Occasional thoughts

2009-09-20T13:59:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow I have to deliver to a cave in MO. I'll keep this shot in mind just to keep it off of that whole mountain being on top of me. I've been to caves twice before and hate the damned things.

Getting Lazy

2009-08-23T11:38:00.002-07:00

I've been home for just over a week now. The more I'm off the less I want to go back to work.

Boring Trip

2009-08-12T18:01:00.003-07:00

Boring trip the last 47 days. Was supposed to home last Friday. I'm not far from home so maybe they'll point me that way tomorrow.

I did find this just behind the party row at a truck stop in Missouri.

2009-07-25T17:28:00.002-07:00

Life is different for youngsters these days. My shipping clerk in Romeoville, IL the other day has never been to a ball game, Hockey game, a museum of any sort or a concert. She's never seen downtown Chicago or Lake Michigan. Just sits on the couch and plays video games and sometimes hangs out with friends.

I did all those things more than once. Well except for the concert thing. One was enough. If I remember right it cost $2.50 to see Hendrix.

The world can now end since I'll be off of it soon and the young have no interest in it.

Salt River Canyon in a Big Truck

2009-07-12T15:43:00.003-07:00

This trip started off nice with a ride through the canyon but stopped being that way quickly. Nothing since then but miles and miles of miles and miles. One large concrete canyon (NYC) is always promising but there's no place to stop for fun.

Going home.

2009-06-18T18:48:00.003-07:00

Finally got the ride home. I should be there tomorrow. :)

A cold beer will taste really really good.

No Freight

2009-06-17T15:15:00.002-07:00

Or at least none going my way. All I need is one lousy load leaving southern Commiefornia and I can go home for a few days.

Maybe tomorrow. :(

Moving towards home.

2009-06-15T16:05:00.002-07:00

They've run me completely out of hours I'm allowed to legally drive so I have to wait for tomorrow to start the trip to the house. Just a little hop but if I look close at the map I can see Arizona from where I'm heading.

2009-06-12T15:54:00.002-07:00

Well I'm not sitting for a change. However, instead of going home I'm on my way to Sacramento. One small good point is it helps to fill my wallet. Unlike David I always carry mine.

2009-06-09T17:18:00.002-07:00

Time to go home. This truck gets mighty small after 4 weeks or so. I've three deliveries to make in my most disliked city in America in the morning so all day tomorrow is shot.

Besides I could use a beer and I never drink out here. Sixty mph with 20 tons behind you in the wagon and beer just don't mix in my mind.

Roosevelt damn in Arizona.

2009-06-06T17:24:00.002-07:00

I found out where David goes on his trips.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11940818@N07/3593610699/in/pool-everesttrek2009

Back to work

2009-02-23T10:37:00.002-07:00

I start the paperwork part tomorrow morning and should be driving by the weekend if all goes well. The old company has a hiring freeze for solo drivers here in Arizona so it's with a new company but driving a truck is driving a truck.

Speaking Truth

2009-02-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion: that one
useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress. ~
John Adams

2. If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do
read the newspaper you are misinformed. ~ Mark Twain

3. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of
Congress. But then I repeat myself. ~ Mark Twain

4. I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a
man standing in a bucket & trying to lift himself up by the handle. ~
*Winston Churchill*

5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend
on the support of Paul. ~ George Bernard Shaw

6. A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow
man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. ~ G. Gordon Liddy

7. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep
voting on what to have for dinner. ~ James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

8. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor
people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. ~ Douglas Casey

9. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey
and car keys to teenage boys. ~ P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

10. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody
endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. ~ Frederic Bastiat,
French Economist (1801-1850)

11. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few
short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving,regulate it. And if it
stops moving, subsidize it. ~ Ronald Reagan (1986)

12. I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report
the facts. ~ Will Rogers

13. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you
see what it costs when it's free! ~ P.J. O'Rourke

14. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much
money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. ~
Voltaire (1764)

15. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't
mean politics won't take an interest in you! ~ Pericles (430 B.C.)

16. No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the
Legislature is in session. ~ Mark Twain (1866 )

17. Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it. ~ Anonymous

18. The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a
happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. ~ Ronald Reagan

19. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the
blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. ~
Winston Churchill

20. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is
that the taxidermist leaves the skin. ~ Mark Twain

21. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is
to fill the world with fools. ~ Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher
(1820-1903)

22. There is no distinctly Native American criminal class ...
Save Congress. ~ Mark Twain

23. What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. ~
Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)

24. A government big enough to give you everything you want, is
strong enough to take everything you have. ~ Thomas Jefferson

25. Liberalism is a mental disorder, NOT a difference of opinion.

Alcohol

2009-02-05T21:35:00.002-07:00

I hate sloppy drunks. If you can't hold your liquor then don't drink the stuff. Stick with coffee or milk.

Email

2009-02-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

Wonderfully clear thinking to wake up to.

