30 May 07 - 19:18Give it the Gas
As early as the 1800's the discussion of global warming was underway. Even Ben Franklin my have mulled the idea and I have just looked at a list of sources on the topic that includes many famous names of science. At least they are names I can recognize. By global warming, I mean the current cycle of our average temperature pattern here on earth.
As man has studied the earth we have long been able to note that there has been evidence of changing temperatures in cycles beyond the annual summer=winter swings. We have noted these by unerstanding that the Sahara Desert has moved its boundaries back and forth, there have been ice ages (and the non-ice age times in between when global warming would have happened), there are fossil indications that warm climate animals have lived in areas of the earth that are currently cold, indicatons of ancient inland lakes and other various changing habitats, and these are only the school child. examples learned in grade school.
Diddling with trying to understand what we call the greenhouse effect and greenhouse gases is fairly recent. The last couple hundred years or so, I expect. The biggy in all of this was a work published in 1938 by one G. S. Callendar titled "The Artificial Production of Carbon Dioxide and Its Influence on Climate." Callendar also is noted for other work involving changes in the atmosphere through time. He is a genuine Kahuna in the field of anthropogenic global warming. Oh, sorry, anthropogenic effects are those effects that result from human activity. As in anthropogenic emissions, anthropogenic global warming, anthropogenic hysteria, and so on. I trust you with this word, there are those in the scientific community that think we are so dumb that they bring it to the first grade level and say "Human Caused Golbal Warming."
The quote made by Callendra that hits me like a hard smack alongside the head is this, however, "[Origins of climatic trends] is a difficult subject: by long tradition the happy hunting ground for robust speculation, it suffers because so few can separate fact from fancy."The quote speaks volumes. By the way, what are the main greenhouse gases? Just so you know, the main greenhouse gasses are water, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorocarbons. Remember methane? This is the gas given off by the landfills we have been creating since the 1960s when the EPA was formed and made us quite burning our garbage in incinerators. It is also the active ingredient in farts.
Although the immediate olfactory effects of farts are well known, some of the secondary effects are not so well know. Check here to see a recent example:
Dangerous Fart Activity can Effect YOU
With that in mind, I have another theory of global warming I would like to see studied. I can fail to seperate fact from fancy just as well as the next guy. I want to see the correlation between the area of the earth disrupted by human paving activity and global warning. I think it is well worth studying. Also, I demand a study of the correlation between animal farts and global warming.
NASA Info on Methane Induced Warming
"... a difficult subject: by long tradition the happy hunting ground for robust speculation, it suffers because so few can separate fact from fancy." And this quote by Callendar is from the 1960's.
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29 May 07 - 21:44More Exotic Places
I am currently in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My daughter says that she is jealous that I get to go to all of these exotic places. This week it is Sioux Falls. The name is descriptive of the geography. There's a river around here someplace and it has waterfalls. The river is the "Big Sioux" river and it undoubtedly had its name taken from the Sioux Indians that lived in this area. I am very uninformed as to the many factions of Sioux that exist, but I do recall that it is a broad term for several nations of Indians that lived and still live in the central part of North America. There are descendents of the original Sioux living both on and off of Indian Reservations in South Dakota today.
The real attraction in Sioux Falls is not the Holiday Inn or the river, or even the rich history. It is just so nice to be near the site of the Zip tower. 
This tower is gone as of 2005, but it was a local historic landmark, a mill of some kind, that was to be imploded. In a town this size that is a fairly big event and you will not the tower in the picture. It is on it's way down and it has a big poster on the side that says, "BOOM."
You might think that the picture you are looking at was snapped just as the tower was falling. That is only sort of the case. The tower actually did not implode. It fell about 20 or 30 feet into it's basement when the charges went off and stuck there. To get a feel for the festive nature of the implosive event take a look at the Google video. Can you pick out the guy in the crowd saying "oh shit" when the building didn't drop? Get a look at the crowd out to see the big event.
Google Video of the Zip Event
The building did come down, it took another two weeks with wrecking balls, so they say. I am actually here on business, however. It takes more than the ghost of the Zip Tower to bring me to Sioux Falls!!
More later from more exotic places!!
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26 May 07 - 22:53Make yourself some money
Below is a letter I received on my AOL account. Since I don't want the money, I thought one of you might want to get rich.
It sure sounds legitimate, don't you think? Let me know how it turns out for you!
Here is the letter!! (By the way, the bullshit detector on this blog usually turns bogus articles to blue, but don't let that keep you from getting rich!!)
Greetings to you,
I am contacting you in regards to a huge sum of money(Seven Million Eight Hundred Thousand British Pound Sterling)only,in an account with my bank for over 10years belonging to a German property magnate,now deceased. He on the 7th of July 2005,had his surviving wife and only son die in the Bomb Blast at Kings Cross underground Station. They were on holiday in the UK for three weeks as tourists.Click link below for more info:
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/07/london.tube/index.html
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8492258 /
Although I know that a transaction of this magnitude might make anyone apprehensive, I would like to assure you that i have contacted you with the best of intentions.
