OshKosh B'Gosh

You're looking at an image of a PART of Wittman Field at OshKosh, Wisconsin, where the
EAA Airventure 2010 will be held starting Monday.
The photo doesn't do the event justice. Real Estate at Wittman Field gets covered with flying things pretty quickly, and the overflow of flying machines ends up at airfields at Fond Du Lac and Appleton, Wisconsin.
Seaplanes wet their floats or bellies at the seaplane base on Lake Winnebago.
Me? I'm driving up with my friend/former student Mick. We'll leave home base at 4 A.M. and hope to arrive OshKosh around Noonish.

I've been twice before but my last visit was in 1994, so I need a recharge.
Normally there's not much excitement at OshKosh for a Helophile. This year however I'm a interested in seeing what Sikorsky has to offer...
What appears to be a full-scale version of a remote control helicopter...
A Schweizer 300 with electric power!

An acquaintance is flying up with his two(!) DC-3's to join another 50 or so "Goony Birds" in what will no doubt be one of the largest gatherings of this neat old machine since WWII.

We're arriving relatively early Sunday so we can get a feel for the lay of the land, then hit Wittman Field early on Monday and Tuesday to see all we can see. We'll be headed home Wednesday. I'll have my netbook with me and will blog if the inclination strikes me.

So...
Are ya goin'?
See ya there!

Liberals-

Thin skinned.
Controlling.
And when you make a point, they change the subject and don't acknowledge it.
This country is headed for a real catastrophe 'cause you can't discuss any subject logically with 'em.

Just Cool:

Freedom of Speech?

Well, maybe.
Are you a Conservative?

Brown

I was moving mulch when I heard the sound of the truck coming around the bend...
Once again, Brown was delivering another order from QVC. This happens often enough, I'm on a first name basis with driver "Tim". It's easy to forget... the only thing Tim delivers is boxes, not first-class mail, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised how little he knows about me personally.

"You plan on moving that whole pile today?"
"No, I've gotta quit in a few minutes and get a shower. I have to fly with a student at 4."
"You're an instructor? I've always wanted to fly helicopters. I fly a R.C. helicopter."

I quickly produce and hand him a business card.
"You have a REAL advantage, Tim. R.C. guys learn to hover in no time at all... it's just a matter of visualizing yourself inside the cockpit!"

"My schedule is full for the next couple months, but I could probably start in September."
"Great! Late September through October is the best flying weather anyway, once the morning fog burns off. I can probably have you soloed in a couple weeks!"
And Tim smiles.
He looks good, smiling in his brown uniform.
He'll be fun to teach.

Fat. Lazy. Self Centered.

I asked for it.
Tree trimmers were in the area cleaning up debris left by a storm with high wind that brought a tree down on top of my neighbor's garage. I asked if they could dump a load of mulch in my yard and they said they would.
They dumped it in our side yard, right where everyone driving by could see it. Sara Jean was furious with me...
"That pile of crap will be there forever!"
I promised her I'd have it gone in almost no time.

So I got out yesterday and started moving it. We have 40+ trees on our 2-1/2 acres, and grass and weeds grow near enough to those trees that we have to get out with a trimmer now and then to clean them up for appearance sake. I pile the mulch around the trees and it controls the problem... no more weeds, and the mulch around the base of the trees actually looks good.

Yesterday was another scorcher.
After fifteen minutes of scooping mulch into the wheelbarrow, then moving to individual trees, I was soaked and shed my shirt.
Another neighbor from down the street drove by with her daughter on board, headed toward town and both waved. When they returned an hour later she slowed and shouted, "It's too hot to be working like that!"
I smiled inside.
She's morbidly obese.
Her daughter is gettin' there.
Yeah, it WOULD BE too hot for them.

Walk with me into town and take a look around at what you see.
In our town, the vast majority of folks are overweight.
A large percentage of those are seriously overweight.
Far too many of them are morbidly obese.
Why?

I know...
This is a subject that's been beaten to death by folks smarter than me...
The availability of fatty, sugar laden foods.
Machines now doing much of the labor we used to have to do.
TV.
Computers.
There's no question all this stuff contributes to the problem.
But a big part of the problem is discipline... or lack thereof.
Doing what I want with this mulch is hard work. And yeah, it's hotter than a firecracker. But it has to be done, and I'm the one that's gotta do it.
GET TO WORK!

When I look around and see the problems facing our country today, so many of them can be related indirectly to the subject of this post...
We've gotten fat, lazy, and we're too self-centered.
And if you're fat, it's even harder to do what is necessary to get the job done.
(Someone else can do it. It's TOO HARD for me!)

Hope and Change.
We voted for a guy who promised it last election.
Problem is, he can't change US, and that's really where the change has to happen, isn't it?

Deep breath...
I'm heavier than I want to be. Whose fault is that? Who can change that?

There's work that needs to be done. I'm sitting here typing on this infernal machine while that pile of mulch is sitting out there mocking me.
Who's gotta move it?
I DO!

Let's get off our butts, my friends.
There truly are important changes that need to be made... in our government... in our personal lives.
Who can make those changes?

I can.
You can.
Do it.
Start now.

Batman!

Saving Federal Dollars?

For years I've wondered about this.
I'd like to see the size of our Federal government reduced. If that can be done in a way that won't stop it from doing its job, that's good, right?

Consider this...
At the Federal level we have lots of folks involved in Law Enforcement:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The U.S. Marshal Service.
The Secret Service.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
The Drug Enforcement Agency.
And I'm sure there are some I'm overlooking here.

There has to be a TON of overlap between those agencies. I'm sure all those folks are stepping all over one another's toes during certain investigations.
Wouldn't it be more efficient to combine them to the degree possible? Seems to me combining them under one supervisor would greatly increase the chance the right hand would know what the left hand was doing. And there have to be redundancies...
How many high-dollar jobs could be eliminated at the Federal level?
How much money could we save?

