Guard Dog

Double post for some reason or another

Chelsea Clinton says she wants her 'white children of privilege' to 'erode that privilege I call BS. She could erode their "privilege" right now. Sell everything you have, take all your money and donate it to charity, go pay rent in a run down apartment is some sh--ty suburb and get a job at Dollar General. Put your kids in public schools, charge up your credit cards because your basic expenses exceed your income and die young and in debt. See, privilege is gone and you are living the dream. No doubt her hids will thank her for eroding their privilege.

Fixed your typo! Edit: @Hurlshot beat me to it I see!

Pelosi came out today saying Biden should refuse to debate Trump. Dammit they had best not deprive us the one thing about this entire miserable political exercise that might be enjoyable: watching a feckless blowhard argue with a doddering half-wit. I'd watch Trump make his speech tonight but the Marlins are playing the Mets and I would much rather watch that.

They want them to come undone. Then you step on them, they get frayed and you buy more shoelaces! Why do you think the dentist gave you a lollipop when you were a kid???? BTW: If someone had a time machine and wanted to stop hitler they shouldn't go back and kill him. Go back and stop Teddy Roosevelt from running for President in 1912. But for him Taft would have been re-elected. The US stays out of WWI. The Central Powers still lose but the Treaty of Versailles is completely different. It is very likely the peace is more equitable. The Weimar Republic never exists, so it can't collapse. Hitler would have lived out his life as a architect and artist of middling ability in Vienna with a wife and a couple of kids.

Oh yeah I'll be fine. My house is wood frame but rated up to 110 mph winds. I remember asking when I was choosing plans with the builder. I'm high enough over the surrounding water that flooding should not be an issue. Yesterday afternoon I disconnected the solar system and took the panels down. I laid then flat, face down and covered them with plywood sheets. They are expensive to replace and don't want anything hitting them. Other than that I use my generator all the time so i know that's good.

There are few days I would not fall to my knees and thank God I don't live in South Florida anymore. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot to like about it. I've never been in a more vibrant and fun place. But it's also extremely expensive just to get by, some parts are very dangerous (like most metro areas), and of course Boca Raton (ugh). And traffic.... it's got nothing on SoCal but still pretty bad. But the part I hated the most was the anxiety that started in June and heightened all through the summer to a near panic stage in September and October. Hurricane season. SFL is the #6 pin in the Hurricane bowling alley. So, now I live in Tennessee. Almost a 400 miles (630 kilometers give or take) from the Gulf of Mexico. And today Hurricane Laura will pass over us as a Cat 1. Man I feel terrible for the folks in SW Louisiana and East Texas. The ones who could not evacuate especially but even the ones who did and what they are coming home to when it's all clear. Think about this for a moment. Hurricanes are fueled by warm water and low pressure. They dissipate quickly over land. This storm had so much energy that 24 hour and 400 miles later not only does it still have a center of circulation it is still strong enough to be a hurricane. This was a monster storm. On the weather channel radio they estimated a storm surge that could reach as far as 40 miles inland in some places. In Port Arthur LA they used the term "unsurviveable storm surge". A 20' wall of seawater travelling at over 100 mph. God DAMN I hate hurricanes.

Coincidentally I've been looking at the same thing the past few days. I'm taking a hard look at what I'd need to do to retire early. This home office thing has been great and is coming to an end next year. Not sure I can go back to seeing... people... everyday.

Well.... it's not THAT bad. Not tow at least. When it came out is stunk like a burning porta-john. Not only was is a buggy mess what it tried to do well was halfass implemented.

5 days left until Crusader Kings 3. I don't usually wait with anticipation for a game's release. And Paradox's Rome Imperator was a disappointment. Although it's better now than when it came out. But this one seems to have a lot going for it.

There is nothing I will miss about Trump. Oh, an my fellow Americans, once this is over, no more celebrity President's please. You've been flirting with it over the years. Now you've gotten it out of your system.

Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances Can you imagine the aftermath of the 2020 election where neither side accepts a losing outcome? If if it's not close? I mean if it's a Reaganesque blowout that is one thing. But if it's close enough one side or the other convinces themselves it's been stolen.... Katie bar the door. Of course that would just give everyone license to act like the grasping savages I already think they are so...

