Up and Down

Living in the Midwest we usually have 4 seasons of weather.  We know that the Winter is cold with snow, the Fall & Spring are nice with some rain in the Spring.  And Summer is hot and humid (sometimes called icky or yucky).

This year the Winter has been very warm with the temperatures usually above freezing.  In a normal Winter, we get use to cold weather so after a while it seems normal to have low temperatures.  But this Winter, we get maybe 1 or 2 days of normal cold and then the temperature goes up to the 40's with basically no snow, actually today we have a 56 F day.

So when the cold appears, which it does ever week or so, we are not prepared for it.

Where my son lives, the nights are 10-25F and the days are in the 50's for the Winter; where my daughter lives she basically just gets cold though it looks like it will be in the 40's fr a few days.

Up and down is not fun and leads to colds, etc.!


“Three feet of ice does not result from one day of cold weather.” Chinese Proverbs



“In India, "cold weather" is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy.” Mark Twain



“Warm weather fosters growth: cold weather destroys it. Thus a man with an unsympathetic temperament has a scant joy: but a man with a warm and friendly heart overflowing blessings, and his beneficence will extend to posterity.” Hung Tzu-cheng



“Two women placed together makes cold weather” William Shakespeare


“Whether the weather be fine, Whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold, Whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather, Whatever the whether, Whether we like it or not”



Cold! If the thermometer had been an inch longer we'd all have frozen to death.- Mark Twain



Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. John Ruskin


Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction listen to weather forecasts and economists? Kelvin Throop III


No matter how rich you become, how famous or powerful, when you die the size of your funeral will still pretty much depend on the weather. Michael Pritchard


Money is the opposite of the weather. Nobody talks about it, but everybody does something about it. Rebecca Johnson

Thinsulate™

According to the 3M website Thinsulate™ 3M™ Thinsulate™ Insulation is used in your jackets‚ pants‚ gloves‚ hats and boots to help keep you warm when it’s cold outside. The unique microfibers or fine fibers that make up Thinsulate insulation work by trapping air molecules between you and the outside. The more air a material traps in a given space‚ the better it insulates you from the cold outside air. Because the fibers in Thinsulate insulation are finer than the fibers used in most other synthetic or natural insulation‚ they trap more air in less space‚ which naturally makes Thinsulate insulation a better insulator. So we haven’t repealed the laws of nature with our thin insulation; we’ve simply improved them…to help keep you warm.    breathable   moisture-resistant both machine washable and dry-cleanable.

I have some Thinsulate gloves and boots.  But my gloves do not keep my hands warm for long periods, the length of time our early morning dog walks last.  I wonder what I am doing wrong?  The gloves are light and thin just not as warm as I would hope for.

*****

Revenge of the new car!

The car must have been upset with my blog entry about it.  The other day I was either getting in or leaning over to lock the doors; when I smashed my head on the door frame.  I think my older car was much higher or the New Car attacked me!

Response to State of the Union

I found this response to the State of the Union speech.  He makes a lot of sense in my humble opinion!!

The article was from HotAir and YouTube.:



Individual responsibility is the key!

Sir and Mr.

When I was in the Navy, I was an officer.

The enlisted crew members had to address the officers as Sir or Mr. or by title (Ensign, LTJG, LT or LCDR).  So there were older more qualified men calling me Sir!  When I was an Ensign especially, it seemed ridiculous to be "respected" in that manner.  After a few years with experience, it was perhaps a little more appropriate.  The officers were responsible for any problems with our areas. In general, I am a very informal type person so it was strange to be so formal; it was easier to call people Sir or whatever than to have it back at me.

So now-a-days I would rather call someone Sir then vice visa.  It seems that many people in the Y call me Sir when we talk (normally Good Morning, etc.).  I wonder if I'm getting old and they think I desire the respect.  It seems that the Hispanics especially do this.   Maybe they are being ironic.  But in general, I would rather be on equal terms!

Village

A few years back, our area was incorporated into a new Village.  The reasons were to keep the adjacent towns from annexing us and to get water for parts of the area whose wells had dried up.

But whenever you have a new governmental office, it adds laws and regulations to restrict your freedom.

One of their great ideas: is to get our own zip code (now we share zipcodes with adjacent towns) < no matter the expense in having people and businesses change their mailing addresses, and there would not be a separate post office just a different number) - expensive and useless!

They pass ordinances like if you don't keep your grass cut they will come and cut it for you at $100+ a pop.  I don't want to live in a area that has a homeowner's group because I want freedom to do what I want without having to meet a group's idea of what is right.

