before acting, then it's hard to say it's 'faith and intuition'. I realized all I could do was proceed to the best of my ability, and if it failed, then at least I tried - and I'd have to suck it up. It did challenge me several times, wondering if I should just give up or holler for help; cussing and cross-eyed frustration - when you don't know if things are going to work out or if it's beyond your abilities no matter what you do. But you keep on tackling it 'one more time' until you prove it.
I got lucky - it worked. For all the people in the world everywhere digging and banging with the hope of finding water, I'm not that exceptional - and I wish them all the best. If we ever need this back-up here, it will make it all worthwhile. Somehow, I feel like I followed 'gut instinct' on this one, and that's what I was supposed to do.
My back-up plan, should water not be forthcoming and we had a power outage, was to hand everyone their own 'bathroom bucket' and let them manage on their own. Life just gets tougher when water isn't easily accessible - lived it a few times. That's why I did this.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Pimpin' My Ride...
This is the $500 Saturn I picked up in June with front-end damage. Pete found me a hood and I replaced the passenger headlight. 'Red' seemed to be the theme of used parts, in that the only fender and bumper I found were red, too.
I did 'cripple it out' to my mechanic's, but something was 'acting weird' and I ended up letting Triple-A tow it for me. Shane thought it was potentially something serious in the wheels, but turned out to be.... mud in the wheels, caked up like concrete! Once it was cleaned out, it runs straight and tight at 70 mph! Current engine has 100,000 on it, and it's 5-speed stick, 4-cylinder.
Begging for paint, it was... Sure, Shane said he could match the tan, but $ wasn't lying around in great quantities. I optimistically thought I'd do a quick sanding and spray paint on it... Ha!! I couldn't find a used driver-side panel, either, so decided to patch up the old one. In hindsight, I probably could have patched the other panel and bumper, too.
Considering I've never bond-o'd anything or taken a bumper off intentionally... And of course the painting grew "because I didn't want it to be boring". I wasn't trying to make it look like new, it is 15 years old - just happy. :)
Right. It started out as a 'three day project', when will I ever learn? $10 of acrylic paints to add some color, figured I'd just sponge on some scenery... Friend Joe said, "Go for it, let the car tell you what it wants."
I didn't try to add animals. I haven't attempted 'artistic painting' since about grade school, which is the last time I recall any sort of art class. I really thought "I can't paint" but I didn't let it stop me. Sera refused to participate.
I did 'cripple it out' to my mechanic's, but something was 'acting weird' and I ended up letting Triple-A tow it for me. Shane thought it was potentially something serious in the wheels, but turned out to be.... mud in the wheels, caked up like concrete! Once it was cleaned out, it runs straight and tight at 70 mph! Current engine has 100,000 on it, and it's 5-speed stick, 4-cylinder.
Begging for paint, it was... Sure, Shane said he could match the tan, but $ wasn't lying around in great quantities. I optimistically thought I'd do a quick sanding and spray paint on it... Ha!! I couldn't find a used driver-side panel, either, so decided to patch up the old one. In hindsight, I probably could have patched the other panel and bumper, too.
Considering I've never bond-o'd anything or taken a bumper off intentionally... And of course the painting grew "because I didn't want it to be boring". I wasn't trying to make it look like new, it is 15 years old - just happy. :)
Right. It started out as a 'three day project', when will I ever learn? $10 of acrylic paints to add some color, figured I'd just sponge on some scenery... Friend Joe said, "Go for it, let the car tell you what it wants."
I wanted to portray what I see when I'm out on back roads driving census - swamps and lakes and trees and flowers and grass; cattails and sumac and goldenrod, birch and pine trees. The roof became clouds only because I tarped it from rain overnight and the paint got textured. Rather than try to smooth it out, I figured I'd cloud it.
I didn't try to add animals. I haven't attempted 'artistic painting' since about grade school, which is the last time I recall any sort of art class. I really thought "I can't paint" but I didn't let it stop me. Sera refused to participate.
The butterfly represents transformation. Life always is, and with 2012 around the corner and "things getting weirder" all the time... That, and it covers the hail-damaged dimples on the hood pretty well.
The final project, after tightening the bumper up and stuff like that. I started it August 13, and it's pretty much done! I won't mention the time crawling around it in the dirt with dabs of paint and mosquitoes; I won't mention working under the trees with debris falling (why I chose spray paint, fast drying) or leaping in and out with rain or painting over the back-up lights - oops, forgot they were there... But they cleaned up okay with nail polish remover.
The final project, after tightening the bumper up and stuff like that. I started it August 13, and it's pretty much done! I won't mention the time crawling around it in the dirt with dabs of paint and mosquitoes; I won't mention working under the trees with debris falling (why I chose spray paint, fast drying) or leaping in and out with rain or painting over the back-up lights - oops, forgot they were there... But they cleaned up okay with nail polish remover.
What worries me now is that Car-lita is jealous. My old Acura wants me to replace parts on it (the black one in the background is the donor car) and seems to have ideas on what kind of design it wants - yoiks!! I've already discarded my "major to-do list" for the last 2 weeks on home repairs; took on the offer to paint at Pete's to finance car repairs and dog neutering (fewer nuts around here?), so it's been busy. Whenever I could, I got back to painting this one...
NOW - I don't yet have a name picked out for this ride. Blue? Evermore? (There's a song, isn't there?) Eve? I'll have to listen and see what it prefers, Eve may be suitable, as in "eve of transformation" or something... Sirius? (The planet our supposed alien ancestors came from, and suitable as in, "Are you serious?") since it's a Saturn.
Well, yes, I do talk to my cars!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Examples Related to Yesterday's Vent
If we're not yet aware of the 'Scrabbling for Dollars' that's going on - and there's a name for the current financial woes that is adequate, hmm? - I thought I'd add a few quick examples.
One of the recent news-bites was on school buses opting to display advertising as a method to fund crippled budgets. I'm not sure if small, local businesses will be able to afford much space or if it will become corporate logos painted on the sides; is Coca-cola a suitable merchant for targeting youth? Or more stuff we can't live without, like iPods and iPads and name-brand jeans. This is just what the kids need!
The old standby, since few object to it: raise cigarette tax another dollar per pack. What they're missing is that if all of us gave up this 'evil habit', the economy would tank in short order. The states and federal government depend on the funds from tobacco sales, a large amount of revenue for them, and mass panic would ensue if everyone quit and these sales bottomed out. It'd be one time I'd consider quitting, just to push back on the holier-than-thou, tobacco-slamming folks; wreaking havoc on 'their' economy by giving them exactly what they ask for.
Oh, possibly their last drive to raise prices on smokes forced many to quit, which is why they need to increase the tax to keep their profit margin... which in turn may force more smokers to roll their own (I do) or quitting, because you can't bleed the same folks indefinitely.
