Two Quizzes
You’re getting warmer. Remember, possessive pronouns don’t have apostrophes but contractions do. Oh, and word processing grammar checkers often lie.
When there is nothing else to write about, you can always take an online test.
There are two in this feature. The first is “Are you gooder at grammar?”
I am embarrassed to admit that I only got 81% on this. Maybe I should whine about trick questions.
This one is heavy on the words that sound alike, but are spelled different. Whose/who’s, your/you’re, and its/it’s are prominently featured. I should know that one is possessive and one is an contraction using a verb. One complaint is the lack of an answer page. This prevents one from learning from mistakes.
| What Religion Would Accept You
Your Result: Buddhism
Enlightenment will be yours, devout Buddhist. You will achieve transcendence through meditation and Kung Fu. You have a deep and abiding respect and knowledge of the balance of nature and all living things. Cool. You like a ninja…only magical. :O |
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| Hinduism |
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| Obscure Cult |
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| Atheist |
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| Jewish |
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| Cristianity, Casual |
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| Muslim |
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| Christianity, Firebrand |
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| What Religion Would Accept You See All Our Quizzes |
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The second half of this double feature is “What religion would accept you?” Some of the available options were better here. Like question 3: 3. What created the universe? a god /some gods /big bang/ beats me When did it become such a sin to admit that you don’t know?
As some of you know, I am a recovering Baptist. I have numerous issues with the business of Jesus Worship. However, I am too occidental to be a Buddhist.
So guess which religion this test assigns me? Yea, up there with half of Asia. Couldn’t I just settle for an occasional dim sum?
A problem with many online quizzes is the multiple choice format. You wind up making the least wrong choice, or the Lester of the four evils. I was amused by this option: 11. Do you live as you were raised? Of course, everyone else EATS their children/ Largely/ People do that?? There was a cartoon once. There was a meeting of the Adult Children of Normal People. There was one person in the auditorium. So I should be a Buddhist. What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor? Make me one with everything.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
gooder- guider, golder, gooier, goober, go oder
Oil Shale
“Oil shale is the fuel of the future, and always will be,” goes a popular saying in Western Colorado.
There is a lot of talk these days about oil. Many blame the cost of oil on the reluctance of The United States to drill in certain parts of our territory. This view is especially popular on talk radio. Many suspect radio talkers of being on the oil industry payroll.
One of the sources of energy considered today is oil shale. This mineral is found in large quantities in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. It became well known in the energy boom of the seventies, but fell out of favor until recently.
Extraction of petroleum from the shale is a mess. Essentially, you heat the rock until the oil comes out. The process uses a lot of water, and leaves a great deal of nasty cooked rock behind.
There are some proposals to sink heating towers into the earth and cook the oil out in the ground. That sounds awfully complicated, expensive, and dangerous to this reporter.
The extraction of oil from the earth is a messy matter. It is not like when Jed Clampett fired his rifle at a rabbit and crude oil poured out . When you dig a hole several miles into the ground, lots of mud will come up and need to be disposed of. Apparently, the extraction of oil from shale is little better.
There is speculation that research into oil shale production was halted in the eighties at the request of the Saudis and the Bush Family.
Another concern is the water this production would use. As we found out in Georgia last year, water shortages are for real. The search for alternative energy must keep water usage in mind. This is also an issue with Nuclear Energy.
Microbes that Produce Oil
This morning, I was driving into work and listening to radio whiners. This was the first day of going in at 1030, and the whine tasting was in full bloom.
Laura Ingraham has been out of action for a while. Her replacement was more annoying, which I did not think possible. The lady was talking about gay marriage, and made chicken little look like an optimist.
Neal Boortz laughs at those who are apoplectic about California Marriage. He was talking about a genetically engineered microbe. This faux bug will eat waste matter, and excrete petroleum. The thought occurred that a whiner screeching about gay marriage is very similar to a microbe that produces crude oil….though not as useful
Now comes word the the Eat More Chikin cow will be leading fans in the tomahawk chop. This brings back memories of the Braves’s first mascot in Atlanta.
In 1966, the carpetbaggers Braves moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee. They built a teepee in the outfield, and installed a man in it ( he may or may not have been a native American). Chief Knock a Homa would come out of the teepee and dance when the home team hit a home run.
