Happy New Year

Here's hoping the new year outshines the past year.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and yours, from me and mine!

It's Friday :D

Well I made it through another long week. (barely) On Thursday we had our annual company meeting. This is the meeting where the owner tells us how crappy the economy is, how sales are down (oh really? I couldn't tell), and how we are still on a wage freeze, until whenever. After giving us all the gloom and doom, they did manage to surprise us all. We got a Christmas bonus!! In fact after he told us we were getting a bonus and the amount, my voice clearly rang out with "HUH"? The owner laughed and said he thought our hearing was better than his. (He is clinically deaf without his hearing aids). Each and every full time employee received a $1000 bonus. I was floored.!!!!

Survived the storm

Well, I had one day off from the blizzard. It was a nice break in the middle of the week. I worked 12 hours on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday then another 8 on Friday. About halfway through Friday my boss came over and asked if I was interested in working Saturday. Ummmmmm NO, I am not. I have been pulling between 50 and 60 hour weeks for months , because of the snow day I only had 44 hours this week. Apparently, we have been flooded with orders, which is a good thing, but I refuse to put in 70+ hours a week. It is not as if I have a sit down job. It is very physical and I really don't want to work myself into an early grave. Maybe it is time to hire on a second shift crew for this area.

first snow pics

Here are the first pics of the season. We will add more when the darn wind dies down. These were taken by my daughter. Click on any of them to enlarge.

Blizzard Warning

Mother Nature, in her extremely vengeful state, has decided to grace us with a full blown blizzard. Over a foot of snow and high winds, which will reduce visibility to 0. Don't you just love her wicked sense of humor? I, of course, will be a smart cat and stay home if we get the predicted forecast.

(click to enlarge)

Adam Lambert - Broken Open

The first time I heard this song, I just sat back and listened. It is a very haunting melody. The second time I listened, I also read the lyrics, and it made the song even more so. It hits deep inside you and doesn't let go. Job well done Adam!

TGIF

After working a 60 hour week, I am one whipped puppy ( or kitty as the case may be) .
We are officially on mandatory overtime starting Monday. ( can't tell the job market sucks in our company, but then again, we are a specialty area) People were given the option of working four twelve hour days, or working four ten's and eight on Friday. I, of course, opted for the third option, four twelves and 8-12 hours on Friday :)) This mandatory overtime is through the rest of the year, and the ones who never volunteer are screaminggggggg in pain about it. Sometimes, in times like this, I actually like my boss :D
It's about time the others start picking up their slack, we can't do everything all the time. I have been pulling OT for months, along with two of my co-workers. But then again, some of us like to be able to pay our bills and still have a couple nickles left over at the end of the week.

It's DONE!!!

Wooohooo it is finally done. I have salvaged all my music off the other computer's slave drive, using Linux Mint :D
It is now safely on the new computer and I burned a copy to dvds. (all 15 of them :D )
I am now a veryyyyyy happy cat!

lolcat

I almost choked on my coke when I saw this one :D

Here's an edited version of it, with sound.
If you offend easily Do Not Click on it.

celebrated too early

I thought I was done working with a certain nameless asshat. I was informed late yesterday afternoon, after I had already made my last post, that I have to endure three more days this coming up week yet (@#&#@*&) I may need those "get out of jail free" cards yet.
(calm blue oceans only goes so far)

It's FRIDAY!

Well, I survived the week from he11. (and no one ended up in the hospital from a planned an unforseen accident) I won't get into any details, suffice to say, never was I so happy to see the clock strike the hour.

Every Friday, when I get home from work, I play a specific song. I call it the Friday song. I though I would share it with you.



Enjoy!!

lolcat

I was thinking that myself today. Backyard is getting awfully full.

fire safety

Last Tuesday we had our annual fire talk. What to do in case of a fire at the plant. It went kind of like this.....
instructor: What is the first thing you do in case of fire?
me: panic!
instructor: Ok then, what is the second thing you do in case of fire?
me: grab your purse and run.
Yes, both of my responses garnered some laughs. We are all a bunch of comedians there. But think about it, we work in a paper converting plant, if there was a fire what would you do?
My keys are in my purse and if there is a fire, there's a good chance we are going to be done for the day. I need my keys to drive home :P (not to mention my purse is always within five feet of me where ever I am at work.

Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon.......
I'm in my own little world, feeding scrap into the grinder when squeallll, screech, choke. OHHHHH $HIT! Jammed it up, but good. Reach over slap the power switch to off. Two seconds later sirens and flashing lights. Dayem, I set off the friggin alarms on the machine. First time that has happened since I started. My team leader comes over, looks at the flashing lights, looks at me and says "so, should we open it up and see if there are flames?" No flames, thank goodness, but a whole lot of acrid black smoke. Melted the belt :)) The maintenance guy just shook his head when he got there to fix it.

one of those kind of days

I have had to format four times in the last three weeks. I think my computer is slowing croaking on me.

