Random Notes

First of all, this:

Not me... I pay the bastards sumthin' nearly every year.  But (a) let's not flog dead draft animals and (b) I'd take the gas, were it me.

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This is interesting:

Longer Fifth Generation Horizon: The Air Force needs to "look hard at its timeline" for acquiring an all-fifth generation fighter fleet, and maybe accept a fourth generation-plus force for a longer period, said retired Gen. Ron Fogleman, former Chief of Staff, Wednesday. "We shouldn't give up on being a fifth generation Air Force. I think we just need to change the horizon," he said in an address sponsored by AFA's Mitchell Institute for Airpower Studies in Arlington, Va. Fogleman said he's worried that the Air Force has essentially placed "all its eggs in one basket" by embracing the F-35 strike fighter "so completely." He said: "I have no doubt that someday the F-35 will be a marvelous airplane." But "I don't think our Air Force can wait" until then. He said he doesn't think the Air Force will ever buy the F-35 in the numbers it has planned (the program of record is for 1,763). "That's the first thing that nobody will admit, but it's kind of a universal truth," he said. "As soon as" F-35 unit reductions come, the aircraft's "price is going to start going crazy," asserted Fogleman. By the time it becomes obvious in about eight to 10 years that the F-35 plan won't play out, "it will be too late," and the production lines for "several pretty good legacy fighters"—the F-15, F-16, and F/A-18E/F—will be shuttered, he said. "They'll go dead about the time that we wake up," he said, noting that he'd "like to set an alarm that says we ought to wake up a little earlier." The Super Hornet should be in the potential mix even though "heaven forbid, the Air Force would ever buy a Navy airplane," said Fogleman.

—John A. Tirpak

That's from the Usual USAF Source, of course.   Gen. Fogelman is correct... one need only look at what happened to the drastically reduced F-22 buy to see what's in the cards for the F-35.  It's the same scenario but with bigger federal financial issues in play (it's the deficit, dummy!).  But Dang, General... USAF flyin' a NAVY fighter?  Have ya lost your mind?

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Remember back in February when I was whining about ruining my rather expensive stock pot?  Well, Occasional Reader Deborah said this about that:

Invest another $2 and buy a gallon of white vinegar. Pour the entire gallon into the pot and fill it the rest of the way with water (filtered water, if possible). Bring it to a boil, slap the lid on it, if it has one. Let it set for 24 hours, then try cleaning it again. The vinegar will dissolve and break up the calcification; it should come clean with a little scrubbing.

I did exactly that yesterday and the pot came clean, completely and totally, with almost no scrubbing.  This is all the more amazing since I basically quit cleaning the pot after I bought a new one... we're talkin' about two months of calcification here.  But I now have two... count 'em, two... eight quart stock pots.  Thanks, Deborah!

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It's mid-April and I still don't have a 2012 calendar on my wall.  I'm beginning to think I really don't need one... except for the fact that it bugs the Hell out o' me to see December 2011 every time I stand at the sink.  I prolly should take the old calendar down and just be done with it. 

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I cleaned house yesterday and thought seriously about breakin' out the tripod and taking a few pics o' me vacuuming, dusting, changin' the bed, yadda, yadda.  I was gonna use 'em in a new EIP feature titled "Pr0n For Wimmen" mainly because we know how wimmen are.  I still might do that.  There won't be any cross-dressing, though.