I stopped by the MR HQ today. MR went to get something out of the freezer, there came this voice from the back. PDB started screaming ” Close the Door, I’m not cooling the whole neighborhood” And ” You two are just jealous you cant fit in here”.
You know sometimes the little furry B. Has a point.

I have a solution for the Debt crisis, Although I’m sure that most of the people that it will effect the most don’t want to hear it, and will tell me thousands of reasons that it won’t work.
Today Sen. Tom Coburn (R)OK put forth his plan for the crisis, it includes cuts to medicare, veterans paying more for services that they were promised and the same old BS.
Here’s the J.J. Plan:
1st. Flat Tax, abolish all tax loopholes/Deductions that the wealthiest take advantage of daily (as a truck driver myself included) Pay a percent on all goods and services period, no deductions, loopholes, earned income credit, etc.
2nd. Bring the troops home. lets quit being the worlds police force and trying to force democracy on the rest of the world. Let the rest of the world take care of them selves.
3rd. Cut salaries of the government. From the president all the way down to the guy who mops the floors. Why does the president need to make $500.000,00 per year, what does he have to buy while in office?. Let all the politicians all the way down the food chain make a living wage. $50.000,00 per year sounds fair to me. Why does any politician need to make anything above that? We elect them to go to their posts and represent us, not to make their fortunes.
4th. Lets abolish some of the pork-barrel government agencies. Why do we need a department of transportation, AND a Federal Highway Administration. Combine them, as well as some of the other government redundant agencies.
Now I know that it is simplistic, and did not require a college degree in finance or political science, but in my small simple mind I think it might just work.
Ok everyone tell me why it won’t work.

Well we could have the alternative.
Remember this?

…What was I going to say?…. Oh, yeah, If you live anywhere around MR HQ and want to venture outside, you’d be well advised to do it in the night time…. If you do it in the Day time, you might suffer from Spontaneous Combustion (P-u-u-f-f!)…. It was 110 degrees in the shade yesterday (another new record)….. We’re working on 12 straight days of triple digit heat….. We’re over 20 days for the Summer and it’s only July 10th!…. We’re not even into our “Hot Season” yet (A-r-g-h-h!)….

Sorry ’bout talking about the weather again, but, this is ridiculous, and, being “trapped inside like a Rat” 95% of the time, seems to drain your enthusiasm to accomplish anything, except staying cool….. If anyone out there is still coherent, PLEASE Post something!…. I’m melting here!….

Robo, here’s the perfect place for your “Egg Comment”….

I can’t believe it’s already 4th of July weekend!….. Half the year – GONE – Ph-u-u-t! – Just like that!….. Oh, Well, It may not be much of a 4th around here anyway, as we have a Burn Ban in effect in Oklahoma County due to extreme drought conditions, above 100 degree temps across the board for the entire weekend, along with high winds, etc., etc…. I’m probably going to hide under the A/C inside mostly and hope that no one outside causes a Fire Drill in my immediate future…..

Also, according to the National News, we have Terrorism to worry about….. I heard that a man was arrested in Seattle who was planning an attack on a military training facility over the 4th…. So-o-o, we have to also add that to the normal worries of having explosive devices in the hands of many Morons for this particular Holiday….

Maybe it’s just me, but, the 4th of July just isn’t what it used to be…… Happy “Independence Day”……

A couple of weeks ago I was loading at the El Reno, OK Federal correctional facility. While waiting to be admitted into the secure area, I noticed that the guards who driving around the perimeter of the prison were all driving these small SUV vehicles.
The Ford ESCAPE

U-uh, Where was I?…Oh yeah….. If you recognize any of these statements, you’ve seen at least one of the “Columbo” Mystery series that ran off and on from 1971 to 1993….. Columbo is no longer with us – Peter Falk passed away yesterday at the age of 83…… Being a huge “Columbo” fan, I usually re-watch at least one or two of the shows a week….. He was our clumsy modern Sherlock Holmes…..

To see if we have any other “Columbo” fans in the MR Community besides me, here’s a short Quiz for you…. No Prizes – Just a tribute Quiz to a great actor…..

