704 Houser Street

Get'n Old

2012-01-10T14:18:00.001-07:00

I've always liked classic rock. Even when I was in college, I enjoyed the stuff from the 70's. After I lost the hearing in my right ear a few years back, I quit listening to the radio. I did that for a couple of reasons. First, music doesn't sound the way I remember it. Second, I wanted to protect the little bit of hearing I still had in my left ear.

Yesterday I was driving somebody else's car and they had left the radio on. It was a classic rock station and I was getting into the tunes. I was enjoying myself and didn't even switch the channel when they played a commercial. The DJ came back and said something about playing a real old tune that we were sure to remember. The first few bars of Aerosmith's Walk This Way started I thought "cool" then I realized it was the Run DMC version.

When did Rap become classic anything? WTF? this song is from 1990 for crying out loud. Somebody pour me a Metamucil, and hand me my walker so I can go down an pop a cap in the DJ.

For Astro

2012-01-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

Three Texans

Three Texans go down to Mexico one night, get drunk, and wake up in jail only to find out that they are to be
executed in the morning, though none of them can remember what they did the night before.

The first one is strapped into the electric chair and is asked if he has any last words.

He says, "I am from the Baylor School of Divinity, and I believe in the almighty power of God to intervene on behalf of the innocent."

They throw the switch and nothing happens, so they figure God must not want this guy to die and they let him go.

The second one is strapped in and gives his last words: "I am from the University of Texas School of Law, and I believe in the power of justice to intervene on the part of the innocent."

They throw the switch and again nothing happens. They figure that the law is on this guy's side, so they let him go too.

The last one is strapped in and says, "Well, I'm a Texas Aggie Electrical Engineer, and I'll tell you right now you ain't gonna electrocute nobody if you don't connect them two wires."

I know, its a day late for Bad Joke Wednesday, but if the shoe fits...

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

I wish you all a Happy New New. My God bless us all with a return to our Republic and not the total destruction of our nation, in 2012.

Who's Who?

2011-12-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

How exclusive can a group be that sends me three spam invitations to join them each day?

Republicans vs. Democrats at Christmas

2011-12-21T09:59:00.001-07:00

Republicans say "Merry Christmas!"
Democrats rebuke them because they are marginalizing other religions

Republicans help the poor during the holidays by sending $50 to the Salvation Army.
Democrats help the poor by voting to increase welfare, by taxing the last few working republicans.

Democrats get back at the Republicans on their Christmas list by giving them fruitcakes.
Republicans re-wrap them and send them to in-laws.

Democrats let their kids open all the gifts on Christmas Eve.
Republicans make their kids wait until Christmas morning.

When toasting the holidays, Republicans ask for eggnog or mulled wine.
Democrats ask for a "Bud."

When not in stores, Republicans shop from a catalog or on line.
Democrats watch for "incredible TV offers" on late night television.

Democrats do much of their shopping at Target and Wal-Mart.
So do Republicans, but they don't admit it.

Republican parents have no problem buying toy guns for their kids.
Democrats refuse to do so. That is why their kids pretend to shoot each other with dolls.

Republicans spends hundreds of dollars and hours of work decorating the yard with outdoor lights and Christmas displays.
Democrats save their time and money, and drive around at night to look at *other* people's lights.

Democrats' favorite Christmas movie is "Miracle on 34th Street."
Republicans' favorite Christmas movie is "It's a Wonderful Life."
Right-Wing Republicans' favorite Christmas movie is "Die Hard."

Republicans always take the price tag off expensive gifts before wrapping.
Democrats also remove price tags off pricey gifts ... and reposition them to make sure they are seen.

Republicans wear wide red ties and green sports jackets during the festive season.
Democrats do too, all year round.

Most Republicans try, at least once, enclosing indulgent, wretchedly maudlin form letters about their families in their Christmas cards.
Public ridicule from Democrats usually discourages them from doing it again.

Democrats' favorite Christmas carol is "Deck the Halls."
Young Democrats' favorite Christmas carol is "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."
Republicans' favorite Christmas carol is "White Christmas."
Young Republicans' favorite Christmas carol is "White Christmas."

Cheapskate Republicans buy an artificial Christmas tree.
Tight-fisted Democrats buy a real tree, but they wait until the week before Christmas when the lots lower their prices.
Green Democrats buy a real tree with roots, and then replant it after New Years.

Republicans see nothing wrong with letting their children play "Cowboys and Indians."
Democrats don't either, as long as the Indians win.

Republicans first began thinking like Republicans when they stopped believing in Santa Claus.
Democrats became Democrats because they never stopped believing in Santa Claus.

Democrat men like to watch football while the women fix holiday meals.
On this, Republicans are in full agreement.

Scenes From a Thai Restaurant

2011-12-19T15:33:00.004-07:00

I'm getting a new computer since my old one is dying. In Wyoming this means going to the big city to pick it up, that or paying for shipping. I used my day off to go to Casper. For those of you who live in the city, you don't appreciate how big of a deal it is to "go to town". Its true I live in a town, out side of it really, but in Wyoming going to town involves a long drive to a BIG city (50,000 population). In other words its an all day big deal so you make the most of it.

You go out to eat in restaurants that you don't have at home and go shopping in places that you don't have back in your town. So I dressed my in my best almost clean jeans, didn't shave for a couple of days, put on a big shirt (something might have been spilled on it) and left it untucked, to conceal my handgun, wore my ever stylish SEB hat and headed off to a restaurant I found on line, DSASUMO's.

Lunch was great and so was my conversation with the owner. In fact if your ever in Casper drop in and give them a try.

As I was walking out, three females were walking in. The trio looked to be a teenage girl, mom and grandma. They were out spending the day shopping with the girls. Since I was going out and they were coming in, I did what was known in my youth as "holding a door for a lady" but what now is known as "oppressing liberated females who are just as good as any man, because of their reproductive organs, while perpetuating the patriarchy power structure".

The teenage girl (maybe about 14 to 16 years old) walked past me and remarked with sigh, "Well what was that all about?". The oldest of the two women (maybe in her mid to late 70's) turned at her, and stuck her boney finger about an inch from her nose and said, "that's a gentleman, you don't see them much anymore and you'd be better off encouraging them when you do".

The elderly women then turned to me and said, "I thank you sir, and I apologize for my granddaughter."

I don't know why I did it. In fact I don't think I've done it a dozen times since I was taught to as part of a formal course in manners in 8th grade. There was something in her tone of voice and maybe her slightly Can-Scottish accent that made it seem natural. I removed my hat, clicked my heels together and bowed in her direction in a traditional antebellum bow. (Think Rex Butler or the boy from Sound of Music) I think, had she offered her hand, I might have actually kissed it. I thanked her for her thoughtfulness, made a minutes worth of small talk, recommended the roast duck salad (and I do it was wonderful). I remarked that it had been a pleasure to make her acquaintance, and I asked her permission to take my leave; which she granted.

I'm sure that Farmer Tom has fallen on the floor of his living room and Waterboy is suffering the after effects of snorting his scotch out his nose from laughing at the mental picture. FT and WB have probably the best idea of how ridiculous a sight, I, a pudgy, middle age man, dressed more appropriate for elk camp having a perfectly civil conversation in the doorway of a nice restaurant must have looked. The person most astonished however just stood there with her chin touching her chest. I put my hat back on, tipped it to each of the laddies and simply said "madam", "ma'am" and "miss" and walked through the door. As the door was closing behind me, I heard the middle aged women say, "mother you know the most interesting people". Followed by her reply, "nonsense I just met the gentleman" and "Samantha Sue close your mouth you're gathering fly's".

Decorum. Now if I could only get a handle on posture, penmanship and punctuality, I might actually pass myself off as a civilized person.

Christmas Shopping

2011-12-14T14:55:00.002-07:00

I just finished my Christmas shopping. All I have left to do is wrap.

Go ahead and hate me. I understand.

Sundance

2011-12-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

We buried a cowboy today. Not a big city cowboy like you've seen on TV or the Nashville Now kind that people today seem to relate to. We buried an honest to god, born on the prairie, lived on the prairie, drove cattle across the prairie, broke horses, rode fence, drag; fought drought, nearly froze, burned up, and drowned on Wyoming's prairie, cowboy. In 80 years of living he only left to go fight in Korea. Then he came home and cow poked till he could get his own ranch and raise his own kids and cows the only way he could be proud of, on the prairie.

I don't get to Sundance very often any more. When I do its not to visit old friends like I should. It's for a shoot, or in an effort to make the best time possible getting to points east. Today I got up early after working last night so I could go to a church and sit. I haven't been by the ranch in about 4 years. Lately me and a buddy have talked about going by, but we never made it. After the Alzheimers set in didn't seem like there was much of a point. Which of course is what you tell yourself, but you know its a lie. His wife could have used a hand, especially after the Alzheimers turned him so violent the family put him in a home.

That doesn't matter now. Only the good times are talked about today, and there were lots. I was thinking about writing that half the town showed up to pack the church for the funeral. After doing some research, it looks like it was only a quarter.

Chuck thanks for your friendship. The world will not see your kind again, and we are poorer for it.

Computer Sick

2011-12-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of posts. I had a virus on the home computer. It took me several days to get it cleaned off, but I seem to be OK now. That's the good news. Bad news is that it looks like after 7 years my PC is starting to die. So Santa will likely be buying me a new PC this year.

Since I'm not a computer geek, and I'm a bit on the lazy side and don't want to spend 2 weeks researching which PC to buy, anyone have any suggestions?

The PC I have now is a HP. Its was a middle of the road unit in terms of performance when I bought it. I play the occasional PC based game but mostly I use this computer for email, blogging, Word and Excel work. I have no idea what I need in terms of RAM etc or what the enhanced performance would do for me. With that in mind what would you buy and why?

It's Good to be King

2011-11-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

I am the king of ala king. Yes it's true here at the Ipsa household we have successfully subjugated the thanksgiving leftovers. I made a large batch of turkey ala king, which was superb, even if the kids refused to try anything remotely featuring turkey. With the help of my loyal dog, chow hound, we managed to regulate the remaining leftovers to smaller dishes that will become daddies lunch for the next week, or so. Thus we conquered the leftover invasion that had occupied our refrigerator.

This year we purchased an "all natural" turkey from a group of hutterites, as opposed to the synthetic kind offered in finer Wal Mart meat sections around the country. Mrs Ipsa insists that I am mispronouncing hutterites. According to her I'm saying Hooterites, which changes the focus to a different kind of breast meat. I think its a Freudian thing on her part. Either way dinner was yummy.

Hope your coping with a fridge full of blessings this year.

Home for the Holiday

2011-11-24T15:15:00.000-07:00

Res Jr. declared today, "the best Thanksgiving ever". Mrs. Ipsa broke down and made the kids jello with marshmallows in it and served it on their plates with dinner. Being able to eat dessert as a side dish with dinner is more than enough to put the day over the top for my son.

Thanksgiving as a parent is a totally different holiday than it was as a kid. Normally I'm not overly sentimental about such things. I enjoy special food. I love turkey and pumpkin pie, since I seldom get them, I make it a point to appreciate my good fortune.

20 years ago today I was laying on my back in a hospital bed. I was a college kid. I had finished my last mid term around 8am on Tuesday and had driven the 2 hours home. I dropped off my stuff and took my fathers car north to pick up my great grandmother for the holiday. It was four and a half hours north and another four and a half back home. My girlfriend had also made it back home, so after dumping grandma's stuff in the door I took off for greener pastures. Around midnight I headed out from her place, but I was too wound up to sleep. So I took a little drive. According to the person behind me, the car gently slid across the country road I was on and flipped in the ditch. He stopped and saw that a large number of steel posts had impaled the car. Assuming I was dead he called the police to report the wreck. They arrived and called for rescue and an ambulance.

I spent Thanksgiving in the hospital, and was released Friday afternoon, in time for me to return to school on Monday.

I started off writing this post wanting to talk about what it means to me to be "home". "Home" being a farmhouse in northern Michigan that my grandparents built. It's a place now lost to me by circumstances I had no say or control over. I miss it and wish I could go there again. "Home" is place with people, now dead and gone, people I miss horribly at holiday time. The rest of the year I can put them out of my mind. Today I can't.

Today my son celebrated the best Thanksgiving ever. My daughter got turkey grease all over everything including her pull up. Everyone else is taking a post pumpkin pie nap. I've cleaned up the turkey carcass and would be washing pots and pans if it wasn't for the very painful burn on my hand. I hate flat top electric stoves. Part of me feels I should be out behind grandma's in my blind that I bet is still there after all these years, waiting with my rifle, a portable heater and a turkey sandwich, for a buck to wander by. If not that, I should be driving swamps with my cousins along the Black. Is nearly dark there now a deer should be coming out of the swamp and heading towards the field, right in front of where I ought to be sitting.

My children will never know that place, but to them, they are home and today was a good day.

Happy Thanksgiving to you my friends. May you thank God for the homes you have and the families you enjoy. May next year be a even greater blessing than this last one.

Not a Joke Wednesday

2011-11-23T10:51:00.008-07:00

You know Barack Obama is president when you order a burger at McDonalds and the kid behind the counter asks, "Can you afford fries with that?"

Obama claims that he has a balanced budget plan. It's exactly one half smoke and one half mirrors.

America once had Johnny Cash, Steve Jobs and Bob Hope. Now we have Barack Obama, no cash, no jobs and no hope.

Q. Why is Obama more popular in China than in America?
A. He created jobs over there.

Q. What does Barack Obama intend to do about the Washington, D.C. earthquake?
A. Blame it on George Bush.

Q. Why isn't TSA catching any terrorists?
A. They don't screen passengers on Air Force One.

Q. What's the difference between Obama opponents and Obama supporters?
A. The first group works for a living while the second group votes for a living.

Q. Why did Obama wait so long to release his birth certificate?
A. He didn't have a registered copy of PhotoShop.

Q. What do you call the most powerful Muslim in the world?
A. The President of the United States.

For Turkey Day

2011-11-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

What did the mother turkey say to her disobedient children?
If your father could see you now, he'd turn over in his gravy!

Why do Pilgrims have trouble keeping their pants up?
'Cause they wear their belts on their hats!

What is the difference between a chicken and a turkey?
Chickens celebrate Thanksgiving!

What is the turkey's favorite black-tie celebration?
The Butter Ball.

What do you get when you cross a turkey, the beach, and Broomhilda? A turkey sand-witch.

What kind of music did Pilgrims listen to?
Plymouth Rock.

Why do turkeys eat so little?
Because they are always stuffed.

What key has legs and can't open doors?
Tur-key.

What sound does a space turkey make?
Hubble, hubble, hubble.

How do you keep a turkey in suspense?
I'll tell you at Christmas.

PC Running Amuck

2011-11-21T13:51:00.004-07:00

When I was a kid (1970's) white people told back jokes. They also told Pollock jokes, Mexican jokes, Asian jokes etc. It was mostly in bad taste. I say bad taste because it wasn't racist. I remember asking a black kid one time if he knew any white jokes. He knew lots of them. So I guess blacks are just as guilty.

One of the jokes I remember him telling had something to do about all white people looking the same. It was funny, because we had jokes about blacks all looking the same. No harm, no foul, sometimes people form different races are hard for other races to tell apart. Not a big deal right?

What if you live in California but your originally from Alabama? What if your kid is in a public school? What if a black guy comes to school that looks like the president? Is your kid a rasiss for saying so? Yep and they will kick him out of school for it. That's right whitey, no saying a black guy looks like another black guy, even if he does. What if the white kid's family had a black man (a friend) stay with them for several months while he was looking for work? Nope still racist. What if the black guy even says the white people are cool? Nope still racist. Even having a black friend isn't enough to get other blacks and publik skool officials to believe your not a racist, cause your from Alabama and they saw Roots, so they know.

Sad thing is, kicking a kid out of school for saying a black guy looks like another black guy, does make a point. It makes several here they are:

Blacks now abuse the system, solely on the basis of race.
The public school system is about indoctrination not education and should be closed before it does more harm.
We have eradicated all serious forms of racism in America, since we have time to focus on these types of situations.
Hurting whitey is the most important thing, the truth is secondary.
Little girls can have little boys kicked out of school, not because anything was done to them, or even said to them, they can be offended solely biased on what someone said another kid said. They then can send mocking texts with no consequences. Had the boy done that he would no doubt be arrested for bullying.

We've come a long way from what blacks were trying to portray when I was a kid.

Hypocrite

2011-11-21T12:31:00.000-07:00

I seem to remember that Warren Buffet has recently been going around the country telling us all how Obumer needs to tax rich guys like him MORE not less. Here's Buffet in his own words in the NY Times. You can read it if you want. Basically he thinks rich people should give the government more of their money. Its a stupid opinion but its his and he's entitled to it. Just like a crack whore is entitled to think that getting aids is a good thing because she doesn't have to worry about making guys put on a condom anymore.

The Obummer cartel took ole WB at his word and the IRS taxed Net Jet for flying rich people around in private jets. Did the Sage of Omaha rejoice in getting his taxes raised, like he's been preaching? After all who's better able to pay the taxes, rich guys in private jets or guys like me? Nothing says excess wealth like having a pilot fly you around the country the way some people take a cab. Is WB praising the IRS for doing exactly what he wanted, i.e. taxing the rich?

