9/1/14 Welcome September

(0901 September)

970 WBLF.  I’m Wes Richards with some thoughts on September.

Yes, here we are on the first of September, but for much of August we were getting a preview.  You can hardly tell the difference. Great September weather. Early.  The kind of weather about which people say “I could do with these conditions all year.”

Some hot days, but not Arizona-hot.  Some cool days, but not Yukon-cold.

Maybe the heavens are rewarding us for good behavior.

You have been behaving well lately? (Long pause)

No.  Me neither.  So it’s probably not that.

They forget to read the calendar up there?  ()

Probably not.  Even if there is an “up there” and even if they can read.

Floods in the midwest and north of us.  Drought in the west and to the south of us?  Yet, here we are in our little valley enjoying something like six weeks of really nice conditions, punctuated by an occasional downpour… the kind that comes and goes pretty fast.

But, of course, there’s more to September than just the August weather.

The kids are either back in school or soon will be. The nominal adult college students are back in class.  Well… back on campus and the frat houses and the relatively tall apartment houses with small balconies.

So soon we’ll have stories of people falling off balconies and parking garages, which is far less important but much more sensational than the stuff of summer:  Arts festivals, the grange fair, kittens up trees and the occasional shocking robberies at convenience stores.

And with September here, can football be far behind?  We’ll be able to watch practices, moan and groan about ticket prices, speculate on rivalries and the ever fascinating “What coach Franklin had for breakfast this morning” report.

And though reasonably modest up until now, the political campaigns will move into third gear.  That’s always exciting.

So, looks like a pretty decent month ahead.  

But the big question remains: if August was September weatherwise, what will September be?

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

8/29/14 E stalkers

(0829 E Stalkers)

970 WBLF.  I’m Wes Richards with some thoughts on Email Stalkers.

It started years ago.  An email from the “Wonder City Running Club.”  A long e-mail.  Coming events.  Reports of past events.  Pictures, endless pictures.

So not being much of a runner, and having decent knee-borne arthritis, I clicked on the “unsubscribe” button.

But the next day and the day after that, and practically every day after that, there was a letter from the folks at Wonder City, which is in a far away state.

So I wrote a “personal” email to them, asking them to please leave me alone.  

They replied that they had no record of my email address and if some “friend” was forwarding it, to please contact that friend.

I don’t have a lot of friendships with runners, football people, soccer people, baseball people, gymnasts,

marathon cyclists or, for that matter, gym rats of any kind.  And there was no evidence that anyone I knew was forwarding me all this nonsense.

Each day, I would dutifully unsubscribe.  And each day I would get the same return schpiel.  Even marking their stuff as spam didn’t help.

But as luck would have it, I found the name of a real person with a real email address.  Call her Kellie Fastfeet.

I wrote her the usual plea to get taken off the list, and then added:

“...so if you continue sending me these things each day or so, I am going to reply to every one of them with the news of the day.  For example, we had a lot of rain here last night, a couple of passing thundershowers, but nothing as bad as Seattle or Baltimore or Pittsburgh.

“And if I hear from you tomorrow I’m going to tell you all my secrets of getting good stuff at bargain prices at the Wal-mart produce department.”

About half an hour later, I get a note:  I found your email address in our data base and have taken you off the list.

I’m going to miss Ms. Fastfeet and all the latest from Wonder City and its runners.  But that’s the price one has to pay for being a counter stalker.

I’m Wes Richards.  My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

8/28/14 Robin Williams Opens a Door

(0828 Robin Williams)

970 WBLF.  I’m Wes Richards with some thoughts on Robin Williams.

Well, not actually Robin Williams because that’s old news. But what happened after his death isn’t.

Let’s start this way:  We ban things that scare us.  Sometimes its official, sometimes its an unspoken agreement.

There was a time you couldn’t legally buy James Joyce’s Ulysses or Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer.  They were banned.  Too racy.  They’re pretty tame by today’s standards.

