Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Entrepreneurial Me

For one who works for Big Brother, I mean Uncle Sam, I must acknowledge my entrepreneurial streak. It's there, but it doesn't play a obvious role. However in my dating of The Help (MH), I'm becoming more aware of it. Early on I told him that he was so occupying my thoughts I was thinking of charging him rent. Amazingly he didn't run screaming from me. Last night I told him of my middle school antics of where I was a gum dealer. Not only did I LOVE gum, I sold it to my classmates against school rules. I bought gumballs around the corner for about .03 or .05 cents then, resold them to classmates for about .10.
With my home I rent out my extra bedroom and sleep in the smallest room. Heck if the cellar wasn't so frickin cold and creepy and damp, I'd camp out down there and rent out my room. I see an empty bedroom and I see money that can be made.
I see my front yard and I see produce that can be bartered, and I do barter.
I walk down the street and sometimes I see money, literal, actual money.
Then there is the housing mojo, which I have discovered can be used for other people. With the house it is more of a discount than a money falling out of the sky thing. For the longest while I had a 3.75% mortgage. Fixed. Also got the house before the market went crazy. And my annual real estate taxes are crazy low. PB2G.
America, land of opportunity, if your actually looking for it.

Friday, October 23, 2009

London- 2004


2004LLX
Originally uploaded by In Shaw
I am just liking this old pix of The Help. He had more hair then....
Anyway, we traveled to London because the previous year I went to the London Lindy Exchange alone, and it was very follow heavy and said 'screw this I'm bringing my own damned lead.' And I did. We went to London, danced, walked around. He did his thing (got interviewed by another radio geek at the BBC), I did mine, and we met up for dinner to recount the day. It was a very enjoyable trip.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Craigslist once again damages my faith in humanity

I have a chair. I want to give it away. It is a nice chair but, I haven't used it much. It fails to roll on carpet and the rollers damage wood floors so it sat in the basement.
Now were it not for the friendly neighborhood drug dealers I would have put it on the sidewalk with a nice "FREE" sign. Drug dealers like chairs. Especially nice cushioned chairs with wood detailing and wheels. So the sign option was out. I couldn't figure out pictures and Freecycle so Craigslist.
I don't know why I keep doing this. Maybe because it is less worse than trying to find a roommate, but Craigslist puts me in contact with the flakes of the world. But before I go on I must admit I committed a Craigslist sin and I blame my contractor. I wanted insulation. I wanted my contractor to pick it up. My contractor wanted nothing to do with it and told the listee (as far as I know) it wasn't worth it. I felt bad because of all the back and forth.
Anyway, guy emails me, says his friend wants my chair, I call him, leave a message, his friend calls me. The friend and I settle on a something that diverges from my post because I actually put a pick up window. After work, before I go to bed, is the window. Didn't work for friend. So I agree to leave it outside for a time, cover it up, blah. Next morning chair still in yard. So I go to the next person who emailed me about the chair, offer it to him. I'll know later this evening if he's another no show. If he is, I'll contact the next person. I get a call from the no-show friend, who wanted to go into an explanation that pretty much insulted my neighborhood.
Jimmney Christmas, if you don't want to be wandering in the hood in the AM then don't set up a pick up time in the f*ing AM. I want to take my fellow humans at their word. If you say you want to buy my laurel bay for $45 and you live "round the corner" then you better fraking return my fraking phone call and pick up the plant with money in hand. Do not call me a week later offering $35. No. I'll keep my gods dang plant. (Guess who was up all night watching BSG?) And same goes for the heart pine wood. Either you want it or you don't. Don't jerk me around saying you're going to come, ask me to stick around the house for a window of time that resembles what I've got to deal with from the pest control dude. Somethings aren't worth the $10 I'm asking for.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Not Even Halloween Yet

...and I'm seeing mention of Christmas.
Seriously.
Will the people in charge of the civil, secular xmas please for the love of your unknown god zip it till Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Body & Spirit

I pondered this idea with MH, hereafter to be referred to as "The Help" mainly because I've called him my driver and recently he's done some janitorial work around the house. I was thinking that the mind, spirit, soul whatever is too closely linked with the body and it's chemistry to be separate. You have a lobotomy, you change. You're not the same person.
I go back to sci-fi and how it leaves out the things that make us "US" that are related to hormones, brain chemistry, medication (or lack thereof), and low level pain from parts of the body that make us grumpy. In Freaky Friday, mom gets transferred into daughter. But what of the adolescent brain development and raging hormones? Or when the angry woman gets transferred into Capt. James T. Kirk and he gets all effeminate, why? Did a shot of estrogen come along for the ride? Then there is the brain software transferred into computers, robots, etc, which lack the signals (most of the time) to tell us that our big toe itches, french toast would hit the spot, it's that time of the month, we're tired, that music is loud, So-N-So is coming and she got on my last nerve, etc. In that way wouldn't the electrical transfer be something akin to transferring a Mac program to at PC or a Palm pilot?
Why does any of this matter? Well it does relate to the "resurrection of the dead" part in belief. We need this body to raise up, because so much of who we are, what temptations we struggle with (crosses to bear), is tied up in the physical form.