Category: Humor

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Disadvantage of being out of a city

Well, there are actually remarkably few. The trouble is, when something happens it’s “big” and a royal pain in the butt.

It’s a disadvantage to be so far from shopping centers if you need or want something. Even the nearest Home Depot is 30 minutes away. The Lowes is 45 minutes away.

It’s tough to find people to do work on the house, especially people that know what they’re doing in this particular climate. For their additional knowledge, they’re more expensive. Meh, that’s how capitalism is supposed to work.

The biggest issue, is the septic tank. Sigh, it looks like that’s going to be the Thanksgiving and Christmas expense this year. 

(As an aside, I admire this picture of a septic tank and the model doing her level best to make it look at least a little sexy. Good Job! To the model and the company, thanks for making me smile about it.)

44510 750 Side Image 1024x768 2885845250

My septic tank is old. Really old. When the house was rebuilt in 2008, the builder didn’t think about replacing the tank at that time. I guess there was no real need, so why would the lazy jackass do something proactive?

The house was originally built in 1992 presumably that’s when the septic system was installed. At the time the house burned and was rebuilt, the septic system was 16 years old. The system wasn’t in use for a year while the house was rebuilt, but the tank itself is iron and rust never sleeps.

So here we are with a septic system that is 30 years old, and it’s failing. The tank was pumped out about a year and a half ago and at the time the guys said it should be replaced. I decided to wait because I was unemployed and didn’t have 7K to toss at that bill. That decision was at the time against my better judgement because I like to stay out ahead of maintaining things if possible. However given the circumstances it was a viable decision, even if it wasn’t the preferred one.

I suppose this is why the solar panels have been a thorn in my side. They represent an investment that will likely pay off over the next few years or at least break even. (Even though they still haven’t produced one usable KW of energy yet, Thanks Edison!) Even as the other half was wanting to move forward with the panels, I was asking, “What about the septic system?” Warm summer days would have been an opportune time to have that taken care of, in preparation for the Winter.

To be fair, installation of the solar panels had a defined expiration date. If we’d waited any longer, we wouldn’t have be eligible to lock Edison into paying us a fair price for the excess power we generated. The septic system was a ticking time bomb with no precise date of expiration. 

Hey, you put your money on the table and roll the dice! Sometimes you roll a winner, and sometimes you crap out.

(Yes I used that analogy with intent.)

Well, the septic system has, (oh hell I can’t resist,) crapped out. Fortunately, the weather is fairly mild and we have no winter storms in the forecast for at least a week or two. That means that the replacement can go ahead without fighting a foot of snow. Unfortunately, It’s not known due to the supply chain issues and all of that when we can get a new tank put in.

Additionally, with the insanity of gas prices and the cost of diesel, it’s gonna cost more. Yeah, the excessively high diesel prices will affect the cost. Figure it’s gonna cost more for the pump truck to come up the mountain, and the truck to bring a new tank up, the backhoe to dig out the old tank, the long distance transport of the tank from where ever it’s manufactured etc, etc.

This is one of those few times when I wish I lived in a city. If I did, I’d be connected to s sewer system and wouldn’t have to worry about much other than the cost of a plumber to occasionally snake the main pipes that lead to the sewer.

Ah well, we’ll be paying for this for a long assed time. Especially when you consider the interest rates on credit cards. 

These are all the things I was thinking while outside digging a cat hole to bury some waste that had been expelled from the pressure relief pipe at the front of the house. At least the plants next to the hole will be well fertilized come Springtime.

A plumber is coming up today he’s going to see if there’s some blockage. (it’s possible, not likely, but possible). I’ve also got calls in to a couple of different septic tank folks. I’m hoping we can have the existing one pumped out, maybe Wednesday. That should get us through Thanksgiving. Today I’m taking the water softener offline, which will reduce the amount of waste water going into the system. My hope is that we will not have to decamp to a hotel waiting for the tank to be replaced. The dog is the issue there. He freaks out in closed rooms.

