Geek-a-Cycle(tm) - Fitness for the computer user.

There's the ticket!

Dead mousie to a commenter in this thread at Hog on Ice.

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-4

For whom will the day of the Lord arrive as a thief in the night?

The people (in general)? The bretheren?

Certainly not the latter! So when someone quotes to you verse 1 and says that "no one will know", remind them to read verse 4 to keep verse 1 in the proper context. For the bretheren, his coming will *not* be as a thief in the night.

His coming will, indeed, be as a thief in the night even to many for whom it *ought not be*, because so few care to discern the fulfillment of prophecy in current events.

One has to be aware in hindsight when reading these scripture passages, that the Lord's return did not happen in their day. These passages were written both to those who would not see the fulfillment of the prophecies, and to those who would. The command to be watchful for the events leading to the Day applied to both ancient believers and modern, full well knowing that the vast majority would not see these events fulfilled. Any interpretation of these scriptures has to be tempered with that knowledge.

But the commands to watch for these events stand nonetheless. And when they begin to be fulfilled, what shall we conclude? That we should be as the ancient believers, commanded to watch, but not knowing the day because they did not see the signs? Or seeing the signs, should we not conclude that our watching has not been in vain and the day of our Lord is imminent?

The believers of Jesus' day knew that the Messiah was in their midst, based upon the signs that they had been given to watch for. But the religious *leaders* missed it completely!

Daniel's vision was sealed up(1) for the latter days. The interpretation would not become clear until that time had arrived. But if that time has indeed arrived, should we conclude as generations before us did, that the vision is *still* sealed up?!

Really, people. You have *got* to challenge this "no one knows" mantra and take a closer look.

(1)9 He replied, "Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.

11 "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days. Daniel 12:9-11

OBOI!

Something about this brings to mind the "drying up of the Great River Euphrates..."

Well? It's too easy to take the most literal meaning of that passage. But the interpretation may be one level deeper. In prophetic literature, bodies of water represent people groups, and rivers specifically represent the strength and economic vitality of a people--their feck", if you will (I can cite the relevant passages if anyone is interested). I am suggesting that the "great river Euphrates" in Revelation represents the strength of the nation of Iraq.

The US invasion of Iraq broke the feck of the Baathist regime. Now we're busy trying to rebuild the nation in a democratic mold. But a joint Iranian-Turkish invasion of Kurdistan could well represent a more thorough "drying up of the river", than anything the US accomplished, since their motives are not to conquer and rebuild, but to crush the Kurdish resistance in their own countries by crushing their base in northern Iraq (Kurdistan).

Before you get too excited about this interpretation, realize there's another one, another level deeper. The Great River Euphrates could also be a symbol of the strength of Mystery Babylon, which in ancient times sat upon the Euphrates River. So...who knows.

Dead mousie to Bane.

Nightingale, sing us a song
Of a love that once belonged

Nightingale, tell me your tale
Was your journey far too long?

Does it seem like I'm looking for an answer
To a question I can't ask?

I once told a dear friend of mine that this life could never contain the height and breadth and depth of our dreams, we who are dreamers. That is why we hope in the promise of eternity, for all that this life denies us.

Lately I've been feeling that I must look very much like that poor tomcat I inadvertently trapped the other week. Eyes growing to the size of saucers as I exclaim "M-MrOOOW!" at what appears to be my impending doom. That's why my co-worker has a cover he tosses over the trap as soon as he has captured his designated quarry--what kitty can't see, kitty can't fear. Or "ignorance is bliss", in a nutshell.

Obviously I need to make some adjustments. I'm seeing that cliff heading my way, and my "natural" reaction is to try to head it off the best I can. Nothing wrong with that, so far as it goes. But I've also been taught that I am not to fear, and that perfect love casts out fear.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7)

That verse is pasted at the bottom of my monitor as a reminder. The peace he brings is beyond comprehending. It is "supernatural" and is separate from the circumstances I might find myself in, or that I may foresee myself being in. It is his gift in the midst of the fire.

What I've been reporting on may have some of you shaking your heads and clucking. And cluck you may well do, as I'm sure I come off sounding a bit of a looney. However for my part, I would rather have stared down and continue staring down the cliff with foreknowledge and with that knowledge step into Christ's peace, than to be taken unawares, in the dark, with no oil for my lamp.