Half of the 'legalize pot' campaign has nothing to do with personal freedom or health: it's about creating another tax revenue source. Once Monsanto can figure out how to genetically modify and control it, we'll have corporate pressure to legalize, too. (Just like corn.) This will, of course, shatter the income from the backyard growers that are depending on it for a livelihood and to keep their utilities paid when minimum-wage (Hello, Bachmann!) jobs don't make ends meet anymore. Anyone see consequences from these scenarios, when we outlaw a plant that grows wild, then legalize it for tax purposes? Do we all know that one of Grandma's favorite windowsill plants, sold everywhere, is a hallucinogenic? Anyone want to tell the little old ladies this multi-colored houseplant is illegal?
We can always have law enforcement raise fines and increase ticketing for income, if we need the money, but a more creative route in a Florida jail was to save $45,000 annually by no longer giving men free underwear. Since they don't house a huge population, they must be buying from Victoria's Secret to have this kind of savings. Some yelled it was sex discrimination to allow women free underwear, but I am of the opinion that all menstruating males should also be allowed their underwear quota.
As it is, the jails already make money by charging booking fees, selling necessities and snacks, and even charging 'for their stay' at the Grey Motel. I met a local man who came back into Minnesota after 5 years and was picked up on an old restraining order he didn't know about. Imagine his shock to be hauled 60 miles and locked up for two weeks, costing him his last $300 on a credit card, just to have the judge throw the case out since he'd never been served. The job he had lined up was gone and they put him out on the street - no return trip to where they picked him up - a free man once again. And folks wonder why the cops have a bad rap!
Is there any irony that property values are dropping, but the states are looking at increasing property taxes? To offset the reduction in sales tax because folks have less money to be spending, which seems brilliant then somehow - they don't have any money, but the state needs more, so - let's raise property taxes on these folks. Our rural county is seeing 7 - 8 foreclosures daily in the courthouse, and it's a lightly-populated area. Are we in trouble yet?
The larger corporations seem to be doing fine, record profits and CEO's don't seem to be taking pay cuts. The thought of taxing them closed down Minnesota for a few weeks, because some things ARE 'holier than thou' - i.e. Big Money. The talking heads called these folks 'job creators' though they're really investment opportunists and global vultures. They've started far fewer jobs in the USA than the number of jobs moving overseas. Where are 'the jobs they are creating?' I will assume they mean keeping lobbyists and attorneys employed.
OSHA is busy doing their part to keep revenue flowing, nailing small businesses with excessive fines for minor offenses. That this may destroy the smaller businesses is not taken into account; we all know that "a soap dispenser 3 inches too high might splash an eye" (it's been there for 20 years, but that's different) and is worth several $1000 in fines. A local shop that had an inspector come through 'to make sure they were OSHA compliant' a few years ago still got $15,000 in fines against it. This is a local shop that is decent, employs about 25 people, and has been here without incident for 30 years. "But we gotta grab the cash" and OSHA's just doing its part.
These are just normal headlines, like the local businesses that only hire part-time workers to avoid benefits (local newspaper, Kohl's, etc.). This has been going on for at least the last 10 years, it was one of the ways K-mart kept prices down before they moved out of our area. I'm sure Ms. Bachmann would approve - I just wish she'd try living off these wages before spouting her mouth off.
Post offices closing or reducing services is another example of trying to save; except this does mean less money for the employees to spend in the communities to generate sales tax for the states and Fed, not to mention income tax and paying property tax. This type of thinking is everywhere, and no one seems to realize it is all Dominoes. You can't topple one thing without affecting another.
There's a ton of examples on 'financial / budget fixes' invading our country, and if you simply look for them, they're everywhere. The investment / retirement plans the disappeared, social security cuts, etc... The highway departments are strapped, the cities are struggling, the states are in budget-ruins, and the Fed keeps telling us we're improving - while they raise the debt ceiling one more time. (I know, cut aid to the poor and increase taxes on everything, but leave the top level alone - thanks, GW!)
Truth of it, none of it matters in the long run - the ship will sink. It's going to get worse on all of us because we can't think of a healthy alternative.
I find it all completely irrational, and there's no sense in telling me how "we are of higher intelligence" when we continue to be this stupid.
One of the recent news-bites was on school buses opting to display advertising as a method to fund crippled budgets. I'm not sure if small, local businesses will be able to afford much space or if it will become corporate logos painted on the sides; is Coca-cola a suitable merchant for targeting youth? Or more stuff we can't live without, like iPods and iPads and name-brand jeans. This is just what the kids need!
The old standby, since few object to it: raise cigarette tax another dollar per pack. What they're missing is that if all of us gave up this 'evil habit', the economy would tank in short order. The states and federal government depend on the funds from tobacco sales, a large amount of revenue for them, and mass panic would ensue if everyone quit and these sales bottomed out. It'd be one time I'd consider quitting, just to push back on the holier-than-thou, tobacco-slamming folks; wreaking havoc on 'their' economy by giving them exactly what they ask for.
Oh, possibly their last drive to raise prices on smokes forced many to quit, which is why they need to increase the tax to keep their profit margin... which in turn may force more smokers to roll their own (I do) or quitting, because you can't bleed the same folks indefinitely.
Half of the 'legalize pot' campaign has nothing to do with personal freedom or health: it's about creating another tax revenue source. Once Monsanto can figure out how to genetically modify and control it, we'll have corporate pressure to legalize, too. (Just like corn.) This will, of course, shatter the income from the backyard growers that are depending on it for a livelihood and to keep their utilities paid when minimum-wage (Hello, Bachmann!) jobs don't make ends meet anymore. Anyone see consequences from these scenarios, when we outlaw a plant that grows wild, then legalize it for tax purposes? Do we all know that one of Grandma's favorite windowsill plants, sold everywhere, is a hallucinogenic? Anyone want to tell the little old ladies this multi-colored houseplant is illegal?
We can always have law enforcement raise fines and increase ticketing for income, if we need the money, but a more creative route in a Florida jail was to save $45,000 annually by no longer giving men free underwear. Since they don't house a huge population, they must be buying from Victoria's Secret to have this kind of savings. Some yelled it was sex discrimination to allow women free underwear, but I am of the opinion that all menstruating males should also be allowed their underwear quota.
As it is, the jails already make money by charging booking fees, selling necessities and snacks, and even charging 'for their stay' at the Grey Motel. I met a local man who came back into Minnesota after 5 years and was picked up on an old restraining order he didn't know about. Imagine his shock to be hauled 60 miles and locked up for two weeks, costing him his last $300 on a credit card, just to have the judge throw the case out since he'd never been served. The job he had lined up was gone and they put him out on the street - no return trip to where they picked him up - a free man once again. And folks wonder why the cops have a bad rap!
Is there any irony that property values are dropping, but the states are looking at increasing property taxes? To offset the reduction in sales tax because folks have less money to be spending, which seems brilliant then somehow - they don't have any money, but the state needs more, so - let's raise property taxes on these folks. Our rural county is seeing 7 - 8 foreclosures daily in the courthouse, and it's a lightly-populated area. Are we in trouble yet?