HECK NO! Warren Buffet is suing the IRS over paying a lousy $642 million of his fair share.

The ticket tax WB is pissed about is an indirect tax on people who have the money to fly PRIVATE JETS, because it would be so droll to fly first class commercial to the 10,000 foot weekend cottage in Aspen. Hey Warren, I'm in favor of the government cutting spending, paying off the debt, canceling the welfare state and CUTTING everybody's taxes. BUT COMMON all ready you can't bitch about taxes being to low and then cry about a tax on people rich enough to take the Lear; when thanks to your buddies handling of the country, most of us can no longer afford to take our car for a weekend trip to see grandma.

HYPOCRITE!!!

Happy Birthday

2011-11-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

To those of you, (Difster) you know who you are, that look upon Tun Tavern as your spiritual birth place, HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Thank you for your service.

Oct 26, 2010

2011-11-10T13:27:00.001-07:00

A little better than a year ago, I was at work, praying my hart out. I've got family that sails the lakes, as well as friends I've not seen in years. Even here the weather men were making comparisons to November 1975. I couldn't help remembering a song we used to request Kim to sing at the Peanut Barrel or maybe Claddagh, in my college days. We called it the "Dead Ship Song". I guess that was a smug college kids way of dealing with something that I hadn't the least bit of a clue about.

The weather report that day had me worried. Gary was on the Jackson and they hadn't made port. There is a web site that tracks ship movements. I keep hitting refresh every couple of seconds, hoping to see the ship come up. All it reported was that the Jackson was out of Duluth bound for the Rouge.

The waves on Superior were reported 30 to 40 foot with winds up to 90 miles an hour. This was way worse than Nov 10, 1975. I was just a boy then and I don't remember much of it, but I learned more about it as I got older. Enough that in 1991 when I was offered a chance to sigh on as a cooks mate on the Paul R. Tregurtha, I turned it down. Perhaps that was a dumb move. If I'd done it, I'd have my 20 in this year and could retire at the end of season pulling down about $5k a month.

When I saw the Jackson had made port, I thanked God. I also made a phone call, it went unanswered, just like the one I made a minute ago, but that as they say is another story.

HIgher Education

2011-11-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

"Where did you receive your training?"

"Yale."

"Good. And what's your name?"

"Yim Yohnson."

Would you have read the post if I titled it Bad Joke Wednesday?

Internet Friends

2011-11-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

I enjoy meeting people in real life that I've met on the blogs. Its usually very enlightening. Over the years I've had the chance to met several people and I've always enjoyed it. Today I got to wondering, "what would happen if some of my internet friends got together for a weekend?" For instance what would happen if Farmer Tom and Astrosmith had a couple of days to hang out? Wonder no more.

Marines and Momma

2011-11-08T10:40:00.004-07:00

The white haired women stands by the gate, it’s late and the day has been long. Yet she waits. A while latter a blond bounds through the doors and over to her. Her walk is more of a bounce, a youthful skipping and hoping motion that to older eyes is annoying for its youthful vigor. The older woman is both perturbed and amused. “His plane isn’t here yet”, she offers.

“Oh good” the young girl giggles, “I want him to see me first”. The girl is a blond of the dish water variety; not magazine cover drop dead eye candy, more of a solid old fashioned, girl next door kind of cute. She’s not the school beauty but she runs in the top tier and most of the other girls probably envy her for being “the in crowd”. Her perky B cups defy gravity briefly as she hops around excitedly. “Oh he’s been gone so long” she sighs. She is still wearing her green Albertson’s grocery store apron and she’s popped out over the top. The older women just smiles at her exuberance and motions for her to “fix that” as another couple walk in.

The husband and wife come over to the gate. They too look like it’s been a long day. The wife has a cross look on her face as the blond introduces her to the first white haired lady. “This is my mom, Mrs. X” she coos. I can’t hear if the old biddy is actually saying hello or just nodding a terse acknowledgment. A boy comes running in and asks the father if the plane is in yet. The dad shakes his head in the negative. Another young man with a short hair cut comes around the display case and assumes an at ease position behind the family.

This solves the mystery of who these people are. The newest arrival looks to be all of 17 and is wearing a rust red jacket with an EGA on it. The guy they are waiting for must have just finished boot camp and is coming home for leave. I think I recognize the man. If I remember correctly he is a pastor at a local church. I don’t go to his church but I think I’ve seen him around town. It looks like two of his boys enlisted. That’s a proud thing.

A plane is taxing up to the gate. Some travelers come in off the tarmac. The youngest boy runs out the door. This is a security breech. The TSA blue crew sees, but does nothing. The kid is a freshman, not Al Qaeda. We still know the difference here. His dad gives the boy a nervous “get over here now” motion and the young man comes back inside. “I saw him” he says excitedly. “I can tell by his walk, he walks like you do” he says to his older brother. The young marine smiles and nods, but says nothing.

A very lean boy walks in the sliding doors and a blond girl bounces past his increasingly irate mother to get the first hug in. They start clapping for him. Then the passengers on his plane applaud, as do the other people waiting in the lobby. I’m by the baggage claim and join in. One of ours has come home, at least for a visit.

I get my first close look at the two brothers. They look young, I can’t believe these two kids are old enough to drive. The young man grabs his sea bags off the baggage belt, and sets them down. His mom and dad are making all kinds of arrangements, or rather his mom is and dad is trying to pretend he still has a pair. Mom has now brushed the blond to the back and SHE is taking charge. The girl looks rejected as her mother puts her hand on her arm and pulls her back. The drama is compelling.

That’s when I notice something else. The two brothers are both in civvies but they still wear combat boots. A dog tag is laced up next to the tongue with just the eyelet showing. The young man in the rust red jacket gives the new arrival a nod, as if to say “how was it”? He shrugs. No words are spoken, they nod and they know. I can see the airline tags on the marines sea bags, two of them are in Arabic, one says Okinawa to L.A. This isn’t a reunion after a 13 week trip to boot; this boy has been away for awhile.

Neither one of these young men tip the scales at 150. Neither one of them look old enough to drive. You’d card them if they tried to get into an “R” rated movie. The eyes tell a different story, a story older than their years. As the group moves towards the exit mom moves to block the blond girl from coming with them. I see the look in the girl friends eyes. She chokes back a tear; her eager enthusiasm has been thwarted.

I have heard it said that the number one thing a man dying on the field of battle asks for is his mother. A man returning from battle wants something mom can’t give. It's a kind of comfort but its more, it affirms life and manhood, in a way that momma can't. He’s earned it. "Hey mom, the innocence your trying to protect is gone, being a bitch isn’t gong to bring it back."

Voting

2011-11-04T12:28:00.009-06:00

Have you ever bet on a fart, and lost?

You know it might stink. The important thing is, if its an SBD nobody else knows YOU did it. What the heck. Right? To have the little sucker betray you and leave a skid mark worse; a greasy, all day odorous, skid mark, well that's just wrong, Right?

Voting the lessor of two evils is betting on a fart. You know its going to stink. You're just hoping it doesn't leave a big streak of poo on your back side. It always does. You'd think we'd learn not to do it.

Self Evident

2011-11-02T09:40:00.001-06:00

I haven't made up my mind about the whole Occupy Wall Street thing. Is the system fixed? Yeah as much as the players can fix it. You don't send your kid to an Ivy League school for nothing. There is a reason half the class go to fancy pants jobs and the other half goes to government procurement offices. That reason has nothing to do with the betterment of the country or a desire to serve "the Public".

But, and this is a big but, do the Occupiers have my best interests at hart? I don't think so. They get their funding from left wing political agitators like George Soros. Who is George Soros anyway? Apparently he's a rich guy too, according to this, worth about $22 Billion. Not a bad chunk of change. Did he go to a Ivy league school? Does the London School of Economics count as Ivy, or does it just help you land a job doing arbitrage trades on Wall Street? Cause thats what George did after college, which came after WWII. George was too young to do much during the war. Ever industrious though, George had a job handing out eviction notices to Jews who were going to the death camps and apparently he made a couple of bucks on the side pawning their left over belongings. Seems like an odd enterprise for a Jewish kid. Maybe he's just a tad flexible with the ethics when it comes to getting what he wants.

Occupy Wall Street, funded by Billionaire, Holocaust Profiteer George, Hedge-fund owner and Wall Street Insider, Soros. WTF is this all about? The guy bank rolling the protesters is one of the biggest inside traders of the last 50 Years. What could be his motive? Well if history is any indicator then the past might give us a clue to the present. Is there a past? The Brits call it, Black Wednesday. The long and short of it is that during a little financial crisis, George Soros, with some fast and furious Forex trading, broke the Bank of England, and made about a Billion pounds sterling. Remember the Asian Financial Crisis? George Soros does, not sure how much he made on that one. He thought it too little and lamented that they got out of the trades too early. Apparently every seven to ten years or George needs to make a quick buck and he's not having any luck getting the Nazi's back together.

Occupy Wall Street seems to be a bit of theater, dressed up as social crisis to facilitate some Forex trades. I'm just guessing here but I think George has shorted the dollar. So George has set up his own little empire of ~~concerned citizens~~ dumb ass pawns that do his bidding. I guess we've got George's motive, whats theirs?

cosmetologist (ˌkɒzmɪˈtɒlədʒɪst)

—n

a person skilled or trained in the use of cosmetics and beauty treatments.

In my defense I thought the chick was a guy. I guess we all know why shes out of work, evil capitalist pigs.

Bathing With Hippies

2011-10-31T12:36:00.004-06:00

It is a universally accepted fact that there are certain topics of conversation that one does not bring up in polite society. There once was three, Politics, Religion and Sex. People talk about sex a lot more these days, and its getting harder to tell if your in polite society. Like the seven words you can't say on television (pre 1990 and cable) you NEVER talk about the big three. It's just bad manners.

During the annual elk pilgrimage I made a couple of trips down the mountain to soak in Saratoga's hot springs. One one of these trips an older couple showed up to take an afternoon dip. Since we were the only people in the pool at the time we struck up a conversation. Which soon lead to politics. (Not my doing). Now I've learned (it might have took awhile) that I'm not a good political conversationalist. I'm a fairly good political debater i.e. argumentative type, etc., but not a good conversationalist. So for the sake of my blood pressure and because my wife/family/friends tend to look at me like I'm a ranting lunatic after almost every debate/conversation I have, I've learned a few techniques that help me get along when dealing with the insane/liberal/hippie/haterofAmerica/communistnutjob types that one occasionally meets.

Technique number one. Find some point, no matter how small, (sometimes its very small) that I can agree with that they have made, and acknowledge/feign/fake some sort of common ground or agreement with the insane liberal.
Technique number two. If they actually made an intelligent or rational comment, of any sort what-so-ever agree that it is a legitimate point and change the topic to anything not politics.
Technique number three. If either technique #1 or #2 has been even slightly successful in averting my derision and sarcasm, and there is no possible way to politely get the topic changed; I change the topic to something that they will likely know nothing about or dislike so that they will let the whole thing drop.

Now about 95% of the time the three points above work wonders for me and allow me to keep some semblance of decorum while I preserve a degree of personal integrity where my philosophy/politics/religion are concerned. My basic technique can be summed up as, avoid conversations with liberals in the first place, fake agreement on some small point, polity change the topic, change the topic at any cost. Like I said normally this works out pretty well for me. I avoid stupid conversations that only irritate me. The problem comes when a political conversation starts out looking like I agree with the person on the substance and conclusions that they have.

I think we've all been there, you meet some, they seem OK and then something gets said that make you think, "hey these are my kind of people". Maybe you like the same sports team, or whatever and you think, "they might be OK". I get that way with politics. If someone gives me a little clue into their thinking, I tend to let my guard down a little. After all, there is no reason to avoid a topic if we basically agree.

So there I am, in my swim shorts and this older couple drops in the pool. "How's the water?" he asks. I said, "it's great, not quite as hot as the other day". We chit chat a bit. Live around here? Yep. You? Nope, passing through. Just basic stuff, safe stuff, everyday conversation with someone you don't know, just met and aren't going to see again. Without any warning politics rears its ugly head. "So what do you do for a living?" she asked. Seems like an innocent question. We answered. There's a problem though, when someone asks what you do, its just natural to ask them the same thing back. In my defense I was expecting, a normal answer, something along the lines of, "I'm retired". What I got was a dissertation on the evils of illegal immigration and how it was killing jobs in the valley. Come to think of it he never did say what he did for a living, owned a business I think.

Anyway, he hates illegal immigration, is complaining about it. Seems OK to me. Illegals do push wages down. He might be intelligent. Seems like we actually agree on this, and with the exception of the Hole most of the state is conservative. So I venture an amicable, "Yep, illegals are helping wreck our economy". "Nothing wrong with our economy" he retorted. From there it went down hill fast. I tried to shut up equally fast. As someone who has actually read an economics text book, or two, I've learned that there is a forth topic no one wants to talk about, economics. It's boring and almost no one understands it beyond, "me got job, good" and "buy stuff cheep, good". This guy had a third "economic" concept he held to, "republicans bad, democrats good".

I'm now at the "change topic at any cost" option. I go for hunting. Major fail. They are bunny hugging tree humpers. This has gone from bad to worse and the turd is circling the bowl. I'm considering the nuclear option. Instead, I grab a towel and call it a day. Hippies, no matter how clean you are, still make you feel dirty just being around them.

Home Again

2011-10-24T11:19:00.000-06:00

For your viewing pleasure, pictures from elk camp.

It was a beautiful trip. The weather was very nice and the snow only lasted a day. Which meant that the elk stayed up at higher elevations. I did mange to see some cows and one bull elk that ran by me in heavy timber, but I didn't get a chance to shoot one. As far as other wildlife, I did get to see some moose, deer and I think a bear. I say think because we had one or two near our camp that other folks saw. One dark morning I went out to find a tree and I might have chased him out of the area. The next day I was glassing a shelf and did see two dark creatures moving around a meadow. It was too far to make out what they were for sure. So again this year, I'm not cluttering up the blog with pictures of dead elk. However I did manage to kill a couple of antelope on Saturday. One buck and one doe, both of which are hanging in the garage awaiting my butcher knife.

We did have a couple of other adventures, on the way into Saratoga to soak in the hot springs we had this little adventure as we tried to cross the continental divide.

This put us behind schedule for the Hot Springs and dinner. Which turned out OK since there was a number of young female athletes taking an afternoon soak when we finally did show up. Elk camp, its not just about shooting elk, drinking beer, eating chilly or telling lies around a campfire; its also about the scenery and enjoying nature.

Its That Time Again

2011-10-13T18:08:00.000-06:00

Elk season starts day after tomorrow. Blogging will be even more nonexistent than before.

MOH Update

2011-10-12T23:06:00.000-06:00

I found this on the net and since I posted about this story I thought I'd give a link to the David Letterman interview with Sgt Myer, USMC MOH. Grease'n the bob cat must mean something different in Indiana than Kentucky.

Bad Joke Wednesday

2011-10-05T18:37:00.002-06:00

Ok I'm a little late in the day posting this, but hey I posted something so at least you know I'm still alive.

Random Acts of Thinking

I want to become a vegetarian, but I'm not sure I can quit eating meat cold turkey.

I wear glasses. Doesn't that mean that *everything* I see is
an optical illusion?

I paid my psychiatrist with a reality check.

Do fishermen live in the reel world?

You want to know a really, really hugely annoyingly bad
habit? Over-exaggeration.

I may not be a great artist, but I am really good at drawing
a blank.

My wife and I love each other. I rub her back and she
massages my ego.

When he who lives in a glass house invites he who is without sin for dinner, bad things can happen.

You can't stop progress, but you can unplug a good chunk of
it.

A chrysanthemum by any other name ... would be easier to
spell.

Some days the best thing about my job is that the chair
spins.

My life no longer needs an extreme makeover. Now it just
needs a complete do over.

A friend of mine has a nose ring. She keeps the volume
pretty low, though, and sets it to "vibrate" at the movies.

I'm not too handy with tools. I once got my finger caught in
a screwdriver.

Yesterday I pushed my luck. It was clearly too weak to move
by itself.

Where is Roci?

2011-09-28T21:37:00.001-06:00

Today Roci had a real good post in which he criticized the New York PD for wanting to shoot down planes. He went further than that though and talked about the criminal nature of our government shooting down planes with Americans in them. Then his blog disappeared. Its possible he just got in a snit or wanted to reinvent his blog again. If any one knows the reason, I'd like to know as well.

Bad Joke Wednesday

2011-09-21T19:19:00.003-06:00

It had been a quiet night at the local bar so far, but then the door was thrown open and an interstate highway strode in.

"I'm an interstate highway," he declared. "I stretch from coast to coast and have at least four lanes, shoulders, and a median almost my entire length. I have the highest speed limit of any highway. I'm the best of the highways, and I'm afraid of no highway and no road."

He then strode up to the bar, ordered a beer, and began drinking it while looking around.

A short time later, a four-lane highway came in, went to the end of the bar, and ordered a beer.

