Uncle Walter's Rants

I can give it away, but not sell it...

I read some of Discover magazine today, and there was an article of a organ transplant clinic in India that was illegally selling kidneys to people who really need them.  They were buying them from people for as little as $300 and then implanting them in people from other countries that paid quite a lot.  For many of these people this was the only chance they had other than waiting to get one on a list of 88,000 (in the USA) needing kidneys.  Often people have to wait five or more years to get a kidney, and have to life on dialysis (cleaning blood with a machine instead of a dead kidney) three times a week.  It is grueling and takes quite a bit out of you.  There is risk of infection and lots of other complications.  A replacement kidney would eliminate all these problems.  People are born with two kidneys and recent studies suggest that kidney donors have good long term health (http://www.webmd.com/news/20100309/low-long-term-health-risk-for-kidney-donors). 

Now, I can donate a kidney if I want, or I live with it.  It is not legal to sell any organ, but I do have to wonder if selling it makes sense.  People die from kidney failure, and people live with two kidneys.  Why not allow someone to "sell" theirs?  You can buy sperm, or eggs, but not an organ.  Why not?  What if someone could pay their student loans off with a kidney sale?  What if someone's life could be saved in the process?  Where is the real crime in that.  If it was government sanctioned and performed in a safe hospital setting I really can't see a problem in it.  People would not be forced to sell, but would be able to based on current market values.  Ideally a patient could just eat a pill and grow a new one, but that is a long way off.  Why don't we do what we can now and save a few lives?

-UW

The name is West, Adam West

One little tidbit the good Professor stumbled across the other day that really caught me off guard.  Did you know that George Lazenby's less than stellar performance as James Bond, the studio approached Adam West to be Bond?  West declined stating that the role should be played by a British actor, but wouldn't that have been pretty awesome?  I just saying that would be cool.

-UW

Today begins the $2 revolution!!!

Yes I have done it!  I have officially stopped carrying one dollar bills and have switched to two dollar bills, and one dollar coins.  So far the reaction has been positive.  My coworkers have been supportive, even trading some of their obsolete one dollar bills for twos and coins.  The people behind the register have proven to have humorous responses with the two dollar bills.  One was amazed that I was spending anything that old.  I had to break the news to her that they were still in circulation and that the bill I was spending was new.  Then another was really surprised.  She said it was the first she had ever seen, another was thrilled to see and and when I went back to the store to get something else, they produced the bill for my inspection, to let me know they remembered me.  Now just to get others doing it.

So go to the bank, pickup some twos and start spending!  This will only work if we all spend money with $2 bills and $1 coins.  Death to the $1 bill.  They are too expensive and I am tired of them.  Long live the $2!

-UW

To tell or not to tell, I may just have to

So, I have quite a collection of e-mails, correspondence, and other "unique" things from various family, more often than not related in-laws.  Some of this is funny, some sad, some just makes you wonder why I still have this stuff.  Much of it weighs on my mind as troublesome and disturbing.  On occasion I have vented to friends about these little things, but I think that time is coming to an end soon.  You see, long ago www.my23cents.com was the original Uncle Walter page.  Back then The Wife didn't know about it, it was just my little secret, to vent and such.  When I changed over to www.unclewaltersrants.com it was an honest attempt to vent regurarly and get all this bs off my chest.  Then the romance came, then the good Professor, and now geriADtric.  Somehow the original purpose of UW faded. 

I think I may have to do some venting about things that are building inside.  After all how can I pass up on things like:

"Larry was on the Army, and had his ears off, and he has 2 things on them."

or

"that's when i quit countin'.  I b-came a classic n that was enuff!!!!  perant's r well."

Someone has to rant about this stuff, it may just me be.

-UW

Death to the one dollar bill

It is time for the traditional one dollar bill to go away.  These things are everywhere, they wear out and the dollar coin does the exact same thing!  We still have the two dollar bill, so the one dollar bill is irrelevant especially when you look at what inflation has done to the value of the one.  The Bureau of Engraving and Printing says the average life of a $1 bill in circulation is 21 months before it is replaced due to wear, and 45% of all currency is made up of dollar bills.  Do you know what the lifespan of the dollar coin is?  How about 30 years.  Seems pretty obvious that we should kill the greenback bill right?  In fact in 2000 the Government Accountability Office reported that a full implementation of the dollar coin and removal of the paper bill could save $500 million a year.  Talk about an obvious thing to do right?  How about no according  Save the Greenback.  They lobbied, along with the cotton industry (cotton is in the dollar bill), to make it illegal to phase out the bill.

