Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Snerk

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” Rahm Emanuel
Cynical me wonders about the current brouhaha raging about sexual harassment isn’t a golden opportunity for organizations to dump underperformers, bloated contracts, and general pain in the asses with less risk of being sued?
Amazing, to me, other than Candidate Moore (Alabama), the ones falling are (P)regressives. Isn’t it a requirement to be a ‘feminist ‘if you are a Liberal?
Moore? Let the left dump even more money down that hole. The Alabama voters will sort that one out.
Pure speculation on my part. Wonder how many “deplorables” within civil service have been gritting their teeth and keeping their heads down during the eight years of the Lightbringer? New sheriff in town who has their back may encourage them along the lines of “payback is hell”.
Looks like Mueller has stepped on his dick. Illegal shit that happened under his watch, probably with his knowledge, is coming to light.  Payback?
See where President Trump has granted Rep. Trey Gowdy an absolute security clearance. No more stonewalling under the guise of national security for the deep state mandarins.
We have the fat turd in North Korea keeping a crises going week after week. I doubt Donald Trump Jr. is dumb, and won’t use “An opportunity to do things you think you couldn’t do before”.

However all this shakes out I’m not smart enough to predict. What I do know is Shillary Clinton isn’t #45, and that gives me hope.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Compliment

She liked new and shiny. I liked no debt and six months living expenses in the bank. Somehow we stayed married 22 years before she split and left me with two young sons to rear. 

In later years she lived with my youngest son, supposedly to provide child care. One day she gave me a wonderful compliment, saying to my son,

“You are cheaper than your father!”


Yes, he grew up with good values. 

Middle son reported complaints during his short marriage along the same lines.

 When did living within your means and having money in the bank become a loathsome lifestyle?

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Santa's Little Helper

My route co-driver spends much of December playing Santa Claus. To accommodate his appearances, we swap work days.


The question is why I do this when the ungrateful wretch won’t share his naughty list?

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Wandering Around An Auto Salvage Yard

Nothing like wandering around the junk yard for a long walk, fresh air, and some sun. Plus it is free unless you buy something.

My son's Ford Focus is missing a piece in the dash that holds the hood release. The release works but is unsightly. No Focus in the place had an intact dash, let alone what I was looking for.


While looking at this late 70's Pinto two guys were there discussing turning it into a dragster. Floating in the air were thousand of female voices exclaiming, 

"Men and boys and their toys".

The bushings on my Mighty Max windshield wiper transmission are badly worn. Didn't expect to find a Mighty Max but did find a 1993 Mitsubishi Montero that has the same dimensions wiper post to wiper post as my truck. The position of the wiper motor on the firewall is the same. Need to do some research but think it might work.

I'm far too old and stove up to be climbing on wrecks but there are always others pulling parts that will do it for you for a $20 bill. Takes about fifteen minutes.


This caught my eye, a utility bed on a Ford Ranger. Measured it, and it will fit my truck. I have zero need for a utility bed on my truck. But,

"Men and Boys and their toys". 

Huge cool factor. Dents removed and painted red. Bet I can talk myself into doing it.

Yes, Sisty, I need a life. The upside is it keeps me out of bars.

Friday, November 24, 2017

Challenge Coin

Chief Joshua Bright, Master at Arms, Meridian NS, meeting Vice President Pence on Thanksgiving and receiving a challenge coin.
Josh is the son of Alan Bright and Kristin Collings, Wheatridge, CO and Yuma, AZ. Alan is a first cousin.

Alan's father, Lyal Bright, was a Navy Gunner on armed merchantmen in WWII.

Josh has had an interesting career including a stint at Guantanamo. His wife was in the Army. Quite the couple! 

Challenge coins are valued. A place of honor in my son's house has a challenge coin from the then Sgt Maj of the Army given to him in Kandahar. 

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Rumors of War

Fifty four years have passed since the assassination of President Kennedy. Old NFO has put up an interesting post.


On that day our company, training to be Combat Engineers,  were marching back from the ranges where we had finished training on the M-2 .50 caliber machine gun. It was a miserable day with freezing sleet that became a big snow storm.


Our dilapidated WWII era barracks weren’t much warmer. Often the butt cans froze. As we were sorted ourselves out, the company clerk came running by shouting,

 “The president has been killed”.

Soon the few radios some troops had were turned on to the commercial stations and we listened to the news. All of us started packing our duffel bags and within a few minutes we were prepared to move out. Several of us started re-cleaning and oiling our M-14s.

