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 it, even if I have said it, except it agree with your own reason and common sense. Siddhartha Guatamo, the Buddha.
Some of y’uns might know Jay, aka “The Boring Old Man” from comments.
What some of ya might not know, is he is also a blogger. He doesn’t post much these days, but man, when the guy has a wordspill, he HAS A WORDSPILL!
I posted a comment over there on that subject matter, and to illuminate for those of you that don’t catch such stuff, I’ll embed one here.
(Karen is her name, not a derogatory thing.)
Admit it Peeps!, We grew up in the best of times, especially when it came to music. Doesn’t matter if you were a teen in the 60’s 70’s or 80’s,, heck even into the 90’s with Grunge and Industrial explorations,,, But come the 20-aughts,,, something shifted down,,,,
Maybe its all the streaming ease? That for under a couple grand, a body can put together a hell of a studio, synth all the instruments, and splice together a complete track, master it, and publish it with no more overhead or ‘trial by fire’ than the “hit the publish button and pray”
See, all, and I do mean ALL, of the bands we grew up with; They didn’t get that ease of function. They were there, in the trenchs, playing every downtrodden bar, finding what worked, what got the girls shaking their hips, what drew the yawns, and they did it FOR LOVE. Maybe there was the calling of making it big (Selling out as the industry used to call it) but that rarely was the opening bid. The opening bid in most cases was LOVE OF MAKING MUSIC. Even Boston, who, initially, was just two guys and a multi track with some serious techy gee-whiz stuff cobbled together in a basement. They went straight to label, but THE LOVE was buried deep in that music. Try to convince me otherwise, and I will point you straight back at the opening of the track those two above listened to. No one makes music like that without loving every aspect of music FIRST.
Anywhoosabobber,,, go Give Jay some love on his site (link above)
gonna roll to Da’s and use the hoist to clear the bed. Bee-otch is HEAVY! LOL.
Up notes: Green coolant, quite clean looking. Oil is dark, but not gritty on the stick nor imitating tar. Haven’t drained it yet, so,,, I may find I bought a turd, but so far looking good. Has obviously been ran recently (fuel in rail smelled new, in addition to ‘brite’ bits on the drivebelt and pulleys.)
A peek into the intake was as expected: some carbon buildup, but not the goop I saw in Bloos case.
I shoulda listened to Y’all back in November when she started knocking. Live n Learn.
Trumped may have been confident in his Posturing: me, seeing a different picture, the one from old boots on the ground, looking at current alliances, and general ill-will that we are experiancing as a nation across the globe: self induced ill-will, mind you. At no other time in history has a sitting President (no matter if he was duly elected or shammed in: thats a different point entirely) was kidnapped from his home in the dead of night to stand trial in a foriegn country. With many charges against him being strictly laws of the kidnapping country,,, That action is going to have long reaching consequences, and not all of them will be to our benefit. (I can garantee you, every sitting pres, or PM or whatever UPPED the security around them within hours of that report coming out…)
I’m no fan of the FUSA being “World Cop”. and the current trend has taken the old trend to a whole new level.
BUT
I am starting to get the impression that Trumped is starting to realize he was the “Mark” in the MiddleEast game of Three Card Monte.
And I lay equal blame on his staff of yes-people that don’t want to show him the reality of the situation for fear of his reactions…. Thats the problem with “zero tolerance’ administrations. People need the freedom to tell the boss “You’re Fucked in the head sir, if you go this route”. The Boss may not like it, but too damned bad: that freedom of expression is the colbalt rod in the nuclear reactor of world politics.
Now, last night I posted that Trumped has thrown his people under the bus. I’m talking all the MAGA people, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tucker Carlson,,,
All of the people in that ‘Truth’ social post he mentioned. I see the vitriol spreading to others out here in the Main Street USA as well, and I wanna ask, “Are you no longer in agreement with thier ideas, or are you just sucking the teat of propaganda so hard you can’t hear yourself think?”
No need to answer that,,,, I have my opinion thats buried in how I phrased that.
Heres the clarification. I have never made any statement saying I “like” Trump. I have always felt he is an arrogant obnoxious narccisist, but out of the other side of my mouth, I have stated he IS a successful businessman and that what this country needed was a CEO, not some politico career oriented stool pigeon.
The problem as I now see it, is one of INSULATION and COMPROMISE. He is far too insulated from us “Boots on the Ground” types, is potentially compromised by those that are in esscense providing that insulation. He may even be further compromised by a certian YOUNG STATE from the ME that has tons of dirt on him, as was, quite breifly, aired then deleted, with the initial release of the Epstien Files. (and oh boy, the stuff leaking out from what was captured,,,,)
That combination has, is having, serious flashback. IT could even flashback harder than what we have seen. I as I stated to one of the guys I was discussing this with IRL, “The problem with bluffing like that? Eventually someone is gonna call your bluff.”
