Shameless Copy and Paste and Editing

I is Ninja

I is Ninja
Ninja I is

That Ninja I is!
That Ninja I is!
I do not like
that Ninja I is!

Do you like this Blog of his?

I do not like it,
Ninja I is.
I do not like
this Blog of his.

Would you read it
Here or there?

I would not read it
here or there.
I would not read it
anywhere.
I do not like
this Blog of his.
I do not like it,
Ninja I is

Would you read it
in a house?
Would you read it
with a mouse?

I would not read it
in a house.
I would not read it
with a mouse.
I would not read it
here or there.
I would not read it
anywhere.
I do not like this Blog of his.
I do not like it, Ninja I is.


Would you read it
in a box?
Would you read it
with a fox?

Not in a box.
Not with a fox.
Not in a house.
Not with a mouse.
I would not read it here or there.
I would not read it anywhere.
I would not read this Blog of his.
I do not like it, Ninja I is.

Would you? Could you?
in a car?
Read it! Read it!
Here it is.

I would not,
could not,
in a car

You may like it
You will see.
You may like it
in a tree?
I would not, could not in a tree.
Not in a car! You let me be.

I would not read it in a box.
I would not read it with a fox
I would not read it in a house
I would not read it with a mouse
I would not read it here or there.
I would not read it anywhere.
I do not like this Blog of his.
I do not like it, Ninja I is.

A train! A train!
A train! A train!
Could you, would you
on a train?

Not on a train! Not in a tree!
Not in a car! Ninja! Let me be!
I would not, could not, in a box.
I could not, would not, with a fox.
I will not read it with a mouse
I will not read it in a house.
I will not read it here or there.
I will not read it anywhere.
I do not like it, Ninja I is.

Say!
In the dark?
Here in the dark!
Would you, could you, in the dark?

I would not, could not,
in the dark.

Would you, could you,
in the rain?

I would not, could not, in the rain.
Not in the dark. Not on a train,
Not in a car, Not in a tree.
I do not like it, Ninja, you see.
Not in a house. Not in a box.
Not with a mouse. Not with a fox.
I will not read it here or there.
I would not read it anywhere!

You do not like
this Blog of his?

I do not
like it,
Ninja I is.

Could you, would you,
with a goat?

I would not,
could not.
with a goat!

Would you, could you,
on a boat?

I could not, would not, on a boat.
I will not, will not, with a goat.
I will not read it in the rain.
I will not read it on a train.
Not in the dark! Not in a tree!
Not in a car! You let me be!
I would not read it in a box.
I would not read it with a fox.
I would not read it in a house.
I would not read it with a mouse.
I would not read it it here or there.
I would not read it ANYWHERE!

I do not like
this Blog of his!

I do not like it,
Ninja I is.

You do not like it
So you say.
Read it! Read it!
And you may.
Read it and you may I say.

Ninja!
If you will let me be,
I will read it.
You will see.

Say!
I like this Blog of his!
I do!! I like it, Ninja I is!
And I would read it in a boat!
And I would read it with a goat...
And I will read it in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And in a car. And in a tree.
It is so good, so good you see!

So I will read it in a box.
And I will read it with a fox.
And I will read it in a house.
And I will read it with a mouse.
And I will read it here and there.
Say! I will read it ANYWHERE!

I do so like
this Blog of his!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Ninja I is

Why, WHY?

Every once in a while, I do things to remind myself why I don't do those things in the first place.

Touch a hot stove, OUCH! It burns and hurts a lot.

Stub a toe, OWWWIE! That hurts too!

Fall in Love, NO! WHY? Never again! Don't ask! I SAID, DON'T ASK!

Anyway, today I was hungry and I wanted to eat something quick. I was behind in what I wanted to do today, so I decided to eat somewhere close, within walking distance. Getting in my car, driving somewhere, parking, then coming back just seemed like it would put me even further behind in my day.

