Boo!

Today is beg or loot day or as you may call it, Halloween.  The weather has been fantastic all week , so it is fitting it is supposed to rain today. 

I like to pretend disdain for Halloween. In truth, I liked it as a kid. Strangely, the town I lived in allowed three days to trick or treat and I took full advantage of the situation. It wasn’t until we moved away after I was married that I understood the rest of America only celebrates Halloween one day. 

The houses that gave out Milky Ways or popcorn balls were my favorite. 

Before we moved here our neighborhood was inundated with costumed kids trick or treating. The streets and sidewalk were filled. It was like the movies or on TV. We would have literally (in the true sense of the word) hundreds of visitors. Usually, I did not even bother with the door. I sat on the stoop handing out candy.

This house is far different, I doubt we have had thirty kids total in the decade we have lived here. 

So that’s what you think

 Good to know. The Democrats first thought I was deplorable, now the President says I’m garbage.

Harris must think I am too, she has yet to condemn the hate speech. 

Well, fuck ‘em both. 

Intermission

I am busy at work this morning. In the interim enjoy some music:

There you have it

Nope. Nothing for this Monday. I could I launch an epic rant about football but it is certain you don’t care. 

We are looking for some nice weather early this week before more typical fall weather returns. 

I have plenty of work - the paying kind - to do. I guess you have to be satisfied with this throwaway post.

Read the people on the right instead.

Back on track

Enough seriousness. Relax with some music. 

I saw a squirrel running along my fence yesterday. That makes me happy.

Or it is a ghost squirrel, that does not make me happy.

Getting out in front

 In anticipation of the cries from those who do not understand the Constitution, we the people absolutely do NOT elect the President. Since our country is made up of a collection of States, those STATES elect the President. 

The number of “votes “ each state gets is apportioned based upon the individual state’s population. These are called electoral votes and the system was a compromise to ensure the states with smaller populations had a say-so in electing the President. Otherwise the largest states would dictate the election. 

The system works exactly as the founders envisioned. The last thing any of them wanted was a Democracy. 

That is why each state got two senators and the government of each state chose the Senator— they were to represent the State and the House represented the people. Too bad the progressives screwed that up by insisting senators be elected by popular vote. 

Now senators forget they represent the states and too many people fail to understand the difference. 

Before you cry about the electoral college learn some basic civics and history. 

A reader challenge

I normally strive for a no politics Friday. Not today.

Here is my challenge to you: tell me why I should vote for Harris without mentioning Trump. I don’t want to know why you are voting against the other guy, I want to know why I should vote FOR her. 

I think I asked this before without success, maybe not. 

I look forward for your answer. 

I will call you out and make fun of you if your comment is why you are voting against Trump. Please take note.

Sigh

 I thought for sure it was Friday. 

Mixing fiction and reality

In the classic thriller The Shining a family takes on a job as caretakers of a mountain hotel. Isolated and alone, Jack goes nuts and tries to kill his family.

Too bad no one thought to walk out the front door of the hotel. Down the hill from the Stanley Hotel, about a hundred yards away,  is a strip mall, including a pie shop and a McDonalds. 

The pie shop is pretty good. 

PS for me. Miss you Mom

Tommy can you see me

I’m heading back to the eye surgeon this morning. A week or two ago I developed another bleeder in my eye. This time it is the right one—my “good” eye. Anytime I look at a bright light or screen it is as if I’m looking through a spider web or perhaps a piece of gauze with a brown streak . I know what it is, I’ve been through this before. 

Last time he could not laser cauterize the bleeder and tried a shot (yes a needle in the eye). When that didn’t work we had to do surgery. I’m hoping he can just laser it away this morning. 

On the scale of things this ranks as a minor inconvenience. It is not a big deal. I’ll be back to work in a couple of hours. 

This is the backside of a famous place:

Do you know what it is?

A painful post

We are but a few weeks out from the election. There is no way in this world I will vote for the vapid Veep. 

At this point unless Trump finds some economic advisor who whispers advice into his self-righteous hard head I won’t vote for him either. That pains me because I firmly believe if you don’t vote you don’t get to complain.

Trump’s tariff plan will be an inflationary disaster. I outlined my reasoning in a previous post. Everything you buy, even food, is subject to the global economy. Like your avocados? Early grapes and corn? Where do you think those come from? Pineapple? 

For a business man Trump is woefully ignorant of the world outside of real estate and entertainment. 

If you believe the businesses or exporter will pay the tariff, you are an idiot too. Businesses don’t pay taxes. It is a cost that gets built into the final price. 

I’ve dealt with tariffs and dumping duties much of my professional life. That cost gets passed right on to the customer and once he builds whatever machinery he produces that cost rolls right to the end user. 

I’m all for encouraging us to Buy American. We need to expand our manufacturing base. We need to on-shore more production. This won’t make it happen.

