Are you ready?

Are you ready for the changing price of transportation? I believe the price of gas is going to near double in the next year and a half. I don't really need to get into the details of why I think this, just look at the middle east today. What I want to do is give you some knowledge about the new technology from a mechanics point of view. Remember that knowledge is power. I finally got out of my lil suv, (Jeep Cherokee) and into a newer Honda Civic. Country of origin is United States, and it gets 38 mpg on the highway. I chose this car over some other forms of transportation that are very fuel efficient. (Jessie the horse) In today's world there is a lot of (MIS)information about how to save energy when traveling, and what car to travel in.I'll try to give you the skinny on some of the popular choices. First let me say that we will not run out of oil any time soon. The reason is that as the price of a gallon of gas goes up the usage goes down. Sooner or later alternate sources will be cheaper. Is there a magic bullet that we can use now and keep from having to support the terrorists in the middle east with the purchase of their oil? No there isn't, but we do have many little sticks we can and should throw at them. My very efficient Honda is one of them. I noticed a man commenting on ITM about electric cars and how great they are. I too am a fan but know that half the things he said were not true of most electric cars. We have all heard about the Hybrid cars from Honda Toyota and Ford. Sound to good to be true? It is too good to be true, and I know why. GM has been making cars that can burn ethanol for years, and they work very well but is that the answer? Stay tuned.

Picking your battles.

I had an experience at work the other day that went beyond the normal. This says a lot because what is normal for my life is kinda out there. (reference the five foot grinch in the post last week)
I went next door to purchase some Gatorade to combat the high heat and humidity we have been having. While standing in line I heard a commotion behind me. I turned and saw the manager of the gas station yelling at a young black man to drop em and get the hell out! Also yelling for the man behind the counter to call 911. When I turned around I saw the man in question carrying three eighteen packs of Bud Light with a large black woman pulling on him and yelling. (she was the manager) He got out the door and was running across the street in seconds. On that day the place was being cleaned by a crew from the corporation that owns the station. I then saw a large overweight white male go tearing hell bent for leather after the thief. He chased him into the ghetto across the street. I've been in this neighborhood for about ten years now, and know a few folks around. I know it's no place for a white man to be fighting a black man over some Bud, especially Bobs Bud. Yes I know the owner of the corporation, slightly. We drink at the same bar sometimes. He would have a fit if his guy got hurt doing this so I elected to get involved. I thought it would be better if the man following had some help. It was about nine in the AM and the temps were about eighty two already with about ninety percent humidity. I had too much to drink the night before. This day was going to hell fast! We followed the thief about a block up the road and then a left turn into a side yard of an apartment building. We asked repeatedly for him to stop, saying we would continue following until he stopped. He stopped! He then set his beer down while we began to catch our breath. (not lying here) He then pulls a full sized ball bat out of his pants! Saying I wish you would!!! He comes at the man I was with. I circled around to get behind the thief. The thief, at a distance of about three feet does a Willy Mays imitation and tries to knock this mans head slam off! For a fat guy he could really move! He ducked the blow (barely) and jumped back. I, at that time, should have tackled the thief but was too far away! I couldn't make up the fifteen feet between us in time. I wasn't in a real hurry to close the gap as these guys have all kinds of things in and on their person that you don't want to touch. Needles an such. I feinted towards him to take the pressure off the other man, causing the thief to turn and run into a large mass of Kudzu. Kudzu is a vine that grows up to ten feet a day and can stop a battle tank! I, at this time, was talking to the police and asking them to hurry! I turned to follow the thief into the Kudzu. About four feet in I lost sight of him and everything else! They had a room carved into this stuff! It was dark and he was not where I could see him. I could hear the other man and several people from the neighborhood yelling at me to get the hell back out where they were. At that time I decided the beer wasn't worth all this. It was after all Bobs beer. I backed out and went back to work. What I didn't know was that I'd chased him right into the arms of the law as they came up the next street. I chose not to get into a fight and he got caught. Picking your battles! I won't be doing anything like that again.

