Dark Times Are Coming

     Well, I'll tell ya what, sometimes ya just gotta shake yer head...   What is wrong with this world anymore?  Ya got Iran wanting to nuke Israel off the face of the Earth, North Korea wants to nuke the U.S., the U.N. wants unilateral world wide gun control, and environmental laws, and the president of the U.S. wants to use drones against American citizens.  We have unemployment at record highs, foreclosures all over the place, record numbers of people on food stamps and other government assistance programs, but the government just keeps spending more and more money that they don't have, and then want to raise taxes in an attempt to get more so they can spend it too!  Places are going out of business, or cutting employees hours and benefits, at the same time as healthcare and insurance costs are rising, and gas prices are through the roof!  Food is getting more expensive, and if interest rates start going up, inflation will probably start skyrocketing as well.  An ancient Chinese curse says "may you live to see interesting times", well folks, I think we are there.  I have a bad feeling that really dark times are ahead of us.  How dark?  I don't know, but ya here things, read things ... maybe a lot of it is conspiracy nut jobs going off the deep end, but sometimes I look around and wonder if some of these so called "preppers" don't have the right idea.  Is there going to be an American dictatorship, a Chinese invasion, a nuclear war?  I don't know ... I hope not, but I look at the way things are headed right now, and I just don't see things ending real well for anyone.... Especially for those who aren't prepared.  I try to keep some food stored up ... it's not nearly enough, but it is what I can afford ....  canned goods, dry goods, some hygiene and cleaning  items, but I doubt it would last me two months in a real emergency, like an economic collapse, or a war on American soil.  If you don't already have a food storage program, you might want to do a little research on setting one up (there are several really good prepper sites you can find to help with that) and start stocking up on things, a little at a time.  Maybe this bad feeling is just me being depressed, but I don't think so.....  I hope I'm wrong and just bent out of shape because I'd rather be living in the 50s when shit made sense .......



Vitam Libertatem Honorem

I Hate Unions!

    I didn't post a grump yesterday, because I knew what I wanted to grump about, but was still too upset by the situation to post about it last night.  I must warn you, if you are a big union man, or woman, you should probably stop right here. You can of course, keep reading, but as I am about to start grumping about unions, it might be better for your blood pressure if you don't.

