Saturday, June 28, 2014

Don't Mess With Texans

They have way too much time on their hands.

Pilfered from Facebook.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Am I Lucky?


Am I lucky I'm retired from the car business? Former co-workers, friends, family members, and some readers of this blog remember I have "issues" with display ramps (driving off them), trailers (various mishaps - more than a few), backing into things, and driving tall trucks under low bridges.

Your often seen display ramp. Now there is something new.
Just imagine the chaos I could create with one of these, and my one needle width off red line operational mode!

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Stepping On His Pee Pee



Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper, aka Gov. Wishywashy, was addressing a meeting of Colorado Sheriffs trying to smooth over the controversy caused by  the “gun control” legislation he signed. Didn’t work. You can read about it here, if you can stand reading the mainstream maggot Denver Post. Guess he has pissed off the editor in some way to have even a mildly critical article from the Post.


Uproar follows, and he double downed on stupidity.


The money quote?

Hickenlooper also said he did not know his remarks at the biannual gathering of the County Sheriffs of Colorado were "going to be recorded."

Guess you didn’t see that video camera in operation, Hick?



Sadly, the polls indicate we will have this clueless windbag in office for four more years.

Behold, the regressive's hero!

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Soccer Moms


Another of my long,  rambling political rants. You have been warned.

Soccer moms, are they beginning to understand they are being taken for a ride?

Title IX has resulted in 25% more women than men graduating from college, in 2009, the last year statistics are available (that I can find).


This years graduating classes, men and women, will have an average debt of $35,200.


Where are the jobs? If they find one, what is the real purchasing power of their incomes?

Well, of course, men are to blame. That is what they learned in Woman Studies.  Except, too many women have broken the “glass ceilings” everywhere, in business, government, and politics to blame it all on men. Too many of those women have performed, in the best case, no better than the men whom they replaced.

Now they want to elect Hillary president. “It is time for a female president is the hue and cry”. That may be true, but what has she accomplished? True, she has made herself wealthy, along with Bill, or he has helped her? Who else have they made wealthy? Who else have they enabled? Our country has a history of people becoming millionaires while working for people who have become billionaires. Anyone affiliated with Hillary and Bill in that category?  Oh, it is politics and you can’t measure their success that way. OK, who have they mentored? Who has learned from Hillary, not Bill, and has gone on to be successful?

I watched my mother, a very capable person, do the hard work while men got the credit. When she got into real estate, she got the credit, because she made the sales. Didn’t stop the men in her office from trying to leech off her work, but she was the one making it rain, and she went solo and was successful. So yes, I get it. Been there, seen it, and understand the unfairness up close.

In Colorado politics, the experts say the key county is Jefferson, just West of Denver. They also say the key demographic is “soccer moms”. Today, those soccer moms are working long hours to pay for all their stuff, their debts, and their underwater mortgages. If they are still married, their husbands, if they can find a job, are doing the same. It is not the “American Dream” they were conditioned to expect. They are starting, I think, to wise up. They are rejecting Common Core education, as an example. Questioning Obamacare, etc.


“I am Woman, Hear Me Roar”. When these smart women finally figure out how they have been taken, how their generosity and kind natures have been abused, and how their children are being harmed, look out!

Unfortunately, I think the  day is a few years in the future.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Cheapskate, I Am II

Finally, broke down and replaced the windshield on my P.O.S. today. Retail, $194++. I paid $135 total. Yep, throwing money around like a politician.

Hope I get another 86,000 miles out of the car. Need to, to justify the windshield cost.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Local Police Shooting


Law enforcement comes in for all kinds of criticism, some justified. Overuse of S.W.A.T teams, bad policies, bad tactics, asset forfeiture scams, and the rest. Think many, including myself, forget how dangerous the job can be. A sobering event yesterday brought that home.

We had arranged to meet for breakfast, a small family type gathering. Arriving at the restaurant, we found the side and back to be part of a crime scene.

Seems there was a call from a motel parking lot after midnight, “man with a gun”. Officers arrive, and the offender fires at them. A running gunfight began that went on for nearly two blocks until the offender was shot by a police officer.

This happened in the alley alongside the restaurant. Looking out the window, you could see the offender’s pistol (slide locked back and magazines removed), blood stained clothing; wallet, handcuffs, and a chest high blood smear on the brick wall across from the restaurant.  An officer was in his car at the mouth of the alley preserving the scene.

The offender was transported to a local hospital where he later died. He was out of jail on a $75,000 bond, several charges, including felonies, that he was awaiting trial, and a long criminal record for a man in his twenties.

One in our breakfast party is a 20 year + LEO with another agency. First question, “Is the officer ok”? Second question, “Where is the offender”?

No question in my mind that the officers involved put their lives on the line to protect the public. That type of action is probably many times over more common than the misconduct we read about. We need to applaud the good, while not ignoring the bad, IMO.


Friday, June 13, 2014

Model Railroad Museum

http://www.gfsm.org/pcindex.html

For Scotty, among others.

Neat model railroad museum in Greeley, CO. I've always been interested in model railroads, but lack the fine motor skills. An artist, I'm not. As you view the photos, you will think I'm not much of a photographer. For sure, Oleg Volk has nothing to worry about.

The layout.


