09:42 – It was 46.5F (8C) when I took Colin out at 0530. I’d been awake since 0300, lying in bed thinking, and I finally decided just to get up.
Barbara left around 1400 yesterday. They’re making the drive in two days. They stopped for the night somewhere in Central Pennsylvania, and are heading for the Finger Lakes area as I write this. I pointed out that she was getting wimpier as she got older. Back in 2000, we drove from Winston straight through to Vermont, stopping only for food, gasoline, and bathroom breaks. That took only 19 hours.
After about the third motel with a No Vacancy sign, we stopped anyway and asked if they could suggest another local motel that had a free room. The guy told us that Vermont was full. We thought he was kidding, but he was serious. Every room in Vermont was booked.
He did have one suggestion, although he said we probably wouldn’t like it. There was one motel about 15 miles up the road that had one room available. We gave them our credit card number over the phone and drove up there. When we got to the office to check in, we found that they did have nightly rates but they also had hourly rates. I am not making this up. The bed was a gigantic vibrator and there was a full-size mirror over it, but we didn’t care. I think we were both asleep by the time our heads hit the pillows.
Email from Jen yesterday. She and David had started watching the Guildbrook Farm Youtube channel when I first mentioned it. She returned the favor by suggesting Appalachia’s Homestead with Patara.
Patara describes herself as an East Tennessee girl, and that’s where she and her husband founded their homestead. That’s not surprising. The parts of rural Appalachia that encompass western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southwestern Virginia probably have as high or higher a percentage of preppers and homesteaders as anywhere in the country, including the so-called National Redoubt.
Like most such channels on Youtube, Patara’s has a lot of videos posted. She’s extremely enthusiastic, and talks very fast, particularly for a Southern Girl. She treats problems as things to be driven over and squashed flat. She runs day-to-day operations on their homestead, homeschools their kids, and takes care of her husband, who developed some severe medical problems a year or so ago. And she never lets anything get her down.
Like many people who have big, popular Youtube channels, she’s working on jumping ship because she’s tired of Youtube micro-managing what she is and isn’t allowed to talk about. That, and demonetizing her videos, apparently arbitrarily. She’ll leave what’s already on Youtube there indefinitely, and is even adding new videos, but she intends to change her focus to her new Patreon Channel. She started that channel one month ago tomorrow, and already has 332 patrons at $2/month each.
The guy told us that Vermont was full. We thought he was kidding, but he was serious. Every room in Vermont was booked.
During foliage season, Vermont and New Hampshire are full, as is much of Maine. We did a trip up there in the 80s and had to book 3 months in advance, and pay 50% up front in some cases.
“During foliage season, Vermont and New Hampshire are full, as is much of Maine. ”
Think about what this means in the event of an evacuation of any nearby city…
like for a dirty bomb in a shipping container….
Think about what it means for those travelers away from home in the same scenario….
n
Capitalism pretty much guarantees there isn’t a lot of slack capacity in the system, whatever the system.
The major cities up here in Nova Anglia would see some very large problems if any of them had to be suddenly evacuated, Boston being a huge case in point. The highways leading out of any of them would be blocked up tight in no time, bumper to bumper, and stationary. Only other ways out would be rail lines, aircraft, and water (Boston, Providence, Portland). Peeps caught up here during the fall foliage season would find life increasingly interesting as the leaves all finally drop and cold weather sets in. How long can they pay for their hotel and B&B and motel vibrating beds?
Another gorgeous day on the bay, and my new meds arrived at the post office (three days to get from White River Junction to here) and at the local Rite-Aid (I called the VA medicos down in Burlap yesterday and begged them to call in my script to the Rite-Aid, as I’d been waiting nearly ten days for the actual VA meds to arrive from WRJ; this has all been documented and I’m gonna be bitching about it on the Veterans Advisory Committee down there and also about the lack of discussion concerning side effects, which wife is worried about).
