Hello from Kansas City Missouri!!!

I took this picture yesterday at the airport waiting for my hotel shuttle. I thought it was unique and kinda inspiring. The flight in was a little rough and from the looks of the ground and trees there had been some strong winds and rain in the area less than an hour ago.

About 2 years ago I took a class offered by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS). It was a 3 day weather class.

We learned about thunder storms, tornados, funnel clouds, straight line winds and hail sizes among other things. The class was intense and for me, extremely fascinating. Upon completion I received registration/certification as a ‘Storm Spotter’.

Basically, all that means is when the tornado sirens go off, I get to grab my handy-talky (HAM radio) and head for a place (safe and out of the way of danger) and watch the storm. *grin*

I’ve always had a fascination with storms, especially tornado and sever lightning. My engineering background and basic knowledge of electricity gives me a great respect and childish fascination with the amount of energy generated by the wind and colliding air masses.

If I have my way, some day the tornado video you see on the 6 o’clock news will be mine!!

A Price Has Been Paid

Some of you know I help on another blog. I chose to put this post there. Don't ask why, just go read and say a word of thanks to Terry. I believe this summer is 5 years without his son.

Is it Monday??

I have about 9 hours of work to do before I leave at noon for a business trip. I was too hot to sleep good last night, maybe got 4 hours. I have a headache that feels like a freight train running over me. An eye infection, Dr says no contacts. I hate glasses. I was late for work, thus skipped breakfast and I’m hungry. So hungry I’m eating cold (room temp) ravioli and drinking coffee.

Somebody just shoot me.

Dumbass Press

I got this link from a Minnesota PGR member. HERE there is a poll on the right, feel free to express your right to vote. You can vote and see the results right after but after that you’ll need to register. Fucking paper!!

Must have caught me in a bad mood, I shot this off to the author already. Really can’t stand reporting half truths. Everything from motorcycle deaths, drug use, hand guns, to Iraq and Afghanistan.

GRrrrrr!!!


Tim,

You know, you writer types that present half truths to distort a story just to make people gasp piss me off!! Report all of the facts, PLEASE!!

“200 percent increase from a decade ago,” but if the ownership has risen 300 percent then the overall rate has gone down. How many owners are there now compared to a decade ago?

What about alcohol? Of the 24 “motorcycle related deaths” this year how many had been drinking? If they had been drinking and riding, they are dumbasses and have done us all a favor by thinning the herd.

What about the other half of the accidents??
Was it a car?
Was it the car drivers fault?
Was the driver of the car drunk?

Do you even ride a motorcycle? And just so you know $20K and 200 miles doesn’t make you a ‘rider’. I’ve ridden almost 10k miles (yes, 10,000) since December.

DNR

What Was I Thinking?!!

I went to bed last night and could not stop thinking “infarction”... WTF!! My brain had to make that word up. Infraction, I’ve heard of, but farc. Jeese.

Guess what I was thinking about as soon as the alarm went off at 6 am ... radial infarction, cranial inFARCtion. SHIT, this is going to drive me batty.

So, in an effort to ease my brain, I looked it up... it IS a word.

WIKIPEDIA says;
In medicine, an infarction is the process resulting in a macroscopic area of necrotic tissue in some organ caused by loss of adequate blood supply. Supplying arteries may be blocked from within by some obstruction (e.g. a blood clot or cholesterol deposit), or may be mechanically compressed or ruptured by trauma.
Infarction is commonly associated with atherosclerosis, where an atherosclerotic plaque ruptures, a thrombus forms on the surface occluding the blood flow and occasionally forming an embolus that occludes other blood vessels downstream. Infarction can also involve mechanical blockage of the blood supply, such as when part of the gut herniates or twists.


Good Lord, I hope this fixes me, I’d hate to have to look up all of those multi syllable words, I’ll never get any work done. Guess this is what I get for watching all of those Medical Examiner (Dr. G.) shows on Discovery.

What do you do to get a word or song out of your head?

Oh Good GOD!!

Would you believe that teaching children to behave leads to children that behave better...?

Yep, your Goverenment funded school of higher educations dollars at work.

HERE

Life Lessons

There was an Indian Chief who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at the same pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.
The second son said no, it was covered with green buds and full of promise.
The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.
The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The Chief then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons have passed and can be considered as one life.

Another Meme

Dazd tagged me with a meme. I hate this kind... ask me some silly questions or such but 8 things about me... that I want to tell everyone phst.
I’ll just use Dazd’s answers as a template.


1. Post the rules for the meme at the beginning of your post.
2. This meme consists of the blogger listing eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged in this post are to write their own post listing their own eight random items and list the rules.
4. At the end of the post/meme, list the folks you are tagging and leave them notice of such in their comments.

