Wednesday, July 23, 2008Instapundit links this piece on the Avanti. If ever I rode in an Avanti, I was too young to remember it. But when I was 8 or 10, I went to the Avanti museum in South Bend, Indiana when my uncle lived there. Great looking cars.
posted by gbarto at 5:03 PM
Tuesday, July 22, 2008That's Packaging!Sometimes, when you see the way they handle packages for delivery, you wonder how anything arrives intact. Like a computer keyboard, for example... In our office, we've had a file cabinet that's leaning. We decided to prop it up with the box from a keyboard we just picked up, figuring that once crushed, the box would prop it up just the right amount. Rather than breaking down the box, we tipped the cabinet and slid it in.  It didn't work as well as we'd hoped.  The cabinet is full, by the way.
posted by gbarto at 11:43 AM
Sunday, July 13, 2008Pennsylvania Democrats Use Taxpayer Money for Fundraising - Corruption Probe UnderwayPennsylvania Democrats including Mike Veon were allegedly using government offices for fundraising and giving taxpayer funded bonuses to aides based on how much money they raised. Here's the story, found at Instapundit.
posted by gbarto at 3:53 PM
Tuesday, July 08, 2008A short essay in the manner of those writers who find their every observation fascinating or Why You Should Leave the Dog Poo on the Ground The other day, when I was at my local Barnes and Noble, I stopped into the restroom. There was already someone at the urinal and I was on the edge of going into the first stall when he flushed and retreated. I stepped toward the urinal and was surprised to see a water bottle sitting on the floor next to the urinal. I almost said, “Sir, you left your water bottle.” Then I thought, who would want a water bottle that’s been sitting on the floor by the urinal in a Barnes and Noble restroom. I sure wouldn’t. I took a quick downward glance, saw that the bottle was empty and got on with my business. It occurred to me as I left that the person behind me might have wondered in turn if I realized that I had forgotten my water bottle. It is quite possible that the Bay Area economy will fall another one or two percent with all the time wasted by people who have to pause and think about whether to ask the person who just left if he realizes he’s forgotten his water bottle. I wonder, myself, just what the bottle was doing there. It wasn’t lying on the floor, rolling around. It had been placed there. I’m curious what kind of person carefully places an empty water bottle neatly on the ground so that it won’t roll away but doesn’t carry it three feet around the corner to the trash can. Did someone finish off the bottle while going to the john? Was somebody producing a specimen for a friend’s urine test but chickened out? Or did some guy realize he was one hand short when he went to unbutton and so he stooped down, placed the bottle on the floor and took care of business? I know I wouldn’t have wanted to stoop in front of that urinal. But that’s just me. Looking back, I think I should have retrieved the bottle and thrown it away myself. But I didn’t want to touch a water bottle that had been sitting on the floor beside the urinal in the restroom at the local Barnes and Noble. It occurred to me that one of the homeless people who collects bottles would probably get it and I was glad it was them, not me. For me, it might have been gross, but for them it would be part of the daily rounds. It wouldn’t even be necessary to go through the trash to get it. Later that day, I took my dog for a walk along the local trail. He did his business along the way, though not in the restroom at the local Barnes and Noble. Being a good dog owner, I pulled out a plastic bag from the roll attached to my dog’s leash and undertook the task at hand. It was messier, of course, than retrieving a water bottle from beside the urinal on the floor of the men’s room at the local Barnes and Noble, but he’s my dog and I knew where he’d been. Mercifully, some thirty steps later, we came upon a trash can and I dropped the plastic baggy in and noticed one or two soda cans and a water bottle were also contained therein. And among them was my proud puppy’s effort in a little plastic baggy. And then I realized it was no big deal at all to pick up a water bottle standing by the urinal on the floor of the men’s room at the local Barnes and Noble. I also realized that however unsanitary it might seem to some people, for members of the homeless community it’s a very nice thing indeed to leave your dog’s doo on the ground.
posted by gbarto at 11:44 PM
Thursday, July 03, 2008Comment of the Day, over at Ann Althouse's blog:Foobarista said...John Kerry in 2004: I was for it before I was against it. Barack Hussein Obama in 2008: I was for it before I was for it.
