Today is, Of Course, Monday

 - While weedeating the yard the other day, a grasshopper jumped and landed on my cheek. When brushed away, said grasshopper landed on the wall, and was immediately cut into a bazillion pieces. That’ll teach him

- Skecher shoes might be great to wear but they are totally worthless when trying to smoosh a bug. They are so soft and flexible that when you swat a bug with one, all it does is royally piss off said bug. Point: keep a boot or traditional sneaker handy for on the fly bug disposal.

- Some artists are pulling their video products from CMT over the Jason Aldean matter.  I was totally taken aback that CMT still had videos.  Haven’t looked at it for years (actually decades) but just assumed they were still doing wrestling and other nonsense.

- Speaking of country music…it’s all too clear the concepts in Merle Haggard’s Fighting Side of Me are as forgotten as 9/11 and common sense

- We bought cat litter the other day…a common occurrence.   Anyway the box said ‘money back guarantee’ but didn’t specify in the slightest guarantee against what.  Guarantee that cats won’t poop on the ceiling? 

- Junk drawer saga #3…the other day I needed a USB A to USB B micro cable. My junk drawer gave up power supplies from 16 different manufacturers in all possible configurations, SCSI cables, Firewire 400, Firewire 800 and adapters, USB A to USB2, 3, 3a 3b, 3c…2 small fans to install in guitar racks, Thunderbolt 1 thru 4 and adapters, Lightning cables, Apple 30 pin, hard drive adapters, SATA, eSATA, and so on cables…

But not what I was looking for.  Needless to say about six pounds of wire and stuff found it’s way to the dumpster.

- One thing about tragedies…they really can bring people together.

- Dept of Injustice is attempting to have a key eyewitness to Biden corruption immediately sent to prison, before he has a chance to testify Monday about what he’s seen, heard, and participated in first hand.  There just is nothing in recent American history to compare to this degree of bullshit. 

Friday

 - The drooling imbecile occupying the White House said with some certainty the other day his administration has basically cured cancer…and that almost 100 people died from Chinese flu. 81 million votes my ass

- Feds are looking to regulate or ban altogether gas stoves, gas heaters, gas water heaters, eventually gas vehicles. No viable options for what will power their mandated replacements. Wood burning appliances and small gas engine things have become a plague, etc.  On one hand, I can see certain benefits to this undercurrent (heh) of becoming an all electric society.  Electric things are significantly quieter, don’t require continual digging up streets and such to provide service, and so forth.

But no one has yet to detail how we are supposed to generate enough electricity to do any of this. Electricity takes a HUGE area to generate, takes millions of miles of cable, requires installing extremely heavy transformers which at the moment no electric powered vehicle can move or lift, is insanely expensive, cannot be stored, and most disconcerting can be turned off if people don’t behave a certain way.

Perhaps the ability to remotely disconnect is the point?

- Political dynasties have essentially crippled  our nation. Kennedy…Bush…Clinton…Biden. These people are not to be canonized, nor should they have any authority over our day to day lives in a capacity greater than street sweeper.

- Human garbage Bowe Bergdahl had his conviction overturned by a federal judge, based on the courts martial presiding judge failed to report that he had applied for a high level job with the Trump administration, and was thus prejudiced in his verdict. Doesn’t change what Bergdahl did though.

- Speaking of electricity…I’ve noticed a massive disconnect between the number of batteries devices require and the number of batteries in a package.  Need six AAA batteries? Buy two packs of four, or one pack of 10.

- Speaking of shopping…we had occasion to be in a large retail chain store (nameless, but store initials are J.C. P…). We purchased assorted stuff, and discovered that should we need to return our purchases, we’d get just about half our purchase money back. That’s a pretty funky way to do business, and will likely be our last excursion there. The chain store website says nothing about this.

- Has anyone seen anything about Bernie Sanders lately? The socialist millionaire has been oddly quiet.

- On a sad note, there will be a memorial service for Deb’s youngest son Rick tomorrow. As you may know he passed away a few weeks ago. Please keep her and her two boys in your thoughts and prayers.

Wednesday

 - Occasionally I wonder if today’s “country” artists and fans know anything at all about their genre’s predecessors and history. Do they know about Hank Williams, Buck Owens, Ray Price, et al?  Are they aware that people just didn’t wear baseball caps backwards? Have they any clue Waylon Jennings and a few others paved the road for them, and are still THE gold standard? Have they ever thought guys like Johnny Paycheck and Gary Stewart lived the lives they sang and wrote about? 

