Thoughts on a Monday

Well, let's start with something ripped from the headlines. "Woman Gets Two Years in Prison for Squeezing Ex-Boyfriend's Balls Until They Burst" Maybe ripped from the headlines was a poor choice of words.

My G rated damaged wiener picture.

 On with the story. Christina Lorena Reber, age 46, was upset that her 60 year old boyfriend had broken up with her. A few days after the breakup she broke into his house and started punching him in the head. The one on his shoulders. She then grabbed his balls and started squeezing as hard as she could. The victim, after a brief scuffle, was able to get loose from her death grip and fell to the floor in pain. He noticed his scrotum had been torn loose from his body and he was forced to pry it from his assailant's hand. He was treated at Muncie's Ball Memorial Hospital where he required reconstructive surgery. Does anyone else find it amusing that he was treated at Ball Memorial Hospital? She ended up getting sentenced to prison for the assault.

Do you recognize the fellows pictured below? This is a picture from one of their first performances 45 years ago last week.

They are more easily recognized now looking like this.

I have been able to see them in concert at least three times. It is always an amazing experience and a fun show. Billy Gibbons is one of the most talented guitar players in the world.

If you follow along you know that I'm dieting again. This is one of the things I try to keep in mind. I didn't get heavy in a few days, weeks or months. Losing the weight is going to be a gradual process. The next picture is the other thing I struggle to remember.

It is a tough lesson to learn.

I have watched the financial sector since the crash in 2008. The more I watch the more convinced I become that unless a few of these mega banks are broken up we are headed for another crash. Hope I',m wrong but they are working hard and succeeding at getting many of the reforms repealed and the regulators rendered toothless.

My poke at conservatives today.

The next one is for Rush Limbaugh.

And finally the thing you want to hear from me.

Republicans-Democrats

I was a Republican. Was. Past tense. Am I now a Democrat? Personally I don't see myself that way. Am I a liberal. Sometimes. Am I a conservative. Sometimes. Isn't everyone like that if you think about it for a while. Carlos Mencia commented one time that he was a liberal and a conservative and gave an example along these lines. If he was going out with your daughter his views on premarital sex were liberal. If you were going out on a date with his daughter his view on premarital sex was Biblically conservative. So when I look at things that are going on I try to see what I think is best for everyone involved. The problem all too often is the unwillingness of anyone to change positions. No shades of gray. Everything is black and white. I made the mistake of responding to a Facebook post the other day regarding Muslims. I suggested that it would be better to take a more nuanced approach with ISIS and expressed the opinion they were not Muslim but simply criminal thugs hiding behind religious rhetoric. The response was rather swift that basically all Muslims wanted to kill us because our religious beliefs were different that theirs. I suggested that moderate Muslims were speaking out against the actions of ISIS. For my comment I was advised that I was showing my ignorance. It seems to me if I took that persons approach, that all Muslims were determined to kill everyone who isn't Muslim, we would have to kill, imprison or convert over one billion of the planet's population. A population spread over virtually every country on earth. I'm not sure how you can have a sensible conversation with anyone who takes a position that to me says "All Christians good, all Muslims bad". So when I look at any issue my intent is not to be right but to determine what course of action will bring the most benefit to the most people. It seems at this point that our political system only functions well for those who have the resources to pay for representation. I spent my career working in the Illinois Department of Corrections as a member of a union. Specifically AFSCME Council 31 Union Local 1274. All to often now I see folks on both sides of the Republican Democrat spectrum taking aim at unions and union membership as a problem. Union wages are too high. Union benefits are too generous. Union workers are lazy and greedy. I was a supervisor in a unionized prison. Was it difficult to discipline workers? Yes and no. If I wanted to formally submit you for discipline then it took lots of time and paperwork. I couldn't submit you because I didn't like you. I had to make a case. Provide documents and evidence of your incompetence. Provide documentation and evidence that I had attempted to address your deficiencies before referring you for discipline. Of course, there were some things that would not require that. Using drugs, committing an assault on another employee or inmate, sexual misconduct, stealing, any illegal behavior. If it was about not doing your job it required proof. It couldn't just be me saying you were a worthless piece of shit employee. Does that make having a union bad? To listen to our current Governor it probably does. He would like to just get rid of people he thinks are gaming the system. State employee head count is down but expenditures for wages is up. You would think someone who has managed a payroll in the past could easily see the problem. You are paying people overtime wages to do the jobs of those you have failed to replace who retired. In places like prisons, there are mandatory posts. You want someone in the guard towers with guns. someone in the housing unit control center, officers on the walk. food supervisors overseeing the preparation of meals, folks in the business office making sure the bills get paid, the contracts are followed, records are kept. State employees do all those jobs. When I left I had spent the prior year doing my job and the job of my immediate supervisor and at times the job of my clerical staff. If I could do three peoples' jobs why did the state need the other two? It's a reasonable question. I couldn't do all three jobs. I got done the minimum required. Not always in the time frame required. I got calls from folks in the central office wondering why we weren't running some mandatory programs. They got the response when you provide me the required staff we will do that program. At the end of the day I don't care if you are Republican or Democrat. What are you going to do for the country? Are you going to cut programs for the poor, disabled and elderly? Are you going to give tax breaks to the rich so they can stash more money overseas and avoid taxes? Are you going to make birth control choices more limited and difficult for women? Are you going to make it more difficult for people to vote? Are you going to work to eliminate or weaken unions and their membership? If you are going to do those things then it doesn't matter to me if you are a Republican or a Democrat. I am and will continue to be opposed to you and your agenda.

