Running A Truck

I had several interesting conversations with people last weekend. It was my niece’s birthday party. One of her grandfathers used to work for the railroad and was telling me about how the business is changing with computerized locomotives and new and varied customer demands. One of the interesting things he brought up was the cost of diesel to run the engines. He has noticed that the cost of diesel has been running considerably higher that the cost of gasoline. If you drive by any filling station that carries both gasoline and diesel, you will notice $0.60 or more per gallon difference between the two fuels. Up until the hurricanes of last year, the difference was no where that much. This led to some interesting speculation on why that was.

Gasoline has come down considerably from the elevated and painfully priced fuel of the hurricane disaster days. Diesel fuel prices have remained relatively high in comparison. Most of the country uses automobiles that burn gasoline as their fuel source. However, most of the freight in this country is shipped by either semi-truck or railcar. We all know that businesses are not in the habit of changing their contracts for goods unless it is time to negotiate. However, the freight companies have something called a fuel surcharge that they tack onto the cost of what they haul. That means that the increased cost of their fuel is a hidden cost to most businesses. The buying public thinks they are getting a deal by saving on the cost of gas but by the oil companies passing on the costs in diesel, those costs are resulting in higher prices for everyday goods.

It appears that the oil companies have found a way to change their image as gougers of the American people by passing their costs into the costs of transporting goods. That means that the raw materials that goes into products goes up, the cost to ship to customers goes up, the cost to import and disperse that product throughout the nation increases. This is done to give the illusion that they are saving the American public from being gouged at the pump. So we pay less for gas and think we are getting a deal but more money comes out of our wallet and we can blame the stores or manufacturers. It is one giant shell game that big oil has managed to hide in the shadow and hope that no one notices how they are still making the big money but casting the blame elsewhere. I don’t mind making a profit; I would just appreciate a little honesty in how they produce those profits.

Icool

Cobb

New Way To Beat Terrorists

I was having a conversation this weekend about the future of the automobile. With the Detroit auto show just around the corner, it is always a fun day to just go up and see what the auto manufacturers have in mind for the near future. One of the technologies that is looming big on the horizon is hydrogen. Once the hydrogen engine becomes economical to produce and becomes the power plant for the people moving industry, it solves a host of current issues.

Of those current issues, the two biggest is removing the major mantra from the environmentalist wacko movement and eliminate CO2 emissions. Since I have gone over and over that, I will move on to number two. The second issue is eliminating Islamic driven terrorism. I realize that is looks like I am labeling an entire religion but the Irish Republican Army was also a terrorist movement as was the duo that blew up of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Terrorism is associated with who is participating in the events. It is also associated with who is funding the events.

One of the dividends of the recent rise in petroleum prices is that it puts more money in the hands of the Islamic governments of the Middle East. Since they are Islamic, they are pushing their religious agenda and want it to become a world wide following. It is easy to keep the terrorists well funded when the infidels are buying the crude that is pumped from the ground. They spend your money to buy weapons so they can shoot and kill you. Warped but it makes perfect sense. Saudi Arabia and Iran are both using their wealth in a war with the west and neither is getting their hands dirty.

So, by switching to a hydrogen economy, we eliminate the flow of cash in the hands of the terrorists and push them and their fanatical agenda into the stone ages where it belongs. Maybe then you will have Green Peace and the other environmental fan clubs parked off of their shores chanting, stop burning oil. Go after someone besides the US for a change. Yea right. There wouldn’t be any press coverage so it would be a non-event. Three, two, one and were live…..


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Cobb

A Link Between Global Warming and Aging

I apologize for another jab at the supposition kings over at the global warming conspiracy club. They booked the same convention hall a week after the president of Iran held his Holocaust Is A Lie dinner and dance. The amazing thing about their meeting is they have drawn another conclusion from all of the observations that have been collected about global warming and its effects on the environment. I was astounded to hear that global warming is now the leading candidate to blame on the aging process. I know, hard to believe but here is their thread.

It was noticed by one of the more prominent members of their body that everyone had aged one year since their last annual convention in New Orleans. At the New Orleans meeting, everyone was taking about how fast the waters rose as their meeting was concluding. Everyone was certain that the ice caps were melting like an ice cube under a McDonald’s heat lamp. Once they learned that it was a hurricane and not the result of the polar glaciers melting, they immediately labeled the hurricane a result of global warming and adjourned to higher ground.

