“My career choice was to be a mother.”
– Ann Romney, responding to Rosen’s comment.
Second Quote of the Day
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First Quote of the Day
“What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country, saying, ‘Well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues, and when I listen to my wife, that’s what I’m hearing.’ Guess what? His wife has actually never worked a day in her life.”
– Hilary Rosen, Democratic strategist criticizing Romney, on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”
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April 11, 2012 – 253 days Until Baktun 12
Survivalist Tip: Yesterday I discussed the importance of maintaining the integrity of the tires on your vehicle. In the event you should have to change a tire, of course, you’ll a tire jack. And, just like a vehicle without good tires, a vehicle without a solid car jack is akin to eating pizza with low-fat cheese. Why bother? Your vehicle should come equipped with a tire jack. If it doesn’t, you got jacked (pun intended) and need to buy one. It’s bad enough changing a flat or disintegrated tire; changing one in the midst of the chaos at the start of the new Baktun will be especially hazardous. Regardless, safety is important. So, while a member of your posse stands nearby with a shotgun to fight off any politicians, reality TV show stars, or other lower-than-pond-scum forms of life that might survive, here are some safety tips for operating a basic tire jack.
- Most tire jacks are hand-operated, scissor types that fold up and fit neatly beneath the front seat. Others are hydraulic, lever-operated. Although they’re more expensive, I recommend purchasing a hydraulic jack. You don’t want to expend too much energy pumping a hand-operated one. You’ll have enough trouble keeping the kids and pets under control.
- Sometime before December 21, do a test run of your jack to make certain that it functions properly and that you know what you’re doing. This includes making certain all of the jack’s parts are thoroughly lubricated. Using your vehicle owner’s manual, learn to identify the crank, ratchet or lever. (If you’re getting sexually aroused at this point, you’re losing focus and probably will die when the apocalypse hits.)
- Make certain the vehicle is on a relatively flat surface, away from traffic.
- Shift automatic vehicles into park. Shift manual vehicles into reverse or first gear. Engage the emergency brake.
- Immobilize the vehicle, either with a brick, a steel wedge, or the head of the most uncooperative member of your group.
- Place the jack base flat on firm ground. Find the part of the jack that connects to the vehicle’s frame. This part is flat and usually circular-shaped. The area beneath the vehicle where it fits is often an indentation that is slightly larger than the jack part. In other vehicles, it’s just a large equally flat part of the undercarriage. (If you’re confused, take a deep breath and get hold of yourself.)
- After the vehicle is lifted a few inches, remove the wheel cover and loosen the lug nuts. After lifting it a few more inches, remove the bad tire and replace it with the spare. Replace the lug nuts and tighten them securely. Trying to loosen or tighten lug nuts manually is the most strenuous part of changing a tire, so I recommend buying a battery-operated lug nut tool.
- Lower the vehicle back to the ground and store the jack properly.
As I’ve stated several times before, your vehicle may be your life line away from danger or greedy in-laws. A tire jack is just one of the many assets to ensure a safe drive. Besides, it makes a great disciplinary tool for anyone in your crew who gets out of line.
Filed under Mayan Calendar Countdown
Today’s Notable Birthdays
If your birthday is today, “Happy Birthday!”
Ethel Skakel Kennedy, widow of Robert Kennedy, is 84.
Actor – singer – dancer Joel Grey (Cabaret, Stop the World – I Want to Get Off, Man on a Swing) is 80.
Actress Louise Lasser (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Frankenhooker, Rude Awakening) is 73.
Actor Peter Riegert (The Mask, Oscar, Crossing Delancey) is 65.
Singer – songwriter Lisa Stansfield (All Around the World, You Can’t Deny It, This is the Right Time) is 46.
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On April 11…
1803 – John Stevens patented a twin-screw propeller steamboat. The boat was 25 feet long and four feet wide.
1814 – Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the island of Elba.
1908 – Jane Bolin, the first Black female graduate of Yale School of Law and the first Black female judge in the nation was born in Poughkeepsie, NY.
1921 – KDKA radio in Pittsburgh broadcast the first live sports event, a lightweight boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee.
Johnny Ray
Johnny Dundee
1945 – The U.S. Army liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany.
1947 – Jackie Robinson became the first Black player in major-league baseball history when he played in an exhibition game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1956 – Elvis Presley reached the top spot on the Billboard music chart with his first double-sided hit: Heartbreak Hotel and I Was the One. The RCA Victor record stayed at number one for eight weeks. Elvis also made the country and R&B charts.
1970 – The third lunar mission, Apollo 13, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission was aborted when an oxygen tank exploded aboard the spacecraft.
1979 – Ugandan dictator Idi Amin fled the capital of Kampala, as forces from Tanzania and the Uganda National Liberation Front approached.
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Picture of the Day
A nomadic herder tussles with a reindeer in Hovsgol, Mongolia. Hovsgol is the northernmost of Mongolia’s 21 provinces, shadowing Russia’s border and sharing the great Siberian taiga (subarctic coniferous forest). Lichens in bright greens and oranges color 10,000-foot passes, while sacred rivers, rumored to never freeze, feed lakes framed by snow-tipped mountains. Photograph by Hamid Sardar, National Geographic.
