Hey everyone. Hope y'all have been doing well. It's been a while since I signed in. I keep forgetting my password. Gwen & I are in Toronto tonight. We're doing a cross-country baseball tour. We're going to all thirty parks and a few (or more than a few) college and minor league parks as well. We've always wanted to do this and its past time to stop putting it off. So, Friday, Saturday & Sunday we're watching the Jays take on the Twins. Last week we got to see the Brewers & Rays in Milwaukee. We started out by seeing the Wisconsin Lady Badgers softball team sweep Maryland in 3 games.

Today we visited the Royal Ontario Museum followed by dinner at Gyubees. Had a great time. Now just relaxing at the hotel. She's talking to Bri and I'm catching up with you fine folks. Life is good guys. It's a beautiful thing.

@Gromnir

and even w/o him positing, am certain he would recognize how trump 2.0 has been a nightmare for personal liberties, truth and human decency, but do you believe he would budge from his contention that biden was just as bad and kamala might have been worse? we would be shocked if he had given a fraction o' an inch on the they are all bad bit. the ostrich impersonation survived january six, trump being found liable for digital rape, criminal fraud conviction for his business and trump refusing to return nuclear secrets to the national archives, yes?

You wrote than in January. If you only knew how much WORSE it would be by April. Rock bottom does indeed have a basement. Kamala is looking pretty good about now.

I don't know if Trump is the absolute worst president in US history. But let's just say Buchannan and Wilson have company.

I finally crossed Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World off my list. Pretty good read on critical thinking. 

Hey everyone. Hope you guys are all doing well in this crazy f---d up world we find ourselves in. I was unaware of Charlie Kirk until this morning. Gwen and I have been exploring Zion National Park since August. We've been staying at Watchman Campground mostly but we did backpack out to Lava Point and primitive camped for a few nights. This is by far one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. 

Hanging out in Salt Lake City now. Then taking a trip down I-40 to Tennessee. I have some business to wrap up there bore heading back to Wisconsin. Life has been pretty good. We had almost no cell coverage in the park and almost never turned the radio on. The world is a wonderful place if you can just divorce yourself from all the negativity. 

 

Hope you guys are all ok. It's been a while. 

34 minutes ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

Look man, I'm no Kamala stan but I doubt she'd be sending in the Marines because ICE got yelled at in front of a Home Depot.

Different stupid but just as stupid. 

@Gromnir"Ice Barbie" I am soooo stealing that. Having served in a Marine rifle platoon I can tell you for a fact putting them on an American street in front of a mob is a bad idea. This goes one of two ways. If the marines are armed a good number of the mob might end up dead. Thats bad. If they are not armed a number of the Marines end up dead. Neither outcome is acceptable so it's a weapons grade stupid idea to create the scenario. 

But we have a stupid government run by stupid people. Which would still be true even if the quarter landed the other way last November. 

29 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

oh god he's still doing it

And here I thought you appreciated my consistency! 

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

I guess at least Guard Dog didn't do Keyrock's special brand of pretending to be "both sides"-ing while actually supporting and voting for the exact type of scum he constantly railed against. That was some real bozotown stuff.

 

I once favored the elephants over the donkeys. It took working on a congressional campaign in 1994 to change my mind about that. Shortly after that I was dyed in the wool Libertarian and have been ever since. The more exposure you have to politicians the more you will come to hate them and everything they say, do, think, and stand for. 

14 hours ago, Gromnir said:

am sooper happy you finally found your zen after a decade o' hyperbolic efforts to convince us they is all equal bad.

 

My God haven't the last eight years, Trump Part 1, Biden, then Trump Part 2 not demonstrated that they ARE equally bad? Albeit in different ways bad. The two political parties of this country, in their current state, are not just bad, they are deranged.  Up until the day Obama and the 114th Congress walked out the door it may have been a tad hyperbolic so suggest they were "equally" bad. They were both terrible at times and less so at others. But since 2017 it's gone over a cliff. 

