More to the ATV story below

See the previous post for the beginning of this story.  Someone sent a list of news links from the Appalachian News Express that makes for some interesting background.  Let's take them in chronological order:

• August 29, 2007:  ATV club kicked off Fishtrap trails
• August 31, 2007:  ATV riders aim to change law
• September 1, 2007:  Editorial - Changing laws is a good thing; but breaking them is not
• September 6, 2007:  ATV riders plead not guilty, followed by...
• October 30, 2007:  Fishtrap ATV riders plead guilty
• March 6, 2008:  Editorial - Keith Hall has introduced half of a good bill
• March 11, 2008:  Representative responds to editorial

Posted 3/28/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

"No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session."
~Mark Twain

How true.  I was just informed of a little gem that recently passed the Kentucky General Assembly House and was sent to the Senate.  The text of House Bill 613:

AN ACT relating to off-road and all-terrain vehicle trails.

    Amend KRS 148.630 to require Kentucky Department of Parks, in cooperation with the Kentucky Recreational Trails Authority, to establish a system to permit off-road motorized vehicles and all-terrain vehicles on public lands; select Fishtrap Lake as a pilot project; authorize the department to promulgate regulations governing OHV and ATV trails; amend KRS 148.650 and 148.670 to allow the establishment of OHV and ATV trails in state-owned wildlife management areas.

If anything, the current laws should be strengthened making it possible for a landowner to give the trespassing rider enough time to dismount the vehicle before emptying his magazine into it.  They ought to have their ATV's impounded and permanently seized every time they're caught and if they want them back, they can bid on them at the next Department of Fish and Wildlife auction.

Sheesh.

Posted 3/27/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Chirp, chirp

Let me see.   Three Buff Orpingtons, three Ameraucanas (or maybe two Orps and four Ameraucanas), three Wyandotts, and three Leghorns or something.  All are pullets except the Ameraucanas so I have three (or four) chances for a rooster.  Planning on starting on the henhouse this weekend.

Posted 3/26/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Road Trips, Skeletons, Tillers

I quoted Janet a while back where she had recently said, "Nobody moves to Louisville on purpose."  After Sunday and Monday, I would change "moves" to "goes".  We had an appointment for the Tender Reed at the Weisskopf Child Evaluation Center next door to Kosair.  The appointment was on Monday at 1:00 pm.  We left the House in the Woods © early Easter Sunday morning to attend Mass at St. Benedict's, the SSPX Chapel in Louisville.  About an hour into the 4-1/2 hour trip we remembered that Louisville is Eastern time... so we put our guardian angel on duty and floored it.  Made it with thirty minutes to spare.  After Mass we had some time to kill before hotel check-in time so we ate a quick lunch at a Mickey-D's near downtown.  Real swanky place.  The.... uh... urban pop coming through the ceiling speakers was only occasionally drowned out by the window rattling subwoofers on the pimpwagons rolling by outside.  Eventually got checked in at the Holiday Inn at the corner of Broadway and 1st Street.  What fun.

Although we knew a little bit of the medical history of the Tender Reed, all we really know about her parents is that the father is a psychotic that is currently (if the scuttlebutt is correct) off his meds and the mother was moderately retarded and living at the local Easter Seal center when she "met" the father.  The father is still around but is not in the picture.  The mother took off with a group of neighbors from the projects years ago and hasn't been heard from since.  I'm rehashing old history here but due to neglect and/or incompetence on the part of the rest of the child's "normal" blood family the task, eight years after her birthdate, of determining the extent of her disabilities and exactly what to do about them has fallen to us.  That's a rant for another time, however, so...

Most of the day at the pediatric center was spent waiting.  We waited in the waiting room for an hour.  We went into the back into an exam room where we were asked a few questions by a clinical worker, then waited in the exam room... for about another hour... for the doctor.  We then went next door, checked in at outpatient services, went to the lab to have some blood drawn, and waited in the lab waiting room.  Next to the main lab waiting room was another smaller waiting room separated from the main room by glass dividers.  Looked like it was simply an additional waiting room since the one we were in was quite small.  Inside that waiting room was a television mounted on the wall.  The TV was on the Disney Channel (it is a childrens hospital).  Some large young woman with a small child was in there.  After a while we saw her get up, walk over to the television and rapidly flip through the channels until she landed on the Maury Show.  We couldn't really hear it in the outer waiting room but it featured some woman with an out of control, tattooed, teenage daughter who kept making gestures and yelling "shut up" at the jeering studio audience.  I was glad we weren't in there because I'm sure Janet would have gone ballistic and, at that point in the day, I wasn't up to a confrontation with belligerent rednecks.  It made me want to weep for humanity because, as has been pointed out before, these are the people who will help elect our next president.  Most of all, however, it made me want to live on a mountain somewhere far, far away.

We paid a visit to St. Martin of Tours while we were in town.  What an awe-inspiring church.  The stained glass, the life-size statues of the apostles, the stations of the cross, the skeletons, the guardian angel statue, the...

Wait a minute.  Did you say "skeletons"?

