Category: Opinion

March 3, 2022 – Did You Know that I Hate Technology?

March 3, 2022 /

Sorry fans of Tacticool Thursday. It will be back but unfortunately, I have kind of run out of content since I have not been to the range in two months and as a result, I have not invested much thought or expense in that direction. I am going to my local gun club’s gun show this weekend. It is the first time in two years that it has been held and looking forward to it.

Two things this week irked me. The first is that we actually (kinda) have a home phone. It is not a landline but a wireless device that plugs into the phone lines and allows you to have phones throughout the house. This is truly not necessary but we got it a long time ago, when my kids were babies. It was also the time in life that not everyone had a cell phone. The intent was for the kids to be able to access to a phone or even a babysitter. I have also found that I can have a cordless phone in the shop and can see it or hear it ringing when I have machinery running. That is not always the case when my phone is in my pocket.

It is important to my wife that I am instantly available whenever she calls. Me, I like the redundancy factor that it provides. Well, it runs on 3G which is getting decommissioned. So, they sent us a new device to replace the old one (I think this is 4G). All we had to do was unplug the old device and plug in the new one. Nope, not that simple.

I had a foreshadowing that this would be problematic as my parents did this same thing about two months ago. When my dad called me to explain this problem, I really didn’t know how to help him other than call support. Two hours of phone support resolved the problem. I believe that it was something to do with our phone plan and including the new device but I am not entirely sure.

More bad news. I have been using Myki as a password vault for the last year. I have been pretty happy with it as I can share passwords across devices. Consequently, I have been pretty disciplined in adding new accounts and a lot more free with password generation. Meaning I have not been using the same one over and over. I got news that it will be discontinued in a month.

Talk about a major hassle. I spent all the time to migrate from iOS mini Keepass to this and now I need to do it again.

I spend all day in technology. Honestly, the last thing I want to do is spend my evening with technical support. I realize that technology is a necessary evil but both of these things feel a little arbitrary to the customer. I know that both have strong business cases to do what they are doing but technology advances their interests without regard to the customer.

I think that it is a cultural phenomenon. The more an entity shits on it’s customer base, the more polarizing people seem to react. Some people seem to build status in having the latest and greatest. I think about when my iPhone 6 stopped working for no good reason. My iPhone 10 really doesn’t do anymore (at least that I care about) than the 6 did. To top it off, it is bigger than I wish it was. No one from Verizon or Apple could answer why it stopped working. By the way, I was also on-call that weekend.

I am a ‘Apple’ guy because I think the user experience is better than Android. I also appreciate their stance on privacy a hair more than Google. I also think that there products are well made. I thought that my Windows phone was just fine too. However, don’t think that I am in the tank for them or that I even trust them.

End Your Programming Routine: I think what I am trying to say is that I am beyond the technological arms race. I just want stuff to work and work without hassle. Maybe we should simplify and get rid of the home phone, it would be cheaper and less hassle. I guess that is the sign of getting old and crochety. At some point, I will stop online shopping and looking for jobs, etc because it is too much hassle to keep up with passwords and 20,000 accounts.

March 2, 2022 – A True Fan

March 2, 2022 /

What do you do when your team is 3-24 this year? You go to the game to watch the band.

Of course I am being a little bit facetious It wasn’t just the band, it was the cheerleaders, students and old friends you see. Oregon State is not my alma mater, but my first love. I was a fan, listening to football and basketball games on the radio religiously when I was living at home. I was born and grew up Corvallis and the town was all about the university.

Despite my feelings towards OSU, I made the best choice for the time pursuing a degree at a much smaller, regional university. It was a far better fit for what I needed at the time I was going to school. I am a fan of my alma mater too, we simply get no real news coverage outside the region, radio is highly local and certainly no TV time. Sure, I could follow along with the internet but it is four hours away effectively eliminating any in-person attendance.

