Red Flag Law

Coming in the New Year is the (P)regressive passed and made into law the “Red Flag Law”. IMO,  part of their ongoing effort to disarm all of us Deplorables.

I found this article in our local rag informative.

https://www.greeleytribune.com/news/local-law-enforcement-agencies-brace-prepare-for-red-flag-law-as-new-year-approaches/

I am more comfortable with what will happen, at least in my immediate vicinity, by the well reasoned responses by the two who will be faced with enforcing it, our Chief of Police and our County Sheriff.

The nut cutting will happen when a judge’s order is not carried out.  The judges will not sit quietly if their power is challenged. While they, in theory, face the voters the reality is once they are in, they are in. Rarely has any judge been voted out in Colorado.

Since I’ve lost all my firearms in a tragic boating accident, I shouldn’t be affected. While it is true I’m bat shit crazy, I’m no threat to the physical safety of anyone.  Other’s tender feelings are a different matter.

Old Aphorisms

Bet a few will make you smile.

A short, pointed sentence that expresses a wise or clever observation: 

1. The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.

2 Money will buy a fine dog but only kindness will make him wag his tail.

3. If you don't have a sense of humour you probably don't have any sense at all.

4. Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs. 

5. A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water.

6. How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?

7. Business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people a company  can operate without.

8. Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks?

9. Stroke a cat and you will have a permanent job.

10.  No one has more driving ambition than the teenage boy who wants to buy a car.

11. There are no new sins; the old ones just get more publicity.

12. There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4 a.m - for example, it could be the right number.

13. No one ever says "It's only a game" when their team is winning.

14. I've reached the age where 'happy hour' is a nap.

15. Be careful about reading the fine print - there's no way you're going to like it.

16. The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket.

17. Do you realize that, in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of old ladies running around with tattoos?

18. Money can't buy happiness but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Cadillac than in a Ford.

19. After 70, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you're probably dead.

20. Always be yourself because the people who matter don't mind and the ones who mind don't matter.

21. Life isn't tied with a bow but it's still a gift.

Hope

Our community is made better by volunteers and the programs they support. One is the Community Grief Center, the subject of a past blog.

https://www.communitygriefcenter.org/our-story.html

Last night was a third annual fundraiser, “Lights of Hope”.

https://www.communitygriefcenter.org/lights-of-hope.html

Cut out of the snow is the word “Hope”. The candles are being placed within the letters.

Around two hundred people came.

My sister is one of the board members so I was there in support of her along with being a donor and a beneficiary of the Center’s Programs after the death of my youngest son last March.

During a Veterans Day event I helped her man a booth.

How bleak would our communities be without volunteers supporting hundreds of programs and events?

My sister has been a board member of Salud for many years. From a clinic in a small Weld County town where migrant farm workers could receive basic care, it has grown into a dynamic organization.

https://www.saludclinic.org/

It should be pointed out my sister has never, ever, received monetary compensation, other than expenses, for any of her volunteer work.

My respect for volunteers of all types is off the charts.

A Dog Life

 Amazes me, it does, how this dog has altered my life. His needs have completely changed my routine, for the better.

He doesn’t bark, ignores the comings and goings outside my apartment door, hasn’t had an “accident” and hasn’t chewed on anything other than his dog toy. We have had a strong discussion regarding the trash can. Much to my surprise, he hasn’t touched it since.

Being a Lab, he is always interested in food and comes to the kitchen even if I am just getting a cup of coffee. The old cliché, “No five second rule when you have a two second dog”, certainly applies.

Riding in the back seat of the car is no problem and he seems to be content even after two or three hours. The seat in the Mighty Max is a little on the small side for the two of us but he copes. It is a challenge shifting with his head on my right thigh.

In this building there is a group of women, divorced or widowed, who gather in the common area each morning for coffee and gossip. They are middle school “mean girls” grown old. In the lobby area is another group who don’t get along with the “mean girls”. Both groups like the dog so we run a gauntlet going and coming.

In passing, I should mention the “mean girls” enjoy busting my balls at every opportunity. I enjoy giving it right back at them. Happily, I’m not married to any of them.