The larger corporations seem to be doing fine, record profits and CEO's don't seem to be taking pay cuts. The thought of taxing them closed down Minnesota for a few weeks, because some things ARE 'holier than thou' - i.e. Big Money. The talking heads called these folks 'job creators' though they're really investment opportunists and global vultures. They've started far fewer jobs in the USA than the number of jobs moving overseas. Where are 'the jobs they are creating?' I will assume they mean keeping lobbyists and attorneys employed.
OSHA is busy doing their part to keep revenue flowing, nailing small businesses with excessive fines for minor offenses. That this may destroy the smaller businesses is not taken into account; we all know that "a soap dispenser 3 inches too high might splash an eye" (it's been there for 20 years, but that's different) and is worth several $1000 in fines. A local shop that had an inspector come through 'to make sure they were OSHA compliant' a few years ago still got $15,000 in fines against it. This is a local shop that is decent, employs about 25 people, and has been here without incident for 30 years. "But we gotta grab the cash" and OSHA's just doing its part.
These are just normal headlines, like the local businesses that only hire part-time workers to avoid benefits (local newspaper, Kohl's, etc.). This has been going on for at least the last 10 years, it was one of the ways K-mart kept prices down before they moved out of our area. I'm sure Ms. Bachmann would approve - I just wish she'd try living off these wages before spouting her mouth off.
Post offices closing or reducing services is another example of trying to save; except this does mean less money for the employees to spend in the communities to generate sales tax for the states and Fed, not to mention income tax and paying property tax. This type of thinking is everywhere, and no one seems to realize it is all Dominoes. You can't topple one thing without affecting another.
There's a ton of examples on 'financial / budget fixes' invading our country, and if you simply look for them, they're everywhere. The investment / retirement plans the disappeared, social security cuts, etc... The highway departments are strapped, the cities are struggling, the states are in budget-ruins, and the Fed keeps telling us we're improving - while they raise the debt ceiling one more time. (I know, cut aid to the poor and increase taxes on everything, but leave the top level alone - thanks, GW!)
Truth of it, none of it matters in the long run - the ship will sink. It's going to get worse on all of us because we can't think of a healthy alternative.
I find it all completely irrational, and there's no sense in telling me how "we are of higher intelligence" when we continue to be this stupid.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
My Take on the Economy and the Rest of Life
I find myself frustrated with all the jaw-ing on about the economy sinking and how to fix it while the same folks remain clueless on alternative solutions and the simple fact that THIS ECONOMIC SYSTEM CANNOT BE FIXED. Its own nature guarantees it will eventually collapse.
Rather than wasting time repeating what is wrong with this system, I thought I'd offer a comparison of what our current experts are suggesting through the model of 'a sinking ship'. The ship is slowly sinking, and there's no way to patch it because it was constructed of flawed material. Not only that, we've been at sea a long time, there's no land in sight, and we're running out of food.
Okay, we've been riding this ship so long we've forgotten there's any other means of transportation. We're hoarding our personal stashes and trying to grab whatever we can to secure our individual survival with the hope land will appear to save us. We're scared half out of our wits, and some are completely around the bend - we need the ship's crew on full alert with weapons drawn to protect us from them.
Just like real society, there's different races and cultures and levels of wealth, but we're all scared; the food supply is dwindling and the ship is springing leaks. We got folks on the oars being whipped to row harder, and we blame them for our predicament. We blame the poor and other races, we blame the wealthy, we blame the captain and the crew (some who are on the take, of course, being human).
We don't blame the ship, the ship builders, or ourselves. We're desperate to get to shore, but the waves keep crashing and we're in a panic. Small groups have banded together to ensure their own survival - we call them 'experts' and listen on edge to their advice.
What they're saying is that it's somebody else's fault and then point out scapegoats to throw overboard or sacrifice by stuffing them in the latest leaks. "It's the poor eating up our supplies, theirs ran out! Toss them off the boat!" (Never mind the poor are the ones working the oars and paddling harder because their lives depend on it.) "It's the whites / blacks / Christians / Muslims / gays / seniors / wealthy". The richest have prudently secured their place as long as the ship is afloat by paying off the captain and crew; it will difficult for the poorer levels to toss them off.
"Cut spending, increase revenue." Current talk is reducing social security, welfare, minimum wage (Bachmann to the rescue), raising taxes on everything - property, licenses, fuel, food, rich (who are still able to buy their way out of this for now). In other words, let's eat the old and poor and vulnerable or throw them overboard to see if the ship will ride higher in the water.
Problem is, we're on a ship, and it's sinking. The waves are like the weather, threatening whatever crops and supplies we do have while flooding our cabins and washing our own sewage into our drinking water. Folks are camped out in the hallways and fewer lights still burn at night, while the wealthiest dance in the ballroom dining on caviar and trying to pretend "we'll all get through this, somehow" - just toss off more of the poor and homeless. Even the recently homeless, those that lost their cabins and security in the last wave and didn't think it'd ever 'be me' they were talking about. (Hello, middle class, so eager to toss off the welfare bums just a few days earlier.)
The crew isn't safe, either, though 'job security' was the catch-phrase that got them to enlist. Those who are injured or unable to perform are getting their benefits slashed, questioned, or denied. The very folks they protected are now trying to pitch them overboard. They've become obsolete.
Who do we eat next, who do we shove into the next leak? These are the questions being asked today in our economic chaos.
The irony is that we have a massive blimp in the hold with room and supplies enough for all, and we don' t know what it is. The shipbuilders intentionally locked it up tight and deny it exists, because all it'd take is for every person to help inflate it and we'd be free of the 'economic ship'.
Instead we'll keep eating each other and warring and slashing budgets and sacrificing and squeezing what we can out of each other while the corporate players go another round of Monopoly, telling us the ship is the only game in town. And if we're smart, we can play too until we're One of Them. Never mind your soul, there is no afterlife in this world - anyway, it's legal.
Like I said, I'm totally annoyed, frustrated and fed up with the folks on the ship that won't listen about anything other than sacrificing each other. And we're on the ship.
But... In My World... I'm tearing apart cars, planting things, getting dogs, painting, and generally living busy. Those are different stories on life. Compared to the amount of misery going on in the world, I'm doing good! Dollar-wise I'm not, but Life-wise, it seems I do okay, somehow.
Best to all, please don't throw anyone overboard, just start inflating the blimp!
Rather than wasting time repeating what is wrong with this system, I thought I'd offer a comparison of what our current experts are suggesting through the model of 'a sinking ship'. The ship is slowly sinking, and there's no way to patch it because it was constructed of flawed material. Not only that, we've been at sea a long time, there's no land in sight, and we're running out of food.
Okay, we've been riding this ship so long we've forgotten there's any other means of transportation. We're hoarding our personal stashes and trying to grab whatever we can to secure our individual survival with the hope land will appear to save us. We're scared half out of our wits, and some are completely around the bend - we need the ship's crew on full alert with weapons drawn to protect us from them.
