What is Halal food? That's food according to Muslim law. Sort of like Kosher foods.
While I have no problem as such for various ethnic foods being offered, and a Kosher restaurant is fine too, same thing goes for Halal. What bothers me is the fuss being made over it.
When is the last time, if ever, you heard about Jews making a a big to do about demanding Kosher foods being offered in supermarkets or BigBox stores like Walmart? Or in airplanes or fast food stores? Jewish people have been managing just fine for years and there's a huge population of them in the US and elsewhere. Kosher food is available in many grocery stores, specialty delicatessen and restaurants. I don't remember there ever having been made a push to court the Jewish customer.
So what is the big fuss over Halal? Why do places like McDonald's go out of their way to court the Muslim customers? Or Walmart? Or sports arenas? I see plenty of grocery stores that obviously court the Middle-Eastern customer and presumebly their tastes and customs. Isn't that enough? Do the big grocery chains have to make a big to do to accomodate the Muslim customer?
If I want German sausages or sauerkraut I go to a German deli, I don't scream that my local supermarket should cater to my wants, nor do I expect that their headquarters should make a study to see how many Germans or those of German descent in my area would be interested in German delicacies and thus would become potential customers. I find what I want in the selection offered, make substitutions for those items that are close enough for the desired items, and if that is not possible to take myself to the local German deli and get it there. I do not expect "Der Wienerschnitzel" to serve a genuine German sausage either (since the company has taken the name of a totally different food item as its name for a hot dog place) or demand from the company that they should.
Not only that: have you ever heard that the country from where these people hail accomodates foreigners' tastes for pork or alcohol? Of course not. So the foreigner has to make do with what's offered (at least in public, I think we have all heard of the clandestine parties in Saudi Arabia where alcohol is flowing, pork is available and women are wearing revealing Western dress with strange men present.) Now isn't that tough?
I don't think (although I can't be sure as I have not been there) that you can get a cheeseburger in Israel because of the dietary law of not mixing meat with dairy. So if you are hankering for that cheeseburger then you make it at home, problem solved.
As long as the Muslim-dominated countries do not allow non-Muslim places of worship or so-called "forbidden" foods or drink for those who want them, I do not see why any non-Muslim country should cater to them and their wants. Let them manage with what's offered or go to a place that better suits them. I find that this borders on terrorism of an insidious kind, slowly taking over from the inside. Of course, once they do take over with all their silly obstructionist rules they won't like it here either as obviously they would not be here to begin with if they had liked it back where they had come from, so why would they like it here once it became like the place they had left?
Of course this can be turned on its head too. Why would the Western world want to impose its values on others? Obviously because the Westerners think their way is better and would like to bring that way to others. I know of nobody personally who would want to live in those other countries with their rules because they think those rules, and that way of living is better. But droves are leaving to come to the West.
Once the Muslim world was way beyond the way the Europeans lived, its science was much more advanced. But somewhere along the way the people lost it and the West surpassed them. Now they want what the West has but they cling to their unscientific, religion-controlled ways and that just doesn't work. You can't have it both, science and religion do not mix, although they can co-exist.
There are people here too who try to do the same thing: religious people who believe that if it does not come straight out of whatever book they declare holy, or who interpret the mainstram "holy" book in strange ways, let children and other loved ones die because they don't believe in vaccinations, blood transfusions or even surgeries of a minor kind. They declare that science is not their god's word, yet they take advantage of science in other ways: cars, electricity, TV and computers, non-local foods, medications, mass-produced goods of every kind, etc, etc. Most of them want it both but pick and choose which part of science they will accept. (A noted exception are the Amish people and even those allow some of science to intrude into their lives.) Sounds pretty hypocritical to me.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
I Hate Censorship
Nevertheless, since somebody got upset about something I wrote here although I have no idea what was supposed to be so bad that it got this person upset, I will bow and get rid of it. Self-censorship. Just as bad. Now I hope this person will be happy and forgive me for whatever I did wrong.
At first I thought "who are you to tell me what I can write in my blog which very few people will see anyway?" It's not like sky-writing where the whole world sees it. The only people who see a blog are those who were given the site and the very few who will run across it by accident and find the title intriguing enough to keep reading, and I doubt that this would be more than one or two. Most people won't even know what "ruminations" are. I gave this site to less than 10 people and I doubt that even half of them have ever read it, much less keep on reading it, to most of them the stuff I write they think is too esoteric (not).
But then I thought, why upset this person, get rid of the part of the blog that causes such turmoil and be done with it. I just won't mention this person ever again.
So with a few lines and the "delete" button everything should be good in the world again. Aren't computers wonderful that you can do that?
So, now I feel better, this now unknown person will feel better (I hope) and life goes on.
Another time I will write about what I really think about censorship and the evil it brings.
At first I thought "who are you to tell me what I can write in my blog which very few people will see anyway?" It's not like sky-writing where the whole world sees it. The only people who see a blog are those who were given the site and the very few who will run across it by accident and find the title intriguing enough to keep reading, and I doubt that this would be more than one or two. Most people won't even know what "ruminations" are. I gave this site to less than 10 people and I doubt that even half of them have ever read it, much less keep on reading it, to most of them the stuff I write they think is too esoteric (not).
But then I thought, why upset this person, get rid of the part of the blog that causes such turmoil and be done with it. I just won't mention this person ever again.
So with a few lines and the "delete" button everything should be good in the world again. Aren't computers wonderful that you can do that?
So, now I feel better, this now unknown person will feel better (I hope) and life goes on.
Another time I will write about what I really think about censorship and the evil it brings.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Where Is All My Money Going?
Just when I think everything is finally going to be alright I have another car repair. This time it's a fuel pump, pretty scary. It made this low humming sound, didn't sound bad but had to be looked after. There went another $350.00. So now I am really broke. Could only pay $300.00 on the credit card instead of $500.00 as I had planned. Oh well. (That's becoming quite a phrase of mine.) The mechanic said I also need a power steering pump replaced as the power steering is making a scraping noise every time I make a turn if I let the fluid go too low, but can wait a few months as long as I make sure that the fluid level is ok.
I will just have to be VERY frugal this month. Oh well.
I will just have to be VERY frugal this month. Oh well.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
my place, my new friends, whatever and thoughts about Phaedra vs. "T"
The furniture is here and it is lovely, comfortable and BIG! Why does it always look so much smaller in the store than when you bring it home? That happened to me once before when I had them pick it up 2 days later, it was just too big. Now I'm glad I did, I can't even imagine living in that stuff for any length of time. That's why I like mail order, particularly for clothes. I can look at it day after day, no pressure, before I finally decide I want it. That's kind of hard with furniture though, you really have to see that, sit in it, roll on it etc. But now that I have the sofa I really do like it. The tapestry pattern is more pronounced than I thought, but still subtle. I can dress it up formal with fancy pillows or casual with Europaean type embroidered pillows, IKEA still is my best friend for that. Everybody who has seen my new sofa says it is just beautiful. How truthful they are remains to be seen. But at least I am pleased.
The cats have decided the back of it is a highway. So I have put some phony sheepskin (from IKEA, where elsae?) on the back of the sofa so their little feet won't make it dirty. Better than antimaccassars, that's just too old-fashioned although it surely did the trick against greasy heads messing up the back of the sofa or big easy chairs. I will keep these phony long-haired white furs on the back of the sofa for every day and whip them off for company. It will also keep the cats from scratching the backs of the sofa. If I am going to live with this for 10 years or more I will want to keep it nice.
The big chair still looks BIG. A friend said it looks like THE QUEEN'S CHAIR., implying that I am the queen, that it makes a statement. True, and it IS comfortable and I like to sit in it, put my feet up, but it still looks too big for this room. I'd like to put it someplace else but can't as the place where it should be is taken up by the front door. Oh well. I can't turn everything around either, I tried and that looked worse. The only other way blocks the A/C so for the summer that won't work. I might have to have a summer and a winter arrangement for my furniture. Oh well, some people cover their furniture with chintz for the summer and leave it "naked" for the winter: I'll just re-arrange the whole living room.
I am hoping to move from this apartment by next October anyway as it is just too dark here and I don't know if my landlady will spring for a "Solatube" although I offered to pay for half of it, and it is too close to the freeway and thus too noisy and dirty. Unbelievable how much noise there is from the freeway, it never stops, not even at night, during the day it sounds sort of like a waterfall and you can ignore it. At night you really need some kind of white noise, I run a fan, so that helps a lot. But the dirt is something else. Most places dust is sort of beige, this dust is black. And I am breathing this stuff. So are the cats. That can't be wholesome.
I wish I could have moved this Oct but my finances just won't hold it. So I bought furniture instead and got my car done and am trying to talk my landlady into a Solatube. At least she didn't outright say NO, as she knows how dark this place is, she'll run it by her son first, for which I don't blame her, she's 85 years old and doesn 't wanrt to spend her money on something that does not benefit her. As dark as this place is she has a hard time renting it out, a Solatube makes it much lighter and thus easier to rent once I leave. And leave I will. I'll just stay in this community, I like it here, the rent is reasonable, the amenities are fabulous, the place is pretty safe, what more can ask I for?
New friend.
My best friend's daughter as my friend whom I had known since she was 19 had passed away last October. This young lady is about to turn 24 and has declared that since I have known her since she was born that I am more than a "friend" but more like family and that she will introduce me to her "friends" who are really just acquaintances as her "godmother". That felt kind of weird at first because of the religious overtones, but is starting to feel comfortable. She actually likes to hang out with me, it doesn't cost her anything but the gas to get here, there is no pressure to "do" anything , I AM a connection to her dead mother as she has no relatives here in California. As my children have known her mother since they were very young they also accept "T", as I will call her here, as one of their's. Although the age difference is significant, they and I regard her as more as MY friend age-wise than as that of their own children's age which it really is.
I enjoy T's companionship, and I know she is learning things from me simply by being around me. She is living with a roommate who is a long way from ideal, having a cat that she neglects, and a dog who has fleas that she takes with her while leaving the cat alone for days on end. So T is the cat's best company as she is there more than the cat's real owner. On the other hand T should not be expected to then take care of the cat's needs such as keeping the litter box neat. I feel sorry for the cat and would "cat-nap" it if I did not already have 4 cats of my own. So T wants her own place ASAP and wants me to help her find one and help her furnish it. As I do not have any idea what kind of things she has in storage, most of what had been her mother's, I told her she should get her own place first, get her stuff out of storage and then see what she needs. IKEA will be a good place for her to get the "stuff" she needs, also Big Lots!, Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond and similar stores. But first she will need to know what she has and then what she truly needs, otherwise she will end up with duplicates.
I am definitely willing to help her with that, she is sort of like my late daughter although that one was quite a bit older although not as mature due to her various medical problems. It's almost like having a daughter back without the medical problems which kept her immature and dependent on others. P, my daughter, has been gone for over 4 years, the pain is gone, nobody will ever replace her, but having T in my life, kind of makes me have my daughter back. I would like to shower her with the things my daughter enjoyed but died too young to really have: jewelry, good food, concerts, nice clothes that never go out of style, good company, concerts, an education, the "finer" things in life, the stuff that most people don't even see (close-by travel, museums), all the things that make life worth living by any standard, not just the "standard" of your ethnic group. But I don't want to take her individuality away, make her into a copy of my daughter, or even into a "White" girl which she will never be. Let her be a Black young woman with high morals, interests than go beyond ethnicity, ambitions that are allegedly "White" (what bunk!), and let her be successful in whatever she attempts to be. I will glory in whatever P could not be but that I wished her to be and have but perhaps T can. I will be equally proud.
The cats have decided the back of it is a highway. So I have put some phony sheepskin (from IKEA, where elsae?) on the back of the sofa so their little feet won't make it dirty. Better than antimaccassars, that's just too old-fashioned although it surely did the trick against greasy heads messing up the back of the sofa or big easy chairs. I will keep these phony long-haired white furs on the back of the sofa for every day and whip them off for company. It will also keep the cats from scratching the backs of the sofa. If I am going to live with this for 10 years or more I will want to keep it nice.
