John Law is a hoot, and you can tell he is on the job cause he likes it. Give him a read.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Pies do not have tentacles!!
Go see Skippy, and read Cephlapod Surprise. I piddled on my self.
http://skippyslist.com/
I do not HATE
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070722/NATION/107220053/1001
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/GregoryKoukl/2007/07/21/why_hate_shouldnt_be_a_crime
The above links are to articles I have recently read. As Blogger will no longer publish a hot link for me, you will have to copy and paste them to an adress bar. The second explains clearly that the trend toward "hate crime" legislation is unconstitutional. The author points out clearly that these laws, though they sound good, are the most heinous affront to freedom imaginable. They will enable the special interest groups to make you criminal, simply because you disagree with their agenda. The "politically correct" crowd now has another weapon in their hands, if by some twisted logic, they can accuse you of hate, you will be jailed. Special interests, and protected groups are availed of more than "equal protection" under the law. Any speech in contravention of their beliefs exhibits "hate"!
The first article is about the beliefs of the National Council of La Raza, that the citizens of this country who believe in the rule of law and the enforcement of those laws "hate" immigrants! Since when is speaking your belief that the laws and constitution of this country should be enforced, an expression of your hate for anything? Since when is insisting that your elected officials enforce your will wrong? That is what Democracy is about.
The motto of La Raza is, "For the Race everything, outside the race, nothing." That my people, is bigotry, racism and hate at it's worst. The color of your skin and where your parents are from determines your rights, according to these criminal invaders of our homeland.
I don't hate anyone who will abide by the law of the land, but when you cheat to get your special group favors, now I got a real personal problem.
I wish I was well spoken enough to have written an article like mister Koukl. He says very well what I have felt for years.
Linky Love
I have added a link to a kindred spirit. A gyrine who has a sense of humor. He has an intellect that belies his military experience. God love him, I know where he's coming from, not where he's going. He linked me before I linked him. I am flattered. Last night I read everything on his Blog, it was all good, I can't say that about most. Check him out. "Murphey was a grunt" is indeed a good read every time you go there.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
So true...
During these troubled times people of all faiths should remember these four fundamental religious truths:
1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.
2. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian world.
4. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters.
Stolen from RockHauler
Imagine that....
I walked by the spent fuel shipping car in the Reactor building. The cask weighs seventy tons. Just WOW!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
7-20-07
This is the love of my life, if God calls me home tomorrow, I will go gladly, having been married to such a wonderful woman for eleven years as of this date. I hope the Lord in his mercy and wisdom will allow me many more years to enjoy and love this mysterious and enchanting creature. Below is my poor gift to celebrate this anniversary. Eleven red and one white, one red for each year and the white for my hope of one more year.
Some times you have to be there....
Everything reminds me of a story, unfortunately, for a lot of those you have to be there to enjoy them. Some of them you can’t enjoy, because you are there. The following would be one of those.
Everyone hates to get a rule named after them, particularly when the rule will cause the rest of your entire industry to suffer. Sort of like Three Mile Island, but this one smelled worse. Not famous, infamous.
As I have stated elsewhere, operators don’t get holidays off. When you want electricity, we have to make it for you. When you get up in the wee hours, and go to the ‘fridge and open the door, and the little light comes on, that means someone like me is at work.
Where I work is a little different, we are required by Federal Law to man the station to predetermined levels in all conditions. I have to be relieved by a similarly qualified person before I can go home. If I don’t get relieved, I may be sleeping in the back office, but I will be here.
The Holiday in question was Thanksgiving, the second most family oriented holiday of the year. The remainder of the station is away stuffing them selves with turkey and fixings, and here we are, making neutrons and megawatts. We were the objects of pity, turkey day and ball games, and we are at work. One of our production assistants, with the best of intentions decided to cook a complete holiday meal for about forty people and deliver it to the plant.
Remember what the road to hell is paved with?
You got it, good intentions, or in this case bad turkey.
Bless her heart, she got up at some ungodly hour and put the birds on, she cooked pies, dressing, yams, beans, rolls, sides of every description. There was enough food to feed a small township of Somali refugees. We all ate like starved wolves. That was at about noon, and then it was back to work. My ex was there and fixed plates for some of the Security officers. The cook fixed a plate for an armed guard that she had an eye for.