Just like real society, there's different races and cultures and levels of wealth, but we're all scared; the food supply is dwindling and the ship is springing leaks. We got folks on the oars being whipped to row harder, and we blame them for our predicament. We blame the poor and other races, we blame the wealthy, we blame the captain and the crew (some who are on the take, of course, being human).
We don't blame the ship, the ship builders, or ourselves. We're desperate to get to shore, but the waves keep crashing and we're in a panic. Small groups have banded together to ensure their own survival - we call them 'experts' and listen on edge to their advice.
What they're saying is that it's somebody else's fault and then point out scapegoats to throw overboard or sacrifice by stuffing them in the latest leaks. "It's the poor eating up our supplies, theirs ran out! Toss them off the boat!" (Never mind the poor are the ones working the oars and paddling harder because their lives depend on it.) "It's the whites / blacks / Christians / Muslims / gays / seniors / wealthy". The richest have prudently secured their place as long as the ship is afloat by paying off the captain and crew; it will difficult for the poorer levels to toss them off.
"Cut spending, increase revenue." Current talk is reducing social security, welfare, minimum wage (Bachmann to the rescue), raising taxes on everything - property, licenses, fuel, food, rich (who are still able to buy their way out of this for now). In other words, let's eat the old and poor and vulnerable or throw them overboard to see if the ship will ride higher in the water.
Problem is, we're on a ship, and it's sinking. The waves are like the weather, threatening whatever crops and supplies we do have while flooding our cabins and washing our own sewage into our drinking water. Folks are camped out in the hallways and fewer lights still burn at night, while the wealthiest dance in the ballroom dining on caviar and trying to pretend "we'll all get through this, somehow" - just toss off more of the poor and homeless. Even the recently homeless, those that lost their cabins and security in the last wave and didn't think it'd ever 'be me' they were talking about. (Hello, middle class, so eager to toss off the welfare bums just a few days earlier.)
The crew isn't safe, either, though 'job security' was the catch-phrase that got them to enlist. Those who are injured or unable to perform are getting their benefits slashed, questioned, or denied. The very folks they protected are now trying to pitch them overboard. They've become obsolete.
Who do we eat next, who do we shove into the next leak? These are the questions being asked today in our economic chaos.
The irony is that we have a massive blimp in the hold with room and supplies enough for all, and we don' t know what it is. The shipbuilders intentionally locked it up tight and deny it exists, because all it'd take is for every person to help inflate it and we'd be free of the 'economic ship'.
Instead we'll keep eating each other and warring and slashing budgets and sacrificing and squeezing what we can out of each other while the corporate players go another round of Monopoly, telling us the ship is the only game in town. And if we're smart, we can play too until we're One of Them. Never mind your soul, there is no afterlife in this world - anyway, it's legal.
Like I said, I'm totally annoyed, frustrated and fed up with the folks on the ship that won't listen about anything other than sacrificing each other. And we're on the ship.
But... In My World... I'm tearing apart cars, planting things, getting dogs, painting, and generally living busy. Those are different stories on life. Compared to the amount of misery going on in the world, I'm doing good! Dollar-wise I'm not, but Life-wise, it seems I do okay, somehow.
Best to all, please don't throw anyone overboard, just start inflating the blimp!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Car-lita Lives!!!
Well... I have the 'time' thing figured out, and I am 'right on time' with my blog posts. Just the world and events have sped up around me, which explains losing 2 months here.
So... I have the '91 Dodge Shadow, not a bad little car but not a great little car. It had its own issues, like idling high when the engine was hot. I paid $80 to the shop to diagnose it, then had my mechanic (Shane) install a new 'intake manifold gasket'. This was after 3 new belts, thermostat, and some sensor by the thermostat. It still has a mind of its own on this, so may need to investigate the air-hose thing.
Right. One person recommended I squirt something like Carburetor Cleaner while it was running under the hood - which is flammable. Talking with Shane, he'd just had an engine fire in one vehicle while he was working on it, so I decided it would NOT be wise for me to randomly squirt flammable products under the hood unless, of course, I was to the point of maniacal permanent mechanical repair (i.e. 'toast').
Considering the Dodge came into my life around March 10, I have 4000 miles on it - and I've been driving the Acura again for the last week (about 400 'new' miles on it now). It's easy to see why MPG factors into my life; I could get between 26 - 28 mpg with the Dodge, but I'm averaging 32 with the Acura without even trying. Thanks to the handy-dandy invention called Calculator, I can even give a ball-park estimate on gallons and dollars for 4000 miles ... 148 gallons (at 27 mpg) at $3.85 is $570. At 32 mpg, it's 125 gallons or $481.
It made sense to try and fix Car-lita's timing belt. I couldn't find anyone interested in doing it and the general opinion (95 - 98%) was 'catastrophic engine damage'. The only saving grace was it snapped just as I idled through a stop sign to park. One person said "50-50 chance it might work" and that was the only glimmer of hope - and optimism.
So I bought a book.
Like the Hayne's manual on 1990's Acuras. Bought it on Sunday, May 15, and decided Terry wouldn't have given me a socket set for my birthday if he didn't expect me to take things apart. It seemed a good omen when the first socket actually fit the first bolt I tried! (I needed encouragement.) Joe's a friend I haven't seen in 3 years, but he called this spring; then he said he was looking for some work $...
Joe has had so many surgeries and spent 2 years in hospitals and assisted living, I didn't want him doing the work as much as being part of the brains and 'tool man'. He's never worked on an Acura before or did a timing belt, but he has torn engines out and such over the years - and has a massive amount of tools! (Sans 3/4 air gun thing that was needed to remove the crankshaft pulley belt - I snagged one temporarily.)
My intent was to video-tape each step, so that I could keep track if I needed to on the 'putting it back together again' part. However, Joe had stuff flying out from under the hood faster than I could register it on my brain. Between working under the driver's wheel, jacking up the engine, taking off all kinds of parts, etc. ...
Had to pick the brains of others, in that the book wasn't totally clear, but from Monday afternoon starting to Wednesday evening, we got her done. AND IT RAN!!!!!
I was quite nervous trying to start it, expecting anything including shooting flames and exploding parts. But Car-lita just needed a little coaxing to pop right over. Now how lucky is that??
Sure, it was parked in March when we had had so much salt and ice and snow on the roads, so the brakes were rusted up and jagged. I called 1) my insurance company and 2) Shane on Thursday morning; Shane had an opening in his schedule "if I got it out there", which I immediately did. Four new rotors and front brake pads, and 400 miles on it to date.
I still need to change the oil and can only leave it to the Universe as to Life Expectancy, since I am not that confident in my own repairs. I never took off a valve cover before, so this was a pretty intense experience. I tackled it because it was already broke - figured I couldn't break it then - and proving it sooner than later would be just as well. Either I had a $150 salvage vehicle (actually two, in that the other Acura is a parts car parked at Tom's) or a repairable one.
There is a sense of Home-coming for me to be back in my Acura, especially since it's the twin of the one I ran the last 6 years. It's beat up and doesn't look like much, but "it feels right". This is pretty much what I flew on for this challenge - intuition and stubbornness. I might be wrong, I might be right, but I was following my own instincts, however crazy it seemed.
