Wednesday's Digressions

• It appears we are going to normalize relations with Cuba. My respect for President Obama just went up a notch with that news. Aside from our failed drug war I cannot imagine a more outdated  and counterproductive (much less counter intuitive) policy than our prior isolation Cuba. It was motivated by politics- to keep from offending voters who haven't lived in Cuba for 20-50 years and an odd vengeance toward Cuba for our own failed policies and misadventures there. If we're interested in human rights- let them get more of a taste for free enterprise and at least help more Cubans have more US travel and trade dollars.
• A related thought: The Castros can't live forever.
• Another related thought: President Obama sticking to his guns and thawing our relations with Cuba will be seen as a great accomplishment that will help more Cubans in every way than our past 50 years of fail ever did.
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  From brother in laws garage

• An interesting video from ANNA news of a Syrian Arab Army armored unit maneuvering in urban terrain. Those guys are good. They must have a decent institutional memory and way of disseminating lessons learned and/or there are a lot of guys who have been on the front waaaaay too long.
• The world lost one of my favorite historical figures in 2014- Hiroo Onada. Among my favorite things about him is when he came home he refused to cash his back paychecks and run for political office (although he was insanely popular). My maybe least favorite thing about him is in his memoir of his time fighting a war that was 30 years over he neglects to mention the dozens of people he killed from the time the war ended until he was repatriated. Norio Suzuki figures in his story and is also a favorite character from world history. He set out as he said to," find Lieutenant Onada, a panda and the abominable snowman- in that order." After finding Hiroo he quickly followed that up by finding a panda. He would be killed in an avalanche in the Himalayas in 1986 looking for the elusive Yeti and that is why I love him.
• A couple of different articles I have read have wondered aloud if the US government is responsible for North Korea's internet outage. My guess is you would have more likelihood catching the culprit if you rounded up all the 14 year olds in San Mateo County California.
• Israel has been catching flak for treating wounded jihadis coming out of Syria. The same people would be be calling Israel out for being monsters if they stood idly by and refused to treat them.

  

  No matter

  
  

  

  what

  
  

  

  we just need people to know.

Monday's Missives

• If you see an old peeps types car and it is all over the road ahead of you don't assume they're drunk or having a diabetic crisis- they're probably just like 90% of the other morons on the road- texting. They just have more trouble pulling off doing both.
• A woman this morning (06/23/2014) nearly sideswiped me while she was putting her make up on. She didn't miss a stroke and in fact did not acknowledge my existence at all and she did it while travelling in excess of 80 mph and driving with her knee.
  
• Israel struck 9 different targets in Syria last night. It was retaliation for a strike  originating in Syria against a civilian vehicle
• Instead of, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth Israels motto seems to be, I'll gouge out both your eyes for my eye and break all your teeth out for my tooth and maybe that isn't a bad way to conduct yourself in that neighborhood.
  
  
• Fiberglass and aluminum canoes are fine- they really are as mid range materials go but if I could choose, I would always opt for the extremes of space age Kevlar or handcrafted cedar strip wood.
• It may have happened but I do not recall anybody that has seen RATM live not tell me it was the best concert they ever saw and that RATM were better live than studio recordings.
• Unsolicited car advice for the day: When it is time to replace your wiper blades buy the Rain-X brand. Before you replace them clean the windshield with Invisible Glass- get it hyper clean. Finish by rubbing the windshield down with a paper towel that has a high quality silicone spray lube fogged across it. The wipers may last you for years and bug guts will not hardly stick to the windshield much less dust which you will see literally roll of the glass as the silicone also protects against static charge and water will not even think of sticking- it will instantly ball up and shoot off the glass as soon as it hits
• It took years and an open minded program director but my clinic has opened overtime slots for nurses to run the evening clinic. It costs a small fortune to train nurses who will inevitably cite needing more money as the reason why they leave a year or two later so yeah- pretty smart.
• I am thinking about taking an Iraqi patient fishing and sharing our great nation-state of Texas with him.
• It will be a major disappointment and shock if this isn't a great war film.

From A Craigslist Ad To Be Filed Under, That Can't Be Legal - Right?

 Need Stubs? Professional Pay Stub Service

2011 honda title : clean

Self-employed? Trying to make a major move but need a little lift?

Grade A, Professional, "ADP style" payroll stubs and employment references.

Three pay stubs = $95.00
Two stubs = $75.00
One stub = $40.00
Add an additional $20.00 for a reference

Prompt. Discreet. Professional.

