Thursday, December 23, 2010

The Gift...

6 Now it happened that, while they were there, the time came for her to have her child,

7 and she gave birth to a son, her first-born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 In the countryside close by there were shepherds out in the fields keeping guard over their sheep during the watches of the night.

9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood over them and the glory of the Lord shone round them, and they feared exceedingly.

10 And the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people.

11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord".


Luke,2



Merry Christmas to all.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Get a Grip!

Last Christmas, my son gifted me with a Sig P238. I love the piece, but never liked the plastic grip panels with which it was issued. I thought the coolest thing for a mini-1911 would be wood double-diamond grips like the big guy. The closest thing I could find were Sig factory grips, but they were emblazoned with the Sig logo- no go.

Back in October, Og had a post about Altamont
Corp., a manufacturer (USA!) of handles for things. I checked out their price list, & found that their products were more reasonably priced than the competition. I dithered.

I happened to show the link to the Mrs., & she sprang into action. Since yesterday was the anniversary of my annual orbit, Mrs. DT saw fit to purchase new grips for my P238:



Very nicely made, as thin as the originals, & more grippy to boot.
Good goin' Homey, & thanks for the tip Og.

I'm gonna be flashin' my gat all over just to show off...

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Time Has Come Today

Mrs. DT & I went out to see a band last Friday night. We’re not big clubbers (anymore), but this band was of special interest- the leader of said band was also the lead guitarist in a legendary band from the sixties, “The Downtrodden Masses” (hey, stop laughing, it was the sixties!)

What made this band so legendary was the fact that I was the rhythm guitarist; that’s right rock fans, your humble host was a participant in the band that led the way in music development of the era.

What, you never heard of us? Well, maybe the memories are a bit distorted. Or maybe I lie like a rug. Whatever.

Here’s a pic of ¾ of the “DM” (bass player is AWOL):


That photo was taken at one of our college party gigs in 1968, at the rockin' age of 17 (I'm on the left, BTW)

Tomorrow I'll complete another turn around the Sun, & those days seem a tad distant now.


Sunday, December 5, 2010

Gutters

need to be cleaned before the temperature gets below freezing.

Otherwise, you get to be a moron whilst breaking ice-encrusted gook & leaves from your eaves.

Poetic, no?

Monday, November 22, 2010

Forty Seven Years Ago

today, I was getting on the bus after school.

Our bus driver, Oscar, always had a little transistor radio stuck on his side window, probably so he wouldn't have to hear the rowdy bunch of animals he was transporting.

As we got on the bus, he was telling us that the president had been shot, & was most likely killed.
You coulda heard a pin drop- even among the boisterous bunch of middle-schoolers.

This was unheard of in modern society; violence like that only happened in the 1800's, didn't it?

I grew up a little more that day.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Further Proof...

...of the "two-country" syndrome.

A Mr.
Gordon Ellis, Epsom NH school board chairman & Vietnam vet, gives a speech to a school Veteran's Day assembly. In this speech, Mr. Ellis defines socialism, communism, totalitarianism, progressivism and liberalism as enemies of our Constitution.

He is correct in his premise, & correct for so stating his assertion.

But take a look at the wheelbarrow full of crap that has resulted from a patriot speaking his mind; it's shocking, shocking I tell you that the po' chillen should have to hear the truth in an educational setting.

THAT should be left up to the edumacators...

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Ch ch ch changes...


"The Dinosaurs smell a change in the air, and roar their defiance." *


Get out there & ROAR BACK!

*my favorite "local" quote, shamelessly stolen from Borepatch


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Paper T(r)ail

I think the political mania is beginning to make me ill.

Here's a cat.






Monday, October 25, 2010

They Hate Our Guts

The inspired Mr. P.J. O'Rourke gives us this- go read.

"This is not an election on November 2. This is a restraining order."

Heh.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Oh, No!

I found something on the interwebs that's WRONG!

There goes my confidence in the hive mind- the Borg is RIGHT OUT!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Two Americas: 1st example



If only the "progressive" types could learn to leave us alone...

