Carolyn and I are still not well, but we are not as ill as we were yesterday. We still have to go to Elizabethton and Piney Flats to clean the buildings.
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The yard sale went pretty good; more than $300 was made by the three participants. None of the large stuff sold, and most of it will be donated to charities.
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At the creek

The yard sale has finally begun; Ashley is off work today, Chris has not found a job, and Carolyn is Carolyn. The best part is that (so far) it is a clear and sunny day; we have had unsettled weather for nearly two weeks, and the crisp blue skies are very refreshing to my tired, old eyes.
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I went to the creek for my spring cleansing and arrived there before 10:00 last evening, did my thing, and was back home by midnight. I cannot believe the water was still that cold this late in the season, and the air temperature had dropped to 55ºf (13c) by the time I removed my naked and shivering carcass from the creek. I shriveled so much when I entered the water that I probably lost two dress sizes. I noticed that the Environmental Protection Agency has upgraded the water quality monitoring station just downstream from my bathing site, so I made sure to pee in the creek just before leaving the scene. Eight months of built-up crud from my body along with the residue from the lye soap, plus the pee, and maybe an innocent poot (I do not like to say "fart" as it sounds so common) or two while I was immersed should make the alarms go off when the data is downloaded into a government computer. I expect to soon receive another letter from the EPA expressing their displeasure. All things considered, I do feel and smell better than I did yesterday, and when the weather warms, I will go back for my summer cleansing.
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I do not have any decent photos to upload to Flickr, so I will probably not be visiting that site as much as usual. Maybe I can find something from by-gone days to post; if not, it isn't a big deal except for the fact the art world will come to a halt without my offerings of genius-like works. I will still comment on a few of my closest contact's photos and look at a lot more. I really do not have prospects of making any decent shots for at least until next weekend unless Carolyn feels better tomorrow and maybe we can arrange to picnic at Limestone Cove or maybe Roan Mountain.
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The Smoking Gun's Mugshots of the Week!

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Coyote and other vermin

While sitting on the porch this morning, Carolyn saw a coyote run through the yard. I knew the critters were in the area, but this is the first I know of one being seen around our little patch of heaven. I of course was sitting in front of this infernal machine when I should have been outside.
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Today is another shot day which usually means a day shot. Tonight, I will finally go for that long awaited spring cleansing; that is I will go if there is no lightning in the area. I'm afraid I won't look good naked and fried.
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Obama wants better security for computers and I agree that it is needed, but the president should be worrying about how to put North Korea and China in their places or computer security may be just a moot thought process.
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I think South Korea's past-president did the correct thing by committing suicide. All politicians should do it, but I think they should do it soon after taking office instead of after they get things more screwed up. Obama has been in office four months and has nothing to show for it except being indecisive and wishy-washy. Sounds just like the last jerk that held the same office. I have a spare piece of rope, Mr. President, along with a chair you can stand on, and a big oak limb suitable for self-lynching. As for congress, there should be "wanted: dead or alive" posters put up for each and everyone of those clowns.
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Tennessee's democrat governor says he will veto the legislation to allow anyone whom has a permit to carry a gun in places where alcohol is served. It takes only a simple majority by the republican legislature to override his veto. The National Rifle Association brings the state and nation one step closer to anarchy.
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If you click on and view the flower image, you may see a tiny fly.
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One Korea

North Korea must be eliminated, and to do so requires the killing of only a few key people. The castrated United Nations will never do it, and I doubt any of our "allies" will stand with us. Any action that lasts more than a few weeks may be unsuccessful in the long run even if that rogue government is destroyed. Folks, these crazies have nuclear weapons, and if they are not quickly eliminated, they will end up in the hands of the even crazier bidders. All that communists desire is world domination, and what better tool could China have to cap off its economic rule than to have a puppet nation like North Korea as its military and terrorist arm? Today is best time to act in our own defense and it ain't a complicated thing; just do it; do whatever it takes. Better we strike first and suffer the consequences than to be struck down by nukes and then stand around pointing fingers and playing the same old the political blame game. This isn't a weak Iraq I am speaking of nor is it my American pride talking; it is reality. Or maybe I am as crazy as they.
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Dullsville

