Author Archives: bfrhodes99

Memphis Drivers and Politics

Posted in Elections, Fear, Gambling, law enforcement, Memphis Drivers, Respect, Uncategorized by

If anyone moving into the Desoto County area were to ask me for advice, I’d tell them to watch out for Memphis drivers. You can tell them for the blue auto plates. They are apt to change lanes without warning. If they decide to, they will bypass you in the right lane and jump in front of you, even if there is no room. I am beginning to think it is a sport with them.
Another one of there tricks is to turn in front of you from a parking lot and then decide to do 10-15 miles under the speed limit. Then, of course, when you try to go around them, they go up to 5 to 10 miles over the limit.
The thing that brought this to mind tonight is that one of them just almost customized my almost new car. I was crossing the I-55 bridge going west. One of them came off the offramp and crossed three lanes. Oh he was signalling. It appeared he considered it gave him the right-of-way. I had to really hit the brakes in a hurry to keep from hitting him. Then, of all things, he decided to take his time.
That I-55 and 302 interchange has become somewhat dangerous. I would guess, most likely that guy was headed south to Tunica to give away some money. Makes me ever more happy that we shot down the gambling back a few decades. Invariably, it would have drawn a few more of the likes of this guy.
I mean, I don’t mind those from Memphis coming down here and spending there money. I just wish they would leave their driving habits north of the state line. We don’t need drivng like that anywhere, certainly not here!
There is but one more thing I need to say regarding this. Unfourtunately, many of those Memphis drivers are moving down here south of the state line. I guess, even they don’t like it so much up thre. I mean, it is good in a way. It does drive the value of my little house up. The problem is that they bring their driving habits with them and their politics. They are ruining things for those of us who have moved here to get away from the likes of them.
I mean, we don’t need the democrats ruining things down here the way they ruined things up there. We really don’t need the idea of boys going into girls restrooms or competing in girl’s sports. If they want to live in that kind of environment, they need to turn right back around and go back where they came from, where they will fit right in, where they can play bumper cars like the rest of them.

I’m adding this as an afterthought. I sure wished that before a Memphis driver could get a Mississippi license, they would be required to take a course on safe driving and pass a test to prove they learned it. Maybe it would decrease the movement south, but it would definitely make the roads safer.

Also, I’m beginning to think we need a requirement for forward view cameras on all cars. One of the reasons people change lanes unsafely is because they know if they are rear-ended, the other driver will be assumed to be the one at fault. Cameras would change that. Also, the retrofit cameras are not that expensive. It would save a lot of money in the courts. I mean, who is going to try to convince a jury that they didn’t run the red light when it is on video.

I Am a Tad Bit Smarter Today

Posted in Uncategorized by

I noticed I had a reader from the country of Benin. I did not know there was a country of Benin. I do now. I spent about an hour looking at the country on the internet. Thank you so much for your visit. I am glad I now know a little about your country.

For those like me who did not know about Benin, it is right next to Nigeria.

