Author Archives: Joel

When I wrote the post below it was already badly out of date. D had not only been admitted to the hospital, he’d been transferred by ambulance to the bigger hospital in the big town about 50 miles away. And … Continue reading →

If things go according to plan, I’ll be leaving for the big town about 50 miles away in a couple of hours. Neighbor L has an eye operation scheduled for today, and I’m (get this) the backup driver… BECAUSE Neighbor … Continue reading →

I mentioned yesterday’s unexpected rain. Well, since it came out of the south it was likely to make the wash that comes out of the south run with much water. And unless you have a 4-wheeler, the only way out … Continue reading →

Somebody, and I genuinely don’t know who, hit Uncle Joel’s wishlist and sent me a book I’d never have gotten around to buying for myself. It arrived through the underground railroad yesterday morning, just in time for a totally unforecast … Continue reading →

One thing I’ve remained snooty over, as years go by, is the quality of my flour. I’ve always known I can get it cheaper than I’ve been paying, but persist in the possibly mistaken belief that you get what you … Continue reading →

I’ve made my firewood this way for years! Why’s he so special? It is time consuming to do a proper job of crafting each perfect firewood chunk, it’s true. But the final cost is only a quarter of what this … Continue reading →

The Danger of Being Neighborly Without a Permit Since 2009, when a Wisconsin man built a little, free library to honor his late mother, who loved books, copycats inspired by his example have put thousands of Little Free Libraries all … Continue reading →

Heh. A compendium of interesting objects which are not bombs, assembled in the hope of assisting the police department and school administrators of Irving, Texas, and their equally-deficient counterparts wherever they may be found, in the avoidance of any more, … Continue reading →

He’s so unhip that When you say Dylan, he thinks you’re talking about Dylan Thomas, Whoever he was. The man ain’t got no culture. Seems like this has been my week for brooding about things that don’t matter. Leg hurts, … Continue reading →

Sorry about the slow posting, Wildblue seems to be giving me another valuable and much-appreciated lesson in humility by reminding me how contemptibly unimportant I am as a mere constant customer for over seven years. I can play 2 or … Continue reading →

There are so many things yet to be regulated, and so many people clamoring to be protected from so many things. There really ought to be some sort of futures market in regulatory agencies – and then of course that … Continue reading →

…with a world-weary little sneer in my voice, and a Clint Eastwood squint at whatever mirror was nearby, often as not… “Pain,” I’d say, “is nature’s way of telling you you’re awake.” And about half the time, back then, it … Continue reading →

That’s what $50 buys. And except for the gasoline, which was budgeted for, I wondered where my next dose of each was coming from. 🙂 I thank you, the Jeep thanks you, the chickens thank you…

There was a terrible calamity! When somebody knocked the feeder down with a great tin clatter, all the adult hens scurried their molting asses into the coop… …leaving the pullets (and Seymour the baby cock) alone for the moment in … Continue reading →

…and nothing’s going on worth writing about. Maybe later. The boys are outside on guard against the dreaded cattle, and maybe waiting for the morning walky. I’ve got a Carpenter’s song stuck in my head, which is never a good … Continue reading →

Unfortunately this is the only one that exists, and we can’t see it shoot. But I need one anyway. I gather that, despite never having existed as more than a few prototypes, this gun is alive and well and extremely … Continue reading →

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. – H. L. Mencken It used to … Continue reading →

I was packing in another three wheelbarrows-full of stovewood when the nearest tall stack, which is – or was – taller than I am, collapsed toward me. For a moment I had the impulse to try and keep it from … Continue reading →

Once there are no weapons, everyone will be safe.

Nope.