Dear Albuquerque Police Department Officer assigned to car G74, you’re the reason why I will never support officer’s being allowed to take home their work vehicles. What I witnessed this morning is a situation that many, too many, ordinary citizens witness on an all too regular basis.
Today as I was leaving my little slice of urban development bliss, shared by you officer in G74, I did the same thing every other motorist sharing the road with you did, double checked my speed and ensured that I remained right at 30. Did you? Of course not, car G74 must have a defective speedometer because it seemed as though you were traveling a bit faster than the rest of us. What was that, ten over the limit? I asked myself; self, would that officer in car G74 allow me in my vehicle to travel ten miles per hour over the speed limit? Really, I would likely be stopped and fined? How inconvenient.
Traffic stopped and as the light turned green, officer in APD car G74 stomped on the accelerator, as the late model Crown Vic’s, courtesy of you and me, tires chirped as the officer barreled into the lane. I sped up to the speed limit, a more reasonable 45 but that wasn’t fast enough for officer in G47 who sped off in front of all traffic, weaving without signaling and cutting off intimidated drivers.
As I turned away I thought to myself, why should I pay more in taxes so that officer in car G47 can break the law on their commute when I have to transport myself back and forth to work? Is it really a humble public servant if they get to flaunt their disregard for the laws the rest of us must adhere to, or face punishment from them, and when they insult us by assuming themselves so important that we must provide them perks not afforded to the rest of us?
Most police officers are decent and work hard. Problem is regular citizens never have to interact with those officers. Most decent citizen’s interaction with the 5-0 includes routine traffic stops and getting paperwork done for the insurance company when something’s stolen. Other than that, we are forced to witness the wanton disregard too many officers have for simple traffic laws. The officer in car G47 wasn’t on a call, he was leaving home for work. It’s bad enough that many officers park their take home cars in a way meant to intimidate their neighbors. That’s right, parked on the street towards the main artery so the person just driving through has no idea if it’s some kind of set up.
Officer in car G74, you and those who act in the same way as yourself are the problem. We respect those officers that make us safer. What do you do that makes us safer? Frankly, you don’t deserve to have your commute covered by me and my neighbors. Additionally, you and your kind should have double fines assessed for your actions. If only anyone with actual power would do something. I’m not holding my breath.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
A kind of Patience
Patience is of virtue and as I age it is a trait that is actually becoming more common in my day-to-day dealings. I’ve always been a curmudgeon in ways much more advanced than my age. And it’s not the usual things. It’s been awhile since I realized that the music produced when I was in high school and college is much better than anything now. Due to my dislike of being out in public coupled with a dislike of being around disgusting surroundings I’d rather watch movies at home than in a theatre. I also dislike having to explain the same thing many times over to the same people or group. However, because I am effectively a consulting engineer it is necessary to have patience with those who can’t bother to pay attention.
A meeting this afternoon was a special kind of head slapper. I was presenting a model of a complex system as a certain kind of diagram. I have met in person with this group twice and in teleconference meetings with the aid of screen sharing programs dozens of times since late last summer. Important to this kind of diagram is the understanding that it is not the same as a circuit diagram. That it is not the same as a flow diagram. Explaining the diagrams begins with describing its basic structure and how that structure is used to determine the kinds of meaningful information that can be gained from it.
Every meeting, I begin by giving a short overview of the process and the basic structure of the diagram type then proceed to describe the application to the system being analyzed and the result. Most of these diagrams are at least several months old with only slight modifications to distinguish from one meeting to the next. Of course, each meeting is a repeat of the last. Shortly after a brief overview of the process, questions that should have been answered by that overview are brought up when the result is presented.
It should not take too long to describe the process again and I acquiesce and answer the question in an attempt to move forward but it’s never good enough. No matter how many times I explain that this kind of diagram is not a flow diagram and that the logic of this particular type of diagram dictates the layout I am inundated with more questions that should have been previously answered.
When I was a younger engineer, I could not effectively deal with this kind of interaction. When interacting with other technical staff one assumes that there would be some kind of basic competency. There should be the assumption that there is some kind of retention the group has and that they can grasp concepts and require nothing more than a refresher. That’s wrong though and truth is you can’t assume anything about the technical competency of anyone you deal with in a business sense. It’s rather cynical but the best way to deal with it is to smile, nod and wait out the meeting. Much of the issues I experience are tangential to the actual deliverable and there is no point in letting these things drag the project down. This is a kind of patience that I have learned and I am a better engineer for it.
A meeting this afternoon was a special kind of head slapper. I was presenting a model of a complex system as a certain kind of diagram. I have met in person with this group twice and in teleconference meetings with the aid of screen sharing programs dozens of times since late last summer. Important to this kind of diagram is the understanding that it is not the same as a circuit diagram. That it is not the same as a flow diagram. Explaining the diagrams begins with describing its basic structure and how that structure is used to determine the kinds of meaningful information that can be gained from it.
