a geezer's corner

the new knee

2011-10-14T18:40:00.001-07:00

the new knee, a set on Flickr.

here's my new knee!

what a bummer

2011-09-06T09:12:00.001-07:00

here i am, working on a full recovery from a total knee replacement 5 weeks ago...it's doing well, thank you very much....and the weather outside is just screaming for me to grab the kayak and take it to the lake. if i could actually walk on two legs, i'd be there in a heartbeat. kind of hard to carry a 13 1/2 foot kayak while using a walker or cane.

today's email humor

2011-04-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

Posted without comment, just in case my boss stumbles on this site.

A young engineer was leaving the office at 5:45 p.m. when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document, and my secretary is not here. Can you make this thing work?"

"Certainly," said the young engineer. He turned on the machine, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.

"Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine, "I just need one copy."

Lesson: Never, never ever assume that your boss knows what he's doing.

today's email humor

2011-02-08T17:25:00.001-08:00

Cletus is passing by Billy Bob's hay barn one day when, through a gap in the door, he sees Billy Bob doing a slow and sensual striptease in front of an old green John Deere tractor.

Buttocks clenched, he performs a slow pirouette, and gently slides off first the right strap of his overalls, followed by the left. He then hunches his shoulders forward and in a classic striptease move, lets his overalls fall down to his hips, revealing a torn and frayed plaid shirt. Then, grabbing both sides of his shirt, he rips it apart to reveal his stained T-shirt underneath. With a final flourish, he tears the T-shirt from his body, and hurls his baseball cap onto a pile of hay.

Having seen enough, Cletus rushes in and says, "What the heck're ya doing, Billy Bob?"

"Good Lord, Cletus, ya scared the bejeezers out of me," says an obviously embarrassed Billy Bob. "But me 'n the Ol' Lady been havin trouble lately in the bedroom d'partment, and the therapist suggested I do something sexy to a tractor."

[Don't make me come splain this to you!]

today's email humor is suitable for framing

2010-11-10T18:21:00.000-08:00

Charlie's wife Lucy had been after him for several weeks to paint the seat on their toilet. Finally, he got around to doing itwhile Lucy was out. After finishing, he left to take care of another matter before she returned.

She came in and undressed to take a shower. Before getting in the shower, she sat on the toilet. As she tried to stand up, she realized that the not-quite-dry epoxy paint had glued her to the toilet seat.

About that time, Charlie got home and realized her predicament. They both pushed and pulled without any success whatsoever. Finally, in desperation, Charlie undid the toilet seat bolts.

Lucy wrapped a sheet around herself and Charlie drove her to the hospital emergency room.

The ER Doctor got her into a position where he could study how to free her.

Lucy tried to lighten the embarrassment of it all by saying,"Well, Doctor, I'll bet you've never seen anything like this before."

The Doctor replied, "Actually, I've seen lots of them. I just never saw one mounted and framed."

music to reload by

2010-11-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

loaded 5 cds in the changer, and started to reload some ammo this evening. between last night and tonight, i've replenished at least some 9mm and 38 special target rounds. as i was working with the music in the background, the lyrics floated into my ears, bypassing the internal dialog.

Step inside! Hello! We've the most amazing show. You'll enjoy it all we know. Step inside! Step Inside!

We've got thrills and shocks, supersonic fighting cocks. Leave your hammers at the box
Come Inside! Come Inside! Roll up! Roll up! Roll up!
See the show!

i'd forgotten how much i liked emerson lake and palmer...

bedbugs? i've got something better

2010-10-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

i've worked for 38 years in an industry where radioactive materials are part of our daily surroundings. protections are in place to keep from releasing any to the general public, and they work pretty well. we've even had to keep people from coming to work if they've had a medical procedure requiring isotope injection, because there would be no way for us to determine if they were contaminated by something that happened at work, or if it was residual radioactivity from a test. so this article at MyWay kind of struck a funny bone, and also made go go "Whaaaaa?"
worried about bed bugs in hotels? there may be other bugs (that's what we call contamination) in that bed! the headline says "Alarms over radiation from thyroid cancer patients". yeah, i knew most of the things they allude to, but did you know that there are radiation monitors at landfills? actually, i did. but how about radiation monitors in the Lincoln Tunnel, sensitive enough to trigger on a medical procedure dose administered to a person traveling at speed through the tunnel in a vehicle?
i bet there are other places too, but weren't mentioned in the article. i'm guessing airports and other mass public transportation hubs have them as well.

today's email humor

2010-08-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I lost the Trivia Contest at the country club last night by 1 point.

I not only got the last question wrong, but was immediately asked to leave.

Go figure.

The question was: "Where do women have the curliest hair?"

Apparently the correct answer is Fiji .

today's funny

2010-08-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

this might be old, but I just heard it.

What do Pink Floyd and Dale Earnhardt have it common?

Their last big hit was The Wall.......

today's email humor post of the day

2010-08-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

The Pope and Nancy Pelosi>> >> >>

The Pope and Nancy Pelosi are on the same stage in Yankee Stadium in front of a huge crowd.

The Pope leans towards Mrs. Pelosi and said, "Do you know that with one little wave of my hand I can make every person in this crowd go wild with joy? This joy will not be a momentary display, but will go deep into their hearts and they'll forever speak of this day and rejoice!"

Pelosi replied, "I seriously doubt that. With one little wave of your hand? Show me!"

So the Pope backhanded the bitch--

AND THE CROWD ROARED & CHEERED WILDLY....

Kind of brings tears to your eyes, doesn't it

just kayaking along

2010-07-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

pix from my latest trip out on the kayak.

see the whole set here

today's email humor from my buddy Jay

2010-07-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

Learn from your elders

A lawyer and a senior citizen are sitting next to each other on a long flight.

The lawyer is thinking that seniors are so dumb that he could get one over on them easy.

So the lawyer asks if the senior would like to play a fun game.

The senior is tired and just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and tries to catch a few winks.

The lawyer persists, saying that the game is a lot of fun. I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me only $5. Then you ask me one, and if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $500, he says.

This catches the senior's attention and, to keep the lawyer quiet, he agrees to play the game.

The lawyer asks the first question. 'What's the distance from the Earth to the Moon?'

The senior doesn't say a word, but reaches into his pocket, pulls out a five-dollar bill, and hands it to the lawyer.

