Labor Day Camping

My wife and I are going camping this weekend and will not be near any cell phone or internet connections.  As such this will be my last blog until Tuesday.  Have a great week end and if you are going to be spending time in the mountains remember to take your trash with you and leave your site cleaner than it was when you showed up. 

LIfe is a little different with Altitude.

Little known fact: when snack chips are packaged down at sea level and shipped up here to Colorado, the bags expand like a balloon.  One time when we were driving over a mountain pass, a bag of corn chips actually exploded in the back seat with a really loud POP! 

Sometimes it would really be nice to have someone take pity on us,
          even when our dumb actions caused our own pain.                        

    Life is a little different at altitude.

Measure Twice Cut Once.

 

 As my old pappy used to say,"If you can't cut a straight line, blame it on you dang-blasted equipment!"

Another thing you can do if you get caught making a boo boo, blame the mistake on who ever is not at work that day.

If you have to take a day off from work do not fret that you are not playing an important part of the organization or that you won't be missed...Any time you are gone during a regular work day, you play a most important function.  This is when your co-workers blame you as the culprit for every mistake that happened that day at work.  It is also your God-Given-Duty to miss some family functions, after all, how can you have a family function if there is no one to talk about.

I wonder if it is like this in places like Russia?  Ivan is not here today. Good!  Today Ivan is the designated culprit who got the copier jammed last week or Ivan was the guy who forgot turn off the coffee pot in the break room and made the coffee urn boil dry over the week end. Poor, poor old Ivan.

There now you see how valuable an employee you are, even when you are not working at your job?

ACCOUNTING MOLES...

For about 30 years I worked in several corporate accounting offices.  At times I actually felt like a mole or troll, never seeing the light of day and always being really picky- picky- picky about numbers provided by other people.  To anyone who has submitted a budget, a travel expense request for reimbursements, or other forms of accounting paper work, it can give that person total dread to get a call from the Accounting department to justify or clarify your numbers.

 The above is some sketches of Marvin the Accounting Mole I did this morning.  I was going to make Marvin into a fire breathing Troll like in Dilbert but my wife suggested making Marvin a cute little mole.  Actually the way he came out it is sort of a cross between Alvin from the Chipmunks and one of the nasty little kids from South Park.  Any way,  World meet Marvin the Accounting Mole.

In this case Berry T Bunny has submitted his budget and the Accounting mole, Marvin, seems to think Berry can do better at cutting cost for Alfred Packer park and camp ground.  Do you ever wonder why it is that the government always wants to cut cost instead of finding new ways to make money? Hmmm... I guess that is just a question for the ages. Since Marvin is about half the size of Berry T Bunny (Booo-Nay) ( must be a French rabbit).
This will be continued tomorrow when Marvin and Berry start to figure how to cut government costs and still keep Alfred Packer park and Camp ground open to the public. 

Black Berries!

Sorry about this folks, the smell of black berries this time of year bring back memories of my youth and the many many hours spent climbing through black berry patches and vines.  There is no way to describe eating a black berry off the vines all dusty and dirty.  Back when I was a kid during the late 1950's living in a small town in Northern California we had no idea that we as kids were living in one of the very best areas to live as a kid since we did not know any thing else.  Black Berry vines have these giganic stickers that snag your clothes and some times after picking black berries you couldn't tell what was blood and what was berry juice.
And yes, I am well aware that black berries do not grow in Colorado but since this is a comic strip they do grow in North Park..so there! As they say this is my little corner of the world that I go to each day and forget about all the talking heads on TV, the commercials and world strive and petulance.
Hopefully you too will find your own way to get away from the rest of the world and take a moment or so each day and just be happy with who you are and where you are in life.  Peace and love etc etc..