Another dull day in a string of many. Not much to do at the computer, and the weather is too iffy to settle outside for any length of time. Carolyn made her weekly visit to the hairdresser, and we went to Piney Flats to pick up a key. A meal of hot dogs made our breakfast, dinner, and supper; I am beginning to tire of that particular breed of canine.
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I discovered a photo of a plastic Sprite soft drink bottle that I made a week or so ago, and decided to do some digitizing on it. Although I dearly love flower photos, I am becoming a bit weary of making them and posting them here and on Flickr, so a little something different was pressing my buttons. After about 30 minutes with PsP, I came up with a conglomeration I like, but do not think it will be well received on Flickr. It seems most people using that site are satisfied with "straight" photography, and so am I, but I do like to see some different things created and presented from time to time. The above is a grayscale version of the doodle. It must be seen large and is best viewed on a black background.
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Carolyn will have a rough night; one of the crew is going to be out, and she has to do that special cleaning for one of her old accounts. I do not expect her home before 2:00am. Chris was going to help her, but she has come down with flu or something and is in bed. I want Carolyn to retire and try to have a little bit of a life, but she will instead allow the work to kill her. I am beginning to think she dreads being with me for any length of time, and I am a pain in the ass when I get to pouting at full song.
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Slow day

In a while we will be off to Fall Branch and Boones Creek for some cleaning duties. There are a couple of places in Boones Creek where I want to make photos, one being a house painted green, and the other is some scarecrows.
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Not much happening around here; Chris is trying to find work and may wind up at McDonalds. Carolyn received a call from one the accounts that let her go back in January and they are wanting her to come in Thursday night and give the place a good cleaning and floor buffing; it is a one time only thing. She and the crew spent nearly 10 hours yesterday stripping and waxing floors for another account, and he was not pleased with the results. He used to have the work done every four months, but because of budget problems, he let it go this time for nearly nine months. Carolyn will probably go back and try to please him, but she will charge him big time; he cannot expect to allow his facility to run down and then have the problems fixed for the same old same-old.
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Impatiens, tree rats, and Carolyn

Carolyn planted several impatiens in a porch planter Monday last, and after a few days she decided the squirrels were not going to dig in them this year. When she got up Saturday morning, not one plant was left in the 24" long container; they were scattered on the porch and seven feet below on the driveway. Her tirade has changed little over the past 15 years except that "little devils" seems to be exclaimed a bit more. She saved all but one of the flowers; it had its roots eaten. She is threatening to plant some water iris and hope the rodents will eat them as they are poisonous when consumed; but she will not do so. The tree rats cause a lot of mischief, but they are also very entertaining. One thing she or I cannot understand is why our neighbors have had abundant irises growing and thriving for many years, but as soon as she puts the bulbs in the ground, they are dug up and eaten. Little devils.
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Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer for a lot of people in the US. Many will decorate graves of their war heroes and other family members and loved ones using cheap-made Chinese plastic flowers from K-Mart and other discount outlets. When I was growing up, decoration day as it was called was always the first Sunday in June which will be on the seventh this year. All the "flowers" used for adorning graves were made at home using crepe paper for blossoms and twisted wire for stems. It was one of the projects I enjoyed doing and in which I was allowed to participate. My grandmother, mother, aunt Ivy, and I would gather the materials on the kitchen table and sit around and make flowers until our fingers were sore. Every deceased person in the local family cemeteries whom were kin to us got at least a small bunch of flowers. They were stuck directly into the soil of the graves, and were good until the first rain; crepe paper is not waterproof. Later on, we began dipping the finished flowers in melted paraffin which offered protection from the elements for several weeks, although they came out of the wax looking sort of pale and ghostly. It has been about 50 years since I participated in the annual ritual of flower making, but if my fingers still worked anywhere near correctly and after a little practice, I believe I could still create them.

