Restless Earth

Today I am the "biblical Grinch" as I examine Christmas and remember Christ's cleansing of the temple (I take this event as both historical and metaphorical).

posted by Spudgunner @ 6:31 PM 0 comments

Must be serious for just a moment. Please visit the following website...this is just an incredibly serious situation that can affect us all.

www.dhmo.org

I'm relieved that somebody has finally taken it upon themselves to expose the very real threats posed by this dangerous compound. I've been burned several times by it and once even got it my eyes. I'm lucky to still have my vision. I've heard that some people who get it in their eyes end up with permanent blindness. The high-tech industry uses tons of this stuff...I should know as I've been working in high-tech for years and have seen the abuse of this powerful chemical. What gets me is the lack of government regulations regarding proper handling and storage of this compound.

This is a worthy cause. It's about time. DHMO has caused enough suffering!

posted by Spudgunner @ 5:37 PM 0 comments

I thought the earth was restless right under my feet today. Turned out to be the Schwan's guy in his big green truck driving by.

Speaking of big green trucks, I took the Heavy Chevy to the gas station today. Gas price was 1.93.9...good thing it's relatively low since the thirst of the big pickup is unquenchable. The big pickup is now officially an Idaho resident again. Went and registered the critter. Was $49 (one year) plus sales tax on the sale of the vehicle from JoBob to yours truly. I'm glad taxes are not proportional to the amount of rust on a vehicle. I've been looking into a variety of special "paints" that are made to penetrate and stabilize rusty metal. Kinda interesting, really. I think I'll need quite a few quarts (or gallons).

posted by Spudgunner @ 12:05 PM 0 comments

The Eagle Has Landed!

Or maybe it should be, "The Whale Has Beached." But in any event, the humongo '76 Chevy pickup has returned to Idaho. This relic of times when gas was relatively cheap occupies a choice spot of driveway real estate here in Boise. The restoration work will begin shortly. First up is the stabilizing of some badly rusted rocker panel sheet metal (or lack thereof). I'm thinking maybe I'll just Rhino-coat the whole pickup.

This vehicle has been in our family since it was purchased new in 1976 from Hall Chevrolet in beautiful Prosser, WA. The fact that it has 56000 miles on it (Really!) hints at its "remarkable" fuel efficiency. During our recent drive from Seattle to Boise, we got 8 MPG. Merry Christmas OPEC!

posted by Spudgunner @ 2:04 PM 2 comments

Gas Price Update
1.99.9 ... We have broken the $2 barrier!!

Correlation Between Hardwood Flooring & Population
I like living in America. It must be the only place on earth where there are literally dozens of types of hardwood flooring in about a 1000 different colors. While its easy to listen to people say stuff like, "There are 250,000,000 (or thereabouts) people in the USA," the true magnitude of this number is better reflected in the huge variety of products that are available. I mean, hardwoods of incredible numbers of species, thicknesses, stain colors (or no stain), engineered wood, solid wood, pictures of wood on a substrate (e.g. Pergo). And the clincher is that there must be a market for this huge variety or it wouldn't be available. Incredible.

posted by Spudgunner @ 2:21 PM 6 comments