I wonder

Eleven years ago, my mother died. She was in hospice for a few weeks, which provided me with ample time to think up stuff to research on the nascent 'net.

One of those things was great big transatlantic ocean liners, which led to the very late night question "What ever happened to the SS United States?"

Turns out, it's in Philadelphia. It's been in Philadelphia for nearly fourteen years. It's been stripped out, auctioned off, abused, whipped, ignored and allowed to rust since 1969.

It is one of only four preserved (in a manner of speaking) former ocean liners, and the only one still with its entire power plant (engine room) intact.

The fastest ocean liner in history, the ship had a storied career until it was suddenly and unexpectedly pulled from service fifty years ago last week.

I have long been one who pined for a past I never lived. I have studied it (the past), read about it, thought about how it could be put to service (those elements which survive).

I even cooked up a (in my view, quite decent) plan to restore the SS United States to service. However, what is the POINT?

I have driven cars from my youth that were unattainable and incredible, only to realize that they are poor substitutes for what is available today. Everything is better and everyone's expectations are different; why does it make sense to pour a huge volume of resources into preserving something that has no more use?

As an example, I have a simple lovely chafing dish that belonged to my great-grandmother. It has a working double boiler, and a working oil lamp. As a device for heating and serving food, it's unworkable as compared to other solutions. It takes up space, consumes resources and does nothing but sit there.

As does the SS United States.

In the thirteen years since it came to roost in Philadelphia, there have been numerous efforts to turn it into a museum, into a hotel, into a convention space, into a working ocean liner - and no one has had the money or inclination to execute on that. It's not suited for a cruise ship, it's not efficient enough to use as a steamship without a half billion dollars of renovations, it's a project that would cost easily $50 million just to make the ship sound enough for long term display, and then it's just a vast, empty space that isn't safe for people to move around.

Few ship museums support themselves. Even fighting ships with a rich history don't support themselves.

We have aircraft rotting away in dozens and dozens of museums. We have six or seven aircraft carriers, and five or six battleships moldering and rotting away in various stages of decay in this country. We have battlefields that are falling apart, cemeteries of people dead more than a hundred years that are ignored - why do we struggle so hard to revere the past and then ignore it?

I realize that most of the people seeking to salvage the SS United States are people who have traveled on her, or urgently desired to do so when she was in service. Very few have a currently developed affinity - certainly not enough to support the ship.

Without having done any kind of organized research, I assert that nearly all of these tombs and relics are preserved by those who served on and in them, worked on and in them, used them, knew them in their youth. In their later years, they are seeking something - validation? Reliving when they were young and vigorous and doing the newest, highest, best thing possible?

We can't save every machine to benefit the ego and id of a bunch of people who will be dead as the machine again wears and rusts out.

Why cannot we reclaim our vigor and our glory by sharing our talents with those in need, with those who need education or comfort, or guidance?

As I have written in this blog, I had an idea in 1973 that a metallic green Chrysler Imperial was THE manifestation of success, and of acceptance into the world that was desirable. For more than thirty years, I thought that having one would bring me that feeling of success and acceptance - and mistakenly thought I had an affection for that car - that it was somehow unique and special.

And then, I had one - listing and leaking black oil into my driveway. And I ignored it for a month.

Reliving my past and my feelings occurs inside of me, and doesn't require the rehabilitation of a non-functional leviathan.

We have nearly 1/5th of our population without health care, nearly a tenth without adequate food, over half without decent education - and we're going to raise money to restore the Battleship Texas? To scrape, paint, moor, insure, power, rehabilitate the SS United States? To repair the USS Lexington in a few more years when the hull has predictably deteriorated to a point that she's no longer structurally sound?

Just how many freaking preserved aircraft carriers does a world need, anyway?

We're fighting each other tooth and nail about whether we should have health care for everyone and we (as a race) have invested thousands upon thousands of hours and billions of dollars enshrining the past for future generations that will not care one whit.

Please notice that I am not evaluating the incredible waste that went into building fleets of battleships and aircraft carriers and bombers and moving them around like so many chess pieces for hundreds of years. I am only speaking to the waste we currently indulge - it is insane, it is inhumane, it is morally offensive.

One of the solutions proposed for the SS United States is to sink her as a barrier reef.

Let her rest in peace. Let those resources go to feed, clothe and educate our children. Just say "no" to throwing money after the glory days of youth that youth today utterly ignore.

Futzing - or, Divo happiness

So, today I've been futzing - I've reduced the number of emails I'll get each day, and reduced the number of text messages in a big way.

I've re-org'd my internet favorites, cutting back on the clutter.

I have simplified all kinds of communications tools, to cut down on the input levels.

I have mapped out some web content changes.

And, I've had a great time doing it all!

Tomorrow, more execution of the "plans"!

Remember Fractured Fairy Tales?

Call this Hysterical History. Or come up with a better name for me to use.

Prior installments - how VW came to buy Porsche, and how Safeway came to be Safeway again... now, THE HISTORY OF AUDI!

http://www.dinesh.com/history_of_logos/car_logos_-_design_and_history/audi_logo_-_design_and_history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_Union
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSU_Motorenwerke_AG
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DKW

Horch/DKW/Wanderer/Audi = Auto Union

Audi = Latin for "Hear" or "To Hear" (or "listen")
Horch = Founder's name, yes, but German infinitive for "Hear" (or "listen")

Is it possible that what distinguishes Audi at its soul is listening to what people want?

I can NEVER remember DKW. It's so SIMPLE too - Dampf Kraft Wagen (rolls eyes). 'Cause all those shiny cars on your lot SO remind me of steam powered buggies.

Horch were actually more elite PKWs (Personnen Kraft Wagen, as distinct from Last Kraft Wagen) during and immediately after the Hitlerzeit than were Mercedes. And, of course, BMW was an aircraft motor company and motorbike company.

When I was an exchange student to Wolfsburg in high school, everyone in northern Germany called BMW "Bayerische Mist Wagen" - Bavarian Manure Cart.

Mercedes were taxis.

NSU is an older company than is Daimler-Benz, being founded in 1873. Karl Benz made his first motorcar in 1885. Of course, NSU started off making sewing machines. They started making motorcycles in 1901. They were, in 1955, the largest motorcycle company in the world. Started producing cars (again) in 1957, and were the first company to mass produce Wankel engined automobiles - the most famous being the Ro80, spiritual predecessor to the Audi 80/VW Passat, now being sold as the A4. The Ro80 was the European Car of the Year in 1967.

Producing such a revolutionary car broke the bank, and VW AG bought them in 1969, merged them into Auto Union (which for many years hadn't been doing much of anything) and renamed the whole shooting match "Audi" even though that brand (of the five) was the least well known. Maybe they were on to something.

After the war, only DKW were produced in West Germany - all of the Horch, Wanderer, Auto Union facilities ended up in EAST Germany. Daimler (those bastards) bought a controlling interest in Auto Union in 1957, bought the rest of the farm in 1959 and then started getting cold feet. With the help of the Lower Saxony government, VW bought the schtuff in 1964. Horch had bought the farm during the war, and Auto Union was resurrected by Daimler, who never really recovered from AU's Silver Arrows whipping the shit out of Daimler's racers in the 1930s.

Damiler had designed a lovely little platform called the F103, which was the foundation for the Audi 80/VW Passat, save for that the Audi version was only sold as "Audi" (single model) until the acquisition of NSU a few years later. In 1965, VW kicked the DKW name to the kurb, and Audi was the brand.

Pack rattage

From those really snarky, smart people who run TUT's Adventurer's Club:

Now let me get this straight: You want things that you don't yet have, people in your life who you don't yet know, and events to take place that haven't yet occurred, so that once these "things" come to pass you'll feel happy, confident, and fulfilled; accomplished, desired, and appreciated; treasured, adored, and like one bad mamma jama, a beautiful sight to see?

But... wasn't that your rationale for all the other stuff you wanted, that you now have?

Whooohoooooooo!
The Universe

Uh, yeah.

As I get further away from having far too much stuff, I keep noticing the dichotomy within myself of finding more stuff I don't need or use, and keep finding more fun and useless stuff that I am convinced I need.

Of course, the best part of this is being judgmental about someone ELSE who is accumulating too much stuff, and my observing that.

Like I was never a ripe target for such criticism.

Probably the ripest area for improvement within myself is further dispatching processed, non-nutritional foods from my life. Watching how other people focus on buying food that is advertised shows me that I've already separated myself from the "herd" quite a bit. I've also noticed how easily and eagerly I leap back into the mindless consumption of advertised food - it's analogous, of couse, to the endless desire to buy something.

What is it that drives that "need"? It's not need at all. It's learned behavior. When I was being raised, having a 2300 square foot house was the standard, now it's well above 3000 square feet that are "needed". New cars are "needed".

Matticia has a perfectly serviceable eight year old Honda that he treats like the appliance it is. How much money has he saved in the past five years by not indulging the craving for a new car?

