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September 30, 2008
New York Times Article
Not a joke. I found it online. It's an authentic New York Times article from 1999. Now that we have the internet, there's no where for the maggots to run.
New York Times
By STEVEN A. HOLMES
Published: September 30, 1999In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.
The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.
Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
''Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990's by reducing down payment requirements,'' said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae's chairman and chief executive officer. ''Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.''
(emphasis added)
Franklin D. Raines is the same Franklin D. Raines that is Obama's economic adviser, something that, as Robert pointed out, the MSM has somehow failed to notice.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 30, 2008 at 10:03 AM : Comments (1) | Permalink
No Catastrophe in Asia
It was a bad day in Japan (the Nikkei Composite finished down 4.1 percent), but the Shanghai Composite closed down just 0.2 percent; the Hang Seng closed up 0.8 percent; Bombay's BSE 30 closed up 2.1 percent. The Seoul Composite was down 0.6 percent.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 30, 2008 at 5:44 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 29, 2008
Poaching Squirrels
With the dramatic sell off in the market today, I started poaching squirrels. It's not something I'm proud of, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do. I was out back in my underwear shooting squirrels with the 12 gauge when the phone rang and it was Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
He made a desperate plea for me to save the American economy because he knew that I alone have the gift of making the markets rise. The only time-proven method of making the market rise is for me to sell shares. Normally, I only sell individual stocks, which has a limited effect. But this time, they're request that I sell off my index funds, which is expected to life the entire market several hundred points.
So, I went down and met with my CPA and told him to get me out of the stock market entirely. Consequently, you should see the DJIA rise approximately 1,200 points tomorrow by noon.
After meeting with my CPA, I drove down to Chinatown and bought a 50 pound sack of rice (new 2008 harvest) and a gallon of soy sauce. Then, I went to King Soopers and bought 100 cans of Hormel homestyle chili with beans and filled up the Tahoe with gas.
Then, I drove down to 32nd and Lowell for some sushi and sake. What a country.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 29, 2008 at 9:46 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Congress Monkeys
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 29, 2008 at 2:27 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
My New Video Card
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Shown above is an Nvidia GeForce4 Ti 4600 graphics card. This is what Nvidia says about the video card's GPU:
GeForce4 Ti 4600
Vertices per Second:136 Million
Fill Rate: 4.8 Billion AA Samples/Sec
Operations per Second: 1.23 Trillion
Memory Bandwidth: 10.4GB/Sec.
Maximum Memory: 128MB
And maybe 136 Million verticles per second seems like a lot of verticles (whatever they are). Maybe 1.23 trilliion operations per second sounds fast. But I just bought Jennifer a video game that won't even run on this brick. That's right. This is my old video card. Spore won't even run on it. Somehow, that just seems absurd to me.
My new card, incidentally, is an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro with 256 Megs of RAM.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 29, 2008 at 12:22 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Democrats Deny Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Problems
Oh wow. Somehow I had missed this. Obama's economic adviser is Franklin Raines the former chairman and chief executive officer of Fannie Mae that gamed the OFHEO(Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight) rules and ultimately was complicit in the failure of the entire GSE(Government Sponsored Enterprise).
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 29, 2008 at 9:38 AM : Comments (2) | Permalink
Mortgage Meltdown Timeline
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 29, 2008 at 12:13 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 28, 2008
The "Big" Deer - Day 5
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The deer are seldom where I expect them to be. But I've found that if I go out about an hour before sunset, they start showing up. Sometimes, the does have become separated from the bucks and they're calling to them. Sometimes, the younger bucks are fighting with each other just for practice. Sometimes, the fawns are running like mad for no apparent reason. It's fun to watch them, but I still haven't found the "Big" deer that Bud saw.
These two bucks were fighting, but there were no does around. The larger buck has just recently scraped the velvet off of his rack, as you can see from the blood on his antlers. The smaller buck has lost a serious fight, causing his right anter to be ripped from his skull, and left broken and hanging. This is not that uncommon, actually, and he will live through the winter if it doesn't get infected.
Continue reading "The "Big" Deer - Day 5"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 28, 2008 at 11:06 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Timmy's First Catch
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Timmy caught his first bird today. He was so proud he came running in through the cat door with it in his mouth. I was watching MSNBC explain how Obama was going to cut taxes and make everything free from health care to college to marshmallows and I wasn't really paying much attention to the cat. Even when the bird started singing, I convinced myself that it was some squeaky toy Jennifer had given the cat. But when I saw the bird hopping across the tile floors in the kitchen, I was like..."WTF is that?"
I saved it from Timmy and looked it up in my bird book. It appears to be an immature female Lesser Goldfinch(Carduelis psaltria), but I'm attempting to verify this at www.whatbird.com.
Update: I was mistaken about the bird identification. The shape of the bill indicates it is a Warbler, and the coloration leads to the conclusion that this is a MacGillivray's Warbler (Oporornis tolmiei).
