What kids learn from us. Part 2.

I went to the grocery store this morning and I saw some prostitutes at the front door.  Oddly enough my first thought was that the fringe on their clothes was outdated.  At closer look I realized that they were cheerleaders panhandling for something.  I don't carry cash most of the time so I didn't bother to find out what the cash was for.

As I was getting coffee and orange juice I marveled at what these high school girls were wearing.  I'm pretty sure that a student couldn't wear shorts as short as these cheerleaders had on yet they were allowed if it promotes the school in some way.  What the hell?

I've already written a post about some of the things our kids learn from us accidentally.  What are the kids learning when we tell them you can't wear clothes like that to school unless you are trying to get money from strangers?

Job Hunt Woes.

I got a phone call today from some company.  I would tell the name but the lady that called me wouldn't tell me the company name, she said that they were new in the area and I wouldn't know them.  I asked if she was from a recruiter company, she said no.  I asked various questions and she told me some rather vague generalities.

That triggered some thought in the back of my head.  After thinking about it for a few hours I started my research (all of 30 minutes of it) and realized I was right.  I checked on craigslist, CareerBuilder, and Monster.  Quite a few of the ads were vague.  They didn't want to tell you what they did but they most assuredly promised the moon.  Vague about what they were selling, vague about what they did, pretty much they were trying to get a huge number of people to come in and if a handful were viable then they were still on the plus side.

A lot of these vague posts seem to be entry level marketing (door to door selling), high earning potential (commission only), not door to door (business to business sales), or growth industry (commission insurance).

Waste of time for me.  Maybe it will work for some companies but if you can't tell me real information then I don't think I'll spend any time on you.

Democracy. Part 1.

We live in a "representational democracy" currently.  Is it truly that democratic?  Our votes don't elect the president or vp.  The electoral college elects them and those rules were pretty damn confusing to me.  Look it up on www.archives.gov. 

There's a great series of books Michael Z. Williamson in which one of the characters calls the Democrats of old (it's a science fiction series speaking of our present day) the "neo-feudalists".  Personally, I don't see a hell of a lot of difference in the leadership of the two parties but I am an amateur history buff.  I can see both parties showing tendencies to adopt a feudalistic nature, if it suited their purpose.

What is the feudal system of government?  Ask ten different historians and you'll get ten different responses.  Most of them are similar but historians have to split hairs, it's in their nature.  My definition of feudalism is pretty basic:  The government aka ruling elite control pretty much everything, they give what is needed to the lower classes in return the lower classes have protection and "bread and circuses".

Is the US becoming a neo-feudalism?  How many people are on some type of government assistance?  Don't include the children, just adults.  Let's include people on unemployment and on Social Security.  How many people is that?  What is the government doing to get these people off of these programs?

If you are a professional making 40 grand a year and you're laid off you might take unemployment to stay afloat.  While you're looking for a viable position you better not do any other work because then you'll lose your benefits.  And of course the longer you're unemployed then the harder it is to get a job.

So it seems that our government wants to keep the status quo.  Except that the requirements for any type of government assistance are getting easier.  The more people depending on the government for everything, not just a helping hand, then the closer we're getting to a neo-feudalistic state.

Percolating.

I have an idea running around in the back of my head that started just before Memorial Day.  It's about our Congress, in fact it's about most of our political "leaders".  I'm still thinking about what I need to say in that post.

I'm thinking possibly doing it as a two-part piece.  Doing it should be a good way for me to get back into writing serious pieces I hope.

Good night faithful readers.

Posting Schedule.

I read a fair number of online comics but since they update once to five times a week it's easy to keep up.  Whenever I have a few minutes free I'll look and see which one I haven't checked out lately.

One of these people kept up a schedule of everyday, he stopped because it was too much work for him.  I so understand what he was thinking.

I'm thinking about going to a three day a week posting schedule but I haven't really decided yet.  Lately most of my posts have been pretty insubstantial.  I would prefer to do the more heavy political topics or fiction but they also take up more time.  And like most people, time is not in abundance for me.

I think I'll make a decision after I've adjusted to the new job, whenever I start it that is.

Memorial Day.

I've already written twice about Memorial day, you can check them out here and here.  If you don't care about the blood that our soldiers feed to the tree of liberty then nothing I write tonight will change your mind.  Get with it or go away.

