April 17, 2007

Election Observations.

Today I voted and I want to make jot down some of my experiences at the poll this morning for all of your entertainment.

The local election board must be hurting for election judges. I practically had four judges begging me to volunteer to be an election judge. Why I donÂ’t know, since I didnÂ’t know any of them. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were all Republicans and Democrats and my voter registration has me listed as Independent. ThatÂ’s right, I wonÂ’t side with either of the tyrannous parties. And no I donÂ’t trust any party any further then I would trust my kids with a child molester.

I voted pretty early this morning, in fact I was only the twelfth voter in my precinct at that time. Where I live the election judges wear nametags that have their name and political party affiliation listed on it. Now, IÂ’m not trying to make any generalizations here, but I noticed something unusual. Out of the 6 judges I encountered three were dressed nicely, the guys wearing dress pants and shirts or sweaters the one lady wearing a nice, but casual, pants suit. They all looked well kempt and groomed. The other three were wearing clothes that I feel are fine for around the house, but not out in public. Definitely not as a representative of the election board and the city of Rockford. Hell one was wearing a muumuu. Yea, a muumuu. Muumuu lady looked like she rolled out of bed threw on some shoes and headed to the polls. Her hair was not brushed. The other two also looked like they didnÂ’t take any pride in their appearance. At this point I noticed that the three nicely dressed had Republican listed on their nametags, the three poorly dressed and Democrat listed on their nametags. IÂ’m not saying that is true everywhere, just at 6:20 AM at my polling place.

Finally the City of Rockford has been pushing to get a one percent sales tax increase. This is the second time they have tried to get it. Now at first this was just to repair the roads in the Rockford area, then it was to help improve the infrastructure. They claim this is going to lower our property taxes and distribute the burden to people visiting Rockford. Last year this tax was voted down. IÂ’m not so sure it will this year. Mainly because the people of Rockford seem to like being taxed to excess. I will admit that this method for funding Road repair is better then the way they use to do it, bonds. They would sell bonds and then pay them back with interest, itÂ’s like using a credit card to make major purchases you canÂ’t afford. You end up paying a lot more due to interest.

Folks, to be honest I like my money. I want my money and I want to spend my money. I don’t like either of these taxes. So I was asked how I would fund the road repairs and this is what I said, “I own a home. I want new windows, a new front door and new carpet. I’ve been saving and have the money to pay for those things. Then I find out my roof is needs repairing and it needs it badly. Since I manage my money, I won’t finance or take a loan (unless there is no interest). That means I have to find someone that will do a good job and be relatively cheap to make the repairs. That also means I put off getting something or things done so I can pay for the others. I do NOT go to my employer and demand a 5% raise to help me pay for everything this year. My employer would laugh and say no. I need to budget for it.”

That stands the place here. I think the city needs to control itÂ’s spending, especially on the nonessential projects, and budget better. The MayorÂ’s (The dishonorable Larry Morrissey) office needs to realize that they are here to serve the citizens, not that the citizens are serfs for the Morrissey Empire.

What I can tell you is that if this Sales Tax passes, IÂ’m taking my business outside the city of RockfordÂ’s limits. Remember, this is just for the city of Rockford, Businesses in Cherry Valley, Machesney Park, Loves Park, New Milford, etc donÂ’t have to add this one percent to their tab, just the state/county 7.25%. Sure one percent is not that big of a difference, only 1 dollar more for each 100 spent. When you do the math on what all you spend in a year and figure out how much that extra 1 percent adds up, you realize that DAMN, it adds up after a while. This tax goes on all services (hair dressers, mechanics, tailors, etc) it also applies to restaurants. I think the only thing it doesnÂ’t apply to is groceries, medication and titled property.

The polls closed two hours ago. WeÂ’ll see what happens, but right now with 22% in itÂ’s a yes on the Sales Tax. Which means my business is all outside of the city now. I really need to move.

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April 06, 2007

Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace Bled!

Today is Tartan Day, as part of Gathering of the Blogs we are to post a Scottish post. In the years past I did a four-part post on Jacobites, as well as some highland fashion. And recipes for Minced Callops, Colcannon and Barley with Mushrooms, really you should try each one. Today I’m going to sit back with a nice bottle of Glenmorangie 12 year old port wood finish single malt scotch and receipt my favorite Robert Burns poem, “Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace Bled” depicting the battle of Bannockburn fought on June 24th, 1314. In the battle the Scots, led by Robert the Bruce defeated the English in what could only be called a slaughter.

