06 February 2009

Friday Follies...
I know you're going to find this hard to believe, but the temperatures will actually be ABOVE freezing during the weekend.
Yeah, I know...how weird is THAT?
But hey, I live in S/E Fort Wayne...WEIRD is part of the job!
--First up, show of hands time.
How many of you know WHAT DAY of the week you have to put out the old trash bin?
And how many of you place the can back after it's collected?
Well, around here, it's more like "whatever you feel like doing and whenever you get around to doing it" for a lot of people.
Our collection day is THURSDAY (now pay attention), so we can put the trash out after 12 noon the day before.
You with me so far?
WHY then, do people LEAVE the bin out at the collection point (curb) ALL DAMN WEEK?
And WHY does it take them THREE DAYS to figure out they have to put it back?
Mind you, these are people that DO NOT WORK, are home ALL day and night, every day of every week of every month of every year.
There is simply NO excuse for this simple act of compliance to the "rules", as set down by the city's Department of Waste Management.
I'll wager that those of you in areas NOT blighted don't even consider this an issue, do you?
You just can't get the "ghetto" out of some people now, can you?
But, anyway...moving along...
--Nancy Pelosi was talking about job losses the other day and she was quoted as saying that "500 million Americans will lose their job every month,if we don't act on this stimulus plan".
Now methinks her math is a tad "off", even IF you figure in all the wetback illegals that have come into America over the decades.
America has about THREE-hundred million folks (give or take), not FIVE hundred million.
Cripes, at the rate SHE mentioned, the entire WORLD population would be unemployed by weeks end!
I just thought it a beautifully ignorant faux-pas.
--We're hearing more and more about students "sexting" on their cell phones.
Well, I don't have a cell phone, and I don't have any kids (that I know of...lol), but I will say that THIS is the kind of stuff that WILL happen when technology is placed in the hands of those too stupid to know what it "could" be used for.
You can have all the technology in the damn world, but without the WISDOM to properly utilize it in the manner intended, it's going to lead to trouble. We're already seeing it.
Driving becomes a hazard. Students have to deal with "private" pictures becoming public, and the simple everyday nuances such as social intercourse and dialogue are supplanted by text-messaging. We simply don't have to time for a "face-to-face" anymore. Same goes for writing a proper LETTER. We don't do it anymore.
We can take cell phone pictures of a person getting set upon by a group of young thugs, but we can't seem to bring ourselves to "get involved", other than to post it on YouTube! Calling the police is farther down our immediate "to-do" list, it would seem. And God forbid we take PHYSICAL action. Oh, we'll be sued out the ass for sure then, won't we?
If the day comes when I get a cell phone, I want it SIMPLE. I want a PHONE first, and then MAYBE a camera on board. I don't need the Internet (that's what computers are for), or an MP3 player (that's what a RADIO is for), and I don't need to play games (that's what a PlayStation and board games are for). Just provide me with a damn PHONE.
--Next...
Too many times, we see our youth raising themselves, and that's not a good thing.
Our society has seen fit to otherwise negate parental authority by providing our kids with everything and anything JUST to get them at odds with parents. We look to technologies to solve parenting problems. We look to schools to babysit them, when these institutions should be allowed to TEACH them, and we see media and marketing gurus providing something "other" than family life and the values it inherently spouses.
If you see ONE movie in the remainder of your life, take a look at WILD IN THE STREETS.
It came out in 1968 (adapted from a short story by Robert Thom) , and was labeled a "satire", but upon closer examination, it would appear more prophetical than anything else.
It deals with a charismatic person who seeks the Presidency, and take the YOUTH of the nation along for the "ride".
And it's got an interesting ending to boot.
Makes you wonder "where does this all end"?
--Finally today, amidst all the bailouts, the stimuli, the digital conversions, and the media hype, one needs to become just a bit more INTROSPECTIVE. In times such as this, we, as Americans need to look within for many of today's answers, and not rely solely on others to pave the road before us, making our journeys easier.
Our founding fathers knew such was the case, and provided us with documents (a primer if you will) that entails what this nation shall be, and why it must retain it's unique place in the world.
We have allowed the meanings of these documents to become muddied along the way, and we have allowed the servants to rule the manor for far too long. They call such people civil SERVANTS for a reason. They are here to SERVE THE PEOPLE, and not dictate their ideologies to us, for us to blindly follow.
It's the PEOPLE that are suffering through this economic turmoil, brought entirely about by big business, and bigger government.
If every one of us begins to seek out in ourselves (and one another) a means to overcome this situation, we will indeed prevail victoriously.
But if we look to those in power to "rescue" us, and provide us with everything all the time, we will lose that which makes us truly free, for we shall become indebted to those "servants".
And the Good Book teaches that we should owe no man, in that regard.
Something to definitely think about... In the meantime...
Do have a SAFE weekend, wherever life finds you.

5 comments:

Murphy said...

Re: Temps, Texas is having some great weather right about now... just sayin'.

Re: Sexting, it's something that one would imagine anyone with half a brain could figure out would happen. I happen to think a camera might come in handy for the odd LP number, accident pics, and quick pics of the family. You're right though, without wisdom and a proper upbringing, kids will do some stupid things (I know I did, but at least there wasn't this level of technology then)...

I lucked out, I guess...

Bob G. said...

Sarge:
Doesn't matter if it's a cell-phone, a rifle, a howitzer, or a MOAB.
In my day...you wanted to chat someone up...you either:
1) went to their house.
2) called them on a LAN line phone

None of this texting, sexting, flexting crap.
The BEST "tech" was our own TWO FEET.
And that works both in AND out of country...lol!

ANY tech can (and most likely WILL) be MISUSED, and usually at the most inappropriate time.
I'd ask DARPA to 'splain that, but they'd probably have to kill me after they told me...(oops)!

Have a great time at the "blogger/meet/shoot-in",

B.G.

Anonymous said...

not going to comment about the cell phone. my kid used to have one. and she was miss chats alot. i mean how do you use over 700 min a month? i got a land line. good lord. never the less thank God for theives. so the day i was shutting it off anyways (that was earlier today) she called the land line to the house to tearfully tell me it got stolen. well praise God. now, i dont have to worry about much.

and the trash cans. wtf. i mean i dont live in a fantastic area. we have boarded up houses, etc. perhaps its the fact my drive is over 100 ft long the cans come in. in fact when it snowed and everything down here must people used bags instead of cans. easier all the way around. i know i bagged all my trash and i plan again for next week.

and the temps......oh PRAISE GOD we needed that. somehow working in 15 degee weather makes you miss 40 degree weather. oh yea, oh yea, oh yea. (doing my happy dance).

well keep a blogging.

Anonymous said...

oh by the way i completed the a thru z poem on phils site. you might want to take a look. :)

Bob G. said...

Indy:
IF I had kids...and IF they had cell phones, they would be PHONES only, and with limited minutes.
In other words they would use it to call ME when an emergency arose.
And having it with them 24/7 doesn't seem that good an idea to me.
Schools basically ban the use of them on grounds anyway, so why even bother to take them? We weren't allowed to have RADIOS when I went to school...lol.

As to the trash bins...if people bagged PROPERLY (as you must have done), there's NO problem.
But when you have FLOCKS of hundreds of crows all over the house because someone didn't bag anything and food scraps are all over, attracting critters...somehow that doesn't give me a "warm N fuzzy" about how to LIVE in a neighborhood...and how to respect what the Good Lord has seen fit to entrust you with,

And that comes from someone that used to live in a ROW HOME...lots more people PER BLOCK. And we never had the problems we have here and now.

The weather?
...gonna love it as long as it lasts...that's for sure. Be nice to see how much litter is under ALL that frozen gray snow and ice...LOL.

Take it easy.

B.G.