A 99 year old man visiting his wife at the convalescent hospital across the street confused the gas pedal for the brake as he was backing out of a parking spot. He rocketed across the street, taking out a fire hydrant, hit the next door neighbor’s SUV pushing it into the other SUV parked in front of it, took out a small citrus tree, then our common fence. The rock you see is from my yard, and slowed the car enough to prevent serious damage to the house. The gentleman was not injured, and was able to wait for his son to come pick him up. Fall, 2007.
A Blast From The Past: Fall 2007
March 6, 2011
commentary, Personal, Pictures a car crashed into my house, elderly driver, vehicle vs house Leave a comment
Sailor punished for accidental sleepover (via Queer Landia)
March 5, 2011
commentary, Gay, News bryan-mcgee, Gay, leadership, LGBT, naval-nuclear-power-training-command, navy, petty-officer, south-carolina, stephen-jones, united-states Leave a comment
The military is making progress, but there are still plenty of bigots and homophobes in the ranks. We can only hope that some higher-up will put a stop to this eventually. It certainly does not reflect well on the Navy.
via Queer Landia
Huckabee fuels ‘Kenya’ lies
March 1, 2011
commentary, News 9th commandment, birther, Kenya, Mike Huckabee, President Obama, thou shalt not lie Leave a comment
Mike Huckabee
“Thou Shalt Not Lie”
Exodus 20:16 “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” KJV
Former Arkansas Governor, Southern Baptist minister, and potential 2012 Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee recently fueled the “birther” lies that President Obama was not born in the United States, and is ineligible to be President. In an interview with New York radio station WOR, Huckabee said “One thing that I do know is his having grown up in Kenya, his view of the Brits, for example, (is) very different than the average American,” pointing to Obama’s decision in 2009 to return a bust of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill. He failed to note that the bust was only on loan to the United States, sent to former President Bush by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair after the 9/11 attacks, and was replaced by President Obama with one of Abraham Lincoln.
Barack Obama did not visit Kenya until he was 26 years old, and only visited his sister there for one month.
Mother Nature Attempts Revenge for Dandelion Massacre
February 28, 2011
commentary, Humor gravity, homocide, ladder, mother nature, rain gutter Leave a comment
Scene of the attempted homocide.
Visalia, CA – Mother Nature, in a blatant act of revenge, attempted to commit homocide* this afternoon. Using one of the most pervasive tools at her disposal, gravity, the suspect, generally considered a loving, benign caretaker of all things natural, tried to revenge herself for the recent actions of a local resident, Jim Reeves, 53.
On March 19, 2010, this website published an expose, written by Reeves, about Mother Nature, revealing a heretofore secret about the favoritism shown by her towards one particular member of her menagerie.
Yes, the dandelion. That expose, and recent attempts by the victim to remove them from his front yard, resulted in today’s attempt at homocide*. While the intended victim was on a ladder cleaning debris from rain gutters, Mother Nature increased friction between the ladder steps and his boots, and caused a sudden surge in the gravity field just beneath him. While the attempt caught the intended victim off guard, a quick and graceful (well, not graceful, but let’s not argue with success) cat-like mid-air twist resulted in a safe landing feet first on the sidewalk. The attack was thwarted by the quick reactions and general he-man-ness of the modest Visalia resident. “She may try again,” said Reeves, “but she’ll have to do better than that. I may be getting older, but I’m not an old man just yet! I suspect she’ll lay low for a while, but if I know her, she’ll try again. ”
*yes, we know that’s not the correct spelling of homicide. Reeves’ insisted on this spelling. He’s also aware what speaking in the third person means.
Republicans Are Insane
February 27, 2011
commentary, News Bobby Franklin, Georgia, HB 1, Republican insanity 1 Comment
The place: Georgia (the State, not the European country)
The evidence: HB 1
The author: Rep Bobby Franklin (R)
What he’s done: has introduced a 10-page bill that would criminalize miscarriages and make abortion in Georgia completely illegal. Both miscarriages and abortions would be potentially punishable by death: any “prenatal murder” in the words of the bill, including “human involvement” in a miscarriage, would be a felony and carry a penalty of life in prison or death.