Being 47 now, there have been some ups and a lot of downs. My dad worked across the street from the University and his company were big boosters. The four founders of his company were all OSU grads in Engineering. Because of that, he would get tickets once a year and we would go to a basketball game. I saw the glory years of OSU basketball with AC Green and Gary Payton. My former boss played in the middle of those two. During those years, they were in conference title position every year.

The truth is, last year was the best year in my entire memory of Beaver basketball. Maybe not in totality, but they were an elite eight team in the NCAA tournament, really the only thing that matters. I went to a basketball game last year were the Beavers played University of Oregon and dominated the game. The Ducks were the defending conference champions and I believe made it to the sweet 16 last year as well. So, that was a statement of the quality of the team.

I checked back in the record book, this is the lowest win total since 1918 (3-13). By win percentage, this is the worst season ever. There have been some bad ones along the way. 2016-17 they were 4-24. I also remember that they lost the opening game to the local university, badly. Of course, that was the year that Western Oregon University was in the Division II final four. Maybe, it was a calamity of circumstances.

Despite their record, they didn’t play like they were the worst team in the history of the program. In fact, OSU was ahead nearly the entire game. It was only with 15 seconds remaining that the game was tied and went into overtime. At halftime, they were ahead by 12. The opponent definitely made the right adjustments and had the right strategy to exploit OSU.

End Your Programming Routine: As a true fan, I didn’t mind seeing a bad team because it was a good game and we had hope up until the last minute of OT. The last time I was at a women’s basketball game, we had to wait over an hour just to get out of our parking spot. That was frustrating. Taking my son to the game, this was a chance to imagine what college life might be like if he wanted to play in the band or just as a student. It is exciting, no matter what your record is.

February 15, 2022 – Valentine’s Babble

February 15, 2022 /

Life continues at warp speed. I am trying to recover from my trip, perform as a single dad, keep up with my job, etc. Last week, I was able to finish my day and spend time writing into the evening. This week, I may not be able to do that. So, my priority will be to get Friday’s post out on the American Dream over daily writing this week.

I am sure that all men were aware that yesterday was Valentine’s Day. My wife was in Texas but it doesn’t mean that I will get out of it. It means that it was just postponed for a couple of days. I will be making plans to have a belated celebration later this week.

My son wanted to buy himself some Valentine’s candy last night. We went to the grocery store last night right before it closed. I saw people walking into the store and I said to him, “those are people doing their valentine shopping”. Wouldn’t you know it when we walked in, men were hovered around the cards in hope to find that card before it was too late. Talk about taking it to the wire.

I try not to judge but I am curious, did they wait to shop for a super bowl party right before the game was over? Maybe they needed to wait for a paycheck to clear, maybe this is the beginning of their day, maybe they hate the idea of this holiday as much as I do. I saw candy and stuff on the shelf as soon as the Christmas decor was removed. Next year, don’t be that guy.

I will skip my griping on today’s cars and the amount of gizmos and electronics they contain. Suffice to say, When my Navigator sat for a week, the battery was stone cold dead. I tried to charge it Saturday and Sunday to no avail, so I took it back to where I bought it for evaluation. On my way, I saw some girls manning a table selling pre-made valentines baskets next to the highway.

I was really impressed at the level of hustle. They had a good location and a nice display. I suspect based on what I could see driving by that their target market was the teen in love or the machismo of the population. I thought to myself that this was something I have never seen. I don’t know how well they did, but if they kept trying ideas like that, something will work. Congrats to them.

End Your Programming Routine: I alluded to my distaste for Valentine’s Day above. What I think I have finally learned is that it is not about me. It doesn’t mean that I will like it any more but it changes my perspective. If it important to my partner then it is important to my relationship. And that is important to me.

February 9, 2022 – No Secrets By Now

February 9, 2022 /

It is probably no secret by now that I am not home. It is another business trip and there is worse news. I wouldn’t have volunteered this information except for the fact that this is another birthday that I have not been home for. I wrote about it in November, my last business trip the downside of traveling.

