I started this once and scrapped it. But there is some fundamental concept here I would like to point out, so I am going to try again...
I met someone who by all measure of the word would be considered "rich" -- lots of high dollar property, lots of collectible cars, owns his own successful business, etc. And he was shocked -- SHOCKED -- that I was living relatively comfortably without having a job for the past 2 years. I get this reaction a whole lot.
And what this implies to me is that, by my definition, this guy isn't rich. Yes, he pays more in property taxes than my investments earn. (Okay maybe I exaggerate, but not by much.) But I would guess he is mostly at a break even. I would bet by his reaction that he spends just about as much as he earns. And if he were to lose his income, his entire life would fall apart in a matter of months.
Mind you, this is all pure conjecture on my part. But my point here is that we tend to have ideas of what is rich and poor based on a person's lifestyle. And while there are super rich that could maintain a Robin Leach lifestyle forever, they are few and far between. Many (if not most) of those you see living that lifestyle are net-zero. Move down a step to upper middle class and you have the same syndrome: living above or just at one's means.
And any of these people could be rich (by my definition). They could live comfortably for a long long time with little or no earned income if they made just a little effort -- or be seriously wealthy with their existing earned income.
And it will be these same people that clamor for government to save us from the housing crisis (seriously poor people are most likely renting or are already living in government housing). Or provide them with universal health care (seriously poor people already have free health care.) The Really Bad Thing™ thing here is that, while morally reprehensible, you can use the middle and upper class as a tax base to force them to provide safety net services for the low end. But you cannot do that to provide safety net services for the middle and upper class if they are already at break even. (They wouldn't need the services if they weren't). Adding these services means adding taxes. Which means they will need more services.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
being obsessive
Okay, I am a little worried.
A little back story here... So these 2 bastard stray dogs show up a week ago. And I, being stupid, have really fallen for them.
And just a little after falling for them, Ellie and I both realize: we really cannot keep them. While we have plenty of room for them outside, we have no fence beyond a 30x40 pen. And inside, well we are 2 humans, 3 cats and 2 small dogs living in 600 square feet. Its cozy. And while they spent the greater part of the first 4 days hanging very close to us, they have now started exploring the rural neighborhood. And pissing off the neighbors. Oh, and did I mention they are heart worm positive? Freaking great. So they have either been "on the lam" for months (according to the vet) or they have been living with someone that has not bothered to give them basic minimal care.
And tonight, for the first time in a week, they missed a meal. So now I sit and worry about dogs that aren't even mine and I cannot even keep.
If they miss our morning walk (and breakfast) tomorrow, I am going to be seriously worried.
[EDIT 9:30am 9/8] ...and this makes me officially worried. Having never missed a meal in a week, they now have missed 2. Harold would forgo a meal anytime -- especially if he could get affection instead of food. Maude on the other hand does not appear to be a girl that misses meals -- both in her stature and her actions.
And they missed the walk this morning. This was a concept that appeared so new and cool to them that I cannot imagine they would miss it. It was clearly the most fun they had all day.
[EDIT 5:00pm 9/8] An odd ending to the story. So when the dogs left here Sunday, they went home. They live about a mile from here. Probably less as the crow flies (or the dog roams). The dogs real owner called our vet (seeing as the dogs now had tags) and through the vet got in touch with us. He reimbursed us for the veterinary bills and was quite shocked to learn that his dogs had heart worms.
If you've tuned out, this is where you should start listening. These dogs were treated monthly with Revolution (which we also use). The real owner was told (after the fact) that the dogs must stay dry for 24 hours after application. Well, the dogs live near a 10 acre lake and swim every day rain or shine. Be warned: revolution washes off.
So Harold (Sam) and Maude (Daisy) are home.
A little back story here... So these 2 bastard stray dogs show up a week ago. And I, being stupid, have really fallen for them.
And just a little after falling for them, Ellie and I both realize: we really cannot keep them. While we have plenty of room for them outside, we have no fence beyond a 30x40 pen. And inside, well we are 2 humans, 3 cats and 2 small dogs living in 600 square feet. Its cozy. And while they spent the greater part of the first 4 days hanging very close to us, they have now started exploring the rural neighborhood. And pissing off the neighbors. Oh, and did I mention they are heart worm positive? Freaking great. So they have either been "on the lam" for months (according to the vet) or they have been living with someone that has not bothered to give them basic minimal care.
And tonight, for the first time in a week, they missed a meal. So now I sit and worry about dogs that aren't even mine and I cannot even keep.
If they miss our morning walk (and breakfast) tomorrow, I am going to be seriously worried.
[EDIT 9:30am 9/8] ...and this makes me officially worried. Having never missed a meal in a week, they now have missed 2. Harold would forgo a meal anytime -- especially if he could get affection instead of food. Maude on the other hand does not appear to be a girl that misses meals -- both in her stature and her actions.
And they missed the walk this morning. This was a concept that appeared so new and cool to them that I cannot imagine they would miss it. It was clearly the most fun they had all day.