To all of you military personnel out there:  Thank you.

Whoops.

I should be in bed right now.  I'm done with the dishes and laundry.  The kids are bathed and in bed.  And then I realized that I haven't written anything for my blog.  Crappydoodle.

I have a terrible sense of time, my wife says that I show many of the signs of ADHD.  I don't know what she's talking about, I'm not that easily dis- oh look a squirrel.

I'm thinking of something a bit more serious for manana.

Cookies.

In some ways I'm a pessimist and in others I'm an optimist.  And just to confuse the issue, I'm a realist in quite a few ways.  The realist part of me is very evident when it comes to drinks:  the glass is not half full or half empty, it needs to have more iced tea in it.  This is Texas and it's hot, we want our iced tea.

On many things I can see the downside and benefits that others might enjoy or curse; I understand that everyone has a different viewpoint and sometimes they have great reasons and sometimes they don't.

However, when it comes to cookies then I'm most assuredly a pessimist.  That cookie jar is half empty and when are you going to make more cookies?

PS.  The cookie jar is lonely and wants a friend, that also holds cookies.

Interview fun.

Had another interview today.  I try to dress well for interviews; shined shoes, tie, slacks, dress shirt, leather folio with resumes and such.  I even have a pen.  No matter what job you're going for that as a start isn't going to hurt.  Other positions might warrant a suit even.

That's how I was dressed today and as I walk in the interviewer looks at me and tells me I might be overqualified for the position.  We talk for a bit and yes, I'm overqualified.  He tells me that he has a few other candidates to interview and some that he has already spoken to were in a much different financial situation than me.

Apparently, two of the applicants are trying to support their family with this job.  Do I want the job?  Of course I do.  I must admit that if he wants me for the position then I might feel a little bad about taking the job away from someone else that might need it more than me.

Dinner.

We do a food co-op every other week.  If you don't know what that is here it is in a nutshell.  The co-op pools their money to buy in bulk from the grocers.  You get a mix of fruit and vegetables but it's always a surprise what's in there.

I also hate wasting food.  One week we had three butternut squash in our basket.  I have no clue what to do with them.  I have them so we're going to try something with them.  I was thinking to use them as a side with my meatloaf.  I looked on google and I found a recipe for "Creamy, Light Macaroni and Cheese", it used the squash and Greek yogurt as the base with other stuff to give it a good flavor.  Meatloaf and mac and cheese?  Sold.

I looked at the recipe and knew that I didn't have many of the ingredients but I've been cooking long enough to "tweak" when necessary.  Greek yogurt is a crime against nature so I used sour cream, my wife loving sour cream had nothing to do with the substitution.  I didn't measure the squash; I just used one of them (two more to get rid of).  I had beef broth and I eyeballed how much went into the skillet.  I eyeballed the milk and it wasn't fat-free crap.  Already told you my opinion of the Greek yogurt crap and I used about three tablespoons of the sour cream.  I eyeballed the "Dalmatian spice" aka salt and pepper, about one teaspoon of each.  I didn't have any of those cheeses so I used cheddar.  I like the pasta that can be stabbed so I used shells.

And then I looked at the clock.  I didn't have enough time to make the meatloaf so I added more sour cream, about another three to four tablespoons, and another cup (or a little less) of cheddar.  I already had the pasta going so I just browned some ground beef and then added the sauce to the meat and put that on top of the pasta.

I guess I might as well put my "recipe" down also, my wife might want me to make it again.

1 butternut squash, cubed and peeled
1.25 cups beef broth
1.5 cups milk
2 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
4 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2.5-3 cups of cheddar cheese
16 ounces of pasta

1.  Combine squash, broth, milk and garlic in a large skillet; bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer until squash is fork tender.  About 25 minutes.  Remove from heat.

2.  Place all of that in a blender.  Add Dalmatian spice and sour cream.  Blend until smooth.  Add cheese and blend some more; it's cheese, if it's not smooth the heat will melt it.

3.  Cook pasta according to usual method.

4.  Brown beef (and drain) and add sauce to meat to warm it up again.

5.  Serve sauce and meat over pasta.

6.  Eat what the kids didn't touch on their plates.

The original recipe from Cooking Light.

