Million Veteran Program

Received this in the mail. While I'm automatically skeptical of anything from the government in general, and the Veterans Affairs in particular, I also know not everything from them is evil. Participating in something that could potentially help veterans appeals to me. Therefore, I carefully read all the material.

The section highlighted concerns me. We all know, or we should know, that the VA is quick to add your name to the back ground check database that prohibits owning a weapon. So, on to the questions.

Question 39 is a problem. Wrong answers will put you in the data base. Page 7, Nervous System Problems, looks like another mine field. Will this survey be utilized that way. My bet is it will.

For me, I'm not participating. What is your opinion?

NFL 2014

Nearly all my relatives are Bronco fans, including my daughter in law, FDIL.  She transcends “fan” to fanatic. All have been suffering terrible since the Super Bowl. My youngest son, married to FDIL, and I are Seahawk fans. We have had a lovely few months gloating and rubbing it in. Now a new season is upon us.

Two key date. Preseason, three days from now, the Hawks play the Donkey in Denver. Then, September 21^st in the regular season, the teams play in Seattle.

I’m not sure the kinfolk will survive the Donkeys losing again. Of course, if the improbable happens and they win, some fifty or so folks will be gleefully coming after my hide.

Love can conquer all. Two years ago FDIL bought my son a very nice leather Seahawk jacket. In turn, around her, he restricts himself to a few quiet smiles. I'm not as restrained. Of course, I don't live there.

August 14^th should be interesting. My cousins have an annual gathering to watch fireworks during the town’s founder’s day celebration. Will it be my Little Bighorn?

Thoughts On Lawyers

Many people go through life never needing a lawyer. That doesn’t describe me. You can bad mouth lawyers all you want, until you need one, then you bad mouth the inept, uncaring, and unprofessional one you selected. Rightfully so. Since I spent thirty some years as one of those horrid used car salesman, I have some empathy for lawyers.

My first long encounter with the legal profession was when a contractor, doing demolition work they weren’t qualified to do, managed to dump a large structure into a building my employer was using. The contractor then compounded the problem by sitting on their collective asses for a few weeks. My employer’s law firm, Clusterfuck LLC, displayed such incompetence, other than generating billable hours, that I wouldn’t have trusted them to properly procure a pet license.

First personal encounter involved a complex financial situation. My wife and I fully disclosed all the facts, and clearly stated our desired outcome. We negotiated a set fee for the service, and paid 75% in advance. When the matter was resolved, we immediately paid the balance due. The law firm then tried to bill us for additional fees, arguing the case was more complex than they thought, and that they had spent far more time on it than anticipated. We said no. That dispute went to arbitration with the bar association. My wife and I prevailed.

One of my sons decided it was cool to drink and drive. Three arrests later he finally got his head straight. The lawyer I paid to represent him kept him out of jail, got him into the right kind of probation programs, and got one charge dismissed. Horridly expensive, but the lawyer delivered.

Yes, I know, tough love; let him suffer the consequences, yada, yada. Walk in my shoes first.

The next one involved child custody, and getting my grand children away from the birth mother, permanently. Took months, and thousands of dollars, but the lawyer my son found won custody for him. Later, another lawyer got her parental rights permanently ended, and made it possible for my daughter in law to adopt them. Again, thousands of dollars spent but the end result was worth it.

Onward, after my mother was moved into a long term care facility, real estate speculators, in collusion with a building inspector, tried to grab her house. The city, with no notice, cut the power line and shut off the water. They had a demolition contractor standing by. Once again, a good lawyer helped us stop the action. The house is still standing, and the greedy ones still haven’t turned the block into a strip mall. In fact, an office building the built across the street was vacant for four years. Made my heart glad every time I drove by. The political fallout was large. My sister, who makes an enraged pit bull look tame, used her years of building political influence to bring doom on the city employees.