Cross of Saint Andrews.gif


Scots, wha hae wiÂ’ Wallace Bled!
Scots, Wham Bruce has often led,
Welcome to your gory bed,
Or to victory!
NowÂ’s the day, and nowÂ’s the hour;
See the front oÂ’ battle lour;
See approach proud EdwardÂ’s power,
Chains and Slavery!

Wha will be a traitor knave?
Wha can fill a cowardÂ’s grave?
Wha so base as be a slave
Let him turn and flee.
Wha for ScotlandÂ’s king and law,
FreedomÂ’s sword will strongly draw,
Freeman stand, or freeman faÂ’
Let him follow me!

By oppressionÂ’s woes and pains,
By your sons in servile chains,
We will drain our dearest veins,
But they shall be free.
Lay the proud usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in every foe!
LibertyÂ’s in every blow!
Let us do or die!
~Robert Burns

This poem by Burns is supposed to be his interpretation of what is thought to be the BruceÂ’s words to the Scots prior to the battle. Since there is no record of what was actually said there is no way of knowing if this is even close. On the other hand it would be easy to see these words inspiring soldiers to fight to the death in what had to be the goriest type of warfare. ItÂ’s also easy seeing these words applying today.

Other Blogs participating in the Gathering of the Blogs.



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April 01, 2007

Gathering of the Blogs 2007

Before I get, this years Gathering of the Blogs is kicking off here in just 6 short days. If you are interested in joining, see the Tartan Day post over at Absinthe & Cookies.

Of course IÂ’m going to participate.

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January 26, 2007

More taxes?

Well it looks like the city of Rockford and Mayor Larry Morrisey have their wish, to own a hockey team. The county board voted on the issue last night and approved to not only allow the city to own a team, but to help provide funding for the upgrade of the Metrocentre.

After months of about-faces, the Winnebago County Board voted Thursday to allow public ownership of the Rockford IceHogs and contribute $9 million to the renovation of the MetroCentre.

Folks, I’m still not convinced this is a good idea. If it was a “no brainer” as the Mayor called it, then why do no other cities own a sports franchise? Something about this whole deal smells foul to me. Currently the Rockford IceHogs are a UHL team; they are in the black and have a pretty decent fan base. I think average attendance of around 3,600, I maybe wrong on that. Sure they are operating in the black right now, but here’s some things to think about.

With a move from the UHL to the AHL, they are moving up in leagues. That means the players need to be paid more. Through this whole thing, they kept telling fans that the ticket prices aren’t going to increase. If the ticket price isn’t going to increase, then how are they planning on paying the extra wages and still operate in the black? If the books are in the red, who is going to have to pay that difference? I don’t know that answer to the first question, but I’m pretty sure the answer to the second will be, “The tax payers”. IE increased taxes, or decreased public functions to pay the deficit. Maybe the Mayor, since this was his idea, will foot the bill out of his pocket?

This while situation has disaster written all over it in my book.

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December 31, 2006

Happy New Beers!

I would like to wish all of my readers a Happy New Years. Depending on how things go tonight, there may be some drunk blogging, and or crazy stories tomorrow. Especially since I have a keg, a bottle of good scotch, glogg and many other alcoholic drinks just waiting to be consumed. Hopefully everyone had a good year, and next year will be even better.

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May luck be on your side.

Oh, and for something a little more warming, I have some New Years gifts for you in the extended entry. Yes, they are marginally NSFW.

more...

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December 24, 2006

Merry Christmas!

The breakfast casserole is made and in the fridge for tomorrow. Our goose is almost finished thawing. The presents are all wrapped and under the tree. Now IÂ’m going to go spend the next couple of days with the family. Today we are going to watch some Christmas movies and play some games. Tonight we head over to my parents to finner and presents. Tomorrow we open up presents from Santa and the immediate family. IÂ’ll be cooking a special dinner most of the day and assembling toys, but itÂ’s all fun.

At this time I would like to wish everyone a safe, fun and Merry Christmas. May you have a wonderful day!

