Pothole Hell…

Posted on by March 6, 2015

Alternate title, slaloming to work…

It’s pothole season in Northern Virginia… The freeze thaw cycle has popped most of the fall repairs out of the streets, and the ones the freeze didn’t get, the plows did…

Yesterday morning was more interesting than usual… I went in fairly early, so I was mostly driving on ice and sand (Oh yeah, Arlington Co. ran out of salt). So it was bumpy but survivable. Coming home in the afternoon was a different story!

It was a slalom from the git-go… And I watched two taxis hit each other trying to dodge potholes in their lanes so they honked at each other, and bang… LOL How’s that horn working out for ya now?

So I get on a main drag and the speed picks up a bit, and I’m trying NOT to get run over and still miss most of the ‘big’ holes, and I see a Ram 3500 literally BOUNCE up in the air! He immediately slammed on his brakes and pulled over and I slid over a lane really quickly. And Audi started zipping past me and he bounced up! I seriously think that pothole was at least a foot and a half across and probably 8-10 inches deep! There were five cars plus the Ram, plus the Audi all on the side of the road with either one or two blown tires on the right side!!!

I started counting at that point, since I could ‘kinda’ see them and counted 61 potholes in the last three miles home… Sigh…

Next week is really gonna suck!

I needed an alignment anyway, guess I’ll wait till they fix at least SOME of these damn things…

I think the better term at this point is POTHELL!!!

Be careful out there, they ARE out to get ya!!!

Interesting…

Posted on by March 4, 2015

It appears that at least the House realizes that gun banning is STILL the third rail of politics…

From the NRA…

Bipartisan Majority of the U.S. House Opposes Obama Administration’s Ammo Ban

238 Members Sign Letter Opposing Proposed Ban on AR-15 Ammunition
Fairfax, Va. – In an overwhelming show of bipartisan opposition, 238 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed a letter to the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, opposing the Obama Administration’s attempt to ban commonly used ammunition for the most popular rifle in America, the AR-15.  The National Rifle Association worked closely with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) to gather signatures on this critical effort.

“This letter sends a clear message to President Obama that Congress opposes his attempt to use his pen and phone to thwart the will of the American people,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “Obama said he would enact his gun control agenda ‘with or without Congress.’ He is now trying to make good on that promise. The NRA would like to thank Chairman Goodlatte and all who signed the letter for opposing this unconstitutional attack on our Second Amendment freedom.”

The NRA is working with Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on a similar letter of opposition from the U.S. Senate.

To view the letter, along with the Member signatures, click here.

TBT…

Posted on by March 3, 2015

Or how you KNOW you’re old…

Sigh…

On the road for a couple of days, happen to be in a meeting with a couple of old friends, as we’re chatting, and old fart (White hair, white moustache), comes up and asked if I remembered him. I ‘kinda’ recognized him, it finally came to me that we’d worked together 25 years ago…

And then he reminded me that I’d been his instructor 36 years ago…

So the conversation continues, and finally the ‘young’ guy in the group asked plaintively, when what we were talking about happened…

We all thought for a minute and came up with the Early 80’s. The young guy said, well no wonder, I was ONLY 7 years old…

Sheesh… It’s time to retire. Actually all three of us old farts in the initial conversation ARE retiring in the next year. I’m not sure who will replace us, and we kinda agreed that it really won’t be our problem. They’ve rode us hard and put us up wet for many years…

Good luck to them finding suckers that will put up with what we did…

I’m gonna go get a beer.

One to think about…

Posted on by March 1, 2015

As the ‘war’ on the military by the administration continues, this one is worth thinking about…

regrets

And yes, he’s real. It’s not a faked poster. His bio is HERE. Of course the difference is WHO was president. George Bush, who actually appreciated the service of our warriors, and made repeated (and not photo ops) trips to Walter Reed.

And this one ties into the poster too…

THE FINAL INSPECTION  

The Soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

‘Step forward now, Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?’

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
‘no, Lord, I guess I ain’t.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can’t always be a saint.

I’ve had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I’ve been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,
That wasn’t mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills just got too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I’ve wept unmanly tears.

I know I don’t deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

If you’ve a place for me here, Lord,
It needn’t be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don’t, I’ll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.

‘Step forward now, you Soldier,
You’ve borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven’s streets,
You’ve done your time in Hell.’
~Author Unknown~

h/t JP, Frito, Griz and others.

Meh…

Posted on by February 28, 2015

On the road again, at least this one is ‘local’…

Really getting tired of this weather, and hoping it actually starts warming up a bit. I had a post ready to go, but deleted it because I really am tired of the political BS going on, and just decided it wasn’t worth the words and the negative attitude I had.

In other news, I am apparently a spammer according to my own blog… sigh

Three of my answers to comments over the last two days have ended up in the spam bucket. I wonder if my blog is trying to tell me something???

I’m working on book three, and I think the title is going to be The Grey Man- Changes.  Right at 60K words into it, probably another 30k or so to go, then the editing starts. And I finally get to use two chapters that I originally wrote for Vignettes… Yea me!!!

I would ask if you read either one of the first two, and haven’t posted a review, if you have time I’d appreciate it! I’d like to get to 100 reviews on Vignettes and maybe some time get there on Payback.

Your reviews are what help me sell the books, since I couldn’t afford to pay for advertizing and for those who sent me emails about editing mistakes, those have been corrected  (at least all the ones people told me about and I found after the fact) and both books have been re-released.