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists,
Marxists, Obama supporters, et al:
We have stuck together since the late 1950's, but the whole of this
latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I
know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future
generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two
ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is
right, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile, slate it up to irreconcilable differences, and go our own ways. Here is a model dissolution agreement:

Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each
taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our
two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that it should be
relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly
divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate
tastes. We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You
are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA, and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore, and Rosie O'Donnell (you are however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move them).
We'll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical
companies, Wal-Mart, and Wall Street.

You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies, and illegal aliens. We'll keep the hot Alaskan Hockey Moms, greedy CEO's, and Rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood . You can make nice with Iran, Palestine, and France, and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or way of life are under assault, we'll provide them job security.

We'll keep our Judeo-Christian Values. You are welcome to Islam,
Scientology, Humanism, and Shirley McClaine. You can have the U.N. But
we will no longer be paying the bill. We'll keep the SUV's, pickup
trucks, and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru Station
Wagon you can find.

You can give everyone healthcare, if you can find any practicing
Doctors (that is practicing, Howard Dean) who will follow to your turf
(sic). We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not aright.

We'll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and The National Anthem.
I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute Imagine, I'd Like to Teach
The World To Sing, Kum Ba Ya, or We Are the World.

We'll practice trickle down economics, and you can give trickle up
poverty its best shot. Since it often so offends you we'll keep our History, our Name, andvour Flag. Would you agree to this?

In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you ANWAR on who will need
whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely,

John J. Wall
Law Student
American

P.S. Please take Barbra Streisand.

2009-02-01T21:20:00.002-07:00

Well tomorrow afternoon begins my going back to work phase. I have a physical at 1500 then some paperwork to do and soon back in the truck.

I've been off work now for a year or so. I guess the routine of actually having something to do will be good for me. Lately I haven't felt like even picking up a camera because everything around here always looks the same.

I watched the super duper bowl. I was surprised by the closeness of the game but not with who eventually won. Some of the commercials were OK. I enjoyed all the Budwieser ones but never drink the stuff because it doesn't taste like beer.

Living in God's country.

2009-01-24T15:05:00.002-07:00

It sure is rough having to live in the desert this time of year. It's right around 75 degrees with some clouds floating around. Nice gentle breeze. I just came in from having a cigar and was perfectly comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt.

I have a new neighbor behind me now. We just turned it into a truck driver neighborhood. He drives and so does his son-in-law. The last person in that house just let it go back to the bank and the new one got it for a song. He paid roughly a third of what the bank had in it. Good time to buy houses here if you can sit on them for a couple of years.

Post election rant.

2009-01-22T09:51:00.003-07:00

Another nameless blogger seemed all excited about two things this morning. Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. It seems this fellow is a liberal and we all know they run their politics on what "feels good". Emotions rather than logic dictate how they vote and what they think is the "correct" stand on any political point.

From what I could find on the net, Limbaugh made some comment about wanting BO to fail. I too want a lot of his policies to fail. I don't want this country to slide down into socialism like Europe has done.

We have the largest economy in the world and it didn't get that way by having it run by the government. It got that way by government staying out of the way.

Now I've heard BO say he wants to tax the rich. Aren't these the people who grow the economy? Don't they make the jobs we working people need? Taxing something is a good way to have less of it. Want less wine just tax the people who make it. Tax all the little vices in life and get rid of them. If you did that I suspect the suicide rate would go up with the side benefit of controlling population growth.

I don't really want our economy, health care or whatever run by the same people who run the post office. It took five days by pony express to get from Missouri to California. Now it takes a week to get across town.

As for Fox News, they've gone so far liberal I quit watching them.

Change for better or worse

2009-01-20T09:21:00.003-07:00

Time to take down my target. I'll steal a line from Glen Beck and say he's my president (or will be shortly) and I'll support him when I can and oppose him when I must.

I managed to survive the Carter years so I guess I'll survive these too.

Soon

2009-01-16T01:42:00.001-07:00

I hope it never becomes true but it is a fun target. I don't have darts but a pellet gun seems to work just fine.

Some people need a plexiglass window in their stomach.

2009-01-07T17:36:00.003-07:00

I hear bad things about the deficit spending going on with our government and more to come. The average cost of the new President's jobs is going to be over $300K per. Just give me the money and I'll take care of myself.

It's not the governments job to bail out me or anyone else. They will raise taxes on all kinds of businesses even though a business doesn't pay taxes. They just pass the cost on to us. Want less of something just tax it. Just what makes sense of raising taxes on GM and then give them money? People who think that was a good idea need a cranial/rectal inversion.

Is idiocy catching?

2008-12-19T10:03:00.003-07:00

I'm really getting sick of idiots. Anything from the hate speech from the far left types who are still complaining AlGore is the true president and savior of mankind to my relatives who argue for days over what to have for Christmas dinner and who should buy that particular item.

Idiots are all over the road. No one actually has to learn to drive to get a license. I live next to a 75mph highway and watch people just drive down the ramp at 50 or so and out into traffic. The thought of "merging" never enters their heads.

