This "might" be my last post here, but now I'm on Substack

Everything on my "to do" list is complete, so...I had time.

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TWITTER JAIL!

I DID IT!

Late last night I was responding to a post over "there" by @davidcorn on the "news" that the former President might just have been a tax cheat. He concluded his post that these revelations "showed us who he really was."

My response was merely a tepid reply that rather than show us, it merely reminded us, as many of us already knew this information. I did not swear (for once), nor did I threaten, harass, defame, etc., nor did I use any racial/sexual/etc. slurs.

Hateful conduct? "Skank" got me tossed? Seriously? After more than a decade of f-bombs, a-holes, and worse, I get nicked for "skank?" Jeebus.

Of course I've appealed, but this just proves beyond a shadow of a doubt what a complete dumpster-fire Twitter has become of late.

I'd call it worse, but why tempt fate? The tweet in question:

SOCIAL MEDIA BOLLOCKS

I am cross-posting this blurb at the following, the reasons for which will be clear enough once you read the blurb…

·        “Damned Old Crank” Blogspot - https://mexinger.blogspot.com/

·        Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mike.exinger/

·        Twitter - https://twitter.com/MikeExinger

·        Post.News - https://post.news/mikeexinger

And for you Twitter readers, sorry, but you’ll have to go to (one of) the links to read the whole thing because of the 140-character limit.

To be honest, I don’t use Social Media all that much (yeah, I’m going to continue to capitalize it – deal).   I’ve been on the Interwebs in one form or another for almost 30 years now.  I’ve designed webpages (long live MS FrontPage!) but didn’t get on Facebook until we had the ice cream parlor and everyone said, “OMG you have to have a Facebook page so you can get reviews” and since it also required having a personal page, I did that, too.  I started my blog when I started publishing my eBooks, thinking that this would be a great advertising method AND a way to vent frustration on a variety of topics.  I got on Twitter because there were a few people I wanted to follow and I was utilizing it’s 140-character method for messaging Congressional reps and others about important issues of the day (mostly gambling related – sue me).

Over time the need to tweet lessened as gambling soon became almost ubiquitous in the states (still no online Poker in Oregon but we have a shitty Sportsbook, so there’s that).  Facebook is great for staying in touch with old friends and posting Wordle scores, and I haven’t blogged in over a year (a while variety of excused I could give you, but that’s all they are). 

Frankly, I use Social Media mostly to see what others are saying – my commentary has been reduced to clicking the “like” or “care” icons and offering responses like “Lock HIM up!” “LFG!” and “Bingo!”  It’s rare that I take the time to correct a commenter on his or her wrong-headed views of the world, of politics, of the COVID virus or vaccine, of gas prices and what causes their rise and fall, etc. etc.  Why?  See: Pig Wrestling.

So, my use of Twitter especially has been reduced to scrolling just to see what others say, and that’s why I started looking around for another spot to roost.  Twitter’s demise has been predicted for weeks now, ever since Elon Musk bought it and started to “modify” content (90% of which seems to be either about Musk, Twitter, Nazis, or “Nazis on Twitter”).  Many LIBS such as myself have been looking at other Social Media outlets like Mastodon, Tribel, BlueSky Social, etc.  Having a communication outlet controlled by someone who is…well, use your own description here.

For me, Musk is just another one of those incredibly rich assholes who believe they are infallible and can do whatever they want.  Worse yet, as they expand their empires, they attempt to “control the narrative” as to who they actually are (many websites actually credit Musk with creating PayPal, and…uh no.  That’s the BS I’m talking about).  Even this weekend the NY Times seems confused as to what Musk’s political leanings, are with the article headline: “Critics Say Musk Has Revealed Himself as a Conservative. It’s Not So Simple.”

Yeah, it is.  If the “Twitter Files” non-bombshell nothingburger, readmittance of Trump and other ultra-right-wing coup-plotters wasn’t enough, there’s this:

“My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci”

So even if Twitter doesn’t implode like a bad-wired Tesla, I plan to leave the platform by the end of the year.  And I’ve landed, for now, at Post.News.

I don’t know if my habits will change all that much with the move.  I might post a bit more there since the long form is “in style.”  I’ve never had big followings anywhere (and the Blog was the only place that I tried to make that happen because of the books, and since they’re selling better now than ever with no posting on the blog whatsoever…), so unlike a lot of Twitter users, it’s NBD to me one way or the other.  I do admit to a morbid curiosity of wanting to watch the last days of Twitter, like when Trump finally decides to return in his futile bid to stave off further investigations or indictments, and/or whatever other follies occur there.  Frankly, I can’t recall seeing any business anywhere else go through so many changes so quickly with a new owner…and so disastrously as well.  One wonders if self-destruction was actually part of the plan.  It very well might be.

If you’re on Post.News, I hope you’ll give me a follow and I’ll return the favor. 

Side note 1:  Facebook has its own issues, and since Mark Zuckerberg reads everything on FB, let me advise him of his latest F-up – today, for some reason, whenever I “like” or “care” or choose some other icon to comment on an existing post the cursor moves up one, two, or even three stories from the one I “like” on so I can’t even see it in my browser.  WTF, Mark?

Side note 2:  Looks like Elon might reconsider the 140-character limit and bump it up to 4000.  Problem is, Mein Kampf was longer than that.

 

 

It’s About Time (I changed the title of this blog)

Not quite ten years ago, I started this blog for a variety of reasons.  Since then, a lot has changed, including the reasons for continuing to write and what I write about.  Actually, just about everything has changed except the title.  I’ve been wanting to do that, too, but couldn’t think of a title that stuck with me, reflected exactly what I wanted to be all about.  And then it hit me.

I’ve been reading American Lighting, about the bombing of the LA Times Building back in 1910 and the intersection of three prominent Americans – Billy Burns, the famous detective who “cracked the case;” Clarence Darrow, who defended the labor-leader perpetrators; and D. W. Griffith, the famous director, who had absolutely nothing to do with these events but somehow author Howard Blum wove him into the narrative.  As a history, it’s a bit clunky, but Blum mostly pulls it off.

