This Ain't Me, But Close Enough...
Sometime about 20 years ago I was wandering around Orlando, Florida on a business trip, and after the conference and the formal dinner stuff had ended I found myself sitting at a place where they had "Laser Karaoke"--something purported to have at the time been imported by the Japanese as a secret weapon to finish fighting WWII.
Having a couple of Jack Daniels worth of courage in my belly, I waited my turn and then jumped up in front of the microphone and proceeded to die a slow death doing an old R&B classic song "If You don't Know Me By Now" then covered by a band called "Simply Red."
Fortunately when it was all over with I was three hundred miles away from home and as far as I know it today there were no witnesses in the room that still know my address or phone number.
In spite of that dismal intro experience, I was intrigued by the concept and ever since then I've spent a good deal of time learning to publicly perform various songs by artists like Jimmy Buffett, James Taylor, Willy Nelson which are within my vocal range and today I'm proud to report that I can pretty much hang with the best of them in any given venue.
Any way...I was staggering around the interent looking at Johnny Cash and Ray Charles songs this evening and in a fit of Googling I started looking for video of people doing songs I sing as "covers" to the original artists.
Check out this guy playing the piano and doing the one hit wonder song "Brandy" by the 1970's group "Looking Glass":
Somebody give me an "Amen"...
Monday, March 02, 2009
I'm Remiss In Not Mentioning
Distractions Yield Potential Slights...
This past week saw a number of positives and negatives present themselves on our personal calendar here on the banks of the Mighty Tennesse River, and I at first felt like just letting things pass because I was busy paying attention to other worldly matters but now that the dust has settled a little I feel the need to make mention.
First was the celebration of my deceased Father's birthday and that of my Sister here in late February...both of them being just a few days away from being "leap year" babies.
Next is the sad occasion of my sister's family suffering the loss of a great spirit of a pet--a twelve plus year old German Shepard who's legs couldn't carry him any further through what had been a great life with a loving family.
Smokey's gone but not forgotten down in Georgia, and I hope God gives everyone some peace with the knowledge that his suffering is over and it was all for the best in the end.
Another event of lessor importance in the big scheme but still of interest to me was Johnny Cash's birthday on February 26th in the same year of my father's birth in 1932. Here is a video of a younger 31 year old Johnny singing "Ring of Fire"...
and if you liked that you really need to go here and check out this link to the last video Johnny did before his death in September 2003
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go
As to "The rest of the story", I guess most everyone has heard that radio talk legend (a blogger before his time) Paul Harvey died this weekend.
Some of my earliest memories were of listening to my old 1930's Philco AM radio as a kid and hearing Mr. Harvey do is version of "the news" with his polite, witty, insightful commentary.
R.I.P. Mr. Harvey
This past week saw a number of positives and negatives present themselves on our personal calendar here on the banks of the Mighty Tennesse River, and I at first felt like just letting things pass because I was busy paying attention to other worldly matters but now that the dust has settled a little I feel the need to make mention.
First was the celebration of my deceased Father's birthday and that of my Sister here in late February...both of them being just a few days away from being "leap year" babies.
Next is the sad occasion of my sister's family suffering the loss of a great spirit of a pet--a twelve plus year old German Shepard who's legs couldn't carry him any further through what had been a great life with a loving family.
Smokey's gone but not forgotten down in Georgia, and I hope God gives everyone some peace with the knowledge that his suffering is over and it was all for the best in the end.
Another event of lessor importance in the big scheme but still of interest to me was Johnny Cash's birthday on February 26th in the same year of my father's birth in 1932. Here is a video of a younger 31 year old Johnny singing "Ring of Fire"...
and if you liked that you really need to go here and check out this link to the last video Johnny did before his death in September 2003
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go
As to "The rest of the story", I guess most everyone has heard that radio talk legend (a blogger before his time) Paul Harvey died this weekend.
Some of my earliest memories were of listening to my old 1930's Philco AM radio as a kid and hearing Mr. Harvey do is version of "the news" with his polite, witty, insightful commentary.
R.I.P. Mr. Harvey
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Three Days Off--Spent Thinking About Thinking
I Still Say That It's Gonna Be OK
I can't quite explain it, but things are pretty upbeat here at the Turbo Pup Compound on the banks of the Mighty Tennessee River these days.
Maybe I'm just stupid or ignorant or something...I don't know...but in spite of the "housing bubble" and the ongoing "stock market crash" (I'm buying stock as we speak) I just can't get real excited with the idea that the country is going to hell in a hand basket...IF
...we can keep the liberals and the Government from guaranteeing disaster by fooling around with fundamental things that have to happen in order for things to get balanced back out and moving forward again.
What about the giant American auto companies?
I say that they probably should be relegated to history if they can't get things together on their own with a little government money which has already been handed out to them.
And the Airlines and Banks and the Insurance companies shouldn't be that far behind them going down the toilet if their management can't get their houses in order.
Just like Chrysler almost bought the farm back in the 1980's before Lee Iaccoca got the Federal Government to guarantee a bunch of money from the private sector, I just don't see what the problem is with continuing to buy a Honda or Toyota instead of a Ford or Chevy if the companies, their employees, and most importantly their management can't get things together.
The most amazing thing to me is how the government and the liberals can scream bloody murder about things like green energy, then Obama comes out with a budget last week which stabs the American Gas drilling and production business in the heart by ending tax breaks and actually increasing taxes on the natural gas industry in general.
The sniveling, tree hugging, booger eating liberals are either ignorant or just plain stupid because when we can't build nuclear plants (because we can't dispose of the spent Nuclear fuel), and we can't burn coal (because of CO/NOx/SO2/coal ash), what else is left but natural gas (because wind turbines kill birds and solar farms cast shadows on Prairie Dog holes.)
But Virgil, what about "Bio-diesel"?
I've got news for you "lay people" out there, "bio-diesel" and "bio-whatever" isn't cheep.
"Bio-diesel" and "Bio-whatever" is is going to cost your earth friendly butt and wallet about $4 or $5 a gallon including TWO OR THREE DOLLARS of government taxes, and when you burn it it still makes CO, CO2, NOx, and S02/SO3...just at lower levels that the less expensive stuff we drill out of the ground.
And what about the Chinese and the Koreans and the Indians from India?
These bastards have been and will be exempt from the "Kyoto Protocol" and the UN and Al Gore are gonna continue to give them a break in the next round of "International Climate Change" treaties while at the same time attempting to impose debilitating restrictions on Western Europe and North America.
Meanwhile, what else is worth mentioning...
I see that the northwest is suffering from yet another bout of Global Warming induced snowfall which is expected to leave a foot or more of the white wet stuff on the ground in places like Philadelphia and NYC.
I say they should strip Al Gore naked and chain him standing by a tree in Central Park for 48 hours during the storm, and then let former President Clinton stop by with a pitcher of luke warm water a couple of times a day to pour on him to defrost his testicles (he'll have wet hair they'll have risen so far).
I hope you understand if I just shrug my shoulders and keep staring at my computer screen doing work I've gone out and found on my own...without government intervention.
I'm also busy packing our bags and loading up Missy the Turbo Pup's lockers and sea chests in anticipation of a Wednesday departure on a visit back to our Little Island.
I can already smell the salt air, and my soul can sure use the balming effect returing to the shore of the ocean has on my spirits.
Meet me at East Beach at sunset Wednesday...I'll bring the cocktails.
I can't quite explain it, but things are pretty upbeat here at the Turbo Pup Compound on the banks of the Mighty Tennessee River these days.
Maybe I'm just stupid or ignorant or something...I don't know...but in spite of the "housing bubble" and the ongoing "stock market crash" (I'm buying stock as we speak) I just can't get real excited with the idea that the country is going to hell in a hand basket...IF
...we can keep the liberals and the Government from guaranteeing disaster by fooling around with fundamental things that have to happen in order for things to get balanced back out and moving forward again.
What about the giant American auto companies?
I say that they probably should be relegated to history if they can't get things together on their own with a little government money which has already been handed out to them.
