I just finished listening to a few conversations with current US Socialists, college kids talking to what sounded like an intelligent immigrant from the old USSR, specifically Russia. There seems to be a belief in these young adults that socialism is better even after seeing how it has worked out in Venezuela, Russia, China, Cuba and many other smaller countries. For some reason, there is a belief that the rich should give up their riches because they were earned in a Capitalist environment which takes advantage of the common man. How is it taking advantage when the owner takes the risk of getting a loan, putting in the sweat and/or ideas to get the company off the ground and the common man simply comes and does a given task for an agreed upon amount of money?
One of the men being interviewed and he looked like a professor, he knew too much and was in his late 50's-60's suggested that now that all this 21st century technology has been created, admittedly in a capitalist environment here in the US, we should convert over to socialism so that everybody benefits equally. My question to him would be "Who is going to develop the 22nd century technology?" You can't be naïve enough to think this is the pinnacle of human ingenuity. It has been shown time and again that socialist countries do not focus on leading edge creation. As we have seen, the people are generally getting by or suffering worse than the worse suffer here. The man being interviewed and another person in a different interview quickly tried to say well the fascists took over after the innocent and honest socialist system had started. There was mention of how wonderful the socialist system worked in Spain for four years again before the Fascists took over as well. It seems that Socialism can't do a good enough job of defending itself. If it was initiated here, how long before Fascists took over control and then this would just become another USSR? The problem with humans is that we are greedy and selfish and most anybody put in power would have to be better than you or I to not abuse it.
Capitalism works because the government gives you free rein (with constraints to protect people to an extent) to come up with products that fill a need or create a need. Fifteen years ago we didn't know we would need phones to do everything they do. Nowadays, even grade school kids are expert at using these devices. That is an example of something created to create a need. When Henry Ford perfected the idea of the assembly line to increase productivity and makes cars available cheaply enough for the average man, he created a product to fill a need. And somehow, some socialist thinks he can show up after the fact, now that the phone has been created and when he joins the company, he should get an equal share of the profits. How about in a bad turn of events, when there is a loss, should the common man continue working for free and incur the debt that the company earns? These fools seem to think all companies just experience positive earnings and there is never a loss or a failed new product which slows the company into severe losses, what would the socialists do then?
It is a great pipe dream and when I was younger I probably leaned my thinking this way, but now that I am older I see that it is a very juvenile way to approach life. If you really want something and you think you deserve it, figure out a way to wow the masses yourself and get paid. Go create something that did not exist with all that energy being burned holding up banners and cheering empty slogans. We have our house and livelihood because we both work our asses off, not because someone gifted us an edge.
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Sunday, July 5, 2020
7/6/20 FInally Biking Again?
As the kids say, it had been a minute since I last took a ride on a bike. Earlier this year I had vowed to start exercising to try and lose some weight but after cleaning the garage to even be able to get to the bikes and then pumping up the low tires with a tiny portable air pump. When I tried biking then, I was having real problems with knee pain. It had gotten bad enough that just walking to the car after my twelve hour shifts, I would have to stop because of the pain and discomfort. The pain has mostly gone away from both knees, possibly from the medicine my mom told me to try or maybe from resting them and them healing on their own. Either way, at that point just going the length of a couple of houses, my knees felt very uncomfortable.
I would say it has been a good month and a half to two months since then and though my legs still feel heavy, my knees are not in pain like they used to be. I tried going out a few houses, like before, and this time the discomfort was bearable. I lifted the seat a little more so my legs wouldn't reach up to a full 90 degrees in the upstroke and this helped a little more. After trying it out, I called Javalina out, he has constantly been telling me he wants to jog with me while I bike. We finally did our maiden voyage together. We only went around the first block in our community, but I thought it was very good. First of all, it is a new bike for me, one with these oversized tires, which make it harder to bike as they have more surface area touching the road, so more effort is needed to pedal. I am also out of shape, and still over 400 pounds, so I have to go with baby steps.
The reason for trying the bike now is that I started Atkins again and after a successful start in which I lost almost 18 pounds, I have kind of plateaued. I am happy going from a high of about 432 down to 414, I seem to yo-yo between 414 and 418, but it is time to actually start exercising. I doubt I can run with my knees. but biking is not as jolting on the body. I am also going to try and move around in the pool when I get the chance instead of laying in bed or sitting on my ass all day. There was a time when I could bicycle 10 miles at a time back in my early twenties, but that was half a lifetime ago. We'll see, I would like to get down to at least 350, 335 now that my brother said that was his weight.
