Paul Harvey, American radio icon, has passed away at age 90.
I could repeat all the lines he used to begin and end his radio broadcasts; I could mention sponsors of his radio news show, whose goods I’ve purchased, but I won’t.
I’ll just say that I listened, I was informed, and I’ll miss hearing him on the radio.
RIP, Paul Harvey.
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It’s amazing how much wisdom is contained in those forward this to 15 friends mail-o-grams that circulate the internets. Consider this one, which makes the Stimulus Spending Porkulus Bill crystal clear:
Shortly after class, an economics student approaches his economics professor and says, “I don’t understand this stimulus bill. Can you explain it to me?”
The professor replied, “I don’t have any time to explain it at my office, but if you come over to my house on Saturday and help me with my weekend project, I’ll be glad to explain it to you.” The student agreed.
At the agreed-upon time, the student showed up at the professor’s house. The professor stated that the weekend project involved his backyard pool.
They both went out back to the pool, and the professor handed the student a bucket. Demonstrating with his own bucket, the professor said, “First, go over to the deep end, and fill your bucket with as much water as you can.” The student did as he was instructed.
The professor then continued, “Follow me over to the shallow end, and then dump all the water from your bucket into it.” The student was naturally confused, but did as he was told.
The professor then explained they were going to do this many more times, and began walking back to the deep end of the pool. The confused student asked, “Excuse me, but why are we doing this?”
The professor matter-of-factly stated that he was trying to make the shallow end much deeper. The student didn’t think the economics professor was serious, but figured that he would find out the real story soon enough.
However, after a 6th trip between the deep end and the shallow end, the student began to become worried that his economics professor had gone mad..
The student finally replied, “All we’re doing is wasting valuable time and effort on unproductive pursuits. Even worse, when this process is all over, everything will be at the same level it was before, so all you’ll really have accomplished is the destruction of what could have been truly productive action!”
The professor put down his bucket and replied with a smile, “Congratulations. You now understand the stimulus bill.”
(The bailout bills are a bit more complicated as nobody knows where the money went)
I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or not care…
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The first full day of the Kindle 2 is in the books. It works well at work; downloads from the Kindle store come through rapidly. This didn’t shock me; Amazon’s Whispernet is powered by Sprint, and my Sprint wireless card has worked well within the confines of my cubicle.
I came across an interesting article today; it makes the claim, backed up with what I think are plausible numbers, that printing the New York Times costs twice as much as sending every subscriber a free Kindle.
Reading daily newsprint is not a custom ingrained in me. I will admit that there’s something comforting in the opening, folding, and turning pages of a dead tree newspaper, but it’s something I just don’t do anymore. If I read a paper daily, I’d consider a subscription via the Kindle.
And there are the Kindle disadvantages:
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It arrived a day early, not that I’m complaining; my Kindle 2 arrived today.
It’s still charging, but that hasn’t prevented me from renaming the device1, reconfiguring its email address, and establishing a whitelist for emailing to-be-converted documents. I also managed to download a few books as well, and also sent a PDF for conversion.
First impressions:
I’m tickled so far. For the record, my first book download was Moonshine Light, Moonshine Bright, from South Carolina’s William Price Fox. Even though he lives in Baltimore now, this book is one of my all-time favorites.
More to follow, as we put this rig through its paces in the tbbs test labs. Thus far, I’m impressed with the Kindle, and with Amazon, for having the infrastructure in place to support it from the day one rollout.
Tomorrow, show and tell at work.
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1
Glenn Garvin, Contributing Editor of Reason magazine, now has a column on the op-ed page of the Miami Herald. And he hit the ground running in his premiere column:
There’s a reason that English is the most widely spoken language on the planet: It’s the most highly adaptable, capable of evolving to meet new needs in the blink of an eye. For example: Just last year, offering mortgages at a cheaper-than-market teaser interest rate with little or no money down was known as ”predatory lending.” But conditions changed — specifically, the party occupying the White House — and now we call that style of lending “national policy.”
The new definition was provided by Predator-in-Chief Barack Obama last week while making his daily announcement of a new bailout plan, this one for homeowners who took on mortgages they can’t afford during banking’s go-go days earlier this decade. Offering them cheaper new terms on their loans — at taxpayer expense, of course — will help us bolster ”those core values of common sense and responsibility, those are the values that have defined this nation,” Obama said.
Only churlish Language Nazis would quibble with those bold new definitions of common sense and responsibility, much less note the extraordinary resemblance between Obama’s mortgage-lending practices and those of the reptilian bankers he denounced so often during his presidential campaign:
Glenn’s column will appear every other Tuesday. For the first time in my life, I’ll be checking out the Herald. Every other Tuesday, anyhow.
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I don’t know when or if I’ll ever learn that assing up in my chair, watching NASCAR, and sipping a few brews can be an expensive proposition. Especially with a too-handy netbook. Yesterday, I ordered a Kindle 2.
