Small Claims and Other Nuisances

There's a commercial for Home Depot running on television these days that suggests doing one's own tiling is so much simpler, smoother, and more cost effective than hiring a professional. Before my very first adventure with a professional general contractor, I would have scoffed, knowing full well what I know not. Now, as I watch the ad, however, I see glimpses of what I watched done over the course of a couple of days and I realize the truth of the matter, now that I have seen the deed demonstrated...

And oh what an expensive tutelage that has been!

- There was the eager estimate, followed by the startled delay.
- There was the unexpected extra work followed by the inevitable additional contracting for unanticipated services.
- There was the one day only employee who thought himself a freelancer and was therefore cut adrift, leaving a hefty portion of work unbegun, never mind unfinished.
- There was the mad scramble to find others who would fulfill the terms of the contract (should not have been my problem).
- There was the earnest and meticulous (read slow) weekend and holiday work done by lone operators.

All followed by the unexpected subpoena to small claims court, a summons that cannot be ignored.

But everyone was very nice, and several were very cute, which really should count for something, shouldn't it?

But evidently the subpoena was for show as testimony from me was deemed irrelevant and therefore not allowed - which I coulda told anyone who'd listen...

Evidently I need to work on my screening skills. See, I thought I should cut the fellow some slack cuz he's not cute, and I didn't want my innate prejudice to color my judgment... which, it turns out, was on the money... not that I ever listen to me... why should I, after all, if no one else does? ;->

Canonization

Hottest news in Hawaii today, barring the weather of course, is the canonization of Father Damien, who dedicated his life to working with the lepers of Molokai until and after he himself contracted Hansen's Disease. Today in Rome (10:00 pm HST last night) Pope Benedict the numeral conferred sainthood on the man. (Can you tell I'm not Roman Catholic?)

There have been news clips of the Hawaii contingent participating in a private mass yesterday, singing Hawaiian hymns as part of the service. One cannot help but wonder whether or not there was any discussion or fear over allowing such pagan-sounding strains to echo through the hallowed halls. Personally, I thought it was really cool, but then, I always love to hear hearty Hawaiian strains abroad. (And I don't mean the only song some folks think Brother Iz ever recorded, that froggy anthem...)

Father Damien really was a cool dude, working tirelessly and evidently without expectation or requirement of earthly reward. He even went on working among his people after he himself contracted the disease. That's dedication - though to be fair, where else was he going to go? Still, he didn't have to keep working; he could have flopped down and bellyached, as so many did and do.

What's perhaps a little more cynicism-engendering is the sudden recent flow of ads in conjunction with his canonization... Eh, sure and it's the American way...

Fearmongers

As part of the fallout and follow-up from South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson's faux pas last evening during President Barack Obama's address to the joint Congress:

Republican Minority Leader John Boehner ... suggested some Americans were terrified by the administration’s health care and budget proposals.

“I believe that people ought to be respectful, that we ought to have civil discourse in America, but don't underestimate the amount of emotion that people are feeling,” the GOP leader told reporters. “Americans are frustrated. They're angry. And most importantly, they're scared to death. They're scared to death that the country that they grew up in is not going to be the country that their kids and grandkids grew up in.”

Seriously, is the American in which we now live the country that our own grandparents inhabited? Would we even want to live in such a place ourselves?

Been reading Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and I have to say that there's no way this 20-21st century entity has any desire whatsoever to live in the same atmosphere and culture that my forebears endured. Personally, I like indoor plumbing, fast cars, fast food, brain-numbing network television, endless reruns on cable, 24/7 Internet access...

I have no desire to spend the bulk of my time and efforts hunting and harvesting, making and mending. I think the 7/11 concept is brilliant, and I want more immediate gratification, not less. Why on earth would I want to live in the same land that my ancestors inhabited?

More to the point, why would I wish the ills of our present society on the next generation? I grew up with the understanding that my parents worked so frigging hard so that I wouldn't have to do likewise. I studied hard in school so that my life and the lives of any offspring I might produce might have an even richer, more fulfilling range of opportunities from which to carve out their own experiences. So why on earth would a seemingly intelligent adult charged with the fashioning of said future by means of legislation desire to trap the youth who are our future in our past?

Go figure.

Really?!?!?

This morning's casually caught news article suggests that there are those within the U.S. military who consider paying the Taliban protection money to forestall attacks a reasonable investment. Well, there is a history within this country on a civil level of such behavior... Somehow, though, it does not seem possible that such behavior will sit any better with contemporary society than it did with early and mid-twentieth century America when it became widespread knowledge. On the other hand, there are a number of films glorifying violence that suggest that it was not the many but the few, or even just one, who made the difference and ended the practice by taking a stand against acceptance of such practices. Is that what is required even now?

It is difficult to believe that today's members of the military, raised on vigilante films, would blithely turn a blind eye to such malfeasance. Of course, today's volunteers don't necessarily join for patriotic fervor, any more than volunteers of any era have...

Huh.

New Month Old News

Nothing of note comes to mind as I listen to the news: fire, abduction, abuse, war, death... Perhaps I should change the channel, try some different sources for new material. Perhaps I should be content to lose myself in unrelated writings for awhile... except that my muddy mind insists on seeing parallels with the present day, with the world in which I live and move and breathe, with everything I read, watch, hear - most irritating, and not just to those around me, either. Ah well...

Perhaps the changing of the seasons will bring new ideas. Certainly it has brought new experiences to this old house.

And Now... We're Back

Nearly a week of mourning, this time with less cynicism simply because the public figure was a politician of note from one of the most publicly tragic families in the nation. Guess it helps that Kennedy died from disease rather than drug overdose...

Still, the official media mourning is done and they're back to sensational news stories. What is wrong with these people? Granted, sensationalism sells and garners ratings, but must they be so enthusiastic in their coverage?

