and not feeling particularly sociable this weekend,,,     Hell, avoiding people like the plague, even Da,,,,

Dunno what it is exactly, but the call to get out in the woods/on the lake is STRONG!

would say I need me time, but that ain’t so: more like I need UNIVERSE time,,, get the ground and center re-established and balance restored.   Feeling a bit off balance since my blowup a week and half back.   

Not that y’all wanna hear about me and my issues.   I has enough of ’em, thats for certain.   I’m hooman; we have issues, baggage, quarks, what-have-you’s,,,,    Mehbe the Katz has it right,,,, be the ultimate little killer and sleep 18 hours a day; to hell with the other shit,,,,LOL

have some memes

more laters,,,,

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How about a hardboiled pill?

Now, I know there have been doings that I am looking at, IN the Trumped 2.0 Administration and I have been shaking my head, scratching my head, flummoxed beyond measure,,,,

BUT, that is in part because I wasn’t looking at things from the correct angle.  (yes, I am still looking at Bondi wondering ‘where are the friggin’ warrants?’ but thats another matter to be dealt with under a different post.)

Trump 2.0

DoGE,

The economy,,,,

Trump is a business man, always has been since his start in realty in Sin-Sin-Nasty,,,, (yup,,, I once lived near his first property, that he flipped and made bank on: enough to pay his dad back and  get started on another.)  Keep that in mind,,, Business man,

I, and likely many others (read MOST) thought we had hired a Surgeon, or a butcher with a chainsaw.,,

He ain’t that, in either case.   Especially that Butcher thing,,, He likes being ‘liked’, and does like to make a showcase of things.

But he is a business man first and formost, and sometimes, businesses file bankruptcy.  Trump is familiar with this.   Musk if familiar with this,   Hell, anyone that has ridden that high has some familiarity about chapter 11, chapter 13, chapter 7s etc etc etc etc 

shit happens, best laid plans go awry, and you scrap the idea, pick up the peices as you can, and scramble the lawyers to ‘keep it fair’ and not be torn limb from limb by your creditors.    Thats just a nature of the beast.    You fail, and until you fail, you have never succeeded.   Sounds counter-intuitive, but is truth.

Looking at how Trump is running things, especially with regards to the economic stuff (DOGE) and what not,   I seems he is attempting to structure a bankruptcy,,,  

With one serious problem.   CONgress.   That whole separation of powers thing, and CONgress holds the purse-strings.   Its sort of like a CEO trying to work around the Board of Directors, 

And CONgress has Tenure, so to speak.   How many of them are dirtier than the dirt from my katbox?   (don’t answer that, I am sure I have no desire for that much information.)    The whole damned system is corrupt as fuck, and EMBEDDED into a system that is off the hook:   or as Sarah says ‘The money printer goes Brrrrrrrr’

and I am not savvy enough with business to figure a solution, nor politically enough to see past one thing,,,,

This show looks likes it gonna collapse into a heap of Shitte, and there are certain groups working to make thier little niches as bullet proof as possible   

follow this money tree,,,, Youtube, Google, Alphabet, Blackrock,,,,,,,   You can go even further with it,, all the way back to NAMES OF INDIVIDUALS,,,

I don’t think there is any historical precedent for what is coming.   THOUGH, things may revert to some historical systems after the shit storm plays out.

——————–

Don’t get me wrong… Sarahs post was inspiring to me.  Yes, we have to keep talking, pointing out the issues, raising questions and raising awareness of things,

and it is daunting as F! but,,,,, The other solution (that ain’t) is to retreat and hide the head under pillows.  

and thats ALL I can do, is attempt to raise awareness that things “Ain’t Right”, how they aren’t right, how they aren’t LEFT either, and that THERE ARE SOLUTIONS IF, AND ONLY IF, WE GET OUR COLLECTIVE SHIT TOGETHER AND START HOLDING ACCOUNTABLITY LESSONS.  I hate using that word ‘Collective’, but lets face it,,, Those of us out here in the real world, that just wanna be left alone so that we can live as we see fit, ARE THE MAJORITY, but we get walked over by less than a percentage point of our society, and there are many ‘just wanna be left alones’ on the payroll of that minority.    I know a few personally.

