New Year Wishes

There are so many new year wishes one can bestow upon family and friends. Wishes of good health, prosperity, and happiness are just a few. But, I would like to offer one that I’ve never heard anyone say.

I wish for you that at the end of each new day in the new year, that as you lay your head down to rest, that you can honestly say, "I did my best. And, tomorrow, I promise myself, I will do better."

Then, you will truly have a happy new year.

PMO
©2017

National Bacon Day

I’m writing this on Saturday, December 30, 2017 - National Bacon Day. Finally something you can really enjoy. There is always a national day of something, but I just ignore them. But, one should not ignore national bacon day.

Depending upon which study you read, bacon is either deadly or it’s not. It truly doesn’t matter, bacon is good. I do try to limit myself to three slices per day, but there are occasions that force me to have more. According to my taste buds, there is nothing that improves taste like bacon or black pepper. Either or both of them is good on anything. I don’t think I’ve ever tried black pepper with ice cream, but it sure sounds yummy to have a little bacon with it. I regret to inform you that neither will improve broccoli or Brussels sprouts.

I would encourage everyone to celebrate bacon day, everyday. Even if it kills you.

You will die with a smile on your face.

PMO
©2017

Predictions 2018

The new year is nearly here and as I’ve said before, I do not make resolutions. However, I do make predictions. Here are just a few of the predictions I have for 2018:

The media will continue to make up (fake news) stories and hate Trump.

Hillary will not go to jail.

Men will continue to be the blame for anything and everything.

Politicians will continue to ignore the voters and do whatever is good for them.

"Chicken little’s" will continue to run around shouting, "The sky is falling."

People will survive in spite of all the odds against them.

And, last but not least, there will not be a day when mattresses are not on sale.

PMO
©2017

New Year Plan

Oh, what to do for the new year? Among the options are parties with lots of drinks and food; staying up til midnight just for the heck of it; or, go to be early and see what the new year looks like in the morning. I always choose the go to bed early option.

Of course you can make new year resolutions and see how many you keep by January 2^nd. I don’t think I’ve ever made a resolution, but if I did it would be a resolution not to make resolutions.

Being the grumpy old man that I am, I have decided to ring in the new year, I will go out and buy a new gun. Do I need a new gun? Probably not, but I’m trying to catch up with some of my friends that have their own arsenals. It’s a guy thing - an old guy thing. It’s been that way out here in the east since it’s no fun trying to have the best looking and fastest cars because they all look and run about the same. You don’t have to shoot the guns, just have them, like my friend Dr. Wild Bill. He buys them and never shoots them. I think that he is planning to throw them at anyone that tries to attack him.

I’m thinking a Daisy Red Rider BB gun might get the year off to a good start.

Do they still sell them?

PMO
©2017

A Wise Old Man

A very wise man once said, "the children of today are going to the dogs," or something to that effect. What he was saying is the same thing that people have been saying for centuries.

Every generation has concerns for the next generation. They don’t think the same way, they don’t have the same values, and they don’t even talk the same language. Yes, it is true that as each generation comes into their own, new thoughts and behaviors come with them. Is this disturbing. Yes. Because the older you are the older you see the world.

As we approach a new year, the children of yesterday will be the leaders of tomorrow. And, believe it or not, they will be good leaders if they take the time to learn from everything and everyone.

What the wise old man really said was, "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."

Who was the wise old man?

Socrates (469–399 B.C.)

PMO
©2017

Percentages

I have upon more than one occasion mentioned how much I dislike percentages taken out of context. The media loves to spout out numbers that are intended to shock the audience. "If you do so and so you will have a 50% higher chance of dying of something." They never mention that the chances are 1 in a million and the higher chance is 1.5 in a million. And, they use the same approach to mislead you in the other direction. "Participation is now up 50%." No mention of the participation was only 100 before.

Let me illustrate on a personal level. I manage an email bulletin board for our little commune. We have just over 600 subscribers that look to see who has what to sell or what meeting is coming up. We also post lost dogs and cats and the occasional weather alert, from our resident NASA weather man.

On Christmas day, I posted the Christmas Guest poem that was posted here. Now, let me say that I don’t do this job for thanks, but I had hoped that we might receive some comments about how they liked it. To my surprise, comments doubled over anything done in the past. How about that? A 100% increase.

