Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Dawg(less) days
It's been a bit since the last post. That one ended with "I'm going back to bed." Since there was no water supply and entropy needed to be pulled back a few notches, didn't. Slathered old diseased self up with 52.25% DEET and went to inspect the 200+ yards of underground plumbing. Pump failure indicated overload, seemed the best place to start even if the old bugger used to be able to run open (25 years ago). There isn't anyway to inspect the spaghetti of plumbing under the foundation of the earth shelter; ruptures there can only be derived.
It took a while mostly because the yardage was very overgrown. The normal, non-diseased years (most all of them) had the areas surveyed, mowed clear, and not infested with blood-sucking spiders.
I came back in after the survey which required a lot more effort than was available out of the old bod knowing what had caused the failures. Four of them. All tied to one initiator. I've got to give a touch of grace to a pooch that did the wrong thing 2 months ago for saving the cascade of FUBAR from really getting even more out of hand. Connections. Did you ever watch the James Burke series "Connections"? I loved that series, probably the best thing PBS ever presented. This cascade of connections would bore one to distraction. It started with fire ants in 1981.
Some bad news. The innoculated trio of pups all died at once just as the first one did. No autopsy. There's a chance the tick-born disease that won't leave my eye (and joints, much more) might have been responsible. I was very careful when handling them by washing in a strong bleach solution and only handled when required to de-parasite them. Sevin works quite well for pups as they seem to have no adverse reaction I've noticed over the last 20+ years but this trio were mostly free. They had one each, easily removed. Sevin tucks me into hacking my lungs out (I wear a filter mask) but the pups over the years drop the bloodsuckers and go on to bigger and better garden hose consumption!
* * * * * *
Lots of pure-de-old-crap from the islamofashits and their reps (pick a congressturd) in the US over the last weeks. I've rather enjoyed a couple of parodies of John Boulton. One is from the ever-so-good James Lileks and the other from "Nuke the Moon" Frank J. Of course Cox and Forkum have proper graphics to give one an additional smile!
Live From New York: It's Ambassador John Bolton
Recess Appointment
This one might require scrolling as it might not be a permalink.
Cox & Forkum
I have great hopes for John Boulton. If half the nasty-ass the libs are spreading about him are true, I'll be disappointed. I'd prefer him to be far worse. The UN needs to be moved to Mugabe's domain. Have you ever taken a look at who runs what in that 38 story tower of corruption? Want a link to the content of that collection of shit? Why in Hell is it even allowed in our country?
* * * * * *
This envelope appeared in my mail last week:
"REQUIRED BY LAW"? It's addressed "to the resident of". Nobody here by that name. Damnfool thing has 24 pages and here's a random sample page:
Lots of really intrusive questions, some of which I'd feel funny about giving any agency unless I was applying for a Q clearance. A bunch of them would require a fair amount of research into a year's worth of bookeeping and some I'd plead the 5th 'just in case'. BTW, I learned years and years ago NEVER submit a form of any kind to the gummit without having a shyster of the right flavor pass his magic dick over it and always keep a copy. This "fun" docu is, of course, totally impossible to copy on any standard machine w/o 2 shots per page (10.25" x 10.75"). 48 sloppy copies or go find a specialty machine.
I enjoyed the teeny fine print on the right bottom of the last page. Had to set the scanner up for 300 dpi just to make it legible.
38 minutes eh? More like 4 hours even if I was so inclined to fill out the thing. It's just too damn bad "the resident of" has some sort of 8-digit number on the front cover and is probably gonna go to jail. The addy as assigned (for the third time) by our 911 system lives over a mile away.
For more fun, when the alledged 911 "system" was being implemented, everyone's RFD's had to become street names and it was a royal mess. My first assigned addy was something around 5 miles away in a different county and it took a while to get that corrected. It was corrected so well that the second assigned addy was something close to 20 miles west of the actual location. The third, well, after the continued SNAFU with UPS, FedEx, and the USPS (the 20 mile away addy had a different zip code), I gave up. UPS and FedEx both have maps and the local PO, hell, they know my hat size, the names of my dawgs, and probably what I had for supper last night! Small towns, gotta love 'em! Once, an old buddy from Cali sent me a note addressed to "Mad Scientist, Wellborn Florida". I got it of course. There have been some experiments down here in the holler that have augmented the ozone rather heavily. High electrical fields and bodacious radiation levels do things like that. Only suitably qualified and protected folk are allowed within a hundred yards when those were being run and I'm a wuss on rad doses. Got my share many, many years ago, don't need no 'mo.
* * * * * *
Lots of good topics saved up during the last few weeks, ought to rattle the keys about a couple of them. Local idiocy is rising to a true high and shows no sign of relenting; not of interest except to some of us old-timers. Might be time to move the flag again. Peggy Noonan has written Almost Heaven - A visit to West Virginia that expresses a lot from a different perspective and a very different location. It's a good read.
Got some serious thoughts about the shuttle. This post and the links on that page are worthy reads as well. Made me want to cook some spotted owl for supper.
More about a certain med imaging technique that needs a comment or 10 with some linky goodness but it'll need a bunch of background to be properly coherent. Don't know if it's worth my time, just irritated with ignorant button pushers and know-nothing peckerheads.
* * * * * *
For you older 'space nuts', Memories of the Space Age will bring back a bunch and the links at the bottom are excellent. Dreams of Space is Lileks-like and I have enjoyed myself through about half of it so far. Space Age Pop Music is a lot of fun with downloadables that brought me back a bunch of decades! There's some really odd stuff on that site, enjoy!