Yes!  Two of them, in fact.  Sts. Magnus and Bonosa, enclosed in glass reliquaries within two side altars on either side of the sanctuary.  A sanctuary marred by the presence of a big table out front.  The altar of the novus ordo missae... the elephant in the sanctuary.  A sign did advertise a Tridentine Mass on Sundays at 12:30.  I wondered how they worked around the "table" out front.  I didn't notice if it was movable.  I did happen to notice in the choir loft in front of the beautiful old pipe organ there was the "Manhasset forest" - a whole bunch of music stands.  That brought back some unpleasant memories of the parish in Paducah with its choir of divas, each one requiring his/her own music stand and microphone.  At least the ones I saw today were in the choir loft, not right out front to the side of the altar table.  I had the occasion then to recall the solemn High Mass I had just been to earlier that day at St. Benedict's, the sublime chants and the soaring a capella harmonies that came from the choir of no more than ten people or so.  Humble St. Benedict's... a converted Pentecostal church building, if I remember correctly.  The dull, strange sounding clank of the church bell that rang several times while we were there, including during Mass to boldly announce to the neighborhood that the consecration had just taken place.  Like the saying goes, they may have our church buildings but they do not have the Faith.

Leaving Louisville was the highlight of the trip.  For me, anyway.  Man, I loathe big cities.  I'll take Hooterville over Pixley any day.

Saturday, before all this, we moved around a little of the dirt left from taking down the big mounds.  I fired up the Giant Tiller and smoothed out sod until smoke and a burning smell alerted me to the possibility that something may be wrong.  Seems the starter clutch ratchet on the tiller engine was a bit sticky and had gotten hot, melting the plastic pulley assembly.  A hour or so online with a downloaded PDF parts list and the replacement parts were on the way.  Minor delay.

With the dirt mounds out of the way we'll have a prime spot for the soon-to-be-built chicken coop.  Yes, chickens are coming to the House in the Woods ©.  Stay tuned.

Posted 3/25/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

What Evil Looks Like

Some people just need to be dragged out into a field and shot.

ALTON, Ill. - Banished to the basement, the 29-year-old mother with a childlike mind and another baby on the way had little more than a thin rug and a mattress to call her own on the chilly concrete floor.

Dorothy Dixon ate what she could forage from the refrigerator upstairs, where housemates used her for target practice with BBs, burned her with a glue gun and doused her with scalding liquid that peeled away her skin.

They torched what few clothes she had, so she walked around naked. They often pummeled her with an aluminum bat or metal handle.

Dixon — six months pregnant — died after weeks of abuse. Police have charged two adults, three teenagers and a 12-year-old boy with murder in the case that has repulsed many in this Mississippi River town.  [More]

The little girl we are currently guardians of is, to put it delicately, "developmentally delayed".  That said, she is one of the most pleasant, cooperative, cheerful little kids I've ever been around.  When the landlord of the place these "people" were living in said the victim was "always nice when she spoke to you", it reminded me of the little tender reed that has been put into our care.  She would probably be the same way in the same situation... not even understanding what was happening to her.  The thing is, had she stayed where she was before coming to us, it's not completely improbable that she could have ended up in a similar situation.

There are very few people I could kill without a moment's remorse.  The list just grew.

Posted 3/22/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Spring Break

Spring Break at the university means it's time to get some work done around the House in the Woods ©.  Since we've lived here... since the house was built, actually, there have been these two giant unsightly mounds of dirt near the house.  Today we're getting rid of them. As is usually the case, when there's work to be done and we're all busting butts, there isn't much picture taking going on.  Janet managed to snap one of Alison and me pushing around what's left of one mound.  Alison is just kind of hanging on in the backhoe seat. I rented the tractor and a trailer with which to haul it from a place in Murray.  Before I left town with it I had to find a place that sold diesel fuel, then I put thirty bucks worth of fuel in the tractor.  Got it home and ran it for about an hour when a hydraulic hose burst giving me a nice oily shower.

So, hosed it off, loaded it up, took it back, and they gave me another one with an extension on my rental time.  They were kind enough to give me one with a full tank this time.

Got it all back home and discovered the right rear tire on the tandem trailer smoking.  Apparently the bearings are shot and the rim was almost red hot.  I went ahead and finished the job and we'll see tomorrow morning if I can get the whole thing back to Murray without the trailer wheel either falling off or catching fire.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Update:  Surge brake seized.  No problems.

Posted 3/20/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

On This Day in History

Today, in fact, the US Supreme Court began hearing arguments on the meaning of the Second Amendment.  This may be a fairly providential time for this case, considering current events.

Keep up with development on the SCOTUS Blog.  Man, everybody's got a dang blog.

And, just for fun, read up on the Smith Act.

Posted 3/18/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Quote Paragraph of the Day

One wickedly good post from The Corner:

Condi Rice, for example, has childhood memories of a segregated south and racial violence. But that's what makes Obama's association with Wright so significant. He's not from Alabama. He's a biracial middle-class Kenyan-Kansan Hawaiian-born Indonesian-raised Columbia and Harvard graduate who chose to immerse himself in the most corrosive and paranoid end of a racial-grievance ghetto mentality that is nothing to do with him, his family or his upbringing. He doesn't have the same excuse as a Jackson, Sharpton or Farrakhan.

