Month: July 2019

Check is in the mail

Posted on by backuphill

selective focus photography of a mailbox

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No, this isn’t what you think. It has nothing to do with someone supposedly sending a payment and telling you the cliche “Check is in the mail.”

No, this has to do with those unwanted, unnecessary, and unsolicited credit card offers that come in the mail with checks “for convenience.”

The long and short of it, quite frankly, is that this practice should be illegal.

Why, you ask? Well, let me break it down for you…

  1. Identity theft. Could this make it any easier for someone to steal, or at least impersonate you to get money or open an account in your name? I don’t know if anyone has noticed but mail theft is still a thing these days.
  2. Increasing debt. Americans have a saving problem and instead have exactly the opposite – a debt problem, of epic proportions. Sending people “free money” in the mail isn’t a practice that should continue because it encourages the behavior that gets many people in trouble financially, and likely legally too.
  3. Junk mail increase. We don’t need more crap in our mailboxes! Not to mention the incredible amount of waste it generates. Companies want to be “green”, right? Perhaps they should think about the waste they generate and environmental impact they have because of their unsolicited mailings.
  4. Because I want it that way. Call me grumpy. Call me a curmudgeon. Call me whatever you want, but I want it my way. Besides, I am pretty sure I speak for nearly anyone with a mailbox. We’ve had it up to our earlobes with your junk mail, credit card offers, catalogs, and other crap.

Anyway, I don’t know if they can make it illegal but I am sure it would get a lot of votes it it were put to the people. It’s irritating on many levels, so it isn’t “for my convenience.” It just creates other problems the consumer has to deal with.

Who’s with me here?

 

What do you receive in the mail that irritates you to no end? Drop a comment below with your mailbox frustration.

 

 

Not so woke

Posted on by backuphill

abstract alphabet arrangement away

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I don’t care and neither should you.

If it takes two or three (or more) “Greats” in your family tree to find someone in your ancestry who owned slaves in the US, it’s not news. Plain and simple. It’s just sensationalizing a current topic of emotion, one of which has no bearing on today.

Yesterday, a politician who is running for president admitted that both he and his wife’s ancestors owned slaves. This after, apparently, he was going to be “outted” by a media outlet for this piece of history. He’s not the only person to do this since this is now the hobby of bored media researchers who need something to make a sensational headline.

There is no news here.

Is this person responsible for what his ancestors did? No. Is he responsible for anything that happened before him, no matter how far back? No. So why are we even remotely interested? Your past doesn’t define you, or me. My past doesn’t define me, or you. So quit living like it does and quit blaming others like it does.

I don’t know if my past includes slave owners. I don’t know, since I have German heritage, if my past involves the persecution of Jews. Quite frankly, I don’t care if it does.

I am not that person and I am certainly not doing those things today.

We should be judging people based on their actions today. We should be judging how they treat people today.

We should be learning from our past, but not living in it. We can’t make the past better. We can’t change it. We shouldn’t make reparations for it. We shouldn’t scrub it clean just because it is offensive.

If you care about such things from the past, enough to get yourself all lathered up about it, then you are the problem because you are living in the past. It shouldn’t be an excuse for lack of trying to improve yourself. That’s the only person you can be responsible.

So, you ain’t woke. You are just focused on the wrong person.

Dimples and all

Posted on by backuphill

club course equipment exercise

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Well, the early leave on Friday’s work day turned out to be a pretty decent escape.

I figured out I hadn’t golfed in three years, so the rust was a little thick. The front 9 was warm-up, apparently, since I scored better on the back 9, which is more difficult.

It also took me 12 holes to lose the first golf ball, which is a feat in and of itself since I am a pro at hitting the ball deep into the trees.

But, I also ended up finding more than I lost – net gain of 2!

All in all, I could find something to complain about in the golf game but since it’s been three years I’ll just let it be what it is.

Oh, here’s something to complain about…the golf shoes don’t fit like they used to. I could also complain about the overall score (107), but really I can’t complain since I was just shaking off the rust after not having stepped onto the links in quite a while.

