The Mad Carpenter

Idiots

2007-10-25T17:39:00.000-06:00

Whoever runs this site believes in slavery, apparently. Subjugation at the very least:

http://www.governmentisgood.com/index.php

Let's Talk to Iran

2007-09-20T19:13:00.000-06:00

I stole this from James Taranto, and it's worth stealing. Gives you some idea of how fucked up so many American's minds are, especially the "Educators":

Next week Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's Holocaust-denying president, who has said that "Israel must be wiped off the map," will be in New York for the U.N. General Assembly session. As the titular leader of a U.N. member state, Ahmadinejad is entitled to visit the city for this reason. But he is not entitled to something else he received, namely an appearance to speak at Columbia University, where he will be introduced by none other than Lee Bollinger, Columbia's president.

Yesterday Bollinger put out a statement defending his decision to authorize the event, and it was filled with high-minded rhetoric:

"Columbia, as a community dedicated to learning and scholarship, is committed to confronting ideas--to understand the world as it is and as it might be. To fulfill this mission we must respect and defend the rights of our schools, our deans and our faculty to create programming for academic purposes. Necessarily, on occasion this will bring us into contact with beliefs many, most or even all of us will find offensive and even odious. We trust our community, including our students, to be fully capable of dealing with these occasions, through the powers of dialogue and reason."

But there is one little problem here. As Bill Kristol points out:

"As Columbia welcomes Ahmadinejad to campus, Columbia students who want to serve their country cannot enroll in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) at Columbia. Columbia students who want to enroll in ROTC must travel to other universities to fulfill their obligations. ROTC has been banned from the Columbia campus since 1969. In 2003, a majority of polled Columbia students supported reinstating ROTC on campus. But in 2005, when the Columbia faculty senate debated the issue, President Bollinger joined the opponents in defeating the effort to invite ROTC back on campus."

The original decision to kick ROTC off campus was the product of 1960s anti-Americanism, but the ostensible reason the policy continues is objection to the law, signed by President Clinton, that prohibits open homosexuals from serving in the military. Apparently some ideas are so odious that they are unworthy of answering "through the powers of dialogue and reason."
So, what is Ahmadinejad's regime's policy on homosexuals in the military? We don't know, but according to Human Rights Watch, Iran is not a terribly friendly place for gay civilians:
On Sunday, November 13, the semi-official Tehran daily Kayhan reported that the Iranian government publicly hung [sic] two men, Mokhtar N. (24 years old) and Ali A. (25 years old), in the Shahid Bahonar Square of the northern town of Gorgan.

The government reportedly executed the two men for the crime of "lavat." Iran's shari'a-based penal code defines lavat as penetrative and non-penetrative sexual acts between men. Iranian law punishes all penetrative sexual acts between adult men with the death penalty. Non-penetrative sexual acts between men are punished with lashes until the fourth offense, when they are punished with death. Sexual acts between women, which are defined differently, are punished with lashes until the fourth offense, when they are also punished with death.
If the U.S. military executed homosexuals instead of merely discharging them, perhaps Bollinger would welcome ROTC back to Columbia.

Hillaryous

2007-09-20T16:08:00.000-06:00

Black dude Walter E. Williams points out the absurdity (and racism, frankly) of the way Hillary Clinton attempts to connect with blacks by taking on a "black" manner of speaking:

“’I don’t feel no ways tired. I come too far from where I started from. Nobody told me that the road would be easy. I don’t believe He brought me this far,’ drawled presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton, mimicking black voice to a black audience, at the First Baptist Church of Selma, Alabama. I’m wondering if Mrs. Clinton visits an Indian reservation she might cozy up to them saying, ‘How! Me not tired. Me come heap long way. Road mighty rough. Sky Spirit no bring me this far.’ Or, seeking the Asian vote she might say, ‘I no wray tired. Come too far I started flum. Road berry clooked. Number one Dragon King take me far’.” —Walter Williams

Brilliant man, Mr. Williams is. Of course, she wasn't really being a racist and looking down her nose at black people. She thinks everyone is inferior to her.

I Wonder...

2007-09-11T16:20:00.000-06:00

First, a great quote that I just read, then I ramble:

“At the birth of our nation our uniquely American society had a very clear grasp of the concept of good and evil, of bad and good, of what was right and what was wrong. Individuals and organizations who transgressed the boundaries of the evil, the bad or the wrong were expected to pay a price for their misdeeds. Today, through the employment of the perverted and contorted logic of moral relativism anything can be rationalized and anyone—even if they are the purveyors of evil—can be a victim. All that our ‘enlightened’ society expects from those who commit even the most monstrous of societal transgressions is ‘an apology.’ The sad part about this reality is that because our society has become morally relativistic there is no threshold for how sincere that apology has to be.” —Frank Salvato

Now, ain't that the truth? If the Michael Vick imbroglio has reinforced anything in my mind, it's that a whole hell of a lot of people have fucked up belief systems. Vick being a prime example. I will refrain from condemning (note - I couldn't help it, I do so later) him or going on about what I think of his actions. You can read that anywhere and frankly I was a bit sick of hearing about it on day two or so. Yeah, it was a huge sports as well as a news story. But I quickly grew tired of the whole thing on sports radio. I do sports for entertainment, not hard news.

Don't take this wrong. What the Vick deal showed me yet again is that there are a lot of people that care more about animals than people. How many times in the last ten years have you seen sympathetic news coverage of some convicted murderer? You can literally brutally slaughter innocent people, spend time in prison, say the right things, and after the passage of time people will line up to defend you. Tookie Wilson, anyone? Karla Faye Tucker comes to mind. Here is her story. As her date with the needle approached, there were dozens and dozens of syrupy news stories making her out to be a victim. You know the template: She had a rough childhood, was abused, did drugs, hung out with a rough crowd, and later repented and became a born-again Christian. Hey, all of the above applies to me as well. I never took a pick axe to anyone. So many people wanted her spared for a variety of reasons. Have you seen a similar onslaught in defense of Michael Vick? I mean, a couple of athletes stuck their feet in their mouths, but there has not been this big outcry for forgiveness for him.

Hey, let's have some perspective here. He killed dogs, not people. The same type of person that was calling for KFT's pardon is probably the person that is calling for Vick's execution.

Oh, and spare the hate mail. I have a point and it is not that Vick should be forgiven. Personally, I am really hoping that the Judge drops the hammer. I hope the bastard loses his wealth and has to get a job. I'd like to see his sorry ass in the Arena League and maybe even Arena 2 where they make a few hundred a week. I want to see him brought down as much as anyone, I know his type, he's a despicable human being. Clear?

I wonder if, as time passes, Michael Vick will have a similar response from the public? You know, the coddling from the press, the leniency advocacy groups. He already did the apology and religion thing. Whoopi Goldberg (side note - Is that the best piece Ted Danson could score? Good Lord. He was a star! She must have some killer pussy or something.) showed her ass on national TV when she basically threw the entire South under the bus, saying something about dog fighting being "cultural" to the South. So, basically you have to understand where he came from, these backwards assed people down there... but that's a different subject.

Synopsis to this point: A lot of people have fucked up belief systems and rationalize their contradictions in a lot of ways. They make excuses for people that have done evil things to other people and freak out when someone does evil things to animals. (We will see if the same happens to Vick over time.)

So now we are at the reason I started this post to begin with.

A lot of political types have used the strategy of attacking the war in Iraq by saying it distracted us from getting Bin Laden. These people, Democrats, have been saying this for years. Fair enough question, whether it is true or not.

I cannot tell you haow many times I have read things from some rank and file type person where they are parroting, almost word for word, what some "leader" has said. Left or right politically. Internet posts, letters to the editor, whatever. Sheeple.

So many people have a visceral, irrational hatred of George W. Bush that they will use any argument to try and defeat him in some way. One of the things that has come up is the death penalty, especially in Texas. Savage, we are. And that just points to how inhuman Bush is! SEE!!!

I wonder.

What would those people suggest we do with Osama Bin Laden should we capture him?

Bad Ass Marine

2007-08-16T16:48:00.001-06:00

Freestylin' is not my bag, but this is pretty fucking cool:

Bad Ass Marine

Also...

2007-08-14T17:18:00.000-06:00

I forgot a couple of things in that last post. Re-read this part from the article:

"During the Vietnam War we spread vitriolic stories around the world, pretending that America's presidents sent Genghis Khan-style barbarian soldiers to Vietnam who raped at random, taped electrical wires to human genitals, cut off limbs, blew up bodies and razed entire villages. Those weren't facts."

Hmm. sounds like something John Kerry once said, doesn't it? That would be Senator Kerry from 1971:

American soldiers "raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, cut off limbs, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in a fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan...."

I'm willing to grant the possibility that the writer of the previous article, Lt. General Pacepa, tailored his statements to bolster his argument. But to say that is to say that he is lying about what he witnessed at the time. I'm not willing to go that far. For one thing, he never mentions John Kerry by name. He only states the content of the propaganda that they were spreading.

So, either Mr. Pacepa tailored his article to enable us to draw our own conclusions about John Kerry or John Kerry bought into the propaganda Pacepa spread. I'm going with the latter conclusion. That's one Useful Idiot that damn near got elected President.

Speaking of Useful Idiots, how about that Marxist, Hillary Clinton? You know, the presumptive Democrat nominee. You know what she did recently? She followed a nurse around to learn what nurses do.

Let that sink in a moment. She followed a nurse around to learn what nurses do.

That whole thing was staged of course. Staging events for political advantage is as old as, well, politics. I can't fault her or her campaign for that. What drives me nuts, especially with the Clintons, is the way their staged events have always seemed to talk down to us all, the great unwashed. The unsophisticated hayseeds that need to be taken care of and whose behaviors need to be directed by the Smart People. I mean, everyting they have ever done is so fake, and they think we buy it. Sadly, I suppose their supporters do. Examples: Bill visits the beaches of Normandy on the anniversary of D-Day. It wasn't enough for him to say a few things and look Presidential. He had to set up phony photo ops. Team Clinton had someone throw some rocks down ahead of time so he could solemnly form them into a cross. Only rocks on the whole fucking beach just happened to be right there. Later, he encountered a grave with an American flag in front of it. Sadly, the flag was toppled. He solemnly righted it and planted it anew. Thing is, an aide pulled the fucking flag up beforehand so he would have the photo op. The press ate it up. Just like they did every other bit of his phony bullshit.

That type of thing gives you an insight into their mindset. They think most Americans are malleable fools. Just show us some pretty pictures and OOH! Unfortunately they may be right.

If you think I despise the Clintons, you are correct. The only reason is that they despised me first. I actually considered voting for the son of a bitch. Then I figured out what a con man Bill is. I also figured out what kind of person Hillary is, and it's not a pretty picture. The both of them are Marxists philosophically. They share common goals and hold most people in contempt. They lust for power in a very unhealthy way. They would love to be dictators - they know better than you how to run your life. They really believe that.

So Hillary follows a nurse around and gets glowing press coverage. Some reporter marveled that she actually washed dishes. Woop te fucking do. All Hillary was doing was the same thing she and Bill have always done: attempt to be something they are not to hide their true natures. Hillary washing dishes, ohh, she's so in touch!