Page two

So now we wonder what the solutions are to these, and other problems we are faced with. Can't say I'd do the right thing but here is what I'd do. Iraq: Hang Muqtada from a public lightpole and leave him there for no less then three months. Anybody wanna come get him? Shoot them. Shoot on sight anyone caught carrying a weapon in public. Use metal detectors (hand held) at check points to find weapons. Set up check points at random, no more then one hour in any single spot. Any foreign fighters found would be shot on sight and their bodies shipped back to the country of origin and dumped from ten thousand feet. Run all schools in Iraq according to American standards. Close down any mosque or madras preaching violence. Lebanon: Give an ultimatum to disarm Hezbollah and secure the border with Israel or face an invasion to protect the border by establishing a permanent buffer zone. Don't like it? Tough shit, come and do something about it. You'd rather face us then Hezbollah? Don't think so. Syria: Massive air bombardment of all government and military targets along with anyone else that stickes their head up and bitches about it. It's time Syrians died for their little war instead of leaving that part to others. Iran: Give them about one week to get rid of the nuke technology. If they even so much as say one damn thing take em out hard. I'm talking Nuke bunker busters followed up with conventional bombardment of all military targets. KSA and Egypt. You have one year to hold democratic elections and let the people decide their own fate. Said fate will be meted out by the U.S. military. All madrases to be destroyed. And now the bonus round. North Korea: You have taken far too many American lives to just let you off the hook. Bury small battlefield nukes along the border with South Korea. Tell China it's their baby to control, then starve them. One more missile launch will be met with a high value target being destroyed. No-body gives a damn how big their army is if kept in a small area. Think about killing Fire ants. Pakistan: Shut down the madrases and educate the people in something else besides Islam. Any high level terrorists caught to be hung by the neck and left on public display until the bodies have ceased to be offensive. This act is meant to inflame. Fire ants again. Kick a mound and get them out in the open.

The Midle East, my view

Did anyone read the USA Today the other day. It had a picture of an old woman waving a couple of pistols or some such. She was celebrating Hesbollahs attack on Israel.
Funny, she didn't look like an islamofascist to me. She is gonna drown in her own blood before this is over, taking god only knows how many of her begotten with her. I gotta tell ya I'm just about sick of that whole arab/muslim mindset. Never have I seen a people so bent on bloodshed and destruction. I have heard that Israel is over reacting to incidents of late. I dunno, I'd get kinda tired of scraping my friends and neighbors off the sides of buildings and outa the street. I'm also not much on the idea that it was palastinian land before Israel came into being. I could be wrong but I think it was a part of Jordan. What would they do with the land anyway? Sit and bitch cause no-body would feed them? It is my belief that those folks were born to fight, and islam keeps em stupid enough to. On that note we turn to Iraq! I have come to believe that there are some very fine people in Iraq, but by no means a majority. The majority seem islam stupid. They really don't have time for Jew killing, so they kill one another for being the wrong type of muslim. Even through all that they still find time to protest the war Israel is waging for her survival. Bloodthirsty bastards will take shots at our forces or their own people but scream bloody murder when the retaliation takes the lives of their loved ones.
How about them innocents? What innocents? You mean the Lebanese? The ones that won't purge their own democratic country of the terrorists? Makes them as bad as the French during WWll. It's funny to see the Syrians willing to fight to the last Palestinian, and The Iranians willing to fight to the last Syrian.
Geez everyone fallin all over themselves to push the other into a fight. Remember highschool? On that note lets look at The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Sorry gang but any country where one of our fighter pilots has to be escorted around and wear a vail cause she is a woman aint no ally of ours. Don't even get me started on cultural correctness! (my word) More women then men are born in this world, and keeping them under subjugation is never correct. What was that? Islam? Sigh! Continued

Thanks to Louise

Words To Taps
(Note: there are no "official" words to Taps, below are the most popular.)Day is done,gone the sun,From the hills,from the lake,From the skies.All is well,safely rest,God is nigh.Go to sleep,peaceful sleep,May the soldieror sailor,God keep.On the landor the deep,Safe in sleep.Love, good night,Must thou go,When the day,And the nightNeed thee so?All is well.Speedeth allTo their rest.Fades the light;And afarGoeth day,And the starsShineth bright,Fare thee well;Day has gone,Night is on.Thanks and praise,For our days,'Neath the sun,Neath the stars,'Neath the sky,As we go,This we know,God is nigh.

