So on my way to work today I followed along with this SUV for a bit that just had everything going for it. First, it was an SUV. Second, it had those really stupid family representative stickers on it with 5 kids and two dogs (covered almost the whole back of his windshield). Third, he tailgated everyone - but of course to no avail because there is a stoplight every 100 meters. Fourth, he was weaving in and out of cars with zero clearance and putting on his blinker only after he had switched lanes (he was actually rather reliable about that). Fifth, on a 4-lane divided town road at a stop light in the left lane where there was a wide grass divider with a huge drainage dip, he decided that he could not wait for the left lane red light to turn into the Mcdonalds on his left. He crossed the divider (visibly bouncing his car) against oncoming traffic and entered the Mcdonalds after having traveled the wrong way for about 100 feet first entering the McDonalds in a one-way (wrong-way) entrance.
I guess he had a Big Mac attack (maybe not, it was 6:15am).
Now I had him pegged as an obnoxious one when I first saw his glass stickers and I almost broke out my phone camera to record it. Little did I know he would take it to the next level.
No worries, he will be a Darwin award recipient one day.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Voting Rights
I read a story today about Washington state introducing a measure to allow people to register to vote through the state website using Facebook.
OK, cool, no problem. Reading further it seems this is being supported by liberal leaning organizations and touted as an ability to get young people to register to vote. OK, no problem.
But this same article says that you must provide your state ID information to register. OK, no problem.
But wait.
Why is this being supported by these groups? In Texas the state is being sued by the federal government because it requires voters to show their ID. The argument against this it seems is that voters are being disenfranchised because they are required to have an ID (not that they are forced to show it). So why is it OK in Washington state?
Hmm. I'm guessing because its a blue state, and Texas is a red state. So if the feds don't slap down Washington state - aren't they being hypocritical and selectively applying their interpretation of federal laws?
What is being these issues is so transparent and partisan. Republicans want to require it in states with large Latino populations in order to prevent undocumented illegals from voting. Democrats want these people to vote and selectively claim voter discrimination to Texas in order to allow them to slip in.
I'm a realist. I know that anyone in the U.S. now is staying in the U.S. (for the most part). They or their children will one day be citizens of this country. Perhaps its the "right thing" to allow them to direct where this country is headed.
However, the republicans have the law and the constitution on their side. If we want these people to vote then the Constitution should be amended.
Do Republicans want to suppress voting for blocks that vote democratic? Of course they do. Will they turn to tactics that appear to be racist in nature - some might. But by in large people are following the law - and the law is on their side - now.
Democrats also want to manipulate the vote by allowing those who aren't legally allowed to vote - to vote (its true, come on, you can say it). They also always focus on student voting. The unmotivated voter block that wouldn't vote unless you promised them a frappacino and free iTunes bucks - and then its still questionable if they would go vote versus go to a Lady Gaga concert. I certainly would call this block opinionated, but not necessarily informed - and these days certainly not educated. Still, they have a right to vote and Dems are just playing the game.
Lets call a spade a spade and move on. Stop wasting our tax dollars on law suits that don't adhere to constitutional mandates.
OK, cool, no problem. Reading further it seems this is being supported by liberal leaning organizations and touted as an ability to get young people to register to vote. OK, no problem.
But this same article says that you must provide your state ID information to register. OK, no problem.
But wait.
Why is this being supported by these groups? In Texas the state is being sued by the federal government because it requires voters to show their ID. The argument against this it seems is that voters are being disenfranchised because they are required to have an ID (not that they are forced to show it). So why is it OK in Washington state?
Hmm. I'm guessing because its a blue state, and Texas is a red state. So if the feds don't slap down Washington state - aren't they being hypocritical and selectively applying their interpretation of federal laws?
What is being these issues is so transparent and partisan. Republicans want to require it in states with large Latino populations in order to prevent undocumented illegals from voting. Democrats want these people to vote and selectively claim voter discrimination to Texas in order to allow them to slip in.
I'm a realist. I know that anyone in the U.S. now is staying in the U.S. (for the most part). They or their children will one day be citizens of this country. Perhaps its the "right thing" to allow them to direct where this country is headed.
However, the republicans have the law and the constitution on their side. If we want these people to vote then the Constitution should be amended.
Do Republicans want to suppress voting for blocks that vote democratic? Of course they do. Will they turn to tactics that appear to be racist in nature - some might. But by in large people are following the law - and the law is on their side - now.