Why did clothing manufacturers leave the Carolinas and off-shore the production of T-shirts? Because no one wanted to pay thirty bucks for a cotton shirt forty years ago. What do you think union wages and benefit cost would add to the price of a T-shirt today? 

We live in a global economy, whether we like it or not. 

Well you ain’t nothing but a rabbit

So we find ourselves once again on Friday. I, for one am glad. I need a break. Sure I was just on vacation last week. All the more reason to be worn out. One should ease back into work after a holiday or vacation with half days or something. 

The real truth is I love my job. I also think after every vacation I could retire without looking back in regret at all. I’ve been working since I was thirteen. I’m tired of it. On the other hand there is that pesky mortgage and bills. I like to eat. A roof over my head would be nice. So yes, I will work for at least five more years. I want to be able to have those occasional vacations. So it goes. 

No Friday music today. No Friday Five. I suspect no one minds. 

I finally did a bit of writing in the second book last night. I’ve settled on a title and actually designed the front cover last week. Strangely enough my inspiration was a novel I picked up for free from Prime Reading. It had a moderately interesting plot but the writing was awful. I mean middle school bad. I kept reading in the same way one rubbernecks a car accident. 

 I only pray that the general opinion of all eleven of you who read my first novel wasn’t “okay story but lousy writing.” If so,  please tell me. Honesty is way more important than my feelings.

I fear embarrassment more than anything. Except snakes. And maybe spiders. But certainly snakes for sure. I’d rather not share my work than embarrass myself. 

Anyway, I got some inspiration and I spit out four or five thousand words. It needs fleshing out, but the plot is finally moving forward. I’m sure you were all concerned about my progress. 

Have a great day. 

Can we all just agree?

I am certainly not the arbiter of taste, even if I should be. There are a number of acts in the Rock and Roll shall of Fame that probably do not belong there. Some deserving acts are left out. 

One act that gets far too much love and respect is the Sex Pistols. 

Believe it or not, this is deemed one of their best efforts. 

I have nothing against punk music. I just think maybe the musicians should be able to actually play their instruments before we put them into the HOF.

Your opinion may vary.

I yam what I yam

One thing I learned in my college study of history is that we all have biases. I believe it is clear to anyone who has read  this blog, whether for a month or the nearly twenty years I’ve been bloviating here, that I don’t just lean right, I am a full on conservative. I readily admit it.

I read many blogs and news sites. There is one blog I enjoy, that purports to take a middle of the road facts first approach. The only problem is the blog’s interpretation of facts always skews left. Always. The author is totally incapable of recognizing his/her bias. Which is fine, it is the hypocritical self-righteousness that galls me. 

I don’t care where you stand politically. Own it, even when you are historically, economically, and morally wrong to support liberal and progressive policies. At least do not pretend to be a great non-partisan watchdog when every time your opinion leans left. 

I make no claims of unbiased analysis. I’m certainly no Republican, but I  am a small government conservative.

I know what I am. 

In the mood

 I’m in a classic rock mood today. 

Meandering Monday

Fall has arrived. According to the forecast temps won’t reach seventy again until late in the week. It’s Okay.

I mowed the lawn yesterday. It won’t be the last time, but maybe not every week going forward. 

I made my most favorite meal for dinner yesterday: beef and noodles and yes, I’m a Hoosier so we had mashed potatoes  with them. There are leftovers for lunch. 

I have to pay the price for a week of vacation. My work email in box is filled to electronic overflowing. I have a conference call mid-morning and another this afternoon.

I did read some of the emails during the week and answered a few. 

The bottom line I enjoyed my time off. So the inundation of work is worth it. 

I sure said “I” a lot in this post. You would thing this thing was all about me. 

Go forth and have a great Monday. 

Rocky Mountain High

 

Last vacation picture. I promise 

The Front Range anyway. 

It was a great fall afternoon yesterday. I thought I’d enjoy a bit of time on the patio with a nice cigar. After some time I glanced to my right and there lay a dead squirrel. 

I enjoy my backyard squirrel. He amused me. Now it looks like he has gone to squirrel heaven. I hope it is filled with nuts and good stuff. And yes, I’m a bit sad to find one of God’s creatures has met his end. 

Dispatch from the Smokey Hill

My great great grandfather enlisted in the 7th Iowa Cavalry during the Civil Wsr. Instead of heading east to fight the Rebels, he was ordered west to guard the western travel routes against the godless heathen red-skinned devils. According to the regimental history his company patrolled along the Smoky Hill River across Kansas and up into Nebraska and Eastern Colorado. He was finally discharged in 1866 as a corporal. His pension records say he was wounded in the arm at some point. 

I have no idea what he thought of the Great Plains. Did he love or loathe the windswept prairie? He did not stay in the west after the war. For an unknown reason he made his way east, settling in central Indiana, an area equally as flat, if not more so, than west Kansas. 

