Government Induced Ineptitude & Stupidity
Wow...I just made myself a killer batch of Crisp Rosemary Flatbread at 3:15 AM in the morning because I Googled it and I wanted a snack and nothing in my ever growing arsenal of recipes fit the needs of my taste buds at the moment.
It came out pretty good I think...
Then in the process...less than 30 minutes for two batches of baking powder based thin crispy cracker like dough to come together and cook...I started thinking about how many people have been dumbed down or otherwise raised today with a basic inability to survive unless they can go to Taco Bell or Burger King or go into their kitchen at 3:15 AM and reach into the pantry or fridge/freezer and get out a box of some MSG and preservative laden slop and toss it into the microwave oven.
You know?
I could start a fire in the back yard--I have the charcoal and wood--and cook this flatbread on a cast iron skillet...
Yet the poor people armed only with microwaves are crap out of luck if the power is off and FEMA has declared an EMERGENCY and is mobilizing into their area of our country.
Let's face it Ladies and Gentlemen...in the past 75 years or so our country and our citizenry has allowed themselves to be made helpless in the face of earthquake and wildfire and tornadoes and hurricanes and even famine because they have to open a Government Provided and Approved shrink wrapped yellow or orange box of bullcrap in order to just avoid starvation.
Most will die from either not having water at all or not knowing how to determine if the water is safe for drinking and if it isn't not know how to filter and sanitize it to a condition where it is not poison.
I guarandamtee you that in 1935 that was not the conditions here in the United By-God States of 'Merica.
In 1935 my Father's family and my Mother's family used outhouses, and they pumped their water for drinking and washing and watering their livestock from a well on their properties. I don't believe either side of the family had electricity until after World War II....I'll check and get back with you on that detail.
Any way...while my Father's family worked in the Coal mines of West Virginia and had access to the "Company Store" for some provisions, they also raised a garden and new how to shoot a gun and if things got lean the occasional deer or squirrel or rabbit might appear on the table beside a chicken or rooster from the back yard.
Same way down in lower Alabama on my Mother's side of the Family Tree. My Grandfather "Pa" Rushing had a hand dug well with a Windmill and a Smokehouse for curing meats, a Hay Barn, a Corn Crib, a Sugar Cane mill on 355 acres of land he paid cash for with a house he built by hand with lumber harvested and had sawed and milled from the property.
"Pa" Rushing could live for several months without going to town if he didn't want to I suspect...and town was only three or four miles away and he owned a car and a Ford Tractor and even a couple of sweet old tame Holstein Milk Cows that could get him there if he wanted.
My point is this...this morning.
There is a insidious, dangerous, creeping poison which is working it's way into our society and country.
A little "tax increase on the wealthy" HERE with an ever evolving definition of what "wealthy" is...
And a little "extension of unemployment benefits" THERE with the Government screwing with the private sector and making it less painful for people that actually believe that it's the Government's job to "produce Jobs."
And right now it's pretty much certain that over 75% of our population would die within a year if all of our so called "infrastructure" went away and they were left to their own capabilities and devices.
Think April 1776 in America.
Of course some would just take their guns and run out and rob and kill and steal to get food and the other "stuff" that they believe that they needed.
And some would just wander around aimlessly and fall off a clift or into a river and die.
And then all of the Democrats would run out of other people's money to spend and they'd all be tar and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail (to quote Samuel Clemmons.)
And then you know what else might happen?
The PRODUCERS...
the people like me and some of you that have benefited from and in the day helped start this country and make it great at times in its history...
They'd end up being in charge and owning stuff and making stuff again.
Somewhere I read where if you took all of the wealth in the entire world and divided it up and distributed it equally to every single person on the planet, that within 100 years the same groups/nationalities/races of people would have most of the money and the same groups/nationality/races of people would be broke.
It's not about fairness and equality and government driven "income redistribution".
It's not racism and bigotry.
Other than catastrophic illness or birth defects or certain unspecified issues, in general I say that it is a CULTURAL PROBLEM which puts people in the position they are in in life.
Drop out of a free 12 year government paid education...?
Minimum wage.
Get pregnant twice before you are 16?
WIC and Welfare.
Sit your lazy ass on the couch and smoke Crack and clean your pistols all day?
Prison.
It's just that simple...and I'M FREAKING TIRED OF LISTENING TO THE POLITICIANS TELLING ME THAT I DON'T PAY MY FAIR SHARE--EVEN AT MY CURRENT TEMPORARY INCOME LEVEL--and that somehow if we can just throw some more of yours and my money at the problem we'll solve this situation.
President Johnson swore that Welfare would help bring the "less fortunate" people out of poverty.
Almost 50 years later all it has done is paid people to stay in the situation the government defines as poverty, living a a lifestyle level which is considered middle class in many European countries.
I'm so tired of this stupid crap my head wants to explode every day. I write about it here to let off steam and to keep Pat from beating me with her Dustbuster.
We can't even watch TV together most of the time other than game shows because I start foaming at the mouth and yelling.
My dog gets all concerned and afraid and goes and hides in her crate because she thinks something is wrong if I'm watching CNN or NBC or CBS news.
AhhhhhHHHHHH
ahhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Clunk (the sound of me falling out of my chair.)
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Obama Still Full Of Crap
He Needs A Good Ass Whoopin' Economics Lesson...
In writing this blog posting this morning I assume that probably 99% of my readers are non-pilots, and further, I assume that 99.9% of my readers both don't own a "Corporate Aircraft" including piston engine/turboprop/jet and have also never flown on a "Corporate Aircraft" in their entire life.
I have had that experience several times--flying on a "Corporate Aircraft"--and I wasn't going on vacation (and it was somebody else's "Corporate Aircraft.")
That said, I want to make a couple of points here about our disingenuous President's commentary and constant harping on "Corporate Jets" and "Corporate Jet Owners."
First of all, just like motor homes and tour buses owned by famous musicians and some athletes like NASCAR drivers and others, "Corporate Jets" are not a LUXURY.
They are a time saving NECESSITY for them to conduct the business which they do.
It is much safer and much less time consuming, if you are the owner of a successful business, to be able to have your plane on standby on an hour's notice and be able to drive over to the airport (possibly in your private limousine), get on your "Corporate Jet" and blast off across country from Knoxville to Houston or where ever when ever to attend a meeting and possibly get a new order or correct a dire problem on one of your existing projects.
Yes, a perk to owning a "Corporate Jet" is being able to also use it to fly to St. Simons Island or Aruba or Micronesia on vacation, but by in large the hours on the engines and airframe of most of the "Millionaires and Billionaires" "Corporate Jets" are generally afforded to business purposes.
Heck, it takes me two hours on the Kayak Website to make a decision about an air fair and hotel every time I leave town, and the "Corporate Jet Owner" can be out of town this morning and back in town this afternoon and doesn't even need to stay in a Bedbug infested hotel room overnight in the process.
He or She doesn't even need to pack luggage.
Yet President Obama, in his never ending campaign of Class Warfare, continues to sprinkle in the words "Corporate Jets" almost every single time he opens his stupid Race Baiting mouth.
And you know what?
President Obama is the EXACT person which signed into law in his original STIMULUS BILL in 2009 the CURRENT set of IRS rules allowing the accelerated depreciation of business assets like "Corporate Jets" which he and the other Democrats are constantly bitching and complaining about on a daily basis.
I tried to do some research to find out exactly how many corporate jets are already in service and how many are actually rolling out of the factories annually, but I ran out of patience. I do know that there are less than 200 Gulfstream V's out there and I think if you add LearJet and Cessna Citation and the other brands together I pretty well believe that there are not a total of 1,000 new "Corporate Jets" built and sold each year...
WORLD WIDE.
And yet this idiot we have elected President insists on hanging the words "Corporate Jets" onto and around and in the middle of every speech and every written document that comes out of his office.
This is stupid shit...Ladies and Gentlemen.
If you put a 100% tax on every "Corporate Jet", you know what would happen?
Every "Corporate Jet" builder would go out of business.
If you think back, the Congress already tried that tactic with the 1984 "Luxury Tax" on cars (automobiles) and boats (Yachts) and airplanes ("Corporate Jets") which cost over $100,000.
It ended up nearly putting everybody in those businesses out of business before they re-thought their "non-thinking" and understood that adding a tax to a product in facts discourages the production and use of that product.
They use the exact logic on Tobacco under the guise of taxation reducing the number of people smoking cigarettes, but they reverse the logic when it comes to "Corporate Jets" thinking taxation won't actually kill jobs as the production of "Corporate Jets" declines
What a bunch of stupid dumbasses we have in government.
Think about this crap before November 2012, and try not to vote like a Dumbass yourself...
Please?
In writing this blog posting this morning I assume that probably 99% of my readers are non-pilots, and further, I assume that 99.9% of my readers both don't own a "Corporate Aircraft" including piston engine/turboprop/jet and have also never flown on a "Corporate Aircraft" in their entire life.
I have had that experience several times--flying on a "Corporate Aircraft"--and I wasn't going on vacation (and it was somebody else's "Corporate Aircraft.")
That said, I want to make a couple of points here about our disingenuous President's commentary and constant harping on "Corporate Jets" and "Corporate Jet Owners."
First of all, just like motor homes and tour buses owned by famous musicians and some athletes like NASCAR drivers and others, "Corporate Jets" are not a LUXURY.
They are a time saving NECESSITY for them to conduct the business which they do.
It is much safer and much less time consuming, if you are the owner of a successful business, to be able to have your plane on standby on an hour's notice and be able to drive over to the airport (possibly in your private limousine), get on your "Corporate Jet" and blast off across country from Knoxville to Houston or where ever when ever to attend a meeting and possibly get a new order or correct a dire problem on one of your existing projects.
Yes, a perk to owning a "Corporate Jet" is being able to also use it to fly to St. Simons Island or Aruba or Micronesia on vacation, but by in large the hours on the engines and airframe of most of the "Millionaires and Billionaires" "Corporate Jets" are generally afforded to business purposes.
Heck, it takes me two hours on the Kayak Website to make a decision about an air fair and hotel every time I leave town, and the "Corporate Jet Owner" can be out of town this morning and back in town this afternoon and doesn't even need to stay in a Bedbug infested hotel room overnight in the process.
He or She doesn't even need to pack luggage.
Yet President Obama, in his never ending campaign of Class Warfare, continues to sprinkle in the words "Corporate Jets" almost every single time he opens his stupid Race Baiting mouth.
And you know what?
President Obama is the EXACT person which signed into law in his original STIMULUS BILL in 2009 the CURRENT set of IRS rules allowing the accelerated depreciation of business assets like "Corporate Jets" which he and the other Democrats are constantly bitching and complaining about on a daily basis.
I tried to do some research to find out exactly how many corporate jets are already in service and how many are actually rolling out of the factories annually, but I ran out of patience. I do know that there are less than 200 Gulfstream V's out there and I think if you add LearJet and Cessna Citation and the other brands together I pretty well believe that there are not a total of 1,000 new "Corporate Jets" built and sold each year...
WORLD WIDE.
And yet this idiot we have elected President insists on hanging the words "Corporate Jets" onto and around and in the middle of every speech and every written document that comes out of his office.
This is stupid shit...Ladies and Gentlemen.
If you put a 100% tax on every "Corporate Jet", you know what would happen?
Every "Corporate Jet" builder would go out of business.
If you think back, the Congress already tried that tactic with the 1984 "Luxury Tax" on cars (automobiles) and boats (Yachts) and airplanes ("Corporate Jets") which cost over $100,000.
It ended up nearly putting everybody in those businesses out of business before they re-thought their "non-thinking" and understood that adding a tax to a product in facts discourages the production and use of that product.
They use the exact logic on Tobacco under the guise of taxation reducing the number of people smoking cigarettes, but they reverse the logic when it comes to "Corporate Jets" thinking taxation won't actually kill jobs as the production of "Corporate Jets" declines
What a bunch of stupid dumbasses we have in government.
Think about this crap before November 2012, and try not to vote like a Dumbass yourself...
Please?
Monday, September 12, 2011
Goin' To Mexico (Beach)
Two Weeks In Paradise
Unless something really weird or stupid happens, this week I'll spend half my time making a long list and packing up stuff for me and Pat and Missy the Turbo Pup in anticipation of a two week saga down through Alabama and into and onto the Florida Panhandle.
Week Number 1, beginning next Sunday, will involve attending the celebration of my Dear Aunt Mary's 90th birthday in middle Alabama, before proceeding south to the Farm for a week.
I'm sure that if the weather holds out I'll get to stand on the roof for a while cleaning gutters and probably have some other maintenance issues like fallen trees on the fences and stuff to take care of, but hopefully the Turbo Pup can go fishing with me and attack some Bream and Catfish over the next five days.
Then the following Friday we're heading down to our Timeshare Condo in Panama City Beach for a week...this being something like the 25th year or so we've visited the place...just to sit on my fat butt and do virtually nothing but a little cooking and drinking and possibly some deep sea fishing over that next seven day period.
Of course we have high speed Internet everywhere we'll be staying and Pat can work when she needs to and I can work if anyone wants me to also---those opportunities being sort of few and far between right now, but any way...
I was fooling around the Internet tonight and found a couple of more of my favorite James Taylor songs posted on YouTUBE from the same session of recordings made at his home in Martha's Vinyard that I posted previously.
Here's "Mexico"...and we'll be having dinner in Mexico Beach Florida one night...and "Smiling Face"...which is what my face hopefully is going to be doing over the next two or three weeks
(OH...as an inside joke I just have to ask..."what's WRONG with your FACE"...Rusty???)
And you're WELCOME...
Unless something really weird or stupid happens, this week I'll spend half my time making a long list and packing up stuff for me and Pat and Missy the Turbo Pup in anticipation of a two week saga down through Alabama and into and onto the Florida Panhandle.
Week Number 1, beginning next Sunday, will involve attending the celebration of my Dear Aunt Mary's 90th birthday in middle Alabama, before proceeding south to the Farm for a week.
I'm sure that if the weather holds out I'll get to stand on the roof for a while cleaning gutters and probably have some other maintenance issues like fallen trees on the fences and stuff to take care of, but hopefully the Turbo Pup can go fishing with me and attack some Bream and Catfish over the next five days.
Then the following Friday we're heading down to our Timeshare Condo in Panama City Beach for a week...this being something like the 25th year or so we've visited the place...just to sit on my fat butt and do virtually nothing but a little cooking and drinking and possibly some deep sea fishing over that next seven day period.
Of course we have high speed Internet everywhere we'll be staying and Pat can work when she needs to and I can work if anyone wants me to also---those opportunities being sort of few and far between right now, but any way...
