Author Archives: balaams.ass

Sometimes, just sometimes

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Wikipedia is funny without trying. Here is a quote from the page about the 60′s scandalous musical Hair.

“Theatre writer Scott Miller described these themes in terms of the hippies’ goals, targets and beliefs, as follows:”

Hippie Shower

Hippies had goals other then not showering, smoking pot constantly, tie dying everything and having sex with anyone ? I’ve met some dogs with seemingly similar goals if you substitute the tie dying with urinating and smoking pot with eating.

Off to hunt for more wikihumor……

.jon

Solvay Glass

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We recently bought new front doors from Solvay Glass. Unfortunately the salesman didn’t really explain the glass in the doors very well and only used a computer program to represent the finished product. The problem stemmed from the fact that there are about dozen different types of glass in maybe 25 different patterns. We were under the impression that any glass type could be used in any pattern and despite repeatedly talking about privacy concerns and pointing to the representative glass panels in front of us we weren’t sold what we thought. We explained clearly that we didn’t want anyone to be able to see clearly in the house at the front door.

When the doors arrived and were being installed we discovered that about 60% of the glass in the pattern was in fact clear glass. We called Solvay and Dan our salesman came back out this time bringing a catalog which clearly showed which type of glass was installed in which patterns. If only we had seen this during the initial sales pitch we could have made an informed decision. Here’s a picture showing the difference. The computer image is on the left with a camera picture of the catalog is on the right.

combined

I guess the mistake was our fault because we are now waiting to hear how much it will cost us to get the right type of glass in a new pattern. In short, we paid full price for doors that we feel were poorly represented to us and now will have pay more to get the doors we thought we ordered or live with what we didn’t order. Additionally, I have concerns that removing the glass panels may not be the healthiest thing to do to the doors as I understand they are secured with adhesives.

The installers were very professional and courteous but we did have to have the door sill adjusted as it was letting a lot of cold in thru a gap.

So if you buy doors from Solvay make sure you remember your Latin – caveat emptor. Know what glass is in the pattern you picked.

UPDATE: We’ve been told that it will cost us over $700 to get the windows we want.

A Question

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Can a government be greedy ?

If the answer is yes then we better vote them all out regularly.
If the answer is no then where does all the money go ?

I think I’m seeing one significant difference in the liberal vs conservative mindset. I believe that most liberals believe that people are generally good. Most conservatives think that most people are capable of doing good. A nuance for sure but it helps me understand them a little better particularly when we extend this thinking to government employees and greed.

.jon

Arrrghh Facebook

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Ever since I decided to eliminate political divisive discourse on Facebook I’ve been frustrated. So I’m thinking I may start this long dormant blahg site to express myself on political/social issues. This is my first, and possibly last, attempt.

Chick Fil’A – I think I ate at one once. I was on a cross country bicycle trip and I have a vague recollection of a Bonanza like restaurant that served chicken. Didn’t leave any lasting impression but I was preoccupied with riding my bike from San Diego to Rehoboth Beach Delaware.

For me this is a matter of free speech. The CEO has a right to believe and speak about what he believes. The other side has a right to believe and speak what they believe. Free speech is not the right for a mayor to prevent a company who meets all code and engineering requirements the opportunity to open a store.

It seems to me that for some free speech sometimes means I have to agree with you. I’m not sure how we got here. We can disagree. I’m not threatened by you whole heartedly believing the opposite of what I believe. I don’t hate you for it. Believe what you want. I know full well that I’ll never convince by my words of anything anyway. It is an exercise in futility tho Lord knows when I was younger I’d sure try.

I draw a line when you insist that I have to agree with you and I get agitated when you insist that I have to allow you to teach my children to agree with you. I’ll teach my children to love all, not agree with all. If that is not enough then you have the problem not me.

Sometimes I think that liberalism is to tolerance as Islam is to peace.

.jon

Reflections

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This is Olde Mirror. So named by Libby and accepted as such by everyone.

I’m not sure where Olde Mirror started offering its services. It is an old mirror that came from my in-laws house. It has no value as an antique as far as we know and is in pretty rough shape. The glass portion is falling out of the frame and the mirror itself has age flaws where the shiny backing has discolored. Not a doodad or a chotzky that many would find worthy. Still it has made its way to our mantel this holiday season.

I can only imagine how many people it has reflected and wonder what were they hoping to see ?

Sometimes I wonder if the world would be better off without mirrors. Maybe we spend too much time on what we look like to the detriment of what we think and feel.

I dunno it’s that time of year.

.ba

Bad Navy

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Had an experience in Old Navy the other day that prompted me to write them a letter. I thought I’d share the letter with you. Maybe you can write them too !

Never again will I shop at Old Navy. In addition I will personally make it a point to dissuade as many people as I can from shopping at Old Navy.

After waiting in line I attempted to purchase clothes for the 5 refugee foster sons in my home only to find out that Old Navy does not accept dually signed tax exempt forms along with cash. This type of transaction is legal and conforms with the government requirements in every way. This was evidenced by the fact that every other store we purchased clothes from was glad to help out these persecuted and often orphaned children. At Old Navy apparently these children fall into a gap of corporate apathy.

I will work diligently to cause you to lose as many customers as I can by simply relating this information. Old Navy doesn’t care for refugee or foster children. As a foster parent it is my responsibility to cloth these boys. I am provided a stipend 4 times a year with which to do this. Old Navy must find it too difficult to process the paperwork necessary.

Will my boycott affect your bottom line ? Probably not but it will be personally rewarding and who knows the internet is a wonderful place for unique human interest stories to take on a life of their own.

Please don’t bother with a corporate “blah blah” reply unless it is indicative of some interest in changing your policy. It will waste your time and mine and I’ve got to get busy figuring out the best way to disseminate this information.

So avoid Old Navy for if you can and just maybe send them an email saying you heard about this incident and are less inclined to shop there because of it. Here’s their email.

custserv@oldnavy.com

thanks

.jon