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Monday, May 12, 2008

Turn me on Elections!

Somebody announced on some blog somewhere that I am a Libertarian. I don’t really like titles. The whole party system irritates me for the most part. There should really be a minimalist party. The Libertarian party wants limited government, but the way in which they go about it is too complex (at least in my opinion). I might blog more about this later.

Obama says he wants “change”. I haven’t seen or heard anything from him that indicates this. It all sounds like political mumbo jumbo to me. If it was between Obama and Clinton, I’d vote for Obama simply because I’ve heard the surnames Bush and Clinton way too much in the last 20 years.

Most of the time I kind of like what McCain has to say. My big complaint with him is he could be Bush’s brother and even though he talks about limited government the government underneath Bush’s leadership grew faster than ever. I don’t want to take that chance. However, given the choice between McCain and either of the democratic candidates I’d pick McCain.

I’d vote for Ron Paul before I’d vote for any of the above. But, Ron Paul’s personal beliefs are very contradictory to mine and I wonder if a person can keep his personal beliefs to himself when he is in a position of power. Can a good Christian, God fearing person take the helm of the greatest country in the world and not make changes defending the “good book”? I have my doubts. But, apparently he is still in the race and causing some interesting commotion…

Who is Bob Barr?

Today he threw his hat in as a Libertarian and is expected to win the nomination. Apparently Libertarian’s don’t spend millions of tax payer dollars campaigning across the USA. He’s expected to win the nomination held in Denver over Memorial Day weekend. Ballot access is also an interesting game. I read a little bit about Bob Barr and I like what he had to say. Of course, all of the “experts” think he’ll have some impact on the campaign but has no chance of winning. I personally believe that most media outlets are not much smarter than those at the Star Telegram and can’t do arithmetic when more than 2 candidates are involved so they only cover the cutest 2.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Grumpy, stressed old men and failure to blog

I'm trying to buy a new house. Yesterday I spent darn near all day house hunting, comparison shopping, making offers, arguing with real estate agents and fighting with my wife.

This morning, I woke up, checked my email and found 3 emails from my agent. The house we picked yesterday was way overpriced. They bought the house 2 years ago and today are asking $30k more than what they paid for it.

I'm tired of looking for house, but patience is a virtue and good things come to those that wait.

There is this other house that I like, but my real estate agent is not able to show me the house today. So, why can't I go look at it myself? I've sold a house before and my agent then said, "never show anyone your house unless they have an agent or are an agent." Where is the logic? Why can't I register somewhere and then apply to see the house and the owner let's me in to look around?

It seems crazy that you have to schedule house tours with an agent. I tried to do an online thing to schedule a tour of the house and they want to know if I already have an agent. I guess the people selling the house are wanting double commission for fools that want to see the house without an agent.

How come you can buy a $30k car in 5 years for about $700 per month, but a $90k house costs $600 per month for 30 years?


Thursday, May 8, 2008

Not exactly opinions

I've run out of opinions. Today, I've decided to experiment with embedded video.

Sometimes, when I experience severe frustration, "angry music" helps me cope. I've done some mosh pits in my day.

What follows is one of my favorite "angry" tunes. It's got lyrics not suitable for minors so I'd advice all of my young readers not to watch it. "Dope" is the name of the band.


This next one is more tame so my younger readers can have something to associate with. "Stereomud" does this one.


And now you know a bit more about me than you did yesterday.

I recommend excessive volume...

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Drugs paid for my education and encarceration

Today, 96 kids were arrested at San Diego State. I read the article twice. It never mentioned any "victims". And in other universities they allow armed gunmen to enter and have target practice. Perhaps our police are being used for the wrong kind of crimes?

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

An idiot psychiatrist and the cars that love him

I’m not the “custodial” parent. Sometimes, it puts me in an interesting bind.

Yesterday was one such day. It takes some history to understand and the story takes many strange twists and turns. Bear with me if you can.

According to my divorce decree I am responsible for the insurance and 50% of the medical expenses for my two children.

My oldest child was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder when she was about 8 if memory serves correctly.

I don’t really like ADD. I distrust the diagnosing process and it’s awfully suspicious that doctors and pharmacies are making major dollars off of this “disease” that seems to be over diagnosed and expensive to treat. But, let’s assume that I agree with this diagnosis. She definitely is a bit scatter brained. I just prefer to blame it on a highly evolved thinker that easily gets bored at school. It must move on to more exciting things.

I should probably have left out the previous paragraph. You can re-read and skip it.

So, the last two years this eldest spawn of mine has decided to try and fail school. She’s almost 14 now so I suspect it has something to do with hormones and all that craziness that goes on when you go from girl to woman. Her behavior made my ex so crazy that she’s asking me for advice.

My advice was to seek out professional help. She was diagnosed with ADD by a pediatrician. I recommended going to an ADD specialist to see if they agree with the diagnosis or perhaps she just needs counseling to get her on the right path. This makes it doubly my responsibility to pay for the medical bills because now I had recommended a course of action that will require co-pays and possible new drugs.

My ex found an “ADD Expert” on my insurance plan and set an appointment. He is the great Doctor Neil Jacobson of Dallas. For $150 he talked to my 13 year old daughter for 15 minutes and then handed her a prescription for a “new drug” to treat her debilitating disease.

The next morning, she was in the emergency room with heart palpitations and unable to breathe. So, I was summoned to the emergency room from work. I am starting to feel like I paid $150 to this quack so that he could try and kill my daughter. Luckily, she got to the emergency room in time and they were able to calm her down and get her on the road to recovery. We couldn’t get in touch with good Dr. Neil. I suspect he was probably out cruising in his new Jaguar or something.

The directions on her bottle of "turn my fingers blue" death pills said, “Take 1 or 2 tablets daily”. Luckily, I guess, she only took 1.

