Breathing Air and Taking Nourishment

Breathing air and taking nourishment is about all I have going right now.

Riding for the Brand

Recent assignment took me South of Denver. While well paid for my efforts, they were assignments I didn’t care to do. My agent supervisor asked me to do them as a favor. They have recently reacquired a past client that needed these debtors contacted. She has agents in the area but none will venture out in the boonies. Why? Not my circus, monkeys, or problem.

The assignments were generally in a line from Elizabeth, CO to nearby Roxbury Park/Chatfield Dam at the base of the foothills. This is an area I seldom traverse. East of Castle Rock are miles of rolling, mainly barren hills. Dilapidated building from the homestead era are scattered around. Among all of this are expensive two to three story houses with three car garages and new outbuildings on maybe, ten acres. Most likely they have wells and septic systems. Isolated comes to mind. The residents must have “town jobs” because their plots of land won’t sustain farming. I doubt few could even support a decent garden. Right now they are leading a lifestyle that is not sustainable in a severe economic downturn.

For me, these are no brainier assignments as most have closed gates. One picture of the home in the distance, one of the address/mailbox, and one of the gate I’m done. Report gets filled out as “inaccessible” and ten minutes later I’m on my way to the next fool’s castle.

Onward to Castle Rock and exurbia sprawl. Biden country – Boulder County lite.

Once a quaint peaceful little town, it is now tickytacky with several malls sprawled alongside I-25.

My reason for avoiding these assignments is returning through Denver. While not yet up to the horror of Atlanta or Southern Cali, it is a contender

Nebraska

As much work as I’m doing there I should move. Thursday and Friday will be spent there. There is a narrow weather window those days.

Mundane

Thart is my life for the moment which makes, for me, writing anything interesting for the blog difficult. I do admire those who can put up something daily that is worth the time reading.

North American Arms, Provo UT

These folks make a high quality “bad breath range” derringer. Recently Sisty stopped by and bought four cylinders in both .22LR and .22 Mag. Hey, speed loaders! She was completely impressed by the attitude and quality of the people she met there.

Endless hours can be spent arguing the merits of these tiny firearms. Spare us, please. These tools fit a narrowly specific need better than anything else for the specific user.

As always, YMMV

Long Day Trip

Banner containing his excitement

With Sisty off in Nevada, he went on a business trip with me. Usually he spends the day with Aunty when I have a 300+ mile day to cover.

Neighborhood Watch

Brush, CO in an isolated neighborhood across the tracks, at a home with nobody answering the door, I taped the envelope to the door (standard procedure), and took my pictures. As I walked back to the car. across the street a man stood in his open garage holding a rifle, muzzle down. A new experience for me, I avoided eye contact, promptly left. and waited until I was out of sight to make my tablet entries.

Too Popular

Next stop, in a town with fewer than 500 residents, two other people were ahead of me at my assignment. My envelope was placed next to a utility shut off notice and one from the USPS.

Busy

The economy sucks, at least in my area. My assignment portal will be clear then, the next time I look, a dozen or more new assignments have appeared.

I run about a 40% contact rate. Assignments where I must make face to face contact, or three attempts, pay more. With the proliferation of doorbell cameras, contact is becoming harder. They see a big dude wearing a badge on a lanyard and holding a clipboard on their doorstep. OK with me, especially when they use the intercom feature. I get to mark those down as a contact.

Frequent Flyers

The assignments where I’ve been two or three times already over the past months are becoming more common. Still, according to the newspaper reports, foreclosures are down in Colorado. Too bad the number of re-financed mortgages isn’t reported.

The envelopes I deliver have one basic message. “Hey you, quit ignoring your obligation”. All offer a chance to apply for forbearance and/or re-financing.

Impending decision

Will I continue with this work? I’m concerned about my night vision and driving. On the 30^th I have an appointment at a vision clinic for a comprehensive eye exam. Depending on what they find, I may need to curtail my night driving. The bad thing about getting old is no replacement parts.

As always, YMMV

ADDENDUM

Colorado Springs shooter. The press is using his “preferred” pronouns. How woke! Fuck him, he doesn’t deserve any consideration, IMO.

What Winter?

We received our first snow that didn’t immediately melt away. Climate Change! Raise taxes! Reality is we need a lot more moisture for next summer’s needs. Will we get it? This area is a semi arid high desert.

Banner

He isn’t pleased with the temperature and snow. 17° on the balcony and overcast skies keeps him from his morning nap in the sun. Snow gets between his toes. The up side for me is he quickly takes care of business outside.

