Author Archives: Joel

Hey, remember Ian’s fund raiser for Forgotten Weapons gear? Well, it’s bearing tangible fruit in the form of a shiteload of new photographic gear…including some that flies itself. The cool thing about all this stuff is that you actually do … Continue reading →

Identity groups are an inescapable part of life. I don’t resist them all. I’m a gun owner, and we’re definitely an oppressed group – or at least a group some people would like to oppress – so I cheerfully identify … Continue reading →

Remember when Democrats thought it was important to return Hispanic children to their parents? #Tcot #nerdland pic.twitter.com/Crg4Yw0F3b — Stuart (@Ringo6) July 6, 2014 H/T to Borepatch

“Thousands of spirit limbs are haunting as many good soldiers, every now and then tormenting them.” Y’know, I was thinking just the other day that the phantom pain thing hasn’t been much of a problem lately. But I woke before … Continue reading →

I’ve got three vicious would-be murderers on my hands… Beautiful, aren’t they? They’re the sisters of Smithers, who went to meet Colonel Sanders a few weeks ago, and looking at them I’m glad I culled him when I did. Mature, … Continue reading →

Whenever I see pictures and videos of flocks of happy cooperative chickens frolicking in fields of green grass, I feel judged and hostile. Why do our chickens always become psychotic? There’s a new refugee at the Secret Lair. I came … Continue reading →

Thanks for all the suggestions, please do keep them coming. I can’t believe I forgot the Viking funeral of God-Emperor Kwai Chang Cain. (Which, btw, eventually morphed into this short story.) By way of thanks for the prompt help, here’s … Continue reading →

Some good suggestions coming on the thread I posted below. Can’t believe I forgot the viking funeral. Just because it’s not on the blog…I’m already working on a new chapter titled “Sometimes Weird Stuff Happens.” You know the jokey old … Continue reading →

Borepatch has a post up this morning concerning an apparently typical Internet security facepalm and to tell the truth I would have glanced at it and mooched on by because I don’t understand three words of what he linked to. … Continue reading →

After the pullets’ record-breaking effort of yesterday, I wondered if I’d get anything at all from them today and I didn’t. But there was an egg in the big nest box anyway: Big, longer than typical RIR: It could only … Continue reading →

Either one of the Rhode Island Red pullets has been laying an egg a day for several days, or several of them have been doing it sporadically. I don’t know which. But there has never been a day when more … Continue reading →

h/t I passed 33,000 words today, with a target of 50K and 150-200 formatted pages. That’s quite a mechanistic goal, but what can I say? The only way people ever actually paid me to sit at a keyboard all day … Continue reading →

This’ll make you smile. Put on your poet’s beret and go read this right now. In a world where I could drunkenly recite this at a picnic while my fellows banged tankards on the table and roared the chorus loud … Continue reading →

It’s kind of overcast to be doing this, but I do need clean stuff and anyway a little rain-soaking if it happens will just wash out some of the hard water residue so I went ahead and filled the clotheslines … Continue reading →

My second-least favorite time of the year. I confess I didn’t really mind it very much until last year, when it seemed like water management was all I did for three months. Today I’ll be out tending my ditches. It … Continue reading →

I (finally!) finished my painting gig this morning, which put a hundred bux in my pocket. And I was performing my favorite and also most painful mental exercise while driving away, which is deciding where the money is going to … Continue reading →

…and to tell the truth we’re not the most nationalistic creatures that ever lived. But Kevin makes a good point when he reminds us that maybe Independence Day should have at least a relatively warm place in the hearts of … Continue reading →

This is funny. Some districts balk at latest serving of school lunch rules Some district officials are saying they’re all for healthy food, but they have to sell enough hot lunches to break even on their program — and that … Continue reading →

Had a busy first half of the morning. J had one gallon of color coat left from his house, so I went out early to finish painting his small horse shelter. One gallon is almost exactly enough to do that … Continue reading →

The first rule of Tyranny Club is you do not talk about Tyranny Club. The second rule of Tyranny Club is what happens to you if you talk about Tyranny Club. Medical staff warned: Keep your mouths shut about illegal … Continue reading →