And the Airlines and Banks and the Insurance companies shouldn't be that far behind them going down the toilet if their management can't get their houses in order.
Just like Chrysler almost bought the farm back in the 1980's before Lee Iaccoca got the Federal Government to guarantee a bunch of money from the private sector, I just don't see what the problem is with continuing to buy a Honda or Toyota instead of a Ford or Chevy if the companies, their employees, and most importantly their management can't get things together.
The most amazing thing to me is how the government and the liberals can scream bloody murder about things like green energy, then Obama comes out with a budget last week which stabs the American Gas drilling and production business in the heart by ending tax breaks and actually increasing taxes on the natural gas industry in general.
The sniveling, tree hugging, booger eating liberals are either ignorant or just plain stupid because when we can't build nuclear plants (because we can't dispose of the spent Nuclear fuel), and we can't burn coal (because of CO/NOx/SO2/coal ash), what else is left but natural gas (because wind turbines kill birds and solar farms cast shadows on Prairie Dog holes.)
But Virgil, what about "Bio-diesel"?
I've got news for you "lay people" out there, "bio-diesel" and "bio-whatever" isn't cheep.
"Bio-diesel" and "Bio-whatever" is is going to cost your earth friendly butt and wallet about $4 or $5 a gallon including TWO OR THREE DOLLARS of government taxes, and when you burn it it still makes CO, CO2, NOx, and S02/SO3...just at lower levels that the less expensive stuff we drill out of the ground.
And what about the Chinese and the Koreans and the Indians from India?
These bastards have been and will be exempt from the "Kyoto Protocol" and the UN and Al Gore are gonna continue to give them a break in the next round of "International Climate Change" treaties while at the same time attempting to impose debilitating restrictions on Western Europe and North America.
Meanwhile, what else is worth mentioning...
I see that the northwest is suffering from yet another bout of Global Warming induced snowfall which is expected to leave a foot or more of the white wet stuff on the ground in places like Philadelphia and NYC.
I say they should strip Al Gore naked and chain him standing by a tree in Central Park for 48 hours during the storm, and then let former President Clinton stop by with a pitcher of luke warm water a couple of times a day to pour on him to defrost his testicles (he'll have wet hair they'll have risen so far).
I hope you understand if I just shrug my shoulders and keep staring at my computer screen doing work I've gone out and found on my own...without government intervention.
I'm also busy packing our bags and loading up Missy the Turbo Pup's lockers and sea chests in anticipation of a Wednesday departure on a visit back to our Little Island.
I can already smell the salt air, and my soul can sure use the balming effect returing to the shore of the ocean has on my spirits.
Meet me at East Beach at sunset Wednesday...I'll bring the cocktails.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Blaa Blaa Blaa
This Ain't No Party...This Ain't No Disco...This Ain't No Fooling Around
I saw the President talk (I thought Nancy Pelosi was going to hit her head on the ceiling jumping around clapping.)
I heard the Governor of Louisiana speak (where was his audience applause.)
Can you guess who I agree with?
Can you see beyond the end of your nose?
Can you accept the responsibility for filling your own wallet without a stimulus check?
Then you, like me, should be extremely concerned about the BS happening in our government today.
How in the hell can anyone look me in the eye and honestly tell me that because I elect to work 12 hours a day for something above minimum wage that my "fair share" is near 50% of what I earn?
They can't...but the Democrats are going to do it any way.
They just know that I won't starve to death when they steal that much of MY MONEY and for the time being I won't quit working because what I have left over when the robbers leave the building is still worth the effort and better than the alternative.
I hope they choke on my tax dollars spent outside the military and the other things outlined in the Constitution that the federal government should be providing.
That will be all, for now...
I saw the President talk (I thought Nancy Pelosi was going to hit her head on the ceiling jumping around clapping.)
I heard the Governor of Louisiana speak (where was his audience applause.)
Can you guess who I agree with?
Can you see beyond the end of your nose?
Can you accept the responsibility for filling your own wallet without a stimulus check?
Then you, like me, should be extremely concerned about the BS happening in our government today.
How in the hell can anyone look me in the eye and honestly tell me that because I elect to work 12 hours a day for something above minimum wage that my "fair share" is near 50% of what I earn?
They can't...but the Democrats are going to do it any way.
They just know that I won't starve to death when they steal that much of MY MONEY and for the time being I won't quit working because what I have left over when the robbers leave the building is still worth the effort and better than the alternative.
I hope they choke on my tax dollars spent outside the military and the other things outlined in the Constitution that the federal government should be providing.
That will be all, for now...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Home Again...Home Again...Jiggity Jog
I'm Busy, Busy, Busy
I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad right now, but the good news is that just two months after loosing my day job I find myself up to my eyeballs in work.
Paying work.
I came home yesterday afternoon with two new avenues of investigation to pursue, and each is a unique undertaking which I came up with on my own which the attorney's liked when I presented the concepts to them.
Forget "Genius" ...I'm bordering on "SUPER Genius" in the words of Wyle E. Coyote.
I'm not gonna brag and hand out the numbers, but let's just say I've been able to get myself a raise in hourly rate that more than doubles what I was making working for someone elses company.
That's the beauty of working for yourself.
In spite of facing the risk of going broke each and every day (been there...got the tee shirt), by being "self-employed" you also enjoy the benefit of having the owner (that would be me) decide that the president (that would be me) needs a raise...then all you have to do is go out and sell yourself to someone willing to pay the amount you're asking for...except instead of having some sort of imaginary "guarantee" of employment you only have the opportunity of billing your customer(s) for the amounts agreed on with each contract or opportunity.
(then of course you have to write an invoice and actually get PAID to make any money, and working for yourself often involves waiting at least 30 days for you "paycheck" after your finish your work.)
Most people don't realize that the same thing is true when you take a salary or hourly wage and the company pays the other half of your FICA/FUTA/SSI and your workman's comp and health insurance and any other benefits you enjoy.
If you're grossing $50K a year the owner has to be able to sell you or whatever it is you do or produce for at LEAST $75K annually (sometimes nearly $100K) or the mean old under taxed rich bastard (the owner) can't afford to have your silly butt in his building in the first place.
That's what kills me when the sniveling tree hugging booger eating liberals and their friends the union thugs start crying and bitching and complaining about employment practices at Wal Mart.
If you're paying attention you would understand that when Wal Mart's hiring they have something like fifty people per position apply, and in spite of having a good number of part time positions with limited benefits they generally have a happy workforce making about $10 per hour on average with at least some contribution toward health benefits and paid leave off for vacation and having babies and stuff.
This means that the average worker costs Wal Mart about $35,000 to $40,000 per year in total, and with those labor expenses they're still able to sell you a toaster for $12 or a set of tires for $225.
Can you imagine what the cost of those same home appliances and rubber doughnuts would be if the unions are allowed to step in with the proposed "card check" voting which eliminates secrete ballots on unionization?
When "Vito" and "the Moose" get through intimidating a bunch of middle aged women, twenty something pimple faced boys, and senior citizen greeters into checking the "yes" box on their Card I guarantee Wal Mart prices will go up at least 20% if not more, and in spite of the higher wages won't those same employees just basically give back their raises to the company if they also SHOP at Wal Mart?
And what about the "working poor" and all the "Working Families" out there that aren't employed by Wal Mart?
They're not getting a raise...they're just paying more for Onions and Meat and AAA batteries for their kids video games, so the net benefit to the unions (in the rebound of members and associated increase in what they're really after-billions in union dues) would simply be spread out across the balance of the population in the form of increased costs...more or less the same as a net tax increase in the form of decreased purchasing power.
...so any waaayyy
Back to my position, so now I've gone from spinning my wheels with nothing productive to do all day to having to bust my butt over the next 7 days to get product and answers out the door, then taking the laptop computer with me on our ten day "epic southern sojurn" along with a milk crate full of files and books on what is rapidly turning into a "working vacation."
