Just eliminate lies

As the sun sets on the east coast of Iowa signaling the end
of January we look upon the golden sky and wonder what some
people are smoking. It took us back to a time before common
sense died from acute apathy.

Recent events cause us to lapse into such a state and
we’ll mention one. We have been following the Dakota
Pipeline fiasco and noticed the drive-by media claiming that
said pipelines don’t leak so the protest is futile.
The Magellan pipeline runs through Illinois, Iowa, North
Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin must be unlucky.

The Magellan pipeline moves diesel, gasoline, jet fuel,
natural gasoline, naptha, propane, natural gas, and butane.

Just recently 138,000 gallons of diesel leak out of a
ruptured pipeline and came up in a farmers’ field. Rest a
assured though as vacuum trucks are sucking up the leak
and the contaminated soil will be taken away.

Another pipeline operated by Magellan near Decatur, Nebraska,
last October leaked anhydrous ammonia and that leak killed one
unlucky soul while 23 households had to be evacuated.

In 2010 5,000 gallons of diesel leaked into a creek near
Milford, Iowa. The same year there was a 45,000 gallon
gasoline spill in Oklahoma. Worry not, the company paid hefty
fines. The entire report is here.

According to Inside Energy, there have been 4,269 pipeline
incidents since 2010 and 64 of those involved fatalities. To
learn more, or see the map of spills, go here.

Yet we don’t remember hearing much from the media about this.
The next time we hear how safe pipelines are for transporting
oil products, or protesters called whiners, we will pull up the map
in the last link to get a dose of reality.

Enjoy the rest of today for tomorrow is another month. A
little later I shall enjoy a pizza while watching Perry Mason.
Comments are always welcome.

What if?

A friend shared an interesting report and the future that at
first sounded crazy until given some thought. Then it paints
a grim picture of what life may be like for our kids. We won’t
share it here as it is too long but will touch on some of the
highlights.

In 1998 Kodak sold 85% of all photo paper in the world while
we were having “Kodak moments” on a regular basis. Due to the
onslaught of digital cameras Kodak filed for bankruptcy in
2012, turned the company around, and joined the digital age.

Digital cameras for the masses have been around since 1975.
They didn’t become a threat to film cameras until the price
came down and the resolution soared. The next such trend could
well be software.

Think about it. Uber is just software, they don’t own any
taxis yet are the biggest taxi company in the world. Airbnb is
the largest hotel company in the world and the software giant
owns no property.

Watson gives legal advice with 90% accuracy and it is IBM
software. Watson also helps nurses diagnose cancer and is four
times more accurate than humans. Even Facebook has pattern
recognition software that can remember faces better than we
can.

Our cars aren’t even safe. As early as 2020 we could see the
beginning of the end for automakers as autonomous cars take
over. Driver’s licenses won’t be needed nor car ownership. The
up side would be with less cars there would fewer traffic
fatalities. Of course, if the accident rate drops drastically,
car insurance would be an endangered species.

Claim is 20 years 70-80% of current jobs would be gone. New
jobs would spring up but no one is sure there would be enough
of these to help some of us.

Agricultural robots could be the farmers of the future, tech
trades would take off, aeroponics will replace meat with petri
dish produced veal, and insect protein known as alternative
protein source will be available.

There is no proof any of this will actually happen and some
things mentioned are available now. This is meant to be food
for thought. So enjoy our Monday but don’t think about the
future, live in the present.
Comments are always welcome.

Not as planned

As the sun set on the east coast of Iowa I was determined to
pen a scathing diatribe on the current problems with our
world. But after observing the colorful sunset, and realizing
it is Sunday, that will wait for another day.

So instead of lashing out at the stupidity and violence, a
prayer seemed more in order. You may have seen it here before
but we think it still relevant. It goes like this-

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can’t make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.
Amen.

Enjoy the rest of our Sunday, we’ll have another post at some
point tomorrow.
Comments are always welcome.

