Will any of this matter, post election?

Drill, Baby, Drill

Advances in technology and techniques, freed from stupid government interference, promises a boom in recoverable oil and gas. While admittedly I don’t understand all the details in this report, it gives hope that energy independence is within reach.

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Starting around 1969 three underground nuclear explosions was used in Northwest Colorado as a way of fracking. For various reasons beyond what I can explain the test didn’t produce the desired results.

Two married friends of mine were the teaching staff at the small Piceance Creek elementary school near where one test took place. The schoolhouse got a good shaking.  

This was part of Project Plowshare:

Project Plowshare was the overall United States program for the development of techniques to use nuclear explosives for peaceful construction purposes. The program was organized in June 1957 as part of the worldwide Atoms for Peace efforts. 

More Oil – Unitah Basin (Eastern Utah)

This has been kicking around for years. A rail spur to connect with a Union Pacific main line will bring waxy crude oil to refineries that can process it. Currently what little oil being produced is being hauled by truck over two lane roads. The rail spur will bring job and associated economic growth to one of the poorest regions of Utah. The opposition comes from the trust fund snots infesting the Colorado River drainage.

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Could Fuck Up a Cup of Coffee (h/tDrJim)

Our inglorious Secretary of State, Jena Griswald continues her record of ineptitude. The latest (but surely not the last) involves some voting system passwords being leaked.

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This follows her compromising a criminal investigation so she could get some media attention

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For Colorado residents wanting an in-depth analysis of the coffee queen’s reign, we have this long read.

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Of course the Trump campaign jumped the shark.

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The Democrat knives are coming out. Perhaps she isn’t that popular with her fellow travelers?

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The good news is she is term limited. The bad news is she has ambitions for higher office. Senator? Governor?

HALEU (Enriched Uranium)

Here is a long article about atomic power, Bill Gates, and Wyoming with a side of international considerations. Much of the content is above my head. One item stands out. How stable will be a critical supply from South Africa? 

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Gag!

More advances in lab grown meat is an example of future tyranny, IMO. I won’t eat it.

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  As always, YMMV

Keeps on Rolling

 

Union Pacific Big Boy

It is so refreshing to be part of gatherings where there is zero political drama; just people enjoying a rare spectacle. So refreshing! No protesters

, no banners, no ugly confrontations.

As this magnificent relic tours the country in the West and Midwest, thousands of people line the tracks in big cities, small towns, and rural railroad crossings. I’m there with them.

On 10/21/2024 business took me near Byers, CO (population 1,600+), a flyspeck on the Colorado High Plains. A dear friend accompanied me and we watched the Big Boy pass by. While I’ve seen it many times, this was his first. Probably 200 vehicles were parked along the roads paralleling the tracks. He remarked that he will never forget the experience.

 If you have an hour to spare, Jay Leno has a YouTube special about the Big Boy. One quibble, “largest………..” is not true.

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Go Blue, Get Killed

Years of blue control and “common sense” gun laws has really worked in Colorado – NOT.

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What do you call doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result?

Colorado 8^th Congressional District

Earlier this year I “wrote my Congressional Representative. I sent my letter ot both her Washington D.C. office and her local office located in my hometown. Received zero response/acknowledgement! Perhaps this explains it.

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Every day my mailbox has campaign flyers sent by dark money PACs. The content is beyond ugly. The volume is 2:1 in favor of the Democrat. Both candidates are decent people. Not according to the dark money assholes on both sides.

Interesting case before the Supreme Court

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All it will do is change what level of government has dominion. Perhaps a State, rather than the Feds, will be more responsive to their residents.

Amateur Hour

Am I alone in seeing the Ho’s campaign looks amateurish compared to President Trump? Comes to mind the old put down, “He would fuck up a two car funeral”.

 As always, YMMV

Who Owns USA Elections?

 

Who is trying to buy Congress?

