August 5, 2024
March 12, 2024
June 22, 2023
June 7, 2023
Cookie Faces
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Cookie Faces
April 27, 2023
November 21, 2021
Sad Sad Umbrella
It's the saddest umbrella in the world. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Sad Sad Umbrella
June 28, 2021
When You Absolutely Need A/C
What do you do?
Improvise! ;-)
(Source Photo: A friend)
When You Absolutely Need A/C
May 14, 2021
Broken Uber and Stupid Airport
Because we needed an Uber early, we used the app to reserve one in advance.
I get an email that Uber charged us and the app says the driver is on the way.
However, it doesn't identify any driver or car.
It turns out that Uber never reserved any driver and no one was coming to get us and we had a flight to catch.
So much for reservations that go unreserved!
So we cancel the darn Uber and instead try to get a Lyft, but after many minutes trying in vain to locate a driver, we gave up on this as well,
Thank goodness, I could still call a regular cab!
The taxi company says he'll be there in 10-20 minutes.
Over 35 minutes later and 3 phones calls and he still hasn't arrived and it's getting late for the flight.
Finally, finally, he shows up and says they called up and he came from bed to pick us up.
Wow, that's pretty amazing--I was impressed and grateful.
He get us to the airport and we run in and through security.
We head to gate 30 for our flight and the picture shows you what we came up against.
Gate 29 and gate 31 in the corner of the airport, but no freakin gate 30 anywhere in sight!
After a swing around the other corners, we finally found it.
Why gate 30 isn't after 29 and before 31, I will never understand!
Moreover, why Uber takes reservations in advance for a car, but doesn't actually arrange a driver is also a complete mystery and a very broken business model. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
Broken Uber and Stupid Airport
April 1, 2021
Will It Drive Again
Wondered if it will ever drive again.
Right now it looks like it's headed for mothballs and cobwebs.
But who knows, cars in worse shape have been rehabilitated. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Will It Drive Again
February 3, 2021
The Sniffer Isn't Working
Someone really had a premonition posting this sign before Covid!
The sign says simply:
Smell Me!!
The response to this now-a-days would be the person with Covid yelling back:
I can't smell (or taste) anything!
Now frustrated, the other person replies:
But please, please smell me.
Second person, tries and tries again:
Sniff, sniff--darn, the sniffer just isn't working.
Get out the smelling salts!
Six months later, I still can't smell a skunk in the same room.
What type of crazy pandemic is this! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
The Sniffer Isn't Working
November 23, 2020
What A Dumb Education System
Unfortunately, the education system here starts out dumb from the get-go!
As the WSJ today reports, $400 billion out of a $1.4 trillion educational loan portfolio is likely uncollectible.
That's almost 30% bad debt!
But what is unforgivable is that they system is geared towards crappy lending practices.
As per a former head of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO):
"We make no attempt to evaluate the quality of the borrower, the ability to repay, the effectiveness of the loans...[so] the taxpayer ends up picking up the tab."
Is that fair to all the responsible students and families that pay for their education and repay their student loans?
This systems is so broken, and on top of it yet we want to forgive more student debt all together and teach our children to be deadbeats!
It seems like this education system can't teach anything of value except how to play an already broken system! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
What A Dumb Education System
January 17, 2020
Airplane Art
It would be so much more fun to get on a plane that displayed some pizzaz!
All we hear about are plane delays, cancelled flights, mishandled baggage, and involuntary bumping.
Oh, and don't forget the ever more cramped seating and the entertainment system that is habitually broken.
How does this industry get away with all this crap? ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Airplane Art
November 1, 2019
Give Me That Fridge Handle
A cause for celebration!
It get's delivered and afterwards, I notice that the door handles are installed unevenly.
I call the store and they agree to send their guys out to us again to fix it.
Well, the handles were on the wrong doors and they switch it so that now they look even, but in the process, they break the handle on one of the doors so that only the top is attached to the door and the bottom is blowing in the wind (and ready to scratch the door).
With this second installation debacle, I call the store again and not a happy camper!
Three calls later, the store agrees for me to come over and literally take the handle of the fridge on the showroom floor to replace my broken one--which I promptly did!
Third times the charm...no more broken door handle.
As for the one in the store, let's just say you can only open the left door for now. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Give Me That Fridge Handle
October 7, 2019
It Spills Over
But rather is spills over entirely.
There is nothing, nothing left inside.
