- Check caller ID. If not recognized, don’t answer.
- When phone stops ringing, call back. If busy, it is likely robocaller or telemarketer attempting there next call. If they answer, if it is a business they will likely answer with 1. A recording 2. A business reply identifying their business 3. Some poor college kid might reply with no idea what to do. They generally are not trained to receive calls. Your choice as to what to do, most probably tell them to stop calling. Alternatively, you can simply hang up.
- Of course it could be Mom on a borrowed phone wanting some help. Apologize and tell her you’re on the way.
- If it is a telemarketer, refuse to do any business with them. It is the ultimate solution. If telemarketing doesn’t work, they will stop doing it. My guess is the phone companies will be the losers. They know when these guys set these things up & they know they are going to make a bundle on it. As. Long as the phone companies permit it, it will not stop, especially from foreign shores.
Category Archives: Important things
How Much is Enough?
I once had a hope of having a million dollars… at which time I would retire and never again work. To be sure, 10 millions wouldn’t last some more than a week. I suppose there are a few people who spend more than a million dollars in a day and think little or nothing of it.
It prompts the question, just how much is enough?
At one time, I actually had hopes of approaching the million dollars but then came Obama care. That soaked the funds out of my savings about 10 times faster than I could replenish it. I thought I had enough. Suddenly I was begnning to think I would have to work 10 years beyond my death.
There was a comedian who said it well. “I’m not selfish. All I need is enough to pay for all I need and all I want.” I guess the definition of all we want varies vary much. Moreover, some people don’t even make enough for their needs, let alone what they want.
There are many who ask if this is right. They think if we just take money from those who have more than enough for their needs and many of thier wants and give it to those who don’t have enough for their needs, it would make the world into a utopia.
Those who think that way simply don’t live in the real world. Their reasoning has been blinded by their idealism. Moreover, they started handing out cell phones to people who don’t need them. Believe it or not, cell phones are not necessities. A person can easily survive without them. Yet, socialists called them a basic need and took money away from those like me. In order to get my cell phone, I had to give up other things.
Then again, Obama and his friends had no interest in me. I was paying my way, plus a huge 1000 dollar a month health insurance premium. I never was rich and it seems the dems are determined to keep me from it.
Which actually brings me to my point. The wealthy are wealthy and are likely to remain so, due to the laws written by the friends of criminals and of course the wealthy bribing, aka lobbying, aka payoffs. Also, those not wealthy are likely to remain, as me, not wealthy. They don’t want the likes of me joining those with big bank accounts.
It seems, in reality, the government has a really hard time determining what is enough, that is to say, the difference between needs, wants and outright freebies. In addition, they don’t seem to know the difference between those down on their luck and the folks with their hands out.
If the truth be told, the FOC are not out to help the poor but rather themselves. They know that out of every dollar going through government control, some of it indirectly remains in the hands of the legislators and those who provide the payoffs aka lobbyist. It is why poor legislators become rich without any other apparent income other than the checks they draw in exchange for supposedly representing us.
QUESTION: Just what does the word lobby, as in large room, have to with bribes, as in payoffs.
New & Old
A while ago, I noticed a new shooting range nearby. For a number of weeks I drove by looking from a distance. Yesterday, I went in, just to look around. I must say, I was very much impressed.
First, it was well stocked. They had a wide variety of new and used. Yes, they had many varieties of the AR15, the civilian version of the M16. To my surprise, they even had an M14.
Came close to buying it. It had been over fifty years since I touched one. I was surprised to realize that it felt quite familiar to me, if you’ll permit, as a long lost friend. Even so, I was reminded of its nine pound weight. I reluctantly decided against the purchase. I could afford the gun but not the hobby. Also, it would be a magnet to many a thief who might find out I have it.
Secondly, the staff was friendly and knowledgeable. It didn’t take long for me to realize it. If a person is going to buy a gun, it is good to know they are buying from someone who knows his wares.
Finally, it seemed a good business. It is modern, clean and well organized.
I suspect they are the type that would seek out complaints, but there aren’t likely many.
Why can’t all businesses that way.
As for the M14 I much prefer it over the M16. I qualified with both and, though the M16 is much easier to tote and fire, I have far more faith in the M14. It might be older. It might have more kick. I am sure that it is more accurate and lethal. And that is what a rifle is for.