More This N' That

Sunday morning...
Our Saturday was pretty much consumed by the Concealed Carry class.
Saturday night The Old Man and his lovely Missus stopped by on their way West and we took them to one of our favorite "eat too much for your own good" dining spots. Bellies bulging, halfway home Sara Jean said "All I want to do is go to bed", and after letting the furkids out to do their business, that's just what we did. We had Tivo'd The Third Man a few weeks ago so I cued it up, to no avail. We were soon inspecting the inside of our eyelids.
TV off.
Wake refreshed at 8 A.M. intending to get out and get the yard mowed and other tasks accomplished, but there's a line of green/yellow/orange/purple stuff on the radar headed our way.
Go to Plan B...
Sara jean once again "needs" her hair cut. While she's getting even more beautiful, I can go to the big box store and buy STUFF... some that we really need, and the rest?
Well, you know how that is.

This will be a short work-week...
Back to work Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights, I'll rest on Saturday because I'm headed North to OshKosh early Sunday morning with Mick, an old friend and former helicopter Student.
Even if you're not a pilot you ought to go to OshKosh and see this HUGE gathering of airplanes and pilots. There's a great airshow and enough other stuff goin' on to keep everyone entertained.

A little "After-Action" on the CCW class...
The class was taught by a former Marine... a Desert Storm Veteran.
There was another Marine, a Viet Nam Vet in the class. There is a bond between Veterans. The bond between Marine Veterans is even stronger. The Marines, even during the Viet Nam era, were almost all volunteers...
These guys volunteered for the Corps knowing more would be expected of them mentally AND physically. They're members of a special club.
Our instructor was the first guy I've met in years that occupies a spot to the Right of me politically. Guns and our freedoms, especially our 2nd Amendment rights, are his livelihood. He warned us about the way this administration intends to flank the Constitution about those rights-
They'll attempt it via International treaty. The first steps in that process have already been taken. If Obama and the left are successful in this effort, I think Civil War is a near inevitability.

Keep your eyes and ears open.
We can stop this from happening now and begin the process of reversing the terrible path this Nation now finds itself on.
President Soros?
Bite my backside.

CCW Class Update:

We're done.
The permits should arrive in 30 days or so.
We both learned several things.
She learned she was shooting with the wrong hand. Firing left-handed, you REALLY don't want her shooting at you.
I re-learned much I was taught in the military, but also learned my foot positioning has ALWAYS been wrong.

I have another gun to buy-
We're gonna trade Sara Jean's .357 Magnum for a Glock 26...
Reliable.
Concealable.
And enough rounds in the magazine to get the job done.

All in all, a pleasant experience.
Thanks John.

This 'N That, 16 July

I'm headed to BigTown today to meet with two new students. I'll fly with one, and the other wants to talk about flying in the future. He's a high-time Fixed-Winger, and, partly on my suggestion, has decided to get his commercial FW rating before tackling the RW "frustrater".
Like yesterday, it's gonna be a scorcher with lots of water vapor in the air...
Probably not the best time of year to introduce a student to the aggravation of trying to "ride a unicycle while juggling", but things have been SO slow, I cannot turn ready cash away. At least this way I'll know how serious he is about continuing.

A friend called last week:
"I think it'd be a good idea if you brought Sara Jean over and let her shoot a little here first before you go to the CCW class."
So I talked with her about it and she agreed she'd like to have an idea of what shooting the little .22 would be like before Saturday's class. Last night I grabbed a "Bucket O' Bullets" and we went out behind this friend's house, where he taught SJ the basics and let her fire a hundred rounds or so. From this experience we learned two things:
-She'll need to be wearing her contacts on Saturday...
From 20 feet, shooting at center of the belly, she'd have hit an intruder in the heart...
A good start, but she can (and will) do better.

-When it's 90 degrees with 80 percent humidity, outdoor activities aren't much fun.
The experience wasn't a total waste, but it also wasn't the sort of experience I'd hoped for...
I really hoped this was something she'd enjoy so we'd have something to look forward to doing together.

-Oh, and a third thing too...
My eyes have also deteriorated to the point I'm gonna need some sort of visual correcting if I want to once again be good at making holes where I want 'em.

Now, about the new look of the blog:
A relative emailed and says for him the left margin of the text is now jammed against the side of his screen so tightly he's having difficulty reading my posts. For me, using FireFox, there is almost a two-inch space between text and the edge of my screen.
What's your experience? If you're having difficulties, what browser are you using?

I AM AMERICA!

Thanks to ThirdWaveDave-

NASA's New Mission:

NASA apparently has a new mission:
To make Muslim Nations feel better about their contributions of Math and Science to the world.
To this extent, NASA should show how far behind non-Muslim Nations are by asking them to solve the following problem...
A math problem that can be answered easily in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria-

A woman is buried in such a way that she cannot protect her head.
A rock weighing 8 ounces is thrown at her face at a speed of 45 miles per hour from a distance of twenty-five feet.
What is the force of the impact?

Listening To Your Guardian Angels

I'm blessed, and I know it.
With some few speed bumps along the way my life has been a real adventure and in many instances could have had some ugly turns. The fact that I, for the most part, have avoided tragedy or serious complications in my life can be attributed to my Guardian Angels...
They whisper in my ear.
And I've learned when they whisper... I listen closely. Let me tell ya about one of 'em-

I have an interesting, satisfying job. I am blessed to have a talent I can use to help my fellow man while being paid for using it. I try never to forget that when I shut the helicopter down and walk through that E.R. door I may meet the parents of a young person...
Folks who may be having the absolute WORST day of their lives.
It's my job to try and help resolve their troubles.

After 24 years, most of my flights are similar...
Car accidents.
ATV accidents.
Cardiovascular problems.
Head bleeds.
Gunshot wounds/stabbings.
When we're dispatched to pick up a patient who has done something a little different, my mind clicks into gear to try to compose how I'll share that with you here... And there's the problem.
Our patients have the same right to confidentiality all patients have. I cannot share details with you that would give you the ability to determine the who/what/when/where of a situation. I have to describe the flight in such a way that you can't figure out who my patient is.

