Piney Run Park Fishing Report

I think that it goes without saying that there has been no fishing going on in Maryland in a while.  Nonetheless, we walked to Piney Run Park as we were sure it was frozen.  And indeed it was.  The ice was plenty think to walk on it.

Looks like a beaver's been here.

And Charlie Brown will be here soon.

This is what the frozen lake looks like after my kids have thrown a bunch of sticks on it.

No sightings of the bald eagle, but we did see a woodpecker and some cardinals, though they are very elusive.  They must not like getting the picture taken.

Happy Birthday George Washington!

The first President after the ratification of the Constitution was George Washington who was born on this date in 1732.  That would make him 282 years old.  Happy B-Day to the original GW!!!

Some may argue that Peyton Randolph was the first President as he was the first President of the Continental Congress.  The President of the Continental Congress when the Declaration of Independence was signed was John Hancock.  John Hanson of Maryland was President of the Continental Congress from 1781 until 1782.  No Marylander has been President of the United States.  The closest to get to this position was the disgraced Spiro Agnew in the 1970's when it was cool to be a corrupt politician (Marvin Mandell, Dale Anderson, Daniel Brewster, Thomas F. Johnson) and more recently Kumar Barve, Sheila Dixon, Jack Johnson, and Leslie Johnson.

Mr. Washington, having the capital named after him, in addition to a state, and many counties, including Washington County, Maryland, also has many monuments named in his honor.  The most famous being the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.  (duh!)

Marine One passing the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.  Can you believe I caught this moment?  Was President Obama in this chopper?  I don't know.

Congress honors George Washington by draining the reflecting pool whenever they have budget battles.  Hence not a very good reflection of the monument. This picture was taken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Here is the original Washington Monument, which is located in Baltimore.  It is currently closed for repairs after years of neglect by the Baltimore City Council who refused to pay for repairs.  Eventually the structure became unsafe and they closed it.  That's what Baltimore thinks of George Washington during the O'Malley Administration.

Baltimore's Washington Monument

Next to Monticello, probably the most iconic Presidential House in the United States.

Mount Vernon in Virginia

Ken Ulman - Hero of The Mall in Columbia Shootings

I took my daughter to the Mall in Columbia last week so that she could shop for shoes for a dance.  Yes, I'm that dad.  Aren't I cool?

As you'll recall, the Mall in Columbia was where a shooting took place on January 25th, 2014.  We passed the store of the shooting, Zumiez, which has since closed.  There is an eerie aura being there.  Two people died at the hands of a lunatic there.  There was also this sad tribute to the victims written on the walls.  Many people gathered around the walls to read what others had written.  It was a silent and somber gathering.  Some just read.  Others wrote.  And a few placed flowers at the base.

However, I was a bit irritated by the words the mall had written.  The heroes are certainly the police, fire and rescue members.  They ran into the mall expecting to find a shooter and come face-to-face with him despite the dangers.  But Howard County Executive Ken Ulman?  He showed up and did a press conference.  He sat there on camera and said, "Uhm" 200 times while rocking back and forth on his feat.  How is he a hero?  Thank God for Ken Ulman!  If it weren't for him, he wouldn't have been in a press conference!!!  Ken Ulman for Lieutenant Governor, right?  Ken Ulman needs to be introduced to reality first.

How to Park When It Snows

Did you know that when it snows, you can park however you like?  The only exception is for pick-up trucks.  They can park however they like whenever they like.  Pickup truck drivers have special jackhole privileges - like tailgating, driving with your brights on all the time, using right turn lanes for passing lanes, and driving 50 mph through residential neighborhoods.

If you own a Cadillac and there's a lot of snow in the parking lot at BJ's in Owings Mills, then you can have your car sticking diagonally 10 feet out into the lane.  The funny part about this is that they old man who parked this car saw me taking my camera out and taking a picture of this.  He didn't say anything.  If he asked, I was going to tell him the truth.  "Dude, you're going on my blog for this fantastic parking job!"  I'm actually a little disappointed that he didn't ask.  Actually, I'm A LOT disappointed he didn't ask.

