Comcast Extortion Racket

Currently, we have the Digital Starter level. As of this writing, this costs us about $77 dollars per month.
We don't need many of the channels on it. We especially don't need ESPN and it is one of, if not the most, expensive channel set in the lineup. So I went looking for a lower priced lineup.
Ta-Da! Digital Economy would be the answer. It has all but two of the channels we want, Speed and Syfy, and we can view those over the internet. Easily cuts $30 off our bill per month.
Well, it would, except that the dta's don't work with it. So it's a no-go on Digital Economy.

Now you're probably saying, "why not just drop cable altogether and watch over the internet?" Sure, Hulu, Netflix, etc.
Well, we would, except we live with my father, who is 84 years old. No way is he ever going to deal with a computer. Not happening.
Comcast is better than some companies in that it gives us one DVR and two dta's free. We have a third dta rented for about $3 per month.
In order for dad to keep watching, we are stuck with our current $77 a month bill.

We could just rent a cable box for him, but that's about $9 per month, so eats into the savings. Not worth it.

This is extortion, plain and simple. Absolute criminal behavior. We CANNOT go to a lower level of service without losing the dta's, so we don't. Precisely as Comcast intends.

I have looked into buying a box, and I fear that Comcast won't activate it. We are forced into renting from them. A second layer of extortion.

AT&T Uverse appears to be no better. We need a box on each TV, and only one is free. In point of fact, from a money saving standpoint, they are worse than Comcast. Another band of merry highwaymen.

Forget Verizon, not available here. Having Verizon for cell phone, I can tell you that they are the spiritual children of Al Capone, so I doubt they'd be of help either.

I am just now reading up on something called a roku, but so far, all I've read is hype.

Basically, I'd like to set my father up with just those few channels that he watches, so that he wouldn't even get confused. Then we can drop to the Digital Economy, have it on one TV, and use the internet for the rest.

If that Roku works for what I want, I'll be mentioning it here, and probably often.

If not, I'll just keep wishing for some content delivery company to save me from Comcast.

The Cowboy Solution

IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE COWBOY SOLUTION CORPORATE LEADERSHIP TRAINING, this aint it. Click the link.

This is a darn good set of rules, plus a nifty simultaneous solution to some of our woes. I love this, even though number 8 is directed at folks like me.

1. Pull your pants up. You look like an idiot.
2. Turn your cap right, your head ain't crooked.
3. Let's get this straight: it's called a 'gravel road.' I drive a pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're gonna get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.
4. They are cattle. That's why they smell like cattle. They smell like money to us. Get over it. Don't like it? I-10 & I-40 go east and west, I-17 & I-15 goes north and south. Pick one and go.
5. So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed. We have $250,000 Combines that are driven only 3 weeks a year.
6. Every person in the Wild West waves. It's called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.
7. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of geese/pheasants/ducks/doves are comin' in during a hunt, we WILL shoot it outta your hand. You better hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.
8. Yeah. We eat trout, salmon, deer and elk. You really want sushi and caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.
9. The 'Opener' refers to the first day of deer season. It's a religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.
10. We open doors for women. That's applied to all women, regardless of age.
11. No, there's no 'vegetarian special' on the menu. Order steak, or you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham and turkey.
12. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats, vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup! Oh, yeah .. We don't care what you folks in Cincinnati call that stuff you eat... IT AIN'T REAL CHILI!!
13. You bring 'Coke' into my house, it better be brown, wet and served over ice. You bring 'Mary Jane' into my house, she better be cute, know how to shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.
14. College and High School Football is as important here as the Giants, the Yankees, the Mets, the Lakers and the Knicks, and a dang site more fun to watch.
15. Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards - it spooks the fish.
16. Turn down that blasted car stereo! That thumpity-thump ain't music, anyway. We don't want to hear it anymore than we want to see your boxers! Refer back to #1!

And there is more.............
The COWBOY Solution to save Gasoline.

OBAMA wants us to cut the amount of gasoline we use.....

