[buh-wah-hah-hah!] [screams!] I’ve seen him join in the chase nipping at the rear, excited, but in THIS case he thrust himself in my path, a bodyblock, and barked with teeth flashing. Not menacing with curled lips and eye contact but with j u u ust enough incentive for me to say whoa and suck my tender parts out of harms way. I was effectively halted. I had given pursuit, an old play game chasing HD girl through a living room loop, just like in earlier years but when she was slow to escape. HD girl can outrun dear ol’ dad now however she clipped her ankle on the old wooden antique as she fled passed (but kept shrieking and laughing despite). Dawg, sensing the gimp, smelled blood too and that’s when he interjected the wierding. I didn’t know that he had it in him! Man’s Girl’s best friend!
All posts by cs
y i oughta
My Mom would rarely allow us to watch these guys. Too much violence! she said… Hah! Hollywood hasn’t shown much restraint since then. Darnright tame. Suitable for Sunday School. Her advice to children today, and mine too, would exclude all TV (unless maybe it’s PBS). The complexity compounds. Without trying too hard you are flashed with internet porn and or seedy email spam. I’m embarrassed for my children. And their children. Shame. Where have the family sensors gone? Sorry, I hadn’t intended for this blog to become dark. I will flip the pundit switch. [click sound] Here’s a sample sound clip. Larry speaks Chinese! Or is it Yiddish?
auto zen
Was channel surfing and caught an oldie on the AMC. The scene was a flat tire on the road shoulder. Guy was changing it for cute girl in ’56 T-bird. The remarkable thing to me was that, and I had forgotten all about it, but back then you put the jack under the bumper and lifted the entire weight of the beast from the bumper. Cain’t do that no mo. Here is a great link about cars that where made of steel, had Road-a-Matic steering and Air-Scoop brakes (super cooled) and the dimmer switch was on the floor! I particularly enjoyed the linear look ’59 Olds 98 section. Dad had a 2 door holiday hardtop SceniCoupe. (and a Rocket V-8 — used it to ride the range) Be sure and read the ‘car in the barn story’ too.
next
Unbelievable that the drum beats for Syria now that Iraq has been checked. I suppose that there was a fixed cost in bringing men and might halfway around the globe. Economics 101: Such cost could be halved if some other mission presented itself. Bad timing to piss off the US government at this particular moment. The military machine is in high gear, on a roll and being that ‘well since we’re here…’ expect that there will be some mop up ops.
Our forces made a big show for media benefit — of a bank heist thwarted. The insides of this building had already been cherry picked, but money remained. Late coming unfortunates, on the floor assuming the position, were caught with the loot. Stacks of Iraqi 3 dollar bills contrasted colorfully against the drab dirty dusty destruction. At first glance you’d think: nice bust! But as pretty as the money was, it would take a wheel barrow full of it to buy even a loaf. The latest black market exchange is 1 USD to .01 and I would assume likely to be discarded in favor of an all new denomination anyway (less the face of S.H.) Nice show though.
Quarterbacking Americans have been complaining that the military was not doing enough in the way of policing. Example: The Baghdad Museum of Culture and Art was a shambles. By contrast, and for some reason (?), the Ministry of Oil was intact AND well guarded! Actually, if you look closely at the pictures of the wasted museum, note that all of the glass table cases were not broken. Covered with thick dust and empty — but plundered? Hardly. The artifacts were removed early on ( for safe keeping ), by the curators. Not all Iraqis are savage desperados… Some of the heavy, awkward items might have slipped away but it’s not like they have vaporized into the ether either. They will reappear on the art market (ebay:-) to be ransomed and restored to their rightful place. Culture is saved / spared for a happier day.
stress
Lots of talk about furloughs and notices being sent. My FO is all wierded-out over it. He’s now a couple hundred numbers from the bottom. Every 20 minutes, he’s asking me “so uh — what do you thing is going to happen with the company?”. I’ve put every positive spin on it that I can think of. Poor bastard. He’s loosing sleep.
Speaking of cuts… I witnessed a rather morbid cost saving measure. I had e-mailed a request to technical pubs to send me replacement charts for the well worn ones in my manual. They arrived and I discovered them to be used! Cannibalized from some poor sod terminated or laid off you suppose? While I’m all in favor of recycling, I feel repulsed that they came from an organ donor.
the hood
A news reporter is standing amongst a throng of local visitors inside an (empty) palace. The corespondent points out the well manicured grounds, the luxurious indoor pool. It’s like a surreal, albeit dusty, Parade of Homes. The local site seers are gazing around. The camera pans and captures a guy, eyes fixated on the ceiling. Staring. I realize that he is not admiring the architectural details rather — trying to figure out a way to get the chandelier down or perhaps remove a glass stain window skylight.
The Sunday front page pictures a minor verbal confrontation between disgruntled Iraqi civilians and an American Coalition force. They are upset about the law and order void. The locals are healthy, young, strong – b i g guys. They are prime to have been regular if not elite militia conscripts. Do you suppose they ditched their rifles – went home and changed clothes?
Help Mr. Wizard!
Our teenage advance party leaves their protected suburban enclave for the dark world of DOWNTOWN and promptly becomes lost. Armed with youthful spirit and vague verbal directions they learn that self-reliance means carry a street map. Lucky for them, Momma is not directionally challenged and has mapblast access back at home base. Drizzle, Drazzle, Druzzle, Drome, time for this one to come home! She saves them from uncertain fate (or a wrong turn into the ghetto) and gently brings them out. Thank god I wasn’t paying for the gasoline!
Rear Derailleur Adjustment
Level of difficulty: Straightforward (hah!)
Typical tools and supplies needed:
- Repair Stand
- Screwdriver, Phillips #2
- Hex Wrenches
- Light lubricant
- Rags
- a third hand 😉
From the things everyone should know dept.
real vs. reel
Our side glued, to the ‘latest breaking’ in IRAQ, marvels at the naivety of Baghdad when the minister of dis-information proclaims optimistically and with all seriousness that the US Army is “being thwarted in the streets of downtown — the war is going well!” Pretty funny that it works both ways. Take a look at ourselves… Our official propaganda (CNN) loves to perpetuate the demise of SADDAM after a few bunker-busters. After the smoke and dust has cleared a bevy of DNA experts fill otherwise dead-air time to confuse us with the intricacies of identifying his corpse. SADDAM makes a video to say you missed me you S.O.B.s and we are taken in by the postulation that it’s been pre-recorded. A fake. The character in the lo-res picture may not be genuine. “It’s a body double — the war is going well!” The proof? New heavy black framed ugly-ass eye glasses. Order up former mistresses (experts) to count moles on his face. So much Hollywood. We’ve been duped.
que?
I’m on the phone with my ISP accounts dept. (Pablo’s girlfriend somewhere in the non-english speaking world of south Florida) I’m having to repeat the spelling of my domain name so many times it’s comical. The first iteration was
F C R U N V O D M E which we patiently corrected each letter by letter. S sounded like F, T’s like C’s… She got R, O and E right. All of this served up with a Reeky ReecardO dialect. The easy shot would be to label her as stupid or hard of hearing but it was just a language barrier. I am sure that she is fluent in her first language. I wish I had a second language. She’s smarter than me.