Then the rumors started. Fort Leonard Wood was locked down. No one could get on or get off. Dependents off post shopping weren’t allowed back in. (Yeah, a training base in the middle of the Missouri Ozarks was a major first strike target).

Next no shit! rumor was all trucks were being staged for something. Since I was one of eight trainees who went to truck driving school at the start of the cycle, why wasn’t I called for driver duty?

The rumors kept coming. The only “hard” news was what we heard on the commercial radio stations.

In the Army, and I assume the other services, no one important is dead until the official order is read to the assembled troops. For President Kennedy, that day was bitterly cold and windy with hard packed snow. We all marched in Class As to a convenient gravel pit that provided some shelter and the battalion commander read the order.


The battalion had a female officer, a Major, and she was in a skirt and wearing low heels. The Sergeant Major offered her his arm and together they gingerly slipped and slid down the road to the bottom of the gravel pit. Poor woman, talk about freezing your ass off.

Training resumed, the rumors died down, and we finished our training. We weren’t denied access to newspapers but they were only available at the PX, not convenient from where we were housed.


Another situation that allowed rumors to flourish was an all inclusive cruise on the good ship USS General Maurice Rose crossing from the Brooklyn Army Yard to Bremerhaven. A miserable trip, scheduled for nine days, took fourteen.

Part of the lunacy the military breeds was roving guards, armed with night sticks, patrolling the berthing areas and decks accessible to we unwilling passengers at night. WTF?

Soon another no shit! report was a submarine had surfaced alongside us and one of the night guards threw his night stick at the submarine. Yeah, he was getting an Article 15 for losing the night stick.

Rumors, how they start, how they circulate, and how people respond has been studied forever. How each of us responds is up to us. Me, being cynical, want hard proof before I start discombobulating.

One part of me understands the military approach to busy hands, less mischief. I was probably a poster child candidate when I served. Understanding doesn’t lead to liking shit details. Still, the practice worked. All the time spent avoiding shit details was time not spent stirring shit.

The JFK assassination and racial turmoil were two things that stick in my memory. Undoubtedly the racial turmoil in Germany wasn’t by accident. It was to the communist’s benefit to weaken the army they might need to defeat and creating racial turmoil was cheap.


I got out just as Vietnam was stating up. Not sorry I missed that. 

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Whee IV



Wyoming weather can be so changeable. Cheyenne to US 26 via Wheatland on I-25 was as bad as yesterday. East on US 26 twenty miles it was nearly calm.



Lots of high cirrus and lenticular clouds still in the sky. Below those clouds, as any pilot will tell you, the air is turbulent. Above? Often severe smooth.


One unpleasant part of the drive is twenty to thirty minutes of sunrise in your face. With Polaroids on, any animals on the sides are even harder to spot.


South out of Scottsbluff hit wind again. Strong, but nothing like the morning.

Back in Northern Colorado it was breezy with some good mountain wave action.



Hope you  all have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. As usual, I'll be at my sister's. She maintains a sober house so will restrain my party animal (which disappeared decades ago).
 

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Whee III

Looks like another interesting morning. Today the last eight miles going into Wyoming still had several big rigs, both tractor and trailer, on the side of the road. My guess there aren't enough high capacity wreckers to deal with those numbers in a short time.

Talked to a trucker at about 0430 this morning in Cheyenne. He said his dispatcher cleared him to run to Ogden and he was leaving shortly. He has been sitting in Cheyenne for two days. 

Monday, November 20, 2017

Whee II

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/high-winds-topple-more-than-a-dozen-semi-trucks-along-i-25-in-colo-wyo

Had to drop my speed in places. The little Yaris was getting tossed around.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Whee


What my morning may look like at O dark thirty. This is what the Bordeaux exit looks like in daylight.


Where I'm coming from (Cheyenne and Chugwater).


Where I'm going. That is Wheatland in the distance.


Many a fool has ignored that sign and windsock (Yes, I understand the irony given my blog title). 

Oh, yah. New moon tonight.

At least there is no blizzard. That makes the drive plumb interesting.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Random Ranting


Copied this off Facebook.


 


The (P)regressives attack President Trump for the Puerto Rico mess. He has been in office for one year but is responsible for fifty+ years of corruption in that model of liberalism.

