Category: LifeStyle

Scam Tri-Fecta

Are you getting the idea that this is rampant…

Here are three that each tries to get you “me” to open that attachment!

Notice the enticement that they try to use…

This is some sort of sales order that I am to look over…

Oh no, the better business bureau is after me, I had best open the document to see what is up…NOT

From somewhere I have received a fax, but not on my fax machine….Think I should see what this is about????

It doesn’t stop with BS e-mails but also comes in the form of phone calls via people fishing for information. Today I got a call from someone telling me that they are able to keep the IRS from enforcing my tax lien.. “Oh good!” Wait, I don’t have any stinking IRS problems…. Think I should give them my social security number to check “just in case?” Holy crap, it never ends.! Some people fall for this stuff and that is why I am here today… Don’t! Tell your friends, family and neighbors and countrymen… LOL

If you find any of this useful spread the word for me. Sometimes I feel like I am typing all this simply to amuse myself….

-Best to you and those that you care about.

Tale of two cities

Ink or not to Ink, that is the question

Popular programs on TV and our “current culture” are glorifying the tattoo as a “must have accessory” much like a certain kind of purse or clothing item.

The argument and dissention is that hiring managers might “judge” someone and not hire them because of their ink. Another argument is that if someone is inked and it is visible, is it ok for someone to stare at it?

Let’s address the later first. It is “never” ok to stare at someone. I will admit that some of this “art” has caused me to do a double take but to be fair, I am an artist. I have made conversation with the person before and then had them show me their tattoo if they were so inclined so it was now a “show and tell” and not some stranger staring at another person. I think they call that “manners.” Besides, it is a type of art so why not show it off?

Is it a good idea to get tattooed or pierced in visible places?

Are you independently wealthy?
Is there a point in your future that you might need to find a job?
Do you mind being the “center of attention?”
Does living in the fringes of society bother you?

Fads are for Fools

Let’s say that you were offered a particular kind of clothing to wear for the rest of your life for free. The conditions were that is all you could ever wear and once you made the decisions to agree, there was no turning back.

So, it’s the 70’s and the leisure suite is in vogue. You agree and your closet is constantly re-stocked with leisure suites all the exact same size, color and style. It is now 2014, how many leisure suites do you see? One, that is right, the one that you are wearing!

I know it may not seem like it right now but this too is a fad, and sooner or later it will pass. The difference between the leisure suite and this is there is really no way to go back to “normal” once you go there. Yes you can have it removed but will it ever be like it was never there? If you have a piercing removed will there not be a scar?

It boggles my mind that so many alter their body in such ways because it “looks cool.” What started out as a way to mark criminals has certainly taken on a life of its own.

Why should one not get a tattoo in a visible place?

This job market is tough. You might be the brightest person around but chances are good that you are not. You must be competitive in every way and that includes not only your knowledge of your particular area of expertise but, it also includes the way that you look.

Hiring managers look at all sorts of things when they consider you for employment.

Me, personally I look for things like a manicure, if your shoes are shined, shirt ironed, shaved and hair well kept. I look to see how well spoken you are. I look at your posture. I look to see if you exercise and if it is not obvious from your looks, I will ask about your hobbies looking for some sort of physical activity

This of course is muddled into the conversation about the job. Is your personal life my business; only when it affects your performance at the job. When you work for me, you represent me. If I am a department head you represent the best that department has to offer. There could be ten of you, and you each represent the best, “if I hired you.”

Truthfully a good HR department does this for me. They go through the thousands of resumes and pick out the top 1%. Then they go through those and weed out a few more by some of the things mentioned.

Now, what do you think happens if this walks into the door looking for work?

What would you care to wager that these rocket scientist are living on the government tit, or still in the bedroom they grew up in?

There are some good arguments for these but, I suspect that those that make them either themselves had or have tattoos, or know someone who does and are sympathetic for their decision.

Unlike the marine or other vet who is hurt or mutilated in some way fighting for your country, they did not choose to mutilate themselves. You on the other hand for some reason whether it is out of some rebellious act, or drunken stupor, or cave to peer pressure, made a clear choice to do this. Some would argue it is to “express oneself.”

Part of me wants to run for congress just to introduce and get passed legislation that would make in unlawful to mutilate someone like this. The stupid people of this earth really need someone looking after them.

You want to express yourself, get a good job and buy a nice house, raise your 2.5 kids and drive a Lexus. Go to the PTA and make the world a better place by setting a good example for those 2.5 kids.

There was a movie in the 70’s with Neil Diamond. The Jazz Singer, you may have seen it. In the beginning of the movie Jess and Bubba get a chance to play at an all black club. While playing, Jess “disguised as a black man” shows his white palms of his hands during the performance and all hell breaks loose. His father bailing him out of prison says something rather profound. “It isn’t tough enough beink a Jew?”

Is the job market not tough enough?

Now go do the right thing…

-Best to you and those that you care about!

NO!

“No” is a word that too many CEO’s need to hear. The problem is that too many hire people that will agree with them or say “yes” or “great idea” or some other such yes-man technique as they either fear that their boss does not want to really hear the truth or they are cowards or simply not well informed.

It is not only CEO’s that need to hear the word “no” but a lot of politicians need to hear it as well.