PROPOSAL;
Since his death, none of his next-of-kin or relations has come forward to lay claims to this money as the heir because he never made any one the next of kin to this fund (it was his secret account). We cannot release the fund from his account unless someone applies for claim as the next-of-kin to the deceased as indicated in our banking guidelines. Upon this discovery, we now seek your permission to have you stand as a next of kin to the deceased as all documentations will be carefully worked out by us for the fund to be released in your favour as the beneficiary's next of kin.
It may interest you to know that we have secured from the probate court, an order of madamus to locate any of the deceased beneficiaries. Please acknowledge receipt of this message in acceptance of our mutual business endeavour by furnishing me with the following:
1. Your Full Names and Address.
2. Direct Telephone and Fax numbers.
These requirements will enable us file a letter of claim to the appropriate departments for necessary approvals in your favour before the transfer can be made. We shall be sharing the funds in this manner 70% to us and 30% for you on final conclusion of this project. Your share stays with you while the rest shall be in an investment for us in your country.
If this proposal is acceptable by you, do not take undue advantage of the trust we have bestowed in you.
God bless,
Mr.Roy O. Peterson.
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26 May 07 - 21:46The Doctor's Appointment
What follows is a joke, although it reminds me of a couple of women in my life!
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A sweet little old lady goes to the doctor and says, "Doctor, I have this problem with gas, but it really doesn't bother me too much. They never smell and they are always silent."The nice lady continues, "As a matter of fact, I've already farted several times since I've been here in your office and you didn't know I was farting because, as I said, they don't smell and they are silent."
The doctor looks at her thoughtfully and gives her a bottle of red pills.
"Take three of these a day, then see me again next week," directs the doctor.
The following week the lady is back.
"Doctor," says the old gal, "I don't know what those red pills were, but now my farts...although still silent...stink terribly."
The doctor replies, "Good!!! Now that your sinuses are clear, let's work on those ears."
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26 May 07 - 06:06The Good and the Bad (and the Ugly) Linda
This week Marla went to visit friends in our old home town. It was happenstance, but in the process she tried to find out more about Linda. She called Andy and finally got him. Surprise, he didn't really hate us. In fact he described the problems we had been hearing about from his perspective.
He admitted to some marital issues (as I would have expected from my original take on his personality), but described major issues with Linda. She had taken on a boyfriend who seemed to have medical issues (liver failure) and she had been fired from her job because she had embezzled 40,000 dollars. In fact, after Marla listened to all of the story, it makes us wonder if the "leukemia" story was a fabrication to explain weight loss, and the marital problems Linda described were not as one sided as she led us to believe.
The sad part of the story is this. All the while I talked with Marla on the phone and listened to the story of Linda as told by Andy, I was immediately reminded of the conversations with my nephew, Jason. The signs all said, Meth.
I told Jason that from his description of Meth, that it sounded like a drug that would attract people who want to do well and people who are driven to succeed. He described it as a drug that makes people feel insightful, successful and full of energy. He indicated that this works for a while to the favor of the person, but very quickly they start to have energy without insight or success.
Today, we have not yet found Linda, but hear that she is living in Pasadena, TX with the sister of her former boyfriend. We have also heard that she used to sit at night on the bed in Andy's house with a full, soon to be empty bottle of wine, rocking back and forth saying, "There is nothing wrong with me."
This drug is obviously the menace that I have heard it is. I do not know from primary evidence that Linda has been ruined by Meth, but it seems she may have been. It is like alcoholism in the fast lane. If we can find her we will certainly help get her back to rehab (yes she was there) and support her in the years it may take to rebuild her soul.
Like I said, Meth is bad.
(For those of you that don't get the John Travolta picture, he is not a meth addict. He starred in a picture that was set in Pasadena, TX called Urban Cowboy)
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25 May 07 - 08:08Bad times for Linda
Remember the talk about Linda? She had some minor problems when she worked for me, but mostly revolving around drinking a bit too much. In hindsight, her weaknesses may have been tempered by the fact that she was remarrying and was very busy trying to reconstruct her family. However, there were some issues, but the one that stands out was "the case of the missing petty cash." We had a small cashbox with $100 in it. This cashbox was used to pay small bills. For whatever reason, it ended up about $90 short when placed in her care. Hmmmmmmm
Marla and I met Linda's husband, let's call him Andy, and we both found him to be a "no-nonsense" person. Andy was working for a large local utility in a supervisory position. He continues to work for this company today.
About three years ago Linda told Marla she had Leukemia. She indicated that it was causing her to lose a lot of weight, but it was in remission. She also related other personal problems and indicated that Andy did not like us anymore. Her problems seemed to snowball and she became separated from And, got a new job, and found a new boyfriend called Kevin. Since she lives in another town, we only saw her occasionally, but when we saw her the last time she was with Kevin, who she described in vague terms, but he seemed to be a successful businessman.
Linda was very thin at the time and Kevin seemed polished enough. However, Linda's conversations with Marla revolved around dark aspects of her life including how Andy had become an alcoholic and drifted away from her.
A couple of months ago I drove to Linda's city. I tried to call her cell phone number and could not reach her. The lady that had the number now sounded a bit miffed and indicated the number had been reassigned. I called Marla and asked her to follow up. Marla did some pretty clever detective work and found that Linda had left her job and according to the person who answered the phone she had done some "bad things."
I'll tell you what Marla finally found out in the next episode.
Stay Tuned!!