A while back I had an interesting flight that I thought I'd share with you. I dotted the I's and crossed the T's on the flight, then sat down here and wrote a post to share that experience with you. Like many of my posts, I scheduled that one to publish at midnight. When it appeared on the blog I re-read it to insure it said what I wanted, then checked my email. Waiting there was a note from a friend that said simply, "You up?"
I emailed back, "Yep. What can I do for you?"
He responded... "Call me", and left his number. When I called he said, "I want to help keep you from being sued",
and proceeded to point out how a hungry lawyer might find my post and cause me and my employer considerable pain.
My Guardian Angel was whispering...
I took the post down and substituted another.
I've made a few changes to that post and I'm letting some time pass for the dust to settle. I intend to share that post with you shortly.

That same Angel noticed when I post videos they sometimes overlap my sidebar and cover information there.
He wrote and volunteered to help me change the parameters in my template to keep that from happening. We did that last night and you're now looking at the result...
The things I write now occupy a much wider part of the blog, and I now have room to post videos without overlap.
I like the way it looks. I hope you do too.

Yep, I'm truly blessed to have folks who care about me and want to make my life better.
I'm VERY glad to try and "pay it forward".

And to the Guardian Angel that kept me out of legal trouble, then helped me with my Blog Template...
Thank you SO much! I'm glad you are watchin' over my shoulder.

CCW Class

My procrastinating is nearly over...
We (Sara Jean and me) will show up bright and early on Saturday morning to take the CCW (Concealed Carry Weapons Permit) class. I'm more than ready. Sara Jean, having never pulled a trigger to send a bullet downrange, has her doubts. I'm bettin' (hoping) she'll enjoy herself and want to do more of it when we're done with the class.

I'm told the class will take about six hours. Although the guy teaching the class will bring .22 Ruger Autos for us to use, I think I'll prepare the new Ruger I bought for SJ and let her use it in the class so she can get real familiar with it.

Cabela's emailed me last week and asked if I would consider switching my .45 ACP order from Winchester brand to Remington brand... same bullet weight... same amount of ammunition... same price. I emailed back and told them to ship it out, so I should receive 600 rounds of ammunition to use in my Colt Combat Commander (pictured above) tomorrow.

When SJ has begun to smile while shooting the .22, maybe we'll let her fire some .45 at tin cans too!

Summer Saturdays

Home from work on Saturday morning I told my wife, "It's gonna be an interesting day and probably an interesting night." A mild cold front had passed through Friday night keeping me on the ground all night long while a line of thunderstorms rolled over us. As frequently happens, the T-storms were followed by lowered visibilities caused by the fog and mist that form as temperatures and dew points come together.
I had turned down two flights during the night because of poor visibility in the area.
Saturday was gonna be a different story-
Clear skies. Temps in the mid-80's. A near-perfect Summer Saturday.

I walked in the door to start my shift Saturday night and the faces said it all...
Flight nurse and Paramedic looked tired, but admitted they hadn't born the brunt of it...
"We've had two flights, but all the other crews in the area have been out all day long. And the horrible part? Most of the flights have been for kids"...
A two-year old run over by her own Mother.
A four year old disemboweled after her grandfather lost control of the lawn tractor the two of them were riding on.
A 7-year old "near drowning" incident...
Near drowning is in quotes because EMS crews were able to use CPR to restart the victim's heart and breathing. This is a tragic situation, because young hearts are resilient and WANT to continue beating even though horrible brain damage may have already occurred depending on how long the brain has been deprived of O2.

My forecast for a "butt-kicking" night was tempered by the fact that winds after midnight would be relatively calm and I knew that even though it wasn't forecast, fog would likely be a factor again.

I was barely finished with my preflight when the telephone rang...
"Weather check for a flight from ********* to Capital City."
After I affirm that I can do the flight-
" Your patient is a 37 year old male prisoner with a perforated bowel and sepsis. He weighs 215 pounds. The guard weighs 250 pounds."
We frequently transport prisoners to get the care they need at higher-level medical facilities, and when we do we have to bring a guard along to keep an eye on them. When we arrive at the sending hospital there are generally two guards supervising the patient. While my crew starts preparing the prisoner for transport and the second guard provides security, I walk the guard that will come along on the flight to the aircraft and give him a safety briefing similar to the briefing we all get when flying a commercial airliner...
Normal and emergency operation of the doors.
Fastening/unfastening the seat belt.
Fire extinguisher locations.
Survival kit location.
No smoking, etc.
We then walk back into the hospital to assist my crew as needed.

The flight to the Capital City is a relatively long one... just under an hour. We won't be able to make it home with the fuel remaining, so I ask my dispatchers to call and arrange after-hours fuel at Capital City. They do so, then radio to tell me I may have to wait on the fueler to get to the airport as he has a considerable drive.

At Capital City I do a "cold offload"... shut the helicopter down completely before disembarking the patient, then takeoff to refuel.
I sit on the ramp at the airport for 20 minutes waiting on the guy to pump my fuel, then return to the hospital to pick up my crew. On the flight back home, which takes 80 minutes, we see a noticeable drop in flight visibility. It's almost 1 A.M. when we land back at home base. It's almost 2 A.M. when I finish my paperwork and find the viz all around us has dropped below minimums.

So my "wild day" prediction came true, but didn't extend into the night for me personally although I still logged 2:23 in my log book, with 2:05 of that being Night Cross-Country.
Winds are forecast to stay calm, so viz will remain restricted.
We all hit the hay knowing even if the telephone rings with a request we'll probably be sayin' "NO!" the rest of the shift.

And that's just how it happened.

Catchin' Up, 10 July 2010

Unless you feel some personal connection to me, skip this post... it's mostly mundane.

My garden:
I tilled it late because I couldn't decide how to protect it from Bambi and Thumper. I finally had an idea I thought might work and turned soil over the last week of May. I normally plant seed in week-apart shifts so I can harvest sweet corn and beans until late in the season.
All went well the first couple weeks... my fence seemed to be working.