For instance, did Truman really need to drop not one but two atomic bombs on Japan to end the war? I would argue that one would have been enough and I would also argue that it could have been dropped on a small island that we were loosing so many marines on or perhaps an unpopulated island. Leveling that island would have been enough to demonstrate our resolve and abilities.

The simple truth is that Japan was already war weary and the people of Japan did not want this war. We could speculate who and why things transpired the way that they did but the end results of those decision have still not fully played out.

Yes, Japan surrendered. But now any dictator or want-to-be dictator in the world set their sites on getting an atomic bomb too. If the US had them than of course Russia needed them hence so many years of the cold war. Of course China would need them and of course any country with a dictator would need them as well!

Like Gunpowder, this is something that Einstein should have kept under his hat. Any time anyone makes any sort of advancement in technology, the dictators of the world wonder how to use it as a weapon. If one country has it, than they need it as well.

We have enough weapons of mass destruction to kill every living thing on earth many times over and yet we still keep trying to make something just a little more lethal.

No, that is not a good idea. Wasting so much money and resources on finding better ways to kill is just so juvenile. Now you put these weapons of mass destruction in the hands of irrational dictators and you place the entire earth and all of its inhabitants in grave danger. Brinksmanship is not lost on today’s “leaders” who seem to be nothing more than your classic neighborhood bully who will gladly get someone else to do his fighting for him.

If a race of beings from another planet were to visit and watch some of our news or other “entertainment” they would most certainly put some sort of beacon around our solar system warning anyone else to stay the hell away! We have entire countries to this day that are xenophobic in nature and bent on destroying anyone that does not agree with or cow down to them. This is 2014 and this is going on today!

Imagine if you will the difference between you and the Chimpanzee. Where DNA is concerned there is exactly one percent difference between human DNA and that of the Chimpanzee. That is 1%, that is it! Now let’s talk about intelligence of humans compared to that of the Chimpanzee. We think that we are intelligent because we have a space station, physics, music, weapons of mass destruction and of course we have E=MC2. The Chimpanzee can make and use tools, stack boxes to get to a banana and even use tree branches to escape their confinement in a zoo.

If this race of Aliens were watching us they may very well compare us to their progeny when they are in kindergarten.
Their 1rst grade kids may come home from school with something that looks like your masters thesis while ours come home with macaroni art or clay ash trays. To think that we are intelligent and that we could have anything to offer to a race of aliens that can traverse interstellar space borders on hubris.

One of our most beloved “inventors” was Thomas Edison. What history does not tell you is that this man was anything but nice. When Tesla came up with the concept of AC vs. DC as a way to power the city, Edison was furious. Instead of being an open minded person, he tried his best to discredit the idea. One of the ways that he did this was to electrocute an Elephant in public trying to turn public opinion on AC.

While both men were “out of the box” thinkers, one needed some morals; the other needed some business acumen.

Some CEO’s of auto manufacturers really needed someone to say “no” to them.

The Chevy Vega with that crappy engine comes to mind along with the Pinto’s exploding gas tank. GM using plastic parts in transmission was another not so bright spot in trying to make things cheaper. Liquid filled motor mounts was another costly invention that failed and let’s not forget “air bag suspension!” “Not a better idea!”

Bringing German engineering to Texas was really not too smart in the early days, as air cooled engines in 100 plus degree weather did not work so well. The VW Microbus while a really cool looking van was not really very well suited for Texas or any place that was not flat. They were so lacking in power that if one had to go up hill, they may very well not make it. On top of that if the engine got a little oil and or grease on the housing and one did not take great care to keep it clean, it might very well catch on fire as was the fate of many of those vehicles. It would be an interesting statistic to see what percentage of microbuses did not burn up compared to those that did.

Aluminum wiring for houses was another area where someone should have said “no.” While aluminum wire conducts electricity better than copper and while it is cheaper than copper; that is where it stops. When you connect aluminum wire to electrical outlets, switches and so forth that are not specifically designed for this, you increase the chance of fire.

Dissimilar metals have different coefficients of thermal expansion due to differing resistances of the metals. I have actually tracked down problems like this in a house that was made in 1957. Using an old transistor radio tuned off of any station, I tracked the source of interference down to an electrical socket in one of the rooms of the house. Removing the cover of the socket revealed a blackened terminal that was arcing right in front of me when a load was present. This arcing causes heat to be generated. The heat can be sufficient enough to cause a fire to start. Houses made in the late 50’s 60’s and 70’s in the US should be checked for such wire and if it exist, should be brought up to code.

Even though it would have cost the builder a few more dollars, they elected to save a few dollars on each house and use aluminum. Someone should have said “no.” How many people have died in house fires caused by aluminum wire?

Ralph Nader, love him or hate him is such a person who is an activist for humanitarianism among other things. Back in the day, I was not a fan because it was his activism which did away with the Corvair.

The 61 Corvair was probably one of the coolest cars to drive but also very dangerous. Rear engine cars create an environment that would allow a car to spin out more easily as the weight was behind the axle. Along with cars like this, his activism did away with the metal dash.

I restored an old Victrola not too long ago. While the genius of the device “again thanks Edison” is impressive, looking under the hood so to speak is what impressed me more.

Under the deck is a large spring and a governor consisting of weights that move out the faster the turntable spins. This governor is quite an impressive piece of mechanical engineering. The weights resemble steel balls that when expanded, slow the rotation down. Much like a ballerina bringing her arms in, speed up; so too the governor of the Victrola. This is where the phrase “balls to the walls” came from. The idea was of course to go fast enough to cause the balls of the governor to expand far enough to hit the casing “walls” around them.