The interstate looked him over and walked over to him. "I'm an interstate highway," he declared. "I stretch from coast to coast and have at least four lanes, shoulders, and a median almost my entire length. I have the highest speed limit of any highway. I'm the best of the highways, and I'm not afraid of you."

The four-lane highway said, "I agree that you're the best. I don't want any trouble with you. Let me buy you a beer," and he did. They drank their beers and discussed their engineering specifications.

After a half hour, the door opened again and a two-lane road came in, went to the other end of the bar, and ordered a beer.

The interstate looked him over and told the four-lane highway that he had to take care of the new arrival. He walked over to the two-lane road and said, "I'm an interstate highway. I stretch from coast to coast and have at least four lanes, shoulders, and a median almost my entire length. I have the highest speed limit of any highway. I'm the best of the highways, and I'm not afraid of you."

The two-lane road quivered a bit and said, "You're absolutely right. You are the best of the highways. I'm just a lowly two-lane road. I don't want any trouble. Can I buy beers for you and the four-lane highway?"

The interstate motioned the four-lane highway to come over. The two-lane road bought beers for each of them, and the three of them drank their beers and discussed the merits of various paving materials.

After another half hour, the door opened again and a strip of asphalt about eight feet wide came in. The interstate highway ducked behind the bar and hid there quivering quietly.

The bartender was shocked.

After serving the asphalt strip, he walked over to where the interstate was hiding. "I watched you stand up to the four-lane highway and the two-lane road. You said you weren't afraid of any highway or road. Why are you hiding from that little asphalt strip?"

The interstate replied quietly, "It's true that I'm not afraid of any highway or road, but he's a cycle path."

Issues

2011-09-20T10:17:00.002-06:00

I've received a couple of emails about not being able to comment on the posts. So far I haven't been able to duplicate the problem, either from home or from work. Please try to post a comment and then if your having problems please send me an email. If anyone has a suggestion on a commenting program they think would be better, please let me know.

Thanks

Astro is Back

2011-09-16T18:37:00.001-06:00

In case you don't know my friend Astrosmith has started back on his blogging. For those of you who don't know he really is a rocket scientist, which means he's real smart, even if he looks a lot like Al from Home Improvement in real life. :-) Drop by and give him a try.

At Least He Didn't Hug Him

2011-09-16T18:24:00.002-06:00

I like these kinds of stories. A fine example of American manhood goes above and beyond because, well because he knows its right and he can't help not doing the right thing, even when everyone knows he will die, even when he's told not to. He he is needed, he can't not rush in, he can't wait for someone else to man up and get er done. He is there. The time is now. The cost of action isn't important, the cost of inaction is unacceptable. He may die. He will not be defeated, he will not be dishonored.

Meyer and the other Americans had gone to the area to train Afghan military members when, suddenly, the village lights went out and gunfire erupted. About 50 Taliban insurgents on mountainsides and in the village ambushed the patrol.
As the forward team called for air support that wasn't coming, Meyer, a corporal at the time, begged his command to let him head into the incoming fire to help.
Four times he was denied his request before Meyer and another Marine, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, jumped into the Humvee and headed into the fray.

For saving 36 of his comrades in arms Cpl Meyer was awarded his nations highest honor. The down side? He had to suffer through having BO award it to him. At least O Bummer didn't give him a big hug, like the last time BO had a big time hero photo op.

There are any number of things that I think I'd change or do different if I was president. Fact is, I can say that for sure. I don't really know what decision I'd make if I was in the big chair. After all you don't know what information you would have at the time you had to make your decision and hind sight is always 20/20. However there is one thing that I know deep down inside that I would do if I ever was the president and if I had the honor of awarding the Medal of Honor.

First, the ceremony would be outside so the Marine could wear his cover. Second, I would order a 21 gun salute to begin as soon as I stepped back form hanging the Medal on his neck. Third, at the exact moment the first shot was fired I would come to attention and salute the recipient. I would hold that salute until the 21st gun was fired and the Marine returned my salute. This would happen without reporters. I don't need a stinking photo op, it's not about me. Our armed forces deserve RESPECT from the bummer in chief. His refusal to render proper courtesy on EVERY occasion he has had to award the Medal, disgusts me. I can safely say, in the unlikely event I ever had his job, I would do this part better.

There is yet another bright spot in this story:

In the ceremony, Obama praised Meyer's humility and work ethic, noting that he would not even take a call from the president during his shift at a construction job because he was working. He's now out of the Marines. So they two arranged to talk over his lunch hour. Obama jokingly kidded him with thanks for taking the call.

Um yeah, it was his work ethic that kept him from taking O Bummer's call. "He's now out of the Marines." Which of course means he is free to say "screw it I haven't got time for that loser, tell him I'm working and my boss won't let me come to the phone". Which is how I hope it went down when a fine heroic example of American manhood was faced a second time with an unspeakable situation that required exemplary courage, not to mention a strong stomach.

Blog NOT for Sale

2011-08-31T18:21:00.000-06:00

I have no idea who the company is that is currently trying to sell my blog address or why/how they keep doing a pop up/redirect when you access the page. If anyone has any idea how to stop the redirect I'd like to know.

Oh Shut Up Already.

2011-08-03T18:23:00.001-06:00

Most of you who stop by to read this little blog of mine know that I'm a Christian. I don't apologize for that nor do I see a reason to. Faith is a personal decision and I have made my decision. As a rule I don't get to concerned or worked up about other peoples faith. That goes for Christians that accept different doctrines than me and for most other world religions. The reason for that is that I don't see myself as able to correct the whole world about everything. I don't accept everyone or anyone else's opinion as equally valid, because that would be stupid. God by the very definition of the concept is the guy who gets to make the rules/doctrines that He deems proper. He is of course equally able to defend those positions and/or punish people for choosing the wrong path. Therefor I try to leave it all to Him and hope that He is as gracious to me for my short comings as I hope He will be to others. That said some people drive me nuts.

The severe drought throughout most of Texas is taking its toll on ranchers, travelers, athletes, businesses and natural resources, and that last category includes the OC Fisher Reservoir, which has dead fish floating on its little remaining water.

But what has caught the attention of many is the fact that the water has turned blood-red.

The development, coming as it has amidst the various turmoil around the globe and just as a comet has been reported to be racing toward Earth at the peak of God's holy days, has sparked talk of biblical prophecy even from distributors of scientific information such as Live Science.

Read more: American lake turns blood-red, sparking end-times wonder.

A couple of basic's here:
#1. The water looks red, its not actually blood. If it was suddenly blood, you'd have a very interesting story. As it is, it looks redish, this isn't news as redish water is caused by any number of natural phenomenon, that we have explanation for. So unless the water becomes A pos, its not news worthy.

#2. Not everything is a sign of the end of time. Some things are just the way the world works., like lakes drying up during a draught.

#3. Your stupidity makes other Christians look like dorks. The world assumes we all are unthinking twits, because what they see is folks like you in the news. Take a hint, your potato isn't a reincarnation of the Virgin Mary, even if it kinda looks like a picture someone painted of her. Jesus isn't coming back on Tuesday because you cracked some secret (nonexistent) code in the Bible. Jesus specifically told us that "no one knows the hour, not even the Son but only the Father in heaven". If God didn't inform Jesus, why would you think that He invented a cleaver way to let you know?

The Spending is Nuts

2011-08-02T16:08:00.002-06:00

I don't know how many of you saw this. I liked it. I guess for me the whole state of the economy is a touchy subject. On one hand I know how bad it is, on the other I see myself as basically powerless to fix it. The winner of the $100,000 Power Line Prize has been announced and it's a video called "The Spending Is Nuts." I think they did a great job putting the subject of Federal spending into understandable and realistic terms.

Well Why Not?

2011-08-02T14:53:00.001-06:00

Russia’s Post Office has issued a collection of stamps and envelopes to mark the 50th jubilee of the US President Barack Obama.

After all B.O. has done more to turn the U.S. of A. into a Marxist utopia than anyone else in history.

Obama Fixes Illegal Immigration

2011-07-31T16:30:00.000-06:00

I didn't think it possible but apparently its true. Obama is actually doing something to help fix the illegal immigration problem that has been destroying America. From Stephen Magagnini at the The Sacramento Bee:

There are fewer undocumented immigrants in California – and the Sacramento region – because many are now finding the American dream south of the border.
"It's now easier to buy homes on credit, find a job and access higher education in Mexico," Sacramento's Mexican consul general, Carlos González Gutiérrez, said Wednesday. "We have become a middle-class country."
Mexico's unemployment rate is now 4.9 percent, compared with 9.4 percent joblessness in the United States.
An estimated 300,000 undocumented immigrants have left California since 2008, though the remaining 2.6 million still make up 7 percent of the population and 9 percent of the labor force, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

Obama economic policy seems to be solving the illegal issue. Although I doubt that was the intention of the Administration. How bad does the American economy have to be that Mexican criminals are fleeing the states because they can make a better living in the third world?

WYO TRC

2011-07-31T16:08:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I spent my time volunteering as a Range Officer for the Wyoming Tactical Rifle Championship. For those of you who know the WTRC is the son of the International Tactical Rifle Championship. What happened was the guy who ran the ITRC left the state and went to Arizona. Which meant that no one was running the competition. So a couple of guys in the industry put together a shoot on the same ranch with the same shooting concept.

I wasn't able to shoot this comp for the very good reason that I didn't have number 1 a team mate and number 2 $600 for the entrance fee. That and shooting with a group of Mil Spec and LEO's can seem intimidating. But after about 4 years of guys asking me to go I decided to offer my services as an RO.

As it turns out I enjoyed myself a great deal. I got to score the team that won on one of the 3 legs of the shoot. Talk about great shooting! These guys did very well and deserved the win. I also got to score for the team that came in dead last. I don't think I'm supposed to tell what everyone does for a living but last place belonged to the US ARMY. I also got to score for a team that came in, in the middle. Three days, three teams and three skill levels for the shooters. The number one thing that made the difference between the middle of the pack and the tail end was the mental side of the game. The guys who came in last just couldn't stop shooting at the targets.

The way the game is played is that there is a long range and a carbine shooter. Each shooter has a number of targets they have to engage at each station and each target has to be engaged twice. You get 20 points for a hit and 20 points for a miss with a 40 point deduction if you fail to engage a target. If you hit a target two times you score 40 points if you miss two times you get negative 40 points. If you miss twice and then hit it twice you score zero points. The guys who lost weren't bad shooters they just couldn't stop shooting after their two misses.

Like most things in life a winning mind set is in your head. I doubt that I'll be in good enough shape to run the course next year as a shooter. But if I was able to compete I wouldn't come in last. Which is comforting considering the level of shooters I saw.

Since this competition is aimed at guys who do this for a living, the sponsors tend to be upper crust of the industry. As a RO I happened to be in the right place at the right time and was allowed to play with some suppressed class III toys. Which is always a lot of fun, even better someone else (a manufacture) supplied the ammo.

The Three "P"'s

2011-07-16T23:57:00.000-06:00

Libertarians confuse me to a degree. I understand the basics of the philosophy, which amounts to live and let live with minimal governmental involvement. All of which I'm OK with. What I'm confused about is the strategy for implementing the philosophy as a basis for government.

Libertarians like to promote the three "P"'s. Now I know the first thing some of the more intellectual of the group will say is they also promote honest money and limited government and no public debt etc. All of which I will readily admit to be true and I'm ready to get on that bandwagon. Except that isn't what the guys I meet on the street are pushing. They're all about the Three "P"'s. For the uninitiated those are: Pot, Porn and Prostitution. Pot of course is a catch all for unlimited drug use and the other two are what they are. Now the Libertarian will quickly point out that it is the government that needs to butt out and that society would provide the necessary constraints to limit the use of the "P"'s in the world.

In Libertarian theory anyone would be able to discriminate against anyone else on the basis of any criteria that they chose. So an employer could drug test and not hire someone who does pot, or tobacco etc. Thus social mores would control most peoples behavior.

Rather than promote the philosophy on the intellectual merits of personal political freedom and limited federal law, the Libertarian activities I seem to meet all fit a specific mold that I think most Americans find less than attractive. Like the guy who accosted me out side of the store today promoting Ron Paul as the answer to making Pot legal. I believe a Ron Paul presidency would be a great answer to some of Americas ills but making it legit to get high isn't my first priority. In fact that issue doesn't make my list at all.

The limited government crowd needs a better mascot than the Potheads of Wal-Mart.

VBS

2011-07-13T23:01:00.000-06:00

I don't know if you went to VBS as a kid. I did. and I have started taking my kids. We just finished up tonight and for the most part my younguns did ok. They all ready want to go again next year so I'll count the combination of behaved properly and want to go back as a parenting win.

Too Fast

2011-07-02T16:41:00.001-06:00

I remember being a little boy and not wanting to wait to grow up. All the good things in life that I could imagine existed in the realm of "big kids". Latter all that was good an grand belonged to those who could drive. Then I was 18 and an official adult. I could vote. I could join the military, although I never did. The last magic age was 21, when I got there it was anticlimactic. I had been drinking in bars since I was 16. Now that I was legal there was no element of rebellion in what I was doing and with that, the thrill was gone. I suppose the last great frontier to cross was marriage. Which I did. We were married for a number of years before having kids and I had begun to assume that we would be childless.

Then we had a little boy and a couple of years latter a little girl. Compared to the first half of my life, the second half is speeding by. This last week we, and by we I mean Mrs. Ipsa, began potty training our youngest. It seems that little girls prefer their mommy to help wipe that part of their body. Little Ms has long preferred her mom to take care of the "poopies". In retrospect that may be one of the reasons I love her so. Today being a Saturday I was home at nap time. So we went trough the whole potty time before nap time routine with little Ms. She seemed less than pleased that daddy was part of the process. Then to heap insult on to injury mommy informed her that daddy would put her down for her nap. She resisted long and hard and only the exceptional cunning of daddy carried the day and she slipped off to sleep.

I crept from her room and went to check in on Res Jr. He should have been fast asleep but he was playing on the floor with his cars and planes. As I walked in he turned and looked up at me. With a big smile on his little face he said, "I'm waiting for you daddy". We crawled up into his bed and he hugged me tight. "Rub my back daddy" he requested. As I did he closed his eyes and mumbled "I love taking a nap with you". We snuggled and soon he was asleep. I waited a little and slipped out of the bed and back downstairs.

Soon little Ms will go potty by herself and my son won't want a back-rub at nap time. Then there will be no more nap time and the hugs will be fewer. I will get scolded by both my wife and my daughter for wearing the universal uniform of fathers everywhere, shorts, back shoes and white socks. Dammit, kids in diapers went by too fast. No matter what my son says, he is not waiting for me, he is growing up 60 minutes an hour, 24 hours a day, every day. Everything I wanted to be be big for came to slow. Now its all going by too fast.

Sundance

2011-07-02T14:56:00.000-06:00

Last weekend was the annual Cold Turkey 1,000 yard handgun shoot in Sundance Wyoming. I went. I shot. I was soundly beaten. I had hopped to have better news to post. After all, this year was my first year with corporate sponsorship. I wanted to come home with at least a couple of first place prizes and maybe pick up a couple more sponsors.

Here is the story of those of you who care. Other people did a much better job of preping and shooting than I did. Sure I've got a couple of alibi's I could share, but frankly some of the guys who showed up this year came to shoot and they did very well. If I was on my "A" game I would have done better and been much more competitive than I was. As they say, "would of, should of, could of, never got me stuff". Truth is that I'm very proud of the job some of the guys did, they really worked hard to prefect their equipment, loads and technique and they deserved to beat those of us who didn't put in the same amount of work they did.

I'm all ready working (much harder btw) on next year.

Arichie on Obama

2011-06-11T01:06:00.005-06:00

I was thinking up a political post, but I changed my mind. There is a much wiser person than I that has earned his right to be heard. It's high time I get some Archie Bunker back in this blog.

If you'll permit me one more. Affirmative Action has proved to be a bad idea in 1976 with teachers and its proving to be an even worse idea in 2011 with presidents.

Barrack Insane Obama is the only person who could make Jimmy Carter look like an intellectual giant AND an economic genius. No wonder the democrats love him. Just saying. Has it occurred to anyone else that if abortion was legal in the US in the 1950's we would have never been stuck with this situation today? You'd think that B.O. would be the most pro-life president of all time. Since it would be highly unlikely that an upper middle class, under age, white girl would have given birth to a half-black bastard. Considering that B.O.'s father made one of his other hoe's have an abortion you'd think B.O. would be grateful for his adopted country's prohibition on the procedure.

Obama, wrong about the economy, wrong about "natural born citizen", wrong about the number of states in the United States, wrong about energy policy, wrong about social policy. No matter how you dress it up, B.O. stinks. Go ahead and tell me how evil person I am for not swooning like a media whore over Obummer. Call me a racist even though I once voted for Keys. Feel free to use the comments to support the ~~American~~ stench that is B.O. While you're at it, all in favor of Obama raise your right hand.

Not Socially Autistic

2011-06-11T00:45:00.002-06:00

I thought it was funny.
How many of the lyrical allusions did you get? I had to look one up, mostly because I only remembered it as a Styx song.

