Woke up to a lot of clouds this morning. As I got to work they parted and there was Mr. Moon just waiting for me.

Happy Tuesday. Have a great day.

#canon #sigma #fotodiox

Good morning!

A beautiful moon to start the day Happy Friday!

Strawberry Moon

A Beauty

A stunning moon last night Remember that tonight is a full moon combined with the longest day of the year

A beautiful moon

Double Breasted Comorants

Mr. Moon is almost gone

Moon rise

Good morning Mr. Moon

Happy Veterans Day!

My first job out of college was at a hospital doing electronics repair. Learned a lot there - both in my craft and about people. The department I worked in was mostly veterans - Viet Nam era - and some of the nicest guys you would ever meet. From, as they described themselves, grunts to a SeeBee to a Green Beret - an interesting group. Our boss was a Korean War vet, a fighter pilot. Nice man. There were 3 or 4 of us in the department of 25 or so who were not veterans. Guess who was working on Veterans day?

In my opinion the only people that should be off today are those who have served. The rest of us can pick up the slack. Kids should be in school - preferably listening to some veterans share their stories.

To those who have served - thank you from a grateful citizen.

#usshornet #veteransday

Thank you Starbucks

Thank you Starbucks for choosing to follow the law and not cave to the clueless.

I still remember

Kathy Bantis

Stupid people

If you're in the mood to read what stupid people write when discussing gun laws and a 'study' put out by the Brady Center - go read this.

My new favorite button

Buttons

I think this would be fun to wear around Madison, Wisconsin right now...

Wisconsin

If you want to read the thoughts of the loony left with regard to the Union hissy fit in Wisconsin I suggest going over to Little Green Footballs (no link provided). The hysterics over there is humorous.

Wisconsin

As a resident of a state that borders Wisconsin I've been watching with great amusement as the union members protest proposed legislation that would affect their collective bargaining agreements. It seems to have been started by teachers (who called in sick to go protest in Madison and, IMO, should be identified and fired) and has been joined by other union members. ~25000 strong they have made a mess of the capitol grounds and seem to have not gotten the message about being nice to each other. Lots of images portraying Governor Scott Walker as Hitler and with bulls eyes on him. (and no cries of angst from the looney left).

Thankfully Governor Walker isn't backing down. We'll see what today brings.

Some observations since the shooting in Tucson

Using tragedy to attack the Constitution:

Carolyn McCarthy (D - New York) set to introduce another gun control bill

Bob Brady (D - Pennsylvania) plans to introduce a bill that would ban symbols like that now-infamous campaign cross-hair map.

Making people wonder how they were ever elected:

Bob Kerrey (D - Nebraska [Ret]) blames the shooting on the impending vote to repeal ObamaCare

James Clyburn (D - South Carolina) wants the Fairness Doctrine brought back

Peter King (Rino - New York) wants to make it illegal to bring a gun within 1,000 feet of a government official

And lets not forget the morons in the media:

MSNBC anchor Richard Lui "Is it time to rethink the Second Amendment?" (Good thing it was MSNBC. There are only 3 or 4 people watching)

And last but not least - The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is using the tragedy as a fund raiser.

No shock

Not long after the tragic shooting in Tucson yesterday the sewers of the internet (Daily Kos, Little Green Footballs, etc) instantly started the meme that the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, etc were to blame for the shooting. No desire to wait for the facts - just place the blame.

And the Main Stream Media picked up and ran with it. Never mind it appears the shooter was an apolitical nut - the political opportunists on the left are following the Rahm Emmanuel philosophy of not letting a crisis go to waste.

A little chilly out today

How not to park

Making lemonade

Or in this case making the best of a batch of fudge that didn't turn out quite right. A topping for ice cream!

Tis the season

for fudge!

TSA and Gloves

Something to consider now that TSA agents are getting real familiar with people in places that only doctors used to go: what kind of germs/bugs/diseases are being moved from person to person by the gloves the agents use? I think I would request new gloves be donned in my presence before any search commenced.

Some things are just too stupid to believe

Living in the once great state of Illinois I get to witness some strange things. Election day this year, well 4 days after election day, brought us the election of Pat Quinn as Governor. Quinn was Blago's Lt. Governor so when Blago was removed as Governor Quinn ascended. Since then Illinois' financial situation has gone from bad to worse. Quinn is an advocate of a (depending on the story) 33 to 67% increase in the state income tax. But that isn't what this post is about.