Veterans Day

Many thanks to each and everyone who has served this country, and made her what she is today. A place of freedom.

Linux ROCKS!

Many know what kind of problems I have been having with my computer since I got it back from the technicians. The latest is my slave drive. For the last few weeks I have been trying, without luck, to recover my files from it. Every time I would boot the computer up with both master and slave installed, it would say error loading OS. I was running Windows XP on the master, with no OS on the slave. I tried switching jumper pins, moving the slave drive into an external usb enclosure, a boot manager, everything I, and several others, could think of. I even downloaded a trial version of a program called Getdataback, which could actually see the files. The only problem with the recovery program was cost. In order to move those files I had to buy an $80 license key, which I was loathe to do. So a friend of mine suggested trying a Linux live cd. He suggested Linux Mint, which he uses at his cafe. (thank you Anton!) IT WORKED! Not only could I see the files, but I could also transfer them to a flash drive, and it didn't cost a single cent! Why didn't I just burn them directly off the drive using Linux you ask? Quite simple, I only have 1 dvdburner, and the Linux Live cd was in it. I'm still not sure what exactly happened to the drive, and right now I don't particularly care anymore. I only have to get my music off the slave drive yet, everything else has already been moved. Then I will format it. (if it will let me)

It's FRIDAY!!!

TGIF! Hopefully I wont have to go anywhere this weekend. Other than a few long weekends in September, we have been running 48+ hours a week, for over 5 months now. Yes, the extra money is nice, but I miss my 3 day weekends :| zzzzzzzzz

Four way stop........ optional?

On my way home from work today, I came up to a 4-way stop. I checked to the left, right, then left again. No one was coming from the right, 5 vehicles were approaching from the left. I took my foot off the brake, started into the intersection and promptly slammed my foot back on the brake. The lead car, coming from the left, a silver suv, decided that the bright red STOP sign must have been an option, because they blew right through it. Missing my vehicle by a couple of feet and never once tapping their brakes. (Asshat) Had it not been for quick reflexes, good brakes, and dry pavement, I would have been part of a jeep parfait tonight.

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate my drive home? Oh, I have? Well guess what....... IT HASN'T CHANGED!!

what I do

I work in a paper converting plant that makes specialty spill kits. We make pads, rolls, socks, booms, chemical kits, you name it, we probably make it. I have mentioned, on occasion, the amount of weight I lift each and every day. Usually around 2-3 ton. By hand, and no, not all at once :P
I took a couple of pictures today, to give you an idea of what the raw product starts out as, and what the finished product looks like.
The scrap comes to me in many shapes and sizes. The ones pictured below are 6" end cuts from a 4 foot diameter roll. I send all that through a grinder/shredder and fill the bags you see. The average weight of each bag is 35 pounds. Once I am done bagging the grind, someone else takes those bags and fills the socks (the end product), using a hopper and blower system. The material shown here is called "oil only". Meaning it will float on water and not absorb any of it. It will only absorb oil.

bright lights

It's 5:00p.m. The sun is just setting. You are in the middle of town, with the street lights on. Do you really need your friggin BRIGHTS on??????

You're traveling down a major highway. The posted speed limit is 55. Is it really necessary to do 25 friggin miles per hour????

Somedays I hate the drive home!

lolcat

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Blessed Samhain

Blessed Samhain everyone!

More can be read about Samhain at the following links. Enjoy. :D
Here and here.

Changes at work

At shift's end today, everyone was told to gather in the break room for a short meeting with the Big Boss Man (The owner of the company) When we have these meetings, speculation runs rampant, on what it is about. We have been on a hiring and pay freeze since last December. Since then, they have purchased 2 new paper machines, a wrapper and a case packer. Some folks were angry about this. A couple of us, who have been through layoffs with other companies were too dayem happy to know we still had jobs to be bothered. One of the rumors going around today was that they would be talking about a pay raise. Imagine our surprise to find out the company had just purchased a paper mill. Yep, a major, major purchase. The mill is located in North Carolina of all places. Some of our embosser machines will be shipped down there, and the employees currently running them will be moved to other areas of the plant. No permanent employees will be laid off, although we will be getting rid of 10-12 temps. We are still waiting to find out if they will lift the pay freeze. Only time will tell what happens next.

blah!

Someone stop the world!!! I want off.
It's been a cold, wet, miserable week. In more ways then one. The flu bug seems to be hammering the state especially hard, with schools being closed left and right. I'm not too worried about whether I will get it. I can usually avoid things like that. Not to mention, I have more than enough other things to stress over right now. We are still working almost 50 hours a week, trying to keep up with the orders piling in. Hubby's health is questionable right now. The economy still sucks, and Obama is still President. And I am about out of juice. Just once I would like to have a relatively quiet life. I don't think that is too much to ask for.
Stay warm and dry out there.

