The Last Day of March

It is now 14:33 when I start my entries. I went to bed about 00:40, and awoke about 02:30 to pee. I then awoke about 06:30, and mom woke me at 07:50. I tried to go back to sleep, but arose at 08:20.

I took my Metformin pill before breakfast which I started at 08:40. I had a banana, two slices of bacon (cut in half), and a fried egg with the yolk broke, and a slice of onion minced into the egg. I also had two pieces of toast with margarine. I drank a cup of coffee with cream and Equal®. I chatted with mom, and did various chores. One question came to mind from the article that I read about the passage of the city budget (along with the extra fee to be charged for trash pickup).

The article mentioned that fact that supervisors would check the trash collections to ensure that people are keeping their written promises to recycle. My question is: how many supervisors does the Solid Waste Division have to check on recycling?

My mom wants to know if the supervisors will check inside the recycling containers to ensure that people are actually recycling what they should. I checked my blood pressure about 10:30. It was 119/71 with a pulse of 73. When I ran regularly as a young man my pulse was often 55 a half hour after a 5-6 mile run. Mom’s blood pressure was 195/80 with a pulse of 56.

At 10:50 I went to the basement to feed the cats. “Grandma” came right to me when I put the contents on a plate. I took the labels off of some empty medicine bottles, and cleaned some dirty plates. I checked on the wild cats. The black-and-white one and I “meowed at each other. I came up with a couple of chores to do.

At 11:45 I put Frontline on “Lucky Charmed”, and put him in the bedroom that dad used to sleep in to let it dry.

At 11:55 I started on my walk. I left the front door, and turned north (right) onto Chapin St., and then then turned right (east) the alley that runs by my neighbor’s house. I then turned north (left) on the alley that runs parallel to Chapin Street, and turned (right) east onto Walbridge. I turned north (left) onto Langdon, and crossed the street, and turned right (east) onto Boalt.

I followed Boalt east until I came to Marion where I turned left (north). I crossed Western, and continued on Marion until I ended at Segur where I turned right (east). I came out on Broadway, and crossed Broadway, and turned north (left). I then turned right (east) onto Segur again, and followed Segur until I turned right (south) onto Sumner at 12:19.

A few minutes of walking brought me to an unfolding scene. A blue paneled truck with "Emergency" and "Water Division" printed on the driver's door pulled up in front of what used to be the “Great Lakes Book Store” on Sumner.

A white, middle-aged male got out, and went to the front door of a house on my side of the street as I approached the scene. He knocked on the door while a black guy who was with him went to a fire hydrant that was in front of the house.

The black guy took out a wrench and was going to do something while the white guy continued to knock on the door. The ground around the fire hydrant had recently been dug into. I continued on without ever being the wiser to what was going on.

I turned right (west) onto Walbridge at 12:24. About 12:40 I was passing the rear of the strip mall at the “Broadway South Shopping Center” when I saw some cardboard boxes in one of the dumpsters that appeared to be behind the “Family Dollar Store” rear entrance at the mall. I got information about the various dumpsters.

If you looked at the strip mall from the rear these dumpsters had the following ownership (left to right): Wes Stevens Disposal (ph: 856-8451; 1-800-779-0344), Allied Waste Services (800-589-9139; http://www.disposal.com/), BFI (1-800-234-3459), in back of the “Rice King” carryout was one for grease from G. A. Wintzer & Son of Wapakoneta, OH (1-800-331-1801) which was rather small, and, finally, one from Waste Management, www.wm.com, ph: 666-2640, which seemed to be in back of the Cash AdvantEase check cashing place, or the Small Smiles Dental Clinic. I wanted this information because I wanted to find out if these private solid waste contractors recycled or just paid to put it in Toledo's landfill or another (maybe in another state). After I got this information I continued on my walk.


The Broadway South Shopping Center has the following stores in the mall (left to right from the front entrances): a McDonald’s that is separated to the left and in front on the strip mall, a “Subway Restaurant” on the left, with “Rent-a –Center” to its immediate right, then Small Smiles Dental Clinic further right, a Family Dollar Store to the right of that, next a Rice King Restaurant to its right, and Laundromat at the extreme right with a Taco Bell separated from the strip mall to its right and toward the front.

I went south on Frank Street, and turned right (west) onto South Avenue, and crossed South, and continued south onto Langdon. I then crossed Langdon, and Colburn, and turned right (southwest) onto Broadway. I got the entrance to the South Branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library at 12:53.

I read a couple of articles in the latest issue of “Time” magazine, picked out a couple of movies on DVD, chatted with the librarian about the weather, looked at the free literature, and left the library at 13:05. I called Irene, and asked her if she wanted me to pick up a copy of the new issue of the “Toledo Free Press”. She okay’d that, and I said I would have her copy for her tomorrow if we went shopping.

