My daughters wedding speech

Posting this for a buddy of mine whom shall remain nameless. He kept asking me to send him the speech I gave at my daughters wedding and I ran across it this morning while looking for something else. Here it is, short and sweet:

Michael, I’m going to give you a little different advice from what you may have heard before.  In fact this will be the exact opposite of what you usually hear. Its not politically correct, its just plain correct.

Shelbie, your wife, wants you to lead.

She wants you to be strong and to make decisions.

She wants you to have a plan.

She wants you to be the rock in your marriage.

She wants to be at your side and to know that you’re always looking out for the best interest of the two of you, even if what you’re doing upsets her at the time.

If you’re planning a night out, she doesn’t want to always be asked “what do you want to do?”.

She wants you to take charge and make a decision.

Because when you lead, she feels safe.

And when she feels safe and she feels cared for, she feels like the woman she’s always wanted to be.

Ok that’s it! I think it’s a good reminder for all married men.

Go Vote

I stole this from somewhere but I like it. Vote Republican.

We Right-thinking people have tried dignity. There could not have been a man of more quiet dignity than George W. Bush as he suffered the outrageous lies and politically motivated hatreds that undermined his presidency. We tried statesmanship. Could there be another human being on this earth who so desperately prized “collegiality” as John McCain? We tried propriety – has there been a nicer human being ever than Mitt Romney? And the results were always the same.

This is because, while we were playing by the rules of dignity, collegiality and propriety, the Left has been, for the past 60 years, engaged in a knife fight where the only rules are those of Saul Alinsky and the Chicago mob.

I don’t find anything “dignified,” “collegial” or “proper” about Barack Obama’s lying about what went down on the streets of Ferguson in order to ramp up racial hatreds because racial hatreds serve the Democratic Party. I don’t see anything “dignified” in lying about the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi and imprisoning an innocent filmmaker to cover your tracks. I don’t see anything “statesman-like” in weaponizing the IRS to be used to destroy your political opponents and any dissent. Yes, Obama was “articulate” and “polished” but in no way was he in the least bit “dignified,” “collegial” or “proper.”

The Left has been engaged in a war against America since the rise of the Children of the ‘60s. To them, it has been an all-out war where nothing is held sacred and nothing is seen as beyond the pale. It has been a war they’ve fought with violence, the threat of violence, demagoguery and lies from day one – the violent take-over of the universities – till today.

The problem is that, through these years, the Left has been the only side fighting this war. While the Left has been taking a knife to anyone who stands in their way, the Right has continued to act with dignity, collegiality and propriety.

With Donald Trump, this all has come to an end. Donald Trump is America’s first wartime president in the Culture War.

During wartime, things like “dignity” and “collegiality” simply aren’t the most essential qualities one looks for in their warriors. Ulysses Grant was a drunk whose behavior in peacetime might well have seen him drummed out of the Army for conduct unbecoming. Had Abraham Lincoln applied the peacetime rules of propriety and booted Grant, the Democrats might well still be holding their slaves today. Lincoln rightly recognized that, “I cannot spare this man. He fights.”

General George Patton was a vulgar-talking, son-of-a-bitch. In peacetime, this might have seen him stripped of rank. But, had Franklin Roosevelt applied the normal rules of decorum, then Hitler and the Socialists would barely be five decades into their thousand-year Reich.

Trump is fighting. And what’s particularly delicious is that, like Patton standing over the battlefield as his tanks obliterated Rommel’s, he’s shouting, “You magnificent bastards, I read your book!” That is just the icing on the cake, but it’s wonderful to see that not only is Trump fighting, he’s defeating the Left using their own tactics.

That book is Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals – a book so essential to the Liberals’ war against America that it is and was the playbook for the entire Obama administration and the subject of Hillary Clinton’s senior thesis. It is a book of such pure evil, that, just as the rest of us would dedicate our book to those we most love or those to whom we are most indebted, Alinsky dedicated his book to Lucifer.

Trump’s tweets may seem rash and unconsidered but, in reality, he is doing exactly what Alinsky suggested his followers do.

First, instead of going after “the fake media” – and they are so fake that they have literally gotten every single significant story of the past 60 years not just wrong, but diametrically opposed to the truth, from the Tet Offensive to Benghazi, to what really happened on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri – Trump isolated CNN. He made it personal. Then, just as Alinsky suggests, he employs ridicule which Alinsky described as “the most powerful weapon of all.”

Everyone gets that it’s not just CNN – in fact, in a world where Al Sharpton and Rachel Maddow, Paul Krugman and Nicholas Kristof are people of influence and whose “reporting” is in no way significantly different than CNN’s – CNN is just a piker.

Most importantly, Trump’s tweets have put CNN in an untenable and unwinnable position. With Trump’s ability to go around them, they cannot simply stand pat. They need to respond. This leaves them with only two choices.

