Not only does she read my blog, she obeys me. Good Girl, Ann. You can now click on her site and back out.
You are now off probation.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Iraq election.
I will be working tomarrow and won't be able to cover the elections in Iraq. For those of you like me who won't be able to watch the networks coverage, let me summarize what the American networks will be saying about the elections in Iraq tomarrow;
Blah, Blah, Blah, American casualities, Blah, Blah, Abu Gray, Blah, Blah, Blah, no weapons of mass destruction, Blah, Blah, Blah, Iraqi's are staying away from the polls, Blah, Blah, Blah, Disappointment for the Administration, Blah, Blah, Blah.
What will actually happen is a successful vote with a high turnout and some limited violence. A very large success for Iraq and George W. Bush. But you probably won't hear any of that kind of talk from the networks.
Blah, Blah, Blah, American casualities, Blah, Blah, Abu Gray, Blah, Blah, Blah, no weapons of mass destruction, Blah, Blah, Blah, Iraqi's are staying away from the polls, Blah, Blah, Blah, Disappointment for the Administration, Blah, Blah, Blah.
What will actually happen is a successful vote with a high turnout and some limited violence. A very large success for Iraq and George W. Bush. But you probably won't hear any of that kind of talk from the networks.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Changes.
I've updated my links. I've deleted Ben Shapiro's Blog. The reason? Two posts in four months. I love your writing Ben but come on; Blog or get off the pot.
Ann Coulter (our beloved toxic toothpick) is still on but her site is on probation. Once you go to her site you are stuck there, you can't back out. Fix it Ann or you are out. I love your writing but I'm tired of surfing around and having to quit out of explorer and restart again just because I went to your site.
I've added http://piratesblog.blogdrive.com/.
All of the sites I've listed on the side get regular visits from me. Check 'em all out.
Ann Coulter (our beloved toxic toothpick) is still on but her site is on probation. Once you go to her site you are stuck there, you can't back out. Fix it Ann or you are out. I love your writing but I'm tired of surfing around and having to quit out of explorer and restart again just because I went to your site.
I've added http://piratesblog.blogdrive.com/.
All of the sites I've listed on the side get regular visits from me. Check 'em all out.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Stephanie made it!
We flew to Chicago over the weekend to witness my daughter, Stephanie, graduation ceremony from boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Base. We stayed with her Uncle Bill and Aunt Jody in nearby Libertyville, IL. Many thanks to them for putting up with us and putting us up.
If I were 30 years younger, I'd have joined the Navy right after the ceremony; it was that moving.
I've been having pangs of homesickness lately. The snow and weather we faced while there got rid of those feelings.
We are proud of you Stephanie. Continue to work hard.
If I were 30 years younger, I'd have joined the Navy right after the ceremony; it was that moving.
I've been having pangs of homesickness lately. The snow and weather we faced while there got rid of those feelings.
We are proud of you Stephanie. Continue to work hard.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Dumb things we do and B.S.
I agreed to come in to work at 0500 this A.M. I adjusted my alarm to 4:00 before going to bed. It went off this morning and I shut it off and then fell back asleep. Woke up at 4:45. “I can still make it”, I thought. Jumped in for a real quick shower and noticed the bathroom clock said 2:40. Well that clock runs on a battery so I figured the battery was going dead. I rushed to get dressed, skipped shaving, breakfast, and coffee and headed out the door. My record is 6 minutes to work, so I glanced at the kitchen clock on my way out to time myself. It read “2:55”!!!!! I looked at every clock in the house with the same result. I was 2 hours ahead of schedule. I must have accidentally changed time on the clock while changing the alarm.
I’m killing a couple of hours by reading the Internet for news and surfing around looking at blogs.
I rarely if ever watch the Network News anymore unless I’m in the mood to piss myself off. I keep up with what’s going on in the news through the Internet and listening to Talk Radio when I can.
I can't figure how to link this story (it's too early). I've cut and pasted the following from this site: http://piratesblog.blogdrive.com/. Go there for some good stuff including the following:
"Agenda Journalism Anyone?
