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This is Serious Tim speaking...

2010-07-28T09:49:00.002-04:00

I know I joke a lot. I like to mess around and have a good time. I am well aware that I’ve made that name for myself and I’m willing to live with it.

I’m asking you, the reader, to set that aside for a minute and accept that I might have a serious side and would like for you to read the following and reply with your thoughts because I’m at an impasse. At the end of this post I’m going to have a list of questions. There are no “right or wrong” answers… this is not a test. You can post your answers in a comment to this post (encouraged method as I’d like to incite discussion on the matter), or you can email them to me if you’d like to keep it private. BUT I WOULD LIKE YOUR INPUT!

On Monday I begin school again. I’m going back to college for a degree in International Relations with a concentration in Comparative Politics. I chose that simply because it’s an area I’m interested in and if you’ve read half of my posts, you’ll know that to be true. Any-who, my first class is on American Foreign Policy and a question I’d like for that class to answer is this: “If we are a country established as a Constitutional Republic, why do we help establish and encourage the establishment of Democracies (a political system our founders spoke vehemently against) in other countries?”

Well, I’ve been thinking more and more about it (the question) and wondered if we are indeed still a Constitutional Republic. Here’s my rationale:

The first hit our Constitution took was with the ratification of the 17th Amendment. Before the 17th came along, Senators were appointed by the governments of their respective states and were in place to be a voice for that State.. NOT the people *of* the state, but of the State itself. The people had their own house of congress called the House of Representatives. This was fine because it was the House, not the Senate, who held (and continue to hold) the purse strings of our Federal Government. When the 17th Amendment was ratified it stripped the States of their representation in Congress and gave the people both houses. On a side note, this left the only State control in the hands of the Presidential election with the presence of the Electoral College… more on that later.

The second item on my list actually lies, historically, before that (the 17th Amendment) and I’m a little miffed at the founders for not doing anything about this in the Constitution’s original script. The whole system of Checks and Balances. The President can veto. The Congress can overrule a veto. The Supreme Court can overrule either. The President appoints Supreme Court Justices but they must go through Congressional approval. Yadda yadda yadda… Where is the Check or Balance for the Supreme Court after the Justices are confirmed?!? These people are in their seats for LIFE. L-I-F-E!!!! So we’re to think that a Presidential appointment and a couple of months of scrutiny (if that) are enough insight into a potential Justice to have him (her) sit in that chair for life?!? I recommend having an Amendment whereby Congress can, with a super majority and approval of the States (similar to the ratification of a Constitutional Amendment), remove a sitting Justice from their seat should we find their actions censure-worthy.

So I started thinking more and more…

I am a member of the United States Armed Forces. I have taken an oath to support and defend the Constitution against ALL enemies foreign AND DOMESTIC. Is our Constitution under attack? Here’s some substantiating reasoning behind this question…

Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 and the 12th Amendment to the Constitution established and refined the procedures of the Electoral College. We now have Massachusetts and a hand full of other states (Illinois, New Jersey, Hawaii, Maryland, and Washington.. read more @ http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/07/mass_legislatur.html) who have decided to allocate their Electors according to whichever candidate wins the national popular vote. Now a State has the right to vote for whomever they choose with these Electors. These new laws can me challenged and/or repealed. The problem is with the desire to establish them in the first place. This goes DIRECTLY against the construct of the Constitution and the methodology for electing our President. Here’s the Reader’s Digest version: If we go off the popular vote, California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina… the 10 most populous States in the union, could carry the election. The other 40 States could (read: would) be ignored. Why care about them? You’d only need these ten to carry over half the US population! James Bovard said it best when he said, “Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.”

The Fifth Amendment reads (in part) “No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” Eminent Domain laws have been stretched to the limits in our country to include “taken for public use” to mean that if a State can garner a higher tax income from a business than from your property, then they can take your land/home, and “just compensation” does not mean “fair market value”. If WalMart convinces a local government of their tax importance (in combined business, sales and income taxes) and agree to move into the town at a particular location, guess who’s looking for a new home.

The Second Amendment secures the right of individual citizens to bear arms. During the Katrina debacle National Guard units went door to door confiscating weapons. (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/nationalspecial/08cnd-storm.html)

The Tenth Amendment states “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” This has been all but destroyed and forgotten. A single recent example includes the national mandate for individual citizens to enter into a contractual agreement with another party to pay for services not necessarily desired by the paying party. There are many, many, many, MANY more examples coming from both sides of the aisle… this is not meant to be partisan.

In addition to these direct assaults on the Constitution, we’ve got indirect attacks with the branches giving themselves powers not delegated by the Constitution. Executive Orders are not a power of the President. Passing law through judicial precedent is not a power of the judiciary.

Okay… it’s late and I want to get this out before I go to bed so I’ll stop the rant portion of my post here and move on to the questions…

Are we still a Constitutional Republic?
Why do we push Democracies on other countries if we do not practice the same?
As I am sworn to protect (in a military manner) the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, at what point am I failing in my duties by allowing these assaults to continue?
(With the same premise) at what point am I expected to retaliate?
(With the same premise) how would I retaliate?
(With the same premise) At what point do I quit, accepting the fact that I am unable to fulfill my sworn obligations?
Why are we doing this to ourselves?

Please let me know what you think. Ask questions back. Rant alongside or against me.

Um... How about No, Scott?

2010-04-23T19:23:00.000-04:00

Is the new law unconstitutional?

Dinner

2010-04-23T10:08:00.000-04:00

Egg and Spinach Stuffed Meatloaf - Saveur.com

The recipe might be theirs, but the picture is mine. (grin)

Happy Japanniversary!!!

2010-04-23T09:28:00.000-04:00

Two years in Japan... see how they grow!

...and here's the un-typed-upon version...

The Emperor's New Shoes

2010-04-22T09:54:00.001-04:00

So there's this new trend going around. It's only been around for the last... hmmm... few thousand years people have been on this planet. This new trend is called "barefoot running".

Here's the skinny: You've got these two joints to help your leg/body absorb the shock you get when you run. These joints are your ankle and your knee. In conventional running shoes, heel striking is promoted through the massive cushioning they provide. When you heel strike, you eliminate 50% of the joints designed to absorb the impact of the foot striking the ground. Everything is sent to the knees and what they can't handle is sent to your hips and upwards. When you run barefooted, you run on the balls of your feet. This impact creates flexing in your ankle and your knee and the impact is more economically absorbed by your legs. This reduces stress and injuries related to what we know as conventional running.

We're talking here about the potential relief of shin splints, Achilles pain, back pain, pronation, fallen arches... Putting the fun back into running without all that pain stuff associated with it?!? Count me in!

So taking this... I ran today "sans shoes".

Reluctant to tear my feet up on the first day, I kept the distance to about 1.3 miles (I was also pressed for time just a little.) I tried to do what is called "POSE RUNNING" (or chck it out on youtube) which is supposed to work best with this whole naked foot thing, but that's going to take some practice.

At first it was weird. I kept looking for rocks. I kept thinking, "well this just looks goofy". Then I just ran.

It felt great.

It still feels pretty good tonight though there's one little spot that's sore, but I'm chalking it up to having lazy feet for so long. I'll keep it to one run a week and increase the regularity as my feet adjust... or just quit altogether if it doesn't appear to be working/or if it is too painful.

If you're only half interested, there are some shoes out there which simply cover your foot and simulate barefooted running. Shoes like this can be found here: http://barefootrunningshoes.org/

If you're interested, I'm including a couple of links here at the end, and feel free to comment with your thoughts, or if you decide to give it a go, let me know how it works for you.

http://therunningbarefoot.com/
http://barefootted.com/
The Men Who Live Forever

Oh, and I made Greek Mac'n'Cheese for dinner. It tasted very Greek (but in a good way). And there wasn't much left so the family either liked it, or was very hungry.

420 Characters? AARGH AGAIN!!!

2010-03-18T07:37:00.000-04:00

"The Tim" is grumpy... I just got a grade back today on a paper I wrote for this course I'm attending. I had one... ONE formatting error... ONE! ... and I got a 87. The reason? He couldn't understand it. He couldn't understand my paper and couldn't grade it properly. I'm no English major, but I make an effort to learn and apply grammar in both speech and written work. I think the problem stems mostly from the fact that society as a whole, (or more directly, the Marine Corps,) has devolved so much that when someone reads a properly constructed sentence, his alarms go off telling him that something is not right. I argued it to the wide-eyed Gunnery Sergeant who told me he would have to research and verify what I said as true, and that he would get back to me. I hate that I have to consider "dumbing down" in order to get a decent grade on an assignment. AARGH!!!!!!

To top it all off on this, my night of aggravation... I'm advised by Facebook that that last rant was too long for them to post... it needs to be 420 characters or less. Maybe if I dumbed it down as well with the colloquialisms of our net-induced culture, full of all the gr8 [sic] condensed verbiage we've come to recognize as commonplace, then it too would allow me to pass without question. At least I can post it here on my blog and it will automatically re-post to my Facebook page without restriction. I'm not any less frustrated with the situation though.

I don't like where our language is going.

There are people in my TV... and other musings

2010-01-21T07:51:00.004-05:00

Okay... so today I stopped by the claims office on Kadena to check out if they'd come to their senses and accepted reason and rationale instead of whatever else they were trying to use when they first came up with a sum for my claim with them... I submitted a rebuttal and a request for reconsideration in December and it came back... approved. Yay!

Reason - 1
Kadena Claims Office - 0

In about 10 days the money should be in my account and I will consider myself satisfactorily compensated for their smashing a bus into the front of my car.

In other news... we got a new TV. It was almost given to us. The guy tried to give it to me, but I insisted I pay him something. (Long story short... He bought it. It broke. He bought a bigger one while waiting for Hitachi warranty to fix it. He decided he didn't need two huge TVs.)

So here's what we've now got...

The Hitachi 42" Full HD 1080P LCD TV

There are people in this TV. I mean REAL people. The clarity is absurd. We're not watching TV or a movie, we're watching people and props. It brings a whole new dynamic that I hadn't seen before.

I know... I'm a bit behind on this new discovery of HD... but I like it... I really, really like it.

Besides, he flies out tomorrow and it's too late to give it back to him. (insert smiley emoticon here)

One more thing before I go... I was reading today that Obama and the senate are thinking of nationalizing the College Loan Industry.

So in one year we've got

nationalizing troubling car companies
nationalizing banks
an attempt to nationalize healthcare
and now an attempt to nationalize college loans.

When everything is nationalized, in what country will we live? Not the America we learned about in textbooks, that's for sure.

And so long as I'm on the political side of things, let me throw out these two little thoughts:

I heard a pol on NPR today say that it is going to be a lot harder to push through Obama's agenda without a super majority. Push through? And if you need a super majority to pass legislation, is it legislation worth passing? Why must everything be so polarizing in DC?

Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would permit the national debt to reach $14.3 trillion.
"We have gone to the restaurant. We have eaten the meal. Now the only question is whether we will pay the check," said Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. "We simply must do so."
How about you stop eating out? How about going on a budget like the rest of America? What unmitigated gall? You guys went to the restaurant and you want America to pick up the tab, you Dweeb.

I don't know what the hell is going on with my country, but I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. I do like my new TV though. (smile again)

Hungarian Goulash?!?

2010-01-10T06:14:00.005-05:00

I've never had a hankering for Hungarian goulash but I ran this recipe completely as a test of my favorite recipe site, Saveur.com. Okay, I'm sure you guys are getting pretty tired of hearing about it, and NO... I do NOT get any kickbacks when I mention them on my blog.

Okay so I went in with the goal of testing the recipes... I know I like french onion soup... I liked their french onion soup... I know I like beef stroganoff... I liked their beef stroganoff... What would happen if I chose a recipe blindly and simply on the faith of the site? I guess I tried that with the Miso Salmon already, but tonight was one where I didn't know what the outcome would taste like. I don't think I've ever used marjoram or caraway seeds and I've only used paprika in this quantity on ribs... okay... here goes.

Copied from --HERE--
(with my own pictures)

4 tbsp. sunflower or canola oil
2 yellow onions, chopped
1 1⁄2 lbs. beef chuck, trimmed
and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground
black pepper, to taste
1⁄4 cup sweet paprika
2 tsp. dried marjoram
2 tsp. caraway seeds
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, cut into 1⁄2" cubes
2 medium parsnips, cut into 1⁄2" cubes
1 1⁄2 lbs. medium new potatoes, peeled
and cut into 1⁄2" cubes
1 tomato, cored and chopped
1 Italian frying pepper, chopped

1. Heat oil in a 5-qt. dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to high. Add beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook, uncovered, stirring only once or twice, until the meat is lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in paprika, marjoram, caraway, and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add carrots, parsnips, and 5 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium. Simmer, covered, until the beef is nearly tender, about 40 minutes.

2. Add potatoes and cook, uncovered, until tender, about 25 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and peppers; cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with rye bread, if you like.

SERVES 4 – 6

Yeah... it was good. I'm sorry for questioning you, Saveur.
I won't do it again.

Oh Yeah...

2010-01-09T20:04:00.004-05:00

I promised you guys an update on the Miso Marinated Salmon... It was delicious! If any of you want to make it and have any trouble finding the ingredients, drop me a line... I can mail you what you need and it'll keep until it gets to you.

Here's my pic... not a lot to look at, but it went well with the cheesy-spinach and some rice.

Next up... Hungarian Goulash. Side note for those attempting to make this in Japan... The commissary is a HORRIBLE source for specific ingredients. They've got one type of potato. ONE TYPE OF POTATO! Parsnips? Forget about it. Not there. Gouda? Parmesian-Reggiano? Find yourself a good source out in town. Find a restaurant you like and ask where they buy... chances are it's local. The locals here actually DO local. It's great.

Okay.. have a nice day, everyone.

New Twist on Old Classic

2010-01-09T19:40:00.004-05:00

Okay, so it's not a revolutionary new way to do breakfast. There are no new flavors in this. This was simply a new way to prepare and present the classic Toast/Egg/Bacon combo we've grown to love with our morning OJ and Coffee.

I took pics throughout. The oven is preheated to 400F (about 200-210C for us metric users). I found that if you roll out the bread before putting them in the cups then they form better and break less. It also helps to make them less porous so they don't get soggy later.

Again, there's no real revolution here, but it made a classic into a very presentable treat. Here's a link to the recipe... found through Saveur.com...---RECIPE---

Not Your Mother's Stroganoff

2010-01-02T06:29:00.004-05:00

I had a hankering for some beef stroganoff the other day and decided to make it tonight. I turned to my favorite source for recipes... SAVEUR.com. I'm a huge fan (bordering on stalker) of this magazine and subscribe to the paper edition as well. I have never, NEVER made anything from their collection where I said, "Eh, it was alright."

I particularly like when they cover classic dishes. The dishes made when times were tough and people had to use a bare minimum of ingredients to create a marvelous taste they wouldn't necessarily mind eating day after day. Dinners which have been passed from generation to generation to generation and have long since reached their perfect state and are now being passed off in their "cheap and easy" form in other magazines. Recipes like french onion soup, latkes (potato pancakes) and now beef stroganoff. (links to all three are embedded... click at your leisure)

First off, I always thought stroganoff was German. Lo and behold, it is actually a classic dish from Russia which became popular in the States during the 1950's brought back by servicemen returning home from Europe after WWII. Who'da known? Anyway, my take on it is on the left there... I know, not quite as appealing as the lead photo (the one from saveur's website), but there was hardly a bite left on the five plates.

Pair this with a good WWII movie (The Pianist with Adrien Brody, or Enemy at the Gates with Jude Law) for sentimentality.

(P.S. The fact that it had "french fries" on top helped keep the kids from even noticing it had onions in there. Oh, and I was surprised at the lack of mushrooms. It was still an amazing dinner. Some people commenting said it would do well on top of mashed potatoes as well... we still decided to go with the "fries".)

Tomorrow night, I'm making Miso-Marinated Salmon with Green Sauce. I'll let you know how it goes.

Jedadiah is gone...

2009-11-22T04:01:00.003-05:00

Jedadiah, the cat formerly known as Snips (Jedadiah name comes from the movie Night at the Museum where a small feisty figurine played by Owen Wilson has the line "I don't like to be MAN HANDLED!")...

Anyway, Jedadiah is gone. We found a home that can handle feral cats and "scratchers" in particular. He's gone to a good home and will no longer attack our children to the point of blood.

We went down to the kennel today to look for an alternate solution. Our ground rules before going in there is that we would not do the whole "instant emotional attachment" thing. We were going to be pragmatic about it. Our rules were vague, but HAD to be met before another cat could come in our home. The cat had to:

Desire human contact (i.e. not try to instantly run and hide when held by a member of our family)
Purr while we're there
Be social
Not draw blood.

