How To Rebuild a Car! UPDATE 2.0

I'll tell you when I'm done.

I will be in grease monkey mode for the day. Today I am replacing the head gaskets in Murphy, the $500 87 Subaru Turbo Wagon. While I'm getting grimey, I figured I would change the transmission from the crappy 3 speed automatic that is in the car now, to the manual 5 spees Full Time 4 Wheel Drive tranny with locking differential. The current tranny gets horrible gas mileage, and the manual will do better, plus the manual will be more fun to drive. Wish me luck!

DAY 1 - Got the heads off and the crappy 3 speed auto tranny out of the cavity. Also had to remove both 23 spline half shafts to replace with 25 spliners. I started at about 10:00 AM and stopped around 7. Took a few breaks, did lunch, and waisted some time looking for misplaced ratchet or sockets. All in all - a very productive day.

DAY 2 - The day in a nutshell. The ultimate goal - to at least get the new tranny mounted. I had some extra jobs to do today (you know the equation, work = money = more Subie parts; this is like an adiction), so I started early, 7 AM'ish. I pulled the shift lever for the automatic, then went to work for a couple of hours. During the day I went to pick up the 25 sline halfshafts. Got home and found one of the new halfshafts was a 23 spliner. Crap! That means another trip to the store. I ended up doing a lot more running around than I wanted, waisting sevaral hours. I got the crappy 3 speed auto tranny out from underneath the car. Man - that thing is heavy! I forgot to secure the torque converter, so of coarse it came off and spilled tranny fluid everywhere. Funny thing is that when I was installing it a year and a half ago, I did the same thing. At the end of the day, I got the Full Time 4 Wheel Drive tranny up into the tranny bay, plus I also cleaned the cylinder heads and prepped them for install. I couldn't get the one halfshaft to slide onto the differential stub. I fear I have the wrong one. Will try again tomorrow. I think, if I get the halfshaft issues resolved, I will tomorrow have brought Murphy back to life.

DAY 3 - Have more work today and again started early. I managed to get the halfshaft on the tranny stub. It was just a matter of finding the right angle of attack. The stck shift is installed too. I forgot how short the throw is on the shift. Thats all for now. Today I will post some video bits documenting the job.

I worked more than I thought and only had a few hours to work on Murphy. I pulled the old auto pedal assy. (which includes pulling the steering wheel of coarse) and installed the new clutchy one. But I ended up taking the new one out to check if the accel pedal was tha same as the old one. The travel distance to the floor seemed awful short. Also, I had to dissasemble my dash because I couldn't get the speedo cable from the FT4WD tranny to stay on. So it was kinda a two-steps-forward-one-step-back kinda day.

Bill Clinton...

... is EVIL!!!!!

How Not To Drive, Pt 1

One time, in band camp....

The year - 1991.

At the time my ride was a 1979 Honda Accord hatch, a cute little FWD car purchased in a time of my life before I discovered the joy of 4WD, and the band equipment hauling mojo of a Subaru.

My college band "Outta Hand" used to practice in the art building at Fresno State (my drummer was palsey walsey with the dean of the art dept... kiss ass). We would smuggle beer and other "musician assistants" into the room where we practiced. Well I never smoke while I play because it makes me play crappy, and I didn't drink that night, though I can't be sure of that .

We ended practice around 10:30 pm and load the band stuff in our cars. I was the last to leave. To leave the school parking lot you had to make a turn around an island to get to the exit. Well, they had recently rebuilt and widened the island and, while the concrete was set, they hadn't filled in the island yet. So I make the turn around the thing like I normally do, but I guess that wasn't good enough or wide enough because the next thing I know I jump the island curb and ended up getting stuck, much like in cartoons where the car ends up balancing on the edge of a cliff. It had rained that week, the center of the island was a mud pit, and the front end of my car was stuck in the mud like a diving hippo. Since the car was front wheel drive, there was no hope of getting any traction and pulling myself out. Needless to say, the tow truck driver had a great laugh that night.

PS. Exhaust systems have always been my Achilles heel. The week before, I had, for the first time EVER, completely sealed the exhaust system after replacing the head gasket. No leaks at all. It was purring like a kitten. It figures I would completely trash it within a weeks time.

Five Years

Is it selfish,

To be happy to still be alive?

A day so long ago,

Yet still so close to the heart.

We were all changed, but at least we are still alive.

So many lives lost.

Gone forever but still in our hearts.

I breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

And I thank God I was not on a plane...

In a building...

Or on the streets...

In harms way on that fatefull day.

I cry today for those who were.

So much bitter sorrow.

The taste of anger and fear.

Yet I am here.

So I breathe. In. Out. In. Out.

Sometimes that's more than enough.

Maybe the spirits of those taken that day,

Or the essence of family and friends who have gone before,

Can feel through me the air I breathe.

So I breathe. In.

Oxygen flows from lung to heart.

And feel the comport.

It brings a smile.

I am happy.

I am here.

We are all here.

I Am Free

Or maybe liberated... Mostly.

Today marks the end of my life as a pool boy.... mostly! I sold most of my accounts to a fellow sole proprietor pool jockey this afternoon. I have for the longest time been bored and exhausted by the line of work I was in. Some background is in order.

I started in the pool business in 1990, taking a part-time job at Leslies Pool Mart in order to pay rent / bills while finishing my last two years of college at Fresno State U. I didn't want to apply for the opening because I figured my class schedule would clash with the work schedule, as both were during day hours. Joel, the rather largish guy working there at the time, almost forced me to fill out an application anyway, insisting the job schedule was indeed flexible enough to accommodate school and work. He was right, but the job required working week-ends. Oh well, I was used to that. The manager was a very cool cat named Cheng. Yes the name is Chinese, but he is the most American person I know. He became a mentor and wonderful friend to this day. He even let me borrow his Vet once to go out on a date with a girl named Charity. I got none. Wonder why! But I digress...

During my senior year Cheng left the old store and opened his own called Swim World. I quit Leslies and helped him open his store. I worked there for six months. When I graduated from college, I left the pool business behind and headed to San Diego... the very next day! I had some money left over from my student loans and decided to hang out at the beach for a while. That is part of the truth. I had transferred from San Diego to Fresno to complete my degree, and wanted to be back there with my family and friends. OK the beach did sing her siren song in my ear. San Diego has a much larger gay community and is considered more gay friendly than Fresno, so I figured SD would be a better place to finish the process of resolving internal conflict and at last come to terms with reality that I'm kinda gay-ish. But the important thing is that I was done with the pool business.

When I ran out of money I went to work at the local Movie-Plex. Nine months later the dead-endedness of the job got to me and I went to work for a pool supply wholesale house called Pool Water Products. Worked there a year then move to LA to try and pursue a film career. Worked at a video processing firm, got bored, took a detour, got distracted by other opportunities that turned out to be a mirage, was humbled and deservedly smacked down by the hand of life, and ended up in San Diego a few months later. I needed a job ASAP, so I looked toward the field where I had the most experience and skill.

Action Spa Repair was the next line of pool / spa related employment. I have always been good with tools and fixing things like cars, and radios, and TV's, and cars (several Fresno State classmates still owe me CD's for auto work performed while in college), so the idea of becoming a spa repairman had strong appeal. It was a good match; I draw great satisfaction from the ability to fix things. I was happy to do the work and learn how to fix yet another type of machine, but the downside was that I usually had to work six days a week. I was getting annoyed that work took up so much time. It seemed all my friends had do much more time to play than I did (hey I was young). Another problem was finances. Randy, my boss, paid well, but the combination of school debts and debts incurred from my stupid mistake mentioned above was dragging me down financially. In early 96, Cheng called me to ask if I would come back to Fresno to manage his new store. This would look good on my resume, and since living in Fresno is much kinder to the wallet, I took the job.

The move to Fresno proved to be a good decision. I managed to get myself out of debt, had more free time to relax, and even -- gasp -- find love! After four years I was sick of working for the man, and decided to strike out on my own. In January of 2000 Frog's Pool Service and Spa Repair was born. The plan was to steer the business toward the more profitable spa repair side of things, and have just a few dozen pools to keep income flowing during periods when spa repair business was slow. Then in a year or two, when I earned all that money from spa repairs, Greg and I would move to San Diego. As it turned out the spa side of the business never really developed into a stable business, so I became a pool jockey. Meanwhile, we took advantage of the low real estate prices here and bought a really really cool house! So much for plans.