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24 May 07 - 08:08Meth is Bad
Just a short sad story of some "reading between the lines" that has been going on with Marla and myself. This involves a mutual friend, lets call her Linda.
I remember her as young, in her mid thirties when she went to work for me as an office manager. She is an intelligent blonde woman with better than average looks, and a very strong tendency to wanting things done right. When we interviewed her for the job we checked references and the only negative comment we received from a reference was that she had a tendency to overcommit, usually translated as a desire to do well to the point where a person will agree to do more than they can do. An easily manageable character flaw to say the least.
Fast forward to a couple of months ago. I was in my home town of Lisbon, North Dakota and had a chance to talk to my nephew (he is an adult) and for whatever reason the topic turned to methamphetamines, something he gained experience with as a bail bondsman that I knew little about. The topic related to the removal of drugs from drug store shelves to reduce ease of manufacture, but progressed to the effects of the drug.
The effects as he described them were parallel to those described on the web on a few sites I visited such as the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). Here is an excerpt of "official" information on "meth".
Today, most amphetamines distributed to the black market are produced in clandestine laboratories. Methamphetamine laboratories are, by far, the most frequently encountered clandestine laboratories in the United States. The ease of clandestine synthesis, combined with tremendous profits, has resulted in significant availability of illicit methamphetamine, especially on the West Coast, where abuse of this drug has increased dramatically in recent years. Large amounts of methamphetamine are also illicitly smuggled into the United States from Mexico.
The effects of amphetamines, especially methamphetamine, are similar to cocaine, but their onset is slower and their duration is longer. In contrast to cocaine, which is quickly removed from the brain and is almost completely metabolized, methamphetamine remains in the central nervous system longer, and a larger percentage of the drug remains unchanged in the body, producing prolonged stimulant effects.
Chronic abuse produces a psychosis that resembles schizophrenia and is characterized by paranoia, picking at the skin, preoccupation with one's own thoughts, and auditory and visual hallucinations. These psychotic symptoms can persist for months and even years after use of these drugs has ceased and may be related to their neurotoxic effects. Violent and erratic behavior is frequently seen among chronic abusers of amphetamines, especially methamphetamine.
In so many words this mirrors what Jason said about what he had learned about the drug as he saw clients in his bail bond business. The thing that caught my attention was the fact that methadrine has effects that are long lasting. It is not a transient high that is gone in a half an hour, but an effect that lasts all day (both the above description and Jason's description match on this).
With that in mind, the next installment will be the sad story of Linda and what Marla has found out about her. I hope things are going better for you that they are for our friend.
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23 May 07 - 14:02A bit about Wacko Jacko
Whenever I log onto AOL they have a little news thingy that pops up. I had almost forgotten about Michael Jackson, since our court system found him to not be a pervert and all. Because he was exonerated from those nasty claims, imagine my surprise when I hear that a few of his his things are being auctioned off by one Richard Altomare with some of the objects claimed to be a bit kinky. You can read the short article yourself at http://www.tmz.com/2007/05/20/wacko-jackos-auction-drama/.
I followed up by reading a few more articles and found that, indeed, Jackson was going to sue to stop the sale. This is only natural, considering how he knows the courts will side with a fine upstanding non-pervert such as himself. But, alas, a negotiated settlement was announced and the court case was dropped. I couldn't believe this could be true!! Why would an innocent man negotiate a settlement?
Whatever the case, it seems when Richard purchased some 20,000 items of Jackson's "stuff" there were apparently a few bizarre sex toys and paintings of nude young boys mixed in there. According to the article to avoid embarassment, Jacko will get to take 20 items from the auction first (probably the dirty pictures and maybe the whitening creams).
"Mr. Jackson is satisfied with the negotiated settlement," said his spokesperson.
That's so nice.
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23 May 07 - 00:01Sans Sandisk
Here is a product I don't like. It is a thing called a Sandisk. I bought it because I thought it was a USB drive. It is sort of a USB drive, but it has some rummy software installed with it. Instead of simply coming up as a blank disk drive it installs itself as a fake 4 gigabyte CD rom with unwanted and unneeded software on an unaccesible drive. Then it shows up again as another drive as useable space. In other words, it takes up two drive spaces just to do the job of one, includes software i don't need, and does not allow me to use the device as I intended.
Aside from the fact that the device is allowed to fake out the operating system to masquerade as something it is not, it concerns me that they have to do this type of thing to make their device work. I will use the device for a while (probably until I lose it), but it makes me nervous when I see features that are not required which translate to extra cost and extra complexity on a product.
It has the same "not quite right" properties on both my Unix and my Microsoft XP Machine. It does not fall into my catagory of "no bullshit" works well devices. It contains unwanted features that make it worrisome to use.
I have purchased an LG USB drive and it is a "no-crap" workhorse. I would recommend you stay away from USB drives that need to pretend they are something they are not and create ghosts to work. Say no to Sandisk and hello to LG.
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22 May 07 - 10:10News Blues - Time is so Smart!
More "what's wrong with America" ranting....
Here is a great quote from the "newsfolks" at Time (which sports the logo "in partnership with CNN").
"As if the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal weren't bad enough for America's image in the Middle East, it briefly appeared to much of the world that one of the men implicated in the scandal was returning to the scene of the crime."