I bet that didn’t work out.
I was with another operator hanging Danger tags on equipment, when we got the first hint of trouble. He has a slightly delicate stomach, mine on the other hand will digest anything short of rocks and bolts. That may account for the time delay. As he raised his hand to turn a breaker off, I noticed his hand shaking. I turned to him and his face had gone white and the sweat was popping out all over. (????) He looked at me and said “I can’t wait, I have to go!!!” He ran to the airlock and disappeared. I don’t know how far he ran, but I didn’t see him for several days.
Odd, that was.
The end of shift finally arrived and I started home, probably the longest twelve miles I have ever driven. As I left the parking lot I got the feeling that there would be an “event” when I got home. Boy, Howdy! That short ride got longer and longer. I felt a little gas, and being alone, released it, it had that special rotting corpse fragrance.
This is a special BAD SIGN.
The incidence of gastrointestinal upheavals increased exponentionally, to the point that I was practically standing up clenching for all I was worth. When I finally got to the yard, I could barely walk. Walk, hell, I ran to the house jerked the door open to find the facilities occupied.
Panic Ensued!
People, I lived at the end of the world, down a dirt road, then back in the woods. I could have dropped laundry on the front porch and not been seen, but panicked thinking would only focus on that special place.
I shrieked “HURRY”, and the ex screamed back “I’m trying!”
We rotated possession of the throne for hours. I would be suffering on the throne, and hear the pounding of feet heading my direction. I would relinquish my position as long as I could stand it, then we would change again.
The seat didn’t cool off until after midnight.
I went to work the next morning with the intention of coming home, if there were enough people to cover the roster. I don’t hope to ever see the like again. There were anxious faces everywhere, sweaty and pale. Everyone kept a weather eye on the rest rooms. Every few minutes someone would bolt and if the men’s room was occupied, they would ricochet to the ladies room. Our exhaust fan pulls ten thousand cubic feet of air (or gas) a minute, and the control room still had that nasty sour odor.
The obvious cause was the dinner the day before, only the folks that ate got sick, and everyone that ate was sick. Naturally, everyone who heard it thought it was priceless, and the story went everywhere, including to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
They were NOT amused.
The idea of taking out an entire shift, by eating the same food, almost got a new rule.
For weeks after that some of the humorous types would ask the girl who cooked, “I need a day off can you fix me a turkey sammich?”
A$$holes!!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Blarney Castle and the Stone
Been there, done it, the love of my life says I wasted my time, I talk too much as it is.
What do the Irish do when they're bored?
They stack rocks!
And after several thousand years practice, they're damn good at it!!
Knockmera from the tombs at Longcrew
Maves tomb, atop the hill, resting place of the first Queen of the Irish.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Why isn't this in the news?
WASHINGTON -- There is some very good news in the battle to slay the budget deficit. It is being cut in half well ahead of forecasts, offering fresh evidence that reducing federal tax rates does not undermine government revenues. The Bush administration has a lot of problems on its plate, both foreign and domestic, but the budget deficit is not one of them. This is one area where President Bush's policies have been a resounding success, though don't expect to see this reported on the nightly network news shows.
The Office of Management and Budget announced last week that the annual deficit, estimated at $400 billion just a few years ago, will be $205 billion by the end of this fiscal year (which ends in September).
That's still a lot of money in a nearly $3 trillion-a-year budget, but it is 1.5 percent of the gross domestic product (the measure of everything that our economy produces each year) and it's racing downward.
The latest forecast represents a $43 billion decline from last year's deficit, which has been shrinking for three years in a row.
The administration says it is solidly on track to balance the budget in five years when it will turn into a $33 billion budget surplus by 2012. But I think OMB is much too conservative in its timeline projections. If the economy continues to perform well, as I think it will, and the president keeps the lid on federal spending, as he plans to do, we will likely reach a surplus well before 2012.
