Totally inappropriate weather forecast.

UPPER HOOD RIVER VALLEY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...PARKDALE...ODELL
254 AM PDT FRI APR 29 2011

TODAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS IN THE
MORNING...THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW
LEVEL 1500 FEET RISING TO 2500 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON.

It is the end of April, after all!

Just when you think you've got it figured out.

I was sure that Sarah Palin was the worst possible candidate for president.

But Trump has proven me wrong.

Farewell, Phoebe

Talk to me some more
You don't have to go
You're the poetry man
You make things all rhyme

HAPPY EARTH DAY

Another one is picking on me!

This time it is Brian Crane with Pickles!

Am I the only one who remembers…

… back in the 1980’s, when our beloved president, Ronald Reagan busted the air traffic controllers union. And now we’re crying because we have people falling asleep on the job?

Thank god we are now trying to bust the teachers unions, not some important union. We all know teacher don’t do nothing important. Ain’t no bad consequences coming from smacking a few loser teachers around. Why hell, if five or six of them lived together in some sick twisted relationship, and if it weren’t for DOMA, they could get a tax break.

Save the rich, screw the teachers! Tax breaks for the wealthy and let the poor eat cake!

Thanks, Marie!

Okay, so my blog isn't "popular".

But what am I going to write above the urinal?
(Thanks to Stephan Pastis.)

Bulldogs win the Frozen Four!

Okay, football champs, I can get behind you, but hockey? Aren't you just showing off a little?

Congratulations to the Minn-Duluth Bulldogs on winning the national championship in men's hockey!

Yeehaw!!!

I learned a valuable life lesson today.

Bucolic The Dalles, Oregon is a hot-bed of bizarre activities on Cherry Blossom Festival Day.

I thought I would pop over after work and get a little shopping done. Richard’s birthday present isn’t going to buy itself, you know! (It really isn’t. That plan backfired on me last Wednesday.) Every other time I have been to The Dalles, it has been staid and orderly. But this time there were skateboarders, unicyclists, runners, clowns jumping out of a Google van, poodles on leashes, a craft fair in the parking lot, families camped out in said parking lot, a narcoleptic cat parade, bassoonists and other forms of general pandemonium. For the average motorist, it was a nightmare.

Fortunately, I had a plan. I was going to stop at some store and wander around until something jumped out at me and screamed, “Richard doesn’t own this, and he won’t hate it.” Shopping is so much easier when you have a definitive strategy.

The roads were bad and the parking lots worse. But the stores were remarkably empty, with staff that was very helpful. I got a present lickity-split and was out of that store faster than greased lightning. And there was Richard, driving by in his car. He almost ran me over, but I don’t think he ever saw me. So his gift may still be a surprise. (I know it will be for me. I’ve wrapped it already, and don’t remember what it is.) I am so thoughtful, aren’t I?

Many, many years ago…

And in a state far, far away, Bernadette and Howard announced the birth of the first son, and their second son on this very date.

Howard and Richard are twins, though you would never guess it to look at them.

And no, I will not tell you how old the geezers are.

Totally on another subject, I read today that there is a county in Texas with a population of 60. Can you believe that, a whole county with only sixty people! Why that is one person for every year of a 60 year old man’s life. Sixty, sixty, sixty; who would have thought that possible!



Mr. Richard Parker is pictured here at the Jardins des Tuileries in Paris. He was in his fifties in this picture.

Grand-St-Bernard; Le Tunnel.

It was on this date, 49 years ago, that the Great St. Bernard Tunnel was bore through the Alps. That was back in the days when the St. Bernard was a working breed.

Every day for years, the Swiss Saints and the Italian Saints punched the time clock and went digging. The young, rascally pups would dig with all their might, while the more mature dogs would hang around by the water cooler and, well frankly, drool, occasionally taking a swipe at the dirt.

I tried to tell Ralph and Trixie the story: the threatened to call the ASPCA and PETA if I made any move to get them involved, in a positive way, in landscaping.

