SMOKE AND FIRE

SMOKE: No, don't run out and buy a pack of cigarettes. Not talking about that kind of smoke. Here in this area where we live, ( if you are not sure, see my profile ) we have literally been under a cloud or haze of smoke since back in March. Every day. From forest or grass fires. Several of them almost next door. Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas are especially hard hit fire wise. Right now there are several fires burning in Southern Colorado, more near Flagstaff, Arizona, others in various parts of New Mexico. But the big one, on the news, is the Wallow fire in Eastern Arizona. Nearing 400,000 acres and 5% contained. There is another one in South East Arizona, called the Horse Shoe Two fire, that had grown to 116,000 acres and was 60% contained. Thursday afternoon, that fire got away from the firefighters and is now around 166,000 acres and only 40% contained. The Wallow fire is as big as Chicago, ( having never been to Chicago I will take their word for that ) and it wasn't a cow that kicked over a lantern to start it. Rumor has it that it was started by a camp fire that got out of control. By two or three campers. Rumor or not, it is under investigation. And it happened in a campground Sunday, Memorial day weekend.
Having said all that, let me get to the point of this blog. A few decades ago, not that many, actually, buffalo roamed and antelope played here in the west. And there was fire. Occasionally. Then the buffalo went away, (I won't get into that topic ) and ranchers brought their cattle and put them on the range. And timber men came and logged the forests for lumber to build houses and buildings for all the people coming west. And there was fire. Occasionally. A 30,000 acres fire was extreme. Most were small and put out quickly. Then came the environmentalist and said that cattle were bad for the land, and logging was bad for the land, and they made the people in the East, who are mostly clueless about the West, to pass laws making it unlawful to ranch or log. If it is unlawful, why isn't it illegal? Think about it a moment. Now, the forests are a mess. Where there used to be 50 trees to the acre, now there are hundres and even thousands of trees per acre. Mostly small saplings, growing close together, and all vying for what little water there isn't. I have a picture I took several years back of a river that had a nice stand of trees and a cabin in the river bottom. It was just a little ways off the highway. Now, because cattle are not allowed to drink from that river, cause the environmentalists say they pollute the river, you can't even see the river for the trees and brush, much less the cabin. Thus, we have wildfires like the ones mentioned at the start of this post.
This fire has started a dialog from western politicians and ranchers and loggers, and other people that we need to let the Forest Service manage the forest, in conjunction with the ranchers and loggers. And others that know how to manage the land. And take care of it, and thin it of the small saps, uh, saplings that are choking it to death. And I, for one, support that idea whole heartedly. Otherwise it will just continue to burn out of control. Or blow away like a dust bowl, for lack of rain. Of course the environmentalists are opposed to that, and said that this is just scare tactics. That is a quote from Bryan Bird of the organization Wild earth Guardians. Wonder where these guardians are now? Bet they are not on the fire line. Well, nuff said for now. Oh! The reason it isn't illegal is cause unlawful is against the law, but illegal is a sick bird. And That's The View From The Ditch Bank

