grumpynlovinit

apparently....

2009-03-30T18:46:00.001-05:00

Having been a community organizer who can speak well qualifies you to run multi-national automotive companies. Who knew????

reaction

2009-03-26T15:52:00.006-05:00

The reaction over the last weeks to the AIG retention payments is curious to me. For several reasons.

1. Compensation for employees of AIG is necessarily based on market forces, as with any job. Supply of qualified labor, and demand for the same. Meaning if AIG had not offered compensation as they did, someone else would have. Then we'd have outrage against Company XYZ instead.

2. Goals for employees of AIG were necessarily driven by market forces. Their company exists to use money to make more money. The decisions they made and the products they sold were driven by the need to provide return on investment, for funds that were held by or at the very least affected millions of people.(a good many of whom would have been 'outraged' had their 401K's not performed) I don't remember hearing outrage when those funds were successful. Furthermore, had they not provided returns as they did, another manager or company would have.

3. Those receiving retention payments were employees. Unions propose to provide a better life for their members, better job security, and higher wages. It seems curious that they would begrudge the employees of AIG the same. Apparently if you join a Union, there will be some sort of ceiling to your earning potential, since we are so 'outraged' at the employees of AIG.

4. It is almost a certainty that every single person who is currently 'outraged', would not turn down a job offer paying the amounts received by the AIG managers. It would sound like this... "why thank you for that generous job offer, but I can't accept, because I believe I will be over-compensated". I just can't see it happening, and therefore any outrage is just jealousy.

5. If the compensation received by AIG employees is too much, how much is not too much? Who gets to decide this? Can 350 million people agree on this? Where is the line between over-compensation and fair compensation? I know I don't qualify to make this decision that will affect the freedom of others.

Do I agree that AIG did the right thing? I don't know. I wasn't there and I certainly don't believe all the one-sided information presented on radio, television and newspapers. (after all, what could be better for media companies than fueling a good 'outrage' once and a while?) Do I believe the AIG employees are evil?? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Are they more fortunate than others? Possibly. Did they work hard to get where they were? Certainly. I have never had to manage billions of dollars that affect millions of lives, but I know that should I be asked to, I'd want some serious compensation.

As for the use of taxpayer money, who's to say that had those managers not stayed on at AIG, that we'd be on the hook for much bigger losses costing much more than 165 million??

To me the current 'outrage' is simply confirmation that most people believe whatever they are told, and for the most part act like sheep.

still waiting....

2009-03-25T19:10:00.001-05:00

Been listening left for two weeks..... still waiting for data.....

liberal month

2009-03-13T20:24:00.004-05:00

So I am a bit biased towards conservatism. However. I thought I'd better listen to the other side for a while. For the next month my truck satellite radio will be set to America Left. In the last two days I haven't heard anyone put forth any reasonable, data-driven arguments, other than the need for better regulation and oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Today I heard lots of talk about the Employee Freedom of Choice Act, and how it MUST be passed to protect American workers. What I don't understand is what data is being used to support the fact that it WILL support American workers. I believe the opposite is true, and it will lead to fewer American jobs.

Being in management, I might be biased slightly anti-union. But there is a reason for this, and data to support this. I respect employees, and any good company does the same, union or not. Unfortunately, most of what I see out of a union is their attempts to do less work for more money, and their protection of poor performance. This is supported over and over again by the increasing inability of US and Canadian manufacturing to compete worldwide. There is a huge empty factory in the town in which I am working that stands as a monument to union achievement. (on the other side of the coin, I am sure there are non-union companies out there that do not respect their employees, and for them I have no sympathy should their workforce organize)

I do think if a union is truly interested in the success of a company, they can be a positive force, and they keep management and their own union members accountable. I have no problem with this, and in fact I welcome it. But that doesn't seem to be the norm.

I will continue to listen patiently to America Left.... maybe someone will present some data that shows more union power = more competitiveness globally, and will lead to more American jobs.

too funny

2009-03-09T16:35:00.002-05:00

This photo isn't funny until you wonder where the guy in the 'soup kitchen' line up got the money for his cellphone. I absolutely love Rush Limbaugh's comments... and I quote... "Mrs. Obama serves at a soup kitchen, while the poor, suffering, starving masses...snap shots of her with their cellphones. Just like the Great Depression!"

Poor, suffering, and starving... probably only has a 32" TV at home, can't afford that 50" flat screen like all the other poor people have.

more bias

2009-03-05T09:34:00.002-06:00

from the news...

"Donald Rieck, executive director at the Center for Media and Public Affairs, said the Obama team, which studies have shown received far more favorable press treatment during the campaign than its rivals, is apparently having trouble acclimating to a more critical press post-Inauguration Day. "

What, are they just noticing now that there was a huge media bias prior to election day??

People are like sheep.

question

2009-03-04T15:15:00.001-06:00

I saw a sign the other day advertising 'Environmentally Friendly Mosquito Killer'.

My question is, when were mosquitoes declared extraneous to the environment, and by whom?

bias

2009-03-03T20:21:00.003-06:00

So yesterday just for shits and grins I opened the politics page on both CNN.com and Foxnews.com

CNN had a lead story about 'green' jobs fixing windmills, while Fox had a lead story about President Obama signing away another 400 billion of taxpayer's dollars and breaking his campaign promise of 'no earmarks'.

Not a word of this bill signing to be found on CNN. No wonder I call it the Communist News Network.

On another topic, I just about fell off my chair laughing at this.

i promise

2009-01-29T21:11:00.000-06:00

i promise to blog once every 2.5 years.

yikes

2006-08-06T11:12:00.000-05:00

As evidenced by the picture below, there are a lot of pictures on my puter. 17,095 pictures, or almost 28 Gigabytes worth.

Wonder how I am going to find time to look at them all?

Threshers

2006-08-05T16:54:00.000-05:00

Hopped on the motorcycle today and rode over to the Western Illinois Threshers meet.

Never seen so many tractors in one place in my life.

So I took a few pictures. (146 to be exact) Here's three of them. A few more on Flickr in case you care.

Then I rode home.

Home Alone 2

2006-08-04T14:14:00.000-05:00

SO

My family left again, second time this summer. First it was three weeks over there in Canadaland, visitin' family and whatnot, and now they are off to Michigan, to visit good friends made while we lived there.

BUT

I'll be staying home, to look after the dogs, and take care of that pesky annoyance called work.

HOWEVER

I am glad my wife and kids have the opportunity to do stuff like this. They'll have a great time with their friends.

AND

Our two boy dogs and I will have fun driving our girl dog crazy by not picking up after ourselves, not washing our paws before dinner, farting loudy whenever we want, drinking beer having burping contests, etc etc etc....

:-)

delinquent

2006-07-24T22:18:00.000-05:00

Yes, I've been delinquent lately with the bloggin'.

BUT, I post to Flickr almost everyday. A photo-blog if you will.

They say a picture is worth 1000 words, so the way I figure it, I post one pic on Flickr its like blogging for 3 months. :-)

Besides, its summertime. Most of the time we're outside, dying of the heat here in the midwest. Who wants to sit in a beautifully cool air-conditioned house, blogging, when one could be outside sweating like a pig??

:-)

tonight's clouds

2006-06-29T20:53:00.000-05:00

clouds

2006-06-27T21:20:00.000-05:00

To compete with Paul's pics, here are tonight's clouds in southeastern Iowa.

still vacationing

2006-06-21T08:34:00.000-05:00

Vacation has been fun, so far. Kids have spent hours with friends, swimming, riding 4-wheelers, going to movies, playing at Nascar Speedpark, staying up late, etc etc.

