The Housing "Crisis" And Other Stories

I wish I could get this housing bailout straight in my head. Back in Jimmeh Carter's day the government started making banks loan money to people who could not pay it back. This increased during Clinton's Presidency.

Almost all the way through the Bush years they made this work by continually lowering interest rates. These lower interest rates, along with a few other tricks, kept real estate prices going up, far past the actual value. Also, far past what many people who are serious about their household finances could actually afford.

So a LOT of people who could afford a reasonable house payment were priced out of the market, many others had to move way out of town. I understand that there are lots of folks in places like California commuting fifty to a hundred or so miles, one way.

Now this housing bubble could only last so long, it shouldn't have lasted at all. Rising housing prices don't help most homeowners. If I woke up tomorrow and discovered that my house and lot had quadrupled in price that would mean, what, exactly? Well, my taxes would increase. I'd just love that. Oh, but I could sell! And then live, where?

I understand that lots of people who could easily afford their house payments kept refinancing every time their house "value" increased, then took the extra money out out bought fancy cars or big screen TVs. And now we are supposed to feel sorry for them. So, now the paper "value" of their houses have dropped but they are stuck with big payments. Um, if every time they'd refinanced they'd applied that extra money to the principal amount they'd probably be fine. Now we are supposed to beggar the whole economy to rescue them.

So that is two classes we are supposed to rescue, those who should never have bought a house in the first place and those who wasted their opportunities to build their equity. There is a third class, those who bought houses as investments in order to sell them at a profit. Now I have read the Constitution. Nowhere in it is anything about how all investments must turn a profit, nor does it say anything about empowering the government to take money from a citizen who has not made a bad investment and giving that money to someone who has.

The reality of investing is that some investments make money, some lose. The people that sold before the dotcom bubble burst made money. Those that held on too long got burned. Such are bubbles. Oddly, the people who warned about this real estate bubble are blamed for it and the people who caused it are "fixing" it. This only makes sense because the mainstream media has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the political party that caused the bubble. The only good news is that this same media is losing money itself so it is questionable just how long this can continue.

Have you noticed that all of a sudden it's okay that we have prisoners in Afghanistan? Suddenly it's not a war crime to roam the skies of Pakistan with armed Predator drones potting the odd Jihadi? And nary a peep from the left? Now, don't get me wrong, I think potting Jihadis is something we need to do far more of. Thing is, there has been nothing by Congress, nor by the UN, authorizing this. So, shouldn't the left be weeping and wailing?

Does anyone at all plan on stopping Iran from flinging nukes all over? I don't think Israel has planes with the legs to hit Iran's nuke facilities. Seems to me that someone would listen to what this I'madinnerjacket is saying and decide it's kind of a Bad Idea to let this clown have a beebee gun, much less nukes. Just because the Izzies can't do anything nonnuclear about Iran doesn't mean that Iran won't be a bunch of radioactive craters a few minutes after Tel Aviv starts glowing in the dark. I'm told that Israel has a second line in their motto of "never again". That second line is "If again, not us alone." I would be very surprised if the cruise missiles on Israel's subs don't have nuclear warheads. I would be even more surprised if Israel has some hardened sites with cruise missiles aimed at not just Tehran but Damascus and several dozen other Muslim cities. Yet the whole damned world is just letting this happen. Yoo Hoo! World! There is a little something more important than Glow Bull Wurming.

But Congress wants to call up Karl Rove. Congress is dripping with lawyers but they cannot seem to understand that the President doesn't NEED a reason to fire U. S. Attorneys. They serve at the pleasure of the president. Congress can't seem to do anything about Dodd. Or Rangle. Or Jefferson. For God's sake, no one managed to notice that Obama got a sweetheart deal from a since-convicted felon to buy his mansion. But they're still talking about the Republican culture of corruption.

Hey, Holder!

So I read that the Attorney General of the United States says that America is a nation of cowards with regards to race. Actually, I'd say the cowards are people like Holder who do their best to keep people from talking about the true reasons that race is still a problem.

