Some Blog Site

As I was looking at washing machines in an undisclosed big-box store, I noticed a certain price tag.

For those who can’t see the image, I will give the text here. It says “New Lower Price $648 Was $648”. I am glad they reduced the price, as $648 was a bit much for that washer.

“The merchant uses dishonest scales; he loves to defraud.”
– Hosea 12:7

The generic create-a-face-with-a-magnet-and-iron-shavings game has some specific offshoots. The game/puzzle is the magnetic doodle thing with a face printed on paper. The most notable derivative is the Create A Commie, but the store also has Fuzzy Philosophers. The philosophers don’t look as fun as the communists, maybe because the philosophers have a normal face for a base, not a deep, more-than-sunburn, red face.

“Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame.”
– Isaiah 44:9

Why is the saying “24/7/365”?

It is meant to show that something is continuous, all the time, and never stopping. It gets the point across to the listener, but upon further analysis, I found some problems. Translated into plain English, the saying would be something like “Every hour of the day, every day of the week, every week of the year.” But that would be “24/7/52” since there are 52 weeks in a year.  For those who are wondering: 365 weeks is a little over 49 years.

You could say that it means “Every hour of the day, every day of the week, every day of the year.” But that would be redundant (if it is every day of the week, then it would already imply every day of the year) and inconsistent (the progression is from smallest to largest – repeating the unit of day ruins the progression). Why not just say “Every hour of the day, every day of the year”? So an alternate to “24/7/365” could be “24/365” instead of “24/7/52”. Neither one of the alternates has the same ring to it, but I think such ring is acquired by repeated use.

“Every day I will bless You, And I will praise Your name forever and ever.”
– Psalm 145:2

Well Susan Lefevre (AKA Marie Walsh) is back behind bars. Is that a good thing?

For those who don’t know the story: Susan Lefevre walked away from a Michigan prison 32 years ago and has been living a normal life in California since then, marrying and having 3 children. Her original conviction was for drug charges, selling to an undercover agent. She has been discovered in California and was recently re-arrested, being held in a California jail awaiting extradition to Michigan.

What are the benefits of re-arresting her? They are to see that justice is served, punish her for escaping, and provide a deterrent for other criminals by demonstrating that the laws are still enforced. What are the problems with re-arresting her? They are cost and her effectively 32 years of parole.

What is the point of putting someone in prison? To punish her, rehabilitate her, protect other citizens, or all of the above? If it is to protect other citizens, then I doubt that applies to this case. She is not a threat to anyone. Now on to the other points.

If it is to punish her, then are there other means of punishment that are not going to be a drain on society? Why not leave her out of prison, but sentence her to some monetary fine and community service? That would provide a benefit to society, rather than costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars per year to lock her up. Some punishment is needed to keep the laws valid, but not jail time in this case. The prison space is needed for everyone who is currently dangerous and causing problems.

If the point is to rehabilitate her, then I argue she has already rehabilitated herself. If 32 years of being a productive member of society and committing no more crimes doesn’t mean you’re clean, then what does? Some may argue that she was living a clean life only to avoid being detected and captured. But aren’t there plenty of people out there who don’t have a criminal record who are doing the same thing? Some people need money, but the only reason they don’t rob a bank is because they don’t want to get caught. It’s too tricky to judge people on their intent. A parolee is judged not on his thoughts, but on his actions.

But what lesson is this teaching other criminals? Are they being taught that if you escape, just keep quiet long enough and then you’ll be forgiven? If everybody did what Susan Lefevre did, what would happen? There would be no more crime, no more welfare, etc. There are some dangerous criminals who should be rounded up. It helps this case that there is no direct victim or victim’s family. It would be hard to say she should be left alone if, for example, she had murdered someone. Why should she get to live a nice life while her victim doesn’t get to live? But that doesn’t apply to this case. How do we encourage criminals to leave the crime behind and become productive members of society?

