Posting about deep freeze on weather blog...

Brrr has it been cold. The high yesterday was 25!

I have been doing most of my blogging lately on my Weather blog. To view it look to the right under "My other websites".

Cheap gas!

I saw $1.96 for gas today! Its hard to believe considering it was over $4.00 this summer. How low will it go? We shall see...

Election Day!

I just hope we have done the right thing. The world is watching!...

A few headlines:

"World markets rally as US goes to the polls"
"World hopes for a 'less arrogant America"
"US troops in Iraq await Election Day outcome"

Been a long time..

Sorry its been so long since I posted, although I doubt anybody reads my blog anyway.

Today I want to post a quote. I was interested in the recent political ploy by the McCain camp to try associating Obama with Bill Ayers again. So, instead of blindly believing what the repugs are saying I decided to educate myself on this person before I form an opinion. After doing so I was not surprised to find out that the McCain camp and the repugs are again distorting the truth. Here is what I found:

• Bill Ayers as a college student started a group to protest the war in Vietnam.
• The Students for a Democratic Society later became the Weather Underground
• According to David Gilbert, "[their] goal was to not hurt any people, and a lot of work went into that.

They are also saying that he is not remorseful for what had been done. Here is a quote in response to that:
"We weren't terrorists," Ayers told an interviewer for the Chicago Tribune in 2001. "The reason we weren't terrorists is because we did not commit random acts of terror against people. Terrorism was what was being practiced in the countryside of Vietnam by the United States."^[2] In a letter to the editor in the Chicago Tribune, Ayers wrote, "I condemn all forms of terrorism — individual, group and official". He also condemned the September 11 terrorist attacks in that letter. "Today we are witnessing crimes against humanity on our own shores on an unthinkable scale, and I fear that we may soon see more innocent people in other parts of the world dying in response."



Ever hear of Guy Fawkes?

Please... educate yourself and form your own opinions. The problems of this Country can be summed up in one cliche.. The blind leading the blind!

Sounds in the night...

The wife and I were woke up this morning at about 2:30 with the most chilling odd sound coming from outside our open bedroom window. The wife had heard it last week some time before sunup (I was at work already) and tried to describe it to me over the phone. Well, now that I have heard it I can understand why it is so hard to describe; it is very weard! The best way I can describe it is like a pig squealing and cats fighting at the same time, but to me it sounded like only one animal/thing, not more than one.
The first time we heard it this morning it sounded like it was right outside our window, but it could have actually been in the neighbors driveway/backyard. We heard it for what must have been less than 30 seconds doing its squealing howling sound, then we both just laid there. It then started up again a short while later, and I finally said something like "I have never heard anything like that before". The reason I said that was because I believe I have heard the sounds of every animal that could/would be in this area like possums, raccoons, cats, coyotes, etc. I have lived most of my life in the country and spent enough time in the woods to think I have pretty much heard it all,... but not this, not even close.
So anyway, eventually around 2:50 I got up and closed the window. I then went and turned the back porch light on thinking maybe it would scare it away. A few minutes after that the wife and I were staring out the back window looking at our now well lit back yard (its usually very dark back there) and we heard it again. With all the windows closed it sounded different, and much farther away. It definitely wasn't in the yard because we could see pretty well now. This time, with a lot of the sound muffled, it sounded like it could possibly be a sound that a raccoon, skunk, or something like that could make, but still nothing I have ever heard before, and I have been around a lot of those type of animals. So in the end, I still have no idea what we heard, and it still makes my skin crawl thinking about it. It was that creepy.
If we ever hear it again, I am hoping I can capture the sound on my Blackberry... but if we are lucky, this will be the last time we hear it.

The King of open source!

I love Open Source software! Its free, and just as good as the expensive stuff. It is simply amazing to see something like this... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25251210/

Uhhh, ok John, whatever you say!

The rhetoric:
"Senator John McCain has stepped up efforts to paint his rival, Senator Barack Obama, as what he calls a traditional Democratic tax-and-spend liberal. On Tuesday, for instance, Mr. McCain, addressing a business gathering, accused Mr. Obama of wanting to enact the largest single tax increase since World War II."

The truth:
"According to the groups computations, under Mr. Obamas plan, the middle of the middle class, or those earning $37,595 to $66,354, would see taxes cut by $1,042 a year. Under Mr. McCains plan, taxes for people in that category would also fall, but by $319; the largest chunk of the benefits would go to those making $2.8 million a year or more."

The group they are referring to is "the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center".
All quotes are from this article.

Poke a stick at...

A few things to poke a stick at:

The Worlds Tallest Building
In the name of... Art?
Too little too late
Uncle Barack's cabin
How high will it go?

