BMW – The Hydrogen Anomaly

I saw an ad for the new BMW Hydrogen Series while walking through the SJC airport. I stopped and read the ad and apparently they are making and marketing a new car that can do 140mph, but has nearly zero CO2 emissions. They purport that the emissions are almost all water vapor. I had to go on the web site and read about how they pull this off.

What’s more interesting to me, though, is that the ad naturally goes on to say that because it’s water vapor, and not CO2 that is emitted that the car is a “green friendly” car. I suppose that if you buy into all the hoopla that the IPCC puts out there then this would be a very likely assumption.

However, the reality is far more different. While there is virtually no scientific evidence supporting global warming through CO2, there is a substantial amount of data that shows how water vapor in the atmosphere directly affects the temperature in a given area. If you have ever heard of the urban heat island affect then you are already aware that population densities often increase the heat in a given geographic area. There are a lot of reasons for this, but water vapor is one of the primary contributing factors.

Upon further investigation what I found is that the car can run on either hydrogen or gasoline. When operating on gasoline, BMW is claiming a 17 miles to the gallon fuel economy. Not the greatest, but still better than some others. However, when operating on hydrogen the car gets 4.7 miles to the gallon (liquid hydrogen).

To make matters worse, hydrogen is readily available but only after you expend quite a bit of energy to extrapolate it for large-scale purposes….which really means that it is, in fact, not readily available to the average consumer. Combine that with the energy required to store it as a liquid form at -423 F and the manufacturing of safety equipment when dealing with liquid hydrogen, and the benefits of this vehicle start to rapidly diminish.

According to sources I could find, the energy required to store the fuel alone eats up to 1/3 of energy contained in the tank, which holds roughly 17.6lbs of fuel. Unfortunately, due to insulating properties and trying to keep the fuel cold, the tank ends up being the size of a 45 gallon tank, takes up ½ the trunk space and within 9 days ½ of the tank will go bad (can’t keep it cold forever).

From sources I could find cost of a kilogram of liquid hydrogen is approximately $6.50. Do the math on that one and you are looking at about $50.00 to fill up your hydrogen tank and you should fare about 124 miles out of it.

The car is still being researched and is only being release (sold) to some celebrities and stuff in the first year of production. Based on what I have read, it seems unlikely that the car could experience any real success.

My friend asked me if I thought it was a bad idea to be exploring alternative energy sources. I think it's a great idea, but this one doesn't seem to be well thought out.

I'd really like to think that it is ignorance on BMW's part. Or that there is some other objective that I am unable to ascertain. I hope it is not another example of an automobile manufacturer playing upon the fear mongering and ignorance of the general public. I suppose this is nothing new, but if you are really worried about globing warming it would seem to me that you would avoid a car like this so as not to be wasteful of resources and / or pumping even more water vapor into the atmosphere.

Thumb Owie

If you ever think that your sprockets on the motorcycles aren't sharp, here is a quick pic of my thumb after getting it caught between the chain and the sprocket. I was cleaning the chain and rotating the tire and my thumb, even while wrapped in a rag, got caught. This was just from me manually turning the wheel. The bike was not under power or I think I would have lost the end of my thumb. I'll be lucky not to lose part of my nail as it is. The sprocket basically punched a hole in my thumb right where the nail connects.

Panty Crickets Invade North Texas

This year, Brittany Spears herself arrived at the Oak Lawn Halloween party!! Unfortunately, she wasn’t getting laid as she also brought a horde of Pantie Crickets with her. Nobody had a condom big enough, or strong enough, to withstand the onslaught of partying festivities that inhabited her nether regions.

Ummm….so as you can probably tell there was a group theme party this year. The girl that did Brittany did a great job. And the two ladies that put the costumes together also did a great job.

Me? All I had to do was fly back in town, put on my costume and have a good time! It was quite simple.

We went down to the Oak Lawn Halloween party. I was told that this has become the third largest Halloween party in the world. I couldn’t confirm it, but it was PACKED. You literally had to fight your way through the crowd just to walk across the street. But everyone had fun and nobody got hurt (in so far as I know!) so I thought I’d share a few quick pictures with you.

Check out the biker “cricket” on my shirt!!! Hey man! If you can't laugh at yourself.....

More Gore Hypocrisies

Al Gore recently spent $2-million (yes, that is million – with an “m”) on a condo in San Francisco, CA. His daughter also has a condo there while she attends college.

