31 May 2006

More Stray Thoughts

---When someone Googles "special things in puerto rico", where do you think The Jenius would rank? Why thank you! Actually, The Jenius ranks fourth, just behind Taínos, living and diving. I always knew I was a Top 5 Special Attraction in Puerto Rico; now I have proof.

---Less than 24 hours after My posting about the U.S. becoming a police state, the Supreme Court votes 5-4 to limit protection to government whistleblowers, even in justifiable cases. Funny how that topic was #9 on the list and how clamping down on it makes the list even more relevant. I can almost hear the jackboots goose-stepping down Main Street...

---Now that Caguas Mayor "Willie" Miranda Marín has been outed as a potential candidate, his next move is to say "Yes, if..." That's the traditional answer for would-be candidates who haven't (A) raised enough money to run, (B) don't have a finger on the pulse of the electorate and (C) are still many months away from the elections. **NOTE: Before I could post this, Willie pretty much said "Yes, if..." and of course, the bleating retarded sheep in the press went running--running, I tell you!--to tattle on Willie to the jellyfish in La Fortaleza, Aníbal Acebedo Vilá. The jellyfish's response? "It's too early to discuss candidacies at this time." Yeah. Right. (And maybe I should go back to blogging every day...)

---"If you could have either more money or more time, which would you choose?" There's a poll over at Lifehacker that you can give an answer to. My answer? More time. I can always make more money.

---Nine months to The World's Best 10K and I have yet to start training. The reason is simple: I haven't wanted to. Doesn't matter what else I say, it boils down to the simple fact that I haven't wanted to train enough to get started. Time is barely on My side here, as I am probably in the worst shape of My adult life and have never run anything near 10 kilometers at one time. Solution: Raise the stakes. Make it even more imperative to get started. Nothing like some extra pressure to make one react, right?

---Yesterday I took a car to an Inspection Center, a requirement in order to buy the car's local license sticker. known as marbete. The center was a small, cramped, garage/used car sale lot with two cars on sale and two cars in pieces. In the inspection area was a woman talking non-stop on a cell phone, a blue Ford pick-up truck idling away with the probe wand stuck in its tailpipe. On the dark-green screen, a couple of numbers rose and fell as the engine's output was measured.

With a brief pause, the woman took the car's license and propped it on the keyboard. The car I was in idled away, matching the pick-up's rhythm. I strolled around for a few minutes, listening to the woman's almost-constant chatter/whine. One of the cars was a Mazda sports car, electric blue, stick shift. Cool. More strolling. Some silence, then more chattering. I read the required sign that indicates everything to be inspected: lights, horn, wipers, brakes, door and window integrity...

Suddenly: "Here you go." The inspection certification was printed, the sixth in the last series of the day. Eleven dollars. I don't think she ever looked at the car. Standard procedure? Maybe not, but I can assure you non-Puerto Ricans out there that what I've just described is the dream scenario for a large number of My People. Should I have objected or rejected the certification? Puh-lease. I'm a Jenius, not an Ydiot. We all know the inspection is a song-and-dance only, like the doctor's examination to get your driver's license. Stupidly-implemented procedures that should be stringent, but have simply become legal scams.

Unfortunately, it seems that too many things in Puerto Rico have become legal scams, leading to a sense of anarchy. Anarchy can arise from a lack of moral and ethical values or from open contempt of laws. Personally, The Jenius became an anarchist in this case for the second reason. It can be argued that the first reason applies just as well.

Practicality? Depressing? My vote is "both."

The Jenius Has Spoken.

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