Posted 3/17/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Caveman Humor

The Catholic Caveman takes time out from working himself into vein bulging hypertension over church hierchical shenanigans to post a pretty funny top ten list:  Top 10 Reasons Why Barack Obama Needs To Dump Jeremiah Wright.

And, in another post, links to a news article:

Conn. Student Sues After Being Awakened

DANBURY, Conn. (AP) - Danbury officials have been notified they are being sued by a student who was awakened in class by a teacher who made a loud noise. Documents filed with the Town Clerk, a prelude to a lawsuit, claim that a sleeping student suffered hearing damage when his teacher woke him up by slamming her hand down on the boy's desk in December.

Posted 3/17/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Moving... perhaps

The website, that is.  When we moved out here to the House in the Woods © we were, and still are, on a dialup internet account with VCI Internet Services.  We've used them for over ten years and they've been a fantastic service provider.  For the past ten+ years I can probably count the busy signals I've received on one hand.  The website space is something provided to all customers and we've certainly used our share of it... probably more than our share.  I recently started putting photos on photobucket just to save space as I know at times I've exceeded my 10Mb allotment.  Never once have they scolded me.  They're a great ISP and I'd heartily recommend them to anyone.

The problem is, where we now live, we can't get broadband from them.  We've all gotten pretty tired of sitting staring at a blank screen waiting for monster sized web pages to load.  Videos?  Forgetaboutit.  Our fastest dialup connection speed out here in the sticks is about 44k.  That's bits per second.  Yea, it's creepy crawly.  Always one to resist change, I used Windows 3.11 until some time around 1999.  Used 98SE until last year when the harddrive gave up and I had trouble reinstalling the operating system using the OEM discs and had to get Win2K.  My computer is a Gateway 450MHz Pentium II that's chugging along.  It's been Frankensteined to the point where the only original pieces on it are the floppy drive, the case, power supply, and motherboard.  Hey, it may not run Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 or the latest action packed first person shooter but it does everything I want it to do... just a little bit slower than most others.

Anyway, we're probably going to finally bite the bullet and get something a little faster.  The bad news is, in order to do so, we'll have to drop our current provider.  When that happens, the Inman Family Pages will relocate.  The site may disappear altogether if West Kentucky Rural Telephone doesn't provide space for user webpages.  If that happens, I guess I'll get one of them blog pages somewhere.  Janet uses blogspot and I haven't really taken the time to learn the ropes.  Of course, most everybody else can't figure out what I'm doing when I'm coding everything in raw HTML so I guess I could learn the finer points of whatever interface the blog sites use.

So, the blog may live on but the rest of the site, to the chagrin of some and the delight of others, could die a sudden death coming soon.  Stay tuned.

Posted 3/13/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Local college student makes Catholic Family News
...or (good thing for Joanna Gianulis that Christians don't issue fatwahs, eh?)

First, from the always fair and balanced (cough) Dallas Morning News:

Looking back, trouble seemed likely when an artwork depicting a stripper as the Virgin Mary went on display last month at the University of Dallas.

And trouble sure came, though the artist says she was making a point about perceptions and didn't intend anything sacrilegious.

The artwork – a print – prompted complaints from students at the Catholic college in Irving. Then, on Feb. 14, it was discovered missing from a school gallery.

It still hasn't been found, and the case is being investigated as a theft by campus police. Meanwhile, students, alumni and others have been weighing in, though some never got a chance to see the print and have had to rely on descriptions.  [More]

What makes this blogworthy for me?  Did you notice where the "artist" (and I use that term loosely) attends college?  Yep, right here at Kentucky's Public Ivy University.  Boy, the trouble I could get into.  I'm already getting a (completely undeserved) reputation as a mouthy conservative traditionalist Catholic so, yeah, had I run across an announcement for this little exhibit on the elevator bulletin board, it might not have gone well.

To whomever "stole" the offensive "artwork":  You are a hero in the Inman household tonight.  Good job!  We hope you destroyed it.

More from Dallas Morning News:

Asked for her description, Ms. Gianulis said:

"The work is a black and white woodcut relief print depicting a scantily clad stripper wearing a veil and holding a rosary. Other details in the work are scrolls saying 'Sinner or Saint?' in Spanish and referencing the Virgin [of] Guadalupe, and also a snake, some white lilies, a pair of scales, and also a small image of a bar of soap opposite a bottle marked 'xxx.'"

Juergen Strunck is the UD art professor who helped arrange for the exhibit and was there for the installation. He said that if he had interpreted the work as sacrilegious or pornographic, he would have considered not displaying it. But he saw it as a serious work, so he went ahead.

Posted 3/12/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

What the poor homeschoolers are missing...

I guess judge Croskey must be concerned that families who homeschool their children are missing important programs like this one in Deerfield, IL.  More details in this Townhall column by Mike Adams.  I can't even quote from the article because of the content discussed.

This is why I'm willing to take up arms to defend my right to homeschool.  It's as good a hill to die on as any other.

