This Landlord Sucks

So after a sewage flooding incident what should a landlord do?

Remove the soaked carpet?

Cut away the wet drywall?

Not this landlord.

They're actually leaving the carpeting in, claiming they "sanitized it" by shampooing the carpet. They also claim the walls are just fine.

This is why it smells terribly there, the baseboards are peeling away from the drywall and there's visible mold now in spots. Heck, they didn't even move any furniture when they were "cleaning" the carpets, so you know how bad that's going to be.

When we pointed out some mold, their property manager said "Oh, I don't see it". Yeah, right. Maybe the toxic mold had already made him blind.

As you can guess, we're not staying there.

We're giving our notice tomorrow after spending two weeks requesting they properly remove the carpet, remove and replace the drywall and fix up the place. We've been moving our stuff out of there as fast as we can, salvaging what we can.

If they claim again that it's fine, I'm going to give them the following challenge: If it's as clean as they claim, I'm going to buy them a nice steak dinner with all the trimmings.

They just have to eat it right off the carpet.

ISIS' Man In Dearborn

One of the key mullahs exhorting Muslims to join ISIS lives in, where else? Dearborn.

Oh and he's a convicted federal felon for multiple counts of fraud.

The Detroit Free Press: U.S.: Dearborn cleric popular with ISIS fighters owes $250K for fraud

Hmm, anyone else see the possibilities of a bargaining chip to trade for Soltoff? (Yeah I know, we don't do that, at least not yet. Instead, we graciously give our enemies platforms in our own country to wage war against us).

Thursday Thunderbirds

After a hiatus due to a petulant Obama administration in administering the sequestration, The Air Force Demonstration Team, The Thunderbirds, came and rocked Thunder Over Michigan.

To say they put on an awesome display of airmanship would be an understatement.

The level of formation flying was beyond impressive.

The F-16 is a very nimble and fast aircraft, and the Thunderbirds made them dance across the sky.

Check out the biographies of the pilots on the team. These men and a woman have thousands of flying hours under their belts, including combat time. They don't just get in the planes, they wear them and make them instruments of their will.

Also check out the vital enlisted members of the team that keep the Thunderbirds flying.

The show was narrated by one of the Thunderbirds, and we also got some opportunities to hear commands form the cockpit of the lead bird as the pilot ordered different formations and movements.

If you find out the Thunderbirds are performing near you, be sure to go! It's an awesome and loud demonstration of American Air-power you won't soon forget.

I'll have more Thunderbirds pics up, so stay tuned for the next Thunderbirds Thursday.

Some People Just Like To Golf As The World Burns

President Obama seems downright insistent on continuing his golf vacations as he ignore all world and domestic events around him.

The Hill: Obama heads back to vacation after unexplained DC trip

He flew back and forth from the Vineyard at an estimated cost of 1.1 million for a briefing with Holder, who was with him at the Vinyard.

The question is why did he bother? Perhaps just to go to a party celebrating one an upcoming wedding of one of his media sycophants?

The most unusual deviation from a normal day at the White House was Obama’s dinner Monday night at Sam Kass’s home. The president, joined by deputy chief of staff Anita Breckenridge, spent nearly five hours at the White House chef’s Dupont Circle duplex apartment. It’s possible that the party may have been a celebration of Kass’s impending nuptials to MSNBC host Alex Wagner. The couple announced their engagement last September. But the White House provided no details of the meal.

Then I suppose it was back to the golf course, with a brief pause today for a statement regarding the murder of James Foley by, as labelled by Obama, Al Qaeda's, junior varsity ISIS. While it's appropriate for Obama to comndemn the death of a minor media personality, it's rather curious he did not have any statement after the death of Major General Harold J. Greene, nor attending the general's funeral.

In Obama world, supporters in the media get shout outs and statements condemning their deaths, the military gets ignored.

But hey, he's still got time to get in another round on the links.

The Airborne Obsession Of Murphy's Law - The 0-2 Skymaster

Some men obsess over guns, some cars, some women.

