Time to support our 2nd Amendment freedoms!

As anyone that might have turned on a television set in the past week no doubt knows already, the Supreme Court of the United States of America has agreed to consider a case involving the rights of citizens of the District of Columbia to own firearms. More importantly than that distinct decision will be the greater scoped issue of what exactly does the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution mean as related to states rights or individual rights.

"A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

As you might imagine, gun rights advocates and gun ban control advocates are in a complete flutter around the internet, predicting either complete freedom from any gun restrictions or complete breakdown in law and order should individual rights win the day. Every gun blog and forum is burning up the bandwidth with experts of all stripes postulating on what will happen when SCOTUS makes a decision. You can find some links to get you started at Sailor Curt's place to understand the significance of the possibilities.

You can read a couple of editorials on the subject, first by the Attorney General of the state of Michigan and by law professor Glenn Reynolds. Professor Reynolds makes the point that no matter how SCOTUS decides, this is an election year upcoming and the politicians that are running for office better be prepared to debate, discuss and support their views on this subject or suffer for it.

My own humble opinion? I think it is time, finally, for this determination of states rights vs. individual rights is finally settled at the highest level. I think it has been too long since the Supreme Court considered this issue and it is time to get it figured out. Most of the states have resolved the question in favor of the individual and the 2nd Amendment is the only one of our specified rights in the Bill of Rights that anyone tries to bend to a state's right as opposed to an individuals right. Imagine if we decided that only the states had the 1st Amendment freedom of speech, you might not agree with going that direction, now would you? Ditto for the 2nd Amendment. I think our country has to stop being embarrassed by this part of our Constitution that makes our country unique among all the others. There is a terrific essay, The Embarrassing Second Amendment by Samuel Levinson that really spells this out. I predict that when SCOTUS rules, it will be in favor of us, individual United States citizens.

And, I'm putting my money where my mouth is, (or my electrons in this case) and I am sending money to support
Academics for the Second Amendment, a group of academics that are writing an amicus brief in support of the individual's right in the upcoming SCOTUS case. If you value your individual freedoms and believe that the 2nd Amendment gives you the right to keep and bear arms, then I'd ask you to support their efforst with some cash as well.

Finally, I've added a new link to my blogroll today, this one-Gun Cite. It a page of links that will take hours to read and digest but its a great place to begin if you want to understand why this upcoming case is so important.

Ya gotta watch this!

Dad, you're just going to have to find a high speed connection to watch this video. Its Sports Acrobatics like I've never seen before. Really awesome physical skills.

Sent to me by my buddy Chris.

This article just blows my mind! GMAFB!

http://boortz.com/nuze/200711/11212007.html#bodymod

There is so many ways to snark at this dumbass that it just about defies my ability to communicate at all. But based upon his misplaced sense of entitlement for his special needs to avoid being discriminated against in business and on the street and when applying for jobs, I'll bet he votes Democrat.

Life is hard. Its harder when you're stupid.

Interesting email conversation about guns

I started out by emailing the editor of Guns & Ammo magazine this past weekend-
On 11/18/07 11:41 AM, "Nate" wrote:

Gents, please allow me to introduce your writers to an American gun manufacturer that apparently slipped under their awareness levels. I'm referring to Kel-Tec CNC Industries of Cocoa Beach FL. http://www.kel-tec-cnc.com/ Through a twist of delivery schedules and vacation days, I have 4 G&A issues in front of me and in three of them, writers seemed unaware of Kel-Tec handguns as comparable to the tested guns.

Patrick Sweeney tested the PPS Wather and called it, "Far ahead of other pistols" in relationship to its thickness, neglecting the dimensions of the PF-9 which is not only smaller, (.88" thick) but smaller in every dimension than the new, expensive pistol from Germany he tested. Sweeney also swoons over the H&K P30 in the October issue, seemingly unaware of the P-11 that matches the wundergun's capabilities in a lighter, DAO capability, save 4 rounds of ammo. And, since S&W magazines fit the P-11, adding more rounds though extended magazines is a no-brainer. Finally, Richard Venola rolls out some top of the line, (ie, expensive) handguns for his sister to test only to discover that the vaunted and desireable PPK, shooting the 380 auto round is design limited to folks with strong enough hands to work the slide. He also says "no design is slipperier than a PPK", apparently unaware of the P3AT from Kel-Tec. Its a locked breach design, so its much easier to operate the slide, is thinner and lighter than the PPK and retail sells for probably half the Walther's price.

Which leads me to the letter from David Haydell in the November issue, "Remember Joe Sixpack." I'm with David and I would like to see responsible reporting on guns that he and I can afford. It doesn't hurt my feelings to see articles written about guns built in this country either. I have no connection to Kel-tec except that I own several of their guns that I carry, shoot and enjoy. I think its time that G&A and their writers acknowledge the fine guns produced by this company and let up on the German wundergun fetish that seems so misplaced.

Nate McCord, Ogden Utah

Today, I received a response-

Dear Nate:

Kel-Tec indeed builds some very innovative and practical designs. G&A has nothing against them.

A lot of this industry is personality driven. I’ve tried to make contact with Kel-Tec several times and it’s like pulling teeth. One time I talked to the folks at their booth at the SHOT show and the guys basically treated me like a spot on a hotel pillow. At the following SHOT show they were displaying their prototype bullpup FAL. I was one of a bunch of interested passers-by. The Kel-Tec rep told us the price and everyone reacted with shock and the rep then rudely dismissed us. It doesn’t take too much of this attitude and you just walk away shaking your head.

But based on your letter here, I’ll give it another shot.

All the best,

Richard Venola
Editor, G&A

Note that it was the editor that I took to task about the PPK and didn't even realize it. Doh! Anyway, that was an interesting an polite response and it will be interesting to see if anything comes from it. I also sent both the original email and Richard's response off to Kel-Tec. I wonder if they might have anything to say about his prior meetings with Kel-Tec staff.

Morphous Taillight mods

Well I've finally completed the most recent mods to the Morphous. I've changed the turn signals in the rear into turn signals and taillights. I began by adding new bulb pigtails with dual element bulb connections, the stock pigtails for the front turn signals on my scoot into the rear wiring harness.

I bought LED bulbs from Superbright LEDs.com and the load resistors from Custom Dynamics and installed the resistors under the left side cover.

I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. Its really bright in the back now and I hope it will help keep the inattentive SUV drivers off my butt in traffic. What do you think of these pics? As always, click the thumbnails to see the full size pictures.

National Ammo Day? Today?

Sheesh! I got busy and missed it! I hope there's some ammo left on the shelves for me tomorrow.

I stopped on the way home to see Kenny and deliver the card from everyone in the squadron and to meet his mom and hear the story of the escape of the naughty dog and his recovery. Then I stopped and walked around a pond in town that I didn't know existed until I read about it being freshly stocked with fish just last week. Its just where Google Earth showed it to be and it looks like a great place to drown a worm now and then when there's just a few minutes to spend.

So I missed National Ammo Day. I will remedy that tomorrow...

Moved my space again-

That's the bad news. I had to move cubicles this morning and I have to give up my window seat. So if you come to visit me at the back of the building, I'm not there. I'm in a 4-seater cube up close to the front office.

The good news? I did NOT have to move into the cubicle and sit next to that human Slinky person I was complaining about just last week! That person thought I was moving in there, and I let her think that I was moving in because I knew that she was put out that she had cleaned out the spot for me. But Harry Callahan had a motto to remember about circumstances like that one and I pulled the necessary strings to get a much more desirable working space. I also took the opportunity to set myself up facing the cubicle entrance instead of having my back to the entrance. I've grown really tired on people walking up to me without a second's notice that they are behind me.

The computer and phone are hooked up, now its just a matter of moving all my other files and stuff.

The difference between men and women

Let's say a guy named Fred is attracted to a woman named Martha. He asks her out to a movie; she accepts; they have a pretty good time. A few nights later he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy themselves. They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing anybody else. And then, one evening when they're driving home, a thought occurs to Martha, and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: "Do you realize that, as of tonight, we've been seeing each other for exactly six months?"

And then, there is silence in the car.

