Author Archives: Joel

Andrew C. McCarthy, in this overwrought Washington Examiner piece, is all atwitter that the “Islamists” are coming to get us with their sharias and their burkas and their furrin ways. Next we’ll be drinking tooth-numbingly sweet tea and smoking tobacco … Continue reading →

We took a nice long walky this morning, up through a saddle on the big ridge, then over one of the tallest knobs. We walked back down on the BLM road, the boys staying ahead, not quite done having fun. … Continue reading →

California lawmakers gave their state’s economy a kick, and thought they saw it twitch a little out of the corner of their eye. So they’ve decided to empty another magazine into it, just to be sure. California regulators Thursday voted … Continue reading →

But I’ve got nothing against it long as people don’t try telling me how to live, y’know? And I know cool when I see it. And if this was real, it’s just very cool. Also, it beats the living snot … Continue reading →

It’s 4:30 in the AM, two hours before daylight. Ghost has had his first trip outdoors, and now he’s curled up on his spot next to Uncle Joel. Little Bear isn’t allowed outside but doesn’t care because when Uncle Ghost … Continue reading →

First a cold snap that freezes the pipes so hard the pump housing breaks into a zillion pieces. Then almost two weeks of weather so nice I begin to fear an inrush of tourists. Two days of rain. Today the … Continue reading →

When I’m in the boonies, I always carry either a 1911 or a rifle. Since I live in the boonies, that means all the time. I’ve mentioned in the past that my .45 hasn’t always proven the omnipotent fight-stopper my … Continue reading →

…because small packages are coming out of the, er, closet all over the place. H/T to TJIC.

The wheels of justice grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine. Unless you’re a tax-eater… Federal prosecutor Arlene Fisk says defendant Troy Davis, upset about a demotion and lost pay, admitted stealing five laptops and a Sony Playstation. Aw, izzums … Continue reading →

This morning I was reading a book I wrote several years ago, for lack of anything else to do while waiting for the sun to rise. An incident caught my attention, which I had alluded to but downplayed in the … Continue reading →

Saw this on Claire’s site… I’m not real big on tchachkes myself, but the artwork is cute.  And he does give credit where it’s due.

Here’s the story of a fellow who, while he may by his very existence demand definition of the line between bravery and insanity, still deserves a helluva lot of kudos for standing up to Leviathan – by following its laws … Continue reading →

Normally when I’ve got a whole bunch of things to do in a day, I succeed with one or maybe two of them. Today, pretty much everything went right. And only one extra thing went wrong. Gulchendiggensmoothen went for a … Continue reading →

Days like this are so rare here, they almost bring pleasure through sheer novelty. Almost. Cold and wet: Not cold enough to freeze, just enough to make the atmosphere’s palpable moisture stick to every surface, including skin. Gray, low clouds. … Continue reading →

Water Pump Repair Guy finally showed up. Replaced the plug. Pump no longer leaks. That fitting we discussed leaks like a … really leaky thing. Will fix tomorrow. That is all, signing off.

I saw this at Codrea’s WoG site. His post contained one word – it started with “i” and rhymed with “vidiot.” Recent stories told of two young men gunned down for no apparent reason — simply shot dead as they … Continue reading →

I set aside my earlier efforts at writing a longer Shadow story because I just wasn’t getting anywhere with plot development. The level of coherence you need to tell a novel-length story just wasn’t happening, and I hoped that when … Continue reading →

Waiting for the water pump repair guy to come back today, not knowing when or whether he’d actually show up, I locked the boys in Gitmo. I usually only do that on shit-shoveling day, and they were displeased. Then I … Continue reading →

Oh, and he also came up with a uniquely, er, creative historical explanation for why the Second Amendment was just a political compromise and should probably be repealed or ignored. He said historians would side with him in the case … Continue reading →

Of course we all know about cell phones and GPS, which is why I always remove and swallow my phone’s battery before using. It’s costing me a fortune. But GPS data in digital photographs? What is the point of that? … Continue reading →