10:36 – Barbara has friends coming up to spend the day. The weather is better than expected. It’s chilly, but no precipitation and little wind. I’m sure they’ll have a good time walking through downtown Sparta visiting shops and stalls.
Ah, the joys of living in a small town. I had a follow-up appointment scheduled with the dentist for 10:30 this morning. At 7:27 a.m. my phone rang. It was the dentist office calling to cancel the appointment because Dr. Flowers is taking a sick day today. She’s something like seven months pregnant, so that’s not surprising. What did surprise me is that the receptionist apologized for the inconvenience and said that they’d be crediting my account for $25 because Dr. Flowers missed the appointment. I’m used to doctors and dentists charging patients a penalty if they miss an appointment without calling to cancel it 24 or 48 hours in advance, but that’s the first time I’ve heard of a doctor or dentist charing themselves a penalty for missing an appointment.
Starting tomorrow, we need to get more science kits built. We’ll start by building another dozen or so biology kits, which we’re shortest of at the moment, and then another dozen or two chemistry kits, which we still have to fill chemical bottles and build chemical bags for. After that, we’ll do another dozen or so forensics kits.
We’ve been buying Costco AA and AAA alkalines for 10 or 15 years, and it’s time to start focusing more on rechargeables. I made an initial foray into rechargeables 10 or 15 years ago, back when NiMH rechargeables were just coming into common use. The problem with those early-generation NiMH was that they didn’t hold a charge very long, so they were mainly useful only in things like cordless phone handsets that could be put on a charger every night. Their rapid self-discharge made them entirely unsuitable for stuff like flashlights, remote controls, and so on. Also, many of them promised 500 to 1,000 charge cycles, but in my experience they often died after 100 cycles or even fewer, even when charged on an expensive “smart” charger. Finally, their mAH capacities were so much lower than alkalines that they weren’t particularly useful for anything that required a lot of current, unless it was something like a camera where they could be recharged easily and immediately.
But now the technology has improved immensely, and the cost has fallen pretty dramatically as well. Low self-discharge (LSD) models keep a high percentage of their charge even sitting on the shelf for a year or more, so they’re now usable in things like remote controls and flashlights. There’s still a three-way trade-off. High mAH capacity; usable recharge cycles; and LSD. Pick any two. And, of course, you can add in price as a fourth factor.
NiMH AA and AAA cells currently sell for $1 to $4 each, depending on specifications, name brand, and so on. That means they pay for themselves after anything from three or four up to ten recharge cycles.
Sunny with blue skies here and chilly, also.
Mrs. OFD is in the air somewhere between Hawaii and the middle of CONUS and should be arriving in Moh-ree-all around 4:30 PM today.
And the political circus continues:
https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2016/12/19/france24-faithless-electors-faithful-citizens-hold-out-final-hope-to-unseat-trump/
And here’s some discussion on how to not win friends, probably, but definitely influence some people in your particular AO’s political circus:
http://starvingthemonkeys.com/2016/12/18/controlling-the-local-narrative-part-i-overview/
This guy does a good job of it, repeatedly, down in Georgia (the state, not the Vermont town to our immediate south):
http://leechcity.online/
To All:
My Mother passed away on December 5th. She was in rehab for swollen legs and wound care for almost 20 days. The facility had to keep sending her to the ER for multiple problems. The last trip she started having multiple organ failures and was in great pain. She wanted a DNR/DNI and passed away early on the 5th. I’ve been spending my time taking care of her affairs.
Thanks to you all for sharing all your experiences with your own family members.
David “MrAtoz” Kickbusch
David, I’m so sorry. Barbara’s and my thoughts are with you.
Yes, David, my own thoughts and prayers are also with you during this sad time. Pax vobiscum, seriously.
Mr. AtoZ,
My condolences as well. Words fail at times like these.
Technically, my aunt died after a long battle with dementia over the weekend.
You know, what really impresses me about most of these articles/authors that OFD links to is not just that they can write competently and are obviously intelligent but that they can obviously think, a trait that is entirely absent in prog writers. Let’s see. We’re smarter than they are, used to looking at things as they actually are rather than how we wish they were, are much better armed than they are and at least as ruthless. I wonder if they have even a glimmer of realization that their very survival depends on our sufference. We’re polite, certainly, but if pushed too far we can become very rude very quickly.
I’m sorry to hear about your aunt as well.
Well, heck, let me link to another one, from some guy that Jesse James let onto his blog, and you’ll see after reading yet another Murkan Normal who can think and write:
“This episode is a massive condemnation of American authority, threatening to turn into violent conflict. The people involved on both sides of the supposed political divide resemble dogs fighting over scraps. Obama told us Russian election interference, and talk radio and “fake news” were the deciding factors in how about 120 million people voted.”
https://virginiafreemen.com/2016/12/19/pseudopolitik-lies-lies-and-more-lies/
“Technically, my aunt died after a long battle with dementia over the weekend.”
My condolences to you, too, Dave; we are experienced in our family with various forms of dementia and senility, starting from when my great-aunt was still alive and down through my maternal grandmother, and both of my parents. And we know there is still some little spark that remains from time to time, which makes it all the more difficult.
” I wonder if they have even a glimmer of realization that their very survival depends on our sufference.”
No. They believe just the opposite. That we are allowed to exist merely on their sufferance and are soon gonna be past all hope, of course.
Thank you.
Costco puts the elaloop batteries and chargers on sale about every third month. They’ve about due. The enaloop have low send discharge, add come pre charged.
Nick
Thanks to all. Sorry for your loss Dave.
Vlad the Impailer won’t like this…
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/19/europe/turkey-russian-ambassador-shot/index.html
My condolences, Mr. Atoz, and to Dave as well.
This could be fun to watch, though the choice probably breaks down to a choice between pixels, the tee-vee or the pooter:
http://www.270towin.com/live-2016-presidential-election-vote-of-electors/
And which one will give us the nooz first that some type of major political black swan event takes place today?
But probably not; the rulers have undoubtedly made some sort of decision by now on how they want things to work here and we’ll know more as time goes by.
Pitney Bowes just showed up to replace the fuser assembly in the Brother laser printer. Guy said they replace a lot of those and it is about the only part that requires replacing in the printer. Apparently it is a known problem with color laser printer. Tech said some printers are four years out of warranty and Brother will still replace the assembly for no charge.
The flaw I had in my tone is exactly the flaw that the tech sees in other repairs. The other problem he encounters is the heating roller disintegrates into pieces. My problem was the compression roller covering had split and then torn by the paper guides.