Me I've been riding in the mountains on my motorbike. I've probably riden about 600 miles or so. Lake Lure, Asheville, Mt. Mitchell, and miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in both NC and Virginia. Weather has been most excellent, if a bit hot and sunny.

Up on Mt. Mitchell on Monday it was around 55F, very foggy and extremely windy. I about froze. But back down the hill and it was HOT. Same deal yesterday - probably about 80F up in the mountains, and a scorching 95F down in the lowlands.

Today we are changing home base. Friends of ours have offered us the use of their 38' (yes that's thirty eight feet) long camper that's parked at High Rock Lake. Should be enjoyable, if not really camping.....

Vacationing

2006-06-18T08:24:00.000-05:00

So, we are vacationing. Which for me means high-speed internet in hotels!!!!! I am in sensory overload.

But anyway, we left Friday, after work. Of course after several quiet weeks at work, this past week a bunch of stuff is happening, and I had to leave it. Murphy's Law. But the vacation must go on, so here we are.

The drive from Donnellson Iowa to Salisbury North Carolina is what I'd consider a rather long one. 916 miles, to be exact.

It all started with me loading my Honda VTX1300R motorcycle on my little utility trailer. While I've carted my motorcycle all over the country on a trailer in the past, it has always been a rather lightweight sportbike that I've carried. 'Twas a bit of a surprise loading my great big pig of a Honda on the trailer this time. Much longer and heavier machine than I'm used to. But it got on there, and tied securely.

Then Friday afternoon, all the way from Donnellson, through St. Louis and on to Paducah Kentucky, we drove into the most brutal headwind, little Ford Explorer saying 'I think I can' all the way. For the first 90 miles we used 1/2 a tank of gas....holy crap was that a headwind.

The next day, heading east from Paducah towards NC, through Nashville and Knoxville, the aforementioned headwind became a crosswind, wanting to swat us off the highway.

Not until we got to God's Country, (NC) near Asheville did the wind finally calm down.

But we made it. Young son is already installed at his best friend's house. It was the first place we HAD to stop when we arrived in Salisbury. (which was good because I had help unloading the pig Honda and got to park it in the garage there..)

ANYHOW, its time to move along now - the International House of Pancakes is calling to me from across the road......

More later on this Father's Day.....

kennelized

2006-06-12T21:40:00.000-05:00

It appears that our dog kennel is working.......

(actually we were in the process of building it to house Izzy the Black Tornado Dog, but old Hankthedumbasaboxofrocksdog decided to use it before it was finished)

All Over

2006-06-10T22:14:00.000-05:00

It is finished.

one more day

2006-06-08T22:01:00.000-05:00

I have one more day of climbing left.

After that its all downhill.

Better grease the wheels, gonna pick up speed now.

Goodbye 30's, hello 40's.

May ThirtyOneth

2006-05-31T20:59:00.000-05:00

May thirtyoneth. Last day of school. Mom's vacation is over. Kid's vacation is just starting. Remember when you were a kid? Summer was all 'weeeeeeeee' and 'yahoooooo'!! Our lads, so wonderfully photographed today by my wife (see above) will now go to bed long after us old folks retire each evening. They get to look forward to a trip to North Carolina, and several weeks hanging out in Onterrible with friends and family. (check out Warren's shirt in the pic - says "I smile because I have no idea what's going on".... and he wears that to school...)

I get to go to work every day.

In other news, it was my Dad's birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday Dad!! I celebrated his birthday yesterday with an 8 hour round trip to Kansas City for a 20 minute meeting at Ford's assembly plant there. Unfortunately, my Dad doesn't live in Kansas City, so I didn't see him there. :-(

And, if my friend Mike in Michigan should ever happen to read my blog...I have a question for him..... "HOW LONG ARE THOSE MEETINGS WITH HUMAN RESOURCES????". Yesterday at about lunchtime he said he'd call me after a meeting he was headed to with HR. I am still waiting.......

Memorial Day

2006-05-29T16:56:00.000-05:00

Today is Memorial Day, observed all over the USA. For some of us, it means a day off work, for others, its just another day. I took the picture above of a cemetery in Fort Madison, Iowa, this morning. Beautifully decorated in honor of Memorial Day.

But for many, it is a day to remember what might have been. A day to remember young, invincible and optimistic men and women, who went off to war and never came home. A day to feel proud that they gave their lives, but also a day to feel sad or angry, because of a seemingly senseless loss of young life.

Memorial Day was first observed in 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery, and the tradition continues today. In 1915, Moina Michael, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields" wrote this to remember soldiers on Memorial Day.

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

So today, I shall take a moment and think of these men and women, heroes, most of whom never lived half as long as I have. I am in awe of them, and their commitment.

I thank God for those who have died on our behalf, and may He bless those who are left without sons and daughters, fathers and mothers.

weather

2006-05-24T20:41:00.000-05:00

What on earth is up with the weather?? We go from barely tolerable spring weather, to a forecast of 93F for the Memorial Day weekend. Bloody 'ell. That's bloody hot, that is.

So much for spring. Swimming pool is already up to 74F after the blast of heat we endured today.

And its gonna be Taylor Hicks, I reckon.....just a few minutes to go.....

Anniversaries

2006-05-22T21:49:00.000-05:00

A pic from a few years back....I think it was May 22, 196?

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!!

Snoopy in Black and perhaps another thought or two

2006-05-20T21:52:00.000-05:00

Doesn't this dadgum black dog (Isabel) remind you of Snoopy doing his little dance thingy?

The kids were in a tree, hanging a Sprite box (wassup with that?) down, and Isabel was determined that she should have the box. She eventually got it. The dog has so much energy that if I can figure out how to tap it, I think I could heat the house next winter with it. She more than makes up for the other two lumps of dogs. The other two dogs are long past caring what the kids do - they live to eat and poop.

A confusing moment the other day, for me, watching CNN. A lovely heartwarming story (which in itself is rare on CNN) about flying a young Afganistani boy to the US for surgery, cuz if he didn't have it he'd die. I fully expected the next story to be how many Afgans died in some kind of UN raid or something. While I think its wonderful to save this young lad's life, one has to wonder if his life is being saved just so he can go back home and be killed by ordinance from the same country that just shelled out megabucks for his surgery. It just seemed odd to me, that's all. I found it mildly ironic. Regardless, I hope the young lad does well. Who knows, maybe he'll grow up and become a huge influence in his country, and be instrumental in bringing peace to his people. It could happen I suppose.

Tomorrow, the high schoolers graduate at the school across the road. Apparently its quite the deal. Should be something for us old folks to sit in the swing in the front yard and watch.

toast to variation

2006-05-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

So, I got to thinking on the way home from work today, which is rare. But anyway.

In manufacturing, our whole focus is the reduction and/or elimination of variation. Variation is the scourge of manufacturing.

However, variation is everywhere in nature. Can you imagine if all flowers were identical? If every tree had the same number of leaves, precisely? If we all as humans were identical? If everyone's farts smelled the same??

So why is it that we try so hard to eliminate variation? I am glad we have variation.

So let's all raise our glasses in a toast to variation. May your next beer taste slightly different.

Illiteracy

2006-05-17T21:10:00.000-05:00

I was amazed today at the level of computer illiteracy that exists in the world today. Today at work, we had some vendor-type people in to present some blather about their company...yadayadayada. Both were engineers of some kind involved in the designing and building of equipment, all of which would involve programmable logic controllers and probably some editable text programming. Both representatives had the inevitable Dell laptops.