I was fooling around the Internet tonight and found a couple of more of my favorite James Taylor songs posted on YouTUBE from the same session of recordings made at his home in Martha's Vinyard that I posted previously.
Here's "Mexico"...and we'll be having dinner in Mexico Beach Florida one night...and "Smiling Face"...which is what my face hopefully is going to be doing over the next two or three weeks
(OH...as an inside joke I just have to ask..."what's WRONG with your FACE"...Rusty???)
And you're WELCOME...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
9/11
Ten Years Later And We're Still Under Attack...
What a Freak Show we have for both an elected government and their appointees.
Pray for the victims and their surviving families of the horror which struck our country a decade ago, and pray that it won't be further politicized or disrespected by a group of people which only think of themselves and their power and political gain.
My head hurts just thinking about this crowd, so I guess I'll go now.
Regards Y'all...
What a Freak Show we have for both an elected government and their appointees.
Pray for the victims and their surviving families of the horror which struck our country a decade ago, and pray that it won't be further politicized or disrespected by a group of people which only think of themselves and their power and political gain.
My head hurts just thinking about this crowd, so I guess I'll go now.
Regards Y'all...
Saturday, September 10, 2011
My Thoughts On 9/11
Freedom Ain't Free Dammit....
I've been pretty much sitting around here this week distracted with personal and other professional crap for the most part but in the back of my mind I knew that the 10th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on NY City and the Pentagon and Pennsylvania was coming up.
Fox NEWS and the local and national newspapers have all been hyping things up but to me it pisses me off that this date on the calendar has to be HYPED UP in the first place.
After all...what isn't there to understand about a bunch of towel headed Muslim Jihadist assholes coming over here from third world countries where they don't have toilets or hot and cold running water or electricity and cable TV and blowing us all up because we have toilets and hot and cold running water and electricity and cable TV ?
Seriously, if you follow the news stories about these shitheads which did the 9/11 airliner strike thing these limp penised little Arab boys spent the time they weren't in the flight training program sitting in HOOTERS and in local TITTY BARS while at the same time praising ALLAH and looking for their 72 Virgins. They hated America and Americans but they enjoyed the very things that they could not find in their own countries.
It's the ultimate parody of their religious faith that as far as I can tell that each and every one of them came here to the United By-God States of 'Merica years in advance of their attack on us and our way of life and lived as Americans and took advantage of all of the conveniences and privileges available in our country and our way of life here in North America.
And then they proceeded to attack us.
But what is more insidious today is the attack we are suffering from within our country. From within our own GOVERNMENT.
The idiot Mayor of NY City isn't even going to let there be Clergy or any prayers offered at tomorrow's "Official" ceremony.
The idiot Mayor of NY City and stupid Governor of NY isn't even making any special accommodations for "first responders"--fire fighters and police men---at tomorrow's "Official" ceremony.
I say it's a sad state of affairs when we don't need the towel headed jihadists to attack and change our way of life here in America.
They've already won this war because we're attacking ourselves from within...
I've been pretty much sitting around here this week distracted with personal and other professional crap for the most part but in the back of my mind I knew that the 10th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on NY City and the Pentagon and Pennsylvania was coming up.
Fox NEWS and the local and national newspapers have all been hyping things up but to me it pisses me off that this date on the calendar has to be HYPED UP in the first place.
After all...what isn't there to understand about a bunch of towel headed Muslim Jihadist assholes coming over here from third world countries where they don't have toilets or hot and cold running water or electricity and cable TV and blowing us all up because we have toilets and hot and cold running water and electricity and cable TV ?
Seriously, if you follow the news stories about these shitheads which did the 9/11 airliner strike thing these limp penised little Arab boys spent the time they weren't in the flight training program sitting in HOOTERS and in local TITTY BARS while at the same time praising ALLAH and looking for their 72 Virgins. They hated America and Americans but they enjoyed the very things that they could not find in their own countries.
It's the ultimate parody of their religious faith that as far as I can tell that each and every one of them came here to the United By-God States of 'Merica years in advance of their attack on us and our way of life and lived as Americans and took advantage of all of the conveniences and privileges available in our country and our way of life here in North America.
And then they proceeded to attack us.
But what is more insidious today is the attack we are suffering from within our country. From within our own GOVERNMENT.
The idiot Mayor of NY City isn't even going to let there be Clergy or any prayers offered at tomorrow's "Official" ceremony.
The idiot Mayor of NY City and stupid Governor of NY isn't even making any special accommodations for "first responders"--fire fighters and police men---at tomorrow's "Official" ceremony.
I say it's a sad state of affairs when we don't need the towel headed jihadists to attack and change our way of life here in America.
They've already won this war because we're attacking ourselves from within...
Friday, September 09, 2011
Obama's Waterloo
God Save the Queen The US of A
I've seen a bunch of crazy crap happen in my lifetime Ladies and Gentlemen.
Heck, I've done a bunch of crazy crap in my lifetime.
Just ask some of the guys and girls I went to high school and college with and they'll tell you so.
But any way...I tried to sit through our so called "President's" speech last night on his "jobs program."
I say "sit through" because before it was over with I was ON MY FEET...
not cheering, but yelling at the TV pacing back and forth bitching and complaining because this guy is so full of crap.
Pat got mad at me and Missy the Turbo Pup went and hid in her crate.
I'm serious Ladies and Gentlemen, if you buy this load of bull hockey being sold by our Chief Executive I have some Ocean front property in Nevada I'd like to make you a good deal on...
I've seen a bunch of crazy crap happen in my lifetime Ladies and Gentlemen.
Heck, I've done a bunch of crazy crap in my lifetime.
Just ask some of the guys and girls I went to high school and college with and they'll tell you so.
But any way...I tried to sit through our so called "President's" speech last night on his "jobs program."
I say "sit through" because before it was over with I was ON MY FEET...
not cheering, but yelling at the TV pacing back and forth bitching and complaining because this guy is so full of crap.
Pat got mad at me and Missy the Turbo Pup went and hid in her crate.
I'm serious Ladies and Gentlemen, if you buy this load of bull hockey being sold by our Chief Executive I have some Ocean front property in Nevada I'd like to make you a good deal on...
"Peggy" Strikes Again
I'm Past Being Tired Of Dealing With Indian Call Centers
OK...here's my latest gripe this morning.
Freaking Software Companies selling you "convenient" downloads of their products with limited times to actually download and install their product.
Take Norton 360, for example.
They sold me a "one to three computer" version of their product about a year ago for 79 bucks or something there abouts, and I jacked around and only installed in on one of my five computers, and since I didn't pay them the extra ten or twenty bucks for the "extended download period" I've spent most of the past year without anti virus/spyware protection on my primary laptop.
Then last week I was snooping around my bank and credit card statements online and noticed a charge from Symantic for $76.46. I was thinking WTF is this and realized that my crappy single copy of the antivirus/anti-spyware software had "AUTOMATICALLY RENEWED" itself, when today I can go online and buy a new copy of the three computer download for less than $50...or better yet I can go to Best Buy or Staples and buy a DVD which I can hold in my hands and install on up to three computers any time I want, but NooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I'm in download SOFTWARE HELL and I've called their stupid customer support line three times now and ended up hanging up THREE TIMES NOW because I get some freaking idiot AKA "PEGGY" from India or Bang Ladesh or somewhere else that can't understand and barely speaks the KING'S FREAKING ENGLISH and after I concisely tell him what I want--MY MONEY BACK--he proceeds to start asking inane questions and trying to convince me not to CANCEL MY FREAKING "SUBSCRIPTION" TO THEIR SOFTWARE SERVICE.
I'm too old for this crap, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm going to getmy walking stick my walker on my scooter and ride down where ever it is that I need to ride down to in Southern California and kick some ass this morning. And If I need to get on an airplane and fly over to India in the process and teach everyone in the room the meaning of the words "I WANT MY MONEY BACK" I'm liable to do just that.
(taking a big breath here boss...)
That will be all...for now...
OK...here's my latest gripe this morning.
Freaking Software Companies selling you "convenient" downloads of their products with limited times to actually download and install their product.
Take Norton 360, for example.
They sold me a "one to three computer" version of their product about a year ago for 79 bucks or something there abouts, and I jacked around and only installed in on one of my five computers, and since I didn't pay them the extra ten or twenty bucks for the "extended download period" I've spent most of the past year without anti virus/spyware protection on my primary laptop.
Then last week I was snooping around my bank and credit card statements online and noticed a charge from Symantic for $76.46. I was thinking WTF is this and realized that my crappy single copy of the antivirus/anti-spyware software had "AUTOMATICALLY RENEWED" itself, when today I can go online and buy a new copy of the three computer download for less than $50...or better yet I can go to Best Buy or Staples and buy a DVD which I can hold in my hands and install on up to three computers any time I want, but NooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I'm in download SOFTWARE HELL and I've called their stupid customer support line three times now and ended up hanging up THREE TIMES NOW because I get some freaking idiot AKA "PEGGY" from India or Bang Ladesh or somewhere else that can't understand and barely speaks the KING'S FREAKING ENGLISH and after I concisely tell him what I want--MY MONEY BACK--he proceeds to start asking inane questions and trying to convince me not to CANCEL MY FREAKING "SUBSCRIPTION" TO THEIR SOFTWARE SERVICE.
I'm too old for this crap, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm going to get
(taking a big breath here boss...)
That will be all...for now...
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Today's Tropical Weather Tip
Tropical Storm "Maria" Pretty Far South...
I'm sitting around this afternoon pretty much just picking my nose and scratching my ass trying to get focused, and in the process my review of the local and international weather maps I noticed something which might be of interest to you in the next 7 to 10 days.
Check out this map showing the present location and predicted path of the 13th storm of this season--"Maria":
That path...Ladies and Gentlemen...is pretty darn far south toward the equator for this point of Longitude on the map.
That path could take this storm...even only as a tropical storm rather than a Hurricane...over places like Trinidad & Tobago or even Aruba if it doesn't swing north like predicted.
And if that storm continues Westward from that low Latitude for long enough then we might better be remembering a storm called ANDREW.
Of course it's yet to be seen, but I'm just saying...
(And I reserve the right to say "I told you so" in a couple of weeks...)
I'm sitting around this afternoon pretty much just picking my nose and scratching my ass trying to get focused, and in the process my review of the local and international weather maps I noticed something which might be of interest to you in the next 7 to 10 days.
Check out this map showing the present location and predicted path of the 13th storm of this season--"Maria":
That path...Ladies and Gentlemen...is pretty darn far south toward the equator for this point of Longitude on the map.
That path could take this storm...even only as a tropical storm rather than a Hurricane...over places like Trinidad & Tobago or even Aruba if it doesn't swing north like predicted.
And if that storm continues Westward from that low Latitude for long enough then we might better be remembering a storm called ANDREW.
Of course it's yet to be seen, but I'm just saying...
(And I reserve the right to say "I told you so" in a couple of weeks...)
The President Talks About Jobs Tonight
My Belly Button Has Been Puckering and Un-Puckering For Days Now...
I somehow missed the Republican Debate last night. I scanned around the channels but Comcast was still acting up and I was too lazy to look in the newspaper to find out what channel it was on.
I guess that there is a pretty good chance I can't miss the President's address to both houses of congress tonight because it will be broadcast on every channel except the Food Network and Comedy Central.
Then again I could manage to fall asleep since I guess it will pre-empt Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy which run at 7 PM and 7:30 PM.
I bet you $100 that the speech will include the words "investment" (government spending), "revenue" (new taxes on the wealthy), and "infrastructure improvements" (government and/or Union jobs) at least about a dozen times each.
The whole thing (The American Jobs Act) will be dead on arrival to Congress because the House will never pass it because they've already seen it a couple of times and rejected it out of hand every single time.
Obama is so far in over his head as President that he can't find his own ass with both hands, a metal detector, a Geiger counter, and a flashlight.
I somehow missed the Republican Debate last night. I scanned around the channels but Comcast was still acting up and I was too lazy to look in the newspaper to find out what channel it was on.
I guess that there is a pretty good chance I can't miss the President's address to both houses of congress tonight because it will be broadcast on every channel except the Food Network and Comedy Central.
Then again I could manage to fall asleep since I guess it will pre-empt Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy which run at 7 PM and 7:30 PM.
I bet you $100 that the speech will include the words "investment" (government spending), "revenue" (new taxes on the wealthy), and "infrastructure improvements" (government and/or Union jobs) at least about a dozen times each.
The whole thing (The American Jobs Act) will be dead on arrival to Congress because the House will never pass it because they've already seen it a couple of times and rejected it out of hand every single time.
Obama is so far in over his head as President that he can't find his own ass with both hands, a metal detector, a Geiger counter, and a flashlight.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
"Country Roads" And Other Stuff
My Absolute Favorite Singer
I've seen James Taylor perhaps a dozen times in person, and my vocal range allows me to do some of his most famous songs in a manner and style similar to his I'm told.
I have a fairly broad range of musical taste but Mr. Taylor and Jimmy Buffet best fit my lifestyle and mindset most of the time, and I'd like to think that if I had pursued music as a profession rather than a hobby I could have been in their company as peers given the chance and having expended a great deal of effort to get there.
That said...YouTUBE gives us a look at a couple of really nice selections this morning for your enjoyment...
Then There is "Fire and Rain" which I do fairly regularly on Karaoke night at our local pub:
I've seen James Taylor perhaps a dozen times in person, and my vocal range allows me to do some of his most famous songs in a manner and style similar to his I'm told.
I have a fairly broad range of musical taste but Mr. Taylor and Jimmy Buffet best fit my lifestyle and mindset most of the time, and I'd like to think that if I had pursued music as a profession rather than a hobby I could have been in their company as peers given the chance and having expended a great deal of effort to get there.
That said...YouTUBE gives us a look at a couple of really nice selections this morning for your enjoyment...
Then There is "Fire and Rain" which I do fairly regularly on Karaoke night at our local pub:
A George Wallace Democrat Talks Modern Politics
Get A Nice Glass of Cold Sweet Southern Iced Tea And Sit Down For A Minute...
For those of you which haven't been paying attention or are just wandering by this blog, you need to know that I was born and raised a "George Wallace" Democrat as a child, and the experience has affected me and today I think grounded me in a form of political sanity continuing throughout all of my Adult life.
You see, you had no option back then in Lower Alabama when I was a non-voting child.
Just like it was Black and White, it was Republican or Democrat, and as the old saying goes you could run a Yellow Dog on the political ticket and most people would vote for the Dog over a college educated white or black boy any and every day back then if it had the word Democrat by its name.
It was the North against the South--a war that had already be lost or won depending on your perspective.
It was the University of Alabama versus Auburn University in Football...Bear Bryant and "Shug" Jordan leading the charge.