Now it's the senior's turn. He asks the lawyer, 'What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down with four?'

The lawyer uses his laptop and searches all references he can find on the Net.

He sends e-mails to all the smart friends he knows; all to no avail. After an hour of searching, he finally gives up.

He wakes the senior and hands him $500. The senior pockets the $500 and goes right back to sleep.

The lawyer is going nuts not knowing the answer. He wakes the senior up and asks, 'Well, so what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four?'

The senior reaches into his pocket, hands the lawyer $5, and goes back to sleep.

primers!

2010-06-17T07:54:00.000-07:00

wow. looks like the great primer famine may finally be over. i just got 4000 of the 7000 i ordered back in late October, with the remainder set to arrive around the end of the month.
finally. i was starting to wonder if i would ever get more. the kids found some around Christmas time (at what was probably predatory prices), so i was not without resources. but dayam. an 8 month backorder logjam? you kidding me?

bizarro is the best

2010-06-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

you do go and visit Bizarro often, don't you? yes, i knew you did....

today's email funny

2010-06-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

today's email funny
Question:

What do you get when you mix PMS with GPS?

Answer:

A crazy bitch who will find you

You Promised Never Again......

2010-05-22T13:08:00.001-07:00

You Promised Never Again......
Originally uploaded by Daneli

people that get all butt hurt when someone uses a firearm for humor crack me up. i mean, WTF? humor is humor, regardless of the the prop. take this picture. an expensive pair of heels, a dog, and a pissed off owner. what is not to laugh at. this picture makes me laugh.

the latest in gun control counter arguments

2010-05-22T12:09:00.000-07:00

ok, i know that my sources are undocumented. i'll state that up front. these are numbers from various gun magazines i subscribe to, and so, yes, there may very well be subjectivity in the numbers. that said:

77% increase in violent crime in UK since 1997. (guess they showed us how, by banning firearms, and sending people that defend themselves against attack to jail)

2,034 violent crimes per 100K in UK

1,609 violent crimes per 100K in South Africa

935 violent crimes per 100K in Canada (wait, isn't Canada supposed to be a friendly, gun controlled place, eh?)

466 violent crimes per 100K in USA. yup, half of Canada's numbers, and less than a quarter of the UK's. and these are countries that espouse very tough anti-gun laws.

source: page 104, July/August 2010 American Handgunner.

hmmmmmm. wonder if allowing the average citizen to carry a weapon, and defend him/her self has anything to do with it?

Dennis Henigan-one of the most prolific advocates of the legal theories the Supreme Court sent to the shredder two years ago, but still Brady's chief lawyer-claimed that "The evidence is overwhelming that the 'shall-issue' concealed carry laws have been a disaster for public safety. ...{T}the scholarly research shows that the laws generally have been 'associated with uniform increases in crime.'"

We call your hand, Dennis. The number of states that have "shall issue" laws is at an all-time high, 63 percent of Americans live in "shall issue" states, a record 5 million Americans have carry permits and the nation's violent crime rate has fallen to a 35-year low. Since adopting "shall issue laws, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia have had decreases in violent crime ranging from 26 to 53 percent.

source pg 67 June 2010 American Rifleman

and here I sit in the People's Republic of Kahleefornia, where I was told that "exercising your Constitutional Second Amendment right isn't enough justification to issue a conceal carry permit" by the local sheriff. at least it isn't illegal for me to own and utilize my weapons for self defense if some yob decides our house would make a great department store.

Guns in school,1942

2010-05-21T11:15:00.001-07:00

Guns in school,1942
Originally uploaded by bobster855

I'd say we are moving backwards as a society, not forward. here's a picture from 1942, where these two marksmanship students are practicing. Practicing in what looks like the hallway of their school. note the school lockers behind them.

road trip

2010-05-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

so i went to Philadelphia last week for training. While there, i took a little time to wander around the place, do some sightseeing, and to visit the home of the Philly Cheese Steaks. for a short pictorial, clicky my FLICKR set of Philly pictures

leaving on a jet plane....

2010-05-02T20:25:00.000-07:00

heading to Philly in the wee hours of the morning. weather guessers say i should expect storms and unsettled weather. damn. it is absolutely beautiful here. oh well, variety is the spice and all that rot....

today's email humor

2010-04-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

Retiree Bathtub Test

During a visit to my doctor, I asked him, "How do you determine whether or not a retiree should be put in an old age home?"

"Well," he said, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the retiree and ask him or her to empty the bathtub"

"Oh, I understand," I said. "A normal person would use the bucket because it
is bigger than the spoon or the teacup."

"No" he said. "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?"

tanker mirrored

2010-04-14T07:11:00.001-07:00

tanker mirrored
Originally uploaded by Tim the sailor

some of the folks i know take amazing photos. here's one from an Irish captain of a merchant marine ship sailing the cold cold waters of the Atlantic. This is from Tim at Tim's Times. he's shown me that it doesn't matter if the sailors are foreign, military, surface or submariners. his stories prove sailors are sailors regardless of what or where they are sailing.

it's almost tax day, and I'm feeling the pain

2010-04-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Are you one of the 47% of this nation's population that aren't paying federal income tax this year? if so, please come visit me, and bring a couple of steaks...i prefer grass fed, and a sixer or two as thanks. uncle sam got deeeeep into our pockets this year.
and of course, this is the time the pundits find a receptive audience, especially those of us that actually paid taxes this year.

this article by Phyllis Shlafly in Town Hall magazine just hits a lot of valid talking points before wandering off into the typical rant. but her points are damned valid.

Income tax day, April 15, 2010, now divides Americans into two almost equal classes: those who pay for the services provided by government and the freeloaders. The percentage of Americans who will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009 has risen to 47 percent.
.....
When Obama told Joe the Plumber he wanted to "spread the wealth around," Obama wasn't kidding. That's exactly what he is now doing: taking money from taxpayers and spreading it around to non-taxpayers.

Happy Easter.

2010-04-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

let's see.
20 pound spiral cut honey baked ham.....check.
3 quart casserole dish with scalloped potatoes ready to go in the oven.....check
4 pounds of asparagus ready for the steamer......check
big bowl of homemade applesauce?.....check
salad fixin's ready?.....check
pink bunny frosted coconut cake and an apple pie?......check
tables set up, and 22 chocolate bunnies, one for each person set as a part of the table decoration?.....check
plastic eggs filled with candy and coins for the kiddies?......check

guess we're ready.
may all of you have a joyous and happy Easter.

