Goin' To A Party...Meet Me On After School...
Back in the late 1970's I managed to walk over from my dorm room in downtown Atlanta at Georgia Tech with some friends across I75/I85 to the Fox Theater on Peachtree Street to see a number of really excellent concerts.
In the process I managed to see the rock band CheapTrick twice I think...featuring Rick Neislen on lead guitar, Bun E. Carlos on drums, Robin Zander singing lead and playing rythym guitar, and Tom Peterssen on Base Guitar.
Any way, I was fooling around this morning trying to get my head screwed on straight in contemplation of the things I have to get done over the next four to six weeks and I found this video of the band ten years after I've last seen them...in Houston in 1989. (If you are not a Cheep Trick fan bear with the intro and skip to about the middle point of the video where the song really starts playing.)
Then of course there is this song...
Y'all have a LOVELY weekend...if you will (I'm heading out of town for a while)
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Big HUGE Changes Are Coming
Stay Tuned To This Channel For More Information...
I have too much to do to spend any more time writing right now.
Talk to Y'all later I guess...wish me luck...
I have too much to do to spend any more time writing right now.
Talk to Y'all later I guess...wish me luck...
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Food Tip O' The Day
Stuff You Might Not Otherwise Know About...
For a few years now I've been cooking a good deal of stuff based on Eastern and Southern Mediterranean recipes...
Stuff from Turkey and Lebanon and Morocco specifically.
Needless to say they do things a little differently over there and some of the ingredients are hard to find here in the US at your local Kroger or Publix Grocer.
Tonight I made a Crisp Rrosemary Flatbread made based on this recipe...basically flour and water and baking powder and some oilve oil and salt and rosemary. I added a little white pepper for a little kick.
Then I put together a plate around my bread with some Green and Kalamata Olives and the
Moroccan Pepper spice blend called Hharissa sold on line and here locally in a specialty Grocer by a company called Mustaphas.
The other ingredients on the plate was some Cultured "Labne" Kkefir Cheese which beats the heck out of sour cream and cream cheese and whole milk ricotta cheese.
My mouth is burning in a good sort of way and my eyes are watering a little but MAN...
I'd pay money for this kind of stuff if I could find it in a restaurant.
But then again...why pay restaurant prices when I can make it myself here at home in the middle of the night?
(by the way if you are not paying attention anything I write published in RED is a link to a website and all you have to do is click on it to go there...)
For a few years now I've been cooking a good deal of stuff based on Eastern and Southern Mediterranean recipes...
Stuff from Turkey and Lebanon and Morocco specifically.
Needless to say they do things a little differently over there and some of the ingredients are hard to find here in the US at your local Kroger or Publix Grocer.
Tonight I made a Crisp Rrosemary Flatbread made based on this recipe...basically flour and water and baking powder and some oilve oil and salt and rosemary. I added a little white pepper for a little kick.
Then I put together a plate around my bread with some Green and Kalamata Olives and the
Moroccan Pepper spice blend called Hharissa sold on line and here locally in a specialty Grocer by a company called Mustaphas.
The other ingredients on the plate was some Cultured "Labne" Kkefir Cheese which beats the heck out of sour cream and cream cheese and whole milk ricotta cheese.
My mouth is burning in a good sort of way and my eyes are watering a little but MAN...
I'd pay money for this kind of stuff if I could find it in a restaurant.
But then again...why pay restaurant prices when I can make it myself here at home in the middle of the night?
(by the way if you are not paying attention anything I write published in RED is a link to a website and all you have to do is click on it to go there...)
You Get What You Pay For Are Paid For
Government Induced Ineptitude & Stupidity
Wow...I just made myself a killer batch of Crisp Rosemary Flatbread at 3:15 AM in the morning because I Googled it and I wanted a snack and nothing in my ever growing arsenal of recipes fit the needs of my taste buds at the moment.
It came out pretty good I think...
Then in the process...less than 30 minutes for two batches of baking powder based thin crispy cracker like dough to come together and cook...I started thinking about how many people have been dumbed down or otherwise raised today with a basic inability to survive unless they can go to Taco Bell or Burger King or go into their kitchen at 3:15 AM and reach into the pantry or fridge/freezer and get out a box of some MSG and preservative laden slop and toss it into the microwave oven.
You know?
I could start a fire in the back yard--I have the charcoal and wood--and cook this flatbread on a cast iron skillet...
Yet the poor people armed only with microwaves are crap out of luck if the power is off and FEMA has declared an EMERGENCY and is mobilizing into their area of our country.
Let's face it Ladies and Gentlemen...in the past 75 years or so our country and our citizenry has allowed themselves to be made helpless in the face of earthquake and wildfire and tornadoes and hurricanes and even famine because they have to open a Government Provided and Approved shrink wrapped yellow or orange box of bullcrap in order to just avoid starvation.
Most will die from either not having water at all or not knowing how to determine if the water is safe for drinking and if it isn't not know how to filter and sanitize it to a condition where it is not poison.
I guarandamtee you that in 1935 that was not the conditions here in the United By-God States of 'Merica.
In 1935 my Father's family and my Mother's family used outhouses, and they pumped their water for drinking and washing and watering their livestock from a well on their properties. I don't believe either side of the family had electricity until after World War II....I'll check and get back with you on that detail.
Any way...while my Father's family worked in the Coal mines of West Virginia and had access to the "Company Store" for some provisions, they also raised a garden and new how to shoot a gun and if things got lean the occasional deer or squirrel or rabbit might appear on the table beside a chicken or rooster from the back yard.
Same way down in lower Alabama on my Mother's side of the Family Tree. My Grandfather "Pa" Rushing had a hand dug well with a Windmill and a Smokehouse for curing meats, a Hay Barn, a Corn Crib, a Sugar Cane mill on 355 acres of land he paid cash for with a house he built by hand with lumber harvested and had sawed and milled from the property.
"Pa" Rushing could live for several months without going to town if he didn't want to I suspect...and town was only three or four miles away and he owned a car and a Ford Tractor and even a couple of sweet old tame Holstein Milk Cows that could get him there if he wanted.
My point is this...this morning.
There is a insidious, dangerous, creeping poison which is working it's way into our society and country.
A little "tax increase on the wealthy" HERE with an ever evolving definition of what "wealthy" is...