Sara Jean always makes fun of me because even when I get my plot out early enough, by the first of July or so it's bein' overrun with grass and weeds. Not this year...
On two different occasions I got out on 90+ degree days and weeded the entire plot. Hard work for a couple hours each time, my cutoffs and T-shirt were soaked to me like they were painted on...
Loved it, and the plot looked better than any garden I've ever had. After the second of these instances we went out to eat Chinese and when we returned I took the dogs "potty" around the house into the back forty...
There, in the middle of my garden plot stood Bambi's Mom, watching intently to see how close I would approach. I took out my cell phone to call my wife, but she came around the side of the house before it started ringing. I turned to her and put my vertical index finger against my lips, then pointed to the big doe.
From her mouth... "You've got to be kidding!"
We walked slowly toward the garden, and the doe fled, ducking down to cross under my lowest strand of fishing line, (at about the two-foot level) without so much as stirring it...
Amazing agility.

She had eaten ALL the corn, and had started snacking on the tops of the beans.
In the two weeks since, she and her like have devastated my garden. In addition to the corn and beans, they have eaten all the cucumber leaves. They make their way to within 20 feet of the house to eat the buds and leaves off the tomato plants in my "Topsy-Turvy" planters hanging from the clothesline. (No buds... no tomatoes.)
So it's been a lotta hard work for nuthin', unless you consider fattening up the deer to be a worthwhile endeavor. Still, my fence worked for three weeks or so, and I'm not totally defeated... I think I just need more strands of fishing line, some of it lower than 24 inches, and some mid-way between my low strands and my highest one. That's the plan for next year, along with some sort of "Deer Guard" repellent... I'm told they actually work now.

Change gears- My New Desktop:
Three months ago Big Bubba bought a new desktop computer because he needed bigger/faster/more audio-visual capability. I inherited his old (hardly old, really) one. I was excited, 'cause I knew his old machine was four times the device I had sitting on the desk in my office. I hooked it up with excitement, turned it on, and soon was pulling out my hair...
It wouldn't recognize my wireless router, no matter how hard I tried. After working with it all night, I finally gave up and hooked the old machine back up. The new machine has been gathering dust against the wall since.

A month ago, for reasons I'll enumerate, I decided
to try one of these.
It's a portable WiFi hotspot and supposedly will support up to five signal-using devices. It solves my internet connection problem during traveling...
Airport wants to charge $10/hour for access? Ha.
Go to Destin hoping to hijack someone else's signal while we're there? No longer necessary.

Now the question is, will the new desktop recognize my new gadget?
I haven't had time yet to try, but when my present shift ends I'll once again be hookin' it up and keepin' my fingers crossed.
I'd appreciate it if you'd cross yours for me too.

In November, REMEMBER!

My title, or something close to it, will no doubt be chanted by many at the top of their lungs during September and October this year.
If today's polls are any indication and the R's learn to just shut their mouths and let D's shoot themselves in the foot, we should be lookin' at some real "CHANGE" in our legislative branch in January of next year. And I've been doin' some thinking about that...

There's almost no question republicans will pick up quite a few seats this election. There's even the possibility, however remote, that republicans could take control of the House of Representatives.
The Senate is a different story. Dems will remain in control there, although they'll no longer have a filibuster-proof majority. (The election of Scott Brown in MA did away with that anyway.)

I've been wondering for months now why the Obama administration would implement some of the things they have done that seem SO counterproductive to improving our economy...
More taxes.
More regulation of business.
Takeover of much of the insurance industry, 2/3rds of our auto producers, and control of health care.
In discussion with others I have asked the question-
"If this administration was systematically TRYING to destroy this country, could they do a better job?"

So look into your crystal ball and see if you see a different picture than me:
The November election passes and dems have their butts handed to them. Bozama still has much of his Socialist agenda to ram through, and knows he has November, December, and part of January to accomplish his goals. Lame Duck dems have nothing to lose...
Get-R-Done!

How badly can they screw us?
Well, they can try to pass "Cap and Trade" and other laws that will send energy costs through the roof. They can also pass other "stimulus" bills to put our children and grandchildren further in debt.
What other radical legislation am I forgetting?

I'm frightened beyond words.
Law only applies to this administration if it furthers their agenda.
The end of the year may bring changes that make our country unrecognizable to freedom loving citizens.

Be prepared.
UPDATED: On the subject-John Fund's thoughts.

Twelve!

I mentioned how much I enjoyed "Sesame Street" in my Big Bubba Birthday post...
Unless you have no sense of humor at all, THIS will make ya laugh!

Merle Tells It!

Convicted, Then Exonerated By The Obama Administration

Be prepared!

Health Care Reform

(Stifling the urge to say "I told you so. I TOLD you so. I TOLD YOU SO!")
What a mess this is gonna be if they don't kill it.
Go here.
Read the post. Then read the comments and find out why Doctors will flee their profession like stampeding cattle.

Comments

Two quick comments about comments-
Please be aware of my disclaimer. Remember I'm a prude, and if you use profanity in your comment it won't appear here, no matter how much I agree with you.

Secondly, blogger is messed up right now and even if you have left a comment it may not show up on the counter. You have to check and see if it published.

July 6, 2010

Twenty-seven years ago she got up in the wee hours to go to the bathroom. She came back to the bedside and woke me saying, "I think we need to go". I looked through bleary eyes to see water running down her leg.
The starter was broken on the Fiat 124 so I pushed it out to the point on the road where the ground fell away downhill, then jumped in, popped the clutch, started the engine, and drove back to pick up the Mother-to-be. The drive to the Emergency room took less than five minutes. A few questions, some required paperwork signed, and we found ourselves in an anteroom to the birthing center watching a fetal monitor. We quickly found what data we needed to watch to predict the coming of the next big contraction as they came more and more quickly and got more and more painful.
And we waited.
And waited.

At 9 A.M. we had been waiting over four hours. I'm a breakfast eater... she's not.
To the Nurse keeping an eye on us... "How much time do I have?"

"It's still gonna be a while".

"Honey, do you mind if I go get a bite to eat?"

"No, go ahead"

So I went to my favorite spot and got my usual breakfast. It was a day very much like today... clear, warm, and beautiful. After breakfast I went to a convenience store and bought a local newspaper to give to my newborn so we could all remember what was goin' on this birth-day. (Tell me when you want it son. It's in an airtight container, so I'm hoping it'll be much like the day I bought it.)