(dammit!!!!! I was running good and Mamakat ran in, jumped desk and shook off all over me and keyboard.   Sorry y’all,  my thoughts are now scrambled, not hardboiled,,,,,,

more laters,,,

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The green grow-y thingies in my yard are resorting to Nuclear/Biological/Chemical attacks now,,,,

Bad night last night, near zero sleep due to MASSIVE drainage from the cranium/sinus passages.   Foggy as all get out today, so if anything important were going down,   Missed it!  

Anywhoos,,, This to shall pass,  I know its because every swingin’ richard in the area is bizzy scalpin’ thier yards and the dust, pollen, ick and lord knows what are in the air.  ( I know this because I have to blow off my porch every danged day or track yellowish footprints in the house with ease.   I get enough kitteh-paw-print tracks as is,,,,   )

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garblefabgelfrignfargin grrrrrrrrrrr

That damned retaining ring on the pump assembly.  I thought GM had screwed the pooch back in the 90’s with the ring that needed hammered into place,,, Boy oh boy was I wrong.  I’d almost prefer that set up to the newer design with a split ring,,,,    I managed to engage three of the ‘teeth’ holding that split ring and I am ‘fingers crossed’ that they hold.   Luckily, I have been here before and had cut an access port behind the seat of the passenger compartment to access the fuel pump without needing to drop the tank,,,  Thats a serious PITA,,,,  Even more so than what I just went through.   (and why can’t GM do what Toyota does, with a ring that BOLTS in place,,,,   It lines up or it doesn’t, not this gabblefrackin’ goofball set up that MIGHT be lined up correctly,,,,  Oh for the days when fuel pumps were INLINE, not internal,,,,   Sorta miss that about my old Fiats: simple, WORKED, and being Bosch, probably keep working long after the car had rusted away.

Ah,,, so long as what I have in place holds, the deal is done: new pump, better performing engine that actually engages TCC at highway speed again.(if there isn’t enough power, like a weak fuel feed will do, you never actually go into OD.   More fuel consumption, that,,,,)  Pulled up the hill like her oldself again.  I was worried when I was headed home to do the work and had to shift into LO to get the RPM’s up enough to pull the hill.  

And to boot, (I’m laughin’ about it now) I did all of this while a spring Thunderboomer was blowin’ through.   Matched my mood PERFECTLY.   And it was blowing out when I was firing up Buffalo to check things out. 

One more item to change out, and it will be here tomorrow: O2 bank 1 Sensor1.   I was hoping that they would both be here today, but,,,,,,

Th’as a’ight, Its a minor code being thrown and I know that the old headgasket leak is what killed it (shoulda changed it then, but $$$,, Was already hip deep paying for the gaskets and other stuff.)  But,,,, Teats or Tires.    I replace this one, bank 2 is gonna shit-out: Betcha!

Short day at the shop.   5 hours, but I have a 31′ Cantilever gate hogging up my shop until I can get the boys to help me stand it up and finish it.   Then I have another that will be nearly 45′ long to build.    Don’t like ’em, too damned big IMO, BUT, they are my bread and butter, so to speak.   Not only am I the builder, I am the installer for the gate controllers as well.    About the only thing I don’t have my paws involved in, is setting up the posts to hold the bloody things. 

Currently, I have one finished, one half done and another on project.   And thats just one site.   All three will be powered, though at this time, I don’t know how ‘remote’ they will be.   Usual is just keypad entry or remote ‘keyfob’, or both.   I have had one or two that were routed through computer systems that were absolute NIGHTMARES  (and I had to dig deep in the memory banks to remember my sysadmin days for the computer stuff.)  Yeah, I wear a few hats at the J.O.B.      

BUT NOW

Beer thirty.  Already did a test run of Buffalo to fill her tank back up.   Happy to see I have a working fuel gauge again. (you think I was gonna do a fuel pump swap with a full tank?  HA!!!  Ya’right!) And I have some idea of what ‘1/8th tank’ means.    I still had 7 gallons in the tank when I filled back up.   Good to know on road trips.  

and it’s time to unwind,,,,

y’all take care.

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What follows may not be for all of my readers.  Fair warning, its loud and very heavy.   If that’s your thing, Crank it up,,,, I’ll fill in details on the other side.

The bass player is my nephew through Little Sis.  He was with LS when she stopped in to see the Da.

