Saturday, July 14, 2012

UPDATING MY STATEMENTS FROM THE ARIZONA AND SCOTTSDALE REPUBLICS


The following are comments I made during 2012 in the Sunday Arizona Republic feature “Plugged-In” and to the Scottsdale Republic for their “Saturday Soundoff” feature.  Following each comment is a current update.

From 5-17-2012:  What is it about academics that some Scottsdale School Board members don’t understand?  There is a proposal being debated that students should have to maintain a 2.0 grade average to participate in extracurricular activities like sports.   A 2.0 equals “C” which is “fair” and isn’t asking too much.  Currently, ”D” (poor) will suffice which even shocks many parents.  Those supporting “D” have their heads in the sand.  Extracurricular activities are a reward for decent grades and indicate maturity on the part of the student.  High school goes by quickly and a transcript full of “D’s” will get the student nowhere.  (Update:  The Scottsdale School Board recently saw the light and decided that a 2.0 average will be mandatory for student participation in extracurricular activities.)

April 29, 2012:  I had to make sure I wasn’t reading the April fool’s day edition of the Republic this morning when I saw a blurb in the Business section about Starbucks.  Apparently, they have been using a red dye in their drinks derived from crushed bugs!  After feedback from customers was negative, they decided to reformulate the dye using a tomato based extract.  Really?  I wonder how the millions of Starbucks’ customers feel now that they know their expensive red drinks contained the juice of beetles.  Will this hurt Starbucks business?  Maybe.  Are the Tully’s stores celebrating?  Yes!  (Update:  Not long after the report on bug juice was made public, Starbucks stopped using it.  Gee!  Really?)

March 4, 2012:  I know some things about young partiers:  they like to drink cheap, drink early, act immature, are not very profitable, and will depart an entertainment area as soon as something new comes along.   In the Scottsdale Downtown entertainment district, at least one club owner knows that the latter two items are true.  Hence, he will be offering live indoor entertainment in an effort to attract a “stable, older” audience.  I’m sure the “stable, older” neighbors living in the area are happy and hoping that a precedent has been set so they can at least reclaim some of their serenity.  (Update:  The beat goes on in Downtown Scottsdale as plans are being carried out to further expand the younger mentality drinking spots.  I have said that when the beach club fad wears out, there will be a ghost town in Scottsdale.  I’ve seen it in other places.  Those businesses are dealing with a fickle crowd that will move on to the next “cool” thing. 

May 29, 2012:  I understand the frustration of having inebriated people stumbling out of the bars during the evening and at closing time but is having a tower with spotlights going to solve anything?  It seems like a Stalag 17 mindset with lights combing the area to catch those heading for the escape tunnel.  How about taking the police off the tower and have them walking a beat watching for the drunks.  Does Scottsdale have an old fashioned “paddy wagon”?  If so, load up the extra snockered boozers and take them to the cooler for the night.  They’ll learn a valuable lesson there.  (Update:  Even though Scottsdale police are frustrated with the drunken behavior in the Downtown entertainment area, it appears that the surveillance tower idea will be shelved for now.  No word yet on my idea of the paddy wagon!

LEFT:  They're young and cute but can they sign their names?

January 17, 2012:  Some school kids are no longer being taught the importance of cursive writing.  Several modern teachers think it is too “old fashioned.”  They say printing can take the place of cursive.  It can?  Can you imagine not being able to sign your name?  What would John Hancock say about that?  As far as spelling correctly, there is computer spell check to save kids.  I wonder if they even take spelling tests anymore.  With texting so popular in their minds “you” is “u”, “great” is “gr8”, and “some” is “sum”.  When you only get 140 characters, I guess you have to improvise, right?   (Update:  This is a trend that will probably not be reversed.  I remember learning to write and print.  Apparently the former is being phased out.   I realize that times change but I can’t comprehend a world where people can’t sign their names.  Will kids now ignore some great signatures of the past like John Hancock?  I hope not.

113 comments:

Glo, The Ancient One said...

Personally, I think to play sports/extracurricular activities you should have a 'B' average, but I guess that would end most such endeavors ... What the H@ELL happened to the concept of academic excellence in educational institutions??? I remember coming home from school with a B+ and my mom asked why it wasn't an 'A.' She knew I could do better, and so did I, and I did, because that was the point of getting an education.

I know: I'm showing my advanced age ...

Rick Kepple said...

Why is it necessary for you to update your comments? Why not write entirely new comments?

This fella moved to Arizona and he wrote on Facebook that I'd written about thim in a negative manner about a month ago. He was also accusing me of being paranoid, which I thought was redundant.

So I went back on pages and pages of posts and finally I found what he was talking about. The guy had written about HIMSELF. It was his comment about himself.

But unless you're updating information, there's never any reason to rewrite somethiung to suit another person's complaining. I've done it on azcentral, but I was on morphine and not in my right thinking of mind.

I wish they had an app to reach through the computer and bitch-slap a guy. Some people couldn't ever get near their laptops again!

Rick Kepple said...

What the hell is Google doing? I got a message about something concerning 'editing my comments to reduce the number of comments.' It's not like it's on paper.

5-17. Sorry, been canning all day and just scanned through the well written blog, Jim. Good job. I agree on the 2.0 minimum, but I’d like to see more programs for autism, aspbergers, the geniuses from impoverished families need to be fully exploited and the parents sign a contract that the kid will be sent to a school where they can learn as well as behave. As for the others, shovel class is pass or fail.
4-29. Corporations are slipping us carminic acid secreted from the female cochineal, a parasitic insect from South America and Mexico. Carminic acid is mixed with calcium salts or aluminum to make the dye, Carmine. It’s used in a variety of red and pink foods. You can make Carmine at home by killing bugs, drying them out, boil them in ammonia, add some sodium carbonate solution, then filter the insoluble matter, alum is added to clear the salt, red aluminum salt called “Carmine Lake” or “Crimson Lake,” is added. You can read all about it on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine

3-4. Gawd Jim, you can’t hardly compare the partying we did in the old days compared to these young whipper snappers and their “bath salts.”

5-29. (you’re out of chronological order) Don’t need a surveillance tower, Jim. They have drones the size of a model plane now. I met a guy who builds them for the militias. Put a little bitty camera inside of a little bitty plane for less than ten thousand dollars. A tower will cost more than a drone. Scottsdale can pay for it by filming the drunks with the camera and putting out a video of Scottsdale police and all that. They can promote it and sell videos to advertise the legitimacy of drones. Hot bad, drunken babes paying for the entire program. Funny.

1-17. I can’t write well. I have to print. When I was a kid, I had horrible handwriting. It’s much worse now. I can type 70 words a minute on a Natural keyboard and my hands are too big for laptop keyboards, much less a cellphone. Those kids writing in code will mean fewer writers and less competition.

I guess I'm commenting too much. Well Jim, it must be a privacy thing on Google. Have a good day. I worked very hard on this comment while preserving food. My actual real life friends are asking me what to buy to prepare for the eventual collapse when nothing is working. But I don't want to take up more comment space or bore you with it. Middy can tell you too.

Rick Kepple said...

Nevermind. I accidentally pushed the bottom button instead of the comment button. Well, I figured they were going the way of Facebook.

Jim McAllister said...

Hi, Jim.

From Mike M.

You can forget cursive writing . . . it's about to go the way of hieroglyphics. Hell, in a generation, everything'll be electronic anyhow, so spelling will be no problem -- spellcheck everyhwere!

