I have been watching the world go by, and deliberately holding my fingers (which seems to be a metaphor for tongue) in order not to become strident, shrill, or outright nasty.
This may turn into a rant, I'm not sure yet. Then again I may save the rant for late at night when nobody is listening.
It is now part way into February. February is usually a BFD month for us - Already we've lost a couple of days to snow (although that was never a part of the plan.) In not too many days I will turn 72 (or 28 by Grandpop Rudolph's reckoning....) and I am not liking it. I don't feel like I'm 72 (most days) and I try very hard not to behave like someone that old - but some days I just can't escape it. On the day after my birthday I will have been married to my first wife for 46 years - something many people (including ourselves from time to time) would never have believed possible - and I find that it is all good.
And of course I still go to work every day. Some days I'm actually worth more than I cost - other days they should make me pay to let me in. I've been having a good deal of fun with code lately, finding new ways to do things with fewer instructions, less messy code - it keeps my head either on straight or shaking.
I discovered Google Hangouts, and resolved to set up an area for my brothers and I to get together in a video chat, since apparently that's the only was some of us will see the rest of us. Looks like a nifty tool - be interesting to see if it works as I impute that it does, and if it doesn't it will be interesting to see how long it takes me actually to figure out precisely how it does work. Either way, I won't get bored.
My Kindle library is growing - I may not live long enough to read everything that's in it - I get emails every day from a couple of places that keep track of what's available, and Amazon puts out a fair amount that is free, and I try to get as much of that that looks interesting as I can.
I think in a separate piece I'll talk about the new stuff I have discovered that works so well.
Google amazes me - I have switched to Chrome as the browser of choice, and have discovered various apps and extensions for it that make it more useful - nearly an entire working environment is available from the browser itself including rudimentary office applications (and, truth be told, it is all I really need - Word has over the years grown into everything for everyone, and has so many buttons, widgets, fladgets and such that I can't use it whout looking for stuff that I used to know where it was.... With Google Docs, there's a lot that I can't do - but over the last several months I have not found most of what it won't let me do to be all that useful.
There are things that work with Chrome and Android devices that work so well that I finally have a place to stick important stuff that I can reach from my office, from any PC, and from my android devices (Phone and tablets.) Now, whenever I start up Chrome, whether it be on my phone, a tablet, a laptop or a desktop, it knows who I am and presents me with whatever environment I left last.
Listening to Ray Bryant playing Slow Freight and enjoying it. I keep music here at work, and happily the folks around me like it (or they just don't want to tell me I have no taste....) Music makes life better, don't you know.
Last night I met a group of German speakers that meets each week somewhere nearby, and I have been enjoying the social evenings with them, although to my chagrin I find I don't speak as well as I once did (or as I think I once did) and most of the folks there are not from the area where I lived, so my accent and dialect cause interesting misunderstandings - but it sure is fun!
Well, I just talked to a nephew I have not seen in at least 20 years - and got a video chat on my tablet by dumbing into how it works. Now I have to get a desktop working with that. Looks like Google Hangouts is more useful than I would have imagined.
I gotta go home. I may pick this up later, or I may decide it's rant time later. You'll be able to figure out which has happened.
Showing posts with label musings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label musings. Show all posts
Friday, February 7, 2014
Monday, November 11, 2013
November 11, 2013
Today is a holiday that we know as Veteran's day.
For many, it is just another day off.
For some, it brings memories of good times, for others, bad - but increasingly it brings nothing at all, because veterans are slowly becoming few in number, and the respect and honor accorded them appears to be diminishing as they become more rare - and this is a shame.
Once upon a time (or, if you were a sailor, this is no shit!) being a veteran was a pretty normal thing to be. I am old enough to remember the draft - and to remember when going elsewhere to avoid it was not so cool. As a matter of fact, many who served chose enlistment as an honorable way to avoid the draft, and to avoid duty that was certain, even in peacetime, to become not-fun.
I was a draft dodger - I served four years in the Air Force rather than spend 18 months face down in the mud in the Army. It was my choice to do so, and I was, and am, glad I made that choice instead of accepting whatever the draft board had in store for me. What I did was interesting, we were told it was important (and hindsight shows that to have been true) and I enjoyed much of those four years, particularly those I spent in Germany.
I was in from July 1961 through July 1965. Viet Nam had not yet got ugly, Korea had been over for almost ten years, and when I went in, I wanted to go overseas. My father, who was not a veteran had spent critical time in 1949 in Berlin, Germany, keeping the aircraft that kept the city from starving flying and able to communicate. The time later became known as the Berlin Airlift, and is historically interesting and important. Anne Tusa has written a very god book about the Airlift - if you are interested, I encourage you to get it and to read it.
My duties were not as dangerous as those of my father - I was not in a city surrounded by ideological enemies - it was in a relatively small city in Germany. Overall, I enjoyed being there - the natives were friendly, the food and beer was good - what could go wrong?
What we did was a deep dark secret, but the overview was easy to figure out - we all worked at a place outside town - a fenced place with a windowless building and armed guards, where every 8 hours a bunch of guys (before the time that women were part of this career field) with headsets over their shoulders walked in and out of the guarded gate. It was possible to assume with some reasonable certainty of correctness that the folks walking in and out might have been using those headsets to listen to something. Outside the fence there was an antenna field the size of a small town - mostly rhombic antennas (the largest kind known to man) of a size to receive certain frequencies well, all pointed in roughly the same direction. It was reasonable to assume that we were not listening to BBC....
Our position as enlisted men was also a bit on the odd side - other services would have used officers to do what we did - and we did it very well, too. We knew that if things got ugly we would be the last to be evacuated - we supplied information that would be needed until we were overrun, but we accepted that as part of the job - or more likely just figured as so many people so young did that we were immortal, ten feet tall and covered with hair - and that we were untouchable. We never got to test that, and I am not at all sorry that we never got to test it.
I loved the work, even when it was boring. Old Cold Warriors were pretty busy sometimes - but we all know that what we did made a difference.
Other veterans were in harms way - many of my colleagues who stayed in the service after the first 4 years were up ended up in Viet Nam after it got ugly. Some died doing their job in airplanes, some died on the ground by accident of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm sure nobody thought about it all that much - we did what we came to do, that others might avoid being in a wrong place at a time when they would die.
Being a veteran brings mixed feelings to me - I got to be one after a large personal failure - and my enlistment was in some ways a penance for things I left undone. But I am proud of having served, and have encouraged many kids who have asked to just take the time out of high school and go ahead and enlist - at the end of the term you will know at least 200 things you never in your life want to do again, you will have learned about people in other places, particularly if you go overseas, and you will emerge understanding the difference between commitment and involvement. you may also find an environment to your liking, and a good career.
In the final analysis, though, I am proud to have served, I honor those who served before me, with me, and after me, and I am a better person for having served. I met people who made an impact on my life, both serving and outside the service in the locations in which I served. I learned languages, and learned about people in foreign lands by living with them, not just by reading about them. The four years? I had nothing better to do at the time, and those years will always rank among the years in which I learned the most - about myself, about other people, about friends (and some non-friends) and about people who talked funny.
Those who serve are owed our respect - they wrote a check on their lives that could have been cashed at any time, in order that many others would not have to write such a check.
/sermon ends
thanks for listening (reading?)
For many, it is just another day off.
For some, it brings memories of good times, for others, bad - but increasingly it brings nothing at all, because veterans are slowly becoming few in number, and the respect and honor accorded them appears to be diminishing as they become more rare - and this is a shame.
Once upon a time (or, if you were a sailor, this is no shit!) being a veteran was a pretty normal thing to be. I am old enough to remember the draft - and to remember when going elsewhere to avoid it was not so cool. As a matter of fact, many who served chose enlistment as an honorable way to avoid the draft, and to avoid duty that was certain, even in peacetime, to become not-fun.
I was a draft dodger - I served four years in the Air Force rather than spend 18 months face down in the mud in the Army. It was my choice to do so, and I was, and am, glad I made that choice instead of accepting whatever the draft board had in store for me. What I did was interesting, we were told it was important (and hindsight shows that to have been true) and I enjoyed much of those four years, particularly those I spent in Germany.
I was in from July 1961 through July 1965. Viet Nam had not yet got ugly, Korea had been over for almost ten years, and when I went in, I wanted to go overseas. My father, who was not a veteran had spent critical time in 1949 in Berlin, Germany, keeping the aircraft that kept the city from starving flying and able to communicate. The time later became known as the Berlin Airlift, and is historically interesting and important. Anne Tusa has written a very god book about the Airlift - if you are interested, I encourage you to get it and to read it.
My duties were not as dangerous as those of my father - I was not in a city surrounded by ideological enemies - it was in a relatively small city in Germany. Overall, I enjoyed being there - the natives were friendly, the food and beer was good - what could go wrong?
What we did was a deep dark secret, but the overview was easy to figure out - we all worked at a place outside town - a fenced place with a windowless building and armed guards, where every 8 hours a bunch of guys (before the time that women were part of this career field) with headsets over their shoulders walked in and out of the guarded gate. It was possible to assume with some reasonable certainty of correctness that the folks walking in and out might have been using those headsets to listen to something. Outside the fence there was an antenna field the size of a small town - mostly rhombic antennas (the largest kind known to man) of a size to receive certain frequencies well, all pointed in roughly the same direction. It was reasonable to assume that we were not listening to BBC....
