Random Thoughts, December 2015 – January 2016

I’m taking a hiatus from FaceBook, ostensibly to clear my mind and my desk for other things, but the voices in my head are still chattering away. Here’s what they’ve been saying.

1. Why don’t paparazzi go after getting pictures of Bigfoot or aliens? That would be a lot more interesting than another picture of the Kardashians.
2. Someone was eating something at work today that smelled like boiled sneakers. It must have been that person who is always running off at the mouth. …
3. If I believed in conspiracies, I might think that all the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric spouted by the Republican candidates for President was actually encouraged by the government. The NSA/CIA/FBI could use all the phone, email, and social media data they collect to build a list and monitor individuals and groups who might do violence to aliens. That way, when extraterrestrials do make their presence known, they’ll know where the threats would come from.
4. At my age, when I buy or fix something I want it to last for 20 years. That way I won’t have to deal with it again.
5. We need a new definition for hypocrisy. The behavior of politicians has expanded the boundaries of the word so much that now it’s just too vague. Hypocrisy used to be a subtle behavior that had to be pointed out by insiders or informed critics, like the Republicans who were leading the impeachment of Bill Clinton were all having their own affairs. Now, it includes blatant behaviors like conservative religious and political leaders who do drugs and have abortions. At the far end of the spectrum are the hide-in-plain-sight hypocrites, like pedophile Priests, gun-running gun-control advocates, and of course, the Duggers.
6. This whole thing With Odell Beckham Jr and Josh Norman would never have happened if players were allowed to open-carry guns on the field.
7. Why are some people so adamant about denying that climate change is real? It’s not about differences in interpretations of the data. It’s not about being ignorant about the science. Just look at videos of glaciers and ice caps melting. Anyone can understand that. It’s hard to believe that it’s just that the denialists fear that they’ll be inconvenienced in some ways or have to pay more taxes if they accept that climate change is real. That seems pretty superficial for a crisis on a global scale. Maybe it’s greed; maybe they just want to keep a certain job or lifestyle. Then again, maybe they are pathetic, self-centered sociopaths. Why else would a generation of corporate leaders in the petroleum industry fight so hard against regulations to address a problem they knew to be true?
8. Having no sense of humor is considered a symptom of some personality disorders. LOL.
9. As I understand it, the polls that show Hillary Clinton way ahead of Bernie Sanders were conducted on likely Democratic voters having land-line telephones. I wonder if we’re all in for another “Dewey Defeats Truman” moment. Most voters probably don’t even know what that was all about. On the other hand, the polls showing Sanders ahead are often conducted on-line and may be biased. So don’t get too concerned by polls until the candidates are chosen by their parties. Learn about how to interpret poll results. Then, ignore them and vote for whomever you feel would make the best president.
10. My New Year’s resolution is to finish more projects than I start. That’s the same resolution I’ve made the last two years, too. I even made a spreadsheet to track what I’ve done. In two years, I’ve finished only nine of over sixty projects. I think Sisyphus is laughing at me. I need minions.
11. I like living vicariously through the internet. I don’t have to deal with rude people if I don’t want to. I don’t have to waste time traveling on Cattle Car Airways. I can pretend I’m smart, popular, and good-looking. And best of all, I can do it all in my pajamas.
12. I sure hope that the political parties vet their candidates to ensure they are eligible to run (i.e., Cruz, Rubio) and aren’t about to be indicted for some crime they committed (Christie, Clinton). It’s OK if they are mentally unbalanced (most of the electorate is too) so long as they comply with the law. It would be a disaster if a party’s candidate were to be disqualified right before the election, or worse, after.
13. I work in an organization that uses hot desking and hoteling instead of assigning specific workstations. Every day, we have to find an available workstation to work at for the day. It may not be in the same area or even the same floor of the building as the previous day. I call it wanderwork (working at different locations within an office) to distinguish it from telework (working in different office locations). Wanderwork has benefits and challenges. You get to see different people every day and nobody can find you if you don’t want to be found. The problem though, especially for old people like me, is remembering where you “parked” for the day. And, I’m at an age when getting to see unfamiliar people every day happens whether I’m wanderworking or not.
14. If you buy a drone from Amazon, do they deliver it using a bigger drone?
15. I voted in my first presidential election in 1972. The choice was between more-of-the-same-old-school-corporate-politics represented by Richard Nixon and the radical-progressivism-for-the-benefit-of-the people represented by George McGovern. The racist-misogynistic-homophobic-jingoistic vision of George Wallace had been rejected by voters four years earlier. McGovern was my candidate but he was crushed in the election. Nixon won and went on to Watergate infamy. In 2016, the country will again decide between the-same-old-school-corporate-politics represented by Hillary Clinton, the radical-progressivism-for-the-people represented by Bernie Sanders, and the racism-misogyny-homophobia-jingoism represented by all the Republican candidates. History is repeating itself less than half a century later. I wonder how the electorate will decide to set the future of America this time.
16. Without the support of Congress, the new President’s success will be limited to executive orders and policy decisions made by Federal Agencies. Everyone in the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate will run for election in 2016. Before you vote to reelect, be sure your Representative and Senator share the vision of the person you vote for President, otherwise you’re just voting for more obstructionism.