A Brothers Reply 2

More whining...

One of the latest global warming claims is that the weather will just be more unpredictable. Sometimes it will be hot, and sometimes it will be cold, and sometimes it will be just right. Since that pretty much sounds like any other description of the weather for the last 10,000 years, it makes global warming pretty hard to prove or disprove. There is another theory that says global warming will cause the next ice-age (or a mini-ice-age). Supposedly, we had one of those in the early-mid 1800's. I'm not sure what was supposed to have caused that one, though, since they can't say it was increased carbon-monoxide in the atmosphere. Another theory blames excess methane (bad cow!). Actually, methane can be released from swamps, deep-sea deposits, and from thawed permafrost (northern tundra that gets too warm). It could come from anything, in other words, and nobody seems to know how to tell what will happen, when it will happen, or even if it will happen. Some people think the oceans will just absorb the extra gases; some people believe the oceans will release extra gases. Anyway, the bad news is that the last mini-ice-age seems to have come on kind of sudden-like. They went from the warmest summers on record in Europe, to the coldest in less than 10 years. They think it had something to do with the "deep-sea ocean conveyor" that distributes salty, less-dense, warm water from the equator to the less-salty, dense, cold arctic water. Anyway, at some point, the temperature difference between the equator and the northern seas becomes small enough (warming of the polar ice-caps) that the "conveyor" shuts down. Once the conveyor shuts down, Europe freezes over in a relatively short period of time because the warm water that normally flows along the coast is cut off. The wind that was formerly warmed by the warm water in the ocean is now cooled by the cold water in the ocean. Then the Thames river freezes over (like it did in about 1830). Viola, mini-ice-age.
Have you thought about getting a wood stove? I know they are messy, and chopping wood is a serious pain in the ass, but it would beat freezing to death if it did turn off really cold for a while. I am pretty sure you remember getting snowed in when we lived in that house west of Kingfisher back in 1981-82. The snow wasn't even that deep, it was just that it drifted over the driveway so bad we couldn't get out. It would be pretty easy for that to happen to all the roads in your part of the state.

A Brothers Reply 1

Reply to my sister whining about the weather...

Well, the bad news is that the amount of sleet you get versus the amount of freezing rain is dependant on how much dust is in the air. Dust acts as a "condensation particle", because sleet/hail must have some little bit of impurity at the center of it. The tiny little particle collects tiny little moisture droplets, and the moisture freezes around the particle, and as it gets wafted around in the upper atmosphere, it collects more and more moisture (and thus more and more ice) until it is too heavy to be buoyed up by the rising air currents. Then it falls (collecting more ice as it falls) until it comes crashing through your windshield (or pelting your roof, in the case of mere sleet)(hail is usually a summer occurrence, because you get much stronger updrafts with summer's much hotter air, which allows the ice lumps to grow much larger). Freezing rain does the exact same thing, but it lacks that one critical condensation particle to get the freezing lump of ice started. Freezing rain is much colder than 32 degrees, but because it is very pure water (no contaminants), then it won't freeze until it hits something (like your windshield)(or the road, or power lines). This is why sleet usually comes before freezing rain. All the dust/contaminants in the air are used up in the formation of sleet/hail (which is actually the same thing, except that someone decided to call large sleet hail), and when there are no more condensation particles to adhere to, the rest of the moisture falls as freezing rain. That's why those big fat raindrops in spring are so damned cold on your back.
Thunder and lightning aren't all that uncommon in winter. Its because there is a layer of cold air and a layer of warm(er) air, and the two are moving in different directions. The friction between the two layers strips some electrons off of some atoms, and the lightning is just the mechanism that redistributes those electrons to balance the resultant charge-state (sort of like the plastic comb/rubber balloon trick)(or you could use a cat). It has nothing to do with summer or winter, as long as there is enough of a temperature/pressure difference to cause the layers to be stratified.
OK, have you had enough meteorology for one day? I hope your electricity stays on. Do you have a way to heat the house if you lose power?

