My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on June 17, 2010

I’m not a regular email ‘forwarder,’ but occasionally one tickles my funny bone. Thanks D.

Only in  America …

• do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy  cigarettes at the front.
• do people order double  cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
• do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
• do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk  in the garage.
• do we buy hot dogs in packages of  ten and buns in packages of eight.
• do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

Ever Wonder …

• Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
• Why  women can’t put on mascara with their mouth  closed? Why don’t you ever see the headline ‘Psychic Wins  Lottery’?
• Why is  ‘abbreviated’ such a long word? 
  Why is it that doctors call what they do ‘practice’?
• Why is  lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and  dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
• Why is the man who invests all your money called a "broker"?
• Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called  ‘rush hour’?
• Why isn’t there mouse-flavored cat food?
• Why didn’t Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
• Why do they sterilize the needle for Lethal Injections?
• Why don’t we make whole planes from the indestructible black box ?
• Why don’t they make the whole plane out of that stuff?
• Why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?
• Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

IF …

• con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
• flying  is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Category: Humor | 2 Comments »
Tags: dawglegs, email, Humor, jokes

Posted By RichC on June 16, 2010

I ordered a couple books for summer reading on Tuesday, although I might hold one back for vacation. First, the new “thriller” called The Overton Window by Glenn Beck was just released and it is sure to be a best seller. Thankfully this mass marketed hardcover is priced right at several online booksellers … which tempted me to add a second book by one of m favorite authors Steven Coonts – The Disciple.

A third book that I’d like to read was also released today is from Ohio candidate for governor John Kasich – Every Other Monday.

Category: Books, Video, Video-TV | 2 Comments »
Tags: Books, foxnews, glenn beck, john kasich, oreilly, steven coonts

Posted By RichC on June 15, 2010

After dipping below the 10,000 mark for early June, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 213.88 points, or 2.10%, to 10404.77 today breaking out of the closely watched 200-day moving average. The S&P 500 was also up 2.35% seeing every sector moving in the up direction. The biggest gains 2.76% were over at the Nasdaq, where positive earnings from Best Buy citing notebook computer sales were strong. Unfortunately the good news for the overall market wasn’t good enough news for Best Buy shareholders as trader expectations were for even better sales, hence BBY shares tumbled 6.1% to 38.56. There’s a good reason the trader saying, “buy on the rumor and sell on the news.”  (POLL BELOW or on TwtPoll)

For the year, the S&P has inched into positive territory by 0.13 point, whereas the Dow moved to within 24 points of its 2009 year end finish. For those long in the market, we need the recession to confidently be over … is it?

Category: Financial, Poll | No Comments »
Tags: djia, finance, Poll, stock market, twitter, twtpoll

Posted By RichC on June 15, 2010

With so many video embedding options, I wanted to see how well the established Brightcove video works in my WordPress install. The clip below is from Rasmussen Reports which gathered opinions on buying alternative fuel cars and dealing with our insatiable appetite for petroleum. Interesting results.

Category: Environment, Poll, Video | 4 Comments »
Tags: alternative fuel, brightcove, rasmussen

Posted By RichC on June 15, 2010

The strong storms which passed through southwestern Ohio Monday evening dumped heavy rain and lightning all around our home (see video clip from Palm Pre at bottom). The pool is full to overflowing and the water retention area  overflowed the driveway and patio areas. Thankfully our two sump pumps worked well to keep our basement dry. Other homes and areas were not so fortunate.

Lightning also took its toll on a prominent landmark in front of the Solid Rock Church in Monroe Ohio which turned the heads of many a passersby along interstate 75 between Dayton and Cincinnati. The statue, King of Kings, “was” a 62-foot high sculpture of Jesus with His hands raised; it was commonly referred to as “Touchdown Jesus” or dubbed “Big Butter Jesus” by comedian Heywood Banks. The fire started after the statue was allegedly struck by a “thunderbolt from the heavens,” (social networking sites enjoyed posting updates) and the statue constructed of wood and styrofoam surfaced in fiberglass erupted into a fireball. The thick smoke, according to reports, also did damage to the Lawrence Bishop Music Theater east of the statue. The fire department arrived before midnight and extinguished the flames in about an hours leaving only the skeletal steel beams standing.

At dawn, commuters gawked as they drove by … including my wife and friend Tim who snapped a photo (thanks … but next time without the sign post please).
😉

Category: Faith, Local, News | 10 Comments »
Tags: big butter, jesus, king of kings, monroe, ohio, statue, touchdown

Posted By RichC on June 15, 2010

Category: Automotive | 1 Comment »
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Posted By RichC on June 15, 2010

BP’s CEO Tony Hayward can’t win for losing … no matter how he handles the aftermath of the oil spill (particularly since the oil is still spewing). Like it or not, Mr. Hayward is the face of the spill and the face of BP. He will continue to rightly shoulder the blame, the frustration and the anger of those his company harmed.

