.
.
Sleep was good. I have at least been adding research into my otherwise empty daily schedule. Food storage, heating options, cooking oil, roofing, some electrical issues, and the list goes on. I am not sure I am finding all that much of immediate use. I do become frustrated at costs, complexities, regulations, all compounded by a seeming inability to do even what is at hand. Still, I think it is better to look and search, read and try to understand, and fight through what I can, when I can, and how I can. I do, however, have empathy for those who have found a nice soft pile of sand in which to bury their head.
Sassy, the kitten, is growing so fast. She is now about a 1/2 sized cat, at about 7 or 8 months old. I am not sure how long it takes for her to fully mature. She is maturing of attitude as much as latitude. She is learning the fine art of the nap and letting papa "nap". She is still pestering the heck out of Sam, standing her ground and chasing, if still knowing she is outgunned and rolling and dodging ol' sour puss. Sam still has not taken to teh kitteh. A death in the family, to her, I am quite sure is a dream at this point. I would almost bet, when Sassy followed Sam initially when outside, Sam would lead teh stupid places that were... problematic. Sam always came home with a sick grin on her face. Just a suspicion, but... I notice Sassy no longer follower Sam, outside.
I am feeling better. I have been attempting to continue to eat. Small meals, once in a while, and bananas for snacks. I have learned that the potassium pills probably are required. Unlike what some mentioned, what is contained in the pills (prescribed) can be vastly higher than what could possibly be eaten. One man suggested it would take 28 bananas to equal what he was getting. Now, while I doubt his math, I do not doubt that the amount might be more than a dozen bananas. Possibly. I am still having trouble remembering to take those though. Then again, like every illness I have ever had... Oh noeses! I could dyz! It is difficult to get worked up about it, or anything in my current condition. I have supposedly been on the edge of immanent death... for at least a decade now. I am beginning to think they do not know what that word, immanent, means?
On politics, I will still hold that Republicans and more conservatives, are leading a charge which will change power in the House. I am, however, seeing signs that perhaps the Senate is more in play than what I thought. I will not bet on that, without a favor. I give that about a 30 to 40 percent chance, if it is looking more possible as the time nears. If it happens it would merely be an early Christmas present, one I am not counting on. A decent majority in both, considering the condition in the Supreme Court and the White House (I do not think they know what that word means either), would still be weak. And, that many of the Repugnants already there and many coming in, are much of the typical variety, the prospects are weaker still. But, it is what is and anything will be better than nothing.
I wish I had a way to get over the doldrums. This is getting more than a bit annoying. What makes it worse, in some ways, is that I am fully aware of it. If I lose track of time to a degree, I am still aware it is passing. If I am a bit addled and confused, that is more occasional surface clutter than all I see. In some ways it is like not passing out while being surgically treated without anesthesia. And yet, though I complain, I would prefer this. It gives me a little more control, a better chance at acting on the necessary, a greater sense of still being alive, if too a bit more frustrating.
Ah, but I can dream of my pole dancing good Catholic wife to come. I have picked the spot for the pole, by the way. I am just researching oil or not, and what kind if so... give or take a few tall fish tales. Heh!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
In a "roll your own" world...
.
.
Rolling your own may be the best bet. After many searches, much reading, and no definitive answers, my mind has been doing what it does in the background. Though I have no clear idea if this will work, I am considering the possibility of using one mylar bag as 2 to 4 storage bags. This would be a waste of oxygen absorbers and desiccants as the volume they are designed to handle would be 2 to 4 times what they might be used to handle. I am thinking that 4 x 10 to 12 pound bags of various goods could be created out of one mylar bag, sealing each section. This would allow for an easier use of the goods in a timely fashion and less chance of a total wipe if one bag somehow still goes bad. I am curious what others think though.
Research and more research. When one issue becomes frustrating, I move on to another issue. I am not sure I really get anywhere, though I suspect I am making my way. Sometimes I find direct information, other times I only find indirect suggestions, while other times ideas simply come to me in spite of finding nothing substantive.
I did, finally, program the programmable thermostat. It was not difficult, it simply was not intuitive, at all. Further, I messed around to figure out the features I like and would use, such as a filter change warning (indicating furnace run time, so when to replace the furnace filter) and temporary temp set and set and hold features, all while setting the whole thing up (each day at a time, what a pita). Oh, it was a little thing. But it has been on my list and my mind for a very long time. In spite of the cold and rain, the house is staying right at 68 F, without the furnace. This home is quite the find and buy.
Now that I am getting food prep underway, I am considering alternative heat sources. Wood and coal burning, of course, are the main interests. I cannot be certain, though I suspect coal is probably something that is around if it might not be currently mined. Wood, of course, because of the mountains, would be plentiful if quite a task to obtain barring vehicles. I am also very tempted to find out if the fireplace originally built into the house would still be viable or perhaps be able to be repaired. That, though, would take a wad of cash just to investigate with no certainty of value. If it has merely been walled away it could still be good. I would also truly love to separate the front room and bedroom, new (70's additions) front parts using weather doors. I can investigate costs, complexity of installation, and such on that at least to a degree. Money, money, money, and all of it fiat at that. Bah!
This house, even with the rough kitchen, was an excellent buy for a prepper. It was suggested that this and these houses were excellent regarding heating and cooling, with the proviso that they take a bit more to initially heat if left cold (which they actually make up for by retaining heat). This house had been completely functional for at least 90 years without a furnace and possibly even without electricity or running water, definitely without those for some large chunk of that first 90 years. There are things which might not be as modern, then again I am not so sure modern is all that desirable. Real wood rather than particle board, metal plumbing versus plastic, stone versus 2x4s, sheathing, some sort of insulation, and drywall.
It is bedtime. I am pretty much letting that just happen when it does, at this point. Staying up today was a little hurrah into near normalcy rather than a definite trend. Still, 6 hours of sleep might see me up by noon. I may call my friend and see if he wants a visit and to look for a bit of trouble... or simply try to get some domestic chores done and use him and an outing as a treat?
.
Rolling your own may be the best bet. After many searches, much reading, and no definitive answers, my mind has been doing what it does in the background. Though I have no clear idea if this will work, I am considering the possibility of using one mylar bag as 2 to 4 storage bags. This would be a waste of oxygen absorbers and desiccants as the volume they are designed to handle would be 2 to 4 times what they might be used to handle. I am thinking that 4 x 10 to 12 pound bags of various goods could be created out of one mylar bag, sealing each section. This would allow for an easier use of the goods in a timely fashion and less chance of a total wipe if one bag somehow still goes bad. I am curious what others think though.
Research and more research. When one issue becomes frustrating, I move on to another issue. I am not sure I really get anywhere, though I suspect I am making my way. Sometimes I find direct information, other times I only find indirect suggestions, while other times ideas simply come to me in spite of finding nothing substantive.
I did, finally, program the programmable thermostat. It was not difficult, it simply was not intuitive, at all. Further, I messed around to figure out the features I like and would use, such as a filter change warning (indicating furnace run time, so when to replace the furnace filter) and temporary temp set and set and hold features, all while setting the whole thing up (each day at a time, what a pita). Oh, it was a little thing. But it has been on my list and my mind for a very long time. In spite of the cold and rain, the house is staying right at 68 F, without the furnace. This home is quite the find and buy.
Now that I am getting food prep underway, I am considering alternative heat sources. Wood and coal burning, of course, are the main interests. I cannot be certain, though I suspect coal is probably something that is around if it might not be currently mined. Wood, of course, because of the mountains, would be plentiful if quite a task to obtain barring vehicles. I am also very tempted to find out if the fireplace originally built into the house would still be viable or perhaps be able to be repaired. That, though, would take a wad of cash just to investigate with no certainty of value. If it has merely been walled away it could still be good. I would also truly love to separate the front room and bedroom, new (70's additions) front parts using weather doors. I can investigate costs, complexity of installation, and such on that at least to a degree. Money, money, money, and all of it fiat at that. Bah!
This house, even with the rough kitchen, was an excellent buy for a prepper. It was suggested that this and these houses were excellent regarding heating and cooling, with the proviso that they take a bit more to initially heat if left cold (which they actually make up for by retaining heat). This house had been completely functional for at least 90 years without a furnace and possibly even without electricity or running water, definitely without those for some large chunk of that first 90 years. There are things which might not be as modern, then again I am not so sure modern is all that desirable. Real wood rather than particle board, metal plumbing versus plastic, stone versus 2x4s, sheathing, some sort of insulation, and drywall.
It is bedtime. I am pretty much letting that just happen when it does, at this point. Staying up today was a little hurrah into near normalcy rather than a definite trend. Still, 6 hours of sleep might see me up by noon. I may call my friend and see if he wants a visit and to look for a bit of trouble... or simply try to get some domestic chores done and use him and an outing as a treat?
Diagnosis.
.
.
While I have always been a skeptic of the medical field, more so of psychology and psychiatry (and wisely), I do understand that those fields do offer what we have to work with in order to understand ourselves when problems occur in fields related to those fields. My problem with trusting those who work in those fields comes through empirical evidence from my own experience that diagnosis and treatment is largely subjective. One doctor will run a series of test and pronounce bipolar, another only a year or even a month later will produce very different results. As for medicine, they seem to give out medicine more in the hopes that they will no longer need to deal with the "client" than in any hopes of producing a productive healthy citizen.
Fair enough, really. Some illnesses are not curable. Some times people will not heal whether because the causation was to severe, the causation was too widely applied for too long, or for whatever reason. The part I do not like is the notion that they can help. They should be honest. On their part, they believe that medicating a potentially dangerous human to the level of a drooling imbecile is the better part of their understanding of valor... perhaps even their own safety. They might enjoy the study of the deranged, hands on is another matter. And, in truth, I am potentially wickedly dangerous. Not off the cuff or without reason but I doubt if they rate that. When those in power are weak and fear those they have power over, they tend to be jackbooted about it. Show me a doctor or psychologist who could defend themselves against a teenager and you would show me a minor miracle. (Part of the problem with a techocracy, by the way).
Watching a show tonight, totally unrelated to the issue at first glance, the protagonist however ended up describing much of what I go through. Further, the narrator went further in offering information regarding the protagonist's issues. Now, these issues also cover another diagnosis. What to do? *click* Off with the television and to the intertubes. A compare and contrast of the two diagnosis makes the thing a blur. I have been treated for both diagnosis, though only one is officially on my record.
Looking a little deeper, it is possible to have both diagnosis, though there was some suggestion that one will more surely cause the other, so much so that there is some doubt the diagnosis I officially have can even be fully implemented before the other diagnosis is present. Yeah, okay. Things actually make a bit more sense. Unfortunately treatments for both are rather similar if they happen to start at the opposite ends and decay toward each other's starting points. Having run the gambit of treatments, I am where I am.
Of note, however, is the notion that the unofficial diagnosis is the most likely culprit if the official diagnosis is even correct (not certain). It was first, exhibited in a minor fashion before the service, exacerbated there to untenable levels of effect. As well, my symptoms fit much more strongly with the unofficial diagnosis. My problem with getting things done has a little bit to do with my nature (dishes and being a guy, usually a disaster waiting to happen, same with most domestic chores), being disconnected enough to not have a sense of work ethic... or anything including physical pain, agrophobia or more agorophobia (if these are milder versions), and avoidance (which might go to either of those aforementioned phobias).
Okies, kewl. I might say, "So what!", and that would be reasonable. I am not sure this helps at all. It does not prove anything to anyone else. It does... mean something to me. It adds surety to some of my doubts. It connects some lines to some dots. Sadly, it offers no cures or treatments I have not used. Sometimes understanding is all we get. Much like economic understanding (assuming we are even correct) get us no closer to solving the problem. I suppose, at least with the latter, we are allowed to attempt to carve out a niche into which we might survive. I would also guess there are things, even if just peace of mind, which come from the former.
Yes, I danced around naming the diagnosis. Those who know me know them, most likely. Some of them are dead set on it being one, the official diagnosis. And, most likely, they are seriously mistaken. Not my problem. But the dancing was fun. Not in playing with you, more in maintaining self control and playing a game with words to be purposefully a bit vague. A little thing, to be sure. Not even all that challenging, mostly. But I take what I can get.
Addendum:
Future drugs
Many ______ _______ with ____ feel dead inside. It is possible that this psychic numbing comes from the brain making its own opium-like substances, and that opiate blockers can give people back their feelings. It is not yet clear whether this works.
I hope the future will bring a drug like clonidine (trade name: Catapres) that people do not develop a tolerance to. In my experience, about one out of five ______ ______ with ____ experience major improvement of almost all of their ____ symptoms on clonidine -- but the heartbreak has been that they grew tolerant to it in about a week. Any future drug in this family that does not induce tolerance to this effect will relieve much suffering. A new drug in this family, guanfacine (tradename, Tenex) has recently appeared, but I have no experience with it and have not heard any reports of usefulness to _______ ________ with ____.
The most helpful drugs are likely to be ones that don't yet exist.
(I suspected a natural pain killer, for several reasons. And, that last sentence is correct. Then again, maybe some things cannot be undone. It is odd, but sometimes taking aspirin or Tylenol will, then, expose me to physical pain I suspected but could not feel and yet not treat the pain. Pain I do feel is handled well by those same otc drugs.)
.
While I have always been a skeptic of the medical field, more so of psychology and psychiatry (and wisely), I do understand that those fields do offer what we have to work with in order to understand ourselves when problems occur in fields related to those fields. My problem with trusting those who work in those fields comes through empirical evidence from my own experience that diagnosis and treatment is largely subjective. One doctor will run a series of test and pronounce bipolar, another only a year or even a month later will produce very different results. As for medicine, they seem to give out medicine more in the hopes that they will no longer need to deal with the "client" than in any hopes of producing a productive healthy citizen.
