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30 Days of Tolkien – Day 2

‘The counsel of Gandalf was not founded on foreknowledge of safety, for himself or for others,’ said Aragorn. ‘There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark.’ — The Two Towers

My Take – There are no promises in life.  Life does not care if you live or die, feast or starve, wither or thrive.  Those who succeed are those who choose to act, even knowing how badly the odds are stacked against them.  Successful businesses aren’t started by the cautious.  Successful free people aren’t sustained by playing it safe.

by daddybear71 on September 4, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Tolkien

Posted by daddybear71 on September 4, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/04/30-days-of-tolkien-day-2/

Dinner Tonight – Spanish Rice

Ingredients

2 cups white or brown rice
4 cups water
Salt

Olive Oil
1 large white or yellow onion, chopped fine
2 jalapeno peppers, cleaned and deseeded, then chopped fine
2 bell peppers, cleaned and deseeded, then chopped fine
Chili seasoning to taste (Choose your favorite or make your own)
1/2 pound ground beef (optional)
1 dozen roma tomatoes
1 dozen canning tomatoes (Big Boy or Better Boys were used tonight)

In a saucepan, combine rice, water, and a couple pinches of salt.  Cover and bring to a rolling boil.  Shut off heat and leave covered until rice has absorbed all of the moisture.  Note – Nothing smells worse than scorched rice, so as soon as it comes to a rolling boil, shut off the heat.

In a large frying pan, heat olive oil, then add onions, peppers, and chili seasoning.  If desired, add meat as well, but this dish is great without meat.  Cook until onions are soft.

While that is cooking, clean the tomatoes.  Cut off the stems and butts, then chop.

Add tomatoes and all resulting juice to the onion/pepper mix in the frying pan.  Cook at high heat, stirring occasionally, until all of the tomatoes have broken down.  There will be a lot of juice.  Shut off heat and add cooked rice and mix thoroughly.  Rice will soak up most of the juice in the pan.

Goes well as a side dish or as a main dish with sliced fruits and vegetables.  Makes enough to feed a small army, so either have a lot of hungry people or be prepared to freeze leftovers.

by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Recipe

Posted by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/03/dinner-tonight-spanish-rice/

Thoughts on the Day

  • The weather refused to cooperate today too.  Oh well, it was decided that I needed to swap out some 2×8 for 2×12 anyway.  I’ll work on the porch next weekend.
  • We celebrated Labor Day by laboring.
    • Nothing like a dreary day to do all of the inside work you’ve been neglecting.
    • I love the smell of pine cleaners and oil soap on hardwood floors.
    • Irish Woman cleaned out all of the old toys in Boo’s room cleaned it from floor to ceiling.
      • I give it a day before it looks like a bomb went off.
    • The trash man is going to curse our name.  Irish Woman was on a tear.
  • Boo convinced me to buy two large bones for the dogs.  He is now their favorite human being.
    • How long do you think a pig femur will last when chewed on by a large dog?
      • If you said one hour, you get a cookie.  I was surprised too.
  • Girlie Bear and I started watching “Star Trek: Enterprise” this weekend.  Three episodes in and we’re interested.
    • Captain Archer needs a heavier boom to lower on his subordinates.  Doesn’t that ship have an airlock?
    • The security on their sidearms sucks.  It appears that just about anyone can get a pistol from the armory and their holsters have absolutely no retention.
    • Apparently the future never learned about night vision or weapon lights either.
    • I haven’t watched any Star Trek regularly since about the third season of TNG.  Watched maybe one or two episodes apiece of DS9 and Voyager.  I’m just getting caught up.
  • Apparently Godzilla has arisen and is tearing the Gulf of Mexico oil platforms apart.  Gas went up 30 cents from last weekend.
  • Girlie Bear has learned how to do laundry without turning her blue jeans white or her whites blue.  I have waited years for this day of freedom.
by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Thought for the day

Posted by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/03/thoughts-on-the-day-48/

Thought for the Day

I think I may be in trouble.  Irish Woman just figured out how expensive ammunition can be, and she moved the ammunition boxes last night, so she knows how much ammunition I have.

by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Thought for the day

Posted by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/03/thought-for-the-day-165/

30 Days of Tolkien – Day 1

“And why not? Surely you don’t disbelieve the prophecies just because you helped them come about. You don’t really suppose do you that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck? Just for your sole benefit? You’re a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I’m quite fond of you. But you are really just a little fellow, in a wide world after all.” — The Hobbit