Replies and Musings and Stuff (Read from bottom up)

Eat fruits, vegetables, berries, grains, and nuts. Avoid meat and dairy products. Some deep-ocean fish are OK if you must kill something. As for protein, your body must break down all proteins into amino acids during digestion, so you are doing double the work to rebuild those same proteins. No, your body can't cheat. It rebuilds each one every time. Don't worry, elephants grow rather large and muscular without any animal protein in their diets at all. As long as you get the proper amino acids, your body will make its own proteins and vitamins. You also need at least an hour of sunlight every day so that your body can produce the minimum amount of vitamin C and D. I am not sure about vitamin E. You can get all the minerals you need from plants, too. I hear that broccoli and asparagus are both high in fiber, iron, and calcium. Or you could just throw the eggs out at breakfast and eat the eggshells. They stay crunchy in milk. Wait, no milk, right. Damn.
In case you are wondering, I eat meat. You eat all the vegetables you want. I am going to wallow in the fat, blood, and gristle of any animal that is slow enough/stupid enough for me to catch and eat. I bet people eat real healthy in Heaven. Here, I want streak. Medium-rare. If I end up in hell, then MAYBE I will accept it medium-well. Don't burn my steak!

-----k_kelly_brashier-at-yahoo.com on 01/03/2007 07:03 PM wrote:

Well, I want to get out of debt, and be a better role model for my girls by starting and sticking to some kind of Health/Workout program. I know that is pretty normal but the trick to it is Sticking TO IT!

Power Ranger??

-----WYRICK, RICHARD on 01/03/2007 11:00 PM wrote:

I guess blue is my color. It was always my favorite color, if that counts for anything. I have known exactly one person who thought I looked good in a red shirt. She was a freak. No, really. She was (*sigh). Actually, I wonder if I might be the white power ranger. I would be, but its a bitch trying to keep the suit clean.

Unless you are trying to teach your horses to type, there isn't much to it. Its a matter of trust. Horses are herd animals, and the whole "AAAAGHGHAGH... its on my back!!!!!!" reaction is what you are trying to overcome. Once you are past that, you never ask the horse to do anything that is contrary to its sense of self preservation. Trust will come eventually, but it needs to be mutual (there is a hint in there somewhere). There is nothing that you will ever ask your horse to do that it doesn't already know how to do (start, stop, turn, run, trot, gallop, sidestep, back up). All you need to do is figure out how to make the horse understand what you want. You need to be very consistent with your control inputs. Be aware of what you are doing with your feet and knees. A lot of people give unintentional commands through their legs/feet/knees when they get nervous. You will be confused when your horse starts backing up when you were thinking about a left turn. The horse will be confused when you react negatively to landing on your ass when he did exactly what he thinks you told him to do. "What, already? You said back up, so I backed up. What's your problem? Stupid humans. You try running around all day with me, a set of spurs, and half a dead cow on your back and see how YOU like it!"

So what are you trying to do to your 'stang? And why a '69 (other than the fact that it happens to be the one you have right now). What motor do you have in it?

Oops, almost out of time. More later.

-----xtalosx-at-yahoo.com on 01/03/2007 09:03 PM wrote:

hello my blue power ranger friend. ( blue is your color yes?) well hello to you anyway which ever power ranger you are. ( god i hope you are not the pink one) *~*~*~*~* fantasies about you with boobs*~*~*~*~*~ ewwww ( hack cough hack hack cough ) damn Don't do that again! my resolutions for said year is to not procrastinate more than a day with doing things. Much stuff to do much stuff. Do you realize i have two count them one two horses to train.. I don't know if you know or not but i don't know how to do that. hmmm holy shit.. AND !!! i have an old car to restore !! one wondrous 69 fastback mustang!! wooohooo does the ever loving dance of blissful joy but alas i do not know how to do that either. Oh the agony of it all. (dramatic pause) . . . so much to do *looks to the west ( imagine luke skywalker in stars wars a new hope on tattooween) *sp* anyway procrastination is the biggest killer of my life and like i said i have a couple of small projects to do.
hope things are well with you ... slim pickens around here for those books .. I can buy them new all day but no second hand.. hell even hastings * book store* (didn't know if you knew that) has them in box sets. anyway i will keep looking. Hope that helps you out talk to you soon.


