Autumn

Autumn on the farm.

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Can You Say Pandering?

Politicians are jumping all over the story about the Pentagon efforts to take back bonuses paid to California National Guard members.  To listen to them you would think anyone who questions the payments is a traitor.  All the while politicians are crying how terrible this is none of them tell the whole story.

The overpayments were discovered after an audit in 2011 which exposed widespread fraud and mismanagement.  The real story behind the story are the dates of 2011 and 2014.  The overpayments came to light in 2011 and in an effort to resolve the problem Congress had an opportunity to fix it in 2014.

The California National Guard told the state’s members of Congress two years ago that the Pentagon was trying to claw back reenlistment bonuses from thousands of soldiers, and even offered a proposal to mitigate the problem, but Congress took no action, according to a senior National Guard official.

Mueller reminded members of Congress that the Guard had informed them about the issue two years ago. Whether members of Congress understood the scope of the problem at the time is unclear.

Mueller said a provision in a defense bill that has passed the House would have cured at least part of the problem by establishing a 10-year limit on how long the Pentagon could recover the bonuses that had been paid improperly.  Final passage of that provision had been uncertain because of the money it would cost.  

(San Diego Union-Tribune)

So, Congress kicked the can down the road in 2014.  Now they are falling all over themselves to see who can be the most pro-military.  Can you say pandering?

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Bobby Vee

Bobby Vee (Robert Thomas Velline) died yesterday at age 73.

Vee grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, where I also grew up.  Vee was a 1960's singing legend who got his start on February 3, 1959 in Moorhead, Minnesota (just across the river from Fargo) when he filled in at the last minute for Buddy Holley, Richie Vallens and their traveling show when they were killed in a plane crash.  Vee was 15 and had assembled a group of Fargo friends calling their band the Shadows.

Bobby Vee was 7 years older than me, but I remember him being popular when I was a teen.  He never forgot his Fargo roots and would perform for the Fargo teens at the local YMCA dances.  Bobby Vee was an all around nice guy.

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Justice Stephen Breyer

Today on one of the morning shows Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was interviewed.  While he was careful with his comments about politics vis-à-vis the Court, for obvious reasons, he did make some good points.  Especially salient were his comments about speaking to students.  Do yourself a favor and watch the video.

I especially agree with Justice Breyer when it comes to students who have a preconceived knowledge of the Court.  We need to make American Government more relevant as a subject in our schools. We must get away from teaching (and in some cases mandating) American exceptionalism.  This has been made even more relevant with the current presidential campaign. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, in Nebraska the pledge of allegiance to the flag is quasi-mandatory with a law that requires that time be allocated daily for the recitation.  Memorization of the songs America the Beautiful and the Star Spangled Banner are required by law.  Each school is also required by law to have a "committee on patriotism.”

American Government isn’t about wandering into a voting booth and marking the candidate based on media spin or how someone else tells you to vote.  It is about doing your own research.  It is about independent and critical thinking.  

Justice Breyer was right about the Justice Holmes analogy to a hurricane, where the Court is in the center where it is calm and everything on the outside they can’t control.  What happens on the outside is responsive to the American voter.  What is needed is an educated voter and that starts in the schools teaching American Government, not ideology.

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Customer Service Goes In The Crapper.

AT&T has reached a deal to buy Time Warner for $85.4 billion.

Aside from the fact that it is a boat load of money, what does this portend for the consumer? From my point of view it means customer service will suffer.  I have neither AT&T or Time Warner, but whenever the companies I have telecommunications with merged it led to even worse customer service. 

Just this past week a good example happened to me.  My mother is 86 years old and mostly relies on me when she has a problem with the internet.  She currently has phone and internet service with Windstream Communications.  Windstream purchased Alltel which previously purchased the local phone company.  In each instance the customer service went down hill.  When it was a local phone company they actually had service people who came out and took care of problems.  Or, at the very least, solved the problem with a quick phone call.

This past week my mother called me to say that her computer wouldn't connect to the internet.  First of all, I'm not a techno-nerd, so it's a bit like the blind leading the blind.  She lives 60 miles from our farm and since I couldn't figure it out over the phone I drove to her place.  Once there I wasn't able to solve the problem.  Thinking the local internet may be down I phoned Windstream.  That started the run around.

When I dialed the 800 number in the local directory I had to struggle through a myriad of messages and pushing buttons.  I never was able to connect with a live person, so I decided to phone the so-called local Windstream store.  The person that answered was not "local" and when I asked if the local internet service was down she switched me over to another recorded message which said that wait times to talk to a service person was 30 minutes.  I hung up.  Frustrated I decided to unplug the modem and see if it would reset. That worked.  I know... I know... I should have done that in the first place.  Remember,  I'm not a techno-nerd!

The whole point of this story is that from my experience every time some company buys out another company and gets even bigger, customer service goes in the crapper.  Now, if I can just keep up with DISH and Verizon.

