Tourists in Bisbee

Today’s big adventure was a visit to the picturesque copper mining town turned gigantic antique mecca of Bisbee.

We traipsed up and down the hilly streets peering into shop windows. Many of the shops were closed, including one with an “open” sign on the door and egg separators in the window, one of which would have surely gone home with Maria if the shop had been attended.

We also paused for ice cream (see photo).

Morgan emerged from a public restroom with toilet paper stuck to her shoe (see other photo).

On the way over, we realized that mountains in the near distance were in Mexico, because we were within 10 miles of the border.

The Hyundai Accent (which I’m sure some people call “Accident”) we’ve rented from Enterprise is hideously underpowered, especially with three adults aboard. If the passenger in the back seat shifts quickly, the car lurches violently to one side or the other. On the plus side, it has a splendid air conditioning system, which is extremely useful in this climate, and sound system AUX and USB plugs for iPods, and a cavernous trunk that swallowed all of our luggage and begged for more. On the minus side, it has crank-up windows, no cruise control and manual door locks.

My Garmin Nuvi 200W is a huge asset when it comes to getting around in a strange town. It led me to the Spur Western apparel store for my new hat, to Walmart for a cheap Winchester multi-tool to see me through a week without my trusty Swiss Army knife, a pair of khaki cargo pants, some nail clippers, and potato chips, and to Morgan’s future father-in-law’s office for coffee and conversation.

An eclectic shop in Bisbee. If I weren’t so lazy, I would have cloned out the powerline that mars an otherwise OK photo.

All hat and no cows

I went shopping this morning while Maria and Morgan made wedding bouquets.

I failed to pack enough pants and am on a quest for a sufficiently provocative Arizona t-shirt, plus Maria needed some Static Guard to keep her protected from static electricity in this low humidity environment.

Now, we’re off to Bisbee to do some sightseeing.

And I found a Western wear shop and this stylish $26 straw hat.

Goooooooooooobertown

We brought Morgan’s fiancee Andrew a Goobertown t-shirt in our effort to spread Arkansan culture wherever we go.

Together again

We’ve arrived in lovely Sierra Vista.

Fixin’ to fly

I’m watching the Early Show on CBS and Harry Smith is clearly out of his depth interviewing a drag racer whose car exploded in flames.

The guy walked away from it because he knew what to do and because the onboard fire control system worked. Anyone who knows about drag racing knows it looks way worse than it was. But, of course, the Early Show producers and witless Harry Smith were stuck in the “gee whiz, miraculous escape from certain death” perception. Consequently, Harry comes across as a complete moron. But then he is a complete moron.

Their musical guest this morning is Jewel, who still hasn’t got her teeth fixed.

We’re hanging out at the Little Rock National Airport (notice “national” and not “international”) waiting for our flight to DFW to board in about two hours. We have a bit of a layover and then fly on to TUS (Tucson) where we pick up a rental car and motor on down to Morgan and Andrew’s place in Sierra Vista.

Considering all of the camera and other electronic junk in our carry-ons, getting through security was surprisingly easy. I startled the TSA guys by thanking them for what they do.

New tires for the K1200GT

Charlie Parsons and I spent about five sweaty hours cursing and puzzling yesterday but eventually managed to remove my worn-out Metzelers and replace them with new Michelin dual composition Pilot Power 2 tires.

I printed out the pages of my K1200RS service manual that pertain to wheel removal while I was waiting for Charlie to arrive yesterday morning to pick up the Michelins from our garage. By the time he arrived, I was sufficiently intimidated to suggest we just let a dealer do it. He looked over the instructions and decided it was worth a try. Turns out he was right.

It was Charlie’s first serious project with the No Mar tire changing equipment he bought at the 2008 BMW MOA rally in Gillette, Wyo., so we spent some time watching the instructional DVD, some sections multiple times. The rear tires were a bear to get off and on but we prevailed. Mostly Charlie prevailed with me helping, since it was his shop.

The front tire change was complicated by the fact that my K1200GT rests on its front wheel when on the centerstand. We solved the problem by having me sit far back on the passenger seat, levering the front end up while Charlie removed the wheel and put a big log, supported by an aluminum case, under it to hold the bike up.

I took the bike for a 5-mile test ride on the new tires and was dazzled by how much better the bike handles. Of course going from a clapped-out set of Metzelers with 11,650 miles on them to a brand new set of Michelins should be an impressive change. It was like going from squared-off car tires to round-surface motorcycle tires. They’ll have to wait until we get back from Arizona to get scrubbed in, but I think I’m going to enjoy them.

And the price was right - $221.98. Free shipping and free do-it-yourself mounting and balancing. That’s less than half what I paid for the Metzelers two years ago at the Colorado Springs BMW dealership. I am thoroughly impressed with the deals at Motorcycle Superstore online.

Charlie came over later for beer and brats, but he and I were both wiped out from the day’s exertions in the hot garage. I dozed in front of the TV for about an hour after he left, then went to bed about 9:30 p.m.

Charlie was up early this morning. When I opened the garage door, I found his pressure washer – delivered as promised. So now we’re going to blast away the dirt and wasp nests from the front and back porches.

Insufficient data

 

This note turned up today on the community bulletin board of the Brookland, Ark., post office.

Unfortunately, there’s no clue as to when and where this lunch or dinner is to be found. It’s not attached to or near any restaurant or church flyer. Just hanging there by itself.

One more Arkansas mystery.

At last, someone is asking us!

Here’s your chance to tell someone in Congress what programs you think should be scrapped from the bloated Federal budget.

Here’s how GOP Whip Eric Cantor explains it:

YouCut – a first-of-its-kind project - is designed to defeat the permissive culture of runaway spending in Congress. It allows you to vote, both online and on your cell phone, on spending cuts that you want to see the House enact. America is at a crossroads and the choices we make at this critical time will determine what kind of country we want to be. To get back on the right path, Congress must start to make some choices that simply can't be delayed any longer. While we won't be able to solve our deficit problems overnight or with one silver bullet, we can and we must begin to replace the culture of spending that now dominates Washington with a culture of savings. Just imagine if your government was as focused on saving money as it is on spending money.