I am going to dig further into this "need" for needless things, and figure out what that's all about. When it came to be, how and .. well, the why is already known - it's to increase the unit cost of widgets and to sell as many widgets as can be sold.

All Hallow's Eve 2009

Matt is Matticiaforming his garage into a passable, professional disco and I've been watching Hulu, making chex party mix and fiddling with my iTunes library - deleting stuff I'd never listen to (why oh why was it there in the first place?)

I feel another nap coming on.

The costumes last night were amazing, many of them. I was associated with a hot hot pink spiderman, there were some truly beautiful and astonishing ensembles put together by some people who had clearly invested a great deal of time and effort into their costumes.

My favorite costume of the evening was a 30-something gentleman who had crafted a Julie London-eske evening gown in shiny bright green and gold fabric, and had made the gown's skirt as a layered wedding cake, his hat another layered wedding cake, his face and hair painted in green, gold and orange, with a "torch" that was a third layered wedding cake with freshly baked cupcakes atop. All illuminated with mini-lights.

He could have hidden a small nuclear plant inside there for power. How he could walk up and down stairs was beyond me.



A few notes:

If your belly and midriff bulge out like a roll of poppin' fresh dough just after you bust open the container on the edge of the kitchen counter - you should re-think that shirtless/midriff exposure.

Being under 25 with a great body, no shirt and a face mask is NOT a costume.

Wearing no shirt, a kilt, a loincloth, or any kind of skirt with some face or body spray paint might be a knock out at a straight club, but don't expect much attention at a professional, Gay club costume contest.

Girls, please don't take it as rejection when you come show off your creative and revealing Hallowe'en costume at a gay club and we don't grovel at your loveliness. It isn't personal. We just happen to be far more interested in the over-the-top drag costumes and all the men who are basically naked.

Wearing a costume that makes you look like the crack whore we already knew you were - well, it's a costume, yes, but don't be surprised when we don't notice that you're wearing it.

Young and well built men who put their bodies on display through wearing nearly nothing should be aware that anyone who has eyesight is INVITED to stare by their effort. There is no visual filter that eliminates old, fat or balding men, or women.

weeks away, we get to choose

In a few weeks from today, we go to the polls. In Houston, there is a contest mayor's race, but for the most part, this election seems to be a yawner.

These off-year elections are actually the more important, as far fewer voters turn out, and these are the elections where we make decisions about matters that affect us directly and locally.

Since our state is governed by a lengthy and unruly constitution, we have a variety of measures which require constitutional amendments. We Texans just go along with this process, rather than demanding a new constitutional convention to clean up the mess - much like California.

What's more disturbing, the ballot summaries of these measures are too abbreviated and sometimes diverting from the real effects. Each of the ballot measures this year have been summed up for us by the Secretary of State's office, and contain the full text of what we are voting on. You can see this report here.

There are a number of amendments on the ballot this year that deal with property tax matters. Many people will vote based on pre-judged perceptions about taxes in general without really understanding the measures that they are voting on.

Over the next week, I'm going to review ALL of these ballot measures and analyze them for anyone to read. You'll be able to find these reviews here on my blog - you can sign up for notices that new posts have been made or just ask for updates from me directly.

Let's all agree to stop with the bombastic bullet points, because we ALL want a society that just works for everyone. Let's educate ourselves as to what is in front of us and use the power of the ballot box to take back this world from those who have only their self-interests at heart.

Monday Mourning

This is post #2 under the same headline -

Last night, Matticia told me he nearly cried on the way home from work. He had spent many hours yesterday fussing about party effects he's purchased for delivery - and saw a guy trying to sell his bicycle on the street for $20 to buy some food.

I think that's called "realizing one's priorities are a bit screwed up". I don't know anything about that at all.

A few months ago, I was convinced that a beautiful $100K Audi S8 would make me happy. I had been convinced that a beautiful home with a pool and a garage were necessary and appropriate.

Having had a few of those beautiful homes, with rooms I didn't go into, boxes in closets I didn't open, kitchen appliances in cabinets I didn't use, I can tell you I was wrong about that.

I didn't really understand HOW wrong I was until this morning.

Even as I settled into my peaceful little apartment, even as I reveled in the freedom of having a LOT less stuff, even as my stress level unwound - I STILL thought that a gorgeous S8 would do me right. Happiness could rise or fall on whether the S8 had a full leather upgrade, and absolutely was dependent on it having the $6800 Bang & Olufsen stereo system.

I poured over the Audi S8 brochure (and the interwebs, frankly, and every other resources I could drum up). I looked at other cars, too. Whipping my neck around at every pretty shade of red paint, maybe THAT one, maybe THIS one.

Then, the week before my birthday, I started to contemplate how much money I was spending on having a car.

I've been making car payments since the fall of 1977 - so, 32 years of monthly obligation. 384 months of uncertainty. 11,520 days of worry. 230,400 or so individual moments of being afraid, unsure, or concerned.

I drive 4.6 miles each way to the office. Once or twice a week, I drive 52 miles round trip to the church. Every once in a while, I may run up ten or twenty miles in errands, or to have a visit with someone.

Call it 170 miles a week (last week being the exception with FIVE trips to church).

Those 170 miles will cost a very predictable $35.00 in gasoline and miscellaneous wear and tear on the car. Insurance is another $60 a month.

So, why was I paying nearly a thou a month for a car?

Between the interest cost and depreciation, that's what the Red Rocket was costing.

So, $1.58 a mile.

$7.25 to drive to work.

$164.32 for each drive to church.

$142.20 to visit a friend outside the beltway (no wonder I'm so committed to staying inside the loop).

This was insane. Especially since the math is exacerbated with the stress.

New choices were made.

I just acquired my SECOND 1998 Buick Riviera. Victoria Regina, her name. She has 67K miles on her, fewer than did the Red Rocket. She's paid for in full. She needs some loving labor, but she's pretty.

And I love her.

This morning, as I was running back and forth between the storage locker, the laundry room, VR (as she's now nicknamed), and the mailbox, I kept noticing how much she makes me smile. Like, I am giddy happy smiling.

Giddy. About a car that cost fewer than $4,000.

She doesn't have a snorting V10, Audi exquisite engineering, and she cost less than the Bang & Olufsen stereo.

But, every day that I own her is the opportunity to have something other than twenty fearful thoughts.

Monday Mourning

My brother (half-brother, dad's first marriage) died Saturday afternoon/evening of a heart attack in his sleep. He was 53.

He died because of our country's policies over the last thirty five years or so.

Mike (whose real name was Edgar, but nicknamed Mike so as to avoid confusion with my dad) had a high school education, gained at a time in this society when that was enough to get a decent job and raise a family on that income. And, he got both a decent job and a family, working in an auto plant.

Which auto plant was closed some twenty years ago. He then went and got trained on repairing ATM machines and drive through machines, and supported himself and his family working outside in cold Michigan winters, making it easier for people to pull up inside their climate controlled cars and access their accounts without having to deal with the bank lobby.

Until that bank was acquired by another, larger bank and they outsourced to a different vendor.

He and his wife struggled to keep up the property taxes on their very modest house, and of course health insurance was impossible.

Being of stocky stock, Mike had always been prone to weight gain. Between the stress, the cheap food and the lack of care, he developed type II diabetes in his early 40s. Had a diabetic stroke at 47.

Couldn't walk, couldn't work. Social Security fought him tooth and nail for three years on collecting disability, and when his snap-back occurred, a significant chunk of it went to the lawyer.

They had train-wreck luck, but Mike never seemed to begrudge his life.

The last few years, Mike could walk a few blocks. I don't know how much weight he had gained, but I can guess it was a lot.

His death of a heart attack over the weekend was, I guess not a surprise. Without money for health care, without money for prescriptions, without purpose and hope - victim for our having savaged our nation's manufacturing base, beaten down the unions, allowed for megalithic business combinations - he was one of the tens of thousands whose life trajectory was shot down without fault or recovery.

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me

Wild and woolly! I guess, it wasn't so wild, but it was non-stop low key action.

So, today, I mostly worked on a loan - mortgage loan, my last one - and finally, for the first time since 1996, THIS one is going the way they should have all been going. Neat, tidy, clear communication ..

Just as I was finishing up with that this afternoon, my neighbor was texting about getting together for dinner tonight - AND mentioned that he was across the street with his mom surfing for bargains! I hitched onto their parade, and we went over to Marshall's - where I found a new coffee mug (of the style I love) for 10% of the original price, a cool console table for between my club chairs marked down from $179 to $50, and FOUR pair of dress trousers (representing a 400% increase over what I had previously had) all cheapola! THEN, we went to the Empire Cafe and had some cake - mine was called "Chocolate Mugging" I think. Then, we came back to the apartments and I had to lay down.

One of my very first tax clients dropped in today - he told me that when he came up the stairs and rounded the corner he could tell how much more calm and happy I was than he's ever seen me. He remarked about it twice, and then we talked about the fallacy of "obtaining" when done with debt. Great conversation, and it was nice to be acknowledged for having been changed.