Last week's news article that stated:
Lance Cpl. Andres Raya, 19, may have been suffering from post-traumatic stress and instigated a "suicide by cop" - provoking officers to shoot him - because he did not want to return to Iraq. Has been revised due to some new facts which state:
"During our investigation, we found he wasn't due to go back to Iraq, never faced combat situations and never even fired his gun," Stanislaus County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Woodman said Saturday.Well, now the police say that he was a gang member who was high on cocaine at the time of the shootings. Except for the family which still blames the military for
"stress from the service" is the only explanation for Raya's actions."The military trained him to kill. Let's say he didn't see combat, but he was there," Looks like the agenda that many of the journalists share got in the way of the ture story here. In a rush to blame Bush's Policies and the 'Military-Complex' trumped the search for truth in the story. It was served up on a silver platter to blame what they don't like, rather than the drug and gang problems he had in the incedent. Anything to get their story out."
I’m killing a couple of hours by reading the Internet for news and surfing around looking at blogs.
I rarely if ever watch the Network News anymore unless I’m in the mood to piss myself off. I keep up with what’s going on in the news through the Internet and listening to Talk Radio when I can.
I can't figure how to link this story (it's too early). I've cut and pasted the following from this site: http://piratesblog.blogdrive.com/. Go there for some good stuff including the following:
"Agenda Journalism Anyone?
Last week's news article that stated:
Lance Cpl. Andres Raya, 19, may have been suffering from post-traumatic stress and instigated a "suicide by cop" - provoking officers to shoot him - because he did not want to return to Iraq. Has been revised due to some new facts which state:
"During our investigation, we found he wasn't due to go back to Iraq, never faced combat situations and never even fired his gun," Stanislaus County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Woodman said Saturday.Well, now the police say that he was a gang member who was high on cocaine at the time of the shootings. Except for the family which still blames the military for
"stress from the service" is the only explanation for Raya's actions."The military trained him to kill. Let's say he didn't see combat, but he was there," Looks like the agenda that many of the journalists share got in the way of the ture story here. In a rush to blame Bush's Policies and the 'Military-Complex' trumped the search for truth in the story. It was served up on a silver platter to blame what they don't like, rather than the drug and gang problems he had in the incedent. Anything to get their story out."
Monday, January 17, 2005
Brush with Greatness.
I saw Tony Dungy (coach of the Indianapolis Colts) last night on T.V. I remarked, “I played against him in High School.” Well that’s some of the story anyway.
Tony Dungy was an All-State Quarterback from Jackson (Michigan) Parkside High School. Parkside had more people in their senior class than we had in our entire High School. I went to a nearby High School called Michigan Center during the early ‘70’s.
Parkside would scrimmage local schools so their "other" players had a chance to play. Michigan Center had a population of about 4,000 people and the little towns close to us were about the same size, Napoleon, Vandercook Lake, and Grass Lake to name a few and they like us were all white. Jackson Parkside was mostly black. I point it out only because we got a lecture from one of the coach’s about misconceptions of black people by white people before our first scrimmage. His lecture was silly at best, I think he was afraid that we would do or say something to embarrass him and/or the school. This was only a few years after the 1968 Detroit riots and their still was “tension” in the air.
So we got scrimmage The Great Tony Dungy from Parkside a couple of times. He was a year ahead of me and graduated in 1973. He went on to play for a Big Ten School (Wisconsin) as a Quarterback. He was drafted by the Steelers but was converted to a defensive back and he played a few years in the pros. The locals were very proud of Tony. I was proud too but was disappointed that he did not go to Michigan or Michigan State.
I don’t recall him being at the first scrimmage and I don’t think he played very much at the second scrimmage. He spent most of his time talking to one of our coaches on the sidelines. He always carried himself with class. He still does. People don’t change as they get older they only INTENSIFY.
My football career went as follows. We did not have organized sports in Junior High except Basketball and I never have been much at that game. We played “football” at recess and our game was a bit different. We basically played keep away with a football, you ran with the football and if you got tackled by someone, you gave them the ball and they would run with it until someone tackled them. When the bell rang whoever had the ball would run toward an imaginary goal line and try to cross it. I was very fast and quick as a kid, I’d get the ball and run most of the recess without being tackled. I was good.
I got good by practicing almost every day with the kids in my neighborhood. We loved to Play! We’d play football just like they played it on T.V. , we played all day long and usually only stopped because of darkness. We played on an empty lot about 30 yards long. We usually could find enough kids to play 3 on 3.
