Time Out in Tellico Plains

Ahhh. I do feel better.

Cherokee Slideshow

The above link is to a YouTube slideshow one of the fellas at the KLR650 (for the girls, a KLR is a motorcycle ) "Tour de Tellico II" posted. I ain't in it, but you get the idea.

Something like 80 KLR650's, a couple Super Sherpa's, a couple KLX250s's (one is actually a 330 w/ a Mikuni pumper - WOW!), one DRZ650, two XR650L's, two DRZ200's, three XT350's, a smattering of buckeye's on Beemers all descended on the Cherohala Motorcycle Resort in Tellico Plains for three days of ridin all over the Cherokee and Natahalia National Forests. We climbed mountains, ran "The Dirt Dragon", I rode the "Trail of Tears" (yes, the one the indians were force marched on), crossed streams, rode single track, rode goat trails, rode gravel, rode dirt, rode mud, traveled the Cherohala Skyway twice and resisted the urge to buzz hardleys.

There was only one Life Flight (banged up good - no permanent damage) and one broken arm (poor bastard rode in from Florida only to wreck upon arrival in Tellico Plains). Both of the above mentioned bikes are goners. There were a lot of broken turn signals, mirrors, bent shifters and levers - nothing really serious.

The important thing, though, is I got the dope on where the fun stuff is. Now if Nate ever gets a furlough from his gilded cage and WellDigger ever gets a bike..... We are good to go teach our GPS's some new, ahem, roads.

Lots of bikes were out and about this weekend. Some interesting sightings: a pristine Honda Magna w/ cafe' fairing (thought of you Bill), many Ducati's, a couple of Yamaha twostroke street bikes, a few Triumph Tigers, lot's of V-stroms, a 1985 Honda Ascot with full fairing, a Pacific Coast

Those of you who have not been camping on your motorcycle. Do it. In this order: Lay the wife, pack light, ride hard, eat big, sleep dirty, smoke some, drink a little, tell lies, ride some more, repeat as necessary.





The fella with the map is CherokeeChuck. A local who organized some of the rides and mostly waited for everyone to catch up. That's me with the fanny pack/holster covering my muscular buttocks.

The second pic is one of the trails we rode.

UPDATE:
I heard the Weather Channel reported a dust storm just South of Robbinsvile, NC on Saturday. There were 27 KLR's in one group riding out that way..... Hmmmm.

MythBusters

The story goes something like this:

A motorcycle rider hits an object in the road (ranges from a possum to a fallen tree). The force of the impact launches the rider many feet into the air to impact a telephone pole cross bar whereupon he is impaled. Stuck. Like a pig on a spit. A bug on a pin.

A fella recently related this tale to me with the assertions that he had personally known the rider and had inspected the tree laying across the road said rider had hit (about 18" across). I was using the occasion of this fellas' telling of the tale to illustrate the fact he is, in fact, a liar to a friend of mine, Chris.

Chris is a physicist and got to wondering just how that would work..... Needless to say, a few beers and 20 minutes later he had this prepared:




Disclaimer: This was quick and dirty, and used perfect conditions since it was for the purposes of testing the possibility of such an occurrence. Go easy on the boy, Gregg. Though, I did warn him....

So it looks like that '63 Panhead would had to have been runnin' close to 550mph when it hit that log, and the forks would have had to be infinitely rigid, the log would have to have been infinitely massive and infinitely hard.

Ahem...

Having washed out completely on the Derby, I think I'll try to mitigate my losses with a beer recommendation:

Shiner Bock

Brewed in Shiner Texas since 1913. All taste and no after-taste.

Do not confuse it with Shiner Blonde. Some relation to mead I think. Bleck!

Derby Day

My bets:

Cowtown Cat - $10.00 to win

Nobiz like Shobiz - $10.00 to win

To Be Famous

The most absurd idea becomes "deep thought" when one is inebriated. That is not to say that Greenies have much in the way of thought processes.

Crow (4/19, Springfield, Tenn.): I have spent the better part of this tour trying to come up with easy ways for us all to become a part of the solution to global warming. Although my ideas are in the earliest stages of development, they are, in my mind, worth investigating. One of my favorites is in the area of forest conservation which we heavily rely on for oxygen. I propose a limitation be put on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting. Now, I don't want to rob any law-abiding American of his or her God-given rights, but I think we are an industrious enough people that we can make it work with only one square per restroom visit, except, of course, on those pesky occasions where 2 to 3 could be required.

Crow (4/19): I also like the idea of not using paper napkins, which happen to be made from virgin wood and represent the height of wastefulness. I have designed a clothing line that has what's called a "dining sleeve." The sleeve is detachable and can be replaced with another "dining sleeve," after usage. The design will offer the "diner" the convenience of wiping his mouth on his sleeve rather than throwing out yet another barely used paper product. I think this idea could also translate quite well to those suffering with an annoying head cold.

The above are excerpts from the blog Miss Sheryl Crow and some other hollywood nutball on a bus tour of the South. More yankees trying to save us poor ignorant rednecks from ourselves....

I, Treonaut

It's assholes and elbows around here, fellas. And I'll tell you one thing, by God, the work ain't nothing compared to the clerical duties associated with being a moblie equine Dr Scholls vendor.
I have tried many a system to streamline contacts, scheduling, invoicing, notes, and communication. DayRunner (never handy - uneditable - where's that pen?) , desktop PC (scratch a note and forget to add it), cellphone (no used - data entry too limited, and lastly, my trusty Visor Platinum, a triplicate invoice pad, and many combinations thereof. The Visor stood me in good stead until things got really hoppin' this spring and I did not have it on my person when making an appointment. Missed appointment - lost phone # - unhappy client. One pissed off horseshoer. See missing and appointment feels kinda like tellin' a lie. Icky. Anyway, I vowed this would never happen again and began searching for an all encompassing man portable device capable of managing contacts, scheduling, communication, notes, and invoicing - all at the same time.

Palm Treo 700p. I'm already using the Palm Desktop. Easy, slam dunk decision. Wait... No WIFI!! Not even wifi support?! What?! Palm is migrating to Linux?! Shit!

Palm Treo 700w. Microsoft is really gettin' on my nerves lately. But it has WIFI support (SDIO), and I have to admit Outlook has the Palm desktop beat all to hell (except for sub 1/2 hour scheduling).

A few minutes with the wife's Axim convinced me and I plopped down my hard earned money and hooked my PPC to my belt.

I'm looking at PPC invoicing programs and for a bluetooth printer now to mount in the truck. Geek nirvana, boys. Geek nirvana.

Check it out:

See what an old redneck can put together with a little effort.

Damn fine work there, Gary.

Newlyweds

Golden Gopher Glory! Tubby Smith sees Shadow!

What a Hoot!