What happens when someone mentions that there is no small amount of trouble caused by some seventy-odd percent of black babies being born out of wedlock.. Hint: Damned few of those babies have white fathers.

I keep reading about hate crimes when the reality is if it were not for black and Hispanic murderers blacks would die of old age.

Sorry, Holder, there are cowards when it comes to talking about race in America, it starts with you. You, Holder, try to shout down anyone who tries to speak. That, sir, is the mark of cowardice.

Oh, and Holder...The Marc Rich pardon wasn't a scandal because of the Jews. The Rich pardon was a scandal because you and your boss were crooks.

Bones and Birdseed.

So there isn't much going on down here. I'm mainly hoping that by the time these Washington idiots are done I'm not trying to eat birdseed and kibble and can still afford the odd bone for the dogs.

I think watching what these clowns are doing in Washington would be easier to take if I could drink. Or maybe strong drugs. Or drink and strong drugs.

Oddly, the birds watch me, from the other trees, as I fill the bird feeders. Yet every time I step out there is a mad scramble to get away. The birds aren't much brighter than the crowd running Washington. The difference is, Washington is doing it's best to make sure that we can't feed them.

The dogs, of course, do not run away from bones. The only drawback is that instead of each dog eating the bone I give them, they go around trying to steal each other's bone. It wasn't too many months ago when Ming would bully C.A.P off her bone, those days are over. Bingo is still learning the rules of protecting a bone.


In other news I got a little piece of the stimulus package:
For necessary and unnecessary expenses related to the Wireless and Broadband Deployment Grant Programs established by section 6002 of division B of this Act, $2,825,000,000, of which $1,000,000,000 shall be for Wireless Deployment Grants and $1,825,000,000 shall be for Broadband Deployment Grants: Provided, That an additional $54,000,000,000.00 shall be paid directly to Peter Davis in the form of subsidized loans that do not require repayment. Provided Further, That the funds be used by Peter Davis to Building a black powder buckshot loading company. or for whatever. Provided Even Further, That Peter Davis will receive free Stewart-Hass Racing tickets for life. Provided Even Further Still, That Peter Davis shall be treated as a cabinet-level appointment for the purpose of income tax reporting, and therefore no taxes shall be paid on any of the aformentioned benefits. And one more thing: Jack Murtha is hereby expelled from Congress, effective immediately upon enactment.

So, I dunno what I'll do with all that money, it's too bad I couldn't really slip that into the bill. Considering that nobody really read the whole thing, it COULD be in there.

I've loaded some black powder buckshot shells in Mag Tech all brass cases. The shotgun is one of the only firearms where we don't lose velocity and powder with BP. The reason is simple enough, the allowable pressures in a shotgun can be easily reached with black powder. And the birdshot or buckshot is shaped to where it goes subsonic almost instantly so there is no real reason to try to up the velocity. Plus, with BP a feller could hide in the smoke after the first couple-three rounds. I have loaded 12 double aught buckshot pellets in the brass case. The only disadvantage, aside from the increased cost, is that the weight of the powder charge adds to the recoil.

I just got the February edition of Handloader Magazine. It had a long article on the new Federal .327 Magnum. This new cartridge is in a Ruger SP101 revolver. I have one of those in .357 Mag. Since they seem to have quit making the Remington Medium Velocity .357 round I've had to stoke my SP101 with either handloads or Plus P .38s. I used to be pretty tough but I never could managed full bore .357s in that light little gun. Now this new cartridge can spit out a 115 grain Speer Gold Dot hollowpoint out the three inch barrel at over 1300 fps. And the little SP101 holds six shots, instead of five as does my .357. So, when I get my 54 Billion I'll get a new shootin' iron.

So What Happened To Hollywood?

