Free loader

Walking out to the car after work I noticed something on my antenna topper.



Looking a bit more closely it appears to be a spider. And he's been riding along for awhile.



Cool

Afraid of the rain

Like a lot of areas we got a bit of rain over the weekend - ~8.5 inches of it. At one time the main road through our subdivision was had over 8 inches of standing water. Some cars went slow. Big trucks went fast. This truck tried to keep it's tires dry.

I Vote

I cling to my Bible as well.

No surprise here

Nothing about 9/11 at Google.

Do you remember?

I still do. 9/11/2001 still seems like it was yesterday.

Planes crashing, people jumping, towers falling, me crying.

I remember prayer, hope, and sacrifice. I remember the quiet of the days afterward when no planes were in the air.

I remember the sonic boom when two Illinois Air National Guard planes went supersonic because some idiot ignored the no fly rule. I remember Thing1 being scared as he thought another attack was underway.

I remember people being proud to be Americans and flying their flags.

I will always remember Kathy Bantis.

Please don't forget the 2996.

I hope I never forget.


2004,2006,2007

Why I like Sarah Palin

Just the other day, our opponent brought up earmarks, and frankly I was surprised that he did, considering his record on earmarks. I didn’t think he’d want to go there. In just three years, our opponent has requested nearly a billion dollars in earmarks, and that’s about a million dollars every working day.

We reformed the abuses of earmarks in our state, and it was while our opponent was requesting a billion dollars in earmarks as a Senatorial privilege. What I was doing was vetoing half a billion dollars as an executive responsibility.

More at Hot Air

Sarah Palin Fact of the Day

via email

Selection of Sarah Palin retroactively makes the theme of the 2008
Democratic National Convention: "Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead".

Ted has an opinion

On the future Vice President of the United States

Roger That

Sarah Palin Fact of the Day

Death once had a near-Sarah Palin experience

Sarah Palin Facts

Obamessiah is going to turn into an Obamakakis

mcg commenting over at Althouse

The HD candidate of choice

Sarah Palin: the HD candidate of choice! And I thought women’s beach volleyball was the pinnacle of HD viewing.

In the comments

Over

Got this in a email from a family member. I was more against Obama then for McCain but Palin is an awesome pick. She makes McCain electable for me rather than the lesser of two evils.

Given what has happened today - I wonder if the press, official and otherwise, will leave her kids alone?

Play Some Skynrd

The opening band last Friday night requested that this song be recorded.



Slamabama

A Fun 25th

The wife and I celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary on August 27^th. While I'm not sure how my wife puts up with me it's easy for me to feel blessed that she does.

We went out for lunch on the day. However the 29^th turned out to be the day she really liked. Montgomery Gentry was playing in Rockford, Il. I bought tickets from a scalper broker on the 28^th. Front row. Similar to the last time we were there.



The show was fun. The boys know how to put on a performance.







Since it was our anniversary we decided to try something. We made a sign asking Eddie Montgomery for a anniversary present.

He was nice enough to answer our request.



There was a bit of an issue with some A** who came flying in from the side and grabbed the hat when Eddie was tossing it to us. We separated him from the hat and security escorted him out. (It pays to make friends with the security guards) Everyone around us had seen the sign and knew what was going on so a number of people had our backs.

We stayed around after the show for a bit - talking to Bo and K-Man. We even got on the Jim Beam bus for a bit and had a beer with a few of the boys. Real nice people. Soon it was 1:15 am and it was time to go home. A long tiring day. But my sweetie is happy and that makes it worth it.

BTW - Eddie - you saved me several thousand dollars. Thanks!

How to save the government Millions

From my father-in-law:

How to save the government MILLIONS

A president's pension currently is $191,300 per year. Assuming the next president lives to age 80. Sen. McCain would receive ZERO pension as he would reach 80 at the end of two terms as president. Sen. Obama would be retired for 26 years after two terms and would receive $4,973,800 in pension.

Therefore, it would certainly make economic sense to elect McCain in November.

How's that for non partisan thinking???

Sarah Palin Facts

Here

Personally I think this was a bold choice by McCain. I can move from voting against Obama to voting for McCain/Palin.