Walking around  the layout.












They have Lionel O.
MP 154, just missed a two train pass.

Oops, train not running, must get it started.
 Something for Murphy.

Something for the kids.

Something for the little kids.

And something for the firefighters.

My late father was a section foreman on the Denver & Rio Grande for ten years. I've had many a ride, and fond memories, on one of these.
They had an elaborate dispatcher setup, but I didn't want to distract the dispatcher; he was busy. All this is volunteer effort, but the payoff is playing with the ultimate toy. Envy, here.

Finally, the cat herders arrive, and I depart.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Thank You NRA, But NoThanks

The big brown Happy Truck dropped this off, a thank you for renewing your membership gift. Seems well made, lots of pockets and zippers, and probably a good range bag.

Gave it to my sister's boyfriend. He plans to use it for some of his electrical tools.

Those three big gold letters are the problem. To a thief, "Oh lookie, lookie what we have here". To a LEO, "Mind if I have a look inside your bag"?

My "stuff" gets wrapped in an old sweatshirt and stuffed into a faded green cotton bag with a stout rope drawstring. Goes next to a cheap sleeping bag and an oblong black bag with an "Isuzu" logo that is my BOB. None of it looks good enough to donate to a thrift store. Doubt any of it would appeal to even the most down and out meth head.

What I want the world to see if an old, fat grandfather with no money driving an old P.O.S. Nothing of interest here folks, just move on.

So thank you, NRA. I don't mind supporting your mission, but I am not advertising my firearms. Faded NRA sticker on the rear window? Sure, along with a faded "My son is in the Army" and a "Freedom Isn't Free" stickers. Goes will with the rest of the image.

One last point. I don't own a single damn thing with the word "Tactical" on it.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Evidently, Not A Joke (Craigslist)


We are looking to re-home our 2 1/2 year old yellow lab. He is neutered and current on all vaccinations. He is house and kennel trained, good with other dogs, kids, and some cats. He is very eager to please and would probably benefit from some obedience classes. He would do well in a home where he can be with his human a lot. We are re-homing him because we got him to be a hunting dog and sadly, he will not hunt. 

$30 rehoming fee just to be sure the person adopting him is doing so for the right reasons. 

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Cheapskate, I Am


My main driver. 1996 Escort Wagon, purchased with 114,000 miles on the odometer for $1,400. Have spent, over the last 86,000 miles,  about $1,000 for tires, alternator, battery, struts, brake pads, and a timing belt. A/C still blows cold. Including purchase price, $0.0279 per mile cost to drive plus gas and oil changes. Gets up to 34-35 mpg on the highway if there isn't a significant headwind.

Probably two thirds of those miles driven were for business with income being produced.

From Colorado, it has taken me as far North as Aberdeen, ND, as far South as Marfa, TX, as far East as Omaha, and as far West as Dugway, UT. I have no qualms of getting in it and driving anywhere.

I am considering getting a new windshield. Extravagent, I know, but is getting to a "Hello Officer" state.

Blasted Fords, wish they would last!

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

One Pissed Off Man, Many More In The Wings


Ten years ago today, Marvin Heemeyer decided to settle his complaints against the City of Granby, CO and some of the residents. The Mayor had this to say.


"I'm trying to be politically correct, but this guy was a nasty son of a bitch," Wang said.



You can read an account here.


Granby is mainly a tourist and skier service center as most of the ranches in the area no longer function as working cattle ranches. Zoning was late coming to the small Colorado mountain towns but by the mid 1970’s most towns had zoning laws. They weren’t universally welcomed, and were often manipulated for personal gains (and losses).

If you took Belfast, Northern Ireland at the height of the “Troubles” then added Jerusalem, you might approach the intensity of emotions in some of these towns. Marvin Heemeyer was one of the losers, and decided to make a point.

So why this posting? Because I fear our country is full of Marvin Heemeyers and at some point they will start striking. 

Sunday, June 1, 2014

What Goes Around Comes Around


Evangelicals and Progressives. Different faces of the same coin, the diminishment of individual freedoms (for our own good, of course).

In 1982, I was a Republican Precinct Committeeman. Evangelicals had taken control of the party, local school boards, city and county offices, and were trying for state and national control; the so-called Silent Majority. They were RIGHT, and, if you opposed them, they would do their best to crush you. Silly sots spent a great deal of effort to field a candidate for Precinct Committeeman, the most trivial of elected offices, and oust me. They won. A few days later I became the Democrat Precinct Committeeman.

In 2002 I witnessed the Progressives taking control of the Democratic Party and kicking all of us Blue Dogs to the curb. No tolerance or concessions to differing views were allowed. Blue Dog, sit in the back of the Big Tent, keep your mouth shut, but do keep your wallet open.

Their beliefs may be in opposition, but their goals are the same; use the force of government and laws to impose their beliefs on the populace at large.

Will the upcoming fall elections be a start of a push back? Or, as detailed in Sipsy Street Irregulars, http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/, 4G warfare and the ever popular, "As long as I have my rifle, I still get to vote"?

And, 2016? Hillary? Given her track record of utter ruthlessness, that will surely bring it.

In other news, we had a 3.7 earthquake last night. Rare event in NE Colorado. Watch the ecofreaks blame fracking.