When I returned, my belly full and a smile on my face, the atmosphere had changed dramatically...
To help speed up the process our Obstetrician had administered a drug called Pitocin. To say it was working would be extreme understatement...
The Mother of my future progeny was now dreading the approach of each new contraction. At one point she actually said to me, "If you ever approach me with that thing again I'll break it off and hand it to you!"
(Thank God she quickly forgot about that threat.)

Soon, Mom and baby were two separate, healthy beings. At the time, she had a full-time job and I was working part-time, so much of the initial child rearing fell on my shoulders. I became an expert at diaper-changing... learned something she never did... that shoveling food from the baby food jars to his mouth too quickly resulted in almost immediate vomiting.

We went through months of colic where he... and we... were in agony for about an hour each night, and you could almost set your clock by its onset.

The only way we could get him to sleep was to put him in his mechanical swing, which required us to get up every 15 minutes to wind like a wristwatch. During this phase he slept FAR better than his parents.

But soon he was old enough to notice television.
Every weekday afternoon, together, Father and Son watched PBS...
a locally produced children's TV program, followed by "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood", then "Sesame Street".
I learned to love them as much as he did...
Mr. Rogers frequently took us to a factory to see how they made things...
Balloons, trumpets, tricycles, candles.
I knew while watching that I might actually be learning more than he did.

Sesame Street taught us letters and numbers in a way that focused his attention, but sometimes made me laugh out loud at the innovation and brilliance.
And the music...
Simple. Interesting. Frequently beautiful.

I've been looking for it for years...
One of my favorite artists, Buffy Ste. Marie sang it on Sesame Street.
Who knows why certain music impacts us? Partly because I like Buffy a lot... but for me, mostly 'cause I think it's just a neat tune, I've searched Buffy's music for years on "YouTube" looking for this song.
I was looking in the wrong place. I should have been looking under "Sesame Street".
If you're interested, the tune is here.
(What a coincidence that I found it on his birthday!)
Do you remember it son? I'm not at all sure you will.
You probably remember "The Lower Case N" better, huh?

Happy Birthday my son. We're sorry we're not with you on this birthday, but being together for all 26 others is a pretty good record, isn't it? We'll see ya soon!
Do something special for yourself.

We're mighty proud of the man you've become.

The Blues-

What?
You've never see the Omnimax/Imax film devoted to the Navy's Blue Angels?
What's the matter with ya?

Okay...
Go here immediately and see the unbelievable skill displayed by the best "starched wing" fliers on the face of the earth.
No, there's no need to thank me.

Brother Against Brother

I'm sure therapy would help.
But there's a problem-
I'm not at all sure I want the help.
I'll take to heart any comments you leave.

I have a brother, by law.
He's three months older than me.
He graduated High School, joined the Marines, and went to Viet Nam as an Artillery Forward Observer.
In Viet Nam he served at Chu Lai...
Same as me.

With this much in common you'd think we'd be thick as thieves, wouldn't you?
But there is a fundamental disagreement that separates us.
He's from Chicago.
He voted for you-know-who.

We went to visit in October of 2001, just after the Nation had been traumatized. For three days we listened to what an idiot George Bush was... how Dick Cheney was pulling GWB's strings. How the slight economic downturn at the time was due to Bush's incompetency. (Interesting, now that Bozama has been in office 18 months, this economic downturn is ALSO all GWB's fault!)

There comes a point in everyone's life where you have a decision to make...
How much feces do you want to eat?
I reached that point about a year ago and I took care of the problem tactfully...
I told him I was disappointed... that I thought our similar backgrounds would have lead to similar values. I told him I refused to be a slave to government and that his values were diametrically opposed to mine. I've seen him once since, at his daughter's funeral.
And the problem is, I don't care if I EVER see him again.
I'm fearful that if the country doesn't wake up... if it continues down its present path, the next time I see him may be from behind the sights of my .308 Remington.

Our first and second amendment rights are being threatened.
I've just about reached my line in the sand.
I'm heartsick.
Reasonably intelligent people have gotten so used to government cheese, they're frightened of the spigot being turned off.

I know this is a mental illness for me...
Is there a positive way for me to approach this?
I want to quit feeling like Bozama voters are mentally challenged.

Stealing Our 401k's And IRA's

I warned you this administration would eventually get around to doing to us what the Government of Argentina did to their citizens...
"Nationalize" all retirement plans and give us all a U.S. Government sponsored annuity...
A sort of "Super Social Security" account.
Doesn't that sound like a great deal?!
Right now it's still in the planning stage, but believe me, eventually they're gonna do it to us. Here's the language in the "Notice of Propose Rulemaking":

"The Department of Labor and the Department of the Treasury (the “Agencies”) are currently reviewing the rules under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the plan qualification rules under the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to determine whether, and, if so, how, the Agencies could or should enhance, by regulation or otherwise, the retirement security of participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans and in individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) by facilitating access to, and use of, lifetime income or other arrangements designed to provide a lifetime stream of income after retirement. The purpose of this notice is to solicit views, suggestions and comments from plan participants, employers and other plan sponsors, plan service providers, and members of the financial community, as well as the general public, on this important issue."

For further information, details can be found here.

Be prepared people.
When they pull the trigger on this law, you'll have 60 days to withdraw your money to keep them from stealing it.

Off The Scale Cuteness

When Guns Are Outlawed...

In California, who Represents my son?

Bring yourself up to speed on the new piece I bought for Big Bubba when he passed his CCW course last year. We're still trying to find a legal way to put the gun in his hand in CA. Chatting with a Federal Firearms licensee there, BB was directed to this site.
(His new handgun IS NOT listed there, and therefore the "Powers that be" would like it to be illegal in the State.)

Seems to me the operative statement there is in the first paragraph:
"Effective January 1, 2001, no handgun may be manufactured within California, imported into California for sale, lent, given, kept for sale, or offered/exposed for sale unless that handgun model has passed firing, safety, and drop tests and is certified for sale in California by the Department of Justice. Private party transfers, curio/relic handguns, certain single-action revolvers, and pawn/consignment returns are exempt from this requirement."

