Tag: WTF?

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Okay, I’m officially bored

I know, how is that possible with all the turmoil, yet here I am.

I’m completely over the constant diet of fear, tragedy, destruction, and protests.

I killed the Twitter account, don’t have FaceBook, hell I’ don’t even use Google. I’m not paying for Apple News or Apple TV+. I avoid the CNN, CBS, MSNBC, and ABC free streaming services. Having long since cut the Cable. 

Scanning the various online newspapers around the country is monolithic, they all say the same thing. Riots, Burning, Looting, Police bad, police defunded, White people racist, Orange Man Bad, Corona gonna get ya, social Distancing, wear a mask as a symbol of solidarity, blah, blah, blah.

At this point it’s all so bad it’s depressing as shit.

For the first time in many years, I’m glad I don’t live closer to cities. I’m 2.5 hours away from San Diego, 90 minutes from Orange County, 90 minutes from LA and that’s just fine with me. The only thing cities give me is a place to work, drink or shop. Since all that is in the shitter… Burn it all down,  or don’t, I honestly don’t give a shit anymore. 

Our nation has become something that could have been in the pages of a prequel to Orwell’s 1984, or Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

I’ve had quite enough.

I feel bad for the Police, I feel bad for those few friends that may be in the middle of it all. But my empathy is running dry. 

It’s all become noise, I choose not to listen. Come up to my house wanting to cause trouble and we’ll see how that goes. If I win, you go home in an ambulance or a body bag, If I lose then I’m dead and none of this matters to me anymore either.

I’m tired of the battle.

Go do whatever you want to do just don’t drag me into your dramatic bullshit.

One thing that does astound me is that I’ve always attempted to be egalitarian. What’s good for me is generally good for you and vice versa.

Obviously I missed the memo telling me that it was okay to be a complete asshole. Gee, I could have had all kinds of fun, had it not been for my damn moral compass.

You know the compass that was set with basic principals? The one based in the biblical 10 commandments, the one that assumed the founding principals and subsequent amendments to the principals of this country were sound ideas. Things like inalienable rights and freedom to pursue happiness, little concepts like that.

Add into that basic mix the concept put fourth by the poem “The Hangman” by Maurice Ogden, and I’ve taken action throughout my life to step in, and step up, against wrongs when I encounter them. Mix in a little classical Greek literature and some SciFi wherein the writers imagined how wrong things could go as cautionary tales and you end up with someone like me.

Someone who believes in a basic premise of; do no harm, make few enemies, be loyal and true, be honorable, treat everyone equally but with a hint of suspicion (because not everyone is honorable,) live well by the sweat of your own labor, ask for little, be helpful, honest, and kind.

And yet, after living my life to those standards and being a law abiding (Okay, I speed), do right kind of guy, now suddenly I’m a bad guy for no other reason than I’ve worked my ass off to have nice things.

Obviously I’m a fucking moron!

Hindsight being 20/20 I should have literally, and figuratively FUCKED everyone I encountered, pressed every advantage and made no choices based on morality, kindness, or ethics.

God knows, had I done that, I’d be a lot better off financially than I am. My dick would have seen a lot more action to boot. I wouldn’t have much soul left, but I could be eating $40 bowls of ice cream not worrying about how I would pay my bills for the month.

When confronted with someone like me, the highly educated elite academics say that I still had white male privilege I’m therefore automatically guilty, even if I didn’t use that privilege.

Yeah, you get no credit for not using something, you’re damned because you had it from the get go.

I guess it’s like the concept of Original Sin. You just have to take it on faith because someone in authority says it’s so. Don’t forget, you’re not allowed to call into question the source of someone’s authority.

It’s against this backdrop that not only am I bored as shit of all this, I’m actively avoiding technology of almost any kind.

Voice messages, texts, emails, all accumulate on various devices and I’m simply not interested.

I find myself reading books if I’m not outside doing something, (or trying to do something,) constructive. 