[EDIT 5:00pm 9/8] An odd ending to the story. So when the dogs left here Sunday, they went home. They live about a mile from here. Probably less as the crow flies (or the dog roams). The dogs real owner called our vet (seeing as the dogs now had tags) and through the vet got in touch with us. He reimbursed us for the veterinary bills and was quite shocked to learn that his dogs had heart worms.
If you've tuned out, this is where you should start listening. These dogs were treated monthly with Revolution (which we also use). The real owner was told (after the fact) that the dogs must stay dry for 24 hours after application. Well, the dogs live near a 10 acre lake and swim every day rain or shine. Be warned: revolution washes off.
So Harold (Sam) and Maude (Daisy) are home.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Oh bother
Can anyone recommend a good (preferably inexpensive) Ford OBD2 code reader? It's probably an O2 sensor since I have never ever replaced one. But its probably best to actually look and see.On the plus side, note that my odometer is still working just fine after my fix I talked about over six months ago.
...and yes, before you tell me to reset it via battery disconnect -- that's already been done. The light is off, but from the rough idle, I can guarantee it will be back on soon.
[Later edit]: Exploring the various forums shows that an extremely common problem is a vacuum leak in the PCV hose routing. On examining this, it appears one of the multitude of little rubber elbows is snotty and collapsed, while the others are old and cracked. Forum complaints are that this type of vacuum leak throws all sorts of conflicting, confusing error codes. So even if this is an O2 sensor, I'm going to replace the snotty bits before I even begin.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
named... not just for DNS
[Edit: most recent followup]
No, Named is also for Name Dog. Yes, fans, that's right. Our first (and hopefully only) dog naming contest is now in session.
As you may have found out from Ellie Mae, we have been blessed by the gods of the unwanted. Living in the country makes you a target for doggie dumpers. And having a soft spot for dogs doesn't help. We had 2 wander up over the weekend... and they are still here. Guess what? I think we are theirs.
We are trying to think of names.... One is a female golden retriever. Not ancient, but no spring chicken either.
The other looks either like a dog instance of a clown... or maybe a doggie instance of Tommy Chong. We even considered calling him Steve (from Steve Buscemi's character in Fargo, who was described as "Funny looking. You know, in a general sort of way.") He might be a sheared old English sheepdog. Or just a funny looking stoner dog.
So, we need names. 2 of them. Gotta match these faces. Ready, set, go.
So far we have:
No, Named is also for Name Dog. Yes, fans, that's right. Our first (and hopefully only) dog naming contest is now in session.
As you may have found out from Ellie Mae, we have been blessed by the gods of the unwanted. Living in the country makes you a target for doggie dumpers. And having a soft spot for dogs doesn't help. We had 2 wander up over the weekend... and they are still here. Guess what? I think we are theirs.
We are trying to think of names.... One is a female golden retriever. Not ancient, but no spring chicken either.
The other looks either like a dog instance of a clown... or maybe a doggie instance of Tommy Chong. We even considered calling him Steve (from Steve Buscemi's character in Fargo, who was described as "Funny looking. You know, in a general sort of way.") He might be a sheared old English sheepdog. Or just a funny looking stoner dog.
So, we need names. 2 of them. Gotta match these faces. Ready, set, go.So far we have:
| explanation | boy | girl |
|---|---|---|
Current Frontrunner | Harold | Maude |
unix theme | ellis (ls) | perl |
Andy Griffith | Goober or Barney | Bea |
Simpsons | Bart | Lisa |
Seinfeld | Kramer | Elaine |
Fawlty Towers | Basil | Sybil |
Liquor | Bailey/Jack/Glen (Morangie) | Brandy |
Tractor | John (Deere) | Allis (Chalmers) |
Zappa | Dweezil | Moon |
Linux | Debian/Slax | Suse |
Gilligans Island | Gilligan | Maryanne |
Batman | Joker | (Poison) Ivy |
Peanuts | Linus | Patty |
Ozzie | Ozzie | Sharon |
Authors | Seuss | ?? |
Lucy Show | Ricky/Fred | Lucy/Ethel |
Russel | Goldie | |
George | Gracie | |
Chuck (UP! Chuck) | Syndrome (Down, Syndrome) | |
Pickles | Earl | Opal |
Storms | Gustav | Hannah |
| Political | Bill/John | Sarah/Hillary (I can hear the jokes now) |
tip of the fedora
Well, as much as I have loved Fedora/Redhat linux I have finally moved on. I have used it since about Redhat 5... and Fedora 9 is approximately equal to Redhat 18 if you consider the name change at RH9->FC1. I still have a Fedora desktop, but the server has finally moved to Ubuntu. The sole reason here (other than Ubuntu is pretty slickly packaged) is the maintenance schedules. Fedora gives you 6 months... and my "shove every conceivable app on one server" is a royal pain to keep up to date if you have to re-roll it every 6 months. It generally takes 2-3 days to even get the thing sort of right.
Ubuntu server promises a 5 year maintenance... which really makes it a good candidate for commercial use. Are you listening Fedora? I was on board when fedora legacy continued maintenance. But the sirens are calling me.
I am also amazed at just how different the 2 flavors are. Everything is chopped up differently and packaged just a little bit differently.
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