Stupid Useless Vehicles

I've always said that the term "SUV" was coined by the advertising department to get women and girly-men to drive trucks.

Now MSN wants to get into the act. They decry the fad of large Stupid Useless Vehicles driven by women and girly-men sucking down large amounts of carbon-based fuel poisoning Mother Gaia.

I know of several industries that have need of these large trucks, the construction and farming industries to name two. Other than that, the ownership of these (actually very useful) vehicles doesn't make much sense, especially the four-wheel drive varieties that very rarely, if ever, saw any time off-road, or even in rough weather. Their road presence greatly expanded when Federal mandates on fuel economy made cars smaller and less safe, and since the station wagon was so last-century the "SUV" was born.

Interesting side story, one winter during a snowstorm I was driving doctors back and forth from home to hospital in my little Chevy Cavalier. One doc had two of these SUVs, one a BMW and the other an H2, both 4WD. He looked disdainfully at my beat up Chevy and declared we would never make it to the hospital. I told him either drive one of his own vehicles or STFU. We made it, of course.

In other words, the SUV "fad" only stopped making sense when Yuppies got involved, as is usually the case. The Chevy Suburban has been on the market since 1935, the GMC version only slightly less longer (it showed up around 1937), so the ownership of these vehicles are by no means new, trendy, or faddish.

The only difference is that now women and girly-men drive them, and car-makers like Cadillac and BMW have their names on them.

PS: I feel as if I must clarify the above. My issue is not with the vehicles themselves, which are actually quite useful and much safer than the econoboxes that presently occupy most of the road space in the US today. My issue is with the term "SUV".

If you drive an "SUV" you are either a woman or a girly man. Real men drive trucks, and we're not ashamed of it.

Worse now is the new term on the block, XUV, which apparently means "Station wagon all jacked up on a tall frame to look like a real truck."

My apologies to any girly men who are offended. Please submit the complaint form found here to the appropriate authorities. The complaint officer here at the Last Refuge of a Scoundrel is Helen Waite. Please take all of your problems to Helen Waite.

Isn't That Interesting

President Barack Obama at the G8 summit said that the world has apparently escaped full economic meltdown but that recovery is still a long ways off.

The CBO said in February that the economic porkulus bill would harm more than it would help.

They said in January that the economy would recover by the end of 2009, providing the government did nothing at all to "help."

From the report: "In preparing its economic forecast, CBO assumes that current laws and policies governing federal spending and taxes do not change. This forecast, therefore, does not include the effects of a possible fiscal stimulus package."

Snort'n Coke

Ur doing it rong

Note to El Capitan

Envy this!

He is king of all he surveys.

Half a dog tall and a dog and a half long.

Master of cats, snack of larger dogs.

And, my personal alarm clock.

This Is The Difference

between writer and wordsmith.

We're All H8RZ Now

From comments on Ace O' Spades HQ, impeached Florida judge and current Democratic Congresscritter Alcee Hastings has introduced legislation to allow the Attorney General to have discretion over who is called a terrorist and what groups will be treated as terrorist groups.

This does not bode well for those of us designated as extremists by the DHS. From the report entitled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," the following groups were determined to be "extremists:"

"Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration."

Another piece of legislation introduced by Rep. Hastings is HR 645, National Emergency Centers Establishment Act. This bill directs DHS to establish emergency centers on military installations for the following purposes:

(1) to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster;

(2) to provide centralized locations for the purposes of training and ensuring the coordination of Federal, State, and local first responders;

(3) to provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations; and

(4) to meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Purposes 1-3 seem benign enough, but 4 leaves a lot of wiggle room. Political strategist Mike Baker likens them to concentration camps, and asks "Why aren't the news media covering this story? Could it be because they fear being the first occupants of these so-called emergency installations? Where is the outrage by our nation's Fourth Estate?"

Hastings was removed from the bench by the US House of Representatives for bribery and perjury, was subsequently elected to the same US House of Representatives, and currently serves as a ranking member on the Homeland Security Subcommittee.

HT to Momma, an Ace Of Spades HQ commenter.

UPDATE: More here and here.

Happy 4th

I hope everyone had a good one.

Questions

So Sarah Palin is hanging it up after a half term as Alaska's Governor.

What does it mean exactly?

I don't know.

Maybe she's just sick of the BS. Lord knows she's had her share.

Maybe she's sick of being attacked.

Maybe she's tired of having her family, her children, in the crosshairs.

Maybe she wants to concentrate on bigger and better things.

I don't know.

One thing I do know is that she galvanizes the base.

Her political opponents know that she's not the type to do the expected.

Whatever is in store for her future, I wish her the best. I don't think we have seen the last of her.

I'll be watching, and supporting.

UPDATE: It looks like I'm not alone in my analysis and conclusions.

Russ from Winterset at Ace O' Spades HQ has this to say, followed by this.

More here from Manly Rash and here from Conservatives4Palin.

And of course, no wrap-up would be complete without the skinny from He Whom Allah Hateth.

Congratulations Minnesota

You are now officially dumber than Pennsylvania.

Hope?

From Australia.

Clinical trials to start soon in Melbourne.

HT: Ace O' Spades HQ

Doh!

I had to go take care of car registrations today.

They come in the mail and the wife usually sets them aside so that I can handle them online, after which she files them. They came in last month.

Due to the shuffle of her mom dying and her being in Florida off and on they got put on the table and ignored. When she saw them she was in a filing frenzy, assumed that I had seen and paid them, and filed them.

Today she needed the registration for the car because she was going to get her driver's license. The registration was for last year, because it had not been renewed.

Now, of course, they are a month overdue. So, today I got to pull my happy butt out of bed early so that I could drive to the next town over where the DMV office is (in the feedstore - no joke) and get the sticker for the car.

Tonight I get to go to work. It should be a lot of fun.

And that's life in my world. I hope yours isn't as crazy.

American Girl

Rest in peace Angel.

Oh yeah, and some guy named Jackson died, too.

