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Oh Boy, Third Strike and I’m out!

I’ve written and discarded three blog posts today.

RonDeSantis

Im settling on this one come hell or high water!

I’ve been keeping a close eye on hurricane Ian. I have family throughout Florida including in the Ft Meyers area.

My family has said that for the past week or more Governor DeSantis has been on the local news stations providing instructions, detailing plans, and telling folks not to panic but to do commonsense things that anyone who’s ever been through a hurricane knows should be done.

Politico, Jackasses on The View, CNN, and morons in Washington D.C have totally pissed me off with their bullshit trying to say a hurricane is caused by global warming and that somehow DeSantis is at fault.

Uh NO! If you subscribe to the theory that Climate Change over the past 100 years is responsible for major storms then DeSantis sucking the cock of the Climate Change folks over the past few years wouldn’t have stopped hurricane Ian.

It’s a slow cumulative process that’s taken 100 years to create. If you were to somehow magically be able to undo all the effects of Climate Change instantly… You’d create devastating storms and more Climate Change because you instantly changed the planetary climate conditions.

What do you think happened with the extinction of the dinosaurs? Big rock from space hits the planet. The impact and heat transferred to the ocean caused tons of debris and vaporized the ocean in or near what is now the Gulf of Mexico. Rain, darkness, debris, and ash blocked out the sun. After that it was only a matter of time before the planet’s atmosphere cooled possibly triggering a kind of extended winter, followed by an ice age and poof dinosaurs died off.

That’s what happens when you radically alter an environmental system.

When the volcano on Krakatoa blew, there was enough dust thrown into the atmosphere that it apparently caused shorter growing seasons in Europe and the Thames in London froze in Winter for several years.

Tell me again how DeSantis kowtowing to Climate Change activists would have prevented a hurricane…

AmyKlobuchar

Then there’s that moron from MN Amy Klobuchar who suggests that voting Democrat would have had effect on hurricane Ian.

Either the Democrats. Have weather control technology and have been using it to destroy those who disagree with them, or Klobuchar is admitting she and the Democrat party are the single largest coven of evil witches ever seen.

The more likely explanation is that she’s just a moron. Although it might be fun to take all the democrat party in Washington and give them the Witch test. Tying them up and tossing them in the Potomac to see who floated might be good for a laugh. Nah, I wouldn’t want to pollute the Potomac with that much festering human refuse.

The shrews on The View are no better, and Joy Reid is quite possibly the dumbest person on TV.

She’s such a well informed climatologist she can make the statement, “There’s no doubt climate change is responsible for Ian”. Wow Joy! I didn’t know you could read much less that you were a climatologist.

JoyReid

Don Lemon on CNN morning (No longer a prime time Anchor) Had the audacity to try to back a real meteorologist Jamie Rhome into a corner about climate change during an interview while Ian was making landfall in Florida.

Even after Dumbass Don got politely shutdown by Rhome, Lemon tried again to have Rhome connect Ian to climate change, forcing Rhome into a more strenuous shutdown, Lemon had to have the last word saying, “I grew up there and the storms are getting stronger.”

Well Don Florida is much better off without you living there. It wouldn’t surprise me to discover that you were one of the people who created the “Hanging Chad” voting debacle.

This was almost as funny as Dumbass Don being roasted by royal commentator Hilary Fordwich over reparations when he pushed that issue during his coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

Ms. Fordwich was properly British and smoked Lemon without raising her voice. It was epic, the link is here and funny to watch.

CNN Royal Correspondent Tells Don Lemon Reparations Should Be Paid for Slavery By Africans 640x335 2828689854

The thing is, this season in Florida is called Hurricane Season for a reason. It’s a yearly event, it’s been happening forever and most folks throughout the Caribbean are familiar with it.

Some years you get a lot of little storms, some years you get a couple of major storms. It’s the luck of the draw.

Old timers in Florida try not to look a gift horse in the mouth if the hurricane season passes with one or two minor storms, but they’ll tell you if you ask, they worry about “paying the piper” the next year with a major storm.