I watched another couple of old western movies this weekend. The movies starred Henry Fonda and Victor Mature, my Darling Clementine and Glen Ford in Heaven With A Gun. It wasn't very long ago that almost all of the male Hollywood stars were veterans, some with no small amount of heroism during their service. Jimmy Stewart flew B24s over Europe in WW2. Tyrone Powers flew transports for the Marine Corps in the Pacific, including hauling wounded from Iwo Jima.

Glen Ford Joined the Marines, his service was in publicity. Henry Fonda served on a destroyer in the Pacific war. Victor Mature flunked the eye test for the Navy, passed the test for the Coast Guard the same day, ended up a Chief Boatswain's Mate doing patrol duty in the Atlantic.

Pretty much everyone who wasn't too old wore the uniform and many who were too old, like Ronald Reagan wore the uniform anyway. Reagan may have been too old and had vision too poor for combat duty so he made training films. Other stars who couldn't serve in uniform worked USO tours, Bob Hope wasn't even born in the USA but logged USO tours from early in WW2 all the way to Gulf War One.

I really don't know what happened to Hollywood. It's not just that most of Hollywood is of the left, after all, Hank Fonda was a lifelong Democrat, once reported as having a fistfight with Jimmy Stewart over politics. They maintained their friendship by never speaking of politics again.

No, it's more than politics, or maybe politics has become more intense. One thing I do know, the stars of yesterday did not go out of their way to anger some forty-eight percent of the viewing public. Perhaps it's just that yesterday's stars were a little smarter than today's.

Check Between The Cushions

Well, it looks like they are passing the Generational Theft Act of 2009. I looked in the backyard, my money tree isn't showing green yet, it's still winter.

So I looked under and between the cushions on the couch, no trillion dollars there, either. I don't know where this money is going to come from, our kids are busy paying our social security and not very many other folks are having lots of grandkids so that's out.

So check your sofa, it ain't like Barney Frank is going after the twenty million dollars Jamie Gorelick looted from Fannie Mae.

Dear Barack

I don't think you know how hard the Congress worked to put the Military Tribunals together, you being too important to do your job in the Senate. The Military Tribunals are required because the United States Constitution, as interpreted by lawyers, says that the accused can call witnesses and see all the evidence. Since most of the scumbags in Gitmo are there because of the efforts of special forces troops or members of the clandestine services having them testify in open court is a non starter. You, as a teacher of constitutional law, should know that. Demanding that these men show up in open court is a death sentence for their families. Worse, sir, you know this.

Now I realize that you have never held a job before where you were responsible for anything, perhaps you might have thought of this before, but you are now responsible for the defense of the United States of America, and her citizens, some of whom were killed in the attack on the Cole. The wives, parents and brothers and sisters of those are watching you and will hold you responsible. So will the families of others killed in other attacks and, even more, the families of the next attacks. We ordinary Americans do not have Secret Service protecting our children. That does not mean we don't love them.

With your threats to close down missile defense while Iran is bragging about how soon they'll have nukes, and just after they put a satellite up so seem to have some kind of suicidal wish. Well, that's fine with me, I'm not really big on making people live when they don't want to. Thing is, Barack, you are not supposed to take my grandchildren with you.

I understand that you owe much to George Soros but you did take an oath, before God and the nation. There are a lot more of us than there is of Soros. We might just be a little rowdier when aroused, too.

Notice, sir, that I am not accusing you of being a secret Muslim. I am assuming that if you wanted to be the President of Scumbagistan you would have gone there and run. You might just consider what will happen if three hundred million angry Americans start chasing you down the streets.

Love, Peter.

Pulled Pork And Other Adventures

;

I've been playing with a crock pot some lately and decided to try some pulled pork. So I sliced an onion up and put it in the bottom of the crock pot, rubbed liquid smoke all over a nice pork roast, made up some sweet BBQ sauce and poured it over everything, added a little water, turned on the crock pot and went about my business.

The next day I got out the two forks to pull the pork apart and discovered that I am a failure. I could not get the roast out of the crock pot, it just fell apart. Instead of pulling the pork I just stirred it around. Princess was in the back yard so Ming got the bone. Bingo doesn't like people food, what kind of a Pug is that?

