Links

A state senator from California got arrested for trafficking guns.  He also supports gun control.

I hear all the proffessional journalists are looking into which party he belongs to, since no one seems to know yet.  lolz

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Apparently Argentina and Venezuela are discovering how well price controls work.

Let's raise the minimum wage; who's with me!

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Sometimes I read things like this post on how stupid kids are these days, and yet I don't recall ever reading in any one of them about who is at fault for stupid kids.  Is it the kids (who aren't yet old enough to know better) or the people writing about how kids these days aren't so great (who are the teachers and parents of the dumb kids).

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Is a post of links really a "post of links" with only three?

Read something here (Rhymes with Cars & Girls) and we'll call it four links.

Haven't been Posting; Have Cold

First time I've been sick in years.  I don't recommend it.

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I did discover GeoGessr, which is cool.

My high score, since I noticed the scoring, has been 11,800 and change.  I bet I get around 10,000 for the most part, I have no idea how good that is.  Try it and let me know how hard it is.  (I don't do more than "spin" the image in place, becasue moving down the roads a few hundred yards doesn't often change the view.)

I do a lot better outside the US, and South Africa always screws me up.

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Everyone should read Free Northerner.

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I hear a lot about basketball, does anyone care about the game or is it the gambling on the brackets that is the interesting part?

(I've watched most of two basketball games in my life.)

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I've heard of a lot of people who are "obsessed" about finding the missing plane, and yet I've heard of no one flying out to go look for it.  (tip: It crashed, everyone's toast.  Too bad.)

Microsoft Sucks

It has been infuriating how hard it has been to finish my book.  The writing, the research, the editing, and dealing with Amazon have all been easy, but Microsoft has been awful.

I was advised to try linux when I posted on "building" my computer.  I think I'll do that next time I need a computer.  Windows 8 sucks.

So I wrote my book on a free version of office that came with my laptop when I bought it.  That was fine, until it was edited by someone with a full version of Office.

So I tried various things, procrastinated, and tore my hair out while trying to figure out how to work on the stupid thing.  I tried Open Office, which I installed onto the computer I built, but could not install onto my laptop.  Then I found I could open my book in open office but couldn't save it in any useful form.

I've spent three months spending a part of every day thinking that I want my book done, but every time I try to deal with it I want nothing more than to do anything else.

I finally gave up and tried to pay for a full version of office, $100 for a year, but I keep getting pop ups telling me that I need to buy it by march 22.  Did I not already pay?  And this after many efforts to install the stupid thing.

And now I'm writing this post instead of working on my book becasue somehow I lost several hours worth of my editing, to the point where it was on a flash drive since it was edited elsewhere.

(I use internet explorer at work, that sucks too.)

Just being able to open this stupid thing has been the most frustrating thing that I've ever done.

Police Are Government Revenue Generators

Hypothetical conversion:

cop: "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

Me: "To generate revenue for the government."

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I've been meaning to write a post I was going to title: "The Jersey Shore DVD box set provides more value than cops."

Obviously, people who buy things, even as stupid as a tv show dvd series, do so becasue they chose to and were not forced to do so.  And because of this people are employed in the making of these things.  People are employed in the creation of goods and services desired by others.

And cops have jobs because most people cannot imagine a world without them.  And in order to justify their existence, and generate revenue, they are tasked with enforcing trivial laws and giving out tickets.

But rather than expand on that idea, I've discovered that my favorite author has been writing articles for a website that I've never heard of until recently.  And he's beaten me to it:

Police Work has become a Racket by Jeffery Tucker

Somewhere in my bag I have an envelope that contains a bill. It was handed to me by a local policeman after being stopped on an interstate highway in Texas. I was doing a mean 80 miles per hour in a 75 mph zone.

So of course this great servant of the public had to stop me before I endangered the lives of so many others, including the people going 85 and 90 miles per hour who were passing me on the right and left. I got caught because—well, probably because the others were going too fast to catch.

So this guy stops me and informs me of my very bad behavior. He explains that I’m not allowed to do what I was doing and so therefore he has to give me a citation. But he assures me that this citation does not mean that I’m necessarily guilty. This is a government of laws, not of arbitrary dictates by heavily armed people in bulletproof vests, and so therefore I have a constitutional right to a fair trial.
Or so we are constantly told.

