Dio's WorkshopBelieve nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it – no matter if I have said it! – except it agree with your own reason and your own common sense.” – Siddhartha Gautama, a.k.a. the Buddha
Good news, got a payraise, I think I mentioned that yesterday. Bad news, I got my Credit extension too.
Why is that Bad news? Its not like I added more debt on, (YET), They just extended my limit, right?
Yeah,,, but now I need to get the parts for the Buffalo and that means work and that means MORE work to pay the debt BACK DOWN,,, so, yeah, kinda sorta bad news,,,,
But all in all, its an improvement,,,,
All good: its a much better interest rate than others are offering and thats why I chose that route. Still a tad high IMO, but certainly NOT the ursurous rates other companies are demanding. All part of the recovery process from the turmoils I went through in the late Aughts.
And it reminds me of a lesson that I learned; one that sometimes gets forgotten. ASK! If you never ask, if you never buy that ticket, if you never extend the question, YOU NEVER GET TO TAKE THE RIDE. Buy that lottery ticket ‘just ’cause’, ask for that extension of the credit, ask the girl for that dance,
but’chagotta ask FIRST. No one is ‘just’ gonna give you that chance (‘cepting maybe the girl, but you’d better be ready to pay that bill.)
ASK.
And sometimes, ya gotta put your foot in the door and risk getting your toes smashed,,,
And with those thoughts in me head, I think, in addition to my ‘good-ish vibes’ about our future, I think there is going to be a great awakening of people to the lessons I just mentioned. We’re gonna have to ask for, even DEMAND, the changes we need in this country. Its getting close,,,,
Little to talk about, much thinking and researching, but keep coming back to the
Learning lots, not all accepted, likely only grains here and there amongst the nuggets I’m digging through.
Rcvd good news at the J.O.B. today: pay raise,,, won’t say how much, but it put a pretty shiny disposition to my week and attitude.
The work I am doing this week is most definitely of the MacGuyver sort,,, “Make it work with what ya have” No complaints, this is the sort of stuff where I shine the brightest.
but it does take a toll on my after hours thinks,,,
and then you get the word salads such as in the first third of this vid (bear with it, painful as it is. The middle response vid is perfect, and the follow up by the gentleman is CLASSIC,,,)
And the truth,,,
We are on the cusp of something, we know this. “What” is the only question. When I see retorts delivered so elegantly and with passion,,, Yah, I get a better feel for the future.
I don’t like using woo-woo thinks to deliver my ideas, but there is one thing that repeatedly gets brought up in the New Testement about “Age of Aquarius”,,, usually through metaphors as spoken by the Christ figure. “Ages” are every 2150 years, as the sun precesses through the Constellations. Taurus, Ram, our current ‘age’ Pisces, and we are entering (have entered?) Aquarius. Each ‘Age’ is dominated by great changes, and the bible is very good at documenting those upheavals ‘so far’.
and Hoo-boy are we seeing upheavals, no?
Maybe there is something to this zodiac thing,,, (no, I don’t pay any real attention to astrology or ‘signs’ like that.)
The fear is real. You feel it growing. BUT: Is it the fear of the unknown, or is the fear of change? I know from my own perspective, I dislike change. Very much like order and predictability. BUT, I know that such is a illusion and you have to be able to adapt on the fly. Others have noted that when the shit hits the fan, I go cool and calm, and EFFECTIVE, when everyone else is running around with their hair on fire. It was noted in Kuwait, both of my Ex’s made mention of it, and one of the guys at the J.O.B. said similar today. Is that in my training, or is that just hardwired into me somehow? Dunno, but its fact. If I am getting Anxious, its because I am pushing my personal bounderies. If the world is blowing up, I go cool because I have already pushed such bounderies, and I have some idea of ‘what to do next’,,,, And I know freaking out only prolongs and tortures the issue. Every auto accident I have been involved in, I didn’t get the shakes until well after the fact. When Kray-kray dood tried to blow my brains out a couple years back, it wasn’t until AFTER the shot was fired and Dood was sitting in the back of a cruiser that the adrenals kicked in and the shakes started.
