Friday, February 6, 2009
Propane guy came today...
...and I wondered why my landlady had scheduled him and not told me, but it turned out he just decided to come by. We're installing a furnace and water heater in the barn, and one of those big propane tanks but the going's been slow because of needing this and that to be done first. But now he has blessed our installation and will proceed to run and pressure test the line. I still need an outlet hood for the furnace and that takes a trip to a bigger town, but we're going good. Making progress.
Whoa! Here's something I don't see every day!
Big cats are rare, but they happen. I don't even see tracks very often, and I've only seen a lion once. Bobcats, yes. But I don't think this is a bobcat.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Another Morning, Another Walkie Time...
On the tamer walks, Butch likes to tag along. It's about the only time he gets along with the boys, and even that only within limits.I...am Mighty Cat!
And into the wash we go, for there are so many fascinating things to smell!
I'm faster than you are! Actually he's faster than anybody is, and everyone knows it. He's constantly disgruntled that nobody will race him.
Butch doesn't care too much for the wash - too open, I guess. He mostly slopes around the edge and stays in the brush.
Lining up for another exciting game of Whack-a-Joel. Hard to catch on camera, but he wasn't up to full speed yet.
Hmmm...Lots of earth tones. Think I could get one of them Nobel Prize things? Uncle Joel needs some solar panels.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
This is how you do a chore...
...when you don't have to worry about building inspectors. :-)
When I hauled Serenity away, (it was sitting about where the wheelbarrow is in the first pic) a small problem arose. The area available for driveway was now substantially wider, and a septic line cleanout that had never been an issue before was right where cars are going to want to go. Dumb place for a cleanout, anyway.
So: Make it go away!
Dig down to the pipe. Since there was never any traffic on this spot it was a lot easier than I feared; dirt can get mighty compacted. I could wish this one was deeper, in fact; car tires are heavy.
Cut'er off with a hacksaw, as close to the union as is consistent with putting on a cap or another union down the road. Clean up the cut with your pocketknife.
Install a cap. DON'T glue it down; there's no pressure in that pipe, and you may want it back off someday.
Cover it up, and you're done. Total elapsed time including digging; probably less than 15 minutes.
When I hauled Serenity away, (it was sitting about where the wheelbarrow is in the first pic) a small problem arose. The area available for driveway was now substantially wider, and a septic line cleanout that had never been an issue before was right where cars are going to want to go. Dumb place for a cleanout, anyway.
So: Make it go away!
Dig down to the pipe. Since there was never any traffic on this spot it was a lot easier than I feared; dirt can get mighty compacted. I could wish this one was deeper, in fact; car tires are heavy.
Cut'er off with a hacksaw, as close to the union as is consistent with putting on a cap or another union down the road. Clean up the cut with your pocketknife.
Install a cap. DON'T glue it down; there's no pressure in that pipe, and you may want it back off someday.
Cover it up, and you're done. Total elapsed time including digging; probably less than 15 minutes.
When a friend asks a favor, you do it.
Five gallons of dirt, shoveled into a bucket from a particular pile and then tamped down hard with a length of 4X4, weighs just about exactly 75 pounds. Just so you know.
I could tell you why I needed to know, but then I'd have to kill you. All I can say is that sometimes chores get weird.
I could tell you why I needed to know, but then I'd have to kill you. All I can say is that sometimes chores get weird.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Do you ever get weird songs stuck in your head?
I woke up this morning humming a song I'm sure I haven't even thought of in decades. All day long it wouldn't go away. But I couldn't remember the !@#$! words!
Thanks to YouTube and thousands of people with way too much time on their hands, this isn't the problem it used to be.
Thanks to YouTube and thousands of people with way too much time on their hands, this isn't the problem it used to be.
The new generator finally arrived...
I feel ripped off, and I didn't even pay for it.
Engine by Cummins, genset by Onan. That was the advertisement. Reality - not so much. The landlady is going to be pissed.
A trip to town is a big deal; Due to my papers not being in order and some deputies knowing it, I can go to town any time I want as long as I don't drive. Consequently each such trip requires a daring and intricate plan.
Step one: Load up the Jeep. A trip to town is an opportunity to gorge on fuel, not to be missed. Of course the boys assume they're going for a ride. Not today, guys. So of course they're upset with me.
Step two: Drive to the neighbors. Unload Jeep, load truck. Say hello to Lothario, who's visiting to make the lady goats happy and being very enthusiastic about his duties.
Step three: Drive to town. The generator was delivered to a local shop, which also sells propane. Load generator onto truck. Fill propane bottles. Do other shopping. Drive home.
Step four: Unload truck. Strip carton off generator. Drive back to neighbors. Pick up Jeep. Drive home again.
Step five: Look at engine. Bite through pipe stem. It has a Cummins sticker, but that's all. It's a generic Japanese engine; it ain't no Cummins.
