Election Day And So Much More

Note: I started writing this prior to the election. When you get to the line, that is the day after the election.


Today we're voting for a new President.

There are so many things I could say to try to sway you to my side of the argument that would just be political. I now have something that is much more important to me.

My son, Chris, enlisted in the Army yesterday.



He just turned 20, he's an adult, and he has the right to decide what to do with his life. Since he was 10 he has been interested in the military. I had taken him to Air Shows since he was 2, but from when he was old enough to understand, I never said that that military was the only way to go.

In High School, he went through JROTC, and he (now tells me) planned on going in right after graduation, but he was "in love" with a (smart, good, parent approved) girl, and she didn't want him to go away. So he didn't.

With only a HS education and not knowing what he wanted to do, he got a crap job and as a floor stocker then cashier at a local department store. They managed to always schedule him for 38 1/2 hours a week, so no benefits. They kept dumping more responsibility on him with no compensation until he said enough is enough.

He quit, and while I don't believe in leaving a job without somewhere else to go, I understood. He spent the next 9 months looking for jobs. He basically lived off what he had saved for everything outside of room and board, but the responses he started getting lately was that "No hiring until February and even then, they may lay people off". Just the prospect of a Obambi election was killing expansion.

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I'm doubly afraid today.

I now live in a country who's people have decided that they want the gov't to make all those hard decisions for them. The fact that, like all gov't programs, that we will only get .30 return on the dollar (if lucky), well, don't bother them with the details, it'll be "free".

My son is going into the military. I'm am still very proud of his choice, but now I fear for him. Obambi is going to gut the military budget, yet...I'm willing to bet...commit them to "blue helmet" conflicts with no set ROE or real goal. I just wonder, is he going to throw us into the middle of Darfur with the rule of "don't hurt anyone"...or maybe "help out" in the stability of Kenya, by shoring up Obambi's family ties there?

And the left kept telling us that overthrowing a dictator that killed an average of 2,000 people a day, every day for twenty years, wasn't justified. Want to know what real torture is like, go here. (WARNING: GRAPHIC)

Vote Early!!!

Obambi is not a good closer. At first I was wondering why there was such a big push from his campaign to vote early!!! Get your vote in now!!! Don't wait!!!

As was shown in the primaries, Teh One almost let Hillary pull it out at the end. It's happening again. Obambi was up 16 points last week and now with just 5 days left, McVain has closed to about 2 points (within the margin of error).

There are quite a few things that could have caused this.

The shackles being taken of Sarah Palin and letting her do what the VP nominee is suppose to do, challenge the other side.

Maybe "Joe the Plumber" struck a chord with some younger people just starting out and do not appreciate the message of "If you make too much more than everyone else, WE will take that "extra" money and give it to someone who didn't feel like working as hard as you...and where that line of "too much" is is in doubt. It seems to get lower as time moves on, 250K, 200K, 150k...where's it going to settle?

I've heard that these numbers have been out there all the time, they just didn't specify which particular tax classification they were using. These are the guys who we expect to state our goals to other countries. There can be no doubt about what you're saying when dealing with foreign countries. Obambi can't count on the press digging them out or hiding what they said in those circumstances, and he's got to keep in mind, his VP would be "Mr. Gafftastic".

Personally, I beleive that the earlier polls were completely made up (i.e. weighted on bad data), the MSM held out as long as they could with polls shifted to the Dems, to discourage the Right, that they will look like complete idiots if the vote runs closer to where it stands now. If they stuck with the 16 point lead for Teh One up to Monday, and the popular vote ends up 46/48 either way, any believability in fairness would be proven even to the densest among us.

The votes that went in early missed all the info that comes out in the last week. A lot of it is BS, but some of it is when the candidates slip and say what they didn't want to let out yet. I have to wonder about those who voted weeks ago wish they could have that vote back?

BowieFest

David Bowie has got to be my favorite artist. My high school years were spent trying to convince my friends how great he was. They wanted another version of the last album and I loved his always changing style. I got into him during the Ziggy Stardust period, but didn't see him until he was into "The Thin White Duke". There were a lot of people dressed up as Glam Rockers (Ziggy) while David came out with in a Zoot Suit. I missed this song for a long time for some reason, but the first time I heard it I feel in love with it. Ziggy means a lot to me, the album was a whole story, but this song...the simple guitar riff and vocals for the chorus...



"The Man Who Sold The World"

And here's Ziggy again, just to show why I love this song so much:



This is the song that really showed me what a voice he had. "Wild Is The Wind" written by Dimitri Tiomkin:



Let's not forget "Station To Station":



Finally, just because I could keep posting this song and, oh yeah, that song, I'm going to close with "The Bewlay Brothers" for now.



I'll get in another BowieFest mood somtime, so you can look forward to more.

Capt. Kirk Redux

I love it!!!



I stole this from Blackiswhite, who stole it from here.

An Investment Plan I Can Get Behind

I was sent to this site by a false internet friend to look at something and while I was there I ran across this:

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you would have $33 today.

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you would have $0 today.

But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for the recycling refund, you would have received $214.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. It is called the 401-Keg.

A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found that Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon.

I figured my MPG just for work, which involves a lot of walking and adjusted for my beer consumption, I average about 35.5 MPG. Hope that meets the CAFE standards.

I Am Joe

Amazing!!

That the Obamamedia fears a normal everyday guy asking Teh One a simple question about his tax plan.

It wasn't really the question that bothered them, it was the answer their candidate gave. The easiest way to push attention away form that answer was to attack the guy that asked the question.

ACORNholed

How ACORN keeps getting grants to register voters is beyond me. Every election they have been involved in they have been charged with filing false registrations, 1,000's of them. This time, no difference. They are under investigation in 15 states, all of them a battleground state that will probably decided which way the election tips.

Every year it's the same excuse of it's just a "few" bad apples and they, themselves point out some of the shady looking ones. I don't buy it any more, and this year more than any other. They point out enough to look like they're policing themselves, but while they get the county boards of election looking here at a few dozen "questionable" registrations, they shove through 100's over there.

It looks like a scheme to just overwhelm the system during the last few weeks and that there is no way for the states to comply. If(?)the investigations continue past November and it's found out that 1000's of people voted twice or voted that shouldn't have and the final race is close, how legitimate can the elections be?

I fear the next month because of this and a topic that my friend Blackiswhite is covering on his blog. Berg v. Obama Update.

These two things alone could lead to a Constitutional crisis that has never been experienced before.

Blue State?

Yeah I live in Kalifornia and I hate the political scene here, but in spite of what everything you hear and/or think about us, there is a significant number of people living here that are conservative. When you get out of the cities along the coast and into reality, the state becomes very red. (I swear the MSM made the Republicans red just to piss us off) Look at this county map of the state.



I really think that proximity to the ocean does something to your brain unless you're very careful.

Yesterday Sarah Palin came to my home town (if you'd be willing to accept the L.A. basin as a "home town") and was greeted by overflow crowds.



Yes it was overflowing. There was overflow into the soccer stadium next door. If I'd known she was going to be so close, I would have gone. Carson is only about 15 minutes from where I work.

Another pic to show that it wasn't just everyone they could find to stand behind her.



