Well, plans be damned

So here I write to you in Florida.  BaseCamp Ponderosa sold, the River Shack is the new locus of operations.  Working for a large hotel chain.  Missing the Firstborn dearly, but she arrives for the Holidays on Tuesday. 

WTF happened?

Real estate prices on the good ol BCP, got tired of snow and the predominant religious faction.  It's also great not to have to pay real estate taxes!  

What's next?  Work for an hourly wage (back to the graveyard) and figure out just what the hell to do. 

Oh, and Mattis quit the Trump admin today.  That's really not good. 

SecondBorn gets more interesting every day.  That's a good thing. 

Well, if I don't get back before the holiday and the new year, have a great one, gentle reader. 

Crazed American, out.

Doubling down

https://wgntv.com/2018/08/27/cardinal-blase-cupich-responds/

Dear Lord,

“The pope knows we have a bigger agenda. We have to speak about the environment, about the poor, we have to reach out to people who are marginalized in society. We cannot be distracted at this moment,” Cupich said.

Ignore the rampant sexual abuse of children, in order to concentrate on the larger issues of climate change immigrant rights?

As a former Roman Catholic, I am speechless. 

Almost - but I'll let the passage that follows from the article fo my talking: 

"As president of the Committee on Protection of Young Children and Young People, outspoken about the need for reform in the church – addressing sex abuse, shining a light on it, protecting people from becoming victims and comforting those who fell prey, Cupich says he had no knowledge of McCarrick’s behavior, which is now documented to be the source of church payoffs and complaints dating back to the 1980s, including allegations he took seminarians to a beach house for sex."

So it's literaly his job to be concerned about this distraction.

Shame.

Crazed American, out.

Well...

...Looks like we're gonna need a new pope.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pope-hold-giant-mass-dublin-abuse-victims-rally-030337491.html

Not the first time the former bishop from Buenos Aires has had issues with this issue.  He may not have abused, but he's certainly covered up for those who have. 

Which makes him just as bad, if not worse.

Bye.

Crazed American, out

Avengers: Infinity War

To sum up:  Thanos is Kodos the Executioner. 
Damn there was a lot going on.

Marvel Cinematic Universe FTW, once again.

Crazed American, out. 

Ouch.

Pretty sure I'll have to put my dog down on Friday.

12-13 year old Pit Bull with what appears to be hip dysplasia (geriatric).  Rescued him from the Utah Humane Society back in September of 2014. 

Let there be no doubt: I love this dog.  Have had the pleasure of having him live with us for just shy of four years.  Our loyal, constant companion.  He's an absolute sweet doll with us and especially our 1 year old son. 

We've known this was coming for a minute.  He had a cardiac or stroke event three months ago, recovered within 24 hours.  The hip issue has been getting steadily worse for the past two weeks. 
He still has bright eyes, an appetite, still wags his tail.  Still wants to be near us and gives us kisses.  I adore that dog. 

For the sake of full disclosure, I adopt senior pets when I have the ability to.  We give them our love, and are devoted pet owners.  We give them a loving, comfortable home.  Exercise when they want it, treats, and snuggles on demand.  I make home-made dog food.  They eat well and are happy. But we do not have the resources to spend large sums of money on heroic medical care.  Hip Surgery on a 13 year old pit would be a death sentence in its own right. 

He's been limping steadily worse over the past two weeks.  Started with is right hip, today I'm noticing his left.   Today he fell down trying to climb the two stairs up our back door. 

Vet visit set up.  One simple question from me.  Is it Hip Dysplasia?  If so, simple decision, I do not want my sweet boy to suffer any more pain or indignity.  Tears will be shed, and I will grieve. 

I'll see him again, in his prime.  He'll love Valhalla, and meet me on the Bifrost with the other dogs we've had with us and helped transition in the past and future.

Crazed American, out.

Huh? What?

https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-poll-43-of-republicans-want-to-give-trump-the-power-to-shut-down-media

No way.  In a statement that might (wrongly) surprise some of my followers, I am a passionate supporter of all rights, not just 2A... Thanks.

