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Well, our white lab, Blanco, was unfortunately run over several months back.  After weeks of constant requests my wife took the only tactic that she knew of to get a new puppy.  First, she located one of the breed that I wanted and then sent my five year old daughter to do the begging.  It eventually worked.  Against my better judgment we got a Great Pyrenees pup.  She was named Bow (don’t forget that W) and she was quite hyper. 

Alas, she also was recently run over after just a couple of months of living at our house.  Rory was once again heartbroken and cried loudly.  It broke my heart.  As fate would have it, a huge storm knocked down a pine in our woods and came into contact with our house.  The tree took out a small part of our deck, bent an end of the guttering, and tore down my dog’s lead line. 

Thunder, my dog, was caught up and tangled in all the pine limbs that destroyed his lead.  I had no other option but to let him go.  For those that don’t know, Thunder is quite large and has to be kept up due to his chicken killing habits.  He also is quite old, almost 20 “human” years. 

Thunder’s age has started to catch up with him.  He is stiff in his rear end and not even as fast as he used to be.  This poor dog has been quite particular with whom he would socialize.  I was almost the only one he allowed petting.  This changed as I got married and he decided that Becky would be ok, but still not quite sure of the kids. 

Now that I have been unable to have him on the lead in the past few days, Rory has been doing nothing but petting, hugging, kissing, and tending to the giant dog.  He has all but mended her pain of the puppy dying.  Even RaeLynne has gone nuts over him.  Thunder has reciprocated this affection.  I have never seen him act the way he does with anyone else but me.  I am happy for them both and that my old dog has become such good friends with my daughter.  They are quite happy to be around one another and it makes me happy to see that.  Nothing like a little girl and a giant dog. 

As I was up looking for an open teaching position, I was cruising the usual sites and came upon this job opening.  I am not sure I want to tackle this one.  What do you think?

TEACHER – DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hogsmeade, United Kingdom (map)

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Job Details

Job ID: 47663
Application Deadline: April 1, 2011

Re-posted: April 1, 2011
Starting Date: Immediately

Job Description

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a specialized secondary boarding school for first through seven years, is looking for a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher starting as soon as possible. Applicants should be aware of the dangerous nature of this position. Hogwarts will make no comment as to whether or not this position may have been cursed by You Know Who. Experience with Trolls, Boggarts, Acromantula, Dragons (specifically a pesky Norwegian Ridgeback living in the Forbidden Forest), hags, ghouls, and the occasional Sphinx.
Responsibilities in addition to teaching first through seven-year students will include protecting a certain special student (initials: HP), refereeing Quidditch games when needed and maintaining the secrecy and protections spells around the castle. Please let us know if you are interested in becoming the Head of House for Slytherin—that would be greatly appreciated. (And, yes, we will give a pay raise if you accept that duty. They are bloody awful children.)
Job Requirements:
• If there happen to be any “mishaps” there is to be no communication with Rita Skeeter of the Daily Prophet. None.
• The skills to adapt to any situation. Use your imagination when we say “any.”
• Fostering the skills necessary for students to battle Death Eaters or any other nasties they might encounter
Application Process
• A practical exam is required (we have had previous teachers [NB: Gilderoy Lockhart] who were simply not up to standards)
• Resume including OWL and NEWT test scores
• Two recommendation letters from respected witches or wizards. No goblins (sorry).
• Please direct materials and any questions to: Minerva M. McGonagall
Deputy Head Mistress
Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Witchery
Owl Post Only, Please

Position Type: Full-time
Positions Available: 1

Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!

Hogwarts is a coeducational, secondary boarding school, taking children from ages eleven to eighteen. Education at Hogwarts is not compulsory, with some students being home schooled.
The school has numerous charms and spells on and around it that make it impossible for a Muggle (i.e., a non-magical person) to locate it. Such people cannot see the school; rather, they see only ruins and several warnings of danger. The castle has extensive grounds with sloping lawns, flowerbeds and vegetable patches, a loch, a large dense forest, several greenhouses and other outbuildings, and a full-size Quidditch pitch. There is also an owlery, which houses all the owls owned by the school and those owned by students. It should be noted that some rooms in the school tend to "move around", and so do the stairs in the grand staircase.
Source: Wikipedia Learn more about us…

Equal Opportunity Employer

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws.

Job Requirements

• Magically trained with a fellowship in the Prevention of Dark Arts and Activity
• Sanity intact
• Can NOT be cursed—applicants will be disqualified and dismissed if any evil activity or inclinations in their background is discovered.

Application Questions

There are no application questions required for this job posting.

