You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda (Generator)

One of the un-fun things about living in the North suburbs of St Louis is the constant potential for power blackouts. Seems like every time the wind blows, the snow falls, or somebody sneezes too hard, poof! go the lights. I believe Duracell will survive the current economic crisis and prosper just because of battery sales to North County. Even burglars in the area have had to resort to carrying those hokey hand-crank flashlights!
As a result, we have decided to take care of ourselves and get a whole bunch more guns. No, wait, I mean a gasoline-powered generator. Whew....sorry...force of habit. Anyhoo, last Saturday I ventured out to St Charles and purchased a 3000-Watt Honda generator from Harvester Small Engine.
This little unit is amazing. It's as quiet as Bill Clinton at an ethics hearing and super stingy with gas. It's not powerful enough to run the whole house, but it can protect us from freezing during a cold snap, and keep the brews and brats from spoiling after a Spring/Summer thunderstorm. Even Daisy the Crazy golden retriever likes it, although I suspect because she thinks it's a little refrigerator.

Ritenour 28 Hazelwood East 0

Mrs Merc Man, a proud Ritenour High School alum, has reason to be extra proud today. Last night, her football Huskies trounced the visiting Hazelwood East Spartans 28-0.
The Huskies dominated both sides of the football, with big plays on offense and a defense that kept East on the ropes all game long. After several tough years in the Suburban North Conference, Ritenour is rapidly gaining respect after wins over Pattonville, Riverview Gardens, McCluer North, and now Hazelwood East.
So, enjoy the day all you Ritenour faithful. I won't even mention the fact that my alma mater, Hazelwood Central, defeated the Huskies 35-15 on September 20. That just wouldn't be right.

McCain picks a "Babe"!

Just when I think the Republican Party has doomed itself to failure in 2008, John McCain makes a brilliant pick for his running mate, and continues to hammer the Democrats like he was the second coming of Ronald Wilson Reagan ("Ronaldus Magnus").
Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska (that's about as far from Washington DC as you can get!), is a Pro-Life (actually living the Pro-Life ideal), pro-drilling, pro-hunting/fishing NRA member who championed political reform in her home state.
Instead of picking another Beltway Blowhard like Joe Biden, McCain has found a conservative candidate who has fought against wasteful government spending and the old-line politicos who maintain the status quo. Suddenly, a lot of conservatives (me included) who were leery of the GOP ticket are almost giddy at the very real prospect of beating the socialist messiah, Barack Obama, in November. USA! USA! USA!

Tony Stewart comes home to "Shiverlay"!

Awesome news for race fans! Two-time NASCAR CUP champion Tony Stewart is leaving Joe Gibbs Racing and the #20 Home Depot Toyota Camry to form his own stock car team. The new team, Stewart-Haas, will field two cars next season, including an entry driven by Ryan Newman, late of Roger Penske Racing. This will be Tony's first attempt at managing a NASCAR team, and it will be a tough road, but with two talented drivers and solid sponsorship, odds are his new team will succeed on the Sprint Cup circuit.
Tony's new car, a Chevy (or "Chiverlay" as we red-state rednecks call them) Impala SS, will wear the #14 on its doors in honor of Tony's motorsports hero, A J Foyt.
In off-the-track news, Tony has donated $1,000,000 to help finance the construction of the second Victory Junction Gang Camp
in Kansas City, Missouri.

Daisy and the Evil Rocker/Recliner

In some earlier posts, I wrote about Daisy the Golden Retriever and her fear of mylar balloons. It turns out our hyperactive hound is also terrified by the machinations of the rocker/recliner in our living room.
A few days ago, after mowing the backyard, I took off my socks and draped them across the back of said rocker/recliner. Daisy, of course, thought it would be great fun to retrieve my socks and give them the chewing/slobbering they so richly deserved. She jumped into the chair and grabbed the socks, but before she could get back down, the rocker component kicked in and froze her in mid-exit. Not being able to figure out why this inanimate piece of furniture was now swaying back and forth, she sat immobilized for several minutes until I stopped laughing and held the chair still while she slid out of it. Although she still steals socks, and other pieces of clothing, whenever the situation presents itself, she's now giving the rocker as wide a berth as possible.

