A bit of... er... excitement here, coming up, of course on Sunday night, the worst possible time for this sort of thing. Sandy was taking a shower, and the daughter went downstairs to find soapy water coming up out of the washing machine drain line, onto the floor. The line from the house to the septic tank, or possibly the tank itself, was not flowing. Not what one wants to see. The tank itself is pumped out every few years, and as far as I know is working properly, so this must be a thing with the piping. I muscled out the big drain auger, pulled the plug on the cleanout in the "go out" line, and began to auger away. About 15 feet in, the auger just stopped, apparently having run into some immovable something, and no more progress could be made, and no drainage was taking place. This was not a good thing, as we were out of business until at least the next morning. The only option was to add a bit of leftover RV Holding Tank stuff to each toilet in case of emergency, and hang on.
We have an outfit that does the occasional septic tank pump-out, so we called them early the next morning, and they were able to make it out later in the day. They were brave and dedicated etc, and worked in the on-and-off rain, digging up septic tank line from the house to the tank, which is not far, but it still involves digging.
Here is some apparent wisdom, but more likely using whatever there was on hand by a sub-development builder - the drain doings in the house are rather well-done. Outside the house, however, the PVC line from the house to the septic tank changed to about 15 feet of clay pipe, which conducted everything to the tank. Why this was done, I have no clue, but it was part of the problem. Nearby, there used to be a massive hackberry tree, and tree roots had, over the years, displaced the clay pipe sections, causing leakage between the sections. In addition, there was a large watermelon-sized rock on top of the clay pipe, apparently pushed in when the pipe was being buried when it was installed. Over the years, the combination of roots and the rock had damaged the clay pipe, and the pipe apparently just broke up and collapsed, making for the Unclearable Clog.
The plumbing guys worked hard correcting all of this. The roots are no longer a factor, as the tree was taken down some years ago. The watermelon-sized rock now resides in the ravine behind the backyard and good riddance. When the line left the house, it needed to drop about 18" to put it in the right position to do the proper draining into the tank, and was originally done with two 90-degree fittings. Just on the principle of easing the flow, the plumbing guys replaced this little arrangement with two 45-degree fittings to provide less of a sudden direction change, and the house-to-tank line is now a continuous run of schedule 40 PVC, buried without large rocks or other destructive debris. The guys assured me that this part of the system should outlast the house. I'll go with that.
So now, eighteen hours and some several hundred dollars later, everything is in prime flow again. The expenditure puts a strain on the limited reserves, but life is good when toilets flush well, and one can take a shower...
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
Cheap Scooter!
I have, many are surprised to learn, a cheap Chinese motor scooter, purchased online. Mine is apparently one of the brands that is considered among the worst, quality and support-wise. Discussions have been conducted in online forums and live conversations about this thing, and I thought that lessons learned would be valuable here, since I know some scooter riders read this thing. The scoot is a "different" design, a three-wheel model in a "reverse trike" design, with two wheels in front, and one in the rear, and is a "leaner"; it leans into turns much as a regular two-wheeler. More about that later.
The scoot I have is sold by an importer under a trade name, but is manufactured by a mainland Chinese manufacturer, the Ningbo Dongfang Lingyun Vehicle Made Co., Ltd. It was ordered online and shipped to me, partially assembled, in a crate. Unfortunately, there was minimal assembly instruction included, and what was there appeared to be in "Engrish", IOW a poor translation, though I gathered that the assembly was to be taken quite seriously, as i was warned in the instructions that "Amusing and horse play are forbidden!". Fortunately, on YouTube was a three-part instruction video, produced by one of the importers, demonstrating the assembly of this very model! The documentation also included an "owner's manual" which was to the depth of what would be called, in the computer software biz, a "quick start guide".
With notes made from the YouTube video, the assembly went very well. The frame seems solid, well made, and the A-arms for the front end etc fit very well. The engine and CVT driveline are apparently from Lifan, which is a fairly respected name. The body panels, while thin and apparently low-cost, were well molded and painted, and fit well. Those things being said, there are downsides.
Before I even rode this thing, there was substantial money and time to be spent. The fluids supplied with the scoot, engine oil, brake fluid, etc did not even look or smell like normal fluids do, so they were all replaced before it was even started. The "outside supplier" parts on the scoot are mostly rubbish. The tires were pretty much unusable; the rear was badly out-of round, and one of the fronts was separating on one side of the tread, nearly all the way around the tire, so tires were up for immediate replacement; I prefer Continental, but your mileage may vary. Two of the light bulbs were dead out of the box, with more to follow. The whole thing had to be "wrenched", as there were poorly tightened fasteners everywhere, and lay in a supply of Loc-Tite. The brake pads, while still there, are also rubbish.