Tubby Smith has left the UK Basketball program and you'd think the diversity-centric are poppin' a coronary gasket. How dare UK fans expect to support a program that is above the rest of the nation? UK fans are a joke in their expectations they say. Unrealistic. The mantra goes something like this:

Get real. It's, like, 2008 and everything. There just isn't going to be a dominant program anymore. Parity. Yeah, that's it. There's parity now. Everybody else has gotten really, really good. Anyone can win and we like it that way. Rednecks and hillbillies shouldn't have anything to be proud of, because they aren't as smart as the rest of the country who lives in the East or the North or California. They don't even wear much Abercrombie - how can their colloge basketball team ever be good?

Yeah that's a bit satirical, but it pretty much sums up the fit the local media is throwing. They LIKE to see UK lose. They LOVE mediocrity. I think it's an "I suck. You Suck. We all Suck so I feel better about the fact I was never able to ______" mentality.

Fuck 'em. The expectation and pursuit of excellence is it's own reward, as we shall soon see. Right Coach Donovan?

For the Toolguys:

This is what I have been so busy with of late. Bill, eat your heart out.

This is a Stonewell Body for a farrier shoeing rig and this is how it is done in the horse capital of the world.

Hey Nate,

Do NOT start looking at and reading about camping gear.

The Long Way 'Round

Rent this DVD documentary. Ewan MacGregor (ObiWan Kenobe) and Charlie Boorman (Deliveranve) circumnavigate the globe on a pair of 1200GS BMWs through Siberia, Mongolia, Alaska, Montana, Kazakhstan.

They had to have some help on the "Road of Bones", but other than that they made a hell of a ride.

Beware - this kind of thing is catching.

Bill Beats His Drum

The DC Court of Appeals struck down the DC gun ban!

NO NO NO! It Can't Happen!

Things are supposed to get worse and worse, there is no place in the script for incremental shifts towards sanity! Only whole-sale revolution is allowed!

Besides, the Justice Silberman was appointed by Reagan, and everybody knows that Judicial appointments by Republicans always further a statist agenda.
Bill | Email | Homepage | 03.12.07 - 11:43 am | #

Just when you thought it could never happen

The DC Court of Appeals struck down the DC gun ban!

There will be much freakin' out on the left over this, and we will surely get to see SCOTUS in it's true form as soon as it gets around to reviewing it.

Spring has Sprung Early in Horse Country

Go Away! I'm Busy.

Google: Craig Vetter

Craig is the inventor of the modern touring bike. The original Honda GL1000 was meant to be a sport bike, but Craig thought it needed something.

The "Windjammer" fairing was born and EVERYBODY bought one for their GL1000. Everntually Honda thought they should cash in on this popular accessory and offered it preinstalled on the GL. Thus was the Goldwing born.

Mr. Vetter now rides a........

K L R 650

Can you guess what he is up to?

For you sheltered Nascar Fans:

What man worthy of the title doesn't know of this?

Rigid Tool

If you're not cheatin' you're not tryin'.

"This is not the action of an organization, a manufacturer or a sponsor," Waltrip said in a statement. "This was an independent act done without consent or authorization from me or any of my executive management team." -Mike Waltrip


Somebody tell me how thre's any racin' goin' on when the driver has an "executive management team"? They probably hang motivational posters on the shop wall instead of the Rigid Tool Calendar. Makes me sick.

The more things change...

Back in the early eighties GM decided it wanted to put diesel engines in a few of it's 3/4 ton+ light trucks and even some oldsmobile sedans. Folks were familiar with the rock solid dependability and longevity of BIG truck Cat, Detroit, and Cummins engines along with the ever-present Mercedes 300D that just wouldn't die. Bear in mind this was when diesel fuel was cheaper than gasoline and at 100,000 miles you called the junkyard to come get that worn out car out of the driveway. Were folks ready to buy vehicles for longterm use? GM thought so.

Folks ordered them. And drove them. Back and forth to the dealership. Problems of all kinds. Expensive injector pumps, coolant in the oil, warped heads, leaking head gaskets. They were so bad that a myth was perpetuated that GM had "converted" gasoline engines to diesel and foisted them upon the public.

Years after the introduction of the GM diesel the aftermarket got into the act and started offering stronger replacement head bolts. Viola! Problem solved. Did I hear someone calling "Bullshit!"?? Look it up. For years mechanics circled around the problem replacing all the wrong things and causing many return trips to the dealership for warranty and expensive out of warranty repairs.

Now, just how could a company with the resources of GM spec fasteners that were not up to the job? Didn't they have trained engineers? What gives? Luckily, the corporate idiocy passed when Dodge speced a Cummins (cement truck) diesel for their 3/4 ton+ trucks and the working world beat a path to their door. Ford adapted and old International Harvester diesel and dubbed it the PowerStroke to great success, and GM upgraded the 6.5 liter with a turbo and some redesign, but not many were lookin' to take a chance on it.

Fast forward twenty years and look around; Dodge still uses the Cummins, Chevy got smart and bought Isuzu and is using one of there diesels to great success, but old Ford decided they were gonna improve the breed with their very own 6.0 liter all aluminum, variable vane turbo hot shit engine.

Guess what - weak head bolts.

The Shame

I guess every family has a Black sheep...

New Addition to the Family

Meet Pudge. (we didn't name her)

Yeah, I see it too man.....

Looks like a bomb to me. It's got those "bomb batteries" and those "wire thingies" attached to "light thingies". It's the "light thingies" that make the bomb work, see. They light up and light the "fuse thingy". It's the latest. Really. Bomb making chic.

These two are so much fun to have around

David Duke doesn't worry me as much as the more 'mainstream' r's and d's.
JACIII 01.29.07 - 4:51 am | #

Me neither; nor does the good Chief.

Bill has a propensity for finding the most absurd example and casting it as the standard. My example was to demonstrate how ridiculous those aspersions are.

I suppose by Rep Foley's actions, we can deduce that Republican politicians are all gay pedophiles, too.
WaterBoy 01.29.07 - 12:03 pm | #

the Dems and Reps both got to claim this charmer

Get back to me when the Losertarians kick The Chief out of their party.

I suppose by Rep Foley's actions....

And the action of interest is;
Rep. Foley Quits In Page Scandal

Now, where were we... Oh yeah, Waterboy was getting his butt kicked in the wonderful game of "Proof by Example".
Bill 01.30.07 - 12:09 am | #

Whoosh! Right over your head. Shall I get you a ladder, sonny?

Let me spell it out for you:

Bill (implied): Chief Wannadubie is a nut. Chief Wannadubie was a Libertarian candidate. Therefore, all Libertarian candidates are nuts.

WaterBoy: If that is true (it isn't; you are making an association fallacy), then the same holds true for Republican candidates because David Duke is a nut and was a Republican candidate. Regardless of how others in the party felt.

To say nothing about Foley (F is a gay pedophile; F was a R candidate; therefore all R candidates are gay pedophiles). Regardless of the fact that he resigned.

But you keep believing what you want about libertarians; if logic hasn't slowed you down, nothing will.
WaterBoy 01.30.07 - 2:40 pm | #

Wow, look at Waterboy move those goal posts so his straw man can try again!

What I meant was that the Losertarian Party is the natural home for all sorts of nuts. And there's overwhelming evidence of this. Heck, I could list several dozen Losertarian candidates that are WAY, WAY Out There.