Locked and Loaded!

The Supreme Court of the United States finally got one right. In a 5-4 decision, the Court struck down the Washington, DC, handgun ban that punished law-abiding citizens who wanted to defend themselves against criminals.

Even more important, for the first time, the Supremes recognized an INDIVIDUAL'S right to keep and bear arms. Although it seemed painfully obvious to anyone with half a brain, gun owners were understandably nervous that an institution that in the past has found an unrestricted right to kill babies in the womb and the right of terrorists to sue in US courts might not find the Second Amendment even when it stares them dead in the face!

Fortunately, President George W Bush was able to appoint two justices who actually believe the Bill of Rights means what it says. The real surprise was Anthony Kennedy, who is now the swing vote and power broker on the Court. While I'm pleased that Justice Kennedy ended up on the right side of this decision, I still shudder whenever he starts talking about using rulings from around the world to help decide US Constitutional Law. Thank the Good Lord for Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas, and their respect for the people of the United States.

It's kind of ironic that the two Bush Presidencies have produced 3/4 of the Court's "Original Intent" wing. For all the Liberal lampooning of the "Bushies", they sure got the better of the Lefties on this one.

To the gun store!!!!!!

Daisy, Baby Bunnies, and the Evil Balloon

Today, Daisy the Golden Retriever found a nest of Baby Bunnies in a clump of irises in our backyard. Mrs Merc Man and I don't think she would deliberately harm the little cottontails, but she's so inquisitive (nosey, actually), we're afraid she might step on them while trying to sniff them.
On my last post, I mentioned how frightened Daisy is of the mylar Father's Day balloon that Gimlet and Froggie Girl gave me last Saturday, and we decided to use it as a defense against Daisy squishing one of the little ones hidden in our flowers.
We put a small wire fence around the perimeter that's spaced just wide enough to let mama bunny in, but keep large dog noses out. We then tied the mylar balloon to the fence, and, Ta-Da!, instant force field protecting baby bunnies.

We hope the balloon holds out 'til the babies move to a more secure location.

Whoever heard of a dog with a balloon phobia?

Daisy and the Evil Father's Day Balloon!

Poor Daisy. As part of my Father's Day present, Gimlet and FroggieGirl got me a mylar balloon with the Simpsons on it.
Unfortunately, Daisy viewed it as an evil presence and did everything possible to stay as far away from it as possible. Later that night, well, actually early next morning, Daisy awoke and saw the evil balloon hovering over the kitchen table. At 3 a.m. Mrs Merc Man and I were awakened by the frantic barking of a very excited Golden Retriever. We finally got back to sleep after Mrs Merc Man put the balloon out of sight.
We've decided Daisy's future as a guard dog might be in doubt. She would come in handy if we ever get invaded by Hallmark, though.

I'm For McCain

Well, the primary season is over, and Barack Obama is the Socialist--uhhhh---Democrat Party nominee for President of the United States.
Although I have some significant differences with the Republican from Arizona (on immigration, climate change, and campaign financing), he is far and away the preferable candidate to the junior senator from Illinois.
John McCain will support our military, and not surrender to our enemies. With the danger the US faces from rogue states like North Korea and Iran, I don't want to entrust the nation's security to a "community organizer" who believes he can negotiate with terrorists who murder Americans.
Obama proposes a Marxist economy for America, and if you doubt that point, just read the transcripts of the Congressional hearings with oil industry executives. The Demo-Rats actually threatened to nationalize the oil companies, as if the leeches in the House and Senate could produce a drop of gasoline or a single cubic foot of natural gas. They can, however, create a lot of Bravo Sierra.
Give the Jackass Party control over our economy and our health care system, and we'll be a second-rate power with a second-rate future for our children.
That's why I'm for John McCain for President of the United States.