But briefly mentioned in the text (he had more to do with the story than Griffith) is E. W. Scripps, and the reference to him as “The Old Crank.”  Turns out that’s not quite right – it’s DAMNED OLD CRANK, which was also the title of his autobiography.  I knew about Scripps, of course – started the Detroit News and later a chain of newspapers, then created UPI, etc., etc.  Ohio University’s School of Journalism is named after him.  At some point, I’ll have to find a copy of the bio and read more about the man, if nothing more than to find out what made him tick other than his prolific consumption of cigars and whiskey – he was reported to drink about a gallon a day.

So why use Damned Old Crank for the title of this blog?  Is that a reference to the great journalism I hope to accomplish here?  A tip o’ the hat to Scripp’s moxie and drive?

Nah.  It’s just that I not only consider myself a Damned Old Crank, but others do, too.

My Sister-in-Law’s nickname for me is “Mr. Bombastic.”  I can get like that, for sure.  My wife says that as I’ve aged I’ve gotten crankier – she blames the fact that our social skills have been dulled for the last 15 months due to COVID, while I think I come off that was because my voice is going (I now speak in a raspy old-man growl due to throat irritation mixed with actually being irritated by other people).

The old “Wanna Bet” title partly reflected the original purpose of the blog (to talk about gambling) and a personal attitude.  Back in the day, that was my Dad’s rejoinder (and mine) to a challenge or a claim that something we uttered was incorrect.  “Wanna Bet?” Dad would bellow, and I adopted the same phrase and defiant position.  Later in life, when Mona and I faced one hurdle after another, we’d respond a bit differently (though still defiant): “Oh, yeah?  Well, fuck you!”  No, seriously.  It was like a precursor to the “Hold my beer” prompt, and it became our rallying cry when faced with whatever challenge life threw our way.

Now that we’re retired, the challenges are fewer (though no less daunting), and while, “Oh yeah, well fuck you” sounds like a great blog title to ME, I kept thinking I could do a bit better (and come off less crass).  So Damned Old Crank it is.

Your comments and sass are welcome, and no, I don’t plan to change the picture just yet even though it’s 25 years old, because it’s STILL the biggest check I’ve ever received from writing (both figurative and literally).  Maybe someday once I’ve lost as much hair as Scripps, but not now.

Stuff Always Happens

Why, yes – it HAS been a long time since I posted to this blog.  A lot has happened since last July.  Can that be right?  THIRTEEN MONTHS?  Dang.

Well, let’s recap all that’s happened in those thirteen months, quickly:

• My brother in Michigan suffered a heart attack, and had quad-bypass surgery.
• He had been caring for my mom, who suffered from dementia – she became unresponsive, and passed away in August last year.
• Did I mention these two events occurred simultaneously?  No?  Yeah, that was fun – not.  Spent some time back in Michigan dealing with it all.  The good news is that Tom has recovered nicely, and is back to work.
• My wife and I had our own medical issues.  As of today, three of our four eyes are “fixed” (cataracts and glaucoma); my left eye is slated for early 2021. 
• We also had to replace three of our specialty doctors (and the dentist) due to retirements.  Fortunately, we got great replacements (and young’uns, too, so they’ll be around for a while).
• A plethora of other issues regarding the house, Medicare overbilling (for the insurance, not for specific treatments – that’s been OK so far), and stuff going kablooey around the house (not the new house itself, thankfully).
• Oh, yeah…COVID.  And now forest fires galore in Oregon and the whole west and smoky skies and horrible breathing and…

So let me stop right there.  These are either reasons for not writing here or “excuses” depending on how one wants to at them.  For many months I considered them excuses – I really felt overwhelmed and in no mental state to write in my blog.  Then I realized that writing was sort of cathartic and starting putting “Blog” on my list.  (It is not a “to do” list as I am retired; more of a “possibilities” list).  If I had a nickel for every time I put it on my list I’d have about six or seven dollars by now.  Intentions were good; follow-through was bad.

This is not to say I haven’t been writing.  I’ve written to my Facebook page and even sent out a few tweets.  I usually only respond to tweets, as you can imagine how difficult it is for me to limit my thoughts to 256 characters (OMG I just learned how to LINK TWEETS!).   Goodness knows there’s been plenty to comment on in the world today, but I must admit that more of my time was spent reading others’ posts and hitting the ANGRY icon, which didn’t put me in the right frame of mind to write anything.

But I did write…a book.  A novel, actually.  It’s “just a story” and may not go anywhere (I am shopping for agents and small publishers and so far, nada but I keep trying); still, it felt good to complete it and it gave me a good feeling to do so.  And now that Mona can read again (she no longer needs glasses at ALL), she can read it and probably edit the hell out if it and THEN maybe I can get it published.  We’ll see.

But this week I was determined to do SOMETHING here.  And here we are.  I’d love to say, “I certainly won’t be so long at getting back to the blog” but I hate to promise what I might not be able to deliver (and that’s the secret of running a successful business – or a government – take the hint, Donnie). 

I have a backlog of stuff I think I’d like to put words to paper about.  Believe it or not, I’ve mellowed some in my almost two years of retirement so far, so I won’t be the old curmudgeon that I used to be. 

On the other hand, I still know how to swear, so there still might be an edge.  Plus, the election is less than two months away.  Wheeeeeeee!

So Long, Seaside!

The papers are signed, the process complete, the utilities shut off, and the money is in the bank (what’s left, anyway).  We’ve finally sold the house in Seaside, and officially as of yesterday, have cut all ties from the coastal community we called home for 18 ½ years.

It’s been a loooooooong process.  Everything took longer than planned – finding a new community and house to live in, selling the business, and then selling the house in Seaside.  Now I’m only going to discuss the first part, as the business sale (eventually) worked out great – the new owners are doing a super job and enjoying themselves (and we got what we wanted from the sale), and as for the real estate transaction...  As you may know, Mona wrote a (humorous and only slightly exaggerated) book about buying a house, and that pretty much says it all except that if she ever writes a sequel about selling real estate I have the perfect title: “Clusterfuck.”