Here are today’s choices:

1. Byrd Honors Scholarships
   $42 Million in Savings in the First Year
   ($420 Million Over Ten Years)
   The Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarships program provides grants to States to provide $1,500 a year scholarships for up to four years to high-performing high school students entering an undergraduate course of study. The Obama Administration proposed terminating this program in their annual budget, stating "Byrd Scholarships are only available to a small number of elite students (around 0.3 percent of first-time postsecondary students receive the scholarship), and States are prohibited from considering financial need when awarding the scholarships. Reliable performance data are not available, and the design of the program suggests these scholarships do not generally facilitate postsecondary education opportunities that would not otherwise be possible for awardees. Given the high academic performance of the students who receive the award, many of these students would still enter an undergraduate course of study and graduate even without receiving the scholarship."
2. Eliminate the Proposed Federal Employee Pay Raise
   Approximately $2 Billion in the First Year
   (Approximately $30 Billion Over Ten Years)
   As part of his budget, President Obama proposed providing federal civilian employees with a 1.4% pay raise next year. This year Federal employees received a 2% raise and since the year 2000 have received raises averaging 3.6% a year. USA Today recently reported that the typical federal worker is paid 20% more than a private-sector worker in the same occupation (median salary). This doesn’t include the value of benefits like health care and retirement. This proposal would expand upon the just enacted legislation to prevent Members of Congress from receiving a pay raise. This proposal would not impact the scheduled 1.4% pay raise for those in the military.
3. Suspend Federal Land Purchases
   $266 Million in Savings in the First Year
   ($2.66 Billion Over Ten Years)
   Last year Congress spent $266 million acquiring additional federal lands at the Departments of Interior and Agriculture. This is a 138% increase over the comparable amount of funding just four years ago. Given that the federal government already owns 29% of the land in America and has a multi-billion dollar maintenance backlog to maintain current land holdings, suspending new federal land purchases for five years would permit the government to focus on maintaining existing property while also saving taxpayers millions of dollars a year.
4. Terminate Funding for UNESCO
   $81 Million in Savings in the First Year
   ($810 Million Over Ten Years)
   Last year the administration proposed deleting the Department of Education’s attaché to UNESCO saving approximately $632,000 a year. Terminating U.S. support for UNESCO entirely would save taxpayers $81 million annually. The U.S. had not supported UNESCO for 19 years prior to the decision by the Bush Administration to rejoin in 2003. UNESCO routinely undertakes activities that are properly the responsibility of individual countries and their governments, including reviewing and making recommendations in areas related to education, arts, culture, ethics, science and technology, and historic preservation. UNESCO recently came under fire for their proposed International Guidelines for Sexuality Education. Membership provides little benefit to American taxpayers in light of the overall cost.
5. Eliminate Mohair Subsidies
   Approximately $1 Million in Savings in the First Year
   ($10 Million Over Ten Years)
   Federal price support for mohair was first enacted in 1947. The National Wool Act of 1954 established direct payments for wool and mohair producers. The purpose of the program was to encourage production of wool because it was considered an essential and strategic commodity. According to the Congressional Research Service, no similar purpose was stated for the mohair program. While this program was phased out in 1995, ad hoc payments were provided in 1999 and 2000 and the program was reinstituted in 2002. Eliminating this program once again would save taxpayers approximately $1 million a year. (Also proposed as part of the RSC Sunset Caucus.)

Tina’s back at the Journal Review

I was pleased today to hear that Tina McGrady has been hired as managing editor of the Crawfordsville (Ind.) Journal Review.

It was Tina who hired Maria away from The Indianapolis Star and Maria replaced her as managing editor of the Journal Review when Tina left a few years later. Tina worked at the Danville, Ill., paper and her return to the Journal Review is great news for the community and everyone but the competing local paper. I expect she will prove to be their worst nightmare.

It’s not a siphon, you morons!

If I hear one more TV twit say BP is siphoning up the oil escaping from its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, my head may explode.

These ignorant jackasses apparently have no idea of what a siphon is and how it works.

Here’s how Dictionary.com defines siphon: A tube or conduit bent into legs of unequal length, for use in drawing a liquid from one container into another on a lower level by placing the shorter leg into the container above and the longer leg into the one below, the liquid being forced up the shorter leg and into the longer one by the pressure of the atmosphere.

You cannot siphon from a lower level to a higher level, like from a wellhead a mile below the surface to a tanker on the surface. That’s not siphoning, that’s pumping.

To illustrate, if you can suck a fluid to a point lower than its intake, then gravity and atmospheric pressure take over and will continue the flow.

In most cases, these are the same people who think “decimate” is synonymous with “devastate.” To decimate is to reduce by one-tenth. When the Romans had to severely discipline one of their legions, they’d line everyone up and call out every 10th man and kill him. They called it decimating from the Latin word decem or ten.

Good news

I finally got around to trying on my black suit this morning - the one I need to wear for my stepdaughter Morgan’s wedding a week from Sunday. I haven’t worn it since we moved to Arkansas nearly three years ago. I think the last time I wore it was for Morgan’s graduation from I.U. in the spring of 2007.

I was concerned that it might have shrunk hanging in the closet all those years like many articles of clothing do. In which case, I’d have to hustle over to Joseph A. Banks Clothiers at the mall and lay out some serious money for a new suit and hope that they could make any alterations quickly.

But, wonder of wonders, it fits. Now all I have to do is find a good dry cleaning establishment because there is a big stripe of dust where the pants draped over a hanger and more dust on the jacket shoulders.

Here’s your chance to know something Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano don’t know

The full text of the new Arizona immigration law.

No ambiguity here

I can’t control it

I have no control over those little thumbnail ads that Google AdSense sticks below the top blogposts. I noticed one this morning for Arkansas Atty. Gen. Bill Halter, who now faces Sen. Blanche Lincoln in a Democrat runnoff primary three weeks hence. I’m not interested in promoting either of them, but I’m stuck with mixed messages thanks to Google.

That said, go ahead and click on the stupid things. I get a penny or two for every click.

Lying weasel

Fred Thompson, speaking on Fox and Friends this morning, called Blumenthal “a lying weasel.” I think Thompson showed remarkable restraint.

And what about those guys sharing the stage with him? Do they dare show their faces at their local American Legion or VFW hall today?

My faves lost, but I still win

My choices for the GOP nomination for Senate and House of Representatives lost yesterday, but I take consolation in the knowledge that the Democrats are still going to lose those seats in November.