I have for the last few years found myself less and less enthusiastic of the realities of running your own business. Sure, you can earn good money, be your own boss, etc, etc. But it sucks watching the money you earn fly right back out of your wallet in order to buy the thing you need to keep the business going. It wasn't so bad when I started six years ago, but then, gas was selling for a buck twenty five or so per gallon. The three dollar plus prices for petrol have eaten into profits, and the price of pool chemicals, chlorine, acid, etc, has almost doubled in the last three years. And I am just burned out on the job. You can make a great deal of money in this line of work, but like any other job, you have to love the work or the challenges it presents to get the most out of it. It was time to move on.

Over the last several years I have been trying to position myself to be able to change careers. In 1998 I went back to college to earn a second degree as a geologist, specializing in seismology. Calculus killed that plan after the first semester. In late 2000 I took some IT networking courses offered by Cisco. The classes were free, but during the summer of 2001 I started missing too much time due to the summertime demands of my pool business. Plus the tech industry was still reeling from the tech bubble bust of 2000, so jobs were still quite scarce. What to do? What to do?

In late 2004, a new plan of attack took shape. Over the last several years I have discovered a love of history, especially the revolutionary period of 1776. I had also been studying economic / market concepts so I can one day be a wise(r) investor. I had flirted with the idea of teaching and the time felt ripe to pursue that goal. So I enrolled in the masters program for education at National University. When I was close to finishing with the core of my classes, I would sell the business, thus freeing my time to pursue a teaching career. As the winter of 2005 came to a close I was poised to sell my business and move into the role as a teacher. And there I stayed... until now!

I finished most of the school requirements in Feb of this year, but have not had the opportunity to move into the classroom, as selling the business turned out to be a lot more of a challenge that I had anticipated. I placed my ads in the local pool supply wholesale distributors in mid February, thinking that the route would sell quickly and I could be free to apply for subbing jobs within a month. I hate it when I'm wrong. I had a buyer lined up in March, but his finances fell through. In April, another buyer wanted to take a look at my route. But as bad luck would have it, a fellow spa repairman passed away during this period, and potential buyer #2 inherited the core of his business and now had no time to take on more responsibilities. During the summer I had a few nibbles here and there, but nothing came of them. Last month I struck gold. Bruce, a local pool man with 22 years experience was trying to expand his pool route, and set to buy pools from another serviceman. At the last minute the other serviceman decided to sell to someone else, and Bruce came across my ads and gave me a call.

This brings us to today. Yesterday, Bruce signed on the dotted line and purchased the bulk of my pool accounts. Teachers in California only get paid once a month, so as of this moment I am at least one month away from an official paycheck. But I am keeping a few pools to provide a bit of extra income during the time it takes to find and start a teaching job. And the funny thing is, that all of a sudden I am getting a few calls for spa repair jobs, so my income this month may not be as low as I expected. Funny how stuff just kinda works itself out. But the bottom line - I am free from the shackles of my old job. I am now free to pursue and start building a new career in teaching.

One Has Nothing To Do With The Other...

I'm going to San Diego for the week-end.

A Response to CD

Citizen Deux said...

Sorry you are so sleepless. I can't agree with the Iraq observation. The bubbling over of the sectarian violence is our fault. The question is, how awful would it be if we simply left? And would more troops really make a difference?

The issue is policing and law and order. Something military personnel can not accomplish without draconian measures. Measures we are not willing to undertake.

So the question is whether Iraq continues to smolder until it flares up or dies down? And how long? We still have troops on the ground in the former Yugoslavia, whose populations grievances are far less violent than some of the Sunni and Shiite qualms (not to mention the provocation from Iran and Syria).

Iraq allows us two things, establish a government which is self determining in that nation. Act as a buffer to Iran and Syria without the ugly, religious problem of having troops in Saudi.

Remember the war is at three levels;

1) Nation States (sponsors and direct / indirect enemies - Iran, Syria, Pakistan (half), North Korea (logistics))
2) Transnational Actors - Al Queada, Al Ansar al Islam, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc.
3) Splinter Cells - Non-aligned agents who are either directly or indirectly tied to the above (the parlance of national security agencies)

Hang in there...


I was going to respond "in comment" but decided to respond as a post instead.

Yeah, I was tired and not reasoning on all cylinders. But I'm not sure what our presence now is accomplishing. It appears the coalition is no longer the main target of violence, which is good. It seems that after we offed Al Zawkari, something has shifted. Here is a thought. During the first elections, everyone was overjoyed that there was no outbreak of violence, sunni against shia or vise versa, though that was less likely since sunni didn't officially participate. Neither side wanted to be seen as the one spilling first blood. But now that the sectarian gloves are off, I doubt we will get through another election without bloodshed.

There really isn't much we can do to stop the different sects from blowing each other up. The problem is that they're targeting the civilian population, attempting to show that we are powerless to stop them. To me this is the point where the Iraqi police must be able to step up as an independent force and find ways to stop this. Gangs here in the US would never (hopefully) start blowing up civies, in part because there is no purpose to do so, but also because they know law enforcement would descend upon then like the dark angel of death. The Iraq police must become that same type of juggernaught and they won't achieve that until our military presence in the country is negligible.

I want to write more, but I must get my but out the door and go to work. Will write more later.

I should be in bed...

... as it's 11:43 pm on a Wednesday evening, but thoughts of the future of the world are keeping me awake. Not awake as in "Oh My God We're Doomed" awake, more like "I can't believe the world is blind to the coming massive Middle East conflict" type of sleeplesness. The things that concern me are the same things that are concerning pretty much everyone else these days - Iran, Iraq, Isreal, and the rule of unintended consequences.

Iran, the concern. I didn't watch the Mike Wallace interview with Amahgonajihad the other night, so maybe I heard wrong. But did Mr. Wallace really say that Amahgonajihad seems like a nice guy??? This, after all the proclaimations by the Iranian leader about his goal to nuke Isreal off the map??? Next thing you know the guy is gonna apear on next months cover of "Homes and Gardens"? Did Wallace not get the memo?

Iraq.

My little brother is going to smile when he reads this. I now (ouch) painfully agree (ouch) that our action in Iraq (ouch) has become a failure (ouch). Ahhhh. That feels a little better. I still believe that the need to remove Saddam was pressing, even without the WMD's. But as should be obvious to all / most by now, this policy was doomed to fail without the help and cooperation from the world community. The critics were right. We didn't have enough boot on the ground from the get go, And of coarse without a very large multinational force to ensure stability, the violence, now mostly in the Sunni triangle, is sure to spread. Why won't it. Who is there to stop it. I was sooo hoping that the killing of Al Zawkari would settle things down, but the seeds of sectarian voilence that he helped plant, along with the Sad'r brigades, was already in full bloom well before we off'd him. This dreadful thing is going to spread now that we disrupted the power equalibrium between Iraq and Iran, as the latter has filled in the gap nicely, thank you very much.

Isreal. Unless the world gets off its collective butts and puts its foot down against terrorists groups, Isreal is doomed. On paper, the latest skirmish btween Isreal and Hezbolla is a draw. In real life, Hezbolla won. The modern terror war is as much a propaganda war as it is military. Hezbolla is aparently doing great PR work by quickly repairing damaged hospitals and schools, and rebuilding the damaged infrastructure. Of coarse Hezbolla also benefits directly the former because it aids in healing the wounded fighters so they can fight another day, and provides future soldiers through the teaching of the evils of jews and the west thus ensuring a steady supply of recruits for the next go around in the holy war. and the latter makes weapons aquisitions more efficient. Meanwhile, Isreals reputation as being inpenetrable is gone. They couldn't get anywhere near the goal of destroying Hezbolla's capabilities. Terrorists groups never have to win in a classical sense. For them, a non-loss is a win - "See, You cannot destroy us"! And the world can't, won't take any action that prevents Hezbolla from getting even stronger, since the latest brilliant cease fire provides no realistic means of stopping Iran and Syria from rearming Hezbolla and upgrading their weaponry. Nope. The world will not take decisive measures against terrorism until Tel Aviv is vaporized by a nuclear blast.