Continue reading "Timmy's First Catch"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 28, 2008 at 1:57 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Back Yard Camping
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Yesterday, Robert showed up and then Mitch brought his two little monsters up here and we threw up a couple of tents and built a campfire out back. We cooked hobos and Smores and pounded a few cold ones. This morning, we got up and shot the bow and arrows that Robert and I picked up at the new Sportsman's Warehouse down the hill. Somehow, Robert managed to get Spore working on another PC during all of this. Not a bad way to kill a Saturday evening.
Continue reading "Back Yard Camping"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 28, 2008 at 10:52 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 26, 2008
I've Got a Bracelet Too...From...uh...What's His Face...
McCain and Obama are both wearing bracelets in memory of deceased soldiers. Difference is that McCain knows who his came from and why he's wearing it, while Obama has to look down at his and read it to see where his came from like a kid in front of a bubble gum machine. The beauty of it is that he could have looked down and read it at any point during McCain's speech and no one would have known what he was doing. They'd have thought he was just fidgeting, instead of practicing his Hillary smirk.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 26, 2008 at 11:21 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
McCain's Rapid Response Team Fires a Salvo
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 26, 2008 at 11:17 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Presidential Debate
Obama: "...the first question is whether we should have gone into the war in the first place. Six years ago I stood up and opposed this war..."
[snip]
McCain: "The next president of the United States is not going to have to address the issue as to whether we went into Iraq or not. The next president of the United States is going to have to decide how we leave, when we leave, and what we leave behind. That's the decision of the next president of the United States. Senator Obama said the surge could not work. Said it would increase sectarian violence. Said it was doomed to failure. Recently on a television program he said it exceeded our wildest expectations. But, yet, after conceding that, he still said that he would oppose the surge if he had to decide that again today. Incredibly...incredibly, Senator Obama didn't go to Iraq for 900 days and never asked for a meeting with General Patraeus. Sentor Obama is the chairperson of a committee that oversightes NATO that's in Afghanistan. To this day he's never had a hearing. It's remarkable."
Moderator: "What about that point?"
Obama: [flustered]"Which point? He has a whole bunch of them."
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 26, 2008 at 8:01 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
The "Big" Deer - Day 4
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This deer has a really bad limp. I doubt he will make it through the winter.
Continue reading "The "Big" Deer - Day 4"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 26, 2008 at 6:58 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 26, 2008 at 12:29 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 25, 2008
The Subprime Primer
If you're confused on why the economy is melting down, well it's because the Dimocrats wanted to get the FNMA to load money to homeless people so they could buy a $400,000.00 house like the rest of us. Because, if there's anything the Dimocrats like it's handing money to poor people.
The Subprime Primer lays it out pretty well.
John McCain tried to save America from this fiasco three years ago.
John McCain was one of the 3 co-sponsors to S190. A bill that would have saved America a lot of money ache that is happening now. All the Democrats in the Committee voted against the bill and killed it.
Below is part of McCain's speech in 2005 on the Senate floor. Too bad, they did not listen to him.
"For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs--and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market."
"I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole."
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 25, 2008 at 10:02 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink
Caribou Barbie
I didn't come up with this. Someone emailed it to me. But I like it. :)
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 25, 2008 at 9:53 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
Those Silly Dimocrats
I have friends that say they're voting for Obama because Bush took away too many of their rights. I don't dispute that the Bush regime has taken away a lot of civil liberties and that's nothing I'm proud of. Point taken.
But what the Dimocrats don't get is that taking away my gun rights is no better. And they don't give a tinker's damn about my 2nd amendment rights, as witnessed by the telling comments of impeached federal judge and Democratic House Leader Alcee Hastings.
Hastings told an audience of Jewish Democrats Wednesday that they should be wary of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin because "anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks."
So, all gun owners are genocidal racists. Thanks for that, Criminal Hastings. Glad to see you're not painting people with a broad brush.
Meanwhile, not only does Obama want to ban the sale and transfer of all semi-automatic firearms. Not only does he want to ban the manufacture, sale, and possession of handguns. His campaign is now threatening to have the FCC revoke the licenses of the television stations if they don't drop NRA ads that accurately depict his position on the 2nd amendment.
Well, the Dimocrats wanted a change, and that would be a change, wouldn't it? To have a corrupt Dimocrat from Chicago using the FCC to shut down free speech. So, I guess the Dims will get what they wanted. ;)
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 25, 2008 at 7:44 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink
The "Big" Deer - Day 3
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I decided to go out and try to get some shots of the deer this evening. So I grabbed my 40D and my long lens and stepped outside just in time to see them starting to move. They sleep in the choke cherries down behind my house during the day, and around dusk, they all move into the open pastures of the valleys to get some more grass. At night, they lay down and chew their cud like cows.
The fawns stay close to the does. The bucks that are mature enough to breed drive the does before them, with their fawns. The immature bucks just sort of tag along. And then the big buck brings up the rear.