If you work for Conveyor Handling Company (CHC) 410-379-2700 and you drive a van, you use a hybrid of rules between a pick-up truck and a Cadillac owner.  In this case, you drive as far into the snow as you can and park diagonally out into the lane so that other vehicles have trouble passing and so that no one can park next to you.  This is often called the Car Door Dent Protection Method of parking.  And it also gets you free advertising on blogs.

As mentioned previously, if you drive a pick-up truck, you follow no rules.  You are your own person.  Check out these parking jobs from a recent Carrolltowne Elementary school activity.  Since they couldn't find parking closer to the door, they just used the grass medians as their parking spots.  And they get their picture on a blog, too!

New to Eldersburg - T&D Duct Cleaning

After several years of abandonment, the old cycle shop on Liberty Road is now occupied again, at least partially, I think.

T&D Duct Cleaning has or had a place over on Enterprise Drive near Route 97 out west of town.  Listen to me.  I sound like Waylon Jennings narrating the Dukes of Hazard.

Here's the after picture.

Here's the before picture.  Exciting, isn't it?  Remember when this was just a house?

Martin O'malley Wants To Be President

Amazing artwork by Eludius

Don't you wish you could draw this well?

Photo from Politico

If you'd like me to provide great artwork for you website, send me a message.

Photo from Politico

Can you believe I did not major in graphic design?

Photo from Freebeacon

Photo from QintonReport

Photo from Politico

I'll sell you this artwork if the money is right.

Photo by Sweenyblog

Happy Birithday, President Lincoln

I once saw a comic strip where the Australian character was talking about eye blinkin'.  The other character kept asking about his eyes until he realized that he was talking about Abe Lincoln.  Eye Blinkin'.  Abe Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President, arguably one of the best, if not the best president in this history of the United States.  Lincoln was the first Republican president and also the first President to be assassinated.  He freed the slaves, though he was criticized for his methods and his altering objectives during the Civil War.  He originally wanted to send them back to Africa.  He then just wanted to reunited the states, then he declared that they would be free.  I like to think that he 'evolved' to the correct decision.  Slavery was a great scourge in this country and he was the first President in this country with the balls to do something about it.

Lincoln was born in 1809 in Kentucky.  Kentucky?  Yep, Kentucky.  And I'm not talking about Pennsyltucky, that area between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. 

He's been portrayed by Sam Waterston, Dan Aykroyd, Daniel Day-Lewis, and who can forget the memorable portrayal by Benjamin Walker in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?  I think that was actually a decent vampire movie.

I haven't been to his birthplace yet, but I have been to the Lincoln Memorial:

Abraham Lincoln inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

I've also been to the Ford Theater where Bel Air, Maryland native John Wilkes Booth assassinated Mr. Lincoln.

Ford Theater, Washington, D.C.

And I've also been to the Peterson House where Lincoln died.  Here's the bed.

And I've also read this autographed copy of Manhunt, The 12-day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by Jamse L. Swanson.  Awesome book.

Eldersburg Mourns Passing of Habib Rahimi

If you live in Eldersburg, there's a good chance that you knew Habib Rahimi.  If you didn't know him, it's likely that you knew of Habib's Kabob and Bagel Cafe', both of which he owned.

Mr. Rahimi passed away last week after a short battle with cancer.  According to his obituary on Carroll County Times, he was born in Iran in 1950.  He eventually immigrated to the United States and opened the dual restaurant in Oklahoma Center about 20 years ago.

Sadly, the occupants of Oklahoma Center, including The Bagel Cafe and Habib's Kabob, were impacted by a late night fire presumably started in Jin' Asian Bistro.

I'm not sure if either or any restaurants in that strip mall will reopen.  I do know that the Bagel Cafe served the BEST salt bagels with cream cheese.

Sadly, I don't think I have a picture of Habib's Kabob or Bagel Cafe prior to the fire.  

California Highway Patrol Hates Firefighters

Today's Jackass of the Day Award goes to the California Highway Patrol.