Anyway, every time I started to write something I’d get distracted by the stupidity of some other moron.

But the one that really pissed me off was President Biden.

Grandstanding as he was in the D.C. FEMA office was obscene. Although I did enjoy the look the guy behind Sleepy Joe’s left shoulder had.

BidenatFEMA

There was absolutely nothing Joe could offer being in the FEMA office. The odds are that his presence significantly disrupted those folks working day.

In other words, Dementia Joe slowed down their progress at getting needed resources out of warehouses and moving toward the area they are needed.

Sort of like him bloviating at a major airport during one of the recent air traffic snarls and because of him being there to run his mouth, he added to the problem by having that part of the airport shut down.

We got another dose of angry Joe, when he said that he was going to be watching the gas prices in Florida very closely and threatened the gas stations not to gouge the consumers.

I found this particularly annoying since in California, 3000 miles away from the hurricane. The gas prices rose .16 cents overnight. If that’s not gouging sleepy Joe, I don’t know what is.

Mayorkis running his mouth wasn’t adding anything either.

I think DeSantis has probably done everything pretty darn close to right. I think that when Florida does the “After Action Review” they’ll find some things that could have been done better and then implement what they learn so that the next hurricane they’ll handle better. That’s a marked contrast to the Biden Administration and the Democrat party who never learns anything new except how to fuck over the American people.

Lemon, Reid, Klobuchar, Biden, Mayorkis, and the vicious harpies on The View, are a bunch of jackasses and they cannot be removed from their positions too fucking soon!

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Totally a first world problem…

As most readers know, long ago I switched over to Apple for most everything in my personal computing environment. Wherever you look in my home office, you’ll see an Apple logo. 

Exceptions are of course in monitors, printers, and these days my router. Apple no longer makes their Airports or Time Capsules. So I ended up changing components as the Apple devices wore out.

Apple Monitors are spectacular but far too expensive for my needs. There was a time I even had an Apple LaserWriter.

This is not to say Apple makes the best products. I do find however that Apple products tend to remain useful far beyond their non Apple competitors. It’s nice having a unified ecosystem too. Being able to update everything from a central source is on the one hand a little spooky but on the other hand it’s super convenient. I like knowing that my devices have updated themselves and typically don’t require a lot of intervention on my part. (HomePods, I’m looking at you when I say “Typically”)

All that being said, I’ve been noticing that lately the configurations of Apple equipment that I’d be most likely to purchase haven’t been available off the shelf.

The latest example has been the Apple Watch Ultra. The 13” MacBook Pro with the M2 processor 24GB of RAM and 2 TB of disk storage. One can argue that the Apple Watch is brand new, okay I’ll give you that one. The MacBook Pro 13” on the other hand has been out for a long while. Why then is the maximum configuration still not readily available? Oh right… COVID. 

Another item just showed up on this list. The Mac Studio. It’s been out for almost a year. You’d think I could pull up at an Apple Store, and plunk down 3K then walk out with one containing the M1 Ultra Chip, max memory, and 2 TB of disk. Well you’d be wrong. 

Macstudio

This configuration is apparently order only and has a mid October delivery date. Why? Surely I can’t be the only person to realize that with Apple Products these days you have to buy what you’re willing to live with from the get go. Modern Macs don’t allow for upgrades, they don’t allow you to buy a mid grade unit then max it out later. You have to buy it knowing that if you outstrip it’s capabilities you’re going to have to buy a new machine.

So what the hell? After the recent debacle with me purchasing a maxed out M1 MacBook Pro and then having it stolen when I needed to ship it back to Apple because it was defective. I don’t want to buy anything new unless I can exchange it in a store.

(I’m still having to pay for the computer even though it was stolen. Fed Ex denies responsibility and so does their agent Dollar General. Word to the wise, if you have to return something to Apple, drive 100 miles to the nearest Apple store to return it. Make sure Apple gives you a receipt on paper. For that matter if you’re shipping something back to a manufacturer for refund or exchange don’t accept “We’ll send you a text message or an email,” demand a paper receipt because that’s your only proof that you handed the product to FedEx or UPS or whoever. Text messages are complete bullshit as receipts.)

