Everyone has a guilty pleasure. Most people have more than one. Some keep them hidden between layers of defensive measures, and for others, theyโre on public display for the world to see. Most people do it both ways, showing one face to the world and keeping another privately, where the mask slips occasionallyโor maybe not at all. – Half Life, a novel, coming soon
Bullet Points:
** Saudi Arabia announced its ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ-๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ (the Petroline) is back to ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฒ โ completely bypassing the Iranian-blockaded Strait of Hormuz. The ๐๐๐-๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ runs from the ๐๐๐ช๐๐ข๐ช ๐จ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ in the Eastern Province to ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฎ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐. It was originally built in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq War for this exact scenario โ and it just proved its worth. — The US military says it will enforce a blockade in the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea east of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a notice to seafarers seen by Reuters. Humanitarian cargo, including food and medical supplies, will be allowed through, subject to inspection.
** I was just minding my own business. Now I’m the same age as old people.
** Under scrutiny – New Homeland Security Chief Markwayne Mullin wants the immigration records for “Squad member” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and her entire family. “There’s something not right about her story,” Mullin said, “There are dates and names that don’t match up. We need the complete file to be sure.” Mullin says if his suspicions are correct, the Tlaib family may have to reapply for refugee status, which would strip Rashida of her citizenship. “That’s the law. If they broke it, there will be consequences.”
** My 17-year-old granddaughter (AH) and I have been talking. She wants to start a blog. You may see some references to it here on VM in the future. Blogging and writing are not as easy as they may appear to be if you want to be consistent.
** The blockade, which took effect at 10 a.m. EDT on April 13, 2026, is enforced through “interdiction” and “right-of-visit” procedures rather than mine-laying. U.S. forces are under instructions to intercept any vessel that has paid a “toll” to Iran for passage through the strait.
** A review of The Hammer. He had to loot the church to defeat the Islamic hordes. And his grandson, Charlemagne, rebuilt it.
** The Office of Management and Budget (OMB)โs proposal for the 2027 fiscal year, which starts in October of 2026, will include 34 ships to be constructed for the Navy, a level not seen since 1945, according to the spokesperson. In a major departure, the US is looking to existing commercial designs for many of these vessels, a move that would allow more shipyards to get in the game at lower costs.
** You are hated. Start training like it. A man or woman who refuses to learn violence usually ends up at the mercy of a man who didn’t.
From the Mailbag
Q – What percentage of your book sales are paperback, digital, and audiobook?
A – In the past 30 days: 52% Paperback;ย 34% eBook; 14% subscriptions (Kindle Unlimited) ; 0% audiobook. The audiobooks have just become available, and there is sometimes a lag between sales and posting.
***
Q – PAULM and others requested table photos
A – original alligator juniper logs – arrive at the mill
milled planks (the milling begins)
Finished table (no stain)
The table in the background against the wall is one that my grandfather made. It’s now in another room, but legacy is everything. The photos on the wall of the hovel are of my four daughters.
I bought the side chairs (not pictured – this is a photo taken immediately after I put the table in the house) through Amazon.com, relying on the pictures. They’re made of solid alder in Vietnam, and I think I paid just under $40 each (some assembly required). They worked out well. Making chairs is a genuine art.
Identify the Aircraft
1
As the hint suggests, it was never purchased, but the design was out there and heavily promoted. The pusher was liquid-cooled.
2
3
Identify the Ship
4
End
(1) IDK. Looks sort of like a cargo Mixmaster.
(2) Boeing F4B.
(3) Boeing YB-9.
(4) RoC Navy Su Ao, formerly USS Callahagn (Kidd class).
– Kle.
(1) Ha. that’s pretty funny, with a classic name. Make for hard internet searches.
I wonder if it was the inspiration for the DC-9, eventually?
– Kle.
As I understand it, the airlines weren’t comfortable with a pusher prop. There were long term reliability concerns as well. Whether they were grounded in reality or not is another question. “Too experimental”
I’m sort of amazed that DC even proposed it. The Mixmaster was a pretty cutting-edge and high performance
attack aircraft. Making a feeder-route airliner out of the work that went into it seems like a pretty high-risk
business plan. I mean, sure, Convair made a cargo plane out of the B-36, but at least they were (primarily)
pitching that to the USAF, which doesn’t have to turn a profit, or not terrify the passengers.
– Kle.
Kind of makes sense. DC spent all that money developing the Mix-Master, developing the tooling and all that. Making a civilian version out of it was a way to possibly recoup time and expense. And with civilian sales, possible future military sales.
Identify the Aircraft:
1. Douglas DC-8 Skybus
2. Boeing P-12E
3. Boeing YB-9
Identify the Ship:
4. ROCS Su Ao
Outstanding
“** I was just minding my own business. Now Iโm the same age as old people.”
Nah! y’ not there yet.
y’ll see what I mean: totally different outlook; totally different eyes.
Old is an illusionโฆor at least thatโs what I tell my 65 year 18 yo self.
add 20, then let’s discuss illusory.
y’ view the world (and its shenanigans) differently thru the lens of age, if y’ still have a brain/the ability to interpret what appears on your retinas.
y’ begin to wonder if people can actually see what’s in front of their nose.
