Author Archives: Joel

Every time I do something new and exciting to the Lair’s roof I think about rain barrels – then I chase something shiny and forget it till next time. It’s never really been a serious matter to me because I … Continue reading →

…and I swear it followed me around like I was Joe Btfsplk. I was rained on a bit while feeding the dogs, but got off the mesa before all hell broke loose. And then it seems like it just kept … Continue reading →

…to find that he does have his uses. 🙂

…I want to come play at your house.

That’s what the newsreaders on the radio insist on calling it. Sounds more erudite, I suppose, than “Monsoon.” All I know is it cools things off delightfully. And vastly increases your chances of getting stuck in mud and/or killed by … Continue reading →

Now apparently it’s “hoarding money.” Australia Wants Chips in $100 Bills to Stop Crime, Hoarding by Elderly Australia is considering putting tiny identification chips in its $100 bills, as a measure against crime and “pensioners hoarding the money”. Sounds silly, … Continue reading →

Somebody sends me a great big box from Midway, I get kind of excited. Right? But this one was beginning to look like a shipping mistake: Somebody had ordered a box of packing bubbles, and it got sent to me … Continue reading →

…and others who enjoy watching the effect Trump has on media gasbags… …to the effect that Trump is doing all this on purpose: Tweeting out inflammatory nonsense in the full knowledge that media gasbags – who by now hate him … Continue reading →

😀

Granted, the mesas on the other side of the plateau to the east of the Gulch are rich in stackable shale. Took me three painful hours just to gather stone for a 4X8 woodshed floor, and this guy does things … Continue reading →

Forecast: It’s going to storm. Don’t know where, don’t know when. That’s not really a big help. In the meantime…well, I thought I had a great shot of a digital thermometer with some appalling temperature reading, but my rapidly-failing camera … Continue reading →

You know how much help readers have been to me over the years? Between random $20 hits to the tip jar, fun and often even useful care packages, good suggestions via comments, and then there’s the big things: A now … Continue reading →

I had intended to leave the holes for the addition’s windows sealed up until I was ready to wrap tarpaper and mount the windows, because Monsoon is Coming – pretty much any minute now. But last night was really quite … Continue reading →

I did not know this until Claire mentioned it, but yesterday I missed commemorating an anniversary really quite significant here at the Secret Lair: Spam turned 80 years old. Whether served as Spammo Classico or just cubed with potatoes and … Continue reading →

Sunday afternoon I sprouted a lovely crop of blisters on the end of my stump, brand-new gelsocks be damned. That was the end of what amounted to a 4-day work marathon between Thursday and Sunday – I lasted till the … Continue reading →

…that she just couldn’t work up any interest in money. Of course in her case it’s because she grew up rolling in the stuff. I don’t care about rocks and dirt for the same reason. But I also, to be … Continue reading →

…that being a time-honored tradition among us autocratic hegemons. ‘Cause I’m really sore, and anyway you guys are in the middle of your four-day and mostly aren’t even reading this. Alas I have to drag myself to town this morning … Continue reading →

Yeah, you knew that. But I mean right now I’m literally lame, as in I’d need a good reason to painfully stumble across the room and brew a cup of tea. Overwalked. I’ve been on my feet and actively working … Continue reading →

Yesterday I was going to be on my feet all day. Regular readers know I don’t have the usual full complement of feet, and they really are there to keep your legs from fraying at the end. Regular readers also … Continue reading →