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Overheard in the Yard

Irish Woman and I were looking at the sections of picket fence that I’ve put in so far.  Since our back yard slopes downward from front to back, each section has a bit of difference in the distance from the bottom of the first picket to the ground versus the distance from the bottom of the last picket to the ground.  In a couple of sections, it’s more pronounced than others (Hooray for ugly grades!)

Irish Woman – That gap is 9 inches.  So is that one down there and that one down there.  You need to lower all three sections.

Me – No it’s not!  That’s only six inches, and we can build a raised bed there or something to cover that.  It will take me hours to undo those sections and re-do them!  We can live with the way it is!

Irish Woman, patient as ever – No, it’s 9 inches, and that’s too much to cover.  It doesn’t make any sense to put up a fence to keep in animals and small children when you leave a gap big enough they can get their heads under and get hurt.

Me – Fine!  I’ll measure it. Don’t tell me it’s too big a gap.  I know what we can work with.  Let’s see here….. There you see, it’s…… 9 inches.  Fine!  I’ll lower the verdammte sections!  Are you happy now?

Irish Woman – I told you it was 9 inches.  I’m a woman.  I know the difference between 6 and 9 inches.

Me – ………

by daddybear71 on May 30, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Quote of the Day

Posted by daddybear71 on May 30, 2013

https://daddybearsden.com/2013/05/30/overheard-in-the-yard-2/

Thought for the Day

Nothing says “I love you” like singing “I Want To Be Loved By You” to your darling wife while she eats her breakfast and having her simulate dry heaves.

by daddybear71 on May 30, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Thought for the day

Posted by daddybear71 on May 30, 2013

https://daddybearsden.com/2013/05/30/thought-for-the-day-194/

Happy Witnesses to the Genocide Day!

Today is the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.  For those who don’t know, UN peacekeepers are the guys and gals who run into combat zones wearing blue helmets, driving white vehicles, and carrying only light weapons.  I might consider that a pretty brave thing to do on a personal scale, but it’s a waste of money and manpower otherwise.  In any situation where there is active combat going on, all these guys do is go in and act as on-the-ground witnesses to the carnage.  Say it with me:  You can’t keep a peace that isn’t there in the first place.  From Sarajevo to Mogadishu, from Kinshasa to the Golan Heights, the boys in blue never fail to disappoint in their strict adherence to this formula:

  1. Show up
  2. Take bribes from both sides
  3. Look away if at all possible (See #2)
  4. Commit a few crimes against humanity of their own
  5. Get kidnapped
  6. Pay ransom
  7. Watch people get slaughtered before getting airlifted out
  8. Testify to the press and a UN tribunal about the horror of watching people get slaughtered and not doing anything to stop it but use polite language
  9. Write a book about it.

Here’s a hint – If you’re in a combat zone and there are guys in blue helmets running around, you’re free to do whatever, because no-one gives enough of a crap to actually send someone who is going to do something to stop you.

So I’m going to hoist a couple to the boys of the UNPROFOR, remember the people they failed to protect in Bosnia, and pray that we never have to see their like here at home.

by daddybear71 on May 29, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Politics, Thought for the day

Posted by daddybear71 on May 29, 2013

https://daddybearsden.com/2013/05/29/happy-witnesses-to-the-genocide-day/

News Roundup

 

 

  • From the “Get a Rope” Department – An Army non-commissioned officer, who was responsible for the care and feeding of 125 cadets at the West Point military academy, is being investigated on charges that he surreptitiously took videos of female cadets when they were in locker rooms and showers.  That sound you just heard off in the distance was my head exploding.   What part of “Duty, Honor, Country” includes voyeurism and sexual harassment?  The sad part of the matter is that pieces of crap like this are a very small minority in the Army, but they are prevalent enough to make even me question whether I want my daughter to sign up.  Something is rotten in the military, and if it doesn’t get fixed paco tiempo, it’s going to become fatal.  An organization that can’t trust its leaders to not violate the trust of its most junior members needs cleaning out in a most public and embarrassing manner.
  • From the “It’s a Joke!” Department – Apparently some find the latest commercial from Samsung offensive.  In the commercial, a woman dreams that upgrading her husband from a couch wart to a renaissance man was as easy as upgrading her Samsung TV from one set of software to another.   Yes, the guy on the couch is a stereotype that wouldn’t be allowed for any other race or gender, and yeah, it’s a worn-out cliche, but you know what?   It’s funny.  Every man, and let’s be honest here and say woman too, has those days where all they want to do is sit on the couch, eat junk food and veg out on the boob tube.  Maybe it’s sports, maybe it’s Dr. Who, maybe it’s trash TV, but we all have that urge and sometimes we indulge.  Yes, caucasian males are the last people it’s OK to make fun of, and it gets tiresome, but some people need to grow some skin and a sense of humor.
  • From the “Kharma” Department – A man in England recently painted his brother’s house pink with white polka dots in retaliation for the brother building a brick wall across his driveway.  This could escalate quickly, and I hope the two can bury the hatchet before one of them has kids.  It’s all fun and games until Uncle Tony takes little Ricky to the tattoo parlor.
  • From the “Anniversaries” Department – Recently, the Nixon Library held an event to commemorate the anniversary of the Vietnam POW’s coming home.  The event included tours, a military fly-over, and a recreation of the dinner held at the White House by President Nixon for the POW’s in 1973.  The event was followed by a plane trip to Georgia, where the former POW’s took crowbars and baseball bats to the party commemorating the return of draft dodgers from Canada at the Carter library.
  • From the “Frequent Flyer” Department – Due to a mix-up in routing, a couple recently ended up in Dhaka, Bangladesh, instead of Dhakar, Senegal.  Turkish Airlines has compensated the couple by flying them to their correct destination and giving them two economy class tickets to the destination of their choice, which I’m sure makes it all better.  One would hope that the couple enjoy their vacation, and knowing that they have their choice in airlines, I’m sure they’re glad they chose Turkish Airlines, whose motto is “Fly with us, we might get you there”.
by daddybear71 on May 28, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in news

