Living in Colorado

 

Wonderful Picture

Photo taken by Jo Stanko, an old friend, from their ranch house SW of Steamboat Springs. Nothing political; just something to share. Locally that is called Sleeping Giant, officially Elk Mountain.

No, President Trump didn’t step on his pee pee

Truman famous desk plaque, “The Buck Stops Here”, applies to all Presidents. Big job, requires subordinates to deal with the minutia, and errors will be made. Given the hyper TDS infecting everything political, any chance to make the President look bad won’t be missed. Such is the case here.

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Perhaps better questions are who hired this individual in the first place, and who was his supervisor?

He has been confirmed by the Senate. Defense lawyers in Wyoming will continue their work for their clients but this will likely drop off the news cycle.

Colorado Specific

A summation of this year’s legislative super majority session by the Independence Institute is offered. In previous blog I’ve covered TABOR (Taxpayers Bill of Rights) addition to the Colorado Constitution from the 1970’s when Colorado was red. The state has a tax surplus and the (P)regressives are relentless in trying to find ways to spend it rather than return the surplus to the citizens.

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A left wing point of view.

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Brave Marine

The Veterans Administration held a, “Struggling with Technology”, help clinic in a nearby town. I decided this Latter Day Luddite should get the VA app on his phone and showed up for help.

The young volunteer was a Marine originally from Coney Island. After well over an hour and many attempts, the app is installed and working on my phone.

I suspect his next move was to find a bar and get a stiff drink.

Emperor Polis, wanna be 2028 President

He grants clemency to a man who shot at two cops, wounding one, on National Law Enforcement Memorial Day. Duh!

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He gets national notice for “pardoning” Tina Peters, Mesa County Clerk and Recorder, in prison for voting mistakes. He didn’t pardon her, he commuted her sentence. She is still a convicted felon and will be on parole for the rest of her life.

All the (P)regressives are OUTRAGED!

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He responded in a speech.

“I think this will be remembered fondly,” Polis said at The Colorado Sun’s annual legislative recap event at the University of Denver. “The nation needs to have a reconciliation and healing.

Sounding “Presidential” he continued.

“People know I’m a man of action,” he added. “I’m a bold person, I’m going to do things that I think are right, and that’s why people put me here. They want me to do things that I think are right.”

Trump Lite?

Car Story

 This isn’t a story of misadventures. Rather, one of, “If you don’t quit, you don’t lose”.

 My boss, Steve Lance, aka Little Hitler, had a vision of holding car sales in smaller towns across Colorado to promote Kia, then an obscure Korean built car. He had found a man in Indiana who was an “expert”, brought him to Colorado, purchased an RV to convert into a mobile sales office, and held the first sale in a nearby town. The sale was less than a success. The General Manager, Greg Miller and Steve brought me into an office and offered me the job of organizing these sales. Huh!

 “Tank, you are bored selling trucks”, Steve said. “You need a challenge”. We started negotiating. Imagine three stubborn men, all of whom were negotiators by trade, hammering out a position that didn’t, and had never in their experience, existed.

My demand was absolute authority. I answered to Steve and Greg only; nobody else in the organization had any authority over my actions. Rarely granted in the car biz, I demanded a monthly guarantee, win, lose or draw. I wanted expenses including a vehicle, either mine or one of the companies, to be included. After the next sale was less than successful, they agreed. What followed was several exhilarating years doing tasks that were unique and without any blueprint.

The man Steve brought in had a relationship with a man whose expertise was direct mail advertising. A problem was advertising, as the small town newspapers and radio stations were reluctant to work with us, fearing the wrath of their local dealers. With this direct mail operation, we could create and place in every mailing address or post office box an eye popping flyer that worked. Long after a sale in some town was over, people would arrive at one of our dealerships with an flyer asking, “Can you still do this?”

 “No, but we can come very close. Let us see what we can do. Hey manager”.  

Steve would tell me, “This is what I want done. This is when I want it done. This is where I want it done. Do it right, do it legal, and don’t cut corners”. Then, he only wanted to hear back that the job was done, or if not, why. For his own mental health, he preferred not knowing how I got the job done.

The Obama years were a disaster for the car biz and I moved on, drawing on my experiences in construction related activities, among other opportunities. 