Adam Zagorin (whoever he is) goes on to further gloat that Time was responsible for helping make the world a better place by bringing this to the light of day. What a crock. As an American I am shocked that this type of irresponsible journalism goes on daily giving us a bad image because people like Zagorin, in my opinion, are unamerican when they air our dirty laundry to the world.
I think it is time for all Americans to start being Americans, supporting America and not be tattle tails in cases like this. My shame award for the day goes to Adam Zagorin (whoever he is) for being a shameful American. I really have a problem with these guys and their unamerican thinking.
Some things are better left unsaid, or if they must be said, said in private. I think I will call them "The Trailer Trash Media," because they seem more like the gossiping biddies I remember from the time I lived in a trailer park while I was returning to school for the second time. These (mostly gals) folks sat around whining about how "they" were out to get them. (I think the gals meant "the government.") Then they would go to the school and wait for their free WIC cheese handout.
Ah yes, the "Trailer Trash Media" from Time Magazine. "Nanny nanny boo boo, I can make us look stupid.... Ooops, why would I want to do that?" Heck, at Time, they don't even know it was an ooops.
FYI, the lady in the picture is a dead ringer for the woman who ran the illegal day care in the trailer park where all the theories were collected. Time magazine has nothing on this gal.
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21 May 07 - 10:10Fifty Years of Math Education
As a former math and science teacher I have been considering the changing landscape in math education as well as in the world. I can remember when I was starting to teach memorization was poorly thought of and new math swept the education scene as teaching the concept was supposed to expand the student's mind. Then prices came down on calculators and they were supposed to free the minds of our children to allow them to have loftier thoughts. From there technology promised so much more for the students than the drudge and labor of rote learning.
With that in mind, over the last 50 years, starting with the year I entered first grade, what answer might you receive when asking a grade-school child the question "What is 2 plus 2?"
I figure the answer to 2 plus 2 would go pretty much like this...
In 1957 "Four."
In 1967 "Three? Wait, let me draw this out on paper. . . Oh, yes, FOUR!"
In 1977 "Let me get my calculator."
In 1987 "One moment while I launch 'Calculator' on my PC."
In 1997 "I can find that answer at "AdditionOnTheWeb.com."
In 2007 "¿Puede usted decir eso en español?"
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20 May 07 - 06:06Attention New World Bank President
Sometimes I have to rant. This is one of those times. Before I start, I want to assure you that I have only given this a cursory look, but the World Bank issue stinks in the same way the Gonzales issue smells. It also relates to the sorry state of our politics which comes from the ridiculous behavior of politicians which is not only tolerated, but is accepted as normal conventional behavior. I will state for the record, however, that I would prefer a politician over a journalist (newsperson) in almost any circumstance. For example, I only watch the Today Show for its entertainment value as none of those who report on that show have a balanced opinion, including the weatherman who saw fit to stick his two cents worth into the Don Imus incident, which was another travesty of the same kind.
I have watched leadership in the United States become eroded over my lifetime and I still have not completely put my finger on it. It seems, however, that in our country today there is a bit too much ability on the part of employees to unseat bosses they don't like. They do it by finding a point of weakness and then hammering on that point until the person in charge is declared "ineffective" and unable to lead.
That Paul Wolfowitz is regarded as one of the more brilliant US foreign policy thinkers of his generation is an observation that is generally considered true by those who think on a high level. So why wouldn't we want him to be in charge of the World Bank?
Consider this excerpt from fin24.co.za (South Africa) 5/18/2007
Washington - World Bank employees have condemned the exit deal that allows disgraced president Paul Wolfowitz to leave office in June as a fresh blow to the lender's integrity. . . . In a statement on Thursday (May 18, 2007) the Staff Association of the World Bank said, "Welcome though it is, the president's resignation is not acceptable under the present arrangement, it completely undermines the principles of good governance and the principles that the staff fight to uphold."
I am really thinking that it might be time to get some new bureaucrats (that is what the staff of the world bank essentially are) instead of a new World Bank president. In a nutshell, Wolfowitz is gone because of jealousy, plain and simple. Jealous staff association members should not even dare make such ridiculous comments as they are making.
As near as I can tell, Wolfy has a girlfriend who worked at the world bank. In order to avoid a conflict of interest she was put on "loan" to the State Deparment, but paid by the bank. Her pay rate went up at the same time (she is a highly compensated person) and some peon (bureaucrat) got a burr under his or her saddle and managed to hammer the issue until they got their way. These desk riders (bureaucrat comes from the French word for desk) need to be weeded out. They are not useful if they think what they are doing is effecting "...the principles of good governance and the principles that the staff fight to uphold."
Janet Reno knew how this works. When Janet took the office of Attorney General she fired all of the 93 U.S. attorneys, a very unusual practice. At the time Republicans charged that the move was made to take U.S. Attorney Jay Stephens off the House Post Office investigation Dan Rostenkowski. The move worked well for Ms. Reno remained Attorney General for the rest of Clinton's presidency which , made her the longest-serving Attorney General in 150 years.
This, dispite a rocky time in office. Reno attracted more attention than any of Clinton's other cabinet members. While the administration in general could steer a middle ground, Reno's job was at the center of a variety of conflicts which made her a criticism magnet.