Why

Have you ever just wondered WHY?

lolcat of the day

Personally, I would have said pants optional, heh!

cute dog pics

Can't have cat pics without the dog pics, now can I?

The big yellow lab is my psycho mutt. The little, hyper, chocolate lab belongs to my daughter.

kitty pics

Autumn is here

The days are getting shorter, the weather is getting colder. Summer is officially gone for the year. (like we had much of one anyhow) This morning it was 34 degrees and windy. Our lawn is littered with dying yellow leaves from the maple trees. The dirty rotten weatherman has already mentioned the four letter S word, for as soon as Monday.

Work has been extremely busy for the last couple of months, with me putting in between 48 and 56 hours each week. I love the paychecks but the body isn't much liking it. We have gotten several new customers, mostly from overseas, and they are ordering huge amounts of product. Which makes me feel a lot more secure with my job. I have been bounced around to a few different areas of the plant to help cover the influx of orders, which makes each day a surprise, because I never know where I'll end up. Then it's back to my own area, trying to catch up, because no was else was doing my job while I was away helping others.

Daughter finished up her ob clinical and did very, very well. Now it's on to med/surg. Should be interesting to see what they let student nurses do there :D

We picked up a couple more steers, one Hereford and one red Angus. Got them for a song. Beef market sucks the big one, right now. It's a buyers market, but definitely not a sellers one. The hog we raised was taken in last Tuesday and should be back soon. The butcher said he looked terrific :D Can't wait to have fresh ham steak for breakfast (yum, yum, yum) The best thing about raising your own meat is you know what they ate, and how old they are. No stinky pork that you know is from an old hog, and no tasteless beef that was sure to have come from a dairy cow past it's prime.

Stay warm out there.

I'm Backkkkkkk

Sorry for my absence. My computer was stricken with the swine flu.




One bad enough even I couldn't make it better. So into the vet it went. And even then, the technicians working on it, were stumped for days. In fact, when I called to inquire how it was going, I was told my computer was being "stubborn". Um, just how is a machine suppose to be stubborn? Anyhow, I picked it up Saturday morning, after I was assured it was now virus free. I was told it would need to be formatted as some things were broke during the fix. Such as my windows updates :| Go figure, you bring something in to be fixed and it comes back in worse shape. Hopefully things will return to normal, and I can catch up on reading everyone's blogs.

cute dog pics

My daughter was playing with the new camera and snapped the following "awwwwwww" moment pictures. Including the one of her and Tucker. (note the actual grin on her face, it is NOT something you see often :P )

morning laugh

I received the following in an email from a friend
(yes I have a couple :P )

If you need a good laugh, try reading through these children's science exam answers...

Q: Name the four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink.
A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q: How is dew formed?
A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour? (Brilliant, love this!)
A: Keep it in the cow.

Q: What causes the tides in the oceans?
A: The tides are a fight between the Earth and the Moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature hates a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.

Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q: What happens to your body as you age?
A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental

Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A: He says good-bye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery. (The kid gets an A+ for this answer!)

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.
A: Premature death.

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorized? ( e.G., abdomen)
A: The body is consisted into three parts -- the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain; the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels A, E, I, O, and U.

Q: What is the fibula?
A: A small lie.

Q: What does 'varicose' mean? (I do love this one...)
A: Nearby.

Q: Give the meaning of the term 'Caesarian Section.'
A: The Caesarian Section is a district in Rome.

Q: What does the word 'benign' mean?'
A: Benign is what you will be after you be eight.

Is Your Baby Racist?

The latest headline from Newsweek magazine. I was floored when I saw the title. Like we don't have enough people screaming about this, now they claim your baby judges people on the color of their skin as early as 6 months old. Don't we, as a collective society, have more than enough to deal with right now, than to worry about how an infant judges someone???? Like how the government is trampling the Constitution of the United States. Or how a majority of politicians are more corrupt then the criminals sitting in prison right now? Or how about that national healthcare bill they are trying to shove down our throats. Or maybe that bailout of billions upon billions of dollars that was suppose to some how rejuvenate the now crippled economy. Nahhhhhhhhhh, let's worry about how 6 month old babies relate to someone. That is so much more important.

The full article can be found here .


(wanders off mumbling ...................where the heck did Wyatt put that duct tape)

ouchie

What do a box clamp, a table, a utility knife, and a cardboard box have in common?
They all got a chunk of me today. It seems every time I turned around today, I was getting cut, bruised or scratched. Thank gawd tomorrow is Thursday.

