This Is New

Found this in the spam trap first thing this morning:

After I initially left a comment I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now whenever a comment is added I receive four emails with the same comment. Is there an easy method you are able to remove me from that service? Appreciate it! Feel free to surf to my web page on (redacted).

Mmmmkay, let's look at this right here. Y'all commented anonymously, so no email address was required nor given. So, you ain't been getting any damn emails. Kinda tough to do that. Plus, if you did comment logged in, the "notify me" controls are all on your end, oh spammer genius.

Since this was caught by Blogger's spam filters, you need not worry, your post has not seen the light of day until now. I will not be promoting your web page. In fact, I feel free NOT to surf to your web page, which was your point all along.

Gonna have to do better than that, genius.

A Tad Peeved

Don't you know it.....

Picked up my mail the other day, and lo and behold, I have a bill from a bill collection agency. It's for my emergency hospital stay. All the bill said was that the total was such and such, and I owed so and so. No itemization or squat - no indication of individual items and what the insurance paid, had not paid, or was pending. Just a bill.

From a collection agency.

Made me stew for a while, and I did have plans to call them and ask for an itemized bill, and then this morning, after I fired up my cell phone, I had a voice message.

From the bill collection agency.

Are you f$#@ing kidding me? I just got this bill in the mail about three days ago, no bill before, and already I've got bill collectors after my ass? For what?!?

I have no plans of NOT paying this thing - but I'd like better information. So I called 'em back and told 'em I did NOT get an itemized bill, and before I paid the complete balance, I expected to see one.

I've had this problem before - it's the voice of experience. This time it's the hospital, last time it was a certain medical center in the certain town with Boot Hill and Wyatt Earp Blvd. off to the east. When checking in there, they require you to at least make a payment on any outstanding bills. I was seeing a doctor there fairly regularly. I was paying every time I went in. Each time, they required at least fifty bucks. Finally, one day, I got an itemized bill. They were into me for several hundred dollars - there was no need to keep adding money to my balance. They'd been billing me for the full amounts before the insurance settlements, getting the settlements, and never letting me know I had a balance. So, the next time I went in, I was told I had to make a payment. I asked why? Well - because I owed it. Really? You want fifty bucks when I've got over two hundred on account? You tell me why again.

Oh. Well. We don't look at that.

Well, that little experience let me know that the billing side of their business is set up to draw in as much money as possible, legit, owed or not.

I was highly peeved and let the person know about it. They could have given a rat's ass. They've all justified their despicable behavior so they can sleep at night.

So, this gal today would send my itemized statement right out. I told her I'd put five hundred down (the bill is over $1800) just so they knew I was gonna pay. Of course the next thing was to get me to agree to monthly $500 payments.

Nope, not gonna happen until I get the itemized bill, and make sure the insurance company is through paying.

Honestly, I'm sure that my health insurance had paid off, and this is the final bill. But I don't know that for sure.

Y'see, this whole mess is one reason why I grate my teeth when the subject of uninsured patients come up. Why in the wide wide world of sports do ya think this crap goes on? Why do you suppose that bills are padded, services are overcharged and people who actually pay bills harassed? Why do you suppose that many doctors take cash payments that are severely discounted compared to what insurance companies pay (excuse me - partially pay).

It's to cover the uninsured who do not pay their bills. It's to pay for the illegal aliens who register under a false name and no billing company on earth can track 'em.

This is hardly the most equitable of income redistribution, but it is happening. Most of these for profit health organizations are quite healthy in the ol' balance sheet, and it's not because they're such Good Samaritans when it comes to people who can't afford their bills. They've just gamed the system to have the rest of us cover it.

And now Barry and the Democrats want us to cover even more expenses, and we're gonna have the IRS as the collection agency.

What could possibly go wrong?

Remember, It's Trick OR Treat

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I tell you what, if I had kids and they came home crying about being called fat and getting gypped at this woman's house, I'd be leading the charge for the "trick" side of trick or treat. Eggs, toilet paper, dog doo - the works. If Ms. Goody Two Shoes wants to stand in judgment on children on a childrens' time honored holiday, she should stand ready to deal with the consequences. If she wants to be an abberation on society, then don't be shocked when society takes the appropriate reaction.

The End Times Are Nigh

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First off - this is from MSNBC of all places - and it happened there????

And I keep telling liberals who try to pigeonhole my politics to just the Republican Party, or call me a Tea Bagger or whatever that Both Parties Are To Blame, Dammit.

We didn't get here in this mess overnight, and it was not just one side of the aisle or the other, or the party of the President at the time, or any one individual.

I like what this guy had to say, and more importantly how he said it. Great rant.

But if he thinks our Child of Chicago Politics In Charge is gonna Do The Right Thing by exposing the corruption that put all of Congress in power and keeps them there is going to happen, he's got another thinking coming. Because, the same types have put our Affirmative Action President in place, and they've been getting a pretty good return on their investment, plus he's gonna continue to deliver. He's not about to grow a set and discover morality if it means screwing over the people holding the reins. End of story, sorry Fellow Americans (not really), but That Is The Way of Things.

H/T Scott

Common Sense Has Passed On, Or What Are They Teaching Kids These Days

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A Pop Tart eaten into a silhouette of a gun becomes a gun to school administrators, and a child is suspended. A Derby, KS boy was suspended for bringing a Chuck E. Cheese noisemaker to school.

