Private Jet Taxation

President Obama wants to increase the taxes on people who fly in corporate jets.  Does he know what turmoil he is really about to cause?

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If the CEO's and corporate BigWigs all travel by commercial airflight, it will screw things up for everyone.  Bigger lines in security, no seats in the airport clubs and the uneasy experience of potentially having to sit next to the Big Boss for endless hours in the air.

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What if you burp, fart, or snore?  Now it can have career consequences on middle management types, who are generally struggling to keep their jobs as it is.

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Plus, the poor smucks who cater to bigwigs in the private aircraft industry will be jobless.

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I had the experience of traveling on a Gulfstream with the Big Boss when I worked for General Dyamics.  Trust me... you want to keep these guys on their personal jets and avoid their appearance in commercial airports where you can fade in with the general public..

You have to think harder on this one Barack.  Once again, the middle class bears the burden.

Bitter Medicine.

There is another financial crisis looming is Washington.  This one involves legalizing a higher debt limit in order for the federal government to borrow and pay its bills.
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Imagine if everytime you had to pay the bills, you just got a new loan to do so.   And that your expenses vastly outweighed your income, and you had no plan in place to reverse the situation and balance your finances.
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Peeps.... that is our  situation in a nutshell.   And the people who vote to increase the debt have no real personal consequences.... no motivation to make the tough descisions about the expenses that have to be cut back to bring this situation under control.
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We are into financial pain... which will get worse every year if we don't take some bitter medicine now.

the Why

The other day somebody asked me why I took the time and effort to add to this Blog every day.
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It certainly is not an income producer, nor is it necessary to massage my ego and self esteem. That can happen in a lot of other ways.
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Part of the reason is that I like to write and always have.  I started keeping a journal as a sophomore in college and have always made notebook entries throughout the years.  Maybe it's the Irish in me, but I get a lot of satisfaction in turning a word.
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But that is a relatively small part.
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Another part is that it is good emotional therapy for me which helps to even out the highs and the lows.   A professional friend years ago told me that he always writes letters to people that irritate him, then decides whether to send them after he's all cooled down.   Writing does tend to mellow you out somewhat.
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I would say that this factor holds a little more weight, because I can write about the politcal issues that tend to irk me quite a bit, and diffuse the energy that can overcome and occupy my mind to an unreasonable extent.
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After a little bit of introspection, I can truly say that the largest reason that I publish this blog is to share.  To share thoughts, ideas, advice and observations with my family and friends... and yes, my enemies.  What I say isn't always right, but it is absolutely always what I believe.  And even if some of it is in parables, it is always pure truth... or my version of reality.
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Sometimes, it is fun to spice things up with a little satire.... like when I call myself a Mountain of a Man, or when I call the Peeps pathetic lesser beings.    I hope you can tell when my tongue is in my cheek.
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I want my friends and family to see benchmarks... to feel free to agree or disagree... to see if my insight or remarks can help them in any way.    I've been accused in the past of thinking I was always right about everything.  That was an accurate observation then, and I stand guilty today.  Going forward, I always think I'm right.  Looking backward, I realize that sometimes I miss the mark.
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But being wrong has value.  You have a benchmark to measure and probe so that the truthful reality ultimately shows up.
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Sometimes my posts are personal and other times they are pretty mundane.  I know that most of you really don't give a shit if my deck gets built and stuff like that.   These are usually communications to my kids or close friends.
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What this Blog has really given back to me is a sense of the depth and richness of life.   There is no way that I can communicate a sixteenth of the stuff that drifts by my earthly position every day.

Tuna Lips said...

Further to them points, yiz pervide a service to this here communitization, an "open mike" iffin' y'll allow, fer folk of bright cogitatin', such as myself, to get the message out on issues that effects one's day to day machinations in this woebegone vale of tears. Fer instance, I got me a stubborn case of crotch rot, and with no swamp weeds to swabble my whoochin' stick in, I am suffering like Jesus on the road to Calgary. Anyone, help a brother in need. Send yer homestyle cures for this most pernicious of malladies, forthwith. And on the double, too.
I digressify. Big mammal, you are a community organizer. Next step, the White House. And I will accept your nomenclature for head of the moonshine, smokes and gun shootin' board, straighten' things out right proper, I would.

Rock Star

Don’t want to be a Rock Star,
Take the chance of dying young.
Drugs and drink will come to stalk me,
Hold their fully loaded gun.

A demon drives my music,

Makes me think I’ve gone insane.

Need to find some peace and quiet,

Amy Winehouse Dead at Age 27

Next to the roaring freight train.

Where to find my self composure,

Riffs and chords to guide my ax.

Put a sheet to my exposure

Ease it up and just relax.

Don’t want to be a Rock Star,

Just want to jam and play..

Find some lyrics, write some music,

Live to rock another day.

A Moral Duty

I've never disclosed this to anyone, Peeps, and maybe the heat has gotten the best of me... but my secret ambition in life has been to be a Philanthropist..... someone who gives their money away for worthy purposes.
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I feel that it's my calling... my special purpose... to make billions, and give millions away.
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Not for Nothing, but you're really not chipping in here.
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I mean, not many of you have stepped up to the plate and bought my book.  Put your money where your mouth is so to speak.
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How the hell can I live my dream of being a Philanthropist, if you won't even shell out a little coin to buy my pathetic book???  I don't mean to lay guilt on you, but think of all of the needy people who won't be getting grants from me, if you don't start the ball rolling.
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So order the freaking book.  It's the moral thing to do.