I kind of began pressing him on this, which I probably should not have done lest I get arrested yet again. But I couldn’t help myself.

“Let’s just say that I think you are wrong. I mean, you are probably right, but let’s just say that I think you made this whole thing up. I can dispute this in front of the judge?”
“Yes, sir, you may. Just see the court date.”

“And where is this court?”

“Right here in this county.”

Of course I had explain to him that I was headed to the airport and that I live 1,000 miles away. I asked whether I could use Skype or Google Hangout to attend my hearing.
“I’m sorry, sir, you have to attend in person.”

I continued on: “So I have to drive to Atlanta, catch a flight to Dallas, rent a car and drive 100 miles south on some particular date in order to have my rights realized? You do understand that this would cost me probably two days of work and as much as $1,000?”

and so on...

Things I Wonder About, Part (I lost Count)

Can I assume that we're over the Duck Dynasty fad?

Having not participated in any fads (as far as I know), I'll ask the rest of you: where do you keep all that junk?

I recently watched a few minutes of an Insane Clown Posse (h/t) video on youtube.  I thought I should be expecting more gore or violence, but is that all there is? 

How pitiful must the fans of two dumpy middle aged men be?

(Rap sucks as a music form, by the way.)

I listen to Rob Zombie now and then, I've never watched a music video from him.  Shirley, they're dark and evil?

Is that all there is?

Is it all tame or has my perspective changed?

(Powerman 5000 isn't as good as I remember from casually listening in high school.)

One chapter in the last book I read contained a story more awful than anything in any of the metal music videos that I've seen.

The Last Ivory Hunter by Peter Capstick

One chapter describes examples of the thinking of Africans.  One story is about a boy who's eye has popped out and is hanging along his cheek.  The hunter the book is about asks the boy's father why he's not going to the hospital.  "I'm busy," he says. 

Another time the hunter sees a man with a moving sack on the back of his bike. 

"What's in the sack?"

"My son, he was burned a week a go.  I figured that he'd die, but he hasn't so I brought him here."

The kid had his charred arm amputated and the hunter also discovered his chest infested with maggots.

Which is more dark, those stories or anything from dark musicians?

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Why is it people are so sheepish in their habits?  If I'm traveling and I'm hungry, I'll occasionally stop and discover that every restaurant is packed.  Why becasue it turns out to be noon or six.  Why would anyone eat at any other time?

Is it my imagination or is my increased experience with various Microsoft products leading me to believe that I need to minimize my exposure to them?

Self Employment vs. A Job

You'll Never Find A "Good" Corporate Job

Second, understand that economic growth is slowing. We are only growing at about 60% of the rate of the 1940′s and 1950′s.  Without that extra economic growth there are mathematically fewer employment opportunities and certainly less challenging ones. So whereas if you were a GI coming back from WWII Boeing would likely hire you as an aerospace engineer, today Boeing would maybe hire you as dataentrysman. If you’re lucky.

Finally, the Baby Boomer generation was absolutely HORRIBLE in terms of financial planning. Most squandered their inheritance from the WWII generation, blew what money they made on divorce lawyers, and are now the most participatory group in “reverse mortgages.” They did not save anywhere near the amount they needed for retirement which means…

Captian Capitalism points out that working for a company and advancing through the ranks on your way to success ain't happening.

I know people who can say that something like two of the people who have worked in a certain company during the last 30 years have officially retired with benefits.

I also know many people who have been fired on a whim (deserved or not) on orders from the corporate office.

Many of us look for corporate jobs in order to get a "safe, reliable" paycheck.  But it seems to me that working all your life for a company that may just fire you for being a few years from retirement or because of some new management trend is not any safer than hiring yourself.

The risks of losing everything with your own business seem to get smaller by the day.

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Once I figure out the stupid software issues I have, I'll re-release my book, and open The Food Plot Store.  (I'm a good procrastinator.)

Bad News for Food Prices

California is having a drought.  An awful lot of food comes from CA. 