Another One

Governor Mark Sanford is a feminine hygiene product.

That's really too bad, because I had a lot of respect for him because of the whole wont-take-the-porkulus-money thing. He could have gone far.

Alas, he was brought low by his own wanton lust, as have so many before him. He is just the latest in a long line of the reasons people consider the words "scumbag" and "politician" to be redundant.

My problem with him is the same as with Clinton, Edwards, Ensign and all the other jackasses, namely that they made a promise and didn't keep it. If they lie to their spouses they will lie to their constituents as well, and that is something that we should not put up with.

Yes, I know, "lying politician" is also a redundant statement. That doesn't mean we should excuse it when the proof comes up. I'm with Gonzo on this one. If he can't be trusted at home, he can't be trusted in the office either.

I have to respect his wife Jenny Sanford however, she wasn't one of the "stand by your man" wives who have shared the stage with their philandering spouses as they poured out their tale of woe. She gave him the boot two weeks ago, which is why she didn't know where he was.

In a statement released to the press she says the separation was intended to ultimately lead to a reconciliation, and that "I believe Mark has earned a chance to resurrect our marriage." Still, she let him face the music alone. What happens next is up to them, it's their personal lives and they deserve their privacy.

Thus endeth the political ambitions of one Mark Sanford.

This Week

Yesterday I took my new Father's Day grille over to "The Boy's" school for their end-of-year cookout.

Today my sister and her clan will show up.

Tomorrow is graduation day at the school. "The Boy" is not graduating, but since it's a small school all the students get involved.

Saturday I'll go back to work. I'll need the rest by then.

Happy Father's Day

I hope all the fathers out there are having a good one.

I have to work tonight, so we had an outing last night with friends. A good time was had by all.

Busy Day

I got some things done around the house today that the wife has been bugging me to do and found some time to take the boy out worm drowning. He caught a small fish that we took a picture of and threw back, and all I got was sunburned.

On the way home we talked about gossip and why Mom is so mad about it.

I got a new charcoal grille for Fathers Day (I'll be working Sunday) and I've been putting it through it's paces.

Tomorrow evening the wife and I will be going to a friend's house, and a good time shall be had by all.

Hope everyone else is having a good weekend.

Gossip

There was a little dust-up at the Refuge today.

The youngest child is a special-needs child, both of his birth parents are mentally deficient and he has a problem reading. He's not stupid by any means, but he has a real problem putting letters together to form words.

He is also very social, and all the neighbors know him because he visits them all. He's a good kid, so the neighbors like to have him around. It's a pretty small community, so everyone knows everyone else, so the wife and I have never had any problems with letting him wander.

We recently gained a new neighbor across the street, and the boy being the social creature he is immediately went over and introduced himself. She is an older lady with a couple of dogs and he had a big time playing with the dogs. She had also invited him to go to church with her a couple of times, which he did.

My wife always had a sneaking suspicion that there was something odd with her though, and never trusted her for some reason. Today we found out that we are the target of gossip.

My wife, being my wife, confronted her with it. She is extremely apologetic, she never meant any harm, she was just concerned because he can't read, etc. The wife pointed out that if she was so concerned she would have come and talked to us about it, which she did not.

What she is, is a gossip.

For the most part gossip is malicious and slandering, and nothing good ever comes of it. It creates hard feelings and makes for bad neighbors. It introduces strife into a peaceful community. It hurts the innocent, in this case a ten year old boy.

I really hate gossip.

Forget John Galt

The guy we need right now is Hank Rearden.

We need someone - anyone - who has the stones to stand up and say "I see what you're doing here, and I'm not going to play along."

I just keep waiting for it. So far none of the bankers, oilmen, car execs, or other businessmen who have been called on the carpet in front of Congress have done it. Not a single one.

I would have changed all my accounts to the one bank that had the HMFIC that, when told by the Feds "You aren't leaving this room until you sign this and take the money" would have said "Buddy, you don't have the horsepower to keep me in this room." None stepped forward.

I would have bought all my gasoline from now on from the one company who's CEO, when called before Congress to get lectured on price gouging, would have pointed out that the US Government makes more money per gallon than the oil companies do. But not a single one did.

I have never bought a brand new car, but I was planning on a Challenger convertible. Now it will be a Mustang convertible instead. I appreciate the fact that Ford didn't take the money, but they didn't stand up for themselves when they were castigated for taking private planes to meet with the lawmakers either. None of them did.

Now health care lobbyists have been warned point blank to not even meet with Republicans. Appointed officials are being invited to quit or be fired in violation of the law. We rush headlong into Socialism while former and current socialist countries warn us of the foolishness of our actions. Example after example of government overreach has come to us by way of the bloggers, but the Mainstream Mediots remain silent.

On the other hand, tea party after tea party is held, and again the Mainstream Mediots remain silent. Pressure is building. How long before it breaks out?

The mid term elections are going to be held next year. If you want to make a difference, vote for Congresscritter and/or Senator. If the Republican party is not running a candidate (it happens all too often, sadly enough) look at the third party candidates, like the Libertarians or the Constitution Party.

It's our country, and we have only ourselves to blame if we do nothing as it all goes sideways.

On That Note

It just gets sadder and sadder how Sarah Palin is such a threat to the liberals. Seven months after the election they just keep kicking at her. She's still a threat because she still draws big crowds. She's attractive, smart, likes guns, and speaks to "regular" people.

The Ivy League educated self-selected nobility just doesn't get why we ignorant rubes are so attracted to her. She went to a state university for pete's sake, and only has a bachelor's degree! Can't you morons see that she is TEH STOOPID?!?!?!? What's the matter with you?

She is their worst nightmare and must be destroyed. And not only destroyed, but as Robert DeNiro's character said in The Untouchables, "I want you to get this f*ck where he breathes! I want you to find this nancy-boy Eliot Ness, I want him DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want his house burned to the GROUND! I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna P*SS ON HIS ASHES!" destroyed.