I know it's conventional wisdom that we are all a bunch of moonbats out here on the Left Coast, but don't condemn us all. There are those of us just born into our lot. Offer me a decent job in Texas, and I'm outta here next week.

There are lots of things that I really love about L.A., but as time has moved on, there are so many things about this city and this state that I can't stand, so I'm willing to abandon ship and just leave it to the socialists. Thirty years of trying and I'm about worn out.

For the story from someone who was there, go to The Blog @ Spolitics: Palin Rocks the House in SoCal

Housecleaning

Just goofing today.

Did some housecleaning on this site. Had some things that were driving me crazy, so I figured out how to fix them. Nothing anyone is going notice but me, but every time I ran into these little glitches I'd just get a little angrier about not catching them before it got stuck in here.

I wanted to customize my header with a Pic...Text...Pic, but it got to complicated for me to work on today.

I've added a poll to the sidebar. I'll update when I feel like it.

Four and a half weeks until the damn election. I know how I want to vote, I could just go absentee, but that wouldn't shut up the talking heads on TV. I can't get away from it.

I have listened to the debates and will try to catch the last two, but that will be just to see if either of our esteemed Presidential nominees manages to screw up bad enough to flush his chance (I can hope can't I...leave me something to live for!).

I'm wondering that if McCain loses, if Palin will be around in 2012. A combo of Palin and Jindal might not be a bad ticket. Even if McCain wins Palin/Jindal '12 wouldn't be bad.



Future President of the United States.

F*ck Yeah!!!

(Sorry I caught part of Team America last night.)

The Obama Youth Movement: UPDATED

I'm sure most of you have seen the exploitation of children that the supporters of Nobama have gone to: "We're sorry, this video is no longer available". It's been pulled, guess the rumbles of using children singing about the "Great Leader" made them realize they'd pushed the 'Cult of Obama" too far.

Update: (before posting: actually, it's still available, just designated as "This is a private video. If you have been sent this video, please make sure you accept the sender's friend request."

If I can find it again, and I will, I'll update.
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UPDATED:Found the bastard. I knew someone would grab it before it disappeared didn't exist.


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The two other songs this was compared to were:

From Cabaret: Tomorrow Belongs to Me

and Children Palace


I put these on to give background to this next video. I will admit that if you read the info next to the video at YouTube, the Asst. Dean, when contacted about this video

He assured me that they stopped this "regiment" because they felt the person who was organizing it was pushing his political agenda.

He then asked me, nicely, "what's the main concern? Because I want to understand where you're coming from so that I can figure out how to handle this."

Nicely, I told him that the video looked militant. I told him about the Colburn School video and how it resembles propaganda films from Communist dictatorships. I told him that the US military is frowned upon for going to high schools trying to recruit potential grads into joining their ranks. Why shouldn't we frown upon those who come to a school like yours to encourage kids to worship a politician? One who is not even a president.

I also said that if this was done to make kids feel better about themselves, why do it in the name of Obama? Why not encourage kids to believe in the power of themselves?

Why not indeed? I was always led to believe that the individual was the focus of the liberal party. No longer, I guess. It's sacrificing your self for the good of your neighbors, or I will achieve great things in the name of "this man", and all things I achieve will be because of him alone. If he hadn't existed, I would be nothing, because we know that without the "Great Leader" there was nothing and I had nothing to inspire me to push myself that extra inch.

TGIF

This was one of the picts tied to an Email sent to me today about a hamburger joint in Chandler, Az. Damn, I was in Phoenix just 3 weeks ago. Would have gone by, if I knew it was there. My host in Phoenix will hear about this oversight.

Here's their site: Heart Attack Grill (Sound on for the theme song.)

That was something I needed to run into today. Work hasn't been bad, but the crap going on with the bailout of the sub-prime companies has kept my blood pressure up at the limits. I now have 2 2/3 days off before my stint on graveyard shift.

Other things I ran into.

This is great: Evolution of Wedding Dance. Look like a fun loving couple. (Peruse the site, Deej has got some great stuff there)

This was inspired by the viral video: Evolution of Dance

I mentioned above the Sub-prime debacle going on, well not to be outdone, there is this fun piece of news I got this morning:


Villaraigosa to unveil L.A. housing plan
The mayor will propose a $5-billion, five-year effort to build homes for the poor and middle class. But some wonder whether it is feasible.

I ain't one of the ones wondering if it's feasible. This city can't keep it's hospitals open, the roads repaired, the tax increase that was suppose to hire more cops got diverted to gang programs that I wrote about earlier: Why Is L.A. Going Down The Crapper?. Now we are going to build "affordable housing"? We never learn. New modern tenements to warehouse the poor. By the time these things fall apart, Mayor (and "former" gang member) Villaraigosa will be long gone...along with his kickbacks.

Hell!!! Now I'm mad again.

I need a happy thought...

I'm going to meet a fellow Rottie at a shooting range in just over a week.. He sent me a list of his guns, and outside of the uniqueness of my black powders, he's got me beat. I'm going to owe him a beer.

I'll close with a song. Most of you (that would be you 7 of twelve) won't like this, but I'm not posting for you. It's got something catchy about it and it's the most requested song on the music station I listen to. Give it a chance and you may get one of them earworms. If you hate it, I didn't post it for you, I just hope it's there years down the road if I ever stumble into this again, I'll wipe the spittle from my chin and go "What the hell?", kinda like when I thought "The Knack" were hot.



Paper Airplanes by MIA

A Good Time Was had By All

I had a major jolt of OT on my paycheck last week so I decided it was time to spend something on me for a change. I hadn't been to a gun store in close to a year and I was down to enough ammo to fight off a first assault.

I posted this at the Rott to see if they could advise me on possible next steps and I'm going to just paste it here.

Back from the toy store.

Got to caress some .45 Kimbers. The salesman handed me a stainless and I told him that while balanced it just felt heavy, so he showed me the UltraCarry (Aluminium frame), felt nice, but I bet you have to make sure the thing is spotless after firing or the pits start to happen. He also told me you don’t know exactly what color it will be, when they blue it, it can come out anywhere from green to dark blue. He also showed me a version that that was colored like a rattlesnake. They were all way too cool, but I can’t afford over $1000 for a pistol.

The main point for going was to find a conceal weapon. The only .40 that they had that was small and very very light. I figure every time I shoot it I’d have to bring my aim back from 45 degrees due to kick. It was a Kahr who I know nothing about, and when he said “until you put minimum of 300 rounds through it, it will jam. (No go)

We then looked at some .38’s and as a carry weapon, the hammerless revolvers look good. They are much thinner than I thought, and no hammer, no added catch on clothing.

I did pick up a brick of .22 ammo (I’ve got plenty, but now we can go always psycho at the range with it if we want), target rounds for the 12 ga. (There had been a run on 00). 120 rounds .40 JHP, some to run through at the range (new brand) and some for…being available. They were out of wad cutters, so I go back Tuesday to pick up a box of 00 and some target rounds for the pistol.

I wonder if other people are getting edgy, I’ve never seen this store run out of things.