Arkansas election law requires a candidate to get 50 percent or more of the votes cast to be declared the winner, so yesterday’s primaries merely narrowed the Republican and Democrat fields for Senator to the top two in each party with a runoff election in three weeks.

I suppose there is an odd democratic logic to the process, but it still seems silly to someone raised in Indiana where the candidate with the most votes wins the nomination.

A shameful spectacle

Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal’s remarks today about how he “misspoke” about his Vietnam era military service were about as ridiculous as Eric “Otter” Stratton’s defense of Delta Tau Delta in Animal House.

Not counting most of Obama’s public utterances, it was the most disingenuous load of political horseshit I’ve heard in years.

I listened to the press conference on XM satellite radio on my way home from Cape Girardeau. It was mind-numbing how this pathetic weasel tried to spin the issue as an attack on his service record. He did everything he could to avoid confronting the fact that he knowingly and deliberately lied when he repeatedly claimed to have served in Vietnam when, in fact, his six years of service with the Marine Corps Reserve were all stateside. I was in the U.S. Air Force briefly during the Vietnam era, but have way too much admiration and respect for those who fought and died to ever, ever pretend I was anywhere near Vietnam and actual combat. It’s unfortunate that tarring and feathering has gone out of style.

I couldn’t hear the reporters’ questions very well, but it was clear that they weren’t buying it despite the applause from the Blumenthal shills in the audience. And I heard at least one reporter suggest that Blumenthal lied instead of simply misspoke.

That The New York Times broke this story is particularly telling, given their penchant for overlooking the sins of Democrats.

The old riding pants will have to last another season

This was supposed to be the first of a two-photo comparison of my old BMW Summer Pants and the new Summer Pants2 that awaited me at Grass Roots BMW in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

But despite the fact that they ordered three different sizes (S, M, and L), I was out of luck because the Large was too small. And the legs were way too long. An XL, had they ordered one, would have been just as bad because they only come in one inseam length. I have a 28” inseam, which means there is no way I could wear any size of the Summer Pants2.

So there was no second photo and we gave up on riding pants for the time being.

As it turned out, I rode about 300 miles today for two bolts – a painted replacement for the silver bolt I got at the former Wichita, Kans. BMW shop to replace the one that I’d lost from my saddlebag mount – and a spare. While I was there, I ordered a new starter relay for Maria’s K75S, but that was something I could have done over the phone.

What the hell, it was a nice day and I squeezed another 300 miles out of my nearly bald tires.

And I got home in time to ship a couple of books I sold on Amazon.com before the post office closed for the day.

I voted

This was the scene at the Brookland Fire Station at 8:10 a.m. today when Maria and I voted.

The guy in the background is a poll worker who is setting up a voting machine for the woman standing next to him. He didn’t crowd me or try to see how I was voting, so there was no reason to raise a fuss.

Now I’m off to Grass Roots BMW Motorcycles at Cape Girardeau, Mo., to see a man about some pants.

More later.

Thanks a lot, kid. Now get out of here.

I got an automated phone call this afternoon from Bill Clinton, whose people apparently think I’m going to vote in the Democratic primary tomorrow. I’m not, but I’ll get to that later.

A few days ago, I would have expected Clinton to try to talk me into voting for Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who is running against incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln. After all, Halter, seen in the photo above, was apparently a “marvelous help” to Clinton when he worked in the Office of Budget Management during the Clinton administration. And Halter has made much of his connection with the Clinton presidency. I got a live call from the Halter campaign a week or so ago which the caller proudly announced was paid for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU – Obama’s thug army) and I supposed that the Halter campaign had the all-out support of the big-name Democrats.

So imagine my surprise when Clinton began his pitch in behalf of Blanche Lincoln.

Our answering machine took a similar call over the weekend from President Obama, also campaigning for Blanche.

If I were voting in the Democrat primary tomorrow, I’d vote for Blanche because I feel sorry for the way some in the party turned on her. She’s done a lot of good stuff for Arkansas. In my mind, her vote for Obamacare disqualifies her from serving another term, but I’ll concede that she has helped her state in some areas.

I’ve met her and Halter and heard them debate. The experience left me wondering what anyone could see in Halter, other than hope that he might be a useful tool for the Socialists. He reminds me of the kind of arrogant twerp you see running for student government office on a second-rate college campus like Indiana State University. I’ve also heard him likened to Lord Farquaad from the first Shreck movie.

But in the end, it doesn’t really matter who wins the Democrat nomination. The winner will be swamped by the Conservative Tsunami in November.

Which leads me to who will get my votes in the GOP primary tomorrow.

Of the eight Republican senatorial aspirants, Randy Alexander is my pick. He carries a copy of the U.S,. Constitution around with him and we share the same understanding of what it means and how it must be protected and defended. I’ve got his bumper sticker on the back of my Honda del Sol and I’ve put up several of his signs at area intersections.

My choice for the Republican nomination for the Arkansas First Congressional District is Princella Smith. She’s one of several black conservatives who have the potential to transform or destroy the Congressional Black Caucus. (After all, would we tolerate a Congressional White Caucus?) And she has the endorsement of Newt Gingrich. Nuf sed.

And if one of those dipshit poll workers tries to look over my shoulder while I’m casting my ballot on the electronic voting machine tomorrow, there’s gonna be trouble.

Breaking news from Weather Central

You know it’s a slow Monday morning when all you can think of to blog about is the 0.15 inches of water in your rain gauge.

No more rain in the forecast until Thursday, so I may be able to put a few miles on the nearly bald tires on my bike.

I’m a believer – O frabjous day, calloo, callay!

Zout laundry stain remover saved my TravelSmith safari jacket

I was certain the nasty ink stain from my Mont Blanc rollerball pen would never ever come out of the patch pocket on my jacket. I used rubbing alcohol and cold water with dubious results – mostly it just spread the stain to my fingers (see yesterday’s post). Then I saturated the stain with Zout, let it set for an hour or so, then scrubbed it with a toothbrush dedicated to laundry use. I ran it through the washer and found it much improved, but still noticeably stained. So I gave it a couple more Zout soaks and toothbrush scrubs and then a final ride in the washer.

And to my utter amazement, the ruinous ink stain was gone. Completely gone.