I will give credit to Bush for at least recognizing and having resolve to take strong actions to try and change the tribal nature of the Middle East, a strong catalist in the making of radical groups. Too bad our actions in Iraq has made things worse in the Middle East.

I will write more in a couple of days, but now that this is off my chest, I'm tired and am going to bed. And I know there are spelling errors galore. It's very late and I don't feel like running a spell check. So there!

Question...

How long will it be before some one on the left, or Pat Buchanan, states that today's foiled terrorist plot is a direct result of Bushz illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq?

So That Explains It....

... the reason why Andy Roddick's performance on the tennis court has been so poor over the last year. He and Sharapova have been secretly dating during his on court slump. The careers of male tennis players always take a nose dive when said player finds himself entangled in romance. Sampras found Robin, lost on-court motivation. See Agassi's slump during Brooke. Love is only good in tennis when it's the score of your opponent! Andy, dump her now! Before it's too late!!!

Lawyers With A Sense Of Humor!

It Must Be The End Of The World!! Run For Your Lives!!....

Now lets eat....

Hat Tip: Brannon Denning, guest-blogging at Insta P

Politics at a Glance.

Since my blog-friend Scoot was linked to the web-mag Slate because he wrote some political hub-bub, I figured, to get notice by the MSBM (Main Stream Blog Media) I'd give that same strategy a try, even though I know my ideas are less original than Scoots.

I'’ve lately been pondering (no, Ian, that is not swimming in a small body of water) about thelikelihoodd that the Dems are going to take at least one house in congress. Lets face it. if the political landscape remains similar to those we currently see, ceteris paribus, then the elections coming in November are the Dems to lose. I'’m convinced they will take at least one body of congress. I ask myself, the part of me that is politically detatched, what would be the consequences for the party in charge if they lose one house?

If the Dems take the House, we will almost certainly see impeachment hearings. Not great during a war, but who knows what the outcome will be. If those hearings stick to the torture and NSA spying issues, they may have a shot. If they try the "“Bush Lied"” meme, they will probably look like fools, as there are too many Dems who proclaimed, pre 9/11, pre G W Bush, that Saddam was hiding WMD's.

If the Dems take the Senate, the republicans can say ta-ta to any more Roberts / Alito type judges getting any chance of a fair shake in confirmation hearings.

No matter which house the Dems might win, you can bet there will be a boat load of investigations going on, either as a result of those that are currently stalled, or new ones. Either way, the Republicans are in for a very rough ride for the next two years.

CPG!

Tonight...

The Last Show...

The End of an Era (and Error).

And even as I type this, the plot thickens. Tonight is the Reunion / Farewell show for my band Chris Plays Guitar. The original members are getting together for one last hurrah! Patric, the bald guy in the middle is moving to LA tomorrow. Most of the songs we play are his originals, so on his departure, we are calling it a day. I kinda left the band in February, but they never found a permanent bass player, and I still played when we had gigs. So tonight is our swan song at our favorite place to play, our giggin' home, The Hook and Ladder. We were given the freedom to perform with no restrictions, to climb on the bar, to fall off, to set ourselves on fire. We had the run of the place. A band can't ask for much more than freedom -- except free beer. We got that too! I made a power point presentation last year about the band for a class project last year. Yes. Chris IS on fire. He burned his knee that night!

CPG accomplished a lot. We recorded two albums. Toured the state. OK, that's an exaggeration. We played Chula Visa, Long Beach, Ripon, Tulare... Oh, we played at The Pines Resort at the beautiful Bass Lake. When I joined this project almost three years ago, I had by far the most band / gig experience of anyone in the band. Not hard since this was the first official band the other guys had ever been in. I got the opportunity to watch them learn and become not only fantastic musicians, but great performers as well. To Pat, Chris, Jason, and Brian - I thank you all for the fun and helping me continue to grow as a musician.

And now for the Error. For a special treat, me, Chris, and a drummer also named Mike had formed a new band and were going to play a set of Police songs. I have always wanted to do a Police cover band and here was my opportunity. Mike had joined CPG last spring after drummer Brian left to join the Peace Corps. That didn't work out for Brian. Neither did Mike for CPG. He was in the band for about nine months. His tenure ended when he got kicked out of the band by Pat for skipping out of town the week-end we had booked and advertised a gig. If Mike had a family emergency or something like that, that would have been no problem. But that was not the case. Well, just moments ago, I got a call from Pat. It seems Pat moved Mikes drums a few inches back so that he could set up his guitar rig. This pissed Mike off, and even as I type, Mike is packing up his drums and going home. So the Police cover band come to a swift and unglorious end as Mike pulls a Sting and goes solo! Hey, Wait just one second! I'm the vocalist / bass player a la Sting. I should be the one storming out and breaking up the band!!! Anyway I am not going to vent on Mike; he's young. Maybe someday he'll mature and not be so quick to leave his fellow bandmates in the lurch. But I will not work with him again. He has the chops to be a fantastic drummer, but not the discipline.

So, in honor of the Police cover band that has... er, had no name, here is my rewrite of "Born in the Fifties"

We were born, born in the Sixties
Born. Born in the Sixties

My Mother cried
when Elvis Presley died
she said it was the CIA
But I knew better

Would they dropped the bomb on us
while we drank "Sex On The Beach"
we were the class the couldn't reach
'cause we knew better

We were born, born in the Sixties
Born. Born in the Sixties

And we screamed
when the Police sang Oh
but String went solo and broke up the band
Oh we should have known better

We wore parachute pants
and we learned to break-dance
we found our faith and prayed to Tammy Fay on the TV
Oh, we should have known better

We were born, born in the Sixties
Born. Born in the Sixties

We died our hair blond, and dressed like the freaks on MTV
We stood in line for hours, to watch Jaws, Star Wars, and E.T.
Ron and Nancy said "Just Say NO!"
to cocaine and angel dust
you don't understand us
we are not the Walrus
we ruined the future 'cause we all became teachers!

We were born, born in the Sixties
Born. Born in the Sixties....

Would I calm her down by throwing stones at her!

Here is perhaps the worst song ever recorded. I have dubbed it "The A-Bomb" over at Ann Althouse's Blog.

A little background. It's my junior year in college, 1991. One of my friends, Robert, was a big believer in the Rolling Stone album review staff. For him, they were THE authority on music, good vs bad. If the album received a five star rating, Tower Records in Fresno would be sure of at least one sale, such was Rob's almost religious confidence in the RS reviews. Rob would soon learn of the consequences of blind trust in anything Rolling Stone.

In an issue released early that year, the reviewers gave a "Best Of" album a "Five Star" rating. The group was an old sixties act called "The Move". Hardly anyone stateside would know of them, but they would, with drummer Bev Bevan and later Jeff Lynne in this project, later become the creative core of ELO. Lots of good music from them, so "The Move" would have to show a spark things to come. Right? One would think.

Well, upon purchasing the album, Rob headed to his house to play this RS anointed "Great collection of fine songs". I got a call from him demanding that I must hear this album. He wouldn't tell me why, but he was laughing on the phone as he made his request. Ten minutes later we were in front of my speakers, stereo remote in hand, finger on the CD play button. I couldn't believe my ears. The music coming from the speaker cones was, by far, the worst thing I had ever had the "joy" of listening to. It was soooo bad I had to hear the whole collection. The whole of the album comes across as something of a disk that mysteriously and unfortunately managed to escape to our universe from an alternate dimension, as the band sounds like The Shaggs on a bad acid trip. In this universe, instead of joining forming Black Sabbath, Ozzie Osbourn sings for the Demented Archies instead.

There are two songs that stand out as being the most merciless bad things ever burned into a vinyl disk. One is called “Disturbance”. It starts out somewhat OK, but devolves into a screaming, grunting mess at the end, as if to prove the character being described in the is really insane. But the piece de resistance is a song called “(Here We Go Round) The LemonTree. Here is the song. Here are the lyrics. Enjoy!

