Grumpy's voting for Randy Baron

After careful consideration, I've decided to cast my vote for Mr. Randy Baron. I like what I've heard so far and want to give the fella a chance. His tenure as OSHNA president shows me he's a man that can get things done. I do hope Mr. Redner will run again next time, but this time out, it seems like he didn't have the spark he's had in previous races.

As for my absence, I'm afraid life has thrown me some curve balls lately, and it might be awhile before I get back in the game. Y'all take care now ya hear.

The sleeping giant stirs

It was a not-so-happy Valentine's day for folks stuck on those airliners up in the Northeast. Now I hear folks have gotten their Congressmen stirred up about it. I've been wondering when the flying public was gonna say enough is enough. We might be getting close to a real uprising. We've been pushed, prodded, crammed, lied to and taken advantage of for far too long. I've often been curious how, after 4 or more hours of sitting on the ground before taking off, a person who demands to be let off can be refused. Wouldn't that amount to kidnapping or false imprisonment? I mean, when the john's start backing up, and they have to open the doors to let fresh air in, how are they gonna then proceed another 4 hours or so to their destination? On those rare occasions I'm flying somewhere I build in a little bit of time for delays and such, but 4-10 hours on top of a long flight, I may not have enough medication, food, water, or any number of necessary items. Not to mention, I'm gonna start to smell. We need something in place to protect our rights, to protect us from this sort of abuse. I also wonder about that plane that was sitting on the ramp for 10 hours prior to leaving. You can't tell me those pilots were at the top of their game by that time. I hope this incident was the straw that broke the camel's back and we see some real change. Flying used to be something special, something where you felt like you were on top of the world, now its just a disgusting, frustrating way to go somewhere too far to drive. Maybe Amtrak will make a comeback!

Something to make you go hmm

Flipped on the TV this morning and noticed that the History Channel is playing Planet of the Apes, on Presidents' Day. Given how the editorials portray W, I wonder if they meant it as it came across. Intentional or not, I'll admit I chuckled.

Tipping followup

A link to this web video thingy came to me in response to my earlier tipping post. I love a good gangster movie so I thought I'd post it here. It ain't exactly how I feel, but sometimes movies say things in a way I never could.
Click on the link here: Reservoir Dogs

Grumpy's just send me your money and pray insurance company

There's a lot wrong with the insurance industry. I just read that State Farm is refusing to write policies in Mississippi. Florida should send a sympathy note, and a welcome to the club. I can only see that sort of thing spreading even further. Before long they'll need to change the name from So-and-So's Insurance Company to "Just write us a check for no reason at all" or "Just send me your money and pray" Insurance used to be about Risk Assessment and Risk Management. Now it seems it's becoming all about Risk Avoidance. Oh look, a big storm "might" hit there again. I know, I know it is just a matter of time, but how long that'll be is anyone's supposin'. Guess what! Life is risk. Business is risk. Insurance, well that's risk. It's a way to gamble on bad things happening. You look at the numbers and if you can write so many policies and only so many bad things happen that you have to pay out, well then you pocket the difference. I'm sure there's a real good explanation, but I've never quite understood why they don't just spread the "cost of doing business" throughout their full customer base. If the price of wheat goes up in Iowa, we all pay more for our bread, not just those in the Midwest. Starting my own insurance company just might work, just send me your checks and pray nothing ever happens. Seems to be working for those other guys.

This household chore ain't a chore no more

Santa promised something to make our lives a little easier, so we recently received one of those Roomba robots. I have to say there was some pretty stiff skepticism in the house, Mrs. Grumpy had even a little more than me. Now, we aren't afraid of new technology, but the idea of that little thing being able to do the job as good as us with our Hoover sounded a bit far-fetched. And to do it even while we weren't at home, humbug we thought. Boy, I haven't ever been so glad to be wrong. That little bugger is darn near heaven-sent. First off- it goes places we almost never went with our old fashioned vacuum. It fits right under most of the furniture, gets right up against the baseboards. On the wood floors it does a better job than any vacuum we've ever used. The best part is it does it with only a little bit of effort out of us. We just make sure it gets back on the charger, pick up a few cords and stuff off the floor, and empty the dust bin. Most of the time the little guy finds his way home on his own. I ain't often one to be gettin' so worked up about a household appliance, but something that made our lives a little easier is worth telling folks about. With this little fella running around I don't even know if I can call it a chore any more.

