Pumps' Perplexities

This little bag of round glass objects was a 'life lesson' when
growing up.....You saved your money to buy the marbles
and you went forth into the world.....As a child you learned
how to gamble with them amongst other marble game
players......You 'swapped' or bartered with them....You saw
them accumulate and you saw them dissipate.....You were
joyful at your gains and sorrowful at your losses.....

Every decision you made with the bag of marbles, in your
hand, you made on your own.....No group consultations.....
No adult guidance.....No cell phone call for a decision......
You won some, you lost some and you learned how to think.....

Today the world is full of people who play in the stock market......
They buy, sell and trade......They win and lose....And on any
'stock message board' on the internet you will find the
complaints of unfairness because a stock did not perform as
expected.....Why do I think that these people never learned
how to play with their marbles, when they were younger....
Pumps

The illegal immigrants, of any nation, which reach the
soil of the United States consummate a relationship
and produce an 'anchor' child....This child is now an
American Citizen and any deportation of their 'parents'
would be considered 'cruel and inhuman punishment'.....
One male and one female, illegal, now have a deportation
safety net.....

When you come to think of it these two people are first
thinking of themselves and the poor offspring has to live
with their 'sexual consummation'.....In America the child
now becomes a 'pawn' in a bigger game.....

In Australia it is somewhat different.....If a parent is to be
deported, and has a child which is an AU citizen, the parent
must make another, non sexual, decision........#1 Leave your
offspring behind in Australia when you leave, to be raised
by others.....Or, #2 Leave and take your child with you......

It almost seem like a law that Solomon would have thought
of 2000 or so years ago......Pumps

In the early days of the automobile Henry Ford made a small
fortune producing the good olde Model-T......A square box
which sat on four wheels designed to transport the most
people in a small designed space.....

Well since the Model-T things have changed.....Or have they?
Automobiles were build for style and speed.....Their
construction and design were governed by 'air flow' tests in
wind tunnels.....Less air friction resulted in more speed
or fuel economy.....

Well yesterday I saw my first Honda Element....(First or basic;
rudimentary, says the dictionary for one meaning of the word -
element.).......Guess what it is?...A square box sitting on four
wheels.....Holds a lot of people and stuff, even with a four
cylinder engine like the original 'T".....Do things really
change????......Pumps

Once again it is 'neighbor' time.....I have come to the conclusion
that neighbors are great people when everyone is on the 'deck'
with a drink waiting for the hamburgers to be served.....All
is fun and frolic.....

In today's world all people and households are individualistic....
Once the drink is put down and the hamburger eaten, you
enter another world of relationship.....It is by no means the
Twilight Zone but it is different than the 'deck talk'........

'One' has to be careful on how 'one' deals with this post-
hamburger world.....It can become easy to offend......For
some reason the 'jolly' is consumed with the 'adult
beverage'.....

The one good thing is that the 'true' friendship between
neighbors shines at the next hamburger venue.....

Enjoy your Memorial Day......It's a great hamburger
day.......Pumps

Yep, parking lot etiquette is another thing that has gone the
way of the rotary telephone.....To find any of it in your daily
life is very difficult these days.....

Years ago, when you were leaving a parking space, other
drivers and pedestrian traffic would wait until YOU were
clear of YOUR parking space until they would drive or
walk into the area your vehicle was operating in.....NO MORE...

For some strange reason it is now YOUR responsibility to
watch out for THEM......In the olde days THEY watched out
for YOU.......There is no longer any concern for the fact that
an automobile has more 'blind spots', in a parking lot, than
are printed in any driver's manual....

Selfishness has replaced common courtesy.....Pumps

It is a pity that 'corporate market share' is driving the
repairability of a lot of products we use daily......Years ago
you bought an item and you passed down to your children....
That is not the case today......

With the exception of some high priced items, most of what
we use is 'disposable'.....The item was built to last 5 to 8 years,
if that, and then you buy another one......Corporations have
learned that if they make a 'reliable' product, you never
sell another one and do not make any money......

If you buy something of quality, then you are faced with a
'style change'......You now have the only 'pink' item when
the rest of the world is into 'green'.....You have to buy a new
one if you want to keep up with the "Jones".......

The 'throw it away' market is aimed at the young.....As older
people know, only too well, you do not throw anything away.....
It is still usable and it saves the retirement money not buying
a new one.....Who cares about the color.....Pumps

Even though I was really young, I do remember going to the
New York World's Fair before it closed.....I do not remember
a lot, but one thing was the ride through the GM exhibit.....
It was the world of the future with cars automatically driving
themselves and 'people' transportation walkways......