There's a girl next door to me who's round the bend
But she wonders why she can't make any friends
From her garden she could see me
In her silver plaid bikini
Singing, dancing round her fruit

Here we go round the lemon tree
Mister can you hear me
Here we go round the lemon tree
Mister don't come near me

Would I calm her down by throwing stones at her
If only I could make the right approach to her
Think I'd rather tame the tiger
Turn those lemons into cider
Still I'd like to get beside her

CHORUS

(silly bridge with violins)

Morning came and into action went my plans
Went to meet her dressed in bright green underpants
I crept in and sang discretely
Seemed to change her mind completely
Danced together singing sweetly

Here we go round... blah, blah, blah


Sad thing is the more I listen to it, the more I start to like it. This must be some cruel form of brainwashing!

Collateral Dammage Pisses Me Off!

Dammit! Just when I finally had forgiven the unjust, unforgiving world for THIS attrocity, I now find out about....






THIS. I am starting to really get pissed off at the peoples in the middle east, targeting innocent Subarus!!!! Where, Oh Where, Is Koffi Annon and the UN??? Amnesty Internash-G-L!!! The Red Crossmember!!! Can't someone do SOMETHING???

July 7, 2005

London Remebered.

I was angry when I wrote it, so I may not have expressed my thoughts as well as I could have in a calmer state. That said, a year later, I stand by those angry thoughts. We must continue to fight the Islamo-fascist movement where-ever and when-ever we can. Since we're already there, Iraq is as good a place as any. It still boils down to hope vs. resignation. Fight vs. flight. A chance at victory vs. certain defeat.

Life Imitates Art

This aside, from an article explaining the physics problems Superman would have if he used his powers here on Earth:

Marti points to a book called "Great Mambo Chicken," which tells of a scientific experiment in which a researcher put several chickens in a centrifuge and raised them in twice-normal gravity for months at a time. When they emerged, the chickens were stronger and had larger bones and muscles, and greater endurance. In other words, they were superchickens.

Baka-baka-baka
Baka-baka-baka
Baka-baka-baka
Baka-baka-baka
Baka-baka-baka
Baaaaaaaa...

I'm Not Moved... Except Maybe To The Fridge.....

So did you hear the one about certain Hollywoods star going on a "Rolling Hunger Strike"? What is a "Rolling Hunger Strike" you ask? I'll let the good folks at Breitbart.com fill you in on the story. But here is the good part:

"Other supporters, including Penn, Sarandon, novelist Alice Walker and actor Danny Glover will join a 'rolling" fast, a relay in which 2,700 activists pledge to refuse food for at least 24 hours, and then hand over to a comrade."

Hollywood stars starving themselves??? Yawn....

A more startling form of protest would be if Calista Flockhart or the Twin Peaks chick would have a pig-out, and NOT purge afterward!

Hat Tip: Insta and Freeman Hunt.

My Prediction For The 2008 Presidencial Race (CD's not going to like this)

NOTE: I changed the title. I wrote "Pick", instead of "Prediction", implying that this is the guy that I endorse and want to win. This is not so. It is simply my evaluation of the race as it stands now. And remember, I could be totaly wrong. After all, I am just an average joe on the side lines of politics.

I've been meaning to post about this conclusion for a while. Being a conservative minded independent makes it hard to deal with, plus the fact that I have real issues with the guy and his penchant for sky-is-falling rehtoric, but I have come to the conclusion that Gore has a real shot at the Presidency in 2008.

His position on the war has been much more consistent than most other Dem, even if it's only because he was not in office and didn't have to vote on the resolution. Many in the nation have become war weary so the Republicans will have a hard time keeping the independent vote on their side. Plus, by 2008 we will almost certainly be in the process of troop withdrawal from Iraq. Throw in Gore's long term concern / obsession with the environment he scores Mega Points with the Kossacks and Hard Progressives and can translate into a win in the primaries.

He was VP during the 90's and presided over a tremendous economic boom. Never mind that it was built on an illusionary business model, the Dot Com's, and that the Clinton administration put the pin to the tech bubble when the DOJ sued Micro$oft in '98. And I mean really, when government officials start talking about how they may have beaten the economic cycle - buy bonds.

Anyway, presidential administrations generally get too much credit / blame for good / bad economic times, but Gore was VP and can be associated with the good economy of the '90s. Plus, they, both Dem president AND Republican congress, managed to accidentally run the government with a surplus, though the actual size of it was grossly exaggerated by combining the ten year projection with principles of ceteris paribus (all things stay the same) which, as a budgetary practice, should be against the law for the government to do that (and for me to use the term ceteris paribus).

"It was a simpler time!" (I'm quoting this from someone, and even though I don't know who, I don't want to be accused of plagiarism, so I give that person credit for the line, who ever it is). Times were good, for the most part, during Gore's tenure, and compared to the current terrorist threat the nation now faces, the '90s do seem like a simpler time, though the threat was there and the administration just chose to pass the hard decisions to the next guys. Regardless, if Gore plays his cards right, (left-of-center actually), he could foster a '90s nostalgia of sorts to appeal to the centrist vote.

'90s nostalgia = Popular AND Electoral win for presidency, IF he can manage to maybe, oh, win his home state of Tennessee.

Of coarse, it all depends on who the Republicans pick as their guy. Guliani trumps Hillary (God forbid she or Jeb run), but I don't think he trumps Gore. Is Newt the Republican ace-in-the-hole against the Big G.???

Officer Delicious! YUMMY!!!!

From WFTV, Florida:

"Commuters in West Palm Beach may have noticed the rather large woman sitting near one of the area's busiest intersection. But she was really a he.

Really???

"The undercover officer is dressed in drag to hand out tickets to people who run red lights. He goes by the code name 'Officer Delicious.'"

Shouldn't he / she be hanging out in the red light district catching Johns for soliciting prostitutes, instead of hanging out on a corner ticketing John for running red lights?

Hat Tip: V The K

Question for Straight Guys.

Why does every straight guy of our generation know who Ron Jeremy is, but probably couldn't name more than two of the female porn stars he "worked" with, if any?

Train wreak of thought courtesy of Chris Althouse, who is courtesy of Ann Althouse.

Hold On To Jour Sombreros'....

... or file under "Some People Just Don't Know When To Quit!!!"

Conservatives who are upset over Bush's guest worker program are about to be given more ammo to bolster their case. I was listening to KFCF (not this KFCF, this one) the Fresno based arm of Pacifica Radio, and they were interviewing a rep from ANSWER. It seems our friends over there are infuriated and ablaze over Bush's proposal to station National Guard troops along the border and the idea of a guest worker program, and are planning a new set of protests. I applauded the organizers and participants of the May 1'st demonstrations for staging a well run, violence free march. But the repercussions of that march was on display last night in Bush's speech; that he felt the need to tackle an issue that had been in political limbo for the last twenty years. Because of his low polling numbers, Bush right now is the equivalent of the proverbial cornered cat, i.e. that is when they can be most dangerous. The protesters are throwing stones into the political pond with the expectation of being able to manipulate and control the effect of the ripples. Sorry, but you don't command the passions of the American citizen because you haven't convinced anyone other than the kool-aid drinking far, far left that the rights of citizenship should extend to those who steal across the border. Even Ted Kennedy seems to be against you.

UPDATE: It seems the Marxist over at ANSWER didn't waist any time. The Protest / Demonstrations are scheduled for TOMORROW and Thursday. Any gains that were made by the May Day protests will dissolve in a sea of anger after the next demonstrations, especially if there is any violence what so ever. And I expect violence because, unlike the last demonstration, which was populated by many average citizens and immigrants who are seeking a better life, tomorrows group will be dominated by the very rabble who decimated downtown Seattle a few years ago; those who live only to protest no matter what the protest, those have no respect for property or the authority against which they protest. Why? Because they're Neo-Marxists and have no respect for anything except the movement!

PS. Here is a clip from the ANSWER press release, which gives you a taste of their views on illegal immigration:

"As with every political program based on racism, the campaign against immigrant workers is based on dehumanizing, stereotypical lies and propaganda. Uprooted from their homelands by the process of corporate globalization and so-called Free Trade, which has led to massive unemployment, millions of workers from Mexico, Central America and elsewhere have migrated to the United States, where they are forced to take employment in low-paid, back-breaking jobs."

Forced?? FORCED?!?!?!?!?!

Dean Goes All.... Normal On Us!