And if she's that big a threat to them, perhaps we should really take notice.

That's Funny?

Letterman showed his old ass and is now getting some heat for it.

Just now on O'Reilly's show asshat apologist Alan Colmes said he probably just mistook Bristol Palin for her 14 year old sister Willow.

Because, you know, teen pregnancy jokes are funny when applied to 18 year olds, but just creepy for 14 year olds.

There's probably a good reason why Letterman still hasn't landed that "Tonight Show" gig.

New Link

Home On The Range.

I think I'm in luv.

(My wife's idea of "roughing it" is a hotel without room service.)

Tea Party, Part Two

There was another Tea Party in Raleigh on Wednesday, June 3rd. It didn't rate even a casual mention in the local media.

Next one is scheduled for July 4th, and if the good Lord is willing and the creek doesn't rise I'll be there for this one.

By the by, that's a new subversive link. Click at your peril (muahahahahaha! Mine is an evil laugh).

D Day

65 years ago today Operation Overlord and Operation Neptune were launched, eventually resulting in the defeat of the Axis powers in Europe.

It was the largest single-day amphibious landing the world has ever seen, and when it was over 1,465 American boys lay dead or dying. Along with the British and Canadian forces, and including those captured and wounded, there were over 10,000 casualties out of a force of 160,000 men.

The invasions took part during a break in the weather, which partly accounts for the relatively light casualty count (the expected casualty count was estimated at 75% by British air commander Trafford Leigh-Mallory). The Germans had assumed that since the weather was not cooperative the invasions would not be able to proceed for another month at least, and some of them had actually taken leave during the time of the invasions.

Even with those high estimated casualties, however, the expected gains were deemed important enough that the casualty count was acceptable. With three words - "Okay, let's go" - Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower set into motion the machinery that would change the world forever.

And with those words, the young soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of the Allied nations unleashed their wrath upon the Axis powers.

The world owes them all a debt that they can never repay.

Strolling Around the Net

I would like to introduce my newest blogroll addition, Gunslinger's Journal.

I happened upon Gunslinger's Journal through a post from Annie, and while I was there I read the list of definitions.

This one in particular caught my eye:

"Collaborators: This refers to the Liberal-Left anti-war, anti-American, anti-Bush boneheads who say things like "war never solved anything" and expose national security secrets, or support those who do; who pretend to be against terrorism, but don't want to profile young Muslim men; who go to foreign countries and bad-mouth America; who vow to leave America if Bush is elected, then don't; who believe that America is the problem and not the solution to the world's problems...at the same time they insist that America SOLVE all the world's problems, but only in ways that are not American; who are rich and fat and happy and blame the hard-working, struggling, productive Americans for making the rest of the world poor; who believe that morals are relative and non-binding for themselves, but gleefully point out in mock outrage the human failings of people with whom they disagree; who believe the First Amendment applies only to themselves; who believe that the Constitution is a set of suggestions, not the Law of the Land, and can be trampled, twisted, i.e. "interpreted" in any way that fits their agenda; who believe the framers and founders of America were evil white men, to whom they owe no debt of gratitude; who think that America is the worst country in the world but won't leave to go to that other place that is so much better...which they never exactly identify; who believe that America's success, prosperity and power are not the result of high principles, hard work, dedication, good ideas, faith and sacrifice, but luck, and theft; who believe that somehow it's the magical dirt of the land mass that is America that generates prosperity, technology, wealth and power, not the people and the culture; who would rather see America punished, blamed, battered and bloodied by the rest of the world than lift a finger to defend her; who would rather see America LOSE A WAR and American troops BLEED AND DIE than see George W. Bush succeed." (emphasis mine)

It reminded me of one of my earliest, and in my opinion still my best, post entitled "Peace".

As I stroll about Al Gore's Intertubes, I am reminded again and again of the inherent truthiness contained within that post.

I just wish I had the answer to the question of what to do about it.

This Week In History

67 years ago yesterday the US and Japanese fleets met in battle at a place called Midway Atoll.

When I got my EAWS wings we were, of course, required to know the pertinent facts about the battle of Midway.

The significance of Midway was that the US Navy was able to achieve parity in forces with the Japanese, while simultaneously depriving Japan of her skilled naval aviators. For this reason Midway is known as the turning point of the war in the Pacific, even though the Japanese juggernaut would continue for several more months.

(The significance of the earlier battle of Coral Sea, incidentally, is that it was the first time in history when naval forces engaged and the surface ships never saw each other. It was the first time carriers went head to head, and was waged completely from the air.)

Ensign George Gay had the dubious honor of being the only aviator to survive from Torpedo Squadron Eight, and enjoyed a front row seat for the destruction of three of the Japanese carriers from his spot in the water. He was rescued by a PBY flying boat 30 hours later.

The battle commenced on June 4, 1942 when nine Army Air Corps B-17s dropped bombs on (and missed) the Japanese transport group, and ended on June 7, 1942 when Admiral Spruance ordered the disengagement and subsequent withdrawal. During the course of the battle four Japanese fleet carriers were sunk at the cost of one American carrier, the USS Yorktown (CV-5), and the destroyer that was providing damage control assistance to her, the USS Hammann (DD-412).

Admiral Spruance is sometimes condemned for not continuing the engagement and destroying the retreating Japanese fleet utterly, but others will point out that the reinforcements on the way included the 18 inch guns of the battleship Yamato, and that the Yamato would have engaged at night while the carrier aircraft were chained down due to the darkness (military aircraft were not equipped for night fighting at the time).

It must be remembered that at the time US servicemen of all branches served in-theater from beginning to end, and the only way out of the battle was due to injury or death. Today our deployments are limited and units are rotated in and out.

It was a different time, a different enemy, and a different fight, and we learned much from their example. Let us pray that we never have to witness the devastation of another world war.

The Modern World

I just got into this Facebook thing because my son-in-law (the one in Wyoming that I've never met) sent me an invite so I could see pics of the grandkids.