The big chair still looks BIG. A friend said it looks like THE QUEEN'S CHAIR., implying that I am the queen, that it makes a statement. True, and it IS comfortable and I like to sit in it, put my feet up, but it still looks too big for this room. I'd like to put it someplace else but can't as the place where it should be is taken up by the front door. Oh well. I can't turn everything around either, I tried and that looked worse. The only other way blocks the A/C so for the summer that won't work. I might have to have a summer and a winter arrangement for my furniture. Oh well, some people cover their furniture with chintz for the summer and leave it "naked" for the winter: I'll just re-arrange the whole living room.
I am hoping to move from this apartment by next October anyway as it is just too dark here and I don't know if my landlady will spring for a "Solatube" although I offered to pay for half of it, and it is too close to the freeway and thus too noisy and dirty. Unbelievable how much noise there is from the freeway, it never stops, not even at night, during the day it sounds sort of like a waterfall and you can ignore it. At night you really need some kind of white noise, I run a fan, so that helps a lot. But the dirt is something else. Most places dust is sort of beige, this dust is black. And I am breathing this stuff. So are the cats. That can't be wholesome.
I wish I could have moved this Oct but my finances just won't hold it. So I bought furniture instead and got my car done and am trying to talk my landlady into a Solatube. At least she didn't outright say NO, as she knows how dark this place is, she'll run it by her son first, for which I don't blame her, she's 85 years old and doesn 't wanrt to spend her money on something that does not benefit her. As dark as this place is she has a hard time renting it out, a Solatube makes it much lighter and thus easier to rent once I leave. And leave I will. I'll just stay in this community, I like it here, the rent is reasonable, the amenities are fabulous, the place is pretty safe, what more can ask I for?
New friend.
My best friend's daughter as my friend whom I had known since she was 19 had passed away last October. This young lady is about to turn 24 and has declared that since I have known her since she was born that I am more than a "friend" but more like family and that she will introduce me to her "friends" who are really just acquaintances as her "godmother". That felt kind of weird at first because of the religious overtones, but is starting to feel comfortable. She actually likes to hang out with me, it doesn't cost her anything but the gas to get here, there is no pressure to "do" anything , I AM a connection to her dead mother as she has no relatives here in California. As my children have known her mother since they were very young they also accept "T", as I will call her here, as one of their's. Although the age difference is significant, they and I regard her as more as MY friend age-wise than as that of their own children's age which it really is.
I enjoy T's companionship, and I know she is learning things from me simply by being around me. She is living with a roommate who is a long way from ideal, having a cat that she neglects, and a dog who has fleas that she takes with her while leaving the cat alone for days on end. So T is the cat's best company as she is there more than the cat's real owner. On the other hand T should not be expected to then take care of the cat's needs such as keeping the litter box neat. I feel sorry for the cat and would "cat-nap" it if I did not already have 4 cats of my own. So T wants her own place ASAP and wants me to help her find one and help her furnish it. As I do not have any idea what kind of things she has in storage, most of what had been her mother's, I told her she should get her own place first, get her stuff out of storage and then see what she needs. IKEA will be a good place for her to get the "stuff" she needs, also Big Lots!, Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond and similar stores. But first she will need to know what she has and then what she truly needs, otherwise she will end up with duplicates.
I am definitely willing to help her with that, she is sort of like my late daughter although that one was quite a bit older although not as mature due to her various medical problems. It's almost like having a daughter back without the medical problems which kept her immature and dependent on others. P, my daughter, has been gone for over 4 years, the pain is gone, nobody will ever replace her, but having T in my life, kind of makes me have my daughter back. I would like to shower her with the things my daughter enjoyed but died too young to really have: jewelry, good food, concerts, nice clothes that never go out of style, good company, concerts, an education, the "finer" things in life, the stuff that most people don't even see (close-by travel, museums), all the things that make life worth living by any standard, not just the "standard" of your ethnic group. But I don't want to take her individuality away, make her into a copy of my daughter, or even into a "White" girl which she will never be. Let her be a Black young woman with high morals, interests than go beyond ethnicity, ambitions that are allegedly "White" (what bunk!), and let her be successful in whatever she attempts to be. I will glory in whatever P could not be but that I wished her to be and have but perhaps T can. I will be equally proud.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
New Furniture!! and a receipt!!!!
I got a call today to say the sofa is ready. I just have to go there, charge the rest on my credit card and make arrangements to have it delivered. Oh joy! The two IKEA armchairs already have found a new home, so have two parsons' tables, also from IKEA, now I just need to take the futon apart and recycle the wood and I'm set for the new sofa. As soon as I have a delivery date I will know when to do that.
Tomorrow and the day after I will go with two different friends to the Gem Faire and stock up on supplies.
How come some people have such a hard time accepting a gift?
I made a really nice necklace for one of them from lapis lazuli and silver beads for her graduation from the nursing program that made her an LVN. She accepted it gracefully.
The other one practically had a coniption fit when I told her to pick some beads/stones for a necklace and I would make it for a birthday gift. Oh no, she wanted to pay for it. What kind of a gift is that? She finally agreed to it under protest. I hope she picks some decent stones, my work will be most of her gift. She always wants to reciprocate for everything. That takes away from the feeling of giving. The stones are relatively cheap (just jasper) considering what the finished product would sell for, so I don't know what the big deal is about it. My labor is one of laove and cannot be paid for when I am giving it for a gift. She does the same thing with going out to lunch or a movie. This is not a give and take to make sure one or the other is not shortchanged. Why can't she just accept a gift, there are no strings attached.
Oh yes, I got a call from my source from out of state that the post office delivered a signed receipt from the deadbeat, this proves he received the first mailing, now off to the next one asap..
Tomorrow and the day after I will go with two different friends to the Gem Faire and stock up on supplies.
How come some people have such a hard time accepting a gift?
I made a really nice necklace for one of them from lapis lazuli and silver beads for her graduation from the nursing program that made her an LVN. She accepted it gracefully.
The other one practically had a coniption fit when I told her to pick some beads/stones for a necklace and I would make it for a birthday gift. Oh no, she wanted to pay for it. What kind of a gift is that? She finally agreed to it under protest. I hope she picks some decent stones, my work will be most of her gift. She always wants to reciprocate for everything. That takes away from the feeling of giving. The stones are relatively cheap (just jasper) considering what the finished product would sell for, so I don't know what the big deal is about it. My labor is one of laove and cannot be paid for when I am giving it for a gift. She does the same thing with going out to lunch or a movie. This is not a give and take to make sure one or the other is not shortchanged. Why can't she just accept a gift, there are no strings attached.
Oh yes, I got a call from my source from out of state that the post office delivered a signed receipt from the deadbeat, this proves he received the first mailing, now off to the next one asap..
I'm Flying My Flag and Some People Don't Think That's OK; the Pledge of Allegiance and Its Ramifications
What is it with some people who think it is perfectly ok for the US flag to be flown everywhere, including in other countries where the US citizen happens to live, but it is NOT ok for a foreigner in the US to fly his/her country's flag? Apart from the fact that the US flag is being used in this country to hawk everything from new and used cars to underwear, particularly on days that should? inspire patriotism such as the 4th of July and Washington's/Lincoln's Birthday, it is being displayed at gas stations, banks etc. Even churches and public schools are not immune. I would have thought that at least in a church nationalism or patriotism would not have a place. Religion is supposed to supercede all that. And public schools are there for ALL the children, not just citizen children.
In my opinion displaying one's national flag for commercial purposes cheapens its image. Seeing it everywhere all the time dulls its impact.
I have no problem with it being flown at government buildings and even then I think it should only be at federal buildings. State buildings can fly the state flag and municipalities can fly their city flag if they have one.
That way when you do see the national flag being displayed it means something, it kind of grabs you right there.
Now my gripe regarding that it's NOT ok to fly another country's flag here. Even then there seems to be a problem. It's not that ALL other countries' flags are looked upon with something of disdain if not downright loathing. Plenty of Mexican flags are flown here in Southern California, and the various "Little Saigons" fly their old national flag. That seems to get little notice. Neither do the various Skandinavian flags in places like Wisconsin and Michigan, or Italian in New York and plenty of others. But try a communist country's flag or some other country's that is not in the good graces of Uncle Sam right now (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan anyone?)
I fly my Black-Red-Gold flag of post-war Germany and I get static. Allegedly it has bad connotations for the Jewish population. That would be true if it were the old Black-White-Red flag which has been outlawed for over 60 years. And even if it does offend some old Jewish person who hates everything German, including me who has nothing to do with what happened so long ago, get over it: YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO BE OFFENDED!!!
Offence is something that happens every day, some big, some small. Get over it. Shall we hate some people forever because of something their forefathers did? Should the tribal people of this big country try to kick out everybody else because they stole this country from them? Should Black people forever hate Whites because they had been made slaves and were mostly treated abominably? Should people of Japanese ancestry hate everybody else in this country because they had been put in concentration camps during WWII?
I thought not.
Let me fly my flag, you can fly yours, and everybody else can fly their's.
So while I am at it, let me pose a question: what is wrong with the words of the German National Anthem?
First of all, it was written over 100 years ago when the boundaries of the country were different from those today. It talked about boundaries that were more a boundary of language and culture than natioanl borders and those borders are still valid today although diluted. OK, I can understand that those words have no business in today's anthem. Then the often-criticized beginning words of the first stanza: "Germany, above everything (NOT "over everyone else".), above everything in the world". Is there a person who does not value his/her own country above all others? OK, since the general misunderstanding is that Germany aspires to "rule" over all other countries, lets just strike that whole first stanza.
Now to the second stanza which says "German women, German faithfulness, German wine, and German song shall retain their ancient good reputation throughout the whole world. They should inspire us to noble deeds for all of our lives. Fatherland, flourish in the glory of this fortune. " Now what could possibly be wrong with that? Nevertheless, that too has been stricken from the modern German anthem as it is allegedly "sexist". What? Run this by me again as I don't get it. What's wrong with a good reputation of all these things just because it mentions women? Would someone rather have German women have a "BAD" reputation? I thought not. Well, whatever. The second stanza was stricken also.
In the end only the last stanza was retained and there is probably someone who objects to that also : "Unity and Justice and Freedom for the German fatherland, in brotherhood let us all strive for that in thoughts and deeds." Innocuous I should hope, it's all that's left.
At least they left the melody alone, written by Haendel, which is better than the melody of the US national anthem which is based on an old English drinking song and is almost impossible to sing (don't let me start on the words which glorify WAR! "bombs bursting in air" etc which is re-enacted every 4th of July!) That one really needs to go. "America, the Beautiful" would be a much better anthem.
Now to offend some more people: The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
What bunk. One does not owe allegiance to a printed piece of cloth but to one's country. Oh my, a flag has touched the ground, you must burn it. You must take it in at night, fold it just so, take it down in inclement weather, if you step on it that is sacrilegious (since when is a piece of cloth sacred in this country?), nevertheless it is used for cheap advertisments. There is a whole slew of rules and regulations that somebody made up. Apart from that, this Pledge is less than 100 years old, the words "under God" were added in the 1950's during the Communist scare and Communists were "godless", so let's put "God" into the Pledge to differentiate us from those "godless" people. This quasi-official pledge flies in the face of the seperation of church and state since those words were added. This is NOT a Christian nation, no matter how many people try to make it so. Oh, double bunk.
They make children recite this pledge in grade school. When I had a first-grader he refused to recite it. Teacher called him on it, wanting to know why. He said first he did not understand it all, and second he was too little to fight for his country. Out of the mouths of babes.
This is just a way to indoctrinate children and to keep them from asking questions and just put up with the status quo. I'm glad my first-grader grew up to question things and hopefully think for himself. Unquestioning obedience just because somebody said so and said it loud enough and often enough has led to an awful lot of grief for a lot of people. Somebody said that if a lie is repeated often enough and with some authority it becomes the truth. Really? I say "question authority", what makes whoever such an authority on the given subject? If they don't have a satisfying answer then forget about them. I am not an authority on everything here either, so by all means question what I say also. It makes for good conversation. Also try reading "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis, first copyrighted in 1935. Shades of Adolph Hitler.
