- Yes, I’m a wuss for not fixing my truck myself. But I’m smart enough to know that “This clutch needs a bit of work” doesn’t equate to “I need to learn how to fix clutches” in December.
- When you tell me you’re going to call me back to give me an update on my truck, do it. Next hint: giving me attitude because I called you 8 hours after you said you’d call me about my truck is not a good way to get repeat business or recommendations for your business.
- Three minutes before you leave the house on a cold morning is not the time to discover that your loving wife put your gloves, hat, and neck gaiter somewhere neither of you know about.
- There are fewer things more frustrating in shell scripting than figuring out that you used a “`” instead of a “‘” after three hours of troubleshooting.
- There are fewer things more cool than taking an afternoon tour of an aircraft simulator facility, being offered the co-pilots chair on a Boeing 767 simulator, then crashing it because you forgot to retract your flaps all the way after take-off. Of course, using the simulator to turn the 767 hard enough that you’re looking straight down when you look to your left is pretty cool.
- Marketing works: Watching a documentary about beer helped me to remember that I had a beer in the refrigerator.
Thoughts on the Day
Posted by daddybear71 on December 8, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/08/thoughts-on-the-day-10/
Today’s Earworm
R.I.P Harry Morgan, 1915-2011
Posted by daddybear71 on December 8, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/08/todays-earworm-81/
Where is the Arsenal of Freedom?
Peter over at Bayou Renaissance Man makes a good case that we may be on the downward slope towards either a large regional war or the next world war. I’m not going to argue about whether or not he’s right. I certainly hope that he and his sources are being too pessimistic, but I won’t be surprised if they’re spot on.
Let’s say that a regional conflict between the Arab states and Iran spreads to become something that China gets involved in. Or maybe India and Pakistan finally decide to settle their feud by turning their respective capitols into ex-cities. Where will the manufacturing capacity be found to provide the stuff needed to equip new formations as well as replace things that are lost, damaged, or just plain wear out?
When the last two world wars happened, the United States was still the largest manufacturing economy in the world. The tanks, ships, trucks, uniforms, bullets, guns, and all of the other sundry things needed to fight a modern war were made here. Prior to our entry in World War II, we freely gave war materielle to Great Britain to help her stay in the fight and still had the capacity to build up our own military.
How quickly can we turn the existing manufacturing capacity of the United States towards total dedication to manufacturing war materielle? Can we even manufacture Abrams tanks, F-18’s, or the ships to convoy them across the big water in the numbers that would be needed?
We’ve sent a lot of our manufacturing capacity overseas in the past 40 years or so, for good and bad. The good is that products come from a more varied set of suppliers, which brings down costs and stimulates innovation. The bad is that we may have sent so much of our heavy manufacturing away that we do not have the capacity to surge our production of the things we and our allies would need in time of war. Heck, we can’t even start up the old factories. If the buildings still exist, the machinery has often been sold for scrap or shipped overseas. If the equipment is intact, where are we going to find the people who are physically and mentally prepared to do heavy manufacturing in the numbers that we would need?
Like I said, I hope that the worries about war are overblown, but I’m a big believer in “hope for the best, and prepare for the worst”.
UPDATE – As usual, if you ask the Internet, someone smart will give you an answer. Borepatch gives good cause to have a bit of hope that we could once again be the Arsenal of Freedom.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 7, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/07/where-is-the-arsenal-of-freedom/
News Roundup
- From the “Don’t Hate the Playah” Department – Alec Baldwin was recently asked to leave an American Airlines flight after he refused to shut off his electronic device. He claims he was just playing a word game, other witnesses say that he was talking on the phone and being a jerk. Guess which story I believe. Here’s a hint: When the nice lady in the airline uniform tells you to turn off your phone, you turn off your phone. Now, being a jackass may be a right, but flying in an aluminum tube is a privilege, and I applaud American Airlines for putting this guy back in the terminal.
- From the “Brilliant!” Department – The principal of a school in Great Britain is coming under fire for turning off the heat in his school in an effort to reduce its carbon footprint. Because everyone knows that students learn the three R’s when it’s 34 degrees in the classroom.
- From the “Minimize” Department – Members of Congress have taken issue with the classification of the Fort Hood shooting as “workplace violence”. By that logic, the Civil War was a vociferous disagreement over labor policy.
- From the “YGBSM!” Department – A prosecutor has stated that the molestation case against assistant-basketball coach Bernie Fine would definitely be taken to trial, but the statute of limitations has run out on any crimes against the two men who have come forward as alleged victims. Something tells me they weren’t the first, and unfortunately they probably weren’t the last.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 7, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/07/news-roundup-57/
Thought for the Day II
There is something absolutely surreal about being in line to get a cup of coffee and listening to a Hispanic woman and a Russian woman cuss each other out in their native languages. Apparently facial expression, arm waving, tone, and volume are enough to get the point across, even if they can’t understand each other.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 7, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/07/thought-for-the-day-ii-2/
30 Days of Heinlein – Day 4
And finally, I believe in my whole race. Yellow, white, black, red, brown — in the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability … and goodness … .of the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters everywhere on this planet. I am proud to be a human being. — This I Believe (1952)
Posted by daddybear71 on December 7, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/07/30-days-of-heinlein-day-4/
More Christmas Carols
Last year this time, I put up a few of my crooked Christmas carols. Here are a couple more:
Not exactly a Christmas song, but fun to sing anyway. This one goes out to my Viking ancestors:
Burn the village to the ground,
Doo dah, doo dah
Spread the fire all around
All the doo dah day
Let it burn all night!
Let it burn all day!
I put my loot in the bottom of the boat,
Now let’s row out into the bay.
This one has more of a Kentucky feeling to it:
See them resting, see them rolling
Marked with distiller and date
In the barn
There’s shelves full of whiskey
Barrels sitting, whiskey aging
Giving angels their share
And in every tavern you’ll hear:
Maker’s Mark!
Maker’s Mark!
It’s bourbon time in Kentucky
Sip a nip, pour and drip
Soon it will be Bourbon Days!
And finally:
We’ll be boned for Christmas
Obama is making it so
With deficits and hissy fits
He’s ensuring our economy won’t grow!
Christmas Eve will find him,
Plotting collapse and strife
Ye, we’ll be boned for Christmas
Paying taxes our whole life!
Posted by daddybear71 on December 7, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/07/more-christmas-carols/
Thought for the Day
Today is the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
I pretty much summed up my thoughts last year, and I can’t improve on it.
To all the men and women who answered the call after December 7, thank you.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 7, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/07/thought-for-the-day-33/
Oopsie!
News media are reporting that a cannonball fired by the crew of the TV show MythBusters took a series of unfortunate bounces and slammed into a home in Dublin, California.
Now, if I were the homeowner, I’d be pissed. Earthquakes, fire, floods, tornadoes, and even locusts are to be expected and insured against. But no-one in the continental United States has had insurance against cannonball damage since 1865 or so. No way would I just going to write this one off as a “these things happen” and call my insurance agent and drywall guy.
Although, if the MythBusters crew was so to send over Kari to fix the damage, well, then maybe I could see my way clear to not call the lawyers. What can I say? I have a weakness for redheads.
Posted by daddybear71 on December 7, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/07/oopsie/
This Could Be Candidate X
H/T to Chris Muir over at Day by Day!
Posted by daddybear71 on December 6, 2011
https://daddybearsden.com/2011/12/06/this-could-be-candidate-x/
DaddyBear
