Lots of wind, some light sprinkles, and today sharply colder temperatures.

What, you expected snow?

It is only supposed to get 45 degrees today for the high, and down to 15 degrees again for the low tonight. That's *very* cold for here.

Right now I'm finishing up a cup of strong coffee, trying to muster the will to go outside and get to work. Today is the last day of my extended weekend and I have to make the most of it.

---------------
UPDATE: Hey, 76 degrees forecast for this coming weekend. Now *that's* more like it!

Labels: minutiae, ponderings, San Pedro homestead

...I want to do.


Mm hm. Got the bass. Just need the lessons.

Labels: art appreciation

Five cats, evenly spaced...

Now where am *I* supposed to sleep?!

They hate it when I try to get in bed with them when they're already settled. "Who does this ginormous OAF think he is pushing himself into our group, as if he has NO CLUE of the mores and nuances of cat society and the rules that we live by?!"

Well, erm, yeah...

I suppose as the Sigma cat of the group I could say I have some vague notion, but don't actually give a rip, as I'm going to do what I want regardless.

Labels: cats

Low-tech Magazine: Sunbathing in the living room: oven stoves and heat walls

Some great information at this link plus the links in the article and in the comments section lead to lots more.

I don't really have a death wish, despite my precarious work at heights. Rather than balancing a sheet of 3/4" plywood siding at the top of a ladder while steadying it against gusty winds, the third panel raising was done by installing an eye into the top of the panel...


Then hoisted into place on a pulley.


Panel attached and tower ready for the last one. However there is something wrong with this picture. Can you tell me what it is?

Something tooth-grindingly wrong, that I could not fix without pulling it down and starting from scratch with a new panel...


Sam really doesn't like Rumsfeld. He hisses and growls any time they are near each other. Yet here they are sitting on the end of the bed together. Who do you suppose was here first?

Well, Rumsfeld actually. Sam just came along to stir up shit.

He's getting grumpy in his old age.

Labels: San Pedro homestead

Via Survivalblog.com I came upon this online magazine that is packed with the kind of stuff that could fascinate me for hours and hours of reading:
Low-tech Magazine

Yes, it is "greenie" in its orientation. I can hear the creaky knees of several of my readers about to jerk, so let me remind that I am preparing for the possibility of an *involuntary* conversion back to a low-tech civilization (aka TEOTWAWKI). This stuff has its place in that scenario.

On the other hand, if you need some ammo to shoot down your favorite greenie's pet idea, this site pulls no punches when it comes to the downside of various "alternative" technologies.

Labels: geekery, resources

For us, we moved Thanksgiving to Sunday because Momcat is recovering from a lung infection.

I hope you took time today to give thanks to God for the goodness of His providence. Me, among other things, I thank God I'm a country boy!

Labels: ponderings

...like one of my readers.

I mentioned last week that my cell phone stopped working out at the farm a number of months ago, based on what I presumed was Verizon changes to their technology. Today I looked at my cellphone, which was sitting on the counter since I arrived here this morning and...

...two bars signal strength! Astonished, I tried dialing my desk phone at work. Sure enough the call went straight through without any problem.
.
.
.
We've never had, I mean never not in three years had more than 0 or 1 bar signal strength without being plugged into the signal amplifier. Never. And with the signal amplifier, two bars was what we got.

Ok, it's one thing to believe that Verizon may have people monitoring the web search engines for whenever their name pops up somewhere. It would be another thing entirely for them to do so, take the time to get a fix on my location from the vague references in my writing, and then tweak the nearest tower to improve reception?

Er...

Labels: ponderings

Jesse Ventura thinks the new Denver International Airport hides a massive disaster shelter for government agencies and their lackeys:


I wouldn't doubt it. Denver International Airport is a weird place.

Link if the above vid doesn't work...

Labels: conspiracies, preparedness, watching the skies

The New Depression and the Fed’s illusion | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

In fact, we are experiencing massive deflation, exactly as seen in the history of depressions. And we are experiencing massive inflation exactly as monetary theory predicts. The conundrum of tame price indices is solved when we realize that we are experiencing inflation and deflation at the same time. This is not the same as price stability; it is something new and far more dangerous.

click link for the rest of the article

Labels: financial ponderings

At a snail's pace it seems to me...

Three guy wires with turnbuckles and links are attached via 1/2" eye bolts.


And three of these 4 foot long anchors set by "drilling" them in by hand (at the cost of a tennis-elbow flare-up).

Now I feel relatively certain that a hard gust of wind will not blow the entire thing over once the panels go up. Before this I had a concern that any more panels would act as a sail, putting too much force on the foundation in a high wind.

Finally as the light fades Sunday evening, the second panel is up.