Well, if she is so in fucking touch with us hayseeds, why the hell did she feel the need to follow a nurse around to learn what nurses do? What. The. Hell.

I think I might head over to the Jokeaday forums and start a poll: Who doesn't know what nurses do? Probably piss some people off. Oh well.

Any of you hayseeds out there reading this that don't know what nurses do? Well, if you don't, congratulations. According to Hillary you are qualified to nationalize one seventh of the U.S. economy. Hey, she tried it. For those of you that are unlearned like me, nationalize means that the government siezes private assets and property and takes control of the businesses of citizens. Legalized theft, at the point of a gun.

Speaking of stealing, the whole health care thing wasn't even where I was going with this. Watch this scary video and tell me if I'm wrong. Hillary hints at what she believes, what she is all about when she says one thing: "I would take those profits".

Think about it. "I would take those profits". Just exactly who the fuck does she think she is? Take those profits?!? What is she running for, President or Commandante?

Hey, I know who she thinks she is. I'm just trying to get you to see the same things I do.

The Soviet Playbook

2007-08-09T16:50:00.000-06:00

The political leftists in this country love, absolutely LOVE to demonize President Bush. When called on their bullshit, they make the pretzel logic leap that "It's patriotic to criticize the government". Well, sure it is. But for elected officials to compare our President to Hitler and our soldiers to SS troops is flatly insane. Yet, they have in fact done such a ridiculous thing. And then someone like Shrillary Clinton goes out and screams, SCREAMS, "How dare you question my patriotism!" We'll, ma'am, we question your patriotism because you, by your words and deeds, undercut the interests of the United States.

Sadly, the Democrat Party leadership will literally sacrifice the good of our country for their own political ends. And lots of useful idiots with too much time on their hands eat it up and believe the insane drivel that is passed around nowadays. Example: A whole lot of people believe that the World Trade Center was a demo job. That evil Shrub planned the entire thing. Yeah, he can't tie his own shoes but he can somehow pull that off. Hell, major news networks go along with this flaky bullshit. No, you say? Why in the hell was Rosie O'Dumbshit not immediately fired for her lunatic rantings (Do a search. The stupid bitch actually said that never in history has fire melted steel as she attempted to pin 9/11 to the Bush administration.) on the subject? One of the "Big Three" networks, ABC, obviously condoned her remarks by their inaction. Yes, I realize her rantings were probably good for ratings. Just like a disaster is for the news.

That doesn't make it right. I mean, Don Imus gets fired for making "Insensitive" comments (I hear those poor girls were sooo traumatized, how insignificant they all are in history) and yet you can go on network TV and call the President a mass murderer without consequence? It's a sorry world fer sure.

People need to wake the fuck up and quit watching Survivor or American Idull and pay attention to what these idiots are doing. Put down the Ipud, the Iphony, or whatever, and fucking pay attention. Your future is at stake. And to borrow a page from people who love to raise your taxes, your CHILDREN'S future is at stake!

Personally, I am thankful when voter turnout is low. Morons don't need to be voting.

Who was it, Nikita Kruschev I believe, that pounded his shoe on the podium at the U.N. and said "We will take America without firing a shot!" His point was that they would infiltrate our society and turn people to Communism. Seems to me, given the current state of politics, that he was fairly successful. For example, how many people are dependent on government today? How many people advocate Communist ideals such as government control of industry? Healthcare, for example. Why, we have just got to let the FEDS take over!

That's what is wrong with this country and the world in general today. Every single fucking problem we have, well, why doesn't the government do something?

I guess I'm just Old School American. Leave me alone, get out of my way, and I'll take care of me and mine. Oh, and I'll help my neighbor out, too. That's just what good people do. No lines to wait in or forms to fill out that way, and there is accountability that no government agency can match.

But back to the commies. I read a very interesting article today. Seems the political left in this country is still carrying out ole' Niki's wishes:

Propaganda Redux

Take it from this old KGB hand: The left is abetting America's enemies with its intemperate attacks on President Bush.

BY ION MIHAI PACEPA Tuesday, August 7, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT

During last week's two-day summit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown thanked President Bush for leading the global war on terror. Mr. Brown acknowledged "the debt the world owes to the U.S. for its leadership in this fight against international terrorism" and vowed to follow Winston Churchill's lead and make Britain's ties with America even stronger.

Mr. Brown's statements elicited anger from many of Mr. Bush's domestic detractors, who claim the president concocted the war on terror for personal gain. But as someone who escaped from communist Romania--with two death sentences on his head--in order to become a citizen of this great country, I have a hard time understanding why some of our top political leaders can dare in a time of war to call our commander in chief a "liar," a "deceiver" and a "fraud."

I spent decades scrutinizing the U.S. from Europe, and I learned that international respect for America is directly proportional to America's own respect for its president.

My father spent most of his life working for General Motors in Romania and had a picture of President Truman in our house in Bucharest. While "America" was a vague place somewhere thousands of miles away, he was her tangible symbol. For us, it was he who had helped save civilization from the Nazi barbarians, and it was he who helped restore our freedom after the war--if only for a brief while. We learned that America loved Truman, and we loved America. It was as simple as that.

Later, when I headed Romania's intelligence station in West Germany, everyone there admired America too. People would often tell me that the "Amis" meant the difference between night and day in their lives. By "night" they meant East Germany, where their former compatriots were scraping along under economic privation and Stasi brutality. That was then.

But in September 2002, a German cabinet minister, Herta Dauebler-Gmelin, had the nerve to compare Mr. Bush to Hitler. In one post-Iraq-war poll 40% of Canada's teenagers called the U.S. "evil," and even before the fall of Saddam 57% of Greeks answered "neither" when asked which country was more democratic, the U.S. or Iraq.

Sowing the seeds of anti-Americanism by discrediting the American president was one of the main tasks of the Soviet-bloc intelligence community during the years I worked at its top levels. This same strategy is at work today, but it is regarded as bad manners to point out the Soviet parallels. For communists, only the leader counted, no matter the country, friend or foe. At home, they deified their own ruler--as to a certain extent still holds true in Russia. Abroad, they asserted that a fish starts smelling from the head, and they did everything in their power to make the head of the Free World stink.

The communist effort to generate hatred for the American president began soon after President Truman set up NATO and propelled the three Western occupation forces to unite their zones to form a new West German nation. We were tasked to take advantage of the reawakened patriotic feelings stirring in the European countries that had been subjugated by the Nazis, in order to shift their hatred for Hitler over into hatred for Truman--the leader of the new "occupation power." Western Europe was still grateful to the U.S. for having restored its freedom, but it had strong leftist movements that we secretly financed. They were like putty in our hands.

The European leftists, like any totalitarians, needed a tangible enemy, and we gave them one. In no time they began beating their drums decrying President Truman as the "butcher of Hiroshima." We went on to spend many years and many billions of dollars disparaging subsequent presidents: Eisenhower as a war-mongering "shark" run by the military-industrial complex, Johnson as a mafia boss who had bumped off his predecessor, Nixon as a petty tyrant, Ford as a dimwitted football player and Jimmy Carter as a bumbling peanut farmer. In 1978, when I left Romania for good, the bloc intelligence community had already collected 700 million signatures on a "Yankees-Go-Home" petition, at the same time launching the slogan "Europe for the Europeans."

During the Vietnam War we spread vitriolic stories around the world, pretending that America's presidents sent Genghis Khan-style barbarian soldiers to Vietnam who raped at random, taped electrical wires to human genitals, cut off limbs, blew up bodies and razed entire villages. Those weren't facts. They were our tales, but some seven million Americans ended up being convinced their own president, not communism, was the enemy. As Yuri Andropov, who conceived this dezinformatsiya war against the U.S., used to tell me, people are more willing to believe smut than holiness.

The final goal of our anti-American offensive was to discourage the U.S. from protecting the world against communist terrorism and expansion. Sadly, we succeeded. After U.S. forces precipitously pulled out of Vietnam, the victorious communists massacred some two million people in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Another million tried to escape, but many died in the attempt. This tragedy also created a credibility gap between America and the rest of the world, damaged the cohesion of American foreign policy, and poisoned domestic debate in the U.S.

Unfortunately, partisans today have taken a page from the old Soviet playbook. At the 2004 Democratic National Convention, for example, Bush critics continued our mud-slinging at America's commander in chief. One speaker, Martin O'Malley, now governor of Maryland, had earlier in the summer stated he was more worried about the actions of the Bush administration than about al Qaeda. On another occasion, retired four-star general Wesley Clark gave Michael Moore a platform to denounce the American commander in chief as a "deserter." And visitors to the national chairman of the Democratic Party had to step across a doormat depicting the American president surrounded by the words, "Give Bush the Boot."

Competition is indeed the engine that has driven the American dream forward, but unity in time of war has made America the leader of the world. During World War II, 405,399 Americans died to defeat Nazism, but their country of immigrants remained sturdily united. The U.S. held national elections during the war, but those running for office entertained no thought of damaging America's international prestige in their quest for personal victory. Republican challenger Thomas Dewey declined to criticize President Roosevelt's war policy. At the end of that war, a united America rebuilt its vanquished enemies. It took seven years to turn Nazi Germany and imperial Japan into democracies, but that effort generated an unprecedented technological explosion and 50 years of unmatched prosperity for us all.

Now we are again at war. It is not the president's war. It is America's war, authorized by 296 House members and 76 senators. I do not intend to join the armchair experts on the Iraq war. I do not know how we should handle this war, and they don't know either. But I do know that if America's political leaders, Democrat and Republican, join together as they did during World War II, America will win. Otherwise, terrorism will win. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi predicted just before being killed: "We fight today in Iraq, tomorrow in the land of the Holy Places, and after there in the West."

On July 28, I celebrated 29 years since President Carter signed off on my request for political asylum, and I am still tremendously proud that the leader of the Free World granted me my freedom. During these years I have lived here under five presidents--some better than others--but I have always felt that I was living in paradise. My American citizenship has given me a feeling of pride, hope and security that is surpassed only by the joy of simply being alive. There are millions of other immigrants who are equally proud that they restarted their lives from scratch in order to be in this magnanimous country. I appeal to them to help keep our beloved America united and honorable. We may not be able to change the habits of our current political representatives, but we may be able to introduce healthy new blood into the U.S. Congress.

For once, the communists got it right. It is America's leader that counts. Let's return to the traditions of presidents who accepted nothing short of unconditional surrender from our deadly enemies. Let's vote next year for people who believe in America's future, not for the ones who live in the Cold War past.

Lt. Gen. Pacepa is the highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected from the Soviet bloc. His new book, "Programmed to Kill: Lee Harvey Oswald, the Soviet KGB, and the Kennedy Assassination" (Ivan R. Dee) will be published in November.

Well, Well, Well...

2007-07-05T16:54:00.000-06:00

I found out something interesting today. At least, it was interesting to me.

See, I know this rich lady. I worked on her house. A lot. Busted my ass on numerous occasions, in fact. Just like a lot of other guys. She is a widow. Nice as she can be. At least, she's always been very pleasant to me and the other guys, and the stereotypical rich woman isn't always nice to the workers in the movies and TV shows. But she really is a sweet lady.