Our position as enlisted men was also a bit on the odd side - other services would have used officers to do what we did - and we did it very well, too. We knew that if things got ugly we would be the last to be evacuated - we supplied information that would be needed until we were overrun, but we accepted that as part of the job - or more likely just figured as so many people so young did that we were immortal, ten feet tall and covered with hair - and that we were untouchable. We never got to test that, and I am not at all sorry that we never got to test it.
I loved the work, even when it was boring. Old Cold Warriors were pretty busy sometimes - but we all know that what we did made a difference.
Other veterans were in harms way - many of my colleagues who stayed in the service after the first 4 years were up ended up in Viet Nam after it got ugly. Some died doing their job in airplanes, some died on the ground by accident of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm sure nobody thought about it all that much - we did what we came to do, that others might avoid being in a wrong place at a time when they would die.
Being a veteran brings mixed feelings to me - I got to be one after a large personal failure - and my enlistment was in some ways a penance for things I left undone. But I am proud of having served, and have encouraged many kids who have asked to just take the time out of high school and go ahead and enlist - at the end of the term you will know at least 200 things you never in your life want to do again, you will have learned about people in other places, particularly if you go overseas, and you will emerge understanding the difference between commitment and involvement. you may also find an environment to your liking, and a good career.
In the final analysis, though, I am proud to have served, I honor those who served before me, with me, and after me, and I am a better person for having served. I met people who made an impact on my life, both serving and outside the service in the locations in which I served. I learned languages, and learned about people in foreign lands by living with them, not just by reading about them. The four years? I had nothing better to do at the time, and those years will always rank among the years in which I learned the most - about myself, about other people, about friends (and some non-friends) and about people who talked funny.
Those who serve are owed our respect - they wrote a check on their lives that could have been cashed at any time, in order that many others would not have to write such a check.
/sermon ends
thanks for listening (reading?)
Friday, October 18, 2013
Second chances, redux
Well, last night a bunch of us got together for dinner, to meet again with my daughter's new husband, whom we have not seen for many years, and to watch his son be surprised because his dad joined us at dinner and he was not expected home much before Christmas.
Both daughters were there with their kids. This can be pretty exciting because the youngest's two (almost four and more than 5) are bright, vocal, active kids, and tend to end up being the stellar attraction, however, last night they seemed to sense that not only was this a Big Deal, but it was a Big Deal for their older cousin and made sure to greet the new Uncle as family and not as some interloper who just showed up out of nowhere.
My wife and I had concerns about the evening - we have not seen the new son-in-law for more than just a couple of years and, understanding some things that had been said and some that had been thought over the years, the potential was there for a heated emotional disaster - but it did not even stick its head in the room - we met a gentleman, an intrinsically good man who had spent much of his life in places that weren't really that good either for him or anyone else. He has used his time away well, taking coursework and other opportunities to better his understanding of why some things are as they are and how to handle those things and turn them to his advantage. It was a great evening for all of us, and we look forward to more of them.
My daughter is of course over the moon, and her son likewise - they can look at him, talk to him, and not worry what machinations of fate are going to get him moved, segregated or otherwise barred from being around those who love him. It's a win for all of us.
I know he had his concerns - he knows all too well that there have been times he was not one of my favorite people - but he's not the man I didn't like, not any more - he has turned into a guy that I can respect, someone who has shown that he can handle adversity and learn from it, that past behaviors do not rule forever, and that he is capable of growing, learning, and becoming a greater person.
I am feeling pretty positive now - I think this is a positive thing for all of us, not just for the daughter and her son - and that there will finally be healing for all of us.
It is a shame that his mother did not live to see this day.
But the rest of us did live to see it - and it looks better than any of us had a right to anticipate. I'm suddenly sleeping really well.
On another topic - my surgeon tells me I can't have coffee. Growlgrumbleandbitch! I asked him why, and he told me that the ulcer that did not perforate was the worst one he has ever seen, and he's seen a few. Until I get scoped again, no coffee, and maybe not then. I wish I wan't asymptomatic regarding the ulcers themselves - seems to me anything that ugly ought to cause me pain, and they don't, not just being there - and at my age, I don't guess it will change a whole lot, so I have to pay attention and do what he wants, just so I don't get to see him again late one night....
Orthopod visit Monday morning, new glasses Tuesday - everything is moving along. My knees are lousy, but they've been lousy for a while and as long as I ignore them it is bearable. Getting up off the floor, however, is a real exercise in funny-looking. I am stillnot as strong as I want to be, but the Guzzi is at least keeping me grinning riding it.
Well, I gotta call my wife and see what she wants to do about dinner,then go into the garage, start the Guzzi and head for home, grinning all the way...
Y'all be well, y'hear?
Both daughters were there with their kids. This can be pretty exciting because the youngest's two (almost four and more than 5) are bright, vocal, active kids, and tend to end up being the stellar attraction, however, last night they seemed to sense that not only was this a Big Deal, but it was a Big Deal for their older cousin and made sure to greet the new Uncle as family and not as some interloper who just showed up out of nowhere.
My wife and I had concerns about the evening - we have not seen the new son-in-law for more than just a couple of years and, understanding some things that had been said and some that had been thought over the years, the potential was there for a heated emotional disaster - but it did not even stick its head in the room - we met a gentleman, an intrinsically good man who had spent much of his life in places that weren't really that good either for him or anyone else. He has used his time away well, taking coursework and other opportunities to better his understanding of why some things are as they are and how to handle those things and turn them to his advantage. It was a great evening for all of us, and we look forward to more of them.
My daughter is of course over the moon, and her son likewise - they can look at him, talk to him, and not worry what machinations of fate are going to get him moved, segregated or otherwise barred from being around those who love him. It's a win for all of us.
I know he had his concerns - he knows all too well that there have been times he was not one of my favorite people - but he's not the man I didn't like, not any more - he has turned into a guy that I can respect, someone who has shown that he can handle adversity and learn from it, that past behaviors do not rule forever, and that he is capable of growing, learning, and becoming a greater person.
I am feeling pretty positive now - I think this is a positive thing for all of us, not just for the daughter and her son - and that there will finally be healing for all of us.
It is a shame that his mother did not live to see this day.
But the rest of us did live to see it - and it looks better than any of us had a right to anticipate. I'm suddenly sleeping really well.
On another topic - my surgeon tells me I can't have coffee. Growlgrumbleandbitch! I asked him why, and he told me that the ulcer that did not perforate was the worst one he has ever seen, and he's seen a few. Until I get scoped again, no coffee, and maybe not then. I wish I wan't asymptomatic regarding the ulcers themselves - seems to me anything that ugly ought to cause me pain, and they don't, not just being there - and at my age, I don't guess it will change a whole lot, so I have to pay attention and do what he wants, just so I don't get to see him again late one night....
Orthopod visit Monday morning, new glasses Tuesday - everything is moving along. My knees are lousy, but they've been lousy for a while and as long as I ignore them it is bearable. Getting up off the floor, however, is a real exercise in funny-looking. I am stillnot as strong as I want to be, but the Guzzi is at least keeping me grinning riding it.
Well, I gotta call my wife and see what she wants to do about dinner,then go into the garage, start the Guzzi and head for home, grinning all the way...
Y'all be well, y'hear?
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Thursday at the Salt Mines....
Today is pretty much like any other day - you know, wake up, get up, make coffee, take coffee to wife, get breakfast, get newspaper, get in car and go to work, stop at 7-11 in Hampden for Washington Times and morning coffee - a pretty typical morning, and apparently a better morning than yesterday was.
Yesterday, I left my old Volvo at the shop for a radiator. It has been loosing coolant, not a lot at a time, but Volvos have an annunciator panel that Tells You Things - and one of the more disconcerting messages will occasionally appear right after the engine is started. The message says, 'COOLANT LOW - STOP ENGINE' which is a little disturbing. It tends to make you think that the the next message will be something like 'ENGINE BROKEN - SHOULD HAVE SHUT IT OFF!' or something similarly expensive.
At any rate, I stopped in where I have things done to the cars one morning and asked them to check it before I drove to work. They took it back, and heated it up, then pressurized it, then took off some shrouds, then did some other stuff, and after an hour or so found a drip leak in the radiator itself - and suggested replacement. I went into the shop and looked, and it was not a fast leak, just a drop at a time, so it would not even leave a mark where it was parked - but knowing that Murphy lives here, I decided to get it replaced.
They checked the price and called me a few days later. I choked for a bit, but decided it was better to have it done than for it to leave me in snow or something, so I arranged to take it in yesterday morning. When I arrived they had a loaner car for me, and I left it and went to work.
In my Volvo, the headlights are tied to the ignition switch - they go off with the engine. I learned last night when I went to get the car to go home that the loaner didn't work that way - and I had left the lights on. You don't really need to know what I said to myself about this discovery, but it wasn't nice. I did have the good fortune, however, that there was still someone in the motor pool who would bring me a hotshot box, and I got the car going and headed home. Wednesday evening is choir rehearsal and I don't like to be late, because I live with the choir director, so I skipped a minimal dinner and went straight to rehearsal, then headed home, famished, and stayed up too late cleaning off the DVR.
This morning I stopped by the place, and my car isn't ready. Maybe tomorrow morning and oh, by the way, we didn't get any surprises when we got into it, but the job is labor-intensive - the book allows 7 hours so figure on spending just north of a kilobuck.
I'm old enough to remember when it seemed like everything cost $100 - and have lived long enough that that number has increased to $1000. I make more damn money than I have ever seen before in my life - but I don't see as much as we seemed to have when we were newlyweds. Something is wrong with that right there.