I have all the parts I need to set up my cell phone booster system. Once I get the top two panels in place, my next task is mounting the antenna up at the top and running the cable inside to the signal amplifier. I bought a wireless handset outfit that can be programmed to interface with my cellphone, giving me land-line style handsets throughout the house via my cell service.

The lack of easy communications has been bugging me ever since Verizon changed their technology, cutting me off at this fringe reception area. I used to be able to make a call by standing on the bathtub at the west end of the house or going up on the roof. That stopped working about six months ago.

Labels: San Pedro homestead

Obama Gives a Pass: TSA Won’t Touch Muslims’ Junk | Floyd Reports

Oh isn't that SPECIAL! Those most likely to smuggle explosives on board a flight WILL BE GIVEN A PASS ON RELIGIOUS GROUNDS!

"So you're a Muzzie and you don't wanna be nudie-scanned or fondled? Why you pass right on through now and get on that plane!"

God help us...

Labels: liberal stupidity

Apparently there is a bit of a hoax circulating regarding the level of detail that these new TSA scanners are capable of generating:
Vox Popoli: Through a scanner, naked

Initially I was quite...disturbed by these images. If indeed this is what the machines are generating, then as my original post here stated: "Welcome to America, where everyone who flies is now a Porn Star!"

Possibly NSFW (depending upon how anal your HR department), so click to read the rest...

Labels: fascism on parade, statism

Call your Congresscritter and ask them to vote "NO" for the attempt to override the "pocket veto" of this bill.

RED ALERT! HR-3808 Veto Override Attempt in [Market-Ticker]

This is critical because if it is overridden, it gives the banksters a tool they need to continue their fraudulent processing of bogus foreclosure documents. Allowing it to stand will require the banks to meet the long-standing requirements of the various states laws and contract law, and ensure that any issues are resolved in a court of law rather than through legislative fiat by bought-off members of Congress!

There will be more attempts, but unless they hear from us they intend to continue to ride roughshod over centuries of established case law for mere expediency and to serve the financial interests of their banker overlords.

UPDATE: Here is a starting point bit of text to copy/paste/modify as you see fit

H.R. 3808 Interstate Recognition of Notarization Act of 2010" is legislation that the banks of the country have pushed in order to try to get around the FRAUD that they have perpetuated in the handling of mortgages. The banks securitized most of the mortgages written over the last ten years and sold them off in "tranches" to investors without properly recording the deed transfers with the various County Recorders around the country. In the process they have clouded title for hundreds of thousands of properties. In many cases they now no longer have a paper trail that evidences who owns the notes and who has the legal right to foreclose upon homeowners who have fallen behind. Rather than producing proper documentation at the time that foreclosure is filed showing chain of title for the note and mortgage or deed of trust, they have been accused of "robosigning" foreclosure documents--creating out of thin air the missing chain of title that they need to foreclose. Many jurisdictions have begun to question these fraudulent documents, requiring the banks to produce the proper, legal documentation in order to proceed with foreclosure.

This legislation is intended to force these courts to accept these "robosigned" documents that are often fraudulently notarized by notaries in states outside of their jurisdiction.

Please vote "NO" on the override of President Obama's veto of this legislation. Your vote "NO" will be a vote "yes" for the Rule of Law, the Constitution, and centuries of Contract Law. Voting to override is a vote for the tyranny of the powerful against established law designed to protect the powerless from the predations of the powerful and well-connected.

UPDATE 2: Veto upheld, Republicans (except Ron Paul) vote to override (wrong choice Dumbo).

Apparently the results of the recent election WERE NOT LOUD ENOUGH FOR THEM TO GET THE F&CKING MESSAGE!!!!!

Labels: fascism on parade, financial ponderings, misanthropy, mortgage fraud, statism

...to stock up on basic cotton clothing products lately. And why I will be going back later this week for a few more sets of essentials.

An Upcoming 30% Price Increase For Cotton Products And Defaulting Chinese Clothing Manufacturers May Soon Test The "Deflation" Thesis | zero hedge

Next to a pantry full of food and a warm (paid for) roof over your head, nothing says "comfort and security" like a drawer full of socks, underwear, jeans and shirts enough to last a few years.

Now I know the "why" behind the "what".

Thank you God for Your guiding hand!

I find it hard to believe and frustrating that it took me two full weekends to construct this cap for the solar tower. Granted it is a complete "roof" but it is only a little over two feet square. Here it is drying from the final coat of paint (green...the gray is primer, which is all the inside gets).


The top got a metal flashing edge, a metal flashing lip for the turbine, and the rest got an elastomeric/polyethylene fabric coating. This is from up at the top of the tower.


There it is, installed, the first change in appearance of the tower in months.


And finally the turbine itself installed.


Next up, before I install any side panels higher up, it gets aircraft cable guy-wires to ensure the whole thing doesn't topple in a strong wind. No, I don't trust my foundation to do the whole job. Yes, this is "belts and suspenders". So sue me, I'm an engineer. We lie awake at night worrying about things like this.