Hot for teacher

Over on Sticks of Fire there's a post:Teacher's Pet

Seems like a blogger has got herself at the center of a minor ruckus for showing a little bit of skin on her blog. I guess a few folks got a bit steamed at the fact that she's "half-nude" or something like that. We live in America where folks have lots of rights of free expression, and Mrs. Robinson certainly has every right to put whatever she wants on her blog. I don't think the photo does anything but establish her as a human being with a life outside of the classroom which is more than OK. But that is just my opinion.
However, I think that saying that it is completely isolated from her job as a teacher is mistaken, if not naive. What she puts up there for the world to see reflects directly on her, and her position as an educator and role model. If an educator was, for instance, posting messages of hate, I would assume that someone would certainly see that what they do outside of the classroom matters. Not only that when you work for tax dollars the taxpayers opinion does matter as well.
That being said, I would hope that if someone has a problem with anything their child sees on the news or Internet, they use it as an opportunity to guide their child. If you're going to get up in arms about something, I'd say the glorification of plastic surgery on prior entries is much more "dangerous" to a developing youth than showing a little leg. To those in the other camp, no matter how hard you try to parent, our children are exposed to lots of things outside of our control, so the answer isn't always "Be a better parent and monitor what your kid does." While there are certainly busybodies involved as well, I'd be that some of the parents in arms about this most likely do have what they feel is their child's best interest in mind. Use of colloquial insults by both sides only demeans the participants and is in poor taste.

For exceptional service

I was in a coffee shop a little while back and the tip jar had those words taped on it. That little phrase resonated with me. That and a few incidents lately got me to thinking about this whole tip thing. Why and how much do most folks tip? Where did it get started, and how did it get to where we are today? Without getting into all the rules of etiquette and the different service providers such as barbers, and deliverymen, I just want to give you Grumpy's take on waiters and waitresses and other folks that serve you food and drink. I was always brought up that tipping was to show someone how well they performed their job. That, a flat fee would never ensure high quality consistent service. Now I don't know if that second part is completely true, but I can say that with some of the traveling I've done, states where folks get at least minimum wage to wait tables, the average service is noticeably worse than here in Florida. But there were many occasions where the service was stellar by comparison. So when it was good, it was very very good. Here in Florida, the service is usually more consistently decent, but rarely is it ever great. I think that might be because folks here have to at least keep the customer happy to get a decent paycheck, where in those states where they at least get a minimum wage, the customers have less direct influence on what they make. I've also seen over the years that people have been averaging higher and higher on the standard tip, most of the diners I've noticed are closer to around 20%. I've also noticed all to much automatic tipping regardless of service. A waitress brings the food, but no refill on the drink and 20 minutes later happens by the table without even an apology for the empty glasses. My associates still throw down their 20% tip. Well now, didn't we just approve the crappy service, and reinforce that sort of nonsense. Now some folks have said, well you should have just gone up to the bar, or called on another waiter. Well, maybe I ought to just go to self service restaurants, or waitresses and waiters who force customers to do things like that should go work at McDonald's. I have a very simple metric for tipping most of the time. If a server keeps my drink glass from going empty, they will get 15-20%, if it gets empty, but only briefly, it drops to somewhere around 10%, if it goes empty for too long, you will get nothing, and either a note to the manager or a call from me. If I get above average service, my tip goes 25-30% Hell, the first time I ate at Bern's I was so impressed I left close to a 50% tip. So for any servers out there, when you spend that extra 10 minutes gossiping in the back, you might just be ruining a hell of a tip. I may be Grumpy, but honestly, I've never said a cross word, or had anything but a smile when I sit down at my table. Anyhow, lets get back to that exceptional service. I like that motto, for anyone who provides a routine readily defined service, why should I tip if all you are doing is your job? The folks at Starbucks drive through, 99% of the time I pull up, I order, I pull up, hand money, get change get coffee, and leave. No genuine smalltalk, my coffee isn't prepared any more quickly than the fellow in front of me, or the gal behind me, why the tip jar? I imagine a lot of folks automatically put some of their change in the jar after the money changes hands, but at that point, what exceptional service have you received? You haven't got your coffee yet. You could sit there another 5 minutes while the person gabs it up, or helps someone else. You can't take the tip back if you become less than satisfied with the service, stick your hand in that jar sonny and see how that works for you. It's a gimmick. And you're seeing it more and more places. It would be better if they put a charity jar there for the impulse donation than call it a tip jar. Now that I think about it, I should carry a tip jar around all day for all those little things I do. If I open the door for someone, shake the tip jar. How about if I let you in line because you have a couple items and I have a whole lot, shake the tip jar. Let you out in traffic ahead of me, shake the tip jar. I bet I could make a fortune, in this day and age, all those little things seem to be exceptional service.
Well folks, how do you tip? What makes good service stand out from just what should be a minimum standard? Are you an automatic tipper, or do you actually consider the level of service you receive and pay accordingly? Don't worry, Old Grumpy's blog is still free, I ain't got a tip jar yet.