A tidbit of nostalgia: The pliers we used to cut the stem wire had belonged to my grandfather whom died in 1948. They were a small tool that electricians refer to as "side cutters". The pliers always were laughed over as we began using them, because they were the same ones grandpa made my uncles employ to pull his teeth when he had a toot ache.
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Riding

I took a needed day off from the net. Carolyn and I drove around the countryside to some of our favorite local places. We stopped at a produce market at the junction of Hwy's. 81S and 107 where she bought a few tomatoes, onions, and potatoes. From there we drove to Erwin so I could make a photo of a church I had noticed on an earlier visit; nothing special, but it appealed to my sense of being a little different from the local norm. We left there and drove some back roads to Elizabethton where we cleaned the bank. From there, we traveled on to Siam and Wilbur and on up to Wilbur Lake and the Watauga dam, but we did not stop at either as it was getting late and I wanted to make my way back to the old Wilbur iron bridge for maybe the last time before it is demolished, being replaced by a modern and ugly two-lane concrete affair. My timing was pretty good as I made a few shots of the sun about to set behind the bridge and hills. Two other people stopped and photographed the historic structure while I was doing my thing. One guy was complaining about the sun washing out everything in his shots, so I showed him how to set his point-and-shoot camera to get the best possible exposure; he was one happy fellow. These were the kind of shots where a graduated neutral-density filter would have been perfect to get a good exposure, but I do not have one. A few adjustments in Paintshop Pro made the results acceptable.
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Not much going on today; I slept-in this morning, and Carolyn is preparing pot roast, corn on-the-cob, baked potatoes, and other goodies for our evening meal. Other than writing this and catching up on Flickr, all I am doing is working with a few of the photos I made yesterday. One of them I really like, but am having a problem making the contrast right.
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Thanks my friends for your notes supporting me as I had a bad day or two; everything is going to be fine, and your kind words were a boon to my well being.
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Breaking

Taking a break ...
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The Smoking Gun's Mugshots of the Week!

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Rumbles

Payroll is finished; two weeks before I worry about it again. This afternoon we will be going to Bristol to pick up the floor machine that has been in shop for repairs. The manager's boss at one of her accounts is coming in Tuesday for inspection, and he has to have his floors done this weekend. Monday is the only day she can do them, and it is usually the day of the first real picnic for us, but this Memorial Day is going to be a bust. More than a month ago, Carolyn asked him to allow her to do the floors, but the manager said he could not have them done due to the budget crunch. She told him then that she would not be available on this weekend, but I suppose she now will have to be there. Rats! If I don't get away from this crazy house soon, my journey to the Dark Side will be complete.
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Today is another shot day; the doctor has raised her fees and prices for the injections to the full limit which Medicare allows, so that soon the shots will be unaffordable for me and a lot of other people. There are infusion treatments which when added to the methotrexate injections can help RA patients have a much more normal life, but their price is far out of reach. Although they have to be done only once every two months, my co-pay part would still be $400+ for each one. You folks whom live in countries that have universal medical care should feel very fortunate.
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Ozone

Not a lot happening today; Carolyn is threatening to make goulash and is slicing strawberries for desert. I am doing a little R&R, waiting for the outside air to warm enough for porch sitting. Speaking of that, I believe we have developed an ozone hole in the sky above our house; the sun almost rips the hide off after being exposed to it for a few minutes. I sat on the porch nearly everyday last summer, and finally got a little tan just before fall. So far this year, I've sat out there for a total of just a few hours and have lightly burned and tanned more already than all of last year. Even the ants are detouring to the shady lanes. If there is an ozone anomaly above my piece of paradise, it probably comes from the methane gas emissions from my bean eating family. Of course, I am of delicate constitution and genteel rearing and do not participate in such barbaric activities.
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Chris quit her job last Friday, and has no prospects for another. She, JJ, Carolyn, and I are trying to exist on Carolyn's meager income and my small SS check. A year ago, it would have been barely possible to do so, but Carolyn has lost so much income and prices have gone so high that it will now be stretching the imagination to think we can still do it. Well, I will look at the bright side and say that if the fretting doesn't kill us, we should live forever.
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Goin' to sit on the porch now ...