Much to my surprise I know a lot of people on Facebook. And me being such a Neanderthal, who knew?

The only problem is that there are so many things - applications, games and so forth - that I really don't know what all to allow and what not to.

Of course, once I get it all figured out things will change again and leave me in the dark all over again, snuffling around in my cave looking for the two rocks I had to bang together to make sparks.

If you're here via the Facebook link, well this is my page. Have a look around and leave me a note in the comments to let me know you were here.

What A Week

An abortion doctor gets killed and all of Christendom is apparently responsible.

Meanwhile a Muslim convert that kills one solder and wounds another is acting alone.

And apparently, according to Playboy, it is now OK to brutally rape women - as long as they are conservative women.

Sometimes it's hard to keep up, with the way things change so quickly.

Of course if you have been watching anything other than Fox, you are probably only aware of one of these stories.

HT to RSM at The Other McCain.

Is It Just Me?

Or does anyone else see this...

and think of this?

So Much To Do

The little Rampage gave me a hard time last Saturday. As I was pulling out of the driveway on the way to work it locked into neutral. I ended up driving the wife's car in all week.

Today I took the transmission linkage apart and freed it up, and while I was there I did a little work on the carberator and smog pump as well. When I was done I was hot, tired and sweaty and the youngest boy was clamoring to get into the pool.

After showering up, the pool seemed like a pretty good idea, so into the pool we went until the sky clouded up. It was a pretty good ending to the day.

Tomorrow it's back to work for another four days, but then I get a four day weekend as we go back to a 3 and 4 schedule. Overtime is back, I got a raise with my annual review, so we will be able to get some of the Florida travel bills paid off.

Maybe I'll be able to get this guy paid for the truck work as well, I can't wait to see Old Frank restored to his former glory.

Memorial Day

Some gave all.

Remember them.

Just When I Think

I've met the stupidest person in the world...

Someone comes along and proves me wrong.

Fair warning, I've just spent the better part of four hours on this site, and my sides are painful.

Thanks to Annie for the link on her sidebar.

Historical Questions

The Hotel Buena Vista in Biloxi MS had an open air deck on it's top where this lady would perform.

Her regular clientele in 1949 and 1950 included a young Army Air Corps (precursor to the US Air Force) soldier and his buddies, who would scrape up the money for a cab ride from the base to hear her sing.

That young Army Air Corps soldier was Pop.

Every night there was a drawing for a bottle of champagne, and when he and his friends were there she would somehow arrange for them to win the bottle.

Her name was Jean, her last name (inscribed on the photo) was either Wilson or Nelson. I'm leaning towards Wilson because there is a dot just above and to the left of the L in her signature.

Does anyone know this lady? I would be very curious where she is now and how her life turned out. She would be in her 80's now.

If you have any knowledge of Ms Wilson/Nelson's whereabouts, please post in the comments section.

Soul Searching

We are back home again, we got in last night. It's good to be home.

Today we went to have dinner with some friends that we haven't seen for a while and it was a good time had by all.

On the way home I remarked that it seems as if her depth perception is suffering a bit.

She told me I wasn't supposed to have noticed that. It's one of the by-products of the chemo.

She then asked me how much I really knew about her illness. I told her I knew more than I let on.

It's easy to forget what is going on because she doesn't look sick. The fact remains that she is, and the illness is fatal.

But then again, life itself is fatal. No one lives through it.

This is why we spend a lot of time not talking about it. There isn't anything we can do about it, so we just enjoy the time we have together and we don't worry about things we can't change.

This says it best.

He's Right You Know

It does look like a tree rat.

Travelin' Man

I came back to NC last Saturday, and I'm going back down to Florida this afternoon.

Last week I left the wife to take care of some things for Pop. He really didn't need the help, I suspect he just wanted the company. She's more than ready to come back home.

On the way north I took a detour through Jax Airport rather than take I-295 all the way to I-95. I really can't say why.

On the entrance ramp there was a man holding a sign that said "Virginia". Yes, I stopped to pick him up. Again, I really can't say why.

His name was Mickey, and he was coming from Las Vegas, Nevada going to Richmond, Virginia where his brother lived. He had grown up in North Carolina, and had worked mostly odd jobs in Vegas for the past 15 years or so. When the economy went south so did the demand for unskilled labor.

He told me tales of his travels from Vegas to Jacksonville, and I told him some sea stories. Somewhere in the middle I made sure he had a full belly, and I let him off when I peeled off of 95 onto I-40, heading for home.

He thanked me profusely, and told me he would never be able to repay me for getting him so far along his way, and for the meal. I told him that my ordained minister parents (yes, both of them) would have never let me hear the end of it if I had let him go away hungry. Whatsoever you do undo the least of these, and all that.

Mickey was a stranger to me, but his story is familiar. His story is why I pushed my kids to get an education and learn a trade. Two of the three who should have finished a long time ago have listened, a fourth is in grade school, and I'm still working on the third. Maybe he will listen one day, too. Until then I'll keep pushing.

God bless you Mickey. I hope you find what you are looking for.

Internet Verbs

I would like to submit "Pelosi" as the new Internet verb.

To be "pelosied" one has to 1) brazenly lie about something and then 2) be called out for it publicly by the person or persons you lied about. Extra points if that person or persons produce documentation (particularly video spread virally through the interwebs via You Tube or some such method) to back their claims.

Double points if the target then lies about the documentation and gets pelosied on that. Points double every time this occurs.

More points awarded if your friends and cohorts decline to be pelosied with you.

Whoever gives up or goes to jail first loses.

I wonder if Barney Fwank has been Pelosied over the whole Freddie/Fannie affair? If not, he needs to be and very soon, but I doubt anyone at Freddie or Fannie has the stones to call him out. Perhaps another lender would do, especially if it was done during one of Congress's famous snits where they call in the corporate execs that they blame the trouble on (because the corporate execs were trying to follow the dictates of congress, but none of them ever seem to say so).

