January | 2014 | Grumpa Joe's Place

Who Do I Believe?

Posted on 24/01/2014 by Grumpa Joe

If one is to believe the Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment is not a problem. I reviewed the BLS website pages to decide for myself what to believe. I couldn’t discern what is happening. There are no clear figures to tell me exactly what is going on. What I do know is what I see going on around me, many people I know cannot find a job to replace the one they lost.

Recently, I had occasion to visit the Will County Land Use Bureau to get a permit to put a new roof on a house. I asked the permit man if he has seen an increase in permit requests. He had time to talk to me because I was his only customer. The answer is NO. When I visit a business I ask how their business is doing. Many are honest enough to tell me how far down they are from 2009. Recently, I ran into a former colleague who is still working at my former place of employment. I know their business dropped by forty percent when the recession hit. He told me they were nearly back to where they were five years ago, that is a good thing. Currently I am traveling across country. I stay in a chain of hotels that I am comfortable with, and they give a breakfast as a draw. In past years, cars, trucks, and trailers crowded the hotel parking lot and breakfast was standing room only. Last night I parked right next to the lobby door. This morning, I had a premium table right in front of the TV. The fact remains that businesses doing poorly outnumber those that are doing well. My survey is anecdotal and not scientific, but it is a seat-of-the-pants look at the business around the country.

Today, I spent time reading blogs that I follow. One of them is “Rat Nation.” I lifted a book review from the blog which I have included below. There are no words to describe this book titled “Everything Obama Knows About Creating Jobs.”

Definition of ‘Unemployment Rate’

The percentage of the total labor force that is unemployed but actively seeking employment and willing to work.

Filed under: Conservative, economy, family, Food, Government, Uncategorized | Tagged: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Jobs, Obama, Rat Nation, Unemployment | 5 Comments »

The Dark Side of the Moon

Posted on 22/01/2014 by Grumpa Joe

When the space program was in its infancy a new term came into existence “the dark side of the moon.” The term applied to the time the astronauts in orbit around the moon for the very first time lost all contact with planet Earth. The time was scary. No one knew what had happened. The loss of communication had not been expected. Yet, when analyzed, it became obvious that radio signals from the capsule when it was behind the moon, i.e. the moon was between the capsule and Earth, could not wrap around the moon toward earth. The tension at Mission Control could be felt around the world. The loss lasted several minutes, and a cheer went out after the capsule again came around into the signal area.

I am currently traveling and I feel like I have been on the dark side of the moon with my posts. At other times, I blogged daily from different parts of the USA. This time I have not had the opportunity to do so.

Today, I drove four hundred and eighty miles from one city to another. The first half, or two hundred and forty miles, took five and a half hours for a grand spanking 43.6 mph average. The gas consumption measured 27.8 mpg. The ride was scenic and through rural areas. We experienced one incident which tested my mettle. I stopped to gas up, and stopped in front of a gas pump. I pushed the button to pop open the lid for the gas fill tube. It did not open. I kept pushing the button on the dash, nothing happened. I stepped out and used the key fob to pry at the edge of the door, nothing happened. I asked Peg to sit in the driver’s seat to push the button while I banged and pried at the door, nothing happened. Finally, I told myself to use some force to get the darn thing open. I figured the worst would be a broken or bent door. Peg held the button down and I levered the door with the key fob enough to get my fingers into the opening and yanked for all I was worth. The door opened. I gassed up and left the door open for the rest of the trip.

The second two hundred and forty miles were more scenic and covered wide open spaces with very large skies, it took three hours for an 80 mph average, and a gas usage of 25.1 mpg. In both halves I never exceeded the speed limit. If you knew where I was you would understand completely why there is such a difference. I enjoyed both halves of the course, but must admit the second half was a white knuckle ride. A lapse of a single second from the road found me correcting the wheel. At high speeds it is easy to wander from side to side very quickly. I also experienced the sensation of relative speed. When approaching a vehicle from far behind my speed seemed normal, however, when coming up behind the same vehicle from within thirty-car lengths the distance between us closed at the speed of light. In one instance I came upon a semi-truck and signaled to change lanes for a pass. The truck pulled into the passing lane at the same instant. I found myself standing on the brakes to avoid running into him.

Tomorrow morning we will cover three hundred miles at the same speed limit, I look forward to the thrill.

Filed under: family, Travel | Tagged: dark side, Moon, Space Program, Speed | 1 Comment »

Don’t Call Me “Ma’am”

Posted on 15/01/2014 by Grumpa Joe

This letter has been around before. I found it to be great the first time, and this time I find it extraordinarily great. I wish I could express myself as proficiently as did Jim Hill in his letter to Senator Barbara Boxer.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

The letter below sent to Sen. Barbara Boxer from an Alaskan Airlines pilot. Many of us witnessed the arrogance of Barbara Boxer on

June 18, 2009 as she admonished Brigadier General Michael Walsh because he addressed her as “ma’am” and not “Senator” before a Senate hearing.

This letter is from a National Guard aviator Captain Jim Hill. I wonder what he would have said if he were really
angry. Long fly Alaska Airlines!!!!!