The day yesterday finished with my buying another motorcycle - a 1999 Moto Guzzi V-11 EV. I had about decided that someone else could bid higher and my bid wouldn't change, and I'd lose it - only nobody was bidding so I got it. Now I gotta figure out how to get it here.... It only has just under 19,000 miles on it - a truly trivial amount for a big V-twin from Italy. I have known a bunch of Guzzi riders, and they all loved their bikes, so the worst that can happen is I'll end up selling it. Now I have to get it registered and insured and get busy selling Big Suzi because I have this feeling that my wife will surely point out before long that I can ride only one at a time....
But this will be interesting - I have never owned a Moto Guzzi before....
I'm not going to talk about Our Governor and his current pissin' contest with Our Mayor - He created the problem when he was mayor, but as with all things involving large bodies, it didn't catch up with him - it fell on the next incumbent. Marty thinks he can run anything, and does quite a job of insinuating his personal toadies into any organization subordinate that he thinks he can run better (or will bring him glory.)
I shouldn't be unkind about our governor - but I am not being unkind, merely dispassionate and truthful.
Looks like the Guzzi will be showing up next Thursday evening. Or maybe earlier (that would be cool!) It is coming via uShip (ever watch Shipping Wars?) and I'll have to decide by tomorrow which of the bidders gets the business.
I've been here at work watching something run most of the day. Some of the work I am doing for a particular consultant involves hue amounts of data, and there's just no way to make an elderly PC breathe fire (at least not without using a BIG torch!) This iteration (hopefully the last) has been running for te last hour and 40 minutes and looks like it will probably run another 5 to 6 hours. Happily I don't have to stay and watch it - it can do this all on its own, and I'll look at it from home late on into the night.
It i a beautiful day outside. If I had anything resembling an excuse, I'd bail out and go home and start up Big Suzi and go for a ride - but, alas, I don't have the excuse, so I guess I will stay here and work a bit.
Just heard from the guys that have my Volvo - I can have it tonight or tomorrow morning - and it didn't cost quite the kilobuck that we expected - came in at about 2% under that. Will wonders never cease?
I have no further rants for today - maybe tomorrow, we shall see.
Be well, y'all.
Yesterday, I left my old Volvo at the shop for a radiator. It has been loosing coolant, not a lot at a time, but Volvos have an annunciator panel that Tells You Things - and one of the more disconcerting messages will occasionally appear right after the engine is started. The message says, 'COOLANT LOW - STOP ENGINE' which is a little disturbing. It tends to make you think that the the next message will be something like 'ENGINE BROKEN - SHOULD HAVE SHUT IT OFF!' or something similarly expensive.
At any rate, I stopped in where I have things done to the cars one morning and asked them to check it before I drove to work. They took it back, and heated it up, then pressurized it, then took off some shrouds, then did some other stuff, and after an hour or so found a drip leak in the radiator itself - and suggested replacement. I went into the shop and looked, and it was not a fast leak, just a drop at a time, so it would not even leave a mark where it was parked - but knowing that Murphy lives here, I decided to get it replaced.
They checked the price and called me a few days later. I choked for a bit, but decided it was better to have it done than for it to leave me in snow or something, so I arranged to take it in yesterday morning. When I arrived they had a loaner car for me, and I left it and went to work.
In my Volvo, the headlights are tied to the ignition switch - they go off with the engine. I learned last night when I went to get the car to go home that the loaner didn't work that way - and I had left the lights on. You don't really need to know what I said to myself about this discovery, but it wasn't nice. I did have the good fortune, however, that there was still someone in the motor pool who would bring me a hotshot box, and I got the car going and headed home. Wednesday evening is choir rehearsal and I don't like to be late, because I live with the choir director, so I skipped a minimal dinner and went straight to rehearsal, then headed home, famished, and stayed up too late cleaning off the DVR.
This morning I stopped by the place, and my car isn't ready. Maybe tomorrow morning and oh, by the way, we didn't get any surprises when we got into it, but the job is labor-intensive - the book allows 7 hours so figure on spending just north of a kilobuck.
I'm old enough to remember when it seemed like everything cost $100 - and have lived long enough that that number has increased to $1000. I make more damn money than I have ever seen before in my life - but I don't see as much as we seemed to have when we were newlyweds. Something is wrong with that right there.
The day yesterday finished with my buying another motorcycle - a 1999 Moto Guzzi V-11 EV. I had about decided that someone else could bid higher and my bid wouldn't change, and I'd lose it - only nobody was bidding so I got it. Now I gotta figure out how to get it here.... It only has just under 19,000 miles on it - a truly trivial amount for a big V-twin from Italy. I have known a bunch of Guzzi riders, and they all loved their bikes, so the worst that can happen is I'll end up selling it. Now I have to get it registered and insured and get busy selling Big Suzi because I have this feeling that my wife will surely point out before long that I can ride only one at a time....
But this will be interesting - I have never owned a Moto Guzzi before....
I'm not going to talk about Our Governor and his current pissin' contest with Our Mayor - He created the problem when he was mayor, but as with all things involving large bodies, it didn't catch up with him - it fell on the next incumbent. Marty thinks he can run anything, and does quite a job of insinuating his personal toadies into any organization subordinate that he thinks he can run better (or will bring him glory.)
I shouldn't be unkind about our governor - but I am not being unkind, merely dispassionate and truthful.
Looks like the Guzzi will be showing up next Thursday evening. Or maybe earlier (that would be cool!) It is coming via uShip (ever watch Shipping Wars?) and I'll have to decide by tomorrow which of the bidders gets the business.
I've been here at work watching something run most of the day. Some of the work I am doing for a particular consultant involves hue amounts of data, and there's just no way to make an elderly PC breathe fire (at least not without using a BIG torch!) This iteration (hopefully the last) has been running for te last hour and 40 minutes and looks like it will probably run another 5 to 6 hours. Happily I don't have to stay and watch it - it can do this all on its own, and I'll look at it from home late on into the night.
It i a beautiful day outside. If I had anything resembling an excuse, I'd bail out and go home and start up Big Suzi and go for a ride - but, alas, I don't have the excuse, so I guess I will stay here and work a bit.
Just heard from the guys that have my Volvo - I can have it tonight or tomorrow morning - and it didn't cost quite the kilobuck that we expected - came in at about 2% under that. Will wonders never cease?
I have no further rants for today - maybe tomorrow, we shall see.
Be well, y'all.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Tuesday mutterings....
It is almost Wednesday - just another four minutes or so and it will be.
I lost out on a BMW motorcycle I wanted, but heard from the seller - he thinks the buyer is hinky and wants me to consider the purchase if the winner falls out. Meanwhile, I bid on a Moto Guzzi that looks pretty nice.
If Murphy is alive and well (and awake) I could end up with two motorcycles (in addition to Big Suzi) instead of just one. Maybe it won't happen - if it does I am certain to lose points with my lovely wofe, who thinks I should be doing this next spring.
I started out looking at sidecar rigs, but didn't see anything (for under about $14,000 for something at least 14 years old) that I really wanted. Sidecars are odd beasts, and can be really dangerous - but a properly rigged sidecar is a joy to push around, and really scary fun to watch. If you've never seen sidecar racing, you're in for a real treat, since sidecars are raced by a driver and a passenger - and it is the passenger (he's called a monkey, and if you ever watch a race you'll understand why) who moves around to place his weight where it will keep the sidecar wheel on the ground - and this sometimes means hanging out in the air over the sidecar wheel with his arse around 4 inches off the ground!
I guess I am probably a little long in the tooth for that sort of excitement on any but a voyeuristic basis - but it really is cool to watch.
My lovely wife thinks I need a lighter motorcycle - Big Suzi at over 800 pounds really hurts when she lays down on my leg. I am happy that it was not suggested that I either add wheels or learn to love my car - a motorcycle a couple hundred pounds lighter would be a bit more nimble - and BMW twins are lighter by at least 200 pounds, and I have always liked them. The Guzzi I bid on was more a lark than anything else - I like them, and unlike other Italian motorcycles they seem to be devoid of anything resembling temperament. A V-twin sitting crosswise is strange enough but it seems to work really well - and a 90 degree V-twin has perfect balance so it is not inclined to shake at all. All in all, I think the Guzzi might be a lot of fun - if I can get it without having too many motorcycles.
On another topic, I managed to piss myself off this evening. I have had a DVR around here that I have been paying for that has not been used. Well one DVR got flaky so I resolved to replace it with this other one that I have never used. In the process I discovered that the sound was out on the TeeVee that had been on the unit downstairs, and I thought it was the DVR. I was wrong - it appears to be in the set itself. I think what I will do is grab a speaker set off the downstairs PC that isn't being used and see if I can convince the DVR to drive it so I won't have to replace the TeeVee right now.
Work this week has been interesting, and I just got another set of data to produce for a special project that has kinda been back-burnered for a time - but it will be fun, and I should be able to finish it early.
Tomorrow, I have to give my beloved Volvo up for a couple of days - it needs a radiator - not urgently, it's just a drip, but that Murphy bastard seems to have settled in Reisterstown, so I figured that it would be best not to wait for the leak to become a gusher. By Friday I know I'm gonna be more than a kilobuck lighter, but with vehicles you might just as well do it right the first time - 'cause if you don't the aggregate of do-overs will cost a hell of a lot more! Don't even ask how I know this....
Soon I have to go to bed - after I seal up the package that has to go into the car to be given to the Post Office or UPS to send back to Verizon some stiff I no longer need to have here - one cranky DVR and two set top boxes for Standard Definition Teevee, which I no longer allow in my house.
So I'm going to sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be a really good day!