It took these guys literally 20 (count them, twenty) minutes to figure out how to get a file from one laptop to the other, using a USB portable memory stick. They had to move the file because they couldn't figure out how to make the screen show up on the projector. (it worked with one Dell but not the other). Dude 1 needed a file on Dude 2's computer, but Dude 2 kept copying the SHORTCUT to the file to the USB stick, rather than the ACTUAL file. DOH!!! A basic concept in computing - the shortcut (in Windows) or the alias (in Mac or Linux). But these engineers just didn't seem to have a grasp of the concept. That USB stick went from one to the other Dell at least 15 times.

I almost busted out laughing. I would have helped them but I was having too much fun watching them.

At this point, I think I could design some pretty wicked equipment if these guys can do it....

Frightening

2006-05-16T21:21:00.000-05:00

How'd you like to wake up from a nap in the van and see this??

Yikes. As luck would have it, the truck ahead was being towed backwards....whew....

Spent a couple of days in Janesville Wisconsin on business. Lovely town. Looks like every other town I've ever visited. All the same franchises, hotels, etc etc. (yawn)

For Mothers of Boys

2006-05-13T20:29:00.000-05:00

I wrote this, because my Mom had to raise two boys, as does my wife. I believe this sums up raising boys.....

Each night, on the edge of their beds
Frustrated with who they were today she sits
And yet
So proud of who they are tonight
She hopes
For their tomorrow and they
Know they are loved.

Happy Mother's Day. Us guys love you.

choir enthusiasm

2006-05-09T21:07:00.000-05:00

We went to the elementary school choir concert this evening. It was well done. The music teacher gets all the kids excited about the music, as evidenced by the picture above. (they were singing 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' at the time)

Lots of fun. Other than the fact that it was about 90F in the gymnasium. (we don't believe in air conditioning, apparently....)

Des Moines River in Athens

2006-05-06T22:36:00.000-05:00

Colin and I went riding again today. On the motorcycle. (lest anyone had the silly thought that we might be riding bicycles, or horses). It really should have been Warren's turn to go riding, but he was too busy helping Mom paint the edges of the swimming pool.

We rode to Athens. I always thought Athens was in Greece, but as it turns out, its in Missouri, just across the Des Moines River near Farmington, Iowa. We couldn't find the Parthenon, but we did find a cool civil war historic site, complete with a small museum, gift shop, and people in period costumes. We'll have to go back there again and hunt for that dadgum Parthenon...... :-)

The picture above is of the Des Moines river, taken from an old restored civil war era home that we wandered through.

Hair Removal

2006-05-05T22:46:00.000-05:00

The older lad decided that today was the day that all that hair should be trimmed a bit. He's all lightheaded now.

Ordinary?

2006-05-04T21:56:00.000-05:00

Every month we still receive the newsletter from the Bereaved Families of Ontario. Some very amazing people run the southwest chapter.

Anyway, this poem was on the back page this month, written by Sasha Wagner, and titled "Ordinary?". I liked it.

This is no ordinary spring at all
It dances on with unbecoming weather;
Now more like winter than December was,
And then again as soft as early summer ....

This is no ordinary spring at all
It meets your heart with unexpected dangers;
now with the loneliest of memories,
And then again with unforgotten laughter ....

This is no ordinary spring at all
This is like life itself, a changing season;
Accept the wintertime of grief, and then
Reach for the hope of summer and healing.

Haulin' Ash

2006-05-03T20:21:00.000-05:00

This boy was haulin' ash down the highway today, north of Kansas City, Missouri, on highway I35.

We were haulin' more ash, however, cuz we done passed his ash.

So......

2006-05-02T20:32:00.000-05:00

Kat McPhee, or Taylor Hicks????

Puddle

2006-05-01T21:30:00.000-05:00

This is my wife's puddle. No wait, she called it a pond. She has spent a lot of time on it, and I think its looking very nice, as puddles/ponds go. Very inviting place to sit and enjoy a cup of expensive coffee after dinner. That is, of course, as long as the dogs are imprisoned in the garage, otherwise a relatively peaceful time becomes absolute mayhem.

So for a moment, imagine there are no dogs about, and you can appreciate the puddle.

Notice the mischievious ceramic frogs.... wonder what they are up to????

Will and NumNums

2006-04-30T14:50:00.000-05:00

Meet Will and NumNums, our resident chinchillas. They've lived with us for quite some time now. They were annoyed that they weren't represented on my blog. So here they are. Its amazing how different they are, even though they look pretty much identical. One is calm, and enjoys handling, the other one bounces off walls, literally. But they are cute and fun to watch. For this picture they were posing in a glass aquarium while their mansion of a cage was being cleaned. We'd let them out during cage cleaning, but holy cow its a chore to corral them again. Fast little bouncing critters for sure!!!

Pea Ridge

2006-04-30T14:17:00.000-05:00

Colin and I grabbed our Nikons today and hopped in the old Chevy. We drove to Rand Park where there is a civil war re-enactment thing going on. The Battle of Pea Ridge or something like that.

It was pretty cool. People all dressed up in period dress and such. Big guns. What could be cooler? We didn't stay for the actual battle, but we took a bunch of pics. Some of mine are over there on Flickr ------->

Here's a couple more - one Colin took of me taking a picture, and the other I took of him.

Eeegads

2006-04-28T21:15:00.000-05:00

Eeegads, we have a teenager in the house. Colin turned 13 yesterday. I must have blinked at some point, cuz last time I saw him he was trying to open his eyes in the delivery room.

Anyway, he's grown up some since then, I didn't really recognize him. One more year, and if we're still in Iowa, he'll be driving a car. (he thinks he'll be driving my old Chevy, but we'll see about that)

So, Happy Birthday Colin!

On a different topic, I finished reading Martha Grimes' book, The Old Wine Shades the other night.

I love Martha Grimes' books, and this one didn't disappoint, even if it was a 'slightly' formula Grimes book, another Richard Jury mystery. Her characters come alive to me, and the humor is excellent. In this story there's even a dog, Mungo, and a cat, Shoe, and in several chapters the story is told from Mungo's point of view. (And of course while Mungo the dog has the microphone, he delights in telling us how he hides Shoe's kittens on her, just to watch her frantically looking for them). And in typical Grimes fashion, the plot is very twisted, and the ending leaves you somewhat confused, meaning you really need to read the book again to actually understand the outcome. This I like, because I will gladly read the book again. And again. And again. Many of her books I have read many times over.

I look forward to the next Grimes book.....

travel

2006-04-24T20:50:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a near-perfect day in southeastern Iowa. (as my son says ..... nothing's perfect). It was in the high seventies, very slight breeze, not a cloud in sight. Not one. Not even a wisp of one.

So, first off, I took my wife for a motorcycle ride, about 20 miles worth, to Montrose and back. We've lived here almost a year and she hadn't been to Montrose!! (she can't say that again)

Then, on the way to Montrose, she spied a greenhouse or two. SO, back home, hop in one of the trucks, and back to the greenhouses we went. I took one of my cameras of course, and took pictures of all the colors. Why do they call them greenhouses?? There's a lot more color than just green in them.

After that, my son Colin wanted a ride, so we rode into Keokuk, hung out at the lock, and watched a barge being lowered. Sorta cool to watch. Then we rode up to Rand park, sat about for a while, then rode back home the back way along the Mississippi.

Then, later on, I took off on the bike by myself, and rode about another 45 miles, visiting the wee towns of Franklin and West Point Iowa. They aren't too far from our home, but I'd never been there. Lots of beautiful old homes. West Point has a very neat and tidy town square and park. A beautiful ride.

