Pay not attention to the man behind the curtain!

During the last several Presidential terms, there has been some crisis or another near the end of their term.

This is because the country rode a wave of success that was an illusion, and it had to crash eventually.

President Reagan rode the buildup in the defense industry. It is fairly well accepted that we beat the Soviet Union by outspending them. At some time it had to come to an end, and in this case the loser was President Bush (I) who paid the price when the economy could not sustain the spending.

President Clinton rode the Internet bubble. I remember sitting with the CFO of the company I was with and we were watching the stock market (and our 401K's) go through the roof, and thinking "what is wrong with this picture?" We we found out. Besides Tyco and Enron, many companies were built up with paper profits and speculation. When it started to crash, President Bush (II) and maybe Al Gore had to take the fall - at least President Bush could claim to be of the other party and thereby dodge some of the blame.

Now President Bush has been riding the housing boom. We don't know who is ultimately to blame, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that at the least, the current administration was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If they pushed for regulation, they would be going against the tide of less government regulation. If they didn't push for regulation, they knew the house of cards would come down, could they just not have it on their watch. My feeling is that we will find they took the middle road. They talked a good game in order to cover themselves, but at the same time did nothing to push for changes.

The next president is going to have to convince people to lower their expectations, to return to a simpler life, to put value in actions rather than possessions, so we can dig ourselves out of this mess.

ChrisZ

10 min

Trust but verify

This was supposedly the mantra of Ronald Reagan. Not a bad one to apply to the Internet.

Everyone assumes that if something is on the Internet it is true. Far from it.

When someone wrote a book, there was at least a process that they had to go through, and this separated the serious person verses the joker. Today, anyone with a computer and a blog can set off a firestorm before anyone else can confirm or deny the accusation.

Rather than take things you see as fact, maybe the new mantra, at least as it relates to the Internet, is "look and research".

ChrisZ
5min

Ground rules

7. Nothing radical happens overnight.

8. No one person is to be congratulated or blamed. (similar to #2)

1 min

They just don't get it

>>Ramping up its efforts to build search market share, Microsoft signed a deal to embed a Live Search toolbar on all Hewlett-Packard consumer PCs in North America starting next year.

In addition, Live Search will be the default search engine on browsers on the computers, the companies said. Both features will be included in HP PCs in January 2009.<<

From:

Microsoft, HP Do Search Deal for PCs

>>Some Microsoft competitors have cried foul at previous efforts by the software giant to tie its search platform into its browser. Two years ago when Microsoft launched IE7 in beta, it set Live Search as the default search provider in a toolbar in the browser, although users can hit a drop-down menu to change the search provider to a handful of other companies. At the time, Google complained to the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice that the default setting removes choice for users. Google has a similar setup in Mozilla's Firefox browser, which comes with Google as the default search bar. The DOJ found that Microsoft makes it easy enough for users and computer makers to change the default setting. <<

The problem is not that it is easy to change the default setting - it is that it is the default setting at all! Imagine a car that would only run on a particular brand of gas until you took it somewhere and had the default changed. Most people do not have the ability or the patience to change the default - they will just leave it as it is. Way back when, you had a choice of three or more browsers when you bought a computer - now it is handed to you and you are told to use it.

Sorry, but they just don't get it.

6 min

Next Blog

I am very dissapointed that Google has no way of qualifying content on their blogs. While I do not fall into the catagory of all web content should be restrictive, I do feel that you should be warned if content is for adult eyes only.

In that I have removed the "Next Blog" feature from some of my blogs, especially the ones that I do for other people or organizations. This way they don't accidentally click on something they don't want to see.

I have left it active on this page but will be putting in a warning. I hope Google and Blogger see this and make some changes soon.

ChrisZ

4 min

Great Quote for Life

From the movie "Grand Prix" (1966)

Scott Stoddard: Y'know one of the most beautiful things about a car? If it isn't working properly, you can strip the skin off, expose the insides, find out exactly where the trouble is, take out the faulty part and replace it with a new one. If only we could do that with people!

2 min

Driving in the snow

This is both for my general blog and my driving blog

Driving Professor

Here in the Northeast, people do not prepare their cars for the snow.

Specifically, here is the story on tires:

1. You must use snow or all season tires

2. The tread must be at least 6/32 deep (The Lincoln penny test is only 2/32, you need 3 times this to drive in snow).

3. The tires should not be over 5 years old.

If you don't meet all 3 criteria - YOU SHOULD NOT BE ON THE ROAD IN THE SNOW.

ChrisZ

4 minutes

He's back

Yes,

It had been many weeks since I have written anything. It was so long I even forgot my password....