Anyhow, it ain't pulled but it sure is tasty.

Linda Lou wanted me out from underfoot so Bingo and I went out wandering around today. I drove to Bass Pro Shops to check out some primers, they want five bucks a hundred. They are also out of their minds. I drove a little further, to Mesquite, TX to a place called Southwest Ammunition Supply. There I discovered some new deal of very limited numbers of primers being allowed in each truck shipment. Considering that I have never heard of huge holes in the freeways from ginormous primer explosions I am very suspicious. It looks like another end run around the Second Amendment. I managed to score a thousand Remington Large Pistol Primers but the clerk was telling me that they are having to ration rifle primers. They will only sell rifle primers one hundred at a time unless a customer is buying lots of bullets. If one buys five hundred bullets he can have five hundred primers. I reckon folks that cast their own bullets are going to be making lots of trips to the gun store. And the guys that shoot primer powered wax bullets are out of luck.

I shall look into this some more and see if I can get a handle on what's going on.

From there Bingo and I went to Pet Smart, I got him a blue bone shaped tag with his name and our address and phone number. Everybody loves Bingo. Then we went to a big box home improvement store and bought a new belt for the vacuume cleaner and a couple of wax toilet rings. I am just pan lubing my black powder bullets and I was driving myself crazy doing it. I'd put the bullets in the lube, melt it and then have to cut each bullet out with a homemade "cookie cutter", made out of a .45-70 case. If I just pulled them out

Then a pal up in Wisconsin told me about adding a wax toilet ring to the lube, it makes the lube sticky. So I added about half a ring to the lube I already had in the pan and it works just like I was told.

After the home improvement store we stopped by Wal Mart and got a fifty pound bag of dog food, a script for Linda Lou, some bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. Then a quick stop at Sonic for Linda Lou's burger so she'd let me in the house and home we went.

Continuing Criminal Enterprise

Does Barack Obama even know someone who isn't a tax cheat or thug? His cabinet choices look like a crowd that doesn't quite have what it takes to get into the Mafia so they just hang around the edges.

I didn't much listen to Barky during the campaign, I like to use my increasing deafness as an excuse but truth is, I'm just tired of pencil necked punks telling me I'm not smart enough to manage my life so I pretend I can't hear them. Still, I seem to remember him complaining about the lack of ethics of the Bush Administration. Barky wouldn't know ethics if he was bit on the ass by an ethical alligator.

Two major appointments crash and burn in one day. How many waivers for his super-duper no lobbyist rule so far? Change we can believe in.

I Am Losing My Mind

Saturday was the Cowboy Action Shoot. The weather was supposed to be nice so I set my alarm and went to bed way earlier than normal. The alarm went off I got up, had a cup of coffee and started getting ready for the shoot. I gain two more pounds and I'm going to need new pants.

So, I got dressed and started gathering my gear, that when I discovered that I only had ninety rounds of black powder ammo loaded. Now I haven't been to a shoot since last spring. I load my own ammo. I have thirteen or fourteen pounds of BP left from my last shipment. With the Hazardous Material Fee at twenty dollars per shipment, whether that shipment is one pound or fifty, I buy my powder in large amounts.

So, with the exception of a couple of months when my arm was totally useless, I could have loaded up plenty of ammo, instead I looked at all those boxes and thought I had plenty of ammo. Idiot. So now I have to load up a few hundred rounds, and cast a few thousand bullets. Oh well, it gives me something to do while I listen to Rush. It's amazing how much ammo can be loaded or bullets cast, during a three hour radio show. What is more amazing is that in all these months I never counted my SASS legal ammo.

These problems, of course, are as nothing to what the folks in the Mid-America deep freeze are facing. I hope this warm weather we have had in the last couple-three days is heading that way. I might be concerned with mundane things but I am not serving hundred+ dollar a pound steak with my thermostat up high, either. It must be hard to be in the media. Reagan was savaged in the media for fancy food. Then George W. Bush ridiculed for his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Barky has a super bowl party and Bush was nearly lynched for having a slice of birthday cake during Katrina.

