Did I ever Tell Ya...........

How Friggen Happy I am that our Got Damn President canceled the F-22 Fighter program?

No? Imagine that.

I mean really, who would have ever expected this? Russo-Indian 5th-Gen PAK-FA fighter makes successful maiden flight

"Moscow: Russia's prototype fifth-generation fighter, a joint venture with India, made a successful 45-minute maiden flight on Friday in the country's Far East, Russian television said. The flight was earlier postponed by 24 hours because of poor weather conditions in Komsomolsk-on-Amur where tests on the prototype are being carried out."

And yes I'm fully aware that, John Fucking McCain was part of the vote that killed the F-22. Thank you very damn much. One more reason to not like that asshole even though there are plenty of others.

Silly Sons-A-Bitches.

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Evening-
German Team, 1940 Tour De France.

You May Want to Check the Sky This Evening.......

Biggest and brightest full moon of 2010 tonight

"Tonight's full moon will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. It offers anyone with clear skies an opportunity to identify easy-to-see features on the moon.

This being the first full moon of 2010, it is also known as the wolf moon, a moniker dating back to Native American culture and the notion that hungry wolves howled at the full moon on cold winter nights."

Hopefully, things will clear up here and we'll be able to see it.
Because "We like the Moon!"


Spongmonkeys - We Like The Moon - The best bloopers are a click away

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday-
There has to be a great story behind this.

And Video.

I Really Like This..........

New Norton


The new Motorcyclist Magazine showed up in the mail yesterday and they had a couple of brief articles on the resurrected Norton brand.

Pretty similar looking to the Dreer bike from a few years ago but that's not a bad thing.

I note the lack of the obligatory, oil puddle under this thing in the photo. All real British bikes should have an oil puddle under them.
Tradition and all that.

Damn pretty bike and for around $15 Grand, not priced crazy high.
I ain't buying one anytime soon but I wish them well.

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Afternoon-

This Guy Can Do It...........

He was able to envision an idea and then make it happen.
Check it out

He started with a Royal Enfield 350cc motor and basically made his own V-Twin 700cc.



Beautiful craftsmanship and all around cool points for taking on a job like this and actually finishing it.

My Genius Brother has talent like this for building things.

Me? Not so much.

But I can appreciate it when I see it.
Go check the Process page and see some of what was involved in this project.

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Afternoon-
I'm pretty sure it takes that truck to transport them anywhere.

A Must Have Item in the Preparedness Pantry........

For those of you who believe in the Boy Scouts Motto of "Be Prepared", check this out.

I think that comedian, Steven Wright had a joke about this a long time ago.

I could be wrong about that but it made me laugh.

Snowball Warming has hit again in Southern Indiana and the temperature has dropped below freezing again after a day or 2 of warming over the weekend. Oh hell, it's Winter and since it seems to do this same, "get cold every year about this time" thing, you'd think I'd be used to it by now.

I've noticed that there does seem to be a pattern to it.

But hey, look at the bright side. Spring is only 48 days away!

I'm already getting things set up to get seeds started and a plan laid out for the garden.
At least there was some sunshine today. That's the hardest part of Winter, no sunshine.

I can get pretty cranky without enough sunlight. It's not hard to understand how a guy could get Cabin Fever when, like recently here, where we went 10-12 days and never saw any sunshine at all.

Well, at least I haven't gone all, Jack Nicholson yet.

But there are still 48 days left till Spring yet so who knows?

Gratuitous Picture for a Wednesday Afternoon-

Classic case of -"Sounded like a good idea"

Good on the Aussies........

My Dysfunctional Nephew sent me this story from down under.

Hospital staff sick of violent drunks

"THEY spit, vomit, punch and kick. And Rockhampton’s emergency department staff have had their fill of them. Dr Henk Sigle said yesterday doctors and nurses routinely dealt with about 15 violent drunks every weekend who dished out physical and verbal abuse to those who were trying to heal them.

He welcomed the prosecution last week in Rockhampton Magistrates Court of a woman who punched a nurse in the face and revealed the torment faced on a regular basis by medics on the city’s accident and emergency front line."

This kinda shit happens with regularity at every ER I've worked. It does get old fast.
When I was younger I didn't mind so much. Not so much anymore.
I'm too damn old for that crap now a days and have a bad back to boot.

Abuse and assault towards staff has gotten worse and it's not always the drunken patient but often a drunken family member or friend nowadays.
All these assholes want to be John Wayne or some shit and go out in a blaze of glory I guess.
I'm pretty good at not getting my ass smacked, but sometimes they do fool ya.

