California Likely to Remain a Blue State? Please God, No

It's Election Day, November 2, 2010. With many polls stating that the House will change to Republican rule, and the Senate will be a close call, you would think that America is just about ready to lean to the right. But as far as I can tell, California isn't going with that trend. One friend of mine says, "Thank God California is likely to remain a Blue State".
Really?
California has been a Blue state for, what, 30 years? 40 years? How's it working out?
Are our schools doing well? We're ranked 44th in science scores, 47th in math scores, 50th in reading scores for the most recent data available! (National Center for Education Statistics)
Is employment up? We're rated 49th at 12.4% unemployment. (Bureau of Labor for September 2010.)
Are businesses flocking to the state because they know they can do well here? (I'm talking about businesses ...that HIRE people).
Not even Hollywood want to be in California anymore. Movies are made everywhere BUT California! Other businesses are moving to Texas, Georgia, and any place that makes it look attractive to an entrepreneur.
How's our cost of living compared to other states? Property tax is high. Income tax is high. Gasoline costs more here. If you are in the private sector, you're lucky to make 60% of what your California State employee makes, and you have to contribute to your own 401K or IRA plan if you even want to think about retiring some day.
When you travel to those other states, do people ask you about how can you live in California with that "Crazy San Francisco?" and your F'ed up mortgage payments?
If you're one of the "chosen ones" working for the state, you're sitting in the Cat Bird Seat, waiting for that last raise, so you can retire and sit out your golden years with up to 90% of your salary from the last year that you worked. This while Joe Public works a few extra years to collect Social Security and keeps you in beer money. I guess its a good place to be if you're a "Public Servant". (Seems like a misnomer, "Public Servant". Public Sponge, maybe. Union Dog more likely. Over Paid Lucky Bastard, definitely.)
Thank God California is likely to remain a Blue State? Are you kidding me? We'll be lucky if the rest of the county doesn't boot us out of their club.
On this Election Day, Nov 2, 2010, I choose Red. I choose Capitalism, Free Market, Sanity.I choose Tea Party. I choose Republican. I choose moral standards, lower taxes, incentives for hard work, creativity, invention, and education. I choose to compete with the rest of the country and the world. 
Come on, California. It's not a dream to be a Blue State. Its a nightmare, and its time to wake up and live in the Real World where the Adults are in charge.

Don’t Choose Your Painting Contractor Solely On Price!

On the issue of price: I have seen so many instances of people choosing a painting contractor based solely on price. Remember, in general (when not dealing with crooks or scammers), price and quality are directly proportional. "You get what you pay for," is a phrase I learned long ago, and have experienced many times.

Will the painting contractor include pressure washing in their bid? Will they paint over cracked and splitting wood (like the fascia, siding, or door frames), or will the repair such defects before painting? Will they scrape and sand loose and flaking paint? Will they use quality paint, or some cheap paint that won't last until the end of next year? Do they offer a guarantee? Are they licensed, and do they maintain insurance and workman's comp to protect the homeowner?

When you factor all of these considerations, you realize that the higher quality painting contractors have higher operating expenses. So their bid will be higher than the one man operation with no license or insurance or experience.

The 2 worst scenarios are: 1) Contractor underbids the job, and can't afford to finish the work; and 2) a worker falls off a ladder, breaks his leg, and sues the homeowner.

Choosing a painting contractor based solely on price is asking for trouble.

Find out what is included in the price, how much experience the contractor has, and what other customers have said about the contractor before choosing.

If you're near Los Angeles, especially if you're in Santa Clarita, it wouldn't hurt to call on Executive Painting and Texture before you decide! You can find us at www.executivepainting.net, or, send us an email at executivepainting@gmail.com

Don't Forget to Thank Your Auto Mechanic

My mechanic is awesome. I’ve never said that about a mechanic before. Its hard to tell before you start writing checks how well the repairs are done. But he really helped me out when my engine blew up a couple of months ago. I got a great price for getting a new engine installed, and my truck is running like new. Add to that, he got my air conditioning going again, and some new tires, all at the best price I could have asked for.
Now my brother is looking at replacing his catalytic converter. I told him about my mechanic, who gave him a price WAY below that from the dealer. But just giving a price isn’t everything. He filled my head with all kinds of factoids and horror stories about shops that put in the wrong equipment, charge dearly for it, and leave the owner swinging in the wind when they go for a smog check and get rejected! I’m pretty sure my brother is going to like paying less, and getting better service.
Thanks Garnet! Have a beer on me.

Networking with my Lawyer - Yikes!