Small update on the deadbeat: I got the "notice of mailing" back from my out-of-state source. However, I never did get back the second mailing to the incorrect address. So I will need to make a copy and sent that out of state to be mailed to TX from there. I want to make sure the deadbeat gets it.
Flash: the wife of the deadbeat's Colorado son contacted one of his half-brothers, R, on facebook, probably at the instigation of R's sister, but he never replied, he wants nothing to do with that clan. These must be some strange people that they would think that all of their half-siblings want to have a relationship with them. A pox on them all, none of us need any of them, only the money owed by the deadbeat.
I wonder if he will show up on Sept 23, 2010. In a way I hope he won't as I have no desire to see him amd listen to any of his raves or dirty language; on the other hand I would like to see what the years have done to him in the way of looks etc. and gloat as time has been rather good to me in that respect. Oh, to be a fly on the wall when he got that last missive! I bet the language turned the air blue. I just hope that the judge will have me attach anything he owns as I can't depend on him paying anything. 35 plus years show his word cannot be trusted. I want what's owed to me NOW, not in dribs and drabs which I might never collect, heck, he could DIE on me before it's all paid!!! I wonder if I could attach any estate he might leave?
In my opinion displaying one's national flag for commercial purposes cheapens its image. Seeing it everywhere all the time dulls its impact.
I have no problem with it being flown at government buildings and even then I think it should only be at federal buildings. State buildings can fly the state flag and municipalities can fly their city flag if they have one.
That way when you do see the national flag being displayed it means something, it kind of grabs you right there.
Now my gripe regarding that it's NOT ok to fly another country's flag here. Even then there seems to be a problem. It's not that ALL other countries' flags are looked upon with something of disdain if not downright loathing. Plenty of Mexican flags are flown here in Southern California, and the various "Little Saigons" fly their old national flag. That seems to get little notice. Neither do the various Skandinavian flags in places like Wisconsin and Michigan, or Italian in New York and plenty of others. But try a communist country's flag or some other country's that is not in the good graces of Uncle Sam right now (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan anyone?)
I fly my Black-Red-Gold flag of post-war Germany and I get static. Allegedly it has bad connotations for the Jewish population. That would be true if it were the old Black-White-Red flag which has been outlawed for over 60 years. And even if it does offend some old Jewish person who hates everything German, including me who has nothing to do with what happened so long ago, get over it: YOU DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO BE OFFENDED!!!
Offence is something that happens every day, some big, some small. Get over it. Shall we hate some people forever because of something their forefathers did? Should the tribal people of this big country try to kick out everybody else because they stole this country from them? Should Black people forever hate Whites because they had been made slaves and were mostly treated abominably? Should people of Japanese ancestry hate everybody else in this country because they had been put in concentration camps during WWII?
I thought not.
Let me fly my flag, you can fly yours, and everybody else can fly their's.
So while I am at it, let me pose a question: what is wrong with the words of the German National Anthem?
First of all, it was written over 100 years ago when the boundaries of the country were different from those today. It talked about boundaries that were more a boundary of language and culture than natioanl borders and those borders are still valid today although diluted. OK, I can understand that those words have no business in today's anthem. Then the often-criticized beginning words of the first stanza: "Germany, above everything (NOT "over everyone else".), above everything in the world". Is there a person who does not value his/her own country above all others? OK, since the general misunderstanding is that Germany aspires to "rule" over all other countries, lets just strike that whole first stanza.
Now to the second stanza which says "German women, German faithfulness, German wine, and German song shall retain their ancient good reputation throughout the whole world. They should inspire us to noble deeds for all of our lives. Fatherland, flourish in the glory of this fortune. " Now what could possibly be wrong with that? Nevertheless, that too has been stricken from the modern German anthem as it is allegedly "sexist". What? Run this by me again as I don't get it. What's wrong with a good reputation of all these things just because it mentions women? Would someone rather have German women have a "BAD" reputation? I thought not. Well, whatever. The second stanza was stricken also.
In the end only the last stanza was retained and there is probably someone who objects to that also : "Unity and Justice and Freedom for the German fatherland, in brotherhood let us all strive for that in thoughts and deeds." Innocuous I should hope, it's all that's left.
At least they left the melody alone, written by Haendel, which is better than the melody of the US national anthem which is based on an old English drinking song and is almost impossible to sing (don't let me start on the words which glorify WAR! "bombs bursting in air" etc which is re-enacted every 4th of July!) That one really needs to go. "America, the Beautiful" would be a much better anthem.
Now to offend some more people: The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
What bunk. One does not owe allegiance to a printed piece of cloth but to one's country. Oh my, a flag has touched the ground, you must burn it. You must take it in at night, fold it just so, take it down in inclement weather, if you step on it that is sacrilegious (since when is a piece of cloth sacred in this country?), nevertheless it is used for cheap advertisments. There is a whole slew of rules and regulations that somebody made up. Apart from that, this Pledge is less than 100 years old, the words "under God" were added in the 1950's during the Communist scare and Communists were "godless", so let's put "God" into the Pledge to differentiate us from those "godless" people. This quasi-official pledge flies in the face of the seperation of church and state since those words were added. This is NOT a Christian nation, no matter how many people try to make it so. Oh, double bunk.
They make children recite this pledge in grade school. When I had a first-grader he refused to recite it. Teacher called him on it, wanting to know why. He said first he did not understand it all, and second he was too little to fight for his country. Out of the mouths of babes.
This is just a way to indoctrinate children and to keep them from asking questions and just put up with the status quo. I'm glad my first-grader grew up to question things and hopefully think for himself. Unquestioning obedience just because somebody said so and said it loud enough and often enough has led to an awful lot of grief for a lot of people. Somebody said that if a lie is repeated often enough and with some authority it becomes the truth. Really? I say "question authority", what makes whoever such an authority on the given subject? If they don't have a satisfying answer then forget about them. I am not an authority on everything here either, so by all means question what I say also. It makes for good conversation. Also try reading "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis, first copyrighted in 1935. Shades of Adolph Hitler.
Small update on the deadbeat: I got the "notice of mailing" back from my out-of-state source. However, I never did get back the second mailing to the incorrect address. So I will need to make a copy and sent that out of state to be mailed to TX from there. I want to make sure the deadbeat gets it.
Flash: the wife of the deadbeat's Colorado son contacted one of his half-brothers, R, on facebook, probably at the instigation of R's sister, but he never replied, he wants nothing to do with that clan. These must be some strange people that they would think that all of their half-siblings want to have a relationship with them. A pox on them all, none of us need any of them, only the money owed by the deadbeat.
I wonder if he will show up on Sept 23, 2010. In a way I hope he won't as I have no desire to see him amd listen to any of his raves or dirty language; on the other hand I would like to see what the years have done to him in the way of looks etc. and gloat as time has been rather good to me in that respect. Oh, to be a fly on the wall when he got that last missive! I bet the language turned the air blue. I just hope that the judge will have me attach anything he owns as I can't depend on him paying anything. 35 plus years show his word cannot be trusted. I want what's owed to me NOW, not in dribs and drabs which I might never collect, heck, he could DIE on me before it's all paid!!! I wonder if I could attach any estate he might leave?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Mail Was Returned and I Still Don't Have a Buyer for my Dining Set, the Cats are Fighting and Some Guy Tried to Feel Me Up
I got the mail I sent to the deadbeat back in the mail, with a message from the post office "attempted, not known". That's strange. I had gotten that address from a reliable source, on the internet. So I called my source asking what gives. He checked it out, apparently had paid good money for whatever program he had, and after checking again said "oh, THAT person had died 4 years ago, same name, was only 40 years old, let me check in reverse" and he came up with a different address which also had the deadbeat's wife's name attached to it, saying " this one is ok, shows correct age and also wife with correct name and a Junior who lives in Colorado". Well, at least all of this matches. So I sent him this "notice of substitution of Attorney", told him to mail it to the correct address, he said he would mail it with receipt required so that somebody has to sign it, in his wife's name which is not known to anyone. That was a week ago and I have not heard anything else. In the meantime I expected the second mailing to be returned to me but that has not happened, still waiting. I want to make sure the deadbeat gets his summons to show up in court. If he doesn't it won't be my fault that he didn't get the summons. But I really need that summons back in the mail so that I can get it sent to a different address. And I need the "proof of mailing" to the second address so I can file it with the court. Why do some people drag their feet after they say they will help me out? That is really frustrating and angry-making. I think I will need a different person to do my mailing for me as I can't do it myself since I am the "interested person and part of this action". So much for that for the time being.
Two of my cats got into a fight today and I'm not sure which ones. I think it was the "new" cat who has been here three months now, a big Maine Coon cat named Rumpus, a cowardly lion who weighs only 11 lbs and should weigh 15 lbs, and my Birman named Capucchino, who is younger by several years but weighs as much as Rumpus. There was a lot of BLOOD on the arm of my new chair and on one of the sofa pillows, and I had left the room just long enough to go to the bathroom. So I had to get a wet towel and I scrubbed the arm of the chair to get the blood off, soaked the pillow cover and that's all clean now and drying outside. I didn't see any blood on any of the cats but Rumpus was on his tree, licking his paws, so maybe Capucchino got him on his paws. He won't let me look at them. The other two cats are not likely to have been in that fight: Sascha is too old and a lover not a fighter, and Ralphie was sleeping in the other room, he would have been the other suspect. Capucchino had started a fight once before so she is the prime suspect. And they say that a female cat doesn't have anything to argue about. Tell that to Capucchino!
Have you ever seen a cat that was concerned about the well-being of others, animal or human? Sascha is one of those. If he hears some commotion of the other cats he comes running, mouwing the whole time, I mean mouwing as he does not say "meow", but "mouw with out the "me" ", very pitiful. He does the same thing if I am in pain, very weird, I have never seen a cat do that and I have had plenty of them at one time or another. He was still going around "mouwing" when I came back into the room after the fight.
I keep my computer in the guest bedroom. They say it's not good for your psyche to keep it in your own bedroom and since I don't have that many guests this works out fine. But I am habitually not putting my paper work away, I just dump it wherever in the guest bedroom. So there is always stuff all over the desk, on top of the printer and sometimes on the bed. No wonder I can't find things. There is really no reason for this, it wouldn't take any longer to file stuff than to just dump it. So today I actually got things done in there. I put a small bookcase on top of the desk (shades of University times), put the one shelf really up high so that the monitor fits onto the bottom, got all the cables tamed (that was a real mess) and put an "in-box' on the desk to hold all the stuff I usually dump. At least there is a place for that now and I might even get around to go through all that stuff and put it where it belongs, maybe even just trash some of it. In any case, I actually found my desk under all of that stuff and I now have room to put some of the things where I can find them instead of burrowing like a mole in the dark without finding what I'm looking for. Wanna bet how long it will take me to make a mess out of my desk again?
Got a call from my cable company where I also have my internet connection. After I had someone work on my computer which I had messed up trying to get rid of some programs, I needed a password to get back into my Outlook Express (I also keep a hotmail address) and after trying in vain to talk to someone on the phone (on hold forever, being disconnected, being transferred etc) I gave that up as being not productive and just sent an e-mail.explaining my problem. It took two working days for someone to call me and within 3 minutes the problem was solved, I just needed a new password, for some reason it would not accept my old password which I had forgotten. Yeah, now I have my Outlook Express back and I still have my hotmail address too!
Still no buyer for the dining set. It's too big, the blond oak does not match anything else I have which is more contemporay, leaning on Danish Modern besides a real Mission rocker from 1908, signed by Stickley, which I will never get rid of although I want to get it reupholstered in leather to bring it back to its original state.
I want that oak set GONE. The price is right, but there is so much stuff for sale these days with the economy being what it is. I've put up an ad in two laundry rooms, I think I will also put it up at the local laundromat. I've had three nibbles from my ad on Craigslist, but nothing has materialized. The local consignment store won't give me enough, they take half of what it sells for plus $75.00 to pick it up. That won't leave me enough to be worth my time. I don't want the consignment store to get the lion's share. I have a perfectly good solid walnut table I want in the place of this huge oak table, I just need some nice chairs to go with it, preferably Danish Modern style. I have chairs from IKEA that are servicable but not what I want. But I need to get rid of the oak table and chairs first.
