New Karaoke Aspirations...
If you have about five minutes listen to Marc Cohn Sing one of my favorites...
I'm working on the song a few steps lower in key...and I'm gonna sing it in public one day but it's a tough one.
Monday, July 12, 2010
It Rained On My Garden
...And I'm One Happy Camper As A Result....
Just in case I haven't mentioned it here on the blog in detail, I come from a proud yet mixed heritage. A combination of rural southern dirt farmers, with a healthy dose of Appalachian coal miner thrown in for good measure.
For some reason I, personally, developed a bit of a useless, ne'er do well, gypsy, pirate beach-bum spirit along the way but by and large I can't blame my ancestors for my own lethargy.
My Mother's father, "Pa" Rushing, ended up owning a farm which encompassed a little over 350 acres by the end of WWII and on that farm--besides all of the stuff "Old McDonald" raised i.e. chickens and cows and hogs et.al.-- he also managed to feed himself and his wife and five children and make a small living in the process.
Four of the five children are still alive today with the youngest in his early 70's.
On the other hand, "PawPaw" Rogers was a coal miner from his early teens. First in Eastern Kentucky, and then later in Central West Virginia and finally at the end of his career in South Eastern Ohio. PawPaw raised three boys digging and managing the digging of coal...him being Virgil Sr. and my father being Virgil Jr. and I Virgil III, and regretably only one brother remains today with the loss of my father and one uncle.
(And I, thinking that I had perfected the product line in my youthful wisdom, broke the mold and elected to not reproduce...thus there is no Virgil number IV or V or XI or MCMXII)
...but I digress
I was standing in my kitchen this morning looking at a pile of Tomatoes and Squash and Cucumbers I had grown in my little garden when out of the blue it occurred to me that the commonality which connects each side of my family was and is our self sufficiency and making a living in a fundamental manner.
Pa Rushing took seeds and dirt and water and made fruit and vegetables and meat...enough to feed his family at each year with enough left over to at least buy the next season's seed.
Pawpaw Rogers went out and worked in almost every part of the process of digging Coal out of the ground (he was the Electrical Superintendent of the Mine when he retired) so it could be said again that his living and prosperity was attained from the EARTH...or at least the dirt within a few miles of the surface thereof.
And I think that revelation could explain somewhat what's wrong with much of American society today...white, black, yellow, red, and heavily tattooed and pierced...We've lost our connection with the earth.
The sniveling, booger eating, patchouli stinking tree huggers want to protect it (the earth), but they forget in the process that we're all going to end up taking something from it in the process of living if we all want to survive.
Things like...
Oil
Coal
Or how about the basic nutrients required to grow crops and livestock (and they don't want us making Fertilizer because they consider it poison)
And when our lives are over with...in biblical terms...we will die and return in a "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" manner to the earth (and the area within five square miles around where my ashes are spread will probably be declared off limits and an EPA superfund site.)
And the thing this morning which has in my considered Redneck opinion been taken by the liberal elites and professional do-gooders and the politicians from most of the innocent an less enlightened citizens--with the "Urbanization of America"--and which by default also from our society...
is the basic, spiritual, fundamental connection with our planet which gives you life and an inner peace...a peace which is missing from so many peoples lives today.
Seriously, I've had more fun planting and harvesting and eating the fruits of my garden this year than I could ever have had spending thousands and thousands of dollars on some "All inclusive" vacation or whatever. A new car has never ever made me feel the way I feel when I wander out each moring in my flip flops and turn the leaves of the Squash and Cucumber plants over and find something to eat.
And you just wait until I start showing pictures of my Watermellons.
Anyway..this morning I feel like I just might be a little bit better of a man today as a result, and I suggest that everybody that's not feeling right go out in play in the dirt if they need a cure.
Time will tell I guess...
Just in case I haven't mentioned it here on the blog in detail, I come from a proud yet mixed heritage. A combination of rural southern dirt farmers, with a healthy dose of Appalachian coal miner thrown in for good measure.
For some reason I, personally, developed a bit of a useless, ne'er do well, gypsy, pirate beach-bum spirit along the way but by and large I can't blame my ancestors for my own lethargy.
My Mother's father, "Pa" Rushing, ended up owning a farm which encompassed a little over 350 acres by the end of WWII and on that farm--besides all of the stuff "Old McDonald" raised i.e. chickens and cows and hogs et.al.-- he also managed to feed himself and his wife and five children and make a small living in the process.
Four of the five children are still alive today with the youngest in his early 70's.
On the other hand, "PawPaw" Rogers was a coal miner from his early teens. First in Eastern Kentucky, and then later in Central West Virginia and finally at the end of his career in South Eastern Ohio. PawPaw raised three boys digging and managing the digging of coal...him being Virgil Sr. and my father being Virgil Jr. and I Virgil III, and regretably only one brother remains today with the loss of my father and one uncle.
(And I, thinking that I had perfected the product line in my youthful wisdom, broke the mold and elected to not reproduce...thus there is no Virgil number IV or V or XI or MCMXII)
...but I digress
I was standing in my kitchen this morning looking at a pile of Tomatoes and Squash and Cucumbers I had grown in my little garden when out of the blue it occurred to me that the commonality which connects each side of my family was and is our self sufficiency and making a living in a fundamental manner.
Pa Rushing took seeds and dirt and water and made fruit and vegetables and meat...enough to feed his family at each year with enough left over to at least buy the next season's seed.
Pawpaw Rogers went out and worked in almost every part of the process of digging Coal out of the ground (he was the Electrical Superintendent of the Mine when he retired) so it could be said again that his living and prosperity was attained from the EARTH...or at least the dirt within a few miles of the surface thereof.
And I think that revelation could explain somewhat what's wrong with much of American society today...white, black, yellow, red, and heavily tattooed and pierced...We've lost our connection with the earth.
The sniveling, booger eating, patchouli stinking tree huggers want to protect it (the earth), but they forget in the process that we're all going to end up taking something from it in the process of living if we all want to survive.
Things like...