Here is an example of how we must treat composting:


A. No landscape waste shall be stored on the property from which it is generated for more than seven (7) days unless composted as provided in this chapter.
B. All landscape waste to be composted shall be kept in a compost bin or turning bin either of commercial or home construction. Tree, bush or shrub branches in excess of one-half inch (1/2") in diameter shall not be permitted in a compost bin or turning bin.
C. Only one compost bin or turning bin shall be permitted on each property whether it consists of one or more legally described lots contiguous to each other or a parcel legally described by metes and bounds.
D. Compost bins shall not exceed five feet in width, five feet in height and five feet in length (5' x 5' x 5') and shall be constructed of permanent materials, such as wood, brick, block, plastic and wire or consist of a wooden or steel barrel or drum.
E. Turning bins shall not exceed three feet in width, three feet in height and nine feet in length (3' x 3' x 9').
F. Compost bins and turning bins shall not be located on the front yard. Compost bins and turning bins shall not be located closer than three feet (3') to either the side lot line or the rear lot line. On corner lots, compost bins and turning bins shall not be located on the side yard abutting a street.
G. Compost bins and turning bins shall not be located in a drainage easement or drainageway and no drainageway shall be blocked or impeded in any way by landscape waste or compost.
H. Compost bins and turning bins shall be maintained in good condition and not become unsightly, allowed to emit foul odors or otherwise be offensive to the neighboring property owners or the public.
I. Compost bins and turning bins shall not be located in a utility easement or other easement.
J. No food wastes, pet or animal feces, bones, fats, oils, fish or other animal products shall be permitted in compost bins or turning bins.
K. Notwithstanding anything in this chapter to the contrary, grass clippings may be left on the lawn when cut. (Ord. 1990-O-1 § 1)


Government abhors a law vacuum!

Heinlein's "Waldo"

When I was younger my favorite author was Robert A. Heinlein,  He wrote science fiction books and won numerous Hugo awards (SciFi book oscars).  He wrote fun adventure stories until he got old and then (in my opinion) went off the deep end with his last few books.

Waldo was about a person who invented things because he had a degenerative disease which forced him to live in space.

The earth at that time used a radiated energy form to "fuel' their transportation system, but the failsafe planes, etc, were crashing.

They found out that the problem was that people stopped believing that the planes would fly and this caused them to crash.

The premise was that a strong individual or group of people believed that something would work caused it to work, e.g., if people thought that objects fall due to gravity they did.

So it was Sir Isaac Newton's belief that objects fall that caused that to happen.

Wouldn't it be fun to change the premises somewhat; just think of the possibilities!  People could fly!  We could move heavy objects with just our minds!

Robert Heinlein quotes:


"Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."


"Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat."


"No matter where or what, there are makers, takers, and fakers."


"A government-supported artist is an incompetent whore!'


"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea."


"To get anywhere, or even live a long time, a man has to guess, and guess right, over and over again, without enough data for a logical answer."


"Never insult anyone by accident."


"Never worry about theory as long as the machinery does what it's supposed to do."


"Elephants aren't human but they are very nice people."


"A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill."


"The difference between science and the fuzzy subjects is that science requires reasoning while those other subjects merely require scholarship."


"I never learned from a man who agreed with me."


"Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed."


"Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy."

New Car II

Since we had our old car for 12 years; we knew how to work everything in it.

But with our new car, we are learning all the "advantages" of a modern car.

Our new car does not allow you to lock the car with the key fob still in it and the car off.  This morning we left my wife's fanny pack in the car, we tried to re-closing all the doors and the hatchback.  I tried to lock it using the car handle, using the lock inside the car; but all we got was a nasty whiny sound and the doors would not lock.  Eventually, my LW noticed a message saying a key was still in the car and she noticed the fanny pack and we were "allowed" to lock the car.

When my LW came back from a meeting at Church; the rear windshield wiper was still on.  We tried looking in the 600+ page manual for some help but we too busy to figure it out.  The windshield wiper stem when moved down or up controls the front windshield wiper, but the rear is controlled by a rotating knob on the stem.  Eventually, we figured it out.

Our car beeps at us!  When we lock the doors from the outside with the outside handle and when we use the key fob to lock the doors or unlock them, sometimes it is a beep, other times 2 beeps or the whiny when we have done something wrong (like the rear door seat belt caught in the doorway another adventure)!  To unlock all the doors, we have to push the Unlock button on the fob twice, once only unlocks the driver's door.

Our key fob is a smart key, so to start the car, we don't put the key in the car but just have to have the fob with us.  To start we must have the brake pedal pushed and push the Start button, to go into Drive or Reverse from park we have to have our foot on the brake.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure we are as smart as the key!  Also, our car says hello to us when we pass close to it with the fob on us (the lights go on inside the car)!

1 reason I hate IL

When IL Governor Pat Quinn was elected he promised no more than a 1% increase in the state income tax then raised it 2% to 5% (a 67% increase); he lied.  When Governor Walker of WI was elected he promised to not raise taxes and reduce the deficit and he did it; for doing that he is facing a recall election due to his state employee labor bill.

IL would probably reelect Quinn, it is a very blue state and any democrat would be elected.  Here is an article from Hot Air which shows how well the IL Gov & Dems are doing!


    Though too few noticed, this month Moody’s downgraded Illinois state debt to A2 from A1, the lowest among the 50 states. That’s worse even than California. The state’s cost of borrowing for $800 million of new 10-year general obligation bonds rose to 3.1%—which is 110 basis points higher than the 2% on top-rated 10-year bonds of more financially secure states.