After the novelty wore off, and the Braves settled into last place, rumors spread that the Chief was enjoying firewater in the teepee during the games. When the home team is losing 100 games a year, this is to be expected.
In 1982, the Braves put a good team together and made it to first place. In August, the teepee was taken down. There were football bleachers in the outfield, and a teepee got in the way. After the Knockahoma palace was taken down for the season, the Braves lost 19 of 21 games. They still finished the year in first place, only to get clobbered in the N.C.L.S.
The other day I published a feature titled ” Painted Like Cows”. The search engines sent me a lot of traffic that day.
Atlanta is hometown to a fast food chain. Their ad mascot is a cow, which does not know how to spell.
So, on the Judge’s website , there were pictures of naked women painted to look like cows. Were they holding up signs that said “Eat more Chikin”?
Yahoo and CNN put together a list of ways to increase gas mileage. Most are common sense, like don’t drive too fast or tailgate. But then, horse sense went out of fashion with the buggies.
CNN has a lot of cell phone companies that advertise, and they did delete one item from the list. A study has shown that cell phone usage while driving lowers your gas mileage. It has something to do with the satellite signals going into the cell phone interfering with the electronic devices in your vehicle.
There is a blog called twentytwo words that I read. The concept of saying things with few words is to be admired. The trouble with saying things every day, though, is that sooner or later you will say something that I don’t agree with.
I have an issue with the emphasis on life after death in Jesus Worship. What happens to you after death is simply not a good focus for a spiritual discipline.
And so we find this post:
“5 observations about hell from Revelation 14:9-11—1. It’s eternal…2. It involves the suffering of those who are there…3. It is conscious suffering..4. It is God-inflicted suffering…5. It is righteous.” And in the comment thread, there is this: ”I think this is what makes the Gospel and salvation so sweet.” So, lets understand what is being said here. A “kind and Loving” G-d is going to inflict eternal suffering on his children, because they don’t agree with the ideas of one religion. And this eternal suffering (for others) is what makes this one religion so sweet.
That does not work for me.
Tough Act to Follow
The Governor was speaking to a group of reporters. He was announcing the appointment of a Black man to the Selective Service Board in some Georgia town. The reporter said it was the first Black man to serve on a draft board since reconstruction. What did the Governor think about this?
The Governor said “Gee” The screen returned to the Channel Five newsroom. The men at the desks were all laughing. The weatherman looked up at the camera and said ” Thats a tough act to follow”
Whatever you might say about Lester Maddox…and there is no shortage of bad things to say…there has never been a public official that entertaining.
As for being a tough act to follow, the next Governor was Jimmy Carter.
As for the weatherman, this reporter saw him in a parking lot once. It was raining heavily. The “Gray Ghost” looked at me with an ironic smile, as if to say “I am sorry”.
Fathers Day
This is a re-post of this story. I wrote this last year. I published this on Mothers Day.
Luther Campbell McKinnon Sr. was born February 22, 1916, on a farm in Rowland, North Carolina. Europe was stuck in a war that would change the world, and not until The United States got involved. This didn’t happen for another year.
Luke was the youngest of four children. After life as a farm boy, he went to Wake Forest University, and then came back when his Daddy died. He ran a family dairy for a few years, and went to live in New Jersey. He lived near a prison, and saw the lights in the neighborhood dim when the electric chair was used.
In the early fifties, he came to Atlanta to live. This was where his beloved sister Sarah stayed with her husband and two daughters. One day he went into the C&S bank on 10th street, and took notice of one of the tellers. A few months later he married her. Jean Dunaway was his devoted wife for the rest of his life.
At some point in this era he started selling shoes. He would go to warehouses, gas stations, and wherever barefoot men needed shoes. He was “The Shoe Man” .
Before long there were two boys, and he bought a house, then another. The second house is the current residence of my brother and myself, and is probably worth 15 times what he paid for it. He had the good fortune to not buy in an area that was “blockbusted” in the sixties, as so many neighborhoods were.
And this was his life. He tended a garden, went to the gym, and was in the Lions Club for many years. When he met Mom, she let him know that going to church with her was part of the deal. They found a church that was good for their needs and made many friends there. The Pastor at Briarcliff Baptist, Glen Waldrop, was his buddy.
