Two men are in custody for their alleged connection in the defacing of Seattle’s Jimi Hendrix statue in the neighborhood of Capitol Hill. The vandalism comes on the 43rd anniversary of his death.

The men, who were reportedly drunk at the time , strolled into an art supply store that shares the sidewalk with the statue and purchased spray paint. They then tagged the the statue before moving on to nearby construction equipment and neighborhood buildings, according to Seattle Police.

The suspects made their way downtown and were stopped by transit police who had been notified of the disturbance. Responding Seattle Police officers were able to positively identify the men based off witness statements and surveillance footage from the art supply store. Both suspects also had blue paint on their hands and clothes.

Back in August I commented (here) about our 2006 Dodge diesel pickup that just turned 49,000 miles and how our plan when we bought it new was that it would still be low enough miles to tow a camper when we retired.  I have it serviced regularly and keep it maintained way beyond routine.  It was trouble free, up until now.  On our recent trip to Kansas everything was fine, but a few days after we got back the air conditioner wouldn’t work.  Crap.  

It needed an oil change and I took it to the Ford dealer 20 miles from the farm.  They have treated me well, which is why I take it there rather than the Dodge dealer in the same town.  They diagnosed it as a stuck a/c clutch and recommended having Dodge verify it because they didn’t have the necessary computer link.  So, off we went to the Dodge dealer.  Sure enough, the a/c clutch was fried and it is integrated onto the compressor.  You can’t just replace the clutch like on the older cars.  Cost to repair:  $650 for the compressor and $200 labor, plus tax.  Yikes!

I checked with the local auto parts store and their cost for a new compressor was $420.  Hmmm... so the Dodge dealer marked up the compressor $230?  Needless to say I checked with a couple of other Dodge dealers, including the one we bought the pickup new from.  They wouldn’t give me a quote unless I brought the pickup in.  Seriously...  drive it 90 miles to get a quote?  The second Dodge dealer is located 45 miles from the farm and didn’t hesitate to give me a quote.  $650.  I asked if that included labor and the service guy said, “that includes the compressor, recharging the system, labor and taxes.”

Today I had the new compressor installed.  The total bill was $645.21 and of that, the cost for the compressor was $319.   It appears that not only did they charge less than the others quoted for just the compressor, they charged what their cost was for the new compressor.

In this case it paid to shop around, but this was a real bite out of our budget, especially since this is the month we began paying $1000/mo. for health insurance.  Oh well.  Just one day more...

Demagogue >  political leader who appeals to the emotions, prejudices and ignorance of the less educated to gain power and promote political motives.  political leader making false claims and promises using arguments based on emotion rather than reason.  

Déjà vu

Texas Senator Ted Cruz took the U.S. Senate floor at 2:40 pm ET and claimed he will speak “until I am no longer able to stand.” Cruz seeks to defund the Affordable Care Act, a stance that threatens to shut down the government if budget issues are not resolved. 

A Senate Aide speaking to Business Insider explained that Cruz’s speech would have no effect on the Senate’s vote on the House Continuing Resolution tomorrow. “This is not a filibuster. Since cloture has been filed, the cloture vote will occur tomorrow no matter how long Senator Cruz speaks. This is not anything tricky, just basic Senate rules,” the Senate Aide said.

We are one week away from the first portion of the Affordable Care Act - open enrollment in the health care exchanges - and Ted Cruz  and his minions are threatening to default on the government's debt to defund the Act.  It is hard to understand how anyone can accept Cruz's lies and misinformation.  He is Joe McCarthy resurrected and anyone who fails to learn from frightening history is doomed to repeat it.  Just one day more...

The brothers at LSU’s Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity are wishing they had a do-over. 

Prior to the football game on Saturday with Kent State, the brothers put up a banner that said, “Getting massacred is nothing new to Kent State,” referring to the shooting by the national guard at Kent State in May, 1970 that left four students dead and nine others wounded. 

