Sunday, September 30, 2012

I'm starting to believe that companies will never care about customer service.

I had a huge weekend filled with stuff to do. However my washing machine died again on Friday. I've probably had to fix it a half of dozen times now. And I've been limping it through because of the economy.

I decided I couldn't take it anymore. It was taking up to many hours to keep it living, and it'd always die when I had a lot of stuff to do.

Friday night we went out and virtual shopped. Decided on a set that would fit my space. Went back down to Lowe's on Saturday morning to purchase the set. The washer they had in stock. The dryer was back ordered because I need gas.

If I wasn't in a pinch I would have waited for Lowe's to make one delivery, but I was in a pinch and two different sales clerks and two different Lowe's told me the same thing - they would come out twice no problem.

Saturday night we got a robo call setting our delivery time. We were impressed.

Sunday morning Lowe's calls to tell us that the washer wasn't coming. They just didn't stick it on the truck. The guy failed to read the comments in the order and since the dryer wasn't there, he just didn't load it.

Later I was still pissed about it. I got up early to get my stuff done, and moved my whole day around for this delivery. So, I called customer service for the delivery company. Who tried to tell me it wasn't in stock. Which I knew was a lie since the first store told me how many they did have in stock. Both companies were basically blaming each other. Finally I flat out told the girl - when companies do this stuff, I want to make you the last company I shop at for something. Did I get an "I'm sorry"? Well, of sorts. I got an "I'm sorry you feel that way". Which made me think - IT MAKES EVERYONE FEEL THAT WAY. Not one attempt to make this better. Just basically a "deal with it". And I bought on the high end because it's the only thing the was short enough to fit in my space. I have a counter over the set, so I'm super limited now.

It just super pisses me off, because they sort of took me hostage. You can bet your ass I would have gone to another store until they promised me they could get a washer in my house the next day. These people have seen the durable goods numbers. Right? Companies are floating on appliances.

Friday, September 28, 2012

New to the 3D printing space.

HT Shapeways. It really is an interesting design. I predict CES will be chalk full of 3D printers this year.

If you can't figure out the economy you are a big dumb dummy.



Or the news agencies flood you with conflicting data.

The funny thing is that news is somewhat tailored to your habits, and they stick the conflicts right next to each other. It is why one person will tell you the economy is doing one thing while another thinks something completely different.
I am in a dry patch and it's going to be super hot. Who knows what you will get here. Maybe nothing.

Qu-Bd has a new website.

I have never gotten any financial gain from my blog. However, I'm thinking that it would be a really nice gesture for qu-bd to give me a discount if I were to buy one. Nothing too extreme - I'm a capitalist. I think you should get paid for what you work for. But the company themselves was using my site as proof of existence. Here.

And I really have given them a lot of free advertising. Because I liked the concept. Not because I wanted something for free.

The new website here.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The echo chamber economy.

Lately, I've been feeling really amazed at how little people know about the economy. It's always been that way - but lately it's gotten much, much worse. Sometimes I leave conversations stunned. You can not make people learn things. You just have to gently guide them. If you say the wrong thing, all of your hard work will vanish.

My theory about why it has gotten much worse is not because people are dumber. Although that can be debated. It's because five years ago there was so much "absorbed" knowledge. Everyone was in the market and everyone talked about the market. Now basically no one is in the market, and that knowledge stream has vanished.

The end result is that no one knows how the markets work now. And since at least in California the population is basically one large echo chamber, they are all passing along the wrong information.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Last night the electric vehicle market caved.

It was funny because Mr S. and I were having a conversation at lunch about electric vehicles. It went something like this:

Mr S. - Did you hear Tesla was opening charging stations?

Me - Charging stations. How does that work?

Him - They let people who bought Tesla's charge free for life at these stations for 30 minutes at a time.

Me - That is a complete lie. Free for life? Companies can't do that forever. Besides, I just don't understand electric cars. People know how long it takes to fill up your tank. Right? Five minutes. Yet they are trying to make be believe that a mobile nation like we are - is going to wait around for 30 minutes to charge a battery? I mean, there is a market for these cars with old people who have nothing better to do.

Him - Companies normally don't do that unless they are having a hard time selling cars.

