Proudly Made in the PRC

If I recall correctly, I posted a rant about Chinese made goods a few months ago, so consider this rant #2.

I've been working in the garage the past several days, trying to organize and finish things like shelves, cabinets, door trim, etc. I also installed a window air conditioner in the workshop. Instead of setting it in the window, I cut a hole between the garage and workshop and mounted it up and out of the way. The damn thing was brutally heavy and getting it up the ladder and in the hole was a major undertaking.

Yes, just as you probably guessed, after a few hours of operation, the blasted "Made in China" heap of high-tech camel dung has stopped cooling. Now I get to climb the ladder and remove it...hopefully without dropping it...and then drive twenty-five miles to return it to Home Depot. Of course, instead of giving my money back, they will replace it with the another of the same unit. Then I can go through the installation process all over again.

The way my luck has been going with Chinese products, it will fail again, but this time it will happen a few days after the warranty expires.

Obama in Montana...the Rest of the Story

A friend passed along this e-mail that explains the warm reception the president got in Montana. The Wizard of Oz is still behind the curtain and the state controlled media can't bring themselves to open it.

Hello All,

By now you have probably heard that President Obama came to Montana last
Friday. However, there are many things that the major news has not
covered. I feel that since Joe and I live here and we were at the
airport on Friday I should share some facts with you. Whatever you
decide to do with the information is up to you. If you chose to share
this email with others I do ask that you DELETE my email address before
you forward this on.

On Wednesday, August 5th it was announced locally that the President
would be coming here. There are many groups here that are against his
healthcare and huge spending so those groups began talking and deciding
on what they were going to do. The White House would not release ANY
details other than the date.

On about Tuesday Joe found out that they would be holding the "Town
Hall" at the airport. (This is only because Joe knows EVERYONE at the
airport) Our airport is actually located outside of Belgrade (tiny town)
in a very remote location. Nothing is around there. They chose to use a
hangar that is the most remotely located hangar. You could not pick a
more remote location, and you can not get to it easily. It is totally
secluded from the public.
FYI: We have many areas in Belgrade and Bozeman which could have held a
large amount of folks with sufficient parking. (gymnasiums/auditoriums).
All of which have chairs and tables, and would not have to be SHIPPED
IN!! $$$$$
During the week, cargo by the TONS was being shipped in constantly.
Airport employees could not believe how it just kept coming. Though it
was our President coming several expressed how excessive it was,
especially during a recession. $$$$$

Late Tuesday/early Wednesday the 12th, they said that tickets would be
handed out on Thursday 9am at two locations and the president would be
arriving around 12:30 Friday.

Thursday morning about 600 tickets were passed out. However, 1500 were
printed at a Local printing shop per White House request. Hmmmm......900
tickets just DISAPPEARED.
This same morning someone called into the radio from the local UPS
branch and said that THOUSANDS of Dollars of Lobster were shipped in for
Obama. Montana has some of the best beef in the nation!!! And it would
have been really wonderful to help out the local economy. Anyone heard
of the Recession?? Just think...with all of the traveling the White
House is doing. $$$$$ One can only imagine what else we are paying for.

On Friday Joe and I got out to the airport about 10:45am. The groups
that wanted to protest Obama's spending and healthcare had gotten a
permit to protest and that area was roped off. But that was not to be. A
large bus carrying SEIU (Service Employees International Union) members
drove up onto the area (illegal)and unloaded right there. It was quite a
commotion and there were specifically 2 SEIU men trying to make trouble
and start a fight. Police did get involved and arrested the one man but
they said they did not have the manpower to remove the SEIU crowd.
The SEIU crowd was very organized and young. About 99% were under the
age of 30 and they were not locals! They had bullhorns and
PROFESSIONALLY made signs. Some even wore preprinted T-shirts. Oh, and
Planned Parenthood folks were with them.....professing abortion rights
with their T-shirts and preprinted signs. (BTW, all these folks did have
a permit to protest in ANOTHER area)

Those against healthcare/spending moved away from the SEIU crowd to
avoid confrontation. They were orderly and respectful. Even though SEIU
kept coming over and walking through, continuing to be very intimidating
and aggressive at the direction of the one SEIU man.

So we had Montana folks from ALL OVER the state with their homemade
signs and their DOGS with homemade signs. We had cowboys, nurses,
doctors you name it. There was even a guy from Texas who had been
driving through. He found out about the occasion, went to the store,
made a sign, and came to protest.

If you are wondering about the press.....Well, all of the major networks
were over by that remote hangar I mentioned. They were conveniently
parked on the other side of the buildings FAR away. None of these crowds
were even visible to them. I have my doubts that they knew anything
about the crowds.
We did have some local news media around us from this state and Idaho.
Speaking of the local media...they were invited. However, all questions
were to be turned into the White House in advance of the event. Wouldn't
want anyone to have to think off the top of their head.

It was very obvious that it was meant to be totally controlled by the
White House. Everything was orchestrated down to the last detail to make
it appear that Montana is just crazy for Obama and government
healthcare. Even those people that talked about their insurance
woes........the White House called our local HRDC (Human Resource and
Development Committee) and asked for names.. Then the White House asked
those folks to come. Smoke and mirrors...EVERYTHING was staged!!!!!!!!!!!

