Maybe a couple of years ago I started a blog, well, actually probably three years ago as I remember one post where I stated I was 61.
Anyway, I got to thinking that I had everything thrown into one big pile, daily stuff, cruises, vacations, etc. I decided to rearrange a bit, so I moved all of my personal views stuff under this blog title.
So if you read it, you'll find that the posts are not chronological nor are they dated with the dates they were actually written. I could have done all that, but I admit, I'm lazy!!!!!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Just my .02 cents worth
I am a devote advocate for freedom. Our military men and women sacrifice daily to ensure our borders our protected. And by doing this, they willingly place themselves in harms way. Being a retired US Army Infantry First Sergeant with 24 years of active service, I have first hand experience of what these men and women go through. It is sad that we cannot protect everyone from everything! From terrorist acts, to school shootings, to mall shootings and whatever other rampage someone goes on. We, all of us, have to take an active role in ensuring our own safety. This is called responsibility. We cannot blame a teacher or a pastor or an employer for something catastrophic that may take place. We cannot blame a gun manufacturer because someone purchased their product and used it against mankind. Just as we can't blame the car manufacturer because someone ran a stop sign and crashed into our car.
In my intro I state that I am 61, yep, born in 1946, ahh the good years. The years where kids played outside til dark. The years that if I got rowdy in school, the teacher had the authority to discipline me. The years that our next door neighbors were respected and listened to. The years where parents took an active role in our growing up, without fear of a social worker snatching our child because of abuse. The years where family did things together, whether we (the children) wanted to or not! The years where Wednesday night was "Prince" spaghetti night! Really showed my age on that one huh!
My point is, we the people cannot stand by and expect someone else to take responsibility for our actions. If we show up late for work too many times and get fired, its not our boss's fault, it's our's! If our child gets a failing grade in school, it's not the teacher's fault, it's our's. We need to get involved and stay involved. We need to accept responsibility for our own actions. We cannot, cannot, rely on our government to protect us from everything. We have allowed the government to enter our homes and tell us that we can no longer spank our children. We can no longer smoke ( I am a non-smoker) in public areas, because of the health hazard to others. The health hazard is not the smoker, it is us not taking the responsibility to not go into a place where we know they are smoking. I really have to laugh at us. How smart are we really? We condemn smokers because they are killing us, yet every day in our local newspaper we read about the drunk that killed a family of four! Yet we don't ban bars, nightclubs, or restaurants that serve booze!!!!!
We all have the freedoms, granted and secured by our armed forces; we have rights, granted and upheld by our government and our judicial system; and we have responsibility for ourselves. We cannot blame or expect anyone other than us to ensure our responsibility. This was taught to me by my father. His words still echoe; "the world doesn't owe you anything; if you want it, you'll need to work for it, no one is going to hand you your life on a silver platter."
I say lobby for those actions that will ensure a life for our families and their families. Stop blaming others for those things we are responsible for and take action, not a backseat or finger point, to ensure our responsibilities are not compromised.
In my intro I state that I am 61, yep, born in 1946, ahh the good years. The years where kids played outside til dark. The years that if I got rowdy in school, the teacher had the authority to discipline me. The years that our next door neighbors were respected and listened to. The years where parents took an active role in our growing up, without fear of a social worker snatching our child because of abuse. The years where family did things together, whether we (the children) wanted to or not! The years where Wednesday night was "Prince" spaghetti night! Really showed my age on that one huh!
My point is, we the people cannot stand by and expect someone else to take responsibility for our actions. If we show up late for work too many times and get fired, its not our boss's fault, it's our's! If our child gets a failing grade in school, it's not the teacher's fault, it's our's. We need to get involved and stay involved. We need to accept responsibility for our own actions. We cannot, cannot, rely on our government to protect us from everything. We have allowed the government to enter our homes and tell us that we can no longer spank our children. We can no longer smoke ( I am a non-smoker) in public areas, because of the health hazard to others. The health hazard is not the smoker, it is us not taking the responsibility to not go into a place where we know they are smoking. I really have to laugh at us. How smart are we really? We condemn smokers because they are killing us, yet every day in our local newspaper we read about the drunk that killed a family of four! Yet we don't ban bars, nightclubs, or restaurants that serve booze!!!!!