Delta Airlines can kiss my keister

2010-04-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

so i've got to go to Philly next month, and like a good employee, i bought the tickets early enough to minimize the financial impact of the trip.
so today, i get an email from delta telling me that due to their scheduling changes, my flight itinerary has changed. to the point where i've got to get on three airplanes to get home, with layovers in two different airports.
bull sh*t!
looks like i'm canceling my flights, and rebooking on another airline.

virginia is a gimme, let's see him ok Kahleefornia

2010-03-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

oh, what a delicious news tidbit. our president, holding the adoration and awe of the people of this country, has decided to ok offshore oil drilling in Virginia.
standby for the caterwauling and teeth gnashing from those that will feel betrayed by this paragon of socialism, the green candidate of choice.
ok, so i'm being a smart ass. but come on, virginia is a gimme. i want to see him beard pelosi and boxer et al. lets see him lift the ban off of kaleefornia, where there is much more oil than off of virginia.
he does that, and then i'll know he's serious about making us more independent of the world's oil suppliers. and the increased tax revenue here will be most welcome.

food blog: Carrot raisin salad SOUP

2010-03-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

so the wife was at work today, and I was left home, unsupervised. while digging through the refrigerator to come up with something to make for dinner, i noticed a 1 pound bag of carrots in the crisper. they were still firm, but it didn't take a nuclear scientist to figure out they were almost past their prime.
hmmmmmm. carrot and raisin salad. di likes that, i like that, why not? well, i'll tell you why not. i didn't have a can of pineapple in the pantry, and i was not leaving the house today just to gather ingredients for a salad.
so, what's a nuke to do? let's see, di loves butternut squash soup, and kale soup, and BHD's celery and stilton soup and broccoli and cheese soup, and baked potato soup, and lentil soup, and black bean soup... get the pattern here? by the way, all of these recipes are either linked, or can be found on my recipe page
well, what the hell. so i couldn't make carrot raisin salad, but i COULD make a great carrot soup with most of the ingredients found in the salad.
Ingredients:

1 pound of carrots, peeled and cut into approximately 1/2 to 3/4 inch chunks
1/2 white onion, roughly chopped (leftover from the crisper drawer, more is always ok
4 cloves garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
1 apple peeled, cored, and roughly chopped (i used a gala apple, because that's what is in the fruit bowl. a granny smith would have been awesome too)
2 stalks of celery, peeled with a veggie peeler to get rid of the strings and cut into about 1 inch pieces... peeling celery is a trick i learned from watching Jacques Pepin cook with Julia Child on PBS over the years
1 cup white wine (i used Fetzer's Gewurztraminer because it is really sweet, like raisins)
2 14.5 oz cans of low sodium chicken broth, and 1 can of water
1 palm full of oregano (probably around a tablespoon or so)
about a teaspoon of dried basil
a couple of shakes of coriander
salt and ground pepper to taste
olive oil, enough to lightly cover the bottom of the pot

so, mister wizard, how do you make this soup?
first, heat the olive oil in the pot over medium heat until it is almost smoking. toss in the carrots, celery, and onion. add a couple of pinches of salt and a few twists of coarsely ground black pepper. sweat until the onion starts to turn translucent, between 5 and 10 minutes, depending on how attentive you are. i went almost 10. then add the garlic. continue sweating the veggies until you can smell the garlic, which will only take a minute or two.
then add the stock, wine, and water, enough to cover the veggies. bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. add the herbs and apple when you turn down the heat. i used herbs to make the soup savory, otherwise i'm thinking it would be too sweet for a dinner soup. let this simmer for 20 or 30 minutes, until the carrots are nice and soft.
remove from the stove and puree with an immersion blender, or allow it to cool a bit, and run it through a regular blender.
put it back on the stove to reheat if necessary, and then EAT!
pretty tasty. i thought the basil was a bit much, Di disagrees.
so there you have it. a carrot soup inspired by carrot, raisin, and apple salad. i probably wouldn't have made this if we'd had crushed pineapple in the pantry. lucky for me that we didn't.
we WILL be having this again

as always, if you try this recipe, or it inspires you to try something different, please let me know how it turned out. i'm always looking for fresh and clever ideas to improve my own cooking skills and recipes.

for a complete list of my online recipes, follow the link here

health care questions

2010-03-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

i'm not being snarky here. seriously. but if we are now all required to get health care, and the health care doesn't permit pre-conditions, or have an annual or lifetime limit, does this mean my auto insurance and my home owner's insurance rates will go down?
look at your policies, and see how much of your rates are linked to medical. if everyone has insurance by law, why do i need to continue to pay for medical on my car or house?
a friend asked me that, and i'll be damned if i can give him a real answer.

Random musings

2010-03-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

random thought #1: i got a great offer to do a little motorcycle jaunt from kahleefornia to missouri to attend the seawolf reunion in october. can't do it due to work, but it HAS been forever since i took a long (multiple day) bike trip. kinda makes my butt tingle a little thinking about it. is that a good thing?

random thought #2: sure seems that there are a lot of unhappy people wandering around, clutching crumbled sheets of paper muttering "damned georgetown." heh.

random thought #3: beautiful weather today. high 70's, very light breeze, and the grass was freshly mowed at the range today. lousy shooting on my part, but the old fishing saying goes double for shooting....a bad day at the range is better than a good day at work. i had the shakes for some reason, and that 3" metal target i was aiming at on the 50 yard range was pretty safe. oh well, there's always the next time!

random thought #4: london style fish and chips at the local Tug Boat eatery are a great friday evening dinner. don't be shy about splashing on the malt vinegar!

today's email humor

2010-03-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

man, this is the truth.

From: Retired U.S Navy Personnel

To: The American Public

Subj: Position Statement of the U.S. Economy

1. We in retirement take exception to everyone saying that Bernanke, Obama, Reid and Pelosi are spending like drunken sailors. When we were drunken sailors, we quit when we ran out of money.

doooood. i found a backup job!

2010-02-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2010-01-19T20:52:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-23T08:19:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

sometimes the karmic wheel has a very small turning radius

so long old friend, rest well

2009-12-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-03T11:51:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-01T12:07:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-23T18:20:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-20T10:03:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-11-20T08:27:00.001-08:00

wonder what St. Al has to say about this?