Sunday snicker

Two doctors and an HMO manager die and line up together at the Pearly Gates. One doctor steps forward and tells St. Peter, “As a pediatric surgeon, I saved hundreds of children.” St. Peter lets him enter.

The next doctor says, “As a psychiatrist, I helped thousands of people live better lives.” St. Peter tells him to go ahead.

The last man says, “I was an HMO manager. I got countless families cost-effective health care.”

St. Peter replies, “You may enter. But,” he adds, “you can only stay for three days. After that, you can go to hell.”

Thinking about it

It’s been one of those days I couldn’t stop thinking about
time. I thought so hard it ending with an unscheduled nap.
Kids don’t really understand time because they’re kids.

Pre-teens and teens have little patience when it comes to
waiting until tomorrow. To them it seems tomorrow takes days
to get here. Much like it would be on Christmas Eve.

When done with schools we get jobs and assume responsibilities
of our own. This is when time starts speeding up a little bit.
Juggling a job, a family of your own, and other things that
were unknown just a few short years ago.

In our 30s time speeds up a little more. Adding mortgages,
and various other components to the mix makes time a commodity
not wasted. We still get things done, it just takes a little
longer and most don’t notice.

Then when we hit our 60s time really speeds up. We retire
thinking of how we’re going to spend our Golden Years while
time slips away. If we overthink something, days could pass
as fast as Popsicles around a bunch of hot, sweaty kids.

We can still get things done, when most of our original parts
are working, but it takes even longer. So some of us
procrastinate while time slips away much like mentioned above.
Then some of us decide to pick a day and get caught up on all
the little chores that have been put off.

Sometimes it even works. Sometimes things get put off for
another day. At any rate this is the age most of us start
feeling our age. While some get up at the same time as when
they were employed, bedtime comes a little earlier.

Myself, I take getting older as a challenge. I’m not as fast
as I used to be, but under ideal conditions I can still do a
lot of things I used to. It takes longer and involves pain,
but I can do it.

So remember, no matter your age, enjoy it. Life is terminal
anyway so think outside the box. Just don’t think too long.
Enjoy the weekend as that too will be gone faster than a 4th
of July fireworks show. That said, it’s pizza time and I know
where ones hiding.
Comments are always welcome.

If it ain’t broke…

I used to be a fan of NASCAR until they started fixing things
that weren’t broke. The old points system was fine with me,
run the season and if you have the most points you win. Not
long ago it was the race for the chase and then the chase to
win.

Now it seems like that wasn’t enough and NASCAR is mixing it
up again. The official take is: The new race format is
designed to emphasize aggressive racing and strategy, with the
goal of delivering more dramatic moments over the course of
the race and season.

I take that as a push to get more fans into the seats at the
races. So the kinder, gentler, more aggressive, excitment
base version is here. We’ll try to explain it as we understand
it.

Each race will now be run in 3 segments separated by 10
minute driver rest stops. The top 10 finishers in each segment
will be given points and the winner of the first two stages
would get one playoff point, and the race winner (3rd segment)
would get 5 extra playoff points. Said points are added to the
total driver’s points through the 26th race.

The playoff points carry through to the end of postseason
with the championship 4 racing straight-up at Homestead-Miami
for the title. The whole thing is too complicated for this
oldfart which is why I think something else will be our TV
this race season.

If you want to see the rules or figure them out for yourself,
go here.

As for me, I got a headache just reading the BS. Enjoy the
rest of our Thursday as it means we can almost smell the
weekend. Now I have to search for sustenance in preparation
for the marathon grocery shopping we will do tomorrow.
Comments are always welcome.

Snow day?

After my visit with Dad as I walking to the back door, I
noticed a large bird perched atop the neighbors tree. Thinking
it could be a Kodak moment I ran past the wife and into my
office to grab the camera then back out. The bird was still
there and it turned out to be a hawk.

When I went back inside and told the wife what the rush was
about she just gave me the look I am so used to getting then
asked my how my chat with Dad went. Confusing was my answer.
We know he’s 90, but at times I need a coffee IV when done
talking with him.

