Stuff…

Typewriter

They had been up in the attic together doing some cleaning. The kids uncovered an old manual typewriter and asked her, “Hey Mom…what’s this?”

“Oh…that’s an old typewriter,” she answered, thinking that would satisfy their curiosity.

“Well what does it do?” they asked.

“I’ll show you,” she said and returned with a blank piece of paper. She rolled the paper into the typewriter and began striking the keys, leaving black letters of print on the page.

“WOW!” they exclaimed, “that’s really cool…but how does it work like that? Where do you plug it in?”

“There is no plug,” she answered. “It doesn’t need a plug.”

“Then where do you put the batteries?” they persisted.

“It doesn’t need batteries either.” she continued.

“Wow! This is so cool!” they exclaimed. “Someone should have invented this a long time ago!”

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(1) Isn’t it weird that in America, our flag and our culture offend so many people, but our benefits don’t?

(2) How can the federal government ask U.S. citizens to pay back student loans when illegal aliens are receiving a free education?

(3) Only in America are legal citizens labeled “racists” and “Nazis,” but illegal aliens are called “dreamers” .

(4) Liberals say, “If confiscating all guns saves just one life, it’s worth it”.   Well, then, if deporting all illegals saves just one life, wouldn’t that be worth it?

(5) I can’t quite figure out how you can proudly wave the flag of another country, but consider it punishment to be sent back there.

(6) The Constitution: It doesn’t need to be rewritten, -it needs to be re – read.

(7) William F. Buckley said: “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other points of view, and are then shocked and offended when they discover there are other points of view” .

(8) Joseph Sobran said: “Now ‘Greed’ means wanting to keep your own money. ‘Need’
now means wanting someone else’s money. ‘Compassion’ is when a politician arranges the transfer.”

(9) Florida has had 119 hurricanes since 1850, but some people still insist the last one was due to climate change.

And you can go HERE, and get a copy of the infamous FISA memo…

Incomplete filing information, or outright lying? Take your choice, document ‘sourced’ by using the dossier, and a planted Yahoo News story, really???

There are some ‘interesting’ things in it… But I’d really like to see the actual FISA memo that was presented to the judge. 1 a and b, 3 a, and the admission by McCabe that without the dossier there would be no FISA investigation tells me they were truly going rogue at that point, and setting their own agenda, laws be damned… Somebody(s) should be brought up on charges for this, starting with McCabe, and Comey.

Did I mention…

How MUCH I hate editing???

Gah… the, they, that, then. A, an, and, any…

I ‘know’ I’m not ‘that’ bad a typist… And yes, I actually DID read it before I sent it to the alpha readers. So I read right over the errors I make.

I’m so thankful to those folks who voluntarily read my scribblings and patiently (at least most of the time), correct my faux pas, spelling errors, and basic idiocy… But really folks… Using Google maps to check up on me? Sigh.

I ‘know’ what I meant to say, and I ‘know’ what the character is supposed to do. However, I don’t always communicate that in a readable fashion, nor do I necessarily ‘explain’ it well enough…

Grumble…

And it seems some folks don’t like the epilogue, so I’m fixing that too.

Back to the salt mine… Looking at a March release date, ‘maybe’ a little earlier.

There are optics…

And then there are ‘bad’ optics…

A Kennedy standing in front of a car, looking uncomfortable? Really??? Do people not realize EXACTLY what memory that brings up for us old farts?

Can we say… Chappaquiddick

Anybody else remember this ad, from back in the day?

Granted it’s from Mad Magazine National Lampoon (Thanks John) but that one made the rounds, and Mad National Lampoon thumbed their noses at the Kennedys when they tried to have the magazines recalled…

As far as what he said, Meh… Spewing the Dems party line all the way down. Although I do think it’s pretty interesting how the President saying Americans are dreamers too, is a ‘bad’ thing. And the ACLU bitching about the president saying America 80 times during his speech?

Just my .02, but dreamers can be ANYBODY… It’s not an ‘exclusive’ term… As far as the ALCU, they can go pound sand. He is America’s president, whether you like it or not, and this IS AMERICA.