2009-11-20T07:29:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-18T10:40:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-18T10:26:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-18T10:02:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-17T17:13:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

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

i can get behind this idea.

2009-11-10T11:38:00.000-08:00

the last paragraph of an article pointing out the stupidity of "diversity at all costs" currently being practiced by our military and government.

Under those circumstances, the least the Army can do is ensure that his victims - both those who are gone and those wounded in his attacks - receive Purple Hearts for the losses they incurred at the hands of the enemy.

here's the link thingie to the entire editorial.

evidence is mounting that this wasn't just some shrink that fell off the edge. i saw that hasan had some web page where his name was followed by SoA (soldier of allah). WTF?

and he was "worried" about going to a theater of war where muslims were being killed? WTF? what about all those poor muslims killed by fellow muslims all over the middle east. i guess you can only clump all muslims into one catagory when you are making an argument against the war from the American side. it's ok if they kill each other, because it's believer on believer death and destruction. it just isn't ok if it is infidel vs believer.
kiss my ass

curious to read what real doctors think about the "health reform?"

2009-11-10T10:12:00.001-08:00

you know, those guys that will be cutting you open to remove that exploded appendix? or resetting a dislocated shoulder?
check out this post from the docs on the web

ok, but i think a .357 would have been better

2009-11-04T11:08:00.000-08:00

saved by an umbrella?

don't we wish

2009-11-04T11:04:00.000-08:00

too bad this is just a satire piece. wouldn't it be nice?

interesting take

2009-11-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

Protein Wisdom posts an interesting analysis regarding segregating our society into specific groups with specific and special legislation. link is here.
i've been taught most of my life that segregation was illegal?

also, read some of the comments to the post. my favorite: "I am going to denounce and condemn all of you right now, just in case."

D.C. rally

2009-09-28T15:33:00.001-07:00

D.C. rally
Originally uploaded by Mhàiri Kennethson

enough said....

Gun Control

2009-09-28T15:31:00.001-07:00

Gun Control
Originally uploaded by Mhàiri Kennethson

found this picture wandering through my contacts contacts.
gun control..... couldn't have said it better myself......
i didn't realize you had to be signed into flickr to look at the full size pictures, so here's what the t-shirt says.
Gun Control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to the police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.

dead and gone

2009-08-26T07:39:00.000-07:00

well, IF there is an afterlife, i'm guessing that there is a certain dead lady that is giving the lion of the senate an earful about now. she's had 40 years to figure out what it was she was going to say.

i'm not sure who should have been more ashamed of their actions. teddy, or the folks in the commonwealth of massachusetts for not only electing him, but reelecting him repeatedly. i guess you can get away with murder if you are a member of the court at camelot.

seen at Home Depot

2009-08-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

a contractor walked by me wearing the following t-shirt:

Whatever you are doing to make you look stupid..

It's working

today's email humor...obama's health care-a medical perspective

2009-08-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

The American Medical Association has weighed in on the new Obama health care proposals.

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.

Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.

Pathologists yelled,"Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, "Oh, Grow up!"

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.

Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter...."

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea. The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington.

oh, but we can only dream

2009-08-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

THIS would be so cool. to finally rid this state, and country of babs would be the achievement of the decade regarding kahleefornia politics.
this is the woman that amongst other things was one of the worst offenders of the congressional banking overdraft fiasco.

I shouldn't be surprised

2009-08-03T16:49:00.000-07:00

i was looking over my stats on my flickr account, and realized that of the three sets Most Interesting, and the compilation sets 500 Views and 1000 Views, the vast majority of photos are of either guns or food.
most of my travels are pretty boring, i guess.

researchers are getting closer in the fight against alzheimers

2009-07-25T22:49:00.000-07:00

amid all the generated noise surrounding pseudo global warming, the economic turmoil and subsequent government fascistic intervention (look up fascism in a reputable, non-politicized source), there is good news that gets out there but is buried under the smelly pile of crap the news dudes are trying to feed us.
how about good news for a change? how about if medical researchers are creeping up on a cure for alzheimer's disease, one of the most devastating and insidious diseases suffered by modern man?
really good news that provides at least a glimmer of hope for the future.

creeping internationalism

2009-07-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

to quote a listener comment on the best internet radio station Radio Paradise

Yes, this is a cover of Mulatu Astatqe's "A Man Of Experience And Wisdom" which is an excellent tune captured on an excellent album (part of an Ethiopian music sampler series) Ethiopiques Vol. 4. I really dig tunes like this that are 30+ years old. Now we have a Cambodian band covering Ethiopian music which is really a trip because the music of Mr. Astatqe is based on his Ethiopian roots blended with his musical knowledge based on Western music schools. He was kind of the reverse of a lot of the American jazz artists (D. Byrd, J. Coltrane, H. Hancock etc) who were getting AFRICAN rythms into their music. So this tune went from a Western influence to Africa to Cambodia... and nobody got hurt. What a wonderful world.

As you can read from the comment,there is blending of music from around the world that i think can only improve the overall quality/variety of music we all listen to. i find this happening in the food world too. i am a big fan of taking elements from many cuisines to make something entirely new, intriguingly flavorful, and wonderfully surprising. some internationalism, in the case of music and food, i can get behind!

Wednesday afternoon diversions

2009-07-23T21:42:00.001-07:00

22july09pistols
Originally uploaded by bothenook

i remember thinking as a kid that the best jobs in the world were doctors and lawyers. i caddied at the local country club during the summer, and those dudes were out every Wednesday, playing golf instead of working.
as a seasoned adult, i still have to work during Wednesdays because i chose to play with nuclear reactors rather than be a doctor, but i get to play at the range on the way home from work.
i've been practicing a lot on the 50 yard range lately, and it is amazing how rapidly the skills needed to shoot that distance off hand have developed. it helps if you have pistols capable of shooting very small groups at 50 yards, and these .22s fit the bill.
to see the steel plate and what the target looks like at 50 yards, visit my flickr set
happy shooting.

short quip

2009-07-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

a coworker tried talking me into something this morning, and upon discussion, stated "i spoke too soon". to which i replied..."so is that a case of premature expostulation?"

food blog: fast pasta dinner

2009-07-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

i have a small herb garden. well, planter box if you really want to know. and the basil is starting to flower, so it's no longer a choice whether i want to use it or not. now it's use it or lose it!
so what the heck do you do with a couple of big handfuls of basil?
around here, that's an invitation to scour the pantry and cook up something interesting.

the pictures are links back to flickr for additional sizes. i'm not too sure why the pictures came out so dark, but there you are. a photographer i'm not.