 Life is simple. Get up every morning and start putting one foot in front of the other. Inertia is the enemy.

 As always, YMMV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Changes Coming, Like it or Not, to the Equality State

 

Growth Problems – Cheyenne Edition

If you want to see the “old West” do it now because in two years it will be gone.

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 Weld County, CO will be impacted. The proposed camp is eight miles from the state line on Highway 85. Small Colorado towns like Nunn, Pierce, and Carr will see growth from people looking for housing. Along with growth comes crime.

The grassroots are not pleased. There will always be NIMBY sentiment. A cousin lives near where all this will happen and their quiet country life will be forever changed.

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Slated to open in April 2027, a huge casino is under construction at the Terry Bison Ranch, sitting just over the Colorado border on I-25.

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 Nuclear plants in Kemmerer, casinos in Evanston, rare earth extraction, reopening uranium mining and an oil pipe line from Alberta terminating in Guernsey are all underway. Will the impact be beneficial? Me, I vote for jobs, the scarcest thing in Wyoming.

Hard Pass

Three of the four Democrats running in the primary will attend a public forum fifteen minutes from my apartment. I won’t be attending. I would rather French kiss Maxine Waters than vote for any of them.

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Last year the outpour of money made this one of the most expensive races in the last election. Once again we Colorado residents were lab mice for outside interests to manipulate.

 Sharon Bird (D) AWFUL seems to be in the lead raising money. She has a mail piece out nearly every week.

 Blue State Reality

This happens when ideologists get elected. No cash bail, sanctuary cities, and the hidden cost of companies, sick of the rot, leaving. We have an Attorney General who is involved in fifty lawsuits against Trump, while his office has a backlog of appeals not being processed. His staff  turnover is around 19% which he attributes to low pay. His solution? Classic Democrat; more money.

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He is now running for Governor. His primary opponent is our senior Senator, who hasn’t given up his senate seat, and will still keep it if/when he loses. Recently they debated. Most observers report they took turns trying to prove who hates Trump more.

Beef Prices

They should take a temporary dip because ranchers are selling off cattle in record numbers. The wide spread drought leaves them little choice. Soon prices will soar. As a side note, ranchers will be more interested in leasing their land for wind and solar so as to have enough income for debt service and taxes.

 “War” Story

“Soldier, dump that coffee immediately”, ordered the outraged Lieutenant.

 “Yes sir”, said Pfc Mike Mihaulski as two gallons of hot coffee hit the ground splattering both the officer and Mike.

 Juvat was writing about coffee among the military branches which brought up this memory.

 We were bridging the Rhine River near Leeheim at the site Patton’s Third Army crossed in WWII (most historians use Oppenheim). Mike, one of our company cooks was clearing up after breakfast. Rather than just tossing the remaining hot coffee he was washing his socks in it when LT Curtis, came upon Mike washing his socks.

“Is that coffee for the men”, demanded LT Curtis?

“Yes sir”, said Mike which led to the dumping, neglecting to mention "the men" had already had their coffee.

 LT Curtis was the most incompetent officer I ever encountered. He could fuck up a two car funeral.

 The draft brought in many different people from barely literate to people with advanced degrees. Many college graduates declined going the officer route including Mike, who had a Masters in Mathematics from Michigan State.  After deliberately failing radio school, he was sent to cook school.

Polack jokes were common at the time and Mike fit the bill. Low forehead, lantern jaw, 6’3” with long arms; he enjoyed playing the dumb Polack. We were good friends with mutual interests centered on alcohol, loose women, and frequent participants in our First Sergeant’s, “Voluntary after duty work detail”. Volunteer or see the CO for an Article 15.

Mike was a four year starting offensive lineman at Michigan State and the strongest man I served with. We didn’t seek trouble; trouble found us. A good man to be with when folks were fussing.

Back to the coffee incident. Mike would have emptied and cleaned the pot before using it again. The opportunity to play dumb Polack was too much for him to pass up.

 “You gave me an order and I obeyed”, he responded to LT Curtis’ tirade.

 Why LT Curtis was even in the bivouac area at that time of day was puzzling. Perhaps the CO gave him some meaningless task to keep him from the bridgehead where useful work was in progress.