I suppose I’ll have to keep the dust off the clubs a little more often.

 

Why, oh why?

Posted on by backuphill

grass green golf golf ball

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Half day at the office today.

No, it’s an official work day. I am just taking a half day to go play golf (well, my version of playing it…course destruction, tree hitting, let’s go swimming after the ball golf) with a buddy.

And what do we here at work? There is some sort of “emergency” that requires immediate attention…

Think that is gonna keep me at the office?

Hell no.

Someone else can deal with this crap. Besides, the district doesn’t need to access their data anyway. It’s summer. LOL

Catch you on Monday!  FOUR!!

 

Every experienced an “emergency” on a day where you were looking forward to something else? One of those things that will suck your attention until dealt with?

Just the facts

Posted on by backuphill

photo of head bust print artwork

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I am sure you are aware, but just in case you aren’t…we no longer live in a society that is based on facts. A large portion of our society, our neighbors, or family members just live on feelings.

It is nearly impossible to have a discussion with anyone these days and actually use facts as a counter argument to their hysteria because they just don’t have any reason left.

**Side note: Yes, I am quite aware that Trump has a poor grasp of facts, as well, so you don’t need to point that out. **

As an example, last night I was having a discussion with someone about the whole Home Depot, former founder, and donations/support of President Trump. The individual was jumping on the bandwagon of boycotting Home Depot (never mind that the guy no longer has anything at all to do with the retailer any longer and hasn’t for more than 10 years) because of it and they made the blanket statement about “old, rich white guys ruining the country.”

See my response below:

Here’s the weird thing about picking on rich, old white guys….
Old, rich white guys fought to make the colonies, then states, free and the place you call home. Similarly, old rich white guys fought to keep the colonies from being free and the place you now call home. 
Old, rich white guys fought to give equality to slaves during the Civil War. It was also old, rich white guys that fought to keep slaves and break apart the country you now call home. 
It’s old, rich people (because it just isn’t white or male anymore) fight to keep Planned Parenthood from killing babies. And, it’s old, rich people who fight to keep letting Planned Parenthood kill babies. 
It’s old rich people who fight to let you keep more of your money so you can do with it as you please because, hey, it’s a free country and you have freedom of thought & opinion. It’s old rich people fighting to force you to give up more of your money so they can spend it as they please, tell you what to say and think, and take away the freedoms old white guys gave you in the past. 
Which group of old rich people does right? That’s subjective. 
What is not subjective is that rich people put their money where they believe they can get the best deal and make more money. If the wind blows this way, they invest there. If it blows that way, they invest there. Heck, some invest in both regardless of which way the wind blows because they know eventually the wind will change either way. 
I imagine you are not really all that different from the rest of us, you put your money where you can get the best deal and can get the most out of it. Saying you’ll stop shopping at one place or another isn’t really the truth because you’re really just like those old rich people, and so am I.
This well reasoned response was met with a “I disagree with everything you just said.”
REALLY? Everything? Sorry, are you not an American? Do you have no knowledge and understanding of history at all? Do you not know how the economy and politics of our nation work, whether we like it or not?
Thus, the conversation ended because there is no reasoning with someone who doesn’t have a grasp of basic facts. The problem is, more and more conversations end this way. Reason is getting harder and harder to use, let alone find.
Let’s be honest here, it isn’t old rich people that are ruining the country. They have just done what they have always done, found a way to exploit those who don’t think for themselves and manipulate those people to do the work for them. The problem is that the people who are easily manipulated are multiplying faster than those who have a grasp on Reason.
Therein lies the true danger to the country.

Have you encountered the same sort of difficulty? Do facts and Reason have no place in society any longer?

Something you ate?

Posted on by backuphill

white toilet paper

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Ever have that queasy feeling that you just can’t shake?

Like, it just hangs on but doesn’t really have an effect until later? Yeah, that is me today.