It should arrive later this week. My Sony 500 reader performs well; it is somewhat of a PITA getting manuals formatted to display properly on it.
I’m looking forward to the Kindle, and I’m anxious to email a PDF to the Kindle’s address, and have Amazon do the converting for me. If this works aceptably well, I’ll be tickled pink.
I also have an urge to read something which isn’t subtitled The Definitive Guide, and Amazon has many interesting titles for cheap.
Looking forward to it; prepare yourself for the rash of posts that will ensue, either lovin’ it or cussin’ it.
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I’m tickled to be able to blog the little slice of life which follows. At work, I have a Senseo single-serving coffee maker, as documented here. The Senseo has been and still is a good machine; I’ve used the Senseo “approved” coffee pods the entire time.
The Senseo pods are sometimes hard to find, at least at our local Target. So I’d buy 5 or 6 bags at a time when they were in stock; lately, they haven’t been in stock. One of my coworkers also has a Senseo; he buys pods from Better Pods, and kindly shared some of his stash. Man, what a difference in the coffee! Senseo’s pods, while never stellar, were acceptable; compared to the line that Better Pods offers, they are floor sweepings.
Last week, my Senseo approved pod inventory was running low, so I placed an online order with Better Pods. The order was expeditiously processed, and I took the bounty to work. Included in my order was a box of 25 Eldorado Organic Guatemala Pods. These pods have a shape described as “symmetrical”; what this means in practice is the pod is just a tick too tall for my Senseo’s single pod holder, which causes the Senseo’s lid to pop off in the brewing process. By swiftly stopping the machine, and massaging the now wet pod into a flatter shape and reinstalling it, I was able to brew the best coffee the Senseo had ever rendered. It is just outstanding, dark, rich, and flavorful.
After a day or so, I tired of the Senseo geyser. Last night, I sent an email to Better Pods, asking for advice on how to make these pods work a little more fuss-free in my Senseo. I figured I might hear something on Monday. To my surprise and unabashed delight, I got a response within an hour or so from Dawn at Better Pods, whose email contained the following tip:
The Eldorado pods should work with the Senseo machine but we are starting to realize that not all Senseos are made alike. I use a Senseo every day and can use the Eldorado pods with no trouble but there are others like you who have trouble closing the top or keeping it closed. Ideally you always want to use the single pod holder. Sometimes it will work if you “knead” the pod to flatten it out a little. Others have had success with the double pod holder but you need to soak the pod and then pack it as tight as you can into the bottom of the double pod holder.
Hmm, worth a shot. I’d been trying to flatten the pod out a bit, so maybe I need to flatten a little harder.
Finally:
If you would like, go ahead and try these tips that I gave you but we do not want you to feel like you are stuck with pods you cannot use and enjoy. We are more than happy to send replacement pods of another brand to you if you cannot get these to work. Just let me know.
I was basically offered an exchange here; this is such good coffee, I will find a way to make them work. I replied, asking about a holder called the “espresso holder”, which looks to be deeper than the standard Senseo issue. She replied back, saying she’d check it out.
To be contacted within just a few hours by someone who knows the precise nature of my problem, is rare. To offer to take a non-defective product back, without being asked, is even more rare. To reply to yet another email, saying “I’ll check it out”, is absolutely above and beyond what passes for customer service today.
If you’re in need of coffee pods, Better Pods is the place to go. And don’t be afraid of the Eldorados; I’m gonna drink these if I have to steep ‘em in a teapot. They are just that good.
-k-
To nobody’s surprise, GM and Chrysler, having pissed away their earlier loan gift from the Feds, are gathering around the Federal trough yet again, pleading for more billions to tide them over for a few more short months, at which point they’ll be back after pissing away those billions. That they’ll get those billions from a feckless Congress and Executive Branch is a mortal lock.
This should stop. Pounding more billions down the Detroit rathole just delays the inevitable collapse of two institutions which tug at my heartstrings; two iconic American companies, whose products have been part of the fabric of my life for as long as I can remember. It’s time for them to go. The incredible waste of resources in two companies whose vehicles continue to be parked, awaiting buyers who don’t buy, must end.
Ford Motor Company, who has never tugged at my heartstrings, has said they can weather this current storm while remaining off the federal teat. Ford, Found On Road Dead, Fix Or Repair Daily, as we used to say, is now the shining star of the American automotive industry. I checked Ford out today; to my surprise, they have a great lineup of stylish, fuel-efficient cars. When I’m in the car market again, a Ford of some description will be gracing my driveway parking spot.
What’s good for General Motors is good for America used to be the line. That line should now be What’s good for General Motors is breaking America.
There is an alternative. Ford. Drive One.
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“When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed.”
H/T: Infrequently Asked Questions.
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