What'll be a tragedy is if we keep cranking out kids who can't think for themselves . . .

Jim McAllister said...

From: Uremus

I have not been disturbed over the past few years as I see more and more reductions in the education our kids receive......I have been thoroughly pissed...and especially alarmed at the near absence of education in history, math, geography and civics. It is not relegated to spelling or cursive writing or the english language. (note...I did not capitalize "english" as many of todays kids do...as do their teachers).

Im pissed rather than disturbed because they are increasingly indoctrinated instead of educated in our schools...including most colleges and universities.

Jim McAllister said...

From Uremus

Oh, yeah...forgot to add that in our day, school "extra-curricula" activities like band or sports, to name only two, were a reward for maintaining an acceptable grade average....it was not unusual in my day that the best athlete was pulled from the team ... including practice....until his/her grades were raised to acceptable levels....normally, a minimum "C-".

CJinPhoenix said...

Here's the thing that I don't get: You see the value of learning to write & read & do arithmetic at an above average level ... But you do not see the value of utilizing those skills in a work place to an extent that there are enough jobs to employ everybody who needs & wants to work? Houston, we have a problem. I am referring back to this comment you made the other day: "If large or small businesses fail because of ineptitude or being out of date, they will go under and rightly so." And I am assuming you were including whole industries like, for instance, printing which used employ a lot of people but in which employment has dropped off dramatically in a wide variety of ways with no replacement.

You need to think the whole concept thru, Jim. Aside from the fact that all that education is futile if there are not enough jobs to go around after graduation, it is actually also very dangerous. I mean, knowledge is power. Therefore, if you want to create a huge underclass, you really shouldn't want them to be well educated too.

Other than that I agree with you. I really believe that we should teach kids to do the work before we put shiny new computers in their dull little hands to do all the work for them. And that is exactly why cursive is going the way of the printing press. Shoot, you do not hardly even need to know how to really type anymore because all you need to know is how to text & how to slide stuff around on a screen & all that can be done very quickly using just the thumb & index finger.

Another thing: we are very, very, very vulnerable because of our nearly complete dependence on computers & the internet nowadays.

Rick Kepple said...

"we are very, very, very vulnerable because of our nearly complete dependence on computers & the internet nowadays."

CJ's right. There is so much dependence on electronics and our society is flying high with the help of everything from a cell phone in your ear to a city completely dependent on computers. Grandma always said to never put all your eggs in one basket - meaning that kids need to know how to use a pencil. One day, there may be entire schools set up around the pencil. Sort of a retro trendy thing.

Rick Kepple said...

The DNC called me yesterday asking me to volunteer. The guy acted like he was attached to a script and could not sway from that whatsoever. A robot. He couldn't even answer if he knew who I was or just a random computerized call. I finally told him that I couldn't help him.

I think, therefore I am. Perhaps the government would wish that we just do as the computers tell us we can do.

midnightsstaff said...

you get those calls because you are a registered democrat... no registered anything else gets em.

My devil's advocate hat requires I point out the fact that I can't read my doctor's script handwriting.
... so what is your point again?

America like Europe has just rejected over two hundred years of hybridization of the species which is what education actually is, the intentional and positive act of elimination of ignorance and replaced it with forty years of feel good social experimentation.. as a result we are seeing the results of the orchestrated compelling of natural ignorance back into our society - actually what we are noticing is the return of a devolved society marked by tribalism, ignorance and well deserved mistrust of our fellow man.

Pedigreed animals are the result of intellectual manipulation, put all those pedigrees in a back yard with no supervision and watch the species return to a wolf like creature in a year or so without the natural cunning required for survival..

Just keep in mind there is a very effective solution for our social security and medicare crisis... and I think you know what it is.

Yeah I know it's cynical but I always get cynical on Sunday morning...

CJinPhoenix said...

I believe that scripts were deliberately scribbled in a certain way so they would be harder to forge & easier to prove fake if one did slip past a trained pharmacist or pharmacist's assistant. So what is your point indeed. But even this is quickly going the way of the printing press: Nowadays, doctors are submitting prescriptions electronically, while pharmacists & pharmacist assistants now nearly all work for large corporate chains &, more often than not, there is an insurance company working in the middle to spot suspicious scripts.

Like many other modern conditions, the overall impact of this on the middle class has been: the loss of decent paying jobs & the loss of quality of those jobs that remain. I mean, think about it. Nowadays, there are more lowly assistants than there are actual pharmacists & they both interact with masses of people as little more than production workers & cashiers to rake in the profit for a corporation. And that is just one little niche.

Shoot, I could go on & on with this tangent. I won't, though, unless you really want to argue it.

midnightsstaff said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClGCGyKV_Co&feature=player_embedded#!

Anyone believing a word fools like Maddow and Mahr regurgitate must have an extremely low IQ... there is no other way to see it.
it's embarrassing to listen to them act like they have no real idea of the issue, and then tell everyone that Republicans of old were reasonable..
Yeah, I have noticed that when you cave in every opportunity you get, your enemies will like it.

even Mort Zuckerman who is absolutely worthless couldn't believe their line of reasoning.

So all I take away is they are actually too stupid to understand the issue.

Christ Cj it was a gotcha joke I was playing on Jim!- so no I don't want to argue defending a joke I made with you today by pointing out a popular shibboleth that doctors can't write.

...you are never going to wake up it appears and one thing we all agree on is that attitude you entertain will certainly keep anyone right where they are.. broke, in debt and powerless.

Jim McAllister said...

Glo,

"B" would be nice but for some of the kids it would be really tough to make. At least with a "C" they can be considered "fair" which I can accept. But, "D" is ridiculous; if they are doing "poor" they need to concentrate more on their studies and put extracurricular stuff off until they re-arrange their priorities.

The crazy thing is that a lot of parents thought "D" was fine. They need to take a step back and realize the foolishness of their thinking. Once these kids are out of school and real life kicks in, they better be better than "poor" when facing real life.

Jim McAllister said...

Rick,

Updates are common in the news business. If "60 Minutes" can do it, so can I.

Jim McAllister said...

Rick,

Since I was dealing with two sources of comments ("Plugged-In" and "Scottsdale Soundoff")I wasn't concerned with chronology.

You're right about the partiers now and when we partied. Downtown Scottsdale has become a real drunk haven with pukers, etc.

It seems like everyone has to go off the deep end today.

Jim McAllister said...

Mike,

Now I know how the fountain pen manufacturers felt when Bic jumped in the writing business.

I remember my dad hated ball point pens. I used a Parker 51 pen through high school. I had to keep a bottle of ink in my locker.

Jim McAllister said...

Uremus,

Indoctrination does seem typical now. We were just given facts and the ability to form our own opinions.

I don't hear of kids taking Civics, American History, etc. anymore. Are those courses even offered?

Jim McAllister said...

Uremus,

Absolutely, "C" was the minimum when I was in high school and, like you, I saw kids suspended until they attained that level.

Jim McAllister said...

CJ,

"If large or small businesses fail because of ineptitude or being out of date, they will go under and rightly so." And I am assuming you were including whole industries like, for instance, printing which used employ a lot of people but in which employment has dropped off dramatically in a wide variety of ways with no replacement.

There have been no replacements for the old fashioned methods of printing? I'm no expert on the subject but printing has to be a necessity for businesses. What about laser printers and the fancy stuff done by UPS and FedEx stores? Someone has to do that.