I guess I should look to see who won that game.

Whoda Thunk It?

So the Generational Theft Act of 2009 passes the House without one Republican vote. Looks like the House Republicans finally remembered why we elect Republicans.

It's a durned shame though that it took them so long. If they'd had remembered that some six or eight years ago Nancy Pelosi would be the Minority Leader.

Scattershooting While Wondering What Happened To Jelly Bryce.

I see that President Barky has unified the country. Did Bush ever tell the Donks not to listen to Air America?

So, Bob Woodward says that there are more scandals coming from the Barky Administration. Let's see, Rezko is cooperating with the prosecution, half of his election committee insiders are under subpoena, his Sec Treas is a tax cheat and his Attorney General didn't know about Marc Rich, even though he was the one ordering the Clinton Justice (heh) Dept. to get the money from one of Rich's companies. Gee. ya think, Woodward? Gawd, just the SecState will give us years of scandal fun.

I was looking at Ace of Spades, seeing what the Moronbloggers are up to and noticed that some clown playing Che Guevara had to leave the press conference because someone in the press crowd knew that Guevara was a murderous goon. Then came the update that Ashley Judd is finally glad to live in America, again. There sure are a lot of meatheads in Hollywood, no wonder the last movie I went to the theater to say was A Time To Kill.

I have been looking at the histories of a bunch of old lawmen and gunfighters. Delf "Jelly" Bryce joined the Oklahoma City Police Dept. in the late 1920s, 1927 I believe. He later joined the FBI, shortly after they were allowed to carry guns. Up until then all FBI Agents either had law degrees or accounting degrees. This changed after the Kansas City Massacre. Last I heard there were not very many gunmen on the faculties of law and accounting schools. So J. Edgar Hoover hired some gun fighting cops.

D. A. Bryce got his nickname, Jelly, after a bad guy he either captured or shot said something along the line of "I can't believe that jellybean got me." Jellybean was underworld argot for a fancy dresser. The name Jelly stuck. Up until fairly recently detectives were noted for being sharp dressers. Seems that it helped, criminals were intimidated and witnesses more willing to talk. Of course law enforcement saleries did't cover the cost of fine threads, and once taking a cup of coffee became graft, much less a tailor made suit, we lost that. Notice how crime has gone down? Anyway, Jelly Bryce shot nineteen bad guys in his career, very few, if any, survived. Life Magazine did a article on Jelly in 1945 with a stop-motion photography set of him drawing his .357 in two fifths of a second. Officers can't do that anymore, too many safety featers on their holsters.

Jelly died in his sleep after a long career. I doubt we would have gotten through the crime wave of the prohibition and depression years without these old gunfighting lawmen, who would now be in jail.

I Give Up.

I give up.I am too old to properly train Cochise' Apache Princess. She just turned two years old and she still hasn't learned not to jump on people, Lord knows I tried. And she has pulled Linda Lou off her feet too many times. The cuts and tears on my arm never have a chance to heal from her jumping on me when I try to put the lead on her to bring her into the house.

This does not mean she isn't a sweet dog, she is. But we do not have the money to have her trained and I simply no longer have the strength to do it myself. Even ten years ago I could but I just haven't what it takes any more. So, before I take her to German Shepherd Rescue of North Texas or Camp Wolfgang in Ennis, do any of my readers know someone who wants a sweet, but stubborn, unspayed German Shepherd? I have her papers, although I never registered her with the AKC. At two years old she is ready to breed or can be spayed. So far we have just kept her inside or in the fenced backyard when she is in heat.

I have no idea how much it costs to send a dog places but it is probably less than the cost of a purebred German Shepherd. All I ask is no puppy mills or really weird Nazi types. She is a good girl, we simply got too old to handle a big dog. Anyhow, it is breaking my heart to say this but I just must let her go before one of us is badly hurt.

