{"id":10703,"date":"2012-07-17T03:09:44","date_gmt":"2012-07-17T10:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/ClaireWolfe\/?p=10703"},"modified":"2012-07-17T03:09:44","modified_gmt":"2012-07-17T10:09:44","slug":"something-for-nothing-and-nothing-for-something","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/17\/something-for-nothing-and-nothing-for-something\/","title":{"rendered":"Something for nothing, something for dummies, and nothing for something"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week you no doubt heard news about the highly successful scam: The Obama administration will pay your utility bills!<\/a> Just give us your social security number …<\/p>\n

First thought is what kind of moron would fall for that? Second thought is: a whole nation of morons. Isn’t that exactly how the welfare state works, anyhow?<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

Speaking of dumb stuff to fall for, Microsoft is revamping its Office suite. One of the big changes is that it will now store all documents and settings in the cloud<\/i><\/a> by default. (H\/T PT for the link.)<\/p>\n

Nothing against the cloud. I can see its uses. And as David wrote in a comment a few months back, there are ways and there are ways<\/a>. But letting Little Brother default all of your documents and settings out of your physical control is, I’m sorry, just nucking futz. Especially when LibreOffice<\/a> is right there …<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

Speaking of something for nothing, I befriended a neighbor a few months ago and am regretting it. I first met his little kids while walking the dogs. Later I learned the family had been homeless on and off and had just been kicked out of an old church where they’d been staying for free. Now they have a house about five blocks from here.<\/p>\n

The kid are sweet and I felt sorry for them, so when Dad started asking a few small favors, I was glad to help. I drove him to a food bank in a nearby town. I found somebody who’d give him a free used computer. Stuff like that. No big deal.<\/p>\n

Then I asked Dad to help me move a heavy piece of furniture (for pay). He showed up an hour late with no apology, and was obviously sound asleep when I called at noon to remind him. He did an incredible job when he finally showed, hoisting a desk onto his shoulders and carrying it upstairs without wanting any help from me. Impressive.<\/p>\n

But now he seems to expect things from me with zero neighborliness from him in return. Last week he came over and asked if I would take him to a grocery store in another town. There’s a supermarket within long walking distance of here. But that one wouldn’t do. It had to be the smaller, but nicer, store six miles farther away. I said no, but with the wussy excuse that I was busy.<\/p>\n

Today his kids showed up on my doorstep saying Dad sent them over to borrow $6 so they could go swimming. He’d pay me back this weekend. I was appalled. What kind of parent would send little kids to a woman they barely know to borrow money? Still, I like the kids and it was a rare day for a swim. So I gave it to them. Yeah, weak.<\/p>\n

I’ll be surprised if I see that $6 again. But that’s good. It’ll give me a reason to say more solid nos to these folks; eventually they’ll decide I’m useless and quit tapping me for favors. It would make all the difference in the world if anybody in the family reciprocated. You know, bring a batch of cookies. Have the kids draw a thank-you card. But nope, it’s all one way.<\/p>\n

Dad has never been nasty, but he’s a big dude and with his outsized sense of entitlement, I worry a little about how to extricate myself without ticking him off.<\/p>\n

The family is on public assistance, of course. And just had a fourth child. Sigh.<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

But of course, when you consider the kind of mentality<\/a> people are actually encouraged<\/i> to have, these days … <\/p>\n

H\/T JS for that link, which goes to the now-famous statement from Our Glorious Leader about how if you have a successful business it’s only because government made it possible. The creepy thing is, there’s some truth in what Big O says. Every one who achieves anything builds on the accomplishments of other people (note to Obama: some build a heck of a lot more than others). But wowee shazam, is there ever a huge difference between saying, “We all stand on the shoulders of giants” or “Millions of people pursuing their own self-interest make the world go ’round” vs. “Hey, what’s yours is everybody else’s, so hand it over so I can pass it out to my buddies.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week you no doubt heard news about the highly successful scam: The Obama administration will pay your utility bills! Just give us your social security number … First thought is what kind of moron would fall for that? Second thought is: a whole nation of morons. Isn’t that exactly how the welfare state works, anyhow? —– Speaking of dumb stuff to fall for, Microsoft is revamping its Office suite. One of the big changes is that it will now store all documents and settings in the cloud by default. (H\/T PT for the link.) Nothing against the cloud. I…<\/p>\n

Continue readingSomething for nothing, something for dummies, and nothing for something<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,11,18,28,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computers-and-technology","category-government","category-mind-and-spirit","category-privacy-and-self-ownership","category-rural-and-small-town-living","ratio-natural","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10703\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}