Jobs? We Don't Need Anymore Jobs

 

Elites Snobs against jobs and essential commodities

Back in the day in Steamboat Springs CO a sawmill operated on the west end of town. In those days waste wood was burned in large “beehive” furnaces. On the few days a month this one operated smoke would occasionally drift into town.

One day a resident encountered my Dad on the sidewalk and complained, “Bob, this smoke is terrible!”

My Dad paused, sniffed the air deliberately, and replied, “I smell a $100,000 payroll”.

One of three cement plants in Colorado is, woe to them, located in Boulder County where it has operated since 1969. Located at the intersection of Colorado Highway’s 36 and 66 at the outskirts of Lyons, it is very visible to the passing Subaru brigades. They don’t like it.

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Never mind cement is essential for nearly every building, bridge, sidewalk and storm sewer. Never mind the 100 jobs. L. L.Bean Karen’s find it offensive and it needs to go away.

Meanwhile in Boulder County.

From Goggle AI.

One manufacturing job typically creates 1.4 to 3.6 additional jobs in supplier and local industries, and can range from 5 to 7+ additional jobs if broader household spending and public-sector jobs are included.

The Deficit: The county has worked to close a total projected $30 million to $40 million General Fund shortfall spanning from 2026 through 2028 because expenses are outpacing tax revenue.

Science

In Montana a decades old murder was linked to the perpetrator from DNA recovered from a set of booking fingerprints.

DNA recovered from 44-year-old booking fingerprint cards successfully broke a major cold case, marking what investigators believe is the first time in U.S. history a homicide has been solved using DNA lifted from old fingerprint records

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Kudos to whoever thought of looking for DNA on a fingerprint card.

NFC West

For my sins I’m a lukewarm Seahawk fan. When they were formed and entered the league our company had season tickets. Every year it seems all the experts miss and the hated San Francisco 49 Niners are firmly in first place in the NFC West. It is hard to be excited when the Seahawks lead the league in fumbles.

CarStory

From way back, two GI’s “meet” the Netherland Queen and her daughter.

This story rambles. US Army circa mid 1960’s, owning a POV usually meant getting permission from you unit commander. In our unit, you needed to be a E4 or above. There were other hoops to jump through. The available pool of “GI cars” rotated owners every two to three years and most had numerous “hillbilly/farm boy” mechanical fixes. Cosmetically, they were seldom much to look at.

The first one I owned was a mid 1950s left hand drive Ford Anglia. A buddy from an adjacent bridge company and I set off on a ten day leave. First stop, of course, was Amsterdam. He was dead set on visiting Stockholm. Leaving Amsterdam with the intent of reaching Copenhagen, I missed some turn but pushed onward northbound. The land was flat and featureless, fog with the sky overcast, and we were pulled over to the side of the road with our maps. Lost, we were!

Two ladies on bicycles pulled up and offered their assistance in giving us directions. We thanked them and they rode off. Trailing behind were four very large men on bicycles, dressed in dark cloths and giving us a hard looking over as they rode pass. Not far ahead the party turned left into a tree lined road and disappeared in the fog.

When we passed the road we glimpsed a large stately house at the end of the road. Consulting our maps, we determined it was some royal palace. It dawned on us the older lady was likely the queen.

Of note, both my buddy and I were “Pathfinder school graduates”.This is not to be confused with real Pathfinders; they are up there with Green Berets, Forward Air Controllers, etc. Our school was ten days of map reading and route planning. bridge load bearing, intersection turn radius, narrow city streets, etc.

One note about the Anglia. It had the old school oil filter canister you removed and the filter was inside. It was leaking; gasket shot and we were in Koblenz parked by a Gasthause. Across the road was a Ford Dealer. We never traveled without tools and I was able to get the gasket out.

We went into the dealership (little German on our part and none on the counterman) but he examined the chewed up gasket, went in the back and returned with a few gaskets. One matched and I asked how much.  He wanted to know what car I had and I pointed out the Anglia up the street.

“Nien!”, he said. “Dat is fur a Deutcher Ford, nist is fur der Englander Ford”.  The bastard wouldn’t sell it to me.

We retired to the Gasthause for a beer. Looking at the cardboard beer coaster, I asked for an extra. Settling the chewed up gasket on the beer coaster, I carved out a gasket. Keeping the coaster, I put the gasket I cut out in the housing and reinstalled the oil filter. We started the Anglia; no leaks!