That's some seriously f--ked up totalitarianism right there. 

I wish the press would do a better job, but I'd rather have crappy, lazy media than no media.  People who think the POTUS should have that power are short viewed idiots. 

Hey, numb-nuts?  What happens when your dood ain't in charge anymore?? 

Damn. 

Crazed American, out. 

Oh, for the love of...

...G-d, no. 

https://mwi.usma.edu/pentagon-planning-occupation-iran-even-though-nightmare-scenario/

I mean, I get the gist of the article.  Plan for the worst, hope for the best. 

The United States is ill-equipped from a national unity standpoint to go through another long term occupation.  Even with the magic well of cash that is the Federal Reserve System, eventually the Piper must be paid.  This is especially so with the nation led by the current administration which has less than stellar support of about half the country. 

Invading Iran would be less fun than the invasion of Iraq.  Could we beat the Iranians?  Sure.  Could we destroy the Iranian government?  Sure - there isn't a lot of love for the Mullahs. The Occupation is the problem - the occupation always has been the problem, and we - the Americans aren't good at it. 

We still act like good guys, even though, increasingly, in the eyes of the occupied - we aren't.

Crazed American, out.

Signs

...of the coming apocalypse?

In the past I had used that phrase ironically, or is it sardonically?  Something weird and unexpected, or something commonplace, but frequently unpleasant would get labeled by me a sign of the coming apocalypse.

Today - a region of Russia larger than England, dark as night in the middle of the day.  No offical explanation.

Athens, Greece - Hell on Earth.

Wildfires here at home.

Hell here at home - cooking in the heat - the grid is in danger.

Oh, and it looks as though there might be  bit of action 'round the ol' Cascadian Subduction Zone.

This is an INTERESTING time to be alive! 

Take care of yourselves - drink water in the heat.  Call your older relatives, make sure what preparations you deem appropriate are topped off.  Got a feeling.

Crazed American, Out.
 

People...

Gentle Reader, I work with the General Public.  I work in the hospitality industry. 

I know. It's my cross to bear - this is my witness.  

Dear G-d, are people so very clueless.  People wander around in a fog, and need to be hand held to do the smallest things.  No attention span. 

The Public is fickle, it is petulant.  It wants what it wants, when it wants it. 

Take for example, an interaction I had with a guest who wanted to secure some lodging.  They wanted it for one night, but wanted to checkout EXTREMELY late the following day. 

When I told him that we could accommodate that, he would just need to pay the full amount for the following nights rental, he went a bit ballistic. 

Didn't matter to him that we couldn't turn the room for the following night, didn't matter that our housekeepers are very hard working, but only work until 4pm.  By the sound of his voice over the phone, I would estimate him to be in his late 50's or early 60's. 

This man, older than I, threw a tantrum over the phone. 

When he had calmed down a bit, I said he was welcome to check out our competitors in the area, but they all have similar late checkout policies (as does EVERY lodging institution on the planet - from the ultra-swank to the No-Tell Motel).

I, as proud member of the hospitality industry, am very serious about you getting what you pay for.

Operative term:  Pay.  My superiors get very cross when something happens and there is no money to cover it.  As with most lodging options in the developed world you get the use of a unit from the check-in time to the checkout time.  Early check-in and late check-out are never guaranteed. It is the staff doing you a favor.  If we say no, 99 times out of a hundred it is not us being mean.  We do reserve that 1% if you've been an entitled, clueless prick. We're only human, after all.

My advice to every person in the developed world:  Ignorance is now less of an excuse for anything than it ever has been, in the history of man.  Most all of us carry around more computational capacity in our hip pockets than generations before even dreamed of (including us). You have access to the sum total of human knowledge.  People whose job it is to assist you are always happier when you've made even the slightest effort of research.  We also tend to be much quicker to lend a hand or help out.