I had fun today! My phone was blowing up, the IMs were pouring in, and nearly every one of my high school friends on Facebook wished me happy birthday. Wow.

Thank you world! I had a great birthday!

Whirlwind preparedness

I had the most strange and delightful dream last night. I had just purchased a new home theater system - it was no bigger than a coffee table book, and it had two little speakers, each the size of a CD jewel case. It was very chromey and awesome looking.

The whole rest of the dream was about trying to keep from losing or letting other people damage this cool new toy, plus weird additions showing up to the house, my mom being present, etc.

This morning, I walked around the block (which is nearly a mile) and came across six discarded soda cans, and four discarded plastic bottles. I picked them all up, to assuage my feelings of guilt on behalf of my fellow man.

I'm finding that written to-do lists are becoming more and more important.

It's very interesting - I watched some Hulu last night, and saw a Daily Show piece in which Jon Steward interviewed a man with a computer modeling program that has been right about what was developing nearly 100% of the time, and 100% of the time better than the CIA projected.

He said in his mind, and based on his projections, things are actually headed in a pretty good direction - peace in the Middle East, health care resolution in the US, movement on climate change, people behaving themselves in general.

Something for everyone to pray for.

I'm just gonna rant on a while here -

On people who hate taxes -

Why is it that so many people who hate taxes and feel that "they pay too much" actually pay nothing at all?

On people who don't want changes to health care -

Why is it that so many people who are so jacked up about health care have no health care themselves except "don't get sick, and if you do, die fast"?

On people who don't want gay marriage -

Why are you willing to welcome insta-marriages between opposite sex couples who have just met, or divorce, or ... just how is your marriage threatened by anything from outside of that marriage?

On people who believe that other nations pose a threat to us -

How? How are they a threat? Please don't share with me fanciful speculation, tell me just how they are a threat.

On people who believe that their state should secede from the Union -

If it wasn't acceptable for the South to secede in 1860 when Lincoln, who was against slavery but came to office without a mandate to end slavery, why would it be acceptable now when Obama, who had a far greater voter mandate came to office not proposing (and actually not changing) much of anything?

Should I or shouldn't I?

The hardwood floor in the kitchen mocks me. It lies there, silently, knowing that it's dirty and sticky and that it's thereby driving me crazy.

Earlier, the countertop, the trash, the bathroom, and the dishes all cooperated nicely. Although there were a few overpour incidents, they all cooperated with the clean-up.

And yet, the kitchen floor continues to mock.

It knows full well that I am very careful with splatters, spills, footfalls, and such.

Still, it's sticky. It's dirty in that subversive, non-visible way. It mocks me.

I could get out the pail, fill it with warm water and a smidge of detergent and then clean it, following with the Orange 3 in 1 treatment that adds a hint of shine.

Should I or shouldn't I?

I probably will, whether I should or not.

Saddiday night and ...

I'm too pooped to pop?

It's so interesting - the question was posed "when in your life have you been happy?"

Uh .. wow. That was a hard question to contemplate.

So much has happened in the last year, it's like being fast forwarded.

Saddiday night and ...

I'm too pooped to pop?

Be careful what you wish for - Tuesday edition

So, at about 5:40 this morning, I awoke to the pleasant sound of a hard rain. The air conditioner popped on about then, and I got up to turn it off, wanting to enjoy the sound of the rain for a while.

Shortly afterward, the power went out for three hours. I've listened to a lot of rain!

Apparently, my Swedish furniture name is DÖYGLLAS.

A few isolated anecdotes -

First, an extraordinary picture of a US Air Force transport aircract - "Air Force One" is how one would normally think of it. This one, previously used for that purpose, was at least thirty years old when this picture was taken. Who says our government ALWAYS wastes tax dollars?

Next, I'm sure you've figured out that I'm pretty annoyed by stupid. Well, increasingly, premature death is BECAUSE of stupid.

Just be wary of the stupid people around you, should their efforts to purify the gene pool with their actions unintentionally affect you.

Next, if you were wondering who benefited the most from the recently concluded "Cash for Clunkers" program, this chart will give you those answers. Big winners - just as you'd suspect, Honda, Toyota (the champeen), Hyundai, Nissan.

But, buried in these statistics are some truly amazing items - my favorite car (regardless of what Robert thinks) is the Audi S8 - it's EPA rated for 13/18 - and Audi SOLD one with the clunkers trade in credit. What in God's name could someone have traded in on THAT which provided a fuel economy increase of six mpg?

Two HUMMERS were sold. Tens of thousands of pick-up trucks.

I'm visualizing many fewer supertankers unloading foreign oil onto our soil because of this.

As I engage my day, which started out with enforced peacefulness and contemplation, I am also thinking about the stuff I've got that I'm still not using. Watch this space for announcements relating to the selling off of even MORE stuff.

Mondays - why would they get someone down?

I rather like Monday mornings, but mostly because of my own design. Since I usually work all weekend long, Monday mornings are a slower time for me, doing some cleaning, organizing my week, and so on.

Today, I played catch up from a mechanical standpoint - consumables replaced, bills paid, and so on. I broke down and decided to have DSL set up at my apartment, so that took a bit of time.

Here in my little apartment, there is some white noise of traffic in the background, the ceiling fans are - of course - unobtrusive, and the only real noise I get is from the roar of the air conditioner. It's so tranquil - and so not what I'm used to. I've spent more than twenty years in living quarters with loud room mates, loud neighbors, traffic, neighbors, people beating on my door while drunk - I can say that this may not be the most luxurious or fancy place I've lived, but it has a peacefulness that even my grandfather's house didn't have.

That peacefulness is a luxury that goes beyond anything that could be measured in currency.

As is my constant, I keep finding ways to tweak my surroundings to make them just that much more pleasing, that much more workable, that much more attractive.

I'm weird that way. I like it though, so I have no intention or inclination to change that.

It's funny - even though I have given away, cut back, thrown out so much of what I had been carrying around, I'm finding increasingly that a fair amount of what I do have here is .. not used.

Perhaps another purge is in the works.

Sunday peace

After being here for two months, I am thinking about refinements. Having the bedroom painted, adding some more lighting, just some little tweaks to make things a little more special.

Sidebar - Sigourney Weaver is a presenter at tonight's Emmy awards and looks like a hundred million dollars in cash - WOW.

Peace for me right now means that I have been enjoying my peaceful and solitary environment, and enjoying not having some task or project needing attention tonight. So, more profound thoughts will follow - anon.

Keith and Rachel - my apologies

I love you both dearly. Especially you, Rachel - your beautiful smile and intellect - I just want to hang out with you and soak you up.

However, I'm reaching a saturation point for angry information about people acting badly. I've come to expect such bad behavior that nothing you share with me is remotely a surprise. It's almost more surprising that it's thought to be noteworthy.

More than twenty years ago, I stopped watching local TV news when our largest local affiliate ran all the way to Shreveport to lead with a murder story. People get angry, they have family arguments, they get drunk and argue, they try to steal sixty bucks from the corner convenience store and someone gets killed. Lather, rinse, repeat - is it news? Is it UNUSUAL?

Some ten years later, I stopped reading the local newspaper. Every single story was slanted toward a particular political and social viewpoint (one that did not include persons of color, as an example).

I was raised believing that watching the news and reading the newspapers were signs of intelligence.

It's a brave, new world.

I began to put my faith in blogs - people who undertook to recreate what reporters USED to do - research, read, assemble. Angry, ranting blogs weren't what I read - blogs that cross linked to original sources or other references so I could (and did) go read for myself were valuable.

Those resources haven't changed. But, all the anger is pointless. We're all raging at symptoms - screaming at a runny nose or a sore throat when the problem is that we should have covered our sneeze, or washed our hands appropriately, or eaten a better diet or gotten more sleep.

We are hip deep in crazy because no one's willing to deal with causes. Causes as in causal issues. Everyone's interested in having their own little world pampered, but there are no big picture thinkers who aren't either Matt Taibbi or the titans of Wall Street.

Frankly, if Matt Taibbi was running Wall Street, there'd be a whole lot more and better money being made and no more bubbles bursting.

KKR has a longer world view. AIG did not. Goldman does.

I'm thinking that the health insurance companies know that long-term, their goose is cooked. I'm thinking that they're looking to make hay while the sun still shines, and maybe extend the time that they reap those benefits.

Which leads me back to my point. I love you guys. I love you. You make me feel like I'm not alone. Yet, we're not making progress. We're tilting at windmills. I already gave up Daily Kos. It's time to go back to fundamentals. We have to re-teach civics and expand understanding. We have to give clear access to facts and provide an alternative to spin.

I know I'm going to be drawn back to you from time to time, but I need to take a break and re-focus.

Speed walking through Safeway

I recall there being a wide variety of laundry soap products; now, at one of the largest Safeway (Randall's) stores in the Houston market - there is only a wide variety of liquid Tide. Tide makes my pale, white skin break out, so I was hoping for something else.

