Too slippery, too tight, too bought

So last night Ali actually was home before me which was a pleasant surprise.  She was getting ready to hop on her bike trainer.  I figured I would head outside with my new rope and try setting it up.  I threw it over the high bar, evened up the ends and started twisting.  When I got to the bottom I wrapped a zip tie around the rope to keep it from unraveling.

I put on my gloves that have little rubber grip dots all over them and grabbed hold of the rope.  I got up in the air but my hands immediately started to slip.  I gave it a couple more tries with similar results, damn it.  Although nylon is a good choice to stand up to outdoor conditions, it apparently isn’t a great choice if you want to be able to actually hold onto it.

I unraveled the rope and put it in the garage for a rainy day, bummer.  Jesse, a friend of Jeremy’s that has a lot of body weight exercise background suggested wrapping the nylon rope with something like hockey tape.  I suspect the tape would have a difficult time adhering to the rope as well but it might be worth a shot.

After my rope fail I decided to do my mini-work out outside.  A quick 10 minute session had me sweating through my shirt.

When I returned inside I worked on a small project that had been on my mind for awhile.  I wanted to pull off the shower head in our bathroom.  For awhile we have had an issue with one of the two stages in the shower head not delivering much water.  I suspected that perhaps something was clogging the feed for that stage.

So armed with my new big ass slip joint pliers I took the shower head off and took it apart.  I didn’t see any obvious blockage but I still dumped some bleach into the guts of it to possibly dissolve anything that could have been hidden from view.

After rinsing out the bleach I returned to our bathroom and started putting the shower head back together.  As I was attaching the one head I plopped the big pliers on a fitting to make sure it was good and tight.  Without applying much pressure at all I heard a disheartening “snap”.  A plastic portion of the fitting snapped, essentially trashing the shower head. Argh.

I told Ali of my error.   We decided that after dinner we would do something unconventional for a Monday night, head to Bed, Bath & Beyond to get a new shower head.   I let Ali take the lead as far as picking out the replacement.  As long as it had a detachable shower head I was fine with it.

While we were there I wandered over to the area where they sell their outdoor chairs.   I was looking for caps for our chaise lounge we bought at BBB last year.  After I bought the lounges I discovered one of them was missing the little plastic inserts for the bottom of the front legs.  As a result, after a year the bare metal is starting to leave rust stains on the pool deck.

A store employee walked by and asked if I needed help.  I told him I was looking for the inserts for these lounges, that mine was missing them.  He said he had to quickly do something and then he would be back.  To be honest I was skeptical if he would even return but I mulled about in the area for a few minutes giving him a chance to actually return.

Well he did come back and he was carrying a pair of scissors, weird.  Imagine my surprise when he lifts up one of the lounges in the store and uses the scissors to pry two of the caps out.  He hands them to me and says “here you go”.  Wow, that was nice.  He told me that he also has been able to find similar caps at Lowe’s in the past.  I thanked him genuinely for his effort.  When someone goes above and beyond in the retail environment it is very noticeable because it happens so infrequently.

While we were driving to the store I was talking to Ali about the neighbor situation.  I asked Ali if she wanted to be involved when I tell the neighbor about my plans to call animal services.  I had called their office earlier in the day to get some information.

Although the dogs housing arrangement does not violate county code, nuisance barking can be acted upon.  Basically they come out to the person’s house, inspect the situation the animals are in and issue a warning about the barking.  From that point it is the animal owner’s responsibility to address the issue.  If subsequent complaints are filed there is the possibility of fines eventually being levied and even the eventual removal of the animals.

I told Ali I planned to tell the neighbor about my plan of action sooner rather than later but I wanted to see if she wanted to be involved in the communication process.  I have no problem telling her myself but depending on the reaction I get from the neighbor, things could get ugly.  I have so much built up frustration about the situation that all it will take is a little spark to ignite me.

Ali said that she agrees the situation has to be addressed but at the same time she hates the idea that our relationship with our neighbor which is already distant at best will now be permanently mutated into a confrontational situation once I deliver my edict without a smile.  I asked Ali what her preference would be?

Ali said that if it was up to her, perhaps she would invite the neighbor to lunch to talk about it in that environment.  I told Ali that was fine with me, although I would not be part of the lunch.  I told Ali to feel free to play good cop, bad cop.  I have no issue with Ali playing the peacemaker, saying “Listen, my husband is about ready to blow things up between us.  We need to do something about this.”

I am willing to let Ali try this approach but it has to happen pretty damn quick.   Ali said she will try to figure out a time to do it when she has a free hour or two.  Personally, I don’t think nice works with the neighbor.  I tried nice.  Maybe Ali will have better luck but I am very skeptical.  It is no longer acceptable to get more promises of future resolution, it needs to be addressed immediately.  No more excuses.

So evidently last night Obama and Boehner took turns making televised addresses about the budget deal or lack there of.  I did not see either of them and to be honest, I had no need to.

The republicans and the mastermind millionaires that are pulling strings behind the curtain are doing a brilliant job of brainwashing the average Joe.  If you just say “no new taxes!” with no qualifiers it would be hard to get a person to disagree with you if you are just talking as general philosophy.  Nobody wants to pay more taxes, no one.

Another nice generalization is government is wasteful and spends far too much money.  Again, yes, in the big picture this is absolutely true.  The story of $400 toilet seats and $200 screw drivers all remain burned in taxpayers minds for eternity.

The republicans are using these generalities to pull the wool over the average Joe’s eyes.  Look Joe! Obama and the democrats want to RAISE TAXES.  They also want to SPEND MONEY. This has to be a bad thing right?

Yea it’s bad, if you are one of the wipe your ass with Franklins, ultra-rich that paid good money to make sure their indentured servants in Congress ensure the tax breaks that were implemented as a temporary measure early in the last decade are continued ad infinitum.

I have pointed out some numbers in the past that define how ludicrous the wealth gap in this country has become.  Most recently the stellar financial results of the majority of publicly traded companies all the while middle class America is still standing in long unemployment lines is just another ugly reminder of what is going on.

Look at the stock market, it has been unfazed by the majority of Americans being in the dumps.  They could care less, as long as profit margins are high, they are thrilled.  So what happened to that trickle down economics theory that is floated as the answer by most Republicans?  It doesn’t exist, at least not anymore.

The average tax rate paid by the upper tier in American society is 18%.    When good old Ronald Reagan took office the tax level on the rich could be as high as 70%, an atrocity in anyone’s book.  However now the pendulum has dramatically swung the other way where the rich have manipulated the system down to where they pay a smaller tax rate than those far below them on the food chain.  Of course they like this and are willing to dump tons of cash to buy influence to keep it that way.

When a sensible individual faces a major budget shortfall, the strategy to attack it is to reduce expenditures AND increase income whether that comes in the form of a second job, selling items or whatever the means are to increase the money coming into the household.

Boner only wants to go halfway and the items he is targeting for cuts are some that are an absolute lifeline to millions of Americans.  He is also happy to scoop out the guts of the future generation of Americans by including dramatic education funding cuts as well.  All of this in the name of preventing what was planned all along, a return to the tax rate during the Clinton administration for the rich, which by the way was only 5% more,  a time of great prosperity by all recollection.

I could go on and on about just how ludicrous this entire mess is.  It sounds like once again Obama is the one that intends to do all of the caving as I read he has now stepped back again from letting the Bush tax cuts expire.

I am truly sickened by the state of our country, truly……