Another Home Improvement-$$$$$$

In the never-ending saga of imitating the famous TV show, our very own (This) Old House added another episode to our recent string of major repairs. Since last Spring, we've water-proofed the basement, upgraded the electric service, and removed a couple of big trees in the backyard.
This week, our 21-year-old furnace decided it had had enough, forcing us to replace it, the attached electronic air cleaner, and the matching A/C unit. The company that did the work, Averill Heating and Air Conditioning, did a super job, and had the whole thing done in about 4 hours!
The unit is pretty high-tech, which means I don't understand all the stuff it does. The electronic air cleaner is so state-of-the-art that it actually subtracts money from your bank account whenever it's activated, and the outside unit looks like R2D2 from Star Wars. The only sound your can hear outside when the A/C comes on is "Luke, I am your father!"

More Snow Pictures

Here are some additional pictures following the big St Louis snowstorm of '08.

Fun Weather in St Louis

March 4 was another interesting weather day in a Winter with lots of interesting weather days. Snow, ice, sleet, rain, single digit temperatures and near-record high temps, often within days of each other. Yesterday took the cake as heavy, heavy snow blasted the Metro area for much of the daytime hours.
Naturally, North County got hit the hardest, with a foot of the white stuff covering everything. I was out in West County at a medical building when the biggie hit. I entered the building about 9:15 a.m., with a little light snow falling and the parking lot wet. When I came out about an hour later, there were 3-4 inches of snow on the ground with more falling at a prodigious rate!
I decided to head for home, normally a 20 minute drive, but with the weather conditions deteriorating rapidly, I pulled into my snowbank of a driveway an hour-and-a-half later.
I think I'm going to hibernate until May.

Sick and Tired

I used to be highly critical of people who didn't vote, or even take a rudimentary interest in politics. Lately, however, I'm beginning to believe they're a lot smarter than I am. For a long time I believed the lies of politicians, only to be disappointed time and again when their true colors surfaced. Now, after all these years, the lies have gotten so blatant, and politicians so detestable, that I've had enough. I'm sick and tired, and as the Chinese proverb says, the very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

I'm sick and tired of Republicans who claim the mantle of Ronald Reagan, but aren't worth the dirt off Ronaldus Magnus' wingtips. These craven wannabes are the worst type of political opportunists, willing to lie, defame, and mislead the people of the United States in order to attain the positions of power they so crave.

I'm sick and tired of being asked to ignore the troubling positions some so-called "conservatives" take that strike against personal freedom, capitalism, and common decency. We live in a situation today where we're expected to sacrifice our own beliefs and integrity to the whims of political correctness, race hucksters, and pseudo science.

I'm sick and tired of being told that government can solve economic disparities in our society, that Christianity is the root of all evil, and that the United States of America is an imperial power intent on ruling the world. Hundreds of thousands of America's sons and daughters made the ultimate sacrifice so that others might live in peace and freedom. No nation in history has paid so dear a price for the benefit of others.

I'm sick and tired of attacks on American prosperity and commerce. American businesses drive the entire world economy, and when America falters, the rest of the world sees its standard of living erode. People around the globe can tell how the United States' economy is performing by their own economic condition. If the US were to move toward socialism, as many Democrats (and more than a few Republicans) believe we should, people all over the world will suffer. Who the hell are these socialist fascist bastards to try and steal the prosperity American genius and ingenuity have created?

Most of all, I'm sick and tired of self-appointed "glitteratti" who believe they know best how the rest of us should live, where we should work, and how we should think. I've got more respect for the guy on the garbage truck who handles other people's trash all day than the pretentious East-Coast-Ivy League degenerates who look down their noses at us poor schmucks in fly-over country.

From now on, I'm devoting as much of my time to causes; things like gun rights, the rights of the unborn, respect and support for our military and their families, and charitable causes. Most of all, I intend to actively defend the principles America was founded on--the US Constitution. I'll never get sick and tired of that.