There are multiple debates on why he bought the condo. I mean, for a man that has places everywhere, did he really need another residence? Oh! I’m sorry, it’s not an official residence. Wouldn’t want to do that, he’d have to pay more taxes that way and we all know that the taxes in CA are brutal.

But what I question is this:

For a man that believes in Global Warming as the eminent catastrophe and doom of the entire planet and human race why would he spend $2million on a condo in San Fran? If the sea levels are going to rise and wipe out San Fran, would you really expect someone to invest $2million in property there?

Could it be that even Gore doesn’t believe his own rhetoric?

California Gay Rights and Liberalism

I’ve always viewed California as a pretty radical liberal state. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that I reside in Texas, which is pretty conservative. So I wasn’t entirely shocked when my friend, Phil, sent me a link to this article posted on Townhall.com.

The article indicates that CA has recently passed three new bills that will radically change how the state educational system views and allows sexual subject and content to be introduced to children.

SB 777 bans anything in public schools that could be interpreted as discriminating against homosexuality, bisexuality, transexuality, etc.

AB 394 requires the state department to monitor adherence to anti-discrimination and anti-harassment requirements involving “actual (or get this) perceived gender identification and sexual orientation.”

AB 14 prohibits funding to any program that does not support alternative sexual practices. This includes, but is not limited to, state-funded social services run by churches.

Now before you go off thinking I have a hard-on (no pun intended) against homosexuals or something to that effect that is simply not true.

I do, however, take issue with the state educational system or government funded programs being allowed to dictate that we have to require all kind of alternative lifestyles be incorporated into our programs.

I don’t think a young child growing up should be subject to learning about homosexuality or transexuality in school. Not only do I believe that is the parents responsibility (although most parents aren’t doing a good job of this), but it’s hard enough growing up and figuring yourself out much less having to try to choose which bathroom to use based on a sexual preference you can’t even begin to understand.

It’s also interesting the The Governator vetoed similar bills earlier, but now signed these in to law. The article isn’t able to explain this one, either.

The last paragraph is of particular importance because I pretty much agree with it. In summary, the author writes that:
“We must make Americans aware of what is happening and be prepared to fight it. Either that or we must be prepared for the “tolerant” left to begin persecuting those who advocate social and cultural positions opposed to theirs. This is as gross an abuse of power as I have ever seen.”

I don’t completely agree with the “gross abuse of power” but this is certainly going to set a precedence. Private schooling in CA is exploding due to issues like this. I certainly would not want my child coming home from school wondering if they should be gay or not, if they are gay or not, or were born the wrong gender altogether.

One thing I do not understand about liberalism is the ideology that everyone is allowed to be their own person and have individual rights provided that you are forced to acknowledge everyone else’s beliefs and cultural stances.

I think that were the goal to increase tolerance of other sexual behaviors and cultural stances that it could be done in a better way.

How Good Is Your Eyesight?

Saving Water one Piss at a Time!

I was teaching at the San Jose campus for Cisco Systems. At this particular facility they have installed the Sloan Water Free Urinals in the men’s bathroom. Now I had seen and used these before, but this was the first time I used one on a regular basis in a non-public building.

The web page for Sloan advertises that these are “odor-free.” I’m not sure what they mean by that. My guess is that the intent is that under normal use they aren’t supposed to smell. Or maybe, it’s a marketing thing and they are saying that the porcelain doesn’t smell. No shit. But let me tell you something - these things may save millions of gallons of water every year, but they stink to high heaven.

Now Cisco has a nice campus facility and as far as I could tell the bathrooms were maintained at least twice a day. These were not highly trafficked bathrooms but this thing stank so bad I had to hold my breath to be near it. I ended up going in the stalls just to get away from it. That and the pubic hairs and crap all over it just made it completely revolting to even be around.
I’m sure we can think of some other way to save water than to make us have to put up with nasty, stinky, latrines.

More Plane Morons

On the flight out there was an obnoxious guy sitting across the isle from me. Next to him was an older guy that was clearly from India. The obnoxious guy is trying to strike up a conversation with the poor fellow who clearly does not speak English very well (not that I can write it any better!).