Princess gets along fine with other dogs that she knows, she needs some work on dogs she doesn't know. We have no cats so I don't know about that.

The Inauguration.

So I think the pundits garbled their lead. Instead of the speech being chiseled in stone they meant that it's an administration of chiselers. The guy in charge of the IRS is a tax cheat. Wonderful.

If I ever invite the Reverend Lowery over he ain't saying grace, we'd starve to death. And what's with "Whitey, do what's right"? I'm pretty sure a lot of whites voted for this guy. Last I looked there weren't enough black voters to elect a President, even with ACORN's help.

I note that there was very little applause during the Obama speech. I would imagine that is because he kept harping about responsibility. All those people waiting for free ice cream and hearing responsibility. As the puppyblender would say, Heh.

Scattershooting While Wondering What Happend To Walter Walsh

First thing I saw this morning was that Bill Faith had died. This was enough to send me back to bed except I was hungry. While I never met the man I enjoyed his writing. We shared a little something, we both got to play on the second place team in the southeast Asian war games. See you on the other side, Bill.

I can't remember, is real butter a killer or safer than margarine on Sunday. I wish these public spirited "scientists" could make up their minds. Anyhow I had a big stack of buckwheat cakes with bacon today. I couldn't remember so I had butter on some of the pancakes and margarine on the others. It's funny how one becomes a public spirited "scientist" these days. It takes a fax machine and a fancy sounding name for your "Institute". Take OwlGore. His education is flunking out of Divinity School, rumor has it that he majored in marijuana. Now, with no evidence whatsoever he is making bazillions in the glow bull warming racket. I'd have a better chance at believing in this glow bull warming if OwlGore himself acted as if he did.

Of course I'd also have a better chance in believing in glow bull warming if the climate hasn't been changing, in cycles, for all of history. The last time we had glow bull warming the Vikings were rowing their long ships 'cross the oceans. With no coal fired electric plants, I might add.

Now we're seeing Obambi flags. I sure hope the realisation of the responsibilities hits this guys soon. I realize that it's fun being important, eventually he must realise that we have families to protect. Screeching that George Bush is a dummy does nothing to protect Michelle's children. Or my grandchildren. Barack, in a very short time, it's on you. Buying the world a Coke ain't gonna get it.

I would feel a lot more comfortable if I had the slightest idea that you know there are a whole bunch of people in this world that would like to see America in flames. Heck, for right now I'd be happy to know that you aren't one of them.

Is it any wonder that I should still be worrying about whether or not Obambi wants America to burn while the Chicago Tribune is going broke? Aren't the reporters supposed to find out such things? Kind of like Enron. Somehow Enron cheated all through the Clinton Administration, the Bush Administration caught them and it's all Bush's fault.

Oooh, cool. Seems that the Plague has hit an AlQ camp in Algeria, killing forty, so far. I hope it's painful and spreading fast among them. Some Leprosy would be nice, too. Please, nobody tell these nutbags that making life miserable for the educated means that all your doctors end up in Britain and California. I read this in a UK paper's website. The comments indicate they mostly think it's the CIA. If only.

I just finished reading Col. Charles Askin's autobiography, Unrepentant Sinner. Charlie was a Border Patrol Officer back during Prohibition. Back when lawmen had different rules. Charlie left a lot of bad guys toes up or face down in the Rio Grande. Charlie didn't much care which side of a bad guy he shot. His specialty was a Remington 1100 shotgun with a custom eight shot magazine and the barrel cut down to 22 inches. This being before night sights he tied a white bandage around the end of the tube.

That got me Googling around, looking for other old lawmen from those days. Walter Walsh was a Feeb from back when they were gunfighters. Today they'd both be in jail. It's too bad that crooks have more rights than lawmen these days. How's that working out for us?

It's no wonder I concentrate on my grandkids, my dogs and cowboy action shooting these days.

Naturally, I Forgot The Camera.

