My head is still buzzing from the road hum. I got in last night, around 2200, and almost immediately crashed.

On January 26, 2013, the world lost a saint, but one of His servants is now awaiting his reward. Paul R. “Prying1” Young, one of my first blogging friends, went home. His loving wife, Renee, was in the hospital recovering from her flu shot, so the service was postponed until yesterday.

I had arranged for an extended test drive of a 2013 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup. Nice ride, by the way. Big thanks to Ed for arranging this test drive. With the Road Rhino not quite road worthy for a trip of that duration, and the Camry needed by my wife (it is her car, and I wasn’t going to force her to drive something that I am not 100% OK with) the Ram was a welcome asset. It came equipped with just about everything – with the exception of a CD player, so Santana had to stay home. The Sirius package made up for that. No dead spots, lots of channels. Full tech package, so the phone synced up nicely and allowed hands-free communications with the parties who needed to be kept apprised. Power everything. V-8 Hemi with a *kkrrksch* 32 gallon tank. Not too bad here in Arizona, at 3.499/gallon, but when I needed to refuel in Cali, the 4.199 was a bit steep. Averaged about 18.2 for the whole trip. GPS was helpful getting to Doug‘s house, where I stayed the night Friday.

(side note here – Doug’s main ride is an older model, basic Corolla. as such, he hasn’t had the luxury – or the conditioning – of riding with a female computerized voice saying “turn left now” or “prepare to bear right in one-half mile” so [for those of you who have spoken with him] realizing that he stopped talking when the gps gal was giving directions was highly amusing. he won’t let anyone else get a word in edgewise, but he’s polite enough not to interrupt her.)

Any way – left Phoenix Friday afternoon about 1600. Arrived at Doug’s house about 2000 (gained an hour at the line) and he and I went to grab a bite at Miguel Jr’s. Good burrito. Crashed for the night, up early the next day and headed out. The service was at Jubilee Fellowship in Torrance, which is about an hour and 45 minutes from Doug’s house.

I have to tell you, if I get half the people who showed up say half as many things about me, I will consider my life to have been blessed. Paul was a Godly man, with a servant’s heart, and every word spoken of him reflected that.

Afterwards, we drove back to Doug’s house, and I left there a little after 1600. Both ways the drive was uneventful, and if it weren’t for cruise control my foot would have been too heavy. There was almost no sensation of the speed I was driving in that pickup. The trip was enjoyable, but not one that I wanted to have to take.

I went to Wickenburg to visit my old friend, Harold. It was his layout, the Black canyon Railroad, that was the operating base for the Black Canyon Model Railroad Museum. The railroad itself is at An Affair With Trains on Deer Valley Road across from the airport. Harold is still recovering from a stroke that took most of his ability to find the right words to string together and all of his chances at modeling.

This visit was for the express purpose of taking the beginnings of a brag book up to him. With about twenty 8×10 prints of several of the scenes on his railroad placed in sheet protectors and secured in a binder, he was transported back to his railroad. He spent 37 years working on his hobby, and overall I got to share about fifteen of those years helping and operating and maintaining the layout.

Shortly after he and Anne had moved out of their long-time home in Phoenix, they moved to a retirement ranch in Wickenburg. Shortly after that Anne fell ill and passed. Harold downsized again, to a smaller apartment at the same ranch. Then he had his stroke. Now he is in assisted living at the ranch.

The joy in his eyes and the look on his face were worth every effort to get the pictures together, and I have about another 150 – 170 shots that I need to cull through and add to the book. The first thing he did was show off his book to one of the staff members there. You could see the delight in his eyes, and I saw the level of caring of the staff at the assisted facility.

Harold is in good hands.

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

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I’m headed to the men’s fellowship shortly. Woke up this morning to a damp outdoors; it had sprinkled a bit. Got to thinking about friends in the northeast – hope ya’ll are safe and not stuck somewhere.

Took TMBWitW’s car to the shop for an oil change and an engine mount replacement (used to be I could work on these things myself, but the specialized tools they call for now are ridiculous). We have finally “discovered” Wilhelm’s in Peoria, they’ve only been open since 1928.

May your Saturday be only as productive as you want it to be.

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

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So, while Obama(THHO) has been keeping our attention on the Second Amendment and the violation thereof by the administration, Obama(THHO) and his team of lackeys (all DemocRATS, including my senator from Arizona, John McCain) have been working on a “Comprehensive Immigration Reform”. The Arizona Democrat Republic has a big old Front Page Headline showing the four leading democRAT representatives during the introduction of this measure.

A bipartisan push for comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship that is contingent on border security, shifted into high gear in the Senate on Monday, the day before President Barack Obama was expected to make a major speech on the issue at an appearance in Las Vegas.

Let’s take a look at some of the points, shall we? (bullet points taken from the print version of The Arizona Republic, I’m not sure if the on-line version will continue to show them.)

