Another Day...Another Snow Shower...
I swear I can't recall a time in recent history when I saw this much snowfall. Granted the total accumulation in these past several events wasn't "all at once", and only added up to about 17 inches, but we've seemed to have gotten in this "rut"...
Off and on snow showers, or some freezing drizzle, or sleet coming off of the Great Lakes.
This morning we're looking at "white-out" conditions...(joy).
It's as though someone doesn't want to see a clear, dry pavement anywhere, 'ya know?
Our residential streets yesterday were marvelously LOUSY to drive on, thanks to absolutely NO plowing over the weekend.
Well, it WAS "Super Bowl" Sunday, right?
Can't have the road crews miss any of THAT, can we?
Mrs. Bobby G. called the *311* number for the city and told them about it, and Brad Baumgartner was very cordial in taking care of it. we had TWO plows come through last evening - one went S to N, the other W to E, so we got something accomplished down here in the ghettohood.
Amazing that people like OURSELVES have to call, and NOT any of the "locals".
Then again, they much prefer to have the city butt out of their lives, as is evidenced in the manner in which they choose to park ALONG our residential streets.
BTW, they call it PARALLEL PARKING...for a REASON, you morons!
Which reminds me, where the hell IS "Parking Control" anyway? Shouldn't they be down around here ticketing these mooks or what?
I mean, if Chief Rusty WANTS more citations...we sure as hell GOT 'em...all he needs to do is send some officers around to see.
But anyway, we've got other fish to fry today, and they're ALL a lot tastier.
So here we go...
*** Saw a good article in Forbes magazine about those nasty "energy hogs" in our homes (and we're not talking about your teenagers).
Now, let me start off by saying I'm one of the "holdouts" to OLD technologies...if they work well, why mess with them, eh?
And yet, I'm more than willing to "change up" if something comes along that does what THEY claim (whoever "they" happen to be), is AS SAFE to use as the old stuff, AND saves me money, instead of transferring that cost from one aspect to living to another.
--The CFL bulb debate - bad idea. Don't want THAT much mercury in MY house...ever.
Gimme those incandescents ANY day!
--Converter boxes for "digital TV"? BIG energy hog, because it's ON all the damn time, (even when it's "off").
Used to be a LOT better when we had ANALOG cable TV...no converter box needed, hence energy BEING SAVED.
--Next, we have PLASMA TVs...ANOTHER energy hog!
They use about 3 times the energy as the "old" CRT sets of comparable screen size. Amazing.











And what TYPE of TV set can we NO LONGER PURCHASE these days?
If you said CRT sets, give yourself a GOLD STAR!
--If you are even THINKING of buying an electric car like the Leaf or Volt, think about THIS:
If you live in ANY climate other than a constant warm setting, don't even waste your time (and energy...lol) buying one.
There is one, VERY SIMPLE reason WHY it's not a good idea.
Batteries don't play nice in COLDER weather!
The chemical reaction needed to generate the electricity diminishes when it gets COLD out...slows down the process, ergo, they don't maintain a charge AS LONG, nor do they expend the amount of electricity for as long a time as in warmer weather.
And that could literally SUCK-ON-ICE should you get stranded in a BLIZZARD for like SIX hours in that electric car of yours.
That couple hundred-mile range for the vehicle could drop to UNDER 100 miles...REAL easy (and fast).
Not to mention, suppose it's cold out...an ice storm hits.
You're charging your electric car in the garage when the POWER GOES OUT.
Gonna be "interesting" explaining to your boss as to WHY you couldn't make it to work because your car couldn't get fully-charged.
Or, what if you ONLY get a partial charge and that gets you ONLY TO work...and then strands you AT work, unable to get home?
And let's NOT forget that ALL that electricity needed to CHARGE YOUR CAR typically comes from a COAL-FIRED power plant, so where's the "eco-friendly" savings THERE, hmm?
Wow..it's like "someone" wants us to all do some really DUMB things with our relatively NORMAL lives...and WHY is that, do you suppose?
Why are we all being "herded" like cattle in ONE particular direction, anyway?
We HAVE to do this...or we HAVE to have that, in order to have the same lifestyles we USED to have for a lot less money (and energy consumption).
