Garden hose and five-gallon buckets, Heloise

As you and I both know, Heloise, one can never have too many 5 gallon buckets. But of course, you and I don't buy them at Lowes or Walmart. We reuse the ones we accumulate from home projects or construction sites... and the good ones are the black ones, the UV ray resistant ones, they last almost forever. But the white handle grips break down way too soon. It’s aways one-damn-thing-after-another isn't it?

When the handle grips go bad and our fragile old hands protest the biting pain of skinny handles, we can be saved by the reuse of 5 inch pieces of old hose. So… those old garden hoses. Remember resistentialism? https://somelightsomeserious.blogspot.com/2015/03/so-you-dont-believe-in-resistentialism.html I used to fill the buckets up... not any more (unless it's with feathers).

Ask your Congressman If Nazis love him, why do you?

If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, has ducks waving flags and ducks declaring their love of it, and it is seen in the company of ducks; it is most likely a duck. We have all seen a lot of Rebel flags and Nazi flags among trump supporters. If they love him, why does my Republican Representative, Ben Cline love him? If you see Ben, please ask him. Oh! And you could ask the Republican senate candidate, Hung Cao the same question.

I wrote a goodbye to the Washington Post news paper

I will really miss parts of the Washington Post newspaper. What I will miss the most is the Saturday “Free For All” letters to the editor (FFA). Given the deterioration of the Post’s journalistic, editorial, writing standards, I have greatly enjoyed the submissions by readers who are so much more assiduous and professional than whomever the Post has working there now. How many times does one read a FFA submission and say, “DUH! I agree! That piece in the Post was a stupid thing to put into an international paper.” Typos and bad grammar aside, what is wrong with you? Political bias is an issue of… well, personal bias that we all have to deal with. However, to read exhaustive criticism of President Biden’s poor speech patterns and memory problems while not mentioning the firehose of lies, infantile taunts, insults, and insanity that spews from former president Trump every time he speaks, smacks of an agenda that isn’t “fair and balanced” (to quote the so-called news organization that calls itself Fox). I have noticed that you have hired important staff from Fox. I can only assume that you are copying their “successful” business model. They paid $875,500,000 in their admission that they lie, that’s why I don’t listen to them no matter what they say. Why would anyone? Keep it up and we’ll all wonder how much will you have to pay? Oh, and I’ll miss the comics.

Please, somebody...

Please, please, somebody in the MSM ask trump who is his favorite philosopher. Please?

More questions I've asked of Ben Cline No answers yet

To Ben Cline: As you and I both know, Republicans, when in control of government, have never refused to raise the debt ceiling, even when the policies of Ronald Reagan, G.W. Bush, and Donald Trump were sending America into regions of unprecedented debt, mostly because of “trickle down” tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations (many of whom get out-right subsidies paid for by middle cast taxpayers like me). Therefore, I have no doubt that you will break with your Mike Johnson “led” party and vote to raise the debt ceiling and protect our economy and your constituents from the negative impacts of defaulting any time in the future. After all, why be a representative of people in your district and collect a salary if you don’t vote to fund the government that PAYS you? By the way, spare me the “conservative fiscal wisdom” of paying as you go. Our government has already spent the money that these budgetary bills address. Have YOU ever borrowed money for a car, tuition, or a house? Did you pay it back, or did you decide that you’d default on your already accrued debt and somehow, just “start over”?

I wrote my Congressman Representative Ben Cline today

I wrote: Hannibal Lector. In your opinion, is donald trump sane? Ben's "contact me" form requires a whole lot of information about me. It is onerous to fill out. I really don't think he's interested in hearing from his contituents.

Why is the economy so bad for the little guys?

I am the CEO of a washing machine factory. We made a lot of money last year and as the brilliant “architect” of our success, I took about 40% of the profit as my salary and bonuses… As a very good leader of our financial balance among where our money is spent, earned, and “trusted to us” by investors, I presided over 70% of the remaining profits being remanded to those investors. We of course, had business expenses… you know, materials and such… But I guess the lawyers took their share too… somewhere in the CFO’s report. Who cares? Anyway, after that money was gone, as a good businessman, I reinvested 5% of our net profits back into the business. So do the math. What was left: 10 % ? I don't know; numbers are hard. Of this I gave a 0.02% raise to my labor staff… leaving me an extra “bonus” of 23.05% of the original total for myself and the investors who I like the best (and the Congressmen who regulate my business). I can’t understand why the economy is so bad and why my employees can’t afford to buy our washing machines. It just has to be Biden’s fault. I just heard from my good friend… he owns a microwave cooker factory…… I just remembered! He has a brother who owns a diaper factory...