We had a warranty issue at her house that I had to go and start to take care of today. I knew she had married some rich dude, but I really had no clue as to who it might have been. I think she was rich already when she met him anyway because of either her first husband and the company he owned or she was born into that family, but I had no clue as to the source of wealth for her late husband.

I have no idea if she married into the Williamson family or is a Williamson by birth. That would be the Williamsons of Williamson Dickie Manufacturing. The legendary work clothes people of Ft. Worth. As you can tell, most of my information about the people who own the properties where I work is rumor at best and it's gathered at the breaktime campfire circle. (Now, after doing a bit of searching, yeah, she was in fact a Williamson.)

Anyway, as I learned today, her late husband went by the name of Lawrence Rawl. He was CEO of Exxon Mobil for a few years. I know this for a fact.

I found this very intriguing. I think my jaw dropped, actually. Man, would I have liked to have had the opportunity to talk to that man. But he's gone.

I feel sorry for Mrs. Rawl in a way. She obviously loved him very much and they had a lot of good times together and now he's gone. (I walk through the house, I see photos) That just sucks, but death is a part of life.

I keep telling people things like "I work on rich people's houses" but it doesn't seem to sink in with them. I told a friend about how I spent some time at the long deceased Amon Carter's poolside having a smoke. She had no clue who Amon Carter was.

You may not have a clue either, but I can almost guarantee he had an impact on your life, especially if you live in Texas:

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/CC/fca69.html

I like this link even better:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amon_G._Carter

That's another sonofabitch I'd like to spend some time with.

Anyway, I'm a nobody. A poor nobody. I just find it interesting to see how the rich folks live.

Scattershooting

2007-07-03T16:46:00.000-06:00

I have two new laborers at work. Exchange students, I assume. They are brothers from Slovakia and yes the old SNL bit has already been done to death.

One of them speaks a speck of English. It's bad enough with the Mexicans, probably talking shit about us rednecks in a language we can't understand, but now we have two laborers that make me feel like I'm in a spy movie every time I hear them talk.

I want to ask them if they can get me a good deal on some slightly used AK 47s.
Kidding... Actually I think I will teach the hard working little bastards to say "Fuck this shit" in English whenever the boss shows up.

Boy, are those kids in for an education. Working around me all summer? Jeez. As the boss said, I'm sure they will know how to say "motherfucker" before long. I can't wait to see what transpires when they spend some time on the same job as my brother. He's the one that swapped out the CD that our young naive Christian boy was listening to last summer for David Allan Coe's XXX CD. For those who haven't a clue, this is how the first song goes:

"She said someday I'd understand

What love was all about

She said I could have the keys
She was movin' out

She said she'd finally found a man

Whose dick was so much bigger

Then that scum bag mother fucker
Ran off with a Nigger"

I doubt that the kid made it to the chorus, I would gladly pay ten dollars right now to go back in time and see the look on his face had he listened to the whole song:

"And to think I licked the pussy

Where that big black dick had been
And kissed the lips that sucked him off

Time and time again

It's enough to make a man throw up

It sure is hard to figure

How any decent girl
Could ever fuck a greasy Nigger"

Oh, and if you are offended at the fact that I find that funny, get over yourself. Or go fuck yourself. I didn't write the goddamned thing, I just posted it. Besides, the black dude got the woman. I find it funny that Coe was whining about it.

I wanted to ask the Slovak Brothers if they knew what tomorrow is. (July 4th) Of course they would, but I was thinking I could instruct them to say that they understood the significance of the day as the Anniversary of Americans telling King George to go Fuck Himself.

Of course, I find myself in a bit of the same situation as David Allan Coe did, a bit of irony. We told George to go fuck himself over taxes and nowadays most Americans can't seem to wait for a large foreign entity (Washington D.C.) to take the fruits of our labor and spread it around. But that's just the Patriot in me coming out, I didn't intend to get all political.

Anyway, boy are those two kids in for an education in a lot of ways. Probably not the education they expected. They have been in Texas since last Thursday. They are basically doing slave labor, and well, that's what our laborers do. Hard construction work. They spent today moving a pile of dirt with shovels and a wheelbarrow. I didn't figure that either my Cool Hand Luke or Blazing Saddles quotes would resonate with them. Hell, they barely knew what the Iron Curtain was. I told them to ask their parents or grand parents.

It has been unbelievably wet, rainy, and cool in Texas this year. I doubt we have gotten much above 90 degrees so far and it is already July 3rd. It's going to be interesting to see how much effort they put out when it is 105 in a month or less.
...

All those women that have those cute little tattoos on their ankles are going to be embarrassed as hell someday when they are grandmothers.
...

I work on rich people's houses. Build, maintain, remodel. I used to be a trim carpenter, now I'm a construction worker. No telling what the hell I'm going to be doing from day to day.

And when I say rich, I do mean rich. I was put in charge of a bathroom remodel last year. About a $200,000 bathroom remodel. That was a job we really didn't want, and it was a low dollar job for us. There were other things done to this house that added to the price, but the bulk of that money was spent on the bathroom suite.

I'm working on a house right now, we have a contractor doing the framing. This house is roughly 158 feet wide and 84 feet deep. I call it the Boy Scout House because everything seems to invole a hike. The crawlspace is covered with gunite. Like a huge swimming pool. They are going to air condition the crawlspace and the attic. The framers have been working with the lighting designer to position ceiling joists so that we won't have to cut and header them off for lights later. The light fixtures for this house are going to cost roughly $196,000. Our cost. Not installed. Not wired. Just the fixtures.

Keep in mind that this is Texas, the land of cheap real estate compared to most of the rest of the country. Hell, my house with a half acre cost 30 grand. This particular property was around a mil before they tore the house down.

It's a different world in west Ft. Worth. Never been around any construction job situation like it. I'm never leaving it either unless someone shows up with a gun to my head and even then I will be kicking and screaming like some redneck on COPS.

Fuck it, I'm tired now. Hope that you enjoyed my ramblings.

Tell it like it is, Bro!

2007-05-03T19:07:00.000-06:00

I'm not a racist. I meet a lot of the criteria that civil rights groups use to label people as racists. I say the word "nigger" when the word fits. (I realize that simply reading that collection of letters grouped in such a way gives some people an aneurysm. Fuck them. I'll have to give my lecture about words and meaning here sometime.) I also label people as "scumbags" and "white trash" or "yankee" when appropriate. But I don't give a fuck about someone's skin color or anything else but how their actions affect me in my daily life. Frankly, the only people I would like to see dead right now have skin as pale as mine, and I work with people with all shades of skin color. A certain white, conservative Evangelical Christian comes to mind... And I would bet, though not being a gambling man, that I could get a lot of help either killing him and/or disposing of the body. From a bunch of southern rednecks. See, despite your racist stereotypes, we are all results-oriented. We have a dark-skinned dude that works on some of our jobs. He is more of a redneck than I am. And, without any apology to the NAACP, I can tell you that he is as black as the Ace of Spades. (Speaking of the NAACP, isn't the word "colored" an unacceptable term for "African Americans" nowadays?")

My favorite movie quote about race came from John Wayne (Imagine that!):
"Mister, I don't have a racist bone in my body, but if you go for that gun, I'll shoot you just like I would a white man."

I've avoided going over the whole immigration debate. I work with Mexicans and some of them (the ones who can actually speak English) are my friends. I have a hell of a lot to say about it. I have a lot of years experience in reality versus what the public spin is on the whole issue.

Well, today I heard a man talk about it on the radio. He spoke the truth. I laughed my ass off, because I had never heard a person actually have the fucking balls to tell it like it is. Oh, we rednecks have been railing for years about how the wetbacks are fucking shit up, but today I heard a black man talk about the situation. He nailed it. Frankly, he said things I have been saying for years.

He talked about how the illegals, in South Central L.A. (!), have brought third world ways to the 'hood. No shit. I've only been seeing that for nearly thirty fucking years here in Cleburne, and it's getting worse and worse. The Mexicans are getting so comfortable that they just don't even care about being discreet anymore. They used to try and fit in, now they flaunt their Mexican-ness as if it is superior. (Mexican-ness being five cars in the yard, twenty prople in a small house, loud fucking music all night on a Saturday, trash strewn everywhere, various code violations ignored, and farm animals running loose in a city. I've had issues with these people before. If the law gets them, they just go back to Mexico for a while and sneak back later with a new identity.)

I can't do justice to the number of things he said that had me fired up. Bottom line, his slogan is "If You Ain't Mad, You Ain't Payin' Attention". The Mad Carpenter loves that. Here is his website:

http://www.theterryandersonshow.com/

He fucking ROCKS.

Shooting Politics

2007-04-18T16:40:00.000-06:00

Here we go again.

Some deranged loser goes nuts and kills a bunch of people.

The reactions are both predictable and occasianally sickening.

I swear, if I hadn't paid so much for my DeWalt jobsite radio, I would have thrown a hammer at it a few times over the news reporting on the shootings at Va. Tech. I knew, I fucking knew in advance how the story would be covered. You would think I would be past outrage at this point in my life at the shoddy, predictable "journalism" I have been exposed to for 46 years.

You may have a problem with Rush Limbaugh. But you have to admit, when he talks about "templates" that the news media have he is right on. As I said, I absolutely could have told you how the news would cover this. I could probably predict what the next few days would bring right down to the "key words" they will use.

I guess the tipping point for me, after hearing the usual bullshit coverage, was when they started reporting how this guy had "shown signs" of being a fucking nut job. Gee, ya' think?

Look, there are two ways these things go. Either the neighbors express shock and dismay "He seemed so normal" or some people are found to point out the perps abnormal behavior before the incident.

In this case it's the latter. I was bombarded today with reports of how weird this scumbag was. Well, NO SHIT. HE JUST SHOT A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT OF INNOCENT PEOPLE! YOU THINK MAYBE HE HAD SOME ISSUES?!? (Sorry if it seems I am yelling at you. I'm taking my frustrations out on reporting agencies and the questions they leave hanging.) So what's the point? Do we start locking up people for "showing signs" or something? Who the fuck is going to be the judge of when the next homicidal maniac is about to go off? Can we start right now by locking up war protesters, dirty hippies, vegans, environmentalist extremists, and Goth Chicks?

I mean, Good Fucking God, what is the point of reporting that the shooter was a bit strange? Are you trying to pave the way for lawsuits or what? "Someone" maybe should have seen this coming? That's always the way, isn't it? "Someone" should have done "something", right? I mean, that's where the coverage seems to be going. Well what the hell were they going to do?

Ahh. I feel better now. On to the next rant, which is the predictable political reaction from gun banner types.

"We need to stand up and do something"

So said Carolyn McCarthy, a (surprise!) Democrat representative from New York.

Predictable, again. Every time there is some shooting that draws attention like this one has, there are a few things that happen:

The news reporting agencies piss me off
There is a candle light vigil
Democrats start trying to nullify the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution in violation of their Oath of Office

It's really kind of sickening in a way. Here you have all of these lives affected by the killer. Politicians, could you at least give the families some time to grieve? You're taking advantage of a terrible event to push your agenda. If holding hearings and such is so important, why wait until now? It's craven, it's transparent political maneuvering. It's why so many people don't vote.

