Author Archives: Joel

This is a house full of no doubt typical household gadgets, some of which seem weird and almost sinister to an old man who’s spent the past dozen years deliberately lowering his tech expectations to what’s supported by his dependably … Continue reading →

Okay, I spent yesterday hiding from the sun and the heat, slowly unpacking and de-stressing and generally evaluating what I’ve gotten myself into. By noon two things were clear: It was too damned hot to do anything outdoors beyond the … Continue reading →

Laddie fell head over cliché for my host of the female persuasion, who just left for the airport. He is now rushing from door to door, crying piteously. Less secure feelings than mine would be hurt. 🙂

My hosts’ house has a little room not unlike the little room in the Secret Lair, except cleaner and containing within it yet another even smaller room with glass walls and a tiled and drained floor! The purpose of this … Continue reading →

…is not where I would choose to be. But some necessary business arose, serendipitously at the exact time I was already going to a city where it could be done. Talk more about it later. In any case I have … Continue reading →

Yesterday evening I turned off the well pump, the tank level showing 2000 gallons. This morning I looked at the resting water pressure… …and it’s indicating 19 psi, the highest I’ve ever seen. Probably I could get it a hair … Continue reading →

I remember reading about this rifle when it was found and thinking, “There but for the grace of god…” 137-year-old Winchester rifle found in Nevada has new home BAKER, Nev. — A 137-year-old rifle found five years ago leaning against … Continue reading →

Laddie was feeling butthurt this morning. He’d had his breakfast and his little walkie around the yard, but now Uncle Joel was suiting up to go away and he didn’t feel like being left alone. He planted himself between me … Continue reading →

I dipped the tank this morning and we’re down to about 1100 gallons. The tank capacity is 2400, so we’re below 50%. If I weren’t going away for three weeks I’d have left the experiment running longer, but we do … Continue reading →

They passed $800,000 before the end! What a great start for the book and the future of the company! Well done! The book is due to be available for retail sale in October, I believe.

I kind of make a big deal about private property, tourists not welcome, “no trespassing” means you. I make exceptions. That’s a wasp called a Tarantula Hawk. They’re attracted to water. I went out after lunch to finish up and … Continue reading →

The coupler is leaking, which should not have been such a disappointing surprise because I forgot until it started dripping that only one side of it is sealed with silicone. I’ll fix that after lunch. First thing I did was … Continue reading →

This has been fun to watch.

Another neighbor was going to town, and I hitched a ride to get the downspout parts I needed. So now I can finish the gutter before I leave. Huh. Pictures upload much faster here than at the Lair. Also the … Continue reading →

Since I’m hung up on gutters and don’t feel like painting, I figured I’d take a few and fix the Jeep’s latest busted rear shock absorber. This is, I swear, the only vehicle I’ve ever used where it didn’t really … Continue reading →

Delta passenger mauled by emotional support dog files lawsuit “While Mr. Jackson was securing his seatbelt, the animal began to growl” at him, according to the lawsuit. “The dog then bit Jackson several times.The attack was briefly interrupted when the … Continue reading →

Too short – it’s the story of my life. That’s all the 4″ pipe I have left from the rebuild I did on my sewer line a year ago February. I really thought that shorter piece would be enough to … Continue reading →

Unless I can scrounge a couple of downspout elbows I’ve gone as far on the gutter as I can. Missed one bitsy detail. Installing the gutter went smoothly enough. This one is four feet shorter than the first one I … Continue reading →

And they’re comically bad at it. Particularly landings. Landings are apparently hard. This little guy flew ahead of me around the back of the cabin easily enough but then had a terrible time maneuvering to perch on the solar panel. … Continue reading →

Anyone who considered getting in on Ian’s phenomenal book kickstarter ought to get on it. Not that it’s ever going to be considered a failure… 😀 He told me privately at the beginning that while the threshold goal was $25,000 … Continue reading →