The actual dangerous weapon threatening our defenseless children.

What we are witnessing, thanks in large part to zero tolerance policies that were intended to make schools safer by discouraging the use of actual drugs and weapons by students, is the inhumane treatment of young people and the criminalization of childish behavior.
Ninth grader Andrew Mikel is merely the latest in a long line of victims whose educations have been senselessly derailed by school administrators lacking in both common sense and compassion. A freshman at Spotsylvania High School in Virginia, Andrew was expelled in December 2010 for shooting a handful of small pellets akin to plastic spit wads at fellow students in the school hallway during lunch period. Although the initial punishment was only for 10 days, the school board later extended it to the rest of the school year. School officials also referred the matter to local law enforcement, which initiated juvenile proceedings for criminal assault against young Andrew.
Andrew is not alone. Nine-year-old Patrick Timoney was sent to the principal's office and threatened with suspension after school officials discovered that one of his LEGOs was holding a 2-inch toy gun. That particular LEGO, a policeman, was Patrick's favorite because his father is a retired police officer. David Morales, an 8-year-old Rhode Island student, ran afoul of his school's zero tolerance policies after he wore a hat to school decorated with an American flag and tiny plastic Army figures in honor of American troops. School officials declared the hat out of bounds because the toy soldiers were carrying miniature guns. A 7-year-old New Jersey boy, described by school officials as "a nice kid" and "a good student," was reported to the police and charged with possessing an imitation firearm after he brought a toy Nerf-style gun to school. The gun shoots soft ping pong-type balls.
Things have gotten so bad that it doesn't even take a toy gun to raise the ire of school officials. A high school sophomore was suspended for violating the school's no-cell-phone policy after he took a call from his father, a master sergeant in the U.S. Army who was serving in Iraq at the time. A 12-year-old New York student was hauled out of school in handcuffs for doodling on her desk with an erasable marker. In Houston, an eighth grader was suspended for wearing rosary beads to school in memory of her grandmother (the school has a zero tolerance policy against the rosary, which the school insists can be interpreted as a sign of gang involvement). Six-year-old Cub Scout Zachary Christie wassentenced to 45 days in reform school after bringing a camping utensil to school that can serve as a fork, knife or spoon. And in Oklahoma, school officials suspended a first grader simply for using his hand to simulate a gun.

link to story

Zero tolerance policies are just an excuse for administrators to avoid taking responsibility for making a decision based on common sense. Not even adults in our court systems are treated with this lack of discretion.

And this is a continuing problem that is getting worse instead of better. The kid with the Chuck E. Cheese toy? 2008. The quote above with all the references to similar situations? 2011. And here in 2013 we find that playing with toys legally on one's property and well away from any sort of school property or activity is now illegal.Apparently there is no Bill of Rights when it comes to school administrators making zero tolerance decisions. Which is to say they don't make a decision, they play Cover My Ass by not using their heads, discretion or logic.

It's not just Dear Leader and politicians staining our lives and freedoms, although it is easier to focus on them. We cannot forget the overreaching desk driving drones that were elected by nobody that are slowly taking over our lives.

Really?

So Jeff Danziger is a hawk? Who knew?

Sure hard to tell from all the "Bush Lied, People Died" and other anti-war crap he was espousing during W's terms of office. Apparently he's in favor of half-assed leadership when it comes to planning attacks and actually making decisions.

Yep, drawing a line, denying he drew a line, checking the wind vanes of public perception every ten seconds, dithering, giving away any tactical surprise - hey! What could go wrong?!? It's all Congress' fault for the pickle Dear Leader finds himself in! Silly me!

I will give Teh Won credit for leadership in one area. He is definitely showing leadership on gun control issues. Too bad it's all unconstitutional, but for supposedly being a Constitutional scholar, the document clearly means nothing to him.

Mirrors. Use Them.

As I was driving through Oberlin, KS today, I saw a flatbed pickup pulling a gooseneck trailer pull out from one of the little truck stop/convenience stores there. So, I figured I'd be catching him, and sure enough, I did.

As I got closer I could see it was a single wheel double axle trailer - it wasn't tandem wheeled. From the looks of it, it probably should have, since it had been rode hard and put away wet about six hundred too many times. At any rate, as I got even closer, it seemed that the left rear wheel was leaning inward at the top. Then smoke started rolling out in little streams. I could see the driver's face in the mirror, so all it would take would be for him to actually look and he could have seen it as well.

Nope, wasn't happening. The wheel started to develop a sharper list, then suddenly the grease cap blew off in a shower of flame, sparks and chunks. I note at this time that the sound, could I have heard it, would have seemed like an M-80 being set off in a dryer full of gravel running full steam.

Which Mr. Oblivious failed to see. So, I slightly pulled out into the other lane and started honking, waving at him and pointing at the trailer. I guess he couldn't hear me honk with my AIR HORNS. And of course, he completely ignored the large truck with the large load hanging off his bumper.

The wheel was listing over even more - hell, he could have seen the bottom sticking out HAD HE JUST LOOKED, but, alas, it was not to be.

I determined that the worst place for me was right where I was, considering I was probably about to have a loose wheel in my face. I was just hopin' and prayin' that it didn't come off into oncoming traffic - no telling where it would go or how much damage it would cause. So, I backed off quite a bit.