Every meeting, I begin by giving a short overview of the process and the basic structure of the diagram type then proceed to describe the application to the system being analyzed and the result. Most of these diagrams are at least several months old with only slight modifications to distinguish from one meeting to the next. Of course, each meeting is a repeat of the last. Shortly after a brief overview of the process, questions that should have been answered by that overview are brought up when the result is presented.
It should not take too long to describe the process again and I acquiesce and answer the question in an attempt to move forward but it’s never good enough. No matter how many times I explain that this kind of diagram is not a flow diagram and that the logic of this particular type of diagram dictates the layout I am inundated with more questions that should have been previously answered.
When I was a younger engineer, I could not effectively deal with this kind of interaction. When interacting with other technical staff one assumes that there would be some kind of basic competency. There should be the assumption that there is some kind of retention the group has and that they can grasp concepts and require nothing more than a refresher. That’s wrong though and truth is you can’t assume anything about the technical competency of anyone you deal with in a business sense. It’s rather cynical but the best way to deal with it is to smile, nod and wait out the meeting. Much of the issues I experience are tangential to the actual deliverable and there is no point in letting these things drag the project down. This is a kind of patience that I have learned and I am a better engineer for it.
Random Thoughts - 1/21
Thwacking the conventional wisdom strawman in sports is one of ESPN radio personality Colin Cowherd’s favorite lines. This morning’s show started with the premise that everyone; yes everyone, favors the Green Bay Packers over the Chicago Bears in this weekend’s NFC championship game. Everyone has been hating on the Bears and thinks they’d be the worst super bowl team in history. Cowherd’s annoying tic wears because he can’t help himself from harping on the subject for much too long. The Bears may win. The Packers may win, and are favored by a field goal. There have been analysts favoring both sides of the game and perhaps there has been more favorable coverage of the Packers. Cowherd’s annoying argument is that everyone thought the Saints would win, they lost. Yet, in the last round the Bears were favored by ten, and won by eleven, justifying the belief that the Seahawks had no chance in that game. I find the Bears to be an unlikeable team, mostly because of former Broncos QB Jay Cutler, but it’s nothing more than a strawman to identify them as some kind of victim of vitriol.
I learned earlier today that I inadvertently stole the jacket of a one year old from my son’s day care center yesterday afternoon. It was a jacket identical to one that my son has and my son did not have a jacket with him yesterday morning. As my wife takes him in the morning and I pick him up in the afternoon combined with the fact that my wife and I communicate as well as your typical married couple I of course had no clue that the boy had no coat. How horrible am I though? What if the poor kid had no other jacket? It was rather cold this morning due to the wind.
Governor Susana Martinez has been sued again, this time by the Sierra Club, for putting a hold on new energy saving building guidelines. The hold is only for 90 days in order to allow for a thorough review. I think in this case it is in Governor Martinez’s favor that she is being sued by such hack outfits like the Sierra Club, an adversary worth having.
Even though I have been using some form or another of the written English language for about twenty-six years I am still flummoxed by proper spelling. I am such a bad speller that sometimes Microsoft Word has no suggestions for me. It’s as if Word is telling me that I am so bad at using a word that I may know the meaning of that they don’t know what to do with my mangled mess of letters. How’s that for a self esteem push? Makes me want to eat a whole bag of M&Ms in one bite.
I learned earlier today that I inadvertently stole the jacket of a one year old from my son’s day care center yesterday afternoon. It was a jacket identical to one that my son has and my son did not have a jacket with him yesterday morning. As my wife takes him in the morning and I pick him up in the afternoon combined with the fact that my wife and I communicate as well as your typical married couple I of course had no clue that the boy had no coat. How horrible am I though? What if the poor kid had no other jacket? It was rather cold this morning due to the wind.
Governor Susana Martinez has been sued again, this time by the Sierra Club, for putting a hold on new energy saving building guidelines. The hold is only for 90 days in order to allow for a thorough review. I think in this case it is in Governor Martinez’s favor that she is being sued by such hack outfits like the Sierra Club, an adversary worth having.
Even though I have been using some form or another of the written English language for about twenty-six years I am still flummoxed by proper spelling. I am such a bad speller that sometimes Microsoft Word has no suggestions for me. It’s as if Word is telling me that I am so bad at using a word that I may know the meaning of that they don’t know what to do with my mangled mess of letters. How’s that for a self esteem push? Makes me want to eat a whole bag of M&Ms in one bite.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
APS's lack of transperency a problem
In light of impending budget cuts from the state of New Mexico, Albuquerque Public Schools has responded as usual, threatening to file a lawsuit against the state. Funny how the school district has plenty of money for lawyers to take the state to court and for purchasing downtown property to build a performing arts school but there’s no room for any cuts. Funny, but I can think of two based on that last sentence.
