A Warm Welcome

This blog is dedicated to Al Gore. A crusader for earth rights. One who is not deterred by better men. A man for all seasons--even warm ones.
The hero to all that really are buying carbon credits to help subsidize his private jet--. Yes, and to the inventor of the internet. A virtual world in which we may all drive the biggest friggin' Hummer known to man. I offer a sincere, but not so warm, thank you comrade.--Don

A Couple of Thoughts and a Note or Two

• U.S. Supreme Court "allows" the 2nd amendment to stand. WTF? How did this litigation ever get this damn far to begin with? Hell, that's about the only part of the entire constitution that I understand. I can read it and say, " Ok, that's cool." To top it all off it was a 5-4 split! Apparently 4 of the justices saw fit to see it go to an even higher court. Huh? Ya mean No appeals? Not until they overrule themselves...I guess.


• Gotta love this. Verne Troyer, the ugly little troll that portrayed "Mini Me" in Mike Myers' "Austin Power" flicks, is suing in order to stop distribution of a sex tape that he made with a former girlfriend. Troyer claims in the suit that "he will suffer irreparable harm to his reputation" if this tape is released for public viewing. Now really, who the hell would want to even see this one for free much less pay for a copy? Can't be much to see anyway...


• Comcast customer service is at best, a puss-filled wound on the ass of customer service everywhere. At least our local service is. Last week they came out to install/upgrade cable to 3 tv sets. They were also going to put in a new modem, not only for our 'net, but their phone service too. They got 1 cable box installed and upgraded. Their servers were down so the tech couldn't complete the job as ordered. He was supposed to come back 1 week later and complete the job. That day is today. He was scheduled for the a.m. It is now 2:15 p.m. and, given it's a saturday, their offices are closed. Typical! Morons...! Y'all have a GREAT weekend and keep it "Lite."-Don

My Little Angels

My, how the children have grown. It seems just like yesterday that they were helpless babies...crying for all of their needs. All they ever needed was just the right amount of TLC. No doubt that it is the love that has turned them into such sweet, kind and loving little angels. All grown now though.
If I could ever have another, I wish that it
would turn out just like the two that I have.-Don

A Loser, A Boozer and A Whole Bunch of Morons

Well, it didn't take the "Iman", Don Imus, long to put his foot back into his ever increasingly large mouth--. Imus must have a curse working for him lately. I mean was not the public outcry (mostly from A. Sharpton et.al.) a few months back enough to quell his effervescent stupidity of late? Now, he makes a remark about Pac Man Jones that I believe may just be enough to bring out the wolves again. It's not his remark that bothers me, I happen to believe his 'excuse.'
The fact that he let it out to begin with blew me away. Moron! If it walks like a duck...quack, quack. The Loser--USA Today-contribution-Don

News quickie: This little story comes from Australia. A fellow fell asleep while cruising at about 5mph down an Aussie highway. He was in a motorized wheelchair. Cars were having to swerve around this guy while he was napping away. He was making a 9 mile trip to a friends house according to a traffic inspector. A sobriety check revealed that he "blew" a 0.301...Now I can't speak for you, but I'm over 6'3" and 220 lbs, and believe me--a .301 would have put me out too! The cops, ugh...inspector said he was charged with operating a motorized vehicle while clearly intoxicated. Duh...The Boozer--Source:unknown and Don.

This brief story salutes The Netherlands. Yes, those silly wooden shoes and apparently solid wooden heads. A group of Dutch soccer fans were attending Euro 2008. So they see this Swiss railroad worker wearing an orange safety vest. They mistook his vest for their own orange attire they wore to support their team. They casually followed this railway worker onto the tracks and apparently just hung out awhile. They didn't realize at first that a railroad track and a soccer stadium have very different seating arrangements I guess...Anyway, the railroad workers were given yellow vest so not to confuse the Dutch fans. The Morons--source-Fox News-contribution-Don

Whose $300,000,000 ?

