Uncle Walter's Rants

My regular rants about whatever I feel like.

[unclewalter23]

Flea Market in Gaithersburg is on

Weather looks good, I will be atht eh Montgomery County fairgrounds until 2pm today.  Hope to see you there!

[unclewalter23]

What a perfect world this world would be If I was President, but I'm not.

Today I was appalled at what I saw in this country.

Today I saw people who rioted and people who cheered a man who built his campaign on hate and fear while playing on people's nostalgia for a past that never existed.

Today I was amazed at the what I saw in this country.

Today I saw people unite to protest injustice, to take a stand and to state in one common voice, "We will not go silent into the night"

I have generally kept my political opinions to myself. In the real world people generally people think I agree with them. I listen to NPR and I watch Fox News. I am a Republican and a Democrat. I have seen hate and I've seen love and I've walked the narrow line of ethics to do the right thing in companies that don't. In the past months I have seen hate grow, bigotry gain strength and the children taught that some people are better than others because of the color of their skin or their gender.

I am an American and I will not let this be the new normal.

I am not going to back down. If today is lost, then tomorrow I will fight. I will not stop fighting until I make this world better. For my kids, for my wife, for all Americans. Even those who do not realize that I am helping them.  I pledge that every day I will push to make things better in some small way. I am not sure where this path will lead me. Perhaps I will become an epic twitter fiend or a member of Congress. But I will not stop until we are all safe and given the same opportunities as everyone else and no one need fear discrimination.

And I know I will not be fighting alone. We will not accept that this is the new normal.

Uncle Walter

[unclewalter23]

Buried in a book from 1896 called “My Mother’s Bible Stories” I found Ted Cruz.  I’m not sure what to make of this.

[unclewalter23]

Summer Netflix Adventure

I am a fan of good movies, bad movies and most movies. So, I've seen a lot of them.  Each summer I have tried to find new oddities. The problem is that I can't tell if I'm really going to like something or not until I get into it and at that point I'm committed to watching it. So I have devised a movie finding quest that takes it right out of my hands so I don't feel bad if I end up watching a bad movie.  I call it my Netflix Summer Adventure and this is the second year I'm going to do it.  The rules are simple, feel free to try it out your self.

Find a movie you want to see on Netflix. Maybe something you liked and want to see again or something new that you have been wanting to see.

When the movie ends Netflix will give you three choices of movies to watch.  Pick one that you haven't seen and watch it.

Repeat at the end of that movie.

If you end up with three choices you have already seen start the process over again.

It's pretty simple and can help you find some great and craptastic movies.

-UW

[geriadtric]

1987  Popular Mechanics – Ford Pickups

[unclewalter23]

I just bought a 1987 F150 only mine is blue and white

[unclewalter23]

The right way and the wrong way to transport a zombie

[unclewalter23]

A sportswriter for the Non-Sports Fan - Frank Deford

Never a fan of sports I have lived my years happily avoiding stories of quarterbacks and home runs. Dodging field goals and office pools has been a great joy to me. Freeing me to pursue nobler conquests in learning and growth without needing to know of batting averages of point spreads. Then NPR decided presented me with a brilliant speaker who, right or wrong, always drew me in with sports analogies and stories. Tales of men struggling to make the grade became something I was personally involved in.  I found myself gripping the steering wheel of my car waiting to hear the end of the latest weekly tale while parked outside my work. Not willing to leave until he completed his magical oratory.

Then, like so many things, this rare joy was taken from me.  Not completely mind you, but lessened as NPR relegated this sports commentary to a monthly slot rather than a weekly one. So now I wait to fulfill to my only sports passion once a month. Waiting to hear his eloquent voice espouse wisdom with some random sport along for the ride.

If you are a lover of sports or, like me, care nothing for the battles on the fields, you should listen to this man’s podcasts, read his books, and enjoy his wisdom.  Do I agree with everything he says?  No, of course not, but one of the greatest joys in life is to listen to opposing viewpoints and let their view strengthen yours or sway your opinion, even slightly. If you have a moment look up Frank Deford and enjoy what he has to offer. Especially if you care not for sports as I do you may be surprised in the emotion he can evoke from you.

-Uncle Walter

[unclewalter23]

Washington D.C in the very early 1900s.

[unclewalter23]

That lobster is bigger than the Apple IIe!

[unclewalter23]

Little old Uncle Walter was working one of his side jobs today and ran into a surprise visitor at a golf course.

[unclewalter23]

But I don’t want 99+ hangers!

[aescula]

Every time I see “JFC” as an abbreviation, my mind does one thing:

[textsfromunclewalter]

Uncle Walter was having a bad day.

[badromancenovelquotes]

Seriously, our lives are WEIRD.

[theonlyleftydesk]

Where does he WORK?!

[badromancenovelquotes]

In a super-secret room with spies.

Oddly enough, this is not the first time a monitor has caught fire at his desk.

It is, however, the first time it’s happened while he was there.

There is an issue with the wiring.

He could fix it (he’s good at things like that), but they won’t let him because bureaucracy.

[theonlyleftydesk]

Ah! Bureaucracy. :( that’s seriously terrifying, and weirdly Kafkaesque, in that something that catastrophic can just…happen in a workplace, and they don’t fix it… <:></:>

[badromancenovelquotes]

Well, I mean, they did buy him another monitor. That’s sort of fixing the problem, in the sense that that monitor will no longer catch fire.

I think that’s how government logic works.

[unclewalter23]

The day the monitor caught on fire I put in a help ticket to get it replaced.  The next morning I had a e-mail that my ticket was on hold because they needed more information.  I replied to ask what they needed and received another e-mail asking if I was still having the problem.  I explained that the monitor was no longer on fire so the initial problem had been solved but I would appreciate a replacement monitor so I could get back to work.  Four hours later a new one showed up.

[unclewalter23]

R.I.P. Stan Freberg, advertising pioneer and comedic genius.

[unclewalter23]

Kaiser Permanente is very supportive of the fact that I never smoked.

[unclewalter23]

[textsfromunclewalter]

[unclewalter23]