Fast Pasta with Basil and whatever is in the fridge and pantry
ingredients: your mileage may vary depending on what you have available. the beauty of these dishes rests in whipping up something good from what's available.

2 handfuls of fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
pinch of salt
couple of coarse grinds of pepper
1 or 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
3 tbsp or so of extra virgin olive oil

2 small tomatoes, deseeded and chopped medium, medium fine
1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped medium
small jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped medium. i really really like Cara Mia marinaded hearts. use ones you like, especially if you have them in your pantry/fridge.

1 yellow summer squash, 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes
1/2 small white onion, medium chop
small handful of leftover red and yellow bell pepper strips (from a veggie appetizer last night), medium chop
couple of tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, as needed to saute veggies
1 lb box of whole wheat spaghetti

process:

get the water on the stove to boil the pasta. cook pasta per package directions.
while the water is coming up to temperature, assemble and chop/buzz/saute all the other stuff. everything should be done about the same time as the pasta is.

pick and buzz the basil condiment. makes the kitchen smell like heaven, and you should take a moment to just enjoy the aroma coming from the basil and garlic. if you have pesto, use it by all means, or if you want to add the pine nuts to make pesto out of this concoction, feel free. i probably would have had i stocked pine nuts ahead of time.

Saute (medium heat) onion, squash, and peppers until soft. kick the heat up during the last couple of minutes to get a little caramelization action going on the veggies.
when the pasta is done, and the veggie saute is finished, drain the pasta and plate
then spoon on as much or as little of the basil sauce as you like, and toss the pasta with tongs to distribute.

next, top with the condiments, add a little parmesan cheese on top, and serve.
Enjoy! this took as long as the water needed to boil, and the pasta to cook. great meal, from things in the pantry, fridge, and herb garden.

as always, if you try this recipe, or it inspires you to try something different, please let me know how it turned out. i'm always looking for fresh and clever ideas to improve my own cooking skills and recipes.

for a complete list of my online recipes, follow the link here

teeny tiny brag

2009-07-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

went to the range this morning with a case full of .22s this is an old picture, pre-mods on the MKIII, but you get the idea.
i was shooting a 4 inch steel plate on the 50 yard range.
shooter to the left: "damn, where did you learn to shoot. i'd take you into the sh*t storm any day".
shooter to the right a while later: "holy crap. you can really shoot those pistols off hand"
it's the little things that keep me going back and practicing. hope you are all having a great weekend.
lunch at the Cliff House tomorrow to celebrate dwardo, his lovely wife, my wife, and my July birthdays. looking forward to it.

Happy Fathers Day: A food blog entry

2009-06-21T09:20:00.000-07:00

first of all, happy Fathers Day to all of you lucky enough to have that distinction.

next, what do you do for Fathers Day? for me, as for almost any event, i like to get friends and family together, and cook a ton of food. this year, i have a mess of trout from my trip to Eastern Oregon a couple of weeks ago, and 4 racks of ribs. the ribs are smoked over a mesquite, hickory, and apple chip smoke. did them first, then smoked the trout over mesquite and alder. for reference, here's what the ribs look like. they will be finished off on the grill with a light saucing to warm them through just before we eat.
Food blog: Mesquite and Alderwood smoked rainbow trout
ingredients:

couple of trout like these.
1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (spanish if available, because i'm a snob that way)
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
3 cups of shredded wood chips. mesquite and alder were my choices today. soak in a ziplok bag full of water for at least 1/2 an hour before use

instructions:
mix all the dry ingredients together.
wash and pat dry the fish. place the fish on a big enough piece of plastic wrap to make a neat rolled package.
pack the fish with the dry rub, top, bottom and if whole, inside. i filleted one fish, and left the other whole.
tightly wrap the fish in the film. i made two packages, with the fillets facing each other skin side out, and a whole fish in the other. place in a pan big enough to hold it, and stick in the fridge for at least 8 hours, 12 is better.
when you are ready to go, remove the fish, and rinse well to remove the dry rub and salt. all the flavor you want is now in the fish. failing to rinse will provide you with tasty tasty salt. way too much salt. so don't forget the rinse step.
leave the fish out, uncovered for at least 1/2 an hour while getting the smoker ready to go. this allows the meat to develop a protein film on the surface that's a must for properly smoked fish.
once everything's ready, toss the fish on, add a cup of wood chips, and leave everything alone for 1/2 an hour. since i now use an electric smoker for most of the smoking duties around here, this is easier than hell. no tending the coals, erratic heating or any of that malarkey. i added a couple cups of water to the water pan, just to bring the level back up. i left the pan alone after smoking 4 racks of ribs. the fat and juice that dripped down during that process is just free flavor for the fish, as far as i'm concerned. then add 1 cup of chips, and repeat again in 1/2 an hour. your fish should be perfectly smoked in around 1 1/2 hours. more if the wind is blowing and it's cold outside, but Vacaville was nice last night, so it only took 1 1/2 hours.
if you don't have a smoker, this is still doable. using a charcoal grill (i've only done this with a 35 year old weber, which is still my go to bbq) is okay too, but the cooking time is a little shorter. place an aluminum pan to one side on the coal grate. this will be the drip and liquid pan. make a couple of heat baffles out of aluminum foil that reach from the grill down to the coal grate. do this by folding a piece of foil a couple of thicknesses, that stretch from the outer diameter of the grill to the center rod that runs down the middle of the grill. takes about 20 seconds. doing this will help keep the fish from cooking too fast from the direct heat of the coals. start about 25 coals in a chimney starter, then place on the grate. pour a couple cups of liquid into the aluminum pan. i like using a nice Chardonnay or pinot gris, but any white will work. or just use water. add about 1/3 of your chips on the coals, toss the fish over the aluminum pan, and walk away for 1/2 an hour. repeat the wood chip thing a couple of times over the next hour to hour and a half. the fish is ready when you can separate the meat in flakes.
pull and cool. then enjoy! as a side note, i'd like to point out that the fish are sitting on a big serving platter. it's almost not big enough. those were some monster rainbows.

as always, if you try this recipe, or it inspires you to try something different, please let me know how it turned out. i'm always looking for fresh and clever ideas to improve my own cooking skills and recipes.

