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