Posts from — January 2013

Finally

OK, you got me…

[Editor: A semi-decent picture of Weasel thanks to a cold day, warm engine, and time to get the camera.]

Friday Ark

I was at my Mother’s for lunch and they were broadcasting the opening of the new Congress on television. We were listening halfheartedly to Nancy Pelosi’s opening remarks to the new Congress when she said something that caused us to break into laughter: “The strength of our democracy also demands that we restore the confidence of the American people in our political process.”

Understand that the leadership of the House is exactly the same as it has been for the last two years, and there is no way in hell anyone is going to believe that anything is going to change. We are going to be pushed from one crisis to the next by the dysfunctional House Republican caucus which barely re-elected Boehner as the Speaker with a pitiful 220 votes, achieved only because three Republicans changed their vote at the last second.

The House may not understand, but what they did to Boehner was to make him irrelevant to any compromise. The meetings between the President and the Speaker are over, all of the effort will shift to Senate.

The Honda Civic died on me yesterday while I was picking up a couple things at the grocery store. I came out and was greeted with the dreaded clicking of a nearly dead battery. As this was the original battery and it has been more than 5½ years, I figured it was time for a new battery. The recent cold spell combined with generally short trips means the battery was rarely fully charged, and the condition of the anode when I popped off the red shield for the jumper cable [fuzzy green] meant that the charging circuit was definitely not optimal.

I figured as long as I was getting a battery I should also replace the wipers [also original] and some new clamps for the jumper cables.

Replacing the battery is a PITA. The guys who designed the system didn’t waste money on cable length, but added a strange 2-inch extension to the main threaded rod that holds the battery in place. It was a two person job, with one person holding the cables out of the way while the other person released all of the hold downs, removed the plastic box, and finally removed the battery. This is definitely not the easy access found under the hood of the cars I worked on when I was younger.

The wiper blades are a continuing project, as I am attempting to locate replacements locally. I can get the passenger’s side, but the driver’s side is four inches longer, and most places don’t carry it, although it is listed. I may have to resort to the ‘Net for that and the cable clamps, because no one seems to want to stock anything that won’t be sold in a month.

I try to buy locally, but the local stores sure don’t make it easy.

At the last minute the GOP leaders in the House decided not to go over the cliff and allowed a vote on the piece of garbage that the Senate proposed and passed in the early hours of today. This is a win for people on the Federal unemployment compensation, but almost no one else.

In the Senate vote Florida’s junior Senator, Marco Rubio, made sure that everyone knew he voted against it, and the talking heads started chirping about his running for President in 2016. It doesn’t occur to them that he will be up for re-election to the Senate in 2016 and is avoiding a primary challenge from the right with this move. Even if he runs for President, he will want to run for re-election as a back-up plan. The last thing he wants to do is to try to find a job in the civilian sector.

All they did was kick the cuts down the road two months, so they can use the debt limit to screw people, and everyone paying attention knows it.

Congress doesn’t work. Milk prices will probably double because Congress hasn’t passed a farm bill. They have the power to make all of the cuts they want in budget process, but they aren’t passing the appropriations bills – they just keep extending the current spending. If you want to see a real bunch of ‘moochers’ just look at the House Republican caucus.

Update: Apparently the Senate bill included an extension of the current farm bill, but there were no provisions for the states that were impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

On the 150^th anniversary of the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln. signing the Emancipation Proclamation you have a prime example of how far his party has sunk.

С Новым годом
Prosit Neujahr
Feliz Año Nuevo
Bonne Année
Felice Anno Nuovo
Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Gott Nytt År
Sehe Bokmanee Bateuseyo
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda
Onnellista Uutta Vuotta

May you be safe from the idiots who think gravity is just a theory and fire off guns, failing to understand that what goes up will come down.

Given the prevalence of accurate timekeeping devices, it is amazing that the explosions that are supposed to signal the new year extend for a four hour period beginning before and extending well after the actual event. Anyone who thinks alcohol and gunpowder is a recipe for a long life should be avoided by insurance agents.

The new year brings new opportunities, so here’s hoping that the good wins out and the world is made a little better.

Oh, and a happy 12^th blogiversary™ to Steve Bates at the Yellow Doggerel Something. He may be ‘imprisoned’ in the health care system and forced to use texting to communicate, but he keeps posting.