November 13, 2006
Ruminating, Or Something….
When I was much younger, and I stress much here, in my mid to late twenties, I was one of those people who had absolutely no clue as to what I wanted to do with my life. As a kid, I’d always wanted to be a geologist, as a young adult, a journalist. I began to follow the latter course in college, but events occurred that interrupted that endeavor.
Following said events, I spent a few years roaming around the country. I lived very much hand to mouth, getting bored easily with whatever I was doing and moving on. I worked as a tugboat deckhand, a roustabout and then a roughneck on a few offshore oil rigs, I did general labor, peeled bricks, blended coffee, did construction labor, laid bricks, did pipe yard labor and various other things, often living an “if I don’t work today, I don’t eat tonight” existence. There was also some retail management in the mix, heh, and some loss prevention work, as well as a stint as an undercover rent-a-cop. I spent a short time living in a flophouse and lived in some pretty sleazy hotels. After all that, I worked in the Commodities business on Wall Street (back then, when computers weren’t following you all over the country and can’t-do ignoramuses hadn’t yet turned Human Resources into an industry that does more harm than good for Corporate America, it was pretty easy to jump from one scenario to another), spent the early 1980s therein, also running a mail order business and dealing in Persian rugs at the same time, and again got bored, only I was then in much better financial shape to take a hiatus and again look for what I really wanted to do.
It arrived, at long last, after two interesting years of traveling around without the stress of survival concerns – I went to work in an entry level position in casino security in Nevada and advanced pretty rapidly, floor officer to undercover officer to investigator to shift supervisor. The Security Director, an ASIS member and a great believer in absorbing information got me into the same mode, and I eventually left the casino and went into freelance work, in executive protection and consulting as I explored various other areas of the Protection Industry, kept on learning and expanding my areas of expertise. A couple of additional “hiatuses” and a lot of clients, countless seminars, workshops and conferences later, I’m in pretty good shape.
This piece of biography I’m sharing is being shared for a reason:
To point out the following – when I blog about issues involving day-to-day life and the situations of low income workers and so forth, I am not speaking from the position of those people who do all their talking from columns of government figures, pie charts, graphs and so-called “statistical data” – I’m speaking as someone who has been around the block on the graphic reality end of things. It’s very easy for someone who’s always maintained a level state of financial security and pursued the same career since college to opine on subjects he or she has not only no firsthand knowledge of, but hasn’t been within a zillion miles of same.
In short, I’ve lived a pretty full life.
That said, one thing my younger years taught me was that I am very definitely a survivor. I don’t share the fear so many others have of being stripped of everything I own and tossed into the street, so to speak, because I know that even at the half century mark, I have the natural instincts and the marketable asset value to “make a comeback”. You can’t keep a good Seth down.
Another product of my rather adventurous younger years is a penchant for seeing humor where most others might see only tragedy. I suppose that when you’ve had your share of hard times with no one to blame but yourself, your outlook on life changes. You often feel like you’re as much a spectator as a participant in life.
You learn to laugh at yourself, and at the idiocies of others.
I view politics thus: I am a patriot, I believe in the Constitution as it was written and I cherish my liberty, but when I watch our political leaders, the people my fellow Americans and I vote into office do what politicians do, I must admit I get a big charge out of much of it. You get streetwise, you find you see through all the passionate bullshit the politicians project from their rostrums and you laugh when they make what they, and the vast majority of those reading their quotes or listening to them speak take completely to heart.
You laugh at mainstream media spin and you laugh at outrageously off the wall declarations by idiots like Jack Murtha, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, the Admiral of Chappaquiddick, et al. You laugh, even knowing that they are now in a position to give this country the biggest fid in the history of the universe.
Why? Well, in this case, why cry? The Republicans in Congress let us down and got themselves fired in large numbers, so now the southpaws rule the roost. That’s it. Done deal. Nothing we can do about it until this month in 2008, while we’re also deciding who we want to be the CEO of the government.
