Well, it has been a busy month. We have been in RI now for six days, and it remains a culture shock each time I am here. I am also amazed at how the Spanish language has taken over, even this far away from Mexico. It didn't take us long to realize that if you want to feel thin, just go to Walmart or some similar store.
It seems that Newport has finally gotten on the ball and repaired some city streets. They always do that when the taxes are going up. The sidewalks still remain as they were, and most are older than me. Driving down here from BOS was like being in a science fiction movie when a city is being evacuated. I do not know how people can live like that. The RI folks are still very courteous drivers as opposed to BOS, but our rental has Massachusetts plates on it, so I don't know what that will bring. It was funny to see a guy, obviously from MA lose it today in the 12 items or less line at the grocery store. Of course there were only about 20 people in that line. The best was a woman who was behind me in a regular line with two melons. She had tried to do the self checkout, but the machine said she owed $375.00, and she decided to get a second opinion from a human cashier.
Airlines and airports are now my least favorite mode of travel, but a ship takes too long. The plane ride in a cattle car is tolerable, but the airports are another thing. Once again, the dog tag chain set me up as a terrorist suspect. It always amazes me that a tri or quadralingual man can work as a security guard in CH. USA customs asked about my cigar declaration as if Cubans could be a threat to our homeland. I simply told him that I don't like Cubans, and no issue was made.
The Newport home looked pretty good even if it is over a century old. Now the porch furniture is clean and out, the newspaper has been started, the larder is loaded with foreign foods like coffee syrup and stuffed cherry pepers, and the first guests arrive tomorrow. The entire state of NJ and most of MA and NY were here for the Memorial Day weekend. The Red Sox are on TV with each game, but since they have lost the last three, I may be a jinx. Thank god that we don't have to drive to get to the harbor. I can settle back and read the ridiculous real estate ads now.
31 May 2006
10 May 2006
Another Tempest in a Teapot
One of the reasons that I began to blog is that I could say what I wanted to say. Signatures are, and will be, a part of my emails. I have 124 of them in my mail application, and they are assigned AT RANDOM to each email that I generate. I get nearly all my quotes from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution column called "The Vent". It is published six time a week, and I rarely miss one. I am told that it is one of the most popular features of the paper, which, by the way, is a liberal rag. The anonymous venting of opinions has local, as well as, political topics. The political topics run the gamut from far right to far left. A lot of them are amusing to me. If anyone thinks that I am going to go through a message that I wrote and edit it to hopefully not offend some disenchanted liberal, they are mistaken.
I agree that a travel chat is not a political forum. The two women (degraded now from ladies to women) had no business replying to the chat with comments as they did. My email address is between my name and my quote in every signature, so anyone with sense enough to pound sand should be able to send me a private message. My mistake ( I do make some dillys ) was in responding to them and including the chat address. It has happened before when I am pissed about some ding dong response. So it is on bended knee that I acknowledge my humanity.
Do I apologize for disparaging Teddy? In no way! It is sad that the analogy is true, but it is of his own doing. While I lived in Boston for two years, I never heard a kind comment about Teddy, and I wasn't living in some Nazi enclave. I lived is an apartment complex with all kinds of people. One local Massachusetts citizen did tell me once that the whole Kennedy clan was rotten except for young Joe, and he died in the war. After Jack, the gene pool took a definite turn to the south. It looks like there may have been a mutation in the form of Patrick now. He has had the guts to not emulate dad, and he has admitted to his problems, taken steps to help himself, and risen in my sights.
It must be easy to be liberal when you cannot even count up to your net worth. Liberals come in two flavors. Those who have considerable means and want to throw other people's money at problems, and those who want to suckle the government breast. There are exceptions, but only one comes to mind. His name is Hal Taussig. He and I agree to disagree on a bunch of things, but he defines "liberal" in my mind.
To know the "why" of my slant, I can only say that I was raised by independent thinkers who were not a pair of radical right wingers. Regarding "rude", I can only say that you do not know rude. I am never rude, but I can be downright ugly. You cannot have it both ways, I am either nice or ugly. It is like a dip switch; it goes up or down. If you don't wish to see my signatures, block my name in your email application. You may miss an occasional pearl but think of all the peace that you will have. I realize that may require a modicum of computer knowledge which is lacking in some people. It is too bad that superficial computing is so easy. If one had to pass an exam to use a computer, it might lead to a more efficient and sensible situation. Think of all the bandwidth that would be saved!
Someone suggested that I change the subject line, so he would know when to delete. My subject line in the post was appropriate and not misleading. Anyone who knows me will tell you that if I wanted to bash Teddy, I would have made that a subject line. The subject has nothing to do with a quote in my signature. I do want to thank the lady who spoke of Venn diagrams. I thought that she must be smoking something funny until I Googlized the words. Lo and behold, I learned something new for the day.
I guess I might become really paranoid about some of the opinions of my post signatures, if it were not for the fact that the split between pro and con is about 50-50. Most of my "pros" send messages to me privately for their own protection, I expect. These folks are not rabid, and on your next trip, you may sit by one. Nevertheless, I am glad to know that not everyone is a limousine liberal.
