Post  #2399.   The Shooting, con't.    This is actually a continuation of post #2398 which I can't very well go back and re-title, "The Shooting," since that part was more or less an afterthought. There has been more news, however. Our paper revisited the incident to report that the lady has been released from jail pending charges. Prosecutors said they need more than 72 hours to review and decide about an incident which took probably less than a minute in real time.

Details released by the paper include the facts that the lady shooter is 30, attends community college, lives someplace we're familiar with, has been cited for "brandishing" in another state, disembarked from the bus with four children and her partner and this partner subsequently left the court "in tears." Well, we know her residence is in the Projects, and men don't leave in tears (they "appear to have been crying.") So, basically the image design of this story seems to have morphed from a vagrant getting all over an apparently defenseless woman with her small children on a public bus who then administered a little frontier justice, to ... possibly a hard-edged, life-weary black lesbian blowing away some dude who gave her attitude, maybe about all them kids. It's all in how it's typed, huh? Rick Macherat

posted by Rick at 9:46 PM

Post  #2398.   House shopping #31.      Yes, I have made fun of houses for sale in Seattle, but it's because they're precious just like we are. The first one started with an ancient building which is totally totally?! [What can I say; it's totally.] your grandmother's house in the Midwest or back east, only it's been yuppified so grievously .. well, take a look:


Of all the pictures I could have shown you, this one just called out, Show me, show me!! Yes, it is the wine-tasting room. Can you imagine a hyphenated urban couple sitting there, staring at the blank wall two feet away, enjoying an extremely rare vintage, musing .. Yes, yes I can. I think I can too. After all, if they spent a couple of million dollars for that house only to do this


to it ... oh well.

The second house is over where Bill Gates lives. In fact, newer homes like this one might be part of the reason some people are moving out. Hard for Bill to move, however, what with the market for $125,000,000 properties these days. Anyway, this is indeed a house, priced at over Four-Million Dollars, and not a motel.


According to the ad, they were going for Nantucket, with a splash of a few other things. Surely they have a wine cellar in there somewhere too.

A slobby sort of character got onto a #27 bus here the other day and began to harass a female passenger. Words were exchanged, then he followed her off when she departed, presumably to continue what had turned into an angry argument. So, she pulled out a gun from her purse and shot him. Right there in the street, Third and
Nice St., in front of scores of [I imagine] horrified passengers. This might not be the right thing to say, and she was indeed arrested and locked away on high bail, but I think I might have applauded the scene briefly. I say briefly because the disapproving stares would have been fierce indeed.

For a moment today, I thought I was listening to the President of the United Federation of Planets proclaiming a Global Emergency, but it was just the lady from the WHO doing a Swine Flu update in a fairly dramatic tone. We have that going on, not to mention a runaway $quadrillion financial meltdown, yet few if any of us are exceptionally bothered by it all. Why is that? Nine-eleven, of course. We're inured. Rick Macherat

posted by Rick at 10:22 PM

Post  #2397.   The letter.      These days there is usually only one or two pieces of mail, a symptom of one of the many things wrong with our country: when government isn't making enough money, it raises prices, eventually killing the service. This envelope came today,


in fact it was the only piece of mail in the box, and it says so much. First, I know what's inside before opening it. It's a letter notifying me that My Government is giving me stimulus money, though less than they gave last year. Even with the multiplier effect, this plan will not have a noticeable effect upon the economy. It will have a slight measurable effect, but in terms only appreciated by economists. People who eventually receive a check will remember cashing or depositing it, for a day or two maybe. If you get it via direct deposit, chances are you'll notice when you open your bank statement and then move on. Think back, what do you remember about the $400 you got last year? I thought it was $800. See what I mean?

