It’s called life,,,
Feeling much better today. Whatch’all didn’t know was that I put new wheelbearings on Buffalo yesterday. Yes, while fighting of internal buggies n such, but before I tipped the bottle,,,
and that wasn’t the danged problem.
Pretty much knew it when I jacked up the front end and didn’t get ANY wobble or wiggle out of the suspected bad side. (note, I just did wheel bearings on her two years ago, and those were definitely bad). well, money spent, send it. go through all the motions and I slways do suspension parts in pairs: anything else is false economy.
and the noize was exactly the same as before.
Low Differential fluid,,, Topped of the front diff and the noize abated. GM front drives are always in motion, just not fully engaged across both wheels.
I feel a bit miffed that I didn’t figure that out before I went and spent a chunk of cash on the parts. BUT, I have two good bearings sitting on the shelf for the future (not a danged thing wrong with them so I boxed em and when/if these bearings start to fail, there they are.).
Its one thing to be mad at myself for a simple (NEWB) mistake, but then, I am not turning wrench everyday like I usedta back in the day…. Nor is my hearing all that these days. That I could hear it tells me it was getting really bad. but diff gears are robust, they just need lots of lube to not burn up.
It’s called life. We age, things fail, on us and things around us, and we keep moving forward in time, until such time as we don’t, but time never stops. Mistake made, and may be made again later down the road. BUT, next time, I check fluids before I go dropping cash.
It’s kinda icky out today. Grey April skies, threats of rain (that we need!) and chilly. Seeing how I just fought off the bugs, I think I wanna hold off on kayaky stuff today, maybe even build a fire in the stove to knock the chill in the house down. (gotta watch that though, its real easy to turn the house into a literal oven.)
And that means I work on writing stuff,,,, Still working on that re-write and sequel so there is that,,,,
more laters as I get the gumption,,,
in the course of human events
People live, people die, life carries on, and the world continues to turn.
When we are at our lowest, I think its good to remember the above. WE, individually, will cease to be, but the rest of this semi-psychotic mess we call a species will carry forward. If we are remembered or not is ENTIRELY up to us, and what we do. Will we be remembered in fondness? Or will our name forever be attributed to some evil or sickness?
I can think of a few public figures right now that are rapidly earning something along that last,,,, no names need be said, do they?
I posted up a video recently of a young man in GB that is just ripping apart the viral threads with a baring of his soul. In that video he says that he only wants to leave something good behind. I think “Mission Accomplished” would be the operative words here. His viewing counts gain by millions each week. When I posted the vid, it was below 4 million,,, this week, its well over 8 million and climbing still. I wish only the best fo the man: from what I have read, he deserves it. His art may not be for everyone (I know a couple of people I showed it to, sorta wrinkled their nose at it,, but others, totally sucked in and it “Clicked” with them, same as it did me.). He is leaving something positive for millions behind,,, if he were to do nothing else the rest of his life,, there will be some that remember him,, And in positive light.
I think that is all any of us wish for, ultimately,,, To be thought well of when its all said and done for us.
Thats part of why I wrote the book I did,, and why I intend on doing more there. I wanted to come home and work on them today, seeing how it was a rainy cold mess out,,, BUT, too much for this one jack of all trades to handle today. More tomorrow. I was joking with my dad that we may be burying Bossman this week: when he writes my check he may have an aneurysm,,, Maxed hours every day and there is still one more to go, and I have enough on my list for 3 more full days, and thats just the shop time I know about, installs may add to that. Bossmans BP may spike, but I know the revenue I generated this week more than justifies the expenditure for me,,,, He’ll get over it,,,
Darkness is falling, its been a grey day, and soon, furry lumps will be arriving, wishing me to dry them off, feed them and make them places to curl up (like my lap,,,). Any work I start now may get interrupted, repeatedly. BUT, here I am, on the Mac, tapping out a post and once I fire this off, I am opening Vellum and getting busy until such time as Grizz and Mama start insisting they are the absolute priority and nothing else will suffice.
