Charley Reese on Global Warming

Once again Charley Reese puts into words my exact sentiments. I love the way he uses money to explain parts per million. So simple yet I had never thought of it in that way.

Festivus

Did you know that Festivus was invented in 1966 by a Reader's Digest Editor? All this time I thought it was invented by Frank Costanza. Next they will be telling me there ain't no Santa Claus.

Third Package was a charm

Are you familiar with the old expression, third time is a charm? Well I guess for UPS the third package was a charm. I went out shopping this afternoon and when I got back, both of the packages from last week and a third package (the charm) were sitting on my front porch. I for one am glad that everything arrived in time for Christmas. Which reminds me, if I don't see you in person before Christmas, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Why I am a Libertarian

A lot of people question me being a libertarian. After all, they say, the libertarian candidate never wins except in an occasional constable, school board member or city council race. I've tried to explain it to them, often with mixed results. This morning, I read this article by Harry Browne. He does a better job of explaining why I am a libertarian than I could ever do.

The USPS

While I am on the subject of shippers, I need to say a few words about the US Postal Service. I know that in the past, they have been suspect and I have been one of their critics. As a quasi governmental agency, many times they have lived down to my expectations. But something has happened. It was not overnight, but somehow over the past few years, they have made some great strides in becoming a service oriented organization. They have turned their website into one of the best that I deal with. They have made shipping about as easy and convenient as it can be for a non-business and their rates for the most part are quite competitive. All and all, I have to give them a thumbs up. They are definitely my shipper of choice for outgoing packages.

FedEx Ground is winning my business

This past week I have had multiple headaches with UPS. Suddenly after delivering a package to my house on Tuesday, on Wednesday they decided that my address did not exist. I have called them three times and am scheduled to get a call from them by 10:00 AM Monday to try to get it straightened out. In the mean time, FedEx Ground was scheduled to deliver a package to my house yesterday (Saturday). They could not make it and indicated on their website that the package would be rescheduled. I assumed they meant for Monday but I was wrong. The FedEx truck just left my house. They delivered the package this morning (Sunday). Now that is what I call service. Some of the companies I order from don't give me a choice on shipping, but on the ones that do, you can be assured that in the future I will be selecting FedEx Ground ahead of UPS.

Danger Will Robinson, Danger, Danger

Ever since the days of Lost In Space, I have been fascinated with Robots. When Heathkit came out with the Hero, I was highly tempted, but really could not justify purchasing one. Of course there have been kits and parts available, but I lacked the time or motivation to assemble one from scratch. Enter the Roomba . Finally a economical robot that can perform a much needed task in my home. Unless my plans change, after my budget recovers from Christmas, I am gonna buy one. I wonder if I can figure out how to program it to say "Danger Will Robinson."

The Second Vermont Republic

Now here are some folks that have come up with a peaceful way to get out from under the massaive, invasive federal bureaucracy. I may not agree with every detail of what they propose but I certainly applaud their efforts toward greater freedom.

Holly, Mistletoe and getting jerked around by UPS

I order a lot of stuff off the internet. Car parts, electronic parts, tools, etc. I have found in the last year or two that it is easier and sometimes cheaper to locate what I want, order it and have it delivered than to run all over Birmingham and find that everyone is out of what I need, doesn't stock what I need, or in some cases wants to argue with me and tell me that what I am asking for does not exist.

The bulk of the things I buy are shipped USPS, UPS Ground or Fedex Ground. They all seem to do a good job most of the time. I used to have a problem with UPS periodically loosing their way to my house. I live about 385 feet off the road down what my ladyfriend Linda refers to as a 'lane'. Its more of a bumpy, rutted dirt drive, but that is a story for another time. Back to UPS. They would deliver package after package with no problem and then I would get a post card in the mail saying they could not deliver a certain package because the address, which was the same as they had been delivering to, did not exist. I would call them, tell them that they had just delivered to that address a few days before. They would take down directions and next day the package would be delivered. That all stopped a couple of years ago. They assigned a driver to this route and he was the only one working it. Sometimes he would deliver 3 times in one week. He did get stuck a couple of times, my yard and drive are problematic when wet, but I managed to pull him out with my van and all was well with the world. A month or so ago, I started having a new driver, but still only the one. Apparently he had talked to the previous driver and knew where I was, although it should not be that much trouble to find as there is a big mailbox on the road with 640 in block letters on the side. All continued to be fine. That brings us up to this week. Tuesday a UPS truck pulls up with two people. I think they use a driver and a helper this time of year to expedite the increase in delivers. They delivered my package. I knew from an email notice that I had received that I had another package scheduled for Wednesday. It did not arrive. Yesterday afternoon (Thursday), I checked the UPS website and learned that my package "was undeliverable as addressed." I called their 1-800 number and was told that it was addressed to "640 Hwy 35" which was a non-existent address. I assured the guy I was talking to that it did exist and that UPS delivered here regularly. I gave him explicit directions as to where my house was located. He said the package would be rescheduled for delivery tomorrow (Friday). This morning I checked the UPS website and now my package has a note saying that "a delivery change has been requested" and that the "package will be delivered as requested." Of course the only change that I have requested is that they deliver the package as addressed. I suspect that this is the result of new drivers and the Christmas crush of packages, or at least I hope so. I really don't want things to go back to being like they were in the past.

As for the other two carriers, USPS is doing a good job. Occasionally they leave some thing in my mail box addressed to someone else, but not often. Fedex Ground? They have been good, but I have two packages coming in next week from CompGeeks in California and both were sent Fedex Ground, so we will see.

No Fly Zone

Let me first say that I have never been a real big fan of flying. I have done it several times, mostly commercial, once or twice in a private plane. Since I really don't care for it that much, giving it up was really not a big sacrifice for me, kind of like giving up brussel sprouts. Since 9-11, the world has been a no fly zone for me. I don't fly. It's not so much that I am scared of being hijacked and killed. I really doubt that is very likely. The whole nature of terrorism is to stike where you are least expected. That makes most any other target more at risk than airplanes. No, It is that I don't want to suffer at the hands of the government thugs. Originally this entry linked to an online story. That link is now dead but you can do a search and find all the articles that you would care to read about abuse of air passengers since the war on terra began.

The Internet

You know, when to stop to think about it, the Internet really is amazing. So much of what I take for granted today, didn't exsit 15 year ago. I just read this article from CNN. It really helps to put it all into perspective.

To many WWII movies

I guess I watched too many World War II movies when I was young. You know the ones where the good guys are in Nazi Germany and trying to get out. Everywhere they go, there are Gestapo Agents and Nazi officicals, someone wanting to see their papers. That is what I think of when Congress passes things like the "Real ID Act." Now, I read this . The first thing that I thought of is why do we need undercover agents on trains? Is someone in the government afraid that terrorist are gonna hijack a train and ram it into a federal building somewhere?

Robot in our future?

Personal robots could be the answer to many of the old age concerns of all us baby boomers. Maybe by the time I am old enough to need assisted living, I can trade my Toyota car in on a Toyota robot. Better yet, maybe I can keep my car and buy a robot that can drive me around.

I wonder if driving robots will have to have drivers licenses?

Charley Reese on Christmas

I love to read what Charley Reese writes. To me, he always says just what I would like to say only much better than I ever could. Here's some of his thoughts about Christmas.

Lao Tzu - The First Libertarian

There really is nothing new under the sun.

Baker's Yeast - Not Just For Bread Making

Think all baker's yeast is good for is making bread rise? Not so according to Bill Sardi in this interesting article. If you are like me and are concerned with the over use of antibiotics, you should read what Bill has to say.