Perhaps it is a passed on gene from my distant grandfather, but I love the Great Plains. For me there is hidden beauty in the open vistas and distant horizon. Maybe it is my youth spent reading Louis L’Amour westerns that inspires my admiration. Perhaps it is the histories of the plains wars and Native American biographies I devoured that inspires my admiration of the prairie? Can I blame Laura Ingalls Wilder? The names of forgotten cow towns and army posts ring nostalgic in my soul: Forts Riley, Lawrence, and Hays. The cow towns of Abilene, Wichita, and Dodge conjure dusty trails and smokey saloons I never knew. 

I guess I’m a romantic at heart. 

80 mph view from my car window

But why in the heck did my great great grandpa go from Ohio to western Missouri to Iowa and then end up in Indiana? That is opposite the migration after the war. 

Rambling’ Man

I am late to the blog this morning, I slept in. It is OK, I’m on vacation. I have been all week. 

We left last Friday evening and road tripped out to Colorado visit my son. After an all night drive we arrived in time for lunch. We had a wonderful time. It was great to spend time with my oldest boy/middle child. We had not seen him for nearly a year. 

We climbed back into the Grand Cherokee Wednesday afternoon and arrived back home yesterday morning. 

I love road trips. I’ve been doing them for work and fun for most of my life. The wife and I travel well together. I do not recover from driving all night as quick as I used to. Fifteen or sixteen hours in the car makes my body hurt. Add this trip only days after my visit to China and my body is just worn out. 

I’ve done four all-nighters in less than 2 weeks. 

The wife wants to go to Ohio today. 

I think we all know what I’ll be doing in a few hours. 

My butt hurts already. 

What he said

 

A bit west of Mudsock

 

More stuff I’ve seen

Stuff I saw yesterday

Not a completely awful cell phone picture
 

Now I know why Dorothy wanted out of Kansas

I have really tried to be a better person recently. When I see my fellow humans dressing or acting in what to me is silly, I have tried to withhold comment . 

It started with watching an old lady trying on shoes. She was sporting the worst-fitting, most poorly designed wig that looked like it came straight from 1972. Then it occurred to me that maybe she had been sick, perhaps cancer, and was doing her best to feel pretty. Who am I to poke fun, even if to myself?

 Fast forward tto yesterday. We slipped in to a McDonald's in Redacted Kansas for a quick breakfast. I moseyed into the restroom. There, standing at a urinal, was a man of at least my age or older, his pants and tighty whities pulled down around his ankles — his full moon shining for all to see. 

I looked down moved around him to the other urinal and unzipped my fly. He finally pulled up his pants and left. No, he did not wash his hands. 

So yes. I found this beyond weird. I’ve not seen a male completely drop his trousers to pee since my boys did it at around three or four years old. 

Maybe it is just me. I know things are different for the female of the species, but this was akin to a stranger next to you striking up a conversation at the urinal wall. It just shouldn’t happen. 

I have a feather pillow, where can I get some hot tar?

I read today FEMA is slow to respond to recent hurricanes because they are pretty much out of money. How is that you ask? It seems the Biden-Harris regime has used nearly one BILLION dollars of FEMA funds over the past two years to provide services and housing to illegals. 

Ponder that readers. The Democrsts took emergency money earmarked to help out you and your fellow Americans and gave it to criminals. 

There is an election next month. Do you want politicians who care more for American citizens or for those who come here illegally? Vote accordingly. 

Dear Democrats

 I’m following up on something I read about Mr. Kamala Harris. 

It was my understanding that paying off a former mistress was some kind of worst crime ever or something?

What about slapping around a different one?

Hello? Is anyone out there?

I flip the bird to the longshoremen

 Given the burden of inflation the Biden/Harris regime has placed on us all I am not surprised workers are looking for an increase in pay. I’m still working for the same salary I signed up for in 2022, so I am making about 20% less.

But come on Longshoremen, you want a 77% raise? F you. Your union president brags he will cripple the economy, spike prices, and ruin Christmas . No wonder I hate unions. *

So get ready for shortages. Prepare for more inflation. 

You are aware, if Biden ever came off vacation, he has the presidential power to force a mediation in this dispute. He won’t because the democrats need the union vote. And I’m not sure he is mentally up to it. Do we really want Mayor Pete heading up negotiations? I’d rather my 9 year-old granddaughter took the lead.

I spit on you all.

*I could write a month’s worth of posts about the unions.

Stuff the Commies can do

When I win the lottery this is what I want. An automatic toilet. The lid opens when you walk in the room. The seat is heated. A discrete fan whisks away any odor you may produce. When you finish your business, the lid closes and the stool flushes automatically. No more manual labor in the bathroom for me.

Look, if the Hangzou Bay Universal Hotel can have state of the art toilets, why can’t you and I? Don’t we deserve it?

*Yes this was my actual room. A king room with an extra sitting area—$85 a night. A similar hotel in a the States would run $300-$400 depending on your location.