Consider This Useage...
(...missing my blogging...thinking about coming back with some of my usual ranting and raving shortly...until then...Regards Y'all...)
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Pain In My Neck Back
Getting Old Sucks...
So far this new year--2012--has presented sort of a whirlwind of old things to finish and new things to take on.
Thus the light writing here on my blog for the past six weeks or so.
I have to say that I do miss writing two or three essays each day while spitting and screaming at the TV or Newspaper Stories.
Unfortunately, reality dictates that I focus on other issues for most of the hours I have available.
So far this new year--2012--has presented sort of a whirlwind of old things to finish and new things to take on.
Thus the light writing here on my blog for the past six weeks or so.
I have to say that I do miss writing two or three essays each day while spitting and screaming at the TV or Newspaper Stories.
Unfortunately, reality dictates that I focus on other issues for most of the hours I have available.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
I'm A Victim Of A Coronal Mass Ejection
They Took My Long Nose Pliers...
So I'm back in Tulsa Town this evening after having to wander through the "Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport" outside Atlanta not once but TWICE in the past four days.
The experience makes me remember why I moved away from the "Atlanta Metropolitan Area" in 2001 and again in 2004 after living there for most of 27 years.
I've flown on the Airlines more in the past four months than I have in the past eight years, and I've found dealing with the TSA in Knoxtown and Tulsa to be a pretty simple process.
On the other hand...
ATLANTA?
Not so much.
You see, the past few years when I was designing and building custom PLC control panels I'd taken to traveling with a nice new high tech computer case with wheels and a handle and a special area suitable for arranging and storing tools to support my field start up work.
Things like a multi meter and screwdrivers and pliers and wire cutters/strippers easily were transported and while the lovely TSA rocket scientists at the security areas in various airports always wanted to look at my tool collection I always came home with the contents intact.
The rule was nothing--in the category of tools--over 7" long in carry on baggage. (Here's the "Tool List" from the TSA website)
Axes and Hatchets No
Cattle Prods No
Crowbars No
Hammers No
Drills and drill bits (including cordless portable power drills) No
Saws (including cordless portable power saws) No
Tools (greater than seven inches in length) No
Tools (seven inches or less in length) Yes
Screwdrivers (seven inches or less in length) Yes
But yesterday afternoon at Hartsfield?
The silly black bitch with the TSA uniform pawing through my stuff pulled out my pair of 7" long nosed pliers and claimed they were longer than 6" and proceeded to confiscate them.
I was more sad than angry.
You see, this nice pair of Craftsman long nosed pliers had been traveling around with me across the country for a couple of years now, and they almost had enough frequent flyer miles to get themselves a free ticket on Delta Airlines.
But this morning they are probably laying there in a bin at the airport with all of the stolen bottles of lotion and shampoo and open bottles of mineral water collected by the idiots at the TSA in the name of "Homeland Security" waiting to be melted down or probably tossed into a dumpster.
Gee whiz...I sure feel safer when I fly with people like the silly black bitch working for the TSA protecting our travelingpubic public.
That will be all...for now...
So I'm back in Tulsa Town this evening after having to wander through the "Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport" outside Atlanta not once but TWICE in the past four days.
The experience makes me remember why I moved away from the "Atlanta Metropolitan Area" in 2001 and again in 2004 after living there for most of 27 years.
I've flown on the Airlines more in the past four months than I have in the past eight years, and I've found dealing with the TSA in Knoxtown and Tulsa to be a pretty simple process.
On the other hand...
ATLANTA?
Not so much.
You see, the past few years when I was designing and building custom PLC control panels I'd taken to traveling with a nice new high tech computer case with wheels and a handle and a special area suitable for arranging and storing tools to support my field start up work.
Things like a multi meter and screwdrivers and pliers and wire cutters/strippers easily were transported and while the lovely TSA rocket scientists at the security areas in various airports always wanted to look at my tool collection I always came home with the contents intact.
The rule was nothing--in the category of tools--over 7" long in carry on baggage. (Here's the "Tool List" from the TSA website)
Axes and Hatchets No
Cattle Prods No
Crowbars No
Hammers No
Drills and drill bits (including cordless portable power drills) No
Saws (including cordless portable power saws) No
Tools (greater than seven inches in length) No
Tools (seven inches or less in length) Yes
Screwdrivers (seven inches or less in length) Yes
But yesterday afternoon at Hartsfield?