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Near tragedy

I spent most of yesterday morning printing photos; in fact I printed until the machine ran out of ink. Hopefully, I will go to Michaels and buy some black, white, and light-beige mat board, and have some simple frames cut. With some luck, Carolyn and I can still cut the mats with the little hand cutter I bought while in college. All these years and I have only six or seven of my photos on the walls. I may try to sell a few of them at some local street shows, and if they don't sell, my relatives will be getting them as presents on various occasions.
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I drove Carolyn over to Fall Branch and back to Boones Creek to do the little branch banks, and on the way home I drove to the park near our house. It was about 8:00pm and the sunlight angle was becoming close to horizontal. Near the park entrance on Antioch road, there was the largest single mass of Ox-eyed daisies I have ever seen. The grounds had been freshly mowed, but the groundskeeper must have seen the beauty of these lovlies and left them to be enjoyed by others. I made several photos trying to get the best of the warm light. When I got home, I noticed I had not cleaned up my SD card for sometime, and I began deleting unused folders and files. Of course, I managed to delete the very folder where my fresh photos were. Be assured, these small plug-n-play devices do not have a recycle bin that is easily found. After a moment of panic, I rememberd a utility I had downloaded just a few weeks earlier and was installed on a an usb memory stick. I plugged it in and found what I needed, a small file recovery utility. I put it to work, and within 10 minutes, I had all my photo files back and intact. I today looked for a link to the set of utilities so I could post it here for you, but it is no longer online; something about a squabble with the different utility creators over download sites. The set of small freeware programs have undeleters, defragmenters, and a whole lot more. I will keep an eye out and if they come back online, I will post the url.
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I hope to get caught up on Flickr after I post this blog.

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Monday Monday, can't trust that day ...

Today has been a big loser. I have the blahs from feeling badly over the weekend and we had light frost last night and today's temps are so cool I cannot sit in the porch. Tonight is supposed to be another frosty spell, albeit a light one. Tomorrow should be much better.
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This must be a continuation of blackberry winter; I've never seen a frost in this area later than May 5th, and my grandma whom was born in 1895 said she never saw one later than May 9th. Curious, it is. She also said the deepest snow she ever saw was in early May.
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All the photos I made at the dam Saturday are of fairly poor quality; I really did not feel like being there and my heart was not in what I was doing. I hope to go back there before autumn turns to winter and try again.
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Carolyn mulched her flower beds yesterday and they dearly needed it as it has been about eight years since it was done. She was so tired when she finished she wasn't able to cook (she says!). She made up for it today with October beans (cranberry beans), some very good yellow tomatoes sliced with cottage cheese on top, Polish sausage (kiełbasa) with sour kraut, and homemade cornbread. Also were some green onions grown by my son from his first attempt a making a vegetable garden. Old farmer Jerry!
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I was reading and looking at photos of Maggie's garden Saturday morning and Carolyn finally noticed them. Now, I am in a heap of trouble; she saw a lot of things she wants to duplicate in our tiny yard; I'll never hear the end of it. Thanks, Maggie!

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Riding at South Holston

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We drove to Piney Flats and Elizabethton yesterday to clean the buildings. While at the latter, I saw that the zinnias were blooming but not yet attracting butterflies. Hopefully they will make flowers all summer and I can get some decent photos.
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We left there and went riding on back roads where we had never before been, and wound up at South Holston Dam on the downstream side. The TVA has created some nice recreation areas, including a fairly large island that has a footbridge built to it and a lot of people were using it for fishing and picnicking. We mentally marked it as a future "to do". As we approached the base of the dam, I noticed there were cars driving across the top, so I followed the road and wound up with very pretty vistas on each side of the Escape. On the right (north), was the expanse of blue water known as South Holston Lake, and on the left was a good view downstream, including the small generating facility; we were atop the 285' tall dam. We drove on across to the overlook building which has bathroom facilities and a small picnic area where the road ends. This was not the first time I had seen the dam, but the other time had been from a distance on the lake side.