I paid the Republican convention as much attention as I did the Democrat convention. None. Instead I listened to the Marlins beat the Nats 11-8 on the radio while working on my wood stove restoration project. But I did catch up on reading summaries of what was said and who spoke. And chuckled at Gromnir's commentary which is usually worth reading. My they paint quite a dark picture of a Biden victory. Do you know what really would happen if Biden wins in November? Not much. Go back to 2012. Suppose Romney defeated Obama. What would be different? Not much. Suppose McCain defeated Obama in '08 what would be different? The ACA wouldn't exist but something similar would. Kagan & Sotomayor would not be on the SCOTUS but McCain would be facing a Democrat controlled Senate so whomever was picked and confirmed they would not be described as "constructionist" . Trump's victory in '16 has given us a lot of bad actors in government and a lot of, well, Trump. That was bad. But suppose Clinton won facing a Republican held Congress. What would be different? Anyone who thinks Clinton was on the up and up hasn't been watching the news for the last 30 years. There would be plenty of bad actors and power abuses in that administration. Maybe not so brazen and ham fisted but you are still hip deep in roaches even if they are hiding. So suppose Biden wins and has a Democrat congress. You already know how that will go. Just like in '93 & '08 they will declare the Republican Party dead and go batsht crazy and then in '22 the Republicans win one or both houses of congress and gridlock will be gratefully restored. This cycle has been repeating consistently since 1993. Oh no the Democrats have screwed up the country! Let's vote for the Republicans. Oh no the Republicans have screwed up the country! Let's vote for the Democrats. Oh no the Democrats have screwed up the country! Let's vote for the Republicans. Oh no the Republicans have screwed up the country! Let's vote for the Democrats. So, what really matters? This does: https://www.usdebtclock.org/ The United States is $26,680,308,992,701 in debt as of now. That number increases at a rate of roughly $20k per second. Under Trump we have exceeded a $2T deficit for the first time ever. Does anyone seriously believe this can just go one forever with no reckoning? Does anyone seriously believe this is going to improve no matter who wins the election? You cannot tax your way out of this. Under Obama the deficit actually fell below $1T because in the 2nd term he put restrictions on some spending. not enough but it was a good move. Trump cut taxes. That's great. It's never the wrong thing to do. But cutting taxes while radically increasing spending is just stupid. And all Biden promises to to is spend more. Well, it looks like Biden will win. Let's hope the administration is more pragmatic than the campaign. They usually are. Trump was an exception I hope.

I built the framing for the greenhouse today. Didn't take any pics. I will once it's finished though. I kind of suck at carpentry. Particularly figuring angles which is ironic because I was always good at math and even enjoyed Trig. But a sloped roof down the east facing side is part of the plan.

@Skazz my advice is to never procrastinate and do not multi-task. I learned a long time ago multi-tasking is a wonderful opportunity to screw up multiple things simultaneously. Plus when mutli-tasking four one hour jobs you will not complete them in one hour. You won't een complete them in four. Next thing you know half the day is gone and you still haven't gotten anything done. Frustration will rise, that leads to anxiety which leads to more frustration. Whatever task you are on focus on 100% until completion. If I have one skill it's the ability to laser focus on one thing at a time and shut everything else out.

Posting here because there is no political image. It's just funny.

That does not sound good. Take care!

I started building my greenhouse today. It will be 10' x 4'. I dug out a base and poured a 2" concrete substrate. The placed pre-formed concrete step stones on it to make the floor. The idea being the gaps in the step stones will provide the drainage to a plastic trough I'll build on the sides. I don't trust my masonry skill to attempt a sloped floor or proper drain. This is what we've got so far.

That's the state between Kentucky & Alabama for you. The greenest state in the and of the not so free. A lot of folks I know are actually pleased by this. It's short sighted to cheer the government using power to crack down on people you don't like. Someday it WILL use that power on you. You know where our biggest failure as a people lies? We have mistaken democracy for liberty. Generally you can't get the latter without the former. But the former is no guarantor of the latter. Getting to choose your oppressor is not going to end with liberty.

You can always tell when military fiction (science or otherwise) was written by someone who was never in the military. Even if they got the details mostly right. Compare Joe Halderman's Forever War & John Scalzi's Old Man's War. Both are good examples of military sci fi and both are good stories. But you could tell Halderman was a vet and Scalzi wasn't.