Harley Riders...

...ain't too very smart.

(h/t to Occasional Reader Deb for this and other images)

Ramirez Does GOML and Radars

From the Usual Source...

Yup.

―:☺:―

A blast from the past from the Usual USAF Source:

Igloo Upgrade: The Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin $46.8 million in contract options to upgrade its Atmospheric Warning System radars throughout the US and Canada. The contract covers initial planning and design work to modernize 29 AN/FPS-117 long-range surveillance radars, which were initially built by Lockheed in the 1980s under the Seek Igloo North Warning program, according to a company release. It includes 15 radars in Alaska, 11 in Canada, as well as individual sites in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Utah. The solid-state L-band radar is capable of continuously covering airspace out to 250 miles using unmanned operations that are reliable even in harsh Arctic climates. Lockheed expects to be awarded follow-on contract options to update the radar's signal and data processing, extending the network life-span through 2025, states the release. The company already has completed similar work at sites in the UK, Germany, Romania, and Kuwait.

That would be a COLD blast from the past.   A lot o' you Gentle Readers know that I spent 16 years in the long-range air defense radar bid'niz, with a couple o' tours off for good behavior which I spent on the periphery o' the Once and Current Evil Empire.  Said tours weren't much of an improvement, actually, when it came to geographic locations, but there were other benefits.

I didn't much like the radar biz, mainly coz it ain't nice living on top of mountains or in close proximity to same, USUALLY out in the boonies somewhere... but not always: there were USAF radar sites in Palos Verdes in El-Eh, Mt. Tamalpais in SFO, and Montauk Point on Long Island, just to name three desirable sites (at which I never served).  So it pleases me to read the current radars use "unmanned operations," which I take to mean minimally attended.  There really isn't such a thing as unmanned ops; maintenance must be performed on a regular basis.  That maintenance is better performed by contractors than Blue Suiters, sez I, coz I know what it means to do that sorta thang.  In environments like this:

I spent one year, three days, eight hours and ten minutes there.  Not that I was counting.

From the In-Box

An Occasional Correspondent sends along the following...

'I haven't left my house in days.
I watch the news channels incessantly.
All the news stories are about the election;
All the commercials are for Viagra and Cialis.
Election  -  erection  -  election  - erection
- - - either way we're getting fucked!' 
-- Bette Midler.

You GO, Bette!

I haven't left the house in hours but I'm getting ready to motor over to The Big(ger) City™ to give The Green Hornet a bath and see if the Clovis MVD is more user-friendly than their P-Ville counterpart.  We've assembled a few pieces of paper with our Social Security number emblazoned prominently thereupon (plus other required pieces of Very Important Paper) and we shall attempt to do what must be done without an actual Social Security card... for the fun that should be in it and to satisfy our misguided need to tilt at windmills.  If this second effort fails I'll admit defeat and go from the MVD to the Social Security office to get the requisite letter.  But until that time it'll be "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more..."

Update, 1430 hrs:  Success!

Well, sorta.  The Green Hornet is registered and titled in New Mexico but I still don't have a New Mexico driver's license, seein' as how I failed the inter-agency check.  It further seems like I owe the state of New Yawk 25 Yankee Dollars for failing to return the NY license plates on ECMdP when I registered her in Texas back in 1999.  And New Yawk will NOT be denied what she is owed.  It only took me 24 minutes and 16 seconds of working through IVR Hell to reach a person who (a) knew what the problem was (all I got from the NM MVD was "call this number, you failed.") and (b) gave me explicit instructions on where to go and how to rectify the problem.  Oh, and give 'em 48 to 72 hours after I pay the fine to fix all the records.

Oh and BTW... I got all this done at the P-Ville MVD.  The lady there was very nice and professional after she consulted Higher Headquarters to find out that, yes, a USAF ID and a Medicare card would suffice for proof of Social Security.

Yays!  We WIN!  For once.  Sorta.

Cheesy Videos XXIII

It's been a while since we got the Mino HD out and recorded a Cheesy Video for your entertainment and/or enlightenment, Gentle Reader.  But!  Wait no more!  Here it is... new and mebbe improved!

Or mebbe not so improved.  We're still All Cheesy, all the time.  Watch in HD if'n ya have the bandwidth.

So now it'll be football until around 1700 hrs (with the teevee's volume turned up an extra six clicks to overcome the wind noise), at which time we'll turn to Center Ice to see if the Woeful Wings can snap their SIX GAME LOSING STREAK.  Aiiieee.