That's OK with me I guess. I did it for ten years back in the 1990's and I can do it again today until it stops paying well or ceases to be fun.
I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad right now, but the good news is that just two months after loosing my day job I find myself up to my eyeballs in work.
Paying work.
I came home yesterday afternoon with two new avenues of investigation to pursue, and each is a unique undertaking which I came up with on my own which the attorney's liked when I presented the concepts to them.
Forget "Genius" ...I'm bordering on "SUPER Genius" in the words of Wyle E. Coyote.
I'm not gonna brag and hand out the numbers, but let's just say I've been able to get myself a raise in hourly rate that more than doubles what I was making working for someone elses company.
That's the beauty of working for yourself.
In spite of facing the risk of going broke each and every day (been there...got the tee shirt), by being "self-employed" you also enjoy the benefit of having the owner (that would be me) decide that the president (that would be me) needs a raise...then all you have to do is go out and sell yourself to someone willing to pay the amount you're asking for...except instead of having some sort of imaginary "guarantee" of employment you only have the opportunity of billing your customer(s) for the amounts agreed on with each contract or opportunity.
(then of course you have to write an invoice and actually get PAID to make any money, and working for yourself often involves waiting at least 30 days for you "paycheck" after your finish your work.)
Most people don't realize that the same thing is true when you take a salary or hourly wage and the company pays the other half of your FICA/FUTA/SSI and your workman's comp and health insurance and any other benefits you enjoy.
If you're grossing $50K a year the owner has to be able to sell you or whatever it is you do or produce for at LEAST $75K annually (sometimes nearly $100K) or the mean old under taxed rich bastard (the owner) can't afford to have your silly butt in his building in the first place.
That's what kills me when the sniveling tree hugging booger eating liberals and their friends the union thugs start crying and bitching and complaining about employment practices at Wal Mart.
If you're paying attention you would understand that when Wal Mart's hiring they have something like fifty people per position apply, and in spite of having a good number of part time positions with limited benefits they generally have a happy workforce making about $10 per hour on average with at least some contribution toward health benefits and paid leave off for vacation and having babies and stuff.
This means that the average worker costs Wal Mart about $35,000 to $40,000 per year in total, and with those labor expenses they're still able to sell you a toaster for $12 or a set of tires for $225.
Can you imagine what the cost of those same home appliances and rubber doughnuts would be if the unions are allowed to step in with the proposed "card check" voting which eliminates secrete ballots on unionization?
When "Vito" and "the Moose" get through intimidating a bunch of middle aged women, twenty something pimple faced boys, and senior citizen greeters into checking the "yes" box on their Card I guarantee Wal Mart prices will go up at least 20% if not more, and in spite of the higher wages won't those same employees just basically give back their raises to the company if they also SHOP at Wal Mart?
And what about the "working poor" and all the "Working Families" out there that aren't employed by Wal Mart?
They're not getting a raise...they're just paying more for Onions and Meat and AAA batteries for their kids video games, so the net benefit to the unions (in the rebound of members and associated increase in what they're really after-billions in union dues) would simply be spread out across the balance of the population in the form of increased costs...more or less the same as a net tax increase in the form of decreased purchasing power.
...so any waaayyy
Back to my position, so now I've gone from spinning my wheels with nothing productive to do all day to having to bust my butt over the next 7 days to get product and answers out the door, then taking the laptop computer with me on our ten day "epic southern sojurn" along with a milk crate full of files and books on what is rapidly turning into a "working vacation."
That's OK with me I guess. I did it for ten years back in the 1990's and I can do it again today until it stops paying well or ceases to be fun.
Monday, February 23, 2009
I'm Off To See Be The Wizard-Part II
I'm Looking For My Brain...
Greetings this morning from "the strip" in so-called "beautiful" downtown Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We drove into town in the middle of a little half day long snow storm that dumped a few inches on the grass and trees and made the countryside not covered in concrete sort of pretty
Man have they ever screwed this place up since I was last here in the early 1970's.
You can hardly see the mountains and countryside for the "Ripleys Museum" and the giant dinner show theaters which line what was once a two lane country road that's now a five lane highway.
I was pretty sure I hadn't lost anything here from reading about the place but Pat's wanted to come up and stay since we moved to this side of Tennessee and I took a chance arriving on a Sunday on our way to the latest chapter in my Forensic injuneering adventures which begin again late tomorrow morning about an hour further east from here.
I'm sure the place is fine if you have a mini van full of kids or you never get out much and like amusement parks and this sort of entertainment, but just like going to the mall Christmas week I'd rather have brain surgery or a case of hemorrhoids than spend my time and money coming somewhere like this on a holiday weekend.
There was literally a five mile long bumper to bumper traffic jam leaving town at noon today (we were going into town--not out)as we arrived.
The place was a ghost town by 3 PM when we wandered out to do some shopping at the outlet mall, then out for dinner and some drinks later in the evening.
I guess I'm just getting old or something, but at least I managed to show Pat what the place entailed and she might be back shopping again, but I'd rather stay home and re-roof the house or clean out the attic myself.
Time now to read some of the four inch thick file on this project and refresh my memory before visiting the scene of the accident.
Y'all have a nice week.
Greetings this morning from "the strip" in so-called "beautiful" downtown Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We drove into town in the middle of a little half day long snow storm that dumped a few inches on the grass and trees and made the countryside not covered in concrete sort of pretty
Man have they ever screwed this place up since I was last here in the early 1970's.
You can hardly see the mountains and countryside for the "Ripleys Museum" and the giant dinner show theaters which line what was once a two lane country road that's now a five lane highway.
I was pretty sure I hadn't lost anything here from reading about the place but Pat's wanted to come up and stay since we moved to this side of Tennessee and I took a chance arriving on a Sunday on our way to the latest chapter in my Forensic injuneering adventures which begin again late tomorrow morning about an hour further east from here.
I'm sure the place is fine if you have a mini van full of kids or you never get out much and like amusement parks and this sort of entertainment, but just like going to the mall Christmas week I'd rather have brain surgery or a case of hemorrhoids than spend my time and money coming somewhere like this on a holiday weekend.
There was literally a five mile long bumper to bumper traffic jam leaving town at noon today (we were going into town--not out)as we arrived.
The place was a ghost town by 3 PM when we wandered out to do some shopping at the outlet mall, then out for dinner and some drinks later in the evening.
I guess I'm just getting old or something, but at least I managed to show Pat what the place entailed and she might be back shopping again, but I'd rather stay home and re-roof the house or clean out the attic myself.
Time now to read some of the four inch thick file on this project and refresh my memory before visiting the scene of the accident.
Y'all have a nice week.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Happy Birthday President Washington
I Know You're Turning Over In Your Grave...
(And I wouldn't blame you if you arose up out of the ground and asked to have your face taken off of our soon to be value-less Money either...)
(And I wouldn't blame you if you arose up out of the ground and asked to have your face taken off of our soon to be value-less Money either...)
America After Obama's First Term
Country "Infrastructure" Going Backwards...
Today's topic which has my head spinning around at orbital rotational velocity has to do with my current foray into "Green Energy"...or more specifically the implementation thereof.
You may remember that the company that hired me and drug me up here to Knoxville (it snowed again last night) with a salary from our warm Little Island on the Georgia coast last May was involved primarily in the design of facilities that used or processed Coal.
Coal fired power plant engineering and Coal Coking facilities for steel mills were 90% of our business.
Things were already slowing down through the summer with the economy stagnation, but then Candidate Obama let it slip that it was his intention to bankrupt the Coal industry and any companies attempting to develop new Coal fired electrical generating plants.
That caused the feces to impact the rotating impeller (i.e. "the shit hit the fan" for those of you that went to college at UGA or Tennessee)and ten of twelve employees were asked to depart the office and not come back the Friday before Christmas.
I offer a hearty thanks to all the *%#@! tree hugging Greenie WeenieDemocrats Liberals
Any way, I've spent most of the month of February when I wasn't playing Forensic engineer doing the groundwork for two proposals for so called "Green Energy" developments here in the southeast.