Anyway, it’s over.  And throughout the process people asked us the same question: “Why do you want to move?”  I’ve decided that there are two types of people in this country – people who move, and people who don’t.  Of course, there are a multitude of reasons for both moving and for not moving, including not being able to move.  I’ve met folks who live in the same town, the same neighborhood, and in one case the same house all their lives.  I know others who have lived in different towns, different states, different countries even.  In my opinion, if “travel broadens you,” then living elsewhere broadens you even more.

Is there something about being where you are that makes being where you are that much more special just because that’s where you are?  Is it like the psychology experiment where the moderator gives you a $5 coffee mug, then asks how much you’d sell it for, and you always say more (or much more, the so-called “Endowment Effect”)?  It seems that way.  “Why do you want to leave Seaside?” was the plaintive cry.  As if this was the perfect place to be.

Don’t get me wrong – there are many good folks who consider Seaside a wonderful place to live, and it had a reputation as a great place to retire.  It’s certainly a popular tourist attraction, and the retirement population is growing (as is the town itself, one of the fastest growing in Oregon).  But that alone doesn’t mean it’s the right place for us now.

Seaside was a fine enough place to live while we owned the business, which is frankly the reason we moved there.  We could have lived in neighboring towns like Gearhart or Cannon Beach, but they were too expensive and too far away.  If you’ve ever tried to negotiate US 101 on a summer day in tourist season, you’ll know why we chose to live where we did – in walking distance of the store.  Smart choice.

We had specific desires (which our real estate agent called “requirements”) for a retirement location.  We wanted to be much closer to the Portland metro area because of medical issues.  Seaside does have a hospital, but if you’re in need of a specialist, you’ll make the 2-hour drive to Portland.  We wanted more room – in Seaside, we could see into our neighbor’s kitchen from our kitchen – on BOTH sides.  There were no large lots or acreage in Seaside, and anything close by wasn’t close by.  If you have to drive several miles to get to a grocery store, bank, whatever…why not live somewhere where you have a much larger choice of groceries, banks…AND you don’t have to wade through tourist traffic for nearly four months every year.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the drive to Portland from Seaside is a fine drive for two-thirds of the year.  From November to February there’s always the danger of strong storms and heavy snow in the Coastal Range, and while you can drive around on US 30 and avoid the higher elevations, you’ll add 30-40 minutes to your drive on a dry day, and you can still run into snow, ice, and freezing rain.  No thanks.

There were other factors, of course.  We spent nearly 10 years researching the “ideal” spot to retire, and we actually settled in the #2 spot on our master list (on the #2 piece of property we found).  It’s not a “perfect” location but it meets most of our requirements, more so than Seaside (and the house is brand-new and larger than the cottage we had there).  So we moved.  To us it was an easy choice, but it was still difficult for others to understand why we’d want to move. 

Every place we’ve lived before this we can tell you good things about and not-so-good things, too.  Every community has stellar points and sore spots.  Ann Arbor, MI was a great place for education, but has lousy weather (six months of winter and six months of bad skiing).  Plus, we had economic issues there (it’s not a cheap place to live).  Ypsilanti (next door to AA) was OK, but it suffered from many of the same problems.  Eugene, OR was very nice, with great summers, but we moved there when the city was going through a tough economic spell (they also have great parks).  Monroe, LA has great food, friendly people, but it’s in the “David Duke” section of the state.  Boise, ID was dynamic – great university, parks, and recreation galore – if it ends in “ing” you can do it in Boise.  However, Boise has the unfortunate condition of being located in Idaho.  It’s isolated and red as all get out.  Too bad.

Seaside has the beach, of course, and more restaurants and banks than a normal town of 6,000 people.  That’s due to it’s being a tourist destination.  Problem is, everything else about the town is geared to tourism, meaning that all other shopping and services are best found elsewhere.  In the last few years neighboring Warrenton, 13 miles north, has grown with chain-store strip malls that fill in some blanks, but it’s not enough for us. 

The woman who bought our house is moving from Washington and is delighted with all of what Seaside has to offer.  She’s always wanted to live by the beach with her three little rescue dogs, and now she has the chance to do so.  We’re sure she’ll be very happy here.  Funny thing is, even she wonder why we were moving away from Seaside.  She actually thought we were reconsidering our move (even though we moved in to our new house five months ago) when we asked for a time extension on the sales agreement. 

Of course, it HAD to be that, and not the fact that she had beaucoup items on the Buyer’s Repair Addendum that has to be fixed before the prescribed date AND she gave us this list on short notice RIGHT before the Fourth of July weekend AND Seaside suffers from a shortage of plumbers and electricians AND they are all busy AF during the summer because that’s when EVERYONE gets work done. 

Which is another reason why we wanted to move.

After 6 1/2 weeks, I'm back online. I think that's a good thing.

If you are reading this, my bout of “Internet Impotence” is over.

Back a loooooong time ago (January), I had access to the Internet just like regular people do.  I checked email.  I looked up stuff (thanks, Wiki!).  I bought things.  I downloaded porn and gambled all da…errr, I checked my stock portfolio.

Then, we moved, and all hell broke loose.

We took our time moving from the old house in Seaside to the new house in Warren, and during all the back-and-forth time we kept our phone line and Internet connection in Seaside.  We used that connection to go online to find out which provider would best serve our needs in the new house – CenturyLink (which we had in Seaside and hated), and Comcast/Xfinity, the service nearly everyone in our new neighborhood has.  We quickly discovered that to both providers, we didn’t exist.

Having a new address meant not being in the database, apparently, and this complicated matters.  I had no idea how much. I figured that the idea of “new address” wasn’t foreign, especially where we moved to, as there was new construction all around in our little burg (Warren is now considered “highly desirable” in the real estate ads.  Who knew?).  CenturyLink even had a little “is this a new address” button on their “request info” page on their website, but this didn’t seem to help much.

Eventually, I had to make phone calls.  I explained the situation to both Comcast and CenturyLink, that we had a new house, wanted phone and Internet, and that all of our neighbors had Comcast service and loved it (OK, I left that last part out when I called CenturyLink).  So what could I get and how much did it cost?