My Take – We all make history every day.  Maybe it’s something that will be sung about by bards centuries from now.  Maybe it’ll just be a “And then they ….. ” kind of history.  Either way, we are all part of the story of humanity.  Our present was dreamed of by our ancestors, and we will be remembered by our descendents.  Our choices are whether or not to surpass the dreams of the past and how we wish to be memorialized in the future.

by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Tolkien, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/03/30-days-of-tolkien-day-1/

News Roundup

  • From the “Blame the Victim” Department – A priest in New York has apologized for saying that children who have been abused by clergy are “seducers”.  While his superiors are passing it off as his mind fading after a traumatic accident years ago, my take on it is that it is just evidence that some people just can’t get over the fact that there are truly evil people in the world, and that sometimes they wear a clerical collar.  The small percentage of priests, who abuse their position and power to hurt others, splash their colleagues, who live by their vows, with excrement, and it’s a damn shame.  But to have one of their number say something like this, and to have it get through the editorial process at an official publication, is shocking.  Hopefully the good father is removed from any ministry that is aimed at those who have violated children, because it’s probably hard to do penance for a pretty ugly sin when your confessor looks at you and says “Hey, it wasn’t your fault.  That 3rd grader threw himself at you.”.
  • From the “Hand in the Cookie Jar” Department – 125 students at Harvard University are facing suspension from the prestigious school after being accused of working together on a take home final exam.  I hear from good sources that one of them is going to be the head of Harvard Law Review if found guilty, and then will go into a political career in Chicago.
  • From the “We Are Doomed” Department – The latest “must have” for the urban hipster on the go appears to be a brown paper lunch sack.  A company in New York is selling a bag made from treated brown paper for $290.  The leather version of the sack goes for $360.  That’s right, friends and neighbors, for the price of a car payment, you can get yourself a genuine brown paper bag, ready for you to take leftovers to work or hide a 40 ounce bottle of your favorite carbonated beverage in true hobo chic.  Heck, if I take just what I have in my pantry downstairs, apply a couple of coats of shellac, and put a couple of grommets on them, I might be able to retire next year.
  • From the “Who Domesticated Whom?” Department – An 800 pound pig named John Henry has been kept fat and happy for a year on the leavings from a small restaurant in New Jersey.  Is the restaurant fattening him up for their pulled pork special?  Is the kitchen staff preparing to serve custom-made bacon to its customers?  Nope, they’re donating the food to the pig’s owners so that they can afford to feed him. That’s right, they’re feeding food to potential food with no plans to make it into actual food.  I’m all about being kind to animals, but when an animal is made of delicious meat, it will eventually reach a size and age where its tastiness overarches its cuteness.  Hopefully the owners and the restaurateurs come to their senses and roast John Henry slowly  for about 16 hours, followed by a quick bath in a tangy sauce.
  • From the “Justice?” Department – A young girl in Louisville was raped at a party several months ago.  The miscreants who violated her also took pictures of the act, presumably so they could either brag about it online or relive it in private.  They recently reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, but apparently the victim thinks it’s too lenient a deal.  She’s in hot water because she took her frustration to the Internet and posted the names of her attackers on-line.  While a judge has recently decided that she won’t be held in contempt of court for doing this, it brings up the question of confidentiality for underage criminals.  Does the public have a right to know that rapists live among them, even if the crimes occurred before the rapist’s 18th birthday?  While the idea of keeping juvenile records closed is to give them a chance to start anew once they reach adulthood, I’m not such a believer in reform and redemption that I think it’s likely that someone who rapes a girl at 16 will be completely OK to have around my daughter at 18.  Not getting into the ethics of the sex offender registry here, but if someone, say a young woman about to go on a date with a young man, does a web search on a name, shouldn’t the fact that the person in question has been convicted of a violent crime such as rape be available?
  • From the “Good Idea” Department – The school system in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has decided that cowering under desks and locking hollow core doors isn’t enough in the unlikely event that an armed assailant decides to invade a school.  The school has begun teaching faculty at two of its schools to fight back in the event of an active shooter situation.  The strategy being taught appears to be to try to evade the shooter, throw things at them to gain time to either run or fight, and if fighting is necessary, to attack as a group.  It all sounds good, but it might be more effective if the teachers were allowed to throw copper jacketed lead instead of desks.  But far be it from me to criticize this kind of revolutionary thinking.  Imagine, a school teaching its students and faculty that their lives are worth fighting over.  Let me take this moment to applaud the leadership of the schools in Tuscaloosa for deciding to teach their children that cowering and hoping that  the shooter either runs out of bullets or gets bored before he gets to them is not a viable survival technique.
by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in news

Posted by daddybear71 on September 3, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/03/news-roundup-150/

Our Long National Nightmare is Over

The White House has released the recipes for the two beers that are made at the executive mansion, a brown ale and a porter that are made with honey.   This piece of information completes my picture of the Obama White House, so now I can stop paying attention and leave well enough alone.  OK, maybe I’m exaggerating that one, but from the press coverage of this non-story, you’d think the cure for whatever ails you was in that ale.