And a little "extension of unemployment benefits" THERE with the Government screwing with the private sector and making it less painful for people that actually believe that it's the Government's job to "produce Jobs."
And right now it's pretty much certain that over 75% of our population would die within a year if all of our so called "infrastructure" went away and they were left to their own capabilities and devices.
Think April 1776 in America.
Of course some would just take their guns and run out and rob and kill and steal to get food and the other "stuff" that they believe that they needed.
And some would just wander around aimlessly and fall off a clift or into a river and die.
And then all of the Democrats would run out of other people's money to spend and they'd all be tar and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail (to quote Samuel Clemmons.)
And then you know what else might happen?
The PRODUCERS...
the people like me and some of you that have benefited from and in the day helped start this country and make it great at times in its history...
They'd end up being in charge and owning stuff and making stuff again.
Somewhere I read where if you took all of the wealth in the entire world and divided it up and distributed it equally to every single person on the planet, that within 100 years the same groups/nationalities/races of people would have most of the money and the same groups/nationality/races of people would be broke.
It's not about fairness and equality and government driven "income redistribution".
It's not racism and bigotry.
Other than catastrophic illness or birth defects or certain unspecified issues, in general I say that it is a CULTURAL PROBLEM which puts people in the position they are in in life.
Drop out of a free 12 year government paid education...?
Minimum wage.
Get pregnant twice before you are 16?
WIC and Welfare.
Sit your lazy ass on the couch and smoke Crack and clean your pistols all day?
Prison.
It's just that simple...and I'M FREAKING TIRED OF LISTENING TO THE POLITICIANS TELLING ME THAT I DON'T PAY MY FAIR SHARE--EVEN AT MY CURRENT TEMPORARY INCOME LEVEL--and that somehow if we can just throw some more of yours and my money at the problem we'll solve this situation.
President Johnson swore that Welfare would help bring the "less fortunate" people out of poverty.
Almost 50 years later all it has done is paid people to stay in the situation the government defines as poverty, living a a lifestyle level which is considered middle class in many European countries.
I'm so tired of this stupid crap my head wants to explode every day. I write about it here to let off steam and to keep Pat from beating me with her Dustbuster.
We can't even watch TV together most of the time other than game shows because I start foaming at the mouth and yelling.
My dog gets all concerned and afraid and goes and hides in her crate because she thinks something is wrong if I'm watching CNN or NBC or CBS news.
AhhhhhHHHHHH
ahhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Clunk (the sound of me falling out of my chair.)
Wow...I just made myself a killer batch of Crisp Rosemary Flatbread at 3:15 AM in the morning because I Googled it and I wanted a snack and nothing in my ever growing arsenal of recipes fit the needs of my taste buds at the moment.
It came out pretty good I think...
Then in the process...less than 30 minutes for two batches of baking powder based thin crispy cracker like dough to come together and cook...I started thinking about how many people have been dumbed down or otherwise raised today with a basic inability to survive unless they can go to Taco Bell or Burger King or go into their kitchen at 3:15 AM and reach into the pantry or fridge/freezer and get out a box of some MSG and preservative laden slop and toss it into the microwave oven.
You know?
I could start a fire in the back yard--I have the charcoal and wood--and cook this flatbread on a cast iron skillet...
Yet the poor people armed only with microwaves are crap out of luck if the power is off and FEMA has declared an EMERGENCY and is mobilizing into their area of our country.
Let's face it Ladies and Gentlemen...in the past 75 years or so our country and our citizenry has allowed themselves to be made helpless in the face of earthquake and wildfire and tornadoes and hurricanes and even famine because they have to open a Government Provided and Approved shrink wrapped yellow or orange box of bullcrap in order to just avoid starvation.
Most will die from either not having water at all or not knowing how to determine if the water is safe for drinking and if it isn't not know how to filter and sanitize it to a condition where it is not poison.
I guarandamtee you that in 1935 that was not the conditions here in the United By-God States of 'Merica.
In 1935 my Father's family and my Mother's family used outhouses, and they pumped their water for drinking and washing and watering their livestock from a well on their properties. I don't believe either side of the family had electricity until after World War II....I'll check and get back with you on that detail.
Any way...while my Father's family worked in the Coal mines of West Virginia and had access to the "Company Store" for some provisions, they also raised a garden and new how to shoot a gun and if things got lean the occasional deer or squirrel or rabbit might appear on the table beside a chicken or rooster from the back yard.
Same way down in lower Alabama on my Mother's side of the Family Tree. My Grandfather "Pa" Rushing had a hand dug well with a Windmill and a Smokehouse for curing meats, a Hay Barn, a Corn Crib, a Sugar Cane mill on 355 acres of land he paid cash for with a house he built by hand with lumber harvested and had sawed and milled from the property.
"Pa" Rushing could live for several months without going to town if he didn't want to I suspect...and town was only three or four miles away and he owned a car and a Ford Tractor and even a couple of sweet old tame Holstein Milk Cows that could get him there if he wanted.
My point is this...this morning.
There is a insidious, dangerous, creeping poison which is working it's way into our society and country.
A little "tax increase on the wealthy" HERE with an ever evolving definition of what "wealthy" is...
And a little "extension of unemployment benefits" THERE with the Government screwing with the private sector and making it less painful for people that actually believe that it's the Government's job to "produce Jobs."
And right now it's pretty much certain that over 75% of our population would die within a year if all of our so called "infrastructure" went away and they were left to their own capabilities and devices.
Think April 1776 in America.
Of course some would just take their guns and run out and rob and kill and steal to get food and the other "stuff" that they believe that they needed.
And some would just wander around aimlessly and fall off a clift or into a river and die.
And then all of the Democrats would run out of other people's money to spend and they'd all be tar and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail (to quote Samuel Clemmons.)
And then you know what else might happen?
The PRODUCERS...
the people like me and some of you that have benefited from and in the day helped start this country and make it great at times in its history...
They'd end up being in charge and owning stuff and making stuff again.
Somewhere I read where if you took all of the wealth in the entire world and divided it up and distributed it equally to every single person on the planet, that within 100 years the same groups/nationalities/races of people would have most of the money and the same groups/nationality/races of people would be broke.
It's not about fairness and equality and government driven "income redistribution".