Contact Information

HR (NOT HP) at Hogwarts
Location not disclosed
Hogsmeade, United Kingdom SW1E 6AF
Phone: 020-7766-7300
Email: click here

I found this ad on Schoolspring.com.  At least they have a sense of humor.

So I heard about this online game called QWOP.  I heard about how hard and completely insane this game was and just had to try it out.  I will have to agree with the majority opinion on this one.  The basic idea of this game is that you are the sole representative in the Olympic marathon for some small nation.  You only have four buttons to worry about…the Q W O P buttons.  These simply control the muscles in your legs.  I tried it for a while and simply decided that I will never be a marathon runner anyway and thus the game is stupid.  So there, how do you like those sour grapes?

But I urge you to give it a try.  Go ahead and beat my record setting 12 meters.  lol

Try the game here.

QWOP GAME

Check out this marching and their awesome performance.

So, I was playing Halo Reach yesterday and Rory asks if she can play.  I reluctantly tell her yes as sharing is the model that needs to be taught..right?  Well, after she is done and long since in bed I decide that since I cannot sleep that I might as well play a little Halo.  As I log in a nice little message from Xbox displays on my screen

“This Xbox has been temporarily banned from earning credits”

Ok, it is just a game no big deal.  The more I thought about it, though, the madder I got.  I was not mad at the not being able to obtain credits, but the label that was implied.  Wait a second, what label?  Xbox nor Bungie either one seemed to have an explanation as to my crime or the duration with which this ban will be held.  At this point I am getting pretty mad.  I search thoroughly throughout both sites.  I dig and read and find no means of learning my crime.  Worse yet, I cannot find a way to contact either party in order to rectify the situation.  I am sure I will get some Indian guy speaking some accent I cannot understand to the tune of “too bad, it is all automated and I can’t help you”.  But I want my chance to speak my case, plead my side, or at least yell at someone for the injustice of my being a role model and sharing my game with my daughter.

I guess what I am left with is simply a warning to all of you out there.  If you plan on letting your children play your Xbox, Microsoft and Bungie are watching and that don’t want you to share.  Buy an Xbox for your child for themselves and then they can get banned and you can keep your information safe.  Yeah that will satisfy all parties.  So are these things cheap yet?

I recently bought a Hershey bar at Wal-Mart and the idea occurred to me that it looked like it was smaller than I remembered.  I suddenly felt cheated as I take my chocolate very seriously.  I began to investigate and learned some interesting fact about the beloved Hershey bar. 

The Hershey bar was first introduced in 1908 and named after the founder of the company, Milton Snavely Hershey.  He was already an accomplished caramel maker and business man.  He had been curious about the proper way of making milk chocolate.  This was a recipe that was heavily guarded by the Swiss.  Through some research and mainly trial and error he came upon the recipe that is so loved by all ages today. 

It is hard to believe that all this started in 1900 shortly after Hershey sold his caramel company for $1 million dollars.  In 1900 he introduced the Hershey bar and shortly thereafter he brought out the Hershey Kiss.  So, has the Hershey bar gotten smaller while the price continues to go up?  ACTUALLY…I will let you see for yourself.

[1908] 9/16 oz…..2 cents
[1918] 16/16 oz…..3 cents
[1920] 9/16 oz…..3 cents
[1921] 1 oz…..5 cents
[1924] 1 3/8 oz…..5 cents
[1930] 2 oz…..5 cents
[1933] 1 7/8 oz…..5 cents
[1936] 1 1/2 oz…..5 cents
[1937] 1 5/8 oz…..5 cents
[1938] 1 3/8 oz…..5 cents
[1939] 1 5/8 oz…..5 cents
[1941] 1 1/4 oz…..5 cents
[1944] 1 5/8 oz…..5 cents
[1946] 1 1/2 oz…..5 cents
[1947] 1 oz…..5 cents
[1954] 7/8 oz…..5 cents
[1955] 1 oz…..5 cents
[1958] 7/8 oz…..5 cents

[1960] 1 oz…..5 cents
[1963] 7/8 oz……5 cents
[1965] 1 oz…..5 cents
[1966] 7/8 oz…..5 cents
[1968] 3/4 oz…..5 cents
[1969] 1 1/2 oz…..10 cents
[1970] 1 3/8 oz…..10 cents
[1973] 1.26 oz……10 cents
[1974] 1.4 oz…..15 cents
[1976] 1.2 oz…..15 cents
[1977] 1.2 oz……20 cents
[1978] 1.2 oz…..25 cents
[1980] 1.05 oz…..25 cents
[1982] 1.45 oz…..30 cents
[1983] 1.45 oz…..35 cents
[1986] 1.45 oz…..40 cents
[1986] 1.65 oz…..40 cents

So as you can see the Hershey bar actually has gotten bigger.  Then I guess my appetite has grown as well.  I guess I will have to settle for the King Size bar to satisfy my craving.

