This site is optimised for viewing in Opera at 800 x 600 resolution, but is not Browser Specific, and no B. S. tags are used. No, the Weather Center doesn't count!! Web TV compresses the horizontal width about 7%. Does ANYBODY still use Web TV?!?

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin.
"Beer is the Coffee of the Evening." - Eddie E.
"Coffee is the Beer of the Morning." - Mike B.
"Sometimes a beer is the only one that will listen to me." - Cindy A.
"The air is wine." - Jack London. (now that's deep!)
"Do you know the difference between a musician & God? Well... God doesn't think he's a musician." - Jerrod, a bartender at the Mangrove Grill in Palmetto.
"These guys are O.K. drunk, but I don't know about them when they're sober!!" - Jeff - - - (A Sebring Raceway volunteer who made the mistake of riding in the back seat of a Ford F-150 that I drove around the track during open track touring...)

links to other pages on this site
AUTO LINKS
RALLYE
BOAT LINKS
POETRY
CUFF LINKS
AUTOMOBILE GALLERY
BACKGROUND IMAGES
SAILBOAT GALLERY
MISCELLANEOUS IMAGES
AIRCRAFT GALLERY

. In keeping with the morally ambiguous nature of this site, all pages are done in various shades of grey. So there!


Click here to check out
The Florida Outdoor Camping and Kayak Group!
Mike's Basically Superfluous (B.S.) Weather Center

Click for New Port Richey, Florida Forecast
Click for Bloomington, Minnesota Forecast Click for Death Valley, California Forecast Click for Tacoma, Washington Forecast
Bloomington, MN - - Vostok, Antarctica - - Death Valley, CA - - Tacoma, WA
click on displays for detailed forecasts


Sailing, Sportscars, and other adventuresome toys

In 1989 I participated in the Carrera Panamericana roadrace, as constructor and mechanic for a 1954 Jaguar XK-120M. I wrote an article, published in 1994 regarding my experiences throughout Mexico, and have re-printed it here.

**NEWSFLASHES!**
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE NEW "YAHOO AMF SUNBIRD OWNERS GROUP"
***********************
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE AMF SUNBIRD OWNERS MANUAL IN .PDF FORMAT!

I have been sailing for most of my life, and am looking forward to purchasing a larger sailboat and moving aboard. I am a firm believer in multihulled sailing vessels, and have included the Gemini 105m performance cruising catamaran, and the incredibly fast Aquarius RC-30 racing/camp-cruising cat as two very different examples of the best of the same breed. Hmmm... makes you wonder why I just sold the boat to the right, doesn't it? And, no, that's not actually my boat, which was green, but it is the same type of boat, a Sunbird, Manufactured by AMF in the Seventies, while they were busy messing up Harley-Davidson, and improving everything about bowling alleys except the disgusting shoe smell.
If you own, have owned, or are interested in sharing information about the AMF Sunbird, e-mail me at mikeveg@strato.net.
If it were green, it would be MY Sunbird!!

Music and Musicians


When I was a lot younger, I was the bass player in a rock band. I listen to everything from classical composers to very hard and heavy rock, and I'm really opinionated when it comes to this topic. So opinionated, that when I have the time, I'll build separate page around it!
I played with the Bobby G. Band for about a half-hour one hazy night in November 2000 at the Speak Easy Grill (my former place of employment, now unfortunately closed)!! I was rusty as hell, and had consumed mass quantities of adult beverages, but it was great. Thanks to Bobby, Pat, and Eddie (and Eddie's bass!)!! It was so much fun, in fact, that a couple of weeks later, I bought a Metallic Blue Fender Jazz Bass from Bob of The Frayed Knot Band. Right after their Friday night gig, too! I sure hope he replaced it for Saturday's performance.... Actually, Bob did, and he was also foolish enough to let me play for a while... twice proof that alcohol really does impair judgment!!

And now for a lament.... Bobby G. has moved to North Carolina! This, needless to say, has disbanded the Bobby G. Band, and the Bradenton area has lost the best band it ever had. HOWEVER.... we'll see him back from time to time, I think. ALSO.... watch out for Eddie E.--- I don't know what he's gonna do musically, but it will KICK MAJOR BUTT!!

BOBBY G. NEWS FLASH....... Bobby has just released his new CD entitled "Smokey Mountain Blues", and it KICKS ASS!

REVIEWED 16 SEPTEMBER 2005 BY ME (of course, since it's MY website).....
Damn, the CD kicks! I just have to close my eyes and I'm traveling through the Delta listening to great licks, then I'm in Chicago, then Detroit, and off to Memphis and Atlanta...... a great musical treat for those who love the blues, especially with touches of rock, jazz, and soul. Having heard Bobby hundreds of times, and having played live with him a few times more, I can tell you, this IS how Bobby sounds live, and it's a GOOD DAMN SOUND! I'd try to compare Bobby to other artists, but there would be no point. You may have heard these notes before, but you haven't heard them played like this!!

You can get a copy at Bobby G's website, and I say JUST DO IT!! It's great!

