WHO DO YOU TRUST?

I don't know who or what you can believe anymore. There seems to be lies and manipulation in so many places.

Example: Bill Clinton, on WHYY - a radio station serving Pennsylvania (you can look it up and hear it for yourself) said the Obama Campaign used the race card on him, then, within 24 hours, he claims he never said it. I heard it. You can too, if you care. It was too direct a statement for him to conveniently forget it the next day. It wasn't off mic or anything like that.

Example: Rev. Wright apparently goes for the ego gratification or money and takes big shots at Obama. I would think the man preaches charity. What a mean man.

Silly example: WTF? Paula Abdul attempts to critique two songs by same singer moments after she only heard one song by him on American Idol. Says she was confused. How confused can you get - you sit there and they sing mere feet from you!?

Silly example 2: Disney is all agitated about Miley Cyrus's Vanity Fair pictures, yet
according to TMZ, Disney advertises with underage-looking girls in lingerie, just not in this country. Click here to see! Huh? (personally I don't even know who Miley IS except she's been in the news.)

Now, about those WMDs...

BTW: Did you know that it was an American tank that actually pulled down the statue of Saddam? It's always cropped out of the picture it seems.

HAIL AND OTHER WATERIFFIC TALES

Non Smoking Gun

Last night we had hail. Now guess which night of more than 3 years were we forced to park both cars outside the garage?

The painters have turned the garage into a paintshop where they have been spraying trim (door and wall) as part of the remediation process for a pipe leak we discovered on Easter. Water was squishing between the wooden floor boards-on-concrete slab. We hope to have new trim and flooring installations underway this coming week.

The good news is that the plumbing sub who put the pipes into the house in the first place admitted their culpability after we found the pipe which was installed though half-sawed through. Eventually it gave way.

This took my music room down, along with the equipment closet and hallway. Holes were punched in walls and many boards stripped from the floor and trim from walls as they had wicked the water.

BUSH-O-NOMICS

It seems I can't go to LOWES and escape for under $50 - and that's for the small everyday things. Lighbulbs, paint brush, this or that.

MOVIES: Almost $20 to get in, then another $10 on vittles. $8 for the after-movie visit to the Gellato place (the ice creamery is even more.)

It really seems that I cannot leave the house for under $50. Include gas and even the free things add up pretty quickly. You really feel the gas price pinch when you fill up the containers for gassing up the lawnmower/weed whacker. Maybe that's because you actually get a THIS IS ALL A GALLON IS sizing-versus-pricing.

The house directly across the street is for sale: $2,490,000!!! WTF!? How'd we ever get into this neighborhood - where State taxes are based on home value?

It's all a mess - the war, the economy... Bush's approval rating is the lowest measured. Or maybe it's his disapproval rating is the highest. Same thing?

BTW: in France, they are very upset with their president who, I believe, has about the same approval rating as Bush. It seems they care more about these things over there.

I wish Hillary would stop eating that seed. She sounds more and more like a parrot. Michigan doesn't count. Now it does! Awwwk!

Geez.

Bill Clinton - clearly - all over the internet now - said the Obama campaign played a race card on him and then - again, all over the web - publicly denies he ever said that. Bill, you've lost it. Sorry. Time to sit down.

Can we get this mess turned around?

BEST BUY SCAMS?

I just experienced what could best be termed confusion and worst termed SCAMS!

I went to buy a camera battery at Best Buy. Online it said they were in stock at my local store and even on sale (about $36.) The cash register computer didn't know about the sale. Then, attempting to pay with Reward Zone credit, I was told I wasn't paying enough to use my Reward Zone $50 certificate. They could change the price to $50 and use it all up.

I deferred. "Get me the manager." A guy comes up - I ask him if he's the manager - he says, "Sorta." He claims to be the supervisor. I say I want the real manager. "They're at lunch," he says (it's about 3:30) - "Late lunch," I say. "They're at dinner," he then says. "Early dinner," I say.

Here's what's wrong:

Reward Zone certificates are only good for items priced at or ABOVE the certificate.

Reward Zone certificates EXPIRE (I'd say it looks to be about 6 months.)

The 'supervisor' said he could change the price to $29.95 if I'd pay cash, which I did. I WILL RETURN and burn up all my credit, staying as close to the magic number as I can.