The best way to stop using so much gasoline is to deport 15 million illegal immigrants!
That would be 15 million less people using our gas.
The price of gas would come down.....
Bring our troops home from Afghanistan to guard the borders....
When they catch an illegal immigrant crossing the Border, hand him a canteen, rifle and some ammo and ship him to Afghanistan ....
Tell him if he wants to come to AMERICA then he must serve a tour in OUR military....
Give him a soldier's pay while he's there and tax him on it......
After his tour, he will be allowed to become a citizen since he defended this country.....
He will also be registered to be taxed and be a legal resident.....
This option will probably deter illegal immigration and provide a solution for the troops in Afghanistan and the aliens trying to make a better life for themselves. .......
If they refuse to serve, ship them to Afghanistan anyway, without the canteen, rifle or ammo.

Problem solved.....

Numbers 3, 4, and 5 are big problems for farmers out here in the east too. Actually it's probably more of a problem. Ranchers and farmers anywhere in the country can count on a big helping of sympathy from anyone here in the east capable of thinking outside of a Tiffany box. That's only a handful of people, but we're around.
Number 12 is directed at folks like me as much as number 8, since I love hot sauces. I like to try different ones and different combinations. And I hate ketchup (freakin' tomato flavored sugar goo).

Truth is, I would not fare too well in the world depicted here. In addition to the aforementioned differences, I have no interest in sports nor hunting. I know nothing of the outdoors and I absolutely hate camping. So, other than cars & motorcycles, I wouldn't have much to talk about. But I'll bet they wouldn't mind too awful much, as I suspect I'd just be that odd feller that hangs out in his garage all day if he aint out riding, and riding is something they surely understand!

Do you have a problem with the ideology and philosophies contained here? That's OK, differences like that keep life interesting. But don't try to change these good people and shove your ideas of right and wrong down their throats. Just stay the hell away from them. Heed number 4 if you don't like their lifestyle.
Libtard Yankees have a hard time doing that though. Gotta make the whole world just like them. Well, the whole world except for dictators and violent Muslim clerics that hate the U.S. They're just dandy the way they are and we should welcome them with open arms and wallets.

Finally, if you don't like the type of people depicted here. You might want to think about this BBC article:

Wyoming's Cowboys Teach Fiscal Restraint

Tools Explained

This is at least 3 years old, and I can't find out who first wrote it. But it's funny enough that I can't resist posting it.


DRILL PRESS : A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL : Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light . Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, "Oh shit!"

SKIL SAW : A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS : Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER : An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW : One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle... It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS : Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH : Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race.

TABLE SAW : A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK : Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes , trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

BAND SAW : A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST : A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER : Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER : A tool for opening paint cans . Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.

PRY BAR : A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER : A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER : Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit.

UTILITY KNIFE : Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.

SON-OF-A-BITCH TOOL : (A personal favorite!) Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling "Son of a BITCH! "at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

Hope you found this information useful.

Horse chestnut

Varicose veins are one of my countless physical defects.
WTF does that have to do with horse chestnut? Read on.

It had gotten to the point where there was some pain, and my legs felt very tight. Made riding a motorcycle a lot less pleasant for sure.
I do not remember where I heard or read it, but I got the information that horse chestnut pills would help.
Now there are many typical synthetic western medicine cures and treatments for varicose veins, but I couldn't afford nor put up with any of them. So I had nothing to lose.

I bought a bottle at a health food store and took the recommended dose for about a month. It made a noticable difference! The pain was lessened, my legs didn't feel so tight and they felt a touch stronger.
I continued with just one pill each night for another month and a half or so, and I no longer felt anything from the affliction.
My wife told me that the bulging (yech) had gone down by a good 80% in her estimation.

I then found that I could just take two or so pills a week to maintain. But being absent minded, I often forgot and went as much as a month without any.

The affliction came back. I started back on two a day for a few weeks and it subsided. Now I'm doing one each night, and will back off a bit more soon.

Folks, this is a relatively inexpensive, safe, natural way to treat varicose veins. I highly recommend it.
Having said that, I will tell you that my father tried it and claims it did nothing for him. I cannot vouch that he followed directions nor that he used it long enough.

One problem I have with it is that I'm allergic to trees, horse chestnut apparently being one of them. This is the main reason I try to bring the frequency of use down. My allergies really kick in when I take two a day. Not too bad at one a day. And hardly at all when taking a few times a week.

Again, if you suffer from varicose veins, before you shell out for operations, try the horse chestnut. I can't guarantee that it'll work for you, but it's not expensive and you'll know in a month, so there's little to lose.

