thirteen days and five million miles after blasting off, discovery and her crew glided back into fla today, with the usual giant thud of a sonic boom that always catches me by surprise even when i knew it was coming.
call it a flying greyhound bus, a garbage scow, or whatever...but it still amazes me that this thing can ride piggyback into space, function like a giant mobile workshop/travel trailer, and fly back home with pinpoint precision.
only a few more missions to come for these awesome machines, hard to believe they've been flying with almost no configuration changes for nearly three decades...i hope their retirement won't spell the end of our space program.
welcome home.
jtc
Saturday, March 28, 2009
wow...
sham guy pinched for pummeling prostitute...
damn, dude; you gotta let the "makeup guy" do his thing before the "camera guy" does his.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
apparently it's been decided...
that this free-market capitalism thing just ain't working out...
i guess we've been doing it wrong the past couple of centuries.
jtc
i guess we've been doing it wrong the past couple of centuries.
jtc
Saturday, March 21, 2009
race day in sebring...
the twelve hours of sebring race is under way here, about an hour and a half to go...i just took ozzie the dachshund for a walk and with the stiff easterly breeze i could hear the racers going through the gears even though the track is a good ten miles from my home. those grand prix prototype cars along with the normal contingent of ferraris, porsches, and corvettes running in their respective classes are deafening when you're at the track, but at this distance it sounds a bit like an angry gaggle of crotchrockets.
i haven't been out to the race in a few years; for one thing since i semi-retired we've been spending most of our time up at the north georgia place and haven't been in town for the mid-march madness, but also i don't see all my old buds with the sheriff's office that used to toss me hundred-dollar supertickets which made it feasible for me to drive out and check out the craziness for a few hours on raceday. most race fans know that sebring is serious business for the teams and the sponsors; several indy-500 winners are driving this year along with all the big names in lemans-style roadracing and the usual batch of celebrities-cum-racers, but for the fans, it's all about the party which lasts for a solid week with camping, drinking, cruising, and flashing being the main attractions. that's not my cup of tea (anymore), but it's still a trip to take it all in once in a while.
and even if you don't go out to the track, the event is unescapable in this little town, as all the restaurants, hotels, and the main highway are loaded with racers and fans...you'll never see more ferraris, porsches, audis, vettes, and other exotic vehicles driven by rich wannabes in such a concentrated place than at sebring during race week...quite a change from the normal winter crowd of snowbird q-tips driving forty mph in the left-hand lane in their caddys and towncars, and a pretty cool change of pace.
well, i'm going to watch the final laps on speed-tv; they're covering the race flag to flag, and for an old fart it's a hell of a lot more comfortable. the audi turbo-diesel has had a lock on the overall for several years (although porsche shocked them last year), but in the last few races, the peugeot has given them a run. and this year everyone was surprised when acura's brand new entry won the pole with one of those indy champs as the anchor driver. should be an interesting finish.
jtc
update: race just ended at 10:30 p.m., and surprise! audi wins again...those krauts can build a hotrod; ho hum.
i haven't been out to the race in a few years; for one thing since i semi-retired we've been spending most of our time up at the north georgia place and haven't been in town for the mid-march madness, but also i don't see all my old buds with the sheriff's office that used to toss me hundred-dollar supertickets which made it feasible for me to drive out and check out the craziness for a few hours on raceday. most race fans know that sebring is serious business for the teams and the sponsors; several indy-500 winners are driving this year along with all the big names in lemans-style roadracing and the usual batch of celebrities-cum-racers, but for the fans, it's all about the party which lasts for a solid week with camping, drinking, cruising, and flashing being the main attractions. that's not my cup of tea (anymore), but it's still a trip to take it all in once in a while.
and even if you don't go out to the track, the event is unescapable in this little town, as all the restaurants, hotels, and the main highway are loaded with racers and fans...you'll never see more ferraris, porsches, audis, vettes, and other exotic vehicles driven by rich wannabes in such a concentrated place than at sebring during race week...quite a change from the normal winter crowd of snowbird q-tips driving forty mph in the left-hand lane in their caddys and towncars, and a pretty cool change of pace.
well, i'm going to watch the final laps on speed-tv; they're covering the race flag to flag, and for an old fart it's a hell of a lot more comfortable. the audi turbo-diesel has had a lock on the overall for several years (although porsche shocked them last year), but in the last few races, the peugeot has given them a run. and this year everyone was surprised when acura's brand new entry won the pole with one of those indy champs as the anchor driver. should be an interesting finish.
jtc
update: race just ended at 10:30 p.m., and surprise! audi wins again...those krauts can build a hotrod; ho hum.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
now lemmee get dis straight...
you puts de lime in de coconut...sorry, i can't write that first line without my pea brain adding the second.
what i meant was, let me get straight just how it is a capitalist economy works: apparently the stock market zoomed up 380 today based largely on the head of citibank saying they're showing a profit for the first quarter...and all it took was taking a few bil from sam, burning through that, and coming back and saying, hey listen, why don't you just buy into this great biz, you know, gimmee another decade's worth of national output, and we'll give you this here certificate saying you own a third of the joint -wink,wink-.
then we'll get the head of the big printing press to say that "we won't allow the big banks to fail..." so, hell, we can't go wrong. we'll just keep on keepin' on and those taxpayer patsies will keep us propped up; what could possibly go wrong?
what...the...fluck is going on? lenin must be grinnin'.
well, back to the music...you puts de lime in de coconut and drink 'em bot' toget'er,
you puts de lime in de coconut den you feel better...
nah, i'm gonna have to have something a little stronger than that.