It's not racism and bigotry.
Other than catastrophic illness or birth defects or certain unspecified issues, in general I say that it is a CULTURAL PROBLEM which puts people in the position they are in in life.
Drop out of a free 12 year government paid education...?
Minimum wage.
Get pregnant twice before you are 16?
WIC and Welfare.
Sit your lazy ass on the couch and smoke Crack and clean your pistols all day?
Prison.
It's just that simple...and I'M FREAKING TIRED OF LISTENING TO THE POLITICIANS TELLING ME THAT I DON'T PAY MY FAIR SHARE--EVEN AT MY CURRENT TEMPORARY INCOME LEVEL--and that somehow if we can just throw some more of yours and my money at the problem we'll solve this situation.
President Johnson swore that Welfare would help bring the "less fortunate" people out of poverty.
Almost 50 years later all it has done is paid people to stay in the situation the government defines as poverty, living a a lifestyle level which is considered middle class in many European countries.
I'm so tired of this stupid crap my head wants to explode every day. I write about it here to let off steam and to keep Pat from beating me with her Dustbuster.
We can't even watch TV together most of the time other than game shows because I start foaming at the mouth and yelling.
My dog gets all concerned and afraid and goes and hides in her crate because she thinks something is wrong if I'm watching CNN or NBC or CBS news.
AhhhhhHHHHHH
ahhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Clunk (the sound of me falling out of my chair.)
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Obama Still Full Of Crap
He Needs A Good Ass Whoopin' Economics Lesson...
In writing this blog posting this morning I assume that probably 99% of my readers are non-pilots, and further, I assume that 99.9% of my readers both don't own a "Corporate Aircraft" including piston engine/turboprop/jet and have also never flown on a "Corporate Aircraft" in their entire life.
I have had that experience several times--flying on a "Corporate Aircraft"--and I wasn't going on vacation (and it was somebody else's "Corporate Aircraft.")
That said, I want to make a couple of points here about our disingenuous President's commentary and constant harping on "Corporate Jets" and "Corporate Jet Owners."
First of all, just like motor homes and tour buses owned by famous musicians and some athletes like NASCAR drivers and others, "Corporate Jets" are not a LUXURY.
They are a time saving NECESSITY for them to conduct the business which they do.
It is much safer and much less time consuming, if you are the owner of a successful business, to be able to have your plane on standby on an hour's notice and be able to drive over to the airport (possibly in your private limousine), get on your "Corporate Jet" and blast off across country from Knoxville to Houston or where ever when ever to attend a meeting and possibly get a new order or correct a dire problem on one of your existing projects.
Yes, a perk to owning a "Corporate Jet" is being able to also use it to fly to St. Simons Island or Aruba or Micronesia on vacation, but by in large the hours on the engines and airframe of most of the "Millionaires and Billionaires" "Corporate Jets" are generally afforded to business purposes.
Heck, it takes me two hours on the Kayak Website to make a decision about an air fair and hotel every time I leave town, and the "Corporate Jet Owner" can be out of town this morning and back in town this afternoon and doesn't even need to stay in a Bedbug infested hotel room overnight in the process.
He or She doesn't even need to pack luggage.
Yet President Obama, in his never ending campaign of Class Warfare, continues to sprinkle in the words "Corporate Jets" almost every single time he opens his stupid Race Baiting mouth.
And you know what?
President Obama is the EXACT person which signed into law in his original STIMULUS BILL in 2009 the CURRENT set of IRS rules allowing the accelerated depreciation of business assets like "Corporate Jets" which he and the other Democrats are constantly bitching and complaining about on a daily basis.
I tried to do some research to find out exactly how many corporate jets are already in service and how many are actually rolling out of the factories annually, but I ran out of patience. I do know that there are less than 200 Gulfstream V's out there and I think if you add LearJet and Cessna Citation and the other brands together I pretty well believe that there are not a total of 1,000 new "Corporate Jets" built and sold each year...
WORLD WIDE.
And yet this idiot we have elected President insists on hanging the words "Corporate Jets" onto and around and in the middle of every speech and every written document that comes out of his office.
This is stupid shit...Ladies and Gentlemen.
If you put a 100% tax on every "Corporate Jet", you know what would happen?
Every "Corporate Jet" builder would go out of business.
If you think back, the Congress already tried that tactic with the 1984 "Luxury Tax" on cars (automobiles) and boats (Yachts) and airplanes ("Corporate Jets") which cost over $100,000.
It ended up nearly putting everybody in those businesses out of business before they re-thought their "non-thinking" and understood that adding a tax to a product in facts discourages the production and use of that product.
They use the exact logic on Tobacco under the guise of taxation reducing the number of people smoking cigarettes, but they reverse the logic when it comes to "Corporate Jets" thinking taxation won't actually kill jobs as the production of "Corporate Jets" declines
What a bunch of stupid dumbasses we have in government.
Think about this crap before November 2012, and try not to vote like a Dumbass yourself...
Please?
In writing this blog posting this morning I assume that probably 99% of my readers are non-pilots, and further, I assume that 99.9% of my readers both don't own a "Corporate Aircraft" including piston engine/turboprop/jet and have also never flown on a "Corporate Aircraft" in their entire life.
I have had that experience several times--flying on a "Corporate Aircraft"--and I wasn't going on vacation (and it was somebody else's "Corporate Aircraft.")
That said, I want to make a couple of points here about our disingenuous President's commentary and constant harping on "Corporate Jets" and "Corporate Jet Owners."
First of all, just like motor homes and tour buses owned by famous musicians and some athletes like NASCAR drivers and others, "Corporate Jets" are not a LUXURY.
They are a time saving NECESSITY for them to conduct the business which they do.
It is much safer and much less time consuming, if you are the owner of a successful business, to be able to have your plane on standby on an hour's notice and be able to drive over to the airport (possibly in your private limousine), get on your "Corporate Jet" and blast off across country from Knoxville to Houston or where ever when ever to attend a meeting and possibly get a new order or correct a dire problem on one of your existing projects.
Yes, a perk to owning a "Corporate Jet" is being able to also use it to fly to St. Simons Island or Aruba or Micronesia on vacation, but by in large the hours on the engines and airframe of most of the "Millionaires and Billionaires" "Corporate Jets" are generally afforded to business purposes.