CenturyLink decided that even if I didn’t show up in their system I and even if I didn’t ask about DirecTV, THAT’S what they wanted to sell me, regardless.  After all, I’d get savings by bundling services I didn’t want and something something blah blah gift card that I’d never use and can we sign you up today?  Three times I had to explain to a somewhat bored customer service rep that I only wanted information, not action, and not TV, and only Internet and local phone. And she came right back with another offer that included unlimited long distance and DirecTV with HBO.  “YOU’RE NOT LISTENING,” I said (rather loudly).  Eventually I got some numbers and thanked her.  It was as expensive as I figured it would be, so I assumed I’d be like all my neighbors and switch to Comcast.

The response I got from Comcast was…curious.  “You’re not in our system,” they explained after I told them that I wasn’t in their system when I tried to get information online.  “It could be that we don’t service that area.”  I explained that my neighbors to the east, south, north, and west all had Comcast, and since there weren’t any directions left, I assumed I could get Comcast, too.  They weren’t as certain as I, and said they had to talk to engineering and get back to me.

Two days later, they got back to me.  Seems that when they dug to lay their fiber optic line, they blew right past our property, assuming that since every other piece of property had a home on it, there was no reason to think that ours would someday as well, so they skipped us.  Sure, we could dig a trench to lay a new line to your house, they offered, but there would be an expense.  Since I just built a new house and had underground utilities installed, I was no stranger to the process.

I was, however, not familiar with their idea of what it cost.  About eleven grand.

Now like I said, I just built a house and had underground utilities put in.  I PAID to have trenches dug, both on the property and under the street.  I KNOW what I paid for THAT, and it was nowhere near $11K.  Seeing that they had no further obligation to me other that this “up yours” offer, I passed.  Sigh.  Time to call CenturyLink again.

This time I got a helpful, cheerful customer assistant person who gave me a completely (lower) set of prices for my services, so I agreed online to have them come out and install both the local line and a line for Internet.  The Internet speed they quoted was twice as fast as what the first rep told me (and 4x what I had in Seaside), so even though it was nowhere near as fast as Comcast’s fiber line, it was still faster that what I could actually get from Comcast (nada) and it came with their “Price for Life Guarantee.” However, they have to give you two lines for some reason, most likely so they can send you two bills and then jack the rate on the line not covered by the guarantee.  Yes, I am cynical about that.

Still, it seemed like I was halfway home, and then the rep asked me if my contractor had installed a line and taken it to the end of the property.  I was ready for this, because I knew he had and he actually showed me where it was located.  “Sure did, and there’s a box at the end of the property next to the neighbor’s driveway with the wires all ready to go,” I told him.  “That’s great, because we have a junction box at the end of the driveway, too, and that will make hookup an easy thing,” he replied.  He then gave me the schedules for installation (two lines, two separate trips), but still, progress. 

That was back in February.  When CenturyLink installer #1 came out to install the phone line, he saw our line, saw their junction box, and noticed a problem. Our line did in fact extend to the end of our property, as it should.  Their box was in fact located at the end of the neighbor’s driveway.

On the other side of the driveway.

This meant that another trench would have to be dug, and the good news is that it wouldn’t cost anything (since CenturyLink is a public utility, I guess).  Before I tell you about that, let me tell you that five days later a second CenturyLink installer came out to install the Internet line.  As if no one told her about CenturyLink installer #1 and the need to dig a trench.  Because no one did.  And this is a “communications company,” remember.  She confirmed what I already knew, that they’d need to dig a trench to extend the line.

About that – like I said, the good news was that it wouldn’t cost me eleven thousand.  Wouldn’t cost me a dime.  But you know the old saying, “time is money.”  That, it would cost me, because to dig that trench could take forever.  And did. 

First off, they said they had to get a permit to dig from Columbia County.  As I mentioned above, I just built a home here, so I know something about how long it takes to get a permit here.  When CenturyLink installer #1 said the whole thing shouldn’t take but 2-3 weeks, I nodded and said, “Sure.”  Inside my head, I said, “In your dreams.”  Because while “Columbia County Time” isn’t exactly “Island Time,” it’s damn close.

After three weeks, I called for an update, and was told “well, we just got the permit.”  More time elapsed and another update told me that it was scheduled to be done before the end of the month.  That would make it just over five weeks, not 2-3 weeks, and here’s the spoiler alert, they didn’t make that either.

In the meantime, I was getting online in the most haphazard way for short spells.  When we were “in town” we’d stop at the public library to borrow their wifi, and we’d steal some time in a coffee shop doing likewise, but it was a real pain.  We’d save up what we’d need to buy/check/etc. online, then try to do it all in the 30-minite window we were connected, then go home and remember we forgot stuff and couldn’t get online again until a couple more days.

Except…we still had an internet connection at our old house.  We kept the phone hookup active, just in case we needed something when we were there cleaning up and getting the place ready to sell.  It was two hours from home, but it was a chance to get online and catch up. 

Well, it was.

On one trip to the old house I emailed my ISP asking about my options in keeping just my email account going until I could switch everything over to another account once we were connected at the new house.  They somehow interpreted this to mean CUT EVERYTHING OFF RIGHT NOW!  I was in the middle of ordering something for the new house when I noticed I was no longer connected to the internet.  I went through the standard routine - reboot modem, reboot computer – still nothing.  I went to do some outside work on the house and came back an hour later, and…still no internet.  So I called Tech Support (where I already have a black asterisk next to my name – that’s a long story for another time) and after being put on hold for a VERY LONG time the tech came back to tell me that they had cut me off, and that getting me reconnected was a long and difficult (and pretty much impossible) process.  I said “thank you” (well, it kinda sounded like “thank you”) and that was that. 

Oh, he did say that I still had access to my email account for the rest of the month, and I could access it…if I could get online somewhere.  I found out later that they did notify me and made me an offer to keep just the email for a year for $30.

That notification was sent by email, of course.

