The difference between the young morons and us older morons.

Dogs…

Let me tell you a story. I’m out walking my dog on his “retracto” leash and we’re having a really good walk.

Up ahead, I see a human. The human is maybe 1/4 of a mile away, and I can see that the human is facing me due to the reflection of light on its face. I can’t tell at this distance if the human is Male or Female because they’re moving in and out of shadows cast by the trees along the trail.

Suspecting they may have a dog, and wishing to avoid my dog attempting to drag me at top speed toward the human at the very least and the potential dog, I choose another path. The new trail intersects the trail I’m on, at approximately where the human walking toward me, is at this moment.

My dog hasn’t noticed the human at this point, so I count myself lucky and think that we humans will pass well out of reach of each other. Potential dog entanglements will also be avoided.

Jesse and I continue on and he’s having a blast sniffing along the trail that we don’t usually take.

Rounding the last bend, guess what?

The human is still there. Yep they haven’t moved, and goodie! They have a full blooded husky about Jesse’s size and age who is off leash, and slowly approaching from the concealment of a thicket.

So now we have one dog on leash, and one off leash, Jesse wants to go sniff and do all the dog things, but I don’t know this dog. Will the dog be aggressive? Are we trespassing in territory that this dog considered his? How will Jesse react?

Oh and let’s not forget that part of this walking regimen for me is rehabilitation on my knees which have both been troublesome for 2 years. It’s only been in the last year that I’ve been able to really walk any distance without pain.

So I’m trying to hold Jesse back and the other dog is advancing. Jesse has his ears laid back but is still slowly wagging his tail. (Mixed Signals!)

Then things advance, now there is jumping and circling, I’m being dragged over uneven terrain, and trying to keep from becoming entangled in the leash. I hear growling beginning.

At this point the other human moseys on over to regain control of their dog.

“He’s just wanting to play,”

I have fire in my left knee. And I have .8 miles going uphill to get home. Truthfully going uphill is easier than going downhill.

Walking home, Jesse is very sweet he’s not rushing, or dragging me. He knows something is wrong with daddy’s knee.

He’s been checking on me since we got home. I’ve got the ice pack on my knee. I’m using it without the usual fabric cover because I don’t want to put a pair of shorts on. This way my sweat pants are taking the place of the cover. That’s the good news, the bad news is that I have nothing to keep it in place.

I digress…


All of the above brings me to the differences between my generation and this most current crop of “adults”.

We were taught to fucking think!

Let’s evaluate the situation shall we?

Had a Boomer been the Human approaching us on the main trail, they would have continued walking because they’d have accepted, for reasons known only to me, that I was trying to avoid them. They wouldn’t have taken it personally. The assumption would have been that I perhaps know my dog, and my physical condition better than they do, and that would have been fine.

A Boomer upon realizing that my dog was on a leash would have perhaps thought, “Maybe His dog is aggressive, Perhaps his dog isn’t off leash trained.” Either way another Boomer would have put their fucking dog on a leash, you know, the one they were carrying. Just to avoid any potential injury to either dog or humans.

Another Boomer would have thought, “If our dogs try to get to know each other, that guy is going to be fighting to not get tangled up.” And they’d have put their dog on the fucking leash in their hand.

Another Boomer seeing the obvious white beard on my face would have thought, “ You know, that guy looks a tad older, maybe it’s not going to be good for him to be at the heart of dog play or a dog fight.” Another Boomer would have put their dog on the leash as a simple courtesy.


But the other human approaching Jesse & I, was not a “Boomer”.

He was a young adult in his late 20s or early 30s and therefore completely bereft of the ability to think ahead, courtesy, or common sense.

I know youngsters think Courtesy and Common Sense are antiquated notions.

I would instruct all you children thusly.

Courtesy is an outgrowth of conflict avoidance.

If one is courteous then typically there is no conflict. If there is no conflict, then one or more people do not end up with broadswords sticking out of their chests. Barmaids are also happier because getting bloodstains out of rough hewn wooden floors is a real bitch of a job.

Courtesy goes further though.

Courtesy is an acknowledgment that no one can know all the factors at play in any encounter with another person.
Did that person have a fight with their spouse?
Did that person just get out of surgery?
Is that person grieving a loss?
Is the person trying to rebuild strength after an injury?
Does that other person have health insurance?
If they’re injured out in this rural area will paramedics be able to get to them?
What happens in the case of the unexpected?
Is the person prone to heart attacks?

These are just a few of the potential issues.

Being courteous allows you to avoid these and many other possibilities and allows you to absolve yourself of all responsibility for what happens next, to the person your’e being courteous to.

If you’re a young person who wants no responsibility…

Being courteous allows you to turn your back leave with your dog on a leash, and ignore the “Thud” you hear from behind and never look back. After all you were courteous and whatever that noise was… It’s none of your business.

