When our founders set up our government their intention was that its citizens would come to the nation’s capital for a period of time  to contribute to the running of the people’s business and would then return to their normal lives.  Of course that is not what is happening today. There are way too many people  in our congress who are now collecting very lucrative pensions even after even relatively short terms in congress. There are those like Strom Thurmond, who have been there for decades and seem to want to die in office. John McCain first comes to mind … Continue reading Congressional Pensions??

My latest micro-RV (uRV) trip was to Madison Indiana which is on the Ohio River east of Louisville. As usual I took county and state roads during my 400 mile trek. One of the towns that intrigued me was Flat Rock Indiana.  I’m sure it was once a thriving rural town in the area. There is a gravel pit near the town as the only traffic through the town while I was there were loaded dump trucks. (as usual click on any picture to see a larger view slideshow) I think there were still a few houses occupied in the … Continue reading Welcome To Flat Rock…

Amazon is growing in leaps and bounds so it just makes sense that they start their own air delivery system both big and small. In order to control costs end-to-end processes are required and that is just what Amazon is doing. I have been a pretty constant Amazon customer for the past 15 years or so.  I wish I could say that I have also been a stockholder for that period but this seems to be another example of lost opportunities for me.  :)  I simply like the convenience of getting what I need without gassing up the car and driving … Continue reading The Next Step

I have been dreaming of my trip to Alaska ten years ago so I thought I would pull a couple of pictures for today’s post. No we didn’t eat at “Smiles Seafood Cafe” but looking back I wish we had. Continue reading All Smiles Today…

Change, change, change… that seems to be our world today. While I for the most part embrace change I don’t like change simply for changes sake. That according to the source below seems to be almost where many are as technology consumers. dIn 1984 when PCs were first on the scene I quickly embraced the technology.  But I also quickly discovered that there were many things I wanted to do with the technology that were just not possible in those years.  The hardware was just too limiting to accomplish my dreams. As time went by computing power seemed to double  year … Continue reading We Have Come To The Point….

If I am known for anything here at RJsCorner is it my contrarian view of many things. Managing my money is one of them.  I know there are many blogs out their that strongly advise us to seek out financial planners to manage our money.  Supposedly they take a percentage of our assets each year in order to invest our money where it will get the highest earnings. I admit that for the seventeenth year of my retirement from the corporate world I have yet to use a financial planner.  One of the reasons is cited in the quote above. In the … Continue reading Managing Our Money…

I love reading about the history of America and some of the best critiques come from outside our country. Two of my favorite quotes comes from the idea of the “Tyranny of the Majority”.  That is when the majority in our country tends to deny basic civil rights to various minority groups. Of course the most glaring one is slavery but there is also the murder of millions of native Americans during the conquest of their native lands. The term “Tyranny of the Majority” was widely employed in mid-nineteenth-century America in conjunction with a series of moral questions (Sabbath, temperance, racial equality) that … Continue reading Perpetual Utterance of Self-Applause

The main crux of this post is about whether a company can remain innovative as it ages. I want to use Sears and Amazon as study points. Being a U.S. history buff I can’t help but draw a parallel between Sears in the early 20th century and Amazon a hundred years later. One of the striking things about Amazon beside their explosive product line is the speed at which they deliver their products. For $79/year you can get unlimited 2 day delivery at no cost.  I must admit I am a major customer who places orders probably 30+ times a year for … Continue reading Innovation…

I have been dreaming about  my April Disney World trip lately. One of the most spectacular shows was “Lion King”. With this post I am giving you a flavor of it. It is a massive production and well worth one of your “magic passes” if you ever go there. (as usual click on any of the pics above to see a larger slideshow) Continue reading Dreaming About “Lion King”

The Rapp-Owen Granary is just one of perhaps a hundred buildings that have survived from the two utopian communities that were established in New Harmony Indiana. The Rapp-Owen Granary is perhaps the largest and most elegant.  If you are ever near southern Indiana and have an interest in history, especially utopian communities New Harmony is well worth a visit. (click on any of the pictures above to see a larger slideshow) I enlarged some ofd the words  in one of pictures for easier reading here: Continue reading Rapp-Owen Granary