Am I on the Barf Bag Gravy Train?

Collectibles Corner TV recently interviewed me about the Air Sickness Bag Museum (http://www.airsicknessbags.com/ for those few who may not know). If you can endure the nails-on-chalkboard sound of my voice in order to hear the nails-on-chalkboard sound of my opinions, the interview can be found here: http://www.collectiblescornertv.com/35-air-sickness-bags-an-old-bottle-and-turtle-junkables-nao-porcelain-and-the-forum/. In the remote event that you aren’t interested in minute details about say, Iron Mechanical Turtle Banks, you can start the video at about 4 minutes in. Then, after watching the clip, you under 30s should Google the term “Chalkboard”.


Now if the rich, juicy goodness of that interview has whet your appetite for a figurative sickbag dessert, check out: http://www.killerstartups.com/Site-Reviews/airsicknessbags-com-air-sickness-bag-museum-online. Aside to lawyers: Is it worth trademarking the improbable phrase “Barf Bag Gravy Train”?



Fitpacking is in the news! Here’s one of the best articles ever written about it. Sure, it’s all lies, but that’s what keeps it from being boring: http://www.walkaboutmag.com/34footpaths.html . For those who prefer a visual representation of a Fitpacking trip, some pictures of last week’s Fall Foliage Trip can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/Stevebo?v=feed&story_fbid=171596010927#/album.php?aid=112005&id=17187844623 .



And I’ve been fortunate enough to garner even more media coverage that has absolutely no chance of helping me pay off any of my bills. The Modesto Bee published an article illustrating how not to interview for a job. You can experience the wacky hilarity here: http://www.modbee.com/columnists/workwise/story/862754.html



Just a thought. Instead of shouting “You lie!”, Senator Joe Wilson could have made his point far more eloquently by just throwing his shoes.



Finally, it’s time for some social commentary that I spent a lot of time thinking about but will ultimately affect no one in any tangible way.



The Wonderland Dog Racing track near Boston closed permanently last week. It’s good news for the dogs, but like anything else these days, for some it’s an opportunity to spout the rage that they love almost as much as life itself.



Now I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s so amazing about dog and horse racing. Some people claim they love the beauty and grace of majestic animals racing. And that may be true, but nobody ever assembles dogs or horses together just for the sheer joy of watching them run. There’s always some kind of wagering involved.



Much like the stock market, the NCAA tournament, and dog fighting, if no monetary payoff was involved nobody would care about these things in the least. If people get some auto-erotic thrill by guessing outcomes over which they have no control, good for them. But why involve animals?



Every year, scores of elite Track & Field gazelles graduate from college and are forced to take idiotic dead-end jobs just to make ends meet. Why not put an end to dog and horse racing permanently and bet on racing athletes instead?



It’s far more entertaining. Pro wrestling fakes the competition yet it thrives because of their athletes’ personalities and back stories. The same could be true of human racing. It would save all the jobs that dog and horse racing fans use as a red-herring to rationalize their cruelty, but it would also create new jobs for the athletes and be more humane to the animals to boot.



And while some might claim that betting on humans would cause corruption, then someone please explain why jockeys somehow can’t be corrupted. Just make sure to say it angrily and forcefully.



If you have something worth saying to the elite and powerful audience of superhumans who read this newsletter, send it on and I guarantee I’ll find some way to trivialize your point for a cheap laugh.



Remember the blog can be found here: http://stevesmildlyinformativestuff.blogspot.com/

Please Stop Delivering My Mail Already

I am not a government efficiency wiener. In fact I’m about the only person you’ll ever meet who thinks taxes are too low (yes, really, but I’ll address that another time).

For now, I think it’s high time the Post Office stopped delivering US Mail so frequently. They should only deliver it a maximum of 3 times per week, say Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Now this might reflexively offend your sensibilities. After all, no living American has ever been without their daily snail mail fix. But if you take a moment to let the feeling pass, you might see some merit in the idea.

The bulk of the mail you now receive is well, bulk mail. These days, few if any important documents arrive in the mail at all. If it’s important or time-sensitive, you receive it electronically or if a physical item is required, via Fedex.

Oh sure, we all reminisce about how great it was to get that perfumed letter from a distant love (all 3 times) or how exotic it was to have a pen pal in 1974. But even then, time was not of the essence, just as now you don’t wait by the mailbox in desperate anticipation of your Val-Pak.

Now you may bristle at the notion that your paycheck will be delayed an extra day, but I’ve got news for you. If you receive your paycheck in the mail, you’re already receiving it at least a day later than you ought to. And isn’t it time you started paying (and receiving) your bills online?

I have no idea how substantial the cost savings of 50% less frequent mail delivery would be or what else we could fund with the vast sums of money saved, but one thing is for certain. I am not going to do any of the research necessary to find out.

In other news, Gayton Gomez has finished her first novel. I can’t tell you anything about it but she did admit there were space aliens in it (tangentially anyway) so you know it has to be good. If wry wit and tortured sensibilities borne of a lifetime full of pain appeal to you, you should read this book. Next newsletter, I’ll find out what the title is.

For those of you who really don’t have a feel for what Fitpacking destinations are like and actually care (an intersection of about 2 people) check out this slideshow produced by megastud Roger Jones taken on the North Cascades National Park Trip this August. Unlike the other lame links contained in this newsletter, this one is really worth clicking: http://secure.smilebox.com/ecom/openTheBox?sendevent=4d5445774d4467314f4456384d6a45344e5467304d44553d0d0a&sb=1

Speaking of Fitpacking, it recently merited a mention in the InsureMonkey Blog: http://www.insuremonkey.com/community/2009/08/04/planning-a-vacation-consider-a-fit-trip/. Sure, InsureMonkey may sound minor, but I’m hoping it’s the stepping stone to similar, but even greater media leviathans such as the WarrantyLemur Blog or the UnderwritingDungBeetle Blog.

I was recently featured in a PBS article about health insurance. They only asked me factual stuff and not my opinion. That’s too bad because I would have come out strongly in favor of the death panels that the wacky far right came up with to scare people. But if you want to read the article: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/health/july-dec09/exchange_07-23.html


If you’re a big fan of SMU football, well I guess you’re either an 18 year old frat boy or you’re an adult who really should be spending more time with your family that you’re so desperately trying to avoid. However if you insist on following the team, booming baritone Chris Martin will be doing play-by-play on TWC Metro Sports (whatever that might be) on the following dates: 10/10, 10/17 (all at 7pm), 11/7, 11/14, and 11/28 (2pm).


And finally, I would not be fulfilling my personal mission of harassing you with barf bags if I didn’t send you a link to some recent media coverage, this time from South Africa: http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=341324. My next goal is to obtain media coverage in Lesotho.

Remember that this newsletter is posted to the Steve’s Mildly Informative Stuff Blog: http://stevesmildlyinformativestuff.blogspot.com/.