Anyone in power of anything needs a governor. Even Bill Gates needs such a thing, although I suspect it is his better half. We all need someone to challenge our decisions from time to time. Some would argue that religion serves in such a capacity, others would argue, that is why we have laws.

So if we had neither; what would we be like as a people today?

One only has to study history to learn the answer to this. The problems are that we are too busy doing other things to look back. If I were to tell you that early man hunted, killed and ate each other as matter of day to day life, some of you would not believe me. Some of you would say that you had heard of it in the deepest darkest parts of Africa a long time ago. It amazes me that we have survived our animalistic instincts and tendencies.

If I were to tell you that there was a group of people that considered torture an art form, you might shake your head. Certainly not you decry.. [1]

If reading about the Assyrians does not give you nightmares, read about some of the 25 most brutal torture techniques. [2]

[3] Vlad the Impaler was someone history should learn from. Real nice guy!

History is full of this stuff. When we hear on the news that someone was murdered in some drive by shooting or some crime of passion, by histories standards, that isn’t nothing! I don’t mean to diminish their acts but by yesterday’s standards, that is child’s play.

There is a culture that is into bondage and such and one has to wonder if it is a leftover from earlier times when nothing was off limits.

The very cross that people wear around their necks is a miniature copy of a device that was made for torture. The traditional way to punish a criminal in those days was to nail them to that cross. This made it very difficult for them to breath so they would let them suffer for several hours before they would come along and break their legs so they could no longer support themselves, thus suffocate.

When they execute someone by lethal injection they are executing them on a device that looks like that very cross, just a little wider place to place the body, soon to be corpse, arms stretched and tied and feet held in place while the paralytics enter into the body and stop the bodies ability to breath. Some say that this is too kind and that they should be killed in some horrific manner. Really, does that sound familiar?

These documents are hard to read. This is important stuff as this is where the human race came from. This is where you and I came from. This is where Stalin and Hitler and many other modern day killers, came from.

We are capable of horrific acts! We can choose. We also come from the likes of Brahms, Ptolemy, Aristotle, Plato, Chopin, Pythagoras, Newton, and Voltaire to name just a scant few.

I often wonder about these violent video games that some play. They are very much simulators for war, violence and the conditioning of the brain to accept such things. We come from a very violent past and much like the alcoholic, steering clear of such things is probably a good idea.

We have thousands calling for stricter gun control. Do they think that laws regarding guns will affect criminals? It is a knee jerk reaction to violence, nothing more, and would serve nothing other than emboldening the criminal element among us.

Japan would never invade the mainland and it was never their plan. Why? They knew even back then that most Americans had guns.

If you think that I am full of shit, ask yourself “why these video games are developed in the first place, who thinks up this stuff.” Than ask yourself, “why do they sell so many of them, why are they so popular.”

Pornography fills something inside us that is basic and part of the programming. Violence does the same thing both in movie and of course video game and I would argue that some people who practice it for real have the need for the adrenalin etc that it releases.

It would be an interesting experiment for someone to develop video games where one can capture and torture their victim in ways mentioned below. Complete with screaming and gnashing of teeth and so forth. As sad as it is, I would bet that they would sell. The interesting part would be to see what demographic buys them, how many hours they “play the game” and how does it affect them. I would argue that it would condition them to be “monsters in the making.” The world needs less of this stuff, not more of it. That is my humble opinion.

Science makes arguments against the existence of God. A belief in God humbles one and I think assist us with being moral. Some will claim that they are a good person and don’t need such a belief to “be good.”

If you use God as an excuse to stop asking questions than that is a problem. Where there is mystery, a question to be answered, than search for that answer. Science and God must necessarily co-exist.

The links below are to some sites that speak of evil people and or techniques used to torture people. These are a scant few that history is full of.

All through the history of man, violence prevails. Some of the violence is mystical in nature and some is downright evil. The American Indian tortured white man by some horrific means as did the [6] Chinese torture people as did the Japanese. [5]

When you read about some of this stuff, it really makes you wonder why God would allow this?

[1] http://faculty.uml.edu/ethan_Spanier/Teaching/documents/CP6.0AssyrianTorture.pdf

[2] http://list25.com/25-most-brutal-torture-techniques-ever-devised/

[3] http://www.vladtheimpaler.info/the_impalement.html

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captives_in_American_Indian_Wars

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre

[6] http://www.ishr.org/Methods-of-torture-in-the-People-s-Republic-of-China.1047.0.html

These links are a drop in the bucket. That is the sad part.

No, no advanced race or being would come here looking for anything from us. They might come here to enslave us, eat us, kill us and take our resources much like we exterminate insects before we build a house on the land they occupied.

Unless they like music, or poetry or our understanding of math and science and physics I would not hold much hope for a friendly meeting.

As always I welcome your thoughts, input, and of course enlightened conversation regarding this or any other blog that interest you.

-Best to you and those that you care about.

Life, Wealth and Happiness

I chose the title carefully as the three can me mutually exclusive.

Stuff and Reality

Most of us grow up seeing a pattern of “wealth = happy.” In fact some of the poorest people that I know are some of the happiest. How is that possible?