Idiots work in every store I have to shop at. Ring something up wrong? Have to call the manager because I'm too stupid to fix it. I've even seen a cash register with a video display on it showing a picture of the cash drawer with numbers on the compartments showing how to make change. Two from here, one from over there and now three of these. Thank you sir have a good day. They also don't know to put the coins into your hand first. They'd rather put them on top of the bills so they slide off, fall on the floor and delay things even more than they are.

No wonder we get idiots to run the country. Most of the citizens of this country are idiots so why not elect some one just like themselves?

Wednesday

2008-12-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

It's that day of the week again. I'll head down there around 11 or so to see what's going on. Normally they have a hot dog cart there at mid-week with some of the best dogs I've ever had. He's been AWOL the last three weeks though claiming opening a real brick and mortar store was eating up too much of his time.

Beating Swanson to the punch

2008-11-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

http://masstraveljournal.com/features/1101chrisban.html

Seems he fits right in with the Puritans. ;)

American Dream

2008-11-25T12:14:00.003-07:00

Here's someone starting the American dream. Of course if you listen to the news outlets the dream is long dead but I don't believe it.

So called conservative friends of mine already hate the thought of the next president but they're still better than most liberals. I may be wrong but it seems most liberals actually hate the "man" rather than disagree with his policies.

This just doesn't make sense to me. I disagreed with just about any policy coming from Bill Clinton but still would have him over to the house for a drink and a cigar. I'd supply the cigar though.

Liberals on the other hand wouldn't have "W" within a mile of them. The biggest reason seems to still be the little war in Iraq. They seem to be unable to understand that every American man and woman over there is there because they want to be. All servicemen have either re-enlisted or enlisted while the war was being prosecuted so they all must want to be there.

Vacation Home

2008-11-20T14:41:00.002-07:00

The stock market tanked a bit more today so I guess this is where we are heading according to the fear mongers. They blamed it on Obama not getting in front of the cameras to say what he's about to do to fix it. Now call me old fashioned but why blame him (and I don't like him at all) when he's not the guy in charge yet.

The good old days.

2008-11-18T12:58:00.003-07:00

David has been talking about the good old days lately. This is all pre-internet days for most of us. I'm not certain if they were all that good and I know we were not that old. Mostly I remember the nights anyway.

Here's an old shot from back then just scanned from an old print. It's somewhere in 1975-1976 while I was stationed in Korea. Taken with a Yashica Mat 124G and most likely on Tri-X as that's almost all I ever used back then. It was a good camera and lots of fun with many hours spent in the darkroom. Would I go back to this? Not on your life. I'm all digital and will be that way until they invent the hand held hologram camera or something like it.

2009

2008-11-08T20:38:00.001-07:00

The local diner for "Diners, Drive Ins and Dives for next year. No money left over after the new higher taxes for fixing the place up.

Obama's small business plan

2008-11-08T16:46:00.002-07:00

They'll end up looking like this one. If you want less of something just tax it. He forgets these are the people who make jobs for most of us poor folk.

Heil Barack

2008-11-04T23:10:00.003-07:00

I'd better get this thing fixed. In a bit wagons will be the only way to get around. At least I have until January to stock up on the K Y Jelly.

Screwed

2008-11-04T10:02:00.002-07:00

Today is the day we stand a good chance of becoming a socialist nation. I'm about to head out to the polls and vote for McCain even if he is a screaming liberal.

Not much going on.

2008-11-01T19:43:00.003-07:00

Bored as hell. Maybe I'll take up shooting nudes in desert settings. Election stuff is boring. No one but liberals running. No excitement and no one with balls. I think Obama will win it. That's pretty sad but we survived JC for four years and that gave us RR. I can hope for history to repeat itself as it normally does.

When it rains...

2008-10-24T14:31:00.002-07:00

Went to a Drew Estate cigar tasting last night. Because I bought a box of them I got a few gifts. One of them was a cigar cutter. Had a voice message on the phone when I got up this morning telling me I had also won one in the drawing. I guess I now have an extra to "gift" to someone.

Where I stand.

2008-10-21T11:58:00.003-07:00

This little test certainly shows why I would never even consider Obama for president. I've improved in the last 4 years or so. I used to be 6% permissive in the social conservative side of the house and am now only 3% permissive.

A new toy.

2008-10-20T15:50:00.001-07:00

Fed-Ex showed up today with my copy of CS4. Now I have a new toy to play with until I get all that new worn off of it.

Sounds like where we are heading

2008-10-19T13:20:00.001-07:00

The Ant & the Grasshopper in 2008

Two Different Versions!
Two Different Morals!

OLD VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long,
building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and
dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is
warm and well fed.The grasshopper has no food or shelter,
so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Be responsible for yourself!

-------- ----------------------------------

MODERN VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long,
building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and
dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press
conference and demands to know why the ant should be
allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and
starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of
the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his
comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is
stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this
poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and
everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the
ant's house where the news stations film the group
singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has the
group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's
sake.

Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with
Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the
grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the
ant to make him pay his fair share.

Hillary and Barack go on national television agreeing that
the plight of the grasshopper is the fault of George Bush.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity &
Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the
summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number
of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his
retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the
government.

Obama gets his old law firm to represent the grasshopper in
a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried
before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton
appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.

The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the
last bits of the ant's food while the government house
he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house,
crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident
and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of
spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Be very careful how you vote in 2008

A rant I can agree with.

2008-10-17T11:20:00.002-07:00

Here's a nice little rant. If anyone wants to "spread the wealth" around there's plenty of folks to blame our current economic woes on.

I can't believe Obama actually told Joe the plumber he would take away his hard earned money and give it to someone else. Anyone who believes redistribution of the wealth to be a good thing obviously missed some much needed trips out behind the wood shed as a kid.

Let's just try this again and see if we survive the next four years. Looks like it will be worse than the Carter years. Let's go for double digit unemployment to go with the double digit inflation again as we just print more money to pay for government to bail us out of everything.

What ever happened to personal responsibility?

Just Stuff

2008-10-15T21:35:00.002-07:00

Found someone down at the cigar shop today who looks every bit as rough as I do.

I feel sorry for Joe the plumber. No company ownership for him. BO just slammed him back into the dirt saying we just have to redistribute this wealth. What an idiot policy to punish success by stealing the money. People at the top 1% already pay 27% of the taxes the feds take in. That's way more than enough.

Getting Older

2008-10-11T19:12:00.002-07:00

This shot was taken just testing the camera in my new cell phone. What I need is a 14 year old to teach me how to use it. My phone is now almost as smart as my computer. Both together are about as smart as my camera. It's getting harder to keep up with them.

2008-10-08T23:17:00.003-07:00

I'm looking forward to winter so I can get back to calling AlGore an idiot. It's getting boring calling Obama one but he just might make it in and then everyone will wish W was back in place.

Politicians and the people who elect them.

2008-10-08T02:05:00.002-07:00

I make no claim for this photo just one of those things you find on the internet.

I believe there's a lot of truth to what the photo implies. All that power corrupts and absolute power stuff is true. They certainly didn't bother to listen to most of us here in the bottom section on the bailout.

One thing I've noticed over the last 8 years though is how people hate W. They don't just disagree with his policies they actually hate the man. I completely fail to understand this hatred.

I disagreed with almost every policy Clinton ever supported. Even he agreed with that once admitting that he raised taxes too much. I noticed he didn't offer to give any back though. As much as I didn't like his policies though I'm certain I'd enjoy having him here for a drink and a cigar but I'd supply the sticks.

I watched the debate tonight of course. I give this one to McCain. I'm sure the main stream (read alphabet networks) media will continue their love affair with their fellow liberal but John kicked ass tonight.

As liberal as McCain is I will still vote for him. He's my only choice unless I feel like tossing the vote to someone who has no chance. I refuse to vote for someone with no experience at running anything. Even Sarah ran Wasilla and Alaska but Obama has never run anything. There's a good chance though Obama will win. If that's the case hold tightly to your wallet and try to enjoy our spiral dive into oblivion.

2008-10-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

Not my writing but I wish it were. I'd love to hear it.

The speech George W. Bush might give:

Normally,I start these things out by saying 'My Fellow Americans.' Not
doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don't know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened, and that you're really not fellow Americans any longer. I'll cut right to the chase here: I quit!

Now before anyone gets all in a lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution or something, let me assure you: There's been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.
The reason I'm quitting is simple. I'm fed up with you people.

I'm fed up because you have no understanding of what's really going on
in the world. Or of what's going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too lazy to do your homework and figure it out.

Let's start local. You've been sold a bill of goods by politicians and
the news media. Meanwhile,all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most
of you are too stupid to realize that gas prices are high because there's
increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful
of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and beachfront property
than your economic security.

We face real threats in the world. Don't give me this 'blood for oil' thing. If I were trading blood for oil I would've already seized Iraq 's oil fields and let the rest of the country go to pot. And don't give me this 'Bush Lied...People Died' crap either. If I were the liar you morons take me for, I could've easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could be 'discovered.' Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence was faulty. Saddam could just as easily have had them and hid them in Iran !
Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam had the goods, same as me. Let me also remind you that regime change in Iraq was official US policy before I came into office. Some guy named Clinton
established that policy. Bet you didn't know that, did you?

Now some of you morons want to be led by a junior senator with no
understanding of foreign policy or economics, and this nitwit says we should
attack Pakistan , a nuclear ally. And then he wants to go to Iran and make
peace with a terrorist who says he's going to destroy us. While he's doing
that, he wants to give Iraq to al Qaeda, Afghanistan to the Taliban, Israel to the Palestinians, and your money to the IRS so the government can give welfare to illegal aliens, to whom he will grant citizenship, so they can vote to re-elect him. He also thinks it's okay for Iran to have nuclear weapons, and we should stop our foreign aid to Israel.