We drove back across the top, and I snapped a shot of the lake from the car window. I then parked at the flags on the approach side and shot a couple of photos down the face of the dam toward the powerhouse. We then continued to the base of the dam, which was surprising in this day of terror and mischief that we could get so close. In fact, if I were able to climb, there was nothing in the way to stop me from scaling the structure. I made a couple of shots from near the transformer farm looking back at the top—all the time fearing a TVA police officer (deputy US Marshall) would slap cuffs on me and ship me off to Gitmo for "interrogation"—and we then proceeded out of the area the way we came in, but I did stop and get a "looking back" photo of most of the dam's face.

Hopefully, you can tell from the photographs that the South Holston Dam is not much more than a huge pile of boulders, rocks, and gravel. It is called an "earth-and-rockfill" dam and was created for flood control and water recreation; power generation is a secondary use. It is a nice lake, and is heavily used due to its proximity to Bristol, but is not nearly as pretty as is Watauga Lake in Carter County.
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The Smoking Gun's Mugshots of the Week!

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Slow Friday

I read where the American Civil Liberties Union is suing a company for patenting human genes. We better hope the A.C.L.U. wins, 'cause if they don't, it will give corporate America the right to own tiny pieces of each of us. In this case, Myriad Genetics now holds patents so that they and they alone may provide research to help fight types of cancer. No one else will be allowed to do research on the disease without permission.
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If you are dead, you may still be able to receive a Social Security stimulus check. Waste no time cashing and spending it!
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Got my shot ... again.
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There must have been super-heavy storms in the area last night, some dumping inches of rain in only minutes.
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No yard sale this weekend; both Ashley and Chris have to work. Supposed to rain, too.
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Mouse

Mouse stopped by today, bearing the grim news that Obama is considering two lesbians as part of his choice for the vacating Supreme Court seat. I find nothing wrong with that, but Mouse is a Christian whom takes the bible as literal fact. His wife is director of the local abortion alternatives organization, and I suppose he fears lesbians will favor abortion rights.
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A certain church located on University Parkway in JC pays their preacher $98k each year. The man woks at being a preacher about 10 hours per week. Actually it isn't a church at all, it is a campus that has several facilities that do several things that have little or anything to do with the ministering of God's word, and the campus is about to have a growing fit as more building is about to get underway. There is a church building on the campus. It is my opinion that religion has gone haywire and is out of anyone's control; not all religion, but a big part it.
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Chris is working 12 hours per day and six days a week at a factory that makes windows for new construction such as office buildings, etc. She says they are covered up with work.
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Carolyn's knee has not bothered her since a day or so after making the appointment to see the orthopedic surgeon. She has some floors to strip and wax at the end of this month, and if she makes it through that without pain, there is probably not much the doctor can or need do for her ... right now anyway.
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" ... I must go"

Today is one of hazy sunlight. The air was cool this morning but has moderated somewhat, and gusting winds are keeping me from the porch. The remainder of the week is supposed to be—what else?—rainy. Carolyn, Chris, and Ashley are wanting to have a yard sale this weekend (it was planned for last Saturday), but the weather probably will not allow it.
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I am about to go completely stir-crazy. I need to be out exploring the unknown and photographing the unseen. The mountains are calling me to come home for a spell, but with all this rain, it is difficult to do much except foster melancholy dreams. To be there is to have the taste of old forest on the tongue, the scents of generations past and present teasing the nose, the sounds of woodland spirits whispering on the air, and the comfort of home deep in the soul ... I am my hills; my hills are me.

"The mountains are calling and I must go."
~ John Muir
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I hope this day is one of sunshine in your heart and laughter on your lips.