So now I had no connection at home and I was at the mercy of the library and their available hours (and no gambling or porn, of course), and getting madder by the day.  Finally, on March 29 (five full weeks after the initial visit by CenturyLink installer #1), an official-looking truck rolls up my driveway.  It’s a technician for the excavating company sub-contracted by CenturyLink that will be digging the trench.  He says that they’re scheduled to do the dig on April 1 (an ominous day if there ever was one), and all that he’s doing is marking the street for where the dig is to be (which, I should point out that this was already done five weeks ago by CenturyLink installer #1).  Because he was paid by the hour, or maybe by the number of spray paint cans used, he re-marked the locations in a different color than CenturyLink installer #1.  It looked lovely.

Later, I was curious, so I called the number on the business card he left to see if, in fact, they would dig when he said they would, which would be the last day in order to make the deadline promised to me in the last update I got from CenturyLink.  You no doubt realize that I was not to be disappointed, in the sense that I already knew they wouldn’t dig then, and I was right.  No, they still had to send out the “locator” before the dig, but the dig was scheduled for April 4, so no doubt the locator would be at my place on Monday or Tuesday.  Still curious, I asked why the process had taken so long.  I was told, “Well, we just found about it ourselves last week, and we fit it into our schedule as soon as we could.”  Seems CenturyLink kicked it around their offices, higher-up, mucky-mucks, and assorted departments for 4 ½ weeks before deciding that, yeah, I guess we should honor that part of the letter we sent Mr. Exinger when we claimed,

“We are excited for you to being using and enjoying CenturyLink products.”

Now, I don’t want to get too far ahead of my story, but damn…the locator WAS there on Monday, and they DID dig the trench on April 4 and so I called CenturyLink to let them know this.  And you know what?

They had no idea that the trench had been dug, claiming that all they knew was

(a) the home phone account work order had a “hold” on it for some reason, and

(b) the internet work order was…cancelled? 

“Can that be right?” the customer service rep said. “Um, wait a minute.  Let me go speak with my supervisor.”

“Before you do that,” I said, “please know that it’s been SIX WEEKS since I was promised phone and internet service, and as you might guess, I am just a little PO’d right about now.”

“Oh.  Would you hold?”  Like I had a choice.

Seven excruciating minutes later I was given the choice of 9am-1pm or 1pm-5pm on the next business day, and lo and behold, they actually came at 8:50am!  The home phone was first be connected, and about a hour later I saw the technician rise from her spot outside, and the phone rang!  She’s testing, I thought, so I quickly answered the phone.

It was a robocall about my chronic pain.  Seriously?  We’re live for less than a minute, and we get a robocall? 

Ain’t technology grand?

Re-Cued

This used to be a disc jockey's best friend.

Radio peeps will get the reference immediately (well, the ones older than 30); for those of you left wondering about the title and the pic – here’s the explanation (and how it relates to today’s post comes a bit later).  Back before everything went digital, radio jingles and commercials were recorded on these continuous loop cartridges, or “carts.”  The cart would be recorded with the ad AND a silent tone that told the cart when to stop once it played, essentially “re-cueing” itself to start all over again.

We’ve been re-cued.

Back in May I wrote about how we had a shitload of stuff going down.  Besides running the ice cream parlor for another year (that’s 17 now), we were also in the process of selling the business AND building a home on our retirement property in Warren.  The way things were supposed to play out, by now we’d have a buyer for the store and our home would be close to completion, and we’d be moving soon to start a new chapter in our lives.

Instead, we’re starting over from last year.

We did not sell the store…yet.  We’re pretty much back to where we were six months ago, except we have fewer folks interested and we’ve lost those six months (and a few dollars in legal fees).  We had a number of interested parties, and one in particular that had a keen interest, but...well, because of confidentiality rules and all, I can’t talk about it.  But nothing happened, essentially.

And that’s what happened with the new modular house…nothing.  Almost nothing, anyway.  While I can talk about this, I really don’t want to, as I still have a bad taste in my mouth.  We had drawings back in May and a schedule that tied in with our general contractor (doing work on the land, prep for the house, etc.), our solar contractor (to put rooftop solar system in place once the house was set), and the bank (which was to finance the whole shootin’ match for a bit until we sold the business to pay it all off).

What should have happened was blueprints, approval of same, loan, build, deliver, finish, solar, move in.  What did happen was…delay, delay, problem, delay, delay.  And all during the delay was the worst level of communication (or non-communication, if you will) that we’ve encountered in a professional capacity.  By August we had no faith that this project was EVER to be completed, and we’d missed all of our available windows for the contractor and the bank (the solar folks were behind so they didn’t mind the fact that we weren’t ready for them.  Or so they said.).

So we cancelled the house.  Given the fact that back in May I was already saying (in this blog) that “…deadlines come and go,” I shouldn’t be surprised that this fell apart.  Also, given that we didn’t sell the business and most likely will be running the store for at least part of 2018, I’m kinda glad this project is on hold for now.

We will build, but with a different company.  We’re doing some research now as to who and what, but we do know that the WHEN won’t be until we sell the store.  We’re moving forward with the sale – we’ve expanded our outreach (where we’re advertising it) and even though fall is the slow season for businesses like ours, we’re hopeful we’ll find a buyer.

It’s amazing that I can even use that word, “hopeful.”  September was a rough month for us – we ended our season a week early (ran out of ice cream sooner than we thought), but that was OK as we were near exhaustion and running on fumes.  THAT caught up with us – Mona got a horrible cold, as did I, and mine turned into bronchitis, so our annual clean up of the store once closed has been on hold for most of the month (we just got back into cleaning up last Friday).  We were also dealing with cutting our house contract (we lawyered up again, and he did the job), and wrapping up our dealings with the potential store buyer (and technically the lawyering is still going on a bit – one last piece of paper needed to say “sayonara” for good).

And the rest of the world seemed like it’s been re-cued, too.  We are still battling to keep the ACA from being overturned.  We’re still working in Pennsylvania and Michigan (and elsewhere) to make online gaming legal.  We’re still fighting for justice in so many damn places.  It can be terribly depressing to have to start over personally when so many other aspects of life are also ostensibly on hold, not progressing…stalled….stuck.

Nevertheless, we’re hitting “play” again.  The show must go on.

