doooood. i found a backup job!

just in case i lose my current employment, i should be ok. i mean, if this guy can make a living, i should be able to easily blow him away in performances.

2/1/2010 today's email funny

I get some pretty funny stuff via emal. here's today's:

DEA officer stops at a ranch in Texas, and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, "I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs." The rancher says, "Okay, but do not go in that field over there," as he points out the location.

The DEA officer verbally explodes saying, "Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me." Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removes his badge and proudly displays it to the rancher.

"See this badge? This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish.... On any land. No questions asked or answers given. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand? "

The rancher nods politely, apologizes, and goes about his chores.

A short time later, the old rancher hears loud screams and sees the DEA officer running for his life chased by the rancher's big Santa Gertrudis bull......

With every step the bull is gaining ground on the officer, and it seems likely that he'll get gored before he reaches safety. The officer is clearly terrified. The rancher throws down his tools, runs to the fence and yells at the top of his lungs.....

" Your badge. Show him your BADGE ! "

d'oh!!!

heh. guess the mass. dems had to learn the same lessons the republicans did across the country. lesson: don't take anything for granted, and it probably would be a good idea to represent the people that elected you.
as one headline reads: GREAT SCOTT!

Show us your desktop!

volcano desktop
Originally uploaded by bothenook

here is the latest in a long line of images i select for my desktop image. this is on the computer that sits on my desk at work, one of about 5 computers i work at during the day.
this is one of the most impressive images i've seen in the news media in the last year.
think you have troubles? try living at the foot of an active volcano.
my thoughts are with the folks living in the region.

no nukes, no nukes... idiots

yeah, we are reaping the harvest of years of anti-nuclear sentiment here in the US. hope you don't get lung or bone cancer, or have heart damage that needs imaging anytime in the near future...
check out this article in the Foreign Policy magazine.
yeah, there are ways to step up the production, but i know about the missouri reactor that is mentioned in this article, and if they become the primary source of medical isotopes, we will again be hanging our hats on a single hook.
might be good for me though. anyone have a spare $350 million?

karma

sometimes the karmic wheel has a very small turning radius

so long old friend, rest well

one of my oldest (he was older than dirt) friends passed away yesterday. he was in his 90's. Andy Anderson PhD.was one of my engineering professors in college, and we became good friends after i moved on.
he was a man of many many talents and occupations, ranging from blowing up bridges for the Canadian army during WWII to finding and exploiting oil fields around the world. he produced hollywood movies, and when it was time for him to slow down, he settled in the Napa valley and took a job teaching at the local college.
he played competitive polo into his 80's, jumped off the Feather River Canyon bridge tethered to a bungee cord for his 75th birthday. he was traveling in russia with his wife and a kgb driver ... of course that's not what they were told he was, but Andy figured it out, when chernobyl occurred, and almost didn't make it back to the US.
his life was full, and even after suffering a big stroke a couple of years ago, his daily pilgrimage to the local coffee shop suffered only a few absences. from being totally wiped out, he fought back to where he was walking with the aid of his famous cane, with the gold inlaid "A" on the handle. as far as i know, he was still legal to drive, and did, right up to the end.
Andy, i don't have enough skills to describe you or your life. but i can say that knowing you enriched mine.
rest well, my friend.

edit for update here's the Napa Register Obituary for Arthur "Andy" Anderson

Babs, you are running true to form

yeah, barbara boxer is running true to form.
she's the chairclown of the senates environmental committee, and boy, does she have the curly shuffle down pat.
let's see.... there were these leaked emails from a campus server in the UK, emails that on the surface indicates malfeasance on the part of the global warming proponent's side of the fence. i'll not get into the whole what's what regarding this, because there are many many sources of info that can do much better than i.
but when a senator, Sen. Inhofe (who is a vocal opponent to the quick let's do something, even if it's wrong crowd)reasonably asks to have policies in the pipeline inspected vis a vis the revelations about cooked and massaged data, ol' babs starts the smoke generating machine and puts on some cheesy disco to dance to.
"it's not about the potentially skewed data, it's about the email crime" (my paraphrasing, not an actual quote. she wouldn't know how to speak the truth if her life depended on it if the truth somehow countered the paradigm she and saint al are espousing.)
so she is going to kill the scientifically correct investigation into how the bogus data and manipulation of peer review, and insist any investigation includes a criminal one regarding the email source. sorry babs, this happened in Britain. a little out of your jurisdiction. not that will stop her. she's on a mission. a mission to preserve the AGW myth at all costs. she has too much political capital invested in fighting global warming to ever let a little something like facts get in the way. they haven't done so yet, and i see no reason for her to change now.

today's e-mail funny

from a friend:

Bumper stickers seen on a Marine Corps Base

"Water-boarding is out, so kill them all!"

Naval Corollary; "Dead men don't testify."