Second, and most important, the envelope. We keep telling ourselves that we are the most productive nation on earth. We really believe that, when in fact most of the gains in productivity come from transferring work from the "workers" to the consumers. Like this dad-blasted envelope. Social Security no doubt saves $X million a year by one-step printing these abominations, freeing up valuable hands to do .. whatever it is they do, while transferring the task to 113 million pair of other hands, most of which are arthritic and gnarled by the way, eliciting uncharacteristic profanity and frustration while opening them only to find out it isn't money after all but rather a notification about some money which they already knew about.

The reason I get agitated about things like this is because My Government should be working on other matters, like Swine Flu. Am I the only person who thinks it's terrorism? Yes, very likely you are. Well, it just might be. A Friday night, perfect time, absolutely no one is paying attention, anywhere. Washington already had its big event today, a private plane accidentally entering restricted airspace. We know how to handle that: shut everything down on a Friday afternoon until the all clear. Happy Hour began three hours early. Flu cases are popping up in widely dispersed locations with zero connection to one another, or to swine for that matter. We have a spectacularly mutated virus with characteristics of several flu strains, some lethal. And to top it off, there's the Mexican connection which, once this thing gets traction, will make it all the more awful by bringing in the ethnic angle. We do love the ethnic angle. I can see this catastrophe unfolding just like a typical disaster movie, except in disaster movies you have to get to the third or fourth commercial break before fights break out in the Safeway, people run red lights and smash in to one another or neighbors start eating neighbors. Unfortunately, every single one of us has this slightly repressed 911 PANIC GENE which will switch on at the first sign of something strange or scary and cause the whole country to go insane and then shut down completely.

Then again, it might be nothing at all. Rick Macherat

posted by Rick at 9:43 PM

Post  #2396.   They caught me feeling very 1791-ish.      This is annual report season, the time when corporations send out their dressed-up versions of the catastrophe which was last year's performance. I get a few of them, and I always vote. Especially now that you can do it on the computer. Sure, maybe it's always My Shares: 39 votes AGAINST .. Capital Plundering Corporation: 212,887,502 shares FOR, it's the principle. I hang in there. So, tonight I read [skim this, save your brain]

Since Article Thirteenth of the 1987 Restated Articles has been eliminated as unnecessary historical information, the provision added as Article Fourteenth in 1990 is numbered Article Thirteenth in the proposed Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation. Article Thirteenth differs from former Article Fourteenth in the 1987 Restated Articles only in that the statutory reference in Article Thirteenth is changed from Section 415-48.5 of the State Revised Statutes to Section 414-222 of the State Revised Statutes. Section 415-48.5 was the provision of the State Business Corporation Act (Chapter 415 of the State Revised Statutes) in effect in 1990 that related to the ability of a corporation to eliminate or limit the liability of directors by a provision to that effect in its articles of incorporation, and Section 414-222 is the counterpart provision in the current State Business Corporation Act (Chapter 414 of the State Revised Statutes), which became effective in July of 2001.

Can you believe a person actually wrote that crap? And is it just begging for a vote the OPPOSITE of what the Board recommends, or what? What I always do anyway. 39 shares AGAINST, 4 billion shares FOR. That's okay, I'm patient.

I was talking with Customer Service recently, a nice young fellow, not that swift actually. I was going to ask him why on earth he took a job like this, but as the conversation progressed it became pretty obvious. Along the way, he made a small mistake which I pointed out. "Thanks, man," he said. "I wouldn't want to get coached." "Get what?" I asked. "Coached .. you know, by the supervisor." I couldn't help it, I laughed right out loud. So that's what they're calling it these days. Coached. Good God. And I've spoken with his supervisor before, a Woman, mean and a real ball buster. Glad I saved the kid a visit with her.

This particular business, by the way, is going out of business next month. Their computer called me yesterday afternoon with a recorded call just as mealy as their entire leadership has been. They never had a clue. Tremendous, wonderful line employees, point-of-service people who gave more than 100% every day, and the worst management in the world. It was management and the computer which killed the business, the two legs which they still no doubt believe were the heart and soul of their Grand Idea. Oh well.

Seen on Channel 44 one day last week: The Situation Room, with Wolf Blitzer. New - in High Definition. Cool. Just what the world needed.