You are not going to freakin' beleive this one.  The California Highway Patrol (CHiPs for those of you who grew up in the 80's), arrested a firefighter for blocking a lane on an interstate and refusing to move the truck.

Have you ever passed an accident on the road and noticed that the firetrucks are parked diagonal across multiple lanes?  Yeah, there's a reason for that.  As part of standard protocol across the entire universe, firetrucks are used to block lanes to protect them, the victims, and police officers on the scene of accidents from getting injured from passing vehicles.  Apparently one highway patrolman does not see it that way.  He must want firefighters and fellow police officers to get injured on the highway.  

The article says that there have been amends, but I suspect that this is the spin put out by the public relations offices of each department.  You know in reality, firefighters in California are now pissed off at the police. 

You should read the article because someone videotaped the firefighter getting arrested at the accident.  This is a "shaking my head" incident.

And on a side note, in the age of social media where sites want to suggest things to you that might be related, the news article on Facebook recommends that I watch "Fuck the Police" by NWA on Youtube.com.  Don't believe me?  Here it is:

Barbara Mikulski Fights So We Don't Have To Go To Bed Early?

Apparently Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski has saved 800,000 Marylanders from having to go to bed early.  And the cause?  Poor nutrition.

Thank goodness for her continuing fight to help Marylanders stay up late!

Colorado High School Administrators Hate America

Can you believe this?  You know that political correctness has gone too far when students are not allowed to celebrate the fact that they are Americans.  It may offend the people that are here illegally.  Maybe I'm offended by Greek Heritage month, which is February.  I'm not, but just saying...

Fort Collins High School, located in Fort Collins Colorado, 3400 Lambkin Way, (970) 488-8021, seems to be following the communist doctrine.  Hate America.  They're an evil empire.  But we want their money.  We're not sure why the administrators at Fort Collins hate America.  But gosh dang-it, it ain't patriotic to hate America!

God Bless America, and no one else! (Before you go all bat-shit crazy on me, it's a quote from a movie!)

A Super Super Bowl Recap

Unless you live under a rock like Maryland State Senate President Mike Miller, you know that the Super Bowl was on Sunday.  It was a highly hyped game pitting the NFL's best defense against the best offense.  It turned out to be a dud of a game, but that doesn't mean that the game wasn't memorable.

Super Bowl 48 was held for the first time in the state of New Jersey.  As you may recall, the Super Bowl was awarded to the New York City area after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  Fortunately, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie didn't close off any bridges leading into New Jersey.

The game featured the Seattle Seahawks, who represented a city that hasn't had any sports bragging rights since 1979 when the Supersonics, who are now in Oklahoma City, won the NBA Championship, and the Denver Broncos, who are managed by John Elway who's a big douche, and led by legendary quarterback Peyton "I choke in the playoffs" Manning.  One of my friends justified cheering for the Seahawks by the fact that Elway spurned the Colts when they drafted him in 1983, so he could never cheer for the Broncos.  That's good enough reason for me!

The game started off on a bad note when the center snapped the ball over Manning's head, into the end-zone, where the Seahawks landed on it for a safety.  2-0.  That's like a Mike Mussina baseball score.  The game went downhill from there.  The Seahawks won the game 43-8.  So much for number one offense. Peyton Manning maintains his playoff choking legacy.  Ho-hum.

So what about the commercials?  There was the much anticipated Doritos time machine, the Full House Oykos Yogurt, and the 1980's Radio Shack.  The Doritos commercial - dumb.  The Oykos Yogurt - funny.  Radio Shack - HYSTERICAL!!!  Did you have any favorite commercials?

Maybe the halftime show would be a hit.  It featured Bruno Mars, with an opening act by The Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Seems to me Bruno Mars should have opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  By an analysis of comments on Facebook, anyone under 40 was excited about the pop singer Mars, while everyone over 40 was psyched by RHCP.  Definitely a generational divide.

Well, the party I attended was definitely fun.  It's always good to catch up with neighbors.  Whwat are your Super Bowl memories?