Given that nearly half of America is in the Repubican party, it's easy to find the odd nutcase mixed in with their run-of-the-mill folks. The important thing is that when someone is discovered to be smoking dope or fondling children, they either leave (one step ahead of the boot) or are thrown out. Not so with the Libertarian party - these "differences" are not only celebrated, they're the casus belli.
Bill 01.30.07 - 4:22 pm | #

The Dead Live, But Will Barbaro? Evidently not.

UPDATE: Doc was on FOX News today commenting on Barbaro, his treatment, and prognosis (not good). Check it out and bear in mind that this is the worlds foremost expert and practitioner. Link is here - scroll down to the bottom of the page.
While we're at it will somebody explain to me why on God's green earth you waould take a horse like Barbaro to PENNSYLVANIA for treatment when the world of horses revolves around Lexington, Ky?????? The world's foremost practioners in all fields relating to horses are within 50 miles of Lexington. Somebody fell for some yankee know-it-all bullshit I'm thinkin'.

I am in the giant cesspool of Louisville, Ky for four days sequestered in an Executive Suite and going to classes in a Seminar to improve my knowledge and skill as a Farrier. The main focus of the seminar is Laminitis (founder), but I have attended lectures on subjects from Veterinarian/ Farrier/ Client communication to shoeing to prevent long toe - low heel syndrome in thoroughbreds. Big fun!

Not that long ago horses with Laminitis (founder) were all but sentenced to a short life of intense pain followed by euthanasia. This occurred to the tune of 95% fatality to 5% recovery of all cases. About 15 years ago that ratio started swinging the other direction, due primarily to the obsession of one man: Dr. (DVM and Farrier) Rick Redden.

You have all heard about poor Barbaro and his battle with laminitis in the (previously) uninjured hind limb. Here's the fella they shoulda called:


Click the play button. Remember when a horse had to be shot if it broke it's leg?

The Goddess Speaks on Women's Suffrage

From Ann Coulters latest column:

Webb began his rebuttal by complaining that we don't have national health care and aren't spending enough on "education" (teachers unions). In other words, he talked about national issues that only are national issues because of this country's rash experiment with women's suffrage. I guess we should all be relieved that at least Webb's response did not involve putting a young boy's penis into a man's mouth, as characters in his novels are wont to do.

No More Bug Problems!

The 34 Pict-3 was worn plumb out and even though I fitted new throttle shaft bushings, the throttle plate had worn into the barrel due to the throttle shaft play.

A new 30mm carb came with the bug, but wouldn't fit in the 34mm manifold, so...

A little measuring, marking, bandsawing, drilling, milling, and welding later -



Sometimes no amount of work will fix something. That's often hard for me to accept, but I'm not quite as hard headed in my old age and will put something in the round file after only a few days of tinkering.

Whay we Ride, Instead:

Excerpt from a post on a motorcycle mail list:

Ah! You're in my wheelhouse now! Yay!
Don't misunderstand me here guys....the idea of hopping on a motorcycle and
heading for the horizon thrills me to no end, but from time to time I have
to wonder if an old CJ-5, 60's Bronco or even a resuscitated Suzuki Samuri
would be a better platform for some of the heavier loads, worst weather and
gnarliest terrain we ask the KLR to deal with. (Before we go further, I
want to say I've never been on a multi-day ride - I've always made it home
to my warm bed after a day in the saddle so I AM NOT qualified to, or wish
to, make any judgements of those intrepid souls who do real motorcycle
touring without bliking an eye. My hat's off to you guys.)

So the answer regarding a CJ-5, Bronco, or the most important vehicle you
left out, any older Toyota Land Cruiser:

Not necessarily.

Are they better platforms for the heavier loads? Sure, and so's a
K-whopper. But what it comes down to is an aesthetic. I've now done
multi-day trips both solo and with passenger in the following vehicles:

KLR, Saab 9-5 Aero, FJ-60 Land Cruiser, FJ-40 Land Cruiser, F-150 Death
Trap, and then a number of boring cars (e.g., Corolla). All of these
involved some form of off-roading while doing the trip (yes, even the Saab).

While I enjoyed all of these trips, and was able to do different things in
all the vehicles, I remember the KLR trips the best. Motorcycles have the
ability to focus your memories on what you are doing at each specific moment
of a trip. The car that comes closest is my FJ-60, because anywhere you go
in that thing it's an adventure. Sometimes the adventure just comes from
wondering whether you'll get there and being pleased that something
catastrophic didn't happen. It's a bit troubling that one of my most vivid
memories of the Cruiser is gutting a seized air pump in the middle of the
woods.

But cars, even fun old classics, dole out their pleasure in discrete
lumps. A car trip eventually gets remember as packing, arriving at a little
restaurant, arriving at the campsite/hotel, doing something fun like
four-wheeling, packing again, then returning home. The KLR trips don't
feel like a series of places I stopped, or a series of places where I took
advantage of the vehicle's capabilities. The entire trip comprised elements
of adventure. Added to that is the unquantifiable feeling of success when
you complete the trip. Again, I can sometimes have this feeling in the
Cruiser (the best 4-wheeled analog for a KLR). But that feeling is not one
of physically overcoming something.

Every week my friend and I go to play a trivia game in downtown Chicago,
about five miles away on city streets. It usually takes about half an hour.
Last week, for the first time, we considered driving because of the weather.
It snowed recently, the KLR's ignition switch was loaded with ice, and it
was 15 degrees out with the requisite horrible wind chill--awful riding
conditions. So after warming up the bikes and bundling up like the kid from
A Christmas Story, off we went. The trip was not comfortable. But not only
did we make it, both of us felt like we had accomplished something. If we
took the car, it certainly would have been more comfortable, but there
wouldn't be a feeling of success.

I think the KLR appeals to this sense of being an intrepid adventurer,
whether we actually are one or just want to be. Indeed, the only
motorcycles I've seen riding around Chicago now that winter has set in have
been another KLR, an R1150GS, an old Harley with a sidecar, and my friend's
Triumph Scrambler--all quite individual bikes. In an of itself, the KLR has
obstacles to overcome such as luggage, comfort, or the inexplicable lack of
development.

Bikes teach us lessons about what we need and what we can handle, and
usually the results are we need less than we thought, and we can handle more
than we thought. That can make any trip worthwhile.

It's the throttle plate shaft.

Wore plumb out. leakin' vacuum in the worst possible spot.

EP wins the prize.

From Dust.......

Double Super Secret Eyes Only UPDATE: It's not the preheat tubes. Also, near as I can tell the idle shut-off valve is also functioning properly, so I reckon I'll be tearin' the carb down tomorrow to look at the idle circuit and jet. Bummer.

The good news is it's not burnin' any oil right now. Weird.

Update: Brought the bug home last night and fired it up this morning in the barn to start troubleshooting it.
Problem #1 - no oil pressure showing on the gauge! Swapped out the electric sending unit for a mechanical (tube) gauge to verify pressure. 40lbs at idle. Good to go.