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It Sucks Being A Tightwad

Fall has arrived here on the farm and the corn of the nice neighbor farmer is about ready to harvest.

That is unless the squirrels don't keep raiding it.  The little buggers keep getting ears of corn and dragging them back to the yard.  They eat a few kernels and go back out to get more.  It won't be long and they will be digging holes around the farm to bury their stockpiles.

The past month I've been shopping around for a new pair of tennis shoes.  Actually, they aren't tennis shoes.  They are "hiking" shoes.  I was told some time back that hiking shoes provide more arch support and durability than tennis shoes.  The last pair I bought was Merrill and they seemed to work.  

I don't like all that glitz and color on shoes like kids or yuppies wear, so I always look for the plainest shoes I can find.  Being a bona fide tightwad, I also can't understand why the kids and yuppies pay what they do for a tennis shoe.  That includes the hiking shoes I fret over.  The Merrills  I finally settled on - after much searching and procrastination - were on sale for $96. from a retail price of $120.  It ended up costing me over $100. after taxes.

OLD                                         NEW

Now seriously,  how in the world can a pair of shoes cost over $100.  For a bona fide tightwad that is a punch in the gut.  On top of that, they were made in Viet Nam.  I visualize container ships full of shoes coming over from Viet Nam at about two bucks per pair and then getting marked up 1000% when they get here.

I think I got a few years out of the old pair, which will now become my mowing shoes, but at over 100 bucks I better get more out of this new pair.  It really sucks being a tightwad.

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I Should Have Known Better

One of the rear axles on our Polaris ATV was clicking, which is a sure sign that it is worn out.

Thinking it might be a good idea to replace it before we head south for the winter I ordered a new one.  It isn't an easy job replacing the axle, but I figured I could get it done in a few hours.  I never even got to it.   

The ATV was manufactured in 2002, so that is the axle I ordered.  What I should have ordered is an axle based on the model year of 2003.  Not unlike cars which are manufactured in one year, they are given a model year of the following year.  The difference between the two axles is the flange where the wheel hub goes back on.  In the 2003 the flange is narrower.  

Since we are close to heading south there wouldn't be enough time to ship the axle back and have an exchange one sent out.  As a result I had to take the ATV to a repair shop to have a new one installed.  What should have been a $70. part which I could have put on myself ending up costing $300. to have someone else do the job.  All because I ordered the wrong axle by one year.  A rookie mistake that ended up costing me.  I should have known better. 

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They Don't Build Them Like That Anymore

Fellow blogger Peter at his american traveler blog has been describing vehicles he has owned, including his Mercedes Benz 240D.  The 240D was a 5 cylinder diesel in the 123 series Benz.  The 123 series was manufactured between 1976 - 1985 and was built like a Sherman tank. A number are still on the road today.

Mercedes factory photo

Peter's blog reminded me of the Benz's I owned.  They were the 300D, which is the turbo diesel version.  The 240D was the non-turbo diesel and because of that was known as underpowered.  The 5 cylinder turbo version was the perfect fit for the 123 series Benz and the 300D's I owned were simple to work on.

The fuel filters and oil filter were easily accessed for self maintenance.  My friends and I routinely pulled the injectors and glow plugs for cleaning.  There is no way I would tackle that on today's diesels.

Today's Mercedes Benz looks just like all the other cars going down the road.  The 123 series Mercedes looked like a Mercedes.  They don't build them like that anymore.

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It Won't Be Long Now

The overnight temperature is sending a signal it is time to think about heading south for the winter.

In a little over two weeks we will start our trek to our winter spot in Hope, Arizona where our fifth wheel is waiting.  This is the first year we decided to leave our fiver rather than drag it home.  Going back and forth in our pickup camper is much easier.  The pickup camper also allows us to do excursions from the home base.

Hopefully everything will be okay with the fifth wheel when we get there.  I followed the directions of the seasoned campers, including putting a couple of tubs of water in the camper due to the dry summer heat.  We have some morning shade at our site, however it gets the blistering hot afternoon sun.  Others leave their campers all summer with no problems, so it should be okay. 

We're not sure what route we will take from Nebraska to Arizona.  In the past we have cut across Kansas to Tucumcari and then diagonal across New Mexico.  To avoid going through Phoenix we took the south route on I-10 and I-8.  Maybe this year we will use the north route on I-40.  Either way the objective will be to avoid freezing weather.

So, like the cat said when he got his tail caught in the fan, "it won't be long now."

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Lock Him Up

Prosecutors said Tuesday they will charge Sheriff Joe Arpaio with criminal contempt-of-court for defying a judge's orders to end his signature immigration patrols in Arizona, exposing the 84-year-old lawman to the possibility of jail time and clouding his political future as he seeks a seventh term.

Arpaio has acknowledged violating the order to stop the immigration patrols but insists his disobedience wasn't intentional.  Authorities were still considering a possible obstruction of justice charge against Arpaio that could result in more severe punishments, including losing his job.  (NBC News)

Lock him up!

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