I got so much stuff done today I am amazed at myself. I had bought this bed from IKEA that has drawers underneath for extra storage (have you ever seen anyone who did have enough storage?) and of course I could not get it all put together in one day. The bed itself was actually the big job, I got that all done in one day, I was all tuckered out after that. Some guy I had met just puttering around in my mini garden plot came by yestrday just to say hello, so I told him I was busy putting this bed together, did he want to see how it was coming along. Yeah sure, he was quite willing to do that and actually pointed out where I was stuck trying to find the right pieces that looked too much alike and then he tried to feel me up! I could hardly believe it. Come on, at my age! Acting like a horny teenager. Let me get to know you first. Did this guy think I was really hard up for a man? Give me a break. I don't need a man just to scratch an itch.
Anyway, today I got all four of those drawers put together, went like a dream, and I promptly put stuff into them that usually just clutters up the place. Sets of sheets that go on my bed are in there, but also some mailing tubes that never have a good place, a record turntable that does not have a home right now. I also put some wire baskets under the guest bed for all the light bulbs, extension cords, powers strips, floppy disks and other computer stuff I don't use frequently.
I will tame this clutter yet. A place for everything and everything in its place. Hmm, I wonder how long that is going to last. Some people are just naturally organized, others have to work at it (I'm one of those) and then there are those who are so unorganized it's pitiful. Put that together with being a packrat and you've got a disaster. I'll talk about that another time as I have a friend who is one of those. She will probably be mad if she recognizes herself here. This is not the one who moved who was not a packrat, just one who had a hard time making up her mind about anything.
Two of my cats got into a fight today and I'm not sure which ones. I think it was the "new" cat who has been here three months now, a big Maine Coon cat named Rumpus, a cowardly lion who weighs only 11 lbs and should weigh 15 lbs, and my Birman named Capucchino, who is younger by several years but weighs as much as Rumpus. There was a lot of BLOOD on the arm of my new chair and on one of the sofa pillows, and I had left the room just long enough to go to the bathroom. So I had to get a wet towel and I scrubbed the arm of the chair to get the blood off, soaked the pillow cover and that's all clean now and drying outside. I didn't see any blood on any of the cats but Rumpus was on his tree, licking his paws, so maybe Capucchino got him on his paws. He won't let me look at them. The other two cats are not likely to have been in that fight: Sascha is too old and a lover not a fighter, and Ralphie was sleeping in the other room, he would have been the other suspect. Capucchino had started a fight once before so she is the prime suspect. And they say that a female cat doesn't have anything to argue about. Tell that to Capucchino!
Have you ever seen a cat that was concerned about the well-being of others, animal or human? Sascha is one of those. If he hears some commotion of the other cats he comes running, mouwing the whole time, I mean mouwing as he does not say "meow", but "mouw with out the "me" ", very pitiful. He does the same thing if I am in pain, very weird, I have never seen a cat do that and I have had plenty of them at one time or another. He was still going around "mouwing" when I came back into the room after the fight.
I keep my computer in the guest bedroom. They say it's not good for your psyche to keep it in your own bedroom and since I don't have that many guests this works out fine. But I am habitually not putting my paper work away, I just dump it wherever in the guest bedroom. So there is always stuff all over the desk, on top of the printer and sometimes on the bed. No wonder I can't find things. There is really no reason for this, it wouldn't take any longer to file stuff than to just dump it. So today I actually got things done in there. I put a small bookcase on top of the desk (shades of University times), put the one shelf really up high so that the monitor fits onto the bottom, got all the cables tamed (that was a real mess) and put an "in-box' on the desk to hold all the stuff I usually dump. At least there is a place for that now and I might even get around to go through all that stuff and put it where it belongs, maybe even just trash some of it. In any case, I actually found my desk under all of that stuff and I now have room to put some of the things where I can find them instead of burrowing like a mole in the dark without finding what I'm looking for. Wanna bet how long it will take me to make a mess out of my desk again?
Got a call from my cable company where I also have my internet connection. After I had someone work on my computer which I had messed up trying to get rid of some programs, I needed a password to get back into my Outlook Express (I also keep a hotmail address) and after trying in vain to talk to someone on the phone (on hold forever, being disconnected, being transferred etc) I gave that up as being not productive and just sent an e-mail.explaining my problem. It took two working days for someone to call me and within 3 minutes the problem was solved, I just needed a new password, for some reason it would not accept my old password which I had forgotten. Yeah, now I have my Outlook Express back and I still have my hotmail address too!
Still no buyer for the dining set. It's too big, the blond oak does not match anything else I have which is more contemporay, leaning on Danish Modern besides a real Mission rocker from 1908, signed by Stickley, which I will never get rid of although I want to get it reupholstered in leather to bring it back to its original state.
I want that oak set GONE. The price is right, but there is so much stuff for sale these days with the economy being what it is. I've put up an ad in two laundry rooms, I think I will also put it up at the local laundromat. I've had three nibbles from my ad on Craigslist, but nothing has materialized. The local consignment store won't give me enough, they take half of what it sells for plus $75.00 to pick it up. That won't leave me enough to be worth my time. I don't want the consignment store to get the lion's share. I have a perfectly good solid walnut table I want in the place of this huge oak table, I just need some nice chairs to go with it, preferably Danish Modern style. I have chairs from IKEA that are servicable but not what I want. But I need to get rid of the oak table and chairs first.
I got so much stuff done today I am amazed at myself. I had bought this bed from IKEA that has drawers underneath for extra storage (have you ever seen anyone who did have enough storage?) and of course I could not get it all put together in one day. The bed itself was actually the big job, I got that all done in one day, I was all tuckered out after that. Some guy I had met just puttering around in my mini garden plot came by yestrday just to say hello, so I told him I was busy putting this bed together, did he want to see how it was coming along. Yeah sure, he was quite willing to do that and actually pointed out where I was stuck trying to find the right pieces that looked too much alike and then he tried to feel me up! I could hardly believe it. Come on, at my age! Acting like a horny teenager. Let me get to know you first. Did this guy think I was really hard up for a man? Give me a break. I don't need a man just to scratch an itch.
Anyway, today I got all four of those drawers put together, went like a dream, and I promptly put stuff into them that usually just clutters up the place. Sets of sheets that go on my bed are in there, but also some mailing tubes that never have a good place, a record turntable that does not have a home right now. I also put some wire baskets under the guest bed for all the light bulbs, extension cords, powers strips, floppy disks and other computer stuff I don't use frequently.
I will tame this clutter yet. A place for everything and everything in its place. Hmm, I wonder how long that is going to last. Some people are just naturally organized, others have to work at it (I'm one of those) and then there are those who are so unorganized it's pitiful. Put that together with being a packrat and you've got a disaster. I'll talk about that another time as I have a friend who is one of those. She will probably be mad if she recognizes herself here. This is not the one who moved who was not a packrat, just one who had a hard time making up her mind about anything.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Oof!
Well, I didn't get everything done but most of it. I went out and got a phone with an answering machine built in as I finally broke down and got a land line again, at $10.00 a month with no charge at all for the first 3 months I could not go wrong. It's bundled with my internet and cable TV with all calls within California for free. Whomever I call out of state I call on my cell anyway so this is a really good deal.
A landline is a godsend when there is an emergency as the operator will know exactly where you are, and when you can barely talk because you are injured or sick that is really helpful. Also I can locate my cell that way when I have misplaced it, again! That's just an extra bonus. Now I can also tell my friends to call me on my landline so I don't use up all my minutes.Who needs overcharges.
When I first went into my living room this morning it seemed to be empty. I guess it must have really been crowded and cluttered before I moved things around and out. I got 95% percent of the stuff off the table and either put away or discarded. I dreaded that job but now it's done and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The bathroom floor is washed and while I was at it I washed the kitchen floor with vinegar water too. That took all the left-over detergent off the floor and now it looks as if I had polished it, nice! I'll have to do that more often. The laundry is still waiting to be done, oh well, there is always another day and as long as I still have clean underwear and socks I'll be ok
Yesterday I got a call from a friend who had moved out of state. Talk about a one-sided conversation. She talks and talks and talks, can barely get a word in edgewise besides uhumm and oh-oh, and then she runs down after half an hour or so saying she has got to go and this will be continued. Rather exhausting, but she is like that in person too and really quite sweet, and I hate that she left. She just has too many things all going on at the same time and does not seem to know how to compartmentalize things, just do one thing at a time, you're not going anywhere so slow down, don't try to do it all at the same time as then you won't get anything done and it will keep until tomorrow, guaranteed. She's just not organized at all.
Her move was just about impossible. First she waited until the last minute to start packing instead of starting that as soon as she knew she was going to leave even if she did not have an exact date. And then she could not decide what she was going to take and what she would leave, donate or sell. Can you believe she was still packing on the last day and had to clean up her condo too before she could leave? No wonder she had three people helping her including me. She said she could not have done it without our help and I can very well believe that. Left to her own devices she would probably still be deciding what to take with her and she has been gone for over a month. But I do miss her and who knows when I will see her again.
So I will spend a quiet evening at home, have a glass of wine or two, drink to the health of my friends and go to bed early for a change. I'll do the laundry tomorrow, maybe even early as I have someplace to go at 9 a.m. Then maybe I'll do it after I return, it will all sort itself out in the morning..
A landline is a godsend when there is an emergency as the operator will know exactly where you are, and when you can barely talk because you are injured or sick that is really helpful. Also I can locate my cell that way when I have misplaced it, again! That's just an extra bonus. Now I can also tell my friends to call me on my landline so I don't use up all my minutes.Who needs overcharges.
When I first went into my living room this morning it seemed to be empty. I guess it must have really been crowded and cluttered before I moved things around and out. I got 95% percent of the stuff off the table and either put away or discarded. I dreaded that job but now it's done and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The bathroom floor is washed and while I was at it I washed the kitchen floor with vinegar water too. That took all the left-over detergent off the floor and now it looks as if I had polished it, nice! I'll have to do that more often. The laundry is still waiting to be done, oh well, there is always another day and as long as I still have clean underwear and socks I'll be ok
Yesterday I got a call from a friend who had moved out of state. Talk about a one-sided conversation. She talks and talks and talks, can barely get a word in edgewise besides uhumm and oh-oh, and then she runs down after half an hour or so saying she has got to go and this will be continued. Rather exhausting, but she is like that in person too and really quite sweet, and I hate that she left. She just has too many things all going on at the same time and does not seem to know how to compartmentalize things, just do one thing at a time, you're not going anywhere so slow down, don't try to do it all at the same time as then you won't get anything done and it will keep until tomorrow, guaranteed. She's just not organized at all.
Her move was just about impossible. First she waited until the last minute to start packing instead of starting that as soon as she knew she was going to leave even if she did not have an exact date. And then she could not decide what she was going to take and what she would leave, donate or sell. Can you believe she was still packing on the last day and had to clean up her condo too before she could leave? No wonder she had three people helping her including me. She said she could not have done it without our help and I can very well believe that. Left to her own devices she would probably still be deciding what to take with her and she has been gone for over a month. But I do miss her and who knows when I will see her again.
So I will spend a quiet evening at home, have a glass of wine or two, drink to the health of my friends and go to bed early for a change. I'll do the laundry tomorrow, maybe even early as I have someplace to go at 9 a.m. Then maybe I'll do it after I return, it will all sort itself out in the morning..
Buying New Furniture
It was about time. I've been living in hand-me-downs, thrift stuff, IKEA, you name it for too long. The last time I bought something new was about 6 years ago and then it was a futon sofa that had the most horrible futon mattress. That went out right away and I bought cushions from IKEA that were meant for their chairs but fit just great on the futon frame. A nice white quilted futon cover also from IKEA that fit like a bottom sheet for a bed made the futon look like a regular sofa. And I could wash it anytime it got dirty, so that was nice. But it always looked like something a student or a newly married couple without any money would have. The only good piece of furniture I had is a genuine Stickley Mission rocker which needs to be upholstered in leather to bring it back to its original state but which I can't afford. It was time to get some real furniture and while Mission is nice I do not want to live in a whole house full of it, not even just a whole room.
I actually saw a set at Living Spaces that looked really nice, was not too big or too expensive and from across the room looked like it was upholstered in leather and it was actually a fabric.