Here be dragons

The wife of an acquaintance was recently diagnosed with cancer. The prognosis isn't so good. The daughter of a close friend of the family recently took her last breath, another victim of the dreaded "C" monsters. Every year more and more names I know are added to that roll to be called up yonder. Here now in the evening I find myself thinking more and more about how I might face those days I start strolling down that long dark hallway. I wonder, do I want to know when it's comin' or do I want the reaper to skulk upon me and snatch me while I ain't looking?
Well now if it's the latter, then who cares right. Ain't nothing left to wonder or worry. It's just done. However, if I know it's comin', if I hear something like those dreadful doctor's words "I'm afraid it's malignant," will I face it with quiet dignity or mentally thrash about in denial and rage? I reckon I just won't know until my pirogue puts into that port.
I think it will be sort of comforting if I'm given enough time on this here rock. I'm not ready to go just yet, but I think in time I will be. I've lived a hell of life so far, and there's a lot left to live. But we all gotta ship out one day. So I've just been a wondering.
I like to think that I can maintain a dignified grace. Sort of like I imagine the Man in Black must have had, when I listen to those tunes of his written there in the dusk of his days. The voyage of life, even with the swiftest of winds and the smoothest following sea, is a tiring one and as good as it might be, eventually, we're all just going to wear out. When the time comes, none too soon I hope, and I close my eyes to take that final dirt nap, I'm pretty sure I'll be ready to rest. So folks, when that dark tide starts rising, and the ferryman gets close to shore. Yes sir, I think I'll wade out to meet him with a handshake and a howdy. Until then, I guess y'all are just stuck with old Grumpy for a while.

Why Tampa?

I've been around this town quite a while. I was born here, moved away, moved back, moved away, moved back. Most of my family living here has been the primary motivator for my settling here, but I gotta wonder. Not too many folks I meet have any long-term ties to Tampa, so I am curious as to what the attraction is. Don't get me wrong, it ain't a terrible place to live, but I don't think if I was footloose and fancy free, Tampa would be that dot on the map I'd pick to call home. Is it the weather? It can't be the culture, we're still a few decades behind the curve in that area. I was taking in a show at the Performing Arts Center a while back and there was a fella in attendance in ratty jeans and a t-shirt. I just rolled my eyes and thought "Only in Tampa, but, at least he's actually going to the theatre." It's true though, Tampa has always had this air of the proletariat about it. I guess in some ways, it is endearing, homey even. However it's also left a feeling of stagnation. Folks just keep moving in, but progress is lagging way behind. I used to brag to folks about Tampa traffic, or lack thereof. Friends that lived in cities of similar size had their rush hours and gridlock, and I'd just whiz to work and home. No longer, more and more folks with more and more cars moved in and the system just didn't keep up. And, there ain't any alternatives to driving. Stormwater, same thing, more development, and the infrastructure just didn't keep up. Water usage, every year we gotta restrict how and when we use water. That means that we haven't kept up. Can we catch up? It hardly seems likely. What I wonder though, and back to the original question. Why do so many folks pick Tampa as a place to move? If it's the weather, will a big hammer of a hurricane send folks scurrying away? Any thoughts?

Some folks really might be late to their own funeral

What is it about people who are perpetually late? I know this gal, 5 minutes means 10-15. Meet you at 5, and by 6 she might just show up. Almost never is there an apology, or even an acknowledgment that she was anything but on time, as scheduled, as agreed. Where is it in the Life's Instruction Manual that says it's perfectly acceptable to waste my time. I don't really tolerate this socially, but this is a business acquaintance and I have little choice. For some of you who read regularly and might be wondering, yes this is the cellphone offender as well. What I don't really understand is how a person goes this long in life without learning basic consideration of others. Before anyone says it, yes I have mentioned it as diplomatically as I can, attempting to be humorous. Again, there's no acknowledgment that being late for almost every meeting is anything but OK. Honestly, I think when this person passes, anyone that knows her will show up to the funeral late and still be surprised when the casket is already there.