To Martha, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he's been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn't want, or isn't sure of.

And Fred is thinking: Gosh. Six months.

And Martha is thinking: But, hey, I'm not so sure I want this kind of relationship either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I'd have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily towards mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person?

 
And Fred is thinking: ...so that means it was...let's see...February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer's, which means...lemme check the odometer...Whoa! I am way overdue for an oil change here.

And Martha is thinking: He's upset. I can see it on his face. Maybe I'm reading this completely wrong. Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment; maybe he has sensed - even before I sensed it - that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that's it. That's why he's so reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He's afraid of being rejected.

And Fred is thinking: And I'm gonna have them look at the transmission again. I don't care what those morons say; it's still not shifting right. And they better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time. What cold weather? It's 87 degrees out, and this thing is shifting like a garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves $600.

And Martha is thinking: He's angry. And I don't blame him. I'd be angry, too. I feel so guilty, putting him through this, but I can't help the way I feel. I'm just not sure.

And Fred is thinking: They'll probably say it's only a 6O-day warranty... .scum balls.

And Martha is thinking: Maybe I'm just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I'm sitting right next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who seems to truly care about me. A person who is in pain because of my self-centered, schoolgirl romantic fantasy.

And Fred is thinking: Warranty? They want a warranty? I'll give them a warranty. I'll take their warranty and stick it right up their...

 
"Fred," Martha says aloud.
 
"What?" says Fred, startled.

"Please don't torture yourself like this," she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Maybe I should never have...oh dear, I feel so..."(She breaks down, sobbing.)

 
"What?" says Fred.

"I'm such a fool," Martha sobs. "I mean, I know there's no knight. I really know that. It's silly. There's no knight, and there's no horse."

 
"There's no horse?" says Fred.
 
"You think I'm a fool, don't you?" Martha says.

"No!" says Fred, glad to finally know the correct answer.
 
"It's just that...it's that I...I need some time," Martha says.

(There is a 15-second pause while Fred, thinking as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe response. Finally he comes up with one that he thinks might work.)

"Yes," he says. (Martha, deeply moved, touches his hand.) "Oh, Fred, do you really feel that way?" she says.

"What way?" says Fred.

"That way about time," says Martha.

"Oh," says Fred. "Yes." (Martha turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last she speaks.)

"Thank you, Fred," she says.

"Thank you," says Fred.

Then he takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn, whereas when Fred gets back to his place, he opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the TV, and immediately becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a college basketball game between two South Dakota junior colleges that he has never heard of. A tiny voice in the far recesses of his mind tells him that something major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures it's better if he doesn't think about it.

The next day Martha will call her closest friend, or perhaps two of them, and they will talk about this situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and everything he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression, and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification. They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it either.

Meanwhile, Fred, while playing racquetball one day with a mutual friend of his and Martha's, will pause just before serving, frown, and say: "Norm, did Martha ever own a horse?"

And that's the difference between men and women.

Maybe owlgore's right after all...

Perhaps there is something to this Global Warming business after all. What other possible explanation could there be for me raking the leaves out of my backyard yesterday in a t-shirt instead of being on the slopes skiing? No kidding, it was 68 degrees in my yard yesterday and I really did fill 2, ninety gallon trash barrels with leaves from the yard.

Noah spent the weekend at home, looking for some home cooked meals and financial assistance with a replacement windshield for his Tracker, Lumpy. The windshield took a stone on one of the trips to Logan while I was moving his stuff up there and had spread far too badly to pass inspection. And, since he still needs to pay for an exhaust system before the end of the month to get it inspected, I went ahead and bought him the windshield.

Noah and a couple neighbors did help get the camper moved back behind the carport, freeing up parking space out front for the (hopefully) upcoming snow season. The camper's too big for me to move by myself and maneuvering the narrow gaps connected to the truck doesn't work either. So it was nice to get the camper moved with some manpower. Now I just need to buy a new tarp to cover it as the old one was ruined when we pulled it out.

Colder temps and rain predicted for later this week but nothing big enough to get the snow flying and the ski resorts open in the foreseeable future. What's up with that? It ski season dammitall!

Pictures from my past-

Yesterday's mail produced a small packet from my mom, report cards mostly, (don't ask), some photos and a newspaper clipping. I'm shaaring them here for your perusal and enjoyment.

First, a picture of my Brother Tim and I at Scout camp. Tim's always been a bit afraid of heights which may explain why I'm pushing on him to get over the obstacle.


Or, Dad just staged the picture to get us both in one shot. I can't remember.

Next, a picture of a most handsome young man, all dressed up and heading out somewhere. The picture's not dated and I have no idea when or where this picture was taken. But I was handsome and debonair...


Finally, a newspaper clipping that captured a scene from so long ago that I had for completely forgotten about it. I'm pretty certain I sent it to my Mom so she could see the attractive woman that I had recently begun dating- and was head-over-heels in love with.


Its a lousy picture I know, but you might recognize this woman from some of my more recent photos-


I still think she is beautiful!

Isn't it about time I talked about our cruise?

I suppose it is. I've been home now more than a week and I still haven't taken the time to write my thoughts about our cruise and Florida vacation. I've been busy with yard work chores and window installations, curtain hangings and the (still) paying job, so I just haven't been able to write about the prior weeks. Sorry. But- on with the tale!

First of all, everything good about going on a cruise that I had heard from my friends and co-workers is true. Cruising is relaxing, fun, romantic and exciting, all wrapped up in 1 huge ship. Up front I'll tell you that we had a great time throughout our cruise in spite of getting tossed around by Tropical Storm Noel both traveling out to the Caribbean and returning towards Miami. We were with friends- Kenny and his spouse Susie and Mike and Sandy, Kenny's neighbors for 10 years and now living in Mississippi, and family too, as it turned out, since my Dad surprised me by being on the ship with his wife Carol without telling me his plans.

Having Dad and Carol along on the trip turned into a real treat. Dad of course had to scramble my brain pretty thoroughly by calling my cell phone while I was having lunch with the rest of our crowd, just minutes after coming aboard ship. He was asking me all these questions- What was I doing, What restaurant was I eating in? What deck was the restaurant on? Heck, I had just arrived, I didn't know any thing yet! But I was out by the elevators so I could hear him on the phone and he was saying that he couldn't see me… What? Are there hidden cameras someplace? Finally I went through the doors to the back swimming pool and there he was, standing there talking to me on his cell phone! After I got my jaw picked up off the deck, I gave him a big hug and found out the rest of the story. He and Carol were coming along on the trip!

Once I took him inside and introduced him to the rest of our group, I discovered that both my dessert and my coffee had been pilfered during my absence! Those rats!

Here are some things nobody ever told me about going on a cruise-
If you want to be able to stay in touch with the other members of your group, pack some of those little walkie-talkies that everybody seems to have. You probably won't spend much time next to your cabin phone, your cell phone may or may not work, and it’s a big ship with lots of places to get lost. So pack your 2-way radios.

There are a hundred opportunities to get your picture taken and to purchase the results. Getting on the ship, they take your picture. At every landfall when you get off the ship, they will take your picture. Photographers come around to each table during dinner and take your picture. After dinner on the main decks near the shops and casino, there are photographers set up with a plethora of photo backgrounds, casual and formal where you can have portraits taken. Want your picture taken with the Carnival ship and palm trees in the background? Easy. A romantic picture with a piano and ivy and marble columns? Sure. Throughout the day, every day, there are photogs wandering about posing passengers with the Carnival mascot or a lifesaving float ring with the ship's name on it. The next day, all those pictures are on display in the photo gallery for you to peruse and purchase if you like them. We bought several and even purchased some for our group as I was pretty certain that they wouldn't buy them of their own accord. I just never knew there were so many opportunities for getting your picture taken.

We went swimming in the most beautiful water when the ship stopped in Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas on the first shore excursion. The water was warm and blue and had the most marvelous lavender sparkle on the top and silver and black fish flashing through as we swam and soaked. It was terrific and justified the entire trip.

