Something For Sophie

Sophie had me reserve a book for her at the Library, "I was a really good mom before I had kids". I told her she had to write a review when she was done. That reminds me I can write a review for "Harry Potter: and the Deathly Hallows" now. Not tonight though, NCAA football start, big brother is on, and so is "Who wants to be a Super Hero" on the Sci-Fi channel. I think that show will be hilarious, I'll let you know.

Number 10 Finish

Finished the testing on unit 3 sprays today. No short accomplishment. Now it's up to Dr. J. Irvin to analyze the data. He is a Ph.D. from Atlanta, so no worries. I might look at the data if I get a chance between now and the DCS installation.

Number 9 Finish

Finished testing the spray tip for unit 4 at work. Also made Sophie spit milk out of her nose. That has absolutely nothing to do with finishing anything, but when someone is brought to spitting milk out of their nose that is funny. I was tickling Samson while he had a Reese's Cup in his mouth and Sophie could she it, she though it was going to come out of his mouth and make a chocolaty mess on me, but it didn't. Disaster averted. Except for the milk.

Sophie Says

Greetings. Just wanted you to know that Sophie said that last blog had 'tool' written all over it. I don't know what she is talking about, I didn't even mention tools. Some people just don't appreciate good blogin'.

A little Math

Hi all. Just did a little math to project my potential earnings at the current rate of return for the old AdSense. At the rate I am currently raking in the dough, I will reach a Million dollars in about 26 years. Oh wait I forgot to carry the 7 ... 200 years... oops forgot that four there, let's see ... 2,000 years, oh wait decimal is in the wrong spot ... 200,000 years. What!?! That's terrible. Crap a remainder... 260,416 years! Comm'on people I don't think I can hold on that long. Please...click... ads... fading... fast... dreams ... hope....

2007 Miss Teen USA

Apparently in the pageant the contestant from South Carolina was asked 'Why one-fifth American couldn't find the United States on a map?'. Her incoherent rambling reminded me of Billy Madison, but at the end of her rambling the moderator, Mario Lopez, said 'good answer' instead of 'May God have mercy on your soul', or 'we are all now dumber for having listened to your incoherent ramblings'. I mean I have done some dumb stuff, but not like that. She said, "I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so, because, is that some people out there, in our nation, don't have maps, and I believe that our education, such as South Africa, and the Iraq, everywhere like, such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here, in the US should help the US, or um should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future, for our children." Apparently the reason 1/5th of America can't find the United States is because they spend too much time getting ready for beauty pageants. I don't normally bet (see my gambling entry), but I would bet this girl couldn't find the U.S. if you spotted her North America. The real answer may be that as a specicies we are de-volving at least on the outside. I'll leave it at that for now, but look at all the people who are surviving things that they never would have been able to before thanks to medicine. Some of the effects of diseases or even the drugs/medicine could have long lasting effects that haven't been accoutned for. Perhaps some people are impared from being able to even just remeber things, not necessarily that they are stupid, but if they pass that along to their children and the effect is magnified imagine the effects on generations to come.

Number 8 Finish

Finished attaching my downspouts via a screw. Man this is a weak one, but today was pretty hectic at work. There are two people up from Atlanta and one wants to work on the DCS system, Siemens APACS w/ PCS7, and the other one wants to work on yield. I felt like a guy on two different dates at the same restaurant. You spend time with one in the morning, then you'd go and see the other one 'til lunch, then try and split time in the afternoon. We did get a lot done with yield, set up the new test stand with an air flow meter and did some hard core testing in the afternoon. Good news, only 2 more days of that.

