August 2006

August 2006

Thursday, 8-31-6

Becca turned 10 yesterday. We already gave her the "big" present (computer) a few weeks ago so she got a few presents and she's happy. Next weekend Teresa is taking her and a few of her friends out to go ice-skating and play at Dave & Busters. Tuesday I was very upset that work was cancelled on Wednesday because of a minor storm but then the gods put me where I was needed and Becca was happy to have me home for her birthday. Funny how things work out...

So now let me tell you a little about window foil. That's the metal tape you used to see on storefront windows and glass doors. It is a huge pain in the butt to get it right but when you learn how, you can make these things look like artwork. The thin metal tape is stretched onto the glass and the alarm circuit is passed through the tape as if it were a wire. If the glass breaks, so does the tape and there you have the alarm. Of course, if someone scratched it, you got the same effect. There is a rule that foil only goes bad at 2am. I can't count how many nights I had to drag myself out of bed and drive to some bar or some store to patch up a scratch in the foil. Even if it was scratched during the day, for some reason it would hang on to the connection until about 2am.

Earlier electronic glassbreak detectors were unreliable and prone to false alarms. As they became more reliable, alarm companies have phased out window foil. The company I used to work for was the last in Jacksonville to have techs that installed/repaired foil. As of four years ago, even the distributors stopped carrying the stuff. It is an obsolete technology and no one does it anymore.

When I moved into the house 12 years ago, I put window foil on all my den windows. 10 panes of glass, all beautifully outlined with foil. I was pretty good at it, not the best, but still pretty good. There were some people that were so good they could write names in cursive in the stuff. When we moved in, I used the den as the band practice room so I had the windows covered with soundproof foam. The foil protected the windows and I could still cover them up. The idea was flawless, until last night, and of course it was 2am.

I remember hearing the alarm system go off but I was so exhausted I thought it was her alarm clock. When I realized what it was, I bounced out of bed and by then Teresa was already at the keypad. "Den Windows" it said. Well, someone might have forgotten to lock a door and it swung open or maybe a bedroom window was loose but if it said Den Windows, someone had to have broken the window to get in. I didn't even stop to put on shorts, I ran out into the hallway and towards the den, naked carrying a .38 I'm sure it was quite a sight. Teresa checked on Becca and I stalked my den. I didn't hear any noise and the dogs were quiet so I didn't get too worried. I opened the den door and everything was fine. I got dressed and went outside to check for broken glass. Unfortunately, everything looks fine. It is damn near impossible to troubleshoot this stuff unless you see a bad spot. There are a few spots where 12 years of sunlight and humidity have aged the foil and created a few bubbles in the tape but no real scratches. I think it's time to scrape the foil off and go with something more modern. That's sad because I did a fairly decent job on the installation and it just might be the last operational foil job left in Jacksonville.

Tuesday, 8-29-6 (8pm)

HELP! The hurricane-boogie-man is coming to get me!!!

I'm stuck here In Orlando with nothing to do. Miami evacuated this morning and I can understand that because it is on the coast, the storm will be at its strongest, could be a CAT1 and there are tornados possible. We have other work we COULD be doing but all of our NOCC support from Melbourne is evacuating tonight! What the fuck is the possibility of this thing being a major threat after crossing Florida? What's it gonna do, pick up strength from Okeechobee?

All of the gun-shy pussies running from a little rain have left me high and dry with the almost certainty of having to shift all of my work into Friday just before a long weekend. Heffner and I sit here in a hotel in Orlando, smoking cigars and getting "Crowned", talking about how life sucks (he's having a tough time at home) and we get the call that tomorrow might be a complete wash. We are both sooo pissed!

Waiting on the call from the boss letting us know what the plan is for tomorrow. Also waiting on the pizza-man. There is a checkered flag on my Crown bag. Someone kill me, NASCAR has found a way to invade my drinking too!

Just when I resolve myself to accepting the situation, just when I vent all the poison, Heffner brings up a point that gets me all boiled up again. Are we getting paid for tomorrow? Are the little scardey-cats running away from Melbourne getting paid? If they are and we don't, I'll probably get fired because I'll make some very angry and very drunk phone calls! I hope I don't find out until tomorrow, when I'm sober(er)(ish)...