We found one, the breed is called "blue chinchilla":

---NOT OUR NEW CAT---

who is still hiding underneath our bed at the moment. She is named Cleo(patra) and met all the criteria. Now, let's see if she can keep up the rep.

After Jason (the-eat-everything-to-include-kids cat) and Snips (aka "The Shredder"), we're really looking forward to a cat in our family who will, at a minimum, not kill our children.

The Wubba

2009-11-22T03:40:00.004-05:00

Got a Kong Wubba for Nigel tonight... about 15 minutes ago, actually.

The product description says:

"Kong Wubba is a fun, interactive toss and tug toy. Durable re-enforced nylon fabric covers two balls - a tennis ball on top and a squeaker ball beneath. The long tails make it easy to pick up and throw. Dogs love to squeak the Wubba and shake the flapping tails back and forth."

"Love to squeak it and shake it", huh? How about destroy it the second they get it in their mouths?

Didn't take him long...

How bad can your life possibly be?

2009-11-04T15:51:00.003-05:00

How bad can your life possibly be if you are willing to stab yourself to avoid going to work?!? AT BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO?!?

"MAN, I can't handle these late fees!!!... wait, we don't charge those anymore..."

But wait... what is this Mr. Siebers has tucked there, tattooed under the collar of his orange jumpsuit?

A geocaching travel bug?!?

Aah.. he was looking to get the day off of work to go geocaching... okay, now I understand.

One more thing...

2009-11-04T06:32:00.004-05:00

Drudge and the Politico are posting about Gore making profits off of Global Warming...

So what?

Isn't that what we're aiming for? Financial freedom to profit from your beliefs and convictions? The guy, though I disagree with his platform, has invested in what he feels should be the future. He has turned a profit from it. If you disagree, disagree by investing counter to his initiatives... promote your own... do what he's doing, but in your vision.

And while I'm at it, a tip of the hat to Ford. Ford, instead of taking the government bail out, negotiated with its unions and made tough decisions through the tough financial times and is now showing profits from it while they're saying it is unlikely the US taxpayer will recoup their "investment" into GM and the others.

Good for you Ford.

Al, I don't agree with you. I don't agree with using taxpayer dollars to do it, but I like that you've invested yourself into your beliefs and are coming out on top from it.

Of course, it could just be the jet-lag talking.

Wondering...

2009-11-04T06:32:00.001-05:00

If the government can make you buy health insurance, why did we bail out the auto industries? Why not just mandate everyone buy a new American car? Where does the power end if they can make you buy one thing or the other? "But Tim, the states make you buy auto insurance." States make you buy to protect others and you don't HAVE to buy it... you can choose to not drive. Driving is a privilege... it can be revoked... it can be suspended...

Living... living freely... this is not a privilege. The plans on the table now require you to buy insurance or be jailed, fined, or both.

Reform can be made (i.e. tort reform) which does not infringe on civil liberties, but restores civility and order to the current health care troubles. Make change, sure, but make change where change is good and needed.

I tried to post last night

2009-10-10T00:08:00.003-04:00

I have no idea where it went.

Oh well...

It was about a cache that I placed close to my house which was maliciously muggled and strewn all over the park. What a shame.

I remembered a story my buddy told me about standing in line in the BX and a lady yelling and fussing over something she considered very important to the cashier. A Korean veteran standing behind him turned to my friend and said, "You know, I bet there are worse places in the world to be right now."

There's a lot said in that.

In other news, I had a pretty good lunch with the kids today. We started off with PB&J and moved on to a Linguini in Clam sauce.

Today is already shaping up to be better than the last.

And to top it all off...

2009-10-09T08:48:00.004-04:00

Our "fearless leader" has won the Nobel Peace Prize (I have no idea why I continue to capitalize this award.)

President Obama, nominated only 12 days into his administration, has won the peace prize for his "work" toward multilateralism, nuclear disarmament, ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, closing Guantanimo, and pushing for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

The US was not unilateral. There are many nations involved in both Iraq and Afghanistan... England, Australia, Japan, France, Germany... to say that we are only now multilateral is to belittle the efforts and deaths of those international brothers in arms who are out there at war with us. Shame.

The world still has nuclear arms. How many have been destroyed under his Presidency? What Barak Obama has done is to renege on the promise of a missile shield in Eastern Europe which would protect those nations from rogue missiles.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are both ongoing and the commander on the ground in Afghanistan is asking for 40,000 more troops.

Guantanimo is still open.

And last time I checked, Israel and the palestinian people are still feuding. As a matter of fact, Israel is now having to fight that affront along with the threat of President Ahmedinijad's iranian nuclear aspirations and his intent to wipe Israel off the map.

But then again, they also awarded the "Peace Prize" to Al Gore for his man made global warming hoax during a time of global cooling. The Oslo gang is a joke.

Oh, by the way, NBC has removed all reference to this skit from having ever taken place. They are trying to hide their own criticism of this President out of what can only be presumed as fear of repercussion. Oh, you can still find all the skits critical of Sarah Palin and John McCain... just don't speak poorly, even in jest, of the current administration.

Long day

2009-10-09T08:38:00.002-04:00

I had a rough day at work today. A guy with whom I work has changed dramatically for the worse. A guy whom I considered a friend has ostracized the section and the stress in the office is palpable. For a good while, I'd been the sounding board for the other guys in the office. I was the guy to whom they could go in confidence to vent their frustrations and I would try to help change the office atmosphere to keep us all moving forward. I also tried to work with this guy and be the guy whom he did not need to worry about. I'd be the guy who would be there for him. I play with his kids, we know their family, we've invited them over numerous times for social engagements, I worked for him when the rest of the gang was ready to turn their backs.

Gosh I wish it would have worked.

The last straw was laid on the camel's back today.

I will continue to work with this guy as I've done with others in the past with whom I've disagreed. I will continue to work with him as I've worked with others who have treated me wrong. I won't like it, but I'll do it. He's now on a rank, last name basis. If he wants to be alone in this, he can be alone. I'll work with the rest of the gang, but other than that, Tim will take care of Tim's business and make sure Tim's work is done.

Dude, ya done me wrong. Ya done the team wrong. Where's the old you?

Yeah, that's what I thought, punk

2009-10-06T16:56:00.003-04:00

What's wrong typhoon?

Did we do something to offend you?

Aw, we didn't mean it.

Come on back and play.

Yeah, sunny by Thursday and then rain for the weekend. Oh well. I guess I'll go on into work then. Thanks a LOT typhoon. Go give mainland the day off instead.

Oh by the way...

2009-10-06T08:46:00.003-04:00

So there's this little typhoon thing off the coast.

It's not really doing anything but throwing rain at the island for the moment.

It's expected to curve north tonight and "shouldn't" hit us. Earlier today it was a Category 5 Super-Typhoon, but now it's just a little Cat-4... what a waste of potential. You should be ashamed of yourself, typhoon. Ashamed.

Sad day..

2009-10-06T07:42:00.003-04:00

We usually get the news out here after it's been filtered for 24 hours. If I want to stay on top of things, I surf from my home internet account (because the account at work is filtered)...

That being said, I heard some sad news on the radio this morning.

Gourmet Magazine is stopping publication.

You'll notice that gourmet.com does not exist on my sidebar of links. I've got Cooksillustrated, Saveur, and a couple of other cooking sites, but I never put Gourmet there.

Why?

I'm not really sure. Because Gourmet was a magazine to me? I go to the site... actually I go regularly. Whenever I get bored with my standard recipes, I normally check them out to see what they have to offer to spice up my menu. They'd been around since Jan of 1941... why would they need my endorsement? Turns out, they did. Sorry old gal.

Oh well... When it's time to go, it's time to go.

Thank you Gourmet for your magazine. I enjoyed it while it lasted.

For those of you who have favorite tv shows, radio shows, magazines, newspapers... It IS okay to contact those companies who advertise in there and to let them know that you appreciate their support for your media. That stuff's not free, ya know.

Letterbox Caching

2009-10-04T08:33:00.004-04:00

There are a couple of cache types we've not found yet. There's the "Earth Cache" which does not hold a physical box nor log to sign, but introduces the cacher to an earthly concept such as erosion, coral reefs, beach restoration, and other, mostly ecological or geographical sites. The main reason we haven't hit one of these is because, surprisingly, there are none yet here on Okinawa.

The other type of cache we've not "found" is the "Letterbox Cache" where there is a stamp located in the cache box along with a notebook. You take along your own notebook and stamp, then you stamp the cache's log and use their stamp to stamp yours. Well, we've not done one of these mostly because we never had a "Muggle Family" stamp. Until now. Here it is, my first ever attempt at stamp carving:

From this..........
..........To this

Maybe now we can get out there and do a letterbox or two.

It's over

2009-09-27T06:50:00.003-04:00

Thanks guys for coming. We really enjoyed you guys being able to make it.

Enter: slideshow

Happy Birthday Charlie!

2009-09-26T22:20:00.005-04:00

Well, Charlie's birthday was actually a little while back, but we're celebrating it today since last week was someone else's party. Chas did a lot of the work on his cake this year. He made 2 of the cakes and three batches of buttercream icing and helped with the design. Well, let's go to the action photos:

The first ones here are of me making the fondant. A bag and a half of mini marshmallows and a bag of confectioner's sugar. That quickly became a sticky mess. Let it sit out for a night or two then tossed in the coloring gel.

We assembled the cakes:

And voila!

And yeah, that's a little geocaching lego-dude in that last picture. So what if there's an intergalactic lego battle going on? He's got to find the cache!

Funny T-Shirt design of the day

2009-09-25T22:44:00.003-04:00

Found this one last night.

They called the design "It's a clue"

It's a classic murder mystery "Blu-dunnit"

Hilarious.

Simply hilarious.

Yay Homeschoolers!!!

2009-09-25T07:18:00.004-04:00

Okay, from time to time I'm reminded just how much I love that we homeschool our kids. Today is no exception. How many other sitting presidents have had teachers teaching kids to sing praises... quite literally... to their name? I can think of one, Kim Jong Il, but he's not a US President.

Okay, so you know what's coming in these following videos. It's inevitable. If you only see one... watch the third.

---THIS IS THE THIRD VIDEO---

Okay, this last one comes from a news report where a lady is interviewing a kid at a fair... here's the original clip:

Brain Vomit

2009-09-24T06:19:00.010-04:00

The following is going to be a bit long. I'm just going to type whatever comes out of my head.

I'll split it up with horizontal line breaks to make it easier for you to move from topic to topic.

Vomit Particle #1 - Funny Guy

John Mulaney

This story had me weeping.

Vomit particle #2 - Bench press

I've started using a program called "iFitness" on my iPod touch for when I go to the gym. I dig the program because I'm often overwhelmed and undereducated when it comes to gyms. It's no secret I've never been a big fan of gyms as they often smell bad and are too noisy for my taste. This application has preset workouts targeting what you'd like to target. You tap the workout list you want, tap the exercise, log your weight, reps, and sets and it has graphs and charts marking your improvement over time. It also tracks weight, BMI, allows you to create your own workouts, has a workout regimen for travelers which can be done with luggage in your hotel room (I really like this one) and it lets you enter your own exercises if you can't find it in their 110 stored catalog.

I dig it.

Well, today was mostly arms and chest which includes... dum, dum, dum, the bench press. Now it's been 17 years since I've been on the bench press (I know, it's hard to believe looking at my muscular figure :P) so I had no idea where to start with the weights. Too much? Too little? I didn't have a spotter (I know) so I figured I'd shoot low. I happened to luck out and get a comfortable weight (which I am not divulging here) on my first go at it and was able to get it over quickly enough to avoid any "Hey look at that guy straining to lift 12 lbs." comments. I remember now why it's been 17 years.

Oh how I hate you, bench press.

Vomit particle #3 - We're talking about WHAT?

We're in an interesting time in history. We're currently involved in two wars. We're near depression levels. 42 states recently marked job losses. Banks are crumbling and the FDIC (those guys who insure your savings accounts) are looking to surviving banks to help them pay off on the failed banks. We've got two dictatorial nut-jobs working on nuclear weapons and trying to piss off the rest of the world. China is buying the US a piece at a time.

All of this is going on and more. (Hey, they promised us a historic Presidency, didn't they?)

With all this going on... ALL of this... we're talking health care.

Health care? Really? All I can figure is that this was supposed to be something that was slipped by while our attention was focused elsewhere and now they're caught in it.

So let's talk health care.

Lots of people don't have it. Okay. I get it. Those people fall into a few different categories:

People who don't want it
Illegal aliens (undocumented workers?)
People who "can't afford it"
People who have pre-existing conditions who can't find coverage

I'd say those are the big four. Let's address them one at a time (at least from my point of view.)

People who don't want it - The argument is that if they get hurt, then taxpayers foot the bill. This is easily solved by making these people fiscally responsible for their health care at the time of receipt. If they can't pay, garnish their pay, seize assets, do what you do when people can't pay for things. So they still can't pay or declare bankruptcy... okay, then the public at large is footed with the bill. Well, the new bill doesn't really change this. The people who normally fall into this category would qualify for the government option anyway which would leave, who? that's right, the public at large responsible for their bills. Where's the fix? Right?
Illegal aliens - Obama got called on this during his "big speech". He assures us illegals would not be covered. If this is true, then this is a mute point. If, however, the plan is to make them legal and then cover them, then we're talking about low wage earners who would fall under the public option and we're back in the same boat as the first category of the uninsured. We go from the public footing the bill to... the public footing the bill. No change here.
People who "can't afford" the coverage - I think I've already beat this horse. The public is paying for it now... the public would pay for it in the future.

Now, for these first three categories, they will be required to have coverage, right? Where does that coverage come from? One possibility is that their employers (if they've got one) will pay it. Where will the employers get the money for this? Wage decreases and layoffs. Another option is to make a mandatory deduction from their check to cover the cost (like Social Security). This means smaller paychecks for people who are already earning very little. The other option is the "free" government plan. The government will pay for this through taxation which puts us right back in the same boat we're in now with the taxpayer paying for the coverage... no change to the status quo.

Now, Obama says this plan won't cost a dime.

I say, "Show me you can properly run Medicare and Medicaid before adding yet another government health behemoth."

If I've got two cars (medicare and medicaid) which are getting more and more expensive every year and are not running properly, I cannot fix the problem by getting a larger third car which has horrible reviews from Consumer Reports (Canada, Britian, elsewhere with government health coverage plans are comparable to the aid and care you'd receive from a pile of poop... if you could only see a doctor.)

Okay, that leaves us with uninsured class #4 - The Pre-Existing Condition

Why are pre-existing conditions not currently covered by so many plans? Well, it's expensive and it hurts the bottom line. Look at it this way, if you are looking to insure a car which already has a broken windshield, you cannot expect the car insurance company to compensate you for that windshield. That crack is a "pre-existing condition". If you're insuring people you KNOW are going to claim against you, then you are going to lose money. This is not how businesses operate. So what is the plan then? A: Force insurance providers to drop pre-existing condition exclusions, or B: cover them under the government plan.

I've already answered B. Three times, actually. Trading public pay for public pay. This is no change. So let's talk about Option A: Forcing it on insurance companies.

When have we seen something like this option happen recently? Oh yeah! When we forced banks to allow low wage earners to buy houses they couldn't afford! If you force a bad business practice on a company, you get bad business.

So what can we do about these Pre-existing conditions people? For people who have pre-existing conditions through no fault of their own (not Sammy the smoker with lung cancer and emphysema or Dante the drinker who has swigged his liver into oblivion) could be covered through an expansion or re-configuring of existing public plans such as Medicare. What about Sammy and Dante? Pay for your own coverage. If you can afford smokes and drinks, afford your health care.

Okay, Tim, what's your answer if you're so smart?

Tort Reform - Reduce the cost at the doctor by revamping the circumstances under which they must operate.
Allow people to invest in tax free medical accounts to insure themselves
Revamp existing programs... show that the government can run things properly before taking on more. Maybe make it so it does not look like this:
Make it easier for people to purchase their own plans, take their plans with them when they change/lose jobs, pool together in a neighborhood to buy a group plan...
Allow individual states to offer comprehensive plans to their residents if they so choose (I think this is already in the constitution somewhere... Let's look for it somewhere around the 10th Amendment) but don't force it on the entire country when the power to do so does not reside in the constitution.

Okay.. I've been given a deadline by the wife to wrap this up and go to bed so I'll leave this topic with this:

The current plan under debate has one striking difference to the status quo. One thing changes while coverage essentially stays the same with the paying people covering the non-paying people.