- Idea: any elected or high level appointed person receiving government paychecks should have their finances open to audit as a matter of routine. In many states, there is an implied consent to submit to a breathalyzer when suspicion of intoxicated driving is germaine to behaviors, the same implied consent to financial irregularities should also be mandated…and refusal should be basically admission of guilt. This policy alone would likely prevent the like of Biden, Pelosi, Fauci, you name it, from becoming multi millionaires off our seed money.

- Someone cloned my wife’s Facebook account…when I posted that info on my account, no less than 6 people I don’t know, never heard of, and have no connection with anyone I know posted they could help get her back online.  Getting REAL close to saying the hell with social media altogether. 

- I don’t understand how people lost in eerie woods, in outer space, wherever, don’t hear the spooky music.  If that were me, when I heard the weird ominous stuff, Dueling Banjos, or whatnot, I’m turning around

- I don’t deal with drama well, and tend to avoid it. When it comes my way, I ask 3 questions: how much of this even concerns me; how much of this is real vs how much is bloviated bullshit; how much of this was avoidable?  

- I have given up on my last regular job…being a male stripper. Things that are supposed to move don’t anymore, and things that shouldn’t move do so, to excess

- For a while, reports of UFOs were nearly a daily occurrence, now they are pretty scarce. So what happened-did media find those stories weren’t the distractions they were meant to be?  Have we become so used to those reports they aren’t headlines anymore?  My guess is whatever extraterrestrial life was visiting, they saw how idiotic our species is, and just moved on to someplace worth their trouble.

- There are approximately 1.34 million lawyers in the US…there are approximately 1.33 million total active duty military…approximately 16.5 million veterans, mostly over 70…there are (debated) over 70,000 pages of US tax law and regulations…there are about 14 million people in the US over 65…there are only 12 basic notes but somewhere around 4000 guitar chords

- Movies then: Giant…Bridge over the River Kwai…Maltese Falcon. Movies now: Barbie…and they wonder why people don’t go to cinemas anymore 

- Seems these days all intelligence is artificial, all stupidity is naturally occurring 

- The federal government is proud of its refusal to enforce constitutionally mandated border law…Texas does something to defend itself, and is now being sued by the feds.  I’m thinking when Texas doesn’t remove the buoys in the river, the feds will militarily intervene…all because a handful of mindless twats won’t do their job

The Next Monday Will Be Better

 - I’m at a point in which I’d rather see a family relocating here with Chihuahua Mexico plates on their car  than California plates.

- Pretty sure it wasn’t really necessary to the case for some congress cretin to show very sexually explicit photos of Hunter Biden during open hearings. I’m pretty sure shock and awe is a military tactic, not a judicial-political one.  Show some class.

- Bizarro world things in the news recently include

     *Corruption and bribery of the entire Biden clan

     *Dept of Defense basically says transgenders are exempt from height weight limits, PT test requirements, and deployment 

     *A ‘country’ song singing about not trying woke bullshit in small towns the #1 song of all iTunes, regardless of genre

     *Fed government has appealed judicial rulings at least twice so it may continue to censor free speech.

Interesting how none of these address actual real issues like inflation, reliable and plentiful energy, food from farms and not labs, crime, etc.

- Legit question: why aren’t people who smuggle fentanyl and opiates into the nation charged with conspiracy to commit mass murder?  The notion drug dealers don’t have mandatory death sentences tells me no level of government is actual serious about ending drug use, they just babble enough to make the population think they care.

- Reason I adore playing music in small towns, #374: the people are real. Real ranchers, farmers, mechanics, etc. Generally one does not develop a facade or persona living in small towns. 

- For some reason I can’t remember what I was going to say here…maybe it was thanks, see ya soon

Wed

 - I tried collecting broken knives, but it was pointless 

- Generally I give serious kudos to veterans, especially those who were engaged in combat.  There are exceptions. John Kerry for example is a disgrace to our species, and an abomination of what being a veteran in supposed to be. Bowe Bergdahl another.  But these people are far from the norm, they basically amount to statistical zero. People who voluntarily wore the uniform are almost always honorable people.