I've met a lot of folks with Trump euphoria that is nonsensical to me. But in the words of a country song; it's funny how falling feels likely flyin'.... but only for a little while. 

I have found politics bothers me so much less now that I ignore it completely. 

Right now I'm drinking a cup of coffee and watching the sun set on a pleasantly cool evening. Life is good. Hope ya'll are doing well!

Hey everyone. Hope y'all are doing well! We're in Jamestown New York for a family function. We're picking up Bri from the airport in a few hours. I dislike New York mostly but it's nice around here. We drove up from Texas which was pretty miserable this time of year. After this it's back to cheese land for a while. 

@ShadySands Happy Birthday my brother! We are older, grayer, and likely heavier than we were. But we carried the legacy in our time! More than that no one could ask!

I just dropped in to take my victory lap. I believe I predicted the 47th President of the United States would be a complete idiot who has no business being put in charge of anything? Nailed it!

Of course that was a bet I really couldn't lose!

Beautiful weather in LaCrosse the past few weeks. But you can feel the air getting drier. Winter will be here soon. We're planning a trip to Big Bend National Park in November. Already have a campsite reserved in Cottonwood. We will spend the winter in West Texas. Looking forward to it. Hope you guys are doing well.  @Azdeus hope your foot is doing better.

I know you are all eagerly waiting for my endorsement of a candidate in the 2024 US Presidential race.  I have made my choice! Not Trump or Harris. Oh God no they are both just awful. I wanted to endorse someone who has served honorably in war. Someone who will supports for the free practice of all religious faiths. Someone who will fight for his people!

 

Hey Everyone! I was trading emails with Azdeus and he said I should come see you guys. It has been a while hasn't it. The beginning of last year I think. I didn't even realize how long until I signed in and couldn't remember my password. I really hope all you fine folks and your families are doing well! 2022 and the first half of 2023 were a pretty rough time for me. I was dealing with lymphoma but with the help of early detection, some really great doctors and medical folks I'm almost as good as ever. Please don't ignore symptoms. If you feel off please see a doctor. After that experience I decided to retire. Much earlier than I was planning but life is beautiful, and short. It's meant to be enjoyed.

Gwen (her real name) and I are still together and doing well. I don't know why I didn't want to use her real name online. It probably made sense to me at the time. I am so lucky to have met her. She is semi-retired as well and we are currently wrapping up a road trip to visit all the national parks in New Mexico. Eventually we will visit all the US & Canada national parks.  21 down, 90 to go. And forever to do it.

Bri is graduating from college next week and we will be there to cheer for her. She is an amazing young lady with a bright future. So proud of her.  I made peace with my brother I'm happy to say. I never really understood what the resentment was about but dealing with a serious illness changes your perspective on things.

That's pretty much it. I do miss talking to you guys. After a career in tech I'm doing retirement decidedly low tech. I barely even use the internet anymore. I hope all of you are happy and healthy.

If a cable TV channel could even do such a thing that social fabric needed to be destroyed.

Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson fired on the same day? Two turds with one flush!

Three torpedoes in the water. Two are homing. The suspense is killing me! 

14 minutes ago, Hurlshort said:

That looks like a nice floorplan. Don't forget to add a generator to it. What are you pulling it with? Have you pulled large trailers before?

That will be the heaviest load I've towed. But I had a small pop up  trailer a little while back. Used it quite a bit. My truck is a 2017 GMC Sierra so it's up to it. I have a 10 kw portable gen from the old house. It's stored down in Dyersburg with the rest of my stuff from the house. I really need to do something with all that. I don't want it to end up on storage wars one day.

Just saw the A's bought land for a stadium in Las Vegas. Looks like they are leaving CA.

Had a Dr. appt on Wednesday. Some good news and some not as good. But nothing unexpected.  I've been feeling pretty good recently so I'll take that. I made some business moves and I am officially semi-retired. Still on the insurance plan for six months but after that I'll look for an alternative.