Posted 3/12/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

"MOLWN LABE indeed"

From the "if you have to ask, you'll never know" files comes this pulse-quickening post from Xavier, An Encounter At Wal-Mart:

It was a balmy Sunday morning several years ago, and Little Darling had been saving her dollars and cents for a GameBoy. I am a man of the pinball generation, and I have little appreciation of video games. I see the results they build in skilled hand eye coordination among the younger laproscopic surgeons, compared to the surgeons of my own age strata, but still, I resisted buying her the toy. When she proudly announced she had the funds herself, I relented. Better to teach her the benefits of thrift than the tyranny of a father my wife told me. So, before church, we took off for Wal-Mart. She had her little purse of greenbacks and I had a 1911 under my sportscoat. [More]

Posted 3/10/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Randomizations

Snow at the House in the Woods ©.  Melting fast, as snowfalls in March tend to do, but nice anyway.  We probably got five inches yesterday evening.  At Kenlake State Park, just a few miles from us, are some excellent sledding hills at the golf course.  We sledded this morning until we were too tired to walk up another hill.

The other morning on the radio I heard an interesting quote.  Don't remember who said it or even what exactly they said but it was something to the effect of the society that has made American Idol a hit TV show will decide who will be our next president.

It was a chilling revelation.  Even more so when that thought is expanded to include the other offerings on broadcast television these days that border on pornography.  Hell, I can't even let Alison watch commercials anymore without being on my guard.  Fortunately, out here in the sticks, we get one NBC station, one PBS station, and some low power thing out of Murray.  Needless to say, we watch very little television.  Odd thing to say for someone who works in television but there it is.

On the subject of the previous blog entry regarding homeschooling, the .gov, and... um... firm resistance; it looks like the governator is siding with homeschoolers. 

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement regarding the recent Second District Court of Appeals ruling on home schooling:

"Every California child deserves a quality education and parents should have the right to decide what's best for their children. Parents should not be penalized for acting in the best interests of their children's education. This outrageous ruling must be overturned by the courts and if the courts don't protect parents' rights then, as elected officials, we will."

For now.

So John McCain got a little short with a reporter the other day.  Everybody seems to be acting like that's a bad thing.  I have an offer for Sen. McCain:  If you'll bitch slap David Gregory on air, I'll not only vote for you, I'll campaign for you.

Man, I didn't use to be this curmudgeonly.

Posted 3/8/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

The California Appelate Court Can Go To Hell

So, the robed ones in the bolshevik state of California have ruled that "Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children":

"Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children," wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey in a Feb. 28 opinion signed by the two other members of the district court. "Parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program."

At what point are conservative Americans going to finally decide we've had enough and draw the line.  When are we going to say we will submit no more to this nonsense.  The people that stood up to England over two hundred years ago and founded this country based on personal freedoms and liberty would not recognize this country today.

Like Joseph Sobran once said, freedom is coming to mean little more than the right to ask permission.

No more.  The government wishes to make criminals out of people who simply want to school their children in whatever way they see fit... children who repeatedly and consistently are smarter and better socially developed than their public school counterparts.  Oh, the teachers unions can't stand that.  I've never read this guy's blog before but he sums it up in this post:

And God is going to judge us someday for what we have done with that which He has trusted us with. Indeed, that we are letting this happen among ourselves indicates to me that He's judging us even now.

We are surely falling. But we don't have to fall. It's our choice, if we want it.

So here's what I'm going to suggest to the homeschool families of California, and I am absolutely serious about this...

Keep homeschooling your children. If you love them enough, you will persist in your practice. You are the ones who love your children. The State of California doesn't give a damn about them, and you'd better accept that fact.

If state officials tell you to stop homeschooling, ignore them.

If they send you a threatening letter, tear it up.

If they send some busybody "social worker" to your front door, slam it in his or her face.

If they send a law enforcement officer to your house to take your children away, shoot him. Or her.

I'm serious. If they come for your kids, take them down. However you can. They don't deserve to live, if they consent to following some judge's orders to take your children without question.

Any agent of the government that comes for your children solely on the grounds that the state has decreed that you cannot teach your children as you see fit, in my mind has given up any claim to possessing an individual soul. Your children though have a future that's worth fighting for. It's worth dying for. It's absolutely worth making some heartless automaton of the state die, if they try to come in between your child and that chance.

I am completely beyond patience with some people. The ones who are making life a living Hell for the rest of us. They have only gotten away with it because we've bought into the lie that we can't do anything to stop them.

On anything else, I might feel lenient. But not here. The line is drawn here.

Fight.

Posted 3/5/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Talk about culture shock...

Just had to break my Lenten blogfast for a "precious moment"... too good not to mention.

Janet subscribes to a couple local area online homeschool discussion groups.  What she'll do sometimes is post things that are not particularly about homeschooling but are of significant interest to most of the subscribers; things like Family Foundation action alerts and stuff.

This morning a little email came in from someone who apparently took issue with a posting Janet made.  The post was about what you can do to fight the efforts by some to bring legalized gambling to Kentucky (a fairly hot issue right now around here).  The writer of the email was actually from Washington state and was about to move to Paducah.  She "gently reminded" Janet that her post had nothing to do with homeschooling and she might want to find another outlet for her political opinions.

Heh.  Bull, meet flag.  She was still typing her response when I left for work.