False Start

So... I got off the dime today and went down to the DMV to get my new driver's license, register my vehicles, yadda, yadda.  But I should use the proper term, since it's called the MVD in New Mexico.  That ain't irony; it's appropriate.  The story...

In order to get my driver's license/new registration(s) I need (a) my current license (check), (b) two pieces of paper to prove residence (semi-check: I had one on my person), and (c) an actual Social Security card (no check: I haven't had an actual Social Security card since sumthin' like for-fuckin'-ever).  I asked if my USAF ID card would do, since my Social Security number is my serial number and the number is right there on that official lil blue United States gub'mint document and the answer was "no," I must have an actual Social Security card OR an application for a replacement card... validated by the local Social Security office, which is in The Big(ger) City™.  So we must drive over to Clovis and apply for a new card.  But not today.

I also found out that to get NM titles for my vehicles I have to drive said vehicles to the MVD for a VIN validation.  That's no problem for The Green Hornet (obviously) but I'll have to do a shuttle operation to fetch El Casa Móvil de Pennington to the MVD for its inspection.  I do believe we'll register and title TGH next week, but ECMdP will wait until her Tejas plates expire next February, if she's not sold by then.

Fucking bureaucracy.  I hate, hate, HATE it.

Beer me! 

It Turns Out the Answer ISN'T 42...

... it's 50.  50 grams.  If it had been up to me I'd have left the weight of the inter-tubes at 42.  Just for the poetry that's in it, yanno?

Too geeky?  You prolly don't watch Nova either, do ya?

Unclear On the Concept, In Two Parts

That would be me, for item Numbah One.  Which, specifically, involves my defective Kindle I wrote about here.  I mentioned that Amazon was MOST responsive to my complaint and had put a replacement Kindle in the mail (well, UPS... mo betta) on the very same day I informed them of my issue.  I received the replacement in two days time, fired it up, transferred my content, and was Good To Go.  Oh, and I mailed the broken Kindle back to Amazon, too.

I was under the impression that my replacement Kindle was a loaner until such time as my device was (a) repaired and (b) returned to me.  Not true, that.  I just got off the phone with Amazon and was informed that my new Kindle is mine to keep... we're done now that I returned the broken Kindle.

How about that?  Ya just GOTTA love service like that.

Unclear On the Concept, Part Two, involves the City of Portales, specifically the city's water department.  I'll make this as quick as possible: I received my first water bill day before yesterday and was literally shocked at the amount: 121 Yankee Dollars, 75 of which was for water and the rest for garbage collection, sewer, and various service fees and taxes.  "This CAN'T be right" thinks I, so I hie myself off to City Hall and protest mightily.  The very nice lady (no sarcasm intended, she was very NICE) agreed the water charge seemed excessive for a guy who lives alone and filed a trouble ticket with the Public Works people, instructing me to phone back the next day to see about the outcome.  So, I called back yesterday and was informed there are no leaks in my water line but my meter had been misread and the revised bill was ONLY $108 (and change).  Happy now?

Well, no.

I called my landlord, explained the situation and inquired if the landscaping watering system might be hooked up to my meter, perhaps?  Amanda, the (once again) very nice lady at Homespot Properties said she didn't think so but she would look into the situation.  Further investigation on Amanda's part reveals the landscaping water meter is reading zero at this point in time, which kinda-sorta indicates things ain't exactly right.  I learned this when Amanda rang me back yesterday, she further informed me that there would be a four-way discussion today between the contractors who built the apartments, the landscapers, the city, and Homespot.  Further information should be forthcoming this afternoon.

So my water bill hangs in the balance... and I don't have any ideer how much I actually owe the city.  Just for comparison's sake, my neighbor's bill was around 40 Yankee Dollars, and there are three people living in HER apartment... herself, her roomie, and her baby girl.  You just know two wimmen and a baby consume more water than an old geezer, that much should be indisputable.  Sumthin' ain't right here.

Update, 1500 hrs:  Fixd, bill paid.  It turns out the landscaping contractors broke a water line during construction and the resulting spill was billed to me.  Homespot and I are splitting the difference; my bill is now $53.98 instead of $108.00.  I think that's still a bit high but I can live with it.  BIG kudos and thanks to Amanda at Homespot for running this issue to ground.  Quickly, too.  I think I'm gonna like livin' here.