RenegadeRider

A large anti-war rally was scheduled yesterday. I joined the festivities, but on the opposing side. Smash has this photo . He added, The protestors may have had hundreds of people and dozens of messages, but this is how KFMB chose to end their brief segment on the event. That, my friends, is what I call "stealing the media." The anti-war protesters – well, primarily, their message was anti-Bush. They were so wrapped up in hating the president that logical, rational arguments were almost non-existent. They wanted to “Impeach Bush” and “Dump Bush”. Their signs noted in a-hundred-and-one ways that they thought he was stupid. They also claimed that “Bush Lied, thousands died”, demonstrating their originality, and that Bush was a racist because of Katrina. There were also attacks on religion, i.e. “those fascists, Pat Robertson and friends that want to make the USA a police state”. A few also mentioned the war. One of the most memorable characters carried a sign saying that...

Do you ever have the feeling that the news media is arrogant and even not on our side? Did you ever notice they seem to ask stupid questions that are not about the story, but more about them? Check out this news conference discussing the emergency preparations in New Orleans where General Honore slapped down a reporter that was "Stuck on Stupid". Male reporter: General, a little bit more about why that's happening this time, though, and did not have that last time... Honore: You are stuck on stupid. I'm not going to answer that question. We are going to deal with Rita. This is public information that people are depending on the government to put out. The audio file and the transcript can be found here . And the video can be found here .

One of the requirements for pilot training is to make a solo cross-country flight with a round trip greater than 150 miles. The plane I had been flying, a Cessna 172 with a 160 HP engine was temporarily down for maintenance so I decided to use the club’s Cessna 150. I knew that the 150 would be a bit slower but I thought it would still easily do the job. On the outbound leg I noticed a fire in the mountains to the east. I advised the Ramona tower and was informed that the air tankers were already working the fire. My flight was from San Diego to Apple Valley and had to cross over mountains that were more than 6000 feet high. I chose 8500 feet as a cruising altitude. This would give me ample altitude should I encounter any downdrafts. The 150 climbed its’ heart out and finally reached 8500 feet just in time to cross over the mountains. Over the mountains I met a UAL 737. I rocked my wings vigorously to let him know that I did not want to land at LAX. Then it was an easy descent...

Clikc this picture for a 9/11 Tribute.

Today President Bush gave a speech at a Naval base in Coronado, CA commemorating sixty years since victory over Japan in WWII. He arrived yesterday. We had heard that protesters would be trying to make his life miserable. We met at a principal intersection in Coronado for an Operantion Thank You rally. We had flags and signs saying things like, " Thank You US Military" and other similar thoughts. Since a large part of the traffic was military Personnel and employees on their way home, the reception was great . The military personnel appreciate it. One car even drove by displaying a license plate reading in part, "POW". We thanked him profusely. While we were there a large black SUV turned left in front of us. The rear window opened and none other than Donald Rumsfeld leaned out, waved and said thank you - to us.

We watched the National Geographic special, Inside 9/11 . It was two separate 2 hour programs telling the story of what and how it came to happen. I think it told the story very well and I reccommend it highly.

Curmogeonly & Skeptical has a good explanation on the history of civilization .

My brother-in-law, Mike is an avid golfer. I never caught the bug. I tried it once, about 45 years ago. I recall a quotation to the effect that golf is a way to spoil a perfectly good walk in the country. Since I enjoyed exploring the woodlands I understand the essence of that quotation. Now, I understand the true reasons even better. See below.

And you wonder why I don't golf!

Our house had been in escrow early in July, but alas, it was not to be. The market has changed here in San Diego and completed sales are taking a lot longer that earlier in the year. We have finally surrendered and have listed the house for sale with a real estate agent. Today was the first open house. We as owners were banished during the event. It might be scary for a buyer to actually meet a seller. Therefore we went driving. Late summer is monsoon season in San diego county with the tropical moisture being drawn northward from the gulf of California. The conditions frequently produce thunderstorm over the mountains. This has been happening for the past two or three weeks. We drove to the mountains to experience the thunderstorms and were sorely disappointed. The storms appeared to be somewhere near the Colorado river and produced mostly overcast conditions with a light sprinkle.

Yesterday I took and passed the FAA written knowledge test for airplane single engine, land, ASEL.

Devils Postpile.

The river.

"I don't like this picture."

Why did Dianne cross the bridge?

Yes! The water is cold!

With our business finished in Reno we returned to San Diego. We stopped along the way at Devils Postpile National Monument near the Mammoth Mountain ski area. The monument is the result of a basalt lava eruption from Mammoth Mountain about 100,000 years ago to form a layer about 400 feet deep. Then about 10.000 years ago a glacier caused the stone to bend as you see in the photo. The area has some beautiful streams and campsites. We may return for an extended stay. We arrived in San Diego Friday PM.

The T-bird near Lee Vining, CA. Doesn't it look like an advertising photo?

We set out again for Reno. This time the T-bird behaved as we had hoped. It even seemed to enjoy the exercize. It was running better when we arrived than when we left San Diego. We stopped for fuel at a truck stop near Victorville. I checked the fluids and while adding a quart of oil noticed that gasoline was leaking from the rear. I suspect that the many years of sitting allowed the rubber fill connection to rot away. We managed to get further down the road without any problem. We no longer filled the tank completely.

We left for Reno this afternoon. We didn't get very far. I purchased a 1968 Ford Thunderbird as a possible "project car" and intend to ferry the car to Reno, where I have garage space and tools for its restoration. My chauffer, Dianne, thought she could drive all 550 mile on her tip-toes. Her tip toe muscles gave out before she traveled ten miles and since it was rush hour, we had a crisis on our hands. We managed to avert citations for cars broken down along side the freeway. I had to backtrack, and then disconnect the toad before setting out for the rescue. I arrived just as a freeway service patrol was placing a red ticket on the radio antenna. We decided to wait and try again in the morning.