In other news B is graduating from college next month. G & I are going to buy her a new car as a gift. We're getting her a new Nissan Rogue. I'm so happy for her. She has a very bright future.

Also looking at buying this: 2023 Jayco Jay Flight 284BHS #1556 | Interstate RV Sales & Service, Inc. It took a while for G to warm up to the idea spending a few years traveling the US & Canada but she seems to be all in now.  There is just too much of North America we haven't seen yet.

 

14 minutes ago, Gromnir said:

so now you are ok with book burnings? wasn't as if in the past the point o' those book burning stories were that the authors were being deprived o' royalties.

...

am not sure how many times we need go through this, but legal ≠ right. the book bans in florida is getting attention today, but similar bans has been happening in the US since the US were a thing and is not as if those "bans" were illegal. desantis is gonna lose any number o' court cases 'cause he went overbroad with his war on wokeism, but is hardly illegal for a school district to decide they no longer wanna teach 1984 or they wanna keep i know why the caged bird sings off shelves. legal. you has complained 'bout such in the past. today is different?

eye o' the beholder morality? am talking 'bout your eye chum 'cause you has espoused indignation in the past at perfect legal book bans and book burnings. on any other day not today your eye could recognize that just 'cause is legal to buy up every copy o' a book that makes you uncomfortable and set it aflame is legal but wrong. today is different 'cause you would rather double-down then reflect.

disposing o' a pet is perfect legal. take a healthy animal and shoot it 'cause it became inconvenient is ok. oh, and btw, in most states shoot somebody else's dog 'cause it growls at you is also ok ... and any sorta fear expressed don't even need be reasonable save in a few jurisdictions. your neighbor says that your dog maybe growled at him and is a good chance the law says she is in the right for killing. in ohio, for example, is ok to kill another person's dog 'cause it trespassed on your property. when we says "ok," we mean, it is legal to do so. is your expected outrage gonna be over property rights? 

less dramatic, but am thinking most people are still able to identify as wrong is the following

how many post pandemic pets has been taken to shelters 'cause they became inconvenient. did you laugh at that situation too, 'cause at least the pet shop owner or dog breeder still got paid?

you own the only hospital for hundreds o' miles but you have it razed instead o' selling it to new owners who is willing to pay fair market. 

lord knows you has funny ideas 'bout legal ≠ right where eminent domain is concerned.

etc.

double-down is a thing 'round here. 

HA! Good Fun!

 

OK there is a big distinction between book burning and book banning UNLESS both happen to be a state sponsored activity. If the government has you goose stepping around piles of burning books (something Florida is coming perilously close to) and has made it a crime to read them then it past time to start a revolution. Remember who Guy Montag worked for after all.

If redneck Pastor Joe from Micanopy Florida wants to burn Heather Has Two Mommies because Satan wrote it that is a different story. It makes him a jerk but not a criminal in any stretch of imagination. Nor should it. As long as he came by those books honestly. Redneck Pastor Joe is not keeping someone from reading that book just because he burned a few copies. What he's doing is neither immoral nor illegal. Just stupid.

When the state says "Thou shalt not have this book in thy library" they ARE trying to restrict people (kids mostly) from reading it. That is immoral hands down. Not illegal. But definitely immoral. IMO at least.

The irony is most of the books folks want banned would seldom get a look. Remember back in the 80's the movie The Last Temptation of Christ? It was an abysmally bad movie that probably would have flopped had folks not gotten into a twist about it. So many people were out there protesting because it painted Jesus as insane IIRC (been a while since I've seen it) that movie goers who would have otherwise passed went to see it. Sometimes the best thing to do about the stuff that pisses you off is to just ignore it. Try to make it go away and it has the opposite effect.

The pet discussion goes down a whole other rabbit hole. If shelters were a bit more circumspect about who they adopted to that would not happen as often. Plus people are teaching their children that pets are disposable commodities when they do that and they will teach their children that and on it goes. People suck. Most of them. Well, more like about half of them .