The next two years will be fraught with legislation that runs in utter contradiction to what America’s founding fathers intended for this country. What those folks intended served us quite well for a couple of centuries, give or take, and was respected by both of our major political parties before a bunch of liberals decided that they needed to dismantle it all, and began subjugating the once great Democratic Party for their own ends.
In the next two years, we’ll see our taxes increase significantly, very possibly a return to the recession of the late 1990s and early 2000s, we’ll see once again a French (spit!) like cut-and-run from a war that will sell out several million people who trusted us to see them through and lead to a bloodbath not unlike that our withdrawal from Vietnam left in its wake, and a resulting emboldenment of terrorists to once again attack targets right here in the good ole U.S. of A. We’ll see them aided and abetted by the Democrats via “revision” of the Patriot Act. Perhaps we’ll also see the Democrats win the War On Fetuses, see the floodgates open for Mexico to empty its unemployed and unemployable into the U.S.
So, yes, I’ll be laughing quite a bit in sheer amusement, because of
a) The idiocy of my fellow voters in “punishing” the Republicans in Congress by replacing them with Democrats
b) The idiocy of the soon to be realized agendas of a political party that claims to have America’s best interests at heart
c) The idiocy on the part of the Democrats in blowing their first majority in a dozen years over a period of less than two.
You see, this is my own point of view: You voted for it, you deserve it. For those who voted Democrat who have no real money in the bank or in investments, or equity they can live on for some time without a paycheck, you deserve whatever happens to you in the next two years, no sympathy from me. I would rather laugh at you than give you a quarter.
Those of us who weren’t gullible enough to vote in the Democrat majority will deal with it, confident in the fact that in far less than two years most Americans will realize their mistake and in November 2008, vote to starboard. I only hope that those who voted to the right last Tuesday are financially prepared for the coming Democrat economy.
As for me, I’m heading into the kitchen to do a 1.6 lb porterhouse, marinated in my own chiante, olive oil and garlic marinade, and a big pile of from-scratch garlic mashed potatoes.
Then read some more articles and posts that abound of that which the Democrats have thus far said and done in preparation for January, since winning their congressional majority, and chuckle some more. …
http://hardastarboard.mu.nu/wp-trackback.php?p=567
November 13th, 2006 at 9:49 pm
Seth,
Have you ever read Camille Paglia? She wrote in one of her books that the reason why so many liberals dominate the academic world is because they have never done anything practical, they have never had to live hand to mouth, they have never lived outside of their cushy berth (provided by the American soldier), and they have never ventured outside of their ivory tower existence.
Your piece reminded me of that.
I just bought Mark Steyn’s(*sigh*) new book, America Alone. At least he’ll make me laugh, though it’s really a scary, sad subject.
So… steak and mashed potatoes, huh??? I like mine medium rare! And don’t forget a green salad! But then, if you forego the salad you can always make up for it by drinking a glass of red wine!
November 13th, 2006 at 11:32 pm
Atheling2 –
I actually had bagged Italian salad and sliced a couple of Roma tomatoes in, and in keeping with the heaviness of the meal, used Marie’s 1000 Islands for the dressing. Steak medium rare, Mmmm!
Of all the feminists I’ve ever read anything by — I’ve never read any books by Paglia, though I have read some interviews — she actually makes some sense. She doesn’t only think from the feminazi perspective. I once read an interview with her where she acknowledged the damage being done to mens’ careers by false and overstated sexual harrassment claims and the excessiveness of related PC in the workplace. It surprised me, as this was during the height of that kerfuffle.
I started to order America Alone through NewsMax yesterday, then got a banner that said their security wasn’t certified or something, and decided not to trust them with my card number. I’ll have to pick it up elsewhere. Anything by Steyn will go automatically to the top of my reading list.
I posted on the academic thing a few months ago, about the difference between theory and practice as applied to life’s realities.
Liberals are mostly so far out of touch with reality that they are incapable of even realizing that anything in their thought processes is amiss.
