I received this email today. I mean after all, what could be wrong with this? Sounds totally legit to me. I’m betting all I have to do is put up some money as a deposit to show that I am honest and the money will start rolling in.

The truly sad part is not that people pull scams like this, but that other people fall for them.

I am contacting you for a business with my company. The company I work with
is into manufacturing of pharmaceutical materials.
There is a raw material which the company used to send me to buy from
India. Right now I have being promoted to the post of manager.
The company can not send me to India anymore; they will send a more junior
staff. The director has asked for the contact of the supplier of the
pharmaceutical materials in India .
I need a person I will present to the company as the supplier in India .
You will now buy the product from the local dealer and supply to my
company. The profit would be shared between you and I.
Why I don’t want the company to have direct contact of the local dealer is
that, I don’t want the company to know the actual price I was buying the
product.
If you are interested kindly contact me for more details.
Through this email id: philipsrichard55@hotmail.com

Thanks!
Dr Philip Richard

I posted earlier this week about problems with DC ambulances  Sloppy, Lousy Reporting. I still think the story was pretty poor and now more information has come to light. At first I thought this story, DC ambulance breaks down while transporting shooting victim to hospital was about the same shooting, but it wasn’t. In this case the shooting “victim” was a guy who decided to shoot it out with the police.

The D.C. fire department is trying to determine why one of its newer diesel ambulances broke down as crews were transporting a patient in cardiac arrest.

It happened on I-295 Wednesday afternoon as Ambulance 19 was taking a shooting victim to the hospital. Then it took several minutes for a second ambulance to arrive.

The driver of Ambulance 19 is telling investigators the indicator lights on the emission control system suddenly and unexpectedly jumped from a warning to shut down in a matter of seconds, and as the engine died, she was able to pull the rig to the side of the road.

We had these “regen” systems on our ambulances the last few years I was active and they were a pain in the neck. There are three sets of lights indicating the status of the exhaust system. Green is normal internal cleaning while the vehicle is running. Yellow indicates that the system is starting to malfunction and should be serviced soon. Red and Yellow tell you that you should have listened to the Yellow light because the system is now going to go into shut down mode.  Under normal service, the lights work progressively. The problem is that ambulances are NOT normal service. Hard acceleration, harder braking, lots of idling on and between calls. Although most of the time the system would work as designed, all too often we’d get a Yellow and Red light combination and the ambulance would either bog down and only go about 20 miles per hour or, as in the case of the DC ambulance, just shut down with little or no warning.

In May of last year, after many complaints from other fire departments, the EPA issued a directive waiving the diesel emissions rules for fire engines and ambulances.

This makes a lot of sense, what surprises me is that the EPA actually did it. That’s a different story and I won’t bore you with it.

Donnelly was unaware of the directive and said he would look into it.

What is unclear is if the emissions controls can be disconnected or the fire department would have to buy new units without them.

It was as surprise to me as well, although I don’t have anything to do with vehicle maintenance other than taking my own truck to the dealer. I wonder how well publicized this was at the time or since?

Here is a second story on the problem and the EPA response.

Furthermore, an EPA spokeswoman provided this statement: “A properly working and maintained vehicle should not shut down without adequate warning, and pollution control equipment does not have this general impact – as evidenced by the millions of vehicles on the road that have been operating with this technology for years.”

Yeah, the  millions of vehicles that are on the road and don’t have to respond to emergencies. Not so much the smaller number of vehicles used as ambulances and fire trucks, which operate under far more severe conditions than were anticipated by the EPA or the vehicle manufacturers. Maybe the spokeswoman for the EPA should read the EPA’s own comments on the problem.

The emission control systems built for diesel engines are robust and effective for the majority of the heavy-duty fleet; however, when this maintenance does not occur as designed, many engines are set to cut power to prevent abnormal conditions from causing damage or excess emissions. In this action, EPA is offering engine manufacturers the flexibility to avoid such abnormal conditions and ensure that there will not be emission-related power loss on emergency vehicles. In doing so, EPA is helping manufacturers to address a potentially serious public safety issue.