So I hear the guy ask the Indian a question a couple of times, and then he proceeds to increase his volume until he is practically yelling at the guy. Now I realize I am no master of physics or human psychology, but the last time I checked you couldn’t make people understand you any better by yelling at them if they didn’t speak the same language.

I wanted to yell at this guy “HE DOESN’T SPEAK ENGLISH. HE CAN’T UNDERSTAND YOU.” “why are you telling at me?” “BECAUSE HE CAN’T UNDERSTAND YOU.”

I’m not sure he would have gotten it and something tells me that I would still be detained by the friendly TSA folks at SJC.

Teaching in San Jose

As many of you know by now, when I get busy teaching class and am away on business I tend to not be able to blog as much. No apologies anymore. I do what I can, and I appreciate those of you that read and keep up! However, when I am teaching all day and I still have my “regular” work load to keep up with the last thing I want to do is sit here on the computer and type something out.

Global Warming Conspiracies!

I took this pic from http://www.john-daly.com/ it shows how in 1841 Antarctic Explorer Capt. Sir James Clark Ross marked what represented mean sea level on the Isle of the Dead, Tasmania. The mark is 50cm across with a tidal range of less than a meter. The picture has a highlight of the mark. The original photos and source are on the website.

On my dad’s blog, he quotes an article by Dr. Vincent Gray. Dr. Gray is a member of the UN IPCC Expert’s Reviewer Panel since inception. I’ll let you read the article, and if you believe in global warming as hyped by the media, and politicians, then you really should at least read the article.
http://politicalangstinamerica.blogspot.com/2007/10/here-is-piece-by-member-of-ipcc-that.html

After reading the article I decided to try to find a direct link (not through my dad’s blog) to the article. What ended up happening is that I stumbled upon many a web site for pro-global warming and those who don’t believe it.

Apparently, Dr. Gray’s qualifications as well as his motives are called into question on several web sites. A few key points seem to be factual and without challenge:

He holds a PhD in Chemistry
He has had a long research career in the UK, France, Canada, China and New Zealand.
He has researched coal, timber, other building materials, etc.
He has published many of his findings
He is a member of the UN IPCC Expert Reviewer Panel
He has submitted a plethora of articles to the IPCC all of which have been rejected.

Here are the key challenges that I could find:
He is not an expert in climate
His skepticism is motivated by funding from oil companies

What I have to ask you, dear reader, is do you follow logic or not?

If you read the article that is posted, which he wrote, he clearly attacks the IPCC as a corrupt entity. This attack is primarily based on the fact that the IPCC has consistently rejected the scientific method and open debates. Now whether or not you believe that Dr. Gray is qualified as a climatologist, he unequivocally understands the scientific method. Failure of the IPCC to embrace and practice standard scientific methods have been a charge of thousands of scientists (and non-scientists) for years.

I actually like the people pointing out how he is not a climate expert. The reason I like this is that the scientific community (as well as non scientists) has been saying that the alleged “thousands” of scientists that unanimously agree on global warming and Co2 as the cause are not, in fact, qualified to do so. By that very logic, if you conclude that Dr. Gray is not qualified you are in fact supporting the supposition that the IPCC is not made up of people qualified to accurately and scientifically figure out what is going on and report it to the public.

As a side note, of the 2611 or so scientist that the IPCC touts as being members only one-in-ten have scientific backgrounds and only five of them have training in weather, climate, or other atmospheric sciences.
Source: http://www.ff.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=373&Itemid=67

Let’s also look at the questionable intentions of Dr. Gray. Several blog sites and boards cite that he has received funding from oil companies. However, he denies these
charges and as best as I can tell there is NO evidence that this is true. This seems to be a favorite conclusion of many global warming advocates: The oil companies are paying them off.

Obviously, there is money on both sides of the fence. But let’s look at reality for a moment. Global Warming is a multi-multi-multi-multi-billion dollar a year industry. You simply only have to say “global warming” or “eco friendly” or anything to that effect to get grant monies or have an effective advertising campaign. Just look at all the eco-friendly cars that actually have a higher carbon impact than other not-so-friendly cars, yet folks are shelling out the money for them.

From my dad’s blog:
“….One factually incorrect aspect of your story is that the global warming deniers are lavishly funded. According to Senator Inhofe governments and others have spent $50 billion supporting the global warming supporters, while the deniers have been funded at $19 million.”