So, only my young son didn't get to ride, but I'll catch him up next week! We'll ride to the Schmek Forest, and over to Farmington. Maybe breakfast at the little restaurant on the DesMoines River in Farmington.

Just a few pics from the weekend are over there on Flickr, of course ----->

Wires.....

2006-04-22T18:11:00.000-05:00

Don't ask. I just thought it was cool.

Secret

2006-04-18T11:01:00.000-05:00

Pssssssst.....in case you didn't know.....its my brother's birthday today.....

Happy Birthday Tim!!!

(he was born just before Bryan Adams had all that fun in the summer of '69, so you figure out how old he is....)

favorite store

2006-04-17T20:00:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite store. My Dad and I drove there today, 70 miles each way, just to wander around this store. We didn't buy anything, which if you know me, is a miracle. It takes amazing self discipline. But I prevailed. Lots of stuff I wanted to buy......I mean that's gotta be why the store is called Best BUY isn't it? You're supposed to buy stuff....

Then after working up a huge appetite strolling around BestBuy, we dined at Bennigan's, where I took the following picture, just because I could. I ate some huge Cuban Monte Christo sandwich that had to have been deep fried in the fat from at least 3 pigs. Groan.

Mom and Dad are leaving tomorrow :-( Its back to the regular routine. Go to work. Come home. Go to work. Come home. Go to work. Come home. Get up the next day and go to work. You get the picture.

happy ladies

2006-04-17T18:23:00.000-05:00

Doesn't take much to make these girls happy. That's my mom on the left, and my wife on the right, happy as larks, riding around sightseeing along the Mississippi. They were like a couple of kids back there in the wayback seat, almost had to stop the truck and make them walk.

after dinner music

2006-04-16T18:20:00.000-05:00

I've just eaten enough food to not only choke a mule, but rupture his intenstines as well. At least it feels like I've eaten that much, although I have no data on how much food it actually takes to choke a mule.

We had turkey. Is turkey appropriate for the Easter Holiday? Or should we have had rabbit?

Anyway, that's not important right now. What is important is that I've put recordings of old blue eyes, Frankie Sinatra himself on the table radio. I am slouched on the couch, listening to him sing Moon River, and watching the ladies clean up the kitchen. It is probably the most relaxed I've felt in months. (yawn) (burp) 'scuse me.

Hopefully I don't fall asleep before the cake and coffee......

art??

2006-04-15T20:46:00.000-05:00

Result of the cottage industry today. My lovely wife made this. Ain't it purdy?

But is it art?

industry

2006-04-15T10:04:00.000-05:00

A cottage industry has sprung up on my kitchen table. Too many ladies in the house.

lazy

2006-04-14T19:12:00.000-05:00

Ya, I've been lazy this week, haven't blogged. We gots guests here for Easter, so I might not blog this weekend either. But you can visit my Flickr page - I tend to update it quite regularly on weekends.....

Here's a pic from today. Me and my mom about to go riding.

Full Day

2006-04-09T18:24:00.000-05:00

Today was a full day of stuff. Started before breakfast, for some reason I got up, and left the house just before 6AM. (normal on a workday but not on a Sunday). Anyway, I hopped into the Pickle and drove down to the Mississippi at Montrose IA, and watched the sun come up. Took 158 pictures. Some are on Flickr over there -->

I have finally had to put my new digicam's battery on the charger for the first time since I brought it home. Over 600 pics, and it was still goin, but showed low battery so I recharged. 600 shots is pretty liberating, compared to the 100-150 I am used to getting between charges.

Then, I finally found time, no wait, I mean energy to change the oil in the Pickle, and fix that annoying anti-freeze seeping leak at the thermostat.

AND, I washed my motorcycle, and took it for a ride into Fort Madison.

And we grilled sausages while the kids floated in an inflatable boat in the freezing cold, filty swimming pool.

Took lots of pictures today, well over 200, which is in the area of 500Mb worth of pictures, or half a gigabyte. Won't take long to fill up a 100G hard drive at that rate....good thing there's another 200Gb available on the desktop downstairs.

Prom Night?

2006-04-08T20:14:00.000-05:00

Its prom night across the road at the school. Crap there are a lot of cars over there. Hope them highschool kids have a fun (and safe) prom. I don't think I even went to my prom. Either it wasn't as big a deal in Canada, or I just didn't care to go. I can't remember. I am sure that if I had gone, I would have been on the fringes anyway, since I wasn't part of the 'in' crowd. Whatever. It was a long time ago.

Today we were required to go to Iowa City to Red Lobster. Mr Young Son insisted that this is the place he wished to go for his birthday dinner. So off we went. Walked around the Coralville Mall for a while, and decided there are just too many dadgum people in these cities. So, we left the mall, and went to the big Red L at about BluePlateSpecial time, 'round 4pm. Got a table right away!! (holy cow are we getting old or WHAT?). By the time we left the place was PACKED with city folk. We had to leave.

Got home and saw this......

Fashion, Baby, Fashion

2006-04-07T19:33:00.000-05:00

If you are a gadget geek, this has to be one of the best fashion accessories around. I won't be buying one anytime soon.

It was red day on my Flickr page. I posted a 'boatload' of Ferrari red pictures.

Happy Birthday!!!

2006-04-05T20:48:00.000-05:00

Yup. The long haired freaky kid had his birthday today. 11 years ago he had less hair, and wasn't as opinionated.

He picked his own cake, from the store....ewwwwww. He didn't want Mom to bake one. So we choked back some of this multi-flavored cake. (it was awesome...don't tell Mrs. Grumpy I said that...)

Happy Birthday Warren!!!

tri-holer

2006-04-04T20:52:00.000-05:00

Its perfect!! The perfect accessory for our home. Us three men, me and my two super-pooping sons can sit side by side, read MacWorld, Rider, or National Geographic and poop worry-free. No more 'oh no that's gonna clog', or 'dang I missed the bowl'. No more reminders to 'put the seat down' or 'you forgot to flush'. Placed strategically, we could even enjoy the sunset while we poop. Real male bonding for sure.

But, can one get a mortgage on an outhouse? What are the tax implications of adding an outhouse? What kind of foundation would I need? By pooping in an antique outhouse, would I encite the anger of the Outhouse Preservation Society? So many issues....

I think I'd better go sit somewhere and think about it....

Ride on

2006-04-02T20:51:00.000-05:00

First real ride of spring today. Fired up my filthy Honda, and rode about 30 miles this afternoon. 'Twas a lovely day. Should have washed the bike as well, but I didn't. Couldn't be bothered. Did enjoy the ride though.

Of course, I always have my camera with me, so once again, here's a couple of pics.....

road trip

2006-04-01T20:44:00.000-06:00

I went on a road trip today with my son Colin. We had fun. I always have a camera handy, so here's a couple of pictures that Colin took.

A cult Classic??

2006-03-31T21:48:00.000-06:00

I bought this CD the other day. Its very entertaining listening to my two sons trying to sing along to it. But try they do. As I understand it, this movie has already become sort of a cult classic. Themed sleepovers, group viewings, interactive movie going.

I must admit it is a very catchy soundtrack. Particularly the tune 'Get Your Head in the Game'. If you haven't seen the movie, its worth a watch, if you can catch it on the Disney Channel.

The musical scene to the tune 'Get Your Head in the Game' is outstanding - choreographed basketball, very very well done. Many many practice hours to put that scene in the can.

Internetitus

2006-03-29T21:09:00.000-06:00

Had a bout of internetitus tonight. Our dial up internet wouldn't connect. Error 718, it said. Very serious. Second cousin twice removed from the bird flu.