I worked with a man who put himself through law school while selling cars. Spent years driving from Denver to Laramie, WY to the UW Law School for classes. I was cited for 84 MPH in a 65MPH zone. Mega dollars, and worse, mega points. Monte gave me the “brother in law” rate. Got the charge down to driving too fast for the conditions (dry and 90 degrees!) and three points. Still at lot of dollars, but the points were critical to me. Later, Monte handled a pesky failure to appear on a seat belt violation for my youngest. Seems the seat belt deal was a secondary offense, and the officer didn’t note what prompted the traffic stop, nor did he issue a citation for anything but the seat belt. Of course, my son shouldn’t have blown off the court appearance. He did have a good excuse! Once again, the application of dollars made it all go away.

When I deal with any professional, I will clearly state my desired outcome. “You’re the doctor, you’re the lawyer, or you’re the insurance agent”, isn’t happening with me. I hire them to tell me how to achieve what I want, not to tell me what I should do. The good ones don’t mind. The drones do, and that helps me weed them out.

Would I like to have all those dollars spent back in my pocket? Damn right, I would. Would I want to live with the consequences of not doing what I did? Hell no.

Don’t like your outcome? Bitch. Start with the state bar association. They want to keep their self regulation status, and they will investigate. They may not find In your favor, but it will go on record, and it just may prevent the s.o.b. from ever becoming a judge or magistrate.

My version of hell on earth is to be in a situation where the opposing lawyers have no interest in settling, so long as they keep generating billable time, and their client has no skin in the game, i.e., a public or government entity.

YMMV.

$17 Solution To A $148 Problem

Being extremely cheap (not frugal, cheap), replaced the Mass Air Flow sensor (MAF) in my Escort with a salvage yard part. A new MAF is $148+, a remanufactured one around $85, and the one I installed cost $17 from a pull yourself salvage yard. Came with a thirty day exchange.

The job is easy. Detach the hose from the MAS, remove four bolts, and disconnect one electrical plug.

The MAS has two small wires that can become coated with grime. When you replace the air filter, you should give them a quick shot of electrical contact cleaner. This is a terrible photo, but should give you an idea of what to look for.

Some time is required to walk around the salvage yard looking for the right year and model. The place I use doesn't have an inventory list beyond,

 "The Fords are in that row".

It is sobering to see all the wrecks, especially the windshields broken from the inside out above the steering wheels.

I was lucky to find the exact year and model I own. The part solved the driveability issue. Other than dropping two bolts under the car, and finding them in the grass, didn't even have a reason to curse.

Retail for that repair, depending on the integrity of the shop, is $230 or more.

Today, I'm a happy camper.

Fools, Damn Fools, and Tourists

There are fools, damn fools, and tourists, but I repeat myself (to paraphrase Mark Twain).

Roam around the Internet and you can find a story after story of people not respecting wildlife, or even domestic farm animals.

One incident that sticks in the memory was on NM Hwy 64 headed East out of Cimarron towards I 25. A minivan was pulled over with the tailgate up next to a fence with bison on the other side. 

 I stopped, wondering  if they needed help. Turned out they were trying to open the gate (locked) so their kids could get closer to the “buffalo”. On the gate was a sign similar to this.

They became highly offended when I tapped on the sign and said, “Just how dumb a shit are you, dumb shit”? I just drove on. What else?

County fairs and rodeos are another place to see the fools. I believe nearly every state has some variation of an equine law.

You can find some variation of these signs everywhere.

 Doesn’t deter the fools.

I won’t even get started on people stopping at any place, like blind curves, for a photo opportunity.

Yes, I'm aware of the irony of this rant compared to my blog title.

Colorado Drivers Rant

Monsoon season along the Colorado Front Range is producing a lot of rain. Colorado drivers who blithely drive ten over the limit on snow covered black ice, confronted with a bit of rain, start acting like Mississippi drivers in a blizzard. Aarg!

The rain is welcome, especially in the Southeast corner, and the areas with active range fires in Northwest Colorado.

What a Smackdown

Once in awhile you come across something so well written it makes you go, "Wow"!

http://www.ralstonreports.com/blog/my-column-new-worst-elected-body-nevada#.U9epOONdX1C

I've no dog in this fight except for having a grand niece and grand nephew in the school system. I just admire the way the author expresses himself.