******************************************

1. I like to mix my food together, especially breakfast. Eggs (over easy), grits, potatoes; chop em up and mix em all together.
2. I am a night owl.
3. I hate the dentist. Last 2 time I’ve been (in 20 years) was to get teeth pulled. 3 the last time.
4. I don’t like dust.
5. I like cats as much as dogs.
6. I have worked for the same company for 16 years
7. I hate ‘tell us x things about you’ memes.
8. I love broccoli and cauliflower

I looked around, everyone I know has done this. I think Og and Dick would shoot me if I tagged them. So, If you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged.

Jokes for Tuesday

Working on a long (2 parter) post about this past weekend. In the mean time, here are some jokes. One was e-mailed, one was posted in comments and one was told verbally. can you guess which one had me rolling...?

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At the Pearly Gates


A man appeared before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. "Have you ever done anything of particular merit?" St. Peter asked.

"Well, I can think of one thing," the man offered. "Once, on a trip to the Black Hills out in South Dakota , I came upon a gang of bikers, who were threatening a young woman. I directed them to leave her alone, but they wouldn't listen. So, I approached the largest and most heavily tattooed biker and smacked him in his face, kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground. I yelled, "Now, back the fuck off!! Or I'll kick the fucking shit out o f all of you!"

St. Peter was impressed, "When did this happen?"

"Just now, I still have the nose ring..."

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Three guys are on a road trip. One says to the other two, "You know, we could be driving along here and get in a wreck and all be killed. If that happened, they'd take us to a funeral parlor and lay us out in caskets, and people would come and look at us lying there. If that happened, what would you want them to say?"

The first guy thinks and then says, "I'd like them to look at me and say, 'He was an honest, good man.'"

The second guy says, "I'd want them to say, 'He was a good doctor.'"

There's a pause and then the two who have spoken turn to the guy who had posed the question and say, "What about you? What would you want people to say if they were looking at you in your coffin?"

He replies, "Well, I guess I'd want them to say... 'LOOK! HE'S MOVING!!!!"

*******************************

Two hookers step out on to their corner ready to start an evening.

The first says “Ahh, I think it’s going to be a great night, the smell of cum is in the air.”
The second says, “Sorry, that was me, I burped”

Operation Arrowhead Ripper

I watch the news almost nightly. I watch with a great deal of distrust and skepticism the reports on the war and Iraq. See, mixed in with my sarcasm, I’m a bit cynical. And analytical, and in watching the news, something don’t add up.

I personally know 4 or 5 guys that are back from, going to (one for a second time) or are in Iraq. I also know, second hand, several hundred (probably thousands but I’d be hard pressed to prove it) that are back from, going to or are in Iraq. To a man, they would go back or so they say. I also know one that has volunteered twice to be part of an attachment with a special mission for a year but for seniority or short straw reasons he has been turned down... Too many others had volunteered. (ahem... *clears lump in throat* makes me VERY proud and scared shitless)

Now, again with my syndical side, I think, maybe they are towing the company line and being told to say that for the ‘moral of their brothers’, or else... BUT the 4 or 5 I know personally are friends, one is family. And the volunteer... guess he’s just a proud American too. I expect they all are being truthful with me.

So, today a friend sent me a link to a story on Fox News which was a trimmed down version of this Go here. Go, it’s a long read, I’ll wait.

*hums while rolling fingers*

On one had there is the mass media saying one thing and on the other there is the troops saying the opposite. Now I find a free lace reporter that agrees with the troops. He can see what we are doing first hand and reports on it, not just the explosions and blood that is seen on the first day and as reported by the main stream media. My understanding (so far) is that he imbeds into the city and reports there for days, maybe even weeks.

I think I found a new daily MUST read. If for nothing else to balance out the TV and mass media.

A Survivor

Last Saturday (June 30th) I rode to honor a friend. Some of her story is here. She is a hell of a lady and a survivor, a breast cancer survivor. I truly believe that if she set her mind to it, there is nothing she couldn’t do.

As you can imagine, being faced with and coming to terms with ones own mortality causes one to put things in a whole new priority level. One of her must do’s is ride a Harley. Not just down the street, but on a ride. It has been some time since we agreed to do a ride and currently she is off in Halifax, Nova Scotia checking off other items on her list. Between my schedule and hers we can’t seem to get this done, so I went alone, for her last Saturday.

I don’t have any pictures but there will be some here at www.rockforthecure.com, eventually.

Also, if you live in the Indy area, Steel Horse will air some footage of the ride Sunday night. The show is from 10:30 to 11:00 on MY-NDY (channel 23).

So, check it out and like Steve says – “Be There!”

BTW - The Pink is to honor all breast cancer survivors!!

USS INDIANAPOLIS

As I said in the post below, there is a parade Saturday in Indy. Please come. Tell your firends. Feel free to save and e-mail this image to everyone you know.

Thanks!!