But things have changed and my mind has wandered over the past 52 years and 4 days, and in my wandering I'm constantly WONDERING what the hell has happened to this country in the process?
Are we really just a country full of stupid selfish people that will vote and do anything offered as long as it puts money in our pockets and allows us to sit around making bad decisions while letting other people pay for the results?
Are we really all that excited about "HOPE and CHANGE" when now after almost three years there's barely any change left in the cash register drawer?
I HOPE that there might be CHANGE for a twenty dollar bill, but the way things are going with this government if you give them a TWENTY they'll ask for another FIVE as a fee for making CHANGE.
Is it just ME?
For those of you which haven't been paying attention or are just wandering by this blog, you need to know that I was born and raised a "George Wallace" Democrat as a child, and the experience has affected me and today I think grounded me in a form of political sanity continuing throughout all of my Adult life.
You see, you had no option back then in Lower Alabama when I was a non-voting child.
Just like it was Black and White, it was Republican or Democrat, and as the old saying goes you could run a Yellow Dog on the political ticket and most people would vote for the Dog over a college educated white or black boy any and every day back then if it had the word Democrat by its name.
It was the North against the South--a war that had already be lost or won depending on your perspective.
It was the University of Alabama versus Auburn University in Football...Bear Bryant and "Shug" Jordan leading the charge.
But things have changed and my mind has wandered over the past 52 years and 4 days, and in my wandering I'm constantly WONDERING what the hell has happened to this country in the process?
Are we really just a country full of stupid selfish people that will vote and do anything offered as long as it puts money in our pockets and allows us to sit around making bad decisions while letting other people pay for the results?
Are we really all that excited about "HOPE and CHANGE" when now after almost three years there's barely any change left in the cash register drawer?
I HOPE that there might be CHANGE for a twenty dollar bill, but the way things are going with this government if you give them a TWENTY they'll ask for another FIVE as a fee for making CHANGE.
Is it just ME?
It's Raining...
As I've said about a Zillion times before if you know me in real life, and I've probably written it many hundreds if not a thousand times before here on this blog...
...being a self proclaimed student of math and statistics...
there's a good reason the old grey haired men which went to their graves before us decided to put numbers together and produce things like "means" and "the bell curve" and most importantly...
A V E R A G E S.
Averages aren't really just designed to report the classroom grades of so-called "students" sitting in Government buildings against their will.
Averages tell us how things have been and probably will be--without some new outside influence--in the future.
For instance, if the average temperature in September in a given location in the US is 84 degrees F, and recently you've been in that city on those dates and the temperature was 64 degrees F...
...there's a pretty darn good chance that later this month or at least at the same time next year or years that the sun is going to show up and make things 94 degrees F just to get things back to AVERAGE in the record books.
We're going through that same sort of thing this Labor Day weekend with the local rainfall average here in Knoxtown.
It started raining before lunch time yesterday and it hasn't stopped since then.
Not really a hard threatening Thunderstorm type of rain...
...I'm talking a SOAKING kind of rain that comes down real steady and after 24 or 36 hours adds up to a pile of water in your back yard.
The Turbo Pup's swimming pool is almost overflowing right now because of the rain.
Here's the "Storm Total Map" from the NOAA website for our area
We really needed the rain because the month of August set some records for dryness here, but then again Mother Nature has a sense of humor and just to get the AVERAGES straightened out she sent us all of the water in one shipment I guess.
So things are back to normal here in Eastern Tennessee come Tuesday Morning after the Holiday weekend, and I hope everyone had half as much fun as I did in the past three days.
Regards Y'all...
Monday, September 05, 2011
Monday Morning Music
A Well Planned "Impromptu" Public Performance
There was a time...abouta hundred years ago 35 years ago, when I held a musical instrument in my hands for at least three or four hours every day. Between practice at home and then band practice during the school weekdays, followed by Friday nights at half-time in the football stadium, I probably sat or stood with a trumpet in my hands for 25 hours each week.
Then there were the guitars--both electric and acoustic--and a little piano/electronic keyboard, and in more recent years I've run around the planet carrying a briefcase full of Honer and Lee Oscar Harmonicas (and of course my real Austrailian Didgeridoo which has never left my house)....
But the point of this story this morning is that music and making music has been a nice part of my life. I've never really been good enough or otherwise made any money doing it (playing music) in the process, but I have played solo for 10,000 people at one time in a football stadium, and I've blown my harps for small crowds from Key West to Savannah to Atlanta and now Knoxville over the past 15 years...
and when my Blog Idols over at Powerline mentioned this YouTube Video of the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra just showing up in the City's Central Train Station and putting on a performance of Ravel's "Bolero"...
There was a time...about
Then there were the guitars--both electric and acoustic--and a little piano/electronic keyboard, and in more recent years I've run around the planet carrying a briefcase full of Honer and Lee Oscar Harmonicas (and of course my real Austrailian Didgeridoo which has never left my house)....
But the point of this story this morning is that music and making music has been a nice part of my life. I've never really been good enough or otherwise made any money doing it (playing music) in the process, but I have played solo for 10,000 people at one time in a football stadium, and I've blown my harps for small crowds from Key West to Savannah to Atlanta and now Knoxville over the past 15 years...
and when my Blog Idols over at Powerline mentioned this YouTube Video of the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra just showing up in the City's Central Train Station and putting on a performance of Ravel's "Bolero"...
Saturday, September 03, 2011
My "Wee Pub" Prototype
Picture This Room Squeezed Down to 12 Feet x 11 Feet...
I think that anyone that's in the Architucture or Engineering Business, as well as many other Graphic Artists in various professions and endeavors, understand what it means to say that you have a vision or otherwise you "see in your head" a theme and design concept which you try to express in the form of drawings and finally replicate through the builder/constructor ending up with a finished product.
This morning I found this picture of this very large basement pub built in someone elses' house in 1974...but in essence it describes EXACTLY the concept I've been trying to produce in my little project in my basement.
Just imagine the whole thing squeezed down to the dimensions as stated in my subtitle ...actualy 12'-4-1/2" x10'-9 1/2" in real life.
Still...I can get the same character and feel in my little space, and based on the current cost estimates instead of $27,000 I can pull the whole thing off here for $2,700 or so with the realities of the reduced footprint and the fact that we don't know enough people here in Knoxtown to fill a bar room larger that the one currently under construction the limited flooplan size really justifies the sanity of my efforts.
All of that said, the second coat of paint on the ceiling is drying and it's time to put the second coat of Poly on the stair treads laying out in the carport.
Talk to Y'all later I guess...
I think that anyone that's in the Architucture or Engineering Business, as well as many other Graphic Artists in various professions and endeavors, understand what it means to say that you have a vision or otherwise you "see in your head" a theme and design concept which you try to express in the form of drawings and finally replicate through the builder/constructor ending up with a finished product.
This morning I found this picture of this very large basement pub built in someone elses' house in 1974...but in essence it describes EXACTLY the concept I've been trying to produce in my little project in my basement.
Just imagine the whole thing squeezed down to the dimensions as stated in my subtitle ...actualy 12'-4-1/2" x10'-9 1/2" in real life.
Still...I can get the same character and feel in my little space, and based on the current cost estimates instead of $27,000 I can pull the whole thing off here for $2,700 or so with the realities of the reduced footprint and the fact that we don't know enough people here in Knoxtown to fill a bar room larger that the one currently under construction the limited flooplan size really justifies the sanity of my efforts.
All of that said, the second coat of paint on the ceiling is drying and it's time to put the second coat of Poly on the stair treads laying out in the carport.
Talk to Y'all later I guess...
Fifty Two Years Today
"I Takes A Lickin' And Keeps On Tickin'... "
Time to go splash some polyurethane on my stair treads.
Y'all have a LOVELY Labor Day weekend...
Time to go splash some polyurethane on my stair treads.
Y'all have a LOVELY Labor Day weekend...
Friday, September 02, 2011
Let's Get This Straight One More Time
Are You Listening?
My head is ready to explode with all of this BS talk about the Federal Government's role in "CREATING JOBS."
Apparently a lot of People...and particularly Politicians...actually believe today that it is somehow the role of the Government--Federal And State and Local--to create jobs.
In my considered Redneck Opinion...all the Government does is steal money, waste it on Government jobs paying twice as many people three times as much money as the position is worth to do half the work...
...while at the same time making it harder and harder for entrepreneurs and existing business owners to make a living.
I've over the past 21 years incorporated three different companies. The last one going on three years ago as a result of leaving an Island on the Atlantic Ocean to take a job here in Knoxville with a company which worked doing design and engineering work primarily for the Coal Fired Power Plant Industry.
Within two months of Obama's election that company was out of business.
No surprise--since the "Community Organizer In Chief" stated out loud that he was going to (paraphrasing here) "bankrupt coal companies while at the same time necessarily making the price of electricity skyrocket."
Today I have a small corporation doing design and fabrication for the Plastics Industry...people that make bottles like Catsup and Gatorade is sold in at the Grocery store.
You know what I spend 10% to 25% of my time doing (depending on the month and time of the year like Corporate Tax Season in March)?
Filling out stupid assed forms and writing checks to pay taxes and fees on a company which has yet to turn a substantial profit.
You want to know how I believe our government can improve the job situation in this country?
GET THE HECK OFF MY BACK AND OUT OF MY WAY.
Dammit
My head is ready to explode with all of this BS talk about the Federal Government's role in "CREATING JOBS."
Apparently a lot of People...and particularly Politicians...actually believe today that it is somehow the role of the Government--Federal And State and Local--to create jobs.
In my considered Redneck Opinion...all the Government does is steal money, waste it on Government jobs paying twice as many people three times as much money as the position is worth to do half the work...
...while at the same time making it harder and harder for entrepreneurs and existing business owners to make a living.
I've over the past 21 years incorporated three different companies. The last one going on three years ago as a result of leaving an Island on the Atlantic Ocean to take a job here in Knoxville with a company which worked doing design and engineering work primarily for the Coal Fired Power Plant Industry.
Within two months of Obama's election that company was out of business.
No surprise--since the "Community Organizer In Chief" stated out loud that he was going to (paraphrasing here) "bankrupt coal companies while at the same time necessarily making the price of electricity skyrocket."
Today I have a small corporation doing design and fabrication for the Plastics Industry...people that make bottles like Catsup and Gatorade is sold in at the Grocery store.
You know what I spend 10% to 25% of my time doing (depending on the month and time of the year like Corporate Tax Season in March)?
Filling out stupid assed forms and writing checks to pay taxes and fees on a company which has yet to turn a substantial profit.
You want to know how I believe our government can improve the job situation in this country?
GET THE HECK OFF MY BACK AND OUT OF MY WAY.
Dammit
Quote O' The Day
Immortal Words...
A really good friend of mine I've known for about 30 years now...he just turned 71 last week...sent me this quote and said he thought of ME when he saw it:
"Don't kill the mavericks.
They will save your life one day.
And while they are around...
they will get things done!"
Thanks for the complement Beaux!
A really good friend of mine I've known for about 30 years now...he just turned 71 last week...sent me this quote and said he thought of ME when he saw it:
"Don't kill the mavericks.
They will save your life one day.
And while they are around...
they will get things done!"
Thanks for the complement Beaux!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
I'm Standing On My Head In My Basement
On A Ladder...Don't Look...It's Dangerous...
My stairwell going between the main level of my house and my basement is currently driving me crazy.
At first I was just going to do a simple paint job and leave the stairs alone, but then one thing led to another and now I'm struggling with the process of putting in new stained stair treads, painted risers, and stumbling around on a cobbled up platform/ladder trying to reach the two levels of ceilings within a space 3'-6" wide holding a paint brush or roller in one hand and my ass in the other.
I'm really not afraid of heights, but I am afraid of falling from a height of 12 or 15 feet with a little pan of paint in one hand and a painting utensil in the other.
So any way, I've almost got the paint job done on the walls and ceiling, and today I'm cutting the new treads and riser covers which have been pre-painted in a giant 4'x8' sheet, and all the time I'm cursing under my breath because it was ME that came up with this grand IDEA in the FIRST place.
Time to get back to making Sawdust and Paint spatters...
Regards...Y'all...
My stairwell going between the main level of my house and my basement is currently driving me crazy.
At first I was just going to do a simple paint job and leave the stairs alone, but then one thing led to another and now I'm struggling with the process of putting in new stained stair treads, painted risers, and stumbling around on a cobbled up platform/ladder trying to reach the two levels of ceilings within a space 3'-6" wide holding a paint brush or roller in one hand and my ass in the other.
I'm really not afraid of heights, but I am afraid of falling from a height of 12 or 15 feet with a little pan of paint in one hand and a painting utensil in the other.
So any way, I've almost got the paint job done on the walls and ceiling, and today I'm cutting the new treads and riser covers which have been pre-painted in a giant 4'x8' sheet, and all the time I'm cursing under my breath because it was ME that came up with this grand IDEA in the FIRST place.
Time to get back to making Sawdust and Paint spatters...
Regards...Y'all...
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Government Dumbasses
Up To Their Eyeballs In Crime And Only One Bullet...
Check out this story about the idiot cops in Phily arresting a couple of guys for floating an inflatable boat down the Main street in their town:
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Row, row, row your boat, just not down Main Street in Manayunk. That’s the message police are sending after arresting two men who used a raft as an alternate means of transportation down the flooded street Sunday.
CBS 3 reporter Dray Clark caught up with Pete and Pat, best friends and roommates from Manayunk, who paddled their way down the water covered street.
“I thought, Main Street floods a lot, go get a raft and float down,” said Pat, who admitted the idea was his.
We thought it would be a good time and it turns out it is,” said Pete.
Minutes later, Philadelphia police stopped the men and hauled them away in handcuffs.
When Dray asked why the men were being arrested, he said the officers replied, “for lack of common sense.”
No charges were filed against the boaters.
Still.
They put the cuffs on the guys. Probably ruined a perfectly good buzz from a few drinks before or during the adventure. And then they hauled them and their raft over to the police station and made their wives or girlfriends or mothers come and get them.
For WHAT?
Floating in a boat in a flooded STREET?
Did they get arrested because they weren't wearing life preservers or other "personal flotation devices?"
They didn't have a fire extinguisher and watercraft registration papers on board?
See here, Ladies and Gentlemen...
The Cops these days are all going to the "Barny Fife" School of Policing...letting serious crap go on un-interrupted while they run around with their gun and single bullet screwing with private citizens doing harmless stuff like floating in a rubber inflatable raft.
And until we kick some asses into line and get the politicians to back off pretty soon it's going to be against the law to fart or belch in public without some idiot writing you a ticket for offending their tender sensibilities.
Dumbasses one and all...