They can either “go high” (as Hillary would disingenuously declare of herself and the fake news would disingenuously report as the truth) and begin to honestly and accurately report the news or they can double-down on their usual tactics and hope to defeat Trump with twice their usual hysteria and demagoguery.

The problem for CNN (et al.) with the former is that, if they were to start honestly reporting the news, that would be the end of the Democratic Party they serve. It is nothing but the incessant use of fake news (read: propaganda) that keeps the Left alive.

Imagine, for example, if CNN had honestly and accurately reported then-candidate Barack Obama’s close ties to foreign terrorists (Rashid Khalidi), domestic terrorists (William Ayers), the mafia (Tony Rezko) or the true evils of his spiritual mentor, Jeremiah Wright’s, church

Imagine if they had honestly and accurately conveyed the evils of the Obama administration’s weaponizing of the IRS to be used against their political opponents or his running of guns to the Mexican cartels or the truth about the murder of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and the Obama administration’s cover-up.

This makes “going high” a non-starter for CNN. This leaves them no other option but to ratchet up the fake news, conjuring up the next “nothing burger” and devoting 24 hours a day to hysterical rants about how it’s “worse than Nixon.”

This, obviously, is what CNN has chosen to do. The problem is that, as they become more and more hysterical, they become more and more obvious. Each new effort at even faker news than before and faker “outrage” only makes that much more clear to any objective observer that Trump is and always has been right about the fake news media.

And, by causing their hysteria, Trump has forced them into numerous, highly embarrassing and discrediting mistakes. Thus, in their desperation, they have lowered their standards even further and run with articles so clearly fake that, even with the liberal (lower case “l”) libel laws protecting the media, they’ve had to wholly retract and erase their stories repeatedly.

Their flailing at Trump has even seen them cross the line into criminality, with CNN using their vast corporate fortune to hunt down a private citizen for having made fun of them in an Internet meme. This threat to “dox” – release of personal information to encourage co-ideologists to visit violence upon him and his family — a political satirist was chilling in that it clearly wasn’t meant just for him. If it were, there would have been no reason for CNN to have made their “deal” with him public.

Instead, CNN – playing by “Chicago Rules” – was sending a message to any and all: dissent will not be tolerated.

This heavy-handed and hysterical response to a joke on the Internet has backfired on CNN, giving rise to only more righteous ridicule.
So, to my friends on the Left – and the #NeverTrumpers as well — do I wish we lived in a time when our president could be “collegial” and “dignified” and “proper”? Of course I do. These aren’t those times. This is war. And it’s a war that the Left has been fighting without opposition for the past 50 years.

So, say anything you want about this president – I get it, he can be vulgar, he can be crude, he can be undignified at times. I don’t care. I can’t spare this man. He fights.

Tank gets bitten

Early Saturday morning October 27th, Linda let Tank and Bella out into the backyard as normal for their morning duties. There was no fuss or noise but Linda noticed that Tank had two blood spots on his nose when he came back into the house. She went outside and heard the snake and came and got me. Here we go again!

We actually have taken preventative measures and this is the first time a snake has gotten into the inner sanctum of our back yard. We have a mesh on the lower parts of the fence and deploy Snake Away pellets yearly. This has worked well, until now.

It was about 5:45am. I tend to lean towards a shotgun but Linda reminded me it WAS a bit early for that amount of noise and asked did I REALLY want to make that loud of a bang. She is smart. Shovel it is.

Here is the result:

Tank was a trooper, he didn’t make a fuss or really act differently but we still rushed him to the Emergency Vet Hospital so they could treat him. If you look at his nose you can see the rattler bit him at a 90 degree angle. You can also see the swelling starting in these pictures. Poor dude!

The question is always “was it a wet or a dry bite?”. Snakes usually won’t use their venom for a wet bite unless they can eat the pray. Obviously this snake was not going to eat Tank, but the blood work showed damaged red blood cells so there was some venom used.

They gave him antivenin (yes, thats spelled correctly, don’t ask me why but it is) and he stayed overnight for monitoring. We picked him up the next day. Bella was not the same without him around (she kept looking for him).

We learned later that Tank was the first of TEN snake bites that day. We believe its because its getting colder and the rattlers are looking for places to bed down for the winter.

I am sure there are those of you who are angry that I killed the snake. I bet I know who you are. Tough. There are plenty of them and they are not protected, its our land, our dog, our choice.

We decided to keep the skin and display it some way. Here is a look at how to skin a snake (there is more than one way).

Elk Hunt Recap

It’s great to be home! It was my first large animal hunting trip and I knew I would learn a lot. It’s the amazing experiences and company that I will remember! I now also have a lot of things to do…

Mike and Tim were great. I appreciate you guys not treating me like the Elk Noob that I was!