1. What was the year, make, and model of Columbo’s car?
2. What was the name of his Basset Hound?
OH, And, Just one more….
3. What was his wife’s name?…..

If you have access to a “Columbo” episode, give it a watch in honor of the rumpled, cigar smoking detective…..

…..That needs to be made SOON!….. Over the past few months, I’ve had 233 User Registration Requests, The same number of E-mail complaints because I turned down THE (as in one) author of the requests, and, lately, I have awoke to onion juice and pepper soaked notes pinned to my pillow stating, “I WANT TO MAKE MY OWN POSTS ON THE BLOG – OR ELSE!”….. I am most amazed at the little Furball’s ability to come up with 233 variations of “Prairie Dog Bob” for a User Name……

I am fully aware that Jek and I have to ability to edit and/or delete anything he Posts or Comments on, but, it wouldn’t surprise me if that, once he’s in, he may take over the Blog completely!…..

PDB and I had a long discussion (again) over it, and came to a compromise…… If he can get enough of the MR Community to support letting him become a member, I’ll approve one of his 233 applications….. So, it’s up to you, fellow members – “Should PD Bob be approved and accepted into the MR Community?”…… He’s agreed to stop with the notes on my pillow (for now) and abide by the majority….. He claims he would be a great asset to the Goofiness, and has lots of “Good Stuff” we need to know about…… So-o-o, What Say You?……

I made an earlier Post on going to Chicago and seeing Harmonica Hinds…… Now, H.H., he plays the Chicago style of Blues straight-up and Blues to the Bone…… I bought one of his CD’s while I was there, “Finally” and ordered another one later, “Anything If I Could”….. Both were great BLUES Albums…..

You know what “Genre” i-Tunes listed all the tracks of both albums under?…… Religious!….. Can you believe that!…… Well, now, wait a minute, Let me think, Blues IS a religion to me…… H-m-mm, maybe i-Tunes isn’t as Goofy as I thought…….

During the period of time that Mr. Jek was growing up, we would be constantly working on building projects – Models, electronic kits, any and everything, so, we needed a semi-permanet work space….. I had an old Samsonite card table and we named it ” The Group “W” Bench”….. Why?….. If you can’t figure it out, listen to “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree” by Arlo Guthrie, or watch the movie “Alice’s Restaurant”…….

Now, this wasn’t just a normal card table…… Jek built what we called a “Tub Adjust” circuit ON the table…. We had a friend that Jek could irritate on command, and Jek claims he could “Adjust” his attitude with the “Tub Adjust”….. It seemed to work somewhat, and, it was fun to play with if you had become frustrated with whatever project you were working on and needed a break….. It was basically an IC chip, a LED, an adjustable on-off pot, a battery holder, and a bunch of hook-up wire…. This wasn’t mounted on a circuit board, he soldered it directly to the table….. As you know, vinyl, solder, and a hot soldering iron combine in curious way…. The “Tub Adjust” naturally became a permanent component of the Group “W” Bench….. Many projects saw completion and/or destruction on the table….. It was finally retired to an outdoor firing range in Seminole, OK where it was used as a cleaning and firing table….. Unfortunately, it was left out in the Oklahoma weather once too much and the top deteriorated to the point that we have to use a piece of plywood on top, but, it is still alive and well…..

Enough background….. Lately I have been going through all the 40 or so years of stuff I have in storage and decided I need a new Group “W” Bench that I could set-up when I needed to work on some of the cool vintage stuff that I hadn’t seen in years….. Hence, let me present to you, without further ado, THE NEW GROUP “W” BENCH…… Everyone should have one….. Oh, Yeah, Jek, I need you to draw me a schematic of the “Tub Adjust” circuit…. Got to have one!…..

Yeah, I know, I dripped paint on it and tried to wipe it up, but, I expect it to see a lot of action in the next month, year, Hell, maybe the next Lifetime – I’ll pass it on to Jek…..  Here’s part of your inheritance, Jek, along with the OU watch……  Boy, are you LUCKY!…..