If any of you GLP’s (Gun Loving Psychos) here have suggestions, I am a more than an willing student. I’m not rich, so “you can’t go wrong with Kimber” isn’t what I need. I’ll pay for a good piece of machinery that does what it’s suppose to do, but my initial budget from what I looked at today, is set around the around +/- $500 range. I’ll pay the limit if someone can convince me it’s worth it.

I asked if they were going to stock the XM25 soon, I doesn’t look promising for the near future.
==========
If anyone here has suggestions, I always open.

Earworm Outbreak

I came down with a few earworms today. I'd just shake one out and other would wiggle into it's place. I haven't heard the songs lately that I remember. I was at work for 11 hours by myself today and it was like a loop of these songs wouldn't go away. Let me try to exorcise my demons.

This one hit me about 4:30 this morning while I was waiting for the sun to come up so I could get going on my project. During the week I listen to talk radio and on the weekends I listen KROQ which is newer stuff, like what my 19 yo boy listens to, so why a song from the '80's would pop up befuddles me.



"Goodbye To You"
Patty Smyth and Scandal, damn she was hot. If i had to chose between her and Pat Benetar, I couldn't do it. Great voices, great bodies and a real presence, you feel like they are really enjoying singing that song for the 500 time.

The next one I probably did catch on the radio not too long ago.



"Pork and Beans"

Weezer. To tell the truth I Have a hell of a time finding the newer stuff on YouTube. I don't listen to the DJ's so song titles and groups are not known, I just know if I like the song or not. To find the videos, I have to recite lines from the song or, G-d forbid, have to sing or hum phrases to my son and see if he can guess. He really likes it when I do this when friends are over.

The last one isn't really a "song". It's just something that I ran across yesterday and it got stuck in the rotation.



"Funny Obama Song"

I love this song, but even at 1:37, this version is a little long. If you didn't watch the whole thing, I won't blame ya. It's really only mildly funny, but I didn't ask to have it worm into my head.

Let's see if I can find the great version....Ah Yeah, here it is.



"Muppets - Mahna Mahna"

May one of these be transfered to your ear now and relieve me of my burden.

Fuuunnny!!!

Where the hell did this week go? Work is ...well, not bad, but I guess has kept me busy.

My friend, Cheapshot911 (he's a fellow Rottie, so I will make the assumption he's my friend) posted this:



I took karate in my youth, but I know now that it's best to keep it a secret till absolutely necessary. The more you tip your hand, the harder you get smacked.

ThingsThat Had To Be Done

I'm not writing anything on a topic tonight because I've ignored too many of my friends sites for too long.

I've tried to get around to some of them and post a comment to let them know I still care. It got late and I'm not going to start a post now.

This Is Comedy???

This is the promo for her show!

If these are the highlights of what she's going to be covering, I don't think that outside of L.A. and N.Y. she's going to sell a lot of tickets. I couldn't listen to this bitch for 90 minutes let alone pay the $40 dollars or whatever for the privilege of being there to hear this shit.

Listening to this clip, I can't decided if she's drunk, brain addled or just so full of hated for the human race she can't contain herself. I think I'll opt for the latter.

Like Linda Ronstadt (Political controversy), she isn't and doesn't hold a divine handle on what's wrong with the world, and we aren't going to pay money to have you tell us how to think. We paid you to entertain us. Do the job you were hired for. Yes, it may be hard for you to grasp, but I paid you to perform a certain function. Once I bought the ticket, you were employed by me. You made me laugh with your insight on the stupid things in life last time , or you made emotions well up with your song on that CD, but you don't realize that you are just an entertainer, don't start lecturing me on how to think. If you want to do that, at least make it funny or insightful. I could get up on stage and start rambling about how I hate someone or something right now. If that's all it take to be "special", I guess I missed my calling, because I hate everyone and everything.

Feh!

The last two days at work have been...frustrating.

Not bad, not good. Not getting ahead, but not falling behind. Just a lot of walking trying to figure out an adjustment to make on some piece of equipment that would at least let me feel like I accomplished something beside maintaining our meager status quo.

I was talking to my relief tonight about the work we use to do 20-25 years ago in the oil field (I still have all my fingers)and while this job can be a bitch, we wouldn't want to go back to "the good old days", but it got me thinking about "those days" on my drive home and it made me remember this song by Madonna.

I'm not a Madonna fan, but I like some of her songs and don't think about her politics when listening. The exteriors of this video were shot on property that belonged to the company I worked for. As a favor to the employees, the owner would insist that a company rep (me) had to be on site during filming paid by the filming company. Long hours of boredom watching them shoot the same scene over and over (the kiss at 3:24...I watched them film it about 5 times, then went to dinner...good food...sat around and BS'ed with the cops on "crowd control", went back....and they were still filming the same kiss), followed by intense chaos of the crew moving everything for the next shot. I talked to Madonna, she just showed up next to me before I realized who she was (she's a dink, I'm 6'2" and she didn't even come up to my shoulder). The closing scene of her and the kid dancing up the street, if you look at the trees on the right side of the street, you can see some movement. There were probably about 50 people from the neighborhood behind those trees.

Our big starring moment comes at 3:45, that's our oil well.



If you ever rep for a company during a film shoot, bring a lawn chair and a book. I've worked a few and it's boring as hell.

Cavuto v O'Reilly On Gas Prices

HT: Hot Air

I like Cavuto. He seems to be very up with business and how it affect politics and can explain it well.

O'Reilly, I can take him or leave him. He was my original draw to Fox News, but I tired of him over the years. Now I'll leave it running if he's on, but I don't schedule my day around him.

One area that O'Reilly pushes my buttons is when he goes off on oil. Here's a video with Neil and Bill going at it:



I love how Cavuto quietly explains how Bill is picking numbers that fit his position and ignoring those he doesn't like. Bill starts raising his voice to prove his point saying he likes "these numbers", even though they relate to different periods. Neil quietly tells Bill to "stop yelling at me".

Bill's big point was that oil prices have dropped 33% and we haven't seen a 33% drop in the price of gas. One thing that was pointed out and Bill didn't want to hear was that even though the price of oil had increased threefold, the price of gas had not even doubled.

I buy gas also. I have the same heart attack as everyone else when I fill up. Hell I've got a 30 gallon tank on my truck and if I don't catch it before 1/4 tank, at $4.00/gal.,the damn pump cuts me off before full ($100). I've also worked in gas stations, the cents they make on each gallon has to be able to pay for the next load coming in. The price drops slower that it goes up because you have to guess what that next load is going to cost.

I haven't seen a 33% decrease in the price, but it had gone down 28% as of last week when I bought gas, but the price of oil shot up $2 today after dropping $10 over the previous two days. You tell me what the dealer is going to pay for the some thousand gallons of gas he's ordered so you can make snide comments to the poor SOB working the cash register.

Why I'm So Damn Sick of the Elections

The primaries ran what? About 3 years? If it was a strategy to make the populace just bore and sick of the whole thing, it seems to have worked with me.

I decided how I was going to vote at the end of the conventions, and now I just wish we could cast our vote and get the thing over with.

For the last couple of days I have been listening to the Dhimicrats gloat over how bad the economy is and how we can't afford 4 more years of the policies that got us into this shit.

They just forget to mention the facts behind the collapse of Bear Sterns and the collapse and bailout of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG.

