Just 1 reason the Chick-Fil-A shenanigans are wrong-

I'm certain you have hear that Chick-Fil-A is an evil, gay hating fast food joint that doesn't deserve to earn profits, hire people or pay taxes in enlightened cities like Chicago, Boston or san Francisco and it's all a metric buttload of crap being foisted by politicians that don't have the common sense to come in out of the rain. Most of the discussion swirling around the media talking heads is wrong, the politicians are wrong and Chick-Fil-A, if they have any righteous sense will sue the jackholes in court for huge sums of money.

Personally, I'm not certain why the company would want to move into such unfriendly cities but it's their corporate profits and growth for them to consider, so whatever.

But read why this Chick-Fil-A fiasco and "common sense" gun rules are related. Long story short- 20 years ago, nobody in government was pursuing gay marriage, just equal protections for gay couples but today, private corporations are being shunned, demagoged and pilloried because the Christian president of the company has a contrary view to those progressive individuals that want to make gay marriage available to anyone that requests a license. If those same progressive types today tell us they are only trying to institute "common sense" gun laws, how many years will it take before those laws become restrictions, confiscations and bans?" Based upon the changes in demand for gay marriage, it won't take long.

And that is why I don't trust you Mr. Schumer and all your political cronies. I think I need to eat a chicken sandwich or two while I'm away this week!

It's gonna be a long Friday afternoon...

Why, well because vacation starts as soon as I leave work. I'm not gonna be here next week- not even going to be in Utah. It's time for the annual Sister's Campout in Oregon again and this year I have the time off saved and enough money to make the trip. Last year I missed for the previously mentioned reasons but this year fuel prices are down- $3.29 right now in town and I'll be hauling the BSU and the tent trailer to the Oregon coast for several days of relaxing, fishing, beer drinking and pork product consumption with her family.

I've purchased a book to read- More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws by John Lott. It arrived yesterday and flipping through it, it's clear that this isn't a typical summer read, in fact it's much more like a college level text. This book is full of charts and graphs and footnotes. Never mind, because I'm going to read it.

My feet are both just about 100% healed. The left one responded well to the cast and the ligaments healed with no problem. The broken bone in the right foot is pretty good, only hurting after a day's work and some laps around Wal-Mart for grocery shopping. I bought some new boots to wear every day, they are pretty stiff and seem to be helping.

I'm still waiting for the Muse to appear and help me get this blog back on track. There's a number of subjects that I should be writing about- politics & firearm restrictions that politicians dream up but so far, I'm mostly reading when I sit down in the evenings.

Maybe there will be Wi-Fi in the campground this year...

An early summer roundup

So I see that tomorrow is the MLB All Star game and that means that summer must be nearly 1/2 over. And I've been a very negligent blogger. Can I tell you that I really don't like Blogger's new look and format? I really don't like it, maybe that's 1 reason I've been so negligent about posting.

But there's other reasons too I suppose. First off, I've been busy with life and the muse seems to be TDY to some far away place. There's also Facebook and many things I might have put here in the past end up there. I've also been laid up with continuing injuries after my car accident back in March, that has kept me sitting in my chair with my foot propped up for long periods. My foot still isn't totally healed and I see the Doctor tomorrow for my other foot that has been in a cast for 2 weeks do I'll be asking him if I need to have another cast put on my right foot to finally get it healed up properly.

Both Sleek Black Beauty and the Kawasaki remain in the shop unridden. With my injuries it has been hard to get out there to work and makes riding out of the question. I'll probably get them put back together this month but I suspect I may not to get to do any riding this summer due to my injuries and finances. We'll see.

I am working and putting in lots of hours which remains a big change from being unemployed for so many months. I did get 5 days off last week since Independence Day fell on Wednesday and I could get 5 days off for just 1 day's vacation time. That time off felt really good and I used 3 of the days to go to Flaming Gorge Reservoir, fishing for Kokanee salmon with my buddy Jim. I haven't had Fish Slayer in the water yet this year so we went with his boat, caught some great fish and generally had a wonderful time on the lake and relaxing at Vacation Inn.