When the cap blew, it was because the outer bearing blew. I saw fire and sparks bellow from the hub one more time. That was the inner bearing flying completely apart. Several hundred yards later, the remnant of the hub let go from the now ruined axle stub, and the wheel was ejected.

I've seen these before, and usually the wheel doesn't just roll like you think it might. No, it's like when you bounce a tire out of the back of your pickup - it's gonna be a wild ride. It finally settled down right on the zipper as I went by - I was afraid I'd run over the damn thing, but I didn't.

Meanwhile, Our Genius kept on driving. The brake assembly wasn't dragging the ground - the rest of the suspension kept it up. Anyways, he finally did notice something was wrong and pulled over. The shoulder was muddy, and I couldn't go around him to the left because of oncoming traffic. I about had to stop.

I just drove on by. Stupid sonofabitch wasn't gonna get any help from me if he didn't have any more sense than that.

Recurring Nightmare

I can guarantee you I've had nightmares about this. Two fiberglass tanks were loaded way too high and hit the overpass - you can see tank number one on the left. I'm not sure how these were loaded, but I'd assume they were loaded vertically just like they'd sit on the ground. Normally, we send out all of our tanks loaded on their sides. Ten foot tall tanks - maybe load them like this - that usually puts us at under 13' tall. Fifteen foot tall tanks, which these appear to be, loaded vertically would be seventeen to eighteen feet tall.

Supposedly there was a pole car in front - and their stick didn't hit. That means the pole car operator screwed the pooch - you are supposed to set the stick slightly higher than the load, so if it hits, you may or may not fit the load under, but you'd damn well better stop and check carefully.

Most overpasses seem to handle sixteen feet of clearance okay, and lots aren't posted if they are over sixteen feet. These things were just too damn tall to be on the interstate system, period.

This happened just west of Sterling, ND on I94 east of Bismarck, and I got it from a page on Facebook I follow: Bakken Oilfield Fail of the Day. They have a lot of photographic proof of recto-cranial inversions.

F@%^ing Crooks

We keep hearing about the "sequestration" in the news, and of course the press is all over it. It's the Republican's fault - even though Obama agreed to the set up back in 2011 with the Budget Control Act of 2011. And the press breathlessly informs us about how essential services will be cut, people laid off, jobs in jeopardy, in short, it's the end of the world as we know it.

For about 2.4% of a spending cut? Are you freaking kidding me? Every government agency that cries wolf about this ought to have their leadership fired, right now. How many businesses can find five percent to cut easily and without hurting their production, services or whatever? How freaking hard is that? Yannow, maybe, just maybe, a .gov employee on the road might be able to stay at a Comfort Inn rather than at the Hilton or the Hampton Inn? Or perhaps slow that .gov set of wheels down from 15+ over the limit down to the speed limit and save some gas?

There are so many places where waste and profligate spending could be curtailed - what??? Do they need the private sector to come in and give 'em all a dose of salts?

And while we're at it, boy, aren't the Republicans being sooooo brave and all, trying to cut a whopping 2.4%. Whee. What rebels they are. Why, keep that up and we'll slip into bankruptcy twenty minutes later! Yeah! What savings! What terrible personal sacrifices! What is Congress and the White House willing to cut from their expenses? Maybe Pelosi can take personal trips using commercial aircraft these days? Maybe Michelle can keep her butt at home for a couple months before venturing out on her personal time? Perhaps the Congresspeople out there can cut back from three martinis for lunch down to two?

Sorry, just lost my mind for a second.

My Good Deed

For yesterday, anyhow. Today I watched it snow from the comfort of home.

I was on my way back to the yard in Garden City on K156, and the fact that I just didn't have the intestinal fortitude to carry on had me stopping at the lone rest area west of the big city at the junction of K23 and K156. I do not like stopping there. It is a "natural compost" facility. Which means in the winter on a cold day, a nice breeze blows up yer kiester and freezes the dangly bits. During the summer, flies attack those same bits. Needless to say, it was only the greatest urgency that had me stopping there.

When I stepped out, considerably relieved, a car came driving up next to me while I was preparing to mount my ride. A guy in the passenger seat hollered at me - it was windy. This sort of kinda made me nervous, since this is out in the middle of nowhere. There is traffic, but it's sporadic, and if something hinky happened, it might be possible for no one to see anything unusual for a long period of time.

But my Spidey Sense was on overdrive for no reason - it was a guy riding with his significant other and apparently their two kids in back. He asked me if going west was the right way to get to Wichita.

The sun was setting, and I said: "No, you are headed west into the setting sun. Wichita is east of here, a long ways."

It turned out they were from Perryton, TX and had no maps, nor did they have a phone with any sort of map on it, either. The young man informed me that "She just made me give up an iPhone 4!" Apparently, their budget couldn't handle it. He didn't seem to me to be up to handling much - she was driving, and making all the decisions. I know I was passing judgement, but oh well. So, they had no idea what I was talking about as far as highways and towns went, so off to the truck I went to get my Trucker's Atlas.

She did have some written instructions from her best girlfriend on how to get to Wichita, which involved getting to TX 23 and going north into Kansas until she got to Greensburg, where she was to turn right. One problem with that - K23 never goes through Greensburg.

The way they shoulda gone

Meade is where they needed to turn right. Greensburg is about two miles east of the US 183/ US 54(also US 400) junction. Some distance to the east. No wonder the kids were lost.

Where they actually went

Hey, the BFF said 23 - she stuck with it.