If I can manage this, the next part will be to start lifting weights again. It is awesome that I have Javalina in the start of his prime. I will try to ride him back to glory. As long as I can lift a little more than him, I feel good, but that boy keeps getting bigger and stronger every day. He is drinking two gallons of milk a week and he does lift weights here at home on his own. If he was as driven as I used to be back in the day, he would be a scary boy. Him being lazy is allowing me to stay within striking distance.
I would say it has been a good month and a half to two months since then and though my legs still feel heavy, my knees are not in pain like they used to be. I tried going out a few houses, like before, and this time the discomfort was bearable. I lifted the seat a little more so my legs wouldn't reach up to a full 90 degrees in the upstroke and this helped a little more. After trying it out, I called Javalina out, he has constantly been telling me he wants to jog with me while I bike. We finally did our maiden voyage together. We only went around the first block in our community, but I thought it was very good. First of all, it is a new bike for me, one with these oversized tires, which make it harder to bike as they have more surface area touching the road, so more effort is needed to pedal. I am also out of shape, and still over 400 pounds, so I have to go with baby steps.
The reason for trying the bike now is that I started Atkins again and after a successful start in which I lost almost 18 pounds, I have kind of plateaued. I am happy going from a high of about 432 down to 414, I seem to yo-yo between 414 and 418, but it is time to actually start exercising. I doubt I can run with my knees. but biking is not as jolting on the body. I am also going to try and move around in the pool when I get the chance instead of laying in bed or sitting on my ass all day. There was a time when I could bicycle 10 miles at a time back in my early twenties, but that was half a lifetime ago. We'll see, I would like to get down to at least 350, 335 now that my brother said that was his weight.
If I can manage this, the next part will be to start lifting weights again. It is awesome that I have Javalina in the start of his prime. I will try to ride him back to glory. As long as I can lift a little more than him, I feel good, but that boy keeps getting bigger and stronger every day. He is drinking two gallons of milk a week and he does lift weights here at home on his own. If he was as driven as I used to be back in the day, he would be a scary boy. Him being lazy is allowing me to stay within striking distance.
7/5/20 Hamilton (play on Disney+)?
Wife asked me last night if I wanted to see Hamilton on Disney+, to which I quickly responded no. We had a pretty long day outside grilling and swimming and having a good time, even if it was just us, DD and his GF. We actually went up to our bedroom by 10:00pm and I thought we were going to call it an early night. As usual, I laid in bed playing on my phone watching Tik Tok videos and Wife sat on one of our leather chairs and watched TV. I fell asleep for at least an hour before waking around 11:30pm and even wondering to Wife, wow, the day isn't even over yet and I am worn out. She continued watching TV, I somehow stayed awake, then she switched over to the ROKU, went to pee and started watching the beginning of Hamilton. I was going to go to sleep, went to pee myself and came back to a snappy rap by a bunch of black guys dressed like our forefathers. I figured this was the play, but was heavily confused by the actors, for a minute. It seemed like 90 percent of the actors were black or mixed which if we are watching a period type of show, I wouldn't expect that. At one point Wife asked, knowing the answer "was Aaron Burr black?" I said "no, all I remember about him is he shot somebody in a duel." (the somebody was Hamilton) I could not stop watching and within the first minute I was hooked. I did get heavily sleepy by the second half, it is about 2 hours and 40 minutes long, but hung in there until about 3:45am.
The play takes us through the life of Alexander Hamilton, he was one of our founding fathers, though he did not sign the Declaration of Independence, he did frame the Constitution, was a founder of the Federalist Party, the first Secretary of the Treasury under George Washington, founded the polity's financial system, founded the Coast Guard, and the New York Post. He was very influential in our early years as George Washington's "aide de camp" (his right hand man as they sing in the play), and as Washington's chief staff aide, he handled the bulk of correspondence to Congress, state governors, and the most powerful generals of the Continental Army. Hamilton had a hunger and a desire all his life to succeed and leave a mark on this earth. He seemed to value his career path more than a social and family life. He did eventually marry, possibly to advance his position in life as he chose one of the Schuyler sisters, Eliza, even though he seemed more interested and aligned with the eldest, Angelica. Still, he was married for 24 years and they did have eight children, the eldest Phillip died by duel three years earlier than when his father would meet the same fate.