He called Monday and told me not to stop over Tuesday because
he a an appointment with his doctor for a check-up. Not a
problem, I’ll just stop by Wednesday. So when I stopped over
today and asked how he was doing he stated he had an
appointment with his doctor at 11:30.

Concerned, I asked him if they found something during his
visit yesterday. He looked at me like I drank the Kool-Aid and
told me his appointment was today. He went on to say that he
went to doctors office for an 8:30 am appointment only to be
told his appointment was at 11:30.

By this time I had finished the coffee in my travel mug and
could have used something stronger. The rest of the visit went
ok but he sure had me confused for a while.

Oh yeah, the snow. We haven’t got any yet. The last forecast
we watched the trusty weatherman proclaimed we’d get a dusting
to an inch and that it wouldn’t stick to pavement. While the
folks in northern Iowa got hit with a foot it looks like the
east coast of Iowa will sit this one out. Of course we could
get some snow overnight.

Keep the shiny side up and enjoy the rest of the week. I’ll
let you know how the pizza was.
Comments are always welcome.

Heard of this?

You probably don’t remember Public Law 280 as it was passed
in 1953, but it is an interesting example of how our government
treats Native Americans. Said law affected tribal nations in
Alaska (after it became a state), Arizona, Iowa, Montana,
North Dakota, and Utah.

The law mandated that law enforcement be turned over to the
government instead of the tribes meaning sheriffs and such could
take tribal members who committed crimes on tribal lands to
state courts for trial. In states not affected by the law,
enforcement was left to the Bureau of Indian Affairs when
major crimes were committed.

It was supposedly an attempt to get American Indians out of
poverty by inserting them into society. Doesn’t sound too
terrible does it? In what was called the termination era
(1953-1968) 109 tribes were terminated, 2.5 million acres of
tribal land was sold to non-Native Americans, and 12,000
Native Americans lost their tribal affiliation.

Some Native Americans are now concerned, with Trump pushing
the pipelines, that the same thing might happen to them today.
Why? It is estimated tribal lands hold one fifth of our nations
oil, gas, and reserves.

It does appear Trump is not a fan of green energy so there
could be some validity in their concerns. If Standing Rock
were to be taken by the government, the pipeline could be
allowed to cross sacred grounds since they would no longer
be considered sacred.

We don’t know the answers nor can we see into the future,
but this could get interesting.

Enjoy the rest of our day, kick your feet up, have a cold
one, and relax. I’ll do the same as soon as I wrestle a pizza
and devour it.
Comments are always welcome.

Monday moaner

Saw this meme and had to share it. If you aren’t from Iowa,
simple folk, or country, you may not get it but it put a smile
on my face.

If you can’t read it, click on it to enlarge and enjoy.

Enjoy the rest of our Monday. Now, after two days of eating
healthy, I go in search of the elusive free range bacon
cheeseburger pizza.
Comments are always welcome.

It’s gone now

As the sun went down on the last day of the weekend it was
time to think of all we’ve done since Friday morn. Our usual
Friday grocery run, an indoor car show with a cruise to couple
big box stores the wife wanted to visit, ate healthy for two
days, and broke down and bought a bird feeder.

Most went smoothly. But if everything went right we’d be
talking about a movie and not real life. The bumps in the road
weren’t hard to handle, and we manged to dance in the car
every time we pulled back in the driveway.

The squirrels were acting squirrely and the birds
continued to pose when asked. we even saw a blue jay fly
in front of a cloud right as I snapped the pic.

We saw eagles gliding through the sky, heard geese making
their getaway, and saw more critters today than we have for
quite a while. Hard to believe I haven’t had a pizza since
Friday night.

Yes, the eating healthy thing. We had lean fish fillets with
potatoes Saturday and tacos made with lean meat today. That
means tomorrow I have pizza so there are no mood swings. I
will admit I was skeptical when the wife bought an air fryer,
but the thing does make some great tasting fish.

Now it’s time to sack out in preparation of what the new day
will bring. Enjoy our upcoming week.
Comments are always welcome.