Dio's WorkshopWelcome to my brain. It’s messy. It’s interesting. And it’s all connected if you stick around long enough. "Believe Nothing: no matter who said, even if I have said it, except it agree with your own reason and common sense. Siddhartha Guatamo, the Buddha.
locked calipers, potential dead clutch, 3″ exhaust missing where the cats used to be, all 4 tires dry-rotted, though I expected that, headlamps busted,,, no keys,, and right now, questioning if they even have title to it. Dood here says “absolutely yes”, but I haven’t laid eyes on it meself,,,,
Dammit!!!
bonus: engine does turn by ratchet, shows good compression,, its a 350: hard to beat up a 350,,,,
I’m holding tight right now,,, not committing an irreversible move.
Whutch’all tink? Stick to it (dependent upon title) or run screaming??? Input heavily requested in this instance. (note: no title, no buy, PERIOD. I’ve been down that road once before and it took me YEARS to get rid of the paperweight. Ended up donating it to a school as a project motorcycle. )
An interesting (to me) morning,,,, I think I ‘get it’ now,,
What the heck is Dio talkin’bout now?
just this: what happens when the words in your head lose ALL meaning, and you are left with pure emotion. Yet, the emotion is so stable as to be a flatline? No ego! No strife!
just “Being”
If I could bottle where I am spiritually right now,,,,
i started the day in such a state of Being, even Cozzie felt it, joining me in yoga this morning, making me laugh. Elbs was a puddle o kat when he joined me at my desk, perfectly mirroring my mind,,,
Haven’t picked up Twuck yet. (HT to Mikee for that nickname so far. Thinking some variation of twuck and SAK (Swiss army knife) for a nickname.). Not stressing about things, in anyway, Why should I stress? This is just a transaction away from reality; then the fun begins. Paperwork and taxes, twisting wrenches and bustin’ knucks. Mo’ monies of course,,, parts aren’t free y’know.
And, of course, Buffalo is feeling a tad jealous right now. Started off the day just fine, and by the time I hit the bottom of the hill, “Check gauges” light came on,,, Showed low fuel light and the gauge was on E. BUT, I filled up just 60 miles ago, so I know thats a lie. Might be a pack-rat issue. Not usually a problem since Buff doesn’t sit much, but it is getting cold out and packrats like trucks that are usually warmer than ambient when they get used often (Buff does, a lot.). I need to get out there and at least get a visual on the wires leading to the tank. Probably just something shorted to ground and likely something I did in the past that took awhile to rear its head. I mean, I have recently replaced the fuel pump and what not,,,,
Life at the J.O.B. has been uneventful. Fabbing some really long ass rolling gates for a church in the boonies. 43′ and 49′ long. Gonna be fun transporting them, but thats the bosses problem, not mine. I just build the stuff. Had they been a touch longer, I would build them in two sections and do final assembly on site. Thats always challenging: keeping things square for the final fit-up. Not my first rodeo, but not doing that this time. Would make transport a lot less head-achy, but not my circus: I’m just a monkey in such.
Side note: I think Burnout is a touch jealous as well. I mentioned that I was buying Twuck and he looked a bit miffed. Sorry bro,,, build your reputation (in a good way, not the negative he has been doing of late) and things will fall your way more often. I won’t go into what negatives he has been doing of late, but if he keeps his trend, he is in for heap of trouble. IF he sticks to the grindstone and sucks it up, he can make this situation shine. BUT he has to do the work. No one is gonna do it for him. No one CAN do it for him, if he wants to be in a better place.
Out in the great wide, seems we may be in for a spot of trouble if the Shutdown continues. EBT cards are set to not refill at the start of the month. That will be a signal that things are worse than the liars club has been letting on. I can see the Dems letting that failure happen as it will ‘motivate’ their army,,, Is that the plan? Your guess is as good as mine. I can see it being in the playbook, but like much they have done of late, I can see it biting them in the ass in some way. I hate to say it, but from a local stance, there are a few people around here that could use to miss a meal or two: shouldn’t hurt them, but it may make them madder than a wet cat. Who am I kidding,,, they won’t learn a damned thing. Too many “entitled” in mindset now. Saw that in an X video where the guy was ranting that the “taxpayers” work for HIM,,, Nope, not gonna see that change in one generation: gonna take a whole lot more than a few missed meals to correct that “SNAFU” created by several decades of socialist agenda being pushed in the halls of a swamp.
Overseas, NATO is biting on a bears ass and things ain’t looking good. Trumped is swearing that he has no clue about the shenanigans and that worries me a touch. IS it that his intel is compromised, or that he’s playing “Plausible Deniability”? Time will tell. When the canned sunshine starts popping up in the wee hours over Europe, all bets are off. (and if you think Russia is gonna give Macron and those idjits a heads-up, I have a bridge for sale,,,). Dunno,, I can’t see a negative here, if Puttie-Putin gets his ire up and decides Paris or Brussels needs a rapid renovation. Might let the rest of the world know that “Hey, he ain’t kiddin’round,,,,” Yeah, sucks to be the civvie living’ in those areas, but y’all could have done some kinetic renovations your damned selves prior,,,, Much like we may need to do on these shores yet.
