As promised

Last month in
http://the-tigers-eye.blogspot.com/2007/10/whatcha-been-dooin-willis.html

Here are the before and after shots of one of the bathrooms.

Before:


And After:



Before:



And After:



It's amazing what a new tub surround, new floors, new sink and a coat of paint will do for a room!

Huh!?! I never would'a guessed

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast   Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
Philadelphia
Boston
The Inland North
North Central
The South
The West
The Midland
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

(Author's comment)

Just goes to show'ya how accurate these online quizzes are. I answered it as accurately as I could and look how it comes out! Just for SNG I took it again and I came out as The South!

For the record, Hoosier born-n-bred. Lived within 150 miles of Indy all my life. ALTHOUGH I would not be offended if someone mistook me for a Southern boy.

Sometimes I think MY job is important.

Then I read something like this:

http://jbontherocks.blogspot.com/2007/10/why-do-you-do-this.html

(caution - there is some profanity but given the story and personages it's germane).

Will wonders ever cease?

I subscribe to the Dictionary.com's "word of the day" and usually find the word is one I already know. (I may not use it but I comfort myself in that as least I do know what it means.)

Today's word is a completely new one for me.

Deipnosophist \dyp-NOS-uh-fist\, noun:

"Someone who is skilled in table talk."

"...At the age of six his future as a deipnosophist seemed certain. Guzzling filched apples he loved to prattle. Hogging the pie he invariably piped up and rattled on."
-- Ellis Sharp, "The Bloating of Nellcock"

The Obligatory Holiday post

I think "unwritten blog rule No. 32" says that when ever a Holiday roles around you have to commemorate it with a post. That being said, here is the 2007 Thanksgiving Post.

I am immensely thankful for so much.

I have a lovely wife who's very presence in my life makes me a better man.
Thank you love, without you I would only be me.

I have a wonderful daughter of whom I am incredibly proud.
Thank you, TBB. You keep me young at heart.

I have fantastic parents who after 50 years of marriage still look at each other like it was 1957.
Thank you for the example you share with us.

I work at a job that I love, at a profession that I have been blessed to be talented in with fellow professionals who are among the best in our industry.
Thanks guys, you inspire me to work harder and better every time I go to work.

I have good friends who do the things that friends are supposed to do. When you are down they bring you back up, when you are too full of yourself they pop that balloon and when you are happy they will share in your joy.
Thanks for putting up with my bloviating.

Most of all, I am thankful to a great God who came into this world to save us. Who gave us his mother to love us as only a mother can and who will return in glory to make us whole.

Crazy Indian Video... Buffalaxed!

OK, I thought I had seen the funniest thing in a long time.
Then I saw THIS.
(caution there is "suggestive dancing, inappropriate subtitles and a few profanities).

My Fav 5 list 2

OK as promised here are the favorite 5 aircraft post 1960.

(Yes I realize that all of them were designed in the 1950's but they DID serve after 1960.

No. 5

F-106 Delta Dart

OK, this may not be original but EVERY schoolboy has made a paper airplane. This aircraft is as close to that simple folded paper delta wing as you can get. Fast, demanding but very effective as an interceptor, the F-106 was one of those planes you either loved or hated. I loved her.

No. 4

RA-5C Vigilante

This baby just looked fast and wicked sitting still. It was designed as a nuclear attack bird and then the Navy decided to put it's A-Bombs on missiles so they turned it into a dedicated fast reconnaissance aircraft.

No. 3, No 2 (tie)

A-4 Skyhawk and the SR-71 Blackbird

I always loved Ed Heinneman's little "scooter". If I ever had the money this is one plane I would buy just to look at.

What aerophile doesnt love the Blackbird? I once knew a person who was a crewchief for a Blackbird. I was in awe of them. I could not imagine ever leaving that position.

No. 1

B-58 Hustler

Fast and demanding on crews, the Hustler could outrun most fighters of her era. There were never many and those that did serve spent much time in the hangers being "upgraded" in order to fly. The Air Force never found a place for this craft, it didnt fit with the "LeMay's Big Bomber Fleet" theories and it was years ahead of its time and once gone it took the Airforce another 15 years before it saw the need for a supersonic strategic bomber. In its day the B-58 broke 12 world speed records and won almost every major aviation award in existence. http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b-58-rec.htm

Here is a bit more on this favorite bird:

http://www.faqs.org/docs/air/avb58.html

She wasn't perfect by any means but man was she sexy.

Top 5 favorite aircrraft

Over at firemissionhippiesintheopen.blogspot.com/, Prestersean picks up a meme that is running through a few blogs. Name your top 5 favorite aircraft of all time.

I decided to take up the challenge as many know I am simply nuts over aircraft. I think that I will break mine up into two groups.

Older than 1960 and 1960 on.

No. 5

The Hughes H1 air racer

I never really knew much about this one till I visited the National Air and Space Museum and immediately fell in love. This plane just screams speed while sitting still. It was truly ahead of its time.