Once I get a schedule for the tank being replaced, I’m going to be digging up the sprinkler system. Me & my trenching tool got some work to do. Yes, the sprinkler line crosses the yard in such a way that when the backhoe gets here it’s gonna tear up that line, if I don’t expose it, and remove it. I’m figuring that I’ll cut that section out, set it aside then temporarily cap the loose end. Come Springtime, I’ll finish the repair and reset the line and sprinkler heads.

Nothing living in the mountains is ever easy or straight forward. On the plus side, at least my knees may be completely up to the challenge by then. In a strange way I kinda look forward to being a shirtless redneck with a shovel sweating my ass off in the sun. I do not look forward to being a freezing redneck bundled up in 30° weather digging up the sprinkler line in the coming weeks, but you play the hand left deals ya.

I suppose I could have a portapotty delivered. Now that’s super redneck! Bundling up in the middle of the night to go take a leak really takes me back to my roots. Showers would be a problem in that case, but I suppose I could go out to the truck stop nearby and rent a shower there.

All I can say is Happy Thanksgiving.

Update: Well, it looks like the problem was some kind of blockage going from the house to the septic system. The plumber who is a godsend cleared it in about 10 minutes. There’s a reason we’ve been using this particular plumber for years. He’s on time, (calls with an updated ETA, if he gets stuck on a job,) has fair prices and does great work.

The ticking time bomb of the septic system ticks on, but at least we can plan for that expense instead of having to do it as an emergency.

So that’s what I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving. 

Whew, dodged a bullet for now, here’s hoping that things hold together until Spring. It will just be a lot more convenient to deal with this when it’s warmer.

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The moment I saw the word, I knew this would happen

The word is PureBlood.

This is a term that some unvaccinated people are using to identify themselves. These folks are specifically referring to the COVID vaccine and while they’re probably vaccinated against other common childhood illnesses they’re drawing the line at the mRNA vaccines.

In a way it makes sense. Unvaccinated people were demonized as pariahs. Many of them lost their jobs, some of their children are being denied the opportunity to attend school (in person or via remote learning), our military is still dismissing trained soldiers who have requested and been denied religious exemption. Latest reports I’ve read, put the number of unvaccinated at a little north of 30% of the population.

The story of the COVID vaccine has shifted over the past 2 years. First it was, “you won’t get sick,” then the storyline morphed into, “you won’t get as sick”. The story in the beginning was that if you got vaccinated you’d not spread COVID, now data is suggesting that you can still spread it and that may be worse because you might be asymptomatic. Therefore spreading it unknowingly, although this is no different from unvaccinated people who are asymptomatic so that’s probably a wash.

The shifting winds of the efficacy and repeated boosters have not lent a lot of credence to the narrative presented by the powers that be.

President Biden said COVID was a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Then went off and got COVID after being quadruple vaccinated. It’s interesting to note that President Biden’s entire Presidency seems to have been about identifying and then demonizing “The Other”. First it was the unvaccinated, now it’s MAGA.

Fauci suffered the same embarrassment over vaccinations, He still got COVID, and later suffered a Paxlovid rebound.

Through it all there were people that chose not to get the vaccine. For some, it was a matter of religion, for others it was a matter of their particular biology which resulted in the vaccine being contraindicated. Still others had COVID early on and saw no need to be vaccinated against something they’d already had and survived. Others just didn’t trust the government and their mistrust only grew as the government brought force and shame to bear.

But one aspect has been fairly constant. Demonization. The unvaccinated were “Dirty”, “Unpatriotic”, “Selfish”, and “AntiSocial”. There were media pundits that suggested putting the unvaccinated into camps.

None of this would engender compliance for people who made their own decisions and were willing to live with the consequences.

Some of the unvaccinated believe that the mRNA vaccines will cause long term health issues and reproductive harm. Fauci himself admitted in an interview that abnormal bleeding and irregular menstruation, post vaccine, needed further study.

It seems that a lot of the unvaccinated also believe that the vaccines alter the DNA of the person. I’ve seen interesting justifications both pro and con in this stance. I don’t have sufficient information about genetics or the interaction of RNA / DNA to comment nor is there any need for the purposes of this post.

The point is, PureBlood is being used to describe in a broad sense unvaccinated folks. The unvaxed are owning it instead of covering it up. Now they’re making dating and mating choices based on their status.