Did you sleep through high school?

You idiots need to understand that we face a unique enemy. Back during the
cold war, there were two major competing political and economic models
squaring off. We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the
Communists wanted to survive, just as we do. We were simply able to out
spend and out-tech them.

That's not the case this time. The soldiers of our new enemy don't care
if they survive. In fact, they want to die. That'd be fine, as long as they
weren't also committed to taking as many of you with them as they can. But
they are. They want to kill you, and they are all over the globe.
You should be grateful that they haven't gotten any more of us here in the
United States since September 11. But you're not. That's because you've got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law enforcement, and homeland security people have worked to make sure
of that. When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and difficult fight. I'm disappointed how many of you people think a long and difficult fight amounts to a single season of 'Survivor.' Instead, you've grown impatient. You're incapable of seeing things through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do. You think that wars should last a few months, a few years, tops. Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy. Every time you buy the New York Times, every time you send a donation to a cut-and-run Democrat's political campaign, well, dang it, you might just as well FedEx a grenade launcher to a Jihadist. It amounts to the same thing.

In this day and age, it's easy enough to find the truth. It's all over
the Internet. It just isn't on the pages of the New York Times, USA Today,
or on NBC News. But even if it were, I doubt you'd be any smarter. Most
of you would rather watch American Idol or Dancing with Stars. I could say more about your expectations that the government will always be there to bail you out, even if you're too stupid to leave a city that's below sea level and has a hurricane approaching. I could say more about your insane belief that government, not your own wallet, is where the money comes from. But I've come to the conclusion that were I to do so, it would sail right over your heads.

So I quit. I'm going back to Crawford. I've got an energy-efficient
house down there (Al Gore could only dream) and the capability to be fully
self-sufficient for years. No one ever heard of Crawford before I got
elected, and as soon as I'm done here pretty much no one will ever hear of
it again. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last
pillars of America fall. Oh, and by the way, Cheney's quitting too. That means Pelosi is your new President. You asked for it. Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there are just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008.

So that's it. God bless what's left of America .

Some of you know what I mean. The rest of you, kiss off.

PS
- You might want to start learning Farsi, and buy a Koran.

Almost winter

2008-10-06T15:46:00.003-07:00

Getting nice here. I sure will hate going back to work but I do have to do that sometime soon. Temps running in the 80's in mid afternoon makes for a good day for a smoke and a beer out back. Peaceful, quiet and relaxing.

Winter

2008-10-05T01:53:00.001-07:00

It's getting closer. Days are shorter. My yard lights are on at 1830. Pretty soon that white crap will be falling out of the sky. Why don't we hibernate like bears? Winter would go away much faster that way.

Heart of Stone

2008-10-03T16:16:00.002-07:00

Palin looked pretty good (and still hot) last night going up against someone with 35 years in the Senate. Pure porn for us conservative types. I call the debate a tie but a tie in this case is a win for Sarah.

This is a very cool thing for any photographers reading this. I emailed it to a couple of friends but in case anyone actually reads this they can have fun. This thing is super fast. It extracts all the jpegs from your RAW files and does it right now. I tested it on a folder with 269 RAW files and it was less than 40 seconds to extract full size jpegs and put them in their own folder. You can also change the dimensions of the files at the same time but it's a bit slower.

Tacos for supper tonight. I think a good German beer will go good with them.

Cigars and Hot Dogs

2008-10-01T18:25:00.003-07:00

Being Wednesday it was a trip down to the cigar shop for lunch. They have a guy come in who caters hot dogs and stuff for a few bucks but shortly after that I normally do $80.00 or so in cigars. All in all a nice thing to do for lunch in the middle of the week.

A title for David

2008-09-29T12:54:00.003-07:00

It's good to see but maybe just a bit scary that the house voted down the bailout today. Some of them actually listened to the people they supposedly represent.

Typical of the Republicans to come out and blame Pelosi's speech of last night as the reason for the failure of the bill to pass. Pelosi came out and blamed the Republicans for the failure when 95 of her own voted against it.

Politics as normal. Now let's see where it goes from here.

2008-09-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Insights on me from the younger liberal types. Who knew?

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
I think it's great that you constantly say you are a misanthrope, but you talk a lot on your phone and make a point of going to cigar Wednesdays! (you really do have a marshmallow center)
2. I'll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.
Smoke on the Water
3. I'll pick a flavor of jello to wrestle you in.
I can't even begin imagining wrestling you, let alone in Jello, so I am skipping this one.
4. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
I'm an aligator
5. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
We had dinner together at the Alamo in Reno... and you let me sit in the big seats in your truck. It was cool.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
A bear... you give good hugs and you look grouchy but you're not.
7. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you.
I think I know everything I want to know about you so I don't know the correct direction for this one.

