For those of you who did not get a chance to watch President Obama Thursday night....I offer, for your perusal, this link to "The Tonight Show".

And by the way...for the record, FOX, LA Times, et al. The AIG mess, and the bailouts, and the lack of rules on oversight of the administration of those bailouts AND THE CONTRACTS that were written pertaining to those bailouts...all happened prior to President Obama taking office....

...and yet, he takes responsiblity because he's got cajones, something the previous administration did not have. 

-The Dickens

Let me preface this post with two things:

1. When building a box for myself...I don't like to go cheap. 
2. I have a Dual P3 1Ghz box with 1GB of RAM that I originally built in 1998 that is still outperforming a lot of off-th-shelf new P4 computers being sold by many manufacturers.
   • It has an Adaptec 39160 Ultra 160 card and Drives
   • It started out as a P2 400Mhz machine and 256Mb
   • In 1998 I built this "scream machine" for about $800. Had I ordered it from HP, Gateway or Dell, it would've been a server...and it would have retailed for somewhere around $2,000 or more. 

So now, 11 years later and after a similar computer with an MSI piece of junk M-Board (that is supposed to run at 133Mhz FSB) I am realizing that a man can not live on Laptop alone...and that it is time to build a new box.

OK. So a while back I took my 1993 Ford Aerostar to be inspected and it got dinged because she needed to have her Upper Ball Joints Replaced. So I got a great big REJECTED sticker for my troubles.

Truth be told...I had a feeling this might be the case, because I'd replaced the lower ball-joints back in 2007, and WANTED to change the uppers then...

...it just looked like a bit more work than I was ready for at the time. 

So, since I was not working today, I jumped up this morning, cleaned a little, straigthened a little, and got started on this mechanics job at about noon...

...and the next thing I knew? It was dark...

So I went out to the garage to complete work on the engine from my beloved 95 4-Runner
after a 4 month hiatus(Head Gasket issues with complications)...

....when I discovered water all over the garage floor in various stages of pooling and puddling.

Ummm...what's going on here?

So I went over to the water heater for a closer look...and discovered water coming out of a long tube running down the side of the thing. 

Above the tube is a valve coming out of the water heater...

Dianne Feinstein is obviously reading from a page....didin't anyone teach her how to read a teleprompter...."Sweet Victory of this hour..." this was an excellent line.

I wonder how many times we are going to hear the words "God Bless America Today"

Couldn't help but notice the BOO or two when Rick Warren took the stage....and was almost waiting for him to segue into the serenity prayer...for a second there.

One day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you....except gay folks that is.

Yitzach AND YO YO MA AND Barack Obama....Pinch me 

Here are my impressions of Obama's speech in real time as it was happening. (forgive the typos)

"Yet every so often the oath is taken among gathering clouds"...warming up to the pallor of the speech...here it comes.