Manners

CODE OF THE WEST: For the few of you that read this blog, I have not left, just don't post as often since I returned to full time employment. And while that is not the purpose of this posting, my returning to work, I will mention it in a passing fashion during this blog. As to the first line. there used to be one. A code. still is, mostly. So I'll quote this poem and then elaborate a bit.
It don't take such a lot o' laws to keep the range land straight
Nor books to write 'em in, 'cause there are only six or eight
The first one is the welcome sign, written deep in western hearts
My camp is yours and yours is mine in all cow country parts
Treat with respect all women kind, same as you would your sister
Care for neighbors' strays you find, and don't call cowboys Mister
Shut the pasture gates when passin' through, and taking all in all
Be just as rough as pleases you, but don't be mean or small
Talk straight, shoot straight, never break your word to man or hoss
Plumb always kill a rattlesnake, don't ride a sore back hoss
It don't take law nor pedigree to live the best you can
These few is all it takes to be a cowboy and a man
Author Unknown
Cowboys have always wore hats. The style of hat sometimes varies from area to area, but they are still worn. Now a days, hats are becoming more of an item to ward of the sun, because more people are aware of the likely hood of skin cancer, especially here in the Southwest. Along with the poem quoted above, there was a hat etiquette that cowboys practised. It used to be common for hats to be checked at the door of a public place, such as restaurants. That has mostly become obsolete, so here are some thoughts on how to wear your hat today.
One hat maker has written on the back of his business card "Take it off at the table, leave it on at the bar, and treat it like your sweetheart." Trent Johnson of Greely Hat Works. While the hats off at the dinner table used to be a hard and fast rule, many cowboys now leave it on when dining at a public restaurant. However, you should remove it when entering a private residence, a house of worship, or a business meeting. And around the ladies? While the days when men were expected to remove them when a lady enters the room has kinda disappeared, it is still good manners to do so, and it is mostly appreciated, even if it is unexpected. It is also not a bad practice to tip your hat to the ladies in public. In a respectful manner.
So what does any of this have to do with me returning to work? Simple. Many of the men I work with are very disrespectful of the ladies. Their language is crude and lewd at best, and the ladies in the crew are disregarded or treated as one of the boys by most of the men on the crew.
And as a last thought. Manners as a general rule seems to have gone the way of rotary phones and typewriters. You can still find them, but they are in the minority. When people return to the cowboy way of life, in the country or the city, showing respect for your neighbors and your neighbors property, curbing foul language, and treating ladies with the respect they deserve, especially your spouse, then the country will be on track to return to the kind of country we would all like to live in. And That's The View From The Ditch Bank.

Y2K

WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN? Well, not all of us, but a lot of us. How many of you remember back just a few years, to the turn of the century. And the Y2K flop, uh flap. Do you remember all the predictions. I'm sure I don't. Remember all of them. But it was predicted that because the world is ruled, I mean run, by computers, and when we went from 1999 to 2000, all the computers would crash. So panic set in. Computer programmers set about creating programs to fix the problem. It was predicted that when the change from 1999 to 2000 happened, airplanes would crash, ships would wonder about the ocean and crash, stores wouldn't be able to sell you any thing, cause their computerized cash registers would crash, and computers would just crash. So people went on a buying frenzy, buying food, clothing, water, electric generators, and all manner of survival gear. Then, well, then we changed from 1999 to 2000 and airplanes flew to their destination and landed at the airports and didn't crash, ships made it safely to harbor and didn't crash, and computers, well they crashed, but then that's what computers do best. Even without the Y2K bug. So, people ate their food, drank their water, sold their survival gear, and went back to normal living. Then, along came a preacher, preaching that the world would end on May 21, 2011. And people, well some people, gave him their money, some sold their houses and cars, and got ready to be rapturized, or something. And May 22 came along and no one was rapturized. And then they had no money, no house, no car. And some even had no belief in the preacher any more. And the preacher. Well, he was made fun of, in the media, on face book and twitter. Oh! did people twitter, even when they weren't on twitter. Now the preacher has made a statement or three. One, he made a mistake on the date. Now it will happen on October 21, 2011. Then he said it happened, but it was invisible, and will go on for the next five months, then the world will be completely destroyed. And the money. He will give it back to the people. Not. They survived the bank failures, so they can survive his taking of their money. And send him more. How many people will get ready for the end to come on October 21. How many people will get ready for the end in December 2012. How many people will do stupid things, based on these "predictions". Will the world end. Yes it will. Do I know when? No I don't. Who does? Read the Bible. Matthew 24:39. Then live accordingly. And be ready if it should happen in your life time. And don't panic, just cause some one said something will happen. Common sense and thinking things through in a sensible manner is always best. And That's The View From The Ditch Bank.