Then we went on to talk about hot swapping batteries which I felt didn't make that much difference because it must take longer than 30 minutes to hot swap them.

Then on Doomberg BYD warned hard. This is the company Warren Buffett temporarily propped up. Profit down 97%. Which is a lot of percent. I didn't check today, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wa a penny stock now.

They also had a giant segment on Tesla who is flat out of money and is being told to speed up payment of their government loan guarantee. Plus they are selling stock to raise money.

One of the other EV companies said they'd misjudged the market. I don't remember which one now.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Dear Android. Fix your effing infinite boot loop problems!

Yesterday I was so pissed off. Honestly it ruined my whole day. You see, this past summer I had the boot loop problem. Since I was link hopping with my phone I wasn't sure if I'd gotten a phone virus. So I sucked it up and went to factory reset.

Sunday, when I woke up though, my phone was in the boot loop again. I knew there was no way to get out of this, and went down to the Sprint store this time to see if they could at least get my data off. Because in the boot loop, your phone is never stable enough to do that.

The Sprint store was as unhelpful as ever. But they can't get the data off either. He pointed to some other sad sucker who was waiting for the same thing.

Back to factory reset I go. Which pisses me off so hard. You lose all your old text messages and phone numbers. I was slightly glad some of my stuff was in the cloud. However, I don't want my text messages in the cloud. I want to be able to get my shit off the phone when I want to.

When your disk drive dies, you hook it up to another machine and get your data. Unless it's completely chunked. Cell phones don't even have memory cards these days.

If you think cell phones are going to be tiny computers, make it so we can get our data off like computers. I mean, these days I start to keep less and less stuff on my phone because you are probably going to lose it at one point. And that sucks.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Luna Park. Set2.







This was one of my favorites. I think her name was Casey.



Dark, but funny.







This was my other favorite.



Set 1 here.

Luna Park Chalk Art



Luna Park was pretty good this year. I went the first couple of years and it was really small. But, that is when Marin was still having theirs. Marin is where the really dedicated artists went. The budget hasn't allowed for that for a couple of years. So it's nice to see more artists in San Jose now. Especially since my favorite breakfast restaurant up in Marin called Lundies just got plowed through by a car. I was laughing a little because that place is barely as wide as a car. Two people can not pass the isle (singular) at the same time. I think there are 10 tables tops and the bar.





Of course I had to get my dog on. Because Mr S. is allergic. And this one had the cutest stripe like markings.



This is one of those perspective shots.









This little girl was working on this heart, and I'd thought it just be so cute if she was inside of it. Although she was a little camera shy. I don't think she understood why I wanted her to stand in the middle of the heart. I finally had to say.. it's okay. And she full out popped a smile and relaxed. Photographing kids these days causes a lot of anxiety for me. Kids are beat to death with stranger danger which they should. But I'm a girl. I always try to ask the parents. Just so everyone is okay. And you don't want to put a picture of someones kid on your blog if they don't want you to.

Friday, September 21, 2012

The turkeys made it to my neighborhood.


My commentary is retarded. Even though I've seen them downtown, I've never seen them around my place.

I couldn't make you stay if I tried.



I guess this one is wanting a name or something. I was sure he'd find a new place to live or be eaten by now. He has his wings after all.

It kinda weird because when I'm in the kitchen he watches me like a creepy stalker.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Watch. Pigs crazy smart Yo!



You only have to watch half of the video because some people feel they need to rerack the video. I think they assume we don't know how to use refresh. Or maybe our arms are broken and we can't use our mouse. I don't know but it pisses me off.

I would have given a link back to the latimes, but they don't seem to understand google, and I've exceeded "my fair share" of articles this month. They are also assholes.
I completly agree. I said so yesterday. The nation doesn't realize we are already in recession. They soon will. That will change everything.

That is really twisted.

Despite the horrid news of the world and everything - I've actually been feeling better each and every day. It feels sad to say, but I'm slightly enjoying watching the world burn. Normally these types of things really affect me. That is not who I want to be as a human. However, every single day now - it just reinforces my position. Romney will win.

I don't believe people are much different than I am. I believe they basically want the same things. To not wake up every morning wondering if your shit is going to be gone even though you are working your ass off. And not to be made to feel guilty for wanting to buy an ipod, ipad, ginormous tv, or what the eff ever.

