Gratitude

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today,
and creats a vision for tomorrow.

-Melody Beattie

For the past 9 years, Bellevue,NE Wal-Mart associates design, plot, and till a mile-long message to the men and women flying in and out of Offutt AFB:


"Shotton said his message offers gratitude for the pilots and flight crews who take off and land from nearby Offutt Air Force Base. He said the people at the base have christened the area Freedom Fields.

"Thank you for freedom," he said. "Again, we take that for granted so many times, and thank God we live in a country we do, and thank God you all are doing what you do." "
Happy Thanksgiving Day!

My Review of Window Lift Motor

Originally submitted at Advance Auto Parts

Product Features:

• 100% computer-tested at 3 points during the manufacturing process
• Engineered for reliable performance
• Assembled with precisely the correct amount of lubricant
• Designed for quiet operation and a l...

Window Lift Motor

Learn from my FAIL

By Terry_Jim from Council Bluffs,IA on 10/10/2010

 

3out of 5

Pros: Fits and functions

Cons: Reuse old bolts clips, Difficult to attach reg

Car & Truck: Auto Enthusiast, Casual Driver

A fine , fitting, functional motor, BUT: If you haven't done this job before, buy the entire regulator and motor for easy installation. Otherwise,first tape window closed, remove old motor-without removing regulator- install new motor on door, use 2 hands to release spring tension from regulator, and 2 hands to remove the plastic spool and whatchamacallit from the old unit and put on new.
I was 2 hands short, and the spool came unwound, resulting in an epic struggle that caused me to buy the entire unit- which comes with new bolts and door panel clips, neither of which come with this motor.

(legalese)

My Review of Window Regulator

Originally submitted at Advance Auto Parts

Dorman Window Regulators are direct replacements that have been redesigned to improve known failure points.

Window Regulator

Don't just buy motor, BUY THIS

By Terry_Jim from Council Bluffs, IA on 10/10/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: Includes EVERYTHING, Easy To Use

Cons: Fragile Door panel clips

Car & Truck: Casual Driver

I bought just a motor, but the regulator came apart when I was installing it. after an epic 3 hour battle, I purchased this. Unlike the plain motor, this kit has everything you need- new bolts for the motor and regulator, new door panel clips, heck, even the bag it comes in can be used to replace torn up plastic lining the door. If you havent done this before, you wont save money by buying the barebones replacement motor. If it's time to replace the motor, replace the regulator too and save yourself some time and struggle.

(legalese)

YOU BLEW IT UP!! , Oh , never mind...

You half expect to see Charlton Heston beating the sand here , don't you ?

"Oh my God. I'm back. I'm home. All the time it was... We finally, really, did it. YOU MANIACS!
YOU BLEW IT UP! AH DAMN YOU!..."
Around the bend from our place, on the new beautiful 24th Street bridge over Interstate 80
in Council Bluffs, the Iowa West Foundation (the philanthropic organization funded by casinos) has paid $3,000,000 to erect 4 pointy,twisted, partialy rusty structures.

When we saw the first rusty, jagged spires of "Odyssey" erected, the kids said that they looked like the Shards-O-Glass pops in the satiric anti-tobacco ad.

The bridge is at the first exit in Iowa on Eastbound I-80 from Omaha, Nebraska.
I thought those prickly things were like wrapping Council Bluffs' (and Iowa's) welcome mat with barbed wire.

Title: Paley’s “Odyssey” Creates a Destination in Council Bluffs, Iowa from Iowa West Public Art on Vimeo.

The artwork is complete, and NOW I see the important artistic statement in the completed structures. There is a message of warning here, and "Odyssey" is the perfect name.

As Circe warned Odysseus about the Sirens in Homer's "Odyssey" (Thanks, Yahoo search) Paley's "Odyssey" sculpture warns travelers what happens to those who follow the siren call.
















They look like shipwrecks.

Consider the shipwrecked lives of gambling addicts- the folks casinos depend on for as 30%-50% of their revenue.
It took Tens of Millions of dollars lost at casinos for IowaWest Foundation to spend $3 Million to fund this display, making Paley's Odyssey fitting, and an ironic bite of the hand that fed him.

Art,It IS indeed.

BP Gulf Claims Money

BP has pledged $20 Billion to help pay for the damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon accident.

President Obama has instructed that BP not be involved with the distribution of that money.

If you believe you have a claim which is

not being paid adequately,

or in a timely manner,

call the Gulf Repayment Hotline:
202-456-1414

-a tip of the hat to Rich Galen, http://www.mullings.com/

BP How to make a claim BP clean up fund BP reembursement money BP damages BP oil spill claims

Miss Teen Beauty Queen

Making Dad Proud.

Note the "tan line" where her gloves were.

Go, go, goalie!

Worry ?

To paraphrase LBJ,
When the latest MAD Magazine arrived in the Oval Office,
BHO said, "Well, that's it.
If we've lost Alfred E. Neuman,
we've lost the idiots."

The National Debt Road Trip

The folks at Political Math likens the growth of government debt to a road trip.

For most of the first 150 years the car idled along at 5mph
Then in the depression and WWII FDR upped it to 40 mph.
Truman backed down the debt at -20 mph
Avg. was 3 mph till Reagan 50mph.
GHWB 63 mph
Clinton 18 MPH
GWB 64 mph the fastest in history.

Obama's own 8 year plan
shows that he plans to drive the debt car at 174 mph.

My brother said "Obama accelerates to 174,
puts his feet up on the dash and complains at how fast the last guy was speeding ! "
See the video here:
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/07/27/video-the-national-debt-road-trip/

Another great illustration:


http://dctrawler.dailycaller.com/2010/02/01/a-simple-five-step-process-for-understanding-the-deficit-and-peoples-reactions-to-it/comment-page-2/#comments

Misplaced obsession

A CNN report: thousands of Avatar fans write in an internet fan forum that they are depressed, even suicidal when they find that real reality is not as fantastic as a fantasy CGI cartoon movie.

In related news, from the Night At The Museum forum:
"Why can't dinosaur bones and wax figures come to life after sunset?
I may end it all."

In related news, from the Princess and the Frog forum:
"Why can't I live as a frog in a swamp with an alligator who plays the trumpet like Louis Armstrong?
I could just die."

In related news, from the Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel forum:
"Why don't the chipmunks in my neighborhood sing and dance, instead of biting, clawing, and peeing all over my hands when I try to put them in the clothes I made for them?
I'm going to jump off a bridge."

Seriously, though, can I get a pair of Barcaloungers upholstered in Na'vi hide? Because if you can't live in a world with furniture covered in blue leather flecked with otherworldly bioluminesence, why would you want to live?