Glen had a great story when he spoke at Dad’s funeral. Luke was selling him some shoes, and said they would be so comfortable you would get up an hour early every day to wear them.
A few weeks later, Luke asked Glen how he liked the shoes. ” The shoes are great, but I am about to die from lack of rest”.
When I think of the character of this man, there is one night, which stands out. My brother was away at the time. The day before, Mom had discovered she had a detached retina, and was in the hospital awaiting surgery. Her job had arranged a “leaf tour” by train in North Georgia, and she got one of her friends at work to take me. There was some mechanical trouble on the train, and it did not get back into town until 3am Monday morning. And yet, Daddy stayed at home, did not panic, and had faith that all of us would be back soon, which we were.
Through all the struggles of his life, Dad was cheerful, laughed a lot, and was good company. He left me with a rich repertoire of country sayings, and had many stories to tell. He was surprising mellow about black people, if a bit old fashioned. (In the south when I grew up, this was highly unusual).
Dad was always in good, vigorous health, and I thought he would be with us for a long time. Well, that is not how things work. A cancer developed in his lungs (he did not smoke), and spread to his liver before it was discovered. After a mercifully brief illness, we lost him on February 7, 1992. This was a few months after the Braves made it to the World Series, which greatly surprised many of us.
In your Ear
One of the regular stops on this computer is EarthtoDavid. ETD is a country man living in Opelika, Alabama. Recently, he started a “fitness journal”.
Now, there are two ways to see this sort of blogging. You can say it is narcissistic and ignore it. Or you can read and enjoy it. Both answers are correct, which is the beauty of the Internet.
Part of this journal is the songs on his mp3 player while he walks. Now, I have a thing about listening to the world when I am outside. As I commented: “I like to walk and bicycle. However, I do not own an mp3 player. I like to listen to the birds, wind, and the freight trains. There is so much to hear and enjoy in the world, and you miss it when you listen to recorded music.” ETD was a big enough man not to be offended by that, and the next day : ” that is what I did. It was really nice to hear the raindrops falling on my umbrella as well as the tree frogs, birds chirping, fish jumping in the water out on the lake, some swimmers out in the water throwing frisbee and enjoying a light rainy evening and seeing the sun settle down behind a thick blanket of rain clouds.”
Part of this journal is a picture of ETD at the top of the post. I began to notice to telltale wire of the mp3 player. I realize that when he is walking around the lake, he is doing it for the benefits, and not because of what he looks like. Nonetheless, I felt obligated to share this: ” One more comment about mp3 players. Going by the pictures that accompany these posts, you look better without a wire hanging out of your ear.
I have a bit of history/baggage here. I worked for a long time across the room from an earplug listener. His desk was in front of my work station, so when I was doing my job I was looking at him. He looked like an idiot with that reverse colostomy bag hooked up to him. There is a lot more to this story…he was an abusive Jesus Worshiper …but seeing hundreds of hours of him listening to his preaching tapes was the icing on the cake.”
Life is a matter of personal connections. You connect things to people in your life. And so it is with earplugs and the Professional Jesus Worshiper. ( I see Jesus in the words and deeds of his believers).
When you are seen listening to an earplug at work, you are making a statement that you do not like what you hear there.You want to listen to something else. Sometimes this is not a big deal, and may in fact may be a good thing. However, when you are in a viable customer service position, and you feel you are making a statement by listening to “The Word of G-d”… It is a gesture of disrespect to your employer and co workers.
The material on the reverse colostomy bag was NOT the Word of G-d. An argument could be made that the sound of birds singing is.
Spell check suggestions for this feature.
Opelika- apelike, angelika, ophelia, Pelican, copeland
visable- viable, disable, visible
Painted Like Cows
I recently decided to use initials to refer to the Presidential Candidates. Here is why:
01.Initials use fewer keystrokes than names.
