let's make a deal

the national hockey league has locked out its players with the result being no hockey being played at this time. at the same time the republicans and democrats cannot come to terms on some phoney baloney budget deal that will allow them to continue spending much more money than they have coming into the country's coffers.

the question is, which dispute will be settled first? it's easy to say that settling a sports dispute is the easier task. after all, the amount of money involved is miniscule compared to the trillions being bandied about in the fiscal cliff debacle. but there is one big difference between the two disputes. the national hockey league dispute involves real money where as the fiscal cliff does not involve any real money belonging to the 2 parties acting like children.

i'm going to go out on a limb and predict that the hockey dispute will be settled first. by being settled i mean a hard deal that will stand for several years. i don't think it takes a genius to predict that the so called fiscal cliff will not be solved in any meaningful way, probably some band aid solution will be achieved that will allow both sides to continue posturing and proselytizing ad infinitum.

here's the problem facing the united states as i see it:

one party doesn't understand science and one party doesn't understand mathematics.

leave it up to lewis black to shed a little light on the budget dispute.

i love you sons of bitches and happy fucking new year.

xmas carol...

And the winner of ruby’s xmas carol extravaganza is:

Fairytale of new York featuring the one and only shane mcgowan.

Fairytale of new York was selected based on its unpretentious depiction of xmas showing both the noble aspirations of mankind and also showing the imperfections and frailties of the human condition. Of course i realize that 99.99% of people on this planet would not select shane’s honest and soulful vision of all things festive but as ruby’s ambassador to the human race it is my pleasure to thank shane for all the pleasure he has brought into my life.

Merry feckin xmas and please remember that a very flawed and fragile person loves you sons of bitches.

pre xmas extravaganza

the previous post highlighted two versions of a classic xmas carol. the results were an overwhelming defeat for the ravishing dame kiri te kawana. i'm not sure if her loss was due to her interpretation of the twelve days of xmas or her inability to drop a few pounds to meet the standards of physical beauty we currently expect. i have sent her an email detailing the devastating loss she suffered from my international audience. both ruby and rowdy roddy have expressed their gratitude for the support they received from the academy of voters.

i have narrowed down the list of 20th century xmas songs to two finalists. today i will present the runner-up and on xmas eve i will present the winner of my 20th century xmas song extravaganza. those faithful readers of my previous blogs will have a very good chance of predicting the winner. unfortunately, i may not have many long time readers. is it due to the infrequency of my posts, the lack of quality in the posts or could it be the current toxic atmosphere that prevents me from baring my soul and disclosing the highly interesting and intimate details of both mine and ruby's daily adventures?

without further adieu, here is the runner-up for top xmas song of the 20th century:

i apologize to anyone having to endure a commercial before the video started. there doesn't seem to be distinct pattern as to whether or not a you tube video witl play a commercial before getting to meat of the matter.

i love you sons of bitches for at least 9 more days

a tale of two carols

merry feckin xmas!

i happen to like christmas carols. it wouldn't bug me if they played them all year on radio stations or in elevators. it would supply a nice topic for conversation with strangers whilst ascending to stars. it would be a nice way to break the ice with any nice young things you might encounter.

so here are my two favorite christmas carols:

rowdy roddy!

and the lovely dame kiri te kanawa, she could whisper two turtledoves in my ear until the end of time and i wouldn't tire of it.

they're both so good i can't decide which is the better version so maybe you can help me decide

i love you sons of bitches!

tires

a few weeks ago i noticed the mighty sonata had a very low right rear tire, 8 psi. i drove to the gas station and brought the pressure up to 32 psi. for the next few days i was checking the pressure several times a day. it was losing about 2 psi per day. yesterday i finally took it to the tire store to get it repaired. they said to come back in 2 to 2.5 hours so began a long walk to the public library.

after a few hours of walking on my suspect knee i returned to the tire place and was given the bad news that the tire could not be repaired, a nail at the edge where the tread meets the sidewall. they had a sheet made up with several recommendations. first they recommended 4 new tires and of course i said no. then they recommended 2 new tires. my tread was at about 35-40% remaining. again i said no and asked if they had a cheap used tire to replace the damaged one. after checking they said no. i was just about to leave when i was called back and told they found 1 new discontinued tire that would fit the now not so mighty sonata. i snapped it up for $70. $109 after taxes, installation, balancing and enviromental levy.

the guy thought i was nuts but here's the plan. this summer when the weather is nice and my 1 new tire is worn a little i'm going to head to giant tire depot that sells used tires with up to 80% tread remaining. i'll buy 3 of those buggers and have a set tires with approximately the same tread. plus my old tires will be ready to replace. why the hell should i toss out tires with 35% tread remaining? i thought of going to the used tire place yesterday but the weather was the shits and it might take a while to find good tires. in the summer i can pack a picnic basket and a bring along a lawn chair in case i need to take a rest. it should be a nice little adventure.

buy used stuff to reduce your carbon footprint. (and save a few bucks)

at the library i picked up 10 cd's and a few were excellent, especially this one:

just a pilgrim!

i love you sons of bitches