And then there is a thing that Sarah Hoyt has pointed out on occasion, among a few others. Nuclear weapons have a half life, everything radioactive has a half life: degradation is literally built in. And what I am gonna say next applies to ALL Nuclear powers, not just us. The Cold War was technically over in 92. That was over 30 years ago: Does anyone even know if our 30+ year old weapons are still viable,,, Or Russias, or Chinas,,, I know the Ballistic missiles we designed back in the day are so antiqueated that we don’t even know how to make the propellant anymore. Whats the status of Russias’? Though we do know they didn’t stop making missiles, and have even exceeded our tech on that note: the question being, are their Nukes any good?
How much of this posturing is completely Empty threats that ALL of the Superpowers KNOW is empty threats because the toys are now ‘hot lead’, but tossed out there to keep US, the boots on the ground, the populace that keeps the machine moving with tax revenue, on the edge of our seats and scared silly?
We may never know, and honestly, I hope we never find out,,,,
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SO,,, now that I have done a little clarification, let me address the way I see me moving forward here at the shop. THIS post is the last of the political sprectrum, though I may occasionally toss out an Anti-Government MEME or three.
INSTEAD, I am going to post topics about Living off-grid, how to’s, alternate things that are options for all of the above, and maybe a thing or three on how to avoid the middleman of G00bermint in permission slips. Keep in mind, your state is going to have different laws and opinions of ‘acceptable’ behaviour: I am no lawyer, nor do play as one on TV, Take my words as entertainment only and NO CONSEQUENCES ACCEPTED BY SELF if you choose to make the attempts on your behalf.
One of the biggest things I want to talk about is “Building materials” and Building codes that are not designed to make your home ‘more livable’, but to line someones or some industries pockets. There is a dead simple way to keep homes cool in the summer without HVAC units that measure in tonnage of air movement. A simple Black pipe (4-8″ dia) on the south-west corner of the house, external, but plumbed back through the wall to some ceiling vent. Floor vents that access the crawl space or basement area. The sun hits the pipe, creates a pressure difference, that pulls hot air out of the house, replacing it with cooler air from beneath the house. The whole thing can be shut off in the winter months. Total cost $100-$1000 depending on if you do the work or hire out. If built while building,,,,
Theres more,,,
Some of the subjects may be things I have done, am doing, wish to do, and I will let you know the difference as I post them.
Self sufficiency is my Center,,, DOING THINGS is my ground, and as long as I can keep the “News of the day” not get embedded in my skin, I can keep those two points just fine.
Hope all of that unfiltered mind-dump explains the past few days.
I’m not suicidal: I may not fear death, but I am still sort of addicted to breathing.
But recent events, in my personal and external worlds have led me to do some serious soul searching. One question I keep asking, “Is this MINE?” and most of what has been causing me the greatest greif is NOT such. Thats not to say I haven’t any problems,, I has plenty
But the ones causing the drinking to increase, the sleepless nights (the reason for the the drinking: so I could get to sleep without stirring about staring at walls.) Which led to other issues that only started a downward spiral in spiritual equilibrium,,, No, those weren’t mine, they were caused by stoopid hooman powergrabbing tricks. Brinksmanship moves by power players that threatened world populations: not mine. The ditching of a base that carried you into power and then backstabbing them, calling them NUTZ and other things: NOT MINE.
It made me see the world through a different set of lenses and I didn’t like the view, and I came real close to burning out. And to boot, Seeing how others are still buying into the propaganda feeds without questioning ANYTHING, despite the fact that just months ago, they were saying completely opposite things: the mental gymnastics I would have to go through to accomplish that feat would have me sedated and bound into a straight-jacket.
WHEN I HIT THAT LEVEL,,, I fall back to the most psychotic movie of the 90’s “Fight Club” Why? Because for all the Multiple personality Disorder problems Tyler Durden had, his alter ego had some solid foundations in place. Hence the videoclip from that movie in yesterdays post. “Our Great war is a Spiritual War, Our great Depression is Our Lives.”
Foundations. Maybe thats part of my problem. The last few months, BlooTwuck trials and tribulations, Da taking a downward turn for a spell, Property issues needing addressed and under a deadline sort of thing ,,, My foundations have been tossed and turned like San Francisco during a major Earthquake.
Ground and center: Thats the goal post now. Find that ground and center. Make it something CONCRETE, and not fluid like my kayaks (those aren’t going away, just won’t be the main line defense against the rest of the world.)
recently I made mention of a changing up how I keep the house warm during the winter months. That project will be part of future posts. Getting BlooTwuck solid again, also post oriented (more on that later in the post) And of course, my spiritual efforts in some way shape or form will be post material.
But the Fake and Gay bullshit of Bought and Paid For Politicians? Zion/Muslim tantrums? Posturing for status in a dying system as the world slowly but steadily DECENTRALIZES and the word EXPERT is becoming a bad joke,,, Naw, not gonna talk about that shit no mo’.
Like BCE stated,,, Keeping an eyeball on it as it does have trickle down effects (Like fuel prices through the frellin’ roof and only climbin’) but I can not let it dictate my SPIRITUAL WELL BEING, and it was trying so hard to take over.
Something something about Archons here, and if you have any Gnostic background,, Well, I was being fed upon and it was starting to show up physically. I lost 10 pounds over the span of a week,,,My focus was shot to HELL, and well, I’ve told ya; I was drinking way more than I should’ve.