So I found a phone in the house, somewhere. Never use the thing, so it was a little dusty. But anyway, after rifling through several drawers and cabinets, I also located another dusty item, a phone book. (I was gonna look up the number for Iowa Telecom on the internet, but DOH!!, the internet wouldn't connect.....) Called Iowa Telecom, went through about 1600 menus, you know, the 'if you want to hear these messages in Russian, press 1, pazhalsta' and after all that I got a recorded message saying...and I am paraphrasing a bit here...."golly but you might be experiencing a prollem with yer password and login and stuff, but after we get done the farm chores, we'll get right on it, so don't worry".

Sure enough, just after the sun went down, we were able to connect again. Apparently error 718 isn't fatal.

The Pickle, and Spring

2006-03-28T21:36:00.000-06:00

It is now officially spring at our house. I have moved my truck to the side of the garage that does NOT have the automagical door opener, and moved my old Chevy to the side that DOES have the automagical door opener. The significance of this cannot be understated. Coupled with the knowledge that I am extremely lazy, it means that now my old Chevy (lovingly referred heretofore as the Pickle) will be my primary means of transport to and from work. Because I refuse to get out of the car to open a garage door on a daily basis.

The picture below was taken while we still lived in the beautiful state of North Carolina. Notice the sunshine. The picture was taken in March. We haven't seen much of the sun here in Iowa this March. (sigh) And since I made the drastic 'garage bay swap' the rain hasn't stopped.

So the Pickle has been rained on every day.

And tonight, the Pickle was subjected to 20 minutes in a Ford dealer parking lot, while I waited for Mrs. Grumpy to meet me there with the truck. (ya so I am a little late getting the servicing done on the truck......I was supposed to get it there BEFORE 36,000 miles, but oh well)

Nonetheless, for all the neglect and abuse the Pickle takes, it still runs a treat. Kids think its 'da bomb', and they don't have to wear seat belts cuz there aren't any!! (how did all those kids survive the 60's?)

And of course it is SUCH a chick magnet....... :-)

write

2006-03-27T21:00:00.000-06:00

I can't think of anything to write. So here's a pencil, and some paper, write your own blog entry.

Eeeeeeek!!!!!

2006-03-26T17:16:00.000-06:00

You can bear witness to the end of my warranty.......

Zealots....Macs, and WindowsXP

2006-03-25T09:37:00.000-06:00

Once again I am amazed at the 'cult' of Mac. I browse the Macintosh group on Flickr, because I love pictures of Mac hardware. Mac makes the most beautiful computer hardware in the world in my opinion.

But I ran across this picture in the group on Flickr.

His caption on the pic just amazes me. I quote....

"A few small benefits of dual booting Windows XP on an Intel Mac is being able to use websites that require IE 6. "

OK, so let me get this straight. In order to use websites designed for Internet Explorer (the most widely used web browser in the world at this moment) I must reboot my Mac into WindowsXP.

Oh ya, that's ease of use for ya. Macs 'just work' they say. Sure. As long as you don't hit a website designed for Internet Explorer. Gosh, that'll never happen, will it??

(I'd still love to have a MacBook Pro....just don't take away my WindowsXP machines)

Warranty

2006-03-22T20:20:00.000-06:00

It getting very close to that banner day. The day my 2004 F150 Ford truck warranty runs out. I have approximately 137 miles left before I click over to 36,000 miles. (The picture above was the day we brought it home, October 17th, 2003)

(biting nails)

Something just has to break soon. I've had no problems with the truck yet. So I reckon I'll get it in for service at 35,975 miles, and ask them to fix something, anything, to ward off the after-warranty demons.

Or, I could just park the dadgum truck for the next year, and drive my old Chevy.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmm....

2006-03-21T20:08:00.000-06:00

While my brother was here visiting, we had some interesting discussions about the relative merits of the Mac operating system, and the Windows operating systems. (both of us being gadget geeks, it was an inevitable topic). While I use both systems, and like both systems, it seems that most Mac users are zealots. Meaning there is no room for anything else. So why is it that no sooner does Apple introduce a Mac using an Intel chip, that the first thing Mac guys try and do with it is install WindowsXP??

And what about this?? What kind of free country are we living in, when one could be shot dead for walking on a neighbour's lawn?

I'm Sick of It

2006-03-20T19:26:00.000-06:00

Its true, I am sick of it. Not sure what it is, but it's kept me in bed for two days. Any longer and I might develop bed sores. I would imagine it was all the stress of having my brother visit....HA!!! NOT. We had a great time. We'll at least I think we did. I pretty much went to work every day. But my brother says they'll come again sometime so it couldn't have been too bad a visit. Of course, my wife fed us like kings so I'd be glad to have a return visit from bro, just for the awesome food. :-P

Added some stuff to iTunes while Tim was here...

The album 'David Allan Coe at his Best' by David Allan Coe
The album 'Every Breath You Take: The Classics' by The Police
The album '72 and Sunny' by Uncle Kracker
The songs 'Follow Me' and 'Drift Away' by Uncle Kracker

Dawg Gone It

2006-03-18T18:11:00.000-06:00

Somehow, I allowed this to happen. We have a new addition to the zoo here at the house. It seems that two dogs are not enough. We must have three.

So here she is. She needed a home or her current owners were going to have to ummmm, you know, ummmm, kill her. We couldn't let that happen now, could we? Her name is Isabel, (Izzy) and she's some sort of blend, lab and australian shepherd, or something similar.

Cute huh???

Picture Post

2006-03-18T10:23:00.000-06:00

Since bro is visiting, I can't be bothered writing much, but here's a couple of pics.

Worth 1000 words....

2006-03-15T21:38:00.000-06:00

Gotta love this pic....

Well....

2006-03-14T19:12:00.000-06:00

Well, my bro and fam are here. They arrived despite the recent tornadoes, etc, that have been frolicking around the midwest.

However, my bro looks like maybe the trip took its toll on him.....

Tabbed Browsing...better late than never.

2006-03-11T22:44:00.000-06:00

Microsoft has finally added tabbed browsing to Internet Explorer. Only about 4 years late but hey, better late than never, I suppose.

Internet Explorer 7 is available as a Beta 2 at the moment, and I am trying it out. So far so good, used it all evening with only one glitch.....I couldn't upload the photo you see below. (back to Firefox for now...)

We had a taste of summer here today. It was downright hot. Almost 80F. Too hot. Fortunately its cooling back off to the mid-40's for next week. There were some very cool cloud patterns this afternoon. I tried to capture them...they are over on my Flickr page.

Big tornado watches in effect here tonight and tomorrow. So if you never see another grumpy posting you'll know what happened :-)

Anchor Vote

2006-03-09T20:10:00.000-06:00

So I took a poll, collected votes for best anchor on CNN Headline News.

Three people voted. Me, Myself, and I. The votes were tallied and verified by a counter of some sort, and the winner is pictured below, goes by the name of Robin Meade.

Ain't she purdy? But holy cow she must get sore smiling so dang much. What on earth is she smiling about, as she reports nothing but bad news??? How do you smile while reporting that another 75 people died in 45 new ways today?

The gal below (Adrianna Costa) gets my vote for the worst makeup on CNN. You'd understand if you happened to see her this morning. Looked like an 8 year old helped with the makeup. It was almost as pathetic as the Entertainment News on which she was reporting. At least she's got a reason to smile - she's probably having trouble not laughing at the crap she has to report about so-called celebrities.

I figured since my last posting was waaaay too serious I'd lighten it up a bit today....couple of pictures of pretty gurls, and some drivel about news.