We haven’t picked them up yet, as wife had to spend another couple of hours on the phone with GG again this morning concerning airline flights to Kalifornia, Floriduh, and back here for the three of them between T-Day and Xmas. Your humble northern correspondent is going nowhere; staying right here throughout, and hallelujah! I LOVE northern New England, and especially northwestern Vermont!
WRT the comments yesterday about this congresswoman and her black cowboy hat:
“Re: Frederica Wilson. The cowboy hat is her signature, and she is know for very little else. Going back at least as far as her days in the Florida Legislature, she has been widely regarded as a buffoon.”
…and….
““‘He can’t just go on TV and lie on me’: Congresswoman at center of fallen soldier row accuses John Kelly of being RACIST and lying about her behavior at the opening of an FBI building in her district”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5000710/Wilson-hits-John-Kelly-barrels-charge.html
You know, I am the last person to criticize anyone else’s fashion choices but a black cowboy hat on a CNN interview, really ?”
OK, I, too, have a black cowboy hat. While not going on CNN, I will be going here tomorrow
https://www.facebook.com/MothersTavern/
to see this Honky Tonk C&W band
http://www.dallasmoore.com/
Is it OK to wear my black cowboy hat there, or should I wear this one (scroll down a bit)?
http://www.ttgnet.com/journal/2016/11/19/saturday-19-november-2016/
TIA
WRT Frederica Wilson: It’s “racism”, all the way down.
It’s ALWAYS easier to blame someone else for your troubles.
12% of the population.
150 years of freedom
young males are ~4% of population but commit ~40% of violent crimes
43% live below poverty rate- despite DECADES of aid programs
70% out of wedlock births
culture that is toxic to learning and advancement
“At 41.6 percent, blacks were more likely to participate in government assistance programs in an average month.
o The black participation rate was followed by Hispanics at 36.4 percent, Asians or Pacific Islanders at 17.8 percent, and non-Hispanic whites at 13.2 percent.”
nick
and here’s a shocking set of numbers
* Number of Americans receiving welfare assistance: 110,489,000
* Number of Americans receiving food stamps: 41,700,000
* Number of Americans on unemployment insurance: 10,200,000
* Percentage of the US population on welfare: 35.4 percent
* Total government spending on welfare annually: $131.9 billion
Total US population is ~330,000,000
ADDED- so tell me again about the ‘recovery’…
Bah. “Numbers”. Don’t you know that numbers are a white, male invention to make white men look good and everyone else look bad? They’re racist from beginning to end.
(Also, whites stole numbers from the Sun People.)
The truth is that half of your troubles are things you can do nothing about. The other half of your troubles are things you can do something about. Are you going to whine about the things you can’t change or do something about the things you can change?
Even if you have things that are outside your control happen to you, you still control your REACTION to the event or circumstance.
n
ADDED- well, in the West and other areas with a cultural understanding of Free Will anyway. I suppose a musselman would argue that it is all god’s will, and you should just relax and pray thanks, as that is the only koran approved response.
“My problems caused by other people” and “things I can do something about” intersect in a lot of death. I’m OK with that, but a lot of others object.
… Which makes them problems I can do something about.
… Which, in short order, gets us right back to my declared intention to become an extinction event.
Slim, no one will be looking at your hat. It’s a good set of Cowboy boots that counts… 🙂
But if Slim wears nothing but a cowboy hat, they’ll look at that. Then again, maybe not.
We all know by now what the stats are for certain segments of our population but there is no “solution” anywhere in sight and the future consequences are likely to be dire in the extreme. Roughly 25-30 million black Murkans; maybe 40 million Hispanic Murkans. Then there are the Asian- and Indian-Murkans. So far less than a third of the pop are minorities, combined, here, yet the system and culture seem to be working a lot more for them than for those of us in the damn majority these days. Something is very wrong with that picture.