The silly black bitch with the TSA uniform pawing through my stuff pulled out my pair of 7" long nosed pliers and claimed they were longer than 6" and proceeded to confiscate them.
I was more sad than angry.
You see, this nice pair of Craftsman long nosed pliers had been traveling around with me across the country for a couple of years now, and they almost had enough frequent flyer miles to get themselves a free ticket on Delta Airlines.
But this morning they are probably laying there in a bin at the airport with all of the stolen bottles of lotion and shampoo and open bottles of mineral water collected by the idiots at the TSA in the name of "Homeland Security" waiting to be melted down or probably tossed into a dumpster.
Gee whiz...I sure feel safer when I fly with people like the silly black bitch working for the TSA protecting our traveling
That will be all...for now...
Friday, January 20, 2012
Headin' Back To Lower Alabama
Sad Return Back To My Family Home...
I'm getting on a Delta airliner at 6:30 AM this morning flying from Tulsa toward Atlanta, then meeting my sister for the drive to the Farm in Alabama to attend the funeral of my Uncle...Mom's youngest Brother.
It's an expensive trip in both time and money out of pocket, but I simply cannot justify missing the ceremony since I've known and respected the GREAT man for 52 years.
Today I find myself in the position of rapidly assuming the title of oldest living man on both sides of my family tree--Maternal and Paternal--a title which I reluctantly assume since the alternative is definitely less attractive.
(Sorry for the light posting recently but I'm up to my eyeballs in Injuneering work and my brain is too fried to think after 5 PM CST.)
I'm getting on a Delta airliner at 6:30 AM this morning flying from Tulsa toward Atlanta, then meeting my sister for the drive to the Farm in Alabama to attend the funeral of my Uncle...Mom's youngest Brother.
It's an expensive trip in both time and money out of pocket, but I simply cannot justify missing the ceremony since I've known and respected the GREAT man for 52 years.
Today I find myself in the position of rapidly assuming the title of oldest living man on both sides of my family tree--Maternal and Paternal--a title which I reluctantly assume since the alternative is definitely less attractive.
(Sorry for the light posting recently but I'm up to my eyeballs in Injuneering work and my brain is too fried to think after 5 PM CST.)
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Chillin' In Tulsa This Morning
Literally...
Oh...where to start writing this morning?
I KNOW...write about the weather!
After all...
everyone talks or writes about it (the Weather)...
BUT but no one (except Owl Gore) ever does anything about it.
RIGHT?
...so any way...
Surprisingly, during our first winter out here in Eastern Oklahoma the weather has been pretty kind to us so far.
Not much different from where we came from over in Knoxtown in Eastern Tennessee.
I have to admit that we're sort of surprised...actually.
Last year they had one storm out here which dumped over 22 inches of snow on the area, but looking at the published data the average snowfall is listed at 10 inches annually, and Knoxtown's average was similarly listed as being 12 inches although we only saw anything close to that figure one year out of the five we lived there....
so I guess we're probably going to be OK most of the time.
Looking at the calendar...
...the days are getting longer.
Looking at the thermometer...
... it's about 29 deg F outside.
...and looking out my back windows of our new house there's about an inch of sloppy white snow which fell after dark but before 10 PM last evening (the first of this winter) making everything look sort of peaceful and quite now that it has frozen.
I've just re-stoked last evening's fireplace fire early this morning and finally have some off time to consider the whirlwind of my life which has happened over the past three months
It seems like just yesterday I was celebrating my birthday in September 2011 while spending time innocently making sawdust and painting/staining trim in the basement of my house in Knoxtown in eastern Tennessee.
Here now almost four months later, in January of 2012, I find myself working all day in an Injuneering office located almost 800 miles to the West of Knoxtown...
...sitting by a fire looking at the snow in my back yard.
Who Knew?
Oh...where to start writing this morning?
I KNOW...write about the weather!
After all...
everyone talks or writes about it (the Weather)...
BUT but no one (except Owl Gore) ever does anything about it.
RIGHT?
...so any way...
Surprisingly, during our first winter out here in Eastern Oklahoma the weather has been pretty kind to us so far.
Not much different from where we came from over in Knoxtown in Eastern Tennessee.
I have to admit that we're sort of surprised...actually.
Last year they had one storm out here which dumped over 22 inches of snow on the area, but looking at the published data the average snowfall is listed at 10 inches annually, and Knoxtown's average was similarly listed as being 12 inches although we only saw anything close to that figure one year out of the five we lived there....
so I guess we're probably going to be OK most of the time.