I’m sure they’re talking about the American Flag…… I hate to admit that I didn’t know that we officially had a Flag Day, and, I’m a Veteran!……. Shame,Shame, Shame on me……

So-o-o, if you have a Flag – Display it….. If you see a Flag – Salute it….. If you grew up in the late ’60’s – Early ’70’s, and you own a Flag shirt – wear it…… I have a friend (our Bass Player) who had, and may still have, a pair of Red and White vertical wide stripped Overalls – wore them with a Blue shirt…..

Remember, even Mick Jagger wore a British flag at one time – not to mention the entire group known as “The Who”……. So, Fly it, Show it, Salute it, and feel good about it….. Oh, yeah, if you see one of us Vets out and about today, say Thanks – It’ll make our day…… (Step Down – Remove Soapbox)….

I found PD Bob hangin’ out at a local swap meet….. He had been, as he called it, researching the local inhabitants….. He was disguised as the gopher from “Caddyshack”….. I had to pay a buck to get him back….. I don’t know if it was worth it or not…. He claims he picked up a lot of “Paraprosdokians” (yes, it’s a word)….. Here are some of the ones PDB lives by:

“Where there’s a will, I want to be in it”
“Don’t argue with a Moron – They’ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience”
“The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it’s still on my list”
“If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong”
“War doesn’t determine who’s right – Only who’s left”
“To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism – To steal from many is research”
“I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks”
“I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you”
“A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory”
“You don’t need a parachute to skydive – You only need one to skydive twice”
“Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with”
“I used to be indecisive – Now I’m not so sure”
“You’re never too old to learn something stupid”
“Change is inevitable except from a vending machine”
“The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese”

PD Bob may have some valid points here, but, I’m not telling him that….. I have enough trouble with him the way he is……

It’s amazing the advances that have occurred in the Medical field….. Our drummer has been diagnosed with two benign brain tumors….. They now have a procedure called Gamma Knife Surgery…. They’ve developed this machine that looks similar to an MRI unit….. The patient remains awake through the whole thing….. First the upper part of the head is numbed and then a helmet-like device is placed over the head and secured with 4 screws that secure it in position, but do not penetrate the skull…. After that a basic MRI is performed to determine the exact locations of the tumors and adjustment of the Kemo beams is set…..

It works just like the Death Star beam weapon….. Small Gamma beams penetrate the skull and tissue in a 360 degree circle… Each one is not strong enough to cause damage to the skull or tissue….. They all meet at the tumor and combined are strong enough to eliminate the tumor, just like the Death Star Beams all combined to make one all powerful beam weapon….. The patient is removed from the machine, has a slight headache, a little soreness, and goes about their business….. Amazing – no scalpels, no saws, not stitches, no long recovery time!……

Our Drummer is to undergo this procedure on the 9th of June….. If it all goes the way the video shows, he should be up and running the same day!…… Our thoughts and prayers are with him that it will go exactly as the video indicated…… Brain Surgery by Computer!….. Wonder if they are working on something to replace Rocket Scientists?…..

I can’t believe it’s already Memorial Day….. Time for me seems to be locked into Overdrive…….. Anyway, everyone have the best holiday you can, and enjoy friends and life….. Pay tribute to departed friends and family while letting the live ones know how much you care for them…..

Just to mention my favorite utility – O.G. & E. – We’re having power outages here FIVE (5) days after the Tornado Outbreak on the 24th….. Luckily, my electric’s still on, but, poor Robo, his electric went out in the middle of a computer game he was playing….. He was about to set an all-time high score…… I think he’s about ready to settle the score with “The Company Who Shall Not Be Named”…… I plan to help – So-o-o, maybe we can make the National News – Just Kidding, of course, but, it is more than frustrating and it happens all too often….. You people that never experience random and consistent power outages, consider yourself very lucky…… Sorry about getting off topic…….

Again, have a Happy Memorial Day and let EVERYONE you know how much you care for them….. Yes, even PD Bob has been buttering me up all day – something about going to the Zoo tomorrow to visit his relatives (I think he want money for snacks)…..