The world today tells us that we “need” an expensive car, or the largest flat screen TV or whatever the newest gadget is. Apple is doing their part by providing a new version of their products about every 18 months or so.

A few years ago a “car phone” was for the most exclusive and wealthiest of us. Today, kids in grade school have a much more sophisticated version than I would have dreamed possible just a few years ago.

A simple automobile that cost a few thousand not too many years ago now cost upwards or $40K. Of course you can spend $24K for the same basic car but it does not have the “logo” that the $40K car has. Will the less expensive car do the same as the expensive car, probably; but it will not have the social status of the $40k car? I cannot envision spending $150K on a car but there are many on the roads.

If you are a churched person you no-doubt know that “God will provide.” Does that mean that if you pray really hard and give money to the church that you will get the $40K or $150K car? No. It means that you will have the necessities of life. The trick of course is realizing what the “necessities are.”

This is where the poorest among us have the rest of us beat. They are happy with what they have. One of my favorite song writers penned the phrase, “it’s not about having what you want, it’s about wanting what you got.” If you think about that, it is so true.

“Failure to plan is planning to fail!”

Am I telling you to settle for less than what you have or want? No, I am telling you to set your expectations accordingly, set your goals a little higher than your expectations, and take the actions necessary to achieve those goals.

Much like project management, your goals need to be fully planned. What do you want, what does the end goal look like, and what does it take to achieve it? What milestones must you achieve to get to where you want to go or be? Goals should be on some sort of timed deadline. If you set dates to accomplish certain milestones you are more apt to succeed at the end goal. Start with prayer for wisdom. Praying to win the lottery is probably not going to get you anywhere. If it does; please keep me in mind.. J Realistic goals are part of the prayer process. Few grow up with the goal of being a garbage man. If you did, “bless your heart.” Many end up there because they failed to plan.

Do I look down on those folks, not on your life! It takes all kinds of folks to make the world go round. If more folks planned better, I think that finding a ditch digger or garbage man might cost more money. I make a point to know my garbage collection folks. If I can, I go out and tell them good morning etc. The same is true of the mail person and even the janitor at the office. They are all people and disserve the respect that you yourself would want. If you think that you are better than them you are in dangerous territory.

Wealth or the lack thereof.

I would seriously recommend taking the Dave Ramsey course for you who are just starting out. After listening to his radio show for several months, I am convinced that he should be a required course in high school. Credit card companies would lobby against that but, that would be just too bad. Our progeny need to understand the fundamentals of his wisdom, and the sooner the better.

The good news is that if you are a parent you can go through the course with your kids. It does not need to be mandated from the Ivory towers of DC. Many churches around the country offer this course. Why? A tenant of the course is to be generous, think there could be a connection? Too Cynical? Only they and God know their motives.

His mantra goes against current trends in advertising and indeed the way that we spend money! His philosophy and wisdom really came from making mistakes and learning from them. These are mistakes he made many years ago. So, why make the mistake if you can learn from those that have already done it? Like history, if you don’t know it, you will repeat it.

The jobs that you take should reflect some part of the path that you are on in order to achieve your goals. Jobs can be milestones. Let’s say I want to be a geologist. I would start out learning everything I could about the subject from books to social groups that are like minded. I might take an internship at a company that studies core samples. Even if I have to wash beakers or crush rocks, I would be part of the process and undoubtedly something I learned would stick that I could apply later.

The society we are in today has kids out of college with no practical experience looking for the big paycheck and the corner office. Bless their heart!

Many out there just take anything to get some sort of income. Folks, this is ludicrous. Letting fate decide your future is a formula for a life filled with dead end jobs being someone’s slave. If you can’t afford to leave the bedroom that you grew up in, you are on the wrong path! If you are forced to return to the bedroom that you grew up in because you are not making enough money to live on your own and be investing money in your future, you are certainly on the wrong path, or making bad decisions.

Briefly, fast food jobs are for kids in school. Those jobs will allow them to earn some spending money, gasoline and insurance money and if they are strict with themselves, some savings for college. They teach the fundamentals of the working world and truthfully make one appreciate a real job when they get one. I am a firm believer that everyone should have a fast food job as a child.

Retail jobs in general are the same type of job. Most retail jobs are not a career choice that should be anywhere in your decision making process. If those jobs are part time they are for kids living at home. Unless your end goal is to manage some high end retail establishment, you have no business working there unless of course, you are a teenager.

There is definitely a difference between adult jobs and “youth” jobs. “Youth jobs are training wheels for life.”

One job does not fit all.

I see way too many older folks taking retail jobs in places where there should be kids. I think this is a direct reflection of the times that we live in. The sad fact is that these older folks in these jobs allow their attitude towards that job to come through while dealing with the customer. It is not hard to tell that they are not happy and feel that the job is beneath them. Guess what; it most definitely is! Staying in that job is mistake of monumental proportions. Stay in it long enough to retrain and re-invent yourself if necessary, and then leave it for the teenagers that it was originally designed for.

Some older folks are taking these jobs to get out of the house. If you need the money, at least shoot for management. Leave the kid jobs for kids. Of course if you had planned correctly you would not need the money and could be spending your time out of the house, volunteering somewhere.

The last few years, entitlement spending is at an all time high. We are paying people to stay home and live on the government tit. That money that the government gives away comes from those of us who are working, not living on the ignorance of a government run amuck. If the politicians that think that what they are doing is correct they need to revisit it.

