Head Rambles

Grandad October 17th, 2008

I haven’t commented much on politics lately.

Frankly, I have been too disgusted to even think about the subject. 

I have calmed a little [not much – just a little] and am trying to put my thoughts in some coherent form.  Unfortunately, all the words that come to mind are too obscene even for this site.

The people have Ireland have been fucked over royally.  What is worse, the rape continues. 

For the last decade or so, money has been pouring into this country at such a rate that no one really knew what to do with it.  Year after year, we heard of massive budget surpluses that ran into billions.

Suppose, just for a moment, that oil was discovered on my land.  Ignore, for the sake of argument that the government would take it from me and just hand it over to Shell or someone.  What would I do with all that money that is pouring into the coffers?  Would I spend every penny of it rebuilding my garden, and buying flash cars?  Or would I have a modicum of sense and put most of it into something productive in the sure knowledge that the oil is going to dry up some day?

All those billions are gone.  They have been poured into office blocks and housing estates that no one can afford.  The boom is over and there isn’t a penny left.

What have we got to show for it?  Apart from the empty office blocks, we still have school buildings that should be on the condemned list.  We still have a health service that is more likely to kill than to cure.  We have respite centres for the disabled that are closing due to lack of funding.  The one thing we don’t have is money in the bank.  In fact we are now pouring money into the banks to prop them up – money that we don’t have in the first place.

Then the showers of shites who got us into this mess turn around and tell us we have to be taxed on every penny of our income.  The have the utter gall to appeal to us saying that ‘we are all in this together’.  Bollox.  Those shites, the bankers and the builders, all of whom made fortunes with our money are the ones who are ‘all in this together’.

What I want to know is what the ‘government’ doing about the bankers?  I haven’t heard any heads rolling.  I haven’t even heard a wrist being slapped.  The builders, who are bloated with our money are being asked to cough up, but at the same rate as the rest of us.  In fact they have even been given some extra financial help, so they can carry on getting fatter.

If Ireland were a private company, the management not only would have been sacked by now, they would be in gaol for gross incompetence and fraud.  They would never get another job, and certainly would not be looking forward to big pensions that would make your average salary look like pocket money.

What really sickens me is that I know that they will be elected back in next time.  Ireland will suffer from its usual collective memory loss.  There will be pathetic little bribes that will sway the ignorant voters. 

There will be cries of ‘there is no viable alternative’ of course.

Wrong.

Anarchy would be better than the system we have at the moment.

• Politics
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Grandad October 16th, 2008

I hate medication.

My philosophy is to try to avoid any medication I can’t grow myself in a pot.

Unfortunately, as the clock ticks on, the old body is beginning to slow down.  Bits are starting to drop off.  I have rising damp in my basement.  My cylinders are worn, and I’m starting to leak oil.

The Doc put me on some new medication recently.  They are big blue capsules that look more like a horse enema than anything else. 

He prescribed them to counteract the effects of the red tablets, that were making me walk sideways.

The red tablets were to counteract the side effects of the little yellow ones that turned my pee green.

The yellow ones were to counteract the side effects of the big white ones that gave me headaches.

The white ones are to counteract the side effects of the big blue capsules.

All medication seems to have side effects, and this annoys me.  What is worse is that they never seem to be able to predict what the side effects will be.  [“Please note – this medication may cause elation and/or depression”]. 

On the bit of paper that comes with the blue capsules, it lists one of the side effects as “this medication may cause compulsive gambling”!  What?  How can medication cause compulsive gambling?

That has to be a lie.

I’ll bet anyone €500 that they made that up.

• Health
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Grandad October 15th, 2008

Where are all the good blogs gone?

There are two sites I go to in the morning for a sniff around – my Google Reader and Irish Blogs.  I like to know what my compatriots and others are saying about themselves or the state of the world.

I used to get regular laughs, and frequently found articles that would make me think or give me a fresh perspective on life.

Standards are falling faster than the price of a house in Ballsbridge.

There was a bit of a fuss when Twenty chucked in the towel.  I didn’t join in the debate, because I felt I had nothing to contribute at the time.  Since then however, I have had that post at the back of my mind while trawling the sites, and I have to say that I agree with a lot of Twenty’s thoughts.

There is an awful lot of stuff being written that dilutes the quality of the blog scene.  People are becoming lazy.  I am deleting feeds from my reader a lot faster than I am adding them.  Blogs that were good have become stale.

The reasons I will delete a blog from my reader:

• YouTube videos.  Unless, of course they are particularly unusual or good, I’m not interested.  If I want to see a YouTube video, I’ll browse YouTube.  Videos of songs turn me off.
• Memes.  I hate memes, as they tend to be boringly repetitive.  Really, they are nothing short of a chain letter where the recipient feels obliged to respond out of courtesy.  I have only seen one good one lately and that was the “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” one.
• Incestuous blogs.  These are the blogs that have formed a clique and tend to comment about each other.  Linking to other peoples blogs is a good thing, but not if a small group just keep referring to one another. 
• Meet-ups or Bar Camps, or whatever you want to call them.  I get tired of reading about some impending group meet, and cringe in the knowledge that my feed reader is going to be filled with photos of that meet afterwards.
• Film reviews.  Your likes are unlikely to coincide with mine so your review is irrelevant.
• Old Jokes.  For God’s sake!!  I’ve either heard ‘em, or they are not funny.

