So many perfectly working older computers are going to be headed to the landfill as e-waste. That’s the horrible part.

What a waste tech dollars just to play some stupid game.

I grew up a poor farm boy, so we never had a VCR when I was a kid. And they really weren’t a thing anyway when I was young. And according to my Father, us kids were the remote!

Did you ever peer into the back of the TV when a tube would burn out and your Dad would pull the cabinet out, then remove the back and try to see which tube didn’t light up when the set was powered up? It was a marvelous sight! It often took us a few days before we would get to town before we could stop into the local drug store that had a tube tester and had a selection of the common tubes to buy.

That’s what I love about mine. Automatic lid raise and lower as you walk in, heated ring and water, (both adjustable temp), air dry, (again heated), and charcoal filtered air filtration to minimize the stench from that drive through burrito.

It’s the posh life. Very nearly the equal to having your own chamberlain.

You need to use the power washer setting. Takes the paint right off the wall…

I was thinking of even older things.

The feel of the keys and staccato sounds of a mechanical typewriter.

The sound of a wringer/washer machine

The muffled sound of my am band 9 transistor pocket radio “hiding” under my pillow late at night for as long as the 9V battery would last (I loved the Mystery Radio Theater show that started at 10pm)

The soft crackling sound of a tube black and white TV as all the tubes warmed up. (And the time it took to do so)

The sound and smell of the percolator coffee pot in the morning

The sound of a wooden screen slamming shut

The smell and sound of a mimeograph machine printing copies in the school/church office (And the slight buzz you could get from copy fluid-- Petroleum aromatics Yum!)

Doing my math homework with a slide rule.

The smell of a fresh fired paper hull shotgun shell on a cold crisp late fall morning

And so much more that no longer exists.

A perfect zero. I have done all of those things and more that the creator of that list can’t even imagine. Things that were everyday common but have faded beyond memory, (and aren’t missed at all).

Yep. When buying a product, it ain’t about the packaging, color of the paint, or the sticker/badge hung on it. It’s all about the service when things go sideways. And at some point something will go wrong, it always does. That’s when you learn just how good or bad a company is.

I’ve switched away from DDG after many years of use. I have gone to Ghostery Private search. It seems to be better for my search results with a lot less garbage mixed in.

Ask your city clerk about it. That person can tell you what the city/county/township meeting format is and how to participate. But basically, you go to the meeting, bring some photos to support your claim, and discuss the matter like a civil human being. It’s not rocket surgery. You don’t need a lawyer either.

It’s pretty easy to dodge property taxes also.

I went and argued my taxes at my annual township tax assessment meeting. I was being assessed for a new deck and ramp. That added about $200 to my taxes. What I did do was move the wheelchair ramp out away from the house a bit for better winter time safety and repaired the steps, ramp boards, and railings.

Should I have been taxed for a whole new deck and ramp when I just did repairs and made safety changes?

You certainly can argue about your property taxes and win concessions if you have a good reason. It’s not hard to do. You just need to get off your ass and attend the annual tax assessment meeting.

It’s why that annual meeting exists.

I have taught math for 4 years in my local school. The iPads were used by the 3rd and 4th grade students. And they never left the classrooms and were well supervised during use.

Starting in 5th grade, they were issued Chromebooks. Google Classroom was used for assignments and other communications. And since Mommy and Daddy had to pay for them IF they were damaged, they held up quite well. The IBM Education model is very robust. Not fast, but robust.

Which businesses? Foreign companies or local ones? Do you wish to have your money shipped overseas to purchase a vacuum cleaner? Or would you rather pay a bit more and have you hard earned dollars stay here in at home to help pay wages to your neighbors?

There is a balance to it. Yes, local manufacturing will make things more expensive. But making more durable goods tends to pay better wages for more people. And let’s be honest here, most people can’t be a doctor or write code. High paying collage degrees are beyond them. Or we can maintain low paying retail jobs for the majority of people.

But the is a balance and it can’t be done over night without causing large amounts of economic pain to many people.

Most guns shows have FFL dealers on site. Those guys are definitely running the federally and state required background checks in a little room in the back somewhere. And if the sale happens inside the building, it’s even highly likely private sales get run through also, (you will pay for it-- someone has to make money off of it). The Paperwork Gods must be appeased no matter what.

But depending on the state/county/city often you can do a private sale in the parking lot with someone that doesn’t get the check. This is not universal across all 50 states. Some states, like California require all firearms transfers to go through a licensed FFL.

YMMV

So you want to take agency away from every adult so they conform to your views only?

Have you spoken to your healthcare provider about Viagra^tm? It may be able to help with your issue. (Please seek immediate medical help with an erection lasting more than 4 hours).

That’s the cool thing about medicine, you don’t “do” medicine-- you practice medicine.

And anytime you prescribe a drug, you are starting a trial. Because you really don’t know how it will do to that one patient. Experience may tell you that it should do what you expect it to do, (because it almost always does). But it could only partially work or do nothing, or have varying side affects, or even kill you patient.

As an ER director of a hospital once told me, “Despite all we think we know and all we think we can do for a patient. It still mostly boils down to keeping the patient amused and letting nature take it’s course.”

Think of it as a way to say you have no clue how to communicate correctly through the written word. By the time I’m forced to wade through your lack of punctuation, misspellings and the autocorrect blunders and the stupid emojis to decipher what you REALLY meant, I already have equated your IQ to be around the range of my old orange tabby cat.

If you send me a text, I will consider it of such low priority that I might get back to you in a week or so.