From Townhall
Blogger won't publish links
Or this from Family Security Matters
The American people have been sold out, our government allows us the fiction that we are the source of their power, their mandate. I am not a conspiricy theorist,,,, yet! Remember, once is accident, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action.
Keep your head up and your powder dry.
In honor of the MOM's
A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.
The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.
In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a Cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.
In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.
He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.
He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.
As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.
He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"
She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?"
"Yes," was his incredulous reply.
She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."
God Love them all!!!!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Uber Redneck
I have written several stories about some of my friends with more than a little of the characteristic blush around the collar. I have to admit I am related to a few as well. Most of my paternal family are coal miners, entrepreneurs (shiftless), and in some cases incarcerated felons. The majority have a flirting relationship with common sense, untinged by the slightest hint of restraint.
One of my cousins is among the impressively departed, because he made a few misjudgments. His judgment wasn't always the best anyway.
Early on he tried to hang (current usage for the expression) with the older crowd, that would be me and some of the cousins. We didn't get him hurt, rather, we inspired him to excel by doing things we wouldn't dream of. He got his fanny whipped so often he didn't even notice anymore. His Mom got considerable exercise erasing our influences, mostly upper body, but some good cardio as well. That means she beat him until she was out of breath and too tired to whack him again. Not to fear, he was too hard headed to pay a lot of attention to that sort of thing.
Most every mountain boy dreams of going out of the mountains, to anywhere that's far away. He was no exception and eventually slipped away to join the Army. He had seen all the recruiting posters that show beautiful facilities at Ft. Carson, and knew it was just the place for him. No one told him who would be doing all the upkeep at those places. This was in the late seventies, all the poster shots were like real-estate photos, everything looked a lot better than it was.
He signed up, and likely got his first hint of a swindle when his Basic bus stopped in front of his new home, and he was greeted by a large angry man in a flat hat. That’s a tough day, I don't care who you are. He persevered and managed to esca,,, graduate from training.
Very soon the trouble began. The trouble included several article 15, nonjudicial punishment, assessments against his pay. Though I was never told about them, I suspect some correctional custody stays for the tail end of his military career. He decided the military wasn't for him and went home. Call it AWOL, or desertion, it's the same thing. One you are getting shot at, the other you're not. At that time the Army didn't expend a lot of effort to get you back, so his vacation was extended, considerably.
Eventually someone realized he was a fugitive until the situation was resolved, and made a call. The MP's showed up and hauled him away for a couple of weeks, then sent him home. The resolution was a discharge with no benefits. Employers in that part of the sticks couldn't care less which kind of discharge the military gave you, it didn't effect your lousy pay anyway.
He got the job of his dreams, being underpaid on a strip mine. Even his pleasure over this step up in the world couldn't motivate him to get out of bed and go to be productive. His car pool (truck pool?) was of like mind, and these boys would be so late the rest of us would just call in sick and stay home. Being the people they were, they would try to get there as quick as they could, to save having to explain to the boss.
I wonder if that few extra winks were worth dying for, probably not.
On the morning of their shuffle (sprint?) off to the next life, they were way late. The driver/pilot had a big block Ford pickup and an IQ barely escaping single digits. The roads in the mountains near their job is crooked enough to make a Nascar driver pee his pants.
I learned to drive on the same roads as Junior Johnson and some of the old drivers. I've never been known for my restraint behind the wheel, and those roads scared me!
The boys were trying to make an impression, being fashionably late and all. They made an impression all right, into a bridge abutment. The driver lost control, if he was ever in control, on the last curve before the turn into the site. The truck with its unhappy occupants sailed from the road bed in a high trajectory through a stand of large Poplars, cutting six of them off at ten or so feet above the ground. They hit the above mentioned bridge across the Clinch river and knocked it off the foundation.
People this was a concrete bridge built to carry coal trucks!
Don't try this at home!!!
The truck was compressed around the bodies so badly they couldn't be removed. This was in the days before a Hurst Tool was more than something on TV. Several hours and the careful application of hydraulics and chains, considerable retching, and no doubt some painful memories, the boys were extracted. The service was closed casket.
My Dad was in the fifth wave at Normandy, and at some point in recon, got the undertaker to open the box.
