Evidently, Not A Joke (Craigslist)

We are looking to re-home our 2 1/2 year old yellow lab. He is neutered and current on all vaccinations. He is house and kennel trained, good with other dogs, kids, and some cats. He is very eager to please and would probably benefit from some obedience classes. He would do well in a home where he can be with his human a lot. We are re-homing him because we got him to be a hunting dog and sadly, he will not hunt. 

$30 rehoming fee just to be sure the person adopting him is doing so for the right reasons. 

Cheapskate, I Am

My main driver. 1996 Escort Wagon, purchased with 114,000 miles on the odometer for $1,400. Have spent, over the last 86,000 miles,  about $1,000 for tires, alternator, battery, struts, brake pads, and a timing belt. A/C still blows cold. Including purchase price, $0.0279 per mile cost to drive plus gas and oil changes. Gets up to 34-35 mpg on the highway if there isn't a significant headwind.

Probably two thirds of those miles driven were for business with income being produced.

From Colorado, it has taken me as far North as Aberdeen, ND, as far South as Marfa, TX, as far East as Omaha, and as far West as Dugway, UT. I have no qualms of getting in it and driving anywhere.

I am considering getting a new windshield. Extravagent, I know, but is getting to a "Hello Officer" state.

Blasted Fords, wish they would last!

One Pissed Off Man, Many More In The Wings

Ten years ago today, Marvin Heemeyer decided to settle his complaints against the City of Granby, CO and some of the residents. The Mayor had this to say.

"I'm trying to be politically correct, but this guy was a nasty son of a bitch," Wang said.

You can read an account here.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_25896530/bulldozer-revenge-carefully-planned-man-created-virtual-tank

Granby is mainly a tourist and skier service center as most of the ranches in the area no longer function as working cattle ranches. Zoning was late coming to the small Colorado mountain towns but by the mid 1970’s most towns had zoning laws. They weren’t universally welcomed, and were often manipulated for personal gains (and losses).

If you took Belfast, Northern Ireland at the height of the “Troubles” then added Jerusalem, you might approach the intensity of emotions in some of these towns. Marvin Heemeyer was one of the losers, and decided to make a point.

So why this posting? Because I fear our country is full of Marvin Heemeyers and at some point they will start striking. 

What Goes Around Comes Around

Evangelicals and Progressives. Different faces of the same coin, the diminishment of individual freedoms (for our own good, of course).

In 1982, I was a Republican Precinct Committeeman. Evangelicals had taken control of the party, local school boards, city and county offices, and were trying for state and national control; the so-called Silent Majority. They were RIGHT, and, if you opposed them, they would do their best to crush you. Silly sots spent a great deal of effort to field a candidate for Precinct Committeeman, the most trivial of elected offices, and oust me. They won. A few days later I became the Democrat Precinct Committeeman.

In 2002 I witnessed the Progressives taking control of the Democratic Party and kicking all of us Blue Dogs to the curb. No tolerance or concessions to differing views were allowed. Blue Dog, sit in the back of the Big Tent, keep your mouth shut, but do keep your wallet open.

Their beliefs may be in opposition, but their goals are the same; use the force of government and laws to impose their beliefs on the populace at large.

Will the upcoming fall elections be a start of a push back? Or, as detailed in Sipsy Street Irregulars, http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/, 4G warfare and the ever popular, "As long as I have my rifle, I still get to vote"?

And, 2016? Hillary? Given her track record of utter ruthlessness, that will surely bring it.

In other news, we had a 3.7 earthquake last night. Rare event in NE Colorado. Watch the ecofreaks blame fracking.

California Fleeing

Notified today one of my property inspection vendors I subcontract for is relocating to Montana. Not a big firm, but every river starts with a few raindrops. One less California payroll; one less source of tax revenue. This is an e-commerce business. How many more in the Golden (fleeced) State are contemplating the same move?

Demon Rum

What follows is my personal opinion. YMMV, and you need not even read it.

Getting drunk, and stupid, seems to be taken as a birthright by some people. They expect forgiveness, and tolerance, from those in their lives. They are resentful when they don’t receive it. They are the most selfish of all people. They suck all the joy of living out of the homes they inhabit.

I’ve no problem with the responsible consumption of alcohol. I drink alcohol nearly every day, a glass of wine at bedtime, which helps me fall asleep. On occasions, I will have a few drinks in a social setting. We are all free agents, and I don’t judge anyone who handles their consumption in a responsible manner.

Have I done stupid things under the influence that has negatively affected my life? Yes, and more times than I care to remember. Within my family, I’ve dealt with more problems than anyone should be forced to deal with. I’ve watched the helpless victims, children, suffer.

Some people get it. A young friend watched his father destroy his family life and business. He watched a brother go to prison. He saw himself going down the same path, and his young bride walking out. Deeply religious, he has used the AA program, and is well into his third year of sobriety. He has my total respect.

I spent thirty years in, or around, the retail automotive business. Excluding LEOs, I’ve dealt with more alcohol and drug abusers that most people. I learned to never, ever, completely trust a drunk. The question isn’t if, the question is when.

Coming back to the “birthright” theme, I remember a long conversation with a veteran Corrections Officer. He had worked in several of the prisons in the Colorado system. At the time, the prison near Trinidad, CO,  housed most of the inmates doing time for alcohol related offenses (multiple DUI, vehicular homicide, etc.). He said they were the worst class of prisoners to deal with. As I recalled, he said,

   “A thief or a murderer knows he belongs in prison. A damned drunk thinks he is being treated unfairly”.

He went on to compare them to sexual predators, that they don’t change, and won’t be “cured”. I think he may be exactly right.

I will continue to, “Hate the sin, love the sinner”, but I will never, ever, accept the behavior.

Denial

Taken from a Facebook posting by a long term resident of the People's Republic of Boulder, CO.

Yessir, can't admit that they, just possible, made a mistake.