The young woman's father had broken his leg and was in one of the hospitals in Wichita - probably one of the many complexes Wesley runs. The name sounded right to the both of them. I drew them a map on a notebook they had and tried to keep it simple.

I dunno. I cannot imagine heading out into unfamiliar territory without a freaking map. I don't care if I've got cell and data service out the wahoo, I want my map. I find myself shaking my head that they headed out with two little ones so irresponsibly. Wow. Like I said, the guy didn't impress me much.

I gave them some rudimentary info on where the hospital was, but honestly, I figure they were gonna have to be talked in when they got there over their phones. I'm not sure my map made much of an impression - I don't think their map reading skills were quite up to par. Maybe if you can't read a map, you really don't need to have one with you.

But, wow. I wished them luck, they drove back to the east, and I pointed the Binder westward, and said some prayers for 'em.

Water, Water Everywhere

And not a drop to drink.

Mitt Romney has been roundly criticized for his statement regarding funding for FEMA.

“FEMA is about to run out of money, and there are some people who say do it on a case-by-case basis and some people who say, you know, maybe we're learning a lesson here that the states should take on more of this role,” Mr. King said. “How do you deal with something like that?” 

Romney’s response: “Absolutely. Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better

.
“Instead of thinking in the federal budget, what we should cut – we should ask ourselves the opposite question,” Romney continued. “What should we keep? We should take all of what we're doing at the federal level and say, what are the things we're doing that we don't have to do? And those things we've got to stop doing, because we're borrowing $1.6 trillion more this year than we're taking in. We cannot ...”

Romney replied: “We cannot – we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we'll all be dead and gone before it's paid off. It makes no sense at all.”

Of course, liberal pundits immediately turned this into "Romney will eliminate FEMA!!!!!11!!! It's the end of the world as we know it! Heartless, cruel Rethuglicans!" The NYT put out an editorial A Big Storm Requires Big Government.

Hmmm, maybe it's just me, but cutting some funding doesn't automatically mean the death of said program. But, I'm a simple guy, with a simple mind, who sees things in a cartoon fashion. These are some of the editorial cartoons from the liberal side of things.

Yep, us Neanderthal conservatives are all a bunch of hypocrites. Because FEMA is such a find government agency that has a stellar record for disaster relief in the past. Oh, wait.....

And they're doing so well at helping out with Sandy as well:

FEMA's vaunted "lean forward" strategy that called for advanced staging of supplies for emergency distribution failed to live up to its billing in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. 

In fact, the agency appears to have been completely unprepared to distribute bottled water to Hurricane Sandy victims when the storm hit this Monday. In contrast to its stated policy, FEMA failed to have any meaningful supplies of bottled water -- or any other supplies, for that matter -- stored in nearby facilities as it had proclaimed it would on its website. This was the case despite several days advance warning of the impending storm.

FEMA only began to solicit bids for vendors to provide bottled water for distribution to Hurricane Sandy victims on Friday, sending out a solicitation request for 2.3 million gallons of bottled water at the FedBizOpps.gov website. Bidding closed at 4:30 pm eastern.

Breitbart News spoke with contracting officer Annette Wright, who said that the winning vendor would be required to deliver the 2.3 million gallons of bottled water to an East Farmingdale, New York distribution center that was listed in the solicitation request by Monday, November 5th. Ms. Wright was unable to say when or how the water would be delivered from the distribution center to needy Hurricane Sandy victims in New Jersey, Staten Island, Long Island, and other boroughs of New York City. Vendors "are currently being evaluated," she said, and when the vendors are announced, they will provide information on how local distribution will occur.

Yep, that's a perfect example of the rapid response needed in times of disaster, and the ability of a large government bureaucracy to fulfil the immediate needs of citizens.

Of course, taking federal control of disasters away from the Feds and giving it to local authority is not without risk as well - just look at Nagan and Blanco's refusal of FEMA and federal aid during the first days after Katrina hit (which Bush was blamed for - go figure*). You can't fix stupid bypassing the Feds and relying on state and local officials. Even in this crisis, NYC mayor Bloomberg refused aid from the National Guard in Brooklyn because - wait for it - they carry guns.

News flash - the National Guard does more than carry - they also have large things that make things go bang in a big way, not just personal weapons. Since day One of their existence, even.

But, you realize that those nasty guns will cause crime to rise, dogs and cats will live together, and they are a symbol of personal freedom that this bigoted a$$hole cannot stomach. But hey - the local populace elected him, he's their guy, so they're getting exactly what they wanted. Not my problem.

I sure don't have all the answers, but it does seem to me that local control is a better option, mostly because local people know their area, as opposed to someone thousands of miles away that has no clue. Plus, the money - if the money isn't filtered through about twenty seven more hands on it's trip through the federal bureaucracy, there tends to be more of it available for use, no matter the program. If you aren't sending so much money to the feds in the first place, it is a tad more affordable to sent it to the state capital instead.

And another thing - the disasters are called that because they are disasters. No one can accurately predict what will happen, and thus be prepared. Throwing more money into a federal sinkhole isn't the solution if the federal sinkhole apparently isn't capable of foresight and quick response. More money = more layers of bureaucracy, In My Humble Opinion - not better service.

