Meet the weird neighbors

  I was driving by this tiny little bait store near the
house; never paid much attention to it. Maybe the customers are old
friends and referrals. The sign is small, and homemade, just some
stenciled letters. I thought that the sign at least needs the classic
jumping fish; like something from the 50's or 60's. 

  Then I started thinking about stopping there as part of a
fishing trip myself; which immediately led to thinking about it from a
marketing perspective. I had what was to me a new idea; maybe this
thing has been analyzed for decades. Anyway, is there a way to get
detailed interviews about peoples' expectations of a given shopping
outing, or, an outing that involved shopping at a particular place?
That is, in my case, I would imagine a day with nice weather, I'd
pull up to this little bait and tackle store that I've driven by a
number of times, the store with the old sign and the classic jumping
fish. I'd meet the guy, an older gentleman with white hair. We'd talk
about the pictures of great catches on the walls, and about the
current best locations at the lake. I'd get everything I need, a soda
pop or two, some chips, then off for nostalgia.

  With enough interviews like that, one might have a better
idea of what people are looking for; how to cater to something bigger
than what merchandise one has to offer.

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You do realize that I'm a manufacturer,
right? It being that I make signs, I'm in that category. I get
free subscriptions to trade magazines. They're educational in our house. In the September issue of
Machine design, on page 71, is an ad for a company that makes things
from pure powdered materials. Part of the ad says: "And
combining ceramic and metals makes possible composites and
functionality graded materials with unique microstructures
unobtainable by any other means."

  Then I remembered the dream of King Nebuchadnezzer, about the great statue with feet made of iron and clay mixed together. I wondered if maybe in the last days, we would have a better understanding of the vision, because we have technology like this. It's just the mind cross referencing things. I went online and read what people are saying about the feet of clay and iron, there are some interesting ideas, but that's as far as I got.

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  I've had some interesting observations of current spiritual-political events, but time-space won't let me relate them now.

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There is someone we know, they are at our house occasionally, not too often. This person is of the "Charismatic" persuasion, they speak in tongues, and hold to other practices of that movement. I don't. I am probably in a unique position, as many non participants are vehemently opposed to all of it, saying it's from the other side. As for me, I admire their faith; the Bible says that without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Try going into a typical Baptist church some time, and asking for a prayer regarding an illness. After all, the scriptures say to call the elders together, and pray for the sick.You'll probably find that they're inexperienced with that sort of prayer. I've looked at the Charismatic doctrines from both sides, and I'm not a partaker at this time; I seen some interesting shenanigans in that crowd.

 So I'm at my house, and my daughter comes downstairs, ready to go out, dressed in a way that I think is immodest. This kid isn't the poster child of rebellion, in fact, she looks to be one of the closest to the Lord of all my children. Rather than saying no way, change right now; I wanted her to examine her motives. So I asked what would make her want to dress that way. Into the room comes the visitor, telling me that studies have shown that Fathers who aren't close have daughters that seek attention elsewhere. Well thank you, I happen to be aware of those studies. My perspective of psychologists is the same as philosophers; they can raise great questions, it's their answers that you have to watch out for. What gets me is that this visitor has in times past spoken loudly in tongues in our house, knowing that I don't practice it, or teach it to my children. Now, in this instance, the first thing out of the visitor's mouth is psychology 101.

What I was really asking was two things: What makes one desire to show off their curves, and, shouldn't our first thought be what does the Bible say? But no-o-o-o, the first thing I get is psychology. I remember when I first became a Christian, more that 20 years ago; people always quoted the Bible this, and the Bible that. Are we slipping?

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 I don't drive to a lot of different areas, so I might be pushing the pin into the map at the wrong place; but there is an area that I consider Knoxville's "hood", or the closest we have. I've done some work there, just last week I was noticing how deplorable the sidewalks were. I don't just mean old, no, they were disintegrated. Little walnut size pieces of concrete. I was told that this are was once the affluent part of town. I've been in an office there with such splendid marble work, that it seemed to verify the claim. I was also told that it all changed when the housing projects were brought in. The projects are quite visible, I know that they're real.

Recently, I heard a rumor that there is a plan to put housing projects in the west part of town; which is the current upscale part. Kind of aging, but still more commerce than other areas. So I wondered if this could be a conspiracy of sorts. Make arrangements, maybe buy some land, get some rezoning; then cause all the businesses to seek another place; which, oh by the way, we have some lots available over here.

People can do what they want with their manipulations; I have other fish to fry. But I'm wondering about some of the details. In order to get the commissioners to agree to putting the projects in an area like that, do they tailor make a heartfelt pitch to the more liberal members? Fast forward, what happened to all the good intentions? Why is the previous area now abandoned? Are liberals of a short term mentality? Maybe now they're enlightened to a loftier agenda; so sit back and let the media promote tolerance AKA rainbow filth?