I first learned the words to taps in summer camp as a child.

The Grinch

Well junk week resumed today at work with the arival of a fifty ford flathead, a 70 Toyota land cruisor, and The Grinch. The grinch was set down outside and next to our building by a nut. The man yelled and cursed Grinchy, then left for an hour only to return and yell and curse Grinchy again. He then left for about three hours then returned and took Grinchy with him.

Blackbirds an such

Ohh do you remember these? The black one is for sale...first 25 takes it. Sheesh. The other one is a one owner til death seperates them.

Aint to pretty in the heat of the afternoon. Temps about 100 in my area. Thought I'd mess with my new camera phone. Not a bad pic for such an ugly topic huh? I will get serious next post....Maybe

Life, dreams and yonder the next hill

K it's time to stick my nose in. Everyone has heard that life is short and to live hard, get what you can. My wife is fond of telling me life is an adventure, and with her it is. I was asked by a professional once what I liked best about my wife. I answered, "She takes me along on her adventures!" I moved about a thousand miles from home to be with my wife, leaving kids, parents, sister, friends galore, a business, and a career. Not a day went by that I didn't question myself or my motives. As things didn't go well I was tempted to throw in the towel on many occasions. It's been nine years now and I'm finally feeling at home. In the early months the homesickness was like a fist in the face. I was bewildered and lost. didn't have the social contacts I was used to, and no one to help sort it out. All the more reason I'm amazed at our forefathers coming to this land never to return home. As time goes by you make new friends, gain the respect of new groups. A partial list of problems would include some language issues, behavior issues, (we don't think and act the same under like circumstances) homesickness, and no support group. (who ya gonna talk to when you and the misses are fighting) pluses? Yep there's a few. Self confidence is gained. Financial discipline is a must. New friends, climate, and sites to see. This is just a small sample of what one is up against when one leaves their home space. The best thing I can say is that it's important to know and be comfortable with who and what you are. It's a mighty big apple out there. Make sure you can chew the bite you take.

The fourth

I am the Flag
by Ruth Apperson Rous
I am the flag of the United States of America.
I was born on June 14, 1777, in Philadelphia.
There the Continental Congress adopted my stars and stripes as the national flag.
My thirteen stripes alternating red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars in a field of blue, represented a new constellation, a new nation dedicated to the personal and religious liberty of mankind.
Today fifty stars signal from my union, one for each of the fifty sovereign states in the greatest constitutional republic the world has ever known.
My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of the citizens of my country.
My red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and integrity of American men and boys and the self-sacrifice and devotion of American mothers and daughters.
My white stripes stand for liberty and equality for all.
My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.
I represent these eternal principles: liberty, justice, and humanity.
I embody American freedom: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the press, and the sanctity of the home.
I typify that indomitable spirit of determination brought to my land by Christopher Columbus and by all my forefathers - the Pilgrims, Puritans, settlers at James town and Plymouth.
I am as old as my nation.
I am a living symbol of my nation's law: the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
I voice Abraham Lincoln's philosophy: "A government of the people, by the people,for the people."
I stand guard over my nation's schools, the seedbed of good citizenship and true patriotism.
I am displayed in every schoolroom throughout my nation; every schoolyard has a flag pole for my display.
Daily thousands upon thousands of boys and girls pledge their allegiance to me and my country.
I have my own law—Public Law 829, "The Flag Code" - which definitely states my correct use and display for all occasions and situations.
I have my special day, Flag Day. June 14 is set aside to honor my birth.
Americans, I am the sacred emblem of your country. I symbolize your birthright, your heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.
I am your title deed of freedom, which is yours to enjoy and hold in trust for posterity.
If you fail to keep this sacred trust inviolate, if I am nullified and destroyed, you and your children will become slaves to dictators and despots.
Eternal vigilance is your price of freedom.
As you see me silhouetted against the peaceful skies of my country, remind yourself that I am the flag of your country, that I stand for what you are - no more, no less.
Guard me well, lest your freedom perish from the earth.
Dedicate your lives to those principles for which I stand: "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
I was created in freedom. I made my first appearance in a battle for human liberty.
God grant that I may spend eternity in my "land of the free and the home of the brave" and that I shall ever be known as "Old Glory," the flag of the United States of America.