Heck, it takes me two hours on the Kayak Website to make a decision about an air fair and hotel every time I leave town, and the "Corporate Jet Owner" can be out of town this morning and back in town this afternoon and doesn't even need to stay in a Bedbug infested hotel room overnight in the process.
He or She doesn't even need to pack luggage.
Yet President Obama, in his never ending campaign of Class Warfare, continues to sprinkle in the words "Corporate Jets" almost every single time he opens his stupid Race Baiting mouth.
And you know what?
President Obama is the EXACT person which signed into law in his original STIMULUS BILL in 2009 the CURRENT set of IRS rules allowing the accelerated depreciation of business assets like "Corporate Jets" which he and the other Democrats are constantly bitching and complaining about on a daily basis.
I tried to do some research to find out exactly how many corporate jets are already in service and how many are actually rolling out of the factories annually, but I ran out of patience. I do know that there are less than 200 Gulfstream V's out there and I think if you add LearJet and Cessna Citation and the other brands together I pretty well believe that there are not a total of 1,000 new "Corporate Jets" built and sold each year...
WORLD WIDE.
And yet this idiot we have elected President insists on hanging the words "Corporate Jets" onto and around and in the middle of every speech and every written document that comes out of his office.
This is stupid shit...Ladies and Gentlemen.
If you put a 100% tax on every "Corporate Jet", you know what would happen?
Every "Corporate Jet" builder would go out of business.
If you think back, the Congress already tried that tactic with the 1984 "Luxury Tax" on cars (automobiles) and boats (Yachts) and airplanes ("Corporate Jets") which cost over $100,000.
It ended up nearly putting everybody in those businesses out of business before they re-thought their "non-thinking" and understood that adding a tax to a product in facts discourages the production and use of that product.
They use the exact logic on Tobacco under the guise of taxation reducing the number of people smoking cigarettes, but they reverse the logic when it comes to "Corporate Jets" thinking taxation won't actually kill jobs as the production of "Corporate Jets" declines
What a bunch of stupid dumbasses we have in government.
Think about this crap before November 2012, and try not to vote like a Dumbass yourself...
Please?
Monday, September 12, 2011
Goin' To Mexico (Beach)
Two Weeks In Paradise
Unless something really weird or stupid happens, this week I'll spend half my time making a long list and packing up stuff for me and Pat and Missy the Turbo Pup in anticipation of a two week saga down through Alabama and into and onto the Florida Panhandle.
Week Number 1, beginning next Sunday, will involve attending the celebration of my Dear Aunt Mary's 90th birthday in middle Alabama, before proceeding south to the Farm for a week.
I'm sure that if the weather holds out I'll get to stand on the roof for a while cleaning gutters and probably have some other maintenance issues like fallen trees on the fences and stuff to take care of, but hopefully the Turbo Pup can go fishing with me and attack some Bream and Catfish over the next five days.
Then the following Friday we're heading down to our Timeshare Condo in Panama City Beach for a week...this being something like the 25th year or so we've visited the place...just to sit on my fat butt and do virtually nothing but a little cooking and drinking and possibly some deep sea fishing over that next seven day period.
Of course we have high speed Internet everywhere we'll be staying and Pat can work when she needs to and I can work if anyone wants me to also---those opportunities being sort of few and far between right now, but any way...
I was fooling around the Internet tonight and found a couple of more of my favorite James Taylor songs posted on YouTUBE from the same session of recordings made at his home in Martha's Vinyard that I posted previously.
Here's "Mexico"...and we'll be having dinner in Mexico Beach Florida one night...and "Smiling Face"...which is what my face hopefully is going to be doing over the next two or three weeks
(OH...as an inside joke I just have to ask..."what's WRONG with your FACE"...Rusty???)
And you're WELCOME...
Unless something really weird or stupid happens, this week I'll spend half my time making a long list and packing up stuff for me and Pat and Missy the Turbo Pup in anticipation of a two week saga down through Alabama and into and onto the Florida Panhandle.
Week Number 1, beginning next Sunday, will involve attending the celebration of my Dear Aunt Mary's 90th birthday in middle Alabama, before proceeding south to the Farm for a week.
I'm sure that if the weather holds out I'll get to stand on the roof for a while cleaning gutters and probably have some other maintenance issues like fallen trees on the fences and stuff to take care of, but hopefully the Turbo Pup can go fishing with me and attack some Bream and Catfish over the next five days.
Then the following Friday we're heading down to our Timeshare Condo in Panama City Beach for a week...this being something like the 25th year or so we've visited the place...just to sit on my fat butt and do virtually nothing but a little cooking and drinking and possibly some deep sea fishing over that next seven day period.
Of course we have high speed Internet everywhere we'll be staying and Pat can work when she needs to and I can work if anyone wants me to also---those opportunities being sort of few and far between right now, but any way...
I was fooling around the Internet tonight and found a couple of more of my favorite James Taylor songs posted on YouTUBE from the same session of recordings made at his home in Martha's Vinyard that I posted previously.
Here's "Mexico"...and we'll be having dinner in Mexico Beach Florida one night...and "Smiling Face"...which is what my face hopefully is going to be doing over the next two or three weeks
(OH...as an inside joke I just have to ask..."what's WRONG with your FACE"...Rusty???)
And you're WELCOME...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
9/11
Ten Years Later And We're Still Under Attack...
What a Freak Show we have for both an elected government and their appointees.
Pray for the victims and their surviving families of the horror which struck our country a decade ago, and pray that it won't be further politicized or disrespected by a group of people which only think of themselves and their power and political gain.
My head hurts just thinking about this crowd, so I guess I'll go now.
Regards Y'all...
What a Freak Show we have for both an elected government and their appointees.
Pray for the victims and their surviving families of the horror which struck our country a decade ago, and pray that it won't be further politicized or disrespected by a group of people which only think of themselves and their power and political gain.
My head hurts just thinking about this crowd, so I guess I'll go now.
Regards Y'all...
Saturday, September 10, 2011
My Thoughts On 9/11
Freedom Ain't Free Dammit....
I've been pretty much sitting around here this week distracted with personal and other professional crap for the most part but in the back of my mind I knew that the 10th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on NY City and the Pentagon and Pennsylvania was coming up.
