Odds & Ends

My stream of conscious babbling.

It’s Friday the 13th. Anyone still care about that crap?

I don’t

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I didn’t watch the debate. I can’t stand listening to either one of them. But I did view the streaming commentary on PJ Media, at least for a bit. Big surprise, she lies. Harris is dumb as a post but she is cunning and can memorize and parrot lines. TBH, she’s as unlikeable as Hillary Clinton. Probably more so. I’d say she reminds dudes of “ex wife” but she’s infinitely worse, I think.

We didn’t learn much, other than she’s done nothing, and is perceived as having done nothing.

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“Feels like” temps are bullshit these days. This week has been glorious. Nowhere near has hot as they said it would be. Supposedly the heat is back this weekend, and next week with bullshit ‘feels like’ over 100. Nope. It’ll be like a few weeks ago. Hot enough, but not oppressive. It’ll feel like what temperature it is.

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I have a neurologist appt next week. It’ll be fun. I originally went for the nerves in my jaw, and he was mostly useless about it, so I ended up finding the one oral surgeon that knew anything about the condition in this metroplex, who outlined the four options: Lyrica – shitty side effects, Tramadol – an Opioid, need to take it regularly or you get withdrawal, Botox, which may or may not work, and may make your face droop as well, and brain surgery to whack the part of the brain that’s causing the issue. No Gracias. Lately, he’s focusing on dementia. Only reason I’m going is to explore why he thinks that. Failing a good or entertaining reason for that, He’ll be out of my entourage like the others.

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Speaking of Doctors, I got a call to schedule my Colonoscopy. Oh joy!

The woman barely spoke English, and asked me all sorts of questions that I, no doubt, will have to re-answer on a paper form. We set the happy date as Thanksgiving week. Then she called back, after the good doctor told her he needed to see me first to talk about my destroyed throat and esophagus. Figured that would happen. They normally scope both ends with me. I have a laryngologist virtual appointment coming up. I’m sure she’ll order a CAT scan. I may be able to wave off a scoping there.

And here I was about to blow the rest of my FSA on cool shades to wear on the bike.

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With Biden on the bench, many are thinking “hey, hold up, how long have you all known this?“. Harris had to know. They all knew. Why did they hide it? They have to protect their phony baloney jobs, of course.

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Right on queue, you have republican party reptiles backing Cackles McSidechick. The Cheneys, Paul Ryan, and others. They are part of the problem. What’s in it for them, I wonder?

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That big pickemup truck of yours is a killin’ machine! I’ve heard this all before. They are so much bigger than before! Bullshit, I say. So what, I also say. I had an 85 Chebbie 2500 Silverado Diesel. It was a pretty big truck with very little plastic. Ever see a 74 F-350 4×4 lifted? it’s all steel and wider than today’s trucks.

That said, some stats; My Excursion tips the scales at 3.5T. A new F-150 is between 4300 and 4600 lbs, depending on configuration. Call it 2.25 tons. For comparison, a Tesla Model X, pretty ubiquitous around here, clocks in at 5441 lbs. With people and crap in it, call it 3 tons.

FWIW, Kinetic Energy, what causes the damage, is 1/2 mass times velocity squared. Mass matters, and it doesn’t matter how it’s configured.

What that means is a Tesla will go through a guardrail like butter. It’ll severely damage anything in it’s path, like crowds of people, just like that truck.

And unlike EVs, that these fools have an incurable chubby for, they don’t ignite and incinerate everything around them.

There are far bigger, far heavier, vehicles on the road.

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I got this from Knuckledraggin, about the working dogs on 911 at the WTC. We don’t deserve dogs. I remember a report at the time that they would have to have a firefighter hide in the debris so the dogs could find him live and have a win. The rescue dogs were getting despondent at finding only the dead. The dog at the end made me tear up. She got old, the last dog to die. Her end years saw her as a service dog, helping kids to read out loud.

In retirement, Bretagne became a reading dog at a local elementary school. First graders, too shy to read aloud, would read to a white-faced, elderly retriever who looked them in the eyes and smiled.

Bretagne visited students with special needs. She visited students with autism. She visited everyone.

