Baruchs Observation

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Belated Monday's Missives

"My dogs are gay." I tell people. "No way" they say. Really, do you need more proof than this pose on their blankie?

OK, you asked for it, not me- and they take turns doing this all day long. They sleep in the guest bathroom and the things I hear them doing at night- shudder. Eeew.

• I feel for anyone legitimately damaged by defective Toyota vehicles however, this situation shows how irrational we can be- the last numbers I read on the recalls was something like 8 million vehicles. People assume they're some kind of death traps. 8 million vehicles, if there really was a real, widespread problem- think about it, we wouldn't have had to learn about it from the news- we all would know someone killed by the death traps. We wouldn't be able to get anywhere in our vehicles that are other than Toyota's- our cars would slide off the roads because of the blood that covered them.
• However, when it's all said and done Toyota will be out of hundreds of millions of dollars and will be lucky to stay afloat.
• Ben Folds does the music for Over The Hedge and it's great- very sweet, simple music.
• "I am Inigo Montoya- you killed my father. Prepare to die."
• I bet the movie The Princess Bride is studied in film schools as the perfect movie. It's nearly 30 years old now and 50 years from now people will still be discovering it and calling it a favorite. It never gets old to me and I love to share it with people.
• I'm getting old though: of 2 recent women who showed some interest in me the older was 53 and the youngun was 37.
• I don't know how this happened, but it's a tragedy of the highest order.
  
  

Saturday's Sentiments

• Just returned from a local stock show. My sons pig placed fourth. Part of the event was a pie and cake show and sale where a banana pudding sold for 250.00.


• Better be a real good banana pudding.


• Did think today about how good we have it after that and me and Zac laid around in our underwear instead of working a rice paddy or tracking a monkey through the jungle after seeing people literally spending multiple thousands of dollars on literally junk food.


• Didn't make me feel guilty, but yes thankful.


• Story we all should be aware of, but too many are not: recently was the 35th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. A sad, sad thing- and part of me knows one that should not be forgotten, but I do wonder- should we have special commemorations where very painful memories are dredged up?


• One of the birds I most often see the do gooders clean up after an oil spill are cormorants- a bird that is easily overpopulated in the this country to twice a reasonable limit. Odd, we should be killing them, but instead are wasting resources salvaging the few that meet Mr. Oil Slick.


• 800 billion dollars has been spent to rebuild Afghanistan since the initial invasion- really.


• No really- 800 billion bucks to bring them from the Stone Age into the Bronze age.


• Maybe I'm a racist pig-dog, but for the life of me I cannot remember who is Griz and who is Dotcom on 30 Rock.


• Rwanda unbelievable tribal genocide hot spot? Um, well yes- around 15 years ago- however, today it is thriving, prosperous, safe and clean and is considered a model for developing nations. What's wrong with this? Well, for lack of a better term, to prevent repeat genocidal rampages the government is severely if benignly repressive (they probably won't line you up and shoot you for saying the government stinks, but they do have a nifty rehab camp on a beautiful island where you may be forgotten) allowing no real political dissention and the minority tribe who suffered the most in the last genocidal wave are presently the majority in power. If you know anything about human nature in general and African politics specifically- you'll know this is bound to end well.


• Anyway, Rwanda also known as The land of one thousand hills is a beautiful country in the Great Lakes Region. The confluence of the rivers that form the Nile System are within its borders. Elephants and gorillas are plentiful there. English is one of their official languages. All these reasons and more are why you would know I hit the big time when I buy a coffee plantation there.


• That and my army of Brazilian fembots I would import as housekeepers/security personnel.

What I've Learned During Next Blog Forays

• Mormon people blog A LOT. Also, a lot of them seem to be blonde and have incredibly perfect lives.


• There are more Spanish language blogs (or as many) than English.


• People from Europe blog a lot on their home improvement projects.


• There are tons of females probably too young for it (9-13) from Pacific Rim Nations who have blogs.


• There is more of a following for Heavy Metal Music in South America than I ever would have guessed.


• I've only came across two sex sites. One involved animals and children. Awful, simply awful.


• Several Spanish sites were for swinging though. Incredibly, one which was obviously built up by the male of the duo listed specs for a car he had for sale in the same format as the specs for his wife.


• There are a bunch of blogs for peoples pets.

