Super Bowl Teams are Set

With 10 minutes left in the game it looks like it will be Seattle and Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XL. The bus gets to go home to Detroit. Looks like a great match up. Here's my one minute drill on the past week:

10. We had a little earthquake in SD.
9. Still waiting to hear from the painter on when they can start our house painting.
8. We're still on line to go to Italy in April.
7. We need a new printer...can you buy "just a printer"? Seems like everything out there is 17-in-1 stuff.
6. Try buying a good quality electric frying pan... does anyone know of a good one?
5. Did anyone watch the hurt that MSU put on Iowa this Saturday? I caught the final score...go Green!
4. What is the deal with the new lines head coach? Anyone think he can win in Motown?
3. Is anyone out there prepared if we the "bird flu" strikes?
2. What's up with Iran? They have always been a pain in our a$$e$. But I guess we don't need to worry... Israel seems to have a plan.
1. Who are you betting on in the Super Bowl?

Beast of the Road

Well since we got a vehicle stolen, I am taking the "beast" out of the garage and up to 29 Palms this week. At a whopping 17-22 mpg combined with sluggish handling and twice the car length it should be a real treat. It will be a good time to bring back my bowflex.

On another note church service yesterday was great and the sermon renewed my spirit. Praise God!

We went to see the Chronicles of Narnia at UltraStar (early bird matinee). We saw a diffrent version while on Guam years ago. This one was very much true to C.S. Elliott and the first version- but much more graphically exciting. Asland, the Lion, Looked real. It was an allegory of Christ and the battle of good and evil... (it's hard to believe Disney was involved).

I am really enjoying "podcasts" with my new ipod. Some of my favorites are:

* The Enlightened Spartan
* Bleacher Guy Radio
* Bolt Talk
* Naked Scientist
* Tips from the Top Floor
* More Hip than Hippie
* Travel With Rick Steves
* Your Earth

Well that's all for now. Here's a photo to leave you with:


A Year-round Waterfall in Rancho Bernardo near Lake Hodges. I went on a hike- got lost and then "found" the correct trail that took me to this nice waterfall that emties into the Bernardo Bay portion of Lake Hodges in Escondido.

Have a great MLK day.

Who Knu about Bird Flu?

Q- How long has this bird flu business been around?
A-

21 May 1997... Bird flu virus H5N1 is isolated for the first time from a human patient in Hong Kong. The virus infects 18 patients after close contact with poultry, with six deaths. Fortunately the virus does not spread from person to person. Within three days, Hong Kong's entire chicken population is slaughtered to prevent further outbreak.

28 Feb 2003... Outbreaks of chicken flu occur in The Netherlands due to the H7N7 avian flu virus. By April the virus has spread to nearly 800 poultry farms and resulted in the culling of almost 11 million chickens. The virus infects 83 people causing conjunctivitis and flu-like symptoms, and kills one man. The drug Tamiflu helps protect people against further spread of the virus.

Dec 2003.... South Korea has its first outbreak of avian flu in chickens, caused by H5N1.

Jan 2004... Japan has the first outbreak of avian influenza (H5N1) since 1925. WHO confirms H5N1 infection in 11 people, eight fatal, in Thailand and Vietnam, but no cases of person to person transmission. The virus has wreaked havoc among poultry in Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea, and has also appeared in a duck farm in China. WHO is developing vaccine candidates using H5N1 viruses isolated in 2003 and 2004, at laboratories in the U.S. and U.K.

6 April 2004... Avian influenza virus H7N3 confirmed in two poultry workers in British Columbia who developed flu-like symptoms.

June 2004... Tests on chickens and mice show that avian flu H5N1 virus isolated from ducks in 2004 is more virulent and harmful to mammals than in recent years.

Aug 2004... H5N1 is reported to have killed an additional three people in Vietnam.
Chinese scientists report H5N1 avian flu infection in pigs, raising concerns that the virus could exchange genes with human flu strains in this 'mixing vessel'. H5N1 virus has spread throughout most of SE Asia, resulting in the culling of over 100 million chickens. In Vietnam and Thailand, the virus has infected at least 37 people, with 26 deaths.

