29 June 07 - 23:04Another tale from China
Recent Headline: "China calls U.S. blocking of its seafood imports indiscriminate and unacceptable"
China is truely interesting. They send us toys with lead paint which is not allowed in our country, cat food that kills cats, toothpaste made with diethylene glycol which is not allowed in the US (as a food additive), and fish with assorted substances not approved in the United States.
It's simple, China guys (and gals). When you sell a product to someone they get to choose whether or not to buy it. This is a very basic principle of trade. When you intend to sell a product in another nation it needs to meet their requirements.
There is a rather disturbing message here. The Chinese apparently, at least at an official level, hold the view that they do not have to meet legal requirements in other nations with their products. When they start making automobiles for export, they will need to meet our safety and emissions standards. They will not be allowed to have lead paint on them, and the steering wheel will need to be on the left side of the car. When they sell the same brand of automobile to England, Australia, or Japan the steering wheel should be on the right and they must meet or exceed emissions and safety standards in each nation.
The same applies to toothpaste, toys, and food. Oh, yes, and by the way China guys (and gals), it is not legal to make products with other people's brand names on them like you were doing with your poison toothpaste.
Just a reminder, China guy (or gal).
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27 June 07 - 21:29Dueling mugshots
I've been watching the Larry king interview with Paris Hilton, or at least bits and pieces of it. I keep losing attention. Maybe her ADD is catchy. Even Larry King can't make this girl interesting. He must feel like he won the race for the interview only to find there are only so many ways you can ask this girl how she feels about herself and how she feels about how people feel about her and how she feels in general and the same essential question over and over.
The worst news is that the dumb act she told Barbara Walters she would be giving up must be harder to shake than she realized. Her demeanor seems more vacuous than she probably would like it to be right now.
Hold the presses, Paris has just revealed that she is a business woman and runs businesses from her office where she has meetings and stuff. Wow!! Maybe she has a business that involves night vision cameras or something like that.
If she wasn't on the show I understand Michael Moore would have been on. I admit I wouldn't have even turned that interview on. They are saying that his latest movie, "Sicko" is his best yet. That's like looking at three turds in the toilet and deciding you like the one that sank because it doesn't stink as much as the other two.
Well, enough of this. Paris is talking about how normal she is and how well she handles her difficult life as she isn't any different than anyone else. She just lives her life....
Righto.
Oh, yeh, that's Larry King's mugshot there for comparison. It looks like he was about the same age as Paris when she had her's taken.
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26 June 07 - 23:20What a fox!!
An older, white haired man walked into a jewelry store one Friday evening with a beautiful young gal at his side.
He told the jeweler he was looking for a special ring for his girlfriend. The jeweler looked through his stock and brought out a $5,000 ring.
The old man said, "No, I'd like to see something more special." At this point the jeweler went to his special stock and brought over another ring.
"Here's a stunning ring at only $40,000," the jeweler said.The young lady's eyes sparkled and her whole body trembled with excitement.
The old man eyed the girl carefully, looked back at the jeweler and said, "We'll take it."
Of course the jeweler asked how payment would be made.
The old man stated quietly, but firmly, "By check. I know you need to make sure my check is good, so I'll write it now and you can call the bank Monday to verify the funds. Once done, I'll pick the ring up Monday afternoon."
Monday morning, the jeweler phoned the old man. "There's no money in that account."
"I know," said the old man, "But let me tell you about my weekend!"
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26 June 07 - 07:07Why, why, why!??!
Jerry sent me this. I thought I would pass it along... I actually have pondered some of these myself without resolution...
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting dead?
Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough money?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?
Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word ! 'lisp'?
If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?
When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, 'It's all right?' Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, 'That hurt, you stupid idiot?'
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?
In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?
How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?
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25 June 07 - 15:05Pesky projects
My Saturday didn't start well. I was scheduled to meet a gentleman in Florida and never did get there. A combination of leaving for the airport slightly later than I had planned, and an airport full of people who had missed flights yesterday cinched my not getting out of town.
Back at home I decide to use the extra time to fix that pesky leak in the gutter just outside the patio door. It only leaks in one place, easily located straight up from the rust stain on the pavement.