Get the wheel kit on, steal the battery from the old generator, fill crankcase, add fuel. Well, it starts right up and runs quiet, anyway. But I'm sure going to pay attention to maintenance because I've seen a bunch of these engines and they do not impress me.
Sheeit.
Engine by Cummins, genset by Onan. That was the advertisement. Reality - not so much. The landlady is going to be pissed.
A trip to town is a big deal; Due to my papers not being in order and some deputies knowing it, I can go to town any time I want as long as I don't drive. Consequently each such trip requires a daring and intricate plan.
Step one: Load up the Jeep. A trip to town is an opportunity to gorge on fuel, not to be missed. Of course the boys assume they're going for a ride. Not today, guys. So of course they're upset with me.
Step two: Drive to the neighbors. Unload Jeep, load truck. Say hello to Lothario, who's visiting to make the lady goats happy and being very enthusiastic about his duties.
Step three: Drive to town. The generator was delivered to a local shop, which also sells propane. Load generator onto truck. Fill propane bottles. Do other shopping. Drive home.
Step four: Unload truck. Strip carton off generator. Drive back to neighbors. Pick up Jeep. Drive home again.
Step five: Look at engine. Bite through pipe stem. It has a Cummins sticker, but that's all. It's a generic Japanese engine; it ain't no Cummins.
Get the wheel kit on, steal the battery from the old generator, fill crankcase, add fuel. Well, it starts right up and runs quiet, anyway. But I'm sure going to pay attention to maintenance because I've seen a bunch of these engines and they do not impress me.
Sheeit.
Hope and Change, Conclusion
Continued from here.
Begins here.
I’m an extreme case; I’m a beardo who lives alone in the desert. Nobody cares what I do. I was able to do this because I’m old enough that those who legitimately depended on me are all grown and gone on their own. So it’s easy for me to talk, even though I really do walk my talk. What I am suggesting is not without peril. The direct taxation system this government relies upon for much of its revenue is called “voluntary compliance.” What this really means is that as long as you voluntarily comply, they won’t come and hurt you. But just get caught ceasing to do so and see how interesting your life can become. I am all too aware of the dangers and practical difficulties of what I am suggesting.
But how long do you want to keep propping up a lying, evil monster? There are steps you could take. They’re not timid steps, but most don’t carry a huge amount of immediate risk. First, (what you should have been doing all along,) can you be preparing yourself and your family so that you have some chance of living well through the bad times that may very well be at the door? Do you have stocks of food for months? Do you know what you’ll trade with if dollars lose their putative value? Do you live in a place, or do you have sure title and at least plausible access to a place, where you can live without benefit of the power grid and the conventional food distribution system? Can you defend yourself in a time when 911 becomes not even the grim joke it is now? These are things you should have been working on for years, and if you haven’t been it’s not too late but the clock is very definitely ticking. What used to be the province of survivalist nutcases has long since been proven simple common sense. The whackos were right; live with it.
But of course that’s just dancing around what I’ve been talking about. Can you reduce your needs, and your income, to the point where you’re no longer paying an enormous proportion of your rightful income to the IRS? That can actually be a lot of fun, family demands permitting (and once you get used to it), and is by no means illegal. If your employment contracts to, receives benefits from, or in any way props up this vile government, can you find other employment? I certainly know how inconvenient that is, but inconvenience is not impossibility. Can you? You should. These are simple things you could be doing to kick your own tiny share of the props out from under Leviathan, and they’re not even illegal. There are other things you could be doing; you know what some of them are and can learn about the rest. Those do carry risk; be sure to weigh those risks carefully before taking any action, and don’t say I didn’t warn you. Someday we’ll get together over a jar of home-brew and compare scars.
Scars are the mark of the warrior who lived; sometimes living is as much a matter of luck as of canniness. A monster thrashes horribly in its death throes. If you get caught in that, and some of us will, it won’t be pretty. There’ll be no practical defense. But understand that the alternative really isn’t any better; those who depend on and support this government in all good faith are going to find themselves suffering in ways that those of us who have stepped away from the economic and political system have some cushion from, as long as we don’t become victims of its retribution. I daresay a lot of those people will never even understand why they’re suffering.
We at least have that going for us; we understand. But the question remains for each one of us to answer – what are we prepared to do about it?
Begins here.
I’m an extreme case; I’m a beardo who lives alone in the desert. Nobody cares what I do. I was able to do this because I’m old enough that those who legitimately depended on me are all grown and gone on their own. So it’s easy for me to talk, even though I really do walk my talk. What I am suggesting is not without peril. The direct taxation system this government relies upon for much of its revenue is called “voluntary compliance.” What this really means is that as long as you voluntarily comply, they won’t come and hurt you. But just get caught ceasing to do so and see how interesting your life can become. I am all too aware of the dangers and practical difficulties of what I am suggesting.