The result: Under Rep. Franklin’s bill, HB 1, women who miscarry could become felons if they cannot prove that there was “no human involvement whatsoever in the causation” of their miscarriage.
See the Mother Jones article, here.
First it was redefining rape. Then changing the designation of domestic-abuse victims to “accusers”. Now if you can’t prove your miscarriage was natural, they want to charge you with murder.
Insane. Completely, totally, over-the-edge, insane. Anyone who can in good conscious be a Republican must simply not understand what their party stands for these days. The elephant has lost it’s mind.
When I Should Have Known
February 24, 2011
commentary, Gay, Personal atheist, being out, coming out, Gay, gays in visalia, Jim Reeves 3 Comments
That’s me, back in 1969 or so. Twelve years old. One important thing in my life happened right about then, and a second important thing didn’t. I wrote about the first thing in a blog posted to Tulare County Atheists some time ago. This blog is about the second thing, the one that didn’t happen. At least not for another 25 years.
I had a “girlfriend” when I was 5 years old. We attended the same kindergarten class in Tacoma. I remember calling her my girlfriend, and I think she called me her boyfriend, but I’m not sure either of us really thought much of the designation. For me, it might have been more something my father suggested. She and I only interacted in school, since we didn’t live close to each other. We didn’t really play that much together, and other than the status of “girlfriend”, I really don’t recall much about her. I think her name was the same as my sister’s, Sherry, but I could be mis-remembering that. We moved after the end of the school year, and I never saw her again. I don’t recall being upset about that. Maybe that was the first clue?
That was it for girlfriends up until my senior year in high school. Second clue? Perhaps.
I should have figured out the second thing right about the same time I figured out the first. But there was a big difference between being OK about being an atheist, and being OK about being gay.
Vacation Video Blog
February 23, 2011
commentary, Personal, video Jim Reeves, kc6yru, vacation blog, visalia 1 Comment
Time Warp! July, 1983
February 22, 2011
commentary, geek, Humor, Personal Jim Reeves, oldies, time warp Leave a comment
25 years old. Before the Internet. Before dispatching. Before Ham Radio-ing. Still in denial, and barely aware of it. Still slinging chicken and burgers. (Same month as Best CheeseBurger in town!) Noticing several things about this picture: Still sleeping on the same waterbed! Still have the CB radio (don’t use it). Still have the table the CB and the shortwave are sitting on. Still have the stereo that’s barely visible (do use it), although that turntable died years ago. Still have the picture that’s on the wall behind me (it’s of the Space Shuttle on the launch pad). The hair on my chest is now thicker than the hair on my head (and the chest hair is not all that much thicker today than then!). I have gained a few pounds in the interim. But only a few. I think that robe may be in the back of my closet somewhere.
Photo Credit: Mom!
Slightly freaky afterthought…
It’s been longer since that picture was taken, than from my birth to that day!
That Isn’t Supposed To Happen
February 20, 2011
commentary, geek, Personal AT&T Universal Card, online bill paying, SCE 1 Comment
The Southern California Edison and AT&T Universal Card websites are supposed to be UP when I want to give them money! Carmax was ready to take my money, but I’d already paid them this month, so that was nice. Even my cranky bank’s site was up and available. Now I have to wait until tomorrow. They really shouldn’t do that, I might not be in the mood to pay them tomorrow!
Sheese!
UPDATE!: More
JimmieJoe / KC6YRU 
They Came From Outer Space
March 7, 2011
Jim Reeves commentary, geek, Personal Discovery, ISS, NASA, Space Station, transit, visalia Leave a comment
I didn’t take this picture. It’s not of the sight from tonight. It gives only an idea of what I saw streaking across the sky above my home. Two points of light (streaks here due to shutter timing) floating silently overhead. The Space Shuttle Discovery, followed by the International Space Station.
I subscribe to a service that will send me a message by Twitter about Space Station transits viewable from my home. Today’s message told me a “very bright” ISS would be visible. I set the alarm on my iPhone. They neglected to mention that it would be a double whammy on this pass!
It was, literally, a once-in-a-lifetime event. I can’t begin to describe how I felt as I saw it.
More
Share this: