Chain drive garage door openers.

tend to be noisy but they are solid. They are also the most reliable.

The quietest openers are screw driven and probably a little more expensive. They make sense for a family where the comings and goings spread over 24/7.

Still, I met a guy that bought one so it would not wake him up when the garage door opened and closed.

He lives alone.

What kind of badness is he talking about? If he is inside his home and he heard it it is an alarm because someone else has opened it and is either planning on entering or leaving his house.

I seriously doubt he is going to walk in his sleep into the garage and open the door and when he returns he's not going to be asleep either.

Go figure.

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There are times I piss myself off

like I just did a few minutes ago when I looked into my refrigerator to see what I am going to have for breakfast. 

Nothing outright jumped out at me and I got mildly annoyed becaause of that.

Then I got pissed off at myself because the whole refrigerator is full of edible food and I'm annoyed because I wasn't instantly inspired.

Then I opened my eyes and saw some leftover ham and some cheese and started to make an omelet which collapsed when I went to flip the empty side over the onions, ham and cheese side so I said the hell with it and scrambled the whole mess up and had a pretty good breakfast.

I have a refrigerator that people would kill me for a quarter of its contents and I'm complaining? That's just plain wrong.

It's an old saw but once in a while at times like this I ought to stop and think about the hungry kids overseas.

I'm ashamed of myself...or at least was. Now I'm grateful I have more than enough to eat.

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If it only saves one child...

is a common gun control plea.

Good point. While we're at it lets outlaw swimming pools, 5 gallon buckets and other sources of childhood drowning. 

Cars kill children, too so let's outlaw automobiles and we can all walk because if we ride horses children can fall off of them, hit their heads and die.

In short how much are we willing to give up to save one child?

 

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It is Sunday and there is no mail

I think one of the things I can do is pass on some dopey little stuff that will make people's life a little easier.

On the USPS website look up 'Informed Delivery' and check it out. I have it and I check it every morning shortly after I turn on the coffee maker.

It lets me know what I am going to find in my mailbox that day. It's pretty good knowing what to expect that day.

They show pictures of the actual mail piece so you know what it is.

Check it out.

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The Waffle House weather index.

The National Weather Service (NWS) does not officially use the Waffle House Index to forecast weather, but the federal emergency officials certainly do.

One of the things the feds do which actually makes sense is they pay attention to experienced local knowledge. Most likely because they have been embarrassed too many times over the years.

"Our scientists say..." announced the feds only to be made fools of by Farmer Joe's bunions or the local water witcher's trick knee. 

Actually regarding the North River the local (now gone) Coast Guard station used to tell people that local knowledge was the best source of information for people navigating the river. 

The Waffle House index seems to be a pretty good source of local weather information. They have a well earned reputation of toughing out bad weather and staying open. They also have a company index. 

Green, full operations. Yellow means limited operations and red means closed. Closed generally means the place has pretty much been destroyed and can't even provide shelter.

Closed ahead of time means that the storm is pretty much going to render the place heavily damaged. While like anything else that's not a guarantee that a storm is going to tear the place up it's a pretty good indicator of truly nasty weather.

Waffle House also has a pretty good humanitarian record of providing food and shelter during bad weather.

For all of the jokes, laughter, brawl videos etc. and the reputation of being a circus the place quietly shares a reputation for humanitarian service.

It's about as legitimate of a weather indicator as anything else the government provides.

I'd eat there if there was one nearer to home.

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One rant Almost Joined coming right up.

I have seen an increase in "almost joineds'. as in ''I almost joined the (enter service here)"

Either you did or you didn't. 

If you signed enlistment papers and bilged out of MEPS you joined. You are NOT an almost joined. You enlisted. You stood up to the plate and signed the check payable for up to and including your life to the government. You joined. While you are certainly not a veteran, but you are NOT an almost joined because you joined. The government just chose not to cash your check.

Over the years I have seen any number of 'almost joineds' and they are a pain in the a$$. Almost joined in a pig's eye. Half of the AJs my age were in college protesting the Vietnam war and dodging the draft while in liberal colleges. Here so many years later they want to tell people they 'almost joined'.

I have no problem whatsoever with someone that says they opted for college or took advantage of another opportunity or something along these lines. That's all well and good. I can't say as I blame you. I very well might have gone down this route. 

If you considered the military but decided to do something else that's fine and dandy. 

Just spare us the 'Almost Joined' crap. Whatever you do don't say you almost joined to a service member to try and win approval. They may be polite about it but they will think you're a jerk that just outed himself. 

I've noticed that a lot of the AJs from the Vietnam era have started to disappear only to be replaced by AJs from out Middle East adventures. Life goes on.

Fact is I have a lot more respect for someone that was a draft dodger  and admits it than I do for any AJ.

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The other day I overheard an 'almost joined' which is a peeve of mine.

I'm prett lax about what constitutes a veteran. For practical purposes simply signing on the dotted line gets a certain amount of credit. If someone says the flunked out at MEPS I give credit for joining. 

They don't get vets status but they get credit for joining because they committed themselves and that says a lot in my book.

On the other hand when someone says they 'almost joined' they go straight to the bottom of the pile with me. It's 100% total bull$hit.

I overheard someone saying that they 'almost joined' the Marines but it wasn't my conversation so I stayed quite. 

Still, it reminded me of a classmate that was an 'almost joined' when in fact he was at a liberal college protesting the Vietnam war. I tore him a new one for that crock.

Almost joined my a$$!

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An ATNO.

I just worked the Democratic Republic of Congo which is an All Time New One in my log.

I was confused when I looked it up I already had Congo and realized there are 2 Congos, Republic of the Congo and Peoples Republic of Congo.

Anyway there's an new one in my logbook.

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Cats are pests. It's just who they are.

Of course I would not have it any other way.

Someone or something has to keep me going.

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