Worse even is when the glass completely shatters.
Then there isn't even a vessel anymore.
All that's left is to pick up the pieces.
As humans, we try to fill up the water, stop the water inside from spilling out, and to save the glass.
The rest is in G-d's hands.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
It Spills Over
February 10, 2019
The Not So Civil Service
The Civil Service was not only a term, but also a reality filled with honor, dedication, and devotion to one's country.
Working for the Federal government meant interesting and exciting work opportunities not only defending our great nation, but in making it just and prosperous, and literally a beacon of freedom for the world.
While no one became rich working for the government, you could make a stable living, build tenure over your service, and finally receive a pension upon retirement.
Over the course of almost 20-years of my federal career, I have had the opportunity to serve in positions that I only could have dreamed about as a child, and to feel such pride in serving.
But it seems like times have taken a turn for the worse either willfully or through neglect:
- From Capitol Hill to the Executive Department, we see the extremus of polarization and endless obstacles to getting anything done.
- With each change in administration, aside from a change of leadership and direction at the top of each Department, the workforce is seemingly accused of subversion for the other side and turned on itself.
- Just recently, we've seen the longest federal government shutdown lasting 35 days and with hundreds of thousands of Federal workers required to work without pay at the time.
- We have also seen many years of pay freezes--with not even a meager cost of living adjustment (COLA), while the overall economy is booming!
- The pay for grades at the upper levels are hitting up against the Congressional limits with multiple pay steps being the same pay and no increase for career advancement or growth of responsibilities.
- Employees have been forced to endure the A-76 outsourcings, threats of disbanding entire agencies, demands to reduce the size of government, and hiring freezes even while serving a larger population requiring ever more services.
- There have been limitations on the power of employee unions, and an ongoing series of tightening of benefits from CERS to FERS and continuing thereafter requiring greater employee contributions and what feels like ever less benefit payouts.
- Staff are threatened with firing in a short(er) period of time for making a small number of mistakes to a host of "conduct" issues that may or may not be true, and may at times be the outcome of poor leadership rather than problematic employees.
- The system for employment grievances and judging these has gone without a quorum for the longest period on the books and the backlog of cases continues to build.
While no system is perfect, and there are bad apples on every side, there clearly seems to be a devolution of the federal service, and what this means for governing and for our defense and prosperity is yet to be fully felt.
For me, serving the Federal government has been one of the greatest honors and has been many of the best years of my life. My wish is for others going forward to have a positive and productive experience as well.
Perhaps with an appreciation and true respect for the millions of good men and women that serve our country--from the front lines to the back offices--we can once again create a system that is equitable, fair, and just and that inspires the world-class results we needs for our nation and our people.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
The Not So Civil Service
June 19, 2018
Terrible TV
That's exciting, right?
We brought it home from Costco.
And we gave our prior model away to a family member.
It was a shlep to move that $2,000 Panasonic behemoth from 2007!
By the time we got back home and connected our new LG TV, oy vey what a disappointment.
It had this brilliant display in "test mode" that when hooked up to the cable box looked dark and worse than lackluster.
Even when fidgeting with the settings to offset the dark screen, the gorgeous test display mode still came out looking like crap in actual tv mode.
But the worst part was that there was a black line down the middle right of the screen.
When we looked it up on the Internet, it was a known error.
The instructions said to call LG and make a service appointment.
WTF! To heck with this sh*tty TV--it's supposed to be brand new and actually work--so it's going back to Costco where this crappy product came from.
I dragged this widescreen TV back to the store and put it on one of their flat wide carts.
The problem was that the wheels on one side of the cart were busted, and it kept turning into the fence, store shelves, and wall.
When the lady behind the returns desk called me for my turn, I tried to push the cart and it wouldn't move.
Not being able to budge this thing, I gave it shove forward and the TV went flying from upright to horizontal--SMASH!
The lady behind the returns counter goes to me sarcastically:
"So what was wrong with it BEFORE you just knocked it over???"
Well to make a long story short, I returned the lousy LG television and got a refund.
And instead ordered a new Samsung curved TV from Amazon--hope this one works!
As for the horrible quality control of today's electronics--it's a shame that they can't seem to make them without problems--they've only been making televisions for like 100 years or so.
In fact, we recently bought a Dell laptop and within like 5-6 weeks, the motherboard died.
As you can see, the vendors are wringing profits from the products they are making at the customer's expense.