Look at that last sentence...
"Private party transfers.... are exempt"!
If the gun is a bona-fide gift from me, that's certainly a "Private party transfer", isn't it?
(And of course, all this is changed by the latest Supreme Court ruling isn't it?)

Reliability

"I always thought 'Rolls Royce' was the 'Cadillac' of automobiles."
I cannot remember when/where I was when I first heard that quote but as a gearhead, it amused me.

My generation is old enough to remember when Japanese stuff was junk...
Buy a "Made in Japan" toy and with many of them you could literally look inside and see the labels of the recycled beer cans they were made from.
Buy a car or motorcycle made there?
Not on your (or especially my) life.

In the 1950's, Japanese industrial leaders, wanting a chunk of the post-WWII economic expansion, recognized they had a problem. They listened to and acted on the thoughts of Professor W. Edwards Deming, a man whose ideas improved the quality and efficiency of American industry during, and immediately after the war.
By the late 1960's the Japanese were beating us at our own game. Two years ago, Toyota sold more cars worldwide than GM, Ford, or Chrysler.

A similar thing was happening in the motorcycle world-
I bought my first Japanese motorcycle in 1970. It was cheaper, faster, and more reliable than the only American choice I had at that time... the Harley Davidson. At the time, Harley was hanging on for dear life... it had gone through a couple ownership changes, (one of which was AMF, the bowling and recreational equipment manufacturer), and was making what almost everyone considered to be HORRIBLE motorcycles. There was a joke at the time that the only time a Harley would stop dripping oil was when the crankcase was dry and the engine seized.

Arguably, Harley has turned around. The bikes no longer leave an oil spot beneath them when they're parked. The engines have been improved so they no longer vibrate badly enough to completely fracture the license plate mounting, (actually happened to me)! The paint and overall fit and finish of Harley motorcycles has improved dramatically. I would argue that's because Harleys, (and for that matter the German, Italian, and English bikes too), had a choice to make...
Go head-to-head with the Japanese or go bankrupt. Many didn't make the cut, but those that are still in business are making a higher quality product thanks to that competition.

Have you looked at a new American car lately? A close friend just bought a new Chevy Malibu, and I'm impressed...
It looks great, runs quietly, and is rated highly in expert reviews. If the Malibu is any indication, we've finally made the decision to go "head-to-head" in the car industry too.

Interestingly, while American cars seem to finally be competing in the world market, the Japanese seem to have stumbled a little.
Toyota has suffered a black eye of late with their "unintended acceleration" problems.
Honda has just had to recall several million of their cars and trucks for mechanical difficulties.

Now come the Koreans with their Hyundais and Kias.
Soon we'll probably see Chinese cars being sold here.
What about India... how long before they put their huge labor force to work building things with wheels to sell around the world?

Compete or die.
It's gonna be interesting to watch.

Takin' Care of Business

My Flight Nurse smiled at me huge and said, "You're not gonna believe this!"
(I love this gal... not too far from my age and always a delight to work with.)

"Okay, WHAT?"

"(Her teenage daughter) came to me all excited last night and said, MOM!...
Bachman Turner Overdrive! Ever hear of 'em?!!"

And we both laughed.
The music of the late 60's and early 70's keeps popping up in its original form or in "cover" versions, doesn't it?

We boomers grew up at a great time.

Rumble, Grumble, Flash and Trouble

We awoke yesterday morning to the sound of thunder.
The sky North of us was black. There was lightning in cloud, cloud to cloud, and cloud to ground.
Computers are wonderful things... we dragged this thing out and took a look at several sites to get a feel for what was going on.
North was impossible and gonna stay that way for a while.
There were other storms popping up all around us.
We took off and headed South, hoping to be able to dodge the "popping up" stuff.
Ha.
We moved one bunch of about 75 birds and were enroute to our next location when God said "NO!"
Viz went to less than two miles and we landed. The convoy chase crowd caught up with us and we sat waiting in the rain.
And sat.
And sat.
For almost two hours.
One helicopter, one pilot, one observer, thirty biologists and bird handlers, sitting, waiting for the rain to end and the lightning to go away.
And when it finally did we found a flock of 200 birds, rounded them up and banded those that weren't already wearing a band.

We finally broke for lunch 90 minutes late, and after lunch things didn't go much better...
We found one group of about 200 birds that was on property owned by someone worried about the liability of allowing our group to come do the job we wanted to do. They have that right, and we drove away thinking "maybe next year".
We closed up shop at 4 P.M. and headed for home. It was then I found that somewhere along the line I had lost my cell phone.
I had to laugh.
If you don't have a sense of humor about such things you go crazy.
Come to think of it, maybe that's my problem!

More gooses tomorrow.

Annoying The Geese Again

I'm in the middle of our annual "Goose Chase".
We had a hot and sticky, Thunderstorm-dodging day yesterday.
The question "What's the likelihood of the helicopter being hit by lightning" was asked more than once.
I don't even want to consider it. We came "this close" to shutting down the operation twice in an hour.

But things cleared up and we had a good day. We corraled about 600 birds in five different pushes, and by the end of the day everyone was sweaty, dirty, happy, and thirsty.
The first beer always tastes spectacular in those instances!
More later.

Festival

It's a hot June Saturday afternoon. We're scheduled to land at a festival in a small town, show off the machine, answer questions, and glad-hand with the locals. I love doing these things...
A chance to relax and meet some real people.
My contact information indicates I'm supposed to land on a baseball diamond and gives me a call-sign and frequency for my ground contact.

Five minutes from landing I make the radio call:
"Unit 5410, this is ****3, over."
We get a crisp, clear response, and I tell 5410 we'll be there in five.

Circling overhead we see the Ferris Wheel and a few other rides, lots of booths to sell fast food and crafts, and the beer tent.
The beer tent!
It's right next to where they want us to land.

"Hey 5410, I'm really concerned about landing next to that tent."

"We asked about that and they assured us the wind will NOT be a problem."

I pause, bite my tongue, and think of Murphy's Law.
"Okay. We're turning final now. I'll keep an eye on it. Yell if you see anything."
I brief my crew on the landing and ask them to watch the tent closely.