California from the ’60s to today is an excellent example,
y’ mean to seriously tell me that people/corporations were unable to foresee the results of their actions.
X2…Dad would tell me, “Most people can’t see 6″ past their noses…don’t be like them.”
>what I tell my 65 year 18 yo self
When I was in college I worked summers at, call it a physics research company. Anyway, my immediate supervisor was a rather tubby, short White guy in what I thought was his 60’s (but turned out to be early 50’s). He did not take to me at first. I had been hired on a summer internship by his department head, a PhD, and TSWG did NOT care for his supervisor. Also, they stuck me at a side desk in his office, so now the poor guy had to share his windowless little office some punk kid. After a few weeks I came to understand that TSWG was highly competent, and a very decent, though extremely crabby guy. He was embittered because he did not have a PhD and spent his career working under PhDs who had far less practical knowledge than he did (I think he only had a bachelors, and had learned his mathematical/engineering trade through doing rather than through “free time with guilt” i.e. grad school). By mid-July we got along quite well. I was still “an idiot”, but I was a hard working idiot with good manners, which was good enough for some dumb college kid.
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One afternoon I looked up from debugging a mess (sic) of FORTRAN code (yes, I’m that old) and TSWG suddenly said, “When you look at me, you see an old man, right? You see an old fat man with high blood pressure and knees that hurt all the time. And that’s what I see in the mirror every morning. But you know what? In here [he tapped his chest], in here, I’m still just like you. I still feel like I’m a kid with my life ahead of me, but of course I’m not. How did that happen?” I didn’t understand the half of it back then, but even as a dumb kid, I did understand that that was a a remarkable show of trust to say that to me. And that the poor guy was very lonely. I don’t recall if he was still married, but he was estranged from his adult daughter.
I think that we’re all that guy to some extent, Mike_C. And when the fantasy takes me that I can walk a few miles without “paying for it the next day” – I’m 25 again and then reality strikes. Being an illegally parked car in the cul-de-sac of life is a bitter pill. Like being an old circus lion, missing a few teeth, cracked claws, behind the bars of age with little hope of ever strutting on the savannah again.
X2 Mike, …and LL, I’m stealing this – brilliant: “Being an illegally parked car in the cul-de-sac of life is a bitter pill.”
Not quite there yet but certainly reality is rearing its ‘this is gonna hurt for two days’ head as I realize taking a 20miler that wasn’t too difficult with a fully loaded pack is not in the cards…I’m into comfort now, so I’m okay with the 100 yards to the stream to cast a fly.
Was chatting with the timber frame company yesterday, ironing out some hovel details, basically a final design review. Project Manager, who was speaking with my brother on another project, says, “Yeah, your brother is worried about you thinking you two can build this by yourselves.” Called my brother, he admitted to “concern”…told him, “Ah, no worries, I’m using equipment for the heavy lifting.”…yet every night before hitting the hay I implore the Lord to allow me one more decent year before parts start failing…then liberally apply more Blue-Emu to strategic spot that’ll lock up after sitting down for more than ten minutes. heh
https://youtu.be/c5TUNYLQU98?si=z2BrIpdNMXrpoYPb&t=161
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>Being an illegally parked car in the cul-de-sac of life is a bitter pill.
Fair enough. But at least you have posterity. In the end, as Aral Vorkosigan (Lois McMaster Bujold) says, “All true wealth is biological.”
I just realized the other day that I waited too long to figure out what I wanted to be when I grow up.
It’s never too late to start a new radio podcast.
X2
I made my goals. I wanted to be alive in my old age. Lots of medical issues as a child had the potential to slab me before I got old.
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Past that, what my young self saw me at in the future has mostly nothing with who/what I am now.
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A lot of that is due to my wife. Without her I’d most likely have died under a highway overpass by now.
That’s a nice looking table and being able to take it from trees to the finished product is always worth a smile! The boards making the table running side to side is different, I like it.
The usable portion of the trunks forced the alignment. Before I did this, I looked at a few places selling quality tables, and they were very proud of them, and that pride was reflected in the price. I looked into having a custom table made, and it was far more expensive than the others (lots of pride). Given that I live where I do, I looked at the trees and didn’t want to drop a healthy red-heart Cedar, and I wanted a harder wood that would make a statement, so I went with alligator juniper because of its flamboyant appearance and availability. I still have several large alligator junipers on the property and know where others are if I wanted to venture out. There is significant work involved in making a table, but Covid was raging at the time, and I had time on my hands. I had other personal health issues at the time that were pressing, and because of that, it took longer than it otherwise would have. But all in all, it was worth the effort. I’m able to buy the high-quality finishing agents in Arizona that are restricted in woke states.
That was a serious logโฆand even more stunning in the full picture. A statement piece with a fun history. Well done LL. The table I made for the old hovel was aspen and blue stained pine, designed for the space. The buyer wanted it so we happlily left itโฆwill make something else for the new place.