Under the new plan... that money is funneled through the federal government. So what has the federal government shown an ability to do with money they can touch? Here's some insight from Congressman Tom Coburn:

"The Congress, with the consent of the Presidents over the last 20 years, have stolen $166 billion of that money. What they have done is they have put an IOU in there and said we will pay this back some day in the future, but they took that money and spent it on other programs. They did not say we need to raise taxes to do this good program. They did not say we are going to take the Medicare money and spend it on this program. They just very quietly took $166 billion out of that trust fund for a hospital trust fund and spent it on other programs."

Vomit Particle #4 - Plugged in

I often get these emails asking me to list the first word that comes to my head then the name of my favorite grade school teacher then the age at which I got my first kiss... then asks me to forward it to ten friends.

Well if you're planning on sending those to me, know that I read your answers occasionally, but I've never sent any on to others.

Here's one I thought of today and you are not obligated to answer nor forward it to others, but I'm just curious:

How do you stay connected?

Phones?

I don't dial out. I'm a call receiver, not a call maker. I'll call my wife and kids when I'm away on work, but even then I have to remind myself to do so. I will ALWAYS answer a phone. ALWAYS. I've been known to talk to telemarketers for well over an hour because they called me. I love getting phone calls. I just never make them.

Mail?

I can't remember a time in my life that I used the US Postal Service for outgoing mail.

Email?

I'll email people. This is something I can manage. I check my email frequently and if what we're talking about is a conversation, then I'll reply to you... normally quickly... If I haven't heard from you in a while, You probably haven't heard from me in a while. I'm not going to lie, if you'd like to restore contact, there's a link at the top of this blog to email me. I can't make it any simpler.

RSS?

I've got a couple of RSS feeds I subscribe to. If your blog counter showed hits from Japan, and supports a feed, chances are I've got you coming to my inbox.

Skype?

It comes, it goes. I'll often skype if I see you online. Problem is I don't open skype until I'm ready to skype. I don't want it taking up bandwidth.

Blog?

You are reading it. It is sporadic. It depends on my schedule. When it rains, it often pours.

FacePage and MyBook?

I've got pages there... I'm out of the loop when it comes to those sites and most of the time wandering around wondering why the heck people use them. I just don't get it.

Twitter?

I often forget I have a twitter account. It just seems so superficial.

Other?

Face to face communication works. I can't STAND it when people in my office email me when they are sitting right next to me. Of course my office email and I have a MUCH different relationship than I have with my gmail. If I have a choice between emailing admin to get something fixed and going to admin to get it fixed... I'll go 4 out of 5 times. That 5th time I'll make a phone call. I will only email someone about work when A: I need a paper trail, or B: when they need a document I've got. There's no reason to email someone at work using only text. Call me or stop by and visit.

So... how do you stay in contact?

In my effort to actually get comments, or emails, copy the list down and answer it yourself but don't send it to someone else, send it to me. Heck, I might even reply!

Good night everyone.

The tim is going to bed.

kanye'd

2009-09-19T23:35:00.001-04:00

Laptopping

2009-09-17T09:17:00.003-04:00

Though my sister in law hates the verbification of nouns, I'm going to go ahead and throw this one out there. Laptopping... as in, "I'm laptopping it tonight because my wife is on the big computer."

I got a new laptop before my recent trip back to the states. Oh, of course, some of you will say, "Tim, I thought you just got a new laptop last year before you went to Okinawa."

Yeah, I did. I now HATE HP. That thing, though really neat, turned out to be a piece of junk. Many many people were "HP'd" on that model. (I'm not really sure what I mean by 'hp'd', but so long as I'm on my verbifying streak, I figured I'd throw out a random and fictitious slang word as well.)

So I got myself a netbook, an Acer Aspire One. So far I'm happy with it. It's just enough computer without all the bells and whistles to break on me and at less than $300, it was a deal as well. Of course I couldn't leave it so 'plane jane' so I modded it a little.

I went to Target and found this silicone thingie in a wood pattern that you adhere to the back side of the screen and it decorates the computer a bit while adding a little cushy thickness to the computer to protect it from scuffs and bangs and I figured, so long as I'm doing the wood on computer thing, why not go further? So I did. I started easy and got a wooden background for my desktop and wooden icons for all my files so the digital interface is more earthy and appealing while I'm typing away and then I went off to Lowes and got some oak veneer, stained it mahogany to match the desktop and silicone applique and but a facade around the keyboard.

I know, it sounds like a mess... but here's a pic:

You don't have to like it. I do... and I do like it. I'm not sure what about it I like, but I dig it. And I'll be able to identify it from a pile of stolen computers when the day comes.

Associations

2009-09-16T17:59:00.004-04:00

I saw this in the news this morning:

I just knew the democrats in the crowd would see it as this:

The republicans would, of course, see it as this:

But I just can't help seeing it as this:

And for my next trick...

2009-07-22T23:20:00.004-04:00

So yesterday I made the sun disappear... I'll really have to reach deeply into my bag of tricks to top that one.

"I got a 5 at the sun stare!"

A rainbow formed around the sun closer to the eclipse time.

This is about as covered as the sun got where we were. Wow, the temp really drops when the sun disappears like that.

We set up the telescope pointed right at the sun and had it project the image onto our chalkboard.

This is a picture of the sun itself taken through some welding level tint during the eclipse.
Just thought I'd share.

Video Podcast

2009-07-18T20:55:00.001-04:00

The family is going out today to work on our podcast for kids coming to Okinawa.

Check out what we've got so far at okikids.com

Kitty Muffins

2009-07-17T19:24:00.003-04:00

Mia made breakfast this morning and as I was making sure everything was set up on the oven for her, I noticed she and the kitten were sharing a step stool.

"Is the kitty helping you make muffins, Mia?"
"Nooooooo."
"Oh, that's right. Kitties don't have thumbs."
"Actually, daddy, they have thumbs way back. They're just not 'posable'."

Two vids... one song

2009-07-09T07:36:00.005-04:00

The first of these videos is really for my brother, but I'm sure a few of you out there will get a kick out of it (The rest will think it's Peanuts blasphemy)

The song is "Hey Ya" by Outkast

The second is the same song as the first, but is made by a Navy air squadron while deployed forward... Yeah, this is the "All Powerful" US Navy at its finest. I might have even given the Marines a second thought if the Navy used this as their commercial back then (but not really)

This second video was made by the VAW-116 Hawkeye Squadron... and yes, they've made others.

Quick question about Independence

2009-07-04T06:00:00.002-04:00

Simon asked today if someone could help him get a magnetic dart from behind the recycling bin. I asked why he needed help with that and he replied, "because I'd have to move that too."

I smiled and went back to what I was doing.

But it brought up a question... a bit befitting to the day... can someone be taught independence? Sure they can be compelled to it, but isn't it by its very nature a self-discovery?

Now this post might turn into a not-so-quick-question at this point...

So many people are taught about Independence Day as the day we declared that we weren't going to let the man get us down anymore. We were going to break away from the evil British king dude and tell him to 'stuff it'.

The way I see it, there are four basic categories... Independence, dependence, cooperative, and compulsion.

I'm wondering if we're doing enough as a society to explain what Independence really is and how it applies to our lives today?

Did we really only break away from England so we wouldn't have a king anymore?

Protect your liberty.

Defend your independence.

Celebrate both every day.

I've got this friend...

2009-07-03T17:21:00.003-04:00

I was catching up on blog posts today before going to a very important meeting (read that as I've got a 0712 tee time) and saw that my buddy Rob and his wife were having troubles with their house and HOA again.

They're really good people, Rob and Danielle, and I hate it for them that they have to go through all of this after all they've put into it already.

Well, they've had another run in with fate, plumbing, speedy-house-making-during-the-boom, and just plain bad luck as the sprinkler system for their unit sprung a leak behind their wall and they've got damage inside their home.

I wanted so badly to post this video as a response to their post, but as much as I like them, I wanted to save my sarcasm and jack-assery for my limited audience over here so as to not offend their other friends with my particular take on things.

Pics from the Rib-fest

2009-07-02T03:21:00.004-04:00

Happy Second of July!!!

2009-07-01T20:46:00.001-04:00

I know I'm posting this the evening before, but that's an issue I'll just have to deal with on my own time.

First off, can I say that I am not a fan of references to

THE 4th OF JULY!!!!

The fourth of July is as arbitrary as calling Christmas, "The 25th of December". There's meaning behind why we celebrate this day. We celebrate our forefathers' decision to break away from a tyranny so that they might establish their own country which their followers would try desperately to turn into a tyranny of their own.

I've seen this multiple places on the internet and have heard it in an audiobook as well. None of those places attributes the wording to a particular individual. That being said, it is not mine, but is true nonetheless.

So, July 4th, Independence Day. The day when America declared it's independence from Great Britain. Actually, not so much.

The real reason we celebrate Independence day on July 4th instead on July 2nd is actually a mystery. Contrary to popular belief very little actual events happened on July 4th in Independence Hall other than a swarm of horseflies pushing the Continental Congress to a speedy decision. Enough on that for now, lets get on to what happened on July 2nd.

On June 7th, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, a delegate of the Continental Congress for Virginia made a speech to his fellow delegates of making America a completely free nation from Great Britain. Though many of the delegates present were approving of those words, they did not feel that it was necessary to take such exorbitant actions. Mainly because to vote for a break with England would be considered an act of treason which at the time, was punishable by death. So, they put Lee's proposal on the table for further study.

Throughout the rest of the month tensions rose between the fledgling nation and Britain causing all of the delegates to alter their 1st decision when congress met once again on July 2nd. On that fateful day, all of the delegates voted for the break with England, prompting that the declaration be written. After the vote was taken, John Adams wrote back home to his wife, Abigail, of the event.

The Second of July, 1776 will be the most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the Great Anniversary Celebration.

2 days later on July 4th only a few things happened, one actually, being quite funny. The real reason Congress met on July 4th was to approve the wording of the declaration. Some didn't like the way a sentence was structured others the way the name of the new country was used. So, none the less, they were whining over things of little importance. (Kind of like what our Congress does now.) This heated debated seemed to continue to no end, that is, until a swarm of horseflies from a nearby farm came flying through the windows that were open due to the warm weather. While swatting at the flies, one delegate rose and said that Jefferson's declaration was suitable to him, which many second, causing a motion of approval that was speedily approved of. Soon afterward the founding fathers ran out of the Hall swatting at the horseflies.

So there you go, just a little history tidbit for you. So maybe we should celebrate Independence day on July 2nd, and celebrate the Horsefly on July 4th that helped keep one of the greatest documents in history the way it was and not a load of political blather.

Who says Tim can't cook?

2009-07-01T03:12:00.003-04:00

So last Friday I was checking my email at work and saw there was a rib cooking contest this Wednesday on Hansen. I, being the guy who appreciates spending a work day before a long weekend hanging out in front of a grill, threw my hat in the ring.

(I haven't cooked ribs before)

I pulled up a recipe that Friday and gave it a dry run on Saturday with the family... horrible. Simply, horrible. They ate it, said they enjoyed it... they must have eaten different ribs. The truth was in the full plates and the fact there are leftovers still in the fridge.

Too late. I was entered. I figured at least the judges were the ones eating it and at least I could get a good laugh from watching them choke it down.

So last night (Tuesday) I Skype a buddy of mine whose wife is an executive chef here on the island and asked the best way to trim pork spareribs. She pointed me to THIS SITE which does a marvelous job. Thanks, Heather.

I trimmed them down, applied the dry rub, and loaded my tiny tiny car with two grills and a cooler... somehow I fit as well with just enough room to drive.

I started setting up at about 8:30, started to smoke the ribs at about 9:30/10 for a 1:00 judging.
I took them off the smoker grill, tossed them on the regular grill for the sauce to congeal, made a platter presentation, crossed my fingers and went in front of the judges.

I was the middle recipe. You remember the first, you remember the last... I drew the wrong straw.

This was one of those where you have to explain everything you did working up to the day, during your cooking, how you came about it... but before I was done, there wasn't a bit of meat on anyone's bone.

Good sign....I think... maybe they were just hungry.

I waited, watched a few others go up... there were some good ribs out there and guys who entered and won this thing with regularity.

Is "a shoe-out" a term?

The Colonel who headed the judging panel got up, said the first place was an easy pick... most judges had the same #1 and the others had it as their #2. The complicated part was the #2 and #3 from the group. I heard as they called the #3 and #2 and started to pack my things when I heard my name.

Holy bat poop.

I didn't even get to taste them.

$100 of groceries, a big propane grill thing, 5 cases of gatorade, some other prizes...

I was looking at it all when a co-worker came up and said, "Don't worry, I'll toss it in my truck and take it to my house and you can pick it up when you want."

Thanks, Brian.

So... as a side effect of my winning, I get to host the team (my co-workers) to an Independence Day cook-out at my place.

Maybe I'll get to taste them this time.

For those who'd like the recipe, here it is... for 16 lbs of ribs... adjust accordingly

Dry Rub:
1/4 c kosher salt (I used sea salt)
1/4 c packed brown sugar (I used dark)
1/4 c paprika
3 Tbsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp celery seed

let it sit in the fridge overnight

Get the grill smoky with your charcoal and mesquite all smushed over to one side.

Over the coals, on the grill, put a pan or two with 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 lime, 1 apple, and 1 onion. Fill up the pan with merlot and a little water. This is going to steam and mix with the smoke from the wood chips and infuse in the meat.

On the other side of the grill, not over the fire, lay out the rack to cook.

I kept an eye on the temp and tried to adjust it to stay around 250F It'd bounce a bit from 210-300, but pretty consistent.

Turn about every 30 min and check on the smoke and liquid levels to make sure both stay high.

When they're done (when the meat is retracting from the bone tips... check the internal temp along the bone with a thermometer) remove from the smoking grill and lay on a "grilling" grill for the sauce, which is:

1/2c ketchup
1/4c lime juice
1/4c soy sauce
1/4c merlot

lather this on and flip it 2-3 times coating it about twice on each side well and it should congeal up to a semi-sticky "finger licking" consistency.

serve it up.

I placed it on the platter surrounded by the onions and fruit which were cooked in the merlot and it looked and smelled marvelous.

Use it, don't use it, it was good enough to impress those guys.

Anyone want a gatorade?

Rememberies

2009-06-29T06:04:00.002-04:00

I was listening to someone talk about their instrument practice today and about how all they could think of was the chocolate milkshake after... I tried to listen... really I did... but all that would go through my head was this:

I love that commercial.

Smile

2009-06-27T20:48:00.002-04:00

I was grilling birthday ribs yesterday when Mia came along...

"When I get married, I hope my husband is just like you, dad."

"Thanks, Mia."

"Can I go scooter in the street?"

"Sure."

95%

2009-06-27T19:32:00.002-04:00

by csmdad | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

Reduce taxes for 95% of Americans.

Hmmmm....

But if we tax the everloving cow poop out of corporations who produce goods... all in the name of faulty science... then we can indirectly increase the tax burden on each and EVERY American and they'll LOVE ME FOR IT!!!

Where do you get your energy?

If it is from coal, would you be able to switch tomorrow?

What is that coal plant going to do about those cap and trade taxes?

Simply pay them without increasing their prices?

How would they avoid the increased cost of the tax?

Would they switch to renewable resources to supply you energy?

How do you propose they fund that?

Increase costs?

On top of the cap and trade increase?

For those who support this bill, please explain to me how forking even more money over to the government is going to make the earth cooler.

What if you use Nuclear...

Nuclear is considered a good thing according to the brainiacs in the Global Goodness crowd since it burns no fossil fuels and is essentially carbon neutral, right?

What is all that stuff you can see billowing out of the top of the reactor? Smoke? Nope... It's steam. (well, condensed water vapor, really. steam is invisible.) It gets pretty hot splitting atoms all day so water is used to cool the place down and it creates a big cloud for the heating/cooling which comes out of the top there.

Riddle me this, what is BY FAR the largest green house gas?

If you answered water vapor, you're right!

Water vapor comprises 95% of green house gasses.

CO2?

Imagine a stadium filled with 10,000 people. Tell 4 of them to stand up.

There's your co2.

Imagine you had to find these four people randomly seated throughout the stadium and didn't have copies of their ticket stub.

Good luck.

We're calling CO2 the enemy. The gas which plants need, we're calling the enemy. The gas we exhale with every breath, we're calling the enemy.

In the 70's NASA scientists said the particles we emit from the burning of fossil fuels would blanket the sky and block the sun causing a global cooling.

Now those same scientists say the exact same thing will cause the exact opposite effect. Both [effects are] alarming, both deadly, both against evil fossil fuels and those who want to use them.

