... And Happy New Year!

Here's hoping 2011 is everything you hope it will be!
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Merry Christmas!

Here's hoping you and yours have a very Merry Christmas.

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Twenty Years Ago Today

I was over in Saudi Arabia, in what was then called "Operation Desert Shield".

Count your blessings this Christmas, and remember the men and women of the armed forces spending theirs in harm's way.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope it's a good one!

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Apologies

I see more sporadic blogging in the future. The JOGI (Job Of Great Importance*) has popped back onscreen, so I'm otherwise occupied.

* Apologies to Joe Merchant for swiping his acronym.. Continue Reading

Win a Scope

Win a Trijicon Scope at NRAhuntersrights.org!

FAIRFAX, Va.—If you've ever been frustrated by your current riflescope's inability to perform well in low-light conditions, visit www.NRAhuntersrights.org during the month of September for a chance to win a Trijicon AccuPoint 3-9x40 riflescope.
To submit your name for the Trijicon giveaway, visit www.NRAhuntersrights.org and scroll down to "Gift Giveaway" for simple entry instructions. Entries will be accepted Sept. 1 through Sept. 30, and a winner will be announced on Oct. 1.


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All Went Well

I survived the interview. I think I did OK, but you never know 'till you get "the call".

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Request

I'm going on a job interview tomorrow, so I'm requesting thoughts, prayers, chants, incense burning, and whatever you folks do with your Flying Spaghetti Monster. I'm sticking to prayer, obviously, but any good thoughts are appreciated.

This will be a positive change in the lives of my family and me.

Blogging will be sporadic, at best, for the next few days.

Thanks

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Scary

Spring start-up has come off without a hitch. Both mowers started first try, got the pool opened and crystal clear in two days (a record).

Let's hope it's an indication of things to come.

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Dog Training Bleg

Not training actually, it's just that my new dog climbs our fence and gets out into the neighborhood.

Details:

The fence is six foot high hogwire, our dog just puts one paw over the other and climbs out. It doesn't matter if we're home or not, she just wants to get out and explore. She's medium sized.
Like my girls says, she's smart, in a bad way.

So, what are my options, other than spending three hundred bucks on Invisible Fence?

The options I'm looking at:

- 50' dog run wire

- chicken wire around the upper half of the fence

- something else around the top like wood, plexiglass, etc.

I don't want to do the run, as we border on some woods and don't want my dog restrained to either fight or flee whatever critters she might encounter.

Chicken wire scares me, I'm afraid she might get stuck.

So, what other options are out there?

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Vacation's Over

Spent most of it caring for a sick loved one, then catching it myself and having her take care of me.

Ain't love grand?

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Merry Christmas Everyone

Hope it's a great one.

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Happy Thanksgiving

Not long till I pop smoke and start working on my turkey.

I'm going old school, more or less. I always use this brine recipe, this time I'll probably do the whole thing.

Blogging will be sporadic, at best.

Hope everybody has a great Thanksgiving.
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Proud Poppa Moment #2

Well, marching band season is over, and Munford High took second place at the Nationals in Annapolis last Sunday.

While I can't find that video yet, here's the one from two weeks ago taken in Memphis at Bandmasters.

This is a much better video than the last one, it gives the whole presentation, and the sound is much better:



I once likened marching band to military Drill & Ceremonies. I stand corrected. Watch the video to see what I mean

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Quote of the Day

Via Bruce:

If anything represents a threat to traditional marriage, it ain't gays getting hitched. It's women cooking veggie burgers for their husbands on Father's Day.

Amen, brother.

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Book Bleg

I've decided to introduce my kid to Heinlein this Christmas.

Other than Have Space Suit - Will Travel (the only one I remember reading), which of the other Heinlein Juveniles should I consider?

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On Grownups

JayG nails it.

And it wasn't just having kids - any idiot with the proper body parts can reproduce, given a sufficient amount of Natural Light and the back seat of a Chevy Lumina. Merely providing the genetic material necessary to start the mitosizing ball rolling doesn't grant one the "grown-up" appelation any more than pumping one's own gasoline makes one a car manufacturer.

Emphasis mine.

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I'm Back

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

I'll be resting up for a day or so, but I'll most likely be around.

Thanks again,

Rusty

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I'm Back

Had a fully day of doing everything but hanging around a computer. (SO's birthday)

Went to see "Hancock", for one thing. It was good. I didn't even realize Charlize Theron was in it till the end. She sure does adapt to her roles well. Probably the best actress in Hollywood today.

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Maturity Levels

Reading this post by Kim reminded me of something I had been kicking around in my head a bit.

The reason there is so much violence among young people today is their lack of maturity. Sometimes you'll hear "kids grow up quick these days" or some such hogwash. The exact opposite is true. Kids today don't have to take responsibility for anything any more.

Going through school they are protected from getting their feelings hurt by "speech codes" from kinder all the way through grad school. There's no fighting, no 'rasslin, no playing tag or dodgeball. You'd probably get expelled for dipping a girls ponytail in the inkwell.

Because of this, kids take any form of criticism as a personal attack, and, many times, respond physically. The reason for this immature behavior is because it is a natural response, one you learn to control. Of course, because they've never been allowed to "take it out back", they don't know how to control that urge. They don't know the consequences. Here's a quick story:

Back when I was a teenager, we were all gathered because one of my friends was going to fight a guy. They were going to use boxing gloves. So, waiting on the others to arrive me and another friend put them on to fool around a bit. It didn't last long. I hit him once in the side, he hit me upside the head, and that was it. We learned a valuable lesson that day: even with boxing gloves on, getting hit hurt.

You're not so keen on mixing it up once you know how it feels. You learn, and maybe adjust, your "fight or flight" response.

Learning about violence is part of growing up, a part most kids are not learning on their own. They see images on Tee Vee and figure that's how it is, so they don't think twice about beating someone with a ball bat, or using a knife or a gun.

It's time to replace what sounded good with what worked*.

* To paraphrase Thomas Sowell. Continue Reading