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| Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 | | 10:18 am |
Something to share
There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January. In the fair city of Detroit t here were 35 murders in the Month of January. That's just one American city, about as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq. When some claim that President Bush shouldn't Have started this war, state the following: A. FDR led us into World War II. B. Germany never attacked us; Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost .. An average of 112,500 per year. C. Truman finished that war and started one in Korea. North Korea never attacked us. From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost ... An average of 18,334 per year. D. John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attackd us. E. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire. From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost .. An average of 5,800 per year. F. Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent. Bosnia never attacked us. He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three Times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on Multiple occasions. G. In the years since terrorists attacked us , President Bush Has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled Al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran, and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who Slaughtered 300,000 of his own people. The Democrats are complaining About how long the war is taking But It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno To take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51-day operation. We've been looking for evidence for chemical weapons In Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find The Rose Law Firm billing records. It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard Than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick. It took less time to take Iraq than it took To count the votes in Florida. JOHN GLENN (ON THE SENATE FLOOR) Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13 Some people still don't understand why military personnel Do what they do for a living. This exchange between Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum Is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive Impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of one man's explanation of why men and women in the armed Services do what they do for a living. This IS a typical, though sad, example of what Some who have never served think of the military. Senator Metzenbaum (seaking to Senator Glenn): "How can you run for Senate When you've never held a real job?" Senator Glenn (D-Ohio): "I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps. I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different Occasions. I was in the space program . It wasn't my Checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line. It was Not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the Daily cash receipts to the bank." "I ask you to go with me ... As I went the other day... To a veteran's hospital and look those men ... With their mangled bodies in the eye, and tell THEM they didn't hold a job! You go with me to the Space Program at NASA And go, as I have gone, to the widows and Orphans Of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee... And you look those kids in the eye and tell them That their DADS didn't hold a job. You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends Buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch Those waving flags You stand there, and you think about this nation, And you tell ME that those people didn't have a job? What about you?" For those who don't remember During WW.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney Representing the Communist Party in the USA. | | Wednesday, July 19th, 2006 | | 9:56 am |
Perchance to dream
OK, I know I'm sleeping much better because I'm no longer tired and grogy when I wake up and I've started dreaming again. I know I hadn't been remember dreams lately, but I didn't realize I had stopped dreaming altogether. The last two nights I've had some very vivid dreams. I forget the one from two nights ago, but last night is still fresh. I dreamed that I was a cop and I worked with the guy who played Jayne in Firefly. He was a dirty cop and I tried unsuccessfully to expose him. It's me and another faceless "good cop" skuling around the police station worried that they're going to kill us trying to find a means to defend ourselves. The dream jumps forward to what must be the next morning. "Jayne" and I are in a ready room and I'm both nervous and angry. I pull my 45 and shoot him in the chest. His body armor stops it cold and he gets this angry look on his face. I then procede to dump the other 7 rounds into his chest, none of which are effective. At this point I relax and he just looks at me and shrugs. The CO comes in demanding to know what's going on and "Jayne" and I feed him a line of BS about settling a bet on the effectiveness of the trauma plates. I'm pretty sure I know what this dream is about. My feelings tward the government. Its corruption, my ineffectiveness against it, and in the end, the fact that it's not entirely evil and I can co-exist with it because I have to. So anyway, point is, the bed is a lot more comfortable than the old one. Oh, Dave and I want to see Pirates of the Carribbian: Dead Man's Chest yesterday. Pretty good stuff. I'm not looking forward to the wait to see the last installment though. However long it is until it's release, it's too long. Current Mood:  contemplativeCurrent Music: Sureal World - The Sound and the Fury | | Monday, July 17th, 2006 | | 12:23 pm |
New bed
Yay! My new bed is complete. Here are some pictures of it as it progressed.
The mattress is a Bragada with a lifetime warrenty. It came shipped in a single box in three seperate pieces. The cover, the memmory foam folded, compressed and rolled with pallet wrap, and the base foam stored the same way.
Once the foam was allowed to expand and put in it's cover I covered that with a waterproof anti-alergy cover, which I also got for my pillows. I slept on it like this for a couple nights until I got out to TJ Maxx and picked up a double sheet set which you can see in the last picture.
This is a world of differance from my old bed, which I slept on it's mattress on the platform for a night. Well, slept is a bad term for it. Suffered through is more like it. Without the box spring it was like sleeping on a punching bag. Flat and nearly solid. I was sore when I woke up the next morning and didn't get much sleep to boot.