All gone

Well, I haven't made it back up to Roslyn (hole) yet. Im sure its just a big depressing hole in the ground at this point.
I have been doing most of my blogging on my weather blog, so I have been neglecting this one.

We did get the sod in over the weekend! It ended up being about 870sf and it looks awsome! I dont know how I am going to go 2 weeks without mowing it (thats what they say to do) because it is growing so fast!
Now its time to get some gravel and mulch to finish out the front yard FINALLY!

Goodbye Roslyn...

I have been doing a bit of a memorial for Roslyn lake on my website...
www.blackcatgeek.com
We went and took a few pictures Monday, and it was pretty sad. Half the lake is mud!
I hope to get up and take a few more pics by the end of the week, so keep checking back because I will be posting them on Blackcatgeek or here in the blog.

The clock is ticking...

This is what I like to see...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lklfIPBK4Zg

Now lets get down to business! I find it strange that we have so many months of "primaries", and only a few months between the party conventions and the national election. I am really looking forward to seeing McCain and Obama going head to head. Honestly, I have always admired McCain. He is a war hero, and a very honorable person. I just think he missed his chance at being the Prez. He would have been good during the last few years, but I think it is really time for our younger generations now, and he is way past his prime. Its time for us to take a new direction, and I think we have a candidate that might be able to do that.
Time will tell!

Finally!

I was just thinking the other day that if Obama comes out strong against the oil companies that it will put him over the top for the Primary. The proposals from the other candidates are the same old worthless crap. This is his chance to really show people some substance.

Here is his plan...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aP_1wrIyt1Nc

And the same old crap...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aQgAcP5he5WA&refer=politics

Have to admit..

I have to admit I fit many of the stereotypes here:
http://adblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/29/943481.aspx

The rain barrel comment made me laugh since I just started using one recently (and love it)!

I cant wait!

If you are a Dale Jr. fan like me, this will get you pumped up...
Just a matter of time!

Rainwater collector...

I had an idea awhile back that if I could collect some of the water from the gutter on our house, I could use it to water plants and stuff. Not only would this water be natural (not full of crap like our tap water) it would be free.
Well, I got a 55 gallon plastic barrel for free and about a week ago routed one of the gutter downspouts into it to see what happens. Much to my surprise the barrel was full after a week!
This is looking very promising!
I did have to dump it out because the barrel use to be full of soap, and I need to try to rinse it out, but I did that, and hooked it up the day before yesterday. I checked the water level again yesterday and it was already half way full! It really hasn't been raining that much either, and also my gutters are in need of being cleaned out.
So now I am going to work on setting up an overflow tube that dumps the excess water back into the original downspout. I also want to put some sort of faucet toward the bottom for filling containers that will be used to water stuff.
All in all it is looking very promising. I will probably need a couple more barrels considering how much water I am getting, but it will be very nice when I get it all figured out.

Goodbye Roslyn Lake :(

One of my favorite places since moving to this area was Roslyn Lake. I use to like to take the short backroad drives out there and get away from the city for awhile, do a little fishing, get some fresh air, enjoy the beautiful scenery. We took some of our wedding pictures near the cabin on the lake(it was in the movie Bandits).
It was just a great place to hang out.
Its too bad she cannot be saved, I know many will miss her.

If you dont know what I am talking about...
PGE to drain Roslyn Lake on May 5

Register your gun...

Ok, this is going to be more of a rant than anything...
I was watching a movie on TV yesterday called Hideaway. At one point in the movie Jeff Goldblum knows someone is trying to get in his house and hurt his family, so he is standing behind the front door with his shotgun aimed at it. Someone knocks and he says "come on in, its unlocked", and instead of the bad guy, its a cop. The first thing the cop says after opening the door is "Is that thing registered?"!!!
I see this all the time on tv, but this one takes the cake because the person being asked the question was standing in his own home trying to protect his own family.

For those of you whom dont know, and I imagine there are a few who dont (I have actually had people ask me"... YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REGISTER YOUR GUN. Think about it, If that were a requirement then it would be illegal for you to have a gun that was not registered, and the government cannot make it illegal for you to have a gun (unless you are a felon).

I sometimes think that this is some kind of government brain washing so they can later pass illegal anti gun legislation, but the more I think about it I realize that it is only one thing...
IGNORANCE!
Whomever is creating or writing these movies must actually think that it is true, that if you have a gun it must be registered. In reality, the only time you have to have a permit to carry a gun is if you are leaving your home/property, and you are concealing the gun. In that circumstance you have to have a permit, but not a permit for the gun. You have to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, it has nothing to do with the individual weapon. If you don't have the permit, you can still carry a gun, but it cannot be concealed in any way. That is it! That is the Law! Dont believe everything you hear! Find out for yourself!

