Occupied Failure

Despite my best efforts at the Occupy Descanso, the ATM inside Perkins store still charges a fee. Filthy bourgeois oppressors.

I demand legislative action. It won't dispense cash if your account is temporarily short, but I know it has the money and could if it wanted. That ATM needs to be taken down!

It still seems like we'd have more success if I weren't the only occupier in this grass roots movement here in the back country.

Darn and Dang It

The more I look at it, the more it looks like I'll not be making a Christmas road trip. I may have to get my major car service done here rather than at the best Subaru service department ever, in Dallas. And then I could fly south and be at the mercy of others for week, and fly back.

That lack of escape option bothers me. I like to be able to hit the road at will. It is easy for my family visits to run their course in just a few days. Flight prices are such that I would be there a week, should I choose to fly.

Due to our security regulations and the airlines bizarre practice of charging you if you bring luggage, I wouldn't have much there with me to pass the time should I need a mental escape. I guess I can bring my computer without issue, so there is that. Clothes-wise I'll have to travel rather light.

I suppose I should make up my mind soon. I don't think the tickets are going to drop in price and it looks like they are fairly booked up. Flights to Miami are already prohibitive. Ft Lauderdale is the only hope which means they have to drive a long way to pick me up and drop me off.

It is tempting to call the whole thing off, but I think I'll forever regret it if I do. This may be a last chance of some kind. It seems that way but I can't say why. Once in awhile my hunches pan out. Usually they are probably off. I don't know because I generally forget the hunch.

Won't You Donate to My Cause?

My remaining family consists of a brother and his offspring, as well as an aunt and her off spring. I have other cousins on my father's side but they refuse to communicate. That was a huge surprise to me, but I get the idea that my father and his wife must have said some things which put me and my brother in a bad light. It is too bad because he would only have done that to cover his own abuses.

Then again, if people are dimwitted enough to go by hearsay and not find out for themselves when it comes to the character of others, I guess they deserve what they get, or don't get.

This Christmas is one in which all of my brother's brood, small though it is, will be together in Florida. They have encouraged me, more than they normally would, to show up. I think it is because this won't be a yearly gathering. Now that his sons are hooked up with good looking, splendid chicks, they will do the holidays with their sweethearts families at least every other year.

It used to be an annual gathering and my mother was there for most of those. I finally began showing up, too, and I rarely had a better time. Maybe I never had a better time. My sister in law's brother (not sure of correct syntax for that possessive, so this will do) is married to a good looking Cuban and they have the best party of all time on Dec 24th, the Buena Noche party, or something close to that name.

I've not been there for the last couple of years. Maybe three.

Somehow I am not sure if there will be more gatherings which have that same flair after this one. So, I think I should go. Besides I don't know what my future will bring, if anything. I feel more mortal than usual lately.

That is where you can help. This trip will cost plenty and if I am to see Texas cousins and my aunt, and make it to Tavernier in the Florida Keys (just south of Key Largo), then your contributions may be necessary. A few hundred from ten of you would be great, or just send me a few thousand or more. The sky's the limit!!

I'll work on ways to make it tax deductible. And you can rest easy knowing that I will plant things all along the way to offset your carbon footprint.

I'll send you a certificate which proves you are fighting climate change and making life better for mutant hermits. That's an offer no one could resist.

Thank you in advance for taking responsibility for my wanderlust and family ties.

Interesting Ideas Never Cease to Occur

Whether you think the sky is falling or that we're all going to hell in a handbasket, people continue to create. Even if Al Gore or your local university guru suggests that there are only so many ways to do something, someone out there will prove them wrong.

That is the error of subsidizing chosen industries, especially in the field of energy production and conservation. You promote a narrow band of technology in doing so, when it is likely that other things which would survive the market suffer as a consequence. Time and money end up being wasted on things that are probably not the best approach. It happens.

An interesting reader who seems to know plenty about me sent me this link http://www.popsci.com/popsci/flat/bown/2007/innovator_2.html. The linked story tells the tale of a guy who has created a machine that uses microwave technology to extract fuels out of many every day objects, and it yields more energy producing gases and substances than it uses.

Here's a picture of the guy and his pal. He's lighting the torch off of fuel from the recycle device. You can throw tires in there and get all kinds of good things. This idea is an excellent one which doesn't involve screwing up land, taxing manufacturing companies for carbon footprint or any of that. It only makes sense that things like this would be developed. But does it please those who only see solutions in mandate, taxing, and controlling all? Doubtful.