Go ahead and support the bill.

Plastics, gas, electricity, ... the prices will rise. The Washington money will flow. The alarmists will call for even more action. "We're all going to die!"

We'll all be happy when we're all impoverished.

or at least they seem to think so.

Under the wire

2009-06-21T17:34:00.002-04:00

Looking at my clock here, it is 6:34AM on Monday, but I believe that makes it 5:34PM Sunday East Coast USA... quick math check... Yup. Everything seems to be in order there.

Happy Father's Day!

Wow...it's like being in a time machine. I wonder if I said something like "Sell Google" if people would believe me because I'm in tomorrow already.

All Grown-Up Report

2009-06-21T06:27:00.004-04:00

You know when you're a kid and you get in trouble for jumping on the bed, having office chair spinning contests, running with scissors, juggling chainsaws, teaching the cat to swim... and you reply,

"When I'm a grownup, I'm going to let my kids ________!"

Well, tonight my daughter referred to her porkchops as chicken and I'm proud to announce that she did NOT get sent to her room.

Teacup, Monster and Spaz

2009-06-20T08:58:00.002-04:00

A bunch of political posts... let's do one about the family, shall we?

teacup asked me the other night if mommy would come in for lamp time so she (girlie britches) could read The Time Machine by H G Wells to her (the mom-meister). reports say miaface had troubles with "experiment" and "psychologist", but nailed the rest and was enjoying the story as she read it.

monster is... well... he's turning into a little me. He's been on this kick for the longest time that he does not like to be called anything but Simon and anything else hurts his feelings. I finally convinced him the other day that the names we throw around (like monster) are out of love and not malice. He's really proud of turning 7 next week and must feel like he's ill prepared because he's doing everything he can to make sure he's perceived as an older kid. He said the other day that he didn't eat candy anymore because, "I want to be strong when I grow up, not fat." Well, his dentist will approve.

Spaz is getting bigger. He's almost out of the 8YO annoying phase and is transitioning into the semi-annoying but semi-cooperative older 9YO brother. He's getting more physical and is maturing in so many social and intellectual areas, it's getting harder and harder to play the innocent annoyance anymore as it now comes off as "I need attention, please" He's reading like it is going to be outlawed tomorrow. I don't think we own a book this boy has not read. He's ravenous. I love it. He wants to read and learn and grow. The best part is it is rubbing off on his brother and sister.

Can I just say that two things I'm very proud of for our family is the love our kids have for reading and learning, and the fact that though they like candy, they're just as likely to pick up a bell pepper or an apple. I've actually seen princess pea walk away from more candy, cake and sweets than I've ever seen her walk away from healthy foods.

I love those little people.

I so look forward to the day when I can be my own boss and spend more time with my family. As it is now, I'm just not used to it for more than a few hours at a time. I get up before they are and I get home in time for dinner and bed. Longer than that, I've just not adapted. I wish I were. I have trouble with patience sometimes. Other times I like to think I'm pretty good. Luckily, I've got this great lady who was willing to not only put up with me, but with my offspring as well. I have no idea how she does it, but I couldn't fo it without her. Boy am I glad she's healthy (and shall I say, not bad to sit next to either.)

G'Night

"Saving" Money

2009-06-13T20:04:00.002-04:00

Rural Mich. counties turn failing roads to gravel

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Some Michigan counties have turned a few once-paved rural roads back to gravel to save money.

More than 20 of the state's 83 counties have reverted deteriorating paved roads to gravel in the last few years, according to the County Road Association of Michigan. The counties are struggling with their budgets because tax revenues have declined in the lingering recession.

Montcalm County converted nearly 10 miles of primary road to gravel this spring.

The county estimates it takes about $10,000 to grind up a mile of pavement and put down gravel. It takes more than $100,000 to repave a mile of road.

Reverting to gravel has happened in a few other states but it is most typical in Michigan. At least 50 miles have been reverted in the state in the past three years.

Honestly? If they are doing this in your area, I'd complain. The inconvenience of these machines blocking your road is one thing, but the unnecessary cost when roads turn to gravel anyway... it's inexcusable.

I posted yesterday about my former local government fighting the spending monster, but with this story I'm reminded of a bit from Robert Fulghum's book, "Maybe, (Maybe Not)"

"One January evening the board shifted to an even more fascinating problem. On the entrance side of the church, the driveway had developed potholes. Patching had not helped, so it seemed the driveway would have to be repaved. An expensive proposition. However, on the exit side, nearest the church school, the driveway was smooth, encouraging a level of speed thought dangerous to children. Speed bumps would have to be built there and signs posted. More expense.
"Three hours had drained away while every possible dimension of this driveway problem had been considered. No solution in sight, the meeting fumbled on.

"From his seat outside the board circle, Dugan raised his hand to make a proposal. “Leave the potholes on the entrance side and dig potholes on the exit side. Spray a little tar in them. Call them “speedholes.” He could do it with a shovel and a couple of cans of hot tar in a couple of hours. Free."

Occam's Razor states, "entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily" or that the explanation of any phenomena should make as few assumptions as possible. This is most often stated as, "Of several acceptable explanations for a phenomenon, the simplest is preferable."

Tim's Razor states, "government spending should not be multiplied unnecessarily" or that, "Of several acceptable solutions for a problem, the simplest is preferable."

New Stuff

2009-06-13T19:44:00.003-04:00

Sad state of things closer to home

2009-06-12T18:33:00.002-04:00

I just received(and really, I just received it, read it, and opened this posting window) a letter from Philip Cherry, the director of Onslow County Public Libraries.

The residents of Onslow County do not want a tax increase. Well, who does? So the Board of Commissioners came up with a list of cuts they can make in an effort to reduce the need for a tax increase.

Closing of the Richlands, Swansboro and Sneads Ferry branch libraries
Reduction of Main Library hours to four days per week
Closing of the Onslow County Museum
Reduction of employee health insurance benefits(employee cost sharing)
Elimination of 20 full time Sheriff’s Deputies
Sale of the Home Health/Hospice agency
Elimination of all Recreation programs
Closing of all parks, except on weekends
Elimination of senior citizen nutrition sites
Elimination of mosquito control
Elimination of proposed EMS basic life support ambulance service
Elimination of the Capital Improvement Program reserve fund
36 hour, 4 day workweeks for all County employees, not including public safety
Elimination of Board of Education capital improvement funding
Reduction in Board of Education current expense funding

The letter goes on to say, "Approximately 80% of County government spending is on programs dictated by the State and Federal governments. Therefore, only “quality of life” type services can be controlled by the Board of Commissioners."

I don't want to see libraries closed and I think closed parks are a haven for mischief. I'm a fan of parks and libraries and see them as one of the few legitimate expenses of local government under our current system, though I'd like to see more push toward private interest (individuals or individual businesses) in keeping these places running. (Of course if we were allowed to keep what we earn, then we'd be more able to invest individually into parks and libraries.)

Unfortunately, Onslow county has been under some very very poor management and is now reaping what they sowed.

Maybe... just maybe... people and corporations will take a vested interest in their communities and will supply the vacuum with substitutes. If the county stops their youth services, organize. Create your own. If the county wants to close the parks during the week (I'm not even sure how this saves money... it's basically grass and trees), take your mower to your neighborhood park and mow. Keep it clean. Pick up where the county left off. If you don't want to pay for it, you've got to pick up the slack. If you don't, these will turn into vandal/vagrant hang-out spots. Your parks will be distorted to the point where you won't want to go on the weekends.

Nobody wants to pay higher taxes. I agree that there are cuts which can be made. I'm pretty sure there are other cuts than the libraries and parks, but I don't have their budget and mandates in front of me right now, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter.

Look, in all fairness, as much as I like parks and libraries, they are not a necessity of the government. They are a "nice to have". The government needs to focus on the basics. Law, law enforcement, sanitation, roads...

An easy test on government spending is to ask yourself, "Could someone else do it?" If the answer is yes, then it can be cut. In the case of the libraries, yeah, someone else could do it. I don't think there's anyone in Onslow County who will... but that's a post for another day.

For now, Mr Cherry, I feel your pain. I understand the need for a library in that town and we were common visitors to the Doris (Main) Branch. I hope you don't close... I know that community needs a library (though a lot of people don't even know you're there). You've got my sympathy. I appreciate what you do for the community. I don't live there, so you can't get my tax money. Once this blows over and we see where you are (your longevity) we'll check to see what we can do from out here.

One more point...

2009-06-10T10:38:00.003-04:00

Total estimated households in 2010 by the US Census... 119,564,000
Total bailout for GM... $65,000,000,000
Total they could have sent each household as a transferable credit toward the purchase of any new car you want from any dealer? $543.64

Now, everyone's not in the market for a brand new car... hence the "transferable"... so if you're not, pass it along to whomever you deem worthy... they then have $1087.28 toward their purchase. Some needy church family might even get a brand new minivan out of the deal if enough people donate their credits.

People buy from the car manufacturers worth saving.

Isn't that easy?

Wrapped up in a busy week

2009-06-10T07:51:00.003-04:00

We've been moving our little office of four to a closer base over the past week or two which is very exhausting. Moving alongside PT along with work along with everything else we've got going on. That being said, I have time for clear thought when I'm in my car listening to news radio or news podcasts... or when I'm at home and have time to relax in front of the computer or beside my lovely wife.

So, tim time is heavily exposed to news recently... that's the reason for the recent rants (or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

That being said, here's another few things to which I was exposed today...

These two headlines confused me in that they are placed right next to one another. Be Cautious of your Spending... but borrow to spend on a massive entitlement program. How about "Stop spending" and "Don't pay for what you can't afford"? Isn't that what we were supposed to learn from the housing bust?

thousands of jobs saved or created

First off, what department or reputable organization tracks jobs saved by government expenditure? Stop scratching your heads, there is none. So the government must come up with a formula...I stumbled across a report about the number of jobs saved by the economic stimulus program...

JARED BERNSTEIN: "The 150,000 jobs is -- it comes precisely out of the methodology I was just describing; that is, we have -- we know spend-out, we know the types of spend-out, so therefore we can assign multipliers to different parts of the plan. For example, tax cuts generate a smaller multiplier than direct government spending. Once you know the spend-out and the type of spending that you're engaged in, then you can derive an estimate of how many jobs you believe you created relative to what would have occurred in the job market were you not doing that spending."

Okay, "estimate"?, "you believe you created"? Is this guy for real?

"...tax cuts generate a smaller multiplier than direct government spending."?!?!?!

By whose measure? Rand? The Heritage Group? The Tax Foundation? Which independent think tank has substantiated this argument? Those three actually refute it, as does history. During the 1930s, New Deal lawmakers doubled federal spending and unemployment remained above 20 percent until World War II.

Then we're offered a Supreme Court nominee whom we are supposed to accept because she's a she, she's a hispanic, and her mother worked multiple jobs. Forget the fact that the majority of her decisions which were appealed to the Supreme Court were overturned. Weren't you guys listening? She's a double minority from a diverse background. Ignore the fact that she said a female hispanic could make a better decision in the Supreme Court than an old white man. She's got that right to say a certain race or gender can do something better, right?

What a load of horse-squeeze.

Harry Reid said, "I understand that during her career, she's written hundreds and hundreds of opinions. I haven't read a single one of them, and if I'm fortunate before we end this, I won't have to read one of them."

Right, because we don't actually want to accept her based on actuall legal interpretation and context, do we Harry?

Supreme Court Justices have no race, no gender, no bias... or at least they shouldn't. There should be no guess work when it comes to the supreme law of the land. It is when judges extrapolate, ammend, interpret, distort that they begin to legislate. Legislation is not their job. We've got enough people messing up that part. You guys in the Supreme Court are there to decide based on fact and law. Period.

Ah hell, if you think I'm full of horse swaggle on any of this, let me know. I write back.

Well, here's a little mess

2009-06-09T17:50:00.002-04:00

Chaos Rules The Day In The Capital District-Democrats Furious Over GOP Coup, Vow To Take Back Locked Senate Chamber; Republicans Push For Work To Resume

With New York's Senate in chaos, governor stays put

How's that for an impartial media? The first article says that Democrats vow to take back the locked senate chambers, but waits until the last line off the article to say that the democrats are the ones who locked them. It uses phrases like, "...two renegade Dems who supported the coup...", and "...dramatic coup to depose Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith..."

The quotations the article uses are the following... I've included all of them to show you something:

"I think it's absolutely disgusting, a side show," Smith spokesman Austin Shaffran said. "Senate Republicans should be ashamed."
"There are a number of legal options being considered," Shaffran said.
"He has an ethical cloud over him … guilty until proven innocent," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
"There's no question he has issues he has to deal with," added Sen. Frank Padavan, R-Queens, added.
"I'm hoping by 3 p.m. tomorrow the former majority leader will realize we have to move on and start working," said Sen. Tom Libous, R-Binghamton.

First off, the Democrats are the ones who locked the doors to the senate. The artticle saves this nugget until the very end for you after opening with "Democrats Furious Over GOP Coup, Vow To Take Back Locked Senate Chamber"... um... they locked it.

Anyway... quotation 1 is obviously anti-"republican actions in this mess" Quotation 2 follows up that they [presumably the democrats] are seeking legal action. fine.

Quotations 3 and 4 do not define [HE]. He who (m)? Hiram Monserrate or Espada? Or is it someone else entirely? What with teh nature of the quotations, you'd think that'd be something to clear up.

Quotation 5 is again vague as they are not defining the "former majority leader" and did not through the article which leads the non-new yorker asking, "Who needs to realize we have to move on?" Move on from WHAT?

This article is so poorly written I don't know if it is basic bad journalism, biased, or both.

Random thoughts

2009-06-08T08:54:00.004-04:00

I'm a little grumpy tonight so it might reflect in this post. I'll explain over the course, but if you get a negative tone, all is really well and we're doing fine. In general, life is very very good.

Okay, so as many of you who read this know, my family goes bowling on Monday nights. The kids normally get really into it. They've grown to realize that they are bowling against themselves and their own scores and don't feel downtrodden when their little sister beats their score when she uses bumpers and they don't. I continue to be impressed with the tenacity of the boys as they continue to reject bumpers in an effort to improve a real score. I think they're getting the hang of it. What we've done in the past is take note of their scores game to game and week to week and they'll graph it out to mark improvement and determine goals. I like to look at the little statistics and other doo-dads they toss on the screen after each ball. One thing which I find annoying is the "Hey, why don't you try hitting it here" arrow they throw on the screen after the first ball is thrown. First off, if your first ball is a gutter-ball and you see this:
Thanks, automatic scoring monitor! I never would have known! You mean if I HIT the pins they might fall over?!?

If you knock nine over, the helpful suggestion looks something like this:
"Hey, Dummy! I don't know if you've noticed, but you missed one! Why don't you try hitting it here in its ticklish spot. Maybe it'll fall over for you."

"Thanks automatic scoring machine. I'm going to break you one day."

In other news, two reporters from Al Gore's TV Network got convicted after crossing the line into North Korea.

Now there's a bright couple of reporters.

Their sentence was to spend the next twelve years living as a North Korean.

Also in the news, people are criticizing Dick Cheney for continuing to be in the spotlight after leaving the Vice Presidency, and others are blasting Lynne Cheney for having an opinion on foreign matters when asked. I wonder if these people can rewind their criticisms and do it again while holding their DVD of "Inconvenient Truth" in front of a picture of the Secretary of State and former Presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, just so the hypocrisy can sink in full force.

Look if you don't like the Cheneys, don't pay them any attention. The fact of the matter is that they are public figures. The same side who is blasting them for what they are doing are heralding their own who are doing the same thing. Lynne isn't supposed to have a legitimate thought on foreign policy, she was just the wife of the vice president... but the wife of our president can run for president herself and get appointed to secretary of state because of her foreign policy opinions! What horse poop! Dick Cheney can't step in front of a microphone, but Al Gore can make a movie, create his own "news" channel, tour the world like a rock star, grow a beard... it's different, right? How? It isn't. If you criticize one, do so to the other.

Finally, and the reason I'm a bit grumpy right now, if you let your dog out and he goes nose to nose with another dog, bites that dog, and then does it all again... correct the dog and don't let it run off the leash again. Damnit. I brought Nigel home, checked him out (he's okay) typed up a simple letter in yahoo's babelfish which read, "Your dog attacked my dog. Your dog bit my dog. My dog is okay. Please use a leash." and walked it back over to the home of the owner. Of course the drunken man who was out with the dog didn't answer the door, he sent his wife, but she was very apologetic and hopefully they will be more careful.

