Watch out for shopacc.com

Shopacc.com specializes in parts and accessories for electronic equipment. Think twice before ordering from them, however. I recently purchased a replacement cell-phone antenna from them (a very small item). Six dollars for shipping a 3 dollar item was acceptable, until the 6 became an 9. They used a third-party shipping service for the item,   but screwed-up the shipping type. What happens? I get charged postage-due to pick-up the item.

 

Ohio Issue 3 Passes! Casinos coming soon!

Finally, Ohioans were able to get casinos legalized. Unfortunately, it took a constitutional amendment to force it’s existence. And, as written, it only allows casinos in Ohio’s 4 major cities. But, the legal door has been opened for future development outside those areas. The process is started, and that’s what’s important.  Bring-on the crime, drugs, poverty, addiction, and prostitution that comes with it. Oh..I forgot. We already had that, but without the casinos.

To all those detractors, I just have this to say: The wife and I enjoy driving to the casinos near us. People in Ohio always point to Detroit and Niagara to show that problems follow casinos (forgetting that Ohio already has state-sponsored gambling). We have noticed that the only problem with casinos is that they always look equally as good as all other casinos, regardless of the area they’re in.  This ironic image easily fuels the fire of ‘evil-casino’ rhetoric from anti-gambling advocates. It’s bull, but with those types of images, it’s easily believable bull. But, the truth is simpler.

Windsor and Pennsylvania are nice casinos in nice areas.

Niagara  has nice casinos  in a nice city block (don’t go too far).

Detroit has nice casinos in crap areas.

The casinos aren’t different. The areas are.  I’ve complained about these arguments before.   Nice cities will be nicer with casinos. Bad cities will remain bad with casinos.  The only difference is fun.

 

RANDOM RANT: Where’s my Halloween movies?

 

What a crappy Halloween. Sure, the trick-or-treaters were nice, but what about the television? My wonderful Television?

 

ONE ISSUE: Healthcare

With new healthcare legislation, I feel I must re-publish an entry of mine from almost 2 years ago. Though written for the democratic convention to choose the candidate for the upcoming presidential election, it seems as relevant now as it did then.

 

Vaseline MEN body and face lotion and Glue

I want tough skin, but I don’t want to have to do anything to get it. Like..activity. So I try a bottle of Vaseline MEN body and face lotion . “Fortifies”, “build healthy skin resilience”, “more efficient”- whatever. Getting it home, I squirt a little out. Wife liked the smell, but I found something oddly familiar about. Sticky. Strange. Couldn’t quite place it.

Something from long ago..

from childhood..

..Kindergarten?

 

Incredible Shrinking Eggs

 

For the last 5 months, I’ve been noticing something different in my grocery store.  My eggs seem smaller.

 

No, it’s not a personal problem.

 

The normal “large” size eggs we usually buy seemed to be shrinking every week we’d go shopping. I thought it was just the brand carried by our local Meijer store, until I was mixing-up some batter for a perch-fry at my mom’s house in September. Her Wal-mart extra-large’s seem a bit medium-ish.  An industry trend, or am I just seeing things?

 

Justice for All. Someday.

I needed a lawyer. I was being harassed and my job jeopardized. So, I went to get a lawyer. I call a major firm in Cleveland, Ohio. Though I’m not sure how MAJOR they were, but the did run fancy TV commercials.

“Lawfirm of___________. How May I help you today?”

“Yes, I have a possible harassment and discrimination suit against my employer, and would like to talk with a lawyer. “

“No problem. Could I get some information from you now? “

“Of course.”

After giving my name and vitals, she asked me about the particulars of the case. That took a while.

Finally I ask, “Is this something you can handle?”

“We handle these types of cases all the time. Do you have any evidence of these incidents?”

“Yes, I have a timeline including all people involved, documentation supporting all the incidents including some from my employer, witnesses, photographs, lots of things. ” She sounded very receptive, though.. she was supposed to.

“I have a few more basic questions before I confer with our lawyers. Do you rent or own your home? “

“Eh..rent?” That was an odd one.

“What is your monthly salary?”

What the fuck is this? Though I didn’t say that, what I did say changed her mood as if I did. I told her what she wanted to know.

“On moment please”, she droned.

My salary? What did that have to do with…. I didn’t even have time to think the rest of my thought when she returned to the line.

“I’m sorry. We can’t help you with your case at this time. Have a nice day”

“Uh…Than….” My goodby was too slow. She hung-up.

 

Pinoy Pan-oy

A new ’souvenir’ from the wife’s Philippine vacation: an aluminum pan.

With no handle.

 

Republicanism

Formerly named “Go Teabag Yourself”, in appreciation of early 2009 Republican –backed ‘Tea-party protests’ against the Obama administration.

Obama has pledged not to initiate an investigation into the illegal activities of the previous administration. The impetus for this, the spirit of allowing the country to heal, is commendable. But it also allows the misinformation and pseudo-religious fervency fostered by that administration to continue to fester in the public mind. Obama’s economic initiatives are starting to show improvement, only a matter of months after their inception. The war, counter to pre-election opinion of Obama’s capability, is continuing to turn-around. Republican rhetoric for the last decade is beginning to be proven completely wrong in a very short period of time. Recently, I turned-on the TV and saw a full religious sermon televised on the FOX news, the only republican-activist news agency on TV. Not just covered by FOX- sponsored by FOX. Unfortunately, I was only surprised by the timing, not the act itself. When a news agency (even an openly activist one) crosses the line from news reporting to news creation, that shows desperation. When the core ideals of a religion are attacked, the population reacts by becoming fundamentalist. This party is reacting like a religion, not a political institution.

 

Local Radio Freedom Act vs. Performance Rights Act

Listening to my favorite local classical music station in the car the other day, I learned about some shenanigans being played on us by our government. this one bugged me more than most because it has the potential to effect me directly, and in a bad way.

A new law has been sneaking it’s way through the legislature that will force radio stations to pay royalties to music companies for every song they play. Amazingly, it seems to have great support. Once the music industry discovered they could legally charge Internet radio stations royalties, they set their sites on traditional broadcasters for more revenue. Using the sales-pitch of royalty equality, the “Performance Rights Act” (H.R.4789 , S.2500) was introduced in 2007.

What nobody seems to realize is this will effectively put all small, independent stations out of business (which was probably the idea, anyway). The capitol costs behind broadcast stations (land, antennas, amplifiers, studios, etc) are much higher than a internet stations (A server, microphone, and a comfy chair). This makes profit margins on broadcast stations are traditionally much smaller. Internet stations could adsorb the costs, regardless of royalty charge fairness. These are simply different business models.