Mostly linked through Ace O' Spades, and the links that aren't to Ace's place have been obtained from there. He links Hot Air, I link him, what can I say.

On The Road Again

We're back in Florida.

We left yesterday and made it as far as Jacksonville where we stopped for the night at the daughter's house. We came the rest of the way to Lake City today.

Pop is doing OK, but a good descriptive word would be "diminished". He has always been fairly boisterous, but the spark has gone out of him. Losing Mom was a blow that he will take a while to recover from, but I believe he will recover.

We spent the day going through some old pictures, I'll be posting a few later on. Until then, here's a question for anyone who reads this blog and has any knowledge of Biloxi MS in the 1949-50 time frame. There's a picture I'll be posting, I'll tell the story and I'd love to hear if anyone out there can add to it.

The question, by the way, is to anyone who can name the singer that used to perform on the top deck of the Buena Vista hotel in Biloxi in 1949 and 1950. Her first name was Jean, her last name was either Wilson or Nelson. The question(s) are, what was her last name, and what is the lady doing today?

At any rate, we will be busy. I'll be heading back to the Refuge on Saturday and I'll come back to Florida to get the wife in a week or so after the memorial is done. In the meantime, light blogging.

Thanks for the prayers and well-wishes, they are greatly appreciated.

Break Needed

If I wasn't the answer to so many other people's problems I might be able to solve a few of my own.

Happy Mother's Day

Mother In Law passed away a week ago yesterday. It's the first Mother's Day that the wife has not been able to call her mother. She's taking it a little harder than she lets on.

She called my mom instead. Methinks Mom had better get used to some Sunday afternoon chat sessions.

The date and tag line is for Monday since it's after midnight as I post this. My apologies for anyone who really cares.

Gahh!

Does anyone care less than I do what Obama had for lunch?

I thought not.

The New Media

Someone needs to be harassed in a "severe, repeated and hostile manner".

That someone would be your Congresscritter.

Hard, fast and continuously. Repeat as required. The message: make sure that the unconstitutional H.R. 1966 never sees the light of day. As it is presently in committee it very well may die there, but action is needed to ensure this.

Additionally, our elected representatives should know that, by the very document they purport to serve, such legislation should never, ever, see paper. It kind of makes you think that some of them have never read the thing.

Hat tip to Small Dead Animals by way of Five Feet of Fury.

Five Feet of Fury is a new link, by the way. Go check it out.

Pictures of Roanoke, VA

As promised, here are some photos from our Roanoke trip.

The Roanoke Star stands on the mountain overlooking the city. It was erected to commemorate Roanoke as a progressive city, back when progressive meant constantly moving forward rather than communistic.

From the platform in front of the star you can look out over the entire city. The Norfolk and Western (now Norfolk Southern) roundhouse that houses the Virginia Transportation Museum is down there somewhere.

The museum is the home of various bits and pieces of transportation history, such as this Packard automobile.

Wandering through the trains section outside, Chris and I stumbled upon something that every Pennsylvania Railroad fan will recognize.

The star of the show is the most beautiful steam locomotive in the world, the Norfolk and Western J class 4-8-4 (this particular wheel arrangement is known as a "Northern" everywhere but in the South).

This photo gives an idea of the size of the massive beast. The boys in the photo are my ten year old son Christopher on the right and my five year old grandson Mark on the left.

Back To Work

I'm back to work today, maybe one of these days I'll be able to take some time off for an actual vacation.

Lots of loose threads to tie up, hopefully I'll be able to get everything updated and "tied off" so to speak on Wednesday.

A Bad Day At The Refuge

Unfortunately the mechanic was right about the Taurus, the head gaskets are blown. The car had just sat long enough for the water to separate out of the oil, as soon as we got the motor started (with no white smoke) the water started bubbling in the expansion tank and the oil turned milky.

We got on our way yesterday and made it as far as Charleston SC before we stopped. Our nice leisurely trip had to come to an abrupt end this morning.

We awoke to the phone ringing, MIL coded this morning. They got her heart beating again, and Pop was on his way to the hospital when we left the hotel. Just north of Georgetown Pop called again. They were unable to get her blood pressure back up, and she slipped away sometime around noon.

Thanks for all the prayers, say one for Pop.

Stage Two

The next part of our journey took us from Green Cove Springs, where the hospital is, to Jacksonville to the eldest daughter's house. We were planning on only staying a day or so and continuing up the coast, stopping off to see the wife's aunt in uncle in south Georgia, but we have been extended due to automobile issues. Nothing serious, in fact it's kind of good news.

My daughter had a Taurus that was having overheating problems and she was finally told the head gaskets were blown. She didn't have the money to fix it, she had another car, so she gave the car to me. The plan was to borrow a truck to tow it back to NC with and fix it there. Today I took a real good look at it.

The overheating problem was caused by the plastic expansion tank being cracked, the crack would open under pressure and vent all the water out and the car would overheat. The last time it happened the daughter shut the car off and had it towed to my son-in-law's job, where he took it to the mechanic who told them the engine was damaged.

I checked the engine oil, and there was no milk in it, which indicates the engine doesn't have any problems after all. I found another expansion tank at the junkyard for five bucks, the only one that was there out of about a dozen cars, so I'm thinking this is a common problem.

I would have put it in already, but on the way home from the junkyard the Pontiac started heating up. It turns out the radiator fan went bad on me, so I had to replace that before I went any farther. Thankfully it wasn't a difficult or costly fix.

Tomorrow I will put the expansion tank in, fill the radiator, start the car and let it idle for a half-hour or so and see if it overheats again. After that I will check the oil problem again. If there aren't any problems I will have about fifteen dollars in the car, five for the expansion tank and ten for the coolant.

I'm guessing that the car will idle fine in the hot Florida sun for a half hour with the AC on without overheating, I will see no bubbles in the expansion tank after I top off the coolant, the car will not blow white smoke from the tailpipes (both daughter and SIL tell me the car never did smoke), and afterwards the oil will be water-free.