The new mattress on the other hand, I can sleep on comfortable in many positions and I don't need a half dozen pillows to prop up limbs and even out pressure points. I just flop down however is comfortable, use a pillow or two to put my head in a level position, and wake up later feeing fine. Money well spent.
Here is a sketch of the plans I used (in Excel format, Ya I know it's odd). Queen size bed plans, 18" tall base.
If I were to do it over again, I'd use this design. Queen size bed plans, 12" tall base.
The 18" is plenty sturdy, but a bit on the tall side and a little funny looking. If I had any shorter legs it could be uncomfortable getting in and out.
The tools you need to build these simple designs are a tape measure, a straight edge, circular saw, a table saw, some sanding paper, a 3/4" wood boring bit, a phillips screwdriver bit, and a drill.
I don't have a table saw so I had Home Depot make the big cuts for me. For the boarder wood I was able to make my angle cuts with my miter saw. A hand or power miter will work fine, there are only 8 cuts to make with it.
To create the slots I found the end in the middle of the board and marked it. Then I used the 3/4" boring bit to make a hole through. I then measured and marked the edge of the board where the slot would be, drew connecting lines with a straight edge, and used the circular saw to cut out the rest of the slot.
Even with the power tools the edges left were a bit nasty. I thought about cleaning them up with a router and some sand paper but decided it was too much work for now and just sanded down the edges to make them safe to handle.
Current Mood:  sleepyCurrent Music: white noise from my computer fans | | Friday, September 2nd, 2005 | | 4:16 pm |
| | 2:29 pm |
Work=Busy
Well, I'm putting in 45+ hour weeks now that I'm salary. But that's OK, because I'm well paid and the work isn't too bad. Just real busy. Lots of new people. Lots of moves as a result. Even without the extra exersize of riding the bike I think I'm actually managing so get into a shape other than "pear". Had to get a new lawn mower. Not only was the old one falling apart but I managed to kill another blade so I went ahead and got a mulching lawn mower. It's very nice. Last time I mowed with my old side discharge with the broken deflector I got a sinus infection. This time I sneezed twice and was done. Took out some of the landscaping in front of the house since it couldn't be seen and just blocked my use of the lawnmower. Now I just need to get the weed eater and chain saw working and I can finish the job. House will need painting or siding soon. Joy. Needed windows when I bought it. In the world of guns I bought a Schmidt-Rubin K31 in 7.5x55 Swiss. I liked it so much, I bought 2 more and a case of ammo. If you have your C&R 03 FFL you need at least one of these rifles. They're not good guns for the money. They're good guns. The surplus GP-11 ammo that's available right now is extremely high quality as well. Not sure why I'm bothering to post. I guess just since I'm at work and need a little relaxation. Later, whoever happens to be reading. | | Friday, August 12th, 2005 | | 1:11 pm |
New job
I haven't updated about my life in a while. I'm now and offical System Administrator at B/E Aerospace. Good money. Interesting work. Benefits here after 3 months. Life is good. I've gotten a new motorcycle. Love it. Selling it for something I think I'll love just as much but is comfortable enough for road trips. Um, that's most of the big stuff in a nutshell. | | Saturday, August 6th, 2005 | | 10:21 pm |
Better post to my LJ
I have a feeling a lot more people will be looking at it with me joining up with Ladies and Jesters in Guild Wars. So, hi all! I recommend not reading my LJ. You really don't want to know. ;) Just group with me and be happy. :D Current Mood:  bouncy | | Sunday, April 3rd, 2005 | | 10:37 am |
ALT.com
Who would have thought there were so many single perverted woman in the KC metro? I'm signing up! | | 10:36 am |
| | Saturday, September 18th, 2004 | | 1:25 am |
How do you free people who want to be subjects?