What was the Bush policy on Fannie and Freddie? (From the NY Times Sept. 11, 2003)

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt — is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.

Whoa!!! We can't have that! Imagine the nerve of trying to rein in a runaway train 5 years before it hits the wall. Surely the Dhimicrats foresaw the problem also.

Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

”These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ”The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

”I don’t see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,” Mr. Watt said.

Either they really didn't see it coming, or they were just using their usual playbook and giving "free" money to people to win the next election. Whichever it was, can we afford four years of a continuation of this type of planning and policy?

It goes back way further, back to our old buddy Clinton. (from IBD)

But it was the Clinton administration, obsessed with multiculturalism, that dictated where mortgage lenders could lend, and originally helped create the market for the high-risk subprime loans now infecting like a retrovirus the balance sheets of many of Wall Street’s most revered institutions.

Tough new regulations forced lenders into high-risk areas where they had no choice but to lower lending standards to make the loans that sound business practices had previously guarded against making. It was either that or face stiff government penalties.

The untold story in this whole national crisis is that President Clinton put on steroids the Community Redevelopment Act, a well-intended Carter-era law designed to encourage minority homeownership. And in so doing, he helped create the market for the risky subprime loans that he and Democrats now decry as not only greedy but “predatory.”

Yes, the market was fueled by greed and overleveraging in the secondary market for subprimes, vis-a-vis mortgaged-backed securities traded on Wall Street. But the seed was planted in the ’90s by Clinton and his social engineers. They were the political catalyst behind this slow-motion financial train wreck.

And it was the Clinton administration that mismanaged the quasi-governmental agencies that over the decades have come to manage the real estate market in America.

The Demorats set it up in the '90's and when Bush tried to correct it, they told Bush he was racist, denying affordable housing to the poor and minorities. Now that their homes are foreclosed and their credit is fubar, I bet they'd really thank their protectors on the left side of the aisle, not to mention how trilled I am to pay part of the mortgage they never should have had in the first place.

When they raise my taxes to pay this fiasco off, there is a good chance I may not be able to meet my obligations, so the situation won't be getting better. It'll most likely get worse being we're already committed to the bailouts.

On top of this, WTF is the gov't doing pledging to cover housing for a month for the people of Texas that were displaced by the hurricane? Since I was born, I've heard the rest of the U.S. bitch at me about if I live in an earthquake zone and get hit, I deserve the grief. We get a quake that does damage about every 10 years. You asshats that live in hurricane and tornado country get nailed how many time EVERY year? And then go right back into the same place and rebuild, but don't worry, we'll bail you out again next year.

World...Hell...Hand basket. I think it's already been assembled.

Rip Van Winkle Impersonation

After the fine welcome back the site gave me, things just got better.

I didn't disappear over the last couple of days, I was asleep.

We had to take a 3 day HAZWOPER class to be certified as first responders to any oil spill. Normally I don't mind taking a class, but this time it sucked. I'm working graveyard so my schedule Sunday though Thursday was this:

9PM to 5AM: Work

5AM to 8AM: Sleep in my truck on site.

8AM to 4PM: Class

4PM to 9PM: Drive home, grab something to eat, sleep, get up and get stuff together for work, go back to work.

I got about 4 1/2 to 5 hours sleep broken up, which didn't seem to do any good. I use to be able to do things like this, but no longer. When I got home Thursday morning, I was so tired I couldn't go to sleep, so I goofed around until about noon, then laid down and left the world for 24 hours straight.

The problem with sleeping that long is that you want to keep on sleeping. Saturday was a total waste as I couldn't work up enough energy to do anything. So today, it's catch up day. Laundry, grocery shopping, house cleaning, bill paying.

I don't return to work until Tuesday afternoon, so life may return to what I consider normal by then.

9/11/2008

My God! It's been seven years since we were attacked on our home turf.

I'm torn about my feeling as we cross this anniversary.

The good:

We are safer than we were in 2001.

We did major damage to the assholes that hit us.

Iraq looks like it on the verge of becoming a stable country and we can start to draw down our troop strength.

They put out two 37 ft. beams that will be used as a memorial to the people that were murdered on 9/11 that the public can sign in tribute.

The Bad:

A lot of our Safety is cosmetic like Airport Security which is mainly for show. Grandma gets strip searched because of her underwire bra, while Accchhhmed cruises through because if you stop more than every 18th person of "indiscriminate nationality" you're racial profiling.

The assholes for allah that we didn't whack, cockroached across the border of Pakistan and set up bases there. (Though I read yesterday that we are hitting them with Predators and now sending SpecOps across the border to engage them and fuck the do nothing Pakistani gov't.)

It took six years for our gov't to commit to the fact that if you're going to fight a war, you go in with overwhelming force and kill the enemy.

It took seven years for us to get our act together and just start on the project that will "show that the U.S. will overcome this and build something bigger and better".

I'm tired. It's been a looong week at work (details to follow). I haven't had anything that would approximate enough sleep for four days now and my head feels like it's stuffed with cotton.

I'll close out with two videos that bring tears to my eyes every time I see them, both are listed as Permanent Posts on the right sidebar.

First Darryl Worley, "Have You Forgotten?"



And finally this:

Never Forgive, Never Forget.

May all our soldiers return home victorious and whole, and may God Bless America.

Why Did I Come Back?!!?

I had a marvelous vacation! More things to do than we had time for, but 6 days with my two closest friends and their overly understanding wives. Typically we guys acted like we were back in college again and I'm not sure about them, but I'm still sore and tired three days later.

An added bonus to the trip was I got to see my godson who was, by luck, out for the holiday from New Orleans. He was safe in Phoenix while hurricane Gustav hit Louisiana. Of course he was suppose to fly back on Monday, but with the airport closed and the city still shut down, he couldn't get home until Thursday night (broke his Mom's heart having him home three extra days).

I hadn't realized how long it had been since I had driven to Phoenix until I got outside of San Bernardino and the speed limit jumped to 70 MPH. Last time I drove, we were still stuck with the 55 limit. Arizona had to do us one better and when I crossed the state line, their limit was 75 MPH. With the truck on cruise control and staying around the speed limit, I was there in 6 hours, including one stop for breakfast and one stop for gas.

My hosts had just had a pool installed that is 4 1/2 feet deep...designed for pool volleyball, and did we play a lot of volleyball. I can hardly lift my arms over my shoulders. The night my godson had all his old friends over and they forced me to drink to much and insist I get involved with their game didn't help this 50 something old man. Fun, and the patience of a cagey dink shot just over the net can throw off the power game of twenty year old's.

The drive home was boring,but I did stop by a Indian casino and donate some funds to the tribe. Doubled my money in the first hour, then gave back my winnings plus the initial bet in the second.

Went back to work last night (graveyard), and was told everything was running smoothly and it should be a quiet shift. Two hours in and I get an alarm. A valve blew on something I had walked by 35 minutes before and water and silty mud was ankle deep in one of our containment basins.

I diagnosed the problem, figured out how to fix (bypass) it...but...for lack of a 15/16" box end wrench and/or a 1/2" drive ratchet (found a socket), I couldn't break the bolts to isolate the leak. I kept the site running for another 2 hours until my tanks were full and I had to shut the entire site down.