Funny Little Riddle

Got this in an email a few days ago and found it amusing.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a big one.
Michael J. Fox has a small one.
Madonna doesn't have one.
The Pope has one but doesn't use it.
Clinton uses his all the time.
Obama is one.
Mickey Mouse has an unusual one.
Liberace never used his on women..
Jerry Seinfeld is very, very proud of his.
Cher claims that she took on 3.
We never saw Lucy use Desi's.

What is it?

Answer below:



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Answer: A last name.



What were you perverts thinkin?

Day of Atonement---A short story

Excellent cautionary tale.
I have reprinted it here, but here is a link to an original of it in the Canada FreePress:
The Ghost of Thanksgiving Yet to Come

Day of Atonement
By Arnold Ahlert
Wednesday, November 24, 2010

"Winston, come into the dining room, it's time to eat," Julia yelled to her husband. "In a minute, honey, it's a tie score," he answered. Actually Winston wasn't very interested in the traditional holiday football game between Detroit and Washington . Ever since the government passed the Civility in Sports Statute of 2017, outlawing tackle football for its "unseemly violence" and the "bad example it sets for the rest of the world," Winston was far less of a football fan than he used to be. Two-hand touch wasn't nearly as exciting.

Yet it wasn't the game that Winston was disinterested in. It was more the thought of eating another Tofu Turkey. Even though it was the best type of veggie meat available after the government revised the American Anti-Obesity Act of 2018, adding fowl to the list of federally-forbidden foods, (which already included potatoes, cranberry sauce and mince-meat pie), it wasn't anything like real turkey. And ever since the government officially changed the name of "Thanksgiving Day" to "A National Day of Atonement" in 2020 to officially acknowledge the Pilgrims' historically brutal treatment of Native Americans, the holiday had lost a lot of its luster.

Eating in the dining room was also a bit daunting. The unearthly gleam of government-mandated fluorescent light bulbs made the tofu turkey look even weirder than it actually was, and the room was always cold. Ever since Congress passed the Power Conservation Act of 2016, mandating all thermostats-which were monitored and controlled by the electric company-be kept at 68 degrees, every room on the north side of the house was barely tolerable throughout the entire winter.
Still, it was good getting together with family. Or at least most of the family. Winston missed his mother, who passed on in October, when she had used up her legal allotment of live-saving medical treatment. He had many heated conversations with the Regional Health Consortium, spawned when the private insurance market finally went bankrupt, and everyone was forced into the government health care program. And though he demanded she be kept on her treatment, it was a futile effort. "The RHC's resources are limited," explained the government bureaucrat Winston spoke with on the phone. "Your mother received all the benefits to which she was entitled. I'm sorry for your loss."

Ed, Winston's father, couldn't make it either. He had forgotten to plug in his electric car last night, the only kind available after the Anti-Fossil Fuel Bill of 2021 outlawed the use of the combustion engines-for everyone but government officials. The fifty mile round trip was about ten miles too far, and Ed didn't want to spend a frosty night on the road somewhere between here and there.
Thankfully, Winston's brother, John, and his wife were flying in. Winston made sure that the dining room chairs had extra cushions for the occasion. No one complained more than John about the pain of sitting down so soon after the government-mandated cavity searches at airports, which severely aggravated his hemorrhoids. Ever since a terrorist successfully smuggled a cavity bomb onto a jetliner, the TSA told Americans the added "inconvenience" was an "absolute necessity" in order to stay "one step ahead of the terrorists." Winston's own body had grown accustomed to such probing ever since the government expanded their scope to just about anywhere a crowd gathered, via the Anti-Profiling Act of 2022. That law made it a crime to single out any group or individual for "unequal scrutiny," even when probable cause was involved. Thus, cavity searches at malls, train stations, bus depots, etc., etc., had become almost routine. Almost.

The Supreme Court is reviewing the statute, but most Americans expect a Court composed of six progressives and three conservatives to leave the law intact. "A living Constitution is extremely flexible," said the Court's eldest member, Elena Kagan. " Europe has had laws like this one for years. We should learn from their example," she added.