Oil
Coal
Or how about the basic nutrients required to grow crops and livestock (and they don't want us making Fertilizer because they consider it poison)
And when our lives are over with...in biblical terms...we will die and return in a "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" manner to the earth (and the area within five square miles around where my ashes are spread will probably be declared off limits and an EPA superfund site.)
And the thing this morning which has in my considered Redneck opinion been taken by the liberal elites and professional do-gooders and the politicians from most of the innocent an less enlightened citizens--with the "Urbanization of America"--and which by default also from our society...
is the basic, spiritual, fundamental connection with our planet which gives you life and an inner peace...a peace which is missing from so many peoples lives today.
Seriously, I've had more fun planting and harvesting and eating the fruits of my garden this year than I could ever have had spending thousands and thousands of dollars on some "All inclusive" vacation or whatever. A new car has never ever made me feel the way I feel when I wander out each moring in my flip flops and turn the leaves of the Squash and Cucumber plants over and find something to eat.
And you just wait until I start showing pictures of my Watermellons.
Anyway..this morning I feel like I just might be a little bit better of a man today as a result, and I suggest that everybody that's not feeling right go out in play in the dirt if they need a cure.
Time will tell I guess...
Sunday, July 11, 2010
I'm Tired Of People Hitting "Home Runs" At My Expense
Liberal Philanthropic Government Bullshit
I just saw Geraldo "Giant Stinky Mustache" Rivera saying on FOX News that the government was going to pay Jacee Dugard a giant compensation settlement of $20,000,000 because the "officials" botched the investigation of her imprisonment/disappearance at the hands of a idiot pervert sexual predator.
I'm sorry, and I feel sorry for everyone who has something like this happen, and people killed in the 9/11 World Trade Center bombing and now the Gulf Oil spill disaster, but this shit drives me crazy.
If I lose my job because of government ineptitude/market conditions because I'm selling saddles and buggy whips when everyone starts driving cars...I don't feel that I want or need to get a check.
If I have my head beat in in a Pizza Hut in 1979 the government doesn't have to come running to me with a cash settlement even though the City of Atlanta's inept police department can't do much of anything but prosecute murders after the fact and write parking and speeding tickets and arrest people for DUI after having consumed three glasses of wine.
If someone breaks into my home or car or trailer in college I don't go with my hand out expecting the government to hand me compensation for the event.
You do realize that the GOVERNMENT has NO MONEY?
They print it, but they don't own any of it until they take it away from someone and give it to someone else.
In other words, the only money the government has it steals from other people and distributes as it sees fit and based on popular opinion.
And one person killed or maimed is sad but unprofitable, but getting involved in a mass terrorist attack or assaulted by a pervert can apparently today be a very profitable profession.
Thus if you die in a car accident in 2001 you get no check consisting of taxpayer money, but if you have the misfortune of dieing when some wild eyed terrorists flings a commercial airliner into a building and you inhale a little smoke or if you manage to DIE your family hits the JACKPOT?
And then there was the double disaster of Katrina where people are still living on the government dole five years later and now this year if you are a fisherman or crabber or have a hotel or other business supported by tourism on the gulf coast you can run crying to the government and demand a payment...and BP's money isn't the only money being spent in the "compensation programs."
No way no how EVER can there not be taxpayer money involved in the administration of the oil spill "reparations."
People who live in Nevada and never saw a fishing boat in their life except on TV or the Movies will be cashing checks and going to gambling parlors and whorehouses using some of your and my money because the government in it's infinite Imperialistic wisdom doesn't have the ability to make toothpicks let alone distribute $20 billion without screwing up 30% of the process.
Using my money.
And now if you happen to be kidnapped by a known sexual predator and held hostage in the state of California...a state that is already widely known to already be BANKRUPT...you can reach a settlement where the inept government that is in the business of stealing hard working peoples' money and wasting it doing a crap job of law enforcement and worrying about the trans-fats in McDonald's Cheeseburgers and French Fries, win a prize and get $20,000,000 at taxpayer expense...
Not G O V E R N M E N T expense...DAMMIT.
Again I feel sorry for the girl, but TWENTY MILLION?
I guarandamntee you the girl wouldn't have probably earned $50K a year for the past ten years and now instead of $500K before taxes she gets TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS OF OTHER PEOPLES MONEY?
What a program...
Is there a list somewhere where I can sign up to be assaulted with a non lethal crime and then set and snivel and blubber my way into your wallet to the tune of thirty or forty times more than my life would be worth otherwise?
I'm old enought now to actually consider taking that option if it were available.
Is it just me?
I just saw Geraldo "Giant Stinky Mustache" Rivera saying on FOX News that the government was going to pay Jacee Dugard a giant compensation settlement of $20,000,000 because the "officials" botched the investigation of her imprisonment/disappearance at the hands of a idiot pervert sexual predator.
I'm sorry, and I feel sorry for everyone who has something like this happen, and people killed in the 9/11 World Trade Center bombing and now the Gulf Oil spill disaster, but this shit drives me crazy.
If I lose my job because of government ineptitude/market conditions because I'm selling saddles and buggy whips when everyone starts driving cars...I don't feel that I want or need to get a check.
If I have my head beat in in a Pizza Hut in 1979 the government doesn't have to come running to me with a cash settlement even though the City of Atlanta's inept police department can't do much of anything but prosecute murders after the fact and write parking and speeding tickets and arrest people for DUI after having consumed three glasses of wine.
If someone breaks into my home or car or trailer in college I don't go with my hand out expecting the government to hand me compensation for the event.
You do realize that the GOVERNMENT has NO MONEY?
They print it, but they don't own any of it until they take it away from someone and give it to someone else.
In other words, the only money the government has it steals from other people and distributes as it sees fit and based on popular opinion.
And one person killed or maimed is sad but unprofitable, but getting involved in a mass terrorist attack or assaulted by a pervert can apparently today be a very profitable profession.
Thus if you die in a car accident in 2001 you get no check consisting of taxpayer money, but if you have the misfortune of dieing when some wild eyed terrorists flings a commercial airliner into a building and you inhale a little smoke or if you manage to DIE your family hits the JACKPOT?