There is no question that some jobs become obsolete in any business. I'm sure the guys who ran those old linotype printers in the newspaper business either got retrained or changed professions.

It's not much different from the days of streetcars when there was a driver and a conductor to collect the money. Some genius invented the cashbox and that was the end of conductor jobs.

Jim McAllister said...

Rick,

If I was in the pencil or pen business, I would be worried.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

Good analogy. There is reason to be cynical.

Jim McAllister said...

CJ, Middy.

Could you guys take it outside Tuesday and do it after we eat those great burgers.

Whose turn is it to bring the gloves?

Jim McAllister said...

From: Joe Finnerty

Yuth’s have a right to get drunk ‘cause it’s a rite of passage and sides witch they can’t spell ‘cause the can’t write cursively, but they certainly can curse, and that helps ‘em score on and off the field, ain’t that rite, officer. Ubet.

Jim McAllister said...

Joe,

Absalootly! LOL

Things sure were simpler in our day! We just did as we were told and somehow made it through life.

StillStealth said...

Glo - you are not showing your advanced age (re: having a B average to participate in extracurricular sports/activities). You are showing your advanced COMMON SENSE.

Extracurricular aside, the expectations in this household are A's, an occasional B is okay, and a C means no computers/ipods/t.v./video games until the grade improves. That said, I also know when my kids are trying their hardest and a C is acceptable because some subjects just aren't as easy as others (foreign language comes to mind).

But a "D"? That's laughable. Public education has made it near impossible for a kid to earn a D, which is the grade a kid gets when they make no effort whatsoever. Flunking kids is no longer politically correct (and we don't say "flunking" anymore - we say "held back" lol).

I'm glad to know that the school board was actually smart on this one.

StillStealth said...

Jim, I'm ambivalent on the cursive writing topic. I think kids should be taught to write, but not sure how much emphasis should be placed on "perfect" letter formation.

I had to take a typing class in 10th grade. Now, kids have computer labs starting in 6th grade, but even those classes are becoming ineffective because too much emphasis is placed on programs the kids have been using since elementary. If they want computer labs to be relevant, they need to teach Excel spreadsheet basics, Publisher, and website-making basics.

We are never going to go back to stone engraving, nor are we going back to IBM Selectric typewriters, nor will students have to suffer through handwriting a 10-page report complete with footnotes. I don't know about you, but I would have loved to have had access to Microsoft Word with spell check, thesaurus and freedictionary.com when I was writing (in ink) 10 page reports and re-writing pages when I found a misspelled word or two.

That said, writing is not the problem. Spelling, grammar, and basic communication skills are severely lacking. Spell check won't catch their/there/they're problems. It also won't tell you when you've used "mute" but should have used "moot."

Rick Kepple said...

you get those calls because you are a registered democrat... no registered anything else gets em.

There is no such thing as a Registered Democrat or Republican in Missouri. But now I feel bad for not supporting McCaskill since she got a plan passed in the Senate and the House for hiring veterans in the government to bypass certification requirements, if a vet already has the training. Cool. Would that be official or classified training?

An hour long segment on ESPN of the fight of the century! First CJ draws a line in the sand and Middy spits across it. Then CJ pushes Middy and he follows with two quick jabs, CJ blocks and lays him out with a wicked upper cut! First round knockout in just 15 seconds! We now break to Madge With Sewing. This week, Madge will show you how to create button holes.

CJ Phoenix said...

"There have been no replacements for the old fashioned methods of printing? I'm no expert on the subject but printing has to be a necessity for businesses. What about laser printers and the fancy stuff done by UPS and FedEx stores? Someone has to do that." No, Jim, the jobs are largely not coming back. Many offices & whole fields are going "paperless" -- in other words, electronic -- and the few remaining necessity items can often be printed on your own hardware. BTW, those Kinkos that share space with FedEx can barely even be called printers. And nowadays even those have gone largely do-it-yourself with a few pimply faced kids making barely more than minimum wage taking the few real orders that come thru the door & producing what used to take a whole prepress department, at least one decent paid press operator, then a bindery department to make on a fancy ass copier instead. Sometimes Kinkos also hires an unhappy old guy who makes just enough each year so his SS doesn't get docked too. But he is just there to make sure that people don't steal the equipment or destroy the machines out of frustration when things don't work as they should.

I did retrain. Now where are all those jobs? I am starting to feel very old suddenly & it is beginning to feel like a disability. I mean, christ, I even got asked by one potential employer how I could possibly for a manager who is younger than me. Not to mention the fact that I have to stand in line for every interview that I ever manage to get. This is not the same world that you worked in, Jim.

And, yeah, don't worry about me & middy. Just another Sunday, that's all.

CJ Phoenix said...

Did I forget to mention that I recently discovered a lot of the 'gravy work' that used to keep shops going between the fancier jobs is now being done by convicts? I mean, real convicts doing hard time and they are working for pennies.

Rick Kepple said...

Is my name in the news or something? How come strangers are telling me how great I am?

Rick Kepple said...

I think it has something to do with, "Tanner the Wonder Pup." It's a dog that is getting experimental spinal treatment in Colorado. The dog is from Missouri and is staying in Colorado, a person from Texas donated the wheelchair so the dog can walk with its front legs and I post something now and then. Maybe she got funding or something.

Rick Kepple said...

Well CJ, you could specialize and start your own business. You could get the printing equipment to make books and go into the publishing business. There are people paying to have their work published and don't worry about warehouses. You can do, Print on Demand, as the job calls for it. Kinkos and UPS stores can only do spiral binding. You need to get the real book binding. Heck, go leather. Real fancy stuff. Anyway, you might think about something like this. There are other people who don't like digital books. If you do a really nice job, you could justify the high cost of your work and you are in Scottsdale, right? Or near it? You might even talk to some store to see if you can sell books in there. The chains won't let you do it, but I'll bet you can make some money if you don't warehouse anything. Print on demand.

Jim McAllister said...

Stealth,

The funny thing is that some parents thought that "D" was acceptable for kids to still take part in extracurricular stuff. That's hard to believe with Scottsdale as it is so ridiculous.

I didn't get a lot of A's in B's in school except in subjects like American Government, American and World History, Social Studies, etc.

I hated math and flunked Algebra, retook it in summer school, got a mercy "D" then flunked Plane Geometry. That was the end of my math career. I don't think I was necessarily dumb; I just didn't put forth much of an effort since I thought it was so dry and boring. I was fine in general math which is all I have ever needed.

It was ind of weird in the sense that I was so good in history, geography, government; so much so that my sophomore World History teacher had me stand in front of the class one day and told the rest of the class that I was her "Star pupil." LOL

Then, the bell would ring and I would go to Algebra and become the dumbest ass in the school.

Ah, the fun of youth and growing up. It's great to reflect on but sure seemed screwy at the time.

Jim McAllister said...

Stealth,

Maybe it's because penmanship, reading, and spelling were so important when I was in school that I hate to see them lose emphasis.

I was a great speller and loved spelling tests because I always aced them. I took pride in penmanship too: I actually studied those big alphabet letters in 1st grade that were hung around the room. LOL

I loved to read out loud to the class too. It amazed me that some kids were so poor at reading while I loved showing off at it. Unfortunately, when we got to math class, they usually evened the score! Oops!

Jim McAllister said...

CJ,

We should be able to have a good conversation Tuesday on the job subject. I'm sure Middy will have plenty of input.