Competition is a Wonderful Thing
Let’s go back to the days of yore. Let’s imagine 3 cobblers set up shop. Which one will have the most success. To some degree, the one that is the fastest. However, the cobbler who makes a thousand shoes will never succeed unless he can sell his shoes. Therefore, his shoes need to be of good quality and the proper sizes. No one will buy shoes that are too small or will fall apart in a week.
If there were just 1 cobbler, we’d be stuck with whatever he wanted to make. The footware would be ugly, ill fitting and they wouldn’t last. The instant a second cobbler opens up shop, and then a 3rd and fourth, the quality would go up and the cost would go down.
It’s the way competition works and it’s wonderful. For well over 200 years, it has turned the USA to the greatest nation ever. There is no other country where people are willing to risk everything to get in. Moreover, as badly as the illegal aliens are treated, they hide in fear of being sent home.
Yet we prevent fair competition in one of the most important parts of our society. Of course private schools have a hard time competing with public schools. The government is picking up the tab for public schools.
Yet, there are thousands of parents willing to make great sacrifices to put their children in private schools. The why is quite simple. Public schools lack quality. They simply lack good teachers, good curriculum or good results.
The libs brag about public schools but, take away public funding and they would instantly go away. I know this is true because the libs themselves have said as much. They have said if monies are diverted to private schools, the public schools would go away. They actually live in fear of it.
Well, maybe they should go away. It is the way of competition. Only the better schools would survive. Only the best teachers would continue to teach. It is the American way. It is what made America great. Why in the world should we settle for a less than a mediocre education system when we are paying for the best?
Settling for mediocre schools is worse than Settling for mediocre shoes. And yet we stand by and watch our public school funds being poured down the proverbial drain…without results.
A Little Story
I have a little story. Very few have heard it. I hope you’ll take a minute or two to read it. By the way, I guess I should tell you, it’s fiction. As an author, my stories are almost all fiction.
It is an interesting fact that fiction stories can sometimes illustrate things even better than true stories. Jesus frequently used stories we call parables. He was expert at it. Sorry. I am not one bit as good at stories as He is. I’m not even very good at writing. I’m sure most have figured that out by now.
Nonetheless, I’m writing this story because I do believe it needs to be told. It needs to be told over and over until all have heard it, or something similar.
It seems a number of decades ago; a man was stranded on a desert island, sort-of like “Robinson Caruso.” Only my story isn’t as good. I’m no Daniel Defoe. On the other hand, it will not take as long to read.
I’m not going to explain how the man was stranded. I don’t know. It matters not anyway.
What really matters is what he did after he was stranded. The first thing he managed to do was to chop down one many trees on the island. It had some kind of fruit on it which provided him food.
Then, he chopped the tree into two halves. With one half, he built a fire as it was it beginning to cool.
The other half of the log, he carved into an idol. The night was long and he simply had so little to do in the dark. He certainly didn’t want o go wondering off in the night where some dangerous animals might attack him.
So now, from the same tree, he had both warmth and a god.
He sat the god up and saw how nice it looked. So he began praying to the large piece of wood. He asked the wood to save him from his predicament. He fell asleep while praying.
In the morning, the fire was just embers and the idol remained. It said nothing. It saw nothing and it did nothing. As would stand to reason, it just sat there like… well, like a big piece of wood.
Some might say the man was stupid. On the other hand, some would say my story is stupid. There is simply no way a person can express how ludicrous it is to expect a piece of wood to do anything but sit there. Well, if the tide came up high enough, it just might float away. That might be the best end of this little story.
Those of you that are Bible readers might have figured out that I borrowed parts of the story, I mean besides the Caruso thing. I would suggest that you read the passage in the Bible, Isaiah 44:9 to 20. If you don’t want to; or if you don’t have the time, let me quote one chapter from it, verse 10:
Who but a fool would make his own god – an idol cannot help him one bit.
It seems so casual to the most obvious observer that a living gods cannot be made from wood, or gold, or silver, or bronze. My question is, why do men keep trying?
I have heard a number of preachers say that we don’t see anything in the Bible about idols until after the flood. Personally, I remember the mention of idols while Jacob is running from his deceptive father-in-law.
Of course, idols might have existed before the flood, but, for a few reasons I suspect not.
As an aside, I might mention, the first two commandments deal with idols. The first says that we are not to have any other gods before God. The second, that we should not make idols and that we are not to worship them.