Perhaps the one aspect of (P)regressives,  SJW, and liberals that pisses me off  is they rarely take responsibility for their fuck ups.


A recent (P)regressive RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) meeting provides a good starting list for arrests for sedition and treason.


Keeping up with the national trend, Colorado is highlighting our home grown gropers and harassers.


Dealing with the various he said/she said issues in the car biz, my approach was to investigate. Usually someone got fired. On more than one occasion we had the female script a scenario where her goal was a cash settlement. No!

“Charmane, you stand around the guys during down times talking about sex then act all shocked when one of them grabs your ass”.

“Dan, you are here to sell cars. Get laid on your own time. In fact, take all the time you want because you aren’t working here anymore”.


Once again a serious issue gets twisted by the ‘Rules for Radicals’ crowd. 


See where the Navy has another ship collision.


To a layman, this one doesn’t seem to be the Navy’s fault. I will leave it to knowledgeable sailors if better seamanship could have prevented it.

If you go around drawing national attention to yourself, it is probably a good idea to take care of those pesky warrants.


Several news sources are ginning up an Air Force General’s response to a question about an “illegal” order from President Trump.


The implication is the President will issue an “illegal” order. Just another American Media Maggot’s (h/t BZ) smear campaign.

Seems my route co-driver had two interesting mornings. 

Knock on wood, so far it has been an easy winter.

Had a chat with a young friend about security and his Facebook postings. Think he heeded my advice. Imagine that!

Ran into an old Marine I haven’t seen in five years. He remembered my name. Remembering names is probably one of the many reasons he has had many successful years as a used truck dealer.  As always, enjoyed his company. He is a walking encyclopedia on weapons, tactics, methods, and history at the grunt level. I consider it a huge compliment that he respects me!

Sad to see my old employer is back to drinking. Some seven years of sobriety gone. I can only hope he keeps it under control now.

Every profession has its sea stories and car salesmen (if you consider that a profession) have theirs. My recent contribution was detailing (washing, cleaning, polishing) Mel’s VW Rabbit.


Mel was an odd bird even by car peddler standards. He boasted he never washed his personal vehicles from the day he bought them to the day before he sold them.

 One offsite sale he was working inside as a closer and parked in an out of way space near an area we had lot men cleaning vehicles. Things were slow. Several of us bored salesmen pitched in and had the lot snots detail Mel’s VW. 

That evening he walked around it three or four times looking for his truck before he figured out what we had done. He stayed pissed off for days.

It would seem the muse has decided it is time for wine and reading. Hope you haven’t been too bored.

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Confession of a Latter Day Luddite

As someone who resists new technologies and grudging learns the minimum skills necessary, my aversion doesn’t prevent me from staying alive.

CPAP

Been using one since 1995. My sister and other relatives believe untreated sleep apnea complications killed my father at age 64.

For several reasons I took the test at home. Ghastly, no one told me about shaving the areas the electrodes were glued to. The next afternoon the physician who ran the sleep clinic called and insisted I immediately come to his office. I demurred, and he became so insistent he threatened to send an ambulance and police officers. OK, I went in.

The meeting proceeded along these lines.

“You have sleep apnea. In fact, you have the worst case I’ve ever seen. I’m amazed you are still functioning.”

He followed up with a screen showing my test results. Sensing he wasn’t getting through to me, he elaborated.

“Fool, I predict you will, within the next six months, have a major medical episode. It may be today, it may be next month, but it will happen within six months. If you are lucky, it will kill you. More likely you will be left severely disabled. You do have someone who can give you skilled nursing care 24 hours a day, don’t you?”

Damn, wished I could hire him as a salesman for our car lot!

“No”, was my reply. “And my options would be?”

I slept with a CPAP that night, and have ever since.

As an aside, CPAPs are a pain in the ass. You just do it.

Three years ago I developed brandycardia, a condition where your heartbeat is so slow insufficient blood flows to the brain and you faint. Ended up with a pacemaker. The second item in the picture is a pacemaker monitor. Using a tablet and WiFi, my pacemaker can be monitored from home.

 Once a year, the cardiologists wants to see me in her office. Otherwise, every three months the check can be done from home with the device.

This contraption required I purchase a tablet, and a Red Bull double latte with ++++ as a bribe to my sister’s adopted daughter who is my techie. She got the app downloaded and installed on the tablet. After only three or four tries, I’m able to use the devices and complete the test.

I don’t use the tablet for any other purposes. My sister says it is a mini computer. Surely she is correct, and surely I don’t give a rat’s ass.