That is why they have no trouble interfering with national security, law enforcement or any other venues that protect them. When we invaded Iraq, liberals were blocking intersections in San Francisco so that streetcars and buses couldn’t get through, making people late for work, ambulances and other emergency vehicles couldn’t get through, making people late, period, and they couldn’t care less.
When their causing us to pull out of Vietnam resulted in thousands of innocent people being butchered by the communists, they couldn’t care less, just as they won’t care when they get us out of Iraq and the fascists over there butcher thousands of innocent people. To liberals, it’s all one big cartoon.
When they tamper with the Patriot Act and Americans are murdered by terrorists here at home, they won’t give a damn, they’ll say it’s Bush’s fault, even though his policies are working and their “modifications” will be at fault.
That’s why I’ve given up taking them seriously — now they have the Congressional majority and there’s nothing we can do about it for two years, so — I figure I may as well just sit back and laugh at the comedy act they’ll be providing.
In two years, when the sane people among us have had enough and we can vote out their majority, well…
BTW — What is this benefit of drinking red wine? You ‘ve mentioned it before.
November 14th, 2006 at 12:52 am
I don’t always agree with Camille Paglia, who has been called the anti-feminist feminist, but I do admire her intellectual honesty. She has condemned the left relentlessly for their stupidity, irrationality and hypocrisy. Despite being a lesbian, she has defended the positions held by Christian churches about gay marriage and such because she respects their beliefs, though doesn’t subscribe to them. She’s a mature liberal, which is a rare species. I love her description of American feminism:
“A vegetable bin where clingy sob sisters can store their moldy neuroses.”
LOL!
Oh the latest scientific experiment on the benefits of red wine indicated that even obese mice on a high fat diet, when fed some active ingredient from red wine, suffered none of the ill effects of their obesity and high fat diet. Despite their weight, their health was just as good as normal weight mice.
Not that I’m implying anything about your weight. But I’m just saying that red wine is good for your health, even if your diet is not! And that’s good news!
November 14th, 2006 at 1:40 am
Well there’s another good thing about not being a liberal, LOL. I like red wine much more than white.
In SF and NY social gatherings I’ve noticed that liberals who drink wine almost always go with white, and seem to attach some attitude of pseudo-sophistication to preferring white over red, almost like, “White wine, pleaaassse dahling. I simply wouldn’t dream of sampling one of those dreary reds!”
So Camille Paglia is what one would call a tolerant liberal. Those are rather thin on the ground, as they say. I actually knew two lesbian couples in SF who were like that. They were more Lieberman type liberals, also big on beer and baseball.
November 14th, 2006 at 5:33 am
Great Post ! You have hit the nail on the head as to what the next two years will bring. The Dems believe they have a mandate instead of realizing this was a backlash vote against the GOP only. By the way next time you cook let me know the time and place and I’ll be there!
November 14th, 2006 at 5:47 am
Wait, you mean the cut and run from Vietnam cost the lives of innocents? Surely those boat people and the Cambodian peasants could have done something about it if they’d really wanted change. They must have just been lazy.
/sarcasm
I hope President Bush has ordered a couple of backups for his Veto stamp. Otherwise we may be in for a long two years.
November 14th, 2006 at 6:58 am
Seth wrote:
As for me, I’m heading into the kitchen to do a 1.6 lb porterhouse, marinated in my own chiante, olive oil and garlic marinade, and a big pile of from-scratch garlic mashed potatoes.
Eating alone?
November 14th, 2006 at 7:33 am
Seth,
Your bio is a fascinating read; nomination for the Horatio Alger award is a shoo-in. Agree with you that liberal folk tend to be theoretical and overthink stuff…little pragmatism there. Not sure about the pointy-headed thing though. Key
transitions in life may be a factor whether we
slide to the left or right: my very first paying job was at the age of 10: Logging-so long ago chainsaws were imaginary. I was a
‘pulp-peeler,’ armed with a double-bitted ax as tall as I was. For a nickel a log, I peeled the bark and rolled the ’stick’ to the pile that would leave the forest for the paper mill. An
8 hour day resulted in $0.15. Compensation, blisters, sunburn and mosquitos led me to believe that education might be a better idea.