I found it entertaining, at the very least. :-)

Rather profound, I thought.....

2006-03-07T20:26:00.000-06:00

Finished up reading the Third Secret last evening. I thought the following little blurb was very profound. This little blurb was in a letter from the fictional Pope (Clement) to his trusted secretary (Colin). The words belong to Steve Berry, the author of the book.

"We are merely men, Colin. Nothing more. I'm no more infallible than you. Yet we proclaim ourselves princes of the Church. Devout clerics concerned only with pleasing God, while we simply please ourselves."

Applies to all of us I suppose, whether we are Pope or not. I know I go about my daily life pleasing Me as much as I can.

The Third Secret

2006-03-06T20:08:00.000-06:00

I am reading this book at the moment. Well, actually I am typing this at this moment, but when I am not typing, or watching BBC America (its Monday night...BBC night) THEN I am reading the Third Secret.

Its all about the Message of Fatima. You want some heavy reading, read this from the Vatican.

Luckily, the book I am reading is a novel, written in such a way that I hate to put it down, and I can't wait to find out 'whats happens' at the end. I am on page 297 of 376, so I am getting close......

Oh ya, and I added the album 'Number Ones' by the BeeGees to iTunes the other day. Been jivetalkin ever since.

Academy Awards....NOT

2006-03-05T17:31:00.000-06:00

The Academy Awards are on tonight. I not gonna watchem. I don't have to. And you can't make me. Besides, they are on ABC, which, if you'll remember correctly, only arrives at our home via antenna. Besides, they are all people that put their pants on every day same as me. Besides, who wants to watch a bunch of rich overpaid people participate in a mutual admiration juggernaut? Besides, most of them are ugly without their makeup on. Besides, there's a repeat of Cold Case on that other channel.

Boy did I add a bunch of pics to Flickr today. I fired up my Linux puter, and found a bunch of older pics on there, so I posted some of 'em. It was raining here today, so what else is there to do?

And I always knew my friend Paul was from outerspace. Here's proof.

Kids in the Car

2006-03-04T20:18:00.000-06:00

Today, on a ride to Burlington and back, I snapped these two pics blindly from the front seat.

Sums up two personalities perfectly. Happy go lucky in blue, too serious for his own good in yellow.

And it looks like I could use a shave.

Error

2006-03-03T21:27:00.000-06:00

Hmmm, I felt sure I would be called on the fact that there are two number 4's in my previous post. But apparently, nobody reads it that carefully, and for that I am grateful.

I think holidays are over-rated anyway.

Been driving the big truck again lately, although I have no idea why. It uses gasoline at an astonishing rate. Although the little truck is by no means parsimonious with fuel it IS less ghastly at the pumps. But the big truck has the V8 and that Magnaflow exhaust - it just sounds COOL...so as they say 'if you wanna play you gotta pay', so I pay, just to hear that V8 sound I love so much.

Hols

2006-03-02T20:11:00.000-06:00

Trying to decide where to go and what to do for our hols (holidays) this year. Several immediate choices come to mind.

1. Stay home. Relax. Swim in the pool. Enjoy the sun. Maybe do some work about the house.

2. Go to North Carolina to visit friends, and perhaps ride the motorcycle about the mountains. An awkward proposal, since all 4 of us cannot go on the bike, and yet, if we go to NC, the bike IS coming with us. So that means I either have to drag a trailer all the way to NC, or ride the dang thing. I dunno.

3. Go to Onterrible, Canada. Visit all manner of relatives. And even more friends. (at least I think they are friends, they seem really nice). Go from house to house to house to house.

4. Go to Michigan. Visit friends there, maybe camp. While there, check out some touristy things we never did see when we lived there.

4. Go somewhere where nobody know us, and just camp. Like maybe drive over to Colorado and look at some mountains or up to Minnesota to check out the mosquitoes.

Might be easier to just work.....

In other vacation news, my brother and his family are taking some vay-cay and visiting Iowa the week after next!!!! And they've decided that since they'll be in Iowa, why not stay with us??? Wooohooo!!!! We shall have a good time. I MIGHT even take a day or two off work.

Memories

2006-02-28T10:45:00.000-06:00

Written by my Dad.

Morgan Leah Bailey Feb 20 1992 – Feb 28 1997

We see a cheerful bubbly teen
Full of life and joy and love
And wish that's how she could have been
But it's ourselves we're thinking of.
For though we feel tremendous sorrow
She's free from sadness and from pain
We'll see her on some glad tomorrow
And never say goodbye again

Sadly missed and lovingly remembered by Mom and Dad, Colin and Warren, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins

Coffee and Cousins

2006-02-27T20:31:00.000-06:00

My dear cousin Joy tried unsuccessfully today to make her US resident cousin feel bad because he can't have Tim Horton's coffee. But she was wrong. He can. And he does. See??

Had an interesting multinational lunch today, with a guy from Hanover Germany, and another guy from Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. Amazing how small the world is.

Might type more later but at the moment I must watch BBC America. Gotta watch the show 'Conviction' (wonder where NBC got the name for their new show, eh?) and the show 'The Night Detective'. I find british television series' much more interesting than most US television series'. The brit shows make you think to participate. I don't feel like I am being treated as a complete idiot when I watch brit tv series'.

Salsa!!!!

2006-02-26T20:04:00.000-06:00

This is the best salsa in the world, in case you didn't know. And we haven't ever seen it in stores except in Michigan. Until TODAY!!! My wife and I were wandering the Hy-Vee grocery store in Fort Madison, IA and there it was!!!!! The day was not a total loss.

While we were out, I had to buy some new pants, because since I don't smoke much anymore, all my pants are shrinking. Not sure how they know I've stopped smoking, but they do.

And because I was feeling old, buying larger pants, I bought the cd called PCD, by the Pussycat Dolls. Some good exercising music for sure. I hope my wife enjoys it while she's working out.

And on the back of Cheezit crackers there was a free download from the Walmart music store, so I downloaded the tune 'Unwritten' by Natasha Bedingfield.

And I posted a bunch of pictures on Flickr today, so should you have trouble sleeping, you can always slide over to my Flickr page....

Exciting Evenings and Completely Unconnected Thoughts

2006-02-25T20:08:00.000-06:00

A typical evening....if you glance over my computer screen, you'll see my wife in front of her computer screen, and way off in the distance, you'll see a television screen. No children evident, as they are in the basement enjoying the large screen TV.

Exciting, huh?

At least the 'Roller Derby on Ice' is on TV tonight, otherwise known as Olympic Short Track Speed Skating. What a riot. Push, shove, trip, do whatever it takes to win....

The dryer is fixed. Thrilling news.

I drink tons of coffee. Doesn't seem to make me any less slothful and lethargic. I think caffeine is over-rated.

I haven't added any music to iTunes in a week or so, I hope it doesn't go stale. Why does my one year old iRiver mp3 player look like brand new, and my 3 month old iPod Video look like its been in Iraq for a year?

Why does my dog (the younger, smart one) have to pee on everything within a 200 yard radius of our house, and the older, dumbasapost dog won't pee unless you scare it out of him?

My truck took over 24 gallons this morning when I filled it with petrol.

I think the pic below is my favorite picture of the kids ever. Taken years ago, on summer vacation, on the side of highway 401 in Ontario. Trailer had a flat tire.

Lessons

2006-02-24T21:45:00.000-06:00

My sons and I took this pic to post on the Flickr Macintosh group. All the Windows laptops gathered around to learn from the Mac.

Small things amuse small minds.