We all have the freedoms, granted and secured by our armed forces; we have rights, granted and upheld by our government and our judicial system; and we have responsibility for ourselves. We cannot blame or expect anyone other than us to ensure our responsibility. This was taught to me by my father. His words still echoe; "the world doesn't owe you anything; if you want it, you'll need to work for it, no one is going to hand you your life on a silver platter."
I say lobby for those actions that will ensure a life for our families and their families. Stop blaming others for those things we are responsible for and take action, not a backseat or finger point, to ensure our responsibilities are not compromised.
It's NOT about me!!!!
As I was driving down the road today I made a few observations, most I am sure took place prior to the elderly woman pulling out in front of me!!! And then she went less than a quarter mile and turned off unto a side street. Yep you guessed, white hair, couldn't see over the steering wheel and was driving a cadillac!
Remember I am 61, so I am not dis'ing the elderly. I just think that in order to drive a few things need to be in proper working order. I've listed a few in no particular order. Eyesight; hearing; ability to gauge distance and determine if you really have enough room to make the turn; and the height to see over the steering wheel. If you eyes are sensitive to sunlight, then maybe driving at high noon is not a good choice. Oh yeah, one other thing I just thought of, if you are going to pull out, damn it, know where the gas pedal is!!!!!!
Okay, on to the title at hand. No it's not about me and thank God it isn't. No matter where you are today everyone about you feels its all about them. Rules and common courtesies only apply to those that know them. The other day I am in the local bank drive-in window line. Two vehicles at the two open windows, no one else in the lot. So I pull in and hang back, figuring to go to whatever window opens first. In comes a little convertible sports car. Sorry, but this time it really was a woman driver! She slows, then pulls around me and drives up behind one of the cars at the window. Now my immediate response was, "yep you're right lady, I'm just sitting here passing time." The I thought out loud, said a few choice adverbs and adjectives, you may refer to them as expletives!
Then I came to my senses, silly me, it's all about her!
People today are just too caught up in their only little world and when things don't go their way they throw a tantrum. It's okay for them to cut lines, disregard rules, and basically to do whatever it is they want to do, because afterall, "it's all about them."
One day this world is going to wake up and realize that we are all in this together and that playing fair and by the rules makes it so much more enjoyable.
For me, theres more of my life behind me than there is in front of me, so I am going to continue to try to live it right. Someone once wrote, "when on your death bed and looking back upon your life, you are not going to think about the things you did, rather you'll think about the things you didn't do." I am hoping that list for me is short, afterall "it's really not about me!"
Remember I am 61, so I am not dis'ing the elderly. I just think that in order to drive a few things need to be in proper working order. I've listed a few in no particular order. Eyesight; hearing; ability to gauge distance and determine if you really have enough room to make the turn; and the height to see over the steering wheel. If you eyes are sensitive to sunlight, then maybe driving at high noon is not a good choice. Oh yeah, one other thing I just thought of, if you are going to pull out, damn it, know where the gas pedal is!!!!!!
Okay, on to the title at hand. No it's not about me and thank God it isn't. No matter where you are today everyone about you feels its all about them. Rules and common courtesies only apply to those that know them. The other day I am in the local bank drive-in window line. Two vehicles at the two open windows, no one else in the lot. So I pull in and hang back, figuring to go to whatever window opens first. In comes a little convertible sports car. Sorry, but this time it really was a woman driver! She slows, then pulls around me and drives up behind one of the cars at the window. Now my immediate response was, "yep you're right lady, I'm just sitting here passing time." The I thought out loud, said a few choice adverbs and adjectives, you may refer to them as expletives!
Then I came to my senses, silly me, it's all about her!
People today are just too caught up in their only little world and when things don't go their way they throw a tantrum. It's okay for them to cut lines, disregard rules, and basically to do whatever it is they want to do, because afterall, "it's all about them."
One day this world is going to wake up and realize that we are all in this together and that playing fair and by the rules makes it so much more enjoyable.
For me, theres more of my life behind me than there is in front of me, so I am going to continue to try to live it right. Someone once wrote, "when on your death bed and looking back upon your life, you are not going to think about the things you did, rather you'll think about the things you didn't do." I am hoping that list for me is short, afterall "it's really not about me!"