There is a lot going on in my life and in the world - trying to make sense of them will be the topics for the next few entries

ChrisZ

3 minutes

Top Ten Movies

Everyone as a top ten movie list. So here, in no specific order, are my top 10 movies:

1. Twelve O'Clock High

2. It's a Wonderful Life

3. Stairway to Heaven

4. Inherit the Wind

5. Chariots of Fire

6. Three days of the Condor

7. Horse Feathers

8. Mr Blandings builds his Dream House

9. Apollo 13

10. To Sir with Love

These are the ones off the top of my head.
I will add and subtrack as required. In fact here are some that just missed the cut:

Harvey
Sleeper
The Wrath of Kahn
Local Hero
The Swimmer
Cool Hand Luke
The verdict
A Few Good Men
12 Angry Men
Patterns
Command Decision (1948)
My Life
The Battle of Britain
The Money Pit
Catch me if you can
Operation Petticoat

More will be added as necessary....

20 min

Facts of Life

No not those, but ideas that I have found to be 95% true and usable as practical methods of living your life.

Don't worry about missing something on sale. More often than not it will be back on sale next week or even cheaper in the future.

Corollary: That once in a lifetime offer isn't. Your life may or may not change but you should not have any guilt about passing something up.

Easy Rider - Not!

I passed my road test for my motorcycle license today. However; it was not as easy as it sounds - let me explain.

In Connecticut, you can apply for a motorcycle learners permit by paying $40 and passing a written knowledge (computer) test. Actually there is another $15 to update your regular license also. Why? I don't know......

Now you have 2 months to practice your craft with a few restrictions. You must wear a helmet (CT has no helmet law normally), stay off the highways, can't ride after dark and cannot carry passengers. Besides that you are on your own. At the end of the 2 months you can renew the permit for another $15., but you can only renew it once in a calendar year. This leads to problems that I will get to later.

After you feel capable of passing the road test, you make an appointment. Here is gets complicated. Road tests seem to be scheduled at the DMV branches on a rotating basis. Now I live 3 miles from a branch, but they did not have a test day scheduled before my permit (renewal) ran out. So I had to schedule a time at a location 50 miles away. Now, since I had already renewed my permit, if I failed, I would have to have the bike trailered back home; I decided to bring it in the back of my pickup. So I built a ramp and wheel holder and got straps to secure the bike. Not a fun thing but I was not the only one to do this.

I was scheduled for 8:30 and arrived a little after 8am. I got the bike off the truck (easy) and got in line in the DMV. I had to fill out some forms and they sent me out to wait for a few more riders to show up. Note - since we were the first ones there, we could have ridden the course - but we didn't know that - if you can do a practice ride, it would help.

They lined us up an we went through a series of exercises. Now there are some penalties. Putting your food down was 2 points, stalling was 3, I think, dropping the bike was a go home and not obeying instructions was 5. If you get more than 10 points you fail.

We all went through the first exercise, which was a sharp turn and stopping with the front tire in a 2 x 2 foot box. So far, so good. The next exercise was a slalom though a series of cones followed by a "U" turn in a half box. The first person was taking the test on scooter (Hint - I think it must be 125cc but this is a great idea - you will see why soon). The second person had a large cruiser and had to put his foot down twice in the exercise. 4 points already. I went next and went through clear (note under 500 CC and you have a slightly smaller half box to turn around in - so the smaller the bike, the better). The 4th person put their foot down twice and went wide in the turn and was told to try again another time. The fifth driver went through the cones the wrong way (after watching 4 people before him) and then went wide in the box. Bye bye to him also. Now, I will admit, that this is the toughest part of the test and really not representative a real world riding. More on this later.

Now there were 3. The next test was a quick stop. You had to accelerate up to 15 - 20 mph and then at a certain point make a "panic stop". The instructor could not see the brake lights but the riders ahead of me were braking too early. So I said I would do it right. I went up to 15 mph and then hit the brakes. The inspector came over and said I was going too slow! So he allowed me to do it again (he seems to give one mulligan to each rider per test). This time I went too fast and but still stopped fairly short, but he gave me 5 points for a long stop. I didn't know this until later.

The last test was swerve through a set of cones. I felt comfortable but there was always that doubt in your mind. After completing the maneuver, the inspector gave me my score sheet and told me to go inside. After parking the bike I looked at the sheet and it said "PASS" with the 5 point deduction. Now the guy on the scooter got a perfect score (0) and the other rider a 6 so I felt pretty good.

After await of about 45 minutes back in the DMV office, I walked out with my motorcycle endorsement on my license. Wheeew! Put the bike back on the truck and head on home.

