Petroleum Prices Pendulous

My truck, near Paradise, CA!

OK. I should not complain. I only have to drive about a mile to work. My truck gets decent milage compared to most. My wife drives a Hybrid. Still, yesterday, I had to refuel. I have not done so in about 3 weeks. It cost me $48 for 13 gallons. I know, we have, in comparison with other localities, relatively low fuel prices, but, for crying out loud! That is ALOT of money! I would love to spend $50 on other things...like books, or airplane stuff. How about wine? Or Steak! I love a good steak, freshly grilled and smoked.





I am going to jump on my soap box: Why haven't car makers seen this fuel crisis coming? I am certain they have, but they kept making gas guzzlers. Now, I hear there is a waiting list for hybrids here in Central Washington. Ha! Demand has gone up and outpaced the ability to produce them. Ours came from Idaho. I am betting that dealers are reluctant to let go of their hybrids to other dealers. I know there are good reasons for having a gas guzzler, but, is it necessary to drive one around in small parking lots? Maybe we should have started getting smaller cars or more efficient ones earlier from the car makers? How about that electric car they had in California in the early 80s? What happened to that? The big auto makers put in the dust bin.





Ok, how about the oil companies? why are they maing record profits? It might be because we are using more...but, really? Are there that many more cars on the roads? Haven't they recovered from Hurricane Katrina, yet? What is the latest natural disaster they are blaming it on? I may be uninformed on these subjects, but, as a consumer it seems a little fishy. I don't like it. In Spanish: No Ma Gusta!!!! No Ma Gusta!!!

Arthropods Suck

Ants. I hate ants. I am speaking of the insect, not your Aunt Bessy. ( I am really quite fond of parents’ sisters.) I got home today and began to empty the garbage, because I had forgotten to this morning. As I pulled it out from under the sink I noticed the coffee grounds were moving. I have hated ants since they raised their ugly little feelers shortly after we moved in. OK, they come because I am a pig. I leave stuff on the counter that I shouldn’t. I can’t stop. I can only prolong the amount of time it takes before I forget and leave some sugar on the counter. Maybe I hate them because I hate my own pigginess. Nevertheless, when they come into the house, I feel an inhuman rage that makes me go to extreme lengths to kill each and every one of them. This afternoon, it was simply to take the garbage out, then come back in and spray the hell out of the under-sink area with poison. I would use explosives, but Cora thinks we will need some resale value from the house. I have bombed the house…the underside. I have used nasty home remedies. I have even attempted to squish the little bastards, one-by-one. The only thing is the little bastards stink. They appear to be what people call sugar ants…which, I am assuming, is because they like sugar, not because of how they taste. (NO, I have not tasted them, but if you give me your name and address, I will send you an un-poisoned sample to try. Then you can get back to me. It is in the name of science, so I am expecting a large number of you to request ant samples.) They appear to come from nowhere. Then they disappear again.

On the bright side, this is Tuesday! Deadliest Catch is on. So, I get to watch men on boats causing the deaths of arthropods! (Did you know that Arthropoda is the largest phylum of animals? It includes crustaceans, insects, and spiders to name but a few. An ant is an insect, which is an arthropod. Therefore, logically, Deadliest Catch is about killing ants. I love that show.)

I taught Kinders today. What a joy. Only one timeout. I asked the child after several chances, what I should do with him. He answered, quietly, and with a little remorse, “Send me to time out.” It was all I could do to send him without laughing. I love it. They are so sweet at that age!

Well, Cora is Bass Fishing via Wii…I think I will try to join her expedition.

Flying on Instruments?

More Music today. I did not dance as much as last time. I did get a few more requests to sub. Unfortunately I am working those days already. I would love to know who these people had subbing for them a couple months ago…I guess I just needed to get my excellence out there. (that was tongue in cheek, there, for those of you who think I have a horrid ego) But, I had a good day. Added a little humor to the day, and the afternoon music teacher seemed to enjoy my being there. We did not depend on instruments, but rather a CD player.

I took in our book. Cora was looking around a few weeks ago and found this part of the Costco site that allowed you to publish a book with your photos in it. It is a hard bound book. It took us about an evening and a little more to finish making it, then we sent it to the site on Sunday. We got it on Saturday. IT IS AWESOME!! Looks like a coffee table book. It is beautiful. I took it to work and several teachers went ga ga over it. Many asking where they could get their own. Yeah, I am cool. I am also awesome, not to mention spiffy.