To be honest, I haven’t paid one iota of attention to the world at large this week, other than my daily reads of BCE, Sarah WRSA, Cold Fury and Liberty’s Torch,,, (and the comics, DBD, GG, and LFG,,, two are very non-political.). For what its worth, doesn’t seem to be much movement on collapse, WWIII, or The Not-so-Great reset,,, Usual swirling of the bowl going on, and, well, dongivafuk these days…. I can’t stop it, I can’t control anything past my personal space (which is as far as my arms reach) and I will roll wth the punches as they came and as I can,,,, I think thats all any of us can do.
In the meantime, I work on that ‘legacy’ I want to leave behind, the words going to print, and the ones here that will vanish when this site is shuttered after my demise. (no I ain’t dyin’, not today anyways,,, what the future holds is anyones guess, and I may be around for another 30 plus years,,, We will see,,,,). Keep the prep thing going while there is still that luxury, keep making alternative plans, three ways in, five ways out,,, two is one, one is none,,, Rather be looking at it, than looking for it,,,, Little blurbs that seem cliche, but are sound wisdom. Things we need to carry forward for the generations that will replaces us. Some of the ideas I wrote into Wings,,, facts that are not taught in the Indoctrination centers,,, concepts that are dead simple, but complicated to express to those blinded by the mental gymnastics they are taught.
We all move on, none get off this rock alive (not yet anyway,,, )and none are immortal: death comes for us all.
But we aren’t done yet, and there is still much we can do.
So get to it.
just a hypothetical you understand
Soccer-mom; rushing to get the kids to soccer practice,,, 6 kids in her 7 passenger mini-van and as raucous as 6 excited kids can be,,, Rushing, running late, pushing that speed limit just a touch,,,
Blows through a yellow that turns red as she passes the middle of the intersection,,,
Gets to the soccer fields ‘just in time’ for the kids to make practice or game or whatever,,, Watching the kids, her phone starts beeping with messages.
“Distracted Driving 1PT”
“Excessive speed 2PT”
“Failure to heed traffic device 2 PT”
“Running Redlight 2PT”
“More than 4PT in 30 days, License suspension, 6 month”
“Driving without a DL, Misdemeanor, bench warrant issued”
“This is your friendly neighborhood Insurance agent; due to an increase in the points against your license, we have suspended your insurance policy on all vehicles,, have a nice day’
“Driving without insurance, 2PT”
“More than 8PT in 30 day period, Second misdemeanor, Bench warrant issued”
and as she is reading these, blood pressure rising, the Police cruiser pulls up to her mini-van followed by a tow truck and another larger van with the sign “Child Protective Services” emblazoned on the side,,,
Guys, I like my tech, but I don’t trust it with my life,,, and every time I go into pay my insurance premiums, I see that ‘red-dot’ thingy that would track my vehicle and allow me a ‘significant discount’ on my insurance,,,, Um, NO, and not just NO, but FUCK NO,,,, I have enough bad mojo in a ‘smart phone’ that has become so ubiquitous in our everyday lives,,,, and yah, I know they track me that way too, but so far, they haven’t TOTALLY turned it into a weapon,,, The above scenario is NOT freedom,,, Its a prison without walls, where you are permitted certain liberties until such time as they say you aren’t,,,
and there are days where I wonder just how far away that scenario is from reality.
And no, I didn’t get a ticket or anything today,,, Just saw way too many “Legally Authorized” Highwaymen out today. Enough that the main drag of 25E looked like a Kmart with dozens of blue light specials going on.
what is????
I’m reading today,,, well, I read EVERY day, but sometimes what I am reading is simple escapism books, to take my mind off the day/week I am having, or just to forget about what a mess things are, even if for a short moment.