How to start each day with a positive outlook

1. Open a new file in your computer.
   
2. Name it 'Barack Obama'.
   
3. Send it to the Recycle Bin.
   
4. Empty the Recycle Bin.
   
5. Your PC will ask you, 'Do you really want to get rid of 'Barack Obama?'
   
6. Firmly Click 'Yes.'
   
7. Feel better?
   

Good! - Tomorrow it's Nancy Pelosi's turn

Nothing Says Change

Like a Senior Citizen who's been in office since the Nixon Administration



I love NewsBusted.

This could be my father-in-law

From a list I'm on:

Now that I'm retired, working people, frequently ask what I do to make my days interesting.

Well, for example, the other day I went downtown to go to the News Stand for the Wall Street Journal so I could track my investments I was only in there for about 5 minutes. When I came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket.

I said to him, 'Come on, man, don't you have anything better to do than write a retired person a ticket? Why aren't you out chasing crooks or child molesters...that's out of your league, obviously!!!

He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. I called him a 'Nazi.' He glared at me and wrote another ticket for having worn tires.

So I called him 'Barney Fife'.

He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he wrote a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more I abused him, the more tickets he wrote.

Personally, I didn't care..... I came downtown on the senior's bus. The car that he was putting the tickets on had a bumper sticker that said 'Obama in '08.'

I try to have a little fun each day now that I'm retired. It's important to my health!

Geeks with Guns

Hmmm - I'm a Geek. And I own guns. A site just for people like me.

I feel special!

Gold

Here's a couple of U.S. Gold Medal winners that you probably havn't heard of:

Skeet - U.S. Army Pfc. Vincent Hancock

Double Trap - Spc. Walton Glenn Eller III, of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. Images of Eller

Go Granny Go

This put a smile on my face. Great way to start the day after yesterday.

Elderly Woman Grabs Gun, Holds Would-Be Burglar At Bay

It's better to burn out

Shredding tires is fun. I wish I had the cash to do this.

91% Male

Thats what my browser history says (at work anyways). I'll have to see what the Gender Estimator thinks of my home system.

Likelihood of you being FEMALE is 9%
Likelihood of you being MALE is 91%

In Plain Sight

"Bullets. You can never have too many bullets. It's my bullet room."

Mary Shannon as played by Mary McCormack in the episode Good Cop, Dead Cop

Another one bites the dust

The Evanston City Council voted 7-1 Monday night to repeal a handgun ban in the city.

Previously, an ordinance on the books banned handguns in the town.

The move comes in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned a similar handgun ban, saying it was unconstitutional.

Both Morton Grove and Wilmette overturned their handgun bans following the high court's ruling.

More here

That leaves Oak Park and Chicago with handgun bans here in the once great state of Illinois.

Friends don't let friends

The wife picked these up for her and I while we were in D.C.



On Saturday she was at a store picking up some greeting cards and had this button on her purse. The clerk saw it, smiled, and asked the wife where she got it as she wanted them for herself and her husband. She seemed to be disappointed when the wife said D.C.

The person behind my wife, listening to the conversation, asked to see the button. After seeing it he wanted the buttons for himself and his friends.

Made my day!

Seen in DC

I saw this shirt while walking around the reflecting pond.

Another Critter

Found this one while trimming some branches.

Busy Bees

We got a bit of rain today and after the sun came out - well so did the bumble bees. I love to sit and watch them work.

Words to remember

As we walked through the various memorials I was trying to explain to Thing2 the sacrifice made by those whom the memorials were built for.







This image, from the Korean War Memorial, is exactly what I was trying to say.

Words from GW

George Washington that is.



I agree. Its not perfect but it's better than anything else out there.

made it to Arlington

We were wandering through Arlington National Cemetery and came across this marker. Same as tens of thousands of others except for those three words - "Medal Of Honor".



Sgt. Eggers story is here.

Home at last

We were listening to a Chicagoland radio station as we got closer to home and they cut in with a tornado warning for our town - ~100 miles away. The wife called her dad and the storms were nasty and moving fast. Since we were so close to my sister-in-laws house we stopped there and waited out the storm. Good thing as it was bad. Even had a tornado a few blocks away. After it passed we headed home.

No power once we got there. That came back around 2:00am. Internet access around 10:00am. Nice vacation but I'm glad to be home

On the way home

On the way home now. We're near a lake and a noisy musuem.



The GPS was helpful today. Readings maps to find the hotel is so yesterday!