Kenny set it up with the Maitre de so that all 8 of us would have dinner together and that worked out very nicely. Dinners were delicious, a little bit extravagant and our waiters were terrific; enthusiastic, friendly and efficient with their service. It was great fun to select a delicious appetizer, salad and main course from the menu and even if I had some other appetizer, I had a shrimp cocktail with every dinner. One night I had 2 shrimp cocktails, just because the first one tasted like another! Each night the wait staff for the entire dining room would entertain with singing and dancing at the end of the meal. Their antics were quite funny and very entertaining.

It didn't take very long to get into the rhythm of cruising. Days started with communal breakfasts either in the buffet of the dining room, then moved to either a trip ashore or just a day of sailing. The tropical storm really did rock the boat for several hours sending Sunday and some of the other women to the cabins to rest. Dad and I spent the time visiting and watching the waves. We went ashore in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands for one day, Dad & I in the morning to do a little browsing and shopping then after lunch Sunday & I went ashore, first to visit the butterfly farm

and then to ride the Paradise Point tram to the highest point on the island. From the top we had a terrific view of the entire island and we rested under an umbrella with Bailey's Bushwhacker frozen drinks to listen to the 1-man reggae band until it was time to head back to the ship for dinner. I could have easily spent more time at the butterfly farm as it was a really beautiful place to spend a couple hours.

Evenings were generally spent as a group. After dinner we would meet up in the Rio Lounge, a big theater at the front of the ship where the shows take place. The shows were a real treat and all of them were great fun. Usually after the show most of us would head of to go bar hopping, usually ending up in the karaoke bar to watch the passengers entertaining each other. Most nights there was also a "late" show for adults only, either a stand-up comic or a magician act that could perform without offending anybody's more gentle sensibilities. Sunday and I generally stayed up late for these shows before returning to our cabin to see the towel origami art

that our steward had left behind and to relax on the balcony


before turning in on a wonderfully comfy bed.

[NOTE: I'm going to make this post into multiple parts and put them up over the weekend. There are a bunch of pictures at my Photobucket page but I can't link to them individually from the job so I'll do that from home. More cruise tales to come over the weekend so keep checking in.]

National Ammo Day is next week!

Wow, its almost National Ammo Day again! I've been so busy that this critical holiday has almost arrived without my realizing it. But I'm aware now, so you should be too! Its Monday the 19th and all law abiding citizens are encouraged to go empty your favorite ammo store's shelves. Or at least buy 100 rounds of your favorite ammo. I think I need a couple hundred more rounds of 45ACP. Maybe Kenny will feel well enough to leave the house for an ammo buying trip after I get off work.

Anyway, check out the link to National Ammo Day HQ- http://www.ammoday.com/

If I could, I be buying one of these sale guns to celebrate http://cmmginc.secure-mall.com/shop/?shop=1&cat=33& but I think I'm going to have to pass up this sale. Too bad.

Civil Servants and Slinkies

Everybody knows why some people- not all people, mind you, and not all civil servants, but some civil servants share a striking similarity to the kid's spring toy Slinky, right?

The answer of course is that they both aren't good for anything, don't do any work but they make you laugh after you push them down the stairs.

I'm dealing with one of those persons today and it is making me very cranky… This person is one of those career civil servants that has been repeatedly promoted to get them moved out of their previous work area. This person has sadly now topped out, won't ever get promoted again, and can't be bothered to move 1 inch outside their detailed work requirements, no matter how critical the need might be.

Did I mention I'm pretty cranky today? My job is on the line here and this person won't lift a finger to act on an issue directly related to their area of responsibility! Too bad this is just a one story building with no stairs...

Friends in the hospital-

Boy do I hate that! Yes I do. Friend Kenny came straight back from our cruise and was in the hospital just two days later, first to have a blood clot trap of some kind installed and then his left knee was replaced last Tuesday. He came home to recoup for a few days and today had his other knee replaced! I've been talking to him most every day and with the help of the prescription pain meds, he has been surviving ok. Tonight he's pretty woozy after surgery today but everything went well. He thinks he will be there a couple days this time while the Docs work out a rehab regimine for him. I may go visit him tomorrow night.

But I have another friend, Ben, from work who has been in the hospital nearly 3 weeks now after suffering 2 heart attacks on a Friday evening, one driving home and the second later in the evening. His wife found him slumped in his recliner not breathing and clled the paramedics who were able to shock him back to life and drag him to the hospital.

Ben was on life support for a week and the prognosis seemed exceptionally grim. So grim in fact that they took him off the ventilator and moved him into hospice care. For a week he struggled up there without being treated for his pneumonia or pancreatitus and that's how I saw him when I visited before our trip. I was pretty certain I was saying goodbye to a good friend and expected that his funeral would occur while we were away.

But he started getting better, without any intervention and the Docs finally decided to get busy and to try to save his life. The reports from our commander continued to say that Ben was improving, recognizing folks that visited and being able to converse with visitors.

Today I had to stop at the hospital to pick up some records for myself and I decided I better go see the guy while I was there. Ben was resting but opened his eyes when I knocked onhis door and recognized me when I got close enough for him to see me without his glasses. When I shook his hand he grabbed on and didn't want to let go! We had a good visit for several minutes. I asked Ben if he would like some music to listen to if I brought him my iPod and he said he would really like that. So tonight I've added 6 new albums that I purchased on my way home, 1 Eric Clapton playing Robert Johnson tunes, called Me and Mr. Johnson, a 3 CD set of Roy Orbison called Triple Treasures and a 2 CD set called The Electric Joe Satriani. Tomorrow I'll go back and drop off my iPod, the AC power cable and some headphones so Ben can listen as much as he likes while he recovers.

You might say a prayer for both of these guys, if that's your thing because they both have a long way to go for recovery to strength and health.

My but its noisy in here today!

And cold too!

Finally. Our new, high-tech, double-paned, leak free windows are being installed. Right now. There's 3 guys, 2 that know what they are doing and 1 trainee. There's 13 windows to do, 3 done so far and it looks like it might be a long day for all of us.

Our house is as old as me and still had the original aluminum framed, single pane, drafty windows in it. So a few weeks ago we decided to pony up the big bucks and upgrade. And after today, when the installers are gone, I'm going to have to sand and repaint some, maybe all the window boxes.

But we're going to be warm!

UPDATE: With the exception of the 1 window that was broken during transit from the factory and the missing window that was left off the order, the windows are all installed and look terrific. There is one that was broken and will be warranteed out later this week and the missed window has already been ordered so it will be here in another week.

I took pictures-




Anyway, these windows seem mighty nice and the guys doing the installation really worked hard all day.

Back to the salt mines!

That's right, our warm weather, surf and cruise vacation ended Wednesday with our return to Utah. And Thursday I was right back in the thick of things on the job. Today promises yard cleanup tasks as I try to get all the tree leaves picked up and a hockey game later tonight.

Tomorrow is preparation day for the the window installations on Monday, so I have to relocate the cable tv connection and take down the old plastic storm window tracks. Somwwhere in here I'll try to get some real blogging accomplished with lots more pictures from our very wonderful trip.

Vaa Caa Shun Continues!

Here's a link to just a few of the pictures from our trip. We are having too much fun and the interweb connections are too funky to relibly post more or to upload more pictures.

Catching, cleaning and eating fish was just part of today's adventures. Tomorrow, more fishing and some shooting before relocating down to my Dad's house.

Say a prayer for Kenny, he's having his first knee surgery tomorrow too.

Vaa Caa Shun!

That's right, I'm still cruising! Tied up today, for a few more minutes in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where I was unsuccessful finding a scooter store to buy the parts that I thought I might buy to save shipping costs. But we did take a bus trip, see the old fort and have had a little walk around.

Internet connectivity is sucking a huge hole right now, so I'm not staying online much more. I have lots of pictures but there is no uploading them from the boat so they will come later.

The great news is that we continue to have a wonderful time in spite of being tossed around for most of an entire day and night by Tropical Storm Noel. We are the 6th deck, high above the water but the spray was coming onto our balcony for most of that day. We have been eating great, seeing some exciting shows and drinking entirely too much alcohol.