My bank had a new credit card where you get cash back for most purchases and for the first 6 months there is NO INTEREST! So I turned in my old credit card and took the new one. Since buying furniture is a major expense I had been putting it off until I could save up enough to pay cash as I really hate to pay interest, I pay off my credit card every month just so I can avoid that. So not having to pay interest for 6 months was just the ticket to get the furniture NOW.
I started in June casually looking around to see what is out there: everything is beige, grey, white, brown and black microfiber, how boring, everybody's house looks the same. And these god-awful chaises sticking out on one side! Makes you stuck with one set-up in your room.
And the seat cushions are short or they are not reversible. Since I am going to live with this furniture for more than 10 years I want something that is contemporary but not too trendy, that wears well, doesn't show dirt, is comfortable, not too big or too heavy as I might want to move it around and clean up under it, and not too expensive. Where to find this?
After many visits to many different stores I finally found one that makes custom furniture (or sell it to you the way it sits on the floor), that is they make it in any configuration you want and with fabric of your choice. You can go cheapy or go really expensive. I found just what I wanted and the price was comparable to the ready-made in many places.
So what am I getting? An L-shaped sofa with equal length on both sides with a nice high back so I can watch TV without having to stuff a pillow behind my neck, it will be upholstered in a tapestry with vines and leaves on it in grey-ish sage with some pinkish background tones. Looking across the room the pattern does not really show up and up close it is nice and soothing, nothing garish or too formal. All the cushions are reversible for extra wear and the seats are deep enough that the sofa can be used for overnight guests. It will take about 3 weeks to get it which is pretty short for custom made furniture. No delivery charges either and that can get expensive too. Got a "senior discount" also. Sometimes it helps not to be a spring chicken anymore.
I also needed a nice big chair and just could not find anything, and where I am getting the sofa a chair like I wanted would have been more than my budget would hold if I did not want to pay interest.
I had checked out Living Spaces before but found their selection to be the same old same old. However, they did have one set of sofa, loveseat and chair with ottoman on sale because it was a floor model and getting a little tired. The price was cut by 50% but I do not like loveseats and they would only sell the sofa with the love seat or the chair with the ottoman. The set was oatmeal in color with a slightly nubby texture and that chair was a chair-and-a-half with the ottoman to match. I went back three times to look at it and then I bought it, brought the ottoman home right away and then went back with a neighbor who has a big pick-up truck to pick up the chair.
But once it was inside it looked like there was no room for anything else. Omigod, what did I get myself into? I'll have to move furniture and get rid of some of this old and shabby stuff. I had already measured to make sure that the L-shaped sofa would fit and it is no longer than the futon that is there now. So after moving just about everything I actually made the place look spacious, monster chair and all, and the new sofa will work just fine, I can't wait.
After all that moving of furniture can you imagine what my back felt this morning? I had painful muscles in places where I did not know I HAD muscles. But it's ok now, I just had to work out the kinks by moving myself around a bit. And I slept like a baby, didn't wake up even once.
I am also selling my big dining table and 6 chairs which I really don't need as I have a smaller, solid walnut one that will fit just fine. I've got an ad on Craigslist and several people have shown interest but so far nobody has come through. I had checked with a consignment store but they would only give me half of what they would sell it for and they would charge me for picking it up too so that I would end up with hardly anything, so it's Craigslist where something will come through sooner or later. I hope sooner.
Of course right now that table is loaded down with all kinds of stuff, mostly paper that I have to go through, but also with stuff for which have not found a place and some of that will be tossed or donated. I have that nasty job scheduled for later today, also laundry and one of my cats peed on the bathroom floor, I don't know why as the box is clean, so I will have to wash the bathroom floor with vinegar to make sure that the stink is gone. Plain white vinegar is really good to get cat stink out of things, including carpet, but then you have to soak it overnight and blot it up the next day, an extractor works well for that, and then let it dry. It usually gets rid of the stink and the scent of the vinegar usually lasts long enough for the cat not to go back to that same spot (they don't like the smell of vinegar) and that usually stops that behavior.
I also don't want any cat to use the new furniture as a scratching post. I have found that if you use packing tape, the clear stuff used for mailing packages, on whereever the cat has decided to sharpen claws that they don't go back there, they don't like the slick stuff. It worked when one of them attacked my tall stereo speakers. That one has never gone back there even after I took the tape off, so that problem was solved.
I have two tall cat trees and two scratching posts and a corrugated cardboard for them to scratch, so there is no reason for them to attack my furniture too.
So off I go to attend to these chores which I really don't want to do, but if I don't then who will?
I actually saw a set at Living Spaces that looked really nice, was not too big or too expensive and from across the room looked like it was upholstered in leather and it was actually a fabric.
My bank had a new credit card where you get cash back for most purchases and for the first 6 months there is NO INTEREST! So I turned in my old credit card and took the new one. Since buying furniture is a major expense I had been putting it off until I could save up enough to pay cash as I really hate to pay interest, I pay off my credit card every month just so I can avoid that. So not having to pay interest for 6 months was just the ticket to get the furniture NOW.
I started in June casually looking around to see what is out there: everything is beige, grey, white, brown and black microfiber, how boring, everybody's house looks the same. And these god-awful chaises sticking out on one side! Makes you stuck with one set-up in your room.
And the seat cushions are short or they are not reversible. Since I am going to live with this furniture for more than 10 years I want something that is contemporary but not too trendy, that wears well, doesn't show dirt, is comfortable, not too big or too heavy as I might want to move it around and clean up under it, and not too expensive. Where to find this?
After many visits to many different stores I finally found one that makes custom furniture (or sell it to you the way it sits on the floor), that is they make it in any configuration you want and with fabric of your choice. You can go cheapy or go really expensive. I found just what I wanted and the price was comparable to the ready-made in many places.
So what am I getting? An L-shaped sofa with equal length on both sides with a nice high back so I can watch TV without having to stuff a pillow behind my neck, it will be upholstered in a tapestry with vines and leaves on it in grey-ish sage with some pinkish background tones. Looking across the room the pattern does not really show up and up close it is nice and soothing, nothing garish or too formal. All the cushions are reversible for extra wear and the seats are deep enough that the sofa can be used for overnight guests. It will take about 3 weeks to get it which is pretty short for custom made furniture. No delivery charges either and that can get expensive too. Got a "senior discount" also. Sometimes it helps not to be a spring chicken anymore.
I also needed a nice big chair and just could not find anything, and where I am getting the sofa a chair like I wanted would have been more than my budget would hold if I did not want to pay interest.
I had checked out Living Spaces before but found their selection to be the same old same old. However, they did have one set of sofa, loveseat and chair with ottoman on sale because it was a floor model and getting a little tired. The price was cut by 50% but I do not like loveseats and they would only sell the sofa with the love seat or the chair with the ottoman. The set was oatmeal in color with a slightly nubby texture and that chair was a chair-and-a-half with the ottoman to match. I went back three times to look at it and then I bought it, brought the ottoman home right away and then went back with a neighbor who has a big pick-up truck to pick up the chair.
But once it was inside it looked like there was no room for anything else. Omigod, what did I get myself into? I'll have to move furniture and get rid of some of this old and shabby stuff. I had already measured to make sure that the L-shaped sofa would fit and it is no longer than the futon that is there now. So after moving just about everything I actually made the place look spacious, monster chair and all, and the new sofa will work just fine, I can't wait.
After all that moving of furniture can you imagine what my back felt this morning? I had painful muscles in places where I did not know I HAD muscles. But it's ok now, I just had to work out the kinks by moving myself around a bit. And I slept like a baby, didn't wake up even once.
I am also selling my big dining table and 6 chairs which I really don't need as I have a smaller, solid walnut one that will fit just fine. I've got an ad on Craigslist and several people have shown interest but so far nobody has come through. I had checked with a consignment store but they would only give me half of what they would sell it for and they would charge me for picking it up too so that I would end up with hardly anything, so it's Craigslist where something will come through sooner or later. I hope sooner.
Of course right now that table is loaded down with all kinds of stuff, mostly paper that I have to go through, but also with stuff for which have not found a place and some of that will be tossed or donated. I have that nasty job scheduled for later today, also laundry and one of my cats peed on the bathroom floor, I don't know why as the box is clean, so I will have to wash the bathroom floor with vinegar to make sure that the stink is gone. Plain white vinegar is really good to get cat stink out of things, including carpet, but then you have to soak it overnight and blot it up the next day, an extractor works well for that, and then let it dry. It usually gets rid of the stink and the scent of the vinegar usually lasts long enough for the cat not to go back to that same spot (they don't like the smell of vinegar) and that usually stops that behavior.
I also don't want any cat to use the new furniture as a scratching post. I have found that if you use packing tape, the clear stuff used for mailing packages, on whereever the cat has decided to sharpen claws that they don't go back there, they don't like the slick stuff. It worked when one of them attacked my tall stereo speakers. That one has never gone back there even after I took the tape off, so that problem was solved.
I have two tall cat trees and two scratching posts and a corrugated cardboard for them to scratch, so there is no reason for them to attack my furniture too.
So off I go to attend to these chores which I really don't want to do, but if I don't then who will?
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Why Would Someone Tell Me That He/She Is Not Going to Read My Blog?
The person who has a recent picture of the deadbeat and won't share it has informed me she is not going to read my blog. Not that I care if she does or does not, but I wonder why she felt it necessary to tell me this? I am sure if I had not told her that I am writing a blog and she found out later that I did she would be even more upset. Maybe she is secretly reading it but wants me to get upset by thinking that she is not. Fat chance. I don't care who reads this blog if anyone. As I already heard from at least one person I know that someone reads it, so I know that my ruminations are not totally going to waste beyond it just being cathartic for me.
This same person also finds it necessary to contact every person who is in some way related to her although some of these people have never heard of her, or had no contact with her practically her whole life. She claims it is so her child will have an extended family as this child has none from the father's side (we don't want to go into why this is so). This child has a perfectly good extended family on the side of the man who helped raise it since age two, they all love it and include it in their life and the child probably could not care less about all these blood relatives. So what is it with this person who needs to contact them all and wants to have a relationship with them? What kind of weird need does she have for this? Some of these relatives don't speak English as as a first language as they live in other countries, she did not contact them. To my knowledge only a few of those she contacted responded.
This same person also finds it necessary to contact every person who is in some way related to her although some of these people have never heard of her, or had no contact with her practically her whole life. She claims it is so her child will have an extended family as this child has none from the father's side (we don't want to go into why this is so). This child has a perfectly good extended family on the side of the man who helped raise it since age two, they all love it and include it in their life and the child probably could not care less about all these blood relatives. So what is it with this person who needs to contact them all and wants to have a relationship with them? What kind of weird need does she have for this? Some of these relatives don't speak English as as a first language as they live in other countries, she did not contact them. To my knowledge only a few of those she contacted responded.
I'm Surrounded by Hypocrites
One thing I can't stand are people who say one thing and do another, who smile in your face and kick you in the butt, who promise you the sky and never follow through. I am also very poor at getting double entendres, you know, the kind of thing that has two meanings and you're supposed to "get" what the person saying really means, not necessarily what he/she said. That used to get me into trouble when I was very young because I was afraid to say I did not understand. Now I just stare at the person saying "yeah, so?" who will then feel inclined to say what he/she really meant and whatever joke was supposed to be there now falls absolutely flat. Their problem, not mine. I am not here to be someone's butt of a joke or to make them feel better or superior or witty or whatever. Say what you mean and then there won't be any misunderstandings.
