October 21, 2022

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 21, 2021, working the new band.
Five years ago today: October 21, 2017, sex isn’t the worst incentive.
Nine years ago today: October 21, 2013, campers, cooking, etc.
Random years ago today: October 21, 2009, what I found interesting.

           Wow, I made it through the day. For you, average. For me, heavy work with the only consolation that I was not supposed to be able. It took hours and I did not do the job completely. The extension ladder is huge and they tend to work best when brand new. Dragging it over by myself took me twenty minutes at which point I asked for help. We had a heck of a time standing the ladder up. All the on-line videos show one guy easily manhandling the ladder into place, or had the ladder already nearly vertical somehow magically by itself. Or they employed an option we did not have, which is to pull the ladder up through an upper story window. Eventually, we got it and the guy handed me the chainsaw.

           At this stage, you realize a hitch not apparent from the ground. Lightweight as that saw may be, it’s enough to change your center of gravity when you are up in the air. Hence, I cut just the branches away from the house and not the entire limb as planned. A pity, because I was up there tottering in the wind. This is a job for the landlord with the proper tools.


           As for tools, I thought, since I have the chain saw strung out, why not trim the bushes along the driveway, which have gotten out of hand. The cord won’t reach, so this is task for my $500 power supply. Wrong. The impulse to start the saw trips every safety latch on the battery, it kind says, “No way, pal.” I got the chore finished by stringing the cable through the house and out the front door. While she was away, of course. I have to do something about that pile of bamboo leaves in the yard, so I’m here at least another day. She’s had heavy sneezing all day which has me worried. People with that are prone to sinus infections can get put right out of business.
           Another hour had me packing up to leave. I always wind up taking back more than I came with and doing chores here with what tools I came with. One day I’ll learn it is cheaper to accumulate a set of tools and just leave them in the shed. That wisdom has not yet caught up with me. You have not seen much of JeePee this trip because he’s kind of in that turtle dormant season. I kept his shell shiny and feed him the same chicken I fix for myself. Otherwise, he ignores the world and may peek at me as shown here. That not a real fork stuck in a rock. It’s printed, as we now use Trader Vic shopping bags for cage liners.

           Things are getting edgy over the midterms as the Libtards are making the worst possible mistake of acting like they have a right to cheat because they got away with it last time. The mood is increasingly toward the feeling that the liberals have never legitimately won an election around here. Their methods are too practiced and they have the ballot stuffers all lined up. They’ve been suspected of cheating for decades but had carefully put wee laws and loyal operatives in place to stop any investigation. The snag is this time around Americans plain don’t like criminal activity that is too much in the open.
           It has been falsely announced so many times that I can’t say it’s fact, but the rumor is that the Democrats have finally gotten around to calling out Trump, who I remind people is not running in the upcoming mid-term elections. It’s an expected move offered up as a distraction to the issues, one of which over half of the attendees at the latest Trump rallies have been first-timers. And it has been widely predicted that such a move is a de facto admission that the Left knows they’ve lost the elections. This is widely viewed as an admission by the Biden bunch that they know they are as good as lost.

Picture of the day.
Engine 819.
(Arkansas museum.)
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           I’m not going to finish all the chores here before I head back. It’s a big yard and all the trees are deciduous. Every guy who does yard work probably figures it lies in wait for him. I think after I trim the bamboo I’m ready to roll. Much as Tennessee is fun, it is not my idea of where to spend winter, and I’m serious about that. It’s different to be here just to visit. Like this afternoon, the big dog and I fell asleep on the sofa, zonked for three hours. I will publish no such pictures, and we both snore. Hey, I still managed to get all the tree and ladder work done plus trim the parking spot again.

           Here’s picture proof, see those branches overhanging the road? They are cut back to 8-foot high so I can park the van under there. About a half-hour’s work of the kind was not ever supposed to do again. I still have to haul away the clippings. All this from the blog that dares to expose the reality of everyday life. I tend to consume more “veggie” food while here and confirm it does not much to keep you internally warm even if that tends toward mostly perception.

           I chanced upon this book that was mostly quotations from the period 1870 to 1914. Very interesting how wrongly high-placed people can perceive the facts. I think the same Balfour who wrote the views-with-favor letter also said he believed that motorcars would solve the traffic congestion problem. It further reveals the disconnect between the hereditarily rich and the common man, who dies in their wars. The Queen Mother of Italy was concerned that war with Germany would impede the marriages of eligible German princesses to their social equals, in France and Russia.
           The era was characterized as “brutal and bizarre”. The gory parts are rarely mentioned today. Workers on strike were regularly shot by soldiers, there were over 1,000 “dynamite outrages” in 1892, and during the 135-day Siege of Paris 25,523 cats were eaten. In Ireland, 10,000 peasants per year were being evicted and slaves who remained unsold after markets in Africa were regularly massacred. Americans were very concerned that non-white immigration would destroy their culture.
           In 1887 and 1898, books were published about the sinking of a great ocean liner in April by an iceberg, one shop was named the “Titan”. Children were given Mother Bailey’s quietening syrup laced with opium. Poor people were considered crooked-minded and naturally corrupt. An English soccer captain was offered the throne of Albania, while in England, eight-year-old girls regularly worked in mills and mines fourteen hours a day. Murder trials were considered drama for the rich and the future ruler of France was best known as an expert at making animal shadows on the wall.

ADDENDUM
           Last night I went out for a couple late beers at Shooters. The new staff, as I mentioned, lacks the personality of that place, which is not to say they are not characters. They certainly are a breed of their own, but my guess is they are west coast people who came back east. That is, they behave too, what’s the word, too much more the way they please than the locals. The old staff knew I was not there to pick up women and kept the nosy ones away. I had to move twice because two porkers would not leave me alone. No, they don’t do anything obvious but I’m still not interested.
           My explanation for moving is the light is better over in the corner. I left one of them and her equally hefty girlfriend the crossword puzzle they’d watched me finish. They went over it to “make sure I got the right answers”. Duh. The old Karaoke guy was there so I didn’t sing. He’s the one that makes you wait an hour even if it’s not busy. He still asks when the Reb is ever coming back and I don’t have the heart to tell him. Well, I do, but only if he bumps me to the top of the list when I’m in-house.

Last Laugh