A Few Thoughts

61 thoughts on “A Few Thoughts”

1. Rants. I selectively use cash but you are right, it is darn convenient. I have run into a couple of place that don’t take cash though. Last big one was at a college where I wanted to take a Geology course. Not towards any degree, the subject just interests me. Ended up not taking the course because of the school not taking cash. I admit I did get into a bit of a huff.

   Nothing will come of any investigations by the House or any other organization. It is all smoke and mirrors. Oddly, I originally typed “incestigations” Freudian slip?

   Post hole. I have dirt envy. I am expanding my barn and am using an electric jackhammer to chip through the lava for the holes and to level off some high spots. After the top three inches or so of dirt the rest is porous lava./Hopefully the extra space well be worth the effort.

   1. I’m on limestone bedrock and it goes down 2000′ plus. So I feel for you. Much of the bedrock is exposed. I thought it might just be a cap but it’s solid rock. We had to blast when building the hovel where I live.

      1. Circa 1973 my company had a contract to build a house with a full basement on a rural site. Three feet down we hit bedrock. We ended up blasting the rock (thank you US Army for the demolition training). What saved us financially was the building inspector agreeing we didn’t need to pour footers.

         The owner got to figure out the septic system – good luck with that.

         1. I did manage to emplace an alternative septic system at great cost.

            1. Ran into granite ledge when digging the foundation for our place, a crawlspace…zero chance of a basement without a lot of blasting. In that corner I simply formed the face of the rock at a 45 then filled it when pouring the footer, encasing it. Later stepped the foundation wall up and onto it, pinning it down into the rock. Total wall height there: 1 foot. Saved about 2 yards of concrete and $5K in blasting.

               Inspector said, “We like rocks like that, they don’t move, been here a long time, and still be here long after we’re dead.”

            2. Yeah, the basement and concrete casement is wrapped in living rock that’s not going anywhere ever.

            3. My property here in Alaska has a deeded right to construct a pit privy as in our house. If I wanted a septic system it would require an engineered system. Since we haul water that would be both impractical and expensive. Tried a composting unit with poor results. So, outhouse with extra big pit and bag commode for the infirm!

            4. Hammer – you’ve probably already looked into this but, if you have a stream downhill from your place, would it be feasible to build a hydraulic ram pump?

      2. Thinking about what it must have cost to drill your well is scary.

         1. It’s only money, Ed… that’s what everyone tells me.

            1. I have city water. I am considering a well for a thermo-dynamic heating cooling system.
               $10k estimate for the well, and $6k for the thermo heat pump.
               Not sure of a payback at my age.

            2. I’m in the same boat – though a few decades younger than EdB… in that when considering projects, I have to factor in the time I have left and whether it’s worth it.

   2. Ah yes, Sigmund Freud. “We are bringing them the plague, and they don’t even know it.” Freud to Jung as they sailed to America. No no, Freud WAS the plague.

      https://orthochristian.com/126241.html

      I don’t endorse everything in the linked article (and I’d go WAY further on some points), but it’s not a bad summary. Anyway, I don’t appreciate Freud and the Freudian Cult.

      1. Freud was a deeply troubled man. So he was elevated to near godhood by society.

   3. Have you seen the newly proposed geological explanation for the Rocky Mountains? While the North America tectonic plate was chugging along westward it ran into something that caused part of the pileup, kinda like India and the Himalayan mountains.

      1. I have not heard that – but I’m not surprised. Same with the Alps.

         1. List this under things watched in the middle of the night:
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9Xk1O17dzg

            1. Very interesting – I’m moving on to paleomagnitism. I’m becoming addicted.

2. Cash
   I use a debit card for most purchases and written checks to pay bills. Lazy, the convenience appeals to me. For decades I used a money clip (and got eyeballed often by bystanders). As a lifelong dirty white boy I didn’t worry. Now I’m an old dirty white boy and not eager to rodeo again.
   I carry emergency cash in my cell phone protective case along with the sims extractor tool.
   A sufficient amount of cash for a few months expenses is hidden in my apartment along with some bug out cash stashed in my car.