They say their triple enzyme formula is guaranteed, but I figured that was just so much hype. I still suspect there is some kind of stain out there that this stuff can’t touch, but it rescued my favorite jacket and I couldn’t be happier with the result.

Happy Anniversary to us

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary.

I am reminded of what the late Edwin O. Park said after his father’s funeral as he flashed his dad’s watch:

“I came out pretty good in that deal.”

And I did.

Betrayed by an obscenely expensive writing instrument

I love the unique turquoise ink that passes for “blue” in the Mont Blanc rollerball pen world. I like it so much that I bought the entire blue rollerball refill stock of an Indianapolis jewelry store that was liquidating its Mont Blanc stuff.

But I don’t like it on my fingers and I don’t like it on my clothes.

Which is why I’m in a foul fucking mood this morning.

The Mont Blanc rollerball is a two-piece affair with a cap like a fountain pen. And the cap on mine has become increasingly loose over the years. I was sitting at my desk about an hour ago when I noticed turquoise ink stains on the inside of my left forearm. Then I noticed that they came from my forearm contacting the left breast pocket of my Travel Smith safari jacket (the sleeves were rolled up and buttoned, leaving my forearms bare). The pen and cap had separated and the ink wicked into a hideous stain at the bottom of the patch pocket.

Following Maria’s advice, I soaked the stained area in several solutions of rubbing alcohol, flushed it with cold water, hosed it down with Zout, and threw it into the washer. I suspect, however, that the stain will still be there with the spin cycle ends. And that really pisses me off because that was my favorite jacket.

And now my fingers are covered with turquoise ink stains.

It’s hard to believe a rollerball pen that lists for $375 (I got mine used on Ebay for less than $100) could malfunction like that.

Sounds like Indiana's Mitch Daniels

N.J. gov. sets tone for US - TheHill.com

Snow at 10,600 feet

I just had a Skype conversation with Tim Balough who reports he has about 8 inches of snow on the ground at his home in Alma, Colo., and it’s still coming down.

Tim is a volunteer with the local fire department and reports they responded to a slew of traffic accidents yesterday. He said visibility was down to about 30 feet at one point during the snowstorm.

That seems hopelessly bizarre when I look around here in northeast Arkansas and see nothing but lush green foliage and breathe warm, humid air filled with the heady aroma of honeysuckle in bloom.

The set of Michelin tires for my motorcycle showed up on the front porch late yesterday, but it will be another week before Charlie and I will be able to get together to mount them, along with at least one tire for his bike.

I am IRON MAN

Going with the zeitgeist.

An endless stream

Borderinvasionpics.com has placed motion-activated cameras along several trails used by illegals crossing into Arizona from Mexico and what they captured boggles the mind. Go look for yourself.

Absolutely chilling

Bats right, thinks left

So Elana Kagan played softball in 1993. Why the gay rights crowd thinks the Wall Street Journal publishing a picture of her playing softball is somehow outing her as a lesbian is beyond my comprehension.

She may bat right-handed, but ideologically she’s a leftie and that’s what I don’t like about her nomination to the Supreme Court.

I’d like to see a list of activities and situations the gay rights folks have decided are stereotypical of gays, considering that they’re constantly lecturing us about being blind to sexual orientation.

Did I mention I hate being a landlord?

There was no rent check in our mailbox this morning and I am not a happy camper.

The rent is due on the first of the month. If it arrives after the 5th, there is a penalty payment due. Maria called the tenant on the 6th and was told that he would “overnight” it on Monday. I find his choice of terms disturbing because I told him some time ago that the U.S. Postal Service does not provide next-day delivery service either from Thorntown or to Brookland. So if he did dispatch it on Monday, it should be in our P.O. box tomorrow. That’s cutting it kind of thin, considering that we’re into the penalty zone on our house payment if it isn’t received by the 16th.

I have the mortgage payment envelope in my pocket and am debating whether to put it into the mail today or tomorrow.

Cousin Sam reports from Nashville

My cousin Sam lives on the southside of Nashville. I sent him an email a few days ago asking if he and his family were staying dry with all of the flooding. I got this reply yesterday:

We're all clear with the floods as our home is on "high" ground, unlike a couple blocks away from us that had water 1/2 way up the 1st floor levels. Cars were under water, mail boxes had tops only showing.
Our only problem was electricity, being down until last Wednesday.

Who knew?

It can never be easy

The new gel battery for Maria’s K75S arrived about 5:30 p.m. yesterday and I went to work to install it.

But I quickly learned this is way more complicated than it would appear. For openers, you can’t just lift out the accessory/tool tray, undo the battery retainer and cables and lift the old battery out. Oh, no. That would be far too easy.

I called BMW friend Charlie Parsons for guidance, since he has experience with BMW K75 bikes. The accessory tray is locked in place with a retaining pin on the starboard side which also anchors the silver colored Motronic computer box which slips into a slot on the underside of the tray, coming in from the port side. Kinda like a Chinese puzzle. I managed to get all of this stuff out of the way with some struggling and swearing and was finally able to get at the old battery.

Then I noticed that the old lead/acid battery is roughly twice as thick as the new gel battery. Another call to Charlie left me reassured that the new battery will be just fine in the cavernous space. No need for a shim, just secure it tightly with the battery retainer.

Wrestling the old battery out of the bike was very tricky because it just barely fit up through the frame. Even so, I had to remove the circlip holding the lower part of the mechanism that supports the raised seat in order to lift the seat even higher so the battery could clear it.

I put the new battery in and connected the ground terminal. Connecting the positive terminal, I was startled by sparks, followed by the sound of the starter cranking the engine. I checked the ignition switch and confirmed that it was off. WTF?

Another call to Charlie helped me remember something I’d known years ago: When you try to start a BMW K-bike with a nearly dead battery, there is a high probability that you will cause the starter relay points to weld themselves into an open position. That appears to be what happened the last time I tried to start the bike before ordering a new battery. Charlie seemed to think it’s possible to open up the starter relay and fix the problem. The bad news, is that it’s buried deep and can only be accessed by removing the gas tank.

So the bike is back in the garage awaiting a weekend when Charlie can help me finish the job.