 Army field coffee. Bring water to boil in a extra large pot. Dump in two #10 cans of ground coffee. Reduce heat to simmer. Carefully pour in one quart of cold water to settle the grounds.

 Don’t like coffee grounds? Strain through your teeth.

 

As always, YMMV

Grumpy Old Man Rants

Fuck Global Economy

The petroleum that truck is delivering was refined within 300 miles of this station from crude pumped from within 300 miles of the refinery. Somebody is making a $1 a gallon more than last month.

Television

I haven’t owned one for years as the amount of commercials piss me off. This last road trip reinforced that opinion. The large screen in the motel room offered a beautiful clear picture but the content didn’t. I ended up watching the last quarter of a UFL game and then a hockey playoff game. All I know about hockey I learned watching Slap Shot.

 After less than an hour the TV was off and I was re-reading Showdown on the River, Old NFO’s western novel.

I have been told there are ways to get around TV commercials but I’ve never investigated them. I believe it involves reading  instructions.

Colofornia, The Liberal’s favorite lab animal

Outside money via “non profits” has been shaping Colorado’s laws and political structure for years. What the majority of residents want isn’t important to them and their well compensated lackeys. Here is another in a long list of outside interference efforts.

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How this matches up with the recent SCOTUS ruling on gerrymandering smarter people than me will opine.

Another, “California hold my beer” (P)regressive scheme - fast rail

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Econazi Wet Dream on Life Support – Wolves

A bad idea hasn’t gotten better over time.

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If Colorado is a good fit for wolves they will make their own way here. There are natural solutions as happening with pythons in the Everglades. Their numbers are rapidly dwindling.  Otters have learned how to work in packs to eat the eggs as the females are nesting. Bobcats and coyotes have learned to attack when the pythons are molting and are vulnerable.

Wolverine “re-introduction” is still part of the econazi wet dream. The proposed introduction area won’t provide enough food for them in the dead of winter. Will that stop the dreamers? Nah, don’t confuse them with real information.

Show Me Gobsmacked

Deep Blue Boulder County is the place where the longest prison sustenance I’ve ever heard of was imposed.

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 Well deserved IMO.

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Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting – Wyoming edition

Wyoming is on a fast track to the premier data center in the country.

The appeal is jobs, the scarcest resource in Wyoming. The boom comes with a price. Water, power, housing and schools will be needed. The state has around 560,000 residents, a number that has been stable for years, and now is facing adding as much as 100,000 more.

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Does it matter, all those data centers next to the headquarters of this country’s strategic missile silos? WSF, always the ray of sunshine, aren’t you? No, Murphy’s first cousin.

Car Story

Blast from the past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbH2guwhD8k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK6BksCzTKs

As always, YMMV

 

Road Trip 1st Weekend in May

 

Road Trip

No politics. We have a family gathering the first weekend of May in the town of Maybell, CO, population >500 most days. Not a reunion, we aren’t that organized. My previous post explains the horse drive. This post is random photos with comments. The header picture is the North End of Rocky Mountain National Park taken near the summit of Cameron Pass on CO 14.

 Family Cemetery

Some 42 of us this year were at the cemetery to watch a headstone be placed and visit graves. This year, no ashes needed to be scattered/buried thankfully.

In this series, four generations are present.

My father’s grave. It remains the home of a badger that, over the years, has resisted all attempts to displace him. My sister and I are not concerned; we know our Dad would be laughing his ass off.

                                               40° 24’ 21.73” N    108° 23’ 14.17” W

                                                                 Elevation 6676’

North Park

I need a wide angle lens. This place has a strong place in my memories from several summers spent bucking bales for relatives. On my mother’s side, her grandfather was an early settler.

Not my usual post. Hope you find it of interest.

 AS always, YMMV

 

Colorado Politics and Cowboys on Display

 

Sombrero Horse Drive

 Every first weekend in May about five hundred horses are moved from their winter range to a ranch just West of Craig, CO.

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Sunday the horses pass through the small town of Maybell.

 The event is an excuse for a family get together (too disorganized to be called a reunion).

 My Dad’s ancestors stated drifting into Northwest Colorado in the late 1890’s. A Great Uncle and my grandfather (who died years  before I was born), homesteaded between Maybell and Elk Springs.