Fox NEWS and the local and national newspapers have all been hyping things up but to me it pisses me off that this date on the calendar has to be HYPED UP in the first place.
After all...what isn't there to understand about a bunch of towel headed Muslim Jihadist assholes coming over here from third world countries where they don't have toilets or hot and cold running water or electricity and cable TV and blowing us all up because we have toilets and hot and cold running water and electricity and cable TV ?
Seriously, if you follow the news stories about these shitheads which did the 9/11 airliner strike thing these limp penised little Arab boys spent the time they weren't in the flight training program sitting in HOOTERS and in local TITTY BARS while at the same time praising ALLAH and looking for their 72 Virgins. They hated America and Americans but they enjoyed the very things that they could not find in their own countries.
It's the ultimate parody of their religious faith that as far as I can tell that each and every one of them came here to the United By-God States of 'Merica years in advance of their attack on us and our way of life and lived as Americans and took advantage of all of the conveniences and privileges available in our country and our way of life here in North America.
And then they proceeded to attack us.
But what is more insidious today is the attack we are suffering from within our country. From within our own GOVERNMENT.
The idiot Mayor of NY City isn't even going to let there be Clergy or any prayers offered at tomorrow's "Official" ceremony.
The idiot Mayor of NY City and stupid Governor of NY isn't even making any special accommodations for "first responders"--fire fighters and police men---at tomorrow's "Official" ceremony.
I say it's a sad state of affairs when we don't need the towel headed jihadists to attack and change our way of life here in America.
They've already won this war because we're attacking ourselves from within...
I've been pretty much sitting around here this week distracted with personal and other professional crap for the most part but in the back of my mind I knew that the 10th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on NY City and the Pentagon and Pennsylvania was coming up.
Fox NEWS and the local and national newspapers have all been hyping things up but to me it pisses me off that this date on the calendar has to be HYPED UP in the first place.
After all...what isn't there to understand about a bunch of towel headed Muslim Jihadist assholes coming over here from third world countries where they don't have toilets or hot and cold running water or electricity and cable TV and blowing us all up because we have toilets and hot and cold running water and electricity and cable TV ?
Seriously, if you follow the news stories about these shitheads which did the 9/11 airliner strike thing these limp penised little Arab boys spent the time they weren't in the flight training program sitting in HOOTERS and in local TITTY BARS while at the same time praising ALLAH and looking for their 72 Virgins. They hated America and Americans but they enjoyed the very things that they could not find in their own countries.
It's the ultimate parody of their religious faith that as far as I can tell that each and every one of them came here to the United By-God States of 'Merica years in advance of their attack on us and our way of life and lived as Americans and took advantage of all of the conveniences and privileges available in our country and our way of life here in North America.
And then they proceeded to attack us.
But what is more insidious today is the attack we are suffering from within our country. From within our own GOVERNMENT.
The idiot Mayor of NY City isn't even going to let there be Clergy or any prayers offered at tomorrow's "Official" ceremony.
The idiot Mayor of NY City and stupid Governor of NY isn't even making any special accommodations for "first responders"--fire fighters and police men---at tomorrow's "Official" ceremony.
I say it's a sad state of affairs when we don't need the towel headed jihadists to attack and change our way of life here in America.
They've already won this war because we're attacking ourselves from within...
Friday, September 09, 2011
Obama's Waterloo
God Save the Queen The US of A
I've seen a bunch of crazy crap happen in my lifetime Ladies and Gentlemen.
Heck, I've done a bunch of crazy crap in my lifetime.
Just ask some of the guys and girls I went to high school and college with and they'll tell you so.
But any way...I tried to sit through our so called "President's" speech last night on his "jobs program."
I say "sit through" because before it was over with I was ON MY FEET...
not cheering, but yelling at the TV pacing back and forth bitching and complaining because this guy is so full of crap.
Pat got mad at me and Missy the Turbo Pup went and hid in her crate.
I'm serious Ladies and Gentlemen, if you buy this load of bull hockey being sold by our Chief Executive I have some Ocean front property in Nevada I'd like to make you a good deal on...
I've seen a bunch of crazy crap happen in my lifetime Ladies and Gentlemen.
Heck, I've done a bunch of crazy crap in my lifetime.
Just ask some of the guys and girls I went to high school and college with and they'll tell you so.
But any way...I tried to sit through our so called "President's" speech last night on his "jobs program."
I say "sit through" because before it was over with I was ON MY FEET...
not cheering, but yelling at the TV pacing back and forth bitching and complaining because this guy is so full of crap.
Pat got mad at me and Missy the Turbo Pup went and hid in her crate.
I'm serious Ladies and Gentlemen, if you buy this load of bull hockey being sold by our Chief Executive I have some Ocean front property in Nevada I'd like to make you a good deal on...
"Peggy" Strikes Again
I'm Past Being Tired Of Dealing With Indian Call Centers
OK...here's my latest gripe this morning.
Freaking Software Companies selling you "convenient" downloads of their products with limited times to actually download and install their product.
Take Norton 360, for example.
They sold me a "one to three computer" version of their product about a year ago for 79 bucks or something there abouts, and I jacked around and only installed in on one of my five computers, and since I didn't pay them the extra ten or twenty bucks for the "extended download period" I've spent most of the past year without anti virus/spyware protection on my primary laptop.
Then last week I was snooping around my bank and credit card statements online and noticed a charge from Symantic for $76.46. I was thinking WTF is this and realized that my crappy single copy of the antivirus/anti-spyware software had "AUTOMATICALLY RENEWED" itself, when today I can go online and buy a new copy of the three computer download for less than $50...or better yet I can go to Best Buy or Staples and buy a DVD which I can hold in my hands and install on up to three computers any time I want, but NooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I'm in download SOFTWARE HELL and I've called their stupid customer support line three times now and ended up hanging up THREE TIMES NOW because I get some freaking idiot AKA "PEGGY" from India or Bang Ladesh or somewhere else that can't understand and barely speaks the KING'S FREAKING ENGLISH and after I concisely tell him what I want--MY MONEY BACK--he proceeds to start asking inane questions and trying to convince me not to CANCEL MY FREAKING "SUBSCRIPTION" TO THEIR SOFTWARE SERVICE.