And then there was the double disaster of Katrina where people are still living on the government dole five years later and now this year if you are a fisherman or crabber or have a hotel or other business supported by tourism on the gulf coast you can run crying to the government and demand a payment...and BP's money isn't the only money being spent in the "compensation programs."
No way no how EVER can there not be taxpayer money involved in the administration of the oil spill "reparations."
People who live in Nevada and never saw a fishing boat in their life except on TV or the Movies will be cashing checks and going to gambling parlors and whorehouses using some of your and my money because the government in it's infinite Imperialistic wisdom doesn't have the ability to make toothpicks let alone distribute $20 billion without screwing up 30% of the process.
Using my money.
And now if you happen to be kidnapped by a known sexual predator and held hostage in the state of California...a state that is already widely known to already be BANKRUPT...you can reach a settlement where the inept government that is in the business of stealing hard working peoples' money and wasting it doing a crap job of law enforcement and worrying about the trans-fats in McDonald's Cheeseburgers and French Fries, win a prize and get $20,000,000 at taxpayer expense...
Not G O V E R N M E N T expense...DAMMIT.
Again I feel sorry for the girl, but TWENTY MILLION?
I guarandamntee you the girl wouldn't have probably earned $50K a year for the past ten years and now instead of $500K before taxes she gets TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS OF OTHER PEOPLES MONEY?
What a program...
Is there a list somewhere where I can sign up to be assaulted with a non lethal crime and then set and snivel and blubber my way into your wallet to the tune of thirty or forty times more than my life would be worth otherwise?
I'm old enought now to actually consider taking that option if it were available.
Is it just me?
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Blackwater Grill on St. Simons Island
I Hang Out With Celebrities???
I'm remiss in not yet mentioning earlier that my buddies John and Jamie, Owners and Chef at Blackwater Grill, finally were broadcast this week on Food Network.
Unfortunately we were already going to be in town for the SSI Red Hot Chili Cook off that next week so we couldn't come down for the filming last April...i.e. you won't have to look at my silly butt in the show...but if you're a Food Network Junkie and watch the re-runs of "Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives" this weekend you might catch a glimpse of our favorite restaurant on our little island.
I've been the guest Chef and cooked with John and Jamie the past two years in the Chili event to raise money for charities and have an invitation to do it again next spring. My cooking skills pale in comparison to their capabilities but as a team we've won Second Place People's Choice two years ago and and are going to keep on trying for First Place.
It's nice when good things happen to good people, and I just talked to Jamie and he says that the Restaurant has enjoyed a substantial increase in business as a result of the TV show exposure.
People are waiting in line, but I can always have table 23 in the back corner next to the marsh.
I'm remiss in not yet mentioning earlier that my buddies John and Jamie, Owners and Chef at Blackwater Grill, finally were broadcast this week on Food Network.
Unfortunately we were already going to be in town for the SSI Red Hot Chili Cook off that next week so we couldn't come down for the filming last April...i.e. you won't have to look at my silly butt in the show...but if you're a Food Network Junkie and watch the re-runs of "Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives" this weekend you might catch a glimpse of our favorite restaurant on our little island.
I've been the guest Chef and cooked with John and Jamie the past two years in the Chili event to raise money for charities and have an invitation to do it again next spring. My cooking skills pale in comparison to their capabilities but as a team we've won Second Place People's Choice two years ago and and are going to keep on trying for First Place.
It's nice when good things happen to good people, and I just talked to Jamie and he says that the Restaurant has enjoyed a substantial increase in business as a result of the TV show exposure.
People are waiting in line, but I can always have table 23 in the back corner next to the marsh.
It's S A T U R D A Y ! ! !
I Hope You Enjoy Yours As Much As I Plan On Enjoying Mine...
I, like most everyone, have a bunch of crap to do this weekend, but I have all weekend to do it so I plan on making a conscious effort at having a good time in the process.
And the weather cooled off here in eastern Tennessee Friday by about 10 degrees F and it rained for a few hours late in the afternoon so I didn't have to run the sprinklers on the garden and front lawn.
I basically plan on getting along knowing I live in the greatest county in the world no matter what the sniveling, tree hugging, booger eating, bed wetting liberal/progressives try to do to it.
Any other option for me means that they win the struggle...
How about you?
I, like most everyone, have a bunch of crap to do this weekend, but I have all weekend to do it so I plan on making a conscious effort at having a good time in the process.
And the weather cooled off here in eastern Tennessee Friday by about 10 degrees F and it rained for a few hours late in the afternoon so I didn't have to run the sprinklers on the garden and front lawn.
I basically plan on getting along knowing I live in the greatest county in the world no matter what the sniveling, tree hugging, booger eating, bed wetting liberal/progressives try to do to it.
Any other option for me means that they win the struggle...
How about you?
Friday, July 09, 2010
The Turbo Pup's Summer Vacation
That's a Darn Fine Little Dog We Got Right There...
So I was sitting around a couple of weeks ago after the tree fell on the roof and the power and phones and Internet was off about 10 hours working like Abe Lincoln using candles and a real oil burning lamp for light
...when I came up with this idea...
Using the tanks of two old cheap pool filters and a new pump and some PVC pipe to make a filter that really works for the pool this little girl enjoys almost every day...
After which on most Saturdays or Sundays she enjoys some of my soon to be internationally famous home made pizzas with my super secret custom crust formula...
And then tonight I put together this monstrosity:
That would be the prototype of my latest engineering design for an uninterpretable power supply for some stuff I'm doing this fall, for the exclusive purpose of maintaining little Missy the Turbo Pup's lifestyle.
I've got over 20 hours in the design and about six hours tonight drilling holes and wiring everything together, so you'll have to excuse me now while I go and lapse into a coma for a few hours.
Regards Y'all...
So I was sitting around a couple of weeks ago after the tree fell on the roof and the power and phones and Internet was off about 10 hours working like Abe Lincoln using candles and a real oil burning lamp for light
...when I came up with this idea...
Using the tanks of two old cheap pool filters and a new pump and some PVC pipe to make a filter that really works for the pool this little girl enjoys almost every day...
After which on most Saturdays or Sundays she enjoys some of my soon to be internationally famous home made pizzas with my super secret custom crust formula...
