Dishing out to those who deserve getting Dished on.

Now sit down around the fire, boys and girls. Old Pappy MacLeod is gonna tell you'uns a story. Grab your s'mores and your hot chocolate cause this one is a doozy and a half. Comfy? Good, cause here we go.

A little while back, our dishwasher stopped draining properly so that after you ran a load of dishes through, you'd be left with several gallons of foul smelling water in the bottom which you then had to scoop out by hand to get the durned thing dry again. So since we have a home warranty that covers repairs and such, I gave em a call and presto chango, ibso facto, they sent out a technician to see what the problem was. Happy story so far right?

So after about an hour the Tech informed me that the drain pump on the machine was busted and that he would have to order a new part. I didn't like the idea of waiting another week for the repair to be done, but hey what can you do right? So I nodded and wrote him a check for the repairs. Yeah an actual paper type check, get over it. (As a side note here, I confirmed that the company happily took checks when I made the service appointment, so the guy knew I was going to be using a check.)

So the tech attempts to use that there new fangled way of depositing your checks by photographing it and texting it to the bank, but there was something wrong with either the phone or the bank system, because it wouldn't go through. He then attempted to call the bank and do it vie his phone and was told it was a minimum of a 30 minute wait time. So then the Tech told me, “Well I don't want to take the time to do this right now, so I will have to come back next week to confirm the check and you will have to wait an extra week to get the repairs done.

(Side note the second here. The entire time he was here, the Tech kept talking about how this was his last job of the day and that he was ready to get off work and get a beer or three.)

I very politely informed the tech that I was not going to wait two weeks for the repairs to be done and that he was just going to have to wait till he could get the check confirmed before he left. He then informed me that “I would HAVE to wait because he had things he had to do.” That is when I got just a tad grumpy. I told him in no uncertain words that I did not HAVE to wait just because he wanted to go to get beers. I told him that he WOULD wait here till the check was confirmed.

(Side note the third. During his insistence that he didn't want to wait for the check to be confirmed because it would take half an hour, he spent at least fifteen minutes on the phone with his company trying to avoid having to wait to confirm the check. If he had just waited on the line for the bank he probably would have gotten out of here sooner than he did.)

After he finally got the check confirmed, he stormed out of the house. I found out from my wife that he was driving so recklessly as he left our housing complex that he almost ran her down. This peeved me off even more because we have lots of younglings running around here especially in the afternoons.

Now folks, I get that he might have had a long day and that he was ready to go home. I truly grok that and have been in the same sort of situation myself many times in the past. However, “I'm tired and want to go home” is not an excuse for doing your durned job. It is certainly not an excuse to be incredibly rude and to recklessly endanger other peoples' safety. So needless to say, I have contacted his employers and informed them of his actions. The folks in charge have resolved things to my satisfaction and I do not envy the Tech in the days to come as he undergoes retraining and classes in public relations. I seriously doubt he will think very much of me, but he deserves whatever his bosses dish out for him.

I am a firm believer in giving credit and praise where they are due. When a company does right by me, I continue to use them. When people treat me right, I respect them. However, when the exact opposite happens, there is bloody hell to pay and I am more than willing to dish it out. A technician is now finding that little fact out.

You Kraine, We Kraine, EVERYBODY KRAINE or This just in, Fire still hot! Day 5 of ????

and in other related news, Fire is still hot and Water is still wet.

So the big thought type work today seems to indicate a shocking possibility in the ongoing fiasco that is the Russia/Ukraine/Rest of the World event playing out now. Imagine my surprise when I read someone actually say the unbelievable idea that, now that Momma Russia has gained a significant foothold in the Ukraine via “aiding” Crimean citizens, they are rather unlikely to stop what they are doing no matter what sanctions, cancellations and strongly worded letters may come their way. Huh, pardon me while I say, “DUH!”

Anyone who knows any teensy bit of history knows that the Big Red Nation isn't exactly well known for giving into pressures when it is in the business of “helping” other countries. Usually the only time the Old Lady changes her mind is when guns, explosives and really loud BOOMs come into play and even then it takes a lot to get her moving. How long did the whole Middle East thing last before they bailed?

In a figurative sense Russia has dug her heels into Crimea under the reasoning of helping Russian Speaking Crimeans in a time of strive and violence. With overwhelming force on their side, they have issues ultimatums to disarm to the armed forces there and even ordered the soldiers to switch allegiances. The Ukrainian Forces are so out matched that, even if they wanted to resist, all they can really do is hide behind the fences and barriers of their bases and pray that the Russian Troops don't get surly.