Fair enough, really. Some illnesses are not curable. Some times people will not heal whether because the causation was to severe, the causation was too widely applied for too long, or for whatever reason. The part I do not like is the notion that they can help. They should be honest. On their part, they believe that medicating a potentially dangerous human to the level of a drooling imbecile is the better part of their understanding of valor... perhaps even their own safety. They might enjoy the study of the deranged, hands on is another matter. And, in truth, I am potentially wickedly dangerous. Not off the cuff or without reason but I doubt if they rate that. When those in power are weak and fear those they have power over, they tend to be jackbooted about it. Show me a doctor or psychologist who could defend themselves against a teenager and you would show me a minor miracle. (Part of the problem with a techocracy, by the way).
Watching a show tonight, totally unrelated to the issue at first glance, the protagonist however ended up describing much of what I go through. Further, the narrator went further in offering information regarding the protagonist's issues. Now, these issues also cover another diagnosis. What to do? *click* Off with the television and to the intertubes. A compare and contrast of the two diagnosis makes the thing a blur. I have been treated for both diagnosis, though only one is officially on my record.
Looking a little deeper, it is possible to have both diagnosis, though there was some suggestion that one will more surely cause the other, so much so that there is some doubt the diagnosis I officially have can even be fully implemented before the other diagnosis is present. Yeah, okay. Things actually make a bit more sense. Unfortunately treatments for both are rather similar if they happen to start at the opposite ends and decay toward each other's starting points. Having run the gambit of treatments, I am where I am.
Of note, however, is the notion that the unofficial diagnosis is the most likely culprit if the official diagnosis is even correct (not certain). It was first, exhibited in a minor fashion before the service, exacerbated there to untenable levels of effect. As well, my symptoms fit much more strongly with the unofficial diagnosis. My problem with getting things done has a little bit to do with my nature (dishes and being a guy, usually a disaster waiting to happen, same with most domestic chores), being disconnected enough to not have a sense of work ethic... or anything including physical pain, agrophobia or more agorophobia (if these are milder versions), and avoidance (which might go to either of those aforementioned phobias).
Okies, kewl. I might say, "So what!", and that would be reasonable. I am not sure this helps at all. It does not prove anything to anyone else. It does... mean something to me. It adds surety to some of my doubts. It connects some lines to some dots. Sadly, it offers no cures or treatments I have not used. Sometimes understanding is all we get. Much like economic understanding (assuming we are even correct) get us no closer to solving the problem. I suppose, at least with the latter, we are allowed to attempt to carve out a niche into which we might survive. I would also guess there are things, even if just peace of mind, which come from the former.
Yes, I danced around naming the diagnosis. Those who know me know them, most likely. Some of them are dead set on it being one, the official diagnosis. And, most likely, they are seriously mistaken. Not my problem. But the dancing was fun. Not in playing with you, more in maintaining self control and playing a game with words to be purposefully a bit vague. A little thing, to be sure. Not even all that challenging, mostly. But I take what I can get.
Addendum:
Future drugs
Many ______ _______ with ____ feel dead inside. It is possible that this psychic numbing comes from the brain making its own opium-like substances, and that opiate blockers can give people back their feelings. It is not yet clear whether this works.
I hope the future will bring a drug like clonidine (trade name: Catapres) that people do not develop a tolerance to. In my experience, about one out of five ______ ______ with ____ experience major improvement of almost all of their ____ symptoms on clonidine -- but the heartbreak has been that they grew tolerant to it in about a week. Any future drug in this family that does not induce tolerance to this effect will relieve much suffering. A new drug in this family, guanfacine (tradename, Tenex) has recently appeared, but I have no experience with it and have not heard any reports of usefulness to _______ ________ with ____.
The most helpful drugs are likely to be ones that don't yet exist.
(I suspected a natural pain killer, for several reasons. And, that last sentence is correct. Then again, maybe some things cannot be undone. It is odd, but sometimes taking aspirin or Tylenol will, then, expose me to physical pain I suspected but could not feel and yet not treat the pain. Pain I do feel is handled well by those same otc drugs.)
Friday, October 8, 2010
Until 14:00 and change!
.
.
I did not get to much. Simply staying up became the task. Not that I pushed, I merely delayed. Waking starkly and abruptly at 20:00, I have been doing a few tasks in the way of research. Some information is actually difficult to find, some of it has proven impossible so far. I did find a very good site regarding storing water and container prep, but only after a good hour or two of fruitless digging. Most sites merely want to sell you (often inferior or overpriced) containers. I did fail to do a search on Survivor.com, but I will fix that shortly. There are so many ways to do things, but only a few of those will lead to an optimal outcome. Much like the roof, storing water and food could be as simple as just doing it. Results vary greatly and I cannot afford fixes I may not be able to do let alone counting on food that is not edible.
As the days go by, I realize time is counting down quickly. There are means of slowing the decent, reversing some of the various clocks which are in congregate counting down to the big fall, but these are merely stop-gap measures meant to stall. There is no fix other than a world wide control-alt-delete. The skeleton is so fragile it could literally collapse tomorrow and yet it might last a few more years. How steep a fall and how long that fall will last, as always, is anyone's guess. My guess, as I may have mentioned, is a brief but almost absolute fall followed by an upgrade to the 1930's (depression era, as well as social similarities). How long will that last? That will be the way of things for 30 years, maybe more. We will never quite be where we are today. If our government system falls and we turn to "global governance", we will be worse than that, more like Russian citizens in that time period. And that will last for centuries.
On the good side, the greens will get their people in place and they will immediately do what they always do in power... completely despoil land, water, air, and all they touch. Look at the places ruled by those who the greens support. And, the population of the world will be "...reduced through improved medical care and vaccines.", as Bill Gates is currently using his "charity" to see happen in Africa at this time. Well, back to research.
Update:
Water storage is pretty much covered, and without much to go on I will be mixing beans and rice, if not all or totally. I am considering how to partially bag the various types within the mylar bag. Trash bags, I believe, would be proscribed, having toxins or at least taste issues. So... what type of bag? Again, checking... Perhaps I am simply being to difficult, making the process more difficult than it is, or stalling without really meaning to do so? Maybe. Another issue with filling the water containers is... having the water softener means I do not want to store standard faucet water. I have a limited amount of water which can be gathered from the reverse osmosis system, but I do have an outside faucet. Now, the thing is, I am not certain where the outside faucet connects with the water system. It is close enough to be connected to the house and far enough away to be connected from the incoming water line. You see, it does get complicated. Then again, do I want to use city water?
It seems that, like any project and more so to a first time newbie, more goes into any action the first time than will most likely ever occur again. Even if, at some point, I change how I do one or many things it will merely be more like flipping a switch compared to building the whole electrical system, or adding an faucet rather than constructing the plumbing. And, just like developing the plans for those, then constructing them, the process of prepping really is not much faster. Given my monetary and physical constraints, this will be slow. Still, I am getting there. And hoping the collapse is further than I suspect, shallower than I believe, and that I will find my legs between now and then.
.
I did not get to much. Simply staying up became the task. Not that I pushed, I merely delayed. Waking starkly and abruptly at 20:00, I have been doing a few tasks in the way of research. Some information is actually difficult to find, some of it has proven impossible so far. I did find a very good site regarding storing water and container prep, but only after a good hour or two of fruitless digging. Most sites merely want to sell you (often inferior or overpriced) containers. I did fail to do a search on Survivor.com, but I will fix that shortly. There are so many ways to do things, but only a few of those will lead to an optimal outcome. Much like the roof, storing water and food could be as simple as just doing it. Results vary greatly and I cannot afford fixes I may not be able to do let alone counting on food that is not edible.
As the days go by, I realize time is counting down quickly. There are means of slowing the decent, reversing some of the various clocks which are in congregate counting down to the big fall, but these are merely stop-gap measures meant to stall. There is no fix other than a world wide control-alt-delete. The skeleton is so fragile it could literally collapse tomorrow and yet it might last a few more years. How steep a fall and how long that fall will last, as always, is anyone's guess. My guess, as I may have mentioned, is a brief but almost absolute fall followed by an upgrade to the 1930's (depression era, as well as social similarities). How long will that last? That will be the way of things for 30 years, maybe more. We will never quite be where we are today. If our government system falls and we turn to "global governance", we will be worse than that, more like Russian citizens in that time period. And that will last for centuries.
On the good side, the greens will get their people in place and they will immediately do what they always do in power... completely despoil land, water, air, and all they touch. Look at the places ruled by those who the greens support. And, the population of the world will be "...reduced through improved medical care and vaccines.", as Bill Gates is currently using his "charity" to see happen in Africa at this time. Well, back to research.
Update:
Water storage is pretty much covered, and without much to go on I will be mixing beans and rice, if not all or totally. I am considering how to partially bag the various types within the mylar bag. Trash bags, I believe, would be proscribed, having toxins or at least taste issues. So... what type of bag? Again, checking... Perhaps I am simply being to difficult, making the process more difficult than it is, or stalling without really meaning to do so? Maybe. Another issue with filling the water containers is... having the water softener means I do not want to store standard faucet water. I have a limited amount of water which can be gathered from the reverse osmosis system, but I do have an outside faucet. Now, the thing is, I am not certain where the outside faucet connects with the water system. It is close enough to be connected to the house and far enough away to be connected from the incoming water line. You see, it does get complicated. Then again, do I want to use city water?
It seems that, like any project and more so to a first time newbie, more goes into any action the first time than will most likely ever occur again. Even if, at some point, I change how I do one or many things it will merely be more like flipping a switch compared to building the whole electrical system, or adding an faucet rather than constructing the plumbing. And, just like developing the plans for those, then constructing them, the process of prepping really is not much faster. Given my monetary and physical constraints, this will be slow. Still, I am getting there. And hoping the collapse is further than I suspect, shallower than I believe, and that I will find my legs between now and then.
Almost 11:00 and all is well.
.
.
Not sure what is up, but I am awake, mostly groomed, and ready. For what you might ask. Heck if I know. It is raining and threatening to rain more, so work on the hen house probably cannot begin. I might do some measuring, again, and try to... well, just doing that for no other reason than to do it again. Dishes are soaking. Laundry piles look at me like I ought to be guilty, but hey, they are all collected in the right place, even sorted mostly, and they are not all that big. Some things will be done today, for sure.
Not that this means I am finished with my snit, fit, or fall. It is just that I feel good today. Whatever is supposed to be working is working. That though only creates potential. This, as I have said before, is a difficult next step in recovering. Though this could be called psychological, it may just as easily be mechanical. Put a man in a prison for some indefinite periods of time. Let him go whenever the mood strikes you, suggesting it has something to do with behavior, though showing no real causation or logic related to the why. Drag him back to prison indiscriminately (or seemingly to him) off and on for 20 years. Now, open the door. Sometimes he simply will have no interest in leaving. He is used to the confinement. He might even fear going out and trying to get involved with the work and play of life. He may be unfit, unable to really become involved. Still, I keep trying if I cannot always take every opportunity.
I think the rain and the cool has helped. It was in the 80's, upper 80's, until this rain set in. The cool is very welcome to me. I was not sure how I would deal with the cooling but I do think of it as a good thing, at this point. Headaches have abated a bit, though that might have been going back on the bottle (caffeine type). But I think sleeping while it is raining is rather soothing too. Between the pitter patter of rain drops to the smells to the cool.
Sassy has been being a bit of a terror. Now that I have gotten her used to the outside, mostly, I have decided that when she goes on her tears, I will simply set her outside. Today was the first time I did it though I doubt if it will be the last. The only reason I did not do this before was because the notion simply did not come to me and I had not gotten her used to being outside. It seems to work. She has not learned how to play nice or when to quit play either, so my hands and arms are a little cut up. I think I will do this when she refuses to be nice as well. She really does not like going outside. I wonder if that will change, any of it. Sam, more than ever, loves the outside. I am sure Sassy is pushing her out. I may intertwine letting Sam have the house to herself occasionally as well. This is, after all, her home before it was ever my home or Sassy's home. Who knows with cats though? I am also letting Sam stay out as long as she wants. Which may mean that she stays out longer than she wants. If she does not return when it is my bedtime, she has to stay out until I wake up. I do my best.
Oh, I saw something at MAinfo which absolutely shocked me, and that is saying something. If this turns out to be true I think Democrats everywhere will be in much more serious straits than what they are already in. I keep hoping for updates or others to pick it up and flesh it out. Even if the deal involves Repugnants, I think the weight of it is indicative of Democrats and their 'legal style' (think E. Gonzales, and Cuba (spelling?)). This, if true, will change much. The Senate may well turn on this where it would not otherwise. Women, a Dem bloc, will not tolerate their babies being trifled with by anyone, and if you know women all babies are their babies (goes to skirt socialism, but that is another issue). Even left libertarians might go a little off their cool-aid feed. Stanger "liberals" and Friedan feminists (Stalinist) will not be swayed, but most others will be. But more, the rest of us, already at extremely hostile, will simply put our foot down. If, of course, it is true and as advertised. Waiting...
.
Not sure what is up, but I am awake, mostly groomed, and ready. For what you might ask. Heck if I know. It is raining and threatening to rain more, so work on the hen house probably cannot begin. I might do some measuring, again, and try to... well, just doing that for no other reason than to do it again. Dishes are soaking. Laundry piles look at me like I ought to be guilty, but hey, they are all collected in the right place, even sorted mostly, and they are not all that big. Some things will be done today, for sure.
Not that this means I am finished with my snit, fit, or fall. It is just that I feel good today. Whatever is supposed to be working is working. That though only creates potential. This, as I have said before, is a difficult next step in recovering. Though this could be called psychological, it may just as easily be mechanical. Put a man in a prison for some indefinite periods of time. Let him go whenever the mood strikes you, suggesting it has something to do with behavior, though showing no real causation or logic related to the why. Drag him back to prison indiscriminately (or seemingly to him) off and on for 20 years. Now, open the door. Sometimes he simply will have no interest in leaving. He is used to the confinement. He might even fear going out and trying to get involved with the work and play of life. He may be unfit, unable to really become involved. Still, I keep trying if I cannot always take every opportunity.
