September | 2020 | Piss and Moan

Very little

Posted on September 30, 2020 by backuphill

I’ve been sentenced to death and I have to choose the manner of death via capital punishment. Do I choose the noose, the chair, an injection, the chamber, or the wall (yes, firing squad is still legal in the US)? It’s a tough choice because ultimately the result is death, but which one will hurt me least?

Choosing a political candidate in the US is kind of a similar choice these days. Did you watch the debate last night? My point exactly.

There has been lots of talk about the presidential debate last night. What a disaster that was! I have heard it called lots of things today: dumpster fire, hot mess, train wreck, kindergarten playground, sh*t show, etc. Honestly, it was all of that!

We learned very little last night. The only thing we learned last night is exactly what we all fear will happen every election.

Choose between the lesser of two evils.

If both are evil, then our choice is screwed either way. Which future do I fear worse? Which one will hurt me least?

For a nation that values choice, we don’t have any. We don’t even have the freedom to not choose. So, that leaves us with no good choice, except to choose a choice we don’t like.

I am tired of this.

Is there any place on earth I to go to be away from people, have freedom to live free, and have access to technology when needed?

Asking for a friend.

Drop-in

Posted on September 29, 2020 by backuphill

I highly dislike people showing up at the front door to visit. HIGHLY.

Call me anti-social. Call me a grump. Call me whatever.

I think it is rude to show up at someone’s front door unannounced. I don’t care if you are friend, family, or other. The least you can do is text or call and let someone know you are gonna stop by. It isn’t a tough thing to do.

I mean, how do they know if it’s a good time or not? For someone working from home right now – NEVER is a good time. But really, that applies to all the time for me. I just don’t want you to come visit unless I have invited you.

What do you think? Do you like surprise or unannounced visitors?

Do you show up randomly at other people’s doors? Are you one of “those people”?

Double

Posted on September 28, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Rathaphon Nanthapreecha on Pexels.com

Double. More than double. But not for your pleasure.

A new licensing fee appeared on the renewal form for the car I drive most, a hybrid. It wasn’t there last year, but appeared this year and it more than doubled the cost of registering my vehicle. There was no mention of this fee anywhere in the media, that I can find, until after the fact that it was applied to people’s licensing fees. Surprise! The cost of registering your vehicle more than doubled!

The biggest kicker, I am paying a fee for something I don’t use, an electric vehicle charging station (and those this fee is supposedly going to build). Thus the word HYBRID, meaning it powers itself by using two different types of fuel.

License fees rise for hybrid and electric cars in Washington

I tell you, bigger government means bigger fees. Always. There is never an exception to this. Ever. The problem is that many times the fees aren’t actually used for the stated purpose, nor do they totally justify the collection of the fee in the first place.

Why is the government in charge of building charging stations for electric vehicles? Why is it that those not driving plug-in cars are paying a fee to plug in a car that won’t plug in?

The epitome of what is wrong with government. I mean there is a LOT wrong with our government, at many different levels, but this is just another fine example of why so many people dislike and don’t trust the government.

Fall quarantine

Posted on September 25, 2020 by backuphill

I’m not ready for summer to be over. I’ll admit, I like the sun and warm days (but not hot days…72 is the perfect temp). But, clearly in the Northwest, that doesn’t happen for long up here.

Being from the Northwest, I have grown up with rain. I don’t like it much. Yes, there is a need for it and it does keep things green here, but I don’t like going out in the rain and spending time in it. Yes, I am going to let that stop me from having fun out of doors, because, well, being in the rain for long period of time just isn’t that fun.

Anyway, we just went through six months of lockdown (literally and figuratively). To say that the summer wasn’t a bit of a let down, even with half way decent weather for some of it, would be kind of an understatement. It was a big let down. Trips cancelled. Outdoor activities cancelled or severely hampered/limited. Not much hanging out with friends or family (but we did some). Always the specter of “what if” when we decided to go for a drive to who knows where…what if they aren’t open, what if they don’t have anything to see, what if we can’t find a place to go to the bathroom, what if there is no place to stay? Irritating when you look back on all this stupidity.