It was a fine "Welcome Back!", but it is what I've come to expect in my life.

If I'm Gone

I made it! Got through my last day at work and am ready to relax for the next ten days. Tomorrow I've got some errands to take care of, just little things like finally clearing up my truck registration, get food for the kid to eat while I'm gone, laundry. Wednesday is pack up and go over the truck once to reduce any possible troubles while on the road. Looking at the weather in Phoenix, I better get new wiper blades as thunder showers are predicted. I've never seen it just rain in Phoenix, it's either dry and hotter than hell, or deluge.

I'm really looking forward to the drive (Hah!), I've made it about 30 times, but I was much younger then. I once made the drive from my parents driveway in San Pedro to the parking lot of my Frat in Tempe in 5 hours and 55 minutes, and this was back in the days that I-10 came to a stop in Buckeye and you had to take back roads for the last. Out off 360 odd miles total, the last 45 were "interesting".

No going for records this time, I just want to get there. I'm hoping to leave L.A. around 4-5 AM, beating any traffic. I'll stop in Blythe for something to eat, then the final run, so I'll land there around noon.

Steve assures me that they have the internet in Arizona, but whether I'll get around to posting is dicey. My intention is to live blog the weekend, but I've hung with these guys a long time, so a 3 AM blog of "wEnt to teh place today to get something that jOe needed and we got lost and had to go badk home to member what we left for anyways", isn't something I want to look back on. Nor would you like to read it, I'm sure.

Once in Phoenix, my truck doesn't move. I've been out of that town too long so I won't recognize anything. I'll make an exception if I can meet with friends from the net, but that will be early enough that I can find my way.

I can't say it enough, after two years of life just sucking (work and home), to have 10 days for just ME has me het up something awful.

Countdown

One more day at work, then ten days off. Vacation...a real vacation. My last two vacations had to deal with my Dad's passing, necessary, but not overly relaxing.

This one's for me. Thursday, I drive to Phoenix and meet up with two of my best friends, both from college (ASU). I was enrolled, they actually graduated. We belonged to ΘΔΧ, at the time I was there we were about a step to a step and a half above "Animal House". Our chapter got kicked off campus and folded about three years after I left, but damn, those were some fun times.

Steve, the guy who still lives in Phoenix, actually Glendale, but it's all one big metropolis now-a-days, has made plans to my liking for a vacation. He just had a pool put in so we're going to sit in the pool, drink beer and watch football on the TV he's going to move outside. Except for the big plan of going to Laughlin for one day and leaving a bunch of money in their Video Poker machines, it's just float, eat, drink and BS for 4 days.

Pam, Steve's wife, is a paragon. She has put up with our get togethers for all these years, and still says she loves us. She has always denied it, but I think she hated our guuutttsss!!!! back in college before they were married. We were constantly trying to drag Steven into doing stupid stuff with us. She was right, but we felt she was keeping Steve from having fun.

Pam you were right, and most likely the reason he's still alive today.

The other guy is flying out from Alabama with his wife. Joe has been a rock in my life for the last 20+ years. He's a psychotherapist and boy have there been times I've needed one. He's always been there for me, as long as I remember the time difference (he did chew my ass out once for calling at 11PM..1AM his time on a weekday, and I haven't forgotten since). He knows me better than most and goes beyond "Councilor Troi" crap of "How do YOU feel about that?" and gives his opinion. I never follow his advise, but a year later, I can see he was on the right track.

Joe's wife, Jaana, is coming with him. This is a rare treat for me. I've seen her just twice since they got married, long ago. She's Finnish and between my decrepit hearing and her accent...we have some interesting conversations. She's a beautiful person, both physically and mentally. I've called many times when Joe wasn't home and held long conversations with her. She has always accepted me as a friend of Joe's, therefore I'm a friend of hers.

I am soooo looking forward to next weekend!!!

Dana, if you've dropped by, Steve has to work Saturday, so I'm free for lunch. We can meet somewhere. You don't know me and I'm sure you don't want some freak from L.A. knowing where you live. I'll try to get in touch in the next few days. Also any Rotties in the area, I'd love to meet ya. Drop an E-mail, it's on the sidebar.

Hither, Thither and Yon

I had a relatively slow day at work today and got my project done early, so I was able to watch the second half of my RAIDERS get their ass kicked, 24-0, by the (OH, this hurts!!) Arizona Cardinals. So I ended up cruising Fox News and ran across some interesting stuff.

Before I get to those stories, I'd like to have you drop by my friends BlackisWhite's site and read his excellent fisking of a Slate article explaning that if the Obamamessiah isn't elected it just prove to the world that we're all racists.

Why the Self-Appointed Cognoscenti Aren't
-------------------------------
Ok, my turn.

I suppose I have to mention the "big" story of the day.

Mr. HopeyChangey selected his running mate, who upon getting the news reversed his opinion of his, up till then, wise and trustworthy friend.


Out of the Gate, Biden Strikes Hard at McCain

In the above article the number of house's ker-fluffle is brought up.

Obama, McCain trade barbs over housing issues

Actually, McCain personally doesn't own even one house, let alone 8. His money is separate from his very rich wife's, and she owns all the houses. Some have relatives living them and some are investments and some are places they spend part of the year. It was a gotcha moment, If he gave the number he and Cindy use, he's hiding information (or got Alzheimer). If he had given the correct number, he's accused of being rich and exploiting the little people. I'm still trying to figure out why it is so evil for honest people to be rich.

I think McCain's situation is better than Obama's, where his deal for his MANSION is worked out by a guy that is so crocked that his ass is in jail now.
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Nannystatism


Cavuto gives a clue about what to expect as our populace demands that the government bail them out of any stupid mistake or decision.
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Well damn, who'd of thunk?

Illegal Immigrants Returning to Mexico in Record Numbers

DALLAS — Illegal immigrants are returning home to Mexico in numbers not seen for decades — and the Mexican government may have to deal with a crush on its social services and lower wages once the immigrants arrive.

The Mexican Consulate's office in Dallas is seeing increasing numbers of Mexican nationals requesting paperwork to go home for good, especially parents who want to know what documentation they'll need to enroll their children in Mexican schools.

Better they deal with their unemployed than us. Funny thing about being here illegally, for all the safety nets provided, when there is a downturn in the economy, unemployment insurance isn't one of them, although I'm sure Congress will get right on that over site.

The illegal immigrant population in the U.S. has dropped 11 percent since August of last year, according to the Center for Immigration Studies. Its research shows 1.3 million illegal immigrants have returned to their home countries.

Jeez! No jobs and they go home voluntarily? Guess we'll have to cut back on the order for all those buses we ordered to deport them.

Advocates for immigrants are disturbed by the trend. Albert Ruiz, an organizer for the League of United Latin American Citizens, agrees that more undocumented immigrants are going home — but says families are being torn apart in the process.

If a father is deported, Ruiz says, his family members in America are forced either to fend for themselves or follow him to a country where they've never even lived.

"So the mother is saying we should return home with the breadwinner of the family to Mexico, and the children are saying, I don't want to leave, I'm a U.S. citizen, I don't know that country," said Ruiz.