Anyone taking money from the government that should be working should be “reinventing” themselves. Currently if you are attending school you are not eligible for unemployment. What kind of foolishness is this? If you don’t find suitable employment in X months you should be required to take some classes and I would argue that those classes should be subsidized by the government. If you get an “A” 100% re-imbursement and so forth. It is almost as if we don’t want you to ever work again, we want you to live on some small amount of money taken from those that are working. Folks this is crazy!

If you know a politician or someone that you can talk some sense into by all means lets push this initiative. People need a hand up, not a handout!

Business is not ignorant of this fact. To get skilled workers to work for peanuts on a part time basis vs. dealing with kids who often have not developed a good work ethic is a bargain. If they get college graduates to slave away at minimum wage jobs, that too is a bargain for them! Keeping them at part time so they don’t have to screw with benefits, another win!

We see the argument to raise the minimum wage so people can make a living at these part time jobs that school kids should be doing. The pay is not the issue, the issue is that adults should not be doing these jobs!

Slavery is not Dead!

The problem is that these kids need those jobs as that is the next part of their training to become good workers. A part time retail or fast food job is not for anyone that is serious about making a living. Managing these occupations is another story however; it is slavery at best as you are most undoubtedly salaried and will work 50 or 60 hours a week and “it will be expected.”

Raising the retirement age was another mistake on so many levels. Companies are shoving you out the door when you are 50 and looking for the college kids fresh out of school to bring in and abuse.

This guy still votes too. That is another blog for another time.

Very few companies see the value in bringing in older Americans as they would have to pay them a decent wage. On top of that, these folks have experience and to some degree that experience might be askance of the job requirements and or environment of that company. The phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” certainly may play through their mind. Mature workers are excellent employees most always as they are skilled professionals and are not the party animals that they once may have been. Their children are most probably out of the house, so little will pull them away from their task.

Mature workers indeed need a vocation as we were designed to work. Those of us who linger in the couch or in front of the TV or video games all day are most probably going to expire way before our time. “A body in motion stays in motion!” Keeping a regular schedule, going to bed at a decent hour, getting up at a decent hour, greeting the morning sun for fifteen minutes in the morning will keep you healthy. There is of course more to it but these fundamentals are all too often overlooked!

If you take a look at the richest people in the world (which is out there on the internet) you will notice Bill Gates is number 1. The Wallmart and Sam’s ilk are close to that and there are so many others. What I would like to call to your attention is that none of these made it there because they are “nice people.” They are shrewd business people. One has to wonder if they are “happy!”

Some of you may try to extol the virtues of Mr. Gates as he gives money to different charities, “what a nice guy!” When Bill was buying the first operating system from a guy for $4k and licensing it to IBM for millions, I was involved with computers. When Mr. Jobs was a criminal, phone phreaking, making his first large sum of money, I knew about it and how he did it. When Bill got the windows idea from Xerox who happily showed him their ideas and products and told him about it being open source he happily took it and ran with it.

I have kept up with Bill, not because I am angry with him, he is a shrewd business man. One has to wonder if they “the richest folks in the world” are “happy” and how much money is enough? How do people get so rich? I wish I could say it was by treating people right and practicing good “ethical” business practices…

Retail stores hire folks are minimum wage and then give them just enough hours so they don’t have to pay for benefits. Some reward their slaves with a few more hours for extra effort while only giving a few to the people who are not really motivated to be there. Folks, it is hard to be motivated for $8 and hour, especially when it takes more than that to get a hamburger. If you are working for someone, even as a slave, do your best as you are gaining experience not just in folding clothing but in dealing with people, managers and situations out of your control. This also should teach you the value of an education and setting goals!

What is your goal? Money is not a goal, but a tool. Like a hammer or saw, it is nothing more or less than a tool. Money is a common tool that everyone can use to pay for or gain enough of to obtain food, shelter and the other basics for life. In some cases it can buy you an island or maybe a small country.. It is still a tool and a means to an end.

Your goal should be to be happy, that I would wish for you. Deciding on what is (happy) is another story. Some find happiness in stuff, and others find it in family and friends. Some of the happiest people that I know find happiness in serving others and or taking care of the other creatures that live amongst us.

I think that happiness is nothing more than a state of mind and those that have little to worry about seem the happiest. I guess if you’re rich enough to hire people to worry about things for you, so you can focus on being “happy” that might be one example of being one of the world’s richest folks might work for you.

Personal growth, understanding the person in the mirror, makes me happy. Each and every time I learn something about me, I am a little happier. There are few things that are in “your control.” Getting a good education, understanding that knowledge is power is a great foundation for being happy. Using that knowledge in a way that is consistent with “enlightened people” to me is a mark of wisdom. Serving others, in some way that is consistent with who you are is another way to become happy. I find that helping others takes my mind off of “self.” Looking at the bigger picture, one can appreciate the complexities of life and sort out the small stuff that should be in the noise, and not artificially elevated to demand your full attention.

This is a lot to chew on. Questions and thoughts are always welcome.

-Best to you and those that you care about!

Yesterday, A simpler time.. #radio #vintage

Nostalgia is not lost on me. To that end I truly enjoy bringing things back to life of the electronic type, that should have otherwise gone in the dumper.