And then tonight I put together this monstrosity:
That would be the prototype of my latest engineering design for an uninterpretable power supply for some stuff I'm doing this fall, for the exclusive purpose of maintaining little Missy the Turbo Pup's lifestyle.
I've got over 20 hours in the design and about six hours tonight drilling holes and wiring everything together, so you'll have to excuse me now while I go and lapse into a coma for a few hours.
Regards Y'all...
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Big Toe Here...Just Checkin' In
Basement Full Of Stuff To Do...
OK, our house guests just left town a little before noon this morning after an interesting week, and things have quietened down a good deal and the Turbo Pup and I are concentrating on getting back into our ritual of doing nothing all day.
Almost...and after having a week living with a little girl that turns two years old later this month and has a squeal---happy none the less---but a squeal that will shatter the glass headlights in your car and the glass full of vodka in your hand from a distance of somewhere between one hundred and one hundred and twenty five yards.
Whew....
And then this afternoon my replacement Hoffmann electrical enclosure panel and back plate FINALLY showed up so now I'm back in the Programmable Logic Controller business again full time for the next three or four days (after a near week delay) so only God knows what you'll be reading and seeing here on this little slice of the Internet I call home.
I could go crazy and write a bunch of new original stuff or I might fall back on posting links to things I see and read when I have a moment...
and then again you might not find anything at all new here because I'm tired and concentrating on making some semblance of a living .
Don't worry, I still love everyone (OK not really EVERYONE but those of you who are know who you are) and appreciate the attention and good wishes.
Now looking at my special watch and secret decoder ring, I think I still have an hour or so available to be wasted looking at today's crossword and possibly sneak in a nap before dinner.
Wish me luck...Y'all...
OK, our house guests just left town a little before noon this morning after an interesting week, and things have quietened down a good deal and the Turbo Pup and I are concentrating on getting back into our ritual of doing nothing all day.
Almost...and after having a week living with a little girl that turns two years old later this month and has a squeal---happy none the less---but a squeal that will shatter the glass headlights in your car and the glass full of vodka in your hand from a distance of somewhere between one hundred and one hundred and twenty five yards.
Whew....
And then this afternoon my replacement Hoffmann electrical enclosure panel and back plate FINALLY showed up so now I'm back in the Programmable Logic Controller business again full time for the next three or four days (after a near week delay) so only God knows what you'll be reading and seeing here on this little slice of the Internet I call home.
I could go crazy and write a bunch of new original stuff or I might fall back on posting links to things I see and read when I have a moment...
and then again you might not find anything at all new here because I'm tired and concentrating on making some semblance of a living .
Don't worry, I still love everyone (OK not really EVERYONE but those of you who are know who you are) and appreciate the attention and good wishes.
Now looking at my special watch and secret decoder ring, I think I still have an hour or so available to be wasted looking at today's crossword and possibly sneak in a nap before dinner.
Wish me luck...Y'all...
I Wanna' Be Your "Big Toe"
Chicks Dig Me...Because I Rarely Wear Underwear...And If I do It's Something Provocative
I'm busy this morning working on another paying endeavor, but I took time out to fool around a little and thought that I'd share some YouTube clips I found from one of my favorite movies..."Stripes."
It's funny in and of itself, but if you were ever in the military (as I was for a couple of years in the Navy reserve) or grew up around a military base (which I did outside of Ft. Rucker, Alabama...home of Army Aviation) it's even funnier, even without the participation of Bill Murry and John Candy.
Enjoy the memories if you have a few minutes...this came out way back in 1981...TWENTY NINE years ago (Good GOD I'm getting old...)
I'm busy this morning working on another paying endeavor, but I took time out to fool around a little and thought that I'd share some YouTube clips I found from one of my favorite movies..."Stripes."
It's funny in and of itself, but if you were ever in the military (as I was for a couple of years in the Navy reserve) or grew up around a military base (which I did outside of Ft. Rucker, Alabama...home of Army Aviation) it's even funnier, even without the participation of Bill Murry and John Candy.
Enjoy the memories if you have a few minutes...this came out way back in 1981...TWENTY NINE years ago (Good GOD I'm getting old...)
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Fax Me?
Keeping Up With Business Technology...
Today I assume/presume that most people take things like Federal Express and color printer/scanners/Fax machines pretty much for granted.
That is particularly true for people born after the mid 1980's I guess.
I...on the other hand...if I looked around, could have found some carbon paper in a drawer even a recently as ten years ago.
I have an old typewriter still today.
Yet it amazes me the number of web sites on the Internet--places you can only get to by using a Cable Modem or DSL connection or God forbid a dial up connection with America On Line--which still demand that you provide a FAX number when you fill out one of their web based forms.
I just got off of a session with a web page where I was requesting a "sample" of one of their DIN rail mount Electrical Surge Traps (techno mumbo-jumbo...don't ask) and the page demanded I supply a FAX number.
I have two printers in the building which also have "FAX" functions built in, but other than sending stuff to the stupid Federal government and the idiots over in Nashville spending taxpayer money I haven't used a FAX machine for any real business purpose in probably three years.
FAX is obsolete, as far as I'm concerned, when I can simply scan any given document or even print it in PDF format electronically and then attach it to an E-Mail and be done with the process.
For those readers younger than probably 35 or 40, the FAX machine revolutionized business communications and transactions in it's day...about 1985 or so.
In 1985 a fax machine cost over $1,000 and was the size of a small refrigerator.
The FAX machine, along with Federal Express, in my considered Redneck opinion also permanently screwed up business because with overnight mail and instant transmissions...instead of having two or three weeks to work on a proposal and giving your customer a well considered offering with a decent price, purchasing agents started waiting until Wednesday afternoon to send you a request for proposal and expected to have your answer back in their hands by noon the following Friday (basically 1-1/2 day later.)
In the mean time you either had to type your own words using something called WordSTAR, then print out your words on another ancient device called a "dot matrix" printer, and do calculations using a pre Microsoft Excel program called Lotus 123, and...
well...you get my drift.
