Obligatory, 2.11.17

A few items here to mention:

• New project is to construct shading for the trailer.  It gets too hot in here.  It will feature the same construction techniques that I used for my shack on the ranch.  There will be 24 feet of cattle panels, plus the framing to support it, and some plywood to enclose it.  Details still need to be ironed out.  But I marked off the spot where I will lay it out on the ground.  When the details are complete, construction may begin.
• However, there may not be much time.  I have a rendezvous with Dallas coming up, and that could come any time now.  I suspect that I will hear something next week.
• Another thing that may slow down the project is the tax season.
• Other things include paperwork for my disability claim.
• Also ordered some pieces for my passive solar.  But the winter season may be almost over around here.

Looks like I have to prioritize my to do list.  Got too much to do and too little time.

Trump will have problems

As for all the political stuff, I think it is just bravo sierra.  However, these bozos are fully capable of destroying Trump, so he will have to navigate some troubled waters.  In other words, the inclination to take this stuff seriously doesn't exist, but has to be overridden by prudence.  His trick is in avoiding the traps and snares that they are setting up for him.

Never thought it was going to be easy. 

Obligatory, 2.10.17

No posts yesterday.  A number of reasons.  Short on data, no access to internet on this computer due to tech detail, and my usual physical problems head the list of reasons.

Still thinking about doing the move out west.  Perhaps a future post on something I would call "extreme recycling".  The idea is to be able to reuse everything in order to keep the need for procuring stuff from the outside world.  It is a radical idea.

A number of projects can be spun off from this concept.  Therefore, plenty to write about!

Rendering unto Caesar

A turn of phrase that reflects my understanding of a conversation I just had with my eldest brother, who I refer to here as number one.

BTW, my policy on this blog is to not use actual names for privacy purposes.  I use my own name, but nobody else's, unless they are already well-known names that are "out there".  By disclosing names already known, it isn't invading their privacy, or so the thinking goes.

So number one says that it is hard to make a living as a mechanic these days because of the system.  The system has rigged it so that it is hard to make money doing it profitably.  You have to have a lot of tools, as he mentioned.  He said his tools costs more money than what I'd like to discuss here.  Just saying, in order to have these tools represent a large investment of money.  Without these tools, a mechanic cannot do his job.

However, the system favors other lines of work.  He mentioned that an electrician may do pretty well these days.

For want of a better expression, I call the system "Caesar".  Caesar runs the system, and you have to do what Caesar says, or you run afoul of the system.  If you run afoul of the system, then you will be punished by Caesar.  In the mechanic business, one way of running afoul of the law is to screw customers.  If you were to get caught at that, you would have a lawsuit or possibly even jail time.  An honest mechanic has a hard time with the way Caesar has it set up these days.  The system is rigged against the honest mechanic.

Actually, that is a shame.  I admire his work.  Evidently, he likes doing it.  Or else, why bother with it since it doesn't pay so much?

I try to relate that to what I am trying to do out on the ranch.  I want to live without the need for a lot of money.  Now anything having to do with money involves the system, which is otherwise known as Caesar here.  The question is this: will Caesar let me do what I want to do, or will Caesar, by his rules, make my project infeasible?

Another aspect of this occurred to me.  If my project became famous or popular, then Caesar would want to tax it.  But since there is no money exchanging hands, how does Caesar do this?  That's what I mean.  Caesar wants to rig things so that you must play his money changing game.  To get by without money is to go against Caesar.  Caesar may not be pleased.

The ranch lives on

As long as I live, my ideas for my ranch live on.  That raises the question, so what have I done to move the objective forward?

To recap, a key goal is to manage my water resources very, very carefully.  I want to keep my usage  down to less than five gallons per day.

It so happens that my latest bout with infirmity would throw a monkey wrench into this plan.  When you are sick, a lot of nasty stuff emanates from the body.  Won't be going into that detail, just let your imagination run a little bit.

Anyway, a lot of thought has to be given towards cleanliness.  It just won't do to live in a pigsty.  So, while I am recuperating, or trying to, I am thinking of ways to manage this aspect of my water situation.  Just this very morning, I think I was able to take a shower, and get myself clean, while not fouling up the place at all.  I did this without using a whole lot of water.  Indeed, I may have used less than my goal of say, three gallons per day.  Inasmuch as I am not measuring every drop I use, it is guesswork as to the actual total water used.  But it wasn't too much, I am sure.

So, I am pleased to have that to report.

Carry on,

I'm alright

The trouble with gophers around here is that they are just too uptight.

Six months to live

An old Henny Youngman joke.  It goes like this:  The doctor gave me six months to live.  He said that if I cannot pay the bill, that he will give me six more.  [ yuk, yuk]

So, I went to the doctor today.  He said on the average that a chordoma patient may expect on the average to live seven years.  Okay, if I have a bill that cannot be paid, can I get seven more?

Hmm.  Not so funny.

An idea for the ranch?

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[Note: This post will go into the food subseries of the off-the-grid main series of posts.]


Stingless bees can make the best honey, says this.  It doesn't even have to be the best honey.

Bound to be a catch, though.

Turnabout is fair play

The odd twists and turns that have been taken in the political reminds me of that saying.

For instance, the Democrats are embracing the old attitude that is a remnant of the Cold War.  This is what the GOP used to do to them.  I suppose they feel that it is their turn to do the bashing with regards the Russians.

Another example is what I heard on NPR this morn.  Me?  Listening to NPR?  The only thing they got around here.  Anyway, you'd think that they had become proponents of the Invisible Hand of Adam Smith.  We've got to screw the working man out of jobs because it is so much more efficient, don't you know.

Their idea of automation uber alles is reminiscent of this amateurish video




I would like to write more about this topic, but my computer has this insane tendency of trying to destroy my work.  They say computers are getting better, but I don't know about that.

Rise and shine, 2.6.17

It has been nearly a year to the day that there has been a post with a title like this.  Just saying that it is great to be alive and kicking for another day.  Ready to go make it a good one.

I had a rather sumptuous breakfast.  Probably not the best of ideas, but what the heck? Might as well enjoy what you can when you can.

I've got to set up several appointments today.  Going forward, I will be going out of town for the radiation treatment of the chordoma.  That is going to require some fancy footwork to pull that off.

Things seem to be shaping up.  I thought for awhile that it wouldn't.

Obligatory. 2.5.17

You cannot go to Barnhardt's website anymore.  According to somebody, her website is "dangerous" to your computer's health.

 It is implausible to me that she represents any destructive threat.  In other words, it looks like some kind of dirty trick to screw up her website, and possibly have people think badly of her.

Who would do such a thing?  In this day and age, everybody is exposed.  The web is "worldwide", which has its good points and bad. 

Here's hoping that the good will always outweigh the bad. Otherwise, the web will have to shut down, and that would be a pity.