 

When I read the words “diesel exhaust fluid” I thought they were making that up. You know, like a left handed monkey wrench, 100 yards of shore line, or maybe a bucket of steam. No, they are serious and there is such a beast. Apparently the problem was the duty cycles of emergency vehicles far exceed the normal duty cycles of regular vehicles. Duh. So, the EPA is changing their recommendations for how often DEF should be added to vehicles. Apparently they are also allowing some modifications to vehicles to reduce or eliminate the need for DEF. Or something. Frankly, it’s a little to bureaucratese for me to really understand it.

It also seems to be a fairly well kept secret. Maybe I’ll call my old fleet manager and ask him if he’s ever heard of this modification or exemption.

Or maybe one of my legion of readers knows something about it.

In any case, it puts a different light on the entire situation.

Apparently people think that this tea pot, available (for now) from JC Penney looks like Adolph Hitler.

If someone with an over active imagination hadn’t suggested it, would people really think that it looks like Hitler?

Personally, I see Charlie Chaplin, and not as the Great Dictator.

Your mileage may vary.

Blogger supreme and good friend JayG has a post about fake Scotch allegedly being sold at TGI Fridays in New Jersey,

Top Shelf My Behind…

In which he says,

Now, personally, I couldn’t care less. If people can’t tell the difference; if their own measure of quality is what the label looks like or how much extra they pay for the “good stuff”, then they get exactly what they deserve. I mean, hell, they’re in a TGIFridays, for cryin’ out loud. You expect a top-shelf drink from a chain? Really? In New Jersey of all places?

I agree with him when he says that there are bigger crimes out there that should be addressed, but this is fraud and fraud is still a crime.

How much money has TGI Fridays or it’s employees stolen from customers by selling a fake product to them? The other question is, what else are they faking? Is their food also of inferior quality? I don’t think I’ve ever been inside one of these restaurants, but on a guess they serve “pub food”. Which is burgers, pizza, and other light fare that is intended to go with beer and other adult beverages. Not exactly gourmet food I’d guess, but still it should taste good and be what it’s represented to be.

If as alleged they used rubbing alcohol, there is another aspect to this. Isopropyl alcohol is a not intended for human consumption. It’s poisonous and if you drink enough of it, you’ll die. Which makes this even more serious. I’d expect that the district attorney and the police are going to look at this in a different light than it just being a case of business fraud.

Of course Tuesday, I expect the inevitable lawsuits to start being filed as people claim that drinking that witches brew made them ill.

Jay does have a point about people being unable to tell the difference between real scotch and fake scotch, but still it’s likely that several crimes have been committed.

Because I can’t seem to muster the attention span to write a long post, I’m just going to share some snippets from around the web. With of course a dose of commentary.

London terror attack video — the last straw for freedom-loving people?

he beheading of a British soldier Wednesday by two militant Islamic men wielding knives and meat cleavers is true psychological terror.

It is one thing—and an unimaginably horrific thing, indeed—to knock down buildings with commandeered jets or to use makeshift bombs to blow up a street corner in a major city.

But it is another when terror takes a form as rudimentary as a meat cleaver and targets no iconic building or event, but simply someone walking down the street.

What astounds me is that people act surprised by this. It was a savage attack carried out by savages. This is no less horrific than the Boston Marathon bombing last month.

The murderous scum not only didn’t run, they didn’t run when the police arrived. The first police to arrive got to the scene about nine minutes after the attack started. Then they waited until armed officers arrived. At which point the attackers engaged the police. One of the attackers had a handgun, which is course is illegal under Britain’s gun laws. Notice that the law only stopped law abiding citizens from having firearms, not the terrorists.

The biggest surprise is that the Prime Minister actually called this a terrorist attack. What’s not a surprise is the MI 5 apparently had these two on their radar for several years, but was never able to do anything about them. Not much different than here for that matter.

Eric Holder Signed Off On Search Warrant For James Rosen Emails: NBC News

Attorney General Eric Holder personally signed off on the warrant that allowed the Justice Department to search Fox News reporter James Rosen’s personal email, NBC News’ Michael Isikoff reported Thursday.