There was a discussion the other morning on the radio, I forget which day because I just started graduate school basically on a whim and it has been a busy week, with callers offering up ideas for APS to trim a little. A reasonable idea considering the current unemployment rate coupled with rising energy and food prices are causing the people of New Mexico to tighten their own budgets. Unfortunately much of the proposals to help APS deal with its need to cut back were unserious.
One caller proposed the shutter of the English as a second language program and another echoed by decrying non-English speakers for not teaching their children English. The supreme court has ruled that the legal resident status of a student cannot be questioned when it comes to public schooling, never mind the fact that there are people in this country legally that do not speak English, the program is actually beneficial because it allows students to integrate into the greater school population instead of them continuing to be a distraction to other students for a dozen years, all the while slipping through the cracks.
Another caller proposed that APS rent out space in their twin high rise buildings located in uptown Albuquerque. The host noted that he didn’t know if there was even any space in the building to be rented. It’s probably correct that there isn’t any space, I was riding past earlier today and the parking lot was stuffed (it was before 3 in the afternoon so most people were still “working”) with some even parking in the thoroughfares about the lot. Besides that, lease rates are not very much right now and why any self respecting business would desire to be co-located with APS is puzzling.
What’s most appalling about the buildings and APS as a whole is that no one knows what the majority of those employed their do. No one is educated in those building yet there are many employees. Why are there so many people employed in a building supporting a school district in which no one learns anything? What duties do they perform and what programs and expenditures are they part of? No one knows. And that’s why when the public offers up ideas they’re trivial, it’s because APS’s operations are shrouded in secrecy, they are never made to account for why they need as much money as they need while at the same time doing an incredibly poor job of educating. Anytime they are called to account they file suit or protest. It’s about time that APS were forced to outline for the public in detail their operations and show why it costs as much as it does.
There was a discussion the other morning on the radio, I forget which day because I just started graduate school basically on a whim and it has been a busy week, with callers offering up ideas for APS to trim a little. A reasonable idea considering the current unemployment rate coupled with rising energy and food prices are causing the people of New Mexico to tighten their own budgets. Unfortunately much of the proposals to help APS deal with its need to cut back were unserious.
One caller proposed the shutter of the English as a second language program and another echoed by decrying non-English speakers for not teaching their children English. The supreme court has ruled that the legal resident status of a student cannot be questioned when it comes to public schooling, never mind the fact that there are people in this country legally that do not speak English, the program is actually beneficial because it allows students to integrate into the greater school population instead of them continuing to be a distraction to other students for a dozen years, all the while slipping through the cracks.
Another caller proposed that APS rent out space in their twin high rise buildings located in uptown Albuquerque. The host noted that he didn’t know if there was even any space in the building to be rented. It’s probably correct that there isn’t any space, I was riding past earlier today and the parking lot was stuffed (it was before 3 in the afternoon so most people were still “working”) with some even parking in the thoroughfares about the lot. Besides that, lease rates are not very much right now and why any self respecting business would desire to be co-located with APS is puzzling.
What’s most appalling about the buildings and APS as a whole is that no one knows what the majority of those employed their do. No one is educated in those building yet there are many employees. Why are there so many people employed in a building supporting a school district in which no one learns anything? What duties do they perform and what programs and expenditures are they part of? No one knows. And that’s why when the public offers up ideas they’re trivial, it’s because APS’s operations are shrouded in secrecy, they are never made to account for why they need as much money as they need while at the same time doing an incredibly poor job of educating. Anytime they are called to account they file suit or protest. It’s about time that APS were forced to outline for the public in detail their operations and show why it costs as much as it does.
An important first step
Last night, while the White House was preparing a lavish state dinner for the authoritarian dictator from China, the House of Representatives voted to repeal Obamacare 245-189, 26 votes more in favor of repeal than originally passed it. It was disappointing that only three democrats voted for repeal but at least that is three more than the number of Republicans who voted for the albatross.
It is especially encouraging that this piece of legislation was passed regardless of the fact that Senate Majority Leader Reid has promised to stonewall, refusing the bill a place on the senate voting calendar and the President’s promise to veto. House Republicans were mocked and degraded in the weeks leading to this vote and stuck to it.
The debate from some representatives in interviews and on the house floor was irresponsible, ridiculous and comical. There were statements that repeal of this law would lead to deaths. Obviously not considered was that much of the law is not even done or enacted and that millions did not die daily before it was passed.
Another line was that it is irresponsible of us (in the cosmic sense) to let 40 million people go without health insurance. Not considered here is the fact that passing a law that forces citizens on an erstwhile free country to purchase health insurance is not the same as providing coverage and doesn’t even guarantee that everyone will indeed follow that law.