Janet Reno was praised for investigating the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, but criticized for her handling of the Branch Davidian affair in Waco, Texas. Republicans carped about her reluctance to appoint an independent counsel to investigate campaign finance abuses and even the Clinton White House took crabbed at Reno over the Whitewater investigation.
It would seem that her methodology in handling the department right from the first probably made the difference and allowed her to be a strong leader. I think whoever replaces Wolfowitz should take a clue from Janet Reno and purge the World Bank in the same way.
Lets review.
bu'·reau·crat (noun):
1. An official of a bureaucracy.
2. An official who is rigidly devoted to the details of administrative procedure.
The statement at the beginning of my rant indicates that they should stay away from trying to understand "...the principles of good governance and the principles that the staff fight to uphold."
Here is a quote from Wikipedia.
"A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy, usually within an institution of the government.
The term "bureaucrat" today has largely accepted negative connotations, so those who are the members of a governmental bureaucracy usually prefer (other) terms . . . . The negative connotation is fueled by the perception that bureaucrats lack creativity and zest."
My opinion is that the bureacrats at the World Bank have fullfilled my expectations. They entirely miss the point of what the world bank is designed to do. It is not meant to be a model for of how corporate citizens should behave on the job. It is a bank that is meant to help countries develop.
According to the World Bank website here is what they are supposed to be doing:
"The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. We are not a bank in the common sense. We are made up of two unique development institutions owned by 185 member countries—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).
Each institution plays a different but supportive role in our mission of global poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards. The IBRD focuses on middle income and creditworthy poor countries, while IDA focuses on the poorest countries in the world. Together we provide low-interest loans, interest-free credit and grants to developing countries for education, health, infrastructure, communications and many other purposes."
Again, I think the public communications of the World Bank bureaucrats underscores the lack of creative thinking as well as a lack of understanding of what their institution actually supposed to do. Poor babies.
New World Bank president, get rid of the bad apples on day one. Learn from Janet Reno, one of my heroes.
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19 May 07 - 12:12Radio to the masses in my younger days...
When I was in high school I belonged to a club which was definately geeky at the time called the "Radio Club." At the time there was no such thing as a personal computer, VHS tapes had not been invented, color television was just becoming popular, and all things "radio" seemed pretty damn neat. At the time I was in Lisbon High School there were a couple of teachers that were amateur radio operators and they were the advisors of the "Club."
One of the things we wanted to do was create a local High School radio presence and our options at the time were three. (1) We could get time on the Oakes, ND radio station which carried a Lisbon show. (2) We could have a closed circuit broadcast over the school intercom (which would need to be verbal and of short duration) (3) We could come up with some way to broadcast ourselves.
The third option seemed most appealing, but the most techincally and legally challenging. We found that we could broadcast at 1/10 of a watt (100 milliwatts) without legal issues, but we figured with such a weak signal nobody would be able to hear us. The solution was what our advisors called "The Triple-C Circuit."
The is what is also dubbed "RF over power lines." The system works this way. Tuned electrical circuits which use capacitors and/or inductance coils can block electricity at desired frequencies (channels) and allow it at others. Since electricity uses 60 hertz (cycles per second of "frequency") a radio transmitter uses a circuit that blocks in the range of 60 hertz and allows in the range of the desired radio broadcast. It may sound complicated, but it isn't. We did this with a handful of capacitors, a bit of wire, and an old 50 watt army transmitter which we hooked up during a Saturday test.
We played a recording over a channel on the AM radio band and drove around town. We found that the signal was nearly perfect in that it did not stray very far away from the power lines, yet it was strong enough to be picked up on the streets and homes of Lisbon, ND.
Although the transmitter crapped out and summer came before we were up and running, the idea stayed with me when I went to college. There it almost worked again.
This system is pretty much the same as what Direct TV and broadband providers are suggesting using to get televison and internet to you. Television over Power Lines
I guess it must have been a "before its time" idea when I was doing it, but it really is simple to implement and the power companies have been using the system for years (for a variety of things, I have heard). It is hard to believe a basket of capacitors and coils could be the "wave of the future."
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18 May 07 - 22:28Paris goes to jail?
I have read that Paris has withdrawn her appeal. This is after, as you know, she was sentenced to 45 days in county prison for driving with a suspended license. Suspended, as you should also know, for driving while intoxicated.
For anyone, suspensions can be a tremendous burden. If you cannot drive to work, you may end up making very diffucult arrangements, or even lose you job if you cannot carry out duties as required by your employment. Since Paris' job is "rich bitch town drunk" this is not a real problem. She should arrange to get drunk in hotels or near hotels so she merely has to stagger to her room after finishing her work. Also, she does not need to drive. She has enough money to hire that done.
Of course, she indicated she did not realize her license was suspended. That's hard to believe, is she also saying that as the resident "rich bitch town drunk," she is also the designated blonde, and as such does not have the capacity to remember much. I can recall an episode where Kelly Bundy was cramming for a test with her brother, Bud, and a lot of information fell out due to lack of room in her "blonde brain." I thought the Bundy skit was a joke, but perhaps it really happens.