The rest of life just fit in kind of around this, which means I am behind on everything. I have plants to get outside, the grass is a foot tall, I can no longer get into my tool shed because of trashing it and a door waiting to be cut in... But the sun is shining and I'm feeling pretty grateful to the Universe.
Now all I really need to do is wish Jim the best. I haven't written his way, but I've been sending thoughts of rapid-healing and hugs. This is also true for a couple other friends that have been having some challenges - you know who you are! Sending a hug to all who can use one.
I don't expect things will slown down anytime soon, but I wouldn't mind if it did a little bit!
So... I have the '91 Dodge Shadow, not a bad little car but not a great little car. It had its own issues, like idling high when the engine was hot. I paid $80 to the shop to diagnose it, then had my mechanic (Shane) install a new 'intake manifold gasket'. This was after 3 new belts, thermostat, and some sensor by the thermostat. It still has a mind of its own on this, so may need to investigate the air-hose thing.
Right. One person recommended I squirt something like Carburetor Cleaner while it was running under the hood - which is flammable. Talking with Shane, he'd just had an engine fire in one vehicle while he was working on it, so I decided it would NOT be wise for me to randomly squirt flammable products under the hood unless, of course, I was to the point of maniacal permanent mechanical repair (i.e. 'toast').
Considering the Dodge came into my life around March 10, I have 4000 miles on it - and I've been driving the Acura again for the last week (about 400 'new' miles on it now). It's easy to see why MPG factors into my life; I could get between 26 - 28 mpg with the Dodge, but I'm averaging 32 with the Acura without even trying. Thanks to the handy-dandy invention called Calculator, I can even give a ball-park estimate on gallons and dollars for 4000 miles ... 148 gallons (at 27 mpg) at $3.85 is $570. At 32 mpg, it's 125 gallons or $481.
It made sense to try and fix Car-lita's timing belt. I couldn't find anyone interested in doing it and the general opinion (95 - 98%) was 'catastrophic engine damage'. The only saving grace was it snapped just as I idled through a stop sign to park. One person said "50-50 chance it might work" and that was the only glimmer of hope - and optimism.
So I bought a book.
Like the Hayne's manual on 1990's Acuras. Bought it on Sunday, May 15, and decided Terry wouldn't have given me a socket set for my birthday if he didn't expect me to take things apart. It seemed a good omen when the first socket actually fit the first bolt I tried! (I needed encouragement.) Joe's a friend I haven't seen in 3 years, but he called this spring; then he said he was looking for some work $...
Joe has had so many surgeries and spent 2 years in hospitals and assisted living, I didn't want him doing the work as much as being part of the brains and 'tool man'. He's never worked on an Acura before or did a timing belt, but he has torn engines out and such over the years - and has a massive amount of tools! (Sans 3/4 air gun thing that was needed to remove the crankshaft pulley belt - I snagged one temporarily.)
My intent was to video-tape each step, so that I could keep track if I needed to on the 'putting it back together again' part. However, Joe had stuff flying out from under the hood faster than I could register it on my brain. Between working under the driver's wheel, jacking up the engine, taking off all kinds of parts, etc. ...
Had to pick the brains of others, in that the book wasn't totally clear, but from Monday afternoon starting to Wednesday evening, we got her done. AND IT RAN!!!!!
I was quite nervous trying to start it, expecting anything including shooting flames and exploding parts. But Car-lita just needed a little coaxing to pop right over. Now how lucky is that??
Sure, it was parked in March when we had had so much salt and ice and snow on the roads, so the brakes were rusted up and jagged. I called 1) my insurance company and 2) Shane on Thursday morning; Shane had an opening in his schedule "if I got it out there", which I immediately did. Four new rotors and front brake pads, and 400 miles on it to date.
I still need to change the oil and can only leave it to the Universe as to Life Expectancy, since I am not that confident in my own repairs. I never took off a valve cover before, so this was a pretty intense experience. I tackled it because it was already broke - figured I couldn't break it then - and proving it sooner than later would be just as well. Either I had a $150 salvage vehicle (actually two, in that the other Acura is a parts car parked at Tom's) or a repairable one.
There is a sense of Home-coming for me to be back in my Acura, especially since it's the twin of the one I ran the last 6 years. It's beat up and doesn't look like much, but "it feels right". This is pretty much what I flew on for this challenge - intuition and stubbornness. I might be wrong, I might be right, but I was following my own instincts, however crazy it seemed.
The rest of life just fit in kind of around this, which means I am behind on everything. I have plants to get outside, the grass is a foot tall, I can no longer get into my tool shed because of trashing it and a door waiting to be cut in... But the sun is shining and I'm feeling pretty grateful to the Universe.
Now all I really need to do is wish Jim the best. I haven't written his way, but I've been sending thoughts of rapid-healing and hugs. This is also true for a couple other friends that have been having some challenges - you know who you are! Sending a hug to all who can use one.
I don't expect things will slown down anytime soon, but I wouldn't mind if it did a little bit!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Things Speeding Up?
I'm behind on this blog, and the strange thing is that I don't remember February. Pretty sure I was here, but it flew by in a haze. The world itself seemed to be 'major eventing' everywhere, from political news to weather to gas concerns. Since February seems long-gone already, I'll just try to catch up to March.
It's been a heck of start so far, hmm? Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, riots and Wisconsin. I had a feeling of unease coming into this month, thought I was just being irrational. But before the 1st, I received notice from the census bureau to try to run cases hard by March 5th in case the budget wasn't extended in D.C. ... So I hit the roads hard & long in a massive rush. Then we were told the "two week extension" would give us some buffer.
Luckily... my 2nd Acura didn't spew its timing belt while out on the back roads, and chose instead to collapse Monday evening in Towne. Terry was with me on a way to drop off posters with the peace coalition, ended up riding in the tow truck home. Talking to the driver, he said their shop has had 4 times as many calls in a month than usual (January) and it wasn't letting up - he was pushing a 14-hour day and couldn't wait to dump us off and head for home.
Val ended February by getting her leg brace off just in time to fall on the steps and jar it again, missing a few days of school, before surrendering to the flu. Some of her friends started to think she'd moved because of her absence. She did share The Bug with Sera, who was on-call for dog-sitting at Christine's in the cities. Me, I planned on not being sick until after the 5th due to census, and then figured out I still didn't have time for it. Sometimes I think my physical defenses are due to nettle tea (home-dried, good for you) and possibly a caffeine/tobacco habit creating an unfriendly Bug environment.
Sunday, to make sure it wasn't getting too complacent around here, Val leaned a little too hard on the kitchen cabinet doors. It'd been pulling loose some, but this added to it. Luckily, it didn't fall down completely. I put a brace under it for the duration and we unloaded the food into baskets.
Terry came over as planned on Monday; I'd volunteered to make dinner with some ham he provided. Par for the course, I got it in the oven late so it wasn't finished by the time we left for Towne. Before we had dinner, the car had died.