It is probable I still have PTSD from using MS-DOS in the 70’s.

The smart phone needed for my employment has bazillion apps. I use four or five, grudgingly.

Still haven’t programmed the remote for the flat screen TV recently purchased and seldom watched.


In summary, I learn just enough to get by and stay alive. Probably speaks to lack of character and perseverance. Like I give a shit.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Getting Paid For Getting Stuck

Rev. Paul


writes about a group of sailors getting multiple vehicles stuck on Adak Island. Brought to mind a friend’s experience with the US Forest Service.

The family operated heavy equipment and were hired by the USFS to make some firebreaks. It was early spring and the ground soft. The chief honcho wanted my friend to take a bulldozer across a creek. My friend said no, the ground was far too soft, and he would get stuck.

The honcho was pissed. My friend said ok, I’ll do it, when you give me a written work order paying our hourly rate. You will be responsible for retrieving the equipment, and will pay our hourly rate for as long as the dozer is stuck.

The honcho, by now in full fury mode, hand wrote the work order. My friend went on the specified route, the dozer sunk to the hood line, and sat there for six weeks earning an hourly rate 24/7. My friend said they paid off the dozer that summer while putting zero hours on it.


As a taxpayer I was appalled. As a fan of the karma bus, delighted.

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Old School 911 - Part Two

Steamboat was a unique place in many ways. One was the Webber family who, for may years, was all things electrical to the populace.

One tradition they fostered for years was the 'Roaming Christmas Tree". Along with the Lions Club, every house was visited on New Years Eve and popcorn balls and candy given to the children. The Lions were dressed as Santa. Since it was cold, they needed their antifreeze. More antifreeze was dispensed from some of the houses. Many church goers on Christmas day looked the worse for wear.

My Webber took the tree to neighboring towns on the following nights. Imagine you are a stranger traveling US 40 late at night and a rolling Christmas tree was coming at you. Might sober you up, no?

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Old School 911

The picture is from around 1960. It shows a part of the main street (Lincoln Avenue/U.S. 40) of Steamboat Springs, CO (I’m part of the Class of 1961).


The object suspended over the street was a light controlled by the local telephone operation.

Automation was still in the future and a live telephone operator was on duty 24/7/365. When someone needed police assistance, the operator would turn on the light. When any police officer saw the light was on, they would find a telephone and call in or stop by the phone office located off the main street.

The response time was probably poor but better than nothing. The population at the time was under 2,000 and there wasn’t any police dispatcher on duty at night and weekends. Other than the state patrol, all law enforcement relied on CB radio.


Small town life. The light was erected and maintained by volunteers.






The speed limit was, and remains, 25 mph. All 4.8 miles, strictly enforced (the town needed the revenue). One local hard ass, descended from a pioneer family, Truman Sandelin, decided to contest his citation. Hired a sharp lawyer who discovered the town had never received a state charter and therefore didn’t legally exist.

Wonder how much it cost him to beat that ticket?

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Tough Tuesday

Some days my employer doesn't pay enough for the conditions we must drive in. Here WSF whines about his Election Day adventure.

A storm with freezing rain followed by snow blew through.  Took nearly 90 minutes to travel the 46 miles from our base in Loveland, CO to Cheyenne, WY. A large part of the travel was spent at 30 mph behind two CDOT snowplows. They operate in tandem, one in the left lane and one in the right on the Interstate. Traffic backs up for miles. Finally got around them and was rewarded with open road, as in the only vehicle on the road. Was able to maintain 45-50 mph to Cheyenne.

If there was any advantage in my predicament, it was now daylight and I could see the roads I usually drive on in the dark. Fine, until you hit fog.
North of Wheatland things improved.
Still to come, US 26.
Not far from this spot my route co-driver hit a herd of deer in dense fog and wiped out our car last Saturday. He wasn't hurt but the car was totaled. This was the car severe wind had customized.



South of Scottsbluff conditions improved.
DIA was still being impacted when I arrived.
Today the roads were clear and dry. This storm was typical. Short, severe, and moving East. Just hoping we don't get any five day blizzards this winter.


Sunday, November 5, 2017

Spammers

If large numbers of spam comments are the sign of a popular blog, mine is star material. Since the blog only gets about 3,000 hits a month, must be some other factor involved. Automated search and send programs?

Oh well, that is why gmail has a trash can.