what if fun

Before we get into this post, I want to be clear that this "what-if" post will avoid thinking about personal what-if's. I've wasted too much thinking and emotional energy on my own what-if's. I certainly don't want to bother you with my past mistakes. I'm sure you have some yourself. It is what it is, so let's move on.

what if I start wearing blue shades

What-if thinking doesn't need to be about anything personal. The what-if doesn't even need to be about the past. Here's a future what-if example, what if you leave a good comment at the end of this post. However I do find more fun with considering past what-if's.

Jules Verne without diving gear

Creating a past what-if allows me to use the word juxtaposition. So what do you think of this current day technology juxtaposition with past writer of science fiction?

What if, Jules Verne was able to take a deep diving submarine trip before he wrote "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea"?

The book would not have been a science fiction book but rather a true adventure. I'm sure he would have still written some science fiction about underwater life. He could have created Mayor Nemo of some underwater city like Atlantis.

What if, the Wright brothers had a jet turbine engine available for their airplane? 

The first world war might have been shorter. I can't imagine using trench warfare while fast aircraft could bomb and strafe the enemy troops. Of course a powerful engine on the glider type of plane they first built would have just ripped it apart. So I need to include metal craft that would provide strong metal wings. 

Also, maybe the more advance aircraft (capacity, speed, distance) would have dampen the demand for automobiles.

Lastly what if I didn't crash my drone to the point of its complete destruction?

the answer to

Does the question matter? Who has time for the details of a question? Just throw out an answer. 

Egg is a good answer.

walking on egg shells

Now I have one less egg to fry.

Enjoy this scene from Glee.

 

Yes I know the song conveys feelings. I’m not sure about the woman's part in this relationship. She seems obsessed with breakfast and ringing bells. Certainly she would have more important things than eggs in her diet to think about. Apparently the man of her life left her but the song doesn't provide any hint for his reason to leave. How bad was her fried egg dish? Did she ever offer omelets? However she appears willing to pick up after so the guy maybe missing out a good deal.

“Hey Joe, you still seeing her?”
“No we broke up but I was one omelet away from proposing.”

Here’s a completely unrelated question that I found in Eric Zorn’s best tweets list:
Did it bother anybody else that the guy from that Operation game was clearly wide awake?

I need one less song to think about. However I would love to have one MORE comment to reply.

non sequitur thoughts

(hey I don’t get to use Latin in my posts very often)

Yesterday my mind was in the gutter. I cleaned them. Messy smelly job getting the decaying leaves out of them. My neighbor noticed me strolling on the garage roof and offered his leave blower attachment for the gutter cleaning. The attachment is a good idea but this universal-fits-all one kept falling off the blower. Also, any disgusting water in gutter comes showering down on you.

No accidents, but that is what concerns me the most. I've never gotten very far up the ladders of my life.

a few steps up

If I could only train the squirrels to clean the gutter

Well let’s get out of the gutter.

How about breaking news about Hidden Valley Ranch dressing?

Ranch dressing case could end up in court

A regional grocer, Woodman's Food Market sued Clorox Co. last year for its decision to stop selling Woodman's large packages of Clorox products. One of the popular items was Hidden Valley Ranch dressing sold in twin packs of 40-ounce bottles. Clorox will not offer that packing to Woodman’s. Only the big-box stores have access to these large industrial size packages.

Yes, I was also shocked that Clorox owns the Hidden Valley dressing product line. Makes me wonder what is hidden in that dressing. The case has advanced now to the U.S. Appeals Court.

Do you think they will bring a good vegetable tray to the court as a supporting witness? (here’s a link to the story)

Now skipping along to other thoughts. Here's a possible parody floating in my head. Sing along:

What FACEBOOK needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What FACEBOOK needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.
Lord, we don't need another debate,
There are debates and rantings, enough crime
There are conspiracies and attacks enough to read,
Enough to last till the end of time.

one less

The other day I figured how to adjust my smartphone notifications better.  One less bell to answer.

Then this minor kitchen accident (major if you were a hen I guess) happened:

Breaking News

Now I have one less egg to fry.

I cleaned up the mess and carried on.  Luckily there were plenty of eggs left in the fridge.

Of course those of you who are old enough to know ABBA, might be thinking right now, of a song written by Bert Backarack and Hal David, titled "One Less Bell to Answer".  (here's a youtube link to that song)

Yes I know that song conveys the feelings of a woman who has more difficult things than eggs in her diet to think about.  Apparently the man of her life left her but the song doesn't provide any hint for his reason to leave.  I hope it wasn't over her fried egg dish.  Also the answering bells, picking up after, and making breakfast required for this guy - she might be better off without him.