Socialism and the Christian

2011-06-10T18:54:00.000-06:00

Today I had to take a road trip. Coming back I was composing a post in my head. The post was about economics and a Christian world view. I was so deeply in thought that I failed to see the Pennington County Sheriffs deputy until I made him chase me about ten miles with his lights on. Apparently its illegal to drive 80 miles an hour in South Dakota. That's the bad news. The good news is that in South Dakota they seem to think that people from Wyoming are too dumb to read. The correct answer to "why can't you people from Wyoming read the speed limit sign?", is "well sir only about 2/3 of our elected officials can read and it ain't my turn to be mayor yet". The good news is that I was able to remember to get my seat belt on about point two seconds before he got to my door and he decided to let me go with a warning as long as I promised to keep the seat belt on.

As soon as I get my train of thought back on the economics post, I get er done. I know ya'll are eagerly waiting.

Just Thinking

2011-06-06T21:58:00.002-06:00

Giraffe and Professor Hale have got me to thinking. Shooting, more importantly accurate shooting isn't hard. I think its time to dispel some myths about the shooting sports. First off, anyone with a good gun, good ammo, normal dexterity and a desire to shoot well, can. The first thing to keep in mind is what do you mean when you say "good shooting". When I used to shoot trap and sporting clays, good shooting meant that I was breaking above 95% of the clays I shot at, no matter what distance I was shooting. Keep in mind that in those sports a long shot was 27 yards with a 12 gauge shot gun. In handgun shooting, IPSC or IDPA type events any hit in the "A" ring is a good hit. The goal is to hit all the targets in the shooting scenario. Basically all you have to do is resolve your targets and execute a firing solution, a "group" of 6 inches is considered good and the distances are normally less than 25 yards. Bench-rest shooting is about shooting real small holes at various distances. The mythical "Bug Hole" is what we strive for. A Bug Hole is all the bullets in one hole. To prove you did it, they run a "backer target" to verify that you did in fact put either 5 or 10 shots on the paper.

The type of event you are shooting determines what makes a "good" shot. Most of the time "good shooting" means hitting a 6 in area at various distances. Bench-rest shooting is when you go for the magical bug hole. Nobody expects a shooter to run an IPSC course and shoot double taps into the same hole while making time. Its not impossible, but its very unlikely.

As for me, I'm a hobbyist. I've never been in any branch of the service. I'm not a cop. The only person responsible for my shooting interests and ability (or lack thereof) is me. Sometimes I get lucky and manage to beat other shooters. Mostly though I care about making my personal goals happen. While I like to win, my goals normally center around doing something better than I have before. If I succeed I'm happy. For those of you that might think that sounds like some happy horse stuff, its not. Last year I took over coaching and spotting for a guy that was my competitor. I did that because his spotter wasn't able to see his hits and call correction. I got the kid on paper and helped him call the wind to keep his groups tight. He beat me out of first place by one shot. No one else was even close to us. Had I kept my big mouth shut I would have won another 1st.

My goal this year is to do all my own prep and shoot with all my own equipment and ammo. If I win anything or even place I'm going to be thrilled. If I ever shoot anything note worthy in an non sanctioned match I might go for a "real" match where there is a possibility of some recognition. Until then I'm content to use a pistol to do what most guys don't think they can do with a rifle. I'm not special, anyone who has the interest and even average ability can do what I do. Maybe I should start a "Road to Sundance" series.

Pet Peeve

2011-05-30T18:57:00.003-06:00

I have a pet peeve. In the USA today is a national holiday. It's Memorial Day. The purpose of the day is to remember those who have died in service to our country. It is not a day to remember all veterans. That day is Veterans Day. It is not a day set aside to remember lost loved ones. I miss my grandpa too, and I wish several loved ones were still alive. They aren't. Death is a part of life, that is a fact, not a reason for taking a day off from work. Memorial Day is about those who died in military service for you and me. I'm not much of one for poems. In this one a dead lad has a chance to talk with his old friend. A.E Housing writing embodies what Memorial Day brings to my mind.

'Is my team ploughing,
That I was used to drive
And hear the harness jingle
When I was man alive?'

Ay, the horses trample,
The harness jingles now;
No change though you lie under
The land you used to plough.

'Is football playing
Along the river shore,
With lads to chase the leather,
Now I stand up no more?'

Ay, the ball is flying,
The lads play heart and soul;
The goal stands up, the keeper
Stands up to keep the goal.

'Is my girl happy,
That I thought hard to leave,
And has she tired of weeping
As she lies down at eve?'

Ay, she lies down lightly,
She lies not down to weep:
Your girl is well contented.
Be still, my lad, and sleep.

'Is my friend hearty,
Now I am thin and pine,
And has he found to sleep in
A better bed than mine?'

Yes, lad, I lie easy,
I lie as lads would choose;
I cheer a dead man's sweetheart,
Never ask me whose.

Sgt. Bob, rest easy, and thank you.

The End?

2011-05-21T21:41:00.001-06:00

When I was in my teen years I was exposed to several "end of time" teachings. Mostly they focused on the return of Jesus and the end of the world. One thing all these theories had in common was that current day events were a "sure sign" that the end was just around the corner. Even as a kid and latter as I walked away from the faith, I saw people that promoted these types of teachings as nuts. After returning to a Christian faith in my mid twenties the numbers of people that taught this type of thing had died off significantly. Except for the occasional "preacher" like Harold Camping most Christians I know are very reluctant to try to predict Christ's return.

In a May 11th interview, Harold Camping had some interesting things to say. Interesting his radio station web site has been down for some time now and no one seems to have heard form Harold. One of two things is true either; Harold Camping's prediction that God supposedly gave him; that the rapture would happen on May 21st didn't happen, or you aren't part of the elect. Either way if your faith is in Mr. Camping you're not in heaven right now. I was wondering if the Bible had anything to say about the likes of Camping and it turns out that it does:

Deut 18:20-22

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.' And if you say in your heart, 'How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?' When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
NKJV

I realize that this passage is in the Old Testament, so those of you with a strict dispensationalist point of view may not see it as binding on Christians today. I can't help but ponder what would happen if Christians started practicing this teaching. Just think no more Oral Roberts, or Jehovah's Witnesses or any one of a number of other groups that are an embarrassment to thinking and believing people everywhere. This isn't to say that I am seeking to end Harold Camping's life, or encouraging anyone else to do that. Mr. Camping is 89 years old and is close enough to meeting his creator. When he does, he shouldn't count on hearing "well done good and faithful servant".

Good on Them

2011-05-14T14:01:00.002-06:00

Vienna Presbyterian Church had a problem, they had hired a youth pastor Eric DeVries, who had a series of inappropriate and apparently illegal sexual relationships with some of the young women under his care. The church leadership found out and eventually made the decision to involve the authorities and of course fire DeVries. This would be a tough position for any church to find themselves in. What happened next is what impresses me about these folks.

The church has insurance and their insurance policy has a rider that covers this sort of situation. The insurance company wanted the church to "lawyer up". "Lawyer up" is a term that basically means shut up and let the professionals lie for you in an effort to make the problem go away. Vienna Presbyterian went another, much more biblical route.

The leadership owned up to the whole mess publicly. They apologized for not responding quicker to the allegations, for the way they handled things and for the harm Pastor DeVries caused. Instead of doing a "lawyer up" they "owned up". This will no doubt be used against them in any pending civil suit. However, there are victims that may find healing a little easier, church members that find sorting out their own feelings a little less conflicted, because they took the high road instead of the lawyer road. Christians also may learn from their example God's method of confession and "owning up" is more beneficial than "lawyering up".

Good Years

2011-05-14T10:55:00.002-06:00

Last summer I was working on a job doing training for the Army. I met a man who was traveling around the country doing the same thing I was but on a more or less full time basis. He had raised his kids and owned his own business. His kids were running the business and he was working on a way to transition ownership over to them. He was ten years older than me. We were comparing notes about life in general and he made a comment to me that the period of my life that I was about to go through was going to be a great time. He said that for him this period of raising kids held his fondest memories. He encouraged me not to miss a minute of my kids growing up.

When I think about the condition of the world today I am worried. It doesn't look like America will exist very much longer. I expect to see it die in my lifetime, if it doesn't I will be pleasantly surprised. However, if things aren't fixed, my kids will have to live through the fall of the American dream. I worry for them as well as my country.

The screen saver on my computer plays a random loop of digital photos that we have taken. I've been watching it for the last 10 min. Mostly these photos are of the kids. Who are growing up so fast. The world may very well be falling apart but my friend was right, these are the good years.

Situation Room Pics and Comments

2011-05-07T13:17:00.000-06:00

You've no doubt seen the pics and photo shops of this:

Hillary had to get in her two cents in the news about how the pic is really her coughing not her covering her mouth in horror. Frankly I'd have more respect for her if she, as a women/human being, was horrified about some aspect of killing some one. Of course I know that the Lizard Queen has no qualms about killing, just ask Vince Foster.

It doesn't matter. We all know how things really went down.

All this material shamelessly stolen form other sites, that no doubt stole it form someone else.

For Cruft

2011-05-05T19:35:00.009-06:00

Cruft asks: "Is baptism a work required without which we are NOT saved?"

I've thought about answering this several different ways. Instead of doing that, I'm going to talk about myself and the subject. Mostly because I don't particularly enjoy internet arguments. I was raised in a legalistic church environment, then my folks sent me to a baptist school in jr high. I eventually graduated from a christian college (protestant) and obtained another degree from another college (catholic, benedictine). I used to really get off on arguing the finer points of doctrine with others both my own age and my instructors. I've even done that on the internet. Now that I'm older, and hopefully wiser, I realize that arguing on the internet is a waste of time and energy.

My post before this one was an attempt to gain some understanding about the Jewish practice of mikveh and how that relates to christian baptism, not to engage the topic of how Christians see baptism today. My understanding of Christianity is far from perfect. I am very much aware of how different denominational schools of thought have developed over the years, most of which have come about as a reaction against some other school of thought. I'm not interested in being a Coptic, Syriac, Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Anabaptist, Calvinist, Armenian, Messianic or any other denomination or division or whatever your particular special branch and belief system is called. I am interested in being as much like Jesus as I can and learning about how He wants me to see things and practice His religion. Thats why I'm taking another look at the topic of baptism, this time from the point of view, at least as close as I can get to the point of view, of a 1st century Jewish Christian.

What I've learned so far is that "baptism" as I've understood it, is probably not the same rite as what the hearers of Peters sermon in Acts chapter 2 understood it to be. Despite what the catholic church teaches, they are not doing the same thing that Peter did and taught. I think its reasonable to disregard the opinions of BOTH the RCC and those that have based their doctrine on a reaction to the RCC. What I want to know is what did "baptism" mean to these people? Its only recently that I learned that Jews had a word and a practice for the Greek word "baptisim". That word is "mikveh".

I can't prove it, (the NT is written in Greek) but I suspect the word Peter actual said in Acts 2 was "mikveh". I'm becoming convinced that "mikveh" was what John the Baptist was doing and that it was what Jesus was teaching and his disciples were doing as well. "Mikveh" had a whole connotation to them that "baptism" doesn't seem to have to us today.

Jesus (and the 12) taught people to do what we call "baptism". To them baptism was neither a work that required God to grant salvation (sacrament), nor a mere outward sign of an inward belief (outdated, inconvenient, and totally optional non requirement). It was rather an appeal to God for forgiveness. The complete Jewish Bible words 1 Peter 3:21 this way, "This also prefigures what delivers us now, the water of immersion, which is not the removal of dirt from the body, but one’s pledge to keep a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah.".

My current understanding of the topic is this:
Baptism is not a work as expressed typically in the Catholic/Protestant sacramental debate.
Nor is Baptism a non issue as understood from the Calvinist irresistible grace tradition.
Baptism meant something more to Jesus, the 12 and those who responded by doing it than what we think of today. It meant something closer to "mikveh" and they "mikevhed" without ever considering any of the points we get hung up on. They did it to be "right with God", to "be clean" to be able to worship and draw close to the creator, not to be able to divide believers into camps along purely academic and nonsensical lines.
Mark 16:16 quotes Jesus as saying: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."

Cruft, my short answer is, "what Jesus said, taught and did".

Research Help

2011-05-01T22:27:00.000-06:00

I know that a couple of my readers tend to use what I call Jewish/Christian terminology and have some Jewish idiosyncrasies such as spelling God "G_d". I am doing a little research for my own benefit and would like to ask you some questions about how/why you arrived at these practices. Of course if your Messianic Jews, so much the better, because I'm particularly interested in learning about a Jewish practice that is carried over from Judaism to Christianity.

Don't worry I'm not looking for an "expert" theological point of view, although I hope you can point me in the right direction. So far my Googling hasn't paid off like I'd hoped and I'm looking for some help. You can post in the comments if you like or send me an email. The link is on the right sidebar.

First Time

2011-05-01T22:15:00.001-06:00

There was a gun show this weekend. So I took Res Jr. The little guy loved it. He got to see guns and every table had a new favorite. It was an above average show for our neck of the woods and there was a lot more there than just guns. We saw several large racks including a find were a whitetail and a mule deer broke each others necks fighting for dominance. There were several big horn sheep as well as a grizzly and of course lots of buffalo hides. To my surprise there was a number of African game examples as well, including a giraffe skull, water buffalo, rhinoceros horns, and elephant feet. All in all a good show. On the gun front there were a couple of class 3 tables as well as an excellent example of a broom-handled Mauser. Of course we had a great number of western arms some of which were from the 1870's. I didn't buy anything but we had a great time just looking at stuff. When Res Jr spotted a table with pink and purple handguns he thought of his mom and sister. He's considerate like that. He wanted me to buy one of each for them so they could have some guns too.

Sunshine Up My Butt

2011-04-22T19:08:00.003-06:00

I wrote my congress women a letter explaining that I believe her to be a total sell out based on her "compromise" on the budget. This is what she had to say:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding the federal budget and your federal spending priorities. It is good to hear from you. I appreciate your views on specific federal spending levels and will keep them in mind as Congress works to complete the budget.

Under the new Republican Majority in the House of Representatives, my Republican colleagues have selected me to serve on the House Committee on Appropriations. This committee sets specific federal expenditures for government agencies and departments. When I am home in Wyoming, the top concern I hear about is out-of-control federal spending.

Over the last two years, President Obama and the Democrat-led Congress increased non-defense discretionary spending by 84 percent. Before adjourning the 2010 session of Congress, Democrat leaders extended 2010's already bloated spending levels through March 4, 2011. One of the first orders of business for House Republicans has been completing the 2011 budget and I believe we ultimately need to return to the pre-Obama, pre-stimulus spending levels of 2008.

I am proud to say that on February 19, 2011, House Republicans passed H.R. 1, the Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Resolution (CR). The CR reduces spending for the rest of the fiscal year to 2008 levels. In addition, the legislation takes first steps towards dismantling the new health care law and blocking Environmental Protection Agency actions that hurt Wyoming's economy and hamper job creation.

The CR was considered under an open process, allowing Members of both parties to offer more than 580 amendments. The House spent over 60 hours in public debate, amending the bill to include an additional $620 million in spending cuts. The Senate rejected this long term CR on an up and down vote, along with the Democrat alternative which would only have cut $6.5 billion for the rest of the fiscal year.

I ultimately ended up supporting bipartisan House passage of H.R. 1473, a FY 2011 budget deal, which funds the nation's military and keeps the government running for the remainder of the fiscal year. Although not perfect, this bill represents the beginnings of positive change to Washington's reckless spending culture. Congress is moving in the right direction with the near $40 billion in cuts, the largest single discretionary spending cut in history.

These cuts required tough decisions and will mean less hard-earned taxpayer dollars for federal programs across America. But I am ready to tackle these decisions because Wyoming sent me to Washington to restore fiscal discipline. Our government is broke. We need to cut up the credit card in order to eliminate the threat America's debt poses to the future of our country. But a lot of heavy lifting remains. I'm eager to continue the momentum into FY2012 with the GOP budget blueprint, 'The Path to Prosperity,' a serious plan that saves trillions of dollars and gets to the business of paying down America's unsustainable debt.

For the well-being of our country, I intend to fight for a new culture in Washington of saving more and spending less. To this end, I have not requested a single earmark since taking office. My Republican colleagues in the House have decided to follow suit by banning earmarks. House Republicans have also cut the operating budget for Members of Congress by five percent. These steps do not save a large amount of money in the grand scheme of things, but they are important first steps towards curing Washington's addiction to spending.

Not all federal spending is bad and I know there are federal programs of importance to the State of Wyoming. I will continue to rely heavily on the input and insight of Wyoming citizens to help me understand the impact of specific federal programs in our State. Moreover, I am committed to adequately funding both our veterans and the uniformed men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. I will continue to analyze spending according to its costs and benefits for Wyoming's citizens, many of whom have expressed to me their frustration with runaway federal spending that threatens to bankrupt the Treasury for our children and grandchildren.

Thank you again for taking the time to write to me. I value your input. If you haven't done so already, I would like to encourage you to visit my website at www.lummis.house.gov. There you can sign up to receive my newsletter, and have access to a wealth of other information. I won't flood your email box, but I will provide you with updates once in a while about activities in Washington that affect our lives in Wyoming. I hope you will sign up so that we can stay in close touch, and I look forward to seeing you in Wyoming.

