Where are the flea markets

What flea markets are around Racine these days...true flea markets, not 7-mile Fair...I have some friends coming up who would love to go to a flea market or two.

And the best place for a fish fry is?????

Thanks, folks.

Southern Charm

Two informally dressed ladies happened to start up a conversation during an endless wait in the LAX airport.
The first lady was an arrogant California woman married to a wealthy man.
The second was a well mannered elderly woman from the South.
When the conversation centered on whether they had any children,
the California woman started by saying, "When my first child was born, my husband built a beautiful mansion for me."
The lady from the South commented, "Well, isn't that precious?"
The first woman continued, "When my second child was born, my husband bought me a beautiful Mercedes-Benz.
Again, the lady from the South commented, "Well, isn't that precious?
The first woman continued boasting, "Then, when my third child was born, my husband bought me this exquisite diamond bracelet.
Yet again, the Southern lady commented, "Well, isn't that precious?"
The first woman then asked her companion, "What did your husband buy for you when you had your first child?"
"My husband sent me to charm school," declared the Southern lady.
"Charm school?" the first woman cried, "Oh, my God! What on earth for?"
The Southern lady responded, "Well for example, instead of saying "Who gives a shit?" I learned to say, "Well, isn't that precious"...

Astronomy Day 2010

Tomorrow is Astronomy Day 2010 and my friends at the Modine-Benstead Observatory will be open tomorrow for you viewing pleasure. Daytime solar observing from 2-5pm and night time observing from 8 - 11 pm. It's free (although donations are accepted).

Saturn is really nice right now. I am sure it will be a featured object. Mars is up, but usually a disappointment through a telescope because it is a small planet and getting farther away from us (although I was surprised that I was still able to make out some surface detail earlier this week with a 6" scope). The Moon is a few days past first quarter so it will be bright, but still nice to observe.

Unfortunately, the forecast is not looking good for Racine. Keep an eye out for the other open house dates (usually about once a month) if this one is clouded out.

Graphs and Charts

Spokeo is Spooky

One of my facebook friends just posted this website Spokeo. Go ahead...type your name in there and see if you can find yourself.

I found myself and the information was pretty atrocious (at least the teaser info they let you look at for free...you can pay for a full report). It has several pictures, none of which are me. It got that I am single, but says my home is worth over $1 million (yeah, right!) but in a below average neighborhood (makes perfect sense to me!) I also have to go looking for that swimming pool it says I have that I must have misplaced. The lifestyle stuff is hit and miss...some right, some wrong. About what I would expect from semi-educated guessing.

Now the problem is that potential employers are searching online for info. I am not looking for a job right now, but it doesn't take much to see the problem with sites that aggregate information like this that are not accountable for its accuracy. They do have a page where you can request your listing be removed . I have found no way that you can correct your info if for some reason you want to stay listed but have the information, you know, be accurate.

Some people worry about the government becoming Big Brother...while we must be vigilant about that, corporations are effectively and with great stealth doing the same thing.

"SEC staffers watched porn as economy crashed"

"(CNN) -- As the country was sinking into its worst financial crisis in more than 70 years, Security and Exchange Commission employees and contractors cruised porn sites and viewed sexually explicit pictures using government computers, according to an agency report obtained by CNN."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/23/sec.porn/

While Goldman Sachs was betting that our economy would tank (and helping it sink, too), the regulators were watching porn. According to the article, "More than half of the workers made between $99,000 and $223,000." For watching porn.

Party on!

Four for Fridays

Hello everyone. It's Friday again! So soon? Guess so....! This week's questions are about cars.

1) What kind of car do you drive?

2) What was your first car?

3) What car was your favorite?

4) What is your dream car?

Enjoy your weekend folks!

Photos From the 50's & 60's

Go Home! Go Home!

One of the best baseball plays I have seen in a while, although traditionalists may shudder!

PIXELS

What did I do before videos on the internet?