Make no mistake, I abhor some of the things that the rights proselytize, and if there had been a choice in the last election, I might have voted otherwise. There was no choice except to stay home or go and waste my vote. One of the things that makes the Swiss political system attractive to me is the multi-party arrangement in the government. One can choose between varying degrees of a philosophy. The one person who says he is a liberal and does not like political correctness really intrigues me. He may honestly have the heart of the matter in his head. Below is a good definition of this from The Vent.
Political correctness prompts the belief that no one should be offended. If you cannot offend anyone, you cannot be controversial. If you cannot be controversial, you cannot have principles. If you cannot have principles, you are a perfect liberal.
AJC Vent
That some people out there feel disdain for me, consider me self-rightous, think of me as arrogant, and do not agree with me, I consider a compliment of the first water. The world would be damn dull if we all were in lock step.
I agree that a travel chat is not a political forum. The two women (degraded now from ladies to women) had no business replying to the chat with comments as they did. My email address is between my name and my quote in every signature, so anyone with sense enough to pound sand should be able to send me a private message. My mistake ( I do make some dillys ) was in responding to them and including the chat address. It has happened before when I am pissed about some ding dong response. So it is on bended knee that I acknowledge my humanity.
Do I apologize for disparaging Teddy? In no way! It is sad that the analogy is true, but it is of his own doing. While I lived in Boston for two years, I never heard a kind comment about Teddy, and I wasn't living in some Nazi enclave. I lived is an apartment complex with all kinds of people. One local Massachusetts citizen did tell me once that the whole Kennedy clan was rotten except for young Joe, and he died in the war. After Jack, the gene pool took a definite turn to the south. It looks like there may have been a mutation in the form of Patrick now. He has had the guts to not emulate dad, and he has admitted to his problems, taken steps to help himself, and risen in my sights.
It must be easy to be liberal when you cannot even count up to your net worth. Liberals come in two flavors. Those who have considerable means and want to throw other people's money at problems, and those who want to suckle the government breast. There are exceptions, but only one comes to mind. His name is Hal Taussig. He and I agree to disagree on a bunch of things, but he defines "liberal" in my mind.
To know the "why" of my slant, I can only say that I was raised by independent thinkers who were not a pair of radical right wingers. Regarding "rude", I can only say that you do not know rude. I am never rude, but I can be downright ugly. You cannot have it both ways, I am either nice or ugly. It is like a dip switch; it goes up or down. If you don't wish to see my signatures, block my name in your email application. You may miss an occasional pearl but think of all the peace that you will have. I realize that may require a modicum of computer knowledge which is lacking in some people. It is too bad that superficial computing is so easy. If one had to pass an exam to use a computer, it might lead to a more efficient and sensible situation. Think of all the bandwidth that would be saved!
Someone suggested that I change the subject line, so he would know when to delete. My subject line in the post was appropriate and not misleading. Anyone who knows me will tell you that if I wanted to bash Teddy, I would have made that a subject line. The subject has nothing to do with a quote in my signature. I do want to thank the lady who spoke of Venn diagrams. I thought that she must be smoking something funny until I Googlized the words. Lo and behold, I learned something new for the day.
I guess I might become really paranoid about some of the opinions of my post signatures, if it were not for the fact that the split between pro and con is about 50-50. Most of my "pros" send messages to me privately for their own protection, I expect. These folks are not rabid, and on your next trip, you may sit by one. Nevertheless, I am glad to know that not everyone is a limousine liberal.
Make no mistake, I abhor some of the things that the rights proselytize, and if there had been a choice in the last election, I might have voted otherwise. There was no choice except to stay home or go and waste my vote. One of the things that makes the Swiss political system attractive to me is the multi-party arrangement in the government. One can choose between varying degrees of a philosophy. The one person who says he is a liberal and does not like political correctness really intrigues me. He may honestly have the heart of the matter in his head. Below is a good definition of this from The Vent.
Political correctness prompts the belief that no one should be offended. If you cannot offend anyone, you cannot be controversial. If you cannot be controversial, you cannot have principles. If you cannot have principles, you are a perfect liberal.
AJC Vent
That some people out there feel disdain for me, consider me self-rightous, think of me as arrogant, and do not agree with me, I consider a compliment of the first water. The world would be damn dull if we all were in lock step.
05 May 2006
Swiss Humor 2
From Neue Obwaldener Zeitung .
The little guy is applying for a new job, and the boss asks him why he is looking for another job. He answers that his last boss told him to go to the devil. The boss answers, "and this is why you came right to me?"
Swiss Humor 1
The Swiss have an unique sense of humor in my opinion. Each day's paper, The Neue Obwaldener Zeitung, carries a great cartoon the illustrates this often.
The one above is an example. Baiscally it is a grandma asking if her grandson would like sugar in his coffee. he says that he does and asks for seven spoonfulls. He then cautions her not to stir it, because that will make it too sweet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)