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

NOT a Good Thing

to receive a letter from the State Revenue Reclamation Office.

Who knew there was an "Interest & Dividends" tax in NH?


Err, not me, for one...

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Where's My Job Dude?

Noodlin' around the net this evening, & I found this essay. Written by Porter Stansberry, (founder of Stansberry & Associates Investment Research) a young guy with a head for business.

The lad's got his shiite together, I'm thinking...


This Is Why There Are No Jobs in America

By Porter Stansberry

I'd like to make you a business offer.

Seriously. This is a real offer. In fact, you really can't turn me down, as you'll come to understand in a moment...

Here's the deal. You're going to start a business or expand the one you've got now. It doesn't really matter what you do or what you're going to do. I'll partner with you no matter what business you're in – as long as it's legal.

But I can't give you any capital – you have to come up with that on your own. I won't give you any labor – that's definitely up to you. What I will do, however, is demand you follow all sorts of rules about what products and services you can offer, how much (and how often) you pay your employees, and where and when you're allowed to operate your business. That's my role in the affair: to tell you what to do.

Now in return for my rules, I'm going to take roughly half of whatever you make in the business each year. Half seems fair, doesn't it? I think so. Of course, that's half of your profits.

You're also going to have to pay me about 12% of whatever you decide to pay your employees because you've got to cover my expenses for promulgating all of the rules about who you can employ, when, where, and how. Come on, you're my partner. It's only "fair."

Now... after you've put your hard-earned savings at risk to start this business, and after you've worked hard at it for a few decades (paying me my 50% or a bit more along the way each year), you might decide you'd like to cash out – to finally live the good life.

Whether or not this is "fair" – some people never can afford to retire – is a different argument. As your partner, I'm happy for you to sell whenever you'd like... because our agreement says, if you sell, you have to pay me an additional 20% of whatever the capitalized value of the business is at that time.

I know... I know... you put up all the original capital. You took all the risks. You put in all of the labor. That's all true. But I've done my part, too. I've collected 50% of the profits each year. And I've always come up with more rules for you to follow each year. Therefore, I deserve another, final 20% slice of the business.

Oh... and one more thing...

Even after you've sold the business and paid all of my fees... I'd recommend buying lots of life insurance. You see, even after you've been retired for years, when you die, you'll have to pay me 50% of whatever your estate is worth.

After all, I've got lots of partners and not all of them are as successful as you and your family. We don't think it's "fair" for your kids to have such a big advantage. But if you buy enough life insurance, you can finance this expense for your children.

All in all, if you're a very successful entrepreneur... if you're one of the rare, lucky, and hard-working people who can create a new company, employ lots of people, and satisfy the public... you'll end up paying me more than 75% of your income over your life. Thanks so much.

I'm sure you'll think my offer is reasonable and happily partner with me... but it doesn't really matter how you feel about it because if you ever try to stiff me – or cheat me on any of my fees or rules – I'll break down your door in the middle of the night, threaten you and your family with heavy, automatic weapons, and throw you in jail.

That's how civil society is supposed to work, right? This is America, isn't it?

That's the offer America gives its entrepreneurs. And the idiots in Washington wonder why there are no new jobs...

Friday, September 17, 2010

Atonement...

It has a good ring to it, no matter what your personal faith may be.

Yom Kippur
יום הכיפורים , the Jewish day of atonement, began at sundown tod.ay

Make peace with yourselves, there's a long fight ahead

Thursday, September 16, 2010

That'sa Tough Kitty...

Kitteh captures food:



Food apparently likes being captured:


Heh.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Ayuh, Progressive I'm Not

Your ideological score is:
71/400.
This makes you extremely conservative.
The average score for Americans is 209.5


But, I already knew that.


Try it here.

H/T to Jay G., who's a flaming proglib...

Sunday, August 22, 2010

What Frog is This Who Lies at Rest...

