The ever changing world...improvement or no?

Interesting.  As I began this post I noticed that at 9:18 PDT, we have had over 240 visitors to our little corner of the bloggosphere, but no comments.

So, I am on day two of my new job.  I have been home all of 3 nights since early February.  I hope Poots enjoyed the little gust from mother nature yesterday, It doesn't look like it is going to be a nice day up here in lovely Winslow.  But hey, the company is providing a brand new house for me and one other guy to use when we are here and I am Earning Money Sleeping. 

Now for the good part.....if you can call this good.....

I was in Denver a couple of weeks ago, staying at the perpetually under construction Red Lion Inn in Aurora.  I was given a luxurious 8th floor room overlooking the intersection of South Parker and 225.  It actually isn't bad, except that the heater was broken and only had two settings, off and sauna. The buffalo rib-eye wasn't bad, but still didn't compare to a good 16 oz at Outback.  But I digress....One of the nice things about the hotel is that there is a $250 per day charge for smoking in the rooms.  Being a chronic non-smoker, I appreciate that. 

After a semi-strenuous week of training (strenuous by way of not allowing sharp pointed objects in your hands after noon because you might stab yourself in the eye), my cohort had Saturday afternoon and Sunday off.  We rented a car and took a nice trip up to Vail and people watched the souls with more dollars than sense.  Sunday night met us with the anticipation of more of the same for the following 4 days.  At about 10 at night I was browsing Netflix for anything else that might have Gemma Arterton in it.  I thought she did a credible job in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, so thought I would see what else she had out.

Suddenly, my ears were assaulted by this horrendous noise, and I saw the alarm strobe above my door start to flash.  I thought to myself...great, some idiot construction dude tripped an alarm.  Then I thought, "well, I am on the 8th floor, maybe I should head out."  So I grabbed by tablet & hard drive, put my pants & shoes back on, grabbed a jacket, and headed for the stairwell and down to the 12 degree weather outside.

We passed the 7th and 6th floors.  At the 5th we could smell wiffs of some kind of burning material, but as yet unidentifiable.  On the 4th it started to take on a sickly sweet stentch, then somebody on the 3rd floor opened the door.  Immediately the burning material was identified as a green cloud of smoke rolled into the stair well.  At which point, we all held our breath because we knew that we would be "randomly" tested sometime in the following 4 days.  Since I am now in the transportation industry, that would be a bad thing.  Can you imagine how much dope someone has to smoke in order to set off a fire alarm?  Open forum:  Does anyone know the answer to that?

Thoughts...The war on drugs:  Like every other war that our government has waged since 1947; it is a war to be waged, but not to be won.  There is no money in winning. 

Should our government be involved in regulating drugs?  I don't have the answer for that.  I have an opinion. Prohibition did not work at the beginning of the 20th century, all it did was increase crime.  Does government regulation and restrictions on "entertainment" drugs have a place?  Is it useful?  Is it cost effective?  I am beyond beginning to wonder about some of those answers.

Conversely, there is a requirement to protect the public.  How far should the government go to protect a person from themselves?  A meth-head is going to get his fix.  He knows what it is going to do to him eventually, but he still has to get it.  The same goes for pretty much every other mind altering substance.  But the same can be said for pretty much anything that is abused, all the way down to the 128 oz Big Gulp at 7-11. 

In the interest of debate, what are our collective thoughts on this?  Me, the hardest substance I consume is the occasional Coke....Pepsi in a pinch, but I think it is too sweet. Drink of choice, A&W or Squirt.  Tobacco?  Really good for keeping the aphids out of my fruit trees.  Alcohol makes a good antiseptic.  But that is my choice.  It doesn't affect any other person that I choose not to imbibe.  For the most part, other peoples' use of these products do not affect me.  Until they do.

I do not like the smell of burning plants.  I like the smell of burning flesh even less.  But when you get in a crowded elevator after getting your "fix", maybe you should take the stairs instead.  It is true that you can't smell the stench, but now everyone else has to share it with you.  When you are getting your fix off of whacky tabaccy, it is just as bad.    I remember my days back in Uncle Sam's club for boys (male & female).  I hated Monday morning runs.  The smell from guys who had spent most of that months paycheck on liquid nourishment, made it really hard to find the remaining oxygen in the air.

Bottom line.  I am all for people having a choice in how they want to treat (abuse) their bodies.  But how about a little consideration for those of that don't want to, at least not in that way.  Freedom is a good thing, but freedom not to is a good thing too.

'shrooms and Ol' Spot

A group of friends from a local church wanted to get together on a regular basis, socialize, and play games.

The lady of the house was to prepare the meal. When it came time for Al and Jane to be the hosts, she wanted to outdo all the others.  Jane decided to have mushroom-smothered steaks. But, mushrooms are expensive.

She then told her husband, "I'm changing my menu, no mushrooms. They are too high."

He said, "Why don't you go down in the pasture and pick some of those mushrooms? There are plenty in the creek bed."

She said, "No, some wild mushrooms are poison."

He said, "Well, I see varmints eating them and they're OK."

So Jane decided to give it a try. She picked a bunch, washed, sliced, and diced them for her smothered steak.

Then she went out on the back porch and gave Al's dog Ol' Spot a
double handful cooked in some butter. Ol' Spot ate every bite!

All morning long, Jane watched Ol' Spot and the wild mushrooms didn't seem to affect him, so she decided to use them. The meal was a great success, and Jane had even hired a helper lady from town to help her serve. She had on a white apron and a fancy little cap on her head.

After everyone had finished, they relaxed, socialized, and played 42 & Mexican Dominoes.

About then, the helper lady from town, came in and whispered in Jane's ear.

She said, "Mrs. Williams, Ol' Spot is dead!" 

Jane went into hysterics.  After she finally calmed down, Al called the doctor and told him about the mushrooms and the dead dog.

The doctor said, "That's bad, but I think we can take care of it.
I will call for an ambulance and I will be there as quick as possible.
We'll give everyone enemas and we will pump out everyone's stomach. Everything will be fine. Just keep them calm."

Soon they could hear the siren as the ambulance was coming down the road. The EMTs & the doctor had their suitcases, syringes, and a stomach pump.

One by one, they took each person into the bathroom, gave them an
enema and pumped out their stomach. After the last one was finished, the doctor came out and said, "I think everything will be fine now, and he left."

They were all looking pretty weak sitting around the living room and about this time, the helper lady came in and said,

"You know, it was right mean of that fellow that ran over Ol' Spot, he never even slowed down n'er stopped!"
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Schteveo