Here it is almost 70 years later and where is all this new
modern stuff?.......People are still living in houses which were
built 70 to 80 years ago and I have to drive my own car......

Pick up a newspaper or magazine, today, and you will find some
article regarding life in the year 2050 or 2075.......I have
severe reservations that any of this 'future' stuff will happen....
The only thing that came into being from '39 was television.....

I am still waiting for it to have a marked improvement on my
life......(OK, maybe the remote control.).....Pumps

I must admit that I do like Jackie Chan movies......At least the
ones he had production control over and were made in Hong
Kong, after the mid-80's.....They are a true action, mental
release, movie.....Just sit back and enjoy the antics.....

Jackie is in his mid 50's now and considering some American
made movies he has been in lately, I thought that he had
decided to take his action scenes and stunts a little slower....

No way......I just watched a 2004 Hong Kong film that has to
be one of his best......While he is not climbing up alley walls, like
he did in "Project A", he did manage to scale down the side of
a building and destroy a whole movie set with a bus.....

I am giving "New Police Story" 3-1/2 stars......He has out done
some of his earlier stunt work, none of which is computerized
by the way.....Pumps

During the opening credits of the TV show 'The Naked City'
the announcer said, "there are 8 million stories in the Naked
City".....On the immigration issue I suspect that there may
be as many as 11 million stories......

The politicians are looking at the immigration issue from the
political side and the resulting votes.....Then you have the
people who want your loving compassion on the issue.....

Let's get down to one of the 11 million stories and some brass
tacks.....My Mexican family consists of 4 adults, (1 man,
3 woman) and 3 children (1 male, 2 female).....Seven mouths
to feed in a small 3 bedroom-one bathroom house.....A little
crowded but manageable by today's standards......

They pay taxes on the food and cloths they buy......From their
house rental fee the landlord will pay the county $1,000 in
real estate tax.....However they neglect to pay any county
personal property or other vehicle fees.....Since all the adults
are employed, either full or part time, I suspect that some
Federal and State Taxes may be collected......

The three children go to the county school at a cost of almost
$3,500 each....Total $10,500.....Seems like a lot of money
spent on a family who can not vote......Pumps

Yes today was shopping day, as mentioned yesterday......

When I was growing up in the '40s any orange juice you drank
was fresh squeezed.....Your bought fresh 'juice oranges', cut
them in half and squashed them down on an 'orange
squeezer'.......A simple type of 'bowl' with a serrated hump
in the middle.....Pressing the 1/2 of orange on top of the hump
and rotating you hand back and forth removed the juice from
the orange.....These little squeezers are still available, today,
made in plastic at the Dollar Store.......Sixty years ago they
were made of heavy glass......(I know, there was also the more
expensive 'lever' type of squeezer.).....

Post WWII, we got Minute Maid in a carton, in the dairy aisle.....
Then came frozen concentrate, then Tropicana......Many more
brands are now available.....But what is getting me is the fact
that now we have too many styles of orange juice.....

Original, Some Pulp, Heavy Pulp, Lite, With Calcium and
Some Pulp With Calcium or Lite With Calcium.........
Does anyone, currently on this earth, know what TRUE
orange juice tastes like anymore?......Has anyone seen a
bag of 'juice oranges' on sale lately?......Pumps......

Tomorrow is our household food shopping day....Off it is to the
21st century supermarket, where you can buy not only food
but outside gazebos and charcoal grills, drugs, gasoline and
have your car washed.....A far cry from the olde A&P......

In the day of the local corner grocery store, there came along
the beginnings to the modern day supermarket.....A&P and
Safeway were the first two I remember in my NYC
neighborhood......

While "Goldberg's" corner store was only about the size of
a modern day barber shop, the A&Ps were larger.....But not
by much......Maybe the size of a McDonald's or Burger King,
front and back......Or three barber shops put together......

All they sold were a lot of canned goods, some vegetables and
a little dairy.....After all you went to the butcher shop for your
meat and to the 'dairy store' for your milk, eggs and cheese.....
But marketing did change and everything is now under one
roof......

And if you think that Walmart has dominated today's retail
food market just study the history of the Great Atlantic and
Pacific Tea Company......Even the name is more impressive....
Pumps.....