When I got to high school, I starred as a running back on the freshman team, and then I starred as sophomore on the Junior Varsity team. When I got to be a junior, the coach of the team Varsity team was in love with Earl Campbell of the "then" Houston Oilers. He took the two biggest kids on our team and tried to make them running backs just like big O’ Earl. After our team suffered, he turned the running over to me and I did well and the team turned around. I was a good running back as Senior and I excelled at running back punts and kickoffs as well. I got my picture in the local newspaper a couple of times, not has much as Tony Dungy did but just like him all the same. I was good enough to be selected to the all-conference team my senior year.
I had one goal in life; I was going to be the next great running back for the Detroit Lions. My dreams started to fade during my senior year when I realized I was done growing. I was 5’6” and weighed 140 if I had my pads on. No one wanted to give a runt white boy a scholarship to play college football no matter how fast he was. So my dreams of glory soon faded.
So why do I tell you all of this? Well, Tony is about the only semi-famous person I’ve ever had contact with. Well except for that time I literally ran into Marie Osmond, but that’s a story for another day.
Tony Dungy was an All-State Quarterback from Jackson (Michigan) Parkside High School. Parkside had more people in their senior class than we had in our entire High School. I went to a nearby High School called Michigan Center during the early ‘70’s.
Parkside would scrimmage local schools so their "other" players had a chance to play. Michigan Center had a population of about 4,000 people and the little towns close to us were about the same size, Napoleon, Vandercook Lake, and Grass Lake to name a few and they like us were all white. Jackson Parkside was mostly black. I point it out only because we got a lecture from one of the coach’s about misconceptions of black people by white people before our first scrimmage. His lecture was silly at best, I think he was afraid that we would do or say something to embarrass him and/or the school. This was only a few years after the 1968 Detroit riots and their still was “tension” in the air.
So we got scrimmage The Great Tony Dungy from Parkside a couple of times. He was a year ahead of me and graduated in 1973. He went on to play for a Big Ten School (Wisconsin) as a Quarterback. He was drafted by the Steelers but was converted to a defensive back and he played a few years in the pros. The locals were very proud of Tony. I was proud too but was disappointed that he did not go to Michigan or Michigan State.
I don’t recall him being at the first scrimmage and I don’t think he played very much at the second scrimmage. He spent most of his time talking to one of our coaches on the sidelines. He always carried himself with class. He still does. People don’t change as they get older they only INTENSIFY.
My football career went as follows. We did not have organized sports in Junior High except Basketball and I never have been much at that game. We played “football” at recess and our game was a bit different. We basically played keep away with a football, you ran with the football and if you got tackled by someone, you gave them the ball and they would run with it until someone tackled them. When the bell rang whoever had the ball would run toward an imaginary goal line and try to cross it. I was very fast and quick as a kid, I’d get the ball and run most of the recess without being tackled. I was good.
I got good by practicing almost every day with the kids in my neighborhood. We loved to Play! We’d play football just like they played it on T.V. , we played all day long and usually only stopped because of darkness. We played on an empty lot about 30 yards long. We usually could find enough kids to play 3 on 3.
When I got to high school, I starred as a running back on the freshman team, and then I starred as sophomore on the Junior Varsity team. When I got to be a junior, the coach of the team Varsity team was in love with Earl Campbell of the "then" Houston Oilers. He took the two biggest kids on our team and tried to make them running backs just like big O’ Earl. After our team suffered, he turned the running over to me and I did well and the team turned around. I was a good running back as Senior and I excelled at running back punts and kickoffs as well. I got my picture in the local newspaper a couple of times, not has much as Tony Dungy did but just like him all the same. I was good enough to be selected to the all-conference team my senior year.
I had one goal in life; I was going to be the next great running back for the Detroit Lions. My dreams started to fade during my senior year when I realized I was done growing. I was 5’6” and weighed 140 if I had my pads on. No one wanted to give a runt white boy a scholarship to play college football no matter how fast he was. So my dreams of glory soon faded.
So why do I tell you all of this? Well, Tony is about the only semi-famous person I’ve ever had contact with. Well except for that time I literally ran into Marie Osmond, but that’s a story for another day.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
This falls under the category of ......
Some bloggers put their every thought on the internet and we as readers have to wade through their endless vomiting of keystrokes to find a few morsals of goodies. Well that's been me today.