There are PureBlood dating sites. 

In a way it makes sense. If you’re a PureBlood and you believe that reproductive harm is caused by COVID Vaccines, then you’d want to date and perhaps marry another PureBlood in order to insure that your children had the best shot at a healthy life without genetic abnormalities.

The added benefit is that you’re more likely to share similar political or religious beliefs.

Lots of people on the internet are sneering and making nasty comments about these sites. Why they’d bother? I have no idea. The unvaccinated are probably not going to be interested in them, and they’re not going to be interested in the unvaccinated. But the internet at large seems to NEED to find fault.

For the unvaccinated, it’s just more of the same.

Some of the younger unvaccinated males have made interesting responses. The best was a guy responding to a particularly nasty thread saying, “Don’t worry ladies, my sperm will only cost you 10K a vial when your man finds out he’s sterile and you want a kid. You have no worries that I’d ever put my dick in your diseased cooch!”

I read that, and blew water out my nose. (I should learn not to drink when I’m scanning comment threads.)

The responses from some of the nastier women were very unladylike. Most were generally along the lines of, “In your dreams you racist, misogynist, transphobic, homophobic, piece of shit, better the species die out than have to carry your seed in my belly”

His response was, “Yeah remember that when you’re begging to jerk me off.”

Funny thing to me, (aside from his responses,) is that so many really nasty women put in the time to search for the site, and then took the time to raise a vitriolic stink by writing comments. They could have done what a lot of “Normal” people do, not bothered!

As I was reading about these sites, and there are a growing number, I wondered how long it would be before small enclaves started. This could be the seeds for the next Waco or Ruby Ridge type commune. 

A lot of the unvaccinated seem to think that the vaccinated will die off. I’m not sure where that belief comes from. There are statistics from other countries that suggest a higher than usual mortality due to all causes over the past two years. The numbers seem to be increasing.

I think that this is probably due to people not getting in to their doctors for routine checkups. By the time folks did get to the doctor, things had progressed too far to be stopped. In other words, I think the unvaccinated folks belief may be due to coincidence instead of provable fact.

Again, I’m not a doctor, biochemist, virologist, or anything in the medical field so this is just my opinion.

It struck me that this is how religions and / or cults get started.

Viktor

I wonder if the President’s next speech will attempt to demonize white supremacist PureBloods.

I have to admit, hearing something like, “The PureBloods are dangerous to us all, they’re evil!” has a lot sexier ring to it.

With a little PR I’ll bet you could make PureBloods out to be practitioners of blood rituals and satanic rites aimed at the destruction of democracy.

I probably shouldn’t give the spin doctors any ideas…

After all, I too am a PureBlood.

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So I’ve been looking at Fascist Clothing…

Hey, those SS uniforms really looked sharp.

NAZI Fashion

Why not? As a white, CIS, conservative leaning, male, I’m already suspect.

According to the media and to some extent The President I’m already a bad guy.

I’m white – OH NO!!!!
 – I don’t have my requisite KKK uniform. Designer sheets just don’t cut it. The Brothers in the Klan don’t think pretty little flowers are appropriate. I also have not had myself pilloried in the public square so that I may renounce my whiteness, and have no intention to do so.

I’m CIS – Oh My God! 
– I’ve never felt the need to be other than a male and I’m pretty happy with my tackle. In this day that too, is apparently some sign of deep psychosis.

I’m conservative learning – Oh SHIT! 
– Just because I want smaller government, a balanced budget, responsible spending, lower taxes, and our leaders to do their jobs for all of the nation, I’m likely to be on some list somewhere.

I’m a male with no need to declare my pronouns – DAMN! God must really hate me.
– I’ve really tried to contain my toxicity, but there’s nothing to be done. By definition I must be a misogynist and therefore a threat to every single woman anywhere within a 50 mile radius.

Now I’m a fascist too.

Damn, I just can’t catch a break.

There may be a silver lining. Since I’m already guilty of all these terrible things, with no hope of redemption, I’m free.

I’m free to step on toes, free to speak my mind, free of walking on egg shells around people.

Because it just doesn’t matter anymore. I no longer have any need to “BE GOOD”. Now for the first time since I can remember I can just fucking relax.