I repacked the front wheel bearings before assembly, but the hubs almost immediately started to loosen, and the bearings began to sound like rolling buckets of rocks, so replacement was up for them as well.
The front end, having two wheels, requires aligning to track properly, and out of the box, mine was badly maladjusted. There was no documentation for this either, but I have done shadetree car work through the years, so it was fairly easy to figure out. There is no adjustment for caster or camber, but simply for toe-in, and it has adjustable tie-rods, so no sweat. The geometry is unusual, and the toe-in can actually vary with flexing of the suspension, so adjust the pre-load on the front shocks to max to minimize the flexing, and use someone of about your own weight to sit on the scooter while you are adjusting. This will make the ride a bit abrupt, but will minimize the change in tow-in while riding. Speaking of the shock/spring units, they squeak like crazy while flexing, so be prepared to use a small spring compressor to get access to the ends of the springs, and lube them up with lithium grease to minimize that, front and rear.
Now, rideability. Once properly aligned, the handling is very good. The thing leans more than a two-wheeler for a given turn, and that takes some getting used to, but once you have a feel for it, the unit handles well. To be overweight (nearly 400 pounds) and underpowered (8 hp) it does well on level ground, but has some difficulty with hills. It is an efficient around-town scoot, and averages about 70 mpg.
It is not an entry-level scooter.
Re the scooters: I have been rideless since just before Christmas, a combo of cold weather intolerance and fake foot issues. [I have prosthetic lower legs] Sandy describes me as having PMS - Parked Motorscooter Syndrome.
The scooters are on IV with the battery maintainers, and calling my name pitifully. I am being fitted for a new pair of leggies now, and they should be ready and tuned up in about three-four weeks, so I look forward to being back on fewer than four wheels soon.
OTOH, I am driving my truck more often, so its battery is staying better charged...
The scoot I have is sold by an importer under a trade name, but is manufactured by a mainland Chinese manufacturer, the Ningbo Dongfang Lingyun Vehicle Made Co., Ltd. It was ordered online and shipped to me, partially assembled, in a crate. Unfortunately, there was minimal assembly instruction included, and what was there appeared to be in "Engrish", IOW a poor translation, though I gathered that the assembly was to be taken quite seriously, as i was warned in the instructions that "Amusing and horse play are forbidden!". Fortunately, on YouTube was a three-part instruction video, produced by one of the importers, demonstrating the assembly of this very model! The documentation also included an "owner's manual" which was to the depth of what would be called, in the computer software biz, a "quick start guide".
With notes made from the YouTube video, the assembly went very well. The frame seems solid, well made, and the A-arms for the front end etc fit very well. The engine and CVT driveline are apparently from Lifan, which is a fairly respected name. The body panels, while thin and apparently low-cost, were well molded and painted, and fit well. Those things being said, there are downsides.
Before I even rode this thing, there was substantial money and time to be spent. The fluids supplied with the scoot, engine oil, brake fluid, etc did not even look or smell like normal fluids do, so they were all replaced before it was even started. The "outside supplier" parts on the scoot are mostly rubbish. The tires were pretty much unusable; the rear was badly out-of round, and one of the fronts was separating on one side of the tread, nearly all the way around the tire, so tires were up for immediate replacement; I prefer Continental, but your mileage may vary. Two of the light bulbs were dead out of the box, with more to follow. The whole thing had to be "wrenched", as there were poorly tightened fasteners everywhere, and lay in a supply of Loc-Tite. The brake pads, while still there, are also rubbish.
I repacked the front wheel bearings before assembly, but the hubs almost immediately started to loosen, and the bearings began to sound like rolling buckets of rocks, so replacement was up for them as well.
The front end, having two wheels, requires aligning to track properly, and out of the box, mine was badly maladjusted. There was no documentation for this either, but I have done shadetree car work through the years, so it was fairly easy to figure out. There is no adjustment for caster or camber, but simply for toe-in, and it has adjustable tie-rods, so no sweat. The geometry is unusual, and the toe-in can actually vary with flexing of the suspension, so adjust the pre-load on the front shocks to max to minimize the flexing, and use someone of about your own weight to sit on the scooter while you are adjusting. This will make the ride a bit abrupt, but will minimize the change in tow-in while riding. Speaking of the shock/spring units, they squeak like crazy while flexing, so be prepared to use a small spring compressor to get access to the ends of the springs, and lube them up with lithium grease to minimize that, front and rear.