You're the one who has spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars to take a vacation.  The term, "couldn't find a map" don't cut it when you then get a text on your thousand dollar internet enabled supercomputer in your pocket.  Help us help you.  We tend to be friendlier, and not pity you quite so much. 

He wanted something for free.  My job is to help you have a place so that you can have a good time, while separating you from as much of your money as possible.  That is what I am paid to do.  Sorry (not sorry).  

Lodging staff is a dying breed, thanks to advances in technology and the AirBnB.  I personally prefer it to traditional hotels.  Our employers know it, we know it.  We're not even asking for special treatment - just have a bit of a clue, maybe just for laughs have an idea of what you're paying for.  Ask questions if you have to after looking up the place you're going on the internet.  Most of us can internally roll our eyes at you, but most of us will give you a friendly answer. 

If you come across a tiny resort convenience store miles away from the closest town, don't get pissed at the schlep behind the cash register when you don't have the very specific item you want.  You might be the first person who's ever asked for it. 

I miss the days when people treated strangers and service industry employees with at least a modicum of respect.  I still do, and try to instill it into my children. 

Anyway.  End of message

Crazed American, out.

Dear Lord

So...  for the first time in my life I am utterly clueless as to where this government is taking us.

POTUS obviously gets off on press, good and bad.  Really. I mean it.

This tete a tete with Czar Vladimir (in Helsinki)  could not have been worse from an optics stand point.

Why is he poking the bear?  Not Czar Vlad, I mean the American public.

He could not be more polarizing if he tried.

Having said that, I'm thinking if the economy holds,  he wins again in 2020. 

Something's coming.  Something not good.

Musing-ly -

Crazed American, out

4 July 2018

Greetings gentle reader,

I have determined, through extensive experience, that modern Americans are lazy and incompetent, dumbed down through the modern Military-Industrial-Media-Educational Complex into ductile proles.  We're tax slaves. 


Take me, for instance.  I live my life at the minimums of expense, but at the maximum of return.  I simply want to spend time with my wife and kids.  I like to ski.  I got a job that is flexible, not to challenging, and when I am not at my job I don't have to think about it.  Little stress, little responsibility, little money, but that's OK.  I have enough to pay the bills, keep a roof over my head, pay for my families needful stuff, and sock a little away for hard times.  I've been quite fortunate in the real estate arena, and am contemplating a move away from my mountains in order to realize some profit on my rapidly appreciating house. 

I pay my taxes pretty much so I don't go to jail.  I'm not a huge fan of the current state of governmental affairs in this hemisphere.  If taxes were voluntary, at this point, I'd not be paying them. Oh well, cost of doing business. 

What is important to me is TIME.  Time with my children, time with my wife, time with my family (parents, brother, cousins, in-laws).  Quality time.  Prior to working in the mountains, i worked for an at the time, special company.  It became less special as time went on.  I worked stupidly hard, made my employers a ton of money.  Sixty hours a week was light.  Things went south, and I departed on "good terms" (two weeks, sign off from HR, etc. all tickets punched).  Having said that, I never want to see those people again.  If I do, I will be polite, but that's it.

Alas, I digress - the point is this, I am willing to do without all of the newest and most modern of conveniences in exchange for time for my home life.  I became very sour on making somebody else a lot of money, so until an opportunity for wealth and success comes along, I am happy to spend time with those that I love. 

I've done a lot of things in this life. Father, husband, son, brother, leader, follower, soldier, actor, mercenary, tinkerer, dreamer, manager, clerk, writer, podcaster, blogger.  I've built some things, destroyed some things.  I've helped people, I've hurt people.  I've been blessed with a variety of experience.  Climbed mountains (skied down them) and been beneath the sea. I've done some things better than others, and I've a few regrets, but pretty happy with where I'm at, especially now that movement is in the future (probably in the year -range).  I have to a better job at the first four of those.  If I do a good job and take care of those I love, I trust the rest will fall in line. 

