Author Archives: Joel

The Zelman Partisans has taken the jump to a joinable organization. Pay bux, get swag, build buzz. Go thou and see!

I don’t know how long ago, but before I ever moved here Landlady and T bought themselves one really good ladder. It has been involved in the construction of three houses and a barn, not to mention countless trips banging … Continue reading →

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is outraged to learn that D.C. security personnel did not kill a man and endanger unknown numbers of other people to preemptively protect his own much-more-important self. Chaffetz said security tracked Hughes as he approached the … Continue reading →

On the bright side, …we joined an Army where cross-dressing was prohibited; survived an era where if you did it, you were expected to keep it to yourself; and were able to retire, fortunately, before it was mandatory. I only … Continue reading →

Is this one. C’mon, Ruger owners, ‘fess up. You clean your Mark Whatever .22 when it gets so gunked up it just won’t feed anymore, and you’re always half-convinced that’s the last time you’ll ever see it intact. I love … Continue reading →

Ian and Karl say yes, as a matter of fact you can. In fact with the right materials and under the right circumstances, it’s surprisingly easy.

Getting ready for construction season on the Lair, and I’m intimidated by the imperative that certain tasks must and will be performed in a certain order, or all hell will ensue. I was finally forced to sit down and actually … Continue reading →

Nothing to write about, that is. I just spent a fine, invigorating morning doing a great deal of good semi-skilled gulchy stuff, which normally I’d be pleased to crow about on the blog, except it was on behalf of some … Continue reading →

…are “They,” “Pay,” and “Promptly.” Just got back from town. I had a wan hope of a check from Backwoods Home for that article they accepted last month. There’s a lot of back-and-forth in snailmail regarding contracts and so forth, … Continue reading →

After (mumble mumble*) years of reloading, I produced my very first squib! Don’t know how it happened, since I’ve got procedures specifically designed to prevent** no-charge and double-charge loads. I’ve seen what happens when a bullet gets stuck halfway up … Continue reading →

Came on quite suddenly in the late afternoon. As of elevenish when I finally stumbled off to bed I could see to read again and my head didn’t hurt too badly, but I was still having these distracting little hallucinations … Continue reading →

Doesn’t everybody have one? h/t to Landlady.

People are already having fun with Hillary’s misbegotten Progresso-H logo, to the point that it has spawned an entire typeface. Go thou and enjoy.

…and we haven’t had a more wintery day since early February! I intended to spend this blustery day, which might possibly crawl its sorry ass up into the low fifties by mid-afternoon, cocooned in the Lair reading a good book. … Continue reading →

Allllmost. Keep trying, guys.

A couple of months ago I fit him – and the Lair – with a longer cable. Since then you can practically follow his route through the yard by the things around which he’s wound it. LB was so obviously … Continue reading →

Which is odd…usually if they get sick they fade fast, but this has gone on for three or four days. I’ll come into the chicken house and find this one, #2, the smallest of the bunch, squeezed between the water … Continue reading →

It’s Spring, which means it’s windy. About ten days ago, in the middle of a major windstorm, my satellite connection went all to bits. It’s an old story: Click a link, go make a sandwich. Come back later to see … Continue reading →