CJinPhoenix said...

No, Rick, I do not live in Scottsdale. And I am not sure if they have taken the wanted posters down ... Just kidding. I can actually blend in out there as long as I stay towards the south end & keep my mouth shut.

StillStealth said...

Jim, there's no doubt that some brains are geared for languages, literature or history and others are better at the sciences and mathematics. That's why I cut my daughter a lot of slack when it came to her Spanish class. Not having an interest to begin with combined with a less than adequate teacher (I'm being kind here) set her up for failure but she stayed after school for tutoring and tried her best. She ended the year with a 79% and I was thrilled! LOL.

A good teacher versus a great teacher can make all the difference too. I was good at algebra but geometry? Not for me! Fortunately, I had an excellent teacher who went out of her way to help me out and I went from a D mid-term to a B at the end of the year. That B was hard earned, trust me. But it was my teacher who made me want to bring that grade up. I got a C in P.E. that year. LOL. I hated P.E. Never could understand why it was a graded class. We had to make up gymnastics routines (puhlease). I guess my C (average) was well-deserved. I'm no doubt very average when it comes to athletics!

midnightsstaff said...

this is Sunday?- are you sure??

The best thing a kid can get from an education is a curiosity about a lot of subjects, a liberal arts education wasn't always like today's liberal arts education is..
it meant something.

Good teachers are the ones that can spark curiosity about subjects, I had two failures at Poly Science and really didn't think the third time would be the charm but the approach was different and something clicked.

Ha.. wealth is not always gotten through education, one of the richest guys I knew was in the exotic plant business, he had all the major malls wrapped up in Orange Co. and drove a pickup that I was embarrassed to be seen in- but he had a yacht, four houses on Newport and a condo in Maui.
not bad for a self made guy, he was smart and able to recognize opportunity when he saw it.

Times are indeed tough, and they are going to be much tougher before this thing is settled.. an election is a good start but it alone will not turn this barge around.

A couple of magical days eh?- yesterday I was in Gilbert where it rained as hard as I have seen it rain in Arizona and then today it tore the seis-dos-tres a new one.

I was a bit late unfurling my sails so to speak..
I ended out there pulling the sunscreen panels down in a forty mph rain storm...
but it's all back together and a beautiful evening to enjoy, gotta love this state.

Jim McAllister said...

CJ,

Don't take anything for granted when you hear about those wanted posters being gone in Scottsdale. They are still there.

Jim McAllister said...

Still,

That is soooooo true about the teacher making a difference. I wonder how many kids over the years hated a certain subject that may have otherwise liked if they had a different teacher. That 79% your daughter got sounds pretty good under the circumstances.

I've taken Spanish and French and didn't mind foreign languages. It helped my French in that my mother was French-Canadian so I heard a lot of it as a kid. I still carry a French dictionary and fool around with it.

As bad as I did in geometry, I can still remember what a parallelogram and a trapezoid are. Maybe it's because they are cool sounding words.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

As usual, we didn't get much heavy weather here. Then, I look in the paper today and roads are washed out, there are mudslides, and trees are uprooted.

I always admired guys like the one you mentioned who had no education but was a born businessman. School is fine and you can learn a lot of multi syllable words in school but when it comes down to reality, a lot of success comes from common sense and a good work ethic.

I'm glad I graduated from college AFTER the military. I've known guys who get their degree and think they are too good to do anything that requires getting their hands dirty.

I never had that mindset: In the grocery peddling business I built lots of displays and installed fixtures with my tie flapping in the breeze and was glad to do it because it meant more credibility to my customers and more commission checks for me.

It's all about the bucks!

Rick Kepple said...

CJ, I know what you mean about Scottsdale. It's an intimidating burg. They have mansion improvement stores, not home improvement stores! LOL

CJ on a wanted poster? That's sexy as hell CJ! I want an autographed copy!

I need more coffee. I'm not awake yet.

Jim McAllister said...

Rick,

We have no mansion improvement stores; zoning won't allow it. That type of work is all imported.

The same goes for rainwater. It's illegal for storms to come to Scottsdale but we have drainage set up so after the storms destroy the other parts of town, we get all the water drained into our reservoirs.

It's a nice set-up. The rich win again.

midnightsstaff said...

It's illegal to collect rainwater anyway.. the government now controls our water...get up with the times Jim.

I got away easy on that storm, it tore down my sunshade on the balcony and played hobb with the hummingbird feeder but really didn't do much more damage than that..

It was not anything like the east coast had a week or so ago..

A nation of children riding through life on the short bus of liberal anticipation unaware of the impending disaster one sunspot storm would create...

http://modernsurvivalblog.com/solar-cycle/solar-superstorm-1859-it-can-happen-again/

.."Early the following morning, much of the world was witnessing a massive and tremendously bright display of the aurora, even at latitudes in the tropics. During the same time, telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed while spraying out sparks from telegraph poles and igniting widespread fires.
The telegraph system was the only high technology of that day, archaic by today’s standards, and it was brought down by an invisible force from the sun".

wonder what the global warming trolls will have to say about this when it happens.. as it will, and we realize we will then have to spend a few years trapped in a urban jungle in the dark with no electricity or communication?

At least that will cure the social security and medicare issues- but no worry...time to water the flowers.
ignorance is bliss, and thanks to the useless public education system we are completely unprepared for a real disaster.

Rick Kepple said...

Bodo and wife said they might come and visit soon.

As you know, I live near a military post and they change command now and then. Well, an old friend is stationed here now and we had a talk. He verified stuff that I did in the military. He also said that I'm right about my theories. He couldn't elaborate much, but just be careful between now and 2025. Don't rock the boat like I have and I'm quitting that stuff. He told me to just take the compensation money and shut up.

Rick Kepple said...

Oh, but in Scottsdale translation: The guy you don't like is coming to visit and stocks are merely money on paper and not real life.

Rick Kepple said...

You're speechless? Don't you remember what CJ said? Asked me if I remembered what Bodo said? Well no, I don't and I don't care. If a man has the guts to come to see me in person, I'll give him a fresh chance. We'll go from there.

When I was in school, Jim, I got straight A's until about 3rd grade and the shrink said that is quite common with aspergers. So I got real good at hunting and fishing. I can still make one inch groupings from a hundred yards away with a rifle. Too bad I got a screwed up back, but doc says I gotta push myself. Stay active. Maybe God intended it this way.

Rick Kepple said...

Middy, just buy a water filter. If you live in California, maybe you should get one of those evaporators and collect steam to make clean water, but some of those chemicals will probably pass through too, so use the water filter to get that out too. If you live in Scottsdale and the power goes out, you can filter your own urine to drink.

Rick Kepple said...

Bodo wants to meet in Branson. I don't do Branson. I might meet him in Springfield and we can go to Bass Pro so I can buy more ammunition. There's an ammo shortage in my area. Bass Pro can tell you that.

Also, I offered to let him use my SN CD's and DVD's since I don't use them anymore.

midnightsstaff said...

They came for the rich but I didn't care because I wasn't rich;
Then they came for the middle class, but I didn't care because I wasn't middle class;
Then they came for my boss and my paycheck bounced....

Actually the thought of you and Bodo commiserating at DollyWorld doesn't strike terror in the muppets in Arizona as much you might think...

...so what part of having every electronic device you own fried makes you think the truck will run or the steam evaporator will work?

We are talking about moving society back into the eighteen hundreds for as long as it takes to rebuild our entire society from the television up.