If worshiping idols is so stupid, why is it that people do it? Just what prompted God to include the first two commandments? I mean, men are reasonably intelligent beings. Why should any of us be so dumb that we think we can form things with our hands that can hear us and do things for us? Why is it that people think that the sun, moon and stars can do one single thing for us?
They cannot hear or see. They certainly have no empathy or sympathy for us…or any emotion. In the case of our little story, if the stranded man must rely on the idol to be rescued, he’s going to have to wait a long time. He would be better off using the thing as a floating device and try for another nearby island.
Yet we find that mankind has worshiped idols on every continent but Antarctica. (Maybe there too. Maybe before the flood.) And, oh yes. Some have worshiped volcanoes, tides and the earth itself. Indeed, the modern green earth movement is a form of earth worship—mother earth, really?
In order to really understand this desire for men to worship idols, we really need to go back to when Cain’s offering was not accepted by God and why it was rejected. This gave me problems for a long time, until I really understood it. Cain was not satisfied with the religion God set up. He had requirements for the offering and Cain decided to ignore it. You see, he wanted to start his own religion.
From that day until now and it will continue on, man has never settled for the way God set things up. Throughout known history, men have been trying to set up their own religion, which, of course, did not include the one true God.
As I have said before, manmade religions have an advantage. Man gets to set up all the rules. Naturally, in the past, many of these rules were for the benefit of those making the rules, like multiple wives. This can easily take me off on dozens of rabbit trails. However, in this case, it is the concept I want to center on. I mean all the rabbit trails are different and yet they’re all the same.
Unlike proper worshiping of God, men following manmade religions end in one thing, death, eternally and forever. I believe the redundancy serves the purpose to drive the point home.
Now let’s change the story a little. Let’s pretend he is stranded on the island for a year or so. Someone comes along in a ship or yacht and finds him. He’s saved, right? Wrong. He does something else that’s really dumb.
The island is surrounded with really hungry sharks and the man wants to swim the first ten miles. That way he can brag that he helped with his salvation.
I don’t think the man will make it ten miles. I don’t think he will make it one mile. Besides, he will slow the vessel, which will have to wait for the would-be survivor.
Of course, no one would do something so stupid. Yet, every day people do something far worse. They try to help Jesus Christ with their salvation. They like the idea of swimming the first 10 miles (or add their good works toward their salvation) and as such, they destroy all chances of their salvation. It demonstrates a lack in faith that Jesus ability and desire to do it all. Faith alone is the only thing that Jesus will accept. Everything else is as filthy rags. Do you really want to offer God filthy rags? That’s dumb
My hint to one and all, don’t try to help Jesus. He can do it without your help. You can’t and He will not accept anything you have to offer. God only accepts the blood sacrifice of Jesus’ blood for your salvation. If you try to add to it, you will nullify it. More than that, why should you even try? It is far more ridiculous than our stranded man relying on that chunk of dead wood to save him.
$10 Dollar Gasoline???
In the 70s an unexpected problem arose. The price of gasoline went to over a dollar. Well yes, it was a problem that caused many problems, especially in a world of approximately 30 cent fuel.
Suddenly, people were playing over 3 times as much, when they could find it. But it caused an odd, unexpected problem for those selling it. I remember it first hand. I was there.
Some dealt with the problem by selling gasoline by the liter. Some simply painted a one in front of that portion indicating the price and the cost of the sale.
Of course, now, very few expect $10 gasoline. However, that would only require a little more than doubling. Back in the 1970s, it more than trippled. One day it was 30 cents. 6 or 7 months later, it was 1.10 and climbing.
That was when we could find stuff. With it going up so fast, I suspect some held onto it as an investment comodity. They could not resist holding onto a few thousand gallons knowing the price will go up 3 or 4 percent in a month. In itself, this would drive the prices up.
Those of us buying the gas, dealt with the problem in three basic ways. We drove less. We pumped our own gas and we stayed away from name brands. Before, I bought only Standard and Chevron gas. After, all I looked at was the price.
Then again, frequently, we settled for accessibility. Many stations were out of gas or claimed to be. Some stations had 2 hour lines. Then they’d sell out on the car 2 cars in front of me.
In the long term, we bought smaller cars with smaller less powerful engines. It meant putting up with rougher rides in cramped environments and much less trunk space.
So now, the price of gas flirts with 4 dollars a gallon, we lack these methods we used last time around. I already buy Mapco gas. I pump my own fuel and my little 100 hp motor has problems with steep grades and I can forget toeing even a small trailer. A boat or travel trailer is out of the question. I’m already considering one of those Flintstone cars powered by foot power.