These photos were all taken in my yard or Bud's yard around dusk today. There were somewhere between 5 - 10 deer today. About average for this time of year. It's been warm, so the elk are still higher up. The weather will push the elk down here pretty soon, but for now, the mule deer are enjoying the tail end of summer and putting on as much weight as possible before the snow comes.
The large buck shown the photo above is a massive beast. There are two other bucks in the photo with him, that obviously don't hold a candle to him. His neck is larger than the chest of the buck behind him. Notice the ripples in his neck and shoulders.
Continue reading "The "Big" Deer - Day 3"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 25, 2008 at 2:41 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The New Bar
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Well, I finally broke down and bought a hand carved teak bar with inlaid marble counters. I'd wanted one for...oh...I don't know...it must have been several minutes. Jennifer and Vaunne and I found it at an estate sale and almost fell over myself trying to get upstairs to pay for it. Of course, it set me back a pretty penny, as one might expect. If you guessed that it cost a grand total of $70, you're a winner. Many thanks to Mark for helping me load it into the Tahoe. (Some days I'm glad I don't drive a Prius.)
Continue reading "The New Bar"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 25, 2008 at 2:30 AM : Comments (1) | Permalink
September 23, 2008
What were you taking a picture of?
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I followed Mitch home after work today and on the way, I was shooting out of the Tahoe with my long lens. When we got to his house, he was like, "What were you taking a picture of?"
"The mountains," I replied.
"But it's not even clear today," he continued.
"Yes. I noticed that."
And I think what happened to Mitch is what happens to all of us. We grow accustomed to the world around us. I think it's human nature. I live in the mountains, but can't really see them. To really see the mountains, you have to get out to about I-25 and look back. And the view is just well...if you've ever seen it, you know. And if you haven't seen it, it's breathtaking. Nothing can do it justice. Imagine a 7,000 foot wall going from Wyoming to New Mexico and that's pretty much what you see. Spectacular.
This photo is nothing to write home about. Which is possibly what Mitch was alluding to. It's just a shot I snapped while driving down the road. Maybe I'll get out and try to get a clean shot with a tripod over the next few days.
Note: Many of the peaks are 13,000 -14,000 feet above sea level, but Denver is 5,280 feet above sea level, so the mountains appear to rise about a mile or two above the plains, from one horizon to the other (you do the math).
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 23, 2008 at 11:14 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 21, 2008
The Back Row Kings
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(Note: I just finished reading J.D. Salinger's book The Catcher in the Rye. This was written in a deliberate attempt to imitate the style of writing that Salinger used in that book.)
Most people seem to work or go to school or do drugs. But if you aren't working or going to school or doing drugs, you have to do something and there's a lot of hours in the day to just do nothing, so I read a lot of books. It's hard though because most books are crummy and most authors are big phonies just trying to get their publishers off their backs. But sometimes you find a good one.
Mostly, I didn't want to read The Catcher in the Rye because people always talked about how it was one of those books you were supposed to read and I hate that. People are always telling you what you're supposed to read.
But I finally picked it up in my brother-in-law's library one summer. He's got one of those lousy houses that rich people have where you can never really know if anyone's home or anything. You wander around the different wings, calling out like an idiot to see if anyone's home at all.
Rich people are funny that way cause all they ever do is work from sunup to sundown and they can hardly even take a minute to stop and read a lousy book or something.
Rich people always have houses about as big as the Grand Hotel up on Mackinac Island and they're always adding onto them. They're never at home and there's always a bunch of drunk workers covered in tattoos and scars and drywall mud hiding beneath the Muscadine vines with hammers. They're being paid to work but no one's home to watch them so they just sleep all day.
I just try not to wake them cause you don't want to wake some illegal immigrant when he's on the clock and he's holding a Kaiser blade.
Rich people always have big houses with giant libraries with the books stacked so high you need a ladder to get them down to read. You really do need a ladder. But they never have time to read them cause they're working all the time and stuff.
I don't work so I have all the time in the world to read them, but you have to be careful because most books are crummy, of course. Especially the ones that are so high up you need to use the ladder to reach them. Those are the worst ones. They really are.
Continue reading "The Back Row Kings"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 21, 2008 at 9:45 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
The "Big" Deer - Day 2
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I spent most of the day rereading J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye and dozing on the couch. But when the light started to fade, I went out and shot some deer. Bud has me slightly intrigued by the "big" deer they saw the other day. So, I got on my four wheeler and drove up to the end cul-de-sac. And, just for the record, the people that live up there are royal jack@sses. Not only are they old and mean, but they're also ugly and bitter and petty.
Some extremely ugly housewife showed up in a little Subaru. She was as ugly as any woman I've ever laid eyes on and cold and bitter. The winters had cut deep furrows in her face and she kept telling me over and over again ,"This is private property." And I'm like, "I'm well aware of that. I was photographing the deer. You've made yourself perfectly clear. I'm leaving. You could be friendly about it at least".
"I am being friendly," she protested.
"THEN LET IT GO!" I shouted at her. Like...stop being such a raving b1tch for God's sake. I'm on a five thousand dollar ATV with a five thousand dollar camera. I live five houses down. I'm not some vagrant poaching deer on your stupid property. I'm not hunting. You told me to leave and I'm leaving. Give it a rest you revolting witch.
