Making Paper

I wonder how many trees get turned into paper each year just to satisfy
the government's fondness for reports?

That's what I'm doing today, paperstuff. I would put it off longer but the
Registrar of Wills, completely clueless as to how things are done in this
lumbercamp, is talking about court appearances if I don't get a report
turned in. Sheesh. I do have a defense; the instructions for composing
this "account" are pretty vague. Turning me loose on a report without clear
instructions on what it is to include is pretty reckless on their part. I only
have a first draft at this point, but twice already I have had to stop myself
from going into how having dogs has impacted my ability to produce an
accurate accounting of the estate. (well, one was my usual, "the dog ate my
homework," excuse... and that one may reappear in the final draft)
Anyway, this has to get finished today because we'll be going to the lake
for a last kid-fling before school starts. Probably be gone until next
Wednesday.

Protest?

That's odd. On Drudge Report there's a story about protesters confronting
soldiers at Walter Reed Army hospital. The odd part is that you can't get to the
hospital unless you have a good reason to be on the base. There's an ID check,
and often a vehicle search. Something fishy sounds.

Update: Ah... It was at the medical center. The hospital is further up in Maryland.
OK, so that's believable. Also believable is that these kind and gentle liberals would
taunt wounded soldiers.

And more:
Came across this while searching technocrati on the Walter Reed story:

Thibeault, 22, of Riverside, Calif., spent about seven months at Walter Reed after his left hand was blown off by a grenade that was tossed into the Humvee he was driving through a crowded marketplace in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Dec. 3, 2003. Thibeault, an Army specialist with the 110th Military Intelligence Battalion of the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, N.Y., grabbed the grenade and tossed it under his seat. He said the grenade had a seven-second fuse, and just about the time he got it under the seat, it exploded, ripping off most of his hand and cutting up his legs with a shower of shrapnel.

His reaction was purely logical. "My buddy didn't see it, and so that's why I grabbed it. My thought process was, if it crossed over my body as I threw it out the window, it might have killed me and my buddy. If I threw it out into a crowd on the side of the road, it would have killed innocent women and children, and we would have all kinds of bad propaganda." So he ditched it under his seat, and when he pulled up his arm, his hand was pretty much gone except for his little finger. He kept driving with the hand he had left, getting himself and his buddy to safety and treatment.....

The article is about the problems faced by Thibeault in getting on with his life. It's a
situation that many wounded veterans must face. Thinking about it though, as hard as it
is to imagine that there are people in this country that would like to make that job
harder for Victor and his fellow wounded soldiers, aren't they really just gnats
to guys like these? I'm even thinking that the protesters ought to watch their step; guys
this tough can still slap them snottless, with one hand or two.

Lance

Great googily-moogily, those French are cheesed-off at Lance for taking the Tour
de France so many times. It's funny to watch, really, as now they try to spin again
that he couldn't have beat them fair and square. Anyway, this is the quote that
really tickled me:

Leblanc [director of the Tour] suggested that in the future, urine samples
could be stashed away for future testing as detection methods improve — another possible
weapon in the fight against doping.

"We're so tired of doping that all means are good as long as they are morally acceptable,"
he told L'Equipe.

"morally acceptable" to a Frenchman? I'd say the field is wide open then.

Finally Cooler Weather

and I'm stuck doing paperwork.... If anyone ever asks if you'd *like* to administer
an estate, tell them sorry, you don't speak english. Sheesh, it gets tedious. And it's
not helped by realtors, stock brokers, and accountants who all want a piece of the pie.
Thankfully, they aren't all crooks. And the people at the county Registrar
of Wills office are helpful, well, except that they're going to make me go to court
if I don't complete these forms in time. They obviously are unaware of how things
are done in lumberjack land. We wait until the sheriff is at the door.

Ah well, good news is, just one more form, then an amended form, and I'll be
caught up. I might even go out to work today... and leave the paperwork until tonight.
(late) Or maybe tomorrow...

See how it is?

Double Half-Calf Latte

A short that captures where this whole coffee thing is going.
Looking around the site, looks like most are ok for work, though they all have sound.

Mmmmm...

I wouldn't lead you astray. Best eaten when nobody else is home, so as
to avoid the inevitable "What's all that moaning about?" questions.

Top of the World, Ma

bellrock, originally uploaded by lumberjack.

Where she belongs.

at the bottom

!glugglug, originally uploaded by lumberjack.

At the bottom, giving the international, "the anbulances
won't be needed" signal.

Time Waster

Here's a great time waster if you get the time.
First catch, then throw paper into the trash can. It took soooo long to learn how to throw.
Turns out short throwing motions are best... [and don't expect to see my name on the high-scores]

Wet Day

But at least the rain has cooled things off.
So I'm doing kid transport and then real work. I kind of feel blah-ish about
the real work... taking time off sort of poisons the work ethic thing. Still,
I know I'll feel more enthusiastic once I get out there with a chainsaw, destroying
mother nature. Watch out birdies, look out squirrels, your houses are coming down.

Update: The squirrels and birdies get an el passo. Rained out I was.