Sitting here at 8200 feet, feeling mighty reflective on this Independence Day 4 July 2018.  I have independence, mostly.  Gotta give Ceasar what is his, afterall...

Love wins,

Crazed American, out.

Civility... A conclusion.

We've past a tipping point there in these United States, folks.  There is a lot wrong with the situation. 

This may be a continuing series.  I put it out to you, gentle reader, not entirely just to vent and bitch about the worrying trends in American Culture, but to respond tot he adage, "the first step in solving a problem or problems is first to identify

For a goodly number of people, PARTICULARLY on the left side of things - civility is not seen as anything they want any part of.  Civility is what you have when people who may disagree, still want a calm framework in which to exist. 

Yeah - people don't want that. People want struggle, apparently.  They want strife.  They are firmly convinced that their brand of resistance will usher in their particular brand of aforementioned (last post) utopia.  People all around this country are sanctimoniously convinced of their own correctness.  Their way is the only way.  Only rubes or evil Nazis (a term very freely used by both sides) could possibly think another way than their enlightened path.  If only those who disagree with my OBVIOUSLY correct stance on all issues, would shut up and embrace the true faith, we'd all get along swimmingly.  We don't care that you were brought up a certain way or have a different set of opinions, that you formed through a lifetime of differing experiences to mine.  You should shut up and do as I say or I'll scream in your face. 

That's what a lack of civility entails.  Not, "hey we obviously disagree, here are my points, and if you don't like them, you don't have to talk to me ever again" - it's "hey f--kface, you suck and I hate you because of reasons. Nazi, libtard, rethuglican, et al".

Gone are the days (if they ever truly existed) of the marketplace of ideas.  Of civil discourse.  Now we have social media echo chambers that are causing Americans to factionalize.  Where do we think this all might go?  Do we think that not being civil to people you disagree with is somehow going to magically change their opinion?  Calling people names, threatening them, demeaning them will somehow bring them over to your side of thinking? 

The left and the right do this all of the time.  As a "principled non-participant" in the two party system, it would be comical, if it wasn't so scary.  My Facebook page is a microcosm of the nation as I have "friends", friends and family on both sides of our nation's political divide. 

There are a lot of us out here in "flyover country".  Not all of us are knuckle dragging imbeciles with our MAGA hats on.    There are a lot of independent thinkers who don't want to spit on people with MAGA hats on. 

Trump is a bad, bad man.  No doubt.  I didn't vote for him, but I couldn't vote for his opponent either.  I did vote my conscience, which in a republic is all we can do, aside from saddling up and running ourselves.  Problem is, our system is so dirty, so corrupt, it's moral foundation so riddled with voids and gaps, no "good" people can run.  Anyone that runs for national office at this point is a borderline psychopath in my opinion.  We'd be in this place no matter who won in 2016.  It's the system, the framework.  We don't even pay the Constitution lip service anymore.  We live in a country dominated by a corrupt Military-Industrial-Media-Educational Complex. 

So what to do in a country that has effectively declared Civility a thing of the past?  I am going to do what I think every American should do. Concentrate on things that I can have effect on.  I will plan for my future, raise my children, love my wife and brother and parents and in-laws.  I'll take care of my extended family in ways that I can. I will plan for the worst, and hope for the best.  But we're at a point in time that it's hard to divine the future.  I pray for the continued laziness of the American people, it's what I'm going to bet on.  Civil War (a frequent result of escalating incivility and factionalization - simple, recent history - see the Balkans in the 1990's) is HARD work.  Modern Americans can't even find their houses on a non-electronic map, much less plan a modern infantry engagement.  Modern Americans are helpless.  They want what they want, when they want it and they are not used to not getting their way.  I work with the general public and most of them, even with their modern conveniences (phones, computer, internet) What to do?  Don't be helpless.  How that works in your life is up to you.  Food and water are pretty important - start there. 