Life has a way of keeping you humble. I replaced my autistic son’s cell phone with a smart phone. I sent him the picture atop this post. His response, “Dad, you don’t have any hair”.

He likes his kennel and will retire to it at the end of the day. Companion  dog?

“You’re on your own Bubba. I’m done for the day”.

Financial Fantasy

Impeachment, elections, Donkeys or Elephants, will it really matter? When will all this debt overwhelm us?

Discussing a real estate boom in Steamboat springs, CO during the early 1970’s with my late father gave me some food for thought that has never faded. He explained mortgages were being exchanged but no “hard dollars” were involved. He said, and he was proven correct, there would be a collapse.

Old NFO’s blog, Nobody Asked Me ,  https://oldnfo.org/  has some interesting side bars. One I read today in particular struck a nerve, https://accordingtohoyt.com/ where she talks about aging and shrinking populations and the financial positions of our younger people.

Another blogger, http://www.kimdutoit.com/2019/12/02/it-aint-that/ had an observation I find relevant.

My opinion is that young people aren’t interested in cars for two reasons:

·         They all look the same.  (I’ve ranted and raved about this situation so many times, I’m starting to bore myself.)

·         New cars cost too much, and youngins don’t have the cash to buy them — hence the popularity of the “no-car” ownership and Uber.

Looking at the financial situation of younger people, I don’t see a bright future for them.

Under President Trump the economy has taken off, jobs have been created, and capital investments are being made. At the same time, debt has soared. So the question I ask myself is where the “hard dollars” are and who has them?

Please understand after the eight retched Lightbringer years, our situation is far better, IMO. Is it sustainable?

As a private citizen, President Trump has a long string of bankrupt business endeavors. Will he bankrupt the country? Who will get shafted? Does he have that mindset as President?

In my thirties I was hustled hard to buy Icelandic bonds that were paying 13% interest. The country defaulted, but still functions as a country. I declined the opportunity, yeah me, while at the same time I worked with a man whose father was the stockbroker for the first issue of Microsoft on the Spokane Stock Exchange. I declined that opportunity, boo me!

As a country we have defaulted, under the Lightbringer, so there is a precedent. I don’t claim to understand all of this but try to get some glimmer of what is coming. More boom, or a big bust?

The bright side is, Shillary wasn’t elected, or we would already have answers to some of my questions.

Not One Dime More

The National Rifle Association and I have a one sided on again/off again relationship.

Their range master programs and safety programs are admirable. If there was a way to support those, and nothing else I would be in.

When President Trump took office, the GOP controlled both the House and Senate. If ever a time existed to pass a National Reciprocity act that was the time. Didn’t happen.

What the NRA seems very good at is flooding my email inbox with fund raising appeals and dire warnings. Way too much “Chicken Little”.

Seems to me the people running the NRA day to day are part of the insular elite crowd infesting our National Capitol (and surrounding exurbs). Their greatest achievement is living well off the patriotic impulses of their countryman. They can do so without any contribution from me.

The Gun Owners of America do get a few bucks from me. While there is a lot of “Chicken Little” in their broadsides, they do actually get things done  while operating from a place that makes the Peoples Republic of Boulder look conservative.

As usual, YMMV.

Perfect Storm

Nasty weather the past few days with 50 mph winds yesterday afternoon. The adults dig out while the kids on Thanksgiving break enjoy themselves. A perfect storm with perfect timing for them.

For adults, not so much fun.

We should have a two to three day window of  decent weather until the next system rolls in.

https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?x=166&y=70&site=bou&zmx=&zmy=&map_x=166&map_y=70#.XeQYxNnN_bg


Wyoming was shut down for two days and is just now digging out. 

https://www.greeleytribune.com/news/major-interstates-reopen-in-colorado-wyoming-on-sunday/

Nebraska didn't escape. See Prairie Adventure.

http://prairieadventure.blogspot.com/2019/11/thisll-be-quick.html

The shuttle bus route I quit at the end of October was closed yesterday (CO 292, CO14, CO77). So glad I'm not out driving in this weather. I've been a licensed driver now for 61 years. There isn't many road conditions I haven't seen. Maybe Musk Oxen migrations is still on the list.