09:44 – Colin has had his hands full, with extra people to keep track of, check on frequently, and herd. On the other hand, extra people around means he’s getting more human food than usual, so I’m sure he figures the extra work is worth it.
We’d already met our next-door neighbor on one side, or at least the wife. Vickie is about our age. We haven’t yet met her husband, Gill, because he’s always working. She stopped over one day to introduce herself. Barbara was down in Winston that day, so Vickie stopped over again on Thursday with her two oldest grandchildren, both girls. They’re in sixth and fourth grade, and both attend a Christian school nearby. Barbara and I were both struck by how polite and well-behaved both girls are.
Yesterday, Barbara and I walked up the road to visit our other next-door neighbor, Bonnie Tedder. She’s 88 years old, still mentally sharp, and has lived there on her own since her husband died in 1971. She has both our cell phone numbers, and we told her to call us any time she needed anything at all. Vickie drops by frequently but we figure the more people she can call on the better. Bonnie was immensely relieved that we turned out to be an ordinary middle-aged, middle-class couple. She was afraid she’d end up with a motorcycle club running a meth lab next door.
We’re taking the holiday weekend off from work, both around the house and on science kit stuff.
“She was afraid she’d end up with a motorcycle club running a meth lab next door.”
What a relief it must be for her to know now that it’s only an extreme-right-wing atheist mad scientist type who messes with strange and dangerous chemicals in his home lab and keeps an arsenal on the property.
Speaking as an atheist, moderate Christians tend to be sensible folk; if the folks care enough to send the kids to a private school, it’s no surprise that the girls are well-behaved. It’s just a shame that the same can’t be said for the religious nut jobs.
The Swiss news, for whatever bizarre reason, interviewed a bunch of folk in the Deep South who were busy mixing their religion with their gun rights. The pastor was raffling off weapons, the congregation headed out to the shooting range after church. Either the religion or the guns would be fine, though these folk were pretty damned extreme on both fronts. The problem (for me) was the fact that they clearly had no concept of the separation of church and state. God and the Constitution, all in one breath, the type who see nothing dissonant with the President mentioning God every second sentence, in a speech about drone strikes on half-identified targets.
Of course, the interviewers were making a point of making the people look ridiculous, but really, it didn’t take much help. I know exactly the type; got me some family members pretty much like that.
Edit: Actually, I know exactly the reason the Swiss news did those interviews. Our media is as lefty as anywhere else, and they find it…displeasing…that gun sales in Switzerland are way up. With people openly citing Islam and muslims as the reason.
Right-wing? I support gay rights, oppose having a standing army, support legalizing all drugs, etc. etc. How could anyone consider me to be right-wing?
Gun rights, individual initiative, preparedness, hard science, these are not left wing attributes.
nick
“She was afraid she’d end up with a motorcycle club running a meth lab next door.”
This is a real risk in many rural areas. Is this you extrapolating or her giving voice to her fears? If her, does she have any cause? That would be something good to know about your AO, if there have been meth labs busted there…..
nick
And as our host is occupied with host-ly duties, I’ll be so bold as to go first!
For preps this week, I got some nice presents– books, and bits and pieces –details already in another post. For some reason my relatives bought from my wish list this year. In past years they’ve decided the stuff was too weird and bought something else.
I did a stock up run at Costco, and next month the flyer is full of stuff I buy on sale so another stock up is coming. The Costco flyers seem to run on an every third month cycle. Haven’t tracked it exactly, but about every other or every 3rd month the same things go on sale. Knowing that, you want to wait for the sale and buy enough to get you thru. That automatically gives you a 3 month supply stored, and saves money 🙂
I broke down some ‘family pack’ sized food purchases and vac packed and froze them. Buying in bulk and repacking saves a bunch of money. Especially when the item is an advertised loss leader. Buy the limit and store it!
I have been putting together some of my “everyday survival tins” to give as gifts. I’m a bit behind with that 🙂 No fishing hooks or sparking steels, but stuff for the every day emergencies. Bandaids, crazy glue, needle and thread, magnifying glass, that sort of thing. Also each one gets a tiny Gerber knife, and a Leatherman micro or gerber equivalent. A surprising amount of stuff fits in an altoids tin.