Computers, Electronics, and other sometimes frustrating toys

My brother's website has over 240 interesting links, in a database format, with descriptions and reviews, so I won't repeat all of them here. And, all of his links work! He has also written some moderately useful (his words, not mine) open-source site management tools, and authored some impressive and award-winning sites. Then again, I do have this nifty grey colored background and professionally (ahem) designed graphics.....
gpb.seanet.com
[Opera! The browser that was made for you!]
Made with 1st Page 2000 - Professional tools for real minds.
I don't get anything for promoting Opera, but it is a fantastic browser! They offer a 30 day free trial (operating days, not calendar days), and then it costs $35.00 to purchase. I love it, and it's helping me to become Bill-free, if you know what I mean. I've Just upgraded to Opera 9.10, and am checking out the new features. I'll let you know what I think, but, so far, it looks pretty good... with the exception of the icons. The old ones were fine, and didn't need to be changed, i.m.h.o.
I've found an incredible Website/HTML editor called 1st Page 2000. It's totally free, and is quite easy to use. You can also get it at ZD-Net. ZD-Net has TONS of great freeware, shareware, and exclusive titles. Download Rever-ZD while you are there, and exercise your brain a little!
Fred Langa's Newsletter has led me to many new tips, programs, and sources of information that have increased my knowledge, and the reliability of my system. Check it out!

FREE and SPAM-PROOF!

CLICK to sign up for
Fred Langa's award-winning e-newsletter. You'll see how  to get LOTS more from your hardware, software, and time online!

Seti At Home... if they're out there, we'll help find 'em!  http://setiathome.ssl.berkely.edu
Another great Bill-free application is Eudora for your mail. Eudora Light is freeware, and Eudora 6.00 Pro is available both as a purchasable version, and an ad-supported one. I'm using the ad-supported version, and the ads are really inobtrusive. And, I got to enter a contest for a year's worth of free pizza!
I have installed Seti at Home as my screensaver. Instead of watching insipidly poor animations of tropical fish with a soundtrack that mimics a running toilet, I'm actually doing something useful. Seti downloads batches of radio data from the Aricebo radiotelescope to my PC for analysis. When the block is done, Seti asks me to upload my results and get a new block downloaded. If you watched "Independence Day", you know the importance of this. Just ask Jeff Goldblum!
This is where my ICQ information USED to be. Now that AOL has owns ICQ, I wouldn't use it on any P.C. I own!!

Art, Poetry, and other self-indulgences

Shown below are some thumbnails of landscapes that I have made with Terragen, a free program available from ZDNet. The thumbnails were made with another freeware program, All Thumbs, also from ZDNet.
t_blkcanyon1.jpg t_mountain1.jpg t_redcanyon1.jpg t_redcanyon2.jpg t_muddycanyon.jpg t_tropcanyon.jpg t_waterscape1.jpg t_icecanyon.jpg t_deepcanyon.jpg
Click on the thumbnails to view the full size items.

I, along with my late wife, have written a lot of poetry. Much like the racing article above, I have to either re-enter it all, or find a way to transfer all the files from my Apple IIe (HELP ME PLEASE!) to my PC. In the meantime, you may click here to torture yourself with some samples!

Firearms, Politics, and your Constitutional Rights

The National Rifle Association has fought vigilantly to defend the rights of all law-abiding Americans. If you don't own a gun, or don't believe the Second Amendment is what it is, or is even necessary, visit their site with an open mind, and see what you can learn. It can't hurt!
The Libertarian Party WILL end the INSANE War On Drugs

Vegetarianism, food, and Lifestyle

I don't eat any land-based animals, but I do eat eggs, cheese, and fish. These are personal choices made for a variety of reasons, and I don't intend to cram my beliefs down your throats. Heck, I even believe in hunting, not that I would myself. What I cannot stand is the abuse that many, many domestic animals suffer in order to become our dinner. Nor can I tolerate what is done to meat products in order to make them "safe" for human consumption. That being said, click here to see why I'd NEVER eat a snail!!
PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM NOT A MEMBER OR SUPPORTER OF PETA. I CONSIDER PETA TO BE, ESSENTIALLY, A DOMESTIC TERRORIST OPERATION, AND POTENTIALLY JUST AS DANGEROUS AS E.L.F.

Just who the hell am I, and why do I have a webpage anyway?!

My name is Mike Barnett, and I'm a single, 43 year old music, beer, and boating enthusiast living in Pasco County, Florida, playing a little bass, and promising myself year after year that I'll buy a boat, move aboard, and sail away. In the meantime, I just bought my FIRST HOUSE! What a pain in the ass!!

For the moment, I'm a former waiter turned customer service rep turned semi truck driving sales executive (what, you actually thought I did webpages for a living !?). I'm currently quite happy with my job ( obviously, I'm no longer associated with ADT/TYCO!!), but you can always request a resume from me, just in case you want to try and steal me away from my current job. GOOD LUCK!!

Enough petty griping! I have this webpage because I can!! Heck, I've been paying all this money to my ISP (you probably are too), and it's included in the package, so why not?


Feel free to e-mail me your comments at mikeveg@strato.net, or just let me know that you were here, and that someone besides me is visiting my site!

Legalo Crapolis

All original poetry, images, writing, and any other stuff I can possibly think of, are © 1994 - 2007 by Michael A. Barnett. All rights are reserved, and my lawyer drives a Hummer with a lot of dents in it, so if your whiney, overpaid, elbow-patched Lexus driving barrister wants to make a case of it, we'll just let them play!! ( I feed my lawyer on an irregular basis, so he's usually a little grumpy! )


links to other pages on this site
AUTO LINKS
RALLYE
BOAT LINKS
POETRY
CUFF LINKS
AUTOMOBILE GALLERY
BACKGROUND IMAGES
SAILBOAT GALLERY
MISCELLANEOUS IMAGES
AIRCRAFT GALLERY


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