Recession, depression, excession!
I am so confused these days as to what exactly is happening to our fragile economy. Some say recession, could be, but no one is jumping off roof-tops, so I say hard times that we all need to learn to deal with. With gas at $3.50 at the pump, and the big oil guru's reporting record profits, I doubt we'll ever see gas below $3.00 ever again. It's really comical maybe at how the oil companies are reporting these huge profits. They give a run down for every little aspect of their business, research, drilling, imports/exports etc. When they get to refining they show little profit in that area. Of course they would, they have to show us that they have to raise the price of gas so they can continue to refine. And then our great news guru's report "the demand for gasoline is down." What, how the hell can it be down and we're still paying high dollar. When I was in school so many years ago, I was taught the relationship between supply and demand. If supply is high and there is no demand, cost factors go down. Hmmm, did I miss something?
Surely in the true scope and definition of the word, we are not anywhere close to depression, yet! If all the layoffs, cutbacks, price raises etc. continue, we surely could dip in that direction. I do believe though, that we are smart enough in this country not to allow that to happen.
Now for my sniglet, excession! Look around, doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out we have too damn much in this country. A couple of examples. My disclaimer, seems in this day and age you have to have a disclaimer for everything; "I am not in anyway attacking or faulting anyone or any business for trying to make a buck."
I live in a city of roughly 175,000, not a big city, but open up the yellow pages and look for automobile dealers. Too friggin' many thats for sure. Do these dealers really sell all these cars? Why do we need a half dozen Ford dealerships in a radius of 15 miles or so? Why do we need to have a Walgreens at every major intersection? Now you realize that Walgreens pays upfront for every store they build and thats a good thing. On to Kroger (grocery chain), Walmart, Target, and malls in general. Come on guys give us a break. You're killing me. Too many choices in too many directions. Why take the trees and leave a concrete/asphalt mass when you close that store.
We, as a people need to give up some of these wonderful conveniences. I'd rather drive a few mile further and enjoy the trees and nature along the way. Bottom line, we are killing our resources for the convenience of closeness. The "green" people that are so concerned about global warming, which to be truthful I have no idea what thats all about, pure air, recycling and the like, need to push for ordinances concerning these abandoned giant pads of concrete and asphalt. I say, if a business builds and moves to a new home they should be required to either sell, develop, or return that piece of abandoned property to it's natural state, whether that be forestry, green fields or creek beds, within a year of their move.
Okay I've rambled long enough, hell no one reads this crap anyway do they!
Surely in the true scope and definition of the word, we are not anywhere close to depression, yet! If all the layoffs, cutbacks, price raises etc. continue, we surely could dip in that direction. I do believe though, that we are smart enough in this country not to allow that to happen.
Now for my sniglet, excession! Look around, doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out we have too damn much in this country. A couple of examples. My disclaimer, seems in this day and age you have to have a disclaimer for everything; "I am not in anyway attacking or faulting anyone or any business for trying to make a buck."
I live in a city of roughly 175,000, not a big city, but open up the yellow pages and look for automobile dealers. Too friggin' many thats for sure. Do these dealers really sell all these cars? Why do we need a half dozen Ford dealerships in a radius of 15 miles or so? Why do we need to have a Walgreens at every major intersection? Now you realize that Walgreens pays upfront for every store they build and thats a good thing. On to Kroger (grocery chain), Walmart, Target, and malls in general. Come on guys give us a break. You're killing me. Too many choices in too many directions. Why take the trees and leave a concrete/asphalt mass when you close that store.
We, as a people need to give up some of these wonderful conveniences. I'd rather drive a few mile further and enjoy the trees and nature along the way. Bottom line, we are killing our resources for the convenience of closeness. The "green" people that are so concerned about global warming, which to be truthful I have no idea what thats all about, pure air, recycling and the like, need to push for ordinances concerning these abandoned giant pads of concrete and asphalt. I say, if a business builds and moves to a new home they should be required to either sell, develop, or return that piece of abandoned property to it's natural state, whether that be forestry, green fields or creek beds, within a year of their move.
Okay I've rambled long enough, hell no one reads this crap anyway do they!
So, where has customer service really gone?