I'm too old for this crap, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm going to getmy walking stick my walker on my scooter and ride down where ever it is that I need to ride down to in Southern California and kick some ass this morning. And If I need to get on an airplane and fly over to India in the process and teach everyone in the room the meaning of the words "I WANT MY MONEY BACK" I'm liable to do just that.
(taking a big breath here boss...)
That will be all...for now...
OK...here's my latest gripe this morning.
Freaking Software Companies selling you "convenient" downloads of their products with limited times to actually download and install their product.
Take Norton 360, for example.
They sold me a "one to three computer" version of their product about a year ago for 79 bucks or something there abouts, and I jacked around and only installed in on one of my five computers, and since I didn't pay them the extra ten or twenty bucks for the "extended download period" I've spent most of the past year without anti virus/spyware protection on my primary laptop.
Then last week I was snooping around my bank and credit card statements online and noticed a charge from Symantic for $76.46. I was thinking WTF is this and realized that my crappy single copy of the antivirus/anti-spyware software had "AUTOMATICALLY RENEWED" itself, when today I can go online and buy a new copy of the three computer download for less than $50...or better yet I can go to Best Buy or Staples and buy a DVD which I can hold in my hands and install on up to three computers any time I want, but NooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I'm in download SOFTWARE HELL and I've called their stupid customer support line three times now and ended up hanging up THREE TIMES NOW because I get some freaking idiot AKA "PEGGY" from India or Bang Ladesh or somewhere else that can't understand and barely speaks the KING'S FREAKING ENGLISH and after I concisely tell him what I want--MY MONEY BACK--he proceeds to start asking inane questions and trying to convince me not to CANCEL MY FREAKING "SUBSCRIPTION" TO THEIR SOFTWARE SERVICE.
I'm too old for this crap, Ladies and Gentlemen. I'm going to get
(taking a big breath here boss...)
That will be all...for now...
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Today's Tropical Weather Tip
Tropical Storm "Maria" Pretty Far South...
I'm sitting around this afternoon pretty much just picking my nose and scratching my ass trying to get focused, and in the process my review of the local and international weather maps I noticed something which might be of interest to you in the next 7 to 10 days.
Check out this map showing the present location and predicted path of the 13th storm of this season--"Maria":
That path...Ladies and Gentlemen...is pretty darn far south toward the equator for this point of Longitude on the map.
That path could take this storm...even only as a tropical storm rather than a Hurricane...over places like Trinidad & Tobago or even Aruba if it doesn't swing north like predicted.
And if that storm continues Westward from that low Latitude for long enough then we might better be remembering a storm called ANDREW.
Of course it's yet to be seen, but I'm just saying...
(And I reserve the right to say "I told you so" in a couple of weeks...)
I'm sitting around this afternoon pretty much just picking my nose and scratching my ass trying to get focused, and in the process my review of the local and international weather maps I noticed something which might be of interest to you in the next 7 to 10 days.
Check out this map showing the present location and predicted path of the 13th storm of this season--"Maria":
That path...Ladies and Gentlemen...is pretty darn far south toward the equator for this point of Longitude on the map.
That path could take this storm...even only as a tropical storm rather than a Hurricane...over places like Trinidad & Tobago or even Aruba if it doesn't swing north like predicted.
And if that storm continues Westward from that low Latitude for long enough then we might better be remembering a storm called ANDREW.
Of course it's yet to be seen, but I'm just saying...
(And I reserve the right to say "I told you so" in a couple of weeks...)
The President Talks About Jobs Tonight
My Belly Button Has Been Puckering and Un-Puckering For Days Now...
I somehow missed the Republican Debate last night. I scanned around the channels but Comcast was still acting up and I was too lazy to look in the newspaper to find out what channel it was on.
I guess that there is a pretty good chance I can't miss the President's address to both houses of congress tonight because it will be broadcast on every channel except the Food Network and Comedy Central.
Then again I could manage to fall asleep since I guess it will pre-empt Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy which run at 7 PM and 7:30 PM.
I bet you $100 that the speech will include the words "investment" (government spending), "revenue" (new taxes on the wealthy), and "infrastructure improvements" (government and/or Union jobs) at least about a dozen times each.
The whole thing (The American Jobs Act) will be dead on arrival to Congress because the House will never pass it because they've already seen it a couple of times and rejected it out of hand every single time.
Obama is so far in over his head as President that he can't find his own ass with both hands, a metal detector, a Geiger counter, and a flashlight.
I somehow missed the Republican Debate last night. I scanned around the channels but Comcast was still acting up and I was too lazy to look in the newspaper to find out what channel it was on.
I guess that there is a pretty good chance I can't miss the President's address to both houses of congress tonight because it will be broadcast on every channel except the Food Network and Comedy Central.
Then again I could manage to fall asleep since I guess it will pre-empt Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy which run at 7 PM and 7:30 PM.
I bet you $100 that the speech will include the words "investment" (government spending), "revenue" (new taxes on the wealthy), and "infrastructure improvements" (government and/or Union jobs) at least about a dozen times each.
The whole thing (The American Jobs Act) will be dead on arrival to Congress because the House will never pass it because they've already seen it a couple of times and rejected it out of hand every single time.
Obama is so far in over his head as President that he can't find his own ass with both hands, a metal detector, a Geiger counter, and a flashlight.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
"Country Roads" And Other Stuff
My Absolute Favorite Singer
I've seen James Taylor perhaps a dozen times in person, and my vocal range allows me to do some of his most famous songs in a manner and style similar to his I'm told.
I have a fairly broad range of musical taste but Mr. Taylor and Jimmy Buffet best fit my lifestyle and mindset most of the time, and I'd like to think that if I had pursued music as a profession rather than a hobby I could have been in their company as peers given the chance and having expended a great deal of effort to get there.
That said...YouTUBE gives us a look at a couple of really nice selections this morning for your enjoyment...
Then There is "Fire and Rain" which I do fairly regularly on Karaoke night at our local pub:
I've seen James Taylor perhaps a dozen times in person, and my vocal range allows me to do some of his most famous songs in a manner and style similar to his I'm told.
I have a fairly broad range of musical taste but Mr. Taylor and Jimmy Buffet best fit my lifestyle and mindset most of the time, and I'd like to think that if I had pursued music as a profession rather than a hobby I could have been in their company as peers given the chance and having expended a great deal of effort to get there.