Patrick Swayze succumbs to pancreatic cancer

Probably his best known performance was in Dirty Dancing. I know that is the one movie that shoots to the front of my mind when I hear his name. The man was tough, really tough. He continued working through it all. And even refused pain killers during the filming of "The Beast".

More can be found here

9-11 where were you?

Remember

Like anyone will ever forget, where they were, or what they were doing. I was currently laid off from one job, and filling in at my part time job at the restaurant. I was heading to work that morning, when they came on the radio with the news. I actually had to fight with myself not to turn around and head back home. Once I got to work, I tried calling my family on my cell phone, but it wouldn't go through. We had the televisions going, so we saw exactly what was going on. There were a few customers in that morning, but they too were more interested in what was on the tv, then their breakfast. The only sound was the reporter and the live feed of the destruction, as it happened.
The Eagle Tear picture I am posting was created back then. I truly wish I knew who designed it, because I would love to give them full credit.

Nothing new

It's been relatively uneventful here, which is always a good thing. I managed to watch part of the Presidential speech last night, without falling asleep. Although I did make a few comments about how many time Pelosi jumped to her feet. Does that woman have springs in her shoes or what? They could have shaved 20 minutes off of the time needed, had they just let the man talk without interrupting him every other sentence with applause. Oh well, we'll see what happens now.

Harvest This !

Found this little gem over at Beat and Release.
Obama now wants to hire a contractor to monitor what is said concerning the govt on social networking sites like twitter, facebook and so forth. Like asking citizens to turn in dissenters on his health care bill wasn't enough.

The National Legal and Policy Center, or NLPC, revealed the White House New Media team is seeking to hire a technology vendor to collect data such as comments, tag lines, e-mail, audio and video from any place where the White House "maintains a presence" – for a period of up to eight years.
"The contractor shall provide the necessary services to capture, store, extract to approved formats, and transfer content published by EOP (Executive Office of the President) on publicly-accessible web sites, along with information posted by non-EOP persons on publicly-accessible web sites where the EOP offices under PRA (Presidential Records Act) maintains a presence," the posting states.

Full article can be found here.

So, freedom of speech is being carefully monitored (we knew that), and copyright laws are being trampled into the ground. Because as most people know or SHOULD know, you own the copyright to any picture you personally take. That includes video and audio (the law says so right there) IT IS YOURS. No one has the right to borrow/store or use it in the future, without your permission.

If the great and powerful Obamasiah wants to go on an all expense paid (for by the US citizens) fishing trip, he is going to need much better bait.

modern society?

I was surfing the web for a quote or poem and came across this little gem. When I was done reading it I pondered how closely it relates to current society's thinking. A world full of people, who think they are entitled to everything for nothing.


Momma Welfare Roll by Maya Angelou

Her arms semaphore fat triangles,
Pudgy HANDS bunched on layered hips
Where bones idle under years of fatback
And lima beans.

Her jowls shiver in accusation
Of crimes cliched by Repetition.
Her children, strangers
To childhood's TOYS, play
Best the games of darkened doorways,
Rooftop tag, and know the slick feel of
Other people's property.

Too fat to whore,
Too mad to work,
Searches her dreams for the
Lucky sign and walks bare-handed
Into a den of bureaucrats for her portion.

'They don't give me welfare.
I take it.'

Beautiful weekend

Who could ask for more beautiful weather for a four day weekend. Not me, that's for sure! I think I will open all the windows and let mother nature in for the next few days. Get some fall cleaning done, maybe spruce the yard up some also.

The weekend

It is officially the start of a four day weekend :D

FAILURE TO TAKE HEED AND ACT ACCORDINGLY FROM THIS POINT FORWARD IS UNDERTAKEN AT YOUR PERIL.

THE RECLAMATION OF INDEPENDENCE

(used with permission from Blackiswhite, Imperial Consigliere )

WHEN IN THE GENERATIONS SUCCEEDING the one that pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to usher in the birth of the world’s only truly free nation, Liberty’s Progeny incrementally ceded their birthright to the government conceived and designed to serve a free people, and not be its servant, this generation is awakening to the terrible mistake that we, and our ancestors allowed to happen. Charged with the terrible knowledge that comes with opened eyes, we now take up the long abdicated duty to rouse our fellow citizens and actively wrest the power and the liberties that have been progressively talked, cajoled, threatened, wheedled, and extorted from us, not only by those who ostensibly served us, but by their supporters and enablers who, by accident or design, saw fit to usurp and disdain such freedoms, that they might be withheld, and where impossible to withhold, might be condemned, until a corrosive contempt for these liberties, wrapped in velvet gloves, might so suffocate the circulation of them that this nation, conceived in liberty and the providence of a wise and benevolent creator, might indeed perish from the earth, plunging the rightful heirs of a proud and noble heritage in the the darkened waters of chaos, despair, and evil that surround them, a dank deluge that even today, other human beings actively seek to escape from in the inspiring embrace of this blessed and free country.