So we are 1/3 the way through July, I'm wearing 1 cast and anticipating wearing another through the end of the month and then the Sister Camp arrives during the first week of August and if all goes well, the BSU and I will be hauling the camper to the Oregon coast for a week. Summer is going by much too fast!

It's Independence Day dammitall!

Yes, the calendar on the wall is clear that today is the 4th of July. It's the 4th of July everywhere in the world that uses the Gregorian calendar but only here in America is this particular day in July Independence Day. So could we call it that please?
I should not that I'm sitting at my dinner table right now with a fresh breeze and Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA blowing in my window. We are just a few blocks up the hill from the city park where many festicities will be taking place and they have a dandy public address system down there so we can hear the fun.
Anyway, it is Independence Day and I hope each of you find a way to celebrate it with family and friends. Be proud to be an American, it is an exceptional privilege.

I did NOT lose my shop today!

If you've ever been to Wasted Electrons World Headquarters, you know that my workshop out behind the house is my favorite portion of the property. It's my man-cave, my estrogen-free zone and it houses pretty much everything material that is important to me. My scooter and the Kawasaki live in there during the winter months- they are still in there due to my now healing injuries but they are in there for a few more days. My tools are in there as well as all my fishing gear and my guns. So the shop might not be fancy but it is important to me and I love being out there.

I could have lost it today except for divine intervention or a stroke of luck depending on your point of view. I went out to the shop and unlocked it this morning before leaving for work to get some tools out that I will need later today. As soon as I walked in, I discovered a power strip that has been a main source of power above the bench was sparking, smoking and trying to burst into flame! I quick pulled the plug out of the wall outlet and things calmed down quickly and disaster was averted.

But what would have happened if I just headed off on my happy way to work without going into the shop? It might have burned to the ground, that's what could have happened! I almost never go into the shop except in the evenings, going in early as I did today was very unusual but I am so glad that I did!

I'll be buying a new power strip on the way home AND a smoke detector to be installed in my shop...

So what's happening at WEWHq?

Lessee, I've just ordered more parts for the Kawasaki after damaging a couple rubber bits and discovered during ordering that I was also missing a couple parts. I don't think they were in there when I tore the calipers apart. So that job's not done and is again on hold for parts. The scooter is still waiting for the motorcycle to move off the lift table for it's oil and coolant change.

I've opened up Fish Slayer for the season and have begun getting it ready for the fishing season. I put new registration numbers on it as the old ones were looking pretty tatty. I've still got to get the batteries installed and the trolling motor parts ordered so I can put it back together. I still need to get a trolling plate to get the speed down but if I could, I would buy and install a Minn Kota electric motor to solve my trolling needs. But as you can see, that's a spendy bit so it probably isn't on this summer's purchase list.

I put out 1 hummingbird feeder last week, early, since they normally don't show their tiny selves until Mother's Day and had a hummer getting a post-migration fill up in less than 24 hours. So far I've just seen 1 but I suspect he will share the the food news with his friends and there will be several resident hummers soon.

Haven't turned on the sprinklers yet as there has been enough rain to green up the grass. The rain won't last though so I'll have to get after them very soon. I've also repairs to make to the church sprinkler system this week so the grass and flowers there don't turn brown very soon. I've a broken fence post in my own yard that still needs dug up and replaced. Maybe I can get that done this week.

We had a great day on Saturday with grandbaby Ryker and his mom Steffanie. The weather was perfect for a trip to Thanksgiving Point to see and feed the animals and then to walk through the gardens. Ryker had a great time feeding the chickens and goats but he wasn't too thrilled about the horses, even declining a pony ride. He did have a real thrill rolling down a long, grass hill in the gardens after watching other kids to learn how to do it. We had a nice lunch there and later made a quick trip to Cabelas to see the aquariums and the stuffed animals on their mountain.

So I'm busy. My foot is mostly healed after a couple weeks in a velcro infected walking casts. I over did it going to Thanksgiving Point without the boot but generally it is much better. I'm skipping the annual trip to Flaming Gorge with my buddies this year as the bills just keep coming in and demanding to be paid so there is nothing left for a vacation, at least not in May.

Lots to do...

Susie's Lemonade Stand- what really happened

You remember Susie, the flourishing young entepreneur with a Verizon cell phone selling lemonade from her front yard don't you? Here are 2 possibilities at Lucky Gunner about how the future unfolds for Susie-1 the way things should be, the other the way the Democrats would prefer.