Around 9/11/2001 I found a blog I really liked. I won't link to it as it has turned into a far left circle jerk. For those interested the members are referred to as lizards. I still read the blog on occasion as it's turned into a source of humor.

Today I took a look and there was a post thanking the Illinois voters for rejecting the Republican candidate for Governor Bill Brady and his running mate Jason Plummer. Ok - so far it's the typical response of the looney left. The author then takes the rejection to a new level - it was because Brady/Plummer are evil creationists. (the author is incredibly anti-Christian)

Anyone with a clue (not the author of the article) that knew anything about Illinois politics (and read a map) could tell that Brady lost because the Cook County Democratic machine delivered a 2 to 1 vote advantage for Quinn in the largest county in Illinois. Quinn won the state by ~19,000 votes. In Cook County Quinn had 500,000 more votes than Brady out of 1.5 million votes cast (Quinn won 3 counties in Illinois). Remove Cook and Brady wins Illinois by over 400,000 votes.

Brady / Plummer weren't rejected because of their faith. They lost because the vote totals in the 99 counties they won were not enough to massive Democratic turnout in Cook County. Not because of their faith. The post in question was a result of anti-Christian hatred - not logic. This is sadly becoming the norm at the site I found the article at.

Such a long time

It's been a long time since I've posted an update. My three readers must be crushed. :)

There is so much silliness out there I decided to get back to it.

Happy New Year!

2010 is here!

Paranormal Activity

Good creepy movie. If you like the scary stuff it's a good choice.

Merry Christmas

Hallmark Holiday Cheer

We Wish You a Merry Christmas



Jingle Bells



Rockin around the Christmas tree

Happy Birthday

to the United States Marine Corp. 234 years young.

Wife's First Hunt

via my wife's brother-in-law

----

My sweet husband invited me to go hunting with him this year.
I Couldn't believe it...the first time ever!
I never thought he'd be willing to share his 'guy time' with me
And being the thoughtful man that he is, he even gave me an opening day present.
He calls it 'The First Timers Lucky Hat'. I'm so fortunate to be married to him.

I have attached a picture of me in my lucky hat

Some details about the new Microsoft stores

From a list I'm on...
--
Here are some yet-to-be-officially-revealed details about the Microsoft stores.

1. Instead of Apple's sheer walls of glass, Microsoft's stores will have brushed steel walls dotted with holes -- reminiscent of Windows security.
   
   
2. The store will have six different entrances: Starter, Basic, Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. While all six doors will lead into the same store, the Ultimate door requires a fee of $100 for no apparent reason.
   
   
3. Instead of a "Genius Bar" (as Apple provides) Microsoft will offer an Excuse Bar. It will be staffed by Microsofties trained in the art of evading questions, directing you to complicated and obscure fixes, and explaining it's a problem with the hardware -- not a software bug.
   
   
4. The Windows Genuine Advantage team will run storefront security, assuming everybody is a thief until they can prove otherwise.
   
   
5. Store hours are undetermined. At any given time the store mysteriously shuts down instantaneously for no apparent reason. (No word yet on what happens to customers inside).
   
   
6. Stores will be named Microsoft Live Retail Store with PC Services for Digital Lifestyle Enthusiasts.
   
   
7. Fashioned after Microsoft's User Account Control (UAC) in Vista, sales personnel will ask you whether you're positive you want to purchase something at least twice.
   
   
8. Xbox 360 section of the store will be organized in a ring -- which will inexplicably go red occasionally.
   
   
9. DreamWorks will design a scary in-store theme park ride called "blue screen of death."
   
   
10. Store emergency exits will be unlocked at all times so people can get in anytime they want even if the front doors are locked.
    

Project Valour-IT

It's that time of the year. Time to bring out your inner geek, crack open your wallet and send some of that hard earned money to Soldiers Angels for Project Valour-IT. Valour-IT gets voice controlled laptops to wounded warriors so they can communicate while they recover. The 'competition' starts today and ends on Veterans Day. If you can afford it, even $5.00, please donate.

http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=project-valour-it

Morons everywhere

What moron schedules a training exercise on 9/11 near the spot that POTUS will be speaking at?

The truly sad part? The White House is upset at CNN for reporting the "exercise".

Today

It's September 11th, 2009. 8 years later.

I still remember what I was doing this day in 2001. One of the developers walked in and mentioned that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Towers in NYC. Went online and found coverage from the BBC. Needless to say I didn't do much work that morning. To this day there is still rage inside me.

Three years ago I took part in Project 2996 with a memorial of Kathy Bantis. For some reason I managed to miss the fact that they were doing memorials again this year.