The only way to win this game we’ve been sucked into… Is not to play.

I can go out without a mask, I can purchase guns, and ammunition. I can drive my gas car and maybe I’ll buy myself a gas powered truck too. Heck, I might load my car up with trash and drive down the freeway tossing it out the window. Forget about me separating recycle from household trash!

I’m free to catcall a woman or man, I’m free to use the “N” word or any other racist epithet as much as I want to. I can smoke, drink, fuck, eat red meat, or whatever the hell else I want to do because nothing I do trying to be a good guy matters.

If someone drops on the street due to a heart attack, I can ask what their political affiliation is. If they’re not my party… Sorry dude, you’re gonna die. I’ll skip away happily, after all I don’t want to trouble someone from the other party’s conscience. Imagine the everlasting horror they’d have to carry were I to save their life.

Given all this, I thought, “Hey those Nazi uniforms made the guys wearing them look really sharp.”

So I’m looking for a supplier.

Why bother looking like everyone else? Anyone seeing me on the street will know to avoid me for any or all of the aforementioned irrevocable personality defects. 

Oh… Look there’s a good price on “wife beater” undershirts!

Yes, I’m being sarcastic but there is a kernel of truth here.

When you continuously demonize a select group of people, they’re left with only one choice. Become exactly what they’re expected to be. They’ve already PAID the price over and over again. Why bother trying to change people’s perception?

Wasn’t this the justification put forth by liberals in the 70’s & 80’s to explain the higher crime rates, and justify spending more money in inner city black neighborhoods?

Just asking…

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Sigh… Writing and blogging misfires!

It’s been one of those time in my life where I’ll start to write something and then it all just goes to hell.

I’ll write a paragraph, get to the end and think, “Where was I going with this?”

Oh I’ll push on hoping that everything resolves itself in the end, but it doesn’t.

Things just get worse. Then I’ll go back an re-read what I’ve written and think, “This is really not worthy of me.”

The blessed [DELETE] key is pressed and my computer dutifully asks me if I’m sure.

“Of Course I’m sure! Have you read this drivel?” I say outloud to the computer.

The computer responds, “Not my Table!”

The offending document is hurled into the bit-bucket and I try again.

I suppose all writers have times like these.

I’m just tired of feeling like somehow I’ve dropped 50 points on the IQ scale.

On the plus side, if my IQ is dropping maybe soon it will drop to a point where I don’t know how stupid I am?

I don’t know if ignorance is bliss, but the way things are going I may soon find out.

I moved on from being unable to write. To reading something from a gentleman whose writing I always find informative and educational.

The piece is called:

My Gratitude For the Apologies and Sincere Expressions of Regret

As most of you know, I love a good bit of sarcasm

The author is Thomas Harrington. Here is his short Bio

Thomas Harrington, Senior Scholar at the Brownstone Institute, is an essayist and Professor Emeritus of Hispanic Studies at Trinity College in Hartford (USA) where he taught for 24 years. He specializes in Iberian movements of national identity Contemporary Catalan culture. His writings are at Thomassharrington.com.

Professor Harrington’s piece might not make sense to you if you are unaware of the CDC’s recent reversal of position on COVID.

For your convenience, here is another piece from Brownstone Institute. Within the piece is a link to the actual CDC report. The article itself does a good job distilling the salient points.

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Well, lost another friendly acquaintance today…

No they didn’t die.

We were riding in my car and happened to pass by a F*&K BIDEN sign.

My passenger muttered, “fucking Trumper.”

I chuckled then asked, “What makes you think that household is a Trump household?”

My Passenger replied, “That Fuck Biden sign.”

I pointed out that simply not liking Biden doesn’t mean someone is automatically pro-Trump. It could just as easily be a commentary on the job Biden has done in the past 18 months.

“Nah, Biden is so much better than Trump”, my passenger said.

I posited this, “If you remove emotion about Trump from the equation entirely and evaluate only Biden’s performance. Are you better off now, 18 months after Biden took office than you were prior to Biden taking office?”

That got my passenger thinking, but they didn’t reply.

