Muddy's Place

Health Care Legislation

2009-12-22T00:28:00.002-05:00

Here we go. Sliding down the tube right into the shitter.

This country is entirely screwed and you do-gooder dems are responsible.

Dumb, dumber, and dumbest.

God help us all.

Update: 2010

Well, it passed. This year the fall elections will tell how pleased people really are with this power grab. Let's just wait and see.

New York State Assembly Members--Take Note

2009-03-06T09:42:00.011-05:00

To the members of my New York State Assembly:

You're a rude bunch of pups, did you know that? Yes, I think you are anyhow.

In the course of my work I had the occasion, twice, to get a room at a facility where, apparently, a number of the members of the New York State Assembly choose to stay when in session. Your fancy little license plates gave you away (do YOU pay the extra fee for those, or am I footing the bill for them and the registration that coincides with your two-year term?).

So, I have stayed in Albany at the same time as you and at the same hotel. Both times you people have used ALL the smoking rooms. What? ALL the smoking rooms used when the state legislature is in session? Isn't that the same legislature that taxes cigarettes at a level that requires them to retail at around $7.00 a pack? Isn't that the legislature which has remained relatively silent when the Governor, two or three of them now, has pissed off the Senecas by trying to collect sales taxes on fuel and cigarettes sold on Seneca Nation lands?

OK, smart guys, how many of you are buying YOUR smokes at "the Res." for around $5 a pack and taking them with you to Albany where the same brand name smokes cost about $8 a pack due to YOUR taxes?

Oh, please, don't leave now, I'm not finished with you. Assembly! You're a bunch of lazy, arrogant jerks as well! Well, that's what I call a group of people who invade an area, park their vehicles in every available space around and in front of the hotel entrance, sometimes even in the hotel bus space where we need to board our transportation, so you don't have to walk an extra 150 feet. (Look at your waistline...you can USE the exercise, boys and girls.) Can I add here that some of you appear to be piss-poor drivers as well...your cars aren't well parked, angling out into the drive lane at times? Your cars are marked. You are being watched. Are you totally oblivious? Could you at least try not to embarrass with even the simple things you do?

So you move in to my hangout when your session requires, rudely consume all the nearby parking (presumably because you see yourself as so important that you have the right to inconvenience all the other guests at this establishment), your two-faced members occupy all the smoking rooms, inconveniencing the working people like me who choose to work and choose to smoke and sort-of choose to pay your inflated salary each year and the exorbitant cigarette tax every day.

You are NOT well-loved and NOT well-respected. Your every action is monitored and evaluated. You have failed at public courtesy as evidenced by your parking habits and at your overpaid part-time social welfare job as evidenced by the sad state of affairs in this once grand state (even before this latest national economic problem, this state sucked so bad that wage earners left it at unprecedented and nearly unmatched rates...and have been doing so for decades.

Hang your heads in shame and resign, Albany! Make room for some citizen-legislators who are not worried about the next election, not polished professional politicians. Go back to whatever function you were able to successfully perform before. I say your services are not needed by us anymore. Your abject failure makes your opinions null and void. There is nothing more for you to do...you've ruined anything that remained of this Empire State.

The New York State Assembly--no the entire New York State Legislature is the least effective government body in this country. It's responsiveness to its citizens is miniscule, its representation nonexistent.

Have I left anything out? Yes, this story:

In the past I contacted two of what might be considered the most conservative legislators, both from my area, one an Assemblyman, the other a Senator. In my letter to them I raised the same concern with each of them. The particular concern was of no great importance except that I saw the change they made to be purely a money-grab opportunity. Each of these men took issue with my point of view and for the most part told me I was wrong...not about the money-grab part, but the reasons for and the resulting solution to the man-made "problem" they had acted to "solve". The result of their actions was that the entire stock of registration plates in the state had to be replaced with a new design...at an additional cost to the citizen, obviously.

Had these people informed me that the need for and reason to make the change was to render the registration plates compatible with new police equipment which allows them to "scan" your plate at some distance with some new kind of "gun", I might have been able to accept that as a reasonable explanation for the massive campaign.

Making BS claims that the DMV is "running out of number combinations" and stating that the new design is "more visible" (visible means using your eyes to see something, remember?) is, to me, no better than telling an outright lie.

All credibility, all kind and supportive thoughts and feelings for these people, any of these people, evaporated with that simple lie. I pay these people with my annual contribution to the state treasury, which is not small. If they find it necessary to lie about a simple thing like a registration license plate change and a piece of police equipment (which is quite impressive when you consider the time it saves law enforcement folks), simple things (hey, I did it, so damn near any idiot can figger this out sooner or later) what else do they lie about? They lied to me, a lifelong party supporter. I was dismissed like yesterday's trash. I have not voted for either of them since and changed party affiliation.