And his choice of language was significantly different from the past presidents. Trump said “we” 129 times, and “our” 104 times, as opposed to I, which was only used 29 times. Obama’s count was 88 times for I or me…

So who is the egotist here???

Sometimes…

Ya just gotta laugh…

There are K-9s and then there are k-9s…

I don’t care who you are, that’s funny! 🙂

On a different note, there are some amazing technologies being tested for aircraft to make them more stable, more fuel efficient, etc. NASA turned to Area-I to operate an autonomous flight testbed called Prototype Technology-Evaluation Research Aircraft, or PTERA. PTERA was designed and built by Area-I, which was also involved in the design and integration of a shape memory alloy-actuated, wing-folding mechanism for the aircraft.

The full article is HERE, at NASA’s website. Now comes the math, fluid dynamics, and the myriad of details that go into actually ‘seeing’ if the improvements will prove out…

Talk about thinking OUTSIDE the box…

Isn’t THAT interesting…

Apparently, Larry Nasser was just the tip of the iceberg of sexual assault at Michigan State.

Michigan State University claimed, to all and sundry they have properly handled all sexual assault, violence and gender discrimination complaints.

But… ESPN’s Outside the Lines found something significantly different, HERE.

This one may equal or exceed the Penn State/Sandusky scandal.

Sadly, the proliferation of these attacks is, IMHO, laid directly at the feet of the coaches, ADs, and administrators at HS, college, and professional levels that routinely cover up/protect those athletes, since they are the money makers for their respective teams…

If we get more concealed carry on campus, and more women carrying, that just ‘might’ put a stop to a lot of this crap. The other way would be some daddies showing up on campus hunting for bear…

Dammit…

 

It’s almost time…

To hit the golf course…

These laws were given to me by an old friend who carried has them around in his golf bag for, judging by the age of the paper (and his golf bag), decades.  True golfers should understand the words layed out here.

LAW 1: No matter how bad your last shot was, the worst is yet to come.  This law does not expire on the 18th hole, since it has the supernatural tendency to extend over the course of a tournament, a summer and, eventually, a lifetime.

LAW 2: Your best round of golf will be followed almost immediately by your worst round ever.  The probability of the latter increases with the number of people you tell about the former.

LAW 3: Brand new golf balls are water-magnetic.  Though this cannot be proven in the lab, it is a known fact that the more expensive the golf ball, the greater its attraction to water.

LAW 4: Golf balls never bounce off of trees back into play.  If one does, the tree is breaking a law of the universe and should be cut down.

LAW 5: No matter what causes a golfer to muff a shot, all his playing partners must solemnly chant “You looked up,” or invoke the wrath of the universe.

LAW 6: The higher a golfer’s handicap, the more qualified he deems himself as an instuctor.

LAW 7: Every par-three hole in the world has a secret desire to humiliate golfers.  The shorter the hole, the greater its desire.

LAW 8: Topping a 3-iron is the most painful torture known to man.

LAW 9: Palm trees eat golf balls.

LAW 10: Sand is alive.  If it isn’t, how do you explain the way it works against you?

LAW 11: Golf carts always run out of juice at the farthest point from the clubhouse.

LAW 12: A golfer hitting into your group will always be bigger than anyone in your group.  Likewise, a group you accidentally hit into will consist of a football player, a professional wrestler, a convicted murderer and an IRS agent—or some similar combination.

LAW 13: All 3-woods are domon-possessed.

LAW 14: Golf balls from the same “sleeve” tend to follow one another, particularly out of bounds or into the water (see Law three)

LAW 15: A severe slice is a thing of awesome power and beauty.

LAW 16: “Nice lag” can usually be translated to “lousy putt.”  Similarly, “tough break” can usually be translated “way to miss an easy one, sucker.”

LAW 17: The person you would most hate to lose to will always be the one who beats you.

LAW 18: The last three holes of a round will automatically adjust your score to what it really should be.

LAW 19: Golf should be given up at least twice per month.