Here's a good example of priorities, with an elected official I have actually met and talked to. He is a lying piece of shit. I am ashamed that he is from Texas, the best part of him ran down the crack of his momma's ass. Lloyd Doggett shows the courage of his convictions here:

"Unless we get some leadership from the White House, we're not going to take this kind of political damage bringing up something that would never become law," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.), a gun-control advocate.

Oh, I get it. You care so much about your position on this issue that you won't take it up unless you are sure of success? Asshole.

What Lloyd is saying here is that the gun control advocates have a solution to prevent a future mass killing but that it is not worth a political risk. Typical Doggett, politically calculating bull fucking shit coming out of his mouth. (I know, I was the camera man for an impromptu field interview when he was running for State Representative 20 something years ago. Hasn't changed a bit, it's all about him getting and keeping power. That's why I use such strong language in denouncing him and his motives. I know.)

So, anyway, gun control advocates, why don't you grow a fucking spine and announce publicly what you really want? I know why, and Lloyd Doggett, in what surely must have been a weak moment, voiced it. Your politicians don't really give a fuck about stopping incidences like this one now, you and they just want to gain power over the rest of us. You just don't like guns, you have an irrational fear of them. You are like MADD, there is no law too punitive and restrictive of human freedom for you to punish the rest of us for what some irresponsible or insane asshole did to you.

Was anyone but me alive in the 1990's and paying attention? Boy, that Brady Bill, when it became the law of the land, it was going to put a stop to this kind of thing! Remember? Oh, but now it's not enough.

It never is with these people.

I'm going to have to spend some time someday writing about how people tend to project their inadaquecies onto others. And how politicians take advantage of people's willingness to lose their liberty to pass laws to make people feel good that "something is getting done" about some problem. Then, the same typical assholes break the law, fuck up the plan and more useless laws are passed. The cycle repeats. But I guess I just did.

Free Speech: The Two Way Street

2007-04-17T16:53:00.000-06:00

Bravo, Mark Davis. You have absolutely nailed it:

What do the following three people have in common?
1) Pitcher John Rocker, who said some ugly things about New Yorkers and earned a suspension without pay;

2) Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines, who said a hateful thing and earned vast public scorn;

3) Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who absurdly agreed to market an insane 9/11 conspiracy movie, earning waves of negative reaction.

The answer is: all three believe they were involved in a free speech controversy, and all three are wrong.

There are even some talk show hosts who believe they are involved in a free speech exercise each day. While that is the freedom enjoyed by anyone who pontificates for a living, broadcasters (and athletes and singers and billionaires) hardly ever actually find themselves in a first amendment issue.

Most things that we paint as free-speech issues are really issues of marketplace speech followed by even more speech in the form of reaction. The first amendment says government will not outlaw our freedom of expression. In no way does it guarantee that we can express ourselves without consequences.

A little over seven years ago, Rocker made some blunt comments about New Yorkers. While there was some support for his rant against the tricky human tapestry of the Big Apple, there was a flavor of intolerance around his remarks that alienated many and brought embarrassment to his employer, the Atlanta Braves. He was suspended without pay and asserted that his free speech rights were violated.

Nonsense. He got to say exactly what he wished. The Braves, meanwhile, mortified at his clumsy blathering, did what they had a right to do, and punished him.

Natalie Maines is now famous for two things: her incredible talent as a singer and her stunning stupidity for telling a London crowd in 2004 that she and her fellow Dixie Chicks were “ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”

Country radio all but disowned them and countless fans registered profound disgust. She asserted that her free speech rights were violated.

Again, nonsense. She got to say exactly what she wished. Country stations and fans then did exactly what they wished as well. Isn’t freedom grand?

Then, mere days ago, we learned that otherwise lovable Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has a massive moral blind spot. His decision to allow his movie company to distribute a 9/11 “inside job” conspiracy film is a massive lapse in judgment. He thus places himself in bed with the hateful psychopaths who believe America killed its own people to justify the war.
He reacted to the understandable public revulsion by arguing that the film had a right to be seen, and that he was part of a noble tradition of standing up for the first amendment rights of unpopular material.

Except that there’s no free speech issue here, either. No one said the filmmakers should be barred from creating such garbage, or that some sorry outfit could not distribute it. The issue was always about what people thought about his sad lapse in judgment.
Just as John Rocker learned what people thought of his free speech, and Natalie maines learned what people thought of hers.

The first amendment arises only when government seeks to curb certain expression. Your constitutional rights are violated only if government seeks to shut down things you have a right to express.

Clip the following paragraph and place it where you can retrieve it easily:

Free speech does not guarantee the right to speak out without consequences. If you speak out and feel the blister of rebuke in return, you have seen free speech travel both ways."

I listen to Mark fairly often. He done good on this one.

Rambling On

2007-04-16T17:31:00.000-06:00

BOHICA!

Hey Americans! Happy Tax Day!

Doesn't it just give you the warm fuzzies to realize how much of your earnings are legally stolen from you by the Federal government and distributed to others with a political connection of whatever type? I mean, no matter your political bent, you have to agree with me. The government fucks some people out of their money and hands it over to others. I've said it before and I'll post it here: The Federal Government of the United States, with its power to tax and spend, is a protection racket. You all fired up to get money and corruption out of politics? Fine. Here's how you do it: Get politics out of our fucking money. John McCain and Russ Feingold can kiss my insignificant ass with their unconstitutional campaign finance law. How's that working out?

Cut the purse strings to Congress. Demand that they only fund those things required in our Constitution. Yeah, I know. Good luck with that. Too many votes to buy.

~~~~

I'm off that subject. Pisses me off when I think about it.

On a happy note, I am away from the AIQ (Asshole In Question, to be referred to in such a fashion forevermore) job foreman for the foreseeable future. Now, I can't dance for shit, but when he handed me a piece of paper with an address on it, I asked him what we were going to be doing over there and he said "I don't know" I had to hide my elation. The fact that he didn't know what was going on likely meant that he was not in charge of this job. I wanted to do a happy dance then and there. I told Brian what the AIQ said and he responded with a fist pump. Yessssss!

Elation, that's the word. We showed up at the new project and I started saying "Free at last, free at last," and Skeeter chuckled and finished the saying with me. "Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last!" It just bubbled up from our guts, you have no idea how happy we all are.

We're fucking professionals and we act so. Treating us like Wal Mart Associates is a sure-fire way to fuck up a good day. Ah, free to be professional again. Without the goddamned micromanaging and second guessing and all that bull fucking shit.

I'm so happy again. I have my old job back, the one I love so much.

~~~~

Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League baseball sixty years ago today. All I've been hearing and reading about is what a great guy he was, how he laid the foundation for black players, and later coaches in all of sports and really in society in general. And that's all true, I'm not trying to minimize that in any way.

What I will minimize, in a way, is the way that all the coverage in the media that you see or hear presents his story. Yeah, they all talk about what a great man he was, how he endured the insults for the greater good, he was the best player on the team. I have a problem with the general slant of everything I have ever heard about the man, and here is my slant. I think it paints a far greater portrait of the greatness that was Jackie Robinson.

See, I could not have done it. Neither could you. I think I'm a fairly tough minded man. You probably think that you are fairly tough as well. Face it, neither you nor I could have done what he did. I know for a fact that I would have snapped.

You like your job? I like mine. Now, what is the absolute worst part of your job? Most people, including and obviously me, would say it's some dickhead that has to be dealt with at work. (Side note - could you imagine the pressure if there had been blogs and the current proliferation of media back in 1947? I wonder what Jackie Robinson's blog might have looked like. Go ahead, take that imagination trip, it's a hoot.)

Jackie Robinson worked at baseball for a living. He had to start out with co-workers that hated, shunned him for no good reason. They simply didn't like the color of his skin. The boss said it was so and they didn't like it one bit. Bobby Bragan tells it like it was. Then, then, you have to leave your family, go on the road, and take all of the worst abuse imaginable, all because you were just doing what you had been hired to do.

You think you could stay at a job like that, no matter how much it paid? Imagine going to work every day in an atmosphere like that. No, I could not do it. Most of us couldn't. That was Jackie Robinson's greatness. He not only overcame all of that, he excelled at his work despite the distractions. Just amazes me when I think about it.