If that is the case, I will feel bad for taking the car, and in fact I have already told them they can have it back if it's OK, but they will not hear of it. So if it checks out I'll get the plates for it just before we come back down to bring the wife back to stay with Pop after her treatments and I'll drive it back up north.

It will be a good replacement for the Pontiac which is showing it's age. The wife wants to keep the Pontiac for her every day car and save the Taurus for road trips since it's bigger (we have been taking the Aries station wagon for that purpose, but it has a broken air conditioner).

It will need a battery (because the one that was in it is now in the daughter's other car) and a full set of tires to pass inspection, but otherwise it's in good shape all around. I have a handful of cosmetic things to fix in the interior, one small dent near the gas fill door, and it needs hubcaps. I'm thinking trim rings and moon caps since it's a white car, that way I can watch the other drivers on the road freak out at me when they think it's an unmarked police car.

Of course that gives me a total of five cars after the old pickup gets put back together (including the one that my youngest daughter is driving). Funny thing is, they all have their niches. The Rampage is my daily driver, the Aries is my camping and fishing car (that's the one the youngest daughter is driving), the Pontiac is my wife's car, and the old truck has earned it's keep even if it never moves another inch. The Taurus will be the spare vehicle/family outing car.

Since the Rampage can fill the camping and fishing role (as long as it's just Christopher and me), and since the youngest daughter has driven the Aries fifteen of the eighteen months I have owned it, I might as well just sign the damn thing over to her. She can sell her Topaz since it has just been sitting all this time (it needs a tire to pass inspection, but why bother when she's driving Dad's car?).

So that's it for the saga of Things With Wheels...until next time. And my "next car" was a Ford this time, so the Big Three will be represented in my driveway (two Dodges, a Pontiac and a Chevrolet from GM, and a Taurus from Ford). I wonder if I will ever own a new car? Maybe someone will take all my old ones for a trade-in.

In real news Arlen Sphincter has finally come out of the closet. It's about time.

Stage One

I arrived at my Florida destination this morning just in time for SWMBO and Pop to go to the VA, get his eye looked at (the post op looks good, the cataract surgery was a success for the left eye, right eye happens in about a month) and go see MIL at the hospital.

Tomorrow we will go see MIL, I have to check the daughter's car out, and then we will start our meandering journey back home. We're planning a coastal trip rather than an I-95 one, it should be much more restful this way.

Of course today I got a message saying my photos from the Roanoke trip are in. I'll try to get some posted at the end of the week, along with any that I take this week that catches my fancy.

The news stories of the day are SWINE FLU PANDEMIC!!! and the idiotic trip of Air Farce One over New Yawk City.

First, less than 100 cases of swine flu in a nation of 300 million is not yet a cause for widespread panic. As I watched the news I was struck by the obvious attempts of the "reporters" to create a big issue (and thus a big news story) out of it, and the experts were all making variations on the "it's a cause for concern but not alarm" theme.

It's more severe in Mexico and overseas, which says a lot for both our standard of living and also for our much-maligned medical care system. Wash your hands and get a shot if you are in the at-risk demographic, other than that I've heard TheraFlu does wonders.

Second, Bambi claims he knew nothing about his airplane being used for a photo shoot. I'm not convinced. The "American Idol" president didn't know anything about a photo shoot involving the aircraft that becomes Air Force One when he's aboard, right. Pull the other one, it's got bells.

Be that as it may, the brain child that cooked up this idea needs to find new employment and the pilots that flew the mission rather than saying "Hey, this is a REALLY DUMB idea" need to be re-assigned to the "rubber dogsqueeze to Hong Kong" route.

A Slight Delay

I was going to post some pictures of the Roanoke trip, but unfortunately the film didn't show when it was supposed to. So, it will have to wait a while.

Next week will be busy, I'll be heading off to Florida Monday evening to pick up the wife and we're going to take our time getting back. It should be a nice relaxing ride.

MIL is not doing well, and Pop is having a hard time coming to grips with that. Not surprising since they have been together for 56 years.

Light posting next week due to the trip.

The Week In Review

It was a busy week.

My sister recently moved from an apartment to a townhouse, and in the process her dining room table became surplus. My wife wanted it, so arrangements were made to pick it up. Of course this was before the whole incident with the mother in law.

Anyway, on Thursday the three boys and I went to Roanoke to get the table and see Sister's new digs.

If you ever get a chance to travel four hours with three boys ages 4, 6, and 9, I highly recommend that you slit your wrists instead.

But, travel aside, we had a good time in Roanoke. I left my digital camera, so I bought a cheapie from Wallyworld only to find out that the reason it was so cheap is that it had no internal memory. I would have known that if I had read the package.

Fortunately I bought a couple of one-time use cameras as well, so pictures and a full write-up will be forthcoming when the pics are developed.

And, once I got the SD card installed into the new digital it was OK. Not great, but OK. I'll end up using it when we take our camping and fishing trips, that way the more expensive camera won't be at risk.

I also found someone that will actually do the body work on my old 62 Chevy C-10 instead of just talking about it. I really can't afford it, but at the price he quoted I can't pass it up either, and he takes payments, so it's all good.

He took the cab away today and he will come back for the rest a bit at a time as he has the time and I have the cash. It will be good to see Old Frank back in one piece again.

Scenes Of The Lunatic Fringe

Sorry for the blurriness on some - OK, most - of the images, I really need to invest in a tripod. Click on any picture for an expanded view (necessary to read some of the signs).

The crowds packed the west lawn of the building in the area designated for the rally. I hesitate to call it a protest given the orderliness of the crowds.

The point of posting this particular picture is to show how the police, while present, weren't required for crowd control. More than one person walked up to them to thank them for their service and shake their hands. At first they seemed surprised, I don't think they expected that from the right-wing extremist whack jobs the DHS told them to be looking out for. At the end, while everyone was heading to their cars, the police blocked off a single street to allow the crowds to cross without having to fight traffic. Once clear of that single street, however, the crowds stayed on the sidewalks and obeyed traffic signs on their way to the parking lots. Not your typical protest as carried out by typical protesters, but that's the way we like it.