One project involves natural gas fired co generation of electricity and possibly steam for sale to an industrial park and the local electric utility. I already pretty much know all the fundamental technical details associated with that project although the B.S. factor associated with permitting the thing with the local, state, and federal government is still a bit of a daunting mystery.
For your reference in your quest of $1.00 gasoline and $50 per month electric bills, I'd say at this point that probably at least ONE THIRD of the cost of your electricity delivered to your house to heat your coffee and microwave your Eggo in the morning is due to Government induced Crappola relating to paperwork and the associated engineering it takes to overcome the restrictions the EPA and the tree huggers have placed on our industry.
So just pay your electric bill and shut up...don't come crying to me about having to cut back on things like food and new tires for the SUV (and realize that something like 40% of the cost of your gasoline is state and federal taxes--not profits for "EVIL" oil companies. )
That said, let me tell you what I've learned this past week relating to one of the other favorite "Green Energy Technologies"...
WIND POWER.
FIRST of all, the cost of "free" wind energy, or more specifically the state of the art wind turbines and electrical connections needed to get the "free" energy into the electrical grid, would be prohibitive without government subsidies.
In some places they're herding people together by conducting campaigns where people sign up to pay an additional 1.5 cents per KWH on their electric bill so they can reduce their "carbon footprint."
Even with the premium charge, it still many times makes the technology at best a break even endeavor for investors--but I guess breaking even is better than losing your ass in the stock market as the President and the US Congress continue to "Stimulate" the economy with other peoples' money.
The other thing about "free" green wind energy technology is that you can't just toss up a utility or industrial/commercial scale wind turbine just anywhere and throw the switch, cut your power wires to the utility, and go watch TV for "free."
Noooooooo Sirrrrr
There's only a small percentage of the land mass of the country that has wind blowing hard enough over enough hours to make building a "wind farm" viable.
Then there's the limitations the same aforementioned tree hugger greenie weenie's place on their beloved "green energy" windmills.
The same people which object to offshore oil and gas drilling because they worry about "oil spills" ruining the environment also lead the battle against expanding the available areas here in the US where there's adequate wind over shallow water in places like the Great lakes and along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf shorelines because people in the penthouse condos don't want to have their view spoiled by their beloved "green technology."
Senator Ted "Jabba the Hut" Kennedy (former swimming coach) of Massachusetts falls into that category with his objections to permits for a wind farm in sight of his family compound in New England.
The thing that really blew my mind was the contents of a paper produced by the US Fish and Wildlife Service--again driven by the sniveling booger eating Earth Day ecologists--all 57 pages worth of guidelines entitled "...Avoiding and Minimizing Wildlife Impacts from Wind Turbines."
If you listen to these bureaucrats, they basically don't wind turbines located where they could disturbe Prairie Dogs, Raptors, and migrating birds.
Funny thing, but if you look at the map of logical areas where "green" wind energy could be "farmed" or "harvested", this requirement eliminates virtually every area with better than average wind because a Goose or a Hawk might fly into the rotating blades of a turbine or the hum of the generator might make the Prairie Dogs change their mating habits or start living in the top of trees or something.
I thought farmers were shooting Prairie Dogs because their horses and cattle were breaking their legs stepping in holes?
And in the mountains here in Appalachia where there's good winds they're worrying about BAT's --rats with wings-- being affected.
Screw the bats...I want a 500 foot tall wind turbine on my roof and I'm never paying TVA another dime again if I could finance the project.
My industrial utility project could be a problem because it's on the Florida gulf coast so not only do I have to beat the Condo owners and developers, but I've got the Gulf on one side and the inter coastal on the other and the place is eat up with Sea Gulls and Owls and Hawks and God knows what else flying around and here's the kicker that will further raise the cost of the project.
If I can get past the Corps of Engineers and the Federal and State EPA's, and IF I can get the local government on board, and IF I can survive the public commentary period, and IF I can negotiate an acceptable power purchase agreement with the local electrical utility...THEN I might have to pay to have an "Avian and Wildlife Impact Study" conducted over a one to THREE year period of time in order to dig a hole and pour a concrete footing and string a single electrical wire.
Can you understand this bullshit?
Why in the world would anyone but the most zealous wild eyed fanatic even bother with doing business under those restrictions?
My grandfather ordered a 40' prefab farm windmill to pump water on his hand dug shallow well in the 1940's from Sears and Roebook, and when the truck showed up he and my uncles bolted that sucker together and stood it up in the air (without OSHA approved hardhats, safety glasses, and anti-fall harnesses.)
In less than a week they were pumping water for the house and the chickens,cows and a couple of dogs hanging around the property.
Under today's rules they'd have died of thirst and my Mother would just now be getting the permit in the mail this week--all two hundred and thirteen pages worth.
Am I wrong here?
Isn't there something totally screwed up with this whole "Green Energy" concept?
It doesn't work as a money making enterprise, thus it has to be government subsidized for anyone to afford or otherwise want to use it.
Just like everything else the government gets involved with the costs are greater than the benefits so they have to outlaw or tax the other profitable means of product delivery in order to get people to accept their alternative.
Then they proceed to legislate and regulate their endeavor into a corner where there is a SHORTAGE of the product they're producing and they come back to the consumer and demand more money and a change in lifestyle and usage in order to accommodate the results they get out of their inane, feckless process.
Just remember these concepts the next time you're sitting around the breakfast table and your government educated kid or your sniveling booger eating tree hugging eco friendly liberal neighbor starts talking about "man made global warming" and "green energy."
You want Green Energy?
Then you better get your wallet out because the main source of the "Green" in "Green Energy" is going to be YOUR MONEY.
and while you're at it, realize that you're probably going to be dressed like this while you're sitting around your crumbling house in the dark waiting out the latest "rolling electrical brownout."
...dammit
Today's topic which has my head spinning around at orbital rotational velocity has to do with my current foray into "Green Energy"...or more specifically the implementation thereof.
You may remember that the company that hired me and drug me up here to Knoxville (it snowed again last night) with a salary from our warm Little Island on the Georgia coast last May was involved primarily in the design of facilities that used or processed Coal.
Coal fired power plant engineering and Coal Coking facilities for steel mills were 90% of our business.
Things were already slowing down through the summer with the economy stagnation, but then Candidate Obama let it slip that it was his intention to bankrupt the Coal industry and any companies attempting to develop new Coal fired electrical generating plants.
That caused the feces to impact the rotating impeller (i.e. "the shit hit the fan" for those of you that went to college at UGA or Tennessee)and ten of twelve employees were asked to depart the office and not come back the Friday before Christmas.
I offer a hearty thanks to all the *%#@! tree hugging Greenie Weenie
Any way, I've spent most of the month of February when I wasn't playing Forensic engineer doing the groundwork for two proposals for so called "Green Energy" developments here in the southeast.
One project involves natural gas fired co generation of electricity and possibly steam for sale to an industrial park and the local electric utility. I already pretty much know all the fundamental technical details associated with that project although the B.S. factor associated with permitting the thing with the local, state, and federal government is still a bit of a daunting mystery.
For your reference in your quest of $1.00 gasoline and $50 per month electric bills, I'd say at this point that probably at least ONE THIRD of the cost of your electricity delivered to your house to heat your coffee and microwave your Eggo in the morning is due to Government induced Crappola relating to paperwork and the associated engineering it takes to overcome the restrictions the EPA and the tree huggers have placed on our industry.
So just pay your electric bill and shut up...don't come crying to me about having to cut back on things like food and new tires for the SUV (and realize that something like 40% of the cost of your gasoline is state and federal taxes--not profits for "EVIL" oil companies. )
That said, let me tell you what I've learned this past week relating to one of the other favorite "Green Energy Technologies"...
WIND POWER.
FIRST of all, the cost of "free" wind energy, or more specifically the state of the art wind turbines and electrical connections needed to get the "free" energy into the electrical grid, would be prohibitive without government subsidies.
