#lanse is the younger one but people think shes the older one

[angryborzois]

ocs

[devilsknotrp]

THE BLITZ

Age: Thirty Occupation: Systems Research Analyst Personality: Curious, generous, open-minded; nosy, directionless, disorganized. Faceclaim: Julian Morris

Bobby Davies, the know-it-all. At school everyone knew Bobby as the zany kid who carried around huge books on Bigfoot and seemed to have thousands of useless facts squared away in his brain. Despite his eccentricities, he was clearly going somewhere. That was what all of his teachers said; that was what his SAT scores said. Everything pointed due north, to certain success. Then 1984 crashed all around him, and Bobby’s compass went wildly off-center. Shortly after Max Acosta was arrested, Bobby and his then-boyfriend, Perry Esposito, jacked Perry’s dad’s car and drove West. All Bobby wanted was the freedom to be himself, to be with the guy he’d loved for years and years. No more sneaking around. Just them. Bobby’s blanked out what happened next. All he remembers is a fight in a parking lot somewhere in California. Then he’d stolen the car and disappeared into the sunset. He didn’t see Perry again. Bobby ended up in the Silicon Valley. He had no cash, no prospects, no qualifications. But that was boom time: nobodies became somebodies, and all on the sniff of an oily rag (or a line of cocaine at a poolside party). Bobby slipped into the grimy, hazy world of internet start up companies, and soon resurfaced at some tech business with a pinky ring and an inflated sense of self-importance. It was never going to last. Plastic promises made by plastic people, and Bobby was one of them. Bobby crawled back to Devil’s Knot. He works in Lansing, which is far less glamorous than the West Coast. Being in his home town is alienating. He feels, weirdly, like he let everyone down. He might have left rehab and a dozen flaky boyfriends in the rearview mirror, but he’s at a crossroads. And with history repeating itself, he has a nasty sense of deja vu. Bobby half wonders if he’s come back for a reason, one he hasn’t figured out yet.

MAGGIE DAVIES → Mother, very close, always honest. JUDITH DAVIES → Grandmother, placates, thinks she’s a bit controlling but ultimately harmless. DEBORAH DAVIES → Younger half sister, doesn’t really know her, a surprise, feels a bit like she replaced him. TONY JONES →  Older half-brother, recently reconnected, getting to know properly. PERRY ESPOSITO → Ex-boyfriend, haven’t talked since Bobby’s return, unresolved tension. JOE COEHLO → Flirtationship, acquaintance, easy fun. MANDY SILVERMAN, MARY HAWKER, MICHAEL “MIKE” HAWKER, JENNY TAYLOR → Childhood friends, “the Scooby Gang”, drifted away from all of them, reconnecting.

Bobby is TAKEN

[mac-lc-dude-blog]

Why I Miss Oldsmobile

Last week, I was informed I had won a coupon for a buy one, get one admission to the Ransom E. Olds Transportation Museum in Lansing, Michigan. The coupon should arrive in the mail sometime soon, and I intend to spend a day there sometime in the latter half of the fall. (Who wants to be my guest with the free pass?)

The contest I had entered for this prize was run by a Facebook page called Outright Oldsmobile. Amidst a sea of news stories, political opinions, worthless Buzzfeed clickbait, complaints about Mondays or bills, and cookie cutter wedding pictures, Outright Oldsmobile offers something to look forward to within the news feed. The posts typically feature a photo or video of an Oldsmobile. Unlike most public posts, where comments tend to be derogatory more often than not, the comments on these posts typically are positive, consisting of memories from those who owned or aspired to own the cars shown. Most of these posters are at least 30, if not older, and have a good recall of the division, if not its heyday.

Oldsmobile ceased production in 2004 after a 107 year run. While there was little to set the division apart during its final few years, the Oldsmobile of earlier times is something our auto industry--and culture in general--could really use right now.

We live in an era of homogenization and complacency, fueled in part by mass media. I always shake my head at the number of people who go to work just to make money, then come home to complain about bills or Mondays and be content with a night of watching mediocre yet somehow popular television shows while sipping on the same pumpkin spice latte as everyone else in this country. Most people don’t seek out superior options anymore, despite the fact they do exist, and are content with comfort and knowing they will be accepted by most of society for following the road commonly taken.

