Fees are crap

As many of you know one the main ways that gov't and businesses are trying to recoup money they have lost during this economic mess is by raising fees. The thing that gets me is most people seem not to care about this. They have raised fees for registering your car, getting your drivers license, park entrance fees, tolls and so on. Utilities are raising rates and we all know about bank fees. The problem with them raising fees at this current time is that the fees will NOT decrease when things become stable again. If they raised these fees for now and lowered them when things turned around that would be fine with me. In my job I deal with gov't bids and contracts most everyday and I see so much waste, overspending and money being spent on complete bullshit it is amazing. They really need people too come in and take a hard look at what is being purchased. The amount of money that could be saved, trimmed from the budget or spent where the need really is would be staggering.

The bank overdraft thing has always pissed me off. If somebody is paying with a debit or credit card the bank should NEVER allow that to go through if there is not enough to cover the purchase.. They like to sell overdraft protection as a customer service. Fuck that, it is a customer ripoff. Plain and simple. They make billions of this one fee alone. If you pay by check and write a bad check the bank should cover that for no charge as a customer service. The banks have plenty off cash, in most cases, to do this at no charge. If someone writes bad checks on a regular basis then get the law involved. If they want to have a fee for the service then I suggest the fee for covering these checks is the amount of the overdrawn portion of the check. No other fees and compounding the thing. Banks to not care about the average person. Our money means NOTHING to them. Banks did just change some rules about overdrafts. If you really look at what they did I say it is a masterful job of window dressing.

Time to start speaking up people.

Picture from up the street.

Going Rogue

So I read tonight that Sarah Palin's book is going to be called "Going Rogue:An American Life".
You really must kidding us. You are many things, being rogue is not one of them. Maybe it should be titled "Thank God I Did Not Win: An American Victory". I'll give you credit though. You are making your 15 minutes of fame last a long time and putting a bunch of money in your pockets during your short time of fame.

Look at the picture above here Sarah. Those are people who are more of the rogue nature than you are. Of course they do not fit into your little view of what America is. Frankly your version of America should scare the hell out of us.

Photo taken in Ybor City.

Damm, its Monday

Well I did not win lotto so its another week of work. Yippee.

Had a good weekend. Went to the folkfest in St. Pete Saturaday. Bought a couple things from the booth that showcases art from kids aged 9 -17. Very low priced. I think it is a good thing to buy their art. I am sure they feel good when they sell their work. Saw a couple good bands. It was hotter than heck.

Yesterday watched the Bucs get crushed by the Giants. The Bucs are horrible this year.

Have to go now. We are having a meeting at work to discuss ways to improve how we do things.

Well they need to hire one more person to improve things. however that will not happen.

Picture from Asheville, NC.

I just had a nice nap

I just woke up from a nice nap outside on my hammock. The light at the end end of the tunnel may be getting brighter in terms of nice weather. With a little lower humidity and temps this morning I decided I wanted to take a little nap. I threw the Bad Livers cd Delusions of Banjer on the cd player cranked it up a tad went outside and crawled into the hammock for a nice nap.
Pushed the hammock so it got a nice swing going, closed my eyes and let my mind wander between that world of wakefulness and sleep. Had a nice 40 minute slice of relaxation. Now I am fully rested and ready for the day. Heading off to St. Pete today to ww.folkfeststpete.org to see some artwork and music. Hopefully will pick up some art, bought a nice little piece of pottery last year by an elementary school kid, and see some good bands. Of course the camera will be going.
Should be good photo day.

The picture above is from Cedar Key, Florida.

J.J. Grey and Mofro

I saw these guys again last night and they do keep getting better and better. So much soul in this band. They are on the verge of breaking out. Touring relentlessly has paid off for them. They really have become a much better band and they were already damm good. It is great to see a band with talent break out from all the crap the record companies heap on the public these days.

Bahia Honda---Three Visions

One shot, three view points. The top shot is the original. The second is cropped and darkened. The third is a black and white version of the second photo. This was all done with Picasa, Googles free photo editing software.

Which do you like the best?

Bahia Honda State Park. Florida Keys.

Goodbye Allan "Web" Lewis

On Friday night Allan "Web" Lewis passed away. He leaves behind his wife Donna and daughter Kim. Web was 68 years old. Donna and Web we married for 47 years.

My father and Web had been best friends since they were in elementary school. Through the years our family's did many many things together. We went camping quite often when Kim, my brother and I were kids. We spent holidays and many other days together through the years. My Mom and Donna became best friends. They are an extension of family.

Web and my Dad had passion for cars from an early age. They built race cars as kids in the fifties. They raced dragsters together until they got married. In later years Web and my brother built a stock car for racing a the local track. When Web was 60 years old he was the one driving that stock car. Although he had never driven a stock car in a race they did quite well when Web drove. Over the 10 or 12 years Web had bought some old vehicles and restored them and went to car shows during the summer.

Web had been mostly retired for several years now. He was working a little here and there doing small home repair jobs. He was a good electrician and did a lot a electrical work in my parents home as they renovated the house through the years.

One thing that I always associate with Web is country music. When I was a kid I hated country music and when ever we went to visit there was always country music on. Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and so on. I drove me crazy as I was totally into Led Zeppelin and such at the time. For some reason that is etched into my mind.

Goodbye Web. You will be greatly missed by many people.

Roger Waters Live--Perfect Sense parts 1 + 2

This song actually gives chills. Such a great song and an outstanding live version.