The latest of these is The AR-15 Complete Assembly Guide by Walt Kuleck with Clint McKee. No, I’m not going all survivalist. I couldn’t buy ammo anyway, as I have zero patience to navigate asinine gun laws living as I do, in California. I’m surprised I could even buy the book here.

I figure if I need one, I’ll go buy one in South Central LA, or San Diego near the border from one of the cartels. I can probably pick up a couple thousand rounds of ammo too. Oh, don’t get your panties in a knot. I use that example, as a way to highlight just how stupid the California gun laws are. 

Think about it, in order to exercise my Constitutionally protected right to own a firearm, the easiest way to get one, is the same way criminals get one. Illegally! Cash & Carry, who knows, I might be able to buy one from the Fast and Furious exercise in stupidity.

Anyhoo, I just was curious about these “mysterious, scary” machines. How better to learn about them, than by reading about how they’re assembled? It’s better than the daily newsfeed and remarkably less violent or depressing. Another advantage is that it’s a physical book with pages and diagrams.

There are folks who’d say, “You’re just not reacting well to change,” They might be right, if this was change. Increasingly, this is feeling more like we’re all in a bad movie trailer. 

When the statistics for Covid from multiple sources don’t line up. When some college students demand easier grading for persons of color, (Which by the way is racist as hell,) and no-one calls them out on their hypocrisy, when the statistics about who the police are more likely to kill during apprehension don’t fit the narratives, when average police feel the need to lay down on the ground, or kneel, out of some sense… of what? Guilt?

Well then folks, I’m not interested in playing anymore.

I, like a lot of Americans am voting in November a straight Law & Order ballot. 

I’m sick of the bullshit! All these people think times were tough the past few years, wait till they get a load of what things look like when the pendulum swings conservative.

I’m gonna take a little break. If you don’t see anything here, or I don’t answer your email or text or call instantly, don’t worry I’m just fine. I’m on a break and the tech is turned off.

 

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Hmmm A petition to recall MI governor Whitmer

Whitmer.jpgThat’s interesting!

I got a video taken by a guy wandering around in a Michigan Walmart.

The gardening supplies, seeds, plants, painting supplies, and BBQ stuff were all yellow taped. It wasn’t that the shelves were empty, they were full, just taped off.

His commentary was interesting because he’s muttering to himself about being stuck at home and not being able to do home projects.

I thought it was one single instance of a store misunderstanding lockdown instructions. When I saw the video I didn’t think much of it other than, “Boy someone is dumb.”

This morning, while catching up on the news. (I’m only taking the news in small doses every couple of days) I saw a headline on Breitbart that said; “Over 200,000 Michiganders Sign Petition to oust Governor Whitmer“

It turns out that the Walmart hadn’t misunderstood. They were complying with Michigan’s governor’s order.

Which leads to WTF?

I’m uploading the executive order Here.

The relevant part of the order reads:

For stores of more than 50,000 square feet:

(1)  Limit the number of customers in the store at one time (excluding
employees) to 4 people per 1,000 square feet of customer floor space.
The amount of customer floor space must be calculated to exclude
store areas that are closed under subprovision (2) of this subsection.

(2)  Close areas of the store—by cordoning them off, placing signs in aisles,
posting prominent signs, removing goods from shelves, or other
appropriate means—that are dedicated to the following classes of
goods:

(A)  Carpet or flooring.

(B)  Furniture.

(C)  Garden centers and plant nurseries.

(D)  Paint.

WTF? I could see maybe carpeting and flooring, possibly furniture because folks take their time deciding what they want.

But if you walk in and say I want paint in color X, a flat of Pansies, 1 package each of cucumber, carrot, and watermelon seeds. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to buy them.

The executive order seems somewhat random in its constraints about what will and will not be allowed. 

For example, you can be outside running, walking, biking, kayaking, and participating in other outdoor activities as long as you maintain social distancing requirements. 

