Man...

Write one quick entry on how you don't feel too bad about an American soldier shooting up the Quran, and next thing you know, CNN has 8 zillion people visiting your blog.

I'm not editing or deleting any comments (other than my own, for typos), since that's not the point of the medium.

If, at some point, we want to talk about this in more depth, we can. But that's probably best saved for when I haven't been having beers at the VFW.

Oh, the shame

This sort of thing just tears me up.

No, really. I'm weeping here. Weeping.

The U.S. military on Saturday formally apologized to an Iraqi village after
a soldier admitted using the Quran -- Islam's holy book -- for target
practice.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, apologized
to the Radhwaniya tribe for the staff sergeant, who was a sniper section leader
assigned to the headquarters of the 64th Armored Regiment.

Now, really. I am fully aware of all the many reasons why this sort of behavior is bad and wrong and offensive and counterproductive and tacky and evil.

But really. It all gets back to the one thing the entire West would like the Middle East to understand - the need to chill the Hell out.

Win one, lose one

The lawn got mowed. However, it was a really nice day. A little warm, sunny... And so it didn't occur to me that running, then mowing the back, side and front yards in a tank top was maybe not a smart idea.

Seriously, sometimes it's a miracles I made it to adulthood being this slow.

The sunburn on the face and arms will fade, but the part on my shoulders and the other flesh that hasn't seen direct sunlight in months....well, I'm thinking blisters.

Avoidance

Ugh. There's our back yard. The one that, right before we took off up north, the Mister said he should maybe mow. And which I, in a hurry, said, "will be fine if I deal with it when I get back."

It looks like...well, I've seen jungles with less foliage.



I have a lawnmower and a can of gas, and just as soon as the dew burns off, it'll off with a couple of inches!

That is, if I can't think of anything at all to do that will enable me to keep procrastinating with it...

UPDATE @ 1253 -- There was no avoiding it. I tried - Jack and I even went for a three-mile run, but the persisted in...exisiting. I'm halfway though the back, and this seemed an appropriate time to stop for root beer.

Kindergarten debate

"The word...a bad word that we can't repeat on television..."

Wolf Blitzer snivels about Sen. Joe Biden's evaluation of the President's description of "some Democrats" as appeasers. Time for definition!

tr.v. ap·peased, ap·peas·ing, ap·peas·es
1. To bring peace, quiet, or calm to; soothe.
2. To satisfy or relieve: appease one's thirst.
3. To pacify or attempt to pacify (an enemy) by granting concessions, often at the expense of principle. See Synonyms at pacify.

Well, the shoe either fits, or it doesn't. But the response to the President's remarks is interesting.

If I were to refer to someone in a generally insulting manner, perhaps by using the term coward, it would seem to me there would be only a few basic options for response.

1 - punch me in the face (not really an option in modern politics)
2 - respond, "I am not a coward."
3 - publicly shriek that my accusation is somehow not appropriate, or is insufficiently high-minded

If I call someone a coward, a combination of 1 and 2 would indicate that they believe my description to be inaccurate. Number 3 does not, it would seem, dispute the accuracy of my accusation, merely that it was not nice.

I say again, I cannot stand any of these people.

well, lookee here...

I logged into the CMP E-store this morning to see...well, if anything had appeared.



So I peed myself a little, then checked out the details. It's a service grade Saginaw S' G' (Grand Rapids). No idea on shipping yet, but I'm checking. Regularly. Like every 10 minutes.

Things I have learned

1 - The jeep can go through anything. Including trees.



In fact, one can proceed directly through those trees twice. Once heading out, and once heading back.

2 - Proceeding through those trees at a high rate of speed in the pitch black will leave a mark on said jeep.



The frame damage is...not a big deal. A little paint to cover the exposed metal, and I'll write it off as a mark of character. Kinda like a good scar. The problem is not visible in the picture, because it took a little while for the crack to spread. But spread it did, and by the time we hit Texas, there was 100 mph tape on the windshield and we were cringing at every large insect we encountered.

3 - Our insurance provider claims that the wonderful glass coverage we had in Florida did not transfer to Texas. [sigh]

Out of the north

Made it home last night - I don't have anywhere to go for a while now, and I have to admit, it's a nice feeling.

We were pursuing the elusive morel mushroom in the "northern lower" of Michigan. It wasn't a particularly good year for them, but we did alright.



There are lots of things you can do with morels, but when up north, we go with the traditional fry-em-in-a-big-pan approach.



Those are accompanied by a large pan of bluegill fillets, and together they form possibly the world's perfect meal. The blackflies that occasionally end up in the pan add a little something.

I haven't made it to the spring mushroom gathering since 96 - shortly before I graduated high school and hit the road. It was good to be back.

It's been a rough few days

of chasing fungus around northern Michigan. Updates will follow later tonight or tomorrow, but suffice it to say there were blackflies, beers and yes - fungus.