Thursday, August 25, 2005

The last on the brazillian

This is the last I’m sayin on the Brazilian shot dead by London cops.
It seems the police did indeed screw up. From sources such as The Guardian, NPR and various websites, here’s what happened, based on the leaked documents.
Jean Charles de Menezes left his apartment, at this time there was a cop shift change. There was one cop on watch, and he was taking a leak into the bushes. The new shift arrived, pointed to the person leaving the apartment, and asked the peeing cop “is that him” The reply, apparently was “I think so”
He was then followed, silently. He apparently then caught a bus to the tube station, and was still followed by plain-clothed cops. At the tube station, he did not jump the barriers, or run. Instead, he picked up a free newspaper, and used his travelcard to get thru the barrier. He walked down the escalator, and only ran when he seen the train pulling in. (people run when they see a train pulling in as there is only about a 10 second window to get onto the train). This was apparently the first time the cops identified themselves to him, seconds before they filled his head with 9’s. The large coat turned out to be a denim jacket. There was never any attempt by him to escape the cops, he was not chased, and he was dead seconds after the cops made him aware they were after him.
The released stories were conjured up by hearsay and the press; seems the cops were quite happy to allow the public to believe the press story rather than the truth.
Bottom line is, whether they believed they were right or wrong, they should not have did what they done.
While lethality like this sure is a warning to those who may think about running onto a train with bomb, it’s turning the UK into a police state. The only good thing is that the cops will take better care when deciding to eliminate a “threat”.
5 years ago, I would never have said this. Now I’m sayin it.. its about time the cops (ALL COPS) are armed in the UK.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Summer Camping

We recently went camping to Holly Rec Area. It was a whole lotta fun. We done everthing from kickball to canooeing to kayaking to roasting marshmallows to running through the woods


Our friends made a white chilli. Awsome!!!!!


I like chilli. Je t'aime mon chilli. In the middle of saturday night some noise woke me. I thought it was someone roaming around out tents. I snuck outside quietly. just quitely enough to not disturn a small black furry creature with a white stripe on his back... i retreated quietly before i got sprayed. The resulting mess was what caused the little guys here to have some lettuce to munch onOn a tree near the lake I seen the above.. I'm still a little unsure what it is.. silkworms? help?
Our neighbors were in a massive RV, with this attached to it. THIS IS NOT CAMPING!!! On my planet, camping means no tv. not even dish.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Indiana, baby showers and Jimmy Dean

Just spent Saturday and Sunday in Indianapolis. Sister-in-law was having a baby shower. It turned out to be a boozy baby shower. Despite heat in the mid-90’s, we managed to put away a lot of Guinness. The mom-to-be received a bucket load of gifts. Maybe I’m set in me ways, but it all seemed a bit too organized. With us, people brought gifts and all was well received. On the other hand, the expectant parents get gifts they really need, not stuff they are not gonna use of duplicated stuff. I dunno. I’ll get used to it.
All together we had a great weekend.
Avoided speeding much on the way there and back, and as such got no tickets. Yay!
Saturday night ended with us standing up, drinking beer and eating hot good spicy chili topped with cheese, using tortilla chips as spoons. Quality. Makes a nice mixture when ya factor in the beans and Guinness.
Sunday mornin we went for breakfast at an Irish pub / restaurant in Indy. The Claddagh Ring. Nice place, decent Guinness, and great food. On the way home we stopped off at Fairmont Indiana, the home of James Dean. “Where cool went to school”. We visited the James Dean gift store, his old school, where he bought his first motorbike, the house he grew up in and then his grave. His grave was particularly difficult to find, not helped by the fact it was pissin rain. In the end, it was blindingly obvious, and right in front of us.
We forgot our camera, so the picture here is one I found on the net.The drive home after this was pretty much uneventful.
We got home and one of our neighbors gave us some of the biggest zucchinis I’d ever seen. No joking, they were a foot and a half long.
And then I slept. And slept.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Friday night. Beer. Etc


Dizzy night Friday, a good friend was leaving town on Saturday, so drinks were consumed in her honor. Lots. Fun evening all around. Met her family for the first time. She under-explained how cool they all were, or more so, how much fun they were. Good Luck WoodChuck!!!
Also met an old friend who is a teacher of 14-15 year olds. He enjoys his job. Dunno how, but he does. Commendable.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Avoid interstates

I was out at another office this morning. On the way back, I chose not to drive on the freeways. I arrived at work calmer and maybe 5 minutes later than guys who took the freeway.

I'd like to think that 5 minutes lost will translate into an extra few days of life for me due to the lower stress.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

First Home Grown Tomato

Yes, here it is, and for those of you who are reading on teh other side of the atlantic, tow-may-tow. ok? Pic later

Monday, August 01, 2005

no knee-d for surgery!! yay!!

No surgery for my knee probably. seen an ortho surgeon this mornin and got my knee poked and prodded. Doc was cool. he drew a free-body diagram of my knee and started putting forces and moments on it to explain what happened to it. he then went on to tell me that although he's a surgeon, he don't like using knives. So now i need 3 weeks of physical therapy. and then all may be good.