This is really an update to North Dallas Thirty (who now lives in San Fran - you can take the man out of the town, but not the town out of the man) and a post on his blog called Message To Gays", which described anger, or a lack there of, from the left-gay community at Howard Dean for firing a gay staffer. Aravosis and Kos should be aflame today. Instapundit is reporting that Howard Dean appeared on the 700 Club and said marriage is "between a man and a woman". If I know my demented Dems like I think I know them, things should get fun and nasty!!!! The rabid Repubs will be using this for all they can.

Deans motivation, me thinks, is to try to make inroads into the traditional religious demographic and siphon off some votes, especially in the South, from disenchanted republican voters, without whom the Dems would have a very hard time winning the presidency in 2008. I'm not sure if my thoughts on this came out as clear as I would like (it's a morning thing). But I have to go work now so it will have to do.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo--a!

PS. Here is an explanation.

I really don't mean to torture my audience, but...

V the K made me do it because he sent me this. So here is my reply. Believe it or not, this "Boy Band" was very, very hot in Asia during the 90's. They make great cars but should never, ever be allowed to export music. EVER!!! Enjoy!

SexBots in the News!

Though she's an early prototype, she's already more lifelike than Al Gore.

Daddy has one of these at home, but his is like a balloon.

SLAP! "No... wire... hangers!"

Even their androids are cross-eyed.

Honey, don't touch the Mimes.

Uh Oh, Mommy's on pills again...

Hat Tip: Digg.

Someone Else Will Post It So I Won't Have To.. Pt 2

More criticism of Congress and Republicans. Libertarians / Lawyers have a thing or two to say. This is going to be a fun and nasty political season. I can't wait!

Say What??? ...... or not....

Volokh on a quote wrongly attributed to Thomas Jefferson.

For some twisted reason, I never tire of looking at this picture. If you love Subaru's, or cars in general, it is both comical and sad. I amuse easily.

Hat Tip: Ultimate Subaru!

Adventures in Overheat Land (the car, not the human).

While going to Downtown Fresno Thursday afternoon. Murphy, the $500 87 T-Wag blew a radiator hose. I was on the freeway, driving about 70, sudenly notice (or felt) something different. I looked in my rear view and noticed white smoke. I pulled off the freeway into downtown, I drove on, hoping to get to my destination not far away. I didn't quite get there. Murph died in the middle of an intersection, a few blocks from where I was trying to go. I pushed the car to the side of the road and popped the hood. The upper radiator hose dun blowed up. God I hope I didn't fry the engine trying to get to my destination.

So I called AAA and got a tow truck, and only had to wait twenty minutes for it to arrive. The tow driver asked if my car was AWD. I said no, it's 4WD. So he jacks up the back end, with the front wheels on ground. We are in the truck ready to go when I ask:

"By the way, why are you towing from the back"?

He says "Well on 4WD cars the front wheels are free when the transmition is in 2WD mode".

I then tell him that 4WD Subies and most other cars that have 4WD are normaly Front Wheel Drive when not in FWD. You would think a tow trunk driver would know these things .

Tow Guy then gets out of the truck and attaches a set of jacked wheels to Murph's front wheels. I'm sure there would not have been damage to the transaxle if the car rolled home on the front wheels, 4 1/2 miles away, but I'm glad that we didn't do it regardless.

So the lesson here is: Make sure you check that Tow Guys, or mechanics for that matter, know about your Subies.

Got the car home, hopped in the work truck, and went to Kragen Auto for the hose. I decided to get the lower hose too since I'm under the hood getting dirty. I also replaced the temp sensor to see if the bizzaro digi gauge temp readings would normalize (turn fan or headlights on and watch the thing spike). I replace the parts, put water in the rad, and Murph started right up . Yesterday, while driving around, the check engine light was on for a while, but is off now. I think an electrical connection to a sensor might have still been moist, but I'll keep an eye on it.

PS. The other lesson learned: When you change the head gaskets on your car, as I did a month ago, you should replace the radiator hoses (and other hoses) since you already have them off the engine!

Someone Else Will Post It So I Won't Have To...

I was going to post about how the Republicans deserve to lost; how it would be a long needed cleansing for the party. Well, someone else has gone and written that post and beat me to the punch, so now I don't have to work on composing the thing. I can take the day off. God I'm lazy!

Hat Tip: Glenn.

PS. After you read Scott's post, you may want to ponder what it will take to cleanse the Dems of their hyper-extremist anti-war affliction. Can the blinders be removed that prevents them from seeing the threat that the situation in the Middle East has become since Kohmeni's ascension to power in 79.

My Next Computer Upgrade...

The RCA Spectra 70 .



It's the same computers the FBI now uses, according to one of the comments posted at the news site Caption This.



PS. I could go for this set-up, but I think it's probably out of my pricerange.



Click HERE for more fun old-timey computer pics.

PPS. I wonder if my dad used any of these models???

What I Did On Friday

I found a pigeon having seizures on my back porch yesterday. It was flapping uncoordinatedly, and its eyes were blinking and twitching wildly. I thought it was dying and on its last legs. I was very sad as I felt I could do nothing for it. It reminded me of our parrot Emmet, the green-naped lorikeet that passed away about five years ago. I was thinking "Great, this thing has bird flu or something, and now Miss Bird, our current black-cap lorikeet who at this moment is sticking her tongue in my ear, could be exposed and die. I definitely didn't want to touch the thing so I use two pieces of cardboard as big birdie tongs and put the flailing pigeon in the bushes on the sid eof the house. I looked in on the bird from time to time, waiting for the inevitable so I could dispose of the poor thing. Well the inevitable never came. Instead of dying, it recovered within two hours, and eventually flew away. I seem to recall an article by bird and aviery expert Dick Schroeder about pigeons and epileptic seizures. Greg's mom suggested the pigeon ate fermented berries and got drunk. Man, I hope I don't look that out of it when I get drunk.

Observations On... The Buzzcut!!!

My comment concerning this topic at Althouse.

A few disadvantages to the buzz / smoothie cut:

1) They will expose the huge cavernous dents in your head.

2) If you play heavy metal guitar, you no longer have the long hair to swirl around whilst on stage. And the lack of hair draws even more attention to the hideous spandex!

3) Don't do a fresh smoothie in the middle of summer and then go jet skiing all day. Trust me. It's painful!!!

Did You Know Jack Bauer Plays Bass???

Well, as far as I know, he doesn't. He's far too busy.
Me, on the other hand....

For Those Who Think....

... National Review Online is nothing but a bunch of Hard Line Right-Wing Kooks who do nothing but tow the party line, here is an example of how that view of them, along other political outlets, either Republican or Democrat, is often short sighted.

Friday, March 31, 2006

REPULSIVE REPUBLICANS [Ramesh Ponnuru]

1) Republicans are preparing to bring the Federal Marriage Amendment to a vote. So I guess the plan from now on is to do this in all even-numbered years, and then throw the idea aside in odd-numbered ones? I know a lot of people support the FMA for principled reasons, but a decisive number of Republicans are clearly just picking on gays for political profit.

2) Republicans are leading a charge to subject "527 groups" to onerous regulations. A minority of them, again, have sincere and above-board reasons for doing this. Most of them just want to shut down groups that are trying to beat them in elections. For a majority to restrict the freedom of others to try to boot them out is pretty much a textbook definition of the abuse of power, isn't it?

Ramesh Ponnuru is a very conservative member of the NRO team, and I have disagreed with many of his political and philosophical positions. That being said, I think he hits the nail right on the head. This is another lame attempt by do-nothing Republican leaders to try and distract the base from their own shortcomings, much like the flag burning amendment was for the Newt crowd. The "FMA" again, when if failed so miserably the first time around. Problem with bringing this up again is, states are already passing state constitutional amendments banning gay marriage (boo), so why would you need to ban it federally, especially if you are supposed to be the party that favors states rights and small federal government? Restricting 527's will be seen as nothing more than another in a long line of actions aimed at trying to stifle competition and protect there incumbency, especially since their poll numbers continue to decline.

I have only remained registered as a republican because I think the best way to affect change in a party is to change from within, plus I like being the underdog out here in California. I had high hopes for both Bush and Arnold and both continue to disappoint greatly. Bush first ran on a platform which included overhauling baseline budget practices in congress, and Arnold on state spending reform. Each has completely abandoned these tenant's of fiscal responsibility, and are on track to ensure that taxes must be raised sharply in the future to pay for their financial callousness. The spending spree by both are completely reckless and stupid. These guys are running the government about as efficiently as GM has been running it's company. I'm tired of the excuse of the WOT to justify this financial binge.

