Month: January 2015

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Blah Blah Blatty Blah, Blah Blah.

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I couldn’t bring myself to watch the State of the Union address.

Honestly, I feel kinda bad about it. In a strange way I feel like I’ve somehow abdicated my responsibility to keep an eye on our government.

On the other hand, I was laying flat in my bed after having thrown my back out. (I’m completely unclear how I did it) I just couldn’t take the thought of getting spun up listening to Stompyfoot.

Even reading the after event articles from various news feeds this morning is to some extent disgusting. Split right down the middle, the left is praising The President, the right is essentially saying WTF?

I can’t watch an Obama speech without thinking of The Fifth Element and the character Ruby Rhod. Chris Tucker was fantastic at his parody of marginally talented performers and their entourage of sycophants.

No matter what Ruby said or did his entourage was always excited, in agreement, and willing to tell him whatever they thought he wanted to hear.

I can’t read or listen to the media about The President without seeing Ruby’s entourage in my mind’s eye. 

Some of the reports this morning suggest that The President turned on the media. Chris Matthews was apparently put off by the Presidents comments. I call it a classic case of a politician realizing that his old alliances are now meaningless, so why not start devouring them.

On the plus side we wont have to listen to many more of ‘ol Stompyfoot’s speeches.

I think the election cycle is fully underway and it’s going to be a seriously nasty one.

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My Schrödinger’s Insurance policy

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Seems to be my lot in life, my insurance is always a pain in the butt.

I switched to a provider that supposedly has a real PPO instead of the Bullshit PPO that was really an EPO my previous insurance provider was selling.

I’m not getting a good feeling. The policy was supposed to have taken effect on Jan 1 but as of Jan 19th I still had no insurance cards, and no paper communication from them. 

Do I have a policy at all? They took my money.

I called them and found out BIG SURPRISE I apparently have Schrödinger’s insurance policy.

I’m not surprised at all. The universe seems to like to play with me and insurance policies. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem except that I was trying to have a prescription filled.

I think I’m playing the part of THE CAT in this experiment! 

After an hour on the phone, many assurances, apologies, and stressing my jinglish translation capabilities… I think it’s straightened out. Either that or I’ve initiated 3 additional policies and purchased 4 cats.

I was able to pick up the prescription so that represents at least a little progress.

In the Misrepresentation Category 

There is still the matter of the previous Insurance and policy that has declined to pay for anything except routine prescriptions. This is the policy that was sold as a PPO but it’s actually an EPO, or perhaps an HMO. I call it a NOMO (No Medical Organization). 

This policy was supposed to include a once a year physical at no cost to me. They’re refusing to pay any part of that routine physical and FYI the cost of my annual physical this year is well under $1000  

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The funny thing about it is this. The cost of the physical and labs is $100 LESS than a single monthly payment which I faithfully paid them throughout the year.

It turns out I can mathematically I can prove that for at least last year, I would have been better off without insurance at all.

I saw my doctor exactly once. I’m guessing that the Insurance company made about $300 profit from me each month.

I’m hoping that the folks associated with this rip off plan burn for a while in the fires of hell. Not because of me, per se.  

It’s all those little old folks that purchased this bullshit policy in good faith and then ended up screwed because their medical costs quickly spiraled out of control. I’m lucky in that I’m pretty healthy, but what about those other folks that aren’t?

I know that the legal system can’t punish these executives I can hope that a higher power does.

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OHHHH Hollywood’s in trouble now!

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Al Sharpton is calling the Oscars on the red carpet for not falling all over themselves about Selma

Those racist bastards!

Surely the Oscar committee must have realized that a vote for films wouldn’t matter.

The ONLY correct answer these days is for black movies to sweep the Oscars.

I suppose Sharpton’s going to demand protests in the streets at his “emergency race meeting”.

Will Sharpton’s Oscar protestors be called #Hollywoodberacistnshit?

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I find myself wondering when Sharpton is going to start talking about Jews in entertainment as the problem. Then which way will he go, McCarthy or Hitler?

“Are you now, or have you ever identified as Jewish or white?” OR “Da fix be ta put whitey in camps n shit, where dey be outta our way.”