Every single horrible news event makes me feel like another small amount of people will peel off and turn against this administration. Not all of them today, but a little bit every day. I see it in the conversations I have with people. I see it when I read forums. I see it in how easy it is to cave the majority in this state. I believe the news has trickled down to every single person. And they are resentful of the government. Sometimes even I am surprised by it.

I used to try and express my opinion about the world and everything. Now people are way more bitchy than me. I just step out and watch.
I haven't really been paying much attention to oil this summer. We have been averaging flat to 3 million barrels of inventory build each week. Non eventful.

So, when I was watching Doomberg last night and they report a larger than expected increase, I had to go over and see what it was.

I shit you not. The first time I read the number I said to myself - that can't be right.

Oh, it was right. And it was sphincter tightening. 8.5 million barrel increase in inventories.

Expecially when they predicted a .5 million barrel increase. That is a pretty wide gap.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

What the hell are these?



Last year I noticed these growths in my yard. I was churning dirt, and these huge puffs of what looked like smoke would appear. Mr S. made some reference about this is how horror films start. Which he says about a lot of stuff honestly.

I don't think they are mushrooms, because I've never seen a mushroom like this. So, I'm guessing some kid of fungus. I still have one in the yard now that I haven't disturbed because I sorta want to find out what they are. Because I'm curious that way. I'm also posting my year old video that isn't the best because I was holding the camera with one hand and trying to split them open with the other. Mr S. has commentary on how we are all going to die. Or something. You have to turn the sound way up. And the video gets better towards the end.





Romney will win because the nation is tired.

Over the past four years, it's been hard to accurately gauge how people are doing. We all feel sensitive about our precarious financial situations. We feel vulnerable. We wonder if we made the right choices in life. And even when you know people quite well, later you find out what they tell you about how they are doing were flat out lies. You can't blame them. However, the real stories are starting to come easier. And more honest.

So - yesterday I was talking to a guy I've known forever. When I was gutting my rental, he was putting up a whole new building downtown. I've been wanting to talk to him about it forever. And I figured his situation closly resembled mine. We were in the market at exactly the same time. Yesterday I struck.

Me - Do you regret this building?

Him - I try not to, but I do.

All of a sudden I found myself in a pep talk. Nothing stays the same, I reply. And I told him about how much I moved around as a kid, and how I remember houses in Santa Clara costing 30 grand. I mean, I was super young. But owning a house to me always meant different things than what it meant to most people. It's the place that keeps your memories. I mean, half the time they suck, but you still remember what house you lived in when it sucked. Always.

The conversation meandered around until I told him I tried to refinance recently. This is where I became flat out shocked. No matter how bad you have it - someone always has things worse. Always.

This guy - is still paying over 8% interest. Seriously. My crapshack is at 6.5 and I thought that was rough considering how low rates are. This guy though, took out a construction loan in roughly 2008. He told me the bank will never refinance me.

One of the last things he told me before I left was - he's just really tired. He has three kids in college, and he can't even confidently replace the roof on house because it's such a big expense. This guy is not deadbeat.

It was funny, because Mr S. and I have been having the exact same conversation lately. We are just tired. Not sick and tired. Exhausted.

This is the reason Romney will win.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Last night Mr S. and I were laying in bed talking about the world.

I started with - did you hear that the doctors lawyers and judges haven't been paid in months in Greece? So they are striking. He sort of looks at me nonplussed.

I continue on. Why do they continue to go to work if they aren't getting paid? It's weird, because when I was growing up, people in the Soviet Union people kept going to work even though they weren't getting paid too. And I could never understand it. Greece is starting to feel like that.

Mr S. - well I assume they are looting the place.

Me - Yeah, but when does that whole thing stop? It's just weird they keep showing up.

Mr S. - I assume it stops when there is nothing left to loot.

Monday, September 17, 2012

When the internet sucks - it really sucks.



I am trying to get out my funny stuff before my mood goes downhill. I can just feel it already. And it's only Monday.

A couple of weeks ago my bottom lip started swelling up. I mean, really swelling up. This resulted in a couple of weeks of self diagnosis. The funny thing about bumps on the inside of your mouth... they all pretty much look the same. And the internet basically tells you the same things about them. Leave them alone, and they will go away in 3-4 weeks. Because that is usually what happens.