• 3 cups cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 [1-pound] squash)
• 1 1/4 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth $
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free milk $
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 tablespoons plain fat-free Greek yogurt $
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper $
• 1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
• 1 cup (4 ounces) grated pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) finely grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
• 1 pound uncooked cavatappi
• Cooking spray
• 1 teaspoon olive oil $
• 1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) $
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

1. 1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. 2. Combine squash, broth, milk, and garlic in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer until squash is tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. 3. Place the hot squash mixture in a blender. Add salt, pepper, and Greek yogurt. Remove the center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Place blended squash mixture in a bowl; stir in Gruyère, pecorino Romano, and 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano. Stir until combined.
4. 4. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain well. Add pasta to squash mixture, and stir until combined. Spread mixture evenly into a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.
5. 5. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add panko, and cook for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Sprinkle evenly over the hot pasta mixture. Lightly coat topping with cooking spray.
6. 6. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve immediately.

I'm Cheating.

Yes, the title says it all.  I've been cheating on my blog.  A few months ago an acquaintance needed some help with getting a restaurant open.  Because of my background he asked me to help and give him ideas.  I did it for over six weeks, each night would be a different essay about the Food and Beverage from hiring packets to marketing ideas to why restaurants should use clear cups for children.  For the past few nights I was just copy and pasting some old pieces to get a little extra sleep.

That didn't always work; insomnia and a small child who thinks that I should sleep less was the order of the week.  I'm thinking about only doing the blog a few times a week but I think that will be a slippery slope to not doing it at all.

Still thinking about what to do.

SES.

Self-Entitled Shitbags. It's a part of the business that some people shouldn't be allowed to come in and subject us to their existence.

 At Applebee's, the customer was always right, if they stole and stabbed and punched out the Pope it was alright as far as the company was concerned because they might spend some money there.

 I so beg to differ. At the clubs we thought that the problem people were not worth the hassle; yes, we would try to work with them (customers and employees) but if we couldn't then they were always welcome to go somewhere else.

I would like to see that attitude in other companies.

Mediocrity.

Years ago I had a GM (general manager, responsible for the club and the managers) named JW. He said that he managed on the pigeon style of management; he would swoop in and crap on everybody. He didn't really but he definitely was a "the sky is falling" kind of guy. That's if one little thing went wrong he was talking about the club numbers going down in flames. If the place was rocking he was telling us managers that we were "phenomenal, phenomenal I tell you!". Some times those "pep talks" would be in the same day.

No matter how crazy he was (a bottle of Coors Light in one hand and a chainsaw in the other kind of crazy; yes, I saw that) he wanted you to stand out. Our office was tiny in that club, he would do a lot of official GM type business in the parking lot. I stole a trick from him, if you bitch at someone do it in private. If you want to praise someone, sometimes do it in public and sometimes in private. In the first year I worked with him he took me outside four times, once to kick me in the butt for being mediocre and three times to tell me about a raise I received.

JW was a real big believer in personal accountability. If you screw up, own up to it and learn from it. If you do well then YOU should be rewarded for it. At these clubs the bartenders would pool their tips, he hated that. On weekends we would have three bartenders; bar one would handle the customers, bar two would be split with customers and servers, and bar three would only be servers. He thought that if bar one was making their money by flirting with the customers while bar three was making their money by server tip out then shouldn't they keep the tips they made (bar two would get a split of both)? If one flirted more than three was tipped out then why should one have to give her money to someone else?
We would tell him that's the way it's always been done. He would reply with whole litany of things: we are rewarding mediocrity, we can't keep the better bartenders because they have to split their tips with a slacker. Then he would bring us into it: "What if we pooled the managers salaries and gave everyone an equal share?" HELL NO! (redneck club) We liked being recognized for our work in the best to be recognized, frequent raises. Some of us had worked at a sister club that had an upstairs VIP room and the servers there would pool their tips. We mentioned that. He was ready for that one, "Who are the VIP servers? Young pretty girls? And the older more experienced servers say they want to stay on the main floor? Think about it, what does that tell you?" He would talk to us about this because he wanted to know what would the owner say when he brought it up.

He brought it up to the owner. The owner made his money on numbers; the more servers the better, the more dancers the better; in general, the more women the more money he made. If a few bartenders or servers went somewhere else and we replace them with not so greatly skilled servers it doesn't really matter.