"U.S. Marines -- Travel Agents To Allah"

"When In Doubt, Empty The Magazine"

"The Marine Corps -- When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed Overnight"

"Death Smiles at Everyone -- Marines Smile Back"

"Marine Sniper - You can run, but you'll just die tired!"

"What Do I Feel When I Kill A Terrorist? ... A little Recoil"

"Marines, Providing Enemies of American an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of anyone Who Threatens It"

"Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon"

"It's God's Job to Forgive Bin Laden -- It's Our Job To arrange The Meeting"

"Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Brawl"

"One Shot, Twelve Kills -- USN Gun Fire Support"

"Machine Gunners -- Accuracy by Volume"

"A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy -- Blessed Be The Peacemakers"

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. Marines don't have that problem."

nope, no guns there

nope, no guns there
Originally uploaded by bothenook

My daughter sent this to me a while ago, but I had forgotten about it.

I think this is a great idea. It goes along with the "Gun Free Zones. There are no firearms anywhere in this building/business". I am sure that would be a great deterrent. click the picture for other size options, click the link for the "Gun Free Zone" video

don't need to be a toothless shopkeeper to gouge

i know we aren't suffering the aftermath of a hurricane, or some other natural catastrophe. but the year+ ammo shortage is showing me who i don't want to buy anything from in the future.
case in point: an online ammo distributor (i won't name them, or send traffic their way, but they are in Brenham Texas) has winchester plinking ammo in 555 round boxes for about $22. ok, that's expensive for plinking ammo, but in day and age, beggars can't be too damned choosy. if you order a case (10 boxes) you end up paying over $90.00 in shipping. that's more per box in shipping charges than i pay for the ammo in other places. i've been shipping and receiving everything from printer cartridges to air compressors for years and i know how much it costs to ship UPS from texas to kahleefornia. and i've carried many a case of bricks of .22 ammo out to my truck over the years. i know how much they weigh. thieves taking advantage of scarcity beyond acceptable levels.

second case in point: i went to Big 5 Sporting store, and they had a lone box of winchester plinking ammo in the 333 box size for $19.98. that works out to $30 a brick. not only is that outrageous, but i bought a box of that same ammo 3 days ago from wallyworld for $9.98. i've bought guns, ammo, fishing gear, sporting goods and even very expensive hiking shoes from them before, but i will never cross their door sill again.
i absolutely understand the need to make a profit, and would never begrudge one to an honest dealer. but these are two of the examples of exorbitant gouging from supposedly gun friendly companies.
i'll take my business elsewhere, or not shoot at all before i buy from either of them.
i'm really pissed

another ignoble reason to die

damn, don't think i'll be going to peru anytime soon. i must be worth a fortune at the rates quoted in the article here

just call me Common Sense Man!

wonder what St. Al has to say about this?

gee, global warming has decided take a break. never would have seen this coming, unless, of course, you actually read many of the real scientific studies done by real climatologists and atmospheric chemists. as opposed to the roundtable gathering of biologists and others not trained in this field, and most of the folks that espouse warming ends the world.

call me silly, but

i don't really think this is what a charity organization is supposed to do.
i wonder if some of the "charities" here in the US are guilty of this? probably not something they would put in the literature handed out during the Combined Federal Campaign.

you know what the CFC is right? employers (the federal govt. agencies) hold a gun to your head until you agree to a paycheck deduction to support one of the approved charities. i always thought that if the government just took the dollar amount they spent pimping the CFC and distributed it amongst the charities, the charities would have been awash in cash.

honest, they aren't looking for ME

so the FBI is looking for a bank robber in San Diego called the Geezer Bandit.
it's not me, honest.

IowaHawk has done it again

once again Iowahawk delivers a superb roundup of the latest news. check out headlines from around the world detailing the Ft. Hood murders.

this guy is becoming a national treasure

whine, whine, snivel, whine

great. if you are a denizen of the great state of kahleeforia, and are a working, productive member of society, rather than on some sort of state assistance, guess what?
starting 1NOV09, the state is going to take out 10% more taxes. oh, they haven't raised taxes. oh no, they wouldn't do that in this climate of joblessness and economic downturn. they wouldn't raise taxes. this is just a way to get more money into the state faster, but they promise to pay it back at tax return time. yeah, like last year, they paid back with vouchers to many. top that with my furlough (yeah, i'm a tax eater, i work for a state funded organization), this looks like i'm taking an 18% paycut. add that to the fact that our workload is increasing, but they can't afford to hire any new full time employees, and it looks to be shaping up to one hell of a year.

here's a foodie resource

one of my co-workers showed me this site today. double-damn, but i'm going to have to go exploring. i've looked at a number of these recipes, and there is no doubt that i'll be back looking for ideas in the coming days.
here's the link to DERANGED SPUD's POTATO RECIPE ARCHIVE

gives me an idea

my neighbor always does it up nice for christmas, but i'm not so clever. this just might be my way to spruce up our side of the street this holiday season.

found at failblog.org