Maybe I’m just weird,,,, (high chance bordering on likely,,,)
And I know I am not alone in this one: sometimes things ‘come to me’ in advance and I get mentally prepared before the fact. Such as when in Kuwait: my NCO was shitting bricks for two days and I was getting under his skin because I was so relaxed, near catatonic in reaction speeds and such. BUT, hours before we started recieving fire, I was on high alert, but not nervous, whereas he was relaxed ‘because the wars over, man’,,,,, Yeah, not everyone got the message asshat!!! Don’t know to this day what tipped me, but I knew, we were going to get jumped, KNEW IT!!! And we did, while extracting through the Al-jawfra(spelling in question) forest on the Kuwaiti/Saud border. (some forest, there were more trees in Central park, but I digress)
I have ‘feelings’ about whats coming down the pike, and there is no ‘Nuke’ vibe in it. If nukes are tossed around, it will be extremely localized, likely Middle East ONLY with the other big powers sitting back, keeping cool, hoping that everyone else does too.
And in some ways, that will be a good thing: hear me out before you start screaming something about being anti-semetic or what not. IF, Israel and Iran get all uppity and start lobbing Canned Sunshine at each other, The chances are, the Bully-boys will wipe each other out and the chance of some peace taking place, after the fact, will become more likely. I don’t hold any illusions that it will be easy, or even long-lived, but there will always be some memory of what happens when Lines get drawn in blood and enforced with FIRE. Essentially, SANER HEADS WILL PREVAIL.
And then the Dollar will collapse and the American people will RELEARN what made us what we were,,, Not this squeamish, commodity soaked, commercially driven tribe of Spoiled brats we have become. There is a reason Putin ‘endorsed’ Joe Biden during his interview with Tucker.
No prognostication here,,, just saying what my ‘Spidey sense’ is picking up: and that, yah, its probably going to be rough, but we will get through it, and be better for it. Just gotta make it through the crucible (and fellow jarheads know of what I speak.)
Lots goin on in the Brainium today, but nothing ready to share,,, ‘ Too many questions, no answers’ sort ot thinks today.
((Heres a hint:
Created/evolved Creation implies purpose: if we were, on fact created (or modified stock as Annunaki scripts state) then there is a purpose to our being. If we evolved as Darwinian thinking implies, than we must MAKE our purpose,,, Buddhism follows a blend of both, with us repeating through this life until we unlock our individual purpose
Assuming first order: creation, then we are here as either slave/chattel, or , what? That’s the hard question no one seems to answer. )))
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Did make it on water, despite the windy nature of the day; was nowhere near what it was yesterday and the lake was tame in comparison. Still challenging to hold a straight line in crosswinds. Yes, the skeg is there for that, but I am trying to learn how to not use it as a crutch, instead using the nature of edging to eliminate or at least alleviate the tendency to weather-cock.
and I spent about an hour sitting under a tree as far from other hoomans as I could get without leaving the planet. Feeling a bit worn around the edges with certain mentatilties,,, Leave that right there without expansion,,, y’all know the types I speak of.
Buffalo isn’t helping any on that note. Not that she is human, but I AM, and the frustrations of keeping her reliable are wearing on me. Solution in sight, just not in hands, YET. Stil have to deal with funky smells, keep levels up to snuff and hold faith that things hold together ‘just a bit longer’.
If only money weren’t the gateway is my problem here. These things cost, period. And I may have means, but they are quite limited in nature and that results in a very small gateway to success. In some ways, I feel like I am waiting for the planets to line up ‘just so’,,,, LOL
Apologies,,, not bitchin’, not wanting to come off as whining, just a little frustration. Like I said, I see the solution; unfortunately, its mostly a BOUGHT one, and those drive me a little buggers. (as in; I can’t make the parts I need with my abilities/current set up. And to buy the machines to do so is prohibitively expensive,,,, just gotta bite the bullet here,,,,)
life goes on, right?
Anywhoosits,,, Day is a wrap, feeling deep in melancholy thinking, but thats not a bad thing (in moderation EVERYTHING in moderation.) and tomorrow is a new day. I have hours ahead for letting the Sub do its thing and chew on the crap in my head. Maybe it will come up with some middle ground,,,,
Buffalos OEM pinion gear. The Ring looks OK, ‘cepting a ding here or there, BUT
you MUST replace them as a unit.
Rock Auto has this pair for shy of Two Bills, but thats just ring and pinion. Still need pinion bearings (GONE, found 7 in bottom of case,,, should be 18 counting cage holes) and should replace the carrier bearing and axle bearings since, hey, you’re there,,, Make the whole danged unit whisper quiet (LOL,,, I SUCK at setting those damned crush sleeves,,, I always get some noise)
See, this is what happens when I can’t go kayaking,,, my bills get bigger,,, (I jest, this was coming one way or another) This is starting to become a high priority item since the diff I swapped into Buff is starting to sing under loads,,, Fluid level looks good and I can’t see any play in the pinion bearing (wiggle driveshaft, no forward or back movement.)(at least, I believe it to be the Diff. Could be that rebuilt trans too. Only sings between 40 and 50, then quiet again. I had a front pump do that in my old RV. Sing like a blown turbo feed manifold under load, but let off and whisper quiet.)