A portion of the homestead has been set aside as a family cemetery.

We usually convoy to the cemetery on Saturday. Cremains are buried and graves attended. Saturday evening we have a pot luck supper in the Maybell Community Center.

 Great glee is shared Sunday as we watch the gussied up dudes, who have paid $4,000+ to participate, pass by. We say howdy to the ten or so local “real” cowboys who are getting it done, for pay.

Commenting  your blogs will be light over the weekend.

 Emperior Polis’ Succesor?

Our current Attorney General is now a candidate for Governor. Some highlights from his first and second terms.

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Under his leadership as the chief of state Law Enforcement?

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 He is party to 64 lawsuits against the Trump Administration for which the (P)regressives heap  praise.

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What is not mentioned is he is the lead plaintiff in four. All the rest he signed on to suits brought by other (P)regressive Attorney Generals’ from other blue states. He is yet to win any of the four.

Big Brother is Watching - Flock Cameras

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 Our State Legislature recently punted on a bill to outlaw these cameras bowing to the howls of LEOs loving them.

Hasn’t LL mention the amount of copper in these cameras? Hint, hint criminals.

China Meddling

Evidence has surfaced showing Colorado econazis are being funded in part by China. Simple, keeps Colorado minerals in the ground and remain dependent on China is likely the reason.

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Car Story

A salesman, Jerome “Butch” Cassidy had a belligerent, perhaps intoxicated, customer that was making demands and rude comments. Finally, Butch had enough and told him to leave.

 The customer went belly to belly with Butch. Three of us walked up behind Butch and stood there with our arms folded. The asshole started for the exit when he noticed stairs going up to the second floor offices. He went running up the stairs and came to the owner’s office.

The owner was at his desk, reading the newspaper when the asshole asked him, “Do you work here?” Dumb question.

The owner shifted slightly, lowered his newspaper, and said, “I own this store”.

“Well, you salesman told me to leave, and I am mad!!!!”

 “One of my salesmen told you to leave”, asked the owner?

 “YES!!!!”

“Then why are you still here?”, said the owner and went back to reading his newspaper.

 Asshole left. Butch went up to the owner’s office.

 “Butch”, said the owner. “You get about one of those a year”.

 As always, YMMV

 

 

The Green Future Isn't Now

 

Voting Your Wallet

New car sales are down in Colorado. EVs sales are way down.

Extracted from the article:

Still, the drop in clean car sales stood out in contrast to Colorado’s target of getting more than 900,000 zero-emissions cars on the road by 2030. 

That target wasn’t set by the people of Colorado. That is the target of the true blue econazis and self anointed elites imposing their will on the serfs. Alas, the serfs can still vote with their wallets.

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What is missing from this article, and from most people writing about the car business, is WSF’s constant reminder that there are two buyers in most car sales, the people driving away with the “happy tag” and the lender financing the purchase. With new car prices North of  $50,000 many people can’t qualify for the loan, even with 84 month financing.

Those needing to drive more than 200 miles from their base can’t, in an EV, especially in the winter, without charging along the way.

To stir the pot a bit more, who in Canada will buy the 30,000 Chinese EVs Imperial Carney has signed on? Their economy is tanking.

Questioning Career Choices

Another Wyoming Story

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More Blue City Death – Seattle

Starbucks announces moving their headquarters to Nashville. They will save about $12,000 per employee per year escaping Washington taxes and Seattle’s lunatic mayor and city council.

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Don’t cheer too loud Tennessee. Those Starbucks employees relocating to your state will likely bring their political views with them. Likewise, those coming from Chicago.

More, Please

The law enforcement in Laramie County (Cheyenne) Wyoming is having an impact on bad truckers. Too bad Larimer County (Ft Collins) Colofornia doesn’t do the same. Hwy 287 is now becoming a preferred route.  Past Wellington to Owl Canyon Road then to Hwy 287 North to Laramie, WY.

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Western Mental Illness – Iran Edition

The anger and outrage I feel with some people’s views overwhelm my meager writing ability. These soulless fucks are praising,” the brave Iranian people”, who are placing their women and children on bridges and around power stations to deter collation forces from bombing them. 

 Do they really believe these women and children are doing so voluntarily?