And he is wanting me to tell him about some of my history in the Audio world.  I always enjoy tellin’ tales about that time: brings back the old feelz and reminds me that I have had one hellofalife that many can’t claim.    Not going to be a mentor: too far along in the world to return there, but I CAN give advice,,,,,

SO, the following goes out to Travis,,,,

Protect your FARGIN’ EARS,,,,, He is already onto this to some extent as far as I can tell; using in-ear Monitors instead of the stage wedges.   As long as he keeps his personal volume down, the IEM’s can protect those eardrums and the hairs in the ear canals, longer.

Stay off the Friggin’ drugs, and keep the Alcohol to a minimum.    Shoudn’t need said, but hey, the lure is strong in those circles.   The long lived bands never get started on that crap.

Get legal counsel before you put your initials or signature on ANYTHING!!!!    Far cheaper to hire a lawyer for an hour to read a contract than find out that the label owns all your intellectual property until the sun explodes.   Trust me,,, it happens.

Live within your means:   Far too many artists I witnessed that ‘lived’ the rockstar life, and between tours were destitute livin’ in mama’s trailer,,,   Get some financial savvy, read people like Kyosaki or Garrett Gunderson, and get savvy with the money flows.  Live frugal while on tour, don’t play ‘flash the wad, get laid’ crap.  

Always have an exit plan: There may come a day where you aren’t going to be that ‘rockstar’, and you realize, that you have spent your entire life in that pursuit.   Work on a skills too, skills outside of the industry.    Look at some of  names like Sting, who was a teacher and has multiple degrees.   Always have an exit plan, even if you never need it.

and then there is the rest of the story,,,,

  Getting to the top takes WORK,,,,  Talent only carries you so far for so long,,, Ya gotta work it.

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back to the grindstones today,  or maybe I should say ‘ridin’ the lightning’, since I play with electric to burn metal…

A little bit of a conundrum on my part led to a short day.   Bossman said, ‘copy that cantilever gate’,,,   Ok,,, But,,,, Son of Bossman told me I was going to be building something even larger/longer,,,   “um,,, maybe,,, do what you can,,,,”

So I spent the day butt-welding pipe (we get 21′ or 24′ sections and these gates tend to 30’+length.) and cutting/notching parts for assembly once I actually have dimensions,,,,  

Kinda did a bit of loafin’ too,,,,

Boredom kicked in and finally said,  ‘Nuff, go home,,’

and now playin’ catch-me-up,,,,

——————————————————–

Y’all may remember this post,,,   Well, if not, go read, refresh the memory banks, THEN, Go read This’un.   Make sure to follow some of the links provided; and ya, its a bit of a long read for some.

I am not going to go all metaphysical on’ya and start talking about ‘number of the beast’ and all that*.  There are plenty out here that are all ready to jump on that bandwagon when things start straying from “Right vs Not Right”.    And I know many of the people involved are Buddies/Competition of Musk, and they all have one big thing incommon.   BILLIONAIRES.    Most of them rose up the ranks into that thin-atmo using tech.   (Trumped is the big exception here) and that TECH,,,

Here’s my take on it.    It won’t fly.   Far too many groups and small form societies around the world that would get left the wayside (if that is what you could call it. I prefer ‘not incarcerated into the system’,,,,) that going full on digital won’t work.     Too many analog factions that won’t play the game.  Even here in Appalchiastan, CASH IS KING still readily applies, even with the growing use of EBT/Debit cards.    I see many times at the first of the month, little families going into Wally-world and using that EBT card to pull out gobs of cash: walk up to checkout with a pop, use EBT and pull out a hundred cash. 

Cash can’t be traced.  

Gold can’t be traced.

Silver can’t be traced.

AND those that want further control think they can just replace that system with one of their design and everyone is going to go along with it all hunky-dory-like,,,,,

PHFllllllBBBBbbbbbbtttttt!!!!!!!!!!!  (you can toss in a Shart in there if you want.  Might be more appropo to those that ‘would be kings’,,,,, IMO)

And yes Spud, I know you pointed out certain players on occasion.    I didn’t say I wasn’t watching and calculating.    I know they intend to do something, but I also think, much like the Democratic party of the last 12 years; too much too fast and NOT THE RIGHT TIME.   Shit will blow in their faces, and trusts will be lost and Top Down Centralized is going to fail into locallocallocal, decentralized,

anarchy.