I guess when the bank gets back to me with an affirmative on the credit extension (should, fingers crossed), I get to stress test that card, no? Need reliable transportation, period. Especially when you live somewhere that is 10 or more miles from anything. Yeah, I could walk it, but talk about cost prohibative,,, Time is (sorta) money: taking 3 hours to make a trek for something simple, COSTS. We’ve become spoiled with our cars/trucks, I can say that; but to cut them out of a life entirely isn’t feasible in this ‘world’. Unless one were to go full primative, or join the Amish,,, I don’t think I would be a good addition to the Amish way of life,,,, ROFL.
sigh,,, is what it is,,,
keep on livin’
((Updated, Post note: Looking through the items in question, I found a Posi Master Kit for $1300,,,, NOW! as if this truck were worth the extra,,, She has 300K on the ODO,,, That’s the original engine, second transmission, technically the second rear end, and I have no clue what’s gonna give next (yes ya do,,, that block is wore the F! out,,,) (shush you!!! don’t jinx me!) The question becomes: How worth it is she? I have many factors that make me want to remain loyal to her, namely, I don’t trust the newer vehicles and all the disconnection from the driver they have. Been doing some work on the trucks at the J.O.B. and there are ZERO mechanical connections between the cockpit and the engine bay,,, its all computer controlled, even the throttle is computer driven.
Um, no,,,, I like autonomy and more importantly, SIMPLICITY. A throttle cable between right foot and engine makes sense to me,,, Geegaws and the rest,,, Yeah, I understand them, but I understand them enough to say ‘don’t trust it much’.))
Made it to the lake,,, As I was pulling into one of my favorite put-ins, a Park Ranger pulled in behind me. No lights, just pulled up along side as I parked.
No Kayaking today,,,
Small craft advisory on the lake due to high winds.
Well, no way would I have known this since only one lake around here (and not the one I was at) uses VHF, and most craft don’t even have one onboard. (I don’t have one, though its on my list of things to acquire if I do any long runs, river or coastal.)
We chatted for a few, and while there, maybe half hour, I heard ZERO BOATS on the water. Took a walk to the shore just to look see (its gonna be obvious if I disrespect the po-po,, Hard to hide a 17′ kayak)
No Boats in any direction, water level up 3′ from the last time I was here (last Week)! and the waves are rolling and breaking off shore. ROUGH!!!
I would really have liked to get out in it, but that wind was definitely a deal killer. The waves would have been a challenge, the winds would have kicked my ass. It would have pushed me around big time and with power being Dio-type 1, mod 0-high milage unit,,,, yeah,,, not a solo thing, even with the fact that I had a ranger hanging nearby to bust my ass for failure to follow a lawful order or any number of other charges. The rough water tempted me, the wind decided me fully against, even it there hadn’t been a warning.
Someday, somehow, I am going to get skooled on rough water off-shore kayaking. Gonna have to wait until I can spend a week or more in South Carolina and arrange classes with SCK or one of the other ‘vendors’ there.
Was about 10:30ish or so,,,, Last light was 9:01 last eve, full dark by 9:45 usual,,, the only thing I saw last night was the night sky seemed much brighter than usual, washing out many of the lesser magnitude stars,
But no Auroras for me,,,, Guess I’m situated a few degrees lower than they were visible. OR my timing was off and I gave up before the peak of the solar storm, OR something,,, but no I see ’em,,,, (and I do know they were visible in parts of KY, just not sure how far down as the poster of the pics did not list a location.)
It was most definitely not due to moonlight. Luna is on a waxing crescent stage, early on, as new moon was just two days ago.
Oh well.
I ain’t ded yet, so the chance of getting to see them at some point is still there. And maybe one day, I will take that dream trip and go kayaking in the great white north somewhere and paddle under them, (and immediately get Squitched by a calving glacier or something,,,LOL ‘he died while kayaking, watching auroras and seeing the glaciers,,,, he died happy,,,’)
Anywhooos,,, its a bucket list thing, low priority sort,,, there are other things on that list that I would like to see, much more intently. Things that don’t come and go by the whims of SOL and chance of Terra being in the right location.
Another long day today, plus an hour carried over from yesterday, GREAT START for the upcoming week.
Tomorrow, SOLACE on water,,, Planned, activation in 9 hours,,,, Gonna get an early start at it on the big lake with boats and make a full day of it.