Yet another overused line was that it is unconstitutional to repeal Obamacare because health care/insurance is a basic human right, specifically the right to life in the bill of rights. It could be argued that this is reasonable but the original bill of rights is well documented and the right to life is not a guarantee of health. And it is understood by reasonable thinkers that a basic human right cannot be a tangible good, one that incurs some kind of cost or requires anyone be compelled to provide a service to another.
Obamacare was about nothing more than an attempt at complete control of an industry that is already halfway there by the federal government. People who vote for ignorant representatives that think in a way that leads to reasoning and comments like those above are beholden to government and are left to believe that they are owed. These people are victims but not of those who can take care of themselves, they are victims of power hungry politicians who treat them as peasants. The vote yesterday was mostly symbolic but not meaningless; it is an encouraging first step on the long road to complete repeal.
It is especially encouraging that this piece of legislation was passed regardless of the fact that Senate Majority Leader Reid has promised to stonewall, refusing the bill a place on the senate voting calendar and the President’s promise to veto. House Republicans were mocked and degraded in the weeks leading to this vote and stuck to it.
The debate from some representatives in interviews and on the house floor was irresponsible, ridiculous and comical. There were statements that repeal of this law would lead to deaths. Obviously not considered was that much of the law is not even done or enacted and that millions did not die daily before it was passed.
Another line was that it is irresponsible of us (in the cosmic sense) to let 40 million people go without health insurance. Not considered here is the fact that passing a law that forces citizens on an erstwhile free country to purchase health insurance is not the same as providing coverage and doesn’t even guarantee that everyone will indeed follow that law.
Yet another overused line was that it is unconstitutional to repeal Obamacare because health care/insurance is a basic human right, specifically the right to life in the bill of rights. It could be argued that this is reasonable but the original bill of rights is well documented and the right to life is not a guarantee of health. And it is understood by reasonable thinkers that a basic human right cannot be a tangible good, one that incurs some kind of cost or requires anyone be compelled to provide a service to another.
Obamacare was about nothing more than an attempt at complete control of an industry that is already halfway there by the federal government. People who vote for ignorant representatives that think in a way that leads to reasoning and comments like those above are beholden to government and are left to believe that they are owed. These people are victims but not of those who can take care of themselves, they are victims of power hungry politicians who treat them as peasants. The vote yesterday was mostly symbolic but not meaningless; it is an encouraging first step on the long road to complete repeal.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Suing on Behalf of Global Warming Groupthink
One of the first actions taken by New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez (I really enjoy writing that) upon assuming office was to fire the entire unelected former-governor appointed Environmental Improvement Board. In a statement released by the Governor’s office, the panel was disbanded because of its anti-business policies. In the summer and fall 2010, the EIB conducted global warming hearings which resulted in proposed rules restricting carbon dioxide in the state. The formal announcement by the EIB in regards to the imposition of these restrictions came on Election Day, conveniently avoiding making their decrees an election issue for democrat Diane Denish.
In addition to disbanding the EIB, Governor Martinez halted publication of the regulations that resulted from the unelected board’s hearings. In response a nonprofit group named the New Energy Economy which lobbied the EIB in support of carbon regulation has filed a lawsuit against the Governor claiming that she circumvented the law in stopping the publication of the regulations. The end goal of the New Energy Economy is to force the Governor and the state’s environment department to publish and bind businesses to the new regulations by judicial fiat.
The first problem with these regulations is that they were created by unelected regulators sitting on an appointed board. The EIB has been in the news for their member’s problems with conflicting interests, for example, the last EIB chair served while at the same time lobbying for environmental organizations. The state legislature, which is charged with actually making laws, did not pursue this path for very good reasons which is why this unelected board, acting on behalf of environmental zealots decided to sidestep them.
The most important problem with these regulations was clearly identified by the Governor, they’re anti-business. The energy and petroleum industry is incredibly important to the state of New Mexico and absolutely vital to the Northwest and Southeast portions of the state. This industry is one of the last truly productive entities in a state that is entirely too reliant on the public sector. Our state has more state employees per resident than almost every other US state. There are two national laboratories and several military bases and is littered with many other federal offices. It is absurd to impose draconian regulations on the private sector in New Mexico based on closed hearings that were held by and with the global-warming obsessed. Man-made climate change is far from settled science and there are many more substances which contribute to it than carbon dioxide. It will destroy the areas of the state to which the energy and petroleum industries are indispensable and is irresponsible on the basis of a hypothesis of group thinkers who have no experience in the real world.
Governor Martinez faced a mess upon taking over from Bill Richardson including unelected boards such as the EIB which were designed to help Richardson’s friends and to circumvent the state legislature. The Governor should be lauded for making the decisions necessary to bring the state’s budget into line and to make our state a more hospitable environment for responsible businesses. The courts should dismiss the New Energy Economy’s lawsuit.
