Yesterday morning Girlie Bear and I got into the van to get to school and work. When I turned the key the lights came on, the radio started playing, but no cranking. After repeated attempts with no luck, I figured out that a relay was clicking over under the hood, and I could hear the starter whirring. But no cranking.
I transferred us over to the truck, and we made our way to work and school. I took the afternoon off to try to fix the problem or make arrangements at the shop.
I did some research online and in my Haynes manual, and it could have been a loose connection to the starter, a bad relay, a bad battery, or the starter itself. I checked out the cables, and they looked OK. I trust the relay because I can hear it clicking when I try to start the car. I took the battery to the parts store, and it came out of the test as a good battery. So I'm down to the starter.
According to the manual and the internet, it's a matter of disconnecting the battery, disconnecting the starter, and then unbolting it from the engine.
Disconnecting the battery took about 2 minutes total. Bonus!
Disconnecting the starter from the electrical system took almost an hour. It was only 2 nuts to remove and one wire to pull out, but to get my big meathooks into the small space the starter is in was painful, ungainly, and maddening. Bogus!
I removed the first of 3 bolts from the starter after doing some real yoga-like contortions with my wrench. The other two bolts remain hidden by other parts of the engine, waiting for my hands and forearms to heal enough that I can try to figure out the 3d puzzle that is a Chrysler engine compartment and remove them.
I will have a replacement starter tomorrow morning. I will probably wait until Saturday to try again.
But I have made a decision. It will be a cold day in hades before I purchase another Chrysler product. I loved my first Chrysler, a Dodge Shadow. It was a crackerbox, but it was comfortable, got good gas mileage, and was really reliable.
When I finally gave in and got something else, I stayed with Chrysler and got a used Sebring. That car lasted 18 months, and then its transmission broke going 70 miles an hour on the freeway at 10 PM on a Friday.
I had been considering getting another car anyway, as this car wasn't as comfortable as I thought it was. I didn't think anything bad about the car, because it was used, and I didn't know how hard the previous owner had driven it.
So I got the Caravan. And it's a nice, comfortable daddymobile. I've had it almost 3 years. It's on its second transmission, has blown almost every lightbulb in the car, and has started getting gas mileage in the F250 range.
The only reason that I pause before dumping this van and getting a Ford or something is because it's almost paid off, and I'm looking forward to not having a car payment for a while.
This is not a complaint about the people I have worked with at Chrysler. Between us, the Irish Woman and I have bought 5 cars from the same salesman at our dealership. I also really like the people I've worked with in the dealership like the mechanics and technicians.
But good customer service doesn't make up for the continual need for me to maintain this heap. And when I do work on it, the unreasonably tight quarters of the engine compartment make what should be a 20 minute job into a multiday exercise in knuckle busting. No amount of styling or good service makes up for that.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Interesting idea
Just saw this on Cnet. Basically, a short lived MMORPG is being used to discuss possible solutions to food and energy shortages, massive disease outbreaks, and major social problems such as refugees. At first glance, it looks like http://folding.stanford.edu/, but using actual people to find answers instead of computers.
Basically, a problem is posited, and lots and lots of people put together proposals on how to deal with the problem.
Kind of like my staff meetings, but in this instance, something interesting is coming out of it.
Basically, a problem is posited, and lots and lots of people put together proposals on how to deal with the problem.
Kind of like my staff meetings, but in this instance, something interesting is coming out of it.
Military Intelligence Twitter Kerfluffle
OK, full disclosure. I used to be an instructor at the MI Schoolhouse, of which the 304th MI BN is a part. I've seen a lot of articles like this over the years. They're normally done by junior officers, usually students, and are more of a "what if" scenario than anything else.
This article follows that pattern. My guess is that some young lieutenant or captain wrote this as part of a class, and it got published in the battalion newsletter. It doesn't mean that the MI as a whole believes that Al Qaeda is using Twitter and camera phones to carry out attacks. It means that some bright young officer was able to do some research and figure out how these tools could be used.
The author raises some good points, specifically that tools that we use in our daily lives can be used by bad guys to do bad things. Camera phones,GPS, microblogging tools, and Internet chat can all be used to find targets, recon them, and then control an attack. Heck, I've used the camera and GPS in my iPhone to scout my deer hunting areas, and I've chatted from the field with my buddies when I have a 3G signal.
As the author notes, Twitter has already been used by protesters at the RNC in Minneapolis to spread information. The article also makes a good point that microblogging by military personnel can be detrimental to OPSEC.
Hopefully, this article will be used to raise awareness and not create hysteria or over-reaction, either in the public, political, or military spheres.
This article follows that pattern. My guess is that some young lieutenant or captain wrote this as part of a class, and it got published in the battalion newsletter. It doesn't mean that the MI as a whole believes that Al Qaeda is using Twitter and camera phones to carry out attacks. It means that some bright young officer was able to do some research and figure out how these tools could be used.
The author raises some good points, specifically that tools that we use in our daily lives can be used by bad guys to do bad things. Camera phones,GPS, microblogging tools, and Internet chat can all be used to find targets, recon them, and then control an attack. Heck, I've used the camera and GPS in my iPhone to scout my deer hunting areas, and I've chatted from the field with my buddies when I have a 3G signal.
As the author notes, Twitter has already been used by protesters at the RNC in Minneapolis to spread information. The article also makes a good point that microblogging by military personnel can be detrimental to OPSEC.
Hopefully, this article will be used to raise awareness and not create hysteria or over-reaction, either in the public, political, or military spheres.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Old Strategies coming back into Fashion
This caught my eye. Looks like the Air Force did a Map Exercise using China as the Red Force. They were trying to forecast what air power they would need in order to fight a conflict in the Pacific Rim with a near equal opponent.
A lot of the strategies that they are proposing seem oddly familiar. Things like dispersion, forward staging of repair and supply units, communications, and mid-air refueling are big on their list of things they want.
I'm not a Pac Rim guy. I was an Eastern Europe/Russia guy. But these things they are saying for are the same things they wanted when I was a kid living next to a SAC base in the Dakota's.