She suffered kidney failure at age 16. She was put to sleep on June 7, 2016, and became the last of the 9/11 rescue dogs to end her earthly career.

Bretagne hobbled into the Cypress, Texas, animal hospital, one sunny Monday, only to discover the sidewalks and hallways were lined with firefighters, first responders, and rescue workers who saluted her.

Her remains were later escorted from the hospital, draped in an American flag.

Dusty in here all of a sudden…

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Speaking of 911, the fruits and berries were out in force yesterday.

Everyone of them a fuggin’ structural engineer. Riddle me this, you controlled demolition conspiracy guys; How do you prep a building for collapse with no one seeing and noticing? Ever see one of those documentaries on how they do it? It’s an intrusive process, to say the least. Notice that it’s done on unloaded (empty) buildings because they have to be unstable before they can collapse. The explosives trigger the collapse, they are not the cause.

The WTC was an exoskeleton design. How to you install explosives in that, without someone noticing?

These fools see the shitty 15fps footage of a building camera from the pentagon and declare the silver streak to be a cruise missile. Really? Where’d it come from? Why is the damage through three rings, each exterior wall 22″ block, the interior walls being metal lathe and plaster from the ’40s? I’ve been in it. Anyone that has done telecom and network jobs in those old buildings in DC know how tough they are.

A cruise missile wouldn’t have made it through the outer ring. 1/2 mass times velocity squared, remember? Doesn’t matter if it’s motion or an explosion, it’s kinetic energy all the sale.
And what about the plane parts? They were there. Engines wheels, chunks of fuselage. I used to live there and drive past the pentagon every day. I know people that saw it. I know people that worked on cleanup. Stop it.

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I was threatened yesterday by a pack of three dogs loose on my block whilst out walking the pups. A husky, a chocolate lab, and a pit bull. Aria and Winston were bigger than any of them, and were having none of it. Their growls and bared teeth sent the proper message, that a few feet closer and they’d be riding on the pain train.

All the time, their shithead owner was hollering for them, from his house it seemed, to come back. Really? Get off yer ass and follow them.

I realized I need to carry a weapon of sorts. Maybe my .44, but more likely my baton. My EDC knife is a Kershaw Leek. It’s a fantastic knife, but it will require me to get up close and personal in a dog fight. I don’t mind, but I’d prefer not to suffer the damage.

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I saw a great series on Netflix called Dark Winds. It takes place on an Indian reservation in the 70s. It’s really well done, and the Sheriff is a pretty cool dude played by Zahn McClarnon.

Towards the end, it has probably the best scene of a man apologizing to another man, and asking forgiveness. The Deputy (McClarnon) has a friend he grew up with. After the Deputy’s son died, the had some words, the friend charged him and got shot in the leg for his efforts. The series opens with that friend’s daughter being murdered.

There is animosity and grief between the two for most of the seasons.

The Deputy finds her killer, and her body which he returns to the family. Towards the end, the deputy goes to ask his friend more questions about the case he’s building. The man is sitting off to the side. He walks over and his friend (still mourning his daughter) tells him he now understands the pain the deputy was in, losing his son, and now viscerally understands the level of pain the Deputy was in. He told him how sorry he was and asked forgiveness for saying the hurtful things he said, he had no right to say, and breaks down. They make up.

It was a profound, powerful scene in a great series.

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I’ve been watching the Tucker Carlson live tour. Today was Dan Bongino. I like the dude’s style and New York accent.

“You know why I do it?…Because it sucks that’s why I do it…your brain is intricantly wired by the intelligent creator to have to earn every ounce of happiness…Ever listen to Goggins? You should be doing things that suck..”

He goes on to say how wonderful his Friday nights are at his date night with his wife, because it doesn’t suck, he earned that. I’m the same way. I’m in a fine mood all day Friday. I’ve worked all week, I’m wrapping up. I worked out hard, fulfilled my commitments all week. Now, my time is my own. End of the day, my dogs pile into the truck and we go spend a happy weekend with the girl.

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Speaking of which, that’s where I’m headed tonight. Have a good one.