Tuesday Terry fixed the cabinets while I went over the website for Lynne with Pete before we got on with trouble-shooting the car. Wednesday we went hunting for an affordable car - the Acura may be repairable, but it's not the season to crawling about in the snow and mud trying to do a major fix. 'Affordable' in my world was a cheap runner that wasn't bad on gas and wouldn't eat my entire tax refund that was slated for bill- and loan- catch-up.
Sigh, there seriously aren't any of these cars? The only thing we found in a day of searching (thanks to borrowing Sera's car while she was at work) was 1993 Dodge Shadow for $1500, 100,000 miles on it. Not a terrible price, but it put me back in debt to friend Bill, and the emotional roller coaster of financial punch put me in tears. I wasn't too stable anyway, not feeling great possibly to the last week's bug, and this put me over the edge.
On a sadder note, Jake-dog had a seizure Monday evening. Usually he snapped back from these, but he grew worse all week. The vet could see him Friday afternoon, and I planned on driving him there myself. But... I couldn't get him in the car. He was too heavy, and his stomach seemed bloated so I didn't want to try lifting him around his belly; I couldn't get him back on his feet even. Sera came home and drove him up with me. There wasn't anything much the vet could do but put him down gently.
This was an absolutely horrible ordeal. He was down on the cold pavement in a puddle and all I could do was cover him with a blanket and wait for help. He's been my furry companion for almost 4 years, the one that slept in my room and shared meals with me - you know how this is.
In hindsight, I wonder if Jake didn't get into raisins when the cupboard was unloaded. The food was stacked on a table, and he'd eat about anything given half a chance. The cats could have knocked a baggie out or he could have snuck one while we weren't home. They are toxic to dogs and it doesn't take a huge amount to poison them. I don't know what else could have taken a lively dog on Monday to a critically ill one on Friday, though it could have been an intestinal or heart thing that finally gave out.
He just seriously was the gentlest dog I've ever had, big old teddy-bear scared of shadows, mice in the walls, loud noises, and even the refractions off prisms. I'm glad he found us?
So that week winds down around here. The world in general is in massive crisis mode, and it's hard to find a region that isn't under severe stress. Yet I'd add a little quiet wisdom about the value of good friends. Human or furry, this is what will get us through no matter what happens, and this may be the key to surviving 2011.
I have a feeling it's not gonna get better real soon and we're all in a state of change. For everyone absorbing their own shifts in Life, I wish you the best - you know who you are.
It's been a heck of start so far, hmm? Earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, riots and Wisconsin. I had a feeling of unease coming into this month, thought I was just being irrational. But before the 1st, I received notice from the census bureau to try to run cases hard by March 5th in case the budget wasn't extended in D.C. ... So I hit the roads hard & long in a massive rush. Then we were told the "two week extension" would give us some buffer.
Luckily... my 2nd Acura didn't spew its timing belt while out on the back roads, and chose instead to collapse Monday evening in Towne. Terry was with me on a way to drop off posters with the peace coalition, ended up riding in the tow truck home. Talking to the driver, he said their shop has had 4 times as many calls in a month than usual (January) and it wasn't letting up - he was pushing a 14-hour day and couldn't wait to dump us off and head for home.
Val ended February by getting her leg brace off just in time to fall on the steps and jar it again, missing a few days of school, before surrendering to the flu. Some of her friends started to think she'd moved because of her absence. She did share The Bug with Sera, who was on-call for dog-sitting at Christine's in the cities. Me, I planned on not being sick until after the 5th due to census, and then figured out I still didn't have time for it. Sometimes I think my physical defenses are due to nettle tea (home-dried, good for you) and possibly a caffeine/tobacco habit creating an unfriendly Bug environment.
Sunday, to make sure it wasn't getting too complacent around here, Val leaned a little too hard on the kitchen cabinet doors. It'd been pulling loose some, but this added to it. Luckily, it didn't fall down completely. I put a brace under it for the duration and we unloaded the food into baskets.
Terry came over as planned on Monday; I'd volunteered to make dinner with some ham he provided. Par for the course, I got it in the oven late so it wasn't finished by the time we left for Towne. Before we had dinner, the car had died.
Tuesday Terry fixed the cabinets while I went over the website for Lynne with Pete before we got on with trouble-shooting the car. Wednesday we went hunting for an affordable car - the Acura may be repairable, but it's not the season to crawling about in the snow and mud trying to do a major fix. 'Affordable' in my world was a cheap runner that wasn't bad on gas and wouldn't eat my entire tax refund that was slated for bill- and loan- catch-up.
Sigh, there seriously aren't any of these cars? The only thing we found in a day of searching (thanks to borrowing Sera's car while she was at work) was 1993 Dodge Shadow for $1500, 100,000 miles on it. Not a terrible price, but it put me back in debt to friend Bill, and the emotional roller coaster of financial punch put me in tears. I wasn't too stable anyway, not feeling great possibly to the last week's bug, and this put me over the edge.
On a sadder note, Jake-dog had a seizure Monday evening. Usually he snapped back from these, but he grew worse all week. The vet could see him Friday afternoon, and I planned on driving him there myself. But... I couldn't get him in the car. He was too heavy, and his stomach seemed bloated so I didn't want to try lifting him around his belly; I couldn't get him back on his feet even. Sera came home and drove him up with me. There wasn't anything much the vet could do but put him down gently.
This was an absolutely horrible ordeal. He was down on the cold pavement in a puddle and all I could do was cover him with a blanket and wait for help. He's been my furry companion for almost 4 years, the one that slept in my room and shared meals with me - you know how this is.
In hindsight, I wonder if Jake didn't get into raisins when the cupboard was unloaded. The food was stacked on a table, and he'd eat about anything given half a chance. The cats could have knocked a baggie out or he could have snuck one while we weren't home. They are toxic to dogs and it doesn't take a huge amount to poison them. I don't know what else could have taken a lively dog on Monday to a critically ill one on Friday, though it could have been an intestinal or heart thing that finally gave out.
He just seriously was the gentlest dog I've ever had, big old teddy-bear scared of shadows, mice in the walls, loud noises, and even the refractions off prisms. I'm glad he found us?
So that week winds down around here. The world in general is in massive crisis mode, and it's hard to find a region that isn't under severe stress. Yet I'd add a little quiet wisdom about the value of good friends. Human or furry, this is what will get us through no matter what happens, and this may be the key to surviving 2011.
I have a feeling it's not gonna get better real soon and we're all in a state of change. For everyone absorbing their own shifts in Life, I wish you the best - you know who you are.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Frost-Face Trumps Hat-Hair
Life Awareness, Winter 101: Provides hands-on experience with the varying levels of misery one may be exposed to in winter conditions.
This is not a course I'd sign up for, in that I've lived it with refresher classes once a year for half a decade; anyone that is eager to sign up - you may have a future as an on-the-scene weatherman / woman.