James Hanson is an advocate of global warming and is good at supporting the cause and scaring the public into the belief that imminent doom is coming. Hanson received $250,000 from John Kerry’s wife’s foundation, and another $750,000 from the Open Society Institute. I have not seen, nor heard of any figures of oil companies paying off the other 17,000 scientists in such numbers – though that is not to say that I don’t think there is healthy lobbying there as well!! To me, the bottom line that any nay-sayers of global warming are funded by oil companies is a fairly weak argument.

As much as I think things are turning around, I think much of the damage has been done. It’s effecting our budgets. It’s effecting our politics. It’s effecting our economies. It’s effecting our general outlook on life. Some of this is good, and some of it is bad. I’ve always thought that using global warming as a scare tactic for monetary and political gain has been the end-goal all along and unfortunately that battle has pretty much been won.

But, people are starting to realize that all these predictions aren’t happening. They are starting to realize that not all scientists agree that the debate is “over.” They are starting to realize that the seas aren’t rising; we haven’t been thrown into some cataclysmic eco-holocaust. The polar bears are thriving. New ice shelves are being formed and old ones are moving along and breaking off as they have been for millions of years. We even had one of the nicest summers I can ever remember here in Texas. It may be a little too little too late.

What I Did Last Weekend

Here is a small post to show those that think Texas is flat and barren that there are some areas that actually do have forests. All of these photos were taken on land that my family owns in far E. Texas, which is the start of the Piney Woods belt that runs up into the northern portions of the U.S.

I went down there with my friend Droid to check out the property and perhaps find him a good spot to get a deer for the season.

The first photo is just a quickie shot looking down one of the "roads" that divides our property, which is on both sides of the road. Nice and thick! We had fun on the roads at night doing some mudding and just looking at the stars. You can see the Milky Way with the nekkid eye! Hard to explain it if you are a city person, but just sitting in the back of the truck under the stars and having a cold beer is very peaceful to me.

This next photo is a shot of our land where they had set up a logging operation to thin out some of the trees so that the nice straight ones would have more room to grow.

We also did some mudding in the truck and the next day we found this little morsel on the inside of the door. We have yet to figure out how this happened.

And last, but not least, here is another shot of some of our land while Droid takes aim on a target that we had setup. As you can probably tell, it pretty much requires a truck to get up in there.

Your Right To Ride Slowly Being Eroded

I constantly try to get riders and people to be cognizant of the machine that is our government. Most of them don’t give a rats ass. They don’t vote, they don’t get involved. But, whether they realize it or not they are involved. And some of them are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Unlike automobiles, motorcycles in the U.S. are seen as recreational vehicles and not necessary forms of transportation. Most of this is perception, but even from a legal perspective we (the U.S.) haven’t made much of an effort to protect, encourage, and support motorcycling in the U.S. even though it is a far more efficient form of transportation than most vehicles.

As motorcycling has been growing in the U.S. the general public (cagers) are starting to get fed up with the antics of morons on bikes. This comes from the two major sides of the house:

Sportbikes – typically doing stupid crap like stunting in public or excessively speeding on congested freeways.

Cruisers – typically with loud pipes and drinking while riding.

Whatever you ride, whatever it is you do, these people are ruining it for all of us. Taken to the extreme there are reports of people that are literally laying down oil or other slick substances in corners known to be well traveled by bikers. For us, this is the rough equivalent of pointing a loaded gun at someone and pulling the trigger. You might hit them, might not, but if you do you are certainly going to hurt them in some manner.

But what is also happening in the background is that people are trying to enact laws to prevent motorcycling all together. Surprise! I get a lot of reactions on this one such as “they can’t do that” and “it will never happen.”

Really?

Just recently in Tennessee they made it illegal to wheelie.

New York introduced a bill to prohibit “exhibition driving” punishable as misdemeanor. Keep in mind that “exhibition driving” is completely subjective.

In Missouri they are proposing making motorcycle stunting a felony on a second offense. They define stunting as “removing both hands from the handlebars while operating the motorcycle.” For those of you who are cagers, I do this all the time while approaching a stoplight. It’s no more dangerous that doing it on a bicycle and probably less dangerous than taking your hands off the wheel in a cage as I still have more control of my bike.

In certain parts of CA they are proposing legislation that would allow townships to make illegal to ride a motorcycle in the town!

