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You Dirt People Don’t Know What is Good for You

Since you can’t be trusted to vote for the proper candidates, we need to insure your vote doesn’t matter. Really, it is for your own good! We know better.

Grass Greener Elsewhere?

The Mary Jane sellers in Colorado are hurting. Lots of reasons as detailed in this article. Burdensome regulation and high taxes hurts all business endeavors.

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No Fool Like an Old Fool

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Probable Search and Rescue Call Out

Office of Emergency Management, San Juan County Colorado

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Issued:
Jun 5, 2024 at 3:00 PM
Special Avalanche Advisory
A Special Avalanche Advisory is in effect for Colorado’s high country through Sunday, June 9. Several large and destructive wet avalanches occurred on Wednesday. With near-record temperatures on Thursday, June 6, and Friday, June 7, more large wet avalanches are expected. Change your travel plans to avoid steep slopes if surface crusts become unsupportable and you sink into wet, unconsolidated snow or you hear collapsing sounds. These are not normal conditions for early June. Adjust your objectives accordingly. Via Colorado Avalanche Information Center - CAIC 

Adventures in Taste

One personal change with age is less enjoyment of taste. When reading of LL’s descriptions of burritos and tacos, or K de T’s discussing drinks, the interest is there but relating isn’t. Never a gourmet, today food is more like fuel. Add missing teeth to add to the problem.

 Circa 1965, we G.I.s drank 4 DM a liter cognac. Someone once gave me a taste of 5 star cognac. Shrug. Peasant.

Each night I wash down 1500mg Acetaminophen with a gin and tonic plus a splash of generic lime juice. My gin comes off the bottom shelf, usually around $14-16 a large bottle. On the top shelf the same size runs $45-60 a bottle.

Do I suffer any angst being cheap? Hell no!

Water Walking

One City facility offers a “lazy river” feature.  Hourglass shaped and 3’ deep, the current is fairly strong. Since the first of the month I’ve been using it most days and the results are encouraging. I’m walking better and my knee pain has lessened.

Poor Banner hates being alone in the apartment and it is now too hot for him to stay in the car (where he is quite content). Two neighbor ladies take turns hosting him for an hour or so. He cowboys up and manfully tolerate staying with them.  The ladies assure me they don’t spoil him.

War on Coal – Wyoming Focus

I like this lady and appreciate her suggestion Boulder, CO show the way to a carbon free world.

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 Abused Dog

My oldest son needed a good ass chewing. I used the cell phone. Banner was lying on his day bed nearby. When I went to feed him breakfast he was afraid to come to his bowl. It took several minutes of petting, a short walk, and treats before he realized he wasn’t the one in trouble and became his normal happy state.

Back story. My oldest, 51, has always been autistic. He is fairly high functioning. For several years he has had a cell phone I pay for with unlimited minutes (which he uses, and uses, and uses). May 12^th, due to a change of credit cards used to pay the account, his phone was off for six whole hours. Since then he has sent me one to three emails a day about the %#%$%^&* phone.  During this time I have explained, over and over, the problem is solved and is not likely to reoccur. So he starts off my Sunday morning with a email saving he is worried about June 12^th and his phone not working.

I called him and ripped him a new asshole. Autistic or not, when his behavior becomes disrespectful, he relishes pissing and moaning, and using Dad as a punching bag, he needs reminding just who he is communicating with. Poor Banner got caught in the blast.

Hail Hell

This is becoming one of the worst Springs in recent years for destructive storms along the Front Range and the High Plains. Last week DIA got hit. Sunday the hail repair specialists had their tents set up in the rental car lots. Sisty tells me Manheim Auto Auction, about eight miles SSE of FIA, has some 4,200 vehicles with hail damage.

Car dealers have two basic choices. Pay through the nose for hail insurance, or gamble. Vehicles with hail damage claims get “salvage” titles. The others? Think many nefarious ways to fix them and sell them without disclosing the damage.