I couldn't do it in my low profile job and you probably couldn't do it in your job. Jackie did it in the highest profile job imaginable. That is his greatness.

~~~~

I had "heroes" when I was a kid. Johnny Unitas for one. Chip Hilton was a role model for me in the ways of sportsmanship. I wanted to be Mickey Mantle and later Roger Staubach or Reggie Jackson or Cliff Harris.

These people were winners in every aspect of life. Johnny and Mickey are dead, Chip never lived, and Roger, Reggie, and Cliff are still out and about doing what they do. They are all winners, winning the right way. Inspirations for me. I was a typical American kid, wanting to be the football hero or the big league baseball player that wins with one swing of the bat on the biggest stage.

Well, all that sports stuff kind of went away when I realized that I sucked as an athlete. I turned my attention to Chess and Math and later to drugs and alcohol and partying. Fast Eddie Felsen became my hero of the moment and frankly he is not that inspiring. I was a hard - core Christian for a while until my brain got tired of the logical lapses. I went back to partying and trying to get some meaning out of life. I worked, partied, hung out with "friends" which were really just drinking buddies. I met my wife and stupidly took a while to figure out how much I loved and needed her. I ran a business for a while but as an adult I had no hero, no one to look up to. Didn't need one. I was The Man and everyone that dealt with me knew it. I had finally gotten to the point where even my family had to respect me. Oh, I wasn't a jerk (most of the time) but everyone knew not to trifle with me any more. I put up with no shit from nobody, I was in charge. This from the former whipping boy I had been all my life.

So anyway, I had no hero as an adult, the adult I had finally become at age 30 something. Nobody to look up to as a role model. Then...

I watched a NASCAR race on TV one day. At Talladega, Ernie Irvan got into Dale Earnhardt and turned the 3 car around. Dale ended up on his roof, took a terrible hit, and crawled out of the car and walked away. He was holding his arm because he had a broken sternum. I thought, "That's one tough motherfucker!" He proved my assessment correct as he went on the next week to get back into the car and take the pole position at Watkin's Glen, of all places, a road course, with a broken fucking sternum! It was then that I became an Earnhardt fan.

I started watching the races on TV after that. Reading what I could find about Dale. I can say without a doubt that the man was the salt of the earth. The Chevy commercials are attemting to capitalize on his legacy by saying "He was one of Us" and you know what? He was.

He was one of us, and he made good.

I don't cry. I've had a lot of deaths of people I knew and cared about the last ten years or so. Not a one of them affected me like the day Dale died. I can remember it like it was yesterday. Dropped the phone in shock when I heard the news. (I didn't get to watch that particular race) Went to work the next day, saw my computer wallpaper with the black 3 car and had to fight the tears that welled up in my eyes.

I don't believe in regrets much. We all have them, but they are useless. Life is linear. You do what you think you gotta' do at the time and go on with your life. Remembering mistakes later, i.e. regrets, is a big waste of time and yet we all do it. I just try to minimize regrets but I sure as hell regret not discovering Dale before I did.

To this day I tear up when I see him with that shit-eating grin in a picture. Funny thing, to me at least, if you look at our wedding pictures, I have the exact same grin as Earnhardt.

I'm sure that there are about two million fans out there that would say the same thing. All of the old race fans are Earnhardt fans.

Having said all of that, I cannot even watch the Dale Movie trailer without tearing up. I'm going to buy that movie as soon as it is available and I am sure that I will cry like a woman when I watch it.

God I miss that son of a bitch. Before he was a legend, he was one of us. He is still one of us. To us. He is our hero. For sure, he is my hero.

Imus is a Racist?

2007-04-09T18:52:00.000-06:00

Unless you haven't been paying attention, you are aware of Don Imus and the comments he made about the women's basketball team from Rutgers University, and you are aware that the professional race hustlers Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are after his ass.

Now it comes to me... Jesse and Al are professional race hustlers, to be sure. But I think the more unweildy term "race protection racket profiteers" is more fitting. If you have to think about that, then you really have not been paying attention. I mean, come on, have either of those two jackasses ever done a single positive, productive thing in their collective lives? I think not. They both make a living by stirring up racial strife. That's all. They operate a retroactive protection racket. Somebody says something or does something they shouldn't, and they capitalize on it.

But enough on those two absolutely despicable human beings. (I would not walk across the street to piss down their mouths if their throats were on fire, I surely wouldn't, they suck as people.)

Don Imus created a firestorm by saying some stupid things. Stupid, that is, for a white man to say. A black man can say those things with impunity. Why is that?

Don't hand me some bullshit about how the "white man" has some sort of historical power over black people. I grew up with black kids, friends at school. I damn sure didn't have any power over them! Hell, I have never had any power over anyone.

Yeah, I'm a white man, and I don't buy into the "historical power" racism argument. The black kids I grew up with were as well off as me, at least. I damned sure have never held "the black man" down in any way! I would have gotten my ass kicked if I tried it literally. And I would sure as fuck never try any stupid shit with the black dudes on the jobsites I work at. I may be a slow white boy, but I'm not fucking stupid.

So anyway, why can black people say the most incredibly racist things and get a free pass?

Oh, I know the answer, and discussing this is actually fun with my black redneck friends. They don't buy into the stupid bullshit that Jesse and Al are selling.

Don Imus said something like "Those are some rough nappy-headed ho's." The nappy-headed ho's comment is what inagurated the firestorm. Interestingly enough, referring to them as "rough" is no problem... But I could be wrong about that part.

Here's the deal. I first heard the term "Nappy-Headed" on a Stevie Wonder song. Never would have heard it otherwise, I was about sixteen. I had never heard women referred to as "Ho's" until black rap became popular in the 1980's.

So, Jesse, Al? Hello pot. Meet Kettle.

That Done It

2007-04-05T17:13:00.000-06:00

O.K., so I bitched about the micromanaging dude a few weeks ago. Sue me if you must, don't read on if'n you don't like the subject, but here we go again...

That's right, friends and neighbors, he pissed me off again, and I am going to color you surprised by that fact. In jest.

Here's the deal: After ten years self-employed in Cleburne, three years of tech support hell and a couple of years working as a trim carpenter in the human shithole of Dallas, working for the best people in the world in Ft. Worth was an absolute revelation. No shit y'all, it took me a full year to adjust. I cannot stress enough how different things are, mainly the human relationships. And aren't relationships with other people the cause of about one hundred percent of job-related stress, or hell any stress for that matter?

Speaking of stress, I cannot stress enough how good the people I work for are, from my employers to the homeowners to the guys I work with every day. I am literally in carpenter's nirvana. I could give you dozens of examples but I will limit it to two.

Example one: My bosses say "Thank you" on a regular basis.

Let that one sink in.

The people I work for, that sign my checks and tell me what to do, often say "Thanks, David" when I have simply done what I am paid to do. That happen at your workplace? Happens to me every single time I give one of my bosses an update over the phone.

It's a Fort Worth deal. People are just nice there. Fuck Dallas. (Had to sneak that in. It's a Fort Worth thang.) In fact, the big boss actually apologized to me for sending me to Dallas one day. His exact words were "David, I'm sorry, but I am going to have to ask you to go to Dallas for us. Make sure and keep track of your mileage."

The upshot of the above rambling is this: If you are considering a Texas visit, bypass Big D all together and get a real sense of what Texas is all about by visiting Fort Worth. I can take you to some "hole in the wall" joints if need be. Fort Worth is Texas Friendly, Dallas is asshole yuppies.

But I was going to bitch, wasn't I?

Fine. I will.

I came this close to going on down the road on Monday. Quitting my dream job and going to work for someone else.

The micromanaging dude called a meeting. He managed to piss off the entire crew. Started it off by saying "My Pastor has a saying, I'm going to tell you some things, and if they apply to you, take them to heart and if they don't..."

Me, interrupting in a fairly loud voice: "OH, so now you're going to give us a sermon?"

"Yeah, I'm going to give you a sermon."

I resisted my initial instinct to just walk away. I try to keep my anger under control. I wish I had walked away.

If you should go skating
On the thin ice of my life
Dragging behind you the silent reproach
Of a million tear stained eyes
Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice
Appears under your feet

He lectured us about wasting time, or as he put it, "I seem to see people standing around with their hands on their hips." (Never mind that I have my hands on my hips when I am thinking about the next step in a complicated carpentry project) Told us to act like sub-contractors, we were running out of money on this house. Blah blah blah. Funny, I thought the homeowner was about to offer to suck our dicks over the work we had done (Gawd she was so happy over the back porch) and now he pulls this shit?!?

He fucked up. Big time. All he did was give us a bunch of soundbites to use against him. I told the guys that I never understood mutinies in those old sailing movies but maybe we could tie his fat ass to a beam with an extension cord.

Of course, we heard through a third party that he was complaining to the big boss that we "weren't getting anything done" or somesuch. He threw us under the bus. Way to go, dickhead!

Look, I'm a nice guy. But please, don't fuck with me, don't bore me, and don't insult me. And for goddamned sure don't give me a fucking "sermon" and tell all of my guys to "Take what applies" like you are talking about sin. Looky here, motherfucker, if you have something to say to me, if you have something to say to my brother or my nephew or any of my buddies, you better fucking grow a pair and tell us individually. Tell me if you have a problem with my work, face to face. Don't hide behind a group meeting. I figure the rest of the guys feel the same way. If you got something to say to me, you got to say it right out loud. To me.

In that vein, I almost hesitated to go with the "sermon" retort when he called the meeting. I figure if I expect him to treat me like a man I should do the same. I didn't want to show the dude up.

I would respect the man for his skills. He is twice the carpenter I am. Hell, he should be after thirty years experience. But I can't get past the weasel factor. So, sad to say, I have no respect for the man.

I tried, I really tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. It turns out, once again, that my first impression was right. Why don't I listen to my instincts? Because I'm a nice guy that has fucked up plenty, that's why.

I could go all Hannibal Lecter on the guy. You remember the part in the movie where he talked the dude into suicide? A good friend used to say that reminded him of me. I could do that to this jerk. He is a big time Christian, even goes on missionary work to South America. I have forgotten more about the bible and such than this prick even knows. I know more about him than he knows about himself. I could talk his ass into knots and have him questioning his own salvation in five minutes.

But I won't because I'm a nice guy. I'm also an asshole, and I hope to have the opportunity to show the dickhead up in another "meeting" because frankly I will say what everyone thinks but is hesitant to voice.

Hey, shit fer brains, if we wanted to be talked to like Wal Mart Associates, we'd go to work for Wal Mart, wouldn't we? Don't think for a nanosecond that I won't say it. Maybe with a different wording...

I'm thinking that Reservoir Dogs is on the viewing agenda. "I've changed my mind. Shoot that piece of shit."

Everything Old is New Again!

2007-03-08T19:53:00.000-06:00

That's right. Old fashioned statism is rearing its ugly head in a big way. Government officials near and far are asserting control over things that, well, they have no fucking business sticking their noses in. Even Republicans, led astray by the big government, big spending example of G.W. Bush, have left the reservation. Hell, here in Texas, Republican governor Rick Perry recently decided to force every single adolescent girl to be immunized for the HPV virus (yes, I realize that my wording is redundant. I am more anal about these things than you are) as a way to prevent cervical cancer later in life. The "lege" (with a tip of the hat to the late idiot and incompetent writer formerly known as Molly Ivins) is considering a ban on smoking in ALL public places. Even those "public places" on private property. Some Republican - Yes, REPUBLICAN! - state legislator has decided to introduce a bill that would make it a criminal offense to fail to attend a parent - teacher conference. Jesus H. Christ in a Chicken Basket. And this is just the stuff I remember at the moment. On the state level. At this point, it appears that there are two sides of politics: The Big Government "Conservative" (contradiction in terms) that has bought into nanny-statism for whatever reason; and the Big Government Leftist for whom the Nanny State is the norm, they just want to complete the takeover of every aspect of your life.

Heh. Maybe I'm channeling Molly from the opposite political viewpoint. That paragraph above is as poor an example of composition as you will ever see and it reads just about like something Molly would have written, except for the absence of some "home - spun" bullshit idiom.