To paraphrase JW: Fuck that bullshit. You come in and work your ass off and you will make money. If a slacker doesn't want to work then they can go home with chump change.

Corrections.

When needing to administer punishment (in the dog world it's called a correction) I often get the person involved. I'm also a bit of a bastard (as some of you have called me).

If the person was perpetually late I would ask them what kind of punishment they think they deserve. If they tried to do a joke I would normally just be quiet and slowly blink. They would crack first.

When they came up with an appropriate punishment (or I suggested one) it would be enacted then.  If they were getting to the point of needing some "guidance" (damn close to getting punished) I would ask them "Why I should let them do this?". If they did something wrong once and want another chance I might say "Why should I give you another chance?".  I liked having the people involved, it seemed to take the sting out a little bit and made them think about what they did.

I've noticed that I do this to my kids also.

Applications.

I've been filling out a lot of applications recently and I just realized something.  These applications haven't really changed in the past thirty years.  Why does an app request your social?  They can't do a background check unless you give permission and these don't.  I'm not even going to get into the whole danger from identity theft. 

Why do they care what high school I went to?  Why do you care about college either.  If you're hiring a brain surgeon then sure, ask for credentials but if you're hiring someone that has a degree that means nothing to the job then why do you care?  If you care enough to ask for references and prior employment then are you going to call them?  Then maybe you should ask for a phone number. 

How about asking questions that pertain to the business.  If you have a chocolate company then ask them what their favorite chocolates are.  If you have a gaming store then ask them what games they like and why.  Go to the next level and ask them what games they didn't like and why.  Do they cosplay?  As who and why? 

The purpose of a good app is to winnow out the people that wouldn't be a good fit for the company.  If someone wants to work at a place because it's a good fit for them then give them the chance to tell you.  If they aren't a good fit then don't waste their time and yours by putting them in an interview.

Boy Scout Motto.

In topless bars we had servers, dancers, and key personnel. If a waitress or a dancer didn't show it wasn't that much of a problem because we always over scheduled. If some key personnel didn't show then a manager was doing double duty until a replacement was found. I'm a firm believer in cross training so this wasn't always a problem but sometimes you just have to play the hand you're dealt.

If a cook doesn't show then what? Is the dishrat cross trained to cover?  If a server is burned out can they be trained to work the bar?  How about cross trained to a management position?  Or cooks trained to be servers, some of the best servers I've seen started as cooks.   When they tell a customer what's in the item they aren't guessing and trying to remember.  Customers also like how they take possession and say "We cook it like this" instead of "I think they do this".  

The cross training has saved my butt on more than one occasion, a waiter replacing the dj at LaBare, a waitress replacing the bartender that disappeared at another bar, then some other times I wished I'd done some cross training.   The big fight at one club where our big dj (6' something and over 500 pounds) was saving our butt so I ran the dj booth.  You would not believe how many people were excited when he came back, especially me.

 What's the Boy Scout Motto? Be prepared. Or in the restaurant business: Be trained.

Bait and Switch.

The mortgage loan industry is bit of a roller coaster ride for the new people so I went on a job interview today. 

I set up the appointment a few days ago, the ad was pretty vague about the position but the hours seemed good.  I asked the receptionist what positions were being interviewed for.  She said that they are doing interviews for all positions, from sales to management.  Score, my background is management and I know how to motivate salespeople so let's do this.

It's an hour away.  I get there and it's a big office with only the receptionist there.  Hmmm.  I ask for the lady I was told to interview with and she is no longer with the company.  She quit yesterday (no notice given) because she wanted more money, but she might come back.  This is what the receptionist told me before she even gave me an application.  Hmmm.

The receptionist gives me the interview and she tells me that the training is two days.  Hmmm.  On my application I put down that the job I was interviewing for was a management position, this needs some clarification.  I tell her the receptionist I spoke to earlier said that you were hiring for all positions including management.  Oh no, they just say that.  Hmmm.  It's possible that I could work up to management but everyone starts off doing door to door sales.  Hmmm, and we're done.

Straight commission, I was lied to in the beginning, and the company seems a bit unprofessional.  Thank you, but no.

Stupid People.