Because no one who is a dreamer will find their fulfillment in this world in any case. There's too much of disappointment, too much of pain, too many times the dream is shattered on the hard rocks of reality, too many people who have been bent and twisted by the enemy, who delight in destroying all that is beautiful. And these are darkening times by any measure. We can strive, we can build and work and do, but we have to recognize that it is a chasing after the wind, a vanity that will always fall short of the measure of the reality of the passion in our mind and heart.

Can peace be bought at any price? How much gold would it take to buy a man true contentment in this world?

Any sum? I don't think so. I really don't. But it *has* been purchased for us already, and the price was measured not in gold, but in blood.

Rather than despair, those of us who have this hope can lift our eyes one level further, and see that gate on the far side of the valley. We know of what awaits us there only by the word of the one who has given us the key to enter therein. But in the midst of a world that fails our expectations, it is a hope that can lead us on. And in a darkening land, "yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Death, I. Will. Fear. No. Evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemy. My cup runneth over... Surely, surely your goodness and your mercy will follow me all the days of my life and then! Then I will dwell in Your house, oh...Lord, for-ever!"

Be it so. Amen.

P.S. And thank you ma'am, again, for that song. It has become a touchstone of sorts for me, that helps me remember certain things.

Deepening Gap Between Muslim World and West

Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, said that the gap between the Muslim world and the West has increased significantly.

Solana, who attended the conference organized by former U.S. President Bill Clinton to address the most urgent global problems, expressed his concern about the increasingly deepening gap between the Islamic world and the West.

Solana further said: "The divide that persists in the world is more profound than we think, and we better be aware of that. It's not getting smaller, but growing."

He also warned listeners that Muslims should not be provoked, even for the sake of free speech and open thought.

Noting that governments could take action to prevent the divide from growing further, Solana stressed that this might not be enough, and civil society elements should assume a role to establish ties between the civilizations."

By force if necessary, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, right of free association be damned. Google "Alliance of Civilizations" and see what you find out about the goals of this ambitious project.

This could be the rise of the beast from the earth. Religious authority tied to secular authority. The third leg of the unholy trinity--the dragon, the beast from the sea, and the beast from the earth.

And what's worse, Herb sees in the news coming out of this conference that this may be the vehicle for Recommendation 666 going global. More here and here

After a weekend on the "farm" I came home to attend a concert put on by the Tucson Jazz Society, the Lao Tizer Band. I guess the city is good for some things. Not many, but admittedly some.

Click on the link--he's got some great samples of his music streaming if you have Flash installed in your browser. Billed as the next generation of Smooth Jazz artists, he and his band certainly have what it takes to make their place among the greats. In addition to the typical lineup of keyboard, lead guitar, bass guitar, drummer, he's got an incredibly talented percussionist/saxophonist/flutist/background vocalist on the band in the person of Steve Nieves.

They've just released a new CD, which you can also purchase through their site. I have to say this, the venue (an outdoor courtyard) did not do justice to their sound. I'm listening to their licks on the web as I type this, and I'm thinking, "so *that's* how it was supposed to sound!" I didn't buy a CD last night, but hearing their studio quality sound, I'm tempted to do so now.

Wendy has captured it, um..."beautifully" here:
Chromed Curses--I was the Super in the Supercenter

I mean, don't get me wrong. I *love* the concept of WalMart, and the anti-Walmart Nazis can just suck it.

But...I have grave difficulty actually shopping there myself.

I'm guest blogging (together with some other fine folks) at What Now, Murphy?

I'll probably be doing some cross-posting from here, but check out the rest. It'd be nice if she gets at least a small traffic bump to show for it.

The Jewish festival of Rosh Ha'shana (The Festival of Trumpets) starts at sundown today. Some people believe that, for the historical pattern of the festivals to be completed, the rapture is supposed to occur on Rosh Ha'shanah. Which year is, of course, another question.

But if the pre-tribulation rapture camp is correct, and Herb Peters is correct about the recent events in the Middle East and more particularly in the European Union and the 10 nation Western European Union, then this weekend would be the logical time.

Given what I know now, I think the mid-tribulation (or possibly even post-tribulation) interpretation makes a lot of sense. That would put the date off for a few more years.

However...