See courtesy can be fun!

Just as an aside, I may have the underpinnings for courtesy all wrong, but thinking of courteous behavior this way has allowed me to implement courtesy in my daily life rather than beat or insult the living shit out of every dumbass I’ve encountered.

It’s kept me from saying things like;

“Does your whole family have the same intelligence level as you? It does? Wow, there’s a family tree that needs to be chopped down!”

“You’re a load your daddy should have jacked down the toilet, oh wait, right… your mother is a cum dump of a toilet!”

“You’re in favor of abortion? So am I… Retroactive Abortion! Here, let me put this plastic bag over your head. Now breathe deep, it will all be over soon! It’s for the planet, there, there, sleep.”

These are just a few of the things that go through my mind dealing with people. Without courtesy, imagine all the sad little snowflakes I’d have traumatized through the years.

Courtesy is a mobile safe space, it’s like a vaccine that protects us all…

 

From the only for MORONS page!

This post is bumping one that I was working on for today.

The reason is that I picked up the mail and there were some things that caught my attention. So much so that comment is necessary.

Credit card companies keep sending my other half, who has been dead since the beginning of the year, all kinds of applications.

This cracks me up!  The only way to reach him might be via a medium, or séance.

Since these are credit card applications I dutifully open the oddly sized, overly thick, packages then feed them to the shredder. The applications are specifically built to not go through the shredder without being opened. I’ve been looking for a heavy duty shredder.

These applications usually have his name all over them and even though he’s dead, I don’t need to make it the least bit easy for some illegal alien to break the law by committing identity theft and/or credit fraud in addition to breaking our immigration laws.

I know… I’m a mean, Old, Racist, MAGA, Terrorist Threat, KKK Member, Transphobic, Self loathing fag, White, CIS, Male.

As I was shredding the 4 different mailings addressed to my other half I noticed the first thing.

Back in the day, Credit Card companies would send people with really good credit, a Pre-Approved application. We all were on the lookout for these. They were golden tickets. In some cases all you had to do was sign the form, put it in the supplied prepaid envelope and drop it in the nearest mailbox. 

4 weeks later, often sooner you’d get a brand spanking new credit card typically with a stupid high limit and not too bad an interest rate. I made the down payment on my first new car with one of those credit cards. (Another story entirely and indicative of being young and falling in love with a set of wheels.)

The language was, “You’re Pre-Approved for XYZ credit card.”

These applications I was shredding today said, “You’re Pre-Approved to apply for a Capital One credit card.” That’s when my brain rebooted. Pre-Approved to apply? What a waste of ink!

Literally everyone is Pre-Approved to apply. I could fill one out and have Jesse sign it. 

IMG 2920That was sort of offensive to me because it treats people like idiots. Granted there are a lot of idiots! 

I shrugged my shoulders, and with a smile fed the stupid waste of words into the waiting maw of the shredder. 

The second bit of information was the interest disclosure.

As I was shredding, a bit of paper fell onto the floor and this one really blew my mind!

This was the disclosure paperwork about the interest of this credit card my dead husband was approved to apply for.

30.49%

WTF???

No one but a moron would apply for this card! Jeez! I bitch about 16% or 18% on cards. But it gets better, the second package also had a disclosure, this one was, 

30.74%

Bear in mind, these two bits of mail arrived within 7 days of each other. Regrettably I didn’t happen to notice the disclosures from the other two “Pre-Approved to apply” mailings. 

What kind of dipshit would apply for a credit card with this interest rate? If you do the math, just a few thousand dollars of carried debt could screw you for years to come. You’d never get out from under it.

However, since reading and math are racist… I’m sure there will be a bunch of college kids applying for these cards. Then 5 years later, these dumbasses will be begging for the federal government to pay their debt off again. Just $5000 debt could run someone straight into the poorhouse. Something like 1500 dollars added to the debt per month??? 

How is it that a savings account pays, (the best I know of is Apple’s) pays 4.15% most others, you’re talking 0.04%. The discrepancy is mind boggling. The bank loans my money out, then charges 30% and only pays me 0.04% ? What a rip off! The bank is pocketing the difference and the bank executives are rolling in coke and hookers.

Again, I suppose that’s why the powers that be say math is racist. If you can do the math you can see the outright theft. If you can’t do the math, then you’re happily going to be owned and drowning in debt.

This is why I think people aren’t concerned about the national debt, or the insanity of our administration borrowing trillions. Eventually, our nation won’t be able to pay the interest, much less the principal. The young folks may not get how this works.

I didn’t, when I was young. I ended up in front of a bankruptcy judge because all those “You’re Pre-Approved” cards were just too sweet to pass up. I wasn’t looking at the interest rates and never planned on losing my job. Once I lost my job, I could pay for rent, utilities, or credit card debt. But there was now way to pay for all three. Oh and did you notice? I didn’t even include food in my list of necessities.