He said it was pretty bad, I'll take his word for it.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Some interesting things I've heard
Those noble gasses won't hurt you. (From my management)
OK, so why do you monitor them before you let them out the stack? If they're so harmless, why can't I go to the bathroom until they've decayed off?
Late night call to the main control room:
Control Room: Thank you for calling Stump Water Nuclear Power Station, how may I service you?
Caller: I want to be disconnected from the Nuclear Plant, I don't want any radioactive electricity.
Senior Reactor Operator: Excuse me?
Caller: I know that radiation is bad for you and I don't want any of that stuff leaking out of my wires.
Senior Reactor Operator: Yes, Mam, one moment. There you go, you're disconnected.
Caller: Thank you very much!(We still have no idea how she got the number to the control room.)
Neutron Radiation causes sea water to foam. (Our Public)
"Those gear boxes rotate so slowly, they don't need oil." (from a mechanic who could have been machinery lower level on the Ark)
Locked up before the end of shift.
If we make yellow and magenta plugs for electrical outlets, with a little tri-foil symbol, we can sell them to people who don't want "Nuclear Electricity" leaking into their house. (None of the operators in the conversation are currently rich.)
A good test is one that no competent operator will fail, and no incompetent operator will pass. (From the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations. I wonder who writes their tests?)
You will never eliminate mistakes, people are human (most) and therefore fallible. However mistakes cannot be tolerated. (?) (From the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations.)
Part of your compensation is the "aesthetic paycheck", you get to live in this part of the state! (Sand, Pines, Swamp, Mosquitoes big enough to stand flatfooted and rape a mockingbird, Housing prices that no entry level employee can afford. Oh, Yea, sign me up!)
So, how do you buy bread and milk with that?
If you are planning on having more children, we will have to find another volunteer. (!!!!)
I have added a new link to "The Mind of Me"
This gentelman is young, but off to a good start. He has some decent influences (BABs RN)and takes advantage of them. I am impressed.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Think about it
We need to show more sympathy for these people.
They travel miles in the heat, they risk their lives crossing a
border, they don't get paid enough wages, they do jobs that others
won't do or are afraid to do, they live in crowded conditions among a people who speak a different language, they rarely see their families,
and they face adversity all day every day.
I'm not talking about illegal Mexicans, I'm talking about our troops
in Iraq.
Doesn't it seem strange that the Democrats are willing to lavish all
kinds of social benefits on illegals, but don't support our troops and
are now threatening to defund them?
Please pass this on. This is worth the short time it takes to read it.
Not mine originally, but true never the less.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
For those Texans dispairing of the rain.
Lets start with 23 inches in 24 hours, Hurricane Diana.
200lb hogs hanging in the tree tops after the storm, graves bursting open and the Coast Guard towing them back to be reburied later, Hurricane Floyd.
Two hurricanes in two months (Bertha and Fran). Same hurricane two days in a row, Diana again.
We are in a drought now, my well has gone dry, and to top it off we are due for a Hurricane.
Nothing is simple, I know you know these things, but sometimes it helps to be reminded.
For Lawdog
New Technique for harassing the Peace Officer.
: Hello, is this the Sheriff's Office?"
"Yes. What can I do for you?"
"I'm calling to report 'bout my neighbor Virgil Smith.... He's hidin'
marijuana inside his firewood! Don't quite know how he gets it inside
them logs, but he's hidin' it there."
The next day, the Sheriff's Deputies descend on Virgil's house. They
search the shed where the firewood is kept. Using axes, they bust open
every piece of wood, but find no marijuana. They sneer at Virgil and leave.
Shortly, the phone rings at Virgil's house. "Hey, Virgil! This here's
Floyd.... did the Sheriff come?"
"Yeah!"
"Did they chop your firewood?"
"Yep!"
"Happy Birthday, buddy!"
Been to the woodshead?
Monday, July 9, 2007
Running log
Tonight: four miles in 52 mins, 80 or so degrees and 70 to 80% humidity, the great part is, we had some left, and could have gone longer.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Something new to me
The Love of My Life has induced me to train for a half marathon in September. That in itself is new, because up to this point, if I have to run thirteen miles, about half way there I am going to stop and scuffle with what ever is chasing me.