I had no choice. I had to do it. There was no other way around it, I HAD to eat at McDonald's. NOOOOOOOOOO! Well since I was going to eat there, I might as well order a Big Mac. And though I remember that they have good french fries, I decided that I'd rather fill up on two burgers, and skip the fries and large drink. So I also bought one of their new-fangled Angus Bacon Cheese burgers.

I'm old enough to remember when McDonald's was good. But things have changed. Whether it's because you rarely see them cooking anymore and use Microwaves, they cut costs, and/or use cheaper ingredients, McDonald's has lost my favor. Or should I say, they lost their flavor.

Let's look into this. Here are pictures of the burgers I ordered, pictures I took from the Internet, probably used by McDonald's themselves to advertise their product.

Big Mac



Angus Bacon Cheese Burger



Now here are pictures of the burgers that I bought. In essence, the "Real" burgers, not the dolled up marketing versions.

Real Big Mac



Real Angus Bacon Cheese Burger



Looks NOTHING like the advertisement and not very appetizing.

Here's a dissected look.

Big Mac. Where's all that Special Sauce? I like how the box it came in reminds you that it's 100% beef. Well I should hope so! But I guess when you eat it, you can't help but wonder differently.




Look, the meat is so thin, when I picked it up, it broke in half. Wow, if it was a "real" piece of thick meat, it wouldn't have done that.



Angus Bacon Cheese Burger. Not much to it. It's supposed to be 1/3 pound. Maybe 1/3 pound before 1/6 pound of fat gets cooked away. This looks more like a regular sized meat patty. And what's with the minimal amount of vegetables. Only pickles and onion? Where's the lettuce and tomato?



The bacon is so thin, it looks like paper. See the comparison with the card I'm holding up next to it? It's so thin, it's sacrilegious! Pigs are not thin, why should their meat be thin? Thin bacon is like having no bacon at all!



I guess I'm good for another 25-50 years.

Christine

I have friends who name their vehicles, whether its a bicycle, motorcycle, car or truck. Sometimes it's a proper name like Sam. Sometimes it's a nickname like "The Beast" or "Bumpy." Say Hello to Jenny and Ericka everyone. :)

I'm not criticizing this or making any kind of judgment. It's just something I personally can not do.

Why? Have you ever heard of the movie "Christine?"

Well if I ever name my car, that means it's possessed and it will want to kill you. That's right, you don't EVER want me to give my car a name. You're welcome.

Global Warming

Everyone is talking about Global Warming. Why? Because the weather all over the Earth has been crazy! First off, to be clear, Global Warming does NOT mean that the weather is hot all the time. It refers to the average temperature of the Earth and that it seems to be going up by 1 degree every few years.

This upward trend is blamed for the cause of our weird weather patterns and other phenomenons. They say our world will eventually turn into a wasteland if this trend continues. I don't want to live in a wasteland!

This is where the disagreements start. Some say that the change is man-made, and some say it is occurring naturally.

Regardless, the culprit is what people call "Greenhouse" gases. One of those gases is Carbon Dioxide. When living things breathe, we exhale Carbon Dioxide. Many cars and factories produce Carbon Dioxide.

To prevent this, we need to lessen the impact of this excess Carbon Dioxide that we create. The only thing I know of that does this, is plants. Through Photosynthesis, plants "breathe in" Carbon Dioxide and give off Oxygen.

Oxygen is what all living things need for their bodies to function properly. Oxygen helps keeps us healthy by providing nourishment to our brains and heart. Maybe with Global Warming, our Oxygen content is going down too. That would explain a lot of things. There's more health problems, heart attacks, and more crazy people in the world. It must be the lack of Oxygen! What if all we needed was more Oxygen producing plants?

But what are we doing in the world today? Cutting down the Rain Forests and replacing "green" with concrete in other places. We need to stop this trend. We need more plants in the world to combat the excess Carbon Dioxide that we create.