One dealer I know bought them cheap and sold them cheap. All sales, cash. The buyers went to their own financial institutions, got loans, and came back with the cash. AS IS……

Pro Tip: When shopping wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Invest in a cheap mirror with a handle. Bring a flashlight. Always, always wiggle under the dash and use the flashlight and mirror to look for mud and/or water marks. I’ve seen “flood cars” so detailed all traces were gone. The inside of the dash can only be cleaned by removing it. Then, since you are already dirty, look under the vehicle for intact exhaust systems and rust.

Truck frames should be looked at closely. Some have C frame and some have boxed frames. Toyotas with box frames are especially prone to rusting from the inside out. Frames nicely coated are, to me, a red flag. Any sign of rust or fresh undercoating is a signal to have an independent mechanic put the truck on a lift and closely examine it, at your expense. If the seller refuses, walk away.

Veterans Administration

Sorry about these. Maybe someday I'll learn how to remove pictures posted in the wrong place.

6/10 had my annual VA physician visit. I think it is mainly to prove I’m still alive. It must have gone well as I now have an appointment next year.

BP 120/80 Oxygen 92%. Is that too shabby for someone who will turn 80 next month? What is satisfying is I’ve outlived most of my enemies.

Some prescription medicines are all I rely on from the VA. That saves me about $800 a year.

As always, YMMV

The Dog's Fault

Banner News

Some readers like Banner stories. Last week, for the first time in the 4+ years he has lived with me, he didn’t attack his supper. The next day he was at the vet. Complete blood workup showed him slightly dehydrated but nothing else. He has unlimited access to water. Two days later he was his usual self. Despite my vigilance I suspect he ate something bad. Blasted dog will eat just about anything. Sisty suggests he just needed a good poop.

The vet noticed he has gained five pounds in six months. He suggested a change in dog food which has been taken.

The biggest reason for the weight gain is he has stopped taking me for walks.

Wind farms are wonderful?

Advertisement that appeard at the top of the Cowboy Daily. Somehow I don’t think that is ‘full disclosure’.

Wind Farm

Who knew coal is ‘green’?

I like learning new things and this is new to me.

Skin Care

The biggest question is how Kemmer/Diamondville will handle the housing and associated water and poop infrastructure to accommodate 12,000+ new residents?

Entrepreneur spirit

Are some politicians, all big government advocates, and many government employees operating with a perverted entrepreneur motivation? Empire building?

Model Citizen. Four Dui’s? 

Bad Girl

Dumb shits will be dumb shits. 

The gun grabbers are delighted by the actions of this dumb shit leaving a handgun in a state capital restroom. Naturally, the long term (P)regressive pimple on the Fourth Estate’s ass is all over the story.

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 Your GPS is wrong

Map reading is a lost skill and people putting blind faith in their electronic devices are, IMO, deluded. Wyoming’s take on the issue? 

Blind Trust

In my paper hanging job, finding addresses is crucial. I have three separate GPS devices with me. Before I ever go out I use my computer to look at every address. Often, I will view a picture of the address. Getting wrong directions from one or more device happens so often I no longer even bother to cuss.

One example. I needed to find an address in Morgan Heights (Fort Morgan). I knew I was looking for a two story stucco three car attached garage house. Two GPS directions took me to the other end of the street. One wanted to take me to Castle Rock, CO.

My Congresswoman 

Liberal Loser

Hope she is a one term representative. I put the time and effort into a letter on an issue that mattered to me. Sent one copy to her local office and one copy to her D.C. office. No response/reply. Staffers probably file 13d it.

My sister approves of her. My sister has spent thirty years of her life as a volunteer in a community health organization. Caraveo is a strong supporter. Sorry Sisty, I’m not a one issue voter.

Good and kind people

This morning I was reminded there are good and kind people in the world. My neighbor across the hall is 87 and in declining health. A resident of our building is taking her to see her doctor. This person, a LDS widow, is constantly helping others. She takes care of their dogs when they are in the hospital. She takes others grocery shopping. She does all of these acts of kindness quietly and without any fanfare. Some of her acts are motivated by her religious beliefs but I think mainly she does it because she is simply a good and caring person.