Check out this story about the idiot cops in Phily arresting a couple of guys for floating an inflatable boat down the Main street in their town:
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Row, row, row your boat, just not down Main Street in Manayunk. That’s the message police are sending after arresting two men who used a raft as an alternate means of transportation down the flooded street Sunday.
CBS 3 reporter Dray Clark caught up with Pete and Pat, best friends and roommates from Manayunk, who paddled their way down the water covered street.
“I thought, Main Street floods a lot, go get a raft and float down,” said Pat, who admitted the idea was his.
We thought it would be a good time and it turns out it is,” said Pete.
Minutes later, Philadelphia police stopped the men and hauled them away in handcuffs.
When Dray asked why the men were being arrested, he said the officers replied, “for lack of common sense.”
No charges were filed against the boaters.
Still.
They put the cuffs on the guys. Probably ruined a perfectly good buzz from a few drinks before or during the adventure. And then they hauled them and their raft over to the police station and made their wives or girlfriends or mothers come and get them.
For WHAT?
Floating in a boat in a flooded STREET?
Did they get arrested because they weren't wearing life preservers or other "personal flotation devices?"
They didn't have a fire extinguisher and watercraft registration papers on board?
See here, Ladies and Gentlemen...
The Cops these days are all going to the "Barny Fife" School of Policing...letting serious crap go on un-interrupted while they run around with their gun and single bullet screwing with private citizens doing harmless stuff like floating in a rubber inflatable raft.
And until we kick some asses into line and get the politicians to back off pretty soon it's going to be against the law to fart or belch in public without some idiot writing you a ticket for offending their tender sensibilities.
Dumbasses one and all...
Monday, August 29, 2011
Obama/Holder Thug Government Enforces Foreign Laws
Problem Is...They're Wrong And Won't Admit It...
I know that you, like I, are happy that the Imperial Federal Government of the By-God United States of 'Merica is on the job this morning doing important things like protecting us from products containing wood from trees illegally harvested.
I was really getting so worried about where the wood I've been buying and cutting into sections in my basement bar was coming from that I was having trouble sleeping.
They (the Federal Government) can't keep illegal immigrants from coming into the country taking jobs and committing crimes, but they can keep us from buying a match stick of wood or a guitar with an Ebony wood fretboard from Madagascar and India if they think it might violate the terms of the recently amended Lacey Act, something signed into law in 1900 by President McKinley.
Of course it was Obama and Holder and some of the other sniveling, booger eating, tree hugging, patchouli stinking, tied dyed wild eyed climate change believers that changed the Lacey Act in 2009 as soon as he got into office to cover exotic wood species like it already covered fish and other wildlife.
So now Obama and Holder and their armed Thugs are wasting time showing up with machine guns at private businesses around the country looking for "exotic wood." It's gotten so bad apparently that famous musicians are afraid to travel overseas for fear that when they return through Customs here in the US that their guitar might be confiscated...even if it is a 1950's vintage instrument built before the Lacey Act was amended...because they can't prove its origin and age.
Here's a link to the latest story about armed federal Thugs raiding the Gibson Guitar factories in Nashville and Memphis and hauling off private property they claim is illegally obtained.
Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson's chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company's manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of bullying the company. "The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier," he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle.
...
It isn't just Gibson that is sweating. Musicians who play vintage guitars and other instruments made of environmentally protected materials are worried the authorities may be coming for them next.
If you are the lucky owner of a 1920s Martin guitar, it may well be made, in part, of Brazilian rosewood. Cross an international border with an instrument made of that now-restricted wood, and you better have correct and complete documentation proving the age of the instrument. Otherwise, you could lose it to a zealous customs agent—not to mention face fines and prosecution.
John Thomas, a law professor at Quinnipiac University and a blues and ragtime guitarist, says "there's a lot of anxiety, and it's well justified." Once upon a time, he would have taken one of his vintage guitars on his travels. Now, "I don't go out of the country with a wooden guitar."
And here's Gibson's response:
Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp., has responded to the August 24 raid of Gibson facilities in Nashville and Memphis by the Federal Government. In a press release, Juszkiewicz said: “Gibson is innocent and will fight to protect its rights. Gibson has complied with foreign laws and believes it is innocent of ANY wrong doing. We will fight aggressively to prove our innocence.”
The raids forced Gibson to cease manufacturing operations and send workers home for the day while armed agents executed the search warrants. “Agents seized wood that was Forest Stewardship Council controlled,” Juszkiewicz said. “Gibson has a long history of supporting sustainable and responsible sources of wood and has worked diligently with entities such as the Rainforest Alliance and Greenpeace to secure FSC-certified supplies. The wood seized on August 24 satisfied FSC standards.”
Juszkiewicz believes that the Justice Department is bullying Gibson without filing charges.
“The Federal Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. has suggested that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India. (If the same wood from the same tree was finished by Indian workers, the material would be legal.) This action was taken without the support and consent of the government in India.”
Here's an good example of how the government is handling things these days:
I swear, Ladies and Gentlemen...It's a truly screwed up world we live in when the government has the time to run around carrying guns chasing the remnants of DEAD TREES but they don't have the time and energy and resolve to defend our borders.
Then again, we get what we pay for and throwing tons of money at the problem is obviously not the solution.
Takepublic schools government EDUCATION...for example. Today I feel we live in a country full of by and large ill-educated and by default STUPID people...people that believe that government is the solution to everything they face in life.
Thus today we have the government pointing guns at people because they paid for wood which the government thinks possibly might not meet their standards.
Is that really the kind of thing that you want your government spending your money on?
I know that you, like I, are happy that the Imperial Federal Government of the By-God United States of 'Merica is on the job this morning doing important things like protecting us from products containing wood from trees illegally harvested.
I was really getting so worried about where the wood I've been buying and cutting into sections in my basement bar was coming from that I was having trouble sleeping.
They (the Federal Government) can't keep illegal immigrants from coming into the country taking jobs and committing crimes, but they can keep us from buying a match stick of wood or a guitar with an Ebony wood fretboard from Madagascar and India if they think it might violate the terms of the recently amended Lacey Act, something signed into law in 1900 by President McKinley.
Of course it was Obama and Holder and some of the other sniveling, booger eating, tree hugging, patchouli stinking, tied dyed wild eyed climate change believers that changed the Lacey Act in 2009 as soon as he got into office to cover exotic wood species like it already covered fish and other wildlife.
So now Obama and Holder and their armed Thugs are wasting time showing up with machine guns at private businesses around the country looking for "exotic wood." It's gotten so bad apparently that famous musicians are afraid to travel overseas for fear that when they return through Customs here in the US that their guitar might be confiscated...even if it is a 1950's vintage instrument built before the Lacey Act was amended...because they can't prove its origin and age.
Here's a link to the latest story about armed federal Thugs raiding the Gibson Guitar factories in Nashville and Memphis and hauling off private property they claim is illegally obtained.
Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson's chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company's manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of bullying the company. "The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier," he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle.
...
It isn't just Gibson that is sweating. Musicians who play vintage guitars and other instruments made of environmentally protected materials are worried the authorities may be coming for them next.
If you are the lucky owner of a 1920s Martin guitar, it may well be made, in part, of Brazilian rosewood. Cross an international border with an instrument made of that now-restricted wood, and you better have correct and complete documentation proving the age of the instrument. Otherwise, you could lose it to a zealous customs agent—not to mention face fines and prosecution.
John Thomas, a law professor at Quinnipiac University and a blues and ragtime guitarist, says "there's a lot of anxiety, and it's well justified." Once upon a time, he would have taken one of his vintage guitars on his travels. Now, "I don't go out of the country with a wooden guitar."
And here's Gibson's response:
Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp., has responded to the August 24 raid of Gibson facilities in Nashville and Memphis by the Federal Government. In a press release, Juszkiewicz said: “Gibson is innocent and will fight to protect its rights. Gibson has complied with foreign laws and believes it is innocent of ANY wrong doing. We will fight aggressively to prove our innocence.”
The raids forced Gibson to cease manufacturing operations and send workers home for the day while armed agents executed the search warrants. “Agents seized wood that was Forest Stewardship Council controlled,” Juszkiewicz said. “Gibson has a long history of supporting sustainable and responsible sources of wood and has worked diligently with entities such as the Rainforest Alliance and Greenpeace to secure FSC-certified supplies. The wood seized on August 24 satisfied FSC standards.”
Juszkiewicz believes that the Justice Department is bullying Gibson without filing charges.
“The Federal Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. has suggested that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India. (If the same wood from the same tree was finished by Indian workers, the material would be legal.) This action was taken without the support and consent of the government in India.”
Here's an good example of how the government is handling things these days:
I swear, Ladies and Gentlemen...It's a truly screwed up world we live in when the government has the time to run around carrying guns chasing the remnants of DEAD TREES but they don't have the time and energy and resolve to defend our borders.
Then again, we get what we pay for and throwing tons of money at the problem is obviously not the solution.
Take
Thus today we have the government pointing guns at people because they paid for wood which the government thinks possibly might not meet their standards.
Is that really the kind of thing that you want your government spending your money on?
Sunday, August 28, 2011
The Yankee Wimps Blinked Over a Big Rain Storm
Sniveling, Booger Eating, Tree Huggers Afraid Of "Mother Earth"...
I can't even watch The Weather Channel or FOX News without laughing out loud at the hysteria being presented about this little wimpy storm called Irene.
I've checked the NOAA Forecasts presented four times a day, and by noon yesterday it was obvious that the storm was substantially weakened and would not regain strength before it hit NY City, but the media kept on banging their drums while the Obamamaniacs cut their vacation out on Martha's Vinyard short so the President could...according to the Drudge Report/Yahoo News--"Take Charge At Hurricane Command Center."
Here's a picture for your enjoyment:
I would say that President Obama's compentency in this role would be the equivalent of me sitting at the controls of the Space Shuttle or possibly a Nuclear Power Plant.
Another funny thing to me?
That NOAA was asked or otherwise felt it necessiary to have to make a custom Name Tag/Desk Plackard with the name "Barack Obama"..."President of the United States" to place in front of this inept, feckless, obtuse man like somehow everyone in the room didn't know who he was on sight.
So any way, it's time now to get back to business in my basement building a new staircase, and hopefully the rest of the country will get back to business making money in spite of the By God Imperial Federal Government of the United States of 'Merica's best efforts to the contrary, and think about electing some people to office in November 2012 that will do a better job than the efforts of much of the crowd we have sitting in DC today.
Regards Y'all...
I can't even watch The Weather Channel or FOX News without laughing out loud at the hysteria being presented about this little wimpy storm called Irene.
I've checked the NOAA Forecasts presented four times a day, and by noon yesterday it was obvious that the storm was substantially weakened and would not regain strength before it hit NY City, but the media kept on banging their drums while the Obamamaniacs cut their vacation out on Martha's Vinyard short so the President could...according to the Drudge Report/Yahoo News--"Take Charge At Hurricane Command Center."
Here's a picture for your enjoyment:
I would say that President Obama's compentency in this role would be the equivalent of me sitting at the controls of the Space Shuttle or possibly a Nuclear Power Plant.
Another funny thing to me?
That NOAA was asked or otherwise felt it necessiary to have to make a custom Name Tag/Desk Plackard with the name "Barack Obama"..."President of the United States" to place in front of this inept, feckless, obtuse man like somehow everyone in the room didn't know who he was on sight.
So any way, it's time now to get back to business in my basement building a new staircase, and hopefully the rest of the country will get back to business making money in spite of the By God Imperial Federal Government of the United States of 'Merica's best efforts to the contrary, and think about electing some people to office in November 2012 that will do a better job than the efforts of much of the crowd we have sitting in DC today.
Regards Y'all...
Friday, August 26, 2011
Good Night Good Morning Irene
The Yankees Are Sweating Bullets...
Everyone that stops by here regularly knows that me and my family have dealt with hurricanes for the past nearly 200 years in south Alabama.
Without any FEMA or Salvation Army or other Government/non-Government help.
Yet in spite of more than a dozen substantial Hurricanes passing over or near where I live over the past 51 years and 11 months, I'm still here today.
Now don't get me wrong here Ladies and Gentlemen...I'm not asking that anyone get hurt or that there be any substantial property damage, but still...
I have to take a slight bit of enjoyment watching all of the Big City Liberals up in New York and DC and Boston--those same people that are always looking down on us living here in the south offering advice on how to live our lives and "tutt-tutting" while wagging their fingers--offering advice and federal assistence where generally none was needed or asked for historically.
All I have to say right now about this weekend's weather forecast for New England is this:
LOOK OUT FOLKS...BECAUSE HERE COMES IRENE
I want you to show all of us Rednecks and Hillbillies down here how ya'll do things up NORTH.
(See you Monday if you're still alive and still have power and phones...)
Heh...
Everyone that stops by here regularly knows that me and my family have dealt with hurricanes for the past nearly 200 years in south Alabama.
Without any FEMA or Salvation Army or other Government/non-Government help.
Yet in spite of more than a dozen substantial Hurricanes passing over or near where I live over the past 51 years and 11 months, I'm still here today.
Now don't get me wrong here Ladies and Gentlemen...I'm not asking that anyone get hurt or that there be any substantial property damage, but still...
I have to take a slight bit of enjoyment watching all of the Big City Liberals up in New York and DC and Boston--those same people that are always looking down on us living here in the south offering advice on how to live our lives and "tutt-tutting" while wagging their fingers--offering advice and federal assistence where generally none was needed or asked for historically.
All I have to say right now about this weekend's weather forecast for New England is this:
LOOK OUT FOLKS...BECAUSE HERE COMES IRENE
I want you to show all of us Rednecks and Hillbillies down here how ya'll do things up NORTH.
(See you Monday if you're still alive and still have power and phones...)
Heh...
The Death Of Common Sense
I've Missed Him For Quite A While Now...
I found this Essay on the BBC Website:
"Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm:
Life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.
Common sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults are in charge not children)
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of an 8 year old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims,
Common sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common sense finally gave up the will to live, after a women failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common sense was preceded in death, by his parents, truth and trust
His wife, discretion
His daughter, Responsibility
His son, reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers
I know my rights
I want my rights
I want it now
I’m a victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on.
If not, join the majority and do nothing."
Now look at this story on FoxNews:
Clergy Banned From 9/11 Ceremony
Religious leaders are calling on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to reverse course and offer clergy a role in the ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
Rudy Washington, a deputy mayor in former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's administration, said he's outraged. Mr. Washington organized an interfaith ceremony at Yankee Stadium shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"This is America, and to have a memorial service where there's no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me," said Mr. Washington, who has suffered severe medical problems connected to the time he spent at Ground Zero."
Looking at the above essay, and then reading that story, I couldn't have said it better myself.
