Getting Things Done!

I like to do things.  I want to make things.  Sometimes it works, but for the most part I end up feeling like Tooter Turtle*. And who am I kidding, it NEVER works and I ALWAYS end up feeling like this in the middle of whatever project I do.  But I do learn some things and have gathered enough skills to lightly compete with Middle Age Man**, although our most common similarity is age.

 

This weekend I combined these skills as I tried to help my son in the middle of HIS project.  Combining the forces of Tooter Turtle and Middle Aged Man I stepped right into areas that I have no business being in.  Rest assured, while starting to feel that it is time to call on Mr. Wizard, I am gamely proceeding forward.  It is only a matter of time before I seek comfort with my side kick, Drinking Buddy (see video below).

 

Peter, my son, is more than knee deep in his current discovery.  Having much grander ideas than even I would have contemplated, Peter has bought a new house that, although not what one would call a fixer upper, one that needs a bit of work.  He has ripped out floors (the hard way, i.e with my help), replaced windows, added sheetrock, painted walls, re done hardwood floors and laid tile.  All while trying to hold down his full time job and with a child under one, and oh yeah during that calm period of life between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  A chip off the old block(head) on steroids – what the hell was he thinking.

 

The current project problem has been set upon Peter from that notorious super villain Epoxy Haze.  Peter has been slaving trying to correct a flaw that all the experts are telling him (similar to my cooking disasters) could have been prevented by doing “something else” before he had the problem.  Nice advice AFTER the problem exists.  I have bought some secret formula epoxy haze remover from the super heros at Georgetown’s Legion of Tile Heros and hope to swoop in tonight and wisk the problem away like a TV commercial version of Scrubbing Bubbles.  That is my current optimistic position, but then again, you can just call me TOOTER TURTLE.


And stop looking at my gut....I'm working on it!

 

**

https://screen.yahoo.com/middle-aged-man-000000125.html 

 

*Tooter Turtle (sometimes spelled Tudor or Tutor) is a cartoon about a turtle that first appeared on TV in 1960, as a segment, along with The Hunter a detective dog, as part of the King Leonardo and His Short Subjects program. "Tooter Turtle" debuted on NBC, on Saturday, October 15, 1960, and ran for 39 original episodes through July 22, 1961. These episodes were later rerun as backups on other cartoon shows, but no more original episodes were made.

The plots followed the same general format. Tooter (voiced by Allen Swift) calls on his friend Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voiced by Sandy Becker), an anthropomorphic lizard wearing wizard cone hat, robe, and pince-nez eyeglasses. Mr. Wizard lived in a tiny cardboard box at the base of a tall tree. The introductory segment had Tooter knocking on the cardboard box, having "another favor to ask." From inside the box, Mr. Wizard would shrink Tooter small enough to enter through the box's front door, and invite him in. Mr. Wizard has the magic to change Tooter's life to some other destiny, usually sending him back in time and to various locales.

As Tooter is doing his destiny, Mr. Wizard narrates about it. When Tooter's trip finally became a catastrophe, Tooter would request help with a cry of "Help me Mr. Wizard, I don't want to be X any more!" where X was whatever destiny Tooter had entered. Mr. Wizard would then rescue Tooter with the incantation, "Twizzle, Twazzle, Twozzle, Twome; time for this one to come home." Then, Mr. Wizard would always give Tooter the same advice: "Be just what you is, not what you is not. Folks what do this has the happiest lot."

What Happened? – Why did the Republicans Win So Big?

I will tell you what happened.  It happens ALL the time and it is a crying shame that human nature IS the way it IS.  Go Read Steinbeck’s In Dubious Battle, it explains it all. It is the same old story every time. 

Men in power grab control and they go too far with the power grab. They make life miserable for the less fortunate and their power grab starts to negatively affect TOO many people.  And the people band together and say ENOUGH.  People banding together is the ONLY way people can survive against greedy men in power.  We must band together and join forces against greed. 

Men in power then say – Whoa… we went too far.  We better back off and throw some bones at the angry mob.  We have to make things a little better for the average guy.  Once the average guy is happy, he abandons those below. Change stalls and never reaches those who truly need the change.

George Bush and the Republicans made a huge mess of it.  They ruined the economy and made EVERYONE upset.  We banded together and we threw them out of power. 

Guess what? Things got better.  The average guy’s life improved and he has now left the unfortunate behind ….Again.

In In Dubious Battle, the farmers slash the price for picking the fruit.  ALL the workers in the valley join the strike.   Wages go up a little bit, enough for someone with a job to get by, and the workers take THEIR job and let the organizers and those without to hang in the breeze.  Once I GOT MINE, I do not care what happens to others.   

This brings me to the unpopularity of the Affordable Care Act.  I hope we can keep this together, but it does not look good. 

I will tell you why.  

#1 Nobody in America has liked their health plan for as long as I can remember. Because medical care is expensive, because insurance companies are in the business to make money – and paying out for claims is counter to making money and because (and I agree with this) we all have to feel some financial pain when going to the doctor or some of us would go to the doctor ALL the time. 

#2 The vast majority of America already had medical insurance handled and the Act did impact their plans, albeit ever so slightly and in a negative way. 

#3 Men in power do not like a) sharing limited resources b) waiting their turn and c) being told what to do. 

I find it remarkable that we even passed this bill (which explains many of its flaws, gimme my public option!) 

Now most Americans are attacking the idea (with NO discussion of an actual plan to replace it). The MAIN bottom line is - (and this goes for BOTH of my points) – We live in a democracy.  In a democracy MAJORITY rules.  It is VERY rare when the majority votes to burden themselves for a program designed to assist a minority.

