Flaws That Go Unseen...

Now, I know you're wondering WTH is he on about today, but rest assured all will be made clear(er) as we stroll through this shrubbery maze, so hang in there and bear with me.
--Today's Heartland weather...well we broke that cycle of boring and predictable. Yesterday saw off and on showers and today promises some of the same. We haven't yet dried out from last night and the dewpoint is right around the same temp, so that means a bit of fog, and lots of humidity.
The high today will wind up in the mid-80s (also a damn fine decade from the past) with a 20-30 percent chance of more rain, but nothing severe moving in.
At least you won't have to water the garden...for a while. You won't be able to MOW, either until the lawn dries out.
So, sit back, take it easy today, while we see what's on my mind, and why...
*** But first, we have to address yesterday's Motto of the Week:
"Success in almost any field depends more on energy and drive than it does on intelligence. This explains why we have so many stupid leaders."

This was said by Sloan Wilson ( 8 May 1920 - 25 May 2003) an American author.
And here is his WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloan_Wilson
Now, you're probably thinking "Who the hell was this guy, and why did he say such a TRUTHFUL statement?"
Well, he is probably more familiar to many of you than you realize.
He not only worked as a reporter for Time-Life after WW2 (serving as an officer in the Coast Guard), but also penned fifteen books, TWO of which were adapted to screenplays.

A SUMMER PLACE (1958) and starred Richard Egan, Troy Donahue, Sandra Dee, and Dorothy McGuire... and THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT (1955) starring Gregory Peck, Jennifer Jones, and Frederick March, are two movies seen usually on TCM channel.
Both are very good flicks representative of the social attitudes in post-war America.
Sloan suffered from alcoholism throughout his life, and it's reflected in his novels, as is his serving in the military. He also developed Alzheimer's near the end.
He supported himself by writing commissioned works like biographies and yacht histories.
He was married twice and had four children.
His son, David Sloan Wilson is an evolutionary biologist. Another daughter is a nurse.

In a curious twist of fate, one of his books, ICE BROTHERS, was used to conceal a bomb made by terrorist Ted Kaczynski, that he sent to the (then)president of United Airlines, Percy Wood, back on 10 June 1980.
When Wood received the parcel, he opened the book, the bomb exploded, seriously injuring him.
Moving on...
*** I found out once again that the technology that we often RELY on can wind up MIA when we need it the most...like the simple device found in every house called a TELEPHONE.

Yesterday, I noticed a red LED blinking on our new phone (???), so I checked it out. Seems the LED was telling me there was "no line" and also "line in use". Well, since neither was the case at the moment, I lifted the handset and was greeted by....
(.....................)
That's right...nice silence, no dial tone, except for one second of static, then silence again.
I could hear CRICKETS, however.
Having worked with T-com stuff in the past, I KNOW that something was dreadfully WRONG here. Every phone in the house is DOA.

The (mystery) box in the basement has a GREEN light, so I know THAT'S working.

Wifey puts in a call to Frontier (the bundler in charge of the clusterf$ck), and they once AGAIN walk me through a "reboot" of the mystery box in the basement. After minutes of screwing with that...STILL nothing. I knew something was FUBAR outside the house, and not INSIDE.

And thanks to our new phone system, it "alerted" me with that flashing LED...another nice thing about VTECH systems.
Less than a hour later, we got a dial-tone back...all by itself.
I mean, why the hell can't we JUST have a damn copper wire coming in WITHOUT that damn mystery box, hmm?
Phones are supposed to work as long as the line is INTACT, and not reliant upon some computer crap attached to a Fios line that's not supposed to break.

That was the MAIN problem with all the folks who lost homes in the hurricanes and tornadoes lately...NO WAY to call for help.

The cell towers were out of action, and whatever land lines were left were on the wireless bundle and NOT on the old, tried and true copper lines.

Used to be a time when you could stand on a pile of rubble that was once your home, find the phone line, and STILL be able to call out...
And that was OLD tech, people.
Nowadays, you lose power to the house, and the damn phones go bye-bye, too.