A+B= higher food prices

Wirecutter:

I can hear all of you out there saying “Sucks to be you, motherfucker!” Uh-huh. Just remember where a huge portion of your food is grown, no matter where you are in the US. It’s gonna suck to be YOU until we get some fucking water. Yeah, they can import some of your produce (that’s where your veggies come from in the winter) but you’re gonna pay dearly for that. Major suckage, folks.

Our cattle herd is the smallest it’s been since 1951. That’s beef. Our dairy herds here are huge but without water, there ain’t going to be enough silage to feed them. The dairymen are already talking about selling their herds to other countries because they can’t afford to feed them.

I would suggest to all my Patriot friends out there that you put in a fucking garden this year, even if you’ve never had one before or you’re gonna take a bigger hit in your budget than what you think.

Hu is on First

90 miles from tyranny:

John Kerry: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China. 

Obama: Great. Lay it on me. 

John Kerry: Hu is the new leader of China. 

Obama: That's what I want to know. 

John Kerry: That's what I'm telling you. 

Obama: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China? 

John Kerry: Yes.

and so on...

The Bank of China Tower

I think that it would be cool to be a real estate developer.  And not just because I could be the villain in a huge number of children's movies.

On a related subject, I think that the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong is the best looking skyscraper in the world.

Breaking News!! Important News!! News to Overturn the World!!!

at RWC&G:

German women outnumber men for first time at Winter Olympics

I have to admit, this is something of a bittersweet moment for me.

Obviously, like most Americans, in a tradition passed down by my father, and to him from his father before him, I grew up tracking whether German women outnumbered German men in the Olympic Games.

and so on...

New Shoes

I'm interested in dressing better than I currently do.  One area I would like to improve on is shoes.

My first problem is that I don't know where to look.  I would imagine, had I the time and money, that the thing to do would be to travel to Italy and look throughout the major cities for interesting shoes.  Failing that, a trip to the best shoe stores in NYC may not be a bad option.

In the meantime I've decided that there are no places that I can buy shoes of any quality anywhere nearby.  Although Allen Edmonds are made not too far away from where I live.  And while some of them seem good enough I wonder if by getting them I'll be doing the same as everyone else in the area who wants better shoes.  Surely the point of fashion is to be both better dressed and different from everyone nearby.

On the other hand, Masculine Style has pointed out that Allen Edmonds is one of the two brands to specifically look for.

Alright, so now you know how little I know of shoes.  And I'm also off to Brookfield, WI to look at Allen Edmonds shoes and a sport coat.

In any case, (I sure like run-on sentences) I haven't seen anyone go through shoes at various price points in order to tell you what you can get for your money.  So I will.

 As I was unaware that Allen Edmonds was a place to get shoes from (despite living a half hour away from where they are made in Port Washington, WI) I have bought three pairs of shoes from Zappos.com.  My results are as follows.

$50, now $85 Stacey Adams Pietro (or similar from Stacey Adams, I've forgotten specifically which ones they are)



These are black and I've worn them to two funerals.  I also wear them to work on occasion.  They fit fine and I have had no issues with them.  The only real faults that I can see are that I can tell where they bend and where the faux-leather will wear out, and becasue of the poor quality materials they are not very easy to clean.

I've certainly gotten my money out of them.  Other than my hunting boots, I've probably worn them more than any other shoe these last two years that I've had them.  Even when I've been on my feet and in them for consecutive 8-9 hour days, I've only had mildly sore feet.  (And my feet are my "Achilles heel".)

Verdict: 4/5

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$120-180 Original Penguin Brogue

 

For around $150 I got a pair of yellow suede shoes.  I think that these are fantastic.  Even including tennis shoes, I'm not sure that these aren't the most comfortable shoes that I have ever worn.  Amazingly comfortable.

The suede uppers and padded bottoms are awesome, but the soles are fantastically cheap (plastic maybe?).  With a quality leather sole these would just about be my favorite shoes ever.  I may be kind of annoyed that I did not buy the red and purple ones when they were still available.

The problems with these are that the soles are cheap, I'm concerned about how hard it is to keep them clean (and I don't wear them in the winter or when its wet out), and I don't often have an appropriate time to wear them.

I will also admit that I'm not sure if it was their color or the company's name, Original Penguin, which first drew me to them.  Original Penguin is just my sort of brand name; as stupid as that is.