But how long do you want to keep propping up a lying, evil monster? There are steps you could take. They’re not timid steps, but most don’t carry a huge amount of immediate risk. First, (what you should have been doing all along,) can you be preparing yourself and your family so that you have some chance of living well through the bad times that may very well be at the door? Do you have stocks of food for months? Do you know what you’ll trade with if dollars lose their putative value? Do you live in a place, or do you have sure title and at least plausible access to a place, where you can live without benefit of the power grid and the conventional food distribution system? Can you defend yourself in a time when 911 becomes not even the grim joke it is now? These are things you should have been working on for years, and if you haven’t been it’s not too late but the clock is very definitely ticking. What used to be the province of survivalist nutcases has long since been proven simple common sense. The whackos were right; live with it.
But of course that’s just dancing around what I’ve been talking about. Can you reduce your needs, and your income, to the point where you’re no longer paying an enormous proportion of your rightful income to the IRS? That can actually be a lot of fun, family demands permitting (and once you get used to it), and is by no means illegal. If your employment contracts to, receives benefits from, or in any way props up this vile government, can you find other employment? I certainly know how inconvenient that is, but inconvenience is not impossibility. Can you? You should. These are simple things you could be doing to kick your own tiny share of the props out from under Leviathan, and they’re not even illegal. There are other things you could be doing; you know what some of them are and can learn about the rest. Those do carry risk; be sure to weigh those risks carefully before taking any action, and don’t say I didn’t warn you. Someday we’ll get together over a jar of home-brew and compare scars.
Scars are the mark of the warrior who lived; sometimes living is as much a matter of luck as of canniness. A monster thrashes horribly in its death throes. If you get caught in that, and some of us will, it won’t be pretty. There’ll be no practical defense. But understand that the alternative really isn’t any better; those who depend on and support this government in all good faith are going to find themselves suffering in ways that those of us who have stepped away from the economic and political system have some cushion from, as long as we don’t become victims of its retribution. I daresay a lot of those people will never even understand why they’re suffering.
We at least have that going for us; we understand. But the question remains for each one of us to answer – what are we prepared to do about it?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Hope and Change, Pt. 5
Continued from here.
Begins here.
It’s all about power. But authority without the means to enforce your wishes isn’t really power at all. So in the end, it’s really all about money. And money, as we all know, has been much in the news lately.
The debt accumulated by this government defies comprehension. The numbers involved are literally astronomical; so incredibly vast as to be meaningless. We are told that this is “public debt,” incurred for our benefit, and that we are responsible for servicing it. But how can this be so? Did you agree to any of it? Do you have a copy of the contract you signed? I’d love to see one. I know I never made any such agreement, but somehow I’m supposed to believe that I’m also responsible for it.
Well, I don’t believe it. And neither should you. And that brings us to the point of all these words. At some point, the astronomical heaps of money in the governmental Ponzi scheme will come crashing down; this debt could never conceivably be paid. People who have put themselves at the economic mercy of the government will suffer for it, and their numbers are not small. I’m not (just) talking about welfare whores and government workers here; millions of otherwise perfectly productive and honest people bought the promises of Social Security and are now trapped in that system, having paid such huge proportions of their income all their lives that they never built a cushion of wealth for themselves. The monthly checks those people receive won’t stop, but at some point the value of the checks won’t be enough to buy bread. I feel very badly for those people, but I didn’t do it to them. They bought into a lie; it wasn’t my lie. I don’t want to suffer with them, and I don’t want to suffer for them.
I don’t want you to do so, either. A very real possibility exists that the value of the American Dollar will collapse, maybe very soon. What I am suggesting is that you regard this not as a terrifying disaster, but as a terrifying opportunity. What I am suggesting is that we hurry it along – that we get it over with.
I’m not a huge Ayn Rand fan, but she did popularize some intriguing concepts. One that I’ve been thinking about a lot is the Sanction of the Victim. We the people of this country have been the victims of the individuals who comprise this government and who carry out all its schemes. In the end, it’s only the sanction of the victim that gives an oppressor his power. I suggest that, to whatever extent you can bring yourself to do so, you remove that sanction. Let the SOB fall. And get out of his way while he does it.
“Get out of her, my people,” wrote the Apostle John, “if you do not wish to share in the consequences of her sins.” Take a good, hard incisive look at the ways you prop up this hateful regime; through your money, through your reflexive obedience, through your participation. If a single word I’ve said here rings true, to what extent can you get out of her?
To be concluded (this time for real. Seriously! I already wrote it, so I know)...
Begins here.
It’s all about power. But authority without the means to enforce your wishes isn’t really power at all. So in the end, it’s really all about money. And money, as we all know, has been much in the news lately.