To accomplish this 30 minute task I get some galvanized metal and a package of pop rivets. Once home I get the step ladder out of the garage and set it up. Yikes, the gutter is full of dirt and stuff from the shingles. I'll need to clean the gutters. Time to hook up the old garden hose and that squirty thing. After about 40 minutes of this I am finally finished and realize there is a reason the area is leaking. It is a low spot where there should be a high spot. Some uncrafty handyman remounted the gutter and didn't take into account the need for water to run downhill.
Boy, its pretty rusty in there. I'll zip down to the store to get some Rustoleum primer. That will do the trick. I'll simply paint the gutters on Saturday, then patch them on Sunday.
After patching the hole with 10 pop rivets and a piece of metal about 18 inches by 4 inches I find that I have created another hole nearby. Another patch and I am in business. I loosen the spikes and press upward on the patched gutter which cracks and breaks all over the place.
Another trip to Home Depot and I am home with a 10 foot section of replacement gutter. Out with the hacksaw, in with the new section of gutter, some sealing up and riveting... Done.
Let's see, time to do it the wrong way, 4 hours. Time to simply replace the gutter section? 30 minutes.
That was my original estimate. And the cost? About the same.
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24 June 07 - 23:33More about China
When China finally started moving forward toward a free trade society, I read that there would be ethics problems. There are. The ethics problems are in government and among those in office and in supporting roles, among businesses and business people, etc. The explanation I heard was this; there is a great desire for the Chinese people to make money in a free market, but the majority of them don't really know what that is, nor they know what it is like to interact with the world as a whole.
However, if you want to talk entrepreneurial, they have it. They just have trouble with the common sense of ethics and understanding what is legal in one place is a illegal in another. For example, the use of chemicals in toothpaste banned in the United States as a foodstuff is OK in their country and some European countries, but not in the US. At any rate, the counterfeit Colgate toothpaste with the stuff in it was illegal everywhere. You don't make counterfeit merchandise.
It used to be a cottage industry in China and other areas in the orient to make counterfeit merchandise. I have personally seen polo shirts with counterfeit embroidered trademarks, watches that say Rolex, but turned your arm green, and so on. The thing was, they were never represented as real, simply as copies. The level of harm to anyone would be questionable unless they were sold as real.....
In the picture to the right we can see proof that the counterfeiting goes on in China and the merchandise has come my way. I purchased a thumb drive like the one on in the upper half of the picture. It was advertised as 2 GB and cost about $20 with shipping. To my surprise, it was labeled 8 GB when it arrived. At first my greedy little mind thought that I was very lucky to get something valued at over $100 for a mere 20 bucks. Then I found it didn't work. It was not only a fake (Sony - Vaio does not make a device that even remotely looks like this), but it was never intended to work. It was intended to be an object sold simply to get money under fraudulent means.
We already discussed the poisonous paint on the toy trains, The objects in the picture represent an even different level of unethical behavior. This is organized stealing. It is the manufacture of a bogus, non-working device to get money from people under false pretense.
By the way, the workmanship was impeccable. If it had worked, it would have been really compact and neat to use. Right now I am waiting to see if the fellow on Ebay that sold it realizes he has been had. I think he will after he reads my email.
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23 June 07 - 15:15What a pill
This mimics my thinking on our greed as a society which fuels our rationalization that it is OK to buy "stuff" that is outsourced (read about how Detroit is becoming a ghost town, for example). This was forwarded by Jerry, it is short but very interesting!
Think About This One!!!
A car company can move its factories to Mexico and claim it's a free market.
A toy company can out-source to a Chinese subcontractor and claim it's a free market.
A shoe company can produce its shoes in south east Asia and claim it's a free market.
A major bank can incorporate in Bermuda to avoid taxes and claim it's a free market.
We can buy HP Printers made in Mexico.
We can buy shirts made in Bangladesh.
We can purchase almost anything we want from a zillion different countries.
BUT, heaven help the senior citizens who dare to buy their prescription drugs from a Canadian or Mexican pharmacy.
If you want to go a step further, read up on how our drug companies make their formulae available to drug manufacturers in countries such as India for offshore manufacture that is not available in the US. I believe that these companies need to develop new drug therapies, but the system is really getting crazy. About the time you think its as wacky as it gets, a half informed newsperson reports drug research findings from a wild and crazy, poorly informed point of view.
Pharmaceuticals. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em......