I met with one of the attorneys from my networking group this morning for coffee. We mostly talked about the effectiveness of our marketing methods.
Erin Dixon is a Family Law Attorney in Santa Clarita. I was surprised to learn that she is getting a lot of business from the internet. Surprised, because I get almost NO business from the internet. (Actually, make that NO BUSINESS AT ALL from the cursed internet.)
I must be doing something wrong.
Am I not saying "Executive Painting and Texture", and "Santa Clarita" and "Interior Painting, Exterior Painting, Faux Finish, Paint-at-night-so-you-can-keep-your-business-open-during-the-day" and so on and so on in everything I do on the internet????? Maybe not as much as I think. (Maybe I use too many hyphens?)
Apparently I'm going to have to do more than my Google website and an ad in the yellow pages and ads in the Santa Clarita Free Classifieds to conquer the painting business in Santa Clarita. (That makes 4 times I mentioned Santa Clarita in this post - no, that's 5 times.) (Have I mentioned Painting enough?)
Need Painting in Santa Clarita and surrounding areas? Call Executive Painting and Texture. We're in the Yellow Page, facebook, google, and soon to be on Bing, Yahoo, and everywhere else. Or email us at executivepainting@gmail.com.
Holy Smokes - I didn't say I'm a Handyman, too. I'm handyman in Santa Clarita. But that's for another blog...

Another Paint Project

I love this kind of paint project: House is empty. Paint is all one color, except for the baseboards and doors/trim.
After cleaning up the dust, we mask off the floor, and spray primer on the baseboards and doors. Some of the doors we remove beforehand, and attach together in the middle of the floor, and spray them there. Once the primer is dry, we spray the baseboards and doors with the topcoat.
The following day, we mask off the baseboards and doors and spray the walls. (We are not painting the ceilings for this project.)
Now we paint the bathrooms and the kitchen. We are just going to brush and roll these, because its a small area, and not really worth it to spray.
Finally, we remove all the masking, take care of any touch up, and voila! Another beautiful home, painted by Executive Painting and Texture!

Not Too Late To Read Atlas Shrugged

Time always seems to be running out for the US to shape up...and by that, I mean, "move to the right." Despite the fact that we haven't degraded back to the Stone Age, it seems we get closer all the time.
It took ancient Rome many hundreds of years to fall completely. I suppose it will be the same for the US and the rest of the world, but I predict that the fall WILL come. Because for every Ronald Regan (my favorite president) there are hundreds of Nancy Pelosis and Antonio Villaraigosas, trying to convince hard working capitalists that they are immoral, and misshaping the vision of our founding fathers like some unskilled potter ruining a vase on a potter’s wheel.
These “do gooders” crawl out of the woodwork to try and convince those with weaker minds that the American dream is evil. Anyone who succeeds or tries to succeed in business should repent of their debauchery. From each according to his ability, to each according to their needs. You only have to look to the former Soviet Union see where the philosophies of these morons are going to take us.
In my short life, I’ve seen our country, which has never been perfect, go from rewarding hard working successful entrepreneurs, to punishing the Bill Gates and Warren Buffetts of the world, and treating them as no more than scapegoats for the lack of initiative that most people show in life. What would have happened if Henry Ford or Thomas Edison were alive today? They would be reviled by those who benefit most from their inventions, which did indeed move us farther from the Stone Age and into the modern era.
What’s so great about the modern era? Oh, I don’t know…how about medical science that has extended the lives of people with cancer, no longer an automatic death sentence? How about modern farming that provides more food than the world can eat while preserving the soil for future generations to continue to flourish? How about the ability to stay close to relatives and friends who live on the other side of the country or the world?
It’s not too late to read Atlas Shrugged, which takes these stupid ideals to their extreme, and examines the consequences. So much of that book has come to pass. Indeed, much of it was true before Ayn Rand wrote it. Maybe if everyone knew the significance of the question “Who is John Galt?” we would root out the wrong thinking supporters of President Obama before they had the chance to move us one more step backward in progress. Before the lights go out for the last time in the world of their creation.

Baby Chicks

I love Baby Chicks. There, I've said it. Who wouldn't love a brood of these little fluffy ping pong balls peeping about?
Unfortunately so do hawks, crows, squirrels, dogs, and before the dogs, coyotes. Everybody loves them. (Squirrels? Yep. They love baby chicks, too.)
When I came to the animal farm, the free ranging chickens were already - free. They run around the ranch all day, philosophizing and fornicating and whatever else it is that chickens do during their free time, and then they fly into the trees at night to sleep. (Do chickens dream in color? They see in more colors than humans do.)
But they can't nest very well in trees, so they hatch eggs in the hay feeders, under the porch, in the brush on the hill, behind the garage, etc. Then one day you have 15 baby chicks following a hen that you haven't seen for a while.
They don't hide much when they're looking for scrumptious insects and seeds to eat, so once the predators notice them, they start disappearing. It’s sad, but it’s the way of the ranch, just like zombie goats and cancer cows.
Being a handyman, I've finally decided to exert my influence, and UnFree the Free Range chickens - at least the hens and the young'ns. It'll take a few $100's, but I'm going to build a new chicken coop and hen house. I’ve researched it a little, and I think I’m going to enjoy this project. If I’m not careful, I will go overboard with little windows, siding, shingled roof, play ground equipment…We’ll see how far I get.
I should point out that the current, dilapidated chicken coop is occupied by peacocks. They are also loved by dogs and coyotes. I don't know if a hawk would take one on... We've realized (read: I was told) that I need to improve this animal hotel. It needs more vertical space so they can go up higher. We run a hose to the pen for their water. I’m sure they would like a Jacuzzi.
Chicken coop photos to follow…

