Category Archives: Safety

An Accident

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I have had more than my share of accidents. Sometimes, I refer to myself as accident prone. Fortunately, I haven’t caused any big catastrophe…yet. Who knows? If the Lord keeps me alive for another ten or so years…

The short intro serves a little purpose. When I went out in search of a charging station the other day, I noticed the traffic was really bad. I mean, Goodman Road going through Southaven is prone to have heavy traffic but this was unusually bad. Moreover, all the businesses on the north side of the road were closed.

After a while, I found out the cause. It seems that a dump trunk operator forgot to lower the dump bed. Before he realized it, he pulled it through some power lines going across the street. Then, he proceeded pulling down five or six power polls with the wires.

Now, that is an accident. I pity the poor man. He either did work for someone, who immediately fired him or, if self employed, is facing bankruptcy… or worse.

I’m sure the man didn’t do it on purpose and likely everyone knows it. However, it is the sort of thing you don’t just say sorry and walk away from it. My guess is, once he realized what happened, he likely sat in the cab a cried for a while. I would have.

Invariably, the lawyers will get into it. Moreover, someone will have to pay for the repair. My guess is that the man’s liability won’t come close to covering it. He just might have to sell all he owns and he’ll still come up short. Maybe someone who knows how can set up one of those fund me pages. I’d contribute what I can.

I have no idea what the final outcome will be but I’m sure it won’t be good for that driver. It just took a moment to make the mistake and it will likely ruin his life, at least in the short term.

I hate it, but that is the way life is. In moments, things happen that change our lives for the worse and it simply cannot be removed with an eraser. Sometimes we bear the blame. I really do hope things turn out well for that driver. As near as I know, no one was hurt badly. At least he can take some solace in that.

It is one of many reasons I decided to leave the Marines. As I said, I do seem to be accident prone and I didn’t want one of my accidents to bring down an F4 with the crew of two. I went on to work on computers. If I make mistakes there, it can cause problems, but, well, there is just no way that I could have taken out the power for a couple of blocks on one side of the street. Those mistakes I made while working on computers were normally easily recoverable.

Yet we need guys like that driver. We need skilled folks who are willing to take the chance. Can you imagine what it would be like if no one would be willing to take the chance to drive the big trucks, knowing that their lives can be ruined in seconds.

As I sit here typing, I wonder, have we lost a good operator for one little lapse in memory? Is the man ever going to be able to drive again?

I don’t know. It’s really not my place to judge. I am sure there will be an investigation. But I sure hope we won’t lose all our truck drivers the first time the have an accident. It could end up making things bad for the rest of us. Not only that, given the risk, we just might start having a hard time finding men and women who are willing to take that risk for a reasonable wage.

I mean, the reason I left the Marines was because I didn’t want to take the risk. Fortunately, there are others who will and do.

As an aside, I would not have wanted to die for my country, but I would have. I just don’t know if I could stand it if I found out that I caused the death of another marine because of my mistake. I would not have liked that at all.

That truck driver. I’m sure he is having a tough time living through it too.

The Odds

Posted in Biden, Border wall, CDC, Christian values, Coronavirus, Fauci, FOC, Gambling, Immigration, law enforcement, Lawyers and Representation, Liberals, News media, Pelosi, Safety, Truth, Unions, World Health Organization (WHO) by

I’m not a big fan of math. It just is that when a person plans to go into a career as electronics, it is essential. I mean ohm’s law, the calculations of impedance and such all uses math. It even gets into calculus a little when dealing with vectors and such.

However, math is used in a wide range of other things. Certainly, it is used in physics and chemistry. When packing the aircraft during the Berlin air lift, they even came up with a new math, to make sure all aircraft were loaded to the max both weight and space.

One branch of math that is not talked about too much are the laws of probability. Some of this stuff can make an insane man normal. For instance, you toss a penny 100 times and the laws of probability tells us that it will likely land on tails and heads equally, or at least nearly equally. Of course, the more times you toss the penny, the more apt that the heads and tails will be equal.

Yet, those who specialize in studying odds tell us that, even should we end with tails 80 out of a hundred times, the chances of it coming up heads is still 50%. (either that or there’s something wrong with the penny)

Then there is a special branch of odds within math. These mathematicians try to know the odds are that you will live to a certain age. I’m not sure, but I think most of them work for the insurance company.

Just so you don’t get the wrong idea, I am not an expert in this field. However, I do have a broad idea about it all. For instance, the odds of me living past 72 are pretty small. Some die earlier. Some manage to beat the odds and live past a hundred.