Mood is still mostly intact from last weekend: had a couple of instances where it was nearly shattered, but kept my cool for the most part. A small vent was needed, but monkey on my dash kept me in line (I have a small monkey, one of the three ‘see, speak, hear’, on my dash and when the road rage hits, he is right there telling me to shut my yap.)
Tonight though, I am tempted to climb the hill behind my house and look to the north. Supposedly, a couple of CME’s are hitting atmo tonight and there is STRONG chance of Auroros’ in our night sky. I have longed to see them forever. The one time I was in Alaska, I didn’t see any, but I wasn’t there for very long (a lay over, no more) Maybe tonight is my chance,,,,
About those CME’s,,, I did have some serious glitches with this phone earlier today. Sudden bursts of messages getting through, and periods of No-Comms because of what I do not know: odd ones where the phone just would not connect to anything. Could be from the CME’s, could just be the area I inhabit and its backwoods nature of being 5 years behind the technology curve. Part of which is due to McTurtle denying funds to his own state to bring us into the 21st century,,,, I guess he knew if he allowed that, his ass would be buried with a quickness. Now that the Stain is retiring,,, GOOD RIDDENCE; to him and his Chinese Spy wifey,,,, Not soon enough IMO but better late than never,,,,
Gonna take off up the hill now, its getting late enough,,,, Chatach’all tomorrows when I get back.
Started of wearing the “Fabricator” hat, made a guillotine latch for Son of Bossmans Carport that we are enclosing with tin. I was doing that while the others were busy passing time in one way or another as we waited out the rain. So far this week, the weather-liars are being pretty danged accurate, sometimes to the minute,,, Scary,,,, Today was another one of those ‘In the Black’ moments for them. 9 oclock, and the skies started clearing, winds out of the south to blow off the westerly muck we have been under.
Then spent the majority of the day being stoopervisor/lead/grunt, installing a privacy fence behind a funeral home. Has anyone else noted that most all funeral directors look like someone poured them into thier suits? Never good fits; more like that $100 special from JCPenny, and chosen one size too big in case they put on weight. Apologies, just a passing observation,,,
And towards the late middle of day, Son of and Bossman showed up, showed off Son’s new high-fallutin’ Ram Dually his daddy bought him. (Is a Matchbox collectable thing,,, not the real deal, he was making a lot of fun over that.) and asked me to make a run to a powered gate we installed a ways back, a little late diag needed,,, So my day went over-time. All good, gate issue was a dying battery in the keypad,,, swap out with new, triple check function, text Son of with details, and on with MY part of the day.
Due to the late nature of my day, I did a no-no: bought a heart-attack in a sack for dinner. Christ,,, I can eat cheaper and BETTER by going for Chinese buffets. Fact is, I hate eating past 5, 6 pm latest. If I do eat past that time, I am up ALL DAMNED NIGHT, and not because of any issues; just that I ate late and the bod is confuzzed,,,, Like having a pot of coffee after 5 will wire me to the gills and by the time I finally collapse, its time to get up and do it again. (If I state I am drinking coffee late in the day, I am writing, you can lay money on it.) I may not have the metabolism I had when I was thirty, but the metabolism I do have is NOT that of 55yo. Its a large part of why my kayaky-krew (and myself) make jokes about my skinny butt and narrow boats. (of which I have a strong preference for, which also means I have to search in OldSkool boats for ‘new’ toys.)
It’s been a looonnnnnggggg day, but a fruitful one. Bank run is out of the way, and I will be paying the billage over the weekend, All ahead of schedule. Can’t complain about that. Not going to hurt either,,, was a good week even if not the full 40: close enough that comfort is built into the scale. My only desire right now is for the end of month to hurry up: the first group get-together at the lake is the last week of the month, of which I will be able to make the last 2 1/2 days of. Need that face to face with friends.
Whooo-boy, talk about a wet wet day. This system has been blowing in from the west ALL DAY and its down pour followed by downpour.
And amazingly, I got a full day in,,, Shop time
And thats MY problem right now. Wet weather, along with a cold day in the shop on that concrete floor,,, If I have had an injury, its reminding me of its existence today. Achy joints, sore muscles, hips complaining to high heaven for release,,,, Its the cold concrete that gets the hips achin’,,, I have never found boot inserts that counter that effect.
And these thunder boomer showers are slotted to last all night. Grizz is not a happy camper about this,,,
Poor fellers’ just gonna havta get over it, eh?
