h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm sorry to get back to you so late. I was a bit startled to see your post in the middle of an unrelated conversation! I don't change gears so easily at my age, is the only excuse I can give.

I'm curious, what is a Muse of American Ways? As you've probably discovered, I am also an American. I first joined this site five years ago, to get an insight into things we never hear about in the U.S., like World News as other than a 10 second sound bite.

I've always thought I should be a Muse of something -- unemployment maybe? I could advise the unemployed to keep their chins up, or something! Or I could be a Muse to cats, although if my two are any indication, they'd never listen anyway.

Hope you're glad you came back; it's a much scrappier place these days -- a lot of flaming in the recent past. This has come close to ruining H2G2, but things seem to have died down again. I sure hope it stays that way!

Later, Moatas

SC

Hello again, SC;
Yes, being the muse of American ways has its rewards like...er...I get to tell everyone who's not an American where they're wrong and straighten them out about the real US of A. And you, too, can be a muse, just drop by the 'muse' department and see which ones they have open. If I hadn't gotten this one, I was thinking about being the muse of television remote controls. You should always go with your strong points.
I, too, am unemployed. After working at one place for 16 years plus, I was let go due to a physical ailment. So here I am...just..er...doing stuff like..mmmmm...well, I'm trying to start a mail-order business. Now, this is my first year and I've had some successes but sofar, I'm still not out of the red yet. But with the help of my family, we're working on it. Oddly enough, sending out flyers is only a small part of the job right now. Remember; Profit is good.
I have two cats as well, both are female. Misty, who is about 18 years old, deaf, skinny and cranky. Then there's Kaydo, who is 2, full of piss and vingar and very playful. My daughter has a turtle her grandfather found while at work. It was about the size of a quarter and now she's (another female) bigger than a five dollar bill.
I live with my wife, child and four pets and everyone and thing is female except me. I'm not sure, but I may have wished for something like that when I was 16. Who knew?
I'm hoping they'll put in a real-time chat room instead of this 'leave a message' stuff. I am in Michigan, home of the Detroit Lions (don't laugh, it isn't polite) apples, cherries and four of the five great lakes.
I have a pick up truck that I got from my last place of employment. It has over 282,000 miles on it and most of it still works. They say they retired it, I say its semi-retired because I use for my business to go to craft shows in the area (I'm a vendor now!) I call it my 'conestoga' because it does what the conestogas of the past did; Haul freight across country. For everything else, I use my Neon. Ok, it's not 'my' Neon, but the wife took my car for the summer (a sleek shiny black two-door, five-speed Cavalier with tinted windows) because the A/C works in it. Who am I to disagree.
Feel free to ask any questions you have and I'll try to answer them the best I can.
Your friend and Mine;
Moatas

There's a Muse Home, huh? Who knew?

Where in Michigan do you live?

I was born in Harper Hospital in downtown Detroit, and spent the next 19 years of my life living in Royal Oak, a NE suburb. Then I boarded a plane for L.A., and have been here ever since.

About the other stuff you said:

I prefer to listen rather than "straighten people out" -- I tend to learn more that way. It's kinda why I joined up, as I already knew what *I* thought.

Very little likelyhood that you'll change people's opinions (particularly with long speeches), better to offer a short direct observation, couched in respectful tones. That way you don't become a target and people will then respect you enough to listen to what you have to say. (I speak from experience -- I learned my lesson some time ago, on the hopefully dead "What's Wrong with Americans" thread. )

If they turn this into a "chat room", I'm gone! Can't abide the things! This kind of newsgroup/bulletin board format suits me just fine -- it makes the interaction slow enough that I have time to post in thought, not haste (although not always, sometimes I'm two posts behind when I post an answer to something!).

Glad to hear your "conestoga" is a relable one! What kind of business are you in, at craft fairs, etc.?