In addition to disbanding the EIB, Governor Martinez halted publication of the regulations that resulted from the unelected board’s hearings. In response a nonprofit group named the New Energy Economy which lobbied the EIB in support of carbon regulation has filed a lawsuit against the Governor claiming that she circumvented the law in stopping the publication of the regulations. The end goal of the New Energy Economy is to force the Governor and the state’s environment department to publish and bind businesses to the new regulations by judicial fiat.
The first problem with these regulations is that they were created by unelected regulators sitting on an appointed board. The EIB has been in the news for their member’s problems with conflicting interests, for example, the last EIB chair served while at the same time lobbying for environmental organizations. The state legislature, which is charged with actually making laws, did not pursue this path for very good reasons which is why this unelected board, acting on behalf of environmental zealots decided to sidestep them.
The most important problem with these regulations was clearly identified by the Governor, they’re anti-business. The energy and petroleum industry is incredibly important to the state of New Mexico and absolutely vital to the Northwest and Southeast portions of the state. This industry is one of the last truly productive entities in a state that is entirely too reliant on the public sector. Our state has more state employees per resident than almost every other US state. There are two national laboratories and several military bases and is littered with many other federal offices. It is absurd to impose draconian regulations on the private sector in New Mexico based on closed hearings that were held by and with the global-warming obsessed. Man-made climate change is far from settled science and there are many more substances which contribute to it than carbon dioxide. It will destroy the areas of the state to which the energy and petroleum industries are indispensable and is irresponsible on the basis of a hypothesis of group thinkers who have no experience in the real world.
Governor Martinez faced a mess upon taking over from Bill Richardson including unelected boards such as the EIB which were designed to help Richardson’s friends and to circumvent the state legislature. The Governor should be lauded for making the decisions necessary to bring the state’s budget into line and to make our state a more hospitable environment for responsible businesses. The courts should dismiss the New Energy Economy’s lawsuit.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Random Thoughts
The worst thing early in the morning is not a lack of Folgers’s in one’s cup, it’s coming in and realizing that you have a long and boring meeting that starts in 15 minutes that you completely forgot about.
I hate that after one installs Windows updates and desires to hibernate or something other than restart the computer that it restarts anyway. One of the reasons for my laziness is my “method” of working in unsaved documents, so I don’t clutter document folders. Often I leave things unfinished then hibernating when I leave at the end of the day to let ideas percolate when I’m off the clock so that the files are ready at the start of a new day.
Yesterday on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, happy 60th Rush, he played a sound bite from some clown who talked about his lament that there is no liberal counter to Rush on the radio. Immediately I thought to myself, with a hat tip to my favorite movie Office Space, Why is it Rush’s problem that liberals suck? Seriously though, it’s whiny claptrap like that sentiment that led to not keeping score in little league. If there were a liberal that could command an audience similar in size to Limbaugh’s there would be one on-air. Unfortunately the answer for liberals is to force some liberal clown on the airwaves (NPR) or silence others (“fairness” doctrine).
It seems as though the recent torrent of low priced gyms in the Albuquerque area has certainly had an ill affect on more costly gyms. As a member of one of those higher priced gyms (with a courtesy membership, natch) I have noticed that there are less New Year resolutionites this year that last. I know that if I had to pay for a gym membership I would rather pay $20 a month or less for my thrice weekly visits.
The Broncos are posting portions of their interviews with perspective coaches online for those interested, a move initiated by new VP John Elway. Personally I couldn’t care less but I’m certain that there are many fans who think this is a great idea, so kudos Mr. Elway.
Tucson was a town I called home in my early twenties and I enjoyed living there. What happened there this past weekend was in no way indicative of that city. The only reasonable thing to do is pray for the victims of the attempt on Congresswoman Gifford’s life. A terrible day and at the very least, the person solely responsible is in custody.
I hate that after one installs Windows updates and desires to hibernate or something other than restart the computer that it restarts anyway. One of the reasons for my laziness is my “method” of working in unsaved documents, so I don’t clutter document folders. Often I leave things unfinished then hibernating when I leave at the end of the day to let ideas percolate when I’m off the clock so that the files are ready at the start of a new day.
Yesterday on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, happy 60th Rush, he played a sound bite from some clown who talked about his lament that there is no liberal counter to Rush on the radio. Immediately I thought to myself, with a hat tip to my favorite movie Office Space, Why is it Rush’s problem that liberals suck? Seriously though, it’s whiny claptrap like that sentiment that led to not keeping score in little league. If there were a liberal that could command an audience similar in size to Limbaugh’s there would be one on-air. Unfortunately the answer for liberals is to force some liberal clown on the airwaves (NPR) or silence others (“fairness” doctrine).
