La Mano Nera

It was a morning like all mornings. At least I thought so until I started opening blinds hoping that the sun would see fit to make its presence known. I dutifully opened the back patio sliding door blinds and there it was - a black hand! No doubt about it. A black hand was ominously lying on my patio. I had heard of the The Black Hand during my childhood days. I can remember the adults mentioning La Mano Nera in hushed tones as they discussed the news about the latest violence in the neighborhood. The Black Hand symbol was an ominous message of physical harm to come if an extortion demand was not met.

Whoa! I never received any extortion demand so what the hell was a black hand doing on my patio. Was it merely a warning? A warning about what? I lead a relatively quiet life. Who could I have possibly offended? My God, I forgot about my blog! It’s full of rants and pointed comments on individuals and organizations.

 I’ve bad mouthed the Home Owners Association or more accurately certain individuals representing the Association. Would they have the balls to threaten me? Not really, I’m sure they have no balls or they would have had the courtesy of discussing the placement of my bird feeder  with me before forcing me to take it down (Tony's Finch Diner Ordered Shutdown by Homeowners Association). Just for the record I‘m back in business with a Finch Diner - all legal.

 More recently I’ve not been very kind about Obamacare. Scratch Obamacare from the list of persons of interest. They have enough to occupy themselves with, besides threatening an unknown blogger. I’m at my wit's end ( now there’s a cliché I ought to write about someday).

( brief pause while I see who is at the front door)

Mystery solved. That was the landscaper asking permission to retrieve his lost glove. He was sure he dropped it on my back patio.

As I watched him retrieve the black glove, I noticed a bulge under his sweatshirt. Gun? A change of mind? Lesson learned - blogging can be dangerous for your health.

Et tu Bill!

There is much I do not like about the Obamacare Rollout. Of course there is the botched website healthcare.com. That should be fixable. If it isn't, kiss Obamacare goodbye.

 What I really don't like is the intrusion of Bill Clinton into the fray. He effortlessly is sticking it to Obama. This so called elder statesman can't resist making Obama look like an amateur. I suppose he's looking to 2016 and his ticket back to the White House courtesy of Hillary. Bill and Barack sure make an odd couple. Before Obama wraps the Medal of Freedom around Clinton's neck later this week he should brush up on Julius Caesar 's last days. Et tu Bill!

Birth of a Camel Revisited

A question I raised back on 10/13/09 (Birth of a Camel) concerning health care reform has been answered. At the time I mused:

"Crunch time for health reform legislation! Today , yet another Congressional committee will vote on much needed health care reform legislation. I believe that this is the fifth committee, three in the Senate and two in the house which has tried its hand on this issue. If a camel is a horse designed by a committee, what variation of a camel can we expect after the work of five committees is merged into one bill?" 

The roll out of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) has put the final touches on that creature. Its a Jackass! Unfortunately it is also making an ass out of our President. Watching Obama once again apologize for the botched job of launching the Affordable Care Act was heart wrenching. 

When the Affordable Care Act was signed by Obama, Joe Biden referred to it as " a fucking big deal". If the current problems with the Obamacare roll out are not fixed in a timely manner, it sure will be a fucked up deal at the polls in 2014 for Democrats.

At the break up of nuclear negotiations with Iran, Secretary of State, John Kerry stated that no deal is better than a bad deal. As deals go, I wonder if Obama settled for a bad health care deal just to have a deal? In  case of Obamacare, I feel that even a flawed deal was better than none ( such would have also been true with the Iran nuclear negotiations, Mr. Kerry). At least it has put health care on the front burner. Hope Obama salvages his landmark legislation before the pot boils over.

Whatever happened to Armistice Day?

You know you are old when you think of November 11th as Armistice Day, the commemoration of the end of World War I, the war to end all wars. Perhaps it is fitting that the fairy tale of a war to end all wars has been tossed aside. The reality is that the armistice which signaled the end of World War I merely spawned an intermission for the interminable wars which were to follow. To commemorate all these adventures would occupy too much of the calendar, so why not celebrate a Veterans Day to honor those who dutifully did their county's bidding. There has been progress. We no longer fight wars to end all wars.

Have a good one

Sometimes I’m perplexed when after thanking someone for helping me, instead of “You're welcome”, out comes “Have a good one”. Does “one” equal “nice day” ? If so , maybe his view of a nice day is not the same as mine, in which case the probability exists that he is wishing me a lousy day. I doubt that, but there is a high probability that he really doesn't give a damn about my prospects for a nice day and merely would like to see me go on way. It goes without saying (but I‘m going to say it anyway), that at best “Have a good one” is nebulous and presumptive. I submit that “You're welcome”, is brief, to the point and leaves no doubt about the intent. Having said that, have a good one!

You can't fool Mother Nature

Its payback time once again. At 2 AM, November 3, 2013, I must give back that extra hour of daylight that the government said it gave me at 2 AM, Sunday, March 10, 2013. The problem is, I could never find that extra hour of daylight. I looked diligently day after day but my search found that Mother Nature had paid no attention to our government. Could it be that the government is engaged in some kind of a scam? If that Cruz guy in the Senate finds out. I'm sure he will chalk it up to Obamacare.

 No matter, as a good citizen I’ll try to keep awake until 2 AM, Sunday, November 3, 2013 and give back that hour of daylight I never received. I don’t understand why I have to do it in the dark. Just thinking about keeping awake that long leaves me exhausted. Wish I could change my batteries like the local Fire Department recommends at this time of year.

 I may write my Congressman asking him to stop trying to fool Mother Nature by playing around with the clock?  Better yet, I may go right ( or left perhaps) to the top and suggest to President Obama that an executive order making "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise" the nation's motto will do wonders. I'm sure it will negate the need for Daylight Savings Time. It may even make Obamacare unnecessary as well as food stamps.

Nice guys always finish last

The High Primal and I are often greeted at a  check out counter with " how are you guys". You guys? The last time I looked, the High Primal was a gal -a doll in fact. What's with the "you guys" bit? Perhaps the younger generation knows something I don't ( a survey, I'm sure, would result in an overwhelming "Yes"). In the hopes that indeed my disdain for this salutation is not misplaced, I consulted that wizard for all ages, Google. The oracle confirmed that guy is a noun, the plural of which is "guys'. So far so good. A guy is a man. Bingo- the High Primal is not a guy. Synonyms of guy - man, fellow, gentleman. Two out of three in my case is not bad as far as I'm concerned. Guess which one does not apply? So what should the response be to the hip cashier? Any gentlemen would respond with "Fine, thank you". I'll try that next time. Then I'll be a guy on all counts.

I realize that this post comes under the category of  "much ado about nothing" and I could well be accused of being a wise guy. Be that as it may, I would rather be a wise guy than a nice guy. Nice guys always finish last.