The Thing About Luck

I get very tired of being told I am lucky. As was said before, I find that the harder I work the luckier I am. If you think success is too easy for some then raise the bar. They will be back there again and again.

My Father had a meager education but a monumental ambition and he turned out to be... "Lucky." My Mother grew up in the same dead end hole in the wall end of the county as my Dad and she was determined to see more and learn more and she was also, "lucky."

I do feel lucky to have grown up around that determination and ambition. Set a path and pursue it. Make your own luck and maybe you can drag the rest up the hill with you instead of letting them drag you back down it.

Tony Hines

The Old Man and the Tea

There was an old man and woman who did not know each other sitting on opposite ends of a bus stop bench when an angry and disheveled young man plopped down between them.

He went on about how he hated the city they were in and he hated the pollution and rude, selfish people. The he said he couldn’t take it anymore and was going to Chicago. The old man chimed in and said you’ll hate it there. There is lots of pollution and the people are rude and selfish. The bus came and took the young man away. The old man and woman still sat quietly.

Next a cheerful and bubbly young woman came up singing a tune and sat between them. She said hello to them and went on about what a pretty day it was outside and how excited she was to be moving to Chicago. She lamented leaving the quaint little town and the wonderful people but she was still very excited to go somewhere new.

The old man smiled, nodded and congratulated her. He told her he had lived there as a young man and that she was going to love the city, the beautiful skyline and all the wonderful people. The bus came and went taking the sweet young lady with it leaving the old man and woman.

The older lady then asked the man where he was heading. He replied nowhere really. “I just like talking to people who are heading somewhere new,”

She apologized for listening in and asked why he just told the angry young man that Chicago was awful and then told the beautiful young lady how nice it was.

Then the old man spoke. “I have been around the world several times and loved every place I have been. The one thing I have found everywhere I went was me. I had to go to places and do things I never wanted to do but ‘I’ was there with me no matter where I went and I could never leave me behind or arrive without me. That young man sees darkness and he will see it there. The young lady sees sunshine and she will see it there because his darkens and her sunshine are both within themselves.” Then he asked, “So where are you headed this fine day?”

She replied, “I was going to Chicago for a change of pace. My husband died a month ago and I can’t seem to find peace until just now. I think I will skip Chicago and have a cup of tea across the street. 

Will you join me?”

The old man smiled and said, “of ‘course. I love tea.”

Obama and Lincoln

Funny how people want to compare Obama to Lincoln. At first blush I am recoiled by the idea because history writers have made Lincoln into some kind of hero because he got shot in the head. Lincoln did more to destroy the rights of states than any president Then he divided this country to the point of war and during that war more Americans lost their lives than in every war we have fought before or after. Maybe Obama and Lincoln are more alike than we think they are. So far Obama is right on course to be the second Lincoln. I wonder what his death toll will be?

Green Energy

When it comes to green energy solar seems to be the panacea.  It is limitless and at current standards works but with the improvement of batteries and collector technology it seems the sky is the limit.  For solar to be successful though we have to have a paradigm shift.

Currently the solar technology push is following the old tried and true.  In a central location build a massive array of equipment and collect as much energy as possible and then distribute it for a profit.  There are so many things wrong with this they are too many to mention but I will cover a couple.  The biggest is that it requires upgrades to our aging electrical grids, the other is a insane amount of real-estate it take to make a centralized collection facility.

For solar to work is it has to be a distributed and specifically decentralized system where much smaller collection systems are used right at the location where the power is needed.  The advantages to this are huge.  The largest economic advantage is that is requires zero upgrades to the grid.  As a matter of fact it greatly reduces load on the grid making it much more dependable.

This system requires collectors on every house and building along with batteries and some rewiring.  When there is no sun light you will still want to be on the grid for backup.  In most municipalities the local utility is required to buy back your excess power so that is even an attractive notion as well.

Back to the grid for a moment though.  Think about a large neighborhood.  Let’s say for discussion purposes that exactly 25% of the houses face each of the four directions and they don’t want to look at the ugly collectors on the roofs so they have to be placed on the back of the house.  During part of the day you may not have a perfect angle but during the other part you will and during some seasons it will be better for one house than another but they are all right across the street from each other.