It seems as though the recent torrent of low priced gyms in the Albuquerque area has certainly had an ill affect on more costly gyms. As a member of one of those higher priced gyms (with a courtesy membership, natch) I have noticed that there are less New Year resolutionites this year that last. I know that if I had to pay for a gym membership I would rather pay $20 a month or less for my thrice weekly visits.
The Broncos are posting portions of their interviews with perspective coaches online for those interested, a move initiated by new VP John Elway. Personally I couldn’t care less but I’m certain that there are many fans who think this is a great idea, so kudos Mr. Elway.
Tucson was a town I called home in my early twenties and I enjoyed living there. What happened there this past weekend was in no way indicative of that city. The only reasonable thing to do is pray for the victims of the attempt on Congresswoman Gifford’s life. A terrible day and at the very least, the person solely responsible is in custody.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
A boring day, or so I thought
It seemed to be the start of a regular, boring day. I left the house in just enough time to make it to work at my normal time. I was in no hurry though as getting in a few minutes before or after my normal time doesn’t matter.
This morning was nice, no frost on any windshield so I decided to ride a motorcycle. After I turned out of my subdivision I went to pass a large Ford diesel pickup that was traveling a little slow. As I started to make the pass the pickup sped up and attempted to close the gap that I was planning to weave into. As I just made it into the right lane, completing the pass, the driver in the pickup turned on their high beams and proceeded to follow as close as possible. I turned right at a street that leads to I-25 and the truck followed. The street is usually open so I was able to get away from the glaring high beams aimed right at my mirrors. At the light leading to the freeway entrance ramp the pickup stopped immediately to my right and rolled down their windows but did not say or do anything. I was looking straight ahead but noticed the front end out of my peripheral and heard the familiar sound of a power window descending. I did not care to say anything either. Maybe I would have felt better about telling off the driver for their discourteous manner but truth is I knew nothing about that person or their capacity for anything; obviously it was not worth risking an incident when all I’m trying to do is get to work and will forget the whole thing by lunch time.
If that were only it for my morning then it wouldn’t be worth writing about. The first half of my drive was the same as always and continued that way as I shifted from I-25 south to I-40 east. Just after the Carlisle exit though I had the first ever experience of a type that was certainly not for the faint. I was riding in the far left lane and I noticed a plastic shopping bag flowing in the wind. As if my helmet was a magnet the bag drifted over my bike’s fairing screen and landed right on my helmet screen completely covering it. For a moment I was frozen, not being able to see anything but the white shopping bag and not knowing what to do. It seemed to be several moments before I took my left hand and removed the bag which seemed to be attached rather well to my helmet, the wind acting like a kind of vacuum. Once off I could see again and fortunately was a safe distance from the retaining wall to the left and the vehicles in front of and to the right of me. I was shaking a bit but was able to maintain a solid grip on my handlebars and ride on. It was certainly a relief when the Louisiana ext came up and I could ride off the freeway and into my office garage.
Riding a motorcycle can be dangerous. This experience reminded me that the most important variable in maintaining safety while riding is me. From properly maintaining the motorcycle to maintaining awareness while riding at every second to riding enough because there is no better training than experience once a basic level of competency has been achieved. The moment where the shopping bag was over my screen and covering my vision probably wasn’t more than a few seconds though it felt like much longer, when I was an inexperienced rider I have no doubt that this incident would have caused me to fall off which could have had grave consequences. Today I am a better rider by experience and lucky because of the momentary nature of this incident which I hope will only help make me a better rider.
This morning was nice, no frost on any windshield so I decided to ride a motorcycle. After I turned out of my subdivision I went to pass a large Ford diesel pickup that was traveling a little slow. As I started to make the pass the pickup sped up and attempted to close the gap that I was planning to weave into. As I just made it into the right lane, completing the pass, the driver in the pickup turned on their high beams and proceeded to follow as close as possible. I turned right at a street that leads to I-25 and the truck followed. The street is usually open so I was able to get away from the glaring high beams aimed right at my mirrors. At the light leading to the freeway entrance ramp the pickup stopped immediately to my right and rolled down their windows but did not say or do anything. I was looking straight ahead but noticed the front end out of my peripheral and heard the familiar sound of a power window descending. I did not care to say anything either. Maybe I would have felt better about telling off the driver for their discourteous manner but truth is I knew nothing about that person or their capacity for anything; obviously it was not worth risking an incident when all I’m trying to do is get to work and will forget the whole thing by lunch time.
If that were only it for my morning then it wouldn’t be worth writing about. The first half of my drive was the same as always and continued that way as I shifted from I-25 south to I-40 east. Just after the Carlisle exit though I had the first ever experience of a type that was certainly not for the faint. I was riding in the far left lane and I noticed a plastic shopping bag flowing in the wind. As if my helmet was a magnet the bag drifted over my bike’s fairing screen and landed right on my helmet screen completely covering it. For a moment I was frozen, not being able to see anything but the white shopping bag and not knowing what to do. It seemed to be several moments before I took my left hand and removed the bag which seemed to be attached rather well to my helmet, the wind acting like a kind of vacuum. Once off I could see again and fortunately was a safe distance from the retaining wall to the left and the vehicles in front of and to the right of me. I was shaking a bit but was able to maintain a solid grip on my handlebars and ride on. It was certainly a relief when the Louisiana ext came up and I could ride off the freeway and into my office garage.