It was a very hard lesson and I learned it well. I watch my credit card interest and debt really closely. I’ve got one card that that worries me & I have a plan to kick it in the balls.

I’ve called out another of the credit card companies recently because they started applying the current interest rate, (sent up because of the Feds efforts to control inflation,) instead of charging the rate in effect when the debt was incurred. They fixed it, but it was one of those little tricks banks like to play.

The bank is hoping you won’t notice and they can make some extra bucks profit.  This particular card, hasn’t changed the agreement about how interest is charged on existing debt. I’m sure they will, and when they do, I’ll have to decide if I’m going to pay ‘em off and terminate the account or not.  That’s a bridge I’ll burn when I get to it.

OMG! It’s the end of the world!!!

Annular EclipseDOOM! DOOM is upon us! The Sun is being eaten!!!! 

The eclipse is starting. I can see the changing of the light and am debating about making a pinhole observation device.

On the other hand, maybe I’ll just wait for the pictures later today.

I wonder how many religious cults are gleefully drinking Cyanide laced kool aid? Yeah, apparently several years ago there were a number of fundamentalist cults who believed the time of The Rapture was nigh and had to be talked off the ledge over some special eclipse.

I’m to the point in my life where I think no-one should talk idiots off the proverbial ledge. Evolution demands that only useful genes get passed on and those genes which are not useful are recycled as food. Stupid brutish humans are good for protection. (Ogg, you stand here. Don’t let anyone come through this gate. Yes Ogg, you can hit…) Generally stupid humans who are neither pretty, or strong, can probably be excised from the gene pool without causing a ripple. 

I think it was Dr Who, that said it best. “Life is just natures way of keeping the meat fresh

“What about the smart people?” You ask. 

Hey they’re the ones who know it’s an eclipse, a natural phenomena, and can maybe make a few bucks off the stupid by selling reflective mylar sheets for $200 a pop to morons as radiation shields. (Hey, Light is radiation… I never said which kind of radiation the sheet shielded against!)

It’s probably a really good thing that I don’t work at a Suicide Hot line. I’d have the worst “save” record because I’d be doing exactly what it said on the tin…

Happy Holidays, Suicide hot line how can I help? So how far along are you in your suicide? Oh, you’re up on the top of the building? Uh huh, and the building is at least 4 stories tall? Oh? Only two stories… Are there any wrought iron fences with spikes nearby? You’re just barely going to reach terminal velocity with a two story jump. I’d suggest finding a taller building or throwing yourself onto something that could impale you. Oh you’re welcome sir… have a wonderful death!

Yeah I’m a sick fuck!

Damn! The sun is recovering… I guess the Rapture isn’t happening today!

There’s always tomorrow!!!!

Have a nice day! 😉

I Swear… Often!

There are so many reasons to hate medical facilities.

One reason is shitty driving and parking. Why the fuck are there never enough parking spots? Why is it that you’re trying to get to an appointment where you’re going to be charged if you’re late but you can’t park? So your blood pressure is elevated when you get into the place and immediately you’re put on BP meds and Statins…

OH! I get it! They do this so they can make more money selling shit you don’t really need! Duhh!

Then there’s this stupid shit.

Yeah this is a vehicle in a handicapped spot but at least you’d think they could park head in and between the lines instead of at a jaunty angle that makes every one else have to jockey around.

But NO! Why shouldn’t they park like they do in the third world shit hole they come from?

It’s little things like this that we ignore because we want to be culturally sensitive. Unfortunately, over time, they accumulate into fundamental break downs in what those of us raised in the USA call common rules. This shit is a low level annoyance that adds stress to the situation.

How about everyone adhere to the same set of rules?

It’s annoying too because we’d expect even newcomers to our country to at least follow the example set my the majority of the other people who have already parked.

The folks in the car pictured, appear to have come from India or wherever. They have a handicap sticker apparently they’re brain dead too.

Then at this particular medical facility there aren’t enough bathrooms. Well, there were enough bathrooms beforethey made two bathrooms on the ground floors gender neutral.

So now the one bathroom closest to the parking lot entrance that was a men’s room is gender neutral. The Other bathroom in the other building is still a Women’s. The two bathrooms at the opposite ends of the building halls are one Gender Neutral and another Woman’s.

The bathrooms on the second floor adhere to the same pattern. Guess what?

The gender neutral bathrooms always have lines of women outside them.

As a man, what am I supposed to do? Hang it in the bushes because all I have to do is piss.

This is why there are almost never lines in front of Men’s rooms. We don’t mind pissing in front of each other or against a wall for that matter. Why at a medical facility of all places would you create a situation where 1/2 of the population is treated like trash?

Oh right… Men are shit so let’s fuck ‘em all the damn time.

At least this is what’s happened in fucking Commifornia.

