The Weekly Notes 2007

Back to the Weekly Notes 2007 Archives
Weekly Notes:

September 24, 2007:

 

Closure:

At the risk of being condemned by almost everyone, I must say this 9-11 yearly celebration and public mourning has gotten ridiculous. It is even more maudlin than Charles Durning. It is maudlin in the extreme. It is clear that some people do not know how to make closure, so they go on and on and on, ad infinitum. For sure, the government encourages them, as does the media. I think, if they have not made closure by now they never will without some kind of psychiatric intervention. If public mourning would have helped, it would have done so by now.

 

Some of these people want a public shrine to occupy the entire site. I think we already have too many shrines. We have memorials to this and that. We have war memorials up the kazoo. We have sacred tombs, shrine, and memorials everywhere. If we keep on building these things, soon we will have more shrines than we will have people to worship at them. We will look like a B movie version of Japan, with little shrines and temples everywhere.

 

Don’t tell me I don’t know what it’s like. Everyone knows what it’s like. Every adult in our culture has experienced the loss of a loved one. No one is creating a memorial to my siblings or your siblings. We are just expected to get on with it. The emotionally healthy ones do. We make closure, let go of it, and go on. There are a few who make the loss a career choice. They devote the remainder of their lives to it. It’s almost like they were nothing before the loss and now they are someone, someone who has suffer a tragic loss. But, even Shakespeare knew a tragedy could not continue forever. Let it end! Let us never forget 9-11 and the evil monsters who perpetrated that vile attack, but make closure on the loss. Let go of it and continue.

 

China:

The Chinese government signed and agreement with America to stop exporting products with lead in them. Sure! I believe them just as much as I believe George Bush.

 

Terrorists:

Saudi Arabia is funding terrorism. Everyone knows that. Why is George not doing anything about it? With allies like that, who needs enemies? They are not our allies. They have never been our allies. They are never going to be our allies. They are Muslims. Doesn’t George understand that? What’s to understand? Their goal is to destroy Western civilization.

 

Retirees:

GM is at to the bargaining table with the union. They have been targeted, as the rhetoric goes. Their retirees are worried. They say they have paid their dues and earned their pensions and health care. They say these things should not be negotiable. Good luck on that! I am sure GM will steal back what they gave to these people. Ford is already doing it. Promises from big business are not sacred agreements. They are lies made to gain a temporary advantage. They are made to be broken. This failure of American industry should not be a surprise. It has to do with the American manager’s incompetence. It was not notice for a long time, but now they are competing on a level playing field and it shows up like a huge open sore.

 

Buyer Beware!

Sometimes I think, maybe it’s just me. Maybe there is something about me that attracts shady people like a magnet attracts iron filings. On the other hand, maybe I get angry and make a fuss while most people just brush it off. Anyway, four in one week is a record, even for me. Last week I experience four incidents of misrepresentation.

 

First, there was Cyberpower. That’s an online computer outfit. I went through the work of defining a custom PC in their online process. It took an entire day. But, everything was fine, I thought. Not so! Right at the dinner hour, of course, a person called me and started to hassle me about my shipping address. It turns out that the address I gave them had somehow been changed. I realized from the accent that I was dealing with a Pacific Rim outfit. Their website had made them look like an American firm. After a bit of bull and hassle, I finally canceled the order. I will end up doing as I always do when I need a new computer. I will buy most of the parts from New Egg and build it myself. In the meantime I will have to keep an eye on my credit card account to make sure they don’t use the number I gave them.

 

Next, there was TNT cigars. I should have been warned when I noticed it was a Texas based firm. Texas is the quintessential caveat emptor state. I ordered some cigars that were represented to be Artuo Fuente Churchill cigars with a natural wrapper. When I opened the box, the cigars looked like Fuente’s, but the wrapper was too dark. It looked more like a maudra or EMS wrapper. Another clue was the end of the cigar did not have the telltale green ribbon on it. That green ribbon is almost a Fuente trademark. The strange thing is, when I smoked one, it was the mildest dark cigar I had ever smoked. On this one, I don’t know what to think. I suspect someone went to a great deal of effort to counterfeit some Fuente cigars but I don’t know who. I doubt if I will ever figure it out.

 

On that same day, I bought a kitchen timer from a Meijers market. The cover said it counts up or down. That was one of my criteria. Well when I opened the package that turned out to be a false statement. The inside instructions were very clear. It only counts down. This was a clear case of false advertising, but who do you complain to? The label showed it was a product of Bradshaw International, Inc. Then I noticed the line under the company name. “Made in China.” Okay! My error. I did not read the labeling carefully enough. My policy is to not buy anything with a Made in China label. That is a good policy for all Americans.

 

Finally, on the same day at a Best Buy store we were degaussed. Actually, it was Mrs. Gaffer’s credit card that was degaussed. Many stores, Best Buy among them, keep a huge magnetic field generator on their countertop, right near the cash register. It’s purpose is to erase the electronic ID when an item is purchase so it does not set off the alarm at the door. That generator is disguised so it looks like a innocuous pad. Honestly run stores keep that pad behind the counter.

 

Mrs. Gaffer innocently placed her purse on that pad as she searched for her credit card. The inevitable happened. When she ran the card through the scanner, it failed to register. Now the card will not scan at any store. This makes it dangerous to use because the clerk must key in the number. The credit card company knows about this problem and they routinely replace cards that have been degaussed. I just wish they would warn people about this retailer dishonesty.

Back to the Weekly Notes 2007 Archives

Wesoomi Home Page

The Wesoomi Archives

Wesoomi Site Map