So, now there is a new prospect of a “lockdown” in the Northwest, not from dreaded Covid *eyeroll*, but from the weather. It will be more windy, more rainy, and darker sooner and longer. To say that that will kill the spirit of anyone who has to stay inside for the next six months because of the weather is discouraging. Really discouraging.

I am not sure I can handle this next lockdown. I don’t think I have Seasonal Affective Disorder but I can certainly say that I am feeling like I missed out on the best part of the year. I kinda feel like I have treaded water all summer only to have no payoff of fun and relaxation. Know what I mean?

How do you deal with the change in seasons, especially the summer to fall transistion?

Pimpin’ Street Czar

Posted on September 24, 2020 by backuphill

If all the stuff over the summer wasn’t enough to convince you that the city of Seattle was a place run by idiots and Communists, you have to take a look at this. This should be enough to convince you that spending money that this city, as a tourist or resident, is literally a waste of your resources.

This should be the last straw for anyone living in Seattle. But, it won’t be. Somehow they will still justify it. The city tries so hard to be “progressive” it is actually regressing. This only offers further proof. The city and the counsel and the mayor or anything but “woke.”

The city hired a “former” pimp to be a “street czar” so it could have street cred and to be a liaison between the people and the police.

I’m not kidding. I wish I was, but it’s true.

Who comes up with these ideas? The city counsel overrode the mayor’s veto of the proposed budget (the counsel wrote and approved) that literally defunds the police department – the the tune of actually losing policing ability. 100 officers positions will be eliminated.

Wanna feel unsafe in Seattle? Now you know what it will feel like. Doesn’t matter what color, sex, religion you are. The loss will be felt by all.

Oh, but we better make sure some lowlife, exploiter of women and criminal history with no experience or training get paid large amounts of money to do a job with no job description, defined desired performance goals, or oversight. That’s an effective way to solve problem.

I am starting to wonder if some cities in the US are actually competing to run themselves into the ground fastest. People must be waking up each morning and thinking, “What can I do today to make things worse around here?” That can be the only explanation. Really.

I am avoiding Seattle. I hope you will too.

I tried

Posted on September 23, 2020 by backuphill

I tried. Yesterday. To write a blog post. It never happened. Didn’t get done.

Every time I started, I deleted what I had written.

Nope, can’t write that. Too mean.

Nope, can’t write that either. It will be misconstrued.

LOL. Seriously can’t write about that. People might take it seriously.

Then the day kind of got away as work was VERY busy. Well, is always busy, but more so than normal. A few times I got something started yesterday and then got buried and never got back to it. When I did I changed my mind about it.

That’s dumb. No one will read that.

Is that really the way I wanna address this topic?

Gosh, that’s a lame topic. A chimp could have tapped out this mess.

So, I bagged it. Ever have days like that? Got lots to say, but don’t know how to say it? Me too. Sometimes the ideas are plentiful and sometimes that leads to “writer’s block.” Other times, the ideas just don’t come together.

Got a topic you wanna know my thoughts on? I’ll open the floor up and take suggestions. Pop the ideas into the comment! Thanks!

Shop

Posted on September 21, 2020 by backuphill

Is this normal? Asking for a friend…

No, not to shop. Everyone shops. It’s something that is probably done at least once per week, if not more. I get that.

But, what I am wondering is if it is normal for someone to go shopping and then ask if anyone in their family (not immediate, but extended) needs anything? Not just once, but every store you are running to for errands that day?

Three stops. Each one had the question posed to family. Different family members want us to pick up stuff for them at these three different locations?

Would this irritate you? It does me, obviously.

I am not out to shop for other people. I am not a service. I am not running it around to you and I am not going to store it for you until you have time to pick it up. I don’t care if you are family or not, I don’t wanna do it, especially if you are physically capable of doing it!

Small exception: While we were in lockdown and the older parents were afraid to go out in public, I made an exception here. I fully understood and supported this.

Not the case now.