FF Kelly

Polka?

-----MANGRUMOK-at-aol.com on 01/02/2007 11:03 PM wrote:

Well, for a new years resolution how about this:

To get out of the poor house, find a new hobby , eat more greens, raise fewer kids, comb my hair more than two times a year, try yogurt, and learn to polka dance.

My sister has always been so predictable.

-----StarPx69-at-aol.com on 01/02/2007 02:03 PM wrote:

I have never made a resolution before, so why break tradition?

-----cwyrick100-at-hotmail.com on 01/02/2007 01:03 AM wrote:

my resolution is to somehow get u outta there by next year

Happy New Year

Happy New Year.
I want to hear a New Year's resolution from each of you, and I don't want one of those "lose weight", "world peace", or "a Coke and a smile" kind of resolutions. I was thinking of asking Chris to post them to the blog (since some of you have asked what happened to that lately)(there were,... complications, to put it lightly).
Since the world spins at more than 1,000 MPH at the equator (25,000 mile radius divided by 24 hours in a complete rotation), sometimes you have to have something to hold onto to stay on your feet. Its strange to think that while you are sitting there reading this, you are breaking the sound barrier.

Letter from Richard

I got called in to see the case manager today at about 3 PM. She said she would put me in for a transfer to get me moved closer to home, but that I should not get my hopes up. She said that my request would stand a better chance of being approved of she did not to specify a particular location. She said she would word the request "somewhere closer to my release location" (or something similar) and leave it up to the people in Texas who are handling transfers and designations now. She said that there was a fair chance that it would not be approved at all, but there is also a chance that I could get moved to a minimum security prison (a camp) that also happens to be closer to home. That would be just about the best outcome I could hope for at this point. Well, other than the BOP releasing me and saying, "We're sorry sir, but this was all a great big misunderstanding. Here's a couple of million dollars and a Rolls-Royce to help make up for any inconvenience we may have caused". It looks like my security points under the new scoring system will fall either in the upper camp range (0-11), or maybe the lower end of the low security range (12-15). I don't think there is any way that they can score my points high enough to send me to a medium security prison. I am not scheduled for a security recomputation until June 07, but I think they have to do one if I request a transfer (I think). There is also a management variable that tells the BOP that I should not be housed in my "area of interest", and I am sure that will have some impact on my transfer request. It all depends on how that clause is interpreted by the people in Texas (since there is no explanation as to what that really means). She seemed to think that "area of interest" would definitely include the area where I lived and worked, but she didn't know for sure if that would necessarily include ALL of Texas or Oklahoma, but that it would probably include all of both states. That still leaves a lot of ! states t hat are a lot closer than where I am now. She also said that I won't hear anything until at least February, and maybe later. So, IF I get approved (and if they don't send me to the other coast!), then I should be closer to home by this summer or early fall. I hope I can somehow manage to get moved to a CAMP that is closer to home, but the "closer to home" part is my first priority. One problem that I forgot to ask about was my "greater security" management variable that enables the BOP to house me in a higher security facility. Right now, I have zero points, and I am classified as "out custody" (camp eligible), but I was camp eligible from the very first day according to the point system. I think someone here has to submit a request to have that management variable removed before I will ever be able to go to a camp. She didn't say anything about it, and I forgot to ask. She said she would call me in to see her after she recalculates my points, so I have to remember to ask her about it then.
OK, now you know everything I do. Wish me luck.