However, we have been huffing and puffing on a regular basis, I can see and feel improvement, so we continue.
Yesterday I ran in my first race ever. I am not racing anyone other than myself. I finished, that was my goal. The heat and humidity were brutal. About six hundred people entered, and as far as I know, all finished alive. One gentleman seventy seven years young ran the 10k, God love him for every breath and every step.
I would have died.
I finished ahead of some folks half my age and half my weight.
I noted some interesting things.
Most of the runners will wear the number so everyone will know they ran, even after the race is long over.
Even people with no body fat sweat like pigs.
I sweated so much, I think my lingerie weighed in at two pounds.
Some people should wear more clothes.
You can't drink with out snarfing water, while huffing and puffing and running.
The evil little kids with super soakers, who spray everyone who looks bad when they go by, tried to drown me.
I didn't mind.
Some folks have to yell everything they say, so you will be properly impressed with them.
Running with Six hundred people is very difficult, until they spread out, you can't get your breathing and pace down, you want to run too fast.
All the screaming and lying to me will not get me to run faster. It may only be one more mile, SO? Yes, I am almost done, one way or the other, thanks for noticing. If I was doing such a great job, I would be in front, not slogging along in the rear. I'm just out here to make everyone else look good.
I slept very well last night.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Is it just me?
Blogger is driving me bugnuts crazy. Last nights posting did'nt show up 'til today. Todays posting hasn't added the hyperlinks. Whats next?
How do you see the war?
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
How Long Do WE Have?
This is from an e-mail the Love of My Life sent me. Stick a Fork in us We're done.
How Long Do We Have?
About the time our original thirteen state adopted their new
constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor
at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot
exist as a permanent form of government."
"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public
treasury."
"From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dicatorship."
"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the
beginning of history, has been about 200 years."
"During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through
the following sequence:
1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"
Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St.
Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the
2000 Presidential election:
Number of States won by:
Gore: 19
Bush: 29
Square miles of land won by:
Gore: 580,000
Bush: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by:
Gore: 127 million
Bush: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore: 13.2
Bush: 2.1
Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush
won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great
country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in
government-owned tenements and living off various forms of
government welfare..."
Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the
"complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.
If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million
criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then we can say
goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.
Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake,
knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.
Time for some changes.
I was doing a little reading today, and it seems the rumble has started.
The rumble in question is unseating the elite of congress that feels the American public has no right to stymie their imperial wishes. I have posted before now that the political critters in Washington, as well as our state legislatures are the new royalty, the ruling class that knows better than the great unwashed masses.
We still have the power to make our wishes felt, at the poling places, and by slamming their phones and e-mails with our wishes. People we had better get busy, get serious, and stand up for ourselves. It is patently obvious that the current elected officials will not.
The only goal of these parasites is the next reelection bid.
Good Job, now finish up.
There's lots of flap about the President Commuting part of Scooters sentence. If you read the statement, there are very good reasons for the move.
The crime was not the one the special prosecutor was investigating, it is arguable that the testimony in question was a slip of the memory. The good Lord we all have enough of them.
The Hate BushCheneyBigOilHaliburtonRepublicanConservativeEverybodyExceptWhoISay Crowd are foaming at the mouth.
Does any one know how many pardons the President has given? If you belive Wikipedia, 114, most of which had already served their sentences.
Slick Willie was the busiest pardoner of all, I think, 457. Pretty big disparity there. I was going to publish the full list, but it was a mile long. Everything from posession to you name it.
From Slick Willies statement about his pardons. Notice he widens the blast radius to make his pardons seem less unusual.
On Jan. 20, 2001, I granted 140 pardons and issued 36 commutations. During my presidency, I issued a total of approximately 450 pardons and commutations, compared to 406 issued by President Reagan during his two terms. During his four years, President Carter issued 566 pardons and commutations, while in the same length of time President Bush granted 77. President Ford issued 409 during the slightly more than two years he was president
Now Bush needs to get busy and get his border patrol officers out of jail before they get killed.
I was superised to see what some of the pardons were for.
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