Their suggestion that we get basing and transit rights in Japan and South Korea may be problematic. We are slowly drawing down our environments in those countries, and they are integrating themselves economically and socially with the rest of the Pac Rim, including China. In the event of a crisis, I'm not sure we could rely on these two countries to not do the calculus and see that China could do a lot more damage to them than a loss of our good graces could do. And there's a precedent in the Iraq War. Turkey refused to allow our troops to cross their territory to get to Northern Iraq, and to my knowledge there haven't been any repercussions. We need to have back up plans to project air, naval, and land power into the Pac Rim in the event that one or both of these important allies go cold on us.
We no longer keep B-52's and B-1's doing circuits on a 24x7 basis, but I don't think that's a permanent situation. China is going to be a major competitor to us for the foreseeable future, and I don't see that relationship as friendly in the long term. Even if the communist government was to disappear tomorrow, the issues that force China to look for more land and resources are still there.
I'd suggest that we beef up our basing in Guam, and do something that draws a very bright line in the sand with Taiwan. Something on the order of recognition of that country and basing of Air Force and Navy units there.
A lot of the strategies that they are proposing seem oddly familiar. Things like dispersion, forward staging of repair and supply units, communications, and mid-air refueling are big on their list of things they want.
I'm not a Pac Rim guy. I was an Eastern Europe/Russia guy. But these things they are saying for are the same things they wanted when I was a kid living next to a SAC base in the Dakota's.
Their suggestion that we get basing and transit rights in Japan and South Korea may be problematic. We are slowly drawing down our environments in those countries, and they are integrating themselves economically and socially with the rest of the Pac Rim, including China. In the event of a crisis, I'm not sure we could rely on these two countries to not do the calculus and see that China could do a lot more damage to them than a loss of our good graces could do. And there's a precedent in the Iraq War. Turkey refused to allow our troops to cross their territory to get to Northern Iraq, and to my knowledge there haven't been any repercussions. We need to have back up plans to project air, naval, and land power into the Pac Rim in the event that one or both of these important allies go cold on us.
We no longer keep B-52's and B-1's doing circuits on a 24x7 basis, but I don't think that's a permanent situation. China is going to be a major competitor to us for the foreseeable future, and I don't see that relationship as friendly in the long term. Even if the communist government was to disappear tomorrow, the issues that force China to look for more land and resources are still there.
I'd suggest that we beef up our basing in Guam, and do something that draws a very bright line in the sand with Taiwan. Something on the order of recognition of that country and basing of Air Force and Navy units there.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Weekend
Well, I got a lot done over the weekend, but not quite all of the work I had planned.
Saturday I got to sleep in until almost 9, and the Irish Woman had a hot breakfast waiting for me. Kinda nice. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing some house cleaning stuff, and then we went to the Halloween Party.
Baby Bear was as cute as expected in his Yoda costume, and we got to see a bunch of friends we hadn't seen in quite a while.
Sunday I did a lot of the outside work. The gutters got cleaned, and I cleaned the chimney. Now I understand why a good chimney sweep is so expensive. What a nasty job!
Junior Bear continued his labors against the leaves from our maple trees. He's kept his head above water this year, and he should be done in the next couple of weeks.
It got COLD last night, so I may be having our first fire of the year tonight.
No hunting this weekend, and I will probably go to Knob Creek this weekend to get practice in with the Mosin before gun season starts next weekend. This fall is just flying by.
Saturday I got to sleep in until almost 9, and the Irish Woman had a hot breakfast waiting for me. Kinda nice. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing some house cleaning stuff, and then we went to the Halloween Party.
Baby Bear was as cute as expected in his Yoda costume, and we got to see a bunch of friends we hadn't seen in quite a while.
Sunday I did a lot of the outside work. The gutters got cleaned, and I cleaned the chimney. Now I understand why a good chimney sweep is so expensive. What a nasty job!
Junior Bear continued his labors against the leaves from our maple trees. He's kept his head above water this year, and he should be done in the next couple of weeks.
It got COLD last night, so I may be having our first fire of the year tonight.
No hunting this weekend, and I will probably go to Knob Creek this weekend to get practice in with the Mosin before gun season starts next weekend. This fall is just flying by.
Friday, October 24, 2008
One lucky pooch
Two fishermen off the coast of England caught a dog almost a mile from shore. Lucky dog.
That is one pooch who will never willingly get into the bathtub again.
That is one pooch who will never willingly get into the bathtub again.
Relax, it's almost over
Only a few more days until this election cycle is over. Personally, I'm sick of the whole thing. I figured out who I was going to vote for a couple of months ago, and I've been trying to avoid thinking, talking, and writing about it since then.
This is the longest political race I can ever remember, and the nastiest I've ever seen.
Of course I hope my candidates will win, but if not, better luck next time. Hopefully the majority of people will have the same attitude. I have hope on that one, but not much.
It should tell you something when police departments start getting ready for civil unrest over an election. Again, I hope people will act like adults, but I don't have much hope for that one either.
Go vote. Celebrate or mourn on election evening and the day after. After that, sober up, get back to work, and try to remember we're all supposed to be working together.
This is the longest political race I can ever remember, and the nastiest I've ever seen.
Of course I hope my candidates will win, but if not, better luck next time. Hopefully the majority of people will have the same attitude. I have hope on that one, but not much.
It should tell you something when police departments start getting ready for civil unrest over an election. Again, I hope people will act like adults, but I don't have much hope for that one either.
Go vote. Celebrate or mourn on election evening and the day after. After that, sober up, get back to work, and try to remember we're all supposed to be working together.
Rainy Day in Kentucky
Got up this morning to a pouring rain. Supposed to stay that way all day, but it's nice to hear it hitting the roof and trees while I sleep.
Got Junior Bear off to school wearing a heavy duty rain coat, and Girlie Bear helped me with Baby Bear. He has started holding his own bottle, which makes things a little easier. We're also only a week or so away from full blown crawling, so my life is about to get complicated.