Nov 2004... WHO warns that the H5N1 bird flu virus might spark a flu pandemic that could kill millions of people, and is concerned that "much of the world is unprepared for a pandemic" and needs to enhance preparedness to reduce its potential impact. WHO officials meet with vaccine makers, public-health experts and government representatives in a bid to speed up the production of flu vaccines to avert a global pandemic.

Dec 2004... WHO reports the first human case of H5N1 in Vietnam since early September.
Sequencing of the chicken-genome (published in Nature 9 December 2004) may help provide insight into which genes prevent the spread of bird flu from person to person. Since the beginning of 2004, bird flu has caused the deaths of 32 people in Vietnam and Thailand, and millions of chickens across Asia.

May 2005... Rumours of human deaths in China from H5N1 remain unconfirmed, while the virus has killed more than 1000 migratory birds. Indonesia's government confirms reports of H5N1 infection in pigs.

July 2005... At the end of a three-day conference in Malaysia, World Health Organization officials announce that $150 million is needed to fight the spread of the disease in people and another $100 million to stop its spread in animals in Asia. The Philippines, so far the only Asian country unaffected by bird flu, report their first case in a town north of the capital, Manila, but do not confirm whether it is the H5N1 strain. On 29 July, the World Health Organisation confirms that samples from an 8-year-old girl who died on the 14 July, two days after the death of her father, who was Indonesia's first confirmed human infection of influenza A (H5N1).

October 2005
Greece becomes the first EU country with a bird flu infection as the country's Centre for Veterinary Institutes detects bird flu in one turkey on the eastern Aegean island of Chios. Officials confirm the virus is a member of the H5 strain, but not yet identified as H5N1.
The WHO reiterates that the level of pandemic alert remains unchanged at phase 3: a virus new to humans is causing infections, but does not spread easily from one person to another.
On 13 October WHO states that tests conducted by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) confirm the presence of H5N1 avian influenza in samples taken from domestic birds in Turkey. Days later, the presence of the virus is confirmed in Romania.

Billboards from God

Perhaps you have seen these before. Created by The Smith Agency of Ft. Lauderdale, this advertising campaign graced billboards throughout South Florida from September 1, 1998 through November 30, 1998. It featured the 18 messages below- all signed by God. The person who contracted the billboards remains anonymous.

Messages from God
1. Let's Meet At My House Sunday Before The Game. – God
2. C'mon Over And Bring The Kids. – God
3. What Part of "Thou Shalt Not..." Didn't You Understand? - God
4. We Need To Talk. – God
5. Keep Using My Name In Vain And I'll Make Rush Hour Longer. – God
6. Loved The Wedding, Invite Me To The Marriage. – God
7. That "Love Thy Neighbor" Thing, I Meant It. – God
8. I Love You...I Love You...I Love You – God
9. Will The Road You're On Get You To My Place? – God
10. Follow Me – God
11. Big Bang Theory, You've Got To Be Kidding. – God
12. My Way Is The Highway – God
13. Need Directions? – God
14. You Think It's Hot Here? – God
15. Tell The Kids I Love Them. – God
16. Need A Marriage Counselor? I'm Available. – God
17. Have You Read My #1 Best Seller? There Will Be A Test. – God
18. Do you have any idea where you're going. – God

Ponderable thoughts. . .

Top Twelve "Big Picture" Things to Think About for 2006:


1. Avian Flu. Is the World Health Organization correct on it's pandemic predictions?

2. U.S. Spying? I can understand the paranoia about terrorist plots and agree that we need to know what the "bad guys" are planning. But where do you draw the line on "spying on your own citizens"... and... who decides who the bad guys are?

3. Green "hydrogen fuel cell" cars. Last year the talk was of Hydrogen fuel cells- well- I'm still excited. What's the progress and when will we start seeing these "H" cars on the road? That might be the biggest news... it would give us environmentally friendly cars --- and--- stop our dependence on foreign oil. Get with it--- we put a man on the moon and it only took a decade.