In the meantime, I got my stringer check and ordered a pair of Michelin Pilot Power CT tires for my K1200GT from the Motorcycle Superstore. The cost was $221.92 with free shipping. According to their calculations, I saved $127.92 over the list price of the tires. They’re dual compound, with hard rubber in the center for Interstate riding and softer rubber on the sides for traction in curves. And they should be here Thursday. Which will create an opportunity for yet another mechanical misadventure.

Rejected cartoons

This is the latest addition to Lauri’s blog.

Rainy Monday

It was pouring when I woke up at 6 this morning and it’s been raining off and on all day. I checked the rain gauge about 3 p.m. and it had 1.5 inches of water in it and there is supposedly more on the way tonight.

Consequently, with the exception of a quick run to the post office, I’m spending the day at home, hanging out with the dogs and waiting for UPS to bring the new battery for Maria’s BMW K75S. The UPS tracking site shows it out for delivery, so it could be here any minute.

Ruthie has some sense when it comes to rain, but Pete gets soaked every chance he gets. He also likes to bite the rain as it cascades down a valley in the roof and onto the patio. So a day like this requires a couple of towels just to keep him semi-dry.

Not my mother’s grilled cheese sandwich

We got out late this morning, still hopeful of getting a late breakfast or early lunch before hitting Sam’s Club and Kroger.

Driving past Olive Garden, we noticed the parking lot was full to overflowing into the Chili’s lot and there was a huge crowd standing outside the door.

Oh, yeah. Mother’s Day.

Ditto Cracker Barrel, ditto IHOP. So Maria suggested the Dixie Cafe, apparently blocking from her memory all of the disappointing dining experience we have with that place.

An hour later, the block is gone.

I had a toasted cheese sandwich that was as bland as a piece of cardboard. Naturally, they eschew interesting cheese like cheddar for American cheese. Honest to God, it looked like a piece of yellow-orange plastic between two toasted slices of white bread. And that’s what it tasted like.

I’m having a cup of Joe’s Choice at the Books-A-Million Joe Muggs Cafe to wash the nasty taste from my mouth.

The upside of shopping on Mother’s Day? There was nobody in front of us in the checkout line at Sam’s Club.

A LEGAL immigrant lectures the Tucson City Council

Capt. Kroon’s V-E Day Letter

Sixty-five years ago today, 26-year-old Capt. Philip C. Kroon, an artillery officer with the U.S. Army's 144th Field Artillery Group, took pen in hand in the garden outside an Austrian hotel and wrote a letter to his young bride in Redlands, Calif.
It was V-E Day - Victory in Europe Day - and the young captain from Grand Rapids, Mich., had been in combat since his unit came ashore in Normandy a few weeks after the June 6, 1944, invasion. He was looking forward to coming home, but mindful that the war against Japan seemed far from finished and that he might be needed in the Pacific Theatre.
Here is what he wrote on a sheet of Adolf Hitler's personal letterhead, liberated a day or two earlier from the Führer's Berghof retreat at nearby Berchtesgaden:

My adored wife,
Finally the work of the past year for me and over three years for the nation is completed. The war here is over completely. Of course, we are glad it is over, but to us it is sort of an anti-climax. For nearly two months now, we have completely routed the Germans. During the past few days we have seen steady streams of German soldiers marching to the rear. At some places, even the super-highway is jammed. It was a sight never to forget and one that only happens once in a lifetime. I wanted to get some pictures of it, but my camera was stolen some time ago. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry. I now have another very good German camera that I took from a German soldier, so am better equipped than before.
Now that we are no longer at war here, I should have more time to write you and expect to get off better than one letter every five or six days. In fact, it's now been seven days this time. I'm sorry, darling. I'll try to make it up to you.
About a week ago I went through the Dachau concentration camp. Any pictures you see or stories you hear are only a small part of the picture. The stench was indescribable as well as the actual scenes. I saw some of the toughest soldiers nauseated. I won't tell you any details for they shouldn't be put on paper. It was the most terrible thing I have ever seen.
In contrast, a couple of days ago I went through one of Hitler's palaces -not the one at Berchtesgaden, but an old Hapsburg palace  that he took over. It was a paragon of beauty and symmetry. In the two main floors was not a sign of Nazi Occupation except that most of the furnishings had been looted, mainly from France.
The walls were covered with priceless tapestries, the floors with thick pile rugs. We were nearly the first soldiers in the place and looked through it by ourselves. We went snooping in the cellar and came across two storage rooms. One was nearly filled with medals, of which I have a few choice ones. I also found one silver knife (not table) in the house - the only one there, so I suppose it belonged to Hitler. In another room, we found some stationery, of which this is the choicest. His personal. I have quite a bit of it and will send it home. You can give a sheet to various people, but save some of each kind, especially this with just "Der Führer" on it. I also came across some other excellent souvenirs - One pair of field glasses - the best I have ever seen - fifteen power - this may not mean much to you, but they are two and ½ times as powerful as the ones I and Pop used to have The must be worth three or four hundred dollars. I also have a pair of Luftwaffe swords that are not in the best of shape but will look good fixed up and crossed in my den if I ever have one.
Guess what, Sweets. I shaved off my mustache today - because the war is over. No one noticed it so I guess it couldn't have been so good. I'm not making any plans for a quick return home, beloved, nor am I getting any fancy ideas about it. I would give anything just to spend a few weeks with you, but there is much to be done, both here and in the Orient and I'm sure I'll be one place or the other.
Some will get to go home on their way to the Pacific and rumors are already afloat, but I'm not counting on anything - then we won't have the disappointment.
These Bavarian Alps are really beautiful, dearest mine. They are all snow covered yet, although we are not very high and last week we had snow in Munich. Today was marvelous. The view of the mountains is similar to that from our front yard, though the mountains are much closer and not as high.
During the last mad rush we have been getting practically no mail and I'm way behind, although today I got the letter you wrote on the eve of our anniversary. Sweet - just as they all are - but why not, with the sweetest wife in the world writing them. I wish my letters would get there more regularly. You probably have had a batch since that time, but it is nicer when they come spread over a long time.
Darling, I adore you completely. I don't dream of you often, but that isn't my fault. When I'm awake I can control my thoughts and they always include you. Always I wish you could share the beautiful scenery and the old German cities - Worms, Nurnberg, Augsberg, Munich, Saltzburg and the rest with me. Maybe, in future years, after they are rebuilt we will see them together. Anything we could do together would be wonderful. One thing in particular - I miss you so, Jeanie. I'll always adore you.
Your only Phil
P.S.
A little picture of you know who.