Which is exactly as it should be... So, I am off to find the rum drink special of the day and then rest up before dinner and the Halloween festivites for tonight. We are going to be doing this cruise thing again in the future, I promise you that!

I'm satarting to dig this Carnival Cruise thing...

Oh yeah. With the exception of the 75 cent per minute internet access and the streange keyboard that make me spend more time tu\ypin\ than I might normally, this cruise thing is really sweet. Today the BSU & I met Kenny & Mike & their spouses just after breakfast, sailed over to Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas with them, then split up and the spouse and I went swimming in the most beautiful water ever. Tonight we will be meeting them for dinner.

Joining us at a table for 8 will be my Dad and his wife Carol! That's right, my Dad surprised me yesterday, just after we checked in, by meeting me outside the dining room! What a hoot! I was completely surprised. Too much fun. Kennyt has fixed the dining room arrangements for all of us to share a dinner table so that will be fun.

Geez I hate this ikeyboard!

Anyway, the Carnival Triumph is a terrific ship and I have had a most wonderful exploratory walk around this afternoon after returning from the island. There is gambling and shopping and swimming pools and 9 holes of miniature golf, which I am challenging my dinner mates to after dinner tonight.

I am enjoying this vacation already! Tim, you should have cast your fears aside and come along. This is terrific! Signing off now because this post has already cost me 10 bucks!

Cruising- Made it to MIami-

And without too much difficulty, overall. I might have been just a little testy with the hotle desk clert at 11:30 last night when they informed me that the free shuttle bus quit at 11. But otherwise the flights and connections were mostly uneventful and the only two people I wanted to choke were the drunk, yakky girls in front of on the flighr from Atlanta to Miami.

Mike's here in the lobby, but no sign of Kenny or spouses yet. I need another cup of coffee. Later, transfers to the seaport and on to the Triumph!

Passports? Check. Packed? Just about

Just one more night in my recliner before heading out on the big vacation cruise! I've go the passports out, the boarding passes printed, a package to mail to my Dad ready and almost all my packing done. I still have to put together a shave kit and locate a tie or two and get my sport coat in the suitcase, but otherwise, I'm done.

I'm embarrased to say it but it appears that I am taking 4 sets of footwear, not counting the pair I will be wearing to travel in. Guys shouldn't have that many pairs of footwear! But I do, and I'm packing all the shoes I own except the desert brown combat boots I wear when I go shooting.

Tomorrow night will be filled up with running around. I need a new belt. I also need to vote early since we will be cruising on election day. I have some pictures I want to get printed on photo paper to give to my family. I might even buy another new digital camera because I just don't love the one we have now.

All that would be much easier if I didn't have a job interview tomorrow... Yup, I'm interviewing for another exciting possibility in the afternon. But I'll get around with everything after that takes place. Wish me luck!

I took a picture of the BSU's new jewelry tonight at her request because all her sisters insisted on seeing it. So, I'll share the picture-


Pretty, isn't it?

Anyway, its bed time and the Tonight Show's a rerun.

Weekend update-

The weatherguessers had predicted early in the week that Friday was going to be the last day of warm weather in a few days and this time they got it right. Friday it was 70 degrees, on Saturday it was 40 degrees, raining and snowing all day. Today, though dry, the temperature only reached into the 40s.

Why was the weather so important? Well I had Loc's truck in my carport with its transmission on the ground, waiting for us to install a new clutch. And, we chose to do it on Friday, based upon the weather. We made a good choice. The new transmission jack was a huge improvement to the effort and after I got the transmission strapped down securely, almost made the alignment and installation automatic. Literally, from the time we rolled the transmission under the truck until we had it bolted to the engine took no more than 15 minutes! It went in so easily I thought I might have left the clutch plate out, but we just got it right and the transmission rolled into place like it wanted to be put back into place.

Bolting all the other parts back on the truck took up most of the afternoon but we were done by 3:30 with the tools put away and the truck ran perfectly when we started it up. I think Loc was surprised at the truck's performance with the new clutch working as its uspposed to.

But, we got it done. And done in time for me to get a good shower before my anniversary dinner with my lovely spouse. I made reservations at Rickenbacker's, a ritzy new restaurant out at the airport. I had flowers waiting for her on our table, we had a view of the mountains as the sun set and we had a terrific dinner. The food was just wonderful, expertly presented and tasty to perfection. I had a delmonico steak that could almost be cut with a feather that was juicy and so delicious it could only have come from a very contented cow.

The bride is so pleased with her new ruby & diamond ring, (sorry, no pictures yet) but the framed picture of our wedding day that I surprised her with made her cry, just a litttle bit. It was the same picture from Friday's post that I had enlarged and then put into a frame to compliment it for our bedroom. She wasn't expecting that little present and I was really pleased that she liked it like she does. It put a nice touch on the entire dinner. Jimmy's Flowers did a terrific job on a lovely bouquet for her too. It was huge, beautiful and pleased her as a much as any flowers I have ever purchased for her.

All in all, it was a lovely and romantic anniversary dinner night out.

Today I spent half the day getting my kerosene heater tuned up for fighting the cold temperatures in my workshop. I tried to buy a new wick but apparently my heater is old enought that nobody stocks the right size. So, I ended up trimming a bit and cleaning it some and reinstalling it. The heater seems prepared now to do its part in keeping me warm while I'm in the shop this winter.

So that's what's been happening with us this weekend. We did buy a few groceries this afternoon and yesterday we saw The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Its a western movie- duh, its got Jesse James but its not the typical western. Its a rather complex tale of the story of these two men and how their paths and stars crossed. Some of the tale gets a little bogged down in the middle as some of the minor characters tales get told (and they get shot), but otherwise it was a pretty darn good movie. The period clothes, houses and firearms are interesting and add to a really pretty well told story.

This week, 2 physical therapy appointments and plenty of work at the job before taking off for Florida and the Caribbean. I can hardly wait!

Getting pretty close to cruise time...

And I must admit I'm getting excited. Or anxious, or nervous, or something. I know lots of people do it, all the time, I even know people that have done it before. But I haven't done it before, so, I'm a little nervous.

Time to get packing I guess. There's lots of things to get ready and just a few nights to pull everything together. The cats are staying home and getting fed by the neighbor while the dog is going to doggy sleep-over camp at a local vet. My buddy Loc has promised to take us to the airport and pick us up when we get home.

The spouse still has clothes to figure out, new clothes that she mail-ordered and clothes sent by a couple sisters. She's worried about having big enough suitcases, (she does) and having enough outfits to wear- which she does. Me, I've got a rolling duffel bag if I need to make more room but I think the packing effort for me won't be too much trouble. I'll throw in about everything I have, some nice clothes for the evenings and call it good.

But its getting pretty close to reality time!

What a long, strange trip its been-

Its our 25th anniversary on Friday. My BSU, her name is Sunday, for those of you following along at home, made me the happiest man in the world, for the first time on September 19, 1982. That's the day we got married for the first time, on Santa Rosa Sound, in Mary Ester Florida. That's one of our wedding pictures from that lovely day on the beach.


Not every day since that day has been a day on the beach. We even had a time when we weren't married, back in 1992. But we fixed that in pretty short order and remarried on October 19, her birthday.

I love this woman. Our life together has been is a miracle. Its been a challenge of almost untellable stories of disasters, self-inflicted and otherwise, exciting moments of laughter, passion and parental angst. We've raised 2 good boys, seen some interesting parts of the world, fought, made up, sometimes fought some more. We have survived long separations due to military obligations, infidelity and drowned firearms. In spite of everything, we are deeply in love.

She is a terrific woman and I truly love her. I can't imagine my life without her and I'm glad to have found her and to have spent most of my life with her. She really has made everything worthwhile.

We have a nice dinner celebration planned for tomorrow night. I've bought her a ruby and diamond ring that she asked for and a framed enlargement of that same photo above. There will be flowers waiting for her at the restaurant. And next week, we will be leaving on our cruise to the Caribbean. I'm planning on celebrating my love with this sweetheart and showing her just how much I love her.