Problem #2 - There is a fuel issue. The engine requires pumping the accelerator or choking as it warms up to keep it running. I am convinced it is the preheat tubes being clogged as the carb becomes ICE cold shortly after starting and the tubes are warm only about 1/3 of the way up toward the carb.

Problem #3 - Got one cylinder burnin' oil. Doesn't start until the engine has been running about 3 - 4 minutes. A little weird, but not a big deal on a bug no matter what it is.

Problem #4 - oil cooler and roof scoop are not in the car. Gotta call the PO and have it shipped.....




Forgive my being cryptic here, but something is afoot. I will not discuss any plans in greater detail, but a pending acquisition lies below.

Jeff Cooper on Failure To Stop

The shooter was named Mike Rouseau(sp) and was using a 9x19, commonly referred to as a 9mm parabellum, or simply as a "nine" in the hood.

In Jeff Cooper's words:

As time passes we discover that there are a good many readers who have not been to school and who are puzzled by our reference to "The Mozambique Drill."

I added The Mozambique Drill to the modern doctrine after hearing of an experience of a student of mine up in Mozambique when that country was abandoned. My friend was involved in the fighting that took place around the airport of Laurenco Marquez. At one point, Mike turned a corner was confronted by a terrorist carrying an AK47. The man was advancing toward him at a walk at a range of perhaps 10 paces. Mike, who was a good shot, came up with his P35 and planted two satisfactory hits, one on each side of the wishbone. He expected his adversary to drop, but nothing happened, and the man continued to close the range. At this point, our boy quite sensibly opted to go for the head and tried to do so, but he was a little bit upset by this time and mashed slightly on the trigger, catching the terrorist precisely between the collar bones and severing his spinal cord. This stopped the fight.

Upon analysis, it seemed to me that the pistolero should be accustomed to the idea of placing two shots amidships as fast as he can and then being prepared to change his point of aim if this achieves no results. Two shots amidships can be placed very quickly and very reliably and they will nearly always stop the fight providing a major-caliber pistol is used and the subject is not wearing body armor.

However, simply chanting "two in the body, one in the head" oversimplifies matters, since it takes considerably longer to be absolutely sure of a head shot than it does to be quite sure of two shots in the thorax. The problem for the shooter is to change his pace, going just as fast as he can with his first pair, then, pausing to observe results or lack thereof, he must slow down and shoot precisely. This is not easy to do. The beginner tends to fire all three shots at the same speed, which is either too slow for the body shots or too fast for the head shot. This change of pace calls for concentration and coordination which can only be developed through practice.

This technique is also commonly referred to as "Body Armor Defeat" and I can imagine a 9x19 makes like a BB gun against the stuff while a .45, though not penetrating at all, will often introduce sternum to spinal column yielding at least temporarily satisfactory results.

I have to add here that the ongoing century spanning experiment with handguns chambered for one .38 caliber cartridge or another of one is surely by now conclusive in the negative. With the possible exception of the .357 and .38 super.

Bee Extermination

The Redneck Way

Or you can leave a running vacuum cleaner hose near where they enter end exit. Takes about a week, but they eventually all fly too close and get sucked into the vacuum of doom. You will probably have to empty every day depending on how optimally you place the end of the hose. Works like a charm. My neighbor killed off a huge hive living under his crawl space this way; he blocked all the exits (vents) except one and placed the hose there.

Wasting Time on Google

Warning

Don't drink anything while viewing. You will snort it through your nose.

So much for Apple's Hype...

Got a little surprise in the stocking this year. MrsJAC thought I might like this thing. And I migt, but it has been a pain in the ass so far.

You've all seen the Apple commercials and heard the ignorant comments from Apple owning acquaintances who don't know any better, "It just works!"

I go back a long way in PC's - back to TRS80's and C64's - and I have to say I haven't hadt to deal with anything that was such a pain in the ass to get working as this thing in the last 7 years since I was installing a tape-drive backup system.

Yeah, it's that bad. I had to force it 'mass media storage drive' onto a different drive letter assignment. In contrast, my walmart Rio player "just worked!" and didn't have all the bullshit "protected content" and "works only with I-tunes" garbage.

But, it's working now and sounds pretty good. Apple must have a good digital to analog converter cause the little bugger does a fine job in that department, and it is extremely portable. I just I hope I don't forget about it and run it through the washing machine.....



Update : It's chuggin' along pretty good now, but I have to dump the "temp" directory anytime I want to synch it. Those guys at Apple must be geniuses......

Arrogant Bastard

Ale

Do check out the animation.

New Math

This poor bastard made the mistake of talking to a person instead of a computer:

[Start of Call]

[on hold with Verizon Wireless customer service]

Trent (Verizon): Hi.. Hey, George?

George: Yes.

T: Hey I'm really sorry about that wait there. Hey, I got Mike on the line. He's my supervisor over here and uh, he'll take care of you from here on out, okay?

G: Thanks.

T: Alright.

Mike (Verizon): Thanks Trent. Good evening George, how are you doing this evening?

G: Great, except that I've been trying to resolve this for two calls and over 45 minutes now.

M: Okay, well lets see what we got here, I'm definitely sorry that uh, that you've had to call in that many times. Let's see, ummm, looks like you're questioning some kilobyte usage that was done while in Canada?

G: Well, let me just start out with a basic question.

M: Okay.

G: Do you recognize that there's a difference between “point zero zero two dollars” and “point zero zero two cents”?

[pause]

M: Point zero zero two dollars?

G: Do you recognize that there is actually...

M: ...and point zero zero two cents.

G: Yes, do you you recognize there's a difference between those 2 numbers?

[pause]

M: No.

G: Okay, is there a difference between 2 dollars and 2 cents?

M: Well, yeah, sir..

G: Well okay, is it.. is there a difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents?

M: .002 dollars and .002 cents.

G: Yes, is there a difference between..

M: Sir, sir, they're.. they're both the same if you, if you look at 'em on paper-wise

G: No.. they're not, actually. It.. is .5 dollars the same as .5 cents?

M: Is .5 dollars..?

G: Is half a dollar..

M: That would be.. That would be 50 cents.

G: A half a dollar.. is it the same as a half of a cent?

M: No.

G: Right.

M: Okay.

G: So, clearly, two one-thousandths of a dollar, which is your rate for airtime as I now understand it, uh, your rate per kilobyte in Canada is two one-thousandths of a dollar. But two one-thousandths of a dollar is different than two one-thousandths of a *cent*. What I was quoted was .002 cents. That's two one-thousandths of a cent per kilobyte.

M: Mmhm. okay...?

G: I specifically asked the rep. I said, “Are you saying it's .002 dollars or .002 cents?” because I .. *I* recognize that there's a difference. Just like there's a difference between that half a dollar and half a cent.

M: Okay.

G: There's a difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents. Your rate in Canada is .002 cents.

M: Correct.

G: Uh, it's point, point... Well okay, it's not true, it's .002 dollars. You're still quoting me .002 cents when in fact it's .002 dollars per kilobyte. So, if you want to charge me .002 cents, I'd be happy to pay the bill, the problem is I was charged .002 dollars per kilobyte.

