My baby's up for sale...

Taking a leap out there today. Listing for the BMW I don’t need to carry 3 cars through the winter, particularly since I have my eye on getting a 5-series come Spring. Pray for me guys…this is really hard for me, but it’s what needs to happen.

2008-09-23 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Amen, brother....

Jeff’s Post Seven-hundred billion dollars. Seven hundred thousand million. (edit: math > me) Give or take, that’s $2333 for every man, woman, and child in America. * * * Per my understanding, absent this package, we’d be heading for breadlines, soup kitchens, and anarchy. Viewed through that lens, it’s a bargain at any price. However, it sets a dangerous precedent for the silent majority who go to work and actually pay their mortgage they signed-up for. ...

2008-09-22 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Amen, brother.... (Comments)

Seven HUNDRED thousand million. Jeff Roberts - Sep 1, 2008 Seven HUNDRED thousand million. Yeah well not that I’ve got a fight here but SERIOUSLY!! I mean I get where they’re coming from but…..what if we just reimburse the government in cash…..can we get a foreclosed home in a vacation state that doesnt get hit by hurricanes or mudslides? Can we get a foreclosure in cherry blossom or lake forest? maybe something with a full finished basement and no radon…. ...

2008-09-22 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Funny after-the-fact...

Q: How do you know you’re nuts? A: When your insurance broker drags his feet getting a quote for you on motorcycle insurance, hoping you’ll come to your senses.

2008-09-19 · 1 min · Harold Combs

To Maria: A Father's Prayer

Beneath the walnut trees I sit amid the grass. I stare aloft, and gape At those confined in glass. The hum refused to cease. The din goes on each morn. Oh whom shall break away? That bairn might now be born. To find a place of peace, Reprieve from cage and mark. Discover life’s true course! Ignite her Holy spark. Maria, art thou mine? I know thy path is wide. God, grant me skill to give You compass deep inside.

2008-09-15 · 1 min · Harold Combs

How to predict a massive market decline...

How can you predict a massive market decline? A: It will occur 1 day after I rebalance my 401(k). Ouch.

2008-09-15 · 1 min · Harold Combs

How to predict a massive market decline... (Comments)

How does one miss an impending market decline the … Whitney - Sep 1, 2008 How does one miss an impending market decline the size of texas? Neglect to look UP. Ike. Big sucker screaming HERE I COME MERRILL LYNCH!!

2008-09-15 · 1 min · Harold Combs

What happens when you get what you want...

…or “Whitney gets car fever” So Saturday, before Ike started tearing through our area, our intrepid family went a-Cincinatti’ing. Yep, swimming pools, movie stars, and the best MINI dealership in the world. I hadn’t been to Cincy MINI since last August, when a mishap with my radiator drain plug had me driving 120 miles roundtrip for a $2 part. Whitney hadn’t been there since spring of 05, when we had the Pup in for its last dealer service. ...

2008-09-14 · 4 min · Harold Combs

Quote of the Day

…A well-managed organization in a “dull” organization. The “dramatic” things in such an organization are basic decisions that make the future, rather than heroics in mopping-up yesterday. Drucker, Peter. The Effective Executive, p. 42 I couldn’t agree more.

2008-09-13 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Movie Night...the REAL Italian Job

Now this is a movie. It’s 1968; hipster counter-culture is ablaze in Europe. Somewhere, Austin Powers is out there in his Shag-u-ar telling the birds, “Oh Behave.” And, as our story opens, Charlie Croker (Michael Caine), the world’s best thief, has just been let of of prison…. Actually, as our story opens, a Lamborghini Miura is tearing up the Alps out of Turin on its way to Switzerland, driving up roads that look 2 feet wide at something like 120 mph. I got car-sick just watching it. ...

2008-09-13 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Take that, Yegge!!

From here: Stevey’s Blog Rants Just took a typing test 106 wpm, 99% accuracy. w000t!!!

2008-09-11 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Well, on the bright side...