Piloting

Posted in Crazy Nuts by

I guess I was about 12 when my brother suggested that I might want to become a professional pilot. Sorry. Never grabbed me. Love to watch planes fly, especially the fast ones. Just never had any interest in actually flying for a living, though I have a lot of respect for those who do. Even back then, I knew it took a special skill and a real attention to detail. I have heard those who say that the small aircraft are not that much more difficult than driving a car. Even back then, I knew that wasn’t true. Now even more so.
When I was in the marines, my job was maintenance on navigation and radios. I learned a lot from that job. Having to work on the navigation equipment required me to learn how they work and a little on how to use them. Later, I purchased a MS flight simulator. Again I learned quite a bit about flying. I watched by simulation how to use the navigation equipment and got good at it.
As a side note, I got to see a lot of simulated scenery. It was the one thing that would encourage me to try to fly. When I laid in a course from Seattle to LA one time, I was really awed. Made me wish I could make the flight for real.
I found a statement by the flight simulator remarkable. “All takeoffs are optional. All landings are mandatory.” I must admit it made me laugh. I suspect it is something that every flight student is told in one way or the other pretty much at the beginning.
It is an important point. I suspect any person can be quickly taught how to fly a plane straight and level. A little more training and a person might even be able to pilot a plane from one place to another. In those regards it probably isn’t that much more difficult than a car.
However, before a person can really be considered a pilot, he must be able to get a plane into the air and land it successful. And, again, all landings are mandatory. Eventually, the plane will run out of gas and it will have to come down, one way or the other.
Another thing suggested by the flight simulator is that, when landing, every foot of runway behind you will do you no good. There is an ideal touchdown point. A good pilot will put the plane down close to that point. It will give him plenty of time to bring the plane to a speed slow enough to taxi off the runway and over to the taxi ways.
On the flight simulator, I tried landing a 747. It was fun. I walked away from every landing. However, in each case the simulated 747 was a wreck. You must understand that there are three specific things that make landing a 747 more difficult than the proverbial Cessna. That Cessna likely lands at around 70, perhaps as slow as 60 mph. 747s land at somewhere around 150, about twice as fast. It not only makes it more difficult but everything happens at least twice as fast. Those feet I spoke of earlier go by in the blink of eye.
Jet engines are much more difficult to control. When you change the throttle, it may take 5 or 6 seconds for the engine to settle at the new power. In other words, the pilot must learn to anticipate the engines. My experience with the 747 was that this was the most difficult part. As I approached, I kept having to adjust the throttle. Experienced pilots rarely need to make significant changes.
There is one more thing for sure. Piloting a 747 requires teamwork. It is why they require two citified pilots. Generally, one pilot lands the plane. The other takes care of all the other stuff so as the pilot doesn’t have to take his eyes off the effort to put the plane down safely and smoothly.
Even with two pilots, things happen fast. At the appropriate times, the flaps need to be readjusted, the landing gear needs to be lowered and fine adjustments need to be made to the power. Also adjustments must be made for wind gusts and such.
Contrary to what many think, at least during landing, the throttle controls decent. The nose pitch controls the speed. These are certainly primary controls for landings. However, the ailerons must also be used to control the direction. When wind is involved, then the ruder figures in too.
Then, at just the right time, of course, reverse thrust must be applied or the plane will go off the other end of the runway. That little Cessna doesn’t have reverse thrusters. It is another complication for the 747 pilots.
Over the years, many additions have been added for landing an aircraft. Bottom line, that pilot must be able to land the plane without them. If they fail, the pilot must still land the plane. Remember. The landing is not optional. You cannot call off the landing because some part of the plane stopped working.

As an aside, I tried many times to fly the MS helicopter. I realized quickly that those machines try to crash and it is the pilot’s job to keep them from it. I am not going to try to explain it all. I certainly don’t understand it myself.
However, many years after trying it, I ran into a former friend who was a chopper pilot in the Army and still flies them, or at least he did last time I talked to him. We talked for a while. Then I started to bring up the subject of the MS chopper and he interrupted me. “Don’t worry, I can’t fly it either.”
It told me that the MS chopper was not all that realistic if a very experienced helicopter pilot can’t fly it. Still, I imagine the real ones are very difficult. I don’t think I’m going to try it.

Air Conditioning

Posted in Uncategorized by

If there is one thing I know about air conditioning is that it will break down the first time the mercury hits 100 degrees. This is especially true for central HVAC units.

Needless to say, it’s going to take 2 days to get someone to get out and look at it.

Then again, those who have lived here long will ask, “So what else is new?”

A Name to Remember

Posted in Abuse of Power, gun control, Lawyers and Representation, Socialists by

Justin Jones, a member of the Tennessee house (district 52) was expelled for behavior and then reinstated. By chance I saw him and a Republican in a conversation on TV. I wish I could recall it verbatim but I simply did not anticipate that I would need to.
At any rate, this is something how it went. Rep. Jones insisted that we should remove guns from people, sorry, I don’t have the context. The Republican argued that in countries where there are no guns, people resort to knives, cars and steel pipes. Then he used my favorite, the first weapon used for murder was a rock. I’ve used the example many times.
As the republican continued to try to reason, Rep. Jones kept saying that we should remove the weapons from the people. I don’t specifically know if Jones actually meant it, but it seems to me he was suggesting that we should also remove knives, cars and steel pipes from the public. I don’t know about you, but that would certainly make it difficult to prepare food and eat it. Most steaks do not come pre-cut to bite sized.
Now when I heard that, it simply hit me like a brick. (which, as you know, can be used as a weapon) I figure he just really can’t be that dumb. The man did go to college. On the other hand, maybe it is his reasoning that is broke. I mean it is beyond reason and literally impossible to remove all possible weapons.
It immediately brought to mind the thing they had on TV 6 or 7 years ago where the warden of a major prison had a wall full of weapons taken from prisoners, some of which were use to kill other prisoners. If weapons cannot be kept from prisoners, how in the world can we keep them from people in a free society. I mean most anyone can go down the supermarket and buy knives. Pipes can be purchased at hardware stores, as well as rocks. On he other hand you can usually find them on the ground most anywhere.
Moreover, even if it were possible to remove all weapons, a person still has his hands. As an example, the word, karate litterally means open hand. It is well known that people holding black belts in karate can use their hands as deadly weapons. Then, of course, there is simple brute size and force…a 300 pound man. I would assume Rep. Jones would insist the man go on a diet to remove his advantage. From the looks of things, the man could certainly present a threat to Jones. It just might be a situation in which Jones might prefer to have a 9 mm; or maybe a 10.
For those who are not as large, for those who are female, the gun makes a very good equalizer. The big man might want to attack a 5 ft. woman, but not one with a gun. That would be a bad idea. If it is legal to carry a gun, then the 300 pound man must assume any woman might be armed. If it is not legal, then it becomes somewhat open season on 5 foot women.
I would suspect that Jones knows all this. I would suspect he is just playing dumb. That would mean he would have another reason to disarm the citizenry of the country. I think I have a pretty good idea what it might be.