for a complete list of my online recipes, follow the link here

dilligaf

2009-05-22T18:04:00.001-07:00

dilligaf
Originally uploaded by bothenook

finalist in the greatest bar name ever contest. in the pool with "my office" and others. found this bar in Central Point, Oregon after leaving $93.00 at the Rogue Creamery, home of some of the best blue cheeses in the world.
so for those of you not conversant with military acronyms, here is an edited translation. dilligaf = Do I look like I give a f*ck?

a great fishing trip in the wilds of eastern oregon

2009-05-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

i caught the biggest rainbow trout i've ever caught, 20 inches long. so big, it's classified as a steelhead on the tags, if i'd caught it on an ocean connected river.

here's some of the string of fish my bro and i caught during our trip. we only have the 16 inch or bigger ones in this picture. 4 of these are mine. there are 14 more that aren't in the picture. they are more along the lines of normal size, ranging from around 8 to 12 inches in length.
pretty nice fishing. lots of driving. lots of amazing scenery along the way. i took a bunch of scenery pictures, especially of the volcanic structures. i figure i'm the only one i know that likes that sort of stuff, so they are stored on the hard drive. on those nights that i wish i was somewhere else, i can pull them up and remember the trip all over again.

unsolicited product endorsement

2009-05-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

if you are a sportsman, and you don't have a seal-a-meal for your game, you've probably had to throw out way too much of your hard earned spoils due to freezer burn.
seal-a-meal, the way to go

gone fishin'

2009-05-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

back in a week. behave yourselves

file this under "you have got to be kidding"

2009-05-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

seems this family had a pool. and a doggie door, and a kid. this is a recipe for bad news, innit?
so the two year old kid crawled through the door, and ended up face down in the pool.
what's a parent to do? why, sue the manufacturer of the door.
i'm sorry their child drowned. truly. but where in the hell were the parents? and what culpability is it of the manufacturer of a dog door, that the parents had installed in their house, which a kid smaller than the dog the door was intended for could crawl through and meet its fatal end?
wtf is wrong with our society? is there no longer any sort of personal culpability, or responsibility? oh my god, my kid died. it HAS to be the fault of someone else, because anything else is unimaginable.
idiots. sad, but they are still idiots

edit: i just did a search on this, and apparently i'm not the only one that is somewhat flummoxed by this lawsuit. the comments posted here seem to mirror my own. where ever cape may county is, i would probably fit in!

a video for dads of little girls

2009-05-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

so, if you are a dad, did you have the pleasure of raising girls? did you do so in the 80s? or were you a little girl in the 80s? if so, here's a link to the new My Little Pony movie trailer. it is friggin' hilarious.

it's not a tax, it's a fee

2009-05-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

holy crap. i have a 15 year old motorcycle, and the registration fees we just paid went up 26% over last year. the bike is a year older, it's fuel efficient, and the fees went up 26 frigging percent?
no, we're not raising taxes here in kahleefornia, but by gum, we're getting smacked around like a punching bag with increased fees. only the last in a long line of hidden taxes i've noticed going up lately.
but thankfully we aren't getting hit with tax increases.
yeah, right.

i've been thinking

2009-04-28T13:54:00.001-07:00

that it is just about paella time!

Calling all reloaders

2009-04-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

does anyone know of a commercial source for primers? all of the usual suspects like cabellas, midwayusa, graf and sons, T and T, to name a few online shops, and all of the brick and mortar places i've been to are OUT. as in, don't have any, don't know when we'll get any.
i suppose you can sell all the guns in the world, but if ammo and reloading components are non-existent, guns just become very expensive clubs.
i did notice there is still a lot of shotgun ammo, so i found a mossburg 500 pump 12 gauge on sale for cheap, and bought it. i suppose there is more than one way to skin a cat!

last email humor of the day

2009-04-27T09:37:00.001-07:00

Rekindling The Romance...

After nearly 45 years of marriage, a couple was lying in bed one evening when the wife felt her husband begin to massage her in ways he hadn't in quite some time.

It almost tickled as his fingers started at her neck, and then began moving down past the small of her back. He then caressed her shoulders and neck, slowly worked his hand down, stopping just over her stomach.

He then proceeded to place his hand on her left inner arm, working down her side, passing gently over her buttock and down her leg to her calf.

Then he proceeded up her thigh, stopping just at the uppermost portion of her leg. He continued in the same manner on her right side then suddenly stopped, rolled over and became silent.

As she had become quite aroused by this caressing, she asked in a loving voice, 'Honey, that was wonderful. Why did you stop?'

To which he responded:

"I found the remote."

two new posters: emailed humor

2009-04-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

first, this could easily be a Navy SEAL recruiting poster.
and here's another one that should be posted in every high school and college campus across this great land

couldn't convince the boss that this was a good idea

2009-04-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

remember "Jesus is coming. Look busy'?

2009-04-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

well, the Onion reports his dad is visiting churches to see what's what.

"Turns out the King of Kings was just making the rounds," Stiehl continued. "I thought He'd be taller."

While God did not reveal unto man a reason for His visit—nor did He, in His great wisdom, offer to pay for the six stained-glass windows that shattered from the awesome power of His presence—the Almighty sat among His followers for the last 35 minutes of the Sunday service, as well as the free coffee and pastries that followed.

laughed my ass off

not enough big words to describe this place

2009-04-18T00:22:00.001-07:00

Yosemite National Park. what an amazing, spectacular place. look at this one BIG.
here's a link to my flickr set for Yosemite.

waking up to the roar of Yosemite Falls

2009-04-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

is a really good way to wake up. and going to sleep listening to the roar of cascading water is not too bad either. i slept like a baby last night.
see you all in a week. pictures when i can download them.

new email humor to share

2009-04-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

as always click on the picture for a selection of sizes

so, you own a gas station, out there somewhere in the boonies south of the border. you've been robbed and vandalized at night. what do you do?
why, get a critter that nobody in their right mind would mess with, right? but money's tight, and besides, where the heck do you get a really scary critter for cheap, that won't eat you out of house and home. costs a lot to feed scary critters.
unless you are clever, sneaky, and have a streak of humor a mile wide, in which caseyou get get creative with the pooch and a pair of clippers.

i almost fell out of my chair when i got this in the email today, and had to share. of course, i've only seen this done on cats to hilarious results.

communications error

2009-04-09T12:19:00.001-07:00

cake
Originally uploaded by bothenook

This cake is for someone who was moving from an insurance claims office
Okay so this is how I imagine this conversation went:

Walmart Employee: 'Hello 'dis be Walmarts, how can I hep you?'

