Fish Fear Me

One Down

This was the raised flower bed in my front yard at about 5:00 PM this afternoon:

I removed a timber before I remembered to do a "before" pic. I thought about putting it back, but I figured you all would understand. Those landscape timbers were weathered when I bought the place 21 years ago and they were getting rotten enough that I should have replaced them last year. I just couldn't deal with it after the hand surgery though, and so I kind of propped up the worst of it and moved on. I picked up new landscape timbers today though, and this is where I left it as both the light and I started to fade tonight:

As you can see, the new bed is not quite as wide as the old one. I was going to offset the timbers but I decided to keep at least 4' for inner width since it was already a foot thinner than I was used to. I'll finish turning the bed tomorrow and probably will take another wheelbarrow of dirt out of it before I'm done. Long-term I think I really want to do something with stone for this bed. I looked at stuff at Lowe's and Home Depot and nothing really looked right to me so I decided to just get it cleaned up for now. If I replace the timbers in a few years it's not like it was a big investment at a little under $2 per 8 footer. 

Not bad for an evening's work, eh?

Update: Below the fold, the finished product ready for planting.

Hurry!

It's not raining, so no time to blog. To the yard! To the yard!

Memorial Day

I'm very sympathetic to Walter Russell Mead's perspective here, but I think it is a battle best fought the other 364 days each year:

After the Vietnam war, a divisive conflict that tore this country apart and failed to prevent Communist triumph in Vietnam and genocide in Cambodia, the country groped its way toward a compromise way to remember the dead and honor the veterans.  Regardless of the merits of the war, those who did honorable service in it or laid down their lives at their country’s call, deserve our respect and our thanks.

That was better than nothing, and a way to reduce the damage that the memory of Vietnam did in the US long after the shooting stopped; there are signs that we are aiming to repeat a compromise of that kind when it comes to the war in Iraq.  Those who opposed the war and those who supported it can unite in tribute to the loyalty, the courage and the sacrifice of those who served there.

That is something, but it is not enough.  The Americans who served, suffered and died in Iraq — and who still serve there today — changed the world and won a great and a difficult victory.  No account of their service, no commemoration of the dead that ignores or conceals this vital truth is enough.

Even though I mostly agree with the above, I strongly disagree with some of the assertions that Mead makes to get to that conclusion. That just goes to show how fractured and raw people are on that subject. 

By all means let the arguments rage the rest of the year, but on Memorial Day I suggest that we all take a cease-fire in place, wherever that may be in any given year.

One Year

Today marks the one year anniversary of my last cigarette. I still get the craving once in a while and every so often I will have a very life-like dream that I started again, but so far I've able to resist. Those have become rare enough now that they aren't really a problem. I think I can stay an ex-smoker at this point.  Now, about all of this weight that I've put on...

Sunday Stuff

I hope you are having a good Memorial Day weekend. It's been a bit soggy so far here and tomorrow still has a good chance for thunderstorms as well. I'm trying to get a few things done so that maybe I can take some time on Tuesday for gardening work. Perhaps some stuff will get planted tomorrow, but I'm starting to feel under the gun now.

I ripped on the Twins Friday night, so naturally they played a pretty good game against the Angels last night. Well, starting pitcher Anthony Swarzak pitched a great game giving up only one hit and no runs through eight innings. The rest of the Twins did what they were supposed to do and didn't screw it up. They also did bang out four singles in the tenth to score a run and end the game. That's good because Angels starter Jared Weaver also pitched a great game and kept the Twins at bay until they could get at the Angels bullpen. It was a good game and the first that I have been able to watch from start to finish this year since it was one of the prime time games on FOX last night.

Did a wiener named Weiner act like a wiener and tweet a link to a somewhat naughty pic? I have no idea and only care to the extent that it embarrasses a man who could be the poster child for "civility bullshit." Others do care though, and are asking tough questions. So far it appears that the New York Democrat is stiffing them.

Unexpectedly!

Which raises some questions. As Instapundit reader Gordon Stewart, quoted by Reynolds on May 17, put it, "How many times in a row can something happen unexpectedly before the experts start to, you know, expect it? At some point, shouldn't they be required to state the foundation for their expectations?"

One answer is that many in the mainstream media have been cheerleading for Barack Obama. They and he both naturally hope for a strong economic recovery. After all, Obama can't keep blaming the economic doldrums on George W. Bush forever.

At this point, attaching "unexpectedly" to any piece of bad economic news is sure to elicit a grim chuckle from me. I think most in the mainstream media truly believe in the economic policies of the Obama administration and are genuinely puzzled that they aren't working, hence the "unexpected." What would truly be unexpected is if those journalists finally get the hint after two years and start critiquing those policies.

Some good, or at least better, news: Gas prices are at $3.75 here today. A week ago I paid $3.95. At least it is headed in the right direction for now. If you disagree, please don't tell me. :)

More: Rep. Weiner's office is beginning to erect a defense:

"I did not have tweetual relations with that woman."

Or something.

Team Candy Ass Befuddledbunch

When the Minnesota Twins announced that they were ending the last of their local TV game broadcasts I was angry and disappointed. So much so that I decided not to get invested in this season as a fan and I would spend my time, energy, and money elsewhere. The way the season has gone so far, I now think I owe that decision-maker a big thank you.

The Twins are 16-32 going into this weekend's series at home against the Angels. That's the worst record in baseball and no surprise when your team produces the fewest runs in the AL, gives up the most runs in the AL, and has the fewest putouts in the AL. In short, they suck.