I was done at the two week mark. I found myself in the supermarket late at night trying to find medicine to get rid of these bumps. Which is a clear distinction from the ones on the outside of your mouth. Which they have a lot of medicine for. I finally had to book an appointment to my general practitioner who I thought would just give me antibiotics and I'd have to live with it slowly going away.

Turns out I had a clogged saliva glad, probably because I bite my lip there, and my doctor took out a full cc of whatever that crap was inside of it. Seriously, that is a lot of fluid. I was about ready to lose my mind.

The funny thing is, I found my doctor really well lit. So I took a picture of him. Sadly, because I've known this guy forever, I have to censor him. But look at how the light hits my spit in that syringe. Which seems awkward to say. I mean, who does that?

Right on schedule.

This morning I got up and scanned the news to find nothing but how Romney is a big dumb dummy. And he's made this risky move, or that risky move.

And I just laugh to myself.

I believe Romney can do just about anything at this point - because I believe the next two months will be so painful - nothing else but the economy will matter. We know what this administration is going to give us. You can't help but wonder where you will be in four years if the economy stays like this.

Then oil takes a huge tumble when we are in the middle of a middle east crisis? Again, I laugh to myself. Right on schedule - I think.

Which sucks, because even I don't like that guy. Immediately he's going to have to take us into war, and we can't afford that.

For at least the past six months I've been having quite the struggle with the middle east. I don't believe we should be the worlds policeman. First and foremost. Having said that - some days I just want all of that to stop. I vacillate from wanting to look away, but then I wonder if some of the worlds other atrocities started that way. Maybe more of them knew than we think. It just became so painful to watch. So they stopped.

So, that's how they survive!



Here at the Snarkolepsy blog, we've had a fascination for mantids for years. It started a handful of years ago when I bought an egg sac and decided that I was going to hatch offspring in a fish tank to improve the odds of getting more of them to live.

Yeah, not so much.

Turns out Mantids are as dumb as Pandas when it comes to reproduction, and I gave up on that after one season. Most of them don't survive the molting process. So many die in the molting process in fact, I wasn't sure how this insect wasn't extinct.

Then a few years ago I started seeing them pop up in the wild. Which was odd. I don't know most things about mantids, but I didn't think I had a climate for them. Mostly grassland and such. But the past few years I've been seeing them every year. I'm guessing the constant influx of egg sacs have tipped the balance. I mean, even if you get just one or two to live, it's a numbers game. You can buy an unlimited number of those sacks at OSH.

Anyway, this guy almost lost his home this morning. I was going to take a stick and ferret out all that crap I thought the spiders were causing. And because I'm short I almost didn't see him. But.. hey - at least I know the spiders and matids are cooperating.

I decided against bring him inside and naming it Jeff like I did those other years. I'm just too tired. Thanks PMB. Here, here, and here.

P.S. I've turned back on word verification because I have some spammers who've subbed to my rss. If it becomes too bothersome, just email me.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

This is what separates the tough chicks from the amateurs.



I was going to get you cars today. But, I just couldn't. Every single thing on my body hurts. So, the best I could bust out was breakfast.

I think 40 feet might be my limit. Getting something 40 feet long to be straight, where nothing straight existed - sucks. All I can say is - framing contractors are worth everything you pay for them. Everything. This took us a week. Or so. A professional could pump it out in a day.

Anyway. It isn't completely perfect - but it's good enough for government work.

Thursday, September 13, 2012



There is something I find beautiful about decay. Which is funny because normally I want to gentrify everything.



I don't know what they are saying in the second video. (which I mislinked earlier)

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Every morning when Mr S. wakes me up, he tells me what melted down over night. Then he tells me what the Dow is at. Seriously. He has done that every morning since 9/11.

This morning however he crawled back into bed. He said - today has the making of an interesting day. Said in the most freaked out way ever. This jolts me awake. What happened I say? Which honestly, is exactly how the morning of 9/11 happened.

He continues - I flip on the news this morning and one of our embassy's was bombed. He said he wasn't sure if we were at war or not. This is before any of us knew the details.

I believe people have finally had enough.

I have always thought President Money Bags would be a one term President. Always.