Verdict: 4/5

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$200-250 Frye Harvey Wingtip


To start with, in person these are about half as good looking as they are in the picture (maybe they'll age well?).

For whatever reason these were much more uncomfortable to wear the first time that I wore them.  Mine still have the blood stains were they took all the skin off my heels that first day.  Luckily I was well pissed and walked around a lot and broke them in while drunk.  (I was heckling the anti-Scott Walker protesters in Madison, WI on the day of his failed recall.)

Before they wore my heels off, I did get a number from easily the most attractive girl that I have ever gotten anything from, 9, while wearing them, not that they helped.  (But what the hell is "courting"?)

My heels were raw for a week or two after the first time I wore them.  (They were almost as bad as wearing Muck boots.)  But since then they have been very good; quite comfortable and you can certainly tell that they are made of quality materiels.

I do tend to favor my aforementioned black shoes becasue they fit a bit better, becasue these are slightly too loose.  But I have no doubt that if they were maybe 1/4 size smaller then their breaking in would be very good.

Verdict: 2.5/5


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A summary of what I'm trying to convey with this post:

• A good fit can trump some measure of quality
• $50-100 can get you shoes that are of reasonable, maybe, shoes which will wear out sooner, not later
• $150 can get you shoes of mostly good quality, but probably are falling short somewhere
• Quality materials break in more and better
• $200-250 shoes are probably the starting point for dress shoes, but I'd recommend at least $300
• Zappos return policy is excellent, but getting exactly the right fit is important so buy in person

I now need another pair of brown shoes, and at some point, if I can find them, something made of genuine alligator, crocodile, or ostrich (in a dark color, for subtle interest.)

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Also this:

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Links:

Why to dress better
Allen Edmonds
Masculine Style: Staple #2 The Dress Shoes
Masculine Style: Staple #13 The Navy Jacket
Stacy Adams Pietro
Original Penguin Brogue (This was the only place I could find them still for sale.)
Frye Harvey Wingtip

Trucks

I'm interested in buying a newer truck.

My problem arises from the fact that the options today aren't what I'd care to get.

I don't want a Dodge becasue their quality isn't great, to the point where I've met Chrysler builders who are unimpressed with their quality.

I don't want a GM becasue of their quality issues and my experiences with them (something is always wrong).

I also don't care for the fact that those two companies accepted the bailouts from Washington.

I don't want a Ford becasue of all the people I know who have nothing but problems with them.  (Although I think that they're still better than Dodge and GM.)

Then there's the fact that I know people who've spent time in many of the car manufacturing facilities on the continent, who'll say that the American car companies will cut corners when no one will notice, and the Japanese companies do what is right even if no one will ever notice.

One coworker has been stranded 3 times in his F-150, but "it has a hundred thousand miles on it."  My uncle will say that a friend of his is always having issues with his F-350, as he himself just spent several grand to replace the transmission in his wife's Chevy Trailblazer.

I don't want a Nissan becasue they seem to be not quite as good as Toyotas.  (My last car was a Nissan, and it was fine other than I needed to replace the window winder motors 3 times before I sold it at $400 a go.)

Which leaves me with Toyotas.  And I like Toyotas.  Dad's '05 Tundra has 280,000 miles on it and its only unscheduled maintenance so far was, I think, a starter a month or so ago.  My first car was a '99 Tacoma which was fantastic up to 170,000 miles when I sold it. 

So that leaves me with a Tundra or Tacoma, at at least $27,000.  Which leaves me with a used Tundra or Tacoma.

A Toyota truck's biggest issue seems to be that the oxygen sensor on its (government mandated) catalytic converter always goes bad.  So the check engine light on my current Tundra is always on because I know it will go bad and its not worth the $70 part every so often, so I only replace it when I need to to pass my local emissions test (up yours government regulators).

The other problem that was revealed to me about the new Toyotas was becasue of all the new environmental regulations put on cars now.  Pre-2007 Toyotas are darn near bulletproof.  Post-2007 cars have much more stringent emissions requirements which have resulted in lots more electronic fiddling with how things work in order squeeze just a bit more fuel economy out.  All the new electronic shit means more things to break.