Out of 600 plus sent, we got two comments.

It’s the best we’ve ever had.

PMO
©2017

Twas The Day After Christmas

Ready or not, here is my attempt at a little, very little, poetry about the day after Christmas.

Twas the day after Christmas with wrapping paper galore,
ribbons and bows strewn all over the floor.

Everyone was examining their presents with care,
and wondered when to return them and, where.

There was the shuffling of paper all through the house,
as replacements were ordered with the click of a mouse.

When suddenly there came a terrible crash,
as everyone rushed to take out the trash.

A fat man on the collection truck said as he drove away,
"you didn’t make it, but we’ll be back someday."

PMO
©2017

Christmas Guest

It happened one day near December’s end,
Two neighbors called on an old-time friend

 

And they found his shop so meager and mean,
Made merry with a thousand boughs of green,

And Conrad was sitting with face a-shine
When he suddenly stopped as he stitched a twine

And said, "Old friends, at dawn today,
When the cock was crowing the night away,

The Lord appeared in a dream to me
And said, 'I am coming your guest to be.'

So I've been busy with feet astir,
Strewing my shop with branches of fir,

The table is spread and the kettle is shined
And over the rafters the holly is twined,

And now I will wait for my Lord to appear
And listen closely so I will hear

His step as He nears my humble place,
And I open the door and look in His face."

So his friends went home and left Conrad alone,
For this was the happiest day he had known,

For, long since, his family had passed away
And Conrad has spent a sad Christmas Day.

But he knew with the Lord as his Christmas guest
This Christmas would be the dearest and best,

And he listened with only joy in his heart.
And with every sound he would rise with a start

And look for the Lord to be standing there
In answer to his earnest prayer

So he ran to the window after hearing a sound,
But all that he saw on the snow-covered ground

Was a shabby beggar whose shoes were torn
And all of his clothes were ragged and worn.

So Conrad was touched and went to the door
And he said, "Your feet must be frozen and sore,

And I have some shoes in my shop for you
And a coat that will keep you warmer, too."

So with grateful heart the man went away,
But as Conrad noticed the time of day

He wondered what made the dear Lord so late
And how much longer he'd have to wait,

When he heard a knock and ran to the door,
But it was only a stranger once more,

A bent, old crone with a shawl of black,
A bundle of kindling piled on her back.

She asked for only a place to rest,
But that was reserved for Conrad's Great Guest.

But her voice seemed to plead, "Don't send me away
Let me rest awhile on Christmas day."

So Conrad brewed her a steaming cup
And told her to sit at the table and sup.

But after she left he was filled with dismay
For he saw that the hours were passing away

And the Lord had not come as He said He would,

And Conrad felt sure he had misunderstood.

When out of the stillness he heard a cry,
"Please help me and tell me where am I."

So again he opened his friendly door
And stood disappointed as twice before,

It was only a child who had wandered away
And was lost from her family on Christmas Day.

Again Conrad's heart was heavy and sad,
But he knew he should make this little child glad,

So he called her in and wiped her tears
And quieted her childish fears.

Then he led her back to her home once more
But as he entered his own darkened door,

He knew that the Lord was not coming today
For the hours of Christmas had passed away.

So he went to his room and knelt down to pray
And he said, "Dear Lord, why did you delay?

What kept You from coming to call on me,
For I wanted so much Your face to see."

When soft in the silence a voice he heard,
"Lift up your head, for I kept My word --

Three times My shadow crossed your floor --
Three times I came to your lonely door --

For I was the beggar with bruised, cold feet,
I was the woman you gave something to eat, 

And I was the child on the homeless street.

Three times I knocked and three times I came in,
And each time I found the warmth of a friend.

Of all the gifts, love is the best,
And I was honored to be your Christmas Guest."

~ Adapted from, The Story of The Christmas Guest,

by Helen Steiner Rice ~

Give Back

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, I have a strong aversion to "give back." Let me give a bit more detail on why. We live in a society that attempts to put us in a position of feeling guilty about things we did not do, nor would ever do. It’s no surprise. There is an element that wants to shame everyone, make them think that they owe something. That’s not the way it works, or should work.

"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son," is the way it is supposed to work. God didn’t give back because he owed the world anything. He gave because he knew that was the only way for we mortals to have a chance to be drawn unto him - freely giving to those that would receive.