I continued, “For example, The day Biden took office, one of my small 401Ks was worth 17K, almost double what the original investment was. Today that 401K is worth 12K. So in 18 months The Biden Administration policies have disrupted the economy sufficiently that I’ve lost almost all the gains. Even during COVID at the tail end of 2019 and through 2020 that 401K investment continued to gain in value.”

My passenger retorted, ” Well COVID hurt the entire country.”

I replied, “To be sure, COVID did have an effect. But why has that effect catalyzed in the first 18 months of The Biden Administration? Further why has the economy faltered so dramatically? Why are we looking at a recession? Why has the supply chain not recovered? Why have base fuel prices, not just gasoline, but diesel and other petroleum goods risen so dramatically? The previous Administration had one full year of COVID as has the Current Administration.”

My passenger said, “Well Trump made a mess of the government and Biden is fixing it. That is going to take time.”

I said, “Okay, then by your logic Trump somehow screwed up the government and the economy, effectively creating a house of cards waiting to fall, that Biden needed to fix?”

“Well yeah,” my passenger said.

I offered, “There are two ways to deal with a house of cards. One is to tear it down and start over, the other way is to leave it the hell alone.”

“So you’re a Trumper?” My passenger asked.

“Nope. I’m a fucking realist! If you don’t understand something, don’t fuck with it! That’s one of the more simple rules of life. If the Biden Administration didn’t understand whatever machinations Trump may or may not have put in the government, they shouldn’t have started hacking away at them. Beyond that, I’m very concerned that our country has gotten to the point that simply being critical of Biden elicits the assumption that whoever is speaking critically of The President, must automatically be a Trumper. That kind of polarized thinking is exactly the kind of thinking that leads to civil wars, or violence in the streets.”

My passenger said, “There can’t be a civil war here.”

“Oh? Why not?” I asked making a right turn.

“The military is controlled by The President. He wouldn’t allow a civil war to happen,” came my passenger’s reply.

I replied, “That, by definition, would be a civil war. Just FYI… The US military, and I don’t have exact numbers, is probably outnumbered 30 to 1, or more by able bodied, and armed, people of the United States. Some units may stand down in the face of an illegal order to fire on the very people they exist to protect. The Biden Administration giving such an order would likely cause chaos in the ranks, resulting in more units standing down as they questioned whether they were serving The Constitution, and The Republic, or a dictatorship. The practical upshot would be that their effectiveness would be further reduced. Also consider our military is very effective in a wide variety of engagements. But our military and in fact, most militaries fall short in urban / guerrilla warfare. Vietnam and Afghanistan underscore that point nicely. Generally speaking, the people of the United States would have the home turf advantage, since it is unlikely US Military units would be locals to the areas they’d be called in to quell.”

“They’d have to follow orders,” my passenger said.

“Or what? They’d be shot by their own comrades? Imprisoned? Either way their effectiveness would be reduced, and the rage of cold, hungry, broke, homeless citizens would be further inflamed at the atrocity being committed in their name. It’s a no win scenario for The Biden Administration to call out the military.”

We passed another 4 F*&K BIDEN signs in people’s yards.

“Why are there so many Trumpers in this town,” My passenger asked again.

“Because they’re not Trumpers. They’re exercising their First Amendment Right to express themselves. There are more of those signs everyday because more people disagree with the policies of President Biden. Two of the last four signs weren’t there last Thursday.”

“They should be taken down by the police. They’re disrespectful!” My passenger asserted.

“So you’re a communist?” I asked.

“NO! How could you say that?” My passenger demanded.

“Well, you just said criticisms of The Leader were disrespectful and should be confiscated. Isn’t that one of the hallmarks of Communism or Dictatorships?” I asked.

Continuing, I said, “I’ve been thinking, I may have to get one of those signs. I’m extremely displeased with President Biden’s performance too.”

We rode on in silence.

My passenger did have the courtesy to thank me for the ride as they disembarked. I don’t think they’ll be riding with me, or speaking to me, in the future. Of course, since I’m a decent human being, if they were to ask and offered to pay for gas, I’d get them where they wanted to go.

Possibly with a F*&K Biden bumper sticker affixed to my car…