Posted by daddybear71 on May 28, 2013

https://daddybearsden.com/2013/05/28/news-roundup-191/

Thoughts on the Weekend

  • I’m officially done building on the garden for the summer.
    • Just did a few tweaks this weekend, but it’s time to start processing
  • The strawberries are coming in.  So far we’ve gotten about four pints, but the plants are all loaded.
    • I should have said “So far Boo’s eaten  about four pints” because there isn’t a single strawberry in the house.
  • The rails are up on the fence, so now I start with pickets.
  • Boo started asking about Shadow this weekend, so we’re acquainting him with the concept of death.
    • He’s sad, but he is accepting that Shadow is somewhere else and we can’t bring him back.
  • We went to the retirement ceremony for one of Girlie Bear’s JROTC instructors.  He’s been teaching for 33 years, and did 20+ years in the Army before that.
  • Dinner tonight consisted of the following, all cooked on the grill:
    • Chicken thighs marinated overnight in soy sauce, bourbon and garlic
    • Roasted potatoes with onions and garlic, with bacon grease used as the culinary lubricant
    • Hamburgers and cheeseburgers
    • Hot dogs
    • Bratwurst
    • Country sausage
    • Side dishes were corn, pickles, and fruit.
    • Pie with ice cream for dessert.
    • My goal is to not have to cook for a couple of days.
  • I taught Girlie Bear how to place a flag on a grave and how to read a veteran’s headstone today.
    • Someday she’s going to do it for me, so I need to make sure she knows how to do it for someone else.
by daddybear71 on May 27, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Thought for the day

Posted by daddybear71 on May 27, 2013

https://daddybearsden.com/2013/05/27/thoughts-on-the-weekend-28/

Quote of the Day

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations. — Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865

 

 

by daddybear71 on May 27, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Quote of the Day

Posted by daddybear71 on May 27, 2013

https://daddybearsden.com/2013/05/27/quote-of-the-day-112/

By The Numbers

Since we declared our independence in 1776, Americans have shed blood in the defense of their country.  According to this, 1,321,612 people have died in our military, and an additional 1,531,036 have been wounded.  In addition, 38,159 have gone missing and have not been returned to their families.   Our most costly war was the Civil War, followed by the World Wars.  In my lifetime, over 10,000 men and women have given their lives to safeguard our country and the freedoms we all cherish.

It sounds like a lot, and it is.  The lives of our young men and women are precious to us all, and while we must recognize that the price of peace and freedom is not only vigilance, we must also that sometimes the bill is paid in blood.  The thing that we must all demand from those we appoint to leadership is that they be judicious in how they utilize our military, that they be respectful of the lives they are dealing with, and that they honor those that are lost.  Our youth are too important to us to waste them on wars of opportunity or choice, and we all fail when we do not force our servants to justify sending them into harm’s way.

To all of my brothers and sisters who have paid the ultimate price so that my children can sleep safe at night, thank you.  I will miss you until I join you, and my children and their children will know you and honor you.  No matter what else we forget, you will not be forgotten.

 

by daddybear71 on May 27, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Thought for the day

Posted by daddybear71 on May 27, 2013

https://daddybearsden.com/2013/05/27/by-the-numbers/

Today’s Earworm

by daddybear71 on May 27, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Earworm

Posted by daddybear71 on May 27, 2013

https://daddybearsden.com/2013/05/27/todays-earworm-368/

Memorial Day

This was originally posted on Memorial Day, 2010.

daddybear71's avatarDaddyBear’s Den

Today is Memorial Day here in the United States.  Lots of people have thanked me for my prior service today, and it’s much appreciated.  But today isn’t my day.

Today is the day we remember those of us who didn’t come home.  The sons and daughters, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters who cashed the check that they sign the day they take the oath of enlistment, good for anything in their life, including the giving of that life.

There are ceremonies going on across the nation and overseas today to honor these dead.  In years past I’ve quoted poetry or Shakespeare, but today I want to highlight a memorial that isn’t spoken of much.

At Fort Meade in Maryland, there is a memorial to those members of the signals intelligence community who have died on duty.  The work of these young men and women was classified at the time…

View original post 1,400 more words

by daddybear71 on May 26, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on May 26, 2013

https://daddybearsden.com/2013/05/26/memorial-day-3/

Blogs Roundup

  • Miguel hits one out of the park.
  • Jennifer makes me nod.  I haven’t been dating anyone but Irish Woman for over a decade, but it was true then:  Treat me like a gentleman and I’ll feel better treating you like a lady.
  • Dan Carlin makes more sense every time I listen to him.
  • Zercool and his lovely wife are pulling up stakes and moving out of occupied territory.  Let’s wish them luck.
  • Sean asks a good question, and I’m afraid that he’s right in his answer.
  • I wish I’d written this.
  • Homegrown Evolution points me to something I’ve been meaning to make for years.
by daddybear71 on May 25, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in blogs

Posted by daddybear71 on May 25, 2013

https://daddybearsden.com/2013/05/25/blogs-roundup-32/

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