Monday's Missives

• No matter if you're a fan or hate her guts you'd have to be blind or very dumb to not realize Sarah Palin got savaged by the media in a way that was almost criminal and President Obama got an absolute pass to insure he got into the White House. I mean come on, you have to know that- may even think (or thought) it was the right thing for the country.



• Music Video Extra Vaganza- Pearl Jam Black live. It's great- take a minute.



• I have a weird 6th degree of separation from Eddy Vedder.



• I'll never tell.



• Really- to both.



• Headline: "Obama unveils revised 1 trillion dollar health plan. " Call me crazy, but we're broke, drowning in debts our grandchildren will have to pay off and I just can't get past that 1 trillion dollar figure. Where did that number come from anyway? Was it invented for lunatic politicians?



• Why don't we just say 87 eleventy bazillion 20 teen thousand million?



• Really, really cool- Werner Herzog reads Where's Waldo? Take two minutes and give this gem a chance.


• Odd feeling of d'e'ja vu at a recent patients home. It was so deep and overwhelming it was nearly troubling. Took me a while, but I realized had looked at same house years ago while considering its purchase.
• Patient last nights family: five smokers, five cats and five dogs.
• The Rule Of Fives- the sure way to promote misery and agony in your nurse.

Interesting Old Car Pic

1921. "Margaret Gorman in Birmingham car." Whose reptilian body has an alligator finish. In 1921 Margaret was both the first Miss Washington, D.C., and the first Miss America. View full size National Photo Company glass negative.

The Birmingham (1921-1923) was a 55 hp Continental-engined six on a 124-inch wheelbase with standard components used throughout but a most unusual flexible suspension system. Three transverse springs and an independent rear axle were combined with two transverse springs in front that made for a four-wheel independent suspension and the "easiest riding car ever put on the market," as advertising said. Alas, getting the Birmingham on the market was the hard part.Because the suspension system was similar to that which had appeared on the Cornelian built by the Blood Brothers in Kalamazoo, Cyrus E. Weaver, was the designer of the Birmingham. The first Birmingham prototype sedan was completed and tested in Detroit in May of 1921. The mayor of Jamestown, Samuel A. Carlson, agreed to serve as president of Birmingham Motors Corporation, accepting no salary for the position. Because he believed Birmingham would do for Jamestown what Ford had done for Detroit, Carlson asked only for out-of-pocket expenses for promoting this new industry for his community.Demonstrations of the new Birmingham were set up in numerous towns in Upstate New York and elsewhere, with an office opened in each for the sale of stock. Five cars were assembled in nearby Falconer by early 1922, these joined the two further cars previously put together in Detroit, and this fleet of demonstrators had soon hit as many as 50 cities. One of them was New York City for the National Automobile Show in January 1922. But Mayor Carlson soon fell victim to his political enemies. Already a defamatory article about the company had appeared in the stock market publication, U.S. Investor.Initially it was thought this malicious piece of journalism could be turned to Birmingham's advantage. But in August 1922 the AP wire service buzzed with the news that a Federal grand jury in Washington had filed a presentment following a 10-month investigation by the U.S. Post Office. The charge was fraudulent use of the mails to sell more than $300,000 of worthless stock, and among the 18 Birmingham men named was Mayor Samuel Carlson. Newspapers not friendly to Carlson had a heyday.During the next two months Birmingham assembled 26 cars and chassis to prove its viability. But a stock holders meeting in October ended in bedlam, with one local stock salesman stabbed to death. A Birmingham official smashed his way through a plate- glass window to escape. In June of 1923, the indictment against Birmingham officials was dismissed in court. But the exoneration came far too late for Birmingham Motors. In December mortgage foreclosure arrived. In 1924 there was an attempt to revive the Birmingham as a new car to be called the Wright for the Canadian market.This plan fell apart quickly. As many as 50 Birminghams may have been built during the contentious short life of the company. None of the cars are believed to exist today.Samuel A. Carlson was Mayor of Jamestown, N.Y. in 1909-10, 1916, 1933-37.

First Post In A Long Time

Been trapped behind enemy lines while my foes beset me on all fronts. The posts that have come up recently have been scheduled forever. More soon and best wishes to all and take care. What I'm listening to So Cold by Breaking Benjamin- a great song.
Recently had some of the most unbelievable patients; one lived 52 days- I cared for her for 40 of them. At the end was tired and fairly spent, but OK. Also took care of the most demanding (emotionally, mentally and physically) patient that could be imagined. I cared for her one night and was absolutely, definitively exhausted.
More on them another time- again, take care.