jtc
what i meant was, let me get straight just how it is a capitalist economy works: apparently the stock market zoomed up 380 today based largely on the head of citibank saying they're showing a profit for the first quarter...and all it took was taking a few bil from sam, burning through that, and coming back and saying, hey listen, why don't you just buy into this great biz, you know, gimmee another decade's worth of national output, and we'll give you this here certificate saying you own a third of the joint -wink,wink-.
then we'll get the head of the big printing press to say that "we won't allow the big banks to fail..." so, hell, we can't go wrong. we'll just keep on keepin' on and those taxpayer patsies will keep us propped up; what could possibly go wrong?
what...the...fluck is going on? lenin must be grinnin'.
well, back to the music...you puts de lime in de coconut and drink 'em bot' toget'er,
you puts de lime in de coconut den you feel better...
nah, i'm gonna have to have something a little stronger than that.
jtc
Monday, March 9, 2009
war in the mountains and desert...
and i don't mean afghanistan or iraq.
this is just f'n stupid. the only reason for the existence of this shit is the ignorant, misguided, and self-serving "war on drugs"...a misnomer if there ever was one for what in reality is the "war for drugs".
so let's throw a few billion at it...yeah, that'll work; who the hell do they think is going to wind up with that money, those supplies, and all that training? actually, they know who will and say so right in the story:
"The violence that most concerns U.S. authorities is the rivalry between Gulf cartel thugs known as Los Zetas — many of them former military and police officers trained in counternarcotics tactics in the United States — and Los Negros, the Sinaloa cartel’s narco-military brigade."
so let's just train up some reinforcements for when their "internecine" wars have depleted their supplies, right?
and while we're at it, let's go ahead and throw the blame for all that firepower on the right of Americans to own the means to protect themselves from these thugs as they "extend their network from inner U.S. cities to suburban and rural areas.”
decriminalize the possession and use of personal amounts of this shit, and this entire "problem" dries up and blows away...and all those "overlords" can then just get in line to swim the rio grande like proper wetbacks should. and that two billion bucks? that would build a helluva wall, wouldn't it?
jtc
this is just f'n stupid. the only reason for the existence of this shit is the ignorant, misguided, and self-serving "war on drugs"...a misnomer if there ever was one for what in reality is the "war for drugs".
so let's throw a few billion at it...yeah, that'll work; who the hell do they think is going to wind up with that money, those supplies, and all that training? actually, they know who will and say so right in the story:
"The violence that most concerns U.S. authorities is the rivalry between Gulf cartel thugs known as Los Zetas — many of them former military and police officers trained in counternarcotics tactics in the United States — and Los Negros, the Sinaloa cartel’s narco-military brigade."
so let's just train up some reinforcements for when their "internecine" wars have depleted their supplies, right?
and while we're at it, let's go ahead and throw the blame for all that firepower on the right of Americans to own the means to protect themselves from these thugs as they "extend their network from inner U.S. cities to suburban and rural areas.”
decriminalize the possession and use of personal amounts of this shit, and this entire "problem" dries up and blows away...and all those "overlords" can then just get in line to swim the rio grande like proper wetbacks should. and that two billion bucks? that would build a helluva wall, wouldn't it?
jtc
Sunday, March 8, 2009
a year done come and gone...
yesterday was a year since i decided to blather a bit here as well as in comments on some of my preferred blogstops. i'm not very prolific, and i don't really write for others to read (good thing since few do), but it's nice to have a place to throw down a few thoughts now and then and have them saved; for what possible purpose i have no idea.
it's been a pretty shitty year in a lot of ways that are worldly, but personally i can't complain too much. my son sold his business in north georgia and started a new one back here in fla which i'm helping him get off the ground, so we're spending most of our time here and not in the ga mountains that i greatly prefer; we're selling both of the houses up there (great timing for that, eh?) but we'll still spend time in that area in the summer to escape the stifle here.
i'm old enough that most of the bad decisions being made on a national and global scale right now won't have a huge effect on me, unless of course one of the kettle of krazies on the world stage decide that it's their "time". but it's hard to have much confidence in the future for my kids and grandkids...i guess my parents must have had similar thoughts during my youth in the tumultuous 60's and early 70's; we can only hope and pray that these difficult times, too, will pass.
i doubt i'll do much posting in the coming year; i'll have to be pretty active in eric's business, and we hope to sell both the ga. houses and maybe even the fla. house this year and find a small acreage place around ocala/gainesville so the kids and grandkids can get to us conveniently, and us to them. but i'll still drop my two cents now and then here and in the few places i like to follow. bless us all as we meander through this phase of life in what is still the greatest nation in the world.
jtc
it's been a pretty shitty year in a lot of ways that are worldly, but personally i can't complain too much. my son sold his business in north georgia and started a new one back here in fla which i'm helping him get off the ground, so we're spending most of our time here and not in the ga mountains that i greatly prefer; we're selling both of the houses up there (great timing for that, eh?) but we'll still spend time in that area in the summer to escape the stifle here.
i'm old enough that most of the bad decisions being made on a national and global scale right now won't have a huge effect on me, unless of course one of the kettle of krazies on the world stage decide that it's their "time". but it's hard to have much confidence in the future for my kids and grandkids...i guess my parents must have had similar thoughts during my youth in the tumultuous 60's and early 70's; we can only hope and pray that these difficult times, too, will pass.
i doubt i'll do much posting in the coming year; i'll have to be pretty active in eric's business, and we hope to sell both the ga. houses and maybe even the fla. house this year and find a small acreage place around ocala/gainesville so the kids and grandkids can get to us conveniently, and us to them. but i'll still drop my two cents now and then here and in the few places i like to follow. bless us all as we meander through this phase of life in what is still the greatest nation in the world.
jtc
Saturday, March 7, 2009
hey, it's the thrifty thing to do...
if you're in the midst of an argument with some dink over right to carry, and all the obvious reasoning just doesn't take, tell him you just want to save him some money...
jtc
jtc
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
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