I came across this quote and it really struck me as . . . as what? Profound? Confusing? Something, but I don't know what.
More stuff I didn't write, but I really like it.
From someone I know:
More strangeness from the other side of the Pacific rim. Trampoline Jump Game Not too difficult. Something to amuse you for a few minutes.
Ceramic Countertops: It's fired in place. Of course, it's the only thing left after the firing. Maybe he means concrete countertop. They engineer some pretty sturdy stuff. Granite is not as strong, in my opinion. Just kidding. I can't find a thing except this and it looks like a mistake. The rest of their stuff is junk.
The fairly new clothes washer in Fort Madison had very little hot water, just a trickle. 
I am always interested in the relative strength of various things. For instance, when I was a kid, an older kid who was studying to be a mechanic was telling me about pulling engines out of cars. At school they tell you to always use two chains and four bolts and an adequate hoist, etc. etc. Then he tells me he had seen the mechanic down on the corner pull an engine out of a car by the water pump. It's funny how strong some things are in some situations, but change things just a bit and it becomes a very different story.
I imagine this may be how Portland looked when Mt. St. Helens blew. Bicycles are not fazed by a little dust in the air. Click the picture for the full story. I found the link on The Bitch Girls.
This thing has me a little confused: a 100 HP BMW dirt bike. It's got the traditional BMW engine with the horizontally opposed cylinders sticking out the sides. They are not as wide as the handlebars, and they provide some protection for the riders feet from brush and what not. If you are big enough to handle a bike like this, then you can probably avoid running those exposed cylinders into rocks. And big you have to be in more ways than one. There is the 100 HP engine to start with, the 400 pound weight, which is kinda light for such a powerful motor, and then there's the 20K (US) price tag. That's a little rich for my blood.
Something worthwhile from a celebrity! I am shocked, I tell you, shocked!
Looks like what many people were afraid would happen is happening over at Rupert Murdoch's latest acquisition, the Wall Street Journal: Rupert is throwing his weight around. This is an excerpt from a recent story:
This was written by someone I know.
US researchers say they have developed an effective way to kill unwanted plants and animals that hitch a ride in the ballast waters of cargo vessels.
Sometimes Monty Python is funny, sometimes they are not. This morning I came across this link on Dustbury.com and I could not stop laughing.
Here are some excerpts from a new book "Where Have All The Leaders Gone?" by Lee Iacocca and Catherine Whitney. I stole this from Stu Savory's blog."Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course"!
Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned "Titanic". I'll give you a sound bite: "Throw all the bums out!" You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.
The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the "America" my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?
I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. The Biggest "C" is Crisis !
Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone elses kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.
On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A Hell of a Mess! So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country.
We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.
But when you look around, you've got to ask: "Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense?
I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point. Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo?
We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened. Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it!
Make a plan! Figure out what you're going to do the next time. Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when "The Big Three" referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem.
The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry. I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on the News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change? Had Enough?
Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope; I believe in America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: the "Great Depression," "World War II," the "Korean War," the "Kennedy Assassination," the "Vietnam War," the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: "You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action". Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play.
That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to "Action" for people who, like me, believe in America. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had "enough." Make a "real contribution" by sending this to everyone you knows and care about..... our future is at stake!"
Stu is based in Germany. Funny, this had to cross the ocean twice before I heard about it.
Hi,
Used to be before radios got all hi-tech, you could turn off the ignition on your car and keep turning the key till you reached the accessory position and the radio would not miss a beat. This was nice when there was a song on the radio that you liked when you reached your destination, which according to Murphy is the only time there was a song on the radio that you liked. Some people can sit there with the engine idling, but I can't, at least not without a very good reason. I don't know why that is. I suppose it has something to do with the way I was brought up, or with the way my mind works, or maybe those are both the same thing. If I am driving somewhere, I get in the car, start the engine, drive to my destination, and turn off the ignition. Just call me Mr. Roboto.
