Words to Die By

"The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press -- in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of Liberal excess during the past years."

-- Adolph Hitler; Taken from The Speeches of Adolph Hitler, 1922-1939,Vol. 1, Michael Hakeem, Ph.D. (London, Oxford University Press, 1942),pp. 871-872.

Merry Christmas?

"Mouse" Electric Sanders

Mouse sanders (Sears, Black & Decker, etc.) are very handy, all right, but anything beyond light duty ruins them. Heat buildup melts the Velcro-style hooks on the plastic bases, and then they will not hold the sandpaper.

So what I have is a functional sander, a box of Mouse-specific sandpaper, and two plastic bases that are useless.

I haven't checked yet, but I'd bet it's cheaper to buy an entire new Mouse and accessories than to replace the plastic bases.

They should make a heavy-duty Mouse model. Call it Rat.

In Defense of John Ashcroft

I realize a lot of people, especially other Liberals, consider Attorney General John Ashcroft's interpretation of the Second Amendment as an individual right to keep and bear arms as one more reason to dislike him, but it's about the only thing the AG said that I agree with.

Here is a link to a DOJ memo with a concise analysis of the research supporting Ashcroft's opinion.

http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm

Keep your powder dry.

Oops, Wrong Mail Box

Our new rural mail carrier often puts neighbors' mail in my box and mine in the neighbors', but this one...

It's obviously a Christmas card. It's from a woman in Lafayette, Colorado, sent to an address in Boulder, Colorado, a distance of, if I remember correctly, about fifteen miles.

The address is printed correctly, though in red ink, and the Zip is correct for that part of Boulder--80304. But the Zip+4 the post office's machine prints and bar-codes at the bottom of the envelope is correct for my mail box--98382-8414--more than a thousand miles away.

I wrote short letters to the sender and intended receiver. I'll take the lost card to the post office and ask the postmaster how this card ended up in my box.

So, don't worry, Dr and Mrs Ham. Mary Ann's card is on its roundabout way.

Odd coincidence, but I grew up in Boulder, and some lifelong friends live only a block from where this card was supposed to go.

Damn, just realized I'm talking about a Christmas card. It's the 15th already. Of December! Guess I'd better think about Christmas shopping.

Now, where's that ten-spot I was saving just for this...

Selling the House

These days, when you sell your house, it's a good idea to have a consultant come in and tell you what cost-effective things you can do to increase sales appeal.

Some things are obvious, but it would not have occurred to me to take my elk head off the wall and put it in storage to keep from turning off some rich city folks who think all animals should die of old age and out of sight.

But, it makes sense. People who'd appreciate how well the antlers go with the cedar walls won't think less of the house because it isn't there, but seeing it would drive other folks right back out the door.

It would not have occurred to me to have the moss removed from the roof, either. I like moss, and the roof will outlast me, moss or not. The moss comes off.

Then there is the hardwood floor. Yep, gotta get that sanded and refinished...