M: Okay, so if you take.. okay.. do you have a calculator with you?

G: Yeah, I do.

G: Okay, take this uh, 71.79.

G: Yeah.

M: And divide that by uh, 35,893 you should come out with .002

G: Yes, and what units should it be? Dollars or cents?

M: Well that's per *kilobyte*.

G: Right. And is it dollars or cents per kilobyte?

M: Well, let me take a look here for ya.

[time passes...]

M: [looking up rates] We're.. we're in Canada..

[time passes...]

M: Hold on one second for me..

[time passes...]

M: [mumbles something about Canada]

[time passes...]

G: For the record, what I was quoted before I went to Canada, I called because I'm on an unlimited plan in the United States and I thought I might be paying more when I go to Canada.

M: Right.

G: What I was quoted was .002 cents. That seems to be what you believe is the rate is .002 cents. Unfortunately, your computer system charged me .002 dollars per kilobit, er, per kilobyte, so my point here is the confusion is on your side, and the first rep I spoke to, the second rep I spoke to, and including you, in calling “.002 dollars” “.002 cents”, that's a hundredfold difference just like one dollar is 100 times different than1 cent.

[time passes...]

M: Okay... looking at the pricing here for ya.

M: Okay.. for data.

M: National roaming access coverage in Canada is .002 per kilobyte cents.

G: Can you say that again?

M: It's .002 cents per kilobyte

G: .002 cents per kilobyte. So you just quoted me again; your price is .002 cents per kilobyte

M: Correct.

G: Okay, so now I'd like you to translate my 35,893 kilobytes into dollars if you would.

M: Okay, if you take .002

G: Cents, remember, cents.

M: Times 35,896. 71 dollars and 79...

G: No, that would be 71 cents because you started with a rate per *cent* and multiplied by the kilobytes, so that would be 71 cents. I'll tell you what the problem is here, is you, you're.. the original person I spoke to *before* I used my airtime...

M: Mmhmm.

G: Up to and including you, are quoting .002 dollars per kilobyte as if it's .002 cents per kilobyte and they're not the same, so I assumed that you guys knew how to do math. No offense here , but i assumed that you knew the difference between .002 cents and .002 dollars. And it sounds like there's still some confusion about that. .002 dollars is two one-thousandths of one dollar, or two tenths of one cent, which is very different than two one-thousandths of one cent. It's one hundred times different. [pause] I'll give you a brief example: If you're selling your car and I said I'm gonna give you twenty thousand for it, and I show up with 20,000 pennies, we're not speaking the same language. If you quote me .002 cents it's not the same as .002 dollars. So, when you just did the math .002 times 35,893, you came up with 71 cents. You didn't do the translation from cents to dollars, which would be... you'd have to.. uh, divide by a hundred, so then you get .71 dollars: 71 cents, So, I do understand, even though it seems like maybe *you* don't, that the rate is, I now understand: .002 *dollars* per kilobyte. But that was not what i was quoted, and that's not how I used my airtime because i thought it was... I thought it was cheaper than it actually turned out to be, because I was misquoted.

M: Mmhm.

G: I also had no context. The previous person i was speaking to said I should have had some context because i know what the united states rates - I *don't* know what the United States rates are, because I have an unlimited plan. I don't have to be concerned about the United States rates.

M: Mmhm.

G: So. It all comes down to me being misquoted, and it's hard.. it, would, it, it.. At the time, I, I said there could be some confusion here, so I asked the customer service rep, “Can you please write that down in the notes, that you quoted me .002 cents?”

M: Mmhm.

G: And she did.

M: Right, and I see that.. I see not only one, but I see several reps that have put it in here.

G: Right. So I.. I hope, it sounds like you may not actually see what the problem is yet, but ah..

M: Well, I've been working here 2 years sir, and I've been a supervisor for almost a year and a half.

G: Okay..

M: Okay? Umm, ya know, I'm going by what is.. what is documented here in the system.

G: Right.. so can you tell me then if, if the rate is as you quoted .002 cents per min.. per kilobyte, and I used 35,893.kilobytes, how much should I be charged?

M: By, by.. The way this is calculated? Seventy-one dollars and seventy-nine cents.

G: You did your math wrong, so what I'm saying is you did... bring up your calculator.

M: I.. I've got the calculator in front of me, sir. If i type in .002 and multiply that by 35 thousand, nine hundred...

G: But wait! but but.. Here's the key.. I know, but here's the key: What does the .002 represent? Cents or dollars?

M: It's cents, sir.

G: Okay, .002 cents...

M: So basically you're paying... you're paying two tenths of a penny [pause] per kilobyte. If you want to look at it that way.

G: Two tenths? hold on, hold on.. two tenths of a penny...

M: Mmhm.

G: ...would be .2 cents. You quoted me .002 cents. Do you see what I'm saying? [pause] Two tenths of one cent...

M: Mmhm.

G: ...would be point two cents. You quoted me .002 cents.

M: That's correct.

G: there's a difference between .2 cents and .002 cents. They're 100 times different. So which is the real rate?

M: .002 sir.

G: .002 what?

M: Cents per kilobyte!

[pause]

G: So you just said it was .2 pennies and then you also said it was .002 cents. Those are 2 completely different numbers. They're 100-fold different. Quoting someone .002 cents per kilobyte is different than .002 dollars per kilobyte. I... I don't know what else more I can tell ya. The math... the math on the bill is right if it's .002 dollars per kilobyte. It was quoted .002 cents.

M: George, hold on one second for me okay?

G: Sure.

Link for the full conversation is here.

So, My brother recommended a movie t'other day....

I knew better. I've been burned before. The boy has Never, Ever, E V E R recommended a good movie. But he was so enthusiastic I figured, "What the hell?!"

What the hell, indeed.

The thing starts off with government thugs trying to bone Natalie Portman who is saved by a masked dude with a lisp and uses the "v" sound alot. Mildly irratating, but not a movie killer.

There follows some pretty good mayhem and a few gratuitous shots at US foriegn policy, faith portrayed as the watch word of an oppressive government, the bad guys siting God to justify their legitimacy. It's hollywierd; nothing surprising here. In fact, one pretty much can't take in a movie w/o a minimum undercurrent of such tripe. Still, not too over the top for hollyweird, but I'm startin' to wonder when the professed merits of this flick start to overshadow the leftist hollyweird pap. Good thing I didn't hold my breath.

It goes off the deep end when a closet queener comes out of his closet and the scene shifts to said closet (secret room) wherein photographs of men fondling, and biting? one another get some big screen time. Lest we forget, the buttholebandit also has a fourth century copy of the goatherd scribe's koran (illegal - but he appreciates the "beautiful images and poetry"). This fag is soon martyred.

At this point I call the BrokeBackBlaster to give him a good cussin' for wasting nearly an hour of my life. My wrath exorcised, I feel much better and sit back down with one finger firmly on the FFWD button. Maybe Natalie will have a wardrobe malfunction..... Nyet.

