1937 Packard

Scottsbluff, NE. Not a vehicle I lust after but enjoyed seeing it. Remarkable for an 80 year old automobile.

Sanctuary

Once again WSF goes meandering into a murky posting. You have been warned.

Going back to the Vietnam conflict, who remembers the insanity of sanctuaries? At times and places giving them the advantage; the communist forces would launch an attack and retreat to their sanctuaries when they started to lose. Regroup, resupply and plan their next attack unmolested. We have repeated this insanity, to a lesser extent, with Pakistan/Afghanistan. How many of our troops have died because of this?

Now to the point. We have open subversion occurring daily in this country, year after year. The actors have their own version of sanctuaries from the financiers sulking in the background. Some are obvious, George Soros probably the best known, and other lesser publicized foundations and trusts like the Joyce Foundation provide the bulk of the financing.

http://www.joycefdn.org/

There are many organizations like this, mainly tax exempt, run by people with no public accountability. I believe they act as sanctuaries for the enemies attacking us from within by providing money. 

Isn’t it always money? Even the useful idiots of Antifa and Black Lives Matter need food and shelter. Where do they get it? Doubt many have jobs. The money people skulk in the background, funding troublemakers, with no personal consequences. 

They buy politicians. Shillary, anyone? City mayors? How do we change this?

If sunshine is a great sanitizer, the process may be starting.

http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2017/08/pick-your-enemies-carefully.html?

utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BayouRenaissanceMan+%28Bayou+Renaissance+Man%29

http://theredelephants.com/doxxed-list-every-single-antifa-member-released-8chan/

Once again Peter Grant offers some clear insights. Worth reading completely and the links he provides.

http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2017/08/clearly-they-dont-believe-in-democracy.htmlutm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BayouRenaissanceMan+%28Bayou+Renaissance+Man%29

How do we speed the process and bring light and heat on these smug insulated elites? How do we make their lives as uncomfortable as they are making ours? Folks, I don’t know. Further, I’m not smart enough to figure it out.

If our country devolves into civil insurrection and anarchy then I do know ways, just saying. What is the impact of just one sniper on a battlefield?

Maybe that is the reason they hate the 2^nd Amendment?

Spammers

Old AFSarge recently had a post about spammers.

 http://oldafsarge.blogspot.com/2017/08/damned-spammers.html

I left a comment. Suddenly the number of "Anonymous" comments hitting my inbox, that are clearly spam, has greatly increased.

Cause and effect? Darned if I know. 

Survived!

Wyoming will never see another traffic day like today. I-25 going North, both lanes full, bumper to bumper. What joy, I experienced it for 118 miles.

I skipped US 26 through Guernsey and Ft. Laramie. Too many federal, state, and local campgrounds. Using back roads, went from Wheatland to Lingle, NE. This route is county roads and includes eight miles of dirt road. No problem when it is dry, like today, but in a car you can't disable traction control in mud it is a formula for stranding.

This morning most of the drivers were probably sober and highly caffeinated. This afternoon? Tired, cranky, a few beers, and driving South into the sun may make things 'interesting'.

RINOS be Damned

With blood pressure under control, clicked on the Trump denouncement page.

http://thehill.com/

And the headlines.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/347183-senate-republicans-getting-fed-up-with-trump

http://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/347264-white-house-shuffle-draws-fire-but-no-defenders

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/347253-poll-trumps-favorability-rating-falls-in-three-key-states-he-won-in

Ad nauseum. Who thinks President Trump cares? He got elected in spite of the RINOS and owes them nothing.

All these jackwagons have spent years learning the political dance. Along comes a man who changes the music, so to speak, and the establishment goes berserk. How dare he crack their rice bowls? How dare he march to his own drummer?

While not a fanboy, I am ever so glad Shillary didn’t win.

I like he speaks his mind, plainly, to the point, and to hell with political correctness. Charlottesville violence?  Damn skippy he is right to call out all violent factions.

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/347176-the-memo-gop-fears-damage-done-by-trump

The RINOS are not a lot different than the (P)regressives, IMO. They are concerned about getting the lion share of the status quo, but first want to preserve the status quo. To that end they are preparing for the midterms.

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/347240-rnc-raises-millions-more-than-dnc-in-july

What are the chances of a candidate for Congress getting any of that money if they support President Trump?

The economy is growing, unemployment is low and getting lower, small businesses no longer fear being regulated to death, and the national debt has stopped growing. These are things that matter to most people. He is the first president in my lifetime to keep his campaign promises. I don’t believe polls. I think many more people approve of his job performance than the pollsters find.

We the people? To the entrenched deep state, and the Washington politicians, we are all deplorables. 

"That's Weird"

"That's weird", said my cardiologist as she tapped on the control screen of the equipment monitoring my pacemaker. "Oh, are you feeling something?"