Anyone remember what a month's long ordeal it was to get a new transformer from Korea to Phoenix sometime around 2005 or so?- wait until the telemetry system goes down and lines form at ATM's everywhere..

..multiply that times hundred of thousands and you start to get the picture of what a dangerous world this can be.

Jim McAllister said...

Rick,

Hey, it's Scottsdale man! Our urine is more pure than purified water. We don't need any stinking filters!

midnightsstaff said...

Well, I can live with you guys getting a bit kinky with the Scottsdale golden showers fetish but I gotta draw the line with your pissing on the rest of us- maybe it's an acquired taste..

Just the percocets talking this morning... going to be an ugly day.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/07/17/CNN-Goes-Full-MSNBC

I just saw the hit piece by Erin Burnett this morning... yeah I still say she is good looking, too bad she's just another liberal- in other words... just another criminal, I have finally seen the light- beauty is indeed skin deep.
I wonder why I keep falling for the same trick?- women passing themselves off for something they aren't.

tell everyone I said "Yo"

Rick Kepple said...

The federal government just designated the entire state of Missouri as a natural disaster area, because of the drought. I watered my garden and my orchard this morning.

However, the major concern is that there will be higher food prices, food shortages and more crime coming out of the cities and into the countryside.

There are some water filters out there that are for disasters and you can make fresh water out of urine. But I forgot that Scottsdale urine is sold as mineral water. I heard that it cures cancer!

Middy's urine is so toxic that he needs to buy special permits from the EPA to take a leak. I think the gas companies collect his urine and use it in fracturing.

Jim McAllister said...

Erin Burnett used to be on CNBC; that says it all. The smart ones like Melissa Francis go to Fox.

I love watching Nobama shooting himself in the foot with his stupid comments about businesses needing government so badly to survive. He is getting that back in his face today!

Did you notice the video of BO and his lovely wife disgracing the flag on 9-11 has gone viral? Every little bit helps.

Rick Kepple said...

Well, even if we got 15 inches of rain now, it wouldn't save the crops in the Midwest. Experts are predicting food shortages in the United States, rising prices of food and stock market instability, because of a lack of confidence.

The good news is that Bodo is coming to visit. We can sit around and debate stuff.

Better stock up on food now folks. I guarantee that there are people freaking out and they're raiding the stores now. Luckily, I started stocking up and prepping years ago.

Forecast of the grim food outlook
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/03/29/food-not-war-is-the-biggest-threat-to-world-security-argues-lester-brown/

Rick Kepple said...

I visited with the neighbors and their son, the unemployed chef, has been helping me can the vegetables and fruit. They've been listening to my rants for years and today just admitted that when everything collapses that I'm in charge.

This is my final solution for if all the other plans fail and I call it, "Plan Serenity." Basically it's, "oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die!" http://youtu.be/G1IMM5XOwaM

CJ Phoenix said...

Great lunch, Jim. Good food, good people ... Even ms & his wife.

steve buzzardo said...

Obama jokes for the day:

Campaign slogan for Obama: "Practice makes perfect" - Ann Coulter

"President Obama's approval ratings are so low now, Kenyans are accusing him of being born in the United States." –Jay Leno

"President Obama will begin a three-state bus tour. I believe the three states are confusion, delusion, and desperation." —Jay Leno

Obama made $900,000 less in 2011 than he did in 2010. You know what that means? Even Obama is doing worse under President Obama. –Jay Leno

Jim McAllister said...

CJ,

Thanks, it was great to see you again. It's hard to believe that it has been 5 years since the picnic in June 2007; time flies.

Jim McAllister said...

Great ones, Buzz,

I see on Fox News' site tonight that Obama is leading in the polls nationwide 47-44 (a virtual tie)but has a 50-42 advantage in the swing states.

Romney needs to get in gear and toughen up and as Laura Ingrahm says, "Get off the jet ski!"

It's still early though and with as hard as Obama has been campaigning vs. how little Romney has been campaigning, those numbers don't look too bad. A good incumbent would be further out front.

It's going to have a lot to do with the economy and with the forecast, it looks like trouble for BO.

midnightsstaff said...

It appears Sheriff Joe has investigated and found the birth certificate to be a complete forgery along with the Social Security number Obama has stolen.

Overwhelming evidence that the junior varsity continues to ignore because they are afraid of Obama..

I have utter contempt for the Republican Party and have had it for a while, they simply are a collection of fools and cowards and deserve to lose.

America's problem is they are our only hope to get rid of this monster, so if you are depending on Pee Wee Herman to save the day, don't bet on it- this time we need a man.

Jim McAllister said...

If I was that 95 year old woman who has the information I would go hide somewhere. Obama can't afford to have her around exposing him.

midnightsstaff said...

guess who said:

“The President has failed and he is jeopardizing the safety of our troops, their families and our National security for political gain. Obama has exposed the identity of special operations units, leaked classified information, and limited the rules of engagement of forces on the ground.

For those who have taken an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, it is a call of duty to take back America from a Commander-in-Chief that is incapable of understanding the sacrifices that have been made for the values that have made America great.”

http://politicker.com/2012/07/former-navy-seal-launches-pac-to-fight-obama/

Of course this means nothing to people like Cj and Rick who are going to have to flip a coin on election day.
but for the rest of us we know that what he is saying is the undeniable truth.

Rick Kepple said...

Bodo is coming to the farm next week. He says he's not much on the doomsday conspiracies. Yeah, neither am I. What we see now is the new world order being created by the G20, and yes the Republicans are helping to create their version, which is why it is so important to vote. There will be the top global dictatorship with orders going to the individual governments to make the law based on the dictates. So there will be the Democrat versions of the law and the Republican versions of the new world order dictates.

I told Bodo that Doomsday will be created completely by a miscommunication between superpowers. It will be a complete accident.

Gee, CJ and me agree? There may be hope in the world.

Rick Kepple said...

Middy, I've been reading about the so-called fake Social Security Number that Obama has and I think that is just rubbish! Yeah, so he became an Illinois senator with a fake SSN? Have you ever even LIVED in Illinois? Dude, you need a gun permit to buy a gun! You can't build an outhouse without a building plan and a permit. You can't get paid without a SSN. They've got laws against the laws against the laws. Fake birth certificate? I have yet to see concrete evidence. Everything back then was done in triplicate, remember? There has to be evidence for or against. It's impossible that there isn't.

So not ONE Republican has any shred of real evidence? So that means it's all bullshit or the Republicans are in on it and if the GOP is covering that BC up, that means it's a CIA black ops project. It could be, considering Fast and Furious and other operations.

But you gotta see the bigger picture. Are our enemies a greater threat or a lesser threat because of Obama? And so what if he appears to be Muslim. If Islam believes it and they trust the wrong people and die, then it all is worth it.

Maybe it is all bullshit, but the end justifies the means. This nation wasn't made by playing by the rules.

Thank you for your service to your country guys, but you apparently don't know how psy-ops works. Gee whiz, if it's an operation, they're not going to put it on CNN so y'all can feel good about it.

And it's SOP that intelligence officers in secret don't get medals for being something they officially were not. Maybe you need to cut Obama a break unless you have concrete evidence.

Obama might just be covering up for Republican created military operations.

Did you know that Reagan was hesitant about some covert operations that he had to order? The guy had alzheimers. And H.W. Bush was not a Christian guided by God, like George W. Bush was. There's a lot that people don't know about the stuff that gets done to keep this nation free so we can bitch about stuff.

midnightsstaff said...