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22 June 07 - 23:01Bartholomew would be proud
My Honey wanted a dessert tonight and I didn't get any chocolate at the store. What to do. Well, there is always the apple "blossom" thingies that she likes. It is a pastry that you heat in the microwave and then serve, usually with a bit of whipped cream or "Cool Whip" on the top.
Rummage, rummage. Darn, there are some apple thingies, but no spray on whipped cream or cool whip. What to do?
I know, I'll make a sort of frosting for the top which will be as good as whipped cream. How do I do that?
Think, think..... I could take some egg whites and mix them with powdered sugar and a bit of vanilla and whip the stuff in the blender. That might make a fluffy topping she would like. What else...
How about some corn starch, powdered sugar, a bit of milk and some vanilla. That can make a nice thick sauce and a bit of butter would make it like a frosting.
That's it!!
I mix up the white goop and get ready to put it in a pan to heat it. Hmmm, there is hardly enough to put in a pan, how about the microwave?
About 45 seconds and it is should be done. Darn, too much. The stuff polymerized just a bit more than I wanted. Instead of a white thick sauce I have a white fluff about one click less than a marshmellow. Hmmm Maybe this is how they make marshmellows. I'll have to check.
Well, I put it on a heated apple thingy and Marla did take a bite of it. For some reason my inventions scare her. If you want, I could try and commit this to a recipe for white oobleck.
Bartholomew would be proud. So would Dr. Suess.
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21 June 07 - 07:07Bitten by the bug
Sometimes I think we all get bitten by this bug. Perhaps its just that some are more susceptible than others.
What I am talking about is not thinking you have a sickness when you don't. I used to consider the Neuro Tick as being a bug that caused a person to think they were sick when they were not. I think slightly differently now.
Here's the angle. We all get the same deal with bodies. No matter how good they look to other people, there are always issues. For example, I am relatively lucky when it comes to getting sick. I don't get a lot of the stuff my wife or others seem to get. On the other hand, I have had to fight with my weight since I was about 35 years old.
I envy people that seem to stay thin, but don't work at it. The thing is, some of them are thin because they are sick and cannot gain weight. Some of them are thin because they smoke. Some of them are thin because they starve themselves. Ewwwww. I don't want to envy that. But, this is my health worry. I want magic weight control, possibly some big muscles, and a nice tan for good measure.
It won't happen. Although there are a large number of people who do seem to remain thin, the most common reason for being thin is eating less and a reasonably active life. Active life can mean work, active non-work lifestyle or it can be exercise program related. I man a desk most of the time and when I am not I am driving to my next mission. I have to face it, its a non-active life style for my body no matter how busy I am!!
i need to be less effected by the Neuro Tick and get moving more. Has the Neuro Tick bitten you lately?
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20 June 07 - 00:43Guts and Balls?
Again, if you are a bit slow; this is a joke!!
The Truth About Guts & Balls
We've all heard about having guts or balls. But do you really know the difference between them?
In an effort to keep you informed, the definition for each is listed below...
GUTS - is arriving home late after a night out with the guys, being met by your wife with a broom, and having the guts to ask: "Are you still cleaning, or are you flying somewhere?"
BALLS - is coming home late after a night out with the guys, smelling of perfume and beer, lipstick on your collar, slapping your wife on the butt and having the balls to say...
"You're next."
I hope this clears up any confusion on the definitions. Medically speaking, there is no difference in the outcome since both probably will ultimately result in early death.
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18 June 07 - 06:12Aren't we oh so smart!!
At a recent position I held I listened to the French big-wig guy babble about how we could save big bucks for the company (and I presume, ultimately our customers) using not only the inexpensive labor in China to increase his bonus, but we could also use their engineering expertise to do the same. Our local leader, called a General Manager, is one of those people who makes himself invisible as he expertly sucks up to his boss and upper management. To him, success is anything that increases his income. He is the best example I have ever seen of of a person who can be motivated by monetary reward in the form of salary, bonus, and benefits. Bear in mind, he is not a bad person, just simple to define in this way.
I used to work for the General Manager and, since I am not really the type of employee that sucks up or tries to remain invisible, I suggested wary, measured involvement. Being as much a company guy as I can without exploding, I tried to make this opinion known almost exclusively to him. He countered by buying books about how the world is flat and pointed out (incorrectly) that I did not have international trade experience. I did not have the same type of experience as him (and I still do not know what that is), and my experience said to be careful.