Looking at the calendar...
...the days are getting longer.
Looking at the thermometer...
... it's about 29 deg F outside.
...and looking out my back windows of our new house there's about an inch of sloppy white snow which fell after dark but before 10 PM last evening (the first of this winter) making everything look sort of peaceful and quite now that it has frozen.
I've just re-stoked last evening's fireplace fire early this morning and finally have some off time to consider the whirlwind of my life which has happened over the past three months
It seems like just yesterday I was celebrating my birthday in September 2011 while spending time innocently making sawdust and painting/staining trim in the basement of my house in Knoxtown in eastern Tennessee.
Here now almost four months later, in January of 2012, I find myself working all day in an Injuneering office located almost 800 miles to the West of Knoxtown...
...sitting by a fire looking at the snow in my back yard.
Who Knew?
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Headin' Back To Tulsa
Knoxtown Details Tidied Up...
Sorry about the light posting folks, but I traveled back to Knoxtown late Friday night have spent Saturday and Sunday cleaning up some stuff left behind in the old house, and most of all...
signing a lease with a tenant for one year!!
After paying for two houses--one of them empty--for three months you can understand our relief in getting the property occupied.
So tomorrow I've got a little more stuff to do around the place to get it ready for the new renter's family, then it's back to Tulsa tomorrow night and back to work Tuesday morning.
Regards Y'all...
Sorry about the light posting folks, but I traveled back to Knoxtown late Friday night have spent Saturday and Sunday cleaning up some stuff left behind in the old house, and most of all...
signing a lease with a tenant for one year!!
After paying for two houses--one of them empty--for three months you can understand our relief in getting the property occupied.
So tomorrow I've got a little more stuff to do around the place to get it ready for the new renter's family, then it's back to Tulsa tomorrow night and back to work Tuesday morning.
Regards Y'all...
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
More Stolen Votes?
Iowa Caucuses Prove Feckless And Inept...
In an era of technology advancement and endless touting of our modern era having the ability to advance and improve the quality of our life...
Once again--like Bush-v-Gore and the US Supreme Court decision --here now in THE VERY FIRST guage of which candidate should represent the Conservative Republican Party tonight I see potential voter fraud and intentional manipulation of our 2012 Presidential election compromised.
Don't get me wrong here Ladies and Gentlemen.
I really don't give a green gosh darn about what the people in Iowa ceremoniously marching around in tonight's "caucus" process think about who should be living on Pennsylvania Avenue in the White House in late January 2013.
What I do care about is that when and if we re-elect the multi-cultural, multi-ethical, multi-colored "community organizer in-chief" presently residing in the oval office that he is presented with a valad opponent and here from the outset of the official process to determine a Republican Candidate the Idiots out in Iowa can't execute a process they've been doing for nearly a century without screwing things up and losing critical ballots from critical precints.
One minute they're passing laws taking our rights away from us and making it hard or illegal to own a gun while at the same time playing games and screwing around with the very process which determines who gets to pass those same laws and legislation.
I don't know about you, but Belize or Costa Rica is looking pretty good.
Come to think of it, just writing about this crap after watching it unfold makes head hurt so I have to go and do some more stuff now...
In an era of technology advancement and endless touting of our modern era having the ability to advance and improve the quality of our life...
Once again--like Bush-v-Gore and the US Supreme Court decision --here now in THE VERY FIRST guage of which candidate should represent the Conservative Republican Party tonight I see potential voter fraud and intentional manipulation of our 2012 Presidential election compromised.
Don't get me wrong here Ladies and Gentlemen.
I really don't give a green gosh darn about what the people in Iowa ceremoniously marching around in tonight's "caucus" process think about who should be living on Pennsylvania Avenue in the White House in late January 2013.
What I do care about is that when and if we re-elect the multi-cultural, multi-ethical, multi-colored "community organizer in-chief" presently residing in the oval office that he is presented with a valad opponent and here from the outset of the official process to determine a Republican Candidate the Idiots out in Iowa can't execute a process they've been doing for nearly a century without screwing things up and losing critical ballots from critical precints.
One minute they're passing laws taking our rights away from us and making it hard or illegal to own a gun while at the same time playing games and screwing around with the very process which determines who gets to pass those same laws and legislation.
I don't know about you, but Belize or Costa Rica is looking pretty good.
Come to think of it, just writing about this crap after watching it unfold makes head hurt so I have to go and do some more stuff now...