IMO, in our day to day lives we overlook how many good people are in our world.

PETA

They recently held a rally at the Wyoming capitol building. Other than the four protesters, nobody showed up. I’m not bothering to link the article.

Firearms control

The tyrants never stop with a death by thousand cuts against legal and lawful firearms owners (I don’t use “gun” unless talking about smooth bores).

Fiddling while Rome burns

What this effort should be labeled is avoiding serious issues while appearing to “DO SOMETHING” with a seasoning of hysteria.

As always YMMV

Colorado Weather - Beware

 Springtime in the Rockies

My maternal grandfather would always say, “I don’t care if you go naked, bring all the clothes you got”. Toponas, CO circa 1956 an April blizzard shut down both the highway and railroad for four days.

For today, Banner is enjoying his sunbath on the balcony.

A Colorado government program that actually works as intended?

Works more or less as intended. It hasn’t been hijacked (yet) by (P)regressives.

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Volunteer funding by people who are bad at math is a great idea, IMO, and I am one of the volunteers.

Faster than a speeding train

Banner hearing the refrigerator door open

Drones

My sister in an independent insurance adjuster who is often called to investigate truck wrecks in Wyoming and Nebraska. Most are on I-80 and she must contend with traffic speeding by. She is exploring using drones but is hampered by Wyoming winds. More experience will lead to better results. I’m all in favor of anything that lowers her risks.

My criminality thwarted

Recently I parked across the street from the barber shop and jaywalked. Haircut complete, walked up to the curb with car keys in hand and waited for traffic to clear. A Greeley police car pulled up behind my car and sat there until I walked up to the corner and pressed the crosswalk button before moving on. Oh well, exercise is good.

Francis Scott Key Bridge failure

Disclaimer. I’ve no knowledge or experience in ship handling. What surprised me was the damage to one structural support could bring down so much of the bridge. Was that because of faulty engineering? From available pictures it appears the structural steel portion collapsed.

 Some sixty years ago the Army spent several weeks teaching a few of us the rudiments of destroying structures. We were taught bridges have built in shear points. Failure of one portion would be isolated from the rest of the bridge. We were taught to look for these shear points and exploit them.  An example used in our instruction was the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen.

Just to be clear, only enough of the bridge remained intact enough to get troops across to secure a defensible bridge head. Soon a float bridge was across that could support heavy vehicle.

Californication guide

TABOR

Colorado is unique in having passed a Constitution amendment called the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. Two important points are all tax increases must be subject to a vote by the taxpayers and excess taxes collected be returned to the taxpayer. ($800 this year).

IMO, this is the only thing preventing total Californication by (P)regressives. Recently a water district got a TABOR smack down. 

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By national standards home taxes in Colorado are among the lowest in the country. Without TABOR Portland, OR will happen. Portland? Median home value is taxed at $14,000+ annually.

Spendthrift politicians are always seeking ways to get around TABOR. Fees are popular.  For those interested, here is a long and somewhat arcane explanation.

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 As always, YMMV

Half Baked Ideas on Civil Insurrection and F**k the Government

 

Drones 

Like any technology, there are good outcomes and bad outcomes.

Here we have a good outcome and potentially a life saved.

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The negative? Any outdoor personal privacy we may have enjoyed is now gone. Wars are now being fought in ways that challenge long held tactics and philosophies. Civil insurrection? SloJo doesn’t need F-16s.

What electronic counter measures can civilians use? Jammers? What thermal shielding is readily available? Since most drones will have an electronic link to an operator, can that link be traced back to the operator? Neutralize the operator?

The Weld County, CO Sheriff’s department is investing in drones and conduct frequent training days. They publicize these training days on Falsebook, among other places.

Why take action?  Full throttle!