In my case, I don’t want to order anything from anyone online. Sure there’s convenience in having something delivered to your door, but if whatever it is, is broken, or dies, the hassle of returning it and waiting for a replacement greatly destroys the convenience. 

I prefer to be able to take something back to the store and get an exchange on the spot. 

In the case of Apple, I prefer to unbox the machine in the damn store and power it up. I want to Know it works before I leave. Setting something up in the store allows me to know that and do a trade in, if desired, at the same damn time.

Apple products are generally reliable right from the get go but given the sloppy Chinese manufacturing I’ve seen lately, and the fact that most all of Apple’s products are made in China… Well, I really want to verify things are working while it’s still easy to exchange.

Therein lies the problem. Since the Apple stores don’t have representative examples of the top of the line configurations in stock and I’m gun-shy about ordering something custom for which there is no backup I’m not likely to buy the item in the first place.

That’s how I came to be screwed with my M1 MacBook. I had to return it and have another one built, it’s not like I could get another one off the shelf at an Apple Store.

Yes this is a first world problem. 

Nonetheless, it begs the question why isn’t Apple stocking the high end configurations at their stores? I mean at least ONE in stock at each store?

When I bought my Intel MacBook (Max configuration) it was literally as simple as walking in to the Apple Store and stating what I wanted. They had 4 in stock. I powered the machine up, checked it for functionality, and walked out with my purchase.

Granted that was in 2019. I’m sick and tired of hearing about COVID. I’m sick of hearing about supply chain issues. I’m sick of excuses! 

If Apple knows it’s got a problem, they should fix it. If we know we’ve got supply chain issues then the people in charge of supply chains should get off their asses and fix the problem.

If Apple can’t get products from China, then they should move the damn factories to places where they can get products built and reliably delivered.

That goes for every stinking manufacturer of anything.

I, like many Americans, never really paid much attention to government, or governments, or the supply chain. Stuff just freaking worked.  

But now… Oh this shit has my full and undivided attention.

Perhaps in November we’ll see just how many other Americans are suddenly paying attention. If the Democrats in America get beaten into the ground and Tech companies suffer major losses in sales because a) they can’t get products into consumers hands in a reasonable time, or b) people can’t afford those products, then I’m pretty darn sure they’ll get the message. When their stock prices take a dump and the economy sinks further because products aren’t available and people won’t or can’t pay the prices, the message should be very clear.

It’ll be signed, “The American People”

Really? Mid November for an new iPhone or Apple Watch? 

There’s no point in companies spending on marketing. By the time the product is actually available, people will be anticipating next years’ model and will hold off on their purchases. That by the way is called “Marketing Window”

That’s probably where I’m going to come down on this.

See ya next year Apple, maybe…

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You know, I don’t think it’s that that people don’t want to work

I think it’s that people are sick and tired of the endless bullshit that comes from trying to get a job.

I’ve talked to people who’ve had five interviews and hadn’t met the hiring manager yet. There are others that say they’ve had to explain their technical chops to recruiters, and then to the company HR, and then got to a video interview composed of people from every department except the one that they were going to be working in. In that interview they got to re-explain their technical abilities to people who had no clue what the job title was.

I read of one programmer who asked, “Will I be interacting with the accounting department on this project?” When he was told, “No,” he followed up with, “Then why are two of the 5 interviewers in this room from accounting?

It’s not just about having to fill out a 50 page job application where your’e cutting a pasting everything from your resume into the prescribed little boxes. And then having to submit your resume with the 50 page application. It’s about the complete disrespect that’s shown during a phone interview or zoom interview by people not having read either of the documents.

Technical people tend to cut straight line to a solution and don’t waste a lot of time getting from point A to point B.