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Slow Tuesday

Today I lay in the shade on the porch lounger and accidentally dozed. When I awoke, I was smack in the middle of a pile of hot sunshine and my face, legs, and feet were glowing a nice reddish color. My ghastly ghostly winter pallor is gone from those areas. Sigh ...
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We just a few minutes ago returned from our Tuesday cleaning trip which was uneventful.
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We are going through some kind of winter here, but I don't recall what the name of it is. Blackberry winter was last week and was pretty mild.
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My internet has been off twice today for lengthy periods, causing me to be late writing and publishing this lovely tome. I have only three or four regular readers, and I would hate to disappoint you.
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I am actually using Twitter, although I have only one follower whom I know. I am following him, plus MoMA and The Smithsonian.
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The above photo is one of our new tenants.
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Belly aches

The price of gasoline is rising at an average rate of more than a penny per gallon each day, and it is not a problem of supply and demand; just more corporate and foreign greed. Someone in a powerful office needs to see that alternative energy research is removed completely from the hands and purse strings of oil companies and placed in public trust where it can be overseen. Curing the dependence on oil, be it domestic or foreign, will solve a big portion of this country's economic problems.
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Again it rains. Yesterday was cool to mild, but the sun shone brilliantly all day long; it was the first day of fair weather in nearly two weeks. Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty before returning to several more days of rain and clouds.
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The Johnson City Development Authority has officially blessed the new undertaking located between East Tennessee State University and downtown as University Edge. More than 20 years and billions of taxpayer dollars (including yours; a lot of the money came from the US Treasury via grants) have been negligently spent in downtown revitalization with little to show for it except an ugly public library building. Actually, this new project of having housing and shopping for students and faculty just may work, but the original vision of JCDA will have been abandoned. I suppose if you cannot bring the people to downtown, just create a new downtown closer to the people ad hope a few of them will eventually trickle into the original. The Doofus and McGoofus show appear once a month at JCDA meetings.
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Some University of Tennessee sports fans are perturbed because the new football coach has recruited and will allow a convicted rapist to play ball this fall. These are the same people whom were aglee to see a convicted idiot ruin the country for four years, and then give him four more years to destroy our economy, heritage, and good name in the world of nations. Shame on you hypocrites!
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Tennessee: A typical Republican state

"Stupid is as stupid does" is a quote from the movie Forrest Gump. It is also The State of Tennessee's new Republican dominated legislature in action. This self-proclaimed "moral majority" is actually attempting to make it legal for people whom have permits to carry concealed guns to do so in public bars and restaurants where alcohol is served. Their "thinking" seems to be "Why drink and drive and take a chance on killing someone, when you can do it better with a handgun". This is typical of what the national Republican party has become; shoot first and show false remorse later. Polls show a huge majority of voters and citizens are strongly against the bill; bar and restaurant owners are against the bill, and even churches and other religious businesses that caused these jerks to be elected through pulpit sermons are against it, so who would be the shameful but interested party pushing such hateful legislation? Boys and girls, can you say "NRA"? Whom else would have enough political and monetary clout plus the burning desire to have this passed but the National Rifle Association? What better state in which to have this wretched law to be enacted but a poor, southern, redneck entity like Tennessee that has a brand new "conservative" law making body for the first time in minions of years? I hope the Democrat governor vetoes this dangerous bill when it comes to his desk, but whom knows about politicians except that they are each and everyone "on the take" from someone. My fellow Tennesseans, you brought this on yourselves when you last went to the polls to vote; giddy with confidence, you could not think well enough to even imagine things like this happening, and there is more such to come. I am disgusted!
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Mother's Day 2009

Happy Mother's Day to moms everywhere and every when.

Although it is another "special day" contrived solely on greed by corporate America, it is probably the best and most meaningful of the non-major holidays.
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I felt badly yesterday and took to the bed at 3:30pm after returning from Elizabethton with Carolyn. I was asleep by 8:30, and did not get up until 8:30 this morning. I feel some better, but not great.
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A little known fact ...
The first testicular guard was used in cricket in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974.
It took 100 years for men to realize that the brain is also important.
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The Smoking Gun's Mugshots of the Week!!!!
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Skillet drippings