Still, in the process of lamenting the changes in business over the past 30 years, I still miss some of the quaint ways things worked and the idea of having a "secretary" and her listening to you through your "Dictaphone" instead of having an angry gum chewing lesbian "administrative assistant" who calls in sick every Tuesday after a Monday or Friday holiday.
Don't get me wrong...we had angry lesbians back then(Google Rosie O'Donnell), but you had the right to not have to hire one to sit inside the front door of your office without risking having the AFLCIO and American Civil Liberties Union serving you with court documents.
I'm not quite sure what angry women have to do with FAX machines other than I have little use of either these days, and I have to go now and see if I can fire up a game of Space Invaders or Asteroids or Frogger on my Commadore 64 because I'm too tired to keep writing.
Today I assume/presume that most people take things like Federal Express and color printer/scanners/Fax machines pretty much for granted.
That is particularly true for people born after the mid 1980's I guess.
I...on the other hand...if I looked around, could have found some carbon paper in a drawer even a recently as ten years ago.
I have an old typewriter still today.
Yet it amazes me the number of web sites on the Internet--places you can only get to by using a Cable Modem or DSL connection or God forbid a dial up connection with America On Line--which still demand that you provide a FAX number when you fill out one of their web based forms.
I just got off of a session with a web page where I was requesting a "sample" of one of their DIN rail mount Electrical Surge Traps (techno mumbo-jumbo...don't ask) and the page demanded I supply a FAX number.
I have two printers in the building which also have "FAX" functions built in, but other than sending stuff to the stupid Federal government and the idiots over in Nashville spending taxpayer money I haven't used a FAX machine for any real business purpose in probably three years.
FAX is obsolete, as far as I'm concerned, when I can simply scan any given document or even print it in PDF format electronically and then attach it to an E-Mail and be done with the process.
For those readers younger than probably 35 or 40, the FAX machine revolutionized business communications and transactions in it's day...about 1985 or so.
In 1985 a fax machine cost over $1,000 and was the size of a small refrigerator.
The FAX machine, along with Federal Express, in my considered Redneck opinion also permanently screwed up business because with overnight mail and instant transmissions...instead of having two or three weeks to work on a proposal and giving your customer a well considered offering with a decent price, purchasing agents started waiting until Wednesday afternoon to send you a request for proposal and expected to have your answer back in their hands by noon the following Friday (basically 1-1/2 day later.)
In the mean time you either had to type your own words using something called WordSTAR, then print out your words on another ancient device called a "dot matrix" printer, and do calculations using a pre Microsoft Excel program called Lotus 123, and...
well...you get my drift.
Still, in the process of lamenting the changes in business over the past 30 years, I still miss some of the quaint ways things worked and the idea of having a "secretary" and her listening to you through your "Dictaphone" instead of having an angry gum chewing lesbian "administrative assistant" who calls in sick every Tuesday after a Monday or Friday holiday.
Don't get me wrong...we had angry lesbians back then(Google Rosie O'Donnell), but you had the right to not have to hire one to sit inside the front door of your office without risking having the AFLCIO and American Civil Liberties Union serving you with court documents.
I'm not quite sure what angry women have to do with FAX machines other than I have little use of either these days, and I have to go now and see if I can fire up a game of Space Invaders or Asteroids or Frogger on my Commadore 64 because I'm too tired to keep writing.
Monday, July 05, 2010
Out Smarting Myself
Haste Makes Waste...
Well, after spending most of last week complaining and worrying about getting an entire PLC control panel in the door in the form of pieces and parts and wire spools, I still managed to end up not getting a darn thing done this extended holiday weekend because of some last minute changes made due to parts/material availability.
Of all things...the "enclosure"...the big metal box which I was going to put everything in ended up being too small because the UPS--Uninterruptable Power Supply--I was using wouldn't fit.
And it wouldn't fit because the unit I would have normally ordered was not available until August, so the company GAVE me the next larger size for the same price on a rush order basis.
I knew that it would be a tight fit physically, but I was willing to give it a try because I already had the panel ordered and on its way but when I opened everything up and laid it all out there was no way to squeeze it all together.
So now I'm stuck waiting on a return authorization and for the larger panel to get here on Wednesday or Thursday.
This kind of crap happens to me every year, all the time around the "holidays." I sit around here doing almost nothing every day all day...then I get busy and it never fails that I come up against a three day weekend or Christmas or something and BAM...I'm late and in a hurry.
Oh well...at least I have paying work, even if it is to be done on a rush basis, and then when I'm finished I can get on with trying to find out a way to be late on the next project.
It's tough being me...but somebody's got to do it...
Well, after spending most of last week complaining and worrying about getting an entire PLC control panel in the door in the form of pieces and parts and wire spools, I still managed to end up not getting a darn thing done this extended holiday weekend because of some last minute changes made due to parts/material availability.
Of all things...the "enclosure"...the big metal box which I was going to put everything in ended up being too small because the UPS--Uninterruptable Power Supply--I was using wouldn't fit.
And it wouldn't fit because the unit I would have normally ordered was not available until August, so the company GAVE me the next larger size for the same price on a rush order basis.
I knew that it would be a tight fit physically, but I was willing to give it a try because I already had the panel ordered and on its way but when I opened everything up and laid it all out there was no way to squeeze it all together.
So now I'm stuck waiting on a return authorization and for the larger panel to get here on Wednesday or Thursday.
This kind of crap happens to me every year, all the time around the "holidays." I sit around here doing almost nothing every day all day...then I get busy and it never fails that I come up against a three day weekend or Christmas or something and BAM...I'm late and in a hurry.
Oh well...at least I have paying work, even if it is to be done on a rush basis, and then when I'm finished I can get on with trying to find out a way to be late on the next project.
It's tough being me...but somebody's got to do it...
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Independence Day
Is it the "4th" or the "Forth" of July?
I don't know about you, but I've pretty much excelled at doing virtually nothing so far this holiday weekend, and loved every minute of the wasted time.
Wait, let me check and think for a minute...
Yeap...I'm pretty sure that if you don't count cooking and drinking and breathing, I've been pretty successful (at doing nothing since Friday.) We've had family in town visiting from the Pittsburgh area since Thursday night so I've had to modify my normal nocturnal schedule to keep up with everyone and be a good host and thus the computer work and blogging has been suffering a little as a result I guess.