I believe that we are in deep trouble as a people and as a country when we are so concerned about not hurting the feelings of our enemy (the muslims) that we ban all clergy from a memorial service for the victims of Muslim Jihad.
How about you?
I found this Essay on the BBC Website:
"Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm:
Life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.
Common sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults are in charge not children)
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of an 8 year old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims,
Common sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common sense finally gave up the will to live, after a women failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common sense was preceded in death, by his parents, truth and trust
His wife, discretion
His daughter, Responsibility
His son, reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers
I know my rights
I want my rights
I want it now
I’m a victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on.
If not, join the majority and do nothing."
Now look at this story on FoxNews:
Clergy Banned From 9/11 Ceremony
Religious leaders are calling on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to reverse course and offer clergy a role in the ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
Rudy Washington, a deputy mayor in former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's administration, said he's outraged. Mr. Washington organized an interfaith ceremony at Yankee Stadium shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"This is America, and to have a memorial service where there's no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me," said Mr. Washington, who has suffered severe medical problems connected to the time he spent at Ground Zero."
Looking at the above essay, and then reading that story, I couldn't have said it better myself.
I believe that we are in deep trouble as a people and as a country when we are so concerned about not hurting the feelings of our enemy (the muslims) that we ban all clergy from a memorial service for the victims of Muslim Jihad.
How about you?
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Comcast Sucks
No Customer Support...
I just got through spending yet another half hour trying to understand why my so called Comcast "Full Basic" cable TV service has lost it's mind in the past two weeks.
Over that period of time I've come to realize that it is impossible to talk to an English speaking human located within the United States about service related issues.
I have however talked to several individuals named "Peggy" who...regardless of what you tell them the problem is...proceed to read from a script and ask a whole bunch of inane questions as I've explained in an earlier posting.
Generally I think they don't want to (or don't know how to) fix anything really technical, they're just trying to:
A. Avoid having to send a technician out to your house, and...
B. Keep you on the phone long enough answering stupid questions about things you already know can't be the problem so that you will get pissed off and hang up on them.
I've hung up twice so far in the past week.
Then this morning I spent another half hour trying to trouble shoot my problem using the "Comcast Live Chat" with someone else named "Peggy" and after "verifying my account info twice" (info I had already had to type into a form before the Live Chat session began), and waiting for them to pull up my account, I finally was told that there was a "channel service outage in my area and that they were working on it."
"Sorry for the inconvenience..."
Gee...isn't that lovely.
Here's the deal as I see things with Comcast, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I understand through the process of elimination that Comcast's primary goal is not to service their existing customers/accounts who are already paying monthly a fixed fee regardless of the quality of their product delivered.
Comcast's primary focus is to utilize their resources to direct their limited service personnel in the area of CONNECTING NEW CUSTOMERS to their crappy Cable TV/Internet/VoIP Phone network so they can start billing them full price for partial service.
Thus if I want to establish new service I could have a service technician out here with 3 to 5 days.
And I am 99.9 percent sure that the problem here at my house is in the wire between the house and the utility pole. I remember that the guy that installed my service 3-1/2 years ago pointed out the age and condition of the wire but didn't have time and materials with him to change it out (he needed a bucket truck.)
He also at the time said "just call if we have trouble and we'll come back out."
But things have worked most of the time since at a semi-acceptable manner (except when it rains) until the past two weeks.
I guess if Comcast keeps screwing around the will be a new Direct TV satellite dish hanging off my house in September.
I just got through spending yet another half hour trying to understand why my so called Comcast "Full Basic" cable TV service has lost it's mind in the past two weeks.
Over that period of time I've come to realize that it is impossible to talk to an English speaking human located within the United States about service related issues.
I have however talked to several individuals named "Peggy" who...regardless of what you tell them the problem is...proceed to read from a script and ask a whole bunch of inane questions as I've explained in an earlier posting.
Generally I think they don't want to (or don't know how to) fix anything really technical, they're just trying to:
A. Avoid having to send a technician out to your house, and...
B. Keep you on the phone long enough answering stupid questions about things you already know can't be the problem so that you will get pissed off and hang up on them.
I've hung up twice so far in the past week.
Then this morning I spent another half hour trying to trouble shoot my problem using the "Comcast Live Chat" with someone else named "Peggy" and after "verifying my account info twice" (info I had already had to type into a form before the Live Chat session began), and waiting for them to pull up my account, I finally was told that there was a "channel service outage in my area and that they were working on it."
"Sorry for the inconvenience..."
Gee...isn't that lovely.
Here's the deal as I see things with Comcast, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I understand through the process of elimination that Comcast's primary goal is not to service their existing customers/accounts who are already paying monthly a fixed fee regardless of the quality of their product delivered.
Comcast's primary focus is to utilize their resources to direct their limited service personnel in the area of CONNECTING NEW CUSTOMERS to their crappy Cable TV/Internet/VoIP Phone network so they can start billing them full price for partial service.
Thus if I want to establish new service I could have a service technician out here with 3 to 5 days.
And I am 99.9 percent sure that the problem here at my house is in the wire between the house and the utility pole. I remember that the guy that installed my service 3-1/2 years ago pointed out the age and condition of the wire but didn't have time and materials with him to change it out (he needed a bucket truck.)
He also at the time said "just call if we have trouble and we'll come back out."
But things have worked most of the time since at a semi-acceptable manner (except when it rains) until the past two weeks.
I guess if Comcast keeps screwing around the will be a new Direct TV satellite dish hanging off my house in September.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Doin' The Texas Tulsa Two Step
Busy Day Again Today...
Well Ladies and Gentlemen...I made it.
It was a LooOOOOnnnNNNNGGGG day beginning about 4 AM and just now finally ending at 11:30 CST.
I traveled in the air all morning and ran around the East side of town all afternoon and then had a really good dinner meeting.
All in all a successful day I think.
Now after a little sleep everything starts over at 9 AM, followed by a late afternoon return flight on Monday.
Regards Y'all...
Well Ladies and Gentlemen...I made it.
It was a LooOOOOnnnNNNNGGGG day beginning about 4 AM and just now finally ending at 11:30 CST.
I traveled in the air all morning and ran around the East side of town all afternoon and then had a really good dinner meeting.
All in all a successful day I think.
Now after a little sleep everything starts over at 9 AM, followed by a late afternoon return flight on Monday.
Regards Y'all...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Goodnight Irene
Hurricane Season Drives Me On The Road...
So I'm up early this moring in anticipation of catching an 8 AM flight out of Knoxville, going through Memphis, and ending up in Tulsa, Oklahoma later this morning.
Don't ask me why because if I told you the reason I'd have tokill you wrap your head in duct tape and make you watch CNN 24 hours a day for a week (or something like that because it's a secret right now.)
Needless to say the trip has to do with business, and depending on the outcome things could be changing a good deal around here at the Turbo Pup Compound on the Banks of the Mighty Tennessee River.
Looking at the weather map, I see where there's a tropical storm named "Irene"running its way through the Lesser Antillles this morning.
This one could be the first real storm the Atlantic or Gulf Coast has seen in a couple of years based on the dynamics of the upper and lower level weather patterns, but I don't have time this morning to explain it to you.
Go do your own homework and write me a 250 word answer to my question.
And wish me luck and a safe return on my journey...if you will...
So I'm up early this moring in anticipation of catching an 8 AM flight out of Knoxville, going through Memphis, and ending up in Tulsa, Oklahoma later this morning.
Don't ask me why because if I told you the reason I'd have to
Needless to say the trip has to do with business, and depending on the outcome things could be changing a good deal around here at the Turbo Pup Compound on the Banks of the Mighty Tennessee River.
Looking at the weather map, I see where there's a tropical storm named "Irene"running its way through the Lesser Antillles this morning.
This one could be the first real storm the Atlantic or Gulf Coast has seen in a couple of years based on the dynamics of the upper and lower level weather patterns, but I don't have time this morning to explain it to you.
Go do your own homework and write me a 250 word answer to my question.
And wish me luck and a safe return on my journey...if you will...
Friday, August 19, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
I Got A Severe New Haircut
Changing My Religion...
For the record, I grew up in a military family.
Military in as much as when I was growing up my Dad reported to an Army Airfield in Lower Alabama every day and wandered around in and on various and sundry airplanes and helicopters making his living for our family.
Me?
I did the normal stuff little kids did back then in the 1960's wandering around being innocent and stupid and generally making a nuisance of myself when given the opportunity.
But I went down to the "City Barbershop" almost every Saturday morning with my Dad,sat in a chair (at first on a painted 2x8 board spanning the arms of the chair) and got "my ears lowered" to military standards by one of the nice gentlemen working there...usually "Mr. Taylor" that drove a 1954 Chevy to work every day--before exiting the building chewing a wad of "Bazooka Joe" bubble gum.
If I was wearing leather shoes I'd even get them polished in the back of the Barbershop by this Oooolllllddddddd grey haired black guy they called "Shine" because that's what he did for a living...the man could shine some shoes.
When all of the other hippy boys in the late 1960's and early/mid 1970's had long hair, my family's standards required the visit every week to ten days to the barber shop for a trim when my hair started touching my ears.
Next came my adventures in Naval ROTC at Georgia Tech, and again the requirement was that the hair not touch the ears and that the wimpy moustache I insisted on growing--the one I wanted so I didn' look so young like Opie on the TV show Andy Griffith--couldn't extend past the edges of my mouth.
I endured that standard for another couple of seasons, and now here we are today finding me having lived like Tom Hanks' character in Castaway on and off for the past 25 years.
I like just leaving my hair alone and letting it grow.
I've had probably something like a dozen real haircuts in the past 12 years, and I've done two of them myself...
one in 1999 when I took my electric clippers and cut everything down to a 1/8th inch level, and the one I did today going even closer to my scalp.
I had a foot long pony tail of hair hanging off of the back of my head, and by today's societal standards it was I that was the rebel and everyone else that wanted to sit in the barber chair were the "normal people."
Unfortunately our current society will let you be a raving lunatic and as long as you keep your hair cut and wear a suit and not make too much noise everything is A OK.
Unfortunately, as Dr. Martin Luther King said, we still cannot judge people by the content of their intellect and their character...
...we have to look at them and it is what they look like that determines by and large what we think about them...
...regardless of what we actually hear them say and what they end up doing in the end.
YES, I cut my hair today for professional reasons because I have an opportunity to do something new and I was afraid I might possibly get passed over if I didn't.
I just want to go on record as saying that it's not what is on top of or hanging off of the back of your head that matters or is dangerous.
It's what is going on between the eyes inside the head that counts.
That will be all...for now...
For the record, I grew up in a military family.
Military in as much as when I was growing up my Dad reported to an Army Airfield in Lower Alabama every day and wandered around in and on various and sundry airplanes and helicopters making his living for our family.
Me?
I did the normal stuff little kids did back then in the 1960's wandering around being innocent and stupid and generally making a nuisance of myself when given the opportunity.
But I went down to the "City Barbershop" almost every Saturday morning with my Dad,sat in a chair (at first on a painted 2x8 board spanning the arms of the chair) and got "my ears lowered" to military standards by one of the nice gentlemen working there...usually "Mr. Taylor" that drove a 1954 Chevy to work every day--before exiting the building chewing a wad of "Bazooka Joe" bubble gum.
If I was wearing leather shoes I'd even get them polished in the back of the Barbershop by this Oooolllllddddddd grey haired black guy they called "Shine" because that's what he did for a living...the man could shine some shoes.
When all of the other hippy boys in the late 1960's and early/mid 1970's had long hair, my family's standards required the visit every week to ten days to the barber shop for a trim when my hair started touching my ears.
Next came my adventures in Naval ROTC at Georgia Tech, and again the requirement was that the hair not touch the ears and that the wimpy moustache I insisted on growing--the one I wanted so I didn' look so young like Opie on the TV show Andy Griffith--couldn't extend past the edges of my mouth.
I endured that standard for another couple of seasons, and now here we are today finding me having lived like Tom Hanks' character in Castaway on and off for the past 25 years.
I like just leaving my hair alone and letting it grow.
I've had probably something like a dozen real haircuts in the past 12 years, and I've done two of them myself...
one in 1999 when I took my electric clippers and cut everything down to a 1/8th inch level, and the one I did today going even closer to my scalp.
I had a foot long pony tail of hair hanging off of the back of my head, and by today's societal standards it was I that was the rebel and everyone else that wanted to sit in the barber chair were the "normal people."
Unfortunately our current society will let you be a raving lunatic and as long as you keep your hair cut and wear a suit and not make too much noise everything is A OK.
Unfortunately, as Dr. Martin Luther King said, we still cannot judge people by the content of their intellect and their character...
...we have to look at them and it is what they look like that determines by and large what we think about them...
...regardless of what we actually hear them say and what they end up doing in the end.
YES, I cut my hair today for professional reasons because I have an opportunity to do something new and I was afraid I might possibly get passed over if I didn't.
I just want to go on record as saying that it's not what is on top of or hanging off of the back of your head that matters or is dangerous.
It's what is going on between the eyes inside the head that counts.
That will be all...for now...
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Back In The Basement
I've Got A Saw In My Hand...Don't Bother Me...
I regret to report that due to insanity and professional inactivity, I've got my nights and days totally reversed right now.
I'm wide awake about midnight and I want to sleep all afternoon every day while the sun is shining.
It sucks being Me...but somebody's got to do it I guess.
Back to my sawdust pile in the mean time.
Regards Y'all.
I regret to report that due to insanity and professional inactivity, I've got my nights and days totally reversed right now.
I'm wide awake about midnight and I want to sleep all afternoon every day while the sun is shining.
It sucks being Me...but somebody's got to do it I guess.
Back to my sawdust pile in the mean time.
Regards Y'all.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Sawdust Flying...Mind Racing...
Small Particles And Even Smaller Progress...
I'm pleased to report that I'm now in the final trim out mode on the wood work down in the Wee Pub in my basement.
Progress is an uneven effort because I keep changing things around in the final design and I'm working with a basic hand miter saw which is very accurate but also slow as Christmas working solo.
Recently while reading some unrelated news stories I remembered that I once had a power miter saw a few years ago but the barbarians in downtown Brunswick, Georgia broke into my Rental property while I was renovating the building and stole it along with most of my raw materials.
Of course the Brunswick Police department was willing to take a police report only if I'd come down to their offices (they were too busy to come out and look for silly stuff like fingerprints), but other than that they just shrugged their shoulders and mumbled something to the effect that "at least I wasn't there at the time of the burglary and didn't get shot or stabbed."
I'm getting too old to fight, and I've broken my right hand three or four times hitting people and things through the years, but this video makes me want to go back to the gun range and polish my pistol skills a little:
The sad thing is that apparently the Maryland police were only able to get there after all of the perpetrators had left the scene and now thay are claiming that it's too much trouble to try to prosecute the thieves using the video tape as evedence.
