Up Early...Tired...And Quite Busy
Besides avoiding tapping my toes in restroom stalls, now I have to worry about helping getting nearly 100 kids and a giant pyramid onto the football field at half-time of the football game about 8:45 PM tonight.
It makes me tired just thinking about it...
Friday, August 31, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Guns For Everyone...And Put Them On My Tab...
More Political Incorrectness
I've enjoyed reading the local edition of the AtlantaUrinal & Constipation Journal & Constitution for the past two days, and it's been amazing the amount of vitriol aimed at Michael Vick and his recent public statement(s).
All of the city's mindless boosters and pro-sports fans that declared Vick the end-all do-all handy-dandy panacea solution of the woes of the only team besides the Braves that spent zillions of dollars on salary for grown men to play boys games are continuing to bitch and complain and choke on their predictions of greatness and a football dynasty developing down at the Georgia Dome.
Another AJC article that caught my eye was this one about gun ownership here in the US compared to the rest of the world (click):
United States the world leader in gun ownership
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published on: 08/29/07
There are nine guns for every 10 people in the United States, with about 270 million firearms in circulation, according to a report released Tuesday.
People well-armed: Worldwide, civilians now have access to 650 million small arms — from handguns to semiautomatic rifles — an arsenal that far outstrips what is held by police and militaries, according to the annual Small Arms Survey. It estimates that civilians account for about three-fourths of the 875 million such weapons in circulation.
U.S. the leader: The United States has the heaviest concentration of firearms. Of the 8 million new firearms manufactured annually around the world, roughly 4.5 million are bought in the United States.
Other countries with high per capita ownership include Yemen, with 61 small arms per 100 people; Finland with 56; Switzerland with 46; and Iraq with 39.
Much lower on the scale are Brazil, with nine guns per 100 people, England and Wales with six, India with four, China with three and Nigeria with one.
Of course the Associated press breathlessly reports these statistics like they are a bad thing in the headline, but then goes on to say that the level of gun ownership might not actually be the cause of crime when the true details are analysed.
I Agree totally, and having had the barrel of a crappy medium caliber revolver broken off its frame on the back of my hard head nearly thirty years ago in a robbery, I subscribe to the idea that anything can be a deadly weapon in the hands of someone that wants to hurt or kill you.
You can be killed with a salt shaker poked into your eye or other bodily orifice, and you can succumb to a pool cue or bar stool driven across your shoulder blades.
So why don't we ban salt shakers, pool cues, and bar stools along with guns?
After all, I bet the number of bar stools in Europe approaches that of the US on a per capita basis.
You can also drown in a Cool Whip bowl full of water if someone holds your face in it long enough--let's outlaw Cool Whip and water while we're at it..
All I can say is that the anti-gun weenies need to just shut the hell up and go home and eat some Tofu and recharge their stun guns and cans of mace and watch another evening of PBS TV programming.
By the way, I'm afraid that I'm guilty of skewing the statistics upward in a significant way, because if you come down to one of the places which I occasionally occupy here in the SOUTHERN UNITED STATES, you will find the gun to owner ratio to be more like SIX guns per person...
...and that "one person" would be ME.
Now put that in your pipe and smoke it.
I've enjoyed reading the local edition of the Atlanta
All of the city's mindless boosters and pro-sports fans that declared Vick the end-all do-all handy-dandy panacea solution of the woes of the only team besides the Braves that spent zillions of dollars on salary for grown men to play boys games are continuing to bitch and complain and choke on their predictions of greatness and a football dynasty developing down at the Georgia Dome.
Another AJC article that caught my eye was this one about gun ownership here in the US compared to the rest of the world (click):
United States the world leader in gun ownership
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published on: 08/29/07
There are nine guns for every 10 people in the United States, with about 270 million firearms in circulation, according to a report released Tuesday.
People well-armed: Worldwide, civilians now have access to 650 million small arms — from handguns to semiautomatic rifles — an arsenal that far outstrips what is held by police and militaries, according to the annual Small Arms Survey. It estimates that civilians account for about three-fourths of the 875 million such weapons in circulation.
U.S. the leader: The United States has the heaviest concentration of firearms. Of the 8 million new firearms manufactured annually around the world, roughly 4.5 million are bought in the United States.
Other countries with high per capita ownership include Yemen, with 61 small arms per 100 people; Finland with 56; Switzerland with 46; and Iraq with 39.
Much lower on the scale are Brazil, with nine guns per 100 people, England and Wales with six, India with four, China with three and Nigeria with one.
Of course the Associated press breathlessly reports these statistics like they are a bad thing in the headline, but then goes on to say that the level of gun ownership might not actually be the cause of crime when the true details are analysed.
I Agree totally, and having had the barrel of a crappy medium caliber revolver broken off its frame on the back of my hard head nearly thirty years ago in a robbery, I subscribe to the idea that anything can be a deadly weapon in the hands of someone that wants to hurt or kill you.
You can be killed with a salt shaker poked into your eye or other bodily orifice, and you can succumb to a pool cue or bar stool driven across your shoulder blades.
