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Tag Archives: Putting it out there

The Case For…


We have what is known as a Home Warranty. This is a service you pay for annually or monthly ( depending on the company). This covers most household  repairs to appliances and some plumbing and or electrical. Coverage depends on what you feel you need. Some items you may not need or want but it is part of the coverage you select. This explanation is an entrée to the rest of this blog. In the past  few years we have had to have the heating plant replaced, the AC unit replaced, refrigerator repaired  twice and  a few other repairs that in total would have cost in excess of $3900.00 compared to $420.00  for the annual cost and 60.00 for service charge each occurrence ( 4 times). So for $660.00 I got my furnace replaced, AC replaced and several other repairs. Current situation: refrigerator defrost switch went out (unit does not cool or freeze). Switch was replaced, next after a few months, the defroster coil went out, now waiting for it to come in. My family room has 4 ice chests with contents of refrigerator and the frozen food in the small freezer in the garage. Imagine having to but ice over several days to keep the food fresh and draining the melt water twice daily, not fun but necessary. This is a case for having  a home warranty on appliances rather than the extended warranty offered by  the appliance sellers as most appliances last for years before any repairs are required. All of this does not accelerate my repairs but just mentioning the advantage of having a Home Warranty Contract.

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Thank You Martin


I recently sent this cartoon around to many of my friends and family, I received a reply from my Firend Martin along with a couple of his limericks.

Free Range

THis cartoon prompted a reply from my friend Martin, these are his m  limericks that have been published in his local paper.

Limerick Commentaries

By

Martin Egelston

Fiscally sound, or sleeping on the job?

Certain Congressmen are using tricks of the tongue to describe their office slumbering as fiscally responsible acts.   It is unhealthy physically and fiscally.

One fifth of Congressional males,

Do sleep where they work without fail.

It adds twenty grand

For their work in dreamland,

And exemption from this taxing detail.

Battle Creek Enquirer 1/30/2012

Vagabonds, Our reps on the Hill

 

Abel Oldsworth, my reticent friend, wonders if Congressional members could be more effective if they were present at the Capitol more days than they are absent.  Who supervises them?  His penned words indicate that he does not have and answer

 

Many members of Congress proclaim,

They are pure of the Beltway’s domain.

So they spend three days there

To get time for elsewhere;

Now who knows what they do in the main.

Battle Creek Enquirer 3/10/2013

 

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Ad-Min


There is a law in the process of being passed that would maintain the sound level of commercials to the level of the program it is attached to. If that is accomplished then when will the commercials be limited? In the early days of television the announcers on some the shows would announce (imagine that) the upcoming commercials with a line like: we will be right back after a quick word from our sponsors or we will take a 60 second break. Todays advertising consists of groups of commercial breaks lasting about 3 to 4 minutes and averaging 8 to 10 sponsors per break. This indicates each as is 10 to 25 or 30 seconds each. Imagine having just that small amount of time to persuade you to buy something.To accomplish that and keep your attention the ad agencies are producing products that get your attention with color, music and voice overs. The two main attention getters are the sound and visual aspects. The actual productions are as big as  Hollywood and as elaborate as any 30′ and 40′ musicals. The 60 second break was never 60 seconds and now it is 3-4 minutes of entertainment which results in sales of products and services. The key to making a judgement on the product or service is in the fine print which we never read as they are really small and shown very quick.  Look at what I have inserted below.

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Plain As Day!


The recent filibuster by Rand Paul is clear evidence that our Congress is obsessed with getting elected and a possible future  upwardly mobile role in politics. The current seat fillers (Scamocrats and Dupublicans) are of one mind and that is not doing the work they were elected to do. The single purpose is to stay in office long enough to get a good pension, win friends and influence for their” post  Congressional” life. The Congress will never create a term limit situation because they can get by with little or nor effort beyond following party lines and occasionally making a ripple. The only term limits that apply are those applied in the voting booth by the voters. This last failed filibuster had nothing to do with the issue but just another way to get his name in the press. This is the way Congress works, yell about any and everything then do nothing. Our economy is in tatters but  we are still fighting the same fight over and over again. If an opportunity to go to war comes along the Congress will be all over that before the ink is dry but when it comes to doing the right thing for the American people without a war that is quite different. The Congress appears to be making war on the American People. Do we all need to arm ourselves against the Legislature?

Everyone Is A Detective


We  are all detectives in some form. While we exalt in the TV detectives of all sorts, we each discover things in our way. The real detection occurs each time we read more than one source for information, listen to several news or pseudo news outlets. The one defect in this discovery is our own personal biases. Our learned and acquired biases form a basis for many of our actions and beliefs. With this basis we often accept as fact the skewed information issued by our Congress. The Congress has been in free fall for many years and we have not fully realized it. With this idea in play we vote and keep the failures in office to continue the almost evolutionary progress in government downward spiral. The clues are:  the economic crisis AKA “fiscal cliff”, pursuit of Susan Rice on misinformation she was given and the pursuit of the Presidency by any means possible. Of the 500 plus members many are millionaires or nearly, so the raising of tax rates would affect them. Keep in mind that this tax does not raise the rates on investments by much, it has more impact on the earned income. One line that is quoted regularly is the effect on small businesses. Most small businesses will not be affected yet the notion that it will is out there and living large while the real information lies undetected.