I am so sorry that Senor Ruiz is disturbed by this trend, and G-d am I tired of this "families torn apart" meme. If I break the law just bad enough to be deported...to jail...my family would be torn apart also. Does that mean I get off?


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I can't decide whether this surprises me or not?

A New Focus on Faith at the Democratic Convention

Do I believe them? No.

The Pew Forum polls after the 2000 and 2004 elections showed that the Democrats were perceived as unfriendly to faith. And for the last two presidential elections, the Democrats have suffered defeat at the hands of the GOP. The GOP has been a magnet for the faith vote. But if Democrats have their way, that may be changing.

Not likely. When damn near every policy they put forward restricts or flies in the face of religion, it's hard to take them seriously.

For the first time the Democratic National Convention has a “Faith Caucus.” In fact, “faith” will have a higher profile at the Democratic National Convention than it has ever had before. The reason? The Democratic Party has been aggressively going after the “God vote” since at least 2004.

[emphasis: mine]

They may have been going after, but the peons ain't buying.

And reaching out they are. On Sunday an “Interfaith Gathering”, as mentioned before, will officially launch the Democratic National Convention. All the major religions will be represented: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. Daughtry says (on the DNC’s Web site) that the Interfaith Gathering is the best way to “kick off a week-long celebration to showcase our Party’s nominee, our strength, our diversity and our shared values. “

In addition to the Interfaith Gathering on Sunday, there’ll be two Faith Caucus meetings, one titled “How an Obama Administration Will Engage People of Faith,” the other “Getting Out the Faith Vote”. Plus, one member of the clergy from a different faith will open and close (give the invocation and benediction) each of the DNC’s evening programs.

First off, what happened to that separation of Church and State thing? Invocations at a political event? G-d, they don't want anyone to forget they are all on that faith thing, opening AND closing.

Now all of this is very Kum Ba Yah, but according to pundits and pollsters, the Democrats’ increased faith effort has not helped Sen. Obama cut into the evangelical vote. In fact, according to a new survey by the Pew Forum, Obama’s appeal to evangelicals is about the same as fellow Democrat John Kerry’s was four years ago – around 25 percent. Talk about a tepid response to a hot pursuit!

We may be religious, but we ain't stoopid. There are readin's in the Good Book about those who will try to use The Word agin ya.

The Pew Forum’s Michael Cromarty says the reason could be that even though Obama is much more comfortable speaking the language of faith than Senator Kerry, his and the Democrats’ platform, aren’t connecting with evangelicals. Evangelicals, he says “are interested in policy not just language.”

Ah!! There's the rub. They can invite us in all they want, but just talking the talk doesn't make them one of us, and when I know you're going to propose legislation that is against everything I believe in, your pretty words don't convince me.

But I guess regardless of whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, faith is a matter of function, not form. Every day all of us are walking, talking billboards for what we believe. And our voting choices reflect those beliefs — they also reflect what we believe about how we should live and the way in which we should treat our fellow human beings. But the problem with politics is that even though government can create policies to ease or increase our burdens, ultimately policies can’t save our souls. But sometimes parties and politicians campaign as if they can. And that certainly makes any election…. very interesting.

Concern about faith by the Dhimi's is a lie. I think they honestly beleive that we are like their other followers and will listen to what they say today without looking at what they did yesterday or plan to do tomorrow.

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Lastly...

Just for amusement, a bikini clad waitress nails a perv who thinks that just because she has "provocative" clothing on, she wants it.

Coffee Confrontation

I just hope the SOB is married and has to explain to his wife why his nuts got scalded.

15 Year Old Mexican Indian Virgins

A year ago, a friend and fellow blogger GuyK, suggested that if one were desperate for hits, use a title like "14 Year Old Mexican Indian Virgins". My girls are now another year older.

The reason I bring this up is that I have sitemeter to just get an idea of how many people come by. I sometimes check to see from where they came by and I think I've been hit at least once by about every country in the world. They may just click through, but in that weird internet way, I was connected to someone on the other side of the world.

I have the free sitemeter service, so it only keeps track of the last 100 connections, but 37% of my last 100 were looking for 14 Year Old Mexican Indian Virgins.

In the coming years I'll try to remember to bump the age up a year so we can find out when Mexican Indian Virgins loose their appeal.

Numb II

To all my friends who have stopped by and checked on me, "THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!"

Of course I have to get a Smog Check on my truck, she'll pass, but just another hoop that life is going to make me clear before a semblance of sanity returns.

Oh, yeah...I managed to lose my ATM/debit card. Life is....interesting.

I'm still in a pissy mood, but there is always a sliver of optimism somewhere on the fringe. It's just my nature.

If I live through this week (ending Tuesday, Aug. 25th), I'm taking a weeks vacation and driving to Phoenix to see two of my closest friends and their wives. With the weekend days, I'm away from work for 10 days. YEEEHAW!!! And when I go back, I'm on graveyard, so nobody bothers me, then my 5 day "long change" off. This would normally mean I wouldn't see anyone for three weeks, but I'll wait and post about the interesting twist, dropped on me today, of when I have to be at work for another post (hint: lotsa easy OT).

You knew it was coming. So I won't disappoint.

Numb

Ever get to one of those points in your life where everything you need to do is a burden? That's where I've been the last few weeks.

My home life isn't in the best shape. Wife's out of state and I'm not sure she's coming back, or if I care. Kid's reacting to this by being a sloucher. Chores not done, never home...not being defiant, but pushing back and I'm the only one he's got to push against.

Work is crap. All the guys I work with are fighting with each other. They keep trying to drag me onto their side of why so-and-so is an ass, well I have to work the ass also, and I haven't had a major problem with them, so leave me out of it.

Escrow can't close on the company until November, so things are just going to stay the same at least until then.

Politics...I hate that McCain is the GOP nominee and I fear Obama. Nuff said.

Last week I noticed my registration on my truck expired in June and I hadn't gotten a renewal notice. Found out my wife didn't pay my insurance back in March and the state of California canceled my tags. Damn good thing I'm a good driver, no insurance and an illegal truck for 4 months.

On top of this, my license expired in April. That piece of paper, that didn't get passed on to me, would have been just a sign and return for an another extension, now required a trip to the DMV. I couldn't register my truck until I got insurance, and I couldn't get insurance until I got my license reinstated. First two steps completed as of today. Tomorrow we get the registration straight.

Numb is how I've been.

News...Good Or Bad?

I just got the true story on some scuttlebutt that has been bouncing around the last few days. I'm working graveyard this week, so I didn't have contact with anyone who knows.

This morning I was relieved by the Foreman and got the facts (as much as he knows).

My company is in escrow and being sold.

THE BAD:

I've only met the guys that are buying the company once, briefly, about a year ago, so I have no idea if we'll get along or have the same goals.

I make an appropriate salary, but ...new peons are cheaper, or the owners can just say "This is what we'll pay you."

They plan on me doing the work more fitting for a 20 year old.



THE GOOD:

They've got a reasonable budget to start correcting the ongoing problems with the facility and expanding production.

I have over 25 years experience in the oil field, I'm worth the money.

The budget (initially) sounds like they plan on using contractors to do the heavy work.