For a long time it seemed as if we were just expected to put up with it. Not so much anymore and that's a good thing.

But even when you do press charges, it seems like they always get a plea bargain and the "Acting like a Drunken Shit-Fer-Brains in the ER" charges get tossed.
I will say that a lot of the younger cops are more willing to press charges on these assholes and that's ok by me.

I'm pretty sure that if you get and stupid and start causing problems in WalMart, the bank, grocery store, etc, the staff in those places aren't expected to just take it and hope that the perps get charged.

I have had to resort to whupping somebodies ass with an IV pole to protect myself in the past. Which is better than getting my own skinny ass whupped.

Few non-inner city ER's really have adequate security for a "Shit Hits the Fan on Saturday Night" and that's something I don't see being fixed anytime soon with the economy as it is. Fortunately, the cops show up very fast if we need 'em.

So far at least.

Gratuitous Picture for a Tuesday Afternoon-
From Theo Spark
Click to embiggen

Weather Forecast for Chemical Ali.........

Mostly Dead with room temperatures approaching now.

Looks like they hung his ass this morning.
So long shithead.

Gratuitous Picture for a Monday Afternoon-

A 30 Second Encounter ...........
Back in 1990 or '91 I had a chance run in with a Medal of Honor recipient.
I was walking out of the clothing sales building at Ft Sheridan and coming up the sidewalk was this stocky, older E-8 in his dress greens. His uniform had a shitload of ribbons and such on it and up on the top row was the "Blue Max" or Medal of Honor ribbon.

Now to a geek like me, that's sorta like running into Elvis or something and I was in shock.
Fortunately, I remembered my protocol. I stopped and came to attention and saluted him. Holding it till he returned my salute.

I also yelled out "Brave Rifles, Sir!" Even though I wasn't in the 3rd Cavalry anymore.
Like I said, I was pretty much in shock at actually seeing a real live Hero walking and I got a little brain lock there for a minute.

That was the entire encounter but it stuck with me for years.

I never knew just who it was and wondered about it from time to time for many years.
Most web sites with MoH info do not have photos of these guys, just the official citations and occasionally an old picture. So I never figured it out till today.
At least I'm pretty sure. But judging from the picture, it's a sure bet.

Sipsey Street Irregulars had a little post with a link to this video today-


In the closing moments of the video it shows a picture similar this one-


I stopped and did a double take, backed up the video and looked again.

Damn, that's the guy!
I finally found out who he was.

Roy P. Benavidez

Here's his Official Citation here.

When I was in 91A school, that was the Army Medic designation back then, the Cadre Sgt's had told us the story about this guy and his exploits so we'd know what we were expected to live up to.
He was a legend among Medics and I doubt I would have done what he did if put in the same circumstances.

Scratch that. My ass probably would've gotten killed right off the get go. No way in hell I could do what he did.

Sgt Benavidez was such a badass that The Navy Named a Ship After him.



I'm pretty sure you have to be a special kind of Badass to get a ship named after you.

So after darn near 20 years I finally found out who that mystery Hero was.
Cool.

OK, Gotta go.
I got some work to do in the kitchen now-

I Think I May Have Felt ........
a Chris Mathews "Thrill up my leg" yesterday when I read about this poll in the comments at Ace of Spades.

41% Baron Hill (D)
49% Mike Sodrel (R)
10% Undecided

Today, Hoosier Pundit has a good recap of recent, Hill - Sodrel news.

I also added Hoosier Pundit to the links yesterday because he is always on top of things in this part of the world.

I called the Mike Sodrel campaign office yesterday and volunteered to work.
That's a first, but I figure I ought to do something except to send Baron Hill nasty Thank You Cards for his votes on health care, Porkulus and Cap and Trade.

I reached my saturation level with Hill when I went to his TownHall Meeting in Bloomington last Summer and he made his now infamous, "Moment of Truth" about who he thinks runs things in this country.


Well, it didn't help that the little shit was afraid to hold any meetings before that because he sees us as "Political Terrorists" if we don't agree with him.


Yeah, I've had enough of this clown. I'd probably vote for Beelzebub himself if he was running against Baron Hill.
Well, maybe not. But this guy?

Hell yes.
Have to be an improvement.

Someone Needs a Kick in the Nutsack.......

Lots of people really.