Why No, I Haven’t Written Much Lately

Yes, I’ve been busy.  I’m about to be even more so, as today marks the beginning of the summer tourist season.  Traditionally, I write a final pre-season post and say goodbye for the summer, so to speak.  Once the tourists are gone in September, I return with a flourish.  Since I started this post several weeks ago, it’s now turned into that post. 

Yeah, I haven’t written much lately.  It’s certainly not from a lack of material to write about.

For example, take President Trump.  Please.  There has been so much one could discuss.  I’ve considered it several times, but, just as I start up the ol’ laptop, another bombshell hits and attention is diverted to the chaos du jour. 

There are two reasons I don’t talk about Trump – one, many others do it far better and with more vitriol than I (see: “100 Days 100 Horrors” here), and more importantly, it’s preaching to the saved.  The 36% who still see him as Making America Great Again see nothing wrong here.  Two recent quotes (from Facebook comments) are telling:

“Trump has done more in his first three months than Obama did in eight years!”

“Never, never in my lifetime seen a President be scrutinized over every word he speaks, humiliated by the public, insulted, lied to…Every other President after they got in office were left alone…”

It’s just a different reality, I guess.  Oh, BTW, the election was six months ago and yes, we’re well over that.  What we’re not over is what’s going on now.  THAT’S what is pissing us off.  Just sayin’.  See “100 Days 100 Horrors” here.

Anyway, as the “well-oiled machine” turns into a “dumpster fire” into a “train wreck” and is now in “full-blown Hindenburg,” we’ll all wait to see what happens.  I know where my money is.  Hello, President Pence (ick).

I could be writing about the ongoing battle to restore online poker to its pre-Black Friday glory.  In 2013, three states legislated legal and regulated online gaming and poker.  And we still only have three states.  We push ahead and contact legislators in the various states that show interest in moving forward (California seems like a dream to us now), but…progress here is very, very slow.  There have been signs of life lately in PA and NY, but…well, we’ll see once summer is over.  Perhaps I will return to a much different online landscape.

And speaking of slow progress…the real reason I’ve written hardly at all.

I mentioned at the beginning of the year that I was optimistic about 2017, and that was because we had a lot going on.  That’s one reason there haven’t been many words scribed to this blog – we’ve been involved.  Running the business, selling the business, building a house – all of that at the same time.  It’s kept us very busy, but, sadly, there’s been little real progress.  Like watching glaciers melt.  We wanted to get a lot of the paperwork and decision making out of the way before we started the busy part of the tourist season.

Fat chance.

I realize designers and contractors and bankers are busy people, and they have many other things on their plate.  But the thing that gets me is that I never hear back from them when I ask a question or inquire as to the status of our project.  Deadlines come and go.  “Life stuff” comes up and gets in the way (some of it has been legit, so I am only half-complaining here). Remember how email and cellphones were supposed to speed things up and make communication fast and effortless?  Apparently that’s not true if you never look at your email and never answer your phone.  Who knew?

All I know is that the next person who tells me “I’ll have something to you by Friday” gets it right between the eyes.

But here’s the best part of all this – work, house, selling the biz – I write this knowing that it’s gonna get worse (busier) before it gets better, but I also know that most likely this will be the LAST TIME we do this.

We hope.

Seasonal Slog

It's beginning to look a lot like...well, y'know.

That’s what we call it; not sure what you call it.  Perhaps you don’t have it.  It’s not really a malaise, or SAD, or even ennui, just a feeling that now, about a couple of weeks before Christmas, things seem…slow.  Really S  L  O  W.  Detached, maybe.

Reasons?  Well, it’s cold.  Snowy and/or stormy.  Even if it’s not cold and snowy, the weather is probably the worst it gets wherever you live.  We have cold, rain, storms…and of course, it gets dark sooner and light later, and the days are as short as they’ll ever be.   And the rain/storms don’t make it any brighter.  No wonder folks get SAD.

People are distracted because of the holidays, and final exams, and a whole bunch of stuff.  We were at Fred Meyer today and Costco yesterday and there are folks there going through the motions, buying groceries and presents and the usual holiday trimmings, but everyone (including us) seemed to be in s-l-o-w motion.  Even the help.  OK, more so than usual – no one moves that fast here on the coast.  That’s just the way it is.

Here in our tourist-town tourist-crowds are Twiggy-thin – things won’t pick up again until spring and the basketball tournaments on the weekends next year.  Some merchants (like us) know it’s a losing game and take their vacation time now.  There are a few still hanging in there, taking whoever comes to town (not many).  I used to joke that we could rename Seaside to “Cannon Beach” in the winter because you could go on the beach and fire a cannon and never hit anyone.  It’s true.  And since locals don’t go downtown to the shops there (they frequent the outlets on the highway just east of the tourist areas), it makes for a very quiet, lonely downtown.

So combine the closed stores and restaurants, the dark, the rain, the cold, the inactivity, the slowness, and you have the “seasonal slog.”  For us, anyway.

We used to think that it was all because of Christmas and the fact that we don’t have kids.  Or grandkids (obviously).  Many say that Christmas is a time for kids, and family, and since we’re just us two, maybe that’s the reason for the glum season.  We do have family, but no one here.  We “finish” Christmas right after Thanksgiving in that we make sure we have everything here so we can ship everything across the Mississippi to friends and relatives in Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, and New York.

Even that’s slow this year – we’re waiting on one more thing, but it actually goes out to everyone on our list, and it’s been the biggest Christmas clusterf**k in quite the while.  It deserves its own blogpost and it will have one after the holidays, because if I explained it all now it’ll spoil the surprise.  By that I mean what everyone received, not the surprise we got when this seemingly simple process took on a screwed-up life of its own.  As of this writing, it’s only half here (don’t ask) and the other half is somewhere between South Carolina, us, and the ether.  In other words, both sender and deliverer have no clue whatsoever.  Great.

So we’ll slog along until the big holiday weekend, and do our traditional things (again, just the two of us).  We actually like it that way, as we had plenty of crowded, noisy celebrations with extended families to last us several lifetimes.  Good meal, good company (each other), and then we’ll look forward to the end of the year and the most important holiday of all – CAPITOL ONE BOWL WEEK!