If I were the governor of Michigan (currently Jennifer Granholm), I would be tempted to stop this whole debate by pardoning this woman. But the system should be adjusted to account for these types of cases. I think they will be more common in the future, as states are sharing their records and advances in technology and forensics allow DNA and other things to be tested and cross-referenced. Filling the prisons with non-violent criminals who have been clean for decades makes sense only if the prisons are empty and there is no one else to put in there. But an appropriate punishment should be determined, in order to provide a deterrent for those who are tempted to escape from prison.

In North Myrtle Beach, there are discount beach stuff stores every other block. The main two are Eagles and Bargain. The main tourist item to buy is a shark tooth necklace, which is essentially a string with a shark tooth attached to it. It looks decent enough, and it impresses young children. Yes, we bought a couple of necklaces for the kids. But they are cheap, as in less than a dollar.

I saw an advertisement for airplane advertising – you pay this company some money and they will fly a banner with your message up and down the beach. It’s a common form of advertising anywhere there are a bunch of people, and the seaside is no exception. One of the beach-stuff places employed this method of aerial advertising. They paid someone at least $300 per hour, plus the fee to create the banner, a one-time fee of at least $100. So assuming they had the plane for one hour, that would be $400.

They were advertising for the shark-tooth necklace – a 70-cent item. Assuming a profit margin of 50%, the would make $0.35 per necklace. They would have to sell 1,143 necklaces, to new customers who would not have otherwise gone to the store, in order to break even. And the beach wasn’t even that crowded. What I expect is that the necklaces are their loss leaders and the stores lure you in for those but pitch other higher-priced items to make up for them. So if you go buy a shark-tooth necklace, beware the other items in the store.

“The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, `Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.'”
– Matthew 25:20

Having spent some time in North Myrtle Beach, SC, I thought I would post something about it.

If you’re looking for a condo-type place called Brigadoon in the area, you won’t find it. That’s because they are clever and spell it Brigadune. If you do a search for Brigadune in Myrtle Beach, you will find it quite easily.

North Myrtle Beach is a very touristy area. Every block or two there are at least one mini golf place, a discount beach stuff place, and an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. There are a bunch of coupons available, so if you go to any touristy place, do not pay full price. I think the prices are inflated to make up for the coupon discount. Kind of like higher education in America today. Tuition prices are artificially high because of all the student aid, federal loans, grants, and scholarships. There is also a parallel with health care costs. People think they’re getting a better deal with the coupons, but really they just take the price back to about what it should be.

The seafood buffets are numerous, and most of them have websites in addition to the flyers and leaflets and coupons. But you won’t see a published price anywhere. You can have a coupon for $5 off your meal, but nowhere does it mention the actual price – it could be $15 or $50. You have to call and ask. The actual prices range from $15 to $30. Just remember that you’re paying for the experience and for the quantity of food, not necessarily the quality of food. I thought the salmon tasted too fishy and the carved ham was too dry. The German chocolate cake was good though.

The crab legs were fun. I don’t like seafood. Fish yes, but seafood no. My wife and sister-in-law got several crab legs. My sons had never seen crab legs before, other than on living crabs. So when the others came to the table with a plate of crab legs, I told my son “Look, they are going to eat those.” And he did not believe me at first. But we showed him how the shell-cracker devices work and the kids had fun the rest of the meal cracking shells and moving the claws around, pretending they were crabs. That’s what the kids will remember – the crab legs and the aquarium, not how the food tasted.

The same goes for the putt-putt or miniature golf places. Don’t go without a coupon, and remember that you’re paying for the experience. It cost $7.50 per game, I think, so $30 for the four of us. There was nothing fancy in the greens themselves, maybe some curves or a tunnel. But there was a pirate show every half hour. The cannons would blast (just sounds and some water mist for smoke) from the ship to the fortress and the fortress would fire back. That’s what the kids will remember – the extra effects, not the game itself.

“I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said to them, ” You are exacting usury, each from his brother!” Therefore, I held a great assembly against them.”
– Nehemiah 5:7

 I have switched things around slightly.  Now the financial calulators have their own page, for better organization and cleaner names. 

“Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.”
 – 2 Corinthians 6:17