I'm telling you, Ladies and Gentlemen, this "Flash Mob" stuff with idiots without jobs or morals or reason deciding to use things like Twitter and Facebook to coordinate acts of violence and "civil disobedience " deserves a few well armed citizens to take matters into their own hands because as I've written here before:
"When Seconds Count, The Police Are Only a Few Minutes Away."
In Maryland where this event happened it is against the law to use a gun against a intruder unless they have basically crawled into your bed and put on your wife's pajamas and put a knife to your throat.
If they come into your home or business and start hauling off your property solo or in mass like in the Video you can't shoot anyone or even point a gun at them...
You just have to stand there and watch them take your stuff and hope they don't physically assault you in the process.
I call BULLSHIT on this situation and promise that if I'm in the building and able to do something besides cower behind a display of Budweiser and Potato Chips someone's at least going to have at a black eye and a fat lip at the end of the day.
Know what I mean?
I'm pleased to report that I'm now in the final trim out mode on the wood work down in the Wee Pub in my basement.
Progress is an uneven effort because I keep changing things around in the final design and I'm working with a basic hand miter saw which is very accurate but also slow as Christmas working solo.
Recently while reading some unrelated news stories I remembered that I once had a power miter saw a few years ago but the barbarians in downtown Brunswick, Georgia broke into my Rental property while I was renovating the building and stole it along with most of my raw materials.
Of course the Brunswick Police department was willing to take a police report only if I'd come down to their offices (they were too busy to come out and look for silly stuff like fingerprints), but other than that they just shrugged their shoulders and mumbled something to the effect that "at least I wasn't there at the time of the burglary and didn't get shot or stabbed."
I'm getting too old to fight, and I've broken my right hand three or four times hitting people and things through the years, but this video makes me want to go back to the gun range and polish my pistol skills a little:
The sad thing is that apparently the Maryland police were only able to get there after all of the perpetrators had left the scene and now thay are claiming that it's too much trouble to try to prosecute the thieves using the video tape as evedence.
I'm telling you, Ladies and Gentlemen, this "Flash Mob" stuff with idiots without jobs or morals or reason deciding to use things like Twitter and Facebook to coordinate acts of violence and "civil disobedience " deserves a few well armed citizens to take matters into their own hands because as I've written here before:
"When Seconds Count, The Police Are Only a Few Minutes Away."
In Maryland where this event happened it is against the law to use a gun against a intruder unless they have basically crawled into your bed and put on your wife's pajamas and put a knife to your throat.
If they come into your home or business and start hauling off your property solo or in mass like in the Video you can't shoot anyone or even point a gun at them...
You just have to stand there and watch them take your stuff and hope they don't physically assault you in the process.
I call BULLSHIT on this situation and promise that if I'm in the building and able to do something besides cower behind a display of Budweiser and Potato Chips someone's at least going to have at a black eye and a fat lip at the end of the day.
Know what I mean?
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Come Monday Sunday...It'll Be Allright
A Weekend Jimmy Buffet Would Be Proud Of.
I don't have a whole bunch to say this evening because I'm too lazy to think about anything to write.
I guess you can just take my earlier posting about what happened around here on Saturday, add a trip to Kroger and Home Depot into the mix, shuffle around the nap times and sunning on the deck out by the pool times , and...
You get the picture.
I'll talk to y'all Tomorrow...
I don't have a whole bunch to say this evening because I'm too lazy to think about anything to write.
I guess you can just take my earlier posting about what happened around here on Saturday, add a trip to Kroger and Home Depot into the mix, shuffle around the nap times and sunning on the deck out by the pool times , and...
You get the picture.
I'll talk to y'all Tomorrow...
Saturday Success...Simple Pleasures
I'm A Professional At Doing Nuthin All Day
I don't mind reporting to you, Ladies and Gentlemen, that I hardly did CRAP all day here on Saturday at the Turbo Pup Compound on the banks of the Mighty Tennessee River.
N U T H I N'
Not A Thing Productive.
Further...
I PLANNED my day that way more or less.
Pat wanted to go shopping in the morning over at a new "Marketplace" they've opened down the road a couple of miles in the Turkey Creek area...
so she went.
Me?
I'd have liked to have gone but they have some rules down there.
Apparently they don't let unshaven, unshowered, naked pot bellyed middle aged men in their snooty "Marketplace", and since I was too lazy to get up and shave and shower and put on clothes suitable for a public appearance I opted to stay home.
Any way, so I just stayed here and wallowed around in bed until almost eleven AM with the Turbo Pup.
Then when she (Missy the Turbo Pup) had to get up to go out and pee I got up too (because I had to also but I opted to do it inside rather out in the yard), stumbled into a bathing suit, grabbed a cigar and the newspaper, poured myself a "waker upper" drink, and set my butt down outside on the deck by the pool and didn't hardly move again until Pat came home about 1 PM.
THAT right there, in my considered Redneck Opinion, is a successful plan for a weekend day in and of itself I'd say, but then you know what?
I had another drink and sat around out there in the moderate heat until it threatened to rain, then I went inside and layed around watching FOX News and the Weather Channel and all in all a good afternoon was had by everyone here at the Turbo Pup Compound.
I did have an inkling of intention to wander over to Home Depot and Kroger late in the afternoon before dinner, but a really good late afternoon NAP ended up taking precedence.
Then Pat woke me up and threatened to go over to our local Karaoke Pub Bullfeathers and bring me back a burger.
And of course that offer forced me to get up, clean up, and get dressed so I could run out the door with my girls. (They let the Turbo Pup sit with us there on their expansive deck, so we've taken to doing happy hour a few nights a week.)
A couple of drinks, a couple of burgers, and a couple of songs later I was back home in time to go right back to my FOX News and Weather Channel watching.
And now here I am at 1 AM Sunday morning trying to reschedule a trip to Home Depot and Kroger and try to make some more sawdust in the Wee Pub in my basement Sunday afternoon.
Hope the balance of your weekend is at least half as satisfying as mine has been thus far.
Regard Y'all...
I don't mind reporting to you, Ladies and Gentlemen, that I hardly did CRAP all day here on Saturday at the Turbo Pup Compound on the banks of the Mighty Tennessee River.
N U T H I N'
Not A Thing Productive.
Further...
I PLANNED my day that way more or less.
Pat wanted to go shopping in the morning over at a new "Marketplace" they've opened down the road a couple of miles in the Turkey Creek area...
so she went.
Me?
I'd have liked to have gone but they have some rules down there.
Apparently they don't let unshaven, unshowered, naked pot bellyed middle aged men in their snooty "Marketplace", and since I was too lazy to get up and shave and shower and put on clothes suitable for a public appearance I opted to stay home.
Any way, so I just stayed here and wallowed around in bed until almost eleven AM with the Turbo Pup.
Then when she (Missy the Turbo Pup) had to get up to go out and pee I got up too (because I had to also but I opted to do it inside rather out in the yard), stumbled into a bathing suit, grabbed a cigar and the newspaper, poured myself a "waker upper" drink, and set my butt down outside on the deck by the pool and didn't hardly move again until Pat came home about 1 PM.
THAT right there, in my considered Redneck Opinion, is a successful plan for a weekend day in and of itself I'd say, but then you know what?
I had another drink and sat around out there in the moderate heat until it threatened to rain, then I went inside and layed around watching FOX News and the Weather Channel and all in all a good afternoon was had by everyone here at the Turbo Pup Compound.
I did have an inkling of intention to wander over to Home Depot and Kroger late in the afternoon before dinner, but a really good late afternoon NAP ended up taking precedence.
Then Pat woke me up and threatened to go over to our local Karaoke Pub Bullfeathers and bring me back a burger.
And of course that offer forced me to get up, clean up, and get dressed so I could run out the door with my girls. (They let the Turbo Pup sit with us there on their expansive deck, so we've taken to doing happy hour a few nights a week.)
A couple of drinks, a couple of burgers, and a couple of songs later I was back home in time to go right back to my FOX News and Weather Channel watching.
And now here I am at 1 AM Sunday morning trying to reschedule a trip to Home Depot and Kroger and try to make some more sawdust in the Wee Pub in my basement Sunday afternoon.
Hope the balance of your weekend is at least half as satisfying as mine has been thus far.
Regard Y'all...
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Utility Of Insanity
Modern "Conveniences" Will Be The Death Of Us All...
I've spent the past three days fussing over my Cable Service with lingering doubts about something going on in the background with the Cable Modem.
About three AM Tuesday morning while I was working in the basement the TV signal went of and on a half dozen times over an hour period and I didn't think anything of it.
Yet another late night "Service Interruption" for "Maintenance Purposes" I guessed and since I was busy making noise with my air guns and saws and drills and other crap I wasn't concerned because I couldn't actually see the TV picture and most of the time I couldn't hear the dialogue over my own cursing and mechanical noises.
So any way, three days...going on four now...later my home Cable TV System is in total disarray and I didn't touch anything to cause the problem.
The only thing I did was buy 100 feet of new RG-6 Coax anticipating rewiring the living room TV connection shortly for the THIRD TIME because of ongoing signal "issues" we've been having and at the same time adding another feed serving the Wee Pub behind the bar for the new TV we recently purchased.
I haven't put in the new cableing because of the problems, and now...get this...
As of right now my kitchen TV hanging under the cabinets won't work at all, the TV in the living room refuses to pick up things like Food network, the new 1080p digital TV we've been test driving (the one for the Wee Pub) in the Master Bedroom only picks up about twenty or thirty channels with no Food Network or FOX News signal, my TV Card in Server PC is in the same condition as the Master Bedroom, AND...
the crappy old 32 inch TV I have down in the basement shop picks up EVERYTHING that it picked up before the recent strange outages.
What adds insult to injury is that yesterday I spent a half hour on the telephone with some idiot at Comcast in "technical support" who was obviously reading from a script (or a teleprompter like our current president) and no matter what I said or the detail I told him and in spite of the fact that I said I was an Injuneer...
the customer service guy...probably named "Peggy"...insisted on asking stupid questions like it the cable box plugged into the wall outlet?"
..."is the TV on channel 3?"...
This after I had told the guy everything was working fine on Monday and I had wired the house myself almost four years ago and not changed anything except their stupid digital adapters way back in FEBRUARY and AFTER THAT EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE LIVING ROOM TV WORKED PERFECT UNTIL MONDAY NIGHT.
Didn't matter...
The guy either didn't have the brain cells and/or the training to help me trouble shoot what should most likely be a problem in the wiring between the house and the street or in their immense central offices located somewhere in India or Pakistan.
The final question that caused me to give up and hang up on the poor stupid bastard was this one...
"what's the serial number on your digital cable converter box?"
He asked this doosey while I was hunched over in the kitchen fumbling with the wiring which I had neatly wire clamped and tied together up out of sight behind the wine rack beside the TV under the upper wall mounted cabinets.
In order to answer that question I was going to either have to go to the basement file cabinet and get out the original paperwork, or go to the basement shop and geta sledge hammer some wire cutters in order to free the wiring and be able to look at the microscopic letters on the back of the little box with the serial number inscribed.
So I just hung up before I was arrested for making terroristic threats and possibly charged with verbal racial hate crimes.
It's truly a screwed up world we live in...Ladies and Gentlemen.
When I was four years old I spent weekends and weeks in the summer in a house hand built from timber harvested on our farm. A house that didn't have electricity until after WWII, and had a windmill and a Hay Barn and a Corn Crib and a Smokehouse and a Sugar Cane Mill and a hand dug water well...
But no Air Conditioning or cable TV or Internet...
We drank water from a large basin in the kitchen with a communal "dipper" you sipped out of when you were thirsty.
And I was happy.
I wish I could re-gain some of that sanity and satisfaction today.
You know?
MORE AT 6:15 AM
I forgot to mention earlier that what pisses me off the most about utilities like the Cable TV or Satellite or Phone company, is that unlike the Gas Company and the Electric Power company or the people selling you water...
the cable company charges FULL PRICE every month no matter how many days or hours or weeks you signal is screwed up.
At least with the TVA or Georgia Power or Atlanta Gas Light Company or now First Utility District if our electricty was off for a while we didn't have to pay for the priveledge of having a wire connected to our house or if our water service was interrupted we didn't have to buy water we weren't using.
Dammit...
I've spent the past three days fussing over my Cable Service with lingering doubts about something going on in the background with the Cable Modem.
About three AM Tuesday morning while I was working in the basement the TV signal went of and on a half dozen times over an hour period and I didn't think anything of it.
Yet another late night "Service Interruption" for "Maintenance Purposes" I guessed and since I was busy making noise with my air guns and saws and drills and other crap I wasn't concerned because I couldn't actually see the TV picture and most of the time I couldn't hear the dialogue over my own cursing and mechanical noises.
So any way, three days...going on four now...later my home Cable TV System is in total disarray and I didn't touch anything to cause the problem.
The only thing I did was buy 100 feet of new RG-6 Coax anticipating rewiring the living room TV connection shortly for the THIRD TIME because of ongoing signal "issues" we've been having and at the same time adding another feed serving the Wee Pub behind the bar for the new TV we recently purchased.
I haven't put in the new cableing because of the problems, and now...get this...
As of right now my kitchen TV hanging under the cabinets won't work at all, the TV in the living room refuses to pick up things like Food network, the new 1080p digital TV we've been test driving (the one for the Wee Pub) in the Master Bedroom only picks up about twenty or thirty channels with no Food Network or FOX News signal, my TV Card in Server PC is in the same condition as the Master Bedroom, AND...
the crappy old 32 inch TV I have down in the basement shop picks up EVERYTHING that it picked up before the recent strange outages.
What adds insult to injury is that yesterday I spent a half hour on the telephone with some idiot at Comcast in "technical support" who was obviously reading from a script (or a teleprompter like our current president) and no matter what I said or the detail I told him and in spite of the fact that I said I was an Injuneer...
the customer service guy...probably named "Peggy"...insisted on asking stupid questions like it the cable box plugged into the wall outlet?"
..."is the TV on channel 3?"...
This after I had told the guy everything was working fine on Monday and I had wired the house myself almost four years ago and not changed anything except their stupid digital adapters way back in FEBRUARY and AFTER THAT EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE LIVING ROOM TV WORKED PERFECT UNTIL MONDAY NIGHT.
Didn't matter...
The guy either didn't have the brain cells and/or the training to help me trouble shoot what should most likely be a problem in the wiring between the house and the street or in their immense central offices located somewhere in India or Pakistan.
The final question that caused me to give up and hang up on the poor stupid bastard was this one...
"what's the serial number on your digital cable converter box?"