Democrats also want to manipulate the vote by allowing those who aren't legally allowed to vote - to vote (its true, come on, you can say it). They also always focus on student voting. The unmotivated voter block that wouldn't vote unless you promised them a frappacino and free iTunes bucks - and then its still questionable if they would go vote versus go to a Lady Gaga concert. I certainly would call this block opinionated, but not necessarily informed - and these days certainly not educated. Still, they have a right to vote and Dems are just playing the game.
Lets call a spade a spade and move on. Stop wasting our tax dollars on law suits that don't adhere to constitutional mandates.
Bad Drivers - "You shall not pass"
Sorry for borrowing a quote from Gandalf.
I don't understand the driver mentality that seems to run rampant in metropolitan areas where many drivers simply don't like being passed.
Taken to its extreme people will engage in an accelerating, lane blocking, and traveling under the speed limit game just to annoy you - simply because you tried to pass them. Or, more common than this - that they thought you might pass them.
Today I was in a two lane left turn lane that merges into one after about 1/8th of a mile. This is a well traveled commuter route and its well known that one lane is used by people that want to drive the speed limit or better (I live in an area that travels through somewhat rural areas and some folks do drive slower than the speed limit). I sensed that the driver next to me might be a slow poke, so I got in the other lane. I accelerated at a pace that my Honda civic would allow in order to stay ahead of it. Well, this person didn't like this one bit - they accelerated after I was ahead and gunned their engine to slip in front. Then they decided to halt this when they reached 5mph under the 50mph speed limit. They continued at this speed for the next 3 miles until the road ended and when I slowed to 40 behind them to see if they would pick up the pace, they slowed down to 40 as well. This forced me to get closer to them just because I didn't want to travel 10mph under the speed limit (you can not pass on this road).
Now, in the grand scheme of things although it annoyed me it didn't change my day - but what is going through this persons mind? Why do they care? I see this kind of thing all the time. Some people simply don't like being passed.
Is this some kind of bizarre inferiority complex? Do they think we are trying to send a message by passing them? When eventually I passed this person I looked to see if perhaps it was a young guy - to my surprise it was an older female (mid-late 30's I'd say). She didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything but the road - hard to believe she had any conscious knowledge that she annoyed another driver. So what made her do it? It was clearly intentional - she really didn't want to be passed, but she was a slow driver. I have seen this often.
I don't understand the driver mentality that seems to run rampant in metropolitan areas where many drivers simply don't like being passed.
Taken to its extreme people will engage in an accelerating, lane blocking, and traveling under the speed limit game just to annoy you - simply because you tried to pass them. Or, more common than this - that they thought you might pass them.
Today I was in a two lane left turn lane that merges into one after about 1/8th of a mile. This is a well traveled commuter route and its well known that one lane is used by people that want to drive the speed limit or better (I live in an area that travels through somewhat rural areas and some folks do drive slower than the speed limit). I sensed that the driver next to me might be a slow poke, so I got in the other lane. I accelerated at a pace that my Honda civic would allow in order to stay ahead of it. Well, this person didn't like this one bit - they accelerated after I was ahead and gunned their engine to slip in front. Then they decided to halt this when they reached 5mph under the 50mph speed limit. They continued at this speed for the next 3 miles until the road ended and when I slowed to 40 behind them to see if they would pick up the pace, they slowed down to 40 as well. This forced me to get closer to them just because I didn't want to travel 10mph under the speed limit (you can not pass on this road).
Now, in the grand scheme of things although it annoyed me it didn't change my day - but what is going through this persons mind? Why do they care? I see this kind of thing all the time. Some people simply don't like being passed.
Is this some kind of bizarre inferiority complex? Do they think we are trying to send a message by passing them? When eventually I passed this person I looked to see if perhaps it was a young guy - to my surprise it was an older female (mid-late 30's I'd say). She didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything but the road - hard to believe she had any conscious knowledge that she annoyed another driver. So what made her do it? It was clearly intentional - she really didn't want to be passed, but she was a slow driver. I have seen this often.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
What is death?
I can't believe its been 3 months now that you were last with us. Since your body left you I have thought about you often. It all starts with a silly song for me that I probably would never have listened to on my own, but I was exposed to it and others in your last few days. During the first month I could see your ailing face and the pain you endured. After the second month it would conjure up thoughts of sadness for your parents. By the third I thought of family times long past.
But now I don't know what I see. The sadness lingers everpresent but I'm less aware of it. I do wonder where you are now.
I have never believed in heaven - at least defined by most religions. I certainly do not believe in a god described any religions I've been exposed to. I want to believe that you are still with us but my logical and analytical brain can't wrap it around it.
I hope one day faith comes to me in a way that I can accept it. I would like to see you again and everyone else that has left us.
