Such a Handsome Lad

 

4014 Big Boy 9/30/2025

The Union Pacific has added some nifty smoke screens. Purists, clutch your pearls.

Contrast

A Canadian naval vessel as compared to a US Navy vessel.

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Clue: Rust

Autism

Seems RFK Jr is pushing the idea Tylenol, taken by pregnant mothers, is linked to autism. What is linked to autism, among many other factors, is illness while pregnant. Might, among other remedies, might pregnant women take to relieve symptoms? Tylen

As parents with a autistic toddler, we belonged to a monthly support group moderated by a psychiatrist. He had a special needs child. One comment he made stayed with me fifty years later. He said the difference between a retarded child and an autistic child was the educational level of the parents. If the label, retarded, were still used for all development disabilities, has the overall rate of retardation changed over the years?

AI Overview

Using the outdated and offensive term "retardation" is inappropriate

. The correct term is intellectual disability (ID). The apparent "level" of ID has changed significantly over the past 50 years due to evolving diagnostic criteria, improved public health, and shifts in societal trends. 

I support RFK Jr’s efforts to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable.  His problem, as I see it, is his only tool is a hammer and he sees every problem as a nail.

Blog comments

Reluctantly,  I am now deleting blog comments that are off topic with no link to the poster.  For ten or so years, none of my posts every received more than 200 views and just a handful of on topic comments. Now each post receives 3,000 ‘views’ and many off topic comments.

In no way are my scribbles on par with LL, Old AFSarge, Old NFO, BRM, LSP and others. My conclusion is someone’s AI is targeting my blog. Do I care? Not much, but it irritates me.

One of many things that irritate me – clickbait

MSN is one of many offenders. The headline, “Major auto parts supplier bankrupt”, prompts me to click on, and some talking head starts some drawn out monologue. Nowhere is the name of the auto parts supplier. I click off. Same thing with YouTube channels. Get to the point , then I will listen to your analysis. Otherwise, I click off.

As always, YMMV

The Big Boy

 

Big Boy UP 4014

For Northern Colorado residents, the UP will run 4014 to Denver September 30, leaving Cheyenne around 11 am. A stop is scheduled in Greeley at 12:45. They will return the next day, with a scheduled stop in Eaton at 12:30.

Notes. The 4014 runs when it runs. Schedules are suggestions. Whatever you may read, Big Boy is not the world’s largest steam locomotive. It is the largest operational steam locomotive in North America.

A good photo op when it comes from Cheyenne is Carr, CO where the track crosses a  bridge. 

All along US 85 from a few miles North of Nunn, CO to Denver has many sites for dramatic photos. Just remember to drive the speed limit in the many small towns along the route.

Bad Joke

Why does the wind blow in Wyoming?

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 Still Alive

If Your Neck Is Over 17 Inches, Your Heart Could Be in Trouble

Headline in Scientific Daily. I’m not bothering to link the article. Amuses me, since I’ve worn a size 20x36 shirt all my adult life. Alas, the size 34 waist is a distant memory.

 Lightning

You need to respect mother nature.

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Both my mother and grandmother were struck by lightning, my mother twice. They were the only members of that family to develop dementia. Sisty lost a valuable horse to lightning. He was in a pasture with several other horses. Why him? Maybe because he was the tallest?

As always, YMMV

Attention bots, algorithms, keyboard warriors - my scribbles aren't that interesting

 

One recent post has nearly 4,000 views. Several have gone over 2,000. I’m not deluded enough to think I’m a good writer so what is going on?

All Time1612592

Today7506

Yesterday9396

This Month122465

The Blueprint + Colorado + RICO

 Does it pass the smell test?

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Emperor Polis, and his predecessor, the bartender Hickenlooper have created upwards of twenty new ‘boards’ and “commissions’ where the governor can appoint members. With the Democrats holding a majority, sometimes supermajority, his appointments sail through. These entities give the governor enormous patronage ability, and these entities are shielded from the general public. In other words, a bullet proof racket. The Attorney General is a Democrat, and all three Supreme Court Justices are Democrats.

Perhaps the DOJ can spare a few resources to investigate these schemes as RICO violations.

Black Bear Pass

Now for something different from the usual rants. This is one of the more challenging passes in Colorado.

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Back in my young and dumb days (still dumb, not young) I drove this pass in a Ford 2 wheel drive flatbed pickup with a load of hay bales. Reason? Shorter drive to where I needed to go.

Charles Kirk Murder Skeptic

The one cold hard fact is he was murdered in front of many witnesses. Everything from that point forward is information from government entities. I’ve long ago stopped taking anything, from any level of government, at face value. Even the many who have integrity can be duped.

Some disturbing questions are starting to circulate, beginning with the wound path; entry point, exit point, angles, etc. Grassy knoll, anyone? Think the defense won’t use this at his trial?