TV’s Ozzie and Harriet had separate beds.  So did Lucy and Desi.

Then there’s mental illness.  No official ban there and a lot of people -- professionals, supposedly -- who preach about it.  But most of the so-called mentally ill suffer in silence and secret as long as they don’t exhibit obvious symptoms.

Robin Williams’ death removed the ban, at least part way.  Depression.  Mania. Addiction.  The walls didn’t come tumbling down.  But Williams in maybe his final act put some holes in them.

We admit to friends and family now that we’ve been popping Zoloft or something like it. It’s okay.

It really didn’t take the tragic death of a beloved public figure to do that.  But in the short term, it helped.

Mental illness -- an unfortunate term to begin with -- is stigmatized. People are often shunned when they are discovered to have tangled chemicals in their brains.

It happens to some cancer patients, too.  We fear we will catch what they have even though cancer isn’t contagious.

Both conditions are seen as flaws, and they are.  But they’re not character flaws, they are biological. Chemical. Genetic.

No one faults you for having diabetes and treating it with insulin and better diet.  It’s a chemical problem, you treat it with chemistry.

But admit you take Prozac, a wall goes up around you.

Depression is a chemical problem. You’re not crazy.  You just have something wrong.

Putting aside so-called spiritual aspects of the human machine -- many of which likely are fairy tales -- you are an electrochemical mechanism.  So what’s wrong with fixing you in an electrochemical way?

Remove your scarlet letter.  Now.  right now.

I’m Wes Richards.  My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

8/27/14 Account Numbers

(0827 Account Numbers)

970 WBLF. I’m Wes Richards with some thoughts on account numbers.

Not that most of us still write a lot of checks. But there are a few laggards out there who don’t have facilities to accept payment on the internet.

You know by now that if you don’t put your account number on the check, you can’t be sure the people on the receiving end will give you credit for the payment.

Oh, they might, if they’re in a good mood. The account number’s on the bill stub, after all. But you can never be sure.

You can conjure up images of billing clerks gleefully throwing out checks that don’t have account numbers written on them.

Or maybe papering the walls of their cubicles with them.

But account numbers are getting so long, these days, that there isn’t room on the “memo” line of the check to fit the whole thing.

Credit cards mostly have 16 digit account numbers. Unless you have a teeny tiny handwriting, that won’t fit on the line. So the first thing you do is start the first four numbers over the word “memo” instead of next to it.

If you make the numbers big enough to read, you spill into the signature part of the check and have to make your signature teeny tiny or abbreviated.

The credit card folks have been using those lovely 16 digit account numbers for years. Not to be outdone, the utilities and telephone companies are starting to use still LONGER numbers. Twenty one digits in the electric bill, for example.

Along, of course, with the usual admonition to “write your account number on your check or money order.”

The chances of correctly copying a 21 digit number onto a check and getting it right and then having it read correctly are pretty small.

Checks aren’t the only things that don’t give you enough room to write a number that’s required.

Ever try to squeeze the model and serial numbers on a rebate coupon or a warranty card? Or find them on the item you just bought?

I'm Wes Richards, my opinions are my own, but you're welcome to them. ®

8/26/14 Corrupt Govs

0826 Corrupt Govs

970 WBLF. I’m Wes Richards with some thoughts on picking a president.

Early detection is the gold standard of treatment.  Cancer, Diabetes, many other dread diseases often can be stopped, slowed or even reversed if you catch them early enough.

Same with corruption, also a disease.  So today, we have a tale of two governors one from each major party, with early detection benefits.

Andrew Cuomo, D-NY disbanded an anti corruption commission he created when it started looking into the executive branch.

Rick Perry R-TX vetoed funding under similar circumstances.

So, one high profile governor from each party is in the hotseat with early detection and early diagnosis.  And neither appears ready to put himself in the hands of a competent medical professional.

Perry has been indicted on charges of abuse of power. This puts his future in doubt. Perry isn’t Einstein. Cuomo isn’t either but comes closer. It doesn’t matter.  Smart arrogant and stupid arrogant still are arrogant.