That's just f**king nonsense.  Hey everyone lets pay more because we like it.  Um, people we have the $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills without the $1.  It is time.  Let it go.  In a time where we want to slash the deficit, rebuild the economy, do "smarter" things we need to kill the one.  Sorry George, you have to go.  We will let you keep the quarter. 

-Uncle Walter

Lets take a moment to talk about "cleaning up" history

In the world of today we live in a "Politically Correct" atmosphere.  Racism is frowned upon, and equality is supposed to be king.  At least that is the ideal we all seem to be striving for.  It is an ideal I believe in, we all deserve the same opportunities.  What bothers me is when people play with history, and decided it is time to change it. 

The classic example of "cleaning up" history comes when period literature is censored or removed from libraries.  Take Mark Twain's work with Huckleberry Fin.  This book which is considered America's first great novel speaks in the terms of the era including the use of the word "nigger" which was a term of the time.  Today it is a word not to be used, but in historical context it is different.  In the book it is used 216 times and is accurate from a contextual and historical perspective.  Why censor history to make it politically correct.  Isn't it more important that people learn the truth of the time?

You see this all the time with movies that take place in the past, but there is complete racial equality.  Are we supposed to just pretend the past didn't happen.  It may be a past we are not proud of, but it is still our past and our shared heritage.  The same goes for the Confederate flag.  It was the symbol of the Confederate States of America, not a white supremacy tool.  It has been used as that before, but so have pitchforks.  Should all pitchforks be banned?  Lets just look at history as it happened.  Use words to put it in the right context.  Even though that is a bad word, it wasn't then.  We have to accept that those of the past were a product of their times.  Some strove to rise to the next level, some did not.  It does not change the positive contributions they made.  

We need to accept that history is not a pretty subject.  The Nazis had eugenics, and that makes them evil.  But wait, so did we.  Well they were anti-Semites, and then again so were many in the US.  The truth is that history is not pretty.  After all we all respect and admire the founding father of our country George Washington, the slave owner, who had a great victory by going against war tradition and attacking pre-dawn on the 26th of December.  Take history for what it was and portray is accurately.  It hurts to remind us of the past, but the past has lessons that we all need to know.

-UW

Snowbound and down, eighteen wheels a movin'

I would like to tell you a little story, of ten days without work.  Ten days where for a part there was no power, no heat, no comfort.  Snow that locked us in the home and left us cold.  Children who reached their maximum lock in level and nearly exploded.  It has been a rough ten days.  So far with the month I am behind 68 hours of vacation time, which means some seriously long hours for the rest of the month.  I have eBay business backlog, inventory piled, but not posted, a few packages still to ship.  And, a little blog empire that took a hit from the whole ordeal.  Thanks to The Wife the romance blogs kept up, but history and geriADtrics took a little break.  They will be back starting today.  All in all this has been a mess, and I am playing catch up.  Thanks for reading, look for some good stuff to come soon... trust me I have a few opinions worth sharing :)

-UW

Wow, RT Book Reviews, and the new blog!

So, the article is out and we did quite well there.  I am pleased and so is The Wife.  Who knows maybe someday the Uncle Walter empire will become a full time job.  Wouldn't be so bad right?  On that note go buy a copy of the magazine!  You can find out who is selling it near you by checking their site here: http://www.romantictimes.com/

As for the new blog it took me a while to fully flesh it out and I came to the conclusion that it was more educational than romantic/ranty so I have decided to put it into the Professor Walter camp.  In keeping with that the new blog will be at www.geriadtric.com.  Do you get it geriADtric as in old ads.  Yeah it's cheesy, but I think it works.  This will be part of the expanding Professor Walter side where I am looking into syndication.  yeah, Prof Walt in print.  That would be pretty cool.  Don't worry romance is bread and butter and I won't forget it.  ;)

Now a question for my readers...  I want to get the T-Shirts going, and coffee cups, and bumper stickers, and whatever else I want to make.  Any ideas out there for imagery, slogans, etc...  If you have any respond or shoot me an e-mail at unclewalter@unclewaltersrants.com

One more thing...  So you all know I like to write a bit, and so far my little romance scenes get the highest ratings.  I was toying with actually (I can't believe I am saying this) writing a romance novel.  Not your standard fare, but a true to for Uncle Walter style so rather than the flowery or traditional sex scenes there will be throbbing man-baguettes plunging into fleshy pre-warmed toasters of passion.  I;m not sure yet.  Tell me what you think at unclewalter@unclewaltersrants.com

-Uncle Walter

P.S. Check out the eBay store at www.unclewaltersshop.com

Wow, that's crazy!