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Quote of the Day
Visitors at the entrance of the Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, TX
“Most everyone in Glen Rose that I know believes man and dinosaurs coexisted. The only conflict we have is when people move from metropolitan areas and have different value systems. I think some don’t have a strong [religious] belief system, and they’re more likely to go with science than faith.”
— Alice Lance, a resident of Glen Rose, Texas.
Glen Rose, about 40 miles south of Fort Worth, is home to some of the best-preserved dinosaur tracks in the world. It’s also a heavily Christian community where many locals interpret the book of Genesis literally. Note to self: search for Elvis and Jim Morrison on next visit to Glen Rose; bring Jewish and Muslim friends, too.
After Disasters, Social Media Helps Find Lost Pets
This April 3, 2012 photo provided by Trent Welch was posted on various social media sites after Welch and his family members found brindle boxer Oscar following a tornado in Forney, TX. Juan Ventura held out little hope he would ever see Oscar who had been in the backyard when the devastating twister swept through April 3, leaving no sign of the dog or his dog house. Photo courtesy Trent Welch/ AP.
After the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster, when thousands of animals had to be abandoned in storm-ravaged New Orleans, many people – including several government officials and first responders – vowed never to let that happen again. Here’s proof that people are determined to save their pets like they’d save their kids. Last week’s series of tornadoes in Northeast Texas destroyed hundreds of homes and scattered countless numbers of pets. Among them was a boxer named Oscar who belonged to Juan Ventura of hard-hit Forney, just east of Dallas. Ventura returned to find his home devastated and Oscar gone. But, days later Ventura was scouring through a Facebook page for lost pets in the area when he saw a picture of Oscar. A family had found the frightened dog a mile away from his home that same day of the tornado and snapped a picture of him. Ventura and Oscar reunited shortly afterwards.
“I think this type of thing is really starting to pick up speed,” said Heather Mathewson, who operates several Facebook pages and a web site dedicated to finding lost pets in Texas. “Social media can really function as such an effective means after this kind of disaster.”
Mathewson got involved in pet rescue after a series of deadly wildfires ripped through central Texas last year, destroying more than 1,600 homes. Information about lost pets will get posted on one site and spread to others. Some animal shelters will post pictures of lost pets, while searchers will keep in contact with veterinarians who may have received some pets.
When the tornado hit Juan Ventura’s subdivision, Trent Welch was spending the evening at his parents’ house about a mile away when he and other family members spotted Oscar behind the house.
“He was just so shaken up and so scared,” said Welch, who added that once they got a hold of Oscar, he was calm. “He didn’t want to come to us. It took about an hour and a half.”
Then they started posting pictures online.
“I just started posting on Facebook, any chance I got I posted on Facebook,” said Welch’s fiancé, Mandy Hernandez. “I posted on every website you can think of, every link somebody told me, I posted. I had many, many friends share my picture.”
Thanks to the observant web-surfing Good Samaritan, Welch reunited Ventura and Oscar less than two days after the tornado hit.
“As soon as he saw Juan’s truck he started wagging his little tail,” Welch said.
“Lost & Found Pets America” is one such Facebook page that endeavors to help people find lost pets after a disaster. Even with power knocked out, for instance, people can still access the Internet through their cell phones. Animal lovers don’t want a repeat of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath. People are just too attached to their pets. Fortunately, technology is helping them stay together.
Filed under News
April 10, 2012 – 254 days Until Baktun 12
Survivalist Tip: Among all the important features of your vehicle, a good set of tires can’t be emphasized enough. A vehicle without tires is like non-alcoholic beer. Why bother? Tires aren’t just for football practices, UFC training regimens, or hillbilly swing sets. As December 21 approaches, you have to make certain your vehicle’s tires are in good shape. Here’s a basic check list.
- In the U.S., tires must meet standards of tread wear, traction and temperature resistance. A tread wear rating of 500 – 7oo is very good; 300 – 400 is good; 200 is average; below 200 is dangerous. Traction grades extend from AA, A, B and C; highest to lowest. This represents the tire’s ability to stop on wet pavement. Temperature grades – from A to C – represent the tire’s resistance to the generation of heat. (Don’t confuse these ratings with bra cup sizes, which have nothing to do with survivalism.)
- Tires also need to be properly inflated. Tire inflation is measured according to pounds per square inch, or PSI, and is directly related to the tire’s diameter. Tires of 25” to 30” in diameter should have PSI of 32. Those with worn tread are more likely to be seriously underinflated. Underinflated tires cost you gas mileage, since they make the engine work harder. They can also be a safety hazard. If you have to evacuate your home during the apocalypse, or if you’ll be on the road anyway, the last thing you want is a blowout along the barren wasteland. That makes you vulnerable to attacks from zombies, wild cats and any hip-hop stars that might still be around.
- You also need to have at least one spare tire. The spare shouldn’t be one of those pathetic donut types. That’s so 20th century. A spare should be a full-size tire. The same standards for the regular tires apply to the spare.
There’s no getting around good tire maintenance. Being a responsible vehicle owner is like being a responsible gun owner. You don’t want to be careless, or someone could get hurt. And, in the immediate aftermath of the upheaval, there will be plenty of chances for people to get hurt. You just don’t want to be on the receiving end of it!
Filed under Mayan Calendar Countdown