Please take some time today and read the memorials at Project 2996.

Never forget.

Independence Day

It was a gray and rainy day around here. Spent it with a friend at her party. Came back home in the evening and the weather cleared for some awesome fireworks.

Beautiful Noise

More of the Moon

I see you

Important Womens Health Issue

Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
Do you suffer from shyness?
Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Margaritas.

Margaritas are the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions. Margaritas can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything.

You will notice the benefits of Margaritas almost immediately and with a regimen of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live.

Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past and you will discover many talents you never knew you had. Stop hiding and start living, with Margaritas.

Margaritas may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use Margaritas. However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.

**Side effects may include: Dizziness, nausea, vomiting, incarceration, Erotic lustfulness, Loss of motor control, Loss of clothing, Loss of money, Loss of virginity, Table dancing, Headache, Dehydration, Dry mouth, And a desire to sing Karaoke

**WARNING: The consumption of Margaritas may make you think you are whispering when you are not, may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them, may cause you to think you can sing, make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.*

* Please share this with other women who may need Margaritas. Thank you. *

Mr Moon

Happy Odd Day

http://www.oddday.net/

Dwayne Coleman - Zion

Found this via Twitter. Powerful.

(soon to be) Mama Goose

Morning Goose

Look what welcomed me to work this morning

Snow Leopard

Plans for tomorrow

For those in the neighborhood this weekend (and by neighborhood I mean near East Dundee, Illinois)

G.A.T. Guns

2009 FACTORY SHOOT!

MARCH 7 & 8, 2009
GUN GIVE-AWAYS & RAFFLES
MEET THE FACTORY REPS
SHOOT THE GUNS IN OUR RANGE
WE WILL HAVE AR's

---

This is the place I buy most of my guns (all but 2 if I can count right). Nice people, good selection, very competitive pricing (usually 5 to 10% less than the Cabela's that is 5 miles away). Always less than MSRP.

My son and I will be there Saturday morning. Look for the guy in the Home Depot/Tony Stewart hat. That'll probably be me!

Sauce for my wife

Notice the warning...

Daytona 500

I was so psyched waiting for this race. It seems like forever since Homestead. The race wasn't bad. The 18 was probably the car to beat. Smoke in the #14 looked strong - at least for the first half of each run. Newman's #39 looked good till he went 2 laps down with tire issues. Joey got the #20 Home Depot Toyota lots of tv time. Too bad it was while he was crashing into the inside wall.

Jr OTOH showed that he will never be as good a driver as his dad. Stupid driving to take out 9 cars - including the 18. Nascar should have parked him but an Earnhardt can do no wrong...

The weather came and Matt Kennseth ended up winning. Sad as a couple of cars (the 14 and 24) looked to be coming on strong.

I was really enjoying the race. Plenty of action. It was even good to see Jr screw up. Even better to see Vickers call him out on it. SHR got an 8th with the #14 - not bad for a new team.

Can't wait for next week.

It's time

Today we reach the symbolic 1234567890th second of Unix time. Here in Illinois that is at Fri Feb 13 17:31:30 2009

Check for yourself with Perl:

perl -e 'print scalar localtime(1234567890),"\n";'

Candle

Turbaconducken

Turbaconducken. That’s right, a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey, all wrapped in bacon

Yummm - bacon.

How big is a Trillion?

From twitter:

One could spend a million a day since the day Jesus was born and still won't have spent it all

Dinner

Sausage Pizza - Yum

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

Imagine if Bush had said something like this...

Do something good today

Send some money to the folks in Kentucky or Arkansas who are dealing with the ice storm. Every little bit helps. My donation went to the Red Cross - Bluegrass Area Chapter. Thanks to Michelle for the link.

--

February 2, 2009

Mr. Al XXXXXXXXX

Dear Mr. XXXXXXXXX:

Thank you for your generous donation of $80.00, paid with your Visa. Without the support of people like you, Bluegrass Area Chapter - American Red Cross would not be able to accomplish its mission.

Once again, thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,
Bluegrass Area Chapter - American Red Cross

Bummer

blogs4bauer.com is in trouble



I guess there is no kill counter tonight. At least 24 won't be in 3D like Chuck. Stupid NBC.

Foot prints in the snow

Saw these today



And the source

Ice Flow

Outside my doctors office this morning

He's everywhere

Even on DVD at Target

The Stimulus Bill

Aka the load of pork shoved down America's throats.

