Author Archives: Joel

Made a full set of rounds yesterday afternoon and noticed that the plastic cover on this greenhouse was kinda loose. Closer examination showed the screws holding it down had pulled out of the wood en masse. Next good windstorm and … Continue reading →

Landlady came up last evening. The roads are still okay but somewhat moist and the weather is iffy, so just to be on the safe side I met her at the county road and shuttled her and Dharma in. And … Continue reading →

Whole bunch of boring little domestic things going on this morning. Laundry. Yard cleanup. Nothing to report, really. Had a little reconfiguring fun yesterday evening during the rain, though… Wanting to use my computer but not to turn it on, … Continue reading →

Okay, I couldn’t get the racking up today. Dammit. Bummed, I went over to Landlady’s and finished the Chicken Yard/Gitmo Sealing Project, wiring the big gate shut, wiring the chicken wire to the gate, wiring wire around suspiciously large gaps … Continue reading →

But sometimes nothing is the right thing to do. In Obama’s case, I wish he’d do it more. In an editorial published Wednesday, The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge called on Obama to visit “the most anguished state in the … Continue reading →

Well I overslept (Woke around five to the sound of rain on the roof, so rolled over and went back to sleep.) Didn’t climb out of my rack till a bit after 6:30, to find the clouds parting and a … Continue reading →

Ladies and Gentleman, Roberta X schooling some fool who dared suggest the little lady might find a multitool of more utility than a big scary spring-assist knife… “Knife” I said and knife I meant — I carry a Leatherman Wave … Continue reading →

Also – damn! Folks in Louisiana still getting nailed. Volunteers doing what good people do, and apparently not a lot of horror stories arising from what bad people do. So far. We got any TUAK folks out that way?

I had one left over, just as planned hoped. The chicks, who look more like pullets now and may be getting big enough not to slip through the chicken yard’s chain link fencing, have spent the past almost two weeks … Continue reading →

Okay, sure, the IRS is evil and should be buried headless at a crossroads with a stake through its heart. But don’t feel too bad for the PACs.

While my pier columns are setting it was time to move on to the next question: How to set that 40o angle for the solar panels? I attended 12 different public schools growing up. I don’t know how many math … Continue reading →

One of the several things that has always perplexed me about this place is how poor the local contractors are. There’s one solar power contractor who’s at least polite and honest if not god’s gift to the industry, but the … Continue reading →

Between the path up the hill and the gully behind the cabin there’s a patch of rather steep yard that’s good for nothing in particular. I put the sink where I butcher chickens at the very edge of it so … Continue reading →

I kicked off the work day before six, to get the digging finished and the footers poured for the new solar panel rack. Went to town to get water and chicken pellets, ate lunch and grabbed Little Bear, went to … Continue reading →

The Clintons missed their calling, they really did. They should have been the villains in one of those infinitely-running soap operas. Probably not as much money in it, though. I heard about this on Limbaugh in the Jeep a couple … Continue reading →

I think I’ve developed an honest-to-god allergy to something in concrete. I only poured one bag yesterday, just for the upper pad on this slope and then spent the rest of my time measuring and trenching. I felt it at … Continue reading →

New York Times, for the win. Once Skeptical of Executive Power, Obama Has Come to Embrace It Yes, apparently in another timeline there existed a version of Barack Obama who was skeptical of executive power. In general, that is: Not … Continue reading →

I’m not lazy. I’m just…proceeding with careful deliberation. So I measured and dug holes for the four corner piers, poured concrete for the one most uphill, planted an anchor, then used a 10′ 2X4 to establish compass direction and level. … Continue reading →

Sounded great when I was a kid. I mean you’ve got Johnson in the top seat for the Dems and Nixon for the Repubs: Any budding young anarchist is gonna at least look around to see if somebody left any … Continue reading →