In some places they're herding people together by conducting campaigns where people sign up to pay an additional 1.5 cents per KWH on their electric bill so they can reduce their "carbon footprint."
Even with the premium charge, it still many times makes the technology at best a break even endeavor for investors--but I guess breaking even is better than losing your ass in the stock market as the President and the US Congress continue to "Stimulate" the economy with other peoples' money.
The other thing about "free" green wind energy technology is that you can't just toss up a utility or industrial/commercial scale wind turbine just anywhere and throw the switch, cut your power wires to the utility, and go watch TV for "free."
Noooooooo Sirrrrr
There's only a small percentage of the land mass of the country that has wind blowing hard enough over enough hours to make building a "wind farm" viable.
Then there's the limitations the same aforementioned tree hugger greenie weenie's place on their beloved "green energy" windmills.
The same people which object to offshore oil and gas drilling because they worry about "oil spills" ruining the environment also lead the battle against expanding the available areas here in the US where there's adequate wind over shallow water in places like the Great lakes and along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf shorelines because people in the penthouse condos don't want to have their view spoiled by their beloved "green technology."
Senator Ted "Jabba the Hut" Kennedy (former swimming coach) of Massachusetts falls into that category with his objections to permits for a wind farm in sight of his family compound in New England.
The thing that really blew my mind was the contents of a paper produced by the US Fish and Wildlife Service--again driven by the sniveling booger eating Earth Day ecologists--all 57 pages worth of guidelines entitled "...Avoiding and Minimizing Wildlife Impacts from Wind Turbines."
If you listen to these bureaucrats, they basically don't wind turbines located where they could disturbe Prairie Dogs, Raptors, and migrating birds.
Funny thing, but if you look at the map of logical areas where "green" wind energy could be "farmed" or "harvested", this requirement eliminates virtually every area with better than average wind because a Goose or a Hawk might fly into the rotating blades of a turbine or the hum of the generator might make the Prairie Dogs change their mating habits or start living in the top of trees or something.
I thought farmers were shooting Prairie Dogs because their horses and cattle were breaking their legs stepping in holes?
And in the mountains here in Appalachia where there's good winds they're worrying about BAT's --rats with wings-- being affected.
Screw the bats...I want a 500 foot tall wind turbine on my roof and I'm never paying TVA another dime again if I could finance the project.
My industrial utility project could be a problem because it's on the Florida gulf coast so not only do I have to beat the Condo owners and developers, but I've got the Gulf on one side and the inter coastal on the other and the place is eat up with Sea Gulls and Owls and Hawks and God knows what else flying around and here's the kicker that will further raise the cost of the project.
If I can get past the Corps of Engineers and the Federal and State EPA's, and IF I can get the local government on board, and IF I can survive the public commentary period, and IF I can negotiate an acceptable power purchase agreement with the local electrical utility...THEN I might have to pay to have an "Avian and Wildlife Impact Study" conducted over a one to THREE year period of time in order to dig a hole and pour a concrete footing and string a single electrical wire.
Can you understand this bullshit?
Why in the world would anyone but the most zealous wild eyed fanatic even bother with doing business under those restrictions?
My grandfather ordered a 40' prefab farm windmill to pump water on his hand dug shallow well in the 1940's from Sears and Roebook, and when the truck showed up he and my uncles bolted that sucker together and stood it up in the air (without OSHA approved hardhats, safety glasses, and anti-fall harnesses.)
In less than a week they were pumping water for the house and the chickens,cows and a couple of dogs hanging around the property.
Under today's rules they'd have died of thirst and my Mother would just now be getting the permit in the mail this week--all two hundred and thirteen pages worth.
Am I wrong here?
Isn't there something totally screwed up with this whole "Green Energy" concept?
It doesn't work as a money making enterprise, thus it has to be government subsidized for anyone to afford or otherwise want to use it.
Just like everything else the government gets involved with the costs are greater than the benefits so they have to outlaw or tax the other profitable means of product delivery in order to get people to accept their alternative.
Then they proceed to legislate and regulate their endeavor into a corner where there is a SHORTAGE of the product they're producing and they come back to the consumer and demand more money and a change in lifestyle and usage in order to accommodate the results they get out of their inane, feckless process.
Just remember these concepts the next time you're sitting around the breakfast table and your government educated kid or your sniveling booger eating tree hugging eco friendly liberal neighbor starts talking about "man made global warming" and "green energy."
You want Green Energy?
Then you better get your wallet out because the main source of the "Green" in "Green Energy" is going to be YOUR MONEY.
and while you're at it, realize that you're probably going to be dressed like this while you're sitting around your crumbling house in the dark waiting out the latest "rolling electrical brownout."
...dammit
Friday, February 20, 2009
Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez
Mardi Gras Reflections
Sorry about the silence here on the blog for the past few days, but it's hard to type with my eyes rolled so far back in my head from watching the antics of our Congress and the new occupant of the White House.
In other news, a good friend invited us to do rural Louisiana Mardi Gras with him again this year and I really wanted to go because he's a local, but things didn't work out.
Unfortunately Fat Tuesday is next week and I have to be in Newport, TN working on my never ending forensic engineering project on Monday, and we already had an epic ten day swing planned through the South Georgia coast, the Florida Panhandle, and lower Alabama starting the following week so we had to decline the invitation.
With that trip already on the books for some time we just couldn't justify the time and expense of adding a separate trip to Alexandria, Louisiana and other points on the Bayou.
It's not like I haven't seen a half million drunks stagger down Bourbon Street before, but I hear that the festival of Lent leading up to Ash Wednesday is quite quaint and different in the smaller villages that it is in the Big Easy.
My first visit was Mardi Gras 1978 as a member of the Georgia Tech NROTC band. I didn't just GO to Carnival, I was IN Carnival as we marched and played in three or four of the major parades like Edymoin, Bacchus, and Proteus. What a great experience, and we stayed for free on a Navy ship which was berthed right on the river by Cafe Du Monde.
I've been back several times in the 1980's and again about 1996, but the whole thing has grown so much and gotten out of hand to the point that at my current age I don't enjoy walking around in streets filled with an inch of other peoples barf and urine yelling "show your tits" and scrambling around for bead necklaces and other worthless trinkets.
Call me a Curmudgeon I guess...
What I am gaining by missing Mardi Gras this year is the opportunity to be the guest Chef with my fellow GT alumni John Howton, owner of Blackwater Grill on our little Island, in the 2009 Chili Cookoff.
I've been cooking chili for the past week in small batches to further refine my recipe and get the ingredient list together to cook TWELVE GALLONS of Chili in three hours on a Saturday morning in a 12'x12' booth with no running water.
Did I mention there'd be a few hundred people stopping by to taste and judge the results of my efforts?
I spent fifty bucks on the Penderys website on giant containers of fancy Coumin and two kinds of chili powder to support my efforts.
After last nights efforts, I've got time to cook one more batch this weekend before delivering the final ingredient list for purchase.
I'll post the recipe and some photos of the event here on the blog for your enjoyment after the final results are in.
I really want to do well in the event because John's reputation is at stake, but in the end the event raises money for charity and it's supposed to be FUN, so I might have to put my slide rule and calculator away and just have fun and COOK...something I get better at every day.
Wish us luck...If you will...
Sorry about the silence here on the blog for the past few days, but it's hard to type with my eyes rolled so far back in my head from watching the antics of our Congress and the new occupant of the White House.
In other news, a good friend invited us to do rural Louisiana Mardi Gras with him again this year and I really wanted to go because he's a local, but things didn't work out.
Unfortunately Fat Tuesday is next week and I have to be in Newport, TN working on my never ending forensic engineering project on Monday, and we already had an epic ten day swing planned through the South Georgia coast, the Florida Panhandle, and lower Alabama starting the following week so we had to decline the invitation.
With that trip already on the books for some time we just couldn't justify the time and expense of adding a separate trip to Alexandria, Louisiana and other points on the Bayou.