He also said it would be cheaper for Brother to just send out new printers. The cost of the part is about $120 which Brother has to ship, UPS overnight, early delivery. Then PB is probably paid a couple hundred for the in-home service call. New printer is $160 retail and includes new toner cartridges. Actual cost to Brother is probably less than $120, the cost of the fuser.
My Mother passed away on December 5th. She was in rehab for swollen legs and wound care for almost 20 days. The facility had to keep sending her to the ER for multiple problems. The last trip she started having multiple organ failures and was in great pain. She wanted a DNR/DNI and passed away early on the 5th. I’ve been spending my time taking care of her affairs.
So sorry for your loss. So important to let people do what they want in their last days.
I spent the weekend with my mother (and father). Her immune system never recovered from all of the chemo and radiation from the last 12+ months so she has a cold of course. But Mom and I sat around and just talked for quite a while. And Dad and I went adventuring Saturday afternoon down in Indianola, Texas. Good times. I have a personal goal to spend one weekend a quarter hanging with them, I got three in this year.
Dave and Mr. Atoz,
My condolences as well.
These issues with my friends are quite frequent nowadays. OTOH, I am very grateful and lucky as I’ll be 78 tomorrow.
“He also said it would be cheaper for Brother to just send out new printers.”
Probably, but then what happens to the old printer? Can it be refurbished, cannibalized for parts, or does it just go to a recycle site or landfill? Do manufacturers ever TEST any of the stuff they make anymore before putting it on the market?? Does anybody have user testing going on at their sites before sending out hardware or software?
“I have a personal goal to spend one weekend a quarter hanging with them, I got three in this year.”
Good call. It gets difficult nowadays for lots of folks who live far apart and maybe don’t have the wherewithal to travel; also harder for people whose parents or other relatives in dire straits are not fully cognizant of anything very much. I saw my mom a few weeks ago and it took quite a while for her to recognize me; she has a pretty good memory still but logic and reason have left the building. My dad could either recognize us or pretend he did for quite a while; he died unattended and my mom found him like that when she went to visit him at the hospice.
The other shoe waiting to drop up here will probably be when my MIL goes, or maybe her older sister, though our money is on my MIL going first. My wife grew up as an only child with her and they traveled all over the U.S., lived on an Indian res in eastern Washington, went to Europe, etc., etc., and her mom got her into Emma Willard and Brown. So when she goes it’s gonna hit my wife really hard; I’m not looking forward to that day at all, and I’ll miss her, too.
I expect Mrs. OFD got her liking for widespread travel and tolerance for the crap she puts up with from her mom; and my love for staying put here in New England from my own family, going back nearly 400 years. It’s just a damn shame what has happened to this region over the years and Professor Clyde Wilson is correct in attributing much of it to the pernicious Puritan influence.
Off now to run some errands and do a bunch of household chores. Cheers!
“… as I’ll be 78 tomorrow.”
Fah out! An early and hearty Happy Birthday to you, sir! Many blessings wished for now and ahead for you and yours!
And if you ever get tired and bored with that stultifying southern Kalifornia weather, why, you are more than welcome to slide by up here, and the sliding is very good today, I might add; ol’ OFD was being werry werry careful on the sheet of ice outside just now. Last thing this “youngster” needs is to take a big 240-pound hard fall on some hard ice. But it makes life here so EXCITING!
Vlad the Impailer won’t like this…
Maybe the Libturdians will stop crying about Russian hacking now that Putin has something else to keep him busy. Maybe the Russian swamp will be drained like Viet Nam.
@MrAtoz and @Dave, Dad is coming out of hiding/low-profile to express his sincerest and deepest condolences on your losses. Please find peace and comfort.
My wife is turning in her papers this morning to retire effective 1/1/2017. All our Social Security and Medicare plans are done and in effect. Our IRAs, 401Ks, and her deferred comp are all in the process of being rolled into plans at our Credit Union (CU). Our CU has an in-house money management division which has wider choices and lower to no maintenance/transaction fees/charges. They follow the “fiduciary standard” rather than the “suitability standard”. Put simply the goal of a “fiduciary standard” is to make and preserve your money, the “suitability standard” puts your interests second — they make money no matter what.
My wife is feeling a great relief. The management at the hospital has been a PITA since she broke her shoulder at work this spring. She feels bad because she is leaving her friends/co-workers, particularly her fellow Nurses and Techs in the OR, with a heavy load. The hospital has been shorted staffed for a couple of years now and RNs and Tech are leaving faster than they can hire them. Moral is low and took even more of a dip recently when an essentially unqualified person was hired to be their “boss/manager” (not an experienced RN but an MBA).
Part of prepping is being prepared for changes in your income stream. We have always been frugal and have avoided the trap on depending on two full incomes to live. IMHO this has paid off now as we can survive even if SS goes away.
She feels bad because she is leaving her friends/co-workers, particularly her fellow Nurses and Techs in the OR, with a heavy load
My advice is to just move on. Let the hospital deal with their problems. When your wife retires she needs to forget completely about the hospital, any issues with the hospital, remove it from her life. Tough to do. She put in her time, now her time is hers.
turning in her papers this morning to retire effective 1/1/2017
Good timing. That was my mistake, not waiting until a year boundary. I chose my date because I was going to sub at the school and the middle of August was when the school started. That decision has made the medicare, insurance (obuttwad tax issues) and some other items more difficult than they should have been. Knowing what I know now I can say that. But finding such information beforehand was next to impossible.
IMHO this has paid off now as we can survive even if SS goes away
We could also for about 25 years if we really had to do so. Just basic existence, drop cable, one cell phone (no data plan), drop home phone, eliminate one vehicle, etc. But SS is not going away for anyone over the age of 60, especially for those currently (or will be shortly) drawing SS. Too many people depend on that money and removing it would plunge huge swaths of the country into complete poverty, homes foreclosed, people in shelters and on welfare.
I think SS will go away eventually and will probably not be available until a minimum of 75 or higher for my son or someone in his age bracket (33 years old). I am going to put my wife on SS when she is 62 and two months, earliest she can apply. She will apply against my wages and will receive 75% of half my benefit. Half because that is what spouses can get, 75% of that because she will be receiving benefits early. She will only lose $300 a month which is not a big hit. Having the extra money to pay her obuttwadcare is necessary.
But Trump scares the hell out of me. I did not vote for him but instead voted against Hillary as she scares me even more. If Trump does what he promised things will be markedly different in a couple of years. What that will mean for retirement is unknown. Rich people don’t see things the same way us (former) working stiffs see them.