Life goes on. Level headed, stable moods, some form of natural prozac in my diet or something. SO steady in the head as to make me worry a little (but only a little,,,0 Probably a damned good thing, getting all that junk out of my system and finding out, hey, this is what NORMAL is supposed to feel like. Certainly a lot nicer than my usual ‘hot headed’ reactions. Even Mama-kat is looking at me funny, almost as if asking, “You feelin’ okay Da? you usually freak when I claw your leg for attention.” Yup, learning to be that “mellow cat” again. It has to be the clearing of the house of all that junk I was consuming. I certainly am not getting fired up about the “headlines/deadlines, draining my mind”
mo’laters loves. stuffs to do while the daylight is still in my favor.
Live
LOVE
Laugh
Learn
LOAD
Addendum: Chances of a podcast this weekend are slim. Lots going on, between Duct-tape fam party, TWUCK, and that mess,,, Not saying it won’t happen, but slim pickins on time may dictate a skip*
Was feeling a tad frustrated chasin’ “Truck”: was only able to pull together $800 and that would have left me in deficit, unable to do much more than pick up the truck and watch it rot in my presence for a several months as my finances recovered.
STILL, this is gonna put a little bit of tension on the finances, but not as deeply or as suddenly. Spread the damage out and have a little room to wiggle for stuff like tires and brakes.
What did Dio do?
I talked to Son of Bossman,,,,
I owe him now,,, and that’s completely fine. He knows that I bring my tools to the table, and that is (large) part of why I am an asset at the J.O.B.; not just my brainium,,, I’ll be pickin’ “Truck” up this Friday, towing it home using a car dolly (another of those fringe benefits I will oblige myself to). Talked to the owner this afternoon, and he is cool with a Saturday pickup if’n Friday is too mucked up. Dunno which it will be, don’t care: the deal is working towards completion and that makes me quite happy.(update: MUST be Friday,,, forgot about an planned event that can’t be missed,,,)
Fact: I tossed and turned on this all day today, ready to let the window slide closed on me,,,, THEN, I kept thinking about something I say to the boys now and again; “Hard choices, easy life. Easy Choices, hard life.” The hard choice in this case was approaching the Son of, ‘hat in hand’ and ASKING. And he had been waiting for exactly that,,,, He wasn’t gonna offer, but wanted me to make the choice of my own free-will. Yeah, there is some humbling aspects goin’ on here, but that might be needed on my end. (IS needed on my end, it makes me appreciate the deal that much more.) I SEE a future for me in that truck, and one that is NOT at the J.O.B. per-se. One where I have more say, and don’t need to watch my efforts be rewarded by a small percentage of the margin. Had I let this slide closed on me, without asking, I would always be haunted by the fact that I LET it close without trying: thats a hard road to travel and one I have no intention of taking. The hard choices made, Time to get bizzy and make the future easier. (FYI, Son of Bossman and I are only 9 months apart in age: him senior to me, but he has been much more successful in the financial world, being a business owner and what not. I have just done more and seen more of the world,,, so it balances.)
‘Bout damned time I take charge of my future instead of relying on someone else to provide the opportunity of ‘income’. Granted, there is a lot of headache involved on their end, the headaches I will have to take on myself if I wish self-employment,,, I know those headaches from my producer days, my Tour manager days, etc etc,,,, Won’t be new territory,,,,
And the future looks a little brighter for your faithful blogger/podcaster,,, Won’t slow me down a bit on the blogging/casting stuff,,, Though my days will be busier for a spell, I still take the time to let y’all into the workshop for ‘chill time’.
Yes, thats in relation to the Contractor truck I’m pursuing.
SO, instead of telling you about flaming financial hoopies and wranglin’ hopes and ideas to a standstill, I present you with something completely different.
I’ve been seeing lots of little shorts like this all week. Someone/s been busy at the desk and inputs.
It makes one wonder just what IS real these days. How many of the ‘footages’ are we being fed that are as fake as those clips? I know we had instances of Slo-Jo Xi-den with his mysterious hand passing clean through a boom mic as one example, and that one faded into the memory hole with a quickness, but what has been getting fed lately? Any idea?
Me neither,,,,
And thats part of why I have been focusing more on things like TOOLS, and TRUCKS that are elements to a future, whereas the stuff coming out of the grand picture seem more questionalbe than usual and therefore NOT TO BE TRUSTED as tactical considerations towards the future. With everything moving the way it is, and financial issues looking like an approaching event horizon, I plan on getting a better footing under my arse before the bottoms drop out. LOAD; Yup, in progress. Even if this window slips past me, I have means: this window would be a better set of means, only. Prefered, not essential.
Fact: during my nightly stop in with Da, he was telling me some of his fears for the future and I can tell you this much:: the propaganda being fed into his world is working. Stuff that I have joked about (Global warmening/coolering/change-o-matic whatev’s) has him concerned. World wide famine was another he mentioned along with some “extinction level event” being predicted. I told him to turn the TV off and go take a walk at the lake everyday instead. It will clear his head. AND, that ‘extinction level event’ thingie,,, Fuggit! IF there were to be such an event, what could you do to stop it, seriously? What could YOU do, to stop it? Not a damned thing. Maybe make like Noah and build an Ark, (and maybe that IS what Elon is trying to do in some round about sort of fashion) and pray that you beat the rain, but what if that extinction level event is more inline with that movie 2012? Where the poles shift and the tectonic plates have a Grand Mal seizure, with Yellowstone blowing its 40000 year behind schedule top amongst other chaos and calamity?
