Posted 10:44 AM by Robert Ronald Smith

Not all businesses are created equal

More than a year ago, I complained about an Eye Clinic in which I was scheduled to receive glaucoma tests. I was on time (actually early) for my appointment, waited in the reception area for half an hour after the scheduled appointment time, then waited for another 15 minutes in the examination room... still no doctor or nurse. I left, after explaining, at the front desk, why I was leaving. I was infuriated. I wondered how many other people (most older than me) had sat and suffered through similar incompetence or deliberate overbooking.

I know of no other businesses (yes, clinics are definitely businesses) who treat their customers with such rudeness. As I made clear when I departed, I would find a clinic who was able to schedule properly and keep to that schedule. Later, I received a call, an apology (with excuse), and an offer of "first appointment" the next morning. I declined, determined that they would not simply inconveninece others by now catering to me.

Yesterday, I had an appointment at another clinic about a mile from the offending one. First, I got an appoinment only 3 days from the date of my original phone call. I arrived 10 minutes early, waited for less than that 10 minutes, and was immmediately taken to an exam room, where a delightful nurse gave me a series of tests. Within a few minutes of the nurse leaving, the doctor was attending to me. If they hadn't had to wait for my eyes to dilate, it might have been even quicker.

In short, I was tested and out of this clinic in less time than I wasted waiting in the other one, which proves that it CAN be done. I'm fully aware that "shit happens", and that plans can be thwarted, but clinics know all that too, and can plan around it... many simply do not. They overbook patients so they always have a line waiting, to maximize their income at the expense of patients (customers).

Again, I encourage others to not put up with such nonsense. As long as they can get away with it, they will. If more of us just walk out and look for a CHOICE, we can end this annoyance.

Posted 8:33 AM by Robert Ronald Smith

Will the real George W. please stand up?

Today is Presidents Day. It was once Washington's birthday, but got pared down into a sort of combo Washington/Lincoln day that supposedly now covers all presidents. Actually, nobody is quite sure when George's birthday actually was... maybe Feb 12th, maybe later? In any case, for those into astrology, George was certainly an Aquarius. We Aquarians tend to see the "big picture", and drive to make the world a better place without getting sucked in by power or influence. But, we can also be loners (sometimes for good reason). Here's the brief outline provided by one astrology site:

Friendly and humanitarian
Honest and loyal
Original and inventive
Independent and intellectual

but also...

Intractable and contrary
Perverse and unpredictable
Unemotional and detached

The greatest decision George W. made was declining to become King of America. Those in power were so impressed by George that they offered to make him King... of a Republic which shouldn't have even had a king. Thank goodness, the original George W. knew better. Would that the current George W. also understood that, in a Republic, the people are supposed to rule... which certainly demands that no single person command too much power. Power corrupts, a fact that has become glaringly obvious since george w was elected.

Posted 10:05 PM by Robert Ronald Smith

She's givin' me good vibrations

Driving home from a Sue Jeffers for Governor campaign meeting tonight and singing along with the Beach Boys' Good Vibrations, I decided that would be a great campaign theme song. Sue does give good vibrations, because she speaks the truth, and the truth rings as clearly as a tempered bell. If you're a libertarian reader, you take that for granted, since libertarians don't deceive or even talk around issues, but if you're used to listening to politicians of the old-party bent, Sue will surprise you. Ask her a question and you'll get an answer you can understand. You'll know whether she agrees or disagrees with your view, because she won't try to snow you with gobbledegook and double-talk.

That's a unique thing about libertarian candidates... they won't tell you what you want to hear just to get your support. I like to tell a story about Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. I did computer work at home during that time, and had the TV on most of the day. I watched Clinton go from group to group speaking to gain support. For each group, he said what they wanted to hear... he promised what they wanted, and got cheers from each. To each group, he was their man. Problem was, what he said to one group he would contradict with another group. I was, at the time, surprised at such blatant deception, and even more surprised that the press corps following him didn't point out the contradictions.

After watching "Slick Willy" for a long time, I concluded that he was probably the most skillful liar I had ever encountered. He could fake sincerity so well that I had to occasionally slap myself to keep from nodding along with him.

Back to Sue, who is about as different from Bill as you can imagine. Until recently, Sue was a life-long Republican, but finally got fed up and looked for a better alternative. She found libertarianism. Like Sue, I was a contributing Republican, from Barry Goldwater through the reign of George the First, then finally threw up my hands in disgust at the results. Since then, I've met a lot of Republicans who have come to the same conclusion (and a lot of Democrats too).

I've pointed out that Minnesota has tried every possible combination of Republicans and Democrats in the statehouse and legislature, with the same bad results each time. If you really care about the direction of our state government... if you're tired of being treated like a stupid serf... if you're sick of high taxes and intrusive laws... you owe it to yourself to jump on the Sue Jeffers bandwagon. It is not too late to regain control of government, but it won't happen without effort on your part.

Cmon... sing along with me... "Good - good - good vibrations".

Posted 8:48 AM by Robert Ronald Smith

Mixed lunar aspects

Find myself in a funk this morning. I'm moving slowly and so is my computer. It's cold outside, so maybe the cable signal is decaying a bit while running the wires. Since my attitude is usually pretty level, I thought this funk would be a good time to test astrology. I checked my horoscope, which says "Mixed lunar aspects get the day off to a slow start", and goes on to suggest doing little until mid-afternoon. Pretty much on point... score one for the unlikely science.

Although I consider myself a rationalist, I've kept an open mind about astrology, and have found that there is something to it. I still have difficulty in believing that it has anything to do with the stars and planets, but it very well might have something related to the season in which we were born. Perhaps the weather we encounter during our first few weeks has an effect on our development. I once had access to the birthdates of a medical clinic consisting of a couple dozen people... doctors and staff. For fun, I plotted their birthdates around the calendar and was surprised to find that all the doctors were born within a 3-month period, while none of the staff was. Weird.

It's certainly possible that there is some hiring selectivity involved... doctors hiring new doctors who are "like" them, and staff who will fit in well with existing staff... but that too would indicate inherent differences that coincide with birth season.

Having been married to a Virgo, I became quite familiar with the characteristics attributed to them... tidy at work, untidy at home, and not very willing to talk about themselves. More than once I've tested those claims on new Virgos I've met. A couple of times, the young woman got testy because the attributes fit her uncomfortably well, AND she didn't like me knowing that.

I'm an Aquarian, and the description fits me well... out to save the world (or at least make it a much better place), tends to blue-sky and be impractical. Oddly, I'm just into Aquarius... just over the border from Capricorn, which I don't fit at all. Capricorns are financially solid. It's said that a Capricorn's first word as a baby is not "Mommy", but "Money".

I don't think we fit into neat little packages depending on our birth date, but astrological sign descriptions seem to be on the money more often than not.

Whoops! Just discovered I was reading the wrong date on my horoscope (a whole month off). The correct one says I could be "prompted to make snap decisions I'll later regret". Yikes... I haven't done anything but write this blog... how could "Mixed Lunar Aspects" come back to haunt me? Since the whole blog was based on my horoscope for the wrong day, I considered just deleting it as irrelevant, but since the correct advice for today said.... No snap decisions today, I'll just let it ride. But, I probably should just stay home today. Ya think?