posted by gbarto at 5:20 PM
Saturday, June 28, 2008Gallup (via Instapundit) reports that a majority of the people believe:1. The government should focus on growing the economy, not income redistribution. 2. The government is doing more, not less, than it should. Ronald Reagan: 1. A rising tide lifts all boats. 2. Government isn't the solution, it's the problem. Now if only we could find a Republican who wants to win one for the Gipper.
posted by gbarto at 10:47 AM
Sunday, June 22, 2008Instapundit points to this story about housing costs in San Francisco and the exodus of the middle class. Says the article, San Francisco has gotten too expensive for all but the rich to live there.I think that if you want to live in SF and can afford to, that's fine. And if you can't afford to live in SF, well, that's how life goes. What I find interesting, though, is that the leftist rich of San Francisco simultaneously price the guy who makes their Starbucks out of the housing market and laud $4.50/gallon gas as a great way to keep people from driving so much. And then they claim to be for the little guy. For what it's worth, I was in the City yesterday. I love to go up to visit the nice shops off Union Square, the restaurants in North Beach and the eclectic shops you find when you get out of the financial district. But I wouldn't want to live there: While SF screws its middle class, they assuage their rich liberal guilt by making it a mecca for the homeless. It wouldn't count as a trip to San Francisco if you didn't see at least one crazy having a fight with himself, but I don't need that to be part of my everyday landscape.
posted by gbarto at 11:03 AM
Sunday, June 15, 2008You mean there are legal immigrants too?To hear the media cover immigration, you'd get the sense that the United States has slammed the door in the faces of a world that wants to come here, so if there are illegal immigrants here, what could you expect? What you could expect, of course, is that those illegal immigrants would try to come here legally. Here's another angle on illegal immigration, though: Do illegal immigrants take away job opportunities from legal immigrants? The Foreign Language Blog has some anecdotal evidence that indeed they do: It seems in the wake of the federal raids on the Swift meat-packing plants, wherein some 300 illegally-employed workers were arrested from the Cactus, TX branch, other, legal, immigrant groups have been coming from around the country to take their places, lured by relatively high wages ($12/hr. starting) and low cost of living...So the next time you hear the sob story of some illegal immigrant who was just trying to make a better life, take some time to think of the story of another immigrant, someone who waited in line, filled out the forms and played by the rules and ask yourself, Do we want to honor this person's efforts to come here the right way? Or do we want to tell those whose actions indicate they view living in our land as a privilege to be won, not a right to be seized, that they are chumps? Just sayin'.
posted by gbarto at 11:37 PM
Sunday, June 08, 2008Mickey Kaus flags a snooty Timesman whining that his Starbucks experience isn't special enough:Rewards are nice, but recognition is better. So if I'm one of Starbucks's best customers, I want to have elite status, as I do on American Airlines. I want shorter lines, better freebies... - Ron Lieber, NYTSome years ago, I lived in Tours for about a month. On my second day there, I found a café where I could get two croissants and a Coke for 18 francs. I paid each day with 20 francs, dropping the remaining two in the tip jar. My fifth day I was running late and was in a mess of a line for the lunch rush. I'd pulled out my twenty francs and had been waiting in line about one minute when one of the cashiers came from behind the counter and handed me an ice-cold Coke and a sack with two croissants. I said Merci and gave her my twenty francs. She said Merci and wished me a good day. A damned sight better than any experience I've had with American Airlines, I'd add. In most of the restaurants and cafés I frequent, I know a fair percentage of the staff by name. And they know me. I'm consistent in my habits and always glad to swap a few pleasantries. And mostly I have what Lieber's talking about. Shorter lines... as with my experience in Tours. Better freebies? I'm nice to people for the pleasant experience - on both accounts - but when there's a question about remembering to ring up an extra or not, it tends to go my way. A tip to Ron Lieber: If you're a regular patron, drop the stuck-up, "I'm entitled" shtick and treat your baristas like real people. You'll be surprised how quickly you become an "elite" member, and you won't even need a card.
posted by gbarto at 10:51 PM
Saturday, June 07, 2008In which we channel Rodney Dangerfield:I get no respect. When I was a kid, my folks said us kids liked the packaging better than the presents so they gave my sister a cardboard box - and me a plastic bag. (if confused, look at the warning label on the closest plastic bag to hand)
posted by gbarto at 9:27 AM
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