I will continue to be polite to every person I meet in life.  I am not withdrawing from Social Media, because it is becoming far to interesting, and there are people on the internet that I once knew in-person, and still care about.  I'm there for news about them.  But if you post more than a few party-line political posts in a row, you just might get unfollowed for a while. 

Civility is easy for a people that wants to be a people.  It's coming apart, people.  History says it will. 

Pray that we build something better out of what came before.

Love is the only way to win,

Crazed American, out.

So, I'm not that great at the whole...

...regular blogging thing.

So MUCH going on.  New member of the Krewe - 11 months old as of yesterday.  Oldest offspring is a sophomore in High School.  Just spent three months producing a play (which to us was a success, in that it ran on time and had an audience of at least five people every performance). Ski resort I work at has been sold to one of the biggest ski resort conglomerates around, in a surprise to exactly no one.

Taking a moment to reflect here, a few months into my 44th trip around the sun. Feeling more and more as though I am at a cross-roads.  I've been contemplating, seriously, a change in venue.  Real estate values on the current BaseCamp Ponderosa are skyrocketing.  We've been thinking for a while of the benefits and drawbacks of a move back to the flatland of Florida (no income tax, The Ocean, Giant F--king Rockets).  Both the Mrs. and I hail from there, so we know a lot of people in those parts, and the both of us are, shall we say, not career oriented, so jobs commensurate with our current take home and workload should not be an issue.

Mostly it hearkens to family.  My In-laws currently live here in Utah, but are planning a move back to the south shortly.  My folks live in eastern Florida.  I love the Space Coast, and would seriously love a home on Merritt Island - or the environs.  I want a longer growing season, and, gosh dang it, I want to get another boat. Last boat I (tangentially - it was the ex-wife's) owned was a 19 foot Bayliner with a Volvo Penta inboard, lovely blue and white gel coat and beautiful leather. What a pain in the ass to keep it clean, but it was a lot of fun.

For the past few months I am fining myself quite enamored with the idea of taking a giant plunge and getting a large, live-aboard sailing catamaran.  Nothing like going all the way, in fact, where angels fear to tread.  I'm getting just to the point know where through research I'm beginning to get an idea of "wow I really have no idea about a lot of this." I know am getting an idea of what I don't know.  So, a measured approach is what is called for.  Start small, get a small boat, and see if I even like it...  Which means get a truck to tow a boat and a house with a spot to store a boat.  OK, not just jumping on an airplane and flying to St. Maarten to pick up a boat and fix it up...

Apologize for the rambling... not quite ranting this time, although...

**RANT WARNING**
Modern politics and the decline of civility in the social sphere

We are in a pickle folks.  There are a bunch of people out there who are convinced we are slouching towards civil war.  Anyone who thinks that is a good idea should be admitted for treatment for a mental disorder.  Civil war is agony.  You having a rough day because your wifi is slow, or your phone wont show memes while you're barrelling down a highway at 80 miles an hour?  You get mad because someone you've never met, posted something about people you've never met, and would never meet, who are affected by something someone did who you didn't vote for?

A lot of people out there think it will be great!  The war will happen and all of the "evils" they post online about will be vaporized by some kind of phaser.  There will be a couple weeks of people being up in arms, battles in far off places, and then your cushy little utopia will be here and the "other" will be gone!  Right?!

Abso-fu--ing-lutley wrong.  Civil war happens, guess what happens if you're lucky? The power goes out for weeks, if not months, depending on which faction shatters the power-grid.  If you're lucky you won't suffer from dysentery for too long, you wont die of thirst or freeze to death, or just plain starve.  Power Grid goes out, the infrastructure breaks down, and then a hurricane comes?  We do such a wonderful job preparing for disasters we know are coming.  Imagine getting hit by an Irma (category 6+ 180-200 mph sustained winds) with no warning, and no prep time.  Ice Storm?