Hey if I could ever learn to play the Guitar I want to learn to play "Red House" by Jimi Hendrix. I want to play it just like Walter Trout does. The best renditions of "Red House" are as follows:
1) Walter Trout
2) Eric Clapton
3) Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Stevie Vai
4) Gov't Mule (depending on the mood I'm in this could be Number 1 some days)
5) Gary Hoey
6) Mick Taylor
7) Albert King
8) Chris Duarte
9) Popa Chubby
10) Jimmy Thackery
11) Leslie West
12) Johnny Winter
13) The Hamsters
14) Toto
15) Steve Lukather and Lary Carlton
16) Anyone else
17) Jimi Hendrix.
Now how could I put Jimi last? After all he wrote it. Too bad his version stinks. If wasn't always so messed up while performing he may have been at the top. So much talent wasted.
Hey if I could ever learn to play the Guitar I want to learn to play "Red House" by Jimi Hendrix. I want to play it just like Walter Trout does. The best renditions of "Red House" are as follows:
1) Walter Trout
2) Eric Clapton
3) Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Stevie Vai
4) Gov't Mule (depending on the mood I'm in this could be Number 1 some days)
5) Gary Hoey
6) Mick Taylor
7) Albert King
8) Chris Duarte
9) Popa Chubby
10) Jimmy Thackery
11) Leslie West
12) Johnny Winter
13) The Hamsters
14) Toto
15) Steve Lukather and Lary Carlton
16) Anyone else
17) Jimi Hendrix.
Now how could I put Jimi last? After all he wrote it. Too bad his version stinks. If wasn't always so messed up while performing he may have been at the top. So much talent wasted.
Fishing in Southern Arizona
As a kid growing up in Michigan if I wanted to fish, I stepped into our backyard walked out on our dock and started fishing. Two minutes tops to grab a pole, find a spot and cast a line. In Tucson it’s an all day trip. It takes me all day to do what I used to do all day long.
First you gotta load up the car. Poles, tackle box, snacks, drinks and sometimes the boat or canoe added to the top of the car. Drive for two hours (minimum in Tucson) and find your fishing hole.
I had a day off last week! I pulled my son out of school for the day. We spent $67 on licenses (my 15 year old has to have a license in Arizona to fish) and another $30 bucks on tackle another $20 bucks on road food. We drove to Nogales, AZ about 5 miles from the U.S. border. They stock the little lake there with trout this time of year. My little brother calls them “cock” size trout.
We were the only ones there for quite a while. The water level was way down and fishing from shore was just about impossible because of all the weeds. We could not cast out far enough to avoid the weeds. We could see great schools of trout swimming about but were unable to catch many. If we had only brought our boat I thought.
Others showed up in boats and were catching them left and right. It was frustrating standing on shore watching them catching them all. We’ll be back with our canoe next time!
I’ve published some photos.
First you gotta load up the car. Poles, tackle box, snacks, drinks and sometimes the boat or canoe added to the top of the car. Drive for two hours (minimum in Tucson) and find your fishing hole.
I had a day off last week! I pulled my son out of school for the day. We spent $67 on licenses (my 15 year old has to have a license in Arizona to fish) and another $30 bucks on tackle another $20 bucks on road food. We drove to Nogales, AZ about 5 miles from the U.S. border. They stock the little lake there with trout this time of year. My little brother calls them “cock” size trout.
We were the only ones there for quite a while. The water level was way down and fishing from shore was just about impossible because of all the weeds. We could not cast out far enough to avoid the weeds. We could see great schools of trout swimming about but were unable to catch many. If we had only brought our boat I thought.
Others showed up in boats and were catching them left and right. It was frustrating standing on shore watching them catching them all. We’ll be back with our canoe next time!
I’ve published some photos.
I'm back.
“Where have you been,” you ask. Well I’ve been working.
All work and no play have made Bob a very dull boy.
First let me get this off my chest. I am sick and tired of working so hard. I’ve worked hard all of my life. When the f*ck does it end? My working two jobs has never been a problem, I just did it. Well it seems to weigh on me now. I am more tired than I can explain. I have just enough energy to get through my workday and that is it. I am not good for anything else. My yard is going to hell for one but I don’t have the time or the energy to do anything about it.
Want some cheese with that Whine? Want some French Cries and a Whine-a-kin? How about I call a Wha-a-a-a-ambulance?
Time for that famous Dillon line “you’ll be all right.”
OK, enough whining.