So, there sits Russia in a zone that is friendly to them with overwhelming power to back them up with little if any real chance of native forces doing any real damage to them. They know that any other nations in the world are extremely unlikely to use any sort of military force against them. Any sanctions that might be sent their way will be reminiscent of the sanctions enforced during the Cold War and Russia already knows they can survive those. There is nothing on the table currently that would make Russia want to give up what it has captured in Crimea.

As a matter of fact, Russia has no real incentives not to just continue to move on to the remaining parts of the Ukraine. Since Russian Speaking/Russia :Loyal people live pretty much every where in the country, the forces of Moscow could continue its claim of helping the people to excuse moving on and capturing more of the country.

Given Russia's rather checkered history of conquest and annexation, anyone who is actually holding out hope that not attending meetings or economic sanctions will help turn the tide and change Russia's mind about staying in the Ukraine or even expanding outwards needs a serious wake up call. The Presidents of the various nations can sound cross all they want to, but they will find Russia a tad deaf. If Russia decides to pull back from its foothold in Crimea, it will be because Russia decides to...or until US armed Freedom Fighters hiding in the hills firing American made SCUD missiles at them. No sooner and no later than that.

Ukraine, We Kraine, EVERYBODY KRAINE! or "Stop or I'll Stop again!" Day 4 of ????

 (In case you are wondering, the "stop" line is from an old joke about English Bobbies trying to stop a fleeing criminal.)

As the situation in the Ukraine (Or as I like to call it, Afghanistan the Sequel) drags on, all of the major powers are making noises about Russia's actions. Strong talk (okay sort of strong talk) about sanctions and boycotts are dancing around the tables in both the EU and the US. Everyone is rattling their sabers and sounding tougher than nails. The question is just how much will be done and exactly what it will accomplish.

Lets face facts boys and girls, there ain't a whole lot that any nation/s can do in this situation short of out and out military action. A good example of this are the member nations of the EU. Sure, they can talk tough talk about “punitive measures” and “strong economic steps,” but they have to face the fact that there really isn't much they can do without really honking off Russia. Since they import the majority of their natural gas from Momma Russia, peeving off the source of the thing that keeps you from freezing to death is a bad thing. So the EU actually doing anything other than talking is slim.

Then we have the UN. Sure they can impose sanction after sanction, but let us face the facts. Name a single time in UN history where their sanctions and harsh (but diplomatically phrased words) have ever really accomplished anything on their own? Once again, short of some form of direct military action, there still ain't a lot they can do.

Then there is the good old US of A. Now we are a tad more headstrong than the older nations overseas so we might take a tad more direct action. Scary Kerry has already announced that the US will be sending money to the Ukraine to help them out. Since we are not as dependent as Europe on Russia's largess, we might impose stronger and louder sanctions against them for their “unprecedented” (really, Russia invading another country is unprecedented?) invasion of the Ukraine. Heck we might even toss in some “military advisors” since we are kind of big on doing that. Still, none of this will do much to stop Russia from moving further into the Ukraine if they bloody well feel like it.

In short, if Russia decides to take back the Ukraine, there isn't much anyone can do about it besides yell at least at this point. Sure we can send in money and supplies to the people fighting against them, but that is pretty much about it. So break out the strongly worded letters, folks! Remember that the pen may be mightier than the sword, but probably not as mighty as the AK-47.

End of Rant

Where there is smoke, there are Jerks.

Sing it with me now, "Oh Smoke gets in your eyes!"

Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire!

In much older times, when I was a very small child, my family lived in a simple house that had neither running water or electricity. (Yes Dammit, I am that old! Get over it!) My mother cooked our meals on a very large wood burning stove and the whole house was heated by two very large fireplaces front and back. If it had not been for those heat sources, we could have very easily frozen to death during the long winters. Even today, many people still use wood burning stoves and heaters to heat their homes either for aesthetic purposes or as a way to get away from industrially produced electricity.

Now the various governmental sections of our country wish to begin a crackdown on people who still use wood stoves. Whereas I do think their Stated intent is admirable since I am all for reducing pollution where ever we can, I do find the reality of their attitudes more than a little hypocritical. The proponents of these new actions state that it is necessary to crack down on future emissions to reduce air pollution. They wish to induce tighter regulations on wood burning stoves to protect our environment and peoples' health. The hypocrisy comes into play when these same “save the environment” people are whining about tighter emission controls on Coal Fired Power Plants.

But Baby its cold outside!

