Crusin' in style

This shot was taken by a friend's wife in front of the bank where she works.
Looks like one happy dog!

We continue to fail our veterans

Soldier in famous photo never defeated 'demons' - Yahoo! News

PINEHURST, N.C. -
Officers had been to the white ranch house at 560 W. Longleaf many times before over the past year to respond to a "barricade situation." Each had ended uneventfully, with Joseph Dwyer coming out or telling police in a calm voice through the window that he was OK.
But this time was different.
The Iraq War veteran had called a taxi service to take him to the emergency room. But when the driver arrived, Dwyer shouted that he was too weak to get up and open the door.
The officers asked Dwyer for permission to kick it in.
"Go ahead!" he yelled.
They found Dwyer lying on his back, his clothes soiled with urine and feces. Scattered on the floor around him were dozens of spent cans of Dust-Off, a refrigerant-based aerosol normally used to clean electrical equipment.
Dwyer told police Lt. Mike Wilson he'd been "huffing" the aerosol.
"Help me, please!" the former Army medic begged Wilson. "I'm dying. Help me. I can't breathe."
Unable to stand or even sit up, Dwyer was hoisted onto a stretcher. As paramedics prepared to load him into an ambulance, an officer noticed Dwyer's eyes had glassed over and were fixed.
A half hour later, he was dead.

John McCain, a portrait...

Stupefaction Guaranteed!

The latest entry into my energy drink tryouts:
Stewie's Mind Erase Elixir, from Boston America.
While not amazingly great, it does pack a nice caffeine buzz with 120mg in 8.4 ounces! Along with 1000mg of Taurine, 50 mg of Inositol, 25 mg of Guarana, & 25mg of Ginseng.

Tastes just a little too much like Hawaiian Punch, though.

With a can like that, though, who can resist?

But does he like to be dipped in milk?

(CNN) — Longtime Washington talk-show host John McLaughlin is facing fire Monday for referring to Barack Obama as an "Oreo" during a segment on his Sunday political program, "The McLaughlin Group.

LoveChess

Bringing a whole new love of chess to teenage boys everywhere!

Lovechess Age of Egypt features:

• Advanced 3d sex animations system with diverse and interesting variations.
• Different sceneries, each with their own unique atmosphere.
• Multiplayer gamemodes. Play Lovechess online or through LAN against a human opponent.
• A beautiful 3D Egyptian scenery with hand painted erotic art and realistic characters.
• New and improved Chess-engine, to challenge both beginning as expert players.

Good to know..

Earth will not be gobbled up by black hole during big bang experiment, reassure scientists.

But we should stock up on snacks, just in case.

Guest Dog Update...

The guest dog we had at the end of last week got re-connected with his owner on Friday evening.
Unfortunately, she had to pick him up from the pound — it was just too much extra stress for the wife having him at the house.
About 30 minutes after she texted me to let me know that the county had picked him up, I got a call from the owner; I had put up posters all around two days earlier, but she had managed not to see them.
Since she was going to have to get him back from the county, it as going to cost her a few dollars, but I'm not sure how much. And since he wasn't wearing a rabies tag, there may have been a fine for that, as well, depending on whether or not she had his vaccination certificate to take with her.

I'm glad he's home, though, & hope that it spurs his owner on to get tags for him.

Guest Dog

So, I went to see what the dogs were barking at this morning, & found this guy wandering the neighborhood.
He appears to be a jack russell mix (maybe with a beagle?)
I took him to a vet nearby to see if he might have a microchip ID — no such luck, though. The vet thought he was maybe 2 ½ years old, & pretty healthy looking; the boys loved playing with him all day, & they all wore themselves out.
I left his description with Animal Control, in case anybody calls looking for him, & we put up a couple of fliers nearby. The wife took him for a walk around the neighborhood to see if anyone came out to say, “Hey, that's my dog!”, but no such luck.
She did meet a couple of people, though, who said that they thought this guy, & one other had been dropped off a few days ago in the neighborhood — we're near a university, & idiot students do that kind of thing all the time, I guess… .

When he started to get hungry this evening, he was a little naughty & made a grab for something that smelled tasty on a shelf — when I snapped at him a little, he shrunk back like a dog that had probably been hit before… How could anyone be like that with something so sweet?
Unfortunately, we really don't have the means to keep him, & may have to send him off to the pound tomorrow :-(
It absolutely doesn't help that I think he's adorable.

I gotta get cable!

VIENNA (Reuters) - Whether it has any bearing on Monday's crunch Euro 2008 match between the two countries is debatable but Austria drew first blood on Sunday when their topless women's soccer team beat Germany 10-5.

True Love?

Due South BBQ

The New River Valley's only real Pit Cooked BBQ... follow the smoke to the real thing.

A co-worker mentioned Due South to me recently; I can't believe they've been in the area for this long, & I hadn't tried it.
Killer barbecue, and they serve breakfast seven days a week!

I can't remember the last time I made such heartfelt yummy noises based solely on the scents getting into my nose. For someone who grew up used to Eastern Carolina style BBQ, it was insane goodness.
Each order comes with a choice of three of their five varieties of heaven sauce:

• Hot Red – 1st Place 2007 Va. State Championship
  Tomato Base, warm, slightly sweet.
• Sweet Red – Tomato Base, sweet & tangy
• Lexington – Vinegar Base, spicy
• Yellow – Mustard Base, sweet & tangy
• Sweet Brown – Tomato base, dark and sweet

The Lexington has a heart rendering goodness, and the Hot Red was very tasty as well; the Sweet Red was just a little too sweet for my taste, but still pretty good.
Next time — you'd better believe there's going to be a next time — I'll have to try the Yellow & the Sweet Brown, though I may end up buying the Lexington by the quart.

Stimulate this!

Like many Americans, we're awaiting the arrival of our stimulus check... . All $4.36 of it!

Seems the Treasury Department feels that it's in our best interest that they take the rest of what we've been paying monthly for our 2006 taxes, instead of letting us actually use the stimulus check for something important, say... paying down our debt?


Who am I kidding, this Administration doesn't know squat about paying down debt... .

It turns out that quite a few states are also taking part in this offset program. And it turns out that a lot of people are pretty pissed about it, too.

The real test will be next month, when the IRS is not supposed to withdraw any money from my bank account to continue our repayment schedule, which was working just fine for us, BTW.

R.I.P

We lost this guy last night to a passing car going too fast for our residential street.
He was a sweet guy who found us last fall, & has been dining on our front porch.
We kept saying that we need to get him fixed & find a home for him, but never were able to find a place for him.

We'll miss you, bud.

Who Expects The Spanish Inquisition

more graph humor and song chart memes

Things I may say to myself

more graph humor

Children Can Send Marriage Into Downward Spiral

File this under things we already knew.

Florida, Land of Idiots?

LAND 'O LAKES, Fla. -- A substitute teacher in Pasco County has lost his job after being accused of wizardry.

Teacher Jim Piculas does a magic trick where a toothpick disappears and then reappears.

Piculas recently did the 30-second trick in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land 'O Lakes.

Piculas said he then got a call from the supervisor of teachers, saying he'd been accused of wizardry.

"I get a call the middle of the day from head of supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, 'Jim, we have a huge issue, you can't take any more assignments you need to come in right away,'" he said.

Piculas said he did not know f any other accusations that would have led to the action.

The teacher said he is concerned that the incident may prevent him from getting future jobs.

Goose Throwdown

That's one pissed off goose!

More Schrodinger

Waiting..

For Mom.
I'm sure she'll bring treats!