Now there is an alternate way of getting your license - that is to take a safe rider course put on by the state. Here you don't need a permit, you take the course on their motorcycles and if you pass the course, the road test requirement is waived. The cost of this basic course is $165 or there about. This is a great program and how I would do it if I had to do it over.

If you are going to go the private route, make sure you practice and also pick a bike that you can handle. At this DMV (I understand each test course is a little different) the slalom was VERY tight. Renting or borrowing a scooter is a sure way of passing.

Now the editorial - Virtually nothing on the road test has anything to do with riding on the road. It is a purely skills test and a low speed test at that. Maybe the assumption is that if you can handle a bike at these speeds and show balance and coordination it will transfer to street riding. But there is no test of speed, lane presence, signalling, handling traffic, etc. I know it is complicated since you cannot take an instructor with you, however; maybe a State Trooper could follow you through a designated road and observe as part of the test. If I had just practiced the skills for the test, I would have passed, but be in no shape to ride on the street.

Also, if you don't time your permit and road test right, you might find yourself waiting a year to do it again. The 2 months is not enough time to properly learn and being able to renew it only once in a calendar year is impractical. I can see they don't want to have "professional permit riders", but unless they are going to force you to take a test after a certain time, that is what you end up with. People will get a permit for the summer and never have to take the test. Oh, and the bikes were not inspected as was expected, nor was rider gear required (besides a helmet). I think having full gear has to count for something, so I would wear it anyway.

So good luck and safe riding. Later, more reflections on the difference between a motorycle and a car - things I did not expect.

ChrisZ

PS: I just found this on the DMV web site:

"If your motorcycle permit has expired, the permit can be renewed once, for an additional 60 days, during the same calendar year in which it was issued. If this additional permit expires, you may obtain an additional one-day permit on the day of your test. "

http://www.ct.gov/dmv/cwp/view.asp?a=805&q=244752

This has magically appeared and evidently the operators who schedule the tests are not aware of this. I have sent a e-mail asking for a explanation as to why I had to take a day off from work needlessly, when I could have taken the test a mile from where I work...... TBC




1 hour

Teach a man to fish

There is an old saying:

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and he will feed himself for life."

In today's world, it is more like:

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and he will come back every day because he forgot how...."

3 min

What were they thinking?

A new entry - What were they thinking?

School workers suspended in fake attack

"During the last night of a weeklong trip to a state park, staff members convinced 69 sixth-grade students from Scales Elementary School that there was a gunman on the loose. One official has said the exercise was intended as a teaching tool."

It worked as a teaching tool - it taught two people to look for other jobs.

ChrisZ

5 min

No time on my hands

There seems to be a pattern developing. Young adults don't wear wrist watches anymore. Their excuse is that they have the time on their cell phone so they don't need a watch. Ironically, if my experience is any indication, they are also late for appointment and don't have a sense of time. Most of the time (pun intended) they don't look at their cell phone, or use the alarm feature on it.

I am going to speculate that their attitude will get them in trouble. While I realize you can get caught up in paying attention to the time, it is a measure of our society. Our work day is based on time, schools are based on time, our cars get repaired on time, etc. If time is not important to you, you will get left behind by those who do value it. While time is not something that you can change, you can to a certain point control it. Planning is an important part of life these days and by ignoring it you may be setting yourself up for failure.

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BTW - Religious connection - If religion is not something that you "wear on your wrist" and check every once in a while, you will find your life slowly getting out of control. Religion is not just something that you take out of your briefcase on Sunday (or Sabbath) but something that is a guide on how to live your life.

7 min

Just like a New Year's Resolution

My intention was to write a blog entry per day over the last month. Well, it worked out well until life caught up to me. Between shoveling snow (about 10 hours + last 30 days, Work with the Boy Scouts, and dealing with taxes and my son's college financial aid, I had neither the energy or enthusiasm to update my blog. Not that I didn't have much to write about, I just didn't care about sharing my thoughts. I did this blog as a learning experience and boy am I learning. Glad I am not being paid to do this......

5 min

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Leaf me alone

This has been so serious lately I thought I would inject a little levity.

I went to sweep out my garage the other day. Now you have t know we have had 6" of snice (snow and ice) on our lawns for a least 3 weeks. So what do you think I swept out of the garage? Dirt? Salt? Snow? No - Leaves! Where did they come from? There hasn't been a leaf on a tree for 5 months. I am beginning to think there is someone in the neighborhood who saved a bag of leaves and dumps them in front of my garage, where they blow in when it is opened. If you have a better explanation, let me know.

5 min

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