It also seems that after firing her first lawyer, it is under the guidance of the new lawyer that the appeal was dropped. So what will happen to her? From what I hear, Paris will only be jailed for about 23 days of the 45 day sentence and she will also be separated from the general inmate population. Apparently the jail out there in California has two levels of jail. One for us regular people, and a "special needs housing unit" at the Lynwood jail that contains 12 two-person cells reserved for police officers, public officials, celebrities and other high-profile inmates.
It's nice to have a caste system in place in this day and age. It seems that California discriminates on the basis of whether or not you are a high profile inmate. I wonder if you need "soap on a rope" in the high profile prison like you do in the "low profile" prison.
I need to quit this, I am sure there is no discrimination involved, after all, the rich and famous should get special treatment. After all, they are just too pretty to be in jail with the rest of us, right?
Oh, yeah, remember that 45 days equals 23 days since we know she will be on her best behavior.
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18 May 07 - 08:38Another word from Canada
One thing that was interesting about the small towns I went through in Canada was the number of chinese restaurants and the number of hotels. For example, Kerrobert had two active hotels, both of decent size for a town of 1100 people, and there was also a large "abandoned" hotel.
In Kerrobert, the larger (and older) of the two hotels had a chinese family running the restaurant where I ate breakfast. I also ate at the chinese restaurant down the street for dinner (lunch in some parts of the world). The cooking was great.
For my final night I ate in Luseland at the 4 Seasons which was run by an oriental family and in the course of having supper (dinner in some parts of the world) I think every family member except for mom came out and served me something. Between services they were in the kitchen carrying on a loud conversation.
I would visit any of them again on another trip to the area. Great food, great people.
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17 May 07 - 21:36That small town look and feel
I had some interesting thoughts as I read (mostly you look at pictures) this book I just bought. The title of the book is Main Street, North Dakota, Volume II.
The book mostly consists of picture postcards of towns in North Dakota, my home state. It is pretty much one picture per city, except in a couple of instances, and the town I grew up in didn't even have a picture included, even though some pretty damn little places (like Buttzville) were included.
Buttzville was little more than a large farm which never was more than a grain elevator and a few houses. It was sort of a town for the Buttz brothers. They never even built a railroad station there, they loaded one on a flatcar from another town and hauled it in. As far as this book goes and as far back as I remember (the 1960's) there were never any businesses in Buttzville. I even find it hard to believe that there were ever really 100 people there in 1920. But that is the claim.
And so it goes. Every picture in the book has a little bit written about the town in the picture. In fact, this book is published by a company that publishes this type of low key picture history for places all over. You can find their website here:
Arcadia Publishing
One of the interesting things that I became aware of when I traveled through Canada is that every little town has a story. In fact, the stories are often the same, just the names change. It was the presence of a small museum in several of the towns I have been to lately that triggered this realization. Those of us from small towns must certainly know what I mean.
I intend to continue to explore the history in the area I grew up. If you are interested in this type of history, check and see what they have at Arcadia Publishing that might have to do with an area you are familiar with. I see they are soon to be reprinting the first Main Street, North Dakota book. I might need to get that one, too.
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17 May 07 - 09:36I'll bet he wishes he was Dead
Ordinarily I don't do this, and most of you reading this may have already seen this, but here goes...
You Tube Link
This poor cop decided to take home some of the goods and the clip will tell you what happened. When you screw up, it just doesn't get worse than this. The guy has lost his job and now his 911 call is entertainment for the world. The poor b-------.
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16 May 07 - 01:08Who is really getting Screwed?
You know, I have been watching television and wondering about the WFAA "sting" on air conditioning contractors who are not air conditioning contractors. They showed a couple of folks who were doing work for 600 dollars and stated that a licensed contractor would charge well over $2000.
So, the "legal" contractor costs three times as much. I am thinking, is the contractor who is "not doing it right" charging 1/3 the amount because they are a bunch of dopes selling stolen merchandise or are the "legal" contractors gouging? It is probably a bit of both. When laws are written to protect a group of tradesman the law makers usually start with the idea that they are protecting the consumer. That changes.
Once the contractor community can gets the "go ahead" from the lawmakers, they will work toward systematically soaking you and I for simple services under the guise of professional and legally required licensing. These people are electricians, plumbers, and other assorted contractors. The concept is sound in theory, but in practice it breeds impropriety.
Don't let me mislead you. I believe in many contractors. However, I have been had by more contractors than I would care to mention. So I won't.
The evidence is simple. If the accepted system is overcharging and gouging, an alternate system will start to fill the gap for those who cannot afford the "accepted system." The solution? Less government and government that protects the right things. It is hard to determine this. Can you?
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11 May 07 - 22:09Where did he Eat?
Where did I eat?? In the place shown, that's where.
Here is the location where I dined tonight. It is an interesting building. As you enter from the street you go into a lobby area in which the lobby "desk" is not staffed. The cafe is to the right and the bar is to the left. I have not tried out the bar, but I did eat at the cafe.
The cafe is a large room that is a split level design. A group of four people were already seated and in the process of waiting for their dinner, I moved further into the room and stepped up to the upper level (I wish I would have remembered this step when I left) and selected a booth from a total of four in the raised section. One booth was gargantuan and the other three were normal sized. I chose normal, to match my personality.
Once in the booth I only had to wait a short time after which Theresa the middle aged waitress came to my table and took my order for the steak special. I ordered my steak medium rare and it was at least that done when I got it. I think this place is the kind that should advertise "home cooking."