50 and Tacos

I haven't talked much about how the diet is going in recent posts. I think I'm going to begin by saying it really isn't a diet it is more of a lifestyle change. I started on September 6th and so far I have lost just over 50 pounds. That is the good news. The more challenging news is that according to the charts I have more than that left to lose to get to the upper end of what those charts indicate is a healthy weight. Time will tell how that goes. A reasonable question for those who bother to read titles is this. What if the hell does this have to do with tacos?

This is called a lettuce wrap "taco". When you are on a diet they expect you to eat shit like this. This is not a taco. There is no tortilla. It is an essential part of a taco. No tortilla = NO TACO! It is like beer. There is NA beer out there in the world. They claim the NA stands for non-alcohol. The truth is the NA stands for NOT ACTUALLY. It is because without alcohol it is not actually beer.

For the purposes of my argument these are tacos. They have an actual tortilla. In the interest of truth, and if I do nothing else here I strive to be honest. The tacos pictured above are from Taco Bell. So, in a technical sense, they are not real tacos. Real tacos are made in a real Mexican restaurant. Ideally some out of the way place like the Taco Hideout in Galesburg.

There are places that would like you to believe that is abomination is a taco. It is a folded waffle with sausage and egg in the middle. The clown who thinks this is a taco should be put in a small room and fed these for every meal every day until he admits this is not a taco. Yes, it has to be a he. No woman would try to convince us this is a taco.

This one, at least for me, is a tough call. Ok, no tortilla, but dammit it's made of bacon. Bacon makes everything better. Where this one fails the taco test is mac and cheese. Who would think that would be a good addition. Ground beef- no bacon deserves thinly sliced steak. So, not a taco.

This piece of shit cannot be a taco. Really, fried ramen noodles for a shell. Get the fuck outta here.

When you are on a diet you WANT this to be a taco. You rationalize it. Dark chocolate is supposed to be good for you. Ice cream, well we all know that is basically frozen milk. Milk is dairy and dairy products are good for you. Sprinkles are small so the calories don't really count. They look small so what could one hurt. Once again, if you think with you head instead of your gut, this is not a taco.

Tacos are NOT made from fish. Beef yes! Pork, maybe? Fish- NO.

As a final point of clarification tacos, real tacos, are made for land animals. Shrimp are good but they are not an appropriate taco filling.

Back to our real tacos and weight loss. The key is not to have things that pretend to be tacos and are not. When you do at the end of your meal you might say: "That was good." However, in the corner of your mind where your desires live. The ones you are bottling up and denying. Those voices back there are saying: "Yes, BUT that was NOT a TACO." So, if you want a taco, have one. Have ONE. A real ONE. The ONE you actually want. The taco of your desires. You don't gain weight by eating one taco. You gain weight when you look at this and think it is one serving for one person.

Groundhog Day

Groundhog day is one of America's great tradition. We send folks to college, make them learn all kinds of stuff about the atmosphere and how storms develop and track. Then every February we put our trust in an oversize rodent in charge of how much longer winter is going to be based on if it does or does not see its shadow. Makes perfect sense to me. Seems the other day the House of Representatives took the same approach regarding the Affordable Care Act. I don't like the other term for it so I use this one. Tuesday (Groundhog Day) our elected representatives came out of their holes (offices) and saw the shadow of health care for millions blocking the sunshine of freedom. They voted for the 56th time to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Sorry folks, not a misprint. Fifty six times. Why this time? Well you got a bunch of new folks in the House of Representative (freshmen or women Congressfolks) and they hadn't gotten the opportunity to vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act yet. They want to be able to go back to the folks in the home district and say I did my best to get rid of that damn medical care but there just weren't enough votes. Just know if you send me back after the next election you know what I will do.