But, in the end, I got my shots. That's what counts. And she can call the law all she wants. She doesn't know me from Adam, obviously. If she did, she wouldn't be such an evil b1tch.
Continue reading "The "Big" Deer - Day 2"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 21, 2008 at 7:53 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
Spore
Jennifer has a new computer game called Spore, but it won't run on my computers because my video cards are not supported video cards
My PC has an NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti 4600 video card.
My web server has an NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX400 video card.
So, I could, in theory, buy a different video card off of eBay or Craigslist. But, it gets kind of tricky because my computers have PCI slots, and a lot of these newer video cards use PCI-Express slots.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 21, 2008 at 7:33 AM : Comments (3) | Permalink
September 20, 2008
The "Big" Deer
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Bud comes over late in the afternoon to help me install my hand carved mahogany bar with granite counters. After we set it up, we're out front on the porch smoking cigars.
"You know them folks come through going to Alaska?" he says, chomping on his cigar.
"Yeah. Art and his boy Chris, right?"
"Yeah. Well, we went riding around yesterday so they could see some mulies. We saw three bucks...then three more....and they were good sized. Chris didn't know deer got that big. He saw a 5 point, but called it a 10 point...."
"Right. Well...they count 'em different back East for whatever reason," I offered.
"So then," he continues, "Art says....Holy Sh1t look at that sum-a-bich."
Bud stopped and relit his cigar. He's good at telling stories. Knows just where to pause for effect.
Continue reading "The "Big" Deer"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 20, 2008 at 8:34 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Four-Wheelin' Fools
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Gretchen and her family came up today and Stella got a chance to learn to drive the four-wheeler. Gretchen was like "but Jennifer's not wearing a helmet."
But Jennifer has paid her dues. That's the difference. I've seen her drive that four-wheeler over a five foot retaining wall. Seen her T-bone a tree and never let off the gas. I've seen her cartwheel that four-wheeler down the continental divide. And somewhere in there, she learned how to drive the thing fairly well. Now, true - generally, I do have her wear a helmet, but just for doing circles in the neighbor's field - well I figure she'll be OK for today anyway.
You know what they say - if you're gonna' be dumb, you gotta be tough.
Continue reading "Four-Wheelin' Fools"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 20, 2008 at 7:54 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 19, 2008
If you had to work today...well...
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If you had to work today...well...that's just a shame, isn't it? It was beautiful today. And, it's funny...but for everyone complaining about the economy - everyone I know is working like a rented mule from sunup to sundown. They all complain about how bad things are, but it's hard to find someone who's actually lost their job. I personally don't know anyone. Unemployment today is lower than it ever was under the Bill Clinton when the economy was great.
Somehow, unemployment at 5% under Bush is "bad", when unemployment under Clinton at 5.4% was good. But then, I've never been good at math.
When everyone was panicking this week about the stock market, the price of crude oil rose and they said it was good because the oil companies would make more money and I was like...wait a minute...I thought high oil prices were supposed to be bad for the economy. I must be getting off message. ;)
So, in any event, for all of those of you out there toiling away in this bad economy, I'd just like to say that you're not missing much. Don't believe all that stop-and-smell-the-roses hogwash. Get your shoulder back against the cart, comrade.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 19, 2008 at 9:00 PM : Comments (2) | Permalink
Reliable Investments
This is for all my friends who are panicked about the stock market. Remember, people - it's not a piggy bank. It's an investment. If you can't afford to lose the money, don't put it in there. Put it in CD's or savings accounts or buy gold and bury it in your back yard like a pirate. I personally don't care what you do with with your money. But quit whining about how many points the market is up or down because I really don't care. Do I have money in the market? Sure I do. But I don't brag when it goes up and I don't cry when it goes down.
The fact that the market fell 500 points shouldn't mean any more to you than it did when it rose 500 points. The sun will still rise tomorrow. Bears will still sh1t in the woods. This is not going to be the worst day of your life. Your worst day on this planet will be the day they lower you into a hole and shovel dirt over you. Until then, hike up your skirt and quit crying, Nancy. Go outside. You may discover a beautiful day.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 19, 2008 at 10:13 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 17, 2008
Palin and Hillary on SNL
In case you missed it, this is kinda funny.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 17, 2008 at 5:12 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 16, 2008
Allie Loses Her Training Wheels
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Here's the neighbor learning to ride today on her pink Barbie bicycle.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 16, 2008 at 7:27 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 15, 2008
Obama Goes a' Huntin'
I would like to go on the record as the first person to predict a photo op of Obama with a gun. Palin and her running mate (ole' whats-his-name) have stolen the momentum away from Obama. He can't win now by just waxing eloquent about the need for "change". Now, Palin is going to drag him down into the mud and wrestle like a pig wearing lipstick.