And some people aren't responsible enough to be alive - how many stories have we heard of people running out of fuel for their generators, or placing their generators in an area that flooded, or people in walkup apartments with no food or water? How much time do you need to fill a bathtub with water, or buy extra fuel, or stock up on canned food and some camping cooking equipment? That sort of thing is de rigueur out here in the sticks - we know that no one is coming to bail our dumb asses out. But when you're used to Sugar Daddy Big Government taking care of all your needs, then you expect them to save you in a time of distress. Look how well that thinking works.

*and do you think this thin skinned President would stand for him being criticized for something he had nothing to do with? He doesn't take credit for errors he has made, much less keep his mouth shut and stay classy about something like that.

Gah!

Mr. Confirmed Internet Addict headed out the door at o dark thirty this morning without his laptop charge cord, it would seem. At least I hope it's at home, if it is not, guess I'll be buying a new one. So, I'm on a three day trip, so y'all probably won't see much outta me unless I do it on my phone. Which I don't care for - smartphones are marvelous things, but In My Humble Opinion, they are just not ready for prime time juuuuuuust yet.

Cya around campus, fellow internet denizens!

Ignorance Is Bliss

This picture appeared on my Facebook news feed, and frankly, it pissed me off. The page Knowledge Is Power posted it. I'm sure it was put up just to spark discussion, but what the statement implies belies actual hands on knowledge of how that "acre" is used and works.

Yes, when one compares total acreage in the US, one can see that producing vegetables is a pound for pound winner.

However.

That acre of ground cranking out the tomatoes? Labor freaking intensive and the crop requires a certain temperate zone with lots of water.

That acre of ground cranking out the beef? Chances are it is in grass because that is the only thing that will grow there plus it's being used to hold the soil in place. It's too rough to use for farm ground. It does not have enough available water to grow vegetables. The labor supply is too short to tend to them. The winter temperatures are far too low and the growing season too short.

The undiluted fact is that we aren't completely stupid out here. Potatoes have been tried, along with other crops. What grows out here on tillable ground is wheat and grain sorghums, and corn/soybeans if has enough ground water for irrigation, along with hay and alfalfa. The Ogallalla aquifer is being depleted growing just these things right now - how fast would it drop if some granola munching hippies forced us to grow potatoes and tomatoes? How about the grasshoppers? Can we use pesticides in this brave new farming world? If you want veggies, you'll be spraying.

In order to actually grow that stuff out here, you would have to repurpose the farmground. Working up a bunch of draws and bluffs ain't gonna work, so that grass would have to remain, unless you want all of the ground to end up in New Orleans. Then you are gonna probably have to haul in a bunch of sand to mix in the soil - the clay composition naturally here does not support vegetables. Once again - water. Once again - the huge amount of labor required to tend to the plants and harvest them.

I see a fair amount of veggies grown in Eastern Colorado along the Front Range - stuff like onions and cabbage. Cabbage is harvested by running a wide platform with a row of seats so the workers have a place to sit and pick the cabbage as the platform runs through the field. Onions are harvested mechanically.

But none of those grow here.

It seems people have it in their heads that cattle are raised on grass paddocks like you'd see around Churchill Downs where the racehorses can frolic. Nope. It's the roughest, toughest, driest and most inhospitable ground we've got.

The whole idea of self sustainability depends on the ability to actually grow everything everyone needs within a short radius. Not gonna happen here or about anywhere else. We can raise beef more efficiently and cheaply out here, ship it to you, and still beat the price of locally grown labor intensive stuff. Other areas can raise tomatoes far more efficiently than we can, so if we want tomatoes, they're gonna have to be shipped here.

Self sustainability is a bong influenced pipe dream.

Getting Married?

Got a birthday, anniversary, or wedding coming up?

Let your friends know how important this election is to you—register with Obama 2012, and ask for a donation in lieu of a gift. It’s a great way to support the President on your big day. Plus, it’s a gift that we can all appreciate—and goes a lot further than a gravy bowl.

Setting up and sharing your registry page is easy—so get started today.

We all just thought we'd seen how the dignity of the White House had been compromised. Turns out there is no bottom. You should go there just to read some of the comments. Some are (ironically) proposing that Obama ask for blood and other human substances (leaving that up to your imagination) to help fund his campaign. Progressive Sperm for Obama?


Consider my mind boggled.

H/T Clayton Cramer

DON'T PASS IT ON!

I do not know how many times I've gotten this email:

Attorney General Holder says, "WE HAVE NO RIGHT TO POSSESS GUNS." TAKES 10 SECONDS ... DO IT AND PASS IT ON.

Guess they were not happy with the poll results the first time, so USA today is running another one...Vote now...

Attorney General Eric Holder, has already said this is one of his major issues. He does not believe the 2nd Amendment gives individuals the right to bear arms. This takes literally 2 clicks to complete. Please vote on this gun issue question with USA Today. Then pass the link on to all the pro-gun folks you know. Hopefully these results will be published later this month. This upcoming year will become critical for gun owners with the Supreme Court's accepting the District of Columbia case against the right for individuals to bear arms.

Here's what you need to do:

First - vote.

Second- launch it to other folks, then we will see if the results get published.

Click to vote:
USATODAY.com

Screen shot of the flash poll

The correct answer is NO. The Second Amendment does NOT give individuals the right to bear arms. The entire Bill of Rights enumerates our natural God given rights that the government cannot infringe upon. The BOR does not GIVE any rights at all, because this puts the power of handing out rights in the hands of government, something that appalled the founding fathers. Which is why the BOR was written the way it was.