Check out this little critter:


Here he's (she's?) sitting on the edge of my rain barrel, & that ginormous green thing next to him is a 5/8" diameter garden hose- he's maybe all of 1/2" long hisself.
I'm thinking it might be a spring peeper, but I don't know what he'd be doing around here in late August.
Any guesses?

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

You Say Tomato,

I say, LOOK at the SIZE of that thing...


This is one of the first "Brandywine" tomatoes from the auxiliary garden. The second garden is for overflow started plants that don't fit in the main garden, & in this case, to start an heirloom variety. The big garden has Roma for sauce, & Celebrity for general use. The Celebs are a great tomato, but they don't have the regrowth feature you get with heirlooms (heirloom varieties are able to re-create the same plant by saving the seeds from the fruit). BUT, they also have to be planted some distance from others so cross-pollination doesn't take place, ruining the heirloom characteristics.

This beauty is good sized, but there are bigger ones coming; you can bet the DT's will have mucho grande seeds for next year.

Thank you for attending this evening's horticultural lesson.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Sure Could Use the Gipper Right Now...



to neutralize the libtards…

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

I love bluegrass

with lyrics like this:

“…he jus’ said he was slippin’ off the ice- it could’ve been a lie,
He did his slidin’ in the middle of July“…

Saturday, July 24, 2010

86°F, 85% Humidity-

I know what, let’s build a fire!

Burned the refuse of the old backstop today, & while I was loading the fire, I noticed some weird fuzzy stuff embedded in the wood. What the hell is that, & how did it get into the wood like that?



Oh, yeah… that’s how. I guess I cremated the last of the Pikachu guts. Dem bloggers are a crazy bunch…

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Hawn Worms

My kid makes fun of me when I tell him I got hawn worms on my tomatoes (“it’s not hawn, it’s hoRRn”).

Yeah, I know, but that’s the way I say it, & I got some this summah.

Feast your eyes:


Is that not one of the ugliest creations under the sun? That beast is just under 4” long, & was doing a number on my plants. They’re tough to see in the foliage, & usually go undetected until the damage becomes evident. We picked 7 of the buggers off, & now will have to go into "high inspection" mode to keep them gone. Crap, haven't had any in about three years either...

Bahsteds.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Anthem (redux)



H/T to Sipsey Street

Check out the reference to 2 Chronicles...

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Hawt...

Don't see that much around here...

Soopersecrit, New Hampshire
Updated: 2 sec ago
Mostly  Cloudy
103.3 °F <----------!!!
Partly Cloudy
Humidity: 37%
Dew Point: 70 °F
Wind: 4.6 mph from the North

Wind Gust: 4.6 mph
Pressure: 28.92 in (Falling)
Heat Index:
114 °F








Sunday, July 4, 2010

and The Rockets' Red Glare...

OK, so not rockets.

Cannon are more appropriate to the occasion anyway.


(Try to catch it @ :04)


Happy Independence Day to all.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

How Does THIS Happen?

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.


The kid is FOUR years old.
Yessir, the Man works in mysterious ways...

Monday, June 28, 2010

Separated at Birth?

You decide...








Monday, June 21, 2010

Uh Oh...

Actual Time 5:08 AM EDT 8:28 PM EDT
Civil Twilight 4:33 AM EDT 9:04 PM EDT
Nautical Twilight 3:48 AM EDT 9:49 PM EDT
Astronomical Twilight 2:51 AM EDT 10:45 PM EDT
Moon 3:58 PM EDT (6/21) 1:21 AM EDT (6/21)
Length Of Visible Light: 16h 30m
Length of Day
15h 19m
Tomorrow will be 0m 3s shorter.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Dad Day

My son & his charming fiancée visited me today.

And I had a thought… after all the parenting of the past 30+ years, it’s an almost unbelievable joy to realize that that little snot-nosed kid can turn into your very best friend.

Thanks kid.


