The Ultimate Answer to Kings: Oh. Well, I suppose that's good to know.

They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means "The Ultimate Argument of Kings," and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. "We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it's about: You'll do as I say or I'll send my goons to kill you."

I thought about that for a long time. If there's an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I've got bullets - he's got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that's not going to happen. So if there's an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain't bullets.

It finally came to me - and that's when I left the city, abandoned a goodly percentage of my goods, and gave all that was behind me a good, stiff Randian Shrug.

The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Oh. Well, I suppose that's good to know.

Information for people interested in building an off-grid electrical system on the cheap: A 1500-watt inverter will not, in fact, run a circular saw.

That is all, carry on.

Also, damn.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: As in, after you try to run a circular saw it will now neither run anything else? Bummer.; November 1, 2010 at 9:18 PM
Joel said...: As in, the saw pulls too much juice for the new inverter, which squeals in ladylike panic and collapses on its fainting couch until you reboot it.; November 2, 2010 at 8:04 AM
Adventures in Self Reliance said...: Well I must be smart, I'm learning from others mistakes.
So other than that how are things going Sparky?
Are you going to the 18 volt battery/cordless type tools? I'd be really interessted on the load they draw on your system.
I'm looking to go to a Solar system as well. Starting with my RV then will move toward a whole house system. I'm lucky though my RV is a 76 it has a new fridge that is DC capable.
I wish you the best of luck and for you to be aable to do all you want at the homestead. I want that sucess for myself as well.; November 2, 2010 at 9:08 PM