That table’s workmanship is outstanding.
Beautiful table, thanks for sharing the picture. And for certain, something you did, that will be passed along to your kids and grand-kids eventually. Enjoy it with pride!
(I still think that it would make a good cover in a firefight, though it’d be a shame.)
AP ammo would drive right through it. I have a table with 1/4″ steel plate in the shop in the garage that would be better. It is a heavy beast to upend though.
I think I’d be putting a piece of glass over that or never using it :)
It was designed to be used, Ed. If I lay guns on it, I put one of those moving quilts down first. If we put a hot pan down, there is always a padded or cork coaster that goes down first. But it’s a tough table and with luck I can hand it off to one of the kids.
Grew up in a house full of antiques. My parents took the opinion that “Eh, it’s furniture to be used.” Rather than cordoned off to be looked at.
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250 year old corner cupboard, originally a built-in but removed and made self-standing, is what still holds the nice handed-down good china. Which was always used on holidays.
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I did my homework on a secretarial desk from the 1840s.
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Family dining table was an expandable heavy oak thing from the 1860s. The chairs got recovered, at least once. The table was and is in constant use. Dad made a cover for it so my mom could use it as a sewing table, but we ate Sunday and Holiday dinners at that table.
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Things like that. The 1880’s rocking chairs, all of it. It’s furniture, means more being used than treated as a museum piece.
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And, yes, I like seeing old planes, cars and ships being used more than as static displays. Being used for what they’re designed for.
I see from a later comment that it’s epoxied.
Excellent.
My guilty pleasure—–Chocolate! 40+years ago when we had a second home at Crown King, a guy a few miles away had 600 acres in juniper, most of which were 36″ – 40″ in diameter. He had a bandsaw mill and he would cut, process and sell if you spent a couple hours socializing with him on the front porch drinking tea. I gave up my woodshop a year ago to downsize. I miss those days.
As you know, I’m in the general area of Crown King (a couple of mountains over) Crown King is a town of sorts. It has a tavern and a little store and I don’t have that. But the trees in the area are similar. I have more ponderosas here (yellow pine) than juniper. I have two neighbors with saw mills on their property. Sometimes they need help with things and I pitch in. Both offered to mill these trees to be neighborly. One of them had more trunks down and seasoning and offered more planks if I needed them (taken from his property). It turns out that the two were sufficient, and I kept the scraps for the fireplace, so it was all used. Burning juniper or cedar is very fragrant and pleasant. I also have some decent sized oaks on the property. APS needed to cut some of the oak to clear the power lines and I burned that for firewood too.
Love the table. For my taste, that wood grain is to die for.
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Legacy indeed. Wife and I eat at the table I grew up with. My dad bought and refinished it while I was still in diapers. Fully expanded with all the leaves, it is about the same size as yours. My dresser belonged to my maternal grandfather. I can still picture it in his bedroom.
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My carpentry skills run more towards 2X4’s, framing, and such. Not pretty, but it is solid. In junior college, I took a couple of elective courses. Later in uniform, I submitted my transcripts and was awarded my secondary MOS–51B20 – Carpenter. I tell folks that I like to think I am in good company. No, not the local union, the man on the middle cross.
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My dad lived most of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area (East Bay). He had an iconic framed photo on the wall of his office for decades. It is black and white, a bit grainy from enlargement, and the background rather badly faded out by the time I inherited it. A few years back, it occurred to me that it would be cool if I could find a print of the original. Success!
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https://islandartcards.com/pan-american-clipper-sikorsky-s-42-through-golden-gate-bridge-april-1935-giclee-art-print-poster-apcs04/#prettyPhoto/3/
๐
WRT your grand-daughter and blogging, wait, it’s supposed to be consistent?
I still use the table my parents found when they moved into Army apartment in Germany in 1958. It has moved all over the world as they pursued the Army and they gave it to me several years ago when they moved for the last time. You can track its history and location by opening it up and finding different colors of paint deep in the structure.
It’s difficult to blog consistently while keeping it somewhat interesting.
No doubt. I could not do it. To coin a phrase, thanks for all the free ice cream. Your blog is more than just an ice cream shop. More like a full buffet.
I am no longer able to do it and as such when I do post something, there is no traffic.
I am not a fan of substack.
There’s a sense of isolation to it.
It might come from not having a “BlogRoll” on the side.
Well done on the table(s). Family history is good! I have one my dad made in the 40s, and one from the 1880s from a church my family helped found in the 1850s. The ‘Irainian’ route gets into some pretty shallow water, FWIW.
Iranian Navy – They could have put some bottom-laying mines into the mud, but using the inch-allah method of minelaying, some of them might end up on the tidal flats as you suggest. Camel drivers.
Thanks for sharing more pictures on the Juniper logs, slabs, and a full pic of your table. Masterpice! Is it an expoxy coating, or?
Yes, epoxy is available in Arizona, not in woke states. It’s the only way to protect the wood in a table in daily use.
Sp correction, Masterpiece. Will try harder!
Beautiful table!
It is too good for the hovel. That is self-evident.