Aside to Mario Cuomo:  Talk to your kid.  Teach him to respect reality.

Aside to Rick:  Game over.  The details of the case against him have to do with his handling of a drunk driving charge against a local district attorney.

These are two potential candidates for president.  The problems of one do not cancel out the similar problems of the other.  What they do is further the impression that the political party system as it stands isn’t too steady on its feet.

But not just the impression, the fact.

We deserve better in a president than we’ve been getting since, say, 1968.

On the bright side, it’s better that we know what we’re dealing with now instead of after the Nixon scandal, the Ford bumbling, the Carter incompetence, the Reagan cheerleading sleepiness, the first Bush wars, the Clinton pants scandal, the other Bush wars and the spineless Obama.

But only slightly better, though maybe we know enough not to give either of these guys a chance at the top job.

I’m Wes Richards.  My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

Topics 8/14/14-8/25/14

(0814 Volleyball Girl)

970 WBLF. I’m Wes Richards with some thoughts on Kazakhstan’s Volleyball sweetheart.

When it comes to beauty queens, Kazakhstan likely isn’t the first country that comes to mind.

But Sabina Altynbekova might change your mind.  She’s 17 years old. She’s a member of her country’s national youth volleyball team which competed in an all-Asia tournament in Taipei.

And her coach says she got too much attention.

So what?  So, he says, this takes away from attention that “should” be paid to the team’s athleticism.

Pardon us, coach.  But nobody paid any attention to your tournament for ANY reason. Ever.  And before Sabina’s too-beautiful-to-play accusation, no one would have.  Or should.

The Kazakh paper “Vesti” has joined in on the side of the coach.  It says everyone’s just staring at Sabina instead of watching the game.

Too distracting?  Probably.  So what?  She sells tickets. And sports is a business.  Even high school-age sports.

Some of her teammates agree with her coach and reportedly have begun shunning her.

But not the fans.  Overflow crowds.  Newspapers. TV. People from western Europe and the US marveling over a child from a country we wouldn’t have heard of without the movie “Borat.”

So, some suggestions to get people to watch the game:

1.  Tell them to watch the game.

2. Let the TV people “tile” her out of the picture.

3. Tell everyone you’re watching the game and not the girl and then watch the girl.

The “official” and journalistic responses add up to bullying.

It’s not only the overweight, the unattractive and the people who get straight a’s in class who are subjected to being cornered and threatened or isolated or ignored.

Yes, the beautiful can be bullied.  And they hurt, too. Just like regular victims.

A year from now when Sabina is on the cover of Vogue and has a multimillion dollar contract with the Ford modeling agency and is a spokeswoman for Chanel or Versace and a color commentator for ESPN, this will all blow over.

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

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(0819 Kids/Restaurants)

970 WBLF, I’m Wes Richards with some thoughts on kids in the restaurant.

Like all other retail stores, restaurants are entertainment.  They’re not just places to eat.

Screaming babies and hyperactive toddlers are not entertainment.  Not on planes and boats and trains.  And certainly not in restaurants.

And neither are their doting parents or grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

“Oh, look! Little Jimmy is going ballistic again. Don’t you just love it?  They’re so cuuuute at this age.”

No, you don’t love it.  It gives you indigestion before you have anything to digest.

“Oh, look!  Little Jimmy is racing around the dining room, darting under tables, yelling and screaming and that’s just so darling!”

Nope.

And should some other patron complain, the parental retort is always something along the lines of “Little Jimmy is so good at expressing himself.  We wouldn’t want to stifle that, would we?”

Oh yes we would.

There’s little more maddening behavior than some spoiled brat exploding his lungs at you when you’re trying to have a private meal in a public place.

Then, there’s Chris Shake.  Shake owns a seafood joint, The Old Fisherman’s Grotto.  It’s on the wharf in Monterey, California.  And he’s up to his gills in hot water.

Grotto now bans strollers, booster seats and high chairs.