OK. I'm done ranting. I just want to add that if the Republicans bring up either the FMA or more campaign spending restrictions, I will leave the party....

And no Scoot, I won't register as a Democrat. They have problems of their own, like being taken seriously on anything.

A Guest Blogger

dear moma. uncle mike sent me senior don gato, and spelled my nick-name wrong.

Away For A Week

I'm in Washington visiting my Mom and Dad. Mom is recovering from the single-double bypass surgery well enough, but still needs someone around for this and that. My older sister had flown in from Dallas and helped out for the last couple of weeks, but had to get back to Big-D or else lose her job, so I flew up to take her place. I won't be blogging much 'cause the parents only have a dail-up modem. I will have a good size blog soon.

Off Line???

You know how everyone has had a bad day now and then? Well mine was OK, but apparently the kind folks at Blogspot were having one. I haven't been able to access my blog for about a day as Blogspot has been busy transfering files from an old server to a newer one. The date on the post I linked is March 15th, but I expect they will post an update soon. The funny thing about this incident is that Chad over at Cake or Death had just switched back to Blogspot after trying Type Pad, and I wrote how I have had absolutely no problems with Blogspot. I guess that will teach me to open my big mouth.

De Ja Vu All Over Again

I posted this on a friends blog, and thought it would look good here as well. It's all about my thoughts on the upcoming presidential run. I know, I know. It's early. But I have been thinking about it since the end of 2004. I admit it - I'm a political junkie!

I "LOVE" the game of politics, but find the stench and the repercussions of it all sometimes unbearable, regardless of the political party. Speaking of parties, It's like going to a frat party. You first walk in and find that some of the guys like politics, computers, comics, rugby, and music as much as you do. Yeah, you're sportin' intellectual wood, and maybe some other. And you think "Wow, this is soo cool. These guys are hot"! But after a couple of hours you step outside for some air and come back in to realize that:

A) God, this place stinks of dead beer, booze, vomit, and other nasty bodily gases, and,

B) you seem to be the only gay guy at the party and, even though they're cool with that, you can't talk to anyone on a serious level because, well, they're frat boys and don't do serious,

C) the straight guy you kinda had a crush on is either loudly banging some chick in the other room, was nice sober but is a freaking jerk when drunk, or,

D) you get to know him a lot more at the party and realize he is nothing but an uninteresting shallow spoiled brat after all, who thinks everyone, including you, are socially a step or two under him, and I don't mean under him in a good way.

Substitute the frat party with either political party, and the cute straight guy is a politician. Yep. That's politics in a nutshell!

I am curious about the list of presidential hopefuls, and who will get the nod. Though some are hoping for another chance for him, I don't think it will be McCain. I think it will either be The Mayor G., or, believe it or not, a rehabilitated Newt.

On the Dem side, I'm trying to get my little bro, who is a fairly liberal Democrat, to flesh out a list of potentials. He's not fond of Hil, but I think his wife is.

Some R's want Jeb to run. I would give up wine and chocolate and start dating tall women if that would prevent that. On the one hand, if he and Hillary got the nod, that would be the most nastily barbaric political fun that the world has ever seen! But then, GOD, haven't we had enough of these two families for one century???

Jeffrey Lyle

My older brother and his music. He is a far more talented musician than I. As a kid, even when I hated him for being mean to me and my little brother, I always admired his musical ablilties.

Happiness Is A Click Away.

It's most definitely NOT what you think, perverts, but turn up your speakers anyway and enjoy. And keep in mind, the laughter you emit is probably not what the designers of the website had in mind. I thought I saw Colin Powell bobbing around in the left corner.

Hat Tip: Web Pages That Suck! via Digg

This is just stupid! But then again, isn't this just a logical result of the "inclusion" principles guiding the education establishment today? Man I'm in a bitter mood.

Happy B-Day To Me... Sort Of.

# 41.

I wish the day was happier. Mom is in the hospital in Washington, scheduled to have double bypass surgery today at about noon today. This is her second go under the knife, the first being a triple BP in 1986. She is 74, and has a number of other health issues such as diabetes to complicate things, so of coarse I'm worried. I wish I could be there, but my sister and brother live nearby and are giving plenty of help and support for both her and Dad. When Mom and Dad lived in Fallbrook, CA, 327 miles away from Fresno, I would drive down to help when they needed me or had an emergency. Now that they live in Washington, 900 some-odd miles away, and Mary Beth and Jeff live close by, my role in caring for them is diminished. That's not quite the right way to phrase that, but It's as close as I can come to explaining things right now. If I fly up today I wouldn't be able to contribute much or stay that long, and she would be laid up the whole time. Mom would rather I come for a visit when she is back on her feet so we can do stuff together, like go shopping at Fryes or go to one of the tribal casinos. I am going to take today off and finish replacing the head gasket on my car, a project I started a month ago. That should keep my mind occupied and keep the worrying at bay.

I love you Mom and you know what I want for my birthday.

UPDATE: My sister called last night to let me know that the surgery went well. I am very relieved. I got the best birthday present I've ever wanted.

For "Marley" (I'm gonna get in trouble for that)

This was not easy to find, but here are the lyrics to a favorite childhood song.

oh senor don gato was a cat
on a high red roof don gato sat
he went there to read a letter (meow meow meow)
where the reading light was better (meow meow meow)
twas a love note for don gato

"i adore you" wrote the lady cat
who was fluffy white and nice and fat
oh there wasn't a sweeter kitty (meow meow meow)
in the country or the city (meow meow meow)
and she said shed wed don gato

oh don gato jumped so happily
he fell off the roof and broke his knee
broke his ribs and all his whiskers (meow meow meow)
and his little solar plexus (meow meow meow)
!ay carramba! cried don gato

then the doctors soon came on the run
just to see if something could be done
and they held a consultation (meow meow meow)
about to save their patient (meow meow meow)
how to save senior don gato

but in spite of everything they tried
poor senior don gato up and died
oh it wasnt very merry (meow meow meow)
going to the cemetary (meow meow meow)
for the funeral for don gato

when the funeral passed the market square
such a smell of fish was in the air
though his funeral was slated (meow meow meow)
he became reanimated (meow meow meow)
he came back to life don gato

Love You Neyna.

PS. There will be more added to this post soon.

Making Light of a Bad Situation.

... and as is the custom when having a Car-B-Q in Palestine, they served the region's favorite finger food, Gaza Strips!!!

For more, go here.

Found A Great New Blog.

Actually, the Sonic-mate found it and sent it to me. This blog has some of the most stunning insight I've read in quite some time. I will definitely "Blogtopus" it.

A Favorite Bad Movie From The 70's.

KILLDOZER!!!

Who Should Operate US Ports???

Is THIS good enough reason to oppose this sale? I mean if the worst foreign policy president of the 20th century likes it, it must be bad.

Seriously, I think Carter supports the sale, because opposing it would undercut his Camp David legacy, the only real foreign policy bright spot people remember.

There is a concern that no-one is yet talking about. What will the regional backlash be if the sale is halted by Congress or the President? Arab unification in demanding Middle East base closures? And we can't just say we don't want our ports operated by foreign interests, since the current owner operates out of Great Britain.

I don't think the fallout from this, if the sale is rewound, will help us in the WOT at all. But we'll see.

PS. The Bush administration must have known this would not sit well with the average American. This could be a gambit played by the Bush administration to try and fend off negative reaction by the UAE or other Middle East WOT partners. If Congress overturns the sale, Bush can show that he was for the sale, but was overruled by the people. And as for Bush? Well, he's not running for office, nor does he have a clear predecessor, as Clinton did with Gore. So he is not schackled to short term politics like others who will be running for office in the next few years. I think Bush is very much a long term strategist. The Iraq action and reshaping the mindset of the Middle East is a long term project. Compare that to the "capture Bin Laden" crowd. They make it sound like his capture or death equals the end of the War on Terror.

Yes I Am!!!! Again!