Now, rideability. Once properly aligned, the handling is very good. The thing leans more than a two-wheeler for a given turn, and that takes some getting used to, but once you have a feel for it, the unit handles well. To be overweight (nearly 400 pounds) and underpowered (8 hp) it does well on level ground, but has some difficulty with hills. It is an efficient around-town scoot, and averages about 70 mpg.
It is not an entry-level scooter.
Re the scooters: I have been rideless since just before Christmas, a combo of cold weather intolerance and fake foot issues. [I have prosthetic lower legs] Sandy describes me as having PMS - Parked Motorscooter Syndrome.
The scooters are on IV with the battery maintainers, and calling my name pitifully. I am being fitted for a new pair of leggies now, and they should be ready and tuned up in about three-four weeks, so I look forward to being back on fewer than four wheels soon.
OTOH, I am driving my truck more often, so its battery is staying better charged...
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Mystified again...
I am confused again. That happens a lot, perhaps just because I am a simple boy and don't understand things well, but this is causing me to wonder.
Years ago, downtown Birmingham was Shopping Central. All the big stores were there, from the discount stores (S.S. Kresge) to the the high-line fashion centers (Parisian, Blach's, etc) with a huge Sears & Roebuck prominent in the mix. As urban sprawl took over, shopping downtown became inconvenient - it was a long distance downtown from the 'burbs, if one rode the streetcars [later busses] it was difficult to bring one's shopping home, if one drove to downtown, parking was insufficient and expensive, etc, etc.
Retailers responded with the Shopping Center out toward the 'burbs - strip centers offering free parking, stores in one area, and much convenience for suburban shoppers. The strip centers were not perfect of course, one disadvantage being exposure to weather while moving from store to store.
The next development solved many problems - the Mall. Malls had the free parking, large numbers of diverse stores in one place, including the big names from downtown, and offered a weather-protected, comfortable environment for shopping. Most offered a food court with passable food items, and it was possible to transfer purchases to the car during the shopping runs. Nice.
Change happens, of course, and these huge shopping venues must eventually relocate due to changing demographics. Two of the "new" venues in my area are the Pinnacle and the Summit. Disturbing to me, though, is that these flashy new structures are - strip centers. The free parking is still there, but we are back to an open environment, with sidewalk access between the stores, unprotected from weather. The food courts are now stand-alone restaurants scattered about the edges of the parking areas, requiring long walks in the heat, rain, etc to reach them. Is this not taking a step backward?
Back in 1960, the first mall in Alabama, and the second enclosed shopping mall in the southeast, was Eastwood Mall in Birmingham, a revolutionary idea at the time, and a destination for shoppers from all over the state, and as far away as Atlanta and Chattanooga. Changing demographics and mismanagement led to the closing of the mall in the late 1990s, and it was razed, and replaced with a Wal-Mart supercenter, with a large surrounding - strip center. [sigh]
Years ago, downtown Birmingham was Shopping Central. All the big stores were there, from the discount stores (S.S. Kresge) to the the high-line fashion centers (Parisian, Blach's, etc) with a huge Sears & Roebuck prominent in the mix. As urban sprawl took over, shopping downtown became inconvenient - it was a long distance downtown from the 'burbs, if one rode the streetcars [later busses] it was difficult to bring one's shopping home, if one drove to downtown, parking was insufficient and expensive, etc, etc.
Retailers responded with the Shopping Center out toward the 'burbs - strip centers offering free parking, stores in one area, and much convenience for suburban shoppers. The strip centers were not perfect of course, one disadvantage being exposure to weather while moving from store to store.
The next development solved many problems - the Mall. Malls had the free parking, large numbers of diverse stores in one place, including the big names from downtown, and offered a weather-protected, comfortable environment for shopping. Most offered a food court with passable food items, and it was possible to transfer purchases to the car during the shopping runs. Nice.
Change happens, of course, and these huge shopping venues must eventually relocate due to changing demographics. Two of the "new" venues in my area are the Pinnacle and the Summit. Disturbing to me, though, is that these flashy new structures are - strip centers. The free parking is still there, but we are back to an open environment, with sidewalk access between the stores, unprotected from weather. The food courts are now stand-alone restaurants scattered about the edges of the parking areas, requiring long walks in the heat, rain, etc to reach them. Is this not taking a step backward?
