Alright, so I said I’d spare you my narcissistic belly button staring posts. . but I didn’t say anything about my constant disgust in the human race!! Well, not YOU of course. I know you’d never be part of such silly things. That’s why you paddle right?? LOL!!

Someone said once that we get the government we deserve. That may be so. I’d like to add to those quick off-the-cuff observations and say, if you want to see the soul of humanity just look at the way they do business. Business of course is the "hoity-toity" term we use that really means the way we get cash. Usually by extracting it from others for goods or services. Of course these days "business" has blurred to a point where you’re not always sure what the "goods or services" actually are. Services are provided on a "if we absolutely must"basis and "goods" are things we sell temporary licenses for, not actually the goods themselves. If we do sell goods they are usually in need of upgrading before you can get the box open.

Now don’t forget that the people who came up with all this knee-deep cow pat practices are your friends and neighbors. They are the people on your county boards, social clubs, and DNR advisory councils. Oh, and let us not forget, they are the people in your government! Thus proving of course that if we’re ok with the way corporations treat us as individuals, we do indeed deserve the government we get. It all comes together in the end.

Well, what got me on this little tirade was British Airways. Chumps. Now the fact that I have to fly on a BA flight in a week means I should probably keep my mouth shut. . but who reads my drivel anyway?? So. . . Back to British Airways. So I read this article on the BBC that tells how British Airways edited out a split second cameo appearance of of Richard Branson in the new Bond flick before they would show the vid on their flights. They also airbrushed out the Virgin logo on the tail of a plane! You have got to be freaking kidding me!!!! Yes, Virgin airlines is a competitor. Well, sort of anyway. But can you imagine the minds behind the move?? You know it’s not so much the pettiness of the act. Yeah, it’s obviously petty to the point of silly. But when you think a bit more about it, it gets down right scary.

Think about this; Who first at BA thought. . . "I don’t want to show that picture of Mr. Brandson."? Then who did he talk to? Then did they have a committee of people sitting round a table drinking Starbucks and contemplating this silliness as if it were "Business"?? Then they had to call the company that edits films for them. Get permission, etc. Then some poor tech had to actually remove the offending half second and clean up the tail of the plane! This is no little chore. They had to spend a lot of time and money. Wow!! All apparently because they thought the mere spit second glimpse of Richard Branson would have passengers demanding the flight turn around so they could ride a Virgin. . . No wait that didn’t come right at all did it?? Moving on. . .

It’s like the guy with the obscene bumper sticker. I’m not offended by the bumper sticker. I’m scared at the thought of how much time the individual went through to put it on his car. Can you see that guy in some truck stop laughing his head off as he spins the little bumper sticker display and thinks, "Yeah that’s so true!!" and feeling the profound need to buy the bumper sticker that says, "No Fat Chicks". Well, this guy as never dated a woman with self-respect that’s for sure!! Even a thin woman with any sort of IQ would be humiliated to be associated with that. Then you can imagine him tossing the cash on the counter and the excitement of thinking of getting in on his truck. Then the poor sod must sit in his driveway carefully putting his cherished sticker on the bumper. Then stands back and admires it for awhile. Just stands there in his drive, reading over and over. . "No Fat Chicks". Feeling he’s just the king of comedy. You see, it’s not the sticker, it the effort and thoughts that went behind to put it there that has me worried!

Now here’s the thing. All business has competition. Fine. You want to compete? Be better. Simple. Sometimes better is not enough. Sometimes like in kayaking, personal choice is part of the decision. I’d pop a cork if I had to start airbrushing out other boat and gear logos in symposium pictures just because they were not "sponsors". Be real.

As for British Airways. . . . Chumps!!

Spent the day on Lake Wisconsin. Great to be out again of course. This is just a quick shot from today as I snuck up on on the Free Car Ferry. I will work on a new podcast over the weekend. Hope you’re weekend is flipping fantastic.

Well Olaus McLeod is paddling a surfboard from Lands End in Cornwall, UK to the Scilly Isles and back! Oh, and his tossing in a little marathon in the middle. No wonder he called his adventure "To Hell and Back". It looks to me to be about 25 miles or 21 nm worth of open water crossing (each way) off the most westerly point in the UK. . . on a surfboard. . . oh. . . joy! Olaus is taking donations and raising money for Cystic Fibrosis and the RNLI in the UK. For us Americans the RNLI is the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The guys who keep us safe on the water. The guys who I hope will protect me from big mean Rowland Woollven and his kayak classes of death. . .

Anyway, I thought if you were feeling like you were working too hard today you may want to just have a thought toward Olaus who at this moment is getting the ride of his life. . .