The Gadsden flag was in evidence all through the crowd. This particular flag was flown by the street, and given the enthusiastic honking of the motorists driving by, was well received.

Russ. Just Russ says they were there, but I didn't see any cameras or reporters myself. I didn't see any mention on the local stations during the eleven o'clock news, either, but I wasn't really watching closely. I did see the Fayetteville rally coverage on the "local" all-news-all-the-time channel, so at least someone was paying attention somewhere.

This was a family event, and there were plenty of kids about. Some of the older ones had their own signs, most of them along the "hey, that's MY money you're taking!" variety.

Makes me want to cry too, kid. At least you're getting a ride out of the deal. For now at least. Later on you can carry me, 'kay?

Nice thought there. History, failure to learn, failure to learn from.

The crowds were well behaved and orderly throughout the event. No one strayed into the streets to block traffic, something that seemed to be well appreciated by both law enforcement officers and passing motorists.

There were slightly more than a pathetic dozen people present, and of all the American flags at the scene not a single one was even so much as smoldering.

Someone should probably keep an eye on this radical extremist.

This one too.

Strangely enough, PETA was not there to highlight the plight of this poor, helpless animal. Won't someone please help?

Raleigh Tax Day Tea Party

The Tax Day Tea Party in Raleigh kicked off at 6:30, but I didn't get there until a bit after seven.

According to Russ. Just Russ the crowds had started gathering by 5:30, in plenty of time for the start.

Some items to note here, the crowds were polite
and no one was confrontational, the police were
there but looked awfully bored (just the way we like them), and no one that I know of got hauled away in chains.

This stands in stark contrast to Tom Tancredo's experience in Chapel Hill with the UNC students.

I didn't see any news coverage, but Russ has a picture on his post that shows a news van present.

Through the whole thing the honks of the cars driving by were constant. Even if they didn't have the time to attend, it seems the denizens of Raleigh were generally supportive of the event.

One of the things that really surprised me were the number of kids at the rally, not only those who were being carried but also those who were old enough to seem to know what was going on. Most of them carried signs, as you can see by the two young ladies in the tree.

The event was scheduled to go until 8:30, but at eight o clock the last of the speakers finished, led the crowd (badly) in a rendition of America the Beautiful, and everyone went peacefully to their cars.

US NAVY - UR DOING IT RONG!

Apparently you don't actually need SEALs, all you really need are dolphins.

Who knew?

Fake Turkey

Link to Hot Air, HT to Ace O' Spades.

New Link

Not because of a hope to take advantage of Rule Number 2, I just dig the dude's writing.

Like I said before, the links are for my convenience (mostly so I can find these places again) but if you enjoy them, all the better.

On FOX

Since I'm now a paid media shill (thanks Annie!) I was watching Fox News just now as they discussed the tea parties tomorrow. I must say that the leftists are making some pretty funny points.

First, the accusation that these are not "grass roots" but are being paid for and organized by, among others, Freedom Works. According to Freedom Works, they have helped with getting the necessary permits, but have paid for nothing, and would love to be able to claim credit for the whole Tax Day Tea Party phenomenon, but unfortunately can't.

(Note to self, rant for another day: why the hell do we need permits to exercise the first amendment right to peaceably assemble? Tie this in with the permits required to exercise the second amendment right to keep and bear arms.)

This is funny because no one complains when groups like ANSWER pay for and organize leftist protests, even going so far as to bus people in and pay them for their time to get them to protest, but if the right wing organizations just help with permits it's suddenly a huge problem. Hypocrisy, thy name is leftist asshat.

Next, the guest lefty "questions the timing" since Bush ran up gazillion dollar deficits year after year and the Right barely noticed. Apparently he hasn't been paying attention. Not surprising since the people on the Right have jobs, and so we don't usually have time for protests (and the ones we do have don't get the media coverage).

We just vote. Or not, as the case may be. Ask all those free-spending Republicans why they aren't in office any more. Actually, don't, because they think they just weren't successful appealing to the center. The real reason is, if we want politicians who spend like Democrats, we will just elect a bunch of Democrats. Or do nothing to prevent them from being elected, which amounts to the same thing.

But speaking of the huge Bush deficits, I would like you to direct your attention to this chart, which has been helpfully provided on several blogs:


Take a look at the actual deficits from 2004-2007. Although you wouldn't have known it from the regular mainstream media or from the leftist that was the guest on this Fox News segment, the deficits were trending towards the zero mark, not increasing. When the bailouts and other government interference bills were passed in 2008 there was much squawking by the right side of the political spectrum, but the squawking went unnoticed (apparently because there were no staged protests with anti-Bush content, so the MSM ignored it).

So, the last Bush deficit in 2008 ends up being 450 billion, and the first projected Obama deficit is going to be over 1.6 trillion. That seems to be a good reason to have an anti-tax rally.

I would also like to direct your attention to the 2002-2003 time span in the above graph. This is when the Republicans began to spend like Democrats, which ended badly for them. When President Bush finally found his veto pen things started to go in the right direction, but it was a too-little-too-late deal.

The "Most Ethical Congress Evah!" was elected in 2006 and took power in 2007. 2007 went pretty well, but 2008 is when things really started to go sideways. This ended badly for John McCain, as you might remember. Obama campaigned on reducing the deficit, reminding the voting public at every available opportunity that the Republican congress run amok had spent us all into the poorhouse.

A Democrat congress running amok will, on the other hand, spend us into peace and unimaginable prosperity. This will be the first time in history that spending will lead to untold riches, but the Obamiester is a lightworker, after all.

Make fun of us "teabaggers" if you wish, but we are hoping that our government will pay attention. That is why we are doing this, not to overthrow the government, not to topple the Obama administration, and certainly not for the spots on the six o'clock news.

See you at the tea party!