Good Bye, Old Friend

Sadly, I report the loss of another friend.

I've never heard of Squamous Cell Carcinoma, but then medical science is not my area of expertise. Suffice it to say, when it's eating up your nether regions, it is one nasty MFer.

Domino has been Peg's horse for about 20 years. She knew when we called the vet that the outcome wasn't going to be good. Domino didn't really act like that nasty thing was bothering him, but OMG if I'd discovered that thing on my body part, I would have called Dr. Kavorkian within about 2 seconds.

And that's kind of how it played out. The vet told us we might be able to extend his life 6 months or so, but only with repeated, difficult, and painful treatment, after a difficult recovery from nasty surgery. Prospects for recovery for a human would have been difficult. I couldn't see a horse getting through that.

I'm pragmatic, but I really wish there was another way. We had to put the horse down.

Is this the first day of spring? It seems like the dead of winter.

Good bye, old friend.

Daylight Saving Time Begins

This Sunday, March 14, marks the beginning of a time honored tradition – Daylight Saving Time. This is great for getting things done after work during the week, but not so good for waking up in time to get to work. High school students everywhere are going to have a terrible time of it. My daughter has one of those "zero periods" at her school, and she can hardly get there on time as it is.

Why do we do it? DST is often attributed to American Founding Father Ben Franklin, who satirically proposed that citizens of 18th century Paris, France begin their working days earlier. (One might presume that Parisians were late sleepers. Why not? They take 14 months off each year for vacation.) He thought the sounds of church bells and cannon fire should be the city's alarm clock. (That actually could help my daughter.) He also proposed taxing candles and shutters as a way of assisting the people to adjust to their new schedule. I don't know if he had a serious proposal for DST as much as he wanted to mess with France.

But it was Germany and its allies that started DST in 1916 to conserve coal during wartime. Britain and most of its allies soon succumbed to this dark madness, with Russia falling a year later. The United States didn't adopt DST until 1918, finally following the Europeans into a mental warp that I'm sure Einstein didn't understand.

So here we are, getting ready to flip our lives sideways, so that (the nation of?) shop keepers can induce customers to keep shopping for just a little bit longer. And why not? It's still a nice day, and there's plenty of time to find that special something before going home to prepare dinner. We'll all be spreading sun tan lotion on ourselves to mow the lawn after coming home from work. We can catch the sunset after we put the kids to bed.

This coming Sunday, we're going to add one whole hour to the end of our day. Let's be sure to use it wisely. Finish your taxes yet? You have one more hour. Forget something at the grocery store? No need to wait until the weekend. You have one more hour. Homework late? Here's an extra hour. Mail didn't come? Wait another hour. Hope and change? Give it about an hour.

 

Now, I thought this was crazy enough. But it turns out, it is not! For example, starting in 2007, we in the U.S. set our clocks ahead one hour on the second Sunday in March for DST. Then, on the first Sunday in November, clocks are set back one hour for local standard time. Arizona does not participate. Neither does Hawaii.

In 1966, we began DST on the last Sunday in April, and went back to Standard Time on the last Sunday in October. In 1974, DST began on January 6, and in 1975 it began on February23. Congress was going to save energy. It didn't, so we went back to jumping ahead on the last Sunday in April again. That lasted until 1987, when it changed to starting on the first Sunday in April. All this time, we didn't change when we set the clocks back an hour. That kept occurring on the last Sunday in October until, as I said, 2007, back to first Sunday in November.

I said this madness all started for the U.S. in 1918. It wasn't very popular back then, either. Daylight saving time was repealed in 1919, and became a local matter. Some people like getting up before the sun. Some people like partying with the midnight sun. But in World War 2, DST was continuously observed from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945. After that, it was a free for all.

I wonder how the Chile EQ Induced change in Earth's rotation will be dealt with this extra hour? It seems as though the Earth's rotation has increased by a teeny tiny amount. Will we eventually set the clocks ahead or back by an additional 3/millionths of a second? But oh HO! We already do that! (Sort of.)