That is why that poll pissed me off and still does. Any Amendment that covers a right GIVEN by the government can be taken away by the government. Rights we already have and do not depend on government largess cannot.

Apparently this means 97% of Americans who voted in this poll are woefully ignorant of our Constitutional Rights. Voting yes actually means you think the government has the power to take your rights away as well as hand them out. Of course, our current government thinks it has that sort of power right now anyways (and I'm speaking in bipartisan terms - Obama ain't the first). Either the folks at USA Today are also ignorant, or they're laughing up their sleeves at everyone who voted.

So go ahead, vote yes. Prove you are an ignorant fool who can be bamboozled by a simple question about something we as citizens should know by heart.

I Suppose

I'm just a crabby SOB today.

Had to go to Wally World and pick up some prescriptions, and the bill was ninety five bucks. Which I had to scrape together - I was out of a couple items, and I won't be home for about three days starting tomorrow. Had to have 'em.

So, muttering under my breath, I headed out to the ol' pickem up truck to go home, when the guy came up to me:

"Excuse me sir (damn polite, he was) can I bother you for a minute?"

I was wanting to get home, I've gotta get up early, but you never know, so I said to go ahead.

"I'm stuck here broke and so on and so on and gotta have x amount of dollars to do such and such and the family is depending on me and blah blah blah...."

I blew up.

"I don't have three cents to rub together right now, and I don't have time for this shit!"

"OH! Excuse me sure, blah blah blah..."

Normally, I might even give up a fiver just because it's easier to one of these panhandlers. I'm sure the begging mofo already sucks at the government tit big time and so on and so forth.

His "soft touch radar" kinda failed him, I think.

Not Aging Well

That would be me.

Yesterday, I made a trip to Wally World - I get my drugs, groceries and many other sundry items there as a rule. One stop shopping, doncha know. I'm not much for running all over town to buy a certain thing from one store, then dash off to the next one for the next item. Nope, it's all about convenience for me.

So, I was buying some items to fill in the corners of the ol' pantry, as it were. Among the items were some tomatoes, Swiss cheese and wheat bread. I had all my groceries sitting on the passenger seat and on the floorboard of the ol' Chebby Z71, and on my way home, it occurred to me that I was not seeing the loaf of bread. Well, crap, I wasn't finding the tomatoes or the dern cheese, neither. What in the wide wide world of sports had just happened?

Near as I can tell, I either left it in the shopping cart, never completely unloading it then pushed it into the cart rack. Or, I never got it loaded up at the checkout counter. I was the last customer that day for the checker - she was closing up as I left. It could have been on her rotating sack rack.

I think it was my fault and I just left the sacks in the stupid cart. I generally haul my bread and eggs in the child seat as to avoid the rough and tumble of the main compartment, and I sure think I remember putting the sack that held the bread up there.

I do not care for these kind of mysteries. Apparently I'm a prime example of a CRS* sufferer. Or, as the case may be, I might just be going whole hog and exhibiting symptoms of CRAFT**.

I've always said I can hear my Daddy speak at certain times in my life, even though he has passed on. On this occasion, he told me that I'd forget my a$$ if it weren't hooked on. Thanks, Dad, for that pithy and useful wisdom. Really helped out there.

* Can't Remember Shit
**Can't Remember A Fucking Thing.

I Hereby Serve Notice

It it's really foggy out in the daylight, just because you can see does not mean others can see you, moron. If I were king of the Highway Patrol, you'd be walking if you demonstrate your stupidity in such a fashion.

On a side note, when some LEO tells me his job is all about safety, then I have to ask about people like the above. The powers that be are more interested in revenue gained from ticky tacky fines easily assessed.

And then, if you pull out directly in front of me in a truck, and I chew your ass for it as I pass you - that does NOT mean I am a stupid SOB nor am I a pussy. Making up faults about my character does not absolve you of your idiocy and reckless behavior. Then if you tell me you're gonna pass me right back, then do it, Mr. Horsepower. Otherwise, take your ass chewing and resolve to do better in the future.

One of the joys of hauling oversize is that most people think we run at a slower velocity than we actually do. Heavy haulers do, but we don't. Thus, people pull out in front of us in dangerous situations in order to not be trapped behind us. So, when they find out we're a hell of a lot lighter than 80k and can blow their doors, they are shocked. Get over it, and don't risk a collision because you underestimated our cruising speed. I shouldn't have to burn off ten thousand miles worth of brake linings to keep from running over your dumb, impatient ass.

That is all, and yes, I do feel better. Thank you so very much.

Enough, Already

If you know me at all, you are well aware how most chain emails really piss me off. It's a general rule with me that if it ends in forward this to everyone you know, then the whole thing is a bunch of bee ess and should be regarded as such. Plus, the email shouldn't be forwarded just out of general principles. Here is one that got under my skin:

Take a look at WALMART. WOW they do it right !!! �(Notice where WalMart gets their gasoline!) 
WHERE TO BUY AMERICAN GASOLINE. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. �READ ON.