WRT cowboy hats and boots; if seen being worn by someone up here in northern Nova Anglia, they would be considered deuced odd indeed. Likewise me wearing my usual getup in southern Kalifornia. (or Boston, come to think of it; my last time down there I stood out like a very sore thumb but no one noticed: they were ALL engrossed in their pixels, in downtown traffic, no less….)
Finally got the med at nearly 5 PM today after waiting ten days for it. (and being a good do-bee and doing the PT stretching exercises, to no avail). 40mg per day of prednisone (you’d think it was gold dust the way everyone has hung onto it for the past ten days) for seven days, and then decreasing over four days. Wife suggested Medrol would be better, but beggars can’t be choosers this week.
From Reverend Gary North’s blog today:
“The Chinese economy is going to be stronger in 30 years than it is today. It is safe to say that the Communist Party of China will not be stronger in 30 years than it is today. It is far more likely that it will no longer exist. That was the lesson of the Soviet Union. That will be the lesson of China.”
This was in response to Dear Leader’s 3.5 hour harangue the other day talking shit and saying nothing.
Meanwhile FUSA will be an interesting mix: the Clinton Archipelago is likely to be smoking rubble, much of it underwater, and Flyover Country will be doing swell without the buggers.
Hey, I can dream.
Rep. Wilson has a myriad of cowboy style hats, in a plethora of colors and accents. None of them change her reputation as a buffoon.
the Clinton Archipelago is likely to be smoking rubble, much of it underwater, and Flyover Country will be doing swell without the buggers.
OK, I have forgotten the definition of the Clinton Archipelago ?
BTW, the seas are dropping:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-27/nasa-confirms-falling-sea-levels-two-years-amidst-media-blackout
OK, it is an infinitesimal amount.
“…the definition of the Clinton Archipelago ?”
https://www.qwant.com/?q=Clinton%20Archipelago&client=brave&o=0:9de36c3e0515da89741e5ef7a6cd19a4
“BTW, the seas are dropping:”
For NOW. I refer you to this blog’s resident climate change scientist, Dr. SteveF.
They shall RISE again! And sweep the CA away!
Hey, I can dream, can’t I???
That’s totally not my claim regarding Global Warming (which is REAL!!!! And we’re all gonna die!!!!). My claim is that Global Warming is REAL!!!! And we’re all gonna die!!!!
Well that’s what I mean; Global Warming will melt both poles to steam which will then fall back as rain which will make all the oceans rise and plunge the Clinton Archipelago in profundis.
I was contradicting Dr. Lynn’s fascist claim that the seas are dropping, and looked to a higher scientific authority for confirmation.
And we most assuredly all will die.
I’m not a scientist*. I am a gentleman** and a scholar***, a fine judge of whiskey**** and women*****.
* True. I’m an engineer, which is a different mindset.
** A lie.
*** At best a half-truth.
**** A lie.
***** An infamous lie.
I am unemployed bum, failed grad student, half-ass scholar of very ill-repute, and lousy judge of women and booze but a connoisseur and aficionado of lysergic acid dipthalymide. Or was. Until my brains got scrambled. Probably the brown acid. Guy at Woodstock said it was bad, but I didn’t listen. Wait–was I at Woodstock? No, that was at Altamont…I forget.
***** An infamous lie.
Yaaaas!
I am unemployed bum, failed grad student, half-ass scholar of very ill-repute, and lousy judge of women and booze but a connoisseur and aficionado of lysergic acid dipthalymide.
And a hero.
A hero? You mean I’m a sammich?
We call them “grindahz” up here.
And boy, I used to grind out that M60 ammo. That ain’t no hero; that’s just a machine operator.
Interesting. Just got a call from “Jerome” at the Medical Brace Company, who’s “heard” that I or someone in my household is suffering from back, shoulder, or neck pain. When pressed he said an “affiliate of theirs” said it was so. He seemed very skeptical when I denied it. Like maybe he was reading it directly from an accurate source. When I asked WHICH affiliate it was, as I hadn’t authorized anyone to share my medical information with anyone, and doing so would be a violation of HIPPPA, he promptly hung up.