If I should be absent from this blog for more than a few days, *and* if there should happen to be rumors flying that a whole lot of other people have gone missing, well...

You may be able to find some answers at the following sites:

Herb Peter's Fulfilled Prophecy site
Constance Cumbey
Anna's Xanga site
And of course the Holy Bible.

I plan to be inblognito from this evening through Sunday anyway. I'll be out working on and enjoying my little slice of paradise.

And if I really am gone? Well it's a better paradise I've found and I will return when Kingdom Come. And it is not too late for those of you left behind. If you place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ now, you will be saved.

Don't trust the religious leaders of *any* faith (including "Christian") that remain. There is a reason they were left behind. There is a new worldwide false religion even now being birthed, and will be led by the purportedly "moderate" elements of all the major religions.

Expect to see all manner of amazing things. The 12th Imam, false messiahs, the Jewish temple rebuilt next to the Dome of the Rock, signs and wonders, etc., etc., deceptions and illusions all.

Search the bible, especially the New Testament for the truth. Those who hold fast to the truth will be ostracized and persecuted. You will quite possibly suffer martyrdom at the hands of the Antichrist and his allies, but that is better than the alternative.

Don't let them RFID chip you, whatever you do! That is the mark of the beast, and while it may deceptively seem to provide you with temporary comfort and security, it is a death sentence. Better to suffer some privation now, than to lose everything *and* your eternal hope in the end.

Nonetheless, I expect to be back Monday.

Enough looney-talk! Get me out of here!

...dancin' a li'l jiggy!

I recently signed up for an options trading newsletter. Using the first "suggestion", today I sold a credit call spread on the SPX...and was filled *above* my limit order, and well above where the market supposedly is for that spread! Woo!

My broker participates in a "spread book" options exchange that sometimes gets better trades than the market--I don't fully understand how it works, but I can't complain.

Basically I am assuming risk by selling an option spread. Until the option expiration next month, my profits are not assured, and the risk of loss is still present. The track record for this newsletter is quite good, so we'll see how things go.

In other news, I got a call from the County. My Native Plant Preservation Plan is approved, and thus the way is paved for me to get my grading permit for the lot. I plan to go downtown tomorrow, **cough** up my dough, and get the permit. That wasn't too bad after all, except for that unexpected impact fee. We still need to go through the state and county permitting and inspection process, once we have contractors lined up.

I'll be back down there this weekend to do more preparation work, and I have to get my plumbing plan finished this week so we can get bids from contractors.

Update: Spoke too soon. I don't pay the fee (or get the permit) until the septic design is reviewed and approved. Rats. Quotes for that are waiting on my plumbing design.

"There exists a law, not written down anywhere, but inborn in our hearts; a law which comes to us not by training or custom or reading; a law which has come to us not from theory but from practice, not by instruction but by natural intuition. I refer to the law which lays it down that, if our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right." - Marcus Tulius Cicero (106-53 BC)

And the closer "the law" resembles this law, the better off we will all be.

"When only cops have guns, it's called a 'police state.'" -- Robert A. Heinlein

What to do if a nuclear disaster is imminent. Print this out now, and put it with your preparedness materials. Yes, a nuclear disaster *is* survivable for the vast majority of the population, but only if steps are taken and accurate knowledge is disseminated ahead of time. This country has dismantled its nuclear civil defense network. It is now up to you individually to prepare.

KI-4-U, NukAlert radiation monitor, Potassium Iodide tablets, dosimeters, preparedness library and more!

The Internet Grocer, a great source of long-term storage foods. Package of high quality food for a family of four for a year at a cost of about $16 per person per week! Real, tasty food, not MRE's.

Peparedness/survival kits.

I'll add more stuff as I come across it. If you've found something particularly relevant to disaster preparedness, drop a note and I'll maybe add it also.

If this becomes a significant list, I may make this post into a permanent sidebar link.

Remember Katrina people! Your government is *not* going to take care of you, at least not in the early days after a disaster. You *need* to make plans and take steps of preparation for yourself and your own family. After that, it doesn't hurt to work out contingency plans with your neighbors. Just don't let on that yours is the house to raid when all hell breaks loose.