Tuesday, 8-29-6 (7am)

I'm trying to get out the door and go to work yesterday morning and the morning news is on the television. The big headlines and all they are talking about is the "tragic" death of the honeymooning couple from the Kentucky jet-crash. The graphic on the screen, the "news-reporter", the interviewees; all weeping about how horrible and how tragic this is and what a shame that these young people won't get to know happiness in life.

BULLSHIT!!!

What the hell about the businessman sitting across from them? What about the mother of 3 that was on her way home? What about the other 47 people in the plane? Isn't it rather tragic that these people died too? Imagine you are at home waiting on your spouse to come home from a business trip. You hear about a crash and you get the call from the FAA, your spouse is dead. Now you drag yourself out of bed the next morning and turn on the TV and here's the network crying about a newlywed couple and going on and on about their loss. Meanwhile your kids are asking you, "Mommy, when are they going to talk about daddy?" You have to answer them, "Never honey, daddy's death wasn't tragic enough for this sick fucking society to get their rocks off on other people's pain." Then you have to go make funeral arrangements to bury the charred remains of someone who was half of your world but wasn't as important as a newlywed couple.

And what's all this about "they'll never get to know happiness in life" bullshit? They got it as good as it gets for most people. I know 4 couples that have separated this month. I keep asking Teresa if she wants to leave now would be the time, apparently it's divorce season... So these people were in love enough to get married and were on a plane to their honeymoon. I remember being on that trip. I was incredibly happy. Young, dumb and scared but I had a beautiful woman by my side and we were going to conquer the world with our love. How much more bliss can you get than that? If we had died at that moment, our ENTIRE marriage would have been happy. But now we've lived through a LOT of ups and downs and we are enriched for it and happy, but we are also a minority. Depending on where you look, 47% to 58% of marriages end up in divorce. Do you think they'd be happy going through a messy divorce in 8 years? Probably not, so the plane crash captured the happiest that they could reasonably expect to be, for eternity. How is that depriving them of happiness?

They were barely attached to each other anyway. I find it much more tragic when an elderly couple is married for 40 or 50 years and one of them dies. Or when a child has to deal with the death of a pet she has known her entire life. A newlywed couple was rolling the dice with their happiness anyway. Why are they the focal point out of 49 people? Because people don't think, they only react to what the news tells them to think. Everyday watch the "Ministry Of Truth" to find out how they want us to think and I immediately start looking around and ask myself, "Why?"

Monday, 8-21-6

Apparently, some of you didn't fully read the disclaimers I had on the religious ranting pages. Didn't I have enough of them? I know that there are flaws in my thinking and in my judgment. I am spouting off about irrational things and having fun doing it. Don't write in and try to save my soul, join in the fun and free yourself and allow your brain to think for yourself for once.

Example #1:

(IM timestamps removed)
"...assuming that Heaven and Hell adhere to CURRENT physics, AND assuming there are not quantum effects (that we now think MIGHT be accessible) that changes the rules in this dimension. And with the soul overload (assuming souls have a mass, which, to have the cited effects, they'd have to) you have the potential for an Einsteinian bridge - and we already know that classical physics went out the window after you cross the event horizon.... But Quantum effects (as proved by Hawking) didn't..."

Funny. This person obviously "gets it" and is having fun by attacking my theory.

Example #2:

"You will never learn will you? You are toying around with your immortal soul! Can you conceive "eternity"? No, none of us can. None but Jesus. But trust me it will be a long, long, LONG time and you will be serving Satan in Hell rather than enjoying paradise with the rest of us. It pains me to say it but I have to give up on you. It is clear that you will go on mocking those of us with the will and good sense to accept Christ as out personal savior. When it comes to people like you, the Word of God instructs us good Christians to "shake the dust from our feet" and "to keep you out of our homes". I will pray for you. You can't stop me from doing that. You are a sinner and your blasphemy is contagious to your family. Remember that the sins of the father are visited onto his sons. If you won't come to Christ for your own soul, do it for your family."