I just noticed I even avoided finding anything to write about on Saturday and with the exception of this posting I almost missed Sunday also.
Go figure...
In local news...we're up to our eyeballs with tomatoes around here right now. I've planted five different varieties which have all been growing for about nine weeks now and some of the plants are over 6 feet tall and I'm picking somewhere between a half dozen and a dozen tomatoes every day.
I have some "fifty day" middle sized plants which have been producing for a couple of weeks, and this week my Purple Heirloom and giant "Best Boy" plants have started coming in, and I still have another generic plant I bought on sale at the grocery store and three Romano plants I started from seeds this spring which have yet to bear any fruit.
Then today I noticed that my Squash plants are finally setting a few Squash and the little Cucumbers are coming in two or three at a time each day and all in all life's just plain good here in Eastern Tennessee at the Turbo Pup Compound.
Vegetable gardening has always been a hit or miss endeavor for me until this year because I either was just plain lazy or didn't have the time and resources to plant a decent garden.
But this old house has had large garden plots all around it since the early 1960's under the previous owner's auspices, and all I had to do this year was bust up the ground and plant whatever I wanted and then do a little watering and wait a couple of months and here we are.
I felt like that it would have been some sort of crime for us to NOT use the fertile earth to make some stuff to put on a few sandwiches and in some salad bowls when we didn't have anything else to do.
And back to the 4th of July, in spite of all of the crap in the news showing angry stupid people bitching and complaining about everything and anything, I'm dang proud of our Country in whatever shape and form the idiots in Washington DC try to morph it into, and I'm glad I was born in the USA, in Lower Alabama a couple of decades after WWII and have had the opportunity to succeed or fail based on my own ability and efforts rather than waiting around for the "officials" to reach into someone else's pocket and hand me cash.
No matter what the laws say today or will say 20 years from now, I'm as independent as I want to be in my own soul...and my soul is the last thing I'll surrender on Independence day or any other day on the calendar.
I wish a few more people twenty or thirty years yonger than me could understand this simple concept...without listining to the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and thinking they have it hard in life.
God Bless America...
I don't know about you, but I've pretty much excelled at doing virtually nothing so far this holiday weekend, and loved every minute of the wasted time.
Wait, let me check and think for a minute...
Yeap...I'm pretty sure that if you don't count cooking and drinking and breathing, I've been pretty successful (at doing nothing since Friday.) We've had family in town visiting from the Pittsburgh area since Thursday night so I've had to modify my normal nocturnal schedule to keep up with everyone and be a good host and thus the computer work and blogging has been suffering a little as a result I guess.
I just noticed I even avoided finding anything to write about on Saturday and with the exception of this posting I almost missed Sunday also.
Go figure...
In local news...we're up to our eyeballs with tomatoes around here right now. I've planted five different varieties which have all been growing for about nine weeks now and some of the plants are over 6 feet tall and I'm picking somewhere between a half dozen and a dozen tomatoes every day.
I have some "fifty day" middle sized plants which have been producing for a couple of weeks, and this week my Purple Heirloom and giant "Best Boy" plants have started coming in, and I still have another generic plant I bought on sale at the grocery store and three Romano plants I started from seeds this spring which have yet to bear any fruit.
Then today I noticed that my Squash plants are finally setting a few Squash and the little Cucumbers are coming in two or three at a time each day and all in all life's just plain good here in Eastern Tennessee at the Turbo Pup Compound.
Vegetable gardening has always been a hit or miss endeavor for me until this year because I either was just plain lazy or didn't have the time and resources to plant a decent garden.
But this old house has had large garden plots all around it since the early 1960's under the previous owner's auspices, and all I had to do this year was bust up the ground and plant whatever I wanted and then do a little watering and wait a couple of months and here we are.
I felt like that it would have been some sort of crime for us to NOT use the fertile earth to make some stuff to put on a few sandwiches and in some salad bowls when we didn't have anything else to do.
And back to the 4th of July, in spite of all of the crap in the news showing angry stupid people bitching and complaining about everything and anything, I'm dang proud of our Country in whatever shape and form the idiots in Washington DC try to morph it into, and I'm glad I was born in the USA, in Lower Alabama a couple of decades after WWII and have had the opportunity to succeed or fail based on my own ability and efforts rather than waiting around for the "officials" to reach into someone else's pocket and hand me cash.
No matter what the laws say today or will say 20 years from now, I'm as independent as I want to be in my own soul...and my soul is the last thing I'll surrender on Independence day or any other day on the calendar.
I wish a few more people twenty or thirty years yonger than me could understand this simple concept...without listining to the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and thinking they have it hard in life.
God Bless America...
Friday, July 02, 2010
Thursday, July 01, 2010
H1N1?
More Stupid Crap We're Encouraged To Forget About
Remember last fall?
you know...
Last Fall when the so called Media...
What I call the "lamestream media" was busy telling you that everyone over the age of 21 and under the age of 22 was going to DIE...
because of a world wide Pandemic called...
the H1N1 Virus...
Stupidshits idiots they all are...your local news writers and newspaper reporters as they tell you what the ASSociated Press tells them to tell you.
Fox News just ran a story where over 40% of the H1N1 virus vaccine was being destroyed because it had expired and the H1N1 virus never actually became the threat the media and more importantly...our government...was trying to tell you it was.
We're all surrounded by "useful idiots" Ladies and Gentlemen.
It's just that simple.
You can either be a "useful idiot", else be someone like me that knows the difference between sanity and insanity, and how to keep your body and your wallet out of the fray...
Remember last fall?
you know...
Last Fall when the so called Media...
What I call the "lamestream media" was busy telling you that everyone over the age of 21 and under the age of 22 was going to DIE...
because of a world wide Pandemic called...
the H1N1 Virus...
Stupid
Fox News just ran a story where over 40% of the H1N1 virus vaccine was being destroyed because it had expired and the H1N1 virus never actually became the threat the media and more importantly...our government...was trying to tell you it was.
We're all surrounded by "useful idiots" Ladies and Gentlemen.
