RJTravel

Sen. Ted Kennedy, the guy who over 35 years has voted to ban all semi-autos, to make it a federal crime to purchase more than 2 handguns in a year, proposed 21-day waiting periods on all gun purchases, made several attempts to ban centerfire hunting ammunition, fought tooth and nail to protect the gun-ban lobby's schemes to bankrupt the American firearms industry, and who was one of only 16 senators to vote against Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act (which was the NRA's answer to New Orleans gun-grabbers actions after Hurricane Katrina), endorsed as candidate for president, B. Hussein Obama - a guy who, until the puppet of political impetus, was unsuccessful in biz and earned less than a whopper-flopper at B/K. The junior senator from Illinois indicated that he is also a big fan of anti-gun Kennedy, "I don't think there's anybody who understands the possibilities of government more than Ted Kennedy...nobody's better than him...he is at the heart and soul of the Democratic Party". (Jan 28)

This speaks VOLUMES - racism is alive and well in the 21st century. We need change with leadership, not just a leadership change. Richard

Two Different Versions! Two Different Morals! OLD VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself! ------------------------------------------ MODERN VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so ? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.' Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Hillary and Barack go on national television agreeing that the plight of the grasshopper is the fault of George Bush. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government. Obama gets his old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case. The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood. MORAL OF THE STORY: Be very careful how you vote in 2008

Is it lots of froth and caustic you need? You could ask Obama - he produces a lot of both. Richard

Whoa - hold on! "submissive posture" - what? Was this poster/basher there in Vietnam? How could he know? I know a person who was there and knows what went on. Me. I arrived in 1966 - before McCain was shot down. The highest regard was and is accorded this and other valiant soldiers - the fighter pilots top the list. Encountering one of these guys on the street would elicit "airborne all the way, Sir" accompanied by a sharp salute. This 'Rod' poster needs to be admonished to cease and desist all bashing and name calling. What America desperately needs is a leader with military experience as commander-in-chief. McCain is the strong one who fits perfectly. I am afraid Obama will discover that the world is not clean and tidy, and that war is not fun - he is most likely to say "I Ran". Don't let this happen. Richard

Well said John, however even if we put aside his criminal associations; ACORN; denial to release his sealed school records; etc, etc etc, we still must address 'character'. On this issue alone it will behoove every freedom-loving American to do everything he/she can to to defeat the Obama disaster. Richard

Hey Ant, Happy, healthy, and on my way to Heaven - what could be better that that? In respect to "wise", I would suggest that trait rests with you - see Prov 6:6. For me it's 'just the facts, mam, just the facts'. As a sideline insight to prior post, I nearly fell off my chair with laughter when I saw comments which suggest that Sarah Palin is somehow 'slow' or has not the ability to answer a question. First, the basic premise of logic is that a silly, trivial, or non-logical question is not a question and can and should be ignored or rebuffed. She has done exactly that on occasion. A couple weeks ago Palin was in our city and one of my grandsons and his wife were able to attend the rally. They were 25 feet from the podium standing right next to a mentally challenged person who had attended a previous rally. Upon concluding her speech Palin jumped off the stage and made a beeline to this person. She greeted him by first and last name and chatted about some fact of his life about which she was privy. She had met this person ONCE at a prior rally at which she met thousands of people! She treated my grandkids like old friends. She is the real deal, and has a photographic memory to boot. She knows or will very quickly learn all issues, and I'm confident will act with dignity, respect, and firmness. I wish it were she running for President. I'd come over and post on TGP if I were able, but havn't been able to figure it out since the new format - lemme know if available to me. Richard

I'm joining this late, but my observations: Obama has actually worked in Senate duties something over 300 days and has voted for 'pork bill' monies to the tune of nearly one million dollars per day. McCain has been in session several thousand days - and his pork bill spending has been exactly zero. Zero! Can we afford to give Obama any voice at all? Obama has no governing experience whatsoever and not long ago couldn't earn enough to pay the rent. A silver spoon Harvard grad with a degree in law. Take it from one who was officed with these guys for years - the very fact that he is an attorney should throw up a red flag. It is not complimentary. He has the least qualification and ability of any candidate for high office I have ever seen - and that is a long, long time - I had a young family with 2 children when Eisenhower was still in office. Consider all 4 candidates. In the recent debate Biden spewed lots of 'facts' in a sincere and stern manner. All thinking people everywhere now know that he did not have truth on his side. No one - even Biden himself - can dispute this. He is a political laughing-stock. Even his smarmy manner and smirks did him no good. He is badly afflicted with a psychological quirk, i.e., if you continue to tell yourself something you will believe it - even if it is an untruth. Can you imagine him as President with a bad attitude and one hand on the hot button that would seal our doom? I consider the Obama/Biden ticket the most dangerous team ever - by far. I'm not going to convince anyone whose mind is made up, but if these two extreme liberals get in woe be to us. It may not affect me - I won't be around for the next 20-30 years to see the deterioriation - but my 8 grandkids and their kids may find themselves living in a 3rd would country. Don't take this lightly - I have been all over the world a number of times - even Islamic nations - and this has happened elsewhere (Spain, for just one example). If this is what you want then cast your vote for Obama - we may get just what we deserve. Richard '

The so-called 'debate' has just concluded, and I now have a perspective I have not heard anywhere. This is supposed to be 'America the Beautiful' - lyrics written here in Colorado. Just look at the 4 candidates. Biden scares me. McCain gives the appearance of death warmed over. Obama is so ugly he is better described as oglie. Do you really want to pollute America with even more ugly? Ugly should be a criminal offense. We are left with but one choice. Vote for the good-lookin chick.

