Joe Cocker and John Belushi: Feeling Alright

Need I say anything? A classic, indeed!

Labor Day Highway Deaths

As we begin the Labor Day Weekend, let us remember that nearly 500 people will die on our roadways. The statistics are alarming, and since we are driving smaller cars in an attempt to save gasoline the trends may move upwards. Be safe, don’t drink and drive and stay rested.

Other Tips for safety:

Check your tire pressure

Ensure your oil is at full capacity

Clean your windshield

Don’t be in a rush

Pass with care

Don’t be a tragic statistic this weekend, Gadabout values his readership!

Sincerely,
Gadabout J Jack

Red Cross Blood Donation Scam

Gadabout believes that blood is a commodity—for the most part. In general, the American medical establishment depends on a plentiful supply of “clean” blood for the survival of many. To fill this need, the public is called upon by the Red Cross for donations from the citizenry under the guise of “citizenship.” The Red Cross, under the leadership of highly paid professionals; advertises, pleas, shames, and operates mobile units to collect blood. But somewhere along the line the cost to recipients skyrockets.

Gadabout does not know how much a hospital charges for a unit of blood, but I bet it is at least $250 (I am willing to take a comment here from an administrative professional). My premise is that if donors where paid for their blood, then there would never be a shortage of blood under NORMAL (commercial) conditions. Gadabout is O negative. If I were to donate a unit of blood once a month for my entire life and if tragedy were to hit me tomorrow, I’d still be paying full price for what I consumed. Think of this—if we were paid for blood, then those, like myself who are Aids and Hep-B free, would be willing to give and give if there was some kind of reciprocity program in place.

So long as overpaid chairman of the Red Cross, overpaid HMO executives, and overpaid hospital administrators lead the medical community, then we are not operating under an umbrella of volunteerism. Thousands of individuals are making serious cash from free blood donations. If blood was treated like a true commodity, the cost per unit might actually decline for the end user. Donation trucks? Gone. Advertising? Gone. Supplies? Stabilized. Fear mongering? Yesterday's news.

Okay, Gadabout, how about disasters, war, and unforecasted events? Well, yes, we donate. Yes, Gadabout has given blood in the past since we do operate under a flawed system, and O neg is a hot commodity. Once, while pulling out of port aboard the USS Blueridge, a mooring line mishap seriously injured 3 sailors. The call was made for O neg and I ran down to medical only to find I was about 10th in line. I was turned away, but would have given that sailor all I could possibly give before expiring myself. And I would do it at a moments notice for other fellow Americans, so long as the recipient wasn’t going to be charged for my blood to fill the pockets of fat cats.

The “establishment” has not exposed the difference between commercial and disaster related blood demands, and because so we find ourselves supporting a skewed market environment. A market that is ripe for money making at the expense of distorting the facts and engendering fear. Shame on you, Red Cross!

50 cal. Range Safety

Listen closely as the round returns home.

A Special Note to Gadabout Fans

Gadabout has been messing around with the the Blog layout--deleting page elements and changing templates since all is breaking down with Google Blogspot. We'll get it back in order soon. Software people can do great things, but most outputs seem to suck. Google needs to suck less.

VRGJ

The Importance of Infrastructure

The Lights Went Out!

Electricity
Temporarily shut down
Americans bitch

Gadabout would like to remind everyone that our country enjoys a widespread, advanced and intricate network of infrastructure. Infrastructure of highways, bridges, water and sewage plants, electrical grids, natural gas pipelines, gasoline stations, universities, governmental structures, National and State Parks, telephone, and a host of other wonders that the rest of the planet envies. Americans have already paid for a majority of these cornerstones of our society, and others are still on the books listed as debt in the form of federal, state and municipal bonds.

Our infrastructure is the fabric that binds us as a nation. It allows us to travel, flourish and survive. We are fortunate in this way. The Twin City bridge disaster showed us how delicate our fabric is and that we must be vigilant in maintaining our infrastructure, because if we fail to do so chaos follows.

Let us remain keenly aware of the newest little democracy of Iraq, with all of the unrest it faces that threatens its water, sewage, electrical supplies and so forth. Take note of how inconvenient life is in America when we lose power for a day or two, or when highway lanes are closed for repair. It will take time in Iraq. Let us not be hasty with unreasonable timetables for success. A lasting friendship with a new Iraq may very well be worth the wait. Human life is at stake in Iraq. Ordinary everyday people are affected there. We are a nation of kindness, but we like to bitch a lot too.

Caddyshack Clip - The Country of the United Nations

A classic!

Interactive Movie Quotes

One of Gadabout’s readers recommended recently that we play around with movie quotes, so let’s give it a try. I will make the first play by using the following:

"I can no hit curve ball. Straight ball I hit it very much. Curve ball, bats are afraid."

Now, the first person to identify the correct movie should post a comment with the correct movie title and then include another movie quote. Get the idea? It should move along like a chain. If somebody screws it up, we’ll make fun of that person—okay?

Update from Gadabout:

After rereading the request from "Stork," we should be using famous alcohol related movie quotes. My bust.

Sensible Green

Since Gadabout continues his quest for seeking ways to become greener, he has labeled his expedition of truth “Sensible Green.” Sensible Green does not rely upon Al Gore nonsense measures like carbon credits or scare tactics, it is based on sensibilities. Sensibilities that the entire family can appreciate, understand and enjoy. Together, we will create an open book of our lifestyles and consumption patterns. This open book approach will have an outcome of reflection, comparison and trends.

The Book will be kept by families and will contain spreadsheets, tables and graphs of household consumption patterns. Monthly gasoline purchases for autos, boats, RVs, lawn mowers; water consumption; electricity, natural gas and heating oil usage will be tabulated and updated. The right software would make this an easy task, and the data outputs would allow all members of the household to reflect on consumption rates and provide a catalyst for conservation.

It appears that young adults and children have already been brainwashed in school that Americans are evil consumers, so they will most likely embrace the idea and play along. It is my belief that Americans want to conserve, but they cannot find a starting point or baseline. Americans are visual animals, and a monthly glance at pie charts, graphs and other forms of descriptive data should formulate and build a foundation for comparison and action.

I think it is reasonable to suggest that many Americans already chart automobile MPG rates for their cars, but I doubt that many, if any, chart their entire household energy/consumption footprint. I can hear it now, “mom, we need to turn down the heat because we are on track to exceed last year’s natural gas numbers.” That would be cool!

Are there any Excel Geeks out there willing to set this package up? If so, email your proposal to Gadabout Jack for trial and I’ll select a winner. The winning software package will retain all rights to their creation, but will provide it to Gadabout and his readers for free upon request. If this idea turns into a money making website, Gadabout wants part of the action! Any takers?

Gadabout surprises himself at times regarding the workings of his brain that functions under the restraints of a very average IQ.

Van Morrison - 'Days Like This'

Some days are better than others, but Van always seems to be there when he is needed. Van Morrison is one of the greatest. Thanks, Van.