Sincerely,

Cynthia M. Lummis

Member of Congress

In other words shes a sell out that likes to pretend she's doing everything possible to be fiscally responsible. I'm going to respond to her when I think up an appropriate way to make my point and not be too ungentlemanly about it. How would you respond?

Happy Earth Day

2011-04-22T18:49:00.000-06:00

I wanted to wish everyone a happy made up holiday. Its been spring for a month and we haven't had two nice days in a row, not to mention a weekend of nice weather yet this year. Currently its snowing at my house and we are under a winter storm warning until tomorrow, with the possibility of up to three inches of snow.

How's global warming treating you?

Catch Up

2011-04-09T16:54:00.000-06:00

Its hard to believe over a month is gone. I've "written" several posts in my head over the last month but never managed to get them typed.

A couple of weeks back a local kid offed himself. We had to deal with that. The kid is well known, the family well liked and despite the fact town is growing more than I'd like, we are a small town at hart. At the same time two girls about the same age, from a neighboring town rolled their suv. Neither were wearing their seat belts and both died in the wreck. Its hard for me to conjure a tear for any of these kids. I do feel very sorry for their families.

I'm teaching our teenagers at church. We had a Sexual Purity Seminar a couple of weekends ago. This has made for some interesting conversations with the teens. For instance: "Does this boy (at school) just want to get into my pants?" Me: "Um yes". Her: "But I just want to talk and be friends, why does he think he can have that?" Me: "Because I'm standing here talking to you at church and I can see your cleavage and the under wire part of your bra. I can only guess what your wearing when your talking to him. Guys are visual and if we can see it, we assume its on the menu." Her girl friends were nodding their heads but they didn't seem to want to get in on the 'you dress like a tramp and thats what guys think they can have' bandwagon.

On the hobby front I'm slowly trying to get enough cash together to compete at least once this summer. I'm hopping that I'll do well enough to win back the basic cost of going to the competition. I'm going to try for the Sundance shoot again, maybe if I post a decent sub MOA at 1,000 yards I'll make an attempt at a sanctioned 1000 yard bench-rest rifle match.

Defeat the Debt.com

2011-03-01T19:23:00.005-07:00

Defeat the Debt.com

Testing Faith

2011-02-28T23:59:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wanted something so badly and then gotten to taste at least a part of the dream? Sure it may not be the whole dream but what you have is still good.

For the last four years I've been teaching the kids to pray for "God's best for their life". I've been doing that by praying it with them. I've even been praying it for myself. I even, very foolishly as it turns out (NEVER vow anything to God that you aren't wanting to do) said I'd do something that I DO NOT WANT TO DO. From my lips to His ears. I was made aware of a chance to do the very thing I don't want to do. But I said I would do it. So now despite a five day running battle with the flu and a early morning appointment, I'm still up. (Thats not bragging BTW, I tried to sleep on it, my conscience won't let me.) I'm just keeping my word in hope that this was some kind of spiritual test and that I will be rewarded with being able to get the STUFF I WANT for passing it.

"God, please give me, Your best, my way." has been what I've been saying all along. I realize this now, because I made a vow to go through with something that I don't want to do, and have never wanted to do. I didn't even want to take the first step, which is all I did tonight. It might not even pan out or require any further action on my part. Now I'm worried that it might maybe turn out to be the very thing I have to do. Giving up, "My way" for "His Best", is a lot easier said than experienced.

Slow Day at the Cop Shop

2011-02-22T23:43:00.001-07:00

Wyoming uphill skier gets busted

JACKSON, Wyo. - Sheriff’s deputies arrested pioneer backcountry skier Roland Fleck on Saturday at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, and ski patrollers tobogganed him off the mountain in handcuffs after he refused to stop skiing uphill.

Deputies arrested Fleck and used two sets of handcuffs linked together behind his back to restrict his arms, Terry said. They sat him in a toboggan with a deputy as ski patrollers sledded him down the mountain, Terry said.

Apparently the crime rate is very very low in Jackson Hole. What really blew my mind about this was the sheriff actually had time to give the press a comment about the case. That and the guy is 78 years old.

Would women give up sex if it meant being slim?

2011-02-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

I found this little tid bit relating to female Americana:

Survey: 51percent of women say they'd skip sex for a year in a trade for being skinny; Shines light on self-esteem issues

"Shines light on self-esteem issues".Ya think? That or they're so fat that there is no possible way to work the mechanics out. In all fairness, the other 49% polled said they all ready gave up sex. That had something to do with not "doing it" until Bella gives it up to Edward.Whatever. Bite me.

In other news:

A woman who celebrated her 103rd birthday stunned friends when she revealed her secret to a long life was cherishing – HER VIRGINITY.

First, this clearly falls under the category of TOO MUCH INFO. Second, no booze, smoking or sex, what was she living for? Long trips and her cats. Its not like this doesn't happen to men though. The first time a man went more than eight decades without having sex, he invented calculus. Curiously enough just like the lady in the article Issac Newton was also English.

Of Obama

2011-02-19T16:14:00.009-07:00

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I'm no fan of Obama. I would welcome his being kicked out of office over the eligibility issue.

As I see it, the undisputed facts are:

1. John McCain (politically the white version of Obama) proved his constitutional eligibility in Congress .
2. Obama didn't.
3. Obama wrote a book and has issued several conflicting statements about his orgins.
4. Obama has issues regarding what his actual name is.
5. Obama has claimed conflicting birth dates.
6. Obama seems to have multiple social security numbers.
7. Obama has directed the US Attorneys office to prosecute cases disputing his eligibility.
8. Obama has spent millions in legal fees to avoid disclosing his long form birth certificate.
9. Obama's grandmother (the black one) said Obama was born in Africa and that she was there. To be fair, on the same tape of that interview, Obama's people are heard correcting her and she does say, "oops, I meant he was born in America and is a Natural Born Citizen according to the constitution and is eligible to be president". We all know how famous African countries are for strict adherence to the rule of law.

If you'd like documentation to back up my little list, go over to WND. Joe Farah has been pushing this issue in his "paper" for years now. As of yet, no one in the administration has brought out the one thing that would shut the whole conspiracy theory machine and WND down, the long form birth certificate.

No doubt Farah would love to be the newsman that brought down a fraud in the oval office. Frankly I'd like for him to do that too. I see a problem. The birth certificate. If it exists, Farah doesn't know whats on it. What if Obama has it, but isn't bringing it out for a reason? What if it says "Father: Unknown", or "Father: Some guy other than Obama Sr"?

I don't know Obama's Mama, but lets take a look at some of the rummer and innuendo. She was a teenage girl that liked doing black guys. In 2011 that's not a big deal. In 1950, just exactly what year it was we don't know, it was a big deal. Some people close to her, during that time, have hinted she was a bit "easy". Maybe she was, I don't know. What we do know is that her other official relationships weren't with white guys. In 1950? this was a big deal if you were a white girl. If your parents were upper middle class and bankers this was an even bigger deal. With all the questions about her parents move to Hawaii, the timing, the date of birth, etc, I can see a reasonable explanation. Namely mom and dad wanted to protect their little dumb teenage slut, as well as their own reputations. They enlisted a black guy with a Royal African blood line. They got him to look like he was on the hook for the kid. They made an announcement of birth in the paper to show their friends and family back in Kansas. They covered up the exact birthday and any questions about tarnish on Ann Dunham's white wedding dress. Reputation saved. At least mostly.

The above scenario makes sense to me. It is every bit as likely as the Obama knew he was ineligible and covered it up. In most families it would be a embarrassing little secret that wouldn't get talked about. Now I admit it doesn't address the multiple social security numbers. I have an explanation for that. Obama is a self admitted felon, he dealt drugs. Is it too far off to believe that he may have been involved in some other criminal endeavor, like fraud? Maybe he developed multiple identities in his early years for illegal purposes. Where does that leave us?

Well we know that Obama is a crook, but we knew that already. We know that Obama is a liar, again no surprise. We know Obama has a good motive to lie, on one hand to protect his place as president; on the other, to protect his family and all the benefits he received because of the Obama Sr. as father story.

Joe Farah might prove that Obama is ineligible to be president. Then again, all he may prove is that Obama is a lying bastard. We all ready knew that. Unfortunately, being a lying bastard, either figuratively or in this case literally, is not Constitutionally disqualifying.

Most blacks born in the United States are bastards, and given the high amount of criminal activity in the black community, I can see this being a plus for Obama. Consider the result of a well timed bringing out of the long form birth certificate as well as a tearful revelation of the truth surrounding his illegitimate birth. It may very well give him sympathy with voters. It would also make the question of his legally being president go away. Provided the Republicans bring out another commie conservative like McCain, it might give Barack an edge at the ballot box. Of course just to be sure, illegals will not be denied their right to vote and the Black Panthers will make sure that black voters get their fair share of votes. Blacks will vote as often as they wish and whites will be beat up if they have the nerve to show up and oppress the brothers at the ballot box. Just like last time.

Snowbow

2011-02-17T22:57:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying a winter thaw the last week. I suppose that is part of the reason I keep forgetting to blog about my snowbows. A snowbow is exactly like a rain bow but its caused when sun light is passed through a snow crystal instead of a raindrop. Twice last week, on my way home from work, the setting sun produced snow bows. The first day I mentioned to my wife that I wished I had a camera with me. The second day I was treated to a double bow. No camera that day either. Apparently they are rare, so rare that I wasn't able to find a decent pic on the web to attach to this post. Imagine a rainbow painted in soft pastels, they were kind of like that but shimmery around the edges. I wish I had my camera with me.

The Religion of Peace

2011-02-16T10:21:00.000-07:00

What happens when a dim wit, liberal news reporter, (but I repeat myself) who in all fairness, was only trying to help promote the rule of radical Islam; goes where it is actually practiced? She gets gang rapped.

Normally I don't buy the "she was asking for it" defense to rape. Except this time it fits. Had Lora Logan spent a half hour reading up on what Islam really is and how they really think, she would have avoided anyplace with muslims in it. They really do believe ANY women not conforming to their traditions is asking for "IT". When they are in the majority there is no stopping or modifing their behavior. Instead she believed the liberal lie that Muslims are "good people" with a slightly different take on religion.

Which is why I find it interesting that the Obama White House snubbed the traditional Christian and Jewish public observance of "a day of prayer" yet were down with publicly praying with the muslims latter in the year.

Generation "Y"

2011-02-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Silent Generation are people born before 1946.
The Baby Boomers are people born between 1946 and 1966.
Generation X are people born between 1966 and 1986.
Generation Y are people born between 1986 and now.

Why do we call the last one generation Y?

Just a guess.

More Elk

2011-02-05T13:59:00.000-07:00

This is from up in Montana. I believe it was shot on the Madison river. You can hear the elk bugle very clearly so adjust your speakers accordingly. Analogies to a teenage quarterback fighting off two rival tight-ends for a harem of cheerleaders can be posted in the comments.

!@$%&! Mexicans

2011-02-01T22:36:00.001-07:00

All the way home I was mentally preparing a rant about the evils of my credit card company. They put a hold on my card and wouldn't let me make any charges. Normally this would be inconvenient, tonight with a minus 16 temp and a wind chill of minus 45 to minus 50, and my gas tank being on empty, it was almost a disaster. They had called me earlier today and left a message about my needing to call them back. When I did, the number I called just wanted me to input my credit card number. I hung up.

Needless to say cold, and nearly out of gas and not having my credit card work put me in a less than happy mood. I made it home and looked up customer service and was preparing to vent my spleen on some barely literate women in India or Timbuktu or wherever. No doubt she wouldn't get the full jest of my sarcasm but I imagined that I would feel better.

I made the call and was transferred to a real live American in Arizona of all places. He was on top of things. He started off by apologizing to me about the problem and let me know that there were a bunch, and I do mean a bunch of charges that they were refusing to pay. He went through them line by line, item by item. What tipped them off was I had dinner in Wyoming on Saturday with my wife and had charged it. Then in less than 24 hours I was in Hamburg Germany physically charging a purchase there. The next day I was making a charge in Utah. Plus there were a bunch of internet charge attempts. Given that there have been over 3,000 canceled flights due to the winter storm hitting the USA right now, they figured that I probably hadn't been in all those places that quickly. They were right.

The one place I had been, and the only place that I have physically handed over my credit card to anyone in several months, was the Mexican restaurant that the wife and I had dinner at. Although I've had an account with this company for around 20 years, I just received my new card a little while ago. The fraudulent charges all had the new security code found on the backside of the card. Guess where I'm not eating at again.

Budget Cuts

2011-02-01T20:39:00.001-07:00

The the man illegally occupying the White House has suggested some budget cuts, a whopping $100 million from the $3.5 trillion federal budget.

I'm so impressed by this sacrifice that I have decided to do the same thing with my personal budget. I spend about $2000 a month on groceries, medicine, bills, etc, but it's time to get out the budget cutting ax, go line by line through my expenses, and go to work.

I'm going to cut my spending at exactly the same ratio -1/35,000 of my total budget. After doing the math, it looks like instead of spending $2000 a month; I'm going to have to cut that number by six cents!

Yes, I'm going to have to get by with $1999.94, but that's what sacrifice is all about. I'll just have to do without some things, that are, frankly, luxuries.

Res Mail

2011-01-30T16:08:00.001-07:00

Elk near Evanston Wyoming.

Here’s a few hundred head, all bulls, 12 miles outside of Evanston. These were taken last Wednesday as a Uinta County Sheriff had to close the road to allow for the crossing.That’s a site for sore eyes right there… WOW! They think it something like 600 head in all? Talk about a herd!!!

The answer to your question is: Because season is over.

Survey

2011-01-26T21:09:00.000-07:00

USA Today is running a survey on the Second Amendment.

I think it would be worthwhile if you took it. It takes all of 2 seconds to complete. I have no idea if they will publish the results or not.

Gun Ownership Poll

Explains a Lot

2011-01-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

It's a language that would twist the tongue of even the most sophisticated linguist.

Prairie dogs talk to each other and can describe what different human beings look like, according to scientists.

The species - only found in North America - call out to warn their friends when a predator approaches their habitat.

So the dogs know who is showwing up to shoot them, and they warn each other.

I wondered why they would dive in the holes whenever I show up. I shoot at the same location most of the time and I thought it was odd that they would take cover when I stopped the truck on a hill that gave me 600 to 1,100 yard shoots, but they would let other trucks drive right up to within 200 to 300 yards. Now it makes sense. Pete the Prarie Dog knows that the fat guy in the black truck is bad news no matter how far away he is. Now I'm going to have to start parking behind the hill and walking up before I start shooting.

Res's Mail Bag

2011-01-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

This little gem showed up today in my email:

HISTORY CHANNEL NOW SEEKING THE ULTIMATE MARKSMEN FOR SEASON 3 OF TOP SHOT!

Season 1 was a hit, and Season 2 is on its way. Now it's your turn to take a shot at Season 3! If you are skilled with a pistol, rifle or any other firearm, you could win $100,000 in prizes on the third season of History Channel's electrifying competition show, TOP SHOT. Producers are looking for anyone with unrivaled shooting skills and a big personality to take on exciting physical challenges with multiple guns and mystery projectile weapons.

It doesn't matter if you're a professionally trained shooter or a self-taught, average Joe (or Jane!). As long as you're in good physical shape, have mastered a firearm and can adapt to new weapons and demanding physical situations, you could be America's next "Top Shot."

This season, we're also looking for MARKSMEN PAIRS: Husband/Wife, Father/Son, Co-Workers or Siblings. If you and a close friend or relative are excellent shots, we want to hear from you both! APPLY TODAY!

To apply, email TopShotCasting@gmail.com with your name, city/state, phone number, a recent photo of yourself and a brief explanation of why you should be on the show. Deadline to apply is February 1, 2011. For more information, visit www.pilgrimfilms.tv and click on "CASTING" or call 818-478-4570 for more information TODAY!

* Applicants must be at least 21 years of age, a resident or citizen of the United States and reasonably proficient with shooting and marksmanship

--
Nick Corporon
Casting Associate
Pilgrim Films & Television
(818) 478-4618

The email came with an official entry form and a personal note asking me to try out. Unfortunately I can't do it. I don't have either the time or money this year. In fact I'm probably going to have to tell my sponsor that I won't be able to honor my commitment to attend the minimum number of shooting matches I agreed to last spring. Hows that for a kick in the pants? I finally get a financial backer for my hobbies and the very first year I'm supposed to shoot, at least partially on someone else's dime, and I have to give notice of intent to break my contract. Maybe next year.

Good News

2011-01-18T22:13:00.000-07:00

The days are getting longer.

Here in the northern hemisphere the length of day light available each day is increasing, which means that I can almost get home from work before night fall. It also means that we only have about 6 more weeks of cold winter followed by another 6 weeks of bad sledding and then we'll be able to plant the garden. Of course I would have guessed that spring is on the way with out seeing the much welcomed extra daylight, because the garden seed catalogs have started arriving at the rate of about 3 a day for the last week.

I think we are going to try to introduce some apple trees to our yard this year. They are supposed to do well in our cold zone. Mrs Ipsa has high hopes and I hope she is vindicated for the effort. She wishes she had planted them 10 years ago, but she had hopes of moving and didn't want to make the effort. No doubt if we plant them and they do well we'll move 2 weeks before the first crop comes in. Oh well its fun to try different plants and see how they turn out.

