28 September 05 - 12:30Darwin in the News

Here is an interesting news story. Makes me wonder what part of the human race some of us come from--- HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 27 - A quote from recent news "Science teachers at the high school in Dover repeatedly resisted the school board's efforts to force them to teach creationism on equal footing with evolution in biology class, according to a former teacher who is among those challenging the board in a landmark trial. "We would repeatedly tell them, 'We're not going to balance evolution with creationism. It's an inappropriate request,' " said Bryan Rehm, who once taught physics in Dover and is one of 11 plaintiffs in the suit." This makes me think--- I taught some years ago in the early 1980's in a small town in North Dakota. About half of the students in that school were members of an extremely fundementalist religious group who found any belief in evolution to be extremely problematical. The theory of evolution is basic to the classification of species, but does not need to be dwelled on to properly teach biology. Unfortunately both sides in this case are not willing to meet each other on life terms as human beings with beliefs that need to be addressed. The statements quoted in the article are those of persons pushed beyond the point they should be pushed by other decent human beings. There is no landmark case here. Only an embarrassment to human reason. This is not a loss of any sort of scientific principle or religious tenet that forms such a critical foundation to either belief structure that the other could not be acknowledged. Whenever the teachers and the board play the power-powerless game both sides as well as the community (which includes the students) loses. In this one, win or lose, I blame the teachers for not being able to adapt to the folkways of the local community. Give the subject the balance and let both sides have their dignity. The ignorance of this group of teachers to the realities of life may likely be supported by the courts, but that does not make them winners. As human beings we really need to learn to cope with each other if we cannot find it in ourselves to be tolerant. Be a mensch the Germans or the Jewish used to say. Be "of mankind" or "rise above it." Sorry, that there is nothing funny here, but sometimes, thats life.

Lincoln - default - - § ¶

26 September 05 - 22:02Take a Look Below

Don't forget that I am updating the results of my antiporkiness campaign as well as the progress of my car. I might want to keep track of the progress of the car even after these repairs as I have the theory that an older, but more expensive car, such as the Buick, can be a nice economical ride. ALERT ALERT more car info below!!! See what the latest twists in the case of the haunted Buick are as of Friday 9/30/05. I will do an accounting to see what the costs really are. The theory is to get a car with enough value erosion to pay for the repairs due to miles on the car. We shall see.

Lincoln - default - - § ¶

25 September 05 - 13:24Time to Slim Down

After feeling particularly bulbous today, I stepped on the scale and found it was broken (I don't think I broke it!). As a result of this incident I decided it was time to "slim down." I have designed the attached PORK-O-METER (pronounced pork ah' meh ter) to help measure my progress. To simplify reading of the porkometer I have calibrated it to read in pounds.

Currently the porkometer reading is 235 which converts to 235 pounds. This is way too high. On the right side of the porkometer is the goal weight. I will study some diets and things to determine how best to get there. So far the current choices are:

o The Adkins Diet - I did this once, it worked fine, but I did not do well maintaining
o The Slimfast Diet - I did this a couple of times and it worked, again, maintenance issues
o Amputate a Leg - I have never tried this, but believe it to be an extreme measure
o The South Beach Diet - Never tried it, supposed to be like Adkins with fruit (or maybe for fruits, I am not sure)
o Miscellaneous other Diets - There is a new diet in every woman's magazine that comes out
o See Food Diet - This is my current diet, I see food, I eat food

I will make sure that the current porkometer readings are posted in timely fashion and updated here.