This anti-Robert Frost attitude has crossed over into our vehicles. Take a look at the nearest parking lot. Most of the cars will look indistinguishable from each other to a naked eye. There may be an occasional standout, often some older vehicle, but by and large, the only real differences are size and overall style. Even the color choices are bland these days, particularly in the interior (where “beige or gray” has become the new “paper or plastic”). Under the hood, most of these cars are usually unremarkable as well. Many of the cars are considered appliances by their owners, nothing more than a way to get from Point A to Point B. Those who follow Outright Oldsmobile recall a day when cars were much more than that, especially if the car was an Oldsmobile.

General Motors once had a hierarchy known as the Sloan Ladder, named for the man who popularized the theory. Car buyers would start with a Chevrolet, then work their way up to Cadillac by means of Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick. Four of the five divisions are easy to classify. Chevrolet, of course, is the all-American, bread-and-butter car. Pontiac was the performance division. Buick was and still is the bourgeoisie brand, offering near-luxury offerings with conservative styling. Cadillac, of course, is the standard of full-fledged luxury. What about Oldsmobile?

Oldsmobile was the aspirational brand in the lineup. The products were distinctly a cut above those of Chevrolet or any of the competing brands (Ford, Dodge, and the like). The entry-level models often emphasized performance, while the upper tiers combined that with luxurious appointments. It was something Americans wanted to own, something to strive to achieve in life. An Oldsmobile was a status symbol, showing that its owner had advanced a few steps on the ladder of success. It may not have been a Cadillac, but it let other drivers know that the person behind the wheel was on their way to reaching that level. Even within Oldsmobile’s lineup, climbing the hierarchy from entry-level to Ninety Eight or Toronado was an accomplishment in of itself.

Think about today’s cars. Aside from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and a few of the other more prestigious brands, how many aspirational marques of vehicles even exist today? Ford eliminated Mercury, one of Oldsmobile’s competitors, from its stable of brands. There are no upper-mid level brands for most of the other vehicles out there. Some vehicles are known for value, some are known for reliability, but only a handful of cars actually have a reputation for performance, aspiration, or both. 

This trend, sadly, has poured over into other areas of life. People take jobs just to have an income, not because they want to continuously improve themselves and make an impact in their sector. Rather than seek out raises, promotions, new clients, or new opportunities, many expect it to either be handed to them or to just go with the flow. Some may attain advanced degrees and hope things fall into place, but the drive to actually work toward something is what appears to be missing from the younger generation. Even if it’s not an Oldsmobile-type car, it could be something else: a sailboat, a better house, an extra property to rent out. Where is that feeling of wanting to advance? Is it still here, or is it buried under a mountain of complacency?

Interestingly, the one area where younger people don’t seem to have this feeling of complacency is in their technology. The same folks who are content with not seeking out better work will always be in line for a new iPhone and pick up on all the latest social media platforms. What if other industries--such as cars--could actually innovate technologically?

Oldsmobile did this in their heyday. Remember the Rocket V8 engine? When it first came out, the high-compression powertrain was universally acclaimed as the best in the industry. Oldsmobile was the first company to mass-produce the automatic transmission and turbocharger. The Toronado, introduced in 1966, was remarkable for its front wheel drive platform, a first for a high-volume American vehicle. Several years later, the Toronado was the first vehicle to offer a factory-installed airbag. The 1989 Toronado Trofeo introduced a touchscreen system to the center console, similar to today’s infotainment systems (though with a CRT and MS-DOS style graphics). The 1995 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight even had a feature called Guidestar, an early onboard navigation system.

All of these innovations were risky when introduced. Who would have predicted most vehicles sold in the United States would eventually be front-drive cars with automatic transmissions, airbags, infotainment systems, and onboard navigation? Perhaps the visionaries at Oldsmobile did, but the general public did not. They viewed the innovations as curiosities, which later became indispensable, copied throughout the industry, and adapted to changing times. We looked to Olds for the new technology (and often for the futuristic styling, evident in cars as recent as the 1990 Silhouette or 1995 Aurora).

Other industries have taken risks. Younger generations are familiar with Apple’s gambles on the iMac, iPod, and iPhone. Amusement park fans may recall details of first-of-their-kind rides: the immediate downhill plunge of the Thunderbolt at Kennywood, the length of The Beast at King’s Island, or the immaculate detail and faster-than-gravity drop of Disney’s Tower of Terror. In the fashion industry, Abercrombie & Fitch took calculated risks to attract young customers in the late 1990s and early 2000s, both in marketing and unconventional style (namely, destroyed and distressed denim). Even in education, Mary Dolciani made waves when she introduced modern math to the masses; today, all math curricula incorporate at least some Dolcianian ideas. All of these gambles impacted industries, and a company undoubtably mentioned at corporate meetings was Oldsmobile, who transformed virtually every sector of the auto industry in some way with their innovations.