Sen. John McCain has come up with a really brilliant plan--his staff believes. He wants to offer a cool, and not so generous, $300m for anyone who develops a new type of battery to fuel hybrid or electric cars. Perhaps on the surface this may sound like a good idea. By virtue of the fact that it comes from a politician, however, it already smells to me. Is this lotto prize, or whatever he chooses to call it, coming from his wifes' bank account? We all know that's not going to happen though. Hell, of course it'll be our money-the taxpayers.



This is really an obnoxious and obviously self-serving proposal. Any person with the imagination and brains to come up with such a battery, and in time this may happen, would be in a position to get far more than a lousy $300m! Such an invention would earn enough money for its' creator that even Bill "Howdy Doody" Gates would be envious.



While we're waiting for a $300m car battery, why don't we go after what we know we already have under our feet. Not only do we have the crude and gas-we have the means with which to go and get it. No thanks to our lobby rich congress. It's individual ingenuity and sweat that made all of this possible-not the arrogance and incessant whining of the government.



McCains' proposal would also allow for a $5,000 tax credit to automakers for every 'zero-carbon emissions' car that they develop. They don't need the damned credit. They need to be free of government intervention (i.e. overregulation). Let them do their jobs! The oil and gas industry is the same. Stay out of the only thing that they are good at-what they're there for... Were it not for the 'overstuffed' coconuts on the Hill, we would not be in such shape that we needed to pay a $300m bounty for a friggin' battery anyway for Christs' sake!



Last week McCain decided he would suggest a plan for easing concerns about supplies of oil. His idea is to allow states to choose to drill offshore or not. He had his chance to get on board with that plan already and blew it off because there wasn't anything in it for him-not from the oil industry anyway. Barack Hussein Obama chimed in on whole idea of drilling by claiming that it would do nothing to address all of the price concerns. No kidding! Why didn't you esteemed senators do that several years ago before you let it get to this point? Oh, and Obama told a Washington audience on Sunday that he would also "strengthen government oversight of energy traders...". Gee, ya prefer government control or more government control?



What ever happened to the silly concept of government for...by the people? Is the thought of becoming dependent on foreign countries for oil better than relying on our on resources to fill the need? I say NO! McCain is, however, to his credit, as much of a "pork barrel" opponent as anyone in the senate. Unfortunately, his lotto plans will never fly with the remaining 49 senators who are "pork barrel" proponents. They are all very "generous" with the money, but whose money is it anyway?--Don

Those Crazy Commies

Apparently this news did not raise much of a stink. Just a few eyebrows.

In the southern Russian city of Zheleznovodsk, an 800 pound bronze statue was raised. Ok, so far so good. The statue was that of a syringe bulb held by three angels. Translated: They had a statue created in tribute to the enema. For $42,000 they got an enema statue! Alexander Kharchenko, whose spa resides next to the statue, proclaims, "An enema is almost a symbol of our region." Not a bird or a flower or just a cute little slogan, but an enema is their symbol! He put a banner on a wall in his spa also declaring: 'Let's beat constipation and sloppiness with enemas.'

This guy is 50 years old however, and the thought of an enema may truly be something worth having a statue erected. I had my last enema when I was about 10. Yeah, I know the joke...at least that could explain some things. Anyway Kharchenko adds, "There is no kitsch or obscenity, it is a successful work of art." You go Alexander...you go.



The sculptor (scuptress?) Svetlana Avakina proclaimed, "This device is eternal. It will never change. We could promote the brand, turn it into a franchise with souvenirs and awards for medical doctors."