A particular gripe I have is with the people who trot out their religiosity but don't live by it. Case in point: another Texan. This was a woman who was a buyer for Neiman-Marcus at a time when that store was strictly a Texas store in Fort Worth. Her job required a lot of travelling out of state. When she was in her home state she was a "good Baptist" and those folks don't smoke, cuss, drink, dance, drink coffee or Colas, but go to church - a lot! like twice on Sundays and also on Wednesdays. That's fine with me as long as they don't make me follow those rules. They also talk a lot about all these rules and how folks shouldn't be doing this, that and the other. In Texas at that time you could barely buy any alcoholic beverages unless you went to a "packing house" which is a liquor store, in a "wet" county. A dry county was one in which you could not buy anything stronger than beer or wine, if that. So come evening after work you'd see whole caravans of cars heading for the border of the next "wet" county to buy their supply of booze. Then they'd go on the weekend usually to a "private club" where they would buy a "guest pass" for a dollar or two which made them a "guest" of the doorman and they could get any mixed drink they could think of. If that was too hoity-toity for the average dudes they'd put their bottle of booze into a brown paper bag, go to the nearest bar which would only serve beer or wine and put the bottle in the bag on the table and ask for a "set-up". That meant a glass of ice and a soft drink. Then the booze would be poured into the soft drink. Voila, mixed drink! So here we have: Rum and Coke, Whiskey and Seven-Up, Vodka and orange juice, the list goes on. All of this was quite legal but had all these weird little "laws" to go with it: the bottle of booze if it was less than a quart had to lie down on the table, quarts had to stand up, they had to stay inside the paper bag unless you had one of those fancy cloth bags but they had to stay in there too, the server had to pour some of the soft drink into the glass.
But back to the Neiman-Marcus buyer. I found myself going from Dallas to NYC and saw that the buyer was on the same plane just a few rows in front of me. She did not know me well so she probably never saw me or did not recognize me. As soon as the plane had left Texas airspace she was ordering one of those little bottles of booze they sell on planes. And another and another and.........By the time she got off the plane in Idlewild (NYC) she was staggering, she could hardly walk. So much for that "good Baptist". What a joke. But confessing your sin of drinking and promising not to do it again will get you straight into heaven as your sins will be forgiven no matter how many times you backslide. Of course anyone who is not a Baptist is going to go straight to hell. Well, I don't want to be with all those killjoys anyway.
There was also such a thing as "Blue Laws". Not just in Texas but all through the South at least. A Blue Law meant that on Sundays you could not buy anything but food unless it was something you absolutely could not do without, such as band-aids, or sanitary napkins, or a tire because the one you had just ruined was beyond repair and you had to get to work and there were no busses to where you were going. You can imagine the abuse those laws got. From what I hear those Blue Laws do not exist anymore and that the whole state of Texas is now "wet". Somebody probably decided to sue the state saying that those laws were unconstitutional. Maybe that had something to do with good old Dubya who was known to like just a few too many beers.
Speaking of him that reminds me: remember when Clinton was elected the Republicans acted as if somebody had killed their baby? The Democrats had "stolen" THEIR presidency. They had been under Republican presidents for so long they could not imagine any other way, this was the "normal" way that the presidency was supposed to be. Then when they had to swallow that bitter pill they expected Clinton to solve all their problems within 100 days as if anyone could do that. Dubya sure couldn't when he came in. Now they expected Obama to do the same thing and there was a lot of noise made after that did not happen. How soon they forget that one of their own couldn't do it either. Hypocrites, all of them.
A particular gripe I have is with the people who trot out their religiosity but don't live by it. Case in point: another Texan. This was a woman who was a buyer for Neiman-Marcus at a time when that store was strictly a Texas store in Fort Worth. Her job required a lot of travelling out of state. When she was in her home state she was a "good Baptist" and those folks don't smoke, cuss, drink, dance, drink coffee or Colas, but go to church - a lot! like twice on Sundays and also on Wednesdays. That's fine with me as long as they don't make me follow those rules. They also talk a lot about all these rules and how folks shouldn't be doing this, that and the other. In Texas at that time you could barely buy any alcoholic beverages unless you went to a "packing house" which is a liquor store, in a "wet" county. A dry county was one in which you could not buy anything stronger than beer or wine, if that. So come evening after work you'd see whole caravans of cars heading for the border of the next "wet" county to buy their supply of booze. Then they'd go on the weekend usually to a "private club" where they would buy a "guest pass" for a dollar or two which made them a "guest" of the doorman and they could get any mixed drink they could think of. If that was too hoity-toity for the average dudes they'd put their bottle of booze into a brown paper bag, go to the nearest bar which would only serve beer or wine and put the bottle in the bag on the table and ask for a "set-up". That meant a glass of ice and a soft drink. Then the booze would be poured into the soft drink. Voila, mixed drink! So here we have: Rum and Coke, Whiskey and Seven-Up, Vodka and orange juice, the list goes on. All of this was quite legal but had all these weird little "laws" to go with it: the bottle of booze if it was less than a quart had to lie down on the table, quarts had to stand up, they had to stay inside the paper bag unless you had one of those fancy cloth bags but they had to stay in there too, the server had to pour some of the soft drink into the glass.
But back to the Neiman-Marcus buyer. I found myself going from Dallas to NYC and saw that the buyer was on the same plane just a few rows in front of me. She did not know me well so she probably never saw me or did not recognize me. As soon as the plane had left Texas airspace she was ordering one of those little bottles of booze they sell on planes. And another and another and.........By the time she got off the plane in Idlewild (NYC) she was staggering, she could hardly walk. So much for that "good Baptist". What a joke. But confessing your sin of drinking and promising not to do it again will get you straight into heaven as your sins will be forgiven no matter how many times you backslide. Of course anyone who is not a Baptist is going to go straight to hell. Well, I don't want to be with all those killjoys anyway.
There was also such a thing as "Blue Laws". Not just in Texas but all through the South at least. A Blue Law meant that on Sundays you could not buy anything but food unless it was something you absolutely could not do without, such as band-aids, or sanitary napkins, or a tire because the one you had just ruined was beyond repair and you had to get to work and there were no busses to where you were going. You can imagine the abuse those laws got. From what I hear those Blue Laws do not exist anymore and that the whole state of Texas is now "wet". Somebody probably decided to sue the state saying that those laws were unconstitutional. Maybe that had something to do with good old Dubya who was known to like just a few too many beers.
Speaking of him that reminds me: remember when Clinton was elected the Republicans acted as if somebody had killed their baby? The Democrats had "stolen" THEIR presidency. They had been under Republican presidents for so long they could not imagine any other way, this was the "normal" way that the presidency was supposed to be. Then when they had to swallow that bitter pill they expected Clinton to solve all their problems within 100 days as if anyone could do that. Dubya sure couldn't when he came in. Now they expected Obama to do the same thing and there was a lot of noise made after that did not happen. How soon they forget that one of their own couldn't do it either. Hypocrites, all of them.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Annual Fires in SoCal and What Some People Do Anyway, Some Thoughts on Taxes and Other Stuff
It's burning again as it does every year. Some of the fires are set by stupid people, others are the result of accidents and then there are those which would happen no matter what - Mother Nature on the rampage. Why people insist on building homes in burn areas is beyond me. Then they don't have insurance against that because it is too expensive and they expect the government to bail them out.
Not only do they build in the burn areas but they build overpriced ticky-tacky houses made mostly of wood, sometimes even with "shake roofs" which are also made of wood, with shrubs and trees right next to the house. Then on top of that they build on slopes. Here in SoCal the shake roofs have pretty much been replaced but nobody makes them take them off if they still have them. The whole thing as an invitation to disaster: first the fires will burn all the vegetation (if not the houses) and when the rains come a few months later the hillsides will come sliding down because there are no bushes and trees holding them up. After that is all cleaned up the same owners will build the same ticky-tacky houses again in the same spot - how stupid can you be.
Quite a few years ago there was a really big fire on the slopes of Laguna Beach. One place was sort of a horseshoe shaped area and the whole hillside burned. All the houses were destroyed but one.
That belonged to an architect who had it built to his specifications. He was Vietnamese and he had studied architecture in Germany and had married a German woman before he came to the US. His house was built to German standards: brick and cement walls and floors, deep pylons into the ground, a tile roof, no vegetation right next to the house. The pictures in the paper showed this burnt hillside with hardly anything left standing but this big white house with a red roof in the middle of all this destruction.
Did the neighbors take heed? No, they actually hounded this man and his wife with their envy until they both left, I assume they sold their house, and then these stupid people proceeded to build their ticky-tacky houses again just like before. These houses are huge and very expensive, with an ocean view to die for, but some people just don't have any sense. The fire next time will destroy these houses again and the German house will still be there unless some fool tears it down and builds another ticky-tacky house on that spot.
Fires have been an annual occurence in SoCal since before White people ever set eyes on its coast. The Native People even had a name for the Los Angeles area that referred to it as being a smoky place. So this is nothing new and not neccessarily the fault of the people who live here now.
But I feel that if somebody wants to live in wooded areas that were subject to fires in the past then they should also take all the risks with it. That means don't expect the fire department to come and put out the fire which is a natural occurence, and don't expect the government to repair the washed-out road that comes after the rains start. You knew the risk, now live with it.
I also do not understand why the government would allow developers to come in and build in these areas in the first place. If some rustic person builds a little house on their own piece of property, that is one thing. But when there is a whole town, like Lancaster, built in the burn areas, that's a different thing and then the government is equally culpable. I just don't want my tax money going to save these houses that never should have been built there to begin with.
Right now California is in a hole with revenues not coming in, so paying out tax money for this kind of insanity is beyond me. Some would-be governors propose cuts everywhere instead of raising taxes after years of tax cuts. Sure, there is always the cry that businesses will leave if they don't get tax cuts. And just how many businesses have indeed left? Those that did have not relocated to another state, they went overseas instead which they would have done no matter which state they had been in. So the high taxes of California were not the cause.
I keep hearing the same mantra over and over: we've got to cut services, we've got to cut state employees benefits (pay & pensions), we've got to cut taxes, but also: there are so many poor people in the emergency rooms, the lines at the state offices are so long, the service is poor and slow, there are potholes everywhere, where is a cop when you need one, yada yada yada. Everybody wants something for nothing, nobody wants to pay taxes but they are always ready for a handout, and I don't mean the poor people.
It's peculiar, but if you ask a low income person if they could feed one more poor relative, there is always room at their table. Ask the same thing of a middle class or higher income person and they will try everything under the sun not to have that person under their roof, they should go to a shelter as a last resort. It used to be that "home" was where they have to take you in. That still works with the lower income classes. Once a certain income level is reached that truism oes out the window. What a sad state of affairs.
If you cut taxes you won't have the money to expand services that are needed or to hire well-qualified people to do the state's business and to administer these services. Then to cry that lines are long, that services are poor and that pot holes are not repaired is begging the question. You can't have both.
Oh sure, give all the government services to private industry to do, they can do it cheaper. Have you ever heard of private industry working for "no profit"? Do the big-wigs in private industry work for peanuts? The reason private industry can do the job cheaper is because the job goes to the one who low-balls them. Along with that goes shoddy workmanship so that the job has to be done over and it now costs twice as much. That's cheaper?
Remember the "Orange Crush"? Private industry did that and after just a few years rebar started to rust and the job did have to be done over, this time Caltrans did it and they did it right the first time, a little more expensive than the first time but no big-wig lined his/her pockets on taxpayers' money. The job should have been done by state employees to begin with, not the second time around and thus costing twice as much. You get what you pay for, low-balling is not the way to go.
Or try the Departments of Motor Vehicles or Unemployment Insurance: remember when lines were out the door at the DMV and it took many hours to get to the counter to talk to someone? There had been a hiring freeze and the people working there can only do so much. When people left due to illnes, retirement or transferred out, that put more pressure on the ones who were still there. The public screamed. So offices were opened on Saturdays. That meant people now had to work overtime which is expensive. There went more taxpayer money. Somebody finally got the bright idea that this was not working, that they had to hire more people to get the work load done. The hiring freeze stopped and once the new people were up to speed after training the lines subsided and Saturday work and thus expensive overtime stopped.
Now our governor has put the state employees on 4 days furlough per month which simply means that every employee works 4 days per month less and thus gets less money in his/her paycheck. So who is doing the work that these people would be doing? Nobody, so the lines are long again, the service is poor, the state employees are mad because they have smaller paychecks but same expenses as before. Everybody looses.
Unemployment Insurance is an even more ridiculous story: here the state employees also were put on 4 days furlough and thus some work could not be done. But what was worse: the unemployment rate kept climbing and thus there was even more work that did not get done in a timely fashion.