Well, it's late and I'm going to bed. Good night, all.

Um... pardon that outburst

2009-06-06T20:30:00.005-04:00

For those of you who might or might not subscribe to this blog, might or might not receive an email version of a deleted post which might or might not have been just a little conceited.

For those of you who do not subscribe, the post might or might not have been filled with rantings and hoorays about finding that I'm the 65th most followed blog from Okinawa..

That might or might not have been a complete falsehood.

In my wave of excitement, I might or might not have confused a minor point that I'm the not the 65th most followed blogger, but the 65th most followed twitter-er from Okinawa Japan.

I might or might not be a total moron.

HOWEVER!!!

You can help me get there by sending a self addressed stamped envelope along with two proofs of purchase and your car title to...

wait...

Just click the little button on the top left of the page,

and you will have the luxury of each and every post arriving in your inbox.

You can also --E-mail Me--

and of course, leave a comment to any of my blog posts.

Please know that any posts, comments, or emails will be kept in the strictest of confidence between you, me, and anyone who happens across my blog.

But hey, I'm still the 65th most coolest guy from Okinawa on Twitter. That's gotta be something, right?

Since I'm on the topic of cars...

2009-06-04T09:33:00.002-04:00

There was this country which was doing pretty well for itself making cars. They spat out cars which took the world by storm, created niche markets, created cult-like following, collectors today still admire the technology and ingenuity which went into the manufacturing of the automobiles from this country and era.

The auto industry in this country fell. It fell pretty hard, actually.

The government decided to step in, lightly at first by "encouraging" the merger of a couple of autogroups.

Later the government stepped up its involvement and became the major shareholder in a supermerger of car manufacturers.

Many of the brands known world-wide disappeared and others were sold to foreign entities. The automobile industry in this country was crushed.

I am not talking about the United States.

I'm talking about the auto giant Great Britain.

"At the industry’s peak in the 1960s, a million people made cars in the U.K. — five percent of the country’s total workforce — with suppliers and salesrooms swelling that number. British Leyland alone, which made the iconic Mini, employed nearly 200,000." (1)

Mini now belongs to BMW
Rover was bought by Ford and now belongs to Tata of India
Bentley was bought by Volkswagon
MG was bought by Nanjing Auto of China

Show me the success from the Britain model.

What is it people say about not learning from history?

"What we are not doing -- what I have no interest in doing -- is running GM,... When a difficult decision has to be made on matters like where to open a new plant or what type of new car to make, the new GM, not the United States government, will make that decision."

No interest in running GM?

"When a difficult decision has to be made..."

"General Motors Corp. chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner will step down immediately at the request of the White House, administration officials said Sunday." (2)

"...like where to open a new plant..."

"The President is so busy not running GM that he had time the night before to call and reassure Detroit Mayor Dave Bing about the new GM's future location. GM is being courted to move its headquarters to nearby Warren, Michigan. And Mr. Bing told the Detroit News that he had received a call Sunday evening from the President "informing me of his support for GM to stay in the city of Detroit with its headquarters at the Renaissance [Center]." (3)

"...or what type of new car to make,..."

“As this plan takes effect, GM will start building a larger share of its cars here at home, including fuel-efficient cars,” Obama said. (4)

"In May, President Barack Obama set in motion a new national policy aimed at both increasing fuel economy and reducing greenhouse gas pollution... and ultimately requiring an average fuel economy standard of [35.5 miles per gallon]" (5)

Oh, and while we're at it, let's throw ANOTHER $30.1 BILLION (6) at the problem while we're at it. But this, combined with the recent $20 BILLION we dumped in there will be the end of it, right? We just infused a company with over $50 BILLION of taxpayer money and made the government the largest shareholder and we're not going to put any more money into it? We're going to "let it fail" after an investment like that? They're doing a great job so far letting the company run without government influence. [sarcasm]

Do people not care? Why do we let the government do this?

"Well, tim, are we supposed to just let the company fold?"

YES!

If that is what the free market decides, then YES!!

What about Ford? I've never owned a Ford. I've driven them, I've got no problem with them, per se, but what on earth are they to do now that our government has "picked its winners"? They (the government) has bailed out Chrysler and GM while Ford sits on the outside watching in. Their (Ford's) debt is being managed as best as they can. They've restructured deals with their workers, they've tried to handle this crisis as a crisis THEY have got to fix (as they should). Now their competitors are being funded and supported by the blank check and erased debt. (7)

If/When Ford falls first, it will be because the US has chosen who it wants to last longer. When GM falls after that, nothing will have been solved and the taxpayer will pay for cleaning up the mess.

This has got to stop, people.

Car update... again

2009-06-02T09:39:00.003-04:00

So I went on a hot date with the wife today after a grueling series of racquetball games this morning. After picking up J, we went to the local Lawsons where we picked up some onigiri, a sweet loaf, some apple juice, and a grapefruity soda thing (blech). Jax won a green tea from a little giveaway they were having and we were given a biodegradable card with a marigold seed paper-taped to it from a display where American's put the little "need a penny" tray.

We continued on to the Camp Kinser impound lot where after signing a number of documents I was given back my car (again without so much as an "We're sorry.") to find it had a dead battery. A jump start later and I was ready to roll.

Almost.

The hood was damaged so I brought a ratcheting tie-down to secure it. Well, the kids were in the tie-downs so I went there with two ratchets and no tie-downs. fun. So, we drive slowly to the PX where I can pick up a bit of parachute cord and a knife so I can tie down my hood where upon I see (now in the clear of day without rain in my face) that I've got frame damage.

I tell ya, if this thing is totaled, I've already got my next car picked out.

The Daihatsu Midget.

I drove one of these years ago in a Gran Turismo game and (virtually) loved it.

Good grief

2009-06-02T05:07:00.007-04:00

In September of 1989 I was living in Roanoke, VA. Roanoke is not a coastal city... far from it, actually. It is located in the crux of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains in the Southwestern portion of Virginia.

That September we had a hurricane which didn't mind that we didn't live on the coast. Hurricane Hugo made landfall in South Carolina and left 109 people dead and over 100,000 people homeless. In the protected area we lived the winds bent the trampoline at a local sports store around their light post. It flooded our basement and ruined ages of pictures, diaries, irreplaceable items. I remember the smell. I remember sailing my brothers flip-flop across the rising waters in the basement.

In 1993, Hugo was gone. The most recent "pain" story is from February of 1990 by The New York Times and then the talk disappears. People rebuilt, people moved on. In April of 1990, the Chicago Tribune has a story by Mary T. Schmich which says:

"For a while, it looked as if Hugo would turn out to be the hurricane that humbled. Here, it seemed, was the storm that had proved the folly of building on the beach. Here were gutted houses and roofless houses, and mountains of rubble that once were houses. Here were houses tossed to the neighboring golf course or dumped in the nearby creek. Here were houses waterlogged, packed with mud or flat-out gone. But on Pawleys Island north of Charleston, on a warm April day six months after Hurricane Hugo ravaged the South Carolina coast, John Jackson, like most of his neighbors, is rebuilding."

Hurricanes are rough. Heck, rough is too nice a word for what hurricanes are. The only thing tougher is the determination of men to overcome adversity.

Or is it?

Katrina and Ike victims treated differently

Time Running Out for Katrina Trailer Dwellers
-Deadline to Get Out Was Supposed to Be This Weekend

Many Mississippi cities holding elections Tuesday, MS

more and more and more

Now, my question is when do we continue with our lives? When do we move on? When do we rebuild?

Moreover, why should we?

Inasmuch as one might like to blame those who are still living off of FEMA and the American taxpayer some four years later, I think the bigger problem is FEMA and the American taxpayer.

Does anyone else notice the 47 year old living in his mother's garage? At some point, mom has got to stop letting him live there rent free. Stop cooking him 3 squares. Stop doing his laundry. And all the while he's complaining about the A/C. He's walking in during your tv programs and switching the channel. It is time for the eaglet to leave the nest. Fly baby bird, fly! Soar to new heights, have little birdies of your own.

Why am I still hearing sob stories about this on the news? The twin towers weren't covered this much. There are two wars going on and the news doesn't highlight the families of the fallen as much as it does the hardships and travesties of people who lived in the line of a storm.

It was a big storm. I know. It is hard to recover after a storm like that. I'm sure it is. I've dealt with flooding. I've dealt with trees falling on my house during a hurricane. (Thanks to my family for their help during this time, BTW.) I've had major medical trauma. Stroke, Amputation, car accidents, tough financial times. Perhaps you've got it worse. I'm sure many many have had it worse than myself. Life is rough! We've all got travesty. It is what you do after that. Go on with your life. Rebuild. Get out of my news.

(John Pinette - "Chinese Buffet")

Stumbles

2009-05-30T22:09:00.004-04:00

So in meandering through the web today, I found a variety of things I thought I'd share with you:

The award for the saddest fact about Americans I saw this morning goes to:

I was taking a poll on e-rewards.com today which asked about where we get our news. I'm sorry, but if "The View", "Entertainment Tonight" and "Inside Edition" are considered news, then we've gone a LONG way, and I'm not sure I like this road we're on.

And the award for the silliest rule I saw this morning goes to:

The Historic Tree Nursery Store

Which reminds us when ordering offspring from historic trees...

filed under "Agriculture Restrictions"...

wait for it...

That, "We are unable to ship cherry trees to Washington."

Car update

2009-05-29T09:07:00.002-04:00

The $250 MCCS fee was waived... the car may now be picked up from the other side of the island M-F 0700-1600 except for lunch. That works great for those of us who work on the north of the island. Oh, and thanks for not apologizing to me for falsely towing my car and delaying my efforts by weeks. Thanks for making my purpose for taking leave invalid, at least I got to spend time with the wife and kids.

I would like to thank (without sarcasm) Captain Tyler from the Kadena Air Base Security Forces for being the ear of reason in all of this and for working with me instead of against me. You were really a help in a rough time. You rock, sir.

So proud of my girls

2009-05-28T07:43:00.004-04:00

On Sunday, my two girls (daughter and wife) performed in their first recitals. Not only did they play their instruments in front of a crowd, they did it in Japanese!

(The players below have no volume controls, so make sure your computer's speakers are not turned up too loud.)

Jackie's Recital Piece

Mia's Recital Piece

The boys were quite dapper themselves and behaved like gentlemen applauding and supporting our ladies. Chas even took video while Simon photographed the event.

AARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-27T11:27:00.001-04:00

Still no car.

(who needs twitter?)

Better say it while I still can...

2009-05-23T00:19:00.003-04:00

Through the end of the Bush administration and on into this one, we've received:

Increased Government control and ownership of the Auto Industry
Increased Government control of Wall Street
Increased Government control and ownership in the Banking Industry
Increased Government control of the Housing Industry
Increased Government control of the Credit Card Industry
The Estate Tax, scheduled to drop to 0% in 2010, will remain at 45%
We grow closer to Government controlled Health Care
... (the list grows)

And now, when we face the scare of print media declining and shutting their doors, when we see ratings drop severely over the television media through saturation and internet alternatives, we have the White House shooting, editing and publishing their own State-run News available through Whitehouse.gov.

Let's see... you're born, there's government. You go to school, it's run by the government. You get a job with the government and get to take home what the government allows you to keep. You get a home loan from the government at a nice government rate. You get your news from the government. If you get sick, you're treated by the government. When you die, the money the government allowed you to keep, will be taxed by the government AGAIN.

WOW! Isn't it nice to live in a "free" society?

Second post for the day...

2009-05-20T09:26:00.003-04:00

So if you're just joining us, keep on reading, there's another new one down there.

---SNIPS UPDATE---

The little guy (Snips) is recovering fine and is becoming a very well adjusted little kitty. He plays with the kids and the dog, he eats well, he's eager to greet me when I come in the door (I can see him bounding around the corner as I enter) and he follows me around as I get settled back into home-mode. He loves to be pet and he's purring a lot more. I think he's finally escaped death's door.

On a side note, I think Snips is just a bit narcoleptic. He fell asleep face down in his catfood and stained his chin, he'll fall asleep mid swat to Nigel's beard. As a matter of fact, the only time I haven't seen him zonk out in the middle of something is when he runs.

Oh well... we'll see how this pans out. In the meantime, I'll treat you to a pic of Snips in my shirt pocket. (yeah, he fell asleep there before as well.)

What was in the news today?

2009-05-20T09:19:00.002-04:00

I heard a clip while driving today about the increased consumer satisfaction rating of airlines. The news agency went to a busy airport terminal for a reaction by an air official as to the reason for the increase. His response was something to the tune of, "Less people are flying right now so there is more room in the aircraft, shorter lines..."

Here's what I heard... well, in addition to his answer... At the point where I trailed off in his response, there was a lady in the background who began laughing loudly and asked a friend, "Did you hear that? He said there were shorter waits in the lines! (laughter)"

Location, location, location.

The saga continues

2009-05-19T00:15:00.002-04:00

Okay, some of you know, some don't so I'll just post the whole story to give everyone an idea of the assininity I've had to endure and continue to work through.

I was driving my car on an Air Force base local to our house and stopped behind a school bus at an intersection waiting for a light to change. Another bus was trying to make the turn through the intersection so the bus in front of me decided to be "nice" and backed up to give him room... yeah... backed up right into my car. After laying into the horn for a while, he finally learned of his mistake and stopped his bus. (Note... this was a unit school bus and had no kids or other passengers on board.) So there we stood in the middle of the road in the rain waiting 30 minutes for the military police (who work on the other side of the intersection... I didn't know this at the time or I would have gone over there) to arrive at the scene of the accident.

When the decision was made to move the vehicles, I took pictures. I don't know why the military police did not, but I wasn't going to be left in the wind. We moved the two vehicles across the intersection to their parking lot and went inside to do up the paperwork citing the other driver (who was only temporarily here for work) and when I asked the question, "Who is going to pay for this?" I got a lot of deer in the headlight looks from everyone present.

WEEKS later I finally find the unit responsible for filing claims against the government for damage they cause, but only after having called that organization multiple times and being told it was not them. I went down...

I should say at this point that the location of all of this is on the south side of the island so there is no easy way to do this during work and they're closed after I get off... lucky me.

I went down to the filing organization and was told that I had to get the car towed to at least two different shops for estimates of repair and fill out a bunch of other paperwork in order to file the claim. After filing, they can take up to a month to decide to pay and another few weeks to finally pay. Meanwhile, I am out of a car, the towing fees, and have to take leave to accomplish the filing and legwork.

While working on this, my car was left in the parking lot of the military police with my contact information in the windshield. I was told three times on different dates by the airmen who work there that it would be no problem to leave it there. I happened to be on that base last week and wanted to check in on the car before my leave began this week to deal with it only to discover that the car was not there.

They towed it.

Well, where is it? I went inside and was met with a lot of the same deer in the headlights looks I saw before from that office before I was directed to an individual who dealt in those matters, but he was gone for the day so I'd have to check back tomorrow (when I'm supposed to be working) to ask him how to get my car back. After leaving, I was addressed by one person who was "helping" me and he said the individual's car was still in the parking lot and that he might still be in there. I went back in and while waiting to see him, I met the LtCol in charge of the military police on that base. He told me that the car was towed on his request because it posed a "Force Protection Issue" (Military talk for 'it might be a bomb') and that it had been parked there too long. I told the LtCol that I respectfully disagree because on the other side of the street there is a place where service members can park their cars for sale indefinitely with contact information in the window and that his office had a way to get in touch with me (the might be bomber) and that bombers don't normally do that. I know force protection... my ENTIRE JOB AND LIVELIHOOD is force protection.

He wasn't listening.

I finally found the guy I was waiting for and he was just as deaf. He said that vehicles are not allowed to be parked in any one spot for more than 72 hours and that the law is the law. I replied that this nice little fact is never told to drivers on Okinawa and it might be nice to include in the Newcomer's Brief or in the Drivers Education mandated when you arrive on island. He said the rules are there for anyone to see at http://www.kadena.af.mil/security_forces.jaslr/pr75Q.lunch/good_luck_finding_this_obscure_reference.html.pdf.get_lost

Yeah right.

Bottom line, they towed my car and it would now take $250 to get it back. I asked if that could be waived since they authorized the parking of the vehicle in the first place. "Fat chance." (Okay, I'm paraphrasing here... he didn't actually say, "Fat chance" but he night as well have. What he actually said was that *I* could contact MCCS {the civilian organization tasked with towing the vehicles on base} and ask them to waive the $250 fee. Yeah, like they're going to waive it just because I don't think I should pay it. Fat Chance is right.)