Murphy's Law is continuing his obsession with the 0-2 Skymaster:

A centerline thrust twin engine aircraft built by Cessna, the 0-2 served as an observation and Forward Air Controller Aircraft over the skies of Vietnam. With a push-pull design you can actually shut one engine down and keep flying, or have them both running for more power.

With a maximum speed of 200 mph and a range of 1,3215 miles, I'd reckon it'll take him wherever he wants to go quite a bit faster than in his trusty 172.

He came back after the aerial demonstration finished to talk again with the pilot and admire it:

It turns out the pilot is quite the expert on the 0-2, and assisted in restoring many to flying status on the civilian market. ML got his number, so you know what that likely means.

They are beautiful aircraft, and I suspect one will be tied up on ML's ramp sometime soon, replacing his 172.

Spaghetti Monsters - They're What's For Dinner

So I decided to make something special for the kids for dinner tonight.

I told them it was a secret so while they were watching TV I prepared these:

The kids were impressed, and had no idea how I got hot dogs right in the middle of spaghetti like that.

It's easy, and kids can be easy to impress sometimes.

Step 1: Get a pot of salted water on the stove and get it heating up to boiling, get your tomato sauce in a separate pot on simmer.

Step 2: Take Spaghetti pieces and poke them through the uncooked hot dogs:

Expect some to break and that's fine, just keep pushing the rest through, and you can also make different size monsters by evening them off.

Step 3: Place them into the boiling water and cook until the spaghetti is done, nice and floppy.

Step 4: Drain, strain, and place some on plates.

Step 5: Add the tomato sauce, serve, and get accolades for preparing a cool meal for your kids.

Step 6. Eat while you bask in the praise and adulation. Treasure the moment as you realize the teenage years are coming up fast.

Hamas Violates Ceasefire Number 11

To what should be to no one's surprise by now, Hamas again violated a ceasefire, launching rockets at Israel.

At what point will the rest of the world see through Hamas' charade and get fed up enough to let Israel do what has to be done to defend itself rather than having a myriad of worthless ceasefires that only give Hamas time to rearm and resupply?

B-24 Magic - Diamond Lil

One of only two B-24s currently in flyable condition, the Commemorative Air Force's Diamond Lil was at Thunder Over Michigan. The most produced bomber in American history and only two are still flying today.

Made famous by the Ploesti raids, this bomber fought in every theater in World War 2.

The 25th of over 18,000 B-24 Liberators built, Diamond Lil never saw combat, being damaged in a landing accident shortly after being built on its delivery flight and then used by its builder Consolidated Aircraft Corporation as a company transport.

The roar of her four radial engines was impressive.

A less well known function of the B-24 Liberator in World War 2 in addition to being a strategic bomber was its yeoman work as an anti-submarine patrol aircraft. With it's long range, B-24s were able to reach areas out of range of other aircraft and were responsible for sinking or assisting in the sinking of 93 U-Boats.

She also made a pass with the gear down:

The B-24s had many notable occupants as crew, including Jimmy Stuart and Congressman Stewart Udall.

While this B-24 was not one them, many a B-24 was built right at the home field of Thunder Over Michigan - Willow Run. At Willow Run, Henry Ford's Bomber Plant mass produced the B-24 Liberator for the allied war effort, and he turned them out at the rate of one per hour.

Diamond Lil is living history on the wing.

Ground Battle At Thunder Over Michigan

In addition to the airplanes, there were some serious ground reenactors present.
Whenever you get some reenactors together, a battle breaks out. In this case, Americans and Brits vs the Waffen SS.

It all started when a landmine flipped a US jeep, resulting in the driver getting captured by SS troops waiting in ambush.

Hand Hoche Amerikaner!

But then they see whats coming up the road:

Schiesse! Where'd all those troops come from?

Double Schiesse! They've Got tanks! Run Away!

We got 'em on the run boys!

Charge!

Let's use their guts to grease our treads!