That summer I was living in a small New England town in the
State of Vermont.....Three days of constant rain had washed
out my exterior painting business and I was sitting home, in
the rented olde farm house, when Dick Gregory called to let me
know he was getting the 'pumper' from the fire house and
we were going to pump out a flooded basement of a house
which was on Route 100 along side the Deerfield River......

My boots were on five minutes later when he arrived with the
fire truck and off we went down the hill toward the river......
We parked in the driveway......He started the 'pumper' and I
took the suction hose down to the basement.....I treaded
very carefully for the first few steps or so, until the water
reached the top of my fireman's boots......When the water
finally filled by boots it was, "the hell with it time".....Just do
your job......

The word came from Fire Chief Corser that we would be
on a 'moments notice' to evacuate.....We we were down stream
from the Jacksonville dam and if the beavers did not hold their
earthen dams further up stream "all hell would break loose"
The 'olde timers' said, "don't worry, the dam held in '29".....
But would the beavers do their job in '72?.....

Well the beavers did their job, the dam held not only in '29
but in '72 and me and Dick saved a basement and house along
side the river......Seeing the TV pictures of the New England
flooding, this olde man can say, "been there, done that"....Pumps

Between 1934 and 1970 the Catholic Church had their own
movie ratings.....These rating were posted in the vestibule,
of the Church, on a bulletin board......Movies were rated
A-B-C-D based on their Christian moral content.....

Needless to say the 'Bells of St. Mary's' and 'The Robe'
were rated A. Your normal 'clean' movies B and C and
all the movies with the 'good stuff' were D.....One of the
most famous D movies was Brigitte Bardot in 'And God
Created Woman'.....

If you were a teen, like I, you checked to see what D movies
were listed and those were the ones that were a 'must see'......

Well, the Legion of Decency is now defunct......But if it were
to exist today I suspect that the 'DaVinci Code' would be on
the list as a D.......Which means it is a must see movie....Pumps

During my early days, I was a bartender and had the good
fortune of being taught the trade by a retired gentlemen
who spent his adult life as a bartender in a famous
Washington DC hotel......

His biggest words of advise was never drink a name brand
expensive whiskey, scotch, etc. with Coke or Ginger Ale.....
He said, "If you are not drinking it straight, on the rocks or
with club soda, you do not know what you are drinking.".....
The 'sweet' soda just covers the taste and it is a waste of
money......Drink Barstock and Coke......

Another great tip was the fact that a customer, who may have
consumed 4 - 5 shots of Chivas Regal, could no longer tell
the difference between it and Dewar's........

With the price of a drink today in a restaurant or bar, if you
want Chivas and Coke make sure you see it poured......But
yet are you sure Chivas is in the bottle.....Been there and
done that, also.......Pumps

Well the poor lad is off to a concrete room in Colorado and
there are no virgins in his future......

It seems that he wanted those virgins so bad that he lied
in court in order to get them.....He lied so that he would be
called Moussaoui Muslim Martyr.....But it appears that it
took just one juror to deny him of his dream......

He wants another trial so he, #1 gets to live the good life of
being in custody again, (rather than his concrete room).....
And, #2 he can get another try a persuading 12 people to
kill him.......

The fact that his mother may try to get him transferred to
a French jail has only appeared once in print......If it comes
to pass in 5 or 10 years, he may not have need for the virgins
anymore......Plan #3, any woman, for the purpose of a conjugal
visit, will be just fine.....Pumps

It looks like the Dollar Store is here to stay and has become
another thread in the retail fabric of America.......What
started as the 69 cent store, then 88 cent store selling
inexpensive items from China is now here to stay.......

While 90 percent of the items in the store are made in
China, other nations and US companies are making
products which can be 'sized' and sold for one dollar......
If it can be sold for a 'buck', then sell it in a Dollar Store....

Since everything will eventually go up in price or the
packaging so small, it will not be worth buying, I suggest
that if you find something you like for a buck than buy
a few of them, provided it has a long shelf live like
packaging tape or plastic kitchen items......

A few years from now there will be less packaging tape
on the roll for a buck and the kitchen item which lasted
5 years will be replace by one that only lasts 2.......

Then of course there is the fear that the Store itself
will be renamed the Dollar Ninety-Nine Cents Store....Pumps

Since, during these days, we are seeing the newest immigrant
wave let us consider their assimilation.....I believe the history
of the past 'waves' have proved the following to be true....If
not true then pretty close to it.....