My companions tried to stop me but I went back to the Ford dealership. Finding the counterman I tossed what was left of the coaster on his counter and said, “Das if fur der GI Ford, arshlick”.

Before anything else happened, my buddies hustled me out of there.

Always made an effort towards German/ American friendship.

As always, YMMV

Sue the Bastards!

 

Coyote vs Acme

The Roadrunner cartoons were my favorite so I went to see the movie. Two hours of escapist silliness I enjoyed.

Steam, Steam, Steam

Longtime readers of this blog know I have an interest in steam engines. I will be looking forward to this event.

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Wolves

How much wishing by starry eyed environment justice warriors can overcome natural selection? We are finding out despite blowing millions of dollars.

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The Colorado Rockies are not Yellowstone. If the habitat, once suitable but now changed, could support wolves they would have moved in on their own.

7½ Years of Democrats in charge

Who is minding the store?

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The product of not caring about the qualification and proven competency of the candidates they put forth, IMO.

Shut Up! Prole your betters want this

Front Range Rail Service 

Will the  (P)regressive wet dream die?

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Worked well in California, no? Came across a poster who said the cost of our actions dealing with Iran is about the same amount of money that goes to fraud in California annually.

Car Story

“You are overweight, $200 fine”, said the arrogant Dumont, CO  Port of  Entry functionary to Steve Peterson, the operator of a ten car trailer truck driver.

Colorado, winter blizzard, Steve was going from Longmont to Grand Junction with a load. When he went over the scale the added ice and snow accumulated on the cars he was hauling put him 310 lbs overweight.

Steve operated two trucks hauling cars for my employer. He was a great driver but careless in loading cars. I once rode with him to Grand Junction and he made the trip in thirty minutes more than I did in a Lincoln Towncar.

Back to Dumont, Steve kept his cool and paid the fine. Later, Steve Lance, aka Little Hitler who owned the dealership, reimbursed him.

As a standard practice at our dealerships, we gave LEOs and Correctional Officers good deals with the exception of the Colorado State Patrol and associated personnel. Unfair to some? Yeah, what goes around…………

As always, YMMV 

 

Will El Nino Save Us?

 

Severe Drought

The current  picture. By available capacity, Blue Mountain Reservoir is Colorado’s largest. The dam was built at the head of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. 

The monsoons that have blessed Arizona have finally shifted towards SW Colorado. It is probably too late for most of the fish.

Your Mental Image vs Reality

OK, you are an insignificant octogenarian keyboard warrior. No need wasting a spot at the re-education camp; just block internet service.  

Wyoming Strong

Blocked from West Coast ports by bad politics? Find another port.

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Already smugglers are eyeing all those empty coal cars headed north.

We need Steve Inman to make a FAFO video with this fool.

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OK, Emperor Polis, I will give you one atta boy

Ignore the smug econazi verbiage and virtue signaling in this article, this is something I can applaud.

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Pollinators are crucial to most of the growth of much of the food we eat.

What is my personal dog in the fight? A large spoonful of raw unfiltered honey in a cup of coffee starts my day. Local sourced. $70 a gallon direct from the beekeeper.

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I appreciate their integrity by charging me retail. Local shopkeepers are lax in keeping what I want in stock. Clark’s keeps faith with their wholesale customers.

Yawn, Colorado Politics

Colorado has a “robust” citizen initiative process. The idea is to place laws on the ballot for voters to decide (unless the (P)regressives don’t like them or the courts don’t approve, same thing – WSF sarcasm). Somewhere around 13 will be on the midterm ballot depending on where you live. One, favored by (P)regressives may have shortcomings. No problem, Jabba the Hut’s daughter is Secretary of State.

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Rules for you and rules for us. Move on, nothing to see here.

Should you still be interested, here is a conservative think tank analysis.

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When the Little Head Thinks for the Big Head

You may need to scroll down. Facebook!

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While the county has blue enclaves, the county remains conservative.

Car Story

Revenge is a dish best tasted cold.

One rainy afternoon Sound Ford, Renton WA had a lake growing at the North entrance due to a plugged storm drain. Redwood “beauty bark” was popular at the time and was sovereign for blocking storm drains.

I was wearing a trench coat and hat while working to unblock the drain when a driver deliberately moved over and completely soaked me with a wave of dirty water from his tires. Hah hah!

