Rants and Ravings

I think I have forgot. Since we started DragonOak’s Wood Shop it seems my only days off have been my recent forays to the hospital. Even during the slow times, like now, I work on new projects and try to add to our product line.



I really don’t know how to take time off. I focus all of my time, energy, and will power on the current projects, which probably can attribute and add to my health problems.



Since focusing on losing weight I noticed that most of my day is focused on where I need to be rather than where I am at the time. It is very hard to enjoy the moment when most of you life you are focused on what is ahead. I am working hard on changing that, like enjoying a meal one bite at a time instead of hurry up I still have a list of 15 items I need to complete. But all in all it is taking it one day at a time, trying to retain what I am learning rather than falling back on what I have learned as my base personality.




Medieval Dragon Artwork
Dream Box

Oklahoma Turnpikes are horrid!



After taking a 825 mile round trip through most of Oklahoma, I quickly come to learn that their turnpikes are in horrid need of repair and maintenance. Through the years I have traveled the roads thru Oklahoma many times, and I have to say, that this last trip the roads were the more horrible I have seen to date.



I highly recommend that anyone traveling thru the state use alternative method and with the advent of many navigational systems this should not be too hard. While it may add a little time to your travel the long run of vehicle repairs due to faulty road maintenance will cost much less. Deep trenches after you pass bridges, holes that nearly make you lose control of your vehicle, and worn road surface that accelerates the wear on your tires is enough for me.



And that brings the question to mind of what is the state of Oklahoma doing with the funding received from the tolls. Because honestly what I have seen was not maintaining the roads. I paid over $12 in tolls one-way from Missouri-Oklahoma to Lawton Oklahoma. I believe I paid 7 or 8 different toll locations, and with a state imposed method of taxing everyone that passes the road it would be nice to see that money being spent for what it is intended. Coupled with federal funding, gasoline taxes, and state appropriations from property taxes for road maintenance there is no excuse for this.



As the old saying goes, “something is not right in Denmark”. As is typical with most systems of government, I suspect that the state legislature feels like turnpike revenue is an open source cash till to be used for everything but road maintenance. I wonder how many deaths per year can be attributed to the lousy maintained turnpikes of Oklahoma. Sadly I saw way to many road crosses left to honor lost loved ones to feel comfortable.



On the way back from Lawton Oklahoma I said screw it and took alternative highways home. And guess what? The roads were far better than the toll roads were. Now that is where it really gets disgusting. All the cross-country travelers pay for the right to travel a road and then the state rapes and pillages that revenue all the while they seem to maintain its non-toll roads just fine. I mean seriously, WTF?



I remember traveling those turnpikes when I was a child and being told how those were the roads of the future. How the revenue earned from tolls would make them the best highways in the country. That was until government learned how to dip out of the revenue register to vote in pay raises, benefits, and pet projects.



Seriously, if you plan to travel thru any turnpike in Oklahoma, heed my warning. Plan and alternate route around the turnpike. It will save you in the long run. And reducing fat cow legislatures funding sources is the only way to make a change.



Back to our regularly schedule programming:




Druid Acorn Oak Leaf
Solar Circle
Crafted by the author

Other Squidoo Lenses by DragonOak:




Alltel 15 day right to Scam



Missouri Land of ticks, chiggers, and fleas.



Corporate Lies, Deceptions, and Dumbing Down its Customer base

Conservatives vs Liberals and Service to Country



Today, as I write this, I am preparing to leave to see my youngest son graduate from Army Basic Training at Ft Sill Oklahoma on June 06, 2008. I am very proud of him! I think he will do well in service to our country (his and mine), and I think it will prepare him in life to keep the course and succeed where others tend to fail. He tends to have a lot of philosophy like his father, liberal and more open minded, yet able to take orders and serve with pride for doing his duty.



But as I reflect in pride of my son’s willingness to serve his country, I also become very disappointed at an imbalance of people serving. As I look around at friends and family I see more of my “liberal” friends sons and daughters serving in the military than I do of my “conservative” friends. I am not saying that no conservatives are serving I just see an imbalance.



The best I can do is provide some examples of what I mean, some from personal experience and some from a substrata of thought that seems to pervade mainstream society today.



I have two step son-in-laws that I love very much. But sadly these boys typify redneck, hillbilly, nascar fans, conservative Americans today. Granted they make good money working on traveling welding crews, but neither one of them have enlisted to serve. They seem to busy drinking beer and making babies to actually do something they vehemently argue for as conservatives. Hell the only reason these boys vote Republican is because someone 20 years ago told them “Dem Dar DemocrAts will tak away yer guns!!” And meanwhile the Republicans have gone to enacting policies of bugging phones, arresting and detaining citizens without evidence or cause, and rigging elections. But at least those boys “gots der guns!!” These two still believe that Iraq was responsible for the attack on 9/11, and they still take the propaganda that is spoon fed to them. I sometimes wonder if they get headaches when something requires a little thought, so in essence it must be easier to believe the crap.



George W. Bush served stateside during a WAR!! And then, thanks to his military records mysteriously disappearing, it seems he didn’t even finish his duty but probably went AWOL. And this guy is commander and chief?