These are just my initial thoughts. I'm not going to go into panic mode just yet. It will take at least 3 months to get all the details worked out(permits, royalty contracts, etc.).

The only thing I know about the "possible" new owners from when I met them a year ago, is that they are that they are Iranian, they drive Benzes and one of the brothers has hair longer than I do.

One other piece of good news is that they have oil sites in Texas (and some other state that I immediately forgot because I just went "No way I'm going there"). So I may be able to transfer to Texas with a job in a couple of years. YeeeeeHaaaaw!!!

Or I get "let go", have to sell my house (with a 400% profit), and move to Texas. The Emperor just bought big new house, he must have a room to let.

Bachalorhood

He He, eat your heart out guys, My wife just flew off for a three month visit with her sister in Montana. Yeeeehah!!!

Course in about 2 weeks I suppose I'm going to have to figure out how to wash my underwear and socks. Food....food is going to be fun. I don't cook, and my boy learned from me. The wife left us a weeks worth of prepared meals, but after that, well, maybe you guys should buy stock in Burger King, Jack-in-the-Box, etc.

For some reason my liberal hippy/capitalist in-laws decided to move to Montana and open a restaurant/bar. The rebuilding phase of the project is done and my wife went up for the set-up and get he project going.

My life is now an experiment of going from Work (go make money), Home (try to get some sleep so I can go back to work...and fix some things around the house), to Work, Home and Crap I've got to do at home and get the boy to contribute. I haven't had to function on my own for 25 years, and I get to drag my son into it at the same time.

I've got to go to the Supermarket in a few days and I HATE shopping. I've done it before, and I know the rules, but I hate being around people who also know the rules but are to damn dumb to figure apply them. If you're going to use a check to pay, fill out the other lines on the check, the hard stuff, like date, Payee, memo (if you use it), signature. Don't wait till the total shows up and then start looking for your checkbook, then drag out your coupons so you have to write a new check.

If that's my biggest bitch, I suppose we'll survive, but I've gotten old and I don't like changes in my lifestyle.

T.V. Heaven

I watch way more television than I should. part of it is I grew up with TV and parts I just am use to the noise running in the background. I sleep with the set on.

I've slept with either the TV or radio running since I was about 10.

I'm in heaven today, remember the excitement back when "24" was going into it's second season? That's how I feel now.

"Burn Notice" finally goes into it's second season. I fell in love with this series by accident. New show, nothing else on, what the hell, give a look.

It had a new plot, well there are no new plots, but a unique slant on an old plot, interesting back story(ies) running through it, and it was funny.

I rate it up there with Magnum P.I., JAG, NCIS, I'll bet the producers of Burn Notice sat in a room a long time watching these programs and figuring what it was that made them work. They did.

I could give a rat's ass whether the "spy" crap is accurate or not. The articles say "The show's propmaster actually builds the gadgets Michael builds on the show in order to see if it could actually be done, then teaches Jeffrey Donovan how to do it in significantly less time than he did it.", but like I said, I don't really care. Give me an entertaining story and some fancy two-step, I'm sold.

I'll also mention that a small reason I watch might, just might have something to do with Gabrielle Anwar.



A brunette with an Irish temper and a gun? Say no more.

Cool Pics Of My Old Oil Field

I intended to post some political commentary on some articles I read this morning, but when I got home, it was 100 degrees and the A/C is crapped out. I'm hot already, no need to get myself hotter.

I did some net searches just typing in things and seeing what popped up and I ran across some pics of my old oil field just west of downtown Los Angeles. These are of the jack-line sites.

This site was converted to individual pump jacks just before I started working there. It worked 6 wells. The building stood for about 5 more years and we'd store minor stuff that we didn't care if it got stolen, but basically it was a place for rats and cats to increase their population.



A close-up of one of the pumping jacks.



This next site was operational for about 4 years after I started there. I wish there was a pic of the inside of the power house. Big gears, 6 ft, long flat belt drive system...(insert Tim Allen grunt here).



Next is a plan of the site showing how three wells were run off one power plant. The concentric wheel that drove it always had one well at the top of it's stroke, one at the bottom and one half way. A position and balancing act.



Efficient? Yes, very! The only problem was if you had a problem with one well and had to work on it, the other two were off as you lost your counter balance. Three units down instead of one. We switched to individual pumping units in the mid '80's.

This well is at the corner of Rockwood and Glendale.


You want to know how close to the civic center we were, just MapQuest it...I did it for you here (lazy bastards), just back out one click (-), "A" is the site and the spot that says Los Angeles is city hall.



This is the power house. Wow, looking at it now, we should have slapped a coat of pain on it, but back then to me, it just looked like oil field.



I want to point out that the Queen Anne style house on this site was occupied by an owner. This was the fall back property for the Manleys. They started here and, if times got that bad, would return there. When the Manley member of the family that lived there, for 48 years, died, we rented it to one of our employees for the incredible sum of $180/month. (Kept his wages low...Oh yeah, he was Hispanic.)

In reality, the guy we rented to was the guy right below me in seniority, and made a damn good salary. Wife and three kids, it was a subsidy from a corporation. He got inexpensive rent...we were assured of someone in the area to respond to any oil field problems. A good trade.

This is how the site ended up. I saw it everyday, and didn't notice how crappy it looked, but it was in the middle of a crappy looking neighborhood. We had to put in the chainlink to keep people off the property, the area was getting a little scary and because nobody wanted to see oil wells, we put slats in the fence which gave them an easel to paint on which made the city bitch at us about covering up the graffiti, hence a crappy looking fence.



If this field were still producing, and I had anything to do with it, I would have proved that oil production and people could continue to coexist.

Live Blogging The 4th

I'm going to sit in my front yard and describe the fireworks show taking place about four block away from my house.

All times PM PDT

8:45: It's dark already and all they've done is launch a few concussion bombs about 45 minutes ago.

9:03 : It's finally got going

9:05: OOhh!!

9:10: Aaahhh!

9:15: Long boring pause, must be the ground display stuff that I can't see, I'll run inside and get a couple more beers.

9:25: OOhh!!

9:30: Aaahhh!

9:35: Long boring pause, must be the ground display stuff that I can't see, I'll run inside and get a couple more beers.

9:40: Still paused...maybe I'll walk up there...NO, remember, six beers already and get up for work at 3:30 AM.

I lied. I wrote the above just to fill time until the show started.

It got going at 9:20 and was over by 9:40, I guess times are tight. It was a good show, 95% involved aerial stuff that we could see, just a big lack of those really cool flash/concussion ones.

Hope your 4th was a happy one and your hangover doesn't need the whole weekend to get over.

Happy 4th - 232 Years And Still Going

I can't put into words how blessed I feel to have born in this country. I hope I appreciate the blind luck of where I was born with all the freedoms handed to me to the same degree as my friends at the Rott and other blogs that emigrated to this country.

Talk about being born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

It astounds me that these people who've grown up in Britain, Denmark, Russia, Australia, and many, many other countries keep saying "Look, I lived there and did everything I could to get the the U.S.A." They know about the history and laws of my (our) land than I do. It can get downright embarrassing.