Ok, *this* just bumped up my personal alert level to high orange!
Northeast Intelligence Network

Since we published that report, confidential sources in law enforcement positions have privately confirmed to the Northeast Intelligence Network that a "disturbing trend" is being reported on both of our borders -- a pattern that is consistent with a potential nuclear attack scenario against the US. According to these sources, a "significant and alarming number" of illegal aliens attempting entry into the US, caught by border patrol agents, have been found to be carrying Potassium Iodide tablets, which are used to protect against exposure to radiation in emergency situations.
According to our sources, the illegal aliens who have been caught have been described as OTMs (other-than Mexicans), and consist primarily of Chinese and Iranian nationals on our southern border, and Asians and others from a variety of Middle Eastern countries at the US-Canadian border. Law enforcement sources providing this information to the Northeast Intelligence Network agreed that this is "a very recent phenomena," but one that has increased to "alarming levels" and is of particular concern to government officials.

Breathe.

Breathe.

I've got certain things in place, time to kick stocking up into high gear.

more here and here

UPDATE: It's just for water purification. Nothing to see here. Move along.

When the bills come due and it is time for payback, remember this picture

Prophecy students: Wondering what would draw China to Armageddon? Look no further--they're already on site, and looking to beef up their forces!

China to increase peacekeeping force in Lebanon | Jerusalem Post: "China is very concerned about the situation in Lebanon and hopes it can be fundamentally resolved,"

Oh, but "no one knows! No one knows!"

Right.

Peaceful Valley,
Time stands still.
The sun wheels, slowly,
Through blue dome of sky.

Roots sinking deep
Earth, river, hills.
The day gone? Alas!
Away I must fly.

Labels: San Pedro homestead

I didn't forget. I'm just remarkably lousy at remembering to buy a card.

...and everyone/everything else, Rodger has got it right.

Feelings,
Nothing more than feelings,
trying to forget my
Feelings of luuv.

Feelings!
Woe-woe-woe feelings,
woe-woe-woe, feel you
Again in my arms.

But men don't really have feelings, do they?

No no really! Men may say they have feelings, but it is all a cynical ploy to manipulate women, isn't it? Or so I've been told.

See, women say they want men to share their feelings. But anyone else notice that when you express how you feel about something and it is different from how she feels about it, then all hell breaks loose?

It makes me wonder who is trying to manipulate whom.

Feelings make a great tool of tyranny. All you need to do is work up a 'Fee-eling' and how dare anyone challenge you? Your 'Fee-eling' on the matter is the beginning and the end of the equation. Any subsequent discussion of the Facts, or logical rational thought is ***unconscionable invalidation***, and proof of men's idiocy!

"You. Are such. An IDIOT!"

If your thoughts and feelings and musings make *her* feel a certain way, well buster, there's HELL to pay!

No, men are not "idiots". In general, men don't let themselves be ruled by their emotions. Emotions are, at best, a general indicator of a person's subjective response to objective reality. It is up to each person to evaluate what they are feeling and determine whether it is objectively valid, or whether it is fueled either in part or wholly by internal factors.

Perhaps when we men appear so "CLUELESS" it is because we are expecting you to do just that.

It's bad enough my brain gets borrowed so much around here. I'm not going to be the one to sort through and make sense of someone else's irrational rage.

Three postulates I will state, and you can excoriate me in the comments if you disagree:

1) Emotions do not present an objective picture of reality. Emotions are a reflection of reality in the mirror of one's internal emotional being. And everyone's internal mirror is different--colored and shaped by past experience and past reactions to experiences, as well as present neurological and biological factors.

2) No one can directly *make* another person feel a specific emotion. Everyone is ultimately responsible for their own emotions, and any actions they take in response to those emotions.

3) It is possible (yes it is!) to clear up much cloudiness in one's internal emotional mirror through the application of **rational thought**. Ideally in the long run, one ought to work with a counselor to clarify those cloudy or distorted areas. But in the short term, rational thinking can act as corrective lenses to compensate. But first, one must divorce themselves of the notion that what one Fee-eels IS what IS. It is not.

This isn't just theoretical to me. I know firsthand that feelings can be dangerously deceptive. Neurobiological issues can occasionally muddy the waters. I don't trust my emotions as an *objective* measure of anything. They represent what is going on inside me, and that is all. And sometimes they are the crazy aunt in the attic--a little bit disturbing, but best ignored until they're over with their little episode.