The report places Holder at the center of one of the most controversial clashes between the press and the government in recent memory. The warrant he approved named Rosen as a “co-conspirator” in a leak investigation, causing many to warn that the Justice Department was potentially criminalizing journalism. The warrant also approved the tracking of Rosen’s movements in and out of the State Department, as well as his communications with his source, Stephen Kim.

The Attorney General is supposed to uphold the law, not flaunt it. Imagine is John Ashcroft had signed off on a warrant to tap the phones of a New York Times reporter. Speaking of which, during the Bush Administration the New York Times published an article from a source that leaked the names and locations of several agents (not officers) working with the CIA. This despite the President of the United States personally calling the publisher of the Times and asking him not to publish the names because it would put peoples lives in danger. At the time the rest of the lapdog media decided that it was a heroic thing the Times did. Funny how that’s all changed now. This is rapidly turning into a huge scandal and Eric Holder may go under the Obama bus soon.

IRS’s Lerner placed on administrative leave after refusing to testify

Lois Lerner, the IRS staffer who is under fire for her role in the agency’s targeting of conservative groups, has been placed on administrative leave, according to congressional aides.

She will still be paid while on leave, a congressional aide said, as required under civil service rules.

Lerner, who heads an IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups, first disclosed the extra scrutiny the agency gave to Tea Party groups almost two weeks ago when answering a planted question at a Washington legal conference.

She did nothing wrong, yet claimed her Fifth Amendment Right not to incriminate herself. Only she might have done it after she made a statement and thus disqualified herself from invoking the Fifth Amendment. Stay tuned as this will continue to be a summer long thriller. What it reveals about politics and fairness at the IRS could be the nail in the coffin for Obamacare.

This case seems to be much larger than just the IRS as some of the same people and groups targeted by the IRS were also investigated by the FBI, OSHA, and the BATFE. All of the groups seem to have been opposed politically to the President. I don’t believe in that sort of coincidence and several people should be investigated and if found to have violated the law or agency rules disciplinary action or criminal charges should be pursued. Maybe even both.

I won’t even mention Benghazi as that’s still unfolding and will also produce some interesting results. Former SecState Hillary Clinton may well be called back to testify, although I doubt she’ll tell the truth. Why start now?

For those of you attuned to politics I have a question. Have you noticed who is most noticeable by his absence from the media and lack of statements regarding any of this?

Yes, Vice President Joe Biden. Who hopes that this implodes nicely on the President and former SecState Hillary Clinton.

Biden/Fill in the blank 2016!

The only way that this could get better for Biden is if President Obama has to resign. Which I don’t want, because personally I’d rather have him in the Oval Office right through the 2014 mid terms.

Cynical, aren’t I?

Jodi Arias

No link because I can’t imagine how I could care any less. It’s a symptom of the problem with the 24/7 news cycle that this is considered a national story. She killed her boyfriend or something. She’s been convicted. Execute her or don’t, who cares?

Oklahoma tornado tears massive path of death, destruction

Tornadoes Rip Through Texas, Surrounding States

The deaths and widespread destruction make this a national story. No comments other than condolences to the families of the dead and thoughts and prayers for the survivors as they try to rebuild their lives.

Oh, and if you’re one of those people trying to tie this to Climate Change or whatever you’re calling it this week, just shut up. If you want to do something to really help, send money or go to one of the affected areas to help. Anything else is politicizing a tragedy.

New Trayvon Martin Case Evidence: Defense Team Releases Photos, Texts That Teen Had On His Phone

ORLANDO, Fla. — Data released Thursday by the defense from slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin’s cellphone includes texts with a friend about fighting, smoking pot and being forced to move out of his mother’s house because of trouble at school, as well as photos of a gun and what looks to be a potted marijuana plant.

A hearing next week will decide if the information can be used at the trial for George Zimmerman, who is charged with fatally shooting the unarmed 17-year-old last year during a confrontation at a gated community in Sanford. Prosecutors want the negative evidence omitted, but Zimmerman’s defense attorney said if they try to portray his client as the antagonist and Martin as the victim, he wants to show the jury that Martin has talked about fighting before.

