Combat Fatigue Respite

 

Alfred E Neuman state

My personal life, for the moment, is improving and my usual umbrage about the state of the world is merely at a simmer. Undoubtedly that will change. For the moment, my focus is inward.

Surveillance State

With 46 balconies facing the open hillside where Banner does his business, eyes are always on us. Further, many doing the surveillance are not shy with their opinions on how Banner is cared for by his guardian.

Coal and Electricity

Craig, CO, located in Northwest Colorado, has always been a boom or bust town. Railroad, cattle, sheep, uranium and coal have had their day. The TriState power plant is literally adjacent to the Trapper mine. Now both are being shut down. Headed south on Hwy 13 there are other open pit coal mines. All are in danger of closing.

David Moffat’s Denver, Salt Lake, and Pacific railroad reached Craig in 1913. He ran out of investor money. The Denver and Rio Grande acquired the company and later the Union Pacific acquired the D&RG (fuck you Fred Anschutz).

Now, 40 miles to the west a mammoth power line is under construction that will send solar and wind generated electricity, in Wyoming, to Las Vegas and California.

Who supplies electricity (and natural gas) to the region is a hodgepodge of co-ops, for profit companies, and local independent operations all tied into the regional grid. Xcel, a Minnesota headquartered company established in 1903 wants to dominate the system. Being woke and green (and arrogant), constant re-alignments by other ‘stakeholders’ who are not in agreement keep lawyers and reporters busy.

I will say the Xcel ‘boots on the ground’ employees are as good as you will find.

About 4% of electricity produced in Colorado is by hydro. There is a lot of potential. That won’t happen with the environazies calling the shots. Add the unofficial Colorado motto, “Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting”, and you have political gridlock.

Of passing interest, Boulder, CO receives electricity from hydro built in 1906. You don’t hear any proposals to “free” Boulder Creek by tearing down the dam.

Television

I haven’t owned a television going on ten years. This past weekend in the motel room, watching,  I found myself just flipping thru channels. Sports were the only thing I found interesting. I loathe six to ten commercials in a row. Yes I know there are ways around them but that would require reading instructions to achieve a goal that I have no real personal interest.

One channel had some talking head proclaiming, in a sky is falling tone of voice, that if Trump is elected, he will never leave office and will cancel future elections. If only.

Cheyenne + Facebook?

Big plans afoot and everyone involved has signed NDA’s. I didn’t know elected officials can sign NDAs. 

Meta

Personal Relief

My oldest son, 51, is autistic and has lived for several years in a chaotic mental health complex located in the Seattle Wallingford/Fremont district (about eight blocks from the Troll). The area has become increasingly dangerous and staffing issues at the complex has compounded the problem. He has now moved to an adult family (group) home in SE Renton. How this will work out is, of course, unknown. The area is much safer and, hopefully, people on site to assist him with problems. I’m relieved he is finally out of Keystone and the city of Seattle.

Alignment Scam

The one man shop that works on my cars doesn’t do alignments. He tells me a good alignment rack is six figures. Recently he replaced all four struts on my 2002 Ford Taurus (a four figure ouch!) which changed the alignment. Two local shops wouldn’t do an alignment without doing approximately $700 in repairs. Total bullshit! If the car needed a lower control arm, or had a wheel bearing making noise, etc., my mechanic would have told me.

The tire store I use recommended a small shop. Busy, I had to wait two weeks for an appointment. Arrived, one hour and $150 later, I drove away with a proper alignment. As a bonus, Banner got a treat!

This will be the last time the car will meet specs. While the mileage is 81,000, age is always a factor.

Because of my background I knew I was being scammed. I have left proper Goggle reviews, for what that is worth, on the two scam shop sites. Their response is, “We have reached out to him”. Yeah, go fuck yourselves.

As always, YMMV