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my beauteous bluebells! How are you? Has it been a week already? My, how time flies when you are doing the jobs of three people, but getting paid only 75¢ on the dollar for one. Oppressed sisters of the world, unite! Oh my, where did that come from? It must be all the stress of trying to run the business and raise a son and maintain a house and a hundred other things. Oh dear.

Here I am the one who is supposed to be giving advice, and I’m complaining. Well, it’s my blog and you are my dear Irregular family, so who better to tell my troubles to? “Physician, heal thyself.” Maybe, but I’m no MD, just a Certified Master Psychic. Sometimes we all need a little break from the daily grind, even when your grind is providing other people with their breaks. So excuse me while I let down my hair a little bit and take a load off.

In my line of work, I deal with the public a lot. Some days more than others, but always to some extent. They are my bread and butter, and the bane of my existence. I’ve learned to tolerate or cope with a lot over the years. But certain things just keep coming up like snake eyes on a craps table. The number one offender, in my opinion, is the cheapskate who wants a million dollar future with a fifteen dollar price tag. Sorry, sweetheart, but like so many other things, you get what you pay for with me. If you want the cut-rate version, visit the Lake Hag under South Pier, if you can catch her sober.

A related nuisance that I encounter too often is those people who are unwilling to accept their limitations. Silk from a sow’s ear? Not a problem, usually. But I cannot go against the laws of nature and turn you into something that your soul is not. I don’t transform devils into angels, or vice versa. You have to speak to a higher authority to deal with those issues. I just work here.

Finally, please don’t wait until a situation is milliseconds from doom before you contact me. I can’t undo decades of neglect in an instant. Again, that kind of thing belongs upstairs. I am capable of some quick, short term actions, but it will cost you and I shy away from the illegal stuff. (I don’t care what my ex told you!) Zoltar® brand products and personal readings and advice are for serious students of the arcane arts. If you received your 4th DUI citation and are looking for a way out of it, get a lawyer, not me. (I’m the one who could have told you about the traffic stop beforehand so that you could avoid it, but you were too cheap to pay a “dumb fortuneteller.” Ha ha!) Of course, if you are an Irregular, my services are always available to you at a greatly reduced price.

Thank you so much, my dear friends, for allowing me to whine about work in my blog this week. I love each and every one of you. Madame Zoltar watches over her Irregulars, like a bat in the Romanian night sky.

Send your comments, questions, cheers and jeers to: madamezoltar@jtirregulars.com.

Have you been listening to the sounds of the birds this spring? They are calling to you and me. They want to share with us in the joy and beauty of the season. Guano!

Photos From the Air

L-Cattle, Argentina
R-Coal Mine in South Africa


L-Sha Kibbutz,
R-Israel Military cemetery in Verdun, France



L-Suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark
R-Elephants on the savannah, Botswana


L-Favelas in Rio de Janeiro
R-Ruins of the medieval city of Shali, Egypt


L-Switzerland
R-Gullholmen, Sweden


L-Denver, USA
R-Fraser Island dune, Australia



L-Pena, Portugal
R-Amazon River, Brazil


L-Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa
R-Machu Picchu, Peru



L-Walled City of Dubrovnik, Croatia
R-The Changping District in Beijing, China


L-Cattle near the Masai Mara National Park, Kenya
R-Tasmania, Australia


L-Boat Houses in Lagos, Nigeria
R-Bazaar of Istanbul, Turkey


L-Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
R-Hashima Island, Japan


L-Stockholm, Sweden
R-Boats stranded on the dry Aral Sea, Kazakhstan


L-Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
R-Pigeon Houses Mit Gahmr Delta, Egypt


L-Varanasi, India
R-Solar plant in Andalusia, Spain


L-Easter Island, Chile
R-Epicenter of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan


L-Mountains near Jengish, Kyrgyzstan
R-Freeways in Los Angeles, USA


Louver and Ile de la Cité in Paris, France