I was able to look around in time to see a very distinctive vehicle, a  Dodge Lil Red Express complete with the optional wood sideboards. While I didn’t get the plate number I did note it was a personalized plate.

My joy was great when I drove by the Denny’s Restaurant down the street twenty minutes later on my way home to get dry clothing. Sitting in the parking lot was the very same truck! Not now Tonto, that is a local, you have seen it around, and timing is everything.

About two week later the owner came out of a bar at closing time, rainy night, to find all four tires flat. Unless he had four spare valve stem cores, the tires stayed flat until the morning when the parts store opened.

A note on tactics. Step one, open the cores just enough to let out the air with minimal noise. Step two, return in 45 minutes to finish removing the cores after the tires were completely deflated. After step two, leave!

As always, YMMV

 

Econazis, Living on Moral High Ground

 Wolves

Turmoil continues as wolf introduction struggles and the ecology of their ranges won’t support them. They eat what they can kill, being wolves, and Colorado isn’t Yellowstone.

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Copied off Facebook.

a day ago ·

That’s me standing over the remains of our neighbor’s calf after Lindsay Martin and I found it.

The calf had been killed by wolves, the same wolves I posted about in my videos. The calf was still warm. We had disturbed the kill. The cow was standing right there beside her dead calf.

And that same day, the crew found another calf of ours that had been killed.

There’s no fence between wildlife and livestock when you’re the one standing in the pasture looking at what’s left. There’s just a mama cow that doesn’t understand where her baby went, and a rancher who has to walk away knowing there’s nothing they can do.

This picture isn’t about hating wolves. It’s about recognizing what happens when rapidly growing wolf packs are brought into a landscape that doesn’t have the wild prey populations to sustain them. When there isn’t enough natural prey to support these packs, our livestock become the next target.

And that’s where this stops being an abstract conversation about wildlife and becomes very real for the families standing in these pastures. The cost is paid by ranchers, their livelihoods, and animals that had absolutely no choice in being caught in the middle.

For us, these aren’t numbers. They’re calves we raised, watched grow, and cared about.

This is the part of the wolf conversation I wish more people could see. Not a debate. Not a statistic. Just a mama standing over her yearling, a calf that should still be alive, and ranchers left to deal with the aftermath.

Econazis don’t care about facts, only their feelings.

They are “fighting” gas and oil leases on BLM land. It will harm the deer, elk, and pronghorn migration corridors. 

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Locals in those areas know the critters are not bothered, at worse, inconvenienced, by drilling rigs. Their biggest danger is getting hit with vehicles.

Bottom Line First

A grumpy old man rant.

Somewhere in some past business class or seminar we were told different people learn best five individual ways, reading, kinesthetic, auditory, visual or logical (analytical). My preferred way is reading and logical.

YouTube is overflowing with informative offerings that initially interest me but are seldom viewed in their entirety because they don’t get to the f**king point!

Bottom line first. Example: Properly prepared African oddlebug wing extract will instantly cure impotence, followed by a presentation involving all five ways various people learn. Good!

Bad. The usual way: Suffer from impotence? A centuries old formula will instantly cure your problem, followed by fifteen minutes of five ways word salad before getting to African oddlebug wing extract.

About five minutes into their presentation I’ve moved on. Yes, at the end they want to sell me their product. That I don’t mind. Just put the bottom line first, please!

(Before you ask, I don’t know if there is African oddlebug wing extract)

Wyoming Border Patrol

AI used to amuse while making a social statement.

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 Bloggger Reading List

AI Overview

Google is aware of the ongoing Blogger Reading List bug, but there is no official timeline or estimated time of arrival (ETA) for a fix. 

Google Help

Current Status

·         Known Issue: The broken Reading List feature has been reported by multiple users and escalated to the Blogger team.

·         No ETA: Google has not announced when a permanent fix will be released. 

Google Help

Anyone know how we can fix this? While reading all your posts is difficult I will continue reading them and hope the problem gets fixed.

In the future I won’t be using new Google apps.

Car Story 

Skoda

An account of a gullible Canadian’s greed and arrogance biting him in the wallet.

“Tank, you are a kinky m_____f_____!” That was high praise from my crew chief, Ed Jones, as he reviewed my sale of a Skoda to a Canuck.

The dealership would take nearly anything in trade; boats, snowmobiles, farm tractors, season tickets, jewelry, etc. if it made a sale. Somehow we acquired a Skoda, a car not for sale in the US. Worse, with  no legal way to sell it in the US other than scrap.