"Doctor, weird is not a word I like hearing when you are checking my health", was my reply. "And, yes, I'm feeling things in my chest I haven't felt before".

Cheerfully she went on to explain she was doing tests, and my heart didn't start beating for a moment after one of the tests. Weird, but nothing to be concerned about.

Three years ago two bradycardia events landed me in the hospital for the first time in my adult life. A third occurred while I was in the emergency room. When I left the hospital, I had a pacemaker.

When the first two happened, I face planted. Messed up my rugged good looks.

In the days ahead had two more trips (non emergency) to Northern Colorado Medical Center. First, to rearrange my nose. The second to redo the pacemaker. Seems my lung capacity, and chest expansion, is out of normal parameters. Probably from growing up while performing hard physical work at high altitudes. I pulled one of the pacemaker leads loose and my cardiologists went in and placed a new pacemaker with longer leads. Not fun!

Continuing in her cheerful manner, she said I have thirteen and a half years battery life left and that the pacemaker had kicked in 284 times in the past year. 

"Use your in home device each quarter and come back in a year", were her final directions.

This is a device I place over the pacemaker that send a report via an app on my tablet to her office.

Last month during an eye exam had a retinal scan done. No calcification of the veins was evident.

It appears my enjoyment of embarrassing my children is good to go for a few more years.

School Days

My youngest son's three kids off to another school year.

The granddaughter is super smart - a straight A student since first grade.

Older grandson may hit 6'4" before he is done growing.

The youngest is the merriest child I've ever known.

Protest as Foreplay

WSF is taking off down a twisted line of thought. You have been warned.

One aspect of public protests, especially violent ones, that hasn’t been mentioned is sex. Let me go back in time to explain.

During the Vietnam War, I was a college student using the GI Bill, and part of a group of veterans who’s point of view was, “Go all in or get the hell out”. No micromanagement by bean counters safely tucked away in Washington, D.C. who made damn sure their sons weren’t drafted. We made most of the antiwar demonstrations.

We quickly learned the young lasses got turned on by the demonstrations. The after demonstration parties were often epic. A few hours of, “Hell no we won’t go” shouting and glaring at the police loosened inhibitions.

You can take it to the bank the current protesters leave the protests and go off and screw themselves silly. One hell of a motivator for getting involved. Issues? Who cares! I want to get laid.

Oh, WSF, you are such a cynic. True, I was born a cynic.

Respect??? Why?

A police officer showing disdain for traffic rules makes it difficult to respect other police officers.

What follows is a turn by turn description of the operation of a police motorcycle I observed today.

Today, at Denver International Airport, about 1255, turned left on East 75^th Ave from Undergrove St. and headed west.  East 75^th serves the airfreight and general aviation side of DIA. The speed limit is 45 mph. Soon I had a Denver Police Department officer on a motorcycle behind me. I wasn’t concerned because I had the cruise control set to the speed limit.  Didn’t stop him from following me way to close. Then, just past DHL, he crossed a double yellow line and blew past me. As he turned North on Jackson Gap Road he didn’t use his turn signals. Jackson Gap at that point has two lanes Northbound as it goes under Pena Blvd. He zipped over to the right lane. When the light turned green he accelerated and moved over to the left and the left turn lane to Westbound Pena Blvd. Again, no turn signal. He then flew Westbound on Pena across four lanes and pulled into a favorite honey hole across from the cell phone lot. 

I don’t think any case could be made that he was on an emergency run.

This officer may have a commission card and a badge but is, to me, just a fucking revenue generator along with the other five officers working within a four mile radius of the West side of DIA. YMMV

Am I anti-police? Hell no. I have  the greatest respect for peace officers. Not so much for cops.

Roadshow

Thank you, but no thank you. Way too old to put in eighteen hour days, day after day. My response to a recent phone call.

From 2002-2005 my employer, Steve Lance, went from a successful used truck and new stock and utility trailer dealership to starting from scratch four Kia dealerships. Along the way several more used car lots were added.

Steve is an intense former professional bull rider from Medicine Lodge, KS who has made and lost millions of dollars.  He decided we should conduct off site sales around Colorado. After the first, not real successful sale, he and his General Manager, Greg Miller, dragooned me for the job of organizing and supervising the program. My first requested title, “Chief Cat Herder” was rejected and I became the “Roadshow Wrangler”.

 Over the next three years we held sixty sales in twenty six different Colorado locales.

The phone call was from someone in the industry asking if I have an interest in doing it again. Not the first call of this nature I’ve received, and it is flattering, but my response is always, “Thanks but no thanks”.

A typical sale. This one in Trinidad, CO.

The motor home used as a mobile office.