1. Citizenship Pathway – Create a “tough” but fair path to citizenship for undocumented (their words, not mine) immigrants in the US, contigent on securing the borders. (Translation: “As soon as Janet Napolitano tells us the borders are secure, we are going to flip the bird at all the legal immigrants who have followed the legal path to citizenship.”)

2. System Reform – Reform the immigration system so that it better meets the demands of the economy and strengthens families. (Translation: “We are going to continue screwing over US citizens who need work by facilitating the flow of low-cost illegal immigrants into this country and allowing the ones here to take even more jobs from US families, while at the same time stopping our law enforcement agencies from splitting families up when we send the illegal immigrants home, leaving their anchor baby families here.”)

3. Worker Verification – Create an effective system for employers to verify who is eligible to work and who isn’t. (Translation: “E-Verify has caught up too many people trying to work illegally in this country, so we’re going to create a system that lets all kinds of criminals slip through the cracks.”)

4. Workforce Demands – Establish a better process for workers to enter legally to meet the nation’s workforce needs, while protecting all workers. (Translation: “We are going to continue screwing over US citizens who need work by facilitating the flow of low-cost illegal immigrants into this country and allowing the ones here to take even more jobs from US families, while making sure that employers cannot fire the ones who are already here illegally, all the while ignoring the fact that the United States is sitting on 7% and higher unemployment.”)

There, I think I’ve got it figured out. What do you think? And remember, while this brewing, keep an eye on the other hand AGAIN so that Obama(THHO) and his minions administration can infringe on the Second Amendment some more.

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

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I actually meant to post this earlier in the week; it seems the week is getting shorter while the days are getting longer. I love being hard at work, and working hard. AND working at something I love.

At any rate, Gary over at dcclothesline wrote this piece, and if you are having trouble understanding the rules that Liberals love to live by and change on a whim, then here’s some help:

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS LIBERALS LIVE BY

There actually appear to be some rules that liberals choose live by, at least for a while anyway. Here are the ten main ones:

1.) The Bible is not absolute. None of the laws in it are carved in stone. Everything in it is subject to reinterpretation. If the information in the Bible is inapplicable to the current need, that information is to be disregarded. If the whole of the Bible is inapplicable to the current time, it needs to be eliminated.

2.) The Law is not absolute. No laws are to be considered as representative of moral archetypes. All laws are subject to reinterpretation. If a law does not meet the current need, that law is to be disregarded. If the whole of that law is inconvenient to current needs, that law needs to be eliminated.

3.) The Constitution is not absolutely inviolable. Nothing in the Constitution was written to last forever. All of the Constitution is subject to reinterpretation. If any part of the Constitution interferes with the current agenda, it is to be circumvented. If the Constitution as a whole limits the agenda of the current time, the Constitution needs to be eliminated.

4.) Truth is not absolute. Truth differs in different times and societies. Nothing is true forever. If the truths of the past are inconvenient, they are thereby proven to be falsehoods. If all the truths of the past are inconvenient, the lessons of the past can be disregarded.

5.) Morality is not absolute. What is considered to be morality depends upon the group and its circumstances. The morality of the group is to be the morality of all. If someone else’s morality is inconvenient, it needs to be vilified. If that morality is found to be a hindrance to the current agenda, it needs to be completely quashed.

6.) Right action is not an absolute idea. What is considered to be right action depends upon what group this activity occurs in. Anyone who does something the group does not like engages in a wrong action. If an action that someone considers to be right offends the group in control, that action is actually a wrong action. Actions that the group in control considers to be wrong are to be punished most severely.

7.) To be in charge is to be correct. What is correct depends upon the mood of the ones in charge. That mood is subject to change, depending on the circumstances of the moment. Anyone who says that the ones in charge are not acting correctly is himself in the wrong. Those who come against the group in word or deed are to be viciously persecuted for it.

8.) There is no absolute sin. The concept of sin is relative. What was considered to be a vice is tomorrow’s virtue. If you do something you do not personally believe is wrong, then you are not sinning. If everyone does it, it never was a sin in the first place.

9.) Oppression is not an absolute construct. It is important to be in charge. If you are in charge, there can be no oppression. If you are not in charge, there will undoubtedly be some who oppress you. If you lose control of all means to power, you are absolutely by definition one of the oppressed.

10.) There is no absolute definition of what is life. There is no definite consensus of or opinion on what constitutes life. Life is an intellectual, legal construct, not a physical reality. If something is inconvenient in your own life, you can disregard its existence, and thus consider it not to be among the living. If something becomes totally inconvenient to your lifestyle, you can eliminate it without any moral compunction.

Do you sense some sort of theme here?

Keep your eyes and ears open at all times, America. You do not want to miss it, when it comes.

Gary W. Harper

Follow the D.C. Clothesline on Facebook

And, of course, if something you are in charge of goes totally south, then scream “WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?” at the congress members who have the audacity to ask you about it.

Chat ya later…

Thanks for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, and Wear Red on Fridays!

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