Work is work. The Windows people are rushing around patching everything that doesn't move. I'm not going to say anything about Linux on this. It's only a matter of time before we have to do the same thing. I've got a couple of things to do this morning, then I'm off to a doctor's appointment.
We're going down to a friend's farm for a Halloween party tomorrow evening, which is always fun. Hayrides, haunted forest, bonfire, and really good barbecue. Irish woman is making her famous yellow cake muffins with homemade caramel icing. Those things are like nails in my coffin, but I'll die happy.
If the weather clears, I'll do the fall weatherizing tomorrow, and I may go bow hunting on Sunday afternoon. I went hunting with the muzzleloader last weekend with one of my buddies, and had a really good time. At about sun up, a big group of turkeys walked through the area and made a heck of a racket. No deer came into the area I was watching, but one busted me when she saw me from the field behind me. She stood there huffing and pawing for a few minutes then ran off. Unfortunately, she was on property where I don't have permission to hunt (I was on the property line facing away from the field she was in), so she got to walk and I got to watch.
It's finally starting to turn cold here. The warm spell we had in September and October is over, and they're predicting highs in the 40's and 50's for the next couple of weeks. The leaves are absolutely gorgeous now, and the weather man says they should reach peak color this weekend.
Irish Woman picked up Baby Bear's first Halloween costume yesterday. He's going to be Yoda. "Yes, a bottle you will bring to me".
Got Junior Bear off to school wearing a heavy duty rain coat, and Girlie Bear helped me with Baby Bear. He has started holding his own bottle, which makes things a little easier. We're also only a week or so away from full blown crawling, so my life is about to get complicated.
Work is work. The Windows people are rushing around patching everything that doesn't move. I'm not going to say anything about Linux on this. It's only a matter of time before we have to do the same thing. I've got a couple of things to do this morning, then I'm off to a doctor's appointment.
We're going down to a friend's farm for a Halloween party tomorrow evening, which is always fun. Hayrides, haunted forest, bonfire, and really good barbecue. Irish woman is making her famous yellow cake muffins with homemade caramel icing. Those things are like nails in my coffin, but I'll die happy.
If the weather clears, I'll do the fall weatherizing tomorrow, and I may go bow hunting on Sunday afternoon. I went hunting with the muzzleloader last weekend with one of my buddies, and had a really good time. At about sun up, a big group of turkeys walked through the area and made a heck of a racket. No deer came into the area I was watching, but one busted me when she saw me from the field behind me. She stood there huffing and pawing for a few minutes then ran off. Unfortunately, she was on property where I don't have permission to hunt (I was on the property line facing away from the field she was in), so she got to walk and I got to watch.
It's finally starting to turn cold here. The warm spell we had in September and October is over, and they're predicting highs in the 40's and 50's for the next couple of weeks. The leaves are absolutely gorgeous now, and the weather man says they should reach peak color this weekend.
Irish Woman picked up Baby Bear's first Halloween costume yesterday. He's going to be Yoda. "Yes, a bottle you will bring to me".
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Slow news day, so a personal update
Not much to blog about today. It's been really quiet here, and nothing in the national or local news gives me an idea for a thought or a rant. So I thought I'd bring you all up to speed on how things are here at Case de Oso.
I'll be taking the kids out to get their Halloween costumes tonight or tomorrow night. Junior wants to be the Geico caveman for a party he's going to, Girlie Bear wants to be a witch, and we're going to find something cute for Baby Bear.
We're all getting over a case of the funk, but otherwise doing OK.
Work is work. Had a lot of stuff to do over the weekend, but that should be the last big weekend push we have until the end of the year. We'll be gearing up for the Christmas season soon, but that's not too bad.
Heard from my brother in California today. His health isn't as good as mine, but his spirits are up. He's been going through a lot of the same things that my mother did, but he's actually doing as his doctors say, so here's hoping he'll come through it OK.
I'll be taking the kids out to get their Halloween costumes tonight or tomorrow night. Junior wants to be the Geico caveman for a party he's going to, Girlie Bear wants to be a witch, and we're going to find something cute for Baby Bear.
We're all getting over a case of the funk, but otherwise doing OK.
Work is work. Had a lot of stuff to do over the weekend, but that should be the last big weekend push we have until the end of the year. We'll be gearing up for the Christmas season soon, but that's not too bad.
Heard from my brother in California today. His health isn't as good as mine, but his spirits are up. He's been going through a lot of the same things that my mother did, but he's actually doing as his doctors say, so here's hoping he'll come through it OK.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Hope he bought the insurance
You park at the post office, go in to do a little business, and come out to find your rental car has been crushed by a falling piece of metal.
I'm sure this guy isn't complaining that the line in the post office delayed him a few minutes. Or else this would be a case of man killed by falling anvil. Cue the Bugs Bunny music.
I'm sure this guy isn't complaining that the line in the post office delayed him a few minutes. Or else this would be a case of man killed by falling anvil. Cue the Bugs Bunny music.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Saying goodbye to a friend
This morning the Irish Woman and I attended the funeral of an old family friend, Bob.
Bob was the father to one of the women who raised the Irish Woman, and we count her as a mother to her, so Bob was an adopted grandfather to us.
Bob was rarely called by his name. We all called him Pawpaw, from the adults to the smallest children. My children and I met him over two decades after the Irish Woman did, and he introduced himself to us as Pawpaw immediately, and stepped right into the role of grandfather to my kids.
Bob never met a stranger, and never hesitated to help someone out. He always had a cheerful greeting for us, and loved to just sit and shoot the bull. He outlived two wives, but never let their passing away make him bitter or melancholy towards us.
Bob was always as active as he could be. He loved to fish, and I was lucky enough to go fishing with him. He was as happy sitting on the bank of a quiet lake fishing for bluegill as he was on a chartered boat fishing for striped bass. He became a favorite fishing buddy of his son and son-in-law, and the image I have in my mind of him will always be the smile he got when he hooked a fish.