The ‘window boxes’ on the fence have sprouted turnips, beets, and radishes. It’s been freaky warm, so who knows what the growth will be like. If it gets cold I’ll be putting some sheet plastic over it as a sort of ersatz greenhouse. Carrots in the raised bed are growing nicely. I got 3 whole beans off the bean plants in some of the other window boxes. The cold weather leafy greens are alive, not growing too much. I’m getting some peppers and tomatoes on the potted plants. Citrus is all in for the year. Still sitting in bowls, lazy me. Good thing the stores are still open.
Getting ready for the new year. Good time to reevaluate and make changes if needed. Good time to start something new.
nick
Got a gift card for some range time. It’s been too long since I’ve put a box downrange. Gonna fix that right soon.
@nick, I can confirm that your observation on the Costco “coupon book” basically runs on a 3-month cycle for most things I regularly purchase. So plan your purchases accordingly. With interest rates still abysmal you are best off investing in usable “supplies”.
Weather will be in the mid-20s to 30s here for the next week, pretty close to normal. The Cascade Mountains appear to be getting way more than the normal amount of snow. I have seen that reports that the snow pack is already 100% of normal for the entire winter. That means full reservoirs in the Spring so there should be no irrigation water restrictions for the farmers or us regular folks. However, the eco-weenies could throw a wrench in the works, as they did this year.
Agreed w/Mr. nick on that possible local meth lab/biker gang stuff in your AO down there; did she actually say that or was that you just being funny?
“How could anyone consider me to be right-wing?”
Where have you been for the past half-century? Anyone to the right of the Castro brothers is considered right-wing, or as the witty sons-of-bitches at Salon online called me years ago, a “wingnut,” “reichwing,” “Jesuit stormtrooper,” and “slaver apologist.” It only takes one issue that you support, in your case, the guns, to be considered a right-wing nut. Add to that the hard science, which most lefties don’t get and don’t wanna get, and the prepping stuff and you more than qualify. Someone like me they consider as bad as or worse than Hitler, their perennial bogeyman (while conveniently ignoring Lenin, Stalin, Mao, the Castros, et. al.).
Sunny here today but temps dropped drastically into the horrible thirties overnight; we had ice in the water that our frozen turkey was sitting in to thaw, lol, joke’s on us, haha. Fotties right now but no wind, so it’s still tee-shirt and shorts weather.
Princess due sometime this evening after picking up and transporting G-Grandmother from Montreal; I’ll have the cioppino ready to go by then and meanwhile have set up the stuffing, potatoes and cranberry sauce also good to go for tomorrow’s actual Xmas dinner.
What a relief it must be for her to know now that it’s only an extreme-right-wing atheist mad scientist type who messes with strange and dangerous chemicals in his home lab and keeps an arsenal on the property.
Sounds like the synopsis for the tv show “Breaking Bad” that I have yet to watch.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Bad
Edit: Actually, I know exactly the reason the Swiss news did those interviews. Our media is as lefty as anywhere else, and they find it…displeasing…that gun sales in Switzerland are way up. With people openly citing Islam and muslims as the reason.
Is there a loaded machine gun in every closet in Switzerland? I had that impression at one point, just like Israel and Sweden.
http://www.businessinsider.com/switzerlands-gun-laws-are-a-red-herring-2012-12
and
http://imgur.com/a/l1F0j
There are occasional meth lab busts up here, but it’s been years since literal meth houses have been an issue. Production first migrated to motel rooms, and even that was pretty minor since most meth is now produced overseas (mainly Mexico) in industrial lab facilities. What little production still goes on locally is generally small-scale, using the single-bottle “shake and bake” method, and usually takes place in moving automobiles, vans, or even tractor trailers. I’m not too concerned about it. People who make meth are generally a lot more concerned about drawing LE notice than they are about terrorizing civilians.
