Death, Destruction, Demons and Wooden Hands

Today is April 30.

Click on this link and then this link for a little historical side trip. Not only will you harken back to the earliest days of this blog, you will get a little "this date in history" .lesson -- all for the steep admission price of "free".

Look, it is flatter than the ice on an NHL playing surface around here.  There is no "inspiration point" where I can look out of picaresque vistas and let nature begin the beguine with my imagination. You will get a rerun from years ago and like it. Just wipe away that mold and it will be as good as new...

Blase

Bored, apathetic, jaded, disenchanted, indifferent, uninterested, weary, glutted, fed-up -- it is the old ennui writ large.

Childish

While driving through a subdivision yesterday I flipped a guy the bird. He was working in his yard, rolling a hose. He looked up just as I showed him my opinion. I bet he is still wondering what it was all about. Now that perplexed hombre has a story to tell his mates at work today.

I am giving like that.

OK, it was not a random guy, 

I bet he is still wondering why an unsmiling old guy flipped him the middle finger on a cloudy Sunday afternoon.

My wife was appalled at my behavior. It is not the first time.

For my eyes only

My current desktop background is a picture of my wife. I took it on our recent vacation. She is standing on the deck of a sailboat. We had just finished snorkeling. Her hair is wet and slicked back. She is not wearing her glasses. Her makeup has been washed away by the warm salty waters of the Caribbean near Buck Island.

The picture is a close up, I suppose it is not the most flattering picture of her, but it is one of my favorites. It shows her in a moment of pure and complete happiness.  Her smile is not for the camera, but a reflection of life in that one instant in time. Her beauty shines through. The impossible blue tropical seas in the background are a sharp contrast to the pink of her barely visible swimsuit top. You can see the faint and tiny wrinkles around her eyes, and the freckles on her cheeks and chest and shoulders.

I love the picture because it is not staged -- it is barely posed -- and it looks just like my wife. If the picture was in a Harry Potter movie, it would laugh at any second.

I smile every time I look at it.

Friday Music updated George Jones edition

George is gone now too.

Here is his greatest song -- the quintessential drinking tune.

RIP George.

Hitting Potholes

The title of this post is not a metaphor. It could be, but it is not.

Coming back from a customer visit Thursday I hit a pot hole.  A big one.  I hit it hard. My wheel cover flew by my driver's side window in a slow-motion scene almost reminiscent of the Wicked Witch flying by Dorothy Gale's bedroom window. I saw it roll across the highway in my mirror as I braked to a stop on the side of the road.

I pulled on my jacket to protect me from the Illinois wind and chill and trudged 50 yards up the highway to find my wheel cover.  It was rested broken and cracked in the gravel and mud beside the road. With a sigh I threw it in the trunk.I don't know why, it is unusable. I guess that despite my reputation as an inveterate hater of the environment, I don't like to leave my trash beside the highway,

 I bent to examine the wheel. The tire seemed fine; no flat.  That is good, the tire is less than a month old. The edge of the rim was bent, but not enough to lose the seal on the tire. I drove slowing down the highway a few miles and stopped to check the air pressure again.  It was a steady 30 psi.

I will head out today to see what a new wheel cover and rim are going to cost. I will try find a used rim somewhere, This is not how I planned on spending my Friday.

Friday Covers

The Police doing a live version of their original



I heard this John Mayer version on the radio the other day. Despite the fact I am not a huge fan of this tune in general, I really like this version. You have to skip the ad.



A Machine Head cover for you Metal fans.

Delayed Gratification

A few weeks ago the wife found a house for sale she liked.  By coincidence, they were having an open house that weekend. We went. We looked.  We loved the place. It was a bit bigger than we need at our stage in life, but it was as close to a dream house as we could get in our price range.

I called the mortgage company to see if we could make it happen financially. We scheduled another visit to the house. We liked it even better.

I spent a few days traveling on business. The wife wanted to look at some other houses, because that is the way she shops. Compare, contrast, compare again -- then think about it for a long time before you repeat the whole compare thing. That is just the way things are and after almost 30 years of marriage I know her decision making process is not going to change.