I sincerely hope he revamps the tax code. 10% of what you earn or a federal sales tax. Really don’t care. I just have a problem with having to spend 40 hours doing taxes and sending 32 pieces of paper to the IRS which even they don’t understand. All to be audited and told I was $11.28 shy of what I owed (amount in the wrong box) and with penalties and interest I now owe them $57.00 three years after filing the forms. When they owe me money and find out three later all I get is the money, no interest or penalties because I was told incorrectly (which I have in writing) by an IRS agent.
She feels bad because she is leaving her friends/co-workers, particularly her fellow Nurses and Techs in the OR, with a heavy load.
The hospital may be interested in part-timers on call if she is interested.
Moral is low and took even more of a dip recently when an essentially unqualified person was hired to be their “boss/manager” (not an experienced RN but an MBA).
Ugh. Have spreadsheet will manage.
Dad and I stopped by a new home subdivision in Port Lavaca while we were out adventuring. 99 lots. That is an odd number, come to find out if there are 100 lots in a new subdivision then there are a bunch of federal laws that apply that must be followed and documented.
While we were roaming around, I noticed that a fellow in a brand new Range Rover ($75+K) with 22 inch wheels ($8K) was talking to the home builder. The Range Rover had a “He’s Not My President” bumper sticker on it. Unreal.
Moral is low and took even more of a dip recently when an essentially unqualified person was hired to be their “boss/manager” (not an experienced RN but an MBA).
WA State Doh-bamacare is mostly thinly-disguised Medicaid if you look hard enough. The hospitals are in serious trouble since the reelection of Jay Inslee effectively guarantees four more years of the state not solving its fiscal problems.
We started looking to get out of Vantucky when the Medicaid percentage at my wife’s clinic topped 25% of the patient base and the group effectively became the health department for SW Washington.
“Too many people depend on that money and removing it would plunge huge swaths of the country into complete poverty, homes foreclosed, people in shelters and on welfare.”
And??? You think our rulers give a you-know-what? (I’m trying to cut down on the f-word this week, good luck to me).
“When they owe me money and find out three later all I get is the money, no interest or penalties because I was told incorrectly (which I have in writing) by an IRS agent.”
Welcome to my world. And I expect more years of it ahead. I’m telling wife again we need to get a tax lawyer working for us, and I’m collecting all the papers and correspondence and a written account of how we’ve been treated over the past several years. I may also end up getting a lawyer involved for my VA disability stuff; I’m told that when a lawyer gets involved, they wise up fast and deliver the goods. We’ll see how this next round goes; I’ve got an appointment with a VA “ratings officer” next month on the 12th down at the White River Junction VA Med Center.
“Ugh. Have spreadsheet will manage.”
Yup, that’s about it. Plus, of course, Outlook Email. And meetings. LOTS of meetings. IT a major part of your organization? Hell, bring in Agile and hire a Scum Master (there’s a cert for that now). Is it OK to viscerally hate this stuff during Xmas week?
“…there are a bunch of federal laws that apply that must be followed and documented.”
Shocking.
“… a fellow in a brand new Range Rover ($75+K) with 22 inch wheels ($8K) was talking to the home builder. The Range Rover had a “He’s Not My President” bumper sticker on it. Unreal.”
That must have referred to Obama, lol, and he’s had it on there for eight years. Oh wait–it’s a new RR. Aha. A typical libturd ass-hat with more $ than common sense. Speaking of bumper stickers, I scraped off the Bernie stickers from wife’s car and the Princess car, lol. I wonder how long before they notice. I may order some Pat Buchanan stickers and put those on all the cars. See if they notice that. Hey, I gotta find fun when and where I can up here. Exciting.
At the store I wished the woman cashier and woman bagger a Merry Christmas and they did likewise. We did not get struck by lightning or beheaded by some jihadi piece of rat chit.
We started looking to get out of Vantucky when the Medicaid percentage at my wife’s clinic topped 25% of the patient base and the group effectively became the health department for SW Washington.
Vantucky == Washington State ??? Oh, cute.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Vantucky
If I understand correctly, Medicaid pays $18 for a doctor visit with no copay. That don’t work. This whole Medicaid, Medicare, and health insurance thang is a total rats nest.
“… a fellow in a brand new Range Rover ($75+K) with 22 inch wheels ($8K) was talking to the home builder. The Range Rover had a “He’s Not My President” bumper sticker on it. Unreal.”
That must have referred to Obama, lol, and he’s had it on there for eight years.
You wish. There was a Hillary symbol on the bumper sticker also.
” There was a Hillary symbol on the bumper sticker also.”
Oh naturally. What a cretin. How much you wanna bet he has some paper-shuffling gig somewhere or is living on Dad’s trust fund? Never worked with his hands (except when viewing stuff on his iPhone) and never served in the military.
Out here, Range Rovers are extremely popular in adjoining town of Newport Beach, however, the overwhelming majority are driven by women. I guess it’s the NB men that keep the local Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati dealerships in business.
Slim, who is off to the Rolex store.
(Hey, we used to have a guy who always signed off like that.)
Vantucky == Washington State ??? Oh, cute.
That corner of WA State. “Vantucky” is a Portland prog term which I borrowed.
If I understand correctly, Medicaid pays $18 for a doctor visit with no copay. That don’t work. This whole Medicaid, Medicare, and health insurance thang is a total rats nest.
That’s about right. Retail on the visit for that clinic was $300. My wife’s patient load had very little Medicaid, but she subsidized the doctors who did take on more of those patients, including her prog associate. Take home from each visit for a family doctor averages ~ $20. Do the math.
After four years, with my career sacrificed for that “opportunity”, we were out of savings and unable to afford a house. My wife was one of four family practice doctors out of ~ 20 that left that Spring (2014).
“… a fellow in a brand new Range Rover ($75+K) with 22 inch wheels ($8K) was talking to the home builder. The Range Rover had a “He’s Not My President” bumper sticker on it. Unreal.”
Lease. Exxon Mobil makes pretty decent offers to our CS undergrads to work in Katy. Most of ’em, being young, are lefties. That will change.
RE: Rechargeable AA cells.
IIRC, the first ones that retained charge over long period of non-use were Panasonic eneloops; however, their maximum charge was somewhat less than others. Another in that mode is Tenergy. I have used both in flashlights with good staying power.