Vice President Dick Cheney never even wore a military uniform yet seems to think he can lead troops to victory.



John Kerry earned three purple hearts, actually fought in Vietnam, and completed his duty with HONOR and was made to look like the bad guy compared to a draft dodging, awol abusing, cocaine addict rich guy.



Even John McCain was made to look bad in 2004 by the Bush Campaign. I mean OMG this man was a POW for god’s sakes, and compared to a man that never stepped foot in Vietnam is disgusting.


I have actually heard conservative men say “I can’t go serve, I have to stay here and make sure those stinking liberals don’t take over!”




The point of this writing is not to scientifically prove that liberals serve in the military more than conservative, although I am sure it would warrant a study. My point is that I am very proud of my son and am glad that he is sitting his priorities for his life. I wish him the best.



The point is for the readers, don’t believe the propaganda that says only conservatives serve their country. Liberals often serve, and they serve with distinction.





In each of my blogs I always try and feature a new wood piece I have completed. Below is another one of my projects:






Willow Tree Squidoo Lense



Squidoo Lense on this blog

Corporate Deception and the Patronizing of its Customer Base



Yesterday I stopped by the post office to get my mail. I have to keep a PO Box because I have neighbors that like to steal my mail, and a lazy post office and sheriffs department that seems to think it is no big deal. Subject for another blog, so anyway I received a postcard from eBay. As I read the post card it tells me how I can NOW get international visibility for a modest 10 to 40 cents more per listing. I chuckled. That is what we used to get included for listing with eBay, now we have to pay more for it.



The little things that these corporations do that belittles, patronizes, and takes advantage of the understanding of its customer based is absolutely amazing! But what is even more amazing is how the customer base takes it. It is almost to the point that the customers bend over expecting a swift kick in the ass and then thank the corporations for screwing them over. People need to stand up.



Here are three quick examples of how corporations like to screw people, these are based on my own experience:



1. Alltel tells you that you have 15 days to make sure the service works before you are locked into a two year contract. The fine print requires you to return the equipment you purchased before the contract can be canceled. Then they refuse to return the equipment by means of selling phones with padded hours and claiming to much time was used!



2. Ebay tells its customers (ya know the people that made them rich) that they are reducing fees. Then require them to pay for international exposure that was part of the service before. Kiss me first before you screw me some more please.



3. Walmart, one of my absolute favorites. Besides totally abandoning the buy American campaign, they love to befuddle its customers on the rollback prices theory. Here is how it works, you buy a 10 pound bag of dog food for $4.99. Then you go in and the price is dropped to $4.29 cents, but something feels different. Yet you look and see the cute little smiley face that tells you they rolled prices back by .71 cents. But upon further scrutiny you see the bag is now 8 pounds not 10. That means if the price was the same without a roll back it should be at $3.99 for 8 pounds. Yet they continually get away with treating their customers like they are stupid, all why they laugh their way to the bank with YOUR money.



People need to stop letting these corporations get away with this crap. Forget the politicians, a few well placed donations from “friends” of the corporation and they have effectively bought that politician off.



Things you can do:

1. Blog about it

2. Make a conscious decision NOT TO or LIMIT you buying with that corporation.

3. Tell a friend and ask them to limit spending with that corporation

4. Write a letter to the corporate headquarters telling them how they suck and why they do.

5. If you do have to shop with the corporation, tell everyone there why you are disappointed with the corporation and be a little loud about it.

6. And many more things that only are limited by your creative mind.




Fairy Star and Crown
Drawer Altar Table

I live in Missouri. The nature is beautiful. The lakes are bountiful. Taxes are low, very low. The schools were great for my children. But Missouri has a deep dark little secret. Nooooo……it is the other secret beyond a people that are massively naïve, and think Iraq was responsible for the terrorist attack of 9/11.



It is the land of bug hell. It is infested with ticks, chiggers, and fleas. And the next Missourian to tell me the reason there are so many of these bugs here is because we have not had a solid winter freeze will get their toe stomped on. The last THREE years we have had solid and long winter freezes.



But I have another theory. It is because when all bad bugs die, the come back as either ticks, chiggers, or fleas, and then they get to come back in Missouri. I believe there is a portal to bug hell somewhere in the Ozarks. And I have a good mind to start looking for it with my dowsing rod as soon as I have some time.



About 12 years ago I went on a beautiful nature walk. When I got back home I had to quickly wash up (no time for a shower) and get to work. Later that evening my lower part of my body, I mean all of it, began to itch. I was infested by chiggers. The next night I counted the bites on my left knee cap alone. There were 108 chigger bites on my left knee cap!!!!! And those bites ran from my toes all the way to my chest. I never have been so miserable in all of my life. Since then any bug bite on me welts up and itches for days.



Another time looking for a fishing hole along a lazy river, I noticed a tick crawling on me. And then another, and another, so I counted. I pulled 56 ticks off of my body, I must have got in a nest.



I had a neighbor that had a dog die from being tick infested. When I helped him put the dog in a plastic bag, ticks from the dog crawled up my arm, it was easily more than 100. I was never more horrified in all of my life.