3. As a postscript to the blog, the grossly overpriced carbon credits that I offered to BlackRock are also available to readers and contributors of the Virtual Mirage Blog. I will trade them for Krugerrands. Send the gold and upon verification of its veracity, I will send you a computer printout that transfers carbon credits derived from my woodlands. You can frame them, trade them, and amaze your enviro-woke friends at parties with them. It’s even better than naming a star after yourself and while it is significantly more expensive, I will also send a certificate attesting to your contribution to saving and SUSTAINING woodlands for future generations.

   1. I’ll offer my Homestead CC’s at a reduced rate if you run out….I’m in good standing…my newest weekender neighbor drives a Chevy Leaf to the his property, drags out his mini generator and 12″ electric chainsaw and cuts firewood. Totally green and sustainable. As his neighbor I get some of his carbon offsets, especially if he needs to recharge at my outdoor plug (no, unlike The Left, mine is not “free”.)

      1. You’re not very selective if you let somebody drive a Leaf in your neighborhood. I write that tongue-in-cheek because we have a lot of rich AHs from Scottsdale buying up land here and they show up in Bentleys– on a dirt road.

         1. Just wait until they complain about the rough road then demand a Washaterium, henceforth forcing the road association to enact a special assessment to pay for it all.

            1. BTW, the Leaf couldn’t be helped, we were blindsided when he drove up…otherwise…umm…he also….and don’t shoot me, didn’t know…drives a minivan. Might need to update the Covenants.

            2. There goes the neighborhood.

            3. You can only hope that the Leaf self-identifies as a Land Rover or something along that line.

4. I like beans on toast, too. Do you butter the toast first? I certainly do.
   I also like leftover spaghetti and meat sauce on buttered toast, nuked in the microwave usually.

   I am also fond of cash and cash transactions. I do tend to use a card at the gas station etc, these days. East Coast is pay first, which makes cash a bit of a pain for fill-ups.

   Biggest offender on “we don’t take cash” in my experience is USGov, which says all you need to know about the flaming shithole nature of the Former US.

   I feel the same way about paper books as I do about cash, for most of the same reasons.

   -Kle.

   1. Yes, I like the bread toasted on BOTH sides, buttered, then add beans, or spaghetti if there is left-over spaghetti. I will mix butter with that liquid garlic stuff you can buy in the store to make it a bit more garlicy for the spaghetti. I put it into a toaster oven once it’s assembled to get it warmed more on the spaghetti side.

   2. Yes, Kle. It is essential to butter the toast first. The butter running into the tomato sauce of the beans elevates the experience.

      1. X2

         1. I just ate and now I’m getting hungry reading all this elevated beanery…even though I had full on smoky baked beans with our grilled brats. No toast tho. Butter went on the ear of corn.

            1. Grilled brats naked or on a bun?

            2. LL- Naked, save for cheese and condiments. No buns in the house, which meant the brats were consumed with proper British fork/knife technique, sans extended pinky (that would be too pretentious for American fare).

         2. On assignment to the Kingdom’s great sand box, assigned temporary housing in a Holiday Inn filled with Brits. First morning went to the buffet breakfast serving what looked like pork and beans, tomatoes, beef bangers, and other items that weren’t usual fare for this Texan. Finally found some scrambled eggs, toast and added a few bangers with coffee you could see through. Glad to move into own quarters and eat a balanced breakfast, although never got used to beef bacon.
            Cletus

            1. I thought “beef bacon” was called “pastrami”?

               -Kle.

5. I like to use cash. Get occasional odd looks from the people behind the counter. At which point I like to sigh and say “Yes, I know it’s un-American.”

   1. I pay cash and when I get a look, I remind them that the credit card company charges them 6%. It works for mom-and-pop outfits. But I also pay my phone bill (about $500/mo) that covers my family, my mother-in-law, one of my kid’s family bill, and the Internet) in cash at Verizon.

6. Why do they want the WWM? You don’t even have a helo pad (I think). Or are they thinking retreat center for large grifter pals?