It's not like I haven't seen a half million drunks stagger down Bourbon Street before, but I hear that the festival of Lent leading up to Ash Wednesday is quite quaint and different in the smaller villages that it is in the Big Easy.
My first visit was Mardi Gras 1978 as a member of the Georgia Tech NROTC band. I didn't just GO to Carnival, I was IN Carnival as we marched and played in three or four of the major parades like Edymoin, Bacchus, and Proteus. What a great experience, and we stayed for free on a Navy ship which was berthed right on the river by Cafe Du Monde.
I've been back several times in the 1980's and again about 1996, but the whole thing has grown so much and gotten out of hand to the point that at my current age I don't enjoy walking around in streets filled with an inch of other peoples barf and urine yelling "show your tits" and scrambling around for bead necklaces and other worthless trinkets.
Call me a Curmudgeon I guess...
What I am gaining by missing Mardi Gras this year is the opportunity to be the guest Chef with my fellow GT alumni John Howton, owner of Blackwater Grill on our little Island, in the 2009 Chili Cookoff.
I've been cooking chili for the past week in small batches to further refine my recipe and get the ingredient list together to cook TWELVE GALLONS of Chili in three hours on a Saturday morning in a 12'x12' booth with no running water.
Did I mention there'd be a few hundred people stopping by to taste and judge the results of my efforts?
I spent fifty bucks on the Penderys website on giant containers of fancy Coumin and two kinds of chili powder to support my efforts.
After last nights efforts, I've got time to cook one more batch this weekend before delivering the final ingredient list for purchase.
I'll post the recipe and some photos of the event here on the blog for your enjoyment after the final results are in.
I really want to do well in the event because John's reputation is at stake, but in the end the event raises money for charity and it's supposed to be FUN, so I might have to put my slide rule and calculator away and just have fun and COOK...something I get better at every day.
Wish us luck...If you will...
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Nearly A Month After Taking Office
Still Full Of Shit...
Looking at this Wall Street Journal story...I think you'll agree:
President Barack Obama has turned fearmongering into an art form. He has repeatedly raised the specter of another Great Depression. First, he did so to win votes in the November election. He has done so again recently to sway congressional votes for his stimulus package.
In his remarks, every gloomy statistic on the economy becomes a harbinger of doom. As he tells it, today's economy is the worst since the Great Depression. Without his Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he says, the economy will fall back into that abyss and may never recover.
...[snip]
This fearmongering may be good politics, but it is bad history and bad economics. It is bad history because our current economic woes don't come close to those of the 1930s. At worst, a comparison to the 1981-82 recession might be appropriate.
Consider the job losses that Mr. Obama always cites. In the last year, the U.S. economy shed 3.4 million jobs. That's a grim statistic for sure, but represents just 2.2% of the labor force. From November 1981 to October 1982, 2.4 million jobs were lost -- fewer in number than today, but the labor force was smaller. So 1981-82 job losses totaled 2.2% of the labor force, the same as now.
Job losses in the Great Depression were of an entirely different magnitude. In 1930, the economy shed 4.8% of the labor force. In 1931, 6.5%. And then in 1932, another 7.1%. Jobs were being lost at double or triple the rate of 2008-09 or 1981-82.
Auto production last year declined by roughly 25%. That looks good compared to 1932, when production shriveled by 90%. The failure of a couple of dozen banks in 2008 just doesn't compare to over 10,000 bank failures in 1933, or even the 3,000-plus bank (Savings & Loan) failures in 1987-88. Stockholders can take some solace from the fact that the recent stock market debacle doesn't come close to the 90% devaluation of the early 1930s.
Mr. Obama's analogies to the Great Depression are not only historically inaccurate, they're also dangerous. Repeated warnings from the White House about a coming economic apocalypse aren't likely to raise consumer and investor expectations for the future. In fact, they have contributed to the continuing decline in consumer confidence that is restraining a spending pickup. Beyond that, fearmongering can trigger a political stampede to embrace a "recovery" package that delivers a lot less than it promises. A more cool-headed assessment of the economy's woes might produce better policies.
Looking at this Wall Street Journal story...I think you'll agree:
President Barack Obama has turned fearmongering into an art form. He has repeatedly raised the specter of another Great Depression. First, he did so to win votes in the November election. He has done so again recently to sway congressional votes for his stimulus package.
In his remarks, every gloomy statistic on the economy becomes a harbinger of doom. As he tells it, today's economy is the worst since the Great Depression. Without his Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he says, the economy will fall back into that abyss and may never recover.
...[snip]
This fearmongering may be good politics, but it is bad history and bad economics. It is bad history because our current economic woes don't come close to those of the 1930s. At worst, a comparison to the 1981-82 recession might be appropriate.
Consider the job losses that Mr. Obama always cites. In the last year, the U.S. economy shed 3.4 million jobs. That's a grim statistic for sure, but represents just 2.2% of the labor force. From November 1981 to October 1982, 2.4 million jobs were lost -- fewer in number than today, but the labor force was smaller. So 1981-82 job losses totaled 2.2% of the labor force, the same as now.
Job losses in the Great Depression were of an entirely different magnitude. In 1930, the economy shed 4.8% of the labor force. In 1931, 6.5%. And then in 1932, another 7.1%. Jobs were being lost at double or triple the rate of 2008-09 or 1981-82.
Auto production last year declined by roughly 25%. That looks good compared to 1932, when production shriveled by 90%. The failure of a couple of dozen banks in 2008 just doesn't compare to over 10,000 bank failures in 1933, or even the 3,000-plus bank (Savings & Loan) failures in 1987-88. Stockholders can take some solace from the fact that the recent stock market debacle doesn't come close to the 90% devaluation of the early 1930s.
Mr. Obama's analogies to the Great Depression are not only historically inaccurate, they're also dangerous. Repeated warnings from the White House about a coming economic apocalypse aren't likely to raise consumer and investor expectations for the future. In fact, they have contributed to the continuing decline in consumer confidence that is restraining a spending pickup. Beyond that, fearmongering can trigger a political stampede to embrace a "recovery" package that delivers a lot less than it promises. A more cool-headed assessment of the economy's woes might produce better policies.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Scenes From My Kitchen Window
They're "Them" and We're "Us"
Damned Democrats.
Maybe more precisely I should say "Damned Liberals."
Even if I can avoid cursing every time I watch the news or read something political on the Internet I still can't help but issue epithets when I look out my kitchen window and see the remains of that tree trunk and branches littering my "Japanese Garden" area of my back lawn.
The "Japanese Garden" part is still a figment of my imagination but the area was nice and clean and clear last Monday--not without a good deal of effort on our part over the past 10 months and now it looks like a commercial pulp wood staging area.
The more I think about it the more pissed I get at my asshole neighbor--a regular pasty white business wimp bastard weaselly looking fellow--sort of looked like Colmes from "Hannity & Colmes."
You can almost always spot the liberal men and women in a crowd just by looking. I'm not saying always, but after the initial visual impression, just give me ten minutes of conversation and I can tell if you believe our country is great BECAUSE of government, or in SPITE of Government.
I can also tell if you've ever owned a gun and by looking at the car you drive I can probably tell if you're a mama's boy nanny state sniveler or a grown man willing to take care of your responsibilities.
I'm afraid that the idiot living behind me embodies all of the negative things that we've sunk to as a people and society today.
Cold, blank, lifeless eyes....wandering though life with the wife and the mortgage and the kid and the car payment--looking for shortcuts and ways to dodge the next man made inadequacy or "act of God."
Then going to the ballot box and voting himself a share of my paycheck to pay for his shortcomings and to fund his dreams and ideas.
"Here asshole...take all my money...I'll just get off my butt and go earn some more while you choke on "your fare share..."
Damned Democrats.
Maybe more precisely I should say "Damned Liberals."
Even if I can avoid cursing every time I watch the news or read something political on the Internet I still can't help but issue epithets when I look out my kitchen window and see the remains of that tree trunk and branches littering my "Japanese Garden" area of my back lawn.