As we land, the helicopter probably weighs about 6,600 pounds. At the bottom of the approach the rotor has to move enough air to stop both the forward and vertical speed of this heavy machine. We're 10 feet above the ground and our forward motion is almost completely stopped when I see the near corner of the tent become airborne. I grab a huge handful of collective to abort the landing, and of course that moves a bunch more air... and the second pole and tie-down on that side of the tent collapses.
Back in the air orbiting the scene...

"Hey 5410, is everyone okay down there?"

A pause...
"Yeah, no damage here other than to the tent. There are a few red faces though!"

"Got a better idea on a place to land?"

"Why don't YOU pick a spot?"

And I did...
As far away from the tent as I could get.

We Are SO SCREWED.

The thugs are in charge of everything.
The country as we have known it is lost unless this decision is overturned.
God, please help us.

Wow.

Silver- $19.00 an ounce!
Gold at record highs.
The Euro is under great pressure.
Be alert folks.

What Would You Do?

I made the statement at a comment at CJ's Blog today-
"We are becoming a country of wimps."
Bye-Bye John Wayne.
Hello Dustin Hoffman.

Let me propose a scenario and get your reaction to it. And I realize and accept that everyone will react differently. I know my military and (limited) law enforcement experience will definitely affect my response...

You're driving down the Interstate and up ahead you see the flashing lights of a patrol car off the right side of the road... a traffic stop.
As you get closer you can see something odd is going on...
Is that a scuffle?

Closer yet, and things become more clear...
Two people are fighting. The law enforcement officer is trying to subdue a person much larger than himself/herself, and things are NOT GOING WELL.
Obviously, considering the officer has a sidearm, this is a VERY dangerous situation.
(Law enforcement officers are all too frequently killed with their personal sidearm.)
Okay reader... what's your reaction?

Do you stop and assist the officer?
Do you get on the phone and call for help?
Do you stop and then try to flag others to stop and help?
Do you drive on, not wanting to "get involved"?

That's apparently what happened to the cop at CJ's link...
Bystanders stood and watched, offering no assistance to the cop as he tried to subdue two women (both nearly his size) who were getting physical with him. (You NEVER, EVER touch a police officer!)

And that's what scares me most...
Cops do a job most of us don't want to do. We don't want to do it because we know they have to do uncomfortable, sometimes incredibly stressful things in their line of work...
The video shows a cop in just such a situation.
He could have used some help.
None was offered.

What would you do?

Guess Who-

If you watch commercial TV, you know her.

Training Wheels, Part Two.

Pull the trigger!
I frequently use that saying to force myself to get off my butt and do what I should already have accomplished. In this case it is doubly suitable.
Frequent Pitchpullers will remember this post from a little while back.
In it I promised I was gonna take my wife out in the boonies and teach her to shoot using that pretty new toy.
Yeah, life got in the way.
Doesn't it always?
It's just too easy to make excuses and do other things. I've even learned the easiest way to force yourself to take time off is to schedule it in the datebook.
No foolin'!

So today I "pulled the trigger"...
A friend wrote and said, "There's a 'Concealed Carry' class scheduled for the 17th. If you can make it you need to get on the list ASAP. "
No more procrastinating...
I picked up the phone and enrolled the two of us.

Sara Jean has never fired a round downrange.
I don't think I've fired a firearm since I was a Deputy Sheriff, and we sure don't want to go into how long ago that was!
She needs the training. I desperately need the refresher.
And guess which piece we'll be firing in the course!
(Take another look at the picture of the Ruger at the link.)

The instructor is a former Marine and Desert Storm Veteran.
I'll bet I like him a lot.
We're gonna soak this up like a sponge!

Rolling Thunder Honors Our Fallen Troops

Three hours.
That's how long this Marine held his salute as bikers passed to honor our heroes.
Amazing.
I'm not gonna reduce the size of this video.
I want everyone to see it... loud and clear.



Thanks to flight school classmate, Viet Nam hoochmate, and friend forever Wes!

Pro Vs. Amateur:

Defending his/her territory...
Persistence pays off!

Fifteen Minutes

The photo is of an entity known as Lady Gaga.
No, don't ask me, 'cause to my knowledge I've never heard anything she's done. But it's impossible to go through the checkout line at any market and not see the tabloid covers...
Right now she's working her gimmick as hard as she can.
She's following the path of Rip Taylor, Alice Cooper, Boy George, or a dozen others who used an outlandish appearance to draw attention to themselves.

In order for this "schtick" to work... to not get tiresome, the entertainer has to be entertaining.
Those mentioned above, arguably, were reasonably successful for more than 15 minutes.
I guess I'll have to catch "Gaga" doin' her thing and see for myself if her candle will still be burning 16 minutes from now.

Bozama Analysis

Almost 18 months into "the most ethical, transparent administration in history"...
So how's he doin'?
I think it's becoming apparent he's taken on a job "Above his pay-grade".
Wonder if he's read "The Peter Principle"?

I Have An Itch. Should I Scratch?

Frequent followers know at age 12 I bought my first motor vehicle, a Cushman Motor Scooter.
It had a top speed of 35 miles per hour. Thank goodness it wouldn't go any faster than that... it had NO front brake. I rode the wheels off that thing... delivering newspapers, riding it to work at the root beer stand... all before I turned 16.

I've always loved riding bikes. It's impossible not to be more aware of your surroundings on two wheels-
Go downhill in the summer and you'll frequently feel the temperature drop as you encounter the cooler air that has flowed downhill like water... it's heavier than warm air, so gravity pulls it down into the valleys. Pass near a dead animal or polecat that has "skunked" and you are immediately aware of it. You're more aware of outside sounds like cicadas or other critters on a bike. Outside "the box", without the aid of environmental controls and dynamic sound systems, life touches you more. But obviously that can be good... OR bad.

