A mystic is an hysteric who visited a cleric before a physician.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
BusterStronghart@Gmail.com
"Glory warms us in the grave."
Nonsense. That's a silly stave.
There's a better warmth than this
Found in cow-girl's kiss,
Though she be a thick-lipped flirt,
Though she reek of dung and dirt.
And a better warmth, I'm thinking,
Every man has found in drinking;
Lapping wine, the lucky dog,
Punch or even common grog;
Sprawling over filthly benches
With the vilest thieves and wenches
That have yet deserved a hanging;
Yes, but -- living and haranguing--
Worth more envy, every one,
Than fair Thetis' noble son.
Old Pelides spoke the truth:
Who's alive, than lords and ladies
And the greatest kings in Hades,
Praised in many a classic tome, or
All the heroes sung by Homer!
Richer is the poorest youth
"Glory warms us in the grave."
Nonsense. That's a silly stave.
There's a better warmth than this
Found in cow-girl's kiss,
Though she be a thick-lipped flirt,
Though she reek of dung and dirt.
And a better warmth, I'm thinking,
Every man has found in drinking;
Lapping wine, the lucky dog,
Punch or even common grog;
Sprawling over filthly benches
With the vilest thieves and wenches
That have yet deserved a hanging;
Yes, but -- living and haranguing--
Worth more envy, every one,
Than fair Thetis' noble son.
Old Pelides spoke the truth:
Who's alive, than lords and ladies
And the greatest kings in Hades,
Praised in many a classic tome, or
All the heroes sung by Homer!
Richer is the poorest youth
Monday, November 14, 2011
BusterStronghart@Gmail.com
Well, the pool heaters have been down for several weeks.
Well, the pool heaters have been down for several weeks.
You see, about two months ago the new Board President proposed a new installation based on the specs provided by the engineer who had recently done a million dollar HVAC job for us. I stood up and asked (1) whether he had any pool experience, and (2) whether the heater company that he recommended had built any pool heaters in the past. Due to my careful observation of Rumpole of the Bailey, I knew that I should never ask questions unless I knew the answers—and I did know the answers – and they were “No” and “No.” The room went quiet while people thought about the implications.
I immediately mounted my high horse, named Self-Righteous, and demanded that no contract be let until we heard from some experienced pool companies. I pointed out that it would be irresponsible for the Board to take action without looking at alternatives, and a motion was made that passed 6-3. We would look for alternatives.
The process has taken about seven weeks during which time the heaters have continued to dysfunction, and the weather has cooled resulting in water that is ‘cool’ according to me, ‘cold’ according to a some, but 'ass-freezing' according to the vast majority of owners, most of whom have left their sense of humor up North.
At a meeting on Thursday, a few fingers were pointed at me, so I mounted my other high horse, Sanctimonious, and pointed out that I was interested only in the long term good of our condominium, and the others on the Board should try to keep that in mind, and resist their impulse to join the noisy mob. We had obtained several proposals on the table, we were ready to vote. The original proposal from the HVAC engineer was passed, 7-1 one Board member being absent.
Last night I received an email, from an owner, not on the Board, but very skinny, and thus more susceptible than most of us to the cold, who, apparently having had his crayons confiscated, writes in CAPITAL letters:
“NOW ITS TIME TO CONSIDER ALL THE SOUTHPOINT OWNERS WHO WILL SUFFER FROM A SEVEN WEEK DELAY OF THE INSTALLATION OF THE NEW POOL HEATERS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED THE SEASONAL OWNERS EXPECT TO USE A HEATED POOL REMEMBER THEY PAY THERE MAINTENANCE ALL YEAR LONG BECAUSE OF THE IGNORENCE OF ONE BOARD MEMBER NOT KNOWING A LICK ABOUT ANYTHING I’LL TELL THE SEASONAL OWNERS TO THANK HIM PERSONAL.” (SIC for all errors-- this is cut & paste.)
Even Maria, who needs to get in the pool for her special knee exercises has refrained from blaming me. (Diamond-like earrings will do wonders.)
.m
Saturday, November 12, 2011
BusterStronghart@Gmail.com
So here we are in the year 2010, and I've been thinking of some things that have been missing. Shouldn't we already have flying cars? Better infrastructure? More telecommuting? We live in a digital age and we still can't get things right such as dog food free of fertilizers or E.coli in your burgers.
To make this conversation a bit more intellectual, I'd like to discuss nuclear power. Yes, the "n" word of 2010. Many countries are scared by the potential dangers of nuclear power. I'm not talking in the form of weapons, but more so the use of energy. Honestly, they should be given the hazards of towns melting down and radioactive waste that has to be stored.
Yet one particular country is in a unique bind - France. Since the oil shocks in the mid 1970's, the nation built a network of reactors (59 to be exact as of 2008) that now produce roughly four-fifths of the country's electricity. That is pretty amazing, but why? France has no oil, no coal and thus no choice! Secondly, a majority of their political leaders are trained scientists and brilliant in various disciplines. And last but not least, they choose nuclear because quite frankly the decision-making process has been centralized. So while they might be energy independent, is it perhaps at too high of a cost or risk? Are we overlooking that the byproduct is simply radioactive and where do we store it?
Source Stats: National Geographic, 2009
The N Word
So here we are in the year 2010, and I've been thinking of some things that have been missing. Shouldn't we already have flying cars? Better infrastructure? More telecommuting? We live in a digital age and we still can't get things right such as dog food free of fertilizers or E.coli in your burgers.To make this conversation a bit more intellectual, I'd like to discuss nuclear power. Yes, the "n" word of 2010. Many countries are scared by the potential dangers of nuclear power. I'm not talking in the form of weapons, but more so the use of energy. Honestly, they should be given the hazards of towns melting down and radioactive waste that has to be stored.
Yet one particular country is in a unique bind - France. Since the oil shocks in the mid 1970's, the nation built a network of reactors (59 to be exact as of 2008) that now produce roughly four-fifths of the country's electricity. That is pretty amazing, but why? France has no oil, no coal and thus no choice! Secondly, a majority of their political leaders are trained scientists and brilliant in various disciplines. And last but not least, they choose nuclear because quite frankly the decision-making process has been centralized. So while they might be energy independent, is it perhaps at too high of a cost or risk? Are we overlooking that the byproduct is simply radioactive and where do we store it?
Source Stats: National Geographic, 2009
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