When your house is at the perfect angle you are creating more than you need and your neighbor is getting the excess others generate or at least a little sip from the grid if his is not at the right angle.  In this model power does not have to be transmitted across huge ugly lines from one end of the country to the other because most of the poser is generated locally.

This is the solar model of the future.

Norton Booker, Broken Triangle Regatta 2015

Check out this little video.  I just pieced a few clips together from the ride.  We were on a Melges 24 captained by Kenny and crewed by Amy, John, Spencer and myself.

We won first place overall by about a half mile and had a great time averaging 10 plus.  Top speed was 18 knots.

Video of the race

At the 9:30 spot in the video you will see us round Theodore Channel marker 10 and the race is on after that.  At 13:00 you will see us passing boats like they are sitting still.  At that time we're doing between 14 and 18 knots.

At the 13:40 area you see us nearly dump the whole rig.  The GoPro flips and at looks at the mast head for a minute and then all there was left to video record was us zipping away from the fleet.

I put the beginning, just leaving the dock at the end.  If you watch it all the way through you will get to see Kenny's catlike reflexes save the day or at least the paint job at about the 16 minute mark.

Leukemia Cup Regatta 2015

Middle Bay Light Race 2015

Quick little video of Middle Bay Light Race on board Starfire.  I just cut to the deploying the chute and then dousing it to round the lighthouse.

The Water is Your Mother

The Water is our mother.  Since we climbed from that primordial ooze a few million years ago we have been drawn back to her like a child.  She is always there.  She loves us, feeds us, treats us to unbelievable beauty.
Sometimes she takes us home.

She has no malice.  She gave us life and she can call us home any time she chooses.  Fair winds Mikey.  We will miss you.

Dogs are great role models

Dogs are great role models. They really just wanna hang out with you, almost any time. I can walk through the house and ask if anyone wants to go to the store and it's a fifty-fifty crap shoot if any humans will go with me and even then it's mostly so I will buy them something. Once the dog hears the word "go" she doesn't even care where, she is up and at the door. She would rather ride in the truck but she will walk with you too, either way. If I could take the boat to the store she would be in heaven. She doesn't care if I buy her anything or not. She just wants to be your constant companion.

Sometimes you tell people things and they kinda judge you on it and even hold it against you and even tell other people even though they swore they wouldn't. Dogs never tell your secrets. They never judge you either. They don't care what color you are, if you are tall, short, skinny or fat they just want to be with you.

Both of my dogs are black. I have never seen them get upset because the neighbors dog is white and he seems to dig them too. Completely non-judgmental. My neighbor on the other side has dogs of every shape and size and color. Some of them are rescues and so are my two dogs. I've never seen any of them make fun of each other and never seen the ones who are purebred look down on the rescue dogs. They just run up and down the fence and bark each other into exhaustion.

I think about their character, loyalty and energy and I am humbled. I pride myself on matters of integrity and loyalty but I believe I would be a miserable failure upside my dogs. They are not pure bred, the idea that I even know that shows that I have prejudices. They are not expensive or flashy and noticing that tells me I am materialistic and I scold them at times just because they love me so much that they want to lick my face. I need to relax a bit. 

I love my dogs and I respect them so much. I pray that one day I can be so loyal and honorable as either of them. We should all strive to emulate our finest friends. Not he butt sniffing in public part but the rest of it. Give your dog a hug and a good massage and tell him you love him because they are the best of us and while you may or may not be able to teach them a new trick, we can all learn a lot from an old dog.

Dauphin Island Race 2015 #HellOnTheBay

Dauphin Island Race 2015 | Garmin Adventures

Hell on the Bay

As for yesterday April 25th on Mobile Bay I just have to say one thing. Several hundred men and women went to the Bay to compete in a regatta that has a 57 year tradition where, up until yesterday, no one has ever been lost. There will always be a lot of second guesses about everything we and others do in life. What could we have done differently? I guess that is a healthy question but I do have one succinct answer. As for us and our crew I wouldn't change one damned thing. Everyone on our boat was unscathed and the boat is undamaged. We're hearing reports of wind readings sustained in the 70s and 90s. Could we have done something different or better? Hell if I know but at the end of the day we managed the best possible outcome and that is a boat full of family and friends who were all safe. Lives were lost yesterday in #HellOnTheBay but second guessing will not change a single thing.