To Chad the Gray:

Chad,

I don't know if I told you or not, but they started showing rented movies here a few months ago. They did that in Mississippi, but for some reason they had stopped doing that here. They usually have 2 or 3 movies each weekend, but they aren't always new releases. They showed "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" (Albert Brooks)(Mel Brooks' son) for the first movie on Friday night, and it MIGHT not be the absolute worst movie I ever sat through (I would have walked out of a movie theater if I had paid for a ticket), but it is damned close. The next one was "Superman Returns". It was OK, but Superman's life sure has gotten complicated. They showed "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" last night, but there was no place to sit. I think it is on again this afternoon, so all is not lost. I had an art class last night anyway.

I was telling you about the new security point system they have now. Under the old system, I had 0 points (actually, it was -4 points, but the scale only goes to zero), and I was classified as "out custody", which means (under the BOP's own guidelines) that I should have been in a minimum security camp from the very beginning. Somehow, I have a "greater security" modifier (not sure what else to call it), and there is a clause that prohibits the BOP from housing me in my "region of interest". There is no definition of "region of interest", so it could mean Oklahoma, Texas, 5th Circuit, 10th Circuit, the Southwest region, or anywhere within the northern hemisphere for all I know. Nobody here seems to know who exactly made that determination, how long it will be in effect, or who I could even ask. Assuming that they really don't know what it means, they have no interest in asking for me, and if they are lying to me, they aren't willing to tell me who I might ask.

I was talking about the new system, wasn't I? Starting in October (new fiscal year for the government), a new scoring system for the security points went into effect. Under the new system, the BOP staff can add points to your security classification for a lot of things that never counted before. You used to get points (more points is bad) if you got a "shot", which is an official sanction for something that "substantially effects the safety, security, or the orderly operation of the facility". As a possible sanction, you could be sent to the SHU (Special Housing Unit)(the "hole"), you could lose your right to have visitors, to make telephone calls, and/or to buy anything at the commissary (except personal hygiene items). To do any of that, a CSS (Correctional Security Staff?) officer had to let you know what you did (in writing), and there was an appeal process before a convened board to fight a wrongful or inaccurate accusation. Nobody ever wins an appeal here, but at least there was a process that allowed for the possibility. Under the new system, you get one point for each "incident report" (things that don't rise to the level of an official sanction), and not only do you get points for getting an incident report, you also get an additional 2-3 points if you get more than 3 incident reports. At 6 incident reports, they add 4-7 more points for good measure. The problem is that they don't have to tell you when they give you an incident report, and there is no appeal process if you are wrongfully accused. These points can increase your security level to the point where they send you to a higher security prison (medium or penitentiary) and there ain't shit you can do about it.

Another new category that they automatically assign points for is age. The younger you are, the more points you get. I am not exactly sure about these numbers, but a 25 year-old prison gets about 8 points. At 35 years old, you get about 5. It decreases a 1-2 points for about every 5 years of age, so your score goes down over time (if you are in prison for more than 5 years). I think you have to be about 65 before you get no points for your age. I didn't see any way to have points subtracted for advanced age, so I don't think an 85 year-old could ever get -5, for example. This scale only goes to zero, too.

Under the old system, you used to get points taken off for the amount of time you had exhibited "good conduct" in prison. Now, they expect you to exhibit "good conduct", and being good only prevents them from adding additional points. And they actually give you more points for the amount of time you have left to serve. No matter how good you are, you still get about 1 additional point for every year you have left to serve. Under the old system, you could be sent to a camp if you had less than 10 years left on your sentence, but now that would be almost impossible. With just the points for the amount of time you have left, combined with the points they give you for the mortal sin of being younger that Methuselah, you would have to be older than about 50 to be qualified to go to a camp. If you have any other points ("criminal history" or "severity of crime" for example), then you would have to have just a couple of years left.

OK, its time for lunch. More later.