That My Friends On Teh Internets May Not Perish

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• An odd thing about the internet and maybe it is the way we have always been is people feel the need to impress their bad ideas on each other rather share information. Anti vaccination gorks may top that list. An article about the flu vaccine that caught my attention the other day (today is 12/24/2014) was not long published before it had 200+ anti-side comments. True they may have been the work of a single crazy lady but sadly I doubt it. Anyway, one that really stood out was a person who said to the affect, "As a matter of fact I have the flu NOW. I'll stay home today and drink some orange juice, take some pro biotics and tomorrow be as good as new and go back to work." In a way I don't even know where to start but a good enough place may be the flippant attitude toward what we call the flu.  That is how it works it's deadly magic. You have lived through it before- you will again. The way the world really works is- you can become dehydrated making it harder for your body to recover and drive all your systems in general. You become listless and lie around more making it possible for a pneumonia to develop- maybe even a bacterial infection in conjunction with the flu.
• You could die homes.
• I get where the writer of that comment was lying- if you have the flu, I mean really have the flu you do not sit around commenting on dumb crap on a retarded anti vaccine blog talking about something you don't know anything about. You are too busy clinging to life and/or praying for death and that is when you're 20-30 years old. When you get into your 40s how you prevent a flu and how you treat same is an important personal consideration. Anything above 50 is a medical issue you really don't need to play with.
• Some people beat the flu all or most of their lives. I do not know how this can be true but I do believe it is possible. When somebody shrugs their shoulders and says, Meh, I stayed home one day drank some juice and caught up on Breaking Bad. I was back at work on Wednesday. I know they had a cold - maybe and have no concept what a flu is and this has  been confirmed with 20 years of nursing observation (no hard science but it is there- look it up. I'll wait). Most people only know they have the flu when they assume they're getting a cold and instead have a near death experience.
• Anyway, when somebody talks about that flu that lasts a day and a quick recovery I don't buy it. They don't know what they're talking about.
• Part of what makes you so miserable is the virus's replication process. Generally, as a virus replicates toxins are produced as a by-product- a by-product your body doesn't like causing you to feel sick. These toxins are so prevalent and nasty they can actually cause your liver to work harder to filter your blood- it will even show up on liver function tests.
• Moral of that part of the story- drink water- lots of it.
• So what do I do Mr. Smartie McSmarterton? I don't want this flu plague of which you speak. How do I prevent this scourge? you say. For starts- get your flu vaccine. The quadravalent (covers 4 strains) is best as there is evidence this season's trivalent is not covering some folks and they getting sick in spite of being vaccinated. Even if you get sick after being vaccinated it is known your case will always be milder. This is so true you may be misdiagnosed by a doc even as having a cold without testing.
• If you start getting sick if you go to your doc quickly enough (48-72 hours) there are a couple of drugs that can help head the worst of it off. If cost is a consideration ask for something old and cheap rather than new and sexy- they work 90+% as well.
• So I'm getting sick- what do I do Kev? Hang in there. Stick with me. I'm here for you buddy. Go to the store get: Onion soup, chicken noodle soup, crackers, chamomile tea, cheese, orange juice, sweet tea, sweets (I like pecan pie) store brand Nyquil, extended release pseudoephedrine, diphenhydramine, ibuprofen, muscle rub and rubbing alcohol. 
• This is getting complicated you say. Don't worry babe- it will be worth it. Like I said, stick with me.
• After gathering the supplies you didn't already have, run a bath getting it as hot as you can stand and pour half a bottle of alcohol in there. Light candles if you want. Soak in the tub keeping it as hot as you can for as long as you can while guzzling the orange juice. When you get out take the Nyquil (after reading the warning label) and then eat chicken soup and drink ice water. Put the muscle rub on your neck and chest without rubbing in too hard. It is cheaper than Mentholatum and you have it for sore neck and back muscles later. Go pee. Then go lie down and let sleep's sweet release sweep you away.
• When you awaken have the onion soup and throughout the recovery have your sweets and drink sweet tea so you have some energy and feel a little less like a dog turd. Drinking any hot tea such as chamomile, green, ginseng etc. although not magical, mystical and least of all healing is good- it makes you feel better and is water so will help you on your journey back from the dark banks of the River Styx. The pseuoephedrine is good for during the day. It will dry your snot out although may jazz you up making it harder-ish to sleep. You can take the Ibuprofen between your Nyquil night caps. Often, but at least as soon as you awaken and right before you sleep take a deep breath in and out then cough 3-4 times. This will keep crud from building up in your airways causing a pneumonia.
• Good luck.
• Oh, and catch up on Breaking Bad or better yet- American Horror Story.

