he's baaack

our fellow active duty type bubblesphere denizen nereus has finished his move from hawaii, moved in, and got his cable modem reconnected. why not wander over and welcome him back to the fold?

a shitty way to die

click

Goodyear blimp touch and goes

i work along side a 10000 foot runway, a remnant of this place's former glory days. i remember watching our own air shows every day out back. A-5's, f-111's, F-15 and 16's, A-10's, KC-10 and 135's, C-5 and C-17's, and the occasional U-2 from up north. i've even watched Navy F-18's buzz the place. now we get to watch civilian aircraft take off and land. there are a couple of cool users out here that we watch do touch and goes like the Coast Guard's C-130:
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Coastie touch

and go

there is a California Dept of Forestry repair depot for their helicopters, OV-10 Broncos and the S-2 Tracker bombers they bought from the Navy (ooooold skool, like Korean War old school)


we've watched P-51 Mustangs, B-17 and B-24 bombers, and any number of other curiosities fly in and out of here. but until last week, i'd never seen a Blimp fly in and out, and do touch and goes!
approach

touch

and go


the blimp was here for the first round of the March Madness basketball tourney, and was flying around the area for a couple of days. this day, they were doing a bunch of promo flights, landing occasionally and loading on another batch of lucky bastards. they made quite a few flights in and out, circling the field, doing touch and goes, and landing for another batch.
i know from various television shows that the blimp is pretty maneuverable, but i wasn't prepared for just how capable it was. the angles of approach and departure, plus the speed it could drop and rise amazed the hell out of me. i'm not sure about the angle of takeoff following the touch and go, but it had to be at least 30 degrees, and probably closer to 45 degrees. and from runway to about 500 feet up only took seconds. i would have loved to be sitting in that machine during the touch and goes. what a ride. and they pay those pilots money. just doesn't seem fair, does it?
for a look at all the photos in sequence from that day, check out my flickr set here

and one final note: HEY GOODYEAR BLIMP PILOTS!!! if you ever come back to this area, i'll trade you a cool and unique tour of the country's newest facility of this type, and even show you the blue glow in trade for a ride. no kidding! just think of the stories you will be able to tell your grandkids, looking down into the heart of a nuclear fire.... you won't be sorry. and just to make sure you don't feel like you've taken advantage of me, i'll downplay the coolness factor of going up in a blimp. just to save your feeling of course. oh, and i'll bring Donuts!

so what did you have on "Eat an animal for pETA" day?

many of you know that Meryl over at Yourish got fired up a couple of years ago when pETA tried equating animal farms with the nazi death camps. so "Eat an Animal for pETA"TM was born. it's now an annual feast for us right thinkers, on the 15th of March. the last several years have been great meal days. this year, i decided to revisit the two animal grill. only this time, it was pork and lamb, rather than beef and lamb. and to top it off, i did the whole thing Kabob style. ooooh, yummy!

as always, clicka the flicka for larger sizes

first, start with good meat. i used 3 thick cut loin chops from a healthy piggy, and the lean leg from a fuzzy wooly little lamb.


then i made a dry rub for the lamb. this picture shows all the ingredients


the rub for the pork was a variation of "hmmm, what's in the spice pantry?". i doubt if i could come up with the exact thing again. lots of Old Bay seasonings and paprika, some garlic powder and ground pepper. hell, almost everything i do is one off. sometimes i wish i would take the time to write down recipes as i go, but then, where's the fun in THAT?

then i cubed the chops. the lamb was removed from the bone, each muscle seperated out, connective tissue and silverskin removed, then cubed. i skewered the meat, rubbed the rub, covered and refridgerated overnight.


on the grill they went. after the skewered peppers, zucchinis, 'shrooms, and onions, of course.

i would have taken an after picture, but eating kind of took precident.

new gadgets

new knife block2
Originally uploaded by bothenook.

ok, so i'm a geek. among the many subjects i'm a geek about, one of the top is kitchen stuff. here's my new bamboo knife block. i've loaded it up with my goodies. it holds 19, and so i need a spillover (the jar on the left) for the odds and ends like the spare steak knives and paring or utility knives.
I think it's going to be around for a while. nice and heavy

the latest humor from willy

i think this widow works out at my local gym!