Love,
Dad

Friday, June 18, 2010

Oh Hell, Yeah

Sunday, June 6, 2010

6 June, 1944

Thank you.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Decoration Day


Saratoga
Barbary Coast
Chesapeake
Mexico City
Antietam
San Juan Hill
Manila
Tianjin
Argonne
Bataan
Normandy
Kaesong

Dong Ap Bia

Mosul

Mogadishu
Asadabad
...

May God rest their souls.
With thanks from a grateful nation.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

RIP Brother Dennis

Friday, May 28, 2010

Here I Come to Save the Daaay-

It’s Borepaaatch, All the Way…

Last Wednesday, this here computer went all wonky on me. Popups, weird links, other crap. What to do? (besides panic)?

I called my bud Borepatch (don’t try this at home- he’s a friend of mine & a really good shot). He gave me some suggestions, which I followed.

So-

I used my resident AVG scanner, & it reported “8 bells, & all is well”.

Then I used the Microsoft evil software finder thingy, & it let me know that there were “no infections found”.

Go to the Borepatch site, on my friend’s suggestion. There, under the “security” tag, was a recommendation for Malware Bytes.

Downloaded it, ran it, & it found 28 “infections”, which contained them, & deleted after I followed the instructions. 40 minutes for the entire removal/scan process- can’t beat that with a stick.

I’m a happy camper.

Thanks MalwareBytes.

Thanks, BP.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

What Were They Thinking?

Here's a good plan...

Klan Kidz

What could possibly go wrong?

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Full Auto Now Legal in NH!!!

Sort of.

But hey, it's a start...

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Cannon in Action!

Finally, I can upload this thing.


Monday, May 17, 2010

Happy Monday

(click BIG)

Saturday, May 8, 2010

“Time Flies Like an Arrow…

…fruit flies like a banana.” -G. Marx


Friday evening I attended a wake/service for a friend from my teenage years, a local musician who was in our garage band back in the day. I looked around at the attendees- it was amazing how old those folks got.

Anyway, during the service, as people were giving testimonials about their relationship with the deceased, a woman got up, identified herself, & had her say. After the service was complete, I went over to her & said hello- she recognized me.
After some hugs, we talked for about half an hour about our lives, families, & the trials of life.

As I got up to leave, I realized that we had been holding hands for all that time.

Just like we did in 1967.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Just Say NO

to this beast.

Cobray model LHC, 12 round magazine, in, wait for it...

.45-70!

Empties are ejected via loooong ejector rod a la single action revolver, the handle of which is visible near the front "sight".

Strange thing, it is...

Thursday, April 22, 2010

For Earth Day,

I cut trees.

With a gas engined chainsaw.

And twitched them out with a diesel tractor.


Piss off hippies, I got work to do...


ADDENDUM: Lissa writes in comments, "
Oh, please tell us you'll burn them later and produce carbon emissions while warming your home! Pleeeease!"

Yes, Lissa, yes I will. In two wood stoves- I promise.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Lest I Forget...

Concord fun show this weekend at the Everett Ice Arena, 15 Loudon Rd.,I-93 exit 14, Concord, NH.

We'll be there; stop by & visit!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

This Should Work…


Alternately, does anyone know where I can get a nuclear powered 11,000 HP sump pump?

Staying up all night manually switching the second pump gets old fast.


Shop-vac’d ~140 gallons out of the garage too…

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The Great Ones Speak in Parables

today.

Og

Dr. Zero

Excellent job, bote of ewes...

Monday, March 22, 2010

Walkin' Tall

here from PDB, via Breda.

Kinda gets the juices running again, don't it?

You betcha...

The Intolerable Acts

were fueled by the Stamp Act of 1765.

That legislation(?) was passed on March 22, 245 years ago.




Interesting choice of dates for our latest congressional rubbish......

Friday, March 19, 2010

Nothing to Add...

Go read here.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Sickening, Even for Politicians

This is over the top.

Water flow to parts of California have been withheld because some snail darter or one-eyed newt or something of that ilk might be harmed by allowing the flow.

Thousands (millions?) of people have been economically harmed, as well as limiting the potential to grow food.