Since Obama is now trailing in the polls (pick one, he's in bad shape across the board- there's no denying it), he has no choice but to move to the center. Moving to the left won't help him, because he's already got those people. He has to move to the center.
How sad and pathetic for him that he's now in the unenviable position of having to go back to those poor dumb white rednecks that cling to religion and guns and try to convince them that he supports their right to own guns, albeit, from a very short list of non-repeating single-shot firearms designed expressly for hunting, with proper background checks and a national database of firing pins and a ban on private sales of same.
More ridiculous photo-ops of Demagogues in arms in the extended entry.
Continue reading "Obama Goes a' Huntin'"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 15, 2008 at 10:32 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
2002 Honda XR400 Tires
I've got to get a new rear tire for my 2002 XR400. The stock tires that come on it are:
Front 21" 80/100-21 51M Dunlop K490G
Rear 18" 110/100-18 64M Dunlop K695
I'm trying to find a good after-market rear tire that's got a treat pattern for 50% on-road/50% off-road that's a little wider than the stock. Apparently, you can go with a wider rear tire, like a 120/100-18 for instance.
I know that on my old XL-250, it had a 4.10 rear tire, and I went with a 5.60. The Honda shop said it would rub, but it didn't. So, I'm thinking I can probably go a little wider without too much of a problem.
Brian suggested I go with the Kenda K270 Dual Purpose 5.10-18 Rear Tire.
I'm wondering how this converts though, so I found a converter on the web and it looks like it converts as follows:
4.6" = 114mm
5.1" = 130mm
So, I'm guessing that I can run this tire. I just need to find out where to get one locally, if possible.
Continue reading "2002 Honda XR400 Tires"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 15, 2008 at 7:47 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
2008 Fun Run
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Continue reading "2008 Fun Run"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 15, 2008 at 3:01 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 14, 2008
Poaching Weasels
I tell people that I have one of the largest private collections of WWII amphibious vehicles in the country, and maybe that's true. I have 4 1/2. One DUKW, three weasels, and one weasel hull.
But I've played with these things enough and I'm bored with them and ready to move on to other things. Plus, I'm low on funds so I call Russ and tell him to come get my weasels.
Russ lives in Loveland, Colorado. He went to kindergarten there. Been there pretty much his whole life. I think that he makes his money in real estate, but as a hobby, he collects WWII vehicles.
He's on the short list of people you want to have around the campfire. He tells me he's coming up on Sunday, so I shoot Robert an email and tell him that he needs to show up Sunday afternoon.
So, on Sunday afternoon, Robert shows up. Then Russ. As usual, I'm not prepared. I've spent the afternoon shoveling out my bedroom. The dust was so thick on my dresser that plants could grow in it with a little water.
Russ and I have tentatively agreed on a price to sell one weasel and one weasel hull, assuming that we can get the weasel started and that it moves and that we can somehow load it and the weasel hull onto his 20 foot trailer.
He doesn't bring the trailer this time though. This is a reconnaissance run. Last time he came up here to see me, Alex and I were sighting in our rifles down at Cherry Creek Reservoir and we ran later than we thought and I missed him completely. So, he's hedging his bets this time. He's making a recon run first and he shows up in some little woman-sized white Honda car - the kind of vehicle that no self-respecting male would be caught dead in.
Continue reading "Poaching Weasels"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 14, 2008 at 8:58 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
September 12, 2008
MSNBC Drops Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews From Anchor Chair
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/07/msnbc-drops-keith-olberma_n_124678.html
I missed this story somehow, but I have to say, I'll never watch MSNBC again. After their performance during the DNC in Denver in August, I realized that they're so far in the tank for Obama it isn't even funny. I was really shocked by the way they talked about Obama. It was embarrassing.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 12, 2008 at 1:19 AM : Comments (1) | Permalink
Hurricane Tim
Long before Huricane Katrina. Before Dennis. Before Ivan. Before Andrew. Before Camille....there was Hurricane Tim.
A lot of people today seem to have forgotten all about it, but here's a video of when Hurricane Tim hit the Mississippi gulf coast. (For a high-resolution version of Hurricane Tim, click here.)
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 12, 2008 at 12:30 AM : Comments (2) | Permalink
September 10, 2008
Sacrebleu!
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Yeah, so Jen and I come rolling up to the house this evening. I'm fixing to unload my XR from the trailer and I glance out back to see what's cooking and there's a whole herd of cows grazing out there. They're in tight formation, fairly close to the house, eating everything that isn't nailed down. They're eating grass, choke cherries, scrub oaks, and mountain lilacs. Everything but the pine needles. Bulking up for the winter.
So I grab my camera out of the truck cause I'm thinking, "Where there's smoke, there's fire." As in, there's bound to be a bull pushing all these cows through. And, of course, not only is there a bull, but there's a massive one. Now, it's true that he's technically only a 6x, but this is one large bull. Notice the girth of his neck. The spread of his rack. The muscles in his neck and shoulders.
