Does anybody know...

...how to spell "outrageous"?

Portland, Oregon...

...City of Roses the Homeless.

I was putting in my time on the treadmill this afternoon in front of a window overlooking one of the streets outside. There I watched a homeless guy stop on the curb at what I initially thought were a bunch of bread crumbs. He spent five or six minutes handling the "crumbs", until I finally figured out that he was taking apart numerous cigarette butts to gather up enough tobacco to make his own smoke. Once he lit the thing, he wandered off.

Only in America, folks. Only in America.

Drip, Drip,...

Drip.



h/t Theo.

So, anyhooo....

The remodel project is moving ahead. This isn't one of those Overnight Makeover projects, but neither are we moving a glacial pace.

The paperwork for this project will, I'm afraid, be with us for some time. One of our bigger vendors took our deposit and then promptly went out of business. We've tried to get the charge credited back to our credit card, but no luck as of yet. If that avenue doesn't pan out, I'm thinking we'll be hiring a lawyer and heading into either the bankruptcy court or small claims court. Maybe I can put a lien on something the bastard owns.

In other news, my main general construction guy is an illegal immigrant. Nothing surprising here, as most of them are. I was reminded today that a couple of weeks ago, while on a Mexico City layover, I was able to watch 3 Sunday NFL games as well as some Mexican football. Not fútbol, but real American football, played in pads.

I was struck with this idea: For as much as Americans (and especially the GOP) complain about illegal immigration (from Mexico primarily), and the Mexification of America, it appeared to me that the Mexicans are seeking some of the trappings of America. They want to be American in Mexico, as much as some here see that they want America to be more Mexican.

“You know there's something about when you hear a pump shotgun click. It makes everybody think twice.”

Also: " It’s like I'm a newlywed now" said his wife.



h/t Glenn.

As if the General needed an example of his point...

The WaPo provides it.

A good day...

Yesterday, we were able to demo out a good bit of the work on the remodel of our family room. With some help from Son-of- and Wife-of, our built-in bookcases came out without me ruining them (and we discovered the most gawd-awful carpet under them), and they might garner something at a yard sale. The old mantel came off easily, as well as it's supports (although I made a giant cloud of dust in removing them). Learning this lesson, I enclosed the entry to the family room in plastic before I began to remove the upper coarse of the "bins". I made an even larger cloud of dust, but at least it didn't drift all over the house (well, most of it, anyway).

More to do today before I go off to work, but it looks as though I'll get it finished.

"I have a million ideas...."

"...it's just that the country doesn't want any of them."

Oh, wait. That's not what she said. It's what I heard, but not what she said.

I will give Hillary credit for dropping the "baby bonds" idea, though. I guess lead balloons don't float after all.

Not dead yet...

...but I am knee-deep in the remodel project.

The immediate future, with tons yet to do, on top of a 90+ hour month and a visit from the future son-in-law, foretells little blogging.

Ouch...

I wonder if the MoveOn types and the KozKidz have felt a little sting in this.

Ted Nugent...

...ought to be running for office. He couldn't win, but it would be fun to see Chuck Schumer have a stroke while listening to Ted.



h/t Gerard.

Jonathon Turley...

No. Dogs and cats aren't lying together. Hell hasn't frozen over (not yet at least).

But here we have a liberal saying that "...the NRA may have been right." [Well, maybe the NRA was wrong in electing Larry Craig to it's Board, but that's another story entirely.]

That's going to make it difficult for any Democrat to run with anything resembling a gun-control plank.

Wes Clark...

...pwoned by Tucker Carlson. Yes. Tucker Carlson.

A note on life in Arizona...

What you're seeing here is a relatively large--and still living--bark scorpion caught in the web of a black widow spider residing in the crevasses of my garage door.

[Note to self: Make sure the exterminator isn't just spraying scented water on his next visit.]

For those not from Arizona, scorpions are nearly impossible to get rid of. They walk up on their "fingernails", so they don't pick up much of whatever pesticide you lay down. If they do get a "dose", they have an ability to hibernate and wait out the effects of the pesticide. I live on an acre of irrigated orange orchard, and there is nothing--nothing--that can done to get rid of them all. There is also nothing that can be done after a scorpion's sting. A sting will be painful for about a week or so, but for all but the very young and the very old, they are rarely fatal. FWIW, scorpions glow while under a black light.

Problems inside the...

...ATF. (courtesy of Glenn.) The comments are worth reading too.

Personally, I like the ATF's t-shirt.

Drip, drip, drip...

...goes the leaky faucet. Until one day, the torrent will be released.

h/t Theo.

Umm. Yeah....

Come to think of it, "President Thompson" does have a nice ring to it..