NOT Funny and a clear indication of a severe sense-of-humor deficit. This person makes many assumptions and has concluded that I am no longer fit to be associated with. Well ok, not that this was a particularly close associate but this is an example of someone who obviously does not "get it".

Let me clear up some of the assumptions and discrepancies some of you soul-savers might have about me.

I worship Satan.

Not true in the least. In fact, I don't even recognize Satan as you recognize him. Satan is the Christian personification of evil; a mean guy in a red suit. I'm not even so sure I recognize evil as "bad" as much as it is "necessary".

I am going to Hell.

Nope. At least not the Hell you imagine. Again; it's a Christian concept of a burning lake of fire where I'm tortured for all eternity. That's not hell, that's Florida. The existence of Hell is pretty universal and predates Christianity by... forever. I'd imagine "Hell" is more subjective. Personalized for every individual. Wasn't it the Inuit tribe in Alaska that asked where to sign up when the missionaries told them about the lake of fire? But as for me going to your hell, no, not going to happen. It's your Hell, you go burn in it.

I hate Christians.

No, I hate people that won't let me be after I've repeatedly told them to leave me alone. My Christian friends and family will worry about me and I understand that. It's only when I'm pestered or hounded with thinly veiled threats that I get upset. I'd prefer someone like Harriet Tubman, who as a Christian woman, when she was confronted with the tribal religions of the slaves she was helping said, "You pray to your spirits and I'll pray to my god and we'll turn out fine."

I hate Christ.

Wrong again. In fact, I am quite the fan! He may have been for real, he may have been a con, he may have been a dupe but in any case, from what I've read about him, he was a much cooler dude than most people that claim to follow in his footsteps.

My religious decisions are made in rebellion.

That may have been true 16 years ago. There may have even been a little truth in that up to 12 years ago but I grew out of the rebellion stage a long time ago. At least in this regard. I've still got a lot of rebellion in me but not in this arena.

So, why not relax and have a little fun? I'm not trying to turn you from your god and you won't turn me from mine. If you don't have a sense of humor, you really shouldn't be reading ANYTHING I write. Most of what I write is shotgun-typed. Same way I speak. I think, BAM out it comes without thinking of the rationality or even if it's correct. But, that's who I am and I'm having fun with it so join in or go away. If your faith is so thread-bare as to be threatened by a little mirth and questioning, then I am probably doing you a favor by stoking the flames a little. It forces you to make a stand one way or another.

And if you are still having trouble with the sense of humor in relation to religion just remember this:

My god is known for carrying a hammer, your god was found nailed to a tree... That's all I'm saying...

Wednesday, 8-16-6

Random and rambling thoughts come from just about anywhere...

I just finished reading the memoirs of Albert Speer. That fucking man was a genius! Unfortunately, he worked for the worst boss in history so far. If only he had not been swallowed up into the hype and had the foresight to get out like Einstein did, what would he have accomplished? The vision, the grand plans; for all his abilities he never saw the big picture (politically speaking) and ended up as a footnote in history.

Of course this is written 60 years later and from a point of view that is biased and skewed by the ultimate example of the phrase, "History is written by the winners". If things had gone differently, history would have painted a whole new picture completely alien and incomprehensible to our reality.

Another word that is critical to this line of thought is "patriotism". We the people are easily led to hate and revile the faceless enemy through propaganda and media/political spin. "They" are the bad guys, "We" are the good guys. I've talked with a few of my friends that faced combat in the military and most of them have a beautiful respect for the enemy.

"They are fighting for their country and their culture just as much as we are and should be seen as a commendable patriot and not just as the faceless "bad guy". Of course, the cross-hairs don't know the difference and you never stopped to think about it until later but you kill "enemy soldiers", not "bad guys". The devil and the boogeyman are bad guys, those men I killed today were identical to me in every way except the uniform they were wearing. Seeing the enemy as a lower group and allowing a faceless name to be applied to them is the same tactic used by Hitler in the first place."

So, saying that Albert Speer or even the average German soldier should have abandoned Hitler would be tantamount to suggesting that our military should walk off the job because they don't like the residing president. These men are fighting for our country and do whatever they are ordered to do, same as all good soldiers, no matter which uniform they are wearing.