Where are these risk takers today? When will we see a manufacturer try some radical new idea in our cars? Note that self-driving cars don’t count here, we’re talking about a way to improve the actual routine of human driving, which will be around for a long time due to legal, ethical, and moral concerns of robotic vehicles. Small steps are one thing, but where are the giant leaps, such as an ultra-efficient engine or the ability to detect and hover over potholes? Outside the auto industry, where is the product to wipe the iPhone off the face of the earth? (I, for one, am still waiting for a smartphone that’s good at being a PHONE--offering superior quality and a voice messaging system that works as well as my circa-1990 AT&T answering machine--and a way to use AIM-style away messages for texting, something we could do on much older technology 15 years ago).

Sadly, we are in an age of complacency. It’s actually what killed Oldsmobile, too, along with cost-cutting. Although the company continued to innovate, they also sold a model called the Cutlass Ciera with only minimal changes for 15 consecutive model years. Rather than develop the subcompact Firenza in-house, General Motors simply slapped an Oldsmobile rocket on a Chevrolet Cavalier and sold it under a different brand name. Quality issues plagued the early-1980s Omega, the late 1980s “not your father’s Oldsmobile” marketing campaign backfired, and unique features disappeared as models were redesigned. The once-remarkable engines were replaced by uninspiring powertrains. Who would have expected the noisy and primitive Quad 4 to show up in the aspirational division of General Motors?

Take a look at other companies. When was the last time Apple introduced something you just had to have as a new feature on your phone? When did you last stop and think about going to a particular restaurant because of some exciting new item on their menu? Do you remember when Macy’s was actually a good place to shop and not a strewn-about pile of Charter Club closeouts? Do you remember when Olive Garden food wasn’t cooked by a microwave operator? Oldsmobile was a storied, once-great company ruined by complacency and cost-cutting. Do you want to see other companies continue down the same path into oblivion?

More importantly, check yourself. Are you following the path of the latter-day Oldsmobile? Is there a 1996 Cutlass Ciera, nearly identical to a 1982 Cutlass Ciera, somewhere in your closet? If so, it’s past its expiration date and needs to be replaced by something the 1960s Oldsmobile division would be proud of--a modern day Toronado, perhaps. If you do happen to have something recent, how can you improve it and continue to make it interesting? (If you do have a still-working classic, can you make it relevant to today’s world and show it is a superior option? This is what I do with my classic Macs, which are still a great choice for educational software, but often need a few adaptations to fit modern scope and sequence; imagine if the Cutlass Ciera had been kept competitive while retaining its best classic features.)

I’m a small business owner and have to think about this every day. My overall product will always be the same, just as Oldsmobile’s was always selling cars. However, Oldsmobile was known for innovation and being a brand people wanted to own and others wanted to imitate. If my business isn’t reaching those  goals, no matter how well it is doing otherwise, I’ll have to keep pushing forward. The same is true in my personal life. Just because the Cutlass Ciera sold well in the late 1990s didn’t make it the best vehicle on the market.

We need a company like the Oldsmobile of the 1960s and 1970s once again, and not just in the automobile industry. We need it to set a good example for aspiration and innovation in business and in the lives of Americans everywhere.

Someday, I’ll have a restored 1977 Delta 88 in my garage. My grandparents had one, and it was a remarkable car in every way. In addition to being a fun future project for me to work on, it would be a constant reminder of Oldsmobile at its peak--a company we should all attempt to emulate.

[shockerstopperz-blog]

Being hopelessly OPPRESSED

I just wanted to address a few more examples of bullying that I need to deal with and why I am so cautious about taking jobs that would result in me losing my section 8.

My section 8is supposed to serve as a point of leverage against those harassing me, such as, no longer can they tell my employers to fire me for not wanting to be their friend or have sex with them or date them, such as could be expected of Gordon Parschall.

While at the VOA, this tall apparently older white female, definitely not in her twenties, decided to start talking to me on the food line.

My reaction was, “what the fuck. because I am single and standing in the line by myself does not mean I would be interested in you”.

That was another one of those people who felt that I must be single because I think girls are not interested in me, oh, and since she was white, no one else was interested in her, but I guess she concluded that I was desperate and would appreciate her interest.

Well, my response did not go too well, because people are always watching me.

As it turns out, and she wanted me to know, she and one of the black female employees at the VOA were good friends.

