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Monthly Archives: February 2013
Today in History – February 28
1784 – John Wesley charters the Methodist Church.
1827 – The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight. Without government funds.
1849 – Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, 4 months 21 days after leaving New York Harbor. Due to the Panama Canal being some distance in the future, this trip goes all the way around the Horn.
1933 – Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire. Generate a crisis, then use it to pass laws that shut down your opponents. Worked then. Is it working now?
1935 – DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invents nylon.
1954 – The first color television sets using the NTSC standard are offered for sale to the general public, for a mere $1,295, or $11,200 in today’s dollars.
1956 – Forrester issued a patent for computer core memory. And why did they call it ‘core’ memory? Because the data was stored as the magnetic state of tiny little ferrite donut ‘cores’, written and accessed by tiny little copper wires. Interesting stuff,that.
1993 – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group’s leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff. Is your church approved by the BATFE?
Well, that was fun!
As I indicated yesterday, I left the house at 0630 this morning eastbound, headed to our station just north of Baton Rouge. I tootled up the interstate happily, knwoing I would get there well before 1300, when we were scheduled to start discussing projects within MY purview: instrumentation and power.
At 0900 I arrived and walked in on the meeting already in progress, receiving hoots and catcalls and the obligatory ‘banker’s hours’ remarks. Seems somebody changed the order of business, and instead of breaking the meeting down by disciplines, they broke it down by stations, and I was needed for all three of the stations under discussion. I am willing to accept when **I** screw up. It’s so darned rare as to be newsworthy, you know. But when somebody else screws up, I get to give back all that’s thrown at me and then some extra.
That happened.
And for the next six hours I sat through a meeting wherein my participation was actually required for maybe fifteen minutes. Big boss was questioned about upgrading ignition controls on some of our big piston engines to the latest versions of magical microprocessor-based doomalidgies and he said “NO. The old technology is sufficient.” Started a fight.
I commented that the stuff they’re using now is waaay to advanced and maybe they oughtta go back to magnetos. I was told to play elsewhere. Then he got around to one of my projects, upgrading the lighting in the engine rooms from HID (High intensity discharge) to LED (Yeah! Magical solid state stuff). I explained the pros. HID lasts 20,000 hours, at which time it’s putting out onlyhalf the light it was when new, and LED does 100,000 hours (that’s eleven years of 24 hours a day) but in view of his attitude about engine ignition systems, maybe we ought to back up and use incandescent light bulbs. After all, they were easier to work on, even though they only lasted 750 hours. Got called an asshole. I don’t understand why.
At 1500 I was back on the road and by 1730 I was home. Lovely day.
Food for Thought – 27 February 2013
Today in History – February 27
1776 – American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia. You have to understand that there are a lot of people who will fight to keep the status quo.
1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. From that bright hope, we come to today’s “wretched hive of scum and villainy.”
1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti. This is a brilliant move. Like “night” separating from “day”.
1864 – American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
1933 – Reichstag fire: Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire. I halfway expect something of similar nature here before long. Cynical? Who, me?
1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified. If only it included Congress.
Ammo Shortage
This morning I lucked out and was able to buy several cases of ammo.
On the way home I stopped at the gas station and this drop dead gorgeous blond was filling up her car at the next pump. She looked at the ammo in the back of my car and said in a very sexy voice, “I’m a big believer in barter, big boy. Would you be interested in a trade of sex for ammo?” Continue reading Ammo Shortage
Tis’ but spring…
And dollars are in the air…
Budget time. At work, that’s the time of year where we dutifully troop around to various stations and talk with them about projects to be included in the next year’s budget. That means a bit of road time. I have a meeting north of Baton Rouge tomorrow, a mere two and a half hours driving one way, and I’m hoping that my day there will end so I don’t have to drive home in the dark. I’m salaried, so overtime doesn’t man much to me other than hours I can’t be doing other things I wish to do.
I get to sit in the meetings and listen to various ideas, some bright, some not so bright, being presented. Some of them may actually pertain to electrical power questions, and I’ll smile and nod my head purposefully, because I know who needs what, whose distribution equipment is fifty years old, whose is only thirty, and what really needs to be done.
Trouble is, my stuff is small potatoes. My biggest project last year was under a hundred and fifty thousand, and my biggest this year is less than a hundred thousand, and they’re auxiliary systems, no less.
A lot of my proposals don’t make the cut. And I smile. I don’t take this personally. It’s business. and I make my famous statement: “That’s okay. It didn’t make the budget because we didn’t have the funding. But when you lose the whole station and people start screaming, I’m just gonna pull this email up and hide behind it while we FIND the money to do it as an emergency.”
ANd yes, I’m made good on that threat a time or two. Fortunately my boss doesn’t take it personally, either.
Food for Thought – 26 February 2013
Today in History – February 26
1848 – The Second French Republic is proclaimed. The first one started with a bloodbath, went on to a dictatorship and finished as a monarchy.
1863 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law. This put us solidly on the road to a paper currency backed by the whim of banks.
1917 – The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first ever jazz record for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York. “Victrola” used to be almost synonymous with “record player”.
1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. Imagine that! A dictator with plans for increased domination ignores international treaty. I’m SOOOO glad that doesn’t happen today…
1936 – Hitler introduces Ferdinand Porsche’s “Volkswagen”, the precursor to the the VW Type 111, or “Beetle”, a particularly delightful car. I owned several.