The movie goes on to raise a pair of lesbo's to sainthood complete with a scene of one's obviously small minded bigoted parents crying over what was "only the truth".
One is martyred and is the inspiration for both the heroine's and the main character's respective epiphanies which leads to the primary motivation for the climax of the movie.

The premise is solid though absolutely buried beneath wagon loads of stereotypical leftist manure, and wading through 90 minutes of George Soros' Gay Party Propaganda is not my idea of entertainment. My brother on the other hand....

"V" for Vendetta sucks. Skip it. You have been warned.

Joke o' the Day

Q: What do you call a group of a hundred Harleys?

A: Slalom course.


Q: How do you get a Harley rider to ride her bike?

A: Tell her their garage is on fire.

A: Tell her that chrome polish is on sale.

Name That Car

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Nate: “How exactly does a nuclear bomb become obsolete? Don't they still go bang real big?”

Thermonuclear weapons will loose the bulk of their punch after a few years if the tritium isn’t replenished (12 yr halflife). The tritium acts as a catalyst during the fusion reaction, and the yield suffers greatly when there is not enough present.

The fission detonator on an h-bomb would still be of great interest to a terrorist, perhaps. But it is a military necessity to replenish the tritium in our warheads.

Another issue is that the casings for nukes degrade somewhat over time, even in ideal storage conditions. There is a lot of debate over the likelihood of a failure on timescales under 50 years, but from the military’s perspective, they want to be sure that the bombs detonate when launched. So they’re evaluating and reconditioning old warheads every day.

And finally, newer models are lighter, more reliable, and more versatile… at least they were up until the changes in the NPT precipitated by the India/Pakistan dick waiving contest.
thimscool | Email | Homepage | 11.20.06 - 8:42 pm |

Thankyou thimscool for stepping up here. Normally Bill or EP handle this sort of inquiry, but they seem to be laying down.....

Look at What I Saw This Weekend

SR71 Blackbird



YF22 Raptor









Some of our obselete nuclear arsenal

NOT Work Safe

Sorry, the bikini speeder girls were gettin' on my nerves.

Cannon Fodder

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, a moderate Republican best known for his stewardship of the city after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has taken the first step in a 2008 presidential bid.

My Way News - AP: Giuliani Takes Step Toward '08 Bid

Moderate Republican he says. Gun grabbin', baby killin', fag lovin' newyork liberal says I. And the best way I have seen since McCain to get the conservative base to stay home in 2008.

1) Achieve Power 2) Consolidate Power 3) Punish Your Enemies

"A lot of people have said to me, `Are you going
to now go out and issue a lot of subpoenas and go on a wild payback
time?' Well, payback is unworthy," he said. "Doing oversight doesn't
mean issuing subpoenas. It means trying to get information."

BREITBART.COM - Waxman Set to Probe Areas of Bush Gov't

Sure, a republican elitist politician is much the same as a democrat elitist politician, but there is a not insignificant difference (which republican elitist politicians  always forget at their peril) that the democrat models for governance are Mao, Castro, and Uncle Joe Stalin.


Never doubt that this stuff will be reported as "government investigators" and not "democratic commitee heads".

Frenchy Feelin' Froggy. Jews Say, "HopTo!"

French troops almost fired at Israel jets: minister | International News | Reuters.com

Now that's what you call a BAD IDEA. Last I heard of any wargame with the jewboys, they waxed our asses. The french need to be constantly reminded they are....well, french.

The Israeli action looks like a warning to me. Whatever Froggy did the Jews didn't like will probably cease now.

Oops!

That's a $50,000 NS750 vintage race bike the chick just dropped on the tarmac.

Sometimes I Think Vets are Brainless Walking Egos

ESPN.com - HORSE - Barbaro may have cast removed

Barbaro shattered his right hind leg in the May 20 Preakness and has been in intensive care at the New Bolton Center ever since. He underwent surgery to stabilize the right leg on May 21, then developed laminitis in his left hind leg in July, prompting Richardson to remove an estimated 80 percent of his left hoof

Now that's good thinkin' right there. He can't stand on this one so we'll just cut the other one off.

I have to say here that I'm not "in" on the details of Barbaro's case and that there may be some things about it that would make this acceptable procedure. I wonder though.

I saw a case yesterday where a mare had become laminitic (foundered) in her right front hoof. This is a very painful, life threatening condition where P3 (the bone inside the hoof) becomes detached from the front (mostly) inside surface of the hoof and begins to sink down through the bottom of the hoof. If you walked on your toenails (like horses do) it would be  like having a toenail peeled off until the bone poked through the skin and that was what you had to walk on. Sound painful? It is. Remember horses can't sit or lie down for any extended period of time. There is no relief for them. A veterinary clinic had treated the right front surgically (properly), all the while refusing to make an intervention on the unacceptable load the left hoof was having to bear while the right was useless. Can you guess what happened? Correct. The left went to shit, too. It damned near always happens if you don't act properly to prevent it, and sometimes even when you do. This poor girl was tossing her head upward, using its decelerating mass to fleetingly take weight off her front hooves for even an instant of relief. Its been eatin' at me ever since I saw it. Somebody needs a beatin'.

There is a proven procedure for dealing with laminitic horses. It was developed by a farrier turned veterinarian and is so successful it is mind boggling. I haven't seen it fail, yet. Some horses are beyond help and nothing will save them, but this is a small percentage. It requires the skills of a highly skilled and  specialized farrier (usually trained by the above mentioned vet), several sets of x-rays, highly technical  machined shoes, timely intervention, and some not unreasonable horsecare by the owner. Some more severe cases require a minimally invasive surgical procedure performed by a vet to allow the procedure to work. It's a step by step damned near guarenteed to work thing. Some of the same things apply to preventing laminitis in a noninujured opposite foot. Connect the dots! Do the math! I don't understand folks sometimes.

Some educated idiots won't take advice from folks with enough experience to know what they are doing. Ego over horsecare.

Why would we ever want to be without the constant company of women?

JAC, how much fun can a guy have without a woman around? Isn't there a reason why it goes 'Wine, Women, and Song'?

Maybe I'm just weird, but I like going adventuring. And there are so many amazing places to go to . . .
BoysMom | Homepage | 11.02.06 - 4:04 pm


BoysMom,
The version I have always heard is more like "Whiskey, Pussy, and Cigarettes", and I have always held that these things were to be had sequentially rather than concurrently.

Adventuring with women is a not really adventuring.
It's taking a woman somewhere, which is it's own kind of fun, but not the same thing.
It's going slow so she won't get scared.
It's planning a trip around Cracker Barrel locations.
It's passing up that sweet motel with the liquor store in the lobby.
It's mandatory showers.
It's changing clothes everyday.
It's not farting (audibly) in public.
It's not being able to say, "You ain't got a damn clue what the hell it is you're talkin' about. Now, shut the fuck up while I figure out what to do!" with out tears being shed.
It's having to find clean places to pee. Indoors for Christ's sake!
I could go on. .