Neither of which would be considered wrong because of a widely shared delusion that says people of color cannot be racist.

I have no doubt that Hollywood will twist themselves into Möbius strips trying to appease Sharpton and the other race baiters.

In an effort to help…

I recommend that we take all the Oscars from everyone for the past decade, then give them to ONLY black film-makers and actors. NO WHITES ALLOWED.<— Not racist because it’s only excluding white people.  If that doesn’t appease Sharpton, we can go back 50 years. It doesn’t matter, the awards are completely meaningless anyway.

The ultimate (dare I say, final) solution to Sharpton’s displeasure with Hollywood, is to have only black producers, actors, and movies. Perhaps President Obama can make that happen with an Executive Order. “It’s against the law for Whites to be in the entertainment industry,” or something similar? <— Not racist because again, it’s only excluding white people.

My snark is because I’m over the ginned up accusations of racism at every freaking turn. I’m sick of this delusion that ONLY black people can be victims. Its well past time for Sharpton to get out of the public eye, pay his taxes and SHUT UP!

I’d also be happy if we simply had no more idiotic award ceremonies… I’d probably dance a little jig.

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It’s been an interesting week…

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Though not without its price. I’ve apparently caught a cold or flu. I feel lousy!

Monday, we realized that the Pompeii exhibit was closing on the 11th of this month. We’d been meaning to go see it and for some reason thought it wasn’t going to close until the end of Jan. OOOPPPPSS!!!

As things turned out there were tickets available for Tuesday, and we got in to see the exhibit. The only problem was the number of people who were stopping in front of each of the items in the exhibit then listening to the prerecorded message thingy while crowding in, to completely obscure the items being described.

There was a time when children and people in wheelchairs were given room to get close, so they could press their noses against the glass.

Those days are gone! Folks you’re totally on your own. I had several really rude FEMNAZIS, (based on their attire, complete lack of courtesy, lack of personal hygiene and ample stink-eye toward any and all males,) actually shove their damn iPhones in front of my face so that they could take pictures. 

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They were afforded this opportunity because I was maintaining space between myself and the display cases, allowing children to press their noses against the glass!  

Had I been thinking I’d have snatched the phone(s) out of their hand(s) said, “Thank you” then walked away. These women were handing me the phones weren’t they? 

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the exhibition. I’d prefer to see Pompeii and Herculaneum “In Person” and perhaps someday I will.

I did find the exhibit a bit daunting simply because there was a ton of people in a very confined area. Picture the 405 in LA or I-10 in Houston, or the Holland Tunnel in NY, at 5PM. You know, a whole lot of people going absolutely nowhere!

I didn’t bother to take any pictures. To get decent quality you’d have to be able to get to the exhibit itself (or shove your camera phone in front of someone else) then angle the camera such that the glare from the overhead lights reflecting off the cases wasn’t obscuring what you were taking a picture of. In other words why bother trying to take photos yourself when professional photos of all the pieces are available online.

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They had a VERY TAME representation of a brothel that they also allowed you to bypass lest you were easily offended. Honestly, there was nothing, and I mean NOTHING in that brothel that was more racy than you’d see any night on TV.

I expected polished alabaster or marble phalluses that had been used as sexual toys. The only representation of phallic art was a horny little fertility god, who had a small penis growing out of a larger erect penis. BIG DEAL! (I can’t locate his image at the moment.)

This statue of what looks like a satyr having sex with a goat on the other hand, would have warranted a “Caution Parents, your children shouldn’t see this!” warning. However, this statue wasn’t on display in the LA exhibit.

I would have thought the casts of the bodies would have been far more disturbing, “Mommy, will that happen to us?” especially for children living in Los Angeles.

With the pointed explanation that earthquakes preceded the eruption of Vesuvius which then destroyed Pompeii, I picture that being of more immediate concern to a child than some goat thing wrestling with goat. 

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The glasswork, farm tools, cooking utensils, coins, and jewelry were impressive. The jewelry was beautiful work. The tools and cookware were as common and comprehensible as anything in my kitchen or garage.

FYI, the LA version of the exhibit was very minimalist.

I know from photos, reading archeological reports, and generally being interested in both Pompeii and Herculaneum that there is a surprisingly large amount of well preserved artifacts from both sites.