But now I don't know what I see. The sadness lingers everpresent but I'm less aware of it. I do wonder where you are now.
I have never believed in heaven - at least defined by most religions. I certainly do not believe in a god described any religions I've been exposed to. I want to believe that you are still with us but my logical and analytical brain can't wrap it around it.
I hope one day faith comes to me in a way that I can accept it. I would like to see you again and everyone else that has left us.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Intangible loss
Today as I watched my son (20 years old) scurry out the door to run to the bus I had one of those familiar feelings of loss. Not one of true loss but loss of what might have been. My son has autism and cannot speak more than a few words and the ability to communicate his needs or desires is limited to the picture exchange system.
I've always been one of those people that believe you should "play the hand you were dealt" to borrow a poker phrase and not feel cheated by it. Its easy to do that for yourself, but much harder to impose it on others.
Recently my family dealt with the loss of my 14 year old Nephew to cancer and it was a devastating loss to his parents and sisters. In a rare moment my Father reached out with a sympathetic gesture to me while were all dealing with this. At the time we were dealing with an issue related to my son and he said something like "I suppose you have gone through something very similar with him (my son) that your sister is dealing with now", I asked him what he meant because I was flabbergasted - I couldn't conceive at the time what he meant. He explained that she has a tangible loss but you have been dealing with the same kind of loss over a long period of time. I appreciated the gesture but I didn't really agree - I still had my son.
But in that moment this morning as I watched him run out to the bus because he hadn't noticed it as early as he normally does and was anxious about (I can only imagine) the rift in his schedule I did experience a feeling of loss. It is a realization that "this is it", he will be dependent on someone for the rest of his life. He will not get married, will not have children, he will not achieve greatness in a career - all of those things that parents typically wish for in their children. Parents of disabled children deal with this constantly but I make myself believe that I am immune to it. These feelings are fleeting for me, but do occur and I am grateful for that as it is debilitating.
Even today I have hope for my son. I have hope because we have a community of people that care about him and help him to improve his life on a daily basis. Where there is love, there is hope.
I've always been one of those people that believe you should "play the hand you were dealt" to borrow a poker phrase and not feel cheated by it. Its easy to do that for yourself, but much harder to impose it on others.
Recently my family dealt with the loss of my 14 year old Nephew to cancer and it was a devastating loss to his parents and sisters. In a rare moment my Father reached out with a sympathetic gesture to me while were all dealing with this. At the time we were dealing with an issue related to my son and he said something like "I suppose you have gone through something very similar with him (my son) that your sister is dealing with now", I asked him what he meant because I was flabbergasted - I couldn't conceive at the time what he meant. He explained that she has a tangible loss but you have been dealing with the same kind of loss over a long period of time. I appreciated the gesture but I didn't really agree - I still had my son.
But in that moment this morning as I watched him run out to the bus because he hadn't noticed it as early as he normally does and was anxious about (I can only imagine) the rift in his schedule I did experience a feeling of loss. It is a realization that "this is it", he will be dependent on someone for the rest of his life. He will not get married, will not have children, he will not achieve greatness in a career - all of those things that parents typically wish for in their children. Parents of disabled children deal with this constantly but I make myself believe that I am immune to it. These feelings are fleeting for me, but do occur and I am grateful for that as it is debilitating.
Even today I have hope for my son. I have hope because we have a community of people that care about him and help him to improve his life on a daily basis. Where there is love, there is hope.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Bad Drivers - Lane Management
Will probably be a series of complaints but today I just have to rant about use of the passing lane. Those of us with common sense and/or driving experience call the left-most lane traveling in your direction the "passing lane" while everyone else must just call it the "desirable lane". I do not as a rule speed so when I pass someone it is because they are driving under the speed limit, driving erratically, or emitting some smell that is driving me up the wall. At all other times I am in the right lane. This is where most people should be. Why? Because on almost every road in the country it eventually merges into fewer lanes. Filling up both lanes will not increase throughput since everyone ends up taking off-ramps anyway, which are almost always single lanes.
I understand the mentality of those that drive slowly in the passing lane. You don't want to contend with having to switch lanes if someone in front of you slows down (taking an off-ramp, or turn). Basically its laziness. This mentality is a factor in being accident prone and thus a threat to everyone else on the road.
Then there are the obnoxious ones. When blocking those behind you by driving at the same speed as another car to the right this behavior will result in you becoming the victim of road rage some day and I highly discourage it. When it happens to me I fall back and get back behind the driver in the right lane - 5/10 times they will speed up. Absolutely do not tailgate these people, only serves to prolong the situation.