In a later written apology they said, “Hanging the banner was a poor attempt at humor. We, as young college students, did not grasp the full scope of the tragedy and it’s long lasting effects.”

I'm old enough to remember the Kent State shootings.  I guess the brothers at LSU’s Delta Kappa Epsilon missed that part in their American History classes.  They are, what my father used to call, dimwits.

Just one day more...

Our son is single, age 27, self employed and in good health.  He just got a letter from Blue Cross telling him that, because of the Affordable Care Act, his current health insurance policy will be terminated on December 31, 2013 and replaced with a new policy to “comply with the new requirements.”

Here are the changes:

Current plan deductible:  $1,000.

New plan deductible:  $3,500.

Current plan coinsurance:  20%

New plan coinsurance:  50%

Current plan office visit copay:  $40.

New plan office visit copay:  $60. for first two, additional visits after deductible and coinsurance met.

Monthly premium:  Current plan:  $142.01   New plan:  $231.08

An additional $89.07 each month for less coverage.

Because of the other requirements of the Affordable Care Act (i.e. waiver of preexisting condition), it is clear that the health insurance companies intend to make up the difference.  It is also clear that those in the middle, like our son, who aren’t eligible for Medicaid or reduced premiums will be gouged by the insurance companies.  Some will try to blame the Affordable Care Act, blindly ignoring how they are being ripped off by the insurance companies.  The insurance lobby made sure of that in the watered down law.

The health insurance exchanges are suppose to be available for initial enrollment next month.  My guess is that the health insurance companies have set their rates in spite of the Affordable Care Act, since there is no rate enforcement in the law.  Let the games (rip offs) begin.  Just one day more...

Touring microbreweries and wineries is always fun, especially the ones that make an effort to create an image or are in a historical building.  Yesterday’s tour and beer sampling at the Tallgrass Brewery was no exception, however different from most craft breweries we have toured. 

Tallgrass Brewery is located in an industrial type metal building that has the feel of an overhead door company more than a brewery.  Other than the owner, I don’t think anyone was over the age of 25, including the “brewmasters.”  While that is not bad, it makes we wonder how much experience the brewmasters have.  It is a testament to how craft breweries have sprung up in recent years.  Tallgrass Brewery beers are respectable, notwithstanding that the surroundings had no appeal.

Some were decked out for the introduction of the Zombie beer, which was similar to an IPA in aroma and taste.  We were able to sample the other beers they brew and my favorite is still the Oatmeal Cream Stout Buffalo Sweat.   

The highlight of the tour for my wife was a wall hanging someone had made from beer bottle caps and beer cans. 

All in all it was a good trip and tomorrow we head back home to the farm.  Just one day more... 

Wednesday morning I got an email from the Tallgrass Brewery in Manhattan, Kansas.  

It is a microbrewery that has me on their email list because I complimented them on their stout beer named “Buffalo Sweat.”  They said that they would be introducing a new beer on Saturday named “Zombie” and would be having an open house with beer tasting.  Sounded like fun, so we hooked up the fiver on Thursday and headed out.

We made an overnight stop in Lincoln to visit family and stayed at the Lancaster County Event Center.  It is a large complex for county events and has about 200 electric hookups for RV’s - a bare bones basic rock and scrub grass lot.

When we bought our HitchHiker last year I invested in a Progressive Industries Smart Surge and have used it on every hook up, including when in storage at home on the farm.  Besides providing surge protection, it also gives a complete diagnostic readout when plugged in and this time it paid off.

When I plugged it into the box it indicated that there was an open ground on both the 30 Amp and 50 Amp.  That wasn’t acceptable, so I went to the shop area and they sent a guy out to check it, whereupon he told us that he has been a long time electrician.  I had him unlock the other side of the box and told him I would plug the Progressive in that side.  The reading of the plugs on that side came back OK.  At  the same time he was poking around the plugs, my wife was holding the lid open for him when she got a shock.  His response was that it wasn’t possible.  Hmmmm....  I’m not an electrician, but that sure wasn’t lightening that shocked her.    Needless to say I told him I would stay plugged into the other side of the box.