So, I returned to 6th grade! I don’t recall whether the foreman was GOP or Dem, but he chewed a huge wad (spit!). I actually got a
nickel bonus at the end of the week, so I’m guessing he was a liberal.
November 14th, 2006 at 10:32 am
Ken –
That’s their greatest problem: No offense to BB, LOL, but as I’ve said before, borrowing a phrase from the B-52s, the Democrats of today, under liberal “guidance”, are living in their own private Idaho.
The way they’ve “mobilized” into a flurry of self-important activity since winning the majority makes it obvious they believe America views them as our “saviour” or something.
While watching all this activity, to me, is as amusing as watching a bunch of teacup sized monkeys at play, I sincerely hope they don’t “saviour” us into the ground.
November 14th, 2006 at 10:43 am
Hi, Phin, and welcome –
Like maybe a couple dozen cases of stamps and lots and lots of ink. Indelible, if there’s some in stock.
The only place I’m pretty sure we won’t see a veto is in the Amnesty Department, but judging by some of his capitulatory gestures since Nov 2004 and his response to Comrade Pelosivitch’s ascendancy to Speaker, I fear he may negotiate a little too much for my liking.
He really needs to fight hard on issues like Iraq, The Patriot Act and the tax cuts, and keep his stamp hand and arm in shape for that — no carpal tunnel syndrome, Mr. Bush!
November 14th, 2006 at 10:54 am
Arthur –
You may not understand this concept, but I have of late been mired in work — I’m leaning strongly towards accepting a primo permanent position I have been offered and been negotiating over, and have to clear up a backlog of work for other clients in the meantime.
Meal time these days comes in the form of personally mandated “breaks”, not dinner socials.
I just happen to enjoy treating myself well.
November 14th, 2006 at 11:15 am
BB –
I have a friend from Oregon who grew up working in a lumber camp, and knew a guy in the service who did also, from Idaho. You guys’re some tough SOBs.
I don’t know as that extra nickel indicated that the boss man was a liberal, though. I frequently hire people to work for me, both on work projects and stuff on my home/property when I’m too busy or when something requires skills I don’t have, and I always pay well above what most others do. I often get surprised and pleased looks when I pay bonuses. So do other conservatives I know.
The difference is appreciation for a job well done. Liberals believe that everybody should get the same treatment whether they do a good job or a shitty job.
I firmly believe in merit as a basis for compensation — this is why I have always been opposed to affirmative action and other venues that push aside those who have worked or studied harder to get someplace in order to appease those who haven’t.
I would have no qualms about paying an underachiever $8.00 an hour and a “dynamo” in the exact same job $20.00 an hour. That’s how the marketplace is supposed to work. Liberals labor under the mistaken impression that society is supposed to carry those who are too lazy to make an effort on their own behalf.
Wrong!
November 14th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
Seth wrote-
You may not understand this concept, but I have of late been mired in work –
Of course I understand Seth. I’m a business owner myself and have worked since I was a mere boy when I began delivering newspapers. My background is very similar to yours. Very similar.
I worry about your health.
24 oz. of porterhouse is a lot of red meat.
November 14th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
Arthur –
Man is a carnivore.
Still, I don’t usually indulge in that size steak, usually 1 lb or 12 oz, but… but when I saw that porterhouse at Harris Teeter, it seemed to be calling out to me….
November 14th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
I had a similar experience the other day with a veal chop.
November 14th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Hmmm, Seth,
I thought man was an omnivore.
November 14th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
Arthur –
See?
November 14th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Atheling2 –
I view us as being carnivores, while all the other stuff is appetizers, side dishes and dessert.
One of the ball caps I have, and my favorite, says:
“Animals: It’s what’s for dinner.”
November 14th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
LOL!