Incidentally, my typing was more interesting back in 2007 before the mind started to go. Try going to the bottom/end of this page and scroll up instead of down. Reads better.Rick Macherat RMacherat

posted by Rick at 9:49 PM

Post  #2395.   Dream?    My father fought in World War 2, then he came home, worked forty years and raised a family. He mowed his lawn, avoided church scrupulously, voted regularly and died shortly after retiring, leaving everyone safe and secure. Had he known this was going to happen,


I suspect he would have just said fuck it.Chrysler Jim Press Fiat 500 New York Auto Show Mark Lennihan Rick Macherat

posted by Rick at 10:22 PM

Post  #2394.   There's no hope.      I posted in a forum where the topic was possible expansion of San Francisco International Airport. As might be expected, there is a great deal of opposition from people who want to fly everywhere, of course, and experience no inconvenience or delay, but who definitely do not want an expansion of the airport. One of the arguments advances was that filling in more land in San Francisco Bay would cause the level of the entire bay to rise, thus endangering wetlands. Think about it. (HINT: San Francisco Bay is open to the Pacific Ocean.)

So, I had to type, naturally, and I offered that the opposition would likely be joined by citizens of Kiribati. So far, at least one more poster has agreed with me.

Speaking of the Sea .. the United State Navy is sending more warships to the Great Pirate Standoff near Somalia. Is this the international crisis that President Obama was going to face sometime in the first 100 days? If so, it's a shabby disappointment. Somalia, of all places, good grief. I wish I could send a message to the 5th Fleet, in case they haven't been notified, that it is Perfectly Okay to shoot those khat-huffing tweaked-up Somali pirates and dump their scrawny bodies in the Indian Ocean for the sharks. Countries have been doing that for over 500 years. No one will care.

This ongoing incident wouldn't agitate me so much if the cable channels weren't (1) trumpeting "breaking news" and replaying it 3, 6, and 9 hours later as if it just happened, or in this case didn't happen and (2) in the absense of actual news, breaking every three minutes for that fat guy with the red beard who wants to help you with your I.R.S. problems. Isn't there a solution in here someplace where we trade him to the pirates?Rick Macherat

posted by Rick at 10:56 AM

Post  #2393.   Headline: Twitter and Facebook used to rally Moldova rioters.     Revolt of the Twits! Oh, I'm sure their cause was just, though. It's interesting how these new media hula hoops are working. As you can see with our own politics, it takes no time at all to make an individual into the ultimate viral villain, even though the vast majority of the agitated haven't read anything and have no idea about the actual issue. Try talking to one sometime, an under-30. Scary.

Grocery day for brother and me. I accidentally ordered three pounds of potato salad, so I'll have to come up with meals that it goes with for the next two nights. Had deli sub sandwich tonight. yumm. Interesting thing,


now I don't know whether the potato salad lady at the deli was having a lovely fine day in this glorious Seattle blue skies and sunshine, or she is the Happy Face Killer. She drew a happy face on all three of my containers. If it doesn't end up killing us, I think it was a real sweet gesture. You'll know if there is no post #2394.

Question about the pirate attack off Somalia last night .. incidentally, the cable news coverage on this one ranked right up there among the all time stupid moments on television .. this ship was American owned, crewed and flagged, right? So, how many of those do you figure are sailing within a couple hundred miles of Mogadishu at any given time? 580? 49? Try 1. One U.S. ship, carrying urgently need food, charity food. Why, then, was the United States Navy destroyer 300 miles away as this ship lallygagged its way into pirate waters? And did you hear the 2nd Mate on the phone with the CNN news anchorette? Huh!? No, that was his quote, then, I gotta go. Great moments in seapower, however this turns out.

Speaking of cable, I had to grab the camera and record this Cable News Newman Moment:


In fairness, I should point out that if she does uncross, the darkshot will be obscured by the product-placed Apple computer, mostly. No, it's just me, one of my pet peeves about the perceived demographic that the news organizations seem to lust for. And then the follow-on question, why do they bother with the news?

