A Trip Around the Sun Doesn't Change Things

 Nice Kitty

A solo female hiker apparently was killed and partially eaten by a mountain lion near Glen Haven, CO New Years Day. Two lions in the area were promptly hunted down and killed. There are many news report for those interested in the details.

 Glen Haven is a spot on the road, Highway 14, in a slot canyon NNW of Fort Collins. DRJIM has family that live in the area.

 LL (Virtual Mirage) has explained how mountain lion devour their prey and it is not a pleasant way to die.

 Political Fallout – Colorado Edition

PDJT vetoed the bipartisan Arkansas Valley Conduit bill. Why? His explanation.

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This puts two of Colorado’s four Congress critters in a hard spot. They are not happy. Our Senior Senator, who wants to be Governor, is pissed because it was “his” bill. A co-sponsorer.

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This project started life in 1962. Lots of money has been spent over the years with little to show for it. Long story here.

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There is much speculation that PDJT took this action because of his loathing Emperor Polis. Maybe, but just maybe, the business man side of him thinks this dog won’t hunt.

 Here is a thought. After 63 years of not making this plan work, perhaps it is time to come up with a plan that will work?

 Unhinged Conspiracy Theory

Why Cackles, excuse me, Kamala’s handlers wanted Waltz as her running mate didn’t make sense to me. Now that the massive fraud uncovered in Minnesota suggests a pipeline of tax dollars flowing into various (P)regressive accounts was the motivation.

 Boo, Fucking Hoo

ICE arrests in Colorado. An article, from a left leaning “independent and non partisan; they claim” online newspaper.

Note the emphasis on “human cost” and the number who “had no convictions”, etc.

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Let us be clear. If you are in this country illegally, you are a law breaker, period, full stop. Law enforcement is often messy, innocent bystanders are impacted, and mistakes are made.

 One more law enforcement push is needed, IMO, and that is going after those who employ these illegals. Further, those who facilitated illegal immigration need to be taken to task.

 So, WSF, you heartless bastard, you don’t care the people here illegally are human beings? Answer: they are not my problem. They had homes and didn’t want to pay the high personal costs of cleaning their own foul nests. They come here for what they can get, not what they can contribute. They keep their way of doing things with little or no regard; disdain even, for our norms. Yes, there will always be exceptions. Not enough, IMO.

 Banner Report

He is living his best life at Sisty’s house as age takes a toll. He can’t get into the back seat of a car without assistance and his rear legs are weak. With other people in the house, another dog, and cats he isn’t lonely and he has unfettered access to a fenced back yard. I miss him but know I made the best decision for him.

 Car Story

If anyone now reading this blog was reading it 15 years ago, many of these car stories are reruns.

Among the groups I worked with a practical joke was known as “spinning”.  One Saturday morning Dirty Al spun a complete sales force. I was sitting with my hand an inch from the phone to grab sales calls when he came up and handed me a newspaper open to yesterdays winning lottery numbers plus his lottery ticket. “Check my numbers”, he said. “Check your own fucking numbers”, was my response. He then started whining about not having his glasses. Finally, to shut him up, I checked. Damn! For a moment I thought about running out the door with the ticket, but instead said, “Congratulations Al. Looks like you won $7,000, 000”.

What he did was buy a ticket for the next drawing with the winning numbers from this drawing.

 Chaos erupted. Al milked it for every moment. 

A future story will explain how revenge is a dish best eaten cold, just saying.

As always, YMMV

On Being Politically Correct

Sanitized News

Frequent readers might remember I emphasis that most car sales involve two buyers, the folks driving away with the happy tag on the back of the car, and the lender who will actually own the car for the next XX months.

 Recently Tricolor collapsed. This long and detailed article does an excellent job of dissecting the nuts and bolts.

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Where the sanitizing occurs is this.  Tricolor’s specifically targeted illegal immigrants. Why isn’t that a central part of this otherwise excellent article?

Car Story

The Bison Mount and Speeding Tickets.

For several years I worked for a former professional bull rider who became a car dealer. Within the industry, he was known as, “Little Hitler”. We joke if he fired me more times that I quit. Two Type A personalities with temper issues and strong opinions often lose their cool.