I think the rain and the cool has helped. It was in the 80's, upper 80's, until this rain set in. The cool is very welcome to me. I was not sure how I would deal with the cooling but I do think of it as a good thing, at this point. Headaches have abated a bit, though that might have been going back on the bottle (caffeine type). But I think sleeping while it is raining is rather soothing too. Between the pitter patter of rain drops to the smells to the cool.
Sassy has been being a bit of a terror. Now that I have gotten her used to the outside, mostly, I have decided that when she goes on her tears, I will simply set her outside. Today was the first time I did it though I doubt if it will be the last. The only reason I did not do this before was because the notion simply did not come to me and I had not gotten her used to being outside. It seems to work. She has not learned how to play nice or when to quit play either, so my hands and arms are a little cut up. I think I will do this when she refuses to be nice as well. She really does not like going outside. I wonder if that will change, any of it. Sam, more than ever, loves the outside. I am sure Sassy is pushing her out. I may intertwine letting Sam have the house to herself occasionally as well. This is, after all, her home before it was ever my home or Sassy's home. Who knows with cats though? I am also letting Sam stay out as long as she wants. Which may mean that she stays out longer than she wants. If she does not return when it is my bedtime, she has to stay out until I wake up. I do my best.
Oh, I saw something at MAinfo which absolutely shocked me, and that is saying something. If this turns out to be true I think Democrats everywhere will be in much more serious straits than what they are already in. I keep hoping for updates or others to pick it up and flesh it out. Even if the deal involves Repugnants, I think the weight of it is indicative of Democrats and their 'legal style' (think E. Gonzales, and Cuba (spelling?)). This, if true, will change much. The Senate may well turn on this where it would not otherwise. Women, a Dem bloc, will not tolerate their babies being trifled with by anyone, and if you know women all babies are their babies (goes to skirt socialism, but that is another issue). Even left libertarians might go a little off their cool-aid feed. Stanger "liberals" and Friedan feminists (Stalinist) will not be swayed, but most others will be. But more, the rest of us, already at extremely hostile, will simply put our foot down. If, of course, it is true and as advertised. Waiting...
To the store I went.
.
.
I think I even got the few things I went there to obtain. I ended up packing a serious amount of foods home, more than what I had intended. And I picked up some of the non-food items. I ended up with 4 x 5 gallon water storage containers, 4 x 5 gallon buckets, 3 neato-twisto lids (though I may get more buckets and lids, after ending up with what I ended up with foodwise), a handy multi-opening lid popper/twister (should get another one, at the price), 80 pounds of enriched white rice, and 40 pounds of pinto and black beans (80 pounds of beans total). I cannot be certain, but that part of the shopping cost less than $150. Further, in spite of having given up on finding glass freezer to micro all good everywhere containers, I kept looking. While I was at it today, I noticed sets of pyrex. I think the set has a 2, 5, and 7 cup container, with lids, for $7 and change, plus tax, whatever. Why did that get my attention? The 7 cup with lid is usually $6.49 by itself. Right, so I did check the price, looked at codes as well, and watched as they rang them up. I bought 4 sets. I just could not have imagined that much for that little. Now I can begin cooking and freezing meals, whole meals.
Yes, yes, I probably overspent. Given that I am simply trying to hold on to money, I did not go over my budget. It will mean I will need to try and be lean the rest of the month if I want to gain some economic fat, or that I can just end up with a zero sum at the end of the month again. No, I need some back fat. So, a boring month. But, that is a decent little grouping of buys, all on my list, and pretty much within my goals. Actually, considering the sale, I did really good. If I can buy the rest of the stuff like this, I will have my year of food by March or April, along with a functionally rotating short term stock.
Yeah, excited. The thing is, even though this has been on my mind for some time I am still unsure how to pack the foods. Should I (since I am doing a 50/50 mix of beans to rice) simply add a twenty pound bag of each? Should I mix them while filling? I really do not know. I will do some more checking on this. It looks like I have enough for about 4 x 5 gallon buckets right there. Next month I will hit grains, a mix of multi-grains, oats (not quick), millet, and wheat, some of each eventually. I am not sure how much of any of it next month, but I will figure that out by price. I cannot swear I will get everyone of those, only that all of those are on the list. Wheat of both types is probably the next high priority. And the one thing I would like to get in the way of gear is a grain grinder. More buckets, lids, and water containers too, of course.
I am buying 3 gallons of milk at a time now, on the regular food front. Splitting my milk with the furry pests is killing my habituo. I cannot leave them high and dry. I never really looked into the other stuff, the stuff cats can digest better. Sassy did outgrow her dirty pants smell phase and Sam is able to drink milk and not get sick if I give her an hour or two to settle down after being outside before treating her. I did not look so I do not know the price, but my guess is that stuff is awfully expensive, sometimes difficult to find, could be as bad as anything else, and is... well... one more thing. Arghhhh! So, milk it is.
Well, it is raining so I am not sure I could get to work on the roof today in any case. What I am trying to do is find out exactly how things are supposed to work during the installation. The three sites I looked over all had very different, and absolute, ways of doing things. Which, if you are a cynical bastard, which I am, means that you put the damn thing up however it fits and yell at your neighbor for doing different! Does anyone really know? No, they only know how they did it so that it ended up successful if they might know some ways that do not work too. Some questions remain. It was suggested, by the seller, that I buy wood screws while most sites suggest simply using roofing nails. Huh? I think the screws I bought are sealing, though who knows if that is in fact true. Since I asked and they are just in the other room, I went and looked. Yep, looks like they have a way to seal. Next, drill the holes in the valleys or on the ridges? My guess, being that I live in a dryer clime, would be valleys. Then again, this is for the winter. Does it matter for snow, I know it does for rain but I am unsure about snow. And, of course, I could be wrong altogether. I will... keep looking.
Well, that is it. I have some things to figure out, some things to do, dishes and laundry await as well, and... Hrm, who knows what else. If I can keep at it and stay awake. It still amazes me that, in spite of being falling down weak and unable for weeks that I can simply toss around 80 pounds of stuff like I was carrying two cans of soda instead of one. I had a lot of stuff to carry out and carry in and it simply was not an issue. Why? Oh well, I leave weird things in God's hands. I do have some questions, if they are not what many will ask. The secret of pi? Who I really am and why my gifts are so... odd, amazing, and often unavailable to the point of debilitation. How close I got to squaring the universe. Little odd things. And, yes, I think we can square the universe. Get right with God and if he wants you to do something, it will be done. We can be like Christ, we can do those things, that is merely physics. Maybe not everything he did, but walking on water, water to wine, even raising the dead assuming that is God's will. Those things are merely physics, somehow.
All right, enough blathering.
.
I think I even got the few things I went there to obtain. I ended up packing a serious amount of foods home, more than what I had intended. And I picked up some of the non-food items. I ended up with 4 x 5 gallon water storage containers, 4 x 5 gallon buckets, 3 neato-twisto lids (though I may get more buckets and lids, after ending up with what I ended up with foodwise), a handy multi-opening lid popper/twister (should get another one, at the price), 80 pounds of enriched white rice, and 40 pounds of pinto and black beans (80 pounds of beans total). I cannot be certain, but that part of the shopping cost less than $150. Further, in spite of having given up on finding glass freezer to micro all good everywhere containers, I kept looking. While I was at it today, I noticed sets of pyrex. I think the set has a 2, 5, and 7 cup container, with lids, for $7 and change, plus tax, whatever. Why did that get my attention? The 7 cup with lid is usually $6.49 by itself. Right, so I did check the price, looked at codes as well, and watched as they rang them up. I bought 4 sets. I just could not have imagined that much for that little. Now I can begin cooking and freezing meals, whole meals.
Yes, yes, I probably overspent. Given that I am simply trying to hold on to money, I did not go over my budget. It will mean I will need to try and be lean the rest of the month if I want to gain some economic fat, or that I can just end up with a zero sum at the end of the month again. No, I need some back fat. So, a boring month. But, that is a decent little grouping of buys, all on my list, and pretty much within my goals. Actually, considering the sale, I did really good. If I can buy the rest of the stuff like this, I will have my year of food by March or April, along with a functionally rotating short term stock.
Yeah, excited. The thing is, even though this has been on my mind for some time I am still unsure how to pack the foods. Should I (since I am doing a 50/50 mix of beans to rice) simply add a twenty pound bag of each? Should I mix them while filling? I really do not know. I will do some more checking on this. It looks like I have enough for about 4 x 5 gallon buckets right there. Next month I will hit grains, a mix of multi-grains, oats (not quick), millet, and wheat, some of each eventually. I am not sure how much of any of it next month, but I will figure that out by price. I cannot swear I will get everyone of those, only that all of those are on the list. Wheat of both types is probably the next high priority. And the one thing I would like to get in the way of gear is a grain grinder. More buckets, lids, and water containers too, of course.
I am buying 3 gallons of milk at a time now, on the regular food front. Splitting my milk with the furry pests is killing my habituo. I cannot leave them high and dry. I never really looked into the other stuff, the stuff cats can digest better. Sassy did outgrow her dirty pants smell phase and Sam is able to drink milk and not get sick if I give her an hour or two to settle down after being outside before treating her. I did not look so I do not know the price, but my guess is that stuff is awfully expensive, sometimes difficult to find, could be as bad as anything else, and is... well... one more thing. Arghhhh! So, milk it is.
Well, it is raining so I am not sure I could get to work on the roof today in any case. What I am trying to do is find out exactly how things are supposed to work during the installation. The three sites I looked over all had very different, and absolute, ways of doing things. Which, if you are a cynical bastard, which I am, means that you put the damn thing up however it fits and yell at your neighbor for doing different! Does anyone really know? No, they only know how they did it so that it ended up successful if they might know some ways that do not work too. Some questions remain. It was suggested, by the seller, that I buy wood screws while most sites suggest simply using roofing nails. Huh? I think the screws I bought are sealing, though who knows if that is in fact true. Since I asked and they are just in the other room, I went and looked. Yep, looks like they have a way to seal. Next, drill the holes in the valleys or on the ridges? My guess, being that I live in a dryer clime, would be valleys. Then again, this is for the winter. Does it matter for snow, I know it does for rain but I am unsure about snow. And, of course, I could be wrong altogether. I will... keep looking.
Well, that is it. I have some things to figure out, some things to do, dishes and laundry await as well, and... Hrm, who knows what else. If I can keep at it and stay awake. It still amazes me that, in spite of being falling down weak and unable for weeks that I can simply toss around 80 pounds of stuff like I was carrying two cans of soda instead of one. I had a lot of stuff to carry out and carry in and it simply was not an issue. Why? Oh well, I leave weird things in God's hands. I do have some questions, if they are not what many will ask. The secret of pi? Who I really am and why my gifts are so... odd, amazing, and often unavailable to the point of debilitation. How close I got to squaring the universe. Little odd things. And, yes, I think we can square the universe. Get right with God and if he wants you to do something, it will be done. We can be like Christ, we can do those things, that is merely physics. Maybe not everything he did, but walking on water, water to wine, even raising the dead assuming that is God's will. Those things are merely physics, somehow.
All right, enough blathering.
A few odds and ends.
.
.
I called my last nag today. It was an interesting conversation. Many things were discussed and we caught up a bit on our various travails and joys, works in progress, and foods. She, as I may have mentioned, is a foodie of the organic nature. Her newest food fear, sugar. She is avoiding it like the plague. Fruits, like bing cherries, are her treats. This because her blood sugar was last tested at 100. Above that and she will lose her low premium for health insurance. She may be sadly surprised though, as bing cherries are just as sugary as, well, sugar. Or, close enough. Further, from my own findings, adding beans and whole grains does more to control that than anything else out there, and allows me even occasional excesses of pure sugar! I will discuss this when she visits. I will, as well, be prepped to let her sample some of my new foods. She did hugely surprise me though. She is eating *gulp* beef! She suggests that hamburger, some other cut, and t-bone steaks (T-BONE STEAKS!?!) were what she gets, and 50 pounds for $200 (that is not too bad a price if the distribution is decent among the types of meat, either, if I cannot tolerate grass fed beef well myself). Then again, I think I knocked her socks off with my new dietary groupings, more that I have controlled diabetes with it.
Anyway, I got some information from her so that I may purchase tickets for her visit this fall. It may be the last time I see her for a few years, save should I return to visit my mother and her in that time. I believe a couple of trips to some state and federal parks would be good. It will be a shorter than anticipated visit, so it is a good thing I called. She had last indicated a full week would be possible but has, she is a woman, changed her mind in spite of not even believing she had ever suggested, let alone stated, something different than what she is now suggesting. No problem and some things are not worth the hassle of debating, if they can be fun. Yeah, I know, but this has been part of my planning for some time. I did have to consider whether it would be possible or not, but it is, sort of.
The other thing of interest is to let you all know how much one, but even more two, pets help in even my crashed and burned world. Even if I cannot feed myself, they are getting fed and offered treats. My bathroom might need some serious work, but their litter boxes are kept rather clean. And even when I do not feel like playing, interacting, or even being awake, they have their ways and means. I suspect, in large part, these little critters are keeping me from too deep of a slide. Some of that must be this new land, some of it is my little friends. In spite of being in a rather difficult spot, I am thinking and functioning to some reasonable level... for a cripple. Plus, I still have memory.
I may not be sure how to break out of this ice prison I am in, but I am feeling lucky enough to give something a go again. A shower, a bit of a beard trim, on with proper street clothes, and I think I will head into town. Caffeine is high on the list, though I may only be able to get a small amount. At several stores it is on sale for 5 for $14, whereas what is open is charging $5 per. The trick, locally, is to check the ads. They really crush outsiders with food and such costs. The stores change who has what on sale, the rest is often outrageously expensive in comparison... actually in comparison to anywhere. Milk can run a $1 or more per gallon more at all but one or two stores, the soda thing, lots of stuff is that way. It's a shell game. Here you have to search the ads, make a list, and keep to the list. A serious problem for someone who has great difficulty making sense of ads, let alone visiting two or three stores when shopping.