No 4.

The F4U Corsair

I had a small Bachmann Miniplane model of this aircraft when I was a kid. I used to read about the exploits of the Black Sheep Squadron and dream of being wingman to Pappy Boyington in a blue F4U flying off of some small Pacific Island.

No. 3

The De Havilland Mosquito

One of the great war movies of my childhood was "633 Squadron" which was about a Mosquito squadron's attacks on a Nazi Nuclear factory in Norway. It featured a number of flying examples. This was my introduction to the Mossie as she was fondly referred to by her pilots.

No. 2

The Heinkel He-219 Uhu

A Dedicated Nightfighter, the Uhu was a dreadful scourge on the Lancaster and Halifax fleets over Germany in WWII. It was produced in very limited numbers due to a political falling out that Herr Heinkel had with the Nazi hierarchy. Too bad for them. Had this marvellous plane been produced in larger numbers the night bombing raids would have been far bloodier for the British.

No. 1

The Locheed P-38 Lightning.

this beautiful plane has always held a sweet spot in my mind. It just looks so fast and cool. It is as if a fantastic comic-book dream suddenly sprang to life. When I visited the Air force Museum in Dayton, Oh. I was able to see one of these up close. You are immediately struck by how small it is in comparison to other twin engine aircraft. It really isn't all that much larger than a P-51. I cant imagine what it must have felt like to solo in one of these. There were no 2 seat trainer versions so you basically passed your advanced training then once you familiarized yourself with the cockpit layout and discussed the basic handling with an instructor, you were then on your own. Many novice pilots were lost learning to fly this beast but those who passed became the USAAF's highest scoring pilots. The Germans had a particular nickname for the P-38; ""der Gabelschwanz-Teufel" – the Fork-Tailed Devil" because of it's dangerous character. Many Luftwaffe pilots learned that it wasn't your typical easy kill that most twin engined aircraft were. It was surprisingly manueuvrable and exceedingly fast.

That's it for the Pre 1960 group.

1960 to the present will come in the next few days.

UPDATE:

Did'ya see what turned up in Wales?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311724,00.html

Ya just can't keep a good girl down!

A Movie Review

The Departed

http://imdb.com/title/tt0407887/
Another masterpiece by Scorsese.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Was SSgt Dignam the "Real" mole?

"The biggest upset in Indiana political history"

On the second page of the online edition it tells the whole story.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071107/LOCAL190501/311070006

Its gonna be a blue Monday

Oh Lord, but I do hate the New England Patriots.

UPDATE:
I need to amend this post. I was down last night and frankly just sickened when the Colts couldn't seem to move the ball enough to ice that game.

I don't "hate" the Patsies but I certainly do hate losing to them. I loathe their miserable excuse of a human being of a coach. Bela-jerk couldn't be more classless if he tried. Earlier today I referred to him as the "Coach Knight of the NFL" and my co-worker promptly corrected me. "Coach Knight NEVER cheated".
Not only were they led by a man with little to respect outside of his ability to win at all costs but they are apparently owned by a sore-winner as well. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/nfl_experts/post/Patriots-complain-about-crowd-noise?urn=nfl,52422

What's the matter Kraft? Wasn't winning here enough for you?

John Cleese - How to Irritate People - Airplane Sketch

One of the funniest things I have seen in a looooong time.

The "no-name" post

I believe it was P.J. O’Rourke who said, “The quintessential American Freedom is to be stupid in public”.
The problem with Freedom of Speech is that in order to get an, “I have a Dream speech” from Martin Luther King Jr. you have to get something as craptacular as this - http://adamholland.blogspot.com/2007/11/oregon-peace-group-to-mark.html
Only in a place as “lala-lefty” as Oregon could something this warped be considered a good idea.
Just because you CAN say something does not mean that it is right or good to do so.
(I considered cutting and pasting the text here but then again you can click the link about as easily as I can)

Special thanks to Random Nuclear Strikes - http://www.softgreenglow.com/wp/ for cluing me to that one.

As of late, I’ve been pondering giving up this blogging thing or perhaps warping it to something different. So much of what constitutes “conversation” in the blogging world is akin to being in a cocktail party with a bunch of outspoken drunks who all shout but nobody listens. That isn’t to say that there isn’t some intelligent conversation out there but man is there a lot of Ausscheidung out there (as our German friends would phrase it).

Rob, don’t worry, as the link above would indicate, I doubt that I will give up being grumpy and curmudgeonly about politics just yet. As long as our particular party continues to bumble about while in power and our opposite number continues to serve up such idiocy there is no chance of that happening, as evidenced below.

















Oh, one more thing, I can now say that among the funniest thing I have ever witnessed is listening to one drunken brother attempt to "witness" to the other drunken brother around a campfire at 2 am. When you cannot complete a coherent sentence, you should leave attempting to convert the heathens to the sober. I decided to go home and sleep.