Considered by whom? Why would I care what those morons believe? Anyway, by that measure Roseanne Barr qualifies as extreme right-wing. She is, after all, a prepper and has publicly recommended that people stock up on food and guns.
most meth is now produced overseas (mainly Mexico) in industrial lab facilities
Umm, Mexico is not overseas from the lower 48. Not even Alaska. I’ve personally driven into Mexico several times from Texas (aka Tejas) back in the 60s and 70s when it was mostly safe.
I did not know that most meth was imported now. But, I am not surprised, we always want the newest and most potent drugs here in the USA and are willing to pay a lot to get them. I’ve got four RV parks within a mile or so of my house. A friend told me that you can get anything in any of those parks.
Is there a loaded machine gun in every closet in Switzerland?
No. The reservists have their equipment at home, but as of 2007 they don’t have ammo.
“Considered by whom? Why would I care what those morons believe?”
Considered as such by the MSM, SJWs, too many in gummint, and of course the humanities and social “science” departments of colleges and universities. I was not aware that the fugly pig-witch Barr has been recommending food and guns, but if so, she’s way off her usual reservation, which has normally been the same bit of ideological real estate as Sean Penn’s and most other Hollyweird bozos.
If that wasn’t mere rhetorical hyperbole, I need to tell my friend Diogenes about those parks. 2500 years and he’s still looking.
Considered by the majority, and we’re a social species and cannot survive without a literal or metaphorical tribe, so the majority is always right. I’ve come across this bit of wisdom from several sources, and if you can’t trust someone on a BBC or NPR science podcast or someone with a blog, whom can you believe?
BTW, referring to people as morons is a microaggression at least, and you need to knock that shit right out. Unless you’re talking about republicans, conservatives, the 1%, or gun owners, in which case “morons” isn’t nearly strong enough. I’ve been assured of that many times, as well, and the majority is always right; see above.
“I’ve got four RV parks within a mile or so of my house. A friend told me that you can get anything in any of those parks.”
THAT close??? You have a very serious potential AO down there, hombre. I’d be CCW accordingly 7×24 and beef up whatever home and travel/vehicle OPSEC you got already. We have a couple of trailer park “communities within a couple of miles of us here and one of them looks by daylight to be the sorta place you don’t wanna be-bop around during hours of darkness. We see some of their younger male simians blasting by here in their trucks and shitbox cars at twice the speed limit or more and with faulty mufflers and they just LOVE to scrub out and lay rubber and smoke. Never a cop around when they do that, though.
I intend to collect more intel on that area and ditto license tags and descriptions, while also keeping the scanners on here on each floor and in our vehicles. I gotta ramp up Mrs. OFD with more advanced firearms and personal defense training besides what I can give her ASAP.
We see some of their younger male simians…
Major, major aggression, Sir!!! Unless you were referring to Ted Cruz’s kids, of course. That’s OK.
No, it’s OK anyway; the younger male simians I’m talking about are cock-a-soids and also poor, in terms of money, culture, language, dress, etc, our very own Underclass in northwestern Vermont. In lefty sociological terms, they’re the lowest of the low; ever see any concern for poor Appalachian miners and moonshiners from modern/contemporary lefties? Or the folks they call “white trash?” They used to get some sympathetic attention from the old lefties and commies of the 1930s to 1960s, but that’s gone now. The Leader of the Free World refers to them as “clinging bitterly to their guns and their religion,” and has thus written them off as no-count scum. Maybe a lot of them are, like the ones we see around here, but Dear Leader and his ilk lump them in with all of us out here to the right of the Castro brothers or who live in the vast spaces between the coastal metropoles.
Juaquin and Julian or Fidel and Raul? lol, what’s the difference.
Cankles and Ofukstik: “Happy Kwanzaa to all celebrating it…”
lol That would be a bunch of WHITEY! libturds and a couple of Blacks. Jeezum, what a joke these people are.
The money quote from A Quiet Christmas: “Bottom line: Freedom is good. The nannies of this world don’t understand freedom and joy, and have declared war on both. A V-8 is a great expression of freedom–almost right up there with a .357.”
Y’all will also enjoy Dip’s comment on CC.
“That would be a bunch of WHITEY! libturds and a couple of Blacks.”