It is normally at this point that someone will bring up the camps. Who knew about them and what went on inside them? If people knew what was happening and still did nothing then they can not be seen as innocent soldiers or citizens.

I'll agree with that but I'll only agree that relatively small number of people knew. Hitler, Himmler, Geobbels, Heydrich, etc,. Those people set it up and committed horrible crimes. Hundreds, maybe even thousands knew but not everyone. History has proven that the reality of what happened inside those camps was as much a surprise to the average German as it was to the Russians and Americans that liberated them. The top brass designed it; the SS orchestrated and ran it. Most of the POW camps were run by the German Air Force (since most POWs were "shot down behind enemy lines") and were civilized and relatively normal for what they were. The German Army had very little to do with the death camps. What could the average citizen have known?

What does the average American citizen know about "Executive Order 9066"?

On Feb 9^th, 1942, FDR authorized the entire West coast to be re-designated as a military exclusion area; thereby allowing the military to decide who can be allowed to on-site. 12 days later, they decided that anyone of Japanese decent, including second-generation-American-born citizens can be forcibly removed from California, Oregon and Washington State. They were housed in interment camps until the end of the war.

In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the "exclusion, removal, and detention of Japanese descended citizens", arguing that "it is permissible to curtail the civil rights of a racial group when there is a pressing public necessity". I remember hearing cries for new camps of this type just after September 11, 2001.

Oh sure, in the 70's Ford rescinded the act, in the 80's Reagan apologized for it and in the 90's Bush(Sr) authorized reparations. But how much would it take for camps like this to be set up again? If you've ever seen the movie "The Seige" with Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis (pre 9-11 BTW) then I can imagine it wouldn't take too much for the average citizen to decide that isolation of an entire racial group is a good thing.

And from there, all we need is the media and political swing. If the government controlled the media like it did in 1930's Germany, it wouldn't take too much for them to have us screaming for the isolation and removal of any group of any citizens. Most people are frightened sheep that once you have them scared and assure them that you will protect them, you own them.

If numerous bombings took place around urban America and the media told us that each of the bombers were Mexican, you'd see the borders dry up damn fast. If simultaneous sniper nests were set up coast to coast and we were told that all of the snipers were red-heads, you'd lock them up too. A consistent threat and a common link is all it would take for us to agree on it. We're already halfway there. Many people agree that racial profiling is justified in a lot of cases.

If you were investigating a drive-by-shooting in the middle of gang-land, would you stop to question the 90 year-old white lady? Probably not. Not unless your superiors are looking over your shoulder, then you'd do it just to prove you are conducting a "random" search. On the other hand, what if she did do it? She doesn't fit the profile of a typical gangster but maybe that's how she's been getting away with it for so long. Many people were upset that the TSA were "randomly" searching young children, mothers and even infants while boarding planes. Well, why not? If these people are sick enough to blow up a plane, why wouldn't they try to sneak it in through the least obvious choice? White drug dealers have tried to smuggle cocaine by carrying a baby and a bottle of baby powder, why wouldn't Arabic bombers try to get some young girlfriend to carry the bomb (or weapon) through security for them?

We're more vulnerable than we want to admit. Most of our security measures have been reactionary, not cautionary. "Ohh, the bad guys did [X]" "OK, ban [X]". They bad guys have now done [Y]". "OK, ban [Y] too". Why not get serious and try to think ahead. I'm sure somewhere, someone IS but we don't see it out here. They hit planes. OK, security is stepped up at airports. What about trains? Cargo ships? Overpasses in major cities? Bridges? We could be crippled in many ways but security is lax as soon as any immediate threat is over. The inconvenience is more problematic than the safety concerns. "If I can't carry my laptop and hair gel on a plane I won't fly." If enough people really feel that way, the new restrictions will be relaxed as soon as any new threat takes our attention from the old. The airline industry can't survive without the business traveler's money so, as they say; "money talks, security threats walk."

OK, at this point I'm just rambling on and on and on.

Done for now...