Thousands of donors making small contributions to election campaigns is the narrative. I call bullshit. Two small examples are the 8^th (where I live) and the 3^rd Congressional Districts in Colorado.

Between the two candidates, $15,000,000 has been contributed and/or spent. Much of the money is from PACs that are not necessarily controlled by the candidate.

 In the 3^rd, the Aspen trust fund Democrat has raised $14,000,000 to the Republican’s $1,200,000. This is the seat Lauren Boebert left. She moved to the 4^th which loyal opposition Ken Buck deserted after five terms.

Doing the math, some $30,000,000 has been raised/spent on two pissant Congressional seats. Are all the big donors altruistic, or do they expect a big return on their “investment”?

 Likely this kind of spending is rampant all across the country. Some estimates put dark money contributions at one billion. So where is this dark money coming from? How can sunshine, a wonderful disinfectant, be shined on future dark money honey pots?

Car Biz Humor in the Past

Commercials

Back when the car biz was fun

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Circa1986, Cal had a Yugo franchise in the Seattle area. He would lease you a Yugo for $84 a month. I never understood (or cared to find out) how that lease worked but the lease had 100% payoff until the whole lease was paid. Zero equity until the last payment.

People would drive onto our lot in a  Yugo with a 1,000 yard stare. The seasoned salespeople would scatter and the green pea would get the “up”. The only way those Yugo drivers could trade out was with a huge amount of cash, enough to pay the entire initial lease amount.

 Once I took a paid off Yugo in trade. The customer insisted I go to their residence and drive the Yugo back to our lot. That was the one and only time I drove one. Nothing remarkable happened; just another car.

Saved the Harley

Wyoming has a population of only 500,000+ but takes no backseat to other states for psychos.

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Military Loot

It seems from numerous YouTube videos Israel had captured large amounts of ordnance from Hamas and Hezbollah. While much seems to be destroyed where found, my curiosity is how much they will keep and how useful it will be? 

 Will we see in a few years tons of AKs for sale cheap?

As always, YMMV

Why Worry. Have a Good Dog to Pet

 Driving (P)regressives Crazy

The largest obstacle keeping the left from complete Colofornia is TABOR, The Taxpayers Bill of Rights added to the state constitution in 1992 when the state was still red. All the money that must be returned to taxpayers would fund all sorts of Utopian schemes and add well paying jobs for nonproductive program administration. Said jobs to be filled with reliable Democrat DEI folks.

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Brain Fog

After mention this as a comment on OldAFSarge’s blog, there were several responses. What I wrote was this.

Brain fog. Perhaps the most irritating part of aging. Now 80, I will be talking and the name/place/time/event will suddenly be blank. Minutes later it pops back into my head. I wish there were answers to the issue. Accepting physical limitations is far less frustrating.

No miracle answers here. What I do is take supplements, a lot of supplements that seem to help.

 Methysulfonylmethane (MSM) 2000 mg twice a day.Amino Acids Formula with 20 Aminos Plus 13mg B-6 2 capsules twice a day.

Mineral Complex 15 minerals 1000mg twice a day

B-1 complex 500mg thiamine 25mg benfotiamine one capsule twice a day

Lutein 40mg once a day

Ginkgo 500mg one capsule twice a day

Tumeric Curcumin (11 ingredients) one capsule twice a day

Potassium Citrate 99mg two capsuls in the morning and one at night

D3

CoQ

The list changes with some additions and subtractions. I do a lot of reading about health issues. My principal fear is cancer.

 I rarely get colds and haven’t had the flu, let alone Covid, in many years. I will never take any kind of flu or Covid shot.

Please keep in mind this is what I do, not necessarily what you should do.

Chicken Little

Doom and gloom from “scientists” drawing the conclusion their funders want them to find, IMO.

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Scientific models designed to fin the “correct” solutions?

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Left Field Thinking

When/where/how homo sapiens arrived in the Americas?