I am on little bit of a junket type trip. I am providing training for a group of users so it is an 8-5 type hours. For a lot of the attendees, this is the first time traveling on the company dime. There is anticipation for the work to be over so they can gather in the bar and drink the night away. I chose to skip that and come back to my room and write.

Not too long ago, I travelled a lot. I have been on projects that had no limits on travel expenses. I have had $250 meals and 10 drink nights to get up and do it again the next night. I guess I saw it as a way to commiserate with my peers that I didn’t want to be there week after week.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a teetotaler, I am a little bit anti-social. More than anything, I guess I have been there, done that and want something different. When I started in this line of work, I was in my early thirties. I think that I have gotten to an age where fun has a different definition than a hangover. Especially when you are up for meetings at 7AM followed by presenting all day.

The truth is, I might be in a better mood if I wasn’t missing my son’s birthday again. A few years ago, it was half a joke that I was always gone for his birthday. The years 2011 – 2015 I was gone all of those birthdays on ’critical’ business trips. I had hoped those days were behind me, as long as I am in this type of work it is a risk.

I suppose that one difference with this trip was that I knew it was scheduled last fall. I was more prepared for the ultimate reality in a way. It doesn’t make it any easier when I have been working seven days a week for the last month.

I guess I will have to wait and see how it all plays out. I have always said that I don’t mind a couple weeks of travel a year. This year it is looking like three trips at least. You always have to temper that: Michigan/Minnesota/Toronto in the winter doesn’t really qualify as much fun either.

End Your Programming Routine: Most people I know have made the transition from exuberance to weariness on business travel in their careers. The people that did not were typically single and this was as much of their lifestyle as being home. Their social interaction was at dinner or the bar and they would be doing the same thing at home. I do try to find some kind of birthday gift from the places I have been. Maybe those trinkets will hold a special place someday.

February 4, 2022 – Introducing the “American Dream” Series

February 4, 2022 /

Even though I have been spotty over the last couple of weeks, I got really inspired to go deeper into Wikipedia’s definition of the “American Dream”. I realized that I talk around it quite a bit but I have never really defined it. According to Wikipedia, the American Dream is comprised of five values: democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality. Each week, I am am going to take one of the five values and analyze the origins and the state of the value. I will sum it up with an overall score card when I am done.

In 2001, a bipartisan bill was introduced called the DREAM Act. While DREAM is an acronym, it is a play into the American Dream ethos. At the heart, the DREAM act is essentially an amnesty program for undocumented aliens that were brought into the country as minors (without consent). It even spawned a self-labelled generation of ‘DREAMERs’. My point being, from our history to our culture, the American Dream is something uniquely indigenous in our beliefs from the origin this country.

Have you ever really read Martin Luther King Jr’s I have a Dream? There is no doubt that that it was racially targeted, however if we take the speech out of context of it’s deliverance, the words are still relevant today. I cut some excerpts below.

“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.“

“There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.“

“And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.“

“We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: for whites only.“

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.“

Now, re-read those quotes and replace ‘white’ with vaccinated and ‘black/negro’ with unvaccinated. Or if you would rather, replace ‘white’ with liberal and ‘black/negro’ with conservative (or vice versa if it pleases your bias). I ask you, can we deny that we are living a civil rights conflict at this moment?

I realize that the comparison is not perfect. I am not saying that beliefs are equated to physical traits i.e. race. You can’t necessarily look at a person and know on what side of the argument they stand, unless maybe they are wearing/not wearing a mask. I am also not saying that this new dichotomy was something that we were born into and likely will never leave. here are aspects of choice to the conflict. We can choose compliance at the expense of ethics but isn’t that the opposite of freedom?

We don’t fear lynching, we fear being cancelled for having an opposing view. We don’t fear being barred from voting, we fear our vote doesn’t matter. We do fear our children will not be allowed into schools, we fear losing our jobs from lack of vaccine passport, we fear being barred from the lunch counter.

What I am saying is that institutions are starting to produce the same policy that put us squarely back to the 1890s, separate but equal (Plessy v. Ferguson). Isn’t ironic that the states with the most institutional segregation in the 1960s are the states that are implementing the least amount of segregation today and vice versa?

