Around lunch time today I was sitting at the counter in a truckstop. I had finished eating and was spending a few minutes knitting to unwind a bit before moving on. The driver next to me started up a conversation with me. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he intended to amuse himself by messing with me. Him: "Whatcha making? A dress?" Me: "Any idiot can see it's a scarf." Him: "Oh yeah, ok. Did your mommy teach you how to do that?" I decided to mess with him a little. M...

The state of NC is kicking off Operation T.A.C.T., Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks. Due to the high number of commercial vehicle/passenger vehicle crashes on NC highways, the NC Highway Patrol will be targeting drivers who drive aggressively around big rigs. This from the News 14 Carolina website story: CABARRUS COUNTY, N.C. -- We've all seen it, or perhaps even done it -- speeding past a big-rig on the highway. The excessive speed, combined with a number of different factors, mak...

After not having much knitting time for several weeks I have finally had some decent time here and there to work on the Irish Hiking Scarf and have made some progress on it. I'm pretty happy with the way it's turning out even if it is only about 1/3 finished at this point.

On Wednesday of last week I went to an ATM to draw $200 off my fuel card (I get paid throuogh my fuel card) to pay some bills. The machine spit of a single 20 dollar bill and then a receipt showing a $200 transaction. The screen also starting displaying an out of service message. Well hell. I made a note of the phone number for the ATM company and called them about the problem. The man took the information and said that he would enter the dispute into their system and they would resolve it...

George Hotz, and 17 year old in NJ successfully hacked his iPhone to unlock it so as to make it work with his choice of cellular providers. The hack involved opening up the phone, and making some internal circuit changes and the installation of additional software and took him about 500 hours of work to finally get it right. Link

48% of all polls are totally made up. 92% of people who believe polls are factual are complete morons. 66.7258792% of people who look up polls on the internet have a hang nail. 32% of people aren't. 97% of dogs lick their own ass. 2% of dogs lick their owner's ass. 1% of dogs are killed for biting their owner's ass. 98% of statistics are manipulated.

Grrrr. Ever have an itch on your back that you just can't quite reach? It's maddening. I have one right at the bottom of my left shoulder blade that I just can't quite get at. Must be a blackhead or something. Now is when I need a girlfriend to scratch it for me. Arrrrrgh!

The new place is starting to come into some semblance of order. Well, ok, the bedroom still needs some work but it's better than it was. After finishing up the laundry, ironing, and doing the dishes, (no toenail clipping, sorry), I showered and then set about preparing a nice shave. I loaded a fresh Feather blade into my razor, selected a nice rose scented shaving soap, and set about building a good lather with my badger hair brush. The scent of the soap isn't very strong but it's plea...

As I mentioned in another article, Elie (MM) sent me some of his home roasted coffee beans as a house warming gift. Yesterday I purchased a new coffee grinder and this this morning I put it to use. I have to say that our good friend Elie is a master coffee bean roaster. This is without question the best cup of coffee I have had the pleasure of drinking in a good many years. I drink a lot of coffee while out on the road, sometimes it's good, sometimes it would be better used as a drain cle...

Well, ok, more like a slightly off cook actually. I decided to make goulash for dinner tonight. My goulash is as much an experiment as a meal. I never make it quite the same way twice and am always searching for the perfect combination of flavors and cooking technique that will achieve the ultimate goulash. Tonight's variation is to use a large pot with a vented lid instead of a deep skillet, a tad more garlic and red pepper, a little less basil, and a couple of cups of water added to the ...

The power went out about 15 minutes ago. Hottest part of the day. Figures. I'm typing this on my laptop using the cellular card. The power company here is hit and miss on restoring service. Sometimes they get things back on pretty quick, other times not so much. I'm hoping for the former as I just got back from the grocer and stocked the fridge. I'd hate to have all of my fresh foods spoil and as hot as it is today it won't take all that long for the house to get really warm inside. The...

When I got home today I found a package from Elie. It contained some of his home roasted coffee beans. I do love my coffee and this is a very thoughtful house warming gift. Sadly I won't be able to enjoy it tomorrow morning as I just discovered my grinder is busted. Argh! I'll be making a trip tomorrow to buy a new one. Thanks my friend. I am very much looking forward to enjoying it this week.

Some of the usual suspects are calling for increased taxes in order to fund bridge repairs following the tragic bridge collapse recently in Minneapolis. This is predictable and absurd as every state already receives more than enough funds to maintain their bridges and roads. The Minnesota tragedy is a perfect model for why these things aren't being done. Instead of spending money to repair a bridge that inspection reports had indicated was sorely in need, they instead chose to build a new ...

The pizza guy just showed up. I opened the door and the heat rushed in like a cop at a doughnut sale.

Geez, I've managed to go more than 45 years without ever having a chigger bite and now it's happened twice in the span of a couple of weeks. I was sitting here surfing the net and noticed that the areas around my ankles were itching like mad. I pulled down my sock tops and sure enough there were several chigger bites on both legs underneath the socks. And I haven't even been out hiking. The new boots must be working though because they were confined to the area under the tops of the socks ...