El Sucko

Just a short note to myself to remind me that things suck and probably always will. Before you accuse me of not being a positive kind of guy, I really am. Right now, I'm positive that things suck.

Absence makes the blog grow fonder.

No blogs for a while but here I am. Seems I get into this around the time I'm planning a trip to the beach. Anyway, Happy Veteran's Day.....everybody is a veteran of something.

Blogging again

Time to update the blog so here goes. It's raining at Topsail, the roof is leaking, it's a boring day being stuck inside. Somebody is baking chocolate chip cookies - just what a lethargic, house-bound person needs on a day like this....but they're sooooooo good! Chinese tonight - hopefully it won't suck.
Better day tomorrow maybe - early bike ride is probably smart given the afternoon storms.

When does happiness die?

It seems that sometimes people reach a point in life when there's no more happiness left to be had, at least in their minds. Loosing friends, loved ones, and possibly worse, one's sense of wonder, humor, and love of life pretty much puts an end to the bright side of things, leaving nothing but sadness and gloom for the future. Too bad this has to happen but it seems to be so.

Tea Party Time!

I went to a Tea Party rally in Holly Ridge, NC yesterday - interesting. There was considerable diversity present, all working or middle class people united for a simple cause: lower taxes (and presumably better use of tax dollars), less government intrusion into our lives, and adherance to the concept of personal responsibility. It's hard to argue against these concepts. Unfortunately, the liberal media continues to portray these people as a bunch of red necked bigots, likely to cover their own bigotry against conservative thought.
Personally, I worry about the lack of participation by younger people (20-30 something). If they would allow themselves to become informed through their own research and not what the press stirs up through unfounded emotion, they would realize that it is they who will be footing the bill for all of these wasteful spending jaunts and giveaway programs that we are currently seeing take place.

Can you believe how much time has passed?

My last post was during the big March Virginia snow storm...talk about taking a break. Well, it's April now and we're in Surf City where, at least until today, the weather has been unseasonably warm and begging one to be outdoors. It's a bit chilly now but warming up tomorrow for the rest of the week.
I've been thinking about many things lately, the economy and jobs being one of them. One of my current hot buttons has to do with the plain hard fact that it's simply too easy to be unemployed in this country.
Under current unemployment compensation programs, individuals can sometimes draw over $900/week for up to 79 weeks, hardly a strong incentive to get out and find a job. Right here in Surf City, there are help wanted signs posted in several places, fast food and grocery stores among them. Naturally, they can't come close to paying the kind of money mentioned above so where's the incentive to get out and work?
Now I admit that some sort of unemployment cushion should exist - logically at the level initially envisioned which I believe is 13 weeks, and the compensation during this 13 week period should equal something less than the prevailing minimum wage so as to not unduly enrich those who aren't active and productive members of our society.
Taking the above steps would probably go a long way towards encouraging the chronically unemployed (aka non productive members of society)to get out and find a job. In order to ensure that they keep it, benefits would be available only once during any calendar year with a lifetime limit of 39 weeks total. This would discourage those who intend to make unemployment their life's work from doing so and would certainly keep these individuals out of the taxpaying public's purse.
There you have it, like it or not, but it's high time someone began to realize that the real victim in all of this is the responsible taxpayer, not those who pray upon them in the name of social programs.

Finally, the snow is melting in my neighborhood.

It's finally melting - 'bout time I say. This has been a horrific winter in this part of Virginia so far - cold, snowy, and generally one that I want to forget. I'm headed to Surf City for a while - heck it even snowed there this winter but it melted almost immediately. That's my kind of snow.

Techno Overload

The past few weeks, even the past few months, have been a bit too taken up with technology and related product problems. Lately, I've come to believe that you can't get anything that is correct on the first try, the latest examples being a vacuum cleaner that was missing attachments and a refrigerator that won't work in the garage without additional accessories installed.
Sometimes, spending money on technology, or anything that has to actually work as intended for that matter, becomes a precursor to the misery that will surely follow - fixing all of its problems.
Cell phones, computers, pda's, music players, and even vacuum cleaners can all become giant pains in the butt with very little help from the innocent person who dared to commit the unthinkable and actually buy something. Doing it right the first time appears to be giving way to doing it wrong all of the time.....what in the world is up with that?

A Trip to the Army PX.

Normally I write about trips, family, and other stuff that is pretty bland, making few comments critical of things outside of my immediate personal life. However, today I experienced something so utterly ridiculous that it simply must be brought to light.
I went into a store to buy some items including Windex, thread, and, on impulse, a bottle of liqueur I wanted to try. The man in line behind me was buying some booze too, as were many other people (it's displayed right next to the checkout lines).
The checkout clerk (a 40 something lady) scanned my items but upon encountering the liqueur promptly and without comment departed her station. Within a few minutes, another clerk from a nearby station came up and completed the sale.
Being a curious person, I asked what happened to the other lady, joking about the possibility she was underage and therefore not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages. "No" the replacement clerk replied, "She just won't even touch a container of liquor of any type."
Now that's a fine how-do-you-do, allowing a checkout clerk to personally decide what they want to sell and what they don't want to sell! Somehow, this just doesn't seem right - get a job someplace where booze isn't on the product list.

It's Cold Down Here..Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

And I mean cold as in the 20's which is pretty darn chilly for a beach town in NC. There's not much to do, outside anyway, except to take down the Christmas decorations and lights. Winter at the beach can be a dismal experience - there aren't even any people to watch because nobody's here. At least it's a change of scenery for a while, then back home for some house straightening and other, mundane chores.