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Random thoughts and stuff that rattles around in my head. You have been warned.

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A way to Fix the U.S.

Posted by wcrowlandksr on March 3, 2012
Posted in: General Ramblings. Leave a comment

How long will we tolerate giving the farm away?

I am living in a place that produces about 10 percent of the worlds oil exports and chances are, if you drive a car you have burned some of the oil from here.  This is a product that has a strong demand if only because the world is addicted to it.  At this point, it doesn’t really matter when it comes to the country’s financial well being.  What does matter is that there is a big demand for it and like it or not, that demand pays the bills, end of story.

America used to be a great nation that produced things that the world wanted.  We still could if it weren’t for the costs associated with the production.  In the place I live now, you can’t really outsource oil production so the income is almost a guarantee.  That is, unless, an alternative for oil is discovered and until then, it isn’t going to change.

In the middle east, I drive by the oil refineries every day as I go to work and the refining towers used to crack the oil generate waste vapors that are burned off and you can see the fires from the fifty or so stacks.  It’s an amazing site to see indeed.  The liberal tree huggers would have a heart attack if they saw this and sometimes I think it might not be a bad thing.  I truly believe that there are processes used to produce certain goods that are going to create a certain amount of pollution and there isn’t a way to stop it.  It’s the old saying, you gotta break a few eggs to make an omlet.  This thought brings me to my next thought.  We in America used to produce many goods that we and the rest of the world want.  But these days we are over regulated and we can’t break any eggs so to speak.  By that I mean, the ecology passionate people (Freaks) have turned the act of “saving the earth” into a religion and it makes it it near impossible to make some of the things we used to make.  Meanwhile, the rest of the world has the sense to realize this paradigm and thusly continues to make those goods we all need.

One way to stop some of the problems of job loss is to impute an import tax on goods that would make them cost the same as what they would cost to produce in the U.S.  Take that tax and use it to aid in education for U.S. residents ONLY.  Other countries tariff imported goods and it works.  We are too touchy feely and are afraid to offend anyone.  I say you do what you need to in an effort to protect your own country first.  If other countries don’t like it, too bad.  We cannot afford to keep giving ours away but the bleeding hearts want to do exactly that.  Problem is, there are less tax paying citizens every day as jobs dry up and go to other countries.  I am in a unique situation but I in fact have exited the country because of a lack of good paying jobs at home.  I reap the benefits of working in a place where they don’t give away the farm.  In some ways they can’t…they produce oil and it comes from the ground of the country.  Can you imagine the economic effects on the world oil market if the ecology freaks had their way and were able to stop oil production in the middle east?  In a way, they have had a bad influence on at least the U.S. market because they have slowed or blocked oil drilling in places like Alaska at the expense of the people.  How long will we be so tolerant of this kind of self defeating behavior?  How long until we find ways to make it too expensive to import cheaply made crappy goods so that the jobs will be brought back home?  How long will it be before America wakes up and collectively says ENOUGH is ENOUGH!?

Experienceing A New World

Posted by wcrowlandksr on March 3, 2012
Posted in: Life In The Sandbox. Leave a comment

I recall, years ago, I used to look at the map of the world and think about where I would want to live if I moved.  I had thought about where that would be but I could never find just the right place.  Now I find myself in the desert in the middle east.  I thought it would be the last place I would ever want to live but I am finding out that it’s actually a place that I am really enjoying.  Granted it could be a honeymoon phase right now but I have connected with good friends here who I knew back home and they have helped make the experience excellent.

Driving here is something that one must experience to understand.  I can say that a few years of demolition derby racing has helped.  There are a road rules but they are loosely interpreted and you must have nerves of steel to survive.  The rules are simple, merge without signaling and stay out of the fast lane unless you are going fast!  Commuting to work hovers around 100 MPH.  Use of turn signals are a sign of weakness so never tip your hand. Those 100mph speeds are common and that’s slow for some drivers.

I know some of you are thinking, if it’s so good why don’t you just stay there…hmm..maybe.

I am told “Just wait until the heat comes, then we will see if you like it so much here”.  Heat?….Let us define heat shall we?   It’s 125 degrees in the daytime and a cool crisp 95-100 in the evening.  This is coupled with the occasional sandstorm that fills the air with enough dust to block the sun so much that you can look directly at it and see it without hurting your eyes.  I can tell you the sun is not as much a yellow ball of fire but it’s more of a brilliant white with a very distinct edge…ask me how I know.