BUT, this book (as linked in last post) Fun to read, and probably a bit more to digest for some people, as in, read a chapter and let it ferment in the back of the head for a few days before moving on (had a few books like that, stuff that went off like a time bomb weeks months years after reading it). and in reading it, I realized that some of what he is saying is the same shit I have been saying in other ways, here, off and on, for several years.1 Like the conversation between Mackey and Nudge at Macks deathbed; The two minds thing and the one WE think is in control, isn’t. That gets brought up, and a particularly good case in the debate is made.
Is it truth?
What is???
My truths may not be your truths. You may feel very strongly that the Holy Trinity is FACT, IRREFUTABLE and to say otherwise is HERESY. Ok, thats YOUR truth,,,
Mine is a whole lot more forgiving, but still requires ETHICS and MORALS, and that whole ‘eternal damnation’,,, entirely in YOUR court, up to you, your choice.
Actually, I really liked Sarahs definition of TRUTH (paraphrased because I can’t find the original now).”Truth is what remains when everything else has faded away.” And in keeping that in mind, we will all know, individually, the truth, eventually, when ‘this reality’ has faded away and we leave it. To say yours is the ultimate truth is rather narcissistic, but really, who am I to say you are wrong. I freely acknowledge my beliefs may be wrong, and I may even outgrow them as I learn more. I may even come around to your way of thinking,,, Who knows.
What is TRUTH,,,,
What I do know, we may be created in the image of God, but we are most definitely flawed: that is a truth. Not that its a bad thing, but we are not perfect and thank the lord hallelujah AMEN for that!!!! Perfection across an entire species would be boring and likely detrimental to its survival. We each have individual strengths and weaknesses and those, across the board average out for the better for the SPECIES. Occasionally, one weakness (usually seen as a strength at the time) rises to the surface and things get really ugly for a short spell. BUT, the majority usually reacts to bring that one bad apple back to the fold, or just eject it into the void for recycling.
where am I going with this?
we are broken.
we are not perfect.
we are absolutely BEAUTIFUL in that fact
and I know I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Y’all have a good evening, more tomorrow when I get a near a keyboard,,,,
1 “Learning is finding out what you already know, Doing is demonstrating that you know it, teaching is reminding others that they know it just as well as you. We are all learners doers and teachers.:” From Illusions, by Richard Bach
early mornin’ ‘sits n tinks’
some posts have no point to be made, just me talking to the aether, letting my consciousness see what the other side has been doing in the off-times, or just letting the stew settle so the good bits float to the top. Pretty much whats going on here in this one.
I have a full plate this weekend with the NewYears Get-together of Kayaky Friends. And a slam build of a Ergometer for B. B and I have been handling the logistics of Donor Parts and lumber and other odds and ends that will be needed, and all of that will be coming together on Saturday morning. Gotta keep T happy too, since they are the hosts of the Get-Together, so B can’t be ‘in the garage’ as much as he would like. LOL. Like I keep telling him though, building things is how I “play”, and its ain’t work to me. And with both of us doing it, all the odds and ends already in one place, the build is just details at this point, shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours at most.
BUT, He is going to have zero excuses come race time,,, (evil grin)
about the only aspect of this build that will be different, is setting up some fold-away brackets to lock the unit so it can’t wobble. T may want to play with it and her Duck doesn’t wallow in the water like our boats do and that wobble may put her off: hence B wanting those anchors. (and yes, T raced last year as well, )
Long ass day yesterday, but with the added hours and the added pay increase, my check was ‘comfortable’ to me for the first time in well over a month. IF they can keep the hours flowing in similar fashion, I may be able to turn this financial wreck that has been building since September, around. I can’t say the Zon knocking the price of my books down hurt me, since pennies are all I have ever really seen in royalties, and in one way, they may be doing me a huge favor at this stage: getting my name out there more.