So, Assemblymen, and Senators too, if the shoe fits, you collectively, are a bunch of fat (because you aren't walking the extra 150 feet at your Albany motel), lazy (because you won't walk the extra 150 feet across the parking lot), arrogant (you aren't impressed by the poor image presented to your subjects by your well-marked vehicles encircling the hotel entryway, inconveniencing those who pay your wages), cigarette smoking (since smoking rooms are never available when you're in town, you must be using all of them), two-faced (you wish to tell your subjects they must be more healthy by not smoking, which you tax heavily but do yourself), lying (you do not present the accurate facts about the state of our state and the proper means to address the situation, because political agendas always intrude into any solution you propose) people. I know that's a lot to chew on...I could fix it, but I don't need to...you get my point.

Quit, leave now, stop doing any more damage. Resign. We'll have an interim election and the new group won't do any worse than you "experienced" professionals. I could just about guarantee that.

03/19/09

At the convenience store the other day the customer ahead of me wanted a pack of cigarettes. He nearly died when the clerk demanded $7.81.

I can only hope cigarette sales tank, while those who want them find smokes on-line, out of state, or at Reservations...as many as they want without the NY tax.

And I sincerely hope the state budget reflects the abysmal decisions you people make every day.

There is NO representation in the State of New York.

I did notice, on my last visit to Albany, that the fat lazy bastards were able to leave two parking spaces open next to where the shuttle loads near the front door. I hope you aren't too stressed by that Assembly people, Senators.

Update: June 2009

I've been away from the Albany lodging facility for a few months, working elsewhere. Today I overheard a hotel employee mention that someone had photographed some legislators' cars violation the fire lane parking restrictions around the entrance to the hotel. I can only hope the clearly marked cars of the violators appear in the local newspaper there.

The state of the state is dire. Our legislature is mired in a deadlock, the Senate, anyhow. Schoolyard brawls are settled with greater aplomb than these rascals are managing. And the Governor drags us more quickly over into the abyss,

Good God save us!

ENGLAND’S GUN BAN UPDATE

2009-01-26T19:59:00.005-05:00

To be rewritten at some time in the future.
Muddy 6/26/09

Winter 2008-2009 and other thoughts

2009-01-21T21:50:00.005-05:00

January, 2009

So far this has been one cold winter. It’s been a winter approaching those we remember from the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Our snow here east of Lake Erie is knee to waist deep…and it melted off to almost nothing twice before! We have had some real snow this winter.

I have not been back to post here as regularly as I had hoped. I’m sure that is not a problem since I doubt there are many following this. It is interesting to note we have had one visitor/commenter since the last bit I wrote. If anyone bothered to read “Mr. Lambkint’s” note (purposely misspelled, who I will hereafter call Mr. L.), one might be wondering what that is all about. We will address that tonight.

The miserable weather, substantial changes at work due to the economic slowdown, and this unexpected comment has had me off-kilter trying to decide just how I want to handle this situation. In the previous post I talked about a particular forum-style web site I used to enjoy visiting. I mentioned that I am now unwelcome at that site and all others owned by the internet web site conglomerate with whom our visitor is affiliated.

I found a similar type of site dedicated to serving a group of users sharing a common field of employment. The introduction there was not smooth…they like to welcome people “their way” and I arrived with an understandable chip on my shoulder, made worse because the new site looked strangely like the one having recently banned me. The only noticeable difference between the two sites, at first, was a difference in color. Knowing the big conglomerate owns a site dedicated to employees of a vaguely similar type of industry, I immediately wondered if I had come across a new production of that very same conglomerate. My early questions about same were not appreciated.

Apparently Mr. L. discovered where I went to hang my on-line hat; hence his poorly structured comment about stories and multiple sides. I was totally wierded-out by his shadowing of me (I want to say stalking, but there has been no indication of ill intent so far). I can’t think of a good reason why a person affiliated with a NASDAQ listed company with a market capitalization of between $200 million and $300 million would spend his time following me around the internet and then make a comment on an opinion piece written by me, unless they are worried about me in some way.

Maybe they are worried in some way. Maybe they should be worried. I don’t know what kind of ground their company stands on.

A different person, their site Administrator, suddenly disappeared from the forum when all of this started to flare. He had exhibited some strange behavior toward me. Unannounced, without greeting or explanation of reason this man sent me a message. That would have been nice had he introduced himself in some way, made some small talk, explained why he was contacting me, then stated his business.
Buy he made no comments about the hundreds of posts I’d made in such a short period of time. There was no expression of thanks for reviewing advertisers’ products on the site. There was nothing…nothing other than “your choice of font and color bother me”.