I am very dismayed about what I learned about our current White House.
The amount of control and manipulation was unbelievable. I felt I was
not living in the United States of America, more like the USSR!! I was
physically nauseous. Joe and I have been around when Presidents or Heads
of State visit. It has NEVER been like this. I am truly very frightened
for our country. America needs your prayers and your voices. If you care
about our country please get involved. Know the issues. And let Congress
hear your voices again and again!! If they are willing to put forth so
much effort to BULLY a small town one can only imagine what is going on
in Washington DC. Scary!!



Sue
Bozeman, Montana

Crime Report

I'm glad we didn't build our house on the road that goes past our little development. It's a dangerous place to live.

Last year, a drunk took down one side of our neighbor's fence and kept driving. They found the car a half-mile down the road with an 8' section of wooden fence jammed underneath. He had torn the front suspension out when he hit the fence and was skidding on the wood for the entire distance. A state trooper found the driver some distance away, trying to leave the scene on foot.

Last night, someone hit a different neighbor's brick mailbox and completely destroyed it. From the looks of the damage, it appears it was hit by a trailer or the side of a flatbed truck. The way some of the locals drive with their farm trucks, it's a wonder there aren't more accidents. The road is narrow and hilly and it's difficult to see oncoming traffic in several places, especially on the stretch where the two accidents happened.

Accidents...break-ins...drunk drivers...no matter where you live, most of society's ills manage to follow.

Outrage on the Left

Sure is good to see Barney Frank’s ire over someone calling Obama a Nazi. He’s been so consistent in condemning such reprehensible acts, such as Nancy Pelosi claiming town hall opponents to the health bill were wearing swastikas, and Durbin and Murtha claiming our troops were acting like Nazis. Well, even if he didn’t say anything about them, I know he condemned the protester in the photo….you mean he didn’t? What a surprise!

Fall Comes in August

The calendar might say that autumn falls during the third week of September, but I believe it comes earlier than that.

Somewhere around the middle of August, everything in nature begins to change. The mockingbirds stop singing, The air takes on a hazy look, additional hummingbirds show up at the feeder, and the bluebird families stop being territorial and flock together. Today was the day.

I had the water sprinklers on all afternoon, and the front yard was a playground for the bluebird families. At times, there were twenty-plus young and old birds taking a bath and playing in the sprinkler. Even a Red-bellied woodpecker joined the avian frivolity for a while. I tried getting pictures, but none turned out clear enough to post.

Just in time for the increase in sugar prices, our visiting hummingbirds are showing up at the feeders. There have been up to four birds feeding regularly, but today there were at least six, and the air-to-air battles have begun. I'll soon have to put up more feeders to cut down on the number of fights. Though it was a lot of work, I hope we see the numbers of hummers we had two years ago. That year I had five feeders up and some of the smaller ones had to be filled two or three times a day.

BTW, happy birthday, Rita. The card is late...as usual.

Brush With Celebrity

The death of Eunice Shriver reminded me of one of my few brushes with celebrity.

It was the 1972 presidential campaign, and VP candidate R. Sargent Shriver was scheduled to visit the Seattle area. Boeing was in the depths of the deepest cyclic slump in decades and the Democrats were trying their best to capitalize on the local joblessness. Ambassador Shriver was due to arrive at Boeing Field within a half-hour of shift change at our plant, so a friend and I decided to stick around and see what happened.

The plane arrived on time, and the two of us were standing against the fence when Shriver walked the rope line before leaving to make a speech in downtown Seattle. He spent a few minutes greeting all the union people that had been bussed by the locals to make sure there was a big crowd. Then he climbed into his limo. As he turned to wave to the crowd, I gave him a thumbs down and he responded by leaping out of the car and striding directly over to me.

When he got to the fence, three television crews crowded in with cameras and microphones. Instead of asking me why I wasn’t cheering him, Shriver launched into a spiel, promising me that he’d find me a job. I told him I was already working…no thanks to him.

At this point, I should explain that one of the campaign promises was that if elected, the Democrats would pass legislation to immediately replace all the engines on old commercial jets with new, quiet designs that caused less pollution. They claimed it would provide hundreds of jobs for Boeing. Of course, it was an idiotic idea, since the engine manufacturers couldn’t supply the new engines fast enough, and even if they could, normal engine changes would be accomplished by the airlines, not Boeing. A bigger issue was that the airlines would only replace them as the old ones wore out, since they didn’t have the money with the entire aviation business in a recession.

Shriver kept on telling me that he would get me a job, and I kept on telling him that I had one, and I tried to explain the stupidity of his idea, but his ears were closed. The conversation lasted perhaps two minutes, with him sticking to the canned campaign statements and totally ignoring what I was telling him.

Finally, he grabbed my hand and shook it, then rushed to his limo. As he drove away, my friend told me that the moment Shriver headed toward me, two Secret Service agents pushed everyone out of the way and planted themselves on either side of me. Since I was concentrating on the conversation, I hadn’t even noticed they were there.

That night, the local news broadcasts covered the event and all three stations deleted the sound, but showed me talking to him and then him grabbing my hand. Without sound, it appeared that I was a supporter and that there was no opposition to him in the crowd.

When I got to work the next day, I had a tough time explaining to everyone that I was merely a victim of media bias. Some things never change.

FWIW...It took years for the airlines to change all the engines on the planes in service, and their maintenance crews did nearly all the work. Meanwhile, the McGovern/Shriver ticket was defeated in a landslide.

"Here's to You Mr. Jefferson"

I wish Mike Church had a show on broadcast radio, but as far as I know, it's only on Sirius. He's not only a conservative voice, but he's also an expert on the Constitution.

This is my favorite parody of those he has done recently.

Mike Church Website