Are you aware that the Saudis are boycotting American products?  In addition, they are gouging us on oil prices. 
Shouldn't we return the favor? Can't we take control of our own destiny and let these giant oil importers know who REALLY generates their profits, their livings? How about leaving American Dollars in America and reduce the import/export deficit? 
An appealing remedy might be to boycott their GAS. Every time you fill up your car you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia .  Just purchase gas from companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis. 
Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill up my tank, I'm sending my money to people who I get the impression want me, my family and my friends dead.  
The following gas companies import Middle Eastern oil: 
Shell...................................... 205,742,000 barrels Chevron/Texaco..................... 144,332,000 barrels Exxon /Mobil........................... 130,082,000 barrels Marathon/Speedway............. 117,740,000 barrels Amoco...................................  62,231,000 barrels 
And CITGO oil is imported from Venezuela by Dictator Hugo Chavez who hates America and openly avows our economic destruction! �(We pay Chavez's regime nearly $10 Billion per year in oil revenues!) 
The U.S. currently imports 5,517,000 barrels of crude oil per day from OPEC. If you do the math at $100 per barrel, that's over $550 million PER DAY ($200 BILLION per year!) handed over to OPEC, many of whose members are our confirmed enemies!!!!! It won't stop here - oil prices could go to $200 a barrel or higher if we keep buying their product. 
Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:Sunoco.....................0 barrels
Conoco.. ..................0 barrels
0ASinclair...................0 barrels
BP / Phillips........... 0 barrels Hess........................0 barrels
ARC0........................0 barrels
Maverick...................0 barrels Flying J...................0 barrels Valero.......................0 barrels

Murphy Oil USA*.....0 barrels *Sold at WalMART > , gas is from South Arkansas and fully USA owned and produced.  Not only that but they give scholarships to all children in their town who finish high school and are legal US citizens.. 
All of this information is available from the U.S. Department of Energy and each company is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing. 
But to have a real impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers With the help of the internet, it's really simple to do..  Now, don't wimp out at this point....keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!! 
I'm sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at only ten more (30 x 10 = 300).....and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000)....and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers!!!!!!! 
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it...THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE-the entire population of the United States of America !!!! 
Again, all you have to do is forward this message to 10 people. How long would that really take you? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people, within one day all 300 MILLION people could theoretically be contacted during the next eight days

Oh yeah, lets start boycotting just certain oil companies, because of where they get their raw materials. I'm good with the sentiment, but this simplistic view is totally ignorant of how the oil industry actually works as far as getting that gas to the pump where you, the consumer, decides which spout you're gonna use.

You've probably seen, or heard of tank farms or pipeline terminals. If not, they are generally a collection of HUGE tanks out in the middle of nowhere, with spiral staircases running to the top, and where you'll see gas tankers parked in a line to pull under a semi-enclosed structure with a lot of pipe lines visible. The slang for that is the rack - as in CB tanker truck talk - "There's three in line at the rack when I left, didn't see any cops" - said from one tanker to another of his pals on the way to said rack.

Okay, so what? Well, that terminal is where most of the gas, diesel, avgas, jet fuel and perhaps other petroleum products are shipped through a network of pipelines and stored so local gas outlets can pick up what they need for the various vendors - like the Exxon or Valero or Kwik Shop or whom ever.

All the brands pick up at the SAME PLACES. They pick up the SAME GAS. Yes, I said THE SAME GAS. Stuff like Amoco Silver? It's the base formula with an additive - put in after the load has left the terminal. Mixed at the station by dumping so many gallons of additive per so many gallons in the load. Not to say that the base formula is the same everywhere - so called boutique gases and regional blends exist. Certain states and cities have mandated certain formulations of gas be sold in their municipalities for emission control. That's another issue entirely - but you should know that if you live where boutique gas is required, you can expect to pay more for your gas. The refineries that make gas generally have to shut down from producing the more common formula to make the special blend, so it costs us all more in the end. We all pay for the lost productivity.  There are regional differences, too - gas made for high altitudes or lower temperatures may be different.

But, back to the terminal. Where do they get their gas? It depends on the pipeline, who owns it, and who they're networked with as far as refineries go. The pipelines might be owned by a specific oil company, a consortium of energy companies, or a pipeline transport company (their only business). There might be only one refinery or several that supply that terminal. There might be several "brands" of refineries involved. But, the fact remains that the gas is made to spec, and is essentially identical to the spec gas coming from a different terminal on a different pipeline system a couple of hundred miles away. The terminal may get a "load" of base gas from one brand of refinery, then the next might come from another. It all ends up in the SAME STORAGE TANK.

And, by the bye, if you ever drive past one of those terminals, pay enough attention to notice that the tankers in line are all different. Depending on locale, you might see a Flying J behind a Love's Country Store, behind Cenex and with several independents mixed in. Independents who might be going to Casey's General Store on their first load, and to the Kwik Shop the next, or even a split load - part going to one and the rest to the next. Those tankers have separate compartments, so they can get diesel and gas at the same time.

But, but, but Jeffro! The email says Murphy uses only domestic crude in their refinery in Arkansas!

I'm sure they do. I'm sure that this is the case. However - if you think all of the Murphy locations are getting their gas shipped by tanker all the way from Arkansas, you are hopelessly naive. For instance - their is a Murphy at the Wal Mart in Woodward OK. They simply cannot provide gas at a cent less than their competitors in town when their competitors are getting their stuff locally. The trucks that supply that outlet are getting their gas in the same places that everyone else uses. There is no way they can pay four or five dollars a mile for an eight hundred or so mile round trip, and make any money, when their competition is only paying for a hundred miles or less. Plus, they can get their gas from the same places, because the various terminals have reciprocal pick up rights. That means Exxon can pick up from Valero, and vice versa. That consideration is extended to Joe's Local Oil Emporium as well.