09-25-2005 --- 235 lb
09-26-2005 --- 235 lb
09-27-2005 --- 234 lb
10-02-2005 --- 230 lb
10-07-2005 --- 230 lb
10-08-2005 --- 229 lb
10-15-2005 --- 228 lb
10-30-2005 --- 227 lb

Lincoln - default - Leave a Comment - § ¶

23 September 05 - 23:21Car Update - Most recent - 9/30/05 see below!!

The latest info from Friday 9/30/05 is below - read all about it. My poor sick car is still in the shop. I have never had this much trouble with a car repair. The folks at the car repair place that I have used for the past 6 years called and informed me they have sent the car to the dealer. The nice folks at the car repair place indicated that the car ran worse than it did when I brought it in. I am now thinking that perhaps the car is possessed or some type of curse has been put on it when I wasn't looking. Actually, since I am not sure how a curse is put on a car, it may have been put on it when I was looking. No matter. Yipes and Yimminy. The car was last seen on a wrecker heading for the car dealer's garage. After two disassemblies and reassemblies, a timing chain, two sensors, many parts swaps, calls to GM, special appearances by mechanics from other branches of the car repair chain...... No joy. I'll keep you updated. I may need to take up a collection to pay for this ride. UPDATE Saturday 9-24-05 The Buick was gone over by the dealership. They found a few loose wires, got everything plugged in again, the car is running (no more need for a wrecker), and, yes, the Check Engine light is still on. Updates will continue, this is now in the second week of mystery!! UPDATE Sunday 9-25-05 The Buick sits peacefully at the Buick Dealer. The dealer thinks it is the computer. UPDATE Monday 9-26-05 I call in around noon to find that the dealer has things figured out, so they figure. At mid afternoon I get a call that my car is ready to go.... Yippy skippy!!! I pick it up and drive down the road. Now the oil pressure light and the low water level lights are coming on while the oil pressure reads low. Back it goes for one last bit of tweaking. Maybe tomorrow. UPDATE Tuesday 9-27-05 I am waiting for the tweaking to be completed. It is 10:00 AM. UPDATE Tuesday 9-27-05 #2 At 5:00 the nice manager from the car place has delivered the car. It is working fine, except for the low oil pressue (which was not a problem before). Hopefully the haunting of the Buick is over. UPDATE Wednesday 9-28-05 #1 I am thinking I may need a priest instead of a mechanic. While driving down the road in the middle of nowhere (just ouside Van horn, TX), I pulled into a rest stop. I didn't need to "go," just needed to rest a spell. When the car was idling, the oil pressure light started flashing a bit and the pressue was, again, low. Having been advised that this was not an issue by the nice car place manager and that the oil pressure was fine at operating speeds, I decided to head on down the road. At about a mile out of the rest area I noticed the oil pressue did not seem to be coming up and the temperature was rising. Just as soon as I noted this all of the engine lights came on, power dropped off, and the car rolled to a stop at roadside. There was massive steam coming out from under the hood, boilover spewing water from the overflow tank lid, and I was suddenly reminded of my friend Sandra in Tucson. UPDATE Wednesday 9-28-05 #2 Car was towed to a branch of the car fix it place in El Paso, a 124 mile haul. 24 more than I had planned for with my Triple A membership. They will look at the car tomorrow to see what is wrong. UPDATE Thursday 9-29-05 No real news, the manager at the new branch of the car fixit place keeps talking about figuring out what order things happened. UPDATE Friday 9-30-05 The final verdict is "blown head gasket." The mystery is now being referred to an insurance adjuster for the car fixit chain. I feel the need for a lawyer coming on. If you click link below you will get the extended version of this entry which includes how we got to this point. (more)

Lincoln - default - - § ¶

22 September 05 - 01:03No Bottled Water

Listening to talk radio today, a caller from Houston complained about the lack of bottled water in the stores in Houston in the days of preparing for Hurricane Rita. I could hear the despair in her voice. "No water, how can we prepare?" was the implication. "Nobody seems concerned about this horrible situation," she implied. Pardon me all to hecky darn, but what is going on here. I have always challenged people to "think outside the box," but this is incredible. The contained thinking here is amazing to me. I am hearing a human being telling about how the situation is bleak and terrible, "how can you prepare for a hurricane without water.......?" Amazed, I think about how water can be transferred from place to place with relative ease. There is also the amazing forgotten water source in the home called "the water faucet" which can be used to transfer water to containers already available in the home. It is not necessary to buy bottled water. So I point out to all of us who have not thought this through. You have assorted containers available to you in case of this type of storm. Remember, the water can come from the sink in a pinch (or whenever). Here are some great containers for water when expecting an interuption of the water supply. Bathtubs, sinks, empty milk jugs and cartons (rinse first), pitchers, water glasses, coffee cups. pots, pans, vases, coffee pots, sun tea bottles, washing machine, etc. Have we really gotten to the point we have people in our country that cannot even figure this out for themselves? That is the scary thing, not the lack of bottled water.