THAT is a "WTF???" moment, especially when you NEED to call police, fire, or EMTs during whatever emergency arises, right?
Now, here's the rub...
Phone companies don't WANT to "support" the OLD copper lines anymore, so they corral you into HAVING to go with this new technology, that has about as many bugs in it as the nearest BAIT SHOP.
OR, they force you to get a cell phone, in the hope that whatever TOWERS are nearby don't lose THEIR ability to allow you to call out.
Either way, YOU get screwed when you need outside communication the most.

This is BY DESIGN...it's been PLANNED, JUST like "digital" TV...we didn't really NEED it, but someone thought we DID, and we could be coerced into having it as we're entertained into submission. Whatever happened to all those ANALOG channels and frequencies anyway?
They belong to the GOVERNMENT now...to use as they see fit for THEIR purposes.
You hate to rag about this crap, but we need to educate ourselves about this, should the need come about.
It's WAY too easy for all of us to be left deaf, dumb, and blind in any emergency.
(that's why we also have 2-way radios in the house...you never know)
See, we depend SO damn much on those cell phone, believing they are JUST as good, if not better than the old style telephones, and THAT'S where "they" have us (and they know who they are).
All this tech is NOT as reliable in such cases of disaster as we're led to believe.
And here's the proof (this is a great read):
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/01/surprise-your-high-tech-home-phone-system-could-go-dead-in-an-emergency/index.htm
This article dates back to January 2012.
It would seem there are few alternatives left to US, and that's not right.
*** And while we're at it, let's bitch about Obummer's requirement for this E-15 at our gas pumps.

We have E-10 (10% ethanol) at our pumps, which is about the LIMIT for fuel to be used in our engines. Hell, Henry Ford found that much out back in 1908, when he noted that alcohol-based fuel only netted about 70-75 percent of the BTU rating that pure gasoline provided, which means you have to fill up MORE with a higher ethanol content.

Currently, every one of us loses about 3.3% of the mileage we SHOULD be getting with our vehicles, thanks to the ethanol addition to our fuel.

With an INCREASE of ethanol, our mileage will drop FURTHER and we'll have to fill up more frequently.

Not exactly a "win-win" for consumers, is it?

And then, there's the unintended consequence of vehicle REPAIR, as ethanol causes engine problems in vehicles not designed to run on such fuels...and that's representative of about 80% of ALL the vehicles on the road today.

Here's a study from AAA, and they just happen to know a bit about what we drive:

http://newsroom.aaa.com/2012/11/new-e15-gasoline-may-damage-vehicles-and-cause-consumer-confusion/
So, what does our president do under such a comprehensive study?

He goes and presses the EPA to require that E-15 be put at our pumps...I guess HE is going to pay for ALL the vehicles damaged should we USE this crap?
This is the kind of stuff that warrants our immediate attention.
There is only ONE station in ALL of Fort Wayne that still sells "pure" gasoline (no ethanol at all), and that's at the AG-PLUS station out on Production Rd.
EVERYONE else has E-10, and maybe THAT'S why the Wifeymobile's "check engine" light keeps coming on and going off.
It's mucking up the O2 sensors

The study mentioned that such WAS the case with many cars, as well as gummed up fuel delivery systems and screwed up gas gauges.
(float goes bad in the tank).
You just cannot argue with the FACTS, but apparently this administration CAN...and says to hell with all of us. We're gonna do what WE want, because WE are in control, not YOU, who voted us in.
Well, maybe that's about to change.
*** Lastly today, there is too much WRONG going on around us. If it's not the people, it's most certainly the technology.
And many times, it's BOTH, leading to screwups of such magnitude that even Solomon and his wisdom couldn't reason the hell out.

Teaching ourselves what to look for, and increasing OUR awareness of what is trying to go on behind our very backs should be of paramount importance to all of us. All this will affect us in ways we can't even imagine.
We really DO need to keep a sharp eye out and an open ear to all the information that's being sent our way. And perhaps, we even have to go digging to find the truth, because there are many out there that would bury it under some shrub.
Truth will always light our way and the world, as long as we're willing to look under that shrub, and bring the truth out where it belongs.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.