random older posts

visiting family in kansas

(in life, travel, usa, kansas from 2005)

Kansas. What an incredibly boring state. Tara, her sister Sandie, niece Destiny, and I flew from Nashville to attend her youngest sister Stephanie's high school graduation in Council Grove. Tara and I figured we'd find something to do th ... read more

is there a decent series available online?

(in culture, movies-tv-video from 2016)

Is there a single, decent series available online that isn't depraved you know, doesn't involve zombies or some sort of depressing, apocalyptic, loser view of the world? Just wondering. Thanks. UPDATE: ... and three years later, we have a ... read more

freewrite, the device for distraction-free writing

(in culture, writing, tech from 2020)

Article about it here, and the manufacturer's website here. ... read more

just cuz you cut off its head

(in life, animals, wildlife, reptiles from 2014)

Just 'cuz you cut off its head... don't assume it's harmless. Chef dies after spitting cobra he was cooking bit him on the hand... 20 minutes after he had cut its head off. Read, listen or watch the rest here: ... read more

forestry technique to avoid cutting down trees

(in life, health, environment, trees from 2020)

Japan's Ancient Forestry Technique Produces High-Grade Lumber With No Need to Chop Down Trees. The daisugi technique, like bonsai, is a forestry technique that involves heavily pruning the mother tree which allows narrow saplings to shoot ... read more

addicted to cereal

(in culture, humor, food from 2015)

I think I'm addicted to cereal, I said. Addicted? she asked. Yeah, I'm gonna hit the street looking for my latest fix. And by 'street,' you mean Aisle 3 at Kroger, right?Don't question my street cred! ... read more

scotty kilmer explains new car repair

(in life, help, maintenance, auto from 2019) by don

You probably can't fix it yourself, and your mechanic might not be able to, either. Almost a metaphor for our times. See Scotty Kilmer explains new car repair. By the way, this guy's great. In various ... read more

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united airlines plane strikes kite while landing at reagan national airport in 'scary' incident-- just months after fatal mid-air crash
That is one airport I will be avoiding from now on.

iowa bill would strip vaccine makers of some liability protection for injuries
Good!

one of putin's limos blew up
Just a few days after Zelensky said Putin would be dead soon.

tulsi gabbard revokes security clearances of biden, harris, hillary, more
That should be standard procedure for all former government employees.

jd vance arrives in greenland: it's cold as s--t here -- nobody told me'
What kind of dumbass couldn't have guessed it would be cold in Greenland in March?

swalwell: pete hegseth and mike waltz should no longer be in the government
Says the guy caught in a Chinese honey trap.

over half of senior canadians want liberal government, youth skew conservative
That's because seniors need social services more than young people do.

rubio says people should be proud we have a president promoting peace and the end of conflict on this planet
Unless you count Israel and Yemen.

islamist sentenced for attempting to bomb hospital
Only Israelis are allowed to bomb hospitals.

gallup: american support for israel has plummeted to lowest level ever in 25 years of polling
They are the new South Africa, and something both Lefties and Righties can agree on.

trump: colleges allowing "illegal" protests will lose federal funding, agitators will be imprisoned
Free speech only allowed when not criticizing Israel.

chinese colonel says america is going down, trump has damaged the us's reputation more than all of his predecessors combined
Wishful thinking from the Chinese military.

company does about-face after telling employees they could be fired if still single by september
Even in China, one of the most totalitarian countries on Earth, you can't be an absolute tyrant.

britain's leftist government removes portraits of churchill, wellington
In their defense, Churchill did work to ensure that World War II proceeded as planned.

cops in germany are raiding people's homes for insulting politicians
Nazis 2.0.

germany's "democracy" arrests people for insults, lies & memes
England, China and Thailand, too!

latest local posts

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featured book

The Lazy Pug Cafe

The Lazy Pug Café was a dilapidated old farmhouse abandoned years ago. A massive, ancient oak tree, Ol' Lightnin', lurked out back while the house itself served as a sad but charming reminder of days gone by. Locals were grateful someone was finally bringing the old girl back to life. Come meet pugs Daisy, Chandler and Joey! There are cats and humans, too, but it's all about the pugs! Pugs rule!

first few lines

As recently as a few months ago, the Lazy Pug Café was nothing but a dilapidated old two-story farmhouse. Set back forty yards from the road, there was a beautiful old weeping willow in front and massive ancient oak tree out back. Abandoned years ago, the estate's only purpose lately was to serve as a sad but charming reminder of days gone by. Locals witnessing its resurrection were grateful someone was finally bringing the old girl back to life.

Despite the storm moving in from the southwest, people... Give your own review HERE! Blurbs, links and more at William Arthur Holmes dot com.

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CULTURE

airline gripesheet

(in culture, humor, jokes, maintenance from 1998)

After every flight, pilots fill out a form called a gripe sheet, which conveys to the mechanics problems encountered with the aircraft during the flight that need repair or correction. The mechanics read and correct the problem, and then r ... read more

bill and tara's excellent adventure

(in culture, movies-tv-video, transportation from 2000)

It started out as an innocent attempt at dinner and a movie on a Saturday night. It turned into... Tara's nightmare!We had dinner at Schlotzsky's, each of us ordering one of their 8 personal piz ... read more

your novel blueprint

(in culture, writing, advice, novels from 2013)

Good article for writers. Writing a novel and building a house are pretty similar when you think about it. For instance, most builders or homeowners spend a lot of time dreaming... ... read more

stalin quote

(in culture, quotes, conspiracies, politics from 2021)

It's not the votes that count, it's who counts the votes. -- Josef Stalin ... read more

ice fishing

(in culture, humor, jokes from 1998)

Saturday morning I got up early, put on my long johns, dressed quietly, made my lunch, grabbed the dog, slipped quietly into the garage to hook the boat up to the truck, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. There was snow ... read more

FAMILY

update to the update's update

(in family, adoption, holmes, travel from 2007)

I went ahead and paid for the 24-hour internet connection from the room. It wasn't even double the cost of one hour. I also swapped out the flaky cable and that seems to have fixed the connection problem. Wrong. I had to call the techs ... read more

this time next week

(in family, adoption, holmes from 2007)

I'm happy to say that this time next week, we will be in Astrakhan, Russia! We leave the States on Friday, September 28 and arrive in Moscow on the 29th. Depending upon the schedule of the flights to Astrakhan, we may have to stay in Mosco ... read more

detection dogs

(in family, animals, pets, dogs from 2010)

These are no hounds. These are highly trained detection dogs used by biologists to canvass for animals, scat, rare plants and invasive weeds that are easily missed by humans. Read, listen or watch ... read more

mweh yeddum v aeroport eta ootra

(in family, adoption, holmes, travel from 2007)

You probably guessed what that means: We are going to the aiport this morning. It's probably not grammatically correct, but I ain't got no time for linguistic correctitude. :)Unlike last time when the cat kept waking me up, this time I wa ... read more