2008-09-22T16:15:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow I have to actually drag my butt out of bed and go somewhere. I need to take my car into the dealer to get some stuff done. I used to be a pretty fair shade tree mechanic but you can't do much of that now without the $30K piece of test equipment for fixing modern cars. They're more computers than much of anything else.

President Teddy Roosevelt dedicated this damn many moons ago. Not many computers back then.

Gearheads

2008-09-17T17:48:00.002-07:00

You just have to love them. Canon announced a new camera last night. On FM there's a thread with 767 posts to it already mostly bitching about it.

I sometimes wish for the good old days. You got a decent body and a couple of lenses then spent your time making photos. Now you can probably get a Phd in thread reading on forum sites like FM. How can you bitch about a camera no one will have until the end of November?

I was talking with David Swanson about the old days. I used to shoot minor sports stuff with a Speed Graphic. I remember having fun doing so and especially liked the wire bale "sports finder" it had. Now 4fps is not enough and neither is 10. People go to one football game and shoot 3000 photos then complain about the processing time.

The world is nuts.

UPS customer service works!

2008-09-15T13:57:00.002-07:00

After a long chat with CS at UPS the other day we thought we had a solution to the problem of the post office here just sending stuff back because they don't deliver to our house. Half of my order was delayed a few days in shipping and that was enough time for UPS to implement their new local policy and today the brown truck pulled up and handed me the rest of my stuff. A very pleasant change in these days of customer non-service.

UPS and other stuff

2008-09-10T16:57:00.002-07:00

I had a partial order from Amazon (actually Target out of Eagan, MN) so called "delivered" today. The problem is the post office (pony express worked better and faster) does not deliver here but UPS has a contract with the post office to accept certain packages then deliver them. The UPS driver dropped it at the post office like he was supposed to but our post office immediately rejected it and returned it to shipper because it had only a street address on it. This catch 22 got me and it will need to go back to MN then back to here again.

I called customer service at UPS and was very pleased with their response. I knew the girl who answered couldn't help me but the supervisor certainly did. I told the supervisor what the deal was here and now let's find a way to fix the problem. We tossed a few things back and forth then hung up. I drove three blocks to Milo's (David knows where and what that is) and had a call waiting for me with a good sounding fix to the catch 22 shipping.

I thought real customer service to be a thing of the past but am pleasantly surprised at the level of service by UPS. I have another shipment on the way. As Reagan said "Trust but Verify". I sure hope this works.

House on my back.

2008-09-07T23:17:00.002-07:00

One of my young girls I live with now is on her way to work tomorrow morning. It'll be strange not having her around for the full day. It also puts me closer to going back to work myself. I'll have to start gathering my stuff to get back in the big truck. Work and sleep in the same place just like this guy in the photo. Maybe I'll adopt his sly little smile.

2008-09-06T13:17:00.002-07:00

My cousin and her husband showed up for a visit. This is always a cool thing for me. Makes me feel pretty good actually. I have room for a couple of RV's on the side of my garage with full hookups so they can just drop in when they feel like it. I'm just glad they're here. Better than scotch.

Cold Prickly

2008-09-05T21:09:00.002-07:00

I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling from either of our candidates for president. McCain is just too liberal and Obama is just to inexperienced. The best of the top 4 is probably Biden as much as I hate to admit that. He's at least been around long enough to have actually done some things. If you could just vote for any of the top 4 though and put them in the top job I'd go for Palin just because she's a babe.

I think it's time to have a good cigar and maybe a scotch.

2008-09-02T12:20:00.004-07:00

A place for both conventions. I can't believe Obama is picking on Palin's lack of experience. I think my dog has just as much chance of doing a good job running the country as either of them. I wonder why John boy ever picked her but at least she's the number two on the ticket.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/02/obama-i-have-more-executive-experience-than-palin/

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/14655/

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/blog/index.php?blog=stu&page=blog

2008-08-31T00:30:00.001-07:00

Well my little tri-top just told me a bit ago it was raining outside. Like any sane person here since I was awake I grabbed a scotch and a cigar and went out back to enjoy it for a while. Life is getting better as time goes on. Slowly but it is getting better.

Politics

2008-08-30T12:19:00.002-07:00

So my liberal McCain has chosen a woman for his vice. Makes for a very interesting election this time around. No matter who wins it will be an historical event.

I don't know where the idea of Palin came from. McCain gave away his big "no experience" club by doing this. She is however quite the babe for her 44 years.

I hate this choice but mostly because I'm lazy. Why couldn't he pick someone I already know? Now I have to research and study more just to figure out who she is and what she stands for.

I love this choice because compared to the ultra liberal McCain she just has to be conservative. You would logically think the NOW gang would be confused here. http://www.now.org/ The front page of their website today says "vote for Biden" because he's a friend to women. It also says to "elect more women". Well now they have a chance to actually elect one to the second highest office but they won't because she's an evil conservative.