SC

Hello! Yes, I'm am living in the city of Wayland that's in Allegan county and that's in the Southwest portion of Michigan. I understand what you're saying, I do listen and try to learn from other, ask questions and answer a few if they ask. On the radio, (I listen to alot of radio, its good for being entertained and getting things done) I heard that most of the time, a woman just wants someone to hear her problems, not get a solution. (Men are problem-solvers, I'm told.) They'll do that themselves. And I can tell you, it works! I just get a bit upset when you see the 'Blame America First' crowd doing their thing. While I believe no country or person is right all the time, I don't immediately junp to the conclusion that its always the US's fault. As an example: The US processes most if not all its sewage, smoke stacks, etc; many countries do not process anything. Yet America is blamed for polluting the world.
On to other things; What's a nice person like you doing in Kaliforneeia? I like Arnold, really. When the recall went throught and Arnold was elected, I thought, 'why not?' Watching our elected officials and occassionally making fun of them is an American tradition, ask Will Rodgers.
I am trying to build a mail-order business, selling gifts suitable for home, office, school and any other place or person. I buy fthem from a catalog company. I also take many of these items to crafts shows to sell and flea markets. We did alright at the craft show in Bryon Center last month. In addition to those items, I also sell Promotional Advertising Specalities; Key chains, shirts, hats and such to promote your business. I sold a set of steel insulated coffee cups to my chiroprator, very chic looking. A small sucess but a sucess.
Stay well and I'll be looking forward to your next note.
Moatas

You like Arnie, you can have him!

He promised to cut spending and balance the budget, and he's already gotten loans for the state that now leave the balance of debt what it was when he took office. He's also hitting up the Indian tribes for a 25% share of their gambling revenue, and signing deals to let them open Las Vegas style casinos in urban areas, which are not on their reservations.

I kinda object to the lottery as a tool for funding educations, as (here, at least) the state just cuts the schools budgets back to what it was, but with the lotto money added in. I really don't think having a casino on every corner is good for California....

"On the radio, (I listen to alot of radio, its good for being entertained and getting things done) I heard that most of the time, a woman just wants someone to hear her problems, not get a solution. (Men are problem-solvers, I'm told.) They'll do that themselves."

Hmmm...in my experience, women more often talk about their problems to get them off their chest, not for specific advice. Men see this as asking for help, and then get annoyed when women don't do what they said... My late husband was pretty good at not doing that, but the guy I dated later....honestly, engineers!! Always trying to "fix" things!

My

And now about your business...

Do you do shows like "Harvest Festival"? I think they're a big craft fair that's syndicated all over the country and scheduled for the few months before Christmas. I love street fairs, too! I get all my purses (for the last ten years or so) from a vendor I keep running in to at street fairs and whatnot.

Hope you're having a great weekend.

SC

Hello, its me....again;
Yes, we have a state lottery, too. It was suppost to fund our schools here, but it doesn't. Here's how our whiz-bang kids in Lansing have it set up. You buy a ticket, part of that money is for running the lottery and rest go to the school fund. Your dollar enters the fund and half a moment later, someone else's dollar exits from the school fund into the 'general fund'. I first took notice that every year we're asked to either keep a school milage or increase it. I thought. 'Hey, what about the lottery money?'. Apparently, so did a lot of other people. Shortly afterward, that explaination was send out.
First, it was 'michigan lottery' then it became the lottery AND the lotto, then 'super lotto'. Now, we have 'Mega Millions', part of multi-state lottery. Plus, there are a couple of state lotteries still going on. Hurrah! Not only are we being lied to, but we're lying to ourselves about funding the schools, and now we can gamble legally, which may have taken a few illegal numbers games out. In all fairness, I don't count playing the lotto, lottery or Mega as gamblilng because I never win.
As for my business; I've given it the name of 'Sycamore Street Gifts & Merchandise', carrying a complete line of gifts items PLUS a great selection of Promotional Advertising Specialites. I like the name because it sounds, well...good. Once person might look at it and think 'ah, a nice warm, fuzzy and homey business', While another person would look at it and think, 'Very chic and classy'. And once I actually start making money with it, I'll register it as a legal business. As of now, we have put much more into it than we've gotten out. One of the goals I have for my business it to sell clothing items with the company name on it. Imagine, people paying YOU so they can advertise for YOU. I call that a win-win situation.
Thanks for writing back, remember, 'keep writing 'em and I'll do the same'.
Your friend and Mine;
Moatas