Beat the Heat

Thought I could get through the summer at the Sundance House without having to install a room air conditioner.
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No Freaking Way.
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I broke down yesterday and bought two 5000BTU LG room air conditioners at Home Depot in Salem.  I was looking for a 10,000BTU for our bedroom, but Home Depot only had a few 5000 BTU's left, so I installed both of them into the master bedroom, giving it the distinctive appearance of a double wide house trailer.
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Seems like yesterday when we were battling snow drifts to move into this house.  Now it's time to beat the heat.
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Cool.

National Source of Pride

The United States Manned Space Program ended today.
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It's a little sad.

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I don't know anything about the economics of the program, or it's production capability.

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But having the US in space and the only nation to put its citizens on the Moon was a backdrop of national pride.  It said.... despite our many faults, this nation is indeed special.... and can literally reach heights that are unattainable to other nations.

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A lot of rightwing dialogue says that the Obama administration has a distaste for America and is determined to bring it down to a level that third world nations can relate to.

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I don't buy that.   Seems a little far fetched... even though Michelle Obama claimed no pride in her country until her husband's Presidential campaign.  In Madison, Wisconsin, she said,   "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."

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I'm sure that the Obama's have a perspective spawned by guy's like Rev. Wright, their longtime former lefty pastor who said a lot of off-the-wall incendiary stuff.

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Is it coincidence that the space program... our major source of national pride has taken the plunge during the Obama administration?   You make the call.

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Already, there are those who make the conspiracy claim that the US never landed on the Moon at all.  And it is easy to imagine that the space technology could be lost in a short period of time... like we never even did it.  

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It's happened before.  We don't even know how the Roman's operated their catapults... and that was only 2000 years ago.

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Emanating from the vow of President John Kennedy, the Space Program has always been about national ego, and pride.  Not sure what we have lost, but I feel a loss with its demise.

Trophy Wife

There certainly are advantages to having a trophy wife.  Rupert Murdoch seems to be enjoying his.... and Lord knows that I enjoy mine.
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An added benefit for Rupert is that his spouse, Wendi Deng, has catlike reflexes and a great right hand, as she smacked a humiliating cream pie out of the hands of a dipshit trying to embarrass her husband who was testifying before the British Parliament.
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Not sure if Joanne could move that fast, but I bet she cooks better than Wendi.

Maintenance Phase

We've moved from the development phase to the maintenance phase at the Sundance House.  Which is a big plus in the quality of life.
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In the development phase, you live in a mess.  Tools, building supplies, and debris are left out and always in the way.  The job is always weeks in length.  The development phase involves a lot of sawing, sanding and dirt.  Nerves, Tempers, and relationships get frayed.   That's how it's been here for the last six months or so.
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But now in the maintenance phase, it is more caulking, painting and cleaning, with no heavy lifting.   You can sneak in a job, take out the tools, do the work, put everything back and everything seems normal.  You may even get a compliment or two.  Spouses and family don't get nearly as crazy.
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Plus the maintenance phase makes everything look nicer when you are done, while the development phase always ends in a mess, even if you worked your ass off.
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Course, the maintenance phase will last for another six months.  But  it will be more tolerable.

Accurate Accounts

It was one hell of a Monday at Nanepashemet Telecom.  A computer glitch caused me to lose a major file and I had to reconstruct.  Luclily, there is a lot of redundancy in what we do.  There are financial tracking files, project milestone tracking files, and in the Cloud accounting files.... all of which look at our data from a different viewpoint.
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So the reconstruction of a file is a nuisance and not a disaster.  In fact, it sometimes allows you to think of the status of an action in a different light.  So it is really a management exercise to reconstruct the file.
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But the bottom line is to keep your accounting up to date.  Without accurate accounting information, you are the victim of your assumptions, and whims, and ultimately fears.  Did I say fear???? It goes without saying that a Mountain of a Man doesn't know the meaning of the word.  But I bring it up because ordinary Peeps like yourselves can actually project all sorts of bad situations in the absense of the right information.
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At least, that's what I've heard.

Deck is Done

The deck is done.  All of the railings are up, the slider is roughed in, the staircase has an Ethan proof gate, and Tommy O helped me move the grill up.   We had our first successful night on the deck with grilled sausages, chicken, beer and Dark and Stormies with Linda and Tommy O on Saturday.
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I have to add lights and an outlet, trim out the slider and build the stair railings, as well as put up a screen on the West Shore side and straighten out under the deck.... but otherwise... the deck is done.

Making Room for WhaleEye

It's the middle of the summer, and tommorrow the deck is usable.  We will be moving our grilling operations out of the driveway, which had a sort of white trash charm to it.
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There still is a ton of finish work on the deck, particularly with the slider and staircase. And the deferred maintenance to the rest of the landscaping will hit first priority now that the deck is up an running.  Stuff like cutting the grass and trimming the bushes.
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But by next weekend, I'll have to take the WhaleEye out for some striper fishing.
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Enough is enough.