BTW although I will normally vote for the republican candidate I don't always do so. I'm kind of a "tweener". I can't be a liberal because I think "I'm" better at spending my money than the government is. I can't be a true conservative because the money I do have I like to spend on things that are fun.

Not very sharp.

2008-08-28T17:57:00.002-07:00

Someone must run around and tell everyone you are dead. All of my wife's debit and credit cards no longer work and this is a pretty good thing.

However, all of the bills that used to be taken care of automatically by using that debit card are now coming back saying the card was rejected. Why is my credit union smart enough to figure out Alison is no longer with me but not smart enough to just pay the damned bill out of the account and use my debit card.

The same problem happened with my satellite TV today. It took me a half hour to get it straight on the phone with some lady who sounded like she was from L.A. (lower Alabama). When we finally got done and got the bill paid and set up for auto pay it wasn't ten minutes before the little message popped up on the screen and told me to pay my bill.

I don't think you can hire good help any more. I guess I'll have to waste my time and gas to show up personally at all these places so I can do their job for them. The one place I did show up suddenly had no problems fixing everything while I was standing there but couldn't do the same over the phone.

Rant over.

Insecure and just a bit of "power".

2008-08-25T01:21:00.002-07:00

Why am I not surprised at all to find my photosig account now totally deleted. On that site you cannot even simply agree with "some" of the words written on SheenaSig. They didn't even have enough common courtesy to say they were going to delete the account.

If this tiny bit of power has them acting this way I would really hate to run into the person with absolute power. It really reminds me of the punks of my youth. They would mess up your car or damage your motorcycle all while you weren't looking because they didn't have the balls to face you. Same as the guy who once sent five guys to jump me as I came out of a building downtown because he thought I had danced with his girlfriend. What a bunch of jerks. I'm glad to be done with them.

Anyone thinking of joining that site with the idea of learning something had better think twice about it. It's a forced critique site and all you gain is carpal tunnel syndrome from mindlessly typing away. Tell someone their attempts at a photo are really poor and they need some real help and all they'll do is delete their photo and re-post it later and hope to get some pretty green thumbs.

Simply telling someone their photo sucks and then telling them how to go about doing better next time will earn a quick suspension. Don't ever stir the pot. Just be a good little sheep. Just follow all their advice and you'll be a mindless zombie of a person and on the low side of mediocre as a photographer.

Rose

2008-08-23T15:13:00.002-07:00

Even though she's a distant relative I did not solicit her comment here but it really kind of deserves its own posting. She puts words to paper (or LCD) much better than I.

"Blogs, websites, etc are only as important as the people using them like to pretend them to be. It's like creating an invisible friend and an invisible kingdom if you were a small child. It's really only relevant to those who wish to keep pretending it matters. Once someone grows up enough to say it's not really a castle but a bush with a hole in the middle... well, then the pretending isn't so great anymore and cracks start to appear and people move on. Most things on the internet operate on the same principle. Even though the people are real who are posting etc.... everything else is really a make believe world. Would people behave in public with their children, partners, bosses the way they like to behave anonymously on line? Probably not, or the jails would end up being quite full. And the ones who do behave the same in public and online... well those people have a little substance and end up posting blogs on their own, without permission from people who have created a make believe world."

2008-08-22T00:02:00.003-07:00

Being now kicked off Sig I posted this on the slime blog someone started here. Obviously they are all Sheena sniffers and have yet to grow a set big enough to break away from her. They do however require the blog owner to "approve" the comment so I don't think they will. They may surprise me just to slap me around a bit but I've been slapped before and they just don't get it.

Photosig is a good site to be gone from. At least those of us who are gone are honest and not so afraid that we hide behind silly names, blank profiles and anonymous.

Look at my blog here and I don't hide. I also don't need to approve comments as I'm adult enough to accept all of them.

What you folks haven't figured out yet is that PhotoSig is a web site. It is a diversion. It is not unique, does not change the world nor does it mean anything important at all.

Since you need to approve this comment let's see if you can handle it. The three I posted to Sig were immediately deleted because someone there can't handle criticism or the truth.

I posted this on another blog but since they are the rabid hate filled don't have a life types and like you require "permission" to post it let's see if it get there.

2008-08-21T18:22:00.003-07:00

Took a trip to the local cigar store yesterday. It was hot dog day too. On Wednesdays they have a guy come in that does dogs and brats and stuff like that. Nice lunch and a good smoke all in air conditioned comfort. I got myself a new portable humidor that holds thirty sticks. Added to my 18 capacity one and I'll do well on the road.

The Siggers are having a good time yet. It drives them nuts that their comments don't get us all mad and crazy. Those of us on the sane side of stuff like this actually enjoy the life we have outside of the information highway. Funny though how many anonymous and blank profile responses are attracted to this little out of the way blog.

Sixty more cigars showed up in the brown truck today too. It's about 1830 here so it just may be time to pour a scotch and light one up. I'm in no danger of running out of either so I may as well get back to enjoying life.