I started feeling it last night before bed. I was hoping maybe sleep would help so I just skipped most of the evening and headed for the pillow. Unfortunately, that just turned into a night of tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. There is something going on in there and it doesn’t feel right. But, I wasn’t so uncomfortable that it caused me to get out of bed.

Well, this morning it came. Maybe it was something I ate yesterday or last night. I normally have a pretty iron clad stomach, but his morning…well, let’s just say everyone wanted out of the pool.

Multiple visits to the throne room already. It’s gonna be a long day at work. Luckily (if, in this situation, that’s possible), it happens to be just one end – the bottom end – and not both.

There. I said it without saying it. Enough to get the picture but not too much.

Have an uncomfortable Wednesday, people.

Where ya’ll going?

Posted on by backuphill

people crossing in pedestrian lane in city during daytime

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It seems more of you, many more than usual, are going somewhere today.

It’s a Tuesday. Where could you possibly be going? I mean, yes, I have gotten to know those of you who take the route daily…I mean, I see you every day but I don’t really know you.

However, today, there were a bunch of people I didn’t know and you were all in the way. Traffic kept moving, which is good, but it was way slower than usual because there were so many of you.

If ya’ll could stay off my roads, especially my commute route, that would be great…

Not sleeping well

Posted on by backuphill

closeup photography of adult short coated tan and white dog sleeping on gray textile at daytime

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Anyone else tired after the “extended” July 4th weekend?

I am keenly aware, now, that the quality of my sleep is determined by how well the dog sleeps. Since it sleeps on the bed, it has a lot of influence.

July 3: Fireworks. Lots of them. Dog cowers all night in shock, the fan is on high, and the music is blaring. Thus, sleep quality is low.

July 4: MORE fireworks, for longer. They’re now closer, as in the neighborhood. Dog cowers all night in shock, the fan is on high, and the music is blaring. Thus, sleep quality is, again, low.

July 5: Up early for work. Dead tired all day. Pot of coffee consumed.

July 6: Quality of sleep is better BUT body clock won’t let me sleep in. 4:45 am on a Saturday morning just isn’t right. Dog sleeps better as well since the stress level has gone back down.

July 7: Dog went to bed early. I went to bed late after watching a movie. Sleep is good, but body clock still says 5:15 am is a good time to get up. Seriously? Doesn’t my body know I am not going to work?

July 8: Today…3:30 am…dog is itchy, licky, whiny, and not sleeping well. Thus, I am in and out of sleep and the body clock says 5:22 is a good time to be awake.

At least I am not late for work…ever. Do I really need an alarm clock?

Anyone else have a hard time sleeping over the long weekend? Anyone else have a hard time sleeping with a pet(s) on the bed?

closeup photography of adult short coated tan and white dog sleeping on gray textile at daytime

About last night

Posted on by backuphill

vintage moka espresso coffee pot maker

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It’s a full pot of coffee kinda drinking day.

I am going to venture a guess that not all who needed yesterday’s PSA, actually read it. I say as much since it was well after midnight when the explosions stopped and the dog stopped cowering.

Sleep. It was hard to come by and this poor guy had to get up early, like usual, for work. I am now sitting at my desk and wishing I could just have an IV of coffee. Last night is going to make for a long day at work…

Have a coffee. Have another. And another. Oh, the next one’s on me (if you find me and use the code, “I’ll have a 4th”). I am fixing to have another…and another…and another…

Perk up! It’s another day.

Holiday PSA

Posted on by backuphill

Happy July 4th everyone! Or, Happy Independence Day! Or, Happy Birthday, America!

Or whatever.

I doubt many of you will read this today since you’ll all likely be partying hard and enjoying bbq’d food, liquid hops, and exploding stuff. But just in case you happen to stop by and take a look today, I have one request.

Can you turn off your fireworks promptly at midnight?

Fireworks and Independence Day are technically reserved for July 4 and at midnight (12am) it is no longer the 4th, so you need to stop celebrating then. OK?

Thanks,

This Old Guy