They did have sugar-free Popsicles on sale, which was fun. They also still had a bunch of sugar free tapioca cups in the discount bin, so I grabbed a bunch. Either I've gone daft, or they only had a very small selection of bacon. They also had coffee on sale (which was what brought me into the store - I was out of bean). Dunkin Donuts beans are more expensive than Starbucks? Really? Safeway has prices marked in disparate ways, just as do all grocery chains - some containers are marked per pound, some per ounce, some per package. This requires math on the spot - which is the better deal? This one's on sale, but the price per measure isn't converted for the SALE price, only for the original price ..

Calculate, calculate, calculate. This one says it's organic, but is it fair trade? This one looks perfect, but it's decaf.

Finally, I reached a decision.

The little hand basket loaded to overflowing, I wandered over to the cash registers, so loaded up with last minute offerings that one can't see whether a cashier is there until one gets right up on the belt.

I remember when Randall's (before it was Safeway) used to have thirty plus types of mustard. Now, there are five or six.

Not that I don't care for Randall's now - but, how Randall's became Safeway is an excellent example of how American business is so focused on short term profit and not on long term stability and growth.

Back in the distant past, there were four or five grocery chains that dominated the Houston market. Kroger, Randall's and Weingarten's, Safeway, Gerland's and Feista. Feista, I believe was a Spanish market store created by the Weingarten family.

Of those, only Kroger and Safeway were multi-state chains.

Houston has seen and kicked Albertson's to the curb, along with Food Lion and a few others. Weingarten ran for the exits in the 1980s, wisely focusing on their real estate holdings. Gerland's gave up the ghost, although hints of it linger on in the Food Town chain. Fiesta moves from strength to strength. Kroger has been the king of the hill for decades.

Safeway, though, had a very strong market position. In about 1986, Safeway was put "in play" by Robert Haft (who were, at least in the business of running food and drug stores), and the board ran for cover with Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts (KKR) as their savior. This is sort of like leaping into the arms of the cannibal pygmies to save oneself from being eaten by marauding lions. Proving my axiom, KKR required that the company repay the borrowed money by selling off chunks.

Of course, KKR handled the filings and arranged the financing making a blizzard of cash.

The helpful investment house of KKR offered to broker the sale of huge chunks of Safeway, which had been so neatly assembled over fifty years following a strategy set in place by Merrill Lynch. Overseas operations, about half the total was all sold. The Houston operation, including its distribution warehouses and its brand spankin' new dairy factory to the Houston managers.

Who had to borrow the money.

From KKR.

Who made a shitload of money on THAT angle, too.

Enter "Apple Tree Markets".

Apple Tree was actually a TERRIFIC grocery chain, but the debt load was too great to sustain its operations, and pieces of it began to fly off. The dairy plant. Prime locations. The stores started to show their plight.

Finally, Apple Tree stores sold off their pieces to .. Randall's and Fiesta. Mostly to Randall's, which expanded hugely from Apple Tree's failure.

Randall's bought up the Tom Thumb stores in Dallas, along with Apple Tree stores all around the state. And they were large. And they were prosperous-ish.

And they loaded up on debt.

Kroger, being the 800 pound gorilla in the marketplace, only had to burp up a few tenths of a percentage of cash flow to turn a cranky, 1970s Kroger store into a Sak's like emporium, and Randall's had to keep up.

And the money kept flowing in ... (with acknowledgment to Tim Rice). Guess who loaned them the money???? (hint, their initials are KKR)

Well, ten years after taking the company private, the Safeway folks were .. expanding into new markets to replace those 1,000 or so stores that vanished when KKR took the company private.

And, guess how they re-entered Texas? By buying Randall's and paying a blizzard of money for it. That they borrowed. From KKR. But, wait - KKR was the majority owner of Randall's - and had provided Randall's all of the financing - so, how did they .. loan .. uh ..

And now, we have Safeway in Houston again.

And Kroger is still the 800 pound gorilla.

But KKR has made a TON of money! Retail centers have lost tenants, managers and employees have lost jobs, pensions are gone, choices are fewer - but KKR HAS MADE A TON OF MONEY!!!!!!

And, isn't that how it should work? A growing food and drug chain in DC decides to expand their presence, so they start buying stock in a large, publicly traded grocery and drug chain but the board of directors of the large, publicly traded grocery and drug chain want to retain their jobs and their panache, so they bargain with the devil, who requires them to sell off ONE HALF of their enterprise, pay enormous fees and interest, finances the sales of all the ONE HALF of their enterprise to the buyers - making interest and fees, then FIRES ALL THE DAMNED DIRECTORS ANYWAY, and then suggests - hey, you guys - you should be expanding into these markets you're not currently in (because we made you sell the stores you already had there) and SELLS THEM MORE STORES THEY ALREADY OWN.

Seems quite reasonable.

And we wonder why sub-prime mortgages didn't sound so bad.

Berlin calling

In 1975, I visited Berlin for about a week. I was 15 years old, and yet I was captivated. Berlin has a history going back a thousand years, is the amalgamation of a number of smaller cities and villages, and is now one of the most important and exciting cities in the EU.

And, in 1945, it was blown to smithereens. British bombs, then Russian artillery blew the city into rubble. Every structure of importance was reduced to its foundations. To look at Berlin today, one wouldn't realize that the heritage was reconstructed - it is a blending of new and old, modern and traditional, experimental and trusted.

Last night, I had a delightful surprise through an email from Philip. Just as a reminder, there are only two Philip(s) with one "l", and this one is the awesome one that stayed with me one summer a few years ago.

He, Philip, is engaged in an effort to re-define and revitalize Detroit.

People slag Detroit endlessly and have for decades, but most people have never visited there. A hundred years ago, Detroit was arguably the second most important city in the country - a status it held until the 1960s. The race riots of 1967, spurred by the division of the black neighborhoods by the development of I-75, accelerated "white flight", and the city itself has never recovered.

Detroit presents an incredible and unique opportunity - the re-invention of a major American city. Rather than rely on traditional methods to spur growth and re-settlement, it is an opportunity to think totally out of the box, and marry the advantages of human convergence in a major city with renewable, sustainable environments that reduce city infrastructure needs, support growth through reduced recurring costs, provide a healthful environment for residents and look forward to what comes next, rather than trying to be a better city for 1958.

My mind is a river of ideas for the concept.

Every once in a while

I feel validated.

It seems that someone in California has obtained the signatures to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would outlaw divorce completely.

Now, THAT would be marriage as a sanctity.

On The Town

Last night, I was delighted to watch the first production of Leonard Bernstein's "On The Town" ever mounted here in Houston. It was very cute, but my not-gay friend who took me kept remarking on how very gay the male cast members were.

And they were. Like "holy CRAP that boy is gay".

Back in "the day" when homo-ness was less acceptable, we (I) had to hide out in plain sight, which required that we be more conforming than is now the standard. In theater arts, one could be a bit more expressive - but, you were in the main NOT going to be so expressive that people would figure it out from twenty paces.

These boys - their gayness could be detected from space.

Not that it's bad, but one of the qualities of live theater in the past was that the dancing/singing/acting boys were just SLIGHTLY more appealing in terms of their finesse, their presentation, their expressions. When their gayness begins to negatively affect the believability of whether they would actually be found dancing with a scantily dressed female - the illusion is shattered and they aren't fitting for the roles they were cast into.

Sailors who chase dames, for instance, should at least give the idea that they'd be INTERESTED in chasing dames. And not to learn where they picked up those fabulous shoes.

The day after 090909

More teaching tomorrow and Saturday - maybe I'll get some marketing out for myself.

I wasn't quite expecting as much out of Obama's speech as we seem to have gotten. At the same time, the political theater is draining.

Happy anniversary last night, Rachel!

Spent Labor Day in awesome conversation connecting dots in elements of our national discourse and events. It was great to engage in uniform praise for Matt Taibbi, and to turn the concepts around together with other people who are analytical and well informed.

Consider -

H1N1 (swine) flu historically starts out with a short term spike that is minimally fatal. The flu begins to mutate, and comes back in the late fall/early winter, but then roars – nay, explodes – into a virulent killing machine in the late winter.

It seems quite clear that health reform will not have a public option (perhaps one that is “triggered” but not one starting out) and given that the same players created a TWO YEAR opportunity for credit card issuers to knock interest rates out of the park before new rules took effect, we can expect that any health reform (which should be in place before the H1N1 flu comes back for its class reunion around Thanksgiving) will have given the health insurance companies ample opportunity to reduce, reuse and recycle existing policy holders by jacking up premiums, co-pays, reducing benefits and basically making it very challenging for people to maintain their current health coverage.

While not widely reported, a very well researched and thorough writer has commented that a great number of his personal contacts are anonymously suggesting that we are about to experience major employers greatly reducing health benefits, increasing co-pays, increasing employee contributions especially for spousal or dependent coverage. This is expected to begin taking effect when enrollment periods open, which is traditionally late in the calendar year.