When I met Bob, he had already started to fade, but was still spry. As the years went on, his memory started to fail him, and talking with him became difficult as his speech suffered. None of this changed his attitude or how he treated everyone. We introduced him to Baby Bear earlier this year, and he smiled and cooed over the baby as if he was in his 40's not his 80's.
As Pawpaw continued to fade, he was cared for by his children. They made sure they followed his wishes to stay at home, and made sure he always had his therapy and the small things that he enjoyed. He went on trips with the family, and was always around for a good conversation and to reminisce.
Pawpaw passed away this past Friday. His grandson had returned home to visit one last time, and had a chance to spend some time with him. After the visit, Bob sat down, fell asleep, and never woke up. He died in the company of his family in the home that they had made together.
Go with God, Pawpaw. The world is smaller now that you are not with us, but we know that you have moved on to a better place. We and our children will remember you always as a cheerful, pleasant man who was always happy to see us. We will miss you until we join you.
Bob was the father to one of the women who raised the Irish Woman, and we count her as a mother to her, so Bob was an adopted grandfather to us.
Bob was rarely called by his name. We all called him Pawpaw, from the adults to the smallest children. My children and I met him over two decades after the Irish Woman did, and he introduced himself to us as Pawpaw immediately, and stepped right into the role of grandfather to my kids.
Bob never met a stranger, and never hesitated to help someone out. He always had a cheerful greeting for us, and loved to just sit and shoot the bull. He outlived two wives, but never let their passing away make him bitter or melancholy towards us.
Bob was always as active as he could be. He loved to fish, and I was lucky enough to go fishing with him. He was as happy sitting on the bank of a quiet lake fishing for bluegill as he was on a chartered boat fishing for striped bass. He became a favorite fishing buddy of his son and son-in-law, and the image I have in my mind of him will always be the smile he got when he hooked a fish.
When I met Bob, he had already started to fade, but was still spry. As the years went on, his memory started to fail him, and talking with him became difficult as his speech suffered. None of this changed his attitude or how he treated everyone. We introduced him to Baby Bear earlier this year, and he smiled and cooed over the baby as if he was in his 40's not his 80's.
As Pawpaw continued to fade, he was cared for by his children. They made sure they followed his wishes to stay at home, and made sure he always had his therapy and the small things that he enjoyed. He went on trips with the family, and was always around for a good conversation and to reminisce.
Pawpaw passed away this past Friday. His grandson had returned home to visit one last time, and had a chance to spend some time with him. After the visit, Bob sat down, fell asleep, and never woke up. He died in the company of his family in the home that they had made together.
Go with God, Pawpaw. The world is smaller now that you are not with us, but we know that you have moved on to a better place. We and our children will remember you always as a cheerful, pleasant man who was always happy to see us. We will miss you until we join you.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Baby shower turns into a brawl
Apparently Captain Success and his buddies decided to do some drinking at a baby shower, and it degenerated into a brawl. Someone got hit in the head with a beer bottle, and then someone got hit with a CAR JACK.
OK, kids, how many times have you been to a baby shower and people were drinking beer? I don't go to many baby showers at all, much less ones with a cooler of beer available. Mama shouldn't be drinking, and I don't imbibe in front of those who can't.
And I've never been to a baby shower that turned into a fist fight. I've been to a couple where there were some sharp words said, but nothing even approaching the use of beer bottles and automotive implements as weapons.
And a car jack? I guess someone reached out and grabbed whatever was available at the time to use as a weapon, but a car jack?
OK, kids, how many times have you been to a baby shower and people were drinking beer? I don't go to many baby showers at all, much less ones with a cooler of beer available. Mama shouldn't be drinking, and I don't imbibe in front of those who can't.
And I've never been to a baby shower that turned into a fist fight. I've been to a couple where there were some sharp words said, but nothing even approaching the use of beer bottles and automotive implements as weapons.
And a car jack? I guess someone reached out and grabbed whatever was available at the time to use as a weapon, but a car jack?
State Department announces that Northern Mexico is dangerous. Also says that ice is cold, and that fire is hot
The State Department has announced that Tijuana, Nogales, and Cuidad Juarez are getting kind of dangerous for Americans to be in at any time, day or night.
No kidding. I expect soon that they'll be telling us to not try to run our cars on sugar water.
When the Army tells its soldiers they can't go to Juarez to raise hell because it's too dangerous, it's pretty obvious that it's become a free fire zone against anyone who happens to be there.
TJ has been getting a bad reputation for years, and now it's come to the point where I wouldn't go there for any reason.
I lived about an hour northeast of Nogales when I was in the Army, and we made frequent shopping trips there for booze, vanilla, and Christmas presents. I never went more than a few hundred yards into the city, and it got rough pretty quick once you got outside of the shopping area close to the border. I only went there at night a couple of times to go drinking with my fellas, and we were smart enough to always have a big guy along who stayed sober enough to get us out of bad situations. When we heard that a group of young soldiers was going down there for an evening of fun, we made sure to give them a nice, calm talk about being safe and getting home in one piece.
Now apparently, there are shootouts in the shopping areas in broad daylight. No way I would be going there for any reason without a lot of friends and a lot of weapons.
Mexico as a country has started coming apart at the seams due to the narcotics trade that flows through the country from one end to the other. The level of violence in the conflicts between the drug gangs and their collective fight with the government is escalating fast, and doesn't appear to be slowing down. When thousands of your citizens for one reason or another are being murdered over smuggling, it's not a fight against drugs, it's a fight for survival of credible government control of the country. Mexico City isn't trying to enforce its laws so much as it is trying to squelch a state of revolt in its northern states.
Unless the Mexican government can get a handle on this thing, I expect Mexico to be considered a failed state within the next decade. And that would be a damned shame. Mexico is a beautiful country, with a history that goes back thousands of years. The people I have met who are from Mexico have tended to be honest, hard working folks who just want to get a good pay for a good days work and use that to raise a good family. When you go shopping in Arizona, the native born American kids look like something out of a bad thug-rap video. The Mexican families are neat, pressed, polite, and well-behaved.