NICE HIKE!

Had a nice hike today! Expected snakes at every rock, but there were none... thankfully! Nice trail, Honeysuckle lined partway... by Bull Creek. The trail is part hard rock, part dirt, part gravel, etc.

WE ARE THE WORLD...

Our dog has a new friend... a neighbor's cat! If we could just get congress to cross the aisle! Everybody - SING! "WE ARE THE WOOORRRLD....."

GALLONS OF CORN = STARVATION?

I read something in the paper today which stated that it costs more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol from corn that it will then generate as ethanol.

That's not to say that alternative fuels are a bad idea, just that corn isn't a great place to start. Here's more.

"Goldman Sachs says the cost of ethanol from corn is $81 a barrel (oil equivalent), with wheat at $145 and soybeans $232. It is built on subsidy.

New technology may open the way for the use of non-edible grain stalks to make ethanol, but for now the only bio fuel crop that genuinely pays its way is sugar cane ($35). Sugar is carbohydrate: ideal for fuel. Grains contain proteins made of nitrogen: useless for fuel, but vital for people.

Whatever the arguments, politics is intruding. Food export controls have been imposed by Russia, China, India, Vietnam, Argentina, and Serbia. We are disturbingly close to a chain reaction that could shatter our assumptions about food security."

Read the whole story click here.

SPACE JUNK

I don't feel I should rip the picture off... so have a look by clicking.

It's amazing.

A MATTER OF WHEN.

It was only a matter of when. Today was when. While cleaning the pool, I stepped into air, and enjoyed a surprise dip. Luckily, the water was at the temperature of La Jolla's water in July, so I just laughed and continued my work.

Imagine, thgouh, you fall, hit your head, see angels.

It's all a matter of when.

AUGUSTA

The Masters makes Augusta look so beautiful, we had to visit (a year or so ago, though not during the Masters.) It's the most run-down city you can imagine. I honestly believe that on their main street every third store was boarded up! THAT bad. The golf course is surrounded by a high stone and vine covered wall. There is a nice neighborhood we drove through but the city was an incredible disappointment!

I just looked to see if Google's Street View was "on" for the city to see if I could prove the point, but it hasn't been shot.

Now Savannah - yes indeed - that's the real deal. Great.

WHERE' S AL GORE WHEN YOU NEED HIM?

I saw something the other day which I'd never seen before and thought it'd be good blog material. So I stopped at the bank and took a picture for you (taking pictures around banks in generally a good way to Meet Mister Policeman.)

Laudable?

Then wouldn't it make sense to put the sign closer to the entrance? As it is, most of their traffic will likely come through the mall and the lesser emitters will drive less distance before they park in their designated space. Wouldn't it make sense for them to drive FARTHER to the door because they emit less?

You don't care, do you?

A DAY IN THE COUNTRY

Today we went to a juried art show in Marble Falls. Juried means it's good stuff. One of the pictures (Photographs) I admired - had a story of the photographer studying the lighting conditions of the scene for 4 days then standing in freezing water for hours taking 252 pictures of the same scene before he got what he wanted. It was beautiful. Me, I'm becoming more wasteful - which is good - since digital costs nothing - and I'll take a couple shots of something of interest, though I haven't taken dozens, and I haven't gone back for the perfect lighting. Which brings us to today's adventure.I'll sell ya any one of these for a good price, maybe one figure, not the 4 figures the freezing guy was asking.




This is called "Everybody gets Some Space Somewhere"





Hay For Sale
(looks much better if only you could see it larger).

We tried repeatedly to get into the Bluebonnet Cafe which is famous worldwide. The wait was an hour and a half minimum, then when there was no line we found why - it had closed for the day.

So we searched for, and found another joint outside of which, and I assume inside of which, was one SEXYASSBITCH. But we didn't see anyone matching that description. Sadly.



Your average yuppified chain restaurant like, oh, TGIFridays, hangs all sorts of cute yuppie things on the walls: here's an OAR. Here's a water ski. Not the Marble Falls River City Grille:



Every once in a while something hits my eye, but I cannot control enough of it on the spot for whatever reason, so this has been photoshopped like crazy, but I like it a lot!

I still am too shy to walk up to a stranger and ask if I can take their picture. So I get a lot of these going-way shots. And they usually are better than posed pictures.



