I've had to change the "war on terror" honour roll numbers on the Connect2Canada page of the home website.
Another Canadian soldier was killed in Afghanistan.
Killed:
Cpl. Michael Starker, of 15 Field Ambulance Hometown not yet released.
Cpl. Starker was on a foot patrol the Pashmul region of the country's Zhari district when he was killed by enemy fire during an ambush in Afghanistan this morning.
- another soldier was wounded in attack.
It is the 83rd death of a Canadian soldier during the Afghanistan mission.
They are dead; but they live in each Patriot's breast, And their names are engraven on honor's bright crest. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"At the time of the incident, our soldiers were conducting a civil-military co-operation patrol in the area, when they came under attack," said Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, commanding general of Task Force Afghanistan.
"The aim of the patrol was to show their presence, interact with the local population and discuss the development needs of the community.
We have lost a fine soldier today and our thoughts are with his family and friends - he died helping Afghans build a better future for themselves and their children. His dedication and sacrifice will not be forgotten."
More than 18,500 troops make up ISAF, with contributions from 36 nations. To learn more about the NATO force and mission - click here for their official web site.
Honor to the soldier, and Sailor everywhere who bravely bears his country's cause, Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause. (Abraham Lincoln)
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May 7, 2008 - Oil Choke Point - Printer Oil - Striped Icebergs
OK, although still valid reasons, for the moment let's forget the extra benefits of having a creative retirement job as listed on the Home Page - in this day an age the main reason to have a creative retirement job is simply to bring in enough extra cash to gas up the family car - and if you are a two car family you had better build a series of websites.
Talk about a media doom boom - check out this headline in this mornings Financial Post - Oil "choke point" Nears - what the hell is the oil choke point? Apparently, if the cost for a barrel of oil hits $150.00US the world economy goes to hell in a hand basket.
Well hello, here comes Choke Point Plus.
Some guy with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. gazed into his crystal ball the other day and announced to the world -"Crude oil may rise to between US$150 and US$200 a barrel within two years as growth in supply fails to keep pace with increased demand from developing nations and could slam growth in the United States and cause a rout in stocks."
Rudyard Griffiths writing in the National Post last Monday says there's a chance gas prices will come down in the short-term - but long term - hold on to your wallet and get yourself a Smart Car.
Griffiths gives the following reasons why we're heading for the choke point and beyond;
"Global demand for oil is fast outstripping supply."
"Global oil production has stagnated in recent years at approximately 87 million barrels per day."
"Declining output by some of the world's largest oil fields (e.g., onetime oil exporters such as Mexico are now importing gas)"
In the last 15 years, despite oil companies spending billions on exploration, only one new oil field with the potential to produce half a million barrels a day has been found."
"The large untapped reserves that have been discovered in recent years -- such as last summer's big strike off the coast of Brazil -- must be extracted from thousands of metres below the sea floor or by refining hundreds of millions of tons of oil sands. All such new oil reserves can be exploited profitably only at current, and in many cases higher, per-barrel prices".
"Compounding the global supply problem is the petro-nationalism of the major oil-producing nations such as Iran, Venezuela, Russia and Indonesia. These and other governments of big oil exporters are subsidizing the cost of petroleum for their citizens and domestic industries to strengthen their hold on power."
"The effect that oil-thirsty India and China will have on world energy demand. Asia's love affair with the automobile is beginning in earnest. And its overall population is growing. China, for instance, grows by an entire United Kingdom each year."
So, for all the reasons you should have a creative retirement job on the internet as listed on the Home Page add this incentive - gas for the car - start thinking Google ads, affiliate commissions, drop-shipping, product selling, eBay, whatever - and remember, if you work the net for extra cash you don't have to drive the car to get to the office and you can also work in you pajamas - start your research - Here (opens new window) or here - The Retirement Jobs Library (opens new window)
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Thanks to retired buddy Jim Hill for the following message:
"All these examples do NOT imply that gasoline is cheap; it just illustrates how outrageous some prices are....You will be really shocked by the last one!
(At least, I was...)
Think a gallon of gas is expensive? This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective."
Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29 ... $10.32 per gallon
Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19 ..........$9.52 per gallon
Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 ..... $10.17 per gallon
Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 . $10.00 per gallon
Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15 ...... $33.60 per gallon
Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 ... $178.13 per gallon
Pepto Bismol 4 oz $3.85 .. $123.20 per gallon
Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ....... . $25.42 per gallon
Scope 1.5 oz $0.99 .....$84.48 per gallon And this is the REAL KICKER...
Evian water 9 oz $1.49..$21.19 per gallon! $21.19 for WATER and the buyers don't even know the source - (Evian spelled backwards is Naive.)
Ever wonder why printers are so cheap?
So they have you hooked for the ink.
Someone calculated the cost of the ink at - You won't believe it - $5,200 a gal. (five thousand two hundred dollars)
So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on water - Scope -whiteout - Pepto-Bismol - Nyquil or, God forbid, Printer ink.
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Thanks to retired relative Joanne Raycraft for these amazing pictures:
Icebergs in the Antarctic area sometimes have stripes, formed by layers of snow that react to different conditions.
Blue stripes are often created when a crevice in the ice sheet fills up with melted water and freezes so quickly that no bubbles form.
When an iceberg falls into the sea, a layer of salty seawater can freeze to the underside. If this is rich in algae, it can form a green stripe.
Brown, black and yellow lines are caused by sediment, picked up when the ice sheet grinds downhill towards the sea.
Thanks to retired buddy Bernice Dini for today's kicker.
Enemies? Not me!
All women should live so long as to be this kind of old lady!
Toward the end of Sunday service, the Minister asked, 'How many of you have forgiven your enemies?" 80% held up their hands.
The Minister then repeated his question. All responded this time, except one small elderly lady.