So I have decided to start a new trend to lessen my production of Carbon Dioxide. Exercise makes you breathe harder and faster. That stops right now. Sedentary is my new motto. Eating "right" means having fruits and vegetables with your meals. That ends too! No more killing plant life for me! Living plants give me Oxygen, dead plants make me go poo. Poo makes even MORE greenhouse gasses! And last but not least, I will eat more meat. Animals create just as much Carbon Dioxide as the next Greenhouse gas producer, so we're better off to have less of them.

So all of you "Greenies" out there in Cyberland, riding your bicycles, and living/eating a Vegetarian or Vegan lifestyle, take a good look at yourself in the mirror. YOU are killing the Earth!

What? So you say my new way of living is unhealthy and will lead to my early demise? Well, maybe it's better than getting old and living in a wasteland.

Firefighters 24/7/365

Firefighters are rarely publicly recognized for their work. And why should we be? It's our job, and we get paid to do what we do. But every so often, an organization shows their appreciation for Firefighters. Usually this comes after large scale incidents like Brush Fires, Earthquakes, Floods, Riots, etc.

Sure, sometimes a citizen will thank us for what we do. Sometimes we even get cookies, cakes, ice cream or food. Sometimes a big hug. We do appreciate it, but really, it's not necessary. It's what we do.

Our Fire Station is near Dodger Stadium. The Stadium was once in another Fire Station's District. Even though we were closer to the main entrance, Dodger Stadium belonged to someone else. About 2-3 years ago, that other Fire Station was closed and a new one was built to replace it. That Station was moved about one mile from where they used to be, so their district was redrawn, and we ended up officially covering Dodger Stadium.

As far as I know, an individual Fire Station has never been personally recognized for their work by the Dodgers. But, for reasons unclear to us, we were chosen to be recognized today. The Dodgers asked us to pick four members to represent our Station, in a ceremony on the field before the game, and gave us four tickets to the Baseline box seats. These seats were in the second row from the field, and included all you can eat food from one of the Stadium Clubs.

The four individual members were chosen by seniority at the Station, one from each shift, and one chosen by our Chief. On the A shift Engineer Don Witty was chosen with about 17 years at this Fire Station. On the B shift, Engineer Richard Villata was picked with about 24 years at the Station. On the C shift, Apparatus Operator Rubin Hunt was chosen with about 20 years at this Station. The 4th was Captain Charles Clark who had many years in and around the Station, and spent the last 5 years at this Station. The last three were also going to retire within the next eight months. Family, friends, and co-workers were offered free tickets to the game. In total, we had over 40 people show up to give us support.

At the last minute, Captain Clark could not go due to an injury and he was not able to walk and/or stand up for a very long time. So, Capt Clark asked me to take his place. Even though I was scheduled to work Overtime that day, I gave it up for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

At Dodger Stadium, we were chaperoned by one of the staff. He gave us field passes and led us down to an area behind Home plate where they had roped off sections. There were many other groups there who were also being recognized or were guests of someone. This is where we learned that State Farm sponsored us for the "Good Neighbor" award. We met our State Farm representative, and invited them to our Station. We watched the opposing team hit batting practice. We took pictures. We picked up baseballs. Then we got instructions on how and where to line up, and we waited.

Little did we know, another group was waiting too. Members of the Morman Church were there, and one of the Elders was going to throw out the first pitch. We thought maybe we were going to do that. Well, we were kinda hoping we would.

Standing there in our roped off area, I was a little bored. Only the opposing team was out there, and no one famous was around. 2 brothers, both retired from the LAFD recognized us and talked to us for a few minutes, yelling from the stands.

Then I noticed something odd. I saw a man on the ground between 3rd base and Home Plate. People were around him. I didn't know why he was down, it could have been any reason. Maybe he got hit by a baseball? Anyway, I walked over to see what was going on, and noticed a man who at best, was not breathing well. Maybe he was choking on something? I removed his dress shirt and tie and checked his pulse. He had none. I immediately started CPR. I did compressions and my fellow Firefighters were asking the family questions and getting the proper equipment. I heard "Get oxygen, call for a Paramedic," and I added, "Get a Defibrillator."