The third generation of any immigrant wave is the one which
truly assimilates and becomes American......The first generation
is grandma and grandpa.....They came first, became citizens and
started their family......While they may know English, they will
revert to their native tongue, because it is just convenient......

The second generation also learns English and usually will marry
within their own nationality......Let us face it a good Italian or
Irish man should marry a good Italian or Irish woman.....This
makes mom and pop very happy......

The third generation is the American one......There is no trace
of their parents or grandparents native tongue in their speech.....
The nice Italian boy may find the red hair of Mary more
attractive than Maria's black hair......The fourth generation
produced from this union does not even know who great
grandma or grandpa were, much less the language they spoke....

Thus the current immigration problem will be solved in the
year 2050........Pumps

This difference between these numbers may be 40 but the
subject of this post is 20.....In 20 years (5) will have an
effect on (45).......

It has been mentioned in the news that 50% of the children, in
in the US, between the age of 0 and 5 are currently Hispanic....
These are the little children you may see following their parents
complaining about life in Spanish.....In the next 20 years,
they will go to school, learn to speak English and join the
job market.....I suspect a great percentage of them are US
born with valid Social Security Numbers......

Also in 20 years the people who are currently working and
between the age of 40 and 45, contributing to the SS payments
of their parents, will be expecting SS contributions from the
new work force of 20 to 25 years olds.......

Perhaps the 40 to 45 group would be wise to start saving
their own pesos now.......Pumps

Once again there is a story in the news regarding people who do
not want their photograph on their driver's license because of
religious reasons.....The latest story is about members of the
Hutterite sect in Canada.....Previously, there was a story of
a Muslim woman who refused to remove her head covering.....

Each day there is something new regarding religious beliefs
which will follow the law, as long as the law does not interfere
with the belief.....A true conundrum....

Here is one suggestion to solve the complexing problem.....
Use the person's thumb print in place of the photograph......
They are now using your thumb print as an ID for the cashing
of a check in a bank, why not as a substitute for a photo......

Should the need arise to prove who you are.....The thumb
print should do it......At least it will provide some identification
until the installation of the RFID in your arm.....Pumps

Man has not come too far in the last million years.....From the
gathering of Neanderthal elders, in the rear of the cave, has
emerged the bureaucratic leaders of the modern homeowners
association.....

People buy houses in sub-divisions governed by associations
for the desire of uniformity and standardization......The house
colors, height of shrubs and fences, flag pole placement and
walkway stones are within certain 'code' and guidelines.....
Nothing should be 'out of order'......This will keep the commune
happy and pleasant......

It is also a form of communism.......

If you build a fence too high.....You will be ordered to remove it.....
If you do not you will be sued by the association.....And if the
association, for some reason, loses the law suit......You, as a
dutiful member of the association, have the responsibility to
ante extra dues to cover the legal fees of the 'winner'....Who
really loves the new higher fence....

I often wonder why people give up their freedom and
democracy to live under the rule of these homeowner
associations........Pumps

More and more companies are converting your 'payment by
check' into an electronic payment withdrawal from your bank
checking account......While many banks have stopped sending
your cancelled check back to you, in this instance the check
is never sent to the bank for any cancellation at all.....The
company you sent the check to just withdraws the money
and only God know what happens to your written check.....

I have 'blogged' about our possible mistake with an electronic
bill payment but now it is time to mention the mistake made
at the other end, by an accounts receivable clerk.....As has
recently happened to me, the receiving clerk entered the
wrong amount from my check into the computer which
resulted in an overpayment of the 'bill'.....I wrote $39.00
and they withdrew $39.90.....A small amount but it proves
that one must be very vigilant with the electronic/computer
handling of a bank account.....

A check with the credit card company did show that my current
balance was a 'credit' of 90 cents....No money has been lost...
Just be mindful that one small errant finger movement on a
computer keyboard, these days, could cause major problems
in any system handling money......Especially since you no longer
have a copy of your original (check) document....Pumps

When I started this blog, I thought it would be a good venue
to let off some steam.....'Send your thoughts into cyber space
to be read by some future Martian'.....

Well I have hit #400.....Not missing a daily opinion (or bitch)
in 400 days.....I guess I am lucky to have 3 or 4 avid readers
and to them these words have been written.....You need an
audience, if only of one, to feel fulfilled......A vacant space
only produces an echo of one's idiocy.....