Wait - I know the answer to this one...

Has It Been Since Tuesday?

The news has been replete with coverage of the passing of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, youngest of the nine offspring of Joseph and Rose Kennedy of Massachusetts. The youngest and least promising of four sons and five daughters, Kennedy required nearly half a century to achieve the acclaimed stature of his older male siblings. Still, folk are quick to point out that while the elder brothers were all about promises cut short, the youngest, least promising of the brood has proven to be the most productive, if only because he has achieved the greatest longevity. Give a fellow enough time, anything can happen - and has. Good for him.

All the potential in the world is for naught without fulfillment; all an individual's flaws can be overlooked if they prove to be stepping stones to insight, maturity, greatness.

GW was an indifferent scholar whose presidency was of like tenor; Teddy, expelled from Harvard for cheating, does not seem ever to have demonstrated indifference - with the result that he has a lifetime of achievements in legislation to which people now point as the only sensible way to view reality.

(Just look at all the things Claire, Bree, & Roger take for granted, despite having departed prior to most of the youngest Kennedy's notable achievements.) ;->

Gotta Love ‘Em

Listening to political news these days is reminiscent of watching Saturday morning cartoons as a child: there’s a real need for suspension of disbelief in order to be able to follow the various stories without finding oneself persistently distracted by conflicting details and improbabilities.

Take, for instance, the primary argument for putting health care reform on hold: the cost is deemed to be prohibitive in the current economic climate. Okay, so let’s wait until there is more widespread prosperity. Meanwhile, those who cannot afford healthcare because of pre-existing conditions, unemployment, or underemployment will, like chaff, blow away, thus naturally easing the strain on the current health care system. Once that occurs, surely health care will be more affordable for the survivors, yes?

Likewise, those who recently threatened senior citizens with the now debunked notion of Death Panels, are staunch in their defense of the current system, calling it free choice. Have they somehow missed the spate of movies last decade and the news stories this decade, all about how insurance agencies have been playing a disturbing waiting game, denying coverage for the desperately ill until the claims stop because the claimants are deceased? Why, yes, surely it must be better to be ripped off and left to die by private enterprise rather than non-starting government dictates.

Am I missing something?

Probably.

I’ve always been a little light on attention to details, or so I’ve been informed, reliably or otherwise…

Noise in the News

The truth of the matter is that legal change is and always has been intentionally slow, ponderous even. That's the way the Founding Fathers set things up, precisely so that this nation would not be so susceptible to the willful capriciousness of individuals briefly holding power (elected officials), nor readily vulnerable to the wiles of self-serving lobbyists. At least, that's what I think I was taught in my tender formative years (high school Civics and Government classes).

Of course, that doesn't sit at all well with those born of the Instant Gratification era, i.e., everyone not yet eligible for an Aricept prescription...

Add to the mix short speak, short attention spans, large egos, and voracious corporate appetites for ratings and profits - and you get muddy thinking, intemperate speech, and short fuses. And yet we need to be grateful that we are also guaranteed free speech, foolish though we may deem much of it.

The protection of free speech, of course, is predicated on the theory that those who actually participate in the political process are possessed of effective critical thinking skills, while those who lack such gifts also lack the wherewithall to act, effectively or otherwise. This, of course, is where the old adage, "A little knowledge is dangerous," enters the picture...

We live in an era wherein individuals are able to surf the Net and post indiscriminately, without the necessity of actually being able to think clearly. Worse, we live in a time when those who can think clearly do not necessarily share one standard of moral behavior. The results are self-evident.

So we have individuals speaking for the mass media as a whole, or at least being given credit for doing so. We have a growing assumption that Michael Jackson was murdered, that someone will have to pay, and that it is the business of the public to care. We have public personalities making rash, inflammatory pronouncements and well-funded lobbyists launching inflammatory ad campaigns, and it doesn't even matter which perspective they represent - the target audiences are buying the swill in sufficient quantities that public opinion, never a homogenous thing anyway, is becoming so polarized that nation's representatives are becoming paralyzed, more fearful of political fallout than failure to effect civic reform.

Funny thing is that everyone proposing solutions is right: private sectors need to step up already existing efforts to help out, new private efforts need leadership and initiative, government needs to intervene where private enterprise refuses to police and/or reform itself, and the flower power of legislators' youth needs to be implemented as reality, not merely nostalgia available for crass commercial exploitation.

No, no, I'm not advocating a hippy state; but the idealism of the 60s should have had sufficient time to mull and mature into useful, functional applications by now. There should be something more than sappy music and faded memories to show for all that energy and brainpower that was on display, that changed the way the whole world looks and functions. What's more, that gifted generation has had time to produce eager offspring who have produced ever more gifted offspring - so where's the new Bounce?

Why so much white noise?
Where's the pudding proof?
Not just all the poop...

Losing Touch

A friend on a multiple city business trip shares a widespread disaffection for interminably oppressive heat. Seriously, is this not less expensive than a spa membership, this indoor outdoor sauna sensation?

Still, I am troubled by the revelation that so many downtown cities evidently have sliding sidewalks encased in clear tubes that allow connectivity between buildings regardless of meteorological conditions outside. Why troubled, you may well ask. It does seem a fine sign of progress that civilization is able to provide comfort and ease even in the most inclement of weather, be it too hot and dry or too cold and wet. True, one can travel with ease and keep paperwork unblemished... still, there seems something sad in the loss of connection with something as simple as fresh air. Granted, downtown air tends not to be quite so fresh nor so enjoyable as one might reasonably expect of the great outdoors. Still, there is a sad surrender, much like the ways in which we city dwellers have lost touch with food sources and thus with the natural cycles of life death and renewal.

Think I've been reading too much Gabaldon lately...