How do you get Grease and Grime from under your fingernails?

I Think now know where the "Goth" practice of wearing black fingernail polish originates. It was not a vehicle for self expression as most self proclaimed Goth practitioners believe. It is my theory at lease, that the practice was started by a couple of high school hot-rodder wanna-bees; backyard mechanics. These youngsters were faced with constant harassment, ridicule and discrimination at school and even at the 7-11; They were socially outcast. These grease monkeys could easily be identified, even from a distance, by the way they walked with their hands constantly hidden from view in front pants pockets. They hid their fingers less someone insist they go wash their hands. These young people would sit down for Sunday dinner with the family, fold their hands in front of them for the meal's grace, only to be shewed away from the table, being told to "it was a sacralidge to present those discausting hands to God in prayer."

Many would shun their love of all things mechanical and dirty only to fall into another often castigated group, "the preppies". But those who whould not deny themselves, these industrious young men and women, eventually found that black fingernail polish matched and masked the semi-permanent grease and grime stains under and their finger nails. Their colored digits still brought them attention but instead of ridicule from their peers, it was labeled a form of self expression and gained them "street cred". To their parents, it became "a typical teen form of rebellion" and dismissed.

This past weekend I spent working on the Volvo; Changing the plugs, wires, rotor and distributor cap, replacing the front break pads and discs, and replacing the strut mounts that had mysteriously broken after taking the car in to the dealer for some other minor work. My hands look like they belong to the monster from the tar pits.

I knew working on the breaks and struts was going to be a messy job so when at AutoZone to borrow a pair of strut spring compressors, I picked up a tub of mechanics hand cleaner. Other than completely drying my hands out, it did a decent job of cutting through the grime on the open areas of my hands and arms but did little to address the black rings that defined my cuticles and front edge of my fingernails.

I have scrubbed, soaked and scraped my fingernails and my hands could still pass for Bubba's down at the Quick Lube.

At 43, I am not interested in masking my problem with black acrylic. I have instead resolved to wear the grease and grime as a badge of accomplishment; proudly proclaiming Tim Grissom as someone capable of performing minor auto repairs... at least till such time as the black fades when I can revert back to anonymity as the mild mannered desk jockey that I am.

Perhaps I will buy a box of latex gloves before tackling the rear breaks next weekend....

Texas Update: The house gets personalized

Karen and I were in Dallas last week for just a couple of days. When we signed the contract for the construction of our new home a couple of weeks ago, one of the conditions of the contract was that we meet with the design coordinator from Ryland Homes to choose all the colors materials and options we wanted incorporated in the house. For example; The type and color of the brick; The type and color of the mortar between the brick; the tile, the grout color, the counter tops, the cabinets, light fixtures, carpet, Door Knobs, appliances, how many electrical outlets, cable outlets, network wiring, security system options, integrated pest control number of deadbolt locks, ceiling fans.... The list goes on but you get the picture.

We flew into DFW Thursday morning. I went into the office for a couple of hours and Karen went to the model house to measure rooms, and made notes about physical characteristics of the house. Thursday night Ryland had "Open House" at the design center. Karen and I spent 3 hours looking at all the options and getting general ideas of what the options and material choices were so we could be prepared for our appointment with the design specialist Friday.

Typically you get 2 appointments with the design specialist but because we were flying in from out of town it would be very difficult (and costly) to make multiple trips so we scheduled to do the whole thing in one day. It was grueling. We arrived at 9:00 and did not leave, except for an hour lunch break, until after 6:00. We had some issues with misunderstandings/miss-communications between us and our salesman but overall things worked out well. As we were choosing our options, everything cost money. "It's just an additional $198". "It's only Another $55". "That will be another $800. We were really afraid to see the total at the end of the day. We were prepared to have to start cutting things at the end to stay within our budget. To our surprise we were only off by a thousand or two of what we had estimated. Of course on our flight home we started thinking of things that we omitted and probably should not have or just plain forgot. But we faxed them a quick change order and things are set.
Did we get everything we wanted? No. There were a couple of things we planned on getting but in the end decided were not worth the expense. And there were things we did not plan on but decided it would be easier to get up front than to add later. And of course there is always the "Raught Iron Spindles for the stairs sure would look nice." Overall though, I think there were only 2 items we decided against that we could reasonably want.

Immigration

I have no problem with folks from other countries coming to live and work in the USA. I must qualify that however with the word 'legally'.

The immigrant communities late have been raising cane in recent months asking for more rights and respect and such. While everyone deserves respect, and basic human rights, If you are not in this country legally, you do not have the rights afforded to citizens or immigrants who enter this country legally. I don't want to hear "they do the work most American's won't do" as an excuse for turning a blind eye. There is no doubt the illegal immigrant portion of the population is an integral part of our economy. But unfortunately so is the drug trade. I am not in favor or turning a blind eye to either for monetary reasons. Bottom line either it is illegal or it is legal.

I will not argue that the immigration laws could or should not be changed to be more just and equitable. But I will argue that illegal immigrants should NOT be provided a free public education, welfare, subsidized housing, or any other public privileges or assistance.

It is like me going into a bank, holding it up, than opening an account at that bank for that money.

To George W & company:
Make the immigration laws such that you are afforded no privileges if living/working/visiting illegally. Children born of illegal immigrants should not automatically be afforded privileges unless/until the parents are granted citizenship or visa.

Make the laws such that hard working honest people from other countries can obtain visa and live and work legally So they can pay taxes and contribute to the economy and society.

Make the immigration laws such that it is easier work and prosper in America legally than illegally.

Make the laws such that knowingly hiring or harboring illegal immigrants is a federal offense and enforce it as such.

Mandate that legal immigrants be expected to maintain basic proficiencies in English and US/local laws to maintain their visa. Provide ESL training for legal immigrants to facilitate / expedite their ability to become a contributing part of society.

Those individuals who have already established residences and steady jobs and such in the country, who have, except for entering the country illegally, have been law abiding and a productive part of the community should be grandfathered in. Provide a limited amount of time to register for visas. After that enforce the law across the board.

Easier said than done I know but in my little utopia this is what I would do.