Three Whys:
Why is it that people pump themselves full of expensive supplements, versus actually occasionally eating fish and frequently eating vegetables?
Why does ABC run ads for their new aliens taking over the world drama during Charlie Brown specials?
Why is a** now an acceptable word to say on TV at any time of the day on any program, except the Charlie Brown special above?
Thoughts:
I am not a Wally World fan. Not for any reason besides being time consuming and having lousy service, but boy those clearance deals. The lawn and garden seasonal clearance is crazy cheap. I got Off Insect Repellent for .25. Random, but I was excited.
If Kelli and I ever build a personal home, we need accountability partners to make sure that we don't do stupid stuff. A co-worker and I were swapping stories and laughing hysterically about people who general their own houses. By the way, I'm not talking about anyone I know personally. They've all built cool houses people would actually want to buy.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Questions About Current Health Care Proposals
I'm just a guy sitting in the cheap seats, but I have some questions.
What federal programs are you satisfied with? Which ones deliver what they promise, and do it at or under budget?
When you have interactions with government employees, do you believe they have your best interest at heart, or do they deliver excellent service based on your ability to go elsewhere for the good or service you are coming to them for?
Do you believe that your survival on this planet is worth a financial investment? In other words, are you willing to fork over your own money to make sure that your life is preserved?
Exactly how is it that mandating that health insurance companies do things that they don't want to do because it negatively effects their bottom line bring down health care costs? If they have to cover people who have been irresponsible about their own health care, how will health care costs come down?
What is the name of the insurance company that owns their own Federal Reserve and can print its own money? What's the name of the insurance company that can require payment with automatic withdrawal with the power to fine or imprison behind that payment collection?
Who knows more about health care? You? A doctor? An insurance executive? A congressman?
What federal programs are you satisfied with? Which ones deliver what they promise, and do it at or under budget?
When you have interactions with government employees, do you believe they have your best interest at heart, or do they deliver excellent service based on your ability to go elsewhere for the good or service you are coming to them for?
Do you believe that your survival on this planet is worth a financial investment? In other words, are you willing to fork over your own money to make sure that your life is preserved?
Exactly how is it that mandating that health insurance companies do things that they don't want to do because it negatively effects their bottom line bring down health care costs? If they have to cover people who have been irresponsible about their own health care, how will health care costs come down?
What is the name of the insurance company that owns their own Federal Reserve and can print its own money? What's the name of the insurance company that can require payment with automatic withdrawal with the power to fine or imprison behind that payment collection?
Who knows more about health care? You? A doctor? An insurance executive? A congressman?
Friday, October 16, 2009
Brandstad vs. Culver. The facts on their differences.
There are stark differences between current Gov. Culver, and former Gov. Brandstad.
Brandstad has salt and pepper graying hair. Culver has redish/blond hair.
Culver's wife smokes. Brandstad's wife doesn't. Or not that we know of.
Culver has kids at home. Brandstad has grown children.
Culver likes to alienate his Union voter base, while Branstad (via Doug Gross), likes to alienate his Evangelical voter base.
Brandstad is Catholic. Culver is Presbyterian.
Culver hasn't raised taxes to cover a big budget. Brandstad has.
Branstad lives in West Des Moines. Culver lives in Des Moines.
Culver has a -D after his name. Brandstad has a -R after his name.
Culver hasn't expanded gambling in the state. Brandstad oversaw the origin and expansion of gambling in Iowa.
Culver's first name is "Chet." Brandstad's first name is "Terry."
Brandstad was in office when there was a major flood in Des Moines. Culver was in office when there was a major flood in Cedar Rapids.
I'm trying to think of more. Somebody help me out.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Some of my favorite customers
*Inspired by actual people and events* I hope this doesn't come across as complaining. I actually say this because these people are funny. And it would be good if we realized any tendency we have towards this ourselves.
The Engineer:
The engineer comes in and tells you he is considering building his own central vacuum. Yes, he's going to buy the parts on the Internet and the vacuum is going to take up most of one of the stalls in his garage. He rattles off a bunch of technical terms, to make himself feel smart and confirm your ineptness, therefore convincing himself (or more importantly, his wife) that he should build his own central vacuum.
