Author Archives: Joel

Landlady has been Uncle Joel’s Internet Angel for several-going-on-many years now, and this week she introduced me to the Magic Elf Box… A genuine pre-owned iPhone 6, baby. I hereby decree that henceforth you can’t be a privacy-obsessed hermit without … Continue reading →

You know you’re a manly man when people send you gifts like this… Nylon rope! This stuff is expensive. It’s been a busy couple of days, so I haven’t taken the time to uncoil this and see how long it … Continue reading →

I haven’t gotten one of these in years! Here’s the old Nigerian Letter brought to “a Company in Europe” under the title, “Are You Ready to Participate?” (spelling, grammar and spacing original.) Dear Sir, My name is Ana.What I have … Continue reading →

It occurred to me this afternoon that I’ve never actually owned a bed in my life. Oh, I’ve owned a mattress. Probably several, over the years. I’ve slept in a bed or two that belonged to somebody else, one time … Continue reading →

…don’t be there when it hits. Got an email from Big Brother, who has spent by far the majority of his life in southern Florida and has sat through a hurricane or two… I’ve been doing storm stuff for two … Continue reading →

My problem with LB is I never know what he’s going to do around strangers. Today he arbitrarily decided to kick the ass of a former friend. It’s a big week, with Landlady, Ian, and Ian’s mom up for a … Continue reading →

So I made a water-and-gasoline run yesterday, to the little town nearest the Gulch, and on the way back I spilled a respectable portion of my weekly gas ration. The reason was not hard to see… (Parenthetic aside: People have … Continue reading →

Here’s another example of that synchronicity I’m always on about. The new bedroom already has a bed and nightstand coming (allegedly needs painting first.) I have closet racks and furniture already. But I noticed as soon as it was built … Continue reading →

If you store long-term food, I’m sure you’re familiar with the Gamma Seal line of spin-on bucket lids. They seal airtight, and until today I assumed they’d last forever. Pricy, but worth it. Noticed the line in the center of … Continue reading →

A friend is generously making a long road trip to help me with the final phase of addition construction, which is insulation and drywall. This summer’s construction has gone much more smoothly than normal for a Gulch project. I’m so … Continue reading →

Finishing the woodshed was really the big bad thing I wanted done this morning, though it was clear this also needed to be a baking day if I wanted to keep eating bread. So I got a late start on … Continue reading →

Irony, thy abode is Silicon Valley. Brad knocks it out of the park, go read. The Days of Macintosh are Over If you wanted to distill Google’s badthink-banning policy down to one line, there you have it. “A garden of … Continue reading →

I always used to say, If you want a cup of cream and sugar, make yourself a cup of cream and sugar. Don’t spoil good coffee with it.

Got a couple of nice links from the Mother of Snarks yesterday morning, creating that coveted phenomenon known in the gunblogosphere as a Tamalanche… Tam’s good for the humility, she is. Nice to see you, Tam. Drop by any time.

It’s been baking in the sun unpainted for most of four months while I concentrated on the addition. Always intended to paint it green, just didn’t get to it. It’s further from green than ever this morning, but that’ll just … Continue reading →

For the past four or five days we’ve had afternoon clouds and variable weather; sprinkles, wind storms, brushing the edges of what might have been thunderstorms if the weather had thrown the dice differently. But no serious weather except HOT. … Continue reading →

This morning is for crawling around, nailing the planks down. I’ve got a bad knee and a terrible knee: One’s had surgery twice and one was pieced together out of (allegedly) very small pieces. I’m not complaining – Somebody went … Continue reading →

Terrible things happen in wild country, most commonly on a micro scale you can step right over without noticing. Last night I was out with Little Bear on his evening walky. He was moving cheerfully down the driveway toward the … Continue reading →