I leave at 5:30am tomorrow for Seattle, and it is now 11:10pm here in deepest, darkest central Joisey. So, I'll indulge myself in a couple of mini-rants and then I'm off to bed.
My first (and most obvious) target is the airline industry. Flying sucks! When I was a kid (shortly after Orville and Wilbur did their thing), flying was fun. Didn't get there as fast in the air, but the planes were actually fairly comfortable, the people staffing them and the ground facilities were not worked to within an inch of their sanity. And we didn't have to deal with the paranoia that has become SOP since 9/11. No, if I had any kind of an alternative...oh, like maybe trains...and could afford to take that much time, I would in a heart beat. But that alternative isn't really viable these days, so I subject myself to the horrors of modern air travel. It is just another huge, glaring example of how our quality of life is eroding away.
Then, also in a "transportation" sort of vein, there are the roads here in the Soprano State. They suck as well! What with deteriorating bridges, potholes that swallow smaller cars whole and a marked lack of new roads being built to handle the ever increasing traffic load, driving here in the Garden State has become an exercise in stoicism in the face of adversity rather than something one actually might want to do. Those Sunday drives of yesteryear are but a dim, fading memory 'cause there ain't nobody who actually goes for a ride in the country just for the ride any more.
Of course, it isn't just the roads that make driving suck here in the 'burbs. No, my slightly biased estimate is that at least 70% of the people the great State of New Jersey has awarded the license to drive are, in fact, not up to that task. OK, maybe not 70%...but the percentage is significant. These so called drivers wander from lane to lane; they drive 10 miles an hour below the posted speed limit in the left lane...and then have the presumption to look askance at those who pass them on the right. Only by some prodigious displays of vehicular control have I managed to avoid the fools who have been seriously trying to kill me of late. I do have to say that my Outback is quite agile for a station wagon, and I am grateful for that.
On other fronts, Hillary should read the writing on the wall and withdraw with some grace and in the best interest of the party. She'll get points for doing so.
The exciting news is that for the past few years I have been vainly scouring the shelves of America's retailers looking for a certain product. I finally drew up some very rough drawings and took them to a patent attorney who did think that it is an idea worth pursuing. So, $500 dollars poorer (me...he's that much richer) I am waiting on pins and needles for the result of the "art search". If that proves to be negative, I will file a provisional application and begin the process that could see me actually the possessor of a US patent. How cool is that? Plus, if I can patent it, I think I can sell it and make enough money to become semi-retired. (Meaning I'd still work, but only at things I actually wanted to do.) Further reports will be forthcoming as things progress.
And with that, dear reader (shrug...if there is even one of you out there) I am going to toddle off to bed and try for four hours sleep. I hate flying....
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