Well then. I would be madder than a wet hen, except that horse has left the barn.

When Republicans channel Democrats from the Sixties, and Democrats channel Soviets or Nazis, our nation is in serious trouble.

No, that is not an attempt at hyperbole. It's an observation. It's what I see. Ordinary U.S. citizens, for whatever reason, have become either numbed by their prosperity or embittered by their own failures to the point that liberty no longer is a priority. I have an example.

A certain fairly well to do lady, just the other day, pointed out to me that a man I know was going to quit smoking. She was almost gushing about that fact, she was so happy. Thing is, I've known the guy for over a year, and I have never seen him light up a single time. He does not smoke, he was just being an asshole like he always is, stringing her along to fit her prejudices. So, baffled, just going along to get along, I said "Yeah, well, it's getting too expensive. They just raised the tax on a pack of cigarettes by a dollar".

We are all working stiffs, you know. We are the people that the politicians always claim to want to help. A dollar a pack tax is a pretty significant blow to us. If we smoke. But her response was this: "Oh, that's great!"

"What?!? You mean to tell me that you are happy about this?!?" I thought to myself. Here is a rich woman, absolutely rejoicing that the government is going to take more money every time some poor bastard buys cigarettes, in hope that it will influence his behavior.

There is something basically wrong with that attitude. Un-American.

When any person, for whatever reason, rejoices at a tax increase on anyone for any cause, well, that is a sure sign that Liberty as a concept is foreign to that person. Especially if they think it will influence that person's behavior to fit their personal opinions. Basically what she was expressing was that she hates smoking and whatever it takes to make people quit is justified. Even government coercion.

Can you see where this type of attitude has gotten us? If we were to tax every kind of behavior that I find objectionable, a whole hell of a lot of people would be in trouble. We would all be in trouble. I prefer freedom, and that means live and let live. You don't bother me, I won't bother you. If it happens, we'll work it out ourselves. Too many people live in expectation of never being bothered or offended and make it a federal case when they are.

God help us. I hope I die before we lose the rest of our liberties.

God, I Love it So...

2007-03-06T19:32:00.000-06:00

Earl Wright at The American Thinker has absolutely nailed it.

He is a NASCAR fan like me. His words:

"NASCAR is a celebration of engineering and ingenuity, when we used to build great things and feel good about ourselves. So what if every racecar is covered with decals marketing everything from beer to floor coverings. Marketing is about capitalism and capitalism is one of the cornerstones of this great country.

Another cornerstone is our faith. Every NASCAR race opens with a prayer - to God. Yes, that God. And people actually remove their caps and are respectful. The prayer is followed by a collective "Amen."

Then it's the National Anthem, usually performed by a recording artist that we've actually heard of. The military personnel in attendance - NASCAR celebrates the military so there are always GIs on hand at every race - salute smartly during the anthem.

About the time the performer hits "...home of the brave," a formation of military aircraft performs a low flyover, sending the fans into a frenzy.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway sits adjacent to the runways of Nellis Air Force Base, home of the Thunderbirds, the U.S. Air Force's Flight Demonstration Team. The Thunderbirds typically do the fly-over for Sunday's ceremonies at the speedway, but those fans who opt to spend the whole weekend at the track are apt to see a copy of every type of aircraft in the U.S. arsenal.

Despite seeing my first B-2 stealth bomber in person on Saturday two years ago while I was sitting in the stands at LVMS, my hands-down favorite aircraft for sheer audacity is the B-1B. Like Rosie, it's big and loud, but unlike the obnoxious TV host, the B1B manages to be beautiful at the same time. What makes it special is that the socialists in Congress tried to abort it, but it survived to fight for freedom.

Once the trappings of the pre-race events are stowed, the Grand Marshal of the event intones, "Gentlemen, start your engines." That and the green-flag start of the race are two of the most decibel straining events in the history of man. Television does not do it justice. It makes your hair stand on end. It really is that loud. As the 43 cars take the green flag and speed into turn one, I raise my fist and shout, "Up yours Al Gore."

The intellectuals on both the right and the left in America often look down their noses at NASCAR Nation, but as I discovered several years ago, these are my people. They are direct descendants of the dreamers, builders and warriors who let nothing stand in their way to offer me what I have today.

To borrow the words of Gen. George Patton, "God I love it so."

To that, I can only say "Hell Yeah!" Sex is good, and I have had a lot of it in my time, but it never felt as good as standing high above turn one when 43 snarling race cars go roaring by at the start of a race. It's absolutely electric, in fact it produces full body goosebumps on grownups. I've seen it, I've experienced it. There is nothing like it.

It's amazing.

When you see that little piece of steel hurtling by at such a high speed, you just think to yourself, "My God, there is a human being in that thing!" And they are on the edge of losing control all of the time. You just don't see it on TV.

The sounds, the flyovers, the people, the whole experience is sensory overload. God, I love it so.

Let's talk about the Weather...

2007-02-21T20:00:00.000-06:00

I have lived through a number of "end of the world" eras. Since I was a kid, "The Experts" have warned that we were all going to die soon. We would run out of food by 1990 - something because of overpopulation, we were out of oil and damned near everything else in 1976, The Soviets were going to win and it was inevitable. The next ice age was just around the corner, unless we all changed our ways. In fact, it may have been too late no matter what. Now I hear constantly that what I do every day causes the earth to heat up and it is just a matter of 20 years or so before we cannot turn back, we are all doomed!

Global Warming is the latest mantra of the doomsayers. Our activity is heating the planet, and according to Al Gore, we only have ten or twenty years to mend our ways or we are all in deep shit. Sorry, no sale.

It was 17 degrees Fahrenheit when I left the house the other morning. And, I do believe that my external thermometer reads a couple of degrees to the warm side. It was fucking COLD that day. Shit, at ten a.m. there was still frost on the roof I was attempting to walk on. Global warming my ass. You know what the whole global warming craze is? It's a religion, it's a Belief System. Man made global warming is an article of faith, an admission to the club for these people, these doomsayers. If you don't think they have religious fervor about the subject, witness the reactions to any hint of doubt about their beliefs.

I've been on this earth 46 years, living in the same general area the whole time. Hell, I was born about two miles from the houses I now work on. I have some idea about the historical weather patterns in this area. This winter has been the coldest I can remember as far as getting cold and staying cold. We have had worse cold snaps but then it warmed up again. This year, it got cold and then it got colder. And stayed cold for a month or more. I know, I was out working in it. Hell, I have seen snow at least four times! I have never seen it snow on four different occasions around here. The Weather Guessers back me up on my assertion, winter wise. I know that Global Warmers will say "That's right! Greenhouse gases cause extreme weather!" and all that, but if it causes the coldest winter I can remember in my 46 years, exactly how the fuck is that warmer? I realize that summers have been hotter lately (Believe me I do, I work in the heat as well as the cold) but last summer was only marginally hotter than in 1980, when the Next Ice Age was around the corner...

When I was young was when the whole environmental religious movement got started. In The U.S., at least. They called it "ecology" back then. You could get cool little green stickers for your lunch box with the green and yellow ecology symbol in cereal boxes. Everyone was certain - the scientific debate was over - that the earth was cooling and we were about to enter another ice age. It was the scientific consensus. Sound familiar?

We kids really didn't know whether to be more worried about those rapidly approaching glaciers or the nukes that the Soviets were soon to launch our way. And yes, I have crouched under a desk as part of a school drill. At times, we were scared shitless about the future of the world. With Carswell AFB being a SAC base and all, we knew there would be a huge mushroom cloud just north of us when, not if, the attack came. We figured we were soon to be human toast.

All of the "experts" predicted it was just a matter of time and nuclear winter was a given, if the ice age didn't get us first. None of the end of the world predictions, which were touted as settled wisdom or scientific facts at the time, came true. Not a goddamned one. Not the next Ice Age, not a Soviet First Strike, not running out of oil, not world wide famines due to overpopulation. (Oh, and as young 'un I bought into all of them, just as the young 'uns are buying into the current wave of gloom and doom. It's a natural thing when you don't know any better. But I know better now.)

One the funniest and most enlightening bits of wisdom in my life came from the legendary Sam Kinison, first time I ever saw him in the 1980's. He did a bit about world hunger. His take was "You know, we just drove six hundred miles with your food, and it occurred to us that there wouldn't be World Hunger if You People would live where the FOOD IS! YOU LIVE IN A DESERT! DO YOU YOU UNDERSTAND ME, YOU LIVE IN A FUCKING DESERRRT!"

God, but I miss him so... Actually, political conditions have as much to do with hunger as anything. Read P.J. O'Rourke's All the Trouble in the World for a sensible and hilarious take on that and other issues. Like me, he was a young hippie whose exposure to reality turned him around.

But back to the weather. If Global Warming causes harsh winters, would someone please explain that pretzel logic to me? The earth is getting warmer, so now it is going to be cold as fuck every winter? Wouldn't the melting ice caps just re-freeze? And while I am thinking about it, why, exactly, is Greenland called, well Greenland and not, say, Greater Iceland? I know why, I just wanted to illustrate the absurdity.

What pisses me off about what is going on with this whole global warming hysteria is that it is a fake hysteria.

It's conjured. Why?

There is not one honest scientist in the world that can state conclusively that what you and I hear on the news about climate change every day is an absolute fact. If there is one thing I have learned in my life, it is that the definition of wisdom is knowing that you don't know. You just don't. Some things you do, but the big things? You don't know.

The "scientists" and the politicians that are trying to cram man-made global warming up all of our asses are just chasing money and power. It's an abomination to any seeker of truth. Any scientist that has sold out for this scam should be ashamed and publicly discretided, though they never are. They just move on to the next scam.

You kids, listen and learn. This global warming deal will pass just like all of the end of the world scenarios I lived through. Unless you all submit sufficiently and give up enough of your freedoms. If you don't, there will be a new crisis to deal with through big government action in a few years.

Mark my words. Or, when I say a cow will give milk, get the bucket.

Here we go again: We are being Managed...

2007-02-19T18:32:00.000-06:00

At the risk of coming across as a whiner about my job, like ten million other bloggers in the world, here I go again.

Actually, I'm chuckling. Really, I think it is some funny shit, and I milked the situation for laughs after the latest bit of Dilbertesque drama at work today.

Mr. Micromanager changed the procedures again today after he had pissed the Three Rednecks off Friday. Three Rednecks being me, my brother, and our nephew. I'm the least redneck of the bunch in a lot of ways, but that doesn't stop me from blurting out things that other people won't say. But he pissed us all off Friday by nit-picking what we were doing, or rather, how we were doing it.

That's fine. I'm all about perfection in my work. But could you do your fucking job as a supervisor, and spell the hell out to us how you want things done before we are half finished, so you don't come across as a dickhead? Oh, wait. That's how you operate, I forgot about the whole "first impression" thing. That is why the actual Lead Redneck of our company refuses to work on your jobs. You undercut your carpenters by changing things after the fact. Look, if you would spell this shit out to us, we would do it the way you say to begin with and there would be no problem. The way you handle it, you come across as wanting to find fault where there is none. And you do. Any wonder you piss people off? For whatever reason, you find it necessary to find fault with the talented people that work for you. Does it make you feel better about yourself or some shit like that? I think so, because you suck as a job supervisor. And you know it. Looky here, homeboy, nobody likes you. Not the laborers, not the skilled carpenters, not the subcontractors. I know, I have talked to our subcontractors. They think you are a joke. Trying to be King Shit doesn't help your cause.

I can kind of relate to his problem. He's in over his head. I have been in over my head recently when I was put in charge of a job. It's nerve-racking, if you care about your job at all. I fail to see how pissing tradespeople off can help... But I don't know nuthin'... I haven't been a carpenter for thirty years like he has... I also am not a Dale Carnegie dropout... and, Thank God, I am not Management.