Now, Unemployment Insurance is partly funded by the Feds and they have something to say about how the department is run. The threat is always there that if people do not get their checks or are denied benefits in a timely fashion, about two weeks, then the Feds can pull their part of the funding, oops!The department does not want that to happen and so goes begging for more employees. Since this cannot be done and ALL state employees are furloughed 4 days per month, what can be done? Oh, lets have them work overtime!
The governor gave a one-department exception to allow overtime. So now state emploees who work in the Department of Employment Development can work 12 hours a day 6 days a week minus 4 days per month as they are still furloughed, actually pulling down bigger paychecks than if they were working just 40 hours per week. What kind of stupid math is that? Those who cannot work overtime are the losers, some people are dependent on babysitters and thus cannot go past their usual hours, they have smaller paychecks and the expenses are the same.
Well, state employees make too much money for the work that they do and they cannot get fired or laid off and their pensions are too big and their benefits are too good yada yada yada.
Would you like to stand at a counter and be abused by the public all day long? Would you like to be told on the phone "I know where you work", a threat if I ever heard one? Would you like to make about half or at the most 2/3 of what you could make if you were in private industry with the same amount of education and resposibility?
State employees being mostly in a service industry are there because they like to serve the public. There is something very satisfying about that to the people who do public service. They take the smaller paycheck for the security of most likely having a job for however long they want it which does not mean they cannot be laid off or even fired. They take the job for the benefits the job offers but which can also take a big chunk from their paycheck if they have a family that depends on them for medical benefits. Until just a few years ago they had very little in Disability payments for things that were not work-related. Just about any working stiff in California if he breaks his leg, has a car accident, gets cancer or whatever and can't work can get disability payments for up to 6 months of $350.00 to $650.00 per week. The state employee used to have none or not more than $27.00 per week. Try paying your rent or mortgage with that. A few years ago that finally changed.
Ah yes, these big pensions! The average pension of a state employee after working approximately 20 years and being at least 52 years old is $1700.00/month. Without receiving Social Security at the same time it is impossible to live on that here in SoCal. Since the average pay while working is only about $2800.00/month after taxes it would be very difficult to save anything on that towards retirement in a savings account or a 401k.
There are many single moms working for the state who have to not only feed, house and clothe their children, they also have quite a bit taken out of their check for medical care. And then there are childcare expenses on top of that. Not all of them collect child support either, more deadbeat dads. These women will live in rental housing forever and they will have nothing saved at the end of their careers. Do you now begrudge them a pension that will at least keep them living halfway decent in their old age?
Not only do they build in the burn areas but they build overpriced ticky-tacky houses made mostly of wood, sometimes even with "shake roofs" which are also made of wood, with shrubs and trees right next to the house. Then on top of that they build on slopes. Here in SoCal the shake roofs have pretty much been replaced but nobody makes them take them off if they still have them. The whole thing as an invitation to disaster: first the fires will burn all the vegetation (if not the houses) and when the rains come a few months later the hillsides will come sliding down because there are no bushes and trees holding them up. After that is all cleaned up the same owners will build the same ticky-tacky houses again in the same spot - how stupid can you be.
Quite a few years ago there was a really big fire on the slopes of Laguna Beach. One place was sort of a horseshoe shaped area and the whole hillside burned. All the houses were destroyed but one.
That belonged to an architect who had it built to his specifications. He was Vietnamese and he had studied architecture in Germany and had married a German woman before he came to the US. His house was built to German standards: brick and cement walls and floors, deep pylons into the ground, a tile roof, no vegetation right next to the house. The pictures in the paper showed this burnt hillside with hardly anything left standing but this big white house with a red roof in the middle of all this destruction.
Did the neighbors take heed? No, they actually hounded this man and his wife with their envy until they both left, I assume they sold their house, and then these stupid people proceeded to build their ticky-tacky houses again just like before. These houses are huge and very expensive, with an ocean view to die for, but some people just don't have any sense. The fire next time will destroy these houses again and the German house will still be there unless some fool tears it down and builds another ticky-tacky house on that spot.
Fires have been an annual occurence in SoCal since before White people ever set eyes on its coast. The Native People even had a name for the Los Angeles area that referred to it as being a smoky place. So this is nothing new and not neccessarily the fault of the people who live here now.
But I feel that if somebody wants to live in wooded areas that were subject to fires in the past then they should also take all the risks with it. That means don't expect the fire department to come and put out the fire which is a natural occurence, and don't expect the government to repair the washed-out road that comes after the rains start. You knew the risk, now live with it.
I also do not understand why the government would allow developers to come in and build in these areas in the first place. If some rustic person builds a little house on their own piece of property, that is one thing. But when there is a whole town, like Lancaster, built in the burn areas, that's a different thing and then the government is equally culpable. I just don't want my tax money going to save these houses that never should have been built there to begin with.
Right now California is in a hole with revenues not coming in, so paying out tax money for this kind of insanity is beyond me. Some would-be governors propose cuts everywhere instead of raising taxes after years of tax cuts. Sure, there is always the cry that businesses will leave if they don't get tax cuts. And just how many businesses have indeed left? Those that did have not relocated to another state, they went overseas instead which they would have done no matter which state they had been in. So the high taxes of California were not the cause.
I keep hearing the same mantra over and over: we've got to cut services, we've got to cut state employees benefits (pay & pensions), we've got to cut taxes, but also: there are so many poor people in the emergency rooms, the lines at the state offices are so long, the service is poor and slow, there are potholes everywhere, where is a cop when you need one, yada yada yada. Everybody wants something for nothing, nobody wants to pay taxes but they are always ready for a handout, and I don't mean the poor people.
It's peculiar, but if you ask a low income person if they could feed one more poor relative, there is always room at their table. Ask the same thing of a middle class or higher income person and they will try everything under the sun not to have that person under their roof, they should go to a shelter as a last resort. It used to be that "home" was where they have to take you in. That still works with the lower income classes. Once a certain income level is reached that truism oes out the window. What a sad state of affairs.
If you cut taxes you won't have the money to expand services that are needed or to hire well-qualified people to do the state's business and to administer these services. Then to cry that lines are long, that services are poor and that pot holes are not repaired is begging the question. You can't have both.
Oh sure, give all the government services to private industry to do, they can do it cheaper. Have you ever heard of private industry working for "no profit"? Do the big-wigs in private industry work for peanuts? The reason private industry can do the job cheaper is because the job goes to the one who low-balls them. Along with that goes shoddy workmanship so that the job has to be done over and it now costs twice as much. That's cheaper?
Remember the "Orange Crush"? Private industry did that and after just a few years rebar started to rust and the job did have to be done over, this time Caltrans did it and they did it right the first time, a little more expensive than the first time but no big-wig lined his/her pockets on taxpayers' money. The job should have been done by state employees to begin with, not the second time around and thus costing twice as much. You get what you pay for, low-balling is not the way to go.
Or try the Departments of Motor Vehicles or Unemployment Insurance: remember when lines were out the door at the DMV and it took many hours to get to the counter to talk to someone? There had been a hiring freeze and the people working there can only do so much. When people left due to illnes, retirement or transferred out, that put more pressure on the ones who were still there. The public screamed. So offices were opened on Saturdays. That meant people now had to work overtime which is expensive. There went more taxpayer money. Somebody finally got the bright idea that this was not working, that they had to hire more people to get the work load done. The hiring freeze stopped and once the new people were up to speed after training the lines subsided and Saturday work and thus expensive overtime stopped.
Now our governor has put the state employees on 4 days furlough per month which simply means that every employee works 4 days per month less and thus gets less money in his/her paycheck. So who is doing the work that these people would be doing? Nobody, so the lines are long again, the service is poor, the state employees are mad because they have smaller paychecks but same expenses as before. Everybody looses.
Unemployment Insurance is an even more ridiculous story: here the state employees also were put on 4 days furlough and thus some work could not be done. But what was worse: the unemployment rate kept climbing and thus there was even more work that did not get done in a timely fashion.
Now, Unemployment Insurance is partly funded by the Feds and they have something to say about how the department is run. The threat is always there that if people do not get their checks or are denied benefits in a timely fashion, about two weeks, then the Feds can pull their part of the funding, oops!The department does not want that to happen and so goes begging for more employees. Since this cannot be done and ALL state employees are furloughed 4 days per month, what can be done? Oh, lets have them work overtime!
The governor gave a one-department exception to allow overtime. So now state emploees who work in the Department of Employment Development can work 12 hours a day 6 days a week minus 4 days per month as they are still furloughed, actually pulling down bigger paychecks than if they were working just 40 hours per week. What kind of stupid math is that? Those who cannot work overtime are the losers, some people are dependent on babysitters and thus cannot go past their usual hours, they have smaller paychecks and the expenses are the same.
Well, state employees make too much money for the work that they do and they cannot get fired or laid off and their pensions are too big and their benefits are too good yada yada yada.
Would you like to stand at a counter and be abused by the public all day long? Would you like to be told on the phone "I know where you work", a threat if I ever heard one? Would you like to make about half or at the most 2/3 of what you could make if you were in private industry with the same amount of education and resposibility?
State employees being mostly in a service industry are there because they like to serve the public. There is something very satisfying about that to the people who do public service. They take the smaller paycheck for the security of most likely having a job for however long they want it which does not mean they cannot be laid off or even fired. They take the job for the benefits the job offers but which can also take a big chunk from their paycheck if they have a family that depends on them for medical benefits. Until just a few years ago they had very little in Disability payments for things that were not work-related. Just about any working stiff in California if he breaks his leg, has a car accident, gets cancer or whatever and can't work can get disability payments for up to 6 months of $350.00 to $650.00 per week. The state employee used to have none or not more than $27.00 per week. Try paying your rent or mortgage with that. A few years ago that finally changed.
Ah yes, these big pensions! The average pension of a state employee after working approximately 20 years and being at least 52 years old is $1700.00/month. Without receiving Social Security at the same time it is impossible to live on that here in SoCal. Since the average pay while working is only about $2800.00/month after taxes it would be very difficult to save anything on that towards retirement in a savings account or a 401k.
There are many single moms working for the state who have to not only feed, house and clothe their children, they also have quite a bit taken out of their check for medical care. And then there are childcare expenses on top of that. Not all of them collect child support either, more deadbeat dads. These women will live in rental housing forever and they will have nothing saved at the end of their careers. Do you now begrudge them a pension that will at least keep them living halfway decent in their old age?
Papers are Filed, the Deadbeat Has Been Served
Today I had a friend serve the papers on the deadbeat via mail. The certificate of Service by Mail was filed with the Court Clerk today also, he should have it by Monday or Tuesday. He's going to EXPLODE!!!
I can just hear his common mouth going on and on: "That b---, that f----ing b---, can't she leave me in peace!!!, after all these years!!!, f--- her! She's threatening me!!! G---d--- her!!! She's gonna cost me my job!!! blah-blah-blah! She's not gonna get a cent!!! So this is what this was all about!!!" etc etc etc. It will be interesting to see if he is going to show up in court. In a way I wish he would just so I can see what he looks like in person, that picture on facebook doesn't say much and he's hiding behind big sunglasses. The one person who does have a current picture won't share it because she is mad at me, oh well. I have one other picture but it is of very poor quality so that does not help much. In any case, he seems to have grown quite fat and what I can see of his face is not very attractive, definitely not what had attracted me to him so many years ago. The only thing left is a shock of thick hair which maybe is not even dyed which is an accomplishment at his age.
On the other hand I wish he did not show up: first because I do not want to hear any rants on his part, second because if he does not show up the judge or commissioner should award me everything simply because he did not show up, that's called "default". After that it would be a case on how to collect or attach anything. I'll worry about that after the court date. To be continued...........
Nothing should be happening between now and two months from now, although he can "show cause" why he should not pay the owed child support and the few measly bucks in spousal support the court had awarded me.
Just about everybody is rooting for me that I am finally taking steps to collect what's owed. Most people crack up when I tell them how I finally found him: "Facebook? Oh, this is good. People put too much info out there. He got caught, good for you etc etc".