We got a pre-approval letter from the mortgage company  and finally made an offer.  So did another party. The sellers came back and said, "give my your best offer".. We upped the ante a bit. We offered the asking price.

We live in a small town and through the grapevine we learned the sellers were showing the house again Monday evening -- after they looked at the offers from the two they already had on the table. A third party offered more than the asking price and we lost out on the house. I have no doubt the sellers told the people viewing the house what they needed to offer to get the property. No one offers more than the asking price without a hint or two.

My wife cried.

I know what happened, but I cannot prove it.

The fatalist in me opines that it was just not meant to be. The realistic me is more than a little disappointed.

Condolences to my Liberal Friends

I know.

I understand your frustration.

First, the Senate fails to pass any kind of gun control at all. Then, a couple of terrorists set off some bombs and we discover the Marathon Bomber Brothers are mere religious fanatics (read Muslim) instead of home-grown, Tea Party, Hitler's Birthday, Tim McVeigh, Branch Davidian Tax Protester middle aged-white guys.

Sometimes life is just not fair. What else could go wrong? The next thing you know another "green" car company will go bankrupt, or there could be a growing "consensus" that global warming is a failed theory.

Dandelion Dreams

It is simply amazing what a little sunshine, a bit of warm southern breeze, and a few inches of rain can do. Ten days ago the trees around here were bare branches waving in the wind.  Today, they are sporting leaves.  The grass is a vivid emerald green so bright Ireland is jealous.

The lilies in the front flower garden have grown 6 inches in an equal number of days, and will begin sporting blooms in a week or two. But in all, most of the perennials and big grasses in my yard are behind schedule by at least a month due to the lingering winter. My daffodils should have bloomed in late March, not this week. Temperatures, while warmer, are still cool for late April.  It spit snow on Friday! Still, I think Spring has finally pried the icy fingers of winter from our collective throats. I suspect we are in for a wet and wild May and June, followed by a long, hot, dry summer.

I can live with that.

I spent my Earth Day mowing the lawn and pulling weeds after a long day of boring paperwork. To reward myself for a job well done, I puffed away on a fine hand-rolled stogie in the garage before supper. 

We are going to need a bigger Shop-Vac

The Mid-west has been walloped over the past week or so with lots of rain falling fast. Flooding is the result.

If flood waters were coming under your door, would you concentrate your efforts on cleaning up the mess in your kitchen and living room, or would you find a way to barricade your door to keep the water out first?

Our politicians would somehow have you believe that fixing the immigration problem lies in addressing the illegals already here, and worrying about stopping the incoming flood later.

I maintain our elected representatives have no common sense. I do not care how many towels you throw down, your carpet is still getting wet if you do not stop the water from coming in. And there is no immigration fix without closing the borders.

Block the door with sandbags and stop the incoming water, then clean up the mess. Close the border and then figure out how to clean up the immigration mess.

Sunday Muisc

Let us mellow out to a little Frank on this sunny and chilly Sunday morning.

I can't help thinking

I am glad the second Boston terrorist has been captured.

As I watched the home video of the capture last night I cannot help thinking the Boston Police must be among the worst shots in the country if the hundreds of rounds fired did not bring the suspect to room temperature immediately.

More stuff to think about

In the wake of the Newtown and Colorado shootings some have taken the position we need to look hard at the Second Amendment. We need to ask if private citizens really need guns. In fact, Connecticut and New York have put in place laws that will certainly bring about lawsuits that argue Second Amendment questions.

If the Boston Terrorists prove to be motivated by their religion what then? After all, the 9/11 attacks were carried out by religious fanatics.. So was the ill-fated attempts by the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber and the Times Square bomber. Will those who argue we must limit our Constitutional Freedom to possess firearms for the public good also argue we must limit our Constitutional Freedom of Religion for the public good? Should we be taking a hard look at the First Amendment?

Of course, I am not advocating for a limit on our First Amendment Rights, I am just asking what is the difference?

Just a coincidence

It appears the two brothers sought in the Boston Marathon Bombing are Chechen and Muslim. I am sure religion had nothing to do with the acts of terror. I also have a mountain cabin located in central Indiana for sale.