There are signs in the place telling you so.  On the restaurant’s website, he adds (in huge type) “Children crying or making loud noises are a distraction to other diners… and are not allowed in the dining room.”

Score one for peace and quiet. It’s a small restaurant and although the policy isn’t new, there’s a shipwreck-caliber storm brewing about it.  

One parent was heard to harrumph “I’ll take my business elsewhere.”  Fine. Please do.  And while you’re at it, pick another airline or tour bus, too. And tell us which ones you’ve chosen so we can avoid them.

It’s also great publicity for a small business.  You can’t buy this kind of advertising.  

The United Mommies of America will try to fry Chris Shake.  

Batter up.

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

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970 WBLF.  I’m Wes Richards with some thoughts on the experience trap.

It’s an old story.  You’re fresh out of school looking for work.  Employers want someone with experience.  You have no experience, therefore you have no job.

But you have to. But you don’t. But you can’t.  An endless loop that eventually gets you to put your B.S. in subatomic physics from Caltech on the shelf and start experience saying “welcome to megamart.”

The other side of that rock goes like this:  “You’re overqualified.”  So you put your 25 years of experience at Big Burger on the shelf and get a job pushing broom at the Caltech physics building.

You can’t un-do “overqualified” any more than you can break the first-job loop.

Looking for a solution here?  You won’t find it.  But what you will find are adventures with yet another overused and devalued piece of word currency, experience.

Your shopping experience.  Your customer service experience.  Your volunteer experience.  Your concert experience.  

What?

Yes, it’s right there on the Velveeta box.  “You could win … a concert experience.”  

They probably mean you could win tickets to a concert.  That would be nice as your printer keeps churning out those resumes.

What is a “concert experience?” Do they strap you into a concert simulator and play videos?

Then, there’s “Experience Washington dot com.” That’s a tourist site for the state, not the nation’s capital.  

Just what is a “Washington experience?”  Rain? Legal pot?  Or just another tightly grouped Starbucks and its competitors.  Couldn’t they just say “Come to Washington and thread the Space Needle” or something?

And not to pick on Washington, how about “Experience Grand Rapids?”  Put that on your bucket list.

Soon we’ll be training our cats for a litterbox experience.

McDonald’s or a competitor will get the bright idea and advertise their dining experience.

Once we tire of the word, we’ll need a substitute.  And waiting in the wings is “adventure.”

Let’s all forget about the concert experience and wait for a concert adventure.

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

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(0822 Crime Rate)

970 WBLF.  I’m Wes Richards with some thoughts on the State College Crime rate.

Figures don’t mean much on the radio.  They’re something you want to look at, compare and refer back to.  So I won’t go into the details.

But about a week ago, cops put out the word about what’s happened here between January and June and the figures are down.

Big crimes. Little crimes.  Everything in between.  Lower.  Good news for most of us.

But there’s really only one crime rate if you’re a victim.  So for you and me, the crime rate can be only one of two figures, 100 percent or zero.

Someone scrawls something on the side of your house or your car, it’s really no big thing in the scheme of big things.

But it is to you.  You feel violated.  You get angry.  You get frustrated.  And when the cops can’t turn up a suspect, you feel even more violated.

Or if they do and the offender gets off with a slap on the wrist, you feel still more violated, angry and frustrated.

You start being angry at cops and lawyers and the DA and the corrections officers and “the () System.”

And who can blame you?  

You start thinking that the “justice system” works for the other guy but not for you.

You think about revenge.

And if the crime is more serious, the feelings are more intense.

And who can blame you?

I’d like to see a geographical breakdown of the figures.  Anecdotally, the closer to the center of things you are and farther you’re away from it seem more dangerous than what’s between them.  That’s bound to change as the population grows, that’s likely to change if it’s true as it seems in the first place.

Still, your chances of being a victim here are lower than they are in a lot of places.  

But the era when you can leave your doors unlocked or a key under the potted plant on your porch are long gone

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

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