A farmer stopped by the local mechanic shop to have his truck fixed. They couldn't do it while he waited, so he said he didn't live far and would just walk home.

On the way home he stopped at the hardware store and bought a bucket and a gallon of paint. He then stopped by the feedstore and picked up a couple of chickens and a goose. However, struggling outside the store he now had a problem - how to carry his entire purchases home.

While he was scratching his head he was approached by a little old lady who told him she was lost. She asked, "Can you tell me how to get to 1603 Mockingbird Lane?" The farmer said, "Well, as a matter of fact, my farm is very close to that house. I would walk you there but I can't carry this lot."

The old lady suggested, "Why don't you put the can of paint in the bucket. Carry the bucket in one hand, put a chicken under each arm and carry the goose in your other hand?"

"Why thank you very much," he said and proceeded to walk the old girl home.

On the way he says "Let's take my short cut and go down this alley. We'll be there in no time."

The little old lady looked him over cautiously then said, "I am a lonely widow without a husband to defend me. How do I know that when we get in the alley you won't hold me up against the wall, pull up my skirt, and have your way with me?"

The farmer said, "Holy smokes lady! I'm carrying a bucket, a gallon of paint, two chickens, and a goose. How in the world could I possibly hold you up against the wall and do that?"

The old lady replied, "Set the goose down, cover him with the bucket, put the paint on top of the bucket, and I'll hold the chickens."

lefties take a swing at Mik al'Moor: "Manufacturing Dissent"

hahaha. i've been a long time detractor for that fat piece of excrement, and a quick scan of the first couple of months i was blogging will show evidence of that fact. i've tried pointing out the obvious errors in his mockumentaries, but i guess there is no getting through to some folks. i have friends that think the sun rises and sets on that dirtbag's whims.
so along comes a couple of libtards making a documentary ABOUT their hero. and guess what? they figured out he's a dirtbag. surprise surprise. of course, they had to still bow and show subservience, but even a moron like me can read between the lines in their interview.
check out the article. you will laugh

Moore Documentary

a new link to a merchant marine sailor

i was going to do this a week ago, but got sidetracked. i'd like to introduce you to a blogger that sails the deep briney over europe way. his blog is Tim's Times, and if you were ever curious about how the civilian surface fleet lives, check out the blog. i've been having a lot of fun back scrolling to the beginning of his entries forward. what a life! his stories about liberty in the far east crack me up. i'd like to pull up a bar stool and hoist a couple of cold ones with Tim, trading sea stories well into the night.

the beauty of averages

i do a lot of different things in the course of my job. one of the more esoteric things i have been certified for is using a high speed die grinder to to grind on exotic metals. metals that can catch on fire if you grind too hard, too fast, allow the burr shank to touch the metal while spinning, fail to keep a close eye on the chips to make sure they don't accumulate... blah blah blah. i got to go to portland oregon for training and certification a couple of years ago, so that was cool.
anyway, one of the biggest problems i have is with safety glasses. my prescription ones are clunkers, and the "over the glasses" type are really unwieldy. so what's a guy to do? why, look up "bifocal safety glasses" in my favorite catalog. here's the description, cut and pasted from the catalog:

Magnifying Wraparound Safety Glasses

* Our bifocal safety glasses bring items into focus while protecting your eyes
* Frame and temples are polycarbonate
* A rubber nosepiece and temple tips provide comfort
* Temple length is not adjustable; temple-to-temple width is 5 1/2"
* Lens is scratch resistant

To select the correct magnification level (also known as diopter), subtract 35 from your age and insert a decimal point between the two numbers. Choose the magnification level that is closest to that number.