I have had some involvement in the TMRA II here in Texas and it’s amazing some of the crap they try to pass or sneak in under another law. Like the time one moron proposed a bill that would organ donation MANDATORY if you were hit on a bike.

Another proposed bill in the works will give insurance companies the right to refuse coverage because you were engaged in an extreme hobby (riding a motorcycle). Imagine you are out riding and a cage takes you out and then the insurance company refuses to pay you life insurance policy to your wife and kids.

*sigh* and on it goes. But I tell my friends and other bikers about it and they still ride like assholes in residential neighborhoods. They still rev their bikes with the pipes under bridges and in parking lots so that people can’t hear well enough to talk to each other. They still get on their bikes completely wasted and ride. I still see “stuntahs” riding wheels at 90+mph down I-30 in traffic, doing “stopies” at red lights, and running 100+ mph down 360.

So please, next time you get on your bike, think about what you are doing. And if you don’t want to do that, then you better get out there and vote and get involved or pretty soon you will be looking at bikes in a museum saying “I remember when we used to be able to ride those things.”

Sanctuary Policies Still on the Table

Our friendly representatives are still pushing hard to make it easy and easier for illegal aliens to not only flood into our great country, but also give them access to benefits and protection that even an American citizen doesn't have access to.

In the latest round, the Sanctuary Amendment failed in the senate. This amendment would have prevented federal funds from being awarded to states and municipalities with sanctuary policies in place. The idea is that you cut off their funding and they would do away with sanctuary policies. But, now that is not going to happen.

On an interesting note, it's against federal law (section 624 of the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996) for municipalities to to adopt policies (formally or informally) that prevent employees from communicating with with the DHS. Apparently this has never really been challenged by the DOJ.

Burning it on Both Ends Again!

I've had plenty of time to reflect on my life and where I am at. How did I come by all this time? Quite simply by being in my truck or on my bike back and forth to the Big D many, many, many times over the last month.

I'm not a big fan of Dallas, TX. I don't care much for the people and the lifestyle (too pretentious). I don't like the city council or the school board (morons). And I especially don't like the traffic.

I don't go to Dallas, much. Usually for Dallas Stars games or some concert. Lately, though, I have been to Dallas (or some part of the area) more in the last month than I have been in the last three years. Why so much? A few quick reasons:

1) work! I've had clients in the area requesting time from me in some fashion or another.

2)Home projects - while most of the materials for the wood flooring came from Arlington, some of the pieces like the transitions came from Dallas and I made multiple trips to get them.

3)events - concerts and shows that I wanted to go see

4) new friends - especially one in particular that I've been trying to see whenever I have the time.

So during all this time I've done my usual thinking about the way things are going. Maybe, for me, it's simply thinking about thinking. With some minor exceptions I have been pulling things back together over the last year since being home. I have a few more things I'd like to work out or straighten out. Always striving to be better. And does it really mean anything? I just watch my fuel gauge get lower and lower. Maybe I should get something more fuel efficient, like a Corvette!!!!

BTW - for those that don't ride - when you ride a motorcycle you lean the bike over into the corners to counter the effects of g-force. As you lean the bike over, the contact patch of the tire to pavement moves to the side of the tire. The more cornering you do, the more you wear out the sides of your tires. The harder you corner, the further to the side of the tire you wear them. The space that never gets worn down is called a chicken strip because you are too scared to come through the corner fast enough to get your bike over and utilize the edge of the tires. Does the above picture make more sense, now?

Suffer the little Polar Bears

The following is an article taken from Townhall.com about global warming and the decline of the polar bear. Thanks for the forward, Phil! In short the article surmises a book by Bjorn Lomborg's entitled, "Cool It: A Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming."

The summation is basically yes there is climate change. Yes there is global warming. No, it's nowhere near as severe as people are making it out to be. No, the bears are not really suffering because of it. Pretty much what real scientists have been saying for a while now.

Here is the write up:


Of Polar Bears and ConsensusBy Mona CharenFriday, October 12, 2007

Consensus can be wrong. So warned The New York Times in a science section piece on Oct. 9. "Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus" reviewed the history of our belief that dietary fat was as big a health risk as smoking. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop declared as much in 1988. He was speaking not for himself but for the scientific community, which was nearly unanimous in fingering fat as the cause of heart disease and cancer.

The trouble was, study after study failed to prove the hypothesis. It was a case, the Times explains, of "informational cascade" -- a phenomenon in which groups tend to reach false conclusions because individuals often assume that the majority must be right.