Read this from the New York Times:
"The toy maker RC2 Corporation pulled a number of its Thomas & Friends trains and accessory parts off the shelves yesterday after learning that the red and yellow paint used to decorate more than 1.5 million of the toys contained lead."
This is a perfect example of the twisted corporate thinking that I see these days in everyday business in the United States. I cannot speak for other countries, but due to my experience with the French guy, I canm only assume that the same greed exists among business executives in other countries. To frame that thinking let me propose a typical business model that we think of as "The American Way."
Lets cut to the chase...
We all know Thomas the Tank Engine. He is the cartoon steam locomotive that talks and chugs around, leaving inspirational messages for our children which supposedly inspire them. In the meantime, the toys (shich cost top dollar) are supposed to reinforce top flight play and mental growth amoung our young. Here is what RC2 says about themselves...
"RC2 builds consumer loyalty by fulfilling the passions of targeted consumers with branded toys, collectibles, hobby, or infant products that encourage repeat purchases and are fun to own and use.
Our goal is to achieve leadership in targeted markets worldwide by acting on significant consumer trends, continuously applying innovation and developing consumer-preferred brands and products distributed through multiple channels."
Like all of the other arrogant and greedy businesses in the world today, RC2 does not believe they need to hire artisans to build the product. They can rely on the Chinese to make their expensive products at cheap prices and then charge you and I the same amount of money they would charge if they had made the product themselves. The beneficiary? Stockholders!!
This is not an indictment of Western businessand businesspersons. It merely is a low key attempt to point out that greed, and the belief that our platitudes are our business and that any cheap form of manufacture of the product is fine. We do not make products, we innovate and develope.
Bullshit, says I.... This would be like Dell computers believing that they do not have to design or make their computers, only innovate, develop, and market. After all the product is only the manifestation of this tremendous passion to build consumer loyalty among targeted consumers, right?
I disagree. I think it is deception plain and simple. If you are buying a product that is only purchased by a company from a contract manufacturing concern in China, they are, in my humble opinion, simply out to milk you for your money. They believe that their cleverness is all the input they need to provide. No manufacturing skills, no expertise, only development of customer preferred brands and products which they can distribute through multiple channels.
Shame on you, you greedy bastards. Get back to basics. Learn to design, produce, and make the product under your own production and quality control department.
I believe it is shameful for a company to believe they do not have the responsibility to make products, only "conceive" them. What disallusioned arrogance allows this to happen? It won't, it will only be a matter of time. The houses of cards will fall and the conceivers will discover that they are decievers. Devievers not only of their customers, but of themselves.
Ego is a component, but not a basis for a business or a business plan.
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17 June 07 - 08:08God looks us over - Did you get the email?
One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the rascally behavior that was going on. So he called one of His angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time.
When the angel returned, he told God, "Yes, it is bad on Earth; 95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not.
God thought for a moment and said, "Maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another opinion."
So God called another angel and sent him to Earth for a time.
When the second angel returned he went to God and said, "Yes, it's true. The Earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving, but 5% are being good."
God was not pleased. So, in keeping with the times, God decided to send e-mail to the 5% that were good, He felt this would encourage them, and give them something a little special to help them keep motivated.
Do you know what the e-mail said? ? . . . .
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Okay, I was just wondering, . . . .
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Darn, I didn't get one either....
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16 June 07 - 10:17South from Alaska
As I was returning from some work in Minnesota Friday, I met a rather nice couple from the Dallas area. Since the airline assigns seats we became seat buddies. The couple in the picture don't really resemble them very well, but I wanted a picture of a retired couple.
I learned a lot of things. The nice lady drove from the south side of town to the north side of town for years to work as a nurse. The house they bought because it was sort of in the country in the early 90's is in the middle of an area that is developing commercially at the present time. What are those repairmen doing to the seats a few rows up? Where are the stewadesses from? Ahh, Minnesota, but a daughter in Plano, Texas. How nice. There is nearly 24 hour sunlight in Anchorage right now. Its nice to be going home. Great to be eating this sandwich. Its easy to get hungry when you have a long flight and no other way to eat. etc. etc. Pleasant, but constant conversation.
