Thursday, May 31, 2007

Back in the saddle

You know, I haven't been very good to my faithful few for awhile. I love this blog, but I fall in to the age old chasm of lack of time. It is an excuse to be sure. One could say if I truly wanted to devote time to this blog, I would.

I have been traveling extensively internationally and that is going to continue through the end of June. Hopefully, come July, I will be able to devote some time to writing about some of the absolutely messed up stuff that has been going on in the world.

A guy with an almost incurable form of transmissible TB knowingly getting on an international flight. This hit very close to home, because I have been in Hartsfield Jackson airport in Atlanta more times than I care to count in the last couple of months and I have been on several trans-atlantic flights, with several more to come in the next few weeks.

The deomcratic party slowly but surely squandering its strategic advantage heading into the 2008 election.

The pathetic display of the New York Yankees on the field so far this year.

and much much more.

I have about a million things I want to write about. I hope to give you more to read soon. If not, please be patient, this blog lives.

No 1 of Consequence

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Puppet

Lately I have been feeling like a marionette. I feel like I have not been in control of my own destiny. Work this last year has been tumultuous at best and while at one point I thought this position would bring me fortune, I am beginning to think that is not the case.

In the last couple of weeks I have taken steps to regain control of my destiny as it were. I have launched an entrepreneurial venture that could prove very lucrative should my partner and I be successful. He has a history of success in these types of ventures so he seems like the ideal person to be getting into business with.

Also, I have been working on an invention, design modification that will increase the fuel efficiency of Class 8 18 wheeled tractor trailers by a significant amount. I have been told that if you can save truckers 1 cent per mile your invention has merit. If that is the truth this is potentially worth billions. I have approached an engineer with a long history of achievement to assist me because while my little mind can conceive a great many things, I have NO idea how to actually make it work. I am meeting with a patent attorney this week.

I have a number of other entrepreneurial ideas bandying about in my addled mind, but these are the two that are getting launched within the month. Of course, the patent attorney could tell me I am late to this particular party and I will have to flush the idea and the venture with my non-engineering partner could crash as quickly as it took flight, but I am cautiously optimistic.

No 1 of Consequence

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Ladies and Gentlemen, you are being played...

...and so am I.

Unfortunately, there is not a damned thing we can do about it. We like to drive our cars and therefore we need to buy gasoline. When we buy gasoline we enrich those who strive to screw us, but we need to get to work, or the beach, or wherever.

Read this please.

That article details how gas will reach record highs in relatively short order despite crude oil being about $10 a barrel cheaper than it was last time gasoline breached the $3 a gallon mark.
The reason it details is an unusually high number of refinery outages lately and an inability of the oil companies to bring gasoline to the masses.

Hmm... If I was a multinational oil conglomerate or ten and I wanted to drive record prices during peak usage time, would I manufacture a reason to reduce the gasoline supply to the marketplace? I think I would. The oil companies know we will buy the gas anyway. Because they know we will buy the gas anyway they can do whatever they want. The only way to get them to turn the tap on and keep it on is to reduce demand. Will we reduce demand? Under no circumstances. So when paying $3.75 a gallon in July for regular so you can drive 500 miles to your destination of choice, remember, we are all to blame.

No 1 of Consequence