TV Must See

Is there such a thing? As something on TV that is a must see. I think not. My wife and I watch some TV. We are not really fans of most of what is on TV these days. To me it should be MWTV. Standing for Most Worthless T V. We do watch NCIS, and we like most of the Hall Mark movies. We watch the news, but don't understand why some of the news casters are so hung up on all things Holly Wood.
We watch The Biggest Loser. Does that make us Big losers, watching people on TV losing fat. Many shows are having their season finals. Some won't be back, some will. There will be many new ones. Will they be any good. For the most part, probably not. My wife and I are old enough to remember when TV came into existence. At least in the form as we now know it. Back when comedy actually was, and variety shows were actually fun to watch. Now, comedy seems to have taken on a potty mouth. And that's the clean stuff. It gets worse. I tried to watch a comedy show a while back. Lasted about 90 seconds. Me, not the show. Guess I'll just have to turn off the TV and curl up with a good book. If I can find one. And That's The View From The Ditch Bank

The Rules Of The Road

I'm reminded of a story of an older couple from many decades back, when automobiles had taken over, but this farm couple still traveled by horse and buggy. One day, as they came in to town, there was a sign that said, "Speed Limit, 25 MPH" The old farmer handed the reins to his wife and said, "Here, you take the reins, and I'll get the whip, and we will see if we can get the horse to get us up that fast."

I am sure the two or three of you that actually read my drivel, already know the rules of the road, and obey them. So, I will just talk to those who don't know or don't have time to read. How many people driving an automobile know the rule about cross walks. You know, the place where people walk across the road. There is the cross walk, but before you get to it, there is another line, where you are supposed to stop your vehicle, thus providing a measure of safety to the pedestrian. How many people stop at the actual cross walk, even with their vehicle intruding into the cross walk, and inching forward, hoping the red light will change faster, or something. Or those who come up to a red sign that says "STOP" but they don't, they actually see this sign as a triangle, with the word "YIELD" on it. And when they see a yield sign it's just get out of the way, here I come. OK, Ok there is a point to this story. There is one other safety rule that you won't see a sign for. It is, Keep 1 car length between you and the car in front of you, for every 10 MPH you are traveling. Thus, if you are traveling 60 MPH, you should have 6 car lengths between you and the car in front of you.

MLWFAE, ( for any new comers, that refers to my wife. Refer to a previous post to see the actual meaning ) and I recently traveled to a distant city. Since the speed limit on the freeway is 75 MPH, and since we had more time that gas, we drove 70 MPH, thus is was easy to keep 7 car lengths between me and the car in front of us. Oh! the car in front had just passed, at 80 MPH usually, and was soon out of sight. But as we came to the city, the traffic increased, and the speed limit reduced to 65 MPH. So, keeping 6 1/2 car lengths between me and the car in front, caused 6 1/2 cars to squeeze in between us. OK, so it was only 6 cars, but I backed off and another 6 cars came in. I soon realized we were back at the city limits and losing ground fast. At this rate, we would soon be back home, without ever getting to where we were going. So, I bit the bullet, or would have, had I had a bullet, and ignoring the rules, I closed up behind the car in front and finally made it into the city, and to the motel where we were staying. No wonder it takes us longer to get where we are going, than it does every one else. We had the same problem while traveling about the city, so I had to bite another bullet, ( the previous one had been chewed up and spit out ) and travel the same crazy way the rest of the people were. Boy, sure was good to get out of the city a few days later and get back to the small city where we live, where the people are just as crazy as the big city folks, just not as many of them. Maybe some day we will all get where we are going, then we can park our cars, ( bumper to bumper, if we want to, as they will not be moving ) and just enjoy life in the slow, Uh!, parked and stopped lane. And That's The View From The Ditch Bank.