Took some time off yesterday-

It's spring and the time of year I always seem to be busiest. There is always winter cleanup to accomplish both at home and church, equipment that has slept all winter that needs attention to be coaxed back into life and toys that need uncovered, tuned and hauled out. I'm behind in all these aspects due to my broken foot and sprained ankle so I've been doing all that I can in spite of my injuries.

But I took yesterday off from all of it. I've been putting in 10 hour days on the job so when the end of the pay period rolled around, I was a full day ahead in my hours and I took yesterday off from the job, the yardwork and the shop. I had to see my Doc about a blood test, drove to Salt Lake City to the VA hospital to have my CPAP machine looked at and then decided that mid-day on a Monday might be a good time to visit Cabelas. So I went. I had a totally (time) unrestricted browse through the gun library, the used gun racks, the fish tanks and fishing department. I bought just a couple items I needed for Fish Slayer's trailer and some new registration numbers for it's sides. (And bought 1 package of number too many, so I guess I have to go back...)

When I got home I took the spousal unit out to the movies- The Lucky One and then home early after picking up some groceries and some desert to go with our evening coffee. I didn't touch a rake, shovel or wrench yesterday and it felt great. Today I'm back to the job and tonight I'll probably be back in the shop working on the Kawasaki. But I feel much better, relaxed and almost like I had a vacation yesterday so it wasa day well spent.

I got the grass mowed- finally-

or at least the front yard mowed so the neighbors can't be calling the city complaining... I had a long weekend and in spite of my (still) broken foot, I managed to get some work done at home and at church. And I only set the church grounds on fire once with my new weedkilling flamethrower tool. Fortunately I got a couple buckets of water carried out in time to extinguish the flames and prevent any damage to the building. And since I still need to dig up & repair and replace the damaged water valve, it was a good thing that I could get into the building quickly.

I did NOT get any work done on the motorcycle or check out the sprinkler systems at the house. With everything that needs doing, there is no telling how soon the 2-wheelers will be ready for riding but hopefully I can get to them soon.

There's also been a death in the family, my brother Pete's fiance and long-time girlfriend succumbed on Friday morning so there have been plenty of phone calls going around. Services are Wednesday, Brother Mark will be officiating and Dad and Brother Tim are driving up to Ohio from Florida. I've spoken to Pete but own't be making the trip to Ohio.

My foot is still broken. I hobbled all weekend and finally saw the Doc again today and he hooked me up with an even more restrictive boot that is causing me a great deal of pain this afternoon. But I better wear the boot until the bone heals or I'll be cursing it the rest of my life while it never heals properly.

So it has been a pretty somber weekend...

An open letter to Mitt Romney

Can I make a suggestion for your VP pick, please? I have read that you are looking at, (or at least there are some folks acting interested) in the position that are current state governors. I recognize that picking a popular governor brings in that state's votes and that is a valid interest. I think I have a better idea.

This country has been picked to pieces outside our shores under Barry's ship of state and I believe your candidacy can be significantly improved if we bring in a VP that not only has respected foreign experience but would also be recognized as a conservative in this country. And truth be told, you need a little more conservative bones with the Republicans. You can score the women's vote and steal a portion of the African-American vote from the current administration by following this simple advice-

Pick Condolezza Rice as your VP candidate. You won't be sorry. She would make the you a shoe-in into the White House, bring more Republicans into the House & Senate and restore the United State's honor around the world.

Trust me on this one. Really.

Need a reason to NOT re-elect the current president?

This is all you need to consider- Supreme Court Justice Eric Holder.

Stolen from Kevin at The Smallest Minority.

Pretty damm scary, huh?

I suppose it's only fair-

to explain my absence from the blogging world for the past couple weeks. I've been busy, or hurt or car shopping and the muse has just not been with me. So I haven't been writing.