But there was a report, I have yet to confirm, saying that a man had been arrested for being in a boat alone, out on a lake fishing. This activity does not conflict with the executive order so someone may have been arrested, but there may be more to the story.

The petition is on Change.org here 

A lot of comments in both the Breitbart piece and on the Change.org site appear to be disgruntled MI residents who feel that their Governor has over-reached her authority and is unnecessarily restricting their freedom. Another thread of comments say that she’s a possibility for the VP slot in Biden’s campaign, and is posturing for that position.

Given that MI has one of the higher rates of COVID-19 I’m not sure that the freedom allegation holds water. But the VP slot could cause her to be remotely interviewing.

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Abracadabra Alakazam Your online security is all a Big ‘Ol Sham

Just like the TSA waving their hands and muttering incantations when you try to board a plane.

10 years ago, I moved my checking and savings accounts away from Wells Fargo.

Recently I had need to speak with them and got the usual “you can get faster service by going to our web site”

During the course of the conversation, the representative, a lovely lady from Virginia told me that my records were very out of date. (I rarely have need to do business with them.) 

I told the lady that I knew that. And then told her that the reason for my call was that I couldn’t do what I needed to do online because the online system wouldn’t let me update the account profile.

The reason is this, I needed to change the phone number and the email address, but in order to do that I had to have access to one or both. Since I have access to neither, the system wouldn’t allow a change.

This was compounded by the fact that they didn’t have a cell phone number on file with which to send me a verification code.

Okay say I, “Since I’ve given you all the verification information and was able to tell you what the old number was, can you just make the changes? And can we proceed from there?”

Her answer is yes, “but we’ll have to add your cellphone number and then you’ll have to wait for us to send you an email telling you your number has been accepted, so that when you call us back to actually do what you needed to do, we can send you a verification text, so that we know it’s you…”

This somehow seemed totally logical to her.

She followed up by telling me it was for my security.

Sigh…

If I were a nefarious person, I could just as easily play along with this game, having changed the cellphone and email addresses, and I’d have access to do what I was trying to do in the first place, It would only take me keeping track of stuff for 24 hours and then calling back.

What exactly does the bank think is going on? Do they think that criminals have some kind of short attention span?  Are they thinking a criminal is going to forget about the score they were working on, over the course of 24 hours?

By the way this is the sort of thing that has turned me off traditional banks. Credit Unions seem to be a little more direct about getting the job done. 

The banking and insurance systems seem intent on making things so secure… That ONLY criminals will be able to access our data, because they have the time to commit to accessing the accounts.

40 minutes on the phone, and I still have not accomplished what I set out to accomplish.

So now I’m waiting on an email… 

I’m thinking that it’s not worth it. A far more direct method would be to keep my money in my mattress and eschew traditional banking institutions altogether. The problem is that  gold is heavy, and hard to store or move. Diamonds on the other hand are small, light, and easy.

Hummm I wonder…

Perhaps it’s time to close this last bit of business with Wells Fargo. To do that I’ll have to be in a bank branch sooo that’s on my TODO list.

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I’m a bit Bah Humbug today

Not that I didn’t have a great time with shopping for the past two days.

I had a totally great time and ton of laughs, plus a ton of walking. All of which are very good for my state of mind.

IMG 1070However, I’m dealing with car issues. My baby is at the dealership needing about $1500 in repair (Thank you California Freeways and Semi Trucks who insist on running on retreads that leave debris allover the roads) It really is time for a superfund that truck drivers MUST pay into so that the damage they cause can be paid for. 

That Superfund could  be used as incentive for all the truck drivers to operate their multi-ton instruments of destruction more safely.

That being said, the dealership has all the proper parts in stock and if I was paying for the repair, instead of the insurance company, I’d have my car back by late this afternoon.

Since the insurance company is paying for it, they’re insisting that an adjuster inspect the car adding 3 to 5 days to the whole process.