PLUS: All the poor wittle skool kidz, college kidz, media rumpswabs, and corporate prolecube drones FORCED to render obeisance and grovel before a completely made-up celebration devised by a p.o.s. Afrikan-Murkan activist a few short decades ago and now it has the same OFFICIAL status as Christianity, Judaism, etc. What a joke, indeed; all this chit reminds me all the time of the children’s fable about the emperor’s new clothes and how the whole population is so easily hoodwinked.
Mostly, our host’s positions seem to align with the Constitution (whether he’ll concede that is another matter). Constitutionalists tend to be “right-wing nut-jobs”, regardless of position.
Given that our constitution, where it mentions anything, talks about restricting government powers, the libertarian position seems to be most constitutional, and is the utmost of right-wing positions. You want to restrict the almighty state!
I’ve got four RV parks within a mile or so of my house
RV parks are different than trailer parks. RV parks tend to have upscale motorhomes and other expensive trailer. A trailer park is generally loaded with run down single wides with single (divorced) females with six kids by 13 different fathers.
Upgraded my main system to W10. Got a new 500G SSD for Christmas. Backed up all the files which was probably not necessary as all my data files are on spinning metal (3 1TB disks). Downloaded W10 to a thumb drive, replaced the (too small) SSD with the new SSD, booted, and installed. W7 and W8 activation keys will now work with W10. Then installed all my software. Not completely done with that and will install as I need the software.
I need Windows for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Proshow Producer. The latter will not run on a MAC unless I use Parallels (which puts me back into Windows) so I need Windows. It is just an OS, works for my needs.
Also got me an Apple Watch. Still not sure if that is really useful or not.
I don’t want to restrict it; I want to eliminate it. Actually, I’m a no-winger, since as an anarchist I don’t believe we should have any government at all. I never signed the Constitution, so the government that exists does so without my permission.
I support the Bill of Rights, since it constrains government rather than individuals.
Those were her actual words.
I’m not too concerned about meth labs. I’m sure some drug manufacturing goes on around here, but from my point of view they’re just small businessmen whose business the government really, really doesn’t like. I’ll mind my own business and let the meth makers mind theirs. The tenor of this area is nice middle class homeowners surrounded by farmland.
I’ve got four RV parks within a mile or so of my house
RV parks are different than trailer parks. RV parks tend to have upscale motorhomes and other expensive trailer. A trailer park is generally loaded with run down single wides with single (divorced) females with six kids by 13 different fathers.
Given that definition, two trailer parks and one RV / trailer park. The trailer parks are less than 50 trailers and full with little traffic. I stay out of there but the impression I get is older people. The RV park is around 400 RVs, almost full and has a lot of workers for the power plant. One of my guys lives there in his 1989 RV and reports that it is very quiet.
A lot of nomadic workers, like oil and gas service, or tower service, or electrical transmission, or specialized construction trades, live in RVs or trailers. They move close to the work, often for a year or more at a time. There is a complete sub-culture.
There are a lot of retired folks living full or part time in RVs and RV parks too. My own parents spend a third of the year living in a park/campground (in a trailer that hasn’t moved in a decade but is still licensed as a trailer.)
This is very different from living in a ‘trailer park’. A trailer park is mostly single or double wide manufactured housing, that is only moved from one location to another. Many never move, or haven’t moved in years. Trailer parks tend toward the very low end of the economic and ‘success at life’ spectrum.
One trend I’ve noticed is an increase in travel trailers (caravans) parked in commercial areas, with someone living in them. I can think of at least five that I’ve noticed. I think they are employees or possibly business owners, living in the parking lot of their employer. The employer gets a 24/7 security presence, the employee gets cheap rent, or no rent. They are usually nice mid-range to expensive travel trailers.
Lots of alternative living arrangements out there.
nick
added: we’ve got both campgrounds and trailer parks in my AO. One which I only noticed in the last month. They can be surprisingly well hidden, right in the middle of everything.
This is very different from living in a ‘trailer park’. A trailer park is mostly single or double wide manufactured housing, that is only moved from one location to another. Many never move, or haven’t moved in years. Trailer parks tend toward the very low end of the economic and ‘success at life’ spectrum.
