One year ago today: October 10, 2016, pure raw genius.
Five years ago today: October 10, 2012, if I was president . . .
Nine years ago today: October 10, 2008, 81,420,000 cats.
Random years ago today: October 10, 2013, and it still works today.
Blog rules, I report the big incident of the day. I found a $50 grocery card with the pin number on a scrap of paper beside it. That’s it, the rest of the day kind of sucked. It’s not over yet, but man, without a motorcycle, there is not a lot to do at my age in central Florida except chase the non-existent women. But the rule says I’m to blog the high points of the day, even if those are only visible at low tide. Aching parts forced me to take the day off, so I embarked on a little independent research. You might find this interesting, the path I took to get to a topic.
[Author’s note: I have no current original pictures for you today, so the photos in today’s post are random shots that caught my interest over time or found in my archives. Like this picture of “Autopia”, an auto parts store in Detroit that has attained the degree of equality that the Liberals of America have in mind for you and your family. Give till it hurts.]
Let’s not confuse semi-trucks with cars, they are even governed by different laws. Software companies are undoubtedly looking closely at the savings if you could just get rid of those drivers. I know parts of the country where truck driving is the biggest employer in town. What is not widely understood is that when the trucks go driverless, it is an overnight change. Nobody else will be able to compete. But that’s not what worries me.
It is the willingness of the system to let this thing happen that raises questions. If you invented a replacement for oil, you’d be dead by tomorrow. If you tried to put 2 million people out of work in a day, you’d be arrested. There is a sluggishness built into the system that does allow overnight changes, rather there are laws in place that make sure every bureaucrat along the way gets his cut first. Then I read that Budweiser ran a self-driving truck on a 120-mile delivery. At that point, they shut the hell up. Only tidbits of news have trickled down since.
If these people were thinking ahead, they would also use the extra savings and 24-hour driving capability to improve the reputation of trucks on the road. Like keep them in the far right lane at 55 mph after dark. Space them two miles apart. They cannot drive in your blind spot or beside you for more than five seconds, no side roads after dark, and a dozen other items of freeway etiquette. I used my 15 years at the phone company to train for a better job. If you are a truck driver and have not done something similar, good luck. I’d say the countdown has begun.
Bermuda Triangle sand bar.
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All we hear is the propaganda that driverless is better, safer, cheaper, etc. I categorically state those reasons alone are not enough to explain why the government isn’t declaring its involvement. Buddy, you can bet your petunia they are in this up to their $200 haircuts. The big boys did not see the Internet coming and they would give who knows what to get out of that tottering stock market and back into something they can control. The distribution system.
[Author’s note: here’s a snap of a trip to the river in the pickup truck a few months back. Notice the major crack in the windshield? The freedom to hop in the old cornbinder and take off when you please will soon be a distant memory. The new driverless cars will be here, and they won’t start if they detect any damage such as shown here. Do you side with safety, or with freedom? Hint: it is possible to have too much safety.]
The car will ID you and check for outstanding warrants, taxes, or utility bills. A complete record of every destination will be kept and good luck if someone matching your profile knocks over a liquor store. It’s not as difficult as you think for them to pull this off. Simply make a law that you can’t drive your own car any more. And expect the car to record everything you say or do while you’re in it.
I’m out of DVDs so I’m watching some indie documentaries. This one is “Living On One Dollar”, two rich kids decide to tough it out in a Guatemalan village on a buck a day for fifty-six days. It’s amusing in the sense that it is the type of production you or I could make if we had the right gear and were fanatically mis-informed about the big picture and trying to compare apples and oranges. True, over a billion people live on less than a dollar a day, but pal, it has been the fastest growing segment of the population since before I was born.
I know the school system does not encourage students to ask questions, but most of the world does not live in a money-based economy. They barter a lot and produce most of what they need to survive. Nobody disputes their poverty and lack of opportunity, but those things are present in every society. Still, I commend the young people who at least go out there and see for themselves. And have $20 to $30,000 to make a DVD about it.