The loss of a good neighbor like Mexico would be a great hit to our nation.
And I don't expect the problem to stay south of the border for long. We're already starting to see problems in border areas like Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson, and all of the cities along the Texas-Mexico border. If the drug gangs can have free reign in Old Mexico, they sure as shooting aren't going to allow the border to stop them from trying to have their way in our country.
I've heard some people talk about a "reconquista", in which radical Mexican-identity believers want to take over the lands that we took from Mexico in the 19th century and make it a hispanic mini-state. I don't believe that will ever happen, any more than I believe that neonazis will create an aryan state in the northwest or that the South will rise again.
What I do see happening is the problems of Latin America becoming the problems of the southern half of the continental United States. I see the areas along the border becoming more and more crime-prone unless the violence is quelched in Mexico itself.
Here are my ideas:
No kidding. I expect soon that they'll be telling us to not try to run our cars on sugar water.
When the Army tells its soldiers they can't go to Juarez to raise hell because it's too dangerous, it's pretty obvious that it's become a free fire zone against anyone who happens to be there.
TJ has been getting a bad reputation for years, and now it's come to the point where I wouldn't go there for any reason.
I lived about an hour northeast of Nogales when I was in the Army, and we made frequent shopping trips there for booze, vanilla, and Christmas presents. I never went more than a few hundred yards into the city, and it got rough pretty quick once you got outside of the shopping area close to the border. I only went there at night a couple of times to go drinking with my fellas, and we were smart enough to always have a big guy along who stayed sober enough to get us out of bad situations. When we heard that a group of young soldiers was going down there for an evening of fun, we made sure to give them a nice, calm talk about being safe and getting home in one piece.
Now apparently, there are shootouts in the shopping areas in broad daylight. No way I would be going there for any reason without a lot of friends and a lot of weapons.
Mexico as a country has started coming apart at the seams due to the narcotics trade that flows through the country from one end to the other. The level of violence in the conflicts between the drug gangs and their collective fight with the government is escalating fast, and doesn't appear to be slowing down. When thousands of your citizens for one reason or another are being murdered over smuggling, it's not a fight against drugs, it's a fight for survival of credible government control of the country. Mexico City isn't trying to enforce its laws so much as it is trying to squelch a state of revolt in its northern states.
Unless the Mexican government can get a handle on this thing, I expect Mexico to be considered a failed state within the next decade. And that would be a damned shame. Mexico is a beautiful country, with a history that goes back thousands of years. The people I have met who are from Mexico have tended to be honest, hard working folks who just want to get a good pay for a good days work and use that to raise a good family. When you go shopping in Arizona, the native born American kids look like something out of a bad thug-rap video. The Mexican families are neat, pressed, polite, and well-behaved.
The loss of a good neighbor like Mexico would be a great hit to our nation.
And I don't expect the problem to stay south of the border for long. We're already starting to see problems in border areas like Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson, and all of the cities along the Texas-Mexico border. If the drug gangs can have free reign in Old Mexico, they sure as shooting aren't going to allow the border to stop them from trying to have their way in our country.
I've heard some people talk about a "reconquista", in which radical Mexican-identity believers want to take over the lands that we took from Mexico in the 19th century and make it a hispanic mini-state. I don't believe that will ever happen, any more than I believe that neonazis will create an aryan state in the northwest or that the South will rise again.
What I do see happening is the problems of Latin America becoming the problems of the southern half of the continental United States. I see the areas along the border becoming more and more crime-prone unless the violence is quelched in Mexico itself.
Here are my ideas:
- We have to starve the drug gangs out by getting rid of their business in the United States. They won't have the money or incentive to do these horrible things if their business model collapses. Either we cut demand for illicit drugs in our country by getting people to stop using them, or we make them legal for personal use. There's no money in smuggling something that people can purchase legally at the liquor store or local headshed. I'm not going to go down the rathole of drug legalization, at least not today, but we need to discuss whether or not continued prohibition is worth the damage that illegal trade in drugs is causing to our country and our neighbor.
- Provide as much assistance to the Mexican government as we can so that they can fix their problems as quickly as they possibly can. The Mexican government will have to spill a lot of blood to do this, but it's necessary. You can't negotiate away this problem. Someone will have to tell Amnesty International to figure out the difference between rooting out a revolt by narco-terrorists and the normal operations of a criminal justice system.
- We have to secure our border with Mexico. A fence, either made of cameras or steel and concrete won't do it all by itself. We need men and women with guns and radios patrolling the border from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico. The Border Patrol either needs to be beefed up in manpower and firepower, or we need to re-activate some of the old cavalry regiments and have them patrol the border.
Just my two centavos.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Could someone please put a sock in John Murtha?
How this fool has continued to be employed is beyond me. He's been an embarrassment to humanity for years. He's been on the wrong end of every comment he's ever made, and now he's saying that his own constituents are a bunch of racists that won't support Obama because of his race.
Pennsylvania, please, elect someone else. Please.
Pennsylvania, please, elect someone else. Please.
Clowns that are ruining civil society
Police in Chicago are looking for some creep in a clown costume that is trying to entice children into his car. Creepy enough if it wasn't being done in the territory of another Killer Clown.
Copycat or just a recurring theme? You be the judge.
Idiots like this are the reason that no smart kid will talk to a person they don't know.
It's also the reason that I, as a normal person, would never try to assist a child that didn't appear to be in danger, or try to assist a woman with children that I don't know.
Today was a case in point:
I was at a government office today to take care of something. There was a young mother there with three children, a boy about 4 or 5, a boy about 2 or 3, and a very small infant who mostly slept.
The boys got bored waiting, and Mom had a hard time keeping them in line because they were tag teaming her. When she was trying to control one, the other would be off getting into something or climbing up onto something.
Not her fault. Not even their fault. Boys are boys, and young kids that aren't absolutely afraid for their lives don't just sit quietly for an hour or so in a strange place. The young lady was obviously getting tired and cross with them, but child abuse is prosecuted in this jurisdiction, and they outnumbered her.