Diagnosed with NSF? You may be entitled to compensation. Huh? Okay, NSF is a disorder, apparently one with appeal for lawyers. It is also the National Science Foundation as well as part of the name of an online join-n-rant group which hates Republicans and conservatives. Judging by the logic and spelling, I would make that a young join-n-rant group. If you're old, really old like me, NSF means one thing: the dreaded NOT SUFFICIENT FUNDS.Rick Macherat

posted by Rick at 10:35 AM

Post  #2392.   The other shoe.      Let's hope this story only has two legs and goes away quickly. You've probably heard about the man who shot and killed all five of his children in an Orting, WA trailer park. Well, the mother appeared today because she wanted to set the record straight: She was not having an affair. The only way this thing could be more dreadful than an episode of Sordid Lives would be if .. oh my Good Lord, she did it. The mother spent the day between the murders and her coming out before the cameras having tattoos of all the children's names, birth and death dates put on her body, with swirly lines. To their credit, the local television stations covering the performance, held at the "growing impromptu memorial," and attended by many, many people in pickup trucks who, as was reported, didn't even know the family, did so with unusual dispatch and then moved quickly along to other murders.

We have a lot of these in Washington. I don't know why.

We'll also have a lot of these in Washington, but I know why.


I imagine returning to the late 1950's, as before, and showing this picture to people in the market for a new car. I do that just so I can briefly enjoy a bout of raucous, uninhibited laughter before returning to 2009 and acknowledging that this car will be very popular indeed. Just in case you think I'm a total crank, I fully expect the people from 2009 who go with me to have a real hoot at all those fins. Gad, we loved fins back in the day. Gas .. 19¢ a gallon, cigs ... $1.76 a CARTON at the BX. Sigh.

One more mention of local television. Several of our stations have been covering girl's rugby results lately, often and with particular attention to the zoom-in to the scrum. I have to tell you that the girls who go out for rugby tend to be a little on the chubby side and are not generally the most attractive, to be candid about it. These highlights are on regularly enough that I'm starting to understand the rules and goals. Why girls would want to play rugby and why local television would spend so much time taking pictures of them I haven't figured out yet.Rick Macherat

posted by Rick at 10:55 PM

Post  #2391.   It would be more fun if my voice sounded older.     My cellphone rang. I was already crabby from reading the paper, so I answered the incoming call from 800-219-7425. No surprise, a recorded Car Warranty reminder from a boiler room. I pressed "1" of course, I generally do when I have the time. The young man was so polite, I almost hated to do it, but this is my calling after all, saving one person at a time from being scammed. The longer I can keep him on the phone with my inanities, the fewer calls he can make. simple as that. Besides, the recordings are a big hit down at the Home. This one went really well, and I still had him even past where I revealed I do not actually have a car and cannot have one because of the cruel grandchildren taking my keys and license for "no reason a-tall" and just past the point where I thought the call was all about getting me a New Car with the warranty. It still amazes me how fast they can get off the phone once they realize they've got a nutcase on the line.

I called Brother on the intercom and told him dinner would be ready toot-sweet because the North Koreans launched the missile. No way was I going to be either vaporized or else lie leaking for days in nuclear rubble on an empty stomach. The networks were completely flummoxed, naturally. They probably all had top notch teams standing by to run hot with this story had it broken during the week. But Saturday Night? Fox had Geraldo, so you can guess how that went. CNN punted and ran their MLK thing, and MSNBC did the same with more prison adventures, This week: Sodomy Stories! Well, it's past 11:00PM and it hasn't hit yet ..

Guess I'll keep typing. OBAMA MOTORS. That popped into my head sometime today. Was I the first person to think of it and maybe put it in a blog? Hardly. I would have been 5,331st, according to Google. Gotta move fast these days.