After a few minutes doing compressions, another off-duty Firefighter came up and took over for me. By then the Dodger Stadium medical crew for non-players was there. The Dodgers staff a Doctor, 2-4 Nurses, and an EMT ambulance. All seemed to show up right when I needed them.

I hooked up the Defibrillator to the patient and he was in V-Fib, so I shocked him. Only one was needed to get him out of V-fib. The patient regained his pulse, and seemed to become conscious but did not speak. During this time I started an Intravenous line from supplies that the Ambulance crew brought. It didn't last too long and he was back in V-fib. I shocked him 2 more times, and by then the crew of my Fire Station that was on duty was there. I grabbed the Intubation equipment and intubated the patient. We loaded him into our Ambulance and the on duty crew took him to the Hospital.

The four of us dusted off our clothes and went back to waiting for our ceremony to start. That's when we learned that the man who went down was the one who was going to throw out the first pitch. One of his Church members took his place and Engineer Witty was given a glove to be his Catcher. Right after that, we were introduced to the crowd, given a special Baseball bat with "2010 Good Neighbor Award" printed on it, and then ushered off the field. We changed out of our uniforms, and were escorted to our seats. The seats were awesome.

I called to see how the patient was doing, and found out that he did not make it. I'd like to tell you that he is alive and recovering, that somehow, he would make it. Unfortunately, this time, there was to be no happy ending. And this is how this story will end, with no happy ending.

What About ME?

People say that today's generation's biggest problem is that they mostly just think about themselves. You can see it all around you, volunteerism is down. Getting people to give blood or platelets is like, well trying to get blood from people.

Recently after 2 separate house fires, I had the chance to experience this generation of people first hand.

During a small garage fire that was almost completely extinguished, a woman came up to me and asked me if she could get her car out. I looked over to where she was pointing, and saw that her car was blocked in by our Fire Hose that went from the Fire Hydrant to the Fire engine. Keep in mind that the Hydrant supplies the water that is helping us put out the fire.

I said, "No, I'm sorry, but you can't drive over Fire hose." You see, by driving over it, you could damage the hose by puncturing a hole in it and preventing the supply of water to the fire.

She said, "But I have to go to work!"

I said, "You'll have to call in and tell them you're going to be late."

She said, "But it's my first day of work! I can't be late!"

I said, "I don't know what to tell you. You have to call in."

She repeated herself and I told her I would check on the status of the fire, since it was almost out, and estimate how long we would be.

Luckily for her, the fire was out, and it wouldn't take too long to get her car out.

So I told her, "The fire is out, we can shut down the hydrant for a few minutes and drain the hose to move it and you can get the car out right now."

She said, "I don't have my car keys, I'll go get them."

Five to ten minutes later, she returns with her keys and leaves. I don't even think she said "Thank you."



After we put out an early morning house fire, I was back at my Fire Dept vehicle taking off my Firefighting jacket. Fighting a fire is hard work, all while wearing heavy coats, pants, boots a helmet, and a air tank on your back. As I was "suiting down," one on the occupants of the house that was on fire came up to me and asked, "Do you have any bottled water? We're thirsty."

I did understand that since it was early morning, the occupants were awakened out of bed and had to flee without eating, drinking or being able to use the bathroom as people usually do when they wake up in the morning. But the same was for us, AND we had to put out the fire. Being exhausted and thirsty myself, I was thinking, "You've GOT to be kidding, right?" Besides, a Fire Vehicle is not a food truck, the only food and drink, if any, is personal stuff brought by the individual. Anyway, I said no, and went back in the house to do the clean-up work.



Another time, we were in the clean-up stages after putting out a house fire, when we were approached by one of the neighbors. The neighbor started complaining about the smell of smoke in her house. She left her windows open and the smoke from the house fire drifted in. She wanted us to do something about it. Sorry, there's nothing we can do.

Then she came out again and complained about a few ashes that had landed in her driveway and wanted us to clean her driveway. We did get a hose and wash down her driveway. All this while we were still making sure the fire in the house was completely out and damaged item were removed from the building.