The new Ford's ecoboost is a turbo charger which gets a bit more fuel economy but is at the cost of replacing the turbo every few years at a cost of a few thousand.

Have you noticed the lack of new Ford Rangers, Chevy S-10s, Dodge Dakotas, or Chevy Colorados?  Because of the new CAFE environmental regulations a car manufacturer's range of cars must meet certain fuel economy standards.  This means that a car company cannot have two trucks that do not meet the requirements, and they can't get rid of the bigger better selling version, so the smaller ones need to go.

(This is interesting in how someone may prefer a smaller, better fuel economy Ford Ranger, but is left with the only option of worse fuel economy F-150 becasue Ford cannot make Rangers anymore.  Producing the opposite result of what the regulators claim to have wanted.)

I've considered getting something like a mid '90s Toyota as my daily driver, but I'm informed that once cars get old enough the wiring will get bad and become a major headache.

So, I'll get a Tacoma or Tundra.  And one no newer than 2006.  What will my options be in 10 years?  Will there be any options?

And I'd still like to build my own MK4.

Being Better Than Most

Free Northerner pointed out that it is amazing how much of our news comes from people that don't know anything about what they are reporting on.

Having chosen your topic, look for articles in the mainstream news on the topic. Try the big ones: CNN, the NYT, the Washington Post, or, in Canada, the CBC. Having found a few articles from a few different sources read them.

Notice every time they are inaccurate, make a factual mistake, leave out something important, make a logical fallacy, write something that doesn’t make sense, or otherwise distort reality.

Having done this, think on the fact that every other topic covered by the media has errors to the same extent, except you don’t notice because you don’t know more about that topic than your average J-school graduate.

RWCG is constantly struggling with how stupidly people write about economics:

So in this post we find Mark A.R. Kleiman observing (and Kevin Drum being impressed by the observation) that a company ‘wanted’ to buy another company for a large amount of money. Somehow this proves global warming. Because you see, companies have never dumbly bought other companies for stupid amounts of cash. That’s never happened, ergo, global warming. #science

Another:

Why Scott Sumner usually loses me at ‘hello’ – he writes stuff like:

NGDP growth is the best measure of the stance of monetary policy.

Item: The Philippines had a devastating typhoon a while back. Its NGDP growth in the period following this event was, I gather, bad. From which we infer – apparently – that their monetary policy was too tight?

Just no. I just can’t get past this kind of thing. Economists, please tell me, how am I supposed to get past this kind of thing? How do you do it?

 It seems to me that it isn't very difficult to be better than most people on many subjects. 

For example I bought a pair of black dress shoes a while ago.  I spent a mere $50 on them.  They're okay, but nobody who knows anything about shoes would be impressed after a quick glance.  And yet becasue I'm surrounded by people who don't know any better I get compliments right and left on them.

The above are better than what 90% of people wear!

For another example: I have a part time job selling bows and binoculars.  I know things about bows, but I was sent to sell binoculars, not based on my knowledge, but based on the fact that they needed another guy to sell them.  After learning what I posted here I know more than all but one customer that I have ever talked to about binoculars, and this includes people who buy things like $2700 binoculars for bird watching.  And with all my knowledge I get customers pointing out how knowledgeable I am and asking about what other subjects I know about.

Its not terribly difficult to get better than most people on a given subject.

For one more example: despite the fact that I have not shot my (traditional) recurve bow in two years I can clearly out-shoot all but around three of the people who have ever come in to test the traditional bows in the shop.

Conversion Rates

(h/t: Free Northerner)  Krauser did some estimating to determine how many lays he got from day game in 2013.

Opens: 1,000

Numbers: 250

Dates: 60

iDates: 15

Lays: 27 new girls, 3 repeats from prior years

2.7% "success" rate

I don't have similar day game estimates for me, but I can estimate my success rate for deer hunting in 2013.  My result of a 19" 10 point buck is about as good as only one hunter I know did this year, and better than everyone else I have heard from or of secondhand (vs. in magazines, etc).