I’ve no doubt the man in custody, with his grandfather’s rifle, could make the shot.  Did he?

What Could Go Wrong?

Driverless cars are being tested in Denver. Noted is the pictured vehicle, a Jaguar, the manufacturer in survey after survey voted the least reliable brand.

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Hopefully the test include a Denver blizzard where most of those sensors will get covered with slush and ice.

PDJT, Legal, and Free Speech

In a recent conversation I said he is keeping his campaign promises. The response was, “Yes, but he is doing it illegally”. While I didn’t argue, the remark did make me think. I leave it to the lawyers. Wasn’t that was the way the Lightbringer and Poopy Pants operated?

 Kimmel, et al, worked for publicly owned networks that operate as profit making companies for their shareholders. When Kimmel, et al, let their mouths overload their asses, that gives the networks an excuse to drop their money losing shows.

 Nothing prevents him from starting his own free speech outreach on social media.

 As always, YMMV

Beyond Pissed Off

This is a personal rant that has nothing to do with current events.

 Xfinity, my cell phone provider for many years will lose me as a customer next month.

 My 51 year old autistic son lives in the Seattle area. He has a phone I pay for. When he has had a problem, lost a phone, etc. he would go to an Xfinity store and the problem would be promptly solved.

 He needs a new phone. Off to the Tukwila store where he is turned away. He was told, since it is my account, I need to physically be there so they can scan my i.d. WTF, over.

 OK, I go to the Longmont Xfinity store and am told I need to buy the phone and send it to him. WTF, again. They order a phone. Can’t do right there because my Colorado Driver License expired. OK, have a new phone shipped to me. I then ship the phone to him. He goes into the Tukwila store and is again turned away.

 Now, I’m not flying to Seattle just to get a phone activated.

\Next week his aide will take him to another company, likely Cricket, and we will try to get his phone up and working.

 Next month (this month is paid for) I will have a new phone company.

 Here is my take, based on a lifetime of working on commission. For whoever waits on him, it is floor time lost (they think). I see a pattern, both in that store, and my local store. Add, no local phone number at any store so they don’t waste time with callers. Stupid, IMO.

 1988, Sound Ford, Renton, WA closed at 10:00 p.m. At 8:45 or so a man got out of an older pickup and I greeted him at the door. He stunk, really, really bad. Turned out he did sewer work. He drove away in a new truck around 11:30. After thanking me, he said, words as I recall, “I really appreciate you waiting on me. I know I stink but by the time I get home and shower, you are closed”.  In the coming months that man bought four vehicles from me himself and sent two other buyers my way.

Winner do what losers won’t.

As always, YMMV

Yes, letting my driver license expire was dumb; beat me! At my age a new eye exam is needed. That is scheduled next week. Our socialist run state government requires a DMV appointment; no walk ins. An appointment is scheduled later in the month.

 In the mean time I am stopping at stop signs, using my turn signal and diligently observing speed limits.

No Human is Illegal, and Other Foolishness

 

Illegal Aliens

Compassion for underdogs or enabling slavery is the question? The mass of people let in under Biden came in as chattel, indentured to the coyotes. Mixed in were the worst of the worst criminals and crazies. We see them as human beings; the cartels see them as slaves. Their lives have no value beyond earning money for the cartels.

Do we, as a country, remain complicit in slavery? Our human compassion papers over allowing human trafficking; not to mention the horrific damage on our society caused by drugs and violent crimes. We must first of all protect our own.

Foreign aid is a noble impulse. Our country’s history shows it is hijacked to enrich those who administer foreign aid. Congress not only turns a blind eye, they feed at the trough.

 Blogger Advice Sought

Each blog post now brings long, off topic, comments. How do you, the handful of constant readers, feel about these comments? Along with these comments, the number of visits has soared. Historically, about 200 views per post. Now, with up to 2,000 per post, am I being used, or have I suddenly become a riveting writer?

Short Employment Commute

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 As always, YMMV

Wolves and Trucker Woes, Continued

 

Wolves

Urban/Rural divides on display. Emperor Polis’ husband is an environazi writ large. He is, among other things, a prairie dog defender, and organized a ‘robust’ gathering to discuss wolf introductions. If you bother to read the whole thing, you will find a mindset, IMO, from people who have never spent any time doing hard manual labor.

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There may be a benefit to society as a whole, when a subset of “thinkers” isn’t burdened by earning their daily bread. Then my parents favorite saying kicks in, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. What say you?

More Trucking Woes

This is an ongoing case where a trucker didn’t slow down passing an accident scene and killed an EMS and injured another. Is the fact he is foreign born pertinent?

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The umbrage meter is left pegged at the moment.

 As Always, YMMV