…yeah I know you did not ask!
There are 3 species of hominids on this planet, men, women and teenagers.
“And her husband?”
“And her husband?”
I was sitting in the surgery waiting room trying to pass the time until the doctor was done playing with Robin’s insides. I was reading a book, and the TV was tuned the World Cup game, the USA vs. Germany. The USA lost to Germany 1-0, but still managed to get to the round of 16 based on Portugal beating Ghana.
There were two women in the corner. One was white haired, and other middle-aged and more than a little overweight. They were also waiting for their significant other to come out of surgery.
What got my attention was the white haired ladies response, “He is independent, stupid, and overly macho.”
She continued, “Let me tell what type of guy he is. If he wants to going hunting and he asks for time off, if they tell him no, he just quits. He figures he get another job when he comes back.”
The middle-aged woman responded, “Why does she put up with that?”
“She says that she loves him to death”, replied the white haired woman.
The woman who asked the question sat there a moment, and the older woman went on, “ Of course she does, she has 3 kids she is trying to keep fed.”
The rest of the conversation disappeared into the drone of the TV.
Mr. California Wonders About Ignorance
John the Philosopher aka Mr. California asked me to comment on the following:
“Ignorance rules the unreflecting herd.” 1
Ignorance is defined by the dictionary as: lack of knowledge, education, or awareness.
My first thought is that this falls under the rubric of “Nothing new under the sun”. A Google search on — quotes ignorance of the masses — revealed many similar thoughts. Here are a few that I cherry picked:
“Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think.” ~~ Thomas Edison
“It’s much easier not to know things sometimes.” ~~ Stephen Chbosky
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” ~~ Isaac Asimov
“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” ~~ Sir Winston Churchill
“Any formal attack on ignorance is bound to fail because the masses are always ready to defend their most precious possession – their ignorance.” ~~Hendrik Willem van Loon
And I could go on.
My next thought Continue reading “Mr. California Wonders About Ignorance”
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 169
…yeah I know you did not ask!
Call me old fashion… I am so tried of looking at people all tattooed up. I do not understand why anyone would get a tattoo in the first place. All too often in life less is actually more, and it would certainly be the same with tattoos. One or two maybe, it would draw a little attention and interest, and not overwhelm . I suppose I will continue to do what I do now, and look the other way.
Does this mean the Pope is Catholic?
Last Request
For years I’ve been telling my kids I want to be cremated when I pass from this plane of existence. I then want them to grow some tomato plants and/or marijuana plants in containers. They can take my ashes and spread them on within the containers. My thought being they could then enjoy me in a nice salad or relax on the patio with a doobie. Either way they could remember me one more time.
David has never said much either way about my last request. Keely has remarked in the past that she thought that be a gross idea. However, she may be coming around a little.
I came up with another idea today. They could bury me in my little blue Miata. In one hand they could place a doobie. In the other hand they could put a bottle of nice wine. And for the crowning touch, place a mannequin in there with me in such position that it looks like she is giving me road head.
Now that is the way to enter the afterlife.
How to Become a Full Fledged Curmudgeon
I found this little article by accident while waiting for feedback from a user… I, at least, found it entertaining.
This IT worker had to train an H-1B replacement
The H1-B program is such a cluster fuck visited on the American worker that cluster fuck is not a strong enough term. I’m in IT and I have been watching this disaster for years.
I was contracting at large financial firm. I begin noticing a large number of young Indians coming in as contract workers. Contracting is a very common method in IT. Companies like because they can staff up and staff down as needed. I used to like because the companies generally compensated well for the insecurity of a contracting positions, and I did not mind moving around to different jobs. To get back to my position at the financial firm. When I saw all the Indians coming in I knew my days were numbered, and they were. They found a pretense to terminate my contract nine months early. It was my second contract at this firm, and they had actually given me more money to come back for a second contract. Additionally, they had given me an 18 month contract when normal they did not go over a year. They seemed to like my work. My consulting firm later told me that they were bringing in the Indians at $25/hour less than I was receiving. I can promise you I was not getting rich. This was at a time long past the glory days of contracting.
This particular consulting firm ended up going out of business as they could not compete with the cheap off-shore labor either. And this was one of the older and bigger consulting companies. Now days, when a consulting company calls you about a contract if you are talking to an American it is a miracle. If the consulting company is not Indian it is even more of a miracle. You have to give the Indians credit. Many of the Indian companies have used the minority preferences given by our laws to gain an advantage. Essentially this has allowed Indian firms to corner this market in preference to American firms.
Who do I blame? I do not blame individual Indians, but I do blame Congress and our President who are in cahoots with our corporations who only care about profit and cheap, cheap labor. It is something I have ranted about for years. Congress briefly played lip service to all the complaints, but I do believe the problem is even worse than it was before.
To read about one of these horror stories, go to This IT worker had to train an H-1B replacement at Computerworld.com
Just in case you do not know what a H1-B Visa — click the link for the Wikepedia article on same.
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 3,730
…yeah I know you did not ask!
We are all 18 at heart. Witness the overweight, pushing 60 individual whose phone’s ringtone is a rock anthem from the early 70s.
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 1,984
…yeah I know you did not ask!
Casual Fridays…When middle age folks (and older) come to the office in clothes that make you want to poke your eyes out.