Thank you, New York Times. It's a good cautionary tale about human psychology and one the Times ought to take to heart in its coverage of the global warming question. That is the issue we are currently "cascading" to conclusions about, the Times no less than anyone else. The climate of opinion on climate is dogmatic verging on hysterical. Kids are coming home from school in tears having been taught that the world they were born into will soon descend into a nightmare of massive storms, swamped cities and dying animals.

The dying animals is a big favorite in the schools, particularly the stranded polar bear on an ice floe searching for land. That one even got to my worldly sons. So I was particularly happy to have Bjorn Lomborg's new book, "Cool It: A Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming," on hand.

Lomborg does not deny that global warming is happening, nor that it is the result of human action. But he does apply a necessary damper to the white-hot rhetoric and scare mongering of the global warming fanatics. A political scientist by training and an economist by outlook, the man The Wall Street Journal called the "golden-haired Dane" applies common sense and cost/benefit analysis to a subject brimming with emotion and unreasoning fear.

Along the way, he debunks some of the myths. Pace Al Gore it seems that of the 20 subpopulations of polar bear, one or possibly two are declining in population. But more than half are stable, and two are increasing. Actually, the world population of polar bears has mushroomed over the past several decades, from some 5,000 in the 1960s to about 25,000 today, due to stricter regulation of hunting. As for those two subgroups that are declining in population, they live in regions in which the temperatures have actually been dropping over the past 50 years, whereas the subgroups that have seen an increase in population live in areas that have been getting warmer.

The polar bear example is instructive because the solution being urged upon us to save the bears is a massively expensive but ultimately nearly fruitless effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions. If we follow Kyoto or some other framework, we can at best save .06 bears per year. "But," Lomborg writes, "49 bears from the same population are getting shot every year, and this we can easily do something about."

It's the same with climate change writ large. Drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions is hardly cost free. To achieve the goals outlined in the Kyoto accords, for example, would cost the world $180 billion annually for 50 years.

Examined rationally, it is clear that while global warming will do harm to some parts of the world, it will also do good to others. Might not the money be better spent mitigating the negative effects of a warming planet?

Lomborg's book focuses on trade-offs. If we're going to spend a fixed amount of money to improve the world, what makes the most sense? Or to put it another way, which dollar spent produces the greatest benefit? According to a group of economists (including four Nobel Prize winners) who examined this question in 2004, the answer was clear. One dollar spent fighting HIV/AIDS produced $40 in social benefits. One dollar spent on fighting malnutrition yields about $30 in social benefits. Other efforts, like ending agricultural subsidies in the wealthy countries and ensuring worldwide free trade, would net a $15 benefit for a one-dollar cost. Cutting CO2 emissions, by contrast, yields between 2 and 25 cents per dollar invested.

The consensus is wrong on global warming. Wonder when The New York Times will figure it out? In the meanwhile, Lomborg points the way toward clear analysis.

Helping Friends Move

WARNING! Some of these images may be graphic!!! And they were all taken with a camera phone so I'll apologize in advance for the poor quality.

Never, and I mean NEVER again will I help someone move up to a third story apartment. I often get asked to help move because I have a truck. It's one of the bad things about having a truck. However, in this case, Young Blood didn't need my truck. He just needed a body he could abuse for a few hours.

Truck-wise, he had us covered. He works for a company that happens to have several large trucks. This one, here, had a crane attached to the back of it. Did we use the crane? You betcha! No fooking around here! Got a 300lb entertainment center to move? Get it close enough to the edge so we could get the crane to it and stick it on the truck. Did it freak the neighbors out seeing us moving furniture? Probably, but we weren't there long!

Unfortunately, when we got to his new place there was no way to maneuver the crane up to the third floor balcony so we ended up doing the old fashioned way by killing ourselves. I think Hopper got the worst of it, though. The worst thing we had to move was this stupid armoire that must have weight more than Oprah during one of her yo-yo eating binges. We didn't have a good hand-truck. All we had was a cheesy little dolly that might as well have been made out of Lego's for all the good it did us.