While not widely understood, current health insurance policies do NOT pay for emergency services, such as an emergency room visit with an onset of, say, sudden, chronic flu symptoms. Recently, a close friend had a visit to the ER after a diabetic episode at work and found that his employer paid health insurance pays only TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS of ER visits that are not (get this) approved IN ADVANCE.

Um, sure. “Hello? HMO? I'm thinking I'll have the flu on Thursday and may need to go to the ER – maybe Thursday night or Friday?”

In the 2000 presidential election, Ralph Nader was directly and aggressively challenged for his threat of Al Gore's effort to attain the White House. He acknowledged that, indeed, his intent was to block Al Gore from becoming president, saying (paraphrased) that our country had not yet suffered enough havoc of the policies of the previous 30 years to make lasting, real change.

I believe that he was right.

I believe also that a perfect storm may be brewing of greatly reduced health benefits, greatly increased health premium costs, greatly increased out of pocket payments for ER visits, co-pays and emergency treatment and the return of the H1N1 flu.

That change Ralph Nader has long thought needed may be nearly upon us.

Lather, rinse, repeat

Program Director: Take 2, cue Howard.

Beale: I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the street, and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it.

We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. And we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be!

We all know things are bad -- worse than bad -- they're crazy.

It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out any more. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials, and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone."

Well, I'm not going to leave you alone.

I want you to get mad!

I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your Congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street.

All I know is that first, you've got to get mad.

You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, goddammit! My life has value!"

So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell,

"I'm as mad as hell,

and I'm not going to take this anymore!!"

why is this even a question?

No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick.

Dear President Obama,

I understand you’re thinking of dumping your “public option” because of all the demagoguery by Sarah Palin and Dick Armey and Newt Gingrich and their crowd on right-wing radio and Fox. Fine. Good idea, in fact.

Instead, let’s make it simple. Please let us buy into Medicare.

It would be so easy. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with this so-called “public option” that’s a whole new program from the ground up. Medicare already exists. It works. Some people will like it, others won’t – just like the Post Office versus FedEx analogy you’re so comfortable with.

Just pass a simple bill – it could probably be just a few lines, like when Medicare was expanded to include disabled people – that says that any American citizen can buy into the program at a rate to be set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which reflects the actual cost for us to buy into it.

So it’s revenue neutral!

To make it available to people of low income, raise the rates slightly for all currently non-eligible people (like me - under 65) to cover the cost of below-200%-of-poverty people. Revenue neutral again.

Most of us will do damn near anything to get out from under the thumbs of the multi-millionaire CEOs who are running our current insurance programs. Sign me up!

This lets you blow up all the rumors about death panels and grandma and everything else: everybody knows what Medicare is. Those who scorn it can go with Blue Cross. Those who like it can buy into it. Simplicity itself.

Of course, we’d like a few fixes, like letting Medicare negotiate drug prices and filling some of the holes Republicans and AARP and the big insurance lobbyists have drilled into Medicare so people have to buy “supplemental” insurance, but that can wait for the second round. Let’s get this done first.

Simple stuff. Medicare for anybody who wants it. Private health insurance for those who don’t. Easy message. Even Max Baucus and Chuck Grassley can understand it. Sarah Palin can buy into it, or ignore it. No death panels, no granny plugs, nothing. Just a few sentences.

Replace the “you must be disabled or 65” with “here’s what it’ll cost if you want to buy in, and here’s the sliding scale of subsidies we’ll give you if you’re poor, paid for by everybody else who’s buying in.” (You could roll back the Reagan tax cuts and make it all free, but that’s another rant.)

We elected you because we expected you to have the courage of your convictions. Here’s how. Not the “single payer Medicare for all” that many of us would prefer, but a simple, “Medicare for anybody who wants to buy in.”

Respectfully,

DrDivo

August's last day for 2009

If one believes in the "Mayan" predictions, we have approximately three years, three months and three weeks before our plane of existence comes to a complete halt.

Personally, I don't find much strength in that line of reasoning.

I was driving by Momentum Audi today; they have a bright red A6 out front that isn't in their online inventory. Do I care enough to call 'em and ask about it? To point out that keeping their online information current is very important?

No.

Over the weekend, a friend had a call (he's a fire fighter) to an auto accident - a four year old dead, a six year old lost both of her feet - both of these before anyone was transported to the hospital. The cause? An unlicensed 15 year old who was texting.

Yikes. This morning, I carried my phone to the office in the trunk of the car. I need to leave it back there every time. EVERY time.

Mr. Z gave me one of Cafe del Mar's CDs to listen to - it's AMAZING. I have been playing it in the car, and it's just splendid.

I'm curious about time's passing. It's a very interesting dynamic.

I'm also curious about how resistant people are to change.

Things that make up a Friday morning -

Recently, I re-connected with my best friend from law school - thanks to Facebook. It has been incredibly rewarding to be back in touch with him. This morning, he and I were chatting away on Instant Messenger and he said this:

My favorite Doug utterance ever was this:

We were at someone's house, someone we didn't know, and they had two hyper barking jumping little white dogs. You were reading something, and I asked you what kind of dogs they were. Without looking up or moving, you answered, "White". I don't know why, but it's the best ever.

I just laughed so hard and so long I coughed up a lung.

In my email this morning was this:

Dear First Prize Winner,

Congratulations! You have been selected to receive a prize in the Lexus HS Contest, administered by ePrize.

You have been selected as the winner of a the use of a Lexus HS for one (1) week and a Lexus Hybrid Living gift bag containing Sponsor selected Lexus branded products! Please see the attached Official Rules for further prize details and eligibility requirements.

I suppose it could have been even MORE of a great start to a Friday morning if I had received a note that someone had just given me my S8 free and clear, but this wasn't bad at all. I am psyched about it!

I notice this morning that the board of VW has voted to merge with Porsche.

For those that haven't been following, here's how this went -

Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP were elected to a plurality of seats in the German Reichstag in March, 1933.

They created a government with the Social Democrats.

They put all the Social Democrats in jail.

They eliminated all civil rights, unions, communists, jews, slavs, gypsies and youth organizations.

In replacing the unions with a single, national "union" that everyone had to belong to, they created the first rewards program wherein workers had deductions taken from their paychecks so that they could participate in vacations, cruises and such. This program was called "Kraft durch Freude" (or, Work through Joy).

To further give the non-unionized laborers incentive to labor endlessly without overtime, the right to strike or bargain or change jobs, the government announced that a brand new car would be sold on a weekly subscription basis - the "Kraft durch Freude" car - KDF, popularly known as the People's car (Volks wagen).

The car was designed by Prof. Dr. Ing. H. C. Ferdinand Porsche, who, like Hitler, was an Austrian, but had a bunch of training and skill other than bombastic oratory and making people hate each other. Prof. Dr. Porsche had this notion that designing a car with a flat, air cooled engine in the back driving the back wheels was the best idea since Austria became the center of the Holy Roman Empire, and later created a slightly more exciting car on the same basic design called the Porsche 911.

Said workers had another involuntary payroll deduction, and ground was broken for a massive factory near Wolfsburg, which had hitherto served no particular purpose in the German economy, but benefited someone who sold the land. This would become the massive Volkswagenwerk.

Gazillions of Marks were collected from paychecks, and not a single car was produced or delivered to those who had their money withheld. Sort of like a Tucker Torpedo, but without the cool movie starring Jeff Bridges.

Hitler got too frisky in his efforts to seize assets without paying for it, and eventually the Brits and the 'Murricans blew everything in Germany to bits with high explosives. In order to avoid this outcome, Prof. Dr. Porsche and his family designed tanks instead of air cooled cars with the engines hanging off'n their butts. They found it a little more convenient to avoid hot death dropping from the skies and moved their little operation to far Eastern Austria.

The 'Murricans thought that they could gain a leg up on 500 years of European colonial domination by rebuilding Europe, and so threw more money at Germany than they had previously thrown high explosives. Thinking that they had some say in the matter, the French, the Brits and the Russians took possession of different parts of Germany, and the Porsche family was involuntarily split into two geographic groups - northern and south-eastern.

Prof. Dr. Porsche and his family gently took control of the Volkswagenwerk, the plans for the KDF car, and the factory with the kind assistance of the government of Lower Saxony. Since they already had the plans for a real car thing, they started building them. This was the Northern part of the family.

Because the tank building part of the family had this nifty factory over in the southeastern part, and because they couldn't run back home to Wolfsburg and surrounds, they created a new company to continue to build Porsche automobiles.

Prof. Dr. Porsche died.

His family, in the grand tradition of the Hiltons, the Vanderbilts and others, fought over the spoils.

Each car company was mostly controlled by descendants of the guy who thought that hanging an engine off of the back of an axle was a great design.

People get confused, thinking that two different sets of folks control these companies - mostly because the Peich line controls the VW company. Peich is a grandson of the aforementioned Prof. Dr. Porsche. Porsche AG has been mostly controlled by Ferry Porsche, who was the son of Prof. Dr. Porsche. Peich is his nephew, the son of his sister.