02. BHO looks like a do gooder agency that fights hunger. JSM looks like a conglomerate. There is poetry to both.
03. This is a subtle reminder that the H in BHO is Hussein.
04. BHO is 246 on the telephone keypad. JSM is 576.
05. BHO is ahead of JSM in the alphabet.
06. Mrs. O is a lawyer, accused of being a communist. Mrs. M is an heiress, accused of being a drug addict.
07. BHO supported a loudmouth preacher. JSM dropped napalm on Vietnamese children.
08. A Judge got in trouble about pornography on his website. There was an image of naked women painted to look like cows.
09. BHO and JSM have shady friends.
10. Even if we drill in wilderness Alaska, we will still run out of oil. We need to develop other sources of energy.
11. A radio whiner asked whether BHO’s supporters should support him, just because he is the same color. I ask the same thing about JSM and me.
12. BHO smokes cigarettes. JSM has had skin cancer.
13. This was written on Friday the Thirteenth. It has been a pretty good day, numerological superstition aside.( Or maybe that is ignorance of numbers, rather than knowledge).
14. BHO lived for many years in Chicago. JSM has been tortured in North Vietnam.
15. Nuclear Energy is big government. It is dangerous, requires constant supervision, and the fuel can be used to make weapons. None of this is true about Solar.
16. If we had invested the money in Solar that has been invested in Nukes, we would be using solar power for our needs. The government, banks, and oil companies do not want to lose control of you.
17. BHO used marijuana and cocaine when he was young. JSM liked to party before he went to Vietnam.
18. BHO is married to his first wife. There is controversy about JSM and his first wife.
19. BHO sounds better than BO. There is no equivalent for JSM, and we should be fair.
Connect the dots
I had assumed for a while that JSM was assured of Georgia’s electoral votes. A few days ago, I wrote in this space that Georgia was so red that it glows. But looking at these stats from CL, I begin to wonder:
Amount Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign has raised in Georgia: $1,305,275
Amount Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has raised in Georgia: $2,458,219
Number of votes Obama received in 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary: 704,247
Number of votes McCain received in 2008 Georgia Republican Presidential Primary: 304,751
Number of votes Sen. John Kerry received in 2004 Georgia Democratic Presidential Primary: 293,265
This years primary was after a year of campaigning, and had much more interest than the 2004 primary. This accounts for some of the increase in voters, but there is also the BHO charisma. The dude is a rock star. He has people fired up in a way that JSM can only dream about.
The first two lines are what tell the story. BHO has raised $2.4 million smackers, and it is not the fourth of july. The man is going to be able to put up a challenge in Georgia. And even if he does not win Georgia, the Repubs cannot take us for granted this year. The GOP will have to make an effort in Georgia. This will take resources away from the Repub effort in traditional battle states like Ohio.
Black voters are a big part of the electorate in Georgia. This block should go overwhelmingly to BHO, and turn out in large numbers. Lets open the calculator and see what we see. Lets assume that a million votes are cast in Georgia. If 30% are black, and they all go for BHO ( remember, this is not reality, just pre summer speculation), then that leaves 70% of the population. BHO would only need 200K votes, or 28%, of the non black community.
I am not a political consultant, I just play one on my blog.
Meanwhile, JSM is starting to get scrutiny again. Operation Chaos is over, and the choice is clearly between BHO and JSM. HDRC is going to have time to bake cookies and wonder where her husband is. HDRC knows about phones ringing at three in the morning.
JSM appeared on the Today show this morning. I was beginning to take another look at him, given the issues with BHO. He said we need to be concerned about greenhouse gases, which causes apoplexy in Red America. There was talk about Nuclear Power, which is expensive and requires intense Government Regulation. There was talk about high gas prices, but no one connects the dots to the weak dollar and deficit spending in Babylon. Oh, and the surge is working. Happy talk in the press is part of the surge strategy.
JSM has a more likable personality that BHO. JSM appeared on the Glenn Beck show a few weeks ago, and the first thing he did was call Beck a jerk. I don’t see BHO reading that from his script. Maybe if I just got over this concern about the issues I could find one that I liked.
Buckhead Library
PG was doing his morning chores, and listening to the Neal Boortz show. The handsome challenged whiner was discussing the Buckhead Library.
It seems that a developer covets the land. Mr. Developer has offered $24 million for the land, and to help build a replacement book barn. There is opposition to the sale, and destruction, of the library.
