Productivity is a cause and a calling all unto itself. Productivity is the desire to build, to create, to solve and to achieve. Most of all, productivity is the means to the end that is self-sustainment. Like many conservatives, I couldn’t wait to get out of college to start tackling the challenges of private industry while earning my own money so that I wasn’t beholden to my parents or anyone else. When I got out of school, I took a job managing a convenience store, just to set out on my own. Working any job – no matter where,…
If this doesn’t define the Pacific Northwest
Today, I was on the onramp getting on to the expressway. The onramp, in this case, is one lane with high barriers on both sides. You’re in a long lane, going up a hill, so you can’t really see what’s going on over the hill. I was sitting, stopped, for minutes on end; inching along slowly. Just as you get over the top of the hill, you enter an area in which the single lane splits into three lanes. The lane on the left is an HOV lane, so carpoolers can get by everyone in that lane. The center…
Thanks, climate change
It used to be that you could take a straw, roll it up by both ends so you have air trapped in the middle, and then snap it to make a fun popping sound. The fun we’d have, rolling up straws. Poppin’ ’em. A friend of mine tried that with one of the new, environmentally friendly, compostable straws, and I have to say… it just wasn’t the same. Instead of a clean “snap!” it was just a dull thud. To which my friend glumly said, “oh… climate change.” Climate change, indeed. So much for fun, recreational, straw popping.
American exceptionalism
Conservatives speak quite a bit about American exceptionalism. When they do, they’re not saying that Americans are inherently greater than people from any other country. What they’re saying is that at the foundation of the country – articulated in the Constitution – is a premise that is greater, and more important, than that of any other country on earth. What sets the United States apart from any other nation on earth is that we live under the idea that everyone has an equal right to pursue life, liberty and happiness and that these rights are given to us by…
When you need a hunk a metal to keep things running
Whether you got big machines or little machines, Speedy Metal can help. Here is the number one nominee for worst jingle of the year: Speedy Metals. This one’s got it all. Horrible lyrics. Gravely-voiced, aging rock ‘n’ roll man on vocals. Power chords. And the most awkward product/service one could offer. It’s one thing to need metals. But sometimes, you need them really fast. Who else would you even consider, other than Speedy Metals?
I like Mike Moustakas ‘n all, but…
Mike Moustakas is a good baseball player, and very important to the Brewers right now. But if that guy doesn’t start chewing with his mouth closed, I don’t think I can watch the team anymore. Every time they show him on camera, he’s always chewing with his mouth open. Always. Can the guy close his mouth for even two seconds? If I were on the team with him, I’d snap on him: “Moustakas! For the love of all that is holy, could you please chew with your *ucking mouth closed!”
The lonely business of weight loss
The fascination with weight loss and dieting is well-documented. There are a million plans and methods, and tons of groups and clubs that one can join to help. An entire industry of diets and plans exists for everyone to try. What works for some doesn’t always work for others. It’s all well-covered territory. But what you seldom hear about is the loneliness required to successfully lose weight. I’ve been actively, and intentionally, shedding pounds for awhile now. (30, so far.) My method has been a daily dose of exercise to keep the metabolism running while eating less than before….
Common sense vs mindless rule-following: a follow up
Yesterday, I wrote about a guy who rode his bike up to a stop light at 6am on a Sunday, and waited more than five minutes, with no cars present, before he hit the walk light and crossed when the light turned green. I grew up in the Midwest. We were taught to look both ways. We didn’t have flags. We didn’t have lighted pedestrian walkways. The idea of standing and waiting for the light to change when no cars are in sight wasn’t even an idea. My people would walk through an intersection or across the street when…
When following rules beats common sense
Last Sunday, as I was out running, a biker cruised by me, rode down the hill, and stopped at the red light at the intersection. (The intersection is a busy, main thoroughfare crossed with a local neighborhood road going the other. Visibility is about 200 yards, each way, on the main road.) As soon as he got there, I accurately predicted the rest of this story. He sat there at the light, waiting for the light to turn green. He sat there, and he sat there. Minutes went by. It was just after 6am, so the light needs to…
Remembering 9/11
One reason we remember 9/11 is because it’s the most significant, and closest thing we have to an act of war in most of our lifetimes. There’s no purpose to arguing whether or not Pearl Harbor was more important or significant than 9/11. One got us into a world war, and the other let us know we were years behind in a war being fought against us. I think the significance of 9/11 is that never, before then, have we, the United States, truly understood the lengths at which some people on the other side of the world will…