Launch the Alert Blogger!

Isn't that deep?

Sarge is taking a day or two off so I decided to hack away at the keyboard for a bit.  I have a feeling that his post will be all over the place so hacking is probably an apt description.  You might get a healthy serving of What's going on in Tuna's world?, a side of current events with a dash of rant,  a dad joke or two tossed in for good measure, and maybe even a sunset.  So buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Speaking of buckling up, my Mustang just passed the 8 year mark, and has gone out of the super extended warranty I purchased when buying.  That also came with a service plan for oil changes with all the fixins.  That too has expired so wouldn't you know, I start having car problems.  I swear there must be some chip in there that knows exactly when the warranty expires and tells stuff to start giving me grief.  I'm taking it in for service tomorrow and will have them check the brakes which are working fine, but the pedal feels soft.  We'll see how expensive it is.  Ford made a ton off that extended warranty- only needing to replace the visor/integrated garage door remote twice.  But the piece of mind was a benefit,  at least that's what I tell myself.  Since we mostly use my wife's car on the weekend or for our longer trips, I'm still under 10K miles per year so I guess I'm fortunate.  I know I could change my own oil, but as both Sarge and I mentioned in a recent post, I'm "under-tooled" and don't mind paying the professionals.

How are you doing with the time change?  Hopefully not as overdramatically as you might see on social media, and even traditional media.  Amazing how this is an annual event now- the incessant whining about losing an hour of sleep.  Does anyone bitch like this when they fly to the east coast and lose 2 or 3 hours?  Such a silly issue. I lose an hour of sleep regularly due to my brain kicking in early, bathroom trips, or staying up late to watch something.  I realize it's not exactly the same as the sun coming up later, but really people?  It's an hour!

Source

I don't know about you but there are some places in the country I wouldn't want to live in if we went to permanent DST.  Sunrise after 10AM?  My wife has mild Seasonal Affective Disorder, and does far better in warmer/sunnier climes, so I wouldn't live there for sure.  Sticking with Standard Time is probably the lesser of two evils, but I don't mind the shift.  The fact that it's so early in the year to lose an hour, and so late in the year to shift back to standard is probably part of the problem/solution, without needing to go to a permanent change.  Will states or congress ever enact a permanent shift?  I doubt it.  Individual states have the authority to opt out of DST and remain on Standard Time, but not permanently shift to DST. (Source)

So, did you do five things last week?  I did, and reported them to the DOGE minders, or whoever seems to be concerned that I might be a fake or less-than-useful federal employee.  I'm all for streamlining the government, but this almost witch hunt and firing of so many employees is a little too fast and furious for my taste.  Is there waste and government inefficiency?  Absolutely, but I think it's a little harder to quantify in the military since our purpose is readiness.  Being ready and waiting to fight is expensive, and but that's a cost well paid, either now in dollars, or in bodies later.

The slashing of bodies (jobs) at the IRS, Dept. of Labor, Education?  Probably a good thing.  US Forest Service?  Hmm, not sure.  The VA?  I've been happy with my care, and I don't see many folks just sitting around idle, but San Diego is a hotspot for vets so maybe they're just too busy here for me to see any the supposed fat that needs trimming.

Seems to be a little brutal and heartless.  Can we easily find those not providing loyal and dedicated service to the govt.?  No.  And someone recently hired, or even in the position for years- it's not necessarily their fault the job could be subjectively ID'd as not needed.  But the efficiency axe swings hard, and any more surgical cuts have not happened, so I guess I understand and accept the cuts.  Are there useless and lazy govt employees?  Sure.  Not all of us are of course, but leadership hasn't had either the interest or mechanism to eliminate positions.  And we can't easily shift the workforce to better align to priorities.

However, maybe I'm not getting the whole picture and President Trump and Elon understand things better than I.  He's been mocked before, yet his efforts eventually turn out to bear fruit.

Instagram

The first comment on that post is from the originator who stated: "I said let the man cook but you never learn."  Had to laugh at that one.  We'll see if the Greenland or Panama Canal issues bear fruit.  Greenland is part of the GI-UK gap, and the Rooskies have been active, so we'll see.

With all that said, I'm ecstatic about some swamp draining, the finding of fraud and corruption, and the sunlight being shined on the deep dark deepstate.  The media is trying to spin the narrative about the jobs being lost, and how the fraud is being found (Elon is unelected and has access to my SSN!), ignoring the corruption, but the cat is out of the bag.

I would probably be happier if Trump put his DOGe on a leash, focusing on one necessary efficiency at a time (govt spending, then cuts of programs/agencies, then reducing personnel), but this is a blitzkrieg.  And the shock and awe is a feature, not a bug.  I've already heard that there's a bill in work to change fed retirements to "High-5" vice "High-3"  (retirement based on the average of your salary over the last 36 months).  So no government program or employee is safe from change.  I'm sure I'll survive, and we'll have a much needed leaner (and somewhat meaner) government after all the dust settles.

How about another Dad Joke?  

My ex-girlfriend was so cold, there was only one way to her heart, with a scalpel and a bone saw.

Being funny at work is a fine line between entertaining your co-workers, but not so funny that you get sent to HR.

On a more sad note, we may have to make the hard decision to put down one of our Corgis.  She got into some Mentos mints, and the main ingredient, Xylitol - a sugar substitute, is acutely poisonous to dogs.  If her liver function doesn't improve and we can stop the plasma transfusions, we may lose her.  This makes me sad, and will absolutely crush my wife.  Throw some doggie prayers our way if you don't mind.

Source

Ok, enough of a hack job for today.  Back to your regularly scheduled blogger soon.  Or when he feels like it.