I, again, have this feeling that I might be on the verge of making it to more function. Only time will tell. The last two attempts have been failures. However, those episodes have been recent enough that they may indicate a trend, like false springs invariably lead to spring versus indian summers which lead to hopelessness. It is coming, when is the question. It all comes down to jumping on that train every time it comes around with all I have and hoping I will eventually get going. I know, like the hobo, that I cannot reasonably walk from Chicago to L.A. before winter sets in. I will have to ride something. Even if I do not know what the train is or how it works, or even how to actually get on for sure, I know enough that I must try. *jump*
.
I called my last nag today. It was an interesting conversation. Many things were discussed and we caught up a bit on our various travails and joys, works in progress, and foods. She, as I may have mentioned, is a foodie of the organic nature. Her newest food fear, sugar. She is avoiding it like the plague. Fruits, like bing cherries, are her treats. This because her blood sugar was last tested at 100. Above that and she will lose her low premium for health insurance. She may be sadly surprised though, as bing cherries are just as sugary as, well, sugar. Or, close enough. Further, from my own findings, adding beans and whole grains does more to control that than anything else out there, and allows me even occasional excesses of pure sugar! I will discuss this when she visits. I will, as well, be prepped to let her sample some of my new foods. She did hugely surprise me though. She is eating *gulp* beef! She suggests that hamburger, some other cut, and t-bone steaks (T-BONE STEAKS!?!) were what she gets, and 50 pounds for $200 (that is not too bad a price if the distribution is decent among the types of meat, either, if I cannot tolerate grass fed beef well myself). Then again, I think I knocked her socks off with my new dietary groupings, more that I have controlled diabetes with it.
Anyway, I got some information from her so that I may purchase tickets for her visit this fall. It may be the last time I see her for a few years, save should I return to visit my mother and her in that time. I believe a couple of trips to some state and federal parks would be good. It will be a shorter than anticipated visit, so it is a good thing I called. She had last indicated a full week would be possible but has, she is a woman, changed her mind in spite of not even believing she had ever suggested, let alone stated, something different than what she is now suggesting. No problem and some things are not worth the hassle of debating, if they can be fun. Yeah, I know, but this has been part of my planning for some time. I did have to consider whether it would be possible or not, but it is, sort of.
The other thing of interest is to let you all know how much one, but even more two, pets help in even my crashed and burned world. Even if I cannot feed myself, they are getting fed and offered treats. My bathroom might need some serious work, but their litter boxes are kept rather clean. And even when I do not feel like playing, interacting, or even being awake, they have their ways and means. I suspect, in large part, these little critters are keeping me from too deep of a slide. Some of that must be this new land, some of it is my little friends. In spite of being in a rather difficult spot, I am thinking and functioning to some reasonable level... for a cripple. Plus, I still have memory.
I may not be sure how to break out of this ice prison I am in, but I am feeling lucky enough to give something a go again. A shower, a bit of a beard trim, on with proper street clothes, and I think I will head into town. Caffeine is high on the list, though I may only be able to get a small amount. At several stores it is on sale for 5 for $14, whereas what is open is charging $5 per. The trick, locally, is to check the ads. They really crush outsiders with food and such costs. The stores change who has what on sale, the rest is often outrageously expensive in comparison... actually in comparison to anywhere. Milk can run a $1 or more per gallon more at all but one or two stores, the soda thing, lots of stuff is that way. It's a shell game. Here you have to search the ads, make a list, and keep to the list. A serious problem for someone who has great difficulty making sense of ads, let alone visiting two or three stores when shopping.
I, again, have this feeling that I might be on the verge of making it to more function. Only time will tell. The last two attempts have been failures. However, those episodes have been recent enough that they may indicate a trend, like false springs invariably lead to spring versus indian summers which lead to hopelessness. It is coming, when is the question. It all comes down to jumping on that train every time it comes around with all I have and hoping I will eventually get going. I know, like the hobo, that I cannot reasonably walk from Chicago to L.A. before winter sets in. I will have to ride something. Even if I do not know what the train is or how it works, or even how to actually get on for sure, I know enough that I must try. *jump*
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Gold.
.
.
Maybe a few to a lot of years ago. Right now? It is the next great bubble. Unless you know what you are doing, don't play with the big boys. When billionaires are buying gold by the ton, do not expect them to be doing so other than to inflate and dump. If you do not have gold I would suggest you stay that way. I am even rather nervous about silver. I would love to buy twenty or thirty (face value) in junk silver, but at the charges they are pricing? A $10 face value is about $165, give or take. It should be more like $85. I would love to grab up a couple of saddle bags of the stuff, but I do not think that is wise right at the moment either. Speculation is a huge risk. Any one remember house prices 2, 3, 4 years ago? Yeah. Just saying. I know, I know, when TEOTWAWKI happens silver will... no, it will not. Matches and .22 bullets will be about equal to anything like a nickel or dime. Do not be fooled. I have to look at what would bring the best return considering current prices, and I do not believe silver or gold would provide that. (I would love to hear opinions on this though.)
Lots of things are on my mind and I can figure out what to do about few of them. Simply put, money time energy and ability are all variables I cannot quite find a way to overcome. Solar electric backup and subsystems, a well or even a cistern until a well, a large supply of various seed, a garage door opener is looking spooky, and rechargeable batteries with a good charger is dubious project. Still, buying extra items of food, storage for food and water, and the little things, are all moving along nicely. I am learning to sustain myself on these foods, mixing and matching if still not quite the way it would be in a total collapse. I have experimented with a small garden. I have done some work this summer. I am moving, sometimes slowly, in the right direction.
Of course, and always, in the back of my mind I wonder if any of this is even really necessary. Naysayers are not always external. This, by the way, is a good thing. The reason men die younger than women at all age levels is, well, because our naysayer is weaker and... because women are so hot we have a tendency to do stupid and dangerous things to impress or get over them. Marriage can handle that, but more because it is such a wickedly stupid thing (at least to our sense of destruction and love of danger). It might be said that marriage is akin to putting one's testis, women need not apply, in a vice and seeing how much pain can be endured. Needed, wanted, wise... Probably, somehow. (An example of my naysayer let loose on the notion of marriage, there, by the way.)
Well, off to do something or other. Just thought I would stop by and cause a ruckus. Hmm, might drive to the store tonight. I was awake, or more, woke up, in time to call and cancel and reschedule that appointment. I am almost feeling stellar on that account. Oh, and I may have found a way to obtain caffeine in a manner that allows me a bit more utility and variability with the stuff. Oh NOES! Oh yeah. Heh.
.
Maybe a few to a lot of years ago. Right now? It is the next great bubble. Unless you know what you are doing, don't play with the big boys. When billionaires are buying gold by the ton, do not expect them to be doing so other than to inflate and dump. If you do not have gold I would suggest you stay that way. I am even rather nervous about silver. I would love to buy twenty or thirty (face value) in junk silver, but at the charges they are pricing? A $10 face value is about $165, give or take. It should be more like $85. I would love to grab up a couple of saddle bags of the stuff, but I do not think that is wise right at the moment either. Speculation is a huge risk. Any one remember house prices 2, 3, 4 years ago? Yeah. Just saying. I know, I know, when TEOTWAWKI happens silver will... no, it will not. Matches and .22 bullets will be about equal to anything like a nickel or dime. Do not be fooled. I have to look at what would bring the best return considering current prices, and I do not believe silver or gold would provide that. (I would love to hear opinions on this though.)
Lots of things are on my mind and I can figure out what to do about few of them. Simply put, money time energy and ability are all variables I cannot quite find a way to overcome. Solar electric backup and subsystems, a well or even a cistern until a well, a large supply of various seed, a garage door opener is looking spooky, and rechargeable batteries with a good charger is dubious project. Still, buying extra items of food, storage for food and water, and the little things, are all moving along nicely. I am learning to sustain myself on these foods, mixing and matching if still not quite the way it would be in a total collapse. I have experimented with a small garden. I have done some work this summer. I am moving, sometimes slowly, in the right direction.
Of course, and always, in the back of my mind I wonder if any of this is even really necessary. Naysayers are not always external. This, by the way, is a good thing. The reason men die younger than women at all age levels is, well, because our naysayer is weaker and... because women are so hot we have a tendency to do stupid and dangerous things to impress or get over them. Marriage can handle that, but more because it is such a wickedly stupid thing (at least to our sense of destruction and love of danger). It might be said that marriage is akin to putting one's testis, women need not apply, in a vice and seeing how much pain can be endured. Needed, wanted, wise... Probably, somehow. (An example of my naysayer let loose on the notion of marriage, there, by the way.)
Well, off to do something or other. Just thought I would stop by and cause a ruckus. Hmm, might drive to the store tonight. I was awake, or more, woke up, in time to call and cancel and reschedule that appointment. I am almost feeling stellar on that account. Oh, and I may have found a way to obtain caffeine in a manner that allows me a bit more utility and variability with the stuff. Oh NOES! Oh yeah. Heh.
Sleep just will not happen.
.
.
Neither sleep or wakefulness actually. I have zero regularity with sleep now. I am always too tired to really stay awake. When I try to sleep, I rock and roll for hours before crashing at some point. Caffeine has been off the menu altogether for days or maybe a week now. I am not seeing much difference in sleep cycles from that. Headaches are a bit more common, or I can feel them. Food was good for a few days. I think I ate well for about 4 or 5 days, pooling all of my resources to that end in the hopes it might kick over the engine. While it was tasty and it did give me a little hope for a bit it did not work.
I have an appointment in the morning. There is no way I will be able to make it. I am hoping to be able to call in ahead of time and cancel the appointment, setting one up in a couple of weeks and at a later time of the day. I have forgotten to get bananas and have been taking the pills irregularly at best, which is as good as I can do in my situation. They are not going to like the results but there is little I can do about it. I tried to sleep tonight in order that I might get up and go but sleep simply is not to be had.
Oh well, I guess some people just are what they are.
.
Neither sleep or wakefulness actually. I have zero regularity with sleep now. I am always too tired to really stay awake. When I try to sleep, I rock and roll for hours before crashing at some point. Caffeine has been off the menu altogether for days or maybe a week now. I am not seeing much difference in sleep cycles from that. Headaches are a bit more common, or I can feel them. Food was good for a few days. I think I ate well for about 4 or 5 days, pooling all of my resources to that end in the hopes it might kick over the engine. While it was tasty and it did give me a little hope for a bit it did not work.
I have an appointment in the morning. There is no way I will be able to make it. I am hoping to be able to call in ahead of time and cancel the appointment, setting one up in a couple of weeks and at a later time of the day. I have forgotten to get bananas and have been taking the pills irregularly at best, which is as good as I can do in my situation. They are not going to like the results but there is little I can do about it. I tried to sleep tonight in order that I might get up and go but sleep simply is not to be had.
Oh well, I guess some people just are what they are.
I made a mistake, of sorts, the other day.
.
.
In a discussion regarding foreclosures, I had some fun at the expensive of banks and bankers. And, admittedly, I do wish to see that industry suffer for their misdeeds. However, I must also suggest that a slowing down or stoppage of foreclosures actually helps bankers. It gives them time to try and figure a way out. They may try legislative changes, debt avoidance schemes, or whatever. As well, foreclosures are necessary as a corrective issue. For any attempt to heal the industry, both lenders and borrowers, both who have used poor decision making, need to suffer.
Now, while I think things should be done with a legal flair, I am less worried about absolutist law abidence here. These lost cause debts need to be cleared. There is such a large number of them that, like the buyer who wishes to count every bean, practicality is an issue. Further, I suspect the banks are if not behind the push to stop foreclosures they are certainly now in league with those who instigated that. The choice is simple, if you like bailouts, continue. Socialize the home owning situation and just give people free housing. Business will not pay for it. The borrowers certainly will not pay for it. The taxpayer, again, will pay for it.
Further, it makes me question whether I should continue to pay my mortgage. If taxpayers want to pick up the bill for $250k to multi-million dollar houses, my mortgage would be nothing. I have to wonder how many other people are beginning to wonder that same thing. You do not want an avalanche of this. Do not go there.
Just a clarification. Banks, even though many or all were pressured by the federal government, which gave loans improperly, have to be cleaned out. If they go bankrupt doing so, so be it. Will the economy (given the state it is in, how it supposedly works, as is commonly thought) lose wealth? Yes. That is called a correction. It is vital that the economy be corrected. Some large chunk of the lost wealth will be from citizens. They bet on an unsustainable housing market and lost. *puff* Actually, the wealth is already gone. Acting like it is not and trying to slow the natural affects of it IS Keynesian. It is what many of us have discussed! Doh!
Well, that has been bothering me since I wrote my comment. It just takes a while to... get to things these days. I feel all better.
.
In a discussion regarding foreclosures, I had some fun at the expensive of banks and bankers. And, admittedly, I do wish to see that industry suffer for their misdeeds. However, I must also suggest that a slowing down or stoppage of foreclosures actually helps bankers. It gives them time to try and figure a way out. They may try legislative changes, debt avoidance schemes, or whatever. As well, foreclosures are necessary as a corrective issue. For any attempt to heal the industry, both lenders and borrowers, both who have used poor decision making, need to suffer.
Now, while I think things should be done with a legal flair, I am less worried about absolutist law abidence here. These lost cause debts need to be cleared. There is such a large number of them that, like the buyer who wishes to count every bean, practicality is an issue. Further, I suspect the banks are if not behind the push to stop foreclosures they are certainly now in league with those who instigated that. The choice is simple, if you like bailouts, continue. Socialize the home owning situation and just give people free housing. Business will not pay for it. The borrowers certainly will not pay for it. The taxpayer, again, will pay for it.
Further, it makes me question whether I should continue to pay my mortgage. If taxpayers want to pick up the bill for $250k to multi-million dollar houses, my mortgage would be nothing. I have to wonder how many other people are beginning to wonder that same thing. You do not want an avalanche of this. Do not go there.