OTOH the GPS allowed us to find the wife's moms home in the middle of nowhere, PA and get back to the interstate.

In the middle of nowhere

Really. No Where. It's so close to no where that the nearest Wal-Mart is a 25 minute drive.



On the other hand once your GPS knows where your condo is you can go exploring. That is a blast!

Day 2

Driving to a city for the first time is best with a GPS.

I took a spur rather than the main expressway and ended up in a major traffic jam. The GPS said "recalculating" and we were at our first destination in DC in a few minutes. Great little toy.

Road Trip

Hit the road for a little vacation with the whole family.



Driving with a GPS is fun. This is the end of day 1.

I forgot my first name

From the Price is Right this morning:

A new contestant was being called down. It took the announcer four tries to get the guy to notice he was being called. When host Drew Carey asked what the contestant what he does, he said he's a Marine. Drew (a former Marine Corp Reservist) comes back with "That's why you didn't respond. When you're in the Marines, you completely forget your first name."

Test Post

Testing the RSS feed into Sharepoint at work

Remembering the fallen

An artist uses her gifts to preserve the memories of fallen troops

Buckets of rain going sideways

Thats how the Daily Herald described the rain that descended on Chicagoland Speedway last night to cancel qualifying for the Lifelock 400. And we were in the middle of it...

I was in the stands with Thing1 and Thing2 waiting for the track to dry so that qualifying could start. The wife was outside waiting for the free concert to begin.

This was her view.



This was mine.



And after the first wave.



Thing1 said it was more like barrels of rain going sideways. It was pretty impressive. We hung out under the bleachers and still needed raingear to stay dry. Once it slowed down we headed out to find the van and head home. It was fun listening to the GPS give directions - this was helpful as the rain was still coming down hard and not all the road signs were easy to see.

Chris Calloway - My Last Goodbye

The wife wanted to go see Chase Daniels and Western Star (again). Since they were playing in the next town (for free!) we went over last night and listened.

Chris Calloway, who plays keys and guitar, performed one of his own songs. Pretty good stuff.

Fireworks

The finale from the fireworks in my town.



For the longest time Thing2, whose birthday is July 5th, thought the fireworks were for her...

Further proof

Further proof I'm living in the wrong state.

Ellen Carrington, 21, who was crowned Miss Tennessee on Saturday night, has a concealed weapons permit.

"I have a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber," Carrington told reporters on Sunday...

It's good to see that she was raised to take care of herself. Well done Dad!

The finger?

Is Kyle Busch giving the crowd the finger after winning the Toyota Sav-Mart 350 at Sonoma?

Juan Pablo Montoya

I'm not a fan of JPM in any way so this performance by Jim Tavare on Last Comic Standing was priceless.

CMA Fest - Day 2

2:30am was way too late to go to bed. At least for someone as old as me. The wife wanted to go back to the convention center for pics so we were up at 8:30 for breakfast. In downtown Nashville by 10:30. I decided to try and park closer to the river. Found a parking garage near 3rd and Commerce. Much closer than on Day 1.

Saw more people in the convention center. Even Alan Jacksons hat. Jessica Simpson was there promoting a Country CD. Kellie Pickler as well. Two truly beautiful women. Brooks and Dunn had a booth there but since they were not playing at the fest (something about money - funny coming from millionaires...) there was not a whole lot of traffic at the booth. Kind of reminded me of Juan Pablo Montoya's trailer at Chicagoland Speedway last July. Hunger started to set it so we went off looking for barbecue.

And had no luck. Lots of busy restaurants. We ended up at Coyote Ugly (again) and took in the lunch buffet. It was pretty tasty. Then it was time for cold beer and hot women. The singing Coyotes were there as well and quite enjoyable. Lil and Jacqui were behind the bar taking in the show. As we left I managed to get a picture with the two of them.



With shade on the river front we went and watched the performers there for a while. Soon it was time for the nightly show. Lady Antellum, the beautiful and sassy Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Josh Turner, Julianne Hough, Faith Hill, and 'special' guest Keith Urban performed. Keith ran into the crowd while playing guitar. One really lucky fan held up a sharpie and got a autographed guitar for her effort. Soon it was midnight and the show was over. Whew. Headed back across the bridge for some refreshment. Ended up with ice cream. It was perfect.