Christmas is only a few hours away. Contrary to popular beliefs, it is a day of recognition for the greatest gift mankind has or will ever receive.

Make this Christmas where you receive.

©2017

Pet Peeves

As mentioned several times over the years, I have a lot of pet peeves. Most people probably do. You know, the little things that just irritate you. Like lousy customer service, bad products and inflated prices. These are just a few reasons I am a grumpy old man.

The term "you guys" is stupid as far as I am concerned. I know the difference between males and females and to say, "you guys" must mean that the person speaking does not. Yes, I know the term is an attempt to be all inclusive, but it is an insult to women and men. Why not just say, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, men and women, or even citizens? If everyone is a guy, then let’s not hear any sexual misconduct complaints if a woman gets a pat on the butt if she is on a sports field.

Give back implies that you took something. When children play and one takes a toy from another, he or she is told to give it back. If adults take something, then they should face criminal prosecution. Yet we are barraged with "so and so wanted to give back to the community or everyone should give back to the community." What happened to "so and so gave to the community," after he or she worked hard and earned the resources to do so? I never give back, but I do give.

And, last but not least today is "your day," such as in a weather forecast, "the weather for your Saturday is going to be hot and dry." If it’s my Saturday, it will be 70 with clear skies and a southerly breeze of 5 mph.

You guys need to give back on your Saturday. And, enjoy the lousy service, bad product quality and high prices.

I’m not going to.

PMO
©2017

Cost Of Christmas

Some of you have been buying Christmas presents. Shopping is reportedly in the billions of dollars. Personally, I’ve spent less than $10. I don’t do shopping. And, I afraid to ask my financial controller what she spends.

When I was much younger - back in the 50s - $10 would have bee a lot of money to spend on presents. In today’s dollars, that would be about $50. I don’t think my parents ever spent $50 total for Santa to bring us toys. More like $20. And, guess what, we had more than we knew what to do with.

Today, if you’re a real Scrooge, like me, it seems ridiculous to spend $500 or more for one present. Do the math on what 10 would cost. Can anyone truly afford to spend thousands? Remember, about half of what you buy probably is going in the corner or closet never to be heard from again.

Truth is that while over 90% of Americans celebrate Christmas, less than 50% view it as a religious holiday. Obviously, secular holidays require a lot of money to try to feel good and think you are being really nice. That’s not what Christmas is about. The true meaning is simply the birth of a child that literally changed the world. At least for a few thousand years.

Go ahead and spend your thousands and tell everyone you had a great Christmas. They won’t know the difference.

Maybe someday, you and they will know the joy of a real Christmas.

PMO
©2017

WWJD

Not to long ago, there was a fad to wear a little rubber bracelet inscribed with "WWJD." What would Jesus do? I called it a fad because some people with good intentions attracted people with no intentions, which resulted the whole thing just fading away from the culture today.

But, the question remains, "What would Jesus do?" What would he do in the world today? I believe he would do exactly what he did when he walked here before. He would spread the "good news" and seek out believers that would follow his teachings. He would create an awakening that would live long after his physical presence on earth.

The answer for you is simply remember, what Jesus would do is call mankind unto himself. That’s what Jesus would do.

Perhaps you should be calling others unto him, and let him work out whatever needs there may be.

PMO
©2017

Survey

The media loves to do ‘man (or woman) on the street surveys. They like to catch people off guard and get reactions to an idea or event. So, I was wondering what the reactions would be to the following question:

"What do you think about a surefire plan to put America first economically, have peace and safety for the American people, improve education and job opportunities, and lower taxes?"

I suspect that the reactions would be almost 100% in favor of such a plan - Wow, great, wonderful, super, terrific, etc. But now let’s add one word to the question, "What do you think about Trump’s surefire plan to put America first..............."

Sorry, but we don’t print expletives.

PMO
©2017

Cable TV

We have a choice of cable companies, so long as choose the only one in town. It’s like a communist election, you get to vote but there’s only one candidate. Sure, I could go with satellite TV, but I’ve been there and done that.

Now the point I want to make. We had a problem with one of the TV boxes and I did all the trouble shooting and discovered that it was the power converter to the box that had failed. I took one from another room that we don’t use the TV there. But, I called the cable company to get them to bring me a replacement for the power cable. Well, after making two calls and enduring automated answering and questioning I did finally get a live person. It took five minutes to get out of the automation circle. They must believe that you’ll hang up and go away before you figure out a way to talk to an agent. My question is why would such a large company use a system that is not user friendly and even annoying?

