Stimulus VS Apollo

   Obama's stimulus was, in my opinion, a HUGE waste of borrowed money.  It served to get him re-elected and curry favor, sure, but workforce participation rates are the lowest they've been since the mid '70's.  I know, I know---Liberals will claim it would have been far worse if he hadn't done it.  Impossible to prove or disprove----I could claim if we hadn't invaded Iraq we'd all be dead from nuclear Armageddon,  too.
   Now consider Kennedy's Apollo program (which, by the way, cost less than Obama's 'stimulus' even when adjusted for inflation)  It, too, was a massive government pork project and there was lots of backscratching and maneuvering---Huntsville, Cape Canaveral, Houston, Long Beach---all got their slice of the pie....But it was a challenge.  It was something other than war we could all rally behind, take national pride in.  I believe Apollo 11 was the single greatest moment of American pride ever.
   New technologies were spun off from it.  New materials were formed.  The whole while, there were some saying it was a waste of money while there was still poverty in the nation---not realizing it was a very responsible way to address poverty.
   Obama's stimulus handed cash to failing 'green' companies, that failed anyway, after kicking back lots of the funds to election campaigns.  The money was borrowed, now it's gone, with nothing to show for it but higher debt.
   Instead of handing out cash, that money would have been better spent by offering lucrative government contracts to the first company that could produce a better solar cell or other renewable energy source.  If a tiny percentage of 'stimulus' cash went into streamlining domestic oil production and refinement, with an emphasis on lowering emissions, we would be seeing a return on our investment soon if not already.
   Instead of bailing out GM, a government request for proposals for competitive contracts would have rewarded the best company.  Part of the necessary cycle a recession brings is to cut out the deadwood.  Companies fail, people innovate, move on---should we subsidize buggy whip manufacturing companies just so the employees can feed their families?  Or, once there's no more market for buggy whips, do we let them go?
   In a nutshell, viable companies don't need bailouts because they are viable.  If there's some global influence that challenges a company, and that company is necessary for national security, help it through contracts, not handouts.

Life Lessons of Jenga

  You really don't ever win at Jenga---you just try to not lose.   You pay close attention, watch others, try to keep things in balance.   You carefully select the ones that are ready to move, and move them up to the top.  There are quite a few that aren't ready to move yet but as things change, so do the pressures and forces exerted on each.  As things grow higher, you can't help but reach higher yourself.

   Concentrate on individual moves, not an overall strategy.  Sometimes the ones at the bottom are the easiest to move to the top. 

A Small Experiment

 

      This is a section of the porch ceiling.  There's a cross beam, and the fiber cement material and trim that meets it.  Before painting I decided to caulk every seam.
       It looked better because even the slightest crack looks like a black line.  The real benefit now that Spring is here is, it eliminated spider habitat.  There's nowhere for them to hide

User's Guide to Totalitarianism

     If you want to set up a totalitarian government, there are some tried and true steps to take.  You can't do it without the buy-in of a good majority of the people, and you have to hope they are weak minded enough to be convinced the government provides for their needs.
     A very good start is to take over healthcare.  It's about 1/6th of the economy.  It's a great equalizer---everybody (well, excpet for you since you run the government) gets the same care regardless of ability to pay.  Unfortunately, once government takes over healthcare and it's 'free', demand skyrockets, and without revenue, people stop becoming doctors and nurses---but I digress.
     Next, belittle religion.  Tell people they are clinging to their Bibles, or religion is a crutch (just hope they are too blind to see the people with strong faiths usually aren't the ones neding a crutch, but I digress) You don't want them helping others in the name of God---those helpees might get the impression things don't always come from the benevolent government.
     It's very important totake away guns.  Once your totalitarian government is in place, and the utopian promises you had to make to get there go unfulfilled, the people WILL turn on you.  It happens every time, especially with people who have tasted freedom already.  Don't just take their guns away---build yourself great flying guns and make it clear you're willing to use these against those that fall out of line.
    Blame others as the standard of living continues to fall.  Control the media so you can keep telling people how great things are---you can always make statistics say what you need, like reporting 7.5% unemployment (U-1  Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force) Works much better than reporting the actual record low in labor force participation at 63.5%.
     Tell them there's plenty chocolate.  If there's not, blame George Bush or create another bogeyman that gave all the chocolate to the wealthy.
       

Potager

AnnaMarie said she needs a potager at her cottage.  So I said   "Sure.  I'll build one".   First step was to look up the word 'Potager'.

potager - definition of potager by the Free Online Dictionary ...

www.thefreedictionary.com/potagerCached - Similar

You +1'd this publicly. Undo

(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Horticulture) a small kitchen garden. [from French potagère vegetable garden].

   OK I even know where to put it.  The retaining wall next to the steps needs finishing anyway.

  My 90 year old neighbor came over and told me to level out the soil at the bottom (it followed the natural slope) so when she waters it stays in better.  Then I added 3 cu ft steer manure and 3 cu ft mulch.  I wanted to dig out the rich soil under the bridge anyway so that filed in the rest, and I kept mixing it in as I added.  Amended soil goes all the wal down to the level of the walkway.