The FDA Strikes Again

I would like to pay a hearty and well deserved thanks to the FDA. They have made the most effective and cheapest sinus medicine available so hard to get that they may as well have banned it. Pseudoephedrine is the most effective, cheapest and safest allergy treatment anywhere. (period) Because some crack head wants to make meth out of it is simply not my fault nor is it the fault of the millions of allergy sufferers out there today. In typical liberal progressive fashion they decide to attack the rights of the masses rather than to punish the actual persons who exhibit deviant behavior. Thanks again FDA! Thanks again for making the point that the government cannot be trusted to look out for the rights of the masses. Thanks again for proving exactly why we the people do not trust you the federal government.

The problem with liberal guilt

The problem with liberal guilt is that they don't want to own it. They feel bad so they give something away. It's kinda like this. A liberal and a conservative are walking down the street when they see a pitiful homeless guy approaching. The liberal opines about how bad he feels for the guy and the conservative says the homeless guy should, "get a job." Then the liberal has an idea. let's do something for him, you know give him a few bucks. The conservative exclaims that he will just drink it but pulls out a $20 anyway and hands it over. The liberal pulls out his wallet and explains he is low on cash and borrows a $20 to give to the homeless guy. The conservative just walks away with the full understanding that all he did was blow $40 and the liberal walks away feeling like he really did something good. Liberalism as a current ideology requires two things. One is avoiding responsibility and the other is guilt. This guilt is not for the believer but a sack of burdens he can heap on another person at any time to advance any agenda. You keep your baggage and I will keep my $40.

Drill, Baby, Drill!

With all the news about American becoming energy independent I keep hearing people say that it won’t matter or change anything for us here in the US because it is a global market. People who say that are incorrect at best and wrongheaded at worst. The first of the arguments is that it will not change the price at the pump because it is a global market. This may actually be completely true but it has nothing to do with whether it makes a difference or not. When you pay $4/gallon for gas the service station gets a cut, Exxon gets a cut and the federal government gets a cut but where does the remaining 40% of that go? It goes to the people who drilled, pumped and owned the oil at its source. It creates jobs there and supports the economy or governments there. I would much rather create a million jobs in North Dakota and Canada than in Saudi Arabia wouldn’t you? Those wage earners in Canada, The US’s very best ally, and those citizens in the Dakotas and other states spend their money here. In other words a lot more of it stays home if the fuel came from here in the first place. The other side of this is one that is more important than economics. It is national security. Once the US can procure, pump and refine its own fuel the Middle East becomes a lot less important to us. In short, I would rather pay $4/gallon for US oil than for imported oil that supports people who want to see the US destroyed.

Dolphin on Mobile Bay

Here are some mammal friends who came to play with us on the bay a few days ago. We were on board Kerri'd Away a 1988 Hunter 26.5 just out of the jetty at Buccaneer yacht Club when they came alongside and decided to play with us. The video was shot with an iPhone.

Wild Turkey

I cannot help but marvel at the wonderful healing power of Austin Nichol's Wild Turket 101 Whiskey. Around the waterin' hole we call it a Kickin' Chicken. You would be amazed at how much better the election looked through the smokey filter of Wild Turkey on ice with a splash of water!

Drooling Idiots

Adult Version, Warning! Strong Language. The PG13 version is below.

I just can’t help but get this image of the president, congress and the people of this nation is a big room like in a Stanley Kubrick film.

The president is in the middle, drooling with shit running down the back of his leg. He is surrounded by members of congress in a tight group of concentric circles and they all have piss running down their legs and are drooling too. They are just patting the president, use Bush or Obama for your visual aid, on the back and telling him how damned smart he is and what a great job he is doing as another putrid brown stain runs down his leg.

Surrounding the idiot circle is an even more ridiculous crowd wearing clown suits and holding microphones. They are the press. They are supposed to be telling us what those freaks in the middle of the circle are doing but all they do is piss down their own leg and spatter congratulatory drool all over the backs of the guys in the circle in front of them. Every now and then they look back over their shoulders and whisper some incoherent bull shit and a few instructions to the citizens who dare get close enough to see the mayhem.

We the people stand outside the circle and bitch about one of the guys in a red suit drooling and pissing on the carpet that we bought and the other people bitch about the ones in the blue suits refusing to give them more drugs to maintain their stupor.

