what happened?

It's been a while since I last wrote. Since the last time, I've lost 4 pounds. Intentionally. I want to get down to 165, and right now I'm at 180. I really haven't been excercising a lot...just trying to eat less. I still eat late at night, though.

I would love to go spend a week or two in Canada. I'd like to go to Quebec in the Fall or Winter, and maybe to Vancouver and Calgary during the summer. The people up there are really friendly, and it's clean and beautiful. I had a blast the last time I went there. I went with my Mom- yeah, sounds kind of boring, but no, it was really interesting. I went to Montreal and Quebec City, and it was cool having to speak French. Yes, I took French years ago, and enough so that I will never forget some of it.

Environmentally, I would like to plant some trees, and find ways to conserve energy.

I'm going to Walt Disney World in June- for a week. That will be fun.

I'm also going to Las Vegas in May- just for 24 hours, with my Mom. Hey, Mom is getting up in age, and she's bored, and so I gotta take care of Moms, ya know. We haven't been to Vegas together in years- over 10 years. I might take her to an all-male stripper review like Thunder From Down Under- she needs to live a little, and I want to see if she can have fun.

Oh, well, til next time...

My World. Delivered.

What do you think about the world today? Specifically, what do you think about people today, especially in the U.S.? Do you trust anybody?

When you think of dishonesty, who comes to mind? I get depressed a lot lately, when I think about the lies, the tricks, and the traps all around me each day. I don't believe the apathy and obiviousness that I see in people all around me. A few things that I notice: the President, and his staff, lie to us all the time. Unconvincingly and obviously, and there's nothing we can do about it, except talk. AT&T, the company that broke up years ago, is back, somehow, and is another monopoly of sorts. I can't help but think that phone service will go up in price, especially Cingular Wireless phone service. Gasoline is going higher in price. Carbon monoxide is causing global warming to spiral out of control, and a few experts have spoken out on it, but nobody really cares, because, really, nobody is doing anything. That's the scariest thing that I can think of! You know what happens when a big problem is getting bigger, and everyeone ignores it, and pretends it doesn't exist. Something is going to explode- something is going to give. Remember the saying, "Don't mess with Mother Nature!"? Well, I think we're gonna find out what that's like really soon.

It's really sad that the Rain Forests and the Snow in the North Pole and the Arctic regions are disappearing. All kinds of reptiles, insects and amphibians are becoming extinct due to climate change. It's amazing that the life we Americans led even 20 years ago might only be remembered in books, and maybe only in memory. The jungle adventures, the icy escapades that were once possible may be gone forever, existing only in imagination. Man is changing- still domesticated, like cattle, so civilized, so many. How many other things will die as man's population grows? Nature has a way of keeping a balance. What will it do to balance man's proliferation? I'm kind of scared to find out, but lots of things have gone through my mind.

We've seen hurricanes. We've seen tsunamis. We've seen recent earthquakes. How about volcanos erupting? What about a flu-like plague, spreading throughout the world, which has happened in history and is predicted by experts to happen again? And don't forget mankind, who, so far, has managed many times every few years to make war on one another.

Do you put money into a pension? Into a life insurance policy? Are you saving for retirement? Will you live to see that retirement? What will the earth be like once you start collecting that retirement? Will there be more crooks in public office at that time? Will we be deep in the midst of a war, a famine, a plague, or a natural disaster once you reach age 65? The earth is changing fast. In the face of everything that I see now, I have resigned myself to one thing: I am going to enjoy myself, be thankful for what I have, pray for our future, and I'm going to live life to the fullest, and to enjoy every day while I'm still here. I'm not really planning to be around very long, in the face of all that I've just mentioned.

Magic Castle, Cheap Bastards, and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Tonight I went to the Magic Castle in Hollywood. In case your don't know, the Magic Castle is a famous magician's club in Hollywood, where members can have dinner and see magic shows. It's a very swanky place, and I highly recommend it to anyone who knows a member and can get in.