If it doesn’t fix the problem, it’ll end the suspense. h/t Rory Irish, Moab, UT

Whiskey Rebellion tradition lives on?

The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government.

Smugglers

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Law breakers or entrepreneurs? 

Wamsetter, WY

IMO, one of the bleakest places I know. Live there? No amount of money would make me live there. That said, mega amounts of natural gas money is invested there and more is coming.

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Does anyone else see the irony of the wealthy betting on a big California market for natural gas when the state legislators seem hell bent on their “green” agenda.

(P)regressive Barf

If you can stomach reading this, here is leftist Trump hate spew about keeping Trump off the Colorado Ballot.

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Do these people live in an alternate universe, or do I? What real problem solutions were left unfunded with this waste of taxpayer's money?

Tough Call

Lick the bacon grease from the saucer or the eggs and cheese residual from the bowl first?

 As always, YMMV

Something Light

Just for fun

Banner gets a ‘spa day’. Nails trimmed and a bath. The groomer has a sense of humor – makes me smile.

Gaia Keeps Turning

 

Several bloggers on the sidebar have a much better insight about the world and current events. I urge you to read them. As for myself, I’m hunkering down and focusing on local stuff.

Economy

Your opinion on who has benefited by ‘Build Back Better’ may differ from mine but at the local, micro economic level, I can say with certainty the car biz sucks. The reason these vehicles are in this storage lot instead of the company retail lots is the retail lots are full of vehicles that are not being sold.

 Friends still in the biz tell me the auction houses are severely limiting the number of vehicles they will accept because they are full and what is there are not getting sold.

 Banner

Enjoying the new cover on ‘his’ futon. The last one lasted about six months. This one is waterproof and seems to be of more durable material.

Ho, Ho, Ho

The management provides an artificial Christmas tree for each floor. The residents then decorate the tree. My one and only contribution is to un-box and erect the tree. After the season is over and the decorations put away, I take the tree apart and re-box it.

Interact with several senior ladies deciding how to decorate? I would rather have a full time job herding cats.

Some residents add their own decorations around their doors.

Mine isn’t as elaborate.

We had a nice breakfast this morning with friends and family at the Evans, CO VFW. Larger crowd than usual. Lots of carbs and saturated fats.  Ymm!

As always, YMMV

The Dog

Banner Rules

With all that is going on surrounding Gaza and the murderous scum (there and around the world) nothing else seem to push my umbrage button at the moment.

 Banner isn’t spoiled; simply well cared for. He rules the backseat and must have the passenger window down enough, summer and winter, to sniff the passing air. Yesterday, sitting in the left turn lane waiting for a green light, two women in the next lane were flirting with him.

 He never jumps on anyone, or even bumps into them. That is good, considering the several elderly neighbors in walkers and wheelchairs. What he does, with people he likes, is gallop at full speed towards them then hit the brakes, stops, sits and waits for treats. The resulting laughter and grins is heartwarming.

 Banner is my litmus test now when dealing with other people. Anyone can pet him and he rarely, if ever, is aggressive. He doesn’t approach everyone. If people don’t meet his approval, my interaction with them is guarded.

 Banner isn’t brave. The Long-haired Chihuahua down the hall bullies him. He hates tile floors. Even after four years of walking our lobby he resists walking. However, if he sees one of his treat grandmothers he gets braver.

 Downside? He sheds which compels me to seep floors and vacuum more frequently than I might otherwise.

 As I often say, I won the dog lottery when I acquired him.

Good Dog

 Banner

He has been with me now for four years. Every year he gets a vet checkup, shots, and a year supply of heart worm protection. Still in good health, he gained three pounds from last year (80 to 83) and now has a lot of gray hair. Despite his best efforts, I’m still not fully trained but he hasn’t given up. There are at least eight people in our building who give him treats including one who comes to our door. The best thing about him is the smiles and laughter he generates as we make our rounds. I won the dog lottery with him.