Just a clarification. Banks, even though many or all were pressured by the federal government, which gave loans improperly, have to be cleaned out. If they go bankrupt doing so, so be it. Will the economy (given the state it is in, how it supposedly works, as is commonly thought) lose wealth? Yes. That is called a correction. It is vital that the economy be corrected. Some large chunk of the lost wealth will be from citizens. They bet on an unsustainable housing market and lost. *puff* Actually, the wealth is already gone. Acting like it is not and trying to slow the natural affects of it IS Keynesian. It is what many of us have discussed! Doh!
Well, that has been bothering me since I wrote my comment. It just takes a while to... get to things these days. I feel all better.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Yeah, sure.
.
.
Backing off. I suppose what I mean when I say that is that I am not going to try and force a schedule. That does not mean I am going to simply sit by idly. I have a few things I might be able to do. Function is limited, of course. I seem hung up on some of the things I want and need to do, so... why not add something different and try to branch sideways rather than straight through? This brings me to a subject that might get something going. Indoor winter gardening. The notion arrived, possibly, just in the nick of time.
I was reading one of my wisdom sites when I happened upon something that did grab my interest. Indoor winter gardening. It seemed, at first take, like something a Floridian or Californian might do. Their winters are mild enough. But no, the author assures me she lives in the cold of Colorado, and mountains to boot if I read that right.
Her ideas seem sound. And, since we have not had our first frost, I might be able to salvage my tomato plants, and whatever else has survived. The rest, she suggests, would be best started from heirloom seeds, so I might be good. Of course, I have to examine what I would need to begin such an affair. The tomatoes and peppers would need to be stationed downstairs, near the big south window. The plants I could grow upstairs, as it is cooler but with plenty of south facing windows, could be started at any time. I considered building a trough or two, and that might work downstairs but due to the window wells, it might not be necessary upstairs. Then again, being too close to the windows might not work. A little trial and error there, however, might prove the best way to find out. I would need planters though, large ones for tomatoes, smaller ones of various sizes for the rest.
I need to go to the store for groceries, so I may investigate the price of planters while I am there. I think I have enough wood and nails simply left by the previous owner to build the planters and bits to use as stakes for the tomato plants. There would be no cost, other than planters. Actually, they left a rather large one of those too. So I would only need 3 planters, initially, for the tomatoes, and 3 smaller ones for the various peppers. I believe I purchased modified planting soil, though I am not sure it would be enough. Another bag or three of that too, would be good. Rocks for the bases of the planters I have aplenty. You know, that might be a project I could get done.
I will keep you informed. A shower, a drive, and I will know more. Groceries are calling anyway. By the way, as I shop, I have been picking up items for my short and long term food storage. Several gallon jugs of oils have been purchased, more cans of vegetables, more tuna, small cans of various other meats, and bits of this and that. I am trying to store these until I have a sufficient larder to add those into a solid rotation, though I did break into that during this falling out. I have replaced and more much of what I used the last time I shopped. The good news is, in my use of some of those items, I was able to weed out things I really do not like no matter how hungry I might happen to be. It is tough to keep up when I lose track. Considering all, I am going much more forward than backward.
Yes, I will tell you how my scouting trip went. If I calculate it to be less than $40 or maybe $50, I may jump on it right there. Besides, I have been craving plants in the house for some time. I really enjoy green growing things. Dealing with the felines might be a little tricky. Perhaps using a bit of spare 4x4 open (4"x4") wire fencing I have lying around might be needed? Is there a spray that is a strong enough disincentive to their investigations and mauling? I know ammonia, cut to about 1/3 to 1/5 with water, keeps dogs from urinating on tires and can be used to keep them at bay. Oh, and it being the time it is and since I will be out anyway, I will stop and pick up 5 gallon water jugs and some 5 gallon buckets and lids, I saw a place where they are on sale... if I have not missed the sale. It all gets blurry sometimes.
.
Backing off. I suppose what I mean when I say that is that I am not going to try and force a schedule. That does not mean I am going to simply sit by idly. I have a few things I might be able to do. Function is limited, of course. I seem hung up on some of the things I want and need to do, so... why not add something different and try to branch sideways rather than straight through? This brings me to a subject that might get something going. Indoor winter gardening. The notion arrived, possibly, just in the nick of time.
I was reading one of my wisdom sites when I happened upon something that did grab my interest. Indoor winter gardening. It seemed, at first take, like something a Floridian or Californian might do. Their winters are mild enough. But no, the author assures me she lives in the cold of Colorado, and mountains to boot if I read that right.
Her ideas seem sound. And, since we have not had our first frost, I might be able to salvage my tomato plants, and whatever else has survived. The rest, she suggests, would be best started from heirloom seeds, so I might be good. Of course, I have to examine what I would need to begin such an affair. The tomatoes and peppers would need to be stationed downstairs, near the big south window. The plants I could grow upstairs, as it is cooler but with plenty of south facing windows, could be started at any time. I considered building a trough or two, and that might work downstairs but due to the window wells, it might not be necessary upstairs. Then again, being too close to the windows might not work. A little trial and error there, however, might prove the best way to find out. I would need planters though, large ones for tomatoes, smaller ones of various sizes for the rest.
I need to go to the store for groceries, so I may investigate the price of planters while I am there. I think I have enough wood and nails simply left by the previous owner to build the planters and bits to use as stakes for the tomato plants. There would be no cost, other than planters. Actually, they left a rather large one of those too. So I would only need 3 planters, initially, for the tomatoes, and 3 smaller ones for the various peppers. I believe I purchased modified planting soil, though I am not sure it would be enough. Another bag or three of that too, would be good. Rocks for the bases of the planters I have aplenty. You know, that might be a project I could get done.
I will keep you informed. A shower, a drive, and I will know more. Groceries are calling anyway. By the way, as I shop, I have been picking up items for my short and long term food storage. Several gallon jugs of oils have been purchased, more cans of vegetables, more tuna, small cans of various other meats, and bits of this and that. I am trying to store these until I have a sufficient larder to add those into a solid rotation, though I did break into that during this falling out. I have replaced and more much of what I used the last time I shopped. The good news is, in my use of some of those items, I was able to weed out things I really do not like no matter how hungry I might happen to be. It is tough to keep up when I lose track. Considering all, I am going much more forward than backward.
Yes, I will tell you how my scouting trip went. If I calculate it to be less than $40 or maybe $50, I may jump on it right there. Besides, I have been craving plants in the house for some time. I really enjoy green growing things. Dealing with the felines might be a little tricky. Perhaps using a bit of spare 4x4 open (4"x4") wire fencing I have lying around might be needed? Is there a spray that is a strong enough disincentive to their investigations and mauling? I know ammonia, cut to about 1/3 to 1/5 with water, keeps dogs from urinating on tires and can be used to keep them at bay. Oh, and it being the time it is and since I will be out anyway, I will stop and pick up 5 gallon water jugs and some 5 gallon buckets and lids, I saw a place where they are on sale... if I have not missed the sale. It all gets blurry sometimes.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Backing off.
.
.
I will still be trying to use time as I may, to do what I can when I can, but I have to back off again for a bit. Nothing has been accomplished in the realm of schedule control. What is worse, each seeming step forward leads to a more complicated inextricable seeming dilemma. I find myself, at 20:00, just becoming functional today. My headaches are back. Actually, they have been back for a bit, I simply did not notice them until I began a theory testing dose of aspirin. I have been in pain for a while but was too desensitized to notice. I thought people who forgot to eat were absolute fools. It hurt to realize I was a fool. How much worse someone who does not know they are in severe pain? Oh well.
Simple things like laundry and dishes have become oddities. It is as if my mind does not recognize the need and my body has forgotten how to deal in things of the flesh. I can, and do, think. I do have functional memory within my thinking. As for time, however, I have completely lost track of how that works, what it means, notions of it passing, or what time or date it is regardless of how many times I look at my clock or the calender.
Pressure has not helped. Financial order has not helped. I had hoped pushing would do some good, it has not. I had hoped as my finances realigned on payday that I would begin being able to lift myself out of some of the mire. That has not transpired. I am not sure what to do at this point. I am taking another little break and just "living". Though I am certainly not happy with that, it is what I have and I will live with it. On the good side, as I have mentioned, I am doing far better in my severe low than I have ever done before. I am aware. I have functional memory. At times I can push. My thinking, I think(?), is rather clear.
You, dear reader, can help me significantly here. Your sanity may be questionable, as all of ours should be. However, you do have the capacity to understand what you understand, see patterns, and form opinions. What I need from you is an assessment. Has my writing been... cohesive, logical (within my political beliefs), seemingly consistent, and well written (given my lack of true skills, or skill level, or such)? You can help me to know a bit better where I am.
Anyway, back to... the nether. Later.
.
I will still be trying to use time as I may, to do what I can when I can, but I have to back off again for a bit. Nothing has been accomplished in the realm of schedule control. What is worse, each seeming step forward leads to a more complicated inextricable seeming dilemma. I find myself, at 20:00, just becoming functional today. My headaches are back. Actually, they have been back for a bit, I simply did not notice them until I began a theory testing dose of aspirin. I have been in pain for a while but was too desensitized to notice. I thought people who forgot to eat were absolute fools. It hurt to realize I was a fool. How much worse someone who does not know they are in severe pain? Oh well.
Simple things like laundry and dishes have become oddities. It is as if my mind does not recognize the need and my body has forgotten how to deal in things of the flesh. I can, and do, think. I do have functional memory within my thinking. As for time, however, I have completely lost track of how that works, what it means, notions of it passing, or what time or date it is regardless of how many times I look at my clock or the calender.
Pressure has not helped. Financial order has not helped. I had hoped pushing would do some good, it has not. I had hoped as my finances realigned on payday that I would begin being able to lift myself out of some of the mire. That has not transpired. I am not sure what to do at this point. I am taking another little break and just "living". Though I am certainly not happy with that, it is what I have and I will live with it. On the good side, as I have mentioned, I am doing far better in my severe low than I have ever done before. I am aware. I have functional memory. At times I can push. My thinking, I think(?), is rather clear.
You, dear reader, can help me significantly here. Your sanity may be questionable, as all of ours should be. However, you do have the capacity to understand what you understand, see patterns, and form opinions. What I need from you is an assessment. Has my writing been... cohesive, logical (within my political beliefs), seemingly consistent, and well written (given my lack of true skills, or skill level, or such)? You can help me to know a bit better where I am.
Anyway, back to... the nether. Later.
Made it to bed by 22:00.
.
.
Woke at 2:00. Drinking water and trying to cool off. It being the first of the month, and having gotten to the store for more than sustenance, it was treat time. Cookies! Oreos and milk are something I have been missing. I have not eaten more than beans and meat and such for a good long time and I have been eating too little even of those. I now know, when my body becomes a furnace, it is due to pure sugar o.d. Like I said, I do that from time to time anyway. I overdid my treat a bit this time. Then again I have gone without sweets for so long it was overdue. I would have waken anyway though. I have been able to get to sleep early three times in the last week or two. Each time I wake after 2 to 4 hours down.
While up, I looked over the American pressure cooker. The metal seal thing was something I had noted previously. It is something that is excellent, especially in a TEOTWAWKI event. One less thing to go bad, and a major thing actually. Something I would have to buy with any other pressure cooker is extra parts. I try to do that for as many items as I can, if I am limited in the knowledge of what I can or should have on hand for many items. I hope to have a few storage areas set up by next year. Having extra items, while super, is almost useless if those items are scattered and unknown. Hoarding is what happens when collecting even good items if no coordination is used to store and perhaps document the items. I will, to this end, employ my mother in her visits. She is tops in this area.
In any case, I am thinking the next to the largest is the one I would probably purchase. Of course I realize I will have to create a means of heating it other than what I currently have available. The Americans are not recommended for glass/ceramic tops, which is all I have. I know, if I ever get to modernizing the kitchen, an island with a gas stove, or at least cooktop, is a non-negotiable. However, at $15k to $20k, that is not looking likely any time soon. A propane deep frying device might work, though the weight would be a huge issue to overcome. I would need to build a structure to support the pot independent of the heat source. Of course, all of that is a long time coming. I can look and think between now and then.
One of the projects on my odd list, if I can get to it, afford it, and then actually do it, is the creation of a brick or other type of solid outdoor cooking and baking structure. Yes, yes, the man is delusional. In the short run, and maybe altogether, but I do have plans and hopes. I can imagine a small brick structure with areas for baking, open flame "grilling", and even a place for true grilling or barbecuing, perhaps even with a rotisserie. As well, a low fuel design could easily be inducted into the thing. If done correctly, I would guess any fuel could be used, wood, coal, even dung, in a satisfactory manner. A pressure cooker added to that would make cooking very fuel efficient! I am merely looking over options, hoping to figure out where to go, what would be best of the choices, how to finance, and such. Options are good until it comes time to begin winnowing the field. I am not there yet.
Still, D.C. and I are right. A simple pressure cooker is all I need for the moment. The rest will remain in fantasy until, well, until it is acted upon or I die. I love races! The planning does offer something for me to do in down times, in any case. I still think a wife who is even half on-board would make these things be sorted quicker, planned better, and come about more surely. Nagging and sugar, sweet and sour, smart and dumb... each have their place and are, whether I always want to believe it or not, better than not.
Well, I think I will go look for designs pertaining to outdoor brick bakery/grill/cooktop constructions, again. Is it still hoarding if what is collected are bookmarks? Do not answer that!
.
Woke at 2:00. Drinking water and trying to cool off. It being the first of the month, and having gotten to the store for more than sustenance, it was treat time. Cookies! Oreos and milk are something I have been missing. I have not eaten more than beans and meat and such for a good long time and I have been eating too little even of those. I now know, when my body becomes a furnace, it is due to pure sugar o.d. Like I said, I do that from time to time anyway. I overdid my treat a bit this time. Then again I have gone without sweets for so long it was overdue. I would have waken anyway though. I have been able to get to sleep early three times in the last week or two. Each time I wake after 2 to 4 hours down.
