Author Archives: Joel

…because your enemies know where they are, and they are never going to stop. An invasive "gun survey" a H.S. in Pflugerville, Texas, gave students. Good find @michaeldcargill #tcot #ccot #2a pic.twitter.com/opj1GKklZI — Kit Daniels (@KitDaniels1776) September 28, 2015 Kids … Continue reading →

I’ve slacked off on the rat jihad in the past couple of months. At some point a continuing campaign starts to feel like you’re trying to empty the ocean with a spoon. But sometimes a particular individual does bring itself … Continue reading →

Oregon town seeks solutions to droves of fearless deer A town in southern Oregon will hold a public meeting to discuss how to deal with droves of fearless deer that wander the streets, occasionally acting aggressively toward residents, state wildlife … Continue reading →

To fiddle around with things outdoors on this fabulously beautiful day. Also I spent some time baking bread. I’ve had a sweet tooth lately, so I rolled out one of the lumps and rolled it up with sugar and cinnamon, … Continue reading →

L came back to the gulch last night with news. Not great news, but not terrible. D is out of ICU and appears to be out of danger though he’s still seriously ill. They found an abscess on his liver, … Continue reading →

So I went into Landlady’s powershed for a reason having nothing to do with packrats, and found it a little difficult to open the door. Pushed harder, got inside, and found a big strip of ceiling insulation hung up on … Continue reading →

…please do resend it. My spam locker is being inundated. Normally I scan it before emptying the trash, to make sure nobody gets dumped just because of a few extra links. But right now some spambot is making that too … Continue reading →

My instinct is to believe that people who write for and work at New Yorker must be smart people. The magazine’s been around for 90 years. It’s got a really snooty logo. Seems high class by my standards. So the … Continue reading →

…consider the source. That’s my home town. Shamelessly stolen from Borepatch, because I’m from Detroit and that’s how we swing.

What with one thing or another I didn’t cut or stack any wood for a whole week! Penance was called for. So yesterday I took five pallets apart, and today I cut the pieces to length and stacked them. By … Continue reading →

Meaning I literally laughed out loud… Though in hindsight I don’t know why.

Because sometimes legit comments do end up in there. And yet lately there’s a particular spambot that makes it a pain in the derrière. 52 of the damned things this morning, all in some alien script so they’re not even … Continue reading →

Interesting article about how the tanking Greek economy has inspired online barter services. I’m all about barter, but it certainly has disadvantages compared with an agreed-upon standard of exchange. One big one is it’s pretty much impossible to scale up. … Continue reading →

From a comment at Insty: A drunk can ‘fundamentally transform’ a Ferrari by slamming it into a lamppost. Only the wrecker driver would think it’s an improvement.

Yesterday Neighbor L was in something of a dither over whether she should go to the city far, far away to be with D. On the one hand there’s nothing useful she can do there* and the dogs, cats and … Continue reading →

So yesterday I got a message from a reader, reproduced below with permission and names changed to protect the innocent and others: [crazy old guy in the desert], I was referred to your website by [Third Assistant Demigoddess of Freedom]. … Continue reading →

Even before I became an actual hermit in the actual desert, I was never what you’d call a big consumer of celebrity news. But I do have an internet connection, barely functional as it may currently be, and it is … Continue reading →

Yes, I know it’s supposed to be a flagpole. 🙂 Which is what I’m really objecting to. Yeah, lefty propaganda visuals have gone more and more Comintern with each iteration, but this one’s right out of the ’30’s. And to … Continue reading →

She’s doing fine, just blown out from her very bad day. I wondered how they planned to transport D to the city. [The big town about 50 miles away] is in the middle of a whole lot of nowhere for … Continue reading →

This soggy morning Ghost is wandering around the perimeter at his ease, as if he hasn’t a care in the world. He can’t even seem to find anything worth barking at. Yesterday morning he behaved in another way entirely. He … Continue reading →