Since I didnÂ’t want you to feel left out after last year, your gifts are in the extended entry. It's not NSFW, but uh... you might not want to open at work. more...

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December 15, 2006

Too big of a loss.

YouÂ’re sitting at work doing your job. Your supervisor comes up to you and says you have an important phone call you have to take right now in their office. Knowing it must be an emergency to pull you away from a customer, you rush to the phone. Upon answering you hear that your 5 month old baby is being rushed to the hospital because they arenÂ’t breathing and you need to get there quick. ThatÂ’s exactly what happened to one of the employees at work today.

This poor girl in her early twenties lost her baby this morning. She had taken it to the sitter while she went to work. The sitter had laid the baby down for a nap and when she went to check on him, he wasnÂ’t breathing. When the baby arrived at the hospital, he was declared dead.

Her baby was everything to her. She made her life around it. When she started working for my company she was pregnant with the child. Every day she would talk about her son and bring in pictures to show everyone. Just yesterday she brought in a calendar for 2007 she had made up filled with pictures of the boy. Like any mother she loved the boy with her whole heart, and he in return made her the happiest woman I had ever met. I donÂ’t know how or even if she is going to cope with this kind of loss.

She didnÂ’t work directly for me, but she did do some work for me in my old position. I feel bad for her loss and the death of the child. I fear that the death of her child will destroy her bright and positive disposition. Her positive outlook on life and her friendly warmth will be gone forever. My imagination isnÂ’t strong enough to even comprehend what it might be like to lose a child. IÂ’ve never been in that position and I hope that I never will.

Now if youÂ’ll excuse me, I need to go give Clone a hug. The baby and Clone have the same first name. IÂ’m feeling awfully parental right now.

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December 08, 2006

Terrorism in Rockford!

I’m sitting at my desk today when a peer of mine comes up and says to me, “Did you hear that someone tried to blow up the mall?” At first I thought they where kidding or had some misinformation. There is no way that anyone would want to blow up Cherryvale Mall. Well apparently Derrick Shareef (AKA Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef) wanted to. That’s right, someone was planning on doing a “terrorist attack” in order to “commit acts of violent jihad against targets in the United States as well as commit other crimes in order to obtain funds to further his goals of violent jihad.” Plus he had other ideas.

Now of course this guy didn’t think things through too well. His weapons of choice where two handguns and four hand grenades he was going to put into trashcans located around the mall. Now I don’t have any first hand functional working knowledge of a hand grenade, but unless I’m completely wrong this is an anti-personal device. There isn’t a lot of explosive power; it just sends shrapnel in every direction trying to kill anything living in its “danger zone”. Thus putting these grenades into the cement containers is not going to have the desired effect this guy is thinking of. If I’m mistaken, please let me know.

Plus the guy thought he could get four grenades and two handguns for a set of stereo speakers. Those have got to be some extremely nice speakers. The last time I checked hard to find items such as grenades donÂ’t come cheap. If I found a guy that was willing to part with four of them AND two handguns for a set of speakers, I would be thinking Fed. Especially if they set up the trade for the parking lot of a Walmart. Then again when you are blinded by your hatred of the country you are in, I guess you arenÂ’t thinking too clearly.

Finally, Why Cherryvale Mall? Sure, initially he was looking at government buildings in Rockford and Dekalb, but he ultimately decided on the mall. Within an hour and a half are two larger malls in a more populated area. I would think either Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg or Gurnee Mills mall in Gurnee would be better targets. Cherryvale Mall isnÂ’t that large of a mall. Even in the Christmas greed season when itÂ’s busiest, I still think itÂ’s less busy then those other two. If you were going to go Jihad on Northern Illinois, IÂ’d think youÂ’d want to get the most targets at the same time. IE would 9-11 have been anywhere near as tragic if the planes crashed into a K-mart?

But what really gets my dander up over this whole thing is that the AP press is saying it was a Chicago area mall. Hey numbnuts, grab a farking map and look. Cherry Valley is a good 90 miles from Chicago. Hell, itÂ’s roughly 40 minutes of farmland before you get to the nearest city that could be considered a suburb of Chicago. Sure maybe not everyone knows where Cherry Valley or even Rockford is, but damn I didnÂ’t know that giving generalized areaÂ’s of where something newsworthy happens is good reporting.