Meanwhile up in front there is a lot of stewardess activity. The stewardesses are a professional set of seasoned women who have suddenly focused on the row of seats where the repairmen were before the plane took off. At first I think the seats have started giving trouble again, but it is not the seats, but the occupant of the aisle seat that seems to be the focus.
First they attach oxygen to the sick lady. Next they get on the intercom.
"If there is a doctor or a nurse in the plane would you please reveal yourself?"
The revelation occurs in the form of triplicate nurses. My former nurse remains invisible to the cause due to the apparent abundance of practicing nurses and a stated belief that a 10 year retired nurse would only muck things up.
The line of people coming back from the rear restrooms accumulates next to my right arm.
Another plea from the intercom, "does anyone on the plane speak Swahili?"
No luck this time.
After landing the old boy to my left disconnects from his earphones, apparently a learned substitute to conversation on planes, the nice lady shakes my hand, winks and says she hopes she has not bored me.
Once the paramedics wheel out the Swahili speaking lady we deplane. One more day in the friendly skies.
Is there any such thing as a normal plane ride?
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12 June 07 - 01:05Pray for Paris
I'll tell you something. I have had panic attacks, its been years, but I can still tell you, they feel very real when they happen. They make you feel like you are suffocating and that you will run out of breath and die. My panic attack was also complimented with tachycardia (rapid heart beat) which went on for days and the feeling that I had super hearing. Any small noise made me jump and I felt like a wreck.
I'm no Paris Hilton and I basically live from paycheck to paycheck, so I went to the doctor, got diagnosed and was given some little yellow pills that finally broke the symptoms in about a week. During that time I went to work, held meetings, traveled via airline to another state for additional meetings, and continued with my work life even though I felt like I was ready to die. My doctor assured me I wasn't so I took his word for it.
Make no mistake, Paris is having some hard times, but if this prison thing plays out in her favor she will become a much better person because of it. I have nothing but respect for the judge (Judge Michael Sauer) in this case. It is such a pleasure these days to see a person of integrity with real BALLS. This judge may do for Paris what her parents and handlers have failed to do as they actually enabled her deviant lifestyle. The gutless sheriff let Paris' people influence him to believe that he would be a big man if he allowed Paris out due to her claustrophobia. This is a man who is truely unsuited to his job.
Again, wouldn't it be wonderful if Paris became a positive role model instead of whatever she is now? I pray for Paris that she will become the person she can be and that this event in her life is truely a message from God just like she told Barbara Walters. If you are a person who prays, this is a worthwhile thing to pray for. Pray that Paris becomes a postive role model for young women the world around.
Might never happen, but if it does it would be good for a whole bunch of people.
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10 June 07 - 13:15Nostradamus sees our present
Our news of the last week was filled with the story of 15 million persons illegally present in our country and those in charge of our kingdom unable to muster the gumption and spirit to expel them. The mainstream news media missed the importance of the event and saw it only in terms of the President while those who think clearly point out that enforcing the laws we have in a proactive manner would solve the problem.
The laws of our land seemed under assault from this and other fronts as a cowboy sheriff in Los Angeles allows money and its power of persuasion to let a rich party girl named Paris to attempt to gain an illegal freedom of sorts. After the week has ended things are a bit calmer, but the immigration issue has yet to regain center stage. For the time all is peaceful.
Maybe this is a stretch, but I was amused with this following prediction by Nostradamus (The dead French doctor). Here is a quatrain from The Complete Nostradamus Prophesies.
This is Century 6, Quatrain 23.
The spirit of the kingdom undermines its defenses,
People will rise against their king.
A new peace is made, sacred laws deteriorate,
Paris has never before found herself in such dire straits.
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08 June 07 - 21:06Chief know best . . .
Old Chief "Passing Wind" sat near his tepee on the reservation, smoking a peace pipe and eyed two U.S. Government officials who had been sent to interview him. At the time Passing Wind was the oldest Native American alive. At well over 100 years old his mind was clear, his memory strong, and he was famous for his ability to observe what was around him and express the sum of it with an amazing alacrity.
"Passing Wind" asked one official, "You have observed the white man for over 100 years. You've seen the way of the white man's civilization and laws. You have also experienced his technological greatness. Yet along with this progress and change, you have certainly seen missteps along the way."
Chief Passing Wind nodded in thoughtful agreement as he eyed the government man with his clear, piercing eyes.
The man from Washington continued, "Considering all you have seen, where could the white man have gone another way?"