As this year’s meeting started, it was introduced that the ravages of global warming had an extreme affect on the human aging process. Since man had continued to drive around in cars, let cows pass gas, and generally live normal lives, there had been an addition to the number of years each member of the conference had lived. This link to global warming and aging was assigned to a senior fellow at a major university to apply for grants and other federal money to study the effects. The paper is to be published just prior to the annual meeting next year from the coast line in the Himalayas peaks. It was deemed the only safe place to hold a meeting now that the glaciers are practically melted. Or was that the Velveeta on their lunch plate. Pass the Chardonnay please.

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Cobb

Tickled Pink

When I started blogging last year, it was primarily to keep a journal of things I was interested in. Looking over the last 15 months, I have covered a lot of ground on a variety of subjects. As Rush Limbaugh says on Fridays, “During the week we talk about what interests me but on Fridays I open the phones to what you, the listener, want to talk about.” I do not have open line Friday because this blog is what I want to make of it. However, a reader of any article can leave comments, if they are so inclined. I finally received a comment on something I wrote and am really digging the experience.

I know that I do not have many visitors to this site. I keep track of who looks at it and for the most part, it is me and a few close friends. If I was doing this to get my 15 minutes of fame, I certainly am going about it the wrong way. I used to think that being famous was the end all. Maturity shows you that it is a long and difficult road that leaves most of the participants unhappy and disgusted. You are never left alone. The cameras flashing in your face and the fans constantly thinking that you have enough time for them. Not to mention stalkers. Fame is for those who have a big enough ego to manage that sort of adoration. I realized that I do not.

So, I received a comment on one of my entries from someone I did not know. It was a negative comment about how I did not really know what I was talking about. The way the comment was written told me I struck a nerve and that although I was not truly vested in the article, I was probably correct in my assumptions. If the person who wrote the comment ever comes back and reads anything else, thank you for making my day. To know that you have touched someone else is part of the sharing that goes along with on-line publishing. So….


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Cobb

Persian Puffery

Iran has declared that Israel’s days are numbered. At a symposium to discuss how the holocaust is a myth, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has given the following statement: "Thanks to people's wishes and God's will the trend for the existence of the Zionist regime is downwards and this is what God has promised and what all nations want." He also said, "Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out." I find it so comforting that an Islamic extremist would feel so empowered to speak on my behalf.

That this conference is being held at all is deeply disturbing. Someone must be seriously delusional or just plain brainwashed to announce that the holocaust never happened. The evidence is overwhelming that the Nazi’s created death camps and herded any that did not meet their standards into them. Unfortunately, the Jews were their primary target. The graves, pictures, records, and eye witness accounts are more than ample to convince even the most jaded eye. But I guess hatred is blind.

His statement concerning the Soviet Union is laughable. It was a hodgepodge of loosely held together states with only a communist dictator to enforce the unity. Without the power to back up the threats, it very quickly came unraveled. Israel has been in existence on and off for several thousand years. They have been conquered and returned. They have been enslaved and returned. The Jewish homeland is there to stay. If the Iranians think that God has forsaken his chosen people, they must not understand what a covenant is. God never said it would be easy but he did promise that his chosen people would have a homeland.

So as the conference on how to wipe out Israel continues in Iran, we can look on with contempt and pity at the ignorance being forced on an entire nation. Fortunately they cannot enforce their wishes. Israel is a miniature superpower in the region. Armed with American technical know how and the guts shown in their previous conflicts, I have no doubt that Iran would be crying uncle in a New York minute. It is nice that Sean Combs gave up his Puff designation as it fits perfectly with its new owner; Puff Mahmoud.

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Cobb

Crisp

I had this word floating around in my head all weekend. One of the little thinking games I play from time to time is to come up with a name for a rock band. For some reason, crisp jumped to the forefront as the best option of the bunch. Some other winners from previous competitions are Last Dakota and Temporary. I didn’t say they were good names. I just said they were the best I had to choose from at the time. But crisp seemed to be a great name for a band that wants to be on the cutting edge.

Crisp has many directions it could go. When you are making your bed, you use crisp sheets. I understand what that means by the way the newly laundered sheets feel when you first lay on them. I am having difficulty putting that experience into words but it is like sleeping on a billowy cloud. Is that crisp? Line can be crisp. Fresh celery is crisp when you bite into it. A fresh winter morning can have a crisp feel to it. There is even a doughnut called Krispy Kreme. Can doughnuts be crisp?

There was a commercial I remember seeing when I was growing up by York Peppermint Patty. It had a husband and wife in cold weather gear. You can see their breath as they are talking. The husband says, “Let’s take the penguin for a walk.” The wife replies, “Okay Howard.” The slogan was York Peppermint Patty, Cool and Crisp, so even a chocolate covered mint can be crisp. And if you believe the commercial, it is cool too.