We got to Manhattan today and are staying at a COE campground at a nearby lake.  It is a welcome relief from the night before and we are looking forward to the brewery tour tomorrow.  Just one day more... 

On the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams last night there was a report titled, “The Widest Income Gap Since The Roaring 20’s.”  I’m not computer savvy enough to include the video, so here is the link.

What Brian reported is that the income gap between the richest 1 percent and the rest of America widened last year and the top 1 percent  had 19.3 percent of the U.S. pre-tax income in 2012.   It has not been that high since 1927 when it was 18.7% of pre-tax income going to the wealthiest Americans.

Last year, the incomes of the top 1 percent rose 19.6 percent compared with a 1 percent increase for the remaining 99 percent.  The wealthy have benefited from rising corporate profits and stocks with 95 percent of income gains going to the top 1 percent.

So, there you have it.  Something to think about.  I’m not going to opine on the latest numbers on the economic inequality.  Suffice to say that here on the farm we are still in the 99 percent.  Just one day more...

Headline: Verizon offers new $35 a month prepaid plan (but there's a catch)

The new prepaid plan from Verizon is aimed at users uninterested in the current crop of high-end smart phones.

Beginning this week, Verizon Wireless will offer a monthly "Basic Plan," which will allow consumers to purchase 500 minutes of talk time and unlimited text messaging and data for $35. For an extra $15 – $50 a month, total – you can add unlimited voice minutes. But there is a catch: The Basic Plan isn't compatible with the iPhone 5 or the Samsung Galaxy S3 or any of the high-end smart phones that currently dominate the market.  Instead, it's only available on four extremely basic phones.  April 12, 2013 (Christian Science Monitor)

When Verizon came out with the prepaid plan back in April, we were still locked into a two year contract until this month, which was costing us $80 for the plan and $38 for two phones. With that we had 800 shared minutes, which we never reached.  With all the taxes and fees that came to about $125 each month for two phones that we only used for calls and texting.  It would be nice to have one of the sophisticated smart phones, but hard to cost justify for us.  So, when Verizon came out with a plan at $35/month for basic cell phone service it was a no brainer.  A savings of around $45/month.  That was until we ran into what the article above called “the catch” and I call a scam. 

Wednesday - Day One

This was the day our two year contract expired.  The prepaid promotion on Verizon’s website said, “Already have a device?  You can activate it quick and easy.”  Great, we thought.  We liked the phones we had and switching them to the prepaid plan would be a win - win, so we went to the “local” Verizon store, located 20 miles from the farm, to do that.  Easy enough. Wrong!  

As it turns out very few existing phones are compatible with the prepaid system.  That left a choice of only four basic phones, which must be purchased.  No problem we thought and selected the Samsung Intensity III shown on the Verizon prepaid website.  But, the Verizon store said they didn’t have any in stock and kindly offered to order two and have them shipped to us.  We paid for the phones and left thinking that was all settled.  Wrong again!

Thursday - Day Two

I got an email from Verizon telling us that the phone we selected was out of stock and to call them to change our order.  After talking with Verizon, the only alternative was the LG Cosmos 3 phone, because the other two were basic flip phones with no keyboards for texting.  

Instead of costing $28.99 for each phone, it would now be $34.99 for each phone.  I asked the Verizon person why the Samsung was still on their website and she said she didn’t know because it wasn’t in stock.  (I checked the website 10 minutes after talking with her and the Samsung had been removed.  Hmmmmm.)  

The reviews I read said the Samsung was the better phone, but we had no choice, so I said go ahead and change the order to the LG phones.  The Verizon person said “no problem” and that she would take care of it.  Wrong again!