I can see the popularity of this play, we (Americans as a majority) aren't usually interested in plays but this one falls into one of those interesting rare points of interest, such as Chicago, mostly because it gives us an inside look into our history, and honestly even if the whole is not entirely historically correct, it was entertaining and worth the time spent. I would even say I am looking forward to seeing it again today while I am fully awake and alert because it does move through the actions of the man's life swiftly.
Saturday, July 4, 2020
7/4/20 Independence Day?
Another holiday spent in isolation, this is getting old, but I guess at least we are still alive. For the 4th of July, Wife got me going on the idea of spending it in the backyard, maybe even swimming. for that to happen, I had to get my ass in gear and get the pool clean. For the second time this season, I got a plug of leaves and crap in the plumbing leading to the pool pump, so it did not want to run. There is a section that has two ninety degree turns and for some reason this is where the stuff accumulates. Last time it happened, I got pissed off enough that I just cut the pipe, pulled the crud out, and glued it back together. This time, I was able to unclog it by just turning off and on the pump like 6-7 times. I started doing this on Tuesday, and by Wednesday the water was looking a very light green, by Thursday it was a cloudy light blue and by Friday it was looking clear enough. I got in the pool Friday night to check out the bottom and walls to see if they felt rough or something weird. All was good, and today, Wife finally got in with me. It had to have been a good three years since we had been in there for fun.
While we were working on the backyard, I decided to re-wire the speakers I have attached to the wall about 9 feet off the ground. These are good outdoor speakers, Bose, I think and after not having been used for the last 3-4 years, they worked like the day I bought them after I ran new speaker wire to them. The old wire was just destroyed by the sun, all the plastic sheathing just got brittle and broke off. Instead of doing all this work in the heat and middle of the day, I was up at 9:30am, went outside, got the pool pump running, and even cleaned the grill and loaded it with new charcoal so I would be ready for our 3:00-4:00pm start that Wife wanted to do.
Other things we did to be ready was to have Javalina cut the grass in the backyard Monday and Tuesday. The yard had not been trimmed in at least a month and it was starting to look insurmountable. He cut it, I trimmed a bit more on our palm trees and Wife trimmed the yard after he had cut it. The other thing we did was run to the store on Thursday and it was a whole different world than going on the weekend. There were hardly any customers which we could tell outside because of all the parking spots available. This was nice, we got all the stuff we needed, knowing we were going to grill. I thought this was much better than waiting and trying to shop on Saturday when everything is so congested.
All in all, this has been a very relaxed day. We grilled, swam in the pool, listened to a little soft rock on Magic 95.5, and ate until I got sleepy and for an encore, Wife says we are going back outside to swim a little more. I have been talking to my family on and off all day through text and they are doing about the same as far as grilling and just staying home and trying to stay healthy.
While we were working on the backyard, I decided to re-wire the speakers I have attached to the wall about 9 feet off the ground. These are good outdoor speakers, Bose, I think and after not having been used for the last 3-4 years, they worked like the day I bought them after I ran new speaker wire to them. The old wire was just destroyed by the sun, all the plastic sheathing just got brittle and broke off. Instead of doing all this work in the heat and middle of the day, I was up at 9:30am, went outside, got the pool pump running, and even cleaned the grill and loaded it with new charcoal so I would be ready for our 3:00-4:00pm start that Wife wanted to do.
Other things we did to be ready was to have Javalina cut the grass in the backyard Monday and Tuesday. The yard had not been trimmed in at least a month and it was starting to look insurmountable. He cut it, I trimmed a bit more on our palm trees and Wife trimmed the yard after he had cut it. The other thing we did was run to the store on Thursday and it was a whole different world than going on the weekend. There were hardly any customers which we could tell outside because of all the parking spots available. This was nice, we got all the stuff we needed, knowing we were going to grill. I thought this was much better than waiting and trying to shop on Saturday when everything is so congested.