Wolves in Wolves Clothing

Well, the best way I can describe what the difference between a Democrat and a Republican is a joke I once heard.

A little girl saw a homeless man on the street asking for money. She asked her parents if she could give him five dollars. The Democrat parent said, "I'm very proud of you for wanting to help that homeless man." The Republican parent said, "I tell you what, if you mow the lawn, I'll give you five dollars and you can give it to the homeless man." The little girl thought about it for a minute and said, "What don't you ask the homeless man to mow the lawn and give him five dollars instead?" The Republican parent said, "Welcome to the Republican party."

And this is why I'm more Republican than anything else. Everyone should be responsible for themselves, as much as possible.

That's not all though. Republicans are supposed to be for less Government spending. Notice I wrote, "supposed to be."

GW Bush was a Republican, and he surely didn't believe that. Of course, President Obama doesn't believe in it either.

Unfortunately, things have changed. Why? Money. Money is the root of everything now. In order for these crooked politicians and their parties to get money, they have to be in charge. To be in charge, they need your votes. So they try to appease you and tell you what you want to hear to get your votes.

If you are in charge of a large voting block, like a Union, you get showered with promises. Doesn't matter if those promises are kept, as long as those promises are made. Heck, blame the broken promises on the "Other" party.

Honestly, now, it always seems to be a choice that comes down to the lesser of two evils. What ever happened to choosing the best person for the job?

So, even though I am a Republican, I'm not "Today's" Republican. I'm just a relic of what once was. Today's politicians are no longer working for the people. They're working for themselves and their wallet.

Remember this, "Politics. Latin for Poly and Tics. Poly = Many / Tics = Blood sucking parasites."

Republican, Right?

Yeah, I know this is late, but I really hate talking politics. Politics in this day and age is very polarizing, and it shouldn't be. EVERYONE is entitled to their own opinion. That is why this Country is great. If you don't like my opinion, it's okay, I won't agree with all of yours either, but we don't have to fight each other. Anyway continuing on....

I grew up in a neighborhood where there was hard working families, and no one was rich. And there were many who were on welfare.

Our family owned the local grocery store, kind of like today's 7-11 stores. So we knew who was poor, on welfare, worked, on disability, etc. We even extended "credit" to those who received monthly Government checks. The cost of your groceries were tallied, and you'd sign an I.O.U and paid up at the beginning of each month. I guess in today's world, we'd be Liberals.

But we were not Liberals. We were Conservative. It was shameful to see the welfare recipients taking advantage of the system. Selling Food Stamps for cash so that they could buy alcohol or drugs, buying "Designer" clothing, even having a baby, or more babies to receive a larger welfare check. They didn't deserve welfare, and they were taking away from people who really needed it. Welfare money is not infinite, and if the pool of people is small, then each would get a bigger piece of the pie.

That's how I felt, especially when there was a blind man living in the neighborhood. He couldn't work, so he would need welfare for the rest of his life. It would be better for him if he got a larger check, and these cheaters got less.

I was easy being a Republican back then. But what did that really mean. By today's standard, being Republican is much different. It's almost a bad word. More on this later.......

I Will Never be a Democrat (Part 1 of my political reasonings)

Back when I worked at a Grocery store, someone was signing up people to become registered voters. I filled out the form, and then was told, "You didn't pick a Political party." I told him I was "Independent" and there was no box for that, and left. That person was probably signing up Democrats, because little did I know, I became a registered Democrat.

After years of receiving nothing but flyers from Democrats, I had no idea. It wasn't until I realized that I could not vote for people of the Republican party in their run-off elections, that I figured it out.

But is it so wrong to be considered a Democrat? Asian-American and Japanese Political Action groups all support the Democrats, they can't be that bad.