It cheers me up to discover that people have created great new inventions or clever designs. I realize when those things come to my attention that life and being human is not about pain, suffering and jumping into causes formulated by those who will forever create, then combat such problems, but about the thrill of seeing a thought about something that improves life reach fruition, and about enjoying the good things which are in one's personal world. The collective hoopla is primarily a limiting factor when it comes to the good things.

 But I guess the creators are not the bulk of humanity, and the majority will forever be confused by them. Of course some creative people do use the herd to lock out others when they lack the integrity to do otherwise, but that is very often not the case. Many and inventor has been too busy and focussed on his ideas to even comprehend the corruption which gets in the way.

There are some really cool things out there. Thank you Verbi for sending some of them to my attention.

Is This Man Insane?

Or just evil...

"It's very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine; it's the public-sector jobs where we've lost huge numbers, and that's what this legislation is all about," Reid said on the Senate floor.

Harry Reid, you are a whore who knows no shame, and you never cease to reach new depths in proving that you think citizens of this country are idiots. Your checks from the unions such as SEIU are in the mail.

Blazing on a sunny afternoon, in a summertime

It became summer again. I thought we'd slipped straight into winter, then we had some hot days over 85 degrees. No way to figure this climate.

Exciting Times With Magic Wax

Once upon a time I was clueless about the finish on the Englishman's garage doors. Misinformation mixed with rare initiative led to a disaster which I feared might cost me thousands of dollars to make right.

I wrote about it at the time. I fretted and searched for answers, and fretted some more. Then I met Raul who had applied the magic finish in the first place. He kindly let me in on the secret. Making the doors right involved sacred rituals, culminating in the application of Raul's secret Santeria wax formula. It smelled a bit like gasoline, and looked like black shoe polish.

Those were the days; probably 100 hours hand sanding the textured wood, then performing the prescribed rites. The end result was stellar and saved my reputation. He told me to re-apply the stuff every six months or so, and to charge a lot. I still don't charge enough.

It has been more than six months, maybe more than I year--I lost track. I had some of the formula left over from before but it was pretty well solidified. To solid to brush onto anything. You brush this paste on then after awhile, wipe off the excess.

I do not possess a gas can and don't have a lawn mower and homeowner implements so I only keep gas in the car. It was my first choice for something to soften the dark glob of sacred material. Then I recalled that the person who revealed the elements which combine to make this stuff said "or diesel fuel" right after listing gasoline as final ingredient.

Being the clever one, I thought to myself, "mineral spirits is not so different from diesel fuel. That is what I used and it appears to have worked, although the behavior of the coating was a little different. I'm not sure it didn't work better. It dried more slowly so I treated larger areas before wiping it down. The ticket is for the dark stuff to remain in nooks, crannies, and crevices. It gives it a aged, rustic look while leaving a waxy soft feel to the wood.

Eight hours later I was done. These are big doors. Six of them.

Now I am an expert. And that makes me think it is time to find another source of income. It is nice to do something like that a couple of times, but in reality I am not Mr Home repair and maintenance. It is like the teak. OK. I learned, I experimented with ways to deal with a couple of different types of it and I did the maintenance. Now it is repetitive and not much for holding my attention.

But, until I get the alternative decided, and up and running I better keep this stuff going. It does give me the inside line on this administration, and some glimpse of how they live on the other side. People in some ritzy areas are no fun at all. That is clear. But you go to some other ritzy 'hoods and those people have fun. Even the trophy wives and trophy teens are more personable.

In Rancho Pricko their greatest fear is being caught smiling or being courteous if there is no obvious social or business advantage to be had. I guess you get thrown out for that, or they take away your sugar daddy or trophy wife. Or trophy gigalo, just to be PC. Truthfully you see very little of that. Tennis pros are the trophies of the trophies, but that is somewhat on the sly.

It is always interesting to see how people behave in certain settings though. That kind of thing has long been studied in my travels. The puzzling aspect is why that particular circle of people, or that town, has so many very wealthy people who seem so unhappy or angry. Rich people should be happy, even though it is considered evil to be rich if you listen to news.

Rude, polite, happy, or bitter, I whole heartedly approve of wealth. Wealthy people pay far better than poor folk, and they have more bizarre and interesting projects quite often. Do not hate the rich. Their wealth is not the reason for your lack of it. Not a zero sum situation.