Since Ferry died, the grandsons (Peich and Ferry the third) have been playing an endless game of "who's got the bigger dick", in which Ferry three attempted to swallow the world's third largest automaker whole with the backing of certain Gulf state oil investors.

Then, the whole economy of the world fainted, and Ferry three couldn't pay the bills on his efforts to "fress" (German for eat, but in the sense that an animal eats) Fow-Vay (German, for VW).

VW now is buying Porsche SE.

So, doesn't this mean that two cousins have blown through over $12,000,000,000 against shareholder interests, the interests of the workers, the franchisees, the ability to design new product, expand into new markets, reduce the costs of their products - just to see who had the bigger weenie?

Someone should take 'em both out back and give them the whacking that they should have each gotten back in the 1950s.

what if the car you bought with cash for clunkers was..

itself a clunker?

What if you traded in your clunker qualifier at a local Chevy dealer, and your new purchase was delivered to you with a non-functioning fuel gauge, AND the check engine light on?

And then, what if your friendly local Chevy dealer who had sold you the car only three days before told you that they'd take it in for repair, but NOT give you a loaner car or provide you with transportation in violation of the GM warranty?

Does that mean that you're still driving a clunker?

A new take on "green" living

More and more of late, I have been overcome by the waste in our society. I don't mean just that we buy dwellings and cars that are much larger than what we really need. I don't mean just that we suck up power that we don't need to use. I don't mean just that we wrest minerals from within the earth and then leave an enormous, toxic mess behind. I don't mean just the investment into transporting cheaply manufactured goods across oceans in huge ships that contribute far more particulate and toxic emissions into the air than do all of the cars in this country.

It's all of it.

Recently, a woman from Baltimore was on Oprah talking about how she had reduced her electric bill by 77% through unplugging things that pull an electrical load even when they're not being used. Whether you believe her actual performance or not, these two articles describe how it works and allow one to calculate how much could be saved.

So, what would motivate you to unplug a bunch of stuff? I've started unplugging nearly everything but for the alarm clock, the microwave (because it's impossible to get to) and the TV when I leave the apartment.

If you believe that global warming is bunkum, you won't be motivated to do this. If you hold a negative view toward trying to save money, or use less - you won't be motivated to do this.

What if Jesus said it was a good idea?

In Mark Chapter 12, Jesus was asked which was the most important of the Commandments. Most who are Christian or who have read the bible (note that I don't consider the two groups to be identical) are familiar with the story.

Here was the exchange:

29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Let's break this down for a moment -

The most important commandment is that there is one God, and you should focus on God. In my faith, we say "God is all there is", but in any faith - Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist .. we can all agree that the most important thing is that God is the most important thing.

What follows, though - "love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these".

Virtually every spiritual faith that has wide adherence contains this admonishment. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. What goes around comes around. As you do, so shall you receive.

We humans find this to be an aspiration, but we do not live as if it were the second most important spiritual rule. We instead ignore God's admonition that judgment belongs only to God, and try to use the other commandments as weapons to justify our wrath.

What of the commandment "thou shalt not kill" from the perspective of the second most important commandment? One could reflect that being killed would be pretty bad, so since I don't want that done unto me, I should refrain from doing it to others.

Let's take "thou shalt not steal". Hasn't everyone come to realize that someone, maybe someone we thought of as a trusted person, has stolen from us? How does that feel? It feels rotten! So, when we see something tantalizing - how do YOU want to feel? You want to feel the way that the owner of that trinket will feel when they discover that you've taken it?

Well, then either mate it back with its owner or leave it alone.

Taken into a broader environment - no pun intended - what are you saying to your neighbor when you throw something out your car window instead of disposing of it in a waste container? How would you feel if someone tossed some trash in your yard? Or let their animal relieve itself on your sidewalk?

What's the difference?

What are we saying to our neighbors when we create an earthen pond containing three million gallons of toxic coal slurry to avoid dealing with the refuse from coal mining, and then it soils and nearly permanently destroys hundreds of acres, and displacing dozens of families and businesses?

What are we saying to our neighbors when we run our supertanker into a shoal, spilling several million gallons of crude oil onto public beaches, destroying wild life habitats and the living for local fishermen and then fight cleaning up after ourselves by spending more money than the clean up would have cost?

What are we saying to our neighbors not yet born when we overfish or pollute the waters such that there is no more food source? Or when we create a drug, or a beverage, or a processed food that is neglectfully or intentionally harmful and then do our best to avoid responsibility?

What if we conducted ourselves thinking about how WE would feel if we personally had to deal with the aftermath, the mess, the cleanup, the financial burden and then acted to minimize or eliminate any effect that our neighbor will be left with?

If we conducted ourselves that way, would we be honoring God and his creations more fully? Would we actually be living our lives following the teachings of Jesus?

Why, yes we would.

Could one then extrapolate a sound conclusion that littering, using more than you actually need, acting in a manner ignorant of how others are left responsible or diminished, or actively trying to avoid responsibility are against Jesus's primary teachings?

You tell me. I have my opinion on the matter already.

Rainy Monday reflections

So, here I sit, my office again in total disarray after emptying out of storage fully. I await Ra-wub's arrival to move some things home and some things here. Then, everything has to be re-hung and .. Lord, have mercy.

So, yesterday I re-connected with two law school friends. One - my best friend from law school days, with whom I ran the streets until we both graduated and he moved back north. The other, a stalwart friend with whom I lost contact more than ten years ago.

It was good to catch up, and it was affirming to find that with all that has transpired since we last spoke - the uniform comment was that there just wasn't that much to talk about. No one was feeling enthusiastic about where we were in life - just looking for what's next.

Today, I was perusing employment opportunities - and finding that the job market has swept the value out from under the advanced degree I have. 25+ years of experience is worth about $22/hour, unless they're just lowballing.

Interesting article that I caught a day ago that suggested low cost airlines (specifically Ryanair) were charging the unsuspecting so much in fees that they were paying more than a full service airliner - and then today, another article complaining about the fees being assessed by the US network carriers which "may exceed the cost of the ticket!"

I had a hard time with the credibility of that last - not the least reason of which being that he couldn't spell worth a flip. But, today, I was researching some airfare for a friend (not that I don't do THAT several times a week) and discovered that American Airlines offered what looked like a lower fare than did Continental between the same two cities. However, in looking at the FINAL price (with fees), the American itinerary was between $6.00 and $8.00 HIGHER than the Continental price and required a stop and change of equipment in each direction.

So, when you're wondering how I work my airfare magic - I'll tell you. First, I tap into my vast, stored knowledge about which airlines travel between which cities (for instance, I would rarely suggest US Airways for travel to anywhere leaving Houston and going to the Midwest) and then check the following:

Kayak.com
Southwest.com
JetBlue.com (limited opportunities from this market, but great if you live near NYC)

If the travel includes a city into which Continental (or whatever your favorite airline travels) flies, I also check that airline's website directly.

With Kayak.com, you can search their site along with travelocity, expedia, priceline and hotwire simultaneously. Be sure to check those boxes to search all of the sites.

NEVER EVER EVER buy tickets from some website called "cheapassedairlinetickets.com" or something. EVER. When you buy through any website that is not operated directly by the air carrier onto which you are booked, any disruption in your travel will likely be handled by the booking website, and not the airline.

That means when you're stuck in New York City, booked on the last Delta (Comair) flight from JFK to Houston on a Sunday night and Comair cancels the flight because of a crew misconnect (which happens a LOT - seasoned travelers will avoid this flight like the measles) you will find that Delta will NOT help you. They invite you to call cheapassedairlinetickets.com and good luck with THAT.

Why check all of these different sites?

#1 - in any city pair market in which two of the airlines directly compete, you'll find that the airfares are nearly identical - UNTIL someone runs out of seats for that travel time.
#2 - if you find that is offering a lower fare, but you'd rather fly your preferred carrier, you can call them on the phone and ask them to match the lower price. They probably will.
#3 - each of these sites have different deals with rental cars and hotel operators - and sometimes you can find a lower airfare between your two cities by ADDING a hotel. The total cost is actually lower than the bare airfare.

And, never, ever try to back haul on a connection to save twenty bucks.

Every so often

I check to see if I have incomplete thoughts. Those live as blog posts that are started but not completed. Just found four, finished 'em off and published them, but they're back between 2007 and 2008. So, old news, old views.

Nevertheless, they're completed.

I'm working to gain the most votes in an online sweepstakes to get a free one year lease on a new Lexus hybrid - you could go vote for me right now by clicking on this link. You could win a lease for a year yourself!

I'll wait a moment while you go vote for me.

Thanks!

So, last night I was doing some laundry, and E called. E is about to list his manse for sale up there in Canadia, and it seems that there are ZERO properties listed in his MLS zone. Zero. Inventory = zero.

I think it'll sell fairly speedily.

He has plans to visit hither and yon, and has suggested that a post-Labor Day (US - if it was Canada, it would be Labour Day after all) visit to Houstonia.