The gravy on the french fries was also a nice touch, but I think I asked for it in the myriad of questions I had to answer in order to satisfy the waitress (Theresa) so that she could finalize my order.
I am still not sure what desert was, but it was good! I thought it was ice cream on cobbler, but it was some type of two part pudding. I'll keep you in the loop as to all new developments!!
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11 May 07 - 21:18Where in the World
This is where I am tonight. This motel is in Luseland, SK, CA. It is a small, but friendly place.
The motel is community owned and I have already learned a lot about the motel's history.
In July of 1996, it was Luseland's favorite son Jimmy Pattison who said he would be happy to help out with the project and agreed to match the community's motel donations dollar for dollar up to $100,000.
Pattison, a successful Vancouver businessman was born in Luseland and lived in the community as a young boy until his family moved to Vancouver in 1934.
I was also told how Jimmy owns Frank Sinatra's former estate in Florida and has invited anyone in the town to visit it at any time.
It isn't the history of the motel that is the most interesting, it is the excellent treatment I have received and the refreshing rural feel of the community that I like. When I arrived at the motel there was nobody around and the doors to all the rooms were open. I called the motel phone number and a man answered. When he found I was in the motel he showed up almost immediately and gave me a key. After filling me in on the Pattison story, he said we could settle up when I leave and disappeared.
My key opens the front door as well as my room.
Next I will tell you where I ate dinner. Hint: it was at the other hotel across the street.
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09 May 07 - 00:49What is it with Opinions
Let's imagine its 1780 and our country is in its infancy. So often we hear those local to our time frame saying "that's what the framers of the constitution wanted" or words to that effect. I don't know if they would have wanted it, but one thing that did not exist in those years was the public opinion poll. Today, pollsters, for rightly or wrongly are constantly asking a random sample of us what we think and publishing it.
People of that day had resolve because they had to. Doing anything on a whim was nearly impossible. Even 75 years later in the 1850's when Abraham Lincoln would have traveled between his home state of Illinois and Washington, DC he would have traveled on ferries, steamboats, trains, and stagecoaches. Travel agencies would not have existed, the plans would have been complex and it would have been either necessary to do the planning months in advance to obtain tickest by mail, or in the case of "quick" travel, a library of schedules for the various modes of transportation would have been required and the willingness to change plans as required would have been essential.
It was this time frame that found the telegraph in its infancy and it was not until this day that information could travel across wide expanses in real time. Even though the information could travel in real time, it took a day or two for the news to be assembled, edited, printed, and disseminated. Group ideas and plans took a great deal of time to form as a result.
It wasn't until another 75 years, in 1935 that George Gallup started out with his first poll question which delved into public opinion on relief from poverty which defined the decade of the thirties. The question, "Do you think expenditures by the government for relief and recovery are too little, too great, or just about right?" was answered; Too little, 9 percent; about right, 31 percent; too great, 60 percent. An interesting result, since 1935 was the year FDR pushed through the second phase of the "New Deal."
Today many of us (not me) seem to feel that polls should define the way those that govern should respond on an nearly immediate basis. I am reminded of the new movie "Ratatouille" where a rat hides under a young chef's hat and the rat controls the chef's motions remotely by pulling the chef's hair. Some of us want to be able to do that to our politicians on a daily or perhaps shorter time frame. And speaking of frames, how would the framers of our constitution felt about this?
How could we know. This is something that they did not anticipate. I don't even think the word micromanage had been used anywhere in the universe at that time.
Today I feel the most abused tool in our world is the public opinion poll. The questions frame issues in ways that are both leading and misleading, while the answers are just what the poll name implies, opinion.
Here, in the opinion of a poll are the top 100 (actually 200 are in the opinion poll frame) most influential people in the world.
The TIME Top 100 The strange thing is, Time magazine doesn't seem to think there is anything wrong with this. I really don't think "Rain." whoever the hell he or she is can possibly be the most influential person on our planet. This shows us very clearly that public opinion is just that, opinion.
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06 May 07 - 21:49A Texan goes to Hell
THIS IS A JOKE!!
A Texan dies and goes to hell. While down there the devil notices that the Texan is not suffering like the rest. He checks the gauges and sees that it's 100 degrees and about 80% humidity.
So he goes over to the Texan and asks why he's so happy.
The Texan says, "I really like it here. The temperature is just like Dallas in June."
The devil isn't happy with the Texan's answer and decides to fix him, so he goes over and turns up the temperature to 120 degrees and the humidity to 90%.
After turning everything up he goes looking for the Texan.
He finds him standing around unbuttoning his shirt, just as happy as can be.
The devil quizzes the Texan again as to why he's so happy.
The Texan says, "This is even better. It's like Houston in July."
The devil, now really upset, decides to make the Texan really understand that hell is no paradise.
He walks over to the controls and turns the heat up to 140 degrees and the humidity to 100%.
"Now let's see what the Texan is up to," he thinks.
So he goes looking for the Texan. The devil finds the Texan taking his shirt off basking in the heat, even happier than before.
The devil can't figure it out. He asks the Texan why he's happy now. The Texan replies, "This is great,
it's just like Brownsville in August."