The fastest way for seasoned salesmen to disappear like an idle PFC spotting a SGT was seeing a Canadian license plate on a car entering the lot. They loved to visit, waste our time, and never buy anything. It seemed to be a sport for them.

A rental car came on the lot and I pounced. Woody time! Rental=need buyer=sale! After greeting him, damned if he wasn’t a Canadian. Channeling my inner Rudy Russo (*) I  showed him the Skoda and explained Skodas were for sale in Canada, that Canadians could own them, and my manager would likely sell the Skoda for a steeply discounted price. Why? It was a hassle for us to take a car to the B.C Auto Auction.  The sale was made. (I wasn’t sure there was an auto auction in B.C)

What followed was a month of phone calls as Canadian Customs turned him away. We refused to refund his money.

Perhaps I should have extended good customer service by telling him to go to Lynden, over to the Indian Casino right on the border (Road O for those interested) and use the back roads to get home.

Customs? What customs.

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As always, YMMV

 

 

Blogger Revenge?

 Seems Blogger isn't updating on my computers. I'm not ignoring you; as a Latter Day Luddite it will take time to fix this.

Colofornia, Here We Come

 

Onward, Californicating Colorado

In their endless quest for more money to feed the bloated state welfare for (P)regressive make work jobs (boards, commissions, studies, etc.) a escalating income tax scheme will be on the mid term ballot.

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 Per the design that has worked in other states, the “wealthy” will, initially, pay more and the “commoners” less. Long term? The devil, as is said, is in the details.

Muse

Seems to have gone AWOL. May be back later. Burned out on Colorado politics. Same shit, same year.

Car Story

We occasionally see this Hudson around town. This is the first time I’ve seen it parked.

 We have a dealer in town that deals in older, or rare, vehicles.

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 Sisty, who knows everybody as an Insurance Adjuster, said the owner of Conquest tried to buy this Hudson at auction and was outbid.

Occasionally I will slowly drive by Conquest and drool.

As always, YMMV

Lawyers, Lawyering

 Firearm Wrongs in Colorado

A long discussion of this state’s firearm laws as relating to the many ongoing court challenges.

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Our Attorney General, and likely next Governor, uses this one line in the Heller decision to justify all the state’s restrictions.

. “The Constitution leaves the District of Columbia a variety of tools for combating that problem, including some measures regulating handguns

Whiskey is for Drinking, Water is for Fighting

The fight goes on over the Colorado River water. California and Nevada have done little to improve their infrastructure while demanding more water, counting on political clout to get their way.

Seems they have bet wrong.

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No Dog in the Fight

As someone who lived on Colorado’s Western Slope I’ve always been aware of the skiing business. With some amusement, the angst of skiers sitting for hours on I-70 so they can max out their credit cards warms my evil heart.

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Followed by this.

Blue Colorado Blues

A 28 minute video on the financial woes of ten Colorado trust fund snot’s favorite towns isn’t good news for (P)regressives. What it means for the state political climate remains to be seen but all ten vote for, and support financially, Democrats.

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Last winter’s scant snowfall will only make the town’s problems worse.

Both Sisty and I are Ski Town USA (Steamboat Springs) High School graduates. She was a far better skier than me.

Several relatives are buried in the Breckenridge Cemetery. It has little maintenance which, to me, is a sign the current area residents have no ties to the community or the area. There are twenty year old trees growing among the graves.

As the carpetbaggers, idle rich and ultra wealthy move on to despoil Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming these towns will once again fade away.

The Train won’t Keep Rolling, Taxes Will

Progress! We have a new way to increase taxes and neuter TABOR. This will guarantee full employment for many lawyers. Oh, WSF, you are soooo cynical! Bite me!

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Car Story

In the 1970’s I owned several Cornbinders aka International Pickups and Travelalls.  They were terrible for rusting from road salt. One jewel was held together with Bondo and paint but still looked good. (I bought it in that condition knowing what I was getting)The spouse wanted something smaller and I traded it in on a used 1967 Mustang plus cash. Nice, V-8, automatic with cold A/C. After exchanging titles and cash I was leaving when the dealer’s lot attendant backed the Travelall into a spot too fast and hit a post. Most of the exterior door panels separated below the windowsills and landed on the ground.

 While the dealer took in the scene with his hands alongside his head, I carefully exited the lot and never looked back.

 As always, YMMV