Around 1:00am we headed for the car and noticed something that we had never seen before in Nashville. My wife referred to them as 'angry urban youth out looking for trouble'. To be they were black teens out looking for an easy target. I'm not sure that a drunk redneck would have been the smartest choice. More about these folks later.

Time for sleep.

Big Day for Thing1

He has his first job interview. It should be interesting. Hopefully educational too.

Update: It seemed to go well. Thing1 reports that it was more like a intro to the interview rather than the interview. If he decides he's interested in working at the school he can meet with another person at the school in July. We'll see.

More of Day 1 at CMA 2008

After watching the Air Mutts I found the wife at the convention center. She was trying to get pictures of some of her favorite stars. Some of the folks there were waiting hours in the 'hopeful' line in an attempt to get a signature. Thats dedication.

After that it was off to Coyote Ugly. I'm not big into the bar scene but this is a fun place. Beautiful girls tending bar, BMF's keeping the peace, excellent entertainment, and reasonable beer.

Now that the sun was getting lower in the sky we went over to the riverfront stage. The last 20 feet or so of the lawn was now in the shade and made the bands so much more enjoyable than sitting in the sun.

As evening approached we headed across the bridge to LP Field. We ran into the Nashville Metro PD Mounted Police at the peak of the bridge. One of the officers was the same man we talked to last year. Once the wife mentioned that the conversation really got going. Officers Stockdale and Dzirany (along with Storm and Henry) were a blast to talk to. The horses loved the attention. And according to Officer Stockdale, Storm loves the post show fireworks.

The show started promptly at 7:45. Shocking. :-). The National Anthem as well as a F18 flyover was a great way to start. Montgomery Gentry, Kellie Pickler, Taylor Swift, and Sugarland were among the performers along with 'surprise' guest Rascal Flatt. Four hours later it was over. The wife really enjoyed MG and Sugarland. Taylor Swift has excellent stage presence. If she stays out of trouble as she grows up I think she will rule country music.

For someone like me, who isn't a big fan of country music, this was a pretty good show. Most of the artists are great on stage and know how to handle a crowd. We'll see what Friday brings.

After the show we headed back over the bridge and started looking for an open bar with a decent band. Found both at Legends. The beer was cold and the music was good. All of the sudden it was 2:00am and us old people were tired. Time to find the car and the hotel. In that order...

Flying Dogs

As mentioned below - furry things to watch.



The entire Air Mutts show is worth your time if they are in your area. The neat thing about the dogs is that they are either adopted or rescued.

VMFA-224 flyover at CMA Fest

We were treated to this every night to start the show.



It was much louder in person.

I'm not a country boy

The wife is a big fan of country music. I, on the other hand, am not. There are a few country artists that I like but for the most part it's just not for me. So when she decided a few weeks ago that she wanted to go to the 2008 CMAFest in Nashville I was like - can you take your sister?

Well - her sister, thanks to snow days, was still going to be teaching when the festival started on June 5th. Bummer for me.

So she booked a motel room for 5 nights and started looking for tickets. She had first looked for packages that had club level seats (private 'facilities' as well as concessions) and the prices were $700 per person. A bit pricey so she got a cheap motel. Now it was ticket time. E-Bay came to the rescue. She found a pair of club level seats that had no bids on it and was due to expire in a day. Set a watch on it and ended up winning the auction. Got $280 worth of tickets for $175. Not a bad deal.

(attentive readers might notice that 'she' has been doing the work. Not being a fan has its rewards...)

So we had a motel and tickets. Nashville is 500 miles from home so gas wasn't terrible. 8 hours of driving and we were there. Music City. Not our first time there so we kind of know our way around. OTOH we never had to try and park when there are 150,000 of our closest friends there looking for parking as well....

I'll say this for Nashville - it's a easy city to get around in. Just remember that you can circle the city using 24, 40, and 65 so if you miss an exit you can just loop around. Not that I ever had to that before...

Day 1 meant dropping off the wife at the Trace Adkins fan club party. (more on that later). I went back to the motel (after scoping out parking and exits out of the city) and waited for her to call me back. Since the show ended up running late I went downtown to look for a parking spot as she was going to take a cab. Parking was easier than expected and I got to wait. Luckily there was something fun (and furry to watch)...

Dog meets food

Buffy was a bit hungry and decided not to wait for dinner...

He has a way with words

Chris Muir that is. Pretty good cartoonist as well.