And while typing this, this song started playing in my ears from my mp3 player. Sometimes random play catches me off guard. This song makes this grown man cry.

:-(

When He cometh, when He cometh
To make up His jewels,
All His jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.

Refrain

Like the stars of the morning,
His brightness adorning,
They shall shine in their beauty,
Bright gems for His crown.

He will gather, He will gather
The gems for His kingdom;
All the pure ones, all the bright ones,
His loved and His own.

Refrain

Little children, little children,
Who love their Redeemer,
Are the jewels, precious jewels,
His loved and His own.

Refrain

Unimaginable

2006-02-23T20:20:00.000-06:00

Its unimaginable. (is that a word?) I was reading CNN today, and there was an article about the White House Report on Hurricane Katrina. Here's one sentence....

"The White House study took a softer approach than a scathing House report issued last week, focusing on proposals to fix problems without singling out any individuals for blame."

AMAZING!! And very likely constructive. Maybe there is hope.

And here's something else unimaginable. It was 'drive your tractor to school day' at the Central Lee Schools. Since we live directly across the highway from the school, my wife was able to capture a couple of images for your viewing pleasure. You know you live in the boonies when you seen stuff like this.

Dryer's Broke

2006-02-21T19:28:00.000-06:00

Got a call at work. My cellphone buzzed and it was my dear wife. She said "the dryer's broke". (well, she was more articulate than that, but I am allowed to paraphrase cuz this is MY blog)

This is the dryer that's broke. Note the note. There's a button you push and the dryer starts doing its dryerly thing, drying stuff.

Only in this case, when you push the dadgum button, the dryer starts, then immediately stops when you let go of the dadgum button. And furthermore, lest you are thinking 'well why not just tape over the button to dry the clothes?', the heating element doesn't fire up while you are holding the button.

So, I did the obvious checkup. Tested the power to the unit, and dug out the troubleshooting manual from the back of the unit.

I stared at the schematic for a while, and I do believe I know what's broke. The symptoms fit a busted motor relay. (or it could be the electronic control, although I don't think so). Nothin' I can fix without a lot of swearing and collateral damage.

The dryer is only 8 months old, so Sears is gonna fixit. Of course, they can't fixit until Friday. Good thing we have a clothesline.....

Not So Happy Birthday

2006-02-20T19:54:00.000-06:00

Its Feb 20, the day our daughter Morgan was born. 14 years ago. Unfortunately, we'll never know what she'd be like at 14. She only made it to 5, before leukemia took her.

So I imagine what she'd be like. I believe she'd be sweet, like her mom, but stubborn, like her dad. I imagine she'd have her brothers toeing the line. I imagine by now she wouldn't have a whole lot of time for us parents. I imagine I'd be proud of her, no matter what she had become.

I imagine lots of things about her, but that's all it is. Just imaginings. Nobody knows what she'd be now.

But today, we know we'd celebrate her birthday.

Happy Birthday Morgan.

Mom and Daughter

2006-02-19T17:07:00.000-06:00

Lousy scan, beautiful picture, happier times.

huh??

2006-02-18T22:45:00.000-06:00

OK now I've seen everything....

the iBelieve for your iPod shuffle.

Good for a laugh, at any rate.

Can I help ya?

2006-02-18T16:26:00.000-06:00

Today, we made the trek into Walmart, once again. Son #1 had saved up enough money to buy an iPod Nano - he didn't like the iRiver any more than I did, apparently. So anyway, that's incidental to the story here.

First of all, the dude at Walmart that has to get the iPod out of lock-up (funny that, iPods and guns are locked up at Walmart....hmmmm) got us the wrong one. He got out a black 1Gb unit, when what we wanted was a black 2Gb unit. Apple goofed on this one. They are packaged IDENTICALLY with only a wee little number on the top of the box differentiating them. Worse than that however, was the fact that Walmart had no labelling whatsoever indicating that they even carried the smaller 1Gb unit, which is brand new from Apple by the way. So I wonder how many people will buy what they think is a 2Gb unit, be pleasantly surprised at cash out how cheap they got it, then after they rip it open and start playing with it, find out its only 1Gb and not 2???

So the young guy at Walmart was pleased to learn that they carried the smaller unit. Glad we could be of help - I should send Walmart a bill for training their employees.

Then on the way home, we slide into Taco Bell, because I was supposed to try these CrunchWraps or something. Pull up to the order thingy, and a disembodied girl's voice says "Hi How are you?". So I said "Fine". And we waited. And waited. And waited. Finally I guess we made enough noise that the voice said "You can order whenever you are ready".......surely she was kidding....we had enough time to order food for the entire town of Keokuk while we waited. I wished she'd asked me again how I was. My answer may have been different the second time...

My young son summed her up perfectly....he says "Dad, I don't think she's the brightest bulb in the box"......

Added to iTunes today...the album 'BarlowGirl' by BarlowGirl. Liked the other album I have so much, had to buy the other one!!! Good stuff.

Friday

2006-02-17T21:26:00.000-06:00

Well. Remember exciting Friday nights? Always something going on on Friday night? End of the week party night? Stay up late cuz there's no work or school tomorrow night?

For my sons, Friday nights hold that same mystery, and excitement. They are off to a dance tonight, hanging out with their friends, listening to tunes, and watching all the hotties across the room.

Friday nights are different for us old folks. I am enjoying a quiet evening at home watching ice dancing on the television, in the company of my lovely wife. I have to work most Saturdays. I don't wish to leave the house. (although I shall have to get off my butt shortly and out into the -1F evening to pick up my aforementioned sons over at the VFW in Argyle)

Friday night is just another night. (sigh)

I did add a great tune to my iTunes library tonight, which was exciting.

Song is called 'All Will Be Well' by The Gabe Dixon Band. Well worth the $0.99

Oh...and I forgot I added the album 'The Very Best of Sheryl Crow' the other day.

Quarterbacking

2006-02-15T19:06:00.000-06:00

So, how'd you like to be this guy??

This guy has to answer for the US Government's response to hurricane Katrina. All by himself. Scores of people have had months to analyze his decisions, and have decided that they could and would have made better decisions.

Right.

An amazing example of Monday Morning Quarterbacking. Brilliant. One guy in the face of a huge hurricane has very little time to make decisions, affecting megabucks and megapeople, and without knowing all the information. And so he makes decisions and/or choices.

MONTHS later, a bunch of overfed and overpaid (I just made that up - I don't really know that) committee members decide that he made the wrong decisions. And now we have to publicly humiliate him. Perhaps it would have been better if we'd have appointed God Himself as head of Homeland Security, although I suspect even His decisions would have been questioned in hindsight. (I'd put the committee in charge at this point, they seem to have all the answers)

Why can't we just get on with it? Change what needs to be changed and quit wasting shitloads of time and cash shearing the scapegoat.

Confused again

2006-02-12T19:36:00.000-06:00

I've been doing some reading about high speed internet 'penetration' rates, among users of the internet.

In the short time I've done some googling, I've found many different references, with varying information.

One thing seems clear. It would appear that at least as of mid-year 2005, the 'penetration rate' or number of internet users connected with a highspeed connection was in the neighborhood of 50%. Another chart suggested that about 11.4 people per 100 had access to a high speed connection.

So, lets suppose there has been a boom in subscription in the last 6-8 months, and high speed penetration is at a whopping 65% of internet users. With about 60% of the US population using the internet, that leaves somewhere in the neighbourhood of 80 million people accessing the internet via dialup.