He's pushing about 20 mature cows, and several immature ones. To get better shots, I descend from the redwood deck, taking my life in my hands in the process. This elk is 500 pounds of raging testosterone in rut. He actually gets upset enough about my presence to start an aggressive, threatening display. He lowers his rack into the choke cherries and just starts thrashing them. Shredding them into pulpy ribbons.
Then he lowers his neck and tilts his head way back. It's really wild to see a display like this. I start shooting him (w/ camera) in my back yard (that's my picnic table in the photo above), and follow him across the property of two of my neighbors.
These images were all captured tonight with a Canon EOS 40D and a Canon L-Series image stabilized, ultra-sonic telescopic zoom lens (EF 100-400mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM) with an ET-83C hood.
I've posted some of the shots as a 7 Meg (2:45) Adobe Flash slideshow(2008_elk.swf) that you should be able to open and view with any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.). To view the slideshow, just click on the photo above.
If you want to view the slideshow as a Windows executable, you can play this version (2008_elk.exe), and it allows you to play, pause, skip forward, etc.
Image post-processing was done in Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended. The slideshow was created using Imagematics Stillmotion Pro, which I highly recommend.
The soundtrack is Stephanie Says by The Velvet Underground off of The Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack. Lyrics in extended entry.
Click here to view the other slideshows.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 10, 2008 at 10:34 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Doe with Twin Fawns
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I snapped some pics of this doe with her twin fawns a few hours ago. I'm actually surprised to see them, as they seem small, and still have very distinct spots. The mom looks so gaunt, that I'm not even sure the fawns are weaned yet. In spite of the myth of global warming, it will snow here later this month. I think that this mom gave birth too late in the summer, and now they're in a race to bulk up before the snows set in. If they don't put some weight on in a hurry, they may not make it through the winter.
Continue reading "Doe with Twin Fawns"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 10, 2008 at 2:15 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 6, 2008
Death Eating an Onion Sandwich
I walked over to Bud's today and he said I looked like "death eating an onion sandwich". Which I did. I'd just rolled out of bed and wandered over in my sweats and a T-shirt toting a 12 gauge.
As I stood watching the late afternoon's rays fall against the mountains, a bird came diving down, helter skelter out of the sky, with a smaller bird right behind it. It always fascinates me how smaller birds attack larger birds, but this is what was going on, for certain. The larger bird came in low and tight to make a pass over Bud's garden, but didn't see the chickenwire until it was too late.
At the last second, the larger bird turned slightly and nailed one of the green T-bars that supports the chickenwire around the garden. He hit it wide open, dead on, snapping his neck. The large bird collapsed to the ground, dead as a doornail and the little bird flew away as though nothing happened.
Continue reading "Death Eating an Onion Sandwich"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 6, 2008 at 8:15 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 5, 2008
Walmart pays Mexican workers in scrip
Wow. I didn't know this was going on. In Mexico, Walmart has been paying workers in scrip. This is something I heard that they did back in the West Virginia coal mines, but I didn't realize Walmart was paying in scrip. Good ideas never go out of style, I guess.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 5, 2008 at 11:34 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Tooth Fairy Cut Me Short!
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 5, 2008 at 11:26 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
U.S. Out of Chicago Now!
Don't look now, but there were 125 murders in the city of Chicago this summer. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, 125 people were shot to death in the city. During the same time, according to the state department, 65 U.S. soldiers were killed in the entire country of Iraq.
The message here is clear. Obama's home town is not safe. There's obviously some sort of conflict going on that we can't solve. U.S. should get out of Chicago now. Or at least start discussing a timetable for withdrawal.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 5, 2008 at 6:04 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Palin for President!
I love this photo of Palin on the couch with a Grizzly Bear throw. Like "Suck it, PETA". Take that tree-huggers. You ever been to a concert where the opening band upstaged the main act? They should reverse the ticket and put her on top.
The Dims are all like...she hasn't been on a real interview yet. She's just reading a teleprompter and someone else wrote her speech. (As if Obama writes his speeches - puhleeze.)
But what the Dims don't get is that she's the real McCoy. You can push her as far as you want and she's going to eat your lunch. I can't wait to see the MSM try to paint her into a corner. She's going to come out fighting.
They think she's some pretty housewife...an empty suit like Obama, but they're wrong. You don't grow up in a state like Alaska and come out of that environment thinking "can't we all just get along? Big government knows best. We need change."
She's not going to be spewing all that hogwash. She's going to call a spade a spade. She'll defend the right to own guns and she'll come out against big government - two of Obama's weakest points. Oh lucky day. Lucky day. :)
More Palin photos in extended entry.
Continue reading "Palin for President!"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 5, 2008 at 12:24 AM : Comments (2) | Permalink
September 4, 2008
Who Is Sarah Palin?
I think Palin has the Dims on the ropes. While Obama's message of "Change" is nothing but a pseudonym for the largest growth of government since FDR, Sarah Palin marched into the Governor's office and promptly put the Governor's corporate jet on eBay. I watched MSNBC this morning, and even those foaming mouthed Obama liberals knew they were in trouble. She had them floored last night with her speech at the RNC in St. Paul. The Dims are shaking in their boots.