I also have to mention the many that are still in far away lands that say that when of if the opportunity arises, they would leave their homeland and come here in a heartbeat.

I have to get up at 3:30 AM to go to work tomorrow, but I'm going to take a lawn chair, "some" beer and sit in my front yard tonight so I can watch the aerial show put on at the High School about 4 blocks above my house. I may fall asleep when they do some of the fancy ground displays, so I'll have my cell phone with me and the alarm set to go off in time to go to work.

A couple of things I ran across today, some may not be attributed because I was at work and bouncing on and off the net, but if I found it at your site...thanks.

Found this at Hot Air. Imagine, the fight in Iraq is going so badly that they managed to get 1,215 troops re-enlist in Baghdad on Independence Day



God bless them all.

This from Penn and Teller:



An excellent point, but when I see someone burn my flag, I know it's just a cloth symbol, but I really want go jihadi on their ass because it is an insult to me. They are saying they reject and renounce everything I believe in. They don't want to change it, they want to destroy it and build something else.

You always here that freedom isn't free LC 0311 crunchie I.M.H. (or just crunch if you're on his good side) posted about what our founders put on the line by signing the Declaration of Independence and what happened to them.

Independence Day, the Cost of Freedom

What these men put on the line and suffered for their commitment to freedom and fairness is more than I could ever imagine.

Finally....Something to remind us of why we still have to fight to maintain our freedoms, our sovereignty, our (maybe) too comfortable way of life.



GOD BLESS AMERICA, LAND THAT I LOVE

George Carlin

I know I'm late on posting about Carlin's passing, but I had multiple feelings about it.

He was a comic that covered a lot of untouched ground.

My first impressions of him where during "That Was The Week That Was" sometime in the '60's as the "Hippy Dippy Weather Man". Next was the "Seven Words" routine.

He started out as observing society and pointing out where we imposed silly rules about how we talked or dealt with life, but as he (and I) got older, I started to see a viciousness in his routines and I didn't like it.

Of course someone else said it better:

Remembering George Carlin

by L. Brent Bozell III
June 26, 2008

I've become a curmudgeon, but I love my country and like most of the people in it. It just seemed that Carlin took it that step further and started to dislike the country and the people living in it.

Do You Sell Used Cooking Oil?

Since the price of gasoline crossed $4.00, I have been getting an increasing number of phone calls that are just annoying the hell out of me!

Phone Rings...Most likely this occurs when I'm at the farthest point in the yard, so I walk quickly (no more running for me, that ended about 3 years ago when I tripped over my own feet and went down. Took me two weeks to work all the pains out) hoping whoever is calling will let it ring more than 6 times.

[Note: I am polite throughout the conversation, just getting a little exasperated as it progresses]

ME: [answering phone] "Name of Company" Oil.

CALLER: Who's is this?

ME: "Name of Company" Oil, may I help you?

CALLER: Do you sell used cooking oil?

ME: No. This is a crude oil facility.

CALLER: You don't sell used cooking oil?

ME: No, sorry.

CALLER: Do you sell new cooking oil?

ME: NO, as I said this is a CRUDE OIL facility.

CALLER: So, you don't selling any cooking oil?

ME: No.

CALLER: Do you know someone that sells used cooking oil?

ME: No, sorry.

CALLER: You don't know anyone?

ME: NO! I told you this is a CRUDE OIL FACILITY. What makes you think I'd know where to buy cooking oil, used or new, outside of a supermarket? [then being helpful] Maybe you can try "restaurant supply" or "recycling services" in the Yellow Pages.

CALLER: Do they sell used cooking oil?

ME: I haven't a clue, perhaps you should call them and ask.

CALLER: So, you don't sell used cooking oil?

ME: [AAARRGGHHH!!!] No! I hope you find what you're looking for, good luck.

CALLER: [click]

I admit, to a certain degree, I milk it. Most of the callers seem to be in their late 60's+, but they made me drop what I was doing and scurry across the yard, so I'm willing to sit for two minutes and go through the routine...again.

For most of these guys I'd be willing to bet that if they converted their vehicle over to running on used cooking oil, the cost of conversion added to the price of used cooking oil these days (nobody gives it away anymore), they wouldn't outlive the the investment costs.

Where Did Hell Did I Go?

Twelve days since my last post. I knew five had gone by, but the other week is just a blur.

The first five were my long change and I had made plans with my boy to get a jump on cleaning out the storage shed that my garage had become. In 1996, when the new guys bought my old company and I was made manager, I ended up working 14 to 18 hours per day, seven days a week, During this time, when my wife wanted to move something out of the house, it got stuck just inside the garage door. As the front got blocked, the stuff got pushed back until there was just a path around the table saw and over to my completely cluttered work bench or past the table saw to the back down the right side.

Typically, the time I decided to do this project the temperature went from mid 80's the day before to 105 to 112. I figured getting going around 7 AM would be good to beat the heat, but have you ever tried to get a 19 YO at that time of day? We'd be going by about 8ish and by noon to 1, I'd call it quits.

He did work diligently and we made a major hole in the stuff. It was a lot of sorting and the pile of crap to keep or toss was growing faster than I could make decisions. I'm a pack rat. but know from experience that the thing that has been sitting around for 4 years taking up space with no idea of what the hell you're ever going to do with it so it gets tossed, is the exact thing you will need in two weeks to complete a project.

Returning to my regular job, the temps dropped back into the mid 80's. I had one regular day, followed by a non-relief day where I had a twelve hour shift. On this day, the Division of Oil and Gas (DOG), after a year, decided to change some of the requirements for operation of a couple of our injector wells (the two best of course), the foreman was busy with a guy trying to get our pipeline plan up to date, so I had to figure out which wells we could keep running and still get rid of the water using the formulas of which wells produce the most oil and least water, balanced by which wells that produce enough gas to keep the that system flowing so our LTS (Low Temperature System) didn't freeze up. Then just to make life interesting, the Gas Company got pissed at us about something and turned of the readout that tells us the readings on inerts in the gas.

In order to sell gas, we have a ranges set to keep their automated valves open. The are parameters for BTU's and inerts (must be monitored closely), and CO2 and H2S (not usually a problem).

Without the reading on inerts (Gas CO) and wells getting turned off (DOG), it's been this was a fun week where intuition and juju played a big part in keeping things going.

It's been a fun week.

When I go back on Thursday, the foreman is on vacation so I get to look forward to two weeks of 12 hour shifts, being one of the guys from our site has to go over to our 23rd St. site to do line integrity testing.

Some good news, Thursday (float) and Friday are HOLIDAYS....double time shifts with 4 hours OT each day. The two things that suck are 1) I'm working days, so no shift differential and 2) by the time taxes get figured in, I'd probably take home more with just two straight eights.

For anyone who comes by on a semi-regular basis, thanks for not giving up. I really lost track of the time.

Making Friends

A benefit of blogging is the new people you get in touch with while playing around. Over the last week or so I ran into two people with sites cool enough that I think you should drop by a visit.

For unapologetic pure no holds barred patriotic Americanism try TexasFreds.

The other blog is just a nice guy who blogs like I do. Day to day stuff with some politics thrown in Cary at The O Word

Now let's see if I can remember how to add people on my blogroll.