At a guess, I’d say the LA exhibit was far less than 1% of the artifacts recovered and catalogued.

Looking at the artifacts on display at the Field Pompeii exhibit, it seems  that for some reason LA didn’t put out all the artifacts that the Italian authorities provided. Perhaps this subset of artifacts was due to space restrictions. I’m somewhat disappointed, given the significance to archeology of this particular find.

One thing that was really interesting is the stark contrast in human achievement afforded visitors to the California Science Center.

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After spending 2 hours patiently waiting for people to move along so that we could see the Pompeii artifacts, we found ourselves in a section of the museum dedicated to space. Apollo, Gemini, and a wide variety of space probes were well represented. But the crown jewel was the Endeavor.

One thing that might have been particularly interesting would have been to place the Pompeii exhibit in the Endeavor’s hangar. The contrast underscoring how far we’ve come, the skill of our hands, and our capacity for achievement might have provided food for thought.

For me exhibits like Pompeii are touchstones. Reminders, that our technologies may not have made us “better” only more technological. At our core we’re still humans seeking solutions to everyday problems and dreaming of the next horizon.

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Trying to just take a deep breath

After yesterday, I’ve decided to try to spend the day in my office writing, and looking for a new job.

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The doors are locked, the alarm is on, and I’ve got the office door closed with music playing.

The crowds were already developing at the base of the hill at 7:30 am.

I can think of some folks I know down that way who are no doubt just “Thrilled” to have people gawking in their windows during breakfast, or their shower.

One way I thought of that might be fun to drive all these people away would be if all of us along the wash just got naked and opened our drapes. We could go about our business, have sex etc and give all these unwanted “guests” an education.

The problem with that is that in effect we’d be stripping the innocence from the children who’ve don’e nothing wrong. Their parents brought them up here, plopped them in the snow and didn’t give a thought to the fact that this is a neighborhood and they’re interfering with our living our lives.

So giving everyone a show would be morally wrong. There is a part of me that would love to see the court battle though.

“Yes your honor, that man was naked!”

“How did you see he was naked?”

“I was in his back yard looking in his window with my kids playing in the snow…”

“Oh so you were being a peeping tom?”

“Uhhhhh…”

“Case dismissed!”

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This whole sudden snowplayer problem has opened my eyes a bit.

There are many things I liked about Wrightwood. But those were things I liked 15 years ago or more.

Time has moved on. When I look at the Wrightwood of today, it’s not as endearing a place.

The negatives have begun to outweigh the positives by an increasing margin.

Victomville, to the North, is a cesspit. Phelan, also to the North often has a crime rate that rivals the inner city. Meth, gangs, prostitution, theft, you name it, are rooted deeply in the desert.

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Both cities are within 20 miles of us and loaded with exactly the kind of trash we’ve seen up here in the past few days. 

When I first moved here, The desert floor was dark. You could easily see the rest of The Milky-way. Constellations were clear and bright. Now the light from Victimville and Phelan obscure the sky.

It was easy to forget that just over the mountain was the cacophony of LA, Orange Country, and The Inland DIMpire.

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At the time, Victorville was a smallish place populated mostly by Airforce personnel, their families, and various support staff. It was a growing place, that’s true. But when Clinton started closing bases and gutting the military, Lots of houses under construction in Victorville were suddenly without buyers.

That inevitably led to HUD housing and lots of people from South Central LA moved to Victorville.

In fairness these were decent folks trying to keep their kids off drugs and out of the gang lifestyle. But it was too late. the gang affiliations had already been made.

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Now, I drive through Victimville just like I do South Central.

The only thing missing is my car saying, “WARNING! You have entered a Personal Hazard Area. Do Not exit your vehicle, Do not stop.” But I hear it in my head.  Logan’s Run had a district where the little bubble cars on tracks would start playing a similar warning.

I actually accelerate. I just want to get out of those zones as quickly as possible. The problem is, those zones are crashing on the shores of our mountains. It’s only a matter of time before all the same ills that exist below exist up here.

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I can’t help feeling like its time to sell the house before the property values drop. Looking at the homes for sale here it may already be too late.