Who is Sarah Palin?
Continue reading "Who Is Sarah Palin?"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 4, 2008 at 12:36 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Nozzle Rage
Here's a funny video called Nozzle Rage from a website that wants to break up the OPEC cartel. That sounds like a good idea to me, as monopolies are supposed to be illegal, but you never hear anyone talking about breaking up OPEC. I'm not clear how much difference it will make, however, as the prices to seem to be subject to the free market forces.
The price of a barrel of light, sweet crude oil for October delivery fell to $107.89 on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday, down from a record high of $147.27 this summer.
"Crude has dropped about $38, or 26 percent, since surging to a record $147.27 a barrel on July 11, as a U.S. economic slowdown spreads overseas and curbs demand for petroleum products."
But I still like the video, and breaking up OPEC couldn't hurt, IMHO.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 4, 2008 at 12:06 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The Tooth Fairy 'Cut Me Short'
the Tooth fairy is trying to cut me short hopefully at ur house she will remember that ur tenth tooth is the 1 tooth that u get a toy instead of money. Since she wont listen to me, could u tell her to get me this toy.Their called twinklets and she can get them at hallmark in the colorado mills mall.
Tell her i want the light blue one named julious.she can also get them at giftmonger.com go to kids corner and scroll down click on twinklets then figures then the light blue one shown above.Make sure u tell her.
Love
jennifer
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 4, 2008 at 8:09 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Hannah Solange Parschauer
I'm saddened to report that Ken and Lucy's English Mastiff has passed away. May she rest in peace.
Hannah Solange Parschauer
March 2000 - August 2008
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am the thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift and fleeting rush,
Of silent birds in endless flight.
I am the stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there. I did not die.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 4, 2008 at 12:31 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink
September 3, 2008
Postcard from the Outer Banks
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 3, 2008 at 9:32 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Caribou Barbie
They're calling Alaska Governor Sarah Palin "Caribou Barbie" because she hunts and has apparently killed a caribou.
I guess the lefties have to go with something, so attacking her for hunting makes about as much sense as anything else. They don't believe in the 2nd amendment or in hunting and believe humans should be vegetarians. So, OK. She hunts. Fair enough. Move along, loonies.
They can't attack her on her experience because in 2004, Obama said he would not run for president in 2008 because he wouldn't have enough experience.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 3, 2008 at 12:43 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Painting Jennifer's Room
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Well, Jen's down the hill for a few days so I decided I'd get started painting in her room because I'm sick of looking at those Kilz-white walls. Initially, she had wanted to paint her rooms in a SpongeBob theme, but then she changed her mind because she was afraid she might outgrow it.
She said that she wasn't sure what she wanted to do with it, so I just started roughing in some ideas I had. I hope she likes what I've done so far. It was a lot more work than I had initially realized it would be. I thought it would be pretty cool, but after I sort of stepped back and looked at what I'd done, I began to wonder if I shouldn't have cleared it with her first. I like but, but now I'm starting to wonder if she will.
Click on the photo above to see the progress on her room to date. It's taken a while, but at least the walls aren't bare anymore.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 3, 2008 at 3:54 AM : Comments (1) | Permalink
September 2, 2008
GOP Tightens VP Image Control
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122039868736392867.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news
"The McCain campaign scrambled to take control of the debate over Palin, canceling her appearances and teaming her up with high-powered operatives as she prepares for her big speech. Bush spoke to the convention from the White House -- a move that may benefit both him and McCain more than a live appearance."
I have to say that this is a good idea. Get the kids out of the photos with Sarah Palin. Lord God let's not let the Dimocrats drag this conversation down into the mud any further than they already have. I feel like I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning and MSNBC will be asking Levi Johnston why he didn't pull out in time.
It's enough, already. What they need to be talking about is the fact that she's the only one out of the four of them (Obama/Biden, McCain/Palin) that has any executive-level experience. Sarah Palin has experience running the largest state in the union. The other three are just senators, so their main purpose is to tax people that are working and decide what to do with the money they steal from them.
Also, Sarah Palin is a firm supporter of the 2nd Amendment. She's an NRA Life Member and hunter. Somehow, that message is getting drowned out by the far left's despicable, misogynistic attacks on Sarah and her children.
Adding Sarah Palin to the Republicans ticket is great news to supporters of th 2nd Amendment. This is great news for the ticket, considering how wishy-washy McCain seems to be on that front.
Continue reading "GOP Tightens VP Image Control"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 2, 2008 at 9:52 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Extra-wide parking spaces for women
Fury over 'sexist' parking bays
A Croatian shopping centre has introduced special parking spaces for women drivers.
[snip]
The bays, in the busy Emmezeta centre in Zagreb, were meant to make parking easier for female customers.