End Your Programming Routine: Why did I choose this to kick off the discussion when a good introduction should highlight what I am going to talk throughout the series? Because King’s speech is encouragement to fight for and problems within his socioethnic status from obtaining the American Dream. He directly uses the phrase American Dream, quotes the Declaration of Independence and heavily references the Emancipation Proclamation all in support of that effort. That is some of the most poignant works on freedom I can think of.

“And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.“

February 2, 2022 – I’m Not Dead, Just Really Busy

February 2, 2022 /

I had topics lined out for the rest of last week and I haven’t really even thought about it this week. I am coming into an extremely busy time at work that is consuming all of my free time that my family is not. So, those topics will stay on the back burner until this blows over, likely all of February.

I got a laugh at these two pictures. I think where the person in the second one got it wrong is that it is not SJW Canadians that are angry. It seems like it is the average, common sense citizen. If you have been following the truck driver rally happening in Ottawa, I think that you would agree with me.

From my sources, it sounds like a similar cross country convoy is being organized in the US; likely scheduled for the spring time. One person in particular expects that this is going to cause massive supply chain disruptions as if we don’t have them already.

To quote Eminem, “and get ready, this shit’s about to get heavy”. Here in my state, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) just approved permanent mask mandates and vaccine proof. That is with no legislation and of course pending adjudication but who thinks this is not going to be upheld, at least at the state level? Regardless of what side of the debate you are on, I don’t see us ever going back to tolerance of different opinions (even if the science is settled). We are witnessing an American empire collapsing from within.

If you are not paying attention, we have the crystallization right before our eyes of the blue versus red. People are leaving blue states in droves for the favor of the American Dream. Before the pandemic, the signs of division were clearly evident. However, some states (Oregon) has doubled down on keeping it that way. The tools of executive authority and administrative enforcement protect the legislature from being exposed, even though they don’t need the protection.

Let’s take a look at Wikipedia’s first sentence of the definition. The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality) in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. And, how are we doing with the ideals

  • democracy – I am going to give this one as OK despite election fraud claims and other problems
  • rights – We still have them but where is the right to state opposing view going?
  • liberty – Losing this one. the right to be an individual and act accordingly
  • opportunity – Losing this one as well, do you have your vaccine passport?
  • equality – this one has definitely gone out the door. Equality no longer means equal, it means super equal or stack ranking all of the other races and genders and whatever self identifier I want to make up.

The people leaving want an affordable lifestyle, opportunity to succeed and neighbors that don’t think they should be under house arrest because they haven’t been convinced by the flimflam from the medical establishment and political propaganda. You can debate my posted source and opinion, but it is one example among many. It represents policy and precedent that state governments are not addressing issues, but consolidating power. As I see it, protecting and enriching the establishment and power base for total control. If you look at this state, the legislature already has more than a super-majority of one party, it is pointless to resist.

End Your Programming Routine: Even if I am wrong at this juncture, I think you would have to be blind to see that there is serious doubt about the future of this country as we want to see it. Rampant inflation, supply disruptions and serious ethical division all the while we are trying to be convinced that everything is normal. What is that… do I hear Nero’s fiddle?

January 11, 2022 – The First 47 Years

January 11, 2022 /

Yesterday was my birthday. Another thing that I think makes me different than most people is that it seems like just another day. This is another huge difference between my feelings and my wife’s. For instance, through the years my celebrations are getting smaller and more subdued. Whereas my wife’s are getting bigger, grander and take a week’s worth of work to prep and several days to clean-up. I think that it is difficult for her to accept that I really don’t want much fuss to be made.

Last year, my birthday was on Sunday. It also happens to be the week of the month that we are committed to leading Children’s church. The pastor seemed genuinely surprised that I would do such a thing on my birthday. In fact, he has mentioned it several times over the year. I saw it as my commitment, regardless of what day it was and how crappy and selfish it would be to bow out at the last minute and cause extra work just because it was my birthday.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely don’t want to work on my birthday. But that’s not different than the next day or any day for that matter. I suppose when you are born during the school year, it seems normal that it is a day of schedule and commitment from as far as I can remember. Transition that to work, it is the same as school and we just had a bunch of holidays.