I got home about 13:08, puttered around, and started lunch at 13:30. A peanut butter sandwich with provolone cheese, a cup of tea with milk and Equal®, some green beans, and a 4 ounce slice of cherry pie. I finished about 14:00, and did a few other things. It is now 15:14.

Almost a disaster! My cat and one of my mom's got to wrestling. They knocked my DSL modem off the table, and must have put enough stress on stuff to drop my signal. I was getting that "Blogger" couldn't connect with its server. I then saved what I could, shut everything out, and had to use the "Yahoo" software to troubleshoot the problem. It turned out to be a software issue, and everything was back to normal.

After I couldn't get "Yahoo" to reconnect I turned off the computer, and let everything come back up. I'm no engineer, but I try to make frequent backups, and shutting down is time consuming but has done the trick many times so far. I had do another round of editing (it wouldn't or didn't save all the changes I did to the text). Now I can save this post, and boor other people with it.

An Evening Walk in Late March

I went downstairs about 16:00, and then did a few things (I think one of them was to put a drop of antibiotic fluid in mom’s eye). I then started along my alley toward South Avenue about 16:45.

I then remembered that I had videos to return that I had forgotten. I returned to my bedroom, got them, and left again at 16:55. I went to the South Branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, returned the DVDs, and started on my walk at 17:03.

I decided to go west (left) on Colburn. As I pass the corner of Colburn, and the street were the “drug house” used to be (near the old St. James Catholic Church) I saw a fellow that used to be part of the movement there.

I went across the street to talk to him. I asked him if he knew about the “block watch” meeting at the Aurora Gonzalez administrative offices. He didn’t but he said they were going to start up the group like we had before (not a formal ‘block watch”), and he had plans to try to get the landlords behaving more responsibly.

We chatted about 20 minutes, and then went our separate ways (he had a little bull-dog that started tugging at his left pant’s leg from jealousy because its “master” was paying attention to me rather than it). I turned right (north) onto Stebbins, and followed South Avenue west (right) across the Anthony Wayne Trail, and then turned left (south) onto Griffin.

I then followed Daniels south (a shallow right turn). I arrived at Prouty, and a side street just before you cross Hawley at 17:36. I followed Prouty until I turned left (south) onto Woodsdale at 17:53. I then came to the corner of Woodsdale, and Nelson at 17:57.

I turned east (left) on Nelson. I turned left (north) onto Lodge at 18:05. I turned right (east) onto Grafton, and at 18:10 turned left (north) onto Carlton. At 18:14 I turned east (right) onto Colburn, and at 18:26 I arrived at the Wendy’s on South Avenue, and the Anthony Wayne Trail. I started to get a grilled chicken combo, but the cashier said it would be 12 minutes before the chicken would be ready.

That decided me on a fish sandwich. That wasn't quite ready either, but they said it would be four minutes. While I waited they got together the chili that I wanted and a “Dr. Pibb”, which was pretty good. I ate my meal, and then ordered a fish sandwich for mom after I found that she would eat one in the second call I made to her. The sandwiches were very good, mom liked hers better than McDonald's fish sandwiches (which she usually gets).

I left the Wendy’s about 18:57. I then walked on South Avenue, crossed the Trail, and then saw kids (20-25 of them) playing on the playground equipment at the Aurora Gonzalez Commity Center playground. I think that is the most that I have ever seen on playground equipment at one time. Some older teens and adults kept watch over them (either walking around the area where all the kids play), or playing some games within eye– and ear-shot of that scramble.

At 19:05 as I was passing the Marathon station on South Avenue, near Broadway. A city bus came to the stop there, and let a guy off. I arrived home at 19:14. I then talked to mom, and watched some tv before I decided to try to finish this writing. I went upstairs at 19:46, but mom called and said we should put drops in her eyes. I confirmed that, and returned to do them. I went upstairs at 20:07 to try to make these entries. I finished the above at 20:40. Now it is time to save the above, put some of into my blog, and read a little while before I turn into bed early. I am really tired.