At this point I think it should be ALL or NOTHING!

Either make every bathroom gender neutral or none of them. Particularly in the medical facilities. This one in Loma Linda is just one example. When the other half was in the hospital I encountered the same stupid shit! The gender neutral bathrooms had lines waiting, the women’s rooms were vacant, and the men were left pissing on the walls in the parking structure or using the bathroom in patients rooms.

Hell even the car wash that I used to go to all the time, got so tired of dealing with people bitching that they had a men’s and a women’s room that they removed all the restrooms!

Now the guys piss on the wall. So what? It’s mostly guys who are hand washing their cars and their wives cars in the first place.

You just know, there had to be some nasty ass blue haired bitch screaming about gender neutral bathrooms, so everyone lost.

Gee thanks you blue haired jackass.

I do not like this “New Normal”

I went shopping and did some errands on Tuesday.

The Auto Club was helpful and easy to work with. This was a new one for me, I’d been going to the one in Victorville and honestly hated it. I tried one near Rancho Cucamonga and had a much better experience.

I suppose that’s why we always went “down the hill” instead of to the closer towns in the area. It was just a nicer and more civilized experience.

After the Auto Club, I dropped by what used to be a great Best Buy…

This experience was not as nice. The shelves were bare, horribly disorganized, and over all the store was dark and dingy. I was completely ignored by all associates. This was particularly clear when I asked an associate to scan something so I could know what the price was… I was told, “I gotta clean up, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” as he walked off.

Let me be clear, this was not a janitor. This guy had been helping another person literally moments before, he hadn’t even logged out of his computer terminal yet. WOW! What fantastic customer service!

If I hadn’t really needed the item, I’d have bailed. Instead I finished my shopping, picked up a couple more items then went to the cash register.

I had the lady scan the questionable item before we began the transaction. I had a backup selection if the questionable item had been too expensive. It turns out the price was acceptable, so I left the backup selection at the register. They can restock it or simply throw it on some random shelf as it appears they’d done with most of the rest of their inventory.

There were employees wandering around in masks and it was a very unpleasant shopping experience. Best Buy will probably go the way of Frys. The employees are acting just like Fry’s employees acted near the end.

Then I headed over to Ralphs. I was able to find all but two items including a ton of stuff that I hadn’t been able to find at my local Stater Brothers for months.

The aisles were neat, people polite, and they had two doors to get folks into and out of the store easily without a traffic jam. Also I wasn’t being shocked every time I touched a freezer or shelving unit. I spent less at the Ralphs than I do at the Stater Brothers. That was surprising too.

As I was driving home, I was thinking that COVID panic really screwed up a lot of things. My local grocery store is much like the Best Buy. Dark, poorly organized, and with plenty of bare shelves and more than half the staff running around with masks on. It’s like they never recovered from the COVID mentality.

Then I thought about shopping in Florida. The Best Buy in Tampa is well lit, well stocked, and the employees are helpful. The Publix grocery store is like the Ralphs I was just in. I suppose Kroger owned stores in Florida would also be to the same standard although I haven’t, to my knowledge, shopped in a Kroger owned store in Florida.

Now with the Fall season upon us, we’re hearing about COVID again. “Mask Up”, “Get Jabbed”, “Be prepared for lockdowns” Why? COVID is technically endemic. It’s like the flu. Are the “Powers that Be” just trying to squeeze another year out of COVID panic, or are they really concerned? How can we know? They’ve lied so much, and been caught in their lies often enough that I, and apparently a lot of other people don’t trust them.

Is this too part of the “New Normal”? Once trusted organizations within and outside the government sphere are to be nothing more than noise, conflicting information, and lies?

I don’t like it one little bit. The “New Normal” SUCKS!!!

I suspect that nowhere does it suck worse than California and New York. Both will be stupidly compliant with whatever suggestion the government pulls out of its collective ass.

If Sniffy Joe said that we should all wrap our heads with Saran Wrap to ward off COVID while in our homes, and that it was mandatory. You can bet your ass that California and New York would fine anyone who disobeyed. No one would wrap their heads…

Well maybe there are some incredibly stupid people who would suffocate themselves with Saran Wrap, there were people who used aquarium cleaner as a cure for COVID and nearly died. Yeah, the aquarium cleaner has ivermectin in it, but the OTHER chemicals were completely ignored by these rocket scientists! Ya need to read the whole label morons! Honestly, they should have been allowed to Darwin themselves in peace. I digress…

We know the fines would go right into the stupid pile of money California and New York “BURN” everyday providing their respective citizens such lovely services as tattletale hotlines, and drone surveillance of our homes and yards.

The “New Normal” is new to us in the United States. But it’s old hat to folks from the former Soviet Union.

I suppose that’s why I don’t like the “New Normal” it feels a bit like what I imagined living under Soviet rule would have felt like.