This ain’t Hollywood,,,
You can’t do a damned thing so why worry about it? That was my point to him. And I DO hope he takes my advice and gets out walking more. It would do him far more good then sitting in front of a widescreen toob and eating snacks because he’s bored. (and he earned that right, but I see it and worry,,,)
sigh
No point in wringing hands over things so far out of our control that only God could intervene. Just do whats right, right here, right now, and leave the rest of the cards there on the table and don’t worry your pretty little cranium about it. Thats my take anyways.
left turn
Trying a new ‘start to the morning’ routine. 16oz of warm water. 2tbsp of Apple cider vinegar, 1/2 squeezed lemon, pinch of sea salt, 1tbsp of Olive Oil EXVirg. pinch of cinnaman and 1/2tsp of ginger (dried and powdered) Doesn’t taste bad at all. Getting used to the olive oil slickness was odd, but once past that, goes down smooth.
Hunger cravings GONE!!! I still eat around noon (10-2 is my window. goals are 115g of protein and whatever fats I get to balance it out. Some veggies as well. More for the fiber and minerals that the proteins lack.) but ALL CRAVINGS prior are vanished. Supposedly this little concoction stimulates ketosis (and I beleive it: keto breath is real.) which means your body is converting fat to fuel to use. My mornings are clear headed, stable mood, and steady energy. I get a mild rush after eating (Protein high is what I have heard it refered to) but my Glucose levels ride in a 10 point window ALL DAY LONG.(80-90) No spikes!!!
(Hint, you MUST drink water. More water means more fat burning. Keep some sea salt handy for electrolyte additions.)
Still have my Coffee, but I don’t feel the need for it like I did. I’m waking clear-headed and rarin’ to go.
I would never have thought it possible to go as long as I have with so little INTAKE, and it has made me reassess my stores for SHTF. What I once thought of as 6 months could easily be 12 or more,,, with a careful eye to carbs. We obviously eat way too many carbs now. Spread out the carb intake and stores could AT LEAST double in time range.
(and y’all are probably sick of hearing about it. Nothing like the evangalist of a reformed hooker or addict, and I WAS addicted to sugar. Still am in a sense, though my ‘one a day’ soda/pop is becoming ‘meh, I’ll get one tomorrow’. )
MOre laters,,, Hopefully I have some news that I CAN share about the trucky tomorrows.
Still no pictures of the truck, crew leader that went to that site today has no clue how to use his phone to take a picture (I told y’all that I work with some simpletons, t’weren’t kiddn’)
and yet,,, I got the call this afternoon, that “Yup!, $1500 and you can get it, might wanna come look and see what ya need to get it out of here.”
Already did that: a car dolly or car hauler will suffice to get it home, and I can borrow either from the J.O.B.. (fringe benefits,,,) From there, its all busted knuckles, time, and copious amounts of the paper version of time as well. I know tires are needed, a battery, brakes more than likely, the tune-up parts might hold a bit longer, but are planned for, clean the poor beast out of any critters it may have squatting in various nooks and crannies. Yeah, there’s some work involved yet. Not including the paperwork side of things to get all legal-like.
The real bump I need to get over is that $1500,,,, I have it, but not without liquidating stuff, or ‘cash advance’ on a credcard (interest payments!)
And this may slide by me yet,,,
If it weren’t for the potential I see in it, I would already be ‘sliding by’; not jumping through mental hurdles, cost-benefit analysis, etc etc etc. Consider my thinking as ‘self investment’, and I don’t like making any investments using interest payments.
That potential is what doors it would open up as “Side Gigs” or even freelance stuff. I see how its a tool towards MY potential, not just what it is.
The week has only just begun, and who knows WHERE it leads,,, I may have a ‘new to me’ truck come friday, even if its a month of more before it see’s usage.
My manifestations are bearing fruit, though its not ripe yet.
Some audio ‘differences’ here, one from direct to chip recording, and I won’t be doing that again unless I am “live” in the field somewhere. The rest, the truly clearer parts, are straight to the Mac and I like this much better. Tried to do a ‘To disc’ recording so that I could just run from the hip and edit afterwards. Doubled my work load and made the audio,,, noisy is the better term I guess.
ANywhoos,,, enjoy. Putting up a mirror of this in Substack as well.
It was the early part of the Tweens when the political divisions of the United States reached irreconcilable differences. Ted, a burnt out computer programmer, and Jim, a double amputee combat vet, reverse engineer the pentagons drone program and create a rebel air force. While traveling the country helping others defend what is left of the country, they run afoul a most evil woman intent on creating a serfdom within the country.
A beginner’s guide to going off grid. how to evaluate if you even want to make the attempt. written by the curmudgeonly author of this blog and his dog
Dio's Workshop 