I lost out on a BMW motorcycle I wanted, but heard from the seller - he thinks the buyer is hinky and wants me to consider the purchase if the winner falls out. Meanwhile, I bid on a Moto Guzzi that looks pretty nice.
If Murphy is alive and well (and awake) I could end up with two motorcycles (in addition to Big Suzi) instead of just one. Maybe it won't happen - if it does I am certain to lose points with my lovely wofe, who thinks I should be doing this next spring.
I started out looking at sidecar rigs, but didn't see anything (for under about $14,000 for something at least 14 years old) that I really wanted. Sidecars are odd beasts, and can be really dangerous - but a properly rigged sidecar is a joy to push around, and really scary fun to watch. If you've never seen sidecar racing, you're in for a real treat, since sidecars are raced by a driver and a passenger - and it is the passenger (he's called a monkey, and if you ever watch a race you'll understand why) who moves around to place his weight where it will keep the sidecar wheel on the ground - and this sometimes means hanging out in the air over the sidecar wheel with his arse around 4 inches off the ground!
I guess I am probably a little long in the tooth for that sort of excitement on any but a voyeuristic basis - but it really is cool to watch.
My lovely wife thinks I need a lighter motorcycle - Big Suzi at over 800 pounds really hurts when she lays down on my leg. I am happy that it was not suggested that I either add wheels or learn to love my car - a motorcycle a couple hundred pounds lighter would be a bit more nimble - and BMW twins are lighter by at least 200 pounds, and I have always liked them. The Guzzi I bid on was more a lark than anything else - I like them, and unlike other Italian motorcycles they seem to be devoid of anything resembling temperament. A V-twin sitting crosswise is strange enough but it seems to work really well - and a 90 degree V-twin has perfect balance so it is not inclined to shake at all. All in all, I think the Guzzi might be a lot of fun - if I can get it without having too many motorcycles.
On another topic, I managed to piss myself off this evening. I have had a DVR around here that I have been paying for that has not been used. Well one DVR got flaky so I resolved to replace it with this other one that I have never used. In the process I discovered that the sound was out on the TeeVee that had been on the unit downstairs, and I thought it was the DVR. I was wrong - it appears to be in the set itself. I think what I will do is grab a speaker set off the downstairs PC that isn't being used and see if I can convince the DVR to drive it so I won't have to replace the TeeVee right now.
Work this week has been interesting, and I just got another set of data to produce for a special project that has kinda been back-burnered for a time - but it will be fun, and I should be able to finish it early.
Tomorrow, I have to give my beloved Volvo up for a couple of days - it needs a radiator - not urgently, it's just a drip, but that Murphy bastard seems to have settled in Reisterstown, so I figured that it would be best not to wait for the leak to become a gusher. By Friday I know I'm gonna be more than a kilobuck lighter, but with vehicles you might just as well do it right the first time - 'cause if you don't the aggregate of do-overs will cost a hell of a lot more! Don't even ask how I know this....
Soon I have to go to bed - after I seal up the package that has to go into the car to be given to the Post Office or UPS to send back to Verizon some stiff I no longer need to have here - one cranky DVR and two set top boxes for Standard Definition Teevee, which I no longer allow in my house.
So I'm going to sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be a really good day!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Starbucks
I see a lot of hoohah about Starbucks on FaceBook, among other places, and I am wondering just what folks are thinking....
Starbucks has not yet banned guns - although it might. Starbucks became upset about becoming a rallying point for folks who carry openly.
I have never really thought that carrying openly did anything but identify a person as the first to be shot if a crazy comes into the area to shoot people. The only place I ever carry open is on the range. I have had a concealed carry permit, and for many years did carry concealed - everywhere. Done correctly, nobody would ever know unless the carrier develops a bad case of either the clumsies or the stupids.
I don't know why an ordinary civilian would want to carry openly. The only reason to carry is for protection against Bad People, and while Bad People can be stupid, they aren't suicidal - and if the think you might be able to counter their desires with superior force and there's another victim near you who they believe cannot counter their efforts, well, guess what - they'll take the easy target.
I find it hard to comprehend that so many people have failed to note how well the gun-free zones are working - working, that is, to assure a miscreant a goodly supply of defenseless targets. Have you ever noticed that where there are likely to be folks that can make life hard when you try to hurt them or take their stuff there are not many attempts to Do Bad Things? Can it be that the Bad People cal tell a hostie environment and avoid it?
The reasons to carry concealed are many, to wit:
It remains an inconvenient fact for gun grabbers that the overall crime rate is decreasing as the number of guns in private hands increases. It is also an inconvenient at that if the cities in the US that are large with laws that make it impossible for a citizen to own a gun are removed, the US is close to the bottom of the list of places where violence is the norm.
I wish folks had not decided to use Starbucks for a gathering place to show off their expensive guns, but had simply carried concealed. Since Starbucks has said they will not ban them (not yet anyhow) presumably someone carrying concealed would not be questioned or thought of as anything but a customer, and not a customer with a gun that might scare other customers away.
If I am carrying it will be concealed, and you will not be able to tell that I am carrying, at least not if I have done my job right. If you ask if I am carrying, I will probably deny it because I don't think it is any of anyone's business what I own or choose to take with me when I go somewhere. Unless we are in someone's private home, even if you know I might be carrying, I won't show it to you - again to avoid frightening folks who don't know me. Concealed is the way that avoids most of the headaches.
Starbucks has done what they feel to be necessary, and in many ways their handling of the situation is as good as it will get.
I'll still get a coffee there once in a while when I am traveling, along with a scone or something. I just won't advertise what I have with me, or where whatever it is may be located.
That's all I have to say - for now....
Starbucks has not yet banned guns - although it might. Starbucks became upset about becoming a rallying point for folks who carry openly.
I have never really thought that carrying openly did anything but identify a person as the first to be shot if a crazy comes into the area to shoot people. The only place I ever carry open is on the range. I have had a concealed carry permit, and for many years did carry concealed - everywhere. Done correctly, nobody would ever know unless the carrier develops a bad case of either the clumsies or the stupids.
I don't know why an ordinary civilian would want to carry openly. The only reason to carry is for protection against Bad People, and while Bad People can be stupid, they aren't suicidal - and if the think you might be able to counter their desires with superior force and there's another victim near you who they believe cannot counter their efforts, well, guess what - they'll take the easy target.
I find it hard to comprehend that so many people have failed to note how well the gun-free zones are working - working, that is, to assure a miscreant a goodly supply of defenseless targets. Have you ever noticed that where there are likely to be folks that can make life hard when you try to hurt them or take their stuff there are not many attempts to Do Bad Things? Can it be that the Bad People cal tell a hostie environment and avoid it?
The reasons to carry concealed are many, to wit:
- Keep people who might do you harm from knowing that you can do them harm right back
- Keep people who are afraid of guns from becoming afraid and doing something stupid
- Keep children from becoming curious enough to be a distraction to you.
- Keep from embarrassing your spouse.
- Keep from upsetting the neighbors (although if you shoot in your basement they will probably figure something out....)
I can't think of that many reasons to carry openly -
- It won't impress your girlfriend (at least not if she's worth the effort)
- It will warn evildoers to leave you alone and while this could be a positive, it will also point you out as the first person to be shut down if it gets ugly.
- It will frighten anyone around that is ignorant or fearful
- It will further polarize Joe Citizen against you and by extension other folks who have guns.
Where I live, carrying concealed is the only way to get a permit for a regular person, and it isn't easy to get. I know there are places where they don't care about open or concealed carry - Vermont has the right idea - carry open, carry concealed, they don't care - but shoot someone not in immediate need of being shot and they'll have yr arse right now!
It remains an inconvenient fact for gun grabbers that the overall crime rate is decreasing as the number of guns in private hands increases. It is also an inconvenient at that if the cities in the US that are large with laws that make it impossible for a citizen to own a gun are removed, the US is close to the bottom of the list of places where violence is the norm.
I wish folks had not decided to use Starbucks for a gathering place to show off their expensive guns, but had simply carried concealed. Since Starbucks has said they will not ban them (not yet anyhow) presumably someone carrying concealed would not be questioned or thought of as anything but a customer, and not a customer with a gun that might scare other customers away.
If I am carrying it will be concealed, and you will not be able to tell that I am carrying, at least not if I have done my job right. If you ask if I am carrying, I will probably deny it because I don't think it is any of anyone's business what I own or choose to take with me when I go somewhere. Unless we are in someone's private home, even if you know I might be carrying, I won't show it to you - again to avoid frightening folks who don't know me. Concealed is the way that avoids most of the headaches.
Starbucks has done what they feel to be necessary, and in many ways their handling of the situation is as good as it will get.
I'll still get a coffee there once in a while when I am traveling, along with a scone or something. I just won't advertise what I have with me, or where whatever it is may be located.
That's all I have to say - for now....
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Tuesday Evening
It was a good day at work today - I got some stuff done, some stuff cleaned up, and had a chance to visit with the new boss before leaving. I also got to test some stuff with my Android phone and tablet, and helpful. I am looking forward to doing Exciting Things with these tiny devices.
The best part, however, came after the impromptu meeting - I joined a small group at a local saloon for conversation and something to eat. It is a rather special group - all the folks there speak German of one sort or another, some better than others - but it was a chance to see how much I could remember, and to recall how much fun it could be to sit around a table and just talk about this 'n' that without having to prove anything to anyone.
I had been to one other meeting about nine weeks back - then I broke my leg and developed a hold in my alimentary canal somewhere, and was off the street for a while, so instead of meeting them all again in two weeks it was more like two months - but it was good to see familiar faces and to hear familiar accents - and to meet someone new.