Oddly, so far I have beat those odds. I spent one year in a war zone. I rode a motorcycle for over two years. Believe it or not, for a large part of my life, no one wore seat belts. The first couple of cars I owned didn’t even have them. Then, for quite a while after, we still didn’t wear them.

I don’t know how I made it through those years, but I did. On the other side of the coin, something could happen and I’d be gone tomorrow. When I was in the Marines, I saw a twenty year old marine die as he was walking along. The doc said he was dead before he hit the ground. Now, you talk about being against the odds. That shouldn’t have happened. I really wished it hadn’t

At any rate, things like that have a tendency to tip the mortality tables a little. On the other hand, something else that will tip the mortality tables is playing with guns. I saw that too. The guy was playing quick draw with a .38. For those unaware, it is a worse practice than going without seat belts.

I bought the new all electric car. All the mortality charts likely say I won’t live the seven years to pay the car off. If I do, I’ll be eighty and I might not be able to drive it. As a financially responsible, person, I need to make sure the car will be paid for should I die. I’m sort of in that boat now. On the other hand, maybe I ought to go back to work.

Actually, I would enjoy working three days a work. Unfortunately, I might not be able to. I don’t know if anyone will hire an old man to flip hamburgers or mop floors. It would be better if people would help me out by buying my books. (hint, hint)

This side of seventy, I’ve sort of been doing some thinking, as dangerous as that may sound. Those people who study the mortality really have their hands full. When a person is born, they calculate just what his chances are of reaching my age. Not only that, they try to determine the cause of death. Will it be disease, accident, murder, or maybe peanuts. No way of knowing but they still guess. Every year they release figures that tell you what what your chances are of dying of a shark attack. Then, of course we stop eating red meat or drinking things with artificial sweeteners. We stay of the ocean and we make sure to fasten the seat belts. Then of course, people start dying from obesity and lack of protein. We start going blind and losing limbs because of diabetes.

Fact is that we, none of us, can avoid death. We can avoid too much meat, we can avoid artificial sweeteners we can avoid smoking and smokers with extreme care. Moreover, some might wear helmets in their cars, or maybe not ride in cars at all. In order to avoid the cars we will use the safer plane, even if we just need to go ten miles.

Naturally, each form of death can be further broken down. For instance, illness takes in cancer, heart disease, neurological problems, and on and on. Then cancer can be broken down further into I have no idea how many. Two of my four brothers died of brain cancer. Every doctor I ever talked to has said that is very rare. I’ll just have to take their word for it as I don’t know. I did see them just before they died and I saw it was a horrible way to die.

Then, of course there are the overdoses of drugs. I just can’t figure that one out. Unlike cancer, it is totally preventable. I hear a few politicians say a few things here and there. The only one I saw that really did something was President Trump. Then of course, the dems did something about that. Now the problem is worse than before. I wonder what those people that study odds and mortality have to say about that. The government spent untold fortunes curing AIDS. Who is trying to solve the problem of drug abuse?

Then there are the murders. Most murders don’t have anything to do with guns. The dems are trying to get rid of the guns and they are letting the other murderers out on in the streets minutes after the murder. I don’t understand that. I wonder if those that study odds have something to say about it.

I’m still trying to figure out how the dems can cry out against the guns when they themselves are the authors of millions of deaths, in Ukraine, Afghanistan and Iraq. Then too, what about the disaster we call the pandemic. Could have been totally avoided if China was not financed by the dems and specifically Fauci. How many deaths were caused in this country by guns? Look it up. How many have died from the China virus. I suspect that far more were killed by Fauci and his dem friends than all the guns.

Master and Slave

Posted in Auto Quality Control, GMC, Safety by

Just a little before 1900, man started building cars. Some say the car is a to man that has and will serve man well. On the other hand, there are those who believe that we are the ones that are enslaved to the car: cleaning, maintenance, and who knows how many more expenses.

To be sure, there are those who don’t have cars. Indeed, before 1900, very few people did. It would seem we got along okay, though I personally believe the industrial revolution has had its benefits. Before cars, there were horses and, though I really do like horses, they do leave messes everywhere they go. Far worse than the current smog and global climate thing is.

Nonetheless, I was recently reminded of just how much of a slave I am to my old chevy. Replaced struts, replaced a light, had an alignment, and I don’t know. There was something else. Just can’t remember.