Ok, then these are all RV parks. No single wides or double wides. There are also three RV storage parks a mile or so away from my house.
And the RV park by the entrance of my subdivision is having 16 single office buildings built in a six acre business park next to it. That should be interesting, I predict that the RV park will be up for sale soon for the land value.
added: we’ve got both campgrounds and trailer parks in my AO. One which I only noticed in the last month. They can be surprisingly well hidden, right in the middle of everything.
A friend of mine owns a 100 space trailer park off I-10 over by you. He bought it back in the middle 1980s for a song. He clears an amazing amount of money from it and has a waiting list for an open slot. He sure was griping on his property taxes last year on the land.
I would like to put a 100 space trailer park on my front five acres. I’ve already got the water well but I would need to raise the land two foot (pea gravel) and install a $50,000 septic system. I just wonder how painful the management would be, seems like it could be a full time job.
So you _are_ a right-wing nutjob. (I kid! I kid!)
I would contend that the constitution was designed to constrain government. What we have now is government trying to shoulder away the constraints. By force, if necessary.
The constitution enumerates 19 powers to the government. Everything else is designed to constrain it. The 2 most abused powers (in my opinion) are the “general welfare” clause, and to “regulate interstate commerce”. While they were well understood at the time of their writing, they have been twisted to mean almost the opposite today.
For example – “General Welfare” – originally, it was intended to mean “good for the country as a whole, regardless of individuals”. Now it is generally interpreted as the welfare of the individuals, the more the better. Even at the expense of the state.
“Regulate Interstate Commerce” – originally it meant to make regular (i.e. easier). How that was used to justify a federal minimum wage beggars belief.
“The best government is that which governs least.”
These rascals have no idea.
@JimL – Our Constitution was pitched (and never really recovered) during Lincoln’s term and the War of Northern Aggression, which really was for States’ Rights. The “slave” issue only became an issue later in the war as a matter of convenience and as a way to distract the low information voters from the real issues.
Our Constitution has been written on (and used like) toilet paper ever since.
Do you folks not find it ironic that Barry Obola’s favorite president is Lincoln (statement, not a question). IMHO Barry will have some surprises for us during what is supposed to be his last year in office,
Mr. DadCooks is correct; the Great Eliminator Lincoln killed off nearly a million of his countrymen and destroyed the South and our southern cousins with the eager assistance of his war criminal thug generals and carpetbaggers afterward. The Emancipation was one of the most cynical pieces of paper ever devised by human beings and made a mockery of what that civil war was about, which persists to this day.
I’d go back further, though, to the secret proceedings of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, which, to my knowledge, has never been taught in Murkan high skool or college history courses. To paraphrase a late Catholic pope, that is where ‘the smoke of Satan’ entered the nation.
On the other hand, that constitution shaped a nation that was capable of becoming the nation we have today. I still believe it to be the greatest nation on earth, regardless of its failures.
I’m not advocating the government we have today. I’m advocating for the least government necessary to keep us a union of semi-independent states.
I don’t know if we’re going to boom or bust, or if I want either to happen. I know I _do_ want adherence to the constitution as a start. Doggone it, I don’t know that we can do _better_, but we ought to be able to do what we have already done.
If we can.
“I still believe it to be the greatest nation on earth, regardless of its failures.”
Probably true, only because all the others suck. That guy Sovereign Man keeps hustling his plan to bail and take our gigantic assets that he assumes we all have and head for some “more free” foreign country where we can still do things in the grand old free capitalist way. No thanks. I’d rather die a pauper here in front of a firing squad. SM is pretty much right on everything else but the deal he’s pushing for us is: “First, have or get a million dollars immediately. Then, move out of the country.” Not really viable for most of us, so what are WE supposed to do?
“I’m advocating for the least government necessary to keep us a union of semi-independent states.”
We had that; the original Articles of Confederation. But the Federalists and big-city lawyer types just had to mess with it, and the bone they threw us was the Bill of Rights, which now ALSO gets treated like birdcage liner.
“…but we ought to be able to do what we have already done.”
Too late. IMHO. The system is broken beyond repair, and deliberately and with malice aforethought so, combined with our own laziness, ignorance and indifference.