You know what an egg reminded me of? (my mind just drifted here - come on people keep up with your mind reading abilities)  No, not a confused egg frying woman.  The egg part of that song reminded me of this funny clip I had seen on youtube:

breaking news - potential danger alert

Hmm, I know if I took more time that post title could be vastly improved. However alerts always have a time element to them. Last season’s tornado warnings, blizzard condition warnings, and two-for-one beer specials don’t matter much after their time is over. So I’m going ahead with this alert in spite of the non attention grabbing title. Ok, I added “breaking news” to the title. Breaking news is so overused it should be banned from TV.

(Note: Oh yeah, I’m not authorized to speak publicly on this matter. Of course, I will anyway to anyone who would like to listen.)

Well don’t jump to conclusions or to the bottom of the post before you read completely through my short list of reasons for why I’m alerting you to this important potential danger found in most developed countries. Hopefully this alert will increase your awareness assuming you have not clicked away already. The next step could be a campaign (Americans are conditioned to be in constant campaign mode these days) to better regulate these dangerous devices.

My reasons why action is needed to better control these dangerous devices:

• According to the World Health Organization, the United States leads the world in deaths by users of these devices.
• Most of these deaths happen at 10 feet or less.
• I had often thought of getting one for home use but now being older I’m no longer even tempted to buy one. Who knows, had I owned one years ago I might not be here today.
• Back when I was much younger I was almost injured because of unstable conditions often caused by these devices.
• Over the past decade, the number of related deaths have tripled.
• Children often are attracted to them, resulting in serious injury.
• Don’t misunderstand, I believe they are needed, I just feel they should be controlled and used by trained professionals. Many homeowners buy them because they feel the need to take matters into their own hands. Too many of these homeowners are unstable, resulting in serious injury.
• The professionals often mount them to their trucks for quick access. I wonder how many are stolen and used in crimes.
• Lastly, the event that really brought my attention to this matter: My own brother (who as a professional has owned and used these dangerous devices safely) has now mounted one to his all-terrain-vehicle. It just looks like an accident waiting to happen.

found in the Ozark back woods

We need to better control of extension ladder use in this country!

Perhaps my brother’s many days spent in the wild woods of the ozarks has influenced his thinking. Please report any all-terrain-vehicles with mounted extension ladders at your next two-for-one beer special. Thanks for your attention to this matter.

deer jumping

This is not a deer-in-the-headlights story.  If you don't travel rural roads with deer possibilities, you might not realize a deer-in-the-headlights really does mean a deer frozen looking into your car headlights.  They are dangerous road hazards.

This story is stranger.  A deer from the sky.  Luckily, the ending is good.  A smashed car but all the humans walked away fine.

A mom driving her mini-van on the interstate with children on-board is suddenly hit by a deer crashing down on her car.  An eyewitness who stopped to help didn't know the falling object was a deer until he reached the scene. 

I do credit the woman for remaining calm and controlling the car.  Anything crashing through a windshield is a possible cause for panic.

Hopefully the moose won't come down to Illinois

At the end of the following news clip the reporters go a bit overboard on this deer mystery.

Did it jump?
Did it get spooked?
Did some else hit it on the overpass?

If you have lived and driven in areas with deer, you quickly learn that deer are very unpredictable and don't play well with traffic.  I have driven on I-90  many times.  This is the first time I've heard of a deer falling from one of the overpasses.

Unfortunately it's too common that deer will jump out at your vehicle from the side shoulder.  The strangest deer encounter I've had was one jumping right in front of me on a bike path.  We almost collided.  After staring and shaking my head, I pedaled away.

serious hope

A Chicago Tribune columnist, Mary Schmich, wrote in Sunday’s newspaper:

“Targeted mass violence — bombs at a marathon — is more frightening than any other kind of violence.”

Boston bombing, ricin letters, Chicago shootings, Canadian train plot, and the list can go on for much too long. These tragedies not only frighten but harden your view of mankind. Is mankind kind?

I struggle at times like this to hold on to the idea that the vast majority of the world’s population are good, decent, and would rather help than hurt. Even in the chaos of violence you can find the accidental hero rescuing and helping. (remember the 1992 movie “Hero”) The common person who becomes courageous without realizing it as they run toward danger to help strangers in need.

