So who would’ve thought that beer could sidetrack such a simple project? All we had to do was stain a deck…no problem.
My buddy John the Baptist asked me, Hippie Dave and Stinky Pete if we’d help him treat his deck in exchange for some cold brews. That sounded like a fair trade, so we all showed up at his place on Saturday ready to work.
After we sat around talking about fishing for an hour, John convinced us to pick up our brushes and get started. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sun was nearly at its peak. I was thirsty, and even though it wasn’t quite noon, I opened a beer.
“Those are for when we’re done,” John hollered from the far end of the deck.
Stinky and Dave joined me. We drank a couple, and then went back to the task at hand. It wasn’t long before our thirst got the better of us and we were back at the cooler.
We quenched and refreshed while John painted like Thomas Kinkade on amphetamines and No-Doze. The subject of fishing came up again, and Stinky started telling me about a new fly pattern he was working on – an articulated leech. I couldn’t picture how he was tying it, so he volunteered to get his vice from the truck and show me.
John was yelling something about getting back to work, and Dave wandered over and accidentally knocked over a can of stain. John gave up, grabbed a beer, and joined in Stinky’s tying lesson.
That got me to thinking.
Sometimes it’s easy to get distracted and lose sight of your mission. Take fer instance, NASA. On their website it clearly states, “NASA’s mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.”
Somewhere along the line that mission got confused. The National Space Policy of the United States of America dated June 28, 2010 is a 14 page document published by the White House. Other than in a quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower at the beginning of the report, the words “explore” or “exploration” appear 7 times.
The word “commercial”, meaning private enterprise, is in there 39 times. In fact, the policy is so heavily weighted to the private sector that it states that the government won’t develop any of its own space technology unless “there is no suitable, cost-effective U.S. commercial or, as appropriate, foreign commercial service or system that is or will be available.”
Reading the report, it seems like NASA’s new role as the pioneer in the future of space exploration is to administer contracts from private companies and to make sure that all those TV satellites orbiting around up there don’t bump into each other, blacking out this week’s shocking episode of The Bachelorette. So much for boldly going where no one has gone before.
Interestingly, the phrase “international cooperation” is in the policy 4 times. This might help explain some of the recent things said by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.
Last month, in an interview with the TV network Al Jazeera, he had this to say about President Obama’s goals for the space program, “When I became the NASA administrator – or before I became the NASA administrator – he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science…and math and engineering.”
NASA used to be about scientific discovery, bold innovation and the daring conquest of the unknown. Now its foremost purpose is to raise everybody’s self-esteem like a motivational speaker giving lectures at the Holiday Inn banquet room for $50 a ticket.
First of all, I think it’s insulting to Muslims for us to say, “Don’t feel bad. You’ve had plenty of really great scientists, and with our help and encouragement, maybe you could have a few more.”
Secondly, this isn’t pee-wee soccer where everybody’s a winner. It’s not a situation where everybody gets to play even though they have asthma, can’t take two steps without tripping over themselves, and have to wear a helmet to bed.
It’s rocket science.
Whatever happened to the idea of our country’s best and brightest achieving impossible goals with enough time left over to help Hasbro design a better Nerf Glider?
Oh, look. There’s something shiny – looks like a beer can. Wait…what was I talking about?
I don’t know, I guess I think too hard about these things.
Showing posts with label Beer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beer. Show all posts
Monday, July 12, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Opportunism Knocking
So me and Joan headed down the winding dirt road until we came across a group of cars parked on either side. I pulled off as far as I could, and we got out. I grabbed the cooler, and Joan got the chips and dip.
We walked a short way, crossed over a bridge with only a few missing planks, and arrived at a group of picnic tables. It was time for Cap’n Billy’s annual spring cookout and drunk-fest.
Each year my pal Cap’n Billy throws a party to celebrate the sun, good friends, and bad behavior. He told me that last year on the morning of the third day, he went out to his front porch and told the stragglers that they needed to find someplace else to pass out for a while.
There were hamburgers and hotdogs straight off the grill, every kind of side dish and dessert you could imagine, and plenty of cold beer. A pack of dogs patrolled around the tables, scooping up any morsels that found their way to the ground. When I set my beer down for a minute, a chocolate lab puppy rushed over and lapped it up.
As the sun dipped below the mountaintops, a campfire was lit. A late arriver walked up and shook Cap’n Billy’s hand. He grabbed a beer and started introducing himself to folks. When he got to me, he must’ve figured that he’d met most of the people there, because he stopped to have a conversation.
“I’m one of Cap’n Billy’s neighbors,” he told me. “I was drinking in a bar in Darby, and they told me I’d better go home ‘cause I can’t afford another DUI.”
“That sounds like good advice,” I said.
“But then I saw all these cars parked on the side of the road, and it looked like a party. I thought that I should check it out. It’s OK if I drink up here ‘cause the Darby Marshal don’t ever come up this way.”
“I guess the cops don’t come up here unless somebody gets shot,” I suggested.
He said, “Only if somebody calls them.”
That got me to thinking.
Folks in Western Montana don’t take kindly to the government getting involved in their affairs. They’re an independent lot, and they take care of their own business. It seems to me that maybe people in other parts of the country are starting to feel that way too.