- Seen: Do you look better in person or in photos?  I think I look better in theory

- Sunday gas here was $2.99…Monday $3.29. So where’s the impetus for a 30 cent price hike overnight? Some ‘analysts’ saying crude oil will be over $100 a barrel by the end of 2023, so I guess the price setting speculators are once again hosing us

- While partly laughing, partly sighing in disgust at an article about the Pentagon’s transgender idiocy, I was reminded of race relations “classes” I was forced to take while in the army.  The instructor was a black Staff Sergeant man who wore sunglasses inside and was allowed to grow a beard as to not aggravate a shaving condition.  This particular training all happened late 70s/early 80s.

During the mandatory participation open discussions, many younger troops used the phrase ‘colored,’ which brought immediate interjection from the trainer ‘what color were they?’ One young fellow asked ‘you tell me…what would you like to hear?’ All hell broke loose then. When the phrase African American was introduced, some people wondered aloud why others weren’t called European American…or Polynesian American…one Cherokee in the group really got annoyed at all the verbiage…

Point? People get so angry when others do not abide by their wishes that the original concept of discussion is long lost.  No matter the effort, one cannot nor ever change what people think, believe, etc.  and damn you for being so arrogant to keep trying to legislate opinions.

- Movies that cannot be made anymore:  Blues Brothers…Blazing Saddles…Here to Eternity…Wizard of Oz…Maltese Falcon…even setting aside woke and social warrior stupidity, the star power talent is just not there anymore, the music is just not there anymore, and audiences that could appreciate what they were watching just aren’t there anymore 

Monday

 - The so called administration has authorized 3000 US troops to be activated from reserve to active forces, to supplement our military presence in Europe (Ukraine.) Although I don’t condone it, I certainly understand why people fled to Canada during Vietnam. Putting lives in harms way to save us is one thing, putting them in harms way to save someone else is fundamentally evil

- Deb's youngest son Rick died from a drug overdose the other day.  Please, if you do nothing else today, say a small prayer to ease her indescribable grief.  There are no words.  As I type this I'm falling apart from trying to envision her pain, offer her strength, and comfort her during these insanely tragic times.  I wish I could make the world a better place, starting with her.

- Which brings me to: drugs...yeah, they can be fun, they can offer users a temporary respite from life's realities..there are millions of reasons why people take them, abuse them.  But, before you light the pipe, snort, or shoot up, please consider the damage done to those you leave behind.  No one deserves that level of angst

- Theres lots of things that annoy me, but none quite like working on the last sip of Kentucky whiskey in the house, only to find a dead bug in the glass. Damn

- This needs to be said: screw Hunter Biden. No one on the planet voted for that sumbitch. He should not be allowed in the country, much less Washington or the White House. He’s been an ‘adult’ for some time but  seemingly never responsible like any other adult.  

That said…we all have seemingly unshakable demons known as addiction.  Speaking from personal experience addiction is as much (perhaps more) a mental process as it is physical.  Cigarettes, alcohol, all sorts of self destructive behaviors can change the core personality to a nearly unrecognizable point. Addiction is not an excuse for anything, but it’s a pretty good measure of understanding 

- It’s been said we find out who’s really in charge by finding out who can’t be criticized. If this is true, then transgenders rule the roost

- Society is not just the most salient aspects of existence.  The often minor cogs in the machine actually make up how society actually works, and we are in pretty deep ca ca.

As some may know Deb had to deal with a horrible situation last week in Florida. Using Expedia was my first mistake in trying to get her there. Apparently they have no actual humans, online confusing misleading web links. They got the rental car 100% wrong…American Airlines did their level best to make sure she did not have a way to leave Florida…funeral homes treated her like a ghetto queen begging for a block of cheese…restaurant and internet at her hotel were closed for some reason (I don’t know how they could remodel the internet)…etc ad nauseum.

These are the cogs of society that, when they don’t work as advertised/intended, can break down large groups of people at one time. Multiply that times hundreds of thousands of travel oriented businesses and millions of travel consumers daily, and there is a recipe for disaster.

Friday

 - A university in Scotland has taken the ‘trigger warning’ concept to the next level by putting a label on Hemingway’s “Old Man and the Sea” might be upsetting because of…seriously…graphic fishing scenes. 

- Y’all please keep Deb in your thoughts and prayers. She’s as we speak in Florida dealing with some real unpleasant family business.