All across South and West Asia (Middle East) are ancient ruins dating back to 14,000 B.C. or even earlier. All seem to have one thing in common, depictions of alien beings. Very similar depictions can be found in Mayan structures, Inca ruins and Peruvian Nazca lines among others.

 Is it possible there were aliens and they transported homo sapiens around the world for whatever purpose they had in mind?

 Yes, I’m a settled science skeptic, a fringer.

We’e Educated Liberals, and we know what is best for you

One smart Congresswoman.

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I Need This

As always, YMMV

Pepe Le Phew

 

Skunked

Poor Banner got sprayed again. Lessons learned from the first time it happened mitigated the damage. A kind neighbor held his leash keeping him outside while I went to our apartment to prepare a solution to wash him down. Mixed water, H2O2, baking soda and Dawn dishwashing liquid in a bucket. He has a mouthful of spray and was spitting so I grabbed a quart of tomato juice and a bowl. Outside I soaked him in the solution, worked it into his fur, and poured tomato juice in a dish for him to drink. With a lot of juice left, I decided to pour that on him in addition to the solution. After a few minutes I untied him and let him roll on the lawn then washed him with water from a garden hose. All that worked to get rid of the smell.  He was not a happy camper!

This time he didn’t chase the skunk. Instead he was sniffing his way through some tall grass and encountered the skunk. To his credit he jumped away but not in time.

PSYOPs

Where is the money coming from to fund these “protests”? Certainly not from the useful idiots out on the streets.

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1^st Amendment Win + Individual Liberty Win 

No, the alphabet Nazis can’t shove their beliefs down other’s throats. Same sex marriages? Freedom to say, “no”, when people hold religious beliefs that same sex marriage is wrong. Back to live and let live? Let us hope. Big payday the taxpayers will need to cover.

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The Title got me

What I didn’t know was it is printed in China and shipped from China. Had I know that, I likely would have passed. Now that I’ve received it, I find it comprehensive and will start to fill the pages.

 I have a will and some estate planning. All is scattered in various files in a filing cabinet. This book wil let me draw a clear map to all my stuff.

Just for Fun

Splendid idea

On a personal note, Sisty is home from an extended hospital stay for edema.

As always, YMMV

Tunnel Warfare

 

Moffat Tunnel

Under the radar, the upcoming shit storm is brewing. Colorado owns the Moffat Tunnel. When it was built, a 99 year lease, at $12,000 a year, was signed by the Denver & Salt Lake Pacific RR. That railroad was later acquired by the Denver & Rio Grande. Later the Union Pacific acquired the D&RG. The lease is up January 2025 and players everywhere are licking their chops. An example.

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Lost in the noise is the Union Pacific. They own the rail right of way to and from the tunnel. In the past, they have demonstrated a willingness to shut down a line. Prime example is the line from Canyon City via Tennessee Pass to Minturn. They own enough tracks in Wyoming and Utah to move the freight now going through the tunnel. Anyone who knows the history of the UP knows every decision is bottom line based.

Circa 1953, our father was the section foreman responsible for the tunnel. Sisty, while born in Denver, lived there at the East Portal along with our parents and me. The place has a large place in my heart.

Before the tunnel, the railroad ran over Rollins Pass. In my youth I spent a lot of time on that old road and fishing the high mountain lakes around it.

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Pussyfooting about a pussy cat

The encounter does not qualify as a mountain lion attack because the man was never touched by the lion, CPW said

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The man in question might not agree.

 As always, YMMV

Making Political Hay (and byproduct)

 Aurora, CO

Perhaps the national and international coverage has been needlessly inflammatory? Another view. Still, sunshine is a wonderful disinfectant.

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Snark. The Laramie, WY County Sheriff continues to poke the Denver metro bear. Confused? Cheyenne is the county seat of Laramie County. Laramie is the county seat of Albany County. There is no Cheyenne County.

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Voting

The 2024 voting guide arrived today. 109 pages. One is sent to every registered voter households in Colorado. How many voters will read it and how many voters will simply throw it in the trash?

