Baghdad, Iraq. “Demonstrations broke out across the country Friday to denounce parliamentary elections that protesters called rigged.”
It looks like Iraq is getting just like the US. In 2000 the Democrats claimed our election was rigged and illegal.
Imagine this happening 3 years ago in Iraq. There would be even more dead bodies in the mass graves.
It isn’t perfect but democracy beats all the other forms of government. At least people don’t die for their political beliefs.
I’m trying out the new Google toolbar. It’s got spell check on it. Let’s see if it works. It works.
I’ve been reading a lot of family blogs and noticed one or two people seem to have a little trouble spelling words correctly. Heck I’ve been known to misspell a word or two. If you too are prone to this I suggest you install this little Firefox extension. It’s got a few other features besides the spellcheck. One is AutoLink which searches a web page for an address and if it finds one it lets you click and go to Google maps. Kinda cool.
Jocelyn is now a blogger. She hasn’t written much yet but I suggest we bug her until she does. Heather also has a blog and she writes fairly regularly. In fact most of the people in my family have blogs. Donna has one. Richard has one. Robin has one. Even Lauren has a website very similar to a blog. Mom’s isn’t really a blog but it’s more than just a web page with pictures. It’s actually quite interesting for the genealogicly inclined.
Glamis is a REALLY LARGE sandbox. Pismo Beach is a pile of sand next to Glamis. We were there for 2 days and only saw a fraction of the place. On one of our rides I was leading, Jeremy was behind me and Scott was behind him. I went over a hill that Jeremy didn’t want to try so he stopped while I kept going. It took me a few minutes to realize they weren’t following anymore and when I did I headed back.
I couldn’t find them. I rode around for the next 15 minutes and didn’t see them. I stopped a few times at the tops of hills and looked around but no luck. I finally decided I should head back for 2 reasons. One, it isn’t a good idea to be alone in the dunes and two, I wanted to make sure they were ok and camp was where they would go first.
When I got back they were sitting in front of the trailer. Seems they had realized we were separated about the same time I did and drove to the tops of a few hills looking for me. When they couldn’t find me they also decided camp was the best idea.
We’ve been to Pismo many times and we’ve never “lost” each other. It’s just not big enough and the sand isn’t high enough. We decided the only reason to go to Pismo is the weather. I don’t think we’ll be going to Glamis in the middle of the summer. We were there in November and the temperature was in the low to mid 80s. It also takes about twice as long to get to Glamis.
There are a few other dunes we’d like to try. There’s Dumont out by Baker and Sand Mountain in Nevada. So much sand and so little time.
I’ve put all the pictures from Glamis in the gallery. I’ll write a little more after I unstiffen.
At 4am Friday morning I’m headed to Glamis, CA. It’s billed as a “Duner’s Paradise“. I’ve never been there but I have been to the dunes south of there called Buttercup. They are both part of the Algodones range of dunes in eastern CA.
I used to go to Buttercup with my dad in the dune buggy we built together. I remember him coming home from work and telling me his boss, Larry Long, had a dune buggy and he thought we should go look at it. When we saw it he and I both got the “bug” to make a buggy. I found an old Corvair that had an automatic transmission for about $50. We wanted a manual but my dad said the automatic would be ok to start with.
We spent the next few months in the shop building this buggy with galvenized pipe. Most people used steel tubing but the galvenized was a lot cheaper(and heavier). After we got it all together we took a trip to Buttercup. It did pretty well but the automatic was a definate disadvantage. We also had oversize truck tires instead of the grooved slicks everyone else was using. We later put a 4 speed and grooved slicks on it and it would keep up with most of the other buggys.
That was a really fun time in my life. Sometimes I wish I had had one boy to share stuff like that with. I wouldn’t trade any of my 5 girls but it would have been nice to have a boy too.
So now I’m going back to the dunes of my youth. Instead of a patched together dune buggy I’ve got a state of the art quad. Instead of the old “Tramper” I’ll be staying in my trailer. Instead of my family I’ll be with my good friend Scott and his son Jeremy.
And that’s part of the fun. Jeremy is one of those kids you hated when he was 8 but now he’s 14 and actually listens most of the time. When I see the 2 of them it always reminds me of my dad and I with the dune buggy. Of course I ALWAYS did what my dad told me to do. I was a model child. At least that’s the way I remember it. The rest of my family may have different realities.
I’ll take pictures.
I got this in my email. It’s amazing what makeup can do.
I see. Lying to a grand jury is now a bad thing. I’ve always thought it was but it seems the lefties are choosy about it. I thought it was bad when Clinton did it and if Scooter did it I also think it’s bad. If he did he should go to jail. If they prove he lied to the grand jury I’ll be right next to the lefties this time.
And that’s the basic difference between my politics and most of the liberals who’s blogs I read. I believe when a law is broken there should be consequences. Libs seem to believe there should only be consequences if the lawbreaker was a Republican. Go figure.
Sure, I knew you could. The Mazda didn’t work out but I did learn a valuble lesson. You would think at 51 I would have already learned it but obviously not. The Mazda started losing oil pressure at idle when it got warm. It didn’t do that when I first bought it so I’m pretty sure the person I got it from doctored it.
I decided that was my last time buying a vehicle that didn’t have a warrenty. So today we went and got a car that Betty can also drive and it’s got a warrenty. It’s a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder. It’s something we can actually drive a long ways without having to worry about. I was nervous about taking that Mazda further than about 25 miles.
There are a couple of pictures in the gallery. Yes that’s a ding on the front. We did a Carfax report and it came back clean so I believe it’s ok. Besides, it’s got a warrenty.
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