Hat-hair is annoying, especially when long hair tangles under your collar, the edges freeze, and it styles into a look similar to a tornado hit before packing down. It is a better alternative to Blue Ears, but it is still annoying. Usually by the time you take the hat off, you're sore and weary and trying to peel off layers of clinging clothes; the hat-hair just frosts the cake on the experience.
It's nice to know you can circumvent the distraction of hat-hair by experiencing a frost-face situation. This is when it's so darned cold that your face freezes within 5 minutes of exposure, thereby effectively making hat-hair less of a nuisance. This starts out as a stinging pins-n-needles sensation that reddens one's nose while killing air-borne germs by quick-freezing them. This does lead to the runny nose / frozen hair state, where body fluids begin to leak. This may be the body's attempt to keep your nose thawed so it doesn't fall off, but I'm not sure.
So now instead of hat-hair bugging a person, they have a dripping red nose, stung cheeks, and frosted hair that will turn wet once they get back inside. This does lead to my conclusion that Frost-face trumps Hat-hair, though they both can occur at the same time. In other words, misery has notched it up a level.
What is of greater concern is that so many people are learning these lessons right now. We're a month into 2011 and the weather channel lists 7 major storms in Dec / Jan already. I'm not sure if they included the west-coast flooding, which would equate "one a week" of seriously-severe weather, and that's just our country. Australia and many other parts of the planet are in dire straits, too - we're not alone. Not sure what this bodes for the summer, but it isn't looking good.
Watching the current weather pattern, the cold front that's freezing us is also keeping the whole mess south, which I can appreciate. Does mean David in Colorado feels like he's back in Minnesota, Chicago relatives have been weather-whalloped and ice storms are raging - all the fun we'd be having if the cold front wasn't holding it south of us. It seems weird to be grateful for the cold, but ice-storms are worse (still chipping here) and losing power during one is a higher misery level on the chart.
Now then, hat-hair seems to be quite the minor nuisance! Aren't you glad I put that in perspective for you? For those who refuse to wear hats, all I can say is Blue Ears are not attractive and even if they were, it'd be easier to use food coloring. (There's something for folks with cabin fever to do, hmm? I wonder what the schools would do if a kid showed up with a completely dyed face - doesn't wash off well, don't ask how I know.)
If anyone has thoughts on back-up power systems, please do share! I'm betting the summer has a 50-50 chance of being wild. These aren't great odds; if a pilot thought a plane had a 50-50 chance of a safe flight, I wouldn't get onboard if I didn't have to. And... just being able to turn on a light and coffee maker is huge when the power's out. Anyone making suggestions, remember you're talking to me - i.e. the odds of having several gallons of gas on hand for a generator is probably not high. Solar, wind, electro-magnetic, hamsters on wheels charging up batteries... those are more in my league. And I'm financially restricted on options.
Did you know hamsters can run 5 - 8 miles a night on their wheels?
Has anyone considered that every time we drive anywhere, we're creating a huge batch of wind that could be charging batteries in the trunk? This is easily proved by opening a car window on the highway. Add a DC / AC converter, and it's not so ridiculous. Just I don't know how to do this. I'm not looking at an electric car, but home power outage options; if a person knows how to add the car, it'd be a bonus! (I know, gas prices going up - we should all be recharging batteries as we drive.)
What if... trains on the track were charging capacitors as they flew by? Why not? And I'm not sure if that's the right technical term, but you get the drift. A lot of unused potential, my thinking! And while we're freezing or shoveling or suffering with cabin fever, we may as well 'have our thinking caps on' (gag if you remember the image of the old school marm tying on an invisible cap).
Hope Phil the Groundhog was right today - Spring is on the way. Of course, this can hit hard and fast, too, which will create swampy conditions - Jim, watch the rising waters, please! A gentle spring would be nice.
This is not a course I'd sign up for, in that I've lived it with refresher classes once a year for half a decade; anyone that is eager to sign up - you may have a future as an on-the-scene weatherman / woman.
Hat-hair is annoying, especially when long hair tangles under your collar, the edges freeze, and it styles into a look similar to a tornado hit before packing down. It is a better alternative to Blue Ears, but it is still annoying. Usually by the time you take the hat off, you're sore and weary and trying to peel off layers of clinging clothes; the hat-hair just frosts the cake on the experience.
It's nice to know you can circumvent the distraction of hat-hair by experiencing a frost-face situation. This is when it's so darned cold that your face freezes within 5 minutes of exposure, thereby effectively making hat-hair less of a nuisance. This starts out as a stinging pins-n-needles sensation that reddens one's nose while killing air-borne germs by quick-freezing them. This does lead to the runny nose / frozen hair state, where body fluids begin to leak. This may be the body's attempt to keep your nose thawed so it doesn't fall off, but I'm not sure.
So now instead of hat-hair bugging a person, they have a dripping red nose, stung cheeks, and frosted hair that will turn wet once they get back inside. This does lead to my conclusion that Frost-face trumps Hat-hair, though they both can occur at the same time. In other words, misery has notched it up a level.
What is of greater concern is that so many people are learning these lessons right now. We're a month into 2011 and the weather channel lists 7 major storms in Dec / Jan already. I'm not sure if they included the west-coast flooding, which would equate "one a week" of seriously-severe weather, and that's just our country. Australia and many other parts of the planet are in dire straits, too - we're not alone. Not sure what this bodes for the summer, but it isn't looking good.
Watching the current weather pattern, the cold front that's freezing us is also keeping the whole mess south, which I can appreciate. Does mean David in Colorado feels like he's back in Minnesota, Chicago relatives have been weather-whalloped and ice storms are raging - all the fun we'd be having if the cold front wasn't holding it south of us. It seems weird to be grateful for the cold, but ice-storms are worse (still chipping here) and losing power during one is a higher misery level on the chart.
Now then, hat-hair seems to be quite the minor nuisance! Aren't you glad I put that in perspective for you? For those who refuse to wear hats, all I can say is Blue Ears are not attractive and even if they were, it'd be easier to use food coloring. (There's something for folks with cabin fever to do, hmm? I wonder what the schools would do if a kid showed up with a completely dyed face - doesn't wash off well, don't ask how I know.)
If anyone has thoughts on back-up power systems, please do share! I'm betting the summer has a 50-50 chance of being wild. These aren't great odds; if a pilot thought a plane had a 50-50 chance of a safe flight, I wouldn't get onboard if I didn't have to. And... just being able to turn on a light and coffee maker is huge when the power's out. Anyone making suggestions, remember you're talking to me - i.e. the odds of having several gallons of gas on hand for a generator is probably not high. Solar, wind, electro-magnetic, hamsters on wheels charging up batteries... those are more in my league. And I'm financially restricted on options.
Did you know hamsters can run 5 - 8 miles a night on their wheels?
Has anyone considered that every time we drive anywhere, we're creating a huge batch of wind that could be charging batteries in the trunk? This is easily proved by opening a car window on the highway. Add a DC / AC converter, and it's not so ridiculous. Just I don't know how to do this. I'm not looking at an electric car, but home power outage options; if a person knows how to add the car, it'd be a bonus! (I know, gas prices going up - we should all be recharging batteries as we drive.)