The party line is that injuries, bad luck, and a slow start from some key players is what ails the team. My diagnosis is much shorter: No heart, no guts, no brains.

The team didn't get that way overnight. Looking back you can see the signs though. The strangely passive way the coaches and manager handled the players over the last few years, as if their bodies and their egos couldn't really handle the rigors of a full baseball season. We were always told that it's to save the players so they have something left for the playoffs, but then those very same players never come up with the clutch plays when it counts. 

Look at the M and M boys. Justin Morneau missing in action because of injuries for both of the last two post-seasons. Joe Mauer went 3 for 12 last post-season against the Yankees with no runs, no RBIs. This year, the $23 million man has been missing in action after only nine games because of some ailment that still hasn't been fully explained. Unless there were complications, the arthroscopic knee surgery he underwent in December should not be the issue unless the rehab was screwed up, and nobody is incompetent enough to do that with a $23 million player, right? Where are you Joltin' Joe?

But it goes way beyond those two and their lack of dedication and leadership. Most managers would have infielder Alexi Casilla's head mounted on their office wall by now. Ditto for head case pitcher Kevin Slowey and maybe the rest of a once promising young rotation. Instead the Twins have a manager and coaching staff who cannot discipline or motivate their players to step up when the going gets tough. Manager Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson may have the brains but they do not have the attitude necessary to succeed in their positions in the major leagues. And let's not forget a front office that forgot to sign an infield in the off season.

Incompetence from the front office, manager, and coaches across the board plus a complete lack of guts and heart from the players has created the disaster that is this season. 

Thank goodness I've only read about it in the papers. If I had been wasting my Sunday afternoons watching that crap I would really be angry. I can only imagine how the people who shelled out thousands on season tickets feel. 

I did not just giggle!

MMR Blues

This is a disappointing thing to read regarding a recent measles outbreak that included cases in Minnesota:

The largest outbreak occurred among 21 persons in a Minnesota population in which many children were unvaccinated because of parental concerns about the safety of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. That outbreak resulted in exposure to many persons and infection of at least seven infants too young to receive MMR vaccine.(emphasis mine)

When I was a kid it was not only for your own good to get vaccinated, it was practically your patriotic duty. I mean, it seemed there was something of a Cold War vibe to the fight against disease. Beating polio, or smallpox, or measles was almost as important as victory over the Soviets. At least it seemed that way to me. Given the number of personal stories of how this or that disease had taken one distant relative or another I'm not surprised. To top it off, back then a much older cousin stayed with us for a while to have surgery at the "U" to fix the effects of childhood polio on one leg.

So many people used to live in terror of so many diseases and nowadays we don't even have to give them a second thought as long as we take advantage of the gifts that are right at our feet. To not do so for oneself strikes me as foolish. To not do so for one's child strikes me as neglect. To not do so and have you or your child then infect a little baby strikes me as a sin.

Ladies And Gentlemen, The Rev. Bill McKibben

Please stand for The Gospel:

"Yea, I sayeth unto you that when it is hot it is the Climate Change and when it is bitterly cold it is the Climate Change. And when it is wet it is the Climate Change and when it is dry it is the Climate Change. When it is stormy it is the Climate Change and when it is too calm to drive the holy wind turbines, that is the Climate Change too. Unto thee all that is evil is spawned from the Climate Change. Cast out the deniers among you and give to us your freedom and your standard of living so we may fight the evil of Climate Change. Let us pray."

Waste Not, Want Not

A beard is entirely a seasonal thing for me as long as I don't count a few summer days of not shaving while up north sometimes. This most definitely is not the season, so I was reading this paragraph without serious interest until I got to the last line:

Budweiser is asking adult men across America to help save one million gallons of water by not shaving in the days and weeks leading up to World Environment Day (June 5).  As part of Budweiser's ongoing commitment to water conservation, the Grow One. Save a Million. program allows consumers to get involved and save roughly 5 gallons of water for each shave they skip.*

Wait a minute, 5 gallons per shave? That seems like a whole bunch of water to me. How do they figure that? I'm not sure of the source, but they get to that by claiming "The average shave uses 3-10 gallons of water." 

Really? I'm thinking a comfortable shave should use no more than 1.5 gallons and believe me, I'm no eco-freak about using water. I don't want to waste it either though, so even 3 gallons seems excessive. I don't need that much water to:

1. Wet my face.
2. Lather it.
3. Put an inch or two of water in the sink.
4. Shave, periodically rinsing the razor in the sink water.
5. Drain the sink and rinse my face, the razor, and the sink.

Now if that takes more than 1.5 to 2 gallons you're either shaving Mt. Rushmore or doing it wrong. What do you bet the 5 gallons or more are guys who leave the water running while they are shaving?

Boys, boys, boys. Even if you want to rinse directly under the tap, don't leave it running while the razor is going over your face. My advice is skip the gimmick of saving 5 gallons of water for a week or two and save 3-10 every day by not just running water down the drain.

Clueslessness Is As Clueslessness Does

I always get a kick out of people who, in the process of ripping on somebody else as stupid, commit their own blatant bit of stupidity. Today's example is provided by Faiz Shakir of Think Progress(aka The Temple of Clueslessness):

Cain is going to have to do better if he is going to be taken as a serious candidate and some constructive criticism is in order, but I'm not going to buy into the hysterical and hypocritical(he would never hold Obama to the same rhetorical standards), not to mention clueless, rantings of Faiz Shakir.