1952 – United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
1960 – A New York bound Alitalia airliner crashed into a cemetery at Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board. Irish rescue crews recover 347 bodies.
1970 – National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation, assuring the Left of a free forum for its ideas.
1983 – Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album goes to #1 &stays #1 for 37 weeks, proving the popularity of prancing fop pedophiles.
1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand, but it’s only a law enforcement matter.
Today in History – February 25
1836 – Samuel Colt receives an American patent for the Colt revolver.
1919 – Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax. This is known as the camel’s nose under the tent…
1932 – Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident. See what happens when you work around that birth certificate thing?
1933 – The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier. Her first combat action is against the French in North Africa.
1956 – In his speech On the Personality Cult and its Consequences Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounces the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin. What!??! There are consequences to a personality cult?
The Name Game #313
Up from a low this morning of forty-four degrees, it’s forty-seven now under clear blue skies. It was nice and crisp when I walked out to collect the morning paper.
Tonight is the Academy Awards, a production that I studiously avoid each year as Hollyweird gathers for a bit of self-adulation. This year, however, is notable in that one of the nominees fits right in withe The Name Game as A child from Houma, Louisiana is nominated for Best Actress. Yep, got us little Quvenzhané Wallis. Meets all the requirements, right? Made up on the spot? Check. Contrived spelling? Check. Gratuitous punctuation? Check. And if the little darlin’ actually GETS the award, a real possibility in view of Hollyweird’s propensity towards grand gestures toward minorities to show they’re down with the struggle, then you can reasonably expect to see more of the same popping up here after tapering off a bit over the last year or so.
But I could be wrong, you know. We have yet to see a little ‘Barak’ gracing the pages of the local paper and I figured that the local diversity would be all up in that.
Let’s just jump into what we have this week:
We’ll start out with Miss LaShae(!) C. and her new son, little Aycen Ma’Khi. Hillary’s ‘village’? It’ll be raising this one.
Jason W. & Uronie(!) P. triple up with their daughter, showing flashes of European geography in the effort, giving us little Carpathia Daniella Rose. But wait! “Carpathia”? “Rose”? How many of you read those and got James Cameron and Titanic out of the mix?
Chad Y. & Christa T. are either channeling the second-worst president in recent history or they assigned their son a career path, giving us Carter Jacob.
Jeremy ‘n’ Jessica A. show their daughter, little Jaylee Renee’, with a bit of punctuation to let folks know when to stop making ‘eeeeeee’ sounds.
Another triple pops us when Wilfredo & Alona A, do a son up with John Chris Hade. Just “Hade”? Not “Hades”? “Hayd” or “Ha-day”?
Brine(!) M. & Heather C. do a daughter with Cambri Harper.
Miss Shaneeka(!) L. has plenty of room on the birth registration from since she’s not wasting space for a father’s name, so her daughter rolls out as Shakari Markia-Patrice.
Justin ‘n’ Jacquelyn T. get all tryndeigh on us with their daughter, little Aynsleigh Elizabeth.
Deven S. & Mariana S. (different last names) may be showing a favorite hobby with the name of their new daughter, little Indica Aderyn. Goggling ‘Indica’ will tell you it’s a new and popular variety of marijuana.
Another burst of tryndee comes from Justin & Christina B who show their creativity through their daughter Leylah Adalleyne, be cause more letters equals more sophistication, yaknow?
Brandon M. & Savannah L. present a son, Braxtyn Scott, because “y” is a sign of people of quality.
Dytalion(!) S. & Coleen C. perpetuate a travesty with their son, little Dytalion Travell, Jr.
Mark & Nastasstahjah (an obvious refuge from the courts of Imperial Russia!) W. tag a son withe Styles Harvey.
Barrett & Deysi(!) B. announce a son, Austin James. The son’s name isn’t bad, but seriously, “Deysi”? Wanna bet that’s pronounced “daisy’?
And that brings us to a good stopping point.
Saturday Song #70.5
Because a friend posted it on FaceBook, evoking long memories of Saturday afternoons in faraway lands, eyes closed, thinking of home. Arlo Guthrie and “City of New Orleans”:
Saturday Song #70
Let’s do some more piano, okay? We’ll slip forward a couple of hundred years from the magic of Mozart and show up in the early 20th century. Let’s do a little Scott Joplin, with sprightly ragtime. This one, The Entertainer, hit the the American ear anew with its inclusion as the theme of a movie, The Sting, in 1973. I never saw the movie. It contains the abhorrent Robert Redford. the music, however… Here’s a shot:
But while we’re on piano and 20th century music, I have to toss a bit of Louisiana’s own Jerry Lee Lewis:
(The piano at 2:05 is indescribable)
Today in History – February 23
1455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed from movable type. Printed in Mainz, Germany, where I was stationed 1974-77. They have the Gutenberg Museum, with an original Gutenberg bible as one of many interesting displays.
1778 – American Revolution: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army. This is regarded as the birth of the drill sergeant.
1836 – The Battle of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas. Sometimes you have to fight, knowing that you might lose…
1847 – Mexican-American War: Battle of Buena Vista – In Mexico, American troops under General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna. If we’d have hanged him after we captured him following the Battle of San Jacinto, we could have saved a lot of trouble. The guy was a murderous thug.
1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States “in perpetuity”.
1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a commonly forgotten U.S. Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag.
1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh. Polio was the big “scare” disease when I was a kid. You seldom hear of it today.