Let's take a look at the numbers. Somewhere around 19 million folks have insurance now who didn't four years ago. About six million young people under the age of 26 have been able to stay on their parents insurance. People with preexisting conditions are able to get coverage. Where is the Republican alternative? The first repeal vote was held in January 2011. In four years we have seen nothing, absolutely nothing from the Republican folks in Congress to provide health insurance if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. Zero, zip, zilch, nada, nothing, goose egg, shutout. They continually talk about the United States being a Christian nation. One might reasonably ask the question: "What Would Jesus Do?" It has been a while since I read the Bible but I believe my reading indicated he went around healing the sick. Don't recall him charging any money for healing them. Free health care. Holy ^$(#Y(^# Jesus was a socialist. Bad for the funeral businesses as well. Seems to me he raised up a couple of dead guys. Now that's some health care plan. Wait, I got the Republican plan. It's free health care too. Jesus told people that their faith made the whole. It was the source of their healing. So our dear Republican friends have a plan for free health care. You stay home and pray to God. If you aren't healed it's your fault. Not enough faith. You didn't believe. Works for me but I think we should have a pilot program. Let's start with the folks in Congress. We can just defund their health care plan and they can turn to Jesus. They did, after all, take an oath which included the phrase "so help me God". Maybe they could apply that line to their personal health care.

Carting

It was an interesting day here on Tybee Island. The golf cart was finally finished with the upgrades to make it street legal. The final hurdle is an inspection by the local police department. Carol and I walked with Lily Lu the half mile to the police station and I went in with the required paperwork. The officer came out to the lobby with his checklist, pen and a question.
"Where is the golf cart?"
Me: "At the house."
Officer: "I can't go there to inspect it. You need to bring it here."
Me: "It's not street legal because you haven't inspected it. I can't drive it on the street. You have rules here."
Officer: "Ignore those long enough to get it here."
So cart delivered to police for inspection. Cart passes. I try to pay $15.00 registration fee with a $20.00 bill.
Clerk: "I don't have any change."
Me: "Can I write a check?"
Clerk: "No, we don't take personal checks."
Me: "Seems like a trust issue."
Clerk: "Go to that window she will give you change. Then come back here."
Those things done and registration sticker issued. Then back home and down to city hall for a parking sticker. $150.00 later a parking sticker issued and we are off to Benny's for a beer. Miss Carol may now prowl the streets of Tybee in her cart. The police were quick to point out two areas where the cart is not allowed. One is the highway. The second- the sidewalk. It wasn't in the directions originally but after stopping a few folks driving them on the sidewalk the rules were amended. Since Lily and I often walk on the sidewalk I told the officer I appreciated not being required to dodge golf carts. I asked if they could do something about the bicycles on the sidewalks. He stated it was an ordinance violation but they were told not to enforce the ordinance. I made a comment about the city having lots of rules. He made a comment about the city council needing something to do in the winter when there weren't many tourists around. Seems to me if you aren't going to enforce the ordinance maybe you shouldn't even have it on the books.

Mike and Nancy- come on up from Florida and take Carol's Tybee Golf Cart Tour.

Sunset

Sunset on Tybee can be a beautiful time of day. It is off season so the streets, shops and restaurants are quiet. When the sun goes down these days this quiet coastal paradise goes to sleep. Here are a few of our recent sunsets.

There is one thing that makes you happy the sun has gone down.

Good night from Tybee.

Food

Our personal relationship with food is always interesting and varied. We all have our personal likes and dislikes. One of the things I have learned dieting the last 4 months is just eating when I am hungry. Food isn't a cure for boredom. It isn't a substitute for love. It isn't an escape from pain or loneliness. The other thing that becomes apparent very quickly is that your groceries last longer. Having said all that what I want to talk about today is donations to food banks. I volunteered at the FISH Food Bank in Galesburg. I've seen the faces of the hungry. I have an idea what they look for when they come in and what we always seemed to need.

1. Money. It was not so much a problem at FISH as it is here in the Savannah area. When you get to  a big city and a large food bank it is better to donate money rather than food. Why? They are able to buy in bulk, to get deals from producers and warehouses on dated products or discontinued items. Sometimes the cost is jus the freight to have it delivered. So my advice, for your church pantry give food, for a large community pantry give money.

2. Spices. Food banks often provide a lot of rice, dehydrated potatoes and beans. Bland foods that could use a little spice.

3. Feminine Products. You can't buy these items with food stamps.

4. Chocolate. Okay, not a necessity, but it would provide a nice treat once in a while. When I was volunteering we would get candy in from time to time and it went out the door pretty quick.

5. Toiletries. Grocery stores and food distributors are good about donating food items. They have almost zero incentive to donate nonperishable items like toilet paper. So think about a donation of tooth paste, shampoo, soap, deodorant or similar items.

6. Canned meat. It is tough to provide enough protein.

7. Crackers. Everybody loves them and they keep well.

8. Baby items like diapers, wipes, formula, baby food, baby bottles. We rarely had those items and when we did they were gone quickly.

9, Soup Packets. Dried soup mixes can dress up an otherwise bland meal.

10. Socks. These are especially vital for the homeless. If you have ever had cold feet you know how miserable that can make you feel.

11. Canned Fruit. Just please not pineapple. We would have 50 cases of vegetables and sometimes no fruit. When we did get fruit it was often pineapple. Look for an alternative. Apple sauce is popular.

Please take a few minutes to donate to your local food bank. Food, money, any of the items listed above. If you really want to make a difference donate some of your time.