“…with my career sacrificed for that “opportunity””
I guess I could say that mine was similarly lost when I left EDS to come up here and get remarried; but EDS got bought by HP and most of my colleagues lost their jobs, eventually, one way or another. I came up here and worked for the state as an IT drone and by the third and fourth year it became so hellish I was about to kill somebody, so I left. Wife kept working for them a few more years and then it became too hellish even for her, and she left, too. I tried to keep my IT “career” going up here but it’s been a roller-coaster and mostly a failure, except for the two good years at IBM. She’s now worked for the same outfit down in Mordor and they’re incompetent asswipes but she loves the work and doesn’t mind the travel much, although she’s getting tired of it and somewhat burnt out.
“Most of ’em, being young, are lefties.”
Like Pajama Boy?:
https://4gfc.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/dear-god.png
WRT Range Rovers; we had one a few years ago that we got used from a cool place up here called Rangers North. We just happened on it while we out tooling around on the back roads and we went in. The head guy came out and gave us a tour of the joint and the mechanics were showing us the stuff they were doing, and they even had WWII-era Rovers all fixed up and good to go. (there’s a military vehicle show every year up here in the mountains near Stowe, I think; one of my vets group guys lets us know when it’s going on).
So we bought a used Rover, with a cd changer in the rear and tooled around some of the worst friggin’ dirt roads you can find in the hills and what a machine! It rolled with the terrain and went over and through anything.
Then one New Year’s Eve our son and his friend wanted to go out partying and it was snowing and pretty slick and we weren’t too keen on the idea but let him take the Rover. Sure as chit, they rolled it barely a couple of miles out, into a ditch, basically, right near the Winooski River bank. They got out by kicking the windshield out. I checked it the next day and it didn’t look too bad; then the cops had it towed out of there and the next time I saw it with the insurance adjuster, it was “totaled.” I’ve been annoyed ever since that we lost that vehicle like that.
If we find another used Rover in good shape for a decent price, I am on that like a hobo with a ham sandwich. But I’ll settle for either a recent Toyota Tundra or an older pickup truck running diesel and 4X and no computer chips in it.
“Slim, who is off to the Rolex store.”
OFD, who is off to sweeping and vacuuming and putting fake lit candles in the front and side windows that come on when it gets dahk. Which it is right now.
Wife just called and has landed in Moh-ree-all, praise the Lord. Now Princess is on her way to pick her up and they will probably make their ETA here of around 7:30-8:00 PM. Wife will be exhausted and then messed up for days due to the time change. But at least she missed the Obola circus in Hawaii and had a good time and got a load of coral to bring back for her jewelry making.
From the Trip Down Bad Memory Lane Department:
https://www.change.org/p/california-board-of-parole-hearings-keep-charles-manson-cult-murderer-patricia-krenwinkel-from-getting-parole?utm_source=action_alert_sign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=691892&alert_id=csKcMkeRsq_T6VeFYL0BDwqAuXUGs3bGrlY19gXX0941ZC88b8qNgI%3D
How’d you like to wake up and see Patricia standing by your bed some night?
WRT planning for “cash” in the future:
I just “might” have withdrawn cash each month for the past 20 plus years to stuff my “mattress” and buy silver smalls to make “paper weights”. One has to consider that Social inSecurity is going away and the gooberment will “take” all your savings in whatever form in banks and brokers. It would not be beyond them to make possession of all precious metals illegal too.
I’m sorry about your losses Mr Atoz and Dave.
This getting old stuff isn’t all it was cracked up to be when I was in grade school.
–
(I’m trying to cut down on the f-word this week, good luck to me).
With any luck, Santa has ADD and the fat bastard won’t remember a fucking thing. 🙂
And with this, I have almost fulfilled my micro-aggression quota for the year. Almost…
“It would not be beyond them to make possession of all precious metals illegal too.”
No chit. We have historical precedent for that in this country, thanks to Pharaoh Roosevelt II. (Executive Order 6102). Gee, makes ya wonder why the popularity of our National Administrators using “executive orders” to bypass Congress and SCOTUS.
“…the gooberment will “take” all your savings in whatever form in banks and brokers.”
And historical precedent for that right HERE, when they seized our bank accounts TWICE, both times their mistake and no apology, nothing, and we lost hundreds in OD check fees for bills we were paying. Showed that they can access our financial chit anytime they choose and do whatever with it.
“… to stuff my “mattress” and buy silver smalls to make “paper weights”.”
If they send goons to go house-to-house searches, they’ll find all that stuff. Been done in other countries and Union soldiers did it here when they invaded the South. And those bastards stripped homes utterly bare, too, and put families in the street.
“And with this, I have almost fulfilled my micro-aggression quota for the year. Almost…”
Better get cracking, homes; there is stiff competition on this board and it’s not even winter yet, lol.
One has to consider that Social inSecurity is going away
Sorry but I doubt that. I just figure that SS will buy less and less until your monthly payment won’t even cover a loaf of bread (see Venezuela).
the gooberment will “take” all your savings in whatever form in banks and brokers.
Yes, I figure that IRAs, 401Ks, and pension plans will be reinvested in government tbills some day. During a bank holiday of course.
The wife watched “Its a Wonderful Life” last week. I had forgotten about the week long bank holiday with all of the deposits guaranteed by Mr. Potter. Truly an evil person. Lionel Barrymore played Mr. Potter to the hilt.
Xmas movies; I’m betting that the wife here will wanna watch “A Christmas Story” again and tell me again about how the late Jean Shepherd visited when she was at Brown or something. I won’t mind if we miss it. And there are NFL games scheduled ALL WEEK including Xmas Eve and Xmas Day!
But we mainly listen to classical Xmas music on the Moh-ree-all French station anyway and I have a ton of Xmas cds. Plus my Lovecraftian and Bob Rivers parody Xmas songs. Lovecraftian titles like “Death to the World,” and “I’m Dreaming of a Dead City,” and “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Fishmen.” Bob Rivers: “The Restroom Door Said “Gentlemen.” etc.
We knew it was coming this season:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4049442/Terror-attack-fears-lorry-ploughs-Christmas-market-Berlin-leaving-two-people-dead.html
And there are nine dead so far.
Achtung, Frau Commissar Merkel: Their blood is on your hands, you fugly commie bitch.
Like has been said here a thousand times now; avoid cities, crowds and “events.” If at all possible.
If it all goes to a very warm place ala Great Depression, while I see the point of having a stock of gold, silver, etc., plus LOTS of ammo, I see more benefit in having a year or more of food, soap, and toilet paper.
Can’t eat shiny metals or ammo. Trading for stuff with ammo seems really stupid to me. Sure…. get some of “whatever” while giving the folks you are trading with ammo so they can take it all right back.