January 2014 - A Month in Review

January

January seemed to start off on a sad note with the death of Uncle Phil.  Everyone remembers him as Will Smith's uncle on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  It was one of our favorite TV themes of the time.  In case your forgot it:

Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air

In west Philadelphia born and raised
On the playground was where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
And all shootin some b-ball outside of the school
When a couple of guys who were up to no good
Started making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
She said 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air'

Baltimore crime picked up where it left off 2013.  On the first day of the year the city recorded 2 murders.  A father and son no less.  At its current pace, the city should expect 730 murders in 2014, which I believe is still less than the number of murders during the Schmoke and Martin O'Malley administrations.

Another death in January was the incandescent light bulb.  Starting in 2014, it is now illegal to sell them.  In 2015, it will be illegal to possess them.  Criminal possession of these light-bearers will subject the owner to life imprisonment, which is harsher than manslaughter, but the crime of incandescent light bulb ownership is obviously much worse.

Florida State won the last (and first) BCS Championship in January beating the Auburn Tigers of Alabama and the SEC.  It was the first time a team from the SEC hasn't won the championship since 2005.  The Southeast Conference immediately protested the game.  Florida State decided to be proactive and reconcile with the SEC by misprinting the results of the game on their championship t-shirts.  Next year, Division 1 will go to a playoff format where the Yankees and New England Patriots have already clinched playoff spots.

The year's first "Stop the Presses" moment came in January when TLC sensation Honey Boo-Boo was in a car accident.  Other than being sore and morbidly obese, she said that Mama June, Sugar Bear, and Pumpkin are okay.  Interviewed after the accident, the police and press had no idea what they said.  TLC expects to show subtitles for the audience so that they can understand the conversation, which may include references to the Manper and the secret sketty recipe.

The Baltimore City Police Department lost Bishop Robinson, the namesake of their new office building downtown.  Bishop Robinson was the first African-American police commissioner in the city when he was appointed in 1984 by then Mayor William Donald Schaefer.  The city was then and still is controlled by Democrats and unions.  This is the same political party and same union that prohibited African-American officers from patrolling predominantly white neighborhoods and they also prohibited them from driving police vehicles anywhere.  My that sounds racist, doesn't it?

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (pronounced Sha-ROAN) passed away in January after being in a coma for 8 years.  Some pundits would argue that his policies were comatose for decades.  Mr. Sharon's weight was the joke of many, purported to be be 250 pounds on a 5'7" frame.  His nickname was 'The Bulldozer', though not for the amount of food he could shove in his mouth, but the machine that he used to remove Palestinian settlers off of land.

New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez was formerly suspended from baseball for the 2014 season.  It is estimated that the Yankees would save $8 billion this season with his suspension allowing them to buy all of the best players in baseball, a model they have been following for nearly 100 years.

Russell Johnson, the actor who portrayed Dr. Roy Hinkley passed away. Don't know Dr. Roy Hinkley?  You probably remember him as The Professor from Gilligan's Island.  He was 89.

First Lady Michelle Obama turned 50 years old on the 17th.  Mrs. Obama is often criticized for lacking the elegance and gracefulness of a First Lady.  Purportedly when asked about it, she told the reporter to 'shut the F**K up and mind his own G** D***** business'.

The Oscar nominations were released in January.  The nominees are de la Hoya, The Grouch, Wilde, de la Renta, and Robertson.
The Seattle Seahawks will be facing the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl in February after both teams won their respective conference championships.  This will be the first Super Bowl match-up between the two former division rivals.  Fortunately for the media, the wins were overshadowed by Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman who went all gangsta in an interview with dancing naked girl Erin Andrews.  Sherman claimed he was the best corner in the league, then said calling him a thug was the same thing as calling him the N-word.  Yeah, okay.  Richard Sherman - fine upstanding role model of today's youth.

The New York Yankees made the news again when they signed Japanese pitcher phenom Tanaka to a $155 million contract.  Tanaka, the former police detective on Magnum, P.I., is 24 years old and was 24-0 last year.  The Yankees payroll now exceeds the GDP of the state of Delaware.

