Merry Christmas from DDDN

Thank you for visiting my blog this year.

and just for you Sally....

Well, and for Josh too...can't leave out my buddy.

Merry Christmas to you all.

We're Number 1!!!

NORMAN — Although the amount is slight and measured in parts per billion, an independent lab test on Norman’s tap water places the level of hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, among the highest of 35 selected U.S. cities tested this year.
The tests measured levels of tap water contaminated by the carcinogenic chemical that came to national attention in the 2000 feature film “Erin Brockovich.”

This perhaps explains the vestigial arm I've begun to grow. I wondered what was causing that. I had just chalked it up to how awesome I was and the fact that I could use another arm while working on the Range Rover. In short I thought it was evolution. Imagine my disappointment.

Knitters spin a new yarn for streetscapes

SACRAMENTO, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- A cozy alternative to graffiti is popping up in public places around the world: "yarn bombs," knitters in the United States report.

Knitted street art has wrapped such disparate spots as a "Keep Off Median" sign in Berkeley, Calif.; a parking meter in Seattle and a phone booth in London, The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee reports.

A Berkeley knitter calling herself "Streetcolor" is claiming the tagging of a pole outside Sacramento's Crocker Art Museum.

So do the knitters shoot each other if one knitter knits over another knitters knitting? I'll have to ask my knitting friend what she's packin'. I'll bet it's a "nine". She doesn't look like the type to pack a "forty".

If we had more of this...America would truly become great again

SACRAMENTO, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A man who collected about $1,100 in unemployment benefits nearly 50 years ago has repaid California $10,000, officials said.
Dennis Ferguson, 74, lived in California 46 years ago and collected unemployment for about 5 months, KTXL-TV, Sacramento, reported.
Now living in South Carolina, Ferguson said he wanted to thank California for the help he received and that $10,000 seemed like a round number.

I'd like to interview this Mr. Ferguson, I bet he could give us some great wisdom on life and how to pull yourself up by your own boot straps. 

I liked the blog post you can read HERE. It is exactly what my German friends said at lunch this last Saturday. How can you be on unemployment longer than you had a job?

I Blame the American Education System

One of the reasons we love bookstores so much is because of all the hilarious things said inside of them. For instance, someone apparently asked what other books Anne Frank wrote. Yes, that was said.

I blame our schools. Keep turning out idiots, its going to catch up with us eventually.

Another reminder why mixing alcohol and driving doesn't add up

Before I cut to the story...nothing is more annoying than mixing a metaphor, especially in a news story.

Drinking and driving don't mix.

Driving + drinking don't add up.

Mixing is putting two items together, it doesn't usually need to ADD up to anything.

Whenever you're trying to shake the fuzz, I think we can all agree there's only one way to do it.

Throw beer.

A couple of guys from Durant reminded me how brilliant the human mind truly is. They also remind all of us why alcohol and driving should not mix.

A man got out of the truck's passenger side, went into the store, picked up a 30-pack of Bud Light and walked out without paying. He hopped back into the truck, which fled.

Less than an hour later, that same police officer was patrolling the area when he spotted a maroon pickup with the same big dent on the tailgate, according to the police department. The officer turned around and the truck sped off.

So the chase began.

And as if the passengers in the truck weren't endangering enough people, they decided to throw full beer cans out the window, according to police. Some missed. Some hit, spraying foam all over the squad car windshield.

Okay, this is just good ole boys having fun. LOL okay you are right, its not. It's just evolutionary dead ends tempting natural selection. The cop would have done us all a favor by exterminating these dumbasses before they muddy the gene pool up any further.

Is it just me or is this news story written a lot like a blog post?
Journalism is dead.

Will Tuesday Be the Darkest Day in 456 Years?

Break out the flashlights. When a full lunar eclipse takes place on the shortest day of the year, the planet may just get awfully dark.

The upcoming Dec. 21 full moon -- besides distinguishing itself from the others in 2010 by undergoing a total eclipse -- will also take place on the same date as the solstice (the winter solstice if you live north of the equator, and the summer solstice if you live to the south).

Winter solstice is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and marks the official beginning of winter. The sun is at its lowest in our sky because the North Pole of our tilted planet is pointing away from it.

Finally, this raises the question -- prior to 2010, when was the last time that we had a total lunar eclipse occur on the same calendar date as the winter solstice? The answer, incredibly, takes us back nearly four centuries.

On Dec. 21, 1638, the full moon was in total eclipse from 1:12 to 2:47 UT. And the solstice occurred later in the day at 16:05 UT.

I'm going to be asleep so I probably will not know if the day seems darker than any other day.

Santa surprise: Belvidere boy gets reunion with Army brother for Christmas

ROCKFORD (WREX) - Like most 4-year-olds, Michael Glass's Christmas wish list includes toys. But what he really wants can't be found at the mall.

"Zach to come home. Zach as my present." That's what Michael's letter to Santa said. The big man himself read it out loud as Michael sat on his knee. "Who's Zach?"

"My brother."

"That's your brother. Where's he at?"

"The Army."

Usually Private Zachary Leach is at Fort Knox. Today he traveled back home to surprise his little brother. Zach hid behind Santa's chair without Michael knowing. During pictures, Zach quietly popped up to be part of Michael's Santa memories, but didn't reveal himself right away. That came when Michael saw the picture for himself.

"That's Zach! Zach? Ha! There he is."

That's awesome.

Video goodness

Lunar eclipse Monday night

Those of you who live in the North America* will be treated to a total lunar eclipse tomorrow night (Monday night/Tuesday morning)! The whole thing unfolds over about 3.5 hours, starting at 1:30 a.m. Eastern time.

If you Americans miss this eclipse, you’ll have to wait over three years before the next one, which occurs on April 14, 2014. Europe, Africa and Asia get the next lunar eclipse on June 15, 2011. Also, Africa, Europe, and parts of Asia are treated to a partial solar eclipse on January 5, 2011, in just two weeks!

I'm not sure I'll catch this one. I'm usually in REM about that time. At least I hope I'm in REM about that time.

Facing Closure, U.S.'s Largest Sleeping Bag Maker Seeks Relief From Free Trade Loophole

The country's largest manufacturer of sleeping bags says new competition from Bangladesh could force it out of business if the U.S. does not level the playing field.

Exxel Outdoors Inc., which employs nearly 70 workers in its Alabama factory and makes about 2 million sleeping bags per year, has been pressing the Obama administration to lift an exemption that lets Bangladesh import sleeping bags into the country without paying a 9 percent tariff.

"You can't leave an American manufacturer at a competitive disadvantage with a foreign worker," Harry Kazazian, chief executive of the company, told FoxNews.com.

We have got to stop this crap. We can't keep sending jobs overseas. We have to reward the companies that manufacture in America. China is stomping our asses with a devalued currency. If it were possible to boycott Chinese products we should be doing it. But just try to shop at Wal-Mart and not buy something from China. Good luck with that. Even an Oklahoma staple like Hobby Lobby, Oklahoma company employing Oklahomans selling products inexpensively. Yeah, everything in that store is from CHINA or INDIA. EVERYTHING.

I'm not saying we should not consume products from China, but we've got to give ourselves the best hope to survive in the economy and that is by increasing exports.