I don't want to overromanticize it, but frankly,
goin' crazy was the *best* thing ever happened to me.
I don't say it's for everybody;
some people couldn't cope.
But for me it came at a time when nothing else seemed to be
working. I got the kind of madness Socrates talked about,
"A divine release of the soul from the yoke of
custom and convention." I refuse to be intimidated by
reality anymore.
After all, what is reality anyway? Nothin' but a
collective hunch. My space chums think reality was once a
primitive method of
crowd control that got out of hand.
In my view, it's absurdity dressed up
in a three-piece business suit.
On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 3:30 PM, John Rodgers <inua@charter.net> wrote:

> I am really PO'd!!
>
> I went today to pay my insurance on my 88 GL. I was already having
> heartburn because two of the the insurance companies I was using started
> charging ME a credit card assessment fee for them = the insurance
> company(s) to accept the credit card. My agent was dutifully putting the
> charge on my card. I have been stewing on this for a couple of months
> now. Today, I decided no more BS. I am going to pay with the coin of the
> realm - American Paper Dollars.  The heck with the money grabbing
> so&so's!  I laid out my cash - and I was promptly told by my  insurance
> agent's girl-up-front  that there would be a $2.00 charge for accepting
> cash. Can you believe that??? I got red in the face....  I blustered
> ..... I pounded the desk .....  acted as if I could not breath and was
> choking to death .... I got loud - no profanity .... just loud. I said
> what kind of Nazi/Communist Front organization was being run here - that
> they could not accept the American Coin of the Realm without charging
> extra? I was livid. The girl said meekly - "Sir, we can waive the $2
> charge!" I said it was a good thing. She laid the $2 on the counter and
> I took it and left.
>
> I was livid.  I was so bent I was near apoplexy. Somebody had to step up
> and draw the line. This kind of crap attitude is what has gotten  us
> into the financial mess we are in today in this country, ie, "The only
> thing that matters is money - and getting it from my  pocket to yours,
> and to HE Double Toothpicks with the rest of ya!!!""
>
> Anyone else run into this on insurance for their van??
>
> OK, rant   over. I'm off the soapbox.
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver
>