Last week there were three Senate primary races that continued the trend of voters being fed up with incumbents in Washington. Senator Bennett of Utah and Representative Mollohan of West Virginia had failed the week before to secure a spot on the November ballot.
Usually, keeping a Senate seat is a sure thing unless the press has uncovered your extramarital affair. But things are different this year, and voters are saying they’ve had enough of the same old crap.
Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas was forced into a runoff, although polls show that neither she nor her rival will win the general election against the Republican candidate. The funny thing is if you saw any of her campaign ads, you’d swear she was an Obama-hating, anti-stimulus Republican.
In the Kentucky Republican primary, Trey Grayson, who was backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was whupped by Rand Paul who was backed by the Tea Party. Of course he’ll never win the general election as long as he keeps saying that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 went too far. By the way, Paul is the son of the ever-entertaining (former) Presidential candidate Ron Paul.
And in Pennsylvania, one of the country’s most prominent opportunists Democrat/Republican/Democrat Arlen Specter, a five term Senator, lost his primary race even though he had the “full support” of both President Obama and Vice President Biden. You might recall that Specter switched parties last year because he didn’t think he could win the Republican primary. Guess what…voters saw right through that piece of insincere baloney and decided to boot him out.
What happened last week was a good start, and hopefully more of the filth, both Republican and Democrat, will be washed from the streets of Washington this fall. The only problem is that the guys who are being elected as replacements are still politicians. They’re just younger, fresher versions of the ones we’re all sick of. Once they get to the Capitol, they’re going to open their deep pockets to the same lobbyists and special interests.
Until we, as responsible citizens, take the time to get involved and get educated, we’ll be faced with the same opportunism that we’ve grown accustomed to. In elementary school, when they teach the Pledge of Allegiance, they should also teach the words to The Who song Won’t Get Fooled Again.
I don’t know, I guess I think too hard about these things.
We walked a short way, crossed over a bridge with only a few missing planks, and arrived at a group of picnic tables. It was time for Cap’n Billy’s annual spring cookout and drunk-fest.
Each year my pal Cap’n Billy throws a party to celebrate the sun, good friends, and bad behavior. He told me that last year on the morning of the third day, he went out to his front porch and told the stragglers that they needed to find someplace else to pass out for a while.
There were hamburgers and hotdogs straight off the grill, every kind of side dish and dessert you could imagine, and plenty of cold beer. A pack of dogs patrolled around the tables, scooping up any morsels that found their way to the ground. When I set my beer down for a minute, a chocolate lab puppy rushed over and lapped it up.
As the sun dipped below the mountaintops, a campfire was lit. A late arriver walked up and shook Cap’n Billy’s hand. He grabbed a beer and started introducing himself to folks. When he got to me, he must’ve figured that he’d met most of the people there, because he stopped to have a conversation.
“I’m one of Cap’n Billy’s neighbors,” he told me. “I was drinking in a bar in Darby, and they told me I’d better go home ‘cause I can’t afford another DUI.”
“That sounds like good advice,” I said.
“But then I saw all these cars parked on the side of the road, and it looked like a party. I thought that I should check it out. It’s OK if I drink up here ‘cause the Darby Marshal don’t ever come up this way.”
“I guess the cops don’t come up here unless somebody gets shot,” I suggested.
He said, “Only if somebody calls them.”
That got me to thinking.
Folks in Western Montana don’t take kindly to the government getting involved in their affairs. They’re an independent lot, and they take care of their own business. It seems to me that maybe people in other parts of the country are starting to feel that way too.
Last week there were three Senate primary races that continued the trend of voters being fed up with incumbents in Washington. Senator Bennett of Utah and Representative Mollohan of West Virginia had failed the week before to secure a spot on the November ballot.
Usually, keeping a Senate seat is a sure thing unless the press has uncovered your extramarital affair. But things are different this year, and voters are saying they’ve had enough of the same old crap.
Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas was forced into a runoff, although polls show that neither she nor her rival will win the general election against the Republican candidate. The funny thing is if you saw any of her campaign ads, you’d swear she was an Obama-hating, anti-stimulus Republican.
In the Kentucky Republican primary, Trey Grayson, who was backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, was whupped by Rand Paul who was backed by the Tea Party. Of course he’ll never win the general election as long as he keeps saying that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 went too far. By the way, Paul is the son of the ever-entertaining (former) Presidential candidate Ron Paul.
And in Pennsylvania, one of the country’s most prominent opportunists Democrat/Republican/Democrat Arlen Specter, a five term Senator, lost his primary race even though he had the “full support” of both President Obama and Vice President Biden. You might recall that Specter switched parties last year because he didn’t think he could win the Republican primary. Guess what…voters saw right through that piece of insincere baloney and decided to boot him out.
What happened last week was a good start, and hopefully more of the filth, both Republican and Democrat, will be washed from the streets of Washington this fall. The only problem is that the guys who are being elected as replacements are still politicians. They’re just younger, fresher versions of the ones we’re all sick of. Once they get to the Capitol, they’re going to open their deep pockets to the same lobbyists and special interests.
Until we, as responsible citizens, take the time to get involved and get educated, we’ll be faced with the same opportunism that we’ve grown accustomed to. In elementary school, when they teach the Pledge of Allegiance, they should also teach the words to The Who song Won’t Get Fooled Again.
I don’t know, I guess I think too hard about these things.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