Out steps a Captain from the back room and asked what this was all about. Reluctant to start the discussion all over again just to be laughed at, I told him I was just about done and that I had already taken up enough of his office's time. He insisted he hear it and I started into the whole story "with full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that" when he actually offered to contact MCCS and see if they could waive the fee.

THANK YOU, sir.

So... that last part was last Wednesday. I have since sent the story to him again but in email form so he can go to bat for me. He sent it off to MCCS and they're actually working to get the fee waived. It'll take a few days, but they're working on it and it looks positive. HOWEVER, I still have to go to Camp Kinser (a base further south from where I work and live) to begin the paperwork to get my car released from impound.

Apparently there is no paperwork to pick up... I have to draft a letter and have my Battallion Commander sign it saying that he has dealt with my malfeasance and that it will not happen again.

Great.

Waste more of my time and now that of my Battalion Commander who, I'm sure, has nothing better to do with his day than to deal with members of the US Air Force lying to and then improperly impounding a vehicle of one of his Marines.

AARGH!!!!!

Here I sit, two days into the leave which was supposed to be spent FIXING my car and I have to wait another week (after my Battalion Commander sends the letter) for them to release my car so I can get started repairing it. And I STILL have to get the two estimates and complete the paperwork so I can wait up to another two months to get reimbursed whatever portion of my claim they feel they should reimburse!

Moral of the story?

Don't get hit by an Air Force bus.

I'm so incredibly upset with the Air Force right now.

Pictures

2009-05-17T00:47:00.002-04:00

Wow

2009-05-16T06:16:00.001-04:00

That last post was horribly written... I'd just like to take this opportunity to apologize to the .125 readers who read my post, and the .00729 who care.

I took the easy way out

2009-05-16T05:24:00.004-04:00

I put these pics in a meat grinder with an MP3 and it spat out this little video tribute to our newest family member, Snips. The kids named Snips after the Padawan of Anikan Skywalker in The Clone Wars.

Snips has had a rough first three-four weeks. He was found dead in the road and was nursed back by some friends before coming to our house. He's had intermittent problems in the brief time he's been here, but I think he'll make it.

So on to the video... In this corner, weighing in at 62.5 lbs, we have the returning Champion, Nigel. In the other corner we've got our challenger, weighing in at 250 grams (just over 1/2 pounds), Snips.

The "score" of this photo collection is called "You're a Dog and Don't Talk to Me" and is by Michael Hurley from the album Parsnip Snips. While the lyrics don't have much to do with the meeting of the two, the name and the album were too much to pass up in making the video. I also thought it would be fitting seeing as Nigel has not left his side since he got here.

2009-05-10T19:46:00.001-04:00

"Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things."
- Russell Baker

Bowling for Burgers

2009-05-09T20:36:00.004-04:00

We've started to go bowling on Monday nights since it's cheap, easy, gets us out of the house, we're normally the only people there, and the kids love it.

I asked a while back if we could let the kids go back to the back to see how it all works, and last Monday they let us. The kids had a blast. They got to see how the ball gets separated from the pins, how the pins get carried up to the top, how they get placed in the right positions, they got to hear how loud it really is when the ball strikes the pins, it was a really good tour. I guess it probably helped that the guy giving it knows our kids by now and enjoys them.

Here's some pics to commemorate the event:

I'd also like to take this opportunity to brag about my boys. They decided a few Mondays ago to give up the bumpers. Gutter after Gutter after Gutter and they keep going. They're improving a lot... they're almost to the point where they're hitting a couple of pins a frame. They got a little discouraged in the beginning when their scores plummeted, but after reminding them that they were not competing with their sister who uses bumpers, or with their parents who have been bowling for a while, but that they're competing with themselves, they decided that they'd work to beat themselves each time we go out.

I'm so proud of my boys.

I'm proud of Mia too, just this wasn't about her. If you need a Mia fix, here's a little Mia-Chic for you.

Some Usefull Graphs

2009-05-09T08:02:00.003-04:00

Okay, I'm cheating on my third blog post of the day, so make sure you scroll down to read the other two.

I was hanging out on GraphJam and came across these and figured I'd give them a little more exposure.*

(*By "...a little more exposure." I mean the two people who actually read my blog.)

Hey, I know that guy!

2009-05-09T07:11:00.004-04:00

So there we are driving along when whom do we see? THIS GUY!!!

Remember him? Here's the post. We couldn't help it. We jotted down our address and asked him to come by again. We had to see his new stuff.

Well, he stopped by today and unrolled his stash of paintings. Beautiful as usual.We couldn't help it. We bought a few more.

Don't fret, we asked him to stop by here first when he comes back. He's such a cool guy. If you've got any requests, let us know and we'll grab one/some for you.

On a side note, he has a tendency to leave the paintings with the buyer and he will come back to collect payment. He writes down the name, the address, and the amount owed. He "told" us he recently lost his book and was not able to collect payment for some paintings he sold. He then showed us he keeps his book in a much tighter grip these days zipped up in his bag instead of in his shirt pocket. A good idea I think.

There's bad ideas, and then there's this.

2009-05-08T22:07:00.003-04:00

Here's a quiz for you.

Which of the following photos does not match the other four?a:b:c:d:e:If you guessed C, You're Right!

Photo C is the only picture taken on September 11, 2001. The rest of the pictures were taken on April 27, 2009 by some very scared New Yorkers while Air Force One flew over the city for a photo op. Cost? Over $300,000.

Would you like to see the ONE picture released from the White House from this event?

My favorite parts are the glare from the cockpit glass and the shadow across the bottom from the frame of the window. All in all, I'd say it was $300,000 well spent. What about you?

"Gratuitous Profits"

2009-05-06T10:09:00.002-04:00

We're told to villainize those who make "Gratuitous Profits". Oil Companies, Banks, Investment Houses, Hedge Funds, the Medical/Insurance Fields...

How often are trial lawyers who take 40% in class action suits and raise the price of goods services and insurance lumped in to these "evil profiteers"?

Have you heard of the names Kennedy? Rockafeller? Buffet? Which ones are known for being poor and making little or reasonable profits?

Who are we "supposed to hate" and why?

Take a good look at who Washington is asking you to target and ask why. Why are those profits extreme while these over here aren't?

If you had an idea... a really really good idea... if you were in a position to make a profit, would you do it? If it turned out to be a large profit? Watch what you ask for. Once you give the government the right to pick winners and losers, when will you be on which side of that coin? (What a wonderfully complex and mis-worded question... I love it.)

"Stop the Insanity"

2009-05-06T07:42:00.003-04:00

Rush Limbaugh---Alan Colmes---Sean Hannity---Ed Schultz---NPR---Sports---Country Music

I just gave you the complete line-up of our local AM radio station minus the stuff they put on while I'm in the office and can't listen.

Good Lord! From one hour to the next, you're assaulted by the extremes from one side or the other pulling in opposite directions making your head burst at the seams.

NEWSFLASH!!! They're all full of crap. Well, maybe not the sports guys, but then again, they've picked losers over winners so I guess they have their FOC days as well.

My major beef today comes from Ed Schultz who said (and I'm paraphrasing here), "There is no constitutional right for these medical and insurance people to make gratuitous profit."

You know? I gotta say that he's right. In as many times as I've read the Constitution from tip to tail, there is nothing about gratuitous profit and the medical profession in the same breath.

What I DO see is this:

Amendment IX, The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

I also see in Article V,

"...nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken without just compensation."

Let me ask this question to all of you Constitutional Scholars out there. Where in the Constitution does it give anyone the right to make any profit in any endeavor? Should we restrict this as well?

Where in the Constitution does it give the right to individuals to receive Government provided Health Care? Child Care? Government Education? What does it say about the Federal Government's "right" or empowerment to redistribute wealth? You see, these are different from the previous questions. These questions deal with the powers of government to confiscate your earnings and to spend them where the politicians see fit. In our Constitution it has a section which deals with this topic. It is called the Tenth Amendment and it reads like this:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

Who the H is Ed to say what is gratuitous and what is not? In this whole push to get national health care, the doctors and insurance companies have become the new evil. We're supposed to hate them right alongside "Big Oil". Want to talk about people who make money and do not give back? Check this out.

Now because I happen to get my medical service provided by the federal government through the military, I have gone through the civilian side of the medical gauntlet as well so let me give you my humble report.

When I was in the Marines the first go-round, I broke my wrist off the coast of Turkey. I was flown from country to country, military hospital to military hospital as each tried to fix my wrist. A FULL MONTH I went through this. By the time I got back to the states, they had to cut open my wrist, vacuum out the bone fragments created through the grinding of resetting and resetting which occurred at each of those other hospitals, they placed in a plate, two pins, three screws and part of my hip. After the surgery (general anesthesia by the way) I was dying for some real food and knew there was a fast food joint downstairs. I muscled into the wheelchair because my hip was not up to walking, and jostled myself out of the room and to the elevator with one good arm before getting an offer of assistance as I approached the restaurant.

That was government care. That was free to me. I only had to devote my life 24/7 to receive this.

I got out of the Active Duty side of the Marine Corps in 1999 and went into the private sector. I worked for a period of time as one of the fictitious 9.5 million without healthcare (which includes illegals, temporarily uninsured, and people like me who just thought I'd be fine without and wanted those monies to go elsewhere) and I did fine at that for a while as I was getting settled into a less temporary working condition.

I moved on to another job which had better benefits and wound up on the private healthcare side of the house just in time to cut off my finger with a circular saw. I think I remember that as being painful. Being that I was in either extreme... wait, no... EXTREME pain or on morphine and other drugs (perscription) for that time, I do not remember that much from it, but as I sit here I can tell you my finger is paid off (yay, they're not going to reposess it!) I was covered through a co-pay system, the debt I encurred from anesthesia to x-ray to occupational therapy to surgery to every other branch of medical care I received was paid. I was dilenquent at times and it was rough living for a little while. I kept in contact with the creditors and let them know my intent to pay and worked out schedules with them, I paid them what I could when I could. We cut back and it all worked out.

Without asking how I was going to pay, I got immediate (and hospitable) care. My credit was not hurt. (By the way, the credit side of the matter is on your individual State. If you want people to be protected financially from their medical debts, contact your State Representative and have them change it on their level.)

Of the two incidents, which would you choose?

Now, for non-emergent care:

In the military, we've had three children. During my time in Raleigh, NC, my wife was to go to Fayetteville, NC to receive care, treatment, follow-ups, and delivery because the hospital was within 50 miles, as the crow flies, from our home. Appointments after the birth? Guess where those went. Now guess how many people were willing to accept what the government was willing to pay for the service. Now guess how long the wait was for an APPOINTMENT. (P.S. To those doctors who charge patients for being late to the appointment, have you ever returned a portion of the fee you charge to those you make late by running over the clock on your side?) This was a mostly free birth. There were inconsequential charges here and there which we were capable of paying... It was mostly free. This was government care.

I don't get "doctor sick" that often, so for private insurance years, this section has a little less to pick from so I'll give you the worst of it. I had to get my wisdom teeth removed. I called an orthodontic surgeon and told him of this and he told me I could not make that determination and that I had to get a referral from a real dentist before I could schedule the removal. I made an appointment with a dentist for this purpose and sure enough, he said they needed to go. I went to the surgeon again and he said I needed a pre-appointment... I scheduled and when I was "seen", I waited 30 minutes past the scheduled time, was given cartoony pamphlets about getting teeth removed and was charged $50 and made an appointment to have the real thing finally done. I never went back. I was so frustrated with the whole ordeal. I finally went back into active duty and had them removed while on a ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean enroute to Kosovo where I was given Motrin for pain and swelling, and my stitches finally came out on the mess deck while I was eating mashed potatoes.

Which care would you choose? This one is harder to pick from. I wish I had more examples and I might once J reads this. She has a better memory with when our family was sick. I'll try to get another one for you.

What I'm saying is this. With all of this push toward a National Health Care Program, are we looking at the reasons drug prices are so high to begin with? (How long does it take for a drug to hit the market? How many lawsuits? How much government bureaucracy and intervention?) Are we looking at the Canadians crossing the borders to receive healthcare? Conversely, how many Americans go into Canada to get an MRI?

Finally, can we expect this government health care system to be run as efficiently as the US Postal Service or the DMV? Have you had to go to a government office to apply for a license recently? How long did that take? (Interesting side note, when I went to get the marriage license for J and I, I was advised that the fee raised to twice what it previously was because of a "mandatory donation" to the NC Home for Battered Women. How nice of them to pick my charity for me.)

Government is a fine thing. I'd hate to live without one. But "rules is rules". What our Federal Government is not given the power to do by the Constitution, it does not have the right to do. These rights are reserved for the States and their peoples. It's right there in the Tenth Amendment. Do people read the rules? Or are we making this up as we go along?

Freedom, Republic, Liberty... these are not cliches or words to be trifled with. These are cornerstones to our country. Statism, Oligarchy, Despotism, Tyranny... these words are the enemies to our nation. These are what we fled from, what we fought against in the establishment of this Federal Republic. Hold true. These are not antique, inconsequential principles. Both the positive and the negative forces are still alive and fighting against one another. Choose a side.

I've quoted it before, and I'll quote it again:

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
-C. S. Lewis

Done right

2009-04-27T09:35:00.002-04:00

So there's this guy I've mentioned in my blog who sends out these emails of doomsday scenarios from the Obama administration, birth certificates, arab affiliations, the Democrats are doing this or that... He's a nice guy, I just normally roll my eyes at his forwards of forwards of forwards of emails... (Have I mentioned I hate getting a forwarded forwarded forwarded message in my inbox?)

Well today it was actually a little funny. At the end it asks that I send it along to clog up someone else's inbox, but I don't do that. Instead, I'll post the contents here so you can read it at your leisure. And NO, it IS NOT POLITICAL. horray!

Oil Change instructions for Women:

Pull up to Jiffy Lube when the mileage reaches 3000 miles since the last oil change.
Drink a cup of coffee.
15 minutes later, write a check and leave with a properly maintained vehicle.

Money spent:

Oil Change: $20.00
Coffee: $1.00
==========

Oil Change instructions for Men:

Wait until Saturday, drive to auto parts store and buy a case of oil, filter, kitty litter, hand cleaner and a scented tree, write a check for $50.00.
Stop by 7/11 and buy a case of beer, write a check for $20, drive home.
Open a beer and drink it.
Jack car up. Spend 30 minutes looking for jack stands.
Find jack stands under kid's pedal car.
In frustration, open another beer and drink it.
Place drain pan under engine..
Look for 9/16 box end wrench.
Give up and use crescent wrench.
Unscrew drain plug.
Drop drain plug in pan of hot oil: splash hot oil on you in process. Cuss.
Crawl out from under car to wipe hot oil off of face and arms.. Throw kitty litter on spilled oil.
Have another beer while watching oil drain.
Spend 30 minutes looking for oil filter wrench.
Give up; crawl under car and hammer a screwdriver through oil filter and twist off.
Crawl out from under car with dripping oil filter splashing oil everywhere from holes. Cleverly hide old oil filter among trash in trash can to avoid environmental penalties. Drink a beer.
Install new oil filter making sure to apply a thin coat of oil to gasket surface.
Dump first quart of fresh oil into engine.
Remember drain plug from step 11.
Hurry to find drain plug in drain pan.
Drink beer.
Discover that first quart of fresh oil is now on the floor. Throw kitty litter on oil spill.
Get drain plug back in with only a minor spill. Drink beer.
Crawl under car getting kitty litter into eyes. Wipe eyes with oily rag used to clean drain plug. Slip with stupid crescent wrench tightening drain plug and bang knuckles on frame removing any excess skin between knuckles and frame.
Begin cussing fit.
Throw stupid crescent wrench.
Cuss for additional 5 minutes because wrench hit bowling trophy..
Beer.
Clean up hands and bandage as required to stop blood flow.
Beer.
Dump in five fresh quarts of oil.
Beer.
Lower car from jack stands.
Move car back to apply more kitty litter to fresh oil spilled during any missed steps.
Beer.
Test drive car.
Get pulled over: arrested for driving un der the influence.
Car gets impounded.
Call loving wife, make bail..
12 hours later, get car from impound yard.

Money spent:

Parts: $50.00
DUI: $2500.00
Impound fee: $75.00
Bail: $1500.00
Beer: $20.00
==========
Total: $4,145.00

But you know the job was done right!

Efficiency at its finest

2009-04-26T18:54:00.004-04:00

I was geocaching a while back with the family when we passed a place that gives haircuts more efficiently than any other place I've seen to date.

Buy your ticket, Sit down, Stand up in ten minutes, Leave. No change, no cell phones, no eating, no smoking. Have a nice day.

