The Ottermanempire.com

One of the ways I “sell” podcasts and blogs to people is by telling them that no matter how esoteric their interests are that there is likely to be a blog , forum and podcast about it. Yep even the people with embarrassing conditions have groups. ( no they are not the same as churches but a good guess my cynical reader;) )

Seriously my reivers diet of flesh , blood and offal when combined with inactivity has not only caught up with me it’s taken an early lead. That is going to stop. Oh that an my ancestors. Bastards that’s why we never invite you around to dinner ( Oops riffing off DNA there)

Dark Ages..

Dr’s , medical journal and chance running into people with the same condition. Unlikely. The most you get is a pamphlet of organizations that survive by your condition surviving:D So you get 2-3 xeroxed copies

Today.

If I relied on the hand outs , about gout, without a doubt I’d be a more depressed otter. As it is, and as it seems to be with most conditions, the cause and effect has been established by the women in white coats, a reduction of Xtra beef causes less whY does this hurt? Sadly it’s mostly the widest bromides with information that is taken from the most extreme cases and then generalized into rules for everyone. E.g Low sodium. for those that need it great, sadly that means “everyone” since the medical people don’t want to send wrong messages. e.g hey ethnic group a : you are more at risk from this but to make you feel better we’ll tell everyone to do the same. Same with gout.

Now I have to work out what’s true for me.

Gout Pal Interactive - Discuss Gout Symptoms and Treatments With Friendly Gout Sufferers

dobie and the dancers,
originally uploaded by haltse.

For daddy’s or Dobh’s memory? Anyway while last night’s game against Edmonton was ( do I know enough about the game to call it) abysmal? The highlights for Dobh pictures with Howler/ Pack Dancers and being side checked by a rude bitch that believes knocking down a toddler and being the aggrieved party is ok.

More to follow. I have a new bike , a new loathing for how insurance companies calculate their risk and the need to write a book called “working with children that vote”

My ex wife used to teach in CA  but they waived her need for a certificate since they were so short of qualified teachers. The same situation I believe exists today but there’s a fun ruling that  if upheld  could practically prevent parents from teaching their kids in the manner they see fitting.

Court ruling would make California strictest on home-schooling - San Jose Mercury News

The ruling has angered and confused tens of thousands of parents who are part of the state’s vast and diverse home-schooling community. If the decision is upheld, California would become the only state in the nation to require parents who educate their children at home to have a teaching credential.

Maybe 2 people will get the Young One’s reference above, that’s 2 more than usual:)

Ah today is a rare sick day.   My throat is scratchier than a $5  microphone and  I’m as congested as a Tokyo commuter train.  That being said there are positive benefits.

KLF being one of them.  Maybe it’s worrying that  I consider people that burned  a million pounds , not dollars,”real”  money  back in the day to be less of a problem than the near 2 million they paid in taxes.

I really need a course in miracles. 

It’s a miracle that anybody that brings up “the secret”  is allowed  to escape the law of attraction of my sarcasm to their naivete .  Oops I know I just upset a couple of people I know but consider this an intervention.

“Imperfect thoughts are the cause of all humanity’s ills, including disease, poverty, and unhappiness.” Yes, according to The Secret, people don’t just randomly end up being massacred, for example. They are in the wrong place because of their own lousy thinking. Cancer patients have long been victims of this school of belief. But The Secret takes it to a new and more repulsive level with its advice not just to blame people for their illness, but to shun them, lest you start being infected by their bummer thoughts, too.

Which in my case means  trying to reason people out of their insanity   and if they persist no longer interacting with them  whenever avoidable ( e.g  anywhere outside the workplace)    If the secret works  wouldn’t my desire for them to STFU  have some effect?  

Blues Brothers

Not just a movie but a way of life. . Yep  I sold a revolver to buy  a microphone ..  Technically it’s a shotgun mic  but  at 5oz  it’s going to be hard to incur any damage that wouldn’t make me eligible for the sex offenders list. 

Great ,

Do we have a psychotic stalking the family? Even with the express knowledge, and public acknowledgment that they are aware, that we expressly forbid them to use our yard as their market place we are littered once again withing a short period of them , or someone purporting to be the company , left on the blog.

Coincidence? 

I do hope so since the depravity of a mind  that would enact such pettiness is worrying It’s worrying enough seek injunctive relief if my next attempt to settle this like adults doesn’t work. 

A:  I don’t want you dropping literature on my property
B:  We’ll stop that right away.

On the bright side they have given me a really neat business idea.

Otterly handsome…..,
originally uploaded by hvhe1.

Nothing cheers me up like a cute otter during the work day.

Trying to work out a problem that should have been a module in the role playing game, and now form of government, Paranoia.

Here’s the scenario.

Prevent future mistakes by recalling the path taken and the process that led to your current pickle. 

Do so without  past actions  having negative values attached, e.g showing  responsibility for a poor decision which leads to the B word, blame. 

A mentally common tragedy , or a tragedy of the mental commons?

Why was it done this way?   

Where’s the supporting work for the above answer?

Why  didn’t we attempt to generate the supporting info?  

I have two goals at work. Improve the areas I can, advocate for those I can’t yet improve  and  ,there’s no place I’d rather be since I found Serenity( prayer except I’ll  swap god for Eris),pass on those that have a low value of success in relation to the effort to implement them.

Goal two gather bio survival tickets by being effective in the former.  

I’ve yet to find a method of investigating the past decisions that are separate from the decision makers.

So far it’s going all Hal 9k on me.

in a jiffy. Jiffy Lube screw up an oil change,
originally uploaded by haltse.

There’s more to come on this since Jiffy Lube are basically contending they are not culpable. A lot more but I’m sick of paying tradesmen and services money for substandard and in this case negligent work that has incurred me other charges. 1″ over fill on the oil, thanks.

Even more fun is the People at Midas that get their very own special level of hell for attempted fraud. Oh wait they actually carried out fraud too by charging for an oil-filter that was under 1 day old, claiming the wipers are cracked ( nice try new 3 weeks ago) and a few other things I’ll get to. For now It’s time to suggest that you don’t get an oil change from the Jiffy Lube at 27th 2745 W Peoria Ave Phoenix.

The Question is

“Things I need to avoid a heart attack”

 Wot  ish  ashprin ye gaping  eejit 

“ye fell on yer arsh Trebek.”

Alex Trebek has heart attack - CNN.com

Talk about inaction,  it’s not so much an efficiency issue for cars as protecting  the remainder of the US auto industry. 

GM has a pretty good “world engine” have had so for a while and a  similar diesel variant that without dressing a truck frame up as a   SUV’s have their place  ( I know I recently got my first one but for quite interesting reasons)  but as the answer to a question ” best way to commute/ shop for a small family that doesn’t hunt, hike, camp  e.g  loves concrete” are a really bad choice. 
 
 * Erin’s crash on the bike left her unable to get in out of a lower vehicle on the driver’s side and about the only thing that was feasible turned out to be suv’s without a high sill. Attempts to get a new vehicle were stymied by sales staff with an inability to work this out and that alternative vehicles , that they had in stock, wouldn’t be viable. Didn’t stop them calling though.

It would also be nice if the media  stopped pretending that a US gallon   of 3.79 litres is the same as the UK gallon (4.54)  and even nicer if they identified the difference as primarily being taxation and the behavior is not that  euro’s are more enlightened or better moral stewards of the environment just they’ve been  bludgeoned into appearing such:)

What a fuel efficiency hike means for drivers - Dec. 1, 2007

Those are the likely outcomes now that Congress has decided to increase the national fuel efficiency standards to 35 miles a gallon by 2020, from the current average of 25

Following up from the  Helmet pics    I’ve posted  video of what the bike looks like over on podcast.john-paxton.com .   Erin has  three broken bones in her foot, they’ve  gotten her toe back in place (  yeah that’s with protective gear)  and  she’s  seemingly  well enough to be abused by her superviser..  more on that later.  The police left us with some incomplete notes,  wouldn’t take Erin’s statement and  cited her for a completely  unknowable offense for a guy that didn’t see what happened and it seems that  bikes for this guy = party to ticket .   