Currently there are countless transistor radio’s that were dead and now work once again at least as good as they did new, and some of them probably better as materials are now better. While the challenge of transistor radio’s is finding the parts; tube radio’s magnify that issue as no one is making new tubes for radio’s that I know of.

My latest project is this Tube Radio that I have had well over 30 years. I bought this for next to nothing and of course it did not work. If the case is in good shape and the parts are all there, that is about all I require.

The Radio is an Emerson 744B that was made in 1954. It sold for $34.95 which, back then was a heap of money.

Sadly there are many that will read this blog and not know what a tube is. With that in mind I have taken pictures of my latest project and will “splain” a few things as we go. The glass objects are tubes. These either are dead in the case of the rectifier tube or weak or leaky as with the rest.

The tubes house a filament, some metal structures that emit and collect electrons as well as things that control the flow of the electrons. Some house a thing called a “getter.” The Getters sole job is to collect and burn off any o2 that should get in by way of the pins. The getter is coated with a chemical that accomplishes this.

The British refer to these “tubes” as “valves” and in actuality that is a much more accurate description as that is in essence how they work.

This is the audio output tube in action. Notice the filament is glowing.

Here is a top view of the radio in operation.

Here is a bottom view of the radio showing the point to point electronic components. If you know anything about electronics you will notice the modern parts that I have installed, replacing the parts that failed.

Back in the day, capacitors were expensive to manufacture so they would use just what they needed and nothing more in terms of capacitance. Today that is not the case and with technology I was able to offer much more capacitance and higher working voltages to the circuit for around $6.

One old .05 MFD capacitor is still in the radio and functioning so I left it. The white square capacitors replaced two of the three .05 which are now .047.

The two modern electrolytics replaced the huge combination capacitor that some “purists” will actually disassemble and install the newer capacitors inside of it. I know very few who are going to take the metal bottom off of the radio and look underneath to see the parts. This radio sounds like a new one.

Here in North Texas we have a station that plays music from the era that this radio came from. http://www.kaamradio.com/

Big Band music I just never get tired of…. Anyway, this radio sounds great playing that station.

-Best to you and those that you care about..

Who enslaves who and how.

Some simple facts about who champions who. Revisionist history is rife and people seldom seem to check the facts..

Here is a web site that has the facts.

Enjoy!

http://theblacksphere.net/2013/07/civil-wrongs-lyndon-b-johnson/

Out of the box thinking continued…

After doing a little research on prisons, I have come to the conclusion that there are huge financial gains for “thinking outside the box” on this issue.

The average cost to house a prisoner is $20k per year, give or take. These include statistics in states where there is over crowding and states where there is not.

http://www.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/Price_of_Prisons_updated_version_072512.pdf

What if we took all prisoners with non-violent offenses, although I would start with the 75 thousand non-violent drug offense inmates and made farmers out of them? This could be their choice but, time off for good behavior while learning how to farm and become productive would be a win! Monitoring of them could be easier and less expensive with technology i.e. drones or proximity devices etc.

The simple facts are that this cost “the tax payers” tons of money each year, both at a state and federal level.

If we were able to get the 75 thousand currently sitting in prison on non-violent drug offenses off the prison role and working on a farm being productive, that alone is $1.5Billion a year of tax money that could be used for something else.

Now how many are in prison for other non-violent offenses?

Factor into this the folks that are on welfare that can work and don’t, as well as the street folks who might want to take part in this, (comes with a place to live, heat and food.)

Lets get them to grow staples that the country needs and then they all of the sudden are a “profit center” if you will.

Between making a business out of housing criminals, entitlement spending and spending on aliens that are here illegally; tax payers bear one hell of a burden. We really need some “out of the box thinkers” to address these problems.

We really need some of these thinkers for the illegal alien issues here in this country. I really hate to use that terminology for them. If I lived there, I would do my best to come here as well. While I would do my best to come through the front door, that is certainly a lot easier said than done. Some of the basic arguments that I read are false however. There are plenty of “white people” that will do those jobs. There are plenty of “Americans” that will do those jobs. To say that white people and or Americans are too lazy to do them is a blatant falsehood and offensive to me. If you need work, you will do what you have to. If the government is paying you not to work, well that is really the cruckst of it, isn’t it? Who would dig ditches if the government will pay you stay home and watch The View or some other absolute mind-rotting nonsense?

Propaganda comes in all shapes and sizes. It comes from those that you “trust” on the nightly news, to shows from Disney with fuzzy little creatures. Third world countries are not the only ones brainwashing their citizens. While we can still get multiple views on certain topics, some countries have state run everything so the only “view” that they get is whatever the “government in power” wants them to have.

Currently we have the first amendment (free speech.) That however is under attack by the political correct police. This needs to be stopped. If what you say offends others let them not listen to you. They have the right to not listen just like you have the right to make a complete and utter ass of yourself. If I can control what you say under the guise of political correctness, than I can have free reign on a myriad of subjects and you cant say anything bad about. Friends, that is not right and “UN-American!”

The real trick is finding the multiple views as for some reason the media is in love “or in bed” with the progressives in this country. I personally read news from all over the world as there is always something going on that other countries find newsworthy. The BBC which is liberal is for the most part “right” of most of our media.