This case is no where near as cut and dried as the media initially portrayed it. Oh, and the character of the alleged victim is fair game in a trial where self defense is part of the defense. More and more it seems like an overzealous prosecutor decided to pursue a case which should have been presented to a Grand Jury before rushing to charge one of the participants. Just more of politicians kissing the ass of the media.

Gun panic

Again no link, but it seems that the gun buying panic is starting to subside. Guns are again appearing on the shelves of stores, even those dreaded “Assault Rifles” which are no such thing. People who bought at the height of the market seem to be selling at discounted prices. Ammunition is still scarce and expensive, and that will take another six months to correct itself. AR pattern upper receivers and components are also scarce as the manufacturers are using their stocks to build complete rifles. Lower receivers and parts are starting to show up and not insane prices. Apparently the market is reacting to the unsuccessful attempt by the Democrats to pass something that they can call gun control. Not that they are giving up.

Look for some interesting Second Amendment cases to be decided, probably this time next year or so.

That’s all for now. Comments as always are appreciated, even if they disagree with me.

More blogging to follow as I start to catch up on work. It’s an old cliche, but it’s a true one. I’m busier now than I was when I had a full time job.

We’ve had a bathroom faucet that’s need replacing for a while now. Being semi retired I actually have the time to do projects like this, although generally I prefer to call my on retainer plumber. The last time he was over doing a fairly complex job for me I asked him about the bathroom faucet and he told me that it shouldn’t be too hard and that I could tackle it myself. OK, he knows what he’s doing and the truth is other than contorting myself into positions that I’d prefer not to, this job wasn’t exactly rocket surgery. I also had to take out the sink and re-caulk it since the old caulking had sort of crumbled.

While I was procrastinating, uh, contemplating the job I came across a new in box Delta bathroom faucet for very short money. I checked it out and it was still new in the box, with all the parts and instructions. I snapped it up and planned my project.

This morning I started on the project. My plan here was to make sure that I could get the water off, remove the feeds, removed the drain pipe, remove the old faucet itself, put in the new faucet and drain pipe, attach the new flex feeds, turn the water on, make sure that everything was tight, and then caulk the sink. If at any point I wasn’t able to disassemble something (generally the hardest part), I’d stop and call the plumber to come over and do the job when he could. This meant that I was going to temporarily loosen things and then tighten them until I was sure that all systems were go.

Pretty good plan, if I say so myself.

First the water had to be shut off. OK, that took a bit of twisting with a wrench as we have pretty hard water and plumbing tends to get a bit corroded.

I then loosened and then tightened the fittings on the water feeds. No problem. In fact much easier than I thought it would be.

Next, I loosened and then tightened the fittings on the drain pipe. That was really easy, I was still on a roll.

All that was left was to reach up and loosen the handy dandy nylon nuts that held the faucet in place. Which is where I should have stopped. These are supposed to be “finger tight”. That’s why the made them of nylon and not brass or something else. They even had little “wings” so that I could grab on and turn. Nice try, but those suckers were tighter than anything else in the project. I got my heat gun, not a torch, but one of those heat guns that looks like a hair drier but will set your head on fire if you use it for that. Slow, gentle heat for about five minutes fixed one of them, but the other one wouldn’t budge. I even tried about thirty seconds with the heat on high, but that didn’t help.

Which is when I should have quit, but didn’t. Instead inspiration hit me. Since I had to do the caulking anyway, why not just take the whole sink out, bring it down to my work bench, and take the faucet out there? This seemed like a good idea because I could take out the old faucet, scrape off the disgusting old caulking, replace the faucet and put the flexible feeds on. BRILLIANT!

That all actually went pretty well. I got the old faucet out, cleaned off the bottom where the caulk was going to go, put the new faucet in and attached the flexible feeds. Easy.

Back up to the bathroom where I placed the sink back into the vanity, attached the feeds to the valves, and then tackled the drain pipe. Which turned out to be a pain in the neck. Which it shouldn’t have been but decided to be. I put everything together, put the pop up for the drain in, turned on the water, and… the drain leaked like a sieve. Oh, would have helped to put the washer in, wouldn’t it? Duh. Took the drain apart, put the washer in, turned on the water and all was dry. Great. I was almost there.