The good news is one brother is now facing eternal judgement.  I hope the other brother dies from rapid injection lead poisoning too. And soon.


Chris Mathews and the liberals who blamed right-wingers will apologize in 3...2...1...

update: According to a radio report, Dana Bash of CNN actually said even though the brothers were Chechen Muslims, they still could be affiliated with the Tea Party or other Right Wing Groups. I am trying to find verification. Clearly there is no media bias at CNN (insert sarcasm font).

Self examination

Unspeakable acts that dominate the news occasionally makes us take a look at our own morals and values. The shootings in Colorado and Connecticut has forced people across the nation to look at their guns, their rights and how the culture of violence affects common citizens. While the gun control measures proposed in Congress have failed to pass, the efforts have spurred us to look at our Constitution and individual belief systems. For the first time in almost 30 years of marriage, my wife and I had a real discussion and debate about guns and their role in society.  I am sure such conversations have taken place across the land.

This dialogue is a good thing.

By the same token, are liberals having an honest look at their own beliefs and values when it comes to abortion? The Gosnell case in Philadelphia displays in gory detail the dark side of abortions. The public picture abortion supporters want to display is of a poor teen girl, or a rape victim opting for abortion as the best option in a long list of bad outcomes. We are reminded that abortions are performed to save the life of a pregnant woman facing certain death if the baby is carried to term. Abortion is disguised as "women's health", because who wants to think about such measures as baby killing?

Do you supporters of abortion look at the details of the Gosnell practice and wonder if killing live babies by 'snipping' their spinal cord meets with your definition of "choice"? Does the evidence of late term, partial birth and botched abortions make you question your unhesitating support of universal abortion?

Do the grisly details of abortion in America make you queasy? Do you ask your self if your beliefs are right and correct? Wouldn't that discussion be good for America?

Whaaa

Did we throw a wittle temper tantwum?

The Shot Heard 'Round the World

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

Lexington Green

He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

[...]

You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,---
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
>From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,---
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.
-

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I bought an unlicensed 6203ZZ yesterday..

It is clear we need to ban ball bearings.

Now.

For the children.

No one needs ball bearings.

Unless you need to eliminate friction from a rotating shaft, but still...

Perhaps we can register ball bearings and put a limit on the number anyone can buy?

Too soon? The President called for a ban on guns 24 hours after a nutjob shot little kids in Newtown. The ball bearings were as responsible for the murders in Boston as the guns in Connecticut.

On Hardball

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about domestic terrorism as a category. Normally, domestic terrorists, people tend to be on the far right, well that’s not a good category, just extremists, let’s call them that. Do they advertise after they do something like this? Do they try to get credit as a group or do they just hate America so much or its politics or its government that they just want to do the damage, they don't care if they get public credit, if you will?

MICHAEL LEITER: What we'll see over the coming couple hours and days is lots of people taking credit for this. We'll probably have al-Qaeda take credit for it. We'll have domestic terrorists take credit for it. And it will be the responsibility of the FBI and the Boston police to figure out if any of those are actually real cases like Timothy McVeigh destroying the Oklahoma City courthouse federal building; no one took credit for that. So it might be some time or never that someone actually takes credit for this. Lots of people will say they were responsible for it.

MATTHEWS: I was just thinking, again, it's early; it's an early situation, but going after the Kennedy Library, not something at Bunker Hill, not something from the freedom trail or anything that kind of historic, but a modern political figure of the Democratic Party. Does that tell you anything? link

What say we take a look at the scorecard over the the past 50 years? Leading the pack is foreign terrorists at least in damage and bodies. If we look at the raw number of attacks, the left-wing groups from the 1960's and 1970's are the clear victors.  As for right-wing terrorists, you have Timothy McVey.

Here is a listing. if you look back over the past 100 years the leftists have committed more acts of terror than Muslims, Right-wingers, and just plain crazy combined.

Why would anyone watch this duchebag, Chris Matthews?  His credibility is zero.Matthews clearly lacks a fundamental understanding of history.  He is blinded by his leftist political beliefs. Matthews does not even have the good grace to apologize to the 50% of Americans he slanders on a routine basis.

What is wrong with some people?

