Al's Blog-o-Sphere

Local news erupted in horror recently when Frank’s Red Hot sauce tweeted that Ranch Dressing was appropriate dressing to go with “Buffalo Wings.”

It was immediately pounced upon by the Buffalo media and followers.
WGRZ and The GUSTO section of the Buffalo News

Of course, runny Ranch Dressing just isn’t up to the job of replacing real Bleu Cheese dressing, as one tweeter recounted that his wife put out some ranch dressing at a superbowl party, and no one touched it.

But this is a long time pet peeve of mine. There are so many things wrong here that I have to set the record straight.
Continue Reading…

A friend asked this on Facebook.

“Will one of my democrat friends please explain to me why tax cuts for a majority of tax payers is a bad thing? I can not wrap my head around the thought processes that would come to that conclusion.

“The government is actually letting you keep more of your money and you are complaining about it?

“I don’t get it!”

The short answer is, a tax cut is never a bad thing for those who get it. Enjoy your money.

The bad thing is how unfairly, how unequally, it has been applied across our society. You’re getting a modest tax cut for a year or two that will taper off and leave you right where you were, while the ultra-rich are getting a huge tax cut permanently. The ones who already are doing well with the system, who need tax relief the least are getting the most.

Let me be clear about this: The rich are doing well by exploiting our economic system to their benefit. Good. More power to them. But they need to pay for the system they use. They make the most off our economy, so they should pay the most to support our society’s needs. I’m happy they are doing well, but it is at the expense of and the exploitation of, the workers, consumers, and small businesses, that they enjoy their prosperity. They should pay more taxes, not less. They owe our society more for what they have profited from it. And contributing to the survival of the least of society’s members will benefit them, whether they admit it or not. They need a customer base. They need a workforce. Continue Reading…

It helps to know we are not in it alone!

Thanks, world!

For about a year, I have been thinking about getting some kind of a travel trailer and doing some traveling. After our back-to-back trips to Florida and Arizona last summer, we really had such a good time that we wanted to do more, but hotels add up quickly when you are in them any length of time.

My wife and I have toyed with this idea and went to RV shows and saw all they have to offer, from micro-sized trailers up to monster RVs. Finding what fit our needs and that we could still afford was a challenge.

Initially, we thought that a conventional travel trailer in the 20-25 foot range would be what we wanted. I read up on all the amenities and hook ups and pitfalls they offered. They are not a bad choice and maybe we will graduate into one down the road. Until then, I thought maybe I could live with something smaller. I started looking at A-frame hard-sided pop-up trailers. What they are is like a pop-up tent trailer with hard sides.

The leader in the category, is made by a company called A-Liner. They make these trailers in a factory in western Pennsylvania. I found a lot of useful information about them and a dedicated following for them online. A couple of people have entire Youtube channels devoted to them and I was able to learn a lot from them.

But they are not the only company that makes them. The a-frame design has been around a long time and several companies make them, all with their own set of customizations. Another company called Chalet makes very similar models out in the Pacific Northwest, which, incidentally, is where the A-Liner company originated. They are popular, noted for high quality and are found predominantly in the west. Continue Reading…