We, the awakened and aware, freely accept the charge that the architects of this republic passed on to us over two centuries before, in the hope that all who partook in the blessings made possible by nation they created would somberly undertake the duties of citizens, and so appropriately train themselves in virtue, and educate themselves in the workings of the precepts and ideals set forth in their foundational documents that they would possess enough wisdom to recognize that not all threats to our freedom would come from without our ranks, the knowledge to recognize that not every chain and shackle menacing us will immediately appear to be what it actually is, and the humility not to assume that the ingenuity and innovation that has been the hallmark of American success has been the product of man alone.

To this end, we hereby identify and reclaim our independence from the tools used to slowly enslave a free people and usurp the freedoms that we could not be persuaded to freely give up, or voluntarily suppress the free exercise of on our own:

1. We reclaim our independence from the tyranny of ‘Political Correctness’.

The Constitution does not now, nor has it ever guaranteed a right to be free from being offended. Early successes in causing the disruption of free speech by insisting on the use of words or terms stripped of their meaning or altered by redefinition and deliberate use of ephemism, in order to avoid offending more delicate sensibilities lead to its use to deliberately avoid, delay, or prevent the free exchange and communication of ideas because we allowed ourselves to be more afraid of offending someone or being branded with a label chosen to imply that there was a problem with the offending speaker, rather than the intended recipient.

No more.

Words have meaning and names have power. But truth overcomes, when it is given the opportunity to exist unfettered by the artificial restraints that those who fear it would place upon it. The Founding Fathers knew this, which is why they favored the “marketplace of ideas” approach. And we now ratify and affirm this concept, having borne witness to the damage and impaired decision making that results when we remain silent and let others avoid any real discussion of topics, events, and ideas out of the fear that we might offend someone.

2. We reclaim our independence from your victimhood.

For too long, we have stood by silently, and allowed some to increasingly balkanize this country with sob stories of how one thing or another makes them a victim, and therefore they deserve some special deference, special preference, and recognition that they are special. We watched for too long, with growing alarm, as the hyphenated-Americans increasingly failed to take it upon themselves to overcome their victim status, yet continually expect to be rewarded for it as they brandished their victimhood like a cudgel, ready to bludgeon any who dared to question their entitlements and almost rapacious appetites to expand them.

No more.

One of the many unique blessings that this country has to offer is the presence of second and third and fourth chances. Others know this, and rather than think that the good things available to those who work for them were something that they were simply entitled to by virtue of their sob story, real or imagined, they decided to man up, and overcome. That doesn’t happen through accepting help and deciding to continually demand more. We are a generous people, but there are limits. Decide of your own accord to know the satisfaction of making your own destiny, rather than subsistence on the labor of others. You might be surprised at what you accomplish, or how that might come to benefit your fellow citizen in ways that you cannot even imagine.

3. We reclaim our independence from the myth of a compelling interest in diversity at the cost of excellence.

The latest affront to the ‘American Exceptionalism’ that our current President feels the need to apologize for in foreign capitols is the recent notion of a “compelling interest in diversity in our government, our institutions, and our culture”. This is the bastard child of Political Correctness and victimhood, which would not have been possible without the misapprehension of the concept of equality as enshrined in our law, the correct interpretation being that citizens of this country have equality of opportunity and equality in stature in the eyes of the laws that govern us. Once the “right” of offense took hold and started keeping company with victimhood, those benefiting from the employment of both decided that equality really meant that everyone had a right to be to be surrounded in all walks of life by people who looked just like them, whether those people were qualified to fulfill those roles or not.

No more.

Americans rose to prominence in the world in no small part due to the idea of merit and the pursuit of excellence. This was embodied in our government and institutions as much as in the private sector. Civil Service exams for public sector jobs ensured not only that people could do the work required of them, but that the best qualified were hired to do the job. Now, the standard in many fire departments, police departments, government agencies, and university staffs is not excellence, but the color of skin, gender, or sexual preference. The identity has eclipsed ability and we are all the poorer for it. Prepare for a change.

4. We reclaim our independence from the contempt of our citizenship.

For too long, we have silently permitted others to use the appeal of emotion to exact our acquiescence in their actively allowing people who have violated our laws to come here to live and work among us without asking permission to do so, or obeying our laws in doing so. We have allowed others to cajole us into allowing these persons to use our resources, and take benefits intended for citizens, without them being required to become citizens or apply for residence. We have been too long silent as others continually advocate for the application of the protections that are conferred upon us as our birthright to those who are not citizens and have tried to kill citizens, or have expressed a deep-seated desire to do so.

No more.