Mike
Tim

Even though we did not return with an Elk, we saw many bulls. I have GPS coordinates on a few! My iPhone did fail me however in unlocking fast enough. The three of us had spread out and were walking up a hill with the wind in our face, it was blowing pretty good. As I topped the hill there was a large juniper tree that provided some shade and I paused for a moment to listen. As I quietly went around the juniper and looked forward 15 yards in front of me I saw a giant bull elk looking to the side. It was a 6 or 7. He was sitting under a juniper tree that he had cleared out. It looked like he was sitting on a throne.

The picture, had I been able to take it, would have won some awards! I slowly and deliberately reached down for my iPhone X and tried to get it to unlock. As I did this the bull turned and we locked eyes for what seemed an eternity. I doubt that he was as impressed by my countenance as I was by his.

Had he decided to charge there would have been nothing I could do. Instead however he quickly got up and bolted away. I radioed Tim as he was running in Tim’s direction. Tim confirmed that he had eyes on the bull and he was quickly leaving the area.

I stood there stunned for a bit but stayed quiet as I was hoping the bull had some of his female friends around whom we had been looking for. I called a couple of times and received another angry reply from what was either a another elk or the bull who had returned. His call rang loudly in my ears and is definitely different than the synthetic calls elk calls that we were using – it contained irregularities and the sound of spit and fury. It’s definitely an experience I won’t forget!

Noob Elk Hunter

We walked at least 5 miles a day looking for the antler-less Elk for which we had tags. We saw a lot of mule deer, javalina, coyote and cattle, lots of cattle. Since we were hunting on and extremely large and extremely active cattle ranch, they were everywhere.

The airstream performed very well. There are however a couple of items that will need to be addressed. We need some way to better monitor the level of propane when we are dry camping and a duel fuel generator with remote start would be very nice. I was very jealous of Mike and Tim and their rented toy hauler as it had the capability to remote start their Onan generator. I however had to get up in 30° weather, go outside and try to pull start convince my Chinese construction generator to start. It did however perform the function and I would’ve been worse off without it.

I will also be addressing some issues with weight distribution and towing, as we have a bit of a sag that has developed since my last suspension change on the F250.

On the very last evening of our hunt we were sitting on a watering hole called “Little Bud” and Mike and I were within close proximity. As it got closer to evening and we had no activity Mike decided to start calling for the elk. He did so without letting me know in advance and scared the living crap out of me by. He did it on purpose you can tell by the funny look on his face. I have not forgotten that and a few other “bumps”. Payback will be planned and fun!

In the middle of the hunt, on the weekend, the families came up to visit. Linda and our three puppies, Stephanie (Mikes bride), Sarah and Lauren (their daughters) and Shelbie and Michael all came up and spent a couple of days with us. We even celebrated Stephanie’s 50th birthday! Great times had by all!

Here are some other pics. I may add commentary to these later.

Waiting…
Hunting is very serious business….
Mid Day nap time
Mike’s shed
Indecision
Puppies at rest
Stevenson Tent
Yum
More yum
Well it WAS full…
Best. Steak. Ever.
Mike and Stephanie

Elk Hunt – Day 1 & 2

Scouting both days thus far – no elk in Arizona Unit 10. Lots of cattle and javalina and old elk scat. Plan to keep looking – opening day is tomorrow.

Great food!

2018 Elk Season – Preparation

I am going Elk hunting for the first time this year! A lot of preparation has gone into this trip with much help from family and friends! We will be hunting Area 10 in the White Mountains of Arizona for two weeks!

Thanks to Mike for all of the shooting instruction, a 30-06 is a little different than a 12 gauge shotgun! “Control your breathing!”. Can’t wait to experience this with you and the family! No mud this time…

Thanks to Corbett for geeking out with me on the various rounds and guns there are and for helping me acquire a very nice scope and laser range finder! A true friend indeed!

Thanks to the IBMers that are backing me up while I am out. I learned a long time ago that if you don’t take the vacation you earn you will burn out. Thanks for the help team IBM!

One of many steps is prepping the Airstream which will be home for two weeks. Here is a video of the removal from the RV Garage:

Newmann Expedition – Home!

So very good to be stateside and home. Feels strange not to wake up and jump into a vehicle, purchase fuel and get moving. Feels weird to be “home” but I am certainly glad I am.

It was an experience I shall never forget. Not much more can be said.

Perspective is amazing!

Now back to work….

NE Day 13 – Last Day!

I believe there is a specific state of sanguine reserved for the last of anything. A relationship, a life, a road trip or an expedition. The trick becomes capturing it in long term memories, to be able to recall the ghost in the machine later.

The GWagon now is a name, “BajaG”, I have made a new friend and learned new things about an old one.

We had no connectivity of any kind last night in Catavinia. It’s a hotel built for the President of Mexico in 1973 and is a gorgeous place.

Plan for today is to get from Catavinia to San Diego airport. A long drive but doable.

We are at Mama Espinosa’s which is a famous Baja stop, Luis loved the food! It was very good!

Fueled up and on the way

The Pacific

Can you tell I am not driving?

This shows the scale and is very close to our actual route…

Delivered!!