I suppose there is no use complaining, this is typical service these days. That’s why when I get someone that is really helpful, I have a hard time believing it.

With all the trouble we’ve had with this company over the past five years, I’m thinking they should give me a stand-by stash of parts. I usually can find the problems, but don’t have the parts to fix the problem.

But, I’m not going to call them and ask. I don’t want to connect to the automated system again.

If my financial controller didn’t watch TV, I could get by without it.

PMO
©2017

What's It All About

What is Christmas all about? Have you thought about that in a long time? If you are like millions or billions of others, you’ve lost sight of what Christmas is all about.

It’s not about rushing about to get a present for someone who probably won’t like it anyway. And, it’s not about the pressure you feel to get the shopping and planning done. And, believe it or not, Christmas is not a tradition, it is much more.

You have only about a week left to get your shopping done and all the food you need to make the meal a true tasty treat. Better hurry, time is running out.

Someday, when you get old, you just may look back and wonder why you’ve lost the meaning of Christmas.

Maybe, the grinch really did steal Christmas.

Or maybe it was Amazon that didn’t get your order to you on time.

PMO
©2017

Death And Taxes

It is often said that there are two things certain in life, "death and taxes." Then there’s the estate tax or more commonly known as the ‘death tax.’ Basically, this is a tax for dying and leaving an estate worth more than $5.49 million. The current rate is 40%.

This is a tax to punish anyone that worked hard and tried to provide for their heirs. You may think that it’s good tax because it punishes rich people. Truth is, there are few rich people that end up paying the tax. But, it you look at a family farm that may generate less than $200,000 to $300,000 gross income per year, the estate may be worth more than the $5.49 million. The end result may be that the heirs have to sell off land or assets to pay the tax and where would that put them?

What happens to the family farm? It may go out of business. Workers may get fired. The people the farm supplies may not be able to operate profitably without them. And the list goes on and on. Wait you say, just how many family farms are there? That’s not the point. Family farms are just an example because with today’s land prices, it doesn’t take a lot of land to get into the millions.

The point is, that if someone, anyone, works and plans all their life, to end up with nearly half of what they earned, which has already been taxed, being forfeited to the government.

The estate tax is a slap in the face of everyone because it demonstrates just how much government power exists.

What’s next?  Maybe taking the gold out of the deceased’s teeth before burial.

PMO
©2017

Getting Old Is A Drag

Everyday I discover something new that makes getting older more and more trouble. Trying to find comfortable shoes is the latest episode in "falling apart." I think I have tried on 50 pair of shoes and none of them is quite right. So, I decided to ask my podiatrist about any foot problems. He checked out my tootsies and suggest I get some orthotics or have him give me some shots in my feet. I went for the inserts.

They worked fine until I tried to take my shoes off. It seems the special pad they added came unattached and attached to my socks. They are going to fix it next week.

Hey, it’s all part of the aging process as they say - whomever they are. After all, it beats dying.

I’ve never been dead, so I really don’t know.

PMO
©2017

Open Line

Welcome to the open line - an overview of what is annoying me today:

It now appears that any male, especially white males above the age of two, that speaks to or shakes hands with any female will have committed sexual misconduct.

If you want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, you are limited to reading only the Bible.

Smart phones are so addictive that people are quitting smoking so they will have more time to play with their phone.

I am still trying to find out why everyone is supposed to hate Jews. The ones I know seem to be pretty good folks. Then, the people I know of all races and nationalities seem to be good folks too.

Truth is that if the Palestinians wanted peace, there would be peace. If Israel wanted war, there would be no Palestinians.

Groceries are continuing to increase in price. In the past five years, the now on sale price is the same as what used to be the regular price. I’m going to have to quit eating.

You may not realize it, but if you buy a new pickup today with just a few extra features you will pay about half of what you can buy a house for. Best to just get the house and stay home.

Newspapers print fake news and charge astronomical prices for a subscription - compared other sources of information.

Computers were invented to drive me crazier.

Notice I said, crazier.