WTF is she talking about? Franchise with souvenirs? Hell, reserve my ticket for the next flight to the enema capitol of Russia. Maybe even the world! Well I hope that everything works out in the end...-Moscow (AP) Jun 19-contribution-Don

Redneck Rendezvous and Wal-Mart

Wow, so here's my bigoted rant for the week. I made my weekly journey to Wal-Mart today--a saturday. I've noticed that the last several jaunts I've been coaxed into making, there seems to be an order to the madness. Here's what I mean. There are two WM Supercenters and Sam's Club in town. The WM in the western part of town gets just the same old dull, blue collar, hard working, middle class shoppers. The southern WM attracts a very generous (hefty) shopping clientele that come in varying sizes and ethnic groups--if you consider 'redneck' an ethnic group. I do... Ok, so here's the deal. Today, is the day I refer to as Redneck Rendezvous. There must be every variety and hybrid on earth hit this place in a 24 hr. period, and it's on saturdays. These people insist on leaving their buggy in the middle of the aisle while they stare at the pictures on the cereal boxes for Christs' Sake. The women typically weigh in at about 250 lbs. and have their hosiery rolled down to their friggin' knees. The kids look like a bunch of little skinheads-sans the tattoos. I think. The old man must dress out at 280-300 lbs. at a minimum. He heads right for the fishing supplies and section where they sell the 50 lb. bags of dog food while all the kids are staring at the light fixtures that are 30ft. in the air. Finally, after struggling with three buggies worth of food in one buggy, they decide to check out. They head out of the door 20 minutes later after arguing about the price of a toilet sanitizer while one of the kids has to run back and get another bag of flour. Self-rising-not plain! He gets lost! To top it all off they don't even buy one single bag of popcorn, candy bar or beer. The shame of it all. I hope that your next trip to WM is just as entertaining. Happy shopping!-Don

Bart's Sister?

"Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish? I know it's tuna, but it says 'Chicken of the Sea'"--
Jessica Simpson

Yeah, I know she's hot as hell, but her brain is dead. I mean come on! This moron can't sing, dance or act. Granted, however, she stands around looking mighty good. Yup. Although her lack of gray matter certainly gives me the red ass from time to time, I'm another one of those idiots that keep gaulking. She deserves a special place on the pages of BLF--Don

"Nothing in life is more important than"--hold on, the phone is ringing.

Just A Little Harder Now

A driving instructor in England who encouraged girls to kick him in the groin has been jailed for four years. David Aston, who met one of the girls over the internet (thanks again Al), was convicted by a jury of two counts of sexual activity with a child and four of causing or enticing a child to engage in sexual activity. The thirty-two year old twice stripped naked from the waist down, crouched on all fours on a towel in woodlands and encouraged four girls to kick him in the groin until he could no longer endure the pain. Aston was sentenced to four years and ordered to be on the sex offenders' register for life. He is also banned with working with children under 18 or communicating electronically with them if it is sexual in nature.-- source: premierprep

My question is this: Did they pass the driver's exam?

About

I am a semi-retired painting and restoration contractor.  I began painting part-time about thirty years ago.  After a few years of part-time painting, the opportunity arose to go at it full time.  It didn't take long for house painting to become a handful as the building boom in my area was on. 

I soon began to develop an interest in restoration of old, historic homes in my town largely due to the fact that many of my painting jobs were on these old homes.  Clients would  ask if I could perhaps replace some old wainscot or moulding that could not be found and had to be milled.

From that my business grew in the sense I was doing various restoration projects along with my usual painting.  Eventually, I would work almost exclusively on historic homes.  The work was there for sure...  I could not wait to begin a new job because the issues you found with an old home were quite a challenge and fun.

This blog is simply based on some expert knowledge, not necessarily my own, and from my personal experiences.  I encourage questions and suggestions.  I think that I have a lot to share, but I am not the sole source for painting information.

Have fun and enjoy this site.  I will keep it light and easy and fun.  I will answer all of your questions and hope that I may be of some service.  I want this site to become sort of a classroom in the sense that I may offer a solution or even a problem in the hopes that it will encourage comments and commentary by you.

Now as we say down here, Laissez les bontemp roulez!