On the bright side, after nearly 7 months and 8.5 gallons of stain, I finally completed staining the last section of our fence yesterday, while waiting for the tow truck to arrive and cart off Beamer.

2008-09-08 · 1 min · Harold Combs

sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY

Come on down to the Combs household, folks, where you can witness (very) amateur mechanic Harold working on the old iron, attempting an amazing feat–an OIL CHANGE. That’s right…for the first few minutes, we’ll warm-up with the draining of the oil. Then we get to the feature presentation–the Two hour slog of…TRYING TO REMOVE THE OIL FILTER HE OVERTIGHTENED IN March!. You’ll gasp as you see him try the end-cap socket, followed by the Strapwrench. You’ll cry as you see him pound a screwdriver through the filter six separate times praying he’ll get it to loosen. You’ll sigh in relief as he the filter finally comes of, and swim in nausea to witness its mangled carcase. ...

2008-09-08 · 2 min · Harold Combs

sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY (Comments)

well i worked in a ship for a while and it really … Gas4Free - Sep 1, 2008 well i worked in a ship for a while and it really pisses me off when sumthing like that happens. Even in the ship there were some guys who were really good at overtightening things.. but this ones kinda funny an overtightened filter. A pipe wrench might have helped. ...

2008-09-08 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Quickies: The weekend that was...

Quite a busy weekend…I’m expecting to crash sometime today around 10am, actually. High & Lowlights: Friday, Whitney tore a ligament in her right arm. Best quote from that belongs to her doctor: “I can either tell you you’ve got a torn ligament, or I can take X-Rays and tell you you’ve got a torn ligament.” So, she’s on restricted duty for a couple of weeks. Praise report: Mom’s CT scan came back clean…the doctor said she was doing fine and had no indications of cancer almost a year after her surgery. Woohoo!! ...

2008-09-08 · 2 min · Harold Combs

And Charlie said...

“You need a hobby…that you can WALK to.” Yep.

2008-09-02 · 1 min · Harold Combs

And Charlie said... (Comments)

Is that a bus factor statement? Don’t ride or auto… Jeff Roberts - Sep 2, 2008 Is that a bus factor statement? Don’t ride or auto-x or you could get hurt and we lose all your know-how? Hmm, I may not have that much know-how but I guess the odds of ME being hit by a bus are pretty good. Church bus that is. ...

2008-09-02 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Anatomy of my week

These days, my weeks look like this: Monday: No meetings…WHEE!!! Tuesdays: One meeting at 3pm. Impending sense of doom for Wednesday approaches. Wednesdays: Meetings all day. Meetings to discuss the outcome of other meetings. Thursdays: Meetings to discuss the outcome of those other meetings from Wednesday. Find project-killing roadblock. Sit and ponder roadblock. Send email to vendor asking why roadblock exists in the first place. Friday: Managers nowhere to be found. PM takes half-day. WHEE!!! ...

2008-09-02 · 1 min · Harold Combs

Labor Day from Hell

Hoo boy, September is off to a great start. Miserable, utterly miserable. The “Net-net” (that execrable phrase our PM’s and managers use at work): When I’m tired, hungry, and fed-up, I need to SHUT THE FUCK UP (STFU). I didn’t do that. I didn’t do that TIMES 10. I “tore my ass” (lovely phrase my Mom taught me) 3 times for no good reason. I didn’t sleep well. I relaxed nary a moment, twisted up in knots for 15 separate reasons.

2008-09-02 · 1 min · Harold Combs

To A Microwave

Once there was a microwave Who served his family well. Three long years he toiled Forgotten, giving, serving He showed some cracks along the way; They patched him best they could. But then one day, he broke. They knew that he was done. To fix it? Five hundred. To buy anew? The same. The decision was made right then: It was time for him to go. Now unplugged, now unlatched, Daddy lowered him to the floor. How grimy, greasy the underside! How dusty the parts behind! ...

2008-09-02 · 1 min · Harold Combs