Daniel Rubin: It was no joke at security gate

"She would be flying into Detroit on Northwest Airlines, the same city and carrier involved in the attempted bombing on Christmas, just 10 days before. She was tense.

What happened to her lasted only 20 seconds, but she says they were the longest 20 seconds of her life.

After pulling her laptop out of her carry-on bag, sliding the items through the scanning machines, and walking through a detector, she went to collect her things.

A TSA worker was staring at her. He motioned her toward him.

Then he pulled a small, clear plastic bag from her carry-on - the sort of baggie that a pair of earrings might come in. Inside the bag was fine, white powder.

She remembers his words: "Where did you get it?"

Turns out he was f**king with her and thought that shit was funny.
You try that and see how funny the TSA thinks it is.

No, I take that back. Don't try that unless you really like small rooms full of angry men with guns.

Yes, I see the update that says he's "No longer employed with the TSA".
Swell.
This whole situation, and everything TSA related since the Christmas day undieBomber has once again highlighted how screwed up the TSA and Homeland security is from Janet Napolitano on down. No, from the Whitehouse on down.

Shit, read this BS and see if it makes you feel better. Director Of National Intelligence: We Didn't Put The Christmas Day Bomber In Our High Value Interrogation Program Because, Uh, We Don't Have One.

It's a damn Goat Ropin' 24/7 with these assholes. Total fuggin' professionals we have 'eh?

Bah. A pox on the whole bunch of them.

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Morning-

Missed This ........
It seems that Charlie Daniels suffered a Stroke recently

Sounds like he's doing ok and going to be back touring very soon.

I've always liked him and his music & I hope he recovers quick and complete.
Get well, Charlie!



Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Evening-
This Ones For Cliff.

A Good Read For You .........
I mentioned this story is passing a few weeks ago. Last night after work (This morning actually) I got caught up on the story so far. (It's up to chapter 13 now).

I'm thinking that maybe it would benefit some of you to read it now.

The Day the Dollar Died

The guy is a good story teller and there are many things you can and should take away from this journal.

Read it and you'll see what I mean.

Enjoy and feel free to comment on what you think of it here as I'm a feedback whore.

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Morning-
And go take a shower ya slob.

Good For a Laugh.......
Not much good for anything else. But Hey! I'll take a laugh where I can get it.




Gratuitous Picture for a Tuesday Morning-

Like Things in Haiti Weren't Bad Enough Already........

Now we have to worry about Zombies

"Haiti's voodoo priests object to mass burials"

"Dumping the dead in hurriedly excavated mass graves without proper rites is seen as desecration in a country where many believe in zombies -- dead bodies brought back to life by supernatural forces who could persecute the living."

If you don't believe in Zombies ............... How do you explain the current occupant of the White House?

Gratuitous Picture for a Monday Evening-

Best Campaign Video Ever.........
I have no idea who this guy is. Hell, I'm not sure what state he's running in, but I suspect it's Texas.

Yes, he's a goofy bastard but I'd vote for him.
Really. What could possibly go wrong?

And go ahead and tell me you wouldn't start going to school board meetings just to see what kind of crazy shit a guy like that would say.
Yeah, that's what I thought.



Hat tip to Ace of Spades

Crime Watch Friday.....

Well, as we get back into the normal routine here at "The GrumpyUnk Command and Control Bunker" it's time to actually post something.
Here's a couple of things that caught my eye today.

Let's Make a Deal!!
Arizona woman accused of trading child for gun

"PHOENIX » Authorities say they have arrested a Mesa woman who allegedly tried to trade her 2-year-old daughter for a gun.

Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies went to the home of 33-year-old Tanya Nareau on Tuesday after receiving a tip about the swap.

While at Nareau's home, a family friend who had the child confirmed to deputies that Nareau gave the girl to him for a gun.

Deputies say Nareau felt that the friend would do a better job in raising the child."

Huh. Ya Think???
I do have to wonder what kind of weapon it was, though.
Hit tip to IB


Next, from the, "That Name is Just All Wrong for This Story" files comes this-

Missouri White Supremacist Convicted on Weapons Charges

"SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A former Eagle Scout and U.S. Air Force Academy cadet was convicted Tuesday on federal weapons charges after being caught up in an undercover sweep of white supremacists who claimed they used his 200-acre Ozarks spread for survival training.

Robert N. Joos Jr., 57, was arrested at his home in rural McDonald County in June, when brothers Daniel and Dennis Mahon were taken into custody in Illinois and charged in a 2004 mail bombing that injured a black city official in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Joos was not charged in the bombing, but the Mahons told investigators members of the "movement" used Joos' isolated home for training."