Icool

Cobb

Democrats Win and Contest Election

Dateline Sarasota Florida: The Democrat National Committee chairman Howard can you screech for me Dean (don’t say Screech too loud; another story) is contesting the race for the House of Representatives. It appears that the democrat running for office, Christine Jennings lost the election by a mere 369 votes and all of a sudden the electronic voting machines appear to have malfunctioned. The democrats walloped the republicans in the mid-term election and they still whine about voting machines malfunctioning. I don’t recollect a single republican complaining about voting machines after getting clobbered and losing both houses.

The democrats want a brand new election even after nothing could be found wrong with the current voting equipment. You have to love a sore winner. They have been out of power for so long that they are not even happy when they win. If the democrats get a new election for this race, I say we void the entire election and do it all over again. That would be only fair. Maybe then, after seeing who is going to be running our legislative branch of government, the voters would wake up and get their heads out of their anterior plumbing.

It would appear that the congressional majority is trying to push their newly reacquired weight around with this situation. If Christine Jennings does not get her way, she is going to ask for a congressional investigation on the matter. And since her party will hold the keys to the rubber stamp, she could very well get her wish. They might even declare her the winner and not bother to hold another election. Their lack of vision and arrogance about what is right for everyone would certainly make that something they think they can get away with. Of course, they are politicians and you know they are lying because their lips are moving.

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Cobb

Feels Like A Radio Station

I have been digging through the database at my local library searching for musical groups, albums and individual songs that I like. It started with me loading my current CD collection on my computer. It made for great listening just picking a group or album or just playing them randomly. Once I went through my collection, I started hearing other songs that I wanted and started buying CD’s from E-bay. That was a bit pricey and I was stumped about how to proceed. They I took my son to the local library and discovered that they had a nice music collection there. Unfortunately, I exhausted the local ones rather quickly. Shortly after that, I discovered library sharing.

I started making a list of the albums and musicians that I enjoyed. From there I would scan the database to get what I wanted. I still have about 30 that I cannot find in their system so eventually I will have to fork over some cash to complete my collection. What is nice is you order them from all over the state and they are delivered directly to the local library. You check them out and transfer them and take them back. In the mean time, your collection continues to grow. As of yesterday, I was up to 94 hours of music. Figuring that 96 hours is 4 days and I still have at least two more days to copy, I will have a boat load of play time.

I will probably end up buying the songs I cannot get on line. I know that it is a different format than the CD but it is cheaper to do it that way if you only want one song off of the album. It is even cheaper to buy the whole album for under $10 on line as opposed to $13 and up from a store. If you only want one song, it is usually $0.99. Now some would say that I have not purchased the songs and am therefore doing this illegally. I would say that since we just passed a levy to support the library, I lend financial support to the library and am a part owner. That gives me the right to copy the music since I already own it. As long as I don’t trade or sell the songs or play them for financial gain, no harm, no foul. Rock on.

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Cobb

Full Moon Rising

We have had problems with our neighbors shortly after we moved in. The mom brought over cookies or brownies on our first day and I thought that was great. They had a daughter that is the same age as my middle daughter and they seemed to hit it off just fine. I didn’t think anything of it when I would come home and she would be lounging in my living room, drinking a soda and watching TV with my kids. Then one day the kids started to grumble about her. Then I started noticing things.

She would open a can of pop, take two sips and just leave it. Or pour half of it in a glass and take two sips and leave the glass and the can for someone to pick up. Or she would open a brand new bag of chips and start feeding her face. Better yet, she would just sit down at the dinner table for supper without being asked. Now I did not mind because some people were not taught manners but I did lay down some ground rules about the pop. It was when she started calling my daughter names that we finally had the talk with her. She did not like our rules and made the situation with my daughter even more unpleasant. After that, it went down hill.

Their son would stand out on their back patio and smoke. It would not bother me except he was a sophomore in high school. The same son would have profane shouting matches with his parents. It would be F this and F that and it only happened when we had friends over for a back yard gathering. Entertaining yes, welcome no. He and his sister rode the bus with my kids. I knew that we had finally broken the relationship when the son dropped his pants and pressed his butt cheeks against their front window as my daughters walked home from the bus stop. My oldest daughter described it was a true full moon because his butt had never seen the sun and looked like cream cheese. So we have neighbors that do not talk to us but it could be worse. They could have a son for my boy to play with and really make our lives a mess.