No sane person so despises something of value that is theirs by virtue of “the accident of birth” that they simply would give it away to others who want it and yet show contempt for those who have it by stealing it from them. Likewise, no sane person so dishonors a gift purchased with the blood of others that they will give it to those who only desire to kill or enslave them. No longer will we be silent as others confer all the benefits and protections of citizenship upon those who disrespect it, or would steal such benefits and protections without assuming the responsibility to pay for them, or worse yet, murder us because we have them.

5. We reclaim our independence from the “Freedom from religion” that has erroneously been read into the Constitution.

From the institution of Thanksgiving, to the architecture of our public buildings and monuments, the opening of government proceedings, down to the acknowledgment on our currency, this country has very deep and undeniable judeo-christian roots, and has been governed by leaders who unashamedly proclaimed their according personal beliefs while in office. It has influenced our laws and been the bedrock of every ideal that has allowed this nation to grow and prosper. This heritage has been the target of a decades long campaign to shove God out of the public square and exile him from congress with our elected officials by people who have refused the notion of a higher authority, because their own beliefs and desires are in contravention to those expressed by that higher authority.

No more.

Assaulting our national heritage with such dubious legal notions such as a separation of church and state that forbids any mention of God or expression of religion on or in state-owned property, and dismantling existing law with the fallacious statement “You can’t legislate morality” does violence to our history and demonstrates weak logic and understanding of what law is. The Founding Fathers’ intent with the Establishment Clause was the prevention of any one church gaining the favor and sanction of the Federal Government. A ban on ANY expression of religion or belief in God was never their intention, and the evidence of that is still surrounding us to this day. The current state of the law is based on a false premise that can be easily dismissed by a simple walk around the monuments and buildings in the District of Columbia, and taking out you wallet to pay for an ice cream cone. As for the “You can’t legislate morality” canard, this is also false. The law is, in its most simple essence, an expression of morality, codified. The question that then arises is whose morality should be expressed in the law? Those of people who can point to no particular belief system that has certain valuable virtues at its core, or those that can?

6. We reclaim independence from the cynical attempts to use shame to stop us from speaking out.

We have all felt this. The accusations that we are poor Christians because we refuse to give the government power not granted to it in the Constitution and go along with the currently contemplated healthcare reform bill. The charges that we hate the Earth and our children, because we oppose the highest single tax increase ever, combined with the deleterious effect on American jobs that would result in the passage of the Cap and Tax bill, which owes its existence to the myth of man-made global warming and the fact that it feeds the Federal Government its two favorite entrees: money and power. The charges that we are bad, greedy, selfish people for not supporting the idea that government and welfare entitlements are the way to improve the lives of Americans who are struggling, whatever the reason. The charges of “Racism” whenever we raise a provocative question or level a criticism at a person, policy, or idea that might happen to involve a person or persons who are not Caucasian.

No more.

Charges like “racist” and “racism” made without objective, quantitative support, and only the subjective justification of emotion will be ignored. The race card is maxed out, and the bank is no longer willing to extend the credit line. As for attacking our faith, or our practice thereof, we will no longer be held to account by people who do not understand the faith they would use as a weapon against believers, when the wielder subscribes to no belief system at all. Those who rely only on themselves for the regulation of their conduct and ethics no longer get to condemn those who answer to a higher authority. Not any more. We reclaim control of the shame that you have opted out of, and we will no longer allow you to use it to make us answer to you.

7. We reclaim independence from the notion that the Federal Government is the solution to every problem and the answer to every question.

For too long, we stood by and allowed debate and action on all matters, predicated upon on a destructive and dangerous idea: That the Federal Government is the only way to meet a need, fix a problem, or prevent a problem. In time it became a security blanket, and we became a nation of thumbsuckers, eager to give the federal Government more power and more money, if only it would keep us safe from life and the living of it as free people, until we no longer looked to it for protection from others who would have our liberties or destroy them; we looked to it for protection from the consequences of our own actions.

No more.