 My main duty was organizing off site sales. We didn’t  hold them in the winter so I got, “Other duties as assigned”.

 Steve and his second wife lived large. A 3,000 sq ft log mansion was part of it and they decorated with animal mounts. One was a bison shoulder mount. About once a year insects would emerge from inside. Why? Nobody seemed to find a solution.

 They had this bison mount at a high end consignment store, The Armadillo,  off I-70 in Wheatridge, when the insects hatched. Management demanded Steve remove it post haste so he told me to go get it.

 I was driving my favorite stealth vehicle; a white minivan with the seats removed, and picked up the mount. Driving away I got stopped for speeding. The officer was older and had that cynical cop look about him. He came up to the window and saw a bison behind me staring at him. He jumped away then came back.

My papers were in order. He wanted to know about the bison mount. After hearing my explanation, he just waved me on with the usual warning and walked back to his cruiser.

A once in a career moment for him?

As always, YMMV

 

Clearing the Decks before Christmas

 

Wyoming Wind

Truck and RV blow overs are common. “Hey, can’t you read the signs?” Trains? Not so much.

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How Democrats hold power in Colorado

This is another deep dive in the Democrat cesspool. If you don’t live here you will probably skip. However, you may find the same patterns in your state.

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Not a car sales story but amusing

This is not a car story but inspired by a picture of LL giving Chinese kids candy.

 While my youngest was at Kandahar with the 1/4^th ID, Jolly Rancher hard candies were available for the troops to give to kids. Soldiers, being soldiers, adapt.

 In a care package I sent him I included, on a whim, a wrist rocket.

This was soon in service giving candy to kids. As they drove past civilians, the kids liked to throw rocks at them. In response, the turret gunner would give the kids  Jolly Rancher candy via the wrist rocket.

Soldier inspired win/win civil engagement!

Addiction?

Though I’ve been out of the car biz now for years, I still follow what is going on and check  many of the, “how to buy a car” YouTubers and  especially, the comments. I’m not surprised that the buyers still hate the dealers and are still outraged dealers still want to make a profit. They want, want, and want the lowest out the door price delivered to their computer.

 This is a hard truth. The dealership doesn’t need to prove they have cars to sell. The buyer needs to prove they can buy. Most can’t, buy. What they can do is suck up a commissioned salesperson’s time with no return to the salesperson. Cost to the “buyer”?

 My response to the people pontificating about how car dealerships should operate was uniform. Buy a dealership and run it the way you want.

 Good News to Me – Pearl Clutching for (P)regressives

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 My hope is the next three years will see a rollback of all this job killing, small town killing environazi bullshit.

FAFO Emperior Polis News

Poking the bear has consequences

The head of the U.S. Department of Transportation threatened Monday to withhold $24 million in federal funding from the state of Colorado for what he described as a slow response to a major violation of federal commercial driver’s license regulations.

Other related news Federal SNAP audit in Colorado found 200+ deceased receiving, and using, SNAP. Not Minnesota level fraud to be sure. Fraud is fraud.

 Who Needs to Read English?

The current uproar about unqualified drivers of big rigs brings to mind being stationed in Europe sixty years ago. We soldiers were required to have a USAREUR specific driver’s license. We spent two days learning road signs and laws. Passing grade required was 98%.

Passing was not optional. Anyone who has been in the military remembers what failing “not optional” brought on you.

Here in the USA? A sample of road signs you just might need to be able to read while driving a big rig.

Here because I like it.

Taken from Cory Gaines’ newsletter. He is a conservative thorn in the Blue’s butts. I read him every day.

 A Cheerful Note

Merry Christmas!

AS always, YMMV

Flat Lined

 

Nothing is poking a blog post or posts right now. The (P)regressive’s are doing their usual, financial scandals are being swept out of sight, voting irregularities keep coming up, and PDJT recently eviscerated the Emperor on social media. The most I can muster is a yawn.

Some readers like car stories. This may, or may not, be a rerun.