Mike Vick and Sno-Biz

OK. I know what you are thinking, how could something so bad end up in the same blog as something so good. (Good = Sno-Biz) I know there have been a bunch of articles written lately on Mike Vick and him killing dogs, but I guarantee this is the only one that mentions him and Sno-Biz. Go ahead look it up at http://www.google.com/ or something. Anyway I feel I should talk about this matter even though I am not sure where I stand. Oh of course I think it is deplorable to kill animals, especially by drowning or electrocuting the poor things, but honestly what do people think happens to all of the animals that end up in the pound and never get adopted. They end up meeting a similar fate although not as gruesome, still the same end. What is most disappointing is that someone who is set to make $130 million dollars over 10 years, feels compelled to do something like this. I mean for one your Mike Vick, so who wouldn't want to buy the dogs off of you. For two your going to make ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS. Just let that sink in for a moment. That is more than some people win in a lottery and this is payable over a ten year period not 20, plus a $22 million signing bonus. All you have to do is not be stupid and end up in jail or something. And this doesn't even touch his endorsement money. This whole story is just sad, dogs get killed, $130 million+ is taken away, and Mike ends up in jail. It all could have been avoided if he DIDN'T DO something. Just DON'T get into illegal competitive dog fighting and DON'T go directly to jail. How hard is that? But this isn't the first time Vick has had trouble saying 'no'. Remember when he got caught at the Miami airport with weed in his water bottle. SNL did a funny skit on the news called 'Really!?!' when it came to this matter. "Didn't think to throw the weed in the trash before going through security, Really? Didn't realize you couldn't have a bottle larger than 3 oz. on the plane anyway, Really? Didn't realize weed was illegal or something? Really!? ...." Let me tell you what the solution to this problem is - Sno-Biz. Sure it sounds simple, but if all that money that was spent on the dog kennel, the fights, the betting, the lawyers to fight the incarceration was used to buy kids or even adults, let not rip the adults off here, sno-biz, think of the possibilities. If you have never experienced sno-biz then go to http://www.snobiz.com/ and check out a local vendor. I recommend the peach cobbler with cream, just ask for it even if it is not on the menu. Trust me the last thing on your mind will be killing dogs. And as far as the Falcons go, Bobby Petrino should send Mike a gift basket for making his job so much easier, now Petrino won't have to worry about Vick costing him his job like his two predecessors. Hey Bobby, why not put a couple of gift certificates to sno-biz in that basket while you're at it. Trust me.

Oh look, Joey Harrington has thrown 2 touchdown passes already in the first half of the preseason game tonight. Maybe he should send a basket too.

Number 7 Finish

Finished hooking up my DVD player to my TV today. What? It's hard coming up with stuff everyday. It was disconnected for a while and I just never got around to hooking it back up. Plus I had to get a different cable than the one I was using before. If you are wondering why it was out of action I place the blame squarely on Peach and Samson. You just can't have anything nice with kids, and then when they get to an age where you could have something nice you don't have the money cause they gotta go to college or need shoes or a prom dress or something. Oh well.

Momma Helfensfelder

So my mom checked out the old blog today. Said she liked it, but she didn't click on any of the ads. I was like what!?! Come on Mom, the old ads are what give me a little kick back, and here I thought I was your favorite. After all that she asked me to give her an alias. Sure mom right after you click on one of those ads.

Number 6 Finish

Finished chopping the logs by where the old shed used to be today. There maybe a few straggler logs on the top flat part of the hill, but other than those nothing left but the really big stuff.

Vital Stats Clock

Check out the new vital stats clock that I put on from http://www.poodwaddle.com/. I don't know if that is supposed to be pood-waddle.com or poo-dwaddle.com. Oh well it is still pretty neat. I may add some of their other cool flash stuff later. If you like it just click on the link and it will take you there. If you really like it then click on one of the adds and that help me out.
Thanks.

Number 5 Finish

Finished my left over yard work today. Finished trimming the grass (problem with this is the trimming will never really be done) for this week, put wood up that I had cut earlier, and put my fallen rocks back up that were next to the street. They weren't in the street they had just kind of fallen over, but at least they are back up for now. For the future, I would like to tear that whole stupid wall out, but that project will have to wait for capital fundage.

referral Ads

I signed up for a referral ad with Sony, because everything I own is pretty much Sony. Sony TV, computer etc... so I thought it would be a good idea to pimp them a little on my blog. But apparently the code I put in there is going to some other stupid links. thanks a lot adsense.

I am also going to try and get the world clock on my blog from Poodwaddle.com I think I know how to do it now.

Number 4 Finish

Finished updated the links on my grade summary sheet at work. Somebody move all the files into a different folder when I was on vacation. I was going to do it eventually, but now it is done.

Number 3 Finish

Finished filling in a hole in the backyard from this summer's French drain project. Oh well it is done now. We are going to use the area next year for Sophie's garden. She is going to see if she can get 20 tomato plants in in a 4 x 4 area.

Mining Accidents

There was a mining accident in Utah on August the 6th. In the United States this accident received much coverage and probably many prayers. It looked hopeful at first, digging through the old access, drilling holes to find the miners, air in the mine was quite life sustaining. Then things started to change. Last week the rescue effort to go through the mine was stopped because the mine collapsed again, this time killing 3 and injuring 9. From then no more effort would be taken to reenter the mine in the same manner. Slowly the air in the mine itself was now not livable and somewhere around the two and a half week period hope was beginning to fade. At the service for the brave miners who died during the rescue effort, the owner of the mine Mr. Murray was confronted by an unnamed gentlemen and the man shoved a dollar in Murray's face saying that here was some more money that should be spent on the rescue effort. Murray allowed the dollar to fall to the ground where his son retrieved it saying instead in would be donated to church. Unfortunately the miners likely will never be retrieved from the mine, most likely they never survived the initial collapse, but most regrettably we will probably never know. The mine where they went to work that Monday in all likelihood will become their final resting place. There is still hope right now, but eventually there will be a period where hope will be lost. Lord I pray for those miners and their families that they will have closure.