Mood is still in good standing, despite the aches n pains, They remind me I am still upright and breathin’ There is something to be said for that. I know younger in worse shape than I, so I can’t feel to hateful about it. Not gettin’ any younger, and I did live fast and hard for many years. Lots of good memories from it,,,,
“I see their faces, I feel the traces they left on my soul,
and those are the memories, that make me a wealthy soul,,,”
(one of the last great balladeers IMHO,,,)
sigh,,,
Its gettin’ late, and the drumming of the rain is taking a toll on my energy levels: gonna sleep like a babe tonight,,,,
tomorrow is the pay day, looking good so far; prayin’ tomorrow is not a washout. Won’t kill me if it is, but would like that added cushion, so to speak. I don’t like running close to the bone, carry over from my touring days when I carried mad cash from per diem pay (that I never got to use because we never stopped in one place long enough to buy a beer,,,, besides which, we had beer on the bus,,,,) but these days, I ain’t alone in that ‘runnin’ close to the bone’, am I?
And I will leave that right there without any need to expand on it,,,,
Seriously, don’t really care, except in how my hours are looking,,, Burnout called in ‘sick’ this AM, the other brainded did as well. Left it up to the three Old Guys to get shit done; and we did,,, Made head way into getting two jobs started, sank dozens of posts for them and the crews will go back later to stretch the wire. I have more gates to make, which was what I was supposed to be doing today, except the Emp Deficit meant I was needed in their stead. Just another hat I wear: Take up the slack for the slackers hat.
Looking around, reading the world wide web and the doings of those in high places, the furhter poking of a bear that should have been left well enough alone, the further stoopidity of those that should know better, but whose actions scream they have no clue,,,
And I just can’t care,,,
Well, not true, I DO Care, the problem being, if I get anxious over it, I start to lose focus of the things I DO have control over, and my vision gets limited to fewer options. Getting antsy over things so far out of my control does no one, especially me, any good. I have two people (which includes myself.) directly under my perview, and I have to keep the table clear for when things do go sideways.
And I am getting quite certain they are going to go sideways THIS YEAR.
You can smell the desperation…and not just in the politicos,,, The feeling of fear out and about is Palpable,, People don’t know who/what to trust anymore. I see more sidelong glances in public as people are really starting to get paranoid.
I am seeing more and more open carry on the daily , not that that is a bad thing in my book, but its showing the level of uncertainty out here. Its a good thing because no one is raising a ruckus over it, its bad because this is an area where (until recent years) people trusted thier neighbors and leaving a door unlocked while gone was not uncommon. That trust is showing fractures, gaping ones. I can only imagine that in other places, that is trust is gone completely (looking at CinSin-nasty, coff coff) Certainly was on life support (and failing) when I left there in 2010. That was one of the factors I had in making my choice to move here.
I wanna say that presenting a positive vibe in public will help alleviate things. It does, it really does. I can’t say how many people have smiled at me the last 48 hours because of my ‘vibe’. BUT, there is a TON of negative that needs to be counter-acted on, and it takes more than just one dude feeling good about himself. Said dude could even be targeted by some Negative filled other for reasons,,, “How dare you be happy when the world is full of shit!” sort of reason. (happened, don’t wanna talk about it.)
I feel like the disease is reaching terminal status, and what comes next is anyone’s guess. Something is dying, painfully, but something else is being born. Probably in the usual way: covered in blood and muck and screaming bloody murder. I want to focus on that birthing. We can’t save the old world, thats dead/dying/gone. BUT we can help the newborn not be warped and traumatized by the dying old one. There are enough good aspects of the old world that are worth saving, but we need to make sure they are protected solidly from manipulation; the cancer of our old world. We need to protect the newborn from those in secret places that have destroyed the old. Thats not going to be easy: rather like chasing ghosts.
enough for tonight. I am hoping the brainded and burnout return to work tomorrow, but won’t be holding my breath. Trusts get broken, they need to be re-earned, and the interest rate on that is ludicrously high.
And I don’t wanna destroy my good vibe anymore than it already has been. Not destroyed mind you, but feeling a bit battered on. I’m still smiling though.
It was the early part of the Tweens when the political divisions of the United States reached irreconcilable differences. Ted, a burnt out computer programmer, and Jim, a double amputee combat vet, reverse engineer the pentagons drone program and create a rebel air force. While traveling the country helping others defend what is left of the country, they run afoul a most evil woman intent on creating a serfdom within the country.
A beginner’s guide to going off grid. how to evaluate if you even want to make the attempt. written by the curmudgeonly author of this blog and his dog
Dio's Workshop 