Customer: ' I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week..'

Walmart Employee: 'What you want on da cake?'

Customer: 'Best Wishes Suzanne' and underneath that 'We will miss you'.

WTF?

2009-04-05T19:55:00.000-07:00

if you commute, or even just get in a car and drive somewhere, you've seen this. luckily i had my cell phone handy, and caught a snap. yeah, she's reading a book, passing me on the right, going fast as hell, with half a mile of traffic behind us, and at least that much more ahead, and her passenger is kicked back scrolling through what looks like a mounted computer screen.
these are the folks that cause, but may not actually be involved in accidents.
they are why my insurance rates are so high. wish there was a button on my steering wheel marked "DISINTEGRATE". probably a good thing i don't because i'd be using the damned thing all the time, and wear off the writing.
click for size selection.

went on a little bike ride today

2009-04-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

Diane burning up the trail.
click for size selection.

so diane and i went to sacramento today to take a bike ride with Nate and Nicole. we caught the trail at the 6.5 mile point behind a bakery. we wandered for 10 miles along the American River, through lush green fields, shady tree lined sections, and all the while within slingshot range of the river. we stopped and turned around at the 16.5 mile mark, and headed back.
what a great ride. the trail is multi-use, meaning walkers, joggers, runners, bicyclists, and even horse riders use this trail. it is something like 40 miles long, and runs from Old Sac to Folsom.
we don't live in sacramento, so we didn't really know what to expect. we will be going back, and will probably start around the spot we turned back at today. here's a map in adobe pdf format. here's a link to a pretty good site about the parkway.
this is a definite repeat.
wish i knew about this when we moved to vacaville. i've missed out on over 4 years of great rides.

living in a gun free zone

2009-04-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

A father-of-two was beaten to death by a gang of drunken thugs just minutes after police told him they were too busy to help.

James Straiton, 59, and his neighbours dialled 999 six times after being threatened in their own homes by the gang.

But police operators said the force was experiencing a 'high volume' of calls and suggested they call a non-emergency number.
......
A report had also been passed to the court about the police response to the 999 call and Judge Evans said: 'The public will know that the police were very concerned about the response that was made to those calls.

'There has been a high-level investigation into their responses. It is apparent from the information gathered that there was an extraordinarily high degree of police commitment at the time which was responsible for this matter.'

Superintendant Graeme Sims of Cheshire Police today said: 'At the time of this tragic incident we were dealing with 21 different incidents - more than twice the average we normally get at that time on a Saturday night.

read the article here
as the saying goes, the police are only minutes away, when seconds count. me, i trust the cops, and rely on them to do their jobs. i also trust in my Springfield Armory TRP 45 acp to tide me over until they get there. all this guy had available to him was a hammer. my hammer is a lot smaller, but carries a bigger punch. at a greater distance. and sits behind a set of tritium night sights.

what ammo shortage?

2009-03-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

here's how you get around no ammo in the stores to practice with.
one afternoon, 500 rounds 9mm, 200 rounds 45 acp, and 100 rounds 45 Colt. should take at least as long to shoot as it did to reload. if i take a bunch of 22 ammo with me to mix things up.

an epiphany regarding ammo and Americans

2009-03-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

i sniveled on this post that there is less and less ammo available at the retail level. well, i think that my fellow shooters in this country have figured out that there is an option. my site traffic over the last three or four months has shifted from folks looking for recipes for food to looking for recipes for reloading. yeah, we're a country of innovators and problem solvers. got a problem finding center-fire ammo? reload your own! currently 49% (from sitemeter stats) involves searches for reloading info.
reloading, the ultimate recycling. Re-cover, Re-load, Re-shoot!

very cool, a great link for "folks like us"

2009-03-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

Doug Ross has flown under my radar for too long, but i stumbled across the blog on a link from an email. check it out.
and yesterday was a banner day for humor. here's something i wish i had thought up...

click pic for link to original post for an explanation

a taste of what a state run health care system looks like

2009-03-25T09:56:00.000-07:00

so you want to have the government run the health care system? kind of like they do in Britain? how about we examine just what that might mean. how about in a system paid for by taxes dedicated to providing health care, there are more managers than midwives, as the article headline states.
managers have increased their ranks by 9% this year. a snip, and remember to substitute Democrat for Labor in the text. this is what we face:

Meanwhile the number of health visitors and nursing assistants, who help on the wards with duties including cleaning and helping the elderly to eat their meals, have fallen by 3 and 6 per cent respectively.

Critics say patient care is suffering because the NHS is putting more effort into employing bureaucrats - often in so-called 'non-jobs' - than front-line staff.

They say cuts in the number of nursing assistants will lead to more malnutrition on Health Service wards.

Overall, the numbers working in the Health Service rose by 2.8 per cent to 1.37 million - a quarter higher than the figure when Labour came to power.

The news comes after the Government admitted that NHS staff and other public sector workers would receive inflation busting pay rises, even though the private sector is struggling with pay freezes and job cuts as the recession begins to bite.

Conservative health spokesman Andrew Lansley said: 'Yet again funds that are urgently needed for the frontline are being swallowed up by Labour's bureaucratic black hole.

this goes hand in hand with another issue i ranted about some time ago HERE

one dirtbag down

2009-03-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

chalk one up for the good guys. seems someone went into a burger king with a ski mask on, wielding a gun. results, ski mask dead, customer (a legal CCW holder) wounded. check out the article from the Miami Herald. then for a good indication of what the public thinks, read the comments. everything from "why did they get into an argument when the customer should have just shot the sumbich", to "oh my god, we're turning in mexico".
i plan on following the comments, hoping to see someone has put up a site to help gather donations for this brave citizen's costs. i'll let you know. me, i'm in for some bucks to help this guy out when i find out.

Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore, revisited

2009-03-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

there are fans, and then there are soccer fans. not just any soccer fan, but iraqi soccer fans.
so your team is ahead, and the striker for the opposing team in moving the ball down towards your goal. a score will tie the game.
what do you do? what do you do? yell like a banshee? or do you pull out a pistol and shoot the dude dead in his tracks?
score averted.
and then there were a couple of fans dropped in argentina during the workup to a soccer game.
is it just me, or does going to a soccer game seem a bit dangerous? hockey looks to be pretty tame in comparison.

no ammo in the stores

2009-03-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

so i went out today to pick up a couple of boxes of 22s to go banging away with. no such luck. i checked at a couple shops, and the story was the same. no winchester 333's ( that's a box of 333 rounds that all of my 22s like) to be seen anywhere. the only thing left on the shelves was 22 shorts and longs, mostly CCI. good thing i have a stash of several boxes, but when i take others out to go shooting, i always bring more than i need.
i asked the guy behind the counter of the store where i usually buy from, and his reply, after rolling his eyes, is that "no, we haven't stopped selling ammunition. we just can't get any." he sold 10,000 rounds of 9 and 40 they got in in less than a day. those buying it were buying all they could get their hands on.
hmmmm....folks are worried about the new administration, one with strong anti-gun tendencies, i'm guessing. i seriously doubt it's about getting ready for a big crime wave. probably more like worries about availability, taxation, and registration in the very near future.
went out to the net to look around, and there are a number of articles about this. here's a link to one.

visiting the greater Pacific NorthWest

2009-03-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

so here i am, sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Kent Washington. cold. windy, snowing...wait a minute. did he say SNOW? ayup. we left Sacramento under clear skies and 60s degree weather, to land in a damned snow storm.
you should have seen me driving. me driving in snow. i suppose i should have called ahead to the state police so they could clear the roads of traffic, as a public service. but we made it. mom's 75th birthday is why we made the trip. well, one of the reasons.
our family is kind of spred out, so the rarity of all four siblings under one roof makes this a memorable endevour. so i'll enjoy, and then head back home tomorrow, to where the sun shines, and when the roads are wet, it's because RAIN is falling, not that chrystalized fluffy stuff they have here......

broccoli cheese soup: food blog

2009-03-01T20:53:00.000-08:00

i did this recipe shortly after christmas, and took pictures as i went. i'm just now getting around to posting the recipe.

so what do you do after the holidays are over, and the refrigerator is stuffed full of leftover ingredients from the feasting season? i always look at what's jammed in there, and try to come up with a winner using it all up. i've dreamed up stuff like ham and bean soup using leftover t-day ham bones, and baked potato soup using leftover spuds and other goodies, as well as turkey veggie soup. all from stuff left over from the gluttonous revelry that is the holidays.
so i had a ton of cheese left over from the cheese balls i made as appetizers. hmmmmmm. i hate to see perfectly good shredded cheese go to waste. but what the hell do you use a whole pound of left over shredded cheese on, before it turns into a weird fridge biology experiment? hmmmmmm. there's a big bag of left over broccoli florets from the salad i made. hmmmmmm.........!!!! broccoli and cheese soup!!!!!
so i grabbed a bunch of stuff out of the cold box, and started writing down what i was gathering. sometimes i come up with something that is so good i want to make it again. unfortunately, i usually DON'T write down what i did. so, what looks good. i have most of a yellow onion left, a bunch of 1/2 and 1/2 i bought for those weirdos that like to pollute their coffee during dessert. celery, yup, that'll work. so......
Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Ingredients:

1 stick butter
3/4 yellow onion, chopped (hey that's what i had leftover from the cheese balls! use more or less as you like)
1/2 cup flour
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large can (49 1/2 oz)low sodium chicken broth
really big (pig sized) pinch kosher salt
20 grinds pepper, coarse
dash nutmeg
4 cups broccoli florets
1 cup milk
1 cup 1/2 and 1/2
1 pound (4 cups) shredded cheddar and jack cheese blend. hey, that's what i had. regular cheddar would rock too.

Instructions:
melt the butter in a big enough pot to hold everything. saute the onion, celery, and garlic until soft, a couple of minutes.
add the flour in all at once, and mix until all the butter is absorbed. cook for a minute or two. slowly add the chicken broth, stirring to dissolve the roux. add the milk and 1/2 and 1/2, and bring to a boil. toss in the broccoli, allow to come back up to a light boil, and then turn the heat down to simmer. toss in the rest of the ingredients, except the cheese, and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the broccoli is nice and tender (soft).
remove the pot from the stove, and blend the soup until you get a smooth consistency. i used a stick blender, but a regular blender will work. just let the soup cool down a bit before buzzing it in a blender, or else you will be wearing it. hot soup splattering all over the kitchen is not a good thing.
if you let it cool to blend, put back on the stove and bring to a very light boil, then take it off the heat.
add cheese a handful at a time. stir until melted, and then add the next handful. continue until all the cheese is melted. you may find that you will need to heat the soup on low to get the last of the cheese melted. i didn't, but that's because i used an enameled cast iron dutch oven to make this in, and it holds the heat like a champ. i really like the enameled lodge cookware. sturdy, well made, and way way way less per piece than comparable cookware made by a famous french manufacturer that shall remain nameless.
be gentle with the heat after adding the cheese, or else you may end up with a really grainy soup. if you want to reheat leftovers, do so gently. do not allow to come to a boil!!!

as always, if you try this recipe, or it inspires you to try something different, please let me know how it turned out. i'm always looking for fresh and clever ideas to improve my own cooking skills and recipes.

for a complete list of my online recipes, follow the link here

my latest project butchering wood

2009-03-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

being your average cheap charlie, i couldn't see spending a boatload of money for a media center to mount all the electronics junk under the new television. so.....
i went out, bought a cheap 5/8" sheet of particle board, a nice piece of 3/4" red oak plywood, and a 1/2 sheet of 1/4" red oak plywood.
the particle board was for a mockup. i built one just to see if everything would fit, and to get a little practice with the router and jigsaw before chopping up the expensive wood. i figured out that a 24" radius for the edges was way way too much, and decided to use a coffee cup instead. the radius from the cup is perfect.
so i cut, assembled, used 1/4 round as supports for the middle and top shelf, and then stained and varnished the whole thing.
once done, i cut, drilled pass through holes, stained and attached the 1/4" back.
a nice weekend project, custom built for my house for around $80.00.
the rest of the project pictures are in a set on flickr

very cool, new movie trailer

2009-02-24T00:20:00.000-08:00

available over at the A-ganger's Home. dude your wife is right, you find some weird shit. but me likey!