     OK, let me start this this out by getting this off my chest ..... I am 45 years old, and have never, in all my life, paid somebody to either find me work, or to be allowed to work someplace ... ever.  That having been said, there is a union trying to get a foothold, in the company that I am employed by, Jeld-Wen.  This union, The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW or just IAM), had people handing out literature (including union cards) by the entrances to the parking lot last friday.  I was a bit concerned then, but they were run off by management, and I had hoped that no one stupid enough to send a card in, had been given one yet.  Well, yesterday (Tuesday) we started having meetings, by department, to inform us that it wasn't just us, but that IAM is after every Jeld-Wen Plant in the country!  The Jeld-Wen corporate office hired a consulting firm to give us information about this union, how unions operate, and what we could expect in the coming weeks and months as they (IAM) try to get a foothold on our plant.  Now I am getting a bit concerned.  This must be fairly serious if corporate is sending professionals to make sure we get accurate information without any legalities being crossed.  Later that day, I heard a few of my fellow employees (and I heard more of the same from others today) talking about the changes joining a union could bring.  Now let me tell you something.  I am not here to "out" any of my fellow employees.  I have no intention of naming names now or ever .... that's just not the way I play the game.  But it does greatly worry me because this affects me in a major way.  First of all, once a union gets in and get a contract signed, you have to start paying dues, even if nothing else changed, and once the contract is signed, you could be forced to wait up to three years to get rid of the bastards (yeah, I don't like unions much .... I'll get to that in a sec).  Once that happens (because Ohio is not a "Right to Work" state) you either pay your dues, or you don't have a job.  Join or get the hell out.  I mentioned earlier that I have never paid anyone for the privilege of working at a particular company, well I sure as hell ain't gonna start now.  I have been with Jeld-Wen for 19 years .... 19 years and now this piece of shit union is going come in here acting all big and bad and if they get in tell me I have to join them or leave the company I have been employed by for almost two decades?  Seriously?  These stupid, leftist, socialist, ignorant, Obama loving, maggot infested, shit eating, low life, scum bag, scrotal lickers had better back the f__k up!  Ask the people who used to work for Hostess, how great unions are.  I kind of hope some retarded, shit for brains, asshole (we have our fair share of those at the Ohio plant, and several are warehousemen, but not all) tries to give me a damned union card, cause I will take it home and wipe my ass with it, then put it in an envelope and send it in.  Remember, unions arethe people who think it is ok for cops, teachers, and air traffic controllers to go on strike, allowing crime to run rampant, children to go untaught, and airline safety to decline.  These are the same people who think that sports stars, who even sitting on the bench make $50,000.00 a year, should go on strike.  These are the people who continue to push people (and by push people I mean tell their members who to vote for .... just sayin) to vote for the guys who think that we can spend our way out of recession  (it's never happened before, but nobody ever accused the left of being very bright), and of raising taxes on the job providers, to pay for services to the unemployed.  I mean, seriously, these people are the reason you have some people, who get paid $25 - $50 an hour to watch a machine work .....  and you all wonder why new cars cost so much?  If the IAM gets in, at the Ohio plant, the only way I will continue to work for Jeld-Wen is if the union goes on strike .... cause I will be a scab in a heart beat!  You better believe it!  I hate that this is happening.  I mean to be honest, no I don't really like my work, I do think I am under paid, and quite frankly I have a number of issues with management and how the operation is run, but that is between me and management.  I may not always be happy with my job, but it is a job, and more importantly, it is a job that I can do and do well.  I neither want, nor need a F__KI_G union to intercede on my behalf, or to "negotiate" for me, and I sure as hell don't need someone to tell me to vote for some libtard dumbocrat moron from Chicago!



Vitam Libertatem Honorem


PS.
     Rereading this, I think I may have wanted to wait another day, but you know what ... I kind of like it as is ... consider it posted!

Money, and My Lack Thereof

     I guess tonight I am grumping about money!  I don't know how some people make it.  My house payment is fairly low, and I have a married couple that lives with me who make the house payment for me, and I still can't keep up with the darned bills!  It's not like I am spending tons of money on frivolous stuff either.  I haven't been out to eat unless mom and dad were buying in forever, and I almost never get anything that isn't groceries or a necessity anymore.  and there is no help to be had for me.  I make way too much money to get food stamps, or to qualify for assistance with utilities.  plus I am now only getting paid every other week, which means I have to keep out enough money to last me two weeks, (gas, lunches, etc) and only make any payments on bills twice a month ....  I hate that .... Just another way Jeld-Wen is screwing me.  (yeah I know they aren't doing it deliberately to screw me, but it sure feels that way)  Hell it's bad enough that they forced me to have Direct Deposit!   I hate that.  The band didn't work for that money, why do they get it before I do?  How is that fair or equitable?  Now I am only going to be paid every other week inspite of the fact that I work every week!  What the heck is up with that?  So money is tight, and it seems I just keep falling further and further behind ...  My cell phone has already been shut off, and my electric and internet are getting close, and I just don't know what I'm going to do.  I worry about it all the time (yeah, I know it doesn't do any good, but I can't help it), it keeps me up at night, and leaves me short tempered and depressed (more than usual) during the day.  I haven't had anything in the house to drink but water since like november when I drank the last of the iced tea mix ....  And I have a decent job plus the roomies helping out ...  I don't know how someone with kids, even with both parents working can possibly be making ends meet right now .... gasoline is costing me a freaking fortune, food prices are up, all my bills are way higher than when I bought this house 4 years ago, but my paycheck is actually smaller now than it was then.  Well, that is my grump for the night ... going to try and get to bed early for a change ...