My youngest with his first new car. He wasn’t pleased to have his picture taken. He bought it on his own with no help from me other than getting a smoking deal.

As an aside, Steve Lance had his name prominently displayed everywhere. It wasn’t ego. As he explained to me, if someone was dissatisfied, he wanted them to know who to talk to. His constant directive to me was, “Do it right, do it legal, and don’t cut corners”. 

Maybe that was one reason 30-40% of our customers had bought from us in the past.

That whole offsite sales business was a high point in my business life. That said, I don’t want to do it again.

The (P)regressive's Long March?

A favorite site for Colorado specific political opinions has a new posting regarding the rebranding of the ‘Democrat” Party.

https://coloradopeakpolitics.com/2017/08/10/stuff-we-cant-make-up-democrats-copy-mao-and-communist-china/

Mentioned at the end was Ken Salazar.

This is an individual ruined, in my opinion, by the deep government Washington, D.C. swamp.

He comes from humble Southern Colorado Hispanic roots. A hard working family that bootstrapped their way out of poverty while remaining humble, his wife was still owning and operating a drive in restaurant in a Denver suburb when he was elected U.S. Senator.

In Washington he shared an apartment with his brother, a one term Congressman who traveled his district in a personally flown 1966 Cessna 182 that was no cosmetic prize.

Obama made him a cabinet appointee. In the aftermath, he went over to the dark side.

I’m still pissed I not only voted for him, I was a campaign volunteer. 

ADDENDUM 

The last stand of the Jeb!s?

http://gazette.com/editorial-colorado-gops-central-committee-wants-all-control/article/1608802

Courage

A remarkable young lady shared a bit of her life with me and her courage impressed me.

While waiting for the chaos that is the Air General Airfreight Agency operation at DIA, struck up a conversation with a young lady waiting to ship a hamster. She was wearing a leg brace and I remarked on it. She had several obvious finger bruises on her exposed arms.

She explained she has brittle bone disease. The bruises were from her caregivers. She was going back to her parents in Atlanta.  The caregivers were arrested. One had active warrants. Seems the agency providing the caregivers hadn’t done their due diligence.

What struck me was her voice and demeanor. Not the slightest trace of self pity. Just a calm and friendly way of speaking as if discussing nothing more earth shattering than the weather.

The hamster was in an obviously new carrier with a small attached water bottle. Most people in her situation wouldn’t concern themselves with a small rodent. My guess is that she had assumed responsibility for the hamster’s life and well being and wasn’t going to abandon it.

As I drove away I felt humbled. What a courageous person dealing with a terrible situation! Medically conditions be damned, some young man is missing a grand opportunity if he doesn’t court and marry that young woman.

Nostalgia Roads

The North Park, CO hay fields of my callow youth. Looks like they only have half cut and it is already August. tsk, tsk

 A pass my forefathers used extensively. As few days before going into the Army, I saddled a horse at my parent's 'ranch' in Steamboat Springs and rode over to my relatives ranch in the header picture. Damn horse stepped on my left foot, broke my little toe, and I went through basic training with a broken toe.

Several years later my youngest badly sprained an ankle in basic training. Sucked it up and moved on to medic school.

The town of Steamboat Springs from Buffalo Pass in the left center. Look for the ski jumping hill. Both my sister and I are Steamboat Springs High School graduates.

Hahns Peak. Large dappled grey draft horse caught my eye. I like draft horses. 

 Then I saw the hoofs. Pisses me off to see a neglected animal. None of the horses in the corral looked like they are fed properly.

Wet winter followed by a good rain year has left the Hog Park Reservoir near Encampment, WY full on the first day of August. Very unusual.

Lots of beetle killed pine but the spruce are started to fill in. Cycle of life.

Back to the grind. I was surprised to see zero moose, elk, or deer on the trip. A pronghorn along side the highway outside of Encampment did raise the pulse rate as he couldn't decide if crossing the highway in front of me was necessary. Usually pronghorn show better judgement. As the saying goes, a miss is as good as a mile.

Back On Grid

My mother passed away recently. Dementia and Alzheimer had put her in a near vegetative state for several years but her tough constitution kept her hanging on. We had her cremated. Monday we placed her remains in an aspen grove in view of Hahns Peak (CO), a place with special meaning to her, and us.

Just a small gathering. My sister, niece, her daughter, and her husband.

Now it is back to work.

Hahns Peak was an area of mining activity in the late 1890-1930 era. While not as big as other mineral strikes in Colorado history, up until 1916 it was a county seat. One set of great grandparents traveled by wagon for three days to see a judge in Hahns Peak and get married. Family lore says the couple would remark,

"When we started, we didn't need to get married. By the time we got there, we did".

Cynics in the family, including me, think the trip needed to start about a month earlier.