The "Japanese Garden" part is still a figment of my imagination but the area was nice and clean and clear last Monday--not without a good deal of effort on our part over the past 10 months and now it looks like a commercial pulp wood staging area.
The more I think about it the more pissed I get at my asshole neighbor--a regular pasty white business wimp bastard weaselly looking fellow--sort of looked like Colmes from "Hannity & Colmes."
You can almost always spot the liberal men and women in a crowd just by looking. I'm not saying always, but after the initial visual impression, just give me ten minutes of conversation and I can tell if you believe our country is great BECAUSE of government, or in SPITE of Government.
I can also tell if you've ever owned a gun and by looking at the car you drive I can probably tell if you're a mama's boy nanny state sniveler or a grown man willing to take care of your responsibilities.
I'm afraid that the idiot living behind me embodies all of the negative things that we've sunk to as a people and society today.
Cold, blank, lifeless eyes....wandering though life with the wife and the mortgage and the kid and the car payment--looking for shortcuts and ways to dodge the next man made inadequacy or "act of God."
Then going to the ballot box and voting himself a share of my paycheck to pay for his shortcomings and to fund his dreams and ideas.
"Here asshole...take all my money...I'll just get off my butt and go earn some more while you choke on "your fare share..."
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Where Things Have Gotten To Today
Hey Dude...It's Not Personal...BUT...
This topic has been stewing around in my head for a couple of days now, but in reality it's just a subset or superset of thoughts I have almost every day of every week of every year for some time now.
It seems to me that, thanks to our government and education system, no one is responsible for anything that happens around them any more.
Everyone wants the income and benefits of any given enterprise or endeavor, but no one wants to pay the costs of the risks of owning or doing.
Take my yard as an example.
We've owned this place since last April 25th, and in that time I've probably spent $1500 on lawn maintenance, and more importantly I spent $500 of that money having trees which were in poor or overgrown condition cut down and removed--including having the stumps ground out in anticipation of re sodding the affected areas.
Then last week after watching things look a little crappy with the grass not being cut and the leaves from our lot and the neighbors' property blowing all around I paid another $100 to have the grass mowed and all of the remaining debris picked up and hauled away.
This in addition to having two small fires in which I burned a bunch of crap that was laying around on the fence lines and pruning clippings which had accumulated around the place.
As of Monday of this week we had things looking pretty good and were looking forward to doing some over seeding and fertilizing in anticipation of the spring thaw.
Then on Wednesday afternoon we had a angry little squall line blow through the area and in the midst of the rain and wind one of the 15" white pines on our rear neighbor's lot decided to break off at ground level and blow over into our back yard, smashing a big 20' tall ornamental Holley Tree I'd been pruning on but missing Missy the Turbo Pup's fence.
No big deal I thought, since I've grown up wielding a chain saw and cut dozens if not hundreds of trees in my day, although I hate to admit that today I only own an ELECTRIC chain saw because my days of cutting cords of firewood are long over.
Any way, I made a phone call to my insurance agent, and stopped by my neighbor's house to let them know of the event.
You know what I got for my efforts?
Well, as of 5 PM TWO DAYS LATER I still haven't heard back from the insurance agent, but I did get a visit from the "Hubby" from the household that owned the tree.
"Gee he was sure sorry, but when his other tree fell and hit his neighbor's house his insurance paid and...since this tree didn't hit anything the way things work in Tennessee is that the cleanup is my (that would be me) responsibility."
He did offer to let me borrow his chain saw if I needed it.
Pat and I cut up the tree, tossed the smaller limbs in a pile on our property, and I'm going to stack up the logs from the trunk back on the lazy asshole's property out of sight behind my fence.
See people, this is where we are today.
There is no way that my Father or my Grandfathers would have or could have stood there and told their neighbor that because of the "government rules" relating to the "government mandated" insurance they be allowed to let their property fall onto another man's property and simply shrug their shoulders and walk away because the law let them do it.
This sniveling asshole bought the property with the nice trees on it, paid the value of the property with the trees on it, and when he sells his house that he's owned since 1990 (according to his own admission) he will benefit from the value of the aforementioned trees, YET...
this shit headed wimp of a man stops by long enough to say he stopped by, then walks away while people ten or fifteen years older than him to cut up his tree else pay to have it removed.
I wish a Pox on his household, and may the fleas of a thousand Camels infest his wife's privates.
...dammit
This topic has been stewing around in my head for a couple of days now, but in reality it's just a subset or superset of thoughts I have almost every day of every week of every year for some time now.
It seems to me that, thanks to our government and education system, no one is responsible for anything that happens around them any more.
Everyone wants the income and benefits of any given enterprise or endeavor, but no one wants to pay the costs of the risks of owning or doing.
Take my yard as an example.
We've owned this place since last April 25th, and in that time I've probably spent $1500 on lawn maintenance, and more importantly I spent $500 of that money having trees which were in poor or overgrown condition cut down and removed--including having the stumps ground out in anticipation of re sodding the affected areas.
Then last week after watching things look a little crappy with the grass not being cut and the leaves from our lot and the neighbors' property blowing all around I paid another $100 to have the grass mowed and all of the remaining debris picked up and hauled away.
This in addition to having two small fires in which I burned a bunch of crap that was laying around on the fence lines and pruning clippings which had accumulated around the place.
As of Monday of this week we had things looking pretty good and were looking forward to doing some over seeding and fertilizing in anticipation of the spring thaw.
Then on Wednesday afternoon we had a angry little squall line blow through the area and in the midst of the rain and wind one of the 15" white pines on our rear neighbor's lot decided to break off at ground level and blow over into our back yard, smashing a big 20' tall ornamental Holley Tree I'd been pruning on but missing Missy the Turbo Pup's fence.
No big deal I thought, since I've grown up wielding a chain saw and cut dozens if not hundreds of trees in my day, although I hate to admit that today I only own an ELECTRIC chain saw because my days of cutting cords of firewood are long over.
Any way, I made a phone call to my insurance agent, and stopped by my neighbor's house to let them know of the event.
You know what I got for my efforts?
Well, as of 5 PM TWO DAYS LATER I still haven't heard back from the insurance agent, but I did get a visit from the "Hubby" from the household that owned the tree.
"Gee he was sure sorry, but when his other tree fell and hit his neighbor's house his insurance paid and...since this tree didn't hit anything the way things work in Tennessee is that the cleanup is my (that would be me) responsibility."
He did offer to let me borrow his chain saw if I needed it.
Pat and I cut up the tree, tossed the smaller limbs in a pile on our property, and I'm going to stack up the logs from the trunk back on the lazy asshole's property out of sight behind my fence.
See people, this is where we are today.
There is no way that my Father or my Grandfathers would have or could have stood there and told their neighbor that because of the "government rules" relating to the "government mandated" insurance they be allowed to let their property fall onto another man's property and simply shrug their shoulders and walk away because the law let them do it.
This sniveling asshole bought the property with the nice trees on it, paid the value of the property with the trees on it, and when he sells his house that he's owned since 1990 (according to his own admission) he will benefit from the value of the aforementioned trees, YET...
this shit headed wimp of a man stops by long enough to say he stopped by, then walks away while people ten or fifteen years older than him to cut up his tree else pay to have it removed.
I wish a Pox on his household, and may the fleas of a thousand Camels infest his wife's privates.
...dammit
Friday, February 13, 2009
Q400 Icing?
Another Airliner Down
I woke up after midnight to the news of the Continental commuter flight crash about 6miles short of the Buffalo, NY airport a little after ten PM.
Of course the media--self proclaimed aviation experts because they RIDE commercial airliners with some frequency--is spazzing out offering wild eyed conjecture and interviewing anyone they can find that can spell the word airplane.
I did a Yahoo map search myself and they're not only calling the town of "Clarence Center" simply "Clarence," but the crash scene on "Long Street" is referred to as "Long Road" as of 2:01 AM.
Of course there's the obligatory report of "fire coming out of one engine" and all the other crap that you hear before the final results are available.