We were so fixated in seeking the federal government’s assistance with every aspect of our daily lives, no one within or without the Federal Government ever exercised restraint and said “No. The Constitution does not give the Federal Government the authority to do that.” And now that people are alert to the fact that the Federal Government is poised on the cusp of the largest power grab it has ever made with the health care bill, some of us are finally saying “No. You do not have the authority.” The stakes have never been more obvious. Met with the anger of constituents who are actually paying attention, elected officials are employing various means to intimidate these citizens who are expressing their disgust and anger that a government that serves them would ever feel so entitled to our money and our data in the passage of something so clearly opposed by those who wold have to live under it, these servants have resorted to insulting their constituents, calling them shills in the pay of their political opponents, calling them stupid and saying that they simply did not understand the printed words on the pages of the bill, brazenly lying to them outright about what they have proposed and are considering, and filling audiences at public meetings with rent-a-mobs from the SEIU, ACORN, and others, so that they will face a friendly audience that is also hostile to the voters opposed to this latest demonstration of government of its leash. The days of promising good governance but delivering graft, corruption, and self serving sinecures are over. We do not care about your party; both have proven themselves reckless and dishonest. We demand that you act responsibly, that you do the people’s business, not your own, and we demand that you act within the confines of the Constitution. No more will we simply accept legislation that exceeds the authority strictly enumerated in the Constitution. No more will we accept interpretations of the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause that are so tortured and stretched beyond reason or recognition as to be unrecognizable to anyone who has read the Constitution. No longer will we accept legislation from the bench that relies not on interpretation of the Constitution, but mystical divination of mysterious penumbras that only a few ‘right-minded’ jurists can see. Those days are over, and you can return usurped powers to the states and the individual citizens in whom the Constitution rightfully places them, or you can have them stripped from you.

We, those who have come together in virtual congress to reclaim our independence from those who have by various means obtained it from us, realize that this probably wasn’t the HOPE! and CHANGE! that those persons had in mind, but nevertheless, the time has come.

Easily Lost

Free Citizen of the United States of America,

August 29, 2009

long week

Well I made it through the work week. All 56 hours worth. Now some may say that isn't a lot of hours, but when you figure in the amount of material I move by hand each and every day, it gets exhausting. The average amount is 200 pounds an hour, and you lift it twice. Once into the grinder, then again at the other end to stack the full bags up. If you subtract my breaks it adds up to 20,800 pounds of material this week. (dayem that sounds bad, now that I did the math) I plan on sleeping lateeeeeee tomorrow. At least until 8. Have a great Friday.

lolcat

And you thought the dogs were digging up old animal bones :P

od on ot

After the last couple of weeks of overtime, and this week shaping up to look like at least 56 hours, I picked a double shot of Pink Floyd for your listening pleasure. Because I am sure this is exactly what I will be like at 1 p.m. Friday.



And

Always obey traffic laws

Because you never know who you may be following.

I was heading home from work Wednesday evening at around 5:00. I prefer taking the county roads over the main highways, to avoid all the traffic. I turn onto my normal road and get behind this very weird looking black vehicle. Think of a cross between a small delivery truck, and an suv. Where the tailgate/rear door should have been it was wide open. I kept seeing weird little flashing red lights up near the front where the instrument panel would be. (and NO I wasn't following that close, these were just really bright lights) As we got closer to the one and only four way stop, the truck/suv (whatever it was) turned on it's right blinker. I figured here was my chance to catch whatever the heck make/model this little crossbred mutant was. I never did get close enough to catch what it was, but I got an eyeful as they turned. Emblazoned on the side of the creature, in big, bold, bright letters was the following......... GBPD S.W.A.T.

You never know what you're going to see on the roads now a days. We were in a totally different county than they belonged to. And nearly 30 miles from their home city. Turns out they come up here to train on the ranges.

This isn't the first time I have seen police vehicles from another area way up here. That one was just the strangest.

A couple of times I have met up with an Appleton cruiser at the four way stop. But at least his vehicle doesn't look like the design engineer had a little too much to drink while he was working. But I am sure it was designed that way for a reason. Someday I may even figure out why :D

Cash for Codgers

This little gem is a must read over at oldnfo's blog.

small miracles

My jeep is back from the vet today. It turns out the alternator was fine, but the battery is toast. So instead of several hundred dollars in repairs, all it cost was $75 for the new battery. Considering the jeep is almost 8 years old and this was the first mechanical scare we have had with it, I'll consider myself lucky.

Happy Birthday Jake

My baby is 21 years old today. I can not believe how fast the years are going. His request for dinner tonight... lasagna.

Happy Birthday Jake

busy busy

The boss let us know there was overtime available for the rest of the week. I, of course, being the money hungry reliable, hard working employee, that I am, grabbed whatever they offered. So I will be working 12 hour shifts through Friday.

The President's first 6 months.

This is a must read found over at Police Diver.

Number of Wis. residents on food aid up 33 percent

The state Department of Health Services says more than 560,000 people are enrolled in Wisconsin's FoodShare program, one in 10 Wisconsin residents.
(Ok those kinds of numbers are enough to wake any one up. I work hard to pay my bills and feed a family of 4, without playing footsies with the govt.)

Timberlake says the average participant is getting roughly 14 percent more in benefits this year thanks to the federal stimulus package.
(This part though, blows my mind! Why the heck would the stimulus package have anything what so ever to do with food stamps??? How is this creating more jobs. Which is what I thought was the whole reason behind the stimulus plan.)

Story here. But I pretty much nabbed the stuff that baked my cookies.