What if... trains on the track were charging capacitors as they flew by? Why not? And I'm not sure if that's the right technical term, but you get the drift. A lot of unused potential, my thinking! And while we're freezing or shoveling or suffering with cabin fever, we may as well 'have our thinking caps on' (gag if you remember the image of the old school marm tying on an invisible cap).
Hope Phil the Groundhog was right today - Spring is on the way. Of course, this can hit hard and fast, too, which will create swampy conditions - Jim, watch the rising waters, please! A gentle spring would be nice.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Committed in 2011...
So far, I've only committed to updating my blog more frequently this year... when I post this, I'll have succeeded! There is some logic in keeping expectations low so it's easier to meet them, hmm?
In my last post, I mentioned 'talking ourselves sick'. The roads here are nothing to brag about, and many of us have been saying, "I'm sick of it..." I've been trying to catch myself when this thought pops up, but it is a pretty accurate assessment of the road conditions over the past several weeks - ever since the freezing rain, followed by snow and a drop in temps.
Salt doesn't do much good, in that we haven't warmed up enough to make much difference. The main highways (i.e. 210 and 371) are better now, but all side roads, secondary pavement, and in-town streets continue to be challenging. (Nicely put, that.)
I called the plow-guys personally, and they kindly dropped off a 30-gallon can of sand at the end of our drive, which has trapped more than usual number of vehicles this year. I chiseled ice off for 4 hours yesterday, and it's still packed; if I can get a 'running start' out the drive, I can almost swim the car up to our back road and gingerly creep to one of the main highways.
It isn't just me, and I am trying to make a point - not just whining. 371 is a 4-lane road, and the 'fast lane' was scooting along at 45 mph earlier this week after the plows had been out. I heard the highway department finally 'spread some stuff on the road' after a lady crashed into a state trooper driving on it.
Now, we all know that feeling of driving 30 - 40 miles an hour on a road that should be good at twice the speed (okay, 60 mph then), clutching the steering wheel and scanning every few feet of road for 'complications' while bouncing in ruts and slipping around curves and aiming for every inch that appears 'clean', wondering if the oncoming vehicle will let us hog the inside lane where there's a bit more sand or if we might end up sliding into their lane...
These ARE 'the good roads' lately? The 'bad roads' slow me down to 10 - 20 mph, depending on if I'm going up a hill or around a corner, if I need to plow through several inches of snow or if it's packed glaze. Towne's about the same way, and has been for weeks. Yeah, I logged several hundred miles of these roads this month, earning a paycheck and just wishing the weather would break kindly here while gripping the wheel and staring fifteen feet in front of the car.
And... I was thinking, "I'm sick of it... sick, sick, sick..." I kept correcting my thinking, but my body said, "Hey, you need a time-out and you can't justify it unless you're 'sick' - so voila! - you're sick!" I did take a day of down-time, but realized 'getting sick' just makes life more difficult, so sweated it off by chiseling ice in three layers of clothes for many hours.
I don't have to 'be sick' and I don't really have the patience for it, but I can readily admit I have a whopping case of Spring Fever that won't be cured soon. Weather predictions continue to be 'cold / snow' and I am now avoiding the Weather Channel. If anyone mentions the word 'green' to me, I become delusional and start fantasizing about trees and birds and sunshine on bare arms.
Yeah, and I bet you could take this mental break too, so... picture a spring day in a field, with daisies and tulips and violets, apple trees blooming profusely in pink and white, blue sky with small clouds gliding across it, a brook softly gurgling nearby; watch a bumble bee flitting in amongst the apple blossoms, darting from tree to tree... kick off your shoes and dabble your feet in the water, rolling up your pant legs even as you know they'll still get damp... feel the sun on your arms and face while you listen to the bird songs... kick back, watch the bee, and take a trip on me...
In my last post, I mentioned 'talking ourselves sick'. The roads here are nothing to brag about, and many of us have been saying, "I'm sick of it..." I've been trying to catch myself when this thought pops up, but it is a pretty accurate assessment of the road conditions over the past several weeks - ever since the freezing rain, followed by snow and a drop in temps.
Salt doesn't do much good, in that we haven't warmed up enough to make much difference. The main highways (i.e. 210 and 371) are better now, but all side roads, secondary pavement, and in-town streets continue to be challenging. (Nicely put, that.)
I called the plow-guys personally, and they kindly dropped off a 30-gallon can of sand at the end of our drive, which has trapped more than usual number of vehicles this year. I chiseled ice off for 4 hours yesterday, and it's still packed; if I can get a 'running start' out the drive, I can almost swim the car up to our back road and gingerly creep to one of the main highways.
It isn't just me, and I am trying to make a point - not just whining. 371 is a 4-lane road, and the 'fast lane' was scooting along at 45 mph earlier this week after the plows had been out. I heard the highway department finally 'spread some stuff on the road' after a lady crashed into a state trooper driving on it.
Now, we all know that feeling of driving 30 - 40 miles an hour on a road that should be good at twice the speed (okay, 60 mph then), clutching the steering wheel and scanning every few feet of road for 'complications' while bouncing in ruts and slipping around curves and aiming for every inch that appears 'clean', wondering if the oncoming vehicle will let us hog the inside lane where there's a bit more sand or if we might end up sliding into their lane...
These ARE 'the good roads' lately? The 'bad roads' slow me down to 10 - 20 mph, depending on if I'm going up a hill or around a corner, if I need to plow through several inches of snow or if it's packed glaze. Towne's about the same way, and has been for weeks. Yeah, I logged several hundred miles of these roads this month, earning a paycheck and just wishing the weather would break kindly here while gripping the wheel and staring fifteen feet in front of the car.
And... I was thinking, "I'm sick of it... sick, sick, sick..." I kept correcting my thinking, but my body said, "Hey, you need a time-out and you can't justify it unless you're 'sick' - so voila! - you're sick!" I did take a day of down-time, but realized 'getting sick' just makes life more difficult, so sweated it off by chiseling ice in three layers of clothes for many hours.
I don't have to 'be sick' and I don't really have the patience for it, but I can readily admit I have a whopping case of Spring Fever that won't be cured soon. Weather predictions continue to be 'cold / snow' and I am now avoiding the Weather Channel. If anyone mentions the word 'green' to me, I become delusional and start fantasizing about trees and birds and sunshine on bare arms.
Yeah, and I bet you could take this mental break too, so... picture a spring day in a field, with daisies and tulips and violets, apple trees blooming profusely in pink and white, blue sky with small clouds gliding across it, a brook softly gurgling nearby; watch a bumble bee flitting in amongst the apple blossoms, darting from tree to tree... kick off your shoes and dabble your feet in the water, rolling up your pant legs even as you know they'll still get damp... feel the sun on your arms and face while you listen to the bird songs... kick back, watch the bee, and take a trip on me...
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