- The world is not a fair place. Never has been. Overcoming various obstacles is what makes great men and women great. What makes great men and women is their approaches to life’s obstacles, not government programs. In my opinion, eliminating the need to overcome adversity basically prevents people from becoming great

- Truth is almost an impossibility. What we perceive as truth is often developed from wrong information either willingly or inadvertently…truth can/is skewed by how we perceive and process said information…and oddly we can have all possible, correctly stated information and not have the ability to interpret, or worse, interpret correctly and just choose to ignore it

- It’s occurred to me lab grown meat is really the food equivalent of an inflatable sex doll, in that conceptually it’s the same thing, but there ends the similarities 

- I know I would not live nor spend much time in areas that have security cameras everywhere. There’s already plenty of people tracking my movements, cell phone, credit card use, you name it. If I want to enter a store, pay cash for coffee or whatever, then leave, it’s genuinely no one else’s business.

Y’all have an indescribably good weekend 

Wednesday Running Amok

 - Wall St Journal featured an article Saturday blaming the current military recruiting crisis on…wait for it…veterans. Seems we are not encouraging military aged youth to enlist. Well, duh. I haven’t recommended the military for anyone since the 80s, when I was on army recruiting status.  Perhaps if the military did nor force woke warrior crap every day, the possibility of being simply abandoned, being equipped with electric battlefield vehicles, and so forth.

- If one believes movies and TV, Toyota should be deemed a terrorist supporter as 95% of vehicles driven by middle eastern and South American bad guys are Toyota pickups

- Slowly, I’m starting to learn the lesson that I just should not respond to ‘I dunno, what do you think?’ On the exact same statistical curve is a matching inverse of the frequency of how many times the question is asked of me.  

- Finally watched the movie American Sniper. Fantastic film, had no idea it was a Clint Eastwood project until the credit roll. This is the epitome of a “why didn’t I see this sooner.” movie

- Electricity is a weird thing. The only commodity I can think of that has no large scale storage capability, a naturally occurring energy source that’s fairly expensive to use with at least a half million different ways to access, all of which have the same result. Exactly every electrical device undergoes countless transformations before it can be used, from 3 volt DC wall wart transformers to 880V AC transmission lines. Any malfunction will result in things not working. Yet, electricity is being mandated as the only acceptable source of energy for humankind 

Which is perplexing since no one knows EXACTLY how it all works

- Deb had her second cataract surgery yesterday…even though the cataract was as tough as a boot heel she came through it like a champ. Now she can *clearly* see what a shmuck she’s been married to for near 30 yrs

- Ya just know it’s going to be a crap week when the VA calls to inform me the doctor I’ve been seeing for many years is leaving the veterans health system, being replaced by someone I don’t know, likely a temporary fill in from some major center. 

- I was told I’m a guy who lights up the room…as soon as I leave it.

- We know there is shortbread…is there tall bread? Something that is virtually impossible only impossible in a digital realm? Why do Chinese food and dog food have completely different meanings?  How can someone be sort of pregnant? Why are no birds involved when someone flips one?

Monday, Oh Yeah

- What our nation could really benefit from: Constitutional amendment requiring the oath of office for ALL elected officials in the entire nation to swear they will address the needs of those legal residents in the areas that elected them. It just should not matter what a representative from a district in New York thinks the people in west Texas must do…it does not matter what a senator from California thinks farmers in Iowa must do..

Our government seems to no longer be of and for the people; it seems to be run by those with the biggest mouths and most aggressive media people.

 - I’ve never done this (yet) but I’m fairly sure zip tying a harmonica under someone’s truck may be the best practical joke seen in a long time. The only way to improve this would be to hide 5-6 harmonicas 

- Just read an article saying citizens in West Odessa are studying how to become an actual incorporated city. West Odessa is a unique situation. Obviously they don’t pay city taxes, only county; there are no zoning laws, so it’s not uncommon to see a falling down 1960s era mobile home on land 50 ft from a multi million dollar spread, separated by a functional oilfield pumpjack, etc. Some areas there look like,e decent enough settlements, some look like an abandoned district in Syria after 50 years of bombings.  There is no fresh water supply save for very iffy wells, no sewer service, well you get the idea.