PMO

©2017

Destroying Society

Usually I don’t like to include a long excerpt from any article, but the following one deserves to be read. Are two billion people being duped by Facebook and other social media? Keep reading.

The following are excerpts from The Washington Post story, "Former Facebook VP says social media is destroying society with ‘dopamine driven feedback loops’: A former Facebook executive is making waves after he spoke out about his "tremendous guilt" over growing the social network, which he feels has eroded "the core foundations of how people behave by and between each other."

Chamath Palihapitiya began working for Facebook in 2007 and left in 2011 as its vice president for user growth. When he started, he said, there was not much thought given to the long-term negative consequences of developing such a platform.

"I think in the back, deep, deep recesses of our minds, we kind of knew something bad could happen," said Palihapitiya, 41. "But I think the way we defined it was not like this."

That changed as Facebook’s popularity exploded, he said. To date, the social network has more than 2 billion monthly users around the world and continues to grow.

But the ability to connect and share information so quickly — as well as the instant gratification people give and receive over their posts — has resulted in some negative consequences, according to Palihapitiya.

"It literally is a point now where I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works. That is truly where we are," he said. "The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works: no civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem. This is not about Russian ads. This is a global problem."

Facebook has pushed back on the former executive’s comments, saying in a statement Tuesday that Palihapitiya has not worked there for more than six years and that it was "a very different company back then."

Though he didn’t have immediate answers on how to permanently correct the problem, Palihapitiya encouraged students to take a "hard break from some of these tools and the things that you rely on." He added that he has posted on Facebook only a handful of times over the past several years and didn't allow his children to use "this (expletive)" either, referring to social media platforms.

"Everybody else has to soul-search a little bit more about what you’re willing to do," he said. "Because your behaviors, you don’t realize it, but you are being programmed. It was unintentional, but now you gotta decide how much you’re willing to give up, how much of your intellectual independence."

The problem is not isolated to Facebook, he said, citing other social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. Palihapitiya pointed to a hoax in India that had spread through WhatsApp and led to the lynching of several men who were falsely accused of being child traffickers.

"Bad actors can now manipulate large swaths of people to do anything you want," he told the audience. "And we compound the problem. We curate our lives around this perceived sense of perfection, because we get rewarded in these short-term signals — hearts, likes, thumbs up — and we conflate that with value and we conflate it with truth. And instead, what it is, is fake, brittle popularity that’s short-term and leaves you even more, admit it, vacant and empty before you did it. .?.?. Think about that, compounded by 2 billion people."

This is why I don’t use social media.

I have all the problems I want without them.

PMO
©2017

Extinction

In case you have become unaware, the movement to prevent extinction is alive and well. You should be devoted to saving the cross-eyed tsetse fly or some other something. About the only thing that isn’t causing concern is the cockroach.

When you hear all the cries about global warming or climate change, and how you should be ashamed for contributing the extinction of some creature or even mankind, stop and think for a moment. Since this planet has been around, there have been a lot of species that are not here now. The obvious is dinosaurs. Did man cause them to disappear? The way nature works is simple, only the strong survive. And, in nature, creatures adapt or die out.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t be aware of and find ways to eliminate pollution, but to suggest that we are destroying the planet is hard to believe. Who’s fault was the ice age. I don’t think there were nine billion humans running around polluting the atmosphere then. And what about the entire planet being under water?

A little research will reveal that this little green dot in the great universe has had it’s share of changes. Think about events like the "dust bowl" of the 1930s. Or, how about floods, tornadoes, wild fires that start by lightening, or other such events.

If climate change is caused by humans, the only solution is to get rid of humans. Kill off a few billion here and a few billion there.

The cockroaches and fire ants will be delighted.

Nothing kills them.

PMO
©2017

That's Why

There has been much discussion and independent action to ignore or circumvent the Constitution. After all it gets in the way of political plans and ambitions. Ignoring the Constitution is easy to do, because the people don’t know or don’t care.

And, John Adams did say, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people."

PMO
©2017

Way Back Then

I talked with an old friend this week, a man I’ve known for over 40 years. He’s old too. In our conversation we got sidetracked to the good old days and what we had to do.

We ate things that we would not dare eat today, like dry salt pork. It was mostly salt. And, we ate gravy made without milk. Just flour, water and the grease from frying the salt pork. Yummy. Then, there was the little house out behind the house. No indoor plumbing. I remember that if the back of the outhouse was turned toward the north, it was an absolute cure for an upset stomach in the winter time.