I’m grabbiing the reins back.
Live
Learn
LAUGH
LOVE
LOAD!!!
OOps,,, Forgot to tell ya: Going to pick up a running block for BlooTwuck this weekend. Gonna swap out the smoke-machine sometime over the next couple weeks. Prefer to do it one ‘take’, not spread out across weeks of J.O.B. Borrowed an engine hoist from one of the many cousins in the area so thats one thing out of the way and not an added expense. (goes back to my wrenching days: Borrow once: Ok, Borrow Twice: put money aside to buy, Borrow third time; buy as soon as available. )
There are days I question my own sanity.
There are days I question the sanity of the entire world.
Those were the opening lines from yesterdays post. I will openly admit, that whole post was re-written by Grok. I approved the re-write obviously, or I would not have published it. Here’s the funny,,, Those opening lines? Completely mine: Grok didn’t touch them.
I’m tired. I’m sick of it all recently. My life in turmoil, then the world reciprocates with even more. I’m certain that some of my readers looked at that post askance, thinking “Dio is losing it”
YES! Yes the fuck I am losing it. My meeting with the Bosses this AM told me as much. I won’t delve into the meeting, and it wasn’t really a meeting, more me asking, “whats your take on the Iran Hoopla?” and,,,
I wasn’t ready for that. Shoulda been, seeing how they are both deep divers in Fox News,,, I’ve felt all day that I am walking along three parallel universes that all look alike but with very DIFFERENT mental states in majority, and I can’t tell which is which from minute to minute.
I shut down.
If it weren’t STRICTLY work related, I said nothing. When I had to deal with guys at the shop, I put the headphones in and ignored everyone unless they needed something WORK SPECIFIC. I didn’t even want to hear about how good the weather is.
And I have been contemplating shuttering the shop (This shop, the blog) all day.
Not saying that is the game plan at this point. This is so much a part of my ‘being’ that it could be akin to cutting off my left hand. I don’t know. I need to be clear: The last 48 hours have shown me the futility of voicing ANYTHING at this tier of the world. It may entertain a few (average daily views is 56) but make a difference? HA,,, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahasnorthahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahawheezehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha,, oh god, please make it stop,,hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, my belly hurts,,,,laugh giggle snort,,,
So what will I do for my catharsis? Fu? I dunno,,, go back to shooting on the regular. Cozz won’t like it, but a good range session will always put me in better spirits. I DO NEED to get back into kayaking and camping on the regular. Get my toes dirty seeking my ground and center. (I most certainly am NOT grounded currently.)
Posting may be light moving forward. Its taking all of my motivation to write this post right now,
Maybe I should start off by bringing up Glubb’s “fall of empires” again. We’re at that stage, and current events keep pointing right back at us. It’s getting harder each year—honestly, lately it feels like each week—to ignore the simple truth:
We aren’t what we were.
Lay it out—– An economy built around the petro-dollar—propped up by Saudi Arabia agreeing to transact in our currency—now showing real cracks as tensions escalate in the ME
A federal government that seems incapable of restraint or correction. You look around and see fraud, corruption, and abuse out in the open… and yet where are the arrests? The indictments? The prosecutions?
And the Fourth Estate, supposedly a check on power, has become openly one-sided. Narrative-driven. Divisive. Everywhere you turn, it’s “us vs. them,” as if the country itself is fundamentally fractured. I don’t think we are—but we’re being pushed to see each other that way.
I could go on, but most of you already see the same pattern.
So how do we fix it?
First, we admit something no one in power wants to say out loud: we are not going to be the global superpower forever. That’s reality. Fighting it only makes the landing harder.
So bring it home.
Pull back from the idea that we have to be everywhere, involved in everything. Reevaluate the alliances, the bases, the constant outward projection of force. Not from weakness—but from necessity. If the focus shifts inward, the structure of everything else has to follow.
That doesn’t mean dismantling strength. It means redirecting it. If we’re serious about securing the country itself, then resources and people should reflect that priority.
The economy… that’s a harder knot to untangle. It would mean rethinking the foundations entirely—how the currency works, what actually backs it, and how dependent we’ve allowed ourselves to become on external arrangements. That’s not a small fix, and pretending it is won’t help.
And then there’s accountability. Not selective. Not performative. Real. If there are things being hidden—scandals, corruption, abuses of power—then they need to come into the open, regardless of who it implicates. Leadership means owning your actions, not burying them and hoping time or distraction erases them.
Because right now, what’s missing more than anything is trust.
I keep coming back to this image: we’re like a long-time drunk at the end of the night. The party’s over. The damage is done. And now comes the hard part—sobering up.
That’s not pleasant. It’s humbling. It forces you to see things clearly, maybe for the first time in a long time.
But it’s necessary.
We don’t need to abandon pride—but it has to be grounded in reality, not inflated by old myths or inherited victories. A little humility would go a long way toward rebuilding something real again.
and to roll this missive out, a word to the PTwB: Guys, the COLDWAR is OVER, stop resurrecting it!
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