Decorated with pink flowers, the prime spots are wider, further apart, better lit and easier to get in and out of than ordinary spaces.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 2, 2008 at 5:42 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
September 1, 2008
Napoleon Dynamite and the RNC Welcoming Committee
RNC erupts in violence and I'm not there. I can't stand it. If you watch the video, one cop gets in over his head with some anarchists from the Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee. Now, I'm not a cop, but this has to be a huge breach of police tactics to get separated from all fellow officers in the midst of a melee. I think the cop handles himself fairly well given the fact that he's outnumbered about 100 to 1. But he should have been with other cops to prevent this from happening in the first place. He's lucky he didn't get hit in the back of the head with a brick.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 1, 2008 at 11:18 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
The Yankee and the Cajun
Oh my God this is funny. Some Yankee television reporter comes to the bayou to interview Boudreaux. OK...that's not his real name, but he's a full-on cajun and he schools this woman. Hilarious.
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 1, 2008 at 9:40 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Pictures from the DNC: Day 05
Friday. August 29, 2008.
These aren't from the DNC, but I thought I'd include them anyway. They were taken as I was walking downtown after the parties and bar closures.
More pictures in the extended entry below.
Continue reading "Pictures from the DNC: Day 05"
Posted by Robert Racansky on September 1, 2008 at 8:14 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Pictures from the DNC: Day 04
Thursday. August 28, 2008.
Many more pictures in the extended entry below.
Continue reading "Pictures from the DNC: Day 04"
Posted by Robert Racansky on September 1, 2008 at 5:31 PM : Comments (1) | Permalink
Pictures from the DNC: Day 03
Wendesday. August 27, 2008.
More pictures in the extended entry below.
Continue reading "Pictures from the DNC: Day 03"
Posted by Robert Racansky on September 1, 2008 at 4:59 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Pictures from the DNC: Day 02
On Tuesday afternoon, August 26, I met Rob Kiser at Johnny Rockets on the corner of 16th and Tremont, where he enjoyed some waffles from the vendor on the mall.
More in the extended entry below.
Continue reading "Pictures from the DNC: Day 02"
Posted by Robert Racansky on September 1, 2008 at 2:42 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
Pictures from the DNC: Day 01
Here are some pictures I took on Monday, August 25 2008.
It was a slow morning. There's a few more pictures in the extended entry below.
Continue reading "Pictures from the DNC: Day 01"
Posted by Robert Racansky on September 1, 2008 at 2:24 PM : Comments (0) | Permalink
DNC 2008 Slideshow
Finally got around to posting a slideshow of some of my shots from the DNC that unfolded over the last week in Denver. Robert and I spent several days shooting the event, and it was truly a blast. Insanely fun.
I shot all of these photos, with the exception of the photos I'm in (Robert took those) and the one photo of Obama that's been vandalized to make him look like Hitler(Robert took that one as well - wish I'd found it, but I never saw it).
These images were captured with a Canon EOS 40D and two different lenses. One lens is an image stabilized, ultra-sonic telescopic zoom lens (EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM). The larger lens is a Canon L-Series image stabilized, ultra-sonic telescopic zoom lens (EF 100-400mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM) with a 77mm circular polarizing filter and an ET-83C hood.
I've posted some of the shots as a 10 Meg (4:30) Adobe Flash slideshow(dncc_08.swf) that you should be able to open and view with any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.). To view the slideshow, just click on the photo above.
If you want to view the slideshow as a Windows executable, you can play this version (dncc_08.exe), and it allows you to play, pause, skip forward, etc.
Image post-processing was done in Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended. The slideshow was created using Imagematics Stillmotion Pro, which I highly recommend.
The soundtrack is a modified version of Honest Mistake by The Bravery. The modification is that I imported the song into Audacity and repeated one of the refrains because I wanted to stretch the song a bit. Original lyrics in extended entry.
Click here to view the other slideshows.
Continue reading "DNC 2008 Slideshow"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 1, 2008 at 3:42 AM : Comments (1) | Permalink
BBQ at the Flying J Ranch
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Jen and I went with Meghan, Jeanelle, and Bob to a little BBQ at the Flying J Ranch outside of Conifer today. Was nice to get out and the ranch is beautiful, of course. Kids had a water-balloon fight and went on a hike before the rain set in.
These images were captured with a Canon EOS 40D a Canon L-Series image stabilized, ultra-sonic telescopic zoom lens (EF 100-400mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM) and an ET-83C hood.
I've posted some of the shots as a 7 Meg (2:35) Adobe Flash slideshow(bbq.swf) that you should be able to open and view with any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.). To view the slideshow, just click on the photo above.
If you want to view the slideshow as a Windows executable, you can play this version (bbq.exe), and it allows you to play, pause, skip forward, etc.
Image post-processing was done in Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended. The slideshow was created using Imagematics Stillmotion Pro, which I highly recommend.
The soundtrack is Superman, performed by R.E.M. off of the album "Lifes Rich Pageant". Lyrics in extended entry.
Click here to view the other slideshows.
Continue reading "BBQ at the Flying J Ranch"
Posted by Rob Kiser on September 1, 2008 at 12:02 AM : Comments (0) | Permalink