Now that I think about it, you will probably have to borrow that coin.

Mike slater said...

CJ, it was nice to meet you. Sorry we didn't have more time to chat.

midnightsstaff said...

Long ago on a distant galaxy ...
I was just musing with the cat on the balcony about how it was all those many years ago when I was working in the booming California construction industry.
I did mostly military or public works projects that were under the Davis Bacon act.
I think John Stossel did a piece on the DB act and what it does to government construction costs.. ..anyway I never joined a trades union but I enjoyed union scale with benefits included..

Every project was bid according to the various parameters of the project with wages fixed at prevailing wage.

A lot of the construction was non union, and the reason the non union contractors could successfully bid for contracts is because non union labor is more productive... something I can attest to.

...but bottom line is the scam needs to be addressed eventually but I don't hear a damn thing from anyone on this and other even more scandalous affairs like runaway lobbying tactics and revolving door treasury/Goldman Sachs shenanigans..

Please tell me it's just the percocet talking again...
Some vengeful woman from my past must have a voodoo doll with my picture on it... I don't really suspect Cj , she is more the type to do it in person- gotta respect that... haha..

"help... I've fallen and can't get to my gun"

Jim McAllister said...

It's Mary, Mary.......hmmmmm......what was her name now.....uh...oh, yeah, Burgess.

She is sticking those pins DEEP!

CJ Phoenix said...

Yeah, if I had any idea how to work a voodoo doll, I might try sewing the fingers together and the mouth shut and that's all. Middy's right though: I am more of the type to hit back in person, then to pack up my stuff and just leave. Then get over it. From a distance. I learned that lesson the first time: forgive but do not forget.

No worries about who to vote for now. I just heard that Armageddon is set to start somewhere on a farm in Missouri next week. No conspiracy involved. Just a good old-fashioned act of God who has finally had enough. If I am wrong, though, someone tell Rick to count all his goats before Bodo and his wife leave.

Yeah, nice meeting you too, ms.

Jim McAllister said...

CJ,

Maybe one of them thar Sputniks will fall out of the sky and hit Missoura!

midnightsstaff said...

Rick might be raising "sporting" goats rather than "eating" goats- you know the type they use at rodeos, brothels and democrat fund raisers.

Na I have a past with too many suspects on the voodoo thing, but it would take a couple of pins and a dead chicken to give me a week like this one has been..
I think I might survive- news which will be received with mixed reviews I'm sure.

This morning I feel like I fell out of a moving vehicle- which is better than yesterday morning, I think I might have caught the perfect storm of cracking myself and then having a malaria relapse or something I picked up recently...

We don't get the mosquitos on this side like the east side does, but we do get an occasional one- and that's all it takes for W. Nile- not that I have it but it looks like we have had confirmed cases last month in Maricopa co.

All that rain last week means we have tires, wheelbarrows, and containers that create a breeding environment for these nasty vermin, we should start hearing about WN cases popping up pretty regularly now.

"A little old lady sold pretzels on a street corner for a dollar each.
Every day a young man would leave his office building at lunch time and as he passed the pretzel stand he would leave a dollar, but never take a pretzel.

This ritual went on for more than three years. The two never spoke.

One day as the young man passed the old lady’s stand and left his dollar as usual, the pretzel lady spoke to him.

She said: “They’re a dollar and a quarter now.”

folks.. that explains the liberal mentality.

Rick Kepple said...

Bodo's got guts to come to my farm and he will be shown courtesy.
Some friends want to shoot anyone from Jim's blog, but that's downright unprofessional and unfriendly. We're gonna barbeque steaks and talk. His answers will determine what is to do about him.

And the files won't be on the farm if that's what he wants. Nobody messes with SN. But if they want to mess with me, I'm their Huckleberry.

midnightsstaff said...

I wouldn't worry about the "files" but hide the Geritol.

Hey.. give his wife a little friendly pat on the ass.. I hear he likes that.

I suggest not inviting him to your pool because as far as I know he still has that Speedo and maybe that is too much for Missouri standards.

Rick Kepple said...

Bodo will be nice and safe at my home. Maria will be treated with respect. They're coming unarmed and in peace.

The rest of you don't have that same kind of courage.

midnightsstaff said...

unarmed?- surely you jest!-"don't call me Shirley!"

Hey do us a favor and keep them in Misery.. we might take up a collection for your effort.
Yeah, you gotta point, I willingly walked into a men's prison for years but am afraid to go to Missouri..

do you ever think before you type?

on further thought, do you ever think?


Check out the NYT poll on Romney vs. the commie.. this thing is over, when the commie was accusing America of not building business he was talking to Rick I guess, but patriotic Americans intuitively know he is lying.. One and done.

I won't be satisfied until he is executed for treason or sent to Mexico for a life sentence, anyone voting for Obama should be banned for life from ever voting again- they are simply not Americans.

Rick Kepple said...

Has anyone here ever met Bodo?

You're right about being afraid of the Ozarks, Middy. You need to be. Bodo will be fine. We welcome people who actually think.

And yeah dude, I definitely think before I type and you told me lots of important information with your rant about Bodo. I go by gut instinct and Bodo will fit in just fine. He may not want to go back to Arizona.

Rick Kepple said...

Mitt Romney supports keeping the Federal Reserve and he's going to reappoint Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Fed, according to a patriot website of conservatives. Romney is getting a lot of election money from the major bailed out banks. Romney even supports more bailouts. The GOP will repeal some of Obamacare, but merely to add paragraphs that make it a bit more 'Republican,' it's because they need national health care to be a major leader in global governance. Mitt is going to get global free trade a reality and that will include a global minimum wage. Mitt is also very revolutionary in his thinking, including being a big believer in global warming! He's a bit like Bodo. The record shows that re: gun control, while he didn't appear to flaunt it, but he did sign the Mass. gun control bill. He's actually pro-abortion and it's predicted that he won't oppose abortion. And Arizona will have to be sacrificed to give reason for necessary changes in American law. Obama will do similar things when he's President, only the new world order will be more Democrat in appearance.

Bodo and I will likely have some nice conversations about this stuff.

midnightsstaff said...

Yeah... take notes.

Rick Kepple said...

I will, Middy. Just for you. I'll even hire some guy to narrate it as a book on tape.

Rick: The temperature is hot today

Bodo: The goldfish has wings

Rick: Not if it reads a book

It's been a long time, Bodo, said Rick wiping his brow with the back of his hand while holding a Colt's forty-five.

I'd forgotten how humid gets up here, Bodo replied shaving the sweat off his face with a straight razor.

Suddenly, SN jumps out of the dry bushes with an Uzi and dripping with sweat and shouts, "Hands bitches you up! ... I mean, hands up you bitches!"

So, it's just like old times. Seems like Cuba, Bodo chuckles putting the razor away.

A mushroom cloud is seen a thousand miles to the southwest, clearly seen on a doughty day.

"You nuked Scottsdale?" Rick spat in the dirt at Bodo.

"SOP man. You know the deal."

"Asshole." SN said. "That was my job."

"Steaks are inside. Who wants a beer?"

mike slater said...

Rick, Bodo may never come back to Arizona? Can you guarantee that?

midnightsstaff said...

I got folding money to get a kitty started...

not that type of kitty...

Rick Kepple said...