Dining…The restaurants here are really good.  Not only is the quality of the food outstanding, the table service is superb.  It really leaves me not wanting to return to American dining because of the typical poor service, bad mannerisms of most wait staff and less than excellent food.  In the U.S. we deal in volume and cattle call like engagements when dining out.  Here, it’s about enjoying your meal and conversation with friends and family when dining out.  There’s never a rush and the seating isn’t like the seating found in the U.S.  I am not huge but I am far from a beanpole.  My experience when dining out in the U.S. is that the booths SUCK in most eateries and they are cramped.  After I have eaten, I can’t wait to get out of the place because of crappy table seating.  Don’t think for a second that this isn’t planned.  I am sure it is.  I have yet to find a crappy cramped booth where only a child would be comfortably seated.

Am I jaded, yes.  Have I been cranky about these things before I left, yes.  Have I discovered a place where good service still exists in a place where it isn’t about volume sales?  Yes.  Why is the concept of quality so hard to grasp in America?

Rain in the East on Liberation day.

Posted by wcrowlandksr on February 25, 2012
Posted in: Life In The Sandbox.

You wouldn’t think it rains in the middle east…wrongo!  Today it rained….a lot!
Why must the rains follow me?

The locals didn’t let this wet weather ruin their independence day fun though.
They celebrated right on through it all.  In fact they are still going strong even as I write this blog.

Yes, it’s the local Independence day where the U.S. liberated the country.

I’m from, the pacific northwest.  It rains there…you will see my posts on this topic elsewhere in my blog.
This is a natural disaster here, I’m thinking.
The locals aren’t too familiar with this freakish phenomenon known as rain.
They turn their hazard lights on when driving.  I think it’s for two purposes, better visibility and traction.

….Strange place, this part of the world..

The Camel Flogger 5000

Posted by wcrowlandksr on February 22, 2012
Posted in: Life In The Sandbox.

Ok, I can see that I have plenty to learn about the middle east but this is hilarious.
Today, I’m out at the mall having a drink and getting a little intro to some of the culture here and the topic of camel jockeys comes up.

Now before you whiny people start barking about the ethical treatment of animals I’m just gonna say it…I don’t care about your agenda and these animals are not flogged any differently than if an actual jockey was riding on the camel in question….except the beatings are applied with a touch of a remote control button.

Seems that the good people of the United Arab Empire races camels somewhat like we race horses on america.  The difference here is that we still have an actual jockey on the horse but the Arabs have a “robot” strapped to the camel and it has a little whip that spins on a shaft and it flogs the camel, thusly “encouraging” it to run.  I thought the name of the “Camel Flogger 5000” was fitting.  I can think of many uses for the Camel Flogger 5000.  Unruly kids?  Try the Camel Flogger 5000 or C.F. 5000 for short.  Students getting out of hand I. Class and minimal classroom interruptions are important?  C.F. 5000 gets the job done.  Got a spoiled brat posting videos on You Tube criticizing your parenting skills and you are out of .45 caliber laptop killing rounds?  Camel Flogger 5000 to the rescue.

Here’s a look at a video I found on the subject.

Square Goldfish

Posted by wcrowlandksr on February 15, 2012
Posted in: General Ramblings, Life In The Sandbox.

Sounds like a strange post doesn’t it..I mean there’s no such thing as a square goldfish…is there?

Some fish grow sizewise to fit the environment they live in…to a degree.  As a kid, I thought it would be funny to put a goldfish in a small aquarium with pictures of aquatic plants all around the tank.  I thought the fish would grow to accomodate the perceived larger tank size and become square…yeah I had some free time.

These days I have been feeling like a square goldfish.  Most of my life I had moved around a lot and never before had I stayed in one place for so long as where I live now.  I have worked in many unique places and have enjoyed a satisfying career working for some major corporations but the hometown life has been a bit difficult.  Living in a small town has some advantages but after a while it can feel as if the walls are closing in.  In my case, my town is surrounded by water and it starts feeling as if there is no where to go and not much to do sometimes.  Couple that feeling with the need to commute a good distance to make decent money and suddenly life becomes too focused on getting to work and back to make the commute worth it.  But there is a balance though.  Find a job that pays well enough to afford to enjoy life and have a few hobbies while not spending too much of your time getting to and from the job.