Back in 1960, the first mall in Alabama, and the second enclosed shopping mall in the southeast, was Eastwood Mall in Birmingham, a revolutionary idea at the time, and a destination for shoppers from all over the state, and as far away as Atlanta and Chattanooga. Changing demographics and mismanagement led to the closing of the mall in the late 1990s, and it was razed, and replaced with a Wal-Mart supercenter, with a large surrounding - strip center. [sigh]
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
I am such a fossil... [sigh]
I was having a bout of what I call "terminal insomnia" last night (one of the ironies of congestive heart failure is that we are tired all the time, but have problems sleeping), and I was reflecting on what a Luddite I am these days.
My "cage" (motorscooter rider term) is a 1993 S-10 pickup with nearly 200k miles, but it is maintained, reliable, and suits my purposes just fine. I do need to drive it a bit more often, though, to keep it exercised (another motorscooter rider thing).
My watch is a water-resistant Timex that gives me the time on a clear dial.
My cellphone is a phone. It makes and receives calls very well. I don't text, I don't do Facebook checkins from wherever I am, I don't check my email while I am out and about. I actually had an otherwise-intelligent lady ask me "You don't text? How can I let you know when we decide on a time for the meeting?". She was truly mystified, and when I told her "You dial the number, and when I answer, tell me the time for the meeting", she looked confused.
I still carry a Palm PDA, the old type with the little black-and-white screen, and the flip cover. Keeps me on time. The strange-looking ball point pen thing is a retractable stylus to carry in my shirt pocket, because my creaky hands, these days, have a rough time handling the tiny little stylus that came with the Palm. I also have the Palm folding portable keyboard for text entry.
I have always had fine motor control issues with my hands, made worse in recent years by my joint issues, and my handwriting has always sucked, so I am big on keyboards. I developed my typing skills using two fingers, the index finger on my left hand and middle finger on the right , and still use that method. I stick with it because it works, and through the years, from the point at which I adopted the typewriter as a mere kidlet, I have typed probably more than a million words in this manner.
In the truck, just in case I get in a true bind for hard copy, I still carry a portable manual typewriter.
My daughter has a small tablet computer, and I have not yet gotten into that mode. I do, however, have a tiny Dell netbook with a broken screen, and am thinking of possibly repairing that, and carrying it to give me wifi access when I go places. It is compact enough (9" screen) that it is easily carry-able, even on the scooters, and has about a 5-hour battery life on a charge. We will see.
My "cage" (motorscooter rider term) is a 1993 S-10 pickup with nearly 200k miles, but it is maintained, reliable, and suits my purposes just fine. I do need to drive it a bit more often, though, to keep it exercised (another motorscooter rider thing).
My watch is a water-resistant Timex that gives me the time on a clear dial.
My cellphone is a phone. It makes and receives calls very well. I don't text, I don't do Facebook checkins from wherever I am, I don't check my email while I am out and about. I actually had an otherwise-intelligent lady ask me "You don't text? How can I let you know when we decide on a time for the meeting?". She was truly mystified, and when I told her "You dial the number, and when I answer, tell me the time for the meeting", she looked confused.
I still carry a Palm PDA, the old type with the little black-and-white screen, and the flip cover. Keeps me on time. The strange-looking ball point pen thing is a retractable stylus to carry in my shirt pocket, because my creaky hands, these days, have a rough time handling the tiny little stylus that came with the Palm. I also have the Palm folding portable keyboard for text entry.
I have always had fine motor control issues with my hands, made worse in recent years by my joint issues, and my handwriting has always sucked, so I am big on keyboards. I developed my typing skills using two fingers, the index finger on my left hand and middle finger on the right , and still use that method. I stick with it because it works, and through the years, from the point at which I adopted the typewriter as a mere kidlet, I have typed probably more than a million words in this manner.
In the truck, just in case I get in a true bind for hard copy, I still carry a portable manual typewriter.
My daughter has a small tablet computer, and I have not yet gotten into that mode. I do, however, have a tiny Dell netbook with a broken screen, and am thinking of possibly repairing that, and carrying it to give me wifi access when I go places. It is compact enough (9" screen) that it is easily carry-able, even on the scooters, and has about a 5-hour battery life on a charge. We will see.
Monday, January 21, 2013
An update...
I have committed to a couple of people to update this thing more frequently, so a general update for now, and soon a return to general discussion and my usual token bitching.