Christmas Reflections

2011-01-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

Christmas has come and gone. We are still picking through the aftermath of gifts, and grandma apparently has some more packages coming this week that she forgot to send last week but the tree is down. The lights are put up. I just transferred money from the Christmas fund to the checking account to pay off the wife's credit card. There are a few gifts left to return but I say again, the tree is down.

I think this was the best Christmas ever. Not because of material things, although the gifts given and received were great. Not because of my personal career situation, that is still circling the crapper. The wife still has to work part time, which after more than 20 yrs in the work force has her a bit ticked. I got a pre-holiday poor health test results, gonna have to change my ways, or resolve to not see my grandchildren. (I'm fat and getting old, not a good combination). Even with bad stuff happening to me and my extended family, I can still see how this was a great Christmas.

I enjoyed this year better and more fuller than any I remember. The kids are still young, 4 and 2. Res Jr. is totally into opening gifts and Little Miss is just starting to get the hang of it. Christmas was fun. I mean deeply enjoyable, down right satisfyingly fun. From the "that's a big present daddy", to the "I bought that for you mommy" to the box of Luppa brass I received, it was great.

I'll spare you the details of Res Jr's Christmas. Just envision a Class V Hurricane hitting a landfall of brightly colored presents and you have the general idea, except most hurricanes are a little laid back in comparison. That and they don't say "cool", "oh wow" and "all right!" with nearly as much enthusiasm. This was Little Miss's first time to be old enough to get the hang of opening the boxes and being excited about what was inside. She had several boxes left to open when she ripped into one with a baby doll in it. She got that doll out and said "baby". After that she was done opening presents. She loved that little doll. She walked it around and fed it from the bottle and said "baby" and "mine baby", a lot.

I don't know how to explain the look in her eye. She had "her baby", nothing else mattered. She wouldn't even open the rest of her gifts. Seriously, this is the kid that just the night before ripped up all the gifts that Res Jr and I had wrapped up for mom. She had her baby and she knew just what to do. She's not even potty trained and she was changing the diaper. Its amazing girls are truly amazing, this motherhood instinct must be genetic.

After much coaxing and after all of Res Jr's gifts were opened and he was eying her stash with a gleam in his eye, we managed to get Little Miss to open another package. This one had shoes. Little plastic, high heels with puffy feathers on them. These have to be the most girlish foo foo shoes ever made. She almost set the baby down. Not quite mind you, but almost. She put her heels on and grabbed baby by the ankle. She tried to walk, of course she couldn't, but she tried. She could however remain true to her sex and talk all about it. SHOES!!! SHOES!!! SHOES!!! BABY!!! SHOES!!! Pretty much that's all she said for about an hour as she carried the shoes in one hand and dragged the baby by the other.

Eventually she got the other gifts opened including her kitchen set and she seemed to like them. Girls sure are different than boys. With my son, I instinctively know what manner of mischief is brewing behind those blue eyes. With my daughter, I am absolutely clueless. But its so fascinating to find out what will strike her fancy next or how she will open her heart to one object and receive total gratification from another.

A Kind Word for the LDS

2010-12-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

Those of you that have been around blogging with me the last 7 or so years are probably aware of my intense dislike for Mormons. This has to do with an event in my life involving a Mormon girl and some surrounding unpleasantness. Anyway I once said if they ever did anything good I'd be sure to point it out.

Well here I go.

My sister is married to a youth minister. He was working for a ministry (run by a group of evangelicals) that ran a boarding type school for troubled teens. As it happens this school is located in Utah. They decided to move the school and fire a number of staff persons to reduce costs. My brother in law was one of the employees to get the ax. My sister was 9 months pregnant, when her husband lost his job. They had baby girl last week and everyone is doing fine.

In the midst of all of this they needed to have someone watch their kids and they went to use the day care that they had been using. The lady running the day care (LDS, go figure its Utah) told him not to worry about paying since she was aware of what had happened at the school. My brother in law told her that not letting them pay was no way to run a business. She told him to do the best he could getting another job, take care of his pregnant wife and let her worry about her business. She happened to know that my folks would be coming to visit after the baby was born. So a full sized Christmas type dinner of ham potatoes and all the trimmings showed up. All they had to do was put it in the oven for dinner.

I should point out that this kindness was more than the local "Christians" associated with the ministry did. In fact, the guy who runs the program wanted everyone to donate their last paycheck to the ministry before the move. Apparently there was a bit of pressure for them to do that. I don't know how many that "donated" their paycheck got to keep their jobs at the new location.

There is no likelihood of me changing my religion or my over all stand on Mormonism. But a least one Mormon is a great person and has earned a public pat on the back.

Ground Up Soup

2010-12-26T16:17:00.002-07:00

My family has a rich tradition of foods at holiday time. Christmas typically has a lot of cookies for example. Mom makes up about 12 or 14 different kinds of cookies and plates them up for friends and neighbors for delivery on Christmas eve.

One tradition involves a concoction known as "ground up soup". The story goes, that back during the first great depression, the family was living out in the north woods someplace and it was an especially bad winter. All that was in the house on Christmas eve was a bag of potatoes, a bunch of carrots and some salt pork. So they took the potatoes, carrots and salt pork and ran them through a meat grinder. Then the ingredients were put into a pot of boiling water. It may have been melted snow water as the pump might have been frozen, the details here are somewhat lost as my great grandma has been dead over 12 years and she was the last surviving person to be there for the start of this tradition. In any event, they made soup out of it, as there was noting else to eat.

My mothers side of the family has been making this soup once a year on Christmas eve. As a kid I hated the tradition. I was always much more found of peanut-butter balls, Santa's Whiskers, butterscotch bars and my favorite Church Windows. Even my brother and sister hated this culinary adventure into yesteryear's poverty. We called the stuff "gruel" and swore we would never eat it again after leaving home. Which with the exception of visits home at Christmas time remained pretty much true.

Except this year. I made a batch. Not the big 5 gallon batch my grandmothers and mother would make. It was a more moderate gallon and a half sized batch, as I don't have a 5 gallon pot to make it in. Christmas eve I sat down and ate a bowl or two. Traditions apparently never die. They do however go well with cookies.

Seasonal Ramblings

2010-12-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

Christmas is almost here. I'm done shopping. All I have to do is wrap up some gifts. I'm still waiting on one item I ordered to get here and I'll be finished with the whole deal. I've really been rethinking my thoughts on the whole holiday and I'm a little surprised at where I've ended up. While I am a Christian, I do not believe Christ was born in December, and therefore I've never celebrated Christmas as a religious observance. As a kid I was taken in by the whole Santa thing but generally disappointed by the way things turned out. You see growing up Christmas gift giving was about getting stuff you needed more than getting fun stuff. Gift giving was similar. Mom and Dad got gifts from the kids that were slightly dumb and not greatly desired.

Growing up gifts were 80% stuff you needed, like cloths and maybe 20% toys or other fun stuff. Despite my never asking for socks or underwear, Santa always brought some. Christmas of 1977 was the sole exception in my childhood. For those of you who don't know or care, the first Star Wars movie came out in 1977. Me and my friends all believed that Star Wars was the coolest thing ever. That year Santa came through with an X-wing Fighter and action figures. While he also no doubt showered me with socks and the required whitey tighties, the overwhelming coolness of Stars Wars made up for it. With the exception of 1977, my over all outlook on Christmas has traditionally been someplace between slightly annoyed and mystified that people would bother with it at all.

Then I married Mrs Ipsa. She grew up Lutheran. Her family celebrated Christmas as religious and a family holiday. I do mean celebrated. Christmas was an all out great big deal for her family. My mother in law starts asking for Christmas wish lists in July. No kidding! The forth of July kicks off her Christmas shopping. Year one of marriage I discovered that Christmas would be a BIG DEAL.

As I remember it, my idea of a great first married Christmas, involved some festive seasonal red fashion ware from that great Christmas retailer, Victoria's Secret and some not too subtle hints about a certain elf and visits to the south pole. The men reading this will no doubt agree that, with some slight modifications to accommodate personal tastes, my general concept is a sure way to enjoy the holiday season. Women reading this should take note as well. If your man gets grumpy at the holidays, maybe you're putting too much time into "the season" and not enough time into the "happy" portion of "happy holidays". Less sex and more of your mother, sister and other family members is a guaranteed recipe for "Grinch".

Reality didn't go along with fantasy. Our first Christmas was exhausting and not for any of the good reasons. Christmas Eve services, staying the night at her folks house (no we can't do it here), up at 4:00am, her sisters bratty kids TONS OF GIFTS and a 2 hr car ride to my parents, the lack of joy that I traditionally have about Christmas at their house, Santa made sure I got some more socks, dinner, a long ride back to our house after a 18hr day of holiday fun, no elf action.

I made a couple decisions after that first Christmas. Number one, NEVER would we do Christmas at every-bodies house on the same day again. It was just way too much. Number two, Christmas still sucked every bit as much as I thought it did, but she loved it. I would go along with a minimum amount of griping, since apparently sharing my insights into the activities just made her upset.

So for the last 13 years I've been going along and getting along. My mother in law has been doing her thing and the wife has been doing hers. I've been doing my best to keep my mouth shut, and hang lights as required.

Res Jr. turned 4 this year, which means that he remembered from last year what was coming this year. Talk about excited. For a week before Thanksgiving he keep asking Mrs Ipsa about putting up the tree. She promised him they would do it the day after Thanksgiving. Mom broke down and had it up Thursday afternoon. Friday morning I was woken up by sounds best described as "weeping and gnashing of teeth". My son believed that with the erecting and decorating of the Christmas tree, Santa would come and the living room would be filled with presents. It wasn't, and the great comforter known as mom wasn't able to get things under control before the great protector known as dad arrived on the scene looking to kill whomever was murdering his son.

The youthful excitement of my son and wide eyed wonder of my daughter has been tugging on my heart these last few weeks. I've been rethinking Christmas in my heart as well as my head. No Jesus wasn't born on 12/25 but something is being born in my heart. This year my wife asked me for suggestions for grandmas wish list for the kids. I started giving her a list of things, all very practical things mind you, like the socks and underwear I hated as a kid. She stopped me and told me that her mom would say buying that stuff was a parents responsibility and not real Christmas presents. I huffed off. What she said has stuck with me.

The wife and kids have been gone since the middle of week before last visiting the grand parents. They get home on Monday. Last Friday they had Christmas with my folks. A no toy Christmas and one game for the boy. He was less than thrilled. Just like me growing up. This morning they had Christmas with her folks. Yes the kids got some cloths, but they were shirts with pictures of things the kids liked on them, and every box of practical gifts had a couple toys of some sort stuck in to go with it. It was fun, they got cool stuff. It sounds like they had a blast. The best Christmas ever!!! I missed it.

Socks and shirts are things a parent is supposed to buy for their kids. They never made me smile as a kid. Christmas time comes once every year but childhood only comes once a lifetime. I intend for my kids to love Christmas every bit as much as their mother does. The only way for that to happen is to make it as great for them as I can. As this attitude has been taking root my enjoyment of the season has been growing. I've even been wishing total strangers a merry Christmas. Some of them simile and wish it right back to me, which is great.

Friday I waited on a rather stern looking older man. I finished up his paperwork and wished him a Merry Christmas. He gave me a rather peeved look and said, "I'm a Jew". I could tell from the look on his face he was less than pleased with me. Not knowing what to say and a little lost for words, I just said, "That's OK so was Jesus". He broke into the biggest smile and laughed at me. "Merry Christmas to you".

Advice Columns

2010-11-29T19:25:00.000-07:00

I don't get it. I thought he was offering some solid insight into why the car was having problems. Does anyone have a better solution or place to look to fix her car?

Making a Marine Cry

2010-11-28T15:54:00.002-07:00

Last night I left the house under the excuse of retuning a video. It seemed like a good excuse because I had a video that was going to be overdue if not returned by 10pm. This seemed like the perfect chance to get a little clandestine shopping done for my wife, who is just a tad bit Christmas crazy.

While waiting at the counter in the store I noticed an older man who had a piece of jewelry on with a very nice EGA. An EGA is the Eagle Globe and Anchor is the emblem for the Untied States Marine Corps, for those of you who did not grow up the son of a Marine.

Several years ago I made it a personal challenge to thank anyone who is a vet for their service. So when I see anyone wearing something reminiscent of one of the branches of the service I ask them about it. If they have a hat with a boat crew number I ask them about the Navy, an Army unit patch gets the same question as does the Air-force. If they say they were in, I tell them thank you for your service. If they say no, its my kids's boat, air crew, regiment etc, I ask them to tell their kid thank you for me.

I don't do that with Marines. I ask them if they EARNED the right to wear that EGA. If they say no, its for my kid, husband, etc I ask them pass along my thanks. IF they say yes, and its normally more along the lines of a "HELL YES! OTHERWISE I WOULDN'T BE WEARING IT. WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?" Then I say, something along the lines of, "I thought you looked like a Marine, I just wanted to say thank you for your service." This almost always does two things: 1. brings them to attention and 2. elicits a beaming light of pride from their eyes. I've done this to a man in his 80's who was bent over from age. He got out of his wheel chair and stood straight to let me know that I was more than welcome and he wished he could do it all over again.

Back to last night. I went through my normal "so did you earn the right to that EGA" question. I think I narrowly avoided getting my butt kicked by a man 30 years older then me BTW. Predictably he came to attention. I do mean attention. Ram rod straight, eyes locked forward, chest out, fingertips perfectly aligned etc. USMC on a parade ground attention. I could almost see him in his dress blues. I gave my usual hearty, "I thought you looked like a Marine, I just wanted to say thank you for your service."

Perfectly at attention, he began to weep.

I teared up as well, and for the first time since I started my personal campaign of saying thanks to vets I wish I had not said anything.

Then he spoke, "no one has every told me thank you".

"Well they should have" I replied. "I appreciate your service". I said and turned to go.

"When did you serve?" he asked me. I stopped and turned back around. "That honor is not mine to claim." I replied. "I just make it a point to say thanks to those who have". I went on, "My father served with the 3rd Mar Div and pulled security at the De Nang airbase in 67 and 68".

That opened the flood gate of info. He served in Viet Nam from 1964 till 1972. He was with the 1st and 3rd Marine Recon. When we were done talking, and we were done, the store was getting ready to close; he made me promise to tell my dad thank you and Semper Fi. In his estimation my father had done something right and quite frankly I hadn't earned his respect as #1) I am not a Marine, or #2)even in one of the other support branches of the military who do the less important jobs that let Marines go and fight Americas enemies. I told him I would pass it on.

I got home well after bath time (one of my normal jobs) and past bed time, also my normal job. Mrs. Ipsa was slightly less than happy with me. When she demanded an accounting, I gave it. As I was getting ready to round the kidos up for bed, she told me to call my father. As she pointed out, "You'll forget if you don't do it now". So I made the call. The kids were even latter getting to bed. My dad informed me of how great this Marine was. How tough he had it. How my dad's combat experience was like being on vacation compared to everything this man faced. I suspect that dad was standing at attention while he and I had this chat. Ram rod straight, eyes locked forward, chest out, USMC on a parade ground attention.

I never got the man's name.

I don't know if you are the type who will go up and talk to a stranger because they are wearing a hat or a pin that has a unit on it. If you are, try out my little program. Tell a vet thanks. You might be the only person that ever has. You owe them this much. They earned it. Some more than others have paid the price of your freedom.

Giving Thanks

2010-11-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours my friends.

May you be blessed more this next year than you were this, and may your extra blessing be used to bless those around you.

The Secret of Bill’s Success

2010-11-24T10:23:00.004-07:00

Back in his college days Bill Gates used to wander around the seamy side of Cambridge MA. Even in the brainy town that surrounded Harvard, Bill was something of a nerd. Forced to cruse the second hand stores for the 1950’s era pocket protectors and plaid fashion accessories he craved, Bill became a regular in pawn shops and at yard sales.

It was on one of these excursions from the Ivory Tower that Bill wandered into Habeeb's House of Pawned Crap and Estate Brokers. Bill saw what appeared to be a giant hookah in a box that had just came in. Thinking that getting random strangers to take a hit on the hookah might just be the ticket to getting some new friends, he bought it. Rushing home he began to polish it up.

That’s when it happened. A genie came out of the hookah. Apparently the genie got confused during the 60’s and wasn’t able to get back to his lamp during a raid on a frat party. This incredibly laid back and mellow genie offered Bill his three wishes.

Bill said, “I want all the money in the world, for all women to find me irresistible and a Pack Man arcade game.” The genie thought over his wish and said: “Sorry man, can’t do it”. “Well why not?” Bill asked, “Aren’t you a real genie?” “Sure man I’m a real genie, but some things aren’t possible”, he replied. “Like dig it man, you can’t every have ‘all the money in the world’ cause as soon as you do the man just prints more and everybody gets inflation”, the genie said. “Face it Bill you’re a nerd, all women are never going to find you irresistible, it defies the nature of the universe”. The genie continued, “man you have to adjust your expectations and stay true to your place in the cosmos”.