Here are a few other beers that Mr. Obama should consider trying his hands at:

  • Progressive Porter
  • Liberal Lager
  • Barack’s Bock
  • Blame Bush Barley Wine
  • Michelle’s Bitter
  • White House Witbier
  • Whining Wheat
  • Hope and Change Hoppy Ale
  • Narcissist Nectar
  • Preening Pilsner
  • Socialist Stout
by daddybear71 on September 2, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in news, silliness

Posted by daddybear71 on September 2, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/02/our-long-national-nightmare-is-over-2/

30 Days of Abraham Lincoln – Day 30

The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Congresses and courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution. — 1859

My Take – We hold a revolution in this country almost every year.  Through local, state, and federal elections, we regularly have the opportunity to replace our servants and representatives.  It is our way of making our voices heard and of reminding those who work for us that their wishes and desires are subordinate to their duty to us.

This may be why it disturbs me when so few people are actually interested in politics.  Not everyone has the inclination or the time to be a political geek, but the amount of effort it takes to be informed and motivated to take the time to vote is minimal.  This apathy is the real enemy to our freedom.  When such a large part of our nation decides that doing the one thing that can cause change in government isn’t worth their time, then the power is held by those who vote and those who influence them.

It’s getting very close to the deadline to be registered to vote for November.  If you’re not registered, please do.   I don’t care if you vote for Obama, or Romney, or Johnson, or the High Exalted Poobah of the Royal Order of Water Buffalo, just vote.

by daddybear71 on September 2, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Abraham Lincoln

Posted by daddybear71 on September 2, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/02/30-days-of-abraham-lincoln-day-30/

How the day went

06:30 – Wake up.  House is quiet.  Roll back over

07:15 – Boo wakes up.  Announces his needs for the morning.  Go and quietly advise him to take care of his needs then play in his room without disturbing everyone else.

07:18- Boo is in his room playing.  Lay back down in bed

07:22 – Boo decides he’s done playing, comes into our room, and jumps off the third turnbuckle, laying an elbow into my sternum.

07:25 – I can breathe normally again.  Boo is asleep cuddled up to his mother.

07:27 – After counting to 10 in several languages and reconsidering selling my youngest son to the gypsies at a discount, I notice that Boo is awake and is giggling as his mother tickles him.

07:35 – Boo has fully awoken Irish Woman, who takes him out to get breakfast.  I decide to be a lazy soul for just a little while longer.

07:37 – I am up after getting “The Look”.  I think wistfully back on the days when getting up at 7:37 on a Saturday morning was ‘early’.

07:40 – Begin morning routine

08:30 – Irish Woman and I get in the truck and head up the road to get lumber, tools, and hardware to replace the posts on the side porch.

09:15 – After purchasing some of the hardware at our local farmers’ supply store, try to start truck.  No luck.  Doesn’t even crank.  Pop hood, notice that the negative post on my battery looks like brain coral.  While trying to knock off the large chunks, the connector to the negative post breaks into three pieces.  Inspection shows that it was corroded almost through.

09:25 – Have purchased a new battery connector, a set of linesman’s pliers, and a battery post cleaner at the farmers’ supply store.  Manager of the store notices that the hood of my truck is up and I’m buying tools and parts.  Sends out one of his minions to assist me.

09:35 – Connector is replaced.  Truck starts. Convince the young man who assisted me to take the $10 I offer.

09:45 – Arrive at lumber yard/hardware store.  Realize that we left our list of wood and other accoutrements, along with the gift cards we were planning to use to pay for these supplies, at home.  Smile quietly to my wife, who was the one who was carrying them as we prepared to leave the house, then put the truck back in gear and head home.  Assure her that I do not mind driving the 15 miles back to the house and returning.