We iz dumb

One of the things about this country that really amazes me is how poor the education system gets each and every year. I believe that our leaders really do not give a crap about our education system. If they truly cared then they would never ever make the education budgets the first thing they cut in a budget crunch. That should be the last thing that ever gets cut. They really would prefer an uneducated citizenry. An uneducated people as much easier to control and manipulate. The smarter we are as a nation means that we are able to challenge them in the decisions they make as our leaders.

If we do not fix our education system we will continue to see the United States decline in power around the world. This will cause us the rely on our military to keep us is a position of power and that is not a good thing.

If we are not dumb then why are all these assholes at these tea party's? Why do people think President Obama is not a citizen? People actually think Sarah Palin could be President? Why don't most people vote? Why do we care more about carrying guns than healthcare for our fellow citizens?

Wake the fuck up America. If we do not fix our education system we get what we deserve.

We will be a nation of ignorant dumbfucks. We are close already. All you need to do is open your eyes and look around.

The picture above was taken in the Florida Keys. I say read Zane Grey. His books are worth reading. Yea I say pick up a book and read, if you are able.

Observations

President Carter hit the nail on the head in his comments about President Obama. I also think much of the events you see going on today that are in opposition to Obama are racism. Pure and simple. Thank you President Carter for calling it like it is. You will take some heat for this but you speak the truth on this subject.

It is about time that somebody has said this. If McCain had won there is no way these people would be protesting. No matter what one thinks there is some very deeply rooted racism in this country. The majority of this is black vs. white and this is a long way from being repaired.

I fear for the President because I think the hatred for him by the right is going to deepen.

If something happens to him the country will explode into one ugly mess.

You all know this is the truth.

The term "person of interest" is fucking stupid. They are a suspect so friggin call them that.

Kanye West is a jackass.

Whatever

I bet these people are not Obama fans either. This was near Cold Mountain. The American version of the Taliban. These are not the kind of people we want running America. Have a beer and lighten up.

My sinuses are so damm congested and it sucks that nothing I do right now is helping. Although the otc nasal spray works best if I end up using the spray I become addicted to it. So unless I really can not breath through my nose at all I do not use the stuff anymore. Claratin D and such works, barely. I want this nasal congestion to go away.

Monday Monday

Well so begins another week. Going to have some blood drawn today so I can a better idea where my cholesterol is headed. Then a typical week of crap at work. Is it Friday yet. Thankfully I have 9 days of vacation time left. I am thinking of taking the third week of October off and who knows for the other 4 days.

Started going through the house and throwing out all the extra junk one collects in drawers and such. Thinking of moving. Might as well start cleaning crap out now.

This little boy was fascinated by this puppet and the puppet master was great at making the puppet seem so real. It was pretty neat watching the innocence of the kid. Where do those days go?

Yellow Fever

All along the Blue Ridge Parkway there tons of flowers. The abundance of yellow alongside the road was very cool. I like seeing yellow against all the greenery. I creates a nice contrast that is visually pleasing. I should find some flowers to plant for the winter season here. The front of the house needs some color. I some plants out front right now. I need a whole bunch more. Just need for the heat to cool its heels a little and then I can plant.

Free Your Mind

So as many of you know there a few people I work with who view the world much differently than I do. We always give each other a bunch of grief about our views. Well I found out yesterday that one of my co-workers and her husband are going to Lakeland tomorrow for one of those damm tea party's. Guess what, I am going to with my camera and take a bunch of pictures. These things are full of crazys and their crazy signs. a perfect picture taking opportunity. Hope they don't want to beat me up. I think I will wear my tye dye shirt.

I'll have to take a Xanax before I go so that I will keep my mouth shut.

Peace to the right wing fear mongers.

Picture from the LAAFF festival in Asheville.

Asheville

So I just spent five days in Asheville and I have too say it was great. It is a beautiful area and it is easy too see why it is considered one of the best places to live in the U.S. The people were very friendly, great music, great food and very progressive compared to Tampa. There is a big local food scene, with many tailgate markets with food from local farmers. Many places have these but in Asheville it seems to be part of the fabric of the city. Most of the foods are organic which is another big thing in the city.

Got to travel the Blue Ridge and go to Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi, Mount Pisgah and see Cold Mountain from a distance. See many great bands at the LAAFF festival. The festival had three stages for live music, great food, a local beer and of course many people all decked out in there finest. The picture above is from the festival.

This is a city that I would like to live in. Big enough to have all the things I would want from where I live. A great music scene, arts, shopping, happy people and other amenities that cities offer yet you do not have to go far and you are in the country. Of course the mountains and weather are great.

That's a super quick rundown. When will I go back?

One last thing is they have a great radio station that you can listen to online, it is www,wncw.org.
You will hear great music that you do not ever hear on most radio stations EVER. Listen to them once in a while. You will enjoy.

Asheville

Off to Asheville for a few days of rest. relaxation, beer, cool weather, fun and no everyday bullshit we all have to deal with.

Brer Rabbit

Georgia is a treasure trove of places to shoot for me. One place that I find pretty cool is Eatonton. Georgia. This was taken outside the Brer Rabbit Museum in Eatonton. Of course the few times I have stopped by the museum it has been closed. I do like this statue quite a bit.

I hope to get to Georgia in late October for some photography trips. Many old homes and small towns not all that much changed for their days of glory.

Southeast Museum of Photography

A few weeks ago when my brother and his family where in Daytona for vacation I went over and stayed at the beach with them for a couple days. Of course we spent time at the beach and doing some tourist things. On Saturday I took a break from them and went out to Daytona State College and checked out this museum. There were a number of excellent works being shown. Most of the works were from the students at the school. They have an excellent photography program. They have two and four years programs. If you want to go to school for photography I urge you to check this out. The price will be right and you will find many great subjects in Daytona.