Riding a motorcycle can be dangerous. This experience reminded me that the most important variable in maintaining safety while riding is me. From properly maintaining the motorcycle to maintaining awareness while riding at every second to riding enough because there is no better training than experience once a basic level of competency has been achieved. The moment where the shopping bag was over my screen and covering my vision probably wasn’t more than a few seconds though it felt like much longer, when I was an inexperienced rider I have no doubt that this incident would have caused me to fall off which could have had grave consequences. Today I am a better rider by experience and lucky because of the momentary nature of this incident which I hope will only help make me a better rider.
Friday, January 07, 2011
Common Sense Sports
Conventional wisdom and herd mentality are anchors wrapped around any possibility of original thought in the realm of sports writing. Once a story is broken and columnists take to keyboards it seems as though all that’s left is variations on a theme, projections based on “just because” and something that is “always true”.
Andrew Luck is making a mistake by staying in college instead of entering the NFL draft where he is expected to be the first player chosen, guaranteeing millions of dollars more than later picks. Former USC quarterback Matt Leinart and current Washington quarterback Jake Locker are always trotted out as cautionary tales. Both were projected first overall picks as juniors and decided to stay and in their cases had their draft stock drop as a result. Leinart has not had a good NFL career anyway and Locker has yet to prove himself one way or another and while his draft stock has dropped he may still prove to be an excellent player. Regardless they prove nothing for the future of Luck. If Luck is as good as projected he will be as good next year. And even if his draft position is hurt, if he works as an NFL player he will eventually be paid accordingly.
Jim Harbaugh will not be a good NFL coach because he is a good college coach. Again in this familiar storyline, cautionary tales such as Nick Saban or Steve Spurrier are mentioned. This line is very similar to the previous example in that before a coach who may or may not take a job somewhere else is deemed to fail before even taking the chance. If they are successful mass amnesia follows and the sports writing community always was in support of the coach and if they are not successful they will point back in time as predicting failure.
John Elway will be unsuccessful as an NFL GM because he was a former player. Another well trotted line is that high profile former players cannot successfully run a professional franchise with the most famous examples, almost always Isaiah Thomas, mentioned as evidence. Elway may be different. As a successful businessman using a finance degree earned while he was at Stanford, he built an auto dealer empire and then won an Arena Football League championship as an owner and manager of a team in Denver.
The mess that is the baseball hall of fame is impossible to dissect. Chaos seems to be compulsory in the way that the selectors, who happen to be sports writers, behave where there are no written rules to point to the way that players are selected. It is a strange and completely unclear process flush with biases and assumptions.
In the three specific examples above the conventional wisdom may very well materialize. The benefit of being a sports opinion writer is that there are many conventions that lead to easy copy and because of sheer volume of words and short memories, predictions that are completely wrong never are revisited while those that are somewhat correct are regurgitated as proof of clairvoyance for next time.
Andrew Luck is making a mistake by staying in college instead of entering the NFL draft where he is expected to be the first player chosen, guaranteeing millions of dollars more than later picks. Former USC quarterback Matt Leinart and current Washington quarterback Jake Locker are always trotted out as cautionary tales. Both were projected first overall picks as juniors and decided to stay and in their cases had their draft stock drop as a result. Leinart has not had a good NFL career anyway and Locker has yet to prove himself one way or another and while his draft stock has dropped he may still prove to be an excellent player. Regardless they prove nothing for the future of Luck. If Luck is as good as projected he will be as good next year. And even if his draft position is hurt, if he works as an NFL player he will eventually be paid accordingly.
Jim Harbaugh will not be a good NFL coach because he is a good college coach. Again in this familiar storyline, cautionary tales such as Nick Saban or Steve Spurrier are mentioned. This line is very similar to the previous example in that before a coach who may or may not take a job somewhere else is deemed to fail before even taking the chance. If they are successful mass amnesia follows and the sports writing community always was in support of the coach and if they are not successful they will point back in time as predicting failure.
John Elway will be unsuccessful as an NFL GM because he was a former player. Another well trotted line is that high profile former players cannot successfully run a professional franchise with the most famous examples, almost always Isaiah Thomas, mentioned as evidence. Elway may be different. As a successful businessman using a finance degree earned while he was at Stanford, he built an auto dealer empire and then won an Arena Football League championship as an owner and manager of a team in Denver.