Really need to work on that myself, not rely on others for it. (and I have been, but in drips and drabs.). Self promotion is NOT a introvert strength. And I wonder how many people reading this site swear I am NOT an introvert: lol. It’s a whole lot easier to ‘let my hair down’ with the filters of internet proxies. And when I do similar in public, it takes me days to recover my energy levels: its part of why I am the ‘early riser’ when camping. I need that ‘me time’, silence, watching the world wake up in its own way, to at least get a surface charge on my internal batteries. And I can spend some of that time with four-footed furries and not hinder the recharge. Mostly because the fff’s are so intune with the world around them, they don’t interfere with it.
Remember Sasha watching the sunrise? She sat there ‘recharging her battery’ for nearly ten minutes, watching the sun come up, not twitching a muscle. It was quite sublime seeing a dog acting that poetic.
Obviously, I find mornings to be the best part of every day. There may be those days where its at some other point, but this time,,, where I don’t have to worry about the world interrupting “me”,,, (and why I prefer the Mac over the phone or PC, no pop ups, no annoying programs running in the background that demand attention when you least expect it, and I use the phone as my hotspot, located out on the porch for maximum reception; no pings, dings or whoop-whoops of incoming messages.). Yeah, this time of day is my ticket to peace of mind. And I probably need to become even more of an early riser.
to let those of my readers interested, know what the status of Wings II is, Using the PC for the re-write is a must now. I can not get the Mac to open ANY of my files on WIngs,,, I have tried several options and the best was to use Vellum, only to find out that half of the story was not saved in that format. (9 chapters made it, dunno where the other 20(?) vaporized to.). BUT, it gave me a chance to really play with Vellum and that is what I am going to use for the final format. I really like options it had versus what I had used.
Yea y’all, I am WORKING, even when I am playing,,, i just really TRULY despise using the PC these days, but, if it works,,, The other option is upgrading my Mac, which is in need of it,,,, but, $$$$$. and y’all know how that works.(and NO, emphatically NO, that is not a bleg for help, “I’ve got this” )
Sky is getting light, must be sunrise, and that means my world is about to start getting a little furry as the kittehs wake up and realize that Dads up, coffees on, and that means CREAM!!! little flippin socialist scrounge-monkeys that they are,,,,
strange, productive and strange
gonna start this off by admitting that son of bossman tossed me a bone,,, a little extra on the paychecks. not an insubstantial amount, (though not near what I could be making in a better location, I will say that, but “BETTER”}
And I had to take a short day yesterday because our gas supplier screwed up and dropped us a tank of Tri-mix. 90% helium, 7.5% argon, 2.5% CO2. A TIG welding gas, not MIG. And boy howdy did my MIG hate that shit. I managed one bead and knew something was off. checked the bottle and made the call. Luckily, today was our normal delivery schedule and they made good on bringing my normal refills and replaced that bottle with the ‘right stuff’. I would love to TIG our stuff, but its not profitable for us to use TIG. and its galvanized stuff so quick and dirty MIG is the best way to go. We used to braze this stuff and that went through the roof around six years back. A 10# box of rods for brazing went well over a Benjamin and boss man was livid. I made the suggestion of MIGing everything and Son of Bossman agreed, and even told me later that the MIG had paid for itself in less than 6 months in what it saved them.
They have done well enough that they bought a new Miller-matic 210 dual voltage unit and that thing is just the bees knees in my world. Made for welders, by welders with all the bells and whistles you could ask for and MULTI-PROCESS so I could TIG with it. I have Stick welded with it and its just as smooth as a MIG weld if I crank the amps up (Like you should to some extent.) It even has dual gas ports on the back side: one for the MIG, and the other for TIG. Son of Bossman has mentioned that he wants to buy the gear to do TIG, but I just can’t see the oldman parting the purse strings for that at this point. and not much need anyway. (but it would be nice to weld our aluminum gates instead of ordering them when needed,,,, Just not much demand of them right now.)