So, now on to why I am confused. Almost every website to where one navigates is much more bandwidth intensive than is advisable when using dial up. Why, for the sake of the 80 MILLION people who don't have, or CAN'T GET highspeed internet, don't we have available an alternate page??? A 'slowpoke' site, as it were? But no, we are outcasts.

I just don't understand.

Saturday Morning

2006-02-11T08:28:00.000-06:00

Here it is, Saturday morning. Checked my email. Now I am freaked out.

My wife and I had been looking at some older pictures yesterday, and saw pictures of friends we haven't seen for a long long time, one of whom was LaurieLane. My wife says 'I wonder how Laurie is?'... JUST LAST NIGHT.

And this morning, guess who's posted on my dadgum blog? Uh huh. LaurieLane. If that ain't freaky, I don't know what is. In fact, she probably posted right about the time we were talking about her.

Anyway, I haven't updated additions to iTunes lately. Since I went broke over Christmas, buying music, I haven't added much lately. Here's the wee list.

Album - Daniel Powter, by Daniel Powter. (we liked the song Bad Day so much we bought the whole album)

Song - You're Beautiful by James Blunt.

Video - Beep by the Pussycat Dolls ;-) ( I like this one....)

Song - Cash Machine by HardFi (it was a free download)

I don't get it

2006-02-05T21:33:00.000-06:00

So, today was Superbowl Day. I figured that somewhere on the 300 satellite channels I pay a huge chunk of money for each month, there would be a broadcast of the Superbowl.

I was wrong.

Apparently, we are not permitted by the FCC to receive ABC network programming by satellite transmission. Curious, that is, considering the nearest local broadcaster is 47 miles away. KTVO out of Kirksville MO does not have the equipment to broadcast via satellite, and they won't give permission to allow other broadcasts of ABC in their 'market'. As I understand it, at any rate. I could ask Dish Network to submit waivers on my behalf, and should the TV gods smile upon me, I may (repeat MAY) be granted special dispensation to watch a large market (New York, Chicago, Atlanta, LA, etc) broadcast of an ABC network.

Long story short, NO superbowl on our TV.

Or so I thought.......

My son and I went on a trek to the local Lowe's (45 miles away) and there I found a nice television antenna, that gets mounted outside up high somewhere. (remember TV antennas?....they are soooo quaint). We had such a device here at the house when we moved in, but it blew over one day, and having never used it, we didn't replace it. (shows you how important ABC network is, eh?? We didn't miss it for 8 months)

I installed said quaint antenna as shown below.

And Voila!!!! We had ABC on the TV, looking not bad at all.

So, we got to see the Superbowl after all! Pittsburgh won, like I knew they would.

PIssed Off

2006-02-03T20:22:00.000-06:00

Ok, so if anyone else can read this, great. I can't. I seem to be able to write a posting, login to the dashboard, etc, but cannot view my own blog.

I can view everyone else's. Just not mine. I tried all 6 computers in the house, all the same. Tells me I'm forbidden from accessing the server.

I'll try this... http://blog.360.yahoo.com/jamie3529gq

Later eh.

just a sunset

2006-01-31T20:00:00.000-06:00

Just a sunset picture, taken this evening. Nothing more, nothing less.

To Bose or Not to Bose

2006-01-30T21:04:00.000-06:00

Bose, the company, spends megabucks on advertising. It is likely that in the deep impenetrable forests of South America, the natives have heard of Bose.

'Tis almost a cult thing. 'Specially this Wave Radio that they just FLOG on the TV, and NEVER lower the price. But somehow they make you think that you absolutely must have one, and you'd better buy it now or you'll lose out.

Sure they sound nice. But.

This sounds nicer, and cost $150 less.

Do ya think that maybe Cambridge Soundworks spends a little more money on their products, and a little less on advertising??? Hmmmm.... I wonder....

CD Promo????

2006-01-30T20:39:00.000-06:00

Does this look like a promo shot for a new CD or what?? What shall we call them??

Auke and the Angels?

disappointed

2006-01-28T21:24:00.000-06:00

Well, my dear friend Mike is unable to host his annual Superbowl party this year, due to commitments at work.

Contrary to a recent post by an unnamed blogger I do not enjoy work. It's not that I detest work, its just that it cuts into my leisure time so drastically. And now 'work' stuff has cancelled the annual superbowl party.

So I am disappointed. However, we shall have a superbowl party right here at our little house in Iowa, nevermind Mike and his work crap. :-)

In other news, I bought this the other day, just for fun.

Well, it ain't a 17" Powerbook, but it is 17", and was less than half the price of a Powerbook. Has the same hardware config too, big old hard drive, dual layer DVD burner, etc etc etc. And it has a cool orange lid. Just no cool Apple on the back of the screen, or MacOSX operating system. Can't have everything. It does have a beautiful 'Truebrite' screen, and will run 4 hours on a battery charge. It'll do.

Seriousness

2006-01-26T20:18:00.000-06:00

I tell you what. You start surfing blogs, and yer head will start to spin. Holy crap there are a lot of serious people out there. How on earth do they stand themselves?

All these serious topics (serious to them I guess) they are discussing, will they really matter 2000 years from now?? I doubt it. But gosh they work themselves into a frenzy over stuff.

Am I in a frenzy over these serious blogs? Hmmmm. I dunno. I do know that its incredibly entertaining to read some of the stuff in blogs, filtering it through the 'will it matter in 2000 years' filter.

Or, try reading blogs through the 'I expect I will not survive this day' filter, or the 'I will likely not wake up in the morning' filter.

Suddenly most stuff just doesn't matter anymore.

Odd how I get like this as February approaches.

And another question I've never had a good answer to. A lot of blogging is dedicated to 'emerging church' stuff and 'anti-emerging church' stuff, and 'It says so in Scripture' stuff, and 'God said it it must be true' stuff. BUT

WHO decided that the printed words that we today call the Bible, are the only words inspired by God?? Hmmm??? Do you suppose it was a good Baptist that decided that? Or maybe an emergent that was WAY ahead of his time? Or a group of guys in the old boy network that thought, 'By jove, that's it lads'.

I mean WHO.

Not only that, but I thought this picture I took today was interesting. A lot going on in it.

fun with Windoze

2006-01-24T17:51:00.000-06:00

Been playing with some stuff. Making Windoze look more like the lovely Aqua interface used in MacOSX. Not completely successful, but it certainly looks better than the usual Windoze interface.

Fun Fun Fun.

Mrs. Grumpy got her wise teeth pulled out today. She looks like a chipmunk. And she was acting rather drunk as we left the hospital....which is funny cuz she never drinks alkeyhall.

I intend to take some very close up shots of her extracted wisdom teeth, just to post here on my blog. Something to look forward to.

And here they are!!!

:-)

movies

2006-01-22T20:18:00.000-06:00

Last evening we watched (or rather endured) the movie War of the Worlds. The new one, with Tom whatshisface in it, and that little girl, ummm, Dakota somethingorother.

What an absolutely lousy movie. I couldn't wait for it to end. It had no plot that I could discern, no moral message good or bad, no real decent action that didn't seem contrived. And the continuity team could have spent some more time, cuz some of us watching aren't as dumb as posts. (as an example, assuming Tom had the only working car, and was almost killed when it was stolen from him, then how did all those cars get parked so neatly on the ferry just up the road???)

I do believe I can say it was the worst movie I've seen in years, perhaps in my lifetime. Its only redeeming feature was Dakota, and even she did too much fake screaming.

So, check it out. I dare you. Watch it and tell me its worth the plastic in the the disc its burned on.

And tonight we are watching the Panthers get spanked by the Seahawks. Its been a bad weekend for television. (sigh)