Sunday, we had a nice dinner with my brother’s family and my parents. We drove about an hour to meet in the middle for everyone. Since we skipped our traditional Christmas Eve gathering this last year because of our caretaking responsibilities, it was nice to get together for a short period of time. I suppose that is my idea of an ideal party; people that want to get together, have a nice time and share some laughter.

I was thinking Sunday night as I was trying to fall asleep that I am 47. That is only three years to fifty and I will be on the back side of middle age, if I am not already. The strange part of it seems like this decade has been more enjoyable than the twenties or the thirties. Those two seem like a blur and were here and gone, but not the forties. This decade seems like it really has been six years since I was 40.

If I were to speculate, I would guess that there is a reason. In the early part of the twenties, I was focused on getting my degree. Then it was getting married, searching to find the ideal living situation and positioning in the career space. In my thirties, I had family born and solidifying career and sort of setting roots. Now, in my forties those roots have taken hold and the fruit is starting to come on.

With a fair degree of comfort and stability, I can fill up my gas tank if I want to, I don’t have anxiety over picking one holiday celebration or the other and I can find my way down the hallway in the dark. I think those are the things that make this decade more enjoyable than the previous ones.

End Your Programming Routine: I have had birthdays where it snowed (although that has been a while), I have had birthdays with flooding, I have had birthdays where I have been lucky to be on ‘Christmas break’ still but usually, it is a work day. I did have a good day. I enjoyed my time with the family and we had dinner and played a game. It’s not that it didn’t have some conflict and struggle, we did. But everyone made an effort to be more polite and accommodating. That was a great gift.

January 5, 2022 – PC Audio Comparison

January 5, 2022 /

Where are we going today?  It’s time to move beyond the year end wrap ups and goals for the new year for now.  I have recently bought two sets of PC speakers.  One retails for $30 and the other originally $200.  

I have never had the opportunity to compare items like this side by side so, I purchased them blindly.  The set on the right was purchased to give me consistent sound on my work setup.  In that case, the monitor had built in speakers but I was always having it changed to the built in sound and I was hoping that using the headphone output would be more reliable.

The set on the left, I purchase as sort of a luxury.  I had a set of speakers that was originally purchased in 2005 attached.  They worked fine, I was hoping to upgrade because I stream music and podcasts while I work.  Plus, I am also eventually going to send the old ones back to the Linux machine I setup so I can continue to play around with that setup (as soon as I get another monitor).

First and foremost, I cannot easily tell the difference between the expensive audio and the ones that were on there.  Yes, it also has a subwoofer and I think that I hear a richer and more balanced sound largely when I play music and I happen to be listening.  It doesn’t really happen when I have it on in the background and I am working away.

I did also test the set on the right before I plugged everything in for the final setup on my work side.  I thought that they sounded fine and everything works like I hoped it would.  I was considering buying a second set until I ran across the the Klispsch speakers.  I had seen them at Costco about a year ago and thought I might appreciate them on my computer audio since I play them a large part of the day but I couldn’t justify the price.  These were used (returns I think) and about a third of the original cost, so I thought why not.

Two years ago, I wrote about Amazon Warehouse and my opinion has only been reinforced with my continued trial of that business unit.  I bought another item from Amazon Warehouse where it works, however the on/off switch always gets stuck in the off position.  I have to manually flip it up each time I want to use the device. but it is not worth sending back as it does work. This is two in a row that there was some sort of defect or I didn’t get the deal that I thought I was getting.  I would say buyer beware when buying used items from Amazon Warehouse.  These particular speakers came in better description than described and were from a third party vendor, not Amazon.  But, I was already resolved to send them back immediately if there was some sort of defect other than cosmetic.