Seems the “good ol’ days” of dogs helping around the house are gone.

The photo is lifted from Flickr.

Call Me A Duck

Maybe only Trudy can enjoy this.

PROUD TO BE A DUCK!!!

And for any of you who may have missed it.

This is a letter from Senator Patty Murray of Washington to Steve Newman from May 10, 2010.

"Mr. Newman:

The events surrounding the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon have become a major concern for myself, Washingtonians and the American public. While I am extremely concerned by the environmental and economic impact of the ongoing uncapped oil spill, the treatment and safety of your workers has also been called into question.

I have become aware that Transocean may have coerced several survivors of the Deepwater Horizon to sign legal documents to effectively waive their rights to future medical care and reimbursement. More specifically, several news outlets have reported that members of the surviving crew of the Deepwater Horizon were not allowed to contact or rejoin their families and loved ones until they signed documents waiving some of their legal recourses against Transocean.

I am concerned that these documents were acquired while the surviving crew was under duress. I have also contacted the Department of Justice to determine whether any of the aforementioned actions are in violation of any criminal or civil statutes.

I am formally requesting a copy of the legal documents that the surviving crew members of the Deepwater Horizon signed, as well as a full list of your employees forced into signing such documents. Furthermore, I am requesting a full account from the crewmembers who signed these legal documents. The allegations concerning Transocean are extremely troublesome and are cause for deep concern - America's workers deserve better.

It is bad enough that too many of our workers have become subject to unsafe work environments; it is unacceptable that Transocean has allegedly taken advantage of these same workers. I expect that your company has significant and substantive plans to increase worker safety and to fully respect worker rights in the wake of these disturbing allegations. In the meantime, I appreciate your cooperation with my request and I look forward to reviewing the requested documents.

Sincerely,

Patty Murray

United States Senator"

Ripped from the headlines, again.

Transocean Ltd. gave its top executives bonuses for achieving the "best year in safety performance in our company's history".

Am I the only person in America that remembers the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: the one that killed 11 people and cost thousands of others their livelihood? And this is their best safety year in history? Wow, only 11 people dead in 2010, sure the hell beats their record of 215 in 2009, 25 in 2008, 110 in 2007… ad naseum. (I am making the numbers up… I have no idea how many people they have killed in previous years.)

The safety bonus for their CEO, Steve Newman was $374,062.00. Gee, that is only $34,005.62 per dead person. I am stunned. I would have thought he would get way more per corpse than that paltry sum.

The total value of Newman’s compensation was listed as $8,500,000.00. It you aren’t offended, you aren’t paying attention to real life. Teacher’s wages are being cut and services to the poor and needy are being cut; people on the Gulf Coast’s livelihood has been damaged, if not destroyed. And one of the main assholes responsible for one of the most tragic incidences in American history is getting over 8 million dollars in compensation, even thought he oversaw the company that caused the horrific damage. And he is getting a tax break; thanks to congress extending the Bush tax laws.

Standing on the soapbox.

20 people are dead in Afghanistan.

Fueled by the burning of the Quran by a small, fundamentalist church in Gainesville, Florida, Afghani citizens have attacked outposts of the United Nations and others in Afghanistan. Without question, the deaths are the responsibility of the attackers. I do not doubt that.

But why are Christians in America not protesting the Dove Outreach Center and its pastor, Terry Jones? Why are there not one million Christian Americans standing outside their tiny church protesting the burning of the Quran? Why is Reverend Jones allowed to teach his bigotry? Why is the church not listed as an organization of hate?

Never mind. I know. Gays, Muslims, Atheists: they must be snuffed out. It is the American way.

Okay, the question is begging to be asked.

So I will take the leap and put it into words.

“If it is April and it is snowing, can you write it off as a bad dream and ignore it, or do you still have to go out into the blizzard and shovel the crap?”

Inquiring minds want to know.

Striving for mediocrity

I can do it, yes I can!