Food is … well, you know. While you can wash with just water, soap is very nice. T-paper? That or stock up on phone books… Sears Roebuck doesn’t print a catalog anymore.
Deodorant? After shave smells nice. Alcohol is the key to kill the pit cooties.
How was all this done in the old days?
The day to day stuff matters.
Go gray. Grey. Graey. Blend in.
“The day to day stuff matters. Go gray. Grey. Graey. Blend in.”
Agreed. 200%. And WRT to silver and gold coins, if the SHTF bad enuff, most Murkan derps won’t know jack-chit about ’em and won’t recognize them as valuable currency like us smartypants preppers do. Cash will probably be good for a few weeks and then it’s back to some kind of barter system and current-issue coinage for the mobs.
Day to day is right: what do we and our families do all day and use every day on a regular basis? Food, water, toiletries. And hold onto yer ammo. Get lots more, in fact. If you’ve watched “The Walking Dead” you’ll notice that having lotsa spare ammo ON you and EDC is extremely important. That’s an extreme SHTF, of course, but still. Your regular tool on yer hip and at least one spare mag or speedloader or strip. Whatever floats yer boat. And of course in that show they talk about being “low on ammo” but never seem to totally run out of it.
I like my shower in the AM and being spiffy clean most of the time. And I like my three hots and a cot. Got a chit-load of books to read that I haven’t got to yet, and I intend to have chit-loads of batteries for radios and FLASHLIGHTS. And enough wotta to drink, wash, clean, and flush the TOILET. But right now I gotta work on the food storage and also figure out what to do about continued PRODUCTION of food.
Well, after all that nonsense, only two Trump electors voted for Kasich and Ron Paul. And both of the idiots are in Texas. Has the fire been lit underneath the tar pot yet ?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4048394/The-Latest-Electoral-College-meets-formally-elect-Trump.html
Hillary lost four of her electors. And several state electoral conventions replaced faithless electors.
A plug for a Christmas movie: Angels Sing
It stars Harry Connick Jr., Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, and about half the Austin music community. My niece is visible in a few frames in a crowd near the end. My brother was set decorator. Probably available streaming or on cable.
The flaw in my tone is usually an excess of sarcasm, or so others say. I say that whiny little bitches should shut up when adults are speaking.
-shrug- By the time I was awake, she’d be dying on the floor. I’ve been getting worse.
the gooberment will “take” all your savings in whatever form in banks and brokers
However the funds of our glorious leaders would be immune and would not be touched. Congress would pass an exemption for themselves, such exemption buried on page 4,284 of said congressional bill.
they seized our bank accounts TWICE, both times their mistake and no apology
Apology for what? They did not make a mistake, just a computer glitch. Don’t you know that IRS people never make a mistake, the computers messed up. Such computers able to do the same thing 100 billion times correctly but just happen to mess up on your information.
“Has the fire been lit underneath the tar pot yet ?”
And no black swan events. Yet. Still got tonight. I bet the crybabies will be sobbing into their hankies again and snowflakes will be melting. And I see that my closest red state is Pennsylvania. Wow, the whole dam Northeast went for that cow. Be assured, however, that it was electors, and there are LOTS of Normals up here, surrounded by idiots.
“A plug for a Christmas movie: Angels Sing”
It’s on the Toob for a few bucks; I’ll check it out. Thanks.
“The flaw in my tone is usually an excess of sarcasm…”
Bitchy fem English profs didn’t care for my “tone,” either, back in the day. Oh well.
“I’ve been getting worse.”
Ditto. Or maybe we’re getting BETTER! Think of it that way!
“… the funds of our glorious leaders would be immune and would not be touched. Congress would pass an exemption for themselves…”
There it is.
“… do the same thing 100 billion times correctly but just happen to mess up on your information.”
They didn’t even offer that as an excuse; we had zero word from them at all after those messes. And no one to reach, no one accountable, only voice-mail and numbered menus that leave you on hold forever with shitty muzak. Or nothing at all. And a few years ago we had one of their CLERKS come to our house and threaten us with seizure of property and prison time. The frosting on the cake was when I called the bank and said those OD charges and bounced checks were an IRS mistake they basically said “tough shit.”
Be advised these people don’t NEED to come out with armored cars and jets and tanks; they can ruin our lives very nicely with a few clicks of mouse buttons and some keyboard jockeying. Fired from your job, house foreclosed on, cars repo-ed, and all financial/bank accounts seized and simply taken. What then, homes? You’re out on the street with nothing. Go live with mom and dad again or siblings or kids? They’ll turn the screws on them, too. Put you ALL out on the street. Or something as simple as making sure critical meds don’t get prescribed for you or a loved one.
Some faceless bureaucrat or clerk in some crappy-looking East German-style gummint building somewhere. Cancels your dialysis or chemo. Turns off your electricity. Stops your mail and net access, etc, etc.
But no worries; the new National Administrator won’t let any of this kinda thing happen here.
“Moral is low and took even more of a dip recently when an essentially unqualified person was hired to be their “boss/manager” (not an experienced RN but an MBA).”
Next time one of the management types needs treatment at 0300 the MBA can take care of them.
“It stars Harry Connick Jr., Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, and about half the Austin music community. ……
I lay my left forefinger against the left side of my nose when I sing “City of New Orleans” like Willie.
OFD, is Chuck Manson your long lost twin?
And just remember, when a musloid male butchers his own family’s girls and women, he’s non compos mentis, and thus we shouldn’t “rush to judgement.”
http://freedomoutpost.com/canadian-muslim-engages-in-double-honor-killing-stabs-2-sisters-to-death/
Let’s invite more of these beautiful people to our country.
“OFD, is Chuck Manson your long lost twin?”
My hair is longer and NOT gray but the facial stuff is roughly the same, only mine is white now. Also, I don’t have a swastika carved between my eyes like that piece of shit from Hell. I also happen to think that it was mostly a couple of the women and “Tex” Watson who were primarily responsible for those murders. They should have been executed and Manson should have got, I dunno, twenty years to life or something. He didn’t wield any knives or guns that night.
Ha, I’m old enough to remember Tom Snyder doing an interview with him decades ago on his tee-vee show. He’s certainly a creepy SOB but chances are he would have got shivved in prison or otherwise killed soon enough on the outside.
“Next time one of the management types needs treatment at 0300 the MBA can take care of them.”
I get tired of all this MBA abuse, seeing as how I’m an MBA.
You’re a Main Belt Asteroid? Cool.
