Should I Be Pissed At My Motorcycle Tech

Posted by Modern Day Machiavelli on October 7, 2016
Posted in: Ask Machiavelli. Leave a comment

Dear Machiavelli,

I own a Harley Davidson motorcycle and for some reason (I know it doesn’t make good sense) I have been taking my bike to a “metric” dealership to have minor maintenance performed on the Harley Davidson. Well the other day it was time for new tires and I called the metric shop and ordered the tires. When they called and said they came in I promptly carried my bike down there to get them put on . Before the service manager did the work, he informed me that they actually did not like to work on Harley Davidson motorcycles because it took valuable shop time away from people who had purchased bikes from him, all of his techs weren’t comfortable working on them, and they have somewhat of an attitude. He stated that he would continue installing them but that he would have to start adding a $20 premium to the current price starting with this install. I went ahead and let him do it but afterwards I made numerous complaints, called the owner, left a negative review on google (even though they did an excellent job) harassed them on Facebook, and encouraged all of my friends to do the same. Luckily most of my friends are as self centered and self absorbed as me but a few people had the opposite opinion and it really has me butt hurt, I just want to know am I justified in reacting the way I did

Thanks,

Somewhat Manly In Milwaukee

 

Dear Somewhat Manly,

First of all, what kind of moron lives in Milwaukee, buys a Harley Davidson, and then takes it to a metric shop for routine maintenance? Do you not realize you are in the Mecca for Harley Davidson and V-Twin motorcycles? I’m not 100% sure but I think it is a violation of every man law in this country. I just cannot fathom the logic that leads you to think it would be a good idea to take a Harley Davidson to a metric shop, much less in Milwaukee, Wisconsin………

Ok now that I have that the first issue out of the way, let’s concentrate on the second. So you think it is a good idea to ruin this business because they will change you tires, but they would rather not because of the reasons listed? So you mascaraed around like a bunch of big though bikers until your feeling are hurt, then act like a bunch women on a segment of Housewives of Atlanta all because YOU think the world revolves around you.

Here is my advice. Do NOT tell another soul this story, not your wife, your priest, not even your dog. If your friends that sympathized with you ask about it, act like you have no idea what they are talking about. In the face of all truth deny this story until your last breath. Laugh out loud if it’s mentioned in manly circles and say it wasn’t you but that whoever it was must be a wuss. Then maybe, just maybe you can salvage a little of your manhood and convince the rest of the Harley Davidson community that you actually have a set of balls. But I admit there is no guarantee…..

Thanks for your letter,

Modern day Machiavelli

 

 

 

John Kerry And The Obama Administration Are Out Of Touch Concerning Russia Putin And The Ukraine

Posted by Modern Day Machiavelli on March 4, 2014
Posted in: Blog. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

First of all I am not an Apologist for Vladimir Putin. I’m not a big fan of Russia and I was really against the Olympics being hosted in that country. The only positive aspect of the Olympics being hosted by Russia was the fact that many negative issues were brought to the forefront as a result. That being said, I think the United States had no business in the issue of Russia and the Ukraine.

Who are we to tell Russia how to handle a country that is in complete disarray that touches their border. I think it is extremely out of line politically and logically for the United States, a country half way around the world to tell a country next door how to respond to the chaos in that country. I just think that is completely out of touch. For example, if a similar situation happened in Mexico and if we felt it was in our National Security interest to enter that country and make some military moves to stabilize, it shouldn’t be the business of a country halfway around the world that has absolutely no realistic interest in the stability of that region. Yet we seem to think it is okay to do the same. What about when the State Department said that Russia interfering could disrupt the balance of the region. If the administration in control before the coup was Russian friendly how can Russia moving in there to “stablize” it upset the balance of the region? To make matters worse we periodically help US friendly leaders take control of countries on their continent. I just don’t understand this administrations logic on this….

Also, what in the world is Secretary of State John Kerry talking about when he gives these “warnings” to Russia concerning the Ukraine? The one that comes to mind first is where Kerry states that Russia invading the Ukraine would be a “grave mistake”. That quote really bothers me. That phrase has somewhat of a confrontational connotation to it. Is Kerry trying to tell Russia that if they invade the Ukraine we may take military action. I doubt that is what he meant, but when dealing with a country who we already have a rocky relationship should we choose our words a little more carefully? Not that they will lead to a war or anything but afterwards if we do nothing or very little it will just be another example of showing how weak this administration actually is….

The bottom line is that I am not sure we have any business in dictating how another country responds to serious unrest on their border. there is absolutely no logic involved in this position whatsoever.