I want at least six figures and preferably a number starting with a five and lots of zeroes with at least one comma. Or I'll encourage Bodo to go home.

midnightsstaff said...

We've been shot at and missed and shit at and hit too many times to fall for some kind of cyberRansom scheme whether it be Russian mobsters or Missouri pratfall artists behind it.
Actually while listening to an old Jethro Tull concert on Wolfgang's site, it hit me like a "steel monkey" that what we actually might be looking at is something more than just U-tube opportunity this time..

"Dinner at the Enchanted Farmstead"-
..yeah, I admit it could be a bit awkward to get the conversation started but I'll give you a couple of tips.. either bring up something about our bombing of Nazi Germany actually saving valuable American lives, or warm him up first with a couple of questions about flagella response to differing Red and Green light spectrum- that will give him the confidence to expound on the subject at length.. did you know he was lead man on a Michigan State federal grant study... you are an old Badger yourself aren't you?
Go Badgers...go.

anyway, you really need to get some camera hands with a little experience shooting something with only two legs and a speaking face- chickens don't count.

I would suggest you might have to travel to a big city for that type of talent.

If anything you own is running right now you should hop on 7 and get on down to Lebanon or somewhere with a 7/11 where someone is likely to have some experience... pay a little now, big payday later... just a friendly hint.. those Richland sharpies are just waiting for you to let something of this magnitude slip.. they will pounce like a steel monkey with a bad rash on this idea if you tell anyone you have an international celebrity en route to your estate.. this guy is much more high profile driving around in a ten year old yellow Miata than some CIA recruiter buddy of yours from the Reagan era..

no thanks necessary.

I suggest you break out that group from your garage/barn circuit and maybe give the pair something they will never forget, It'll be kind of like the scene from "Slingblade"... a concert with mosquitoes and all the good old style Missouri corn liquor they can stand and more and likely a fist fight.

You get em likkered up, and I'll pay for the camera- you feed the crew...

Jim's lining up investors now, like Joe said "this could be ****in'g big I tell ya.."
First a U-tube video that's sure to go viral U-tube is something I'm sure you are familiar with and then a real payday on "Down Home at the Kepples"..
move over Ozzie.

...with you of course as the star..

now that a dream you can believe in.

Jim McAllister said...

LOL!

steve buzzardo said...

Jim, you're lining up investors?
Wow, count me in if its not too late!
How much do I need to get in on this, is $100 grand enough?

Jim McAllister said...

Buzz,

100 grand? that's minimal but I guess we can accept it. Middy is my business partner and handles that stuff but I'm sure that since you are part of our inner circle, you'll be in.

midnightsstaff said...

Listen Jim- forget about that Chihuahua racetrack/miniature golf deal I got you involved with before I realized PETA was never going to let that pass, so this is a golden opportunity to get back some of those losses..
Who would have thought a frickin' Chihuahua was liked enough for anyone to care anyway?
most us boys in Oklahoma use 'em for coyote bait.
..at least you got a lot of golf equipment out of the deal- those aren't bad drivers- you know how long it took to get rid of three dozen mutts with the dog nazi's led by Sheriff Joe on my case making sure I didn't ship them to my cousin Earl in Oklahoma?

Hey.. we all make mistakes but things that happen in Scottsdale stay in Maricopa Co. eh?

midnightsstaff said...

Oh look! Fred Willard got busted for "punching the clown" in a porn theater..

What's next?- Bill O'Reilly having to pay off some apprentice for dropping charges?- oh yeah that's old news..

is there just no shame left anymore?- what happened to happy news?

I guess I got to invent it..
Now... "Enchanted Farmstead"- maybe we can get Guido and Louie interested.. I'll give em a call.

CJ Phoenix said...

Anybody else not buying this crap? I mean, I know that Bodo & Rick are Facebook "friends" because I looked it up. And Rick may be crazy enough to invite Bodo to his farm -- shoot, he has invited everyone else -- but Bodo isn't that crazy. So here's my theory: we have a *lurker* watching for the effect of all this nonsense ... It is kinda like a bad case of crabs that won't go away because internet virus protection doesn't come with a nit comb. YELLOW-BELLIED LURKER ALERT! Show your face, Bodo, you coward.

midnightsstaff said...

Reds in the bushes -reds in the bushes...

haha.. now this party is getting more fun.. looks like you really can't get censored off the site.. I've proved that again and again..

actually it must be near - oh look it's new moon yesterday!... that explains me but what about you guys?
anyone up for a good album try Roger Waters Amused to Death or Flickering Flame...
top shelf.

Jim McAllister said...

Chihuahuas and miniature golf.

Branson even after they closed the Roy Rogers museum.

Andy Williams forgetting the words to Moon River?

Fanny packs?

Help!

Jim McAllister said...

Here is something almost unbelievable: A Charlie Rose CBS News piece giving kudos to Romney!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7405692n&tag=api

Rick Kepple said...

Just FYI, Jim's email account was phished, then they got to mine. It was probably a cyber attack from China. Recent attacks have been from the Chinese government, says the U.S. government.

Rick Kepple said...

CJ and Middy. Speaking of yellowbellies ... why aren't you coming to visit? Or are you afraid that I'll find out the truth.

A woman from Facebook that I finally met in person said that what she loves about me is that I'm not fake. But, I do put on something of a front here on this blog, but only because Jim has so many control freak friends who support wack jobs like that nutty Sheriff Arpaio. I wish you people could see how insane you appear to be from the Midwest.

But y'all are a good indication of the nutjobs we might have to deal with who live in St. Louis and KC when there's some crisis in the cities. And it will be worse in the cities.

The drought continues. Food prices are already starting to climb. Watered the garden last night and canning more food, but it won't last. This drought will cost us about three years and the longer it goes on, the more it will hurt people in the cities.

I think we might start getting rain after August 4. Why that date? I don't have a clue. Just a guess.

I think you guys need to give Bodo a break if you have never met him. At least, I have the courage to do that. But I won't visit Scottsdale. All hell could break loose in Arizona at any time.

Jim McAllister said...

It looks like you are destined to learn the hard way something that the rest of us already know.

Good luck with that!

CJ Phoenix said...

Speaking of phishing, I think that if any of this crap about Bodo coming to your house for a visit is true, Rick -- I mean, if Bodo actually told you that himself & this isn't just another delusion you've had involving internet relationships -- then I believe that you are the worm on Bodo's hook. In other words, he is USING YOU, dude, to stir things up here for his own amusement (God, I hope he keeps his pants zipped because that is just a little too visual for me) ... If not, then make sure you have some photographs to show us before trying to tell us how your little visit went before, good or bad.

No commies hiding in the bushes today. Just a single shriveled up old man who likes to control things by stirred up shit and doesn't even have the balls to do it himself now. I mean, now that he nearly single-handedly ruined the whole AzCentral public blog experience & he certainly knows that he is not welcome here, he is playing an electronic version of peeping tom.

CJ Phoenix said...

BTW, yes, I have met him, Rick. Bodo and Maria too. Maria herself seems reasonably nice but your so-called buddy, Bodo, is a manipulator.

midnightsstaff said...

Haha.. with all the real drama of life we are talking about this?

Of course it's fantasy... but maybe we will get a utube video of all videos.. I sort of doubt it.

Just think of the Richland version of "Three dog Night" entertaining the well heeled power couple from that rebel state to the west.

whoa.. the lingering effects of relapse had me totally immersed in the treasure trove of potential material we might expect, it was ripe with scenarios laden with symbolic meaning...
for instance.