Well, hide the children and the small animals because he AND RtH are coming to stay for a weekish sometime soon! Ring the bells! Charge the fire hydrants! Alert the media!

I can't wait. It should be a HOOT.

Speaking of hooting, Matticia is in town this weekend and that should be all fun, all the time. Off to hoot-owl land!

I was explaining the first time home buyer tax credit just yesterday - and the client was stunned. "Why don't people know about this?"

Well, there's knowing it exists and there's knowing how to access it.

For people buying a home to owner occupy between now and November 30, 2009, there is a tax credit of $8,000 available if they meet the qualifications.

A tax credit is a reduction in TAX which can be paid as a refund if no tax is owed. Most people are familiar with an income credit, which reduces only the income on which tax is owed.

Simply put, if your client is like most people, they get a refund back each year. This tax credit gives them an additional eight thousand dollars in refund. This money can be used to pay down payment and closing costs in the State of Texas (while funding holds out) or just gives your customer a huge refund.

So, you can generate more closings or more referrals by letting your customers know about this program. Even if they don't personally qualify, the information may help their friends, which increases referrals and retention.

Here are the bullet points you can use to let people know about the program:

* First time home buyer means that they cannot have owned any property during the three years prior to the purchase
* If they borrowed money to purchase, it has to be an FHA loan
* They can either take the credit when they file their 2009 tax return next year, OR they can amend their 2008 return and take the credit now - getting the money in about six weeks
* They cannot have delinquent student loans, tax obligations, money owed to the Federal government, or child support obligations, or the credit would be used to pay down those obligations
* If they earned more than $90,000 in gross income in the year they take the credit, they are ineligible

Here is where the real meat is, that will give you the ability to generate a ton of good will and more referrals -

* If they bought their first home (under these rules) between April 1, 2008 and today, they can amend their 2008 return and get the money before summer's end.

Think for a moment what it would do for you if someone you had done good business with contacted you and said "Hey, I think you qualify to get eight grand back from the IRS - you should look into that". Would you be excited? Would you think first of that person when a friend was looking for that service?

You sure would.

If you want to know how to use the money for new transactions at closing, I'll gladly go through that for you with a more detailed briefing.

If you'd like a flyer that you can send out to your clients, just hit me back and tell me how many you want.

Of course, everything has to have a hook in it - I do these tax return amendments for $125 each. I would love to support you in expanding your good will by delivering swift, accurate and warm service to your clients!

I know that it's tough to think about marketing yourself most of the time, given that there is so much else to be done - but this is a slam dunk way to generate terrific good will only for going through your closing list and contacting people who look like they qualify.

If you want to visit about this and get more information, please call me!

Douglas

Forty years ago today

Watching this video reconnects me to the sense of excitement and exhilaration that I felt forty years ago, watching this live in the summer of 1969.

Looking on the brighter side

How many times have you had someone tell you to just cheer up, or to look at the bright side? How many self-help programs tell you to focus on the positive?

For many years, I thought looking on the brighter side was either a Pollyanna exhortation or an impossibility. What about all of this reality?

Other people's negativity brought about my own negative reaction to them. THEY shouldn't be so negative, after all. They were unfair, and unreasonable. MY negativity, though was always VERY reasonable.

I know that my own view of my life has changed quite a bit, and now when I observe someone else's negativity, I just find it noteworthy and something I don't choose to be near. An example -

The office occupants downstairs from us operate a healing practice - chiropractic, massage, acupuncture and such. The requisite elements are present - lovely bamboo, comforting furniture, appealing scent - yet, in our short relationship as neighbors they have complained repeatedly of our interference with their occupancy. They have locked the gates and doors without considering whether we are present, they have parked their cars to block us from entering or leaving, and then complained repeatedly about our presence, not our acts.

It used to really annoy me, their view and communications. Now, I just find it puzzling. Do they understand the weird connection between their business and their lack of awareness of other people?

Looking on the brighter side IS a choice. It feels better, and it is antithetical to the way most humans are trained to view life. It requires practice and repetition to seed firmly into the psyche. There is not a sense of Pollyanna ignorance to having a brighter viewpoint - there is only peace and a sense that everything will work out as it should.

Today's New York Times features an article that suggests a life without enjoyment isn't worth living. Very interesting stuff to consume as I reflect on this idea.

Things falling into place

Further to my last - I've wrestled with how to lay out the furniture that I am keeping in the new pad, as I have previously shared. Last night, I had my first netflix in the new place and so I organized the TV and DVD player (without furniture, gets amusing) and the layout just flashed for me.

It's not going to be roomy, but it will be very effective. It will also look terrific.

And, there will be no wasted space.

Last night, after nearly a year, I unpacked my antique camel back miniature mantel clock. I wound it up, and it started ticking away in its old, comfortable manner. Keeps great time when it's sitting level.

Now, I want to bake some bread. I have my loaf pans, but no bowls. Have the yeast, but no flour. Yet.

This weekend will hopefully involve recovering some or all of my kitchenware from storage.

Day two and a half

So, Monday was an independence day for me personally.

Independence from .. you may ask? Well, I'll tell you.

First, it's independence from the high drama I've always had around me. The drama structure made quite a bit of noise as it was exiting, I'll tell you.

Second, it's independence from the idea that more is more. This place I've moved into is SMALL. The closet is smaller than the one I had while growing up, albeit nicely trimmed with ceramic tile floor, recessed can light, multiple rods, nice shelves. The kitchen has enough room to be very functional, but no extra counter space to host "pretty things". The refrigerator does not promote cooking too much. There is no room for collections of books, ceramics, wall art - it's the smallest place I've ever lived.

And yet, it seems liberating. What more does one NEED? When a bird builds a nest, it doesn't build a duplex. Of course, birds neither collect decorative items, nor hang clothing, but still and all - why the obsession with having more and more?

Everything I ever gathered was to either compensate for something I felt weak about, or to prove something. Most of it was mindless, although carefully chosen and cunningly purchased. Lovingly packed, moved, unpacked, repacked, moved, unpacked. Dusted. Arranged.

SO much personal energy has been exerted in getting that just right.

I am now free of those restrictions.

So many structures that are now fading are being replaced with .. what, I'm not quite yet sure.

Beginning anew

Today was supposed to be spent developing a program for work, and it ended up mostly being consumed with non-profit work. Well, it needed doing.

Lots of people say that they're beginning anew, but what they're really saying is that they're going to give a new stab at things. This is actually beginning from the point of origin.

I'm re-posting something my friend Ann emailed me today - it's lovely and inspiring, and neatly fits in with my recent thinking about the ever present words "Love thy neighbor as thyself" or, more succinctly put "do unto others as you would have others do unto you".

Doesn't that suggest that our awareness must expand to include how others are cared for when they are down or in harm's way? To include how we view our own path through the world and how we leave it for others?

I have a lot more to say on this subject, but am about to skedaddle for a meditation service I'm going to conduct.

Here's Ann's email:

Handbook 2009



Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.

5. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer.

6. Play more games.

7. Read more books than you did in 2008.

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

9. Sleep for 7 hours.

10. Take a 10-30 minutes' walk every day. And while you walk, smile.



Personality:

11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

13. Don't overdo. Keep your limits.

14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

16. Dream more while you are awake.

17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

23. Smile and laugh more.

24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.



Society:

25. Call your family often.

26. Each day give something good to others.

27. Forgive everyone for everything.

28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

30.. What other people think of you is none of your business.

31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.



Life:

32. Do the right thing!

33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

34. GOD heals everything.

35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

37. The best is yet to come.

38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.

39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy, smile.

40. Pray daily.

This was indeed a first for me

I went tonight to see "Angels and Demons" with Robert - we were in an AMC theater that had, quite truthfully, confusing bathroom signage.  After the show, we were both headed into the men's room and he paused as he was walking in to make sure it was the men's and not the women's.

As he passed through the door, he said "I had to make sure."  Then, as we moved into the toilet area, he said "you know, I have to be careful.  Twice I've walked into the women's.  There have been some arrests."

Man, I had to work but I pulled together "Oh, yeah - that one was when you were dressed like Marie Antoinette.  But, which was the other costume again?  Was that the Betsy Ross, or the Carmen Miranda?"

EVERY urinal was occupied.  One guy started to crack up.  Robert quipped "Be nice to me, I was young and I had to make some money." 

Me:  "But, that was last week!"

Open chuckling among all the pissoir patronage.  One guy says "This is just wrong for a bathroom conversation."

Robert: "Yeah, and my ankle still hurts from those high heels!"

Me:  "Oh, so it WAS the Carmen Miranda!"

Now, everyone in the men's room is openly laughing.

We walk over to the sinks, and my soap dispenser dispenses nothing.

Me:  "I thought soap dispensers were designed to dispense soap.  This is against the laws of nature!"

More howling.

As the troops trooped out, every prior visitor to the WC was telling their lady about the hilarity.

Time for a new rule!  Men can have social time in the men's room, too!

what the heck is a "solutions consultant?"