Missing link buttons have gone AWOL

From where I sit, it seems that my link buttons for some of the links over there on the right have gone AWOL in the past day or two. Is anybody else noticing the same thing or is it just me? I kind of remember an email announcement from Comcast a few weeks back saying something about new size limits for storage for the websites and such but I didn't pay it much attention.

I'm pretty certain that I uploaded those button pictures to my Comcast storage area several years ago. It was always a PITA to access that storage and I'm certain that I have no idea how to access that storage nowadays.

Maybe, if I'm lucky, the original pictures are still sitting on one of a couple hard drives around here and maybe I can find them and upload them to my Photobucket account and restore the links. In the mean time, we'll all have to suffer. Sorry.

I love Harbor Freight!

Their not so light-speed fast computer systems and less than brilliant staff always find ways to save me money. What a treat!

After struggling last weekend with the transmission adapter that fits on my floor jack, which also came from Harbor Freight a couple clutch changes ago, I decided that my current configuration just wasn't acceptable. The thing is, the adapter that enables the securing of a heavy and ungainly transmission on a typical floor jack, only fits one way. And that way means that the wheels of the floor jack are sideways to the vehicle making rolling the loaded jack and transmission combination away from the engine just about impossible. Only one end of the jack has swiveling wheels, the other two wheels are on a single axle and only roll forward and back, which is side-to-side in relation to the truck. Getting the transmission down on Loc's truck on Saturday required 3 jacks, 1 guy operating 2 jacks, a 2nd guy, Kenny, running the 3rd jack and a chunk of 4X4 lumber and a heavy hammer to move the transmission/jack assembly and me to shake, wobble and clear the transmission with the firewall and exhaust system. It was a lot of work!

So I decided that a proper transmission jack would be in order to make reinstalling the transmission easier. I looked online and Harbor Freight had this 450 pound capacity jack with a friendly price but its screw operated, not hydraulic. I figured it would work even if it wasn't optimal. And, last night, after clipping a 15% discount coupon out of the flyer that arrived in my mailbox yesterday, I set out to buy a new jack. Sadly, HF was out of stock on that jack which was also on sale- Dang.

They did have in stock this 800 pound capacity jack that was hydraulic and offered more lift and I did have my 15% coupon to take the edge off the $139.95 price tag, so I decided to go ahead and buy it. But when the cashier scanned the code for my new jack, it rang up at just $99.95! Woohoo! She then took 15 bucks off that price for my coupon, refunded the compression tester that I returned and I walked out of there with just an $85 dent on my wallet! Sweet.

I love saving a few bucks at Harbor Freight's expense! The jack looks really good too. It will be much better than that unwieldy contraption I have been using. Which will be good because Loc and I really need to get that job finished on Saturday.

The Sweet Black Beauty gets her tats!

So the pinstripes that I ordered from Winners Cycle Graphics finally arrived on Friday. I bought the Style set #4. Today I got the opportunity to install them on my shiny new scoot. I think they look really terrific, what do you think?











The BSU isn't too impressed, either with the new scooter or the pinstripes but she seems glad that I like it. I even took the scoot for an afternoon ride today, up to Snow Basin Ski Resort, around Pineview Reservoir and home over North Ogden Pass.

And I can't wait to see the Google hits I get for that title!

Well at least we found the problem...

Yesterday, as promised, I helped my buddy Loc take the transmission out his truck to replace the clutch, which he suspected was bad. The truck had stopped moving on under its own power and letting out the clutch while the engine idled wouldn't cause the engine to stall.

So, we took it apart. That's no easy task, BTW, since it is a 4WD truck and there's a transfer case stuck onto the transmission making it longer and heavier than a normal transmission. When we finally got everything apart, we discovered this-


That's a clutch plate that has been completely used up, if you've never seen one before. Here's another picture to show you the before and after so that you can see what they are supposed to look like.


We didn't get the job finished yesterday because taking everything apart took much longer than expected and the flywheel still needs to spend a couple hours at the machine shop.

So I guess the job gets finished next weekend...

This guy should get the "Eye for an Eye" treatment

I've missed reporting on this tragedy entirely until now but this story really gets me fired up. Once we get this bastard convicted, I think we ought to show him the same treatment as he did to his wife. Maybe we could give him a sporting chance by turning him loose on the Bonneville Salt Flats and giving him a few minute head start. Then we could take our time running into him with a truck!

"(KSL News) The man accused of running over his wife and leaving her to die will make his first court appearance today.

Sherman Lynch is charged with killing his wife, Patricia Rothermich, earlier this month. She was walking in her neighborhood in Holladay when she was hit from behind by a truck.

Even though Lynch had some past run-ins with law enforcement, Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller says she expects to prosecute the case and not strike a plea deal. "Given the facts of this case, I would not expect any type of plea deal early on in the case. It depends on a lot of factors, but it's our intent to aggressively prosecute this as a domestic violence homicide," she said."

Good! Lock this bastard up forever unless we can get to chase him down with a truck!
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1960808
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1952145

So what am I doing?

My Dad sent me an email taking me to task for not posting anything recently and he wanted to know if everything was ok.

Everything is ok, I've just managed to stay busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger for a few days now. I futzed with the scooter over the weekend, did some yard work getting ready for winter season and watched some movies at home with the spouse.

Work is keeping me hopping as you might have guessed from my last post. This eek I discovered that the 450 brackets that I need for my Taxi Light Relocation modification somehow got turned into 3300+ brackets after the order passed through multiple computer systems and ended up with the organization that actually places the contracts for the item purchase. We got that little 2 million dollar overrun fixed after multiple meetings this week- finally.

This weekend I'm helping my buddy Loc replace the clutch in the Toyota truck he bought recently. The clutch has failed so completely that you can put the transmission in gear, any gear, let the clutch out and the engine won't stall, so it needs to come out. Loc wants to get his hands dirty doing something manly and he's already out about 3000 bucks on other vehicle repairs at his house this month so he wants to do it himself- with my help.

No new jobs pending. I did have an interview last week or the week before that seemed to go well and I think I would like the work if I get called back. We'll see.

I still need to get out to buy some new, clean sneakers for walking around the cruise ship with, sometime this weekend too. After that, its just about time to get packed for the cruise!

If you had been in the meeting I just left-

You would know why I drink more at home during the week than on the weekends.

Ugh!

The good news is that in spite of everything, my big program might have cleared a hurdle today that last week we didn't even know needed to be jumped.

Morphous mods this weekend

Well the weather turned cold and wet- snowy actually this weekend so the Morphous moved into my workshop and scooter mod barn next to the Phantom. I already installed the chrome front spoiler and it spices up the front end nicely.



The next important mod I had planned was to dump the tinny, too quiet horn for a Bad Boy horn. These horns can be a challenge to install due to their size but the Morphous has a perfect spot under the front fender, on the bottom of the glove box. I used a piece of 3/16" phenolic sheet inside the glove box to help carry the weight. Then I mounted the relay on the original horn's stud mount and ran the wires. It took one 10 gauge wire and 20 amp inline fuse routed up to the battery and then everything just plugged in. Here's a picture-


While I had the electronics uncovered upfront I also installed the LED voltmeter on my dash. Right now I can't find a link to the brand I bought but here's a picture-



Finally, I performed a rear fenderectomy and installed a much cleaner license plate holder, complete with LED brake light. Compare this picture of the stock rear look-


with this new look-


Much better huh? I did have to cut off the portion of the rear fender that hangs down from the flat portion that cleans up the back of the bike. A few minutes with a hacksaw and sharp knife cleaned that tight up and there's still a close fitting fender further under the scoot. I have to buy some steel strapp and then I will remount the side reflectors that are missing. They will be visible from the sides but not stick out where they look tacked on as they did before.

Some of the pics turned out pretty dark so I may reaccomplish them when I get the scoot back out of the shop but those were the best my digital camera could manage yesterday.

I really need a ride-on hydraulic lift for this scoot because everything is really low to the ground! I spent all day rolling on my concrete floor and I'm too old for that!

Today I try to get the Phantom put back together and running right so I can consider selling it!

This is getting expensive...