Working on property: 3 days/ month March through September: 21
hunting: 3 days/ week from 3rd Sat in September through first week of December: 27
hunting: one day/ week December + first week of January: 4

Work days: 21
Hunting days: 31
Total days: 52

Near misses: 2 (one moving too fast too far away, one at about the minimum size the day after the success)

Dead bucks: 1

In 2013 I shot one buck with 52 days spent attempting to do so.  1.9% And it was one buck in about 31 days of hunting. 3.2%

1.9% "success" rate

Deer hunting and "hunting" girls isn't directly comparable, but it may be interesting to see how many days of "failures" we both had versus our "successes".

If the "success rate" was what we were after, then I'm sure Krauser and I would switch to hobbies that resulted in more successes.  Of course their are other ways to measure success, and other reasons for continuing.

Its Now Illegal to Have a Good Idea

Reason:

It’s all part of the energy efficiency standards mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The law already killed off the 100-watt incandescent bulb in 2012, followed by the 75-watt bulb in 2013. Now, in the final step of the phaseout, the minimum efficiency standards have effectively banned the ubiquitous 40- and 60- watt light bulbs.

The ban is crony capitalism in its most seductive form—when it’s disguised as green.
Major light bulb manufacturers supported the ban from the outset. The profit margin on old-style bulbs was pitifully low, and consumers just weren’t buying the higher-margin efficiency bulbs. New standards were needed, a lobbyist for the National Electrical Manufacturing Association told Congress in 2007, “in order to further educate consumers on the benefits of energy-efficient products.”

So Philips Electronics and other manufacturers joined with environmental groups to push for tighter lighting standards. As the New York Times Magazine explained in 2011, “Philips told its environmental allies it was well positioned to capitalize on the transition to new technologies and wanted to get ahead of an efficiency movement that was gaining momentum abroad and in states like California.” After much negotiation, a classic “bootleggers-and-Baptists” coalition was born. Industry and environmental groups agreed to endorse legislation to increase lighting efficiency by 25 to 30 percent.

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You know that the idea of limited government is a joke when that government declares the international symbol for a good idea to be illegal.

-Sarcasmic

Even More Things I Wonder About

Is there a government activity for which we cannot come up with a death toll?

Why does it always seem like the more I want to speed up, the more everyone in front wants to slow down?

When was the last time I used a microwave?

How much time have I wasted watching TV?

Are there any modern big business owners who favorably compare to those in Atlas Shrugged?

Will there ever be a time when we will be rid of cables for home electronics?  How would they get powered?

Why do the English drive on the wrong side of the road?

Why do so many people misuse words and expressions?

If I had a hard time finding a job, then how do people with half my IQ get by?

How can people alive today, and living amongst us not in the wild, not know the most basic computer functions?

Why do people buy junk with the fad of the moment's logo on it?

Why do people think that things "on sale" aren't still priced at a point where the manufactures are making money?

What's the point of spending hours debating which product to buy and then going with the cheapest.  Is their time worth nothing?

If you know nothing on the subject, how much does an hour or two of research improve a selection over getting the first thing that you wanted to get?

How often does the time spent researching something exceed the gains produced from the research?

How many people will read the last few points and think that I'm advocating doing no research?

Arrange the following in order of magnitude: few, many, couple, lots, several.

2014 Predictions

The Whited Sepulchre has posted 10 predictions for 2014.  I'll try the same with similar subjects for each prediction.

1.  Obamacare continues to be awful; our daily lives will get marginally worse throughout the year as a result.

2.  Republicans will do marginally better in the elections.  Not much changes.

3.  The Green Bay Packers win or lose a very close game with the 49ers this weekend with questionable officiating calls affecting the outcome.  I won't watch (shrink the rulebook if you want me to watch).

4.  Voting will still be for suckers.

5.  I'll finally get The Food Plot Store off the ground.

6.  hmm...

7.  Global Warming will occur...in March, April, May, and June in the Northern Hemisphere, and in September, October and November in the Southern Hemisphere.  (Help me fight the horror of Global Warming!!!)

8.  We'll get a minimum wage increase as part of some bi-partisan deal that involves spending cuts that will never happen in reality.

9.  Democrats will continue to call Bush a warmonger whenever Obama intervenes internationally.

10.  The morally correct response to democrats will continue to be to punch them in their stupid faces.

Happy new year.