Your results:
You are Superman
You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.
Superman

	70%
Robin		57%
Spider-Man		55%
Green Lantern		50%
Iron Man		50%
The Flash		50%
Supergirl		45%
Catwoman		40%
Hulk		35%
Wonder Woman		30%
Batman		30%

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz


Here's one for Trekkies... or Trekkers.

Your results:
You are Geordi LaForge

Geordi LaForge 75% Spock 65% Beverly Crusher 50% Uhura 45% Mr. Scott 45% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 40% Jean-Luc Picard 40% Mr. Sulu 40% Deanna Troi 35% Will Riker 35% James T. Kirk (Captain) 35% Data 34% Worf 30% Chekov 30% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 25%

You work well with others and often fix problems quickly. Your romantic relationships are often bungled.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test

What I Did On Sunday...

.. and what I will be doing on Monday, and Tuesday, etc. etc.

Engine

Turbo

Cylinders

You see, my car has a blown head gasket. When you have a blown head gasket, you know because your car will lose water and run hot, feels like not all cylinders are firing, and develop a milky foam on the dipstic and on the inside of the oil cap. In college, I had a car that would blown head gaskets every six without fail. As I was extremely cash deficient at the time, being in college and all, I got very, very good at repairing this problem myself. Lets just say a torque wrench was one of my best investments.




This is likely where the problem occurred. It is the # 3 cylinder in my engine, and is known to be the weak spot in this engines design. If you look closely, you can see the arrow points to two partially clogged passages. The clog is caused by something I put into the engine called Barr's Stop Leak. It temporarily fixes blown head gaskets. I started the repair now because I think the stuff was starting to wear off, so I figured now is as good a time as any to tackle the job. My car, a 1987 Subaru GL-10 Turbo Wagon, has two cylinder heads, one on each side of the engine. Though the other head showed no signs of having a blown gasket, it is always a good idea to replace both gaskets since you have the engine apart anyway. kkjj

The Birds and Bees, According to Volokh

They're not gay cowboys, but it's close. Check this out. And the funny thing is, I found it on Eugene Volokh's site. God, lawyers are repressed or something!

My Dog Can Do Something I Can't...

Calculus!

PS. And don't think I don't know what you perverts were thinking!

Hit Tip: Digg!

Got This Ad Via E-Mail...

Great! A Sex Trampoline!!

Looks Like Fun... until someone gets hurt!!!

A Cool Blog

I can't acurately describe how cool this site is, so I won't even try.

Hat Tip: My friend Devorah.

Dancing Naked In a Fountain!

So I wasn't going to blog much for the next few weeks....

And I'm not. But This picture at "Caption This" just demanded a post.

THIS is for my sister, Mary Beth. Love Ya!

I'll elaborate on the reason for this post later, but she'll get it.


PS. Here are the lyrics, and they have a dulcimer tab too!

Notice

Blogging will be slow for the next few weeks. I am completing my last class in school, am selling the business, and have all sorts of tax work that needs to be done. I will try and post if something big or interesting comes up.

PS. I won't be like Andrew Sullivan and blog MORE when I say just the opposite.

Remembering a Friend

This week there was a violent attack against gay patrons in a Massachusetts bar. When ever I read or hear about his type of thing my blood boils. In ‘93 my friend Rob Johnson was bashed to death in his apartment in San Diego.

I had met him a year earlier while visiting my family in SD (I was going to Fresno State at the time). We met at “The Flame” a lesbian bar that hosted “Boys Night Out” on Tuesdays, and hit it off quite well. He was in line right in front of me and instead of stamping his wrist, he pulled down trow and had them stamp his right cheek. I was hooked right then. His positive attitude was infectious, and he was just a normal guy. No hang-ups. Normal. And just happened to be gay. We hung out for the next few days, I even spent the night at his bungalow overlooking Pacific Beach, which was strange for me being a “Hit and Run-Out-the-Door” guy back then. And then I went back to school.

We hooked up a few times that year, when ever I was in town. But there was no possibility of a relationship, even after I moved back to SD in the summer of 92. I had not broken down all my barriers yet, keeping my guy and straight life separate for example, and was not ready for a relationship. And he was a bit of a player; he liked to have his fun. We didn’t socialize much after I moved back. Things move on. But I still loved him, and I think he knew it. I kinda melted when I saw him, even when he was with another guy. In late Feb of 93, I guess I hadn’t gone out for a week or so (not unusual for me) and was at “Flicks”, one of my regular hang-outs. I overheard friends talking about the wonderful but sad funeral they had gone to that day. When we were leaving the bar I asked the question that needed to be asked, although I had a gut feeling I might not like the answer. “Who’s funeral did you all go to”? One of my friends said “Our friend Rob in PB”.

I said “Johnson?!?”

I think the look on my face said everything. Someone said in a shocked tone “Oh my God, you knew him, you didn’t know?”. I remember the looks on their faces, as I’m sure they reflected the look on mine. Since the relationship was in the past, and I was not exactly the most social type of person, how could they know I knew him? And no one called since no one had my number. Anyway, they told me that he was robbed and shot dead in his apartment. We went out to Denny’s-ish restaurant, and I was OK. Then the next morning the full weight of the new reality set down on my being. Rob was gone. I’ll never see him again. Never again see his smile. Hear his laughter. That was so hard. A week or two after, I started hearing different versions of what had happened to Rob, so I went to visit Robs best friend and maybe ask about the details of Robs death. I couldn’t. As soon as Bill opened the door I knew I never could ask him because the pain was so clear on his face. So I simply told him how sorry I was “and call me if you need to talk”. How stupid. I was the one that needed to talk. So I went to my car, grabbed my lyric notebook, and walked down the beach to the shoreline, and with the waves cresting before me, wrote the best, gut wrenching, most honest lyric I will probably ever write.


JUST ONE TEAR

Who's to say
That the road we take
Is the road we should be traveling
Who knows
If the path we take
Is the one we should be on

Without you here
Life is slowing down
And any sense it made's unraveling

No need to try and wonder why
Or dwell on things we left unsaid
I'm only left to sit and hope
Yours was a life with few regrets

Who's to say
If what we do is right or wrong
I guess now I'll never know

I can say I knew you, You were a friend of mine.
I don't now how to say goodbye, You were a friend of mine

There must be something more to say
It may be better off this way

You were a friend of mine

This would come out fine
If I would cry just a little
This might come out better
If I could cry just a little

Just one tear
You were a friend of mine.

I have always kept my emotions close to the vest. It was a survival mechanism I had used to get through an unhappy youth. Is that response genetic or learned I don't know, and it's not important at the moment. Anyway, because I missed the funeral, I never got the chance to weep for my friend.

I did eventually find out what most likely happened. Rob was known for “skimming” the beaches late at night and picking up strangers to have fun with. Well I guess he picked the wrong guy. They went to Robs apartment and the guy, who was never caught TTBOMK, beat Rob to a pulp and left him in the tub to die. I also found out that Robs parents didn’t know he was gay, and didn’t find out until his funeral. That gave me the courage to finally tell my parents the truth about being gay. I couldn’t imagine having them go through the same thing. It's sad irony that Rob’s death helped me cross a final barrier; the tragic end of his life helped me move forward in mine.

I wish to God I would have had the courage to tell him how I felt about him. He was, and still is, a major influence in shedding my negative feelings about being gay, and I miss him to this day.

Isn't this....

how world wars get started???

But look on the bright side. At least it isn't the American flag being torched for a change.

November Elections, Decided Today

Today the House Republicans vote for a new Majority Leader. There are two choices; current Majority Whip and DeLay acolyte Roy Blunt of Missouri, or either Ohio's John Boehner or Arizona's John Shadegg, both of whom have not been enticed by the delicious taste of congressional pork. If the Republicans vote for either of the latter, AND show REAL progress in gutting pork barrel projects, they will be OK come election day. If the vote goes to Blunt, well, you will probably see the Dems gain a number of seats in the House as many conservatives will just stay home in protest of the Mega-Government policies that have ticked off the base. Here is more from the Wall Street Journal.

Hat Tip: InstaP.

UPDATE: Looks like Boehner's in. Now GET BUSY and clean up your act, or else say bye to your Majority status.

A Picture for Ann.

Hat Tip: citizen grim

The Future of News???

"Googlezon" would like to think so.