What the? What was THAT all about? The font? The color? Screw that, I thought. Is this guy is a wing-nut or what? You wouldn’t find fault with a stranger’s handwriting. You better not make fun of someone with an accent or lisp of some kind. What was this man thinking? I simply used an available font style and posted it in the color of my vehicle…it is a truck web site, remember? That’s the kind of thing you do there: write about, ask about, show off, your vehicle…DUH!
I asked a friend about this guy. He knew him some and said of him: “Yeah. He’s just strange that way. He even went off on an advertiser one time.” At the time I thought that that was one strange way to do business.

I experienced difficulty logging on; apparently I messed something up when I hurriedly removed all my personal information from the site. On attempting to return, I could not get in. I thought I was blocked out for not bowing to the fearless leader’s request.

I asked what was going on. Words went back and forth. They let me in, then blocked me out. They let me in again, but never told me. I just discovered it one day, weeks later. Then they took a wild hare and decided I was too much effort to be dealt with. I actually thought I was beginning to befriend Mr. L for a moment, but he tricked me, I think.

Not to worry, however. I told them they would eventually treat me right. I gave up long ago hoping for a humble apology from the errant, Arrogant Administrator. Now all I want is unfettered access to their site using MY choice of username. Nothing fancy, just access…those are my terms.

Username! I almost forgot! In the midst of my negotiations with them they discovered I committed one of their “Mortal Sins” by registering a second user name. For well over a year I had used the new name, abandoning the old one long ago due to its unhealthy resemblance to my actual name. I told their Moderator what I had done and why I did it…identity security. Their own guy said not to worry about it.

And I didn’t, but they seem to put a whole great big bunch of weight on this single identity issue. I put a lot of weight on keeping my identity secure. I don’t know what I was thinking when I set up the first identity. I actually had no idea that site attracted so many people. After posting there for a couple of months I decided I should not use the open identity any longer.

That was a good enough reason for me. They hung their hat on that and complained about my “rule violation” several times. I think it was a cover so they didn’t have to address the rude manners displayed by their site Administrator.

But I kind of got them on that one as well. In searching their site I discovered one member openly posting that he was using not two, but three different user names. And, in the end, his money was accepted and paid membership extended for one year…no ban involved. So, flexibility IS possible, as they have displayed.

They probably didn’t like my having a word with one of their advertisers. Yes, I sent a message to one of their advertisers, just to see if the system would perform. It does! Advertisers, especially those from whom I have already made purchases and with whom I might plan to make more purchases should be sensitive to this customer’s complaints about one of their advertising venues. And they are!

I sent one e-mail message and I got some feathers riled. What will happen if I actually write a pen and ink letter (those are highly regarded as they show additional personal effort on the part of the disgruntled consumer)? As a non-logged on visitor I can still see the names of their advertisers. I have a list of seventy so far. What would be the effect of a seventy letter campaign? Short of that, what would be the effect of a very sincere six or seven letter campaign to those advertisers from whom I have previously made a purchase?

I am loath to launch a letter campaign, honestly. I know there has been a huge amount of work on the part of many people to make all of this work for these companies. I don’t want to spend my time undoing their hard work. It is really not their fault there are jerks operating within their company making life difficult for them. But the other side of me wonders just why they employ such short-sighted strategies when dealing with the end-user/customer. If I am not satisfied, how much am I going to buy from their advertisers? Nothing, nothing at all…that’s the right answer.

You read that right. The site user IS the real customer. The product, the site is offered for use by all. Advertisers hawk their wares and folks buy them. Those companies buy more advertising from the web site. It’s a simple business transaction.

The man paying the bill, the man bringing “fresh” money into the circle is the site user and merchandise buyer. That man is me and many others. The site exists for our use, not as a play-toy for some internet geek to construct his internet kingdom. When the conglomerate realizes that and recants on its ban of MuddyAxles, the threat of advertiser involvement will end.

Run...right out of business

2008-12-20T21:11:00.003-05:00

What is wrong with people? More specifically, what is wrong with businesses today? People run those businesses, I guess, so I really do want to know what in the world are they thinking when they "run" themselves out of business?

Everyone patronizes a convenience store from time to time, don’t they? You need that cup of coffee, pack of smokes or gum, a bag of chips to get you by until supper…we all make use of their sometimes overpriced services from time to time…so we dash in to spend a few dollars.