Until then, Happy Holidays.  All of them.

The 82-Day Disappearing Act

It’s that time once again where I go into “Social Media hiding.”  Or hiatus.  Or whatever you’d like to call it.  It’s “tourist season” or “ice cream season” and that means a 10-14 hour work day, every day, from now until Labor Day.  So posts here will be pretty much non-existent until the fall.

It’s how we pay the bills.  It took some getting used to, and it’s not quite like it used to be, but then again, neither are we.  Granted, I haven’t written much lately.  It’s not for lack of subject matter, that’s for sure.  It’s that we’ve been super-busy already, and we’re short on staff, and…a bunch of other stuff.  The joy of entrepreneurship.

Anyway, we’re looking ahead to working 82 straight days beginning Thursday.  Because there is no other way. 

Actually, the 2016-version of the season is shorter than it has been in the past.  There are several factors for this, one being that because how Memorial Day and Labor Day fall in the calendar, the season is a week shorter than in years past (blame Leap Day for that).  Also, we’ve been taking days off mid-week this year after Memorial Day partly because (a) all my staff is still in school, and (b) we’re older than in years past.  Past years we had “adults” who could work the days when school was still in session here (it’s out in a number of places – we’re out Thursday 6/16).  All my adults have gone on to other jobs (this is a good thing, really – no one wants to scoop ice cream when they’re 25 – do they?), so I have nothing but high school kids this year.  That’s OK – I just need a couple more of ‘em.

The good news is that business is as robust as ever, so we’re not scraping for cash. 

In previous years I wouldn’t care so much.  Just roll up the ol’ sleeves and work harder.  But that was easier 10 years ago when I was 10 years younger. At 63 and change, the long hours and the uninterrupted schedule takes a toll. 

“Ice cream is a younger person’s business.” 

That was a quote from a guy who owned a number of ice cream parlors back in my home state of Michigan.  He was a friend of my brother – they used to play Little League together, and he started making ice cream back in the 90’s, opened a small chain of stores, and became quite successful.  He sold out and made the “ice cream is a younger person’s business” quote just as we were hitting our stride here in Seaside.

This is a friend of my YOUNGER brother.

This was about EIGHT years ago.

Do you see the issue now?

So like I said, I doubt very much that I will post here until September.  It’s not that there isn’t plenty to discuss…Orlando…the elections…online poker’s chances for success in NY, MI, PA, and even CA.  Yeah, even California.  But all that must wait until fall. 

Work comes first.

I have no doubt that there will be plenty to discuss about online gambling by then.  I hope that with today’s overwhelming vote in the NY Senate (53-5), iGaming is on a roll.  The election will be in full swing, with both party’s nominations secure.  Sadly, there will be another mass shooting or two.  Or three.  Or several.  And here’s my “bet-the-house” wager – nothing will have changed regarding gun laws or mental illness or protection of LGBTs or anything else that might, just might, prevent another Orlando.

So lack of subject matter won’t be an issue.  [sigh].

See you in September.

Causality Concerns

Much more data, please.

After my last post (a couple of weeks ago, I know), there was some discussion both via email and in my house about the “hidden causality” of the question in question, mainly:

“Do you think the stock market has gone up or down since Barack Obama became President?”

Now to me, there was no “causality” either stated or implied.  The word “since” was an operand for a time stamp:  “As of this date, did the stock market…etc.”  Because the question had the magic two words (Barack Obama), people may have interpreted it as “Did Barack Obama cause the market to go up or down,” but that’s obviously incorrect.

What if researchers had asked if the Japanese NIKKEI average had gone up or down since Obama took office?  No doubt many more responses would have tried to ascertain up or down versus “no clue.”  If respondents had been asked if the stock market was up or down since the Philadelphia Phillies last won the World Series (2008), again, you’d get a much different result than using Obama as the date stamp.

Because humans have issues with causality.

We don’t like gaps in our thinking.  Everything has to have a reason for happening, and when we don’t know the reason, we make shit up.  Seriously.  It pains us to “not know,” so we come up with the damnest rationales for things, and the more serious the issue, the more outrageous the rationale.  So it seems. 

• Folks getting sick or dying in droves – must be the work of the devil.
   (oh, it’s because of germs?  OK). 
• Hurricanes and tornadoes – must be the work of climatic disturbances.
   (oh, it’s because you still allow abortion and gays to marry?  OK).

Wait a minute…

Yeah, we still do dumb shit like that.  In the 21^st Century. 

The human brain doesn’t like gaps and works hard to fill them.  It’s a shame we don’t follow that method; instead, we look for easy answers that might not make a bit of sense logically or scientifically, but soothes us because it feeds our biases and prejudices.

A lot has been written about the confusion with causality and correlation.  Just because two things seem to “correlate” does not infer causality.  See this link for some fun ones, but the one I used to teach in my marketing research class dealt with motorcycles and mustaches.  It’s a fact that if you have a motorcycle, you are more likely to have facial hair (a mustache, at least…sometimes a mustache and beard).  Conversely, if you have a mustache, you are more likely to own a motorcycle.  But does having facial hair CAUSE you to buy a motorcycle?  Does owning a cycle CAUSE more hair to grow on your chin?

They may be correlated, but there is no causality.

The same could be said for our original discussion of a President’s “effect” on the stock market…or gas prices, or a number of things where a complex set of economic and environmental factors are in play.  And yet, people feel qualified (or justified or whatever word you’d like to toss in there) to opine as to why this or that happened. 

Even when they get it exactly wrong.  And that’s scary.

And on that note I will make a comment about opinions and comments on a subject that has been “in the news” in the poker world just prior to the start of the WSOP, and that is the sexual harassment and racism allegations of Dr. Jaclynn Moskow stemming from a 2014 appearance on Poker Night in America.  I only know one of the parties involved (Nolan Dalla) and for not that long.  I do not know how others know of Dr. Moskow or Mr. Dalla or any of the others mentioned or involved; for how long, how well, etc.