Years ago I was working at a Tejano topless club and like all businesses some of our employees made mistakes.  This is not a story about her mistake; nope, this is a story about the dumb ass that was trying to do his job and made more mistakes.

It was morning, just a few minutes after we opened.  I'm in the back doing paperwork and the other manager is watching the floor.  He comes up to me and says that when he went to the restroom some customers handcuffed a lady and said they are going to arrest her for warrants. 

Cops don't pay cover when they are in uniform and undercover cops don't blow their cover for a warrant.  What was really going on?  I guessed it was bounty hunters.  At this time I was working with a bounty hunter (very casually; he would show me a picture and I would let him know if they were employees or customers) and this sounded like something he would do.

We go out there and the dancer is sitting with her hands handcuffed in front of her (important) still in her stage clothes.  The three "federal agents" are up front waiting for us.  The main guy says that he's a "federal agent" and shows me his badge to "prove" it.  It's the same badge that my bounty hunter carries, where it says "bail" just happens to be where his fingers are.  I call him out on it, "You're a bounty hunter".  I don't know how many times I tell him that and he continues to say that he's a "federal" agent.  I'm tired of this little game (and his obstinacy has started to bother me) and tell him to show me the paperwork saying that the lady has a warrant.  One of his people already has it; I check it and she has a misdemeanor (my bounty hunter doesn't even bother with misdemeanors) warrant out of Missouri.

Okay, you can take her but she's going to get dressed in her normal clothes before she leaves.  He doesn't like that.  Really starting to irk me.  YES, SHE'S CHANGING HER CLOTHES.  Then my female employee must go with her.  Okay.  I tell my associate to make a photocopy of the main guy's ID, and I tell him that if she comes up missing or damaged we can tell the police that she was fine when she left here in the custody of these three bounty hunters.

I take the cuffs off of the lady because it took them too long and then the two ladies and I go into the dressing room.  I tell the dancer to get her clothes of course and then I ask the other lady for her ID, because to be in a club she must be of age.  She looked to about 30 so I wasn't worried but I just wanted to be a dick.  She said it was in the car.  What?!  I kicked open the emergency exit that was in the dressing room and told her to "Get the fuck out, do you know how illegal it is to be here without ID?"

The dancer is dressed (my dancers would get dressed quickly at my clubs) at this point so we go to the front.  On the way back I told her that their wasn't anything I could do to stop them but I'm not going to fire her for this. 

They handcuff her again (in front again) and put her in a Chrysler 300 rental with Missouri plates.  They were nice enough to go across the street before they called the police and waited for their arrival. 

This was in the city of Arlington and apparently Arlington doesn't like bounty hunters.  Arlington requires bounty hunters to get permission before they do anything in Arlington and once they have permission the police grab the person and the bounty hunter doesn't get the bounty.  And to add insult to injury the state of Texas requires bounty hunters from out of state to follow some procedures.  These three didn't do any of that. 

The police officers that came by (we were watching through the peephole in our front door) looked at the paperwork, talked amongst themselves, and then started to arrest the three bounty hunters.  Once the three were in the squad cars one officer started searching the vehicle and the other came to talk to us.  All this time the dancer was removed from the car and was just standing next to the rental.  The cop talking to us looked like a 40 year old Martin Sheen except that he was about 5'6", we couldn't stop making jokes about that.

We told him what had happened then he told us that the three were being arrested because they didn't have a bounty hunter license for Texas plus the drugs in the car; the unsecured gun where the "prisoner" could reach it was just icing on the cake for this officer.  The rental car was being impounded and the three went to jail.  I don't know how long they were in jail for but we were laughing about that for weeks.  The lady did have a warrant but the officer said it was for a misdemeanor and that Missouri didn't get back to them about arresting the lady therefore they released my dancer. 

I let the lady get back to work, she needed to make a little extra to pay for the surprise trip to Missouri she made the next day to fix her problems.

Tired.

This is my 424th post on this blog.  Some of them -during the move- were very basic and barely qualify but some were more in depth and something to be proud of.  I started this blog to refine my writing skills and to a degree I've succeeded, but it's still not flowing like I would like it to.  Partly that's because I don't have the time and partly it's the pain; when you don't type a lot your hands and wrists will get sore when you type for an extended time period. 