All in all, this has been a very relaxed day. We grilled, swam in the pool, listened to a little soft rock on Magic 95.5, and ate until I got sleepy and for an encore, Wife says we are going back outside to swim a little more. I have been talking to my family on and off all day through text and they are doing about the same as far as grilling and just staying home and trying to stay healthy.
Friday, July 3, 2020
7/3/20 Stranded, At The Drive-In?
Like Rizzo, in Grease, I feel stranded, alone, trapped, the campus nurse for Cypress (where we are located), just called me and said I am to stay home because of Covid-19 that my son's girlfriend tested positive for. She moved in about six months ago, so she is very much part of the family now so we are riding this out together. The nurse actually said I am to wait until the girlfriend has gone past the ten days of quarantine and has at least three days of no symptoms. She was feeling better last night, she told me she was finally feeling like herself yesterday afternoon when I saw her moving around in the bedroom. I started telling the nurse that, then Wife said that she did mention she had headaches and a light fever last night. She is getting better, I believe. Last week, she had a fever of 102 for a few days, this week the fever is only getting up to 100 or so. I can only say we have been lucky, the rest of us have not shown any symptoms, so far. My son did go and get tested the same time she went and he came back negative. I don't understand this virus, they sleep together and they are together in that room almost twenty four hours a day (before she got sick), how does one person get it and the other does not? I was very worried of this since Boy has had typhus and mono in the last few years and the doctor at Austin Regional Clinic said his immunity would be compromised for a few years.
The nurse said we should all be quarantining and I agree. My boys are here and hardly even go outside, except to cut the grass. We have been going to HEB once a week and that is about it for us leaving the house. Wife is off for two weeks, so for now, she is basically in quarantine. The last week she was at work, she told her boss we had a case of corona in the house and asked him if she should go home. He said "no, just stay in your office, you'll be fine." What is ironic is that the Multi-Hazard School Safety Audit Manual and has information for Covid-19, which is to follow the CDC guidelines and she should be staying home, but the boss overrode that. DD also got hit since he is living with us. He didn't want to mention it to his boss, but he let them know when the test results came back that she was positive and his boss told him to also stay in quarantine for fourteen days and to go get tested. He was climbing the walls that day because he is not used to staying home and like he says, prefers to be doing something. He said he found a place to test him the following morning in Kyle. Since he was sent home, he has been with the ex-girlfriend moving out of their old apartment and moving their stuff into storage.
As for me, I am fine here at home. I feel guilty not working, this has been the longest I have gone without reporting to work since I was looking for a job before I was hired by AMD. So I can look at it as a nice vacation away from work, luckily I love being in my house because of all the space we have. Right now, Wife and I are sitting at the kitchen table and it seems like no one else is home, but the boys and the girlfriend are each in separate rooms upstairs watching TV or playing video games and we can't tell. If DD was here, he sleeps in the guest room downstairs and if he was here, we wouldn't feel him either. We pay a pretty penny for the space, but in times like now, it is worth every cent.
The nurse said we should all be quarantining and I agree. My boys are here and hardly even go outside, except to cut the grass. We have been going to HEB once a week and that is about it for us leaving the house. Wife is off for two weeks, so for now, she is basically in quarantine. The last week she was at work, she told her boss we had a case of corona in the house and asked him if she should go home. He said "no, just stay in your office, you'll be fine." What is ironic is that the Multi-Hazard School Safety Audit Manual and has information for Covid-19, which is to follow the CDC guidelines and she should be staying home, but the boss overrode that. DD also got hit since he is living with us. He didn't want to mention it to his boss, but he let them know when the test results came back that she was positive and his boss told him to also stay in quarantine for fourteen days and to go get tested. He was climbing the walls that day because he is not used to staying home and like he says, prefers to be doing something. He said he found a place to test him the following morning in Kyle. Since he was sent home, he has been with the ex-girlfriend moving out of their old apartment and moving their stuff into storage.
As for me, I am fine here at home. I feel guilty not working, this has been the longest I have gone without reporting to work since I was looking for a job before I was hired by AMD. So I can look at it as a nice vacation away from work, luckily I love being in my house because of all the space we have. Right now, Wife and I are sitting at the kitchen table and it seems like no one else is home, but the boys and the girlfriend are each in separate rooms upstairs watching TV or playing video games and we can't tell. If DD was here, he sleeps in the guest room downstairs and if he was here, we wouldn't feel him either. We pay a pretty penny for the space, but in times like now, it is worth every cent.