Want to debate it, the Modern Day Machiavelli is ready as always!

There Are More Problems With The Dolphins Incognito Thing Than You Would Realize

Posted by Modern Day Machiavelli on November 5, 2013
Posted in: Blog. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

This is going to be short and sweet. There are so many issues with this fiasco that I’m not sure where to begin. Some are very obvious while others are somewhat hidden and overlooked by the more glaring aspects of the issue. For those of you who may not know, Richie Incognito, an offensive lineman for the Miami Dolphins, seemed to participate in the team hazing of Jonathan Martin. Martin is not a rookie but a young offensive lineman for the Dolphins as well. Martin didn’t respond well to the hazing, leaving the team and officially reported it to the team front office. Incognito responded to Martins actions by leaving racially charged text messages and voice mails. Now I’m not going to go in-depth in what Incognito stated (it’s all over the internet) but I will say on a scale of 1 to 10 that it was a good 7 or 8. Not only was his messages racially charged, they were violent and directed at his family as well. Some people may ask why I don’t rank it higher and my answer is that is bad is it is, I have heard worse. Since this story became known, it has only gotten worse for Incognito. Not long afterwards a video surfaced showing him in some kind of “psychotic” tirade. He is running around a bar with his shirt off yelling, cussing, using racial slurs, and acting like his is completely out of his mind. I think it is this video that is extremely important and remember this because we will get into that in a minute.

First and foremost, what Incognito did to Martin after he left the team is beyond defense. I’m not sure how anyone could defend those actions. I understand the concept of hazing, and to be honest for the most part I don’t have that much of a problem with most hazing. Some people can handle it better than others, and some people can’t handle it at all. It seems that Martin is the latter. In order for him to walk away from a job the has to love, not to mention his contracts is about $800K a year, he must have really had a hard time with the hazing he was subjected too. Once he did this any reasonable person would have recognized this and acted accordingly. Not only did Incognito NOT act accordingly, he “doubled down” with threats and racial slurs. You combine that with the fact that the guy has had numerous problems during his college and professional careers, I believe that he should never play another down of football in the NFL. If you were to isolate the most sensitive aspect of this, the racially charged aspect, I’m not sure it would be enough to ostracize him forever, but when this man shows the lack of intelligence he did, That’s enough for me. If I owned the Dolphins he would never play another down for me, and I was NFL Commissioner, I would do everything in my power to see that he never played another down in the NFL. Would you really want someone who damn stupid around your organization. If this man doesn’t have enough reason and common sense not to think it is a bad idea to text and leave this on voicemail, I don’t want him near me or anything associated with me. Maybe he will play again in the NFL, maybe not. But if I owned the Dolphins it wouldn’t be up for discussion and I’m pretty sure the current Dolphin Organization shares my belief. I’ll go ahead and say now that he won’t play for the Dolphins.

This brings me to another aspect of this fiasco that I want to talk about. Although the vast majority of the blame rest with Incognito, is there anyone or anything out there that should or could hold some culpability for Incognito’s actions. Soon after this story came to light, I was discussing it with my circle of friends and I brought up a point that others were missing. Is there a subculture or counterculture that facilitates or enables Incognito’s behavior. Not long after making this suggestion, the video I spoke about earlier surfaced. As I stated earlier, the video shows Incognito in a tirade and although racial slurs aren’t are the focal point of the incident, he does use them. The shocking aspect of the video is that Miami’s center Mike Pouncy (who is also black), is seen in the video smiling and laughing while Incognito is using the “N word”. It’s obvious that there are certain aspects of American society where this word is acceptable. Is the Dolphins “locker room” one of them? Is it acceptable for white Dolphin players to use that word and refer to other black Dolphin player with that word. If you go by the video, I would have to argue yes. Then if you put a guy, who isn’t the “sharpest tool in the shed” in this environment would he use the word when he shouldn’t?There are bad words in the English language and then there are very bad words, then even beyond that there is the “N word” and if the word is THAT bad it shouldn’t be acceptable to use by ANYONE in any environment. There maybe very small exceptions such as academic, or historical context of a movie, but that is about it.

The bottom line is that Incognito is responsible for his actions and he should pay for it severely, but I believe everyone who uses that word in any “acceptable” form shares some culpability, and until we chang that, there will be more and more instances just like this..

Just my dos centavos from the Modern Day Machiavelli.

Have a different opinion, disagree, or think I’m way off base, I beg you to debate me. Just hit me up here, Facebook, or my Twitter.