Pre-teen pop idol Justin Bieber was arrested in Miami for DUI and drag racing.  We haven't been able to confirm if he was racing cars or transvestites.  Bieber's new song "I'm a Big Immature Douch Bag" will be released later this year.

The South was crippled by a giant snow and ice storm during the last week of January.  Up to 2 inches of flurries left motorists stranded on the Interstates for days and left grocery stores empty.  The Mayor of Atlanta said the city was taken by surprise by the storm, despite that the globally recognized Weather Channel resides in.....Atlanta.  Residents feared walking in the strange white precipitation, unaware of any potential consequences.  Southerners took to Facebook to defend themselves saying that they don't get snow that often, sort of like how the North doesn't get BCS Championships.  Northerners quickly gave the rebuttal that we don't need BCS Championships as we have Super Bowls.

Left-wing socialist Texas Congressman Henry Waxman announced his upcoming retirement.  After 400 years in Congress, he said he has had enough of right-wing extremism.  He seems to imply that he endorses left-wing extremism, both of which, when coupled together, bring our government to a screeching halt.

Cable new channel MSNBC reaffirmed that it is a left-wing media terrorist organization when they posted this Tweet stating that conservatives are racists:

MSNBC later apologized for being a left-wing media terrorist organization, but made no mention of changing their dogma.

Corrupt Foreign Politics for $4,000, Alex.  She was convicted of the same crime twice in Italy.  Who is Amanda Knox?  Correct! Italy reconvicted Amanda Knox for murder.  Apparently Italy is all about double Jeopardy.  Too bad the Italian economy is more about the Wheel of Misfortune.

Baltimore finished January with 26 homicides in January.  Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is mum on the crime rate in the largest city in the state he governs.  Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is fighting the crime with harsh words.  I recommend that she start using harsher words.

Finally, the national news media, when not occupied with breaking news about Justin Bieber, spent the entire month doing its best to chip away at New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's Presidential run.  The media perpetuated the use of "gate" after every scandal, this one involving the closing of the George Washington Bridge into Manhattan as possibly a politically motivated event.  The media is rightly doing its best to bring down the candidate most closely associated with the center of the political spectrum, where 80% of the voting public actually resides.  It's kind of funny how much attention Christie is getting for closing a bridge.  Will this ruin his presidential aspirations?  This is clearly worse than when another presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, ignored pleas from the Libyan ambassador that they were under attack and needed help, dismissing the event as a protest against a Youtube video.  Ambassador Stevens was murdered and dragged through the streets of the city.

Sandy Point Fishing Report

My son continues to insist that there are fish to catch in the winter.  To ease his anxiety, and get him off of my case, I occasionally take him.

He got a pair of hip waders and wanted to try them out.  I thought he'd want to try them out in a stream.  Nope. He wanted to try them out in the Chesapeake Bay.

I decided to take him to Sandy Point Park.  Shouldn't be anyone on the beach.  It was like 25°.  Yep, no one on the beach.  But there sure is a great view of the Bay Bridge, or more succinctly, the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge, named after the 52nd governor of Maryland.

I think it goes without saying that my son caught no fish.  But he got some casting out of his system.  And he proved that his new hip waders don't leak.

Sandy Point State Park also seems to be the home of the Anne Arundel County Police Department.  There were plenty of their cars around the park.  Here they are showing off their new Chevy Impala cruiser.

I found these two officers enjoying a chat in their Ford Crown Victoria cruisers.  They are protecting us from the seagulls.

Time to get a little artistic.  And did I mention that the water was REALLY cold?

I like this because of the bright yellow color against the dismal colorless winter background.

What's your favorite winter fishing hole?

New In Eldersburg - Subway Number 3

You know your town is big time when you get your third Subway.  That means that Eldersburg is big time now.

Subway opened it's third current location, and at least its 4th total location in Eldersburg.  There was one in the Carrolltown Center, which obviously closed.

There were two Subways prior to the opening of the new one in Liberty Exchange, one in the Country Village Shopping Plaza and one in Wal-Mart.  I think we now need one in Princess Shopping Center, another in Eldersburg Plaza, and one in Johnsville Station.  Then we'll  be super big time!!!