OK, OK, so I'm late, I was on time LAST month!

Sunday, 8-13-6

For years now, friends and co-workers have been talking about NASCAR and they are always surprised that I have a less than zero interest in it. They tell me how great it is and they talk for hours about their drivers and who won last week's race. I have long pondered how much intellect it takes to watch someone drive in a circle for 3 or 4 hours and get excited when it's all over. I don't get it and these people are supposed to be my contemporaries?

The "Is it a sport" rule has changed and it is now MUCH simpler. Basically, if I can do it at near-pro levels, it is not a sport. I'm fat and have been out of shape for years and years now. Any activity that I could compete at the top levels in can not be a sport. Yes, I am now allowing soccer to be a sport. Running, jumping, hitting things with sticks, sports. It takes an 'athlete' to play a sport. Chess is not a sport, it is a game. NASCAR is not a sport because I can drive in a circle. They tell me that it's sooo tough and it takes a toll on the body and there's skill involved. OK, so it's hot and there's a lot of passing and close traffic. Anyone who has driven through Miami is now qualified to run in the Daytona 500? I spent 6 hours (Noon-6p) yesterday doing lawn work. Anyone that does that regularly would laugh at me; but for me it was hot, sweaty, miserable work. Is driving on a speedway any worse? They wear cool-suits in those cars anyway!

So, I normally take a pass on the NASCAR conversation when it comes up but today I have figured it out. I have figured out the boom in the NASCAR culture.

Teresa sent me to WAL-MART today to pick up a few things. She and Zephyr were up to something so I knew this was a test. I had to get in and out of the store and pick up only what was on the list or they'd nail me when I got back home.

So I'm standing in the front aisle and trying to get past all the shop-zombies so I can get what I need and get out. That's when the NASCAR/WAL-MART connection hit me.

Who shops at WAL-MART? Rednecks

Who watches NASCAR? Rednecks

I got the poster board easily enough but there's trouble ahead. I pull a hard left and speed up to get past the welfare mom and her sniveling frog-spawn children. I have to cut back in to the right to avoid the little old lady with her walker who is bitching about not being able to find the hairnets. I see the aisle I need but I'm blocked by an entire FAMILY of fat fucks on the motor-scooters. They're not crippled; they're too fat to walk through a store! I have to circle around the aisle and come in the back side to pick up the prescription and the Visene. Lightbulbs, where the hell are the lightbulbs? Oh man, all the way on the other side of the store! I find an empty(ish) aisle and I run to the other side of the store. As I approach the turn, another shopper is blocking my way so I fake left and turn right, HA! I got past him and now I have the light bulbs. I snag a case of water as I pass by without stopping and head for the exit. I'm picking a lane and memorizing where everyone else is in line so I can see if I picked the right line. It looks like the dork in the plaid vest might finish before me and he wasn't in line when I got here. In front of me, the trailer-park-queen with the dirty thong hanging out of her fat ass is trying to cash a check. Oh man, looks like I lost, they'll need a manager for this one. But wait! My register lady IS the manager! Cool! Plaid-boy is still in line but closing on me fast. He only has 2 things; Life cereal and a 6-pack of Tab. They still make Tab? I'm putting my stuff on the conveyor and he's still waiting on the brood-mare in front of him to wrangle all of her "little miracles" up. 2 of them are attacking the soda-pop cooler with toy pirate swords. 2 more are playing with the glasses in the optometry shop and the last one is missing but I guess it happens all the time based on her level of concern. "Brandon, you go find Devon and tell him we leavin without him if he don't come on." All this time, the clerk is waiting on her to sign with the electronic stylus. She leaves and plaid-boy begins to check out. Oh shit, he's got cash. The girl is confused as to why he's hand her a Ten, a One, a Nickel and a Penny when the bill was only $6.06. HAHAHA the American school system strikes again! She counts back his change (in ones!) right as I am sliding my card to pay for my goods. I'm checked out and plaid-boy is on my heels. We are side by side as we approach the doors. I pick up the pace and push the cart to the red-line. He pauses to put his sunglasses on and out I go into the parking lot.

Ain't NASCAR great?

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