Thursday, July 2, 2020
7/2/20 Keeping it 100?
The best story I have seen today on YouTube is one where this dumb 20-something bit off more than she could chew. A young adult, I hate 18 and above people being called children by the media when it is convenient. I mean on one side of the spectrum, we allow 18 year olds to vote, fight our wars, buy rifles and shotguns, buy cars, even houses if they have the means. On the other, the minute it serves someone with a platform's interest though, call that young adult a baby. This baby went a tad too far, she was spewing venom on her Tik-Tok page talking about killing anyone and she meant anyone who said All Lives Matter when it is supposed to be Black Lives Matter. Idiot, first of all, you don't look black, so why carry the battle flag for a different race when it is that inflammatory? Even if I have jumped off the liberal ship, yes, I believe black people should be treated just as fairly as anyone else and I think things are a lot better than they were and slowly getting better. For her efforts though, she was fired from a post graduate job at Harvard University. This was actually a "smart" person who got caught up playing games she didn't need to. Now she wants to blame Trump supporters for her losing her job. Who put that awful message on her Tik-Tok? She did. Enjoy the likes while you look for a new job in the real world, where adults actually still rule, let us know how far your message gets you.
On the thought of calling young adults babies, I saw another instance where two police officers were fighting with a "baby" as the woman loudest on camera kept screaming to let that "baby" go. People always want to assume the guy being taken down by force is good, and they are usually wrong. The "baby" was strong enough that the guys couldn't put his hands in cuffs and then it turns out once they kicked his ass into listening and complying, he was actually 23, had stolen from a store nearby, had a gun. and had assaulted people on the street, but you know, still a "baby" to the lady who gets to just disappear from the scene when she realizes she might be wrong.
The last thing is a parent's job is never done. I just saw the heartfelt story of the dad of one of the young men killed in CHAZ. He was devastated about his son being killed and getting nothing, not even a knock on the door from cops, BLM or anyone trying to apologize. The comments section was arguing about well, he was 19, you can't tell him what to do. Fuck That!!! My son is 26, has his GF living here and now that I see them both living here basically as my kids, I tell them shit all the time. The first night I even got angry and lost my shit telling both of them "I better not find out your stupid asses went downtown to check out the action." I don't trust groups of idiots gathering in large numbers and if there is no win for you, personally, why? They can get mad at me and call me an asshole, that doesn't hurt as much as a rubber bullet to the temple, which happened to one of those "babies." What did he get for his efforts? You just never know, but if you do your best to teach your own, hopefully, it can keep them around longer than yourself.
On the thought of calling young adults babies, I saw another instance where two police officers were fighting with a "baby" as the woman loudest on camera kept screaming to let that "baby" go. People always want to assume the guy being taken down by force is good, and they are usually wrong. The "baby" was strong enough that the guys couldn't put his hands in cuffs and then it turns out once they kicked his ass into listening and complying, he was actually 23, had stolen from a store nearby, had a gun. and had assaulted people on the street, but you know, still a "baby" to the lady who gets to just disappear from the scene when she realizes she might be wrong.
The last thing is a parent's job is never done. I just saw the heartfelt story of the dad of one of the young men killed in CHAZ. He was devastated about his son being killed and getting nothing, not even a knock on the door from cops, BLM or anyone trying to apologize. The comments section was arguing about well, he was 19, you can't tell him what to do. Fuck That!!! My son is 26, has his GF living here and now that I see them both living here basically as my kids, I tell them shit all the time. The first night I even got angry and lost my shit telling both of them "I better not find out your stupid asses went downtown to check out the action." I don't trust groups of idiots gathering in large numbers and if there is no win for you, personally, why? They can get mad at me and call me an asshole, that doesn't hurt as much as a rubber bullet to the temple, which happened to one of those "babies." What did he get for his efforts? You just never know, but if you do your best to teach your own, hopefully, it can keep them around longer than yourself.
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
7/1/20 Gurkel?