Winston's thoughts turned to his own children. He got along fairly well with his 12-year-old daughter, Brittany, mostly because she ignored him. Winston had long ago surrendered to the idea that she could text anyone at any time, even during Atonement Dinner. Their only real confrontation had occurred when he limited her to 50,000 texts a month, explaining that was all he could afford. She whined for a week, but got over it.

His 16-year-old son, Jason, was another matter altogether. Perhaps it was the constant bombarding he got in public school that global warming, the bird flu, terrorism or any of a number of other calamities were "just around the corner," but Jason had developed a kind of nihilistic attitude that ranged between simmering surliness and outright hostility. It didn't help that Jason had reported his father to the police for smoking a cigarette in the house, an act made criminal by the Smoking Control Statute of 2018, which outlawed smoking anywhere within 500 feet of another human being. Winston paid the $5000 fine, which might have been considered excessive before the American dollar became virtually worthless as a result of QE13. The latest round of quantitative easing the federal government initiated was, once again, to "spur economic growth." This time they promised to push unemployment below its years-long rate of 18%, but Winston was not particularly hopeful.

Yet the family had a lot for which to be thankful, Winston thought, before remembering it was a Day of Atonement. At least he had his memories. He felt a twinge of sadness when he realized his children would never know what life was like in the Good Old Days, long before government promises to make life "fair for everyone" realized their full potential. Winston, like so many of his fellow Americans, never realized how much things could change when they didn't happen all at once, but little by little, so people could get used to them.

He wondered what might have happened if the public had stood up while there was still time, maybe back around 2010, when all this real nonsense began. "Maybe we wouldn't be where we are today if we'd just said 'enough is enough' when we had the chance," he thought.
Maybe so, Winston. Maybe so.

I believe this to be a fairly accurate view of our future.

Rating the Real Estate Agents - THINK FIRST

Here is an interesting article on rating your Realtor:

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20110210_yelp.htm?sms_ss=google&at_xt=4d5423c1732a7e6a%2C0

This is great news! I know more than most that there are a multitude of stupid and/or dishonest and/or lazy realtors that have no business selling flowers for Sun Myung Moon much less homes and businesses.
The more these humanoids can be exposed and avoided, the better.

However.

Before you give your agent a bad rating because your transaction didn't go well, think hard about wether it really was the agent's fault.

School districting is a good example of where an agent can be blindsided or prevented by law from giving you quality service.

A Prime example:
You insist that your precious snowflake attend Little Lord Fauntleroy elementary. The listing agent specifies that is the school districted. Your buyer agent verifies this (your buyer agent should never take the list agent's word for anything). You buy the house. Just after you close, the town redistricts your new home to Landfill elementary on the other end of town.

Well both agents might have screwed up as they should have looked into whether or not the town planned on redistricting or not and whether that redistricting would affect that property right?
But did the town announce the upcoming redistricting? Did the town itself know if that property would be affected? Most important, what are the laws regarding Realtors talking about schools?
It may very well be that the agents don't dare mention anything!
There are likely laws in your state preventing the agents from talking to you about districting and such. It's OK in CT at least for an agent to specify the schools that are districted at the current time but they can't chat with you about much more than that.

So you just dropped $800K on a house in a fine neighborhood, that was districted for fine schools, and now snowflake is attending an inner urban gangland Hell hole.
You of course give a scathing review of your buyer agent and perhaps the list agent as well.

What the agent(s) should have done was to explain clearly that they can't talk about it, that the schools specified are only accurate currently, and could change at any time, and they should have directed you to the school board's website for more information.
Did they? If so, you've got no one to blame except maybe the state for their idiot laws or the town for not being forthcoming with info.

Some list agents will not specify a school for this very reason. They will fill in "pboe" (per board of ed) for all schools, thus avoiding the issue. This is the lazy way out except in certain circumstances.
Certain circumstances? Like what?

Well like the fact that the town of Fairfield redistricts every 2 years. What is an agent to do when that time comes around? When it gets close enough that it will happen soon, but no announcements yet?
Like the town of Stratford, which I'm told completely ignores its own districting. It seems that you can buy a house and the town will arbitrarily redistrict it right after the ink dries, maybe before. I have no proof of this, it's only hearsay, but from realtors who would know.

There are other possible issues that could come up that your list or buyer agent have no control over. So before you rip them a new one on Zillow or Yelp or whatever, do a little asking or thinking. Maybe you should be ripping a town or state instead.