So either they’re scammers, cold calling or working a ‘warm’ list, or they’re accessories to a felony, sharing medical information without authorization. Wonder which one?
number was 832-147-2749 which got nothing.
company name got them id’d as a Spammer on everycall.com
Sounded like a really good voice response system. natural inflection, subtle changes between almost verbatim responses, but something was just not right. Much better than the United Airlines AI….
nick
came up as a local number… online says “spoofed number” wth? how do you do that, and how is that legal?
“already has 332 patrons at $2/month each”
youtube could institute micropayments. I’d put $20 in an account, and pay 1c per video if it went to the content producer, original content only. I’d even pay 2c per video so youtube and the creator can split it. some of the guys I watch regularly get 12,000 views, some other vids I’ve watched get 100k views. One music vid (that I’d not want to pay for as the original artist isn’t getting the money) had 100 MILLION views. If they could work out an ASCAP deal for stuff like that, everyone would benefit, including the original artists, and in this case, the guy who repackaged it did SOMETHING right, as his is the canonical search result for this performance.
People that move to patreon generally stop producing the content that made them successful, and narrow their audience DRAMATICALLY.
A seamless micropayment system would go a long way toward supporting and encouraging original content.
nick
“…Just got a call from “Jerome” at the Medical Brace Company, who’s “heard” that I or someone in my household is suffering from back, shoulder, or neck pain…….. he promptly hung up.
That is strange, very strange. I got several calls on my cell this past week from a “Jerome,” leaving no voicemail and when I used Hiya to check it out, it did not register as probable spam. The number was a Worcester, MA exchange, and I checked with the brother who still lives near there and he had no clue, either. And it so happens I’ve been dealing with back pain and paralysis. So the last time I got the call, I answered and said hello and they hung up.
Agreed on Toob micropayments or simply moving to another online venue, which would be preferable, getting out from under Goolag. Start the stampede, for petesakes. I saw that Hitchcock and Son have something up about a channel change but I haven’t watched it yet. Paul Joseph Watson was gonna be gone, but he’s still there, courtesy, I guess, of InfoWars and Alex Jones. Jimmy Dore seems to be doing well; he’s funny, though a Sanders fanboy and prog, but it’s fun watching him shit on the Dems, DNC and Cankles every chance he gets.
“Slim, no one will be looking at your hat. It’s a good set of Cowboy boots that counts… ”
YUUUP, exactly! I always get great comments when I wear my Stingray boots made by Murga Boots:
http://www.murgaboots.com/products.html
Yes, I will wear my Stingrays tomorrow.
http://www.murgaboots.com/products/stingraylizardboots.html
I’ve heard the expression “All hat, no cattle.” but never “all boots, no cattle.”
n
If I lived out West I’d be proud to be guided fashion-wise by Mr. CowboySlim. Them are some nice-lookin’ boots, amigo. I served time in east Texas and I’ve been to Arizona (Luke AFB) but can’t live out in that heat. Wife has been all over the West, many times to TX, NM, AZ, CO, etc. Has at least one pair of good Western boots and loves the people out there. And her and her mom lived and worked out on a res in eastern Washington State when wife was a kid.
As it is, my own fashion is normally hiking boots, cargo pants w/multiple pockets, sturdy gun belt, plaid shirts (flannel in the cold months) and a non-threatening baseball cap (like sportsball teams, Lake Bomoseen, chit like that). Currently, though, I’m in a Philadelphia FD tee-shirt that wife got me (2XL) and the aforementioned cargo pants and cheapo gray sneakers from Wall-Mutt. Very hard getting back up the stairs tonight; left leg going numb now, too.
Hope the effin’ med works at least a little.