Bill thought this over for a bit. So he said, “OK this is what I wish for, I want to get credit for inventing the personal computer, I want a nickel for every time someone has to reboot it, a dime for every time it crashes and a quarter for every time someone gets a virus”. The genie, not knowing anything about computers agreed to the wish.

This is why Bill Gates has almost all the money in the world.

It is also why I haven’t been doing much blogging. My computer has been and still is giving me fits. It’s also why I have lost everyone’s email address.

Good Timing

2010-11-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

A special note of thanks to my friends who served our country in the armed forces. Thank you for your service. From the Marine Corps Times:

The Marine Corps has recommended that a former corporal receive the Medal of Honor for braving a hail of enemy fire in September 2009 to pull the bodies of four U.S. troops from a kill zone in eastern Afghanistan, Marine Corps Times has learned.

Dakota Meyer, 22, of Greensburg, Ky., was recommended for the nation’s highest award for valor, according to a source with knowledge of the process, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Meyer was recommended for his actions on Sept. 8, 2009, near the village of Ganjgal in Kunar province. He charged into a kill zone on foot and alone to find three missing Marines and a Navy corpsman who had been pinned down under enemy fire for hours by about 150 well-armed insurgents. Already wounded by shrapnel before braving enemy fire, he found them dead and stripped of their gear and weapons, and carried them out of the kill zone with the help of Afghan soldiers, according to military documents obtained by Marine Corps Times.

As a side note, if this Marine recieves the Medal of Honor, he will be the first living Marine to do so in a generation.

Obama

2010-11-09T19:09:00.004-07:00

I guess the evil empire just ran out of cash.

Hip Boots

2010-11-02T23:08:00.000-06:00

First a hunting/shooting update. Normally I would blog about my success. Except I can't. First opening day of elk was 74 degrees outside. I saw no elk, but had a great 4 days of camping.

Second, I took one whole day for antelope. My shooting SUCKED. Attempt on mature buck #1 resulted in a miss at less than 300 yards. One day I will remember about shooting down hill and against a head wind. Notice I said remember, not learn. I already know what to do and have practiced the shot. I just can't seem to remember not to screw it up. I have no idea why I missed shot at doe #1. No idea at all. Not even a good guess. Same thing goes for the 200 yard shot at doe #2. Buck #2 (a baby buck barely 2 years old) was a double shoulder 1 shot kill at 225 yards with a 12mph cross wind and an extreme downhill angle. 168 grain Berger Bullets in a 7-08 Rem at 2600 fps was a new load for me this year (I'm still experimenting) they will more than get the job done. As it turns out I had NO USABLE MEAT on either side of the front quarter of the buck. Doe #3 presented not one, not two but three shoots for me. I missed them all. I have no idea why. I changed guns at this point. I had a sweet set up on a buck at 1,079 yards. I've shot targets in the same exact place and NEVER missed. 1,079 would be a new personal best on a big game animal. So I set up, checked the wind, ranged it again, got a great rest and missed it by TWO FEET! I had no clue why. So I had another go at another lope at 998 yards and missed. Research latter proved that the scope had been bumped and was off. Doe #4 was an easy 375 yrds and I missed. I tried again at 450, and missed. I got closer (about 80 yards) and made a solid hit.

For those of you keeping score that's attempts on 2 bucks and 4 does. With one buck and one doe hanging in my garage. It took me 11 shots to get it done at a little less than 7 hours. Normally I'm done with antelope in less than an hour of hunting to fill two tags. I'm not even keeping the bucks horns. The tenderloins however were delicious tonight for super.

I'm going to make a try for elk again this weekend, even though the heat wave is expected to continue. Deer season opened yesterday in my elk unit so I'll buy a tag.

The election was today. I voted. There were no surprises here. Our congress critter is a republican. She won. Yawn. They seem to be making a big fuss in the news about our having a Democrat Governor and a Republican winning. Its not a big deal. We have term limits. Gov Dave limited out. The Republicans ran a candidate and the Democrats didn't, this isn't a big upset. At least not in my book. In fairness to Gov Dave, he was more conservative than most Repubs, at least outside of Wyoming. He did a decent job when in office and was elected to the maximum number of terms. What would have been big news is if Taylor Haynes would have won as a write in candidate. If that would have happened we would have had a black man as governor, who ran to the right of the Constitution Party. BTW I wrote him in.

In local races I stuck to my policy of either 1.)vote the challenger or 2.)vote for the lessor evil. This year I actually had to vote Dem in a handful of races. Don't hate me. The reason was that the Repub incumbent is/was such a complete and total waste of oxygen that I couldn't vote for her, her and him. That and there were no 3rd party options in those 3 races. I hated to vote dem but face it, at some point even the dems couldn't screw the job up worse than these clowns. We've reached that point. Hopefully we get someone new in those jobs and we get a new cohort of crooks in the county commissioners and other assorted offices that actually can be affected by my vote.

Halloween Pun

2010-10-31T20:00:00.001-06:00

Ted Lawrence awakened from a deep sleep.

What was that noise? He could have sworn he just heard music coming from somewhere. But that was impossible. He was alone in the house.

There it was again, coming from outside the bedroom door. Familiar music that he couldn't place. It certainly wasn't coming from his stereo since there wasn't anything remotely like it in his extensive collection of cassettes and compact discs. He preferred rock but this was something else entirely.

Suddenly, there was an outburst of laughter as if a big party was in full swing downstairs. Loud voices and hoots echoed off the walls as the volume increased. He clutched the sheets in fear, hauling them over his head to try to block out the noise coming from the empty house. Could he be dreaming? Was this all a figment of an overworked imagination?

No sooner had he asked himself these questions when the bedroom door flew open, embedding the knob in the freshly painted wall. He nearly jumped out of the sheets, and his skin, at the same time. What was that? His heart seemed to be looking for the easiest path out of his chest.

''Who's there?" he asked timidly. No answer. The racket continued unabated downstairs. I've got to be flipping out, he thought. Maybe a nervous breakdown. That had to be it. The house was empty and he was alone. But the music continued nonetheless. Um-pum-pum, um-pum-pum.

Trembling, he inched his way out of bed and moved toward the door. Laughter erupted as he crossed the floor. He whipped his head around to make sure no one was behind him. Downstairs, accordions and drums blasted an incessant beat into his terrified brain as he edged out into the hallway. Nothing. No lights, no flickering shadows. He had to be losing his mind.

That beat, repetitious and boring. An odd beat with the accent on the last half. Most unusual. He felt his way to the top of the stairs, not daring to turn on any lights for fear he might see something he really didn't want to confront. He peered into the darkness. Still as death, he thought, and quickly wiped the unfortunate choice of metaphor from his mind.

He made his way quietly down the stairs and reached for the switch. As his fingers searched, something cold and slimy clamped itself over his hand. He reeled back in horror as something laughed in his ear. Then something glowing flashed in front of his face and flew up the stairs. A cold, thin tendril wrapped around his ankles and slithered up his leg.

He was cemented to the floor. His eyes were wide with terror as the laughter and the music reached ear-splitting levels. Then it dawned on him. Of course. He had been so stupid. He should have stayed in bed, maybe then he would have had a chance.

But now it was too late. A scream erupted from his tortured lips as he slipped to the floor. Um-pum-pum, um-pum-pum. That beat! It was pounding mercilessly into his very soul. He watched in dread fascination as one of his feet began to jerk back and forth in time to the music. They were inside his body now. He tried to form the word but could barely move his lips.

Polka-geist!

In the News

2010-09-09T21:57:00.000-06:00

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Marine commandos stormed a pirate-held cargo ship off the Somalia coast Thursday, reclaiming control and taking nine prisoners without firing a shot in the first such boarding raid by the international anti-piracy flotilla, U.S. Navy officials said.
The mission — using small craft to reach the deck of German-owned vessel as the crew huddled in a safe room below — ranks among the most dramatic high seas confrontations with pirates by the task force created to protect shipping lanes off lawless Somalia.
The crew managed to kill the engines before taking refuge in an panic room-style chamber, leaving the ship adrift and the pirates so frustrated they started damaging equipment after hijacking the vessel Wednesday, Navy officials and the ship's operator say.
Lt. John Fage, a spokesman at the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, described the pre-dawn raid as an "air and sea" assault that included Cobra attack helicopters for surveillance and coordination.
Marine Corps officers involved in the raid told reporters in a conference call that the attack involved "overwhelming force" and the element of surprise. Marines were able to separate the pirates and confront them singly or in small groups, while helicopters bore down.
The armed pirates gave up quickly when faced with large numbers of Marines carrying heavier weaponry.

The rest of the story here.

A couple of thoughts.
1. Marines are not commandos. They are Marines. They are bigger and badder than "commandos".
2. "The armed pirates gave up quickly when faced with large numbers of Marines carrying heavier weaponry." Giving up quickly is a smart move when confronted by the USMC. What is the heavy weaponry? The Marines are boarding a ship, I doubt they brought tanks or field pieces. This is evidence that Fox News is filled with know nothing pinko democrat nut cases that don't have a clue about the armed forces. Sure they aren't as bad as ~~NBC~~ ITAR-TASS.
3. The USMC has been the preferred and most effective method of dealing with middle east pirates since 1805. See Pic

Humble Pie

2010-09-08T23:15:00.000-06:00

I've never thought of myself as stuck up. If anything I think I'm the opposite. Funny how we delude ourselves sometimes. I really do care, apparently a great deal more than I would have thought, about social status. I find myself in a job, that allows me to tread water till I get a better job. My boss is a friend and knew that I needed some kind of income in the worst way. There was an opening, and I was offered the job.

Its a job that requires me to wear a name tag, and serve the public. I haven't had a job that required a name tag since I was 19. I hate the name tag. Not that I'm ashamed of my name, I just would rather not wear it. Its a requirement, and I like being among the 65% of Americans with a job rather than the 35% without one.

I serve the public. I wear the tag. Except yesterday I took it off. One of our senators came in to do business with us. I knew he was coming and I was the only person available to take care of him. I've met him before. We've worked on projects together when I was actively consulting. I didn't want him to remember me, because frankly I'd like to be working on those kinds of projects and doing that kind of work more than wearing a name tag.

I waited on him. We made small talk. I didn't take the bait when he asked me about politics. I did and said nothing in hope he wouldn't remember me. He looked at me like he recognized me but he couldn't remember from where. Then he left. A few minutes latter he came back in because he forgot something. I took care of it for him. He thanked me using my full name. He remembered me, but was enough of a gentleman not to ask any questions.

I'm really not ashamed of doing honest work. Even when the pay is low. Its better than not working at all. After 3 full years of under employment and having a baby, my savings is almost tapped. Frankly I haven't done a government contract since 2003. Apparently I miss playing a big shot.

"Biblical Endorsements"

2010-09-05T09:39:00.002-06:00

What if Biblical characters could be recruited as product endorsers?

For Match.com - Noah: "We can find a mate for anything. Why not you?"
For Excedrin - Moses: "Take two tablets and call me in the morning."
For Dell - Adam and Eve: "No Apples for us. We learned the hard way."
For AARP - Methuselah: "Life begins at 960!"

I thought it was funny. Anyone have any other suggestions?

It Pays to Vote

2010-08-17T10:48:00.000-06:00

Today is primary election day here in Wyoming. This is important because its the only day you have any real say in the election process on a state or federal level. I made the effort to go to the polls for a couple of good reasons.

1. We have a real ass running for sheriff and I don't want the guy elected. The only way to avoid this travesty of justice is to make sure his name isn't on the ballet come Nov.

2. All real political leadership issues are settled in the primaries here. The state doesn't have a two party system. Sure there are democrats but they mostly vote like republicans. Basically, with the exception of Jackson Hole and a couple of liberal backwaters, the state is conservative. Our retiring democrat governor is actually more conservative than GWB ever was.

So I showed up at the polls, and went in and did my duty. I voted for a couple of incumbent candidates, mostly because the challenger is a waste of oxygen. I voted against every incumbent for county commissar. They're crooks. The main reason to be a county commissioner is to vote in favor of deals that make the other commissioners money, so they in turn will vote in favor of your crooked business deals. I figure its time for a new set of crooks.

My goals amounted to: Stop a really poor potential sheriff, and get rid of some small time crooks. As I walked out to my truck I looked down and found a $20 bill on the parking lot, proving that, at least sometimes, it pays to vote.

Another Game Post

2010-08-17T10:33:00.002-06:00

OK so its a little Monty Python.

For the most part the above is true. Acting like a jerk will get most guys what they desire the most, most of the time. When a guy is a total nice guy/romantic that respects the girl and wants her "best" what she will respond to isn't the nice guy.

On the topic of sexual/relational norms, I found a modern/non religious person who believes that "a womens place is in the home". His is an interesting take on the subject from a purely evolutionary and personal satisfaction stand point.

In our ancestral past, people did not have to fill in forms. They did have to copulate in order to pass on genes. Consequently, we did not evolve to get a natural mental high from form-filling, but we did evolve to get something of a pleasant sensation from copulation. Today, we have to fill in forms, but no amount of education can make form-filling fun, because our brains simply do not have a mechanism for releasing pleasure chemicals for form-filling. Our brains do, however, have very strongly hard-wired mechanism for rewarding sex. By the same logic you cannot educate men to be happy about being kept or women to be happy working in an office while a stranger looks after her kids.

Another interesting bit I found.

Sturgis

2010-08-14T13:30:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year again. The 70th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is in full swing. I hate it.

You might be thinking, "Res you live in Wyoming, what do you care what happens in South Dakota?" Normally you'd be right. Sturgis is different. In order to get to the rally from the west, most people come through Wyoming. There in is my problem with the whole mess.

There are two kinds of bikers at the rally. Those that rode their Hog and those who made the trip some other way. I hate them both. Those that rode come through town at all hours of the day and night, with the classic loud pipes. For those of you who don't know, Harley Davidson Motorcycles are the most efficient method of turning petroleum into decibels without the added inconvenience of horse power, ever invented by man. The other problem I have is environmental. I was stuck behind a pilot car in a work zone, they were resurfacing the road. There were 3 guys ridding Harleys. They left enough oil on the newly rocked road to make a British Petroleum offshore drilling executive blush with shame.

The second group trailer their bikes. These are my favorites. The $250,000 to $1,000,000 motor home with the $50,000 special bike trailer carrying $100,000 grand in bikes. They're my favorite because I remember a time when I was a bad boy biker. I owned a $100 Honda CL360. I drove the bike almost all the time, because that's what I had. I made maybe $5 an hour in those days. It's time to play, "lets get a clue". If you can afford to drop over six figures to come to a one week rally in South Dakota, you're not a bad boy biker. Chances are you're a pediatrician, programmer for a dot com start up that made it big before the bust, or an employee of a company that the government just bailed out. In other words you're not a bad boy, you're a poser.

Seriously, we see the California plates on the motor home, don't try to play tough guy big shot in our town. Assless leather pants don't make you bullet proof. When you come into Perkins for breakfast, just wait for your table and don't bother the locals. When you pull the "who you looking at?" crap, act tough, and try to start something, we just pull our guns and lay them on the table. That's known as calling your bluff. Running out and calling the cops, that was so bad boy biker of you.

A couple of years ago the BMW Riders of America had their rally in Wyoming. I had a group of 50 to 100 riders drive past my house. They barely made any noise, none of my windows rattled. I guess they even spent the night in town. No bar fights, no trashed restaurants, no arrests that I ever heard about. Apparently the grocery store ran out of organic yogurt, but no other incidents were reported.

For those of you curious about the difference between Harley and BMW riders, I have complied a brief list.

HD: Loud pipes save lives.
BMW: Riding a good bike sober saves lives.

BMW: 120 mph
HD: 120 mph??? You're making that up.

BMW: Let's stop, I need a couple of gallons of gas.
HD: Let's stop, I need a couple of gallons of oil.

BMW: Shower regularly, wash bike when needed.
HD: Wash bike, polish chrome, Armor All tiers and seat, make it shine. What's a shower?

BMW: Sporty matching riding gear.
HD: Black leather chaps and dew rag.

BMW: Electric start.
HD: Fat chick on back to kick start.

BWM: New personal speed record.
HD: New item on criminal record.

BMW: Earl Gray lightly brewed and some nice scones and jam.
HD: Ben Gay, man I hurt all over, 12 miles is a killer ride.

BMW: Great each other with hugs and kisses.
HD: Only hug and kiss if they spent time as roommates in the big house.

Dr, Phil

2010-08-05T15:57:00.003-06:00

Yes, its the best I could do on a couple hours sleep. Hope you got a chuckle. I hope the girls got one or two right, somehow I doubt that they did. :-)

Blogging Will be Lite

2010-08-02T16:42:00.001-06:00

I just landed a bit of short term work. Unfortunately it involves me being on location 12hrs overnight. I'll be working all night and sleeping during the day. Less drive time etc I should get 6hrs sack time each day, so the hobbies have to take a back seat for the next 3 weeks.

I hope your summer is going great. We are currently being overrun with veggies from the garden.

Wyoming Wildlife 1, Tourists 0

2010-07-26T12:47:00.000-06:00

Suggested soundtrack for this post:

This started playing in my head as soon as I started reading this article.

