Much of the early part of today was spent developing a computer program in a language I barely know to solve a complex problem I barely knew existed

I was so happy with my self for solving a perplexing question and mastering a technology I did not know.

Then I reflected on the people new to the country where I live. They figured it out, The language and the syntax

It puts it all into perspective

One would ask, what would a speeding ticket have to do with capitalism. Everything comes down to money and getting the most out of people.

Just picture this in your mind – you’re driving to work oh, and you’re a few minutes late, going a little bit too fast, then you get pulled over for not driving appropriately. As the officer writes a ticket, you start thinking how much is this going to cost me, what are you gonna do to my driving record. In many cases one would ask is, was I actually speeding.?

You scan the ticket and The fine for the ticket is $141.

You can fight the ticket. And then you think I have to take a half day off of work just a fight the ticket. For Some it’s not a loss of salary but for some it is. In many cases, probably won your your case in court arguing that the calibration was off in the machine or something.

Still, price of $141 is it really worth it. If it was $500 you’d be in court fighting it. If it was $25 it probably won’t be much of a deterrent. I know there’s insurance to factor in.

Isn’t it ridiculous that our system allows that such a choice be made. I think tickets are priced with that in mind. One could go the route of paying in pennies however $141 in pennies is a pain in the passing lane.

Happy Friday, now that you read this you are late for something else.

Here is a little excerpt from a story I wrote a while back with a reference to my cousin Fran. Fran passed away way too early. Life is about living and I can’t get my mind around not doing that. Having just made it through a heart attack I think of this often. The visions become murky. Happy Birthday Fran

So we would march down to the beach in our brand new clothing to look at the ocean. Usually by now it was just starting to get dark. We would find a few horseshoe crabs, dig up some sand fleas and then find some perfect wood for bonfires later in the week. This kept us occupied for all of about eighteen minutes. Usually our beloved cousin Fran would roll up his shorts and wade out up to his ankles looking for ocean treasures. Either that, or he was one with this ritual of summer. As the air-cooled, the water felt that much warmer. The ritual would simply unfold soon after. After about twenty minutes, we were swimming in the ocean attired in our slick new travelling clothes feeling pretty good.

So I broke the law one day in Boulder Colorado. It is a fine line between what we teeter.

We were traveling and dropped off our rental car at a relatively obscure location. As we were walking to our friend’s car, we noticed I no longer had my cell phone, I knew it was nearby because I just checked the Timbers score.

My wife walked over to the car and saw the forlorn phone in the rental car. Only problem was that the key to Rental Car was already in the lock box.

Enter Mcgyver. We got back home, we hatched a plan much to the chagrin on the ladies in our lives. We decided to go back to the Rental Car place and recover the keys. My accomplice (keeping him nameless) brought out a long magnet, some claw tool and a common coat hanger. We walked into the car rental place wearing sunglasses because that is the cool thing to do. They were useless.

We slinked behind the counter and used a camera cell phone to see the keys and narrow down our search. All the while people were mindlessly walking by and they did not seem to care all that much. The gripper tool did not work and finally we used a twisted bent coat hanger to miraculously lift out the keys. Only thing it was to the wrong car. We did eventually retrieve the correct set of keys from the lock box.

In retrospect, oh to be white. Could you imagine if we were two black men, in sunglasses, behind an unmanned counter brandishing MacGyver claws.

No harm no foul. The Timbers neither won nor lost.