Including rental car fees and general inconvenience to all concerned. For that piddly sum, why bother? The car is at an authorized repair facility, specific to the vehicle. The Insurance company themselves prefers OEM parts. So it should be a no brainer. Alas… It’s not!

But that’s the way they want to waste their money, fine with me! Unfortunately they’re wasting ALL our money in the process.

Since I was dealing with insurance companies I figured, “I’ll deal with health care Insurance.”

What could possibly go wrong? 

LOL!

I was quoted $795.00 per month for high deductible medical Insurance with no dental or vision. Say what?

That’s more than my car payment and as much as my mortgage payment.

ARE YOU SHITTING ME?

One month of health insurance would cost me more than 1 year of the cost of my single medication for which I’m paying cash, out of pocket right now.

Uhhh NO! This speaks to a system that is so horribly broken I can’t even begin to describe it. While the Doctors and Hospitals are partially to blame. I contend that ultimately the fault for outrageous health care costs, lies squarely with the Insurance companies themselves. 

These are the same organizations that came into existence to help you plan for the worst. They were supposed to be, “you pay a little monthly so that you don’t have to cough up a huge chunk of cash IF something bad happens,” 

Clearly these companies are not what they once were and I contend that these companies should be thoroughly investigated and perhaps stripped of their business licenses. I’m stopping short of having their entire executive staffs whipped naked through the streets of every city in America.

That being said, they should be forced to return their huge profits to the individuals they STOLE from or their heirs.

I have wondered and continue to wonder what would happen if every single person in America simply refused to pay these excessively high, no, usury rates. This is no longer providing a service, this is flat out extortion. 

It’s time for our wonderful Congress to apply racketeering laws to the Insurance industry. Oh wait… our wonderful Congress is in bed with the insurance industry. Could we use the racketeering laws to clean out the corruption in congress?

Hum… there’s a thought!

You want to curb homelessness? Stop making people decide between health insurance and paying their mortgage!

That path to health insurance is a dead issue! 

I do wonder if I should get into politics. I wouldn’t run on a Make America Great Platform… I’d go for a “Fix America for All” platform.

My FAFA plan would be to take each fucked up broken aspect of our country and start fixing it. Start with Health insurance… Everybody who can pay for policies does and they pay an affordable rate, Say never more than 250 per moth per person. Streamline the Medical Professionals interaction with insurance companies making it less burdensome therefor reducing the cost overhead on the medical professionals. That should drive down costs because then it would be cheaper for the Medical folks to actually do their jobs, you know, “Treating Patients!”

FAFA could then take a look at the pharmaceutical industry and start asking why the medications cost so much in America, (Even though many of the drugs are manufactured overseas) Then we bring these drug costs into line with their actual value how much do they cost to make? How much did they cost to research? From there the costs would be normalized and the companies would still make decent profits.

Has it ever occurred to you, if we in America pay $25.00 a pill and that same pill is $5.00 in any other country, that Americans are in effect paying for all the research and development costs but 3rd world countries are reaping the benefits? In effect, American citizens are footing the bill not only for themselves and their families, but we’re also paying for the rest of the world?

Not only do our tax dollars get sent to prop up some shit hole country but with the additional costs we bear we’re subsidizing their socialized medicine too.

Moving on…

Now that I think about it.

The Mafia got into trouble for doing the same thing the insurance companies do.

One difference is that the Mafia only kills those what need killin.

Insurance companies kill indiscriminately and capriciously. 

There’s little difference in my mind between a couple of Mafia guys telling you, “Pay us and your granny’s house ain’t gonna burn down,” or an insurance company telling you, “make your payment and we’ll keep your granny’s oxygen tanks coming.”

In fact, the mafia guys are probably nicer to deal with because unlike an insurance company, they have faces.

Okay, now I’m moving on!

Time to take out my frustrations on the snow that’s piling up in the driveway.

Have a nice Thanksgiving Eve everyone.