10:30 – Return to lumber yard/hardware store.  Gather hardware and tools.  Spend 45 minutes sorting through posts trying to find enough wood that is straight and intact.  Explain to teenage employee why one should not use wood that is twisted, not square, and full of knots/bark for structural timbers.

11:45 – Pay for lumber and hardware.  Load up truck.  Have to explain to Irish Woman that it’s OK, and that 12 foot lumber can hang off the back of the truck if we secure it and put a flag on it.  Eventually she is convinced when the attendant at the store tells her the same thing using the same words.  Remind myself how lucky I am to have her.  Finish loading.

12:30 – Back at home.  Check weather outlook.  Doesn’t look good.  Jacking up the carport/porch and trying to replace posts during a thunderstorm is probably not a good idea, so I’ll put that off until tomorrow or Monday. Informed that I have other things that need doing.  What would I do without my wife to keep me on task?  Probably drink beer and watch college football, and who wants to do that all afternoon?

13:00 – Assist in cleaning up yard and harvesting latest batch of tomatoes and green beans.  The green peppers are finally starting to take off.  The cucumbers are officially done, as are the sunflowers.

13:05 – Boo lets the dogs out of the yard.  Retrieve Blue and Shadow and put them back in the yard. Put Boo in with them.  Lock gate and return to yard chores.

13:22 – Boo figures out how to unlock gate, lets dogs out again and joins them in a run for freedom. Retrieve progeny and pets.  Consider paying gypsies to take all three.

14:00 – Finish yard chores.  Unload lumber onto side porch.  Test out new bottle jack.  Wonder how I got so far in life without owning one.

14:30 – Sit down for 5 minutes in my chair.  Wake up 3 hours later rested but with a horrendous crick in my neck.

17:30 – Woken up by Irish Woman, who has made dinner.  One bowl of chili with corn bread and cheddar cheese later, I am stuffed.

18:00 – Notice it’s raining when a bolt of lightning and a thunderclap go off directly over the house.  No casualties except for the cat’s psyche.

18:15 – Look out and realize that Timmy the outdoor cat has a rather large frog from Irish Woman’s pond in his mouth.  Go out in the rain, get cat to drop frog, pick up frog in paper towel to return to pond.  Boo thinks frog is really neat and asks if he can keep him.  Frog is now named “Mister Frog”.  Mister Frog looks entirely nonplussed by his new moniker.  Mister Frog is returned to pond.

19:00 – Rain seems to have stopped.  Sun comes out.  Outside air feels like the inside of a steamed clam.  Go to Stop-n-Stab to get a soda.  Apparently going to the corner store on Saturday night in my neighborhood dressed like Joe Shit the Ragman is unusual, because the crowd of nicely dressed teenagers and hipsters parts before me like the Red Sea.

19:30 – Begin watching Muppet Treasure Island with Boo.  This may be the most intellectually stimulating thing I’ve done all day.

21:00 – Movie over.  Time for bath and bed for Boo.  Tuck-in is relatively uneventful.

21:15 – Boo needs a drink of water

21:22 – Boo needs to use the bathroom

21:30 – Boo reminds us that he only got one hug from each of us tonight

21:38 – Boo begins singing songs from Disney movies.  He is quickly hushed and reminded that it’s time to go to sleep

21:53 – A quick check of Boo finds him sleeping sideways on his bed with no covers nor evidence of PJ’s.  Cover him back up.

22:00 – Tell Girlie Bear that she’s had enough fun for one night and send her off to bed.  Get cleaned up, do some web surfing, start to get drowsy.

22:28 – Finish web surfing.  ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

by daddybear71 on September 1, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Thought for the day, Uncategorized

Posted by daddybear71 on September 1, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/01/how-the-day-went/

30 Days of Abraham Lincoln – Day 29

Truth is generally the best vindication against slander. — 1864

My Take — The truth shall set you free, as the saying goes.  Writers like Linoge and Borepatch, who cross swords with hucksters using only their brains and their words, do more to shine light on an artificially dark world in one post than I can ever do in a lifetime of singing into the echo chamber.  The proper defense against a press that is dedicated to only telling the news that they like is to broadcast the truth for any who wish to hear.  Those who watch and report, even when we are admittedly partisan in what we watch, are the answer to “Who shall watch the watchers?” when the watchers have decided that being impassive observers does not serve their personal ambitions.

by daddybear71 on September 1, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Abraham Lincoln

Posted by daddybear71 on September 1, 2012

https://daddybearsden.com/2012/09/01/30-days-of-abraham-lincoln-day-29/

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