Author Archives: Joel

Today’s the day for what I sincerely hope is my pre-surgery eye exam. I’m breaking in a whole new ophthalmologist (Hey! Spelled it right the first time!) to spend some money handed me by a friendly stranger for removing the … Continue reading →

And that’s a problem. You’re making trouble for your would-be masters, so you should knock it off. You’d think ol’ pajama boy would have taken the fastest ride down the memory hole in political history. The newsies certainly gave it … Continue reading →

I suppose I should name the other two Rhode Island Reds, since it seems I’m going to be writing about them. Let’s call them Middle Chicken (MC) and Littlest Chicken (LC) and leave it at that. Proper names belong to … Continue reading →

So I got most of the old straw raked out of the big chickenhouse and into their yard. And Agnes the Red was mingling happily with all the other hens half-again her size as if she’d been part of their … Continue reading →

I saw something pitiful the other day. Don’t know why it was on my mind this morning, maybe because it started so cold. We were pulling out the sandbags that skirted D&L’s fifth-wheel trailer, emptying them into the bucket of … Continue reading →

Two days of solid overcast, on top of at least three without solid sun, had me casting worried glances at my powershed. It flurried off and on all yesterday afternoon and started snowing more seriously right after sundown – then … Continue reading →

A quick recap: Landlady has a big chicken house that used to be a carport, and it contains a dozen or so Brahma chickens that have yet to lay an egg. At the Secret Lair is a chicken yard called … Continue reading →

Never blog about how good everything’s going. Nemesis follows hubris every goddam time. And around here it doesn’t take long. There’s this gadget that’s been hanging around Landlady’s powershed. I don’t know where it came from or who owned it … Continue reading →

It’s a subject I never used to consider at all, but in the past few years it has become a regular feature here at the gulch. I live on the economic edge, and by that I mean the edge of … Continue reading →

Everybody who wants to enslave me promises to make me free. The leftists promise I’ll be free to “feel safe” if only I submit to anti-gun regs so onerous I’d end up in Gitmo or dead for carrying a flashlight … Continue reading →

I can’t stop laughing. The boys are getting concerned. Will these be the onesies that bring down a president? Maybe not. But the whole Internet is having fun with it. I don’t think Obama has much of a future as … Continue reading →

And now Uncle Joel is off to save the third world, one arsenic-laced well at a time.

Are you out of your frickin’ mind? If that onesie-wearing geek shows up at the Lair, I’m going to beat him up and take his hot chocolate. I will then refuse to discuss health insurance with him, just to be … Continue reading →

I started on arsenic caps for Geiger Counter Guy yesterday, and was supposed to finish them up today. But I got a call from D, asking if I could help unskirt their old fifth-wheel. This is a sign of progress. … Continue reading →

I recall – and it wasn’t so many years ago – that when gun rights activists talked about getting non-Vermont states to adopt “Vermont Carry” I laughed out loud. Right, I said. That’ll happen. Right after somebody finally gets me … Continue reading →

From now on you’ll be wearing red boots and tights and star-spangled cowls with itty-bitty wings on the sides. Shields with big white stars mission-optional. Yes, it seems the feds have uncovered Hydra. H/T to Claire

Well, yes they are. But that’s usually not all they are in this Brave New World, as the Adaptive Curmudgeon commences to explain. If you’re not familiar with the Mudge’s often serialized stories of semi-rural life, you’ve been missing out.

But the money in it? That was just on loan to you. Seriously, why would anyone ever agree to sign up for this? The IRS can do this sort of thing, sure, but the IRS never claimed to be your … Continue reading →

Pyrex beakers, that is. Seriously, they’ve fascinated me since I was a kid. I was just admiring my new one while washing dishes. I’ve always tried to stress the benefits of barter in a life on the economic edge. One … Continue reading →