Tea Party

The Raleigh Tax Day Tea Party is April 15th at the state capitol building on Wilmington Street from 6:30PM to 8:30PM.

I'll be there with my Simon Jester shirt on.

See you there!

Happy Easter

2000 years ago (give or take) Humanity was saved.

This afternoon Captain Phillips was.

Three pirates dead, one in custody, the good Captain and crew safe and soon to be reunited, and all is well with the world.

Happy Easter everyone.

On The Home Front

Mother in law is improving. She's still on the vent, but today she's being moved to a long-care hospital that specializes in respiratory therapy.

The wife is staying while I head back up north for the weekend. I'll come back after Easter to bring her car back to her, and I'll bring the youngest son and youngest daughter with me.

It looks like the wife will be here for 3 or 4 weeks, then she will have to come back home for a chemo treatment, a week to recover from that, and then right back down again.

When mother gets out of the hospital we will make plans to move them closer to the Refuge. That way we won't have to scramble if something new comes up. I know that will be better for the wife's peace of mind.

Following Up

The Maersk ship Alabama is now underway minus her skipper.

Her skipper is being held hostage by four pirates in the ship's disabled lifeboat.

The crew had bartered to exchange one of the pirates for the captain. The crew turned over the pirate, and the pirates reneged on their side of the deal.

(Cue Johnny Depp's character Captain Jack Sparrow saying "Pirate...")

Now the USS Bainbridge is on scene and the US Navy has taken over negotiations. My opinion is that their negotiating team should be US Navy SEALs*, but they have sent for FBI negotiators.

Maybe one of them will be Lon Horiuchi.

*Update - did I call that one or what?

Official US Navy photo

To The Crew

of the Maersk Alabama:

Well done.

Four Possible Future Darwin Awards

So, there are four guys wandering around the Texas countryside killing dogs, just for fun.

They motor up to this guy's house and kill his dog.

This guy takes offense at his dog being killed, so he chases the punks down and holds them for the Texas Rangers.

The four punks talk smack to him, saying they are going to hunt him down and kill him because he turned them in to the police.

Good luck with that. Have your life insurance policies paid up to date before you try it.

I notice two things, first that they got awfully brave when the Texas Rangers came along to rescue them, second that the Rangers knew immediately who they were talking to.

I'm guessing that the four punks wouldn't be missed much.

A Brief Interruption

Blogging will be light for the next few days.

My mother-in-law has been in the hospital for the past few weeks, and Saturday she went on a ventilator. As soon as SWMBO found out about it she loaded the car up and we went to the in-laws, that very night.

Mother has been having heart problems, which has lead to muscle weakness, and one day she fell and Pop was unable to get her back up. She's been in the hospital ever since, she's been depressed and that doesn't help. I think she's just sick and down and feeling useless, like no one needs her any more, so that's why the depression.

The good news is that her arrival seems to have done wonders for her mother, Mom was awake and waiting for us last night when we got to the hospital. We had visited earlier in the day but she was asleep and only woke up just before we left. I don't think it had quite dawned on her that we were here until later, so she was ready for us when we got back.

Pop is totally lost without her but he's putting on a good front. Wife and daughter cleaned up his house for him, wife promised mother to look after him for a while. I'm hoping that seeing wife gives mother a bit of heart and will speed her recovery.

It is quite likely that I will end up leaving wife here for a while and come back for her later. It will be hectic around the Refuge with her gone, but I think we can manage, and I think she will be of more use here until mother gets to feeling better.

Long term plans are to get them closer to the Refuge so that wife can look in on them every day. Pop says he doesn't want to deal with the snow, but he also agrees that maybe it's time, and the wife is not in an accommodating mood just now. They have resisted moving closer so far, using the excuses of the weather and that they don't want to "be a burden" on us (the wife is an only child), but wife has just about had it with excuses I think.

I don't know what the problem is with being a burden. That's why I had children, I fully intend to be a burden to all of them. Payback and all that. I might even live long enough to be a burden to my grandchildren, it all depends on how ornery I get to feeling.

Eldest daughter, on the other hand, has strictly forbidden either one of us from ever getting old. How are we going to be a burden if we do that, I'd like to know?

Anyway, light if at all, yadda yadda. Whadda ya want fer nothin?

You Don't Professionalize

Until you nationalize!

This is what happens when you have an organization that has authority without accountability.

This is also what happens when technology gets to the tipping point where it is no longer controllable by such organizations. Hilarity often ensues when the would be subjects refuse to act like subjects. This, by the way, is what's known as A Good Thing.

On a side note, any time I hear variations on the theme "if you have nothing to hide" it sets my teeth on edge. I don't have anything to hide, no, but I still don't want you pawing through my underwear drawer without a warrant. It's all about the whole freedom thing, you see.

Freedom is a scary thing. It requires you to make decisions, and to live or die by those decisions. Slavery is decidedly safer, but I'd rather be free if it's all the same to you.

And even if it's not all the same to you.

HT to Six Meat Buffet.

For those of you who would take issue with the statement that slavery is decidedly safer, when you are a slave you are a commodity, an investment, and only idiots would intentionally abuse their investments. And idiots don't get to keep their investments very long.

Change-up

I'm trying some new colors here at the Refuge. I like the black background, but it sometimes makes the script somewhat difficult to read. So, I've lightened the script, and I'm toying with changing background colors, maybe in something red.

Let me know what you think.

Give Me A Tall Ship

Looks like a good time to get that boat you have always wanted.

Not such a good time to get rid of one, though. It's definitely a buyer's market.

HT to Boortz.

April Fools

DJ sucks.

So does Bob.

And BoBo takes one for the team.

Happy April First.

And You Expected Something Different, Perhaps?

Take Ceaser's coin,

pay Ceaser's price.

GM is now Obama's beyotch, and they have the nerve to be surprised. Chrysler is the redheaded stepchild, and no one is surprised. Looks like Ford had the better idea after all.

<==rock

hard place==>