NASA Seeks Its Roots

NASA (National Aeronautical and Space Administration) has lost its way and is returning to its roots in search of direction.

On the same day two disturbing stories appeared.

First, NASA has managed to loose the original films of man’s first landing on the Moon. The government has begun to search its vast archives of warehoused material to see if the films are hidden away somewhere. (Rumor has it that they are also keeping an eye out for the lost Ark.)

Secondly, many rocket parts have been quietly disappearing from museums and other places housing relics from the Apollo Program. Why? Because engineers at NASA want to copy fuel valves and other gizmos for use in rocket designs for the new push for the Moon and then Mars. Based mostly on 1950’s era technology, these systems used in antique rockets are going to be the backbone of 21st Century space exploration.

Gene Roddenberry would probably find the irony quite funny. So much for the newer is better axiom of American society.

Crazy News Week

This Week has been a real wonder.

God is given a PG rating by the Motion Picture Association of America.
Facing the Giants is too evangelical for a “G” rating.

The head terrorist in Iraq is sent straight to Hell by the US military.

Democrats in the US Senate proved once again that their strength is in their perversity as only one could vote in favor of traditional marriage and only because he is up for re-election this year.

In Tuesday’s Primary Election we saw Rob “Meathead” Reiner and his Socialist proposal for universal pre-school get soundly rejected even after a 23 million dollar campaign of taxpayer money on its behalf.

The “Greek Mafia” and Organized Labor spanked Steve Westley and gave us another stereotypical liberal to run as fodder for the Terminator in Novembers General election.

Matt Rexroad places first in Yolo County Supervisor’s race with less than 2,300 votes. Most people running for Republican Central Committee in Sacramento County got better vote totals than Rexroad did in his Yolo County race. Plus County Clerk, Freddie Oakley managed to hose the results on election night and she gets rewarded for another four years after running unopposed.

Craig DeLuz ran a slate for Republican Central Committee in Sacramento and had mixed results. Had the slate been a major factor in the outcome, surely Craig would be one of the winners; especially after his previous campaigns for other offices. Instead he places fifth in District 1.

Support the Platform Slate results from Sacramento County Elections

The Fridge on the Freeway

In the movie Gumball Rally, there is a scene where the driver of a sporty convertible is preparing to enter the race from New York to Los Angeles. As part of his pre-race checklist, he reaches up and breaks-off the rearview mirror. The driver then tosses it over his shoulder and behind the car. His partner is shocked. When asked why he did that the drive responds, “What’s behind us doesn’t matter”.

While this philosophy is a hazardous way to drive, it is even more irresponsible when you are hauling furniture. On Saturday my wife and I loaded the family car and headed to the East Bay to do some shopping and see some family members. On the way we had to slow to a near crawl because someone had dumped a once comfortable chair into the number two lane where it had been struck by several other vehicles and caused a major backup in the middle of nowhere.

If someone had secured the chair better then this hazardous situation would have been avoided.

I thought that was about as bad as these incidents get, but I was wrong. That night on the way home I encountered a full sized refrigerator in the second lane of a three-lane highway while going 70 miles per hour! It was sitting upright even though it had been hit by at least one vehicle before I came upon it. At first all I saw was a silhouette that made me think it was a cardboard box but then it was obvious that it was white. My mind registered what it was and I took evasive action as I missed the refrigerator and the parts that had broken off of it. Then I noticed the small car on the side of the road with its flashers on because it had hit the wayward icebox moments earlier.

In both instances, it is negligent and irresponsible behavior that drivers would let cargo they are hauling simply slip off the back of a truck and keep going down the freeway thinking that what’s behind them doesn’t matter.

It is unfortunate that many of us live our lives with the same attitude as these drivers. This is the time of year when we look at the good that our lives can do for others. If you want to contemplate the way that your life touches others; then take some time out of you schedule and dust-off your copy of Its a Wonderful Life , pop some corn and spend an evening counting your blessings. And be careful out there!

 

Ronald McDonald Robs Wendy’s

We All know that competition in the fast food business is tough but this story is really hard to swallow.

It seems that Ronald McDonald was arrested for robbing a Wendy’s Restaurant in Manchester New Hampshire. Why Ronald would steal from Wendy is not revealed in the story. Wendy’s manager caught Ronald McDonald in the act and called police. There is no indication whether McDonald had been consuming Eggnog Shakes prior to the incident.

Thanks Eric

From the middle of my junior year of high school until the end of my second year in college I lived in the South, mostly in Mississippi. My first year there, they had over 144 inches (twelve feet) of rain! The lifestyle and climate in the part of the country is very different from ours here in the Sacramento Valley.

The contrast between Mississippi and Louisiana has grown since my time there. Louisiana has not changed; it is still an area of graft, corruption and political cronyism. Mississippi was just starting to become a Republican area. It is proof the competitive elections will result in better government for citizens.

 

I think Eric Hogue deserves a broadcasting award for his excellent coverage of the hurricane damage this week. He has made a far away tragedy into a personal experience for us all. See SactoDan”s review of the coverage.

Besides the debris, the smell and the devastation that we hear about in the news coverage, there are a number of unpleasant critters in that part of the country that are living among the rubble. Three are at least three species of poisonous snakes and plus alligators that call Mississippi and Louisiana home.

My heart goes out to the folks there.

Upper Sac is Back

In 1989, a chemical tanker car on a Southern Pacific train that derailed poisoned most of the Upper Sacramento River—the river between Dunsmuir and Shasta Lake. Although the river has been gradually opened to fishing over the last several years, it was a move viewed by some as premature and a political move to boost the local economy and not a decision based on sound environmental reasoning.