Now, it's OK, because the assholes in DC need the votes.

"The U.S. Department of Interior announced yesterday that it is increasing water allocations for the Central Valley of California, a region that depends on these water allocations to support local agriculture and jobs.
"


Contemptuous radical pigs now run this country.

My apologies to actual swine.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

LCP Holster

Mrs. DT couldn't find what she wanted for an around-the-farm quick connect holster (and she's too cheap to buy one), so she made one.



Not bad, eh?

I told her she should start marketing...

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Another Two Feet of Snow

.
.
.
.





Ba-dum, tish!

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Long May You Run...

Happy Birthday son o' mine!

Love, Dad

Friday, February 26, 2010

My Dead Sister's Teeth- UPDATED

Would that be a great blog name or what?


UPDATE: It appears folks think I've gone off the deep end with this post title, so reference is here. More balloon juice from Louise Slaughter, (Doofus- NY).

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Hmmmmm...

I may have been a bit premature in prognosticating that "Spring" thing...

14 inches.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

It’s THAT Time Again

to gather the sweet stuff from the trees.

Here are a couple pics of our road, one showing the “old” way,

and the “new”.

It’s still a looong way away from my waffles, but it’s a start, & an established indicator of spring in these parts.

Friday, February 5, 2010

"Breaking" News...

Could be interesting.

Last Wednesday evening, Jim Treacher (aka Sean Medlock), was hit by a government owned SUV piloted by one Mike McGuinn, an agent with the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service.

Sean was hit well enough to gain some new modifications to his hide, mash his vision gear, as well as breaking his knee. He is currently in Georgetown University Hospital in DC.

There is all kinds of weirdness associated with the accident, all coming from the government end.

Now if a “regular” citizen was injured, even with gross fault of the driver.gov, nothing more would be heard by the public. But this time, the tard.gov had the witlessness to run into a blogger, one of some distinction no less.

So now, not only is the Daily Caller all over this, but Instapundit, Ameripundit, Hot Air, Ace, Tucker Carlson (Sean’s boss), & others are seeking the truth of the matter.

Go to Treacher’s place to follow links & updates.

This may not pass as quietly as the idiot.gov would wish…

Friday, January 29, 2010

At Least There's That...

The Zombie Bite Calculator

Created by Oatmeal


How comforting.




Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Scott Brown Wins

the U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts.

A dream, mayhaps?

I do believe that this election may well avert some future bloodshed, as DC politicians take note of the temperament of the land.

Here’s to my hoping making it so.

Hope & Change I can believe in...

A Couple Observations

Lt. Col. Scott Brown is a state senator, running hard for the U.S. Senate, and it appears he may well be successful in that quest (no predictions here, see below).

Who was that other guy who was a local senator, served a couple years in the US Senate, then elected POTUS?

...................

The 19th day of a month seems to have some significance in Massachusetts’s history.

On an April morning 235 years ago, some Massachusetts patriots made a fairly significant statement on the 19th of that month.

It is fitting that the new beginning start there.


GO SCOTT GO!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Nuthin’ to be Said,


& I ain’t saying it.

14 months ago, I used my astonishing powers of precognition to steadfastly maintain the obvious triumphant situation of the Republican presidential duo.

This time, the outcome is far too important to jinx with my ramblings, so I’ll just STFU.


But still,

GO SCOTT GO!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

If It Wasn't for Real Bad Luck,

this dude wouldn't have had any luck at all.

Visiting Hiroshima on 6 August, 1945, he gets nuked.

Arrives back home in Nagasaki on 9 August- gets nuked again.

He should have bought lottery tickets.

Deceased at age 93, RIP Mr. Lucky.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Weather Geekery

Do you realize that as of 2220 today, the temperature in Hot Springs Virginia was 18.7° colder than here in S. NH?

GO GLOBAL WARMING!

Hooray!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!

Yikes- that date looks weird...

Waitaminnit- isn't this the year we get the new sun & all the monkeys go crazy or something?