If any of you trekked to Clarks Creek to enjoy a spring bath with me, I offer my apologies. I played caution against clean hide and caution won. There was lightning in the area and I feared for my safety, so I did not go to the Peter Hole for cleansing. I will do it when the rainy weather moderates.
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I rode with Carolyn to Bristol, VA this morning; she had to take a floor machine there for repairs. That alone says a lot for this one horse town I live in; not one vacuum or janitorial equipment repair shop to be found, and Kingsport doesn't have one either. The combined population ot the Tri-Cities is well over 100k, yet I see little reason for them to be here. There is only one locally owned janitorial supply dealer in the area, and it is in Elizabethton. As we said in the early 60's: Deadsville, dad!
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Nearly all the bailout money has been given to Wall Street, so where will the new assistance come from? Same place as the other; the US Treasury. We as taxpayers will end up buying nearly worthless shares of these deadbeat corporations, and at premium prices. With the bailout money—if the banks go bankrupt—the treasury would be the first in line to get whatever funds and assets that are available. If we are forced by the government to buy stock, we are taking a risk like any other shareholder, an they will most likely be non-voting shares. There is no relief in sight for the American people until we rise up and declare an economic revolution. I want to be the first, and right here and right now, to declare war on the United States of America's financial system. What does that mean? Damned if I know, but I said it!
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Loss

I lost a couple of inches today, but a big man like me can afford to lose some of it and be as proud as ever. Yes, I got my hair cut; second time this year. Now for my spring bath. I've let it go for a month and one-half since spring began, and it has been a very long time since my last visit to the creek, so I think I will be there this evening; if anyone wants to join me in my ritual, meet me at the Clark's Creek Peter Hole at 8:00pm. You wash my back and I will wash your back.
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Let the banks that "need" extra billions go to banks that have extra billions and borrow from them. It is way past time for the Feds to shut down this giveaway monstrosity we allowed them to drag us into.
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Big busted babes battle Britain's boob bastion!
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Violated!

Now I'm even madder. Someone managed to "break" into the Escape last night at about 11:20; I had just put my head to the pillow when the car horn alarm went off. Carolyn beat me to the curtains, and the the car's lights were also flashing. She grabbed her keys and silenced the system with her key remote. We could not see anything out of the ordinary, so in a few minutes we went back to bed. In few moments, Carolyn decided to get up and look again. When she did, she saw the interior lights were on. This time she dialed 911, and I put my clothes on and went down to investigate. I found the driver side door unlocked, but nothing looked to be forced. The police came and gave it a cursory look and said he would do some extra patrolling in the neighborhood for a few nights.

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Bank of America the Beautiful

I am now mad ... again.

Why is our mortally confused government scrutinizing poor old Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, when it was the Feds whom arranged and paid for the "merger"? Poor old BoA now needs $34 billion in fresh operating capital to go along with the $45 billion we the taxpayers have already given them via our corrupt congress, ex-president, and sitting president. A pox on them all!
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In other good news, some banks are wanting to repay the government for the bailout money they received, but the Feds want to throw restrictions on that! For god's sake, take it and use it to stimulate we unfortunate citizens whom just had our property taxes increased by more than 30 percent. What a bunch of dopes! What is holding this country together? It damn sure isn't the people we elected and whom are drawing huge salaries. I say lynch the idiots in public from a gallows built over an open downtown DC sewer and let their already decomposing carcasses float away in the putrid glory they so deserve. Double pox!
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I think Obama is along for the ride, much like GWB was doing; neither of them had or has a clue. Neither of them ever had to live the life of a middle class taxpayer, much less live the existence the poor.
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Lil Kim (whomever or whatever that is) has been booted from Dancing With The Stars. So sad ...
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My mind is a complete blank this day and if I knew anything to say, I wouldn't know how to say it. One thing though; I am finally sick of rain, at least so much of it. It is akin to being in a wet prison without a towel.