Either way they caught the guy before he did any harm. Would I call him a terrorist, okay in the loosest sense of the word, but he seems to be more of a raving lunatic.

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September 20, 2006

Be Back Later

The day is here. Right now IÂ’m just finishing preparing things to head off. I donÂ’t know if IÂ’ll be back on tonight or not, it all depends on how I feel. If you donÂ’t hear from me for a couple of days, donÂ’t worry. IÂ’m too stubborn to not come back.

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August 27, 2006

Mappin' Time

I was just noticing that no one has signed my Frappr map in a while. I know I have a couple of new readers out there. If you havenÂ’t signed it, please do so.

Let me know where you are coming from.

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August 26, 2006

Smokin' Update.

Just a little update for anyone who cares, IÂ’ve been cooking these pork chops for 3 hours now at a very low smoky heat. They have about another hour to go before they are done all the way through.

Barbeque.jpg
Click to enlarge

Hungry yet?

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Smokin'

The grill is converted to charcoal. Pork chops are currently curing in the fridge with a good seasoning rub. The potato salad is made, and the beans will start simmering in a couple of hours. IÂ’ve got barbeque sauce waiting and some good wood soaking in water to give the meat a great smoky flavor.

Some days it just pays to be in a grilling mood.

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July 30, 2006

It's late.

Awww crap! While I was out adventuring the countryside I missed TammiÂ’s 29th birthday. Well, since I was out of town, maybe sheÂ’ll forgive the late birthday wishes.

Happy Belated Birthday Tammie!

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July 04, 2006

Fourth of July

Today we celebrate what is observed as the birth of our nation. The day we declared independence from English rule. The second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted what would be the final draft of the Declaration of Independence. The war for Independence would ravage on for 7 more years, as American colonists, with the aid of Natives and the French, would fight for their freedom.

Rev War Poster.jpg
Click to Enlarge

On September 3, 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed ending hostilities. The US Congress then ratified it on January 14, 1784 officially ending the Revolutionary War and giving the Thirteen Colonies their independence.

war1.jpg

Today Americans will spend the day watching fireworks, grilling meat, watching parades and attending many different festivities. But let us not forgot those brave soldiers, many of them not over the age of 15 by the end of the war, who fought and died to give us our independence. When celebrating today, celebrate not only our freedom but also the men whose blood, sweat and tears won it for us.

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July.

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July 01, 2006

It's a bird, It's a plane... it's a useless blog post.

Since the new Superman Movie is coming out. I thought I would share this with everyone. 40 things you donÂ’t know about Superman.

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May 09, 2006

Why do I bother?

I mowed the lawn yesterday. It rained all day today. The damn dandelions sprung up like morning wood on a teenager. Now it looks like I didnÂ’t mow my lawn. I hate plants.

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March 22, 2006

Where am I?

IÂ’m starting to feel bad. Many of my favorite bloggers are out there posting and I just donÂ’t have the time to get to each site. Hell, I donÂ’t even have time to get to half a dozen sites a day. I feel like IÂ’ve abandoned my friends.

Allegedly IÂ’ve been tagged with three memes I need to respond to, they are all on my calendar of things to never do. I know there are stories IÂ’m supposed to read and comments IÂ’m supposed to make, unfortunately I have the choice of spending 15 minutes making a couple of posts and reading a blog or two and then spending time with my family and getting house work done, or ignore my family and let the house fall apart.

I dig all of you with big shovels, but I just canÂ’t ignore the family and house. Sorry.

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March 15, 2006

Good(?) Morning

It's 5:30 AM, I'm leaving for work shortly. There is a chance that I will not be home until well after 7:00 PM. Tomorrow I get to repeat the process again.

I love busy weeks.

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March 11, 2006

They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard

What happens when you get a Sci-Fi/Fantasy fan with too much free time and a terminal case of boredom? You get TheyÂ’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard. ItÂ’s a somewhat amusing video based on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I know my wife will probably enjoy it because she has a thing for Orlando Bloom.

Taking thehobbitstoisengard.JPG

If you donÂ’t want to wait for it to load, you can download it here if you want it with a better resolution.

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March 09, 2006

An addition to the School.

It appears that Phin's fry finally arrived. Congratulations! Say goodbye to sleep!

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