Still not convinced? Ok, the best reason of all to stop this behavior is because you are more likely to be stopped by police while driving in the passing lane than in other lanes - especially in moderate to light traffic. If you are close to a speeding vehicle passing you on the right YOU are more likely to be stopped rather than the speeder because the officer may have difficulty determining which one was traveling faster - at that point they may assume its the person in the passing lane - which is YOU.
I understand the mentality of those that drive slowly in the passing lane. You don't want to contend with having to switch lanes if someone in front of you slows down (taking an off-ramp, or turn). Basically its laziness. This mentality is a factor in being accident prone and thus a threat to everyone else on the road.
Then there are the obnoxious ones. When blocking those behind you by driving at the same speed as another car to the right this behavior will result in you becoming the victim of road rage some day and I highly discourage it. When it happens to me I fall back and get back behind the driver in the right lane - 5/10 times they will speed up. Absolutely do not tailgate these people, only serves to prolong the situation.
Still not convinced? Ok, the best reason of all to stop this behavior is because you are more likely to be stopped by police while driving in the passing lane than in other lanes - especially in moderate to light traffic. If you are close to a speeding vehicle passing you on the right YOU are more likely to be stopped rather than the speeder because the officer may have difficulty determining which one was traveling faster - at that point they may assume its the person in the passing lane - which is YOU.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Politics
I have always said that I hate all politicians. Not personally of course, just their role in today's society. The act of practicing politics has a purpose of course but only when it results in the application of policy that has an overall benefit to citizens.
When was the last time this happened in the U.S.? A policy that has had a net positive affect to its citizens? Yikes, I dare say that I can't think of one example in my lifetime. Sure, there have been policies applied and yes they have benefited some citizens - but that is not the role of government. Government is in place to provide services to its citizens in a bulk consolidated form so there is a net positive affect.
So lets think about this. Lets say you are taxed 50% (includes all forms of taxation income, SS, sales, property, etc - probably low, but its just an example). And lets say your family makes $50k per year. So you get $25k per year to pay for your expenses and another $25k goes to provide services into a pool, that when spread out over the entire population saves money compared to everyone paying for it themselves. How many things do you think you could do better with that money than the government does. I dare say everyone can relate to this
Government isn't going anywhere. And politics is necessary. But we need to start electing politicians that APPLY POLICY that has an overall BENEFIT to citizens. You do this only by achieving CONSENSUS. This won't happen overnight, but it will happen over time if we always vote incumbents out of office. I call it voter imposed term limits.
When was the last time this happened in the U.S.? A policy that has had a net positive affect to its citizens? Yikes, I dare say that I can't think of one example in my lifetime. Sure, there have been policies applied and yes they have benefited some citizens - but that is not the role of government. Government is in place to provide services to its citizens in a bulk consolidated form so there is a net positive affect.
So lets think about this. Lets say you are taxed 50% (includes all forms of taxation income, SS, sales, property, etc - probably low, but its just an example). And lets say your family makes $50k per year. So you get $25k per year to pay for your expenses and another $25k goes to provide services into a pool, that when spread out over the entire population saves money compared to everyone paying for it themselves. How many things do you think you could do better with that money than the government does. I dare say everyone can relate to this
Government isn't going anywhere. And politics is necessary. But we need to start electing politicians that APPLY POLICY that has an overall BENEFIT to citizens. You do this only by achieving CONSENSUS. This won't happen overnight, but it will happen over time if we always vote incumbents out of office. I call it voter imposed term limits.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Government Waste
Based on my experience I've worked with very few public sector employee's that actually care about their job (therefore don't actually do their job). The lack of useful incentives keeps talent out and what is left is a work force that is both unwilling and in many cases unable to do the job. It has reached epidemic proportions. Luckily the government sends more money to contractors than it does to government workers - and the private sector isn't nearly as bad. However, government contracts have slowly been migrating towards those that discourage quick and efficient delivery or completion of tasking (through micro-management and public employee's controlling the pace of projects). So there is now extreme waste on both sides. If I were to guess, I'm betting that we get about $1 of worth out of every $10 spent - not a new observation by any stretch, but it does make you wonder what all these projects to promote efficiency in government have actually accomplished. If we want to address our Country's economic problems we need to eliminate the waste - in fact, that is all we need to do. We don't need to cut programs at all if we can manage to re-invent how the government spends. Its only going to get worse and we can't ignore it forever. This is why China is killing us, all they are dealing with is corruption on a moderate scale - we are dealing with incompetence on a colossal scale.
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