 The Mullahs and Revolutionary Guards don’t care about anyone other than themselves. They will retain power at all costs.

 5^th generation warfare is their strong suit; using worldwide social media to exploit useful idiots with a side of cyber attacks.

 Their short term strategy, IMO, is to survive the Trump Presidency and work hard, behind the scenes, to get another Joe Biden or closet Muslim elected in 2028.

Car Story

I screwed the pooch, and got fired. The bear ate.

 We made a deal without the trade physically present. While not too common, deals are made based on the customer’s word. We did one and I went 120 miles South to deliver the truck and get the trade. First problem, the trade had far more miles on it. Second, the customer’s family was there but he wasn’t and had not signed the title transfer. In a moment of stupidity I had one of his kids sign.

 When I got the trade back, the deal fell apart and the owner’s wife, Gail Felton, insisted I be fired. Little Hitler, aka Steve Lance, fired me.

 My response was, “Sometime you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you”.

 About a year later I ran into Steve and his wife leaving a supermarket.  He hollered, “Hey, come work for me”.

 What about Gail Felton?”.

 “Fuck her, I bought the place”.

Over the next ten years, I would get pissed and quit or he would get pissed and fire me. It became a standing joke.

To this day, Steve likes to tell others about the bear remark.

As always, YMMV

 

 

We are Living in Interesting Times. Are we Living in End Times?

 

Rule Britannia

Not owning a television leaves me free to cruise around YouTube and finding nuggets of information and opinions. For instance Samara Gill with opinions on Great Britain.

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With no YouTube channel I can find, an Australian, Michael Shoebridge, Director of Strategic Analysis Australia discussed Australia’s potential contribution to a Straits of Hormuz operation would be a “flagged fishing trawler”. 

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In a major surprise, Iran keeps on being Iran by messing with the Straight again.

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Lone Star Parson has posted about the doings in Ireland with farmers and truckers blocking the roads in protest of fuel taxes. Interestingly, this has spread to Northern Ireland. So far, peaceful protest excepting the Gardia.

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The Irish have an 800 year history of fighting oppressors. Alas, not a 800 year history of winning.  

“Wouldn’t be surprisin, if there be another risin”, said the man from the Daily Mail.

The farmers all across Europe are staging protests. Will the New World Order survive?

All of this is Trump’s fault. By standing tall and not backing down, he is showing the world you don’t have to take the status quo, IMO. He is an arrogant asshole, but he is our asshole, and the only president in my lifetime who does exactly what he says he will do. Oh, WSF, he hasn’t done this, or that, or finished this or that. My reply, no plan survives the first contact with the enemy, in this case the Swamp.

End Times?

True or click bait?

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Wolves 

Cracks are appearing in the econazi firewall with Polis term limited. Wolf introduction may be the most obvious.

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 2^nd Amendment is for all

We need all the allies we can get, IMO.

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Some of us need to recognize we are in this together and get over themselves.

A Gathering of Democrat Party True Believers

Hint: Cargo Cult

Car Story

 Safety Rims

Sales Managers like their little sales training games. One favorite is the, “Six Position Sale”.  Usually done early Saturday morning, each salesperson walks around the car pointing out features to mythical customers in front of the other salespeople. Some prize is given to the “winner” for the best presentation.

 Lori Saine, aka Sister Kink, is furiously competitive. She went from car sales to be a State Representative and a County Commissioner. I was her only competition at the Six Position competition. While I really didn’t give a shit about winning, I took delight in seeing Sister Kink’s reaction when I beat her.

Building value is a three step process, feature, benefit, and acceptance.  What it is, why it is a benefit, and the customer agreeing it matters.

The one I used that irritated Lori I used at the driver side front and went like this.

 “Folks, did you know this car has safety rims?”

 The customer indicates they don’t.

 “What safety rims will do is keep the tire on the rim if you get a flat. Say you hit some junk on the highway while you are doing 70 mph and the junk tears your tire open. That tire cannot come off the rim and jam up you steering. You will be able to safely pull off the road. Kind of important, don’t you agree?”

 Lori would seethe. I would give her a grin.

 In all the years I sold cars, no customer said they knew safety rims were required, by law, starting in 1932, on every vehicle sold in the United States.

 As always, YMMV