On the upside, our daughter has finally grown weary of a useless boyfriend and northern winters, and has moved back from Illinois. She is staying with us for a while to finish her MEd degree online, and do some student teaching with the target of doing science teaching in high-school, to the pierced and tattooed mall-rats and slackers who infest public schools these days. Brave lady. She did a practicum day Friday at her old alma-mater, and had mixed impressions. She will have one more day there, teaching a class as opposed to observing, and is arranging another similar journey with a Title 1 high school elsewhere in the county.
As to myself, on a less optimistic note, my health seems to be continuing its slow decline, but I am fighting it at every flank. The weather has been harder on me both physically and psychically than last year, but I am adapting. The battery powering my pacemaker/defibrillator is weakening, and will probably need replacement in a couple months, but I am told that the more current model will be better, so we will see.
Due to stump issues, the scooters remain at rest for now on the battery maintainers, but continue to call to me. The Elite has cooling issues, but those will be addressed in time for warm-weather riding. The Silver Wing continues to become more difficult for me to handle, and I realize that I must must seriously seek a way to finance a training-wheel kit for it. I am leaning toward the Go-Pac kit. This is a major step for me, and in many ways another depressing nod to my deteriorating condition, but I had rather be on the road. We will see.
On the upside, our daughter has finally grown weary of a useless boyfriend and northern winters, and has moved back from Illinois. She is staying with us for a while to finish her MEd degree online, and do some student teaching with the target of doing science teaching in high-school, to the pierced and tattooed mall-rats and slackers who infest public schools these days. Brave lady. She did a practicum day Friday at her old alma-mater, and had mixed impressions. She will have one more day there, teaching a class as opposed to observing, and is arranging another similar journey with a Title 1 high school elsewhere in the county.
As to myself, on a less optimistic note, my health seems to be continuing its slow decline, but I am fighting it at every flank. The weather has been harder on me both physically and psychically than last year, but I am adapting. The battery powering my pacemaker/defibrillator is weakening, and will probably need replacement in a couple months, but I am told that the more current model will be better, so we will see.
Due to stump issues, the scooters remain at rest for now on the battery maintainers, but continue to call to me. The Elite has cooling issues, but those will be addressed in time for warm-weather riding. The Silver Wing continues to become more difficult for me to handle, and I realize that I must must seriously seek a way to finance a training-wheel kit for it. I am leaning toward the Go-Pac kit. This is a major step for me, and in many ways another depressing nod to my deteriorating condition, but I had rather be on the road. We will see.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Recommended Reading
I am a long-time (40+ years) motorcycle rider, and have been subtly shaped by that activity/hobby/lifestyle over the years, including my reading habits. I must recommend two riders/authors that I have read, and find their work quite satisfying to my tastes.
The first is Daniel Meyer, author of several notable works. I have met Daniel on several occasions at motorcycle-related events, and had the privilege of talking with him. Daniel is a man's man, and a straight-up, totally direct individual.
Daniel has five published works, one fiction and four non-fiction, all wonderfully enjoyable. His books are available from anywhere you buy books, but I recommend that you purchase directly from him, as that will contribute a few more cents to the author himself. The website is lifeisaroad.com , and I recommend his work enthusiastically.
The next is Jack Riepe, the character responsible for the Twisted Roads blog. I have just finished reading his latest, "Conversations With a Motorcycle". It is a totally honest part autobiography, part humor work, much of the humor at the expense of Jack himself, as he describes his motorcycle beginnings on a Japanese street bike in blue-collar New Jersey. Totally honest, totally fun, and a read that many riders and non-riders alike can understand and find their own youth reflected therein. Highly recommended. Contact Jack at jack.riepe@gmail.com , and order up.
Both of these guys are competent, heartfelt writers, and care about their readers, and both offer hand-autographed and personalized copies. Get 'em.
The first is Daniel Meyer, author of several notable works. I have met Daniel on several occasions at motorcycle-related events, and had the privilege of talking with him. Daniel is a man's man, and a straight-up, totally direct individual.
Daniel has five published works, one fiction and four non-fiction, all wonderfully enjoyable. His books are available from anywhere you buy books, but I recommend that you purchase directly from him, as that will contribute a few more cents to the author himself. The website is lifeisaroad.com , and I recommend his work enthusiastically.