While up, I looked over the American pressure cooker. The metal seal thing was something I had noted previously. It is something that is excellent, especially in a TEOTWAWKI event. One less thing to go bad, and a major thing actually. Something I would have to buy with any other pressure cooker is extra parts. I try to do that for as many items as I can, if I am limited in the knowledge of what I can or should have on hand for many items. I hope to have a few storage areas set up by next year. Having extra items, while super, is almost useless if those items are scattered and unknown. Hoarding is what happens when collecting even good items if no coordination is used to store and perhaps document the items. I will, to this end, employ my mother in her visits. She is tops in this area.
In any case, I am thinking the next to the largest is the one I would probably purchase. Of course I realize I will have to create a means of heating it other than what I currently have available. The Americans are not recommended for glass/ceramic tops, which is all I have. I know, if I ever get to modernizing the kitchen, an island with a gas stove, or at least cooktop, is a non-negotiable. However, at $15k to $20k, that is not looking likely any time soon. A propane deep frying device might work, though the weight would be a huge issue to overcome. I would need to build a structure to support the pot independent of the heat source. Of course, all of that is a long time coming. I can look and think between now and then.
One of the projects on my odd list, if I can get to it, afford it, and then actually do it, is the creation of a brick or other type of solid outdoor cooking and baking structure. Yes, yes, the man is delusional. In the short run, and maybe altogether, but I do have plans and hopes. I can imagine a small brick structure with areas for baking, open flame "grilling", and even a place for true grilling or barbecuing, perhaps even with a rotisserie. As well, a low fuel design could easily be inducted into the thing. If done correctly, I would guess any fuel could be used, wood, coal, even dung, in a satisfactory manner. A pressure cooker added to that would make cooking very fuel efficient! I am merely looking over options, hoping to figure out where to go, what would be best of the choices, how to finance, and such. Options are good until it comes time to begin winnowing the field. I am not there yet.
Still, D.C. and I are right. A simple pressure cooker is all I need for the moment. The rest will remain in fantasy until, well, until it is acted upon or I die. I love races! The planning does offer something for me to do in down times, in any case. I still think a wife who is even half on-board would make these things be sorted quicker, planned better, and come about more surely. Nagging and sugar, sweet and sour, smart and dumb... each have their place and are, whether I always want to believe it or not, better than not.
Well, I think I will go look for designs pertaining to outdoor brick bakery/grill/cooktop constructions, again. Is it still hoarding if what is collected are bookmarks? Do not answer that!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Another item on a long list.
.
.
While considering containers I visited what used to be my number one store for such goods. While there, for whatever reason, my mind drifted to something that has been on my mind. A pressure cooker would make for fast and relatively simple cooking. It might even expand my culinary skills a goodly bit. I like to think of it as an indoor grill. Not that it grills, but cooking is fast, easy, clean, and scalable. Larger group or leftovers needed? Not a problem. So, after looking over containers, I began looking over pressure cookers available at the site. Being who I am, that is only the beginning.
After seeing what was available, realizing I have zero ability to quantify the qualities, needs, and wants from users of such devices, and being on the internet already, a research project unfolded. No, one site is not enough. Gladly so, as it turned out and usually turns out. I found several very good sites. One of the best offered no brand choice, choosing merely to highlight what is good and bad or wanted and unwanted in such a device (good and bad are not always obviously juxtaposed). Further, in that and another site, I noticed that living at 4K+ elevation rules out using a typical pressure cooker for canning. And, actually, most pressure cookers are no longer suggested in the canning process, meaning another set would be needed for that. Since my gardening skills and success warrant no such expense, at this point, I believed I could simply focus on a standard pressure cooker. I do cook beans, rice, and meats frequently, meaning the expense could be warranted.
I would love to have a double duty device, one that would cook and can at this altitude, but I do not think that is possible, at this point. I could be taught differently, and I continue my search. However, at this point, this is the probable pick. Not only does it have everything of value on all of the lists, save a long handle (not so good on 8 quarts anyway, while it's two stubbier handles make more sense at least to me), it has a few undescribed good features. For example, it has two steam release mechanisms, one for mid-level and one for high pressure ratings. It works at low, medium, and high pressures (5/10/15 psi). Further, this particular device has both an 8 and a 4 quart pan (if only one lid), and an insert basket.
One thing always seems to lead to another. I, of course, ended up buying nothing. Further, I am taking containers off my list for the moment. How did that happen? I will begin, now that I am thinking about it, searching for a cannery pressure cooker which works for food and at this altitude. Perhaps cannery devices are able to achieve higher pressures? Of course, this is not necessarily good if it is limited to high pressure, as some foods require lower pressure. Maybe all foods do. It is amazing how little I know about so many things. Still, this item, or one like it, is on my list. I am thinking I will save pennies for a personal Christmas gift. Good thing I am not a woman, I would have to hit myself with it for the notion!
.
While considering containers I visited what used to be my number one store for such goods. While there, for whatever reason, my mind drifted to something that has been on my mind. A pressure cooker would make for fast and relatively simple cooking. It might even expand my culinary skills a goodly bit. I like to think of it as an indoor grill. Not that it grills, but cooking is fast, easy, clean, and scalable. Larger group or leftovers needed? Not a problem. So, after looking over containers, I began looking over pressure cookers available at the site. Being who I am, that is only the beginning.
After seeing what was available, realizing I have zero ability to quantify the qualities, needs, and wants from users of such devices, and being on the internet already, a research project unfolded. No, one site is not enough. Gladly so, as it turned out and usually turns out. I found several very good sites. One of the best offered no brand choice, choosing merely to highlight what is good and bad or wanted and unwanted in such a device (good and bad are not always obviously juxtaposed). Further, in that and another site, I noticed that living at 4K+ elevation rules out using a typical pressure cooker for canning. And, actually, most pressure cookers are no longer suggested in the canning process, meaning another set would be needed for that. Since my gardening skills and success warrant no such expense, at this point, I believed I could simply focus on a standard pressure cooker. I do cook beans, rice, and meats frequently, meaning the expense could be warranted.
I would love to have a double duty device, one that would cook and can at this altitude, but I do not think that is possible, at this point. I could be taught differently, and I continue my search. However, at this point, this is the probable pick. Not only does it have everything of value on all of the lists, save a long handle (not so good on 8 quarts anyway, while it's two stubbier handles make more sense at least to me), it has a few undescribed good features. For example, it has two steam release mechanisms, one for mid-level and one for high pressure ratings. It works at low, medium, and high pressures (5/10/15 psi). Further, this particular device has both an 8 and a 4 quart pan (if only one lid), and an insert basket.
One thing always seems to lead to another. I, of course, ended up buying nothing. Further, I am taking containers off my list for the moment. How did that happen? I will begin, now that I am thinking about it, searching for a cannery pressure cooker which works for food and at this altitude. Perhaps cannery devices are able to achieve higher pressures? Of course, this is not necessarily good if it is limited to high pressure, as some foods require lower pressure. Maybe all foods do. It is amazing how little I know about so many things. Still, this item, or one like it, is on my list. I am thinking I will save pennies for a personal Christmas gift. Good thing I am not a woman, I would have to hit myself with it for the notion!
Republican win?
.
.
I would like to think so, the polls say it will be so mostly, and there is a lot of buzz about the deal. Of course, there are folks suggesting we not count the chickens first and that the deal is not done. I wonder if the push topped too soon. I wonder if attention deficit Americans can really stay on track. I honestly do not have any certainty that either the House or the Senate will be lost. I hope, but uhrm, look where that got many voters last time, along with the rest of us.
As I have written before, even a Republican clean sweep would change little. There are too many big government small people politicians in that party. Of course, I also see that a trend in that direction would be good. And yet I cannot fail to notice there have been three major political changes if a Republican route takes place in the last decade or two. So trends can, do, and will change. I only know that I will be voting this election. To those ends, it is time I start looking at every single man on the ballot. The more difficult information to find concerns judges, which are becoming as if not more vital to change than politicians at this point.
No, I am not certain of anything in politics. Sentiments will not elect good candidates. Yes, grumbling. Yes, doubtful. Yes, I distrust political change is actually occurring or that it will last. Grumble, mumble, and whine. It's a grumpy day, sue me. Well, on to some research.
Update:
More grumbling, of course. Finding information regarding candidates is proving difficult. I have found information regarding those in office, federal offices anyway. My current senator, a stock Republican, was a teacher first. His voting record seems moderate. I wanted to look over the Libertarian running against him. Something about the education system connections and 9 years in office give me pause with the current candidate.
You know, for as long as I have been checking on politicians, you would think I would have the tools to pull up the goods right at the tip of my fingers. A couple of moves, three computer wipes, and a little time off the hunt and peck scene have found me scrambling like a rookie. The most I have been able to track down, even with a name, state, county, party search was... one paragraph in the Libertarian's filing regarding why he should be elected. Oh, I am pretty sure he cannot win. But in this case, I would like to know if a throw away vote would send the right message. I want to pull, push, and tickle the apparatus more conservative and would happily use my vote to do so. But, if he is pro-abortion, or open to the legalization of narcotics, I cannot conscionably do so. That is just that.
As for finding local and county candidate information, I am scrubs for nothing. There is no information, that I can find, at the Utah Republican site, the web generally, or in any areas I have looked. I will next try to find a county site and see if they have anything regarding candidates and judges. I am amazed at how little information is available. I am NOT going to, or able to, visit each candidate or their information centers (if they even exist). I am not sure how to get voting records and biographies. Frustrating, really, for a newbie in a new land, and with so many lost links to a long collected selection of information tools.
I am noticing that the search engines seem to be steering me away from information as well. No surprise, to my mind they always tried to hide decency in the form of Christianity, conservative values and politics while only hiding the truth of liberal intent, ends, and means shown by communists and other socialists. You can find whatever porn you want, I would guess, with a single small set of words. You cannot find information regarding a Libertarian or other conservative candidate. God did say the way was narrow and the many would become the few, but do punk tech kids need to add to it by rerouting internet searches? At least I know what path they are on. And, no, I do not use Google. But they are all the same, I do believe, and in the end. Punks. Brownshirt wannabes.
.
I would like to think so, the polls say it will be so mostly, and there is a lot of buzz about the deal. Of course, there are folks suggesting we not count the chickens first and that the deal is not done. I wonder if the push topped too soon. I wonder if attention deficit Americans can really stay on track. I honestly do not have any certainty that either the House or the Senate will be lost. I hope, but uhrm, look where that got many voters last time, along with the rest of us.
As I have written before, even a Republican clean sweep would change little. There are too many big government small people politicians in that party. Of course, I also see that a trend in that direction would be good. And yet I cannot fail to notice there have been three major political changes if a Republican route takes place in the last decade or two. So trends can, do, and will change. I only know that I will be voting this election. To those ends, it is time I start looking at every single man on the ballot. The more difficult information to find concerns judges, which are becoming as if not more vital to change than politicians at this point.
No, I am not certain of anything in politics. Sentiments will not elect good candidates. Yes, grumbling. Yes, doubtful. Yes, I distrust political change is actually occurring or that it will last. Grumble, mumble, and whine. It's a grumpy day, sue me. Well, on to some research.
Update:
More grumbling, of course. Finding information regarding candidates is proving difficult. I have found information regarding those in office, federal offices anyway. My current senator, a stock Republican, was a teacher first. His voting record seems moderate. I wanted to look over the Libertarian running against him. Something about the education system connections and 9 years in office give me pause with the current candidate.
You know, for as long as I have been checking on politicians, you would think I would have the tools to pull up the goods right at the tip of my fingers. A couple of moves, three computer wipes, and a little time off the hunt and peck scene have found me scrambling like a rookie. The most I have been able to track down, even with a name, state, county, party search was... one paragraph in the Libertarian's filing regarding why he should be elected. Oh, I am pretty sure he cannot win. But in this case, I would like to know if a throw away vote would send the right message. I want to pull, push, and tickle the apparatus more conservative and would happily use my vote to do so. But, if he is pro-abortion, or open to the legalization of narcotics, I cannot conscionably do so. That is just that.
As for finding local and county candidate information, I am scrubs for nothing. There is no information, that I can find, at the Utah Republican site, the web generally, or in any areas I have looked. I will next try to find a county site and see if they have anything regarding candidates and judges. I am amazed at how little information is available. I am NOT going to, or able to, visit each candidate or their information centers (if they even exist). I am not sure how to get voting records and biographies. Frustrating, really, for a newbie in a new land, and with so many lost links to a long collected selection of information tools.
I am noticing that the search engines seem to be steering me away from information as well. No surprise, to my mind they always tried to hide decency in the form of Christianity, conservative values and politics while only hiding the truth of liberal intent, ends, and means shown by communists and other socialists. You can find whatever porn you want, I would guess, with a single small set of words. You cannot find information regarding a Libertarian or other conservative candidate. God did say the way was narrow and the many would become the few, but do punk tech kids need to add to it by rerouting internet searches? At least I know what path they are on. And, no, I do not use Google. But they are all the same, I do believe, and in the end. Punks. Brownshirt wannabes.
Digging out of the hole.
.
.
Paying bills seems like a simple thing. One either writes a check, fills out an envelope or places an address label, seals it, adds a stamp, then transports the collected and assembled pieces to a post office box, OR, calls the business and attempts to figure out a maze of a telephone directory, usually getting through to another automated system, and pays using a credit card or debit card or perhaps even through the use of an electronic check. Of course, that is only necessary if one has not set up automatic payments. Simple, of course.
