I have gone to several conferences with your organization, and taken several classes with you all.  I read your website daily, and get several information feeds from you about updates to your technology field.  I have also taken part in several webcasts with you, but never again.

You see, your webcasts are, for the most part, put on by software and hardware vendors.  I don’t care about that, since you go out of your way to make sure the webcasts are informative and not just dressed-up sales pitches.  The information given out is almost always very well done, interesting, and applicable.

But since I have to give my contact information when I register for the webcast, the vendors then know who I am and how to get in touch with me.  A few days after the webcast, my phone starts ringing with sales calls, and my email fills up with invitations to demo whatever product they are pushing.

I come to your organization for knowledge and information.  I understand that you all cannot just put on these presentations without some consideration to the economic part of the industry.  However, I do not wish to be subjected to two weeks of unsolicited emails and phone calls in exchange for a 45 minute webcast on securing Linux and Solaris.

I will continue to attend your conferences and webcasts that are not put on by vendors, and I look forward to taking as much training from you as my company will pay for.

But I will no longer be attending webcasts that you allow a software or hardware vendor to create.  My time and my attention are better spent doing the job that I apply your information to than answering the phone and trying to politely tell a salesman to never call me again.

I live in Kentucky.  I am not from Kentucky.

Those of you who follow my meandering thoughts are familiar with the trevails of my minivan.  Basically, it’s gone through four starters in the past three years. 

I put the latest starter in a month or so ago, and it still didn’t want to crank.  I could hear the starter whirring, but it wouldn’t crank the engine.  I’ve been trying to find time to work on it, and using my truck through the summer.  It hasn’t been too bad, but not having air conditioning in the truck this summer has sucked the zub kabir.

Last night while chatting with some friends, I mentioned that I was going to take the inspection port off the flywheel and check it for broken teeth.  Several people suggested that I re-check the electrical connections.

This morning, I crawled under the beast and rechecked all of the connections.  All of the bolts and nuts were on tight, so I started feeling around for the inspection port to check the flywheel.  While I had my hand up in there, something sharp and pointy stabbed my finger.  I twisted my head around to look, and there I found that the neutral wire coming off of the starter was coming apart at the crimp to the connector.  I took the connector off the starter, opened the crimp and re-connected the wire to it a little bit farther up the wire. 

After re-connecting the wire and re-checking that all the other electrical connections were tight, I reconnected the battery and tried the key in the ignition.  After a moment of cranking, she fired right up!

Wai, Newbius, and Agripa, I owe each of you a bottle of Kentucky’s Finest if we ever meet face to face!

Remember, according to my maintenance sergeant at Huachuca, all equipment is never “right”.   It is in one of these states:

1. Broken
2. Fixed
3. F***ed

Now the van is fixed, when I was afraid that the flywheel was broken, and it was f***ed.  Hopefully it will stay fixed for a long long time. 

As a bonus, my Redneck Score is down by 10 points.  No more non-working vehicles up on blocks in the driveway!

A friend of mine forwarded this picture to me.  It was taken recently at Bowman Field here in Louisville.

By the painting on the rear of the fuselage and the tail, I’m guessing it’s a U.S. aircraft of Vietnam War vintage.

He asked me if I recognized it, and I didn’t.  Since I love a challenge, I started pouring over websites that listed U.S aircraft from that era.  I’ve found a few things that are close, but nothing definite.

Here’s all I know:  It appears to be a single engine, straight wing jet aircraft.  I’m about 85% sure on the straight wing, but if it’s swept wing, it’s pretty gradual.  There are what appear to be auxiliary fuel tanks on the end of the wings.  The wings sit just at the bottom edge of the fuselage, with engine intakes just to the front of and above the wing.  There is possibly another intake above and to the rear of the canopy.

Like I said, nothing I can find is a perfect match for this photo.  Closest thing I can find is the A-37 Dragonfly/T-37 Tweetybird.  But on those two, the shape of the tail and the fuselage are not quite right, so unless it’s a variant, that’s not right.  So, I’m stumped.

So, all of you aircraft guys out there.  Any ideas on what this is?

I need to extend an apology to anyone who was within earshot of Case de Oso this morning around 7:30.  Apparently my sing-along rendition of Prince’s “Kiss”, which the local radio station obligingly played just as I was getting into the shower, scared the cats and unnerved the 11 year old. 

Hey, can I help it if I can hit the high notes while I’m in the shower and have a voice that carries?

Girlie Bear and I got up bright and early today and went down to the public shooting range at Taylorsville Lake WMA.  We go fishing not far from there, so I knew the general area.  But I’m glad I looked at a map to find the road that goes back to the shooting range.  There is a sign on the main road pointing the way, but if you’re not looking for it, you’ll probably miss it.

The range itself is very nice.  It was built last year, and is still in excellent condition.  There are 6 shooting positions, each one centered on a target set at a known distance, ranging from 10 to 50 yards.  The range is bench shooting only, through tubes, so no practicing your sitting, standing, or kneeling fire.  You provide your own targets, but must use the designated target stands provided by the range.  It’s great for practicing or training, but pistol shooting would be pretty boring, in my opinion. No shotgunning is allowed at all, although they have enough land set aside to set up a skeet or trap range in the future.