Biker Love.

Finally, a reminder that we were out in the country, by god!




Cacti Color

CRABGRASS THE COCKROACH OF GRASSES

I put crabgrass pre-emergent down TWICE. Specific to crabgrass. I followed directions carefully, though I might have been a little HEAVY on the dosage. Well, now it's spring, everything's greening up (except my 3 pallets of turf) and I have a fricking crabgrass FARM in my lawn.

They say the cockroach would survive atomic assault. I believe crabgrass will too.

The other day the plumber was here doing his thing with a propane torch. I eyed it. If I hadn't just sprayed with crabgrass killer again AND another 'be careful or you get orange lawn' chemical, I think with a water hose nearby I would seriouly go after it stem by stem with 2000 degrees of removal.

I'll post pictures as soon as the yard oranges up.

THIS YEAR I WILL BEAT THE WEEDS.

SPRING SHOWERS AND FLOWERS

After a cloudy several days, good, hopefully, for getting my sod started, we had a few hours of sunlight in the PM. It's spring and the greens were fluorescing under that sun after a few days of spotty rain and foggy mornings. Trees are leafing. Bluebonnet season has begun. Everything is growing fast. And maybe because I used some Invisible Windshield on my car, I couldn't help notice the uncommon colors on the road today - beyond the usual whites and silvers. I saw a VW Bug that looked like a new color - like Tomato soup with extra sour cream. And beside it, but only for a second, was a bright yellow Lambgoarri. Or something exotic.

The Black Bentley didn't count for color but did enhance the stretch of road several notches.

It seems that Invisible Windshield really works. (Now where did I put it? Sorry - old joke.) I once did a series of test episodes for radio syndication. In one adventure, which took place in a patent office "Pat Pending" - the guy comes in with an invisible something and hilarity ensues. There IS a product called Invisible Windshield and it seems to do the deed.

I also bought wheel cleaner - spray on, wham! Wheels cleaned of brake dust! Doesn't work. Not at all. Sucker!

But I was reminded by actually washing the car - with absolutely no beading action, (time for treatment) of some stuff I used to use before we moved - it's amazing and it works - is a polymer miracle. It's called Rejex and they use it on Helicopter Blades. Of course, when they do it goes all over so they have to use a lot.

But seriously:

RejeX is a thin-film polymer coating designed to provide a high-release surface. This very thin film – less than a micron thick – prevents stains and adhesion of common contaminants such as exhaust, bugs, oil, tree sap, bird droppings, road grime, brake dust, etc. It also makes graffiti easy to remove and can be applied to windshields to repel rain. It’s easy to apply and produces a deep, lustrous shine that outlasts the most popular waxes by months.

RejeX was originally developed for the Air Force to keep turbine exhaust gas residue from sticking to aircraft...

RejeX is the "missing link" you have been looking for when it comes to affordable, durable, long-lasting protection for your car, truck, boat, RV, airplane or motorcycle! Rest assured, RejeX is MADE IN THE U.S.A. Yeah - I figure if you can put it on a jet and run through rain at hundreds of miles an hour and it's still there, it's cool for my needs.

As they used to say, "it really really works." Should be here in a few days.

Did you know a clean airplane can fly faster than a dirty one? True. The phenom is called parasitic drag.

PS: I have fallen for almost everything over the years, every one of which claimed to clean and shine and never need anything ever after. Rejex worked well in Minneapolis - where it goes from 60 below to 100+ though not in one day... for maybe 6 months at a time. Quite different from the expensive waxes I tried too.

GAS=O=GOUGE

Let's see. Am I right about this? Is it this simple? The price of gas is tagged to the price of crude plus processing plus demand plus taxes, delivery, and some profit. The oil companies report year after year of record profit. The cost of the raw product (crude) keeps rising.

Let's say the companies make - pick a number - $.35 a gallon profit. Their costs go up. Do they raise their profits as a % or hold to a fixed number per gallon? It would seem they are raising their number as a % of their cost, even though they do nothing extra to justify that.

Why doesn't the guvmint stop this? Don't be silly. Lobbies.

The energy companies blather about cost of alternative fuel sources, etc. All the while: record profits. Aren't they SO civic minded?

I just hit my first $3.29 fillup. For my LAWNMOWER.