* * * * * *
Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
The dragon cast his wet, rheumy eyes, heavy-lidded with misery, over his kingdom - a malodorous, rot-ridden swamp, with moss cloaking brooding, gloomy cypresses, tree trunks like decayed teeth rising from stagnant ponds, creatures with mildewed fur and scales whom the meanest roadside zoo would have rejected - and hoped the antidepressants would kick in soon.
It took a while mostly because the yardage was very overgrown. The normal, non-diseased years (most all of them) had the areas surveyed, mowed clear, and not infested with blood-sucking spiders.
I came back in after the survey which required a lot more effort than was available out of the old bod knowing what had caused the failures. Four of them. All tied to one initiator. I've got to give a touch of grace to a pooch that did the wrong thing 2 months ago for saving the cascade of FUBAR from really getting even more out of hand. Connections. Did you ever watch the James Burke series "Connections"? I loved that series, probably the best thing PBS ever presented. This cascade of connections would bore one to distraction. It started with fire ants in 1981.
Some bad news. The innoculated trio of pups all died at once just as the first one did. No autopsy. There's a chance the tick-born disease that won't leave my eye (and joints, much more) might have been responsible. I was very careful when handling them by washing in a strong bleach solution and only handled when required to de-parasite them. Sevin works quite well for pups as they seem to have no adverse reaction I've noticed over the last 20+ years but this trio were mostly free. They had one each, easily removed. Sevin tucks me into hacking my lungs out (I wear a filter mask) but the pups over the years drop the bloodsuckers and go on to bigger and better garden hose consumption!
* * * * * *
Lots of pure-de-old-crap from the islamofashits and their reps (pick a congressturd) in the US over the last weeks. I've rather enjoyed a couple of parodies of John Boulton. One is from the ever-so-good James Lileks and the other from "Nuke the Moon" Frank J. Of course Cox and Forkum have proper graphics to give one an additional smile!
Live From New York: It's Ambassador John Bolton
Recess Appointment
This one might require scrolling as it might not be a permalink.
Cox & Forkum
I have great hopes for John Boulton. If half the nasty-ass the libs are spreading about him are true, I'll be disappointed. I'd prefer him to be far worse. The UN needs to be moved to Mugabe's domain. Have you ever taken a look at who runs what in that 38 story tower of corruption? Want a link to the content of that collection of shit? Why in Hell is it even allowed in our country?
* * * * * *
This envelope appeared in my mail last week:
"REQUIRED BY LAW"? It's addressed "to the resident of". Nobody here by that name. Damnfool thing has 24 pages and here's a random sample page:
Lots of really intrusive questions, some of which I'd feel funny about giving any agency unless I was applying for a Q clearance. A bunch of them would require a fair amount of research into a year's worth of bookeeping and some I'd plead the 5th 'just in case'. BTW, I learned years and years ago NEVER submit a form of any kind to the gummit without having a shyster of the right flavor pass his magic dick over it and always keep a copy. This "fun" docu is, of course, totally impossible to copy on any standard machine w/o 2 shots per page (10.25" x 10.75"). 48 sloppy copies or go find a specialty machine.
I enjoyed the teeny fine print on the right bottom of the last page. Had to set the scanner up for 300 dpi just to make it legible.
38 minutes eh? More like 4 hours even if I was so inclined to fill out the thing. It's just too damn bad "the resident of" has some sort of 8-digit number on the front cover and is probably gonna go to jail. The addy as assigned (for the third time) by our 911 system lives over a mile away.
For more fun, when the alledged 911 "system" was being implemented, everyone's RFD's had to become street names and it was a royal mess. My first assigned addy was something around 5 miles away in a different county and it took a while to get that corrected. It was corrected so well that the second assigned addy was something close to 20 miles west of the actual location. The third, well, after the continued SNAFU with UPS, FedEx, and the USPS (the 20 mile away addy had a different zip code), I gave up. UPS and FedEx both have maps and the local PO, hell, they know my hat size, the names of my dawgs, and probably what I had for supper last night! Small towns, gotta love 'em! Once, an old buddy from Cali sent me a note addressed to "Mad Scientist, Wellborn Florida". I got it of course. There have been some experiments down here in the holler that have augmented the ozone rather heavily. High electrical fields and bodacious radiation levels do things like that. Only suitably qualified and protected folk are allowed within a hundred yards when those were being run and I'm a wuss on rad doses. Got my share many, many years ago, don't need no 'mo.
* * * * * *
Lots of good topics saved up during the last few weeks, ought to rattle the keys about a couple of them. Local idiocy is rising to a true high and shows no sign of relenting; not of interest except to some of us old-timers. Might be time to move the flag again. Peggy Noonan has written Almost Heaven - A visit to West Virginia that expresses a lot from a different perspective and a very different location. It's a good read.
Got some serious thoughts about the shuttle. This post and the links on that page are worthy reads as well. Made me want to cook some spotted owl for supper.
More about a certain med imaging technique that needs a comment or 10 with some linky goodness but it'll need a bunch of background to be properly coherent. Don't know if it's worth my time, just irritated with ignorant button pushers and know-nothing peckerheads.
* * * * * *
For you older 'space nuts', Memories of the Space Age will bring back a bunch and the links at the bottom are excellent. Dreams of Space is Lileks-like and I have enjoyed myself through about half of it so far. Space Age Pop Music is a lot of fun with downloadables that brought me back a bunch of decades! There's some really odd stuff on that site, enjoy!
* * * * * *
Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
The dragon cast his wet, rheumy eyes, heavy-lidded with misery, over his kingdom - a malodorous, rot-ridden swamp, with moss cloaking brooding, gloomy cypresses, tree trunks like decayed teeth rising from stagnant ponds, creatures with mildewed fur and scales whom the meanest roadside zoo would have rejected - and hoped the antidepressants would kick in soon.
