Craftsman

We'll all heard of the Craftsman Guarantee by Sears - the tool breaks, they replace it, no charge. I never had a Craftsman tool break on me until this week. My 3/8" ratchet broke - it would no longer lock. So, I took it to the local Sears Hardware store. I said to the lady at the counter "I don't know if this is covered by the guarantee or not" expecting her to look at it, fiddle with it, call someone else over to look at it then give me some form to sign or some other minor hassle. Nope. She looked at, asked what size it was, then threw it in a bin behind the counter. She got another one out, scanned it and then handed it to me. No hassle. No questions. No paperwork. No problem. I've always liked and bought Craftsman tools and I will continue to do so.

An Audio Post

My headphones came on Friday so I downloaded Audacity so I can record. From the default install I could export to wmv and ogg. Of course, mp3 support was not included so before I could export to mp3 I had to install the plugin - libmp3lame.so.0. Here is the audio blog in mp3.

If you ever see me on Skype give me a call - bwsnyder.

Coyote

There is a coyote living in the woods behind our house. Two years ago, I saw one and my wife had seen it on two other occasions. I saw one two weeks ago in broad daylight sitting out in the field behind my house (I don't know if it's the same one or not). I got my camera but as soon as I stepped outside he took off into the woods. I was about 75 yards from him but as soon as he heard the click of the door he ran. It's not a fox and it's not a stray dog. It's too big to be a fox (I'm guessing 30-40 lbs, foxes top out at about 15) and I doubt it's a dog. One reason why I say this is the subject in question has markings similar to fox and some coyotes do have that red and black color scheme. My neighbor has seen it too. He saw it Labor Day weekend early in the morning. Last night, he was out riding his quad in the field and he said he saw a dead groundhog, head intact, but nothing but bones, as if the flesh had been torn right off. We're both thinking a coyote might do this. Groundhogs are too big for foxes and cats to attack and, if they did, it would be unlikely they could tear the flesh off the bone like that.

Coyotes are common in PA but from what I've found on the Web it is rare to see one. I want to get a picture of it. I've seen it twice - once during the day and once at night. I also wonder if there is more than one back there.

Skype

I finally bought a headset so I can use Skype. I've had an account for several months but haven't used it - other than the echo123 test. The headphones were shipped today so I should have them by the end of the week. I haven't decided if I am going to buy some calling minutes yet but it looks like U.S. calls are around 2.1 cents a minute so maybe I will just to see how it works. My user ID is bwsnyder so if you see me on give me a call.

I bought the headphones from my discount e-tailer of choice - pcimicro.com. I use them when I need new and generic components like NIC's, mice, or memory. Everything I've bought from them has been shipped quickly and has worked fine. For cheap, no-name stuff, I recommend them. I've never bought anything name-brand or higher-end from them. For that, I use newegg.com.

Another Dummkopf

I forgot to mention the other dolt who wrote a letter to the editor last week. He said he was no longer proud to be American because of high gas prices.

Au

The price of gold is at an 18-year high. Dubya must have friends who own gold mines, too.

Dummkopf

A local attorney wrote a letter to the editor yesterday saying Dubya is no Winston Churchill because Churchill was able to evacuate 330,000 troops out of Dunkirk yet Dubya couldn't pull everyone out of New Orleans.

What this dunderhead is doing is comparing trained soldiers to average citizens. If he researched the Battle of Dunkirk he would have known that Hitler gave the retreating (mostly French and British) soldiers a break by halting the advance of tanks; giving the retreating troops some time. Hurricanes usually don't stop for a day or two. They may stall and spin but they don't usually stop churning before they hit land and this one did not stop. Churchill said the same thing to the soldiers that local and state government told the citizenry - "get out!" My guess is that the real planners of the evacuation were the officers and immediate superiors of the soldiers, not Churchill himself. It would seem logical, then, that the planners of the evacuation of a city should be their local and state elected leaders, not Dubya.

Frankly, getting 80% of the people out of New Orleans was better than I think we should have expected. Soldiers in battle are better prepared to move on a moment's notice than the average person is.

Yes, a majority of those who were unable to get out were poor. Where were all these mouthpieces for the poor before the storm hit? Why weren't they down there getting people out? Of course, after the storm, these mouthpieces all get up on their high horse and preach and criticize but they never do anything proactive like actually lending a hand.

Sports

Imagine my surprise this morning when I saw that the Phillies beat the Marlins last night. Someone must have forgot to tell them that it's September and the Marlins are one of the teams the Phils are fighting with for that wild card spot. Look for the annual September Plummet to pick back up starting tonight.

Pitt lost to Ohio last night. This is their first 0-2 start since 1984.

Prediction: Atlanta beats the Eagles Monday night. 24-14.

As you can tell, I am very optimistic about my favorite sports teams.

An Idea

I saw a letter to the editor in my local paper in which the author suggests that the people who looted New Orleans should be the ones to help clean it up and rebuild it. I can't say I disagree with her. If one is capable of walking through waist-deep water carrying a television, certainly one is capable of working. Dollars to doughnuts says most of the people taking televisions (those "left behind") were waiting for their monthly entitlement on the first of the month (and the reports are that not just poor Americans have very little savings to get them though a crisis). Blame FEMA, blame Bush, (but don't blame the mayor or the governor) all you want but the lesson here is that letting the government do everything for us can be deadly.

Of course, to suggest this is blasphemous. The very notion that those left behind should have to work should get certain "leaders" up on their soapbox preaching how having to work for what you (or repay when you "borrow") have is wrong.

Lastly, since September 12, 2001, government has repeatedly suggested that all Americans have 3-5 days of food and water as a backup, cash on hand, a plan for evacuation, and a place for your family to go (meet up) in case of an emergency (as in your home being damaged or destroyed); be it terrorism or natural disaster. A hurricane gives much more notice than a terrorist attack. From the poor right up to the federal bureaucracies, it appears we are not prepared.

Blog Relief Day

Today is Hurricane Katrina Blog Relief Day. Although I am not in the loop as far as the blogs that are part of this ring, I will urge people to donate to their favorite charity. I will be donating to the Red Cross. In case you can't get on their website (which was the case for me most of yesterday) here is their number: 1-800-HELP-NOW. If everyone can donate at least $25 per person per household that would go a long way to getting people food, medicine, and clothing.