    This wasn’t supposed to happen. Only a year ago, Governor Pat Quinn and his fellow Democrats raised individual income taxes by 67% and the corporate tax rate by 46%. They did it to raise $7 billion in revenue, as the Governor put it, to “get Illinois back on fiscal sound footing” and improve the state’s credit rating.


    So much for that. In its downgrade statement, Moody’s panned Illinois lawmakers for “a legislative session in which the state took no steps to implement lasting solutions to its severe pension underfunding or to its chronic bill payment delays.” An analysis by Bloomberg finds that the assets in the pension fund will only cover “45% of projected liabilities, the least of any state.” And—no surprise—in part because the tax increases have caused companies to leave Illinois, the state budget office confesses that as of this month the state still has $6.8 billion in unpaid bills and unaddressed obligations.


Another state tackling debt and budget issues went another direction, and Moody’s noticed the difference — and the WSJ warns Wisconsin voters to take a look at the alternative:


    In contrast to the Illinois downgrade, Moody’s has praised Mr. Walker’s budget as “credit positive for Wisconsin,” adding that the money-saving reforms bring “the state’s finances closer to a structural budgetary balance.” As a result, Wisconsin jumped in Chief Executive magazine’s 2011 ranking of each state’s business climate—moving to 17th from 41st. Illinois dropped to 48th from 45th as ranked by the nation’s top CEOs.


    Yet Mr. Walker, who balanced the budget without new taxes, is the governor facing a union-financed attempt to recall him from office this year. If Wisconsin voters want to see where a state ends up without the kind of reforms that Mr. Walker made, they need only look to the Greece next door.


Dan Mitchell says that the Illinois approach only exacerbated the problem by feeding the spending addiction rather than starving it:


    In other words, higher taxes led to fiscal deterioration in Illinois, just as tax increases in Europe have been followed by bad outcomes.


    Whenever any politician argues in favor of a higher tax burden, just keep these two points in mind:


    1. Higher taxes encourage more government spending.


    2. Higher taxes don’t raise as much money as politicians claim.


    The combination of these two factors explains why higher taxes make things worse rather than better. And they explain why Europe is in trouble and why Illinois is in trouble.

Infidelity

There has been a lot of  Newt's infidelity in the news lately.  I just can't understand it (infidelity).  When I was in the Navy and we visited foreign ports (especially in Japan), it was as if many sailors' marriages did not exist.

The sailors would visit bars and give the girls "Cherry Drinks."  After the port visits (I was in submarines), we would have to set aside special toilet facilities for the sailors that had caught a disease.  Sailors included officers and enlisted.

When I married many years ago to my Lovely Wife, I made a vow that I would be faithful and I have.  I can't understand why people do it; have they not married the right person?  Do rules not apply to them? Do vows not matter? Is go with the flow the mantra of modern people?


“It is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.” Thomas Paine



“Physical infidelity is the signal, the notice given, that all fidelities are undermined.” Katherine Anne Porter


IMMORAL, adj. Inexpedient. Whatever in the long run and with regard to the greater number of instances men find to be generally inexpedient comes to be considered wrong, wicked, immoral. If man's notions of right and wrong have any other basis than this of expediency; if they originated, or could have originated, in any other way; if actions have in themselves a moral character apart from, and nowise dependent on, their consequences — then all philosophy is a lie and reason a disorder of the mind. (DD)

What Parents want for their kids

I was thinking about the above subject during my morning walk with Frisbit.

My list includes : better life than us, good health, good spouses, intelligence, a religious background, and happiness. I'm pretty sure that our kids have most of the above.

Both of them are more intelligent then me (I'm not too dumb either).  Both have excellent spouses who great parents in their own right.  They both belong and contribute to their churches.  They both seem to be happy (son in making beer & his kids, daughter with her kids & activities).  They both are fairly healthy.

I wish I could take more credit for how they turned out, but my wife is more responsible then I am.

I decided to use the internet and search for "what parents want for their children" and found some interesting (for some reason I type intersting when I want interesting, interesting huh?)  things.

What Kindergarten Teachers Wish Parents Knew : 

1. Your job isn’t over when you drop your little one off at school; it has only just begun.
2. This is not your grandfather’s kindergarten.
3. The more self-control your child has, the more successful he will be in school.
4. Make yourself known. Come in. Look around.
5. Your child needs lots of opportunities for play outside of school.
6. Reading to your child once a day is not enough.
7. Writing exploration at home is critical
8. Homework is an opportunity for talking, sharing, and listening
9. Television and video games use up valuable playtime.
10. First-hand experiences are another teacher for your child.


Here is a list of the top ten things students around the world said they remembered and loved most about their mothers.
Come into my bedroom at night, tuck me in and sing me a song. Also tell me stories about when you were little.
Give me hugs and kisses and sit and talk with me privately.
Spend quality time just with me, not with my brothers and sisters around.
Give me nutritious food so I can grow up healthy.
At dinner talk about what we could do together on the weekend.
At night talk to me about about anything; love, school, family etc.
Let me play outside a lot.
Cuddle under a blanket and watch our favorite TV show together.
Discipline me. It makes me feel like you care.
 Leave special messages in my desk or lunch bag.