09:40 – Barbara just called from Winston. She has a few more errands to run, then lunch with friends before she leaves for home. She should be back in Sparta mid-afternoon. We’ll need to get the kitchen cleared for the guys from Blue Ridge Electric Co-op, who are arriving tomorrow morning to install a 250-gallon propane tank, run lines, and install our gas cooktop.
I’m re-reading the first three books in Franklin Horton’s Borrowed World series. If you haven’t read them, you should. Horton is one of the very, very few recent authors whose PA novels deserve an A+. There are other decent new-breed PA novelists–notably Angery American (AKA Chris Weatherman)–but Horton stands head and shoulders above the scores of other recent PA novelists I’ve read. His books are as good or better than classic PA novels like Earth Abides, Lucifer’s Hammer, and the like.
After I read the first Borrowed World title, I emailed Franklin to congratulate him for doing a stellar job. We started corresponding regularly, and at one point seriously discussed co-authoring a non-fiction prepping book. Franklin regretfully concluded that he just couldn’t fit it into his schedule, at least right now. He’s currently putting the finishing touches on his fourth and latest Borrowed World novel, and I offered to do a “sanity check” read-through, which he immediately accepted. I’m re-reading the first three right now to make sure I have context for doing a kitchen-cabinet pass on his first draft.
@RBT
Thanks for reminding me I wanted to read Franklin Horton’s books. Just purchased them and looking forward to some new reading material.
I’d forgotten the work Barbara had done with rescue BC’s and her original take on Colin. Highly intelligent dogs often suffer with inexperienced owners. I’m glad he has you two. I’d like to have a border collie but recognize I wouldn’t do it justice. The gap between good intentions and action would be a great injustice. BC’s take a very special and committed partner.
I always enjoy when your dogs are part of the posts. It gets me my border collie fix.
Prepping side – your dialog about the 250 gallon tank is acting as a prompt. When we replaced our heating system we selected one that could utilize propane as well as city gas.
Past time to work on the next step. This is a bad place to lack an alternate heat source.
Like just about everyone who works in BC rescue, Barbara burned out. She stuck with it for ten years, but seeing what people do to dogs just got to be too much for her. She says we’re getting too old to raise another BC pup, but I expect she’ll change her mind when the time comes. I’ve lived with BCs for 57 years now, and she for 25 years. I doubt either of us would really want a less intelligent breed. I mentioned your idea about getting hooked up with a breeder who may need someone to adopt an adult, and we’ll probably pursue that.
Speaking of BCs, I suspect Franklin is at least part BC. He’s cranking out three books a year while working a full-time job and living on a homestead in the far SW Virginia mountains, 25 or so miles north of Bristol. Most people would think any of those three things was a full-time job in itself. He and his family are a couple hours west of us, and at some point we may do a face-to-face, maybe at one of the prepping conferences he attends.
Yep, intelligent dogs. We have two: one is a Kelpie (think: Australian Border Collie) that we adopted as an adult. A sillier dog was never born, a laugh a minute. The other is a mutt, a bit weird, but my god is he smart. At one point I was teaching him to count. Granted, only to three, but still: how many dogs could learn that? I stopped, not because he couldn’t do it, but because I was totally stressed out from work and didn’t have the time to finish.
On the other hand, you have to have plenty of time for a smart dog, especially a working breed. Let it get bored, and it will, most definitely will find ways of entertaining itself. Gee, wonder what’s behind the wallpaper? Under the tiles? Inside the sofa?
Reminds me of Houlihan and Big Chuck, who hosted the Saturday night horror movie on a Cleveland TV station back in the 60’s. Houlihan was the smart one. In one of their skits, Big Chuck was trying to convince Houlihan that his horse could do math. Houlihan was skeptical. So, Houlihan asked the horse, “how much is two plus three?”. The horse responded by stomping its hoof: stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp and then stops and looks up. Big Chuck, looking on, finally can’t take it any more and tells the horse, “Come on, boy, one more!”
Reminds me of Houlihan and Big Chuck, who hosted the Saturday night horror movie on a Cleveland TV station back in the 60’s.
I swear I remember a similar bit on “Creature Feature”, the local horror movie show in Tampa during the 70s/80s/90s. Good artists copy …
No bike today. No brains in drivers, either. Local interstate is closed for 20+ miles due to white precipitation. All interstate traffic is being re-routed through the city, clogging one of the main ways across town. That leaves the back roads & side streets that the locals know & use regularly.
It ought to be fun going home. Hubs are locked, lights will be on, and I’ll be dreaming of the cold frosty waiting for me at home.
Tomorrow morning I get to clear this stuff off, as well as Saturday, when it is supposed to end. Looking forward to a little skiing on Saturday – should be about right by then.