So up three flights of stairs, and as luck would have it, there wasn't enough room on the landings to rotate the thing appropriately so we all pretty much strained, stretched, or broke something trying to get it moved around. Hopper, got stuck underneath the thing and Young Blood and I picked it up and moved it not realizing he was in a bad spot and it crushed him into the wall. All of a sudden this nearly in-human sound came out of Hopper. It sounded something like a cross between a walrus, and a hound-dog in heat. Needless to say YB and I lost it and were laughing our asses off. Hopper is still making noises, but by now the more noise he makes the more we are cracking up. At one point, I literally couldn't breathe and had tears rolling down my face. The whole time we are trying to tell him to STFU! so we can regain our composure and get the thing off of him, but we can't because we are laughing too hard. We finally got it off of him, up the stairs, and into the apartment. My knee was not too happy after that, but it's feeling pretty good again today!

YB says he should be there at least a year. As long as they don't jack up his rent to bad, he'll sign again. That's nice....and I really don't care because he'll be on his own next time.

Now, here are some pics of stuff I've only ever seen on the Internet. It's pictures from YB's room mate's room. These pics were not staged or edited in any way. Trust me, I tried not to touch ANYTHING. And you can't even imagine the smell.... OMG! It was horrible. Again, it's from a camera phone. My amazement is that someone could actually LIVE like this. YB isn't like this and aside from the usual accoutrement's of stuff in his apartment, I'd have never known this other guy was there. I'll spare you the graphic details of what all I saw while in there. You can probably draw your own conclusions.

Can you say ick? This guy wonders why he is single.

Floors are Finished!

Well, it's been a long while coming but the floors are finally all wrapped up!! Here is the original post on when I started the project. http://invioletlight.blogspot.com/2007/09/new-floors.html Over the last week I was able to acquire the transitions (shown below) that go from the wood floor to the tiled floor. I had to sand them down a few times and try a few different stains and varnishes but I think I got them where they look good and then we glued them in.

Of course, then the project escalated because I had to get rid of my old entertainment cabinet for my stereo. Because the new one didn't have a true cabinet below it, I had to find some new storage for my DVD's. I was already over-running my old CD rack so I ended up buying a whole new one of those, too. In the end, I think it worked out....

Here are a couple of before pics and then the after pics!

Wood and glue for the floors: ~ $1600.00

Transitions: ~$120.00

New Stereo Rack $400

New CD Rack $300

Trips to hardware, floor, or lumber store: ~7

Hours into the project? Hard to say for sure, but somewhere around 50 or 60 if you count all the trips to the stores and stuff., but I am very pleased with the way everything turned out! And again, many thanks to my friend Andy (aka Droid) without whom this would not have been possible.

Money Grubbing Whores Pt. 2

I had recently posted about Money Grubbing Whores and now have to post about them again. Thanks to Bling! this Craigslist ad was forwarded to me and I just had to post it here. I have not verified if this is true or not, but Snopes doesn't have anything on it that I can find one way or the other.

If it is true, I honestly don't find it all that shocking. I've literally been in bars and nightclubs in Dallas (Let's Keep Dallas Pretentious!) and have overheard chicks "interviewing" guys on the spot about their financial status. They might as well have asked for a Dunn & Bradstreet report and their last three pay stubs. You would have thought they were applying for a loan or something.

The guy's response echoes things I have also said on here in past blogs. If women are this superficial about money, what makes them think that they won't be (or shouldn't be) dropped as soon as the next hot money-grubbing-whore comes along that is better looking or gives a better BJ?

In any event, here is the ad, and the response:

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I'm articulate and classy.I'm not from New York . I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City , so I don't think I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around200 - 250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won't get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

- Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars,restaurants, gyms

-What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won't hurt my feelings

-Is there an age range I should be targeting (I'm 25)?

- Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I've seen really 'plain jane' boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I've seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What's the story there?

- Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

- How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I'm putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I'm being up front about it. I wouldn't be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn't able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.

* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 432279810 THE ANSWER

Dear Pers-431649184:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I'm not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here's how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a cr@ppy business deal. Here's why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity...in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you! So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold...hence the rub...marriage. It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease. In case you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It's as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So,I wonder why a girl as "articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful" as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn't found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn't need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you're going about it the right way. Classic "pump and dump." I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

The war Affects People

The other day I was in a cool little dive bar in Dallas called The Windmill Lounge with two of my friends. We were all having many beverages and several different conversations were being spun throughout the course of the evening.
These two friends of mine are liberal and democratic, which can be a dangerous situation when you infuse alcohol and one stubborn, opinionated, non-democrat (me) into the mix.