It would be refreshing to have objective journalist again. It would seem that the only time that they are tough on the government is when the GOP in charge. I am not saying that the GOP is right, what I am saying is that we need objective standards in the media. If the president drew a crowd of 5000 at some event, both FOX and CNN should say 5000, not “that there were only a few thousand” or “there were absolutely THOUSANDS that showed up for the event!” Both statements are correct, and both are misleading.

There are thousands of folks out there “speaking of thousands” who have probably thought about these issues from time to time. Let’s noodle this around a little and see what we can come up with. Let’s have a little “enlightened conversation.”

-Best to you and those that you care about!

An Open letter to those that can make a change, “You.”

Today I want to talk about the uber poor.

Currently there exist three classes of folks; The Rich, the middle class and the poor. I would argue that there are more than this. I would argue that there are five classes, the Uber rich, Rich, middle class, poor and very poor.

Anyone with over a Billion dollars is Uber rich. When you get into this club you have enough “gold” to make the rules.

The rich are really just upper middle class as they cannot make the rules and must live by the ones created by the uber rich however; since they are in the upper middle class they know some of the folks who make the rules and can have influence.

Before you write me and tell me uber rich don’t make the rules, I know congress makes the laws / rules but I am also savvy to Avenue K and lobbyist and who hires them…

I am skipping the middle class at the moment to jump to the poor.

The poor have apartments, houses, cable TV, one or more televisions, at least one computer and have most likely figured out how to get enough government assistance or other “invisible income” to make up the difference between being poor instead of very poor. I would argue that these folks are really middle class; they for a large part just pay taxes as if they were poor or living in poverty.

Then there are the very poor, they are street folks who live under bridges and basically exist on the benevolence of others, charitable organizations or what they can find on their own.

Now we have the middle class. These are the folks that strive to be upper middle class or rich and really have too much pride to be anything else. These are the people that get up every day and go to work whether they feel good or not. These are the folks that take two jobs, take their kids to soccer, and do all of the other stuff that most do but they are driven to press on, to get ahead, to give their kids a “chance” at something better than what they have.

Some would argue that their eye might not be on giving their kids something better but on having more “do dads, or gadgets” or trying to keep up with the millionaires.

These are also the folks who have little to no control over the rules. These are the folks that try to vote for the right person, do the PTA thing, and use whatever influence they have to make a difference.

These are also the folks who are most taken advantage of, not only by the rich and uber rich, but the poor as well. These are the folks who the 9000 pages of tax code screw the most because they don’t have enough power to anything about it!

These are the folks who get the Cable, satellite radio, cell phones with data plans and other do dads to fill voids in their lives that life quite frankly is not fulfilling. These are the folks who have the “universal fees” taken out of their ass-pocket, not knowing that they are one of the government’s ways of redistributing wealth!

I was in a park not long ago. While there, a guy, “street person” walked by me. He smelled bad and was a good distance from me. That is not however what got my attention. He was talking on a cell phone. He was in fact calling 911 because one of his fellow street people had taken his trash bag full of stuff or so he alleged. I am certain that the local police were really happy that this gentleman was able to call 911 with his “emergency.”

This is the uber poor or poorest of the poor. Not only is he relegated to living on the street, carrying his stuff in a trash bag but, he has no support system. Even though this is Texas it still gets cold in the winter. Instead of getting these people phones, would they not be better served with some other assistance? Let’s start with clean dry clothes and a warm place to sleep and some warm food. Let’s get them some medical care, including mental health. Let’s teach them what constitutes and emergency. While I am certain that was an emergency to him, that call could very well take away from a real life and death situation. There are other numbers for non emergency stuff and that should be the number he used. Truth be told if he had called sanitation he most probably would have learned that they pick up and discard full trash bags left alone.

Some folks are there on the street because that is where they want to be, I get that. Some are there because of mental illness. Some are there because they have no training to get a job or are wrapped up in some sort of substance abuse problem and waiting to hit “true bottom.” Some are undoubtedly there because of “shit happens.“

These folks don’t need a cell phone or internet, they need help! There is no money to be made in helping these folks however; giving them something tangible like a cell phone and allowing them to vote without a picture ID makes perfect sense to the government, and creates “more useful idiots.”

The purpose of this diatribe is to offer a solution to the problem. Unlike Washington and the uber greedy, I think outside the box. So, take that cell phone money and cable TV money and all of those other “universal fees” that Carter started, Clinton pushed through and Obama expanded upon and do this.

Set aside government land outside of large cities that is “farm worthy.” Enlist faith based groups, and other groups like habitat for humanity and set these folks up farms.

I am not talking about buying $150K tractors, just land and some modest accommodations and some hand tools while they make it a working business. A mule pulling a plow worked for our forefathers, maybe that could be located until they could earn their own stuff. Using the habitat for humanity model, they must put in sweat equity… I would say they must stay clean, pass drug test etc but that is just common sense, isn’t it?

Farming is not rocket science but, it is becoming a lost art. Kids today who grow up on the farm are leaving it at alarming rates. Involve the Aggies in teaching these folks the principles of farming. As the population continues to grow, does it not make sense that we could use some more farmers?

Offer this to the street people that don’t want to be on the street.

Offer this to the poor and downtrodden trapped in desperate situations; in neighborhoods that are virtual war zones with drug and gang activity. Offer them a way out, a hand up.

Find leaders among these people to self police themselves. Assist these folks to regain some sense of self worth.