did you catch how to figure out what diopter to order? optomotrists world wide must be rolling over wondering why they just got the cold sweats.
crazy thing is, i actually ordered using the formula, and i'll be damned if it isn't close enough to work. i have to get in close, around 12 to 14 inches to correctly focus, but that is the distance i need when i need the bifocals anyway.
so now i'm wondering if they sell other items using the same types of "rule of thumb" instructions. i'll have to poke around the catalog in my free time.
this just cracks me up..

middle ages tech support

found this over at my favorite neo neocon's blog
i won't get into the kinds of help i've had to render over the years. but this perfectly captures the flavor.
enjoy

day in the life of a nuclear submariner

"Master Chief, I want the forward port corner of the reactor compartment cleaned up. it's a shithole"
"Aye aye, Engineer"
"Chief, i want that forward port corner of the reactor compartment cleaned up tonight by the duty section. The Eng wants it squared away when he comes in in the morning."
"Hey NUB, get your ass up to the forward corner of the reactor compartment, and if it isn't nailed down, bolted down, or welded in place, shitcan it. You can start after the evening meal, but it better be done before you hit the bunk."
"uhhh, ok chief."

......

"hey Nook, i need to go to the dentist this morning right after quarters. think you can go finish the valve op job in the reactor compartment upper level for me? i've got the actuators off, pistons removed, new o-rings are in a bag next to the valve housings."
"yeah, sure."
...
"uh, Jake, before you head to the dentist, think you could show me where the stuff is?"
"it's right next to the damned manifold. i left it there yesterday."
"wrongo, reindeer. nothing there but shiny linoleum deckplates."
"WHAAAAAAT? those are the only valves of their type in the free world, and everything except the welded bodies are missing?"
"if you say so."
....
"MASTER CHIEF...we gots us a situation... let me tell you about it."
....
2MC: "Petty Officer NUB, report to Reactor Compartment Upper Level"
"Maneuvering, Reactor Compartment Upper Level, RC division chief reports petty officer NUB has left the boat for day after duty off."
...
"Jake, the next time you decide to leave a job, don't leave your shit laying around."
"Shut the f**k up Nook, and move that pile of garbage over there. the guy at the front gate to the dump said he thought the shipyard truck unloaded somewhere over there."
....
"jake, dude, i think we're in the deep darks. 4 hours, and no bags, no valve domes, no pistons."
"Nook, shut the f**k up, and move THAT pile of garbage. maybe it's over there. oh look, here's the RC div chief, and petty officer NUB. good. they can help us look."
...
"Jake, it's getting kind of dark out here. and i think i'm going to barf."
"Nook, shut the f**k up, and keep looking."
"hey look, here comes petty officer NUB, and HOLY SHYTE! HE FOUND IT!"
...
"Yes Captain, we spent the whole day looking for the parts, and found them about dark. My division brought the parts back, cleaned them up, and finished installing. we're getting ready to test the system after breakfast."
"Very well, Master Chief."
....
"Hey Master Chief, why did I have to go to the dump to look for that crap. I wasn't even around when it go tossed."
"Nook, shut the f**k up. now go tear down #2 HPAC, and take someone with you to learn how to do it. and don't leave any parts laying around, got it?"
"but Mast....
"Nook, shut the f**k up."
"Aye-aye Master Chief"

the above story edited for brevity. left out were: the interminable critique, the finger pointing, the ass chewing, the hate and discontent heaped upon us by Naval Reactors, and a few characters who should STILL remain nameless.

for years, i thought i had a first and last name nickname. you know, Nook, and Shut the f**k up.

photo selected as photo of the day

ok, i know to most folks, pictures are something you take so that you can remember an event or person. i'm that way most of the time. i don't purposely go out just to take pictures. it's usually an activity i attach to something else i'm doing. but i had a series of photos i took on a trip to alaska that i spent time setting up and taking.
one of them was picked as the photo of the day in a group i post to on flickr. it's the Feb28 photo of the day. yeah, it's not a publishing thing, with credits on the flyleaf like someone i know, but it's a start!

click image for other size choices. to really get the impact of this glacier, look at the image in the original size.