More election observations..

I watched the debate last night (2/26/08) Between Obama and Clinton and thought I needed to post...
I think when it comes down to the general election, I would vote for either of these two over McCain any day. I think they both have their focus on making life better for Americans instead of American Companies, and that is truly what we need right now. Exxon made 36.13 Billion Dollars last year, and The Government has spent nearly half a trillion dollars on the war. Where did this money come from? Well, that is obvious, it came from the American people; it came from me and you. That is what this administration, and their party have let happen, and have seemingly pushed for. If that isn't enough motivation for us to vote differently this year and try to change our government then we definitely will get what we deserve.

Take a look at this before you vote... http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home
That is yours!

Oh by the way...

OBTW, I do not encourage or condone the illegal copying of commercial discs, and doing so places you in violation of current intellectual property law.
I think they are able to create and distribute programs for copying DVD's by saying that they are only for creating a backup copy of a disk that you own.
So, that is what I am talking about when I say "copy a DVD" in my previous post.

Copy DVD's

If you ever want to copy a DVD, the free version of this program works great! I have been using it for a couple weeks now.
Go here..

"Free Trade"...

When will it stop? Someone sent me this from Snopes...
Click here
It is about flip flops that cause a severe reaction.
Free trade is a folly that is hurting our people. It is not trade (an exchange of items)... it is having something produces somewhere where labor laws are lacking, and pay is very low, and then shipping it back to be sold for a higher profit margin.
The result of this process is that money that would be in the hands of US companies and US workers is now in the hands of foreign countries, foreign governments, and greedy multinational corporations. Our people, our economy, our government... everybody in our country is hurt by this, yet it continues.
I just hope we are able to fix this before it is to late.

Find a President!

Here is a great way to see which candidate best suits you based on the issues. The hard part is coming in unbiased. It would be better if you could not see who it was until the end, but if you try hard to not bring any feelings when you start, and truly rate their stances on the issues it should work out.
Rate them here

Super - Bowl...

The Superbowl is usually a bore, and the commercials usually steal the show. This one was different...
The best team on that particular day definitely won the football game, and that is all that matters. It does not matter that the Pats had a much better year, a much better quarterback, and A much better team.. all that mattered is who showed up on that day and wanted it the most. There is no doubt about it that the Giants deserved the win.
How did they beat a better team? They beat them by coming out the door and pounding Tom Brady into the turf. That one thing won the game. Brady was obviously not himself after the Giants put a whooping on him in the first quarter, and without him the Pats are nobody. The Giants defense won that game in the first quarter.
I have to say, it was definitely the most exciting Superbowl that I can remember watching. It was a heart stopper right down to that miserable last 2 seconds when they couldn't clear the crowd off of the field. It was entertaining right down to the end. It was what a Superbowl should be.

Not much :(

Well, it looks like it will be one of those years where our snow total can only be described as "Trace". We got a dusting, but barely. I think we have had hail storms that produced more accumulation.
Oh well.

How Much?

So there are rumblings on the weather forums about this weekends snow event. We could possibly get 1-2 inches of "moisture", and if its snow, well, thats A LOT! Over 10 inches! So... keeping in mind that we get 10 inches over about 3-4 years in Portland,... so we shall see. I will take 1 inch. I will still have to go to work, but it will be a fun commute and a slow day. Lots of true City Folk will surely stay home if we get a dusting making my job a lot easier.

Let it snow... let it snow... let it snow...

Probably our best chance for some real snow coming up later this week. I will keep my fingers crossed.

Two words..

I have two words for the upcoming election...
RON PAUL

Overhyped

Someone hit the nail on the head on the radio this morning. This election is overhyped. The media coverage is uncanny and overwhelming. I wish I could stop watching, but I cant. Its exciting to think that we could have someone other than a Bush or Clinton in the White House, but we will likely have more of the same. The younger generation seems to be having a big impact again, but I am starting to think not enough. I can always hope though,... right?

The primaries...

Maybe it is just me, but this year's presidential election definitely seems different. I have been voting for a good 10 years now, and I don't remember ever hearing much about the candidates until well after the primaries. This year you cannot get away from it. Bill Clinton was talking about how he didn't win a single state in his first primaries until well into February and this year they are already talking about winners after only 1 state has voted. I guess it is just all part of the internet generation. As far as candidates go, for me the most interesting are Ron Paul and Barack Obama. John McCain is also interesting, but it would take a bit more convincing from him for me to send a vote that way at this point. I am just worried that people are going to get tired of all the Press about these candidates. Information overload.