November 14th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Excellent post Seth, and bang on. I guess that puts me in the survivor category as well… you have to be to live where I am. … Now you went and made me hungry again… sheesh .. guess there’s gonna be two dinners tonight … LOL
November 14th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Atheling2 –
I used to love wearing that ball cap around when I lived in SF — it was well worth all the baleful glares I’d receive from passing liberals of the animal rights activist genre.
November 14th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
ABF –
That’s what you get for posting those donut pics at your place, LOL. Tim’s knows how to lay out a food spread to create a frenzy. Luckily, I had a few donuts I’d bought the other day hanging about in a cupboard, so mmmmmmmmm……..
November 14th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
Seth,
Heh, given that ‘ruminating’ was the title, it
appears appropriate that discussion has wandered from def2: muse or ponder back to def1: to chew again that which has been chewed slightly and swallowed: to recapitulate..from dollars to donuts….
November 14th, 2006 at 7:22 pm
Seth,
What is it about men and donuts? I’ve noticed that you can bribe a man to do almost anything with a dozen donuts. Move furniture, fix a tire, clean the garage…
November 14th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
Oh damn…. now I gotta drive over to Tim’s for dessert … LOL
November 14th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
BB –
I must have been stricken with a moment of clairvoyance when I picked that title, LOL.
November 14th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
Atheling2 –
Donuts may very well be a round, solid version of the nectar of the gods, with a hole in the middle.
When I worked in the casino, we kept several boxes of assorted donuts in the security office on every shift, so our people could wander in off the floor at any time to grab some quick sustenance.
While many may argue that Krispy Kremes or Dunkin Donuts are the best, I will go with an old California chain of coffee and donut stops called Winchell’s. When I lived in L.A. for awhile as a kid, one of my friends’ fathers was a donut maker who worked overnight at the Winchell’s on North Figueroa. His son and I would often go with him on Fri/Sat nights and clean up outside while he worked, and I would go home with a big box of hot, fresh assorted donuts as my pay.
YUM!!!!
November 14th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
ABF –
If it’s for donuts, it’s a worthy expedition.
November 14th, 2006 at 8:29 pm
Seth, that is one amazing post. You done good son, you done damn good!!!
November 14th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
Thank you, GM –
My heart was in it to the max. I wanted to share some of my background with those beloved folks who visit my blog, and at the same time express my feelings about the next couple of years in American history.
The culinary substance is a bonus, LOL.
Yum, donuts and steak!
November 15th, 2006 at 7:06 am
Seth, now I don’t know whether to comment or go eat. I guess the safest thing to do is comment.
Great insight that you’ve shared. You’ve certainly run the gambit, that’s for sure.
I never had much edjumakashun, so I got stuck in places like Vietnam, Central America and Iraq (the first Gulf War). I’m certainly not wealthy, but I’m rich in experiences and personal rewards.
Now, where’s that coffee and dount?
November 15th, 2006 at 7:28 am
Old Soldier –
I never had much edjumakashun, so I got stuck in places like Vietnam, Central America and Iraq (the first Gulf War). ROTFLMAO!!!!
For you, let me brew a pot of Jamaican Blue Mountain and have some donuts made fresh!
And none for the “haughty, French looking Massachusettes Democrat who by the way served in Vietnam” — h/t James Taranto.
November 15th, 2006 at 10:41 am
“For you, let me brew a pot of Jamaican Blue Mountain and have some donuts made fresh!”
What was that address again?
November 15th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Old Soldier –
Any time you’re in the Charlotte area, if I’m in town or, after the first of the year, the West Indies, email me in advance and you’ll have a place to visit/vacation.
November 15th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
I am seeing signs that the Donks are already busy digging their own graves. Several people I have talked to who voted DEM are already concerned. They were throwing a tantrum, not saying what they really wanted.
November 15th, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Hey! …. now I can get travel insurance on your site … gonna need it if I keep walkin over to Tim’s for donuts. It’s at least a block away, and it pays to be safe … LOL
I couldn’t resist…
November 15th, 2006 at 7:29 pm
Shoprat –
That’s because now they have to keep their promises to all those extreme left orgs and individuals who helped them win. There is no way they can do this without shattering the illusion of conservatism they ran on.
