- Smothered steak and eggs, served blood rare, with basted eggs and hash browns on the side was one of the better breakfasts I’ve had in a while.
- Sleeping in around here means you can go back to sleep after you get woken up at 6 AM and stay there until about 8.
- I disassembled the fence that Irish Woman decided had to go.
- About 3/4 of the screws either had their heads break off during extraction or had to be cut with the reciprocating saw.
- I also broke two of the Philips bits on my drill. Dewalt has some explaining to do.
- It is good that we got almost a month’s worth of rain in one night this week. It meant the ground was soft enough that I was able to lever out about half of the fence posts using body weight and muscle. The little digging I had to do was pretty easy too.
- Irish Woman and I planted the following plants today:
- 2 hazelnut bushes
- 4 cherry trees of varying breeds
- 6 raspberry bushes
- 1 seedless grape vine
- Tomorrow we will be preparing a new bed. We will then transplant four existing blueberry bushes and plant two new blueberry bushes in it.
- After all that, I will give notice that I am done planting trees and bushes for the foreseeable future.
Thoughts on the Day
Posted by daddybear71 on April 5, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/04/05/thoughts-on-the-day-225/
Movie Quotes – Day 95
What would you do with a brain if you had one? — The Wizard of Oz
This delves into Kentucky politics a bit, but bear with me. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is being challenged in the Republican primary by Matt Bevin. Mr. Bevin leans toward the conservative, Tea Party branch of the GOP, while Senator McConnell is more of an establishment Republican. OK, he’s the poster child for the establishment wing of the party, and his continued willingness to compromise principle in order to get… something out of the Obama administration is one of the reasons I’m supporting Mr. Bevin in the primary. Heck, being able to vote against McConnell was the sole reason I re-registered as a Republican after deciding to go Independent after the 2012 election.
As much as I dislike Mr. McConnell, I like Mr. Bevin’s positions on a lot of issues more. He espouses the smaller government, individual liberty, pro-gun opinions that I value. He’s run a business, even if he had to work with the government to keep it open after it was destroyed by fire. I don’t agree with him on a few things, but I’m not looking for purity, just competency and principles. I will probably vote for Bevin in the primary, as opposed to voting against McConnell. He just seems to be smart and competent.
Then I read this.
Some things are just toxic, and shouldn’t be touched. Some people and some issues don’t deserve our attention, no matter how much they couch their argument in our favorite language. Would Bevin speak at a NAMBLA rally if the organizers were pushing to get rid of federal child porn laws? I would certainly hope not, and he shouldn’t have appeared at this rally.
Either he and his campaign knew about the content of this gathering and didn’t care, or they didn’t bother to do their homework about it in the first place. Either way, it’s unacceptable. Bevin has a slim chance of victory in May, and this doesn’t help.
Bevin needs to get in front of this, admit the cock-up, and move on.
Not to pick on my own side, let’s talk about Representative Jim Moran, Democrat of Virginia.
Mr. Moran, who has served in Congress since 1991, seems to believe that the $174,000 in salary that members of Congress receive every year just isn’t enough. It’s just not enough to keep a roof over their heads and bread in their mouths, you see.
Let’s not consider how many people go into Congress merely rich, but come out of it filthy rich. Let’s forget about how insider trading laws don’t apply to members of Congress. Let’s concentrate on how the Senators and Representatives make a habit out of having two residences, one in Washington and one back home. Let’s concentrate on how unfair it is to expect someone who volunteered for their position, campaigned long and hard to get it, and who tends to stay in it for as long as they choose to keep it is making almost three times the median income for their work area. Let’s concentrate on a debate on term limits.
Moran is out of touch. I hope that his constituents are paying attention, and that they replace him this fall. Heck, I don’t care if another Democrat gets elected in November, just not this particular Moran.
Politics is starting to become one of those subjects that I don’t consider unless I’ve been drinking, and it’s stories like these that explains this new attitude.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 5, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/04/05/movie-quotes-day-95/
Shoutouts
- To the lady at the children’s museum who suggested to Irish Woman that we start our second day there as early as possible and go directly to the top floor where the big interactive room is: Bless you. Boo had a ball this morning, and the crowds weren’t too terrible for the first couple of hours.
- To the mother who dressed her young (somewhere between 4 and 6 years old) daughter in clothing three sizes too small to go to the museum: What in the name of Cthulhu is wrong with you? Seriously, her shirt was a good three inches short in both the arms and waist, and her pants were so low and tight that a good two inches of butt crack were showing. I can’t believe you couldn’t afford new clothing, seeing as how you properly dressed yourself. Were you trying to shame her over her obvious weight issue? Was this some sick kind of punishment where you forced her to go out in public like that?