The Snob:
The snob literally does keep their head at an upward slant at all times. They ask brief questions, tell you exactly what they want, and cut you off when you utter more than one short sentence. In between, they pepper in information about "their private secretary" or "at our house in Florida" or "or this stone is from Italy." When you call them, you always go to voice mail (or their private secretary) and they return your calls somewhere between 2 to 5 days later. Usually they are nice people, just superior to you in every way. The ones that aren't nice can literally make you feel like cursing or crying after every interaction.
The Nutty Negotiator:
NN: "Well Wal-Mart has the same TV for $999." Me: "Actually, they don't." NN: "Well, they've got TV's for $999." Me: I thought you were specifically looking for the XBR, and wanted it hung on a mount from your ceiling, with it connected to the satellite receiver and DVD player in the closet, with a remote that works through walls?" NN: "Well, all I know is that Wal-Mart has TV's for $999." Me: "You can buy that TV from Wal-Mart and we can install it the way we discussed." NN: "Why don't you have TV's for $999?" And so on.
The Small Town Builder:
The small town builder calls and asks for a bid on something. They ask you to e-mail it to them. You e-mail it. You call them to make sure they got the e-mail. They then tell you it's been a couple weeks since they got on e-mail. A week later you call again to see if they got the e-mail. They say they have. You don't want to insult them by asking them if they opened the attachment you referred to in the e-mail. Two weeks later, on Friday at 4:30 PM they call and say "Yeah, all that work you bid out for me, I need it done on Monday." You turn in the bid and somehow the guys are able to be out there on Monday. The next day you get a call. Small town builder is upset. "This isn't what we discussed." In the conversation you figure out that they didn't open the attachment that was the bid (they didn't understand "you will find the bid in the attached pdf" written in the text of your e-mail) and therefore everything is all wrong, because they never actually read the bid.
The Engineer:
The engineer comes in and tells you he is considering building his own central vacuum. Yes, he's going to buy the parts on the Internet and the vacuum is going to take up most of one of the stalls in his garage. He rattles off a bunch of technical terms, to make himself feel smart and confirm your ineptness, therefore convincing himself (or more importantly, his wife) that he should build his own central vacuum.
The Snob:
The snob literally does keep their head at an upward slant at all times. They ask brief questions, tell you exactly what they want, and cut you off when you utter more than one short sentence. In between, they pepper in information about "their private secretary" or "at our house in Florida" or "or this stone is from Italy." When you call them, you always go to voice mail (or their private secretary) and they return your calls somewhere between 2 to 5 days later. Usually they are nice people, just superior to you in every way. The ones that aren't nice can literally make you feel like cursing or crying after every interaction.
The Nutty Negotiator:
NN: "Well Wal-Mart has the same TV for $999." Me: "Actually, they don't." NN: "Well, they've got TV's for $999." Me: I thought you were specifically looking for the XBR, and wanted it hung on a mount from your ceiling, with it connected to the satellite receiver and DVD player in the closet, with a remote that works through walls?" NN: "Well, all I know is that Wal-Mart has TV's for $999." Me: "You can buy that TV from Wal-Mart and we can install it the way we discussed." NN: "Why don't you have TV's for $999?" And so on.
The Small Town Builder:
The small town builder calls and asks for a bid on something. They ask you to e-mail it to them. You e-mail it. You call them to make sure they got the e-mail. They then tell you it's been a couple weeks since they got on e-mail. A week later you call again to see if they got the e-mail. They say they have. You don't want to insult them by asking them if they opened the attachment you referred to in the e-mail. Two weeks later, on Friday at 4:30 PM they call and say "Yeah, all that work you bid out for me, I need it done on Monday." You turn in the bid and somehow the guys are able to be out there on Monday. The next day you get a call. Small town builder is upset. "This isn't what we discussed." In the conversation you figure out that they didn't open the attachment that was the bid (they didn't understand "you will find the bid in the attached pdf" written in the text of your e-mail) and therefore everything is all wrong, because they never actually read the bid.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Interesting Little News Story
I found this pretty interesting. I realize we would prefer that people saw abortion from a spiritual perspective, but pragmatism that saves a baby's life is still pretty good. Between stories like this, Abort73, and movies like Juno and Bella, we might be making some real progress on this. As Abort73 explains, the only audience that needs to change their opinion about abortion is women at or before child-bearing age. Of course, that assumes the pro-life movement is actually about saving babies and protecting women, not gaining ground or funds for a certain political party or its politicians.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
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