I am not a member of the Magic Castle. (But if I had lots of money, I would probably be - the place is SO nice!) I am, however, through my business, Hollywood Notary.Net, a member of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce (since January), and we had a social function there tonight. This was the first event that I've ever attended with the Chamber, and I've got to say, it was really nice! I met a lot of nice, very interesting people. There were nice (free, alcoholic) drinks and hors d'ouvres. The $10 admission charge was worth the ticket!!!!

Anyway, I cut my evening short at the Magic Castle, because I had made previous plans with a previous prospective client to meet him at a coffee shop in Hollywood to notarize his document. I was only going to charge this person $10. Well, this person never showed up, and when I called him, this person refused to answer his phone. Earlier in the evening, after I left the Magic Castle, I listened to a message that this person had left on my phone, and he said that he was driving around the coffee shop and couldn't find a place to park, and that he was going to either have to drive to my house or find another Notary. It sounded from his voice that he was spazzing out (this should have been a clue to me). I called him back and tried to calm him down and reassure him that there was parking at the place, and I told him how to find it. He said that he would meet me there after all. I asked him if he could delay going there for 10 minutes, because I wanted to get a cookie at Hollywood and Highland, from the Nestle's Tollhouse Store. He said OK. Well, when I got to the coffee shop, I waited and waited. Then I called him and left a voicemail. Then I called again. Voicemail kept on picking up. After about 20 minutes of waiting and calling, I sent a text message. I texted, " Call me immediately". I got a reply: "It's not going to happen". I tried to call him again, and he wouldn't answer.

Being in business, I have encountered a few assholes and straight up bastards. This one was a cheap bastard. He had expressed that he was getting a $70 rebate from the phone company- that should have been a clue to me of his cheapness- but he didn't want to spend it all getting his document notarized, so I offered to meet him at a coffee shop in Hollywood, near where he lived. I like to save money, but I realize that this wasn't just a frugal person. From little things that he said, I could tell that he was kind of mean-spirited and cheap. I won't post his name, but he proved himself to be a really selfish "bitch". I'm not mad about it- that's the way some people are, and there are lots of them out there like that- people of little or no integrity. All businesses encounter people like this. So what did I learn?

I learned this: whenever you go to the Magic Castle, or anywhere special, and you have some cheap bastard call you up and try to get some business done on the cheap with you, don't go out of your way to accomodate the cheap bastard. Stay your ass at the Magic Castle or wherever you are. Let the cheap bastards come to your house, but only if you're gonna be home- don't stay home for the cheap bastards.

I learned this too: just keep on being the best. People will come to the best. I'm really good at what I do. I'm going to be successful in business. And I'm going to stay positive.

Tonight after getting my cookie from the Nestle Tollhouse place, I walked onto Hollywood Boulevard to retrieve my car, and I saw the Jimmy Kimmel Live banners across the street. I knew that they were taping the show at that hour. I really want to go to a taping of that show. As it turned out, Ellen Degeneres was his guest this night (I want to go to her show, too- bad!). I am planning to get tickets to Jimmy's show really soon. It's not all that difficult- you can get them online or call a phone number. What I really would like to do is to go to Jimmy's show that's on after the Oscars on Sunday. But, failing that, I will get tickets soon.

Are you a racist?

A lot of people might not think of themselves as racists in the extreme sense of the word. But all people are, in some way, biased when it comes to race. You can't help it.

I'll prove it. What's your favorite color?

Aha! You have one! (Most people do.) So you are biased based on color.

You are.

Now, let's say you are thinking about dating someone. If you could date and make-out with anyone, would you have a preference as to what they look like? You do? Then you are operating on preconceived notions of who you want to sleep with. Is there a race that you would exclude? Come on, you can't be politically correct about what turns you on- either it does or it doesn't. Why play games? Since you would probably exclude someone out of the romantic or gratuitous sex category, based on racial preferences, does that make you a racist?

No.