So why don't we ban salt shakers, pool cues, and bar stools along with guns?
After all, I bet the number of bar stools in Europe approaches that of the US on a per capita basis.
You can also drown in a Cool Whip bowl full of water if someone holds your face in it long enough--let's outlaw Cool Whip and water while we're at it..
All I can say is that the anti-gun weenies need to just shut the hell up and go home and eat some Tofu and recharge their stun guns and cans of mace and watch another evening of PBS TV programming.
By the way, I'm afraid that I'm guilty of skewing the statistics upward in a significant way, because if you come down to one of the places which I occasionally occupy here in the SOUTHERN UNITED STATES, you will find the gun to owner ratio to be more like SIX guns per person...
...and that "one person" would be ME.
Now put that in your pipe and smoke it.
The Main Difference Between Georgia and Rhode Island
May I Have A Drum Roll Please?
The answer to my question (In my considered Redneck Opinion):
"They still sell Guns in our Georgia Wal Marts. (click)"
AP
FBI Investigating Threats to U.S. Stores
Wednesday August 29, 3:24 pm ET
By Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer
Bomb Threat to RI Wal-Mart Leads to Evacuation, Money Transfer; FBI Says May Be Broader Scam
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) -- A bomb threat that caused the evacuation of a Wal-Mart and led employees to wire $10,000 to the caller appears to be part of a broader scam targeting other businesses around the country, authorities said.
...Damn Limp Wristed Yankies
.
The answer to my question (In my considered Redneck Opinion):
"They still sell Guns in our Georgia Wal Marts. (click)"
AP
FBI Investigating Threats to U.S. Stores
Wednesday August 29, 3:24 pm ET
By Eric Tucker, Associated Press Writer
Bomb Threat to RI Wal-Mart Leads to Evacuation, Money Transfer; FBI Says May Be Broader Scam
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) -- A bomb threat that caused the evacuation of a Wal-Mart and led employees to wire $10,000 to the caller appears to be part of a broader scam targeting other businesses around the country, authorities said.
...Damn Limp Wristed Yankies
.
Do You Think That (Some) Dog's Aren't Brilliant???
Then Take Mine Onto An Elevator
I've observed an amazing phenomena regarding Missy, the Turbo Pup, and her understanding of modern infrastructure in our last two visits to the Atlanta metro area.
She somehow understands the concept of walking into and out of an elevator, and the differences on each floor once she exits the "magic door" that opens and closes to lock her into the big metal box that moves her and her entourage up and down the building's entrails.
Think about it for a minute, if you will.
I would have expected that to a dog (or any other human or animal that hasn't graduated like Jethro Bodine from the Sixth Grade), one would expect when the door opens and closes that the same things, including people and floor plan, would be outside the opening.
Not so with the turbo pup.
She jumps on the elevator without any apprehension and makes left and right decisions upon her exit from the vertical conveyance better than I do.
Does anyone need an eight pound seeing eye dog?
Well, I'm sorry...but you can't have her.
.
I've observed an amazing phenomena regarding Missy, the Turbo Pup, and her understanding of modern infrastructure in our last two visits to the Atlanta metro area.
She somehow understands the concept of walking into and out of an elevator, and the differences on each floor once she exits the "magic door" that opens and closes to lock her into the big metal box that moves her and her entourage up and down the building's entrails.
Think about it for a minute, if you will.
I would have expected that to a dog (or any other human or animal that hasn't graduated like Jethro Bodine from the Sixth Grade), one would expect when the door opens and closes that the same things, including people and floor plan, would be outside the opening.
Not so with the turbo pup.
She jumps on the elevator without any apprehension and makes left and right decisions upon her exit from the vertical conveyance better than I do.
Does anyone need an eight pound seeing eye dog?
Well, I'm sorry...but you can't have her.
.
They Paved Paradise
And Put In An Interstate...
Well, I've gotten through about 18 hours being back in my adopted home town of Smyrna/Vinings, Georgia without incident, but it took only about thirty minutes to remember why we left here in the first place.
GOOD GOD WHAT AWFUL TRAFFIC.
That, and Interstates like I-285 that have more pavement in a two mile stretch of eight or ten lanes than currently exists on all of St. Simons Island.
The traffic is amazing, and Pat's and my own driving skills have been dulled by the slow pace on our little island to the point where we have no desire to own things like radar detectors and run around eating bagels, reading the newspaper--steering the car with our knees while driving along in a dense pack of cars and semi trucks at 80 MPH.
Everyone else here at least tries to do things like that while we lope along at 54 MPH.
Once you get out of the rat race I guess that it's hard to go back, or to even understand why you were there and put up with two plus hour daily round trip commutes in the first place.
I waste more time on the computer each day than I used to spend driving to work for almost ten years, back before I started my own company and started working from home.
The next best thing I did after that lifestyle improvement was to move our "home" from inside the rat race to our little Island, and I have to admit that I can hardly wait to get back on the road tomorrow morning heading away from this old, vaguely familiar reality...
the daily reality for about four million miserable, mis-informed souls.