There are also a lot of HR and recruiters who play the whole bait and switch game. No I don’t want to accept a 6 month (onSite) contract on a technical support desk, when I applied for a programming position.

No I’m not interested in a salary that is half of what I stated that I needed, with the possibility of overtime.

I love that the recruiter told me, “You’ll be making your requested salary when you consider the OT.”  Uh no that’s not how it works. If the company decides to cut the OT then I’m not making enough to pay my bills. The recruiter said, “Oh you don’t have to worry about that! Most people complain that there’s too much OT and they have no time to do anything.”

The poor girl just didn’t understand that the company sounded like a shit show right from the start. Of course, the Corporate web site said, “We have a commitment to work life balance.” Uh Yeah! I can see that ever so clearly.

A buddy told me about an interviewer that couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to take a management slot instead of the position he’d applied for.

His answer was pretty straight forward. “I’ve done management, I want to spend time with my kids right now. I just want a job that pays the bills, is low stress, only has occasional overtime, and that I can go home at quitting time without worrying about people, resources, and budgets.”

The interviewer just couldn’t get it through her head. She literally kept talking in circles trying to get him to agree to take the management position. The kicker was that the management position only paid 2K per year more than the slot he applied for.

Eventually my buddy terminated the interview telling the interviewer that he was no longer interested in working for her company. She literally started screeching at him for wasting her time.

He told me it was one of those times when he missed the satisfaction of slamming the phone receiver down, especially since it was a zoom call. He substituted closing his laptop while she was berating him red-faced on the screen. He said it was strangely satisfying hearing her muffled screams from the closed laptop. He said he could have simply hit disconnect, but he really wanted to make the point, by closing the laptop screen she could see what was happening.

I’ll have to remember that for the future. I think my buddy may have come up with the phone slam equivalent for Zoom calls!

I’m still annoyed and amused by the hiring manager that pushed for a phone interview even though I told her I had a conflict because I was participating in an online collaboration meeting with my current employer. My participation was text chat only. She simply wouldn’t take “No” for an answer and I let her badger me into doing the interview. So during the call that she forced, She heard me typing a reply to one of my coworkers and immediately started yelling about how I wasn’t prepared for the interview and was obviously looking up information about the questions she was asking. I explained yet AGAIN that I was participating in a meeting and that I was answering a coworker’s question.

Nope! She went off on me and I thought, “I wouldn’t work for this person or her company! I’d rather stay right where I was. Better to drive daily 90 miles one way through LA traffic than to work for someone like her.”

I told her as politely as I could, “Goodbye,” and disconnected. She called me back telling me that it was unprofessional to hang up on her!  I was well past my boiling point, “I asked what part of goodbye didn’t you understand? What part of I’m not going to be screamed at by someone that I don’t know, don’t work for and have no desire to ever meet in person, don’t you get?” I repeated, “Good Bye” and disconnected a second time. She called back to continue berating me.

I remember sitting there wondering what the hell? I hung up, blocked the number and went back to my meeting.

Later in the day I wrote a letter to the HR department of her company. I called out her harassment and offered to send them my phone log as evidence of her repeated calls. I further requested that they flush my application, and resume from their system. I have not applied to that company in the 10 years since.

They’re 25 miles from my home. At the time I knew 2 of their VPs and one of them had walked my resume into the company. I told them both about my experience with this particular manager. As of now, I know absolutely no-one who works for this company. The VP who’d walked my resume in, had been promoted to Director, but left the company a year or two later saying the place had become a shit show of egos and political bullshit.

He’s at Microsoft now.

I’ve had a couple of interviews where a hiring manager was grilling me for proprietary information about a previous employer throughout the interview. They’ve both been Chinese and refused to give up on the subject. The employer they zero in on is a defense contractor I worked for 8 years ago. Any information I might have is long since irrelevant and none of their business in any case. I’m not going to divulge anything about that time in my life except the employment verification number for them to call.