 Think about it folks. These jerks want to place brand new restrictions on fireplaces, wood stoves and even wood fired boilers which heat one home, but want restrictions loosened for massive Coal Fired Plants that heat 1000s of homes. Which do you think creates more air pollution? There roughly 12 million wood burning stoves in the US and about 2% of those are the sole source of heat for the homes. There are just under 600 coal fired power plants in the US that produce about 37% of the US power requirements. I ask again which do you think generates more pollution?

Our politicians are all hot for regulating things that don't effect their bottom line or interfere with the Big Business that fills their pockets, but the little guy? Meh, they be alright if we restrict the way they live. I so love the one where they are speaking about stopping wood burning in the MIDDLE OF WINTER!! Yeah that makes a lot of sense.

As a closing note, let state that encouraging wood stove producers to make models that operate more cleanly is a good idea, just like encouraging Coal Fire Plants to upgrade their systems is a good idea. However, both should be a slow gradual process not some impossible goal set by people so far removed from what I like to call Real Life is not the answer. I suggest we put these Schmucks in a cabin out in the Deep Woods in the middle of winter without stoves and see how quickly they change their minds.

Being a Jerk, but maybe there is a reason for it?

Wow apparently R is for Jerk on this Sesame Street.

Okay sure they are being Dicks, but there might be a reasson for it

Okay so anyone who has been reading Any of my blogs knows that I am not overly fond of Republicans. Fact is I put them on the evolutionary scale right under bread mold and Democrats. Course that feeling is pretty much extended to 95% of all politicians because I really feel that there must be a very special, dark place that Politicians sell their souls to in order to become what they come. Republicans and Democrats have committed more atrocities upon the American people then all of the Terrorist Organizations in the world and that is being kind.

So I grok peoples' knee jerk reaction when someone posts a picture like the one above. “OH NOSE, Evil mean nasty Republicans are screwing over our nation's vets! Bad Politicians! Bad Politicians! No cookies for you! However, people really should dig a little bit deeper before they break out the Rubio Voodoo dolls. ( I make them by the gross and still sell out. Really popular item.) Cause the truth, while still nasty, is a little bit more involved.

Now, on the surface of it, the poster is accurate, these Republicans did vote against a bill that would extend and improve benefits for our Nation's Vets. Absolutely, there is no denying that. However, the reason (well okay at least the listed reason which is all we can go with.) they denied it is because the bill would be funded. They objected that the bill would actually increase our debt since the bill was being funded by what amounts to imaginary money.

See, ever since the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been winding down, the Democrats have been trotting out the old saw about “putting the money saved from the wars to good use.” I have seen this said at least a dozen times, mostly by the President or one of his mouth pieces. That same magical money is being applied to the GI Bill. The only problem is that the money doesn't really exist.

See, in previous wars, we helped fund our war efforts by selling War Bonds. It was a surprisingly good way to eliminate at least some of the costs of war. Sure it didn't pay for everything, but at least there was a little bit of extra cash coming in. With Iraq and Afghanistan, we didn't really go that route, probably because it would have meant admitting that they were actual wars instead of Peace Keeping Actions or Police Actions. Instead, we combined borrowing and magic money printing to finance the wars even though we really really couldn't afford it. Essentially, all of the money (Nearly 5 Trillion to date) existed only in our minds and a computer hard drive somewhere.

So now, since the money wasn't really real to begin with, there is no “war savings” to use for other things. Sure, we are technically saving money, but that is only because we aren't using the play money any more. No real money is being saved so the idea of using war savings to pay for the bill is a little silly. The Republicans didn't want to sign onto a bill that would add even more money to our national debt that they claim they want to reduce. (Still haven't seen any real evidence of that, but hey hope springs eternal.) They didn't kill the bill because they hate Veterans and want them to suffer. They claimed to be doing it stop even more run away spending.

Don't get me wrong Folks. I think that our nation's Vets deserve everything they can get and even more. These brave men and women risk their lives and often times pay a horrible price for it. Fugg, I personally think we should give each and every single War Vet a house and a car and cookies for life. They are all heroes, every single one of them. However, there are so many other ways we could fund this bill that don't result in even more debt. $32 Billion is chump change for the way we spend money. Don't buy a few tanks or Hells one nice sized ship. Have all the Brass eat at Burger King for a few months. Simple easy ways to make the money available. Cut out some of the pork and poof money galore.

So like I said, I despise politicians and really Republicans are the lowest on the list of dislike, so please feel free to hate them for things they deserve hating for. Trust me, I do. But take some time to research the posts, rumors and outright propaganda before you hate. In some rare cases there might actually be some legitimate reason behind their actions. Even stopped clocks are right twice a day.

End of Rant