These thoughts have brought me to a new view on how to resolve my feeling boxed in.  Recently I have been afforded the opportunity to spend some time in another part of the world working on an ongoing project that I think may be the breath of fresh air I need.  Time will tell…quickly.  If all goes well, I hope to shed that boxed in feeling and gain a new and improved perspective of the world.  Maybe when I return, home will be a place of rest before the next adventure.

Welcome to Team Sandbox

Posted by wcrowlandksr on February 5, 2012
Posted in: Life In The Sandbox. Leave a comment

So I got the news last week.  “We’d like to offer you a position as a …”  Come be a part of Team Sandbox.  Sweet news in the face of the awesome job market our illustrious leaders have contributed to here in the States….That last part is sarcasm in case you haven’t guessed.  I am looking forward to the job though.  It should be fun and interesting too.  I will have to come back and write more when I am not so tired but at least I have the start of a post.

 

A New Year and a New Beginning.

Posted by wcrowlandksr on December 29, 2011
Posted in: General Ramblings. Leave a comment

This last year has been a rough but livable one and I suppose what doesn’t kill me really will make me stronger.

This year I survived a near death experience in the form of a motorcycle crash…a very nasty wreck indeed.

I watched my job crumble around me as my team got transferred away to other departments and my supervisor left the company.

These are minor things that in the end aren’t going to be the end of the world or my existence but I will admit though that the bike wreck almost ended me.
My last days at work at the end of the year were kind of a drag and I started to feel like there was something I needed to do to turn things around.
I have been working towards getting a new job that would take me overseas for a while because I think that part of my life’s change in course has to do with becoming debt free.  An overseas job could really help pay the bills off.  I know that money isn’t everything but when you have bills lingering in the shadows with an obligation to pay them off you tend to do something about that when you have any sense of decent rearing about you.  Bankruptcy just isn’t a viable option.

The crumbling job market and mine in particular doesn’t surprise me.  The need for workers in my field of practice are becoming less and less as we as a nation continue to outsource our jobs and erase the need for skilled people.  Corporations posted record earnings just one year before as they extracted more cash out of people who couldn’t afford it and are now jobless.  I see a reasonable option as one where I can take on work as some others do and send the money back home while I am working where the need still exists.  I also hope that if this pans out and works, when I return home, the economy might have some signs of improvement.

Another push for me to consider the move is that recently there were tolls imparted on the main road that enables me to get to where the good jobs are.  It’s not to say that it’s the only way but there is already talk of tolling the alternate routes in an effort to “Keep traffic congestion at a minimum.”  This new toll and no actual road improvement will take me about $600 dollars and 60 hours a month to get to where the higher paying jobs are.  Thanks alot WSDOT it just costs more to get around the state with no improvements….awesome!
I think that this state will become a place I used to live if things don’t improve.

These things considered…I hope that an improvement in proximity to work, better pay and fewer bills will enable me to enjoy life a little more and not find myself a slave to them.  If this new adventure catches on and I actually do it I think my outlook will improve.

High Maintenance Ugly goes all the way to the bone

Posted by wcrowlandksr on December 29, 2011
Posted in: General Ramblings, Randomness. Leave a comment

Last night I went outside and I found an SUV blocking my guests car in my graveled section of driveway.  This wasn’t just blocking by being parked on the street but the SUV was driven up into my driveway, half hanging out in the street and about 4 inches from my guests car.  What’s more annoying is that the house where the SUV owner was visting had PLENTY of room to park in the driveway of the house they went to.  Strike 1.   I’m thinking that I have been patient about this sort of thing because often there are cars parked in front of my house and they belong to my neighboor’s guests and there is ample room in their driveway to park.

Last night I had had enough, it was cold and wet.  I went to do the headlight and tail light fix on my guests car and I see what I have just described.  I calmly walked over to the neighboor’s house and asked for the SUV to be moved.  The home owner said she did ask the SUV owner to not park there but the owner said she wouldn’t be there very long.  I’m thinking this is strike 2 with this SUV crap and now i’m a bit annoyed.  Someone comes to my neighboor’s house, parks thier ride in my yard and when told to move it, they just were ignored with justification as to why it was OK to do that….they wouldn’t be there long.