He's a Graduate!

Thing1 was graduated on May 17th, 2008 with a BA in Elementary Education.



The last 3.75 years flew bye. I don't feel old enough to have a college graduate for a son.

We spent the last couple of weeks moving his stuff home.





Soon he'll be able to use his bed again.

Now to get him a job and out of the house!

Where do the buffalo roam?

At Fermilab, thats where.

American Idol - the night America lost it's mind

Carly and Syesha as the bottom two? Was no one listening to Brooke and Jason? Carly going home?

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

No Flipping Way

One Gun a Month - It's the law

Watching the news last night and they had a story about how some Chicago Public School students went down to Springfield to lobby for a '1 gun a month' law to stop the violence in the city of Chicago (somehow the fact that violence is a social problem escapes these clowns). The measure was defeated and the usual whining ensued.

I looked at the wife and I said - just think - a few more votes and I'd have to buy a new gun every month. I mean it would be the law. :-)

One Step Closer

Thing1 has passed his education certification test! He finishes up having complete control of his class this week and then he gradually turns control back to his co-operating teacher over the next week or so. Graduation is only five weeks away (man it seems like yesterday we dropped him off for the first time) and then we have him back at home till he moves out on his own.

If anyone is looking for a elementary ed major certified to teach K-8 I've got a great one here.

How to destroy a Toyota

Michael McDowell does it today at Texas Motor Speedway.

Playing with blocks

At least he didn't make the mistake for 20 years

Perception

From one of my brothers

--

Perception

A biker is riding by the zoo, when he sees a little girl leaning into the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents.

The biker jumps off his bike, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain, the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly.

A New York Times reporter has seen the whole scene, and addressing the biker, says, "Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I saw a man do in my whole life."

"Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger, and acted as I felt right."

"Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a journalist from the New York Times , you know, and tomorrow's paper will have this on the first page. What motorcycle do you ride and what political affiliation do you have?"

"A Harley Davidson and I am a Republican."
The journalist leaves.
The following morning the biker buys The New York Times to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on first page:

Republican Biker Gang Member Assaults African Immigrant and Steals his Lunch

Another reason I'm a Netflix fan

I'm in class this week so I'm really behind on email. This showed up this morning:

As you may have heard, our shipping system was unexpectedly down for most of Monday. We should have shipped your DVDs but were unable to. Your DVDs were shipped today, Tuesday, March 25th, instead.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. We will issue a 5% credit to your account in the next few days. You don't need to do anything. The credit will be automatically applied to your next billing statement.

I really didn't notice anything. Yet they stepped up, admitted a problem, and made it right (even though the didn't have to). Well done Netflix!

An Easter Transition

We planned a small gathering. The four of us, my wife's dad and his wife, my sister, and her family. Much less that the usual chaos that seems to erupt on holidays at Casa de Al.

After church the prep began. Ham in the crock pot, potatoes, veggies. And candy. Lots of candy. So far it was it was a typical Easter.

Dinner was great. My brother-in-law headed out to the family room to watch college hoops on the HDTV. He was asleep in just a few minutes. Too much Cabernet with dinner I guess as there was no triptophan in play. After clean up I went out to harass him and that's when it got weird...

My sister and her husband lean to the political left. My wife and I lean to the political right. Needless to say it can get interesting at times when the discussion turns to politics. Always friendly but interesting. So when my brother-in-law started asking questions about guns I was just a little confused. It turns out that they are worried about society and the possible problems ahead if the economy tanks. They live in a more upscale neighborhood than I do (making 3 times what I do helps in that regard) so Randy thought (correctly IMO) that they would be a more likely target for home invasion and burglary. Randy was thinking that having a gun for personal protection might be a good idea. I was kind of surprised. Then he said that my sister was in favor of this as well. I was shocked. My sister had made it very clear over the years that "guns were bad". Having me around constantly challenging her must have finally sunk in. :-)

So we talked. I got out my guns and went though each one and why I had it. During this Thing1 came out and started talking about his favorites and the tens of thousands of rounds that we have fired together. Time together shooting - as he gets older we need to do that more often before he moves out and starts his own life. Anyways I started with my .22's. A Ruger MarkII and a Dan Wesson 4 inch revolver. Cheap ammo and great practice. Then it was on to the Glock 17 and the CZ75c. Ammo costs more but as far as personal protection a 9mm is far superior to a .22. Randy seemed to like the grip of the Glock. Not so much the CZ. The grip circumference really seems to matter to him.