It's an interesting group - the first meeting I attended I was not the oldest; this one I was, and the youngest were probably early 30's or so. A good time was had by all and a lot of time was spent discussing the biggest train layout in the world, the Miniatur Wonderland in Hamburg, Germany. They have a web site with video clips of the various parts in operation - and it is worth the time to visit and view the operation.
I guess I don't have a bunch more - it was a good day at work, a pleasant evening among friends, and I'm pretty tired.
Tomorrow brings new opportunities to excel at work and to do Interesting Things for Cops.
Tomorrow I will find out if I am the proud new owner of a Honda PC-800 Pacific Coast motorcycle. I have wanted one for a while, it is a good commuter, and probably as much as 300 pounds lighter than Big Suzi - and right now, Lighter is a Good Thing. It should also be a lot cheaper to feed.
If that sale doesn't go, I'm still looking for a BMW Twin....
I have had enough fun for today - y'all have a good evening.
The best part, however, came after the impromptu meeting - I joined a small group at a local saloon for conversation and something to eat. It is a rather special group - all the folks there speak German of one sort or another, some better than others - but it was a chance to see how much I could remember, and to recall how much fun it could be to sit around a table and just talk about this 'n' that without having to prove anything to anyone.
I had been to one other meeting about nine weeks back - then I broke my leg and developed a hold in my alimentary canal somewhere, and was off the street for a while, so instead of meeting them all again in two weeks it was more like two months - but it was good to see familiar faces and to hear familiar accents - and to meet someone new.
It's an interesting group - the first meeting I attended I was not the oldest; this one I was, and the youngest were probably early 30's or so. A good time was had by all and a lot of time was spent discussing the biggest train layout in the world, the Miniatur Wonderland in Hamburg, Germany. They have a web site with video clips of the various parts in operation - and it is worth the time to visit and view the operation.
I guess I don't have a bunch more - it was a good day at work, a pleasant evening among friends, and I'm pretty tired.
Tomorrow brings new opportunities to excel at work and to do Interesting Things for Cops.
Tomorrow I will find out if I am the proud new owner of a Honda PC-800 Pacific Coast motorcycle. I have wanted one for a while, it is a good commuter, and probably as much as 300 pounds lighter than Big Suzi - and right now, Lighter is a Good Thing. It should also be a lot cheaper to feed.
If that sale doesn't go, I'm still looking for a BMW Twin....
I have had enough fun for today - y'all have a good evening.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Monday Evening
The Monday I started this morning is slowly drawing to a close.
I did take those two lab slips to a lab this morning and bled profusely for the phlebotomists there. Happily, they looked at both slips and were able to combine them - otherwise I might have had to have as many as 30 vials drawn. Thinking about that many vials makes me a little queasy. But we got through those we needed to do - then I could go home and get my medications and some breakfast. It seems that some of these labs have to be done after at least an 8 hour fast.
Work was an atypical Monday - some folks who did not know I was back got surprised, and the yelling was minimal. I started an onerous task and made good progress, and had a few thoughts of better ways to do a few things - so I should be in good shape for the next 10 days or so.
A couple of friends sent me a couple of real howlers that I had to pass along to around 40 or so other folks - good comic relief, and I got a load of spam at work in languages I could not even recognize. We have some pretty good filters, but the spammers get more clever (or lucky) each day. It becomes annoying when 25 people want to help me with a problem I do not have.
I've been looking at motorcycles lighter than Big Suzi, and am concluding that a BMW twin or a 4 might be nice at least 10 and maybe as much as 20 years old. saw a couple of nice Moto Guzzi's, and then I found a Honda Pacific Coast. At 800 CCs it ought to be big enough, as well as cheap to feed, and it's a classic. For the time being, I think no sidecar - maybe in a couple of years but for now a middleweight might be a better choice. The heavy bike is perhaps better suited to a trip to California, but somehow I think I am not going to be doing that for a while - and when it does come, a train or motorhome would be a better vehicle.
Unless you live in a cave, you know about what happened in DC today - another crazy used a gun-free zone as a way to assure a bunch of defenseless victims. Nobody seems to have anything resembling a reason for this - but some of it lays at Bill Clinton's feet - it was he who determined that military personnel on base would be disarmed.
I think maybe this rant should be elsewhere, so I'm gonna shut up.
Tomorrow is Tuesday, and there is a meeting of the German Speaker's Association, which meets about every two weeks. I had been to another meeting just before I broke my leg, and look forward to a second. If I am careful, I won't hurt the dietary requirements, and it should be a pleasant evening. I look forward to it! I met a bunch of interesting people at the last one, and it should be a real giggle just trying to converse in a language that I used to use all the time.
I'll have more to say about that after the meeting.
This weekend has the Ramblers holding an open house, and I plan to be there at least for a time, although whether I'll compete in the scavenger hunt is questionable to the point of unlikely.
I just heard Phyllis come in, so I k I'll chat wither for a while, and let y'all rest.
Have a gold evening and a better day tomorrow.
I know someone's reading this - it would interest me to have feed back on relevance, reason, etc. If you don't want to comment in a place others can read it, send me email rar1942@verizon.net.
Good night.
I did take those two lab slips to a lab this morning and bled profusely for the phlebotomists there. Happily, they looked at both slips and were able to combine them - otherwise I might have had to have as many as 30 vials drawn. Thinking about that many vials makes me a little queasy. But we got through those we needed to do - then I could go home and get my medications and some breakfast. It seems that some of these labs have to be done after at least an 8 hour fast.
Work was an atypical Monday - some folks who did not know I was back got surprised, and the yelling was minimal. I started an onerous task and made good progress, and had a few thoughts of better ways to do a few things - so I should be in good shape for the next 10 days or so.
A couple of friends sent me a couple of real howlers that I had to pass along to around 40 or so other folks - good comic relief, and I got a load of spam at work in languages I could not even recognize. We have some pretty good filters, but the spammers get more clever (or lucky) each day. It becomes annoying when 25 people want to help me with a problem I do not have.
I've been looking at motorcycles lighter than Big Suzi, and am concluding that a BMW twin or a 4 might be nice at least 10 and maybe as much as 20 years old. saw a couple of nice Moto Guzzi's, and then I found a Honda Pacific Coast. At 800 CCs it ought to be big enough, as well as cheap to feed, and it's a classic. For the time being, I think no sidecar - maybe in a couple of years but for now a middleweight might be a better choice. The heavy bike is perhaps better suited to a trip to California, but somehow I think I am not going to be doing that for a while - and when it does come, a train or motorhome would be a better vehicle.
Unless you live in a cave, you know about what happened in DC today - another crazy used a gun-free zone as a way to assure a bunch of defenseless victims. Nobody seems to have anything resembling a reason for this - but some of it lays at Bill Clinton's feet - it was he who determined that military personnel on base would be disarmed.
I think maybe this rant should be elsewhere, so I'm gonna shut up.
Tomorrow is Tuesday, and there is a meeting of the German Speaker's Association, which meets about every two weeks. I had been to another meeting just before I broke my leg, and look forward to a second. If I am careful, I won't hurt the dietary requirements, and it should be a pleasant evening. I look forward to it! I met a bunch of interesting people at the last one, and it should be a real giggle just trying to converse in a language that I used to use all the time.
I'll have more to say about that after the meeting.
This weekend has the Ramblers holding an open house, and I plan to be there at least for a time, although whether I'll compete in the scavenger hunt is questionable to the point of unlikely.
I just heard Phyllis come in, so I k I'll chat wither for a while, and let y'all rest.
Have a gold evening and a better day tomorrow.
I know someone's reading this - it would interest me to have feed back on relevance, reason, etc. If you don't want to comment in a place others can read it, send me email rar1942@verizon.net.
Good night.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Leo thomas Gladnick, RIP
Tomorrow, there will be a celebration of the life of Leo Thomas Gladnick, in a church near Hatboro, Pennsylvania, a town I am virtually certain nobody has ever heard of who hasn't lived either there or in Horsham Township.
Uncle Leo, as we knew him during his off-duty hours, was a teacher in the schools there. I first met him as a 9th grade Biology teacher who was afflicted with me as a student. To say he was a teacher is really not sufficient, because he did more than talk about Biology to a bunch of bored 9th-graders - he actually mad the subject come alive and be interesting, fascinating even. I do not recall ever seeing him truly angry, although I know we students tried him regularly and seriously - he put up with more than most, and managed to turn adversity into learning and understanding far more often that we as students had any right to suspect.
He also sponsored the various AV club and Photo club efforts, rode herd on the geeks (although I think we called them something else in those bygone days) and was an informal counselor, father confessor, and all things needed to any number of students over the years.
Over time, he became a department head, vice-principal and principal, and in his final year of teaching was principal of a brand new, just opened school.
Hatboro has not been my home since leaving to go to Germany with the Air Force Security Service in 1963 - but after returning from Europe I visited Hatboro many times, and made it a point to stop in at the school and visit with the administrators,, who in later years always included Mr. Gladnick. I enjoyed visiting with him, catching up on what was going on, and I am convinced he enjoyed the visits from the students who would come back to chat - it seems he always had time for a visit with me and several others, and was always welcoming. If nothing else, I tried to make Hatboro a stop on a motorcycle ride at least once a year, riding by where I had lived, the homes of long-departed friends, and businesses that I knew, some of which are still there - but my favorite part after visiting some friends from those days was dropping by the school to see Mr. Gladnick.
He was a kind man, a gentle man, an excellent teacher, and a friend, and I for one find the world a poorer place for his passing.
