Author Archives: Joel

Okay, maybe not. But lately I’m a man of constant aggravation. I pulled something in my back Monday, feels like my left shoulder blade isn’t right and it’s causing pain like a nerve pinch all through my arm. Hard to … Continue reading →

…in fact sometimes the problem is to avoid it. There’s an old well at the cattle watering station beside the wash. Due to some geological oddity I don’t understand, it’s shallow enough to pump with a windmill. I dipped it … Continue reading →

Guns and Past Vs. Present Americans: Inconvenient facts about the history of gun violence and gun control. The logic of the argument for those calling for stricter gun control laws, in the wake of recent school shootings, is that something … Continue reading →

For obvious reasons, LB has problems with the heat. But he’s also unhappy being outdoors by himself – he stopped wanting to go outside the very day Ghost moved away – and so for the past couple of years his … Continue reading →

Much vile right wing hatred has been spewed toward the Brave Agent of our beloved Federal Bureau of Investigation, recently recorded giving praise to the memory of J. Edgar Hoover in spirited dance. Some have gone so far as to … Continue reading →

“Oh – wait. One of those is new. I used fourteen gallons of water last week. Still – that’s a lot.” Goes inside and kicks dog. “Dammit, Little Bear!” LB and I have suddenly started sucking down the water. Guess … Continue reading →

Fixed the catwalk and stairs this morning. The stairs are ugly but in good repair. I already knew the catwalk was held together with inertia and old memories, so it needed a complete rebuild. Since it was only to be … Continue reading →

Or something like that. Or maybe “This is what happens when you register your guns.” California Farmer Charged With 12 Felonies After Trying To Register His Guns Bakersfield, CA – A member of a prominent farming family was charged with … Continue reading →

The outdoor temp briefly touched 100o yesterday afternoon. With not much wind, the cabin was stifling. The new porch promptly taught me what I knew all along, that having a sittin’ porch was just going to make me immediately jones … Continue reading →

2,000 years later… It was, in his defense, a very bad day for everybody.

Oh, I’m moving slow this morning. It’s quarter to eight and I haven’t even had breakfast. Didn’t even wake up till almost six, and only Little Bear and a conscience got me out of bed. I had a lot of … Continue reading →

If I’d had one more eight-footer I could have done a thing. As it is I’ll cut them all to just over banister length and put those redwood caps on them, then paint them red. Three will still serve well … Continue reading →

Okay, so I’ve been working all morning, making slow but steady progress when I run into a problem: All the supports are straight, all the joists are level but it turns out nothing is particularly square to the building. Finally … Continue reading →

It is a little-known fact that Piper Kerr’s propensity for wearing a kilt on an icefield was not his only peculiarity.

So this morning D&L and I got together early for a flying trip to the big town about 50 miles away. There were at first literally only two stops: Drop L off at Wally World while D and I ran … Continue reading →

Okay, so I confess I’ve developed something of a reluctance to begin the porch project because it seemed to me that once committed I had to ride the thing to completion in a single session. The very first step was … Continue reading →

But in my world a target that’s both loathsome and easy to hit is going to draw a lot of fire. Hogg tweeted: Remeber a time when there wasn’t a school shooting every week? I don’t because I wasn’t alive. … Continue reading →

I saw that pic yesterday and instantly wanted a copy blown up to poster size. Been thinking of decorating the Lair bedroom, and a poster of adults stepping over the “die-in” kids seemed kind of perfect somehow. I wonder if … Continue reading →

Took two working days longer than I wanted, but I pretty much knew I was hosed when I had to go to town for bolts and bits and blades. Because that wasn’t going to happen before Monday. But LB and … Continue reading →