Two rugged individuals despite the odds finding that perfect woman who can amplify their power without interfering with their creativeness.
Two intellectual giants living among mere mortals finding solace in their new found level of commonality, (show him your guns) and God only knows what else you have to talk about.
I bet he's never seen a copperhead.

Can you imagine the conversations Maria and who ever is shacking up lately cleaning the dishes and clearing the table?
"so how long have you known Rick?"-
"most of my life, it's so romantic, we even have a lot of the same relatives"

"So how long have you known Bodo?"-
"no one ever knows Bodo".

I'm sorry but the scene from the Griswolds visiting cousin Eddie and various scenes from Fargo, the stop over for entertainment at Brainerd (go bears!) and especially the wood chipper scene just keeps popping up in my mind.

I might have gotten a little carried away with the moment last evening, but you shouldn't hold that against me after all there is plenty of other things I have done that are much worse..

and yeah I know it is a bit of theatrical license I used with Bodo being a Badger, of course it was Mich. State but Bodo as a badger seemed so much more appropriate.

don't you agree?

Rick Kepple said...

CJ has the nerve to call Bodo a manipulator? Why what's he gonna do? Tell me I'm delusional or paranoid? You people treated me like shit and you expect me to believe anything you tell me?

CJ, terminally unemployed? Bullshit.

Middy, unemployed prison guard? Yeah right. He lives in California. He couldn't afford it on a pension.

Jimmy ... whatever.

Manipulation is what you people do.

Jim McAllister said...

I guess Middy is unemployed if you consider being retired as unemployed.

The difference is he became unemployed by his own choice, not because he lost his job.

He is not a guy you would want to piss off then run into him in a dark alley some night. He used muscle on a lot of tough characters while working the yard in California so he knows how to use his dukes.

As good a friend as Middy is to me, I still don't take any chances. When in his company he is MISTER Middy to me.

CJ Phoenix said...

*Yawn* I am so tired of pointing out the obvious to some nut in Missouri. But at least I provided Middy with a little entertainment.

midnightsstaff said...

Reliving that missed opportunity to explore my creative writing side in junior college- and staying out of bars.

I am merely trying to break up the dead air most of the time, either that or troll Rick off his fixation with other bloggers that are too polite to admit that turds just can't be cleaned up.
Stalkers tend to fixate, doesn't matter if they are urban or hillbillies.

anyway Rick your going to have to pull yourself together if you want to make an impression on that old Prussian warthog.
I'm not only unemployed Jim, I am unemployable... no one would touch this one even on a bargain rack.
..anything more probing than that physical the recruiter gave me would have red flags thrown from the cheap seats..

Well Cj you have to admit this is more fun than arguing over the preamble of the constitution or some hair brained political outrage du jour..

Rick Kepple said...

All these massacres have one thing in common. I presented my argument to the U.S. Army. We shall see their reply in the news. I believe it to be psychology, or the science thereof. Someone created a killer theory used in American universities. It's the only thing that they all have in common, other than guns. Lots of people have guns. Only some feel it necessary to go to a shrink or to become one. So maybe we need to put all the shrinks and students and certified wack jobs in Scottsdale. If the murder rate goes up, I'll know that I'm right.

Rick Kepple said...

Inappropriate comments are a hallmark of aspergers syndrome and brilliance. Okay, we won't put the shrinks and whatnot in Scottsdale. How about Paradise Valley?

Rick Kepple said...

What I always hated most about the Army was the waiting. You don't know how it's really gonna go, so you don't worry about it until the time comes. You got to be loose so you can instantly analyze the situation and make that command decision that may follow you for the rest of your life.

If CJ can shoot, I've always wanted to use a pocket edition of War and Peace or A Tale of Two cities for a target. Any thoughts on penetration? I think a .22 would make it to the last few pages and still be fairly intact if it were fmj, but if it's ballistic tip, fragmented beyond identification, especially at a hundred yards. Point blank and it will obliterate War and Peace.

Jim McAllister said...

Middy,

By the way did you get the phone message we left for you when we were at Steakenburger?

We were pretty loud but we wanted to let you know we missed you at the luncheon.

CJ Phoenix said...

Hey, maybe Bodo really will show up in Missouri. It seems he has been spotted in Utah lately:
http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/2012/07/20/20120720utah-goat-man.html#comments
Don't forget to count your goats both before and after, Rick. Seriously, Maria might try to leave him there for you to feed & clean up after.

midnightsstaff said...

Hahaha... one more goat in Missouri might not be noticed for a while...

Actually she might be on to something, I opened up Google earth for a map and yeah, Utah could be en route to the midwest with those globetrotters- they always like to take the circuitous route sending photos we eagerly wait for and a daily dissembles of their conquests.

Jim... I spent all yesterday thinking it was Saturday... really confused me as to why the garbage trucks were coming the wrong day- so yeah I was a bit out of it when that call came in..

If that was you guys then maybe I should call the police and ask for my phone answering machine back.
they were going to try and find out who was leaving those type of messages- the officer I talked to said he was shocked by the content and he had been working vice for five years.

"Good morning Starshine"- what a sun rise this am... makes you glad that you woke up..
Gliddy glub gloopy nibby nabby noopy
La la la - lo lo
Sabba sibbi sabba nooby aba naba
Lee lee - lo lo
Tooby ooby wala
Nooby aba naba
Early morning singing song

Lyrics you can trust..

Jim McAllister said...

My favorite is the photo with the fanny pack. Nothing says "amateur tourist" like a fanny pack. The local grifters will follow those suckers every time.

"Good Morning Starshine"; now there is a song that takes me on an express to 1970. Was that Nielsen? Maybe Thunderclap Newman. Either way, great stuff to listen to on the Ford Torino car radio while on the way to see Liza Minelli in "Tell me you love me, Junie Moon."

By the way today is Saturday, July 21. STOP! Put down the Percoset!

Rick Kepple said...

I posted my psychological theory on Facebook. Lana wants me to go kayaking today. She knows that I'm obsessing and I need to chill.

I know that I'm right. The question is, did I just reveal a problem that makes Fast and Furious appear lame?

So they'll be talking about gun control next. If I'm right, they created lots of "random killers," and by the time it's done, we will choose to give up our guns thinking that it's the tool's fault, when they are in our heads.

Does psychological manipulation just end with putting honey, melon, or some food on your shampoo label to get you to buy it? And considering all those foreign professors or Muslim psychologists in universities ... think about it.

What if random violence isn't random?

midnightsstaff said...

Capt. Obvious is up early today... na.. the media will wisely not blame the NRA or Gunz for what I erroneously thought was a Friday night shooting...
they will caution us not to jump to judgement nor will they blame talk radio and right wing hate speech.

I really don't think it was the percocet now Jim, and I'm not sure it was a relapse either, with the malaria it would go on day and night for two or three days at a time, this was only at two in the morning, so I think it was some bug...
I hope not some blood borne pathogen.

I knew a guy that caught encephalitis working a project in Calexico- his brain swelled and it tore him up, he could barely talk two years later and had serious motor reflex injury..

I have just been waiting to use the word "dissembles" and Cj segued me right over the threshold... so to speak.

Funny thing is my indoor outdoor thermometer/atomic clock on the wall tells me what day it is.. but I seldom use the clock part anymore, just the temperature- that's how we know what season it is-
..over 105= summer, below 105= nice.