Having said that, this past year has really tested my faith in people. Clearly a lot more of them had romantic feelings about socialism than I anticipated. Even now I'm not sure what the balance is. I mean, in California as long as I can remember they've always been here. But you thought the makeup was about 10% of the population. At least the more extreme ones. I once went to a county fair and there was a t-shirt vendor full out selling shirts with the hammer and sickle. At a fair! It happens unsurprisingly often.

Still, a month ago when the reports came out about how well PMB was doing I would just chuckle and mutter "if you say so". Every day since then I only become more convinced. I believe that what we are witnessing is a stated preference vs. revealed preference. And their revealed preference will be that they are done with this President.

Yesterday I went to the chiropractor whom I've known for about 10 years. During small talk he turned to me and said "I don't know anyone who is in positive equity". And I do not believe this guy was being dramatic. I've known him for a really long time. I mean, you read the numbers of roughly 25% underwater. But that is 100% for his demo. I absolutely do not believe people are okay with this. No matter what you say about housing as an investment - it's the few ways normal people increase wealth. It always has been. So, either that is an anomaly, or this is an anomaly.

I've always kinda kept track of the housing market. When I was growing up I had to move every year. Owning a house meant a certain amount of freedom to me. Which is funny to say because the trend right now is that owning a house is the opposite of freedom. I believe this is a fad, and the way I felt as a kid will prevail.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Destiny brought me to you.



I told you about my flat tire on Saturday. After Mr S. got that fixed, we still decided to regroup and get supplies for our project. The flat tire wasn't that much of a big deal, except for the part where I thought some idiot with a cell phone was going to rear end me. That aside, it basically just threw us off our game. We roll up to OSH super late in the day. Its kind of funny, right about three o'clock on a Saturday you just see this migration of people shuffling into the hardware stores. Like zombies. They have the zombie shuffle from doing whatever project they were doing. I imagine them saying "parts" instead of "brains".

Anyway. I roll up first because I have the truck, and after I stop I see this Tesla sedan. Which honestly just changes my whole mood. Despite being exhausted and stressed - seeing it just made me happy. Mr S. has been on the lookout at his work because some of the execs were waiting for their Tesla's to be delivered. He's been scouring the parking decks to get a peek. I thought he'd see one there first. No luck though, and this is the first one I've seen.

It isn't a bad looking car honestly. The sun was not working with me, and read the above if you don't like my shots.





Saturday, September 08, 2012

Today was tiresome. (Mr S. says puns make everything better.)

Project days can be kinda rough. Especially when you are out of practice. I'd forgotten how long it takes to gather supplies. You go to one store and they don't have what you need, so you wind up going to another. It eats up a lot of time.

I even took some time out for do-gooderism. Some guy's car was stuck in the middle of the road and Mr S. and I pushed him out. When we started pushing it was just the two of us, but before you knew it - people just materialised. This has happened once before, and it almost makes you feel better than the actual act of helping someone. You just start pushing and you look to your right and left, and all of a sudden people are there, pushing too. It feels neat because I don't mind helping getting people out of the middle of traffic. Back in the day I had to push a lot of cars I've owned. If you couldn't push your own car and clutch start it, you just weren't worth your weight in salt. But seeing all those people step up kinda feels amazing in a way.

The funny thing was: 30 seconds earlier I wanted to punch that guy in the neck. I was in a hurry and he was holding me up. All these little things were eating into the day. Mr S. said it was like someone flipped a switch in my head and I instantly went from cranky to wanting to help that guy.

After that I went back home to get my beater truck. Mr S. went to fill the tires because I was going to haul about 600 pounds, and the tire stem completely popped out of the rear right tire. We stuff it back in, and I tried to run it straight to the shop, but didn't make it. The tire went flat in under a mile. Stuck in the middle of the road I laughed about the irony. Mr S. got a refresher course on changing tires. Because we don't really have to do that in California. Usually you have a slow leak and you take it to the gas stations that reside on every other block. I've never had to change a tire here. And it isn't because I'm a girl.

Friday, September 07, 2012

Now you - entertain me.

I'm not sure what I will have for you this weekend. I have to take care of shit around my house. Sweat equity. Without the equity. That kind of thing. Since none of it is that interesting, maybe I will blog about it maybe I wont. The old timers know how I roll.

