Author Archives: Joel

In his defense he was provoked. There’s a heavy-duty carabiner on the end of Tobie’s heavy-duty rope, so that I can clip it to a heavy-duty loop of braided 550 cord that I slide over my heavy-duty belt – all … Continue reading →

Terrapod asked… Hey Joel, how is that Carhart winter coat holding up? Is it time for a new one yet? My nice Redneck Cartier coat came to me in January 2017 after a rather convoluted drama, and I was delighted … Continue reading →

Two mornings ago Tobie woke me, very excited, to announce that something extremely important was happening outdoors and that I should get up immediately and let him out to investigate, defend against and/or consume, as the situation may demand. I … Continue reading →

…and unless you give me some warning my everyday rig is, you know, gonna be what I wear every day… But I didn’t know we were going into town. So I got stuck trying to tuck a low-rise holster under … Continue reading →

…I had to find a source for new cutting chains before I could convert that pile of juniper in my yard into firewood. Oh, I sharpened the one chain but it never went particularly well and I was spending more … Continue reading →

Another ton of wood pellets at D&L’s place. Unlike other times I had to take prior precautions to make sure I had two functional legs for this one. The knee is feeling better but this wasn’t the time to indulge … Continue reading →

Which makes it hard to get your chores done, to say nothing of explaining all those truncated walkies to Tobie the Peripatetic Mutt. But… …my right knee, which is my only intact knee, started going south on me about a … Continue reading →

It’s kinda funny that my most constant seasonal cue is that tree, right across the street from the water vending station Neighbor L and I go to every week. I guess because there’s nothing better to do while waiting for … Continue reading →

In the Spring my redneck water heater’s hoses were so full of loose scale I couldn’t get any pressure out of the spigot at all. Took forever to clear it all out. I swore that this time I’d take the … Continue reading →

This sort of thing has happened before but not for a long time… The dough basically doesn’t rise in the bowl or the bread pan at all. Stuck with the option of throwing it away or baking it and seeing … Continue reading →

Keeping me company while I took laundry off the line… He’s not always so dignified. Last Sunday at a get-together on SurvivalDave’s deck he met two ladies he doesn’t see often – and we’ve never met a female human he … Continue reading →

When I picked the fruit in August I had a lot of trouble with the tall vertical branches in the middle, so I determined that before winter I’d prune them off. I hesitated, of course, because that’s a pretty major … Continue reading →

Tobie had his dinner and immediately began harassing me for his evening walkie. No problem; beautiful day, can’t wait. We got to the top of the climb on the beaten path between the Lair and Ian’s Cave. The moon was … Continue reading →

We’re all on wells, we all built our own electrical and plumbing systems, we’re all on solar power which doesn’t always work even in the desert, none of us knew what we were doing, we all get dry water tanks … Continue reading →

Where are those crying in laughter emojis?

From Commenter Eric, I don’t quite know where… That’s pretty impressive for November.

We don’t usually go into the teens overnight before December. Everything is working fine, the Lair is insulated against far worse now but I was surprised to get this kind of weather so early in the season. It must be … Continue reading →

The snow finally slackened off around 10:30 and I went outside to clean off the solar panels on the ground mount. Turned out I could’ve stayed indoors… That’s not supposed to happen. Here’s what the roof-mounted panels were like at … Continue reading →

ED NOTE: I wrote this yesterday morning but somehow didn’t post it, and didn’t notice that I hadn’t posted it till just now. The last chapter in my latest water hassle. A couple of cool wet days. Night before last … Continue reading →