All Hallows' Eve

As we come to Halloween, I rejoice in the end of the foul slurry of the entertainment industry, horror movies, shall slow for a few blessed months. But Friar, you say, is not slurry merely a mixture of water and particulate matter that accumulates when the unwanted material is cleaned away from the desired material? And I say it is, and you have spoken wisely. 

Collateral Damage

I've seen some posts about one of the many stories that explain why we shouldn't make fun of or annoy old people. As this is a status I shall attain sooner rather than later, I'm interested in the subject matter. But this story is basically ugly through and through.

As it goes, the elderly person is in the drive-through line at McDonald's. The person in the next vehicle behind starts laying on the horn when the older person isn't as quick through the line as she wishes (the story is almost always told with the rude youngster being female). The old person then pays for his order at the payment window and for the rude woman in the following car. The clerk tells her that the older person has paid for her order, which is said to motivate her with gratitude, which she attempts to show. And then the punchline is that the older person shows both receipts, takes both orders, and leaves the woman with nothing when she gets to the food window.  Now -- chuckle -- she'll be forced to go to the back of the line and start all over again! Kneeslap, kneeslap, what a witty response!

My gut says the story's not true, but it either event it sucks. If it is real, think about it. This is a woman who honked to get someone to move faster in the drive-thru line. Does that action suggests she would be the kind of person to accept the prank with a self-deprecating chuckle and a good natured, "Got me! Guess I'll go around again!" Of course not! She's going to berate the clerk and the manager she'll ask to see. She'll hold up the line for everyone else and not really care about people behind her. She'll wind up with her food and she'll probably bully them into giving it to her free even if only to get rid of her.

Paying for her food would have done exactly what needed to be done. Show kindness in the face of rudeness and maybe change some of her habits. Who knows why she's honking? Long day at the office? Dinner's late for the kids and this is all she can pick up? Going back into the office and this is her only chance to grab food? I don't know, and neither does the story. She's just a tool to help all of the snowtops and those of us not far away show how we're still clever! And we're sure smarter than all of those brash, rude young people who honk the horn!

So I guess there is a moral to the story. Some old folks will demonstrate their cleverness instead of the courtesy they say ran rampant back in their day. And they're sure they'll get one over on that rude whipper-snapper, no matter who else has to have a lousy day because of it. Just collateral damage , an unavoidable consequence of us getting what we want.

Why am I thinking of November 2024 all of a sudden?

Cool…if You’re Not the Owner

For the first time in the history of spacecraft, a satellite owner has gotten a fine for “failure to de-orbit.” as David Shepardson writes at the link, the Dish network had a satellite that was no longer useful. They’re supposed to put it into a certain disposal orbit by using the satellite’s onboard motors, Dish claimed that because of the limited fuel, they couldn’t reach the disposal orbit and their Echo-7 satellite is considerably lower than it should be.

In the lower orbit, the satellite could become an obstacle to satellites that still work or other space missions. So the FCC, which covers this matter because the satellites involved are communications tools, fined Dish $150,000.

When space travel has gotten to the point that we’re writing tickets, it has become a truly mature industry.

Biiiiig Show

There’s not much of Las Vegas’ usual entertainment that interests me, so I don’t know that I’ll ever visit. But I’ve been watching videos of U2’s show at The Sphere, a Vegas domed venue covered with video screens inside and out, and if I had the bucks…

Questions and Answers

Question: Would Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz be any different if he were a talentless clone of Jack Nicholson portraying a skeevy preacher who gets elected to the United States House of Representatives?

Answer: Pick a fictional Gaetz every time -- confine the damage to lousy movies.

Question: Would you shake hands with New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez?

Answer: Yes! Maybe some of the cash hidden in his suits would stick to your hand.

Question: Is there any reason in the world to vote for the nominee from either major party if they wind up being the senescent grifters currently leading the polls?

Answer: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been in touch with the Libertarian Party.

Question: Should the Writers Guild of America union have gone on strike in May of 2023?

Answer: No. Two men "wrote" Saw X during 2021. The strike should have happened before then to strangle this example of the ordure oeuvre in its fetid crib.

Question: Should Donald Trump become the Speaker of the House of Representatives?

Answer: Well, they deserve it.