Some Random Thoughts, 5/18/16.

I've seen headlines on the Drudge Report about the long wait times at security screenings at O'Hare International Airport and a few other airports as well.  Also, three thousand bags failed to make their flights at Sky Harbor in Phoenix last week.

So......we have a government agency, TSA, doing the screens.  We accept that as a consequence of 9/11. 

My question is........just how many of the people who missed their bags and their flights can't wait for the government to take over health care?

* * * * * * *

Let's say we have someone who makes $50,000 a year, and it costs him a dollar to buy a loaf of bread.

Then we have someone else who makes $100,000 a year, and it costs him two dollars to buy a loaf of bread.

Is he better off than the first guy?

My answer is the first guy is better off.  He's in a lower tax bracket.

The point here, is that the fatass politicians desire inflation so that they can confiscate a higher percentage of wealth from those loyal subjects they have contempt for.  Sure, the dollars are worth less, but their percentage is upped so that the real value of what they take is increased.

* * * * * * *

While on the subject of wealth, I sometimes hear about the rich "not doing their fair share", and thus need to have their taxes increased.  This makes sense to most folks as that they have a lot of extra money that they don't really need.........or so we're told by the Keynesians and especially by the 47% who pay no income tax. 

There's one thing that they haven't told us.

Just what is their "fair share"?  Is it a dollar amount?  Is it a percentage?

Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer to this.

* * * * * * *

And while we're on the subject of the rich, those folks who complain about them not doing their "fair share" say that money needs to be taken from the rich, since the rich are made evil by mere possession of that money.  These self-appointed do-gooders say that they want to take this money from the rich so that they can give it to the poor, or more accurately, they want appointed government bureaucrat do-gooders to do the redistribution of this wealth since they know what's best for the masses. 

So if it's money that is making the rich evil, then if we take it from them and give it to the poor, won't that make the poor people "evil"?  Do we really want to go around and make everyone else "evil"? 

I could ask if taking money from the rich will turn them into "good" people, and I could also ask if this redistribution will make only the rich "good" and everyone else "evil", but I might be more likely to get an answer to my "fair share" question raised above, and I think getting the Beatles back together would be easier than getting that answer.

 

* * * * * * *

Just what does it take be "rich", anyway?  Is it really the mere possession of money?  If say, the line is drawn at having $100,000 at a bank, does that mean that the person who only has $99,999 in the bank not "rich"?  If he's not rich, then is he poor?

OK, let's re-define this in terms of stocks. 

Today the stock is worth $100,000.  Tomorrow the stock market has a sell-off, but let's say that our rich stockholder was smart and only lost one dollar.  His stock is then worth $99,999. 

Is he now poor? 

 

* * * * * * *

One final thought.

If you're going to ask the Good Lord for a gift, then consider asking Him for the gift of wisdom.

If you have wisdom, then you'll have the means of getting most of the other gifts you could have asked for.

Catching up, April 2016

I regret to be posting that my uncle Tony passed away last week.  He was a member of the Greatest Generation.....those who went overseas in World War II to defend our freedoms.  I was aware that he was on board a plane that was shot down behind enemy lines, and spent six weeks in the care of the Yugoslavian resistance.........but I had no idea that he had earned two Purple Hearts.  He didn't tell us that when he was discussing his experience with my cousin Tom and myself when I was in Iowa several years ago.

I also regret not having met him many more times.  He spent his postwar career in the Nebraska Highway Department, while I was growing up in Kansas, Louisiana, Florida, and other places.  He inspired confidence in those that he met, which is a trait that should be much more common than it is today.

Goodbye Tony. 

* * * * * * *

I am now over two months into my new job, and the longer I'm there, the more that I enjoy it.  It's challenging to simultaneously develop forty......yes forty.......test protocols simultaneously.  They are almost ready for dry runs.  I see twenty of them being done by close of business on Wednesday and the remainder by the close of business Friday. 