What these people don’t seem to get is that when they get all demanding and particularly if they seem to posses information about the project or projects I worked on, I’m going to call the security number and report that they’re asking inappropriate questions and have details they shouldn’t have. I’ll let the security people deal with these Foreign Nationals asking about confidential projects.It’s no skin off my nose to drop a dime on them.

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Sorry Karen Bass I don’t believe you.

Karen bass

I’m sure that LAPD doesn’t either.

Here’s the super brief catch up on this story. On September 9th Karen Bass’s Los Angeles home was broken into. During the burglary two guns were stolen. These guns were in a safe, the safe was hidden away, and there were other items of value in plain view within the home however these items were not taken. In fact nothing else was taken.

At the time, I thought, “That’s really weird,” but Ms. Bass is sticking to her story. 

We’re supposed to believe that a burglar went straight to the safe, did the work to open it, and only took two guns? This doesn’t pass the sniff test.

That notwithstanding, according to CNN, the LAPD has arrested two men. 

Both suspects have latin surnames and are facing various charges related to the burglary. Something still doesn’t smell right!

With little to no description of the perps, LAPD has zeroed in on these suspects making a spectacularly quick and implausible arrest. This while other crime goes unchecked throughout Los Angeles. How is this possible?

Did the suspects walk-in to Rampart Station drunk and bragging about their burglary to the desk sergeant?

No mention is made of recovery of the weapons, Did LAPD have the suspects fingerprints on file? If so what were these two guys doing out on the streets? Were they on parole? Did they have outstanding warrants? 

I’m sorry Karen Bass, I not only don’t believe you, I can’t believe you. This whole story is simply too fantastic to buy.

To be honest, it looks like you’re trying to cover something up. I wonder what that might be.

I’m wondering if the weapons went missing a while ago and if you simply neglected to mention it to LAPD at the time? I’d be very interested to find out if the ballistics from your weapons matched other crimes predating your September 9th report of loss.

Did you pay these guys to be your fall guys? Will they actually be held by Gascón or will they be released without posting bail? Is this about your Mayoral race? Will these guys be Epsteined or simply disappear? 

If there are crimes matching your guns ballistics which occurred prior to your reported loss, there are only two possibilities. 1) You committed the crimes, or 2) You lied on a LAPD report. Either way you should face appropriate charges and that means an end to your political career.

I know that would never happen even if there was overwhelming evidence of you committing a crime.

I hate it when people in power assume that the average folks are morons.

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Wait! Is this for real?

A young man named Cayler Ellingson was run down by a drunken 41 year old over Politics?

Cayler Ellingson was 18 years old!

Shannon Brandt, the 41 year old driving the vehicle told police that he ran the young man down because Cayler was a supposed to be part of a Republican Extremist Group

There is so damn much wrong with this scenario. This happened in South Dakota. A 41 year old (even drunk) is supposed to have better common sense. Older ‘adults’ are supposed to protect youngsters not kill them over something as stupid as politics. Brandts confession to the police parrots Joe Biden’s recent Der Führer speech. Ellingson’s mother is reported to have known Brandt but the young man didn’t know him. 

This developed over some kind of unspecified political argument. Brandt didn’t use a gun, he used a car so I guess gun control is working, oh wait South Dakota is very light on gun control aren’t they?

The information from the New York Post is thin but the article is linked here. There are some other equally light stories floating around. They’ll be memory holed by the end of the week, I’m convinced of that. I think there is a lot more to this story than has been reported thus far. I sincerely question if we’ll ever have the whole story.

Biden has said nothing about it yet. Maybe he should try to mumble through some kind of comment. I doubt he will.

After all, a good democrat voter simply took out the “trash” Biden identified embodied by an 18 year old. This insanity should be laid squarely at the Biden administration’s feet. Equally culpable is the media who have banged on about this minimal threat of widespread MAGA Fascists lurking in every corner of the United States.

Is this where we’re heading? Silencing or killing one group of people who happen to have a different opinion than another group? If we fear our neighbors and are unable to speak freely to each other about differing opinions then we are not Americans anymore.  I don’t know what we are at that point but it’s not a country I want to live in.