JDoors

Not to change the topic (three days down -- eleven to go) but my cat would knead my stomach (euphemism for bladder) nearly every morning. I'd wake up havin' to go and she'd be looking me right in the eye while continuing to knead, as if to say, "I am awake. Get. Up. Now." Or she'd be RIGHT IN MY FACE. Her whiskers would tickle me until I woke up and ... there she was, RIGHT IN MY FACE, so close her wet nose would be touching mine, "Jeez, you humans sleep too much, GET UP." There was no POINT in waking me up, she always had food & water. Must've wanted the company.

Seems like a good idea. I'll run them after my morning session.

The flu blows. And blows, and blows, and ... Get better. How long does the flu generally last for you?

Sold out at the moment, so don't be TOO disappointed: Annonymous Black Bar Sunglasses

Oh, I didn't say I never purposefully drove over the limit ...

My knowledge may be out-of-date but most cars are (were) designed to be most efficient at ~40 MPH. You can see the subconscious reaction to this every day, there are a large number of people who drive ~40 regardless of the actual speed limit. It's not that there's some magical human need to drive 40 mph, there's a "sweet spot" that is designed into cars at that speed. Any faster and the engine noticeably strains, slower and the trans begins to "hunt" for the right gear (drops down a gear occasionally). I've always called those people "amoeba brains" because they're not even thinking. One brain

I'm against lower limits but, the point about DRIVING slower is an excellent one. I'm trying. Really. But it's a tough habit to break. At least now I don't get impatient when there's a slow driver in front of me. Instead of, "Why the ...?" I think, "I'm savin' gas!"

When I bought the Mustang I ordered it with "go-fast" in mind (hence the Cobra model) so I didn't get cruise control (I also deleted things like the center console, etc.). I later added an aftermarket cruise control and I used it CONSTANTLY. My Explorer has it and ... I use it CONSTANTLY. I could go on a long exposition on why I use cruise control so much but suffice to say, if I'm going to be going one speed for any length of time I'd rather just punch in the number and there's one less thing taking my attention off my driving. Plus, of course, you don't "accidentally" drive over the limit so

The radio, currently Van Morrison. I nominate Morrison's Into The Mystic for a place in The Top Ten Best Songs Of All Eternity.

One of my problems with U.S. manufacturers is that they stress their cars are less expensive than the equivalent import. The problem with that is, WE KNOW! Because the cars are OBVIOUSLY cheaper, inside and out. I say put another thousand dollars into the darn vehicle and maybe we won't feel like we're getting ripped off. Yeah, you'll lose sales to people who just want something cheap, but you just might gain sales to the people willing to fork over another grand to get a MUCH better car. Now you're saying imports are "cheaped out" for the U.S. market too? I've known we don't get the "best" m

Of course! Prices are rising, people are feeling the pinch, so ... Raise taxes! Some people in The States have been advocating drastic tax hikes on gas for years to, among other reasons, lower consumption. Of course the main result of increased costs is to lower consumption for the people who can't afford it any more. Higher gas prices also increases the cost of nearly everything else, and who does that affect the most? The people who can't afford it. Over here there's one political party that always claims they're "for the poor and middleclass," yet, paradoxically, they're also the p

Mussels ... no thanks. I'm sure you do 'em up proud, but ... no thanks. Fresh "caught" & cleaned fish! My God, I can't remember the last time I had fish that fresh. Smelt maybe, DECADES ago? Do they even count as fish? Since they're lightly breaded, salted & fried it's more like a fish "chip" than a fish dish. I'm not counting fish from restaurants, you never really know how fresh that is unless you watch them catch & cook it (I've never had bad fish though, so ?). Fresh frog legs! That's it. A place in Missouri, a roadside stand that served a kajillion frog legs and little els

Oh. My. God. Scallops ... The Food Of The Gods (IMO). You sure know how to induce hunger pangs!

In the 80' and 90's with occasional light showers (IOW: Hot & Humid). I woke up before Sunrise, threw open the blinds and opened the window, looked up at the stars in the sky, and ... heard rain. It was too dark to see the rain, but it was obviously raining. I looked back up to the sky and ... Yup, stars. Cocked my ear and ... Yup, rain. Must've been ONE cloud DIRECTLY over my house. The story of my life.

Wow, that looks REALLY good. The old one was actually carbon fiber? Did YOU damage it or was it broke when you got it? (If you already said, I don't remember, 'cause I got CRSS.) Suddenly remembered my Manta; got an inexpensive spoiler (that's what "lips" were called back then, same thing) but couldn't figure out how to mount it without it looking like crap, so I never wound up putting it on. It's still in the attic (along with a rear spoiler I had the same problem with). Know anybody with a 30-year-old Opel Manta? -----

Does your power company have a service where they'll reimburse you for such losses? I'm pretty sure ours does. I never used it because a.) I usually have little or no food stockpiles to lose, and b.) We've not gone more than a day without power (that I can remember) and c.) what little food I do have is either expendable or keeps well enough 'cause I have several ice "bricks" (those plastic bottles with chemicals in it) in the top of my freezer as insurance.

"Backordered" is code for "We don't actually carry that item in stock so when you order it from us we have to go out and find it cheaper than we charge, buy it, then wait for it to be delivered to us before we can fulfill your order, and if we can't buy it cheaper then we'll tell you something like it's no longer in production or some such lie." Yeah, stay away from such places, unless you have more time than money.

It's obviously going to get worse. They gotta maximize their profit so the stock market invests Mo' Money! Heaven forbid they should show as much concern to their customers. I guess it's true of most industry and services due to the MASSIVE focus on the stock market and what it's doing. Storms are moving through again, the power "winked" at me, giving me advance warning that it's gonna go down sometime soon. Why? Oh, because it's "wet" out?

Do you do anything in particular to minimize your AC bill? I adjust the blinds on the East side of the house to keep the Sun's rays out, adjusting them as the Sun rises 'till they're fully open ~noon. I have several rooms that are either unused, used very little, or are on the lower level (of three), so I only have the HVAC vents slightly cracked open in those rooms. I had tried closing them off but the AC wouldn't run long enough to dehumidify the air in the remaining rooms. And I keep the blinds on the West side closed in the afternoon. My house apparently has two flaws in the design, one

Guess we're getting it here then: this is the coolest 4th of July weekend in decades. Tonight's supposed to be a repeat of last night, in the low 50's. Brr! July! But then, I don't like hot weather, so I'm grinnin' from ear to ear.

A severe storm passed quickly through yesterday evening, the hail was coming down nearly sideways. The sound of it hitting the back of the house had me worried the windows wouldn't hold up. I'd never heard it that loud before. And that was with just pea-sized hail, if it had been larger size hail ... The local news had video of a home in my town that had one entire side that looked like it had been through a war; broken glass, paint ripped off the clapboards like it'd been hit with a shotgun. If I find a pic I'll post it, it was unbelievable.

Tuesday 5/7: One hour (1) (Didn't make it one month ... ) Sometime after midnight on Saturday 6/28: A few minutes (I reckon, as I wasn't home). Made it over a month! Around 5 or 6 pm on 7/2: about 35 minutes (lasted four days this time!).

Just a stab ala Bushisms: forensicate; "We're goin to haft'a forensicate your computer there dude to make sure it's forensically pure." Ohhhh, that's good!

Natural blonde?

They could just be poorly organized, but how many red flags do you need before you cancel?