Cell phones in the car

I generally hate the way most people drive. Most people are bad drivers, especially in Los Angeles, where it seems everyone drives, whether they have a license or not. Some people can just barely drive. So many people tailgate. Everybody drives really fast, like they are under a damn deadline. People don't stop or even slow down sometimes for people in crosswalks. Now, add to this, these bad drivers often talk on their cellphones while they are driving so dangerously. I see so many dangerous driving maneuvers every day. Cops never seem to be around, and even when they are, they don't stop the people doing the illegal stuff most of the time. Even if a cop might try to stop someone, that could easily turn into a high speed chase across town, creating a much more dangerous situation- that's why I think so many bad drivers are never stopped by the cops.

I like to use my cell phone wherever I am. However, I admit that I hate using it when I'm driving, especially on the freeway. A split second is sometimes the difference between a near-miss and an accident. Cell phones (or coffee cups, or any other distractions) can increase your likelihood of having an accident. Cars are dangerous because they are so big and weighty- they can kill people and cause lots of damage.

That is why I don't mind that they're going to pass a law in California making it a crime (with a small fine) for using a hand-held cell phone in your car while driving. I personally will get used to it before the law passes.

Liza Minelli was great on the 4th of July!!!

If you missed it, Liza Minelli was really great at the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks show this year. I just happened to be channel surfing, and I happened upon it as it was starting. It was fantastic! I say that nobody gives a better performance than this woman, when she's at her best. She had all kinds of fire and energy, and she LOOKED GOOD!!! She was at her best. (I know that I'm writing this more than a month after it happened, but since I'm still thinking about it, I have to give this woman props right here on my blog. Bravo, lady!!!)

Why gasoline is so high

This is not really anything that takes a lot of analysis to figure out. The point is, what are we gonna do about it?

The number of refineries in the U.S. is very small. They are all controlled by a very few companies. Supposedly, these refineries are running at capacity. These companies are now enjoying profits that are more than twice what they were last year. Why? Because they all decided to charge the oil companies (some of which own the refineries) more money, to increase their profits. Double profits, year over year.

So really, some parts of some oil companies decided to charge their parent companies more money. Therefore, the oil companies are just passing on the costs to consumers. Add to that increased oil prices, which are also passed on, and you understand the much higher prices.

What are you going to do about it? What CAN you do about it? Challenge yourself. Can you do anything? Are people high up in those companies laughing, because they know that we are at their mercy? That they have us over a barrel as much as the tax man does?

Then we are told that Americans are addicted to oil. Does that sound like someone is about to build more refineries? Not to me. If those refineries don't have any more competition, they will never lower the prices that they charge to refine the oil. One book that I highly recommend that people read is, "Fast Food Nation" (sold at Jamba Juice), which will illustrate just how the car companies and the oil companies have in the past plotted to get rid of other modes of transportation, and it will give you an idea of who really did kill the electric car. What can you do to help change things for the better of all?

Senator Joe Lieberman

Well, it looks like Joe Lieberman lost in Connecticut. Looking at him, I can't help but think that he looks just like the Emperor in the Star Wars movies (while he's posing as the Senator and the Chancellor). I think he's kind of bitter like that, too.

I know that the people of Connecticut voted him out because they felt that he was too close to George Bush. Too much love for George Bush. Kisses in public.

The thing that bothered me about Mr. Lieberman was that he cannot even admit that a mistake was made in the U.S. invading Iraq. It's funny, too, that he doesn't seem willing to blame George Bush for anything (like lying to Congress about WMD's).

It's good that he's going to be out of there. Anyone who cannot admit that he or she has made a mistake should not be a leader in this country.

Welcome to Ransom Think

This is where I, David Ransom, let my thoughts fly. Be warned, I can talk about anything. This is an opinion blog. By reading this, you will get a peek inside by psyche. Like my old friend Ed once said, "Man, you are one strange individual". Well, that might be true, but I think that I have sense, and sensibility.