I have been truly humbled by the comments and positive reviews, both on Amazon and email. Thank you all!!!

And some lousy cell phone video, but hey… Kids and dogs… and WATER!

Here’s hoping the rest of the week goes better for everybody!!!

Husar’s Laws, part 8…

Posted on by March 2, 2015
  • The original point and click interface was a Smith & Wesson.
  • A common mistake that people make when trying to design something           completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
  • She was only a moonshiner’s daughter …but he loved her still.
  • Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
  • He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
  • I had amnesia once —- or twice
  • The gray hair makes you look distinguished and the hemorrhoids make you look concerned.
  • It takes two things to make a consultant: grey hair and hemorrhoids.
  • You can say ‘stop’ or ‘alto’ or any other word, but a large bore muzzle pointed at someone’s head is pretty much a universal language.
  •  If you carry a gun, people call you paranoid. Nonsense! If you have a gun, what do you have to be paranoid about?
  • The most important rule in a gunfight is: Always win – cheat if necessary.
  • Never say “I’ve got a gun.” If you need to use deadly force, the first sound they hear should be the safety clicking off.
  • Its always better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
  • Guns have only two enemies:  rust and politicians.
  • The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
  • There are two kinds of pedestrians – the quick and the dead.
  • The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
  • It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a
    warning to others.
  • If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was
    probably worth it.
  • If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague
  • Drive carefully… It’s not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.
  • Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the
    middle of it.
  • Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
  • Accept the fact that some days you’re the pigeon, and some days you’re the statue
  • If you need a shoulder to cry on, pull off to the side of the road.
  • The difference between the Pope and your boss is that the Pope only expects you to kiss his ring.
  • The Senility prayer: Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.
  • We have enough “youth”; how about a fountain of “smart”?
  • Reality is only an illusion that occurs due to a lack of alcohol.
  • If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
  • We are born naked, wet and hungry. Then things got worse.

The Marine answering machine…

Posted on by February 26, 2015

Too funny…

You get this in lieu of a real post, I’m busy writing… Sorry…

Laundering money???

Posted on by February 26, 2015

We’ve all heard the hoopla over the Clinton ‘Foundation’ and all the foreign money donated…

What I can’t help but wonder is, are the Clintons doing nothing more than laundering money???

I wonder why these countries donate to the Clintons specifically rather than to the actual need, like the Haitian earthquake. Granted they were and still are also trying to buy influence assuming Hillary actually runs and magically wins. The MOA with Justice was window dressing, according to a lawyer I talked to the other day, he said it couldn’t possibly be enforced, because if it had, Hillary would have been gone in the first six months…

The other thing I wonder is how much they are scraping off the top of those donations? And I can’t help thinking this is the definition of dark money…

The Clintons have been running scams since they were in Arkansas, and have never stopped, IMHO…

Your thoughts?

Old words…

Posted on by February 27, 2015

Soooo…
It looks like Lynch is going to replace Holder, who called for the standard of proof that has to be met before federal involvement is appropriate to be lowered after they couldn’t get Wilson in Ferguson or Zimmerman in Florida.

Article HERE from the BBC, which is doing a better job of reporting stuff like this than ANY American media… Sigh

At least we won’t have to ‘invent’ new words if she gets in, all we have to is bring back a word from the old west… When she pulls something like half the stuff Holder did (Which she agrees with), the term will be Lynched, or Lynching…

Nuff said…

What ISIS wants…

Posted on by February 24, 2015

Before I start this, I’d ask you go read this outstanding article by Graeme Wood in this month’s Atlantic Magazine- Link HERE.

Mr. Wood has obviously done a LOT of quality research, and has nailed down many of the salient points in this article. The truth is, they ARE Islamic and they ARE trying to enforce Sharia world-wide, that is their goal, a Caliphate is just the start.

Sadly, many organizations/institutions/governments have failed to recognize the depths that ISIS is willing to go to actually make that happen.

This map has been in various articles, and one thing this points out is…

ISIS map

 

ISIS does have, under the Mohammedan version of Islam, a Caliphate… That is the first step.

But lets take a closer look at the map… Look at the area in black versus the areas in grey- Controlled areas are very small and string like, and trace the major highways in Iraq and Syria. The support zones are much larger, and are in a lot of places nothing more than open desert, and in those areas there is no permanent presence. This makes one wonder how much enforcement of ‘pure’ Sharia is occurring there.

But these two quotes really caught my eye…

But Zarqawi and the state he spawned take the position that many other acts can remove a Muslim from Islam. These include, in certain cases, selling alcohol or drugs, wearing Western clothes or shaving one’s beard, voting in an election—even for a Muslim candidate.

So too are the heads of state of every Muslim country, who have elevated man-made law above Sharia by running for office or enforcing laws not made by God.

Now the interesting question is this; conjecture is that Obama is muslim. If so, according to the two quotes above, he is apostate even if he is a muslim. The penalty for apostate is beheading… So???

One can only wonder if this is why he keeps tap dancing around the radical Islam statement, trying to find a way to ingratiate himself back into the faith…

Especially in light of the latest statements out of the administration even after ISIS has called for attacks on the Mall of the Americas- DHS came out with an intelligence assessment circulated this month focuses on the threat of right-wing sovereign citizen extremist groups in the U.S.  Full article HERE.

Really??? Are we down to that again?