I took the aerator out, which I should have done before the initial turn on, and let the water run. No problems with that either. I then did the caulking around the sink, a job that I hate. I’m just never really good with this, but I gave it a try. Nice job, if I say so myself.

One last leak check and I was done. I turned on the water, stuck my head in the vanity, turned on my flashlight, and was met with a waterfall. A small one, but a water fall, none the less. I checked all of the fittings and they were tight, the leak seemed to be coming from the faucet body itself.

WTF, over?

I called my plumber friend and left a message. He’s a good kid and more importantly, a very good plumber. Not only is he skilled in the way of pipes and drains and plumbing, but more importantly he calls back if he doesn’t answer the phone. I’ve known him since he was about ten and his father is one of my two closest friends. Maybe that’s why he calls me back, but everyone I have ever referred him to has raved about him. A reliable plumber is a thing of beauty.

He called me back and I described the problem. He opined that I had screwed up when tightening the fittings on the faucet end and since the copper isn’t really that robust I had probably cracked the pipe up where it ties into the mixing valve. Great. He suggested I buy another one and try again, being just a bit more gentle this time. Actually not a huge deal since I was only into the first one for a few dollars.

Off to the Despot I went and I found the newer iteration of the faucet. It wasn’t horrendously expensive, so I grabbed it and headed to the check out. Only one unplanned trip for parts is pretty good.

Back home, I took the “old” new faucet out, connected the feeds to the “new” new faucet, put everything back together, turned on the water feeds, crossed my fingers, and turned on the faucet.

Water came out of where it was supposed to and there was no waterfall under the vanity. Success!

I tidied up, put the aerator back in, and took one last look under the vanity.

Hmmm, the vanity wasn’t wet there before, even when the internal waterfall was at full throttle. Time to grab the flashlight and take a closer look.

Damn!

There were now two pinholes in the cold water feed. On the wrong side of the valve of course. The only way to stop this was to turn off the water for the whole house. Which I did.

I called my friendly plumber again, left a message, and 15 or so minutes later he called me back. I asked if he knew of a temporary fix until he could get over to the house. “No, and I can’t get there tomorrow.”

Double Damn!

“The only thing to do is for me to come over tonight. I’ll be there around 8:30 or 9:00.”

Which is where I sit as I type.

He’ll come over, he’ll fix this, he’ll charge me below market rates. I’d pay market rates without blinking, but that won’t be what he’ll charge.

I mentioned to him that I should have called him to do the job, but he said essentially that shit happens and not to worry about it.

Oh well, I’ll have a chance to redeem myself tomorrow or Wednesday. I have a front porch light fixture that needs to be replaced. The only problem is that I don’t know any electricians.

The way my luck is running maybe I should put the fire department on standby.

Just in case.

I’m sure many of you suspected that anyway. In this case I’m off to Houston for the NRA Annual Meetings. I’ll be taking a lot of pictures and notes and if I have time, I’ll be blogging what I see. EMS related blogging will resume when I get back. Sometime in the next week or so, I expect to have a number of 12 Lead ECGs for you EMS types to chew on. Maybe I’ll try to dig in to my memory banks and recall some interesting calls from my BLS days. Way, way, back when there was a lot of now politically incorrect fun to be had in EMS. Good thing that there was no Facebook (or Internet) back then or this blog would probably be called, “Too Old To Flip Burgers, Too Young To Retire”.

German Bailout, Russian Haircut

The funds skimmed off depositors’ accounts (approximately €4.2 billion) will be used to pay Laiki’s debts and recapitalize the bank. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev reacted strongly over the measure which largely affects high-dollar Russian investors: “The stealing of what has already been stolen continues.”

Chances are that someone would end up in the trunk of a Cadillac in the desert.

Then again, since much of the money in those Cypriot banks was put there by Russians, that may happen to some people anyway.

There aren’t any Cadillacs on Cyprus, but Mercedes are popular and have a big trunk.

Seriously, this is just robbery by the government.

Good thing that it can’t happen here.

Yet.