If you're unlucky, you get to witness actual combat.  For the sake of full disclosure, I have never been in combat, nor do I ever, ever want to be.  I've more than a couple of friends and relatives with combat experience, and I am a student of history.  So that counts for a very little something.  It will not be quick and it will not be pleasant.  We'll get to see car bombs, IEDs, drones, good old fashioned air strikes, tanks and artillery.  Oh, and chemical weapons will get used eventually, simple stuff at first...  then the stuff we say we don't have anymore.   Nukes, too if it gets bad enough, and it might.

Who will do the fighting? Who will we line up behind?  I have no idea, I'll sit it out, 'cause I think all sides of this sh--storm are fools.  People I know and care for are already telling me that I have to take a side.

We are lining up in left / right  sides.

I'd line up with the lefties, 'cause I believe in equal rights for all, freedom for everybody, don't think illegal aliens should have their kids taken away from them, pro-choice (again - see the freedom thing), and consider myself to be an LGBTQ+ ally (even though I am a white, hetero cis-gendered male), and I think the separation of powers and church and state are very important.  Also, I am convinced that churches are businesses and should be taxed if they become profitable, or get involved in politics in any way.  All of these things preclude me from the right.  Since I am all of the above, I cannot be accepted by the right side of this crap.

Lefties won't take me because I believe in freedom for everybody (you don't want to bake somebody a cake or serve them lunch - don't - but don't be surprised when word gets out that you are a bigoted piece of excrement), socialism is s#!+, nobody is responsible for you or yours, respect is earned, and am very pro 2nd Amendment (especially in times like this).  I just want to be left alone, to associate with whomever I choose, and not to be involved in this left/right - Republican/Democrat BS.  I don't think Trump is Hitler (and if you do, you had really poor history teachers).  Hitler was way more intelligent than Trump (this is not an endorsement of National Socialism - it's not - I hate Nazi's with a fiery passion of a thousand suns - i.e. the best thing about the 1940's was all of the dead Nazi's - OK??).

Trump isn't bad because he's Trump.  Trump is an malignant narcissist who wraps himself in the cloak of patriotism and is using the system that has been continually perverted over the years by each party. Every administration- there's more and more executive power accumulated at the White House.  Congress does less and less every term.  It has been happening since the Johnson Administration.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  Trump didn't either... Someone might have even warned you, gentle reader, during the Bush and Obama administrations about the steady accumulation of executive power... Who's to say? Point is this - Trump in a US government that actually functioned would be shut down by the checks and balances that are codified in that document that no one pays attention to any more.  Wow - it being a "living document" kinda sucks now doesn't it, Al Gore??

I've said it before and I'll say it again - the system is broken.  I cannot for the life of me see a road map that gets us out of the quagmire without some serious discomfort.  Divisions are calcifying, families are experiencing tension and social media is acting as an echo chamber that only adds fuel to the vitriol.  Sorry, Samantha Bee's writer Ashley Nicole Black - civility is not a tool of white supremacy.  There are governments all over the world that function due to the civility of the population. It is literally the root of civilization.  We Americans do not not escalate well.  Civility is important. It is a tool that keeps 81mm mortars out of neighborhoods.  We are losing it.  And since we do not not escalate, it will get nasty and quick.

Civility is the check on emotion.  Lack of civility is just the exposure of non-reason and can tend to get violent, quickly - especially when people who know how to push buttons do their thing.  A certain dead-Nazi once said:  "I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for a few." We are being PLAYED and ill served by social media.  We are being divided and conquered.  Look for an event soon that might firm up the divide, and then the team picking will commence. 

I fear for my country, 'cause I can't see a way to fix it, other to break it up, and let the Balkan-ization by ideology commence.  Then a few decades of jockeying and minor wars of consolidation.  No matter what, it's obvious that the Westphalian Nation-State is on the ropes.

If there were a modern day Cincinnatus?  Maybe - but that's a bit much to hope for.  (again- if you don't know who that is, the metaphor is a bit off, but curse the modern educational system, and go look him up online). Yes, I know Cincinnatus fought against an external entity, but who am I kidding - no group of modern Americans would ever agree to such a thing...