Then the long arms came out. A old H&R 865 .22 that my dad gave me 25 years ago. It's a great little bolt action rifle that is very accurate. Then the Ruger 10/22. It wears a dot sight that makes hitting the target easy. Finally the KelTec Sub2000. Kind of a scary black rifle but it's inexpensive and, in my experience, reliable. I had a couple more but it became obvious that Randy was interested in the handguns.

So we talked some more. My big question seemed to surprise him. Would you be willing to take a human life? Or are you hoping to scare the bad guy away? How would you secure the house? Secure the gun(s)? These questions need to be answered before buying a gun for self preservation. Then Randy started asking questions: How to buy a gun? Where? Where to practice, how often, etc. What is a good home defense weapon? Lots of great questions. Hopefully my answers will get him thinking.

It looks like a Ruger MarkII will be his first purchase. If that works out then Randy and his wife need to see if they can share a gun or if due to some physical strength issues, will need something lighter and less powerful than Randy can handle. Lots of decisions.

It looks like the transition from sheep to sheepdog has begun.

My next Nerf gun

Full auto

Now thats fun! Thing1 will probably get one as well. That will be a battle.

Want a million dollars?

Netflix is giving it away.

You do have to earn it.

No contest

Code Pink vs the United States Marine Corp

iTrojan

Glock in a Box

The Magpul Industries FMG9



Thats cool.

Perfect for a summer day

With it being ~5 degrees Fahrenheit right now the thought of spending a warm summer day laying on the grass and listening to great music has a lot of appeal.

Ignite Chicago

Newsboys, MercyMe, David Crowder Band, Hawk Nelson, Superchic[k], Todd Agnew, Red, John Reuben, Tenth Avenue North

Alexian Field - Schaumburg, IL
July 20, 2008

I can't wait!

Driving through Montana

Two men were driving through Montana when they got pulled over by a state trooper. The cop walked up and tapped on the window with his nightstick. The driver rolled down the window, and WHACK, the cop smacked him in the head with his nightstick.

'What the hell was that for?' the driver asked.

'You're in Montana son,' the trooper answered. 'When we pull you over in Montana, you better have your license ready, by the time we get to your car.'

'I'm sorry, officer,' the driver said, 'I'm not from around here.'

The trooper runs a check on the guy's license--he's clean, and gives the guy his license back.

The trooper then walks around to the passenger side and taps on the window.

The passenger rolls down the window, and WHACK, the trooper smacks him on the head with the nightstick.

'What'd you do that for?' the passenger demands.

'Just making your wish come true,' replied the trooper.

'Making WHAT wish come true?' the passenger asked.

'Because I know your type,' the trooper says, 'two miles down the road, you're gonna turn to your buddy and say, 'I wish that a**hole would've tried that CRAP with me!'

Lunar Eclispe

Took some pictures last night. Well I tried to take some pictures. It was kinda last minute and just a bit chilly (~3F).

Angry White Men

I think I might be one.

Fast Cars

We headed off to the Chicago Auto Show today. Picked up Thing1 at school, dodged lots of potholes, and made it to McCormick place to wander the aisles and see what grabbed our attention. Thing1 graduates in just over 90 days and is thinking of a new car once he has gotten that first job so he had certain models he wanted to see. Me - I just like to look and dream a bit.

We found some race cars. One of Tony Stewart's new rides was there.



He managed a close second in the Bud Shootout tonight.

Kevin Harvick had a car at the Shell display.



Shell was nice enough to have a board so that fans could wish Kevin well.



If one goes straight down from the first O a little bit you might find something a little different...



I wonder where that came from...

Chevrolet had a Bumblebee Camaro on display. What a beautiful car. Thing1 wants one as one as long as it can transform.



And if I had 100K to spend... It would be on a Chevrolet ZR1 Corvette.

Compusa.com ?

I was on the CompUSA email list for advertised specials when the brick and mortar stores were still around. When they went away I stopped getting email from them. Today I got a email ad from compusa.com that looked a lot like a TigerDirect.com ad - right down to the prices.