First, as if anything else needed to be said, the description of the aforementioned homeschool discussion group says in part:

While we welcome families of all faiths to participate, please be aware that the overwhelming majority of members of this list are Christian and the subject matter of many posts will reflect a conservative, pro-family, pro-life point of view. If this is offensive to you, please do not subscribe.

But, you know, with some folks, this is just too easy.  The author of the email included her website in her signature.  This website includes two... count 'em... two blogs.

Turns out, the woman who took issue with a Family Foundation news alert concerning legalized gambling is an artist who is moving to Paducah... the Lowertown Arts District no less.  Based on statements made on her blog, she's also a Unitarian Universalist, whatever the heck that is (I don't even want to know so don't bother), believes in reincarnation, belongs to a "Goddess Circle" and believes in honoring "The Goddess", found Massachusetts "too puritan", and sports a pro-abortion bumpersticker.

I think our little moonbeam is going to be in for a shock when she ventures outside the lavender boundaries of Paducah's Lowertown.

Posted 3/4/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

To paraphrase Hobson, "If projectile writing ever becomes an olympic event, you'll do your country proud."

Little essays like this are the reason I have been reading James Lileks' Bleats every morning, Mon-Fri, for the last eight years.

Posted 2/7/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Don't Mess With Texas

The people from whom we bought the House in the Woods © over two years ago still continue to get the occasional piece of mail.  We received a postcard yesterday addressed to one of them.  Here's what it said:

Justice of the Peace, Pct. 1 200 N Kaufman Mt. Vernon, TX 75457 903-537-2342 ext 1 Re: (snipped) The State of Texas vs. (snipped) Violation charged:  DISPLAY EXPIRED LICENSE PLATES Filed:  1-17-2008 The time allowed for you to reply to the above charge has expired.  Unless your remittance or an Appeal Bond is received at once, you will also be charged with a Failure to Appear and warrants issued for your arrest.  Please send a cashier's check or money order to address above.  NO PERSONAL CHECKS wil be accepted.  Return this notice with your payment to ensure proper credit.

Posted 2/6/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

What an anniversary!

The Missus and I had our nineteen year anniversary yesterday.  It was a little subdued, mainly because of the expense of the well pump replacement.  Nevertheless, we did manage to make Mass, get our throats blessed, get hazed by a biker, and eat catfish.

We all got up at o-dark-thirty on Sunday morning, February 3, packed ourselves into the Camry, and headed to Nashville for Sunday Mass.  It was the feast of St. Blaise so, as is the tradition on our anniversary, we got our annual throat blessing.  This was our first one in Latin, however.

When we were first married, after the party, we spent the weekend at Reelfoot Lake and ate catfish at one of the mom and pop restaurants around there.  Since then, we've always tried to eat at a catfish restaurant on our anniversary.  Heading home from Nashville, on interstate 24, we got off at the Clarksville, TN exit.  I figured we'd find a place to eat, then wander home the scenic route along Hwy 79 to Paris Landing then head north to the homestead.

This is where, unfamiliar with Clarksville, I topped a hill and saw where, to continue on Hwy 79 South, I'd have to make a left turn.  I was in the right lane and a guy on a motorcycle had just pulled out into traffic in the lane to my left.  More traffic was behind us so I sped up and got around the motorcycle and eased into the turn lane... braking rather hard because the light had turned red and there was a car stopped at the light in front of me.

I was sitting there thinking about restaurants, catfish, which route I'd take home, clouds, rain, etc., when I hear a noise.  Oh, the biker guy was right behind me in full rant mode, gesturing and speaking in a loud and uncivilized manner.  I guess I pissed him off by getting over in front of him.  Maybe I cut him off, but I didn't think so; he seemed plenty far back behind me when I changed lanes.  Anyway, he was mad as hell and letting me know all about it.  It was kind of comical.  I just watched him in the mirrors, mildly amused.  I had to explain to Alison the "rules of engagement" as far as the legal and ethical reasons why, no, sweetheart, I can't just shoot the guy for yelling at me.

Of course, had he dismounted his bike and attempted to enter my car, things would have been much different, and that's why for the next several red lights I just kept an eye on him in the mirror until he'd apparently decided he'd sufficiently vented himself and he turned off.  That little sideshow over, we continued looking for a restaurant.

Finally found one right outside of Dover.  It was a little family restaurant.  Looked like a new building, amongst all the major road construction going on Hwy 79.  Gravel lot, house next door (probably owners), a couple of blue tick hounds walking around outside sniffing cars and customers.  Nothing else around.  I don't remember the name of it.  Just as well.  Their "specialty" was the buffet (which had catfish!).  Their major problem was they couldn't keep the buffet stocked with anything.  The restaurant was pretty full with the after-church crowd and both the fish and chicken (the only two major entrees) were completely pilfered within a minute after being replenished from the kitchen.  It was also ridiculously overpriced.

Everyone did manage to at least get a bite of catfish (the tradition lives) and we headed on home with no further noteworthy events.

Posted 2/4/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

And now for a really deep subject

Wednesday I got off work early and went home with the intention of cutting some firewood.  I was about to rinse off a pair of boots in the sink when I heard a commotion in the bathroom.  The toilet tank had been refilling from a recent flush and at the moment only air was coming from the water line.  Quite an impressive site.  I turned off the valve, went into the kitchen, and opened a faucet.