I'm at my friendly neighborhood Honest-1 Auto Care shop this afternoon, watching two young guys that I wouldn't want dating my daughter, if I had a daughter, spend my money on rebuilding the brakes on my truck. I thought I was just going to have calipers installed over the new rotors and pads I installed myself some months back but no such luck.

The caliper faults let the pad get cocked and that wrecked the rotor, so everything has to be replaced. The good news is that the Auozone just two doors down is where I bought the previous parts and they have agreed to warrantee out the rotors and the pads. That is going to save me a large chunk of my lunch money that I'm spending just for the repairs.

None of this is rocket science and I could do it all myself, except that, a) Noah has the good impact gun up in Logan hoping to use it for employment purposes, and, b) my torn rotator cuff really doesn't relish huffing heavy wheel & tire assemblies and heavy brake pieces either.

So, I'm paying. Boy am I paying today...

Five Deputies Resign over Sexual Misconduct Investigation

Here's another story of fine, upstanding, Utahans misbehaving themselves. This story also comes out of the center of Mormon sanctitude, Utah County. Its interesting the apparent disparity in the number of males and females involved. Almost makes you wonder if some of the misbehavior might have been queer behavior, doesn't it?

"The investigation is over and five employees, including three deputies and two civilian employees have resigned.
The investigation became public about three weeks ago and involved allegations that multiple employees were involved in sexual misconduct.

Some were assigned to the county jail; however, no jail inmates were involved. The behavior had apparently been going on for several months, while those involved were both on and off duty and involved four men and one woman.

Besides the five employees who resigned, a male deputy was suspended for two weeks without pay because his involvement was less serious."

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=1900072 I'll embed the link from home tonight. File this under "Behind the Zion Curtain."

What else did we do this weekend?

Saw two movies, both of them pretty terrific though I will keep theim secret until I have time to write reviews.

We bought jewelry- a ruby and diamond ring. A big ring with lots of stones. Send money!

And after the BSU and I returned from a scenic fall scenery drive through the mountains, I borrowed Jim's car tote and helped rescue my buddy Loc's daughter's broken down car. It was down in Lehi so that was a 140 mile round trip and I didn't get home until after 10 PM last night.

My professional volleyball career is over...

I'm afraid so. I may never be able to play pro level volleyball again...

I have a torn rotator cuff on my left shoulder. Its official after seeing the Doc today. I have 3 kinds of anti-inflammatories to try, 2 weeks each and after that I may get some steroid shots and therapy before the Doc gets around to considering surgery.

But it sure hurts!

Sleek Black Beauty pictures!

Finally! I've just spent 30 minutes trying to get my links fixed to my Photobucket account for this post. I had some of the pictures posted 3 times in the post and sorting out the code was making me crazy. But I've fixed it now.

I did get some pictures taken Saturday of SBB getting comfortable under the carport, its new home. And, I've added the first bits of bling to my sleek steed. The first 3 pictures are all completely stock. The BSU says she hates the rear view and says it is much to fat. But I'm ok with it...





Now it gets its first piece of shiny bits...
Another view of the new front spoiler-

It was snowing too hard on Saturday to go out to find any scenic spots to take some nice pictures so these are really just to record the addition of the new front bumper/spoiler.

There's a small pile of additional shiny bits for me to install just as soon as I get a few uniterupted hours. There's a LED voltmeter to install, the Bad Boy horn and the LED 3rd brake light and license plate holder. That last piece requires the removal of that rear fender and one of the bolt screw inserts is turning in the plastic. I'm still waiting on the pinstripes but they should be here in a few days.

Well, what first?

Easy stuff first, I suppose. For those of you following along at home with my water intrusion problems in my shop, I think I've solved the problem. The water runs off my roof into a gap between my shop and the neighbor's garage that is just a couple feet wide. There is a ramped slab running down towards my shop and then there is a 6 inch wide gutter below the level of the shop floor. But after several years, the leaves and dirt and trash had piled up back there and it was blocking the rain gutter. I spent a couple hours raking and shoveling out 1/2 a trash can of junk from behind the shop and I think my intrusion problem might be under control. Good!

Since winter is bearing down, (it rained and snowed on Saturday) I got the swamp cooler on the roof drained, dried out and covered for the season. That went pretty smoothly. I still need to pull down the inside vent and stuff the insulation plug in the hole but I don't have to get on the roof for that.

I also got the camper drained out and the lines blew clear for the winter. It still needs some moving around and the cover put on it before its completely ready for winter.

No weekend blogging or even an update?

Yeah, not until later. The weekend blogging time got eaten up with a car rescue with my buddy Loc last night. There's movies, scooter mods, preparations for the quickly approaching winter season and jewelry shopping to write about. Just as soon as I can...

The Sleek Black Beauty is mine!

Well, mine and the credit union's. But they promised to let me ride it and shine it and enjoy it. I brought it home last night. For the sake of those folks Googling for it, the Sleek Black Beauty is my 2006 Yamaha Morphous scooter.

I really like it! It was 47 miles home last night from the dealer and after dinner at Red Lobster while we waited for the traffic on the interstate to subside. The scoot easily did 74 mph on the interstate and gained sppeed climbing the hill coming out of Weber Canyon that would have been almost unclimbable on my 150cc scoot.

Its smooth and accelerates from a stop like it has an electric motor. The mirrors don't shake. The headlight is terrific bright with an excellent beam and it lights up the road with great clarity and not much glare to oncoming traffic. Putting gas in it is a bit of a pain because the fuel filler is in the center hump between the floorboards, under a cover and down in a hole about 3 inches. SO putting in fuel the first time took a little fiddling. The handlebars were leaned back a little to far but I fixed that when I got home and adjusted the mirrors so I could see out of them.

It takes a tool to unscrew the dipstick and oil fill cap. The coolant reservoir is under the hood in front of the windshield but I have no idea how to access it. I also can not find the battery! I looked under covers under the seat and everywhere I could see from the outside tonight and could not find a battery anyplace. I'll be glad when the owners manual gets here from the dealer so I can find out how to maintain and service this critter.

I didn't yet buy a factory service manual but I will be soon enough. I have ordered the first bits of chrome for the Sleek Black Beauty, first, for the front, this bumperand for the back, this license plate holder with a center LED brake light. The original plate holder is cheap & tacky and holds 4 cheesy reflectors that need to go. Dragon Custom has a bunch of neat parts for the Morphous and I'll probably be sending my lunch money to them over the coming months.

So, I'm happy. This scoot is so much faster, smoother, quieter, (too quiet) than my Phantom that its hard to explain. I expect it will also be much more reliable which was the real problem I had with the Phantom. I expect to spend far more time riding and polishing on this scoot than I have spent over the past 3 years fixing and tinkering on the old one.

And, it has a name. Its going to be the Sleek Black Beauty. That's a partial reference to Car Talk's, Tommy Magliozzi's 65 AMC Ambassador convertible. Once I get some better photos, I think you will agree that the name is perfect.

I can see snow out my window today-

Or, I could if the clouds would lift long enough for the mountains to be visible. Right this minute it is too cloudy to see the mountains just 6 miles to the east of me. Its about 45 degrees outside and not much better inside the building.

I suppose its finally time to drain and cover the swamp cooler for the season and start thinking about winter.

Book reviews I promised last week

Well its been a full week and I'm finally sitting down long enough to think about blogging a little bit. That doesn't mean I'm actually blogging- just that I'm thinking about it... But I did promise a couple book reviews and its not too late and I'm not too tired right now, so I'll try to fill in the blanks.

Its been a real treat to just sit and read for the fun of it again this summer. Its something I've always done since grade school but my degree chase somehow sucked the habit out of me for a few years. Its nice to get back to reading for fun.

The first of the two books I read was Amazonia by James Rollins. Its a tale of adventure in the deepest reaches of the Amazon Basin with a group of researchers and soldiers trying to locate a source of a terrible disease outbreak that is spreading through out Brazil and into the US. Behind the researchers are a team of cutthoats being paid to track, kill and capture whatever solutions there might be to the outbreak. In front of the researchers are giant locusts, hybrid creatures with legs like frogs and the mouths and teeth like piranha that not only fill the rivers but can climb trees and cross land and 120 foot long crocodiles. There is danger at every step and in spite of a number of the party dieing from the hazards, a terrific secret is discovered, a tribe of people living in a hidden valley with a giant, ancient tree as the center of their culture.