Labels: San Pedro homestead

"It's getting hard to think of America a soverign nation anymore. It's more like a bank that has a military and runs a HMO."

Comment via this thread at Zero Hedge/

I had forgotten the results of this vote were still pending. Earlier results had it behind by a small margin.
There! One more small step toward ending the madness.
Prop 203: Arizona medical marijuana measure passes | Phoenix News | Arizona News | azfamily.com | Arizona News

In other news, I've had this nagging lower back pain now for years...

Labels: health and lifestyle, liberty, not-laws, personal responsibility

Shady shit in the depths of the night...

A Bill to Indemnify MERS Retroactively?

Is there any reason to be a law abiding citizen anymore when this kind of retroactive rubberstamping of a criminal enterprise is being considered in the hallowed halls of Congress?

Fukkem! Fukkem all--dirty politicians, dirty banksters, dirty, filthy grubbers and grabbers! Let 'em eat hot lead!

Labels: financial ponderings, misanthropy, mortgage fraud

It is 25 degrees this morning per my thermometer. It also froze the last two nights here, and yesterday was cloudy and sixtyish. This is a typical winter day. Thus ends our Indian summer.

I did some last minute weatherization yesterday--closed up the evaporative cooler, turned off some of the irrigation system (and as I type this I have the sinking feeling of having forgotten a couple things...) I fired up the furnaces too. It was 51 in the main part of the house this morning, and 70 in the bedroom. I had set the main part to 45, and I will probably turn down the bedroom a bit. I was sleeping ok with morning temps as low as 60 before I fired it up, and I'd like to save gas this winter.

I finally found my camera after it went missing (in plain sight) for a week, so I hope to take a few pics of my work this weekend.

Labels: San Pedro homestead

White House: Obama conducting reign of terror | Opinion Maker

Some White House staffers have described a "reign of terror" in the White House over continued leaks and a troika of leadership that is making decisions without any input from the president. The troika reportedly consists of First Lady Michelle Obama, presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett, and the president's mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, who resides in the White House.

Not to be deterred, some White House staffers have sought out journalists and have arranged to meet them at nearby Starbuck's cafes to discretely convey to them inside information about the current disarray within the Obama administration. Some staffers have personally born the brunt of Obama's temper and witnessed his extreme narcissistic behavior. WMR has also learned from White House sources that Obama is taking presciption anxiety medication.

Vice President Biden, under intense pressure from some Democratic Party officials and Cabinet members to invoke Article 25, Section 4 of the Constitution and have Obama temporarily or permanently removed as president because of his mental incapacity to fulfill his constitutional oath as president is reluctant to take such drastic action. Biden feels that the country would "become unglued" after such action and he doesn't want to be the one who would be responsible for "picking up the pieces," according to a source who works within Biden's office.

Some staffers have said on deep background that the revelations by the ex-White House official to "Ulsterman" are not even half of the story about what is actually occurring in the White House.

Hubba. Hubba.

Labels: politics, The Failed Obama Presidency

Hey Brett Favre! New move for ya!

------------
Shamelessly stolen from Rodger

Labels: felicity and jocularity

...when I know what qualifies as "interesting" from certain perspectives:
Did somebody just try to buy the British government?

---------------

Update: Ah, now if this "Foundation X" should happen to be the shadowy OITC, then it appears the hapless Lord James may have been the recipient of a nation-sized Nigerian-style snookering attempt.

---------------

Update to the Update: Hmm hmm, Lord James specifically denies that this is OITC he's dealing with...

---------------

Update to the Update to the Update: Side trail that leads to somewhere similar--"Knights of Malta"

---------------

Update to the Update to the Update to the Update: Deeper and deeper goes the rabbit hole--Knights Templar fingered.

Labels: financial ponderings

Regular readers: if you have a weblog and would like a link on my sidebar, please drop your blog address in a comment.

As time passes, my readership changes, and I've noticed especially in the last year or so there's been a noticeable shift. Some of my old readers have moved on or passed away (RIP), and it's time for some new links to new readers.

Labels: blogospheric navel-gazing

I'm up to my ears in pics from last weekend's trip, but I finally have them converted and ready to post. The first full day there was Saturday and we chose to hike the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon.

Click any pic to embiggen.


























































...and so forth. You get the idea.

This was a serendipitous day. We had no idea that the valley was full of maple trees that just happened to be at the blazing peak of their glory. We got a hint of it in the morning when we arrived to find the parking lot full to capacity. We had to park down the road and walk to the entrance. Seems plenty of other people had gotten the memo. Not to worry though--everyone was entranced by the splendor and the extra people didn't really detract from the hike.

Next up: The Cowpies and Cathedral Rock.

Labels: vacation