Wyoming

They are having a harder winter with all three Interstate Highways (I-80, I-25, I-90) seeing multiple truck wrecks and intermittent closures. Many of the secondary highways have been worse.

Parking Lot Hazard

Windows 11

The struggle continues with myself inflicted aggravation. My HP with Windows 7 is going on ten years and will, at some point, die. Not being DrJim and other tech savvy people, I won’t try to fix it.

I bit the bullet and bought another HP with Windows 11 and am not having fun learning how to use it. Worse, I’m now forced to read instructions! Bah humbug!

Life has taught me it is best to have your backup in place before you need it. As my blog title indicates I too often ignore those lessons.

 But, but, the “Narrative”!!!!

Didn’t expect this from M.I.T., one of Satan’s stepchildren.

https://scitechdaily.com/stabilizing-feedback-confirmed-by-mit-scientists-earth-can-regulate-its-own-temperature-over-millennia/

As always, YMMV

Elections Have Consequences

Even fiercely caring about my adult son’s (both with disabilities) and the future my grandchildren are facing, I am at a point of saying, “Fuck it”.

To the collective demographic who ignore election fraud and keep electing fools, “You own it, and, you can damn well deal with the consequences. I’m out of here”.

Part of this attitude is conversations with two neighbors my age. One, a Los Angeles born and raised Latino, is a true believer Democrat. The other, a successful engineer and entrepreneur, says at his age he can’t be bothered anymore and will live out his years doing what he damn well pleases.

No fear, I will still keep stirring the pot and harsh the mellow of the (P)regressives whenever I can. 

Sorry, Cheyenne

Devil Weed

Cheyenne dopers will still need to drive an extra 25 miles to buy their weed after the residents of Nunn, CO, population +/- 600  voted against allowing “Dispensaries” in their town, just 31 miles from the Wyoming border.

Too bad, as Nunn will remain a speed trap with 40% of the town’s revenue coming from the four person police force writing tickets. (I have contributed)

Nielsen Ratings

Despite not owning a television for several years, they still send me surveys. Since they pay $2 to $5 for my opinion, I participate.

Train Tracks

September 15,  Platteville, CO made the news when a Union Pacific freight hit a Platteville Police car parked on the railroad tracks with a prisoner inside. The woman survived despite severe injuries.

The Weld County Prosecutor has now filed charges against some of the officers involved. Interestingly, the office is not dropping charges against the woman who was being detained for a road rage incident where she allegedly pointed a firearm at another motorist. A firearm was found in her vehicle.

Many comments and YouTube postings are out there. The first Sunday after the incident, our usual suspects were having Sunday breakfast at the VFW, when one of my sister’s “daughters”, a retired Weld County LEO, expressed disbelief.

My sister explained, “Ft Lupton police were involved”.  The retired LEO simply nodded her head. Draw your own conclusions.

Colorado Mid-Terms

Votes are still being counted but the state has stayed firmly blue. Hard to beat cubic money and the GOP was outspent by a huge margin. At this point I’m beyond caring.

KIA Sorento

My sister now has a 2023 to replace her worn out 2004 or so Sorento. I’m happy for her as her work requires reliability and AWD when she is called out for truck wrecks in Wyoming. This Sorento is an upgrade model with all kinds of features.

Recently she had a four day East Coast trip and had me ride with her to DIA and keep the Kia until her return. After returning home, I parked it and didn’t drive it again until I went back to DIA to pick her up. The vehicle is fantastic but isn’t for me.

This Latter Day Luddite is retired from the car biz and has no reason to learn twenty+ functions. Isn’t today, per a Falsebook posting, Grumpy Old Balding Fat Man Day? I certainly qualify.

As always, YMMV.

Wandering Mind

 

Green Thumb?

An Aloe Vera plant purchased in April. It was about 3” tall. A neighbor told me having one would improve the air in my apartment. To date, I’ve repotted it and watered it once a month. A gardener I’m not so it must be a tough plant.

Shucky Darn Again

In April we had a bad wind storm that severely damaged a building under construction. Since then the builder has slowly made progress. One suspect’s cash flow might be an impediment. In the past three years he has erected a series of truly ugly (in my eye) duplexes next to where I live. Many of my fellow residents are hopeful he will finally get the last eyesore finished.

Your opinion may differ but I don’t find aesthetic merit in his color choices.

Redneck Mechanic

Work took me to Nebraska again on Election Day. At a rest stop I noticed a wisp of steam coming from under the hood. The upper radiator hose had a pinhole leak.  No problem, some flex tape and on my way. That didn’t hold after awhile. Plan B, duct tape.