I do think the more expensive pair does a better job of more clear sound at higher volumes.  I can hear the subwoofer in the background along with the music which still sounds good.  That being said, I rarely have the volume up high enough to hear that difference.  I am perfectly happy with the performance of the more inexpensive speakers even though I do know what I am missing now.

End Your Programming Routine: I think it is hard to appreciate the subtle differences of more expensive PC audio.  I saw them advertised for use in gaming as well.  That may be a better justification as you are spending larger amounts of time in front of the computer than having it on in the background.  My recommendation, save the extra money and space and buy the cheaper set. 

 

December 29, 2021 – Snow Days at 46 versus 13

December 29, 2021 /

We had snow on Christmas Day. It wasn’t in the morning but started coming down in the early evening. It snowed all night and continued the next day. The last time I remember having snow (on the ground) Christmas day was 1992.  From my memory, there has been one, true ‘White Christmas’ here in my part of Oregon, that was in 1988 where it started snowing Christmas Eve.

I had a four day weekend.  Friday and Monday were holidays for me around Christmas.  I spent Friday cooking as I made mole from scratch.  We had a low country boil for Christmas eve dinner.  Saturday was Christmas and Sunday was a down day.  Monday, it was back to work, so to speak.  Since my mother-in-law was staying with us over the weekend, it was time to get her back home.

I shoveled a path on the deck, stairs, driveway and a few access points.  Part of why I did that was forecasts were all over the map in terms of high temperatures.  I didn’t want the packed snow to ice over and be days worth of problems, including the driveway.  When I got to her house, I knocked the snow off of the awning, shoveled the snow off the roof, shoveled a path to the door.  We then discovered that the water line was frozen.  I spent an hour defrosting that and getting the water running.

When I used to work outside of the home, a snow day was not a day the office was closed, unlike the kids school or working for the state, like my wife.  I would plan extra time to get the car cleaned off and drive half speed or less.  When I had the ability or forethought to take my equipment home before the storm, I would work from home while everyone is watching movies and playing in the snow.

In 1988, my brother and I got mountain bikes for Christmas.  We road them in the snow and ice for the first time.  Needless to say, we found that combination didn’t work too well.  I don’t remember my brother’s outcome but I know that I laid my new bike down several times that day.

I suppose that I get my tendencies from my parents because a snow day was just a regular day.  They would go off to work in the morning and we were left to ourselves. We lived on a hill in the country and there was some traffic but not a lot.  We would start a fire in the woodstove in the shop and sled for hours down the hill, every couple of hours going into the shop to warm up and dry off.  

There is a stark contrast between what we did and my kids.  They don’t really play together, not even making a snowman or snowball fight.  I would estimate that they barely spent an hour a piece over the last couple of days outside.  Maybe they get it from me?  I was spent from the month of December and the hours in the kitchen over the last week.  I just wanted to sit down and watch football for a couple of hours.

It seems like a lot of people appear excited to have snow.  Here, it is about a once a year event.  But, the truth is, I don’t see a lot of people doing stuff and really taking advantage of it.  Maybe it is just a good excuse to do nothing?  I guess what I feel like is that there is everything that needs to get done, plus more work and time to do it.

My son asked me if I was excited that it snowed. I told him that I have spent winters in Michigan, Wisconsin and Canada;  not really.  I used to work for a Canadian company and the majority opinion was that it was better to live somewhere where snow was not in the daily routine.  One guy even told me that people had winter cars because of the salt on the roads (at least he did).  

End Your Programming Routine: I like seasons, I don’t think I would do well in a semi-tropical climate.  Last year I wrote about the transition to Winter makes you appreciate the Summer and was necessary for life to recharge and grow strong.  That being said, I am OK if this is our annual snow event.  It has been a number of years since we have seen any accumulation of snow.  I really appreciate that I don’t have to add several hours to my drive or even leave the house at this point.

December 23, 2021 – Happy Festivus

December 23, 2021 /

As you know from last year we do celebrate Festivus here at AltF4.co. While most of the activities are difficult to convey in written format, the airing of grievances are particularly suited.  I think traditionally, grievances would be associated to people attending the dinner, but in this case I am not going to impose that limit.