The Germans retreat in the face of the armored assault:

Uh Oh, the Germans have brought up a Hetzer to join the fray.

Rally on der Hetzer!

The engagement becomes general:

Fire!

Advance!

The Allies emerged victorious after flanking the Hetzer with their Stuart tanks.

It was an interesting display of World War 2 weaponry and reenactors doing their thing for an appreciative audience.

Leah's Birthday Trip

To celebrate her birthday, Leah wanted a day trip.

So we loaded into the car. Jett wanted to drive initially.

He was convinced to head to the back once it was explained to him that a dog license and a driver's license are two different things.

After just short of three hours, including a spot on I-96 where traffic was at a complete standstill due to construction we arrived.

Kruse Park in Muskegon on the shores of Lake Michigan. The park is a public dog park and beach where dogs and humans can run, play in the water and hang out on the beach.

Jett didn't quite know what to make of the waves and the water constantly rushing towards him. His first time on a Great Lake

The water was also pretty cold, Leah jumped in anyways, the rest of us just got our legs wet.

Jett soon found new friends to play with:

Following their lead, he jumped in the water with the rest of them. He had a ball.

After hanging out for the day we headed home, picking up some BBQ takeout form Famous Dave's along the way. At home we had a nice meal, cleaned up all the sand from the beach that we had brought home with us and had a nice end to her special day.

Happy Birthday Leah!

Today my little girl turned 8.

She woke up excited and we had the traditional birthday breakfast of a cherry cheesecake.

For her first present, she received a Razor A5 Lux Scooter with pink grips and wheels.

She donned a helmet and I took her for her first spin (and fall) on it while walking the dog. The fall was impressive - the Razor fell sideways and she had some good scrapes on her shin and palm, but after just a few tears she shrugged it off and got back to scootering. She's already named it "Hot Wheels".

She also got a Horse Diaries book from Abby as she loves that series.

In additon she got some Waba Fun Kinetic Sand, which is very neat stuff. It's sand but it sticks together so you can make shapes out of it but it also can separate into individual grains of sand. Very neat and an interesting item - you can squeeze it for stress relief, make tunnels into it with your fingers and build sand castles that stay in shape.

A great birthday so far, and more stuff is planned for her today.

Knights In Shining Parachutes - The US Army's Golden Knights

You don't need to fly a plane to wow the crowd at an air show. You can also impress by jumping out of a perfectly good working aircraft.

The US Army's parachute demonstration team, the Golden Knights certainly impressed.

The Knight's Fokker transport at altitude with the door open and ready for paratrooper deployment:

Jumper #1 is out:

Good chute:

And landing dead center of the landing zone for a perfect precision landing.

One was good, so next they decided to double the fun with a tandem jump.

Again a perfect landing right in the center of the landing zone.

Then the rest of the team jumped and did a formation parachute demonstration:

Again, they all landed perfectly in the landing zone in a remarkable display of control and precision.

That was a very impressive display of what a team with nothing more than parachutes, hard training, and a lot of guts can do. A great and thrilling demonstration.

King Of The Rare Birds - The P-63C Kingcobra

The only Bell P-63C Kingcobra currently flying made an appearance at Thunder over Michigan.

The engine in the Kingcobra, just like its predecessor the P-39 Airacobra, is behind the pilot, and the propeller shaft ran beneath the floor of the planes' cockpit.

Note the 37mm Cannon in the center of the propeller hub, and the twin fifties mounted above and synchronized to shoot through the four-bladed propeller.

In addition to the nose cannon, the air scoop is a very distinctive feature of this plane:

The P-63 also stands out as it is one of the few American World War Two Fighters with a tricycle landing gear configuration rather than being a tail-dragger.

While the US Army Air Force considered it inferior to the P-51 Mustang, the Russians liked them and received 2,397 via Lend-lease. They were used primarily as an air-to-air combat aircraft. The Russians didn't tend to use them for anti-tank missions, preferring their native Sturmovik for that role. it was a great to watch its pilot run this rare warbird through an aerobatic display.