And by wanted me to know, it was as if she meant there was to be consequences for not being interested in her, such as being denied assistance.

The black female is the petite black female who Tony Woods once tried to get me to call for him. They call each other sister this and brother that. That sound like a calypso song right there.

Which, by the way, I think was harassment in the sense that was him trying to get me to talk to her.

Now, imagine that I was actually working at the VOA. Like every other job, it would have been a case of me and your manager are friends and I told them about you not being interested in being friends with me.

But that is why I am trying to get a couple of internships with the state, or internships in general, to try to anticipate potential problems, such as what took place at Liquid Web. That was one of those situations where you knew right from the get go that you would have to quit in less than a year.

And, also, besides the bullying at IBM, they had a program where you were told to donate money to charities of your choice, where once I received an email or the website said they would be checking to verify that everyone made their donations.

First off, that is a class action lawsuit. You cannot force people to make donations by suggesting termination of employment.

The thing is, companies look for people who have been unemployed and receiving government assistance to hire. The reason being, they receive incentives from the government.

The thing is, to some companies, that i an opportunity to exploit their workers.

And in this case, donate money or return to being unemployed. And if you are indian and come in this country and make plenty money, then you better watch your back, or back to india.

That also seem to be a trend out here. These charities network with companies, so there is always someone they know at a company. Three separate charities wanted me to know that they know people at certain companies.

Another good reason to not to work for the city of lansing: these people are their friends.

Look I need to go continue to ponder my way out of this bullshit harassment that has taken control of my entire life, since younger than ten years old.

[shockerstopperz-blog]

Some more bullshit

I hate when bullshit annoys me.

Well, it have some of these older white females that work at Kroger supermarkets,  Holt and South Lansing, that seem to feel empowered by wanting to suggest to me that if I dont want to accept their policies then go some place else.

That is rather interesting because that is exactly what I did back in 2013: I started shopping other places.

In fact, one of the reasons I was so desperately trying to go live in the East Lansing / Okemos area was to avoid having to shop there again.

Well, until I get a car and a job, I dont have a choice but to shop there.

Today, I went to pay a bill and their attitude was, I have to pay the fee in cash, with a hint of or go some place else.

I guess I am the little nigger from the Caribbean they dont need to show respect.

And in a strange twist of things, I applied to one of their jobs recently. The only thing more odd than that is they actually interviewed me, and actually acted as if they were interested in hiring me, then one day after an interview I returned to buy something and one of their white females was trying to be rather friendly with me, which did not yield the response she expected.

As should be expected, I am worth in excess of $15 Trillion with every celebrity wishing they could get to be friends with me, yet I dont care, bet your bottom dollar, I was not going to care.

Well, I was scheduled for their drug testing. The odd thing is, they sent me a thanks for applying email at 9am, at which point I was almost there so not until I got home I discovered that.

The point being, the DHS asked why not apply to Kroger, they were hiring. Okay, well soon enough I will need to file for assistance. So my attitude was, if they hired me, they hired me.

Except a lot has changed since I received my section 8 papers, such as the peoples females has shown greater interest in me in terms of being friendly, except I am not desperate so I simply be polite to the people and go on my way.

The point is, it is possible that they concluded that once again I was still not going to be friends with their females, except the older ones have a problem with me, which they are aware off. They send a younger one to replace the older one. Which suggest that the people are aware that their older/mature white females dislike me because according to them white women are better than coloreds so I should be interested in dating white women, not colored women.

But as I said already, once I get a car, much like before, I would be doing most of my shopping some place else, and preferably some place where I dont have to be constantly harassed by these angry older white females that feel I should be dating white women instead and want me to know as a result they dont like me.

But that is life. No needing to go at Kroger on a killing spree simply because I was in a good mood, as in not depressed.

What I wanted to say was, I really wanted the reason they did not hire me was because of poor character. Why? Because I keep meeting trash that wants to be friend with me except I am of poor character and as such cannot bring them selves to be friends with me unless I am more like them.

Except they admit they need me to take them to the big leagues, I just need to be more like them: professional and of good character.

The good news about that is, for every one of them, there are ten that wants me to know that they are only interested in if I can do the job and not my personal life.

Well, let these shameless fools sit around waiting for me to be more like them. I would only continue to shop there because it is more convenient, and much like back in 2014, I would no longer be shopping there once I get a car.

With these kinds of people you need to remind them why you still shop there despite not being interested in them otherwise they would continue to think it is because you are interested in them.