The homeowner goes in and gets the SUV owner to come out and move the thing.  OK this should be interesting.  Not really a big deal but I’m already spinning a bit but I’m thinking this will be resolved soon.  Here comes the owner and I say, “Would you mind not parking in my yard please?”  “I think you can find somewhere else to park besides my driveway”.  I get the same response as the homeowner said they got…”I wasn’t going to be here long”.  Strike 3!   Now I’m way pissed because because of the response and so I asked “Why didn’t you move your car when they (The Homeowners) told you not to park there?   Here’s the best part, the owner is a very cute young lady that just had that air about her of “I’m too cute to be told what to do and you can’t talk to me that way” and so she says with an indignant attitude.. “Are you serious?” As if I have absolutley NO right to question her about parking in my yard…My response was “yes I am serious!” 

What I wanted to say in a Full Metal Jacket R. Lee Ermy Drill sergeant kind of way was…and I should be nice…and I was….but this came to mind…”Hellz yeah  I’m serious princess get yer Sh-t outta my damn yard!   I don’t care how cute you are, others may kiss your a$$ in hopes of scoring with you but as far as I am concerned your high maintenance crap isn’t worth putting up with and no amount of cutsie crap from ANYONE like you is worth it…NOW MOVE IT!”

One would think I have issues with pretty people but I don’t…It’s the high maintenance pretty people that annoy me. 
All too often our society has allowed them to get away with things that the rest of us trolls wouldn’t stand a chance of getting away with.
When they are called on something they do that is in bad form and they are unable to handle it, they will ask questions like “Are you Serious?”
These people are often considered “High Maintenance” and unless you are sadistic you will steer clear of this type of person…
In my case I chase them outta my yard because High Maintenance Ugly goes all the way to the bone.

-C.R.

Ferry commuting

Posted by wcrowlandksr on December 27, 2011
Posted in: Life in the Pacific Northwest. Leave a comment

Ok…its a boat…a really big boat.  Classified as a ship no less.  Its late today.  Almost never late.  But we are talking a half hour late.  This just might affect bus schedules and commuters that might miss the bus.  Unless they delay the buses…I hope they do.  Its funny when the announcement overhead is saying thank you for your patience.  Im thinking we dont have a choice. I guess I could demand that one or two of the ferry workers swim out and take a line off the ships bow and start swimming for Seattle…

What do you do?

Posted by wcrowlandksr on December 27, 2011
Posted in: General Ramblings. Leave a comment

Interesting question isn’t it?  Not who are you or how are you but “What do you do?” 
It’s often a question that car salesman will ask you in an effort to sum up what price range of car they can sell you or sometimes the opposite sex and mostly women will ask that same question in an effort to sum up what you are worth monetarily.  Don’t deny it ladies, some of you do this and we know it.  It’s no surprise and definitely not a secret.  I had a close friend who was engaged to a young lady that was overheard speaking about my friend with these words.  “He will be worth something someday”.  When confronted, she said I mean to his employers.

 It’s cuts right to the quick and is often used to determine a person’s value in a manner that we can quantify.  While a person’s worth in life should not be tied to a dollar figure or a monetary value it happens all to often.  I think we miss out on opportunities to connect with people when we use the “What do you do” question with the intent of figuring out how much a person earns or is worth. 

This same question is applied to those around us when we look at the outward appearance of someone and see indications of what they do without ever getting to know them or even ask the question “What do you do?”.  We pass judgment and make decisions on if we will even interact with because of the monetary value we assume they hold.  Sometimes people get caught up in applying a bit too much self worth and looking down thier nose at someone who merely looks as if they have less monetary value backing them up.  I worked in the business district of the nearby big city.  I have on a few occasions worn a warm field jacket to work along with my bluejeans and sneakers…because I can.  There have been a few times when I have been crossing the street or walking down the sidewalk dressed in this manner and come face to face with people dressed in nicer more expensive clothing and they acted as if I was supposed to give them the right of way when clearly that wasn’t the case.  I’m sure that to them, I looked like someone that if they were to ask me “What do you do?” I might answer with, “I work in the mailroom”…but I don’t.  

Just remember that before you make a determination about a person and who they are you don’t get caught up in the monetary value of a person as the deciding factor on your level of responsiveness to them. 

More to come on this later.

– C.R.

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