Yep, those damn Joos.

Every Skinhead, White Supremacist worth his salt knows that those Joos are part of a conspiracy to control the world.

You'd have thought that somewhere along the line he'd have considered a name change.

Along those same lines......
I did see something yesterday that I'd never seen before. A guy with a portrait tattoo of Hitler covering his back.
This dude has done some prison time and had Aryan Nation tattoos all over him. I mean all over him. Scalp, forehead, neck, back, arms, pretty much everywhere.

YerUnk ain't much on tattoos to begin with but damn. That was some serious shit. Maybe you do what you gotta do to survive in prison. I don't know.
Glad I never got caught doing some of the shit I was involved in as a kid so I never had to find out.

Do you know why Hitler didn't drink alcohol? It made him mean.

I have chores to do now.

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Morning-

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch......

YerUnk has returned from his Secret Rendezvous with Queen Buffness in the wilds of Southern Indiana.

All is well and work beckons tomorrow.

The Queen comes home Friday and all will right in the Kingdom then.

Gratuitous Picture for a Wednesday Evening-

Off To The Secret Rendezvous.......
To meet the Wife. Be gone a couple of days & don't know if I'll have accessibility to the Interwebz.

I have the Ninja Guard Unit here at the GrumpyUnk Command and Control Bunker to keep an eye on things & feed the critters.

Gratuitous Picture of the Guard Unit SGT-

I'd Ask All of You to Read This.......

I read This Market Ticker article a couple of days ago and it's been bothering me ever since.

There is a lot of discussion on it at The Market Ticker Forum that I haven't gotten through yet.

I won't presume to give anyone financial advice and you'd be wise to not accept any from a schlub like me.
But I'm very open to hearing from any and all on this topic.

Ok geniuses, talk to me.

Just got home from a long nasty shift in the ER. Stayed over to help them sort out some of the bullshit that was going on.

Damn people stabbing each other and that sort of shit.

It's late and I need to hit the sack.

Gratuitous Picture for what is now Monday Morning-

So a Guy Goes To The Library......

and asks the Librarian for books on Suicide.

She points him to the right area and off he goes. He returns to the Librarians desk a few minutes later and says, "There's only two books."

And the Librarian says, "I know. They never bring them back."

Willie Nelson

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Afternoon-

How'd I Miss This?????
Finely crafted, intuitive bit from Og.
It's to short to excerpt so I'm copying the whole thing here because I want you to read it.

No, I don't trust ya to go read it either.

"Hey, do you hear that?

yeah, me neither. Just silence.

There’s a couple types of silence, you know? There’s the silence of a moonlit snowy night, lights off, everyone asleep, like outside right now.

There’s also the silence of a hundred and fifty million Americans, safeties off, waiting for the first shot to be fired."

Whoa.
He's always good for making me think. Dangerous thing that.

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Night-

No Global Warming For You..........

Happened to run across this a couple of minutes ago. I can see this shit happening just as an example of God having a sense of humor.

Not by Fire but by Ice

“Earth’s north magnetic pole is racing toward Russia at almost 40 miles a year due to magnetic changes in the planet’s core, new research says.”

"Since ice ages and magnetic reversals appear to occur together, it is entirely likely that what we’re really looking at is the next ice age and, to make matters much worse, a potential magnetic reversal."

Read the whole thing it's pretty interesting.

One thing's fer certain, I damn sure wouldn't want to be Al Gore if this does happen anytime soon.

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Afternoon-

The Threat of Global Warming.......
Left 4-5 inches of snow on the ground so far today.

Yes, this crisis must be dealt with NOW!!!!!!!
All over the globe there are record cold and snow storms that can only be attributed to global warming.
We have to act now before this warming disaster destroys our earth.

It amazes me that people still continue to believe this shit with all of the revelations regarding how the scientists cooked the books and achieved consensus by silencing critics.

I was reminded of all this while shoveling all that accumulated global warming from the sidewalks and drive awhile ago.

And in case you forgot-

These are the same people who expect to be in charge of and administer our health care system after the takeover that's coming.

Lord help us all.

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday-

Lazy Link Dump.........
Some interesting things out there the last couple of days.

Why it's not a good idea to screw around with the Japanese.

As you can expect These guys are pissed about having their boat deep sixed.
I'm not a fan of whaling, but it's hard for me to feel sorry for them.
And seriously, they have a boat named after Bob Barker?