There is no quality control to speak of--instead be ready to return the junk electronics to the garbage vendors that make them. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Terrible TV
February 18, 2018
Together 4Ever
"The spades go.
Two lips together.
Twilight forever.
Bring back my love to me."
When 2 people are together, it's as if the angels in heaven themselves are dancing and singing.
Love seems to make everything in the world right again.
Recently, an old person from my building lost his wife of over 60 years!
I see him around and while he continues to go about doing his everyday things, I can see that he misses his wife so much.
He is broken, and his strength is gone.
I remember my grandfather and father the same way when they lost my grandmother and mother, respectively.
Completely devastating to them--their wives were their lives and what made them complete-- afterward, they were never really the same.
Our companions are truly our other halves.
When someone asked the old man from my building how he was doing late last week, he simply responded:
"I'm getting along the best that I can."
He said it was such sadness and loneliness for his wife who passed that his words literally cut right through me.
People need each other--no one is an island--and especially loving couples who have been together for decades and decades--they are for each other and with each other, even if "together forever" is just a song that children sing...it is what we all ultimately wish for. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Together 4Ever
July 1, 2017
America The Polarized
And those who support Trump and change.
On the other side, you have those that oppose and resist.
And those that blame and wash their hands from the dirty politics.
But our problems are large and eating this nation up alive--from Iran and North Korea to Jobs, Healthcare, Immigration, and more
Our social safety net is fraying under a frightening and mounting national debt, and our national security needs are growing amid an endless array of real doomsday threats from WMD, EMPs, and Cyber Attacks.
What will it be America--blame, ridicule, resist, endless fighting or work to help and not hate. ;-)
(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)
America The Polarized
June 18, 2017
Paper Navy Tiger
In the middle of the night our U.S. Navy DESTROYER crashes with a ginormous container ship.
The commercial vessel (yes it's bigger, but it's a civilian ship) is lightly damaged, but the U.S. Navy BATTLESHIP (after having undergone a recent $21 million upgrade) has 7 dead, the captain injured, and it can barely make it back to its port except with tugboats for extensive repairs.
WTF!
How does an battleship with the latest sensors and technology collide with a civilian ship--how did such a foreign vessel even get close to our navy ship let alone collide with it--was someone completely "asleep at the wheel?"
This is no joke!--this is our first line of defense in our ability to project force globally.
What if this had been a terrorist ship laden to the hilt with high explosives or an Axis of Evil Iranian or North Korean fast attack craft or even a Russian or Chinese attack submarine--surprise!
Doesn't a battleship need to be ever-vigilant and -ready for battle?
How can we fight sophisticated 21st century militaries with advanced ship-killer cruise missiles, torpedos, and mines, if we can't even avoid the essential sinking of one our own fighting ships in peacetime.
Our brave men and women who take up the uniform to serve this great nation--and this country--DESERVE BETTER!
Does this paper navy ship with a punched hole in it represent a larger forgotten or war-weary military in dire need of modernization and genuine readiness to defend the beautiful and free America?
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal via The Guardian)
Paper Navy Tiger
March 25, 2017
A Nation Conquered By Politics
And the Ryancare replacement plan failed to garner enough votes and has been questioned by the alt-right as not going further enough to change things for the better.
Blame the parliamentarian, blame each other, blame the Russians.
Between the two sides of the aisle, there aren't enough centrists, and the parties won't work together on a solution to this or anything else apparently--hence the utter catastrophic deadlock and lack of progress in Washington going on for years now!
The democrats passed Obamacare along party lines without a single Republican.
And now Ryancare similarly had not a single Democrat.
Resistance. Resistance. Resistance!
This is how polarized and ineffective our system of governing has become, when the two sides love their position and power more than they love the people of this great nation!
The Russians, Chinese, North Koreans, and Iranians didn't have to fire a single shot...they just continued to shame our ineffectiveness with bogus deals and aggressive posturing, fed us boatloads of misinformation ("fake news") to agitate our already divided country, and then they left us to split asunder under of our democracy's own weight.
As the Republicans point fingers and the Democrats gloat--there is a great refrain of La La La Koosh Koosh going on--and the Superpower U.S. is looking not only asleep, but also fat, stupid and sprawled out pathetic with no where to go but up from here. ;-)
(Source Photo: Rebecca Blumenthal)
A Nation Conquered By Politics