   BCF/DOJ/FBI/IRS:

   Committee: “Hand over the documents per this subpoena!”

   3-Letters: “Make us..Neener, Neener.”

   Committee: “You’re mean.”

   Bunch of children playing asinine games…go in there and take them you chicken s–ts.

   So I’ll reiterate with a new twist: A well placed meteor…let the dead bury their dead.

   1. You could put a helo pad on the south property. I was at my neighbor’s, flying his Hughes 500 C for him yesterday. He doesn’t fly it like he stole it… since it’s not mine, I do. He had fun.

      1. Geez, and all I did today was mow the pastures.

         1. I programmed robots.
            They fought back.

            1. 5 axis robotics? Cool.

            2. 6
               I discovered a bug in the robot operating system and it’s giving me hell.
               At first I thought it was me.
               The company doesn’t recognize the flaw but they no longer offer that version of Baseware.
               Just below and just after. The Windows 8 of Baseware. 😆

            3. That’s why they have you.

               Old story:

               Chief Engineer retires. Underling engineers can’t locate a bug in a multimillion dollar machine that needed to be shipped. VP calls the old engineer to take a look. Comes by, looks over the machine for fifteen minutes and places a chalk mark on a part…”replace this”.

               The machine ships on time. VP calls the OE, “send me an invoice”. Gets the invoice, “Repair Investigation and Consult $50,000.

               Gets a call from the VP, “Price is fine but we need a little more detail.”

               VP gets the new invoice, “Chalk Mark- $1…”Knowing where to put it, $49,999”

               Invoice was paid immediately.

            4. 🤣

7. I always have some cash on me. It gets used for gun shops, bars and anywhere I don’t want big brother to follow me.

   Plus I’ve been filling my 4wd with 40 gallon (150 litre) tank when the attendant came running out to stop people as their electronic equipment just failed. I just kept going everyone else stopped and had to wait to pay.

   Plus we had two floods in six weeks last year and the phone network went down. Local shop took cash only.

   All governments want to get rid of cash. Federal government here in Australia announced the other week that cheques will be stopped by 2030. I still use them for local mechanic as neither of us want to pay 3% to the bank.

   1. Internationally, we need to pump the brakes on this situation and leave cash in circulation.

      1. Agreed.

8. Speaking of Hunter and the various legal things that will never result in punishment, I keep seeing this headline go by that the Burisma accountant who gave some of the sordid details to the US whistleblowers suddenly turned up dead.

   Do you know anything about that? Got anything to post?

   If it’s what it sounds like, I wonder if more are coming. There was that story in the last couple of weeks that one of the FBI whistleblowers had gone into hiding out of concern about such things.

   1. Sounds like another Arkancide.

      1. It was…

         Cover ups, silencing, and literal murder. These people will stop at nothing.

9. Ah, good old cash. Whenever I used to go to interpretive dance establishments when stationed at CENTCOM, I’d always bring along 6 or 7 $2.00 bills. The poor girls, all they saw was the number 2 and thought it was a $20 bill. They were, shall we say, extra enthusiastic because of windfall. Shame on me.

10. I like beans on toast. Heinz beans are fine.

11. I can sort out a deal if you want the realz beanz, LL. Maybe we can trade for some ranch dressing?

    Have you tried egg on cheese (cheddar, no whizz in a can or that Swiss malarkey ) on beans on toast? That’s a winner.

    Everything gets blamed on Brexit – suits the left narrative so they can worm their way back in a few years.

    1. Yes, I like egg on beans, or egg on cheese on beans on toast. It’s all good. It has to be the correct type of Heinz beans if you want it right. The light blue can.

       You can’t get ranch dressing in Old Blighty?

    2. Worms gotta worm.

12. Which are the “right” beans ?

13. “Gold is the money of kings; silver is the money of gentlemen; barter is the money of peasants; but debt is the money of slaves.” — attributed to Norm Franz and mebbe so but I doubt he said it first.

14. I am not retired.
    Makes it hard to keep up here.

    1. I’m not retired. And barely keep up here.

       1. I am (per MrsPaulM request that I be home)…and still can’t keep up.

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