LAW 20: All vows taken on a golf course shall be valid only until the sunset of the same day.

I’m head down in editing, WHICH I HATE, so commenting will be light and so will posting this week… Grrrr…

Lies, lies, and statistics…

Two articles caught my attention yesterday. One was from the Free Beacon, about school shootings-

That count, created by Everytown for Gun Safety, claims there have been 11 school shootings thus far in 2018. However, nearly all of the incidents included alongside the Marshall County shooting bear little or no resemblance to that shooting or other well-publicized school shootings, like those at Sandy Hook Elementary or Columbine High School. None of the other events included in the gun-control group’s count feature more than one injury, most featured no injuries at all, and one involved a BB gun being shot at a school bus window.

Full article, HERE.

Another one is from the NRA, about the VPC-

Last week, the Violence Policy Center shared their analysis of 2016 fatal injury statistics, which are released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and available for public analysis. VPC’s headline: HERE

The full article HERE, from the NRA.

It’s amazing what happens when you look at ALL the data, not just cherry picking what floats your boat! The left has a habit of skewing data to match their preconceived notion of what ‘they’ believe is the truth. Sadly, very few folks ever look at ALL the data to get an actual (bigger) picture of what the data says. I’m firmly convinced they count on that, especially with the younger generations that do ‘sound bites’, and don’t bother to look beyond the surface.

This is much like the climate debate, where they are trying to skew RAW data, or hide it completely, since it doesn’t match their agenda.

Sigh…

Sigh…

Those who do not read/study history…

Selfies are NOT a new thing… They didn’t start with the advent of digital cameras/cellphones…

Care to guess what year the ‘first’ selfie was taken?

And another question- What iconic car debuted today in 1965?

Continue reading

Done!!!

101,000 words. The draft will be going out this weekend to the alpha readers.

And here’s a first look at a possible cover. Tina did another great job!

PSA…

REAL ID Act of 2005: Impact On Driver License Use as Security ID

If you’re planning to fly you may not be able to use your driver’s license as a form of identification to get through security. Also, its use in accessing Federal facilities
inclusive of military bases or entering nuclear power plants. That’s thanks to the REAL ID Act of 2005, which everyone in the travel industry is hoping you – and the other 719
million passengers who fly domestically every year – have heard about. The law, a counterterrorism measure that followed 9/11, calls for states to issue driver’s licenses with more security features – such as scannable bar codes and digital photos. They will be required for people to board any commercial flight and enter federal facilities and military bases.

Passports or other approved forms of federal identification- such as a border-crossing card, U.S. military ID, TSA Pre- Check or Global Entry card – can be used as an alternative.

Other alternative ID that will be accepted by TSA is listed at https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification. You will need this alternative ID if you live in one of 24 states that have yet to add the security measures to the driver’s licenses they issue. And you may need to get a new, updated license if you live in one of the states that already offers them. Enforcement began on January 22.
You can check your state’s status on the Department of Homeland Security website’s interactive map at https://www.dhs.gov/real-id. Some states have been granted
extensions to make their licenses compliant.

“It’s very complicated,” admits Katy Lloyd, spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Virginia has been granted a REAL ID extension until Oct. 10, 2018,
when the state plans to have compliant licenses ready. Until then, residents can get through security using the driver’s licenses they already have. Delays are caused at least in part by the controversy over the legislation. Its opponents include some legislators who have called it an “unfunded mandate” that is too expensive to implement. Many states have repealed or are repealing those laws. While they are working on new compliant driver’s licenses, they also plan to offer unenhanced licenses as an option to
residents. The bottom line: You don’t want to find yourself barred from flying because you didn’t realize your old-school license is no longer an acceptable form of identification. If your state doesn’t have the new IDs, there is still time to get a passport or apply for another ID, says Tom Spagnola, senior vice president of supplier relations at the online travel agency CheapOair. Spagnola says airlines, not to mention airport security agents, don’t want to face a slew of angry and confused travelers when enforcement begins. Many in the travel industry are working overtime to inform the public, so he’s hopeful the message will get through.