Bathing, which was not daily, was a metal tub in the room that had the heating stove - wood burning stove with a pipe that ran up to a chimney or just outside. The water was heated on the stove or the top of the cooking stove which usually burned kerosene. And, it was a family bath - everyone bathed in same water. If you were last, you bathed in cold dirty water.

Food was often provided by whatever you could hunt or catch. I’ve eaten squirrels, rabbits, a turtle, and of course fish and crawfish. Doesn’t sound yummy? It wasn’t. However the fried chicken was great. After you killed the chicken, plucked all the feathers out and then held it over a fire to singe the fine hair that remained.

We wore hand-me-downs without regard to whether it fit or not. Shoes, didn’t have to be in style, just close to fitting properly.

We rarely had any money, but that was okay because we didn’t know anybody that any money.

Yes, those were the good old days - NOT. But, the focus was on surviving and people. There was always a helping hand when you needed help.

Today, it is doubtful that most people would survive under those conditions. Just imagine, no air-conditioning, or fast food drive thru.

Makes me wonder what the young people today will have to say about the good old days.

"Like, we had to, like, wait sometimes, like for a whole day before our on-line order was, like, delivered.

PMO
©2017

IACD

Have you heard about IACD? I had not until today, Saturday, December 9, and it is International Anti-Corruption Day. It began in 2003 when voted by the delegates to the United Nations.

The UN Convention stated in part that there is a "concern about the seriousness of problems and threats posed by corruption to the stability and security of societies, undermining the institutions and values of democracy, ethical values and justice and jeopardizing sustainable development and the rule of law."

The delegates to the Convention are to "promote and strengthen measures to prevent and combat corruption and ......promote integrity, accountability and proper management of public affairs and public property."

Looks like I would have heard about this before now.

Obviously, D.C. and, the media still haven’t heard about it.

PMO
©2017

Fat Tax Failed

In 2001 Denmark implemented a fat tax to force people to eat healthier. It added a tax to any food that contained more than 2.3% saturated fat. It failed because people just went to Germany or Sweden to do their shopping. This is just another example of how "sin taxes" don’t work. Government can’t force people to do not do something by levying a tax. Denmark repealed the tax in 2002.

Over the years, governments have tried various methods to force the "pheasants" to do what they want them to do. Remember prohibition? Reacting to a group of teetotalers, alcohol was outlawed. The result was speakeasies and stills that produced to supply them.

A few years ago I wrote about a fat tax on people. It was simply a tax that if you were not the correct weight as prescribed by government, then you would be taxed on a per pound basis. It’s a good thing that no government officials read this blog or it would have gone into effect shortly after the post was made.

But, government, that knows what’s best for you, will never give up. Just wait for a tax or prohibition on sex.

Sound crazy? That’s what government does best.

PMO
©2017

Don't Say A Word

The way this country is heading, it can’t be long until men will be forbidden to be around women.  If that sounds ridiculous, think of all the things that have occurred just because of a few.  We are a nation of extremes.

Yesterday as I was driving and listening to talk radio, a man called in and explained that he was a maintenance contractor and often worked in a particular building downtown Dallas.  It was the policy of the company that each contract employee have someone sign the work order when the job was done.  The man said that he had finished his work and took the job ticket to a woman on the front desk, as he had in the past, for a signature.  That’s where the trouble occurred.

While he was waiting for a signature, he noticed a bowl of Hershey kisses candy on her desk.  When she handed him the signed job order, he reached down to the bowl and said, “Can I have a kiss?”  Guess what happened next.

She reported him to her supervisor, who called the maintenance company, that called him in for discipline.  Fortunately he did not lose his job, but cannot go back to that location to work.

Sound crazy?

You ain’t seen nothing yet.

PMO
©2017

Rarity

In my quest to get three computers conquered - three different operating systems - I ran upon a problem with one of my printers. Try as I may, I could not get two of the computers to print to it. Finally I gave up and called the manufacturer for support. You may not believe what happened.

As usual I had to stay on hold for a long time, but finally I got someone to pickup my call. A man named "Deepak" introduced himself and asked how he could help. I explained the problem and suggested that it may be with the drivers on the two computers. He explained that Windows 8.1 and 10 sometimes fail to add the drivers in their updates. And, we agreed that he could connect to the machines. In 15 or 20 minutes, both PCs were working with the printer. And, now the rest of the story.