How can I phrase that?

How can I communicate what it is that I actually DO?

Here's an example -

Just a moment ago, a friend who's about to become a homeowner, told me the result of his property inspection.  He said everything was as he expected it to be, except for a massive bee infestation.

In my head, I carry the following information:

My dear friend Mary has a cute little rent house, and her husband keeps bees on their adjacent lot, which is a truck farm.

Mary and Tom (husband) have mentioned (once) that their bee hives are managed by a bee keeper, who has a little business abating bees from homes and other property - without using chemicals.  The bees can't be relocated IF they've been sprayed or fumigated.

So, I said "do NOT allow them to be sprayed or fumigated" - I have a referral who will remove the bees and put them in a safe place.

Problem solved.

I can do this in nearly any business matter.

How, though can this be monetized?  Any ideas?

health care from several perspectives

One of the few non-lobby, non-industry witnesses at Congressional health care hearings.  As he speaks, you can hear that he is not motivated by trying to increase his personal income, but from recent, direct experience in trying to run a small business and dealing with health care from that perspective.

This article in the current Economist magazine has an interesting discussion regarding the process of reforming health care, and includes some opinion polling regarding the general opinion offered of the issue.  As we saw last week, the public's opinion on health care reform is sharply different depending on how you frame the question.

Another article that I've found today from The New Republic suggests that one driving force in this debate is again going to be the young, as they drop off of health care plans that were in force due to their enrollment in education.  Where are they to go now?

The other day, I was at a function and listened to a small group of men across age groups who were united in their rejection of any change to the status quo ante.  Yet, they had no personal connection with any need for change - none of them had been rejected for pre-existing conditions, none had experienced difficulty in accessing benefits because none had been sick and apparently didn't know anyone - they were only parroting what they'd heard in the way of 'socialized medicine restricts choice' and 'Canadians have to wait for health care'.

People who have faced not having health care, who are unable to buy medication, see a doctor, see a specialist, get coaching from a health educator, or who find themselves in the cataclysmic place of having accessed health care and then having their claim retroactively denied cannot understand this argument.

Last night, I was talking with some close friends about religion and the Bible, and the idea was batted around that many people don't really know what the Bible says, and that a common teaching originating from those that are seeking to protect the status quo is to advise those who are not learned that people who study and try to understand can "twist the meaning and the words to fit their agenda".

The same thing is happening here in this debate, as it does in all elements of human discourse.  Reasonable minds can easily agree about a path, but nearly all humans have the same goals and outcomes in common.

Whether one is inclined to favor single payor health care, or keep everything the same "but keep the damned lawyers from ruining everything" - keeping an open mind, hearing and learning as much as possible, and pushing away headlines and talking points in favor of doing your own research will provide for the most balanced outcome.

This is my first post using a new Firefox plug in that easily allowed me to haul in references and links, and post them most effectively, so it may look a little clunky.  I'll learn, though

Further to my last

Check out this picture. Hey, it's me! It's me and I wasn't the one who discovered that cartoon!

Some random thoughts:

It's time to release a blizzard of books that I don't read. I have READ them, but I don't still READ them. I look at them and think "well, I don't want to look at that.."

I've now posted a bunch of them on Amazon, and loaded another big stack into the car to go to the church garage sale.

A change in course

I received my first web-connected computer - a Zenith laptop - in 1988.

It was shipped to me FedEx - it was twice the size of a modern laptop, with a blue on silver LCD screen. 10MB hard drive. 80806 Intel chip. 2400 baud modem.

It was the pinnacle of what was available 21 years ago.

I frankly don't know what I did to divert myself prior to 21 years ago. There were no cell phones, no iPods. Just books. I know that I read a great deal. I didn't engage in watching much television even then. I did have more external contact.

My computer came with a subscription to CompuServe - then, the most advanced of the internet services. They had email, chat, news, stocks, all in text only format, all of which spilled across my silvered screen in purple/blue letters and lines.

Fairly quickly, I knew that I was avoiding work and life by focusing on this safety zone. It's seemingly impossible to break away from that sort of distraction, and somewhat terrifying to see it happening but not be able to stop.

For these last two decades, I've zeroed my attention in on my computer, and although I've produced a prodigious amount of work output, I've also invested the large part of my time reading, reading, reading. It was like having access to the Library of Alexandria in real time - without having to get up from my chair.

I can completely understand how some South Korean video gamers end up dying in their chair after not having moved for three days during an intense game.

So, things are changing and I have been calling out to the Universe for support in changing for months. In the next week, my environment will change and in that new space there will be no spot for the computer, nor connection to the interwebs. All communicating of that nature will be during business hours.

What will step forth to replace that time and focus will be a renewal of live interaction, a renewal of my standards of care for clothing, home and vehicle, and a reconnection with reading that is no longer of the divergent sort, but of the challenge to self-structure sort.

After hearing of this notion, I was told that I was going to be getting a Roku for my birthday, so the blackout may be over by mid-October. In the meantime, the political blogs and reading are cast out, and the endless searching for some new piece of information is likewise cast out.

I'll let you know how this all goes.

The best message ever left...

Prior to this, the top contender for the best message ever left was the vivid and unforgettable scene in the movie "The Godfather", in which the Hollywood executive wakes up in his silk sheeted bed with the head of his beloved race horse lying next to him.

How does one get all of that blood out of taupe gray silk anyway?

Judy's brother lives up the street a few doors, and has an older yellow lab who just LOVES me. I've "babysat" a few times, and I knew that they wanted me to watch her again soon.

I came home last night to a 40 pound bag of dog food lying in the middle of the kitchen floor, on which was written his request that I watch his dog in magic marker.

THE BEST MESSAGE EVER!!

Musing or is it just worrying?

I love this entry from the website "texts from last night"

(215): i got kicked out of Barns and Nobles cuz i put all the bibles in the fiction section

I did NOT love this personal on Craigslist today "It's hot out". What a capacity for understatement! Creativity pours forth.

You know, there are several things that astonish me.

One, that people continue to believe that depression is just a matter of attitude. "Just focus on the good things".

Two, that people continue to believe that someone would choose a "lifestyle" or "preference" that involves having every aspect of your being long for a person antithetical to every message be they religious, social, family, media, entertainment, visual, aural and otherwise.

Three, that people continue to believe that people who are overweight or have developed adult onset diabetes should just "eat less" and that they are somehow flawed in their character.

There are more things that astonish me, but I'm doing my best today to avoid seeming bitter (grin).

Monetize? How?

Every day that I drive into town from out here at the Judy shack, I get to experience some of the most ill-mannered driving styles found in this area.

That having been said, I thought I'd share a few interesting thoughts.

Over the last fifteen years or so, we've seen two heinous criminal defenses/alibis that have been proffered over and over again. They are ALWAYS a lie, and they have become so prevalent as lies that they are being soundly rejected.

This would be the "Gay Panic" defense, and the "A Man Kidnapped/Carjacked/Assaulted me" and took/killed the spouse/child.

In the case of the latter, when some person has engaged in the most vile sorts of perfidy, killing or gravely injuring someone very close to them in relationship - they always blame some dark skinned man/men of nondescript appearance.

Has anyone noticed how often and how quickly it turns out that there was no dark skinned man?

The "Gay Panic" defense is equally vile - here, younger men (usually either engaged fully in straight society, hookers, hustlers or otherwise) brutally attack and usually kill an older gay man, take his money, credit cards and car, and go on a days long spree of relative freedom.

When caught, they assert that said older (now dead) gay man "came on to them" and made unwelcome sexual advances.

Okay, so .. as Nancy Reagan oft repeated "Just Say No".

News flash to said younger men - if a single, somewhat effeminate older man compliments your appearance, offers you money, food and shelter and you DON'T get a little nudge toward the nookie - you've discovered Santa Claus's warm weather hideaway.

Fortunately for the dark skinned men, the dragnet now less frequently catches up one of these innocent bystanders and the villain is revealed for what they are fairly quickly. I am aware that dark skinned people have for decades been lynched, beaten, gassed, jailed and put to hard labor for just being handy. More scientific criminal investigations and the ubiquitous electronic nannies such as video surveillance, OnStar and cell phones have started to interrupt that process.

For the gayer set, however, the "gay panic" defense is alive, well and kicking. Only recently did we first see a Defendant lose utterly in his "gay panic" defense in the matter of Angie Zapata.

In the practice of law, certain circumstances give rise to "presumptions" which may be refuted by contravening testimony advanced by the opposing side.

I propose that in criminal investigations and judicial prosecutions, the promoters of Justice create for themselves a working presumption that should any suspect or defendant advance either of "A Random Black/Latino Man Did It" or "He Tried To Grab Me, So I Beat Him To Death" - the entire crime and prosecution team make the logical presumption that the accused did it. No more should we seek to plead out the young murderer to property crimes because someone touched his wee-wee. No more should we start rounding up men of color because some blond woman in an SUV screams that her husband/baby were taken off by black men with no definite description.

Just focus on them's that did it.