Lincoln - default - - § ¶

20 September 05 - 23:36The Air Conditioner is Broken

My car is at my favorite car repair place getting repaired. It has been a long drawn out repair. It started out as a "crankshaft sensor" and has blossomed into a timing chain replacement, but the latest news after a week in the shop is that the car runs worse than it did before they started. Yiminy!! The repair has been a topic of discussions and it reminded me of one of the breakdowns my wife (known as "my honey") had a few years ago. She was very upset that the car had broken down and called me on the phone. "The air conditioner in the car is broken! How much will it cost to fix?" "It depends on what is broken," I stated simply. "It just suddenly quit working, just like that. And it made the car hard to steer!" "What?!" "Yes, the car became very hard to steer and began overheating." "Hmmmmmm...." I am sensing a pattern here. "And at the same time the alternator light was on," she finished with emphasis, piling it on to let me know how hopeless it was. "Did you hear a loud bang from under the hood just before the air conditioner went bad?" I asked. "Yes, how did you know?" "Honey, you have thrown a belt. The belt flew off." "How could that be, how could one belt effect all of those things?" "How could the air conditioner effect all of those things?" I ask rhetorically. "Honey, the belt drives all of the things you have mentioned. We just need to replace the belt." Unbelievable as it may seem, it was the serpentine belt. Once replaced, everything worked again.

Lincoln - default - - § ¶

17 September 05 - 23:52What was that Again?

Here is the solution to several nasty social situations you may find yourself in. It is a website called THE MOVIE SPOILER.com. This website contains the storyline of nearly every movie that is now showing. This is a wonder which can serve several obvious purposes. 1) You can go to this site when a friend or relative has seen a movie and refuses to tell you how it ends. 2) If you are a guy you can read up on the dorky "chick flick" type of movies and talk intelligently about the plot to women without the agony of seeing the movie. I do not condone lieing, but some individuals may actually want to imply they saw the movie to avoid actually having to see it. Sort of a pre-emptive strike, so to speak. 3) You can figure out what you actually saw when you can't figure the movie out, or at least see that the reviewer was just as confused as you. For example, Secret Window is a movie I went to and liked although it was confusing. The Spoiler has a concise summary that helps me understand what I saw. I also checked out Skeleton Key to make sure I understood it (I did). 4) You can recall what a movie was about that you saw last year so that it does not drive you nuts to not remember. This is a pretty neat site for the reasons mentioned above. Perhaps you can think of your own reasons!! Check it out. The Movie Spoiler

Lincoln - default - - § ¶

17 September 05 - 14:29The Powers that be on Aruba

Lets review the status of Aruba. Aruba is a "seperate autonomous member" of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and uses their legal system. How does this legal system work? Read on.
To understand it all, I recall my college days where as a physics student I was taught Newton's first law. I realize this is a law of physics, but I have also heard application of similar rules used in some of the management classes I have taken over the years. The law, simply stated, is this; "For an object at rest there is a balancing force for every force experienced by that object." It is this balance that allows the object to remain motionless.
Think of it this way, you are in an elevator, the elevator is suspended in the shaft and feels two forces. The force of gravity and the balancing force of the rope. If the rope breaks, the unbalanced force created causes the elevator to accelerate downward and it will at some point find the force of gravity balanced by the floor of the elevator shaft and it will no longer accelerate, but remain in that balanced force state of Newtons first law. By the way, Newton also dictates a law for the falling situation. It is Newton's second law. However, let's concentrate on the balancing of forces.
Before starting, I want to clearly state that this is my theory based on the numerous news articles I have read on the subject of Natalie's disappearance. The balance of forces on Aruba worked this way in the Natalee Holloway saga.