——————————-

 I noticed a glaring error in my post. I meant to say never more than 250 per person. I I’ve amended the text. 

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So yesterday I was out & About…

After watching the completely thoughtless behavior of a number of people, I had to take a piss.

No not due to the thoughtlessness of the people, they were just the constant background irritation that I face every day.

One incident that really caught my attention was at the car wash:

I watched someone pull up to the change machine, get out of their car, get change, then drive 50 feet to put their car in the washing bay. Really? You lazy fuck? Oh, and you had two other people in the car with you. Why not pull into one of the 6 empty wash bays, and haul your ass 50 feet to get your change?

You thought it was okay to park in front of the machine blocking the driveway for everyone else, causing a traffic jam, preventing other people from leaving the car wash, or exiting the automated washing area. while you sat there fucking around to find your paper currency to change into coin.

I’d remind you dumbass, you’re not the only person on the fucking planet.

I did my best to ignore it.  Obviously I wasn’t successful! 

Anyhoo…

I finish drying my car and that was when I needed to take a leak. I do a quick check, there are other drying bays open so I can leave my car for a minute.

As I’m approaching the restroom, I note that the two doors are sporting nice new gender neutral signs. I think nothing of it. I head for the “Men’s room”, or the room formerly known as the men’s room.

UrinalIt’s unoccupied and I’m pretty much on auto pilot and then I notice the urinal is gone. No it’s not broken, it’s completely missing. Now there is only a toilet and a sink.

WTF?

Leave the fucking urinals in gender neutral bathrooms!

Women have been bitching for years about the length of time it takes for them to go pee. You know what ladies? It’s because men can piss in a trough, or against a wall, shoulder to shoulder.

Pulling urinals out of restrooms only slows the whole process down for everyone. If I’m in a men’s room that has a toilet and a urinal I don’t lock the door. Another dude can come in and take a leak in the toilet. That’s why there’s rarely a line at a baseball game or airport for the men’s room.

You neutrality nazis want to come into a large gender neutral restroom?

Fine… You better be prepared to see some dick! That had better not offend your delicate sensibilities.

You got some religious concerns or concerns that you’ll have to look at men? Well creampuff make a fucking decision. Gender neutrality OR your desire to not see dick.

Think about it for two seconds and incorporate your life experience.

For example:

Go to a party at someones home. Every bathroom will be full, there’s a line and nobody is going anywhere. Eventually the guys will be out in the front yard, beer in one hand and cock in the other watering the largest tree in the yard.

There’s a joke which gets modified to fit the branch of the military the teller of the joke served in.

First person:
You know, in the <Military Branch> they taught us to wash our hands after we piss.

Second Person:

In the <Military Branch> they taught us not to piss on our hands.

Men revert to our cave man nature pretty damn quick. We shouldn’t have to make apologies for it.

That’s not male privilege, it’s biological design. Ain’t nothing that you can do about it. So stop trying to make Men feel like they’re less than, or somehow wrong, for the way they were born.

If you keep the bathrooms at a party locked up too long, eventually some dude is out in the back yard digging a latrine. If you’re really lucky he’s preserving the sod in nice neat squares so that the lawn can be fixed in the morning. There’s your gender neutrality, and gender equality. All the party goers who can’t get into the bathrooms, will be using the latrine.  Perhaps that’s an idea for my next party, If you’re going to be puking your guts up… Go out back!

Just hope to god someone brings paper towels out, or your perennials are going to be stripped bare by morning.

Tell you what, how about we take the wall space used by the couches in the former ladies only bathrooms and put a nice trough right there?

Oh, now the ladies are concerned!

I swear, If I wasn’t worried about being arrested I’d just start pissing against buildings, or trees whenever I had to go.

Think of it as a rebellion against the Neutrality Nazis. I know of course that there would be some horribly offended snowflake that runs to the police to report indecent exposure. Not because they saw anything, but simply because I’m a dude and comfortable pissing while standing up. God knows that must be some kind of crime!