So I looked at the bottom of the compusa.com ad:

CompUSA.com
7795 W Flagler Street, Suite 35
Miami, FL 33144

Dig out a deleted TigerDirect.com ad:

Copyright (c) TigerDirect Inc. 2008
7795 West Flagler Street Miami, FL 33144

I guess they are one and the same now.

I won!

The caption of the week contest at WizBang!

A nurse at the bank

A nurse walks into a bank totally exhausted after a 20 hour shift. Preparing to write a check, she pulls a rectal thermometer out of her purse and tries to write with it. She looks at the flabbergasted teller and without missing a beat says,

"Well, that's great... that's really great.... some a**hole has my pen."

HAZMAT

Women As Explained By An Engineer

From my soon to be married niece...

You might be a Redneck Taliban if

From a list I'm on

You might be a Redneck Taliban if...

You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to beer.

You own a $300 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can't afford shoes.

You have more wives than teeth.

You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.

You can't think of anyone you HAVEN'T declared Jihad against.

You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry ammunition in your robe.

You've felt the urge to rub one out after seeing a woman's exposed ankle.

You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.

You've ever uttered the phrase, 'I love what you've done with your cave.'

You wipe your a** with your bare left hand, but consider bacon unclean.

USRSF

The Pentagon announced TODAY the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces (USRSF)



These boys will be dropped off in Iraq and have been given only the following facts about terrorists :

1. The season opened today.
   
2. There is no limit.
   
3. They taste just like chicken.
   
4. They don't like beer, pickups, country music, NASCAR, or Jesus.
   
5. They are directly responsible for the death of Dale Earnhardt
   

The Pentagon expects the problem in Iraq to be over by Friday.

Campaigning versus voting

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the man. "Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne. Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises... The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

"Now it's time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity"

The senator reflects for a minute, then he> answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder "I don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning.....Today you voted."

This is one of those times

that I wish I had money to burn.

Michael Yon is selling his Dragon Skin body armor on ebay.

I'd love to be able to replace the funds he feels he wasted on the product.

One has to wonder what the vendor is thinking right now...

An Expensive Toy

A category that I'm all in favor of but this one comes with lousy keyboard and no user replaceable battery.

The MacBook Air

When seconds count

The police are only minutes away.

The lovely Laurel has video

From the front step of my house I can see the village hall of my town. The police station shares a parking lot with village hall. In regular traffic one can drive from the police station to my house in under 2 minutes. In an emergency I would imagine under 60 seconds. However since the police are usually not at the station and on patrol I would guess 3 to 5 minutes is more like it.

Maybe having guns in the home isn't such a bad idea...

If I had 100K to spend on a car

It would be a 2008 Corvette ZR1.

More at Popular Mechanics

You don't have to be Blond

These Contractors are installing the steel pillars in concrete to stop vehicles from parking on the pavement outside a Sports Bar downtown. They are now in the process of cleaning up at the end of the day and anxious to go home.

How long do you think it will be before they realize where their vehicle is parked?

(Making the rounds at work)

Interesting

If you read Day by Day (and if you don't you should) you may have noticed the Free DBD books text in the left hand pane. After clicking on the link (and finding nothing) I went to the DBD homepage and there was the link. Setup my registration (and awaiting confirmation since I have my own domain...) and searched for Chris Muir. Found the DBD books. And a book on Issac Newton as the 16th link.

There appears to be much more to Chris than I thought...

Shamrox Season opener - video coverage

Some video shot at the 2008 season opener


First - we get bagpipes



And fire!



And finally - Lacrosse!



A fan fav at Shamrox games are the dancers. After the first quarter we were treated to some Motley Crue



After the third quarter the girls wanted some respect



And then it was over. A tough game but the Shamrox just didn't have enough offensive firepower to keep up with Toronto.

After the game fans are allowed down on the field to get autographs. I think this is my daughters favorite part of the game. While we were doing this local band Facing Forward was playing. To be honest I couldn't understand a word they were saying...





Like most bands they overdrive the bass but I have a feeling that their gear is designed for a much smaller room than the Sears Centre.

Thing1 remembers seeing them when he was in high school at the Bartlett Public Library. Now they are on MTV, WGN TV, and playing here. Looks like the future is bright.

The Shamrox are back

Me and the kids went to the season opener tonight for the Chicago Shamrox. The ended up losing 11-9 but we still had a great time. Pics and video tomorrow.