2008-08-20T01:56:00.004-07:00

Is it the anonymity afforded by the internet that causes this type of behavior or were people always this way and frustrated because they had no outlet?

2008-08-19T22:24:00.002-07:00

The girls had a good time today. I think I'll enjoy them being here. You get all the benefits of that energy and excitement of youth without all the pain the next day.

2008-08-18T16:00:00.002-07:00

Well I'm surviving the young chix here just fine. They're actually very good company. Need to unass the house tomorrow and actually do something. Seems a trip down to the cigar store in Phoenix is in order as well as a stop by the post office. I'll need to stop by the grocery place as I like to eat and am also out of beer and scotch. I guess I can call on the Wild Turkey for tonight but it gets to wild more than one night in a row.

2008-08-17T21:35:00.002-07:00

Looks like I'm getting closer to re-joining the working class. I now have two 30yr old types here along with a couple of dogs, some meat eating fish of some type and a turtle. Maybe they'll send me to some more interesting places for photo ops but normally just run my ass ragged out east until I scream uncle.

2008-08-16T11:14:00.003-07:00

A form of communication most people can understand.

Small people who have never had a position of authority in their lives. I've been tossed off this web site indefinitely for stating honest opinions. Never rude or offending to any rational being. I discovered long ago that informed and to the point speech threatens many people because they are insecure. Brought to its highest level you have Hitler. Unfortunately we have many many of the variety I'm speaking of here. Note the last two paragraphs and then tell me if "goose stepping" comes to mind.

On Sat, Aug 16, 2008 at 9:29 AM, Del <delphotosig@earthlink.net> wrote:
Gary,

I am responding to your inquiry regarding when your suspension will end.
The suspension will end when we determine that you will participate in
constructive ways, or at least will not participate in destructive ways, and
according to the Terms of Service.

I note that in your request you claim not to have done anything wrong. I
counted almost thirty warnings recorded with your account. These were
variously for injecting politics into discussion; disrespectful, demeaning,
and rude behavior to other users in critiques and forums; disrespectful,
demeaning and rude comments to admins and about admins; posts calculated to
attract attention and admin actions. Any of these, over time, accumulate
enough attention to warrant removal from the site.

Here is how your suspension can end. You will agree to two things. First,
you will acknowledge your agreement with and acceptance of the photoSIG
Terms of Service. Second, you will agree that the site owner and
administrators are the sole authorities on interpretation of the Terms of
Service and you accept their decisions. To be specific, that means you
agree not to make rude, disrespectful, or demeaning remarks to or about
other users or administrators, and you further agree to accept directions
from administrators regarding your use of the site.

If you agree to these terms, by email to me and photosig@photosig.com, your
suspension will be lifted. Should you return to the site under these
conditions and repeat the kinds of violations we have noted in the past, or
commit new violations of the Terms of Service, you will be subject to
decisions and discipline from administrators, including permanent exclusion
from photoSIG.

Del

2008-08-14T19:43:00.002-07:00

It ought to be fun living with a couple of 30 year old women. They should be here within an hour or so. They both quit their jobs to move in with me. Not a bad thing at all if I can handle it.

2008-08-14T11:07:00.001-07:00

Insecure people. Small minds. Past time to move on.

2008-08-13T21:45:00.003-07:00

My cousins are sure having one hell of a time getting here. After being towed back to Reno for repairs they get stuck not half way to Las Vegas because of a hazmat spill closing the highway. They won't have the road open for another 3 hours or so. They should be well worn out by the time they get here.

2008-08-13T12:54:00.002-07:00

I'm no stranger to tow trucks. When you drive for a living you see more of them than anyone needs to. My cousin started out on her move from Reno to here this morning and didn't make it a hundred miles before her U-Haul truck broke down and is now being towed back to Reno.

Nothing lasts like it used to. Maybe I just don't remember stuff breaking like it does all the time now. Back in the '60's you could buy a '47 Ford pickup truck for a hundred bucks, drive it for a year or two and sell it for the same amount. Now you can't even get a new truck to make a hundred miles.

My sister and her husband just did a similar thing with their truck. Dead on the side of the highway in Oregon. A relatively new Chevy truck with the big diesel engine pulling a little 31' fifth wheel RV. They ended up on the tow truck down to the nearest RV campground then off went the truck to the shop. Stuff just doesn't last like it used to.

This is what I do for a living.

2008-08-12T11:24:00.002-07:00

I think of it as a corner office with a view. My wife died at the end of June this year and I'll be going back to work in the next 2-3 weeks or so. It will be tough going back but I still have bills to pay. It does serve up a good landscape shot once in a while though so that makes it worthwhile.

2008-08-11T19:50:00.001-07:00

Since David said I might post a photo of the southwest I may as well do so. This is almost in my backyard.

2008-08-11T16:49:00.002-07:00

It rained here a couple of days ago. In the desert that's a big deal. It brings out all the people to watch it come down. We get maybe 8 inches a year and got one of them in an hour during this storm.

I stayed away from all the people and just made a photo or four.