Came home, did some logistics with B for the upcoming weekend. We are not only having a get-together of KrazzeeKayakers, we are building him an ergometer too. GOOD, He is my race buddy and I want him conditioned for doing that 13 mile run as well as me. As long as all the parts are in order, it won’t take but a few hours to rig it up, and get things tuned for use. The second version only took me a few hours and we have mine to copy from. easy peasy.
but today FEELS weird. I mentioned that. and its nothing I can put my finger on. Just odd. Strange weather blowing in? I know ol Arthur was bugging me yesterday mornin’; but not today. We either have a lull in winter on top of us, or we are in for a flippin’ heatwave,,,, But I think the bone chilling cold is away for a bit (February is usually our IceBox month,,,, followed by cold wet March and flooding,,,,)
Dunno.
again, it may be that lack of sleep thing, but this time, I have a culprit. GRIZZYKAT!!!!! That little bastard was bouncing in off my head about once an hour last night, yowling about “its Rainin’ Da!!! Makes it stopS!” *sigh*. Rained off and on all night, but didn’t really get cold. I think the night temps actually came up a couple of degrees. It’s January and I did NOT have a fire, two nights in a row,,,, whoa!!! (I do tonight, but mostly to knock down a ‘damp’ house feeling, and the temps are supposed to drop into the low forties tonight.)
Maybe THAT is whats got me feeling ‘off’,,,,
Totally ignoring the world at large right now. don’t want to spoil the vibe I am building for the upcoming weekend. If there is something about to blow up, LET IT. I’ll be cool on my little island of friends, playing with boats and toys for boats,,,,
Oh I SO WISH,,, purrrrrrr!!!! Not to be YET,,,
Life carries on,
Way back in me early years, I read Orwells 1984, and before that date. I was like 12 when I read it, and while the story gave me the willies, even then, my early years, I ‘knew’ that it was a story and that no society could go so far down the tubes as described.
Boy howdy was I frickin’ wrong.
What I didn’t understand at the time was the “Mob Rule”: That a mobs intelligence is one half of that of its dumbest member. And a society is a Mob in a very real sense.
Look around you. We joke about the Enemedia being Orwells MiniTru, but when I read articles like Doctor Malone discussing how mRNA tech history is being re-written,,, Are we really all that far from it. Constant surveillance through devices we readily carry daily,,,, Maybe the information flow is far too great to keep up with, but the point is the same. Once you become a target, getting your information becomes stoopid easy, and the way the laws are arbitrarily applied, and as numerous as they are, they will find something to stick you in a cage. Yah, we have the MiniTru, We have the Big Brother surveillance. Our ‘military’ is rapidly become the Ministry of Love with our perfumed princes of the potomac ignoring the basic premise of a military and pushing the inclusivity and diversity schtick. We have a figurehead that fully represents what the shadow government thinks of our Untied Staatz (HT to BCE for that’un).
BUT,
There was a poll recently (and while I don’t give much credence to polls, this one seemed ‘mostly honest’) saying that 28% of the population feels they may need to take up arms against our government. and 68% of the rural population feel threatened by our government in a very real way. (Personally I think the numbers a tad higher, but people will tone down in a state where they are paranoid of being targets.)
I think whats bugging me the most is how the US, while it has been at the forefront of most everything the last 100+ years, is lagging behind across the board this round. Canada had the Trucker Convoy and stalled an entire country for months. The US repeat was a popcorn fart in comparison. We have the Dutch Farmers shutting down thier country in response to government overreach, and here,,,, crickets. The Yellow Vest riots in France, that as far as I know are still off and on, and the people rising up against totalitarian overreach ’round the world, yet here,,,, The only riots we have seen are the burnlootmurderwegetpaidtodothisshit groups that have Soros fingers so far up their anal cavities,,, The only “Insurrection” event was so peaceful,,,, you know the one, the one that AOC swears she almost died in. yeah,,,,
And yet no one ever mentions the burning dumpster fires and pink pussie hats of 2017 with minimal arrests and near zero coverage (and only positive coverage of the pussiehat shit) by the enemedia,,,,
Do I want a fight? Not really, but its obvious that TPTB DO!!! They either want it here so they can ‘find reason’ to implement the ‘final solution’, or they want a world war so they can ‘rally support’. And the attempts are so farcical that even the dumbest member of my work force sees it.