Shake Rattle & Roll

Sunday

Partly Sunny with T-Storms, High 91°, Low 73°

Vacation

Half way through my vacation. I have accomplished very little, other than sleeping late and cleaning. We have gotten more rain, that was desperately needed, so hopefully the garden will perk back up.

Wisconsin, Green Bay to be more specific, had a few things to tell our politicians about how they felt on the new health care bill. And they did it quite loudly. In fact, they shouted right over the top of Steve Kagen when he was trying to talk ;) We aren't a shy bunch up here, let me tell you. It got a wee little bit rowdy and they called the police in to restore and maintain order. (Don't they realize it's good for you to let off steam?)
Full article can be found here.

He next went to Appleton, to push the bill. Unfortunately, they were a bit more restrained then we were .

I hope everyone's week is going well! Have a good one.

Happy Birthday Heidi

Twenty two years ago, the world was blessed with a very smart, beautiful girl. My daughter.
The weather looks perfect for the cookout she requested, and there's an ice cream cake for after. In just under 2 years she will be a registered nurse. (Then I can retire, and she can take care of me :D )

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

It's Here!!!!

It is officially vacation time!!!!!! Ten whole days to myself. (more or less) Ten days with no Queen of Whine and her mini-me. Ten days of sleeping past 4:00 a.m. No moving a ton of paper through the grinder. No boss calling to say she forgot to add an order that needs to ship out yesterday due to some spill somewhere. No calling maintenance to come fix a machine that seems to magically break itself. (Ok, That I might miss) But I am betting you all get the idea.

Two more days

I only have two more work days until vacation. Today just seemed to fly by. I have some tentative plans for a few of my days off, but I am really just looking forward to sleeping late :D (at least till 7)

Countdown until Obama leaves Office

A friend on facebook gave me this wonderful link. I am going to figure out how to permanently link that sucker on here, somewhere, some how.

Countdown until Obama leaves Office.

Stanford requests jail transfer; cites hot, crowded, windowless cell

HOUSTON— Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford has filed a motion to move to a different jail, citing “oppressive” conditions at the Joe Corley Detention Facility.
(Oh no, you poor, poor thing)

Through DeGuerin, Stanford claims that for at least a week, his jail has had no air conditioning.
(Many, many homes in the Unites States don't have a/c, why the heck should a jail???)

According to the motion, there are no windows in the cell, and the conditions are intolerable.
(It's a jail for God sake!! And you obviously did something BAD to end up there )

Stanford is being held without bond while awaiting trial on charges that he swindled investors out of $7 billion.
(I rest my case)

The rest of the article can be found here.

mutant fruit

We picked up some grapes at Sam's club a couple days ago, and I was astonished at the size of them. These things were bigger than my thumb! I took a picture of them surrounding a soda bottle top, to give you an idea of just how huge they are. Now tell me someone isn't out there playing around with enhancing food production, in a Doctor Jekyll - Mr. Hyde sort of way.

We got RAIN!!

I kid you not folks. We finally got some very much needed rain last night. Granted, not as bad as the southwestern half of the state was hit. Some of those areas received between 3 and 5 inches of the stuff, but they also got hail, ranging in size from tennis ball to friggin baseball size. (I'm very glad we didn't get that) I was so excited this morning when I woke up to take the dogs outside, and there were PUDDLES in the driveway :D

Headaches

Every time I read the news, I see something new the great and mighty O has done, that has made him appear even more foolish than he already looked. At the rate he is going, I may need to buy stock in Advil and Duct tape. The latest being the Gates fiasco. Open mouth, insert feet ashhat. And if he makes one friggin' more television appearance, while our great nation slips into the $hitter, they may hear me scream all the way to the coasts. Both of them!

raindrips

Well, that was the extent of the rain we got today, those few pitiful drops on the windshield of my jeep. Maybe tomorrow will be better. Pardon the poor picture quality, I took that with my phone, at lunchtime, at work.

Dare I hope???

Michigan unemployment rate 15.2%

Normally I don't post political stuff on my blog. But this one just stood right the heck up and bit me.

Michigan unemployment tops 15%

Michigan became the first state in 25 years to suffer an unemployment rate exceeding 15%, according to a report released Friday by the Labor Department.

Full story can be found here.

Well now, I was informed back when they bailed out the major auto makers, that jobs would be saved, and new ones created. Would someone like to explain just where all these saved jobs are? Because it sure as heck doesn't look like they are in Michigan. You know, Michigan, the one that was gonna lose everything without that bailout, because they have so many people employed in auto manufacturing??? Maybe someone would like to tell them they must be full of chit. Because the Great and powerful O swore up and down this was gonna save them. And our wonderful Prez would NEVER lie to us. (now would he)

Doesn't this make you feel all warm and fuzzy regarding his next project. Obamacare.