Everyone wants to make a buck, and sometimes they get pretty creative.

Take a look at this guy at http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-APPLE-ISLATE-I-SLATE-ITABLET-I-TABLET-COMPUTER_W0QQitemZ330398644565QQcmdZViewItemQQptZApple_Laptops?hash=item4ced4b3955.

He is selling an Apple Tablet computer, um before it exists.  Yes, before Jobs announced the iPad today this auction, and many others were running.  The text of his says it pretty well.

ALRIGHT SO EVERYONE HAS HEARD THE RUMOR OF APPLE'S EXPECTED ANNOUNCEMENT OF A NEW TOUCH SCREEN COMPUTER THAT WILL EITHER BE CALLED THE I-SLATE OR THE I-TABLET. THIS OF COURSE IS STILL A RUMOR AND WE WILL ONLY KNOW FOR SURE ON JANUARY 27TH 2010. WHAT I AM SELLING IS THE EXPECTED COMPUTER THAT WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THAT DAY!!!!  THIS OFFER IS FOR ME TO WAIT IN LINE ON THE DAY THE COMPUTER HITS STORE SHELVES AND SHIP IT OUT VIA OVERNIGHT MAIL THE SAME DAY TO YOU!!!! I WILL SHIP DOMESTIC OR INTERNATIONAL (YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING). NOW OF COURSE THERE MIGHT BE A HUGE UPSET AND NO COMPUTER WILL BE ANNOUNCED BUT I SERIOUSLY DOUBT THAT. IF FOR SOME REASON THE COMPUTER IS NOT ANNOUNCED I WILL OF COURSE REFUND YOUR PAYMENT. I AM TAKING A BIG RISK ON THIS AS NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE PRICE OF THIS COMPUTER WILL BE, BUT REGARDLESS IF THE BUY PRICE IS LESS THAN THE ACTUAL PRICE OF THE COMPUTER I WILL COMPLETE THE SELL AND TAKE ON THE LOSS MYSELF. PLEASE ONLY SERIOUS BIDDERS AND I EXPECT PAYMENT WITHIN 24 HOURS AFTER AUCTION ENDS. I WILL ALSO DONATE 10% OF THE SALE PRICE OF THIS ITEM TO THE "CLINTON BUSH HAITI FUND", EVERY PENNY COUNTS WHEN HELPING THOSE IN NEED!!!! GOOD LUCK BIDDING!!

No idea why it is all caps, maybe he is yelling.  Either way that is pretty arrogant selling something that technically doesn't exist, and may not, even though it did work out.  You think that is bad, take a look at this site.

http://gizmodo.com/5450893/lexicon-charges-3500-for-a-repackaged-500-oppo-blu+ray-player

Yeah it is true, a company named Oppo made a blu-ray DVD player.  Another company named Lexicon took the face off of it and put it in their own case, then charged $3000 more for it.

That's just plain crazy, or you are just plain crazy for buying it.

-Uncle Walter

I cannot take it anymore, you need to learn to say it right!

I grew up in a house where certain diction was important.  You said library, not libary.  Certain words had to be pronounced correctly, and in fact, one word in particular.  That word was often.

The dictionary has two pronunciations for the word: ˈȯ-fən, ÷ˈȯf-tən

In simple terms, some people say "off-ten" and some say "off-fen".

I was raised to pronounce it "off-fen".  It was so ingrained in me that it causes me physical pain to hear it pronounced "off-ten".  It is as thought someone is rubbing my teeth on a chalkboard.  It is misery, it is agony, it is how The Wife says it.

I bite my tongue, it is not a relationship breaker kinda thing.  I told her once that it is pronounced "off-fen".  She polity corrected me stating there are two ways to pronounce it.  She was and is right, even though one of the ways is so wrong it is like a kick to the crotch.

Today I have heard it the wrong way so many times my head is on fire.  I am exhausted, thanks to the boy's late night tirade.  I just can't take it anymore, so please please please, just for one day can everyone just say it right???  Please.

-Uncle Walter