They know if they really push for the gun control thing, going straight to confiscation, they will spark off the next Civil War, and I think even they know that is a game they won’t win. BUT, they so want to be “The Power” all while having this delusional game plan.
I look at the “you will own nothing and be happy” plan. And I can see how they think it will work. If you could get it in a static laboratory environment, it MIGHT work for a few years. Problem being, the world is NOT a static environment, and people are NOT widgets that Always operate perfectly. We are human, we make mistakes, and we adapt. People like owning things. Even apartment dwellers like being able to say that they OWN something, even if its just the car they drive or that superwidescreenTV with the 30000W sound system and the 64bit octocore processor gaming computer they play with. You want proof that people like owning things? Look around at all the storage rental places. If that isn’t sign that people want to own things, even if they can’t keep it with them and are willing to pay for a place to keep it,,,, Storage rental is a big business with lucrative cash flow.
Personally, I don’t want to ‘rent my life’ from others, knowing that if I were to say the wrong thing to someone, that I could be doxxed and suddenly all those things I ‘rent’ would be pulled, up to and including my means of income. That situation, which is what Soros, Schwab and the Davos peeps want for the rest of us unwashed masses, would lead to a three tiered world. You would have THEM, (S,S,&D crowd) US, those just trying to get along, and then the shadow world, blackmarket etc.
Even Orwell described that in 1984. Winston bought his notebook from one of those people in the shadow world. He ‘rented’ his hideaway crib where he had his dalliance with the girl from the same people. There were three tiers there as well.(while not a proof that the ‘new world order’ is a failure out of the gate, but it does show that others have thought this through to fruition and the fallacies are obvious.)
I don’t want to live in Winstons world. I’d rather load the Ghostboat with as much as I could carry and head out, tempting fate and the environment. At least there, the rules aren’t arbitrary and applied at whim. Mamanature may be a bitch, but she doesn’t shift the rules ‘just because’.
Not that I am worried about things going that far. The backlash is growing, and while the MINITRU doesn’t cover it, the internet is NOT silent, and the signal is still getting through. Look at Sri Lanka, look at the how certain countries are getting very little coverage (India is one that ‘isn’t playing’, China, Russia, none of them are ‘falling in line’ with the NWO plan,). The signal is there, IF you know what to look for, and that keeps this thing from rushing headlong into that ‘utopia’ they envision.
Even if things fall so far, life carries on. Look at how people lived during the seige of Stalingrad. There was still day to day taking place at the end of the German Reich, and after the firebombing of Dresden. It may not be anywhere near the levels of comfort we are used to, but people carry on, food makes it to a table, even if that table is a napkin on a lap in the basement of a burned out basement. It may not be filet mignon, more likely rat or cat or a can of cat food, but someone is going to be eating, and able to carry on the next day to do it all again. Selko was very good at describing life in Bosnia, and if things continue forward at pace as I see it, WE will see that here. At least in the cities, maybe not so much in places like where I live, but even here things will get ‘rough’.
Ok, enough with my meandering thoughts today. Part of my thinking is due to a weather shift today. I am thinking that we are in for one hella bad winter forthcoming and maybe I need to double up on my wood pile. At least I still have time and resources to do so. So, think about what we are seeing, what I discussed above, and then get your butt in gear to do some prep of your own. IF you live in a city or the burbs, and can’t get OUT, by all means prepare anyway, but think seriously about “SmellSec”. The smell of cooking food will carry for miles and when people are hungry, their noses are as good as a dogs. Its not just the means, but what you do to insure you can KEEP IT.
Dio's Workshop 