Here is what happened:

1) Natalie goes to Aruba with classmates for a graduation trip.
2) Natalie is an outgoing person and meets local people.
3) On the night before Natalie is to leave, she packs her things and goes out for her last night "on the town."
4) Natalie, unfortunatly, decides to share her time with the wrong people. She spends the time with young men who want to take advantage of her for their own "fun" and are willing to take risks to have this "fun."
5) To make sure Natalie allows them to take advantage of her, the young men cause a series of events to happen which are designed to seperate Natalie from her group and also to cloud her thinking which will allow them to get her alone and do what they want.
6) Natalie dies as a result of the young men's actions.
7) The men decide to cover up what they have done and take action themselves and with the help of family and associates to effect the cover up.
8) Natalie's mother and others come to Aruba and soon find they must apply pressure (pressure is force) to get anything done to try and solve what appears to be a mystery.
9) As long as Natalies mother and others apply this force, things happen. Finally, one force which is outside of the control of her mother occurs. There are no longer any legal reasons to hold the young men as suspects.
10) The suspects are freed, but told to limit their travel.
11) Within the week the travel restrictions are lifted. All is as it was for everyone involved in the incident except Natalie, who is, unfortunately, dead.
12) Nothing will ever happen because at some level there was collusion between those legally charged with resolving the case and those who were perpetrators of the situation. (more)

Lincoln - default - one Comment - Leave yours - § ¶

16 September 05 - 23:33October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is coming soon and that means two things, Halloween and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I noticed a fund raiser which has taken the concept of the magnetic yellow ribbon (supporting our armed forces) and used it to support, well, awareness. In fact the ribbon states clearly, "Know More." Taking this to heart I have studied the subject and find mammograms are highly recommended as part of the prevention process. Being a man, this is a process I knew nothing about (although in reading I did find that some men have had mammograms!!). Apparently the mammogram is a "not so delicate" procedure. (Procedure is a word that is grossly overused by doctors and such.) This procedure involves the compression of the subject breasts in two directions with an X-ray taken in each alignment. I have a diagram of the procedure here as well as the pink ribbon. As I have recently turned 50 there are all manner of "procedures" that doctors feel compelled to employ in the course of examinations. After becoming more aware of mammograms for the month of October, I will not complain. Just think of it, the wife or lady friend is in the clinic getting clamped in for the second time on the first side. "Code Blue! Code Blue!" blares the intercom. Off rush the doctors and nurses to gently shock the heart attack victim back to life. Meanwhile back at the "device" the lady of your life is stuck in the clamp. After studying the diagram of the process it seems to me that the device used for the "procedure" looks familiar. I have included a pictoral aid to help you see what I was thinking. Now, for those of you who are men with a desire to share the examination experience with your loved one this October, you can try it at home. Study the above diagram and note the potential use of a sandwich press. You are now ready to follow these four simple steps: 1) Use a waffle iron or sandwich press (sandwich press preferred) as shown on the right side of the diagram at the top of this entry. 2) Do not plug the waffle iron or sandwich press in, put it in the refrigerator before use to simulate standard doctors office equipment temperatures. 3) Do not use sandwiches as shown. Refer to the diagram on the left for guidance as to insertion of the body part (breast). 4) Body part substitution could be made for testing purposes, but is not recommended. For those women out there who have not had this done, seriously, you really need to find a way to get the procedure done. This blog can be both an inspiration and an aid for you. If you are afraid of the test, you can now eliminate fear of the unknown by using the four step process above. You can even do the process with your significant other. This can be a time to share and bond. Yikes, I don't even want to think about it.

