Friday Follies - For the 13th...
A BLIND man could have seen this one coming.
Blogger was DOWN AGAIN (maintenance?), so it will be all morning before we get to see each other's blogs and can post and have our daily "chats".
Now, IF I were some conspiracy-theorist, I'd say this "was a test"... (albeit a small one, but important none the less) for that "Internet kill-switch" the Obama administration mentioned (they were working on) some time back (forgot about that, did we? Not THIS kid).
In SIX YEARS of being on Blogger, I've NEVER had this occur.
It might be time to consider a jump to WORDPRESS, but all that technical crap bothers me.
I've got enough on my aging mind to fret over these days.
But, wouldn't you just KNOW that this stuff HAD to happen on that traditionally UNLUCKY day...namely FRIDAY THE 13TH!
Simply amazing, folks!
((BTW, if you want some cool trivia/facts about TODAY, stop on over to the "WAITING FOR GOD" blog -link at left...pretty neat stuff. ))
Honestly, I'd really hate to lose those last (almost) six years of ranting, raving, complimenting, griping, observing, and otherwise bringing you as much of THE TRUTH as I could over that time.
We shall see what happens (and how far blogger's head is up it's own ass), fair enough?
In the meantime...
I've got some EXTRA time to work on what I'm SUPPOSED to be posting this A.M.
**Note: It also looks like THURSDAY'S posts have been eliminated (for some unknown reason), so I dumped most of it back in here today (I keep copies of ALL of them).
We've had some WARM temperatures the last 36 hours...record-breakers in fact. Reached 88 in Fort Wayne yesterday!
Gonna be close to 80 again.
And as I get older, the temperature "extremes" become a bit more bothersome (like I need something ELSE to add to the list).
Used to be a time when I loved summer...mostly as a youth, because there was NO SCHOOL.
Then again, I lived the most of my young life WITHOUT air-conditioning, as well.
Only time I was exposed to it was at the movies or at some big store somewhere.
Dad couldn't afford a car, and the buses didn't have air either back then (we slid the windows up...how quaint).
Yep, for us living in the Frankford section of Philly, it was open windows, small oscillating fans and some baby powder on the bedsheets at night...
And somehow...we actually SURVIVED.
I wouldn't mind still doing some of that, but around here these days, it's best to keep the windows shut AND locked.
So, we bow to the almighty god of central air, and suck it up monetarily.
This is actually the FIRST house I've lived in where we DID have central air. Back in Philly, we had a huge 22K BTU unit that was mounted in the dining room wall...cooled the entire first floor, too.
Heavy-ass unit. They built 'em like TANKS in those days (like the cars).
Had to replace the fan motor once. Cost us $75 (and that was discounted due to my job). The cost of the job (had someone else come in to perform the work) would have been about $200, otherwise.
The damn thing weighed a ton, and the motor was close to 20 pounds in weight. But, it worked (and damn well). Upstairs, we used the 5K units in the windows, which meant hauling them up AND down seasonally.
But still...we survived.
Most cars didn't have A/C back then, either. Dad's Rambler and even the '65 Ford Galaxie 500 (LTD) didn't have air.
My first two cars didn't as well.
When Dad got his '71 LTD, he was in heaven.
After a long night on the job, coming home with the A/C on gave his one of those ear-to-ear grins.
And he didn't have to wring his clothes the hell out when he came in the front door.
Still, it seems we all did JUST AS WELL with a helluva lot LESS in those days...
When we got something, we sure were appreciative of having it...like air-conditioning.
Today, don't see that hardly at all.
Too many folks just have no appreciation for what they have...and always want to have more on top of that.
It's like they EXPECT it...whatever "it" might be.
Yeah, everyone's "entitled" at some level these days, right?
This is where lots of people go off the tracks with this concept.
There entitlements, and then there are ENTITLEMENTS.
Sounds confusing, but hang with me here...
CERTAIN entitlements are granted to us by our CREATOR, and by our founding documents.
We are ALL entitled to breathe the same air, and entitled to life itself.
We are also entitled to liberty and freedom (if we can hang onto it, that is).
And, we are entitled to pursue happiness.
Aside from those, everything else is usually something we all have to WORK for or towards.
And because of our "work", we receive the PRIVILEGE of whatever it was we were chasing after.
Can be as simple as a driver's license.
After we PROVE our ability to comprehend the "rules of the road", we are granted the PRIVILEGE of being licensed to drive.
But having said license does NOT entitle us to automatically HAVE a vehicle.
THAT, we have to work towards.
Ditto with housing.
We are NOT entitled to have a roof over our heads - that's something we need to work towards in some fashion.
If, by some chance, we are homeless, then we do what needs to be done to secure another domicile for ourselves and family.
Basically, we are NOT entitled to "free-stuff", nor are ANY of us entitled to take from others arbitrarily.
And for most of us, the challenge is worth the reward.
Some feel otherwise...like they "deserve" anything and everything simply because THEY exist.
Ask any doctor...there's a BIG difference between EXISTENCE and LIVING a productive life.
In my ghettohood, many "just exist", and if there is any "life" to assign to such sorry human beings, it's that they live to take...to use up...to deny others so that THEY might exist yet another day.
And our society rewards such behavior quite well, and apparently asks little if nothing in return.
(from them anyway)
Much, however is expected from YOU and every other working-class stiff.
Your life and what you are entitled to by YOUR hard work is offset by those who do nothing and are on par with many of the exact same "entitlements".
No one ever said that life was fair.
But, we DO need to allow these do-nothings to perform in like manner as we do, in order to learn a bit of that "appreciation" I mentioned earlier.
When you work toward something, you DO appreciate it more, and if anything, it urges you forward, and challenges you further to DO MORE, so that you can reap even more "benefits" from life, as they are there for the taking.
But, that's what happens in a healthier society...we have some way to go to get back close to that.
Be nice if we could...for everyone.
Have yourselves a great weekend.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and as always...
Stay safe out there, America.