So I got up this morning and called Tammi on the Cell phone, she was almost to Texas, just passing through Shreveport, LA. I told her to call here when she blew through the Tyler area and I'd meet her at the side of the road and we'd have lunch.

Then I dressed in something easy to spot, one of my bright red "bib" shirts and my big Mexican style cowboy hats. Then when she called I got in the car and drove down to the highway 34 exit, with a fast stop at a pawn shop to buy an adjustable wrench. I had loaded Bingo in the car and off we went.

I hadn't been at the exit even five minutes when up drove Tammi. We scurried over to the big Outlet Mall just south of the freeway and Tammi parked right by the small Police substation and we drove to a little down home cafe there in Terrell, Pop's Fried Chicken and cafeteria. By the time we got there Bingo and Tammi were best friends forever.

We ate and talked. Yes, Tammi did let me get a few words in. All too soon it was time for her to continue on. We got back in the car and Bingo assumed his spot on her lap and we drove back to the outlet mall. When last seen Tammi was advancing on the Old Navy outlet store with a brilliant blue light flaming in her eyes and warehouse work clothes on her mind. I rolled my window down and hollered YEE-HAW, knowing nobody in that store had a chance.

The I drove home, Bingo missed Tammi.

Update: I parked the car right next to a raised concrete slab so I could hug Tammi without getting an eye full of something that ought not be in a married man's face. I forget to tell her that old Groucho Marx line: "Take me to your ladder, lady. I'll see your leader later."

Life In A Bingo Parlor

I didn't realize how fast my house became a Bingo Parlor. Bingo has settled in, the first day he wouldn't eat but now he's settled right in.

He and CAP are already BFF. That's the good news. The bad news is that he seems to like me better than he likes Linda Lou. I may be banished from the house.

I took a nice little nap today with both CAP and Bingo, it only took a few minutes before CAP quit trying to play and we had a triple nap going. I was worried that CAP wouldn't settle down. It's also kind of worrisome when they get to playing and suddenly CAP has that whole Pug in her mouth, so far she hasn't chomped down, though. I haven't had the camera aimed when Bingo's whole head in is her mouth.

On the way home we stopped in Tyler, the rose capital of Texas, on the way home to get a new collar for him, he and Ming were a hit. Seems everybody loves Pugs. Then I took him with me to pick up the laundry at the bundle service, our washer just bit the dust and the washer Linda Lou wants won't be at Lowe's 'til the 26th. Anyhow the lady running the laundromat also loved Bingo.

I'm experimenting on how to format the pictures, I think I'll leave them all on the left, moving them around makes for a weird layout. We got a new Froggie at Petsmart, I think we need to keep it away from CAP, she tends to rip stuffies limb from limb.

Bee Eye Enn Gee Oh, And Bingo Was His Name-o

Linda Lou woke me earlier than usual, then refused to make me breakfast because she wanted to get moving. We drove to Quinlen and filled up the car and then set out toward Lufkin, some 150+ miles away, just knowing that Bingo the Pug would be gone when we got there. Oh well, I figured it'd be worth the drive, after all it's a known scientific fact that the further you are from home the less calories count.

We hit Lufkin at about two or three PM, I never did stop to eat for fear someone would barely beat us there. Yesterday was unusually warm for this time of year, today it was flat out cold. When the wind comes out of the north during winter there ain't nothing between Texas and the North Pole but a few barbed wire fences.

Update: I did eventually eat, my favorite traveling meal, a BBQ rib dinner. It's lucky I don't get that way very often, the ribs were dried out and horrible crunchy. The place was in Rusk, a town best known for the State Hospital for what we used to call the criminally insane. Perhaps the folks running that smoker are graduates.

Anyhow we took Ming the Merciless along, it's important that the two Pugs get along. We made only one stop on the way, at a highway rest stop. It's kind of unfair that we men get to stand up to pee in an unheated rest stop, something Linda Lou reminds me about every winter trip. She doesn't cut down on drinking soda, though.