He asked this doosey while I was hunched over in the kitchen fumbling with the wiring which I had neatly wire clamped and tied together up out of sight behind the wine rack beside the TV under the upper wall mounted cabinets.
In order to answer that question I was going to either have to go to the basement file cabinet and get out the original paperwork, or go to the basement shop and get
So I just hung up before I was arrested for making terroristic threats and possibly charged with verbal racial hate crimes.
It's truly a screwed up world we live in...Ladies and Gentlemen.
When I was four years old I spent weekends and weeks in the summer in a house hand built from timber harvested on our farm. A house that didn't have electricity until after WWII, and had a windmill and a Hay Barn and a Corn Crib and a Smokehouse and a Sugar Cane Mill and a hand dug water well...
But no Air Conditioning or cable TV or Internet...
We drank water from a large basin in the kitchen with a communal "dipper" you sipped out of when you were thirsty.
And I was happy.
I wish I could re-gain some of that sanity and satisfaction today.
You know?
MORE AT 6:15 AM
I forgot to mention earlier that what pisses me off the most about utilities like the Cable TV or Satellite or Phone company, is that unlike the Gas Company and the Electric Power company or the people selling you water...
the cable company charges FULL PRICE every month no matter how many days or hours or weeks you signal is screwed up.
At least with the TVA or Georgia Power or Atlanta Gas Light Company or now First Utility District if our electricty was off for a while we didn't have to pay for the priveledge of having a wire connected to our house or if our water service was interrupted we didn't have to buy water we weren't using.
Dammit...
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Texting 911?
By The Time I Finish Typing Someone Will Probably Be Dead...
OK.
I was just sitting here minding my own business this early morning, fiddling around with an AutoCAD drawing of my as yet to be constructed dart board cabinet down in the "Wee Pub"...
...and being pissed off because in Comcast's infinite effort to upgrade my local TV/Internet service three of my five TV's only get Basic Cable stations right now...
...and in the process of watching some stupid local late night news channel I usually never watch (CBS Late Night News) they came on with a story about the Imperial Federal Government of the By God United States of 'Merica (IFGOTBGYSOM for short) wants to make it possible to communicate with 911 via text messaging within the next five years.
OK...I understand if you are hiding under your desk while some derranged Muslim Terrorist wannabe is robbing your bank you can possibly pound out a message with your fingers and thumbs you might be able to TEXT the 911 operator rather than risking calling and screaming:
THERE'S AN IDIOT WITH A GUN HERE SHOOTING AT EVERYONE YELLING "ALLAH AKBAR"...
but still...
Anyone but me wonder how much this technological revolution is going to cost the Taxpayers?
And does anyone but me realize that all you have to do to get the police to show up at your door is call 911 a couple of times and hang up and not say a single word?
So why do we need a totally over engineered revision of the sometimes feckless and inept 911 services the cost of which have been shoved down our collective throats incrementally over the past thirty or forty years?
Why not have a few people in each 911 system have an unlimited texting $200 per month cell phone with an existing carrier?
This texting crap drives me crazy any way, as I've said many times before.
Let me restate my position here in the matter of TEXTING.
IF YOU ARE HOLDING A FREAKING $500 CELL PHONE IN YOUR HANDS, A DEVICE DESIGNED TO BOUNCE A HIGH FREQUENCY MICROWAVE SIGNAL OFF OF A 200 FOOT TALL REPEATER RADIO TOWER, REFLECT IT INTO A SATELLITE ORBITING THE EARTH, THEN BACK DOWN TO THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH TO ANOTHER 150 FOOT TALL TOWER, FINALLY LOCATING ME IN THE PARKING LOT AT THE LOCAL HOME DEPOT....
Call ME...
Don't Text ME...
Please?
OK.
I was just sitting here minding my own business this early morning, fiddling around with an AutoCAD drawing of my as yet to be constructed dart board cabinet down in the "Wee Pub"...
...and being pissed off because in Comcast's infinite effort to upgrade my local TV/Internet service three of my five TV's only get Basic Cable stations right now...
...and in the process of watching some stupid local late night news channel I usually never watch (CBS Late Night News) they came on with a story about the Imperial Federal Government of the By God United States of 'Merica (IFGOTBGYSOM for short) wants to make it possible to communicate with 911 via text messaging within the next five years.
OK...I understand if you are hiding under your desk while some derranged Muslim Terrorist wannabe is robbing your bank you can possibly pound out a message with your fingers and thumbs you might be able to TEXT the 911 operator rather than risking calling and screaming:
THERE'S AN IDIOT WITH A GUN HERE SHOOTING AT EVERYONE YELLING "ALLAH AKBAR"...
but still...
Anyone but me wonder how much this technological revolution is going to cost the Taxpayers?
And does anyone but me realize that all you have to do to get the police to show up at your door is call 911 a couple of times and hang up and not say a single word?
So why do we need a totally over engineered revision of the sometimes feckless and inept 911 services the cost of which have been shoved down our collective throats incrementally over the past thirty or forty years?
Why not have a few people in each 911 system have an unlimited texting $200 per month cell phone with an existing carrier?
This texting crap drives me crazy any way, as I've said many times before.
Let me restate my position here in the matter of TEXTING.
IF YOU ARE HOLDING A FREAKING $500 CELL PHONE IN YOUR HANDS, A DEVICE DESIGNED TO BOUNCE A HIGH FREQUENCY MICROWAVE SIGNAL OFF OF A 200 FOOT TALL REPEATER RADIO TOWER, REFLECT IT INTO A SATELLITE ORBITING THE EARTH, THEN BACK DOWN TO THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH TO ANOTHER 150 FOOT TALL TOWER, FINALLY LOCATING ME IN THE PARKING LOT AT THE LOCAL HOME DEPOT....
Call ME...
Don't Text ME...
Please?
Bad Weather Predictions
I'm Starting To Get Worried...
This is sort of an off the wall rant/discussion this morning but I hope you will indulge me and take it for what it's worth.
As a result I'm going to feel free to say "I Told You So" within the next six or eight weeks, but because I'm an Injuneer rather than a Meteorologist you will also excuse me if I'm wrong.
Here's the deal.
Unlike the Global Warming/Climate Change Zombies, my understanding of Thermodynamics also allows me to understand that Tropical Weather...specifically Hurricanes...is Nature's way of re-distributing heat energy from the Equator/Tropical Latitudes to the Polar regions of the Earth.
And this year's lack of any substantial Tropical activity--we're only up to five storms with Emily recently--means that the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean waters are SUPER WARM right now.
All it's going to take is some lower level low pressure to get the thunderstorms going and some favorable upper level jet stream winds which will not blow the tops off of the storms and I think that people living on the coastal areas everywhere from Texas to Virginia had better be on the lookout for one or more exciting Tropical Weather events in the near future.
And the "Cape Verde" season is getting fired up now on the Calendar so you have to look near (the Gulf/ Caribbean) and far (the shores of West Africa) for the source of bad weather developing.
I didn't read this anywhere so you can take it with a grain of salt...but I know what I know and I'd be buying stock in Plywood companies, Tarps, and portable Electric Generators right now if I were you.
Just sayin'...
This is sort of an off the wall rant/discussion this morning but I hope you will indulge me and take it for what it's worth.
As a result I'm going to feel free to say "I Told You So" within the next six or eight weeks, but because I'm an Injuneer rather than a Meteorologist you will also excuse me if I'm wrong.
Here's the deal.
Unlike the Global Warming/Climate Change Zombies, my understanding of Thermodynamics also allows me to understand that Tropical Weather...specifically Hurricanes...is Nature's way of re-distributing heat energy from the Equator/Tropical Latitudes to the Polar regions of the Earth.
And this year's lack of any substantial Tropical activity--we're only up to five storms with Emily recently--means that the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean waters are SUPER WARM right now.
All it's going to take is some lower level low pressure to get the thunderstorms going and some favorable upper level jet stream winds which will not blow the tops off of the storms and I think that people living on the coastal areas everywhere from Texas to Virginia had better be on the lookout for one or more exciting Tropical Weather events in the near future.
And the "Cape Verde" season is getting fired up now on the Calendar so you have to look near (the Gulf/ Caribbean) and far (the shores of West Africa) for the source of bad weather developing.
I didn't read this anywhere so you can take it with a grain of salt...but I know what I know and I'd be buying stock in Plywood companies, Tarps, and portable Electric Generators right now if I were you.
Just sayin'...
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Picture Me Stumbling Around In My Basement
With Sharp Tools In My Hands...
After lethargically getting mostly nothing done for the past half week, I had a burst of energy about 1 AM this morning and I've been torturing my dog and my girl and my close neighbors with the sounds of power tools and construction crap coming out of my basement.
The air compressor is the loudest thing I own and it insists on coming on every five or ten minutes depending on how much I'm using my nail guns, but I use a little battery powered trim saw and other portable battery powered tools most of the time at night.
The Remington 22 caliber power anchor nail gun might just be a deal breaker so I'm reserving putting down some new wooden pressure treated sections of base plates until after 7 AM when everyone is stirring.
In other news, I just want to go out and bitch slap most of the political idiots on TV these days...pundits and commentators and even FOX News anchors because they are so feckless if not outright liars.
Like I've said before here many times:
"When Words have no meaning, Meaning has no words..."
After lethargically getting mostly nothing done for the past half week, I had a burst of energy about 1 AM this morning and I've been torturing my dog and my girl and my close neighbors with the sounds of power tools and construction crap coming out of my basement.
The air compressor is the loudest thing I own and it insists on coming on every five or ten minutes depending on how much I'm using my nail guns, but I use a little battery powered trim saw and other portable battery powered tools most of the time at night.
The Remington 22 caliber power anchor nail gun might just be a deal breaker so I'm reserving putting down some new wooden pressure treated sections of base plates until after 7 AM when everyone is stirring.
In other news, I just want to go out and bitch slap most of the political idiots on TV these days...pundits and commentators and even FOX News anchors because they are so feckless if not outright liars.
Like I've said before here many times:
"When Words have no meaning, Meaning has no words..."
Monday, August 08, 2011
"The Wizard Of Uhhhs"
Today's Daily Address by President O'blaablaa...
Just in case you were dead or living under a rock or your Internet and Cable connection was down today, our so-called President was out standing in front of TV cameras this afternoon for a few minutes...
...again.
I swear this sucker has spent more time in front of a TV camera than Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II...all COMBINED.
In less than four years on the calendar.
Today he was taking the American People and the Standard and Poor's Financial rating service to task in his normal condescending, lecturing tone...telling everyone it once again wasn't his fault that he inherited the management of a country with a AAA rating from George Bush and...
when the rating was AAA it was true...
but now when the rating has gone down to AA+ because of his and our idiot government's mismanagement...
the rating is obviously wrong and possibly politically motivated.
And then John sKerry--that guy that served in Vietnam before he ran for President--had the audacity to come out and blame the Tea Party for the ratings downgrade.
OUR COUNTRY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS BY AND LARGE AT THE MERCY OF A GIANT BUNCH OF FECKLESS, IGNORANT, OBTUSE AND QUITE DANGEROUS FOOLS.
And the people these same fools are electing to office are the most dangerous of all.
Please try not to be a fool yourself while I go get some work done now.
Just in case you were dead or living under a rock or your Internet and Cable connection was down today, our so-called President was out standing in front of TV cameras this afternoon for a few minutes...
...again.
I swear this sucker has spent more time in front of a TV camera than Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II...all COMBINED.
In less than four years on the calendar.
Today he was taking the American People and the Standard and Poor's Financial rating service to task in his normal condescending, lecturing tone...telling everyone it once again wasn't his fault that he inherited the management of a country with a AAA rating from George Bush and...
when the rating was AAA it was true...
but now when the rating has gone down to AA+ because of his and our idiot government's mismanagement...
the rating is obviously wrong and possibly politically motivated.
And then John sKerry--that guy that served in Vietnam before he ran for President--had the audacity to come out and blame the Tea Party for the ratings downgrade.
OUR COUNTRY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IS BY AND LARGE AT THE MERCY OF A GIANT BUNCH OF FECKLESS, IGNORANT, OBTUSE AND QUITE DANGEROUS FOOLS.
And the people these same fools are electing to office are the most dangerous of all.
Please try not to be a fool yourself while I go get some work done now.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
Staring At Stairs
Why Do I Do This To Myself?
Sorry for the light posting recently. It's not like I've been super busy working 12 hour days getting productive things done or something.
I've actually been doing some design work and writing some professional correspondence on and off since late last week, and every time I get fired up I burn myself out in short order because the stuff I'm doing requires such attention to detail that I just can't hold out for very long in the process.
Meanwhile, my current construction project in my basement is the renovation of the existing 48 year old staircase work.
When we bought the house it had this simple ugly basement stair with open stringers and double 2x6 treads and 1x6 riser boards...all painted industrial grey...
with a vintage 1970's run of carpeting stapled down the middle of everything.
I'd take a picture and post it here but I'm too lazy.
Just picture an UGLY yet functional early 1960's basement staircase and you'll understand what I'm up against.
So now without spending $10,000 and tearing the whole thing down I'm trying to change things into looking like an old vintage formal staircase with a nice short section of ornamental handrail on the open side and a new carpet runner down the middle.
Just in case you have never built a staircase or more importantly...a stair handrail with Box Newels and turned Balusters...let me tell you there is more to it than meets the eye initially.
First of all you have the artistic architectural element of the design.
Then today you have the stupid freaking building code issues regarding Baluster spacing (4" max) and rail height.
And finally there is the structural issues of keeping my 240 pound ass from breaking the entire thing and crashing head first over the side into/onto the basement floor one evening thereby spilling my glass of fine bourbon or vodka.
With all of those considerations in mind, you can understand how one would not enter into such an effort without studying things for a while prior to cutting the first board, couldn't you?
So...here I am contemplating the situation.
To be more precise, I'm actually "Paralyzed with indecision" as my College Math professor Caine used to say.
We're only talking something less than 8 feet of handrail, Ladies and Gentlemen--and I've already been to Home Depot TWICE and been fiddling around with AutoCAD drawings for two days now.
Fourteen Balusters and and bunch of white pine lumber and not a single scrap of sawdust has been produced in this phase of the Wee Pub construction project to date.
So I know that you will excuse me now while I go and continue procrastinating a little while further by the Turbo Pup pool...
Sorry for the light posting recently. It's not like I've been super busy working 12 hour days getting productive things done or something.
I've actually been doing some design work and writing some professional correspondence on and off since late last week, and every time I get fired up I burn myself out in short order because the stuff I'm doing requires such attention to detail that I just can't hold out for very long in the process.
Meanwhile, my current construction project in my basement is the renovation of the existing 48 year old staircase work.