Trinidad and Alamosa offsite sales were usually good for us and I tried to hold them one week to the next.

Between the two we had three deals fail due to bank declines and I need to get the cars back. In addition, I had one trade in to return, an early (very small) Honda Civic.

Departing Longmont with my sister in the front seat and my son and his very pregnant girlfriend in the back, we headed for the hills (US 285).  A mere 4:26 hours and 251 miles. Nobody was comfy.   In Alamosa we delivered the Honda and retrieved both a Spectra and Rio. Sent son and girlfriend back to Longmont in the Spectra and Sisty and I proceeded to Trinidad in the Rio, a mere 2 hour 110 mile jaunt.

 The Trinidad customer was young, and the lender would finance her with a co-signer. At her uncle’s house, he had the Rio blocked in his driveway. Inside he had his internet lawyer forms spread about and was prepared to negotiate.

 The conversation flowed along these lines.

 “Sir, in the next ten minutes one of three things will happen. One, you sign the documents I’ve brought with me. Two, my associate will drive away in the Rio. Three, I will go to the police station and file a stolen vehicle report”. (I'm such a silver tongue devil)

 We departed in the Rio forth with.

 At this point we had over six hours and close to 500 miles into the day. It was hot, Only one Rio had a/c. Those 2002 Rio automatics at 6,000’ ASL had enough power to drive 75 mph without a/c or about 50 with.

 We still had nearly four hours driving ahead of us. Past Walsenburg are a series of hills and I was behind a Honda in the right lane. A State Patrolman was ahead of us in a crossover, and the Honda driver, who was driving the speed limit, panicked and hit the brakes. I reacted by switching lanes, nearly wiping out my sister who was using the downhill to get enough speed up to use the a/c.

 Of course the patrolman saw this and pulled me over. Sisty passed and stopped further on the hill under the only patch of shade for miles.

After telling my sad story, the patrolman indicated he would give me a ticket if the driver up the hill requested.

 “Please”, I begged. “That is my sister and she will lovingly throw me under the bus”. No ticket.

As Always, YMMV

State Level Constitutional Republic? Maybe Not So Much

 Tough Shit, Rural Areas

The elitist environazi mindset  in on full display in this article.

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The paternalistic language and attitude permeating the article hides the real message; we are going to do it and you need to get over it. It doesn’t matter if rural areas want to control their environment; just shut up, peasants.

Colofornia

Living in Colorado is expensive and becoming even more expensive. The  (P)regressives have bypassed the TABOR act with “fees” since the state Constitution requires voter approval. The courts offer no recourse as the three Supreme Court Justices are hard core leftists.

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The fees are nickel and dime but add up fast. There are nearly twenty fees collected when I register my car.

The (P)regressives are far from done. They are working on a ballot imitative to move to a progressive income tax and circumvent TABOR, a long standing (P)regressive wet dream.

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 Welcome to the UniParty.

 Well Shucky Darn

The mechanic who has taken care of my vehicles has died. He was also a friend. He was bothered by severe headaches in recent years.

 Why in the world, WSF, did you pay $80-90 for an oil change?

 My Dad drummed into all our heads, “Grease is cheaper than machinery”. I’m a believer in the best lubricants and filters. John was far more than a “technician”, he was a mechanic. He went over my car from bumper to bumper looking for problems every time it was in his shop.

 Not being able to do my own maintenance and repairs on my car is an aggravations; part of aging.  Knowing bullshit when you hear it is one of the benefits of knowing how to maintain and repair a vehicle, old age be damned.

 I will switch over to Sisty’s proven shop but, I will miss John.

Saving Heritage

Good friends own a ranch twenty minutes from downtown Steamboat Springs. It has been in the same family for 112 years. Rather than sell out for big money, they found a way to protect their heritage. Recently, they posted the methods they used.

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 My friend’s son and daughter-in-law have taken over the day to day running of the ranch. My friends are my age. The husband was a year behind me in high school.