The weather on the ground at both Newark where the flight originated and Buffalo where it was due to arrive a few minutes after it crashed was a sloppy misty snow at about 32 degrees F, but based on the weather conditions I see on the NOAA Aviation Weather website there were icing advisories at altitude across the entire state of New York.
The Bombardier Q400 turboprop involved is one of the new generation of "non-jet" commuters that is designed to deliver quiet "near jet" cabin noise levels and cruising speeds close to the little commuter jets they're designed to compete with. It has a Cat II autopilot and instrument landing capability in all but the very worst of conditions (Cat III being worst.)
The weird and dangerous thing about icing in flight is that it can build up on the aircraft while you're at altitude and cruising speed and you'll never know that it's there until you start slowing the airplane down and the extra weight and the effect of the change in the shape of your wings and fuselage due to the ice buildup become apparent.
To offset the problem of ice build up fancy private airplanes and all commercial aircraft have "deicing boots" on the leading edge of the wings and heated propeller blades to keep ice from building up while things are whirling and spinning around at 20,000 feet. Unfortunately the pilot has to actually turn on the deicing systems and then those systems have to work--something not necessary on every flight so the systems could be inoperative or working at less than optimal performance.
My heart goes out to the friends and relatives of 50+ lives that were lost this evening, but I just wish the media would shut up and wait for some tangible data--I say something broke and Icing was possibly an issue--while they leave the bystanders and self-proclaimed experts and armchair quarterbacks to keep their inane opinions and mindless conjecture to themselves.
UPDATE...5:31 AM
The descriptions of the crash scene indicate a "vertical" crash profile rather than a long sliding crash scene entry...giving further creedence to the idea of icing problems or even possibly an engine failure on approach causing the plane to stall, stop flying, and dive into the ground from low altitude.
I woke up after midnight to the news of the Continental commuter flight crash about 6miles short of the Buffalo, NY airport a little after ten PM.
Of course the media--self proclaimed aviation experts because they RIDE commercial airliners with some frequency--is spazzing out offering wild eyed conjecture and interviewing anyone they can find that can spell the word airplane.
I did a Yahoo map search myself and they're not only calling the town of "Clarence Center" simply "Clarence," but the crash scene on "Long Street" is referred to as "Long Road" as of 2:01 AM.
Of course there's the obligatory report of "fire coming out of one engine" and all the other crap that you hear before the final results are available.
The weather on the ground at both Newark where the flight originated and Buffalo where it was due to arrive a few minutes after it crashed was a sloppy misty snow at about 32 degrees F, but based on the weather conditions I see on the NOAA Aviation Weather website there were icing advisories at altitude across the entire state of New York.
The Bombardier Q400 turboprop involved is one of the new generation of "non-jet" commuters that is designed to deliver quiet "near jet" cabin noise levels and cruising speeds close to the little commuter jets they're designed to compete with. It has a Cat II autopilot and instrument landing capability in all but the very worst of conditions (Cat III being worst.)
The weird and dangerous thing about icing in flight is that it can build up on the aircraft while you're at altitude and cruising speed and you'll never know that it's there until you start slowing the airplane down and the extra weight and the effect of the change in the shape of your wings and fuselage due to the ice buildup become apparent.
To offset the problem of ice build up fancy private airplanes and all commercial aircraft have "deicing boots" on the leading edge of the wings and heated propeller blades to keep ice from building up while things are whirling and spinning around at 20,000 feet. Unfortunately the pilot has to actually turn on the deicing systems and then those systems have to work--something not necessary on every flight so the systems could be inoperative or working at less than optimal performance.
My heart goes out to the friends and relatives of 50+ lives that were lost this evening, but I just wish the media would shut up and wait for some tangible data--I say something broke and Icing was possibly an issue--while they leave the bystanders and self-proclaimed experts and armchair quarterbacks to keep their inane opinions and mindless conjecture to themselves.
UPDATE...5:31 AM
The descriptions of the crash scene indicate a "vertical" crash profile rather than a long sliding crash scene entry...giving further creedence to the idea of icing problems or even possibly an engine failure on approach causing the plane to stall, stop flying, and dive into the ground from low altitude.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Happy Birthday Abe
We Could Sure Use A Man Like You Now...
(There's actually a black man in your office...and in spite of what I think personally I'm told he didn't use a crow bar to break in...)
(There's actually a black man in your office...and in spite of what I think personally I'm told he didn't use a crow bar to break in...)
By The Way...He Served In Vietnam
This Idiot Is Truly Incredible...
Here's John sKerry's take yesterday on your ability to spend YOUR money wisely:
I'd like five minutes alone in a dark alley with the arrogant, useless, pandering SOB...when I got done he'd have his fourth "purple heart" and I'd like to see him throw this one over the fence at the White House.
Here's John sKerry's take yesterday on your ability to spend YOUR money wisely:
I'd like five minutes alone in a dark alley with the arrogant, useless, pandering SOB...when I got done he'd have his fourth "purple heart" and I'd like to see him throw this one over the fence at the White House.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
What?
Senator Chucky Schumer (Democrat-NY) Sez...
See who you got spending your children's and grandchildren's money?
I'll probalby die in the next two or three decades, and it all won't really matter to me beyond the next ten or fifteen years I might try to work a little. I still really hate to see the fruition of the "New Deal" and "The Great Society" culminate in yet another level of Class Envy, income consfiscation, and wealth distribution.
Some people just can't be helped, and a whole lot of people would be much better off if given the chance to keep their own money rather than being forced at gunpoint to hand it to the government hoping it will be well spent and some of it might come back to them in at least some form of value added service like a pothole free road or a safe bridge.
I keep wanting to ask this question when the government keeps talking about creating or saving 4,000,000 jobs. Why throw the money at poor people and the lower "middle class" and "working families." How's that going to create jobs?
After all, when was anyone hired by a homeless person or by some guy working two jobs to feed his kids and pay his rent?
Unfortunately, Mr. Schumer...it is the hated upper class and RICH people (but not professional government ass hats like you that never worked an actual day in their miserable, meddling, liberal lives) that start companies and create jobs in the private sector, and GM and Ford and CitiCorp be damned...you and your pompopus elite asshole friends in both houses of Congress are going to rue the day you try to pull this crap with America's wallets.
Wild eyed fanatics shot at Kennedy, Wallace, Ford, and Reagan. I say you and Reid and Pelosi et. al. better watch out because there may be some people out here fed up enough to start sighting in their rifle scopes and heading to the range to dust off their skills.
Can you say R E V O L U T I O N?
We might need one shortly...
See who you got spending your children's and grandchildren's money?
I'll probalby die in the next two or three decades, and it all won't really matter to me beyond the next ten or fifteen years I might try to work a little. I still really hate to see the fruition of the "New Deal" and "The Great Society" culminate in yet another level of Class Envy, income consfiscation, and wealth distribution.
Some people just can't be helped, and a whole lot of people would be much better off if given the chance to keep their own money rather than being forced at gunpoint to hand it to the government hoping it will be well spent and some of it might come back to them in at least some form of value added service like a pothole free road or a safe bridge.
I keep wanting to ask this question when the government keeps talking about creating or saving 4,000,000 jobs. Why throw the money at poor people and the lower "middle class" and "working families." How's that going to create jobs?
After all, when was anyone hired by a homeless person or by some guy working two jobs to feed his kids and pay his rent?
Unfortunately, Mr. Schumer...it is the hated upper class and RICH people (but not professional government ass hats like you that never worked an actual day in their miserable, meddling, liberal lives) that start companies and create jobs in the private sector, and GM and Ford and CitiCorp be damned...you and your pompopus elite asshole friends in both houses of Congress are going to rue the day you try to pull this crap with America's wallets.
Wild eyed fanatics shot at Kennedy, Wallace, Ford, and Reagan. I say you and Reid and Pelosi et. al. better watch out because there may be some people out here fed up enough to start sighting in their rifle scopes and heading to the range to dust off their skills.
Can you say R E V O L U T I O N?
We might need one shortly...