There is, of course, a clash of cultures, a battle with the paid bandits, one of which is a beautiful, naked headshrinker and more surprises that involve the massive tree. Its quite an adventure. The book is fast paced and exciting due to its exotic location and a combination of believable characters. I was reminded of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea for its bigger than possible creatures and bizarre events that are just to big to be possible. But it is exciting and readable and I recommend it.

Next, I read The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne. Think of this book as The DaVinci Code but this time taking place in New York City and the secrets being revealed are part of Jewish & Kabalah tradition instead of the Catholic secrets of the DaVinci Code. There are believable characters and a fast-paced action that is all revealed in the final pages, just in time to prevent the end of the world.

I read it in a weekend, without feeling like I was struggling. Its pretty good, filled with riddles and chases and hidden meanings. I really did like this story and recommend it if you like adventure stories. This one was a good one!

I'm movin on up!

It has been almost 3 years exactly since I bought my Phantom scooter. It has 5500 miles on it and when its right, I really love it. Trouble is, its just not right enough of the time and its been broke or unreliable for at least the past month.

So today, with the BSU's permission, I put down a deposit on a 2007 Yamaha Morphous scooter! Its not new, its actually a trade-in with 437 miles on it. For the fact that its used instead of new, I sacrifice a warranty but save about $1200 from new price.



On Monday I'll be talking to the credit union and I hope I can get my new scooter home in another day or two. And then, I'll be selling my Phantom!

This is too funny!

Ok, this is going to be difficult to explain to those of you outside the Zion Curtain and since I'm emailing this in, I can't get the formatting just right to clarify. But read this story and then I'll comment underneath the link.

PROVO, Utah (AP) -- The owner of a grocery chain said his 9-year-old daughter persuaded him to stop selling alcoholic beverages and cigarettes at one of his 11 stores.

"She asked me why I was selling drugs at my store," Paul Ream said of daughter Shyanne. "That's when I decided to remove the alcohol and tobacco because I felt we are out of alignment with the values of the community."

The store has problems with beer. Shoppers have placed beer bottles in root-beer cartons to fool clerks at the cash register. "Beer is one of the most shoplifted items in our grocery store, next to pregnancy kits and batteries," grocery manager Tim Norris said. The store began asking everyone buying root beer to show identification. Beer and alcohol account for less than 1 percent of monthly sales.

"We make about $1,500 a month from beer and alcohol. But our sister store in Springville does about $1,000 in beer sales on a Sunday alone," Ream said.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1843160

First of all, note the location of the store and this story- Provo, Utah. Proud home of Brigham Young University, ground zero breeding ground of proud Mormon missionaries and young women striving to become a Mrs. of a returned missionary after he completes his mandatory obligation to the church's global outreach program. Provo is a white bread town, spilling over with squeaky-clean college students sworn to celibacy, temperance and an obligation to report fellow student"s misbehavior to the authorities. Those folks in Provo that aren't BYU students are former BYU students who stayed and began propagating offspring close to their alma mater. Got that?

So how funny is it that the two biggest shoplifting items from this store are beer that's forbidden and home, (or dorm) pregnancy kits?

Shoppers have switched beer bottles for root beer bottles in root beer cartons? Hah! Root beer is a very popular Mormon approved soft drink, so smuggling out some real beer in a church approved carton is easy to imagine.

And what a concerned daddy Paul Ream appears to be, doesn't he? His little girl asks him to remove the "drugs" from his store and so he complies. He takes out two high maintenance items that total less than 1% of his sales... Awww. That action's just the simplest business decision ever! Consider, he has to keep expensive to operate and maintain coolers to keep that forbidden beer cool and he has to secure the tobacco products and pay staff to leave their regular tasks to unlock, select the right box or carton of smokes, return to the checkout stand and verify the age of the purchaser. Those are all steps that slow down the checkout process for everybody in line.

I"m no business major but if somebody asked me to decide what to take out of my store to improve my cost/sales ratio, those 1% items that take up an inordinate amount of space, electricity and employee time would be first to go! I wonder how readily Daddy would comply with little Shyanne's request if his beer and tobacco sales were 10% or 20% of his sales? What will he do when his dear little girl turns 14 and decides that meat is bad and wants that part off the store redesigned as a vegan lunch counter? How about it Paul? Will you take out the fresh, chilled and frozen meat departments when your little girl goes meatless?

Finally, what about that dumbass name, Shyanne? Isn't that a perfect example of the mindset of the liberal Provo mom? Its obvious that whoever named that girl, as a baby, liked the name Cheyenne, which as we all know is the name of a native american indian tribe. But mom didn't want her little girl saddled with any connection to something she doesn't know anything about and didn't have a connection to, so she kept the name and made up a spelling to make her unique. Mostly Cajun would love it!

No blogging in a week? Yeah, I'm that busy-

I wouldn't have been that busy, and I had time for blogging over the weekend but there's no electricity or internet or even a cell phone signal where we went camping. So instead of blogging, I rested, read and fished. I'll come back to that in a minute.

But I have been busy with the job and the job hunting. There is actually no shortage of work in the area that I can consider and might be considered for, so I've been busy tweaking my resume to adjust its focus depending on the job and writing cover letters that are applicable to each possible job and sending them out into the wild. I had my first interview yesterday… It seemed to go well but its been 8 years since I had a formal employment interview so I don't have much to compare against. I did get a haircut Sunday after getting home so I looked presentable. It seems that every day brings another avenue to pursue for work and right now I feel like I'm just scratching the surface of the potential. If only this dang current job wasn't occupying my time and attention for hours at a time!

But in spite of all the activity going on around us, the spouse and I took the dog and the camper and got out of town for the weekend for some down time. We went up the Mirror Lake Parkway and made Shady Dell campground our home for the weekend, like we've done numerous times now. We really like the peace and quiet and relative wildness of the campground compared to many of the more manicured campgrounds and except for being to close to the highway noise, its just wonderful.

After setting up camp Friday afternoon, I set out to go find a fishing lake. Driving the truck up a winding, gravel road, I pretty quickly had to abandon it as the road turned into an ATV trail. So, I walked, hiked actually, a couple miles up this loose, occasionally rocky trail, until I found the lake. I had to walk most of the way around the lake to find a spot not filled in with weeds and by the time I got there, the sky was blackening with an impending storm. So, I tied on the "sure-thing", $3 lure that I bought just last week, gave it 3 casts, mostly to see how the lure's action looked, and on the 4th cast, the line snapped and the lure took up permanent residence at the bottom of the lake! Hooverdamm!

And still a 2 mile walk back to the truck in threatening weather! Sheesh!

Saturday after a late breakfast I did drive up to another, much more accessible lake and in spite of chilly temperatures and a really strong breeze, managed to catch my limit of 4 rainbow trout. It took me a while to get the right combination of tackle that I could feel through the wind and eventually I ended up using a float to drift my nightcrawlers just above the bottom with good results. We ate 3 of the fish that evening for dinner and I'm eating the last one tonight! Those trout are the first trout I've caught since at least 1982, so it was pretty satisfying to catch and eat some really fresh fish. And I have a picture that I'll add to this post later, from the house.

I'll have 2 book reviews later tonight as well. For now, I need to go beg for an additional $28,000 for one of my programs!

Found a 10 spot in the Wal-Mart parking lot-

 Last night after some pre-camping trip shopping. I figured it was my reward for returning the cart to the cart corral instead of just leaving it blocking up a parking spot since I found the bill on my way to the corral. It must have been my lucky day.

No job offers in the email inbox though...

Searching for Steve Fosset from your cubicle!

Now I can't do this from my cubicle, because I'm to busy, first of all and secondly, the network nazis will find the unauthorized Google software on my machine and remove it with haste and vigor.