So I have came to the conclusion that Missouri is the door stop to hell for the ticks, chiggers, and fleas abound here, and thrive. Come to Missouri at your own risk!!!



Cedar Dragon Altar

What has happened to the state of business these last 10 years. It seems that in the United States the concept of “Buyer Beware” has been stressed to the limits beyond comprehension. There is little or no protection for the consumer in today’s market.



Alltel called me demanding money for a service I never had. In February of this year I decided to try the Alltel service for wireless internet access. While discussing the terms of the contract I was advised, and shown on the paper work I had 15 days to decide if I wanted the service, and had the right to cancel if I was not happy.



So they talked me into 2 Hue phones (one for me and one for my wife) that sadly in my location I kept getting disconnected, so I returned to the store. There they gave me a wireless phone card in exchange for one and a LX phone in exchange for the other and assure me they would work. They did not work. So I returned the wireless phone card for yet another card of the same type. I took it home and yet it did not work, this was all at 12 days. After hours on the phone with customer service, I decided I did not want the service and returned everything as within my 15 day trial service guarantee.



When I went to return the items to the store, I was told that I could not return the phone. Here is the kicker, they said is had 1661 hours of use time on it! I only had the phone 6 days, that is a physical impossibility. 6 days times 24 hours equals 144 hours. And no they did confirm to me on three occasions that is was 1661 hours of call time on the phone. Yet when I called the main office billing showed I only had 190 minutes of use, sadly 188 of those minutes was talking to Alltel customer service. Yet even when the math was shown to the salesperson at the store, they still refused saying I had used the phone for 1661 hours and they could not return it.



So I called the main office, this is where the story gets real good. I informed them I wanted to cancel my contract within the 15 day trial period as stated in the contract and on the web site. They told me I had to return the phone before they could cancel. I told them that I have tried to return the phone and the salesperson refuses. Alltel main office THEN informs me that the location I set up my phone service was ONLY an authorized representative. They then told me they could not tell this representative to take the phone back.



So the scam is on……I have to return the phone to cancel a contract within the agreed time of trial service, but the store just has to refuse to take the phone back. Can you see the scam? Now they have billed me two months of services for $140 and a $200 early cancellation fee. Where is the consumer protection?



The moral of the story is DO NOT CONTRACT WITH ALLTEL. If only two people refuse to do business with Alltel because of this letter than I have at least cost them what they are attempting to charge me. Any more than that would be icing on the cake.




Black Walnut Wood Futhark Rune Set

This morning I received an email (amazingly with an undeliverable address but no attached files either) that simply said “your life is crap”.



So I typed the following response and will add the 2nd part here, since I suspect it was one of my blogs that they got that email address for me:



Merry Meet Allen,



Why thank you, I will keep that in mind the next time I do NOT have to get up and work a 12 hour day for someone else. I will keep that in mind the next time I look out my window and see the forest that is alive and breathing. I will keep that in mind when I work in my 1400 square foot shop that I own. I will keep that in mind when I enjoy my journey in life with the woman I love. I will keep that in mind while I watch my two sons, four step sons, two step daughters, and five step grand children grow and explore life and love me in spite of my faults.



I will keep that in mind while I write part two of this email that will be the essence of todays blog.



Thanks for writing

DragonOak



Part 2, how my life is crap:




Because stupid people on occasion send me stupid emails that actually bring a smile to my face.

Because I live on 10 acres that is peace, solitude, and a total connection to nature.

Because after being diagnosed with a heart attack, diabetes, and a hernia, I have lost weight and been working on a fitness program that is giving me energy and new life.

Because I can say what I want on a blog or email without being a coward and having to set up a fake email address.

Because I can do a work that I love, building the wood items as on my website.

Because there is nothing better than being my own boss, choosing my own hours, making my own decisions, and doing what I think is in my best interests.

Because I can actually live the life as an artist, doing my own thing, the freedom of it is exhilarating.

Because I can do work that is creative by my choice and direction, doing what I love and loving what I do.

Because I have a customer base that actually appreciates my work, read my reviews on eBay.

Because I choose NOT to follow a religion that is based on greed, guilt, and shame.

Because I have a puppy that loves me, read below.

Because more and more people know the work of “dragonoak” which is my 15 minutes of fame.

Because I live in a beautiful four bedroom three bath home on 10 acres that I own.

Because I had the opportunity to gain a college degree and learn a vast amount of knowledge.

Because I get to live the dream rather than only to dream.

Because a little dish of Chocolate Moose Tracks Ice Cream every night is a little dash of heaven.

Because my name isn’t Allen Sloan, but then again his name probably isn’t either.

Because despite all my past sins and mistakes, deep down I am a good person that truly desires to do no harm to anyone


That is a quick list “off the cuff” so to speak. All in all it proves the “anonymous” writers point that in fact my life is NOT crap. Thank you for the opportunity to allow me to wake up this morning and spend time reflecting on why my life is beautiful, happy, content, and amazing. I really needed to do that, and again thanks.



Many Blessings

DragonOak




Eye of Thoth Wall Scroll