Children's Concert

2009-04-26T07:43:00.011-04:00

So today we dragged the kids out to the Symphony. We'd heard a while back that they were going to perform a children's concert. We got all dudded up in our fancy/casual attire (read as; polo and khaki, nice t-shirt under sport coat, pink blouse with nice jeans... and that's just what I was wearing)

As it started out, Mia commented about how dark it was getting and Simon noticed there were an awful lot of people entering the stage with a "This is going to be loud." Now keep in mind, while Mia has been to a ballet at least, this was the first time the boys have gotten the opportunity to witness the making of music on such a grand scale. We did not prep them in any way (other than to say that they were to be on very good behavior) and they had no idea what was to come as the musicians took to the stage.

The first piece was the main title from Star Wars. The first note hit poor Simon like a fist to the face. his hands shot up to his ears and his knees hit his chest on the first crash of note before the ba dum dum Dah DAH (I wonder how long I could type out the notes like that) I'll just embed it... the part I'm talking about starts after the "20th Century Fox" intro.

Yeah... that initial blast.

They rolled on into some more pieces. There was an opera singer whom Mia called the singing princess. They did a piece where she (the singing princess) ran out of wind (air) and had to be wound up again like a toy to continue singing.

We thought of leaving at intermission because the kids were reaching the end of their patience, but we decided we'd stick through it and let them experience the entire thing before passing judgement.

As the end arrived, I explained to the boys that there is a long applause section where we applaud the conductor, the wind instruments, the brass section, the strings, the percussion, the group as a whole, the singer, the conductor again, the architect of the hall, the guy who changes the lightbulbs in the auditorium... Apparently we did a really good job applauding because they decided to treat us with an encore...

A surprise montage from Indiana Jones!

The kids were beaming.

"I think it's pretty that there was a girl on stage singing pretty songs while the musicians played in the background." says Mia

"My favorite part was the beginning and the end, Indiana Jones and Star Wars, well, Star Wars and Indiana Jones." says Chas

And Simon raves, "It started to get boring but we didn't leave and I just had to sit through it but it wasn't boring at the end which was Indiana Jones."

There I was typing a post and I forgot to include the part of the concert which made my day worthwhile. I like to sit there and look at each instrument until I can hear its particular sound and contribution to the melody as a whole. One instrument I particularly like to watch is the tympani. This guy was going wild, especially during the Indiana Jones piece.

We'll pause right there leaving our drummer with his sticks raised while I divert the story a bit...

I was listening to NPR a few years ago when the participants of the discussion were talking about the most embarrassing moments they've had during a performance. One opera singer told of a scene where he was to run across the stage and jump onto a table during his song. The stage hands had forgotten to lock the wheels on his table and when he landed on top, he proceeded to fly across the stage and off the other side.

Back to the tympanist...

Right at the final crescendo he's going off on the drum set playing wildly when he loses his grip on his stick and sends it flying across the orchestra and smacking against the wall. I burst out laughing and had to wait until the end to explain myself while we watched him on stage explaining his event to the rest of the orchestra members. While no member of this particular orchestra was injured, it did lighten the concert a bit, even if I was the only other person in the building other than himself who saw the event.Good night all, I'll post again soon.

Plain-vanilla?

2009-04-25T07:36:00.002-04:00

Yesterday credit executives met with ~~President Obama~~ [a representative from the Executive Branch of the Federal Government] where they were told, "The days of any time, any reason rate hikes and late fee traps have to end. No more fine print, no more confusing terms and conditions.” ~~Obama~~ [the representative] called for "plain-vanilla, easy-to-understand, simplest-terms possible credit card[s]”. "[T]o dispense with the confusing fine print that characterizes most credit card agreements."

Ahem...

The current federal tax code has more than one million words and is 75,000 pages long. The rates go up and down on a whim. Late fees abound. You file under the legal threat of purgery. There is little to no accountability for where these monies go once you pay them.

Fine print?
Traps?
Clarity?
Plain-vanilla?

Is it just me, or is this a case of the pot calling the kettle black?

(Whoops... I have to be careful sometimes, in my current employ, of whom I'm allowed to call to the carpet and who I am not.)

Happy Japanniversary!

2009-04-25T05:34:00.003-04:00

Well, we've been here a year (and change by the time of this post).

I'm going to let Jax catalog the events of the year, but I get to post the update pic of the kids. Yay for me!

While we are trying to get some time to get back to the US, we'd like to also open our home out here to those of you who might not have a Japan stamp in your passport yet. The weather is great (or hot), the water is drinkable, the ocean is beautiful, the sushi is fresh, the culture is as ancient as it is polite.

Don't forget we've got skype... give us a (video)call sometime at username: tjcsmlewis

In perspective

2009-04-24T08:48:00.004-04:00

There has been a LOT of talk about the TARP funds, the new budget, the current deficit, the future deficit... The thing they have in common is the use of the word "Trillion".

Trillions of dollars. Trillions upon trillions of dollars.

Let's take a closer look at the word trillion. I do this because I don't think the number has been well defined in this era and we really need to know what we're talking about here.

Pretend there was a business opened in 0 B.C. 2008 years and 114 days ago. Let's say that this business is run SO poorly that it loses $1,000,000 a DAY, every day, 365.25 days a year. To lose a TRILLION dollars, it would have to stay in business about another 730 years to do so.

ANOTHER 730 YEARS at -$1,000,000 a day to lose the full $1,000,000,000,000.

Still too abstract? How about this?

If you earned 1 dollar for every SECOND you were alive, you would have:

$1 million after 2 months
$1 billion after 32 years
$1 trillion after 31,688 years. Almost 32 thousand years!

xkcd.com did a rather crass comparison blasting the news organizations about this topic in a comic a while back, I will LINK TO IT here so you can avoid seeing it if you are sensitive.

A million dollars is a suitcase full of hundred dollar bills.
A billion dollars is a semi-trailer filled with neatly-stacked hundred dollar bills.
A trillion dollars is one thousand semi-trailers filled with neatly-stacked hundred dollar bills. Mounted on standard flatbed railcars, the train carrying all this money would be about ten miles long.

A trillion dollars is a stack of $1000 bills 67.9 miles high!

"There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers."
-Richard Feynman

When is the federal government going to cut back? Republicans, Democrats, it doesn't seem to matter. All I seem to hear is, "Well, when THEY were in office, spending was this." You know, just because someone else is bad at something doesn't exempt you from being called on it as well. To try to make the point, just because Hitler was really bad doesn't make Stalin a nice guy.

It needs to stop and it is going to take someone, a few someones, to go in there and cut the feds out of areas they are not Constitutionally obligated to participate. The government is there to provide us with law and order. They are there to protect us from those who would do us harm from within or without our borders. They are not there to dictate curriculum to our schools. They are not there to allow or disallow monies to stem cell research. Federal dollars should not be in Stem Cell research, not because of religious reasons, but because it is not the Federal Government's business to spend our money on it! It should be OUR CHOICE! If you want to fund it, FUND IT. IT'S YOUR MONEY!

Dear federal government, Have a military. Have a congress, executive and judiciary. Patrol and protect our borders. Protect our civil liberties. Encourage economic growth through opportunity. Build a strong and prosperous nation. But most of all, protect us from YOU. Our forefathers fought and died to get us from underneath an oppressive regime not to have us placed under one of our own, but to live free.

Here's the rules: Live your life, don't infringe on someone else living theirs. Smile once in a while.

Okay, I threw that last one in there, but the point is simple. Give someone a job because they are qualified, not because of quotas or racial bias. Give to charities with whom you agree and want to support.

Read the Constitution.
Read the Federalist Papers.
Read our Declaration.

I have long ago started carrying around a paper copy of the Constitution and Declaration in my pocket most all the time. I carried them to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once. I carried them to many other foreign countries and I carry them back home. (editor's note: I have since gone digital and if you are having trouble obtaining a copy for yourself, I can either supply you one or point you in the right direction to get one for yourself for free or reduced cost.) I now carry not only the Constitution and Declaration, but also the Federalist Papers, Major Supreme Court Cases, The US Flag Code, The Articles of Confederation, The Emancipation Proclamation, and many more in digital format and I open them to read regularly.

It's late... I'm ranting and rambling again. MAN, this makes me boil over.

Since I'm already in the middle of everything, let me also add (as I have before) that you cannot tax a business. If you try to tax a business, they will respond with cutting the workforce and raising the price of goods. You and I will wind up paying those taxes you wanted levied on the evil corporations.

Okay, good night, and I'm sorry for the atrocious lack of editing in this post.

The Marine Corps could not be reached for comment.

2009-04-22T17:49:00.002-04:00

Really? Now, I've never been a journalist. I briefly pretended to be one in High School but like so many other things, it went to the wayside. Regardless, I have been a Marine for a few years running now... enough to know that when --- THIS ARTICLE --- says, "The Marine Corps could not be reached for comment." What it really means to say is, "The Marine Corps WOULD NOT be reached for comment." If the reporter wanted a comment, she could have gotten one. Here's a comment,
"The kid is an idiot."

Ah heck, I've got to go to work. I'll try to write more later.

In other news...

2009-04-19T10:25:00.003-04:00

I had someone say earlier today that you can't just take a picture and toss it out there... you've got to tweak it a bit to get that certain something... A lot of times that's true... shots don't always have that color, framing, the *pop* that you'd like...

I have another friend who recently posted a series of five photos of his daughter on a swing. Four of them were in artsy B&W, and one as an off handed color just to round out the selection. The color got the most feedback. Not because it was color, but because it had a natural framing, motion, emotion, the color was just right, everything was in place.

This picture is one I took a while back while the outlaws and our family were traveling to Hedo Point in the north of Okinawa. The subject isn't anything more than an obscure street sign, but it has a certain something that I wouldn't touch with photoshop. The only thing I might do with it, would be to frame it up just a little better in the lower right where the family is just a little distracting from the main subject in the shot.
This other one is a quick shot I took while in Hawaii last year. Again, while the subject is the same as you'd find in any background collection, everything just fell into place with this one and I thought it needed no tweaking.Just wanted to share... good night all.

So what has Tim been up to?

2009-04-19T07:17:00.005-04:00

Well, I'm writing... reading... working... geocaching... fathering... husband-ing... and trying to also to play the violin more.

As for writing, I was a couple of chapters in on my novel and the computer went south. It is now the kids computer and since the book is not right in front of my face, I've not been writing on it. I have in my head, though. That's got to count for something.

Reading... I have three book books going right now. I finished Atlas Shrugged three or four times over, Fountainhead, Brave New World, and a few others on audio book. I read both FairTax books and Someone's Gotta Say It by Neal Boortz. (Do you think I'm streamlining my book topics here? The three I've got going now are two political discussions and an analysis of the Supreme Court.)

Working is the same as everyone else. I don't talk about it too much, and can't really, only to say that when you are working in the prevention/denial department, it can seem at times that no news, while good, is kind of dull. Is it because there's nothing/nobody to deny? Is it that they are too good (or that you aren't that good) and you're not catching them? It felt nice to reaffirm my ability when I finally found something. Not a BIG something, but a something people don't normally find. Sorry to be cryptic, but that's the nature of the job. It just felt nice.

Geocaching... I've held back on the hunting for a little while. I've got a few made up to place out there, but am waiting for a few more pieces to make them perfect. I'd take some pictures to place up here, but those who know to look at my page will know what to look for out in the woods, so it'd be giving up the goods if I put the pics here. Oh well.

Fathering and husband-ing... We do bowling on Monday nights, J goes knitting on Tuesdays and I have dad night with the kids, I sometimes go to poker on Wednesdays, but it is not a steady thing (denial is the first stage), Thursdays are Family nights at Tengen Castle (an on base restaurant here in Oki) where we can feed and entertain the family with friends from work for <$30. I'm not arguing about that one. Friday Saturday and Sunday are filled with field trips, geocaching, art, music, whatever else we can do as a family. We try to keep busy. And lastly, (at least for this list. I could put in all the wastes of time I partake in, but then they would waste your time as well and I do enough of that already.) And lastly, violin. I actually sat down to post this in the beginning, but then saw I had not posted in a month so I figured I'd give a little more back-story. I got my acoustic violin a little while back. This was an upgrade from my electric violin which I still have, but it makes a nicer, fuller tone when I play... and I think there's a problem with the pickup on my electric. Anyway, in true "Tim" style, I've got a number of songs I'm trying to learn all at once. I've got the Theme from Schindlers List, Hava Nagila, If I Were a Rich Man (Fiddler on the roof)... Do you notice a Jewish trend?... I've also got Killing Me Softly, A Whiter Shade of Pale, a little number from WHAM, and a local song called Sakura. My problem is the violin keeps getting placed back in a dark corner where I forget about it and anyone who knows me, if a project is not in my face, it doesn't get done. I decided I'd get one of those guitar hangers:
but then I decided I already had this stuff from making geocaches:

so I made this:hung it:

and now my violin is front and center, ready to play... let's see how that works out.

In case anyone is wondering what those things are there on the neck of my violin to help me out with fingering position, here you go, an axe, a screwdriver, a hammer and a wrench:

Job Security through Obscurity

2009-03-20T20:34:00.005-04:00

Jackie and I went to the symphony last night and had a great time. Jackie's cello teacher plays the bass in the Ryukyu Symphony Orchestra and offered to advance purchase tickets for us. (Thanks goes out to her.)

Violin Concerto No.1 in g minor, Op. 26 by Max Bruch
[lento] for String Orchestra and Harp by Tohru Yogi
[ayamai] for String Orchestra and Ryukyu Instruments by Hideo Fukutomi
---Intermission---

Jax dug the violin concerto (I was working on my discrete napping skills) and I was completely into the Ayamai. I dig the koto (japanese harp which lays on the floor instead of upright with 13 strings), but they had everything thrown in there... the san shin, the gong, standard strings instruments, it was wonderful.
Here's an example of the koto with san shin for you.

After returning, they had changed the stage for the Okinawa Jazz Association who played a few pieces. Not bad... I just like my jazz with a little less sax.

The orchestra came back to the stage and played their grand finale of:
Symphonic Dances from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein

So I told you that story to bring up this point. I was very interested in the Contra Bassoon. I was having trouble coming up with a more obscure yet necessary instrument. It's kind of like the place kicker on the football team. Sure he doesn't get the glory of the other players, he's never followed during the draft, but try playing a game without one. It got me to thinking though, how many people can play this thing? How many people own these things? They're huge, loud, and I'm betting, pretty expensive to buy or repair. I found ONE on eBay...-click-... $6,000.

This might be a time to break out those old highschool band skills. You just have to be better than the other guy, if they've got another guy.

If the other guy is this guy, you're in there. Just joking... I'm sure he's a very good player when he's not geeking out in front of the world on YouTube.

Redefinition of poor

2009-03-17T03:11:00.004-04:00

I found this story on the website fro the Telegraph, a UK paper, but it is in more places than that... you've probably seen it elsewhere.

Michelle Obama serves lunch at Washington soup kitchen

Now, let me start by saying that I have no problem with charity. I give when I can, and I volunteer as a CPR, 1st Aid, and AED instructor at the Red Cross. I think Michelle Obama (and my mother and her household) are great for volunteering their time as well. It is the spirit of voluntary giving (voluntary does not equal compulsory) is one of the things makes America great. Fouthermore, the organization, being charitible and private, should be able to give lunch to whomever they like. It is their kitchen and their volunteers. If people did not like their practices, then they would stop donating their time, money, and foodstuffs to the organization and they would fold under. I cannot see a free soup kitchen for pro-athletes, actors, bankers and congressmen opening up on the local corner anytime soon. My peoblem is more with the people with their priorities out of whak who think it is okay to prey on the charity, voluntary like these kitchens, or compulsory as in foodstamps and welfare, who could find ways to get through if they realized things like BMWs, cellphones, cable TV... are not necessities, but luxuries and can be cut from the budget.

My questions for this article are these... If the guy is poor/homeless, where is the cellphone bill being sent? and Who is paying it? Moreover, if the kitchen were to run out of food before serving all the patrons, and actual homeless poor were waiting in line, would the guy feel the least bit of remorse?

I think I might know the answer to that one...

No soup for you, TWO WEEKS!

Limited Audience

2009-03-13T10:46:00.002-04:00

I have no idea how many people who read this blog have an iPod touch or an iPhone, but if you do, or if you're interested in what can go into one of these things, here's a list of my most used applications.

Light - This is an app which turns the unit into a flashlight. I use it every morning as I look for socks while my wife sleeps.