Maybe I'll just find something to bitch about. However, the world kinda sucks - so that bar is jacked up busted. It takes a lot for me to do more than shrug my shoulders.

Thursday, September 06, 2012

This is the most disengaged audience evar.
Eeek. I can't wait for the speach. When people can see the end - they start a preference cascade.

Bonus San Jose Zombie-o-rama shots.









Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

Boy, you'd think Mitt Romney was the incumbent by listening to Julian Castro.

I've reached a new phase.

I forget exactly how it started. Though, I think it began when I started noticing that liberals were starting to crumble easily. Self I though - that is odd.

Conversations went something like - Oh, that Romney did this or that. To which I'd reply, well - your guy did that too. More exasperated they start again - well Romney bla bla bla! I'd laugh and say - Well, your guy did that too only worse! Then all of a sudden I was a racist and it was all over. Which I thought was super funny. It used to take a lot more than that to get to the racist point.

Just as a side note - I'd vote PMB out just so I can say shitty things about the President without being called a racist every two seconds. That nerve is dead. It makes me laugh they think that still works.

I started having conversations with Mr S. about how their resistance was low, and really all you had to do to shut down a conversation was talk about automatic budget cuts. Everyone is disguising it by calling it "the fiscal cliff". That is bullshit. Automatic budget cuts! It's the one area they can't blame on anyone else. And it terrifies them. As it should.

I believe everyone deep down inside knows we are headed on a terrifying path. But they don't want to admit it openly yet. They can't. They have to keep up the status quo. But they do know. And you only need to bring it up in a certain way and they fall silent.

I've learned a lot about people and the lies they tell themselves and others during this recession. I was in the demo where pretty much everyone I knew had purchased a house in the last 10 years. Almost none of them have those houses now. The only reason I still have mine is not because I was smarter than anyone else. It was because I came from a hard knocks childhood, and I was more scared than everyone else. I had more protection.

So, I guess my new phase is - that I think most off all of this is funny right now. I mean, seeing the human suffering sucks. But I don't see anything that will make people learn except for pain. Nothing else has worked. And if Romney wins, I don't actually think it makes much difference. One wants you to work, and the other doesn't. But the rest.....

Monday, September 03, 2012

I don't know why this is a "thing".



We passed this house this morning and briefly noted it. I thought it was odd, but that guy just put in a brand new lawn. I thought he now wanted to luxuriate on it. I mean, it's an inside chair for an outside job. Who doesn't notice that? I don't know why they just don't use the middle finger. It's what I want to use.

Sausalito Art Festival Shots.



Normally I try harder to get the artists names when I blog about their stuff. But,not this time. The artists at the Sausalito Art Festival are about as hostile towards photographers as you can possibly be. I "get it". You are there to sell art.

However, you are at a festival - not a gallery. Photographers make it so more people want to buy your art. But, they don't get this whole feedback loop. And it's Sausalito, where you can't go a block without seeing an Obama/Biden bumper sticker. Even on a Bentley. The funny thing is it's so Democratic, they don't even see how crazy they are. But it's a beautiful city. It's easy to escape the real world consequences of actions.











The tulip furniture was something I hadn't seen before, and the artists from Freyer Wood Works hadn't become Sausalito hardened yet. Which roughly translates - we are fucking rich here beotch. And I love rich people! Well, maybe love is a strong word. If you are entertaining me - I'm loving you. Rich, poor. Whatever.






Sunday, September 02, 2012

Remind me again who is voting for Obama?





This guy has two Obama stickers on his Bentley. Oh, what the hell. I don't get Bentleys that often. Even though this one isn't even a color.





Saturday, September 01, 2012

Scottish games.



I tried to distract myself with the Scottish Games today. Which was minimally successful. The last 4 things I've been to - attendance has really been down.



Ridiculous tease. Even though I've never had shortbread







Nothing makes me want to make little children cry more than these giant totstrollers. That old lady was double handing it. A normal walker in one hand, and a baby walker in the other. I want to beat these people so badly. It's either children who can walk, or the other type is tiny children in the most ginormous stroller. You'd think these people were going on safari for a week. Sometimes they are so big I can hardly see around them. And dodging them is so tiresome most of the time. And I'm not lazy or unwilling to walk.