' Mrs. Neely ?'; 'Are you not willing to forgive your enemies?' I don't have any.' She replied, smiling sweetly."Mrs. Neely , that is very unusual. How old are you?' 'Ninety-eight.' she replied. 'Oh, Mrs. Neely , would you please come down in front & tell us all how a person can live ninety-eight years & not have an enemy in the world?' The little sweetheart of a lady tottered down the aisle, faced the congregation, and said:
'I outlived the bitches.'
Now let's get working on your gas revenue - start here - (Go to URL)
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May 25, 2008 - The Big Eight-O - Beautiful Dixie - Hollywood Squares
Last week I hit the big eight-O - that was one birthday party I never expected to attend.
When I hit the floor of that restaurant in Boston back in 87 and following the subsequent quadruple by-pass, the Docs told me the average time of either redo or the bright light was ten years.
Even my cardiologist shakes his head when I walk through the door - "Don't get many twenty year olds in here."
But, every day I think of my beautiful daughter Cindy who had so much more to offer than I ever did and who lost her valiant battle against cancer at the age of 49 - why her and not me - no answers -maybe when the executive producer calls me into the control room he'll explain..
However, here I am still plodding along, putting up websites and learning new stuff - travelling to unusual places and meeting interesting people while shooting video -and that I think is reason number three that I'm still operational - the computer, internet and video camera give me a reason to get out of bed every morning - I'm eager to get to work creating and learning - don't underestimate the power of the computer to keep you young - mentally anyway.
For the record, reason number one for me still being here is my best buddy - my wife - there is no way in hell I could of survived without her - I may bitch about her dolling out limited quantities of butter soaked pop corn while watching a hockey telecast and other culinary limitations but she is the CIC and I love her for putting up with me these past 57 years - as many of our friends frequently point out - "the poor woman deserves a medal".
Reason two -all the clot busting pills I pop every morning plus all the other medications prescribed by my Doctors - good guys - I think they are both amazed at what they have accomplished.
Now I have another reason and yes - another computerized reason - one of my birthday presents the kids gave me was a WII with the sport games - tennis -golf -bowling - boxing - what a blast - the wife and I challenge each other every afternoon - OK, so she's ahead at the moment - big deal - but we are so into this action that the kids are threatening to take the WII away from us - they're afraid we're going to kill ourselves.
I've never worked out like this in my life and when the rest of the family joins in and a wager is included - you would swear it was a war game.
So, as I enter my eighth decade, life is good - I'm one lucky senior citizen - if only Cindy had been there to help me blow out the candles.
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This next entry is for a friend who lives in Minnesota and who is an admirer of Hugh Laurie, the star of the TV series "House."
She was quite surprised to learn that Laurie is English and appeared in a series of English comedy shows one of which was the classic series "Blackadder" that starred Rowan Atkinson of "Mr. Bean" fame.
In this series Laurie played the foppish and dim witted Prince George with Atkinson as his conniving first minister - here's the other side of Doctor House
From the retirement news blog in-box:
Thanks to retired buddy Bernice Dini for sending this link about an area we look forward to visiting during our migration south each year - to see why, take this - Banjo Tour of Beautiful Dixie - opens new window.
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From retired buddy Linda Ardoino this blast from the past:
If you remember the Original Hollywood Squares and its comics, this may bring a tear to your eyes.
These great questions and answers are from the days when Hollywood Squares' game show responses were spontaneous, not scripted, as they are now. Peter Marshall was the host asking the questions, of course.
Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do? A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.
Q. Do female frogs croak? A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.
Q. If you're going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be? A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.
Q.. True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years. A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes.
Q. You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman? A. Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake.
Q.. According to Cosmopolitain, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think that he is attractive, is it okay to come out and ask him if he's married? A. Rose Marie: No; wait until morning.
Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older? A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency.
Q. In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say 'I Love You'?
A. Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty.
Q. What are 'Do It,' 'I Can Help,' and 'I Can't Get Enough'? A. George Gobel: I don't know, but it's coming from the next apartment.
Q. Charley, you've just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year? A. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I'm too busy growing strawberries.
Q. In bowling, what's a perfect score? A. Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.
Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics, what is the other? A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures.
Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls? A. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.
Q. When you pat a dog on its head he will wag his tail. What will a goose do? A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?
Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to? A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.
Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people? A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army.
Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your body, what is it? A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused, but it certainly isn't neglected.
Q. When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for its sex? A. Charley Weaver: I'll lend him the car, the rest is up to him.
Q. According to Ann Landers, what are two things you should never do in bed? A. Paul Lynde: Point and laugh
WE DON'T STOP LAUGHING BECAUSE WE GROW OLD, WE GROW OLD BECAUSE WE STOP LAUGHING.
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Thanks to retired buddy Norma Lamphier who sent in the follow pictorial commentary
This explains a lot.......................
THIS IS INDIA. IT'S WHERE YOU CALL WHEN YOU HAVE A TECHNICAL PROBLEM WITH YOUR COMPUTER.
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My thanks to retired buddy Jim Hill for today's kicker - just to cover my butt, I check with another retired buddy who is a Newfie to see if I could get away with this and gave the OK so.........did you hear the one about the Newfie who was terribly overweight, so his doctor put him on a diet.
"I want you to eat regularly for 2 days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for 2 weeks. the next time I see you, you should have lost at least 5 pounds"
When the Newfie returned, he shocked the doctor by having lost nearly 60 pounds!
"Why, that's amazing but did you follow my instructions?"
"I'll tell you though! Lord tunderin Jaysus, I t'aut I were goin ta drop dead on dat 3rd day!"
"From the hunger, you mean?"
"No - from the skippin' ".
Let's get working on our creative retirement job and if you have a computer here's where to start - (Go to URL)
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