You saw my wing tip. You have heard about my auxiliary tank (drop tank). You have seen my helicopter pilot helmet. I am not certain you have seen my instruments. I have informed Cora that my ultimate goal is to build an airplane from all the spare parts that I obtain. So, here you will see my lovely instrument collection. I shall eventually build it! (my airplane) My latest acquisition is the landing gear and flaps gage, in the middle. Pretty cool collection, huh? I am patient.

Wii are Fishing!

Fishing from the armchair…what could be better, especially if you don’t care for the way it tastes. We still have the in-law’s Wii. Cora and I opened her Dad’s fishing game. OMG, it is too fun. Jeez, I sound like a little girl, but, seriously, it is SO MUCH fun! It is a bass fishing game and you cast and reel and change bait…it is addicting. I ALMOST had an 18 pounder. We have been playing it all afternoon.

Apparently the idiots at Best Buy forgot to mention that you need a few other things…wires and a power strip…and who knows what else they forgot…when you buy one of those ginormous televisions. My in-laws are unhappy. They can’t use their giant LCD TV, yet. I can’t believe the amount of trouble Best Buy has been to work with lately. If any of the Best Buy executives read this blog, could you be a bit nicer to my In-Laws? I think it’s bad business to do that kind of stuff! When I worked at Home Depot, they wanted you to sell the WHOLE project to the customer…and if there was a better product elsewhere, then tell the customer for god’s sake, the customer remembers those kinds of things and will come back because you tried to save them a few bucks…apparently Best Buy is run by idiots.

Well, Cora is having trouble bringing fish to the boat. I had better help….no luck for her this time.

We had Corned Beef…mmmm-mmm good. Along with boiled Carrots and Cabbage. Well, I had better see if I can get some fishing in.

Words Not Often Uttered

“Toby, where is your lobster?” This was Cora speaking to our loveable(?) jack russell. Of course, we do have a recovering reef tank, but this is not about our reef tank, nor any invertebrates inside. NO. We bought Toby a lobster toy…stuffed, with little ropes. We gave it to him yesterday and he did his regular pace and drag. Carrying the lobster around in his mouth while wandering aimlessly to find a place where Gypsy would not find it…as if Gypsy had any kind of interest. Well, it disappeared for awhile. Then it reappeared. It began as a red and white toy. The net time we saw it, however, it was brown. He had apparently buried it then had second thoughts. Cora screamed and then noted that the brown had spread to his blanket and bed… She washed everything. He proceeded to be a little git the rest of the evening, since he could NOT lie in his bed without his blanket or his toy. He is a pathetic dog.

He would jump up on Cora’s chair and lap. He would not be happy. Yet, he does obtain some interesting positions. Here is proof of the cuteness of his bottom…No, I don't run around taking pictures of dog butts...just this one.

Light of the Crusader

The Vought F-8 Crusader was a single-seat, single-engine, jet fighter. It carried canon, something its replacement, the F-4 Phantom, could not boast. Its pilots called themselves Gunfighters. They were good at their profession, and to add to their status, their aircraft was never asked to drop bombs down in the weeds like F-4 Phantom crews were. And, unlike the Phantom, it took one man to fly, not a team. That meant if you came back from your mission, it was all because of the pilot's skill, not because of the fact that he had a GIB (guy in back) to help him read a map, or remind him which buttons not to push.

On our spectacular trip to Arizona a month ago, I bought the wingtip of an F-8 crusader. The F-8 has been retired for several years. The last flight of an F-8 anywhere took place in 1999. I believe it was a NASA bird, in service long after the majority of its brethren had been to the boneyard. The wing tip I have is not big, nor particularly special. It is about 12 inches long, 4 inches wide and about 2 inches thick. It did, however, retain a wingtip light. I managed to break the bulb, but it had corroded, so it wasn’t because I was being rough.

Today I picked up a chandelier socket on a wire and a bulb. I removed the old bulb holder and replaced it with my new one. It functions quite nicely. It gets a bit warm, but, it looks neat. What do you think?

Caught with my wee Wii out!

On the off chance that it is possible to beat Cora telling everyone and their cousin, I want to let everyone AND their cousin know: I got caught. We borrowed her mom and dad’s Wii (interactive video game). We were playing said Wii. Golf. I was attempting to make a putt, but was having no luck. We had opened the windows and blinds while we were bowling, because we got hot. I was just about to give it a good wack…the ball…and I happened to look out the window. Two school age kids…boys…were standing on the sidewalk watching and, apparently, enjoying the show. I told them to go on. I suppose it would not have been AS embarrassing, but I was in boxers…and, that’s about it.