BP took questionable shortcuts which lead to the oil rig accident and the fault is squarely on those “hired” to manage the company … starting with the CEO. I’d love to point fingers at the bureaucrats that are charged with oversight, but frankly the fingers need to be pointed at the company, its decision-makers and shareholders who caused the disaster. I’m not an advocate to run BP bankrupt or boycott their product as doing so would mean another taxpayer bailout of the Gulf Coast … but BP dollars/pounds needs to take care of those it harms before paying dividends to the company owners (shareholders). Besides the disaster and deaths associated with the rig explosion, BP and its management deserve the blame for lax follow up and damage to the environment and the people of the Gulf Coast – the Obama administration hasn’t been stellar in this regard either.

So, voluntarily do the right thing BP and accept the criticism no matter how heavy handed it seems … and take care of your mess before any hefty salaries, bonuses or dividends are paid (see Bloomberg/Businessweek).

Category: Environment, Financial, News | 2 Comments »
Tags: bp, Environment, gulf of mexico, oil, spill, tony hayward

Posted By RichC on June 14, 2010

Fully redesigned 2011 Volkswagen Jetta is set to go on sale in October.
Volkswagen says pricing will start around $16,000. It features best-in-class rear legroom thanks to a longer wheelbase.

From Insideline.com:

HERNDON, Virginia — Information and pictures of the fully redesigned 2011 Volkswagen Jetta leaked onto the Internet today ahead of the car’s official premiere set for tomorrow in New York City.

According to Volkswagen, the new Jetta measures 182.7 inches long, 57.1 inches tall and 70.1 inches wide. The overall length is 3.5 inches longer than the current model, which results in an unspecified increase in the Jetta’s wheelbase.
The engine lineup will remain largely unchanged. For now, Volkswagen has only confirmed the 2.0-liter TSI and 2.0-liter TDI engines that are currently used in the Jetta. Manual transmissions will be standard across the board and a six-speed DSG will be optional on the 2.0-liter engines.
There will be five versions of the Jetta in the U.S. — S, SE, SEL, TDI and GLI. Sales are expected to begin in October, with pricing set to start around $16,000, according to Volkswagen.
http://www.insideline.com:80/volkswagen/jetta/2011/2011-volkswagen-jetta-revealed.html

Posted via email from richc’s posterous

Category: Automotive, Volkswagen | No Comments »
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Posted By RichC on June 14, 2010

Category: News, Politics, Video | 8 Comments »
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Posted By RichC on June 13, 2010

When it comes to endurance, it is hard to top a diesel engine, a fact know by truckers, commercial equipment owners and a few fortunate automobile owners. The endurance fact was once again reinforced by Audi R10 TDIs Audi R15 TDIs winning their ninth Le Mans 24 Hours race this weekend – dominating and taking spots one, two and three. Interestingly they started the race behind the Peugeot vehicles (also diesels this year) which took all the top spots in time trials and began the race as the favorite. Unfortunately for the Peugeots, top speeds don’t always figure in to a 24 hour endurance race like the Le Mans. German engineered Audi diesel out performed their rivals by finishing the race with an average speed of 220 kilometers an hour (~137 mph) making it one of the fastest Le Mans in history.

For Peugeot, after setting the fastest lap times, the defeat was humbling since they were favored to win, yet had mechanical issues preventing their cars from even finishing the race. Audi on the other hand, improved their diesel entries over last year and had practically no mechanical problems reinforcing both the superiority of German engineering and diesel engines when it comes to endurance.

And so it is that Audi won its ninth Le Mans 24 Hours race, equaling the result of Ferrari. The winning car was driven this weekend by Timo Bernhard, 29, a German; Romain Dumas, 32, a Frenchman; and Mike Rockenfeller, 26, another German.

Shortly before the end of the race, Wolfgang Ullrich, the director of the Audi team, told Eurosport the secret of the victory.

“We were confident that the cars would be reliable and last the 24 hours,” he said. “We knew we were not as fast as the Peugeots, and I told the drivers to drive fast, but without taking risks.”

Allan McNish, who drove the Audi that finished third, said the team was surprised, delighted and a little let down.

“We didn’t believe we would be able to do a one-two-three, that’s for sure,” McNish said in a television interview, adding. “We didn’t like to see the Peugeots go out like that — I like to fight to the end.”

But for the spectators who watched the race over 24 hours, it was one of the biggest upsets in decades.

LINK

Category: Automotive, Diesel | 6 Comments »
Tags: audi, diesel, le mans, tdi