Just Like When I Was A Kid

Happy 4th everyone, hope it was great. Mine was, we cooked out, watched fire works and I got burnt. Just like old times.

Flash back 12 hours...

I started out early this afternoon to wash the bike. We (the IPGR) have a parade Saturday (incidentally, if you are going to be in the Indy area 7/7/7, come down town) and I will be in it, to honor the survivors of the USS Indianapolis.

Any way, started out gong to one of those do-it-yourself car wash thingies. Afterwards I ‘had’ to drive around a little to blow the water off and I ended up riding over 100 miles.

Now, being the ‘hard core biker’ (heh, more like a ‘Wild Hog’) that I am, I usually ride with jeans and boots. Not today, no. Remember, I was just running down the street to wash the bike...

Have you notice on any of my avatars that I’m blond (reddish blond)?? That means very fair skin.

Yes, you guessed it, I am BURNT!! From the tops of my sneakers to just above my knees, my face, my arms, the backs of my hands and that every increasing glare spot on top of my head. They are all now stop sign RED.

I even keep a bottle of SPF 50 in the saddle bag. Some day I’ll learn.

Do You Feel What I Feel?

Has anyone ever told you something that kinda made you laugh but then a day or two later you thought about it again and maybe, just maybe it was in insult?

Last week I was told, “you know what your problem is? When you relate a story about (this story was a solder but they meant anything) you emotionally sound like you were there and that you are hurt or elated as much as the real people”.

Hummm...

Like I said above, I laughed. Kinda thinking they were poking fun or ‘just’ teasing. Looking back, I’m not so sure. There was a meanness to the tone, almost as if it were meant to be an insult.

Hummmm...

I think they were wrong.

If I can tell you about attending a funeral or memorial service and relate the expressions of a father, remembering his son with smile and tears, such that you cry reading or listening to me talk, I think I was successful.
If I can tell you about a little girl that runs up to her daddy at a welcome home and hugs him like the hero he is, crying so much you’d think she would run out of tears and you cry from the shear joy I have related, I think I was successful.

The story...

A service member returns home after 18+ months (2 tours, back to back) and is met by his family at the airport. It is a small gathering, no big fan fare, no TV news crews. Just the unwavering love of a wife, a daughter and a son. (10 and 15 respectively).

Before the family left for the airport they had decorated the house with banners, streamers and a whole store full of yellow ribbons. There was cake on the table and dads favorite soda... there was love everywhere.

The greetings at the airport were your typical ‘family member returns from Iraq’ greetings. Hugs, tears, more hugs and “I missed you so much”. And pictures, someone took pictures of those hugs and the love could be seen in every hug, every tear.

On the way home the unthinkable... a father seeing his children again for the first time, having missed 2 birthdays each and his anniversaries... ...there was wind, loud as if a train had swept down out of the sky and was running at them on the highway, the wind was so strong... then there was silence.

The family van had barrel rolled 3 times and flipped end over end twice. No one could remember these facts, the evidence was in the ground... impacts recording a single vehicle accident. And the wind was silent.

The dad and son were ‘treated and released’... mom... has lost one eye. The damage to her skull was too severe to save it. She spent several days in a coma. There were several days there that no one was sure she would make the next few hours.
‘she’s lost so much blood’ ‘swelling of the brain’ ‘she’s not responding’
They have ‘successfully re-attached her hand’. She has started to recover, she has come out of the coma. When she awoke from her coma the dad, still in his uniform, hasn’t been home, had to tell her that her daughter had died... at the scene. She had been crushed by the van, the impacts had recorded it. And that she had missed the funeral, they couldn’t wait. She was gone.

Before he could get home, this man lost and buried a daughter and nearly lost a wife. At the funeral, he was presented a picture, about 5 days old. A daughter, hugging a dad, her hero, crying so much you’d think she would run out of tears. At the bottom of the framed 8x10 print was a poem, written by the girl, a few weeks earlier. It was titled “My Last Welcome Home, My Last Good-bye”.

There was love... everywhere.

**************************************
A friend of mine, an Indiana PGR member... this was his niece and her family. Remember the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. Sometimes it’s not the tour of duty, sometimes the biggest sacrifices are when they get home.

And BTW – the “when you relate a story about people you emotionally sound like you were there and that you are hurt or elated as much as the real people” comment. I consider it a huge complement.

A Funny for Friday

A man walked into a very high-tec bar. As he sat down on a stool he noticed that the bartender was a robot. The robot clicked to attention and asked, "Sir, what will you have?"

The man thought a moment then replied. "A martini please". The robot clicked a couple of times and mixed the best martini the man had ever had.

The robot then asked, "Sir, what is your IQ?"

The man answered, "Oh, about 164."

The robot then proceeded to discuss the 'theory of relativity' 'inter-stellar space travel', and 'the latest medical break throughs.