David Codrea at Gun Rights Examiner has some interesting advice from someone who should know.

"Buy a gun," a member of a recently busted inner-city gang told The Buffalo News last week when asked what could be done to curtail homicides. "Hey, I'm just being honest. You asked."
You should be reading the examiner and his War on Guns site everyday.

Some online fiction you may find interesting.
The Day the Dollar Died This links to part 1. I've only gotten to part 6. So far it's pretty interesting.
Check it out.

Ok, that's it for tonight.

Gratuitous picture for a Wednesday Evening-

Seems Like This Viral Bug......
Has been purged from my gastrointestinal tract.
And when I say purged, I mean purged.

Not pretty.

I'm feeling pretty much back to normal today and I'm damn glad of it too.
Rough couple of days there.

Gratuitous Picture for a Wednesday-

For the Man Who Has Everything.......

For Sale to Discriminating Owners

Pride Aircraft is very pleased to announce the availability of the first and only pair of privately-owned, airworthy Sukhoi Su-27 Flankers in the world. Both are two-seat 'UB' models (NATO Code Flanker-C) with full flight instrumentation and controls in both cockpits. These aircraft eclipse every other jet warbird in performance, technological sophistication, and "wow-factor." There simply is no comparison with any other aircraft you can own. They're here in the USA and ready to go.


They have two of 'em.

Price? If you have to ask.......

YerUnk has been down with a stomach bug the last few days. Lite posting till this clears up. Off for a nap.

Gratuitous Picture for a Tuesday-

Best Wedding Cake Ever.........
"Our cake goes to eleven."


The Groom most certainly has scored himself a winner here.

Really, any wife who would give a thumbs up to this is worthy of a lifetime of love and marriage.

It takes a special kind of woman to not take themselves to seriously.

Note to groom. Don't be an asshole & appreciate what you've gotten here.

YerUnk blesses these two and hopes they have a long and wonderful marriage.

Hat tip to-the always entertaining Tam

No gratuitous picture on this post.

Happy New Year to Y'all........

Well 2009 has come and gone. Not much to lament in it's passing either. Here's hoping 2010 is better.

Hope being the operative word here.
No. Not in a "Hope and Change" kinda way either. That shit ain't working out to well so far and I'm sick of hearing it.

More like a, "I Hope a small meteor hits Washington, DC while congress is in session and Changes the political landscape."

That's the kinda- "Change I can believe in."

But since that ain't real likely I guess we'll just have to keep on keeping on and see what happens.

I'm not real big on New Years Resolutions and never have been. But there are a few things I'd like to accomplish this year.
I want to get a wood burning stove installed here. I have a small stove already, but I haven't been able to afford the piping for the thing. The good shit costs a fortune. Over a hundred bucks for a 4 foot section. Ouch.

If my current budget holds up we should have all the outstanding medical bills, etc paid off in another few months. That'll leave only the house and the monthly crap that goes with it. That should free up some cash for projects like this.

Another project I have is a well here that the previous owner started, that for some reason is just sitting there. A 6 inch casing with a bucket over it. There's water in it and I've been periodically measuring the levels and it's been pretty consistent.
I'd like to develop it and see if there's a steady source of good water there. I called and talked to the former owner this Summer and he was kinda vague on why he never developed it fully. Said they broke a drill bit off in it and couldn't fish it out, etc.

He's had a stroke or 2 and seems to have some problems with his memory so I'm not sure about some of the things he told me.
I took a string and tied some washers to it and dropped in in there and it measures around 90 foot to the bottom. The water level stays between 35 and 40 foot down. I have no idea how fast the refill rate is on it at this point.
There's no reason to think that there's anything contaminating it, but if it turns out that it has good flow I'll have it tested to be sure.
Then it's just a matter of setting up a permanent pump of some sort. Electric or manual? We'll figure that out if and when we get there. A solar pump system would be titties and beer, but cost is likely to rule that out.

Fencing repair and some new fence is a wish list item. Unless I get lucky and find some cheap at an auction or something, that's not likely to happen.

Update: Not 2 hours after posting this I ran across a guy selling a pile of used metal T posts! Picked up the whole pile cheap. That's the way to start the year off.

Of course, I would like to resolve to see next year role in, but one never knows.
I'll do my part and try not to do anything stupid.

You may not realize how big a challenge that is.

Or maybe you do!

Gratuitous Picture for New Years Day-
Think Meteors. It could happen.