Once inside the door it hits you. Every establishment has a personality. It rubs off from the people inside. Some of it comes from the owners, some from the employees, some from the other customers themselves. Each has its smell, its lighting, its warmth or lack of same. Some are highly, tightly organized, always neat and rarely in a state of disorder. Others are more casual, homey, or personal. Our regular places to stop become familiar and in ways become “ours”. We have nothing to do with any of it, but we adopt the place and may take high offense when merchandising folks re-set our store and move everything around. We become lost in our retail “home away from home”.

As much as becoming accustomed to the atmosphere of our store, we become habituated to the personalities and treatment we receive there. The same employees are there day after day, the same coffee, the same pizza slices, the same sweet rolls. This is part of our daily routine. This proprietor or manager is able to become somewhat indispensable to you and your daily routine. Consistently executed hundreds of times each week, this business has the potential to become a success.

There is, of course, much more to a successful business than serving and satisfying the customers, but once that part has been mastered, the rest becomes easier. So why do so many people bring a business to the point of success, like our favorite “C” store or deli we were thinking of above, and deliberately do things to drive customers away?

This phenomenon occurs all too frequently and may be the number one preventable cause of business failure. You have seen it, I have seen it. One day you enter our favorite stop-off and even before we enter we know something is different. Maybe it’s the strange vehicle alongside the building, maybe it’s the way the outdoor displays appear. You can feel something is different before you actually know it. Then you get inside.

There’s a new voice in the background, the counter is re-arranged, new signs adorn new places. Line up here, no more this, out of that, don’t do this, we can’t accept that other thing. Your favorite beverage is no longer available in your favorite size. The cups are different, the lids look funny. The place smells like candles, the air tastes like candles!

Oh-oh! They won’t take a check anymore, there goes the cash I needed for lunch. What! I can’t use that fifty the teller “foisted” on me last Friday! But I bought thirty-eight dollars worth of gas and by the time I get my coffee, a paper, a box of doughnuts for the break room…OK, I guess I’ll have to charge it this time…only because your ATM is out of cash again!…but my spouse hates it when I charge “small” stuff all the time. Cheez, almost fifty bucks and it’s considered “small stuff’. I remember when that’s all Dad brought home for a week! And they call this a friggin’ convenience store? What’s convenient about it?

So, for the convenience of the new manager or owner, entire fleets of apple carts are summarily overturned. I worked in that business long enough to see it happen time after time. New owners or managers always come in with a ream of changes to get “That Place” in shape. (Yeah…I’m thinking “to get it so they can leave it to the hired help who could care less while they get in some golf!”)

New customers will come along eventually to replace those who find other places to buy what they need. Well, it is hoped new customers will come along, but very often they don’t appear, at least not in sufficient quantity to make up for the losses.

Then these managers, seeing their sales volume lagging, do things even more dramatic…hours are cut, services are dropped, hired help is run off. Then the manager/owner has to be there more of the fewer hours they are open and the pressure builds, they get grouchier and eventually there is next to no one stopping by. The business has failed, it is over.

So, for the gratification of running the place “their way” these hot shot managers/owners run themselves out of business. They failed to learn about their business, they failed to know their customers, they failed themselves, their families, and their creditors…but they enforced every little rule, every little regulation right up to the last day.

How sad.

From this point forward...

2008-11-26T08:58:00.002-05:00

...…I will not be able to write my first blog post. In other words, this is the maiden voyage into this sea of blogging for this writer.

For a few years I have been posting in forums of different stripes. Before that I was entirely an internet spectator. I settled on a favorite forum where the purpose of existence was to discuss vehicles, a certain brand to be sure, and more narrowly defined than that, any of those vehicles by that one manufacturer capable of hauling or towing, with or without four-wheel drive.

Yeah, trucks. Some of us are afflicted with a bug; we never grew up completely. In a dark, private corner of our hearts we still live to make noise, scatter things about, burn, blast, break, and destroy our world…and then build it back up again better than before. Actually, I have worked in the noisy, scatter things about department for most of my adult life.

I am embarking on a blog. Let me think what means. I am reminded of John Steinbeck’s words regarding a trip, his trip I suspect, resulting in one of the few books I have ever read more than once, Travels with Charley. Without revisiting it for an exact quote, he said something to the effect of “You don’t take a trip, a trip takes you”. By that, I believe he meant once embarked upon, you (we) are at the mercy of this thing that takes on a life of its own: “The Trip”. (This is subject material of an entirely different blog.)

Similarly, I believe I may be on the verge of something like a trip, this blog that may take on a life of its own. That’s part of the reason I have procrastinated so long in commencing, almost apprehensive of this impending “life”. I hope this is a good thing, this blog trip. I hope I can raise some challenging questions, bring some interesting artifacts along to show you, and give some people an enjoyable time while exploring what I have to offer.

Muddy