It's just that simple.
You can either be a "useful idiot", else be someone like me that knows the difference between sanity and insanity, and how to keep your body and your wallet out of the fray...
Can You You Can Trust Your Car To The Man Who Wears The Star?
Not According To The Government F**k heads shit heads Minds Full Of Mush...
Check out what the idiots in the State Legislature out in Nevada...home of Dingy Harry Reid are up to:
A Nevada legislative subcommittee has agreed to seek a bill requiring auto shops to check the air pressure in customer vehicles.
State Sen. Mike Schneider, a Las Vegas Democrat, says it will increase highway safety, save gas and reduce air pollution.
The bill would be considered during the 2011 legislative session.
Not all lawmakers were for it.
Republican Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert of Reno said while checking air pressure in tires is a good idea, she opposed mandating tire checks, saying it comes down to personal responsibility.
These dumbasses want to run BP out of business, after 50 years of legislation that put "full serve" gas stations like this one out of business:
And then they have the gall to pass a law demanding that the boys and girls working in auto repair shops check my tire pressure under penalty of LAW.
Are they going to just fine the little pimple faced kid, or put him in JAIL for violating the mandate?
And who's going to enforce this action?
Are they going to have the police standing around in the local Midas Muffler and Precision Tune shops writing tickets and pointing tasers and guns at people that refuse to have their tire pressure checked?
Come to think of it, the last time I was up in New Jersey or Delaware...I forget because all of the lost brain cells...but some places up there it's still AGAINST THE LAW for you to pump your own gasoline into your own car.
I say that we all be A F R A I D...vewwy Afraid...of these elected shit heads...Ladies and Gentlemen.
And I wish that they'd spend some of my tax money and buy themselves a CLUE...
Check out what the idiots in the State Legislature out in Nevada...home of Dingy Harry Reid are up to:
A Nevada legislative subcommittee has agreed to seek a bill requiring auto shops to check the air pressure in customer vehicles.
State Sen. Mike Schneider, a Las Vegas Democrat, says it will increase highway safety, save gas and reduce air pollution.
The bill would be considered during the 2011 legislative session.
Not all lawmakers were for it.
Republican Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert of Reno said while checking air pressure in tires is a good idea, she opposed mandating tire checks, saying it comes down to personal responsibility.
These dumbasses want to run BP out of business, after 50 years of legislation that put "full serve" gas stations like this one out of business:
And then they have the gall to pass a law demanding that the boys and girls working in auto repair shops check my tire pressure under penalty of LAW.
Are they going to just fine the little pimple faced kid, or put him in JAIL for violating the mandate?
And who's going to enforce this action?
Are they going to have the police standing around in the local Midas Muffler and Precision Tune shops writing tickets and pointing tasers and guns at people that refuse to have their tire pressure checked?
Come to think of it, the last time I was up in New Jersey or Delaware...I forget because all of the lost brain cells...but some places up there it's still AGAINST THE LAW for you to pump your own gasoline into your own car.
I say that we all be A F R A I D...vewwy Afraid...of these elected shit heads...Ladies and Gentlemen.
And I wish that they'd spend some of my tax money and buy themselves a CLUE...
Capitalizing On The Oil Spill
"Mixing" Business With Pleasure
So we were out last evening wandering down to one of our local watering holes before hitting the Kroger 4th of July meat sale, and when we got to the restaurant the bar was full up to the rafters.
It pisses me off to attend any establishment when it's packed...especially on a mid week night.
We ended up standing up down by the service bar area which is no problem because we know most of the staff, and when the little girl tending bar asked for our order she already knew Pat wanted Pinot G and a small glass of ice on the side, and to me she said "Summer" or "Winter"?
Everybody around here knows that "Winter" for me is happy hour well bourbon and coke...double, tall, in a water glass with ice.
"Summer," likewise, is a Sea Breeze which, for the uninformed, is Vodka, Grapefruit, and Cranberry juice.
Again double, tall, in a water glass with lots of ice.
But for some reason, off the top of my head (and I'm not making this up) I said...
I want a "Gulf Breeze"....
"What?"
That would be Vodka, Grapefruit, Cranberry Juice, no ice...wait...with a shot of Kahlua...and...a little olive oil...floated on top.
(an oil slick...get it?????)
Brought the house down...I'm telling ya...
I made a mental note to write the idea down, and about eight hours later I still remembered it so here it is for your enjoyment.
And if you leave the Olive oil out I bet the drink would sell right now everywhere between Pascagoula and Pensacola.
Am I in the wrong business?
Wait...doing nothing most of the time isn't a business...so it just might be an improvement.
So we were out last evening wandering down to one of our local watering holes before hitting the Kroger 4th of July meat sale, and when we got to the restaurant the bar was full up to the rafters.
It pisses me off to attend any establishment when it's packed...especially on a mid week night.
We ended up standing up down by the service bar area which is no problem because we know most of the staff, and when the little girl tending bar asked for our order she already knew Pat wanted Pinot G and a small glass of ice on the side, and to me she said "Summer" or "Winter"?
Everybody around here knows that "Winter" for me is happy hour well bourbon and coke...double, tall, in a water glass with ice.
"Summer," likewise, is a Sea Breeze which, for the uninformed, is Vodka, Grapefruit, and Cranberry juice.
Again double, tall, in a water glass with lots of ice.
But for some reason, off the top of my head (and I'm not making this up) I said...
I want a "Gulf Breeze"....
"What?"
That would be Vodka, Grapefruit, Cranberry Juice, no ice...wait...with a shot of Kahlua...and...a little olive oil...floated on top.
(an oil slick...get it?????)
Brought the house down...I'm telling ya...
I made a mental note to write the idea down, and about eight hours later I still remembered it so here it is for your enjoyment.
And if you leave the Olive oil out I bet the drink would sell right now everywhere between Pascagoula and Pensacola.
Am I in the wrong business?
Wait...doing nothing most of the time isn't a business...so it just might be an improvement.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Silence
Better I'm Quiet Else I'd Write/Say Something Like This....