History will be our judge.

Love wins, every time it's tried.  Be civil to people who disagree with you.  As a rule, we Americans escalate, always - don't believe me?  Ask the city fathers of 1864 Atlanta, 1944 Dresden, 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1968 Hue City, the commanding generals of the Iraqi Hammurabi and Adnan divisions in 1991 and again in 2003. 

Do you have three weeks of water and food for every member of your family in your home?
If not, why not?

Take a moment before you share a political post about how stoopid the other side is, and see if your feelings of ideological and mental superiority are justified?  

Love wins every time it's tried,

Crazed American, out.

Whiny, rich "white" folk

Point of clarification - I am a "white" man.  I actually identify as Anglo-Celtic American, but what the hey... 

I am thoroughly annoyed by privileged, wealthy Caucasian Americans who simply want - what they want, when they want it.  If you live in America, you know the type. 

G-d forbid you not meet their groundless expectations.  G-d forbid you imply they did not actually read one iota of the correspondence you've had with them. 

I pity these people if there ever is any kind of major calamity in their lives, to say nothing of some regional or global catastrophe. 

They'll be eating each other after about 72 hours. 

Damn disappointing.

Ok...

I'm super curious.  Trying to get a copy of my Google file... 

Everything is copied, stored, watched and surveiled.

Let's see what happens. 

Crazed American, out.

The Book of Faces

Once upon a time, I shared everything on it.  Hell, my youngest wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for Facebook, as it was where I re-met my wife after 17 years. 

I cancelled that Facebook account three years ago.  Let it be reabsorbed into the ether.  Right, sure it got deleted and isn't sitting on a Facebook server farm with an electronic dotted line to my current one where I share very little. 

I quit it before because I didn't like the way it ended up making me feel.  I couldn't wait to log back in.  The straw that broke the camel's back was when I was surfing Facebook on my computer, something distracted me, so I picked up my phone and checked Facebook. 

Fast forward now.  Facebook is acknowledged to be exactly as creepy as everyone thought.  People and companies are leaving it in droves. 

I'm not going to quit it again, yet.  My traffic to it will be curtailed.  I still want to see how friends are doing.  I like pictures of my old friends and their pets.  Pretty much what it should be used for.  Not the propaganda machine that many people I love and respect seem to think it is.

So I'm not going to unfollow or unfriend.  But I will not engage. 

That's what this is for.   You, gentle reader, get it all.  Enjoy.

What?!?

General McMaster's out?!  Holy f--king s---.  Aside from St. Mattis, we're out of free thinkers. 

Help us, Obiwan Mattis You're our only hope...

Still alive

Baby is thriving.

Not skiing as much as I would have liked this winter.

The yard at BaseCamp Ponderosa has responded well to the vast amounts of wood chips and mulch I applied over the last fall and this winter.  I have had great success with something called "chipdrop.in".  It's a direct to arborist service - you get a giant truck load (or two) of wood chips delivered by suprise to your home.  Sign up for a load of wood chips, and you could wait months... or sign up and not be able to get into your garage due to the seven cubic yards of wood chips.  So far, very happy.

I am engaged in a war on my lawn.  Well, actually with my lawn.  You see, I hate grass.  It is the ultimate parasitic organism, and I am trying (with some success) to eliminate it from my homestead. My entire backyard is now devoid of grass, save for a few bits in and around my lower urbanite terrace (fancy way of saying I built a patio area using broken concrete from an old pad next to my driveway that I've turned into a planting bed).  

This winter... wow, talk about a non-event.  Much warmer than normal.  Our local mountains have received not even half of a typical year. 

I'm scaling way back the amount I am on social media.  Again, I turn to my oft neglected blog for an outlet.  

Other than a wicked bout of the "Gombu" fever than went around during the holiday period, all is well, knock on wood. 

How goes with all of you? 

Thanks for your continued support... One of these days I will prepare myself and put up a post on politics (yuck).

Crazed American