Now let's look at how a similar situation is taken care of in China. Over the past weekend a mine was flooded in China due to very heavy rains and a levy that broke. The result was 172 miners being trapped. That's right 172. It would have taken 9 accidents and rescue efforts of the US event to be close to this number. The coverage by the state run news service was minimal at best. The men have not been declared lost yet but it could take weeks to remove the water. The fault of the event was not given to natural disaster - no under those condition the families of the dead miners would receive no compensation. This way the families can at least receive something for their loss, 2 and a half months wages. That's about $265 each, for a total of $45,580. Due to them because the mine should not have been operated under such rainy conditions. I wonder which country will do more to revise their laws, inspections, safety practices and recovery capability after these respective accidents. The US or China. Realistically the ceiling for mine safety in the US probably can't go much higher. After the Sago accident where 12 miners were killed and one badly injured major changes were made. In China on a daily basis they lose 13 miners. That is 13 a day, essentially 6 would be a major improvement. For the U.S. most likely the results from this latest accident will probably be to end any type of retreat mining or mining in any mine where retreat mining has been practiced. It probably is the safest thing to do, but there will always be inherent danger in mining. My father and 3 of my brothers were miners, and I really count myself lucky now for everyday that they were able to come home. Everyday there is risk in that job, probably more than policemen or firefighters who may not have to face death every singly day, but there is no escape for the miner. They venture into the dark abyss, check fear at the gate when they punch in, and have to function in a manner that will keep them from losing their job and most importantly their life. They are completely dependant on everyone who enters with them and those who have entered before, that they have not or will not do anything that will put them in harms way. But they also have to depend on nature, on the Earth, that what they have taken out will not cause hundreds of feet of Earth to come rushing in upon them or that water will not trap them deep below the surface. No, I do not envy the life of a miner, but I do admire what the are able to do and have done for so many years. I admire their strength, courage, resolve, ability and am proud to say that I am the son of a coal miner. God bless Coal Miners and their families!

Number 2 Finish

Finished Motor Storm for the PS3. I only had two races left, but now it is done.

Purpose

I wanted this blog to be for my children and their children at least, but anyone of course is welcome to read it (and click on the ads). I just wanted to document my feelings as things unfolded in my world. Sometimes it is hard to look back and remember exactly how you were feeling, this way I won't have to. It should be an interesting Journey.

Number 1 Finish

I finished reading Miles Levin's blog on care pages today. I started yesterday and from my previous posts you can see that it has had quit an impact on me. I would recommend to anyone to read his blog from the beginning as it is extremely well written and just very emotionally driven. I challenge anyone to read what was written by Miles and his family and not truly feel for them, even shed a tear if you will.

Two Weeks

In honor of the memory of Miles Levin, I will attempt to finish something everyday for the next two weeks. No real connection to what he went through just felt I should do something to honor what he did.

Miles Levin

(this is my response #7893 on Levinstory on carepages. This is posted 2 days after cancer victim Miles Levin finally ended his struggle with Rhabdomyosarcoma cancer.)

Dear Miles and family,
Thank you for sharing your journey with us. You did not really know where it would end 26 short months ago. Actually all of our ends are the same, it is the journeys that make us unique, and your journey came to end much to quickly. Two days ago I had no idea who you were, but tonight I finished reading every word you so gracefully and kindly shared with the rest of the world. Thank you for sharing your wonderful gift of the written word, I wonder if it was only the gift or more the purpose that seemed to give your words and thoughts such meaning. The roller coaster that was the last two years for you and your family was truly inspiring to read. I want to be a better person for my family and for my children. The letter from your father was especially touching, because I have shared moments like that in the morning with my 5 year old. I had to stop reading there last night because of the emotion that overcame me. That level that your family shared, that was open for us all to see was ... there are no words to describe the impact. We ask 'why' but G-d uses us for His glory not for ours. I will remember your story and share it with my children when they are ready. I compare it to 'Tuesdays with Maurie', but he had lived, and seen many things and gave us a glimpse into his struggle, but your courage for someone so young really is incredible. To your mother I would say continue this blog, after all it is Levinstory, not milesstory. I think he knew that all along. 80% of mother's with children, who have this horrible cancer, will come to the same place you are and they will need to know day to day how to deal with their grieving. My gift (as Miles asked what we were good at) is seeing what others are good at doing. You are stronger than most, the strength you prayed for shows, I will continue to pray for you and your family. Though Miles journey is complete here, yours are not, it is important for you to continue onward as people look to his story for strength they will want to see it most in the people who were closest to him. May G-d bless you in the rest of your days.
Thank you,
Cecil Smith