If you can clear yourself of the fear and anger generated by these senseless horrors, you can still find people helping people around the world. Some dedicate their whole lives to charities. Some leave their careers and begin second ones as volunteers. Over the years I’ve done a little volunteer work and donated money to many causes. One of my favorites is Habitat for Humanity.

All this goodness convinces me we have a bright future. I have serious hope for the world improving. I suspect we will have more tragedies. I hope they become few and far between.

Here in Chicagoland two brothers displayed a courageous example of caring for fellow strangers. Ken and Dan were driving home from their restaurant when a horrible expressway accident exploded in front of them. It involved a semi-truck, two cars and large flames. The two brothers managed to pull three people from the burning wreckage. You can read the story and watch a video here.

These caring people didn’t wake up that day and decide to be a hero. They reacted to the situation by helping. I guess adrenaline helps too.

My blog visiting today had two posts by bloggers that I don’t think know each other. Hopefully, they will get connected better now. One, Peggy, living in Australia informed me that Thursday, April 25 is Pay It Forward Day. A wonderful idea for making our world better. The second, Laurie, wrote about the poor children she helps everyday in Honduras.
 
Could it be that there are many bridges over troubled water throughout the world?

I'm on your side
When times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down

dumb and dumber go boating

Just a quick post about a funny/stupid/strange youtube clip I stumbled on.

I have never been to this beach.  In fact, I had to replay the video to pickup where this fun in the sun took place.

It takes place in Grand Bend Canada (being just over the border don't assume dumb and dumber are Canadian but it does seem that they may have grown up in the back woods wilderness) which is on Lake Huron.  Apparently they have never heard of a boat ramp or why people use them.

I thought oh maybe there are no boat ramps nearby.  Well just a few minutes (maybe they don't know about internet searching) of searching and I found a few marinas with boat ramps.  Clicking around I even found a web cam of one of the boat ramps (you'll never see these idiots on that web cam).

This clip is long.  About 9-10 minutes.  But the action starts right away and plot thickens quickly.  I suggest you stick around for the tractors to show up.  They are really the stars of the show.

Also if you start to go numb in the brain while watching, fast forward to the end part which has a good view of the first SUV that started the whole thing.

Confused?  Just watch the clip.

another circus 

does the F stand for Ferrari

I always thought FBI stood for Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Maybe one of the agents thought the F stood for Ferrari as in Ferrari F50 which goes for about $750,000.

Back in 2003, a F50 was stolen from Pennsylvania car dealer. An insurance company paid the claim. In 2008, the FBI finds the car and the thief. During the investigation the FBI needed to store the vehicle.

(do they only come in red?)

The insurance company wanted the car back but it somehow it had been in a little accident. Insurance company had a tough time getting documents from the FBI but finally got the document that explained how two agents took the car out for a spin. Really, it probably needed to be run to clean out any buildup after being in storage all the time. The FBI agent ended up examining a tree up close.

The insurance company is suing the FBI.

Link to story

naturally curious

Photo taken by Tarquin

I met a bee once. 


The relationship ended badly for both of us.


My mom was proud of her bed of flowers along the side of the house.  I was curious.  The bees loved the flowers.  I was curious.  A bee can crawl all the way inside a snapdragon flower.  I was curious.


I thought I could trap the bee inside the snapdragon flower.  Bees don't like to stay on a flower too long.

Bee's stinger + my thumb = I wasn't curious anymore.

mother nature post or what hell was that

This post was inspired by mother nature.  This morning at 4 AM I got to experience my first earthquake.  

I realize that some readers may have experience a few earthquakes in their life - but I live in northern Illinois.  

 

This farm field on Plank Road in Hampshire was the epicenter of an overnight earthquake in Illinois, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.  (Stacey Wescott/Tribune) 

You probably know Illinois as the place shaking things up with our politicians not natural disasters.  Hmm, maybe Blago (former governor awaiting trial) combed his hair this morning.  

My initial reaction to the boom and shake - What the hell was that?

Shortly afterwards I heard my daughter getting ready and then leaving for her opening shift at Starbucks.  She didn't report anything, so I figured the loud boom and window rattling was from a snow plow which have awaken me before.  It wasn't until she returned that I found out it was an earthquake.  I had taken my time before getting on the internet today so I had not seen any news about it.

But it certainly was an unusual event that I wanted to share.  Also, it got me thinking about the many potential and actual disasters I have witnessed in my life.  Now I can add earthquake to my list.

The hurricane while living in Biloxi Mississippi was probably the scariest.  Right up there on the list has been tornadoes here in Illinois.  Funnel clouds are amazing and scary at the same time.  I understand the fascination those tornado hunters have.