I can just hear his common mouth going on and on: "That b---, that f----ing b---, can't she leave me in peace!!!, after all these years!!!, f--- her! She's threatening me!!! G---d--- her!!! She's gonna cost me my job!!! blah-blah-blah! She's not gonna get a cent!!! So this is what this was all about!!!" etc etc etc. It will be interesting to see if he is going to show up in court. In a way I wish he would just so I can see what he looks like in person, that picture on facebook doesn't say much and he's hiding behind big sunglasses. The one person who does have a current picture won't share it because she is mad at me, oh well. I have one other picture but it is of very poor quality so that does not help much. In any case, he seems to have grown quite fat and what I can see of his face is not very attractive, definitely not what had attracted me to him so many years ago. The only thing left is a shock of thick hair which maybe is not even dyed which is an accomplishment at his age.
On the other hand I wish he did not show up: first because I do not want to hear any rants on his part, second because if he does not show up the judge or commissioner should award me everything simply because he did not show up, that's called "default". After that it would be a case on how to collect or attach anything. I'll worry about that after the court date. To be continued...........
Nothing should be happening between now and two months from now, although he can "show cause" why he should not pay the owed child support and the few measly bucks in spousal support the court had awarded me.
Just about everybody is rooting for me that I am finally taking steps to collect what's owed. Most people crack up when I tell them how I finally found him: "Facebook? Oh, this is good. People put too much info out there. He got caught, good for you etc etc".
Thursday, July 29, 2010
You Will Never Be a Texan, No Matter How Long You Live There
Usually when you have lived somewhere for any length of time the people who lived there before you will accept you as one of their own, especially your own family. That's not what I saw in Texas.
When I first arrived there I was met at Love Field, the airport for the Dallas-Fort Worth area at the time, by a slew of new relatives as my rather new spouse was in the Army and could not come to meet me. So all these people were introduced to me, I don't know how they expected me to remember them all, there must have been at least 10 of them, coming in several cars. It was July and hotter than anything I had ever experienced or even imagined. The air seemed to be too thick to breathe with all that humidity, I was tired, suffering from jet lag and absolutely overwhelmed. People talked funny, I had a hard time understanding them although they did not seem to be bothered by the way I talked which was more like what they heard on TV. Culture shock, omigod! All these strange people hugging me. This was not something I was used to. Then somebody got me a cold drink, ugh, it tasted awful. It was DrPepper which I had never tasted before and to this day I don't like it. (Apologies to those who just love the stuff, just don't force it on me.) Then some ice cream. That was better, but I had never had "soft-serve" ice cream and in this heat it melted in no time and I had a hard time keeping it off my clothes. Even bone-hard ice cream would have been a soggy mess in just a few minutes. After the ice cream I was put in a different car for the rest of the journey so that some of the other relatives could gawk at this creature from another world and get reintroduced. Most of that went by in a blur, but one thing did stand out: while everybody else was introduced by name and what relation they were, like "this is Uncle Bob", this one fortyish man was introduced as "this is Whitey, he's from Massachusetts". I didn't think anything at the time but that this was perhaps somebody who was visiting from Massachusetts and had come along for the ride. But as I found out later, he was married to one of this clan and had lived there in Texas for over 20 years. So why the emphasis that he was from Massachusetts? He talked just like they did, dressed the same etc., was he not the same, was he not one of them? Obviously not, and as I found out as time passed, that is the general attitude. You will always be an outsider no matter how long you live there or who you are married to.
When I first arrived there I was met at Love Field, the airport for the Dallas-Fort Worth area at the time, by a slew of new relatives as my rather new spouse was in the Army and could not come to meet me. So all these people were introduced to me, I don't know how they expected me to remember them all, there must have been at least 10 of them, coming in several cars. It was July and hotter than anything I had ever experienced or even imagined. The air seemed to be too thick to breathe with all that humidity, I was tired, suffering from jet lag and absolutely overwhelmed. People talked funny, I had a hard time understanding them although they did not seem to be bothered by the way I talked which was more like what they heard on TV. Culture shock, omigod! All these strange people hugging me. This was not something I was used to. Then somebody got me a cold drink, ugh, it tasted awful. It was DrPepper which I had never tasted before and to this day I don't like it. (Apologies to those who just love the stuff, just don't force it on me.) Then some ice cream. That was better, but I had never had "soft-serve" ice cream and in this heat it melted in no time and I had a hard time keeping it off my clothes. Even bone-hard ice cream would have been a soggy mess in just a few minutes. After the ice cream I was put in a different car for the rest of the journey so that some of the other relatives could gawk at this creature from another world and get reintroduced. Most of that went by in a blur, but one thing did stand out: while everybody else was introduced by name and what relation they were, like "this is Uncle Bob", this one fortyish man was introduced as "this is Whitey, he's from Massachusetts". I didn't think anything at the time but that this was perhaps somebody who was visiting from Massachusetts and had come along for the ride. But as I found out later, he was married to one of this clan and had lived there in Texas for over 20 years. So why the emphasis that he was from Massachusetts? He talked just like they did, dressed the same etc., was he not the same, was he not one of them? Obviously not, and as I found out as time passed, that is the general attitude. You will always be an outsider no matter how long you live there or who you are married to.
Unpaid Child Support and Texas Liars
So this is how I start. This person who shall remain un-named does not want to be uncomfortable. This may be ok if we are talking about physically being uncomfortable such as being too hot or too cold, or clothes that scratch or are too tight, that sort of thing. But when it comes to being uncomfortable in a different way, such as not liking a particular subject that came up in a conversation, that's a different matter. There is no Right not to be offended or to hear or see in print things that make you uncomfortable. Deal with it. If everything was just hunky-dory all the time then nothing would ever change and how boring would that be.
So what set all this off? Just a little matter of unpaid child support from a long time ago. The deadbeat had finally been found and now is going to be served with papers why he did not pay the ordered child support for all these years.
You guessed it, the injured party is me and you shall see in these pages how this is coming along among other things that happen to cross my mind, some very mundane and others that hopefully will be of interest to some people. If not, that's ok too, writing this kind of thing, which used to be called a journal, is very therapeutic. Sometimes when things make you angry, you can just write them down which in turn makes you think about them a little more and you find they were not really that important and thus not worth the time to get angry about them. Others will make you feel better simply because you got them off your chest. Since this is going out for everyone to see, maybe somebody can even come up with a solution to some problem or other.
So back to the deadbeat. This is what I will call him as those who know me will know who I am talking about, and those who don't also do not need to know his name. He lives in another state and I am sure is already royally upset with me since he got the first papers in the mail. These were just to inform him that I will be my own attorney but it did not say what about. I would think that he can guess that it will not be anything good.
He promptly married again, fathered another child whom he named after himself. So now he has a "junior", big deal, I would not have burdened a child with that name. I don't know what has happened to that woman, maybe she has died, but in any case he is not married to her either and about 5 years ago he acquired wife number 3. This one was his highschool sweetheart, my, it's a small world.
How did I finally track him down? Facebook, that's a real blabbermouth and some people post so much stuff that even if you can't recognize their picture or there is none, there are enough people who are their "friends" that you can just contact them and make inquiries that will ascertain that the person whose facebook you are looking at is indeed the person you thought it was. Now if somebody sent me an inquiry like that I would either ignore it or I would ask what the inquirer needed that info for. But I got info back from both people whom I had contacted and it gave me what I needed.
Then I asked my computer how to get an address and I found a freebie website that did just that and even gave me a phone number which I then inputted in reverse and that result also told me he had a MySpace account. I promptly looked that up and found a pile of junk and lies on that.
Ho ho, he was in Vietnam? Flying Cobra aircraft? Pack of lies. He got out of the service in 1966 when Vietnam had not yet heated up, and he never flew anything but paper airplanes as he had been a clerk-typist while in the Army. I guess some people just have to puff themselves up because their self-esteem is so low.
Oh, did I mention he's from Texas? They have a saying there that everything grows big in Texas. For some things that's even true: I never saw jack rabbits as big as they have them there and longhorn cattle do have horns that are really unbelievable. The first ones I saw were mounted on the wall of some bar and I thought they were made out of plastic. The next one was mounted on the hood of one of those giant cars from the 60s and the horns were wider than the car. Again I did not believe that they were real horns. That is until I saw a real live longhorn bull, and those horns were so big you'd think the animal could not possibly carry them around all the time and they were the same size or even bigger than the ones mounted on the wall and on the car.
But back to what I was saying about everything allegedly being so big in Texas. Well, that includes liars. Those people do tell the tallest tales. The problem is that they do that routinely in everyday life also. Seems they can't tell anything without exaggerating it (hey, did I spell that correctly?). I would hope that there are some Texans that don't do that, but I ran into so much of this that it seemed to be an overwhelming Texas trait.
So this Texas fool had all this info on his facebook that allowed me to not only locate him but also gave his address so that now I could serve him papers. I just got the second set of papers from the court clerk today, so now he will get those served on him too and I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he gets them. I hope he doesn't get a heart attack when he gets them as I really want to collect my money.
So what set all this off? Just a little matter of unpaid child support from a long time ago. The deadbeat had finally been found and now is going to be served with papers why he did not pay the ordered child support for all these years.
You guessed it, the injured party is me and you shall see in these pages how this is coming along among other things that happen to cross my mind, some very mundane and others that hopefully will be of interest to some people. If not, that's ok too, writing this kind of thing, which used to be called a journal, is very therapeutic. Sometimes when things make you angry, you can just write them down which in turn makes you think about them a little more and you find they were not really that important and thus not worth the time to get angry about them. Others will make you feel better simply because you got them off your chest. Since this is going out for everyone to see, maybe somebody can even come up with a solution to some problem or other.
So back to the deadbeat. This is what I will call him as those who know me will know who I am talking about, and those who don't also do not need to know his name. He lives in another state and I am sure is already royally upset with me since he got the first papers in the mail. These were just to inform him that I will be my own attorney but it did not say what about. I would think that he can guess that it will not be anything good.
He promptly married again, fathered another child whom he named after himself. So now he has a "junior", big deal, I would not have burdened a child with that name. I don't know what has happened to that woman, maybe she has died, but in any case he is not married to her either and about 5 years ago he acquired wife number 3. This one was his highschool sweetheart, my, it's a small world.
How did I finally track him down? Facebook, that's a real blabbermouth and some people post so much stuff that even if you can't recognize their picture or there is none, there are enough people who are their "friends" that you can just contact them and make inquiries that will ascertain that the person whose facebook you are looking at is indeed the person you thought it was. Now if somebody sent me an inquiry like that I would either ignore it or I would ask what the inquirer needed that info for. But I got info back from both people whom I had contacted and it gave me what I needed.
Then I asked my computer how to get an address and I found a freebie website that did just that and even gave me a phone number which I then inputted in reverse and that result also told me he had a MySpace account. I promptly looked that up and found a pile of junk and lies on that.
Ho ho, he was in Vietnam? Flying Cobra aircraft? Pack of lies. He got out of the service in 1966 when Vietnam had not yet heated up, and he never flew anything but paper airplanes as he had been a clerk-typist while in the Army. I guess some people just have to puff themselves up because their self-esteem is so low.
Oh, did I mention he's from Texas? They have a saying there that everything grows big in Texas. For some things that's even true: I never saw jack rabbits as big as they have them there and longhorn cattle do have horns that are really unbelievable. The first ones I saw were mounted on the wall of some bar and I thought they were made out of plastic. The next one was mounted on the hood of one of those giant cars from the 60s and the horns were wider than the car. Again I did not believe that they were real horns. That is until I saw a real live longhorn bull, and those horns were so big you'd think the animal could not possibly carry them around all the time and they were the same size or even bigger than the ones mounted on the wall and on the car.
But back to what I was saying about everything allegedly being so big in Texas. Well, that includes liars. Those people do tell the tallest tales. The problem is that they do that routinely in everyday life also. Seems they can't tell anything without exaggerating it (hey, did I spell that correctly?). I would hope that there are some Texans that don't do that, but I ran into so much of this that it seemed to be an overwhelming Texas trait.
So this Texas fool had all this info on his facebook that allowed me to not only locate him but also gave his address so that now I could serve him papers. I just got the second set of papers from the court clerk today, so now he will get those served on him too and I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he gets them. I hope he doesn't get a heart attack when he gets them as I really want to collect my money.
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