National Parks

We have been watching The National Parks on PBS every night, what a great series. The photography is outstanding and the show is really informative. I have been especially interested in the work needed to protect the parks. It is really unbelievable how people cannot see the need to preserve these places of wonder. I can understand the emphasis on Yosemite although Grand Canyon is, in my opinion, the most spectacular place in the country. I don't have any Grand Canyon pictures on my computer, so you will have to put up with Yosemite.

Auto Repairs

I was sitting in my pickup in the Grocery Store parking lot yesterday waiting for incoming traffic to clear so I could pull out of the lot when I was unceremoniously hit by a much bigger pickup. He was still in his parking slot and I was behind him in the exit lane and unfortunately he did not look in his mirror when he choose to back out. He did not hit me very hard and at first I was inclined to let it go, but he insisted that he would make it right, so I contacted my insurance agent. She had me go to the local body shop and get a estimate so she could start the process. I knew that the repair costs would be much more than I anticipated, but I almost dropped my teeth when I got the estimate; $2300. The whole side of the bed will have to be replaced and it alone costs nearly $1000. We had considered changing our deductible amount but this little incident has convinced us that we should keep it at its present amount. Fortunately, the deductible does not apply in this case but any ding will probably cost $500 or more to repair. Now, if we can get the peeling clear coat fixed the PU will look good again.

Pictures

This is near Elgin, Oregon in NE Oregon.


This is just a short little blurb about the pictures I post. They are very small in the blog and hard to see, however, if you click on the picture with your mouse you will get the full sized picture. When I post pictures I always use the small image but I'm going to play with the sizing and you can play with the sizing on your end. This is sweet Sophia our cat.

Lies

A friend of mine used to say; "a good lie, well told and stuck too, is better than the truth any day." Strangely, he is a conservative Republican. I think they must have secret schools where they teach that kind of crap. The more outrageous the lie the more they push it. (see Sara Palin and death councils) It is also a good idea to run out the race card, after all the non-whites are the cause of all the problems facing the US today. eg; the financial crisis was not caused by money hungry blood sucking banks, but by illegal immigrants taking all the jobs AND drawing Social Security and Welfare. Same with Health care, ...

Down Memory Lane

We went to Jean's 50th Class reunion this weekend and had a great time. All we did was eat and talk and then eat and talk some more. On the way home we went by way of Post, Paulina, Suplee, Izee and Canyon City. Suplee and Izee are true ghost towns, no trace remains of these two outposts from the 1900's. The second picture was taken between Post and Paulina. I worked on a cattle ranch near Paulina in my high school years and was curious to see how much civilization has changed Paulina in the intervening years. Paulina is the metropolis of the "upper country" between Prineville, Burns, and John Day in the center of Eastern Oregon with a population of around 30 souls. The General Store is unchanged since the '50s. The Paulina Rodeo is a well known amateur rodeo and the rodeo grounds have changed, they have bleachers. Back in the day you sat on the fence. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the rodeo grounds.

Health Care Reform

President Obama gave his address on Health Care Reform this evening and I got to thinking again about the "Moral Majority". Here we have a large group of people who revel in their "Christianity" often accusing those who don't agree with them of being unChristian or worse devil worshipers. However, these are the same people who are spreading lies about the proposed Health Care Reform and doing all in their power to derail any meaningful reform. Most often their resistance is tied to the cost factor, complaining about the debt the nation will incur if the legislation becomes law. I didn't hear any complaints about the cost of King George's war on Iraq. This brings me to my main point; how can a Christian refuse to aid those in need? Their refusal to cry out for assistance to those less fortunate than themselves puts a lie to their claims as Christians. I see Pharisees standing on the street corners boasting of their righteousness. I see those denounced by The Christ as hypocrites. I see a class of people determined to keep the lower class under their thumb by refusing them the most basic of needs, food, shelter, clothing and good health care. Remember it was the despised Samaritan rather than the Priests and Pharisees who cared for the stranger on the side of the road who needed health care.

Router Bits

I have been thinking about this for a few weeks now, and I finally did it. What is it? Several weeks ago I got an email offering to send me a set of carbide tipped router bits if I would put a link to their web site. I was concerned about the morality of letting commercialism enter into my "pure" blog. I checked around and Blogger, the service I use, has a Gadget to use to insert ads into your site, so here I am. In the interest of disclosure I am receiving renumeration for adding the link, but I checked out their site and they seem to have some good stuff. What I'm waiting for now is for Delta or Jet to offer me a free tablesaw for linking to their site. I'm afraid I wouldn't spend any time considering the offer, the link would be up as fast as I could type. Mea culpa, my feet are of clay.