Whatever they decide is fine with me.  Whichever way they go, best of luck

- Past few months I’ve seen ‘human interest’ stories about reportedly superstar level country music stars.  Surprise to no one is I’ve never heard of any of these people before.  The photos I’ve seen of these people make the so called superstars look like C list rappers or down right jezebels. Stop calling that stuff country music

- A ‘plan’ by the lil joe horror show is studying the feasibility of blocking the sun to combat climate change. So far, the sun, cow farts, the trucking industry, wood stoves, gas heaters, automobiles, Mexican food, light bulbs, and countless other daily items are endangering Earth to the point it will be unlivable in 10 years, the same mantra they’ve spewed for the past 50 yrs that I know of

- One concept I have difficulty understanding is vengeance.  Outside of practical jokes, that is. Under No conditions will a practical joke go unanswered…unless the gag is so epic that anything following would be anticlimactic 

- My nephrologist strongly advised I cut coffee consumption by over a half…cut way back on whiskey…slow down on cigarettes.  Next morning I gave it a shot - worst 45 minutes in recent memory.  I need to find a kidney doctor that encourages these things, but has a magic pill to cure my ails.

Friday

 - Seen: my resume is nothing more than a list of shit I never want to do again

- Had a large time playing the July 4 soirée in Denver City Texas.  No where near as hot as it was last year,  and I’m guessing people had a good time. 

- There are times when the state of our union depresses me to a point I can’t do anything but sit and stare out a window.  We’ve got a battalion of liars in the highest positions of the land, an Army demanding we celebrate a cross dressing dipshit field grade Army officer, a congress who can’t seem to stop investigating itself, a government not only turning a blind eye to illegals but now is aiding and abetting in their assault on our nation, etc ad nauseum. I’m just tired of it all…no, actually I’m sick of it

I believe the thing that crushes my spirit is the absolute helplessness I see everywhere. 

- One thing I am looking forward to is new hearing aids. The ones I have right now basically suck, hurt my ears when loud enough to work, and the recharging batteries die within 5 hours.  

- It was reported that US gun sales have dropped to a four year low…I presume that everyone who wants guns already have them.  Same thing happened with Harley Davidson motorcycles.

- A very simple question: how much taxpayer money has been spent “investigating” politicians and their families?  Could the funds used to investigate and convene so called hearings have been put to better use? We already know the answer. So maybe, just maybe, the system as it stands now really is broken to a point we the people have no say in our nation, our tax dollars, our way of life anymore

- Cocaine in the White House…I wonder who dropped it. I guess next they’ll play They Call Me The Breeze

- Y’all have a good one

Wednesday, July 5

 - We just went through another holiday who’s days are numbered. However this can be reversed, almost immediately by a few steps

     * stop sending the same nitwits to congress, ideology or party. THEY are the ones responsible for the mess right now…

     * stop pretending that cross dressing transgenders are necessary. They are not, especially in the military

     * start personally obeying little laws, like traffic. You only get to the next red light faster.

-  One thing about student loan payback.  Having a degree of ANY level is not a guarantee you’ll be gainfully employed in that field…it means you have a diploma in that field.  My degrees are in psychology, mass communication, perhaps the two most worthless degrees outside of nuclear thumbsucking and gender studies. Doesn’t matter, it’s the degree you chose. Pay back your student loans. I did, my wife did, millions of others did. Don’t be an asshole, pay your bills. No one owes you a damn thing in this matter, it’s all your choice

- I enjoy driving, but for no more than 4 hrs at any stretch on open roads, rural roads, etc.  My tolerance for in city, urban areas is significantly shorter, usually in the 5 minute range. 

- US Border Patrol agents caught on film cutting barb wire fencing installed by Texas National Guard troops. Also in video were dozens of illegals waiting for fed border patrol agents to finish, so they could enter our nation. What’s the REAL question is who gave the border patrol the orders to do this? 

My mind suggests the federal government is engaged in a silent, but now open war, yes war, against our state. This will not end well.

- I am sick to death of democrats…just a tail feather behind also fall so called republicans.  As it stands in 2023, none of them give a single shit about actual Americans, only what affects them inside the beltway. Need proof? When was the last time you heard about the plight of senior citizens trying to get along these days? When was the last time you heard about urban neighborhoods policing their own areas? Exactly everything said by both parties is them saying how bad the other guys are. We need adult leadership, not junior high bluster

- A weekend which saw over 30 people shot in Baltimore is being directly attributed to states like Texas that don’t have strident gun control. The mayor there said guns are being imported from 2d Amendment states for the sole purpose of giving Maryland residents a means to kill each other.

First, this is beyond stupid. Second, Texans aren’t pulling the triggers, your people are. Third, I’m waiting for the same ‘thought’ process to be applied to drugs, human smuggling, illegals, etc.

- Problems you can’t or won’t solve are always blamed on others.