Irritating AF. I guess that is my lot in life. First world problem, I know. But still. I’ll take care of my own crap and they can take care of their own…now if someone else in the house, er, I mean, that friend I was asking for could catch the drift…

Road fees

Posted on September 18, 2020 by backuphill

Governments and their fees.

I realize that being part of a society requires some assent to a certain level of fees for the common good. That’s part of the social contract we make for living in a society.

I don’t mind paying some taxes and fees because I know that it provides for the common good. It makes life better for more people than just me. I’m someone what reasonable.

However, there comes a time when those fees become unnecessary and overbearing. Sound familiar? You might look back to one such fee that helped lead up the the American Revolution. What really gets me is that fees are being charged and collected and the government is rarely held accountable for the way the money is spent or mismanaged. That part irritates me to no end and isn’t part of the social contract. I don’t like waste. Big government wastes money. Big government isn’t accountable. Big government perpetuates bad government and bad spending.

So, to say I was shocked when I got my vehicle registration renewal yesterday might be an understatement. I have had the car for almost 2 years now and suddenly there was a new fee that wasn’t there before – a “hybrid vehicle transportation fee”. That one fee was $75! That one fee doubled the cost of the vehicle registration all by itself!

Ridiculous.

How about we stop using state funds to pay for heroin injections sites? How about we stop using state funds to pay for an idiot governor? How about we stop using state funds for things that don’t benefit the greater good? How about we stop using state funds to pay for unnecessary art in public spaces? Get the idea? There are lots of places where money is spent that it shouldn’t be.

I pay the gas tax every time I fill up. They already collect the “Vehicle Weight” fee to fund the highway on top of all the other fees.

I’ve had it.

I am going to drive on both sides of the road whenever I feel like it. I paid for it, therefore I am going to use as much of it as possible!

Host

Posted on September 17, 2020 by backuphill

What do you do? How do you handle the situation?

So, one of the adult children wants to have their children’s (our grandchildren) birthday party at our house. They asked if that could happen at the end of the month.

Sounds simple, right? Sure, go ahead! We love you. We love them. No problem!

But there is history. There is always history.

They have done this once before. Asked if they could use the house and yard for a birthday party and we said that was fine. Very little communication with them between the ask and the event.

Day of the event comes and we find out it is a four hour “open house” where people can just drop in and hang out. 40 people show up (not including family and many of whom we don’t know) at various times during this open house. The kids, on a very limited budget, didn’t plan or budget for said party. They didn’t have enough supplies for said party. They didn’t have enough food for said party. They had no alternative plans for said party if the weather was crappy that day. They didn’t stick around long after the open house was over to clean up.

Guess who picked up all the slack, both in time and expense? I guess you don’t need to guess since you know it was us.

So, what do you do this time when they ask? Just let them do it, no questions asked? Or, do you put limitations on it? Do you set expectations, or do you just go with the flow?

Loaded questions, because you know how I would handle it (at least you should by now). But, the other person in the house doesn’t think it should be handled that way.

What is reasonable, logical, and practical?

Mass-debate

Posted on September 16, 2020 by backuphill

It seems the governor of my state hasn’t a clue and he takes every chance he can to prove it. He likes to think he is a climate change expert, but it’s just a poorly veiled attempt to tow the party line of climate alarmists.

Governor Doofus (Jay Inslee) said the other day that the fires in Washington weren’t wildfires but “climate fires.” He blamed them solely on climate change.

Here’s the thing, there are still scientists that are debating the true impact of climate change or whether it even exists. “Proven” science isn’t really, since information can be manipulated to show what you want it to show.

Cliff Mass, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Washington, says the governor needs to put on the brakes and drive in the other direction. He says the governor’s claims about the fires are flat out wrong. While Mass broadly supports climate change as a whole, he disputes how the information is used and seems to believe that it isn’t always used in a matter that informs the public accurately.

Anyway, I’m sure we’ll hear more about the Mass-debate when the jerk off governor has more to say about climate change and fires.

Piss and Moan

Because there ain't no making me happy

Month: September 2020