Neanderpundit

less a party though than an extended gut wrenching nightmare, actually.

Partner and I spent most of the day putting new shocks on the replacement sploder. Lots of new words were coined, many of which meant “Ouch” or “get the hell out of there you recalcitrant bastard”

I half expected Ed to show, but at the rate we were going, I’m surprised we survived.

it was adequately annoying that we ended the day with a pizza and two mcD’s frappes each. I went to sleep around nine.

Now it’s quarter to four and I have to keep the dog company because it’s been storming and he’s freaking out.

The Oslo terrorist is a “Knight templar” and a mason.

Sorry, Masons don’t act like this. As always, a Mason or a Christian doing this is an abberation, while a muslim doing it is expected; several muslim groups were already claiming responsibility for this crap while it was still going on, but it turned out to be a garden variety idiot, not a muslim idiot.

Then part where he walked around and the morons just let themselves be slaughtered is what amuses me. I expect they were all showing their pacifist cred; better to be dead than to resist. Monkeys.

to take the morons of the world and tune them up until they understand common sense, it’s not going to happen, and it’s not going to fix anything (Unless of course I tune them ALL permanently, which… don’t get me started.).

People like P.J O’Rourke and Dennis Miller manage to get people otherwise not inclined to do so, to listen to them, sometimes, because they use humor to make their points. The people listening laugh, and think, hey, maybe the emperor IS naked… and they associate that good feeling (Laughter) with the knowledge they’ve just acquired. In this way, more people were brought to the truth with the chortle than the sword, and so slowly the tide could turn.

Problem is, the MSM is such a huge,. loud force, and the talented voices are so few. Not many among us bloggers have the skill, and even if we did, it would involve soiling ourselves with contact with the filthy beasts. Ick.

Still.

John Venlet talks about Coal Mining, and dangerous gigs. While I’ve never been in a mine outside of the one at the Museum of Science and Industry, I spent more than my share of time around coal. It’s not fun stuff to deal with, even above ground.

His post, though, links to an article in the Business Insider regarding the 15 most dangerous jobs in America, and i find that I have done two of them. I was a roofer in 1978 for most of a summer, and I did iron in 1979-1980. The #4 and #10 most dangerous gigs.

Roofing never scared me, because I had not at that time fallen. Heights didn’t concern me because I was young and lithe and flexible, and could balance on anything. I didn’t see any danger but I didn’t see anyone get hurt, either. We had a good boss and good workers and were very safety conscious for 1978. Iron was another story, I saw lots of accidents and remember several times standing shivering in fear on a beam as someone who had been doing the same job I did got injured or killed, someone I considered an old hand while I was young and inexperienced. There are good reasons why a lot of steelworkers used to be alcoholics, and i was on small buildings, eight, ten stories. The guys who slung high iron, real iron, were a breed apart, and still, for the most part, are. A friend left a job where he climbed a ladder each day to the cab of a crane 90 feet above the tallest point of a skyscraper; he made enough money in five years to retire comfortably though modestly, and I don’t blame him that his home is a single story bungalow.

A lot of what I do is to prevent people from having to do dangerous jobs, but some can only be automated so far. Some dangerous jobs will always have to be done.