The same wingnuts who helped them get elected will, come January, begin helping them get de-elected.
November 15th, 2006 at 7:41 pm
ABF –
Those damn spambots, LOL.
I would feel no compassion whatsoever for the blighters and blighterettes who make a living off spambots if they were all taken out and skinned alive in the public square (if there’s no public square, then build one!).
On the bright side, you’ll notice that the travel insurance folks have now been sent away, heh heh, to peddle their wares at someone else’s blog.
November 15th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
Oh nooooo… and i was just about to click on their link …. NOT … LOL
November 15th, 2006 at 8:59 pm
ABF –
I have seen at another blog where the blogger has a notice to spambotters that should they wish to invade his site, he reserves the right to charge them for ad space.
That wouldn’t be a bad idea, but they’d have to pay me by the millisecond, or the time from when I first espied them until the time I deleted them.
November 15th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
I appreciated learning a bit more about your earlier life. However, I am skeptical of any prediction about the next election, as recent history shows that voters have little or no memory retention. Thus by the time 2008 rolls around, even if they remember what they voted for in 2006, most voters won’t care because they’ll be processing different events and issues.
Hence, even if Congress behaves as you predict and these events come to pass, who knows what the voters will do in 2008. After all, did anyone predict the 2006 results in November 2004? All this shows is that it’s better to win the election than to fantasize about how your opposition will botch things with the electorate two years hence.
November 16th, 2006 at 3:08 am
Civil Truth –
In most time periods, I would agree with you. However, there are too many issues this time out that are point blank to the voters’ ongoing and priority sensibilities.
The tax cuts, for example, that all Americans are completely happy with — taken away.
Elimination of areas of the Patriot Act that, while the left has criticized as unconstitutional and wrong, the majority of Americans see as a reason we have not suffered any new terrorist attacks.
Iraq — Nobody except the left wants to cut and run, most Americans want to see a more definitive approach to the situation there. The left hasn’t a clue, the right does.
Abortion on Demand, gay marriage — the left is still pushing those issues, despite their rejection by mainstream America.
Global Warming.
The fact of the matter is that in order to pursue their respective campaigns to get elected, the Democrats have accepted the influence and largesse of too many special interest groups whose agendas are too far left for most Americans, and in the next couple of years they will have to pay back —
– the result will be that the Dems look too far left, once again, for the voter majority.
Long and short, the difference between then and last Tuesday will be the onslaught, rather than the debate, of the left’s various agendas.
November 16th, 2006 at 4:11 am
The jockeying within the Democratic Party has already begun. Carville is slamming Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi is being criticized over her support of Murtha. I am amused.
November 16th, 2006 at 4:22 am
AOW –
This is only a prelude to further comedy.
The Democrats won the election because they were ready to lead the country. Unfortunately, while they’re definitely ready, they’re just as definitely not capable.
Start popping the January popcorn and melt the butter for same, the real fun has yet to begin, LOL.
November 16th, 2006 at 9:18 am
Seth, your very generous offer is quite humbling, indeed; however, my vacation time for the foreseeable future will be taken up with building the new house.
Thank you kindly, sir!
November 16th, 2006 at 9:27 am
Hi Seth! I got here a bit late, I see. I read your entire post, slowly, and I can’t see anything that I would disagree with, which probably isn’t much of a surprise. Heh! Like you, I’ve experienced a plethora of different sorts of jobs, and I believe I would be poor indeed if I had only gone to college and done one thing my entire life. You nailed what is wrong with those who sit in their ivory towers perfectly!
Got to run. You and Old Soldier made me hungry.
November 16th, 2006 at 11:38 am
Old Soldier –
Nevertheless, the invite still stands into the future.
Gayle –
I know exactly what you mean.
If I had everything to do over, good, bad and otherwise, I can’t see as I’d change much, because my life as such has been a great set of lessons and one hell of a ride so far.