Open Letter to Ben Cline, U.S. House of Representatives, Virginia 6th district.

Dear Sir: After recently hearing Donald Trump speak at length about: “Abortions being conducted in Blue States ‘3 days’ after the child’s birth”. “Batteries, boats and sharks”. “Pitching tents (four days) at airports”. “Windmills” “Faucets no water, ‘they’ don’t want to you to have water”. “Washing machines and toilets”. I googled: [Representative Ben Cline, Virgina: comments about donald trump]… I got: Representative Ben Cline (R-Va.) said former President Trump discussed pop star Taylor Swift during his meeting with House Republicans, saying that the former president was “surprised” she did not endorse him. Cline told The Hill that the former president talked about how “he did sign legislation during his administration to help the songwriters, and that he was surprised that Taylor Swift didn’t — didn’t support him.” We can all see that you, Representative Cline, have your intellect laser focused on what is important to the USA and your constituents.

The Washington Post, where “Democracy Dies in Foxness”

My response to learning that Fox News paid $787,500,000 because they lied to their audience was as follows: I do not watch/listen to Fox News. I do not trust Rupert Murdoch nor the people he hires. Now, I don’t trust the Washington Post. They have made quite a few changes in the last year or so. They may think they are doing things that will increase readership, but they have lost me. I wrote this to their OP-ED page, the only way I know of to communicate with them (they got rid of an ombudsman years ago). They’ll never print it, but I feel better.

Single use plastic

I have been keeping a sour dough culture for pancakes and bread making since 1979. I feed it once a week and keep it in my fridge between uses. I keep it in a one quart “single use, disposable plastic yogurt tub”. The tub I use is now more than 49 years old. I guess, in a way, I’ve only used it “once”.

Snakes: Sung to “For What It’s Worth” CSN&Y

There’s something happenin; here And what it is, is exactly clear There’s a snake climbin’ up over there Chickadees, they better beware Chickees Chickees what’s that SOUND? One snake two snakes hangin’ around. The snakes they smell Chickadee But that nest is just too tricky. Their desires to eat are real deep But you know they ain’t got no feet. Chickees Chickees what’s that SOUND? One snake two snakes hangin’ around. Snakes are climbin’ pretty long But their necks, they just ain’t that long. Two snakes, don’t know what to do These Chickadees ain't on the menu. Chickees Chickees what’s that SOUND? One snake two snakes hangin’ around. Chickees Chickees

what’s that SOUND? One snake two snake hangin’ around.

The "Plan"

The “plan” has been in plain sight from the beginning; it has 6 simple parts: After I have established absolute and total immunity for the presidency (codified by the Supreme Court): 1) I will run for president. 2) I will say I won. 3) When I’ve “won” I will do whatever I want. 4) Everything I want and everybody that helped me will be OK (Sorta…, "we'll see about that". I am, afterall, very flexible about everybody but me.). 5) Everybody that didn’t help me, I will take revenge on. 6) I will be a total dictator and above the law, much like being a billionaire has allowed me to be above the law my whole life. The only difference will be, now the LAWS are what I proclaim them to be.

It's not just the IVF people; it's everybody

A lot has been written about the Alabama “person-hood” declaration for in vitro fertilized embryos from the perspective of the couples attempting to become parents. So far, not much from the perspective of everybody else. There are lots of folks in Alabama that have nothing to do with IVF. Hypothetically, John and Jill Doe could spend almost all their money at the fertility clinic, have five viable blastocysts on ice there, and get T-boned by a drunk driver on their way home from the clinic. They are both killed. At a rate of several thousand dollars a year, each, the taxpayers of Alabama would get to maintain those frozen cells forever. I wonder how many Alabamian people signed on for this responsibility. As a taxpayer in Virginia, I know that I haven’t.

A letter to the Washington Post Didn't make it in:

Let us put AI into mobile humanoid robots (AP Washington Post Mar. 1, 2024). I expect the next step in this process will be to give them guns. What could go wrong? Our military is already doing this, I guess the logical next step is for industry to make this available to private citizens; just like Ar-15s, tactical gear, laser sights, and night vision goggles. Are the tech innovators trying to create the scenarios depicted in the Terminator movies? Is anyone thinking about putting humanoid ethics into robots? Asimov thought about it 75 years ago. That might be a good idea if "humanoid" ethics were to be better than they are right now. After all, “we” are killing each other’s children all over the world.

I've had an epiphany... I completely understand the Dunning Kreuger Effect!

