One year ago today: May 11, 2013, mostly speculation.
Five years ago today: May 11, 2009, downtown movie set.
Here’s a busy picture. But you are supposed to notice all the paraphernalia is attached to that bicycle. Lots of tinfoil, airfoil, and a battery operated fan on the handlebars. Difficult to see are all the tiny guy wires that are used to operate the “sails”. The poor man’s land yacht? I don’t care for the pink wheel rims but the guy who drives this is a harmless local yahoo.
One thing is certain is I’m sure glad I never joined the military. They are still fighting World War II and since then have not really won a single legitimate victory. Overthrowing banana republics and replacing the asshole-in-charge doesn’t count. Invading Iraq neither, as it is now known that was a successful Iranian ploy to get us to beat up their neighbor.
The authors of the articles obvious have in-depth knowledge of how the US system works and if even a fraction of it is realistic, we are in deep doo-doo. The army and such are being run like a business operation, in particular, a corporation. Everybody in charge, nobody in control, cover your backside, dodge responsibility, protect your turf, get that promotion.
Trivia. How would you like a straightforward explanation of mercantilism? If you don’t even know what that is, say “Yes” anyhow. It is a way of doing business. It is one form of capitalism that has become so common few give it a second thought. But it came about because of banks. If you think of business as the classical application of overhead to materials and labor in order to produce a product that sells for a higher price than the combined inputs, you are close but outdated by around a century. Mercantilism does not produce any goods. It works totally by selling, not by producing.
Stay with me, the definition is a long sentence. A mercantile business borrows money to buy goods which are marked up in price to sell at a profit out of which the borrowed money is paid back plus interest. All of the parts must be present. This use of credit is therefore an integral part of mercantilism. That is why you sometimes see a “Mercantile Bank”. Credit seems incidental to the model but it is the critical factor and the business could not normally operate without it. Sadly, credit is a form of economic friction and all credit-based businesses must eventually fail. There have been proposals to outlaw mercantilism.
Here’s something that could be a milestone or blog-bragging or just something. Finally, in the past month there has never been a moment in time when this blog was not active, even if it was only one reader. The powers that be don’t see fit to publish that statistic, but it seems to require at least 104 hits per day to have 24 hour coverage. This blog was originally designed to represent five to seven minutes reading time, that is, half a coffee break. Per-reader time is actually nearly twice that, but bear in mind this could be due to all kinds of variables that have little to do with content.
So there, Ken, you are finally infamous. The threshold has been crossed, people who you’ve never met know you are a liar. No matter what you do now, that is how you go down in history. On average, somebody, somewhere is always reading this blog. And close to 15 minutes per read means it isn’t all that boring. At least not “Catcher In the Rye” boring. I can’t get past the second chapter of Salinger and I’m not that easily wearied. Hey, I read “Caribecana” didn’t I?
The quadcopter crashed. I remarked it was susceptible to crosswinds. The rule of thumb is if you can see the starts on the flag, it is too windy. So maybe I was wrong to tell the guy to watch a Russian flag instead, on the premise it must be made of heavier material. That’s a wee joke, guys. The new quad replacement is twice as large, almost five feet across. We got a picture of some accidents over on the highway, but only after the crash. Some bozo hit a lamp standard, claiming he was cut off. Strange, I think, how often being cut off happens to certain people and so rarely to others. Like myself.
ADDENDUM
I went to Starbucks for an early evening coffee. At least I didn’t go to Dunkin. I don’t go there to meet women, but yes, I take mental note of what is available. Tonight was scary. Without going into much detail, I’d like to tie this coffee into two other occurrences. Item One, I noticed the large number of men in their early twenties who grumble there are no good women left, so anyone who says I’m the only one can screw the pooch. But what shocks me is that when I was twenty, there were so many great women I could not make up my mind. If these guys can’t get them when they are young and virile, they are in for more trouble than they know.
Item Two, I stress my problem is not meeting women, I meet lots of women of the kind I don’t want. Please, I’ve heard all the standard retorts. I’ll tell you now how on Friday last I almost went to a convention full of women. But I decided not to attend, I have been disappointed too often. Meeting tons of women these days means meeting women by the ton, if you get my drift. I tell you from experience, meeting women in groups does not work for me, it just does not work. What was this convention thing?
It was in Ft. Lauderdale, the “Celebration of Women”, the usual hen party. Booths, wine-tasting, free samples. Open to the public, that’s the kind of place I’d show up if I was forty again. Don’t listen to anyone who says I look in the wrong places. I just decided not to go, as it was a Friday evening event. That’s my absolute statistical worst time for meeting women who let me down. I could go to a show like that and meet thirty women, all of whom would lie to me. It’s happened before.
Which brings up the point of what lets me down. Women who over-promise and under-deliver. That burns me, women who put on a great show for the first month. Have we met anyone like that recently? What about the standards thing, what are my standards? Foremost, if you want something from me, be prepared to have something similar to offer in return. Your own money, your own car, your own life, these things are preferable. Even then, I’m pretty flexible on that, though, I don’t think I’ve ever even dated a gal who didn’t have her own car until I moved to Florida.
Don’t confuse standards with preferences. Yes, I would prefer a gal who could sing, read, write, drive, and has some kind semblance of a career goal and an education. But I’ve long since given up on that. Might as well look for a gal who plays in a band, studies electronics, owns her own place, authors a blog, has her own money, possesses an active imagination, and drives a sidecar. It would help a little if she’s seen some of the world, spoke a couple of languages, loved travel, and had done a few things in this life. Sigh, but people like that just don’t exist.
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