Which apparently he is. Fine, I'm not a Prima Donna, I'm an employee. I do what I am told, and take personal initiative when I think it is necessary. The way I see it, our job supervisors are very busy people so if I can take some of the day to day details off of their hands everything will run smoother and they can take care of the big issues. All of us rednecks feel that way. We just want the job to run smoothly. But when you undercut us, should you be surprised that we get pissed off?

I guess so. Mr. Micromanager decided to "clear the air" for lack of a better term, with his three rednecks this afternoon. What a joke. He lectured us about "doing things right", about how there is often a "conflict between management and the people that actually do the work" and about how he thought we were "angry" with him Friday afternoon and he didn't want anyone to have a "bad attitude" or be "mad" on his jobs. He reminded us that he had been a carpenter for thirty years and wasn't talking out of his ass. Except he didn't actually say "talking out of my ass" because he is the dickhead that gave everyone Buybulls one year for Christmas.

At this point, I have to back up a bit and say, well, I am on his side because I love my job. I agree with him on his point, but his execution sucks big green donkey dicks. He started out questioning Skeeter, asking if he was "OK" or some shit. Wouldn't drop it. Skeeter finally said "Well, I think I just enjoyed the race too much yesterday".

"Oh. What race?"

"The Daytona 500."

"Oh."

Then he launched into his management bullshit, how we should do this and that, how he didn't want people to have bad attitudes on his jobs, blah blah. I was sitting there grinning like an idiot and keeping my words to myself. What race? Have you noticed our Earnhardt caps? The whole world does revolve around you, doesn't it? You fucking moron. You think we give a shit how long you have been a carpenter? You think we are impressed that you undercut people by changing the methods halfway into the job? You think we like being preached to about five minutes here or there? Who the fuck do you think you are?

Later, I boiled down the whole anger issue to Skeeter. "What people like him don't realize is this: It's not all about him and whether we are mad or not. Hell, we get mad at each other all the time. The fact is, we just don't like him. That's a lot bigger deal than just pissing us off."

We get over being angry. We don't get over a lack of respect.

Micromanagement Sucks!

2007-02-14T18:39:00.000-06:00

I don't know why, after all these years, I don't trust my instincts and my first impressions of people more than I do. Every time, every Single Fucking Time I give some person the benefit of the doubt I end up regretting it for some reason or another. I should just listen to my inner Judgemental Asshole because he is never wrong, historically.

But, I try to be a nice guy. To quote my all time favorite movie character, Jules Winnfield, I'm trying. I'm trying real hard to be the Shepherd. People talk to me and don't realize that, just like that scene in the movie, I've got a .45 pointed at their head, my finger on the trigger. I just don't pull that trigger more often than not. I'm trying.

One of my other favorite movie characters is Hannibal Lecter. No, it's not that I eat human flesh. It's that he was able to look into a person's soul and tell things about them that they would rather not face. I have that ability sometimes, though not to that extent. At the time the movie came out, my best friend thought it was so cool that Lecter talked a man into commiting suicide. Said it reminded him of me, with Lecter's piercing insights.

There is a fragment of truth there. I can have the piercing insights. I can also be totally clueless about people. Usually because I don't listen to my inner judgemental asshole. My dichotomy is that I can read people like a first-grade book and still be incredibly naive at times. The whole benefit of the doubt thing. Nice guy and all that.

Now, the older I get, the more I wonder... Why do I bother being nice to people that, deep inside, I know are going to give me grief?

There are a few people on that list, fer sure. One is the guy that is supervising the job I currently work on. I'll never forget, as long as I live, the first impression he made on me. He called the guys together and lectured us about how if we take extra time not working how it was costing our company money. He had it written down (He spent some time on this) and broken down how much money it cost our company for us to take an extra five, ten, or fifteen minutes on break or lunch or whatever over a week's period, a monthly period, and a yearly period. My immediate thought was, "Well, asshole, how much time did you just cost the company doing all that math? And then lecturing us? You, we, could have been doing something constructive. But we had to stand around, on the clock, while you talked to us like children." After that, he spent two fucking hours on a twenty minute trip and came back with the wrong shit anyway. Why didn't I trust my first impression?

This is the same guy that gave us all a Bible for Christmas in 2006. Little does he know that I have forgotten more about that book than he ever knew and could tie his theology in knots. One phrase I do remember, spoken by our Lord and Savior, was "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You strain at a gnat and swallow a camel!" Fits this dude to a T. He is the man that mastered "milking the clock" when he was just another carpenter and now he is on our ass about time?!? He jumped me today because I rode to the lumber yard with my brother. "Is there any reason it took two of you to go to the lumberyard?" he asked.

My blood began to boil. Slowly. Maybe it just simmered. It reached a full boil as the day went on. I guess he would rather that I stand around with my thumb up my ass, waiting for material like the other five or six guys on the crew? Never mind the fact that I was actually saving the company a trip at a later date for something I needed for a different job. Except, as I later learned, they weren't standing around with their thumbs up their asses after all! They were, in fact, loading windows onto his trailer for him to take home for his personal use!

Now, salvaging materials from a job is no big deal. We either throw them away or take them for our own use. But here is the problem: This same man, the one that got on my ass this morning for riding to the lumber yard with my brother, has told me on more than one occasion to make sure that I gather the salvaged materials on my own time. I have made two trips up there, 45 miles each way on a Saturday, in fact. My time. I have no problem with that. But I ask you, exactly who is fucking the company out of time worked? And why did I give this asshole the benefit of the doubt?

I can make a prediction: This dickhead is going to say the wrong thing to me one day when I am not in a charitable mood. I'm going to pull that trigger.

Look, motherfucker, I'm a carpenter. I'm a man. I'm not a fucking teenaged fry cook at Whataburger. I don't need your hypocritical micro-managing shit and I won't put up with it much. I didn't notice you around this afternoon when we all worked through breaktime...

It's just a matter of time.

Earnhardt Is An Idiot

2007-02-09T16:55:00.000-06:00

Ramblings:

Traditionally, the Robin is the first sign of spring. For knuckle-headed sports fans like me, there are other options. For baseball fans, today is "Truck Day" for a lot of teams. Truck day being the day that the organization loads up the gear and heads to Spring Training. However, I'm a NASCAR fan. For me, the surest sign of a fast approaching spring is the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. Ahhh, tomorrow evening I will be in front of a TV set, with beer in hand and the surround sound cranked, watching 800+ horsepower cars turning laps in anger at around 200 mph. It just doesn't get any better than Daytona in February. Unless, of course, I actually attend a race this year. Considering that I put a copious amount of blood and sweat into remodeling a house for one of the owners of Dickies Manufacturing, which sponsors a race here in Ft. Worth, you might think that attending that race might be a given. You know, comps. Um, no. My brother and I (who were probably both wearing Earnhardt hats at the time, I know he was, I don't recall which cap or shirt I wore that day) got to hear allllll about how wonderful an experience this very nice person had at the race that We Did Not Get To Attend last year. You know, helicopter flight in, luxury suite seating, Victory Lane visit, etc. But I'm not bitter...

Of course, non-racing fans don't understand us, much like I don't understand the attraction to soccer. Seems like all of my adult life Americans have been harangued about not supporting soccer. It brings to mind the attempt to sell us on the Metric System. "The rest of the world likes it" and so forth. As if we should give a flying fuck about the rest of the world. Or, more correctly, as if the greatest, most freedom loving country in world history should emulate its inferiors. All that Metric System bullshit did was waste school time and make a clusterfuck out of auto mechanic's toolboxes. Suddenly every mechanic in the U.S. had to buy a whole 'nother set of tools. I had a Chevy/GMC truck for twenty years and I'll be damned if I ever figured out which bolts were metric and which were SAE. (Mildly kidding, I could tear the whole thing apart and rebuild it today, I went through three truck bodies with one engine and installed at least three transmissions)

Anyway, from a carpentry point of view, the Metric system just doesn't work. Here is why: You often have to divide areas into thirds or some other odd number. With base twelve material, no problem. Try doing that with base ten material sometime. 3.33333333333 and so on centimeters...

Personally, soccer bores the hell out of me, much like racing on TV often does. Stock car racing is something that must be experienced live to be appreciated. The sounds, the people, the realization that "Oh my God! There is a human being inside that goddamned thing that just went by!", the whole racing experience live is just a spectacle, it is sensory overload. It's a rush. On TV, not so much. And Darrell Waltrip annoys the hell out of me anyway. He used to be pretty good and now he is just cartoonish in a bad way. At least, watching on TV, I have that sound memory in my head, that sensory overload feeling. But soccer? What is fun about watching a bunch of people that cannot use their hands in an athletic endeavor? What's up with that? You mean it's a good thing to deny an athlete his most manipulative body parts? What is so great about a sport where (I actually saw this in the paper yesterday) a 2-0 score is called "domination" by one team? Oh. please!

No wonder those people's economies are so fucked up. They worship a sport that denies athletes the use of their most versatile body part, hands (yeah, except for the goalies, and that is an economic analogy in itself) and rejoice at a minor success. Woo Hoo! We scored a goal! One single fucking goal! Boy, we're gettin' it now!

I still go back to the famous Patton speech and remember these words: ""Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American." (emphasis mine)

Key word there being real. Lots of fake Americans in our population nowadays. I fear for the future of our country. We are becoming pussified like the Europeans. Oh, but they are so smart! Let's be a bunch of pussies like them! Let's surrender to our enemies, we can't win, we musn't offend, we can't take a strong stand, we have to use diplomacy, we need higher taxes on everything to pay for people that can't compete, we should tax the rich, let's negotiate with evil, blah blah blah.

Know what? Suck my dick. The United States is the best country in the history of the world for a lot of reasons, primarily because it has always valued individual freedom and initiative. Now, we have too many worshippers of consensus living here. People don't want to take a stand. Can't piss someone off, and it seems to me that we need to piss some people off! Look, when you have a conflict of ideas or wills, one side or the other has to win. Negotiating failure for the right side is a non-starter for any real American. We used to be a country that celebrated achievement, now we celebrate shitheads and coddle failures.

Pull your heads out, people. We need ass kickers, not ass kissers. Politically and otherwise.

Oh yeah, the headline. Earnhardt is an idiot. Teresa, that is. Dale Sr's widow decided to pick a fight with her stepson, who just happens to be the most popular driver in NASCAR, saying that Dale Earnhardt Jr. needed to decide whether he wanted to be a "public figure" or a race car driver. Way to go, babe! Dale's contract is up at the end of the year, and this is the way you open negotiations?!? Hmm, let's see... He has won the most popular driver award four years running. He is an absolute rain maker when it comes to sponsorships, in a sport where sponsorships rule all. He wins races and is always a story even when his team struggles. He is sponsorship platinum.

Teresa, you inherited DEI when my hero, your husband was killed in a race accident, and now you are trying to get his son, the very face of your company, the absolute most valuable asset you have, into a pissing contest? Gee. Who do you think will win that one? Girl, you fucked up. He is starting to realize his value. He wants ownership of his Daddy's company now, and frankly, I think he holds all of the trump cards. I mean, good gawd, what is Dale Earnhardt Incorporated without at least Dale Earnhardt Jr? What, you got Martin Truex? Dale Jr. recruited and groomed him. What have you done other than insult and piss off your marquee property? The answer is, you haven't done shit with what Dale started. Hell, you got other big time drivers taking up for Dale Jr. in the media, and I think Kevin Harvick is all but recruiting him to go to Richard Childress Racing next year. And I may not be alone in saying that I am all for it. I'd absolutely love to see a black 3 car next year, driven by Earnhardt Jr. That would be way fun at the restrictor plate races at the very least. The fans would eat it up and the dollars will flow wherever Dale Jr. goes. Give it up, Teresa, or you will end up disgracing your late husband's legacy. DEI will be a shell, Garage Mahal and all.

Atlas Shrugged. Or: Buy your own fucking tools!

2007-01-25T20:05:00.000-06:00

OK kids, clear your mind. You're about to be subjected to a free-flowing rant about things that piss me right the hell off and a discussion of the philosophy that is the reason I instigated an angry confrontation at work today. My nephew is the person that made it turn into an angry confrontation, while my brother seemed highly amused and the other four or five people on the crew were either confused, scared, intimidated, or a combination of the above.