The debt accumulated by this government defies comprehension. The numbers involved are literally astronomical; so incredibly vast as to be meaningless. We are told that this is “public debt,” incurred for our benefit, and that we are responsible for servicing it. But how can this be so? Did you agree to any of it? Do you have a copy of the contract you signed? I’d love to see one. I know I never made any such agreement, but somehow I’m supposed to believe that I’m also responsible for it.
Well, I don’t believe it. And neither should you. And that brings us to the point of all these words. At some point, the astronomical heaps of money in the governmental Ponzi scheme will come crashing down; this debt could never conceivably be paid. People who have put themselves at the economic mercy of the government will suffer for it, and their numbers are not small. I’m not (just) talking about welfare whores and government workers here; millions of otherwise perfectly productive and honest people bought the promises of Social Security and are now trapped in that system, having paid such huge proportions of their income all their lives that they never built a cushion of wealth for themselves. The monthly checks those people receive won’t stop, but at some point the value of the checks won’t be enough to buy bread. I feel very badly for those people, but I didn’t do it to them. They bought into a lie; it wasn’t my lie. I don’t want to suffer with them, and I don’t want to suffer for them.
I don’t want you to do so, either. A very real possibility exists that the value of the American Dollar will collapse, maybe very soon. What I am suggesting is that you regard this not as a terrifying disaster, but as a terrifying opportunity. What I am suggesting is that we hurry it along – that we get it over with.
I’m not a huge Ayn Rand fan, but she did popularize some intriguing concepts. One that I’ve been thinking about a lot is the Sanction of the Victim. We the people of this country have been the victims of the individuals who comprise this government and who carry out all its schemes. In the end, it’s only the sanction of the victim that gives an oppressor his power. I suggest that, to whatever extent you can bring yourself to do so, you remove that sanction. Let the SOB fall. And get out of his way while he does it.
“Get out of her, my people,” wrote the Apostle John, “if you do not wish to share in the consequences of her sins.” Take a good, hard incisive look at the ways you prop up this hateful regime; through your money, through your reflexive obedience, through your participation. If a single word I’ve said here rings true, to what extent can you get out of her?
To be concluded (this time for real. Seriously! I already wrote it, so I know)...
Sunday, February 1, 2009
My Front Yard
Taken from my porch. Gad, I love it here. The colors don't really come through, alas, because I don't really know what I'm doing. That happens a lot, with many endeavors.
My Buddies
Yeah, I'm just messing around with my new toy this afternoon. There's work to do, and I ain't doing it. As usual.
Ghost
Fritz
Magnus
Ghost
Fritz
Magnus
What a fantastic weekend it's been!
The weather has been perfect, if a little cold in the morning. Yesterday I finished the Ginormous 2X12 Stack, just in time for the landlady's monthly visit. We mostly sat around and shot the shit all afternoon, then went over to the neighbors' and got moderately blasted on wine. Not at all a bad way to spend the day.
She always comes bearing supplies, in this case a couple of cases of canned chicken and salmon, the usual Trader Joe's coffee, and mail packages from friends. My dear old friend (old in the sense that I've known him for 35 years) LR sent me a marvelous gift of a really high-quality digital camera, so I was taking dog pictures all this morning. L wanted the landlady and I to come over this morning for a hike so I made biscuits around seven, landlady and I had a nice breakfast, and then we went through a little rock canyon I'm not familiar with and came out at the top of one of the knobs on the big ridge to the NE of the property. Helluva view, and when we just came out of the canyon there was the most complete petrified tree I've ever seen. Petrified wood is really common here, of course, but mostly it's just shards here and there. This was the whole trunk, broken into chunks but complete for its whole length and in good enough shape that you could see how the wood had rotted before it...did whatever wood does when it petrifies. Very cool.
Once I get the driver loaded and suchlike I hope to have some photos, though not of that: It was early and the light was terrible. Sometime, maybe.
She always comes bearing supplies, in this case a couple of cases of canned chicken and salmon, the usual Trader Joe's coffee, and mail packages from friends. My dear old friend (old in the sense that I've known him for 35 years) LR sent me a marvelous gift of a really high-quality digital camera, so I was taking dog pictures all this morning. L wanted the landlady and I to come over this morning for a hike so I made biscuits around seven, landlady and I had a nice breakfast, and then we went through a little rock canyon I'm not familiar with and came out at the top of one of the knobs on the big ridge to the NE of the property. Helluva view, and when we just came out of the canyon there was the most complete petrified tree I've ever seen. Petrified wood is really common here, of course, but mostly it's just shards here and there. This was the whole trunk, broken into chunks but complete for its whole length and in good enough shape that you could see how the wood had rotted before it...did whatever wood does when it petrifies. Very cool.
Once I get the driver loaded and suchlike I hope to have some photos, though not of that: It was early and the light was terrible. Sometime, maybe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