How can a medical doctor prescribe this kind of medicine to a 13 year old after a 15 minute consultation? I still can’t get in touch with this whacky Dr. Neil Jacobson.

I decide to send him an email. I tell him he’s already wasted more than 15 minutes of my time and if I get a bill from the hospital then he’ll get a bill from my lawyer for giving life threatening medication to a 13 year old after a 15 minute consultation.

Yesterday, I received the bill from the hospital: $1300. I had already paid a $50 co pay. Now, I am out $1500 so I send a note off to an attorney. I’m not normally one to sue. People should just be human. Accidents happen.

The attorney told me that because of changes to medical malpractice law about 5 years ago, only the most severe cases are economical to pursue. So, if she had died I could afford to sue. Now, I am just out $1500 and get to think of Dr. Neil “the Jackass” Jacobson driving around in his Porsche.


Monday, May 5, 2008

Sarcastic Opinion

I normally don't do this kind of thing. I seem to be a magnet for people that make me uncomfortable. I had one such encounter today.
I sent an email for advice and they recommend I put it in my blog. I'm thinking nobody reads my blog so it won't matter and if someone does, maybe I'll get some advice.

All badmouthing of real individuals is purely accidental and I feel guilty about it already. Some of the history and descriptions are abbreviated and not entirely accurate for story purposes. Here's the text of the email:

I need your sarcastic opinion on a personal dilemma.
I don't like religion. I think you know that.
Two years ago, my heater went out. It didn't go out because of the heater, but because there is aluminum wiring coming from my heating unit to my fuse box and I think the fuse box was the original one that came with the house back in 1978.

So, I called an Electric Company and they came out and told me I needed a complete new fuse box. The price: $3000.
So, I called around and I found this independent electrician from Arlington that got some good reviews. He said he was a master electrician. I think they rank them based on years of experience and stuff. It sounded like some professional thing (the company guy was a Journeyman).
Anyway, he came out in this junky looking van and he looked at it and charged me $70 and tightened up a screw and voila, it was fixed.
That worked for about 1 year and then it went out again.
So, I called this guy back and he came out in his junky little van and said that I probably needed a new fuse box. He said he'd do it for $300, but I'd have to buy the fuse box and the material (about $500 at Lowe's). I asked him if he'd come with me to make sure I got all the right things and he said sure.

So, then while we are out he starts talking about "The End of Days" and that the recent events are sure signs that the end of days are coming and have I given myself to Christ so that I'll be one of the "lucky few". He went on for maybe an hour. I figure he's saving me $2000+, so I can put up with it. I tried not to dialog too logically with him. Anyway, he did the work and it's been working very good ever since. No problems. I thought he might do a quick ugly job because as far as he was concerned the world was coming to an end anyway.
So, a few months ago I got a flyer on my door for Property Services. They basically do all the crap around the house that you don't want to do. It says they'll mow, do gardening, landscaping, all phases of carpentry work including remodeling. It's just what I need as I try to sell or lease my house. So, I call. This guy starts off with a nice sales pitch about the yards in my area that he has done. I mention the fact that I also want some work done in my kitchen to remove wall paper and do some dry walling and stuff and oh boy.
Apparently, back before Hurricane Katrina, he had a successful carpentry business and that is what he does by trade. His wife decided to have an affair and so he thought they needed time apart, so after Katrina he took his crew down to Mississippi to work there for 3 months. When he got back, the locks on his house were changed and his wife was living with some other man and she was pregnant. So, now after a divorce, he's decided to start over. He's created a nice little lawn mowing empire, but what he really wants to do is carpentry.
Then, somehow he found out that I work on computers. So, he wants me to build him some computers to help with his "ministry" because by God, he's gotten where he is today by praising God. And if we all learn to praise God we'll be a lot happier. In fact, he's been researching Hebrew and the Hebrew word for Praise can also be translated to happy. And all the wars during biblical times were won by the side that praised God and thanked God for delivering them from their enemies. The man talked on the phone for an hour. So, do I let him in my house? Will I get good cheap work done for having to put up with a brainwashed idiot?

PS: Even if the story made you mad, you gotta love that picture. It makes me giggle every time I see it.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Inhale recession

If you are a consistent reader of my sporadic blog then you’ll know that a few days ago I fixed our immigration problem quite eloquently and without any hard feelings.

Today, I will eloquently fix the economy -- again, without any hard feelings.

First, we have to define a few things.

Recession: A period of general economic decline; specifically, a decline in GDP for two or more consecutive quarters.

GDP: The total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year, equal to total consumer, investment and government spending, plus the value of exports, minus the value of imports.

So, how do you increase GDP? You legalize marijuana. If you are really brave you just legalize all drugs for private consumption and for distribution. But, for now, let’s just legalize marijuana.

Marijuana is the 4th largest cash crop in America. And American law enforcement is spending $10 billion annually to outlaw the plant.

In 1997, the United States harvested 5.5 million pounds of marijuana worth $15.1 billion to growers and $25.2 billion on the retail market.

I’d be willing to bet that these numbers have increased in the last 11 years.

So, would an estimated $30 billion in sells help the GDP? If it were legal, would we be able to grow more? How much could we export to other countries where marijuana is legal?

I bet we could still tax it like a cigarette. The price would still be much cheaper than the illegal variety and the government would be able to collect revenue from this $25.2 billion in sells. But, the $25.2 billion number is from the illegal business and from 11 years ago! If the government imposed a 5% tax rate on marijuana sells today and let’s just provide a modest guess that legal marijuana sells today would be at $35 billion, that’s $1.75 billion in tax income!

And, my friends, that’s only the sells of the plant itself. When marijuana is legalized, I personally will buy tons of stock in the snack food industry whose sells are bound to go through the roof!