Author Archives: Joel

Brady admits committee analysts could not fit the entire health care bill on one chart. “This portrays only about one-third of the complexity of the final bill. It’s actually worse than this.” It’s a damned good thing for the government … Continue reading →

Landlady has been trying to get a local roofing contractor to commit to a project date for months now. Months. Guy’s a flake; rarely answers calls, and when he does it’s always with an excuse. But roofers aren’t very thick … Continue reading →

It may or may not be appropriate that this poem came to my mind while shit-shoveling this morning. CassandraEdwin Arlington Robinson I HEARD one who said: “Verily, What word have I for children here? Your Dollar is your only Word, … Continue reading →

Suddenly the GOP loves gays? I thought it was weird enough when Ann Coulter became Judy Garland. But I don’t really know anything about Ann Coulter, so maybe that sort of thing is normal for her. Still, it seems a … Continue reading →

Heh. I think I’ll pass. The enlightened rulers of Bell, California threw the city manager and police chief out of the sleigh, hoping that would be enough for the ravening wolves. Not so much, it seems.

Sen. Robert Casey (D., Pa.) and Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D., N.D.) are pushing legislation that would commit taxpayers’ dollars to bailing out the Teamsters’ retirement pension fund. The financial crisis and the Great Recession may have upset your retirement plans, … Continue reading →

Barring hormones that have gone all wacky freelance, the only way I know to achieve a state of obesity is to eat too much. I’ve been poor, and when I was poor obesity was the least of my troubles. Whatever … Continue reading →

Claire has arrived at her destination safely and with no further trouble. She went through the closing ritual and is sleeping in her own house tonight. All’s well.

If you’re any flavor of prepper, you hear a lot about self-sufficiency. Most of it is hyperbole, because I’ve never met a fully self-sufficient person and neither have you. Certainly I’m not one. Even if I lived in a place … Continue reading →

Just got off the phone with Claire. Her third day on the road was uneventful but very long. She expects to reach her new home tomorrow, and then the adventure begins.

Following last week’s culinary bleg, Landlady happened to see an old pressure cooker at a flea market, bought it, tested it, and sent it up Friday night with M, all without saying a word to me. Thanks! Last night I … Continue reading →

The Lair has a door. The door has a lock. I don’t typically lock my doors, but the Lair spends a lot of time just sitting out there all by itself and it does contain things I’d rather people not … Continue reading →

I got it off a progressive site, which means it’s probably a lie. But if true, and I still depended on conventional “employment,” I’d find it chilling.

Just got off the phone with Claire. All’s well, she’s still on the road and the truck’s behaving itself. She sounded much happier today than this time yesterday, fer shur. Update: This day went well. She’s behind the projected schedule, … Continue reading →

My loss is hopefully the gain of somebody who’ll watch out for her. I’ve always been anxious that way, and would have been much happier about this trip if I could have gone along to take care of stuff. It’s … Continue reading →

If you follow Claire’s blog you know she’s leaving the desert and moving back closer to her old home. Well, tomorrow’s moving day and today is load-six-tons-of-stuff-in-a-five-ton-trailer day. It’s hot, we’re getting to the hard part and the afternoon is … Continue reading →

Out in the boonies, one thing you sort of get used to is having wild critters around. Some of them you work to keep out of your stuff, and some you just pay a tithe not to get more destructive. … Continue reading →

I have just learned of the untimely destruction of a priceless 1957 De Havilland DHC-3T, in the wilds of Alaska. Excuse me…I just can’t continue right now. Perhaps I can come back later. I’m sorry… Oh, there were some survivors. … Continue reading →

I’m sure everyone here has followed the stellar career of that great humanitarian and philantropist, former Congressman The Right Civil James Leach, PBUH. For those benighted rubes who are saying at this moment, “Who the hell is Jim Leach, and … Continue reading →

…These two, put together, have got to take the cake. Four cops – one in uniform, several in plainclothes with badges displayed – who were approaching the fight from several directions responded with a volley of 46 shots, likely killing … Continue reading →