The man was most impressed. He left the bar but thought he would try a different tact. He returned and took a seat. Again the robot clicked and asked what he would have. He responded, "A Martini please."

Again it was superb. The robot again asked "what is your IQ sir?"

This time the man answered, "Oh about 100".

So the robot started discussing NASCAR racing, the latest basketball scores, and what to expect the Dodgers to do this week end.

The guy had to try it one more time. So he left, returned and took a stool. Again a martini, and the question, "What is your IQ?"

This time the man drawled out "Uh ..... bout 50".

The robot clicked then leaned close and very slowly asked, "A-r-e? Y-o-u-r? P-e-o-p-l-e? G-o-i-n-g? T-o? N-o-m-i-n-a-t-e? H-i-l-l-a-r-y-?

ZEN Summary

A while ago I talked about my 2007 Desk calendar being a Daily Zen. I’ve saved up a few and thought I’d share them with you now.

April 14 – The path of the enlightened one leaves no track – it is like the path of birds in the sky. - The Buddha
May 2 – Life is what one wants in one’s soul. - D. H. Lawrence
May 3 – A root is a flower that disdains fame. - Kahlil Gibran
May 19 – Shadow owes its birth to light. - John Gay
May 21 – To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom; and that that increaseth his riches, increaseth his cares; but a contented mind is a hidden treasure, and trouble findeth it not. - Akhenaton
June 7 – A school of trout passed by: the color of water. - Buson
June 12 – Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control – these three alone lead to sovereign power. - Alfred, Lord Tennyson
June 13 – “Childlikeness” has to be restored with long years of training in the art of self-forgetfulness. - D. T. Suzuki

Tart Invitation

I have this really long list of blogs I read, well, not as many as Dazd, but it is almost 50. (and, no, I don’t have them all in my blog roll. So sue me) Some I read daily, some weekly, some are more when the mood strikes me or when I just have time.

Twice now in the 8 or 9 months I’ve been bloging, an owner has changed their blog to be "by invite only"… WTF?!?

OK, ok – The first one was understandable (maybe the second one is too). Eddie (Dirk_Star) was being rather rudely attacked by some very hatful individuals. I happened to have had ‘off line’ discussions with Dirk so I knew his e-mail address. I asked what was going on and he gave me access. Now he disappears for over a month all because of some little person… I swear, people need to get their priorities straight. BTW – He has posted pics of this all consuming mixer of priorities.

The second one I found Thursday or Friday last week. “The World of L Tart”; couldn’t see a damn thing, not even an e-mail address. Apparently he can see who hits his profile, though, because he came to visit me. Cool!!

So, L Tart, if you come back, throw me a bone. I’d love to be on the approved readers list. If you know his Tartness… maybe you could put in a good word for me…

A Joke...?

A Somali arrives in Minneapolis as a new immigrant to the United States. He stops the first person he sees walking down the street and says, "Thank you Mr. American for letting me in this country, giving me housing, food stamps, free medical care, and free education!"

The passerby says, "You are mistaken, I am Mexican." The man goes on and encounters another passerby. "Thank you for having such a beautiful country here in America!" The person says, "I not American, I Vietnamese."

The new arrival walks further, and the next person he sees he stops, shakes his hand and says, "Thank you for the wonderful America !"
That person puts up his hand and says, "I am from Middle East, I am not American!"

He finally sees a nice lady and asks, "Are you an American?" She says, "No, I am from Africa!" Puzzled, he asks her, "Where are all the Americans?" The African lady checks her watch and says..."Probably at work

FRIEND

Note:I wrote this June 14th. Today it has come to pass.

Wikipedia says;
an interpersonal relationship between humans
Merriam and Webster says;
1 a : one attached to another by affection or esteem b : ACQUAINTANCE
Wiktionary says;
A person other than a family member, spouse or lover whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.

I don’t know about the affection part, maybe ‘a connection’…

We make friends at home, in our neighborhoods. We make friends at functions or organizations we belong to, like church, the gym and of course (for me) the PGR. And we make friends at work. All of these friendships take time to develop, to form.

I have a friend, here at work, that I’ve known for about 2 years. Our friendship is new. We’re not “close friends’ (what ever that means) We’ve met each others better halves, but not been to each others house. I don’t think we’ve even had lunch. But this friend is strong, makes a decision and sticks to it. Knows who they are and they’re proud. Pride is a miss leading term in today’s society. Their pride is evident but not ‘puffy’.

I have recently found out that this friend may be leaving, heading home. Although I am happy that this long desired move may make things better, I will miss our conversations. Our sharing of some new restaurant, laughing at the characters in a new movie and talking about the South.

My Friend – Know that you will be missed and thought of often. Be well, be happy, be yourself.

A mission – Staff Sgt. Michael A. Bechert - Continued

A slide show.