“Slim, no one will be looking at your hat. It’s a good set of Cowboy boots that counts… ”
YUUUP, exactly! I always get great comments when I wear my Stingray boots made by Murga Boots:
http://www.murgaboots.com/products.html
I wear my Justin Ropers six days a week (work and church). After five or six months, they are fairly worn out.
https://www.justinboots.com/footwear/men/styles/roper-boots/3162
Interesting. Just got a call from “Jerome” at the Medical Brace Company, who’s “heard” that I or someone in my household is suffering from back, shoulder, or neck pain.
Walking through Home Depot tonight, my phone buzzed, and when I looked at the notification list, the message read, “This Home Depot is popular with users of Google Maps. Please take a picture to help Maps users.”
Nothing to worry about with Google. Nothing at all.
_Dust (Silo Trilogy) (Volume 3)_ by Hugh Howey
https://www.amazon.com/Dust-Silo-Trilogy-Hugh-Howey/dp/0544838262/
Third book in a three book post-apocalyptic series. I read the trade paperback version. I think that the series is finished but if any more books come out, I will buy them.
Unlike the previous two books, this book is uplifting. And a bit predictable but not in a bad way. The story is what happened to the world that forces the remaining people to live in 50 underground silos of 144 stories each with 10,000 people. The people were born in the silo as they and their forebears have lived in it for almost 300 years. The air outside is toxic, killing almost immediately. Life is cheap in the silo and if you violate the draconian rules, you are sent outside to clean the camera lens. No one ever comes back from a cleaning. At least, no one used to come back.
The story is incredibly rich. There are details about all the variants of life in the silo. And the silos are different with the 1st silo being the command and control and the other 49 silos are for the peons. By the time this book starts, 300 years have passed and almost half of the silos are dead.
But, who poisoned the air of the planet ? What did they use to poinon the air ? And why did they poison the air ? You need to read the book to find out as it is a developing story with varying perspectives. And sad.
My rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (3,598 reviews)
Roger that, Lynn. I bought my daughter a pair of Ropers!
Actually, all my boots are lace-up packer boots like these:
http://drewsboots.com/product/whites-thoroughbred-dress-packers-style-795twb
Walking through Home Depot tonight, my phone buzzed, and when I looked at the notification list, the message read, “This Home Depot is popular with users of Google Maps. Please take a picture to help Maps users.”
Nothing to worry about with Google. Nothing at all.
Oh yeah, that is creepy.
Dump Goolag, the Toob, Twatter, SnapChat, Mozilla, FaceBerg, AMZ, M$, Oracle, etc, etc. They mean us no good and quite likely mean us ill.
But the two worst actors are Goolag and FaceBerg.
You know, I am the last person to criticize anyone else’s fashion choices but a black cowboy hat on a CNN interview, really?
One of the regular pieces of junk mail at our house is a specialty fashion catalog for African American women. Some of the suits and matching hats meant for church are out there. A black cowboy hat is a fairly conservative choice in comparison.
Maybe Foolishia Witless’s head is misshapen and that’s why she always wears cowboy hats and that’s also why she has a well-deserved reputation for stupidity. You should be more understanding of her deformity and infirmity.
Dump Goolag, the Toob, Twatter, SnapChat, Mozilla, FaceBerg, AMZ, M$, Oracle, etc, etc. They mean us no good and quite likely mean us ill.
But the two worst actors are Goolag and FaceBerg.
I was out all day at a high school band event so I took the phone with the longest battery life, the new-ish Moto E4, which also, unfortunately, has the standard Google cr*pware installed. No Facecrack, however.
My current cr*pware-free phone, a G4 Play with Lineage OS installed in place of Android, has GPS issues due to a chronic design flaw. At some point, I need to open it up and clean the contacts for the GPS antenna.
You know, I am the last person to criticize anyone else’s fashion choices but a black cowboy hat on a CNN interview, really?
One of the regular pieces of junk mail at our house is a specialty fashion catalog for African American women. Some of the suits and matching hats meant for church are out there. A black cowboy hat is a fairly conservative choice in comparison.