There’s something. I identified with the poor people in the movies. No, I do not have the long-term hopelessness they live and die with, but where I drew parallels is how they formed buyer’s clubs and all got cookstoves. I tried that many times but the first person who got the payout would say to hell with you and quit—and the law does not let you go after them. The films happy ending was how the people got micro-loans and started businesses like weaving, a store, and woodcutting. I know about that. I know what is needed to get out of that poverty cycle because I did it. And I never got to micro-loan to make it easier.
The young men producing the film did an admirable job, but they could have used a hand with the script. They assumed none of us know what poverty or hunger are like, that all of us had time and money to travel to central America when we were twenty to play at being poor. For them, insecure income was a threat, walking to town was a chore, and living on beans and rice gave them indigestion. Lord help these people if they ever had to live a year of my life at that age.
The situation they describe in those peasants, having to work at such low-paying jobs that after survival, there was no hope of saving enough money to even consider getting through school. I tackled the situation successfully by myself, even though it took half my life. But there is not enough money in the world to help people who will not help themselves. I’m not saying my situation was equal to those peasants, but I know far more about conquering poverty than the guys who played poor for eight weeks.
“This is an impressive crowd:
the haves, and the have-mores.”
~ G.W. Bush, 2000.
Yep, insurance companies are your culprit. Before somebody can steal your identity, they have to be aware you exist. They normally don’t go looking, they find the easiest information they can lay their hands on. When I was in the insurance agent’s office two weeks ago, I told him I was giving him this information solely for the purpose of getting and insurance policy and because he told me he would refuse to sell me a policy if I did not. (Must be nice to be paid for being an asshole.) Anyway, within 96 hours, every piece of information I told him was published on the Internet. Good thing I gave him my office address and told him I had no phone, huh?
So, let’s do the math. $143 million Americans, most have more than one card, but for the sake of calculation, say it’s one. So that means a theft of $143,000,000,000. A hundred and forty-three billion dollars. Now, that’s an average. People like me with no credit cards will lose nothing. Bell curve it and say 63% of cardholders will take the biggest hit. But what determines who those people will be? Obviously, the bad guys are going to pick the easiest suckers in the lot. I’ve got $10 that says it will be the stupidest ones, you know, the ones with “nothing to hide”. BWAAAA-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
The picture, I can’t explain. Me holding a box of baking soda. It’s meaning lost in antiquity. And I’ve got this great new pickup line: “Wanna go steady with Hitler?”
ADDENDUM
The news said some big Hollywood producer died today. They say he was “responsible” for all kinds of major movies such as “The English Patient”. I’ve never seen or heard of any of them except that one. But, the media assures me he was very famous. Or how about the other guy who stepped down because of charges of sexual harassment. I’m still of the opinion that harassment is what happens to women who screw the boss but don’t become his favorite.
I’m on that theme because the only unwatched DVD left in my cupboard is “Beyond The Sea”. What’s the slang term for such movies, based on washed up old acts that can be hired on the cheap? You know, movies that feature chorus lines, jazz musicians, and fading downtown clubs. I know there is a slang term, because there are so many such movies.
This movie, I watched only ten minutes and already I’m not buying the plot. I think it is the story of Bobby Darin, but I know nothing of Bobby Darin. If the story is real, then I’m less impressed. The kid was raised around music with a mother who was a dancer and singer, who showed him the ropes and was behind his career and provided him the path to Broadway. To me, a kid with an upbringing like that would have to be a total knucklehead to not succeed.
He had the kind of support the rest of us can’t imagine so yes, I find it repugnant to hear such people moan about the hard work involved. Come out to the farm for a few weeks, you sniveling brat, and we’ll see how much energy you have left for such pipe dreams. My family never provided a single word of encouragement, although once a year for four years, my mother did attend the piano recital. For show. My brothers and sisters? Ha, are you pulling my leg?
Last Laugh
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