Ya'll come see us now...ya hear?
Well, I've gotten through about 18 hours being back in my adopted home town of Smyrna/Vinings, Georgia without incident, but it took only about thirty minutes to remember why we left here in the first place.
GOOD GOD WHAT AWFUL TRAFFIC.
That, and Interstates like I-285 that have more pavement in a two mile stretch of eight or ten lanes than currently exists on all of St. Simons Island.
The traffic is amazing, and Pat's and my own driving skills have been dulled by the slow pace on our little island to the point where we have no desire to own things like radar detectors and run around eating bagels, reading the newspaper--steering the car with our knees while driving along in a dense pack of cars and semi trucks at 80 MPH.
Everyone else here at least tries to do things like that while we lope along at 54 MPH.
Once you get out of the rat race I guess that it's hard to go back, or to even understand why you were there and put up with two plus hour daily round trip commutes in the first place.
I waste more time on the computer each day than I used to spend driving to work for almost ten years, back before I started my own company and started working from home.
The next best thing I did after that lifestyle improvement was to move our "home" from inside the rat race to our little Island, and I have to admit that I can hardly wait to get back on the road tomorrow morning heading away from this old, vaguely familiar reality...
the daily reality for about four million miserable, mis-informed souls.
Ya'll come see us now...ya hear?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
She Took A Friend Along
The Odd Couple
By the way Mom...we made it to Atlanta so you can stop worrying now.
By the way Mom...we made it to Atlanta so you can stop worrying now.
On The Road Again
Willie Nelson I'm Not...
Well, we're off to Brunswick to finalize the big Pyramid structure, then it's up I-16 and I-75 back to Hotlanta for a couple of days.
Ya'll feel free to entertain yourselves in the mean time...
Well, we're off to Brunswick to finalize the big Pyramid structure, then it's up I-16 and I-75 back to Hotlanta for a couple of days.
Ya'll feel free to entertain yourselves in the mean time...
Monday, August 27, 2007
An Explosion In Atlanta
And I Get To Go Look At The Results...
I've mentioned in the past that I've been working for a while with a friend's engineering firm as a Forensic Engineer, looking into industrial steam system accidents that either damaged equipment or killed/injured people.
At the risk of sounding like a ghoul, I have to admit that it's pretty interesting stuff most of the time, even though there are a bunch of lawyers circling around the area getting in the way and, the people and the firms they work for are tight lipped--afraid that we're going to end up placing the blame with them or their company.
Any way, there was an explosion in the laundry area of one of the big downtown Atlanta hotels last month, and thus far all I've seen is pictures and had phone call discussions about what might have happened.
This Tuesday morning I'm driving up to Atlanta to take a look at the accident scene which has been preserved under OSHA and other government mandate while all of thevultures lawyers and their hired guns nerds expert witnesses look at the details of a pretty spectacular event that I wouldn't want to have been in the same room with when it happened.
Pat and Missy, the Turbo Pup, are going along with me as we take the opportunity to visit with some old friends and eat at a few of our favorite restaurants. This will be only the second trip to Atlanta (if you don't count changing planes in the Atlanta Airport), a place I resided in for 27 years, since we moved down here to our little island back in 2004.
My writing continues to suffer under my consulting work load and the pressures of fine tuning the new house and building my giant pyramid which I now have to deliver complete tomorrow--three days early--in anticipation of being in Atlanta this week.
I hope to be able to return on Wednesday or Thursday in time to be on the sidelines with the kids and mymonstrosity creation for their home opener game, but who knows what opportunities will develop in the mean time.
I'll be sure to say hello to Michael Vick for you all if I see him, because the Federal Courthouse is just down the street from the accident scene...
.
I've mentioned in the past that I've been working for a while with a friend's engineering firm as a Forensic Engineer, looking into industrial steam system accidents that either damaged equipment or killed/injured people.
At the risk of sounding like a ghoul, I have to admit that it's pretty interesting stuff most of the time, even though there are a bunch of lawyers circling around the area getting in the way and, the people and the firms they work for are tight lipped--afraid that we're going to end up placing the blame with them or their company.
Any way, there was an explosion in the laundry area of one of the big downtown Atlanta hotels last month, and thus far all I've seen is pictures and had phone call discussions about what might have happened.
This Tuesday morning I'm driving up to Atlanta to take a look at the accident scene which has been preserved under OSHA and other government mandate while all of the
Pat and Missy, the Turbo Pup, are going along with me as we take the opportunity to visit with some old friends and eat at a few of our favorite restaurants. This will be only the second trip to Atlanta (if you don't count changing planes in the Atlanta Airport), a place I resided in for 27 years, since we moved down here to our little island back in 2004.
My writing continues to suffer under my consulting work load and the pressures of fine tuning the new house and building my giant pyramid which I now have to deliver complete tomorrow--three days early--in anticipation of being in Atlanta this week.
I hope to be able to return on Wednesday or Thursday in time to be on the sidelines with the kids and my
I'll be sure to say hello to Michael Vick for you all if I see him, because the Federal Courthouse is just down the street from the accident scene...
.