A month ago I was involved in a car accident after work. Another driver turned left across 2 stopped lanes of traffic and crossed in front of me. I couldn't get the CTS stopped in time and ran into the side of the other car. Sadly, the insurance company totaled my beautiful Cadillac! Painfully, I suffered a badly sprained ankle, (and maybe a broken bone in my foot) that has really slowed me down terribly. I've spent most of the last month resting with my foot propped up, wearing a brace, using my cane and moping because I can't be out in the shop working on the motorcycle. My foot was swollen badly and black and blue from my toes to my shin and I am just now figuring out that maybe there's a broken bone causing me grief that I couldn't determine through the swelling.

We car hunted pretty hard after the Cadillac was paid off and this time the BSU wanted to go small and fuel efficient. We looked up and down the Wasatch Front and I searched the KSL classifieds and we eventually purchased a Scion Xa Ours doesn't have pretty alloy wheels on it like the photo at the link but that's what the car looks like. It's extremely clean and well cared for and after the first tank of gas it got 34.1 mpg.

So Spring is springing and I'm just barely able to get outside and begin the cleanup. I did get a little bit of raking done yesterday and I am awaiting the brown truck of happiness to deliver more motorcycle parts this week so possibly I'll be able to get out to the shop if my foot tolerates it. In the mean time, I'll keep limping around and whining!

Explain this to me...

Here at Wasted Electrons World Headquarters, the BSU and I have had numerous conversations about the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman headlines and stories that have flooded the news media for the past couple weeks. Myself, I think the story hasn't all been disclosed and that eventually the story will be told and those race-baiting activists will seek out another camera to get their face in front of. I'm apalled at the outrage over 1 unfortunate circumstance that turns into a national outrage and especially disgusted by the calls for Mr. Zimmerman's arrest, alive or dead by the New Black Panther Party.

But here's the rub for me- aren't all lives precious and worthy of outrage when taken too soon? Even those people that choose hoodies as their method of keeping warm? If that's true, and it is true for me, then why has Barry not gone public and said one of the people listed in this story would look like his son, if he had a son? Will the president say about this murder in his adopted hometown "All of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves." Could the lack of concern by the president, this congress critter who represents the wounded, killed and the shooters, be indicitive of the real agendas of the officials? Would the story of dead and injured young people in Chicago be different if they weren't (presumably) all the same color?

Somehow I doubt it.

I especially find the activism of the likes of Al Sharpton, (aawk, spit!) calling out George Zimmerman as a white man killing a black youth as ridiculous since Mr. Zimmerman is as equally a white man as is the current president. And nobody thinks he's a white man, right?

UPDATE: Since so much of this story revolves around Trayvon Martin wearing a hoodie and there have been hoodie rallies around the country and even worn on the floor of the house of Congress this week, (see link above), maybe we all need to review a Homeland Security public awareness video describing terrorists wearing hoodies.

I've been busy-

and when I'm not being busy, I'm suffering from enforced laxity. My knee is pretty much healed after a steroid and anesthetic shot a few weeks ago and after suffering through a week's worth of the cold/flu.

So I was feeling pretty healthy and even spent a few productive hours out in the shop starting to work on the motorcycle. And then I crashed the Cadillac, my baby, last Friday on my way home from work. I t-boned another car that was turning left in front of me and during the impact, I sprained my right ankle something ferocious! I got a trip to the ER and a splint for my ankle and painkillers to help me deal with the pain.

The CTS has already been totaled! It didn't appear to have that much damage but Cadillac parts are expensive and the adjuster took just a few hours to total up more in repair costs than what was advisable towards the total cost of the car. I was pretty PO'd by the incident because I had the parts in the trunk to fix the driveline vibrations! I will be getting some cash from the settlement do use towards another car purchase.

Which means as soon as the funds arrive and my ankle feels well enough, I'll be car shopping again. I doubt I'll be able to find another CTS that I can afford so I'm pretty frustrated by that. I don't know what I might end up at this point but I have a few days before I get serious about shopping.

So that's what's happening. I have motorcycle parts arriving from the brown truck of happiness soon and I'm too busted up to go out to the shop. The job is good and I continue to get better at the task. Yesterday is was 67 degrees, tonight is was blowing and snowing on the way home. Typical Utah spring weather I suppose!

Newt talks about national security-

and what's wrong with it under this administration.