The cease fire order for the XV Corps.

Capt. Kroon came home six months later. He made a career of the Army, taking a reduction in rank to sergeant in order to remain in a downsized postwar military. His last duty post was as an instructor in the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Purdue University. Following his retirement, he worked for the U.S. Postal Service. He died of cancer in 1988. Diane, the first of his three daughters, was born Oct. 30, 1946, and grew up to be my first wife.

Right now, go bookmark snopes.com

Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn’t send me a bullshit email hoax and I got two of them today.

The first had to do with a suit challenging Obama’s citizenship quietly being placed on the Supreme Court docket. The other warned that the magnetic data strip on hotel/motel card keys includes the guest’s name and credit card information.

Snopes and similar sites say they’re both baseless.

WTF? It isn’t that hard to check and then you avoid looking like an idiot who should be banned from the Internet.

Random stuff

I am without focus today.

Maybe it’s because a fat girl with an obnoxious cell phone ringtone is occupying my usual table in the Hardback Cafe.

So I’ll just string together some random thoughts and call it a blogpost.

The Unbearable Lightness of Sneezing

Does a bright light make you sneeze? Me too, but I’ll bet you don’t know why. It’s because some people’s optic and olfactory nerves run so close together than a strong signal on the optic nerve bleeds over to the olfactory nerve and triggers the sneeze reflex.

Disrespect

“Disrespect” is a noun, not a verb. I cringe whenever I hear some moron use it as a verb.

Indianapolis in May

I think I miss Indiana and Indianapolis most in May because that’s the time of the run-up to the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race. I went to the 500 Festival Parade once -  in 1967 – but I used to enjoy going to the track on weekdays with a pit pass on loan from The Indianapolis News Sports Department. It was very cool being able to get right next to the cars and the drivers and to prowl the garage area. I hated it when they started scheduling the race on the last Sunday in May instead of the actual Memorial Day. That put an end to The News’s realtime coverage and our ability to put an edition of the paper with the winner’s picture and race story on the front page into the hands of race fans before they could get out of the Speedway. I do not, however, miss Bob & Tom on the radio. I find their junior high school humor embarrassing and stupid.

Treadmill progress

I must be doing something right because I have to work harder to get my heart rate up in my morning treadmill sessions. And my heart rate recovery time is getting shorter. It was warm and breezy this morning, so I wheeled the treadmill out of the garage and onto the concrete driveway this morning. And then I put it back when I was done because there are showers in the forecast for later today.

LifeLock

I got an email from LifeLock this morning announcing that they have removed our names from the list (that I didn’t know existed) from which unsolicited pre-approved credit card offers are drawn. How cool is that?

Sighting

My son Sean is in Los Angeles this week and says he saw Buck Henry last night.

Tires

I’m waiting for a stringer check so I can order a new set of tires for my bike. My friend Charlie has the equipment to mount and balance tires, so I should be able to put new rubber on the bike for just $222 – a little more than half what I paid two years ago in Colorado Springs. Also, the new gel battery for Maria’s bike is due Monday via UPS.

Honeysuckle and security

The honeysuckle Maria planted on the far side of our backyard chain link fence to enhance our privacy is thriving and in bloom.

About the only thing our yard lacks, now that we’ve planted seven new trees this spring, is peonies. The peony is the state flower of Indiana and I’ve loved them since I was a kid. The house where I lived from birth through my third grade year had a row of peony plants separating our backyard from the neighbors’ property. They bloom in May in Indiana and my mother would put bunches of them into water-filled coffee cans on Memorial Day to place on the far-flung ancestral graves.

Since Northeast Arkansas averages 10 degrees warmer than our Indiana home year round, I wasn’t surprised to see a peony bush exploding with white blossoms last week across the street from the Brookland Post Office.

So maybe we can have some peonies next spring.

On a completely different matter, the discovery yesterday that any number of our critical documents valuable to identity thieves are out there in the wild on photocopier hard drives drove home the point that we are very vulnerable. No matter how diligent we are about shredding mail and other sensitive documents, securing our computers and being careful in what web sites we visit and what email attachments we open, the security hole represented by copier hard drives makes all our other efforts pointless.

Our sensitive information is out there in the hard drives of copiers at various businesses, governmental agencies, banks, realty offices, medical practices, insurance agencies, and even the pay-as-you go copiers at libraries and post offices. And in most cases, the people owning or leasing those copiers have no idea there are hard drives inside that save a digital copy of every document that gets scanned. So when they sell or return those copiers, all of that personal information goes out the door with them. There are warehouses full of used copiers with hard drives holding hundreds of thousands of personal documents just waiting for someone to download and use or sell. CBS News bought three such used copiers for $300 each and found sensitive information on all three – one from a police department’s drug branch, one from a police department’s sex crimes division and another from a private business.

I was sufficiently alarmed that I signed us up this morning for Lifelock identity theft protection. Using a promo code, I got coverage for myself and Maria for $27 a month. They say they’ll protect you up to $1 million, which is plenty for us. The use of a promo code saved us $36 a year, so before you sign up, Google “lifelock promo code” and use a resulting site as your entrance to the Lifelock site.

I feel better already.

Copiers have hard drives – who knew?

Did you know every digital photocopier made since the 2002 has a hard drive that saves a copy of everything it sees?

Like your driver’s license, your social security card, your credit cards, your medical records, all of that personal stuff that you may have copied at one time or another. Or for that matter, everything about you that any business – bank, medical practice, police agency – has ever had occasion to put through a copier.

And pretty much nobody bothers to wipe the hard drive when the copier is sold or returned at the end of a lease period.

If you worry about identity theft, this report from CBS News will give you a serious Maalox moment.

Spokeo – check it out

 

A friend in the Indianapolis BMW Club called my attention to a new people search engine that turns out to be fun to play with, but isn’t especially accurate.

It’s called Spokeo and its creators describe it thus:

Spokeo is a search engine specialized in organizing people-related information from phone books, social networks, marketing lists, business sites, and other public sources. Most of this data is publicly available on the Web.  For example, you can find people’s name, phone, and address on Whitepages.com, and you can get home values from Zillow.com.  That said, only Spokeo’s algorithm can piece together the scattered data into coherent people profiles, giving you the most comprehensive intelligence about anyone you want to find.