To those who know that I am not the greatest pundit in the
world......I mowed the lawn, cooked some veal and watched
the late rain fall....Thanks for #400........Pumps

Once again it is proven that if you are a politician your 'poo-poo
don't stink'......For some reason all the laws a politician 'passes'
do not effect him/her personally.....All laws are relative to the
'common man' not the privileged class......

In recent days the politician in question was in Washington DC....
About three months ago the politician was here in
Jabunyaville.......Different set of circumstances but with the
same degree of 'privilege'......

Each time there is an election, they want your support, your
money and your vote......After they get into a position of power
you become common and the 'town idiot'....Your opinion is
worthless because, "Your are not in the know" or "You do not
know the full facts"......

Yet every two to four years your pockets are full of the 'bounty'
they provided and they want some of it back....I do not think
they need money, after all they have something we do not have
and that is privilege......And, that should be enough......Pumps

This topic is worth mentioning again....Poor New Orleans.....
No matter what the TV or news tells you it will take years
for that city to 'come back'......If it ever really does.....

I think it will......And then there will be another major storm
in 100 years or so and the future generations will have to
deal with it......Nagin, Bush and FEMA will only be words in
some wet, 'floating' history book....

For the current status of that poor city......Nothing has
changed......Today's major story in the Picayune is
the fact that the repair wall on a levee is higher on one
side than the other......The industrial side will be provided
more protection than the residential side......

The TV will tell you of the human, and sometimes unfair,
struggle of the situation.......For some reason the
bureaucratic maneuvering will be lost to history (and not
written in that 'floating' book)......New Orleans may
become the Troy of Helen.....Pumps

(Remember all history is relative to one's own life span.)....

I just love this Canadian word for a marijuana farm.....Ever
since Canada de-criminalized the personal possession of
a small amount of drugs, these 'growups' have multiplied
in their country.....Most have been established by major
drug suppliers and some even maintained by illegal
immigrant Mexicans.....

Well Mexico is considering the same de-criminalization.....
Recently Mexico's president Fox did not sign the legislation
and sent it back to the Mexican congress to be reworked.....

With all the drug problems Mexico has now, can you just
imagine what de-criminalization will do to their company?.....
More 'growups', more 'cartel control' and increased American
tourism, from a certain social class.....

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police do try to eliminate
their 'growups'.....Will the Mexican police be so diligent?...
Pumps

Spanish hump day, a Wednesday......Monday a lot of people
took the day off from work.....And, on Friday, everyone
awaits the party of Cinco.......

If anything was accomplished with last Monday's immigration
protest it was the loss of money.....The loss of salaries, and the
loss of business income by its supporters......

I have yet to see my newspapers filled with advertisements
for Cinco de Mayo......It will be interesting to see how the
few 'venues' which are being held this Friday night or weekend
fair......Boycott the 'gringo' may just have a 'flip side'.......
And no extra money for 'cerveza', due to a day off, may
effect the 'day' even more.......Pumps

The true recovery, in Europe after World War II, did not take
place until the 1960's......Yes, in the fifteen years prior, the war
had ended, rebuilding started and true nations once again
began to take form.....'Things' were returning to normal but
were not expanding.....

In order to expand, Europe needed a work force......WWII had
taken its toll of men and its youth were not yet of working age...
So immigrants were needed in many countries to have their
governments prosper.......

Forty years have now past......The first generation of European
immigrants have toiled but the second generation views the
current world in a different light and has not assimilated.....
A Turk is not a German, a Moroccan is not French, an Albanian
not Italian......

One wonders what the face of the United States will be in the
year 2046?.......Pumps

Having spent over 50 years in the business/work arena, I
have concluded that both corporations and small business
enterprises need 'bodies'.....

A 'body' is a lowly paid individual which can be hired and
fired without any problem with a Human Resources Department
or legation......In fact the 'body' knows he/she is a 'body' and
leaves one employer to become a 'body' at another.....

The question of the day is 'how much do you pay a body?'
or 'what is a body worth?'......And it appears that America
has run out of its own 'body' supply.......While the 'body'
may be out there, now, it is not working for 'body' wages......
There are college students which want $10.79 an hour, for
just being a 'body'.....Fifty years ago the going rate for a
'body' was .67 an hour.....

I guess it has come down to the fact that no one in America
is hungry....A hungry person will work for $2.00 an hour,
even in these days.....(That is if the welfare office is closed.)...
America is so good, even the 'bodies' are bitching......
Where else in the world would you find this........(Maybe in
France?).....Pumps