(Verse 1)
In the city of the bold, where the secrets are all sold
And the monuments are polished to a shine
There’s a pipe beneath the grass, where the legislative gas
Meets a literal mountain of the… well, never mind.
The Pentagon is high-tech, and the White House is a gem
But they’re all connected by a single, rusty stem.
One little crack in the “Interceptor” line,
And the “Leader of the Free World” is smelling like a pine…
(Wait, no, that’s not pine).
(Chorus)
Oh, we’re three leaks away from a national crisis!
Forget the cyber-war or the soaring oil prices.
D.C. Water’s got a plan, but the funding’s gone “poof”
While the sewage starts a-knocking on the Capitol roof!
The backup supply gives us twenty-four hours
To wash off the egos and the thirst for power.
If you want to stop the gears of the great DMV,
You don’t need a nuke—just a bit of debris!
(Verse 2)
FEMA says they’re “committed” to “resilience and grace”
While they cancel the grants with a smile on their face.
“It’s wasteful!” they cry, “To keep the water from the street!”
As the wastewater bubbles ‘round the lobbyists’ feet.
The Mayor points to Water, and Water points to Fed
While a billion-dollar disaster hangs over our head.
The Potomac’s a-waiting for one more collapse,
To turn the West Wing into a giant mud bath!
(Bridge)
Six billion dollars lost in a month,
But hey, look at the bright side:
Congress can’t bicker if they’re swimming in…
Ahem… environmental tragedy.
The National Guard is out on the block
But they can’t fix a pipe with a rifle and a lock.
(Outro)
So raise up your glass! (Wait, don’t drink that yet).
It’s the closest to “transparency” we’re ever gonna get.
Just a slow, steady drip in the dark of the night…
Does anybody have a wrench?
No?
Goodnight, D.C.!
How a Fee To Fight Insurance Fraud Became a Cash Cow… | New York Focus
While Hochul’s budget proposes an additional $2 million from the general fund for the State Police to pursue auto insurance fraud investigations, that figure pales in comparison to the amount of the fee — roughly $115 million — going toward general police spending.
Another Hump Day for Heading Over to Guilderland to Fight Another Development in Pine Bush 🌲 🦋
Honest this time I won’t step in a pile of cow poop when it comes to 24 Karner Road this year, after all Lynne is going to be there to supervise so I’ll have to be on my bestest behavior. That I slept much better after I woke up in my apartment, a sweaty 70 degrees and ran to open the windows and let more fresh air.
By day break it was much cooler but I still I enjoy the fresh air. 🪟 After the landlord replaced the windows, though not the inner window wills, they are much easier to open though I’m not at all sure they actually save me money in energy bills. I think the drafty door downstairs and windows with shot seals downstairs more then make up for the bad windows upstairs. But what I do care, it’s not my building, and the county welfare rate I pay for my rent is roughly equal to whatever minimal heat I loose because I keep the thermostat down. Tonight I’ll close the windows before bed but I am going to hold off a few days before it gets well below freezing before I turn back the heat on. Hopefully that season is beyond us soon.
Busing it to work today, 🚌 going to try to catch the earlier shuttle over the Enterprise 🚀 so I can avoid the protestors and crazies over at the Capitol. Then hopefully it should be another real quiet day at work. I am going to thank the dealership for the test drive on the Holstein Godzilla and continue researching dealer inventories in Upstate NY. Honestly, it was the light gray fabric interior that was the thing that I didn’t like about that truck. If it had been vinyl or dark in color, I would have been okay. And white will be look like a yellowish Holstein cow against the white snow quickly after the kind of roads I drive. There are a lot of options out there, especially if I’m willing to consider the Minizilla and a crew cab. Gray and black are other non-extra cost Ford options, and often custom colors while an added cost really can be negogated down. Get the crew cab and long bed, and you have a 48 gallon tank. That’s a lot of fuel ⛽ which is good in sense that you can avoid gas stations when prices are high and shop around. But the crew cab with the long bed is so long. It’s tough but if I’m spending big bucks for a SuperDuty I am going to get the right one for me. I’ve worked hard to afford a nice truck without any significant negative impact on my finances.
Last night I rode out Five Rivers and hung out at the open seating, 📚 off Fisher Boulevard and watched the deer and wildlife until around dark then rode home 🏡 and had some cornmeal pancakes with kidney beans which were much better after I let them soften upw with more boiling 🍲 yesterday. It was a nice evening, but alas it came too soon with the shortening days and a bit of coolness as it’s still March. 🦌 Yet I know those days will be upon us before you know it.
2023 Ford F-350 STX 6.8ltr V8
The extended cab version of this truck with the Godzilla could be mine if I only wanted it... but I don't. Maybe its that gray interior I'm afraid will stain, the white paint, or the cost but I just can't bring myself to say yes at this point. And I don't know what to do with the whole Middle East conflict, and people yelling, just go buy that 25-year old Honda. It will be great for going to maul to eat Pizza at Suboxone's Italian Kitchen or whatever the kids go to after visiting Stinks-a-Lot Perfume store.
Javascript Vibe Coding and Playing with State Geocoder
First off there is the Property Tax Owner Lookup.
Then there is the Congressonal, State Senate, Assembly District Lookup.
And then Google convinced me I needed to learn how to code a Javascript Speedometer for use on a bicycle or walking.
Whose Land ?
I wrote a little 117 line web progressive app that you can use to see whose property you are currently are on using the NYS Parcels server. You can play with it here and install it on your phone if you so choose.
https://andyarthur.org/property
This runs entirely client side so you can see the source code in your browser, but here is the source on my github account:
Everybody says buy a used car, it will save “so much” money. 🚙
You’d be a fool not buy used.
But has anybody actually looked at the price of used HD work trucks? Yes, you can save money buying a beater truck with 5 years old or with 75,000 miles, but depreciation is such with used HD work trucks when you find one with only a year or two of use on them and only 10-20k miles on the odometer, the cost is only 1-2k less then new. Maybe you can bump up a trim level, get I don’t know nicer seats, but the underlying truck will likely have same engine and transmission for new for very little more. And you have to ask why is somebody selling an almost brand new car? Was it a lemon?
It’s true that passenger cars, like Honda but especially domestic makes like Chevy or Chrysler have steep depreciation, as do higher trims. As used Lariat is going to save money. But it’s the trims and added features that depreciate more then the underlying vehicle. Honda Civics are best bought used, especially if you want something more upscale.
It reminds me of people who insist, buy the plastic house! Plastic houses are such good investments. But for many people, it seems plastic houses are just an excuse for livestyle inflation, an excuse to buy appliances and furniture that quickly wears out and has to be discarded. And excuse to drive to work, burn lots of gas, spend lots of money improving a house which they claim is an investment, but it’s more of a poorly diversified money pit.