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The Fling before the Ring

A topic on LL’s Virtual Mirage brought back a fond memory. A family owned used car operation had several members employed by a son who owned the business. The patriarch had twelve children. All the men were handsome and the ugliest daughter was drop dead gorgeous. They were smart, productive, and beautiful. All business on the job; their personal lives were kept separate. No flirting. 

One daughter was getting married and a bachelorette pub crawl was in full speed. They were being transported around in a large limo.

 Three of us were working that evening and the limo pulled up. Several intoxicated voices called out,

 “Show us your cocks, show us your cocks!”

 One salesman looked at the limo and said,

 “Hey, my wife is in that car”.

 He then looked at the other salesman and me in further shock. We had dropped our pants and were cheered by the limo occupants. He was not amused.

 If You Are Going to Fuck Up, Go Large

Another bad trucker post.

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Somewhat related is Aurora, CO making roads safer by simply enforcing existing laws.

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Some estimates are 1/3 of cars on the road in Colorado are uninsured. OK, WSF, go racist and suggested a study of the citizen status and ethnicity of the drivers might be illuminating.

Stupid knows no limit.

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Lust

An airplane I’ve always liked. Circa 1968 got a two hour ride in one with a Jacobs engine.

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Deleted Comments

I’m now deleted off topic, way off topic, comments. Many times I will see the same comments on other blogs.

Car Sales Story (Repeat)

Being weird enough to stand out in a bunch of car salespeople, means being beyond weird. Mel met that standard. Always wearing a porky pie hat, his home was in the hills above Fall City, WA. He bragged that he never washed his vehicle from the day he acquired it until the day he sold it.

 We were working an offsite sale. Mel had parked his Diesel 4x4 VW Rabbit Pickup near the car prep area. Few groups are more capable of mischief than bored car salesmen.

 A collection was taken up and the, at the time idle, wash crew/detailers with cash in hand went to work on Mel’s VW. They slim jimed the lock and went to work on the inside, cleaning windows, the dash, bagging trash and giving the interior a complete vacuuming. Outside, a wash and dry was followed up with tire shine. The VW was ‘front line ready”.

 When Mel returned it took him several minutes to recognize his VW.

“Where is my truck”, an irritated Mel asked? He was standing beside it at the moment.

A clue was salesmen laughing. Mel was not amused.

 As always, YMMV

Tales, Usual Subjects, and Racism

 

Favorite Repo Story

As requested by a reader. A few years ago a dealer I once worked for called me wanting some help in hooking a car. The buyer lived in a high end gated community and parked in a secured garage in downtown Denver. The dealer had a set of keys and an offer of $1,000 if I could get the car.

 My helper, Judy, a tough as nails older biker chic, and I drove out to the gated community. First stop, the police station. My 1996 green Escort wagon would attract police attention in that neighborhood.

Next step was to find the entrance without a security guard. The plan was to wait for a vehicle to exit and zip in before the gate closed.

 We barely settled in our discrete parking spot when the very vehicle we needed to hook drove out!  We followed to an upscale shopping center where the customers parked in a public garage and disappeared into a mall entrance.

 Shortly, I was driving away in the collateral while Judy waited a few minutes to see if the customers came right back. She then followed me to the dealership. The repo went into the bull pen, the keys into the night drop and we went off to a nice dinner.

Two days later when I picked up my check, the dealer wanted details. “Trade secrets, was my reply”.

The customers, both attorneys, made many threats and demands. The dealer took great pleasure in telling them to fuck themselves.

Environazis Rule!

Their takeover of various commissions, aided by Emperor Polis, includes the Public Utilities Commission. Now, no more natural gas heating or power generation allowed. 100% renewable energy only will be allowed.

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How all of this will work in conjunction to the rush to build Artificial Intelligence facilities is, it appears, “we will see”. Not answered, yet, is how will the water for these AI operations be supplied without draconian water rationing, for the soon to be unwashed, masses?

 You have questions? Here are some pre-packaged answers.

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A favorite read is Jon Caldera and the Independence Institute. He has an annual, Californian of the Year (limited to Colorado residents).

A portion of one of the nominees’ bio sums up perfectly the Boulder think.