4. It's the economy stupid. Where is the housing market going and will we slip into a recession without Captain Greenspan at the helm?

5. What will happen in Iraq? I've heard that we'll be over there (militarily) in one form or another for 50 years. I'm concerned that some people just can't handle democracy and self-government and that perhaps it's the Iraqi people. Some people just need an iron-handed dictator! Seriously- they need to step up and take control of their own country (and I mean the good guys- not the insurgients!).

6. President Bush. Jeez he's been in the job for five full years... just how much more trouble can G.W. get into? Last year we had:
a. spying
b. flopped cabinet & supreme court appointments
c. Hurricane Katrina/FEMA problems
d. North Korea
e. Iraq
f. Tom Delay
g. Iran
h. Kyoto Accord failure
i. Scooter Libby, Carl Rove and Leaky Lips
j. ________________

What other crap can the President (with help from our left wing media) step into in 2006?

7. Global Warming. Fact: the earth is getting warmer. Fact: We burn fuels that put carbon in the air. FAct: CO2 holds in the heat and warms the earth. (I don't care if it's cow poop or burning coal- it is still warming the air). Why is that hard to understand? Sign the Kyoto Accord dammit--- and stick to it. All these huge companies are making huge money and polluting the air while doing it. They can still make money (okay- maybe a little less) and clean up the air. JUST DO IT-- now before it's too late.

8. Genetic engineering. Where is this technology going? Is it responsible for some of the weird diseases and things going on in the world? Not to go conspiracy theory on you but- I hope some mad scientist isn't trying to create a master race... ala Adolf Hitler.

9. Child Molestation and Child Rapists. If you follow the news this sort of shit pops up every day. It's usually some backwater scum from Florida or Alabama or some fruitcake weirdo from California... but it continues to happen throughout the U.S.A. Weak sentencing and "therapy" for these predators doesn't seem to be working. Don't treat it as a disease- treat it as the horrible crime that it is. Their behavior is something that we cannot tolerate as a society. There is a permanent solution. CASTRATION. We need to castrate these bastards so they can't molest and can't father any more children. The slogan could be: "No more Molesters- the World needs more Eunuchs."

10. Terrorist held in Cuba. We are going to have to decide what to do with these guys. Are they POWs? Are they Terrorists? Are they guys caught on the wrong side of the lines? We're going on three years for many of these guys held in captivity... DECIDE.

11. Future Energy Sources. Where is it going to come from in the future? Solar? Wind? Oil? Nuclear? Hydrogen? Keebler elves? Seems like some smart guys should be studying this and giving some recommendations. (BTW- it shouldn't be guys who are paid by the big oil companies).

12. World Wide Terrorism. This could have the biggest impact in 2006. Imagine if all the terrorists that are now bombing the citizens of Iraq were left to do their stuff in the rest of the world. The one thing they have in common besides a fanatical fundamentalist Muslim belief is that they absolutely HATE us (Westerners or in their vernacular- infidels) ! What happens if they decide to export their thinking overseas to America instead of keeping it "all in the family" over in Iraq? That's a scarey thought!

All's well. Bring on 2006 !

Well it's Tuesday and we've survived a stolen car and some rather wet weather. The eldest's car was stolen a few nights ago, while he was visiting a friend. That's a pretty lousy way to start out the new year.

Replaced a dead car battery today and also helped our neighbor re-light her water heater.

I have been enjoying my ipod. after loading some music on it... that's a job... I have started exploring the world of podcasts. There are some very interesting ones out there... everything from music to world history.

Looking forward to the NFL playoffs? Who's your favorite? I think it will be Indianapolis and Seattle in Detroit for Super Bowl XL.

Any opinions on the name ....




for a publishing company?

Leave an opinion if you have one.

Caoi Bella

Prospero Ano Nuevo

Hope everyone made some high powered New Year resolutions. I have and hope that when year 2006 ends I will be able to look back and see my accomplishments. The coming year offers many challenges to me and my family. My wife and I both will be pursuing new jobs, one child is at college and another will finish high school and go off to university.

How about you? Are you planning on anything exciting for the new year?

See you later.... Happy 2006.