Bill Clinton was an elector in NY and dutifully voted for the Hildebeast. I’m surprised he didn’t vote for Monica… 🙂
[snip] the next time I saw it with the insurance adjuster, it was “totaled.” [snip]
Rolling a car = totaled, 99.999% of the time. Damaging the roof weakens the entire structure (also why ragtops are so bad in a crash) and no rational person / insurance company wants you riding around in a potentially flawed vehicle. I once totaled a car via roof damage without rolling it; just the auger from a well drilling rig through the roof. 🙁
Well, I dunno ’bout that. I was already pretty dang awesome. I’m not sure there’s much room for improvement there.
Well, I dunno ’bout that. I was already pretty dang awesome. I’m not sure there’s much room for improvement there.
Uh, maybe get the claws trimmed and prettied up with a slap of polish ?
Go for the glittery rainbow polish. So’s you can be all spechel and all.
And, yeah, I’m running. 🙂
“…seeing as how I’m an MBA.”
Yeah, but you didn’t, so fah as we know, go into a hitherto successful company wearing a dark blue suit with a red power tie and carrying a nifty and expensive briefcase and start telling the engineers what to do and how high to jump. Like they did at DEC and EDS. Thus drop-kicking both companies into Oblivion.
“Bill Clinton was an elector in NY and dutifully voted for the Hildebeast. I’m surprised he didn’t vote for Monica…”
Sure, they’re all in the same club and we’re NOT. And hell, I’d vote for Monica over Cankles any day. If that was the choice.
“Rolling a car = totaled, 99.999% of the time. Damaging the roof weakens the entire structure…”
Huh. I did not know that. Wow. Thanks. I will so advise the wife because we never understood why they totaled it and the buggers never explained it.
“I’m not sure there’s much room for improvement there.”
Hmmmm. I basically think I’m a loser piece of chit. And you think you’re awesome. I may have to come around to your way of thinking. Why beat myself up, amirite? I AM awesome.
“…glittery rainbow polish…”
Dang. Didn’t know suchlike existed. Hells bells, that’s TWO new things I’ve learned today. Thanks, guys!
I’m now watching a game between the Carolina cross-country team and the Washington polo team; ostensibly the former should beat the latter like a red-headed stepchild, but we shall see.
Give all the sports players a machete or a small revolver or a jug of strong acid.
Make it count for something!
RBT wrote:
“I get tired of all this MBA abuse, seeing as how I’m an MBA.”
Carly Fiorina is a MBA (and a MSc as well.) 🙂
Xmas movies; I’m betting that the wife here will wanna watch “A Christmas Story” again and tell me again about how the late Jean Shepherd visited when she was at Brown or something. I won’t mind if we miss it. And there are NFL games scheduled ALL WEEK including Xmas Eve and Xmas Day!
You can always talk about how Bob Clark, director of “A Christmas Story” was killed by a drunk illegal -er- undocumented alien.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-04-04-robert-clark-obit_N.htm
I’m now watching a game between the Carolina cross-country team and the Washington polo team; ostensibly the former should beat the latter like a red-headed stepchild, but we shall see.
That has to be interesting Monday Night Football coverage — Chucky’s little brother is the coach of the Washington polo team.
“Carly Fiorina is a MBA (and a MSc as well.)”
Case closed. I used to see the hot-shot womyn rolling in, too, with their sleek biz suits and briefcases, mean as banded kraits, and they didn’t help the businesess, either. But hey, you know, Diversity and chit.
“Give all the sports players a machete or a small revolver or a jug of strong acid.
Make it count for something!”
The Carolina team didn’t need any of that; not when the Washington team only throws to the sidelines at approximately the line of scrimmage and receivers can’t catch anything anyway, plus shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly with stupid-ass penalties, like one guy PUNCHING another guy in the helmet with his bare fist. Is that friggin’ stupid or what? But he got ejected and they got a 15-yard ding. And that was with the Carolina QB all banged up and chit and he still rocked their asses; I finally gave up with a minute left and they kicked a definitive FG.
“You can always talk about how Bob Clark…”
Yeah, I could, but bringing up “undocumented aliens” here gets Someone Else annoyed, and double that if Princess is also here. They come here out of love, ya know, Jebster said so, and they’re really a bunch of good people struggling for better lives and meanies here beat them up and chit and say bad things. I’ll bring it up anyway, ’cause I’d forgotten about that.
“…Chucky’s little brother is the coach of the Washington polo team.”
Yeah, Chucky commentates with Sean McDonough for these gigs; his former partner Mike-something got bounced to another position; he’s had a history a few years back of sexual hijinks on-site or something. Chucky stays pretty neutral and just yaks about the game, the plays and the players. If little brother Jay comes up in conversation it’s just some amusing family anecdote or something.
Wife and Princess did not make it here tonight; traffic and icy roads in Moh-ree-all and wife was exhausted to the point she can’t think straight and has mostly been up for about 20 hours straight. They’ll be here “in the morning,” which really means mid-afternoon for them.
I plan to contribute most of my SS money to this worthy cause:
https://www.lewrockwell.com/political-theatre/save-snowflakes/
My condolences also to MrAtoz & Mr Dave.
My mother is 97 and each time the phone rings at an odd hour, I think “this is it”..
But at the rate she is going, she might outlive our entire family.. lol.
Happy Birthday to Cowboy Slim..
(Wondering if he has switched to his winter hat. Which announced the official change of season.. ) 🙂
33C (91F) in the land of sand @ 2 pm.. Forecast of 41C (106F) for tomorrow.. 🙁
Possible furrin tripwires that could derail stuff between now and 1/20:
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2016/12/18/tripwires-way-inauguration/
Stay tuned sportsfans; things could get exciting overseas.
They’ll be here “in the morning,” which really means mid-afternoon for them.
I can relate to that ! Slow and steady wins the race. Or something like that.
These issues with my friends are quite frequent nowadays. OTOH, I am very grateful and lucky as I’ll be 78 tomorrow.
Happy Birthday! I can say this without having to worry about paying a commission to Warner Music. You are about three months younger than my father.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/warner-music-pays-14-million-863120
And definitely an issue on the departed friends. I attended a service for an 82 year friend last week. We worked together for almost 30 years and we were the only software development staff for our business for almost a decade in the 1990s. He retired permanently in 2008 and I have missed him terribly. He was a nuclear submariner starting in 1956 as an ensign ? lieutenant ? and ended up on Admiral Rickover’s staff for several years. During that time he served on both the USS Nautilus and the USS Thresher. The Navy actually paid for his PhD in Chemical Engineering in the field of heat exchanger design at Johns Hopkins. We worked together from 1975 – 1981 and 1989 – 2008 at ChemShare and WinSim.