Sick-

Taking it easy this weekend hoping to not become totally bed ridden with the cold/flu that I picked up from the spousal unit. I'm not feeling hoplessly ill but damm puny with a cough and chills and some dizzyiness. I picked up the new Tom Clancy novel Against All Enemies last night to keep me entertained between naps while I try to not get any sicker.

Sure am glad it is a 3 day weekend...

New Shooter!

Well except for my youngest offspring, I've never had the opportunity to introduce a non-shooter to the pleasure of shooting but that changed yesterday! I took a friend from church who had never shot firearms except for a round of skeet 3 decades ago out to the desert, opened up the bed of the truck and introduced him to shooting. Another shooting buddy, Jim went along and brought several of his guns for the new guy, David to try out.

David had a great time, even nearly making a bullseye on his very first shot! We started him out with 22LR rifles in a couple different flavors, switched to 22LR pistols then graduated up to an AR-15 and SKS. David even sampled 2 flavors of 40 caliber pistols, a Springfield XDM and a Kimber finding that he preferred the John Moses Browning pistol over the much more modern Springfield. He really liked my Kel-Tec Sub 9 carbine and my Rossi pump rifle. He thought shooting plastic Happy Meal toy characters off of a cardboard box was great fun and he repeatedly rang a 12" square aluminum plate at 50 yards with almost all of the guns. He liked the AR-15 but didn't care so much for the SKS. He took instruction about operation and safety seriously, followed the 4 Rules carefully and generally had a great time.

It was a beautiful 50 degree day out in the desert and it felt good to be out in the open without another person or building in sight. We all shot until we were tired and had a terrific time. David doesn't get lots of free Saturdays and when he does he can generally be found with a golf club in his hand. But I hope I've kindled an interest in at least occasionally getting out and doing a little shooting. He's certainly capable and enthusiastic!

Two movies, two disappointments-

The BSU and I have been to 2 movies over the past 2 weeks, 2 movies that are nominated for Academy Awards, including best picture and I can tell you I haven't been more disappointed by 2 movies in a long time. Last weekend we saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, this weekend it was Warhorse. Both of these movies are (obviously) intended to be tear jerkers yet I found both of them to be emotionally flat- ran-over, squashed armadillo flat! Really, I pretty much hated both of them!

EL&IC was full of logic holes and reality flaws and the main character, the little boy who is perhaps dealing with Asbergers Sydrome just doesn't make me believe him. I thought it was predictable and lame.

Warhorse this weekend was equally bad. Sure, it's supposed to be a tearjerker and a big tale of a boy and his horse, bonding as a colt and a child, being lost to each other due to a World War and finding each other in the darkness of of trench warfare and chemical gassing. There were some scenes of trench fighting and soldiers dieing but it just didn't have any emotion in it. At least for me it didn't. This story might have been a very good read in a book where one's mind could fill in the emotion and substance but as a movie I did not like it.

Next week I get to pick the movie!

I am a freakin genius!

This afternoon when I turned on the Toshiba it completely refused to reach out to the internet! And the problem seemed to be with the machine itiself- the wireless on/off switch on the face of the machine would not turn the connectivity on or off... This did not look good and I tried a few things to get it going to no avail. I even called the Toshiba tech support but because my machine is out of warranty, any work they attempted over the phone was going to cost me 50 bucks- not good!

So I left it and the BSU and I went to a movie. When I got home, I started Google searching for solutions and in a few minutes I found a forum that offered a couple solutions. The 2nd solution offered up actually worked! Sweet! I just saved myself 50 dollars! I have to admit I was pretty surprised to be able to resolve this by myself but I'm tickled by my results.

If only every problem in life could be solved with a Google search...

Maybe the luckiest guy ever!

Not only did CarteachO get to handle and shoot an ultra-rare Liberator FP-45 pistol, he was gifted a M1 Garand by one of his readers! Talk about firearm nirvana! The Liberator was a gun devised by the US to be dropped into occupied France during World War II to arm Resistance members. Many thousands of these guns were produced but most were never deployed and then destroyed. Most people interested in guns have read the stories about these rare pistols but Carteacho got to shoot one in his back yard!

Go read the stories!

If anybody wants to buy me a gift-

I'd love a copy of this book- Shooting Back, The right and Duty of Self Defense. It is written by a South African that defended himself and fellow parishoners when armed terrorists stormed into the church where he was worshiping.