Our Constituon has some fatal flaws. Slowly fatal to be sure, but we're getting there. The fundamental problem as I see it is the same problem there is with many laws, enforcement. Everything a free people needs is already guaranteed by the Constituon. The government cannot violate the Constituon by law but does it every day. The provisions and measures in the Constitution to combat this corruption have failed because the enforcement is required to be done by their peers, who don't wish to take action for fear of reprisal. This is the same reason these problems are so difficult to fix. The people in power have to return the power to the individual. That's asking for too much it seems once they've tasted it. The popular thing is to look out for yourself and your agenda. It's not popular to look out for the rights of the individual even though that's the best way to preserve the nation. As a democracy the government reflects the people. People are greedy, selfish and fearful and our government is spawned from that. Every member of government has directly or indirectly sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, but by not reining in their peers and striking down unconstitutional legislation they have failed in that duty. Not to mention all of the members who have actively fought to neuter it. By Constitutional law nearly ever member of the government on some level is illegally in power but we have no way to undo the damage. We have no way of making them correct the transgressions against the American people. People in power want more power. Giving freedoms back to others is against human nature it seems. The people are not trusted to rule over themselves. The idea behind our republic was to create a system of such freedom that it would never have to come to revolution again. But human nature continues to beat out reason and respect. I don't think we'll see open rebellion in our lifetimes, but I don't think it's unreasonable to think that things will get worse until our descendants are forced to fight back. Can we fix it without bloodshed? How do we correct a corrupt, self-empowering government who's members are constantly changing and can simply wash their hands of their transgressions when they leave office? How do you get these forces to return the power to the people? These are very difficult questions. The historical answer has always been "you can't". Eventually, it breaks down to tyranny, and you are left with no choice but to revolt. So, with no mechanism in the system for the people to call out the offenders and strike down their actions directly what recourse do we have? Violence is not the answer. It won't prove who's right. Only who's left. How do we enforce the Constituon when all of the checks and balances have balanced against those they were designed to protect? It should be as simple as pointing out the transgressions against the Constitution and the offending party resigns or reforms to preserve the sanctity of the individual's natural rights. The time when that was possible has long passed. Constitutionally, morally, ethically, logically, we, the citizens, are in the right, but forcing enough people in power to do the right thing is very difficult. The popular thing is easy. Many people don't want the individual responsibility that comes with being free. The right thing is hard. People don't like to do what's right. They like to do what's best for them. So, with no mechanism in the system to call out the offenders and strike down their actions what recourse do we have? Violence is not the answer. It won't prove who's right. Only who's left. How do we enforce the Constituon when all of the checks and balances have balanced against us? Can we create a new mechanism to force the Government to conform to it's original ideals or will it have to come down to open rebellion? What kinds of civil disobedience may work? How many people defying unconstitutional law together would it take before they would realize enforcement would be a larger fiasco than keeping their morsel of control? How do we get America back on the high road? I wish I had the answers. Current Mood:  cynical | | Sunday, May 30th, 2004 | | 1:29 pm |
Health update
Since quitting my desk job I've lost 12 lbs and 8% body fat according to the nifty scale I have. That comes out to about 17.5 lbs of fat I've lost meaning I've gained about 5.5 lbs of muscle. If I keep this up I'll be looking pretty good in no time flat. Current Mood:  cheerful | | Tuesday, May 11th, 2004 | | 1:44 am |
Round about way
In the last week I've been from southern North Carolina to southern Minnisotta and down to Iowa and may possibly hit New Jersy before getting back down to NC for a short break before going out for my last week with a trainer. Things seem to be gonig well. My trainer only had one complaint so far and it's something I can easily fix. As long as I don't get too cocky I should do real well and the money should be pretty good although the lifestyle doesn't leave much time at home or spare time in general for that matter. For me that's probably a good thing. Idle hands and all that. Anyway, hopefully Brent's plans will work out well because having only 2 days every 2 weeks to be at home makes it somewhat difficualt to do things like sell and move your belongings and home. If anyone misses me feel free to call. I'll probably be driving and not get your call but leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can. You might want to put in the message a good time to call back too. As soon as my laundry is dry I'm hitting the sack. Current Mood:  tired | | Friday, April 16th, 2004 | | 9:25 pm |
Hey, Schneider!