When I was a child, any adult would have felt it was their duty to intervene and try to assist this young mother with her two barbarians. The non-family adult wouldn't have disciplined them, but he might have talked to them sternly or tried to entertain them while Mom got herself together or did whatever business she was there for.
In the world we live in today, if I had offered to help her, she probably would have thought I was some pervert, and at least have very loudly and firmly told me no. Best case would be being embarrassed. Worst case would be me answering some questions to a nice police officer.
Best I could do was offer my place in line so that she could get them out of there sooner. She accepted, but still kept her distance from me.
John Wayne Gacy, you and all of the other pukes who ruined my ability to be a nice guy to a stranger, I hope you burn in hell until the world regains some of the innocence that you destroyed.
Copycat or just a recurring theme? You be the judge.
Idiots like this are the reason that no smart kid will talk to a person they don't know.
It's also the reason that I, as a normal person, would never try to assist a child that didn't appear to be in danger, or try to assist a woman with children that I don't know.
Today was a case in point:
I was at a government office today to take care of something. There was a young mother there with three children, a boy about 4 or 5, a boy about 2 or 3, and a very small infant who mostly slept.
The boys got bored waiting, and Mom had a hard time keeping them in line because they were tag teaming her. When she was trying to control one, the other would be off getting into something or climbing up onto something.
Not her fault. Not even their fault. Boys are boys, and young kids that aren't absolutely afraid for their lives don't just sit quietly for an hour or so in a strange place. The young lady was obviously getting tired and cross with them, but child abuse is prosecuted in this jurisdiction, and they outnumbered her.
When I was a child, any adult would have felt it was their duty to intervene and try to assist this young mother with her two barbarians. The non-family adult wouldn't have disciplined them, but he might have talked to them sternly or tried to entertain them while Mom got herself together or did whatever business she was there for.
In the world we live in today, if I had offered to help her, she probably would have thought I was some pervert, and at least have very loudly and firmly told me no. Best case would be being embarrassed. Worst case would be me answering some questions to a nice police officer.
Best I could do was offer my place in line so that she could get them out of there sooner. She accepted, but still kept her distance from me.
John Wayne Gacy, you and all of the other pukes who ruined my ability to be a nice guy to a stranger, I hope you burn in hell until the world regains some of the innocence that you destroyed.
I want my money back. Now
Apparently AIG just doesn't get it.
First, we give them $87 Billion dollars to keep the doors open.
Then they spend half a million dollars on a luxury trip for insurance agents.
Then they apologize and ask for another $35 Billion to keep the lights on.
Then they spend $86,000 for a hunting trip to England. Apparently this time actual AIG executives went along for the fun.
I want all of the money we've given them back. We can take it in cash or equipment. Either one will work. I don't care if their business fails and is chopped up and sold to the highest bidder on the courthouse steps. Don't come to us with your Gucci hat in hand and ask for money then use some of it to take clients to a spa or hunting.
They can't have spent much of the money yet, but we'll be nice and give them 24 hours to get it to us.
If we don't get it, this happens:
First, we give them $87 Billion dollars to keep the doors open.
Then they spend half a million dollars on a luxury trip for insurance agents.
Then they apologize and ask for another $35 Billion to keep the lights on.
Then they spend $86,000 for a hunting trip to England. Apparently this time actual AIG executives went along for the fun.
I want all of the money we've given them back. We can take it in cash or equipment. Either one will work. I don't care if their business fails and is chopped up and sold to the highest bidder on the courthouse steps. Don't come to us with your Gucci hat in hand and ask for money then use some of it to take clients to a spa or hunting.
They can't have spent much of the money yet, but we'll be nice and give them 24 hours to get it to us.
If we don't get it, this happens:
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Apparently, Southern California is burning, again. Just like it burned last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that, ad infinitum.
OK, let's get something straight. Southern California is a relatively arid area, and has been for quite a while. Wildfires have been occuring there long enough that the native people of the area used it to manage the land.
In the past few decades, it's become commonplace for people to build neighborhoods in the areas that formerly burned without causing massive destruction to buildings and/or people. Now, year after year, we're told how thousands of acres of Southern California burn up houses and schools.
Why are we shocked? Why is this in the national news? Houses and neighborhoods are being built in a semi-desert next to kindling, and we're supposed to be surprised when said kindling bursts into flame and takes housing developments with it?
Someone please tell me why I'm supposed to be interested in this. To me, it's like the people who build a village on the slopes of an active volcano, and then seem shocked when their village is destroyed in an eruption.
Come on, people. Don't rebuild neighborhoods in perenial fire areas. Just don't give out the building permits. Don't insure them. Don't approve the mortgages.
OK, let's get something straight. Southern California is a relatively arid area, and has been for quite a while. Wildfires have been occuring there long enough that the native people of the area used it to manage the land.
In the past few decades, it's become commonplace for people to build neighborhoods in the areas that formerly burned without causing massive destruction to buildings and/or people. Now, year after year, we're told how thousands of acres of Southern California burn up houses and schools.
Why are we shocked? Why is this in the national news? Houses and neighborhoods are being built in a semi-desert next to kindling, and we're supposed to be surprised when said kindling bursts into flame and takes housing developments with it?
Someone please tell me why I'm supposed to be interested in this. To me, it's like the people who build a village on the slopes of an active volcano, and then seem shocked when their village is destroyed in an eruption.
Come on, people. Don't rebuild neighborhoods in perenial fire areas. Just don't give out the building permits. Don't insure them. Don't approve the mortgages.
Justice served
I commented on this earlier. An Ohio man was arguing that his obesity made it impossible to execute him without the act going into the "cruel and unusual" area.
Apparently, the Supreme Court disagreed. Today, the state of Ohio executed him via lethal injection.
I'm not going to say I'm happy about this. As I stated before, I'm not a fan of the death penalty. And it's saddening to think of the suffering he caused his victims, their families, and his family in the years since his crime. His death won't erase that pain.