* * * * * * *

A really good place to stop off at if you're ever passing thru Tucson is the Triple T truck stop right off I-10 at the Craycroft exit.  This was established in 1950 or so when there wasn't an I-10.  The highway was the old Arizona State 86, which still exists east of Tucson, but used to take travelers from Tucson right to the New Mexico state line.

They're open 24/7/365, and breakfast as well as lunch are served all day.  I was there Friday morning meeting a longtime friend for breakfast, and I had the Cowboy Omelette.  It was devastating in a very good way.........so filling that I didn't bother with lunch.

The chain truck stops are good places to eat, as that there's a lot of competition amongst Love's, Pilot, and Petro to serve home style cooking for those who are on the road for long periods of time. 

TTT, which stands for Tucson Truck Terminal, is an independent, and remains one of my favorite places to eat.

 

* * * * * * *

I am really still amazed to be back home in Tucson.  Every time I get to go to TTT or to one of the fine Mexican restaurants here, or to church, or even if I'm driving around, I feel this gratitude about being back home, and it may be a long while before it wears off..........if it ever does.

* * * * * * *

I'm still doing yardwork, and the yard is showing signs of getting to where I want it.  It will be an ongoing thing.  If just one cubic inch of the garbage can is empty, it means that I haven't done enough yardwork. 

I also am itching to resume getting my coin collection better organized.  I am itching to buy a box of nickel and sort thru them, and that just might happen within a week.

 

* * * * * * *

That is it for now. 

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat!

Does Your Vote Even Matter Any More?

Josef Stalin has one quote credited to him that I think about any time there's an election.  "It doesn't matter who votes.  What matters is who counts the votes."  This axiom rang true when Lyndon Johnson first ran for the Senate in a special election in 1941.  Seeing as how that worked against him then, he was able to use it to his advantage when he ran again for the Senate in 1948.  I have heard of this working against Bill Clinton when he ran for Congress in 1974 and it wouldn't surprise me if there were several other examples.

We are now in the midst of the most interesting Presidential election in my lifetime, and although I am thinking of the Stalin quote, there is another axiom that I am going to bring forth as that the process it describes is currently in use by the leadership of the two major parties this time around.

It doesn't matter how you vote.  If we don't like your vote, we can change the outcome.

On the Democratic side, they have had their safeguard against the will of the voter for several years.  That safeguard is called "superdelegates".  Culled from the party elite, the superdelegates are not selected by any primary or caucus.  They exist to select the nominee at their convention, and if for some reason they don't like who their voters selected, the superdelegates are there to act in what they consider to be in line with the best interests of the party.  The reality here, is that they will act in what they consider to be in line with their own interests.  As of yet they have not had occasion to defy the will of their voters, but we are seeing that they are setting the stage for the coronation of Hillary "What Difference Does it Make?" Clinton.  In those instances where challenger Bernie Sanders has won a state's primary, Hillary gets more delegates thanks to these superdelegates.

On the Republican side, they use a different process to make my axiom a reality if need be.  They don't bother with superdelegates.  They instead use rules.  The rules are subject to change and can be changed one day before their convention if such changes are necessary to protect their elite.  One rule we've been hearing about lately is this "Rule 40", which states that a candidate can not be present on the first ballot unless he or she has won at least eight state primaries.  As I write this, both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz will qualify for this, but no other candidate will.  This is a problem for the Republican Establishment as they don't like who their voters are going for, and amending this rule is being openly discussed.  We've already had two delegates make public statements along the lines of the voters not really having any say, and with Organized Media encouraging a contested convention (it's good for ratings) it's an open secret that this is what they are trying to do.

This unfortunately isn't confined to the nomination process.  How many court rulings have overturned voter-passed ballot measures where 2/3 or more of the voters have approved the measure?  How many state laws have been overturned by a federal court, even if those laws have been favored by 80% of the voters?  Would you like to count them?  I'm not going to this evening as that I have an early bedtime these days, and plus, I think I've made my point.

