March 2011 - Argghhh!

I won’t bore you with the details of why I was repairing the cupola on my garage roof this past Sunday – suffice it to say that if I hadn’t, the weathervane would still be indicating due North as somewhere in the vicinity of straight up.After I fabricated (and attached) the new base plate and retaining finial for the weathervane, which features a jauntily-cantering horse of indeterminate breed (the weathervane, not the finial), I decided that I’d take the fairly-sensible precaution...

As we watch the drama of Japan and Libya unfold, let us not lose sight of this, a little news from a forgotten war:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Staff Sgt. Mecolus C. McDaniel, 33, of Fort Hood, Texas, died March 19 in Khowst province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device and small arms fire. He was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd...

Courtesy of John Hinderaker at Power Line:The Obama administration has deliberately fettered our energy sector in pursuit of "green" goals. No other country in the world is that stupid; certainly not Brazil:My emphasis.Now, why did that jump right the hell off the screen register with me?Simple. I know guys who used to be 'Structor Pilots with the Flight School who are now plying their trade in Brazil -- they each found a job there because they couldn't find one *here*.Which is...

We've all been affected by entropic suckitude at one time or another. Just because a family member wears a fur coat all the time doesn't lessen his (or her) status as family.And it often hurts just as much if the loss isn't in your immediate family.DL Sly's extended family is smaller today, although she considered Dusty-not-the-Instapilot as immediate family...Dusty (1996- 2011) Old fart! He was my sister's dog. I was there when she got him as a pup, and whenever I was at her...

Scene: a husband and wife sitting at home, drinking a couple of cold ones on the porch.She: "I love you."He: "Is that you or the beer talking?"She: "It's me -- talking to the beer."Heh. Hat tip to Taz....

C'mon, who among us of an age don't get a little twitch in the trigger finger when you see something like this... one of the rusting hulks at Aberdeen Rusting Grounds....

In addition to two campaigns in a war, we find ourselves involved in... 03/14/2011 - U.S. Navy Aerographer’s Mate 2nd Class John Dicola, assigned to Naval Air Facility Misawa (NAFM), assists a Japanese man during a cleanup effort at the Misawa fishing port in Misawa, Japan, March 14, 2011. Sailors from NAFM volunteered to assist Misawa residents after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Devon Dow, U.S. Navy/Released) ...and oh, btw, we're also...

It was a wintry day at Castle Argghhh! yesterday...The news has just been a drumbeat of awful. Unrest, fighting, and instability in the Middle East, Afghanistan lingers, food prices skyrocket while there is officially little to no inflation (heh). The West spirals down the drain of seemingly intractable debt that no one in power is willing to be adult about - because those of us who put them in power (especially the ones who don't foot the bill) just want to hold their hands over their ears going...