At any rate, Bingo was still there. He started giving me puppy kisses right then, and then gave a few to Linda Lou, also. We filled out the paperwork, I brought Ming out of the car and they got along as well as a young male and an old lady dog can.

Cochise' Apache Princess hasn't met him yet, we're leaving her in the backyard for another hour or so for Bingo to get used to the house before springing giant Dog on him. I think it'll be fine, though, CAP likes to play. She really misses Eddie so this should work out. Pictures to follow.

Update: As you can see, the pictures are here now.

We may be stuck with the Name, Bingo. He is not a stray but an elderly couple turned him in when they decided they couldn't care for him. So he's had the name since he was a pup. The fact that he's not a stray is very good news, we have his medical records and he's already neutered and all that, checked out as heartworm free. He is about 14 months old, born 11/21/07.

And, of course, he's already perfected that tilted-head gaze. So, I'm missing a cowboy action shoot, the next one ought to be warmer, anyway.

Cross Your Fingers, Lufkin Here We Come!

So I was getting ready to go to my last appointment with the Doc that cut me open and repaired my rotator cuff when Linda Lou printed out a page from Petfinder with a picture of a young male Pug. Well she called them later and it seems that we are driving to Lufkin, Texas first thing in the morning. I hope nobody beats us there.

So we are driving a hundred and fifty miles, one way, to see a fawn Pug named Bingo. If we end up with him that name won't last. Anyway, y'all keep your fingers crossed, Linda Lou NEEDS another Pug.

I've only been through Lufkin a few times, it's not on an Interstate and there is nothing there for me to drive to see. Aside from a big chicken processing plant there are paper mills and foundries. Let's face it, if there weren't a Pug, I wouldn't bother.

I'm sure Lufkin is a nice enough town, though. I believe it's in the east Texas piney woods, I'll tell you more after the drive. We'll take the camera, just in case there is something worth a picture. I suspect that this trip is going to take the place of the Sunday Cowboy Action Shoot.

Peas On Earth

I blame Army Wife Toddler Mom. A few days ago she wrote about creamed eggs on toast for supper back when families knew what poor was. Well, we seldom had that but creamed tuna on toast, or when I was really lucky, biscuits was pretty common, so was creamed chipped beef.

Now I haven't made creamed anything, ever, so I decided to try.I started out with a simple roux of butter and flour and added a cup and a half of hot milk. As the white sauce started to thicken I drained a can of tuna, a can of peas and peeled three hard boiled eggs. I added a sprinkle of garlic, paprika and crushed red peppers. Note to self, a whole can is WAY too many peas. Even Ming the Muslim Dog (peas be upon her) thought it was too many peas. Anyhow I added all that and now think I could have done with only two boiled eggs.

Anyhow I mixed it all up and served it over buttermilk biscuits. I think with only a third of a can of peas and two boiled eggs it will be perfect. Not bad for a first try, though.

Next up, creamed chipped beef on biscuits. Now I've been eating that pretty regularly, Stoufers makes it in frozen bags but now that I know how easy it is to make white sauce I'm making it myself. I feel as if I'm becoming the Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show. And I'm not even Swedish.

Just don't tell my Momma that I make canned biscuits.

Durban II

So, I don't know where I read it but there is supposed to be a new gathering at Durban in South Africa, fighting racism and suchlike. They hope to get a law passed against demeaning religions.

I wonder if such a law would shut up Michael Newdow. Or maybe all those Muslims saying awful things about Christians and Jews. Now I understand the purpose of this law is so folks like me can't call Muslims murderous goons when they fling rockets into Israel and then whine like sissy boys when the Izzies get tired of it.

So, how is a UN law going to keep me from calling the murderous goons that attacked Bombay murderous goons? Last I looked the UN had very little authority in Hunt County, Texas. Maybe a little more down in Austin, at least near the University, but here?

Personally I think that if the various Islamic nations would like to be well thought of they should stop killing people. Or at least not whine like little girlyboys when people fight back.