All the time we were talking and working, Deepak was genuinely courteous and helpful. He was very professional and patient and had the knowledge and skills to solve the problems. And, you may have guessed from his name, he was not from East Texas. He spoke perfect English, with an accent, and was easy, even for me to understand.

When we finished and it was time to hang up, he said, "God bless you." Right back at you Deepak.

I’m not one to heap praise very often, but this man deserves it. I can’t tell you how many people I have told about this experience.

I hope he is contagious where he works.

PMO
©2017

Chicken Plucker

I need to get out more.  Oh, I admit that I am not up to date on a lot of stuff, like smart phones. And, more and more I find that I no longer speak the language: you guys; emoji; hashtag; and who knows what else. Truth is that if technology doesn’t apply to me, I simply ignore it. However, I do find myself a little embarrassed when I discover advances in tools or guns that I did not know about.

But, today, I became aware that I am so far behind the times, that I did not know there is a machine that can pluck a chicken in 15 seconds or less. This is a giant step from the way we had to remove the feathers from said chickens. One had to dip them in hot water and then pull them out. It was not a pleasant task.

Oh, I guess in the back of my mind, I knew that commercial chicken producers had to have a better way that dropping them in hot water, but just think, you can go down to a local farm store and get a machine that snatches the chickens bald in seconds.

Makes me wish I had a chicken.

I wonder if the machine would work on squirrels?

PMO
©2017

Government Reform

As I mentioned earlier, the best way to get a true tax reform would be to have a government reform. It is time to not only "drain the swamp," but insure that it never fills up again. The first obvious solution is to have term limits on Congress - two terms period. And, every member must be subject to all the laws they pass, as well as the laws passed before. Their benefits would be the same as the average working person has.

They would get no pension, only pay while they are in office. Thirty days off per year including vacation, holidays and personal time. No special protection or privileges of any kind would be allowed, such as free meals from lobbyist and not paying their parking tickets.

They would be held responsible for a balanced budget and if they fail to balance the budget, they would be subject to recall by the voters. And, they must reduce the national debt by no less than 10% per year too.

This few actions are just for starters. The list could and should go on and on, but each member must be required to read and understand the Constitution and take an oath to uphold it or face dereliction of duty penalties.

Basically, we need a government that is by the people and for the people.

It’s nice to dream isn’t it?

PMO
©2017

Tax Reform

Of all the smoke and mirrors that government uses to charm the peasants, tax reform always works. They say, "It’s simple, just tell them we are not going to take as much of their money as we are now. And, don’t tell them the whole story."

I will repeat again, corporations don’t pay taxes. They never have and they never will. This is an expense that is added to the sale of their product or service. But, we hear how much corporate taxes are going to be lowered to boost the economy. Reality is that lower taxes will result, or should, in lower product and service cost and that will boost the economy.

So far as any personal gain tax reform will continue to have loop holes for the really rich and the "middle class" will continue to get smaller. Yes, the current plan boasts lower taxes for the working person - temporarily.

As one critic observed, taxes will go back up in a couple of years, but without tax reform taxes will go up sooner. Think of tax reform this way, "I’m from the government and I’m here to help you."

The last time I had a decrease in taxes, my tax bill went up. It was on property taxes and all the county did was lower the rate and increase the property values.

I think what we really need is government reform.

That has a better chance of lowering taxes.

PMO
©2017

The Gist Of Things

The "gist" of something means, the most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience. "He got the gist of the speech," is a simple example. Well, I think I am getting the gist of getting older. When you get older you get a lot of gist.

There are oncologist, urologist, ophthalmologist, audiologist, dermatologist, cardiologist, physiologist, anesthesiologist, and proctologist. That last one can really get your attention.

Heck, even the woman that cuts my hair is a cosmetologist.

She tells me better stories than the others.

PMO
©2017

Not To Wonder

With all the sexual misconduct charges being thrown around in D.C. and the media, have you noticed that no one has made any improper advances toward Nancy Pelosi or Hilldawg Clinton - even when they were younger?

I suppose that even perverts have to draw the line somewhere.

Just saying.

PMO
©2017