We have no chance of seeing what is really going on in the middle of the circle and I am afraid that it is more like I just described than like what we are being told by NBC and FOX.

The government needs to stop telling us what to do and start doing what we say. They are here for us not us for them. These pundits need to shut the fuck up and let the people of this country vote for what they believe in. Don’t tell us who we get to vote for or why they are so much wiser than us in choosing candidates.

Every government exists at the leisure of its people. It is time they remembered that. If they don’t, it is going to get nasty. Nastier than what I just described.


 
PG13 Version.

I just can’t help but get this image of the president, congress and the people of this nation is a big room like in a Stanley Kubrick film.

The president is in the middle, drooling with feces running down the back of his leg. He is surrounded by members of congress in a tight group of concentric circles and they all have urine running down their legs and are drooling too. They are just patting the president, use Bush or Obama for your visual aid, on the back and telling him how smart he is and what a great job he is doing as another putrid brown stain runs down his leg.

Surrounding the idiot circle is an even more ridiculous crowd wearing clown suits and holding microphones. They are the press. They are supposed to be telling us what those freaks in the middle of the circle are doing but all they do is pee down their own leg and spatter congratulatory drool all over the backs of the guys in the circle in front of them. Every now and then they look back over their shoulders and whisper some incoherent nonsense and a few instructions to the citizens who dare get close enough to see the mayhem.

We the people stand outside the circle and complain about one of the guys in a red suit drooling and urinating on the carpet that we bought and the other people gripe about the ones in the blue suits refusing to give them more drugs to maintain their stupor.

We have no chance of seeing what is really going on in the middle of the circle and I am afraid that it is more like I just described than like what we are being told by NBC and FOX.

The government needs to stop telling us what to do and start doing what we say. They are here for us not us for them. These pundits need to shut up and let the people of this country vote for what they believe in. Don’t tell us who we get to vote for or why they are so much wiser than us in choosing candidates.

Every government exists at the leisure of its people. It is time they remembered that. If they don’t, it is going to get nasty. Nastier than what I just described.

Total Breakdown in Logic and Math

FOXNews.com - Health Bill Extends Wage Tax to Investments

First of all. Anyone, ANYONE who tells you that insuring 30 million people will save you money is a f*&^ing liar. They are not mistaken, they didn't forget to carry the three. They are lying to you.

Take a look at the five ways these imbeciles intend to lower the cost of medical care.


Projected revenues from the tax increases over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation:

-- The new tax on high-cost insurance plans, $32 billion.
(taxing a plan will only cause the cost of the plan to go up. This will cause the costs to go up and employers to drop the plans)

-- A fee on the makers and importers of brand-name drugs, $27 billion.
(Who do you think this fee will be passed on too? The answer is simple, the person who pays for the drugs... YOU!)

-- An excise tax on the makers and importers of certain medical devices, $20 billion.
(Who do you think this excise tax will be passed on too? The answer is simple, the person who pays for the use of the medical devices... YOU!)

-- An annual fee on health insurance providers, starting in 2014, $60 billion.
(Who do you think this fee will be passed on too? The answer is simple, the person who pays for the drugs... YOU!)

-- The repeal of a tax loophole that could allow paper manufacturers to get tax credits for generating alternative fuel in the paper making process, $24 billion.
(This makes me want to yak. What the hell does this have to do with health care? The again the Nationalizing of student loans isn't related either.)

Every one of these "revenue" streams will serve only to increase the cost of health care. This has to be the most thinly veiled, disingenuous pile of shit I have ever seen and we are going to make it law by 'deeming' that it was passed even thought it never was.

God forgive us for what we are going to do to these charlatans if they don't stop trying to steal our country.

The Snake and the Rose

There was a snake lying in the grass next to the most beautiful rose. A young man passed by looking for a flower for his girlfriend and even though the rose with the snake next to it was the most beautiful he chose another one just to be safe. He figured he could always come by and get it the next day. Each day as he came by the snake was still there and the rose became deeper, darker and more beautiful with every passing until one day when the snake was gone… The again, so was the beauty of the rose. It had wilted in the same heat that finally drove the snake away.

Prizes worth having often require a risk. Carefully pursue your dreams and do not let them pass you by.

Tony Hines
March 17th 2010