But anyway, this story from NPR really got my attention this morning. Billionaire Richard Branson, who is buddies with the missing Fossett figured out with a few phone calls and $100,000, that Google Earth software, using brand new satelite pictures could be used to search the 6,000 square miles of western Nevada where Fossett went missing. After that, Google hooked up with Amazon.com where you can go, subscribe and help search the desert from your cubicle!

I think this is the most interesting integration of technology for a practical purpose that I've heard about for quite some time. There are now thousands of folks burning their work hours searching 9000 square foot sections of Nevada desert and marking and indicating whether something is there that needs to be investigated by people on the ground. It didn't cost much money, the satelite pictures were updated in just a day or two and the resolution is good down to being able to identify things just about 3-4 feet in size.

That's just cool!

Sounds like a Mormon story to me...

A man has six children and is very proud of his achievement. He is so proud of himself that he starts calling his wife, "Mother of Six" in spite of her objections.

One night they go to a party. The man decides that it is time to go home and wants to find out if his wife is ready to leave as well. He shouts at the top of his voice, "Shall we go home Mother of Six?"

                          
Irritated by her husband's lack of discretion, she shouted back, "Any time you're ready, Father of Four."

Little Johnny again

Little Johnny's kindergarten class was on a field trip to their local police station where they saw pictures tacked to a bulletin board of the 10 most wanted criminals. One of the youngsters pointed to a picture and asked if it really was the photo of a wanted person.  "Yes," said the policeman. "The detectives want very badly to capture him."   Little Johnny asked, "Why didn't you keep him when you took his picture?"

Three Suspects Arrested in Pipe Bomb Investigation

Here's a story that has been on our local news for several days now, though I'm pretty certain we haven't heard the end of it just yet. It seems that Bubba A was building pipe bombs, lots of pipe bombs, in a rental storage building. This story doesn't mention the exact number of bombs Bubba A produced but does mention the 40 bombs that Bubba B stole from the storage unit after breaking in. Bubba B then dumped some of the bombs last week to get rid of them and saved the rest to be dumped this week. I think I read that this week's dump of bombs was 20+, some of them left in a dumpster and the rest flung out into an empty lot.

I want to know what exactly Bubba A planned to do with 60 or more viable pipe bombs! I really doubt he was building them up just for the fun of hearing things go bang. I am really glad that responsible citizens found these devices and contacted the authorities instead of unknowing kids or teenagers intent on trying them out just for fun.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1785523

Little Johnny is at it again.....

Little Johnny attended a horse auction with his father. He watched as his father moved from horse to horse, running his hands up and down the horse's legs and rump, and chest. After a few minutes, Johnny asked, "Dad, why are you doing that?"   His father replied, "Because when I'm buying horses, I have to make sure that they are healthy and in good shape before I buy."

Johnny, looking worried, said, "Dad, I think the UPS guy wants to buy Mom."

From a email from a friend today. There's more. Some may follow.

Another exciting week in Utah

NOTE: This post is bound to ramble around a bit, so hold on tight or jump off now before it gets speeded up.

So, its Sunday morning and I'm making my end of the week roundup post. I don't know what that means except that I'm delaying heading out to the shop. I could take the laptop out there to post and I might take it out there later, but right now I'm inside, at the dinner table where I can watch the Mormons headed to Sunday School and witness meetings and watch the 2 remaining hummingbirds that missed the memo that it was time to head south.

Go see 3:10 to Yuma. That is, go see it if you want to watch a gritty, western story of a busted down cattle rancher trying to save his ranch and earn the respect of his sons, a stagecoach robbing, Pinkerton killing bad guy and his gang of cuthroats and the adventure that brings them all together in a violent shootout waiting for the train that will take Ben Wade to the Yuma prison. Russell Crowe plays Ben Wade, the evilist bad guy in Arizona and Christian Bale is Dan Evans, the down on his luck rancher that signs on to escort Wade to the prison train to earn enough cash to save his ranch. It is an old west shoot-em-up of the finest tradition and I really liked it.

The scooter's still broke and I'm going out to work on that next. I think I found a bit of dirt plugging a tiny passageway yesterday and maybe that will fix the carburetor problem. We'll see. I made an appointment to take it into a shop for carb tweaking but its 3 weeks of good riding season in the future, so I'll keep trying to get it right myself.

The scoot's going to have to go, once I do get it right, if the job searching takes me into Salt Lake for employment. Its no good for that type of distances and highway speeds, so next year, it will need to be upgraded- dang!

Writing about appointments reminds me, I have 2 coming up. One is for some lumps/scabs on my head that aren't attributable to me running into things. I see a dermatologist tomorrow. The following week I see the same orthopedic doc that removed my tailbone a number of years ago, about my aching left shoulder. I don't know what I did to it, but its been hurting at least 3 weeks now and its not getting better. It hurts to reach back to get my seatbelt, it hurts to pull a t-shirt on over my head and reaching out to push a store door open really hurts. The BSU says its my rotator cuff come undone. Whatever it is, I'm most unhappy with the circumstance because no matter what- it is bound to screw up our upcoming cruise and ski season immediately behind that.

Baseball season in Ogden is over for the summer- dang again. Our Raptors play just 90 days for their season and it starts late and ends early. The spouse and I attended the last 2 homegames, Thursday and Friday night.

Thursday night's game was a treat because I had a coupon for free tickets and I upgraded to reserved seats for just 5 bucks each. Then, at the souvenir stand, all hats were half off and I bought this one to replace add to my collection. And not only was the price half off, but the non-too-bright young girl behind the counter, who first couldn't figure out 50% of $15, also couldn't make change and I discovered an extra 5 spot in my change after I got to my seat!

For Friday night's game there were no reserved seats available and so, for the first time, we had to sit on the bleachers with the rest of the unwashed masses. I was reminded of the dance scene in the movie Titanic, down in the steerage section of the boat with all the poor folks that couldn't afford the tickets to the ballrooms upstairs. In spite of the crowding and constant moving about of folks in front of and on the bleachers, everyone seemed to be having a great time. And it was a great night of baseball, even if out guys couldn't beat the Owlz one last time before the season ended.

Job hunting is progressing nicely. I've had a couple responses already and more to submit resumes to- Carol this means to you, and I don't want to say much more than that right now. I'm less stressed now that I'm doing something instead of just thinking about it, so that's a good thing.

And now, I'm going to my shop. I've got 6 pounds of coffee to grind and bag, a scooter to mess with and guitar practise to get started with again!

Fred's In!

And he is my guy for this next year's presidential election. I'll be putting up a "I'm with Fred" banner on the page as soon as I get a few minutes.

I've got a new favorite website-

Monster.com...

Yeah, I'm job shopping. I told you the current job has been eating my ass for a few weeks, and it is very true. My current contract expires at the end of January and it does not appear that it will be renewed beyond that time.

So, I'm doing a couple of things. First, I'm finally going to apply for Veterans Disability. I should have done this back in 1999 when I was separating out of the Air Force. But I never did then and I haven't done so since. But for a number of reasons, most importantly, improved hiring possibilities with the Civil Service, I need to get it done. Second, I'm going to spend my evenings and weekends working on resumes for other, civilian employment.

Tonight I've already applied for the first job. Its a senior maintenance manager/scheduler for a company with a hopefully upcoming government contract. They want somebody with maintenance management experience- hey, I've got 17 years of that, and a Bachelors Degree and hey, I've got that too!

So, its not something I've been looking forward to but it appears that its time for some action.

Its Labor Day- do you know what that means?

It means my little flock of unruly, rowdy hummingbirds have just about all packed up their tiny little hobo sticks of possesions and headed south for the warm climes of Mexico for the winter. I've been sitting out under the carport reading and watching the feeder this morning and it seem I have just one lone female still hanging about. Their numbers have been reducing for this past week and the pleasure of watching them has just about run out for this summer.

I'll leave the feeder up a few more days to refresh those that might be passing through but I'm pretty certain that I won't need to refill it until next May.

I'm going to miss the little buzz bombs.

Grandbaby pictures!

I told you I get some of the pictures of the grandchildren posted, so here they are. No dates except on one and it would have been from March this year. Anyway, these are some cute grandbabies!























Well, I think they're just cute as can be. And I wish they lived close enough so that I could spoil them properly...