Countdown to Christmas; C-Day-2

Last night was the company Christmas Party. As always a stellar event. Dinner on the top floor of a local hotel in a private club with a view of the area that spanned 360 degrees. The night was clear and we could see for miles. The meal was exquisite- Filet Mignon for me- followed by a mix of desserts and a few bourbons.

And lots of conversation. Our firm is spread out in 3 buildings locally, so some folks I have worked with for years I don't get to see on a regular basis; last night was catch-up time. Exchanging old stories and sharing new ones; hearing of new additions and old passings; just having a few hours to talk to folks without the pressure of a deadline.

It was also probably the last day of relaxation before the storm of Christmas busy hits. Like today. I should be wrapping presents, but am taking a few minutes to post to the blog. Yeah; it's procrastination. Not that I mind wrapping presents usually; I like the creating of secrets. But usually I store shop for gifts and part of the selection process is the box the present comes in. That is a dirty little secret I am sharing for the first time; the easier a package is to wrap the more likely you are to receive it as a gift.

But this year I did a lot of shopping on-line. The packages these things came in suck. All curves and odd angles and soft corners. What ever happened to a good old-fashioned 6-sided box? I do have one present that is a 6-sided box; 4 inches square and 4 feet long; yeah, that'll wrap well.

I also need to decided what will be the background. Christmas Carols? A Christmas movie? or maybe a few old Christmas Specials we have on DVD? Something to help put me in the mood to fight thin paper, sticky tape and sharp edged, oddly shaped packaging.

But if I bring presents I get ham.

Yeah; it's worth it. Now I need to find the DVD for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer....

Servant; or Master?

In the United States of America the government is supposed to be the servant of the people; we, as the voters are supposed to be in charge. Congress is supposed to listen to us, and act accordingly. The President is supposed to hear our voices and respond.

Isn't that what they tell us every 2, 4 or 6 years? Hell; some of them may even believe it.

But then the election is over and the mask slips. Then we find out out servant is a tyrant.

Take for instance the EPA and the new ethanol requirement. There has been a lot of resistance to the increase of ethanol in gasoline, but all of the complaints have fallen on deaf ears. Big, jug-eared deaf ears.

The EPA doesn't care that less than one-half of one percent of the vehicles on the road right this minute can use this fuel without damage. Knowing this administration, they probably consider that a feature; not a bug.

What type of damage are we looking at? Well, ethanol is alcohol, which absorbs moisture. so anything it comes into contact with that contains moisture will start to be dried out; things like fuel line hoses; rubber seals on gas tanks and gaskets on intake systems. Ethanol is also less cohesive than oil based gasoline; meaning it will flow past the rings in engine cylinders, washing the lubrication off of the cylinder walls, allowing the rings to mark or scar them, which will hasten engine wear.

This cylinder wall bypass will also allow ethanol to contaminate the engine oil; thinning it so that it provides less protection, increasing wear on the bearing surfaces of the internal moving parts.

Bottom line: ethanol will cost the owners of 228 million vehicles in the country money. money for either a major engine repair or a new car or truck. What are the chances you vehicle is one of the 228 million affected? Odds are pretty dang good.

I don't know about you, but in the New Normal Economy (also known as Obama's Depression) I ain't got that kinda cash.

And that is just cars. This fuel will also damage/ruin your lawnmower; chainsaw; weedeater; rototiller and snow-blower, as well as every other piece of gasoline powered equipment you put it in.

 Plus- and here is a real kicker- the addition of ethanol LOWERS fuel economy. There is less 'bang' in each quart of ethanol that there is in a quart of gasoline, so the more ethanol you burn the more fuel you will use. Since the addition of ethanol will not lower the price of a gallon of gas, the cost of your commute has just gone up.

And ANOTHER kicker; burning food in your gas tank will raise the demand for corn, which will also raise the price/cost of the corn. Which means the addition of ethanol will most likely mean an increase in the cost of a gallon of gas.

Unless the Federal government continues to subsidize the ethanol industry with a larger subsidy, paid for out of our taxes. Unless of course they just borrow the money (hey; when you are $16,000,000,000.00 in debt already, whats another billion or two?) instead, meaning we will pay for the subsidy and the cost of the interest to borrow the money to pay the subsidy, in addition to paying for the repairs to our gas powered equipment caused by the ethanol we are paying to subsidize.

But that subsidy won't apply to other uses of corn; like as animal feed or creating sugar. An increase in the cost of corn will lead to an increase in the cost of any foodstuff that relies on corn. Not only Fritos, Doritos and tacos, but anything that contains High Fructose as an ingredient, or eats corn, like cattle/beef, hogs/pork and chickens.

Not to mention what this will do to the cost of moonshine and bourbon.

