I’ll append the linkfest stuff below the rambling rabbit trails that follow…
So, Fred’s announced his candidacy and used some mostly right (or is that Right) rhetoric in doing so. Good on him. (BTW, I don’t use “rhetoric” in the pejorated sense of “empty rhetoric” that most Mass Media Podpeople, etc., would have us believe is all the word entails. Look it up. Or not. :-)) So he missed two of my hot buttons when talking with Leno. I’ll listen further.
Speaking of rhetoric, I once “knew” (via a mailing list) a guy with his doctorate in English, head of a major university’s English department, who taught rhetoric… and was seriously crippled in that department, because he was barely semi-literate. No kidding. I once noted (after punching enough holes in an onlist argument that the other guy’s position was more holes than argument) that a particular position/argument was “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing“, and this English professor emailed me privately to “confirm” that I was referring to a statement by… Faulkner! Kinda demonstrated my “sub-literate” label above rather nicely, eh? Entirely missed the metacommentary, which included–for a literate person–the critique,
“…it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
*sigh*
Read one of the most famous soliloquies in the English language at the link above. Something that “English professor” had never done!
Pound foolish. That’s what most self-lobotomized, brainwashed Americans seem to be. Example: buying new cars alla time and spending way, way more than is sensible for the latest, greatest stuff when what most of ’em have is just fine n dandy, peachy keen already.
Example: our family needs transportation as much as most folks in these (dis)United States seem to. My Wonder Woman needs to travel a bit in her work a couple of days a week (managing two different school libraries), so she needs a car of her own, but not the newest, shiniest toy, just one that’ll get her the couple of miles to work and back and then to the other school and back a couple of days a week as well, and to meetings, etc.
I’m all over the place during the day. Sometimes 30-40 miles (or more) away on gigs. Need great gas mileage (and I approach that at ~42mpg) in a comfortable, dependable vehicle.
Son & Heir needs better than average gas mileage (his is running about 36mpg–with an auto tranny) in dependable transportation to get the 30+ miles to work and back each day (cheaper for him than moving out into a place closer to work, so he can save more $$ for such a move later).
IOW, we need no latest and greatest do-dads and gimcracks, just basic, safe, dependable transportation. So, for less than what one new car would cost (MUCH less) we have three decent used cars. Paid for in full, leaving plenty for possible repairs and normal maintenance. Sure, one of them is coming up on a (normal maintenance) timing belt replacement, and we’re budgeting for halfshaft replacements on two of them (approaching 150,000 ,iles on one and the other already past that), but even if we paid someone else to do the work (unlikely: I’m always looking for reasons to use my tools–and buy new ones! :-)), we’ll still be many thousands ahead of buying a new car, let alone three.
Oh, and all the fancy do-dads? Really, I’ve not yet found a do-dad for a car that’s necessary for good, safe, economical transportation, ever since I decided I didn’t really need the distraction of the radio in my 1953 Chevy Belair…
So, that’s thousands of dollars not wasted that can be used for better, more lasting benefits.
Sure, in all the years doing this, I’ve bought a coupla lemons. (I really don’t wanna talk about the XJ-12. *sigh*) But even with those, we’ve not done badly, and I’m sure if just a few folks look carefully at their spending habits, they can see the wastage in wanting “Newer! Shinier! Bigger! Lots More Do-Dads!”
Similar thoughts can apply to nearly everything from electronics purchases to new shovels. Do we really need ’em?
Just sayin’…
I’ve listened to four of Beethoven’s nine symphonies today. I’ve never listened to so many in a row before. An ear-opener. Of course, the drawback is that I’ve had to listen to 128Kbit sampled mp3 files to do that, and my portable mp3 player didn’t come with the best earphones imaginable, either. *sigh* [Update: the last five sounded MUCH better with a new pair of earphones–some $20 JVC cheapies, no less!] Still, wonderful, though. I guess I’ll listen to the other five tomorrow. I was going to edit out the BBC commenter’s remarks before transferring to my player, but didn’t have the time for that and am glad I didn’t. A review of the symphonies’ biographical/historical settings has been a Good Thing.
Still, makes me want to listen to good CD recordings for a fuller sense of the sound.
I really wish Netgear would post ALL the drivers for equipment that’s still within its lifecycle. The only really negative thing I can find about Netgear.
Other techie stuff? OK. I’m considering adding a far out of lifecycle Palm V to my handheld stable. Under the “Do I really need this” rule, I probably won’t, though. But… I bought a Palm V modem for 25¢ (mainly cos it came with 2 AA batteries and “free” shipping cos I bought some other things I do need at the same time *heh*), so I just hate to have nothing to mate with it. In final analysis, though, I think I’ll just be happy with the two Duracell batteries for 25¢. I do not need a Palm V (or the modem). Heck, I rarely use dialup, anyway–just as a last resort backup to my cable connection.
Some of the other purchases? Well, a couple of Caleb 144MB “super floppy” drives (with media, no less) cos they also read/write 1.4MB floppies (which I still use for some things) and were cheaper on a closeout than any other new floppy drives I could buy, and I have two machines with flaky floppy drives to replace, soooo…
A better wireless card for my Wonder Woman, one that–surprise! surprise!–better matches the capabilities of the RangeMax wireless router we use. Why buy it? Two reasons: better network speeds for her and… her built-in wireless is now a backup wireless “card”. I like redundancy in computer equipment.
Oh, and I think I must have left my Nero installation disk at a client’s when I repaired her Nero installation, so a 99¢ replacement disk for that (and if the client finds the one I’m sure I left behind, then I have a backup copy. :-)).
Have to go stand in line getting one of the cars tagged today. *sigh* Oh. Well. Maybe it won’t be bad. At least the tag’ll be inexpensive (cos the car sure was ;-))
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