Uncle Leo, as we knew him during his off-duty hours, was a teacher in the schools there. I first met him as a 9th grade Biology teacher who was afflicted with me as a student. To say he was a teacher is really not sufficient, because he did more than talk about Biology to a bunch of bored 9th-graders - he actually mad the subject come alive and be interesting, fascinating even. I do not recall ever seeing him truly angry, although I know we students tried him regularly and seriously - he put up with more than most, and managed to turn adversity into learning and understanding far more often that we as students had any right to suspect.
He also sponsored the various AV club and Photo club efforts, rode herd on the geeks (although I think we called them something else in those bygone days) and was an informal counselor, father confessor, and all things needed to any number of students over the years.
Over time, he became a department head, vice-principal and principal, and in his final year of teaching was principal of a brand new, just opened school.
Hatboro has not been my home since leaving to go to Germany with the Air Force Security Service in 1963 - but after returning from Europe I visited Hatboro many times, and made it a point to stop in at the school and visit with the administrators,, who in later years always included Mr. Gladnick. I enjoyed visiting with him, catching up on what was going on, and I am convinced he enjoyed the visits from the students who would come back to chat - it seems he always had time for a visit with me and several others, and was always welcoming. If nothing else, I tried to make Hatboro a stop on a motorcycle ride at least once a year, riding by where I had lived, the homes of long-departed friends, and businesses that I knew, some of which are still there - but my favorite part after visiting some friends from those days was dropping by the school to see Mr. Gladnick.
He was a kind man, a gentle man, an excellent teacher, and a friend, and I for one find the world a poorer place for his passing.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
As I said, aging is not for the timid. From my perspective, it is best to avoid it if possible. For most of my life, I've managed not to grow up, and it has helped, but in the last 10 years I've had a couple of hospital visits that were unplanned, unwanted, and more than a bit on the scary side.
As many of you may know, I had a gastric bypass around 9 years ago. The fact that the results of that were not all I had hoped were not a fault of the procedure nor of the surgeon - if anything, the surgeon was so good that many of the short-term negative reinforcement episodes that usually accompany this surgery were not to appear to me, and I got sloppy and didn't follow all the rules - and reaped the reward.
Now, I have never felt myself to be particularly stressed. I know what I do, being on 24 hour call, can produce stress, but I was pretty convinced that I had found my way past all that, and was living a pretty stress-free life, and didn't have to worry about any negative effects the stresses I was ignoring were creating for me.
Well about two years after the bypass I took a motorcycle trip to Hatboro, where I had lived during some pretty important years of my life. I do this on occasion, so it was not particularly unusual for me to take this trip. What was unusual was that I got hit by a pickup truck in a parking lot and was knocked over, motorcycle and all. I knew it hurt, because I had a rather leg caught between the motorcycle and the truck bumper, and I had a scrape or seven in various places. I looked at myself in the bathroom - nothing was broken or bleeding (or if bleeding only a little) and since I was closer to Hatboro, I decided to continue the trip there and hole up in a motel until the next day to see if rest made the pain go away.
The pain did not go away the next day and my left leg had assumed the color of an eggplant, so I decided to make one visit and then head for home instead of staying until Sunday or Monday and wandering around bucks and Montgomery county as I had planned. Riding didn't hurt, but getting off when I got home surely did, and when my lovely wife saw my leg she was not pleased. Eventually I had it seen, nothing was broken, and slowly it healed and assumed its normal coloring. Then I got some sort of respiratory thing, had a chest X-ray and was told to get a CT scan, because the X-ray showed something like maybe an aneurysm.... the day I had the scan, my mother died. Two weeks later, I was hospitalized for a GI bleed that took about 5 bags of blood before it stopped. Endoscopy showed ulcers - but I never knew they were there - no pain, no real discomfort (at least until I had lost so much blood I was falling down trying to walk to my chair) nothing like any warning. The doctors said that I must be under a lost of stress. Years later, reflecting on the happenings of that few weeks, I guess they were right, but at the time I didn't think so.
Then about 6 weeks ago, I dropped the motorcycle on my right leg (usually it is the left that I fall on....) and was in the presence of friends and fellow riders, so getting up was not hard. We had stopped for ice cream, and as I made my way to get some, I noticed that that foot really hurt - but I got my ice cream and rode home accompanied by some friends who would not let me ride alone. I didn't think it was all that bad, it just hurt. A couple of days later I had it X-rayed and found a nondisplaced fracture of the fibula. After 71 years, I broke a bone. I went to see an orthopod, was told I had to stay home and wear a fracture boot. Meanwhile I had a couple of important projects at work, so I arranged to work at home, and within a week I woke up with some pretty awful abdominal pain, ended up in the ER, and had emergency surgery to find the source of the free air in my abdomen, which turned out to be a little bitty ulcer that had perforated, right next to two big ones that had not. The surgeon was a bariatric surgeon, so he was able to do what needed done laporoscopically, which meant a far shorter recovery time than might have been possible. Still, although the surgery was less than the bypass, from which I was sent home with 47 hours of my arrival in the hospital, this one took four days before I was sent home, and I was a whole lot more beat-up feeling. I was older, and less prepared, and it took its toll. Upon reflection, I guess falling, having a broken leg, a new boss and some hot projects was more stress than I was used to, it aggravated the ulcers I didn't know I had, and ended up blowing through the wall of my duodenum.
I am told that the bleed a few years back or this perforation could have ended my life, and that had I not gone directly to the hospital, the damage from the perforation could have kept me there for weeks instead of just a few days. Hard as it may be to believe, until now the phrase 'might have ended my life' has not registered - I thought it was just inconvenient that these things were happening.
If I seem to be a bit low key, you'll know why.
As many of you may know, I had a gastric bypass around 9 years ago. The fact that the results of that were not all I had hoped were not a fault of the procedure nor of the surgeon - if anything, the surgeon was so good that many of the short-term negative reinforcement episodes that usually accompany this surgery were not to appear to me, and I got sloppy and didn't follow all the rules - and reaped the reward.
Now, I have never felt myself to be particularly stressed. I know what I do, being on 24 hour call, can produce stress, but I was pretty convinced that I had found my way past all that, and was living a pretty stress-free life, and didn't have to worry about any negative effects the stresses I was ignoring were creating for me.
Well about two years after the bypass I took a motorcycle trip to Hatboro, where I had lived during some pretty important years of my life. I do this on occasion, so it was not particularly unusual for me to take this trip. What was unusual was that I got hit by a pickup truck in a parking lot and was knocked over, motorcycle and all. I knew it hurt, because I had a rather leg caught between the motorcycle and the truck bumper, and I had a scrape or seven in various places. I looked at myself in the bathroom - nothing was broken or bleeding (or if bleeding only a little) and since I was closer to Hatboro, I decided to continue the trip there and hole up in a motel until the next day to see if rest made the pain go away.
The pain did not go away the next day and my left leg had assumed the color of an eggplant, so I decided to make one visit and then head for home instead of staying until Sunday or Monday and wandering around bucks and Montgomery county as I had planned. Riding didn't hurt, but getting off when I got home surely did, and when my lovely wife saw my leg she was not pleased. Eventually I had it seen, nothing was broken, and slowly it healed and assumed its normal coloring. Then I got some sort of respiratory thing, had a chest X-ray and was told to get a CT scan, because the X-ray showed something like maybe an aneurysm.... the day I had the scan, my mother died. Two weeks later, I was hospitalized for a GI bleed that took about 5 bags of blood before it stopped. Endoscopy showed ulcers - but I never knew they were there - no pain, no real discomfort (at least until I had lost so much blood I was falling down trying to walk to my chair) nothing like any warning. The doctors said that I must be under a lost of stress. Years later, reflecting on the happenings of that few weeks, I guess they were right, but at the time I didn't think so.
Then about 6 weeks ago, I dropped the motorcycle on my right leg (usually it is the left that I fall on....) and was in the presence of friends and fellow riders, so getting up was not hard. We had stopped for ice cream, and as I made my way to get some, I noticed that that foot really hurt - but I got my ice cream and rode home accompanied by some friends who would not let me ride alone. I didn't think it was all that bad, it just hurt. A couple of days later I had it X-rayed and found a nondisplaced fracture of the fibula. After 71 years, I broke a bone. I went to see an orthopod, was told I had to stay home and wear a fracture boot. Meanwhile I had a couple of important projects at work, so I arranged to work at home, and within a week I woke up with some pretty awful abdominal pain, ended up in the ER, and had emergency surgery to find the source of the free air in my abdomen, which turned out to be a little bitty ulcer that had perforated, right next to two big ones that had not. The surgeon was a bariatric surgeon, so he was able to do what needed done laporoscopically, which meant a far shorter recovery time than might have been possible. Still, although the surgery was less than the bypass, from which I was sent home with 47 hours of my arrival in the hospital, this one took four days before I was sent home, and I was a whole lot more beat-up feeling. I was older, and less prepared, and it took its toll. Upon reflection, I guess falling, having a broken leg, a new boss and some hot projects was more stress than I was used to, it aggravated the ulcers I didn't know I had, and ended up blowing through the wall of my duodenum.
I am told that the bleed a few years back or this perforation could have ended my life, and that had I not gone directly to the hospital, the damage from the perforation could have kept me there for weeks instead of just a few days. Hard as it may be to believe, until now the phrase 'might have ended my life' has not registered - I thought it was just inconvenient that these things were happening.