I want to write a book about the topless bar industry, or at least as much as I know.  A business book because I learned a lot in the clubs.  Plus, I think it would be awesome to be a published writer.  I have another idea to work up to the book, but I need more income to do that.  Maybe in a few months.

Scarborough Faire.

Pushing 30 years ago my mother dragged my family to Scarborough Faire.  My father was tired and didn't want to walk around in the sun on one of his few days off.  I was a teen and didn't want to do anything my mother wanted me to do.

zebra wood
 

I don't think my father really cared for the fun and the magic, he was just trying to find out how to get a piece of the action.  The faires generate a lot of money changing hands and he wanted a cut.  My father didn't get to see his company turn a quarter of a century old but my sister did and she's looking at another few decades before she slows down.

When my kids are old enough we're going to have them sell mugs and such.  I'm thinking about teaching them to flinch and say "Not the face" whenever my sister walks by.

Mother's Day.

Today is Mother's Day, does that mean you should get reservations at a restaurant and deal with the crowds?  Not quite. 

Our tradition is to go to Scarborough Faire.  Do something with the mothers in your life.  Have fun and tell them you love them.

A/C

We're in that weird time of the year for Texas.  Not the one when you wonder if 50 will be the high or the low for the day but the other one.  In this one the temperature is just a little too warm.  You're wondering if you should turn on the A/C and cool off the entire house just for those few degrees.

In the beginning of winter you have the same problem but then all you have to do is put on a long sleeve shirt or cuddle and you're good.  In the beginning of summer there is only so much you can take off.

We haven't turned on the A/C in about a month so the electric bill is very low... but that time period is ending real soon.  Pretty soon that A/C will be cranking away and hopefully it will be enough.

Can I?

I've written before about whether or not I can hack it in a bar anymore.  I don't know but the mortgage loan business isn't what I was thinking.  I'm worried that I might need to go back to the bars.  There's a joke in the real estate/mortgage industry:  What do you need to be successful?  A spouse to support you and your marketing for a year.  I didn't know that before.

I think I can do it, I'm just not to thrilled about the hours.  I don't mind working nights and sleeping days but then I can't see my kids and that is sad.

The things you learn.

There is a post on facebook running around about some stay at home dad that is documenting his parenting via post-it notes.  One of the jokes is about how he cleaned up vomit and feces that day "and they said I wouldn't learn anything in a fraternity."

Today I dealt with a sick child, throwing up all over the place and just being grumpy.  It reminded me of the times in the club when some dancer drank too much.  Lay them down on the floor, put a trash can near them, and just leave them alone.  Periodically you would check on them; one time I said "yep, she's still breathing" out loud and the combination of laughter and outrage was humorous.

Bikers and "Bikers".

Years ago I used to date a biker.  She taught me a lot; some things that any cougar will teach a young gentleman and quite a bit about bikes and their culture.  Because of her, I'm not leery of bikers in the least.  In numerous clubs (and just in the street) I've walked up to a group of bikers and started admiring their bikes.

I've also noticed that a fair number of my fb friends are weekend bikers and they will often post something about sharing the road.  I ride a bicycle and believe me, I understand about sharing the road.

And then you see some young punk on the road doing something that only a dumbass would do.  Today I driving home, going about 50, and a motorcycle passes me.  Then they pass the person ahead of me.  The dumb part was the double yellow line he had to cross twice and the fact that he didn't know what was on the other side of that hill. 

I don't mind sharing the road but when someone, that's a dumbass, considers themselves to be immune to common sense and consequences then it's a little hard to have any sympathy for them.

Differences.

A buddy of mine mentioned that he's going to start running because it's an easy way to keep his blood sugar in check.  As someone that has diabetes running in both sides of my family I understand how you want to nip that little issue in the bud.  Some people suggested diet changes and I suggested a bicycle.