All of these facts were taken from:

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/hersheybar.htm

http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq5.html#candybar

This is a very old video that I remember watching when I was a kid.  I found it sad then and just absolutely heart wrenching now that I am a parent.  I cannot watch this without a lump building in my throat, even though I have seen it close to 100 times since its release.  There are several adaptations of this song and video.  This is, however, the one that I prefer as it was the first one that I saw. 

So after a long wait and many vain attempts to “getting around to it”, I have finally gotten my truck mobile again.  This all started when I got the truck stuck in a massive mud hole on a rainy day.  The truck had to sit in the small pond overnight and was only able to get out with the aid of two four wheel drive trucks pulling it out.  Unfortunately, this overnight stay in a puddle of water worked its way into the front gears and pushed all of the grease out and thus the truck without lubrication in the gear housing broke the gears off like twigs.  But hey, the motor is still good right?  Ok, I am getting the newly purchased junk yard special for the front end and start the truck up and low and behold the engine is throwing water.  It is not throwing water out of a hose or a normal place, but from the block.  Apparently, my water pump had quit working when I winterized the truck and there went a perfectly good small block 350.  sigh.

Here is where most would just give up on the rusty old truck and scrap it.  I,however, like my rusty old truck and commenced to fix it.  I got a motor out of a Camaro and front end from a Blazer and this past summer put the beast back together.  I have posted several pics from the fixing up process.  It took a lot of time and much help from friends and family.  Pete even helped to do the finishing touches to get the motor started while I was at work.  Complete with forgetting to put oil in the engine.  I wonder why there wasn’t any pressure?  LOL.  I will never let him live that one down.  Thanx to all that helped and as soon as I get a few little quirks, like brakes, fixed I will be back at it again.  Man these mudding work trucks absorb a lot of money.  But it is worth it.

And this is how the whole thing started.  The truck has a least a five inch lift so my little floor jack will not pick it up.  Thank God for cherry pickers.

Here is the new front end complete with steering shock.  I didn’t even have that on the old one.  Score!

I pulled off the old heads and made sure to keep things in order since I would be reusing them.  The Camaro engine had throttle body injection and thus the head angles and intake from the first engine would have to be placed on the new motor.

I placed the new motor on an engine stand and stripped it down in order to replace all gaskets and seals.  I also took this opportunity to clean it up and make it look less like a collection place for oil leaks which it had many.  Now, I am glad to say, it appears to have none.

I had always had trouble keeping the old engine from overheating and I think I found the reason why here.  Notice the blockage of the precious water journals in the heads.  I suspect whenever the engine was rebuilt at some point in time that the wrong gaskets were used.  A simple and potentially costly mistake as this motor calls for two different kinds of gaskets.

The new motor fully reassembled and strung up by the cherry picker.  In the end I had to reuse the old heads, oil pan, harmonic balancer, pulleys, original pulley system and intake with four barrel carburetor.  I really do like to do stuff like this and the sight of this thing reassembled makes it that much more exciting.

After getting all of this done I put the truck’s four wheel drive to a little test out in the woods next to my house.  It worked splendidly.  Rory could not pass up the opportunity to have her picture taken in her daddy’s old truck. 

Some of you may notice that there are some changes with my blog.  Most of which are so subtle that even I cannot tell the difference.  That was kinda the point.  I have had to switch blog servers due to the reasons listed in previous entries.  Hope you guys liked the eyeball, it drove some people nuts.  Anyway, thanks to some help from Nathan and some industrious relocating of the files from my blog by my wonderful sister-in-law, I now have DavesJunk back in business.  There are some issues left unresolved.  There are some nuisances left to fix and some items left to repair from the previous blog.  I hope you guys are as excited to have this back going as I am.  I have several entries that I have missed and some that have waited to be published.  I look forward to posting these and many more to come.  I also encourage comments, I love to get them.  Let me know what you think of the blog and if you have any constructive ideas. 

Dave

Well, thanx to a tip from my brother in law, I found out that my web site got hacked the other day.  My question is simply “Why?”.  It was hacked by a group called Indonesian Hackers (spelled differently).  Okay, I know my website is must read info and all, but why would some group want to hack a site mainly devoted to my family and motorcycle exploits.  We are just that important to national security or something, right?  Anyway, I opened my site to find a totally black screen and something like an eye looking around the page..

I have to admit it was pretty cool looking except for the ominous message of “You are owned by Indonesian Hackers”.  Owned!!??  Really?

Anyway, long story short.  I called by brother and he fixed it in no time flat.  Thanx bro.

Have you all ever had anything hacked?  Let me know about it.