That said...YouTUBE gives us a look at a couple of really nice selections this morning for your enjoyment...
Then There is "Fire and Rain" which I do fairly regularly on Karaoke night at our local pub:
A George Wallace Democrat Talks Modern Politics
Get A Nice Glass of Cold Sweet Southern Iced Tea And Sit Down For A Minute...
For those of you which haven't been paying attention or are just wandering by this blog, you need to know that I was born and raised a "George Wallace" Democrat as a child, and the experience has affected me and today I think grounded me in a form of political sanity continuing throughout all of my Adult life.
You see, you had no option back then in Lower Alabama when I was a non-voting child.
Just like it was Black and White, it was Republican or Democrat, and as the old saying goes you could run a Yellow Dog on the political ticket and most people would vote for the Dog over a college educated white or black boy any and every day back then if it had the word Democrat by its name.
It was the North against the South--a war that had already be lost or won depending on your perspective.
It was the University of Alabama versus Auburn University in Football...Bear Bryant and "Shug" Jordan leading the charge.
But things have changed and my mind has wandered over the past 52 years and 4 days, and in my wandering I'm constantly WONDERING what the hell has happened to this country in the process?
Are we really just a country full of stupid selfish people that will vote and do anything offered as long as it puts money in our pockets and allows us to sit around making bad decisions while letting other people pay for the results?
Are we really all that excited about "HOPE and CHANGE" when now after almost three years there's barely any change left in the cash register drawer?
I HOPE that there might be CHANGE for a twenty dollar bill, but the way things are going with this government if you give them a TWENTY they'll ask for another FIVE as a fee for making CHANGE.
Is it just ME?
For those of you which haven't been paying attention or are just wandering by this blog, you need to know that I was born and raised a "George Wallace" Democrat as a child, and the experience has affected me and today I think grounded me in a form of political sanity continuing throughout all of my Adult life.
You see, you had no option back then in Lower Alabama when I was a non-voting child.
Just like it was Black and White, it was Republican or Democrat, and as the old saying goes you could run a Yellow Dog on the political ticket and most people would vote for the Dog over a college educated white or black boy any and every day back then if it had the word Democrat by its name.
It was the North against the South--a war that had already be lost or won depending on your perspective.
It was the University of Alabama versus Auburn University in Football...Bear Bryant and "Shug" Jordan leading the charge.
But things have changed and my mind has wandered over the past 52 years and 4 days, and in my wandering I'm constantly WONDERING what the hell has happened to this country in the process?
Are we really just a country full of stupid selfish people that will vote and do anything offered as long as it puts money in our pockets and allows us to sit around making bad decisions while letting other people pay for the results?
Are we really all that excited about "HOPE and CHANGE" when now after almost three years there's barely any change left in the cash register drawer?
I HOPE that there might be CHANGE for a twenty dollar bill, but the way things are going with this government if you give them a TWENTY they'll ask for another FIVE as a fee for making CHANGE.
Is it just ME?
It's Raining...
As I've said about a Zillion times before if you know me in real life, and I've probably written it many hundreds if not a thousand times before here on this blog...
...being a self proclaimed student of math and statistics...
there's a good reason the old grey haired men which went to their graves before us decided to put numbers together and produce things like "means" and "the bell curve" and most importantly...
A V E R A G E S.
Averages aren't really just designed to report the classroom grades of so-called "students" sitting in Government buildings against their will.
Averages tell us how things have been and probably will be--without some new outside influence--in the future.
For instance, if the average temperature in September in a given location in the US is 84 degrees F, and recently you've been in that city on those dates and the temperature was 64 degrees F...
...there's a pretty darn good chance that later this month or at least at the same time next year or years that the sun is going to show up and make things 94 degrees F just to get things back to AVERAGE in the record books.
We're going through that same sort of thing this Labor Day weekend with the local rainfall average here in Knoxtown.
It started raining before lunch time yesterday and it hasn't stopped since then.
Not really a hard threatening Thunderstorm type of rain...
...I'm talking a SOAKING kind of rain that comes down real steady and after 24 or 36 hours adds up to a pile of water in your back yard.
The Turbo Pup's swimming pool is almost overflowing right now because of the rain.
Here's the "Storm Total Map" from the NOAA website for our area
We really needed the rain because the month of August set some records for dryness here, but then again Mother Nature has a sense of humor and just to get the AVERAGES straightened out she sent us all of the water in one shipment I guess.
So things are back to normal here in Eastern Tennessee come Tuesday Morning after the Holiday weekend, and I hope everyone had half as much fun as I did in the past three days.
Regards Y'all...
Monday, September 05, 2011
Monday Morning Music
A Well Planned "Impromptu" Public Performance
There was a time...abouta hundred years ago 35 years ago, when I held a musical instrument in my hands for at least three or four hours every day. Between practice at home and then band practice during the school weekdays, followed by Friday nights at half-time in the football stadium, I probably sat or stood with a trumpet in my hands for 25 hours each week.
Then there were the guitars--both electric and acoustic--and a little piano/electronic keyboard, and in more recent years I've run around the planet carrying a briefcase full of Honer and Lee Oscar Harmonicas (and of course my real Austrailian Didgeridoo which has never left my house)....
But the point of this story this morning is that music and making music has been a nice part of my life. I've never really been good enough or otherwise made any money doing it (playing music) in the process, but I have played solo for 10,000 people at one time in a football stadium, and I've blown my harps for small crowds from Key West to Savannah to Atlanta and now Knoxville over the past 15 years...
and when my Blog Idols over at Powerline mentioned this YouTube Video of the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra just showing up in the City's Central Train Station and putting on a performance of Ravel's "Bolero"...
There was a time...about
Then there were the guitars--both electric and acoustic--and a little piano/electronic keyboard, and in more recent years I've run around the planet carrying a briefcase full of Honer and Lee Oscar Harmonicas (and of course my real Austrailian Didgeridoo which has never left my house)....
But the point of this story this morning is that music and making music has been a nice part of my life. I've never really been good enough or otherwise made any money doing it (playing music) in the process, but I have played solo for 10,000 people at one time in a football stadium, and I've blown my harps for small crowds from Key West to Savannah to Atlanta and now Knoxville over the past 15 years...
and when my Blog Idols over at Powerline mentioned this YouTube Video of the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra just showing up in the City's Central Train Station and putting on a performance of Ravel's "Bolero"...