Leap Seconds are seconds that are either added to or subtracted from the calendar year. It turns out that the rotation of the Earth isn't as stable as one might think. Tidal forces slow the Earth's rotation, making a day slightly longer than 24 hours. After a while, this could create havoc , since we really keep time according to a system of highly precise atomic clocks, including that maintained by the U.S. Naval Observatory. So, every few years, we add a second to a special day (either on June 30 or December 31).

I want to know why we don't just use DST to account for this. Why jump ahead and back by one hour? Why not one hour and 1.00003 seconds? It seems a little inefficient to make two regularly scheduled changes each year, and then slide a change in under the radar on a completely different day.

And just to show that I'm flexible, why not change by 67 minutes? According to Wiki, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is 67 minutes ahead of mean solar time year round. I'm pretty sure that means they don't adjust the clocks for DST at all. They must stay half the year in the Central Time Zone, and half the year in the Mountain Time Zone. I bet nobody looses sleep over that.

So why not adjust the clocks to Saskatoon time and stay there? It's a point of reference we can all point to on a globe of the earth.

Also according to Wikipedia, about 2/3 of the world has either stopped using, or never used DST. Lucky bastards!

I say, as long as we're going to celebrate insanity, let's go one step further. Let's go all the way with this concept. Instead of just jumping ahead 1 hour, or 1.11669 hours (do the math), let's throw a whole extra Sunday into the weekend! For most Americans, this will mean more family time, more play time, and more time to come up with crazy life infiltrating schemes to confuse the hell out of everyone.

Then, to make up for our excess in life, six months later, we'll skip ahead one day. Like, let's skip Monday. Who's going to complain about that? This would mean that one week each year, we have a four day work week starting on a Tuesday. We even start the week with no Monday morning blas. It would be a problem for Monday Night Football ™, but I think their viewership is down anyway. Maybe one less Monday night game during the season would be a break for some people. (Especially Raider fans!)

Here's the last thing I want to say about DST. Suppose time is money, and every 6 months you either give up an extra dollar, or you get an extra dollar in change that nobody will take back. Everybody would take the change and be happy. Nobody will like giving up a dollar for no good reason. So the only sane thing to do is keep setting the clock forward every 6 months. Period. In 5 or 6 years we'll be getting up in the middle of the night and sleeping all day. My daughter will love that.

Oh. One more thing, and I always do this when I blog. People in Santa Clarita, California, and surrounding areas, need to be able to call on friendly, professional painters, who clean up after themselves, work in whatever time zone that is necessary (paint at night to keep business operating during the day), who can provide color selection service, and who can make their homes look like they've always wanted it. I'm talking, of course, about Executive Painting and Texture, Santa Clarita's premiere painting company. We know where you live, and we're going to make it even better.

http://www.executivepainting.net/

Executivepainting@gmail.com

Thanks to our friends at www.HotspotSCV.com, where you can find the best deals on just about anything in SCV!

More Home Repairs You Don't Want To Do

Have you looked under the kitchen sink lately? If the shelf under there looks like what I was working on today, You might want to take some Dramamine.
I'm talking wet, moldy, deteriorating, rotten wood, that smells funny. It's not a major construction project to tear out this ugly beast and put in a shiny new shelf. But it does take a level of determination...and some pressure treated lumber! A squirt bottle of germicidal bleach will help to kill off the nasty ugly green and black mold.
You'll have to build a new frame for the shelf to sit on. That's where the pressure treated lumber comes in - you don't want just any old lumber sitting on a concrete slab, which is what you will probably find down there.
Once the frame is in, use some plywood of appropriate thickness on top of the frame as the new shelf. You may have to divide the shelf into 2 or more pieces to get it under and around the plumbing under there. Your framework should accommodate the multiple pieces by supporting them both at the seam.
Once you've got the plywood cut to proper size, and fitted under the sink on top of your frame, drive screws (or use a nail gun) through the plywood and into the frame to secure the shelf in place.
To make it all look nice, use vinyl flooring or peel and stick vinyl floor tiles on top of the plywood. The top of the plywood should be sealed with an appropriate primer and allowed to dry before sticking tiles to it. Use an appropriate adhesive if using vinyl flooring off of a large roll.

I do this kind of thing for a living - small repairs of this nature. And believe me, it is nasty dealing with seriously deteriorated Frankenstein lumber. The dimensions to cut everything can be a bit tricky, too. But with a little patience, the right tools, a modicum of dexterity working with crazy fractions...and maybe a few band aids, YOU can do this job yourself.

Happy people just call the handyman. You can find me at https://sites.google.com/site/handymanvance/

BTW Did I mention painting yet in this blog? Did I mention Santa Clarita? Did I mention my favorite painting contractor west of the Rockies? That would be Executive Painting and Texture. And you can find me there, too, at http://www.executivepainting.net/

Go USA! in Vancouver!