Overall, it’s a very nice range.  The minuses I’ve already listed, but it has a lot of plusses.  Number one is the cost.  It’s free to the public, so my hunting and fishing license fees help to pay for it.   Also, there is no range safety officer.  You’re on your own honor to be safe, although there is a sign stating that the area is under camera surveillance.  When it’s just a couple of people shooting, that works really well.  If I went there when it was crowded, I’d want to get to know the other shooters before I went downrange without having an RSO to watch them.  Additionally, the location of the range is closer to my home than Knob Creek, which is a big plus.  KCR is a great time every time, but it’s a schlep to get there and back.  This range was only about 25 minutes from my driveway. 

Today, Girlie Bear and I shot .22’s.  She had her single shot Rossi, and I was breaking in the new 10/22.  We concentrated on trigger squeeze and follow through.  Over time, her technique on the trigger got better, and I introduced her to dime and washer exercises.  We’ll keep working on it and go back to the range in a couple of weeks.

I put about 100 rounds down the barrel of the 10/22, and my groups weren’t too bad.  I tried adjusting the rear sight to bring my groups into the center of my target, but the factory sights require the loosening of two small screws, moving the sight, and tightening the screws.  Not very easy to do on the range.  I got some advice on better sights, and am intrigued by the TechSights 10/22 sets.  They seem to be modeled on the M16A2 peep sights that I’m familiar with.  Those might make a nice addition to this little rifle.

We had a great morning.  Many thanks to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife for the new shooty place!

Half a dozen Dunkin Donuts Munchkin doughnut holes, when placed in a toilet, will indeed float.  And when flushed, will plug said toilet better than anything BP has come up with.

This PSA brought to you by BooBoo Bear, who reminds you that the terrible two’s aren’t permanent, and little boys are made cute as a self-defense mechanism.

Irish Woman, while watching a “Her Man Done Did Her Wrong, and Now She’s Getting Hers” movie:  Check this out.  This woman caught her husband cheating, shot him, and was able to get off by calling it a crime of passion.  Do you ever worry that I’ll kill you?

DaddyBear:  No sweetheart, I don’t ever worry that you’ll kill me, justified or not.  You’ll just keep talking to me until I commit suicide.

Icy stare in 3…2…1

Mediocracy – A system of government or leadership where by governance is done by those who are just not quite good enough to excel.

Usage:

Since our company is a mediocracy, the boss thinks he knows what he’s doing, but only has about 75% of the skills necessary to plan intelligently.

A couple of weeks ago, BooBoo started making a habit of sitting on Shadow’s back and yelling “Giddy-up!”.  For the most part, Shadow either just lays there and waits to be petted or he sits up and lets BooBoo slip off of his back before laying back down.  No-one said my dog was stupid.

We wondered where BooBoo picked up the idea of riding a horse or dog like that.  He’s not a “cowboy” kind of kid, and I’ve only given horsie rides a couple of times. 

Then we noticed that he could pick Woodie and Buzz from Toy Story out of one of his Disney books by name.  We let BooBoo watch a movie every so often, and he likes Toy Story.  In the second Toy Story movie, Woodie rides the family dog like a horse.  Apparently BooBoo was emulating Woodie in trying to get Shadow to take him for a ride.

This gave me something to think about.  While this is a pretty benign and cute manifestation of it, kids are influenced a lot by the entertainment we let them enjoy.  I grew up watching Fes Parker play Davie Crockett, and we played Alamo in the basement for years.  Kids who watch a lot of television are going to be influenced by the characters and stories they experience, for good or bad.

Currently, there is a large crop of TV shows for kids between 9 and 12, the dreaded tweens.  Some of it is bubblegum stuff, some of it is a half-hour of goofiness and toilet humor, and some of it is obnoxious trash.  Movies and music are about the same.  This reminds me of the pattern I see in entertainment during the late 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.  The Baby Boomers were a large group of consumers with money, so the entertainment industry pandered to their taste.  Now there is the large group of Generation X’s children that have the money, and the entertainment industry is providing to them.

I’m not saying that this is bad.  That’s how market economies work, and entertainment is a large part of our market.  Even if I don’t like what’s being produced doesn’t mean I don’t think that there are some who do and will spend their time and money on it.  I acknowledge that I’m getting older and crankier and think that just about all TV, movies, and music produced today is crap.  I yearn for the golden age of cartoons about robots, TV shows that have special forces guys who can’t hit the broad side of a barn in a firefight,  and hair metal.  Now get off my lawn you damn kids.

What I am saying is that as parents, we have to be aware what influences are being shoved on our kids.  We can’t wait for the government, the media, or anyone else to do it for us.  I don’t let my kids watch gross cartoons on Nickelodean or the Cartoon Network. (I’m a bit of a hypocrite here, because I love to watch Ren and Stimpy and their brethren.  But I didn’t graduate from Scooby Doo and RoadRunner cartoons until I was a teenager, and I think that was pretty typical).  I run parental controls on my cable box, computers, and game consoles.  I encourage my children to read, but I don’t encourage my daughter to read teenage romance novels like Twilight.  There will be time enough for that when she’s actually a teenager. 

Parents have to know that when they let television, music, or any other form of media into their children’s lives, they are letting that media exert influence on the behavior, values, and outlook of those children.  As parents, we have to know what our children are accessing, and influence them to make good choices when it comes to these inputs.  If they make bad choices, we have to modify their behavior.  When they make good choices, we have to encourage them to continue down that path.