I'll remember him and everyone he hurt in my prayers tonight, and I ask that all of you do the same. I may feel that his execution was justified by his actions, but I don't have to like it.
Apparently, the Supreme Court disagreed. Today, the state of Ohio executed him via lethal injection.
I'm not going to say I'm happy about this. As I stated before, I'm not a fan of the death penalty. And it's saddening to think of the suffering he caused his victims, their families, and his family in the years since his crime. His death won't erase that pain.
I'll remember him and everyone he hurt in my prayers tonight, and I ask that all of you do the same. I may feel that his execution was justified by his actions, but I don't have to like it.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Good end to a long, frustrating day
Spent today trying to diagnose one of those "it's slow and I don't know why" problems on one of our servers. We've actually been trying to diagnose this for the past few weeks, but it came to a head today.
This afternoon we had exhausted all of our other options, and senior management was starting to breathe down our necks to figure this out. We decided to just re-install the OS on the server and see what happened.
The re-install went fine, as did re-installation of the database and app. But when we fired the database back up, noone could connect to it. We and our DBA's spent hours trying one thing after another, and eventually called the vendor.
All this time the customer is getting antsier and more vocal, and we're starting to get phone calls from management.
Finally, the DB vendor comes back with some arcane switch to set. The DBA makes the change, bounces the database, and the problem magically goes away.
We'll see how performance looks in the morning, but I'm not hopeful.
Got home 4 hours late tonight. Dinner was waiting in the microwave, and the kids were finishing up their evening rituals prior to bed. I got a few minutes with them before they headed to bed, then had a few minutes with the Irish Woman before she started to yawn.
I'm currently enjoying an adult beverage and watching Monday Night Football that the Irish Woman was considerate enough to record for me. Got to love a woman who knows what you like.
This afternoon we had exhausted all of our other options, and senior management was starting to breathe down our necks to figure this out. We decided to just re-install the OS on the server and see what happened.
The re-install went fine, as did re-installation of the database and app. But when we fired the database back up, noone could connect to it. We and our DBA's spent hours trying one thing after another, and eventually called the vendor.
All this time the customer is getting antsier and more vocal, and we're starting to get phone calls from management.
Finally, the DB vendor comes back with some arcane switch to set. The DBA makes the change, bounces the database, and the problem magically goes away.
We'll see how performance looks in the morning, but I'm not hopeful.
Got home 4 hours late tonight. Dinner was waiting in the microwave, and the kids were finishing up their evening rituals prior to bed. I got a few minutes with them before they headed to bed, then had a few minutes with the Irish Woman before she started to yawn.
I'm currently enjoying an adult beverage and watching Monday Night Football that the Irish Woman was considerate enough to record for me. Got to love a woman who knows what you like.
Blackfive touches a nerve
Blackfive opened a wound on some commenters this morning.
Basically, there's a tradition in the armed forces for deployed soldiers to lose their significant other while they're gone. Also happens while a soldier is off at training, or even when they just leave their hometown to go the military in general.
Happened to me, and it's happened to soldiers since an ape picked up a club and went across the river to beat up another ape.
For those of you who are deployed, I hope this never happens to you.
Basically, there's a tradition in the armed forces for deployed soldiers to lose their significant other while they're gone. Also happens while a soldier is off at training, or even when they just leave their hometown to go the military in general.
Happened to me, and it's happened to soldiers since an ape picked up a club and went across the river to beat up another ape.
For those of you who are deployed, I hope this never happens to you.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Cowboys Lose! Cowboys Lose!
Junior Bear and I just finished watching the Arizona/Dallas game. What a great defensive game!
The OT win by Arizona on a blocked kick was the greatest play I've seen all season.
Junior Bear is a Dallas fan for some reason, so we watched this game. For some reason, it seems that every Dallas game I watch this year, they lose.
The OT win by Arizona on a blocked kick was the greatest play I've seen all season.
Junior Bear is a Dallas fan for some reason, so we watched this game. For some reason, it seems that every Dallas game I watch this year, they lose.
Found a couple of new podcasts
Apparently everyone else on the Internet is already listening to this, but I've just discovered Dan Carlin. Two outstanding podcasts. I've listened to all of his available Hardcore History stuff, and then I listened to the last few episodes of Common Sense.
He talks like a normal guy, and discusses things that most other commentators either don't or refuse to do in a non-partisan way.
He talks politics without turning it into a mud throwing session, which I really appreciate.
Have a listen.
He talks like a normal guy, and discusses things that most other commentators either don't or refuse to do in a non-partisan way.
He talks politics without turning it into a mud throwing session, which I really appreciate.
Have a listen.
No quota hunt this year
Well, found out the other day that I won't be going to the quota hunt I requested this year. I asked to go to either the 2nd or 3rd hunts at Taylorsville Lake, which is only about half an hour from home. I would have been able to go for a weekend hunt and still sleep in my own nice warm bed.
Last year, I got chosen for a hunt in Jackson County. It's about 2 hours southeast of here, and it's on the northern edge of the Daniel Boone National Forest. Beautiful country, but it was a haul to get down there.
I was hoping to get something a little closer, but no luck. Better luck next time. I should find out about Fort Knox in the next few weeks.
Last year, I got chosen for a hunt in Jackson County. It's about 2 hours southeast of here, and it's on the northern edge of the Daniel Boone National Forest. Beautiful country, but it was a haul to get down there.
I was hoping to get something a little closer, but no luck. Better luck next time. I should find out about Fort Knox in the next few weeks.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Just doing my part
for human evolution.
Guess this means that Baby Bear is more likely to be a mutant than Junior Bear. I hope his special powers have something to do with paying for college.
Guess this means that Baby Bear is more likely to be a mutant than Junior Bear. I hope his special powers have something to do with paying for college.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Umm, no. That's what we call a bad idea
Apparently, a member of the teachers union in the UK believes that if a teacher decides to cruise the hallways for a "friend", that teacher shouldn't be prosecuted as a sex offender.