Spokeo’s innovative technology has received numerous accolades and reviews from Newsweek, WSJ, PCWorld, and more. Millions of people have already used Spokeo to connect with their family members, old friends, and business contacts. Try and see what Spokeo can find about you today!

A DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGY

Spokeo is different because it indexes information that no other search engine does. Spokeo aggregates data from hundreds of online and offline sources, including but not limited to: phone directories, social networks, marketing surveys, mailing lists, government census, real estate listings, and business websites. All data is publicly available, so anyone can access them from their respective sources. However, putting all the data pieces together would take you months. Spokeo automates the data aggregation for you and makes it FREE.

Traditional data companies have been quietly gathering people’s data for years, but they charge about $50 per report. Spokeo’s technology reduces the data acquisition costs and gives you the same powerful intelligence for FREE. By tearing down the price barrier, Spokeo revolutionizes the way people connect with each other.

SPOKEO VS. GOOGLE VS. FACEBOOK

How is Spokeo better than Googling someone? Google is the leader in organizing vast amounts of information from web pages, whereas Spokeo is a specialized tool for finding people-related data on social networks, phone books, marketing surveys, and more. By searching beyond the Web, Spokeo yields much more comprehensive and targeted results than general-purpose search engines for people-related queries.

How is Spokeo different from Facebook?  Facebook is a social network on which users shares their personal data, whereas Spokeo is a search engine that aggregates data from various third-party sources.  The difference between Facebook and Spokeo is analogous to the difference between You vs. Google Map taking a picture of your house. Data originated from you can be more detailed and accurate, but you also have the liberty to lie about it.  Data pieced from public domains may not be complete, but it gives an objective, third-party perspective, which is valuable for people research purposes.

LIMITATIONS

Spokeo showcases the power of information aggregation, but machine aggregation has its limits.  First of all, Spokeo data is only as good as the original source.  Since there is no human involved, the data is not verified and might not be accurate.  Moreover, many sources do not refresh their data often, so Spokeo data might not be up-to-date as well.  Spokeo will continue to work on new algorithms to improve its data accuracy.

Spokeo currently aggregates only US name and phone listings, so you cannot find non-US people by name or phone.  Spokeo’s email search uses a different technology, and it can find anyone in the world as long as they have social network accounts.

THE HISTORY

The concept of Spokeo started in 2005. As a Stanford student, Harrison liked to jump around different social networks.  At that time, most of his friends had profiles on MySpace, some blogged on Xanga, and his dormmates were constantly sharing YouTube videos. Harrison was having trouble keeping up, so he rounded his college friends together to build a so-called social network aggregator. Working out of Harrison’s parents’ basement, Harrison and his friends publicly launched this pioneering concept on Techcrunch in late 2006.

While the social network aggregation concept was indeed novel, users were having a hard time identifying their friends’ accounts on various social networks. With this realization, Spokeo then set out to build a search technology to automatically detect online identities associated with emails and URLs. In late 2007 Spokeo was refocused on automated people search and relaunched on TechCrunch.

Today, Spokeo’s technology has expanded beyond the original social networks concept to include phone books, marketing surveys, business databases, ecommerce stores, and other public databases. Spokeo’s mission is to organize the world’s people-related data, and it will continue to integrate additional types of data to better connect people.

So how good is it? I entered my name and found there are 108 guys in the U.S. with my first and last names. The geographic display made it easy to find myself in Arkansas and eliminate the 107 others.

Spokeo got my mailing address right, but has me in my late 60s (ahem, not yet), says I’m single (wrong), has my astrological birthsign and education wrong, says I’ve lived here seven years longer than I have, estimates my home value at $1 million plus (I wish), but says the neighborhood is “below average.” In the photo section, one of the two photos actually is me.

It says I have children, run a home business (kinda), am self-driven (I suppose. Nobody else drives me.), have elderly parents (both are deceased), am a collector (yes) and am not interested in politics (How in hell could they get that one so wrong?).

Also my house was not built in 1984, we do have central heating and AC and there are not 4-5 people in the household.

It found my son Steve but it clueless about my son Sean, even though Google finds a ton of stuff on him.

If I want more details (which may or may not be right) I can pay to be a Spokeo member. The choices are $2.95 a month for a one-year membership which gets me a full report and a year of searches, $3.95 a month for a six-month membership, a full report and six months of searches, or $4.95 a month for a three-month membership, a full report and three months of searches.

I’m keeping my credit card in my wallet for the time being.

Another free (to me, anyway) antivirus for the netbook

I’m on my third antivirus for my Dell Inspiron Mini 9 netbook.

The first two – Avast and AVG – were free to start, but eventually wanted me to step up to paid versions. And neither of them played well with my netbook’s Windows XP. I got the Blue Screen of Death a few weeks ago when I told AVG to give a particular program access to the Internet. Since then, I’ve told it to refuse access to that program. When my AVG trial period ended last weekend, I decided not to pay to continue it. But I didn’t have a plan for a replacement.

Until I remembered that I have a copy of Bitdefender Internet Security which retails for about $50 – but I got it for free from the Amazon.com Vine program with the expectation that I write a review of it. I’d been reluctant to install it on my new desktop computer because there were already some less-than-flattering reviews of Bitdefender on Amazon.com. But I did need an antivirus for my netbook, so I picked up the box yesterday afternoon. My eyes fell upon the upper right corner, where it says, “Netbook compatible.” That means it has to be fairly lightweight, since netbooks don’t come with a lot of RAM or hard drive space. And Steve Ragan at The Tech Herald likes it.

I uninstalled AVG, did a reboot, then connected my external CD drive to the netbook and installed Bitdefender. It has three levels of user control – Novice, where pretty much everything runs in the background without involving the user; Intermediate, which adds some controls; and Expert, for users who want total control of the program’s features. I opted for Novice, which still give me the option to move up one or two levels if I want to later.

It’s been less than a day since I installed it and all I can say is that it doesn’t appear to be hogging memory or slowing things down. It remains to be seen whether I’ll see the dreaded BSD in the weeks or months to come. If I do, you’ll know about it. And so will Amazon.com.

If it behaves itself, I’ll install it on our Sony VAIO laptop and maybe Maria’s desktop or mine. One registered copy can be used on up to three computers for a year before they start asking for money.