Is this about supressing one's feelings? Burying them and pretending they don't exist? No. It is about making sure they occupy the appropriate place, and are not ruling in place of sober reflection and thought.

Sometimes acting in response to one's feelings can be a drag to forward progress. A coward is ruled by his or her feelings. Courage is not a lack of fear, but resolve to act in the face of overwhelming fear. And a resolve to act appropriately despite one's feelings is a sign of maturity.

Yes, it's doghouse days again. BFD. I'm not going to be bullied.

Housekeeping Monthly

A man can dream...


Update: This isn't about you dearest. You cooked a couple of nice dinners this week, for which I thanked you, and thank you again in this public forum.

The modern reality is that it takes two incomes to live as one income did fifty years ago, and what was (if it ever was) is pretty much a pipe dream.

Though it doesn't hurt to remember that men have needs too.

...but definitely NSFW*. A li'l refreshing fantasy in the midst of all this reality.


*"Not Safe For Work", or the excessively uptight, or the weak of conscience. Don't ask don't tell, hit "Back" now!

Just when you think you're on the horse and ready to ride, he bucks.

It's looking pretty good from the County Development Services perspective. I have my reconfigured riparian area on the lot approved by Flood Control. I shelled out my $500 (*cough*cough*) for the air quality permit (to clear a portion of the land). I submitted my "Native Plant Preservation Plan" (an enviro-wacko wet dream, this ordinance), and once approved in a couple of weeks (I don't doubt, I was careful), I will be good to go for the grading permit. Next step is to hire a firm to design a septic system to submit for review.

However...

I learned today that I will owe a $4,400.00 county transportation impact fee to get my permit (*COUGH**re-e-e-eTCH!*HACK*COUGH*COUGH*COUGH!!)

Fkuc! That's on top of all the usual permit and inspection fees (from a few tens of dollars to a couple hundred each)!

And it turns out the county is not the only entity involved in permitting and inspections. Nice of them to wait so long before someone tells me this! Because it is a mobile home, the lion's share of the utility and mobile setup work is inspected by the state, with a portion of it inspected by the county. Also the power company gets it's fingers into the mix and does their own inspection of the electrical work. So I trundled down to the State Building to find out what fresh meat grinders they have in store for me.

Of course the property is an hour and a half out of town, so being on site during the week for all these inspections is out of the question. The best I can hope for is those inspections that are not attended by a contractor can be attended by my parents, and they can take notes as to what needs to be addressed to pass inspection. It's their mobile home after all.

Who would think it would take a whole milk crate's worth of files just to set a mobile home on a lot?

Labels: San Pedro homestead

...had one for the last three days.

My first line of counterattack is Excedrin and/or Sudafed, plus caffeine. When that fails, I have a prescription to Imitrex as a fallback defense. It is expensive though, and I only get so many per month from my insurance. When it works, it works most wonderfully. Within twenty minutes my cracking skull relaxes as I chill out and loosen the headsprings.

But all of my usual arsenal has been failing me this time, even the Imitrex. Because I am not at work tomorrow (round two of the County meatgrinder), I pulled out my tiny pinch of herbal medicine I keep for times like this.

I'm listening to "Dimensions in Jazz" on my computer, feeling fine, and I do believe my headache has finally abated.

What's a crime is that this isn't available in pharmacies or over the counter. No profit for Big Pharma, I suppose. And it just doesn't fit the agenda the ruling elite have for this country. Nor the terminally uptight who have been led to hate.

When Kingdom come, when His will is done on earth, when this hate is put away, something tells me there are going to be a whole lot of suprised Pharisees.

...featuring the Mangy Varmint amongst others: Silent Western

Ha! Gotta laugh. I'm not that heavy an asterisk user however. Well ok, but not where people normally hear me...

The Perp.

I want it and I want to eat it.
But that appears to be impossible at the moment.

Now that I have 5 acres, of which about two acres I plan to convert to orchards and vineyards and gardens, plus innumerable projects that involve trenching, earthmoving, etc., I have need of a machine that can do the work for me. I've had my eyes on the machines built by this company for, oh thirty years or so. Equipped with a dozer blade, a front end loader, a backhoe, a three-point hitch and several three-point hitch implements, this could do nearly everything I can conceive of needing such a machine to do.

I mean a regular small farm tractor or large garden tractor could do some of it. A Bobcat could do some more of it, and a small backhoe could do the rest. But that's three separate machines.

I've got the cake, and I could get what I want if I'm willing to eat it. It was part of the plan when I laid out the plans for this property.

But I've also got an investment opportunity that could return me around 5% per month with a carefully delineated downside risk. Good golly Miss Molly, I could retire in a couple of years if I let that run! But not if I eat my cake, only if I invest it.

Some form of investment of some of the excess proceeds from the recent transactions was also part of the plan. The trouble is, the excess proceeds aren't quite enough to do *both*, only one or the other.

Ooooh!!! Deferred gratification is the pits.

I had two blogposts in my head while I was getting ready for work this morning. I thought to myself that I'd be sure to remember them when I had a chance later in the morning to write them.

Gone.

Lost.

I'm too young for CRS.

So Daisycat tells me this is our life. And I'm supposed to tell y'all that.

Too "out there" in thoughts and feelings to post much today.

I took a long lunch to drive across town to pick up a surety bond that I need to get a title for the old travel trailer. Cursing the NIMBY's and kneejerk liberals at every stoplight for the fact that we have no crosstown freeway.

*No* crosstown freeway, no expressway, no parkway--just mile after mile after mile of stop and go traffic, strip malls and elderly drivers with all day to get where they're going.

Turns out my grading plans have been sitting down at the County, ready to pick up since Monday. No one bothered to call me as they said they would.

Lovely. Not surprised, but no less irked.

And then I was essentially accused of being too STUPID to know whether or not I had actually left a voice message on my "dear" spouse's cellphone. That puts a rather heavy damper on my enthusiasm for the home front.

Maybe I should just go straight to a bar and stay there until closing.

Maybe time for some nuclear therapy.

Update: ah yes, nothing like a little atomic footage to put me back in a right frame of mind. Now I'm off to play a few rounds of Unreal Tournament to finish the evening.

The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. Rev 9:17

You mean like this?



This is the Eurofor flag.

Billed as "a peace force for Europe", it is in fact the military force of the Western European Union, the ten nation military alliance within the EU.

13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns[b] of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.

17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury. Rev 9:13-19 NIV

Mm. I've often wondered what forces these were, and I've always searched for a national flag that displayed these colors. I should have known to look for banners specific to the beast's multinational kingdom.

BTW you may note that the background doesn't quite match the description--it is medium blue instead of dark blue. However you may also note that the WEU flag has a dark blue background. I expect to see a final iteration of this Eurofor flag that will include the darker background of the WEU, and that ditches the olive branch.

more

crazy rabbit (c) Andrius Kirvela

Fun and funny. You *can* shake him loose from the "carrot" if you try hard enough.

Ok, I'm trying not to aspirate my spittle here...
Twenty Major - still smoking in Dublin bars.: Two many broken hearts...

English tourist dies in Ireland. He is taken to Beaumont hospital where an autopsy is carried out. His heart and lungs are removed as per procedure. He is then sent back to England where another autopsy is carried out as is the norm when a British citizen dies abroad.

They remove his heart and lungs as per procedure. Then they remove his other heart and lungs as per proced... erm... wait a minute.

It seems the people in Beaumont hospital decided to use this man as a disposal unit. They put somebody else's heart and lungs into a plastic bag then lashed them inside the dead English bloke, stitched him up and sent him on his way.

Surely the most inventive way of avoiding the bin charges I have ever heard.

If they'd been really creative they'd have created some kind of a jack in the box type device so that when the English pathologist made the Y shaped incision it would pop up and have a little sign saying 'Hello from Dublin!!!'."

From the comments:

Loco Lobo | 09.04.06 - 3:18 pm | #
Ah -- the blessings of socialized medicine, or was the autopsy performed in Ron's Pub? What a row it would have raised had the drunken shits who did this threw in an asshole or two, a pair of old balls, a shoe and a vagina.
Great story line for a show like CSI.

If you're not reading Twenty, why not? The endorphins are great!

Call Rome 060606
One number, a whole city

Why, how very convenient that the seat of the old Roman Empire should have chosen that number for it's citywide information line.

From Herb

Right. I wish.

Chipping away at my enormous list of things to do day, actually.

Two feral kittens moved into our backyard over the last couple of weeks, one gray and one black. The black one appeared to have a bad eye infection, so I borrowed a cat trap from a friend and snagged him. Daisycat brought him to a vet. The vet said it was an ulcer from a herpes virus in his eye, together with a secondary bacterial infection. The virus can't be treated, but the bacterial infection could. He prescribed liquid antibiotic and eye ointment.

Lovely.

So catch, treat and release was out. After fussing over where and how, we settled on housing him in Daisycat's room at least until the round of antibiotics is complete. I tend to be in favor of keeping closer tabs on him until we can see whether his eye will heal, or whether he ends up losing it. Because if the ulcer doesn't begin to heal too, I suspect he'll still be at risk of having his eye get reinfected with bacteria.

I ended up catching his little buddy too. But I released li'l gray tiger into my enclosed sideyard, thinking I'd keep him confined there until his friend came back from the vet. Unfortunately I didn't count on how skinny he was, and he promptly slipped through the gate and took off. Now he's become way too wary of the trap.

Rats.

The two really stuck close together. I feel bad that they're separated now. I'm still trying to catch him, but he's completely ignoring the juicy canned food in the trap and going for the dry cat food in my workshop. I did manage to catch another feral cat that lives in the vacant lot across the street.

"Oops. Sorry bub. Didn't mean to get you all shook up."

This little tyke we're treating isn't quite as feral as his brother, fortunately. He hisses and carries on when I reach for him, but he's never bitten or clawed me and once I have him he burrows into my shirt to try to hide. He's pretty good about taking the medicine too.

One of my tasks tomorrow is to clean up my workshop. It's a hurricane zone at present, and that's compounded by the fact that our outdoor cats hang out there. And they are outdoor boys precisely because they are the ones who seem to need to spray everything. Unfortunately that includes my workshop. The reason the workshop is open to the cats is first to keep the food out of the rain, and second to keep it in a place I can effectively treat for harvester ants. A big bowl of cat food plus ants is not cat food. The final solution is for me to build a weatherproof, ant-proof cat feeder and close up my workshop to the cats. There's plenty of hidey-holes in the yard for them to take shelter in during the rain, so that's not really an issue.

Maybe Layabout Day should be the day I start on that project.

The Shadow Party by Jamie Glazov

"The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States." George Soros

McCain has contributed mightily to the schemes of this man through McCain-Feingold.

Never forget it.

Oh, and as we are approaching that "60 days before a general election" point, where we are instructed by law to shut up or face prosecution, you can expect to see more "campaigning" against Senator McCain on this page. I hoist my mighty middle finger to you, Senator Traitor!

Truly a wolf in sheep's clothing like few others.

Soda Club



I used to drink large quantities of sugar or artificially sweetened soda. Lately I've switched to drinking primarily sparkling water with some soda thrown in for interest. But I'm always running out of sparkling water, and the local convenience stores don't carry it. I'm always pestering Daisycat to pick up more "fizzwattah" when she stops at the grocery store.

So this product caught my eye and quickly gained her approval for purchase. It arrived yesterday and I set it up today. It works like a charm, and makes the fizziest sparkling water I've ever drunk! But it is fully controllable how much fizz the final product has.

In addition to sparkling water there is a wide variety of soda flavors that can be added to the bottle after the sparkling water is produced. The kit came with an array of samples which I haven't tried yet.

In addition to the convenience factor, the cost of producing sparkling water on demand is about *half* of what it costs to buy it in two liter bottles of store-brand, if the machine and the bottles are considered a sunk cost. The only cost for ongoing use is the CO2 in bottles that are exchanged for new fresh ones via UPS. With the shipping cost added in it costs about 20 cents a liter. And the machine itself isn't outrageously priced either. I got the expanded starter kit which included the machine, three carbonator bottles of CO2, four one liter drink bottles, and a sample pack of soda flavors for about $160. That's enough to make 330 liters of sparkling water at an initial cost of just under 50 cents a liter. *Still* competitive with store bought!

I already make my own reverse osmosis filtered water under the sink, and I have that water supply hooked up to the chilled water dispenser on my fridge. So the process is a snap. Fill the bottle with water from the fridge, insert in the carbonator, **spooge** the CO2 in, and enjoy!

I think we'll be loving this!

Check it out