I suspect most of us would prefer that gas stay down perhaps to the 2 dollar range. For that reason, if nothing else, I’d strongly suggest firing all those dems in Congress, House and Senate. Most of them like the thought of 10 dollar gas. They want us to buy the more expensive, smaller electric cars, which do little or nothing to decrease “green gasses.” Actually, they’d prefer we walk, ride bikes, buses or trains while they ride in chauffeured luxury cars or fly around in private jets.
So, unless you like bicycling &+ buying gas by the liter, you might want to vote Republican. You might want to encourage your friends to vote Republican. You might even want to encourage your advisories to vote Republicans.
Paying 10 dollars a gallon is more than crazy. It’s crazy nuts. Then again, $2.50 a liter might sound better, but it won’t help the budget one iota. Indeed, just as I saw in the 70s, the price of everything will go up to match the increase in the cost of energy.
Robo-umps Inevitable?
Maybe. Likely. My guess is that it will become common within the decade.
My logic is that it’s all about the dollar, or more accurately, the thousands of dollars.
You see, we’re not talking Little League. Even in the early days of baseball, one call did not make that much difference. Nowadays, one bad call call can lead to the loss of tens of thousands of dollars.
One can argue that it all averages out. However, sometimes it doesn’t work that way. Can you imagine if it is the last call of last pitch of the World Series? We’re talking millions of dollars based on one call being right or wrong.
I would expect that the methods will go through changes and adjustments. I read it will be a slightly larger strike zone. That likely would increase the strikes and decrease the hits. In turn, that would reduce scoring, which might not be desirable.
i don’t know. It’s not really a guess. I’m just saying that the fans might not like it. There is simply no way to totally be sure of the results until they try it out live, perhaps in the pre season.
I do wonder how it’s gonna effect Las Vegas. I mean I do wonder. I suspect they’re already considering it, though. It will likely change things but just how is anyone’s guess.
Bottom line, it’s only important to those who hurl the ball and those who try to hit it. I guess to them it means the world. To me, not so much.
Hearsay of Hearsay
During court trials, hearsay is not normally permitted. It is a witness account of what someone else said.
It is rarely acceptable as evidence unless it can be somehow substantiated.
Normally I don’t watch the kangaroo court called the Jan 6th hearings but it was on the TV at the doctor’s office while I waited.
I couldn’t help but notice all the hearsay being entered as evidence. Indeed almost everything the witness said was hearsay. Moreover, some of it was hearsay of hearsay. It was not substantiated, none of it.
And they want us to believe it?
Even more important, how do we know she has not been threatened or, possibly, rewarded? We don’t and without cross examination, we never will. No one asked her.
It is why none of the so-called hearing should be believed.
As an aside, why do all those representatives have to have such irritating voices and mannerisms. It was all I could manage to keep from going up and turning off the TV.
1 more thing. Why can’t these representatives investigate important things, like why are drugs killing our youth faster than we can count them. Why don’t they investigate why we are short on baby formula? Why can’t they investigate why our border is open? Maybe they could find out why there were some districts that had more votes than voters. Maybe it’s because they are afraid of what they’d find. They just might end up seeing the obvious.
Example of Impossible
Convicting a dem in Washington, D.C
Still, most everyone has now figured out the source of Russia, Russia, Russia. I mean, you have to put on a blindfold, cover your eyes with your hands and intentionally look away to miss this one.
Besides, a few other things are now on the record such as, the whole thing was a fraud authorized and likely thought of by Clinton, the one who claimed that no one is above the law. I guess she proved her own quote wrong.
Lacking Info
Recently The Daily Beast mentioned in an article that President Trump was twice impeached, implication obvious. They did not mention that he was also twice acquitted. It would have only taken a few words to be truly accurate. Then again, I doubt accuracy was the goal.
What the writer has done here is similar to saying that a man was charged with a horrible crime without mentioning that he was tried and found not guilty. It is an improper implication and is morally disgusting.
If you ask me the periodical is guilty of a lie of omission, which says more about them than President Trump. Maybe it is a good reason for us to follow the prompts to believe but half of what is printed.
As an aside, I should add that, in the case of the, “Russia, Russia, Russia, ” after years of investigating, Trump was proven innocent. It was proven to be all a frame. Bet you never printed that either.
bfrhodes99 