I took Sara Jean with me to Indianapolis for the Indy 500 time trials on the last bike I owned, a Yamaha XS1100SF. It was a VERY powerful, smooth, quiet and comfortable touring bike. We woke in Indiana on Saturday morning to the sound of rain...
Rain that canceled that day's activity on the track. Sunday morning was a twin to Saturday... rain, rain, rain. We both had to work on Monday so we waited as long as we could for the rain to stop before starting home... to no avail.
We donned our rain gear, plunked our butts on the seat, and set out for home in a steady rain with temps of about 60 degrees.

Three hours later we were stopped by a light in a small town. A family of four pulled up next to us in a Geo Metro... Dad driving with Mom seated next to him and two kids in the back seat. The two of us looked over at the kids, smiling and waving at us. Shivering, we waved back, and I thought to myself, "What's wrong with this picture? That car gets nearly the gas mileage this big bike gets. There are FOUR in that car and they are smiling, dry, and WARM."
Big Bubba was born shortly after that and I sold the bike.

But I'm tempted now and then to buy another. The pros and cons are still there...
Riding is dangerous, and many of those dangers are out of your control:
-The little blue-haired lady who doesn't see you when she's making a left turn in front of you.
-The explosion of deer mentioned in the post below that dart out into the road 3 feet in front in front of you at night, so for me, riding at night cross-country would be impossible.
-You can buy a good small car for what you'll have to pay for a good bike these days.
But...
-Riding is exhilarating.
-Ridden at a reasonable speed, bikes CAN get marginally better gas mileage than cars.
-I'd once again be rubbing elbows with other people who ride... interesting, fun, risk-taking people.

So I'm looking strongly at the bike pictured above... a Harley Davidson 883cc Sportster. I rode Sportsters quite a bit years ago and loved them. It makes the "Harley sound"...
a sound like no other. The price is not out of reach, and I think I might be able to get 60-or so miles to the gallon if I ride it at a reasonable pace to and from work.
(But the cost of insuring the thing would eat up any savings on fuel, so that's a stupid issue.)

It really all boils down to this-
Would I enjoy riding the thing enough to make it a worthwhile buy? Sara Jean likes to ride too, so it'd be a great way to spend time together on nice days.
I just have to sit down and figure out if it's worth the trouble and expense to own a machine I'll only ride 7 months of the year during daylight hours.

Or maybe I should just buy a Kia Rio for about the same price?

Don't Feed The Deer!

Under a crystal clear sky with temps hovering near 85 I cut down the old Apple tree. About half of it was alive last year, and even though it produced no fruit I prayed it would recover this year. When Sara Jean looks out her kitchen window it occupies a large fraction of her view, and she was tired of looking at a leafless, 30-foot tall tree blocking her view of the pond. She had been nagging me to cut it down since Spring. It had two trunks joined down close to the ground, so I cut each of them individually, holding the saw waist-high to do it, then cut most of the smaller branches to move them to the burn pile.
There was another smaller "weed" tree behind my shed that was also on Sara Jean's list...
It was down in less than a minute.
I called a friend who smokes meat as gifts at Christmas and he was delighted to hear I had Apple wood for him. He'll help me clean up the mess that is laying on the ground there.

I re-tilled the portion of my garden that I hadn't planted and sowed another row of beans and corn there. I then took the saw back into the tree line at the rear of our property and cut several (relatively) straight, tall, small scrub trees back there. I then cut them to a length of 6-8 feet. I grabbed the post-hole digger out of the shed and dug ten holes around the garden, placed my new "stakes" in the holes and packed dirt around them. I then strung 8-pound test fishing line at the top and middle of the stakes, then cut lots of strips of white cloth and tied them to the fishing line. To further stabilize the stakes I hauled ten loads of wet soil from the pond and piled that at the base of the stakes. That soil will harden as it dries and provide a pretty stable base for the stakes.
The fence is a "scarecrow". It will not stop a deer if it is intent on eating my crops, but it is imposing looking, and the strips are tied at a height that will keep them from jumping over it.
So far, it has worked.
I'll take pics of it and publish them later.

So the total was:
Two trees, down and cut into smaller pieces.
Two more rows of crops, tilled, planted, and fertilized.
Ten scrub trees cut to length and trimmed as stakes.
Ten holes dug with a post hole digger to a depth of about 14 inches.
Ten half-wheelbarrow loads of wet soil transported (uphill) about 100 feet and applied to the base of my stakes.
Fishing line strung on the stakes, and white strips of cloth tied to the line.

A good day's work.
I'm gonna be miffed if Bambi and friends get into my plot this year...
Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Pushing The Envelope

One "Flame" Has Gone Out.

My Brother-In-Arms of 43 years lost the love of his life this morning.
I was Best Man at their wedding.
I wish I had a magic wand.

Thirst Quenching!

Curiosity can complicate life.
I picked up the can and squinted to read the small print-

Water.
Sucrose.
Dextrose.
Citric Acid.
Natural Flavor.
Salt.
So far, so good. Nothin' too far outta the ordinary here.
Sodium Citrate. (Okay, more salt. But salty "citrate"? Whazzat?)

But now, pay attention!
Monopotassium Phosphate.
Modified Food Starch. (Modified? Like Frankenstein's monster?)
Red 40. (Thank God. That's SO much better than Red 35!)
Glycerol Ester of Rosin. (Uhhhhhh.... HUH?)
Caramel Color.
(I LOVE caramels! I even love their color!)

Most all of us have ingested this product at one time or another, and the stuff is supposed to be good for you.
It's another label I wish I hadn't read.

Please, Pardon My Language

... (But in light of the emotions of this weekend I am furious at this behavior.)
I know the sonuvabitch knows how to salute...
I've seen him do it every time he gets off Air Force One on a military base, (even though the closest HE ever got to actually wearing a uniform was when he put on his Native garb in Kenya.)
Like Clinton, it makes me cringe every time I see him degrade our troops by saluting!
So why can he not put his hand over his heart when the National Anthem is being played?
What is it with this "crotch salute"?

Remember in November!

(Photo at the Ft. Hood Memorial honoring 13 warriors killed by the terrorist there.)

The Pledge

Thanks for the tip Andrea.

Cochlear Implant

The implant is activated and a deaf baby hears his
Mother's voice for the first time: