Odds and Ends...
Well, the wife's car air-conditioner is working once again, and we're about $450 bucks LIGHTER for the experience...just gotta LOVE all this economic stimulation, don'cha?
It only took TWO days, too.
The shop said they were having problems LOCATING THE PART (compressor). The car is only 13 years old. Hell, mine is 26 years old. And I know people that drive cars from the 1930s! And even they can get parts.
Funny things, Mr. Mechanic...I went ONLINE to the AUTO ZONE site (insert gratuitous plug), did a reccy, and came up with FIVE REPLACEMENT compressors...ALL of them AVAILABLE at a store JUST a spit and a slide down the road from YOUR shop, Bub. You could have had one of these puppies in YOUR hands in less than TEN MINUTES...so WHY did it take TWO DAMN DAYS?
I miss the days of truth and honesty in AUTO REPAIR...don't you?
Those were the good old days.
And I used to be a PARTS MANAGER for a large operation in THOSE days; Able to get damn near ANYTHING...and ASAP.
('ya think that helped any?)
But the car is back and appears to be working properly.
I know I was thrilled beyond the ability to cogently produce a polysyllabic word or two...but that's passed, thank God.
Two quickies::
-Fort Wayne has slipped to the 73rd largest city (LMAO...wonder why, I said as I looked around MY neighborhood).
-Indiana hasn't "lost any weight", when it comes to it's citizens, but it hasn't gained any either.
(all the other states got fatter - must be all the "stimulus" PORK...LOL)
In that...there is irony.
And now...the REST of the story.
We're rapidly approaching the 4th of July weekend (this year complete with the day celebrated...free of charge), and in Indiana, we're already hearing rumblings over the "proper use" of fireworks.
Apparently, there are still some people out there that want to ASSIST those dumb asses that have NO idea what SAFETY is all about, by educating them on how to handle pyrotechnic devices (for the morbidly stupid).
And, as is the case every year, there will STILL be those injured by the improper use of such things...like we couldn't see THAT coming, hmm?
Personally, I leave fireworks for the "pros", and I enjoy the show much better for it. Besides, even though the area around my house HERE (in Indiana) is greater than the row homes in Philly, the chance of damage to someone else's property (or even mine) isn't worth the price I'd have to pay should something go awry.
But in my neighborhood, we have people that live my one creed alone:
"Yes, I'm totally irresponsible...deal with it!"
Well, it might work for them, but with attitudes like that, the only good they are for me is TARGET PRACTICE.
And if the improper usage and lack of responsibility towards fireworks aren't enough to get you riled, how about all those "magic ciggies" the GUB'MENT has mandated for us?
What?
You didn't HEAR about this?
Where've you been?
Seems "das Feds" have found a reason to screw with something else in our lives.
And while I admit that smoking is bad (m'kay?), I smoke...as did most all of our founding fathers (tobacco came from our Indian friends in America).
These "new" ciggies are wrapped with a thicker paper that makes them prone to extinguishing themselves, should you doze off WHILE smoking, thus averting a house fire.
Now, straight away, let me say that IF you are trying in ANY manner to combine SMOKING with SLEEPING, you're too damn stupid to be mainstreamed with NORMAL people. You NEED to be placed in a special care facility like "Dipshit Downs Mental Hospital", kapeesh?
The rooms are padded for YOUR protection, the staff are courteous (when lacing you into that straight-jacket), and the food rivals the ALPO your dog's been chowing down.
This is bordering on INSANITY....the cigarettes, I mean.
Follow me on this...
If a GUN is used in a crime...do something about...the GUN.
If a CAR is being driven unsafely...do something about...the CAR.
If a CIGARETTE cause a fire when someone nods out while smoking it...do something about...the CIGARETTES.
Anyone see a PATTERN here, yet?
What the hell is NEXT?
If a person places a pot of food on a stove, then goes out for a while, leaving it unattended, and the damn house burns down, killing three kids along the way, do we suddenly enact legislation for ...(wait for it)...SAFER STOVES?
The government INSISTS that they are looking out for OUR "well-being" by making ALL these items (and much more) SAFER, but the REAL PROBLEM still never gets addressed...does it?
It's the damn PEOPLE that are to blame...every single time.
We make all the innocent (and obviously more intelligent) people suffer for the sheer stupidity of those with no desire to educate THEMSELVES as to HOW to read, to behave, to interact, and to properly use items the rest of us apply to our daily lives without a second thought, AND, in the manner to which all these devices and items were intended.
And we do this because of diversity...or equality...or tolerance...or whatever other lame-ass excuse someone can dream the hell up.
Sounds like some MISDIRECTION to me.
Making someone more "equal" can and must never be predicated upon debasing everyone else to level that field.
And attempting to educate those that have no desire TO be educated just wastes time AND money.
Yet NO ONE wants to "rehabilitate" these people (properly)...or even lock them away from the rest of us for OUR safety (the judicial system manages to snag some of them when they turn to crime, but that's another post for another day).
Instead, the government GIVES them the ability to get a cheap-ass house in a neighborhood near YOU, forcing YOU to move, due to flagging home values, then they get FREE money (actually, it's YOUR money, but you're not supposed to catch onto that), so they can get free food, all the while they manage to get some drugs to use, a gun (somewhere), ciggies (that they stole from a local store), a loud-ass sound system (for the house OR car...OR BOTH), and even some fireworks (that cost more than YOU, a working stiff can afford...that;'s why your family goes to watch the REAL DEAL at some park).
Somehow, I'm not feeling all that "equality"...are you?
It would appear the deck has been stacked AGAINST the good folks...for the bad ones.
THAT is considered EQUAL?
THAT is considered FAIR?
THAT...is (considered) BULLSHIT!
(imho)
I just want the government to leave ME the hell alone.
And so do YOU.
Let us pay the taxes we SHOULD, and not HAVE to pay for everyone else else too damn lazy to be productive.
Let us pursue happiness...and not wrest it from us.
Allow us the liberty our founding documents ascribe to us.
We don't ask for much. We only ask we not have to foot the bill for everyone else's mistakes.
Besides, we're often busy paying for our OWN mistakes, and we don't need the extra baggage.
Stop penalizing those with a clean slate and a good life, while rewarding those with neither.
Like I say...we're not asking for the moon....just our little slice of THIS world.
Stay safe out there, America.