Air.  Really high pressure air.  Mixed with some spitting water here and there.

Naturally, the House in the Woods © gets its water from a well.  The water is as pure as I've ever seen and as good to drink as any spring water you can buy or find.  The wellhouse that contains the well is in the little building in the fourth picture down on this page.  It's a pretty nice little building for housing a well.  All the controls, the water tank, and everything is right there, along with a little heater to keep everything from freezing in the winter..

We've had the occasional air in the line before but never this bad.  I went out to the wellhouse and opened the hydrant on the back wall.  A great rush of very cold air came steadily out... then died down to nothing.

Oh, boy.  Guess the firewood will have to wait.

I'm a pretty good electrician, I can troubleshoot and repair a lot of electronic equipment at the board level (I just repaired the power control module on our microwave oven last weekend), and, if you don't count the Pex Incident of 2006, a fair plumber.  The electrical part?  Everything works.  Except the pump.  Voltage on the wires but no current going down the tube.  The plumbing part?  Well, from the big blue tank to the pump which sits way underground below the ominous well cap... I'm pretty dumb.

Best I can figure is, I've probably got two major problems.  A break in a pipe somewhere in the well itself and a burned up pump.  I figure if the pump has to come up, unless the pipe is really flexible, it will require a hole in the roof of the wellhouse.

This is our third day without running water.  We've got plenty of drinking water stored up and we're running down to the lake and filling jugs for flushing toilets so we're surviving.  A guy was supposed to come out yesterday afternoon but he was a no-show.  So, he's disqualified now even if he does show.  The second guy is scheduled for today.  Hopefully we'll know something today.

Later Today:

New pump, new starting circuit, and a new air something flow something valve on the tank and we have running water again.  I also have about an eight inch square hole to patch in the wellhouse roof where I had to cut so the guys could pull the pump.  All for the low low price of eleven hundred and seventy five dollars.  I could really use a drink.  Damn dry county.

Posted 2/1/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

News you'll never see

Just five days ago, two bad guys entered a high school disguised as security officers and armed with knives.  They went into the school library and lined up seven people against the wall.  Two people were injured before:

A counselor, realizing they were terrorists, drew his personal firearm and opened fire.  Another grabbed the fake gun from the other terrorist, wrestled him to the floor, while the first counselor shot him.  The terrorists managed to stab two of the counselors before falling dead.

Oh, yeah.  Here's the link.  It actually happened.  In Israel.

Posted 1/30/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Guns, the .gov, and moonbats

I've been kind of watching the developments with the US Supreme Court and the Heller case (more news on the main page).  Some important developments are mentioned here.  You'd think the US Department of Justice would be more... well... constitutional.  You'd also think a Republican president who was supposedly pro 2A would speak out against the DOJ and their betrayal of US citizens.

You'd think... anyway.

So we wait.  Oh well.  Reminds me of another long awaited statement that took its sweet time.

On a more local level, Kentucky Rep. Robert Damron is co-sponsoring a bill with a host of other reps that would strengthen already existing Kentucky law concerning the keeping of firearms in privately owned vehicles.  HB 114 would strengthen KRS 237.106 (Right of employees and other persons to possess firearms in vehicle) and KRS 237.110 (License to carry concealed deadly weapon).  Unfortunately for the bill, our friend Kathy Stein (Socialist-Lexington), champion of the mandatory HPV vaccination crusade for the daughters of Kentucky, chairs the house judiciary committee, through which the bill has to pass, and that ends that.

There was a discussion of HB 114 on a forum I hang around on.  It pretty quickly derailed into several subthreads of bickering about carrying guns in schools... completely unrelated to the original topic.  One particular annoying liberal moonbat whose astonishing ignorance can only be attributed to his youth and lack of experience accused people who carry guns (this is a hunting forum) of being "scared little (men)".  I had some thoughts on this subject.

Do you wear your seat belt when you drive your car?  If you do, is that because you are expecting to get into an accident?

Do you have home insurance?  Why?  You expecting your house to burn down?

Of course not.  But you are prepared in case it does happen, right?

Now, if you are wearing your seat belt, do you drive more carelessly because you expect your belt will keep you from getting hurt in an accident?  If I'm wearing my gun, that doesn't mean I boldly go into high crime areas like I'm Paul Kersey or something.  I still avoid situations where I feel like I'm more likely to be robbed or assaulted.  Granted, in Calloway County there aren't a lot of places like that, but trouble doesn't make appointments.

If you don't know who Susanna Hupp is, read her story. The first line of that article is important:

A daughter's regret.

Suzanna Gratia Hupp will live the rest of her life with regret.  Had she been carrying her gun the day a madman executed her parents while she cowered helplessly and then fled, she is convinced she could have stopped one of the worst massacres in U.S. history.

Incidentally, I don't know about other folks but carrying a gun makes me one of the most polite drivers out there.  Again, I don't look for trouble because I have a gun.  Carrying a gun makes me go out of my way to avoid any situation where I might have to use it.  Anybody who doesn't have that philosophy doesn't need to be carrying.