Tomorrow is the day for the Arizona primary.  Through an oversight on my part I failed to re-register as an independent, so my Republican registration, which I took out four years ago to defeat Mitt Romney is still valid.  I have already made up my mind as to who I'm going to vote for, but as I go in , I go in with the foreknowledge that the Republican Establishment will find a way to overturn my vote. 

In all likelihood, it will be an exercise in futility, but I'm going to go ahead with this.  It's a matter of conscience, and it's a matter of honoring those who gave their lives on the battlefield so that I can waste my vote on the winner (or second place finisher depending on how it all plays out).  I do know that neither of the two front-runners will be nominated at the convention.  The Establishment is letting us know that the fix is in place.  They're just not letting us know who they will select for us.

The Reverend Jeremiah Wright will always be best known for a controversial quote that he made about this country.

The Republican National Committee feels very much the same way about the will of the voter.

I guess that's fair, as that that's how I feel about the Republican Establishment.

Leap Year Day 2016

Greetings, and welcome to Leap Year Day for 2016.  Most of the time it comes around only once every four years.  There are exceptions.  The year 1900 didn't have one and neither will 2100.  Year 2000 did, as that the rule is that the century year has to be divisible by 400 before it qualifies for a 29th of February.

Anyway, as of one week, I have been in the new job.  It's working out well so far though I'll be glad when the training is behind me and I'm doing some real work.  I have sat in on two meetings and been able to provide engineering input.  The tradecraft of engineering itself doesn't change all that much from company to company, but processes defined by work instructions can and will contain a different recipe, if you will, as for getting something done.  There are still change orders and design reviews, but technical requirements and specifications are developed differently and we have a different set of standards that we have to abide to.

I am still somewhat overwhelmed by all of this.  My new employer has been rated as one of the best 100 companies in the world to work for, which is a vast improvement over having to leave two of the worst 100 companies in the world to work for.   I am transitioning back to a 9/80 work schedule, which means every other Friday off, which helps the work-life balance.  I am learning a great deal about the specialized medical devices that we develop and manufacture, and even though I am no longer a satellite engineer or developing test requirements for circuit cards, I am now part of the global war on cancer, and I think what I'm doing is very important.  I have this eagerness to delve right into things and to move the company forward.  I am in the capacity of a contractor, but I hope this leads to a long term job. 

I still get the occasional nightmare that I'm back in Las Vegas.  I hated the place, and still do, and it may be a while before I am back.  That could be next year sometime as that Sheila and I really did enjoy exploring the small towns of Nevada, and I'd really like to see Rhyolite again.

One other note, and this is getting us back to the topic of February 29th.  My father-in-law had his birthday today, which is something he doesn't get to have as much as most of the rest of us do.  We were over there earlier this evening for a celebration. 

That's all I have for now.  I owe a phone call that's long overdue, and I also want to turn in early.

The Move from Nevada is Completely Complete

The move is now finished!  The credit card billing addresses were finally updated; the electricity to the apartment is now shut off, and this morning I visited the Motor Vehicle Department to register the truck back into Arizona, and once again there is an Arizona plate on the rear (Arizona does not issue a front plate).

When I first moved here in 1999, I couldn't wait to get the California plates off the truck.  I went in one morning to re-register, and they made me surrender the back plate (they let me keep the front) and I went to get the driver license taken care of in another visit.

Nevada also made me surrender the back plate when I registered the truck there in December 2014.  It was faded from years of exposure from the desert sun so it wasn't collectible, in my opinion.  To my surprise, MVD didn't want the Nevada plates, but offered to have them destroyed if I wanted.  I wanted to keep both of them to add to my license plate collection, and they will be eventually displayed in my garage (I rotate the display frequently) and I'm glad to be adding a new Nevada design to the collection.

The Nevada common plate currently in use is a decent design, and looked good on the truck, and in one way I regret that it's no longer there.  There is no shame in having a Nevada plate on your vehicle like there would be if you had a California plate.  Of course, the commemorative Las Vegas plate that is offered by Nevada advertises that you live in Trashcan and like it, and I'm not sure that it's a good thing if you drive a vehicle adorned like that out of Clark County. 