I spent the last five days along this river and was very happy with what I had observed. There were large numbers of “case worms” (a type of larva) that is a food source for the trout in the river. There were a large quantity of fish from very small fry to mature adults and all stages in between all along the river.

These are the best conditions that I have seen in the river since the spill. My observations are even more remarkable in light of the fact that some small feeder creeks and ponds near the river have been treated to kill mosquitoes as a response to concerns about West Nile Virus. I think it is safe to say that the river is back.

Border Agent an Illegal Alien

Oscar Antonio Ortiz  was employed as a United States Border Patrol Agent in 2001. Oscar is in trouble for smuggling illegal aliens across the Mexican border using his Border Patrol vehicle. He also allowed others to smuggle illegals in groups as large as fifty across the border. Furthermore, he made good money charging admittance into the United States.


Prior to being employed by the Border Patrol,
Oscar was honorably discharged from an enlistment in the US Navy.

 


In order to be employed by the Navy or the Border Patrol, Oscar underwent background investigations. While not as extensive as the background check on Supreme Court Nominee, John Roberts, neither check on Oscar turned-up the fact that he is an illegal alien from Tijuana, Mexico. Oscar was using a fake birth certificate to get both jobs.

Farewell to My Grandfather

I had some fun items that I was going to really spend a lot of time writing about this weekend. I had a great call to Eric Hogue this morning and my day was going great for a Friday. I was looking forward to writing lots on my blog. As I was sitting down at the computer I got the phone call that I had dreaded since I was a teenager. It was my dad. He told me that my grandfather had died.


My grandfather was 96 years old and it seemed that he would live forever. Ray was born in Oroville and spent most of his youth in Arbuckle. He did lots of manual labor as a young man. He did many things over the course of his life. He was a cattle rancher, a rice farmer, owned his own rice milling company and did many other jobs related to rice milling. In his later years, he came up with a quick cooking wild rice and invented more energy efficient systems for rice milling and drying.


He loved hunting and fishing. Deer hunting and trout fishing stories were always welcome subjects for discussion. My grandfather spent many deer seasons at the Jackson Ranch west of Arbuckle. As I understand it he went hunting there almost every year from the late 1930s until the 1970s.There was no hunting during World War Two and as a result the Jackson Ranch was teaming with game during the 1950s. By the time I went hunting there with him, the deer were very scarce.


In the 1960s and 1970s he also spent the second deer season at the Anderson Ranch west of Willows. I remember exiting Interstate 5 at Norman-Princeton Road many times as a kid. His 1946 Willies Jeep was always in tow behind his old Ford Ranchero.


At the Anderson Ranch, I killed my first deer at age ten. It was the weekend of the big slaughter. We got thirteen deer in two days. My deer was the biggest. My dad and other grandfather, Jim, were with me in his International Scout. When we got back to camp, my Grandfather Ray was happy for me.


My grandfather also loved trout fishing. He took his three children to Stonyford to catch fish. They also spent many summers at Lake Tahoe and the Truckee River. In his 50s and 60s, my grandfather spent his time fishing in Lake Berryessa. He liked the lake so much that he bought a place at Steel Park Resort. He tried retirement at age 65 but he got bored with that after about a year and went back to work.


My grandfather had seven patents related to rice milling, drying and production. While he could never make any commercially successful, he always hoped that they would catch on. In an earlier age, he might have been as revered as a pioneer in the rice industry but he never got the recognition that he was due.


Grandfather loved to talk about politics. My earliest recollection of talking politics with him was about the symbols of the two major parties. Democrats had the symbol of the donkey because they were jackasses. He hated labor unions and loved Richard Nixon and later Ronald Reagan. He and my step-grandmother used to watch All In The Family. Grandma used to tease that Archie Bunker was based on my grandfather.


For most of his life, my grandfather had a hatred for God and religion. It was the area of his life that held bitterness. God and ministers were usually described with curses and profanity. I have prayed for him since I was a teenager. In the last few years, he seemed to loose much of his hostility towards God. His cussing was noticeable decreased and he seldom used Gods name in vain.


A few months ago, my parent’s pastor started calling on him on a regular basis. About three months ago, he prayed the sinners prayer with the pastor. The pastor continued to look in on him from time to time. The active rebellion towards God was gone. He seemed at peace with the world and his maker.


He died this morning in his sleep.


I love him and wish the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon him in his eternal rest.


Comments, Trackbacks, Pingbacks:
Comment from: Julie [Visitor]
Bill,

What a wonderful story of the memories that you had of Grandpa. Two years ago in October when Grandpa got sick, I called on our old Pastor to look in on him and he never followed through. That night in the Hospital, I prayed Lord please spare his life and do not take Grandpa’s life until he accepts The Lord as his Savior.


Well, as the story goes, When I started to go to West Valley Baptist Church this past winter, I asked Pastor Everston to start visiting Grandpa in St. John’s retirement home and he did just that. He took Dylon along with him, at first Grandpa didn’t want to hear about God and so they would talk about fishing and hunting.


About a month and a half ago when Grandpa almost died, Pastor had a strong sense to go and visit Grandpa and talk to him about heaven. He did just that and Grandpa told him that he already had a glimpse of heaven and he was ready to go and wanted to hear more about it, so Pastor Everston told Grandpa how to know Jesus as his Savior and when I got the call that he accepted Christ as his personal Savior, I cried.

Thank you for the memories of a wonderful man. He was know as “SPARKIE” to the immediate family.
08/13/05 @ 05:27