We are happy husbands and fathers 24/7/365.25, but sometimes we want to be "just" men.

Many women don't understand this and feel threatened by it. They'll do everything they can think of to impinge upon it. I see it all the time, especially this time of year when men traditionally get together to hunt. There's always a few in a group, usually with young wives, who get phone calls throughout the day - or have to check in themselves 'cause the Mrs. managed to load 'em up with a guilt trip before they left. It's probably not only the women, either. I know guys who are scared to death their women are gonna figure out they don't have to have a man around all the time. Those fellas are best left at home, too. They'll muck things up as sure as havin' a woman along.

If only it was true

“There has never been an American army as violent and murderous as the one in Iraq”



The McGill Daily

The pacification of Iraq and it's neighbors would not be an ongoing balance between our lack of application of unrestrained brutal force and a teeming reservior of suicidal boys.

An Example

Of the kind of thing that will keep The Lizard Queen from the presidency.



Eventually, the arrogant can no longer restrain themselves and say what they actually think.

Worlds Smallest Horse

17" tall - a touch over 4 hands, weighs 60lbs. At birth she was all of 8 pounds.

Before you ask; yes it is shod and with therapeutic shoes.

Hayden Wins!

Nicky Hayden came in third in the last MotoGP race of the season and took the World Campionship. Congratulations to Nicky!

Infallible Voting Machines

No sense in leaving this stuff to chance.

It's almost enough to make one go, "hmmmm". What a coincidence these things were used in chicago with some problem with the tranmission software requiring intervention by Venezualan engineers.

If I was going to screw around with voting machines to skew the results, that's where I'd start in with my wrench. A "transmission" process to a central machine; a built in "error" accumulator.

The OTHER reason girls can be fun to have around

Lifted This from Nate's Peep Paradise yesterday:

Wildly off topic, but now we finally have an answer to where have the men gone.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/ 2006...inamericanmales

I think the answer to what is causing it is obvious especially when they throw in a major "symptom" is low bone density and diabetes. Boys- step away from the Big Mac.
Spacebunny | 10.27.06 - 2:28 pm |

I'm puttin' my money on socially suppressed masculine personality traits. And soccer.
JACIII | Homepage | 10.27.06 - 3:14 pm |

They claim that obesity can't fully explain the decline, but I'm betting it has a HUGE impact especially coupled with the rise in diabetes due to obesity.
Spacebunny | 10.27.06 - 3:15 pm |

Well, fat guys DO have boobs, right?!
JACIII | Homepage | 10.27.06 - 4:27 pm |


First of all JAC -eeewwwwww!
-snip-
Spacebunny | 10.27.06 - 5:11 pm |

Here's proof I had it right.

I hate to lend some legitimacy to this post but after Nate pointed out nothing but lack of honest work was at the root of modern obesity and its associated side effects, it occured to me I had read a study which found bone density and size amazingly high (compared to average modern man) in nomadic peoples who began traveling extensive distances on their own two feet at a very young age.
Easy verification of this can be had simply by shaking the hand of a man known to have been throwing 80lb haybales five feet over his head since he was 10. What we commonly call a "farm boy".

The Lizard Queen strikes fear into the hearts of... men?

First, there's my little brother who has been reading his own posts too much. For those of you collecting Nate-isms this is a "scrapbooking moment":

unelectible?

how niave can you be?
Nate | Email | Homepage | 10.26.06 - 11:09 am | #

Then Will tries to pull me out of my delusional state:

J, I don't want to seem like I'm insulting your intelligence, but remember that 48% of the country's voters pulling the level for Kerry. Hillary is a much more electable candidate than Kerry. All she has to do is win an extra 2% of the voting population and she's in.

She has the name and face recognition, that false crutch that "things were better under my husband", and the fact that most of the only people who see her for what she really is are us on the Extreme Right who nobody listens to anyways.
Will | Email | Homepage | 10.27.06 - 5:04 am | #

President Hillary? You're smokin' crack.

Sure, it's a national election. But politics is local, folks, and no one has abolished the electoral college since last I checked. Didn't Al Gore 'win' the national election?

Oh, The Lizard Queen has 'star power', I'll grant you that, but it is a hollow thing of the sort hollywood denizens command so long as they keep their mouths shut about what they really think and stay with the script their publicist gave them. Hillary, like (the artist formerly known as) Prince, Madonna, Sting and other one-name pop stars has an ego too great to allow her to do that. I can't wait until this screech owl gets revved up. Remember Howard Dean? You ain't seen nothin'.

The Lizard Queen has yet to walk into a fight where the electorate was not already skewed in her favor. She could have run for senator in Arkansas, could she not? Considering the weight the South has been throwing around in national elections, perhaps that might have been the place to start a run for the presidency. Sure, being a NY senator is a bit more in the limelight, but when was the last time a yankee state swung an election? She is sittin' safe, building up her confidence to face the big boys while hoping James Carville will save her from those rednecks who shit all over Al Gore and said all those nasty things about that nice man, John Kerry.

She's not somebody. She's somebody's wife. I'll be surprised if she makes it out of the primary.

But don't let me stop y'all from gettin' all a-titter and swooning with fear at the certainty of Queen Lizard the First, by all means carry on with your fun. Drama Queens.

Does no one in California own a bushhog?

No better place for commie rat bastards to be.

I may be paranoid.....

But I have been seeing a lot of Lizard Queen, aka Hillary Clinton, look alikes from hollywood lately. You know the type, moonfaced, wrinkly eyes, droopy eyelids, shortish yellow air with dark roots.

Most folks aren't cognizant of the media's use of images to subtley promote the agendas its members sympathize with, but I read this book -

Tower of Secrets: A Real Life Spy Thriller by Victor Sheymov



years ago. It is by Colonel Victor Sheymov formerly of the Soviet Union Third Directorate which was entrusted with Signal Security. In his official capacity he was privy to a lot of communication for all different levels and branches of the KGB and it's client agencies including those regarding Soviet infiltration of the US entertainment industry, its dominance of the American communist party, and its techniques for promoting activities and persons 'useful' to them.

It is a useful exercise to ascertain what cause the left is championing and begin watching for their little pokes and proddings upon your consciousness. It's sort of the same as when you buy a car and suddenly discover there are a lot more of hat type than you thought previously. You'd be surprised how much you'll notice.

Start looking for the Lizard Queen in bit parts as crowd fillers and no-line actresses. See what you can see.

Example:

I just watched The Sentinel on DVD. One of the Secret Service agents with one line is a 'younger' Lizard Queen (completely unattractive) who receives a lot of face time at especially dramatic moments in the film instead of another actress who is present in those same scenes and is attractive and also blonde, but ends up slightly blurred or in the corner of the screen. Coincidence? Subconscious impulse by a director/editor who worships at the webbed feet of the Lizard Queen and her ilk?

What a Nutcase !

Watch the video.

Pardon the pun.

Proclamtion

RE: This post at Vox. Follow the first link in the post.