Look at it like this: 

                            Pros                                                                Cons

Jogging              Very healthy form of cardio                            Rough on joints
                           Only equipment you need is you                    Joggers find dead people
                                                                                                   They're crazy


Swimming         Cardio and muscle workout                            Need a pool
                           Better for joints                                              You can't breathe water
                           Swimsuits on people you want to look at      Ditto on the crazy part

Skiing                You're playing in snow                                  Not a lot of snow in Texas
                          Snow bunnies                                                 Rather expensive

Bicycling          Better for joints                                               Find a seat that's comfortable fast
                         Cooler equipment                                            Equipment can get expensive                           Starter equipment can be cheap                       if you must buy every new thing
                         You have room to carry snacks and drinks
                         Often bicyclists will ride to a point and then turn
                         around, that midpoint is often a bar
                         With the right wheels you can go on mud and snow

This is just my opinionated and informed opinion.  Keep in mind that anything is better than nothing.

Cut to the chase.

There is a wonderful short story by Lawrence Block called "Cleveland in my dreams" in which the main character sees a psychologist and tries to tell him about his dream.  The psychologist doesn't care about the dream, the problem isn't the dream the problem is the fact that the patient is exhausted after the dream.  The doctor cuts to the bone of the problem and solves it that way.  The patient still has the dream but it doesn't affect his waking life anymore.

I thought about that when I saw a protest against an abortion clinic.  Instead of protesting these clinics why don't these protesters look into ways to help prevent the pregnancy in the first place.  And no, the abstinence doctrine doesn't work.  Let these protesters focus on a small at risk group, young teen mothers. 

I'm willing to bet that when the kids are more involved with school and after school activities then they have a smaller chance to get pregnant.  If the teen doesn't have to be at home to watch the younger kids, and is instead at a school activity, do they have a smaller chance to be a pregnant teen?

Maybe instead of spending time marching around clinics verbally abusing kids we should figure out a way to prevent the problem in the first place.

Painting Blues 3 and Final.

Yes, final.  It's done.  Starting at about 5:30 PM on Friday until Sunday at 1:30 PM we taped off, painted, and cleaned a 3 bedroom 2 bath house.  Could we have done this without the wonderful help of a family friend who watched our children for us one day?  Nope.  Without the weekend daycare place we found?  Nope.  It was a bitch and a half and we're done.

The house looks so much better; I'm sad and proud to say that the house looks better now than when we bought it.

Hopefully, the tenant will pay the rent and take possession tomorrow.  Today is done.

Painting blues 2.

We have less than 24 hours to finish the property.  We painted today.  Painting doesn't really take that long, it's masking everything off and doing it properly that takes time. 

Now all we have to do is clean up.  Maybe a little touch up painting here and there where the sprayer didn't get it.  I blame the sprayer because it's very easy to go a little color blind after awhile. 

Painting Blues.

One of the best films in existence is "The Blues Brothers".  One of the great lines in it is:  It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.  The reply is:  Hit it.

Why am I quoting Elwood and Jake?  Our tenant moved out of our rental house we need to rent it out soon.  One applicant fell through so I contacted the next one, but now there is less time available to do the things that need to be done.  The backyard was bad; I think a Japanese soldier from WW2 was hiding back there.  Backyard and front yard are done.  We need to paint damn near the whole house.  I contacted two painters (one pro and one semi-pro), the pro never returned the call and the other couldn't do it in the time frame we had.  So we are doing it ourselves. 

As an homage to Elwood, We have about 3/4's of a house to paint, a big bucket of paint, half of a pizza to tide us over, we're not pros... and we have less than 48 hours to do it in.  Let's do it.

Mailboxes.

The style that we have.

We live in a nice subdivision; no really, the HOA says so.  I'm okay with everything around here except one.  The mailbox was made by the subcontractors preteen kid on take your kid to work day, and I think the kid was drunk and angry with life. 

The wind has blown it down once so I tried to put it together again.  Then I called the HOA to see what their specifications were on type and such.  The crappy thing that's here now is what I have to replace it with.  Can I spend more money and have a nice brick or stone mailbox put in?  Hell, no.  You can have crap and be happy that we let you.

What I want.

I've looked at the other mailboxes in the neighborhood and quite a few have some repairs to them.  I've also noticed that quite a few look like they were put together by the same crackhead preteen so more repairs may be coming soon.  What was it, Bring Your Crackhead to Work Day?

The wind blew it down again so I decided to "properly" fix it this time.  I went to the local hardware store and bought some metal brackets and installed them on the mailbox.  Done, the wind isn't blowing this puppy down.  It doesn't look anywhere near as nice as what I wanted but the HOA knows best.  Right.