Back from vets group, a full house this time, around a dozen of us, including the oldest vet who served at the very beginnings of the chit in SEA, Airborne paratrooper in Laos, where he wasn’t supposed to be and records redacted accordingly so he’s fighting for disability benefits while dealing with cancer. Youngest vets, our Desert One guy stopped in and he’s doing great now with a full-time job, being a volunteer firefighter, wife working now and he’s taking care of this three sons every night; when he came in ten years ago he was a total wreck and in deep crisis. Another youngster was in, and he’s one of those guys just back I’ve talked about here before, extremely angry; he slammed a couple of chairs around and was shouting at one point, with every other word being “fuck.” But he calmed down and I think he saw he was OK with us.
The rest of us are all ‘Nam vets with me being the youngest, so fah; came in at the tail end of the wars in SEA at age 17. So me and the oldest guy, the paratrooper, get along fine. Technically he’s old enough to be my dad. And our nurse was there; she did ER work at the hospitals in ‘Nam and saw chit-tons of terrible stuff and is dealing with multiple medical issues herself now.
All in all a pretty good meeting and my fellow door-gunner is heading to Floriduh for the winta, and his gf will be joining him at some point; she’s another Emma Willard graduate like my wife and they’re both artists; our old jarhead is doing good with his daughter and grandkids moved in with him and he’s happy now, whereas normally he’s dealing with one crisis after another.
The point was made several times by several people there, for the benefit of our angry young vet, that we took the hardest step in coming in for the first time, and so has he. We all started out being really fucked up and have managed with the help of the other vets to get better and achieve some level of peace and day-to-day functionality, so he’s not alone. We’ll see if he comes back again next week.
I’ll also see if Mrs. OFD calls in tonight; she couldn’t last night because her voice was gone, thanks to yakking all day for the classes and that filthy and disgusting city air. Plus she got a minor case of food poisoning. More evidence: AVOID CITIES.
@Mr. Jim L. I envy you being able to ski this weekend; being on the lake here can mean anything from zero inches of white stuff to several feet, so it’s all random. And I have several times seen it snowing in the back yard with nothing out front.
his horse could do math
Clever Hans springs to mind.
I still find it remarkable that CH was so superb at reading body language and using it as a cue to provide the ‘correct’ answers. A magnificent achievement that it took so many scientists so much time to identify how the horse was accomplishing such remarkable feats.
I think it took a clever human to clue in that if the questioner didn’t know the answer neither did the horse. Even with that clue it took awhile to sort things out.
My 9 year old Cardigan managed a not quite as extensive but similar feat in her early days. I thought she had learned sit, down, stay, etc. Our first time competing her behavior completely fell apart. She was earnestly doing her best but had absolutely no idea what the verbal cues meant.
I had committed a foolish training error and virtually always worked her with her older half brother. To save time.
What my smarty pants albeit lazy (or efficient) dog had learned was -watch brother, do as he does as quickly as possible, get a cookie.
Behavior is cool. The permutations are so interesting and at times surprising.
That didn’t take long. A few days ago I posted a link to a crime solved thru dna analysis that attempts to identify NOT the perpetrator but his relatives. Now this:
“NYPD wants to use controversial new DNA technique to find killer of jogger Kirina Vetrano by trying to identify his close relatives using his genes
Karina Vetrano, 30, was strangled after going jogging in New York on August 2
She had left her home in Queens for a daylight run through marshy parkland
NYPD has a DNA profile of her killer but have found no match in their database
Familial DNA technique might allow them to find his relatives, closing the net
By Chris Summers For Mailonline and Associated Press
Detectives trying to find the killer of Karina Vetrano, who was strangled and beaten to death while jogging in New York in broad daylight, hope a controversial new DNA technique might solve the case.”
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4016140/NYC-runners-killing-puts-DNA-technique-microscope.html
Right now it’s rapists and murderers. Soon it will be parking violators, and petty criminals. Tech gets cheaper, cops get lazier, and people forget any outrage they had when a technique is new.
nick
Ferfal posts a video and analysis of a violent defensive gun use in Brazil.
http://ferfal.blogspot.com/2016/12/gunfight-video-10-lessons-learned.html
Worth watching, as is any video of actual encounters.
What you won’t see in the video-
— modern two handed stance
— tactical reload
— any reload at all
— slow head scan after shooting
AND YET- successful self defense, against VERY close armed attackers, with one running away and the other assuming room temperature.
nick
I agree with the “10 lessons learned” posted under the video, esp. the bit about appendix carry and the bit about firing until you’re sure the perp is mos def outta commission.
“Windows 10 is coming to ARM again, with win32 emulation”
http://www.osnews.com/story/29537/Windows_10_is_coming_to_ARM_again_with_win32_emulation
I’m not sure why Microsoft is doing this. And one wonders how good the Win32 emulation is.