The Democrats in Congress should be ashamed of themselves. CBO reports 7% will actually reach the economy this year (just how will this stimulate anything?) but there is 350+ million for STD research? Thankfully all the Republicans and 11 Democrats decided to take a stand.

If one of these fine people is your rep - please drop them a note of thanks today. Peter Roskam - yours is in the mail.

Glad I play Left 4 Dead

More here

The perfect girl for Thing1

Her name is KoriBeth

If you open it

Plan to drink it.

That was the advice from a winemaker when we toured his vineyard several years ago. So tonight we did just that.



Rebel Red has a wonderful flavor. Wine snobs probably won't like it but it was excellent.

Skateboarding in Kabul

A long time ago I spent my spare time doing a couple of things - playing basketball, swimming, and riding my skateboard. Loved it. Streets, ramps, whatever. Managed to never break anything :)

Instapundit points to a place one might have never expected kids skating - Kabul, Afghanistan.

No room at the inn

Ok - the gun shop. Stopped at GAT Guns on the way home from my father-in-laws house today and there was no parking spots available. The large snow mounds didn't help but every available spot was full. People were playing create-a-space. I was planning on buying today but I guess it was not meant to be.

A Reason to own a iPhone

A Ballistic Computer

Of course I'd want one of KAC's SR-15s to go along with it...

Via Macenstein

Cardinals vs Steelers

Congrats to both teams and their fans. This is the Super Bowl I was hoping for (once my Bears were eliminated). I have an interesting conflict. Do I wear my Cardinals jersey or my Steeler's coat? Or both? The coat got a number of comments out shopping today - even a not so nice one from a Ravens fan...

Go Cards!

Obama and the Titanic

Time Magazine Editor Richard Stengel glowingly called Barack Obama "a Titanic figure".

Which is great as we all know how well the Titanic turned out

More here -

If handguns cause crime, mine’s defective

Handgun Podcast

A simple statement that is just so true. The podcast is worth listening to.

Some things just make sense

Bad Weekend at Home

If you were a shredder or a router.

The wife was cleaning up and shredding old papers when the shredder made an awful noise.

The shredder, a nice crosscut model was fed a vaccination tag.



The shredder survived (kinda). The tag, did not.



Out in the garage I was putting away some Christmas stuff when I knocked my router off the shelf. It's over 20 years old. Sad. I had wanted a new router but now this way...



That router had been a part of book shelfs, molding, a fireplace mantle, cabinet doors, and so much more.

Man of the Year

Sarah Palin

Happy New Year

May 2009 be full of joy, good health, and love.

What a weekend!

My wife's niece Kelly got married on 12/27/2008 to Brian. Kelly had always wanted a winter wedding so off we went to beautiful Highland Indiana on the 26th. What made it interesting was the ice storm that went through on the night of the 25th...

We delayed leaving an hour as several of the roads we would take were having issues. Lots of accidents. Lots and lots. Finally got on the road around 10:45 and all was good...till we hit Halsted and I-294S. Traffic stopped. Not slowed but stopped. A truck had jack knifed at Calumet and 294 and only one lane was open. Going from 5 to 1 was not pleasing so I went south on Halsted and worked my way over to Kelly's parents house. The ice was 2 inches thick on the drive way. Kelly's father Matt had chipped out enough for me to unload my elderly father-in-law and his wife safely. Soon the women headed off to the nail salon, thing1 went with Matt to get their tuxes and I took the old folks to the hotel and got them settled. I even got to relax for an hour or so. Whee. Fired up the laptop and tried to use the hotel wireless. Slow. Very slow.

It was soon time for the rehearsal. Got the old folks moving and headed up Indianapolis Blvd. Rain. Lots of ice everywhere. Potholes the size of Yugos. Fun. The parking lot at the church was covered with 2 inches of ice. My father-in-laws wife uses a cane and had lotsa fun getting into the church. Afterwards the rain picked up as we headed back to the hotel. Wedding day morning brought even more rain. And no more ice. Matt's driveway was clear when I dropped off the girls to get their hair done. Later on at the church the ice was gone as well. It was windy and raining but at least there was no ice.

And soon Kelly and Brian were married. Beautiful service using the best of the two ministers present. And it was off to the reception. Well - once the limo got out of the way. It was blocking the egress from the handicapped spots. Once there we were treated to wonderful food and music to dance to. Even thing1 got dragged out on the dance floor. Thing2 wouldn't stop dancing! The bridal party was on the floor for every dance. So were a couple of the under 5 crowd. Jack and Riley latched on to each other even though they had never met and had a blast.