Vitam Libertatem Honorem

Local Meijer's Closing

  OK, yeah, I know I missed a couple days over the weekend .... So sue me.  my grump today is a bit more local, but one that is closer to my heart than most.  Meijer's is closing their Newark Ohio store.  This is where I do almost all my shopping, and the next closest Meijer's store is almost an hours drive one way.  Many people may not realize this, but the Newark store was the first Meijer's store in Ohio.  Now it is the smallest store the company operates.  They have repeatedly over the years tried to find excuses to close it down, but since it has always done a brisk business (enough to carry larger stores not doing so well) they always wound up leaving it open.  Well now, the last few years, they have allowed the store to fall into enough of a state of disrepair, that to remodel the store "to suit our customers needs" will be costly enough to justify their shutting it down.  Even if the other larger Meijer's stores were a bit closer, I would probably not bother to go there, as one of things I like about our Meijer's Store was the fact that it is smaller, and I don't have to spend forever walking about to get from section to section.  That is one of the reasons I don't care to shop at walmart.  I don't know very many people who will be willing to drive clear out to reynoldsburg to shop at Meijer's.  So basically, they are telling everyone in our city who shops there that they don't really care about us as loyal Meijer's customers, and that they are ok with all of us going to their competition to do all of our shopping? ? ?   How does this make any business sense?  Not to mention all of the local people that this will put out of work.  Yeah, they say they will try and find positions for all of their employees with other stores nearby, but really, there aren't any close enough for any but the highest paid full timers and managers to afford the commute.  Since they have increasingly been replacing full time employees with part timers, there will be a bunch of people looking for work in town, and the job market here is already fairly thin.  I just can't believe that they are doing this to us.  Why, as a business, would you seek to deliberately alienate an entire city of your customers?  I just don't get it.  The worst thing about this, (anyone who knows me should know this much already) is that I hate being forced into doing something I don't really want to do, and will never be happy about, period.  But they are now forcing me into changing all of my shopping habits, including forcing me into shopping at places I don't really like, and don't currently shop at because Meijer's is a better store.



Vitam Libertatem Honorem

Writer's Block

You know what I really hate?  Writers block.  That's right, you know how it is.  All day long, while your at work doing a menial job that almost, but not quite pays the bills, lots of decent ideas cross your mind.  You maybe even flesh some of them out a bit thinking you're going to get a couple days, maybe even three days worth of ideas worked out to write about.  Of course, you're working, so you can't just stop and grab a pen and start jotting this stuff down, absolutely not, that would slow production down. So you get home, help your roommate finish disassembling the kitchen sink (damn faucett broke a couple days ago), fix yourself a quick bite, check facebook, and then sit down to write .....  and nothing.   Not one dratted decent idea.  Ain't that a pain in the tail feathers?  So ya go through facebook again (cause there is usually quite a bit of stuff there to be grumpy about, but nothing tickles your feathers there.  So you hop over to twitter ... nope, not a darned thing there either.  So you get up and pace around the house for a bit, maybe get a little more to eat, drink some water, sit back down, and there is that blank monitor, mocking you.  Very frustrating to say the least.  You check your watch and it is almost 9:00.  You have wasted your entire evening, and instead of getting into the sack a bit early as planned, you are now going to be short on sleep.  What a load of bull!  What happened to the decent ideas that you had when you didn't need them yet?  huh?  Gone, your muse is teasing you.  I suspect she gets off on that.  I would call her bad names, but I think she likes that too.   So I guess this all you're going to get tonight, hopefully I can be grumpy about something tomorrow.