When I left the shop, my bank account was over 2 thousand dollars lighter. I still have a leak that must be fixed, two axles that need to be replaced and, oh yes. Of course. Some time within the last few months, a light came on. You know the one. The one that says to have the air bag checked. Does anyone have any idea what that air bag light will cost me. Maybe I can talk the mechanic to removing the light. It just might be a little less expensive. Don’t need the light anyway.

With 125 thousand on the car, I’m afraid. I’ll get it all fixed and the other light will come on. You know, the one that has the shape of an engine.

I guess I’m the slave. The auto is the undisputed master.

Update #1 on the electric car.

Posted in Electric Automobiles, Safety by

Did not expect to have any reason to post this update so soon. I figured I would wait a few weeks. However, just received an email from Nisson. It seems they are going to be paying for my recharging for a year. Now that’s a nice rebate, one I did not expect. It sort of dulls the pain of those big payments. I was spending about 30 a week, 120 a month on gas.

It does make me want to think of places I need to go.

As a small aside, it has rearview mirrors that electrically fold back, I guess for car washes. Most might like that. I think it might be a bit much for me. I mean, how much effort does it take to just push them back manually? Thing is, I accidentally activated it and now I’m going to have to figure out how to make them straight again.

Also, I figure that as long as I figuratively have your ear, I might mention that the entertainment system sounds awesome and my phone works very well with it. I keep my phone in my pocket and make the calls with the cars system, totally hands off. This is most beneficial when in motion. Hopefully, any small distraction will not lead to my need of another feature of the car. It keeps me in the lane and stops me should I not see that car or pedestrian in front of me. I’m not one who likes to rely on such things but I’m sure the guy in front of me will like the idea of me having it.

Considering a Risky Decision

Posted in AARP, Abuse of Power, Auto Quality Control, Being woke, Biden, Cancel Culture, Climate Change, Crazy Nuts, Going Green, Lawyers and Representation, News Anchors, Safety by

Got my car insurance bill a few days ago. I looked at it and filed the mental note to pay it before it elapses. Then, i considered it again.

Generally, I drive one place each day, maybe two. Don’t really need to but I do. Then, I considered; do I really need a car. I mean we really pay an awfully lot for the convenience of wheels.

The other day, drove into Firestone, spent the whole day there and drove out over a grand lighter. Mind, I’m not complaining about Firestone. They did very well for a reasonable price. The thing is that I need at least 1500 more to fix axles, air conditioning and who knows how many more problems lurking out of sight.

It’s just getting awfully expensive to keep up a car when I now drive about 10, maybe 15 miles a day.

Oh yes. Let’s not forget the price of fuel. Thanks to Joe, we all feel a bit lighter as we drive away from the gas pumps. Let me clarify that. Financially lighter. I must admit the fuel is heavier, but not much.

Indeed, maybe, I should take the hint from OLD Joe and start bicycling everywhere I go. I figure I might save 2 or 3 thousand a year. Considering we are living totally on Social Security, that is a lot. Fact is – that’s a bunch for most all of us. To be sure, it’s even more for those who have far more than me. After all, they must buy their Lincolns, Cadillacs, and or, their BMWs. They pay more for their vehicles, more for their insurance and, likely more for their maintenance.

Going to a bicycle as my transport is not a decision taken lightly. I mean, bicycles are more dangerous. We don’t normally wear helmets in cars, not yet anyway. However, we and our children are firmly cautioned against going to the local convenience store without something to protect our noggin.

Therefore, I must assume that it would be quite dangerous to abandon my 4 wheels for 2.

So. Before I decide, I’m sure you realize, I have very much to consider. Money is not everything. Safety is a factor as well. Someone in one of those big cars just might hit me. I’m afraid the helmet would provide little protection.

Helmets

Posted in Important things, Safety, Uncategorized by

Seems every time I turn around, they are coming up with new safety requirements. For some time, I wondered why we are not yet required to wear helmets while riding in cars. Without a doubt, they would help safety. Not only would they save lives, but they would cut down on concussions and eye injuries.

The hitch of course is that it would be necessary to keep a few helmets handy, perhaps in the trunk. You would want to make sure you had helmets for all your passengers, as if they would want to wear them.

For years, my question was, just why haven’t they started having requirements for them. Then it came to me. Wish I could say I thought of it, but I heard it on the radio. Made perfect sense. I mean there are some things that take priority even over safety.

As of yet, they have not come up with a helmet that will not mess up a woman’s hairdo. Until they do, the helmet will remain an option for cars, one rarely used.