I had no intention of causing an angry confrontation. I was just going to state a fact. I was relatively cool until Skeeter (my nephew) opened his mouth, as I knew he would, and I was Not About To Take Any Of His Shit. So I didn't. And responded angrily to his anger. He smarts off much more, and I'll cut his ass off from my Christmas card list. Not that I am into sending them out anyway. Skeeter is a Redneck's Redneck, and he don't cotton to being told what to do or how to do it, and especially if he thinks someone is showing him up on a jobsite. Stupid macho bullshit. I can play that game if I have to. Don't like it, but I will play to win if forced into it.

But here is the deal:

I am a lazy slob. I'm so laid back that a recliner is too steep for me. I don't sweat stuff. Life is too short to waste your time on petty bullshit. Now listen to me: This does not mean that I don't care. It just means that I choose my battles carefully. You might read this blog and think that I just go around ranting all of the time. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I am the most laid-back dude in the world. Until you piss me off. I do not, after being a very angry young man whose anger caused himself numerous serious problems, get pissed off easily. I try and control that shit. See, most of the fuckups in my life came from a reaction to my anger about whatever.

The "whatever" that I have never been able to get past is the feeling that someone is taking advantage of my good nature. They are fucking me over because I am a nice guy. It's happened too many times. I am at a point where I overlook the incidents less and less because I know that if I allow it to continue I will blow up. The last time I was this pissed, about 9 years ago, I broke a bone in my hand, taking my anger out on a wall. The holes are still there. The hand seems to have healed. The emotional scars never will. That is just a fact.

Here is the philisophical part....

Socialism is evil. It just is. Its core principles are contrary to basic human nature. "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need" may sound good in theory, but it never works when you are dealing with real human beings. Some people are just better than others. At whatever. You cannot, and you must not, ask the high achiever to subsidize the low achiever. The low achiever gets ever lazier (see New Orleans, "send us your money, you owe it to us for nothing!") while the high achiever keeps on working and achieving. Eventually, the high achiever gets tired of carrying all of the low achievers on his back. Thus, Atlas Shrugs. I am fucking tired of carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. Y'all can kiss my ass. I will carry you no more.

I have spent a small fortune on tools. I am anal about my tools. I Hate to loan them out to people that have no concept of property, or the concept of what money represents. I have been loaning out my tools. I have been allowing people to make a living with the tools that I and my wife spent hard earned money on. Until today. It's OVER.

Thus, buy your own fucking tools. You get a paycheck every week just like me. So fuck you, go and buy your own fucking tools. You don't respect me, you don't respect my tools, kiss my skinny white ass. I am done with supplying you with the tools you need to make a living. Go sponge off of someone else.

The funny thing about this whole deal is, I am the only one, with the possible exception of my brother, that knows what just happened.

Heavy lies the head...

2007-01-11T19:50:00.000-06:00

...That wears the crown. Truer words were never spoken or written. You think you want to be the boss? Be in charge, run things? Hah! Get some of it and check back with me. You can have it.

I have posted a bit of my work history. I was self-employed for a long time. I was The Man. In Tech Hell, I was often The Man because I was left alone and in charge for long evenings. I have been in charge. For me, at least, it sucks.

I'm an artist, a craftsman. I want to be given a task to accomplish and be left alone to get it done. As a perfectionist, I enjoy producing superior work. Makes me happy. Anything that interferes with me doing my work is a pain in the ass.

In short, I have no desire or need to be The Man. I am perfectly content to be A Man. Just a guy.

I have one big problem, though. I am a born leader. Though quite content to follow, I somehow end up at the front, dammit. I guess it's something people see in me, that I need no supervision, I can make decisions and deal with whatever may come, they seem to fall in behind me. I think they just want to have someone besides themselves get "shot at" first. Fucking cowards.

Yes, I am whining. But only because I have a rant to go with it. I had to set it up, you see.

I got put in charge of a remodel job for my company, which in case my boss stumbles across this, is the best fucking construction company in the world.

Now that the boss is mollified and has navigated away from this page, I can say without coming across as an ass kisser: It really is the best. For a lot of reasons. I could list them and go into detail, but I'll just say that I talk to people from the other trades about work conditions, benefits, and such, and I get a lot of head shaking and a lot of "Wows". Employees of our company have no idea how good they have it. I do. I've worked for a lot of contractors and none of them were even close to the standards this company has. So even though I would rather be Just A Guy, I can't complain too much about being put in charge. Just rant.

Here we go: I'm a carpenter. People often make me angry. Thus, The Mad Carpenter.

You know who really makes me angry? Oh, dickheads that don't drive for shit, inconsiderate assholes in line in public places, people that can't control their kids, the usual. Those people can't hold a candle to my number one list of People That Piss Me Right The Hell Off: Tradespeople that do substandard work and shrug it off or make excuses.

Especially on a job that I am in charge of. Your fucked up shit makes ME , and by extension my company, look bad in front of the homeowner. You think I like standing there with my dick in my hand, looking like a fool because you suckie suckie?

There have been a lot of fuckups on my first "in charge" job. Some of them have been because of my inexperience at running a job, but most of them have been because of workers that just plain don't give a fuck. That pisses me off more than you can imagine. Hey shithead, if you don't care enough to do this shit right, get your fucking ass a paper route, goddammit! There are a ton of help wanted ads in the paper! Go get another job and quit ruining my life!

I have been very nice to everyone, very calm, because I am feeling my way here on my first"in charge" job. That, and I don't want to be a jerk. I love my job, I don't want to embarrass my employer. Today, though, I had to pinch the bridge of my nose and hold myself back. This one fucking dude was already on my shit list. Then, THEN, he fucked up the simplest task imaginable only twenty minutes after having it explained. His explanation, in broken Engrish, was "Oh, I forgot. Ha ha...".

FUCK!

I wanted to strangle him, field dress him, chop him up, and feed him to the neighborhood dogs. It would have been almost poetic in its ironic justice.

My wife tells me that I need to just go off on these people. Let them understand that they do in fact not know what I am capable of. I think she may have a point. I will ask my boss about that.

I may never be in charge of another job again, but if I am, I will damned sure make some motherfuckers snap to when I am around. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more Mr. Clean. No more Mr. Nice Guy, they'll say "He's sick, he's obscene". Guess I will have to practice being a jerk, because that is all some people seem to respond to. Sad commentary, and a bummer for me.

My dog bit me on the leg today,
My cat clawed my eye
Mom's been thrown out of the social circles
And Daddy has to hide
I got no friends 'cause they read the papers
They can't be seen with me
And I'm feelin' real shot down
And I'm gettin' mean

-Alice Cooper

No more. Mr. Nice guy.

The Kinder, Gentler Email Nazi

2007-01-04T20:28:00.000-06:00

I've done a lot of things in my life. I can't say I would do anything differently, given the mystical chance at a do-over, even though I have fucked up plenty. I certainly wouldn't say that I am proud of everything I have done (and honestly, who would?) but the things I have done were a result of who I was, acting on the information I had at the time. It was all honest, right or not. I would not recommend my life experiences for everyone, nor wish a lot of them on anyone. The bottom line is that all of my experiences have made me who I am, and I'm a Pretty Good Guy. And as Radney Foster says, half of the good things in my life came from half of my mistakes.

One thing I did was a three year stint at technical support. If you are thinking that my wording evokes images of a prison sentence, you would be correct. I've never been to prison, but I've been to jail a few times. The difference is, in jail you know you fucked up and you have no one to blame but yourself. Come to think of it, that kind of reminds me of how technical support duty went for me... so forget any difference. I think prison may pay better, though.

While in Tech hell, I developed a severe intolerance to stupid emails. Stupid people, hell, I had that intolerance already. Especially since I had just closed a ten year old retail business. The general public can and often does suck out loud. Now here I was, sitting at a desk answering often stupid questions from the aforementioned general public. And I could not fire them. I had fired plenty of customers before when I was the boss, even ran a couple off in anger. Now, almost suddenly, I had to play nice. No matter how rude or unreasonable or stupid they might be.

It went against every fiber of my being. It went against everything I believe. Coddling stupidity and ineptness is the same as encouraging stupidity and ineptness. Same with rudeness. You think I wanted to put up with that shit? I have a saying: "The customer is always the customer. They are not always right." To allow and thus to de facto encourage bad behavior from the general public is the bane of a polite society. People start expecting that if they are enough of an asshole, they will get the outcome they want. I have always been a stalwart against that trend.

But, for three long, depressing years, I did my best to hold back. Oh, most of the people were nice and we had a great relationship. I did a lot of teaching in those days and the customers were grateful. They no longer needed the help line the next time because I made them more knowledgeable. But that 20% or so of the complete idiots and some of the people that I swear were mentally incompetent, not to mention the complete dickheads... well, let's just say that the day I was laid off from that job was a relief.

I once spent a full ten minutes (I watched the clock a lot back then) trying to get a woman to right click on her mouse. It was then that I fully experienced the Theory of Relativity as it pertains to time. That was the longest ten minutes of my life. I swear, it took longer than it did to have an abcessed molar pulled and the infection scraped off my jawbone. Come to think of it, the ten years I spent self-employed flew by compared to the three years in tech support hell.

So Gloom, Despair, and Agony on me. Deep Dark Depression, Excessive Misery. That was those three years. I spent twelve or fourteen hours per day on the web or email, and as I stated, I have a very low tolerance for stupidity. I became the Email Nazi.

You know how annoying it is to get that FW:FW:FW:FW:FW:FW:FW:FW: thing, usually a hoax or urban legend, with twenty recipients in the address line? The one you have seen twice already? Try being in my situation at the time, where you get every fucking hoax email in the world forwarded to you twenty times a day. You and all of those people you don't know. Now you have their addresses, they have yours, and you have no idea where the hell your address has been forwarded yet again by the mindless general public. Pissed me off. I. Don't. Need. This. Shit.

So, since I had to play nice and grit my teeth back then, I tended to take it out on people in my personal life that acted so stupidly. I ripped them new assholes. The downside is that those people are scared shitless to email me anything. Come to think of it, that is the upside as well. I don't get that personal spam anymore.

Still, I have mellowed. I don't drop the hammer like I used to. Case in point, I got an email from a person named Elizabeth Vakili [evakili@chot.org] today, with the subject line being "Can U".

Talk about waving a red flag in front of a bull. Send me something by accident. O.K. Don't know how to BCC your list? Big problem. Use teenager text message language in the subject line? Christ. But I'm a nice guy. Here was her request:

"Get Stephanie Colston RN a password etc. for the computer so she can enter her timesheets. Also she is doing a lot of admits & she needs to be able to enter meds & do the PPOC. -thanx"

Uhhh, Liz, I am a carpenter. I have no clue as to who the hell you are, although I may have the opportunity to run you over with my pickup truck as you atttempt to cross the street. I hope you are better at your job than you are at using a vital tool of your job, the computer.

No, I didn't send that to her. I thought about it, though. Here is what I actually sent back:

"Sorry, I have no idea who you are and no ability to grant or deny access to the "computer" you reference. Could you please remove my email address from your list? Thanks in advance. David Burrow"

As I said in the title, kinder and gentler. I wonder if nurses that are not smart enough to use a computer properly are cognizant of the extreme sarcasm contained in my reply?

Coming soon, I will highlight the results of work done by Illegal Aliens. You know, they are doing "jobs Americans won't do". I'll say they are. The Americans I work with would be ashamed to do work that shitty...

Here we go again...

2007-01-03T19:47:00.000-06:00

I'll go ahead and get this thing going. I will have some things to say in days to come. I may even post the things I have to say here if I can get past the feeling of the beat-down that the internet has become for me.

Don't touch that dial.