It's a shame that HB 114 is even having to be written.  It's a shame that things got as bad as they did before so many states finally came to their senses in the last fifteen years or so.  It's a shame Suzanna Hupp couldn't legally carry her handgun into Luby's with her and had to leave it in the car that day.

It's a shame that Liviu Librescu, survivor of the Nazi holocaust, didn't (and couldn't) have a gun with him at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007.  It's a shame nobody else could, either.  Thirty-two people probably would agree.

It's a shame that this guy couldn't carry a gun into Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska on December 5, 2007:

Honestly, and as God as my witness, when I saw him shooting and as (I) watched for a few seconds trying to figure out what he was going to do and what I should do, the thought that went through my mind was, “If I had a gun, I have a perfect shot.”

Yes, a perfect shot. I had a full side profile, I was close, and no one was visible behind him except a wall.  I had a clear shot during the second round of fire.  I told this to every cop I came in contact with.  The interviewer agreed.

When I realized that I had no gun, fear instantly struck me, along with anger, and severe panic.

Image by Oleg Volk. Used with Permission

Posted 1/29/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Mike's Advice

• If the car with the "For Sale" sign on it is sitting in the parking lot of a transmission shop... you might want to pass it by.

Posted 1/25/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

JVC

A JVC miniDV/hard disk/DVD recorder came across my workbench today.  The DVD section will no longer read any discs fed into it; blank, finalized, or otherwise.  Since we bought it last May, it's still under warranty.  There is also very little inside a DVD/CD front end that a bench tech can actually repair beyond lens cleaning, rail lubrication, and spindle alignment.  So, with some trepidation, I called the 800 number listed for JVC service centers.  Here's how the phone call went:

Automated Voice:  Thank you for your interest in the professional JVC product line.  If you need to locate a dealer, visit us online at www.jvc.com/pro and select the dealer locator button at the top of the page.  Otherwise, please choose from the following options:

If you would like to request JVC professional product literature, or to locate an authorized JVC professional dealer, press "one".  If you would like to purchase genuine JVC parts and accessories, or have questions about your parts order, press "two".  If you need service for your JVC professional product, press "three".

Me:  ["three"]

Ring...

Automated Voice:  To locate a JVC dealer, press or say "one".  To locate a JVC factory or authorized service center, press or say "two".

Me:  ["two"]

If you need service for a consumer product, press or say "one".  For professional products, press or say "two".

Me:  ["two"]

Automated Voice:  Please select a type of product from the following menu:  For professional cameras, press or say "one".  For professional tape and DVD decks, press or say "two".  For display products, press or say "three".  For CCTV products, press or say "four".

Me:  ["two"]

Automated Voice:  For pro HD and DV decks, press or say "one".  For VHS and SVHS decks, press or say "two".  For DVD decks, press or say "five".

Me:  ["five"]

Automated Voice:  Please press or say your zip code.

Me:  ["four - two - zero - seven - one"]

Automated Voice:  You entered four - two - zero - seven - one.  If this is correct, press or say "one".  If not, press or say "two".

Me:  ["one"]

Short pause...

Automated Voice:  No locations were found near the zip code you entered.  Thank you for calling the JVC customer care center.  For general questions you may email us at jvc.com/support.  To locate a JVC dealer or authorized service facility, press "one".  For operatio...

Me:  ["one"]

Ring...

Automated Voice:  To locate a JVC dealer, press or say "one".  To locate a JVC factory or authorized service center, press or say "two".

Me:  #@$&*

"Click"

I tried another 800 number listed on their website... same results.  No way to contact a real person at all.  Actually, once a couple years ago I did actually contact a real person at JVC to set up a tax-exempt account for an educational institution.  After spending a few minutes trying to communicate with a heavily middle-eastern accented woman who was apparently very hard of hearing I gave up and just ordered the parts through a third-party vendor.

Eventually I sent an inquiry using the contact form on the JVC website.  I won't hold my breath waiting for an answer.

At the moment, we have four GY-DV500's, two or three GY-DV5000's, a whole host of SR-VS20U and SR-VS30U decks as well as BR-DV3000U decks.  They get used hard and abused by students almost daily so we do have to replace them (the ones I can't repair) occasionally.

I reckon if it's going to be this hard to contact someone at JVC, we may have to start phasing those out and using another brand.  Wouldn't hurt my feelings... I haven't been that impressed with JVC equipment, anyway.

Posted 1/24/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Quote of the Day

From a comment on a Kim post.

I’m not sure who I am more disgusted with - Fred for his lackluster campaign, or Republican voters for their stupidity.

Posted 1/23/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

What was I thinking

I recently went to a concert.  This wasn't just any concert.  It was someone who is a living legend among acoustic guitarists.  For me, as someone who has played a guitar for about thirty-five years, I was also going to see one of my primary influences and a "hero"... as far as musical heroes go.

This was basically a fundraising concert, and as it goes, I knew almost everyone involved and those connections, who also knew my admiration for the headliner, allowed me to be there as a volunteer which allowed full access backstage.

I don't know what I expected.  I guess the last thing I expected was for the main performer to arrive minutes before the concert began, hole up in his dressing room until stage time, then retreat to his dressing room and close the door immediately afterward.  Maybe I figured I might get a chance to shake a hand... or talk for a few seconds... or maybe even a picture.