The next is Jack Riepe, the character responsible for the Twisted Roads blog. I have just finished reading his latest, "Conversations With a Motorcycle". It is a totally honest part autobiography, part humor work, much of the humor at the expense of Jack himself, as he describes his motorcycle beginnings on a Japanese street bike in blue-collar New Jersey. Totally honest, totally fun, and a read that many riders and non-riders alike can understand and find their own youth reflected therein. Highly recommended. Contact Jack at jack.riepe@gmail.com , and order up.
Both of these guys are competent, heartfelt writers, and care about their readers, and both offer hand-autographed and personalized copies. Get 'em.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Culture On The Skids, and why FaceBook is History...
I saw a post the other night promoting an appearance by the music group "Southern Culture On The Skids".
I like the group, and enjoy their music, but their group name stirred up a thought. One of my FaceBook friends posted "Why do so many young women these days talk in a "croaky" voice, as if imitating a frog? I know I'm an old fossil, but (to me) frog-voice isn't very compelling. If you wanna hear a sexy voice, check out one of this lady's movies..", followed by a black-and-white peak-of-her-career photo of Lauren Bacall. I, being also a fossil, remember her movies, and yes, she had the voice.
I commented "And who is telling them that piercings are attractive?", which prompted a comment from a young lady, whom I do not know, "Also, Clifton, my piercing a are cute as FUCK. :-P" (sic).
There was, of course, a profile pic, and no, young woman, you are not, though you may be absent the overstated make-up, and the lip, nose, and eyebrow hardware. Her reply however, with her vocabulary and poor sentence structure, are indicative of those who think that the piercings ARE attractive.
Our culture, indeed, is on the skids. I have noticed, as you may have also, that in the recent presidential campaign, Mitt Romney was concentrating his campaign on idealogical grounds, but the Barack Obama campaign was continuously attacking Romney, not as a conservative, nor on idealogical grounds, but portraying him as an evil capitalist.
The same seems common in many aspects these days - have you noticed how many movie villains these days are portrayed as rich capitalists, or officers of some evil huge corporation? This is a reflection of our public education system in recent decades, which we have handed off to fools and charlatans. Those who have money are evil, unless, of course, they are good caring liberals. In the original James Bond movies, the ones based on the novels of Ian Fleming, the villains were, in some way or other, an aspect of the Soviet Union. I notice that in the recent productions, the bad guys are some sort of capitalist or corporate entity. I grow weary.
At any rate, Facebook, which started out as mostly students at what once were institutions of higher learning, have taken the path of cellphones when they began to offer texting and ringtones; it has filtered down to the bottom layer, and is not long for my menu of computer uses. 'Bye guys; it's been real...
I like the group, and enjoy their music, but their group name stirred up a thought. One of my FaceBook friends posted "Why do so many young women these days talk in a "croaky" voice, as if imitating a frog? I know I'm an old fossil, but (to me) frog-voice isn't very compelling. If you wanna hear a sexy voice, check out one of this lady's movies..", followed by a black-and-white peak-of-her-career photo of Lauren Bacall. I, being also a fossil, remember her movies, and yes, she had the voice.
I commented "And who is telling them that piercings are attractive?", which prompted a comment from a young lady, whom I do not know, "Also, Clifton, my piercing a are cute as FUCK. :-P" (sic).
There was, of course, a profile pic, and no, young woman, you are not, though you may be absent the overstated make-up, and the lip, nose, and eyebrow hardware. Her reply however, with her vocabulary and poor sentence structure, are indicative of those who think that the piercings ARE attractive.
Our culture, indeed, is on the skids. I have noticed, as you may have also, that in the recent presidential campaign, Mitt Romney was concentrating his campaign on idealogical grounds, but the Barack Obama campaign was continuously attacking Romney, not as a conservative, nor on idealogical grounds, but portraying him as an evil capitalist.
The same seems common in many aspects these days - have you noticed how many movie villains these days are portrayed as rich capitalists, or officers of some evil huge corporation? This is a reflection of our public education system in recent decades, which we have handed off to fools and charlatans. Those who have money are evil, unless, of course, they are good caring liberals. In the original James Bond movies, the ones based on the novels of Ian Fleming, the villains were, in some way or other, an aspect of the Soviet Union. I notice that in the recent productions, the bad guys are some sort of capitalist or corporate entity. I grow weary.
At any rate, Facebook, which started out as mostly students at what once were institutions of higher learning, have taken the path of cellphones when they began to offer texting and ringtones; it has filtered down to the bottom layer, and is not long for my menu of computer uses. 'Bye guys; it's been real...
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