Man's inhumanity to man never ceases to amaze me.

On the other hand it doesn't. Spend about two minutes reading about the Middle Ages and you will realize we live in a very safe world.

The weekends go so fast

Yesterday was a beautiful day, sunny with temperatures in the low 70's; Chamber of Commerce weather indeed. I did yard work most of the day. I cleaned out some flower beds, pulled a few weeds. You may or may not remember my mower died with the waning days of fall last year. I bought a new mower yesterday and mowed the yard. To reward myself for a hard day's work I had a couple of cold beers and a nice cigar*

I finished A Feast for Crows the fourth installment of the Game of Thrones books (A Song of Ice and Fire is actually the name of the series) last evening.  I read nearly 800 pages in about four days.  Not too bad when you consider I was reading at lunch and in the evenings. I normally do not like Sci-Fi or fantasy, but I dig these books. A semi-medieval soap opera is the best description I can muster. As soon as Amazon drops the price of the next installment I will read it on my Kindle.

I am certain you are riveted by this interesting post, but I have a conference call in a few minutes so I will have to cut off short. Sometimes life is filled with disappointment.


* A Rocky Patel Burn if you care.

Friday Music

For some strange reason I woke this morning with this song playing in my head.

No, I don't know why.  You can have it bouncing in your skull now, too.

Thanks Democrats

My wife has worked as a teacher's assistant for 14 years. She is very good at her job, and likes it. Thanks to Obama and the Democrats she is about to take a pay cut. She works 30 hours a week.  That means the school system has to provide her with health insurance starting in the fall. My wife does not want the school insurance.  She is covered under mine. She knew she could not get insurance when she took the job. Now since she and her co-workers might opt in, the school will cut their hours to make sure they do not reach the 30 hour threshold.

Once again the unintended consequences and reality have stepped in to hurt the very people the Democrats are trying to help. Next, the morons in the Democrat Party will mandate employers who cut hours to avoid the excessive costs of ObamaCare will have to increase pay to make up for lost hours.  That way millions will lose their job altogether.

Perhaps that is the plan?

Fucking moron assholes.

Demthink

Many years ago I was involved in big change at the factory where I worked.  I was part of a team that was changing the entire production control system and manufacturing philosophy. The changes necessitated a culture change and a buy-in (I hate that word) from the line employees. Once a week, we shut down the production lines 30 minutes early at the end of the shift to have employee meetings.

In these sessions we explained the changes we were making, and why. We asked for recommendations and opinion. Sometimes there was useful input, usually the response was reactionary. "We have always done it this way..." After time, as the production changes ran their course, the meetings became less useful. For me, they became hard to justify in the face of the lost production they caused. In fact, these meetings became nothing more than bitch sessions. I quit having them on my shifts.

About a month later I was called in by my boss to find out why I was not having the weekly meetings. Some people on my shift had complained to him.  Not that they missed the meetings, but in typical UAW fashion, they were working 30 minutes a week longer than  employees in other departments and shifts who still had the weekly meetings! They wanted to be paid for doing nothing too.

I explained my reasoning to the boss.  I told John that if we had something that required a meeting I would certainly hold one for my shift. I told him that I fail to understand why we need to hold a meeting just because it is Wednesday. I said I do not believe in meeting for meetings sake. What he  heard me say was I wanted to screw his wife and rape his dog. That was his reaction anyway. It was example 1,294 of where my boss and I failed to see eye-to-eye. John was more than disappointed when my annual employee review came around. He canvassed my employees and co-workers (per review policy) and found I was the highest rated manager in the plant. Moreover, there was a list of transfer requests for people wanting to get into my department. *

John was probably a Democrat. He would have been all-in on gun-control. He would have understood the mentality of "do something" even if it was pointless and had no effect on gun violence. He would probably mandate a meeting every Wednesday to discuss the issue.


* Eventually he went to personnel with a "him or me" ultimatum. He was gone the next day.