Lincoln - default - - § ¶

13 September 05 - 12:06Time Travel with Rose Wilder in her book, Free Land

I am always happy when I finish a new book, especially when the book is by a "new" author. The book I finished is Free Land by Rose Wilder Lane, the only daughter of Laura and Almonzo Wilder. Rose has been dead since the sixties, and this book was published in 1938, however, for me it is a new book. The book is easy reading, and although I read a first edition I have seen the book in print recently. Free Land is the story of a young farmer and his wife who travel west into Dakota Territory to homestead. The book is based on memories of Rose's mother (Laura Wilder) kept in journals as well as her own experience growing up in a rural turn of the century environment. The story captures the life of a married couple with the same issues all married couples have, but the story contains a marvelous accounting of the money spent and saved as the couple works to build up their claim of 160 acres and their tree claim of an additional 160 acres. They make good decisions and bad, at times things go their way, at others they do not. I felt trransported in time as the story of early rural pioneer life is told as clearly as if I were a part of the family. I grew up in the same type of rural area as in this story, only in a different era. My grandparents, and the grandparents of my friends were part of this type of life. My great grandfathers homesteaded in North Dakota. Travel in time to the mid 1800's. Read this book.

Lincoln - default - - § ¶

09 September 05 - 21:36Never mind

My cell phone has been missing since Wednesday. I have already talked with the phone guys at work, "Where do you think you lost it?" (What a dumb question. If I knew where I lost it it wouldn't be lost because I would go there and find it.) "Gee, I think it must be here at work somewhere, I last had it here at work." "Well, lets look for a day or two...." Right. Lets look. I've already looked everywhere! ! ! and if it was anywhere I would know where it was and I would have it! ! ! I get so tired of the same response. "Where did you have it last?" Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ! Finally my wife asks about the phone, "have you found it yet?" "No, honey." "Where do you remember having it last?" Grrrrrrrrrrrrr ! "When I talked to Greg Monaghan on the phone before lunch on Wednesday." (I am so tired of dumb help......" Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ! "Why don't you call the restaurant and see if they found it?" Grrrrrrrrrrr ! "Sure, Honey, I'll call. A lot of good it will do, but I will call just so you will quit pestering me." Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep........ Grrrrrrrrrrrrr ! "Hello?" "Hi, this is Lincoln, did I leave my phone there last Wednesday when I had lunch. I am sure I didn't, but my wife is bugging me......" "Yes, it is right here.... Will you be in?" "I'll pick it up tonight, thanks." Click Grrrrrrrrrrrrr ! Never, mind!..

Lincoln - default - - § ¶

04 September 05 - 13:30Political Ambulance Chasers and Hurricane Katrina

I am tired of listening to the political ambulance chasers complain about the rescue efforts in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. It is time for us all to wake up and start working together to help our fellow Americans. The result of hurricane Katrina is a horriffic natural disaster not like any hurricane disaster on US soil in recent memory. Ambulance chasers, don't put your personal needs ahead of those in need. Shut your mouths and listen to what needs to be done and pitch in. Its us, all of us, that are in this together. Even if the response was faster, believe me, it would not have been fast enough. None of us have been pleased with what we have seen and it is going to be a bad situation for a very long time. Figure it out, please, ambulance chasing politicians, ministers, celebrities, and members of the press. Like it or not, this is the end of New Orleans as we know it. Small business owners will walk away from businesses forever and larger businesses will relocate elsewhere, never to return. Former citizens will relocate during their forced exile as opportunities present themselves. Something will return to the site, geographically it has to be a major port location, but it will be forever different. Something will return to the site, yet what New Orleans becomes depends on a large number of factors that will not be determined for some time. This city is being evaculated, not restored, and will need to be secured with military presence. Rebuilding will be time consuming, painful, and will be a much greater opportunity for politicians, ministers, and members of the press to help. Again, its time for the ambulance chasers to shut their mouths and understand they are not helping. If you are a politician, minister, celebrity, or member of the press who is using this as a means to bash the government, you are out of line. Watch and learn. Help and report to us what is happening to the humanity and let us know what we can all do to help.

Lincoln - default - - § ¶

01 September 05 - 12:27Eagles Farewell Tour - Live From Melbourne

I have made an excellent purchase. The Eagles Farewell Tour I DVD. This DVD was playing at Frye's when I happened to be happening through earlier tonight. At a mere $19.95 I could not resist the two DVD set which I listened to until just a few minutes ago. I even listened to some parts twice. Remember, Eagles DVD = good. As usual Joe Walsh is a very snappy dresser.

Lincoln - default - - § ¶