Mmmkay, but let's boycott Exxon anyways, you might say. Again, hopelessly naive. You aren't gonna hurt them in any significant way, because about all you'll stop buying that would hurt them would be the oil for your engine. Since the local Exxon branded convenience store is a franchise, you will instead be hurting your neighbor Fred who pays that franchise fee to Exxon and who actually owns that business. He's gonna be paying his fees to Exxon whether or not you buy another Exxon branded gallon of gas ever again. And besides, its all the same anyhow, and who knows where it really was produced?

Let's examine the situation around The Poor Farm. There are several terminals within easy short haul tanker reach around here. There is one north of Scott City on US83, one east of Great Bend just off US56, one in Oklahoma south of Turpin on US83, and one south of Perryton, Tex on TX70 - which branches off US83. Take a wild guess who owns all of these terminals.

Valero. If you go to that link, the page default is for "Valero Locations." On the left is that link, plus "Wholesale Terminals" and "Retail & Branded Presence." Wholesale terminals are the tank farm distribution terminals they operate. Clicking on that link shows all the terminals Valero operates. Does this mean those terminals are supplied only by Valero refineries? I really doubt it - I'd be for betting there are several different refineries hooked into their pipelines.

Okay, you might say - so what? So you've got a bunch of Valero terminals around ya? What does that have to do with me buying Exxon/Mobil gas?

One of my best friends is a retail bulk petroleum distributor. He also owns a tanker rig - plus several bobtail tankers used for local bulk delivery. He is affiliated with Mobil as far as buying bulk and packaged oils and greases, but the card pumps he sells from are not - as far as I know. However, he still has to buy his gas from the local terminals. His choices are the Scott City and Great Bend terminals - there are other terminals near McPherson and Hutchinson, but they're not owned by Valero. Each terminal generally sells their gas on a "spot" basis - since the market is so volatile, the price can and does vary day by day. Sometimes, he can catch enough of a variance between the various terminals to be able to save a penny or three per gallon that he passes on to his customers. If the price is cheap enough in McPherson or Hutchinson, he can go the extra distance and save a little over buying it from Great Bend.

So, he's the one you'd hurt by not buying Mobil branded items, and he's more than likely selling Valero (one of the good guys, remember?) gas from his tanks, which may or may not have come from a Valero refinery, which may or may not have been using domestic crude in the first place.

So, be sure to forward that email! It's full of fun facts! It's surely not misleading or anything, or ignoring or omitting valuable information! Let's boycott the bastards and show 'em who's boss!

My Head Is A Hat Rack

That was one of my father's favorite sayings: "Use your head for something besides a hatrack." He was helpful like that, Dad was.

Anyways, a couple of us were in the wilds of Michigan well after the parts houses all closed unloading tanks a couple of weeks ago. We really don't have enough of a "stick" to unload tanks longer than 25' - because our gear is too short, and if we do hook up straps long enough, the boom is too short to lift high enough to take the tank off a trailer. These tanks are thirty five feet tall, so they're a bit beyond our pay scale.

But with two of us - we can unload one on it's side off the trailer and set it on the ground, which is what we were doing. Most of the time we unhook from our trailers to do this, but if we both unhooked, we wouldn't have had any way to pull the trailer out from under the tank. So, I figured out a way to do this without dollying down - the first truck would pull in next to where we wanted to set the tank on it's side, leaving enough room, and the other truck would pull in behind and to the same side, jackknifing the tractor back a bit to gain a better angle. This way I could hook to the front (top) of the tank at the front of "my" trailer, and my compadre could catch the rear (bottom). I could then pull out and he could position his trailer - lather, rinse, repeat. The customer bought a bunch of these puppies, but their containment field isn't ready. We are just hauling them in so they can have all their goodies ready when it is.

We'd done this before, so no sweat. I pulled in, and was gonna drop the tank to my right. I was setting up my left outrigger - I had it extended out all the way, and was dropping the pad to the ground when I heard a crack. Immediately, a cloud of hydraulic oil floated my way.



That is the steel line that runs the vertical cylinder on the outrigger. My left outrigger was hors de combat. I didn't need it to unload to the right, and if I screwed around with it anymore, I could run the system out of hydraulic oil to the point the boom would no longer work. Not what you want to do "after hours" - have the boom and outrigger out and unable to retract anything.

So, we unloaded my tank, and since my plan to unload my compadre without unhooking required me to use the left side of my rig - well - that was right out. I had to unhook and back my tractor in so I could use my right side. Which we did.

We also thought perhaps we could close the split and not lose too much fluid when it did come time to retract the outrigger - so some judicious squeezing with some Vice Grips caused the shiny spot. Didn't help. We tied a red rag around the split, hoping to keep the spray down, which turned out to be a laughable thought. The poor red rag was ruined. I pumped out several gallons of oil in order to get that sucker retracted.

We did think maybe, just maybe - we could use a line from my compadre's outriggers, but his is a different model with a different line.




This is the temporary fix - a "made" hydraulic line. We've got a new steel line on order, but it may have to come from Italy - where these cranes are manufactured.




Oh, and guess what. It seems this crane does have two outriggers and two steel vertical lines - the one on the left ruptured, but the one on the right was fully functional and identical. We could have moved this line over to retract the outrigger and kept from losing so much hydraulic oil.

I guess we were tired after a long day - that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.