Neanderpundit

That doesn’t feel the passing of a beloved pet like a knife to the gut.

I was having this conversation the other day, with one of my oldest and dearest friends. He stated: “When I reach the pearly gates, I have a question for the Big guy. Why did he have to make dog’s lives so short?”

I told him, hey, Gary, I can tell you that. it’s to make their life precious to us.
Most Christians hold that animals have no soul. You know what I think? Fuck any supreme being that wants me and not my dogs.

Godspeed, Jake.

An email forwarded to me from a friend of mine:

At approximately 10 o’clock this morning, Prospect Bus #9 was involved in
an incident. Four students were on the bus when a woman exited a car and
“flagged the bus down”. The bus stopped, the bus driver opened the door,
and the woman entered the bus claiming that her husband had a gun and was
threatening to kill her. The husband drove off, the police were called,
and the woman remained on the bus until the police arrived.

At no time did any of our students or the bus driver see any evidence of a
gun. The incident is being investigated by several police departments.
The parents of the four students who were on the bus have been contacted,
as have their respective counselors and social workers.

The bus driver in this situation violated established procedures. She
should never have stopped the bus in the first place, and she should not
have opened the door for the woman. The appropriate protocol would have
been for her to contact the Mt. Prospect Police Department and inform them
that there was a frantic woman who looked like she needed assistance. As a
result of the driver’s actions, she will no longer drive buses that
transport District 214 students.

As always, our primary concern is for the safety of our students. We
regret this incident occurred and will be revisiting safety procedures
with the bus company. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel
free to contact me.

Now: I am of several minds on this.

1: The bus driver is responsible for the children on the bus, and their safety. period.
2: if you see a hysterical woman running away from what she perceives as a threat,
and you do not atempt to help her, you are an asshole and you should be shot.
3: The need to potentially save a woman’s life and to protect the safety of your charges is a pretty tight balance.

I don’t know the circumstances. I don’t know who or what was around at the time. I suspect that, people being the assholes that they are, the woman ostensibly in danger went to the schoolbus thinking 1: This person is most likely to help me, everyone else will hit the gas and leave me to my asshole husband’s whims, and 2: the bus is a natural safe haven, and 3: Common sense may keep my asshole husband from shooting at a schoolbus full of kids.

What I do know, is the bus driver did what, on the surface, was the most decent thing to do. I applaud her for what she did. That she lost her job for being a decent human being is deplorable. That they stopped the bus run rather than possibly offend someone and the whole focus was “where was the gun” is typical of the People’s Republic of Illinois.
Anyone who is a parent will immediately say, protect my kids FIRST. At the price of someone else’s life?

Thoughts?

I tend to prefer to purchase products made here, and as a general rule, I do. I prefer levi’s jeans, unless I’m riding, because Wrangler’s jeans have the thick seam on the outside of the leg- ride a horse all day in levis and your inner thighs will feel like hamburger. Both of those brands are now made somewhere else- or at least a substantial portion of them are. I used to use only Craftsman tools, because they were made in the USA- in fact, I have several customers (like western forge) who make the craftsman drivers. And now a lot of their hand tools and most of their power tools are made overseas. The socket wrench sets and most of the screwdrivers are still USA made, but not all.

I have a Harbor Freight Tools store directly across the street from my neighborhood. They have- believe it or not- a certain quantity of American made tools. And the same plants that make the $99 craftsman cordless drill are making the $19 Harbor Freeight cordless drill. Is the quality the same? probably not. is there $80 of difference? Definitely not. So I do what I can to buy American when I can, and when it is utterly impractical, I buy the oriental crap. Case in point: I can buy a Rigid pipe threading set for around $800. or, I can buy a Central Forge pipe threading set for $29. The Central forge is for smaller pipe, which I would be more likely to use, and has two fewer dies. The quality? the rigid is unmistakeably better. if I were back pipefitting again, I’d buy the rigid, hands down- And then watch it like a hawk. The Central Forge from Harbor Freight? The quality is actually pretty good, and for occasional home use, it’s much more than adequate. Is there a $771 difference? Not for my pocketbook.

I’m not pleased that I can’t purchase good enough American made items for reasonable prices, but I’m also not going to have a fit about it, because the traditional American suppliers of tools- Stanley, Craftsman, Allen, etc. have all started producing products overseas, or selling products, labelled as their own, made overseas. If “made in America” was important to them, they’d still be doing it. So I don’t pay attention to them when they cry they’re being edged out.

I AM tickled shitless when I find an American made product that works well, and performs. Bill’s Khakis, for instance. WWII pattern GI Khakis, tough and rugged. Not cheap. If I ever get to the point where I can buy a “normal” size, I’ll be replacing my cheapass Dockers made in Macao with Bills.

I also like my Made in America Weber Grill. Oh, occasionally you have to replace a part, but you can GET all the parts. Unfortunately, even Weber is starting to sell china- made components.

Cars? don’t talk to me about cars right now. I have a few words to say about car companies.