I’ve been working hard. I work at two different hospitals here in Tucson. One job is nothing but a f*cking sweatshop. We work ten-hour (or longer) shifts and while it is always busy there it has been unbearable this winter. I can’t take much more. I spend my day hunched over a bench, identifying bacteria. If you so much as look up, or casually try to talk to a co-worker you’ll find yourself even further behind. We work till the work is done and it usually takes ten hours. I have other irons in the fire and pray one of them pays off with a better job.
At my other job I work in the laboratory at another hospital as a Med Tech. I don’t have a whole lot of experience but they have been willing to train me where they need me. In most labs Techs specialize in histology or microbiology (like me) or they work in the main lab (hematology, chemistry and blood bank). I have always stayed away from blood bank for two reasons. One, we are not paid enough to take patients life’s into our hands. You screw up or make a mistake and the patient is dead. Secondly, the lab world is experimentation in a great Matriarchal society. It is mostly women, run by women for women. Men are allowed in only as fodder for torture. What few men do work in this field often work the off shifts (nights, weekends, evenings). Example, I work every weekend at the Sweat Shop. I figured as long as never knew blood bank, I could avoid working the night shift. (Staying up all night would be impossible for me.)
I’m learning blood bank and it’s not so bad. There are so many safeguards that it would be difficult to “kill” a patient (but still is a possibility). Of course, once I knew my way around the blood bank I was asked to work 3rd shift and I refused. This is only a part time job with no benefits. I could take it or leave it. Too bad if I pissed off anyone or let them down. I let them know when I started that I could work 2 or 3 days a week during the day only. I'm too damn old to be working different shifts at different jobs. But I found it funny that the women there expected me to work the odd shifts for them as soon as I was able. They have been cool about it so far. I doubt they would be so nice if it wasn't for the shortage of Med Tech's in this town.
I keep threatening to write a book about the great matriarchal society of medical laboratories. Perhaps I shall.
All work and no play have made Bob a very dull boy.
First let me get this off my chest. I am sick and tired of working so hard. I’ve worked hard all of my life. When the f*ck does it end? My working two jobs has never been a problem, I just did it. Well it seems to weigh on me now. I am more tired than I can explain. I have just enough energy to get through my workday and that is it. I am not good for anything else. My yard is going to hell for one but I don’t have the time or the energy to do anything about it.
Want some cheese with that Whine? Want some French Cries and a Whine-a-kin? How about I call a Wha-a-a-a-ambulance?
Time for that famous Dillon line “you’ll be all right.”
OK, enough whining.
I’ve been working hard. I work at two different hospitals here in Tucson. One job is nothing but a f*cking sweatshop. We work ten-hour (or longer) shifts and while it is always busy there it has been unbearable this winter. I can’t take much more. I spend my day hunched over a bench, identifying bacteria. If you so much as look up, or casually try to talk to a co-worker you’ll find yourself even further behind. We work till the work is done and it usually takes ten hours. I have other irons in the fire and pray one of them pays off with a better job.
At my other job I work in the laboratory at another hospital as a Med Tech. I don’t have a whole lot of experience but they have been willing to train me where they need me. In most labs Techs specialize in histology or microbiology (like me) or they work in the main lab (hematology, chemistry and blood bank). I have always stayed away from blood bank for two reasons. One, we are not paid enough to take patients life’s into our hands. You screw up or make a mistake and the patient is dead. Secondly, the lab world is experimentation in a great Matriarchal society. It is mostly women, run by women for women. Men are allowed in only as fodder for torture. What few men do work in this field often work the off shifts (nights, weekends, evenings). Example, I work every weekend at the Sweat Shop. I figured as long as never knew blood bank, I could avoid working the night shift. (Staying up all night would be impossible for me.)
I’m learning blood bank and it’s not so bad. There are so many safeguards that it would be difficult to “kill” a patient (but still is a possibility). Of course, once I knew my way around the blood bank I was asked to work 3rd shift and I refused. This is only a part time job with no benefits. I could take it or leave it. Too bad if I pissed off anyone or let them down. I let them know when I started that I could work 2 or 3 days a week during the day only. I'm too damn old to be working different shifts at different jobs. But I found it funny that the women there expected me to work the odd shifts for them as soon as I was able. They have been cool about it so far. I doubt they would be so nice if it wasn't for the shortage of Med Tech's in this town.
I keep threatening to write a book about the great matriarchal society of medical laboratories. Perhaps I shall.
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