"Huhh he haa ho hu he hunght ee ah ah oh blughehehehehehehahght"
Maybe the Senate will call me to testify at the Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Me uttering something like this would make more sense than the silly asenine stuff I've been hearing...in my considered Redneck opinion.
Is it just me?
"Huhh he haa ho hu he hunght ee ah ah oh blughehehehehehehahght"
Maybe the Senate will call me to testify at the Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Me uttering something like this would make more sense than the silly asenine stuff I've been hearing...in my considered Redneck opinion.
Is it just me?
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Shuussshhhh....Be Veeewie Quiet...
I'm Hunting Wabbits Building PLC Panels
You get the picture.
So go read the news and find something stupid to mentally complain about until I can get back here and point some stuff out to you.
You get the picture.
So go read the news and find something stupid to mentally complain about until I can get back here and point some stuff out to you.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
New Week...New Attitude
Diagnosing My Own Insanity...
I think, after much introspect and consideration, that I've finally figured out what's wrong around here--at least with me.
I call it Beach Deficiency Syndrome (BDS for short.)
If there is such a thing, I'm pretty sure that I have a bad case of it (BDS) right now.
As a test of my theory, I went out and bought another 250 pounds of "play sand" at Home Depot yesterday and after weeding the Turbo Pup Beach I spread it out and raked it fairly smooth and the effect was immediate...but short lived.
I felt pretty good while working up another batch of Pizza dough and making a giant mostly meat "garbage" pizza.
Andouilli sausage, crab meat, ham, bacon, and pepperoni with sweet colored peppers, mushrooms, and Kalamata Olives thrown on top for good measure.
Diet Pizza...in other words (if you ignore the 3/4 pound of Mozzarella Cheese.)
Thinking about things, I realised that by this time last year on the calendar I had spent about three weeks wandering around Panama City and Mexico Beach, Florida...with two or three extra nights spent down on Cedar Key and another three or four nights on St. Simons Island, GA.
This year?
One measly trip to St. Simons for the Chili Cookoff--with ZERO pool or beach time due to the schedule--and a quick trip to Ft. Walton/Destin to visit my old Uncle John. On that trip I actually SAW the beach but didn't have time to go out and lay on it.
Seriously Ladies and Gentlemen, the chemistry of my body requires a certain minimum amount of time spent reclining in the salt air squinting at the sun else I become mentally and physically ill.
Sort of like a Vampire needing to sleep in a coffin in some old dirt from Transylvania I guess.
There's worse things to suffer from I guess.
I could want to spend time riding a subway in NY City or sitting around watching Soccer or Rugby games in Philadelphia or watching people dressed in Nun's habits throw pig blood on women wearing fur coats in San Francisco.
Or I could want to run around burning police cars and breaking shop windows in Vancouver at the G-20 Summit while the feckless police stand around and wag their fingers and threaten to issue me a ticket or something.
But nooooooooo, all I need to restore my equilibrium is a frozen drink or a cold beer and about 100 yards of sand and a turquoise body of water nearby.
Since the Turbo Pup compound is too small to encompass 100 years of sand (and I'm too old and tired to haul that much sand around), I've set my sights on the last week of July on the calendar and am planning a "therapeutic" session on the Gulf Coast--oil spill be damned.
In the mean time I'm going back to work...working my butt off to sell some more stuff and produce the stuff already sold and in the building, and maybe that will get me back to my normal cranky blogging self.
I'm going to go read some news and blogs now and see if I can work up a good head of steam sufficient to cause me to write a good rant in the next 24 hours.
Stay tuned to this channel, and Regards Y'all...
I think, after much introspect and consideration, that I've finally figured out what's wrong around here--at least with me.
I call it Beach Deficiency Syndrome (BDS for short.)
If there is such a thing, I'm pretty sure that I have a bad case of it (BDS) right now.
As a test of my theory, I went out and bought another 250 pounds of "play sand" at Home Depot yesterday and after weeding the Turbo Pup Beach I spread it out and raked it fairly smooth and the effect was immediate...but short lived.
I felt pretty good while working up another batch of Pizza dough and making a giant mostly meat "garbage" pizza.
Andouilli sausage, crab meat, ham, bacon, and pepperoni with sweet colored peppers, mushrooms, and Kalamata Olives thrown on top for good measure.
Diet Pizza...in other words (if you ignore the 3/4 pound of Mozzarella Cheese.)
Thinking about things, I realised that by this time last year on the calendar I had spent about three weeks wandering around Panama City and Mexico Beach, Florida...with two or three extra nights spent down on Cedar Key and another three or four nights on St. Simons Island, GA.
This year?
One measly trip to St. Simons for the Chili Cookoff--with ZERO pool or beach time due to the schedule--and a quick trip to Ft. Walton/Destin to visit my old Uncle John. On that trip I actually SAW the beach but didn't have time to go out and lay on it.
Seriously Ladies and Gentlemen, the chemistry of my body requires a certain minimum amount of time spent reclining in the salt air squinting at the sun else I become mentally and physically ill.
Sort of like a Vampire needing to sleep in a coffin in some old dirt from Transylvania I guess.
There's worse things to suffer from I guess.
I could want to spend time riding a subway in NY City or sitting around watching Soccer or Rugby games in Philadelphia or watching people dressed in Nun's habits throw pig blood on women wearing fur coats in San Francisco.
Or I could want to run around burning police cars and breaking shop windows in Vancouver at the G-20 Summit while the feckless police stand around and wag their fingers and threaten to issue me a ticket or something.
But nooooooooo, all I need to restore my equilibrium is a frozen drink or a cold beer and about 100 yards of sand and a turquoise body of water nearby.
Since the Turbo Pup compound is too small to encompass 100 years of sand (and I'm too old and tired to haul that much sand around), I've set my sights on the last week of July on the calendar and am planning a "therapeutic" session on the Gulf Coast--oil spill be damned.
In the mean time I'm going back to work...working my butt off to sell some more stuff and produce the stuff already sold and in the building, and maybe that will get me back to my normal cranky blogging self.
I'm going to go read some news and blogs now and see if I can work up a good head of steam sufficient to cause me to write a good rant in the next 24 hours.
Stay tuned to this channel, and Regards Y'all...