The mess that is the baseball hall of fame is impossible to dissect. Chaos seems to be compulsory in the way that the selectors, who happen to be sports writers, behave where there are no written rules to point to the way that players are selected. It is a strange and completely unclear process flush with biases and assumptions.
In the three specific examples above the conventional wisdom may very well materialize. The benefit of being a sports opinion writer is that there are many conventions that lead to easy copy and because of sheer volume of words and short memories, predictions that are completely wrong never are revisited while those that are somewhat correct are regurgitated as proof of clairvoyance for next time.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Obamacare, maybe not so fast
Democrat senators have been hectoring new Republican House Speaker Boehner into not pursuing a repeal of Obamacare, known in newspeak as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. There are rumblings that the White House is unhappy with the legislation being called Obamacare. The White House has purchased the term Obamacare within Google in order to inform, or propagandize, the public in regard to it. Democrat members of congress have already begun touting benefits of Obamacare that have not yet been put into affect nor proven to be effective while accusing Republicans of taking away the health care of American citizens. The House of Representatives, led by a new Republican majority, has scheduled a vote on outright repeal of Obamacare for January 12th.
Some senators have described the repeal as politics. This is because it does not have enough support in the democrat controlled senate to pass nor will the President sign it. Supporters of the repeal describe it as symbolic. This is because while it will not be successful, it will be an attempt at doing something that is supported by many people who helped swing 63 seats towards the Republicans in the House in the November midterm elections. In this case political and symbolic motivations happen to be synonymous.
In national polls Obamacare has proven to be trending towards unpopular and it’s reasonable to assume that it will continue that way which would explain the PR blitz and antagonizing behavior emerging from the democrats. Their talking points explain the unpopularity of the legislation as the success of Republican PR deceit, a laughable and delusional assertion to anyone familiar with reality.
Obamacare was passed on a party line vote, features payouts to constituencies favored by democrats and makes doing business difficult for those disfavored by democrats. The legislation itself is roughly 2700 pages long but is mostly an outline deferring actual rules and regulations that have yet to be completed to bureaucrats in multiple federal agencies. It’s frightening to imagine just how long the legislation will be when all its rules and regulations are complete. The legislation features a plethora of unrealistic accounting tricks in order to make it appear to cost less than possible over the next ten years making it completely unsustainable after the first rigged time period. It features an individual mandate forcing citizens of this country to purchase a commercial product, health insurance, and is described as providing health care because of it.
It seems as though every week another nugget from deep within the bowels of Obamacare is unearthed to public scrutiny resulting in backlash. This should not be surprising as the legislation went famously unread by most of congress. No matter the purported benefits of the law the consequences of making it work is completely unknowable because almost all of Obamacare has yet to be enacted or even written or the mechanisms needed to make it work defined. It was an atrocious piece of legislation and should be scrapped. The new House of Representatives is on the right track in attempting to repeal it and it is in the country’s best interest for it to vote to repeal as often as possible, if only to keep Obamacare in the public consciousness for the next two years so that after the next election it can be taken out.
Some senators have described the repeal as politics. This is because it does not have enough support in the democrat controlled senate to pass nor will the President sign it. Supporters of the repeal describe it as symbolic. This is because while it will not be successful, it will be an attempt at doing something that is supported by many people who helped swing 63 seats towards the Republicans in the House in the November midterm elections. In this case political and symbolic motivations happen to be synonymous.
In national polls Obamacare has proven to be trending towards unpopular and it’s reasonable to assume that it will continue that way which would explain the PR blitz and antagonizing behavior emerging from the democrats. Their talking points explain the unpopularity of the legislation as the success of Republican PR deceit, a laughable and delusional assertion to anyone familiar with reality.
Obamacare was passed on a party line vote, features payouts to constituencies favored by democrats and makes doing business difficult for those disfavored by democrats. The legislation itself is roughly 2700 pages long but is mostly an outline deferring actual rules and regulations that have yet to be completed to bureaucrats in multiple federal agencies. It’s frightening to imagine just how long the legislation will be when all its rules and regulations are complete. The legislation features a plethora of unrealistic accounting tricks in order to make it appear to cost less than possible over the next ten years making it completely unsustainable after the first rigged time period. It features an individual mandate forcing citizens of this country to purchase a commercial product, health insurance, and is described as providing health care because of it.
It seems as though every week another nugget from deep within the bowels of Obamacare is unearthed to public scrutiny resulting in backlash. This should not be surprising as the legislation went famously unread by most of congress. No matter the purported benefits of the law the consequences of making it work is completely unknowable because almost all of Obamacare has yet to be enacted or even written or the mechanisms needed to make it work defined. It was an atrocious piece of legislation and should be scrapped. The new House of Representatives is on the right track in attempting to repeal it and it is in the country’s best interest for it to vote to repeal as often as possible, if only to keep Obamacare in the public consciousness for the next two years so that after the next election it can be taken out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)