Chief Passing Wind stared at the government officials for well over a minute, puffed on the long ceremonial pipe and calmly replied:
When white man found this land, Indians were running it. There were no taxes, plenty buffalo, many beaver, no debt, women do all work, medicine man free, braves fishing and hunt all day, then make love to wife all night.
With that, the Chief leaned back and smiled, "Only white man dumb enough to think he can improve that."
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08 June 07 - 00:15Anagrams from Jerry
DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM
PRESBYTERIAN: When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER
ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER
DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT
THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE
GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE
THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS
SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME
ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY
ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT
SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S
A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE
ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE
AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:
MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER
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07 June 07 - 22:52A picture is worth a bunch of words
An anonymous donor sent this great series of pictures. From the looks of it, it is not a new set of pictures, but it is a great set of pictures!!
What do you think Prince Philip has just done?
I think I know....
Unfortunately I don't think it has been legally OKed to say fart publicly, although shit and the f-bomb are OK on television according to a recent decision in federal court.
Oh, what the heck. Prince Philip has farted and the royals are reacting. The Queen seems to be holding her own, but the rest of them are pretty taken by the event.
I wonder if those royal guards in the red uniforms are trained to handle Philip's royal flatulence. It would appear to be royally raunchy.
Three cheers for Prince Philip, and thanks for the picture, Mom!!
Later...
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06 June 07 - 00:24Windpower to the People
One of my favorite friends asked me about wind power last week. She had seen some in the Arizona-California area and they made her curious. I have actually been surprised at the number of these suckers that are actually going up. Mostly they are one megawatt windmills and they are going up by the grove in the midwest. Newer ones are actually going to larger than a megawatt, although the ones in the picture are probably a megawatt.
These things are really big. The ones I see are probably over 100 feet tall and have three blades. The blades are an oversize truckload by themselves.
Wind energy derives from the cube of the windspeed. That means that a little more wind gives us a lot more energy. Aside from that, here are the numbers as I see them, everyone will give you a different slant.
I am not sure of the minimum windspeed they like with these things, but we have looked into them where I work and they are generators in the One megawatt range.
My electric bill says I use about 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a month or one megawatt-hour of electricity. There are 24 X 30 = 720 hours in an average month so this is enough to run 720 homes at my rate of energy use, per windmill.
This is a goodly amount of electricity per windmill.
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03 June 07 - 19:22Malfunction at the Junction
One last greeting from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Holiday Inn, although nice, could use some help. (I would probably rate it three of five stars where abandoned trailer house is a 1 on a scale to five). The towels were clean, the rooms were clean and made up efficiently, the breakfast room clicked right along, but the front desk needed help. For example, one out of 4 wakeup calls worked as requested, three did not.
Also, the place was fairly expensive at $100 per room, more on weekends. The "more on weekends" is a reversal from what I am used to. I am used to seeing hotels and motels cater to business travelers all week and ready to drop rates on weekends. This is a rural area, and the locals apparently flock to the Holiday Inns for weekend getaways. These getaways are complete with tons of kids. The weelend soccer tournament only added to the congestion, and I was told this is the first week of summer rates. Summer rates?
In addition to the malfunctioning wake-up call machine my "call light" on my phone constantly flashed the entire last day, but there was no voice mail. A call to the front desk revealed there was not a message there either. Apparently there was not an off switch, because they could not make it quite flashing. Also, they got the rate wrong and could not fix it either. They really screwed it up with the fellow I was working with.
On the way out of town I decided to run the pick-up I was driving through a car wash. Upon entering the code the door would not open. I went inside to request a refund, but the large blonde lady inside said she would take care of it. As I drove up to the door the second time she stuck her cigarette in her mouth so it stuck straight out, squatted like a weight lifter under the door and hoisted it about 2/3 of the way up. This was the fix. in I went.
The carwash put on an invisible pre-soak (it didn't work) and waited for it to soak in. The pre-soak was followed by the pressure wash and then a rinse. The dryer didn't do a thing as I drove out, but I noticed that a wheel washer spray started at the other end of the wash instead of the dryer on the exit end. I also noticed that the entire wash job didn't hurt the finish, as advertised, but it didn't disturb much dirt either
I am beginning to understand the Zip Tower a bit more after my visit.
Lincoln - default -
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