I think that we all recall how the year started out.  January 6, a huge group of useful idiots stormed the US Capitol. With shock and amazement, six people died participating in a manufactured crisis and subsequent legal/PR/propaganda clusterfuck this turned out to be.  What a perfect beginning to 2021.

  • Oregon’s own Governor Brown – I saw a survey a couple of weeks ago that listed Kate Brown as the least popular governor in the United States.  It is no wonder that I have a problem here.  Granted, not all of Oregon’s problems are related strictly to the figure, but it is a good start.  Whether it is losing freedom or imposing administrative fear in the population, she has earned her Festivus place.
  • The ‘Rust’ crew – This has got to be one of the dumbest tragedies of the year.  Fools playing with guns mix live ammunition into stage work and someone dies.  I feel so bad for the director (and family) that was likely innocent but also the victim.  There is no doubt to me that Alec Baldwin is reaping what he sows here.  The flimsy excuses and nonsense that has subsequently come out as a result makes me hope that those involve pay dearly for negligence.  Even terrible accidents happen which I believe this was, the fact that no one takes responsibility for this is deplorable.
  • Useful idiots –  From Jessie Smollet, Antifa and woke culture to Proud Boys stooges both sides play parts in the ongoing drama.  As I keep saying, it doesn’t matter which side you are taking, if you take a side you are advancing the agenda of both sides of the political dichotomy.  We are all losers here.
  • Monetary Policy Makers, Politicians and Media reporting – The ‘official‘ inflation rate is 6.8% for 2021.  Those of us living in the real world know that the gerrymandering of the statistics that go into the number is a farce.  Let’s look at some items: OSB – 3X last year, 2x4x8 #2 studs- 2X last year, available ammunition – at least 2X last year, 20# propane tanks – 2X last year, ground beef – 2X last year.  I could go on and on about every time I turn around something is costing significantly more than it used to (anyone priced houses lately).  It turns out that if you take all the items out of the calculation that actually have inflation, then you can get to 6.8%
  • Politicians (again) – Let us not forget that much of the inflation is tied to ridiculous Covid policies and stimulus severely effecting the supply chain.  The claim that prices are driven by raw material costs and availability are direct reflections of paying people not to work, disbarring rental contract enforcement and economic stimulus that has no other consequences but inflation.  Many of you probably don’t realize (yet, until April) that the checks the government sent in the summer were advancements on the Child Credit.  That money will be factored into your total income and in my case, I will likely have to pay that back.  Thanks US Treasury.  I didn’t need it, nor did I ask for it but just tack $2000 onto my bill in April.

Here are some honorable mentions this year.  I will save some of my vitriol and describe a simply disappointed.

  • OSU Beavers football team – At times they looked brilliant and dominated opponents, including the PAC-12 champions Utah.  They were 6-0 at home but on the road they looked downright listless.  This includes getting shellacked by 5-7 Cal and losing to Colorado at 4-8 in overtime.  As much as I wanted this to be the year of change, it was clear after the LA Bowl that this was probably a fluke.
  • Las Vegas Raiders –   I have always been a Raiders fan but this year I was hoping for more.  The Raiders were also my father-in-law’s favorite team.  This was one sports team that we could cheer for in common because I definitely didn’t want to talk about how the Ducks are doing every year.  The rest of the family was hoping for a good showing too to help transition through the grief.  It’s not over, but it sure doesn’t look good especially after being blown out by Kansas City two weeks ago and squeaking by Cleveland’s third string offense last week.

End Your Programming Routine: Just because I listed a bunch of bad things above doesn’t mean there weren’t good things too.  This is however the Airing of Grievances so I stuck to topic.  As I wrap up the year here, I hope that you take time to enjoy the holidays and focus on what is important in life: God, family, friends and building the Quiet Insurrection.  We wont fix this by electing the right people, we will fix this by being a better neighbor, having compassion and loving those around us.