What the Hell Are You Doing What About It?

I think it goes without saying that I am pretty lefty/socialist kind of guy.  I think the world is more than a bit skewered towards the 1% and difficult for the working man and especially the working poor.  I show this in my attitude, I show this in how I vote and I practice this in my day to day life.

……..But…….

I also get angry, and sometimes very angry and disappointed in Americans, and especially the Americans I am trying to help with my attitude, my votes and my day to day practices.

And what I think about and simmer about is…….WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?????

Life is tough now in the US if you lack skills and education.  Jobs are scarce and they do not pay much for “lower tiered” non skilled labor.  That is a problem.  And I have NO PROBLEM supporting a $15 dollar minimum wage….BUT……

Are you kidding me?  Your life is going to be HOW much better if you make $15.00 an hour?????  You THINK that is going to change everything???

And you THINK “they” are going to pay “you” $15.00?

And let me tell you who I am talking to…….you have seen them.  We have WAY too many people (!adults!) who look like SHIT!  Lack of personal hygiene, wearing horseshit clothes, tattooed, pierced up the ying/yang modeling lawn mower accident haircuts, smoking, littering and not giving a shit about anyone’s concept of society.

Hey, you want to get somewhere, you want to be somebody – take a look around, see the people with jobs, with skills, with “a life” (that you disdain) – yeah, all that “bullshit”  -  get on board or enjoy your freedom to be a bum.

And that is just the bottom.  To those barely getting by here are some random thoughts:

Savings accounts come before:

            Car payments

            Cigarettes

            Nights out on the town

            Cell phones (that you stare at constantly)

            Cable TV

            Flat screen tv’s

            Tattoos

            Piercings

Getting ahead at work includes

            Showing up on time (which is fucking earlier than others)

            Doing more than your peers (working your ass off)

            Looking presentable

showering, shaving before work

wearing clean clothes

tucking your shirt in

Not cutting off the sleeves of your shirt and wearing a shitty shirt underneath

                        Not going outside to smoke every five minutes

                        Not having your headphones on

            Asking “what else can I do” and DOING IT

            Figuring out WHAT ELSE CAN I DO and DOING IT

            Dealing with customers and vendors like they are important to your success

            Doing what YOU can to develop skills that your company needs

Getting ahead in life not only INCLUDES the above things BUT also includes the thought that MAYBE where you are working and what you are doing IS NOT going to get you anywhere and maybe, JUST MAYBE you may have to get off your ass and find a better job.

At an early age I learned that if you want to succeed at something it was not a bad idea to look at the people who WERE successful at something and study what they do; including asking them what they did to get where they were.  Here is the secret, calling them brown-nosing suck ups that have “sold out’ is not going to get you anywhere- nor is laughing at them and calling them names.  Look deep in your soul and realize that Aesop had a fable out describing “those grapes”.  AND he had another one about an Ant and a Grasshopper…….AND if you do not remember or never heard about AESOP perhaps reading these stories might be a good place to start getting your life together.

Which brings me to READING vs WATCHING TV.  We all say TV sucks and it is a giant waste of time, yet millions are made by the TV industry and Americans spend sooo much time watching it.  Stop the insanity, pick up a book and learn a thing or two.

Learn a thing or two – YES educate YOURSELF….. be somebody and quit your bitchin’.

Quit bitchin about life – chances are if YOUR life is a mess (i.e. you do NOT have the money you need to get by) YOU need to change something, and the above “advice” ain’t a bad place to start – BECAUSE the WORLD AIN”T GONNA CHANGE, so you had better.

Climate Change

The most important observation I have about human nature is this – Everybody thinks they are behaving in the most prudent manner.  Everyone thinks this.  The overweight guy with the multiple tattoos, chain smoking and texting while driving – he thinks he has it all together and would not have it any other way.  And NO ONE believes this axiom more than a bible thumping, conservative republican, because their mantra is “of course I am right and you are living wrong”.

 

The most important truth I have learned about the human condition is that we are all a product of every decision we have ever made.  If it were possible to do an all encompassing, geeky flowchart of everyone’s life, the boxes and lines would actually include “doing my 4^th grade English homework for Ms. Bukowski” with the yes line somehow connecting to “Becoming President of the United States of America” and the no line having you end up eating government cheese.

 

My most important Observation of humans and my belief in the most important Truth lead me to conclude the planet, as a habitat for humanity, is doomed.  Let me expand on this important conclusion.

 

We are NOT going to ever come to grips with our dependence on fossil fuels, we can’t.

Each member of this unsustainable society we live in has made too many decisions that are so intertwined within their life, that it is impossible for them to CHANGE their behavior.

                        We live too far from our workplace, because:   

It is GOOD for my family to live in this area, and I could never live down by where I work

My spouse’s place of work is too far in the other direction

I grew up here, too bad there are no good jobs here – but I cannot leave here.

I cannot afford to live near where I work

 

Where people live, and where people work are products of every decision they have made, and let us not forget these people ALL believe that each of these decisions “was the right thing to do” and that they are living the best life to their best and most fruitful potential.

 

This explains why most people and ALL bible thumping conservative Republicans do not believe in Climate Change, think it is a hoax and a scam and IGNORE any and all pleas to modify their life styles to do anything to mitigate the damage.

 

We all think we are living in the most prudent fashion, could not imagine living any other way so THEREFORE any input that tells us different MUST be bogus.