When we bought the house it had this simple ugly basement stair with open stringers and double 2x6 treads and 1x6 riser boards...all painted industrial grey...
with a vintage 1970's run of carpeting stapled down the middle of everything.
I'd take a picture and post it here but I'm too lazy.
Just picture an UGLY yet functional early 1960's basement staircase and you'll understand what I'm up against.
So now without spending $10,000 and tearing the whole thing down I'm trying to change things into looking like an old vintage formal staircase with a nice short section of ornamental handrail on the open side and a new carpet runner down the middle.
Just in case you have never built a staircase or more importantly...a stair handrail with Box Newels and turned Balusters...let me tell you there is more to it than meets the eye initially.
First of all you have the artistic architectural element of the design.
Then today you have the stupid freaking building code issues regarding Baluster spacing (4" max) and rail height.
And finally there is the structural issues of keeping my 240 pound ass from breaking the entire thing and crashing head first over the side into/onto the basement floor one evening thereby spilling my glass of fine bourbon or vodka.
With all of those considerations in mind, you can understand how one would not enter into such an effort without studying things for a while prior to cutting the first board, couldn't you?
So...here I am contemplating the situation.
To be more precise, I'm actually "Paralyzed with indecision" as my College Math professor Caine used to say.
We're only talking something less than 8 feet of handrail, Ladies and Gentlemen--and I've already been to Home Depot TWICE and been fiddling around with AutoCAD drawings for two days now.
Fourteen Balusters and and bunch of white pine lumber and not a single scrap of sawdust has been produced in this phase of the Wee Pub construction project to date.
So I know that you will excuse me now while I go and continue procrastinating a little while further by the Turbo Pup pool...
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Doctor's Visit Success
Am I Ready To Put The Band Back Together Again?
I went to visit my surgeon at 8 AM yesterday morning.
I was impressed he was awake because I barely was.
Here's the stats if you care:
Weight = 10 pounds less than eight weeks ago
Blood Pressure = 120 something over 80 something (without any guns or airplanes or super good lookin' women in the room...any one of those causing things to rise slightly toward being off the chart)
If it weren't for turning 52 years old next month I'd be in perfect shape I guess.
In reality time has taken its toll on me mentally and physically, but still...
If you wanted or expected me to crap out and disappear off the Blogosphere for medical reasons here in the near future I guess you will just have to be disappointed.
I'm quite pleased in spite of the ongoing "issues", and I say that another day above ground and residing in a vertical position is definitely better than the other options.
You know?
I went to visit my surgeon at 8 AM yesterday morning.
I was impressed he was awake because I barely was.
Here's the stats if you care:
Weight = 10 pounds less than eight weeks ago
Blood Pressure = 120 something over 80 something (without any guns or airplanes or super good lookin' women in the room...any one of those causing things to rise slightly toward being off the chart)
If it weren't for turning 52 years old next month I'd be in perfect shape I guess.
In reality time has taken its toll on me mentally and physically, but still...
If you wanted or expected me to crap out and disappear off the Blogosphere for medical reasons here in the near future I guess you will just have to be disappointed.
I'm quite pleased in spite of the ongoing "issues", and I say that another day above ground and residing in a vertical position is definitely better than the other options.
You know?
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Things What Piss Me Off
Have You Got A Few Hours Weeks?
1. Most of the 435 people in the United States Congress.
2. My Lawn Mower and Weed Eater trying to use "E10" Ethanol Gasoline under Government Mandate.
3. Most of the 100 people in the United States Senate.
4. Anything involving "Climate Change."
5. Having to schedule my first Colonoschosphpyeee.........OK...whatever/however you spell it.
6. Liberals
7. Bleeding Heart Lilly livered tye died tree hugging Kumbaya singing patchuli stinking anti war hippies.
8. ...
9. ........
10. (You get my drift, I think.)
1. Most of the 435 people in the United States Congress.
2. My Lawn Mower and Weed Eater trying to use "E10" Ethanol Gasoline under Government Mandate.
3. Most of the 100 people in the United States Senate.
4. Anything involving "Climate Change."
5. Having to schedule my first Colonoschosphpyeee.........OK...whatever/however you spell it.
6. Liberals
7. Bleeding Heart Lilly livered tye died tree hugging Kumbaya singing patchuli stinking anti war hippies.
8. ...
9. ........
10. (You get my drift, I think.)
Tuesday, August 02, 2011
I'm BaaaaakkkkkkKKKKKK
Taking Time Off For A Little Blog Maintenance...
Well, after a week or so hiatus I decided to bring the Blog back online this morning.
In the process I've managed to spend a few hours doing some basic maintenance like backing up a complete archival copies of this Blog and my much neglected cooking blog The RedneckGourmet on to my hard drive and a SD Memory card.
I also did some other background HTML infrastructure stuff you won't notice at first and the work remains of fixing some things like broken/dead links and other crap you have to do when you run your own website.
I started to just delete the entire blog content while keeping the template and start over again this morning from scratch, but the free Blogger makes it impossible to do anything but delete the entire blog lock, stock, and barrel or go through the thing item by item and hit the "DELETE" button so most of my content is still here on line for now.
This thing has just gotten so huge over the past seven years and over 3,100 postings that it is hard to manage...but it is what it is.
That's right...I just realized that this whole crazy Blogging thing for me started while sitting in a hotel room in Chicago way back on August 10th, 2004!
THIS BLOG IS 7 YEARS OLD NEXT WEEK!!!
So any Waaaayyyyy...my head has been about to explode during this self imposed down time because I kept coming up with things I wanted to write about and being in a self imposed "BLOGGING MORATORIUM" I realized how much I really enjoy writing every day here.
In the process I found out that apparently there are a few people out there that enjoy stopping by to read and are almost as addicted to this place as I am.
I even had a couple of regular readers including some non-family members freak out and start trying to contact me and/or other Bloggers to see what happened to me.
Ed and Heather come to mind...and of course my mother...but believe me the resulting drama was unintentional.
I just had some things come up suddenly which required that I suspend operations here and there wasn't a good way to leave a message saying something like "TEMPORARY SERVICE INTERRUPTION..." or something similar.
So I guess I'll go now and do some reading...but I reserve the right to come back and rant a little if I find something worthy of my commentary.
Until then...Regards Y'all...
Well, after a week or so hiatus I decided to bring the Blog back online this morning.
In the process I've managed to spend a few hours doing some basic maintenance like backing up a complete archival copies of this Blog and my much neglected cooking blog The RedneckGourmet on to my hard drive and a SD Memory card.
I also did some other background HTML infrastructure stuff you won't notice at first and the work remains of fixing some things like broken/dead links and other crap you have to do when you run your own website.
I started to just delete the entire blog content while keeping the template and start over again this morning from scratch, but the free Blogger makes it impossible to do anything but delete the entire blog lock, stock, and barrel or go through the thing item by item and hit the "DELETE" button so most of my content is still here on line for now.
This thing has just gotten so huge over the past seven years and over 3,100 postings that it is hard to manage...but it is what it is.
That's right...I just realized that this whole crazy Blogging thing for me started while sitting in a hotel room in Chicago way back on August 10th, 2004!
THIS BLOG IS 7 YEARS OLD NEXT WEEK!!!
So any Waaaayyyyy...my head has been about to explode during this self imposed down time because I kept coming up with things I wanted to write about and being in a self imposed "BLOGGING MORATORIUM" I realized how much I really enjoy writing every day here.
In the process I found out that apparently there are a few people out there that enjoy stopping by to read and are almost as addicted to this place as I am.
I even had a couple of regular readers including some non-family members freak out and start trying to contact me and/or other Bloggers to see what happened to me.
Ed and Heather come to mind...and of course my mother...but believe me the resulting drama was unintentional.
I just had some things come up suddenly which required that I suspend operations here and there wasn't a good way to leave a message saying something like "TEMPORARY SERVICE INTERRUPTION..." or something similar.
So I guess I'll go now and do some reading...but I reserve the right to come back and rant a little if I find something worthy of my commentary.
Until then...Regards Y'all...
Sunday, July 24, 2011
I'm Busy Making Sawdust
Listen To This Until I get Back...
Scott Johnson, one of my Blog Idols over at Powerlineblog, pointed out that yesterday was country/bluegrass artist Alison Krauss' 40th birthday.
Dang What a Pretty woman...
I've had the privilege of playing several different musical instruments on and off now for the past nearly 40 years, sometimes in front of a crowd of a few thousand people at one time, but I've never had the chance to be an ugly old white guy making music in a room with the likes of Miss Krauss.
Scott Johnson, one of my Blog Idols over at Powerlineblog, pointed out that yesterday was country/bluegrass artist Alison Krauss' 40th birthday.
Dang What a Pretty woman...
I've had the privilege of playing several different musical instruments on and off now for the past nearly 40 years, sometimes in front of a crowd of a few thousand people at one time, but I've never had the chance to be an ugly old white guy making music in a room with the likes of Miss Krauss.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
"The Best Thing About The Future...
...Is That It Comes One Day At A Time."
Just in case you are interested, my Blog title and subtitle this morning is actually a saying attributed to President Abraham Lincoln.
I found it a few months ago somewhere on the Internet and today I keep it written on a Post-It-Note stuck on the edge of my computer monitor in my office so I can see it each day.
When things get crazy like they are around here right now after being out of town for a week, it helps me to remember to worry first about today and possibly tomorrow and then let the day after tomorrow and next week and next month and next year sort of take care of themselves, you know?
It's frustrating because I managed to leave town with things around here professionally and personally sort of under control...
I thought.
I was actually worrying about running out of something to do in the near future, then all of the sudden a bunch of old and new crap sprang up and now everyone wants to talk to me and get things from me this week...
all at the same time.
I spent six hours yesterday working on a proposal for some new addendum on some old work with a customer, and then when my eyes and fingers were worn out from sitting at the computer I went out and stumbled around in the garden.
You know--the garden which is out of control with weeds because I ran the sprinklers on a timer for thirty minutes twice a day and it also rained every day while we were gone?
We had a bunch of peppers and tomatoes which had ripened while we were out of town.
Regarding my Pepper harvest, I bought a new batch of small mason jars before we left the state and I'm planning on acting like Peter Piper and pickling apeck a half-peck a few jar of peppers this week.
I've got sweet and "mildly hot" banana peppers running out my ears right now and besides just sitting around munching on them and putting some slices on the occasional pizza I find pickling to be the best way to avoid them just laying around out of sight spoiling in the bottom drawer of the fridge.
And fortunately/unfortunately this year's Tomato crop is a faint image of last year's bumper crop. We probably gave away half of the Tomato's we grew last year because we had so many ripen at the same time.
This year we ended up buying a bunch of our plants which are growing today from the local Kroger to replace the first ones we planted. They've been slow to start and half of them are still limping along not producing fruit in a section of ground last year that had plants with vines ten feet long.
The original planting I did Easter weekend (which were pretty much beat to death by the April 27th hail storm) came from Home Depot and a local place called Mayo Gardening Center which has been here in West Knoxtown for over 100 years.
Those few plants left from the original crop are thriving and in the next couple of weeks I hope to scald the skins off of a few dozen and make some pizza sauce out of them.
Wait...(checking the clock)
OK...
It's 4:30 AM and I have to wander down to the Basement Shop and get ready for my Programmer to stop by later this morning to pound on another PLC project.
Until next time...
Regards Y'all...
Just in case you are interested, my Blog title and subtitle this morning is actually a saying attributed to President Abraham Lincoln.
I found it a few months ago somewhere on the Internet and today I keep it written on a Post-It-Note stuck on the edge of my computer monitor in my office so I can see it each day.
When things get crazy like they are around here right now after being out of town for a week, it helps me to remember to worry first about today and possibly tomorrow and then let the day after tomorrow and next week and next month and next year sort of take care of themselves, you know?
It's frustrating because I managed to leave town with things around here professionally and personally sort of under control...
I thought.
I was actually worrying about running out of something to do in the near future, then all of the sudden a bunch of old and new crap sprang up and now everyone wants to talk to me and get things from me this week...
all at the same time.
I spent six hours yesterday working on a proposal for some new addendum on some old work with a customer, and then when my eyes and fingers were worn out from sitting at the computer I went out and stumbled around in the garden.
You know--the garden which is out of control with weeds because I ran the sprinklers on a timer for thirty minutes twice a day and it also rained every day while we were gone?
We had a bunch of peppers and tomatoes which had ripened while we were out of town.
Regarding my Pepper harvest, I bought a new batch of small mason jars before we left the state and I'm planning on acting like Peter Piper and pickling a
I've got sweet and "mildly hot" banana peppers running out my ears right now and besides just sitting around munching on them and putting some slices on the occasional pizza I find pickling to be the best way to avoid them just laying around out of sight spoiling in the bottom drawer of the fridge.
And fortunately/unfortunately this year's Tomato crop is a faint image of last year's bumper crop. We probably gave away half of the Tomato's we grew last year because we had so many ripen at the same time.
This year we ended up buying a bunch of our plants which are growing today from the local Kroger to replace the first ones we planted. They've been slow to start and half of them are still limping along not producing fruit in a section of ground last year that had plants with vines ten feet long.
The original planting I did Easter weekend (which were pretty much beat to death by the April 27th hail storm) came from Home Depot and a local place called Mayo Gardening Center which has been here in West Knoxtown for over 100 years.
Those few plants left from the original crop are thriving and in the next couple of weeks I hope to scald the skins off of a few dozen and make some pizza sauce out of them.
Wait...(checking the clock)
OK...
It's 4:30 AM and I have to wander down to the Basement Shop and get ready for my Programmer to stop by later this morning to pound on another PLC project.
Until next time...
Regards Y'all...
Sunday, July 17, 2011
The Turbo Pup's Headin' Home
...And We Get To Go Along For The Ride...
Early this morning we're re-loading the Turbo Pup's lockers and sea chests into the old Chrysler 300 and blasting back across north Alabama and eastern Tennessee toward home.
It's been a really good week even though we got a couple of days of rain here at the end of the week that kept us from going fishing.
Other than that, we pretty much did everything we had planned.
I'm ready to sleep in my own king sized bed after wrestling the Turbo Pup for space on borrowed full sized and queen sized beds.
Y'all have a LOVELY Sunday and I'll probably write again this evening...
Early this morning we're re-loading the Turbo Pup's lockers and sea chests into the old Chrysler 300 and blasting back across north Alabama and eastern Tennessee toward home.
It's been a really good week even though we got a couple of days of rain here at the end of the week that kept us from going fishing.
Other than that, we pretty much did everything we had planned.
I'm ready to sleep in my own king sized bed after wrestling the Turbo Pup for space on borrowed full sized and queen sized beds.
Y'all have a LOVELY Sunday and I'll probably write again this evening...