No offense, but I send my kids to school with the trust that the teachers won't hit on them, no matter how old they are. Certain professions, such as educators, police, and doctors, shouldn't have any kind of relationship with the people they work with, especially the children.
Any teacher who uses the school as a pool of potential mates should be treated as what they are: sexual predators who should be shunned for the rest of their natural lives.
No offense, but I send my kids to school with the trust that the teachers won't hit on them, no matter how old they are. Certain professions, such as educators, police, and doctors, shouldn't have any kind of relationship with the people they work with, especially the children.
Any teacher who uses the school as a pool of potential mates should be treated as what they are: sexual predators who should be shunned for the rest of their natural lives.
Someone Call Alanis
This is true irony. Man gets lost and runs into a map store in New York.
I've been lost, but not so lost that I ran into a storefront.
Usually, I stop the car and get out before I go into a store to ask for directions.
I've been lost, but not so lost that I ran into a storefront.
Usually, I stop the car and get out before I go into a store to ask for directions.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
What goes around, comes around
Good things happen to good people, and bad things return to bite the bad people.
OJ Simpson is currently sitting in a small cell, segregated from the general population. He's been convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery, and a host of other things. He's facing spending the rest of his life in state prison, probably in something close to solitary confinement. Apparently there are enough people in the prison system that would like the notoriety of beating the bejeezus out of Simpson that they have to keep him away from the rest of the prisoners.
Good. Let him try his "I'm a nice guy, look at me" act when he only sees the sun and other human beings for 1 hour a day.
Of course, there are those that think this whole thing is payback for his past legal troubles. And if it is, they can try to prove it. And of course, he'll appeal the conviction, and will drag this out for years. I hope he spends his last dime trying to prove he's been set up.
Putting him away for this doesn't even come close to what he owes society for the death of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman, but it is a start. Of course, the Goldman's seem to be happy about this. And they deserve to be. I hope that with this waste of protein behind bars, they'll be able to find the money he's been hiding since he lost the civil trial in court.
And I hope he spends the rest of his lonely, stinking life looking at the world through a small plexiglass window.
OJ Simpson is currently sitting in a small cell, segregated from the general population. He's been convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery, and a host of other things. He's facing spending the rest of his life in state prison, probably in something close to solitary confinement. Apparently there are enough people in the prison system that would like the notoriety of beating the bejeezus out of Simpson that they have to keep him away from the rest of the prisoners.
Good. Let him try his "I'm a nice guy, look at me" act when he only sees the sun and other human beings for 1 hour a day.
Of course, there are those that think this whole thing is payback for his past legal troubles. And if it is, they can try to prove it. And of course, he'll appeal the conviction, and will drag this out for years. I hope he spends his last dime trying to prove he's been set up.
Putting him away for this doesn't even come close to what he owes society for the death of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman, but it is a start. Of course, the Goldman's seem to be happy about this. And they deserve to be. I hope that with this waste of protein behind bars, they'll be able to find the money he's been hiding since he lost the civil trial in court.
And I hope he spends the rest of his lonely, stinking life looking at the world through a small plexiglass window.
No joy in the hunting ground
Took a little time Saturday afternoon and went bow hunting. I tried out a new state park south of Louisville.
The area I hunted was absolutely gorgeous. Small hills with thick woods, some fields, and creek beds running all through it. There's been no real rain for a while, so the creeks were dry and made for great avenues to move in.
I set up in some woods on the edge of a field, with a knob and a creek bed at my back. I was watching the area under a tall oak as my primary target area, and was sitting under another oak. There were a lot of acorns on the ground for feed, and I figured that was as good a place as any this early in the season.
Unfortunately, the deer had other ideas. I did see a small buck at the other end of the field, either a 4 or 6 point. He was too far away for a bow shot, but if it had been muzzleloader or modern gun season, there'd be venison in the freezer.
Overall, it was a really nice day. The temperature was in the mid 70's, very slight breeze, with sun in the field, but the trees still have enough leaves that I was in deep shade.
Other than the lack of shots at deer, the only hitch in the entire afternoon was when a LARGE flock of blackbirds took up residence in the oak trees I was sitting in . They provided a good cover noise for me to shift around a bit, get some water from my canteen, and pop in a cough drop. Unfortunately, they also shook the limbs of the trees enough to make it rain acorns. For half an hour, I was getting pelted by acorns that were falling 3 stories. No harm done, but it did sting at the time.
I stayed in the woods until sundown, then made my way back to the truck. No deer, but I got a great afternoon alone in the woods.
The area I hunted was absolutely gorgeous. Small hills with thick woods, some fields, and creek beds running all through it. There's been no real rain for a while, so the creeks were dry and made for great avenues to move in.
I set up in some woods on the edge of a field, with a knob and a creek bed at my back. I was watching the area under a tall oak as my primary target area, and was sitting under another oak. There were a lot of acorns on the ground for feed, and I figured that was as good a place as any this early in the season.
Unfortunately, the deer had other ideas. I did see a small buck at the other end of the field, either a 4 or 6 point. He was too far away for a bow shot, but if it had been muzzleloader or modern gun season, there'd be venison in the freezer.
Overall, it was a really nice day. The temperature was in the mid 70's, very slight breeze, with sun in the field, but the trees still have enough leaves that I was in deep shade.
Other than the lack of shots at deer, the only hitch in the entire afternoon was when a LARGE flock of blackbirds took up residence in the oak trees I was sitting in . They provided a good cover noise for me to shift around a bit, get some water from my canteen, and pop in a cough drop. Unfortunately, they also shook the limbs of the trees enough to make it rain acorns. For half an hour, I was getting pelted by acorns that were falling 3 stories. No harm done, but it did sting at the time.
I stayed in the woods until sundown, then made my way back to the truck. No deer, but I got a great afternoon alone in the woods.
Sorry for the absence
But I've been dealing with a sick baby. Baby Bear had his first real illness, and I've been busy doing dad stuff. He's still a bit under the weather, but we're getting through it.
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