Author Archives: Joel

…and when I break the above rule I am always, invariably, wrong. But that being the case I’m on safe ground here, because I have no set opinion. This is either the smartest or the stupidest political ad I’ve ever … Continue reading →

Cloudy and windy all day yesterday, you just knew something dramatic was going to happen. The desert likes its drama. It finally started snowing around 2:30 and didn’t stop until around six in the evening. Not a huge accumulation, 2 … Continue reading →

The weather turned nasty. It’s a little after noon and the road mud is still frozen, the wind is whistling down the stovepipe – making it difficult for smoke to go up the stovepipe – and it’s supposed to rain … Continue reading →

I’ve mentioned before that even out here in the boonies, walking around openly carrying a big-ass revolver every single day will get you a bit of a rep. It’s the good-but-sometimes-irritating kind of rep, where people expect you to be … Continue reading →

There’s this strange liquid substance I can’t quite identify… It’s everywhere! It combines with the dirt on the ground to make another substance I think I’ll call “mud” – we’ve got lots of that now! I wonder what you can … Continue reading →

A little over a week ago we got the news that Mike Vanderboegh at Sipsey Street Irregulars is not long for this world. He’s been fighting cancer for several years, and sadly it seems that short of a miracle it’s … Continue reading →

The roads wind around following the terrain and make no logical sense. It’s easy to lose your way and not be able to find the way back toward pavement. So a couple of times I have led people out. I’ve … Continue reading →

In the gun-free paradise of Chicago, something contrary to the accepted narrative continues to occur… Seven people were shot to death and 30 more were wounded across Chicago over the weekend, raising the number of shootings in the city to … Continue reading →

…and I’m reassured that becoming a crotchety guy version of a crazy cat lady is not the worst way I could have ended up… Of all the white chick things ever written, this is quite possibly the white chickest https://t.co/rQoAA9U8Zx — … Continue reading →

Went over to D&L’s to help them unload the pallet-load of wood pellets they brought back from the big town about 35 miles away. L invited me in for a sandwich, and we got to talking about logistics. I’m about … Continue reading →

I wasn’t going to say anything about David Bowie, who probably wasn’t much of a factor in your average redneck kid’s life – he certainly didn’t influence mine in any noticeable way. But I did run across this quote in … Continue reading →

For you little people. But we’re important. It’s a good thing for most of these people that they don’t think. If they did and had an ounce of honesty, self-knowledge would destroy them. They’d spontaneously combust or something. On the … Continue reading →

Get a load of this… A Vacant Seat for the Victims of Gun Violence Last week, the President took a series of commonsense steps to help reduce gun violence in America and make our communities safer. We leave one seat … Continue reading →

…just before dusk. This new herd hasn’t been much prone to do that, for some reason their daily migrations seem more north-south than east-west, and so they haven’t been informed of the rule against crossing through Ghost’s yard. And after … Continue reading →

Yeah, still talking about the weather. It’s actually a pleasant night for January in the high desert. The wind isn’t blowing. It’s in the high twenties outside, it’ll get a lot colder before morning but that’s not so bad for … Continue reading →

I got an email from the Unnamed Person who deals with my mail drop. For reasons of weather and traction I have not seen this person for most of the winter. But I was informed that I will receive a … Continue reading →

Still going on about the weather here at always-fascinating TUAK, because it’s early January and weather is the only thing going on. Woke this morning at dawn and it had clearly stayed clear and gotten very cold overnight. As cold … Continue reading →

Snowed off and on all day yesterday, sometimes heavily, sometimes with interludes of sun enough to make the batteries nice and happy. Overnight, apparently, came the deluge… Three inches overnight is far from a record even for this winter, but … Continue reading →

Whooo! Scared yet? Graar! Yeah, I know. I can’t pull it off. It’s one of those mornings here at the Secret Lair, with a featureless gray sky and lots of new snow. At time of picture I was just inside … Continue reading →

The weather report at the beginning of the week predicted a week of heavy clouds, which mostly didn’t happen until today. The past three days have been partly cloudy and snowy, but with plenty of sunny spells to keep the … Continue reading →