The less you know, the more confident you are that you know all that you need to know. The Dunning Kreuger effect is a potent and damning tool to use when criticizing the people that you don’t agree with… those people that you want to give up on because “they will never” understand the fallacies in their beliefs. They are ignorant of their ignorance (often proud of it) and don’t know that ignorance actually does make you stupid (because you choose to learn no more). But D-K is also the ultimate Catch 22. Everybody is on the Dunning Kreuger spectrum and we can't all be at that righthand peak of enlightenment. Dunning Kreuger isn’t so comforting when you realize (admit) that YOU are on that curve somewhere. Everybody is. Oh shit; me too! P.S. The average person is right in the middle of the curve; the valley of ignorance (and meduim competence). This is another reason to believe in the "Peter Principle". You see if you (or I) think we know where we fall on the D-K curve... we are probably over estimating our knowledge, intelligence, and competence.

Hey! Weather guys!

At about 1,400 feet ASL, 38 degrees 37 minutes Latitude, our home is in the Appalachian foothills on the edge of George Washington National Forest. Throughout February, we have experienced one or two days of winter, then back to early spring. We use zero heat (heat-pump or wood stove) three out of seven days a week. With our southern exposure and "bank barn" construction, our house warms on a sunny day to the point that we have to open windows to keep from getting too hot. Sometimes we put the shades down to block the sun. In the 1980's, this house was built to minimize the need for heating; little did we know. Our local weather guys tell us that temperature "averages" are supposed to be: High 48, Low 30ish... which is bullshit because it includes records from the early 1900's when all the record lows of minus 10 to 20 degrees are factored in. We don't get a record low more than once or twice a decade now. We are setting record highs regularly. Some smart statistician needs to talk to weather people. "Averages" are meaningless amid a sharp trend to a much warmer climate.

One Day

I'm still one day short of 77 years old. I did some stuff diddling in my shop (pics to come later). I walked our 1.5 mile on property loop and we added a little side stroll, in an easy bush-wack we've done before. I did my semi yoga-shouldersurgery-golf exercises (Chris commented that I didn't groan as much as usual). I have to admit that I wonder how many other people my age could do them. I guess that I'll make it to 77. See you tomorrow.

Catch 22 or reality?

Catch 22 or reality? Catch 22? You can't see flies in your eyes if you have flies in your eyes. Dunning Kreuger Affect? The stupider and ignorant I am; the less I might consider the posibliity that I'm ignorant or stupid. “I’m not the problem… YOU are.” Are they all the same thing? I’m having mental health break down…. But maybe I’m the only one that doesn’t realize it… And I’M sure as shit not going to TELL anybody. Self fore-filling prophecy? AKA: all of the above. THIS is human nature. We are NOT rational Beings.

Sometimes the right thing gets done for the wrong reason.

There have been horrific numbers of senseless mass shootings in American over the last few years; many of them committed by juveniles at schools. Easy access to so many guns has a lot to do with the USA’s world’s worst record in this regard. So many deadly shootings by minors with guns, and so far, little or no accountability by the adults who facilitated this access to guns. Finally, some legal action that addresses this problem has occurred. There is a poster “child” for this action: Jenniffer Crumbley. Jenniffer Crumbley has been convicted of “manslaughter”. Her son (too young to purchase a gun) shot and killed four students (and injured seven) at his school four days after he got his “early Christmas present”. He was given his first gun, a semi-automatic pistol. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. But the result of the trial of his mother, Jennifer, is truly Kafkaesque. She was likely convicted for saying: “LOL”, at least in part. That text by her to her son is cause for us to believe that she may be an awful person. In The Trial, by Franz Kafka, Josef K., is accused of murder. The trial is conducted entirely by non sequitur and often irrelevant declarations by witnesses and prosecutors. But the instance where the defendant couldn’t respond coherently to questions about the level of love he held for his mother was key to his conviction. His choice of language was his undoing. It is not only in fiction that the judicial process appears to be a cipher. If we could believe that Josef K. was really an awful person, then it might have been justice that he would receive the guilty verdict we all assume ensues at the end of The Trial. But of course, he was really convicted for not saying that he loved his mother. His jury concluded that he was awful. It is not that I believe that the Crumbley trial was flawed, beyond the flaws common to all trials (like The Trial) or that it lacked compelling evidence of her culpability. But I also believe that Jenifer Crumley is an awful person. She also deserves to be held responsible for her son’s access to a semi-automatic pistol. She is responsible for him being able to take it to his school. I also believe that she has been convicted because she said, “LOL”. I’m actually OK with that. Thousands of American households with guns will have adults that think twice about allowing "troubled" children to have access to those weapons. This will save some lives. Sometimes the right thing gets done for the wrong reason.