Author Archives: Joel

Because if ordinary people are allowed to carry guns, there will be a lot more news items like this… An apparent booze-fueled dispute over loud music between two groups at a Chino campground over the weekend escalated to the point … Continue reading →

The chickens don’t need or want much of my time. They fear and despise me and I’m not their biggest fan, so they don’t get much of my time. Nevertheless one of the first lessons living in the boonies will … Continue reading →

If I can perfect my erosion controls just in time for the end of Monsoon, I’m in a frenzied hurry to do so because this is getting old. I’m sure there’s a proper name for this thing. I just call … Continue reading →

I see an article about a woman, five years older than me, who just swam 103 miles from Cuba to Florida. It took her 53 hours. It was her fifth try. She was surrounded by boats. And I’m thinking, “Why … Continue reading →

I’ve been reading all the yeas and nays of “doing something” in/to Syria. Shall the US military destroy the regime’s stockpiles of chemical weapons (using its magical ChemWeap Hum/ComInt assets, I presume)? Shall it make a “tactical” strike on Assad … Continue reading →

Yeah, I meant more like two hours. My mornings have come to resemble a Cool Hand Luke remake, and Boss Weather is getting close to setting my mind right. Call it my contribution to Labor Day. But to cheer me … Continue reading →

Biggest storm of the year just passed. Yesterday was bright and partly-cloudy most of the day, with some storms blowing past on the horizon in the early evening but not real threat of rain. Today was damn near cloudless, still … Continue reading →

“Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. … Continue reading →

The chainsaw ebooklet has been added to the ever-growing sidebar. If you want to know everything there is to know about chainsaw use and maintenance, for god’s sake don’t expect to find it here. But the booklet’s not a bad … Continue reading →

“Wake up and smell the 21st century!” So yes. Thank you. I am now aware you can FTP stuff without using DOS commands. Got it. Okay. Really. Stop telling me.

So there’s a discussion over at Claire’s about this guy who wants to be called a woman, and he’s not Bradley Manning. And I – sarcastically, I admit – stuck my oar in, and now I’m a “hater.” This is … Continue reading →

Lifted at random from Sipsey Street, apropos of nothing in the actual post: To measure political ideology, Gallup asks Americans to say whether their political views are very conservative, conservative, moderate, liberal, or very liberal. I consider the sentence above … Continue reading →

For over a year, one of the old TUAK posts that has gotten the most search traffic is this one on chainsaw use and maintenance. Judging from the search terms, it addresses questions that seem to come up a lot … Continue reading →

That’s all yesterday morning’s hard work filling in with silt yesterday afternoon. This morning’s work: Digging it out again. As of 9 AM this morning I am just a little behind where I was at 9 AM yesterday morning. Now … Continue reading →

Don’t hate me, Claire. I’m only the messenger.

Phase three, gully ditch restoration under way. More weather blew through yesterday, today is all cloudy and uncertain, and my modem is having another of its bratty little episodes. So I’m mostly out of touch with the outside world. Which … Continue reading →

I will make two immediate proclamations… 1: “Born to Run” is henceforth the new national anthem. 2: Emmylou Harris has to record at least one video in which she acts like she’s having a good time. (Yes, I know she … Continue reading →

Given the, um, intensity of his gastric symptoms and President Nobel Peace Prize’s propensity for blowing up other people’s stuff, it just seems safer. Google knows where we live, and so I presume does the .gov.

(Once again this got a little long. More below the fold.) Woke up around five, as the light was rising in a cloud-free east. The porch boards were dryish, but the crank-out bathroom window panes were dripping under the eaves: … Continue reading →

Like Robb Allen, I assumed it was a fake the first time I saw it. You so rarely meet people with sense. Turns out it’s real, and speaks truth to thuggery. “It’s very sad to see our public schools not … Continue reading →