Of course the war in Iraq gets brought up and one of these people indicates to me that people aren’t affected by the war. Wait a minute. What do you mean people aren’t affected? They indicated in any capacity, financial or otherwise.

I had to disagree. And I was referring to a predominantly non-financial perspective. I fly all over the country and I see first-hand people that are affected by the war in one way or another. I see people thanking soldiers all over the airport. I have given up a first class ticket, and seen others do the same thing for those in uniform. I’ve had great conversations with the men and women serving our country while on a flight. I’ve bought them drinks at the bar, or breakfast on an early morning. I’ve met people who have friends, brothers, sisters, cousins, sons and daughters in the war and they are all affected by it. Unlike Vietnam, which I am too young to really remember, I see people that have a deep appreciation and respect for the men and women fighting for us.

Now from a financial impact, perhaps they are absolutely correct. It was pointed out to me that this was the first war in American history in which we had tax-breaks. I have not confirmed this (dad, are you out there somewhere?). But I can say that I personally don’t feel like I’ve been affected in a financial perspective from this war.
My question is, is this a bad thing? I do take issue when I hear that there isn’t enough monies being allocated to the soldiers to be properly protected. Could I make a difference if I was financially affected? Perhaps, but the actual allocation of funding is substantially beyond my control. I can’t say that I have looked into the financial implications of this enough to know the answer or what a good or effective solution might be.

One of these same peoples said something that I agree with to a large extent, and I’ll paraphrase for lack of exact recall (blame the vodka): “If you say you know exactly how to fix something, or what the answer is, you probably haven’t looked into it enough.”

Mexican Deportation

An article in the Dallas Morning News reported on a flood of phone calls into City Hall regarding a controversial program that has been focusing on the arrest and deportation of illegal aliens.

Apparently, though, people are flooding the hotline voicing support and NOT asking them to end the program.

I’ve said it before somewhere on here that I don’t know anyone that supports illegal aliens being in this country (aside from illegal aliens and Hispanic activists), and yet, the government still continues to not really do much about it.

For once, I’m glad to see Dallas doing something good. Let’s hope they keep it up.

As a side note, the article degrades into a “white man keeping the black man down” spin. I couldn’t quite figure out the point of that.

Rush Limbaugh Phony Soldier

On my way to Sonic this morning I was listening to some talk radio show. It was whatever is on 105.3 in the AM. They brought up the Rush Limbaugh scandal, which has to do with him calling any soldier that disagrees with the situation in Iraq a “phony soldier.”

This peaked my interest so I kept listening. According to the show Rush had made this disparaging remark right on the heels of the General Patraeus scandal. The show proceeded to rail on Rush and brought up how the response from Rush that this was taken out of context was nothing more than a spin job.

So, now I am really curios as to what is going on. They then played a very small clip from one of his shows and he did indeed use the term “phony soldier.” So now I’m a bit irritate and somewhat incredulous, but I figure there has to be more to the story or that I should at least investigate it some.

On the talk show, one guy called in and tried to explain the situation and was quickly dismissed and cut off. The hosts of the show would hear none of it.

It would really make me mad if he said these terrible thing. I believe that as an American you are entitled to not only your opinion but the right to speak your opinion. AND, that it does not make you unpatriotic to disagree with something. If you are over there fighting for me and the right to speak my mind, you certainly have the right to speak yours.

In any case, I get back to the house and am sucking down my elixir of caffeine, cola, an sugar also known as the Nectar of the Gods, or Dr. Pepper as it’s more commonly known and start doing a quick search on this.

What I find out in my investigation is that the Media Matters for America group flaunted portions of a transcript of the Limbaugh show that fairly purposely would mislead one to the conclusion that Rush did indeed say these things in negative light. But even MSNBC admitted that they researched the exact transcript of the radio show and that what Rush said and what Media Matters reported are not the same thing.

In short, Rush was referring to a specific person that had lied about their service record and called him, as well as anyone else that did the same thing, a phony soldier.

What really irks me is not only the typical partisan slander of one group to another, but the media’s quick attention to blow the issue out of proportion without investigating it to any real extent.

If a sap like me can take 10 minutes to figure this out, why can’t someone else? Perhaps we hear what we want to hear.