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING

OH! SAY WHAT IS TRUTH. That's a statement, not a question. Have you seen the advertisement's for Brita water bottles? Or filters? They will have someone doing something, walking on a treadmill, for example, drinking from a plastic bottle of water. Then say something like thirty minutes in the gym ( or something like that ) thousands of years in the land fill. Then on to the Brita. Well, that is truth, kinda. I assume they don't actually know how long they will be in the land fill. But then, every thing else in the land fill with the plastic bottle will be there for thousands of years also. Including the Brita bottle, when it gets thrown away. Why? Cause of the nature of a true landfill. FYI, a truly well made land fill goes like this. First the bottom is packed with clay, or some such material. Then it is lined with a heavy gauge liner. Then as the garbage is put in the land fill, it is packed with spiked, steel wheel bulldozer's. When all this is done, and dirt is added from time to time, and packed, then the landfill is covered with more clay like material and packed down hard. So when it is finished it is supposed to be leak proof. No water, no air, no sunlight. So, whatever is in there, be it a plastic bottle, a cardboard box, a two by four, or whatever, it cannot deteriorate with out moisture, oxygen and sunlight. so, like the water bottle, it just sits there for thousands of years. Supposedly. Only time will tell.
So what else is truthful, kinda. Well, like Brita, ( and I am not dissing Brita, just using them as an example ) most companies stretch the truth a bit. Cause they want you to buy their products. What is best. Usually, what ever you like is best. I like Fords, but if every one else did also, it wouldn't matter how many bailouts the other company's got, GM and Chrysler and the rest would go under. . So decide what you want, check out the stats on the items, and buy whichever one fits you best. The same goes for most tics. Republican or Democrat. Listen to what they say. Check out their record, if they have one. What kind of person are they? Then vote accordingly. Be they Repub or Demo. As in the land fill, only time will then tell. And tell it will. If we live long enough. Oh! even if we don't, it will tell. Just hope those coming along later learn what ever lesson is there to learn.
And That's The View From The Ditch Bank

A Little Bit About A Few Things

WHERE TO START: It's been a couple of weeks since I posted a blog. Since I returned to the working world, blogging seems to have taken a back seat to the activities I am involved in. I am even thinking of increasing the amount of blogging I do that would be conceived as personal. Maybe. But probably not today. 1. The congress and the President finally agreed on a 2011 budget. Now the fight is on for the 2012 budget. The current budget will cut several Billion Dollars from federal spending. Good? Well, maybe. The fine print says this will be over a period of time. This year! only a few million will be cut. Now a fight on whether to raise the debt ceiling. Regular people like me, and I suppose you, when we don't have the money we go without, or go into debt. Well, the federal government does one of those things. I saw a news report where people said they would give up their entitlements. I believe most, if not all, entitlements should be eliminated. What is an entitlement? Social Security. Well, no I am drawing that, but have paid into it for over 50 years. Medicare? No, I have paid taxes from my pay check into that program for years also, and was made to enroll when I turned 65, even if I didn't want to. Also, $96.00 a month is held from my S.S. check as well as a similar amount from my wife's check each month to pay for medicare. Yet, these are the programs the President wants to cut, to cut spending. 2. In the city/county where I live the sixth fire this week was burning a house and into the forest. We are extremely dry and the wind is blowing a sustained 30 MPH this weekend, with stronger winds on Monday, yet the Forest Service wants to set two "controlled burns" next Monday. This is 14 fires since the 14,000 acre fire we had last month. Some of them very small and put out before it did any damage. 3. I don't like the "change" that has taken place the last two years. Although Obama campaigned on that premise, and made promises that he hasn't kept, I have been around long enough to know that he wouldn't keep them. Indeed, couldn't keep them. Politics are like that and have been for centuries. Still, I think the President, and the House of Representatives and all Senators who are up for election needs to be replaced next election. I think the people are demanding that our elected officials need to be responsible for the way they are governing and spending our money. And it is OUR money they are spending. We need to pay attention to all tics and get rid of the ones who are over zealous with spending, regardless of the party they belong to. 4. On a little better note, Our new governor is making a name for herself, at least in the State. She is now auditing the school districts, especially the one that are crying foul at the cuts they are being ask to make. I have blogged in the past on my opinion of the budget and the schools, so scroll back and find what I said if you don't know. The audits are being inspired by a fact that came to light recently where the school systems are padding the numbers of "special ed students" so they can get more money, then using the overage for other things. Sounds a lot like government bodies don't it. Well, Governor Martinez is trying to put a stop to a lot of those kinds of things. Kudos to her. 5. In case you haven't noticed, the world is going crazy. Mothers killing their babies, children killing their parents, husbands and wives killing their spouses, kidnappings, murders, rapes, crooked cops, condoms being offered to pre teens, and wrong being called right, or at least OK. And that's just the news. TV programs are worse. 6. Considering all this just makes me want to find a cave somewhere and go into hiding. With a good book, of course. And That's The View From The Ditch Bank