That afternoon I got an email saying that the order could not be fulfilled and I would have to resubmit an order for each phone separately online.  Tired of the hassle, I decided to call Verizon stores within a 60 mile radius of the farm to see if I could find a couple Samsung phones, to no avail.  After a frustrating day of dealing with Verizon, I decided to sleep on it and deal with it the next day.

Friday - Day Three

The LG phone had mediocre reviews, but we had little choice, so I started my calls to Verizon stores again to see if we could find a couple LG phones and just go to a store to make the changeover.  After several calls I did find a Verizon store 50 miles from the farm that had the LG Cosmos.  Great, I thought.  Problem solved.  

We made the drive to the Verizon store and they were very helpful.  This seemed like the better alternative to dealing with Verizon on the phone, putting up with the long waiting on hold.  After about 45 minutes of setting up the accounts and switching our current phones over to the new phones it was a relief to be finished with what should have been a simple process.  Wrong again! 

Once all of this was done and our contacts were transferred over from the old phones to the new phones it was time to pay.  When they ran the statement it showed we owed $59.99 for each phone.  Huh?!  That’s not the price that is on the Verizon website.  So, I brought out a copy of the website, which I had printed a couple of days ago, and showed them that the price is listed as $34.99 for that phone, pointing out that the phone we actually wanted was only $28.99 - but, out of stock.  They responded that the store price is not the same as the website price.  Huh?! again.  After all this hassle and being tired of paying $125/month for basic phones, we decided to keep the new phones and call Verizon to find out why we had to pay more at a Verizon store.  Simple enough, right?  Wrong again!

In the parking lot of the Verizon store I phoned Verizon customer service.  After 45 minutes on the phone (most of it being on hold, listening over and over again to their crap recording about how they value the customer) I was transferred to 5 different “customer reps” and told by all 5 that I was SOL.  Two of them told me that I should take the new phones back into the Verizon store and return them for a refund and reorder them online.  Seriously?!  After all the screwing around when I tried to order online?  I told one “customer rep” that this would make a great topic for my blog - titled the Verizon scam - and he said to be sure and say that the phone is cheaper online.  

Saturday - Day Four

And so ends the lesson of the Verizon scam.  Or does it?

In order to set up automatic payment with a credit card for the prepay, the Verizon store said they couldn’t do it and that I would have to do it online.  Sheesh!  What that required was phoning Verizon again to get a code number to do that - for each phone.  Welcome back to waiting on hold, again listening to the canned recording about how much they value the Verizon customer.  Finally finished.  But wait... there is one more final insult to injury in this story.

Once an account is set up online it shows details, including minutes used.  When I was on the new phone with Verizon I asked them if talking to them counted against my monthly minutes and each time they said no.  Wrong again!  When I checked my minutes of use on the new phone, on which I called no one other than Verizon, it showed 55 minutes used.

What a scam.  Just one day more...   

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld slammed President Obama’s “minimalist” approach in seeking congressional approval for a limited airstrike against Syria.  Rumsfeld said he favors a decision to force a regime change–or no action at all.

As one of architects of the Iraq war under the George W. Bush administration, he pressed the United States to invade Iraq, citing faulty intelligence as evidence. Apart from questions about the decision to go to war, Rumsfeld’s military strategy and tactics have been widely criticized.

Undaunted, Rumsfeld believes he knows the answer when it comes to Syria:  the Obama administration should go big or stay home. “I’m at the point where if someone walking down the street or in an elevator said, ‘What do you think?’ I would say immediately, ‘You either ought to change the regime or you ought to do nothing.’   (MSNBC)

Amazing.  Here is the guy who took this country to war in Iraq with faulty intelligence and misinformation and he has the audacity to comment on Syria.  This is the guy who cost this country billions of dollars and thousands of lives in a war driven by a personal agenda.  He now wants this administration to “go big or stay home.”  What an outrage! Rumsfeld should shut the hell up and fade away.  Just one day more...