Global Warming

OK here it is my thoughts on global warming. Eventually the Earth is going to crash into the surface of the Sun when the Sun turns into a red giant so it will probably get pretty warm here then. Don't worry though, that probably won't happen for another 4 billion years or so. In the mean time is the Earth really warming up? Well yeah, probably, but does this mean we are in some rapid heat up stage? I don't think so. At least not to the point that we can curb or reverse the very mild warming trend that "Experts" are expecting. Even the models that are being put forward are suggesting 1°C increases by the end of the century. So in a little less than 100 years the average temperature will rise by a little over 2°F. Is that really all that bad. All this global warming hysteria is political. It is just a scare tactic to try and get people to vote for those "who are going to do something about it". But what exactly are they going to do - Fly around in there private jet telling people they need to conserve, recycle, buy carbon credits. There is a whole litany of problems with these types of people. Should we recycle. Yes, I do it, it isn't that hard. Instead of just throwing all of your cans in the trash you put them in a different bag. The energy used in recycling aluminum is about half of the amount of energy it takes to create new aluminum from ore. This is due to the fact the Al2O3 -Alumina-is converted to aluminum by the Hall-Heroult process at about 1700°F, while aluminum can be remelted at about 1220°F. Anyway recycling saves us energy, being smart about using electricity and natural gas saves us energy, but is not doing this what is leading to the trend called "Human induced global warming". To fight "Human induced global warming" we are supposed to do something to become carbon neutral so that the amount of carbon we burn into CO2 gas will be reconverted into regular old C and O2. In order to be "carbon neutral" you are supposed to buy credits according to how much fossil fuel you are responsible for burning. But only when it comes to your car and electricity in your house. What about the energy used to make the tires for the car, or the plastic used in your water bottles, or the trees that had to be cut down to make your house, apparently you don't have to account that. And the people willing to take your money are completely unregulated, so you can pay $5 a day to be "neutral" or $50/day depending on who you go to buy credits. Al Gore has taken the liberty of setting up a carbon credit store, which he pays himself for flying in his jet or using $20,000 worth of electricity at his house. So if he pays himself $80,000 a year he'll be carbon neutral, yeah that makes sense. Then he can plant some trees or flowers and feel good about himself. I mean everyone on the planet puts out CO2 when the breath, maybe if we stop breathing so much the earth will cool off. Well maybe if people like Al quite putting so much hot air out there too. Yes, you could send me $1 a day and I will hold my breath 1 minute of every hour so that you can feel good about driving your SUV or turning your A/C down to 65°F. Anyway I think that the "human induce global warming idea" is junk. If the Earth is heating up maybe we should look to what is heating the Earth, no not Al, the Sun. You see one of the problems with global warming is that the Earth is very dynamic, it has been around a while and adapted to different things, and the data set of temperature that we are looking at is from the last 100 years or so. Do you think they had all of these fancy trending and recording devices back in 1900. Hmmm, probably not. All they had then was some guy who would go and look at a thermometer every hour or once a day. Anyway the point is 100 years ago they didn't have the same capabilities as what we have now to measure the temperature accurately and using data from before that point is even less accurate. Not comparing apples to apples so to speak. The Sun accounts for roughly 99.999999% of the Earth's heat. Take it away and we will all meet a quick end. Now if we want to see if what we are doing is the problem we should be able to look at other planets and see if their temperature is heating or cooling. We have probes on Mars and satellites and I am sure that we can infer temperatures on some of the other planets. Let's just agree that in 20 years we aren't going to be that much worse off, and lets monitor these temperatures on different planets and determine exactly what the effect is so we know if the Sun is getting hotter. If the Sun is the major factor then it won't matter how many carbon credits you buy because we will all be in trouble. In the mean time, lets be better stewards of the Earth, do a little more recycling, a little more conserving, and maybe plant a tree or two on your own. Just don't hold your breath waiting for people to quit talking about global warming, I'll be holding my breath for everyone, you can just go ahead and click on the old adds.

A Profoundly Emotional Dance

Greetings. I was moved to write tonight because of the Mia Michaels' dance on So You Think You Can Dance. It was supposed to be a dance of her and her father or at least what it would be like if she could dance with him again since he died of lung cancer. I thought it was very emotional because I have lost my father, almost 10 years ago to colon cancer. I thought it was extremely brave and something you just don't see people do, remembering there lost parents like that especially someone in that position. I normally don't get her dances, but I understood this one. The reaction of the kids afterwards though you could kind of tell that even though they did a great job of telling the story I don't think they fully understood exactly what they were saying. It would be difficult to understand if you hadn't lost someone, but if it had be me dancing after I performed I think I would have had to go and give Mia a hug. Thank you Mia you did a great job. Your father would be very proud.