Our Cu$tomer$ $afety And $atisfaction............

......are our biggest concern. Yeah, right. Yesterday Toyota was scratching their heads, trying to figure out WTF........ today, they claim to have nailed it, and the check is in the mail. Twixt you and be me, if I owned one of the vehicles in question, I'd give some serious second thought to tailgating my fellow drivers who I felt were impeding my getting to my destination, and I would certainly, if living in mountain terrain, consider taking the old Ford truck, rather than the Sequoia to King Soopers or Safeway for that twelve pack..........As with Tylenol, and any monster corporation caught with their pants down, and holding the bag after a major screw-up, they basically will just readjust their game plan and use the fudge factor built into their business model that addresses such unforeseen, but not unexpected anomalies. Almost makes me wish I had a throwdown Camry. That could prove to be a real moneymaker, having seen some of the ambulance chasing law firms' ads on local TV.........., you know, Ikeattorney.com, and the "Christian trial lawyers"........

Drugs: The Cow Versus the Cheetah..........

........not to be confused with the tortoise and the hare. Okay, I am referring to a story in today's paper:
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2010/jan/27/ab_brief_marijuana_012810_83132/?news
about a pot bust by DPS folks.

There will undoubtedly be some distraught and unhappy Iowans & Minnesotans as a result of this.....

I can't help but think that this senseless prohibition of an herb that is simply grown and smoked and consumed in it's natural state, is a terrible waste of manpower and resources that could be much more effectively utilized in combating serious narcotics and human trafficking. The deal with weed, is that it's so space consuming and easy to find, and considering the fact that probably two in ten vehicles that cross the border and travel north are carrying some, makes it a bird's nest on the ground for DPS and County Mounties looking to make a name for themselves. Reminds me of a funnyjunk.com piece I read not long ago about why people eat beef. It has nothing to do with us being "evolved" or particularly smart(not that I don't enjoy a good steak on occasion). What it's really about with the cows, is that those big fuckers are so easy to catch. We figured that part out long ago. It's simple. People are inherently lazy. Hell, did you ever stop to think that maybe chicken fried cheetah fillets just might taste like chocolate covered heroin? We'll never know though, because those little bastards are so fast.
Well, same with cocaine, heroin, meth, and the money they generate for the cartels. The weed is like catching Angus on the hoof, where the concentrated narcotics are a lot easier to hide and sneak by the revenooers. Take the herb out of the equation, and devote the resources to the dangerous stuff, and you'll make a bigger dent in the bad guys' business.

Food For Thought.........

......could it be that we are all, in our feeding frenzy to nitpick the local paper to death over grammar and spelling, actually pumping up their online hit count and boosting their circulation?????




Naaaah.......

A Breakfast PSA

You Can Dress HIm Up, But You Can't Take Him To Town....

While I think a couple, three of us who recognized BigJ's style, probably didn't do him any favors by ratting him out, ultimately, I am pretty sure it was the obvious grammar gaffes, "Say" instead of "says", a plethora of missing prepositions, and the coup de gras....."shut up!", that got him once again bounced from that Advocate Bar.
As well, his feeding frenzy approach to attacking a number of different posts, coupled with choosing the name "Exile", were probably instrumental in hastening his most recent demise on the Vicad forums in really short order. The shame of it all, is that I think the guy has something to say, and with the right approach and a little coaching and some friendly editing by someone who is qualified, he probably would be a player in the forums. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink....

I'll See Your Ham, And Raise you a Tweet.......

At the risk of stepping on a few old toes here, I am going to go out on a limb, and say that I finally am starting to see some value in Twitter, and in some of what I once considered to be aggravating social networking websites. Doesn't mean I'll be tweeting tomorrow, or opening a MyFace account, but in the wake of the tragedy in Haiti, I do now see some value in these "instant" communication media, Johnny come lately sites. I have known Ham operators, many of them over the years, and while I admire their technical expertise and dedication, I think that likely now, with the UPS systems in place on cellular communications, and the networks that are in place, that the old tubes and dials are regrettably going the way of the old spout we used to pierce the top of an oil can with, and the oil filter removal tool( for those of us that weren't so cheap that we just drove a screwdriver through the damn thing and twisted it loose the messy way). I reckon it's just progress, and while I am one who usually bitches about software upgrades, invariably, they usually turn out to be better that the last version, and now as I always have, I will likely get with the program sooner or later. That doesn't mean my crotchety old butt won't whine about it for a while first and find some kid to sit them down and tell them about the "good ol' days though...........

Four, Three, Two.....Liftoff?

I think some of the media outlets are using Wall Street math to determine the end of the decade. I am seeing more and more "decade in review" stories, including in the Houston Chronicle. Uh......I hate to have to be the one to burst their bubble, in particular, the ones arguing that the decade started in 2000, so consequently, it ends in 2009. These people remind me of some of the grammar optional commenters who provide daily entertainment for the masses online, then when pinned down, respond with "hey, this ain't rocket surgery".......
Yes, the decade started at the END of 2000....and completed it's first year Jan.1, 2001. Last time I pulled out the abacus, and considered when the first year ended, then moved ten buttons, the end of the decade was at the end of the 10th year.......not the 9th. When our first grade teachers had us do the count to ten drill, how many of you started with zero and ended with nine? Like I said - Wall Street math......no money down, no credit check, and no payments until 2012.......no shit. On the other hand, I suppose it's easy to overlook that year of "no payments", huh? That is until you notice that by the time you start making those monthly notes, you start to notice that the cat has already shredded the end of that "new" sofa, or that the Chevy already has 40,000 miles on it, and is starting to make some funny noises and really pulls to the left...........