I guess the kid in me... the naïve fan... expected more than he should have.  Eventually, the forty-six year-old man woke up and said, "What the hell are you doing here?  Go home."

So, I went home... thinking, "What was I thinking?"

Posted 1/20/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Current Windows Wallpaper

Just before Christmas our ancient Fujifilm digital camera quit working.  We just replaced it with a Kodak ZD710.  So far, I'm thrilled with it.  10x optical zoom, 7.1 megapixel, all kinds of settings with manual control over everything, and the batteries seem to last forever.  I bought a bunch of Nimh rechargeables to go with it because the old Fuji used to go through alkalines like candy.  I've been taking pictures for two weeks and I haven't discharged the first two batteries yet.

These pics were taken today while we were out on a short walk.

Oh, man.  This could get out of hand quickly.

Posted 1/12/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

This Just In:  Catfish Bend Casino managers determined to actually be drunken lemurs

From the Des Moines Register:  Bosses Fire Worker Who Put Up 'Dilbert' Comic

A Fort Madison man who posted a "Dilbert" comic strip on an office bulletin board has lost his job for implying his bosses were a bunch of "drunken lemurs."

According to state records, David Steward worked for Catfish Bend Casinos in Burlington for seven years, most recently as a security supervisor.

On Oct. 27, shortly after company officials announced that the casino would be closing and 170 workers could be laid off, Steward posted a "Dilbert" comic strip on an office bulletin board.

In the strip, Dilbert and another character are shown having the following exchange:

"Why does it seem as if most of the decisions in my workplace are made by drunken lemurs?"

"Decisions are made by people who have time, not people who have talent."

"Why are talented people so busy?"

"They're fixing the problems made by people who have time."

[More]

Why did I notice this article?  Well, the first panel of this comic strip resides on the side of a cabinet in my engineering shop at work.  No security cameras observed the subject who put up this particular strip, however, so no suspects have been identified... beats me how it got there.

Posted 1/6/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |

Janet says I missed my calling...

...and should have been a lawyer.

I don't know about that.  We did have a rather intense day in court yesterday.  The elderly woman who is the grandmother and former guardian of Amanda (see previous post) petitioned the court to transfer guardianship back to her.

A little history:  Initially, seven months ago, we did assume a court transferred guardianship of Amanda.  This was done because Amanda's aunt and uncle, who were former neighbors of ours prior to our move to the House in the Woods ©, had asked us to do this temporarily while the grandmother recovered from surgery and was unable to care for Amanda.  None of the family were able (or willing?) to do it and they were afraid that Amanda was about to become the ward of state social services.  They said, oh, Amanda is a "joy" and "divine" and no trouble at all.  What they didn't tell us until the day she came to us is she still wore diapers (at seven years of age), had just failed first grade, and, oh by the way, her biological father is psychotic and may have had inappropriate contact with her.  What we discovered very soon afterwards that, although very pleasant, alert, and "talkative", Amanda had the emotional and intellectual capacity of someone about three or four years old; could not verbally communicate in complete sentences, had negligible comprehension of what was spoken to her, and would completely "seize up" when asked a question that required a thoughtful answer (Have you ever..., What do you like to eat..., When did you..., Why is...).  Irrational fears?  A bath with a hair washing was like a Helen Keller moment.

Over the last seven months amazing discoveries were made.  Also, amazing progress was made.  It only took one week to throw the diapers away.  Her family (other than grandmother) and a social worker that knew Amanda before coming to us all say that she is a completely different person now.  The little girl, up to the point she came to us, had suffered a lifetime of severe neglect, I believe even criminal.  It became quickly obvious that we couldn't let her go back to "grandmother" without a fight.  Besides the neglect, "grandmother" has some severe medical problems and is no condition physically to be raising even a normal child, much less one with special needs.  But an obsession is an obsession, and senile dementia coupled with a fairly healthy checkbook will make an old person do strange things... like hire a lawyer.

We represented ourselves, subpoenaed the social worker, and came to court with a case containing seven months worth of correspondence with the family, letters from previous kindergarten and first grade teachers, medical records, school records, and more letters from family members and "grandmother's" doctor.  We also had genetic lab test results that we had done.  The grandmother had refused to hear anything about Amanda possibly needing special help and was in complete denial that she could possibly be developmentally delayed.  The family had urged her to get genetic testing done for years and she wouldn't hear of it.

We owned the day.  Amanda is not going anywhere.  I might have had a Barnaby Jones moment but overall, the whole thing is a tragic drama that we were sorry to see happen.  I think that once "grandmother's" lawyer knew all the facts, even she seemed to turn on her own client.  I told Janet after it was over that maybe we needed to write a check to her attorney ourselves.  Did I miss my calling?  Naw.  It might have been a bit of a rush at the time but it was mentally exhausting.  No offense, Dale, but I think I'll stick to playing with expensive toys in TV studios.

The judge did ask me, in light of all the family correspondence and written support, where was the rest of the family and why weren't any of them here today.

I said that was a good question.  Apparently they had more important things to do.  When Amanda gets older, I plan to make sure she knows exactly who came to her rescue that day and who didn't.

Posted 1/5/2008 by Michael Inman | Link |