The bridge didn't look very bridge-like because the soil was pretty high underneath.  After digging it down and shaping things, a layer of gravel added contrast.  I ran out of daylight but the gravel 'stream' will continue downhill all along the dripline of the porch

           

Bald Truth

  My son, Patrick, sometimes teases me about my thinning hair.  I was once sitting next to a girl on a plane and she pointed out the miracle laser combs from the Skymall catalogue, that are supposed to stimulate hair growth. (AnnaMarie bounce between telling me my hair isn't thinning, then immediately pointing out all the handsome bald guys.  Her list starts with Kelly Slater.  It also ends with Kelly Slater)
  I tell them the same thing---if any of those products worked, I think Donald Trump would have used them by now.  But then I realized Bill Gates can probably afford a comb and some hair products, so there goes THAT theory.
  Here's a picture of me eating bull testicles

Something You Need To Know About Power Tools

  There's something that doing this building stuff taught me about power tools I didn't know before I thought I'd pass along.
   When they build power tools, they install a little packet of blue smoke deep inside the tool.  I think they do the same with blenders, actually.  There's some sort of timing device that's bluetoothed to your bank balance, and a logic circuit that weighs how badly you need that tool at that moment, your financial status, and how long it's been in service and at the proper moment it automatically activates the packet of blue smoke. 
    It's an important feature.  The blue smoke is a power tool's version of an expiration date on a carton of milk.  It's trying to tell you it's time to go get a new one.
    The other thing that will set it off is if you've borrowed the tool; not always, but it is a bit like Russian Roulette-- You could have gone to buy yourself a brand new tool, but you borrowed one instead--it blue smoked, so you have to go buy a new one anyway except you don't get to keep it.
    I think the old Dodge has the same technology

Date Night

Hey Cool!  They are letting me post pics here again.  I guess data space is expensive or something.

It is hard to describe how awesome it is to be over there.  Three times now we've packed up food and drink, walked across the street to her cottage, and had a nice evening.  Sometimes with a movie, this last time not---we cooked each other dinner.  She decorated up for Valentine's, making all these hearts out of a variety of stuff---my favorites are the ones from my work jeans.  That 'tree' behind her is copied from something she saw on Pinterest, made from scraps of flooring and jacareuba trim.  It was supposed to just be for Christmas but looks like a year 'round addition.

After three years of trying to design and build AM's perfect place, and imagining what it would feel like, it's indescribable to be there.  It's taken on a life of its own.  But it only comes to life with AnnaMarie there and if I'm there without her it feels like I shouldn't be there.  Also I love this dress on her ($18 The Closet)

Statins.

   I've 'suffered' from high cholesterol most of my life.  Even when I was a strict vegan, my cholesterol tested high. 
   I resisted the statin drugs---I felt great, and was very hesitant to take a pill because of a number on a test----the annual physical I have to do for San Diego Fire results every year in a scolding by the doctor---"It's absolutely insane tp put your life in jeopardy with cholesterol levels like yours"----Never mind I hold the record for the 12-lead treadmill stress test for my age group.  Great blood pressure.  My calcium score, which shows plaque build up, is at ZERO.  Show me something else, something other than a single number.
   Well, this year had some particularly stressful parts----dealing with AM's health, building a house, work stuff---which led to chronic heartburn, then skipped heartbeats.  Then xanthelasmas around my eye---big yellowy bumps that are basically cholesterol deposits exuding out of my body. 
   There's the 'something else'.
   So, went in for bloodwork to my own doctor---total cholesterol of 252.  He started me on Lipitor 20 mg per day (lowest dose).  I stopped eating out at work (saving about $25-$30 per shift) and AnnaMarie sends me to work with healthy stuff.  My doc also has me on 2,000 mg of fish oil supplements a day, and I'm taking Coq10 (an important enzyme that statin drugs can block your liver from producing along with the cholesterol--main cause for most statin side effects)  and bumped up my workouts.  I'm on the stair stepper, one hour a day, right now up to level 15---according to the screen I burn 1113 calories--and I've dropped 7 pounds.  I really feel great---no more heartburn, no more skipped beats, sleeping well, and the xanthelasmas have all but disappeared.
   Here it is six weeks into the new program.  I'll violate my own HIPAA privacy laws and share these numbers with you
                                  was             is
Total cholesterol        252            176
HDL                          44               46  (good cholesterol)
LDL                         177             102
Triglycerides             157             141

     Unfortunately I can't say how much a role the statins played since I changed a bunch of things at once.  I do know I've always tested high.  I also know I don't want a stroke, heart attack, or any other life limiting event.  I don't like the fact I take daily pills now but it's not a big deal

Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc'-ra-cy) - a system of government where the


least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing,

and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves

or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the

confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

How It Always Plays Out

1) Some mentally ill person completely ignores existing gun laws and shoots a bunch of people---unless one of those people also has a gun and knows how to use it, then it never makes the news.
2) The nation mourns the losses.
3) Demands are made for meaningful gun control legislation.
4) Firearms sales go through the roof.

   End result---more guns in circulation.  New laws enacted that only the law abiding folks pay attention to.  Root problem of mental illness not even addressed.  People who were already very well armed have more guns.  That important margin of good people who might be present to step up, with the ability to properly administer lethal force, try to find some middle ground instead.
  
   Guns are not the problem, just the method.  As long as we as a society cheapen the value of life, and treat it as something individuals do not have a personal obligation to protect---be it a pregnant unwed teen, festering gang activity, drug and alcohol abuse, or groups of children protected by only unarmed adults, this sort of thing will increase in frequency.

    A good friend works with the 'frequent flyer' 911 abusers.  It's very clear that what's missing is proper mental health facilities.  A great many of the homeless are simply incapable of fending for themselves, and use 911 as a way to easily get some level of intervention.  What's needed is good profiling of citizens---citizens identified by parents, family, teachers, medical professionals, and law enforcement.  Make these people feel like they matter, like their life has worth, and it will do far more to prevent these tragedies than banning some particular form of firearm or some capacity of magazine.  Identifying the mentally ill people who actually pose a threat to society and taking custody of them is a reasonable infringement of liberty, but the groups that fight that are often the same groups that have no problem infringing upon responsible firearms owners.