Depends upon the person. Married 1st wife in 1958. Still very happily married to 1st wife. First decade was rough and would suggest a short marriage - 7 pregnancies, 4 miscarries, lost one son age 5, hard economic times, time in Vietnam, no direction or hope. The secret? - married a girl who loved the Lord and who prayed for me until I came to know Him while in Vietnam. Lucky me. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Of course the fact that she has movie-star looks and appears 20 years younger does help! Richard

Has the Mattster been on an excursion into cloudland lately?

Kia ora, Alan. Congrats on salvaging the biz. I think I would have been a bit suspicious that one would want to immigrate to oz from the land of Aotearoa. I mean, unlike NZ everything in oz either chases you, slaps you, stings you, bites you, or kills you. Up in Q'land they have a saying - "don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things". We mostly clean commercial kitchen exhaust systems in Denver, Colorado - similar in size to Auckland - approx 2 million, however you have a tremendous advantage over us. We must deal with very cold weather and high crime. Unless things have changed dramatically since our last visit to NZ you are unaffected by all of this bother - ya lucky cobber! May your biz success exceed your highest expectations. Richard

A los cocineros y otros en los Taco Bells alreadedor de Denver, a city in which Spanish is now the majority language in the public school system, and where one could not do kec at night if one were unable to speak Spanish: Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the casa, not a creature was stirring, caramba que pasa? The stockings were hanging con mucho cuidado, in hopes that St Nicholas will feel obligado, to leave a few cosas aqui y alli, for chico y chica (something por me?). Los ninos are snuggled all safe in their camas, some in camisas and some in pijamas. Their little cabazas are full of good things, todos esperan que Santa will bring. Santa is down at the corner saloon, muy borracho since mid-afternoon. Mama is sitting beside la ventana, shining her rolling pin para manana. When Santa will come in un manera extrano, lit up like a star on the mountain cantando. Si' mama lo manda to bed with a right, Merry Christmas a todos y a todos good night. Feliz Navidad Amigos!

Ryan, Just a suggestion that is a bit out of the norm. Usually it is OK to fly until the last trimester. 'Kidnap' her to Mexico! Don't reveal what you have planned. Just go to the airport under some pretense and figure a way to get her inside the airplane. I did this on our 25th anniversary. You need some help to pull this off, but it worked perfectly for me. All the attendants knew, and we already had put her bag in the overhead. I convinced her that we were examining the inside of the aircraft for son's school project. I had to convice her that it was too late to tell them we were on by mistake as we taxied down the runway. We were half way to Mexico before she learned it was planned. She was speechless for the remainder of the trip. It would present some problems with the kids - I didn't even tell the family in order to make it a real surprise. A bonus is that Mexico is very inexpensive - well within the budget you indicate. Richard

1950 Pontiac convertible - straight 8 - shaved & dagoed 4" off ground - tuck & roll - drag plate - metallic bronze - laker pipes. Most beautiful rod I have ever seen. I still have photos before I got drunk and wrecked it in 1958. Late model in 1956 - '57 & was the envy of our 'car club' (known as 'gangs' today). Chicks really dug it. I must have looked really cool - caught the attention of first wife (still first wife 48 years later). Couldn't again afford such a classy short therefore followed with a succession of '41 Chevys; '40 Fords; '36 Olds; etc - the cheapos of the day. Even drove a '31 A model for a short time. Wish I had 'em now! Richard

Thanks to all. You have just narrowed down my choices for retirement location. I'm confining my search to the north and west. Richard

David, Just enjoy your vacation - your whole freakin' outfit will probably be destroyed by the next hurricane anyway.

Next time leave the cell phone at home - everything works out ok anyway. Richard

Disneyland is best in January/February - little crowds or waiting.

I see no reason why a good attack squirrel cannot be trained to secure the top of a ladder. I understand that one can snatch a few intelligent squirrels in some town southwest of Hells Canyon. I once stopped at a restaurant in a town in E Oregon. I'll never go back. Some wiseguy had put protruding screws in the siding and I cut my shins while making my way to the entrance. Richard

We work in cold temps, primarily around restaurants. If your work involves sub-freezing temps and commercial buildings then the most important rule is absent from the previous posts. Always toss a handful of rock salt under the hard surface of each ladder foot - even if dry and ice-free when ladder is set. Overspray and other moisture sources can easily migrate and develop a sheet of ice under the feet. It is deceptive and can result in bad fall - been there done that. In addition, we always pocket a small bag of salt in the event of overspray on the rungs - it can be the only way down apart from rappelling down a h/p hose. Richard