The Fuzzy Mind

Inflation is spiraling out of control, credit card debit is skyrocketing, personal bankruptcies are on the rise and now banks are in deep doo doo. WHY THE HELL ISN’T SOMEBODY DOING SOMETHING? WHERE IS OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT? These questions are being shouted from every news channel and every rooftop. It is the topic of conversation in every coffee shop and place we gather.

Why isn’t someone doing something? The sad and simple answer is that they can’t. No longer do we have a Teddy Roosevelt to step in and just take control telling the complainers and whiners and finger pointers to just shut up and sit down. We have no Harry, the Buck Stops Here, Truman. Today there is no where for the buck to stop. We have no one to step forward and just get things going. Every politician is afraid to take a leadership position. Government is now by committee, sub committee and fact finding groups. By the time any one of these groups find out that the house is truly on fire and that they should get us out, we will all be dead.

We have two presidential candidates representing the major political parties. Fuzzy still doesn’t have a clue as to what either of them truly stand for. The minute a special interest group comes forward they are for whatever that group represents. I am sure if Fuzzy could put together several thousand people to promote feeding diabetics only sugar they would, no how absurd the idea, be all for it. Each candidate has hundreds of advisers telling them what they are for or against. Some of these advisers were poor choices from the start and now are being weeded out.There are number of fact checker websites that are great at pointing out the bull that these candidates are spewing forth because their advisors tell them to. These advisors are telling candidates what the American people want to hear and in most cases they are so wrong.

When the candidates are asked questions that their team hasn’t prepared them for they struggle, stumble and make serious mistakes. This then becomes fodder for the late night comedians and the internet.  Who is going to step forward and say right or wrong? We need to do something and we  need to start now. They politicians need to stop being afraid of making a mistake. They need to stop think about offering incentives to get this country and its people off center and moving. If they are just going to offer incentives nothing will get done while we wait around for a better incentive package. SCREW the incentives. Just pass a law or mandate that this or that must be done. We must stop wringing our hands and crying, "Oh me Oh my". Lets see if we can at least agree as a nation that our elected officials do the job they were elected for. Stop passing the buck. Fuzzy still has no candidate to support or even vote for. This a multiple choice test that will determine our lot for the next 4 years. Like most multiple choice tests there should be an answer that we can check that is NONE OF THE ABOVE.

Well it has been awhile since Fuzzy sat down and wrote what is on his Fuzzy Mind. Gas prices have gone even higher, the housing market has plummeted deeper into the foreclosure abyss and all that our political and wanna be leaders can only tell us the sky is falling.

The Chicken Littles’ of this country are all coming up with one idea after another and all seem to be screaming that the other Chicken’s idea sucks! Fuzzy hasn’t heard a one that doesn’t suck! Every Chicken is concerned with the immediate problem and hasn’t a clue as what to do now or in the future. They bicker and argue and point fingers and think they are contributing to the solution.

Now the fringe element is beginning to join in with their hair- brained ideas. The latest to hit the news channels is an exwildcater’s idea for wind farms. Now Fuzzy will admit that there are a few places on this globe where the wind blows on a fairly continuous basis, but those are few and far between. There are those who want to rush hybrid cars into production and believe they can be at the dealerships almost immediately. If they knew anything about manufacturing and production lines they would know it takes some time for the industry to retool and gear up for a complete model change. Of course Fuzzy hasn’t heard anyone mention just how in the hell we are going to dispose of those hybrid car batteries when we have trouble getting rid of flashlight, cell phone and computer batteries because they are a hazardous material. I guess we will just have to wait and like everything else scramble for a solution when it is too late.

So Fuzzy is looking high and low for a political candidate or member of congress who has the moxey to tell the oil speculators they need to stop. I am looking for one who has the foresight to be able to plan for our future while we still have a hope of having one. I am looking for the person who has the balls to stand up to the dirt eating tree hugging druids and all of the not in my backyarders and say this is where we need to drill and explore for our future. I want one who with judicial use of the EPA guidelines, rules and laws will make our energy future a priority as Kennedy did with putting a man on the moon. Crap, if we working together could do that then this ought be a walk in the park.  Oops, I said working together and we all see how that is going.

The world is leaving the elder members of our society behind. Technology baffles many and there is no easy way around it. We now have phones that will do everything but change the baby. Items of our everyday life have become more complicated instead of more helpful. Why? The simple answer is that we can. We can make computer chips that can handle many different functions and just because they can, we make them do it.

Why can’t Fuzzy buy a work pickup truck that has vinyl seats and rubber mats with a simple AM/FM radio? Why can’t I get a TV with a remote control that just turns the set on and off, changes the channels and the volume? There is just too much crap out in the world that instead of making life simpler, it is making it more complicated.

Technology is rushing us headlong towards disaster. Cash registers that calculate the change has caused many of our young people working in the retail sector to lose the ability to add and subtract.  Without the machine, they just can’t do it. You go into a store, restaurant or any other public place and have to listen to others private phone conversations as they continue their call as they try to order. We are becoming very rude to one another.

There is hope on the horizon. There are companies who are beginning to realize that simplicity is needed in our lives. Fuzzy has found a cell phone for his 89 year old father that he can actually use. No longer does he need to push and hold a button to turn it on, just push the on/off button. It has three large buttons to call the operator, home or 911. It has a voice dial phone directory and simple yes and no buttons to operate it. It makes him safer out in the world and eases Fuzzy’s mind.

This is just one example of a company who saw a need for something less complicated and acted to produce a product that is simple and easy to use. On the other hand, this approach can also run amok if taken to extremes. We now have voice activated controls in our cars that are coming off the assembly lines. You can place cell phone calls or order up your favorite music, call a barbershop, pizza delivery and a myriad of other things, all of which diverts the drivers attention from the primary task at hand which is driving the car!  We have already had to outlaw the use of hand held phones and texting while driving because some of us think we can do multiple things at the same time. I wonder if that guy texting on his phone as we hurtle down the highway could shave and brush his teeth at the same time?

Fuzzy’s answer to all of this is just because we have gadgets that can preform multiple tasks doesn’t mean we need to use them. There was a saying that was popular in the engineering circles of the 70’s and 80’s. We even had placards with it on them. It was a focus point of many design review meetings. We surely need to resurrect it and bring it back to the forefront. What you ask is it? Very simple, KISS " keep it simple stupid".