What I do know is that I have read a LOT of opinion on the subject.  I am amazed, because many of these opinions begin with phrases like, “I was not there, but…”  This is both for opinions of support on both sides.  One write up even had this summary phrase, that opinions were based on the “perception of the events rather than direct evidence.”

Yes, opinions are like assholes, I know the joke.  Still, people are using “perception of the events rather than direct evidence” for their rationale.  That REALLY scares me.

I don’t know what happened, and sexual harassment (any harassment) is bad, and the poker world has some unusual quirks (and quirky people), and yet…I was not there, so I could not feel qualified to make ANY judgment or opinion on this event.  And yet many others have no such qualms.

Here’s an experiment:  next time you have shooting pains, or bad cramps, or some illness or discomfort, go to your health care specialist and ask them for an opinion…based on the perception of the events rather than direct evidence.

Let me know how that works out for you. 

In the meantime, use your head and think logically, and if you don’t know, either (a) find out for sure, or (b) keep quiet.

Ignorance is NOT Bliss

President Obama made a statement about ignorance last week in a commencement address at Rutgers, and many people thought it was all about Donald Trump (including Trump).  I’m not a mind reader, so I can’t tell you if that was the intended target or not, but as far as I’m concerned Obama could have been talking about a LOT of people.

First, here’s the quote:

“Facts, evidence, reason, logic, an understanding of science – these are good things… In politics, and in life, ignorance is not a virtue. It’s not cool to not know what you’re talking about. That’s not ‘keeping it real,’ or ‘telling it like it is.’ That’s not challenging ‘political correctness.’ That’s just not knowing what you’re talking about.”

Seems right.  Yes, Trump certainly has his share of “speak first, think later” moments, but frankly, we all do.  Of course, some do it more than others.  Some folks are…well, we use different terms for it.  Some say “stupid,” some “dumb,” others use “ignorant.”  They all mean slightly different things.

When dealing with political insights and opinions, I tend to think that most folks are not only ignorant, but willingly so.  That is, they really DO know the information needed to make a statement, form a belief, or voice an opinion, but because of something else, they “ignore” the facts to make a statement that flies in the face of those facts.

Here’s an illustration.  A Public Policy survey done earlier this year asked respondents,

“Do you think the stock market has gone up or down since Barack Obama became President?”

Note that it doesn’t ask about the overall economy, or how you personally are doing, or how’s the economy in your area.  We could have all sorts of debates about that.  No, the question is pretty cut and dried – is the stock market up or down since 1-20-09, when Obama took office?  And we have actual numbers for that. 

The most common measurement for the stock market is the Dow Industrial Average.  I suspect you could also look at the NASDAQ, or S&P 500.  But “the Dow” is the number most Americans recognize, the one number that gets reported most on the news, and is truly the bellwether measurement of the stock market.  Which was the question at hand.  For those of you who don’t follow the market, or watch the news, or whatever…here are the actual numbers:

  8,077.56 – Week ending 1-23-2009

17,520.87 – right now as I type this (10:30am on 5-20-16)

So the market is up.  Almost double since Obama took office.  Can’t argue with the numbers.  We can discuss the how and why until we’re blue in the face, but the answer to the question “Do you think the stock market has gone up or down since Barack Obama became President?”” is “UP.”

How did our survey respondents answer?

The stock market has gone up since Barack Obama became President	52%
The stock market has gone down since Barack Obama became President	32%
Not sure	16%

In short, only HALF of all respondents got this right.  That’s ignorant?  Maybe not, because I can imagine many types of individuals not knowing the correct answer.  Seniors (like my Mom) who now rely on CDs for their investments, never ever having been involved in the market.  Younger adults just starting out with no interest in investing at this time.  Folks who don’t watch/follow the news, or at least, tune out when boring economic news is presented. 

If you asked me about the US stock market, I could tell you many things because I am an active investor, and have been for many years.  If you asked me about the Japanese stock market (known as the NIKKEI), I would profess ignorance.  I know it exists, but whether it’s up or down, I would not have a clue.

I would guess than many in our survey would be in the same boat, and the results show that 16% actually said this.  But I would guess that many who did not know the answer answered anyway.  And answered incorrectly.

As to why they may have done so, one clue is the breakdown of responses by political preference, known in the research industry as “the crosstabs.”

	BASE	Voted for Obama ‘12	Voted for Romney ‘12
The stock market has gone up since Barack Obama became President	52%	74%	29%
The stock market has gone down since Barack Obama became President	32%	12%	56%
Not sure	16%	14%	15%

Hmmmm…I think I see a pattern here.

Notice the “not sure” percentage is about the same, which is reasonable (statistically).  What’s whack is that by an overwhelming margin, there’s a major difference in providing the correct answer depending on political party.

This should not be surprising.  Back in 2013, a survey of Louisiana residents showed that when it came to blame for the lack of response to Hurricane Katrina, Republicans blamed President Bush 28%, while blaming Obama 29% (44% were unsure who was more responsible).  Mind you, Katrina occurred in 2005, when Obama was a freshman Senator.

It’s one thing to have an opinion.  It’s another to state that opinion based on inaccurate information.  Naturally, I would blame media (and specific media at that) for fueling sentiment that causes people to lose sight of reality and do shit like this.

But it’s more than political opinion that gets screwed up because we believe what we want to believe, facts be damned.  Is there anyone of driving age who has NOT heard that driving while texting or talking on your handheld is dangerous and puts you at more risk?  Many states have laws against using phones while driving, and in my home state of Oregon it’s been illegal for THREE YEARS with a hefty $154 fine.  Yes, every damn day I see people on their phones talking or (worse) texting while driving.  And we constantly read or hear of “tragic” stories where an accident has occurred and, sure enough, the driver was texting or on their phone.

And yet, every damn day I see people on their phones.  That’s willful ignorance.

Now, getting back to Obama’s comments about ignorance.  I said that many thought it was a swipe against Trump, including Trump.  He responded to Obama’s speech as such:

 

Huh?  Wha?

Anyone want to tell me what, exactly, that means?   And is it ignorance, or just plain stupid?