Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, but first I need more coffee.

Month: July 2007 (Page 1 of 2)

And things happen in Omaha

Sounds like the title of an R.A. Lafferty story. Things happen everywhere. Something did happen in Omaha to one of my longtime friends recenty. I can’t say much about it now save that it was a harrowing experience. Hopefully, I’ll be able to go into more detail at a later date.

Sorry to be so cryptic.

And things that happen in Omaha

This sounds like the title of an R.A. Lafferty story. A friend of mine was involved in an incident wherein he stopped a purse snatcher. He got stabbed for his efforts. The amazing thing was he subdued the attacker after being wounded without hurting them. He was not seriously injured and was able to return to work the next day.

I am just testing out the livejournalling system to see how it works and to test the typefaces available.

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Papal Indulgence (sin offset) vs. Carbon Offset (green indulgence)

What is the difference between a Papal Indulgence and a Carbon Offset? Not much, both can be purchased to assuage guilt. Might as well call one a Sin Offset and the other a Green Indulgence A papal indulgence is a sin offset. You know you are going to commit sins or you have already committed sins and you still want to get into Heaven, so as a good Catholic you purchase a Papal Indulgence. It’s not a blanket Get-Out-of-Hell-Free card because your status is always somewhat in doubt. By purchasing a PI you are asking the Pope to intercede on your behalf.

Buying a carbon offset rather than cutting carbon emissions seems no better than buying a papal indulgence. It’s a shortcut that doesn’t really address the problem. A sinner should well stop sinning. If they want to reduce the amount of sin going on they should 1) lead by example 2) counsel others on their wicked ways. A carbon emitter should reduce carbon emissions first then lead by example and counsel others on how to reduce their carbon emissions. Those acts just might make a difference.

Year of the F*%#heads

My grandmother passed away a few weeks ago and my wife and I went to the funeral. I was honored to be one of the pallbearers. She was a lovely woman and I was sad to see her go. My uncle, her youngest son, gave an eloquent eulogy and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the church. Better words could not have been spoken. After the church service, we loaded up into our cars for the funeral procession to the cemetery. It was a fairly long drive as it was in Dallas.

Most cars pulled over. Some even put their headlights on as a sign of respect. The major streets in Dallas are divided and six lanes. As we headed towards the cemetery. I saw a pickup truck waiting to turn left or make a U-turn in the direction we were heading. He U-turned and merged into the funeral procession. Mel and I’s jaws just dropped. I could not believe it. I said, well maybe, he was late for the funeral and was joining the procession. I was being overly generous. A few miles later he turned into an apartment complex. I was aghast (I like using that word) that someone was so disrespectful, so oblivious that they could not wait a few minutes for a funeral procession to pass them by and then go about their business.

To the driver of that pickup “You, sir, are a fuckhead!”

Over the last few years, I see more and more drivers not pull over for police, ambulances, or firetrucks. Some pay lip service and sort of go through the motions. I’ve seen some cars pull right in behind the emergency vehicle so they can make progress. I’ve seen some people take advantage of other cars (obeying the law and being respectful) and pull out in front of said emergency vehicle and almost cause an accident. Yeah, they were a fuckhead.

2007 is the Year of the Fuckhead. There are people in my personal life, my professional life, and in public life that are being fuckheads. I won’t detail the personal or professional fuckheads for obvious reasons. I don’t need to detail the the antics of the fuckheads in the White House who are being especially fuckheaded this year. There seems to be a convergence of fuckheadishness this year hence it’s designation. Maybe I’m being a fuckhead for even mentioning this, but I don’t care. I want to rant. Here’s the problem with fuckheads: It’s never their fault; They are the victim; They think they are clever; And they retaliate. I have my faults, I am not a victim, nor particularly clever, and I try really hard not to retaliate. All I can do is pity them because I find it very difficult to sympathize with a fuckhead.

Ponder this. Do assholes drive pickup trucks or do pickup trucks turn the drivers into assholes?

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