He turned up with lung cancer last March and passed away on Dec 7. He never smoked a day in his life but was inspecting the construction work on the new submarines at Newport News weekly in the early 1960s where the asbestos dust was very thick in the air inside the submarines. He thought that he got the lung cancer from the asbestos even though it was 50 years later.
http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Gary-Fisher&lc=3070&pid=183014639&mid=7197393
OFD, are you getting back the guns and stuff Princess purloined?
“Achtung, Frau Commissar Merkel: Their blood is on your hands, you fugly commie bitch. ”
I disagree mostly. Merkel accepted the *syrian* refugees to come there. But then, it proved to be difficult to filter the others out. Germany recently announced they will return back around 100.000 immigrants.
No terrorist attack was done by a syrian refugee. The Berlin attack was from a Pakistani immigrant. In France and Belgium the attackers were radicalized borned citizens, mostly.
And most other migration troubles in Europe have been due to ‘economic immigrants’ from North Africa (marrocans, algerians) or Afghanistan. Including the New Year’s Eve sexual assaults in Germany.
So, as far as I see, accepting the syrian refugees (war refugees) by Germany was a proper thing to do. Germany already had assimilated in the past a huge number of immigrants from the Syria’s neighbor: the Turkey. So they have the experience (and the need, too).
Things in Syria are atrocious. more than 300.000 deads. Millions of refugees in the neighbor countries: Jordan(1.3 mil), Lebanon(1.5 mil), Turkey (2.7 mil) and now Germany( > 600.000). Russia is military supporting the criminal regime of Assad, and both are killing everybody there who objects them. US seems just impotent and even more, US seeks to befriend Russia?? Where is ‘the stand up for what you believe’ attitude??
So I think the Germany did the right thing. Frau Merkel has saved hundred of thousands of people and German people supported her. That’s the truth.
Rolling a car = totaled, 99.999% of the time
Does not take much to total a car with today’s vehicles. Air bag deployment can be $10K or more to fix. A broken driver’s seat back in my 2005 Avalon was $6K to replace the seat. Unibody damage is difficult, and expensive to fix properly and even then may compromise future crash safety zones. Fender panels and door panels damage is not too bad but once an impact gets much deeper than that repair is often not worth it.
I once totaled a car via roof damage without rolling it; just the auger from a well drilling rig through the roof.
Makes me think of the Tim the Toolman episode where he dropped a beam on Jill’s Nomad. There has got to be a story with your event.
each time the phone rings at an odd hour, I think “this is it”..
I was sleeping one night in 1985 and suddenly woke up and the first thought that entered my mind was my grandfather had just died. Thought it was odd and went back to sleep. Fifteen minutes later the phone rang and it was my mother telling me my grandfather had just died about 15 minutes ago.
I have no explanation. Perhaps after I went back to sleep after my mother’s phone call my brain put stuff together and I may have dreamed that I woke up before the phone call. Still makes me a little uneasy today.
Yeah, wore a black felt “Cody James” model yesterday.
US seems just impotent and even more, US seeks to befriend Russia?? Where is ‘the stand up for what you believe’ attitude??
I don’t think we intend to “befriend” Russia, but ease tensions somewhat. When a bully has nuclear weapons, you must tread carefully. Russia is using foreign military adventures to draw attention away from their severe economic problems.
As to the Syrian refugees, the countries in the area (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, others) have the money and the space to take them in until they can go home. The pictures we have seen here in the US show that most are men of military age. If they hate their government so much, they could have stayed and fought.
The current administration has behaved irresponsibly in Libya, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq over the objections of many.
Possible furrin tripwires that could derail stuff between now and 1/20:
I read the link. Lots of unsubstantiated paranoia. One major point that the author got wrong. The UAV “drone” has nothing to do with the CIA. It’s a Navy program all the way. They collect oceanographic data. See https://strategypage.com/htmw/htsurf/articles/20161218.aspx for details.
Things in Syria are atrocious. more than 300.000 deads. Millions of refugees in the neighbor countries: Jordan(1.3 mil), Lebanon(1.5 mil), Turkey (2.7 mil) and now Germany( > 600.000). Russia is military supporting the criminal regime of Assad, and both are killing everybody there who objects them. US seems just impotent and even more, US seeks to befriend Russia?? Where is ‘the stand up for what you believe’ attitude??
Yes, things are atrocious in the middle east. But this is not our land, not our people. The USA has spent incredible amounts of blood and treasure trying to fix the problems in the middle east without long term results. We cannot afford to spend more. My son served in Iraq for almost two years and feels that it cannot be fixed. He lost friends to bombs and traitors. He came back from the first tour of duty with a concussion. His mother and I feel that we have given enough.
As far as refugees go, the people are not very sophisticated. We bring them over here and expect them to follow our customs and laws. We now have many refugees in our jails that have committed atrocities here, up to and including honor killings. There were five people accused of honor killings in the Houston jail two years ago. We will not tolerate that kind of behavior in the USA.
One must also realize that Russia and the USA have many business arrangements. The USA no longer has a manned space program, that has been outsourced to the Russians. No one else in the world has as robust a program as theirs so we have no alternatives. That forces quite a few decisions to be moderated or even ignored.
The current administration has behaved irresponsibly in Libya, Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq over the objections of many.
Yes. And several others such as Yemen which also has an incredibly bloody civil going on between the muslims and the Christians. Many atrocities are being committed.
“The pictures we have seen here in the US show that most are men of military age. If they hate their government so much, they could have stayed and fought.”
Isn’t how the Syrian Civil War started? How 300.000 died? They stayed and fought, until they realized you can not stop an organized army with rocks. An army that has tanks and planes. And later, Russians planes and missiles fired from Caspic Sea!
“But this is not our land, not our people.”
…
“One must also realize that Russia and the USA have many business arrangements.”
Ok, I got it: it’s a win-win situations for both Russia and USA.
“The USA has spent incredible amounts of blood and treasure…”
Was NOT alone in that…
The day ISIL or Chicom or Russian paratroopers drop from the skies over northern Vermont is the day I’ll be rushing out the door all tooled up and ready to rock and roll.
Otherwise we need to get out of all those hell-holes, close nearly all our bases and installations overseas and bring most of our troops home to protect THIS country and ITS people. Period.
“…to protect THIS country and ITS people. Period.”
And how would you protect your children when the rest of the world will become EVIL and fully armed?