The library is a “deconstructionist” facility designed by Scogin, Elam, and Bray. It is not typical Buckhead Architecture.
Mr. Boortz said the building was Fugly and should be torn down. There are reports of leaking roofs, flawed internet access, and HVAC issues at the library.
Mr. Boortz said the developer’s project was going to be fabulous, and would revitalize Buckhead. It is not unethical for developers to pay radio announcers.
Mr. Boortz said the only reason the powers that be are reluctant to approve the sale of the library is “Wealth envy”.
The Buckhead Library was founded in 1929 by Ida Williams. It got its home on Buckhead Avenue in 1942. Growing up in nearby Brookhaven, PG went to this library with his mother. By the late fifties it was a beat up building.
The current structure opened in 1990. By this time PG did not go to Buckhead often, and did not see this facility until recently. He has mixed feelings.
A recurring theme of the radio show was ugly. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, while ugly uses all five senses.
Mr. Boortz could make a freight train take a dirt road. He said the Library was ugly. This got PG to thinking about something he heard about the architects.
PG once knew a former associate of Merrill Elam. This person had uncomplimentary things to say about Ms. Elam. These comments included an unkind assessment of her appearance.
The website for the firm does not have a picture of her.
Bakers Makers Fakers
PG was in an office when he walked by a conversation.
Two men and a woman were discussing the Lakers and the Celtics.
One of the men started to say something.
The woman cut him off, saying “I wasn’t talking to you”. .
PG knew it was none of his business, and he carried on as if he had heard nothing.
But it made him sad to know that people treat each other so badly.
PG used to work at a place called Redo Blue. Almost every day, people would stand in front of his work station and talk. If PG so much as looked at them, he was verbally abused “I wasn’t talking to you. I am warning you, I am a recovering thug and I am about to relapse”
Why do people feel the need to treat their neighbor this way? Why are so many of these people Jesus Worshipers?
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
Lakers-takers, makers, bakers, fakers, lasers, layers, lagers
BHO on the issues
So Barack H. Obama is going to run for President. The long suffering former first lady threw in the towel, and now it is BHO against that other guy.
Lord, this is going to be a long election. The right wing has shown their love of slander and dirty politics for the sheer fun of it. While I think it is cool that a dark skinned man is running, unless common sense is shown by some this could get ugly. Being threatened with urban riots if BHO loses is one sure way to turn people to JSM.
Georgia is so red that it glows. The electoral votes here are almost certain to go to JSM. This being America, you can always make your voice heard by donating money.
Our local monopoly ad-rag has printed a selection of positions taken by BHO. A word of thanks to Neo Prodigy for steering me to these. I seldom buy or read the fishwrapper these days, and would have missed this otherwise. Likewise, if a similar position rundown is printed on JSM, I would like to see and comment.
IRAQ.. has said the goal of increasing troop strength so Iraq’s leaders can establish a stable government has failed. Would remove all U.S. combat brigades from Iraq within 16 months of taking office, except some to protect our embassy and diplomats. ON THE COST OF WAR..”I will spare no expense to ensure our troops have the equipment and support they need … But we also have to understand that the more than $10 billion we’re spending each month in Iraq is money we could be investing here at home.”
This is the most important issue of this election. The war in Babylon is empowering Iran, bleeding our economy white, and putting the future of our country in doubt. JSM wants to keep us in Babylon for another 100 years, while BHO wants us out ASAP. Both are clueless.
There are agreements in place that will require American presence in Babylon for the foreseeable future. We are riding a tiger there, with no good solutions in sight. If we withdraw, the countries (USA and Iraq) go to hell. If we continue like we are going, we will be broke and in no position to help ourselves or anyone else. I don’t know what to do here, and I hope that whoever is elected has a clue. I doubt it. CUBA…calls for the U.S. to loosen some restrictions on Cuba to encourage it to move toward democracy. The present policy in Cuba has resulted in fifty years of Communist rule. Maybe it is time to try something else
TAXES… would create a tax credit of $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family, for up to 150 million workers; and simplify IRS tax filings for millions of Americans. ECONOMIC STIMULUS.. would index minimum wage to inflation; invest in job creation, training and manufacturing HEALTH INSURANCE.. would make a national health insurance plan available to all Americans and a National Health Insurance Exchange as a watchdog group for all private insurance plans, ensuring fairness and afford ability. SOCIAL SECURITY… is opposed to privatization and would work with Congress on a payroll tax reform package to keep Social Security solvent. ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY..”If we unite this country around a common purpose, if we act on the responsibilities that we have to each other and to our country, then we can launch a new era of opportunity and prosperity.” Anything BHO proposes will have to be approved by Congress. While some of these ideas sound good, they may not work in real life. There is a difference in being a charismatic stump speaker and getting your ideas enacted.