OK, I've been busy. Time to update folks. I quit my helpdesk job at Sprint and I'm climbing aboard with Schneider to become an over-the road trucker. I've completed the 1st part of training which lasted for 11 days and I'm back home for 48 hours before I have to head to Des Moines for the second stage. From there I'll be finding out how I'm getting to North Carolina to complete the last stage of training for another week before getting an on-the-road trainer. I'll be on the road with them straight out of NC for 2-3 weeks THEN I'll be home for at least 4 days (WOW!) until I get sent out with another newbie to share a truck until they're happy with our performance THEN I finally get cut loose on my own to make some decent money. Shits going to be tight. To maintain my sanity and communicate with friends and family I purchased a multi-purpose entertainment system. Better known as the Compaq R3140Z laptop. It's a bad mo-fo for $1600. Got it at Best Buy. They didn't even have one display yet. Althlon 64 3000+ CPU, nVidia mobile video chip, 15.4 wide aspect screen, 513 MB RAM, 60 GB HDD, DVD+RW CD-RW combo drive, wireless and 10/100 NICs plus a modem. Got a 12 volt converter so I can run it off the truck power and charge the battery in the truck. Performance should smoke my home PC even. A bit pricey but I figured if I'm going to spend around $1000 for something that would barely meet my requirements an extra $600 for something I'll really enjoy wasn't a bad deal. Besides, it's going to be tax deductable so that makes it OK right . . . ya I'm not buying that line either. Current Mood: excitedCurrent Music: Brento73 tunes drifting in from his room. | | Sunday, March 28th, 2004 | | 4:25 pm |
Painfully funny
Thanks to Kamicosmos for causing me stomach pain with this link: Trunk MonkeyDon't watch if you don't want people being distrubed by your laughter. Current Mood: jubilant | | Wednesday, March 24th, 2004 | | 9:52 am |
Social Security is killing my retirement fund
I got my Social Security statement. I currently have $37,000 or so dollars tied up in social security. If I hadn't had to pay all that in I would currently be debt free except for my home and have done significant home improvements AND have over an additional $10,000 of my home paid off saving me thousands of dollars a year in interest and letting me get a conventional, instead of an FHA loan. I could be putting all that extra money toward paying off my home and putting in solid investments of my choice. Apparently Social Security is designed to ensure that banks maximize their profit margins because it sure as hell isn't helping me retire any time soon. The damn government needs to get their hands out of my freaking pockets! I understand WHY Social Security was created and it didn't freaking work, except for the whole government issues identification card thing. It was a sneaky way to get that in. Anyway. I'm bitter. Current Mood: bitchy | | 7:18 am |
| | Tuesday, March 23rd, 2004 | | 11:43 pm |
Brief update
Um, let see. Just a couple of things. Changing my career to a long haul trucker for Schneider after their program was pointed out to me by Kamicosmos. I'm feeling good to be free of Sprint and it's political BS but I'm, of course, a bit nervous about taking on an entirely different career. I am looking forward to seeing more of the country and being a trucker was actually one of my "what I want to be when I grow up" choices when I was little and my Brother was REALLY into it. Unfortunately his driving record precludes him from holding ANY kind of CDL. Tearing apart the living room and redoing some stuff. It now has decent lighting and a ceiling fan, which isn't wired up quite yet and some new drywall to fix the holes Kamicosmos and I made trying to get rid of the stupid boards that were lag screwed to it. Still have patching to do and a lot of painting as well as the wiring. But, the world will be a better place for it. Well, at least my house will. So, my life is in chaos right now and I need to clean the house worse than ever. So, of course, I've been playing a lot of Battlefield: Vietnam. Won't be much of that on the road. Current Mood:  anxious | | Monday, March 1st, 2004 | | 1:40 pm |
| | Monday, February 23rd, 2004 | | 11:19 pm |
| | 7:10 pm |
Blatant 1st Amendment violation
An open letter to whom it may concern, which should be everyone with a vested interest in the USA. I sent this to all of my Federal representatives and to the White House. I thought it would take being disarmed before I saw the day when free speech was quenched with impunity in the once proud US of A but our decent into a police state it seems is already complete with the Supreme Court's support of the McCain-Feingold "Campaign finance reform" legislation. What the framers of the constitution feared the worst has come to pass. A group has been barred from criticizing incumbent politicians for their hateful and anti-constitutional views. The truth has been barred from being spoken. Not some offensive lyrics or hateful rhetoric. The truth is now illegal. The cycle of hate and bigotry now have no limit. With the support of this the Supreme Court as doomed the United States to it's untimely demise as totalitarian police state. Specifically groups attempting to preserve and restore our 2nd Amendment rights have been barred by a gag order silencing these groups 30 days before elections and 60 days before general elections. What weak voices they had amongst the throngs of bigots have been silenced at a time when people may actually be listening. This is the exact circumstances the 1st Amendment was created to prevent. As an honest and hard working American this sent chills down my spine. If domestic terrorists were upset enough about the state of the union before and were willing to bomb a Federal building because they felt their voices were no longer being heard, what kind of message does this send? Do I now have to fear patriots more than the Al-Queda? Neither of which I now fear as much as my own federal government after this disturbing move. We still are one of the most freedom loving nations in the world and will continue to be. I hope that our government reflects the wishes of the people, and not the extremists, and continues to value and support our freedom. Please, spread the word and do what you can to see this injustice undone. The future of our great nation depends on tragedies like this one not fading quickly from memory. I beg for your immediate and vocal action in this matter. Desperately, Burton R. Smith Current Mood: distressed |
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