Turkey Day Musings

(All: Rick sent this on the 28th - My Internet was down for a week. Sorry. C-) )
Doesn't turkey contain tryptophan? I think that is the reason you feel sleepy after eating it, though I am curious why any animal (maybe quite a few do?) would have evolved to produce a chemical like that in its muscle tissue (why doesn't it make the turkey sleepy?). I supposed if you apply a predator-prey survival hypothesis to the problem, it would tend to make predators go to sleep after eating a turkey, thus helping the rest of the flock to survive. It would just suck to be that particular turkey, though. It also raises a Darwinian issue of hereditary evolution, because the turkeys that have developed that adaptation have to die in order to utilize it, thus eliminating them from the gene-pool. The long-term effect of this, according to Darwin anyway, would be that fewer and fewer turkeys would have this chemical trait to pass on to their progeny, and eventually, that trait would disappear entirely. So, if you apply this twisted logic to the issue, turkeys are evolutionarily adapted to sacrifice themselves to insure the survival of the species, and in some way, I am just doing my part by eating them.

Speaking of eating, we got a turkey leg for lunch that looked like it came from a pterodactyl (hey, I spelled it right!). It was about 10 inches long, and the leg bone was as thick as my thumb. I think it may have actually been an emu leg. It was over-cooked, and it looked like the poor bastard had been hit by a bus. The leg bone was shattered, and the bone was sticking out of the meat in about four different directions. But we had a piece of turkey-ham, so I just made a sandwich instead. We also had chocolate ice cream(!) and a very small sliver of pumpkin pie. For some silly reason, when I got just a little chocolate ice cream on my pumpkin pie, it made it taste a lot like peanut butter. Very strange. I am sure I discovered a hitherto unknown chemical process.

THINGS I HAVE LEARNED LIVING IN OKLAHOMA:

1. Possums ("opossums" to the rest of the world) sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air.

2. There are over 5,000 types of snakes in the world, and 4,998 live in Oklahoma.

3. There are more than 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Oklahoma, plus a couple no one's ever seen before.

4. If it grows, it sticks; if it crawls, it bites.

5. Onced and twiced are words.

6. It is not a shopping cart; its a buggy.

7. Fire ants consider your flesh as a picnic.

8. People actually grow and eat okra.

9. "Fixinta" is one word. Example: "I'm fixinta stomp me a mudhole in yore ass."

10. There is no such thing as "lunch". There is only breakfast, dinner, and supper.

11. Iced tea is appropriate for all meals, and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar!

12. "Back'ards and for'ards" means "I know everything there is to know about you."

13. "Jeet?" is actually a complete sentence all by itself. It means, "Have you already eaten?"

14. You don't have to wear a watch because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you're done or it's too dark to see.

15. You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH them.

YOU KNOW YOUR FROM OKLAHOMA IF:

1. You measure distance in hours and minutes of travel time.

2. You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

3. You use "fix" as a verb. Example: "I'm fixing to go to the store "

4. You know how to properly sharpen a chainsaw.

5. You install security lights on your house and garage, then leave both unlocked.

6. You know the difference between a tractor, thresher, sprigger, and combine.

7. You carry jumper cables in your pickup truck... to jump-start your OWN pick-up.

8. You only own four spices: salt, pepper, Tabasco and ketchup.

9. The local papers cover national and international news on a single page, but require 6 pages for local gossip and sports.

10. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

11. You describe 100 degrees Fahrenheit as "a little warm".

12. You know all four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, Indian Summer and Christmas.

13. You know whether another Okie is from northern or southern Oklahoma as soon as they open their mouth.

14. Going to Wal-mart is a favorite pastime known as goin' Wal-martin, or off to Wally-World.

15. You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as "good pinto-bean weather".

16. A carbonated soft drink isn't a soda, cola or pop..it's a Coke, regardless of brand or flavor. Example: "What kinda coke you want?"

17. Fried catfish is the other white meat.

18. We don't need no stinking driver's ed....if our mama says we can drive, we can drive.

19. You understand these jokes.

A Joke from The Elder...

There were two young men in Arkansas who had been friends since childhood.

One man turned to the other and asked, "If I snuck on over to yore trailer this weekend while you was gone huntin' and I had me some sex with your mother and your sister and I got 'em both pregnant, would that make you and me kin?

Thinking hard for a moment while scratching his head, the second man replied, "Well, I don't rightly know about that makin' us kinfolk, but it shor would make us even."