Happy Veterans Day

Too many it's just another day. Another day to shop. Another day to advertise. To me it's a day to remember the sacrifice that a few have made for the sake of many. It's a day to remember my granddads, my dad, my brothers Rich and Bob, and my sister Cheryl. For serving in time of war and in time of peace. For taking time away from family and friends to serve their country. I stand in awe of you and your fellow veterans.


I'm incredibly happy to say that Google decided to (finally) create a special logo for Veterans day.

See anything wrong?

We got our new refrigerator delivered today and magnet wars started soon after. A interesting grouping was noticed. Some may find it amusing.

No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy

Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corp!

Sadly - Google choose not to create a special logo for today. I wonder if they will do anything for Veterans Day.

Chris Muir rocks!

I've said it before but Day By Day is one of the best cartoons out there. Today's strip is perfect.

Thanks and Praise

Thanks and Praise: I photographed men and women, both Christians and Muslims, placing a cross atop the St. John’s Church in Baghdad. They had taken the cross from storage and a man washed it before carrying it up to the dome.

More about this event from the incredible Michael Yon.

May all God's people say Amen!

Congratulations Patti!

Microsoft and USO Announce Microsoft Above and Beyond Award Winners.

One of them should be familiar...

Effort Award: Patti Patton-Bader, Pasadena, Calif. Soon after Patton-Bader began sending care packages to her son in Iraq, she started a group of volunteers to “adopt” soldiers. Since then, the group’s 100,000 members have sent tens of thousands of care packages and hundreds of thousands of letters to make sure no soldier is forgotten while serving. Its motto: “May no soldier go unloved.”

The group she founded? Soldiers Angels.

Don't forget - there is still time to get involved in the the annual fund raising drive for Project Valour-IT.

Happy Birthday to you!

Thing1. He's 22 today!

It seems like yesterday that we were sitting on the couch watching the Super Bowl bound Bears.

One more week

to donate to Project Valour-IT during the Veterans Day challenge. (Team Marines please) Don't wait till the last minute.

For a little extra incentive go check out Badger6's blog.

Math 1950-2006

From my sister-in-law (a teacher with over 30 years of experience...)

Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and I was digging fo r my change when I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and 3 pennies, while looking at the screen on her register. I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried.

Why do I tell you this?

Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950s:

1. Teaching Math In 1950

   A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?
   

2. Teaching Math In 1960

   A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?



3. Teaching Math In 1970

   A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?



4. Teaching Math In 1980

   A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.



5. Teaching Math In 1990

   A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of$20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers )



6. Teaching Math In 2006

   Un hachero vende una carretada de madera por $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?

Real American Heroes

Not GI Joe but Sergeant Josh Morley, Specialist Tracy Willis, Specialist Chris Corriveau, and Specialist Eric Moser. Their story is one you won't read about in your local paper but deserves a few minutes of your time.

Jeff Emanuel has their story at The American Spectator

After reading consider a donation to Project Valour-IT

The day the routers died

Geek humor at it's best

Project Valour-IT 2007

I had been wondering when this was going to start as Veterans Day was fast approaching. A visit to Blackfive confirmed it was time.

Time to give.

Project Valour-IT is simply a way for the average American to give something back to the brave men and women who, while in service of our great country, have lost the ability to communicate. Valour-IT provides voice driven laptops and software to those in need to help them stay in contact with their loved ones. As a geek I think this is a awesome idea and one worth funding. It is run by Soldiers Angels and, as before, the fund raising is a competition between the services. This year my money to the Team USMC in memory of my dad.

Dad, My headlights don't work

That was Thing1 a week ago when he called home one night. He had gone out to his car to go somewhere and he had no headlights. Parking lights were ok, DRLs worked, and so did the high beams. But the regular lights did not. He replaced the bulbs and checked the fuses - nothing. Since he was coming home in a week I just told him not to drive at night and I'd take a look at it when he was home.

I did some research on his car and found that this is a common problem on late 90's GM J body cars. At least there was some hope of a simple solution :-). The solution was either the headlight switch, a bulb socket, or a wiring fix.

So yesterday I started poking at the car. A check of voltage at the sockets show 12.8 volts with the lights on. That seemed ok so I ruled out the switch. No obvious scorching on the bulb sockets or adjacent wiring. Ok - its probably on of the junctions that are ~1 foot from the battery. So I grab the DVM and check continuity between the positive and negative leads of the regular beams. Positive was 0 ohms. Negative was 1.3 Meg ohms. Thats bad. Thats wiring.

So I started to unwrap the harness going across the front. Got the the junction area and no problems with the negative wire. In fact there was no junction for it. Hmmm. Then I looked closely at the negative wire from the drivers side. It headed in the harness over to the passenger side rather than back to the firewall socket. So I unwrapped the passenger side of the harness a bit and counted wires. Compared to the drivers side there was 1 less. And it was the color of the negative wire. There was another junction somewhere. So I unwrapped the center of the harness. In the middle of the car, right by the hood latch, there was another splice. This was for the negative lead for the low beam lights. And it was corroded. By the time I got it unwrapped it fell apart.



In a effort to clean things up I unwrapped the whole harness and cut back the corroded wire about 6 inches on each end. A little bit of spare wire, solder, and heat shrink tubing and the lights were on. Took some electrical tape and re-wrapped the harness. 4.5 hours after I started it was done. Just in time for cake! Smiles all around.

Free Tacos!

For those interested in Baseball in general and the World Series in particular (not me since the Cubs chose to, once again, choke):

Free taco at participating Taco Bells on October 30th. See the MLB site for details.

Of course - maybe Taco Bell and MLB are really celebrating my birthday...

Christmas comes early. Well earlier

I love Christmas. Not only do we celebrate the birth of Jesus but people in general seem to be a bit more alive. The spirit of giving comes out as well. What drives me crazy is the push for Christmas decorations. They are already in some stores. Before Halloween.

Instapundit linked to a James Lileks post and one comment cracked me up:

Well, we spend $5 billion on Halloween and put the decorations out about a month beforehand. Sooooo, since we spend $460 billion on Christmas, let's see...that means the decorations for this Christmas should be set out in mid-1999. Or maybe this is just the rolling out for 2016.

Jack's back. Tony too!

Can't wait!

Advice from a Penguin

Taken at Brookfield Zoo. Perfect for Thing1.

And he's back

Day by Day

Keep the Muir family in your prayers

Day by Day is one of my favorite daily reads. Chris Muir is an awesome talent. When I took a look at his site today I saw this:



So - if you believe in the power of prayer keep the Muir family in your prayers.

This is sad

The brilliant minds that created the Cox and Forkum editorial cartoons are calling it quits.



The story is here.