Phoenix, AZ

First I need to mention this: Among the "failed policies of the past" were massive spending increases, including bail-outs, originated by a Republican congress and rubber-stamped by George Bush. They betrayed conservatives, and were punished by them for it, including/especially John McCain.

The real failed policies of the past gave the new President the "mess" he inheritted. Hard to imagine how much worse it would have been had the Bush tax cuts not nearly doubled revenues to the treasury.

All the same, government interferance protracted and worsened a normal cyclic recession, as it did under Hoover, FDR, and Carter.

Another point: There is no such thing as a general welfare clause in the US Constitution. "In order to promote the general welfare--" is the preamble to the list of ennumerated powers, which specificly and clearly lists what the federal government can do. It says, finally, that whatever isn't listed here falls to the states--leaving the states their sovereignity, within the confines of the Constitution.

Texas has no income taxes, and not a lot of regulation on business. Over 350 businesses left California for Texas so far this year alone. California would get it's head out of it's butt in short order if they didn't expect Uncle Sam to take money from states like Texas and give it to them. This is the larger version of welfare. Hey Jerry Brown--you got two years to get a damn job.

The constitution isn't living and breathing. That is a code-phrase for "inconvenient". And the founders look smarter and smarter every freaking day.

OK...I deliver monday and I got here sat. afternoon. I had found several sports bars in the area on the internet, and went to the reciever. This is another tricky one. The reciever is a construction company located in a predominantly residential neighborhood. It's definitely not set up to recieve big trucks.

So I parked on the street, and walked a half mile to the nearest sports bar to see if I could watch the Browns game there today. I could. Then I ask if there's someplace closer that I could park a big truck.

A guy speaks up and says "yeah". He's a fellow trucker. He gets up and takes me for a ride in his pickup to first show me where to park, then take me back to my truck. How cool is that?

Anyway, this is right behind a Red Roof Inn and point-blank 30 yards away from a better sports bar.

When I got back here, the last parking spot had just been taken. I was able to slide in next to the sidewalk at the side of the lot, near the front--sort of like starting a new row in front, right? Except there wasn't enough room behind me for trucks to make a turn out of their slots. I was okay because the truck on the end behind me could get by me when he left with just a little turning.

I wake up this morning and there's an moron next to me and an idiot next to him. They are both blocking the truck behind me, and probably the truck next to him as well. I had intended to look it over this morning myself, and back into any slot that had cleared, but now I can't do that, either.

The lowest common denominator will always fill up any available space, eventually, and make it hard on everybody.

The authors of the Constitution understood this, as well.

However, unless the blocked-in drivers are dumb enough to call the cops and get us ALL kicked out, I'm good here.

Meanwhile, I checked on ceramic engine coatings again and turned up Xado again. The lrice has come down, and I can re-coat my engine for 400 bucks (instead of 2 grand).

The ceramic additive is slicker than glass and more heat-tolerant than metal. It actually sinks 30 microns deep into metal, and fills every scratch and pit to restore compression and cut friction, restoring factory tolerances.

I first checked on it because when I forst checked out HHO generators, there was an assertion that the gas could cause corrosion inside the engine--an assertion I now think was false. However, the additive is worth it.

It lasts "up to" 65,000 miles. In context, those of us who run synthetic oil normally change the oil every 35-40,000 miles, and it costs more than the Xado treatment. I have an optimized purification system which extends that change interval much further.

Because I invested this 1,200 bucks into my truck, I can now keep my truck ceramic-protected for much less money than I would have had to spend on oil-changes. AND this will give me back some power, increase my mpg's, and greatly extend the life of my engine.

The fuel savings will probably be nominal, since my truck's still in good shape inside. But .1 mpg's is not at all unrealistic or insignificant.

I found out that I'm supposed to add distilled water to the HHO generator I'm going to finally get each time I fuel, but that the catalyst additive is only added one time, so that thereafter just plain distilled water is good.

But I talked to the big boss on the phone, and he said that I could have it all put together in a steel box, per my specs.

This got me to thinking that I could maybe have a bigger reservoir and have it inside my cab woth a tube running to the generator. I wouldn't have to refill it as often and could do so before I went to bed every other night or so. It gets cold outside and I'm lazy.

I've already got the money for the Xado and probably the HHO Generator too, but I'm holding back a little in case I break down or something.

Speaking of which, my wheels sometimes act like they want to fall off, shimmying terribly. I had it checked and re-checked, and all the linkages etc. are good, so I think I snapped a belt in one of my steer tires. The new wear pattern looks like it--dammit.

For now, I can stop it by tapping the brakes or accellerating, and it only happens occasionally.