The Minimums

Posted in Abortions, Politcal Opinion by

I didn’t really watch the debate last night. First, I don’t have cable so I couldn’t. Second, it didn’t seem I would learn anything new to me. However, I did see bits and pieces on the broadcast channels, mainly CBS.I noticed that there were some remarks about abortion. I don’t know why people are so deadest on allowing the killing of the unborn under any circumstances and, of course at taxpayers expense.Those who have been reading my posts know what I think. However, just for those who don’t know, I believe at least 4 requirements should be made, preferably at the federal level.

1. Every mother should be required to see a sonogram. They say it is a medical procedure. Well all medical procedures require informed consent. If the patient is not informed, how can she give her informed consent?

2. Doctors, nurses, and facilities should meet minimum standards to prevent complications. The pro-abortion people try to use the concept of hanger abortions to further their case. Well, let’s make sure that if it is done, it should be safe. As of now, using a hanger is legal in some states.

3. Proper followup should be required. The doctor performing the abortion should at least make a cursory examination to make sure there were no complications. Most doctors want to do followups even for simple stitches to check for proper healing and that there is no infection. Complications in abortions are far more common than with stitches.

4. For girls under 18, parent permission should be required. At the least, they should be informed. If things go sideways, the parents are going to pay for the extra medical care required, which can be very expensive. More important, they need to know to look for problems so that they can be treated right away…before they become serious, perhaps fatal.

As kind of a side note: if there are problems, the doctor should be every bit as liable as any other physician. It helps in two ways. The doctor will be more careful. Also, if the doctor caused a problem due to criminal negligence, he needs to be prosecuted.

Opposition

Posted in Abuse of Power, Biden, Communist Takover, Controllers, Uncategorized by

Isn’t it nice to live in a country where the party in power kills those in the opposing party? I understand there is at least some suspicion that Putin had the plane shot down with what he felt was his opposition. I don’t know for sure, but I certainly would not put it past him. Putin is a controller who has the desire to control. Anyone that threatens that control is in danger of losing his life, or maybe more.

Of course, we don’t do that sort of thing here, do we. Now given another couple of decades, who knows. Of course we are well on the way to incarcerating the opposition and everyone associated with him. That is not that far away from Putin, is it.

Now, Here’s a Wild Idea

Posted in Abuse of Power, Biden, President Trump by

President Trump will soon travel to Atlanta and among other things they will set bail. I have thought about that. What if he decides to not post bail. I mean, he can certainly afford it. However, I don’t believe he has to.
Just what might happen? First, I doubt that anyone made any plans for it. It would mean that they would have to put the former president in jail. With him, invariably would be some Secret Service agents, maybe 5, maybe as many as 10.
Then too, just how much would it cost the county and or state. What kind of jail cell is he going to get? For him to be safe, he needs to live, sleep, shower and eat separate than the rest of the jail population.
Do you suppose, in light of the problems, they just might tell him to go to a hotel or perhaps back to Florida. Do you suppose they migh tell him to skip the bail.
As I said, a wild thought. I would like to see what would happen if Trump even made the threat not to make bond. You think that might send them into a tizzy?
President Trump would also have another big advantage. Old Joe ran his campaign from his basement. Trump will greatly out do him. He’ll run his campaign from the depths of a jail, and in a cell. It actually could be turned into a campaign slogan.
Moreover, they will have to feed Mr. Trump, 3 meals a day. I suppose they will also have to feed the secret service agents as well. They might even have to provide some kind of an operation center to work from.
Besides all this, it just might get Old Joe’s goat. He would not like Trump upstaging him. I mean, do you have any idea how much media attention it would draw.