********************************************

Babs:

You were so right on when you scolded the General on TV for using the term, “ma’am,” instead of “Senator”. After all, in the military, “ma’am” is

a term of respect when addressing a female of superior rank or position. The General was totally wrong. You are not a person of superior rank or position.

You are a member of one of the world’s most corrupt organizations, the U.S. Senate, equaled only by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Congress is a cesspool of liars, thieves, inside traders, traitors drunks (one who killed a staffer, yet is still revered), criminals, and other low-level swine who, as individuals (not all, but many), will do anything to enhance their lives, fortunes and power, all at the expense of the People of the United States and its Constitution, in order to be continually re-elected. Many Democrats even want American troops killed by releasing photographs. How many of you could honestly say, “We pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor” None? One? Two?

Your reaction to the General shows several things. First is your abysmal ignorance of all things military. Your treatment of the General shows you to be an elitist of the worst kind. When the General entered the military (as most of us who served) he wrote the government a blank check, offering his life to protect your corpulent derriere, now safely and comfortably ensconced in a 20 thousand dollar leather chair, paid for by the General’s taxes. You repaid him for this by humiliating him in front of millions.

Second is your puerile character, lack of sophistication, and arrogance, which borders on the hubristic. This display of brattish behavior shows you to be a virago, termagant, harridan, nag, scold or shrew, unfit for your position, regardless of the support of the unwashed, uneducated masses who have made California into the laughing stock of the nation.

What I am writing, are the same thoughts countless millions of Americans have toward Congress, but who lack the energy, ability or time to convey them. Regardless of their thoughts, most realize that politicians are pretty much the same, and will vote for the one who will bring home the most bacon, even if they do consider how corrupt that person is. Lord Acton (1834 – 1902) so aptly charged, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Unbeknownst to you and your colleagues, “Mr. Power” has had his way with all of you, and we are all the worse for it.

Finally, Senator, I, too, have a title. It is “Right Wing Extremist Potential Terrorist Threat.” It is not of my choosing, but was given to me by your Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, and you were offended by “ma’am”?

Have a fine day. Cheers!

Jim Hill

16808 – 103rd Avenue Court East

South Hill, WA 98374

If you care about the way our Country is heading, please circulate this to remind every voter that the “cesspools” MUST be pumped out when we go to

the polls in November, 2014

Filed under: Conservative, Election, family, Government, politics | Tagged: Congress, Election, Elitist, Extremist, Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, Right Wing, Senate, Senator Barbara Boxer, Terrorism Threat | 2 Comments »

Not Much Has Changed

Posted on 11/01/2014 by Grumpa Joe

I got this from my good friend Dorothy.

Do you know what happened 163 years ago on

September 9, 1850?

California became a state!

The people had no electricity.
The state had no money.
Almost everyone spoke Spanish.
There were gunfights in the streets.

So basically NOTHING has changed except,

THEN

the women had real boobs,

and the men didn’t hold hands.

That, my friends, is the history lesson for today.

Filed under: Education, family, Humor, Satire | Tagged: California, History, socialism, Spanish, Statehood, welfare | 3 Comments »

Pure Exhilarating Cold

Posted on 06/01/2014 by Grumpa Joe

There is nothing finer or more exhilarating than a Mid-Western cold spell. It has been a long time since we experienced temperatures like the ones we have today. Last night when I took the trash out, my indoor-outdoor thermometer read -3 F. This morning, the darn thing didn’t register. I bundled up to blow the snow off the drive and walkways. Just before leaving the house, I checked the temperature on my phone. It read minus seventeen fahrenheit, with a south wind. I believe the cold is coming to us from the South Pole where it is summer and research ships traveling there to prove man-made global warming have frozen into the water.

Outside, the cold manifested itself in quiet. Normally, I can hear the noise of traffic from the nearby roads, but not today. The day before the birds crowded the feeders in a feeding frenzy. Today there is no movement, no sound, nothing except cold, sparkling pure crystals of powder snow. The sky is a pure blue and any pollution over the city has frozen and fallen from the sky.

My mind took me back to a time when I served as Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 1776. I formed the troop two years before the USA ‘s two hundredth birthday. People called us the bi-centennial troop. Many of the scouts still communicate with me. One of the memories was a District event held in January called the Klondike Derby at Yorkville Scout camp west of Chicago. A weekend campout filled with sled races, pioneering skills and cold weather survival training. We braved the cold and survived a night sleeping on the ground in tents when the temperature dropped to twenty-five below zero. The best part was Sunday morning when it was time to break camp and head for home. Not a single car started, we were stranded. Thankfully, the Camp Ranger had a phone in his cabin and we were able to call home for Dads to come out and pick up their sons as the Scoutmasters tried starting the vehicles. We survived that adventure also, and finally arrived home by six. It was another time when I enjoyed the pure exhilaration of the extreme cold.

It took me thirty minutes to move the snow, and by that time my gloved hands were tingling but my fingers were beginning to numb at the same time. I filled the feeders and came in to hibernate. I think it is a good time to cook some chili.