Hero Dogs and other 'stuff' ...

Read a great news story on Yahoo today.  Seems that three stray dogs had adopted some soldiers stationed at a remote site in Afghanistan.  One night, as a suicide bomber was trying to sneak into the barracks, the dogs started barking and raising a ruckus.  Got the bomber so rattled that he set off his device before reaching the sleeping soldiers.  Wonder if it was the barking or the dog quietly chewing through his leg that confused him?

One of the dogs was killed but the other two survived and are now being reunited with the soldiers they saved here in the states.  As an animal lover it's really heartwarming to see the support that perfect strangers gave the soldiers in helping them to rescue the two surviving dogs.

Read the story at this site .

On another note I see that GM (you're a 51% owner so pay attention here) is releasing a new electric car called the Volt for the 2011 model year.  Non-polluting, clean energy ... and $41,000 a copy.  When will the insensitive clods in Detroit figure out that what we need is not a luxury top-of-the-line electric car ... we simply need an affordable two person electric commuter with a 50 mile range and a top speed of 50 mph which can be recharged overnight by plugging it in to a 110v home outlet?  I mean, for $41K I can buy a really, really nice gas powered machine ... given the limited range why would I opt for the Volt?  Oh, and 'affordable' by my definition is $8000 or less - something that almost anyone could afford.

Ahh, if I only had a couple of million $$$ to start a company to build those ...

I also read that Tony Hayward the (now former) CEO for BP is being sent to Russia.  Good riddance!  He was so pompous and conceited (reference his famous "I'd like my life back" comment) that he deserves to go away even though he's getting a king's ransom as a golden handshake.  Wonder if Putin needs him to personally manage an oil rig in Siberia?

Hopefully the new BP CEO, an American from the Gulf region, will be a bit more sensitive and considerate of the feelings of those in that area who never will get their lives back because of BP's stupidity and arrogance under the Hayward administration.










I leave you with a final thought from a friend of ours who is a lifelong horse person:  

"If the world were truly rational it would be the men who rode sidesaddle."

My wife is almost on the floor over this one.

'Nuff said.

The Haiti Disaster

I've been watching the aftermath of the Haitian earthquakes and am to the point of being almost numb to the devastation.  When you see the pictures of the dead and injured 24x7 it's almost desensitizing.

I think what brought the situation into focus for me was a young lady from here in Washington state who was down in Haiti working with orphans.  Although her roommate was able to escape and make her way back to the US, 22 year old Molly Hightower was killed and her body recovered two days after the first quake hit.

By all accounts this remarkable young woman was a blessing to all with whom she came into contact.  Never having met her I was still deeply touched by her tragic death ... she had such a passion for life and for working with people and I have no doubt that had she lived she would have done absolutely great things.  As a father I can't imagine having to wait two days to find out if one of my children was alive or dead and my heart goes out to the family as do my thoughts and prayers for their eventual acceptance and gradual recovery from this horrible life shattering event.  We all are indeed the poorer for Molly's loss.

I suggest that we all look within ourselves to determine what we can do to help the survivors of these devastating quakes.  After all, as humans we are all indeed one family.

Well, I finally did it ...

You're looking at my first post on a long considered blog.  I'm not really sure where this will go but I felt that I had to at least put my thoughts out here and see what kind of a response I get.  I truly enjoy a good debate where the parties respect each other while still having sometimes major differences of opinion.

One thing I really do want is an adult exchange of ideas and opinions without demeaning comments, profanity or outright rudeness.  I promise to always try and provide an alternative if I'm complaining about something ... and I'd ask that you do the same.  Let's keep this as a reasonable discussion between reasonable people.

So - who am I?

I'm a 63 year old male who has worked in the computer software industry for most of my adult life.  Retired in 1988 from the United States Air Force I am unabashedly supportive of all branches of our military and, for the most part, the military services of most all countries.

In addition to being 'pro' military I am also 110% behind our first responders - the police, fire and paramedic folks who are the front line when we need help.  I still stand when the flag passes by, I abhor 'singers' who have to interpret our national anthem in their own usually strange style rather than sing it as it was originally written and I have a work ethic that keeps me busy long after the regular work day is over.

Oh, and I'm very pro-animals - my wife and I have nothing but rescue animals (three dogs, one horse and three miniature donkeys at the moment, subject to change at any time ... ).

What are you going to see here?  Pretty much whatever interests me at the moment, from the recent murders of police officers here in Washington state to the Haitian earthquake, the Washington state legislature and governor's shenanigans to our 'friends' on Capitol Hill in the 'other' Washington ... and anything in between.  It will be eclectic, varied but hopefully interesting to the majority of the readers.

That's it for today ... more tomorrow once I decide on which of my personal 'hot button' topics is first out of the chute.


Have a good day and come back soon.  In the meantime, you might want to read this book from Amazon.com ...