It happens almost every year, someone, normally its a bus load of Japanese tourists, but not always, makes the mistake of thinking Yellowstone National Park is a petting zoo. The park is special to me, I used to live there, so I can speak with some authority on this. Every visitor gets a hand full of papers when they drive through the gate. Mostly these are pamphlets on park attractions. Most of these have a warning on them: "Don't disturb the wildlife".

The park hands these warnings out and posts signs reminding visitors that wildlife is in fact wild. Some people just don't get it. They have to try to pet the animals or pretend that they are an National Geographic photographer, or Jane Goodall or something. When the park service closes hiking trails due to bear activity, they do stuff like ignore the closing and hike the trail anyway. I have a funny story about that, remind me to share it sometime. They have to go check out wolf kill sites. They like to try to see why all the cow elk are circled looking out. That moose looks so tame, I think I'll get a picture of me petting it. True statistic: in 1950 most of the rattlesnake bites reported to the park service, were located on the ankle or calf. In 1994 most snake bites where located on the face, neck and upper torso. Did rattlesnakes learn to jump higher in 54 years? No tourists just got dumber. In the 50's snake encounters were the result of not seeing the snake and stepping on or near it. In the 90's snake bites were the result of SEEING the snake and getting down on the ground close to it to take a picture. Yet another proof of the infallibility of biological evolution.

BTW, I don't count snake encounters as proof that a person is a total moron. I've been bitten once and had several near misses myself. All of them accidental, if I see a snake its shoot first, collect the tail latter. Then again, I have thousands of hours of time spent in the outdoors in wild locations. I should point out, I've never been bitten on the face while taking a picture of a rattlesnake getting ready to strike.

Here is a video of Cathy Hayes and her summer vacation to Yellowstone:

Cathy is a school teacher, so her IQ is somewhat in doubt to begin with. She decided that "do not disturb the wildlife" means: "go ahead and chase a buffalo across the parking lot". After all buffalo are known for their enjoyment of fun loving games like tag. They so miss the days when the Indians used to chase them across the plains. It would be wrong to just leave them alone. The real kicker comes when someone decided that chasing wasn't enough and they wanted to get that extra bit of playground humor and threw a stick at the buffalo. After being chased across the parking lot, the stick must have been too much like the old days of Indians and arrows and the buffalo decided to run off the pests.

Which he did. Good on you Mr. buffalo.

Candy Store

2010-07-16T13:14:00.002-06:00

As a boy grows into a man he learns about Candy Store. At first the candy store is something he knows happens to exist. It's really not important in his life, after all they look goofy, smell funny, act funny and aren't very good at playing army or ball. He hears about Candy Store, but why bother? Something happens as he gets older, the talk form adults about Candy Store starts to get interesting.

At first he hears about Dad's Candy Store, how they met, what Dad liked about the Store, and what the Store liked about Dad. There are stories about the purchase transaction negotiations and about how exciting the day was when they signed the purchase paper. The lesson learned is, this is what works for getting a Candy Store. The boy goes to church and learns about the importance of signing the purchase paper before you get into the Store. He learns that he can only ever have that first Candy Store for the rest of his life. The lesson learned is he better pick carefully.

The boy gets older and he realizes that he REALLY NEEDS a visit to the Candy Store. So he starts window shopping. He knows the rules, no sampling the candy unless he buys the store first, and a man can only have one store in his life. He spends all his spare time and money checking out Candy Stores. He gets to know them. They look funny, act funny, smell funny aren't any good at sports and he can't get enough.

He finds one that his parents agree is an excellent Candy Store. It's got a solid foundation, a reputation for sturdiness, and a good roof. Most importantly to the boy, he saw a glimpse of some truffles and can't wait for a taste. The boy enters into earnest negotiations to buy it. Eventually they reach a bargain. He agrees to only shop at the store, and spend all that he has in time, money and energy on its up keep. The Store agrees to supply the candy.

Purchase day comes, they sign the papers and all their friends and family are happy for them. Finally its time to sample some candy. It's awkward at first, no one has tried this recipe before, which is great, as far as the boy is concerned, but awkward for the candy maker. There were some difficulties unwrapping the candy. Who knew the packaging had so many hidden clasps? Even that is fun for the boy. He gets the candy, its good. He knows he likes it and looks forward to more tastes.

Time goes on. The boy invests his time, money and life into the store. The Candy Store is closed most of the time. Not only that, but there are whole sections of shelves that he can't select candy from. It gets to the point where the shop is only open every fifth Thursday and all that is available is stale milk chocolate miniatures which are handed over with poor service and a snarl. A little variety would be appreciated but the candy maker insists on only using granny wrappers on the candy, because doing something different would be "uncomfortable". Meanwhile the store makes more demands even though its closed.

The man knows that he has been cheated. He can't get out of the deal. The purchase papers are signed. He learns that other men get to shop from all the shelves in a variety of different stores, whenever they want. This sounds fantastic to him. How can it be? All he wants is some nicely wrapped truffles and a little juicy fruit on a regular basis. He can't get that, even though he played by all the rules. The players ignore the rules of the church but get all the candy they want. It's not fair.

He learns what the Players are doing. It boils down to being a more manly man and working on yourself. He learns that Candy Stores are more generous with the goodies when they think the man is attractive to other Stores. The man learns not to ask, beg or cry as a way of getting candy. After all it didn't work before. He learns what does work and does that instead.

Candy Stores are against men learning how to get the candy. The candy store wants an indentured servant, not a eager and dedicated customer. If men know what works, they will do that instead of paying for a new paint job or sweeping up in the kitchen.

Arielle,

I got started on this topic because of you and Hedi. I think its interesting to apply the concept of "Game" to marriage. Christian men were created as men first. They chose to become Christians. The same with Christian women. The basic facts of human sexuality and attractiveness don't change because of Christianity. Christian sex develops a spiritual component as well as the physical one. As far as I can tell your basic position is that men should do without adequate sex and "master their lust". I've provided you with direct quotes from the Bible that say differently.

The fact is that certain behavior on the part of men encourages their women to want sexual intimacy. I can see no Biblical reason for men not encouraging this. If men doing the dishes turned wives into nymphomaniacs, husbands would have dishpan hands and a great big contented smile on their face. Men being more domesticated isn't what elicits the hot pants scenario in women. Men being more manly does. If you're a guy and need more sex, the most logical thing is to do what works, not what women say they want. Most guys learn that what women say, and what they mean, and what will actually work are seldom the same thing. The best option for a man is to ignore what the women says and wait and see what actually happens.

70% of what we say is non-verbal, 20% of what we say is tone; leaving 10% for the actual words to convey meaning. If a man says: "Honey I need a blow job", the wife will process that bit of information in her head. If his tone is whinny, she will filter the message accordingly. If his non-verbal body language is limp, defeated, desperate and wimpy, that will convey further meaning. What he is saying is; "I need sexual intimacy". What she is hearing is: I'm a whinny, wimp of a boy-child, I'd like a little nooky, but I'm not likely to get it because I'm desperate because no women finds me attractive enough to invest 15 min of her time on my pleasure. She is a female animal. Nothing in her biology makes her want to mate with a weak example of the male sex. This holds true even if she is a christian married to a christian man.

Same man and women. The man has been being manly. He approaches his women confidently. He has done some service for her that she likes. He has killed the big nasty spider that was on her counter. The oil is changed in her car (which reminds me...). He is wearing the clothes she bought him for his birthday and the cologne she likes. He has a plan, the kids are going to grandmas till Sunday. He takes mom and kids to grandmas Friday night. Instead of going home they go to a nice restaurant, then a hotel. She wants to know whats going on. He informs her that they are staying the weekend or until the manager throws them out for having wild, loud monkey sex. She hasn't packed anything. He hands her a little box and tells her its all she'll need to wear.

In which scenario is the man most likely to get his blow job?

If you said the second, you now understand why Christian men are interested in how/if game works better than non-game. If a women wants a man to help out around the house vs strut around the house, all she has to do is make mad passionate love to him when he picks up his socks and does a load of laundry. When he asks, "what brought this on"? Tell him that it gets your juices following when he helps out with the chores. Next time he helps out reward him the same way. Keep repeating the cycle of great sex as a reward for making you happy and he'll work himself to death for you with a smile on his face.

Sex and the Married Man

2010-07-13T13:12:00.001-06:00

True confession time: I normally just read the "game" post at Vox's and smile to myself. That's as far as it goes for me. I have no interest in scoring with college co-eds or nailing the newly divorced. I smile because I can remember a time that I did or sad something that was very "game" but in all reality I was just trying to communicate that I wasn't interested.

My personal history is pretty simple. If I thought a girl was attractive, I asked her out. That statement is true from 7th grade right up until I proposed to Mrs. Ipsa. In all that time I was turned down one time in Jr. High, one time in High School, once in college, and one time in after I started working. That's it. Turn down number one and two, was because her father said she was too young (different girls), number three had the hots for some other guy; they married two years latter, number four was a gal I met in a professional class who said she was just got engaged, I just said' "oh that's fine" and gave her a big smile. At the end of the week, she took me aside and asked to talk to me. She showed me the ring and told me the story and how it was getting sized to fit her on Monday and that's why she wasn't wearing it when I asked her out. I guess she felt bad that she was taken.

That's four strike outs from 13 to 25. Basically I had a date every weekend that I wanted one until after college. Notice I said date, not slept with. I remember one girl that I thought was very hot, that I took home after less than an hour. She was a drag and I wasn't interested if putting up with her. That's what dating was to me, looks good = ask her out, had fun = ask her out again, girl is a drag = dump now. No sense in wasting time on women you don't enjoy. As far as looks quality, most were average girl next door types but there were two actresses, a model/rodeo queen and a Ms Hawaii runner up mixed in there as well.

For me the dating "game" ended the day I said "I do". I was off the market and no longer looking, so the "how to" of "getting the girl", no longer interests me. For better or worse, I "have her". So the game posts are more humor to me than anything.

Guys like sex. We need sex. The only thing we know we'd like more of in this life is sex. This is true of Christian guys as well as PUA's. Ladies, if your man isn't saying something like, "women I'm only human, we did it four times today and 5 yesterday, let me get some sleep", then yes, your man would like to be getting it more often too.

I never would have found this blog if it hadn't been for Vox: Married Man Sex Life. This is "Game" applied to marriage. I read some of his stuff yesterday. He's not a christian but he claims that he and his wife were each others first and that they are monogamously married. Here is a sample:

In general I find Roissy to be an entertaining writer and he is perhaps the best describer of the value of the Alpha = Female Attraction link and I have found that quite useful in learning that facet. However I am obviously in disagreement of his disdain for the Beta Traits and as such any advice he gives on LTRs is usually wrong and may as well be designed to destroy the relationship. PUA Game and Married Game are worlds apart.

AND:

Before and After, Why Is That?

Discuss...

The change is often commented on across many blogs, but why is that so common? And try not to just say "Betaization", the question is why does that happen... what is the cause of it?

Warning the blog its self is not always Safe for Work, images are mostly PG-13 and R, no XXX that I found.

Guys take a look. He recommends a balance between alpha and beta characteristics as the best way to have good sex with your wife. By the way he defines good married sex as "doing it like rabbits" with lots of passion and variety. I think most of the men would go along with that definition. Laddies, take a gander as well, would some of the things he recommends spice it up a bit for you too? Let your man know. Don't deceive yourself women, christian married men are still men, and we were created with the same sexual instincts and needs as PUA's.

Let me know what you think of his blog.

Good Day Fishing

2010-07-09T23:04:00.001-06:00

I come by my love for fishing genetically. My granddad started taking me fishing when I was still in training pants. I don't remember how many times we went fishing together but I remember fishing with him. His last fishing trip was to the pond on his farm. He took his only (at that time) grandson (me). I caught a black crappie. There was never a prouder man, nor apparently a bigger fish ever caught in the history of fishing. If there was a bigger one, it was not a grander one, not in his eyes.

That was on the weekend. Granddad had been on layoff from work and he had been feeling poorly. Because he was laid off his insurance wouldn't cover him and if he didn't go back to work he couldn't draw his pension or disability if he was real sick. Monday he was called back and worked his one full shift. Then he went to the doctor. Lung cancer. That can happen when you start smoking at 5. He was dead in days. All of that happened 34 years ago, last week.

Res Jr.'s real life name is the same as my granddad. Because, I remember and honor him still. Granddad was the best fisherman to ever live. I say that because no kid throwing rocks, kicking his feet, breaking bottles or dropping the anchor in the bottom of the boat ever stopped him catching fish. No amount of dumb kid behavior ever interfered with his joy of fishing. He loved having me fish with him. All he needed was a cane pole a can of worms and his little fishing buddy.

Today Res Jr. and I ditched the girls and got in the truck for a drive. The little guy likes to fish. What this means is he likes to watch daddy fish. So last year for his birthday I bought him a pole and a reel. Not a kiddie one either, a real honest to goodness ultralite panfish setup. He's got to use it before. Mostly to get it tangled in the weeds. When that has happened we just call it a day, because its not fun for him anymore. He gets such a kick out of fishing that I don't think it matters when we leave, just as long as he got to come.

Today we got to our spot, daddy rigged up the line, daddy put the worm on, daddy cast it out. Jr. reeled it back in. This is a big accomplishment for him. This is the fist time he as worked the reel. I was proud and had high expectations. Except, just as soon as I'd throw it out, he'd reel it back. I couldn't even get my fly rod outfitted. This was frustrating to daddy. Fish were jumping all over the pond. Jr. hadn't caught one in 3 casts. That was frustrating to him. With about 8 ft of line still in the water and the bobber floating free, we gave up on the worm and left it there.

We walked around to the other side to try the fly rod. Daddy managed to kill some time and land 3 nice rainbows. Jr. loved it. This was what he came for. The fishing slowed where we were at and so we moved back to the other side. About then I noticed that the bobber would go down and come up. There was no doubt in my mind the fish has swallowed the hook. So I made ready for the big event.

I acted like nothing was up. Just like another man did 34 years ago. I handed the rod over with the instruction to "reel it in". Just as he started to crank he cried, "its stuck daddy, its stuck!". "Is it now?", I asked. The fish made a run for it and the pole started bouncing like a kangaroo doing jumping jacks. "It's a fish daddy, a FISH!!!". I don't know who was more excited him or me. "Reel it in"! I ordered. "I'm doing it, I'm doing it daddy!".

Somebody, (a real big dumbo) who shall go without being named to protect his identity, had set the drag way to lite. So the reeling it part was much more dramatic than might have otherwise occurred. I swear the way he was swinging the rod back and forth I thought he was going to throw it in with the fish. That would have made me mad, because I knew that if the rod went in, I was going to have to make a 2hr ride home soaking wet. There was no way we were going to miss that fish, even if I had to take a swim.

We got our whale landed. It was a 11 inch rainbow. "We caught a fish daddy", he said. "No you caught it", I corrected. "I caught a fish daddy!" he shouted. "Yes you did" I told him. If you go to the Wyoming Game and Fish web page where they keep the records, you will find no fish such as this listed. There has never been a better trout caught here or anyplace else. In the history of the world only two fish have ever been this grand. I was privileged to be there when they both were caught.

The fish:

And I Quote

2010-07-07T22:00:00.001-06:00

"The people of the U.S. owe their Independence & their liberty, to the wisdom of descrying in the minute tax of 3 pence on tea, the magnitude of the evil comprised in the precedent. Let them exert the same wisdom, in watching against every evil lurking under plausible disguises, and growing up from small beginnings."
--James Madison

Three cents per pound of tea was the lowest tea tax in the British Empire at that time. In the American Plantations as we were called in the Act, tea was sold at a lower price than in London. This was by design. The colonies had argued that we were not legally required to pay any taxes levied by the Parliament in London (this is historically correct, we had the same type of charter to form legislature, granted by the king that formed the Parliament in London). So the price of tea was cut below market rates and the tax was reduced to 3 pence per pound from 2 schillings 6 pence per pound for tea delivered to colonial ports. The intent was to make tea so inexpensive and the tax so low that the colonists would just go along and pay it.

To put this into prespective I am brewing a cup of Lapsong Souchong. This is a fairly expensive tea at $35.65/lb. I doubt that in modern terms the tax would amount to more than 25 cents American. There was a principle at stake, and the colonists were not going to give into incremental taxes or incremental loss of their liberty. One can only wonder what happened to their offspring.

I'd like to Know

2010-07-06T13:38:00.000-06:00

Prof Hale posted about problems with my blog. I'm glad he did. I had been having problems getting my page to load for sometime. I had attributed it to ISP problems I'd been having so I didn't make the connection that it might be a larger problem.

If you've been having problems getting this to load or with making comments, please let me know. I just eliminated a link from the template that had been causing some stalling on my end. This seems to be helping but there may be other issues that I'm not aware of. If there are template changes that would speed things up please feel free to make suggestions about that as well.

VOX has a great little feature where all the archives are in a drop down menu. If anyone knows the code for doing that, I'd love to give it a try.

Thanks

In Other Good News

2010-07-01T16:46:00.001-06:00

I just got great news. I drew my favorite unit to hunt elk in for the fall. This is my second year in a row to draw it. Now all I need is a new job and lots of vacation time.