- To the man in line at the sandwich shop who gave me the hairy eyeball after I dropped my voice half an octave and told Boo to get down off of a chair: When I need your approval on how to parent my child, I’ll let you raise him. Until then, the line to bite my butt forms to the right.
- To myself: You, sir, are a horse’s ass. Lashing out at your family, no matter how tired, sore, and frustrated you are, is never in bounds. You’re lucky you married such a good woman, and she deserves better.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 4, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/04/04/shoutouts-11/
Movie Quotes – Day 94
Dung Beetle Dad: [Pushing ball of dung] Do we have to bring this crap? I’m there’s have crap where we’re going!
Dung Beetle Mom: [Offended] Uh! This was a gift from my mother.
While packing for an overnight trip today, I included a change of clothes, my shaving kit, my laptop, my tablet, and chargers for a few things. It all fit in a small knapsack.
The rest of the family filled the trunk of Irish Woman’s car. I’m not sure what the purpose of it all could be, but apparently they couldn’t live without it.
Overpacking seems to be a common human habit, even with our everyday carry. How many of us wake up one morning and realize that between carry gun, reloads, cell phone, multiples of knives, flashlight, and whatever else seemed like a good idea at the time, we’re carrying more crap than Batman. I choose my laptop bags specifically because they are too small for me to carry around more stuff than I absolutely need. Otherwise I eventually end up with more stuff in my laptop bag than I used to carry in my rucksack.
Simplifying makes life easier. Cutting down on the layers of cruft that build up over time gives us more resources to enjoy that life.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 4, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/04/04/movie-quotes-day-94/
Musings
- The urologists in Indianapolis ought to advertise vasectomies at the children’s museum. They’d have to turn away business.
- I’d like to thank the trucker on I-65 who let us test the brakes on Irish Woman’s car today. You coming over into our lane during a thunderstorm was an act of absolute genius. Only you, sir, could have tried to prove that it is indeed possible for the matter in our fender and windshield could co-exist in the same space as the matter in your rear bumper.
- There’s nothing better than spending an afternoon in an enclosed space with 14,000 other human beings.
- That goes double if your overstimulated 5 year old is one of the better behaved children.
- It was cheaper to buy a one year family membership to the museum than it would have been to just buy one day tickets.
- I guess this will be a good excuse to come up to Indianapolis every so often.
- I wish the train still ran from Louisville to Indy. Even if it made six stops before getting to Indianapolis, I could have had a nice nap on the way up.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 3, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/04/03/musings-42/
Movie Quotes – Day 93
Sure does help knowing when and where you’re gonna be hit, sir. — Heartbreak Ridge
One of the traps I find myself falling into is practicing for cut and dry scenarios. The bad guy is always going to look like a bad guy. I will always have situational awareness to the point where I know who is and who isn’t a bad guy. All ‘surprises’ are predictable. The target zone on the bad guy is easily recognized.
But it’s probably not going to be like that. If I ever have to defend myself or the family, I’ll probably know the aggressor by his or her actions, but will I know which of the people around us are uninterested parties, which are associates of the aggressor who aren’t going to get involved, and which are more than willing to become part of the problem? Will I even know about all of the people around me?
We can’t train or practice for every scenario. We can prepare for the most probable situations, but we must guard against practicing in “God Mode”. We can’t all afford force-on-force training, but having a buddy throw a dud round in our magazine or set up a shooting stage that we don’t know about beforehand is better than stationary cardboard with big bright targets pasted to them.
What do you all do to improve your training and keep it from becoming predictable?
Posted by daddybear71 on April 3, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/04/03/movie-quotes-day-93/
Today’s Earworm
(My apologies to Simon and Garfunkel)
“The Sound of Arthritis”
Hello, Naproxen, my old friend.
They’ve prescribed you to me again.
Because Celebrex stopped working
And my bones they are creaking.
And a storm front, that is shattering all my joints,
To sharp edges and points.
Creates the sound of arthritis.
With needles I inject my thigh
Might as well stick it in my eye.
Because all I can do is ask why
Do I pay all this dough
For meds that work so slow?
When my brain feels dull and my mood is harsh and mad,
and full of spite,
With the sound of arthritis.
And in the doctor’s office I see
Crowds of people, who limp like me.
People who stroll while listing.
People who cringe when they stand up.
People taking meds, that doctors think might work,
And you take them, like a jerk.
Within the sound of arthritis.