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Cobb

Moonlight In Vermont

I thought since I had started a moon theme, I would continue as long as there was a subject of interest for me. As usual, they come out of nowhere or at least those long unopened file drawers to bubble quietly to the surface of my gray matter. This one has a very special meaning for me. When we were looking for a place to go on our honeymoon, we agreed that it would be nice to go to New England and see the colors. After searching all of the travel books for someplace nice but not too expensive, (yes this was before there was an internet that would instantly connect you with their web sites) we found the Manchester View Motel in Manchester Vermont. After several calls and letters, we made reservations and booked the Norman Rockwell Suite. It had a great view of the mountains and since this was the middle of October, it made for some beautiful scenery.

Since we were going to Vermont on our honeymoon, we had the band at our wedding reception play Moonlight In Vermont for our big dance. We had an actual band and not a DJ like many weddings have today. Since it was something that we wanted, it came out of our pockets. I was not overly pleased with my in-laws at the time but as a parent, I realize the limitations that need to be put on children when you are forking over big bucks to get them out of the house. Almost 20 years later, I have no recollection of what the song sounds like but I remember dancing to it with my beautiful bride.

The song was written by John Blackburn and Karl Suessdorf around 1958. I know that it has romantic overtones and a big band arrangement. I wish I had the accompaniment to go with it but below are the words to Moonlight In Vermont.

Pennies in a stream
Falling leaves, a sycamore
Moonlight in Vermont

Icy finger-waves
Ski trails on a mountainside
Snowlight in Vermont

Telegraph cables, they sing down the highway
And travel each bend in the road
People who meet in this romantic setting
Are so hypnotized by the lovely...

Ev'ning summer breeze
Warbling of a meadowlark
Moonlight in Vermont

Telegraph cables, how they sing down the highway
And they travel each bend in the road
People who meet in this romantic setting
Are so hypnotized by the lovely...

Ev'ning summer breeze
The warbling of a meadowlark
Moonlight in Vermont

Moonlight in Vermont
Moonlight in Vermont


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Cobb

M-O-O-N spells…

As a voracious reader, I have read my share of Stephen King novels. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his early novels like Salem’s Lot and The Shining. Carrie was an interesting story but had been made into a movie by the time I actually got around to reading it. At the time, anything with John Travolta aka Vinny Barbarino was not worth watching. But that is another story. When I got around to reading The Stand, I was amazed at the richness of the characters and the good versus evil story line. I think that Stephen King did his best work on that novel.

For those who are not as bibliophilic, The Stand is about a government designed flu bug named Captain Trips that escapes from a secret lab and kills off most of the Earth’s population. The survivors are those who have a natural immunity to the epidemic are mysteriously called to either Boulder, Colorado to God’s camp or Las Vegas to the devil’s camp. It was pretty much split right down the continental divide. Each side tries to get civilization up and running but with different motives. In Boulder, they get the corpses cleaned up, the power on and try to resume a normal life. In Las Vegas, they clean up, get the power on and start to amass weapons to conquer the other camp. The outcome of the final battle will certainly restore your faith if you ever have doubts.

Although the characters range from a recently crowned pop star, a pregnant teen, an overweight teenager with teenage fantasies, a Texas cowboy, and a pyromaniac named Trash Can Man, my favorite character is named Tom Cullen. Tom is a mildly retarded strapping young man who connects with a deaf and dumb man named Nick Andros. Tom Cullen is light hearted and will do anything for his friends. When he is happy he spouts of MOON spells and substitutes the word he wants into the phrase. He also ends up being the hero of the book. So MOON spells read this novel. Don’t be afraid of the length. The time will zoom by and you will be left wanting more. Also, get the unabridged version. The original publication was shortened by the editor. What was cut out was included in a later version. It adds significantly to the splendor and vividness of the story.

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Cobb

To The Moon Alice

NASA has announced that it intends to go back to the moon. The time frame is much greater than when JFK announced it during his term. In less than 10 years, we had put a man on the moon and did it more than once. NASA is currently looking at going back to the moon by 2020 and actually setting up a permanent base four years later. Better yet, NASA is looking at making it a multi-national task by including other nations in the missions. How cool is that!

It is amazing the amount of science fiction that involves the moon. Jules Verne, Robert Heinlein, and John Varley are all known for their moon based novels and societies. This announcement is really the first initiative towards establishing man on a non-Earth surface. From there the next step would be to set up a colony on Mars. I would think that a thriving group on the moon would be a great impetus to expand man’s domain to include the red planet. There we could go to Edgar Rice Burroughs and his Martian series for how to handle things (just kidding). Turning Mars into a human base of operations would certainly guarantee man continued expansion to the stars.