One aspect of getting old that really bothers me is losing a lot of manual dexterity. While pulled over along side the road, a man and his daughter stopped. I was struggling wrapping duct tape around the hose so he took over. He also suggested leaving my radiator caps lose so as to not build pressure. The two worked and RTB was accomplished without any problems.

Nice people in Nebraska. In Kimball the Quick Stop store had a customer getting some chicken fingers to go. I noticed her shirt was embroidered with, “Kimball County Clerk”. When she went to pay the cashier waved off any payment saying, “We appreciate all of you”.

Nebraska Muggers

I was forced to stop until they decided to clear the highway.

I don’t understand

In the middle of nowhere (ok, NE  88 between Bridgeport and NE 71) is this field of derelict mobile homes. There isn’t a business sign to be seen or any sign of ongoing activity.

Inflation

$20 for this  $5 hose. Changing it is a twenty minute job that shouldn’t take me more than two hours.

No Shit, Sherlock

Headline in the local rag. Click bait. WSF has a conspiracy theory.

BUSINESS

Energy was a boon for Weld County before the pandemic. Is it now a drag on the area’s economy?

 

At just 57% recovery, Greeley the only metro area in Colorado still below pre-pandemic economic levels

 

Excerpts from a very long  article.

Nearly three years after the start of the pandemic, Greeley is the only one of Colorado’s metro areas whose economy hasn’t fully recovered and the reason might be the same one for its previous robust growth — the oil and gas industry.

Overall, Colorado’s employment has rebounded and then some, reaching 117% of pre-pandemic levels in September and surpassing the U.S. recovery rate of 102%. But Greeley and the rest of Weld County has recovered just 57% of their pre-pandemic job levels.

 

What is not mentioned anywhere in the article is the actions of Emperor Polis along with FJB to kill the oil and natural gas drilling.

Polis will be a Democrat Presidential candidate in 2014, bet on it. With a net worth North of  $103,000,000 he can afford to have the American Mainstream Maggots (h/t BZ) start to groom his image from a Boulder County whacko to some kind of Libertarian and champion of the common man.

This will be subtle and articles like this will be part of the effort.

Election Day

The Red Wave seems more like a red ripple. I’m giving it a day or two before any analysis waiting for all the votes to be counted, miscounted, or manipulated.

Two relatives are candidates for local office. One has clearly won and the other is leading with what votes have been counted (school board).

The winner is a retired LEO who ran for municipal judge. He is about 6’4” and is fond of telling me, “I like looking down on you”. Next time I see him I will be saying, “Here come de judge, here come de judge”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hIcKkKID8k&ab_channel=fnordcinco

I Feel For Them

The local Safeway tore out all their old gas pumps and replaced them with new, whiz-bang models. Since then, a common sight.

It is now time for this wandering mind to wander over to the coffee pot. As always, YMMV

Civil War

Upcoming civil war is a common topic on the internet as people become angrier with those in power, elected or behind the scenes. I anticipate we will have violent protests in our future. The question I have is, “What is civil war?”

From Wikipedia:

A civil war or intrastate war^[a] is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies

I don’t see this happening, especially along the lines of the American Civil War/War of Northern Aggression. The key?  Organized groups.

Give the FBI credit. They can’t seem to find auto theft rings, catalytic theft enablers, Islamic jihadists, or Chinese spies but  excel in infiltrating groups opposed to government interference in our lives. That makes organized groups, beyond very small cadres, ineffective.

What seems to have been the common element in past civil insurrections are one or more leaders people will rally around. The closest in my lifetime is Donald Trump.

What are more likely are individuals, or very small cadres, conducting sniping and bombing campaigns. MANPADS vs private jets? Old fashion mortars? Is Martha’s Vineyard within range of a mortar on the mainland? That would ruin a garden party. Pain, suffering, and death among the presently coddled elites might change some attitudes.

At this point the only seemingly directed mobs are BLM and Antifa who are most likely government sponsored and protected.

The late Mike Vanderboegh wrote clearly on this subject with his blog, Sipsey Street Irregulars.

http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/

Yesterday the barber I visit cut my hair. He is from Iran and I inquired about his take on the current riots there. He is of the opinion that the exiles who want back in power are behind them; that there are no leaders, and that the rioters won’t change anything.

Who am I to say he is right or wrong? What I heard echoed was a sentiment many in this country have about our lives.

To sum up, I expect the future will bring more pissing and moaning but no civil war. Unrest, rioting, vast increases in crime, and hand wringing by politicians, yes. Civil war, no.

Feel free to express your definition of civil war.

As always, YMMV.