This is a government that is the servant of the people?

How do I fire this servant?

Oh yeah; never mind; apparently we can't fire this servant until we can find a suitable replacement.

And we have to wait four three two more years to even start the search.

Another Reason to Hate the Main Stream Media

Apparently they are not Bourbon drinkers.

Actually, that probably explains a lot about their attitudes. The bunch of them were those priggish, tea-totaling do-gooders who feel they MUST protect you from yourself, and have never enjoyed a good shot of Kentucky's finest.

Anybody who would treat good bourbon like this has completely lost my respect.

Well, again. Well, not again. Again would imply they had regained my respect at some point.

More? They have lost more of my respect? No, that's not quite right either. How much lower can you go that utter contempt?

Well, I'll settle for any respect they have possibly earned in the future, they have already forfeited.

I guess that will have to do.

It's Been a Little Busy Lately

I have been busy lately with work, some projects and around the house. I think there must be an unwritten rule that says we need to be over whelmed from Thanksgiving to Christmas so we will be forced to sit down and enjoy the week between Christmas and New Years.

But that's not the topic of this post.

Obama had his first State Dinner last night.

Tony Blair gets a box set of DVDs and the Prime Minister of India gets a State Dinner.

China's Premier will probably get the keys to the White House; I guess I shouldn't complain.

The New Poster Boy For Term Limits

What is the most important piece of informantion in this article?

No, its not the Senator Robert Byrd has spent 56 years and 320 days in Washington. Since TRUMAN was president.

Truman; Eisenhower; Kennedy; Johnson; Nixon; Ford; Carter, Reagan; Bush; Clinton: Bush and now Obama- 12 Presidents. Over 202 million people have been born into this country since Robert Byrd went to Washington. 72% of the population, give or take a percentage point.

Its not that he has a 98% attendance rate, or that he has cast more than 19,000 votes, or that he has been elected 9 times to the US Senate.

To me, its that he spent $326 million in 2008 alone on earmarks for West Virginia.

That's MY money dammit, and I want it back.

It is impossible to travel inWest Virginia without driving on a Robert Bryd Memorial Highway, crossing a Robert Byrd Memorial Bridge or dropping a load at the Robert Byrd Memorial outhouse.

I sometimes think the state motto is actually West By Byrd Virginia.

The one saving grace about today is that I doubt even West Virginia will elected his dessicated corpse to a 10th term.

Damn; I need some bourbon.

Are You Ready For The Next Four Months?

I'm not. I am starting to feel that chill in my bones in the morning that really, really makes me want to roll over and go back to sleep.

I was working through some old pictures this morning and found this one that I took last January back in my pasture, that and my aforesaid chilly bones remind me that Thanksgiving is coming (Thursday a week) and Christmas is only 4 weeks after that.

And it will be as cold as the dark side of the Moon for the next four months.

I hate winter, but will survive, as long as they don't outlaw bourbon.

Thank God for Bourbon

I'm not a big fan of poetry- with the possible exception of Casey At The Bat- but another piece of doggerel has stayed with me since High School English- The Deacon's Masterpiece, or The Wonderful One Horse Shay . (you may need to scroll down a bit to the start of the piece.)

I got to thinking about this today because my 50th birthday is only a couple of months away and I am starting to feel like the shay. Up to now I have been fairly heathly, but all of the sudden everything is starting hurt, stop working or generally remind me I am getting old; like I need another reminder.

Oh well, nothing a little bourbon won't cure!

More School Insanity

Here is another reason the country is going to Hell n a handbasket.

I had a knife like this when I was a Cub Scout a couple of decades ago, and took it to school many times, just like this young lad.

I never got expelled though.

The public education system in the country has some serious issues, mainly because of the idiots in charge of it.

How much of this can we put up with?

WTF!?!?!?!? Seriously; WTF?!?!?!?!

Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize!?!?!?

Hell, if all it takes to win s nine months of doin' nuthin' then I have been eligible for years.

Honestly, if this isn't the last nail in the coffin of legitimacy for this idiocy i don't what will be.

First Al Gore for his crap a couple of years ago, and now this.

George Bush wipes out two evil regimes, frees 45 million people and gives women in two countries the first rights they have ever had and gets....

Nothing.

Obama smiles, nods and eloquates his way into a job he is severely under qualified for and....

Wins the Nobel Peace Prize.


Seriously; WTF?!?!?!?

Tonight I will definately need some bourbon.

I am Sorry Somebody Died, but GIVE ME A BREAK

Okay, I have had it.

I am CHEESED!

I am HOSED OFF!

Alright; I’ll say it.

I’m PISSED!

Right now I am so torqued that I can’t unclench my jaw.

