October 14, 2008 by dave.

Yesterday was very eventful.  We set out with four of our grandchildren to take in the State Fair.

Our first problem was that I, the one who never forgets, couldn’t remember closing the garage door.  This resulted in a loss of about 6 miles and 15 minutes.  Yes, the garage door had been shut …

Our second problem was going to the wrong grocery store to obtain reduced rate tickets.  Our informant stated the Tom Thumb was the place, but Kroger was the real place.   Another 5 miles and 15 minutes.

Our third problem was a blowout of the driver side front tire in the fast lane of the freeway (with no shoulder).  The tire was completely destroyed.  We were driving our 4 door truck in order to accommodate the four kids and two adults.  This truck seems to have a problem.  We have only lost one of the original tires by wear with two others; one by blowout (passenger side front) and one that went completely flat sometime during the night while sitting on the driveway because of (as we found later) a belt poking was through the inside of the tire.   So, there we were with a tire blown, our flashers going, people almost running into us before they realized they had to do something and I was trying to change a tire.  Fortunately a Good Samaritan in a really big truck came behind us, turned his flashers on also and helped (actually did most of the work), and I really would thank him personally if I had had the presence of mind to ask his name.  Fortunately my wife had the presence of mind to call 911 so that a police car came up with its lights flashing.  These policemen and women were extremely helpful and very supportive:  Thanks, Dallas Police!!  Well, it was a long and complicated problem, but, with the spare finally in place, the police stopped the freeway and we crossed 4 lanes of traffic to the access road and went to a tire store directly across the freeway.  Another hour lost on that fiasco.  I tried to contact our “road hazard” insurance people, but their response time would have been longer than changing the tire.

We finally made it to the fair.  The kids complained of all the walking, the heat, the congestion and etc.  But, they admitted that a good time was had by all, especially after the dinner (outside the fair where 16 oz. sodas were selling for $3 and the cotton candy for $4, which we bought anyway) at WhatABurger.  Of course, the rides and the guy doing tricks on the bike contributed to the fun also.  Finding a game where every kid won something was a great thing also, even if it did cost about $5 for each prize.  So, tired (there’s a pun there if you look for it) and hungry we faced the traffic and headed homeward.

I now remember why I hated going to State Fairs when our own kids were younger and vowed never to do it again.  I made that vow again, but will probably break it again if the grandkids ask … even though the youngest just had to use and caress several restrooms.

Posted in Drivel | 1 Comment »

October 2, 2008 by dave.

The current financial crisis seems to have developed from some intentions that could have been good for many people.  It would appear that many members of congress and other organizations felt that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, being quasi-government institutions, could be used to aid less fortunate people in obtaining affordable housing.  This is quite a noble undertaking.  One with which no reasonable person could find fault without appearing either prejudiced or insensitive.

Unfortunately, certain things happened that caused many of the loans granted to go into default.  These happenings included a housing slowdown, some slowdowns in the employment sector, greed in the financial sector and apparent lack of oversight by management and / or government.

Obviously, there have been and will be many, many books, articles, blogs and other communications pointing fingers of blame and trying to determine:

• whether defaulting on loans led to the housing slump or vice versa,
• whether that job slump caused the housing slump or vice versa,
• whether greed in the form of huge salaries, etc. which gave many persons who could have exercised oversight a bit of blindness or did they just do such a wonderful job of getting mortgages out to everyone,
• whether the starry eyed ideal that every person should have the right to home financing led to some blindness as to the possible results of that action or it was the politically correct (i.e., it might lead to more votes in the upcoming election)
• or whether it was just the natural evolution of the capitalist system which obviously needs huge amounts of socialism to keep it on the correct path.

Those who have not captured the slant of the above rant will probably not appreciate the conclusion being drawn:  that is, that just because we have good intentions, it does not follow that pursuing those intentions without regard to the effects they may have is often very dangerous and leads to bad outcomes.

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Posted in Rants | 1 Comment »