Another disaster I found myself and family in while not in Illinois was a forest fire.  This huge blaze added some memories to our vacation to Montana.  The town of West Glacier was evacuated about 15 minutes after we finished dinner there and headed back to the hotel.  Do you prefer your salmon smoked?

In Costa Rica, wife and I watched huge flaming globs of lava being thrown from a volcano - a natural fireworks show.  I guess that had some disaster potential but I felt we were a safe distance away.

And I had detours on a road trip coming back home with one daughter caused by floods and a tornado.

Maybe when you stop and think about it, mother nature can really throw some nasty stuff in your life's path.  Any natural disasters to share?  please comment.

riding the bus

WHILE STILL IN BED!!

This surprising picture was in the Chicago Tribune today:

(PHOTO Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune)

The crash happened at about 5:40 a.m. on Tuesday.  I'm not a morning person but this would get me going.

The 36-year-old female bus driver was cited for negligent driving and has a Dec. 31 court date in traffic court.  I'm thinking they could also cite her for remodeling a home without a city permit.

The people on the bus (as I write this that kid's song popped into my head) were injured but are now reported all in good condition.  The family (single mother with her four sons) in the home were not hurt, but I suspect wakened up in a rude way.

This sure could of been much worst.  Good thing no gas line was broken resulting in a fire.

Maybe riding in the back of bus is better.

Here's another shot with color:

(PHOTO Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune)

The breaking (is that a BAD pun??) news story - here.

solar info link

up in the air news

Because of my past career ties to the airline industry (see background if you're wondering), I probably notice airline news more than some. I find some of it interesting. Hope you do too.

(please note these stories are not related to each other - they just involve airlines or flying)



So has your dog or cat been pestering about their vacation plans?

You need to check out Pet Airways.

We love our pets and spend quite a lot of money on their well being. Now you can fly them in the main cabin on the first pet only airline. There is even a a pet-attendant that's on-board watching over the pet passengers.

I suggest they equip the planes with in-flight Wi-fi so they could offer a web cam of the flight.

(photo from Pet Airways)

Now this passenger on a recent United Airlines flight was acting like an animal. Too bad Pet Airways isn't flying yet maybe they could find a cage for her.

Passenger tries to bite flight attendant

"...fell to the floor and began "snapping like a dog" trying to bite a flight attendant's leg, the court papers said."

According to the story in the Chicago Tribune last week she was returning to the UK after hooking-up with a Californian she meet on the internet. OH the stories you hear about internet relationships. Maybe it didn't go well.

Her flight back sure didn't go well. They were forced to land in Maine and put her under arrest. Besides disrupting the flight it was said that she drank some hand lotion - strange?

And to wrap-up my "up in the air new":
When you have no choice and you are going down - go for the porta-potties.

Remember the water landing on the Hudson? Smaller plane and less water - Out in Washington a pilot landed his Cessna 182 on a group of porta-potties - shitty landing. He walked away but I don't think he cleaned up much after using them.
(this clip doesn't have sound)


Story here.

Share a smile

Drive By news

The story behind that SUV picture involves an F-16 fighter and a target range.

"The cause of the accident was the failure of the pilot to positively identify the intended target during the nighttime, close air support training sortie," the news release said.

The soldiers in the SUV only suffered minor injuries. I wonder if they now suffer from reoccurring nightmares. You can see in the above picture, what a 20 mm gun can do to the finish on your car. (here's a link)


In recent news:
(High above Siberia) A Russian spacecraft pulled out in front of a Iridium spacecraft. Looks like a case of an elderly spacecraft not judging the safe distance before pulling out into a lane of traffic. The resulting crash left a cloud of debris.

Russian - ? - maybe vodka was involved ?

It would be interesting to see the accident report sent to Iridium's insurance agent.

It's dangerous to have all these chunks of spacecraft scattered around waiting for another unsuspecting spacecraft to hit it. The international space station has bumpers or shields to protect it. These safety measures go by the non-reassuring name of "Whipple bumpers".

While checking out this story I came across this NASA program:
Orbital Debris Program Office

Sounds like a space age version of animal control programs that pick up roadkill. Now we are dealing with spacekill and debris scattered in orbit. Here's one of many pictures they have of destructive debris impacts.

Bad day at work?

This is an amazing story of someone having a really bad day.
Now I cut my finger replacing a module on our system here but it didn't even bleed for five minutes.
Watch this and be glad you don't work with machinery that grinds, rolls or cuts more than paper. Oh he was on the Today show too.