First, get them medical help including mental and drug rehab. Part of that is learning how to farm. They can learn to farm, run a business and sell their product on the markets. Subsequently they can make profits and purchase tractors and what have you. If they could just feed themselves, that would be a huge win! It would be a “shot!”

I would also offer these types of programs to the 75 thousand currently in prison for non-violent drug offenses. Put ankle monitors on them and give them a chance to re-deem themselves. Prison is no place to “rehabilitate oneself.” Prison is a good place to learn how to be a smarter criminal. What if we had them help the others to become something more than a lost soul.

If we could get 75 thousand out of prison which the American people are currently paying to house,feed and manage, as well as help the poor to re-gain their lives and self worth, would this not be “giving them a shot” Mr. President? Would this not be “spreading the wealth,” in a way that makes sense?

Wealth is not just money Mr. President, it is knowledge. If I give poor people money and phones and other stuff I am enabling the poor to stay poor and in effect, I am crippling them. I am giving them a handout, instead of a hand up! All they learn is how to take.. Kennedy said, “ask what you can do” (paraphrased) Should we not teach them to fish?

If I take currently non-productive people and give them a sense of purpose; is that not giving them a shot?

Instead of kicking this can down the road people, we need to take ownership of it and make it our problem; instead of our grandchildren’s’. We need more givers than takers and it starts now.

There are smarter people out there than I, and possibly with enough “think tank” collective from the American people, maybe something good can happen. We have enough bad things on the news each and every day, it is time for something good, don’t you think?

Here is the challenge to you the readers. I am not trying to get anything out of this. This is my way of giving back. Writing a letter to the white house would end up in file 13…the bin. One voice in the wind is one voice. I need millions of voices. The only way that this has a chance is to re-blog, re-post, re-tweet and make it as viral as possible. If enough read it, someone with some “influence” will get this to the right person or people. Maybe some Hollywood type that is tired of his or her tax dollars going to keep non-violent drug offenders locked up might think outside the box as well.

Let’s give this administration a positive way that they can “fundamentally transform this country in a good way” by teaching those that need help, how to help themselves.

Yes there are details that need sorting out and I would offer that private citizens do it. Maybe, just maybe some benevolent Capitalist might have some good ideas or contacts, or a way to help. If the government gets involved too heavily with the details, we will have another 9000 pages of tax code, 60 thousand earmarks, amendments creating turtle tunnels in the tundra, and nothing will ever happen to help these people. This process needs to be streamlined and someplace like Detroit might make a good pilot as that place “like Chicago” is a war-zone.

These kids need an out and learning how to take from the government is not it. Learning how to not get shot walking to school, or how to look innocent in a lineup is not what they need to be learning.

This would also work at the state level. How about it Mr. Perry, can you make this work and show the Country /World how Texans take care of things?

Some prisons have farms already, are some of those inmates candidates to teach others?

-Best to you and those that you care about, now get reposting… Thanks!

Hubris in IT

It would seem that “Pride cometh before a fall” is something that is lost on most people who work in IT.

As someone who has been working with computers from about the time Bill Gates was buying an operating system from some poor guy in Washington State, and Steve Jobs was phone phreaking; There is just not much that escapes me.

I was doing some consulting for a company that was simply put together with bailing wire and scotch tape. They had a huge pipe to the internet and were getting a dribble through by the time it hit the desktop.

Loading WireShark (a free protocol analyzer) examining the broadcast packets it was easy to see why. The OS was literally working with NetBIOS to route packets.

A quick examination of the “server room” found the switches all tied together with Fiber and, patch cords going from one switch to another causing untold amount of routing loops etc. While the picture above is a stock photo the room in question looked very much like this.

My job however was not to fix their networking issues as this was the task of the guy I was “helping.” He was the System Administrator. I sent e-mails to him alerting him to my findings so he could take the appropriate steps, which for some reason he discounted and did not do.

The weeks went on and the problems persisted several times a day where people were kicked off of the network or files were corrupt or lost etc. His response/fix was to release and renew the IP address. Putting one band aid on the problem day after day I guess gave him a sense of accomplishment but the problems were looming and like the 500 pound gorilla in the closet, soon to get out.

One of the things that I learned many years ago is to work with VARS. Value added resellers have years of experience to draw upon. They know which products are buggy and to stay away from and which are tried and true. If you are a business don’t try and save money via internet stores as you will get what others can’t sell for one reason or another. They are on sale for a reason…

When I asked him for his vendor contact list to include in his DR plan, there were no VARS on the list. Everything was from internet companies or local retail locations. He in fact had no fallback plan if the $hit hit the fan.

The hardware purchased looked as much. There were no standards anywhere. There were high end SANS tied to cheap switches. The workstation of choice was whatever he got a good deal on making mass deployment of anything just about impossible. Hardware was way past its lifecycle and the list just went on. Because of his pride; he was not willing to listen to anyone regarding anything IT. If he does not change it will be his undoing.

This is not my first rodeo and certainly not my first encounter with arrogance. As a manager I can deal with it, as a consultant one must work around it and if it becomes too big of an impediment, bow out. There is no reason to sully your name with a situation like this when the outcome will likely somehow be your fault.

Always hire people smarter than you are and have the humility to acknowledge that you are not the end all be all. There is simply too much information out there to know it all. Wisdom is; knowing that you need help and to leverage VARS and consultants is simply smart.

-Best to you and those that you care about!