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John Scopes the monkey man

Gasoline prices jumped sixteen cents overnight; pre-holiday gouging.
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Big news: Obama and Biden buy big burgers; wait in line like normal people. They paid $6.95 each for their Hell Burgers, but I would imagine the motorcade and security involved ran into the thousands of dollars from our taxes. I can sometimes afford a Burger-King regular size burger, and at that, I get no fries and I drink bottled water I filled and carried from home. Live well, you S.O.B's.
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Dom DeLuise has died at age 75. He was a fun actor to watch.
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On this date in 1925, Tennessee high school teacher John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution. He should have been convicted and drawn and quartered for such a heinous crime, but was convicted and penalized a $100 fine instead. Our nation was saved from being overrun by atheists and monkey men.
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I must get ready to go with Carolyn to Fall Branch and Boones Creek.
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I have fallen

I was able to get a lot of work done this morning before things went haywire. The time sheets were figured, the payroll finished except for making the checks, some bills were paid, including money to the IRS from where I made a miscalculation on our tax return, and I went to the bank and deposited last weeks checks from the accounts. All went well until I was walking back into the office where my bad knee buckled and I hit the wall and floor, but not before breaking a lamp. I barked my knuckles and have a carpet burn on my knee; I haven't had so much fun since I used to come home drunk. At least I was inside my own house and did not embarrass myself in front of a stranger. I need to get this knee fixed, and if Carolyn does not have to have surgery, I intend to have it fixed.
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How was your day?
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Is there a Fiat in your future? Looks like the Italian company is thinking big—very big—and will be buying into not only Chrysler, but also purchasing in full General Motors' huge German Opel division. Fiat will be receiving billions of euros in loan guarantees from European governments. That is another reason American companies cannot compete in a global market; they are not partially owned, financed, or guaranteed by our government. The crap that has happened recently to our banks and car companies does not count in the worldwide market. Foreign companies have long been subsidized or outright owned by their respective governments. Free trade? Forget it!
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Happy Polish Constitution Day

Yesterday was another ho-hummer. I wasn't in a picture making mood, and I wound up taking Carolyn to Fall Branch, Piney Flats, and Elizabethton to do some small jobs. I carried trash.
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Today is too rainy to make photos, and I'm not in the mood anyway.
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Today is Constitution Day (Konstytucja Trzeciego Maja) in Poland. The Polish constitution is the second oldest codified constitution in the world, coming just five years after the United States Constitution was ratified. Source: Wikipedia.
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I read where the United Auto Workers have won a 55% stake in Chrysler Corporation. Must be something like finding the winning lottery ticket in your pocket a day after it expired. It isn't unprecedented for a union to have ownership of a company, but I can say that it is not a good thing. In the long run, no one but the union fat cats will benefit; and they will do so big time. Better than a golden parachute, they will have a platinum cloud on which to float away.

The Smoking Gun's Mugshots of the Week!
The "lady" on page nine sure is a right pretty man!
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Rambles

Friday is shot day.
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There is so much moisture in the air today that a handful of it can produce five gallons of water when it is wrung out. Still, very little rain has fallen. Anyone know any anti-drought chants, spells, or potions you are willing to share?
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Why is Egypt killing pigs because a virus is named after the animals? The pigs are more likely to catch it from humans than the other way around. They may as well call in the shamans and witch doctors while they are at it.
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121 days have passed this year; there are 244 remaining. Got plans?

Happy Birthday, Judy Collins.
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My progressive (snicker) city had municipal elections this week, and the city commission is still a bunch of wealthy geezers whom ought to be living in Florida. The bandy-legged old farts should be existing on a golf course around the Tampa Bay area, slow-poking along in their Buicks, Caddies, and an occasional Lexus on Tampa streets.
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A few weeks back, Mark advised me via his blog to watch a tv series on PBS called Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People. Here is a link to the film trailer. The director, Ross Spears, is from here in Johnson City. The film is a four-part series with the last segment being shown last evening. The first segment showed some local people at work in our own Gray Fossil Site. It will surely air again, and when it does and if you love these hills and the people whom live here, you should give it a look. The entire series can be purchased from PBS.org for $45 on dvd. It is a great gift idea if your favorite blogger is on your "to buy for" list, and I'm sure I am he is!
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