If I seem to be a bit low key, you'll know why.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Boycott
If some business does something that does not please you, it is your perfect right not to spend your money there. If you feel strongly about how wrong that business is, tell your friends and ask them to go elsewhere with their money.
Don't think that, because you a mayor or something that that gives you imperial power to decide that that business cannot do business where you are. Simple disagreement over something does not grant permission to deny folks around you access to a business. If the majority does not like the business, it will go away when there are no profits to be made.
It is also not your right physically to impede the flow of customers. Picket if you must, shout slogans, behave in a manner guaranteed to disgust most folks but stay out of their way. You can complain and demonstrate, but you can't impede. If you are right, others will join you. If the business has a better day for your presence it is a good bet that you're on the wrong track.
It is also not your right physically to impede the flow of customers. Picket if you must, shout slogans, behave in a manner guaranteed to disgust most folks but stay out of their way. You can complain and demonstrate, but you can't impede. If you are right, others will join you. If the business has a better day for your presence it is a good bet that you're on the wrong track.
The week's nonsense about Chick-fil-A started all this - and it seems it gave the place lots of business, indicating that a goodly number of folks either like what they make or disagree with the atheists that did not want to hear what the founder had to say - or maybe both.
Just because you have a different viewpoint does not give you permission to try to destroy the persons or business with whom you disagree. You might try being nice - they might listen to you. Get in their faces, and all you'll get is a bunch of angry people facing you.
The simple fact is that many are offended by the mere though of someone's being a devout Christian. That is unfortunate, but it is a fact, however it does not confer upon the hater blanket permission to revile, persecute, attempt to damage or otherwise hinder the Christian - although if you do so he might pray for you. \
You are free to say that he contributes to organizations for which you have no use. He is likewise free to say the same about you, although he probably will not. There are lots of Christians around,'t likely to convert many to your way of thinking, and you are likely to get really irritated and generally pissy about your failure, so why not find some other rope to push?
You can be a Christian, a Jew, a Mormon, a Unitarian, a Buddhist, a Seventh Day Adventist, a Jehova's Witness, an agnostic (I do not believe in atheists - they make too much noise about what they believe, and anyhow almost everyone knows at least which church from which they are staying away) a Daoist, or just about anything else and we can talk about things in general, or our differences without becoming shrewish and strident.
I've never eaten at Chick-fil-A - but after the past few days I just might have to - to support folks who don't weasel-word things, but tell the truth when asked questions in spite of the fact there may be backlash. Honesty is underrated these days, and it is a damn shame.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Merry Christmas
I know, I am early - but I heard about something this morning.
I have heard of folks giving kidneys to other folks. Today I learned that I know someone involved in such a case. Without being too specific, a husband happens to be a match for his wife's brother - tested as a last resort when there were no matches - for whatever reason there's a match.
Surgery should occur before Christmas is actually here.
This is giving of oneself in its purest and most personal form - what Christmas should be all about.
Quite literally, it is the gift of life.
I have heard of folks giving kidneys to other folks. Today I learned that I know someone involved in such a case. Without being too specific, a husband happens to be a match for his wife's brother - tested as a last resort when there were no matches - for whatever reason there's a match.
Surgery should occur before Christmas is actually here.
This is giving of oneself in its purest and most personal form - what Christmas should be all about.
Quite literally, it is the gift of life.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Snowy Saturday Morning
I woke up this morning and looked outside to see the first real snow of the year. I had heard there might be a dusting - but if this is a dusting, I don't want to be around when it snows in earnest! The Weather Bug on my TeeVee says it will go away tomorrow and we'll be back to motorcycle weather on Monday, but I think I'll wait until it arrives before uncovering the big Kwacker.
I hope this is better tomorrow morning, or our parking lot at Church will be a disaster, and there will be more choristers than congregation - but we'll be there anyhow.
I had a laptop from a friend most of the week - it got infected, and was a beast to clean up. I had hoped just to get lucky, put in a new drive and scan the old one and have it clean up, but it was not to be - after a couple of hours with the recovery CD's and scans, I swapped the drives back and it was still not right - something had been altered that Norton could not find, so I ran a repair on it, then spent more time finding my friend's data and putting it where he could find it. He will have stuff to reinstall, but at least I found all his data and pictures. I had intended to take it back to him today, but I think in view of the weather I'll take it to him at church tomorrow since we'll both be there.
Other than that, it was a quiet week - a couple of small chores for The Queen, otherwise major cleanup on the music collection, and some remote server maintenance for other folks occupied my time - and I also found a few e-Books I had not read in many years, so I read them, too - some vintage Heinlein juveniles and such.
Now I have server stuff to do, the downstairs computer to make work, the upstairs nedia center computer to make work, so I guess I ought to get about it.
Have a good Saturday.
I hope this is better tomorrow morning, or our parking lot at Church will be a disaster, and there will be more choristers than congregation - but we'll be there anyhow.
I had a laptop from a friend most of the week - it got infected, and was a beast to clean up. I had hoped just to get lucky, put in a new drive and scan the old one and have it clean up, but it was not to be - after a couple of hours with the recovery CD's and scans, I swapped the drives back and it was still not right - something had been altered that Norton could not find, so I ran a repair on it, then spent more time finding my friend's data and putting it where he could find it. He will have stuff to reinstall, but at least I found all his data and pictures. I had intended to take it back to him today, but I think in view of the weather I'll take it to him at church tomorrow since we'll both be there.
Other than that, it was a quiet week - a couple of small chores for The Queen, otherwise major cleanup on the music collection, and some remote server maintenance for other folks occupied my time - and I also found a few e-Books I had not read in many years, so I read them, too - some vintage Heinlein juveniles and such.
Now I have server stuff to do, the downstairs computer to make work, the upstairs nedia center computer to make work, so I guess I ought to get about it.
Have a good Saturday.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
On aging
I am 67 years old. I don't feel old, but each month it seems that I know someone else who is now dead, and I don't like that at all.
I'm all out of uncles and aunts. The ranks of cousins are slowly diminishing, and parents are long gone. High school classmates are going, and friends from Air Force days are dying - some older than I, and some not.
I guess my uncle's death got to me more than I realized. I knew he was old and had lived longer than anyone expected, but it was still a shock to know that he was gone - particularly a few days after talking to my wife about taking time for a trip to California to visit him, deciding that I had to do it before the year ended. In the past year I have sung at more funerals than in the five years that came before this past year - and it is a trend that disturbs me greatly. The only up side is that none have been for any of my kids....
As I was riding my motorcycle in to work this morning, I was thinking about my next high school class reunion, which is being organized now and should occur next year sometime - and it will be our 50th. I don't want to miss it, and I hope that we get a really good turnout. I volunteered many years ago to get a database of the members going, and have located a good number who were missing - but there are still ten or fifteen members that nobody has seen since graduation - and nobody knows if they are alive or dead.
The motorcycle seems to give me time to think about stuff that just never comes to mind when I am elsewhere. I'm glad I still have one and happy still to be able to ride it and hold it up, although I've reached the age where it is really hard to pick up if it is laying on the ground. I hope I can continue to ride for more years - it's almost the only solitude left to me, and gives more pleasure than I can explain, and I don't know why, because I go to work the same way whether in the car or on the bike - but on the bike I arrive more cheerful and relaxed.
I digress - it's late and my brain wants to shut down. I think my own mortality is beginning to impinge upon my sense of self. I mean, I know we all have to go sometime, and I am sure if my health goes to hell in a big way I would prefer to be gone rather than to stay around and use up resources and space - but I am still working full time and no way ready to consider that that might be all there is. There are too many places I've not seen, too many interesting people I've not met, and too many memories neither written nor shared, and, of course, too many amends unmade. I guess maybe I am getting old, but I sure don't have to like it, and I don't.
Maybe I ought to just hang it up and go to bed for today. Tomorrow is another day, there should be no rain, so I can motorcycle tomorrow, too, and I'll feel better when I've done that. So I'm gonna take this train of thought and stuff it under a pillow, get on my CPAP mask, and sleep.
G'nite, all.
I'm all out of uncles and aunts. The ranks of cousins are slowly diminishing, and parents are long gone. High school classmates are going, and friends from Air Force days are dying - some older than I, and some not.
I guess my uncle's death got to me more than I realized. I knew he was old and had lived longer than anyone expected, but it was still a shock to know that he was gone - particularly a few days after talking to my wife about taking time for a trip to California to visit him, deciding that I had to do it before the year ended. In the past year I have sung at more funerals than in the five years that came before this past year - and it is a trend that disturbs me greatly. The only up side is that none have been for any of my kids....
As I was riding my motorcycle in to work this morning, I was thinking about my next high school class reunion, which is being organized now and should occur next year sometime - and it will be our 50th. I don't want to miss it, and I hope that we get a really good turnout. I volunteered many years ago to get a database of the members going, and have located a good number who were missing - but there are still ten or fifteen members that nobody has seen since graduation - and nobody knows if they are alive or dead.
The motorcycle seems to give me time to think about stuff that just never comes to mind when I am elsewhere. I'm glad I still have one and happy still to be able to ride it and hold it up, although I've reached the age where it is really hard to pick up if it is laying on the ground. I hope I can continue to ride for more years - it's almost the only solitude left to me, and gives more pleasure than I can explain, and I don't know why, because I go to work the same way whether in the car or on the bike - but on the bike I arrive more cheerful and relaxed.