My definition of “no rulers”, not the emotional one of Tooth and claw jungle rules.

We’re at a cusp, yet again, (maybe never left it, only certain groups are vying for top slot slowing down the ‘tip over’.)

No one knows where any of this leads.   Slavery, civil wars, financial collapse (likely as people are fast losing confidence in National Currencies) combinations of the above, sporadic ‘national wars’ between major players, nuke tossing competitions,,,,,, 

No

One

Knows

*Thats not to say I don’t think ‘good and evil’ don’t exist.    Far from it.   Look at the Yin-Yang I publish danged near every post.   There is a balance between those factions, and even in the best, there is a touch of the other inside, just as in the worst, there is some good somewhere.   It may not be self-evident, but it is there.   You can’t remove one side without expanding on the opposite side within.   The good can’t annihilate the bad without growing the bad within.   Balance will correct itself with time.   That, IMO, is part of why we are where we are.  Too many instances of trying to course correct when things should have been left well enough alone to let them correct itself.    Using an economic example: if we had left well enough alone in 2008, the markets would have self corrected and, while things might have felt far worse for a short spell, they would have improved.  Such is what the world needs to allow to happen,,, only,,,,   There are those that “Would be Kings” playing silly bugger games,,,,,

Anywhooossss,,,,,

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Gonna give a shout out to I don’t know who, but much thanks for hitting the Zon links I have provided.  Quite a bit more ‘kickback’ this month than I have seen in a year.   Dunno who ya is, but muchos gracias!

Layin’ low this weekend and feelin’ antsy as all get out.  Wanna get out and DO, not sit and putter.   I have been putterin’ too.  Messin’ with yard stuffs, trying to get my old tiller up-n-runnin’ again  (yeah,,, good luck with that,,,) tryin’ like heck to resist the urge to load up the camp gear  (next Freeday, after Buffalo repairs are out of the way.)

and its back to the old routine tomorrow.   Better mindset this time around though.    More readily apt to ‘walk away’ if, IF, any words are tossed my way.   Won’t say any more about it now.   Leave all options open.

as for playin catch-up on the last three-four days,,,    Glad to see some Judges being arrested, but, those aren’t the ones we have been waiting for.     There are lists, promised to be exposed and still NOTHING.     Only been a 100 days, give or take, but somehows, me thinks that Bondi is sitting on her thumbs, at the behest of her “real” employers,,,,  

Been a lot of ‘low hanging’ fruit making moves to get off the boat.   Durbin, McTurtleboy: Peelousy made noises along those lines too.     Get while the getting is good?  or just reading the fine print at the lower part of the wall with all the holes in it?

Also noted that the hype and whirlwind that DOGE was into has toned down quite a bit.     Is that because Musks enterprises were under attack or the fact that CONgress has the purse strings and ain’t playin’ ball?    or is this a matter of AND???     No matter what, DOGE has one mission it CAN do, and that is clear up all the clutter and BS that makes up our government.    For Example: Get the 25 year old mandate to streamline the SSI roles DONE.   The mandate that was supposed to be accompliished in 1999, and is still ‘in progress’.   

Nothing in the private sector gets such lattitude,,,, You get it done, on time, or you pay (in some way,,,,)    And budgets are not liquid guesstimates,,,,    

Yet somehow, when it comes to the Big G,,, we let the games roll. 35 million dollar jets that are ALWAYS over budget and beyond time frames and not mission capable.    New designed multi billion dollar ships that can’t handle frog rippled waves in Charleston Harbor, let alone open ocean,,,,   (unlike the LST’s we had in group off the coast of the Phillipenes.  Little ships were cresting every other wave(28′ waves), diving under the middle one,,,, They weren’t subs!!! but they sure acted like it.)  And the sad part of it being,,, those items are built in private sector, but the paymaster lets it happen because,,,,,   

Anywhooos,,, that subject gets me goin’ and I don’t wanna get-a-goin’ on a Sunday eve before going back into the grind.

Its beer thirty,,,, I have a glass of Guinness draught at the proper temperature near at my right hand.   Suns’ sinkin’ to the horizon and looks like she may put on one hell of a show tonight.   Its time to chill, reflect and relax.

y’all do the same

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