How We Are Handled.


A recent story about the upswing in firearms and ammunition sales is pure manipulation by any one of several factions in the firearms industry. There has been no talk of the President doing anything to curtail, change or  alter current firearms and ammunition laws. When the President first ran for office there were factions asserting that the current firearms laws were going to be altered. these alterations ranged from restrictions on purchasing firearms and ammo to high-priced licensing. Many of the restrictive laws having to do with firearms are mandated by individual states and municipalities. As an example Kennesaw , Georgia has a law mandating that residents have firearms while NYC has a strict ban on ownership. The surge of sales and subsequent price raises in firearms and ammunition has nothing to do with the President but more to do with the manufacturers taking advantage of  long time low prices and slow sales. There certainly are proponents and anti’s for  firearms and ammunition  ownership, yet some folks cannot get beyond the issue of Race and politics to see the full picture. We are handled by using our  personal biases and misinformation to skew the truth. There is no specific truth in what a political party thinks about the control or regulation firearms and ammunition beyond the available public (and private) support from being pro or con. How do we avoid being handled? We all need to read more and not rely on well known talking heads in  the media who often run with an idea without determining its merits or lack of.

Preckwinkle


Preckwinkle has backed off of the surcharge on bullets but still wants to levy a $25.00 charge on all guns sold in Cook County. Here we are again with the legal firearm owners being charged for the fiscal irresponsibility of the city. Preckwinkle needs to go back to the drawing board and perhaps levy a fee on bicycles, motor scooters or archery equipment. Those will make as big an impact on the mortality of the citizens of the State of Chicago. We on the outside of the State of Chicago can take care of ourselves.

One More Time


Many lessons in school are learned by rote yet we often forget them. The single lesson (s) we cannot seem to remember is that ALL politicians lie! There are no honest politicians. There are some who have better values but each one of them has “fudged” the truth when speaking to constituents, this fudging is often used to “protect” us from the real truth which they seem to believe we cannot handle. We voters are all adults and even if some are newly minted , we are not ignorant to the facts of life beyond our front doors. The modern world is so inundated with media coverage on all events from the mundane to the sublime so few events remain uncovered. The only exceptions are the ones our representatives do not want us to know (to protect us and themselves).  Illinois has a reputation as a corrupt state but that reputation is mislabeled as the State is  not corrupt, it is the policy makers and political “movers and shakers”. This is evident by the Governors closing of prisons, failing to fairly negotiate with the trade unions  and other missteps due to errors in judgement. These problems do not belong solely to the Governor as much if not more falls directly on the shoulders of the State representatives, a recent example is the vote of an absent representative entered by a colleague. This was explained by a statement that this is done routinely and is no big deal. If the representatives cannot be on the job when necessary, why do we need them? One more time, it is incumbent on the voters to correct this situation by removing long serving legislators and electing new ones who serve at our behest and will correct the ills of the past. The first item on the agenda should be term limits, salary and perks review. The primary effect this will have is no more pensions for lawmakers as most if not all of them have careers that pay them well enough.

Women in Sports-Boxing.


There is an elitist group of men and women who believe the sport of boxing, weight lifting and other so called male sports should remain all male. As a species humans are the only ones that apparently do not recognize the strength and ability of the females of the species.This viewpoint is as ludicrous as the more popular racial stereotypes. In contrast while being the so called weaker sex, there are animals whose entire society is matriarchal with adult males being allowed in when mating is required.  Of course there are activities that are more masculine but there are activities that are unisexual and defy any specific gender identity. Human beings have the advantage of superior intellect but fall short in the area of  broad thinking on gender roles. We tend to fall short in judgment of other people, religions, ethnicities and skin tone.. This is apparent in marriages, dating behavior,  friendships and in families.  Think about the women in the so called “mens sports”, they have to prove themselves as able to perform  as women  instead of being seen as just athletes who are and could be the best in their sport. Do we allow this thinking to deprive us of some our best and brightest while  losing their skills and ability?

S.O.B.


As I was looking at a movie on the Telly, I heard people use the phrase S.O.B. several times.  I thought about this and concluded that phrase  is more often used as an insult or expletive. Looking at the possible origins of the word B***h.    bitchn. A female canine animal, especially a dog. Offensive . A woman considered to be spiteful or overbearing or The word “bitch“, literally meaning a female dog, is a common slang term in the English language, especially used as a denigrating term applied to a person. So in anthropological terms or cold scientific ones a woman can be a bitch with no other connotation than being a female and sometimes a female parent. Using these terms and explanations we all could be S.O.Bs or D.O.Bs, though usually S.O.B. is used as male and female insults. There are several other modern day definitions that need no  coverage here  but do exist in several dictionaries. When the phrase wells up in you or in conversation it would be wise to reconsider your usage as you could be insulting someones parent.