Here is the Wiki.

PS. I tried to find the Googlezon logo but liked this one better for some reason. And the original title of this post was "The Shape Of Things To Come", but after adding the logo I decided it was too tackey!

Kennedy sees the Light...

...on asbestos.

Kennedy's bit of sarcasm at the filibuster hearings:

"What's the next measure on the calendar? Asbestos? Isn't that interesting?"

As a pool guy and a geology school drop-out, I have an iron in this fire. Here are the facts on the over reaction concerning asbestos.

Asbestos is general term for a rock mineral that splits into small fibers. It's fibers are heat resistant, flexible, chemically inert, and non conductive. Needles to say, it's cheap and useful for tons of stuff. There are several types of asbestos producing rocks, just as there are several types of granite, each with somewhat different properties. There are four types of asbestos mined by industry, but for the sake of space, I'll talk about the two most widely used.

Asbestos fibers classified as either amphiboles or sepentine Amphibole fibers are dangerous because they consist of long, barbed fibers, and when inhaled, latches onto lung tissue and causes scarring and eventually can cause cancer. No dispute here. Fibers from the Crocidolite mineral, found and mined in South African mines are among the most dangerous. Some South African miners developed mesothelioma within a year of exposure.

The main North American fiber type, the sepentine Chrysotile, are short and curly with fewer barbs on the fiber. Because of their shape and physical properties, the Chrysotile fibers, if inhaled, are easy for the lungs to expel. This cheaply locally obtained material has, in the past, been the predominant type used in the Northern Hemisphere, and accounts for almost all the asbestos used world wide (about 90 – 95%) today. The major source of Chrysotile has been regions in Canada, and much of the research on Chrysotile comes from those mining regions.

Though there are dangers to excessive asbestos exposure, regardless of type, the EPA got the asbestos scare rolling by grouping ALL forms of asbestos together and using rubrics weighted heavily toward results of Crocidolite / cancer associations. Here is another example of the same distortions. Note this article gives a 10 to 20% increase in mesothelioma. Here is a description of the environment in the town some thirty years ago:

”Every day, twice a day, she swept the front steps, because every day, twice a day, a layer of white dust an inch thick would accumulate. “

In this environment described, you would expect the disease rates among miners and their families to absolutely soar. But this study study shows the assersions made in the previous link are false. It relies on a non-scientific paper to substantiate its claims. Long term studies indicates Chrysotile miners have only a slight increase in asbestos related diseases (see paragraphs 3 and 4 for a rebuttal of the EPA's methodology).

Chrysotile is even naturally occurring in the environment. From the National Office of Pollution Prevention - Canada:

...it is present in two thirds of the rocks that make-up the earth’s crust. As a result of bedrock erosion, by way of water and wind action that liberate chrysotile fibers from the rock, we are environmentally exposed to chrysotile fibers. Irrespective of where we are on earth we all breath an average of 10 000 to 15 000 chrysotile fibers every day. Potable water contains an average of 200 000 to 2 million chrysotile fibers per liter, and can reach up to 170 million fibers per liter in chrysotile producing areas in Quebec.

Am I trying to convince anyone that asbestos is just fine, and people shouldn't sue companies that knew of risks and didn't act to minimizes those risks? No. But despite all this information showing an over-inflated risk assessment concerning asbestos, and that most asbestos producing companies have been litigated out of business, and that most of those dangerously exposed have died, the lawsuits go on. Here is more information on asbestos litigation (while I'm typing this, a commercial ran promoting the fight against unfounded asbestos litigation).

PS. Asbestos fibers interlock with each other, trapping air within the lattice of fibers, which it works so well as an insulator. This also means that asbestos placed between two sealed walls stays there. So when we find asbestos insulated schools, what do we do to “Protect The Children”? We go in and knock down those walls, which, despite best efforts, sends “dangerous asbestos” flying everywhere exposing everybody. And the calculated risk of death linked to school based asbestos exposure is somewhere around 0.005 - 0.093 per million. Compare that to these risks; death from Whopping Cough vaccine 1 - 6 per mil., death from drowning 27 per mil., and long term smoking 1200 per mil. Go figure.

PPS. Why, you may ask, would being a pool guy make me care about asbestos? Because pool plaster used to be mixed with asbestos as a bonding agent until the late 80's (not sure on the exact cut-off date). I have seen many 40 to 50 years old pools with the original surface that has no blistering, while modern plaster pools often will start to blister after only 10 to 15 years.

See Logan Run.

In an attempt to yet again avoid the Fiery Ritual of Carousel, Michael York kidnaps a Panda in the long awaited sequel "Logan's Run 2".

Hat Tippiod: BFT

Maybe 15 Minutes Is A Tad Too Long.

My friend Bryan Zera, on Marguerite Perrin. Check his rewrite of this M. P. Website quote:

"By ignoring all rules of caution and conformity, Marguerite has been able to find a place in the hearts of her viewers through her fabulously unique personality, unyielding faith and astonishing pride. When she boards a plane and courageously leaves behind her home and family to venture into an unfamiliar world, Marguerite... an extraordinary individual, inspires all of us to look beyond tradition and conformity and remain true to ourselves."

Here is his translation:

"By acting like a total spaz, Marguerite has been able to milk her 15 minutes of fame into boatloads of cash by licensing the rights to her freak-out video to Fox. When she boards a plane, weight sensors go off. Maugerite inspires us all to eat an entire buffalo, then yell at the buffalo's next of kin for being Godless heathen."

Funny. Bryan should start a web site interpretation blog.

Orin Kerr - Lawyer / Humorist!

President Bush visited NSA headquarters today to give a speech to NSA employees. The Volokh Conspiracy has obtained a copy of the speech. Here is the introduction and key section:

Thank you for that kind instruction. It's a pleasure to XXXXX here. XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXX And that's why I think we were right to XXXXX X XXXXXX XXXXXXX X XXXXXXX XX XXXXX The National Security Agency is playing a crucial part in the war on terror. XXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXX XXX XX XXXXXXXX XXX Osama bin Laden and take him seriously. When he says he's going to hurt the American people again, or try to, he means it. I take it seriously, and the people of NSA XXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXX XXX XXXXX XXXXXXX ;do this? You bet we did. XX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX X XXXXXXXX X XXXXX American people, because XXX XXXXX X X X XX XXXXXXX X X XXXXX XXXX X X X X X XXXXXX XX XXX X XXXXX XXXX Thank you.

From V. C.

A New Quizzie

What Kind of Sports Car Am I???

I'm one of these, apparently.

You're a classic - powerful, athletic, and competitive. You're all about winning the race and getting the job done. While you have a practical everyday side, you get wild when anyone pushes your pedal. You hate to lose, but you hardly ever do.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Hat Tip: InstaP.

PS. I'm not very fond of the car in real life. Does this make me a self-hater???

If...

Samuel Alito is a racist bigot for being a member of CAP, which published a magazine containing a satirical essay that Teddy mistakes as serious...

...does that mean that all subscribers to the LA Times are ungrateful, anti-military, pacifist, elitist, isolated, hypointellectuals who knows nothing of the world in which he lives???

I'm just asking.

My blog friend at Miserable Donuts has thoughts.

PS. I do thank Joel for his honesty.

PPS. Notice I didn't rag on him for being rich??? I want to be rich!

Is The Free Ride Over?

While surfing the web for some random and unrelated bit of information, I stumbled across this little unhappy bite of news. It looks like the GAO has found a way around the Internet Tax Freedom Act, passed in 1998. It was moratorium intended to limit taxation on goods purchase over the internet, which helped fuel the initial internet boom. It was one the better bipartisan bills passed by the otherwise fractious Clinton / Gingrich led government. The loophole concerns something they call "acquired services" (i.e. wires, modems, servers and the like). How long will it take before a congressman proposes a tax to take advantage of this loophole? In this anti-spendthrift, money-hungry congress, probably not long. This could affect anyone who uses the net. I wonder how much finding "little unhappy bites of news" will cost me in the future?

PS. My bad. It won't be a tax. It will be a FEE!!!

The Demise of Juan Non-Volokh

It's not death, just retirement really.

Pat

No Pants - No Common Sense.

PS. from last July 4th CPG show at The Pines Resort / Bass Lake.