Well, I guess those groups have short memories. I am not a Democrat mostly because my father did not like them. You see, after the start of Word War II, he and his family, along with all others of Japanese decent, were all put into Internment camps by order of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt,who was in his 4th term at the time. They had to leave their homes and jobs, and live in barracks on mostly desert land that was either too hot, or too cold. My father had a good job at a grocery store as a produce manager. He was a hard worker and well liked by his employer. My father and other Japanese had to take all of their belongings and either sell them, or have them stored in warehouses. All of these storage places were broken into and robbed. When people eventually came home, they were left with whatever they had with them at that time. Incidentally, if you have a grandparent that have things that seem to be Japanese heirlooms, they probably got it cheap, or it was stolen.

This sad part of American history, was apologized for by a Republican President, Ronald Reagan.

Then, although you could make a case for the dropping of the first Atomic bomb on Hiroshima to end the war, I think we could all agree that a second one dropped on Nagasaki was "over-kill." And I mean that as more than a pun. Both bombs were dropped on Cities where women and children were left, while the men were sent to fight the war for Japan. I believe President Truman at the time, was quoted as saying, "I think we've killed enough women and children." So, it's not like he didn't know.

Both of those Presidents were Democrats. My father HATED President Roosevelt. I grew up thinking he helped the United States get out of the Depression. It was actually the war that helped the United States get out of the Depression. By creating jobs making planes, boats, guns, ammunition, Jeeps, and other vehicles and war material, Employees were created. When Employees are created, Consumers are created. And just as important, taxpayers were created.

Though I consider myself Independent, I guess I'm really Anti-Democrat. More on this later.

New Year, New Car

Well, sort of.....

If you read one of my earlier Blog posts, you know that I bought a new car almost 2 years ago. I liked the car, but I made a mistake and traded in my truck for it. I did not want to pay car insurance for 2 vehicles, so I gave up my truck.

Unfortunately, I still needed a vehicle that could carry tools and equipment. I thought I could get away with not having a truck, and bought a car with a Hatchback, which was like having an extra large trunk space. It was not enough. So, I kept putting it off, and putting it off, but I finally had enough and started actively searching for a used truck. I should have kept the one I had. Oh well, too late now......

I did not want to buy a brand new one because of the worsening economy, and the extra payments and higher cost of car insurance it would cost me. For practicality's sake, I thought it would be best to buy a used one. Besides, who needs something new and pristine when you're just going to haul tools and equipment?

I decided on a used truck made by General Motors. I had my search narrowed down to a 1999 model, and used AutoTrader.com for my search. But every time I found something I was interested in, it was sold by the time I contacted the owner/dealer.

Eventually, I wrote on my Facebook page that I was looking for a used truck. An old friend of mine told me he had a truck that he did not use anymore and would sell it to me if I was interested. It was not a 1999 Chevy or GMC truck, but a 1993 Ford F150 XLT Supercab with 4 wheel drive and a 351 cubic inch engine. My friend had not actively used the truck in 2 years, and it was parked in the driveway of his home. It was still running well and could do what I needed it to do, so, much to the delight of his wife, I took the "thing that blocked the driveway" off his hands. Of course, it needed some work, but what 17 year old vehicle doesn't?

The funny thing is, the truck was probably at or near the top of the line back in 1993. Four Wheel drive, AM/FM Cassette player with 6 speaker sound, Cruise Control..... it even had a lift kit with larger 33 inch tires. This truck is made to go almost anywhere, in a practical sort of way. No, it's not your typical "Monster" truck that's lifted so high, you need a ladder to get in, or built more to impress than to go off-roading. No, you just need a step stool to get in, and it can and will go off-roading. Since it has been off-roading, the paint is scratched in a lot of places. It could use repainting, but like I said, I'm only going to use it to carry things.

This is all well and good, but I live in California. And in California, you are what you drive. Isn't it odd, that in the rest of the world, Motorcycles are used as transportation, but here in California, and most of the USA, Motorcycles are a fashion accessory? BTW, I do own a Harley Davidson Motorcycle. I guess I'm a hypocrite. But I digress....

If I am what I drive, then I am:

Beat-up and in need of cosmetic improvements. Once top of the line, now old and outdated. Used and abused.

OMG! It's spot on! *cries*