Going political

This is the first political bumper sticker I’ve put on one of my cars in 42 years.

Way back in 1968, I had a Eugene McCarthy bumper sticker on the back of my ‘65 VW beetle. Yeah, I know. Times change and people grow up and their political views mature. At least that’s true for some of us.

Even though I’ve liked other candidates since then, I was in the newspaper business and people who want to be taken seriously as objective reporters don’t go around advertising their political preferences. Now that I’m retired, I’m no longer bound by that concern. Not so with Maria. The most controversial bumper sticker she will allow on her Subaru Forester says, “My Australian shepherd is smarter than your honor student.” And she also has a Bernina license plate frame I bought for her.

Randy Alexander, as I blogged weekend before last, is my choice among the eight guys running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator from Arkansas. (The winner will face either incumbent Blanche Lincoln or Bill Halter in the November general election.) I offered my assistance when I met him in Little Rock and he called me last night to say he was in Jonesboro and wondered if he could drop off some yard signs with me. We rendezvoused a few minutes ago in the Hastings parking lot and now I have a baker’s dozen of his yard signs in the trunk of my del Sol and an Alexander bumper sticker on the trunk lid.

The primary is two weeks from today and Alexander is a long shot, but he had all the right answers at the APME forum last month. He was the only candidate to call “man-caused climate change” what it is - “junk science” designed to further a nefarious political agenda. Check out his web site and his positions on the issues at alexanderforsenate.org.

If you’d like a yard sign or a bumper sticker, let me know and I’ll hook you up.

Top 10 dumbest things said about the Arizona immigration law

Top 10 dumbest things said about the Arizona immigration law | Washington Examiner

Time to re-tire

My 2003 BMW K1200GT needs new tires.

I came to this conclusion over the weekend when I took a good look at them. The center tread is almost gone on my front tire and it’s pretty shallow on the rear tire. I shudder to think that I rode almost 200 miles in the rain coming home from the Return to Shiloh Rally on that front tire last October.

I bought both tires -  Metzelers - on July 25, 2008 at BMW Ducati of Southern Colorado in Colorado Springs. That was 11,324 miles ago, which I think is a personal record for me and a set of motorcycle tires. Checking my records, I see that I’ve averaged 6,477.5 miles on front tires and 7,773 miles on rear tires on this bike before this set. Granted, some tires were replaced before they were worn out because I was on the eve of a major trip and wanted to start out on fresh rubber. Consequently, my expectations are 7,000 miles for a front tire and 8,000 miles for a rear tire.

So I guess I’d better make arrangements for new rubber before I get serious about riding this bike anywhere. In retrospect, I should have re-tired when I was at Grass Roots BMW in Cape Girardeau, Mo., last Wednesday. Oh, well, I’m heading back there in a week or two anyway, so I might as well have them set aside a couple of tires.

I ordered a new gel battery for Maria’s ‘94 K75S. The original BMW lead/acid battery lasted 16 years before it crapped out a couple of weeks ago. A new BMW gel battery would run around $200 with shipping, but I found a TruGel battery for $149.89 at Oncycles.com yesterday and they have free shipping.

Bad craziness

Taliban claims credit for abortive Times Square bombing and a pipe bomb is found in Pittsburgh.

After all, illegal means criminal

My first wife, who is a conservative Arizona resident, emailed this analysis to me this morning. While I don't think it's necessarily typical and presents a worst case comparison scenario, I think it generally puts the illegal immigrant argument into sharp relief:

You have two families: "Joe Legal" and "Jose Illegal".
Both families have two parents, two children, and live in California.
Joe Legal works in construction, has a Social Security Number
And makes $25 per hour with taxes deducted.
Jose Illegal also works in construction, has NO Social Security Number,
And gets paid $15 cash per hour "under the table".
Ready? Now pay attention ..

Joe Legal: $25 per hour x 40 hours = $1000.00 per week, or $52,000 per year.
Now take 30% away for state and federal tax; Joe Legal now has $31,231.
Jose Illegal: $15 per hour x 40 hours = $600 per week, or $31,200 per year.
Jose Illegal pays no taxes. Jose Illegal now has $31,200.00.

Joe Legal pays medical and dental insurance with limited coverage for his family
At $600 per month, or $7,200 per year. Joe Legal now has $24,031.
Jose Illegal has full medical and dental coverage through the state
And local clinics at a cost of $0 per year. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.

Joe Legal makes too much money and is not eligible for food stamps or welfare.
Joe Legal pays $500 per month for food, or $6,000 per year.
Joe Legal now has $18,031.
Jose Illegal has no documented income and is eligible for food stamps and welfare.
Jose Illegal still has $31,200.

Joe Legal pays rent of $1,200 per month, or $14,400 per year.
Joe Legal now has $9,631.
Jose Illegal receives a $500 per month federal rent subsidy. Jose Illegal pays out that $500 per month, or $6,000 per year. Jose Illegal still has $31,200.

Joe Legal pays $200 per month, or $2,400 for insurance. Joe Legal now has $7,231.
Jose Illegal says, "We don't need no stinking' insurance!" and still has $31,200.

Joe Legal has to make his $7,231 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline, etc.
Jose Illegal has to make his $31,200 stretch to pay utilities, gasoline,
And what he sends out of the country every month.

Joe Legal now works overtime on Saturdays or gets a part time job after work.
Jose Illegal has nights and weekends off to enjoy with his family.

Joe Legal's and Jose Illegal's children both attend the same school..
Joe Legal pays for his children's lunches while Jose Illegal's children get
A government sponsored lunch. Jose Illegal's children have an after school ESL program.
Joe Legal's children go home.

Joe Legal and Jose Illegal both enjoy the same police and fire services,
But Joe paid for them and Jose did not.

Weather report

The Brookland tornado sirens went off sometime after 11:15 last night as a big ass storm front rumbled in.

Maria, who had earlier fallen asleep on the couch while we watched Avatar in BluRay, gathered up comforter and pillow and bedded down in what passes for our “safe room” – a half-bathroom in more or less the center of the house.

I, on the other hand, stood watch by the bedroom TV as the local weather guys played with their radars and tracked the storm.

It was all over by midnight, although we got another milder thunderstorm around 2 a.m.

Ahhh, spring in Arkansas.