Born 2 be Wild

Sid and Zak are back in their duds and are not soaking up some suds at a local watering hole called The Watering Hole.  A regular gathering place for after work, where co-workers can complain about work and solve the the problems of the world.  It is also a great place where you can network with other workers and find out what is going on in other departments that may one day effect your own job. 
The mountain lion's name is Thomas,  named for an old cat I once had.  We had several cats over the years and Tomas sounds so much better than Bootsey or Tinker.
The Watering Hole is a great place for Attitude Adjustment after a really crappy day full of fighting red tape and senseless regulations just to keep one's boss happy.  Sometimes it must seem like some rules were created by people who have a quota to fill of new regulations..It is the same in almost every organization and usually the only thing that is accomplished by new idiotic rules and red tape is to cause stress with the employees or members of the organization. 

Pablo's Paintings

Since this is Sunday I thought it would be fun to imagine how Pablo Picasso may have painted "Whistler's Mother.  The painting on the wall in the back ground is parts of Picasso's painting "Guernica", representing the Spanish Civil War.  I guess it must have been not unlike what is happening in Syria and this painting could actually be of Syria or any of the Islamic countries going through their own civil wars.

Stawkers

              Sometimes what is in back of us is more interesting than what has our current attention.

Sid and Zak strke back

I wonder if Barry T Bunny (Buh-Nay) notices Sid and Zak are still wearing their shades.  But of course Barry only told the boys to take off the clothes.  You got to hand it to old Sid and Zak they do follow their orders.  I wonder if there is a federal regulation about not letting bears hack into your facebook account. 

Barry T Bunny and the Wise guys

I should mention at this point, that Sid and Zak do not take kindly to some little pip squeak government bureaucrat  telling what they can wear and how they should act.  I mean how much more wild can you get that two free spirits who consider a Zen moment the times they are gazing deeply into the bottom of their empty beer bottles.
Barry T Bunny (Buh-Nay) has a lot to learn in management.  But to his credit he did learn everything he knows about management from watching American Biker.  He also secretly knows deep in his warm and fuzzy heart that he is the reincarnation of Napoleon Bonaparte.  

Barry T Bunny Pencil Necked Geek

Barry T Bunny (Buh-Nay) trying to get Zak and Sid to follow Federal regulations is akin to making Charlie Sheen to become a Catholic Priest. 
For some odd reason the federal regulation 9865-A2225 actually says that all wild animals on federal property are part of the federal government's inventory and are not allowed to drink, smoke, carrose with loose female animals and are not allowed to wear clothes (etc etc.).
Sid and Zak are based loosely on the two characters from the movie M*A*S*H, Hawk Eye and Trapper John and Barry T Bunny is kinda sorta along the line of this jerk I once worked for...but that is another story. 
It is an old story of oil and water.  Neither side can understand the other side, sort of like the Democrats and Republicans. 
Will Sid and Zak cave to Bureaucratic pressure?  I kind of doubt it, after all they are wild critters after all.

Due to Government cut backs....

The bears of Alfred Packer park and forest are getting ready for the proposed government cut backs that will hit the Nations camp grounds next year. 

There is a moral in this little gag.

                                                Moral....it is not always a good idea to poke stuff.

NUM NUM!

What's a bear to do when they can't make a buck or two from the sweat of their furry brow?
Government Red Tape is killing private enterprise...Maybe Sid and Zak should have just greased the park ranger's palm with some  dough, kick back, moolah, bucks or green backs.
I doubt Sid and Zak will stop from making a sawbuck or two on the side in the future.  Hey, a bear's got expenses to pay ...Kapeesh?

Poor Guy Chuck.

Wild Bears 101

Barry T Bunny (Boo-Nay) all knowing government bureaucrat sent from Washington DC to shape up Camp Alfred Packer near North Park Colorado.  Barry is an expert in all things wild and federal government regulations. Too bad Barry does not realize how smart and cunning our wild bears are.
While we were camping up along the Continental Divide last month a camper told me some stories about his camping in bear country.  He found that even though he would put all his food in a canvas bag and tie the bag high up in a tree the next morning the entire bag would be gone.  The bears had discovered how to untie the knots holding the bags up in the tree and instead of going after the bag would untie the bag and take off with it.  There is now a product on the market that can only be opened with a screw driver.  Now days you can see bears walking around with screw drivers just so they can get into those "Bear Proof " containers.