One day this past week my "check engine" light came on in my 2003 Toyota truck. Figured I'd take it the local trusted Toyota folks. After sitting in the waiting room for 2 hours the service writer comes out and tells me that I have fuel filler leak! Huh? I don't see anything leaking, not leaking gas anywhere, surely I'd a noticed that. She tells me it'll be $469 to fix it!!! Huh, fix what? Then she mentions that I have an aftermarket gas cap and that probably caused my problem. Hmm, wait a sec. You're telling me that because I installed a locking gas cap, I have to spend $469 to fix it! Doesn't make sense to me. So I tell her, have the mechanic reset the computer, I'll re-install the factory gas cap and we'll see what happens. So I go out to my truck, open up the gas lid and voila' what do I find, my stupidity, when I filled up last, I didn't put the gas cap on tight!!! No wonder the warning light came on, the system lost its vacuum!!!!
Had a few other issues from that service visit, but I won't go into them. I will say this. The little experience I had that day, after dealing with these folks for over 5 years, caused me to lose all trust and respect with them and Toyota. Within 2days of the incident I traded the truck! No I did not and will not, buy another Toyota.
My point and my label to this experience is "Legal Stealing." My fault, I should have just brought the truck to my local gas station mechanic. More than likely he would have said, "looks like you didn't tighten the gas cap, there its tight now, shouldn't have any more problems. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!"
Had a few other issues from that service visit, but I won't go into them. I will say this. The little experience I had that day, after dealing with these folks for over 5 years, caused me to lose all trust and respect with them and Toyota. Within 2days of the incident I traded the truck! No I did not and will not, buy another Toyota.
My point and my label to this experience is "Legal Stealing." My fault, I should have just brought the truck to my local gas station mechanic. More than likely he would have said, "looks like you didn't tighten the gas cap, there its tight now, shouldn't have any more problems. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!"
Is it "I can't read?"
So my wife and I go to this neat little Dim Sum restaurant for a nice quiet lunch. At the "please wait to be seated" sign, there is a rather large sign that states, "this is a non-smoking, no cell phone establishment, please enjoy your meal." We are seated, only a few others are there for lunch. Seated across from our table is an elderly woman and gentleman. She is eating, he is yacking on his cell phone. Obviously the sign was for everyone but him!
Is our country really becoming like many other countries, where manners are non-existent? I'm just glad my parents brought me up to respect others and obey the rules!
Is our country really becoming like many other countries, where manners are non-existent? I'm just glad my parents brought me up to respect others and obey the rules!
Okay, so here I am waiting for the car to pull out____
in a crowed parking lot. A car pulls up to the left of me and stops, when the car I am waiting for to pull out, this car zips in front of me and parks! Whats up with that? I blow the horn, no response, so I pull up and wait for the driver to exit her vehicle, I politely say, "ma'am I was waiting for that space." She says, "no sir, I saw him pulling out and had to drive around the lot to get back, I saw him pulling out first."
I am sitting there in awe, what the hell just happened? Doesn't that suck! I said screw it and drove out of the lot and headed for home.
Two things happened here, well probably two initially, but a lasting after affect will linger. First, the business I was going to shop at, lost my business because of this woman's rudeness. Second, it just supports the reason other people hate other people. I am not prejudiced at all, and this incident surely spurred my anger with all the hype of wanting to be treated as an equal.
This woman just happened to be black, this time. It happened before to me by an older white woman. Truthfully, it kinda makes want to slap the crap out of them for their rudeness. Flat pisses me off that we cannot be courteous.
Oh well, just supports a previous post of mine titled, "It's NOT about me!"
I am sitting there in awe, what the hell just happened? Doesn't that suck! I said screw it and drove out of the lot and headed for home.
Two things happened here, well probably two initially, but a lasting after affect will linger. First, the business I was going to shop at, lost my business because of this woman's rudeness. Second, it just supports the reason other people hate other people. I am not prejudiced at all, and this incident surely spurred my anger with all the hype of wanting to be treated as an equal.
This woman just happened to be black, this time. It happened before to me by an older white woman. Truthfully, it kinda makes want to slap the crap out of them for their rudeness. Flat pisses me off that we cannot be courteous.
Oh well, just supports a previous post of mine titled, "It's NOT about me!"
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