Relations in the Workplace

Posted in Abuse of Power, Biden, Christian values by

When I was younger, I saw no problem with workplace romances.  I mean, how many romance novels are based on secretaries marrying their bosses?  It does sound nice.  Sometimes, it actually works.

After years of looking back over things, I do have a little different perspective.  There are at least five possible problems that can surface with close relations in the workplace.  There might be more.

  1. The obvious one.  It has two edges.  A person might show favoritism to a subordinate.  I have seen this firsthand and it can get ugly.  It can become a fast morale problem.  On the other hand, to keep from showing favoritism, the person might be rougher on the favored one.  That is almost as bad.  It can hold back a person who deserves credit and advancement.
  2. While a relationship is great today, it might turn sour overnight.  It can cause a disruption and might ever bring things to a stop in the environment.  Many times, it means that one or the other; or both might have to leave.
  3. Fraternization during business can be slow progress and can be distracting, throughout the office.  Anyone who has been around office life very long knows exactly what I mean.  While the couple is supposed to be working, they just might be doing other things.
  4. It can result in love triangles.  Now really.  Is this what a manager wants in his office…outbreaks in the office of one person fighting another over the desires of the third.  This can really get bad if more than three are involved.
  5. One or the other or both might be married.  Now that’s a disaster waiting to happen.  Need I explain?

I am far from being an expert in the subject.  However, I have seen many instances of friction in the workplace without the romances.  There is competition: anger because the other guy was promoted; so and so got the weekend off and I had to work; and so on.  There is no need inviting more problems.

It is the small list of what managers have to cope with continually.  I have seen it and I’m sure anyone that has had a job for a while has seen it too.

Of course, this is something to be decided by the leadership of each business.  If the management can deal with, or if they think they must deal the problems, it is up to them.

However, it becomes an entirely different problem with the “office manager” is a captain and the commanding officer of a platoon.  Guess what, if the battle is raging and shells are landing all around, the last thing that captain is going to want to deal with is a love triangle.

It does happen.  It is the natural way of things.  You get men and women in the same fox hole and the commanding officer is going to have problems.  Worse yet, is if one of the people in the relationship is the captain.  You talk about fireworks.  You talk about moral and morale problems.  Guess what?  It is going to shred discipline.  A well oiled company can be torn asunder just almost instantly.  I mean, if you’re a corporal and you are competing with the attractive corporal who is having an affair with the captain….

It is why I don’t like women in combat.  I think most of those who have seen combat firsthand will agree with me.  However, it seems those experts, the ones who have never been shot at know better.  That is the way they are trying to run these armed forces and they are weaker because of it.  It is difficult to prove, of course because this country has not been in a really serious war in decades.  The closest thing to it was Iraq, but considering the American superiority, it can hardly be classified as a serious war.

True.  Some of our guys were killed, but compared to Iraq’s losses???  It was not much more than a training exercise, one in which we were able to test our equipment and tactics.

However, it doesn’t stop there.  What if all those in your combat company are men.  Then, right in the middle of everything, one of your men comes in and complains that the other man in his fox hole keeps hitting on him.

Guess what?  When you allow homosexuals on the font lines, you get the same problems as with women, only worse.  If I were a CO of a company, I certainly wouldn’t want those kinds of problems while I’m actually trying to fight a war.

As a S/Sgt in the Marines, I never had to deal with anything like that, thankfully.  It was really difficult enough.  Every one of the men I was in charge of wanted to be treated fairly.  Being human as they were, some wanted to be treated more fairly than others.

Thank goodness, I never had to deal with romances, triangles or homosexuals.  I think I would have asked for a demotion to private.  I’d let others have to deal with that kind of thing, thank you.

One more, important thing to remember.  When you have problems in the office, you can fire those involved.  When you are in a battle and the enemy is closing on your position, you’re stuck with what you have.  There’s no firing anyone.  Indeed, in situations like that, a leader just might be forced to use a little physical discipline to snap those soldiers into shape.  It does happen, though maybe not with the women.