Then there’s the lawyers..  oh gawd bring them on.

It hit me that  people bemoan the number of lawyers in existence but rarely the circumstances that spawned them. Given the  fucking la la land that most people drive around in  ( I’m so going to  check to see if that woman’s phone was in use  when she crossed the lane)  plus  the cavalier and offhanded nature that Law Enforcers exhibit  to people in genuine distress it’s not wonder there’s so many. 

 The behaviour is so far from the platitudes that adorn their cars.  Seriously  , just have ” Because ? We can!”   own it, live up to it , sure you’ll be annoying, but  at least you won’t be hypocrits.

I’ve been a little underwritten lately  which is odd as there’s a lot to say and I’m puzzled that one of my posts has gone missing.

Since getting back from CA, the Aerio was vandalised, shot rear window.   The Phoenix council will pay for people to do weed complaints and notice items like  doors under repair being publicly viewable  ( naughty)  and send nasty grams and then a follow up.  The car gets shot at, the street lights are shot at and the prior car that was vandalized?  Nothing  no cops, in fact they had “lost” the first report too.   My rates went up 15% for the house this year  which is odd given the market value is NOT indicative of the services received by the occupant.  Seemingly I now must pay this fee or the same police that aren’t interested in  people firing guns at our house( maybe only a BB but the kid’s room is pointing to the street)  will  arrest me eventually for failure to pay for their protection.   I am looking forward to engaging the elected official for this district soon. 

Secondly, Saw my first NHL game which will get another post.

Lastly .. there’s the write up of the  New Media Expo  I attended last weekend.  Stay tuned.

The ad copy is priceless,  anecdotes amazing , the euphemisms embiggening  your ego and  the technology? Well , first, we need a man to describe that part, more like a laptop he says.. besides wasn’t the first ibook  based on a toilet seat?   

So you buy a toilet that washes, pampers and cares for you butt! you have to leave the house how will your fwagile wittle mind stand up to that ? They’ve got you covered here too.

Go check out happiness for your bum

Water

Randall would be useful about now.

There’s a scene in Clerks where Dante is arguing with Randall that title dictates action where it’s proven , most effectively by Randall, that by drinking water and then spraying it onto a customer was possible even though they were clerks.  Sounds like my days the tag cloud for which would include Sisyphean,marginalized, overwhelmed,bemused ….

Fire:

Stupid day to drive the bike 112 out,  motor hotter than the hell I’m in and a position that literally takes  horsepower to a sad joke being that it’s about as wide as a friggin’ horse , the mean streak, and it’s frustrating that 95% of the bike is so good totally fucked up by  ergonomics that was  the original reason I dismissed cruisers as useful motorcycles…   One more go,  will change the pegs, maybe  even try  running boards  otherwise it’s back to mid weight v-twins with a shaft drive ( oh fuck there’s no one making a non cruiser in that  configuration anymore:( )

Earth:  I belong here?

Wind: An ill one blows at home

Spirit:  Not drinking  so I can’t use that excuse.

Seemingly I was not the only one with a misspent childhood.  With access to guns, a scrapyard , welding gear and about any dangerous farmyard tool that have caught the unwary  over the years I still wanted to make my toys more , well, interesting.  So it’s with great joy that I  find that there’s a book coming out devoted to the art of the plastic projectile launcher.    I managed to get an  2  x 12  to stick into drywall using rubber bands x 3 and a massively and in retrospect  a wasteful  design that was more likely to me having a face full of bricks than forward motion.  How long till the TSA bans blocks;)

 
Boing Boing: Forbidden Lego: dangerous Lego projects!

Forbidden Lego, a new book from No Starch Press, is a compendium of recipes for building anti-social Lego projects — looks like good, eye-removing fun.