I did not realize that the Lady regularly wears cowboy hats. I thought that she was trying to appeal to the rednecks in her district. Plus it looked goofy on her.
We have an African American Lady at our church who wears full tribal garb including the weird wraparound head scarf thing. Doesn’t bother me.
So next time at mass, I hope no one is bothered when I wear full tribal Angle or Saxon warrior getup, or from more recent times, tool up as a Pilgrim fresh off the Mayflower.
From the Lost Wages Massacre Investigation Department:
http://www.alt-market.com/articles/3299-how-to-stop-all-future-mass-shootings
I like Mr. Smith’s proposal but the Feds will never go for it and we’ll end up with the increased police-state bullshit instead, which will work about as well as our adventures and capers in the Sandbox.
“UPDATE: YouTube deletes Maxine Waters promise to ‘go and take out Trump’”
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/maxine-waters-vows-will-go-take-trump/
“It’s been only four months since Rep. Steve Scalise was shot by a Bernie Sanders fan, but did one of his colleagues advocate violence against the president of the United States?”
You know, you or I would get a visit from the Secret Service if we said crap like this.
Hat tip to::
http://drudgereport.com/
No chit, Mr. Lynn. But her and her ilk get a free pass. Much worse threats and libel have been directed at tRump by people around the country, and they’ve gotten clean away with it repeatedly.
And probably half the SS detail down there are Obummer fanboyz and fangrrls anyway. Would they take a 7.62×39 round for him?
The Houston Astros are going to the World Series !
Excellent, Smithers!
I know it’s stupid but I’ve always disliked the NY Yankees, being a Red Sox and minor-league Red Sox fan since I was a kid growing up outside Boston.
Frederica Wilson: “Empty barrel is racissssst”
Nowadays, being called “racist” by a progressive is like being called a “poopy-head” by a four-year-old. (Apologies to any four-year-olds who may be reading this blog.)
Progsanity
… I see that some whacky Congresswoman from Florida, who dresses up like Howdy-Doody for some reason, has gotten all patriotic and is blasting President Trump for being insensitive in his call to the widow of a slain SF soldier, one who died on an operation in Niger. …
Frederica is certainly doing an excellent job of getting her brand out there.
Slim, are you telling me you have no real cowboy boots. Like these…
https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2017/10/17/more-boot-weather/
or these?
http://aussiebushhats.com.au/boots-made-to-order/rm-williams-bushman-riding-b500cgws/
Slim, are you telling me you have no real cowboy boots. Like these … or these?
http://aussiebushhats.com.au/boots-made-to-order/rm-williams-bushman-riding-b500cgws/
Australian ranch boots are awesome, with as much thought and experience going into the designs as … (I’ll say this quietly) … real Texas work boots.
I have a pair of Blundstones similar to the Williams, dating back before the company sent the manufacturing to China, almost 20 years. Standard heel, however.
The Blunnies were my daily commuting footwear in Seattle until, one morning, walking up from the train, I stepped in something on the street which made the soles begin to dissolve over the course of the day. A specialty shoe repair in Oregon did a resole, but, sadly, the boots have never been the same.
WRT the Aussie boots shown above: Nope, mine are all lace-up type called “packers”. Primarily worn by those working the pack trains across the mountain ranges in the NW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDPiVlO5BFs
came up as a local number… online says “spoofed number” wth? how do you do that, and how is that legal?
Caller ID is not secure. It’s perfectly legal for the caller to send a Caller ID tone set that overrides the one from the TelCo if the are not doing it to deceive you. There are legitimate uses – a company calls and substitutes their 800 number for customer contact instead of the one they are using outbound. A physician’s group has a service call patients to confirm appointments and puts the number of the clinic in the caller ID. A PBX can put the central number on all outgoing calls rather than the individual line being used.
It is a civil offense to block or spoof the number for deceptive reasons. But if you are a scammer from overseas or from a boiler room, who cares about that?
Just one more example of the continuing decline of civil society.
N