With the charm of a tenured professor who’s never had a private-sector job (or a utility bill), Toor assures us he’s “saving the planet,” while ordinary people wonder if they can afford to boil water for spaghetti without blowing their monthly budget.

Meanwhile, our Northern neighbor has more good news.

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Can you say LPG exports?

Honest Elections

Not in Colorado, per our whack job Secretary of State.

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PDJT has less than kind words about Emperor Polis.

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Tina Peters used her position as a County Clerk and Recorder to try and uncover voter fraud. Did she do it the correct way? She must not, because the entrenched elite made an example of her.

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She is, IMO, a political prisoner.

The Colorado Sun

Readers may note many of my links go to the Colorado Sun. While proclaiming itself to be non-partisan, and wrapping itself in a pristine journalism blanket, it is, in fact, a progressive advocacy effort.

 Why do I read it, diligently? To see what the assholes are up to.

Wolves

Don’t feed them, is sound advice, as reports of wolves coming into Front Range communities raises concerns. Who will heed the advice among the animal lovers who voted for wolf introduction?  Worrisome, to me, are reports of wolves traveling east of Interstate 25.

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Why not? The High Prairies were once part of their range.

Racism

My late father served in the China-India-Burma Theater in WWII.  Originally trained in chemical warfare, in India he did many different jobs and become fluent in the dialect of the Assam region. He always maintained, “The only thing an Asian understands is a boot on his neck”. Was he a racist? By liberal definition, he was. In his daily life, interacting with all kinds of people, he wasn’t.

 Is there a point to this WSF? Well yes there is.

 Far too many immigrants come to this country with no regard to our ways, our customs, our social structures, and our laws. They don’t want to assimilate. They see themselves as superior and us as weak and inferior. They are here for what they can get, not what they can contribute.

An example; is an interview of a Sikh who lost his CDL and livelihood at a Weight Station crackdown.  Via an interpreter, he explained he has been here ten years and a long haul trucker for eight years. Well, fuck me running! Ten years, and you never bothered to learn even rudimentary English? That folks is blatant racism, his!

 Point: It is a two way street.

 As always, YMMV

Safe Roads

 Bad Trucking

Disclaimer. For those who read Virtual Mirage, LL beat me to this.

On just I-80 estimate place 6,000+ big rigs traveling daily through Wyoming. The operation below lasted three days, targeted trucks using county roads to evade the ports of entry, and resulted in 20% of the trucks taken off the road either for illegal operators and/or defective trucks.

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 Given these drivers were willfully breaking the law; it is difficult to tell how many trucks pass the ports using pre-pass are not in compliance.

 PrePass is an electronic clearance system for commercial trucks that uses a transponder or mobile app to allow qualified vehicles to bypass weigh stations and ports of entry at highway speeds\

1%, 5%, more? As everyone clutches their pearls about how the turmoil in the trucking industry will raise costs of everything, this citizen will pay more for safer roads and professional drivers.

 I would put down a bet that everyone who might read this has been behind a semi on the Interstate passing other semis with a 1-2 mph speed differential. Professional drivers don’t do that, often.

Wolves + LGBTQ

 Seems the current CPW director is stepping down. Not to worry, he is staying on the state payroll, just in a different position. The interim director will be a National Guard Major General.

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Campaign Violations?

No worries, just the current Attorney General (who wants to be Governor) and the Secretary of State who oversees elections. There is nothing to see here folks; just move along.

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Pareto’s Law

Came across this on LL’s Virtual Mirage and thought of variants.

My middle aged son is high on the Asperger Scale, with a near photographic memory and the ability to do complex math in his head. Likewise, he is far down the social ability scale. Worse, he can’t be bothered. At work, he is reliable, on time, and will go all shifts without talking unless it is directly work related.

 He was recently fired from a production job because he didn’t get along with “fat Mexican women”. The HR department, tired of their bitching, decided to get rid of him instead of dealing with the bitches. Decided to get rid of an 20%er to keep the 80%er's happy.

 Modern management practice.

Placate the 80%, who are causing 80% of your personnel problems, by getting rid of the 20% who makes you a profit.

 As always, YMMV