In other news, the background check on me is now done, and I report to my new employer this coming Monday at 8:00 AM.  The commute is the only drawback, however I'm good friends with two of the managers of Quik Trip, and one of them delights in distributing $2 bills for me.  I've been a fan of the $2 bill for several years, and now that I'm back in the Old Pueblo I'll be ordering straps of these from my Wells Fargo branch.  I'll see if I can get Eisenhower dollars since he likes those as well.  It's free advertising for his store and he's told me on occasion that his customers get a kick out of the "odd" money.

Tomorrow morning there is one more visit to MVD to get my title updated (I'm adding Sheila to it), after which I finally get to goof off a little.  I'm having lunch with Tim O, who is one of the first friends that I made in Arizona.  I've also got a lot of yardwork to do, and I plan on getting some of that in as well.

It's really great to be home.  There are a few more people I need to reconnect with. 

You *can* go home again!

Time to Catch Up!

This month has been something of a whirlwind.  On Wednesday the 3rd I went in for an onsite interview at the medical device firm, and faced two panel interviews.  The first panel was on the friendly side and the second one was a little more tough.  I have done panel interviews before, and while I personally don't like them it's not like you have a choice when you need to find some work.  I must have acquitted myself well, as that the very next day I learned that I had landed the job, and I accepted the offer on the spot.  The tentative start date is the 22nd, which meant that I had to make one more quick trip to Las Vegas to empty out the apartment.

Sheila was able to come with me on this one, and she was a great help.  We arrived on the afternoon of 9th, spent a good chunk of the 10th cleaning it out and getting ready to hand it over to the leasing office, and we were back in Tucson on the evening of the 11th.  Both of us were dog tired the next few days, but the important thing is, is that I am back in Tucson, I will be returning to the workforce sooner rather than later (thanks to the intervention of the Good Lord), and I have my hands full unpacking and re-arranging things.  The house is crowded and I've been busy going thru boxes and closets and downsizing.  There's also been plenty of yardwork and much more plenty of that to do, but I'm overwhelmed in a good sense as that I have finally returned home, and am no longer in Trashcan......excuse me........Las Vegas.

I could write some more about what's been on my mind from all of this, but I feel the need to finish processing the move and getting control of the yard. 

It's really good to be home. 

Monday, 1/25/16

It's been really good to have been home these past several days.  I have done a lot of yardwork, a lot of reading, and there's been some movement on the employment front.

I had a telephone interview with a local firm this afternoon.  As far as I can tell it went well, but you don't really know until you get that call that asks you to come in for a face to face interview.  These phone calls are usually a screening of sorts, to see if you might be a fit.  I had to pass one before going to Texas and before going to Nevada.  I have no hard numbers as to the percentage of people who pass these, aside from the Texas employer stating that 10% of the phone screens make it to the next round.

And speaking of interviews, I may be having one on Saturday in Las Vegas.  I was talking to a friend of mine still at my former employer, and what's happening is that a small company in Texas that wants to orbit cubesats (micro satellites) wants to interview the people who laid off earlier this month, to the point to where they are sending some managers out.  They may be coming to Tucson to interview some more, as that three of us who were laid off have homes here.  As it is, I have to drive back tomorrow to take care of some things, and bring down another truckload of my personal items.  I was going to return on Friday, but that's being pushed back to Monday, so I don't have to fight the traffic returning to Phoenix on Sunday.

Also, I'm being courted to apply for some contract positions in Albuquerque as that someone out there needs engineers with experience in installing and testing equipment used in satellite ground stations, which I've done in Japan and San Diego.

My spirits this time around are a lot better than they were the last time I was going through this.  I have a peace of mind that I didn't have in the summer of '14.  No, the first few days of this weren't easy, but I just don't have the anxiety about things this time around.

Anyway, it's back to Trashcan for a few days.  I hope to have lunch with some friends that I have there, and I plan to treat myself to a visit Downtown to people watch.  I may also make a run up to Rhyolite for some more photography.

That's going to be it for this evening.