These things are not at all simple when the world of flesh becomes an anomaly. When even my name, whispered to try and gain some grasp of the flesh within which I am encased, sounds more like a single echo of a meaningless mantra whispered a thousand miles away than a wake up call or a form of identification. Dreams, sleep, wakefulness, function, form... all meaningless drivel... things I no more understand in the context of my senses than you must understand of my living state of mind, at least to the lengths and depths and heights of that state. I do not need dope. Nothing is this pure. Still, if I could bottle it and sell it, I would put cocaine and opium (opiate) dealers out of business. Actually, I think I could train someone to find this, but I would not do so. Some of them, many of them, most of them, would die on the way.
But I do think the fever, as I said, has broken. I may not be much better, as to function, but the planning stages are doing well. Further, I was able to go online and get several bills paid one way, get another paid another way, and set up plans that, if not automated yet, might soon be. I used three or four systems as a raw recruit, pushing and tugging to figure where to type what, what to allow through my virus and other filters, and then what to do once it was all connected. And, without fail, I took the tasks out like a pro. All but one bill may now be paid either automatically or online. My local utility bill. I am going to talk to them, if I can figure out how to be awake during their office hours, to find out about that. Even if they only allow it as a special case, if I explain my situation, I think everybody would come out better. They get paid, I receive services.
I am also considering what to do with storage, food storage, cooked food storage. Have you ever noticed how exact one has to be in order to say exactly what one means? I would prefer glass or ceramic, meal to three meal sized, since I cannot seem to find gallon and two gallon sized items that seal. I am looking for something that is freezer (if not directly, of course) to oven ready, with microwave and dishwasher readiness thrown in. The price may force me to mix plastic containers in there, which are only good for the refrigerator no matter what the label says and in my opinion.
It is odd. After nearly a decade of attempts to perfect my cooking skills, tools, storage, and such, I find myself still learning. Tools that were perfectly good yesterday simply vanish, some not to be replaced at all. The spiraling economy, litigious nature of the West, and many other factors are all playing a part in a sudden crash of the availability of fringe products. That is not really something I can do a thing about in the big picture. Still, attempting to do what I need, get what I need as I want it, and watching my few pennies in the process... well, that is what I can and am doing. If I would stop taking trips to the dark and light nether realms. Sheesh! A trip to a couple of online stores might see me to success. I will probably just price, look locally at two places I have in specific mind, and then either order by Tuesday or have them in my home tomorrow.
I win. Hush.
.
Paying bills seems like a simple thing. One either writes a check, fills out an envelope or places an address label, seals it, adds a stamp, then transports the collected and assembled pieces to a post office box, OR, calls the business and attempts to figure out a maze of a telephone directory, usually getting through to another automated system, and pays using a credit card or debit card or perhaps even through the use of an electronic check. Of course, that is only necessary if one has not set up automatic payments. Simple, of course.
These things are not at all simple when the world of flesh becomes an anomaly. When even my name, whispered to try and gain some grasp of the flesh within which I am encased, sounds more like a single echo of a meaningless mantra whispered a thousand miles away than a wake up call or a form of identification. Dreams, sleep, wakefulness, function, form... all meaningless drivel... things I no more understand in the context of my senses than you must understand of my living state of mind, at least to the lengths and depths and heights of that state. I do not need dope. Nothing is this pure. Still, if I could bottle it and sell it, I would put cocaine and opium (opiate) dealers out of business. Actually, I think I could train someone to find this, but I would not do so. Some of them, many of them, most of them, would die on the way.
But I do think the fever, as I said, has broken. I may not be much better, as to function, but the planning stages are doing well. Further, I was able to go online and get several bills paid one way, get another paid another way, and set up plans that, if not automated yet, might soon be. I used three or four systems as a raw recruit, pushing and tugging to figure where to type what, what to allow through my virus and other filters, and then what to do once it was all connected. And, without fail, I took the tasks out like a pro. All but one bill may now be paid either automatically or online. My local utility bill. I am going to talk to them, if I can figure out how to be awake during their office hours, to find out about that. Even if they only allow it as a special case, if I explain my situation, I think everybody would come out better. They get paid, I receive services.
I am also considering what to do with storage, food storage, cooked food storage. Have you ever noticed how exact one has to be in order to say exactly what one means? I would prefer glass or ceramic, meal to three meal sized, since I cannot seem to find gallon and two gallon sized items that seal. I am looking for something that is freezer (if not directly, of course) to oven ready, with microwave and dishwasher readiness thrown in. The price may force me to mix plastic containers in there, which are only good for the refrigerator no matter what the label says and in my opinion.
It is odd. After nearly a decade of attempts to perfect my cooking skills, tools, storage, and such, I find myself still learning. Tools that were perfectly good yesterday simply vanish, some not to be replaced at all. The spiraling economy, litigious nature of the West, and many other factors are all playing a part in a sudden crash of the availability of fringe products. That is not really something I can do a thing about in the big picture. Still, attempting to do what I need, get what I need as I want it, and watching my few pennies in the process... well, that is what I can and am doing. If I would stop taking trips to the dark and light nether realms. Sheesh! A trip to a couple of online stores might see me to success. I will probably just price, look locally at two places I have in specific mind, and then either order by Tuesday or have them in my home tomorrow.
I win. Hush.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Au contraire!
.
.
It happens. Actually it happens often. My thinking might be called dogmatic. I have built a foundation, defenses, work-arounds to exceptions, designated outlets where only faith will sustain the beliefs, and generally I keep to this. However, while inspecting the psychic fortresses I have built, I do not merely look at the scenery and enjoy the power of my constructions. I have seen the enemy. Hell, I AM the enemy. I know what happens during failures. I know what happens to losers. I know what I do when I cause or capture such. To put it colloquially, it ain't pretty. So, while inspecting my defenses, from men and ideas which I use to defend and go on the offensive to the virtual ramparts, walls, pits, and machinery, I test harshly. I look for my own weaknesses better than any enemy can, or so it is hoped.
Tonight is a light version of some minor results. I am not going to tell you about my follies and foibles which are serious. I, simply put, do not think outlets such as the New York Times, the network news outlets, the Democratic party (considering those are supposed to be American institutions) should be emulated, or possibly even legally permitted to stand, if that is a different issue. No, my contrarian notions are of a lighter sort.
The first regards sports. Football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, gymnastics... I am not prejudiced, I truly hate them all. Well, maybe I like gymnastics like a cat enjoys watching goldfish. I have played football and basketball. I have run track and competed in field events. I did that more from peer pressure and civic duty as I saw it, then out of any love for the sports. But that does not mean I did not play hard, I did not play well, or I did not succeed given my circumstances in those competitions. I did very well indeed. And, yet, I despise the games.
My sense of loathing has little to do with who than what. The whole notion of pushing and shoving through a group of men to put pig skinned compressed air into an area of soil covered by grass for no real purpose... disgusts me. It is both a waste of energy, a waste of time, and an economic drain. It does not produce better men, a stronger economy, or, really, anything. The same can be said for any sport. I will admit, professional sports has become a micro, or would that be macro, economy. Of course, if my ideas are correct, this micro (or macro) economy competes with real economic growth and the production of goods and so it is a bad thing. Not that this notion matters, the whole notion of economy is an afterthought in any event. This is my dogma.
While watching what I do enjoy, that is cooking and really high end cooking one will see watching Iron Chef type shows, I punched through some weakness in my defenses. I thrilled at the competition. The show I was watching pitted 9 top chefs in an ongoing competition to eventually see who would be the next Iron Chef. The cooking was interesting. Seeing people forced out of their elements, required to use surprise, difficult, or both, ingredients, with a time limit and strict judging was fantastic. Albeit probably just to a few of us foodie types.
I cannot cook at that level, in that time, under the stress. Probably. I can whip up a meal to feed an army in short order, under tight constraints, with what is on hand, and it will satisfy most (picky eaters, like hecklers, need not apply). I can, given time and a trip to various markets, make a meal that might bring marriage proposals... from guys (I think I am going to be sick). But I cannot bring that all together and I am hit and miss, mostly since I experiment a lot. There is much I do not know. Though and again, I see mistakes made by chefs which I would not have made (in theory, at least I recognize the mistakes) if too I see chefs make mistakes I would very much have made.
The thing is, I garnered more than a few culinary ideas from the viewing. I felt the call to compete. And I sensed my incapacity to compete. Bluntly, I enjoyed vicarious competition. I enjoyed the highs and lows. Even if I can still pick out what a penalty is for in football, and my coach usually asked me what a call was if he did not see it, knowledge is not enough in football. I sometimes wonder if my problem with football was playing against and with inferior athletes. I caused 2 to 3 fumbles a game and 4 to 7 turnovers, but played with a team that never won a game and really could not have won. Though that does not really explain it as in basketball my team made it to the play-offs every year, handily, if we blew it at that point every time. I was average, give or take, on that team. Good team, bad team, superior or average skills, plenty of knowledge, no interest. At least now I see why sports are enjoyed, if my understanding is skewed and in it's own way, so as to be itself vicarious somehow.
The other notion which came to me tonight is the ongoing warfare of the sexes. There are, of course, some more and some less dogmatic elements on both sides of the issue. I am a moderate man side type. I am not fully in the woman hater's camp nor am I at all interested in even the soppy pseudo feminist camp that begs for room to be equal but different. Men, as I see it, are the crafters of the world (of flesh, and as we know it), the makers of the world, the developers of science, the masters of religion and philosophy, and the leaders, princes, and kings of all. If I were to set this in the ways of war, I would call men warriors and women civilians. Both have a place, there might be some overlap by needs, but the majority of warriors can and are both actors while civilians are limited to just being that. Few are the civilians who can stand against even a weak warrior in the domain of war and fewer still are the ones who survive unscathed from the effort. Fine fine. And, no, that did not change tonight. But a component of that did.
Women always seem to attempt to 'gain their freedom', go against the machine, fight, debate, rankle, and disagree. The notion came to me when I was fussing with Sassy. Go figure. When I wanted to hold her and cuddle, she wanted to leave and check out something 'over there'. When I wanted to be alone, she wanted to play or cuddle. When I wanted to pet, she wanted to fight. This is the way of it. I realized she could not be intentionally contrarian all of the time. So, what was the problem? Simple, she simply is controlled by a set of parameters, time tables, interests, buttons, tabs, switches, and hormones which I simply cannot fathom. As the leader, it is incumbent upon me to either find a way to get her on my wave lenght, adjust my wave length to fit her's, or to simply leave things well alone. Simply, she does not have the capacity to self adjust easily or happily. More and more, I guess, I am seeing that women are our responsibility more than our enemy, at least most of them. Feminists might not even be to blame, fully, logically, as one might a man. Their estrogen levels are often out of balance with their testosterone, making them a bit odd to deal with in a normal sense. Nearly male by hormones, yet completely female by anatomy... tricky dicky... less. Ha!
That may not go over well with the ladies, but it is as close as I get to altering my dogma there. My beliefs stand. That we live in a world where life is viewed as dispensable, chastity is seen as farcical, propriety is seen as a thing of the past, and everyone is seen as equal, it is no wonder that women have ended up where they are, that men are refusing to go there, and where law and equality in their attempts to merge have only proven the futility of such an action by completely ignoring the fact that the only way to create equality is to suspend justice, meaning that neither exists at this point.
I still hate pink men's shirts, and yellow. I still think mustaches are teh gey. I still think women are far too interesting for my own good. And I still like beef in large supplies, merely flame or heat touched enough to add a sense that something might have been cooked while the inside begs to differ in the same manner a boot to the head might cause pain. So, I can live with my little alterations. Well, back to the main keep to sooth the pain of the possibility I might have been a little wrong. I am not a baby. I am a great big wonking baby. Just setting the record straight.
.
It happens. Actually it happens often. My thinking might be called dogmatic. I have built a foundation, defenses, work-arounds to exceptions, designated outlets where only faith will sustain the beliefs, and generally I keep to this. However, while inspecting the psychic fortresses I have built, I do not merely look at the scenery and enjoy the power of my constructions. I have seen the enemy. Hell, I AM the enemy. I know what happens during failures. I know what happens to losers. I know what I do when I cause or capture such. To put it colloquially, it ain't pretty. So, while inspecting my defenses, from men and ideas which I use to defend and go on the offensive to the virtual ramparts, walls, pits, and machinery, I test harshly. I look for my own weaknesses better than any enemy can, or so it is hoped.
Tonight is a light version of some minor results. I am not going to tell you about my follies and foibles which are serious. I, simply put, do not think outlets such as the New York Times, the network news outlets, the Democratic party (considering those are supposed to be American institutions) should be emulated, or possibly even legally permitted to stand, if that is a different issue. No, my contrarian notions are of a lighter sort.
The first regards sports. Football, basketball, baseball, wrestling, gymnastics... I am not prejudiced, I truly hate them all. Well, maybe I like gymnastics like a cat enjoys watching goldfish. I have played football and basketball. I have run track and competed in field events. I did that more from peer pressure and civic duty as I saw it, then out of any love for the sports. But that does not mean I did not play hard, I did not play well, or I did not succeed given my circumstances in those competitions. I did very well indeed. And, yet, I despise the games.
My sense of loathing has little to do with who than what. The whole notion of pushing and shoving through a group of men to put pig skinned compressed air into an area of soil covered by grass for no real purpose... disgusts me. It is both a waste of energy, a waste of time, and an economic drain. It does not produce better men, a stronger economy, or, really, anything. The same can be said for any sport. I will admit, professional sports has become a micro, or would that be macro, economy. Of course, if my ideas are correct, this micro (or macro) economy competes with real economic growth and the production of goods and so it is a bad thing. Not that this notion matters, the whole notion of economy is an afterthought in any event. This is my dogma.
While watching what I do enjoy, that is cooking and really high end cooking one will see watching Iron Chef type shows, I punched through some weakness in my defenses. I thrilled at the competition. The show I was watching pitted 9 top chefs in an ongoing competition to eventually see who would be the next Iron Chef. The cooking was interesting. Seeing people forced out of their elements, required to use surprise, difficult, or both, ingredients, with a time limit and strict judging was fantastic. Albeit probably just to a few of us foodie types.