Saturday, September 03, 2011
My "Wee Pub" Prototype
Picture This Room Squeezed Down to 12 Feet x 11 Feet...
I think that anyone that's in the Architucture or Engineering Business, as well as many other Graphic Artists in various professions and endeavors, understand what it means to say that you have a vision or otherwise you "see in your head" a theme and design concept which you try to express in the form of drawings and finally replicate through the builder/constructor ending up with a finished product.
This morning I found this picture of this very large basement pub built in someone elses' house in 1974...but in essence it describes EXACTLY the concept I've been trying to produce in my little project in my basement.
Just imagine the whole thing squeezed down to the dimensions as stated in my subtitle ...actualy 12'-4-1/2" x10'-9 1/2" in real life.
Still...I can get the same character and feel in my little space, and based on the current cost estimates instead of $27,000 I can pull the whole thing off here for $2,700 or so with the realities of the reduced footprint and the fact that we don't know enough people here in Knoxtown to fill a bar room larger that the one currently under construction the limited flooplan size really justifies the sanity of my efforts.
All of that said, the second coat of paint on the ceiling is drying and it's time to put the second coat of Poly on the stair treads laying out in the carport.
Talk to Y'all later I guess...
I think that anyone that's in the Architucture or Engineering Business, as well as many other Graphic Artists in various professions and endeavors, understand what it means to say that you have a vision or otherwise you "see in your head" a theme and design concept which you try to express in the form of drawings and finally replicate through the builder/constructor ending up with a finished product.
This morning I found this picture of this very large basement pub built in someone elses' house in 1974...but in essence it describes EXACTLY the concept I've been trying to produce in my little project in my basement.
Just imagine the whole thing squeezed down to the dimensions as stated in my subtitle ...actualy 12'-4-1/2" x10'-9 1/2" in real life.
Still...I can get the same character and feel in my little space, and based on the current cost estimates instead of $27,000 I can pull the whole thing off here for $2,700 or so with the realities of the reduced footprint and the fact that we don't know enough people here in Knoxtown to fill a bar room larger that the one currently under construction the limited flooplan size really justifies the sanity of my efforts.
All of that said, the second coat of paint on the ceiling is drying and it's time to put the second coat of Poly on the stair treads laying out in the carport.
Talk to Y'all later I guess...
Fifty Two Years Today
"I Takes A Lickin' And Keeps On Tickin'... "
Time to go splash some polyurethane on my stair treads.
Y'all have a LOVELY Labor Day weekend...
Time to go splash some polyurethane on my stair treads.
Y'all have a LOVELY Labor Day weekend...
Friday, September 02, 2011
Let's Get This Straight One More Time
Are You Listening?
My head is ready to explode with all of this BS talk about the Federal Government's role in "CREATING JOBS."
Apparently a lot of People...and particularly Politicians...actually believe today that it is somehow the role of the Government--Federal And State and Local--to create jobs.
In my considered Redneck Opinion...all the Government does is steal money, waste it on Government jobs paying twice as many people three times as much money as the position is worth to do half the work...
...while at the same time making it harder and harder for entrepreneurs and existing business owners to make a living.
I've over the past 21 years incorporated three different companies. The last one going on three years ago as a result of leaving an Island on the Atlantic Ocean to take a job here in Knoxville with a company which worked doing design and engineering work primarily for the Coal Fired Power Plant Industry.
Within two months of Obama's election that company was out of business.
No surprise--since the "Community Organizer In Chief" stated out loud that he was going to (paraphrasing here) "bankrupt coal companies while at the same time necessarily making the price of electricity skyrocket."
Today I have a small corporation doing design and fabrication for the Plastics Industry...people that make bottles like Catsup and Gatorade is sold in at the Grocery store.
You know what I spend 10% to 25% of my time doing (depending on the month and time of the year like Corporate Tax Season in March)?
Filling out stupid assed forms and writing checks to pay taxes and fees on a company which has yet to turn a substantial profit.
You want to know how I believe our government can improve the job situation in this country?
GET THE HECK OFF MY BACK AND OUT OF MY WAY.
Dammit
My head is ready to explode with all of this BS talk about the Federal Government's role in "CREATING JOBS."
Apparently a lot of People...and particularly Politicians...actually believe today that it is somehow the role of the Government--Federal And State and Local--to create jobs.
In my considered Redneck Opinion...all the Government does is steal money, waste it on Government jobs paying twice as many people three times as much money as the position is worth to do half the work...
...while at the same time making it harder and harder for entrepreneurs and existing business owners to make a living.
I've over the past 21 years incorporated three different companies. The last one going on three years ago as a result of leaving an Island on the Atlantic Ocean to take a job here in Knoxville with a company which worked doing design and engineering work primarily for the Coal Fired Power Plant Industry.
Within two months of Obama's election that company was out of business.
No surprise--since the "Community Organizer In Chief" stated out loud that he was going to (paraphrasing here) "bankrupt coal companies while at the same time necessarily making the price of electricity skyrocket."
Today I have a small corporation doing design and fabrication for the Plastics Industry...people that make bottles like Catsup and Gatorade is sold in at the Grocery store.
You know what I spend 10% to 25% of my time doing (depending on the month and time of the year like Corporate Tax Season in March)?
Filling out stupid assed forms and writing checks to pay taxes and fees on a company which has yet to turn a substantial profit.
You want to know how I believe our government can improve the job situation in this country?
GET THE HECK OFF MY BACK AND OUT OF MY WAY.
Dammit
Quote O' The Day
Immortal Words...
A really good friend of mine I've known for about 30 years now...he just turned 71 last week...sent me this quote and said he thought of ME when he saw it:
"Don't kill the mavericks.
They will save your life one day.
And while they are around...
they will get things done!"
Thanks for the complement Beaux!
A really good friend of mine I've known for about 30 years now...he just turned 71 last week...sent me this quote and said he thought of ME when he saw it:
"Don't kill the mavericks.
They will save your life one day.
And while they are around...
they will get things done!"
Thanks for the complement Beaux!