The devil says, "That's it, I'll get this guy."
He walks over and turns the temperature down to a freezing 25 degrees below zero.
"Now let's see what the Texan has to say about this," the devil thinks to himself.
He looks around and finds the Texan jumping up and down for joy.
"What are you so happy about now," ask the devil.
Still excited, the Texan replies, "The Rangers have finally won the world series!"
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05 May 07 - 12:12Windows Deal - (Bad Joke?)
THIS IS A JOKE
Last year I replaced all the windows in my house with those expensive, double-pane, energy-efficient kind. Yesterday, I got a call from the contractor who installed them. He was complaining that the windows had beeninstalled a whole year ago and I had not paid for them yet.
Hellloooo?
Now just because I'm blonde doesn't mean that I am automatically stupid. So I told him just exactly what his fast-talking sales guy had told ME lastyear... namely, that in just ONE YEAR these windows would pay for themselves!
There was only silence at the other end of the line, so I finally said, "It's been a year!!!"
Well, he still didn't say anything, so I just hung up. He hasn't called back, probably too embarrassed about forgetting the guarantee they made me.
Bet he won't underestimate a blonde anymore!
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03 May 07 - 21:56Would you want to know?
The topic of conversation tonight was "would you want to know when you are going to die?"
I thought about that, "No," is my reply.
Actually, we all know we are going to die, we just don't know when. The question is "would you want to know when?" I guess it is feasible. When you are born, the date is tattooed to your butt or something. Maybe a voice in the sky proclaims the date when you reach puberty, or it could be written in a big book somewhere. Even the idea of delivering that information is difficult for me to imagine.
I have known people who were told near the end of their lives that they had only months or weeks to live. One guy I knew spent his last days in the hospital writing letters and cards, while calling friends and enemies on the phone and giving them appropriate conversation, depending on their status. He even planned his own funeral.
I don't know if I could do that, or if I would want to. Marla says she would want to know. Myself, I think not.
By the way, the picture is a ficticious Marla marker. Originally I had a picture of James Brown. This guy probably would have liked to know when he was going to be buried. He is now, but even this may not be permanent. Brown died on December 25 in an Atlanta hospital and his body was placed in a crypt March 10. And even that may not be permanent.
I just don't want to know when the day will be, how it will happen, or what the funeral is like. I just don't think I want to know.
However, if anyone knows when Marla will be dying, she wants to know. So, if you know, leave her a message, OK?
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01 May 07 - 23:40Lisbon North Dakota Quasuicentennial
In 2005 my home town, Lisbon, North Dakota had a celebration called a Quasuicentennial, whatever that i. I think if you subtract 1880 from 2005 you get 125 years and that is probably the root of the meaning which I guess to be 125 year celebration. They published a history book called "Lisbon, ND Quasuicentennial 1880 - 2005." The picture shown was in colorized form inside the front cover of the book. Basically it is the south side of town. The caption reads, "Panorama of Lisbon from about Fourth Avenue and south. Photo was taken by McNally probably from atop the Lisbon Roller Mills Building. Note Opera House building at right. See north half of panorama inside back cover."
The picture is taken from a panorama post card created by the McNally Studio, a local photography business that was still going strong when I was in grade school in the 1960's.
The second picture is taken from the back cover of the same publication. This photo has the caption, Turn of the century panorama depicting Lisbon from approximately First Avenue and south. Note brick school and Grover building in center of photo. This copy is from Richard Kirkland postal card. See south half on inside front cover."
Recently I spent a bit of dough purchasing a three segment panoramic postcard of Lisbon, North Dakota (ND) and was surprised to find that the left and middle portion were the same shot that was in the Quasuicentennial book. I have included blowups of them here so you can click on the photos and see them more clearly. They are great segments of the three piece panorama.
Well, now I have a treat for you. The entire panorama from the postcard I just purchased is attached to the link, right above this paragraph. If you are from Lisbon and have a copy of the book or have been reading my blather about the old mill, you will not that the mill is clearly shown in the right hand section of the panorama. That means that the pictures were not from a panorama taken from the top of the old mill, as speculated in the Lisbon, ND book (you know - Quasuicentennial), but from the exact same location by the railroad cuts that I show in the article on the mill location.
You will notice that the pictures are very large. This is so you can download them and get a decent picture to look at. To download right click and select "download."
It's like the guy on the radio says, "Now you know the rest of the story!!"
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01 May 07 - 20:20Have a GREAT day!!
It was one of those bad weeks. I can't begin to tell you how many things went wrong with a trip to Wichita. I had car trouble, travel trouble, events rescheduled, events canceled, and finally I ended up coming home 3 days early when our scheduled boiler test was postponed indefinately.
No matter how bad it things are going. There is always evidence that others are having at least an equally bad time. Here is a picture of a gentleman who had to land his airplane unexpectedly when the engine quit. As I look at him standing by his plane talking on his phone, I realize what he has ahead of him. It will not be a good day, it will be an interesting day, but not a good one.
And with that, I think I will leave it. I feel a rant coming on, and I really don't want to do that. For now, I am just happy I was not out enjoying a flight in my classic Piper Cub, only to have the engine quit and the plane become a ball of metal, wood, and fabric on a street in Redding, California.
Have a nice day!
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