STEM CELL RESEARCH… favors relaxing restrictions on federal financing MARRIAGE… opposes a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, supports civil unions. ABORTION… has consistently defended a woman’s right to choose. DEATH PENALTY… supports the death penalty in cases “so heinous the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage.”GUN CONTROL… favors measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners while keeping guns away from children and criminals. CAMPAIGN FINANCE… supports public financing of campaigns combined with free television and radio time to reduce the influence of special interests.
EDUCATION… would reform No Child Left Behind, expand Head Start programs and make math and science education a national priority. Ah, the social issues. BHO says what he thinks his base wants to hear. A lot of these are up to the states,or the congress, and the POTUS has little say. The radio whiners should have a good time lambasting him here, but their fifteen minutes may be over. HOMELAND SECURITY… would improve security for chemical plants, keep better track of spent nuclear fuel and upgrade security for public drinking water systems.
GLOBAL WARMING… would reduce carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050, invest in clean energy technologies, reduce America’s foreign oil consumption and address climate and environmental issues with the United Nations The homeland security position is common sense. Mr. Bush created a bureaucracy after 911 that has done little except eat up money. My only concern would be that our rights need to be protected while this security orgy is going on. As for GW, an 80 percent reduction by 2050 may be too little too late. As long as the oil companies,banks, and China run the show, there is little hope for genuine progress on this front. IMMIGRATION… would improve security at borders; supports legalization for undocumented workers after they pay a fine and learn English; and favors a guest worker program. Supports giving legal status to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, who finish two years of college or military service. TRADE… would fight for a policy that opens up foreign markets to support American jobs, amend the North American Free Trade Agreement to favor American workers. This is another issue where you have to say something. Whatever you say will be savaged by the right wing media. Whatever you propose must be enacted by congress. Just tell people what they want to hear, and do whatever the money tells you to do later.
I don’t know who put this compilation together. I suspect it is a functionary at the fishwrapper. There are some important issues that are not mentioned here. Some of these are the war on drugs, Race relations, repairing Bush damage to the Bill of rights,infrastructure repair, water supplies, balancing the budget, Internet neutrality, the electoral college, outsourcing, Supreme Court appointments, and war profiteering. BHO probably has positions on these matters.
Good Neighbor Day
PG had lived by the Airport for most of his life, but had never attended the “Good Neighbor Day”. The event is an open house and an air show, held every june at the PR challenged Peachtree Dekalb Airport. Guiding his bicycle past the cars lined up to park, PG heard a few stray notes off a PA system. Years of training told him that the song was the national anthem, which means he was just in time.
Chaining the bike to a railing at the main terminal building, PG started to look around. The tent with the food was doing a brisk business. Many of the attendees were in a uniform. After watching the honor guard and the planes taxi in formation, the place to be seemed to be on the other side of the fence.
A nice feature of this event was being able to go on the other side of the runway fence. Many vintage aircraft were on display,as well as a modern era Blackhawk helicopter. The Blackhawk is big and fierce, and could eat a weatherman helicopter for breakfast.
Before long the airshow started. PG found it to be not interesting. While the turns and stunts were fun to watch once or twice, before very long they all looked the same. This was very good flying.
PG has always enjoyed having an airport for a neighbor. The facility can be controversial, and PG appreciates the groups that keep it in line. However, the noise has never been a problem for him. Many of the people who complain about the noise knew they were moving in next to an airport.
A much touted feature of the afternoon was a sports car race on runway two. When it happened, the professional driver was way in front of the two radio announcers. There was little excitement.
PG has now been to Good Neighbor Day at Peachtree Dekalb Airport.
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