This has GOT to have you scratching YOUR head as much as it had me scratch mine, right?
If having one "superior" technology is causing us more money being laid out in several OTHER places in our lives, where EXACTLY is the damn savings?
If, by having HDTV on some plasma screen set is costing us more money at the stores (purchasing said items), more money in our utility bills, and losing jobs in America in favor of jobs in Asian nations, WHERE the hell is OUR "savings"?
I just ain't seeing it, people.
Maybe it's just the age of my eyes and my (corrected) vision showing, but I don't think so.
I believe we're all being "hoodwinked" and we're all being taken for some ride (to an unknown destination) by the type of strangers we were once told by our parents NEVER to get into that car with in the first place.
THESE are the things we, as Americans should concern ourselves with, because I feel we are losing the whole "who we are" aspect to our lives as a result of this constant "pushing" us in a specified "direction".
We really need to ask some pertinent questions and expect some HONEST answers for our troubles.
I sure know I hate being lied to, especially by "amateurs"...and I think YOU do too.
So...let's take a couple minutes this week to nose around, find out some facts, and ask those questions.
We might even surprise the hell out of ourselves.
*** Another article on the Forbes website showed the 20 most MISERABLE cities, and I have to admit that I'm sure GLAD I don't live in FL or CA!
Here's the link to the article:
http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/29/detroit-stockton-flint-biz-cz_kb_0130miserable.html
Now, if ANYONE thinks that having EMINEM driving through Detroit in some nice, new Chrysler makes that city ANY better, you'd best check yourself into the nearest emergency room, because something is definitely wrong with you.
*** A family of a Ft. Wayne man fatally shot by the FWPD 5 years ago is suing a LOT of people connected with this case.
Here's the link to this story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110207/LOCAL03/302079978
Now think about this:












You're a suicidal person (who has somehow managed to get a gun), you dosed yourself liberally with cocaine (and Christ knows where you got THAT as well), locked yourself in a closet in your apartment, refusing to come out for family members, and have held off the negotiators for several hours...
WTF can the entry team conclude from all THAT, hmm?
Personally, I feel the police did ALL they could, considering the situation, not to mention that entering a HOUSE is one thing while entering a CLOSET is part of that whole "fatal-funnel" gig that can get YOU, as a responding officer killed REAL quick.
When police saw the gun, they fired and killed Rudy Escobedo.
Were they wrong?
I don't believe so, as they did everything "by the book" up to that moment.
They exhausted all possible resources to get Rudy to dump the gun and come out (which he chose not to do).
And now, we get to go to trial, and see what happens.
My hope is that those officers are exonerated, but you have to remember that I don't get THAT depressed that:
a) I don't seek some kind of help
b) Get a gun and snort some snow
c) Force the police to try and take me
d) Get them to shoot me dead
*** We ALL go through times we'd rather not deal with nor recall, and many of us will get damn depressed over something...that's just part of being HUMAN.
Some of us will need help to get back on track while others can make it on their own, or (usually) by the grace of God.
I'll admit that I dove into a couple of bottles along the way, and I found myself near the bottom of the heap more than once.
And yes, grief...loss, and whatever else comes your way CAN be devastating at times.
A friend once cited it as being "profound", and that's about as close a descriptor as you're going to get.
But that's not to say that life doesn't always have the crap end of the stick stuck in your face, either.
Life has a LOT more to offer, even if it doesn't seem like it at the moment.
Life is something none of us ever get a "second-chance" at.
You check out of life, you can't come back.
There is NO "reset" button or do-overs.
Yet, there IS always the opportunity to come out the other side of whatever is bothering you a lot better person.
Doesn't mean you dismiss the trouble...or the grief...or the strife. You just learn to live WITH it.
Think of it as something that keeps YOU on that straight and narrow, rather than wandering all over the damn place.
As I always say here...every day should be one that finds you better than the previous day, and not by those giant leaps and bounds, but by all that "fine-tuning" we need each and every day.
We can't do everything every day, but we sure can manage to do SOMETHING, right?
MOVEMENT IS LIFE...always remember that.
Our lives needs to be moving, preferably forward, because we know what the alternative is.
Just a little something to think about today.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.