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Technological Dinosaur Living In Technology Hell
An Old Friend Dies...
So I hate to report that late yesterday afternoon I stumbled into my neglected Home Office for the first time in a couple of days, intent on printing out an AutoCAD file I had e-mailed myself from my company laptop sitting out on the coffee table in the living room.
But upon arrival I learned some bad news...
Earlier I had noticed that the slightly more than 4 year old machine had been rebooting itself for some reason almost every day or so in the past weeks and I just assumed that stupid Windows Vista was doing automatic updates, BUT...
not this time...apparently...
Either the computer has some sort of Alzheimer's type disease else the primary hard drive has crapped out.
Dang it...
But any way...
I'm supposed to have a couple of versions of back up files on a 400 gig external drive and a newer Terabyte drive, along with "recovery disks" and possibly a "recovery partition" available somewhere in the building but you know what?
Bottom line is that I don't have time to worry about this old friend of a computer which has served our household very well since November 2007 when we were living in bliss down on the Georgia Coast on St.Simons Island.
I have things to do and people to meet and talk to and a new hard drive and the associated installation and cursing will just have to wait until sometime in 2012.
Regards's Y'all...
So I hate to report that late yesterday afternoon I stumbled into my neglected Home Office for the first time in a couple of days, intent on printing out an AutoCAD file I had e-mailed myself from my company laptop sitting out on the coffee table in the living room.
But upon arrival I learned some bad news...
Earlier I had noticed that the slightly more than 4 year old machine had been rebooting itself for some reason almost every day or so in the past weeks and I just assumed that stupid Windows Vista was doing automatic updates, BUT...
not this time...apparently...
Either the computer has some sort of Alzheimer's type disease else the primary hard drive has crapped out.
Dang it...
But any way...
I'm supposed to have a couple of versions of back up files on a 400 gig external drive and a newer Terabyte drive, along with "recovery disks" and possibly a "recovery partition" available somewhere in the building but you know what?
Bottom line is that I don't have time to worry about this old friend of a computer which has served our household very well since November 2007 when we were living in bliss down on the Georgia Coast on St.Simons Island.
I have things to do and people to meet and talk to and a new hard drive and the associated installation and cursing will just have to wait until sometime in 2012.
Regards's Y'all...
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
A Technological Dinosaur Moves Into The 21st Century
In the Words of My TV Idol...Jim Nabors..."ShaZammmmm"....
You know, thinking back afew thousand years a couple of two or three decades, there was a time sometime beginning in the late 1970's and ending in the early to mid 1990's when I seriously considered myself to be on top of all things relating to personal computers and home technology goodies.
For cost reasons I couldn't actually OWN all of the stuff I was reading about and salivating over, but I did manage to get my hands on a couple of pretty good early computers in their day, but still...
Not so much any more these days.
I don't know what happened in the past 20 or so years, but I just sort of lost interest in keeping up with everything and decided to let all of the younger people out there worry about the hectic process.
I let myprescription subscription to Byte Magazine and PC World expire, and between WebCams and Facebook and Twitter and God knows what else that's come along other than Blogging....
and I've had a cell phone since 1990...waaaaYYYYYY before most people had them....
Today I just don't seem to have the time and energy to worry about the stuff I used to worry about any more.
That said, Pat wanted a Amazon Kindle for Christmas this year.
At the last minute I wandered out and found one of the new Kindle "Fire" boxes at the local Staples office supply store and I brought it home and until tonight/this morning I've basically just let her charge the battery and figure out how to use it.
Then after she went to bed tonight I was fiddling around in the living room doing some paper work and decided to pick the thing up and read the owners manual.
After a couple of hours downloading some free Apps and getting used to the Android interface I have to emphatically state that...
THE KINDLE FIRE IS PRETTY DANG COOL FOR THE PRICE OF ONLY $199.
I spent 15 minutes fumbling around and managed to download the Netflix App and now I can watch Video on the darn thing in COLOR...using our wireless internet connection.
ShazammmmmMMM...
My Father would absolutely go nuts these days looking at the stuff we all take for granted in our modern culture/society. He was a TV/VCR movie junkie in his day and grew up living beside the guy that did all of the TV repair in his home town of Prenter, WV back in the 1940's
Our house was always full of portable TV's and oddball Tube based Radios and even early Transistor Radios (and Crystal sets) way before the average household had even Two TV's in the building.