Vitam Libertatem Honorem

The Freedom of Speech

So, we supposedly have the freedom of speech in this country.  That is supposed to mean that you can say pretty much whatever you want right?  Not so fast, what about hate speech?  How about speech that offends large segments of the population (like women, or a religious group, or some minority group or even <gasp> a politician or political party)?  First off, let me explain a couple of things about the Freedom of Speech that many of my fellow Americans (having been educated solely by the Public Education System) don't always seem to realize.  The first is that speech deliberately designed to cause an immediate panic can and is a violation of the law (shouting "FIRE" in a crowded theater  for example).  the second is that the Freedom of Speech granted by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, only protects you from the federal government.  Your employer, as an example, can fire you based upon comments you make publicly at home or work.  Another thing many fail to understand is that while you do have the Freedom of Speech, you must obey other laws while exercising it ... for example, if the community park closes at dark, and you are trying to hold a rally after dark, you could run into problems, or if you are ranting loudly in the late evening and disturbing the peace, this too can get you in trouble.  Now, that having been said, let me tell you this ....  The government, using the media and the public education system as willing accomplices, has been doing its damnedest  to eliminate this vitally important freedom for decades!  Political Correctness, is a doctrine designed for no more reason than to control what you can say and how you can say it.  having won this battle already (for the most part) allows those in power to control the language and the dialog in every discussion, and ultimately, to control what the masses think, and/or find acceptable.  This has been going on for so long now, that there are few who even think to question it.  The framers of The U.S. Constitution realized that even offensive speech (actually especially offensive speech would be more accurate) must be as protected as speech we agree with, or really no speech is protected!  It is the whole entire reason that our Founding Fathers put the Freedom of the Press and the Freedom of Speech right up there with the Freedom of Religion in the very first Amendment.  Because, folks, once you start banning speech, or labeling some speech as "hate speech" or criminal speech, then whoever is in power can start limiting how often you hear from those who oppose the way they view the system, and this becomes a tool to sway public opinion, and eventually, carried to the extreme, to arrest and imprison those who hold a differing viewpoint.  Political Correctness isn't just wrong, it is evil!  And it will bring nothing but darkness, and eventually it will bring this nation to it's knees!  I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will fight to the death to defend your right to say it!  We as Americans really really really need to start standing up to Big Brother and his lap dogs in the media and start asserting our rights, the way our Founding Fathers intended!


Vitam Libertatem Honorem

Beacons of Ignorance

There was a shooting today in the parking lot of the Latter Day Saints Columbus Temple.  When the news story broke, and WBNS 10 TV posted it on Facebook, some of the comments were down right rude.  Some called Mormons weirdos, others suggested Romney had just signed their Concealed Carry Permits, and one other I saw suggested that the gun nuts were going after the religious nuts.  What the heck is wrong with these people?  First off, some things are (and should be) sacred, and respected if only for what they mean to the community that believes in the power and faith of the church.  That someone committed a horrible act of violence there should be an affront to everyone in the city and indeed the country.  Now imagine if you had a family member or friend who is a Mormon, how would you feel?  You have no idea who was shot, why they were shot, nothing more than someone or someones have been shot, and people are publicly making a mockery of your faith?  How disheartening is that?  And how rude is it for someone to do that?  If it had happened in the parking lot of a Catholic Church, would it be acceptable to joke about someone going after a pedophile?  I just don't understand how people can be so deliberately cruel.  If anyone cares, no, I am not a Mormon, although I have several friends who are, and they are amazing people who have had a huge effect on my life, also, as of the latest report, two people, one suspect, and one victim, were taken to the hospital in critical condition.  The events that led to the shooting did not start at the Temple, but just happened to end there.  A volunteer from the Church has reported that the shooting had nothing to do with the Church.  A relief for me since while I only a few Mormons myself and most of them are missionaries from out of state, they are my friends and I would not want them to have to feel the pain and loss of it having been someone they knew.  I can not imagine what was running through some peoples minds when they post stuff like that.  Even if this wasn't a tragic event, why must they allow their ignorance to shine forth like a beacon of darkness and insult and tear down something they not only don't understand, but have never even tried to understand?  Well, that is all I'm going to say on the matter tonight.



Vitam Libertatem Honorem