Wednesday's Digressions

Our Christmas tree angel

looks awfully serene for where the tree is about to be shoved.

• 11/22/2014 @0724 and the rain is coming in waves. It would probably be really great if it did this for a month.
• Maybe I shouldn't but I like Mr. Pickles.

  

  My son bought this snake at Fort Richardson State Park as one of his souvenirs. It looks derpy to me.

• There is a possibility the passenger pigeon will be genetically resurrected. The scientist heading the effort seems literally obsessed. Although I don't see them going berserk and leaving the confines of the park after eating all the guests but there will have to be unintended consequences- disease, displacement of extant species... Human persecution is always presented as the cause of their demise. I have a little bit of a tough time believing that if the reports of their numbers were correct- they could have all been killed by human deviltry and awfulness. Habitat loss?! They were pigeons and as such wouldn't have been too finicky about where they slept or what they ate and I can guess they bred more/less like pigeons. How could people have killed every. single. one. of them? My guess is it was a complex combination of things.  It would be cool to have them back though.

  

  Entering Poolville

  
  
  
  
  
• If money was no object I would be the possessor of a world record that is sooo ridiculous I won't even share it here privately with you- my best friend whom I trust like no other in the whole wide internets but yes, I would try it if the effort killed me (and it might).
• Dumb and Dumber To looks terrible and is supposed to be bad- really, really bad and that is disappointing. 
• Whites are stupid and lame and blacks cool and awesome: the conclusion an alien would reach if he watched American television commercials and a lot of sitcoms for anything more than 9 minutes. If all they watched were police procedurals they would guess all blacks to be criminals or street wise detectives. If they watched movies they would be sure all white people are clueless to what a gift being white is and that black people are wise prophets (if not actually God himself).

  

  This tree had to be alive when soldiers were stationed at Fort Richardson. It is easy to imagine them crossing Lost Creek to snack on some sweet, sweet Texas pecans.

  
  
  
  

  

  Beavers everywhere

  
  

  

  A poorly conceived element to Fort Richardson SP. This table is at the head of a trail that leads to a peninsula. Its presence forces people to walk to either side causing erosion of the banks. Also, if  people are using the table users of the trail would be forced to walk by practically on top of the picnickers.  From a design standpoint if the table wasn't there the trail would have an inviting sense of welcome to explore but instead- there is a big clunky table separating us from nature.

  
  
  
  
• I want to do something so God-pure and churchnificant... a line from the The Heartshe Holler I just heard in the background.
  
  
  

  

  FG's latest tattoo designs for me. Good grief

• Recently from almost always come out form when I type.
• At work I have to type, "complaints" a lot, as in an average of 10 times a day. Over the past several months 100% of the time it comes out compliants (as it honestly did in the last sentence) and it only gets corrected when prompted by my spell check.
• I am probably developing an early form of dementia.
• Retarded Tests

  

  Found during our last road trip-

  
  

  

  yeah champ- I'd call that up to code. Its all good.

You Feelin' Alight? I'm Not Feelin' Too Good Myself

because Joe Cocker is dead at the age of death which in his case is 70 of our Earth years.

Monday's Missives

• This morning (07/10/2014) in traffic as I inched along my neck hunched over to relieve pressure on my back, my visors down to keep the light from making my stress headache any worse I looked over and saw a contemporary in the same posture in a similar pickup. Here is what was going through our minds: I am 49 years old and what have I accomplished? I drive this same road to same job and it is the same everyday. I am drowning in sameness. If I had driven straight outta town for the same miles from the time I first started this commute years ago I could circled the globe what- 20 times!? I have worked like a dog since I was 12 and what have I got ? A failed marriage, a girlfriend half my age that is running me ragged, a bad back, a bum knee, a stack of bills... I am the mama hog with not enough teats for the piglets and the ones I get to and do my best for never thank me. As I was looking over he glanced up and gave me a meek, knowing and genuine smile.
• In that moment we became if not blood brothers since no fluids were exchanged we became road brothers.
  
• As I lie dying I want to apologize to my kids for a couple of things but also ask them if they remember a couple of things like I do then I'll be OK come what may and so will they.
• I saw a video this morning of a Mexican guy who had given up in our southern badlands after he said he had no water for 3 days. That would have been at the upper limit of what the body can tolerate for the heat and humidity there at this time of year (early July) and he looked way too good for that to be true. It is just something I took note of- doesn't mean anything.
  
• Two things I would like to do before I die- run with the bulls in Pamploma and go to the Glastonbury Music Festival.
• I watched the running live for I guess the first time in my life this year.
• Here, watch a video for The Cure's Lullaby.
• Choose love.