Now my Mom has two flat screen TV's down in Alabama at the Farm and I'm buying another 55" set for the living room this weekend if I can find a good deal and Dad never saw a LED/LCD/Plasma TV since he passed away in 1996 and missed the revolution in video technology.
The hardest thing about getting older and living beyond a half century on the calendar is keeping things in perspective I think.
We tend to see everything in one or two year slices of time and I belive it is nice to stop and reflect at the end of each year and consider the details which are often overlooked in the rush to move from late December into January 1st and the new year of 2012.
I guess I'll go now and fiddle around with the Kindle some more now...
Regards Y'all...
You know, thinking back a
For cost reasons I couldn't actually OWN all of the stuff I was reading about and salivating over, but I did manage to get my hands on a couple of pretty good early computers in their day, but still...
Not so much any more these days.
I don't know what happened in the past 20 or so years, but I just sort of lost interest in keeping up with everything and decided to let all of the younger people out there worry about the hectic process.
I let my
and I've had a cell phone since 1990...waaaaYYYYYY before most people had them....
Today I just don't seem to have the time and energy to worry about the stuff I used to worry about any more.
That said, Pat wanted a Amazon Kindle for Christmas this year.
At the last minute I wandered out and found one of the new Kindle "Fire" boxes at the local Staples office supply store and I brought it home and until tonight/this morning I've basically just let her charge the battery and figure out how to use it.
Then after she went to bed tonight I was fiddling around in the living room doing some paper work and decided to pick the thing up and read the owners manual.
After a couple of hours downloading some free Apps and getting used to the Android interface I have to emphatically state that...
THE KINDLE FIRE IS PRETTY DANG COOL FOR THE PRICE OF ONLY $199.
I spent 15 minutes fumbling around and managed to download the Netflix App and now I can watch Video on the darn thing in COLOR...using our wireless internet connection.
ShazammmmmMMM...
My Father would absolutely go nuts these days looking at the stuff we all take for granted in our modern culture/society. He was a TV/VCR movie junkie in his day and grew up living beside the guy that did all of the TV repair in his home town of Prenter, WV back in the 1940's
Our house was always full of portable TV's and oddball Tube based Radios and even early Transistor Radios (and Crystal sets) way before the average household had even Two TV's in the building.
Now my Mom has two flat screen TV's down in Alabama at the Farm and I'm buying another 55" set for the living room this weekend if I can find a good deal and Dad never saw a LED/LCD/Plasma TV since he passed away in 1996 and missed the revolution in video technology.
The hardest thing about getting older and living beyond a half century on the calendar is keeping things in perspective I think.
We tend to see everything in one or two year slices of time and I belive it is nice to stop and reflect at the end of each year and consider the details which are often overlooked in the rush to move from late December into January 1st and the new year of 2012.
I guess I'll go now and fiddle around with the Kindle some more now...
Regards Y'all...
Monday, December 26, 2011
I Was Going To Write Something Original This Evening
Then I Came Across THIS from HERE
In the queue at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
In the queue at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
In the queue at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Christmas Insanity
Spending Mo Ho Ho Ho Money...
Oh where to start this morning?
Been busy as heck out here in Tulsa these days. This working 8 to 10 hours a day in an office and then trying to come home and eat dinner and get stuff finished up around the new house is HARD.
Needless to say my blogging has been suffering as seen here by the light posting.
Maybe things will settle down here a little with the passage of Christmas and I can get back to ranting again.
Untill then...
Regards y'all...
Oh where to start this morning?
Been busy as heck out here in Tulsa these days. This working 8 to 10 hours a day in an office and then trying to come home and eat dinner and get stuff finished up around the new house is HARD.
Needless to say my blogging has been suffering as seen here by the light posting.
Maybe things will settle down here a little with the passage of Christmas and I can get back to ranting again.
Untill then...
Regards y'all...
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday Morning Cogitations....
USA Running Out Of Yet Another Country With Our Tail Between Our Legs...
So this morning I wake up with a good head ache after doing the company Christmas party thing last night lerning that the United By God Freaking United States Of 'Merica has all of our troops out of Iraq...
and officially we have the World Wide Patent and Trademark rights on the business model of conducting crap assed wars and spending ass loads of money and getting ass loads (4474) of young men (and now young women thanks to the women's "liberation movement") killed doing virtually nothing but spending $800 billion wasting time over a nine year period kabitzing and debating with outselves.
I say that we should have bombed the crap out of the entire middle eastern region in 1992, saved 4473 of the 4474 lives officially lost in this latest adventure, and in the words of European 11th century soldier and religious leader Arnaud_Amalric...
"Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius (Kill them all. For the Lord knoweth them that are His.)
OR...in Redneck terms..."Kill them all...and let GOD sort them out."
And "That's the way it IS (In my mind) ...December 18th, 2011..."
So this morning I wake up with a good head ache after doing the company Christmas party thing last night lerning that the United By God Freaking United States Of 'Merica has all of our troops out of Iraq...
and officially we have the World Wide Patent and Trademark rights on the business model of conducting crap assed wars and spending ass loads of money and getting ass loads (4474) of young men (and now young women thanks to the women's "liberation movement") killed doing virtually nothing but spending $800 billion wasting time over a nine year period kabitzing and debating with outselves.
I say that we should have bombed the crap out of the entire middle eastern region in 1992, saved 4473 of the 4474 lives officially lost in this latest adventure, and in the words of European 11th century soldier and religious leader Arnaud_Amalric...
"Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius (Kill them all. For the Lord knoweth them that are His.)
OR...in Redneck terms..."Kill them all...and let GOD sort them out."
And "That's the way it IS (In my mind) ...December 18th, 2011..."
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Christmas Shopping & Other Holiday Stuff
Last Minute Bargains Anyone?
Usually by this time on the calendar in recent years I've already gotten my Christmas Cards mailed and most if not all of my Christmas gifts on the way to their recipients.
Not so this year...for a variety of reasons including myopia and dyslexia and laziness and sloveness and by and large CASH FLOW because we've spent a TON of money getting relocated out here to the Okla-By-God-Dang-Homa and even when I had the CASH I didn't have the time and we refuse to put Christmas presents on a Credit Card.
But the bottom line this morning is that we personally already have our Christmas presents for our household because we absolutely LOVE the Broken Arrow/Eastern Tulsa geographic area and I LOVE my new job and Pat and Missy the Turbo Pup and I LOVE our new house and new neighborhood.
Regarding everyone else...
...we're going shopping on line now in the next couple of days and in some of the local "brick and mortar stores" this weekend and hopefully by Monday morning everything will be on the way to our friends and family.
Honestly we've had some interesting Christmas holidays together over the past ten years living in Atlanta and Florida and on an Island on the Georgia Coast and visiting the Farm in Alabama.
But...
This one is partially by design and partially by circumstance going to be spent "stranded" alone in the middle of the mid-west.
My new company has a nice Christmas party this weekend in a fancy hotel with an open bar and dinner and we've got a room there in the building for Saturday night after the celebration.
And I've got some other ideas for entertaining Pat and the Turbo Pup for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
So while the family and friends we're missing are residing dozens of hours away by car we're going to get along just fine out here in Oklahoma.
Hope everyone has been a Good Girl or Boy and your Christmas stocking has something other than a lump of coal in it.
Later Y'all...
Usually by this time on the calendar in recent years I've already gotten my Christmas Cards mailed and most if not all of my Christmas gifts on the way to their recipients.
Not so this year...for a variety of reasons including myopia and dyslexia and laziness and sloveness and by and large CASH FLOW because we've spent a TON of money getting relocated out here to the Okla-By-God-Dang-Homa and even when I had the CASH I didn't have the time and we refuse to put Christmas presents on a Credit Card.
But the bottom line this morning is that we personally already have our Christmas presents for our household because we absolutely LOVE the Broken Arrow/Eastern Tulsa geographic area and I LOVE my new job and Pat and Missy the Turbo Pup and I LOVE our new house and new neighborhood.
Regarding everyone else...
...we're going shopping on line now in the next couple of days and in some of the local "brick and mortar stores" this weekend and hopefully by Monday morning everything will be on the way to our friends and family.
Honestly we've had some interesting Christmas holidays together over the past ten years living in Atlanta and Florida and on an Island on the Georgia Coast and visiting the Farm in Alabama.
But...
This one is partially by design and partially by circumstance going to be spent "stranded" alone in the middle of the mid-west.
My new company has a nice Christmas party this weekend in a fancy hotel with an open bar and dinner and we've got a room there in the building for Saturday night after the celebration.
And I've got some other ideas for entertaining Pat and the Turbo Pup for Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
So while the family and friends we're missing are residing dozens of hours away by car we're going to get along just fine out here in Oklahoma.
Hope everyone has been a Good Girl or Boy and your Christmas stocking has something other than a lump of coal in it.
Later Y'all...