Doc, said I, my muscles scream
I felt better using Aspercreme.
Nifty neato drugs they push
They fill out the script in a rush
But my words, like silent pill bottles fell
And made the sound of arthritis.
And the doctor pulled and poked
As these evil words she spoke:
Your joints seem stiff, you need to rest
Read this pamphlet and go to the lab for tests.
And the pamphlet said “You may develop moderate to severe infections due to use of this pill”
And I probably will.
And listen to the sounds…. of arthritis.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 2, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/04/02/todays-earworm-486/
Movie Quotes – Day 92
What we need right now is a clear message to the people of this country. This message must be read in every newspaper, heard on every radio, seen on every television… I want *everyone* to *remember*, why they *need* us! — V For Vendetta
I’m refraining from watching the President and his staff take a victory lap around the cable news networks tonight. To be honest, I don’t have the time or energy. Everything that this administration has done has been a ‘crisis’, including the healthcare legislation and its implementation. Every issue must be taken care of RIGHT NOW! because it’s IMPORTANT and our betters are JUST LOOKING OUT FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE!. Anyone who stands in their way or even asks what all the rush is about is branded as unfeeling, unthinking, and unhelpful. When things go wrong, we are told that it’s insignificant or someone else’s fault. Any change, whether it’s what was promised or not, is touted as the best thing that could ever happen, with kudos all around to the administration’s allies.
The ACA is a horrible law, passed in the middle of the night. It has been implemented with one eye on the polls and one hand on the panic button. Rather than making healthcare and the healthcare industry better, it has allowed millions of leaches to suck just a little more blood from the host.* No-one is saving a dime on healthcare. This program isn’t going to add one doctor to the already overstressed system, but it’s adding a whole bunch of people who think that once they have a piece of paper that says they are covered, then they magically can get treatment.
Welfare, and Obamacare is nothing but the old welfare pig with a new shade of lipstick, should be for only the truly poor and it should be temporary. Obamacare does nothing but create a new class of people who will permanently suckle at the sow’s teat, while the rest of us get to feed her our life’s blood.
So, forgive me if I spare myself the experience of the President and his ilk talking about what an accomplishment it is to get 7 million people to create credentials on a web site and look at the programs it (sometimes) offers. We haven’t been told for sure how many of them actually bought something, and of those, how many have paid a penny to pay for their newfound public largesse.
Honestly, I’m too tired from getting off my ass for the last quarter century and making sure that my family has food, clothing, shelter, and health insurance to give a damn right now.
*I know that’s judgemental and harsh, but let me make this clear: If you signed up for the expanded Medicaid program or accepted a subsidy for your Obamacare insurance policy, you are a leach on the ass of the American people. You should be ashamed of yourself. If my saying that offends or insults you, too bad. Leave.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 2, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/04/02/movie-quotes-day-92/
Movie Quotes – Day 91
Look I probably should have told you this before but you see… well… insanity runs in my family… It practically gallops. — Arsenic and Old Lace
For a huge portion of my life, I lived with the certainty that I, and by extension my family, was as screwed up as a football bat and everyone else lived perfectly normal lives. One of the ways that I know I’ve matured is that I’ve come to realize that everyone’s messed up, and nobody had the Ward and June Cleaver experience. Everyone has their drama, their setbacks, their weird family quirks. Most of them are just quirks, some are dangerous pathologies. But we all have them. Knowing that your family isn’t as strange as you think they are will allow you to realize that you are not as strange as you think. In fact, it’s the people who are perfectly normal that are bizarre.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 1, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/04/01/movie-quotes-day-91/
Thoughts on the Day
- It is a good thing when a co-worker says “Oh, you’re working on that? We can get that done today, if you’d like.”
- Nothing good can come from a young boy running down the driveway with his father’s hammer and masonry chisel.
- We had to cut down and dig out a volunteer cherry tree on Sunday. The main trunk was long and thick enough to make a walking stick for Boo. He loves it.
- Of course, he thought it was great when I taught him to smack it down on the porch and yell “You… shall not… pass!”.
- One good thing about working the first few days of spring break is the reduced number of people on the freeway and in the office.
- Watched “Frozen” with the family last night. Now I’ve got that !@#! song in my head. Going to have to kill a few synapses to fix that.
- Pond muck, it’s what’s for the garden’s dinner.
- Seriously, the ‘water’ I put on the stuff we’ve planted was about the color of pea soup.
Posted by daddybear71 on March 31, 2014
https://daddybearsden.com/2014/03/31/thoughts-on-the-day-224/
DaddyBear
DaddyBear’s Den 