Something has to be done

First crazed Muslim terrorists some people used box cutters and exacto-type knives on 9/11. Now one (or two) people used a box cutter or exacto-type knife to stab and cut 14 people on a Texas college campus. It is clear the only solution is a national database of knife owners. A limit of two blades for such knives must be imposed. The "loan your neighbor your box cutter" loophole must be closed. Anyone caught buying an exacto-type knife for their kid's model building hobby will serve a minimum of 100 years in prison. It is for the children.  We can no longer tolerate such brazen acts of knife violence against the children of this country.

When we get a list of knife owners the violence will stop. A background check will put a halt to the senseless killing.

Unnamed sources in the Obama administration confide that no private citizen needs such heinous blades.  A recycling center can handle your box-cutting needs. Homeland Security is writing proposed regulations to present to Congress in the coming weeks.

"There are people who cling to their utility knives, that have several in their tool boxes, garden shed and kitchen drawers. No one needs more than one of these knives.  The hawk-billed (or hook shaped) assault knives must be banned outright. Outside of roofing and cutting sod, no one needs one of these dangerous killing machines" said a Democrat Congresswoman from California.

I have contacted my local police department to see if they have instituted a buy-back program. I have dozens of these dangerous knives (most missing blades) and I do not want my children exposed.  Imagine, one of mine is made from black plastic, and we all know anything made from black plastic is scary and should be banned.

Join with me in a dozen dad march on Washington.  Our voices will be heard.  Ban these killers now.

This blog needs a theme song

I am pretty certain each of you plays this tune first thing every morning. After all, I am the embodiment of happiness in your life.

Content

...the stuff that fills the blog; words and images that occupy a space. Content can also represent a feeling of bliss and satisfaction. It is all about the accented syllable. I submit a picture that fulfills both requirements.  It will, by its mere existence, be content for this blog, while simultaneously remind me of a recent time of pure content.

St. Thomas USVI

The picture is not as vibrant when published on the blog. The colors are very nice and clear in the original. 

NSFW below the fold

This Monday keeps getting sadder

First we hear the news that Maggy Thatcher has left the building, now Annette Funicello has passed.

How Beach Blanket Bingo was overlooked by The Academy escapes me.

Best broccoli soup recipe ever

I suppose I should publish something. My creative juices are dried up like an overcooked steak. Unless you are in the mood for a diatribe on the evils of the designated hitter in baseball, I really have nothing to offer today.

Are people really this stupid?

Words with Friends the Board game --isn't that just Scrabble?

Dedicated to the peeps in charge over in North Korea

Lists, and why we make them

I am fully aware I am a stupid redneck Hoosier. I talk slow and type even slower. Sometimes  I just do not get it.

Can someone, anyone, offer a coherent and reasonable explanation how registering guns will prevent a crime? The weapons used in Colorado and Connecticut were lawfully held and acquired. How will any of the proposed violations of the Second Amendment have prevented those crimes?

Registering guns to prevent crime makes about as much sense as claiming registering cars will prevent drunk driving.

Friday Covers Prog Rock Version

A Yes song you probably do not know, but should.



An acoustic version



Glass Hammer covers the song

Things I know

You get what you pay for around here.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I am thinking of changing the name of this piece o' crap blog to "Tapeworm Diaries".

What do you think?

Liberal Nonsense

The second Monday this week

The light bulb exploded in my desk lamp when I turned it on this morning. Exploded. I had to use pliers to get out the pieces. I suppose that warning to use a 60 watt maximum bulb was accurate.

My daughter called just before 8:00. She was at the gas station and her car would not start.  I threw the jumper cables in the car.  It took longer to find the hood release on her VW than it did to get her car running.  i will have to figure out what is wrong after she gets off work.

As I was driving home the wife called on her way to work to let me know the bathroom toilet is clogged.  Hooray, I got to fix that too.

At some point I have to get started on my monthly report.  Too bad I have little to document.

What is wrong with this picture?

Since there is nothing more fascinating than looking at someone else's vacation pictures, here you go:

Sunset from the stern of the ship

Sharp dressed policeman in Nassau

Sunrise  in the Caribbean.  No pirates in sight.

It is one of those Mondays...

I hate interleague baseball. This year we have have even more of it, including opening day in Cincinnati.

Why bother having divisions MLB?

On the other hand, the Cubs are in first place as of this writing!