I've noticed that Giving has become big business in Seattle. For instance, this is going up,


a million square feet for the Gates Foundation. Then there's this one, just a few blocks away,


which just recently had a major portion of its space leased by PATH. PATH's mission is to "create sustainable, culturally relevant solutions that enable communities worldwide to break long-standing cycles of poor health." Can you imagine an organization more precious and more Seattle than that? They definitely need hundreds of employees and a shiny building. Located nearby in equally magnificent and greeny buildings is a staggering collection of medical research facilities which employ thousands of people making gorgeous salaries and pumping out too much groundbreaking science to list, all of which will be ready for actual health in "four to six years," as "more research is needed."

Goodness, you are a crab. You think? Too much maybe? Okay then, there's this for something uplifting:

Washington State lethal injection team quits

Evidently, it has to do with the death penalty and unhappy death row prisoners or something. So, what are we supposed to think about that? Whatever you want.Rick Macherat RMacherat

posted by Rick at 11:50 AM

Post  #2390.   Trash Management.      Just watching the garbage truck out my front window. I wonder at what point in life the garbage man realizes that this is it - I'm a garbage man for life. Up and down the streets, lift it, dump it, ride 40 feet on the truck, repeat. For 40 years. Retire. Drop dead. Grim. At the complete opposite end of the musing spectrum, Ben Bernanke was speaking to a group of .. people who evidently understand moneytalk in Charlotte, North Carolina. Brother and I listened over our breakfast. (I'm glad I never had Bernanke for a Prof. He never slows down to let your brain rest for a second.) Brother could not possibly be less interested in Money, but when Ben was finished I asked what he thought. "Sounds like things are getting better." That was pretty much what I got too.

Sister-in-law is contending with her own garbage issues. Living inside the limits of Seattle, she falls under the mayor's mad initiatives as he channels Planet Saver Man, starting right here. The latest is kitchen scraps - they get recycled now too. Not only that, the Trash Police are out looking for people who put them in the regular trash. And, not only that, for some not clearly understood but evidently essential reason, 30% of the trash pickup schedules citywide have to be changed. Can you imagine? Some people have been putting out the trash on a certain days for 60, 70 years and now they have to change. That has been more disruptive than any other part of the process. Finally, when the truck backed into the parking lot behind her apartment building at 2:30AM and started making a great deal of Trash Noise, that was it for the sister-in-law. She called the city and eventually was multiple forwarded/directed to Dumpster Complaints. See, here is where the sister-in-law and I part. If I were to have a dumpster problem and learn that Trashco has a specific Dumpster Complaint Section, I accept and give up. Not her. I've written enough about her that you can figure how it went and, yes, I heard every single word of it retold, ending with, And she totally understood what I was talking about and why I was upset and said she would definitely look into it. It was fascinating to witness a case where she had at last met her match and was blissfully unaware of it. I must meet this Garbage Woman.

Anderson and Tim finally had that interview,


and it was better than I expected. Sure, they did each talk at 720 words-per-minute, but they even look a bit alike. Both are very, very preppy and have eggy-shaped heads. On the rapid-speech, I'm beginning to think it's something which came out of the fancier eastern schools in the 70's/80's, sort of an east coast valleyboyese. Interesting. Unintelligible, but interesting.

Greta said the North Koreans were going to launch their missile "any minute." Still waiting. It's ironic that we (in Washington State) were just barely out of range the last time the country was threatened with an imminent nuclear strike (1962;) this time we're the only part of the continental U.S. that is in range. I remember that I was completely disinterested in the Cuban Missile Crisis and busy being a teenager. Brother said, "Oboy, I remember all of us sitting around the TV, watching President Kennedy and, hold on, you weren't there! Where were you anyway, Rick?" I was busy not doing nuclear annihilation, probably named Budweiser. Actually, it would for sure have been OLYMPIA BEER, but no one reading here will remember Oly and "It's the Water!" and that might be the saddest part of all. Did I tell you I had over 144 four-dotters? It's true. And I never had the chance to turn them in. Rick Macherat

posted by Rick at 11:12 AM