Because of him, I get “positive affirmations”. The Abuela neighbor across the hall, “Banner, I feel so sorry for you! You have to live with that grumpy old man”.

Others. “Oh, it is Banner! And frank.”

Bear Story

A story of drunken grizzly bears getting run over by trains in Montana brought to mind a past incident.

 Circa 1972 driving North on Idaho Hwy 93 North of Salmon, ID (a narrow, steep, and winding two  lane road) coming around a corner I saw a pickup truck with a bed mounted camper  wedged against the bank on the passenger side. The driver had his window down and was vigorously waving. Seems he had run over a black bear that was now wedged under his truck directly under the driver side door and pawing the air every time he tried to open the door.

While assessing the situation, he asked me to retrieve a rifle from his camper and shoot the bear.

Noticing a handyman (high lift) jack mounted on the front bumper I used that to lift the truck off the bear. The second the bear was free it bolted across the road and down a steep bank.

Cancer News (Hopeful)

A deeply personal subject. While cancer free, some 60% of extended family member, both paternal and maternal, have died from cancer or currently suffering. This report is good news.

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Despite billions spend worldwide every year searching for answers, the question always is, why not a cure? Is the “cancer industry” too lucrative that cures would break too many rice bowls?

Up yours, Emperor Polis (and not by your husband)

Proposition HH, a convoluted (P)regressive attempt to circumvent TABOR under the smoke screen of ‘property tax relief’ was soundly rejected by Colorado voters by a margin of >20%. This was  a way for the state to gain control over setting taxes. As it now stands, this is the way property taxes are determined.

Each year county commissioners, city councils, school boards, governing boards of special districts, and other taxing authorities determine the revenue needed and allowed under the law to provide services for the following year.

Each taxing authority calculates a tax rate based on the revenue needed from property tax and the total assessed value of real and personal property located within their boundaries. The tax rate is often expressed as a mill levy.

Back when Colorado was a ‘Red State’ the Taxpayers Bill or Rights (TABOR) was added to the state constitution. It limits how taxes can be raised and requires the state to refund excess taxes collected and mandates a balanced budget.

This alone has prevented the complete Californication of Colorado and drives the (P)regressives into fits of rage.

The fallout of the failure has even unhinged hardcore MAGA hating (P)regressives.

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Emperor Polis has called a special session of the state legislation November 17^th to try and undo the election. Right now, the Dims have control of both the House and Senate. Based on the trends in this off year election, the vote is slanted to the right and the next election may end the (P)regessive stranglehold.

The only real tactic the RINOs have is in the Senate. If enough Senators don’t show up, no quorum is possible. Even so, some RINOs are in favor of a Special Session. They seem to think they can score political points. Typical RINO circular firing squad thinking.

Since Emperor Polis is term limited, he has his eye on the Presidency. Failing that, the Senate, IMO.

 Blog Comments

Some comments have viewpoints that have little to do with what I post. So long as they put a name to their comment I let it go. Free speech, and all that. What is clearly stated on the header is anonymous comments will be deleted. Want to use this blog to spread your message? Fine, so long as you put your name/handle on it.

Facebook Humor

The History of the Middle Finger:

Well, now......here's something I never knew before, and now that I know it, I feel compelled to send it on to my more intelligent friends in the hope that they, too, will feel edified.

Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore they would be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous English longbow was made of the native English Yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as 'plucking the yew' (or 'pluck yew').

Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and they began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, See, we can still pluck yew! Since 'pluck yew' is rather difficult to say, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodentalfricative 'F', and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger-salute! It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as 'giving the bird.'

And yew thought yew knew every plucking thing. Didn't yew!

Passive Aggression

Local story. A man pissed at traffic past his house took action. Nails and screws on the roadway and driveways.

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Our county has fallen in love with traffic circles. Nearby a botched traffic circle project has kept two roads closed. The contractor was fired and the half finished traffic circle is keeping the roads closed. While I have some sympathy for the individual, he seems a taco short of a combination plate.

As always, YMMV