USA Manual - I used to carry a copy of the Constitution in my pocket. I've been through quite a few of these and have given away a few as well... I like to read it, I don't know why, but I figure it isn't a bad thing. This app has allowed me to go paperless in this habit by providing me not only the Constitution and Declaration, but also the Federalist papers, lists of Presidents and States, Supreme Court Justices and cases, and other documents and lists of American importance. Stuff every American should know but few do.

Notes - A Post-It app for the iPod. I use it mostly when I get an idea for my novel so I won't forget it by the time I get in front of the keyboard.

Lux DLX - Risk game for the iPod... it's easy to play a quick game while I'm waiting for something and listening to my books

Geocaching - Allows me to cache without paper... it's nice to have it all in my little pocket computer.

WordBook - My dictionary/Thesaurus which I use frequently as I listen to Ayn Rand. All those SAT vocab lists I never bothered to memorize are coming back to haunt me. I can even save words as favorites and "recall" them in the future without actually having to wonder, "Wht was that word I looked up yesterday?"

MiGhtyDocs - Google Documents sync'd to the iPod I use this for recipes in the kitchen

Kotoba! - This app translates from English to Japanese and vice versa. I can also doodle the kanji with my finger and it will translate it into english for me if it understands what I'm trying to draw (thank you art class)

Kanji Flip - Teaches me how to read Japanese

Scribble - Lets me draw things like pulleys, batteries, glue... things I need to buy at the store and can convey with pictures and add "arimaska?" to the end to ask if they've got any.

Stolen Wallet - A double-encrypted app which not only saves my credit and bank info in case I forget my wallet, but also holds the numbers for those cards should my wallet get stolen so I can report them as such... I've not had to use this app for its intended purpose, and let's all hope I never have to.

I've also got a couple of book readers, a grocery list maker, a star navigation tool (very interesting and educational), and about 30 random games to keep the kids entertained as we're waiting for a table at Chilis.

I've got two apps whic play streaming audio from radio stations back in the states over our stereo and radios with iPod cradles.

We got a stereo/dvd changer thing from Panasonic which has a flip-down iPod cradle which lets us play our movies off the iPod on out TV and control the iPod with the stereo remote. By the way, renting a movie from iTunes is about $3 a movie and there's nothing to return. Just delete the file.

I guess I should include the web browser and e-mail functions as I use those A LOT, but they're standards and not something I saught out to place on my iPod.

Mostly I use it for listening to books and podcasts.

Okay... that's all. I figured I'd go back to trying to post at least something occasionally on this blog just to keep ties, even if it only gives you guys a cure for insomnia.

Reading...(sorta)

2009-03-13T10:34:00.002-04:00

I've been through the whole debate of audiobooks vs paper books. I simply don't have the sit-down time to devote to the paper so I listen in the car on my way to and from work, while walking the dog, going to bed, playing racquetball... whatever. Unabridged counts in my book (pardon the pun).

Anyway, I re-read Anthem (paper book), listened to Fountainhead, and have now listened to Atlas Shrugged four times. I don't know why I never gave these books their due time before, but I'm glad I have now.

So where to now...

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley I thought I'd get the radio drama version, but again I decided I'd go with the unabridged.

I was never a reader growing up. I'm so very proud my children are not following in those footsteps. They live for reading time and we make sure to provide them with it every day.

I understand this post is neither here nor there... I'm being rather choppy and sporadic, but I just thought I'd let you know what I'm reading.

"You don't bring me flowers"

2009-03-07T05:45:00.003-05:00

Ok... so I've never given Neil Diamond flowers, but occasionally... (I didn't say regularly...) occasionally I happen upon some worthy of giving to my wifey.

No excuses

2009-03-06T22:56:00.004-05:00

Yeah, so I haven't blogged for a while... To make up for it, here's a picture of the kids...

And here's a picture of a bunny with a pancake on his head.

I asume this has settled my tab.

Ketchup

2009-01-14T05:51:00.007-05:00

I think I've already named a post ketchup... I forget sometimes.

J's parents came out for Christmas and New Years. He [J's dad] has got a Nikon D-40. I've got one also, and also have a Canon D-60, a Canon Elph, and a Kodak. The kids J and I all have camera phones. Needless to say (and despite the lack of photos on my blog recently) we took quite a few pictures between us.

P (J's dad) took the keepers and compiled this little video which I hope you'll enjoy as much as we did, though I hardly see how that is possible.

Kids, holidays, sights of Okinawa, I think the dog is in there, I know my first venture into cooking which involved igniting the pan into a fireball on purpose is in there... there's even a shot of Nana J on a skateboard ramp. Wow... that wasn't a sentence at all.

Oh... there's a new link on the right of the blog to a new webcomic I stumbled upon. The topics include Math, Programming, Love, and random thoughts. I often see myself (at least my inner monologue) in his comics. Here's an example or two for a few readers in specific...

For My Brother

For My Mom

For My Sister-In-Law, fellow geocacher/math lovers, whomever else:
The site, by the way, is xkcd.com

Enjoy

M-ism of the evening

2009-01-09T06:58:00.002-05:00

"Mom, do you think I should live in Africa, or Candy Universe? Because Candy Universe, I have to build, and Africa, I don't."

(csmmom almost crying at the cuteness)"Candy universe" (..sniff..)

"Okay... And you can be in my robot army... even though you are not a robot."

I've got to get a recording of this.

Ambition?

2009-01-09T06:01:00.002-05:00

So I just finished Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and dove directly into Atlas Shrugged.

Okay, honesty moment here. I'm kind of cheating. I have quite a commute to and from work and I walk the dog for an hour or two at night so I don't have a lot of time to read, but I can listen to audio books just fine. *I* don't consider it cheating since I only listen to the unabridged versions, often read by the author. Plus, there's the added benefit of not looking at a book after a good long reading session only to realize it is SO large, you've not even made a dent. Heck, the audio version is 54 hours and 8 minutes. That's just under a month of commuting and dog walking.

I've done this for quite a few books since getting out here. Some untold histories if the US and the world books, Born on a Blue Day, History of Jazz by Ken Burns (that guy is great. Anything and everything you ever could want to know about jazz or its artists... he's got it), a few psychology books... I get a lot accomplished while driving, I think. Most anything is preferable to the single radio station.

Look... setting aside whatever you may think of Ayn Rand's ideals, she's rarely matched in her ability to so completely describe something that you'd feel as though you were there. It is as though she had heard the saying, " picture is worth a thousand words" and decided she needed a thousand for every picture in her books. The result is the reader being able to see hear feel relate smell...

Do you know that head nod people give each other when you walk up to elevator doors waiting to open. To steal a line from Brian Regan, "I see ya, I just got nothin to say to ya."

If Ayn Rand were writing this, you'd find yourself giving that nod, even though you are not in front of any elevator. Her words connect so deeply and perfectly, you are powerless to deny the feelings or emotions described.

Maybe I should have put a different book in the middle. It is too late now, I'm captivated by Atlas, but I'm still reeling from Howard Roark.

If any of you have not read Ayn Rand, Anthem is an easy introduction. It is similar to Orson Well's 1984, but not as long. The link will take you to a free copy on the internet... there are others as well found on the Googs. It is a bit choppier than the longer works... you've got to remember while reading, that this is written as though it is in the first person. Man has lost individual identity, so everything is referenced in the third person, but it is from one man. It is choppy, because in the "time in which it was written" in some far off(?) future, men have lost words to describe his feelings and he must recreate them.

Aahhh, heck.. draw your own conclusions. I dig'em. I just don't recommend you read them one after another after another... it might be a bit ambitious.

What bit of difference does it make?

2008-12-30T17:21:00.003-05:00

I have a news tracker from the Googles that emails me updates about news stories with the parameters of: [homeschool -"john legend"], and [home+school -"john legend"]. (I had to exclude Mr Legend because he opened a recording label with the title Homeschool Records and threw my news stories into a report of every contract he received.) So THIS comes into my inbox this morning...

Mother charged with beating obese son to death: I homeschooled to spare boy fat taunts

Why is the word "homeschooled" in there? Did homeschooling cause this child's death? Do publicly schooled children never get beaten or killed? How about molested? Raped? Turned into lemmings? Where's the mention of school choice in THIS ARTICLE about two dads arrested for encouraging their sons to brawl out in the street?

The same thing happened back when I was in DC with the woman who told people she was homeschooling... wasn't... and wound up killing her children.

A google news search for "killed her children" returns 38 results for 2008. "Killed his children" returns 46 in '08. Add the word "homeschool"... You aren't even given an option to filter by date there are so few in the archives and I've mentioned two of them here. (13 for "her" [if you count all of the "Andrea Yates" stories as one, you get 3 total] and 4 for "his" [and some of those are from the "her" category, as in "she killed his children".]) **Reminder**, these homeschool totals are from the Google news archives... not solely 2008.

What I'm trying to point out here is not that one schooling option is safer or riskier than another. I'll let life sort that one out. What I have a problem with here is the idea that the word "homeschooling" somehow belongs in that particular news story.

Would tighter restrictions have prevented this? I don't think so. She filed all of the proper paperwork including curriculum.

Would the requirement for homeschoolers to have a bachelors or masters degree have prevented this? Does that paper prevent public teachers from misconduct?

Would more social department intervention be the cure? Don't even get me started.

J and I were talking to a friend the other day about "Free Range Kids". Ask yourself honestly... if you were to release your 8 year old to walk to the corner store (purposefully... not a random wandering) would he more likely be:

Shot
Nabbed
taken by a social worker
taken by a "worried neighbor" who really wants to be a social worker

Before you answer this (mom) think about what you were allowed to do as a child, what you allowed your children to do, and how we are treating our children today. Are there more drugs now than in the 50s, 60s, 70s or 80s? How about violence? Or have we just been saturated to the point where we see only the worst and are worrying ourselves, and our kids, to death.

It used to be "Look both ways before you cross the street", then "Hold hands while crossing", now "Cross with an adult"

It doesn't take a village. It takes parents. Parents who care. It takes parents who care enough to teach their children be it solely or in addition to curriculum they're receiving elsewhere.

Homeschooling is not the problem in that news story. The problem is that, from time to time, bad people have kids. The problem is that, occasionally, bad things happen inside a home and not out for public scrutiny. These are not the norm. Don't buy into the hype. News makes money by shock and awe. Unless they make you afraid, they don't sell papers. Clam chowder recipes get shoved to the back. They know where they make their money. Death abroad, domestic deaths, Congress, White House scandal, shootings, riots. When was the last time you saw a birth announcement on the front page? How many times has NANDO had the state football champions on their cover? When was the last time (Presidential election results excluded...those only make half the people happy) something POSITIVE appeared above the fold?

We all saw the police gearing up for the riots sure to come from the election results. It was big news. Fear... possible violence... maybe someone will die.

Nothing happened. Is that not news? I actually find it more shocking that people were semi-civil.

I need a coffee refill. TTFN

Yet another ramble

2008-12-27T18:42:00.003-05:00

I read this article (well, article might not be the right word... it is surely opinion based and placed in the comments section of the telegraph, but it is surely not any more opinion based than any of the other "news" you might read on a day to day basis nowadays) this morning and am pleased to see that the man made global warming marketing myth is being shown for what it really was.

For sure, there were a lot of honest environmentally conscious people taken in by the hype, but the undeniable undercurrent of anti-capitalist, anti-corporate, anti-consumerist propaganda was just too much. And to think some schmuck won the "Nobel Peace Prize" for increasing the hype. Just what that guy did to promote "peace" with that movement, if I don't get it now, I guess I'll never know.

(pardon the slight shift of course and lack of segue here)

The EU is thinking of piping in solar power from Africa. Okay... Can we not forget to help the Africans in the process this time? Africa has oil and Africa has coal, but environmental groups are campaigning against their use in that continent, opting instead for their use of wind and solar. Fine... excellent... out of whose pocket? There's a hospital outside of Nairobi which invested in solar under this great rationale. They were able to get enough money for a couple of large panels on top of their facility. The only electrical items they have inside are lights, and a single small fridge for vaccinations. They have to choose which to run at a time. Both will shut the system down. Until we make these alternatives reliable and inexpensive enough for these people, we must provide an alternative. We cannot keep a people in the dark because we don't want them using the same technologies we use every day. No power, low health, not much to do, do we wonder why there's widespread famine and violence in these rural areas? Yeah, peace prize my arse.

Snow in Vegas
Snow across America

We're causing the earth to warm? Either more people are living green really fast, or were not doing a very good job of warming the earth here.

Live clean people. Keep your community clean and healthy. Let's start there and let's leave the larger things like... oh... the continent and the WORLD to a higher being.

Live, Love, Laugh often (to steal a cliche from a wooden plaque in a country kitchen)

I do not fault people for wanting to live clean. I encourage it. I love that my mom has taken to riding a bike again. It is good for her health and good for her car (reduced wear from short trips and increased idle time) she feels better and is healthier from it. We like to use those "super" bags from the grocery, and J even crochets "SUPER" bags from used plastic bags. As a result, we don't fill up our trash can with trash bags and our food doesn't roll around in the back of the van on our way home from the market.

We recycle. We haven't always. The trash company in Clayton, for instance, wanted to charge us extra for recycling just so they could turn around and resell the product for profit. I'm not going to pay a company to take something I work at (sorting) so they can resell it for increased profit, when they can take it at a reduced cost (unsorted and in the trash) and make nothing extra. That's just a bad business model on their part.

We buy green when it fits in our lifestyle, not because it's chic. Those polar fleece pullovers and throw blankets made from recycled soda bottles... yeah, they work and I digg'em. They're on my acceptable list. Ethanol in the gas... I've got no real choice. I'm not a fan. It's counterproductive. I use unbleached coffee filters only because I don't like the thought of bleach and coffee in the same phrase.

Okay.. that's enough for now... I'll be back very soon.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

2008-12-16T05:03:00.002-05:00

With such a warm winter (yeah, someone got a sunburn the other week in December) we've been fighting to get into the spirit of fall and started early with Christmas in our house.

Tonight at dinner though, while listening to one of my favorites written by one of my favorites "The Christmas Song" (more widely known as "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" by Mel Torme), I was surprised to hear a line I had not heard in there before... this was mostly due to this being the first time I heard my boys singing along with the "new classic"

"They know that Saaaaannta's on his way
He's loaded lots of poisoned goodies on his sleigh"

Poisoned goodies?

I love these guys.

The other day I happened to remember aloud a couple of songs from my days in their age group... nice "innocent" songs that in today's system would most certainly get you expelled and a psych eval...

"Row row row your boat, gently down the stream, throw your teacher overboard and listen to her scream."

"Tra la la boom de yay, there is no school today. The teacher passed away. We killed her yesterday. We threw her in the bay. She scared the sharks away. Tra la la boom de yay, there is no school today."

Did I or any of my schoolmates go on to be Columbine-istas? No. Okay, so I joined the military... but that's about as close as any of us got. I've got three kids there at the dinner table while I type this playing with their "Missile Toes" followed by "Light Saber Toes" and offering eachother nuclear twizzlers (poisoned goodies, remember?) There's no malice. There's no need for psychiatrists. They're kids. And they're good at it. and as long as they keep eating their broccoli, I'll let'em be.

Ummm.....

2008-11-28T08:46:00.002-05:00

I found this today with the family while geocaching... I'm no expert in the Japanese language, but I think it says, "Please don't shoot dog walkers in the face with an Uzi."

YEAH!!!... wait... What?

2008-11-27T20:06:00.002-05:00

The following is not something I said... it is not something I think I once heard someone say... it might be something I think should have been said sooner... I just didn't expect THIS guy to say it.

He [Obama] said he would be foolish, at such a “critical time in our history”, to pick people who “had no experience in Washington whatsoever”.

Hmmmmm.....

Now bear in mind, I have said all along that the alternative would have been a bum administration. I just wonder if something can be extrapolated from this comment to reflect on the outcome from the election itself.

Now, he said this in response to questions about the "Change Doctrine" in light of the growing number of former Clintonistas, Washington insiders and lobbyists to his administration. The article actually refers to Rahm Emmanuel simply as, "[a man who] once served Bill Clinton".

It should be interesting to see how this all pans out. Oh it will be painful. It would be painful with whomever might have won the position. I'm just thankful Cynthia McKinney didn't get it.

Oh, and so long as I'm running off at the mouth... Al Franken... You're not good enough, you're not smart enough, and gosh darnit, people don't like you.

Who are the people in your neighborhood?

2008-11-26T20:35:00.003-05:00

Just in case you were wondering...

One small ahem

2008-11-26T08:49:00.003-05:00

Just because I feel it needs to be pointed out...

There is no such thing as the "Office of the President Elect"

Even if there were... we do not yet have a President Elect.

Our electoral college meets on the second Wednesday of December to cast their votes for the next President.

ahem.