I know there is the argument that the Interweb is an open platform and that people should write about whatever they like.  That is absolutely true, and I have no argument with it.  There are also sites that have been set up as a personal diary that are aimed at family and friends.  Fine.  I have no problem with those and a lot of them are very good, funny and well written.  However, there seems to be a proliferation of what I call ‘lazy blogs’ that are swamping the place, and the good reads are becoming ever more difficult to find.  They are giving the impression that ‘this is all there is to it’ so people are starting sites with the same lazy style.

When I started a couple of years ago, this was a vibrant place.  Wars were started and fought in the public arena.  People weren’t afraid to criticise.  There was a freshness about the place where you didn’t know what was coming next.  It was fun.

I’m not saying that this site is a beacon of light in the fog.  I’m certainly not holding my site up as an example of what should be done, though I try to avoid the pitfalls I have listed above.  I know I am probably going to be flamed for writing this, but that is good.  It means that I have stirred some emotions, even if they are hatred and loathing for Grandad.

I’m not saying all blogs are bad.  There are some excellent ones out there that I jump straight into when I see there is a new post.  I’m not going to name individual sites for the simple reason that I am not attacking or praising any particular site.  It is the general trend that I am concerned about.

I didn’t always like Twenty’s musings, but I got a laugh more often than not. 

He was one of the Old School.

• Blogging
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Grandad October 14th, 2008

Me: OY!

Laptop: What?

Me: I need to access some files on the PC in the office.

Laptop: So?

Me: When I try to connect, you just say that the network drive is unavailable.

Laptop: Have you tried switching on the other PC?

Me: Don’t be fucking smart.  I used to be able to access them, but now, for the last few days, I can’t.

Laptop: Have you tried rebooting?

Me: Don’t treat me like an idiot.  What is going on?

Laptop: Have you tried resetting the router?

Me: Hold on……….

………

Me: No difference, but now I can’t access the Interweb.

Laptop: You forgot to reset the address.

Me: Aw fuck!  I can’t remember what it was.  Now I have to phone my provider.  You’re a right bastard.

Laptop: Heh! 

………

Me: OK.  I’m connected again, but I still can’t see the other PC.

Laptop:  Have you been messing with the settings again?

Me: I haven’t touched the fucking settings.  I’m getting annoyed now.

Laptop: Oooooh!  I’m scared.

Me: Will you stop messing and tell me what’s wrong?

Laptop: Click on ‘Help’.

Me: You know that Help thing is damn all use.

Laptop: Have you tried Google?

Me: All I get is a load of propeller-heads who use language I can’t understand.  Will you please tell me why you won’t connect to the PC?

Laptop: Because it called me a jumped up little Tandy.

Me: Oh Christ! 

*sigh*

• computers
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Grandad October 13th, 2008

Any problem in Ireland can only be solved by passing a law.

We must be one of the most legislated countries in the world.

The latest inane law to hit the shelves is the brainchild of John Gormless, our illustrious Minister for Cycle Lanes and Wind Farms.

As and from next March, he is phasing in a law to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs in Ireland.

Any civilised country should be able to educate its population as to the benefits of fluorescent  bulbs, and maybe provide incentives to persuade people to switch over.  But in Ireland, the population isn’t trusted.  We don’t know what is good for us, and the only way to deal with that is to pass a law.

It is human nature, that if you tell someone they cannot do something, they will do their level best to do it.  It is the natural rebel in all of us.  It is our independent streak asserting itself. 

I have no problem with CFL bulbs.  I have been using them for years, as they last longer and are cheaper to run.  All but two or three of my lights use them.

There are cases though where CFLs are inappropriate, and in those instances I use the good old incandescent bulbs. 

I have a freezer in my garage.  Occasionally, I need to go out to it to fetch something.  When I do, I will need light in the garage for maybe thirty seconds, before I nip back to the warmth of the kitchen.  A CFL bulb needs a period to ‘warm up’.  During that period, it uses considerably more electricity than a normal bulb, and only gives a minimal light.  So, If I install a CFL in my garage, I am going to be using more electricity, and will be poking around in the gloom.

I also have lighting outside the house, where CFLs will not fit inside the waterproof casing. 

There are people who have problems with fluorescent lights.  Some visually impaired people find they give insufficient light.  Others find that the flicker gives them headaches.  As far as Gormless is concerned, these people can suffer.  He doesn’t give a shit, as long as he can feel he is singlehandedly saving the world from catastrophe.

Why can’t Gormless provide incentives to use CFLs?  Why can’t he subsidise them to bring their price in line?  He could even introduce a tax on incandescent bulbs to make them more expensive than CFLs.  That would be painful but at least we would have a choice.

Gormless – You are a smug, incandescent twat.

• Global Warming , Politics
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