“…to protect THIS country and ITS people. Period.”
And how would you protect your children when the rest of the world will become EVIL and fully armed?
The USA has east and west moats, some people call them the Atlantic and the Pacific. Those keep most of the invaders out. The northern side is Canada, who is considering closing their borders to immigration also. The southern side is Mexico who is direly concerned about the amount of Hondurans passing through their country.
And how would you protect your children when the rest of the world will become EVIL and fully armed?
Let them be evil and armed in their own countries. If they attempt to come here, they will be obliterated. We have the means to blow up the solar system here and the technologies and weapons systems to protect the whole continent, and we’re the third largest country in the world, by far the wealthiest and most powerful, and we can certainly protect the homeland.
But we’d be smart to forge a strong alliance with the other northern countries, from South Korea and Japan across to Scandinavia and Russia.
The USA has spent Five Trillion Dollars on foreign entanglements in the last twenty years. The continuing amount is somewhere around a quarter to a half a trillion dollars per year. Someone else needs to pay for this police service to the world other than USA taxpayers. We are tapped out.
“The USA has spent incredible amounts of blood and treasure…”
Was NOT alone in that…
No. But the USA was 90% of it.
Team America: World Police!
not
“Someone else needs to pay for this police service to the world other than USA taxpayers. We are tapped out.”
“But the USA was 90% of it.”
Let’s take an example: Gulf War: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War
FTA: ” ..in its combat phase, was a war waged by coalition forces from 34 nations led by the United States..”
FTA: “The great majority of the coalition’s military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and Egypt as leading contributors, in that order. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost.”
FTA: “Japan and Germany made financial contributions totaling $10 billion and $6.6 billion respectively. US troops represented 73% of the coalition’s 956,600 troops in Iraq.”
ADDED: FTA at Costs: “The cost of the war to the United States was calculated by the US Congress to be $61.1 billion.[210] About $52 billion of that amount was paid by other countries:…”
ADDED: FTA at Costs: “The cost of the war to the United States was calculated by the US Congress to be $61.1 billion.[210] About $52 billion of that amount was paid by other countries:…”
That is just one war that happened 25 years ago. The USA provides two aircraft carrier fleets to keep the Persian Gulf open. One aircraft carrier fleet to keep the Taiwan Straits (South China Sea) open. One aircraft carrier fleet in the Sea of Japan. Etc, etc, etc.
Each aircraft carrier fleet (30 to 35 ships) costs 3 to 5 billion dollars per year in operations and maintenance. Plus a capital cost of $20+ billion. Maybe $30+ billion if you include the nuclear attack submarines.
These costs add up quickly. Then add the five large wars that the USA is currently involved in (Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, North / South Korea, Syria). Then add the thirty small wars that the USA is involved in (Estonia, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, Yemen, etc, etc, etc). All of this is around half of a trillion dollars per year. These are real dollars being borrowed from the future using the USA’s goodwill. That goodwill will not last forever and is becoming strained.
[snip] I will so advise the wife because we never understood why they totaled it and the buggers never explained it. [snip]
A lapse on the part of the insurance adjuster. Mine took one look and declared it a total; his only question what “What the hell did you do?”
I’ll tell the tale: PCB_Duffer and a friend / employee were in a 1984 Dodge Caravan, Duffer at the wheel, doing the speed limit on a lonely, two lane state highway, ~ 30 minutes after sunset. At a point where another state highway intersects, (but *not* a proper crossroad, about 50 yards offset between the north & south legs) suddenly there was a large grey shape in the windshield. I applied the brakes as rapidly & forcefully as I could, and swerved into the oncoming lane – there were no headlights coming towards me, and keeping it on pavement is always the better option.
Long before I could get stopped, CRUNCH/BANG/WHAM/SMASH/”What the hell was that!!!???” and then I got it under control, pulled off the side of the road, and stopped. Jim & I looked back and could see a parked truck in the road, along with another car that had been behind us that had done a beautiful power slide onto the southbound section of the crossing highway. Then a couple of guys approached and said “You didn’t see our lights.”
A well drilling rig on a heavy, dual axle trailer, being pulled by a large size truck (larger than a pickup, smaller than a semi, I don’t know the proper classification) had suffered a flat tire on the trailer as they transited the offset intersection. Rather than pull off the side of the road, where changing the tire would have been a terrible chore, they simply parked the rig in the road. Mind you, it’s a well drilling rig, covered in mud. (Mud is not noted for its photoluminescent qualities.) The disabled vehicle had no functioning taillights; neither did they have flares, reflective triangles (both supposedly mandatory for commercial vehicles) or even a guy behind the trailer waving people down with a flashlight.
The auger for the well drilling was stored horizontally, at almost the exact height of the roof of a Caravan, and ripped a large hole in the roof directly over the passenger seat. The right side mirror tore off and came through the passenger door window, resulting in a shower of safety glass in the passenger compartment. The front right tire, with less than 1,000 miles on it, was shredded, and there was a large scrape down the entire length of the van.
Although we were both shaken, there were no injuries. I got a noticeable case of the shakes when I realized that had I swerved onto the shoulder of the road, I would have run down and killed all four members of the well drilling crew. The FHP trooper who worked the wreck issued no citations, advising us to let the respective insurance companies deal with things, as all paperwork on both sides was valid. (He was kind enough to have his dispatcher send a tow truck to our location.) I called my insurance agent the next day, signed some paperwork a couple of days after that, and within a week got a check from my insurer.
Glad you and your companion made it out and no one was hurt or killed. That’s a close call for you and several other people and I know I got the shakes once long ago after being sideswiped by a carload of drunks at around 02:00 on a mostly deserted boulevard intersection on the outskirts of Boston. Their car was smashed up on one side and my gf’s car just got a scrape/scratch for a few feet down the side. The other guy said, fuck it, no one hurt, let’s get outta here before the cops get here. We agreed with that as we had pot in her car and I pulled off into a side street and my legs were shaking when I got out of the car. Mind you, the year before I’d been in Cambodia getting my position assaulted by Khmer Rouge elements, and yet here I was, a quivering mass of jelly for a minute or two. The gf didn’t seem fazed at all.
(the gf dumped me later on in our relationship and to my knowledge, seeing as how she’s still living in the same house that she recently put up for sale down there in MA, never married and had a family.)
“These are real dollars being borrowed from the future using the USA’s goodwill. That goodwill will not last forever and is becoming strained.”
And who is the main beneficiary of that ‘goodwill’ you mention? Let me give you a hint: US of A.