Quality

A few days ago I lamented the lack of quality apparent in our culture today.

Recently my dad had a flat tire where the sidewall blew out.  He's suspicious the guys at the oil change place overinflated the tire.  (He did say that the cop, who waited in his car, was nice enough to illuminate the place where he was changing his tire with his headlights.)

My deer skin got back from the butcher shop recently.  I am 100% sure it is not the skin from the buck I killed.  This skin has a tag with my name on it punched through an ear, even though I kept the whole head when I left the deer at the shop. 

It seems to me that I'll need to be doing all my oil changes and deer processing myself.  It seems that these are two more cases of things where I am better off doing them myself.

We could add public safety to that list too.  What I've learned about police this month is that they won't help changing tires, they are of no use when we are robbed, and they are of no value in finding those responsible for hit and run damage.  Not to mention, just for starters that cops are apparently trained how to minimize their chances at being punished for murdering people.

What good are police?

One more thing that I've noticed about quality comes from my part time job at a sporting goods retailer.  Shoppers looking at binoculars are often disappointed when they learn that companies like Leupold, Vortex, and Zeiss have their stuff made in China.  These shoppers are invariably the ones that want to buy the cheapest stuff.

You can't complain that binoculars aren't made in America anymore, and simultaneously buy the cheapest stuff available.

Either pay more for your stuff, or stop complaining that in order for their to be cheap stuff available it needs to be made overseas.  The reason everything is made overseas is because you are all too cheap to pay for stuff that is made here.

All this leaves me with two questions:

1. How do I keep from smelling like oil all day after changing mine?
2. What do I do with the old oil once its out of the car?

Societal News

It seems that some guy on some tv show said something that offended somebody.  (Hell of a fad; that show.)

Even when a few of the blogs that I regularly read post about this sort of thing, I can't bring myself to care.

It seems like there have been lots of news stories where everyone gets all excited...and I can't seem to care.  (I can't recall any other examples of this either.)

On a related note: it occurred to me recently that I have no idea who any of the current starlets are.  If I've heard of some model or actress, then she's past her prime already.  (They probably have a short shelf life.)

Wasn't [insert young starlet name here] hot in movie x?

Beats me.  The last movie I watched was this one.  It was good.

Not watching tv or new movies has its perks.  (If Johnnie To's new movies were released here, I could be persuaded to attend one.)

 Also:

"I’d love to meet the market executive who thought the one thing keeping Obamacare from being popular was lack of smug hipsters." -FrankJ

 That reminds me, what the hell is a "hipster" and why should I care?

A Lack of Quality

I wonder about the lack of quality in many things today.
I wonder why unemployed men during the Great Depression dress better than most do today (including me).

I wonder why people want things that "on sale" more than the things that aren't.

I wonder why I made my book available as an eBook before getting someone else to proofread it (that's being done now).

Why does everyone buy cheap junk over good stuff?

And so on.

It strikes me that everyone's desire for a "deal" and everyone's desire for more has come at the expense of quality.  How many times have you bought a cheap object and then ended up buying the more expensive better one later?

I can understand the desire to have more, and bigger, and better things, but when you buy cheap junk you're still left with junk.

I'm struck by the fact that even though I would like to buy certain things of quality (even if I need to pay more) I am having a difficult time in finding them.

I would like to buy a good pair of alligator/ crocodile/ ostrich shoes.  I have no idea where I need to go in order to do so.  Might a trip to Chicago be necessary in order to find them?  Where would I look once I'm there?

The fact that everybody seems to want only the cheapest or "on sale" items means that the places that sell stuff often don't bother with the things of quality.  Why sell what no one is willing to pay for?

Because almost everyone buys the cheapest stuff that they think they can get away with, the makers of quality products must be being driven out of business.  Why should I begin a career of fine furniture building if you're going to buy some plywood furniture anyway?

Isn't having one item of quality better than having lots of junk?

This isn't much of a post, but I'd appreciate it if next time you consider buying something that you buy what you think is of the best quality rather than buying the cheapest.  Support the people and businesses who create high quality products, and leave the junk peddlers to rot.

On the plus side; its quite easy to do things like dress better than others in many places because of the low standards set by everyone else.