I didn’t see any in the trash here at this old foggy/foggyette mansion.

Pensions

Public employee pensions are a mess across the country. Mismanagement in all forms is the reason. Bailout for this fund will amount to about $3,100 per voting age Colorado resident.

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Isn’t it time to recognize pension funds are a cookie jar for hedge funds?

Value Judgement

Kindasorta challenge was made on another format regarding my possible expertise in buying/selling automobiles. In past years several small import pickups passed through the WSF fleet. Among them were three Mitsubishi Mighty Maxes, three Ford Couriers/Mazdas, a Chevy LUV (Isuzu) and a Datsun(Nissan).

 Why not Toyota, you ask? Aren’t Toyotas superior? Yes, Toyotas are better. All of the trucks mentioned are about 80-90% as good as a Toyota. All were purchased for around 50% of the going price of a Toyota. Everyone is different with different motivation. Personally, I never gave, or give now, a rat’s ass about anyone judging me by what I drive. I do care about value for my money.

 There are rare exception about what others think. Westbound, I-90 on Snoqualmie Pass the Washington State Patrol was doing a snow tire/traction device check on all vehicles. As I pulled up in a 4x4 Mighty Max with studded snow tires and Colorado plates, they just waved me through.

 As a “road warrior” driving 400+ miles some days, I had two Lincoln Towncars. The second went over 250,000 miles with routine maintenance.

Quiet, comfortable, stable and a trunk worthy of a small pickup, they fitted my needs. The “Lincoln” name didn’t mean anything to me. The reliability and functionality did.

To be clear, I had my moments in my youth. Example, a 1958 Fiat Abarth Zagato (double bubble roof) in Italian Racing Red soaked up a lot of disposable income. Part of soaking up disposable income was keeping it running and more was spent on young ladies who were attracted to the Abarth. Sort of an forerunner to, “It’s Banner and Frank”. 

Celebrity Endorsements

Do they have much influence?

 Gold King Mine

The debacle that keeps on giving. At the time of this debacle, the EPA had 1,000 lawyers on staff and one, only one, mining engineer. Aside note, our esteemed junior Senator trained as a mining engineer but went on to open a craft beer brewery and saloon.

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Accountability for the disaster? Don’t be silly.

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GMC?Ford 10 speed disaster

Ford and General Motors jointly developed a 10 speed automatic for heavy duty truck use. It has been a huge problem for many operators with the worst issue the transmission will downshift to second gear while at highway speeds. There are several other, less dramatic, problems. One aftermarket fix is now available.

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Neither General Motors, Ford, or Ram will build you a heavy duty pickup with a manual transmission.

Got a Lemon? Make Lemonaide

 Made me Laugh

When current events keep harshing your mellow, a good non political, non woke, cartoon refreshes.

Emperor Polis + Wolves

He is term limited and his husband a radical environmentalists. Seems he is hiding his interference. Seems others see his interference and are calling him out.

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Sisty

Friday was the annual Salud Family Health picnic. Among others, my sister was recognized for her thirty + (volunteer/unpaid) service to the organization and her many years on the board of directors.

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I’m one proud brother, humbled by what she has accomplished.

Banner is a good boy – when he wants to be

He enjoys roaming the hillside in back of our complex. I enjoy letting him do his business where I don’t need to pick it up; him being a two bagger. Recently he has decided to ignore me once free of the leash. He indulges in eating grass (which he then pukes in the apartment from time to time). He isn’t eating grass because he lacks anything. He eats grass because he is a glutton.

 I became so irritated I finally read the instructions for the remote training collar that has been gathering dust for months. Now he wants to be a good boy.

A neighbor doesn’t like me and isn’t shy. She once said to me, “I like Banner. I don’t like you!” Recently she inquired if the training collar transmitter affects my pacemaker. When I replied it didn’t she said, “That is too bad”.

As always, YMMV

 

As always, YMMV