The entire f’in’ country is coming apart at the seems; the government is printing money faster than Scott can make asswipe and Obama is signing away our national defense to the damn Russians, and WHAT has been the f’in’ lead story on the news for 10 DAMN DAYS?!?!?!?!

So over-hyped has-been from the ‘80’s dropped f’in’ dead.

Big hairy deal.

He was so ‘popular’ the last few years he couldn’t get arrested… okay maybe that is a stretch… but hellfire, now he leads every newscast? He must of owed every network in the country long green, and now they figured by hyping his demise they may be able to cash in on the estate.

Why else would 3/4s of the country give a rats’s hind quarters? I sure as hell don’t.

MSM sucks. Big Time.

Yeah, I need a bourbon. A big glass full.

How Many Senators Can You Fit in a Prius?

Well apparently the Dems have a real clown in the Senate now. Not that Franken was ever funny, but at least he can list being a clown on his resume.

Just in time too, to make sure the Senate can pass the Crap and Tax bill and double the cost of energy while tripling the cost of everything else. Pretty soon everything will be so expensive people will be sipping tap water like it means something.

I am about to just flat give up. Pretty soon it won’t matter what you make, it’ll matter what the government lets you bring home, after calculating how much you will need to support your family in a style they deem appropriate.

Family of four allowable expenses means you get to take home $400 this week. You made $1000? No problem; President Obama will be able to handle the rest. Don’t worry about a 401k; you’ll have Social Security when you retire. At 78.

I said at the start of Obama’s term that as long as they don’t outlaw bourbon I’ll survive. Now I’m beginning to think it won’t matter if they outlaw bourbon; I won’t be able to afford it anyway.

Or maybe the government will start rationing booze. Looks like I’ll need to stock up on tea-totaler friends. Maybe I‘d better make a list… But, I digress.

I was talking about the latest clown on the Senate. 8 months to decide an election, and yet another one the Dems stole with the old ‘found ballot box’ trick. I had a discussion with a coworker today about this issue, and his first response was ‘well, the republicans do it too’. Maybe. But when was the last time they got caught?

What exactly are Franken’s qualifications for the Senate? I mean other than the fact that he was on SNL, after it stopped being funny. I tried to find his CV online, but apparently he doesn’t even think enough of it to post it himself.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again (probably a lot in the next 3 and a half years) we’re doomed.

And I need some bourbon.

Oh, I almost forgot to answer my question. The answer is: It depends. How many reporters are there to photograph it?

Did Ya Hear the NEWS?!?!?!

Yesterday the House passed the Cap and Trade legislation, by a very narrow margin. You know -the new law that will double energy costs.

What’s that you say? You weren’t aware it was even voted on, much less the effect it will have on the cost of energy?

Well, I’m not surprised. What with the other important news the networks needed to cover, like the massacre in Iran.

Sorry, what’s that? You haven’t heard about the massacre either?

Well I guess the newscast was just too full of real important stuff, like…

Yeah; that’s it- the death of some pop singer out in LA whose career was over years ago. That guy; Ole-whatsis-name.

Can somebody explain to me why this one death, out of the millions worldwide in that same 24 hour period was so news worthy that it lead each newscast for over 24 hours?

President Bush could have dropped dead and the coverage of his state funeral would have page 3 stuff. Over the fold maybe, but still 3rd page.

This has-been in LA has a heart attack and everything else, news wise, stops.

Where is the press that is the famed Fourth Branch of government? The watchdog of the people?

I’ll tell you where it is- in the pocket of the Democratic Political Machine. We don’t have a watch dog; we have a lap dog.

I need some bourbon, before Obamacare forces me to have a license to buy some.

I have always said I can get through anything, as long as I have bourbon

I was actually looking forward to 4 years of the Obama administration. I figured it would give me multiple reasons to seek solace in a bottle of Kentucky's finest.

And I have too. I have spent more on bourbon in the last 4weeks than I did during the first 4 years of the Bush administration. I just hope to hell when Obama gets around to nationalized health care it includes liver transplants.

And you know he will. Nationalize Health Care I mean. Liver transplants for conservatives won't be covered. You only get a new liver if you drank yourself silly on cheap wine and Donkey Kool Aid. But, I digress.

I found out today the fine Commonwealth of Kentucky is talking about raising liquor taxes. I guess they figure that booze is the last thing that gets cuts from a budget when the Democrats are in charge.

So now I’ll need to figure out how to get by without buying bourbon. Time to do a little backyard distilling I guess. Trouble is, good bourbon has to age 4 years, and by then Obama will be gone.

But then again, who really thought he’d get elected the first time?

Let’s see;

Oak barrel; Check.
Corn to ferment: Check.
Copper for the still…