By the power vested in me by Jimmy Russel's 50.5% alcohol by volume on Sunday mornin' while everyone else is in church, on authority of my rusty pickup truck, extensive gun collection, Farmall tractor, Justin boots, Resistol hats, shiney belt buckle, Copenhagen, and George Strait's Greatest Hits I do hereby declare VD to be forever absolved of the unnatural sin of foo-foo drinks in recognition of his not insignificant contribution to the Lost Cause and the defamation of That Bastard Lincoln.

From this day forward let no man ridicule VD for his past foo-foo drink transgressions lest the comfort that is the shade of the Magnolia, the refreshment that is Sweet Tea, and the glory that is the Rebel Yell be forever denied him.


Amen.

My pal the skunk

We had a skunk move into the crawlspace a couple days ago. PEEEEEEEYOOO.

Here are the steps I've taken to rid myself of this noxious critter.

Constructed a trap and set it out last night but haven't had any luck yet.
Placed moth-balls under the house in an attempt to ward him off.
Dumped flour at all possible entrance/exit sites to track his comings and goings.

Be vewy vewy quiet....

Any creative suggestions for killin' this critter once I get it in the box are appreciated. My plan is to release him, runaway (to a safe distance), and put a bullet into his brain. Yes they spray when you brainshoot 'em. They spray everywhere like a high pressure hose you turned loose. I know this.
I read that a middle spine shot will disable the squirt mechanism, but I doubt that will be his presentation upon release.

worth talking about.

The North Koreans are building and testing nukes, proclaiming war is inevitably.

Madonna bought a slave.

Nancy Pelosi wants to be speaker.

The Lizard Queen wants to take over the world. If only she had a pecker.

The internet HAS taken over the world and the dinosaur media has started to get the message. (No, liberal idiot bloggers will not rule the internet - It's the market, stupid. And AOL is long dead from forcing chioces on it's subscribers.)

There's just not much goin' on

worth talking about.

The North Koreans are building and testing nukes, proclaiming war is inevitably.

Madonna bought a slave.

Nancy Pelosi wants to be speaker.

The Lizard Queen wants to take over the world. If only she had a pecker.

The internet HAS taken over the world and the dinosaur media has started to get the message. (No, liberal idiot bloggers will not rule the internet - It's the market, stupid. And AOL is long dead from forcing chioces on it's subscribers.)

Modern Diesel Automotive Engines

Are incredible. Durable, fuel efficient, powerful, sophisticated, amazing. Until the EPA gets involved...

The europeans have been using small turbo-diesels in their cars and trucks for many years now and the technology is stable and proven. Lots of folks in the US have compact pickups - how would you like that with a diesel? Wipe your chin.

A few of the euro models have made it across the pond to the US consumer such as the VW TDI Jetta, Bug, Toureg and the Jeep Libety CRD. Mercedes has been cartin' diesels over forever. These are all great vehicles with great engines, until the EPA gets involved. A spectaculary bad idea US manufacturers came up with to meet emissions standards is a thing called and EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve. This thing allows engine exhaust to be "reburned" thus lowering the emission of EPA regulated substances. Horrible idea. Take a look inside your tailpipe. Nasty isn't it. That's what the EPA has mandated your engine inhale.

EGR is a particularly ornerous thing with diesel engines as they are inherently sooty (like the inside of your wood stove). Keep in mind that these engines are computer controlled and depend on delicate sensors along the intake tract to relay information about air temperature, boost pressure, air flow rates and such. How long do you figure these sensors would last in your tailpipe? Right. It has become a common procedure to have the intake system "cleaned". The service tech disassemble the top half of the engine and washes it. If you're lucky this is a $700.00 procedure not including the price for changing out that failed component that brought you into the service bay to begin with.

Needless to say there are an awful lot of "offroad use only" automotive diesels out there now.
FYI: Honda is suposed to coming out with one that uses no EGR and has a nitrate converter in the exhaust system. Freaky.

As if we need evidence of cowardice of the republican party.


The David Zucker Albright Ad is linked by Drudge. He quotes elephant official as saying they couldn't use it because it was too hot.
Some "You Tube" users have flagged the video for adult content so you may have to go to Drudge to see it or log onto "youtube".

If it upsets that many democratic socialists it can't be bad.

Y'all seen my good for nothing brother?

Oh, I forgot; he told me Leonardo Dicaprio has a new movie out this weekend. He is very excited. He's seen all of Leonardo's movies.

I expect he'll be posting a review over at the BloggerBlaster soon....

Mark Foley to Test the Axiom

"There are really only two things fatal in politics: to be found in bed with a live man or a dead woman."

Granted, the pillow-biter lobby and it's champions have forced the substitution of "boy" for "man" in the phrase, but the concept still exists that there are depths of public conduct from which a political career cannot recover. Mark Foley, according to Drudge, has made an initial thrust toward ameliorating his responsibility in the eyes of the public. "Hey, I was drunk!"

What should be interesting is the public's reaction to this. I will consider it to be a good indicator of the how far the general populace's "pervert detector" has been de-tuned.

American's (in general) have been grading moral fitness on a curve for sometime now. As another perversion becomes normalized this curve gets steeper to allow that perversions practicianers to hold moral equivalence with more upright ways of life. We shall soon see just how steep this curve has gotten.

The pervert-o-meter is in full swing right now; an old man and a young boy. Let's see if the alcoholic amelioration attempt serves to dampen its movement.


UPDATE: Two newspapers and Fox News (The one with the hot chicks) sat on this story to protect the old fag lest the public overreact due to him being a pillow biter.

"Our decision at the time was ... that because the language was not sexually explicit and was subject to interpretation, from innocuous to 'sick,' as the page characterized it, to be cautious," said Tom Fiedler, executive editor of the Herald. "Given the potentially devastating impact that a false suggestion of pedophilia could have on anyone, not to mention a congressman known to be gay, and lacking any corroborating information, we chose not to do a story."

This type of editorial decision happens all the time. An example would be the unreported black on white crime statistics. The newsies believe themselves to be fighting stereotypes, regardless of their accuracy.

More info on the weird tractor

From FarmerTom:

My dad had a 4020 propane. I hated that thing too. Not because it was
a bad tractor, but because I was still a kid then, and I was scared of
the refueling process.

You hook up a line from the liquid valve of a standard propane tank,
to the liquid intake valve on the tractor, then you hook up a return
line from the vapor side of the tracor to the propane barrel,

One gallon of liquid propane expands to 13 gallons of propane vapor.
When you bleed the vapor away from the tractor into the propane barrel
the differential in pressure allows the liquid to flow into the
tractor tank. As the liquid takes the place of the vapor the tank is
filled from bottom to top with liquid.

The tractor runs on both vapor and liquid, you start it on the vapor,
then when it is running well you switch it over to the liquid.
Obviously there is much more energy in the liquid than in the vapor.


My dad was plowing with his, running on liquid, when it got hot
enough that it melted the pistons.

We bought a diesel engine to replace the propane one. Best thing that
ever happened to that tractor. We still have it, use it most every
day, on the home farm. Has a Buhler loader on it.

This fella has a workaround of some sort.