11/29/2015

Nothing Particular

I really don't have a soap box to stand on this morning and will just write about a few things.  Here goes.

Barb and I had a real civil discussion this morning about world peace.  She has an idea that we need to quit spending trillions to bomb other people and just go out and buy all the gun manufacturers that make AK-47's.   Eventually there might be a blight on them.  Very interesting thought. 

I saw a picture of people in Britain saying they want a Caliphate to live in.  My comment to them is go home and work on the hate there.  I promise you that if you worked as hard to love each other there as you do hating everyone else here, you could be a lot stronger sooner.  In fact, I am sure that the world would like you a lot more there than here.

There has been a lot of talk about just offering citizenship to all the illegals that are here.  I wonder if the people that say that really know that our normal immigration process has minimum standards for legal immigrants.  First they must have some skill and some money to qualify to come here.  We don't need more minimum wage people to come here and get fed by the government programs.  We do need an orderly program that allows workers to come here for agricultural work and then go home at the end of the season.  In fact the lack of control is part of what worries me.

When I hear about new laws or government programs, I think about all the failures I have seen.  How is it that there is so much talk about tax avoidance and yet we are supposed to have such a great system?  If the basis for our country doesn't work, why are there legislators in Washington D.C. piling new laws on? 

I saw that three guys from Junction City were convicted of Cocaine trafficking and sentenced to over 20 years for it.  I understand that it costs us about $20,000 a year to house them.  What a waste.  We spend lots of money keeping them in when we might think about alternatives and letting some of them escape now and then.  How about a bus load of them getting taken to the border with Mexico and let loose.  I love the President of Mexico's answer about the illegal drug trade.  He said that if we could stop the use here, there would be no drugs flowing north across the border.   I guess it is all in your perspective.

This morning I saw a few moments of Face the Nation.  Bush (Whatever his name is so long as it is not 45) was critical of Trump's lack of specificity about the real problems in the world.  What makes him think that in a World where people care about Caitlin Jenner that there are people that give a crap about world problems?  Bernie Sanders said that we spend three trillion dollars on Halloween candy each year so we should be able to spend that much on Syrian Refugees.  Hey Bernie, the money I spend on candy are my dollars and what I do is none of your business.  As long as you don't spend more than you take in, you and the Congress can do with the rest as you please.  I do want to see a prioritized spending list. When the money runs out, quit spending it on other people. How about things like the military, schools, infrastructure like roads and with out a doubt energy.

Speaking of energy, This Old House had a segment where they went to Germany and talked about the use of energy there.  It seems that about 99% of the structures there are heated with hot water.  Because they don't have the need for cooling systems, the do not have forced air systems they do not have the air handling units needed for AC, Hot and Cold.  On the other hand, moist of the US has well into the 90% range have both.  They are working on efficiency hard. Instead of paying guys to come look at the paint, they have people that look at the systems and how well the work.   One big difference is that a lot of the houses there are built to last through three or four generations in one family so a 10 or 11 year payback on efficient systems is a lot easier to sell.  We have a typical 11 year turn over on our houses.  Except for here at Rabbit run.  We are entering our 25th year.

Starting on Friday, the Midwest was hit with a cold front and rain.  Here is was about 1/8th to 1/4 inch of ice on most things.  The good news is that most people stayed home and Black Friday was spent watching football and one of the basketball tournaments somewhere warm.  Today we have a light rain and thank god the temperature is just above freezing.  The ice on the roads is melted off and there is little accumulation of new stuff. 

What do you like almost more than the Thanksgiving feast?  Yep - Leftovers.  The pie is almost gone but there is still some potatoes for pancakes and smoked turkey for enchiladas.  I hear Barb on the phone inviting the kids to come over for supper.  I do need to go to Dave's and see what is causing his water leak in the master bathroom.  I put the toilet in so I guess it really is a good part of my problem. Oh well better put on my plumbing pants and go deal.

MUD

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