Being a sci-fi buff, I remember watching the campy British adventure Space: 1999. The premise was that mankind was storing nuclear waste on the moon and a freak disaster caused the radioactive material to explode and shove the moon out of Earth orbit in into deep space. Martin Landeau and Barbara Bain were the two lead characters in the first season and they picked up a sexy shape changing alien Katherine Schell for the second season. It was silly and illogical in its premise but for the time period (1975), it was fun for a teenager. If that accident had actually occurred (yea right), NASA would be having to drastically change their plans and we would certainly not be looking at Mars as our second destination. It would probably be our first and not so soon.

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Cobb

Level of Uncertainty

For most of us, there is always that apprehension of trying anything new. If you are one of those do it, done it, did it kind of people, fear of the unknown is probably not in your vocabulary. Normal people (which would say that the do it, done it, did it people are abnormal) are given the chance to experience new things, many of them not of their own choosing. Some bravely face their challenge and are either swallowed whole and pass through the belly of the beast or are chewed to pieces and left for dead. Others expend a lot of energy evading their fear only to eventually be caught and forced to face the music. Both ways work. One is quick and normally painless. The other is an extreme waste of time and energy and in the end, normally painless.

So why do we choose to torture ourselves with needless worry instead of just stepping off of the ledge? It brings to mind the scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Indy has made it through the first two challenges after finding the final resting place of the Holy Grail. The last challenge is a lead of faith across a deep chasm. The air in front of him appears to be empty but on closer inspection, he finds a stone bridge hidden in the coloration of the rocks. A clever disguise but not to tough for our Indy. The scene where he is actually going to walk off into space is that moment of trust that things will be alright. The situation is new and unproven but someone has done it before and you know it can be done. It becomes a leap of faith.

So why do people shrink from change? We get caught in our old comfortable habits and do not want to venture from our comfort zone. Everyone likes to maintain their current method of doing things and any change throws a monkey wrench into their perfectly meshed gears. Why do some people attack anything new? They realize that the best way to overcome anything is a full frontal assault. Get you hands around whatever is in the way and make it your own. It is one of God’s great gifts that each person handles things differently. If that wasn’t the case, it would be awfully boring around here.

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Cobb

Finally Got Cold

Last week we had 50 and 60 degree temperatures most of the week. It cooled at night but it was November. December rolled in and brought heavy rains and finally the cold. It is quite the contrast. This morning it was 18 degrees. The other problem with drastic temperature changes like that is people start getting sick. My family has been coughing and hacking going on three weeks. My middle daughter started the week of the Ohio State - Michigan game and everyone has followed her into that abyss of the cold virus. I have managed to hold out but I think I have finally started my descent into the household of illness.

I do not mind the cold. Unless it is bitter cold, I do not wear a coat unless I am going to be outside for more than a few minutes. If it was between 50 and 60 degrees all year I would be just fine. I know that some day my circulation will go to hell and I will bundle up until July but until then I am content to stay a little cold. You can always put on a coat if you need to but at a certain point the civil authorities frown on nudity.

So I will wait out the day and see if my cold symptoms start to develop or if this is just a false alarm. I am praying that this is just sympathy symptoms for my family but as the tickle starts to worsen in the back of my throat and the coughing increases in frequency, I am beginning to doubt that theory. Time to hit the old pharmacy and see what works this time. Physician, heal thyself.

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Cobb

Wrecked

I received a call yesterday and found out that my mother had been in an auto accident. I was fortunately on my way back towards town to visit a sister plant so my commute home was shorter. When I arrived at the hospital I found that my mother was banged up but not seriously hurt. She was waiting on x-rays and a CAT scan to confirm that there was no internal issues. My sister, who is a nurse at another hospital was there making sure that her care met expectations. I knew that things were going to be alright.

When they came in to wheel her for the pictures there was the moment of apprehension that they might find something. When my mother's husband (sorry I cannot call him father-in-law) informed me that my mother-in-law (my wife's mom) was also in for a CAT scan. They managed to do back to back scans. Thankfully everything turned out fine.

My mother's car was totaled. She had a '96 Lincoln Town Car which is the last of the beasts. The car was in perfect condition and thanks to the large trunk, she was protected when the other driver slammed into her. The air bag did not deploy but since it was a rear end collision and not a head on, that model year did not deploy. My mother is going to be sore for a few days/weeks but at least she is not seriously hurt. It is these randon acts that shake you awake when you think your life is running smoothly. Makes for a good bout of reflection on what is really important and what can wait.

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Cobb