Walking Around the Neighborhood

I went on a walk about 11:55. I walked east on South, crossed at Langdon, and headed south. I crossed at Broadway, and mailed Mrs. Taylor two cards (one from mom and one from me). I then followed Colburn east, and turned south (right) onto Congress. I turned left (east) on Orchard, and at 12:00 I encountered two Division of Water trucks (Nos. 5101 and 5162) that had crews trying to stop what seemed to be leak. I continued east, and at 12:06 turned north (left) onto Maumee. I then turned left (west) onto Colburn, and then right (north) onto Congress. I crossed South Avenue, and went into the “Broadway Food Center” where I bought the bananas I buy there every other day for .39/lb. I then left the store, crossed Broadway, and went through the parking lot of South Heritage Shopping Center (a strip mall that was going to save our local economy), and out onto the sidewalk by Walbridge. I turned west (left), and walked until I came to the alley that runs behind my garage. I had encountered our mail carrier, “Tammy”, who my mom, Mrs. Taylor (our neighbor), and Irene all say they love. She works hard, but still has time to be friendly. We talked for a few minutes as we went the same direction on her route. I had worked at the Main Post Office, and found out that her mother had worked there on the LSMs (which I also did). I didn’t catch her name (she may have been on a different shift), but I reminisced about my days of “learning a scheme”. She brings credit to the Postal Service by being the hard-working, friendly person she is.

Old South End Toledo

Old South End Toledo

Thinking Like a Libertarian

Libertarianism and Environment

I was thinking how the “invisible hand” of the marketplace could lead environmentalists to realize their ideal but in a way they might not have realized. If “freedom” is the most important right in human society, especially economic freedom, then many goods, both economic and ethical, flow from it. Consider environmentalism.

In the past wealth accrued to the few from the enslavement of the many, and the harnessing of their labor. Those between the supreme ruler and the lowest unit of production were rewarded for their loyalty and efficiency with a larger share of the goods produced, and perhaps the pick of the females (in most instances wealth was “earned” by the male members of families). We’ve seen the development of various stages of economic thought with the end result of the flowering of capitalism.

Capitalism was brought under “control” by such men as Theodore Roosevelt. It was channeled, and “regulated”. Libertarianism says this is wrong. We are now following a different and “purer” path for the accumulation of wealth. Many professionals have regulated their “professions” so that certain “standards” are met, and the public has the short-hand of having professionals meeting a certain “standard”, and, therefore, securing a certain “customary” fee for their services.

The recent Republican administrations have tried to “free” the accumulation of capital, and this has resulted in an accumulation of wealth in the topmost 1-2% of our society. This could also lead to an environmental ideal.

Consider the following: in the past wealth arose from providing the means of mass consumption. That is one way to accumulate wealth. But that isn’t the only way. With the accumulation of wealth through mass consumption there is a whole panoply of mechanisms for securing that wealth. Among them are trying to secure “market share”, “monopoly”, and other –opolies. This doesn’t have to be so.

With the rise of robotization, and "just-in-time" production goods can be targeted almost to the individual. If one wishes to accumulate wealth he can provide goods to individuals with almost microscopic precision aimed at his “target” audience. No need to produce thousands of units of expensive items that may or may not be consumed. The mass-produced items such as razor blades can be produced in third world countries more cheaply than in high wage countries in the West. But now we may begin to see a shift in methods for higher priced items such as cars. If an individual (or group of individuals) wishes he can decide how much wealth he needs to accumulate, and act accordingly. This is how the good to the environment can come. I (as a wealthy manufacturer of cars, say) decide that I can comfortably live on $30,000,000 a year. I figure out the highest price point that I can get away with, and produce just that number of cars. Maybe I add some kind of cachet to my cars, making people believe it is the new heir to the Rolls Royce. Instead of trying to increase consumption, I try to decrease it while at the same time generating wealth for myself. I have lower costs in materials, labor, advertising, etc. And I help the environment. Maybe I pioneer a method of pre-ordering my product so that I know what I need in the way of materials and labor to produce the goods each year. In this case, I have pioneered a way to accumulate wealth that relies less on mass production (and consumption), and more on “targeting” the population that will “consume” my eventual output.

This is why the accumulation of wealth with the upper 1-2% may be a very good thing for the environment. This 1-2% of the population can only buy so many of the mass consumables that we need for everyday use. Most of us only use one razor blade a day (or, for myself, one a week). Most of us can only eat so many pounds of steak in a week, or tomatoes a week. So the wealthy won’t add to the consumption there. What will they consume? High-end items are likely. They will want bigger houses for their wives and girlfriends, more cars, bigger cars, and more land to have peace and quiet in. We are told they will want to invest so that we will have things to consume. But we may not have the wealth (that they have accumulated) to consume them. Some of them will decide to consume more high-ticket items (which will be few in number, and more artfully constructed). This will require more time per item to construct to exacting specifications, but less items. This should cut down on the drain to the environment. Those of us who provide the goods and services to this 1-2% of the population will have the pleasure of constructing almost industrial works of art, and will go home to our homes at night drained but content in a job well done.

So on the one hand the “freedom” to accumulate wealth is championed, and on the other the environment is less impacted in the future.