New Direction, Part 2
So my last post at the beginning of the year was related to changing my life for the better. I’ve almost succeeded. I am now working for the PA Department of Corrections as a Corrections Officer Trainee. It is a year-long OJT program until I “turn-over” to a Corrections Officer 1. So far, I love the job. Every day is a challenge and I really enjoy it.
Something else that I have going on: I have become an inventor. I have invented. I will be marketing and selling soon. I have developed a pain-relieving product for toothaches and gum pain. It is called the PainPouch. It is similar to the pouches that have tobacco snuff in them, but these are tobacco free, of course! There will be tea and other flavors, as well as an unflavored variety. I have created a fund-raising campaign at the following website:
http://www.indiegogo.com/painpouch
Hopefully the campaign will reach it’s goal soon. Investors of over $100 will be able to collect a percentage of profits once the business actually starts up. Smaller donations are more than welcome and there are levels where “perks” can be given. Check out the site and hopefully you’d like to donate.
You can also “Like” us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PainPouch
Generational Gap
Borrowed from a friend via Facebook:
Young ones, listen up!
Checking out at the grocery store recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. I apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days.” The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.” She was right about one thing — our generation didn’t have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then…? After some reflection and soul-searching on “Our” day here’s what I remembered we did have…. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts — wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn’t have the green thing back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right. We didn’t have the green thing back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then? Please post this on your Facebook profile so another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smarty-pants young person can add to this..
New Year, New Direction
I’ll be starting my associates degree in Criminal Justice tomorrow with the University of Phoenix online. Hoping it will help with employment and make me better at whatever I’m doing! Hopefully my GI Bill comes through soon, as I have some plans for that extra money.
I’m also waiting to hear back from the state prison, I had a job interview last Wednesday and I think it went very well. Since it was between the holidays, I expect it to take longer to be notified.
Reciprocity Bill is Double-Edged Sword
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday (11/16/2011) approved H.R. 822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011, which allows residents of one state with a firearm permit to carry into any other state that issues firearm permits.
I take many issues with this bill, which is a double-edge sword. First, it tramples all over states’ rights, something that was very important to our founding fathers. Do I believe that a person’s right to self-defense should end at an imaginary line (state borders)? Of course not. However, if New York doesn’t want to honor Pennsylvania’s License to Carry Firearms (LTCF), then that should be their perogative. Not to say that this is right, but it’s the way that we preserve our limited federal control over our states and our lives. The citizens of the more restrictive states should work through their own state government to make changes, not have changes forced upon them from Washington.
Second, it creates a dangerous precedent. Not only is it another far stretch of the Commerce Clause, but now that the federal government says that states must honor each other’s permits, it will then believe that it can regulate the provisions of those permits. They claim that they won’t, but just wait. They will. They will claim in the name of Public Safety, that permits must only be issued to persons who meet THEIR standard, just like a driver’s license. Yes, the states issue their own driver’s licenses. BUT, each state has to comply with certain numerous federal regulations to those licenses so that everyone agrees on what they are worth. Imagine if PA issued drivers licenses to every blind quadrapeligic (for example’s sake), and FL issued drivers licences to only potential drivers aged 26-31 in perfect health? It would be a nightmare and there would be public outcry.
Next, let’s remember an incident from Philadelphia that happened in the not-too-distant past. A firearm owner was openly carrying his pistol and was belittled, harrassed, arrested at gunpoint, and charged with crimes for excercising his rights. He was recently aquitted of all charges due to the fact that the police were wrong in their procedures. In Philadelphia, a PA LTCF is required to carry a firearm, openly or concealed. While the point of this example is not to discuss open carry, it illustrates the concept that some law enforcement officers enforce their opinion, and not the law. My concern is that certain police departments will continue to do whatever they want in regards to firearms laws, because their respective cities will pay their legal fees and nothing will change. That being said, I applaud police departments that follow and enforce the laws of our Commonwealth.
In conclusion, while I feel that legally-owned firearms in the hands of law-abiding owners is a great thing, and should not be limited to your home state, I still believe that this bill is not good for Pennsylvania or America.
Not Nearly Fast Enough
Today has been a fun day for news. We learned that US Attorney General Eric Holder probably lied in front of Congress. A couple in northeastern PA locked a seven year old child in a coffin as punishment or for whatever reason. And I learned that dogs are terrible listeners. The last part i should have assumed, but I thought to talk to her anyways.
In any case, hopefully something will happen with Mr. Holder. I think I’d like to see him removed from his position and join the growing list of former government appointees.
Exodus Faceius II
I’ve found through many hours of research and discovery, that much of my life and friends are connected to me solely through FB. This may prove to be a much more difficult task than originally envisioned.
I may be forced to find a balance between outright removal and the status quo.
The concept of sharing our lives with everyone would have sounded absurd even ten years ago. But now, it seems as if we are almost left with no choice, unless we take radical steps to isolate ourselves. A new course of action may be required.
Exodus Faceius
I have come to the conclusion, as many have before, and many will after, that Facebook is evil and I have decided to part ways with The Social Network. I will be documenting this journey, as well as my consolidation of multiple online presences into a more simple and less intrusive digital existence.
Purpose: To forcibly and sensibly plan and execute my departure from the social networking site, www.facebook.com, as well as its subsidiaries, linked applications, etc.
Update: 9/26/2011
- Deleted Facebook App and FriendCaster Pro from my Android phone. No mobile updates every five minutes. Will now have to actually go on a computer to check FB. Mobile updates are still available to me via SMS FB Text (32665).
Update: 9/27/2011
- Turning off instant notifications to my phone sent by FB.
- Removed all FB Apps access (Causes, authorized websites, etc.).
- Removed my Google account from the “Linked Accounts” area.
- Deleted FB Blog “Rich’s Rants and Ramblings”
- Downloaded all photos of me, photos I’m tagged in, etc.
- Created this WordPress.com blog to turn into whatever I want it to become.