Which reminds me, I need to get my concealed carry permit renewed this week!

Milestones- I've had a couple recently

So it's nearly the end of January already which means that this humble blog is more than 9 years old. That's ancient in blog years! I started this bit of electronic drivel on a whim and because I was submitting interesting, ( hey, I thought so) bits to the very world famous publisher of Possumblog. Terry recommended that I start my own blog to keep from cluttering up his and thanks to the (now) very reliable and (still) free Blogger, I did just that.

So Wasted Electrons keeps on going even if I don't publish things as often as I used to. I've shared my simple thoughts about love and life, guns, politics, wives, kids, cats, scooters, fish I've caught and the ones that got away. It's still fun and I still like sharing my thoughts with those (few) of you that continue to stop by to read my humble ramblings.

I do appreciate you sticking around and being regular readers- both of you!

Another interesting milestone went by this month- my F250 truck is 12 years old! It also just passed by the 200,000 mile mark in the past week or two. This truck is the very first brand new vehicle I've ever owned and it has served me very well. It still looks good- there's a bent corner on the bed that I'd love to get repaired but it doesn't show much and except for a few cracks in the driver's seat leather, the interior is like new. So even though it has lots of miles on it, it isn't going to be replaced any time soon. The truck has been a faithful companion and workhorse. It pulls our camper to Oregon and Fish Slayer to fishing spots and has space more more people than I have friends. Heck, it may turn out to be the only brand new vehicle I ever get!

So there's my milestones for January! And very soon I'll be celebrating another (hopefully) successful trip around the sun. But that's next month!

Who knew hummingbirds could do barrel rolls?

Well they can and if you sit back and watch this amazing video you'll see the acrobatics in beautiful, slow motion and high definition. It's a YouTube video but I can't seem to figure out how to embed it so you'll just have to click the link and enjoy the beauty and the fabulous camera work.

This makes me VERY happy!

Obama's Florida Freefall I hope I get to read many more reports like this between now and November!

Somehing is wrong wih my oshiba...

For some reason, ye undiscovered, I am having rouble making the T button work on my laptop today. here's probably a ca hair stuck under i or somehing. I hough it was jus my poor yping skills acing up bu i is more han ha...

I can actually make it work but the key needs a little more effort on the downstoke than all the other keys. So I suppose I need a can of compressed air to see it the offending obstruction can be removed.

Getting the New Year off on the right foot-

During my extended unemployment season of the past many many months, I had to clear some guns out of my locker to make ends meet. It was truly an ugly time saying goodbye to some of the guns I really treasured. Now that I'm back to work, I'm feeling just a mite more flush and so last week I decided to stop by a local pawn shop on my way home from work. And they had this little gem in the rough-





It's a Rossi Gallery Carbine in 22LR and a replica of a Winchester 62 which, (significantly) is also a John Moses Browning design. I didn't buy it right away but went home and spent he evening doing research and then went back and bought it for just 75% of the asking price the next day. It was grubby! The shiny little rifle looked as if it had never seen a Hoppes soaked swab! It had a nail in a place where a roll pin was supposed to be!

But I took it apart and gave it a very good scrubbing and it cleaned up nicely. I'm still going to re-blue some of the parts that aren't nickel plated and I have already installed the correct pin to hold the magazine tube in place. I might have to replace the magazine tube sometime down the road as it isn' perfect but for now I'm just anxiously awaiting an opportunity to take it out and see if it shoots.

It's also kind of neat that I already have a Taurus replica of the Winchester Model 63- the gun that followed this little pump from the Winchester lineup that is also a John Moses Browning design. Both of these guns designs originated here in my adoped home town!

I'm still alive-

and I haven't quit blogging. I've just been incredibly busy and haven't taken the time to share my thoughts with you here. The new job, the holiday season, a large dog living at my house= the reasons the dog is living here, spousal illness and injuries have all kept me away from writing.

And I see that I will be coming up on the 9th anniversary of this blog next week, which except for child rearing and marriage the longest effort I've ever undertaken. I've got some ideas about what how to direct Wasted Electrons over the coming months so I will be getting back into the writing and sharing in the very near future.

I promise.