Soon the midnight hour approached and we went to the hotel. Sleep came quickly...

We woke to sunshine this morning. It was chilly and windy but the sun felt so good. As we got closer to home we noticed that the foot of snow that was there on Friday was gone. We have the remnants of a few snow banks but otherwise it's all gone. Buffy was at home with a family friend and appeared to have had a good weekend.

Home sweet home.

Kelly and Brian

Married 12/27/2008

A couple of guys

Thing1 and his grandfather

Thing 2

Cleans up rather well

Christmas Presents

My incredibly generous wife bought me a Canon EOS 450 DSLR. Surprised me.

The last time she bought me a camera was 3 jobs and 21 years ago (for Christmas) when she bought me a Canon EOS 650 SLR. Took my 70 to 210 lens and tried it on the DSLR. Works great. Buffy was nice enough to pose.



I love toys!

Merry Christmas

To all.



Buffy spent the time opening presents chewing on a bone.

A Gift for Lego Fans

Available (well backordered) at Brick Arms.

Even better - it offends Islamofacists.

Five Second Christmas Lights

Making the rounds at work

The day after

The wife, happy with her performance at the range yesterday, decides to take a couple of targets in with her to work today. A few of her coworkers are gun owners so she wants to show off.

One of the other nurses is a far left clueless lib. Real far left. Anyway my wife texts me with her reaction:

"she was repulsed"

I guess the sight of paper with .22 holes in it is just too much for some people!

A Great Day

My wife and I both took the day off to spend together. She had been talking about going shooting with me and, since weekends at the local indoor range is a zoo, we went today. She hadn't really shot a gun since the late 80's. Bought me several in that time but never pulled the trigger herself.

Got to the range just after they opened, signed in, got ready. She decided to shoot my Ruger Mark II. Showed her how to load, safety, etc. Explained that the Clark trigger on the pistol is really light and let her go. Within a couple of magazines she was shooting decent groups. 250 rounds later she was grinning and planning on taking a couple of her targets to work on Tuesday to show off. Me - I just put 250 rounds through my CZ-75 and Glock 17. Spent a lot of time on different shooting grips and pistol positions. I find that I shoot a lot better if I bring the pistol a little closer to my eyes.

Did some Christmas shopping after shooting. Found some deals on gifts for Thing2. Stopped at Claim Jumpers for lunch. They had a prime rib open face sandwich on special. Yumm. The potatoes were mashed and then deep fried like pancakes. So awesome.

And then it was time for conferences at school. Thing2 is doing pretty good. Some issues in Algebra but otherwise the teachers were happy.

What a nice day!

This is just the Marines

From the comments posted here:

I don't get it. I mean where's the news here? Marines are outnumbered and attacked. Marines attack in response. Enemy die in large numbers. Enemy abandon weapons and run away bravely. Marines hand out candy. That's it? This is not news people. This is just the Marines.

National Ammo Day

It snuck up on me again - which is strange given it's only 4 days after my wife's birthday.

I did my part.



500 rounds of Remington and 100 rounds of Winchester. The wife and I are going shooting on Monday so most of this will probably be gone soon...

Who cares!

It's not too late to do your part. National Ammo Day.

Veterans Day

My first job out of college was at a hospital. My group was attached to the facilities maintenance department which was heavily populated with Vietnam veterans as well as a few Korean War vets. We had every thing from regular soldiers to a Green Beret to a SeeBee to a much decorated Air Force fighter pilot. An interesting group. There were a few of us (about 20%) that had not served so on Veterans Day, when the Veterans had the day off with pay, we had to carry the load. No bitching - just do the work. Similar to (but in no way equal to) what we ask those who wear the uniform to do.

Veterans Day is a day to honor those who have served. Like Memorial Day it is not one for protest.

To all those who have served I offer up two simple words:

Thank You

Quote of the day

From a post on hotair.com

“Americans grew tired of being thought to be dumb by the rest of the world, so they went to the polls and removed all doubt.”

Watching the Election returns

Thing1 is clinging to his guns and his Bible



The real guns were secure so he used what was available...

Voting

1980 was my first year to vote as I turned 18 in 79. This year Thing1 voted in his first presidential election.

My wife and I went to vote together this morning at 6:00am. There was a line when we got there at 6:01 for all three precincts. I haven’t seen that since 2000. Traffic was light on the way to work. I guess everyone is voting!

So get out there and Vote! I'd prefer it if you selected McCain/Palin. Consider it a belated birthday gift to me. :-)