I cannot cook at that level, in that time, under the stress. Probably. I can whip up a meal to feed an army in short order, under tight constraints, with what is on hand, and it will satisfy most (picky eaters, like hecklers, need not apply). I can, given time and a trip to various markets, make a meal that might bring marriage proposals... from guys (I think I am going to be sick). But I cannot bring that all together and I am hit and miss, mostly since I experiment a lot. There is much I do not know. Though and again, I see mistakes made by chefs which I would not have made (in theory, at least I recognize the mistakes) if too I see chefs make mistakes I would very much have made.
The thing is, I garnered more than a few culinary ideas from the viewing. I felt the call to compete. And I sensed my incapacity to compete. Bluntly, I enjoyed vicarious competition. I enjoyed the highs and lows. Even if I can still pick out what a penalty is for in football, and my coach usually asked me what a call was if he did not see it, knowledge is not enough in football. I sometimes wonder if my problem with football was playing against and with inferior athletes. I caused 2 to 3 fumbles a game and 4 to 7 turnovers, but played with a team that never won a game and really could not have won. Though that does not really explain it as in basketball my team made it to the play-offs every year, handily, if we blew it at that point every time. I was average, give or take, on that team. Good team, bad team, superior or average skills, plenty of knowledge, no interest. At least now I see why sports are enjoyed, if my understanding is skewed and in it's own way, so as to be itself vicarious somehow.
The other notion which came to me tonight is the ongoing warfare of the sexes. There are, of course, some more and some less dogmatic elements on both sides of the issue. I am a moderate man side type. I am not fully in the woman hater's camp nor am I at all interested in even the soppy pseudo feminist camp that begs for room to be equal but different. Men, as I see it, are the crafters of the world (of flesh, and as we know it), the makers of the world, the developers of science, the masters of religion and philosophy, and the leaders, princes, and kings of all. If I were to set this in the ways of war, I would call men warriors and women civilians. Both have a place, there might be some overlap by needs, but the majority of warriors can and are both actors while civilians are limited to just being that. Few are the civilians who can stand against even a weak warrior in the domain of war and fewer still are the ones who survive unscathed from the effort. Fine fine. And, no, that did not change tonight. But a component of that did.
Women always seem to attempt to 'gain their freedom', go against the machine, fight, debate, rankle, and disagree. The notion came to me when I was fussing with Sassy. Go figure. When I wanted to hold her and cuddle, she wanted to leave and check out something 'over there'. When I wanted to be alone, she wanted to play or cuddle. When I wanted to pet, she wanted to fight. This is the way of it. I realized she could not be intentionally contrarian all of the time. So, what was the problem? Simple, she simply is controlled by a set of parameters, time tables, interests, buttons, tabs, switches, and hormones which I simply cannot fathom. As the leader, it is incumbent upon me to either find a way to get her on my wave lenght, adjust my wave length to fit her's, or to simply leave things well alone. Simply, she does not have the capacity to self adjust easily or happily. More and more, I guess, I am seeing that women are our responsibility more than our enemy, at least most of them. Feminists might not even be to blame, fully, logically, as one might a man. Their estrogen levels are often out of balance with their testosterone, making them a bit odd to deal with in a normal sense. Nearly male by hormones, yet completely female by anatomy... tricky dicky... less. Ha!
That may not go over well with the ladies, but it is as close as I get to altering my dogma there. My beliefs stand. That we live in a world where life is viewed as dispensable, chastity is seen as farcical, propriety is seen as a thing of the past, and everyone is seen as equal, it is no wonder that women have ended up where they are, that men are refusing to go there, and where law and equality in their attempts to merge have only proven the futility of such an action by completely ignoring the fact that the only way to create equality is to suspend justice, meaning that neither exists at this point.
I still hate pink men's shirts, and yellow. I still think mustaches are teh gey. I still think women are far too interesting for my own good. And I still like beef in large supplies, merely flame or heat touched enough to add a sense that something might have been cooked while the inside begs to differ in the same manner a boot to the head might cause pain. So, I can live with my little alterations. Well, back to the main keep to sooth the pain of the possibility I might have been a little wrong. I am not a baby. I am a great big wonking baby. Just setting the record straight.
My fever has broken.
.
.
Something tells me I may once again, truly, be able to begin doing what needs to be done. I am still tired, grumpy, sore, sleepy, and such, but I feel energized. I have forced myself to eat, and plenty, the last few days. I have, in spite of feeling no pain, started taking aspirin today. Yeah, I must have been in pain along with being hungry for a couple of weeks. It is time to get to things, though it is so late! I worry about the roof and a dozen other projects. Still, I will start at the start and get where I can.
I do not know what I can do about my schedule. I do know that even with it being off a full day schedule that I still wake with plenty of sunlight left. I will have to figure a way to shove off and out and get to work, but I think I can at this point. After a healthy sized steak tonight, a shower after a sad lapse in grooming, and being healthily awake and aware, I will go to town. I have emptied much of my larder being stuck at home for so long. Sardines, grains, meats, milk, butter, sour cream... just some of the things I am out of and miss or are nearly gone. Though I have made some rather creative recipes.
I do feel better. I do not know what suddenly released though the pain killers helped, how long it will last, or whether my actions can help or hurt. I only know I am going to try and push on through. I think I am back in the driver's seat but we will see. I hope and I do and will pray. There is so much I want, need, and would like to do! Life is grand, regardless of how this turns out. Best get going...
.
Something tells me I may once again, truly, be able to begin doing what needs to be done. I am still tired, grumpy, sore, sleepy, and such, but I feel energized. I have forced myself to eat, and plenty, the last few days. I have, in spite of feeling no pain, started taking aspirin today. Yeah, I must have been in pain along with being hungry for a couple of weeks. It is time to get to things, though it is so late! I worry about the roof and a dozen other projects. Still, I will start at the start and get where I can.
I do not know what I can do about my schedule. I do know that even with it being off a full day schedule that I still wake with plenty of sunlight left. I will have to figure a way to shove off and out and get to work, but I think I can at this point. After a healthy sized steak tonight, a shower after a sad lapse in grooming, and being healthily awake and aware, I will go to town. I have emptied much of my larder being stuck at home for so long. Sardines, grains, meats, milk, butter, sour cream... just some of the things I am out of and miss or are nearly gone. Though I have made some rather creative recipes.
I do feel better. I do not know what suddenly released though the pain killers helped, how long it will last, or whether my actions can help or hurt. I only know I am going to try and push on through. I think I am back in the driver's seat but we will see. I hope and I do and will pray. There is so much I want, need, and would like to do! Life is grand, regardless of how this turns out. Best get going...
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Coincidence.
.
.
Watching television this evening, I found two channels which I could switch to avoid commercials and still get most of the content. One was a documentary on Jim Jones, the other was "Rambo", the one where he takes missionaries upstream into a war zone. They seem to be very different, and yet they are not. Not at all. I guess the notion struck me so strongly about a quarter of the way through the viewings, something clicked.
Jim Jones, if you do not remember, was a self-styled preacher socialist egalitarian leader of what we would call a cult. He made promises, spouted about a God he could not have believed in, and collected the lost and the weak. He, after either real concerns he would be shut down in the states or merely because he was becoming ever more paranoid from drug use and criminal behavior, moved many of his "parishioners" to Guyana. There, it seems, he did whatever he wanted to whoever he wanted. What all really went on in there will probably never be fully known.
The movie "Rambo", if the victims are more hapless or weak than not, describes a camp of men much like the people who killed those who would not commit suicide for Jim Jones. Only, they were stolen as youth and indoctrinated in the harshest of manners. They murdered, stole, raped, tortured, burned, looted, and did whatever they were told or were "trained" to do. I have no doubt that as they became grizzled veterans they came to enjoy what they had.
It still seems unlikely that the two stories are all that connected. But if you skeletonize the two stories, looking at the initial and final means of getting people to obey, the lengths taken to the ends of those in charge, the promised ends, and the real ends, you begin to see similarities pop out as you would discover similarities in two real skeletons. It is amazing, to me, that whenever socialism, said to be nicer or softer than communism, pops up and power is allowed to accrue, lots of people die.
Why all this? Ah, that. Because last election we handed just such people power. Deny it if you will. Denounce me if you want. That is who holds majority power in this nation at this time. Democrats you say? No. Democrats and at least a third and more like half of Republicans in office. What does that have to do with a couple of shows? What happens when people with certain beliefs believe they are about to lose power? You answer that for yourself, not my job.
All I am saying is that I am glad to live in a place with a low population. I am glad to be living among people who have stocked up, are armed, where I have started to store my own food, water (well, soon), and goods. Our government, right now, is more of a threat than all the terrorists on the planet, foul as they may be. I remember when "our government" put out a terrorist watch list regarding certain citizens. Ah, what was it? Former military personnel, gun owners, Christians, and those who believe in the fundamentals of the Constitution. And still you doubt?
The only question is, are the socialists (truly or in their minds) close enough to enough of the levers of power to try to pull them? Though I must be honest with you, if it does not happen this time, it will next time. American people are failing. Our institutions, from courts to academia to law, have been invaded, subdued, indoctrinated, and armed to do what socialists do. It is obviously working considering who is acting as president.
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Watching television this evening, I found two channels which I could switch to avoid commercials and still get most of the content. One was a documentary on Jim Jones, the other was "Rambo", the one where he takes missionaries upstream into a war zone. They seem to be very different, and yet they are not. Not at all. I guess the notion struck me so strongly about a quarter of the way through the viewings, something clicked.
Jim Jones, if you do not remember, was a self-styled preacher socialist egalitarian leader of what we would call a cult. He made promises, spouted about a God he could not have believed in, and collected the lost and the weak. He, after either real concerns he would be shut down in the states or merely because he was becoming ever more paranoid from drug use and criminal behavior, moved many of his "parishioners" to Guyana. There, it seems, he did whatever he wanted to whoever he wanted. What all really went on in there will probably never be fully known.
The movie "Rambo", if the victims are more hapless or weak than not, describes a camp of men much like the people who killed those who would not commit suicide for Jim Jones. Only, they were stolen as youth and indoctrinated in the harshest of manners. They murdered, stole, raped, tortured, burned, looted, and did whatever they were told or were "trained" to do. I have no doubt that as they became grizzled veterans they came to enjoy what they had.
It still seems unlikely that the two stories are all that connected. But if you skeletonize the two stories, looking at the initial and final means of getting people to obey, the lengths taken to the ends of those in charge, the promised ends, and the real ends, you begin to see similarities pop out as you would discover similarities in two real skeletons. It is amazing, to me, that whenever socialism, said to be nicer or softer than communism, pops up and power is allowed to accrue, lots of people die.
Why all this? Ah, that. Because last election we handed just such people power. Deny it if you will. Denounce me if you want. That is who holds majority power in this nation at this time. Democrats you say? No. Democrats and at least a third and more like half of Republicans in office. What does that have to do with a couple of shows? What happens when people with certain beliefs believe they are about to lose power? You answer that for yourself, not my job.
All I am saying is that I am glad to live in a place with a low population. I am glad to be living among people who have stocked up, are armed, where I have started to store my own food, water (well, soon), and goods. Our government, right now, is more of a threat than all the terrorists on the planet, foul as they may be. I remember when "our government" put out a terrorist watch list regarding certain citizens. Ah, what was it? Former military personnel, gun owners, Christians, and those who believe in the fundamentals of the Constitution. And still you doubt?
The only question is, are the socialists (truly or in their minds) close enough to enough of the levers of power to try to pull them? Though I must be honest with you, if it does not happen this time, it will next time. American people are failing. Our institutions, from courts to academia to law, have been invaded, subdued, indoctrinated, and armed to do what socialists do. It is obviously working considering who is acting as president.
Not much happening anywhere?
.
.
I am starting to wonder if people have died or if I have become toxic? Yeah, okay, I could see that last. It is difficult to watch a man drown. I get that. Still, just be like me and stop by and chuckle, throw an anchor out to me, or just watch. Then again, I know how it is when someone is less than stellar and is drowning. They are not even worth castigating?
For whatever reason, in the blogging world, when one is already isolated in the real world, isolation here seems both interminable and even colder. Paranoia creeps in and one begins to wonder. You know it cannot be your breath, appearance, so all you are left with is that it must be you. No one else has a life and it is all about you. They really might suddenly all hate you and have decided they do not and never did like you. Or perhaps they never really did like you. Perhaps they were just getting you to write and respond to laugh at you further!11!!!1! Well, it could happen.
Heh! No problems, I have worked it out until I have not, again. I remember thinking I ought to quit this damned blogging stuff. Actually I did, leaving my old blog somewhere back in the dust of time lost. I liked the name too, though this one is more me. Or, more how I would represent me. Or, something. I have not even thought about quitting for... a year or two, at least not seriously. It did run through my head tonight. And probably will a few more times in the next week(s). But this is just one of those things I do.
Good night.
.
I am starting to wonder if people have died or if I have become toxic? Yeah, okay, I could see that last. It is difficult to watch a man drown. I get that. Still, just be like me and stop by and chuckle, throw an anchor out to me, or just watch. Then again, I know how it is when someone is less than stellar and is drowning. They are not even worth castigating?
For whatever reason, in the blogging world, when one is already isolated in the real world, isolation here seems both interminable and even colder. Paranoia creeps in and one begins to wonder. You know it cannot be your breath, appearance, so all you are left with is that it must be you. No one else has a life and it is all about you. They really might suddenly all hate you and have decided they do not and never did like you. Or perhaps they never really did like you. Perhaps they were just getting you to write and respond to laugh at you further!11!!!1! Well, it could happen.
Heh! No problems, I have worked it out until I have not, again. I remember thinking I ought to quit this damned blogging stuff. Actually I did, leaving my old blog somewhere back in the dust of time lost. I liked the name too, though this one is more me. Or, more how I would represent me. Or, something. I have not even thought about quitting for... a year or two, at least not seriously. It did run through my head tonight. And probably will a few more times in the next week(s). But this is just one of those things I do.
Good night.
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