I just love that nickname, it is from Black-ish and is a combo of girl and Urkel. The dad used it to make fun of the daughter because with glasses she acted goofier and was basically Urkel from the show Family Matters, one of the most famous nerds on TV. Anyways, I am now able to use it on my lovely wife. It seems that Miss Bossy Boss has eyes that are failing her a little bit and lately she had started doing that thing of putting reading material way out as far as her arms could reach. Like everyone else, she had been putting it off because of Covid-19 and the thought that nobody was doing elective work. It has seemed to be getting worse and worse, so I told her to try and call around since she is off for two weeks and can thus do stuff like dilate her eyes and be blind for an afternoon.
She has a small town finicky insurance, but she was able to find an optometrist in town who took it so she made the call. I was hoping to merely be a spectator but I was pulled into the operation to be the driver. She was worried she wouldn't be able to drive after so she asked me to take her. It actually was a good thing that I went. It turns out that there is a whole beautification service community there on Manchaca Street, south of Slaughter Lane. I saw a dentist, the optometrist, hair salon, nail salon, and even a plastic surgeon, along with a realtor and a mini-mart gas station. I was not allowed to get off, so I stayed in the Excursion went and filled up and drove around the neighborhood. I liked the idea of seeing the plastic surgeon to treat my varicose veins I have around my ankle so I don't have to worry about them bleeding. I called the number on the door but nobody answered. I have the name of the business and their website, so at some point I will take care of this, plus I won't have to go downtown which I absolutely hate doing.
Wife was seen pretty quick, I swear, by the time I parked I heard maybe 20 minutes worth of music and had just started to drift off into a nap before Wife called that she was done. I was allowed to go into the reception area with a mask to help Wife choose her first glasses. I suggested a pair of Oakley because I am a tool and prefer name brands, but she liked another no name brand that her insurance would cover completely. The only suggestion I gave her was to go with a black frame versus the grey one she was leaning to. The lady helping with the glasses gave her a list of options and after she did the rundown, she had a choice of bifocals versus progressives which are different in that they don't have a distinct line where it changes from one lens strength to another. The bifocals were an extra $65 out of pocket while the progressives were like $365 plus the cost of the exam and other stuff. Knowing how frugal my Gurkel is, I knew which pair she would choose, even as I said get what you want.
As we discussed, she only needs them while sitting in front of the computer or reading, so it is fine if they are a little nerdy. It will take about two weeks to get them made, luckily she is on vacation so she is not doing heavily stressful work right now on the computer.
She has a small town finicky insurance, but she was able to find an optometrist in town who took it so she made the call. I was hoping to merely be a spectator but I was pulled into the operation to be the driver. She was worried she wouldn't be able to drive after so she asked me to take her. It actually was a good thing that I went. It turns out that there is a whole beautification service community there on Manchaca Street, south of Slaughter Lane. I saw a dentist, the optometrist, hair salon, nail salon, and even a plastic surgeon, along with a realtor and a mini-mart gas station. I was not allowed to get off, so I stayed in the Excursion went and filled up and drove around the neighborhood. I liked the idea of seeing the plastic surgeon to treat my varicose veins I have around my ankle so I don't have to worry about them bleeding. I called the number on the door but nobody answered. I have the name of the business and their website, so at some point I will take care of this, plus I won't have to go downtown which I absolutely hate doing.
Wife was seen pretty quick, I swear, by the time I parked I heard maybe 20 minutes worth of music and had just started to drift off into a nap before Wife called that she was done. I was allowed to go into the reception area with a mask to help Wife choose her first glasses. I suggested a pair of Oakley because I am a tool and prefer name brands, but she liked another no name brand that her insurance would cover completely. The only suggestion I gave her was to go with a black frame versus the grey one she was leaning to. The lady helping with the glasses gave her a list of options and after she did the rundown, she had a choice of bifocals versus progressives which are different in that they don't have a distinct line where it changes from one lens strength to another. The bifocals were an extra $65 out of pocket while the progressives were like $365 plus the cost of the exam and other stuff. Knowing how frugal my Gurkel is, I knew which pair she would choose, even as I said get what you want.
As we discussed, she only needs them while sitting in front of the computer or reading, so it is fine if they are a little nerdy. It will take about two weeks to get them made, luckily she is on vacation so she is not doing heavily stressful work right now on the computer.
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