I digress - it's late and my brain wants to shut down. I think my own mortality is beginning to impinge upon my sense of self. I mean, I know we all have to go sometime, and I am sure if my health goes to hell in a big way I would prefer to be gone rather than to stay around and use up resources and space - but I am still working full time and no way ready to consider that that might be all there is. There are too many places I've not seen, too many interesting people I've not met, and too many memories neither written nor shared, and, of course, too many amends unmade. I guess maybe I am getting old, but I sure don't have to like it, and I don't.
Maybe I ought to just hang it up and go to bed for today. Tomorrow is another day, there should be no rain, so I can motorcycle tomorrow, too, and I'll feel better when I've done that. So I'm gonna take this train of thought and stuff it under a pillow, get on my CPAP mask, and sleep.
G'nite, all.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Veteran's Day
I know, it was Wednesday, and it is now Friday - but it has taken a little bit for all this to percolate to a point that I could talk about it.
I saw a T-shirt in a catalog today - it said:
I saw a T-shirt in a catalog today - it said:
Home of the Free
Because of the Brave
and it made think a bit, about history, about the military, about veterans I have known, and about this great nation.
My uncle just died - the last in my family of his generation. He was a soldier in World War 2, and a POW in some Stalag in Germany. He was a hero - he didn't start out to be a hero, it was thrust upon him, and he accepted the duty. He was seriously mistreated as a POW, and never thought he'd live to the age of 90, but he did.
Veterans are special people - because they understand something about commitment that is no longer taught in schools. Uncle Bob was a depression kid, and knew hard times. He was a gentle man who worked with his hands - an artisan if you will. He did many things I never knew about, and he never would discuss his POW years with me. He thought that his life was more than just that period of confinement, and he was right to a large degree - there was more to his life than just that period - he had a wife and two daughters who were and are in their own right special people.
My father was not in the military - but he was a valued member of the team in Berlin that held up one end of the Berlin Airlift. If you don't know about the Airlift, shame on our educational system, because it was a part of what cemented our friendship with the German people, and served to underscore our commitment to what would become the cold war.
But for this generation, we might well be speaking German (or Japanese) now.
As time went by, it seems that patriotism has become passe, or even unfashionable, and love of country has been replaced by love of self.
The activities at Fort Hood, and the subsequent statements by our so-called leaders are beginning to worry me. We are forgetting from whence we came, and we are busily being apologized for by a set of leaders that doesn't seem to have learned history.
I am myself a veteran, although a cold war vet and not a "real" war vet. What i and those with whom I served did was not well known - indeed up until recent years it could not be discussed as it was classified. I am proud of my service, proud to have done what I did, and proud to have known many others who did the same sort of work, and did it very well.
I saw a bumper sticker that said "If you are reading this in English, thank a Vet."
Veteran's day must stay Veteran's day and not be diluted by being named something else. If we permit that, then the veterans have died in vain. History is not irrelevant. It must be known and taught, otherwise we'll get to do it all again. We have to stop coddling those who would do us violence, and start once again calling things what they are, not what we wish that they were.
Meanwhile, think on those veterans of yesterday, and the vets of today - they are doing things that need done for all of the rest of us - can we not at least show them respect for that?
Because of the Brave
and it made think a bit, about history, about the military, about veterans I have known, and about this great nation.
My uncle just died - the last in my family of his generation. He was a soldier in World War 2, and a POW in some Stalag in Germany. He was a hero - he didn't start out to be a hero, it was thrust upon him, and he accepted the duty. He was seriously mistreated as a POW, and never thought he'd live to the age of 90, but he did.
Veterans are special people - because they understand something about commitment that is no longer taught in schools. Uncle Bob was a depression kid, and knew hard times. He was a gentle man who worked with his hands - an artisan if you will. He did many things I never knew about, and he never would discuss his POW years with me. He thought that his life was more than just that period of confinement, and he was right to a large degree - there was more to his life than just that period - he had a wife and two daughters who were and are in their own right special people.
My father was not in the military - but he was a valued member of the team in Berlin that held up one end of the Berlin Airlift. If you don't know about the Airlift, shame on our educational system, because it was a part of what cemented our friendship with the German people, and served to underscore our commitment to what would become the cold war.
But for this generation, we might well be speaking German (or Japanese) now.
As time went by, it seems that patriotism has become passe, or even unfashionable, and love of country has been replaced by love of self.
The activities at Fort Hood, and the subsequent statements by our so-called leaders are beginning to worry me. We are forgetting from whence we came, and we are busily being apologized for by a set of leaders that doesn't seem to have learned history.
I am myself a veteran, although a cold war vet and not a "real" war vet. What i and those with whom I served did was not well known - indeed up until recent years it could not be discussed as it was classified. I am proud of my service, proud to have done what I did, and proud to have known many others who did the same sort of work, and did it very well.
I saw a bumper sticker that said "If you are reading this in English, thank a Vet."
Veteran's day must stay Veteran's day and not be diluted by being named something else. If we permit that, then the veterans have died in vain. History is not irrelevant. It must be known and taught, otherwise we'll get to do it all again. We have to stop coddling those who would do us violence, and start once again calling things what they are, not what we wish that they were.
Meanwhile, think on those veterans of yesterday, and the vets of today - they are doing things that need done for all of the rest of us - can we not at least show them respect for that?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Shooters, Fanatics and Political Correctness
Am I the only person in the world who finds it odd that our president urges caution, and urges us not to assume anything about the Fort Hopd Shooter, yet he himself went off not even half-cocked at that cop in New England who confronted his pal, mr gates (lowercase purely intentional)?
What am I failing to understand.
First of all, if ever there should have been a backlash against American Muslims, it should have been about the day after 9/11 - and it didn't happen. Unlike some folks in other places in the world, we do not permit ourselves the luxury of mob rule, and the American Muslims among us are far more likely to be good Americans than they are to be Jihadisti.
Does anyone else recognize the irony in a guy who is born in the USA of Jordanian parents calling himself a Palestinian? There's a red flag right there that got ignored for too long.
If there was any doubt about his intent, the choice of weapon (a pistol with magazines up to 30 rounds available, firing ammunition designed to defeat the vests of law enforcement personnel) and location (the place overseas troops go to turn in their weapons) should dispel any doubt about his intentions.
I am naturally suspicious of folks whose primary allegiance is to other than this great nation - particularly those who would be citizens and accept the benefits that that citizenship confers. I am suspicious of those who identify themselves as something else first, and then American. I am not German-American - I am American and if anyone cares my ancestry is German.
I am also suspicious of those who come here and then expect the nation to remake itself in their image. Come on, folks - if the place you left was superior, why did you leave? If, for instance, you consider us to be weak folks and think Sharia law is more appropriate, why did you not seek out a place to land where that is how things are run? Can it be that our ease acceptance of others causes some to think we are weak?
I have lived in other places for extended periods as a consequence of military service - but ultimately I returned home, because I am an American, and being something else required alterations in feelings and custom with which I was not wholly comfortable.
We need not fear unreasoned backlash against any group, but we do need to fear being so politically correct that we are afraid we'll piss someone off. That's cowardice, and it sets our values to whatever outsiders would have, not what we ourselves hold to be true.
Fort Hood was an act of terrorism on American soil. It took advantage of a number of circumstances peculiar to America, and it is time that we stopped trying so damned hard to be 'understanding' and called it what it is, Terrorism. Terrorists are, in my opinion, at their best when three days dead.
What am I failing to understand.
First of all, if ever there should have been a backlash against American Muslims, it should have been about the day after 9/11 - and it didn't happen. Unlike some folks in other places in the world, we do not permit ourselves the luxury of mob rule, and the American Muslims among us are far more likely to be good Americans than they are to be Jihadisti.
Does anyone else recognize the irony in a guy who is born in the USA of Jordanian parents calling himself a Palestinian? There's a red flag right there that got ignored for too long.
If there was any doubt about his intent, the choice of weapon (a pistol with magazines up to 30 rounds available, firing ammunition designed to defeat the vests of law enforcement personnel) and location (the place overseas troops go to turn in their weapons) should dispel any doubt about his intentions.
I am naturally suspicious of folks whose primary allegiance is to other than this great nation - particularly those who would be citizens and accept the benefits that that citizenship confers. I am suspicious of those who identify themselves as something else first, and then American. I am not German-American - I am American and if anyone cares my ancestry is German.
I am also suspicious of those who come here and then expect the nation to remake itself in their image. Come on, folks - if the place you left was superior, why did you leave? If, for instance, you consider us to be weak folks and think Sharia law is more appropriate, why did you not seek out a place to land where that is how things are run? Can it be that our ease acceptance of others causes some to think we are weak?
I have lived in other places for extended periods as a consequence of military service - but ultimately I returned home, because I am an American, and being something else required alterations in feelings and custom with which I was not wholly comfortable.
We need not fear unreasoned backlash against any group, but we do need to fear being so politically correct that we are afraid we'll piss someone off. That's cowardice, and it sets our values to whatever outsiders would have, not what we ourselves hold to be true.
Fort Hood was an act of terrorism on American soil. It took advantage of a number of circumstances peculiar to America, and it is time that we stopped trying so damned hard to be 'understanding' and called it what it is, Terrorism. Terrorists are, in my opinion, at their best when three days dead.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Sunday
It is Sunday, and I slept through church, but stayed here at home to do it. There were several things I had that I wanted to do today - but it is 72 degrees out, the sun is shining, it's November and I'm going motorcycling!
Should be a perfect day for it - not too much wind, and few clouds. The only question is, really, where should I go?
I think maybe I'll know when I get there.
Have a truly wonderful day!
Should be a perfect day for it - not too much wind, and few clouds. The only question is, really, where should I go?
I think maybe I'll know when I get there.
Have a truly wonderful day!
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