Author: WJG (Page 8 of 12)

Retired in God's country!

Treework by Nature

This is at least the 3rd time I was puzzled about how to get a tree/limb down SAFELY (without me ending up paralyzed). Plus, I also seem to always deal with these when I am on my own (with no one around to call 9-1-1).

This limb while not all that large was snapped off and hung up in other branches between the garage and the house.

I noticed this up there a few days ago. It’s not that big but could definitely injure someone falling from high in the tree so I contemplated my options.

  1. To saw it clean, I might have been able to reach it with my tallest ladder set up in the back of my truck bed backed up to the tree. But there is nothing worse than trying to make a cut with a chainsaw while precariously perched high in the air.
  2. The other option was to try to throw a rope around it to pull it down. To get close enough to it would also require the ladder in the pickup trick but wouldn’t be nearly as high and a simple throwing motion is better than operating a chainsaw.

Luckily, nature AGAIN took care of it for us, as it was laying on the ground when we got up this morning.

Although the “nub” will still bother my sense of order and should be cleaned up, the fact it is 40′ in the air will temper my urge to get after it.

As with the large dead pine across the field from the 1st above photo, that I sawed nearly through and ended up binding my saw. I was able to pound a wedge in to free the saw but the tree remained standing. Rather than accept any more risk, I simply backed away and left it there at the edge of our field. In a matter of 2 or 3 days, the wind did the rest. Once it fell, I retrieved my wedge and cut it up for firepit fuel. These have already been used for a few Viking Funerals for dead critters.

The other was another large pine that blew against it’s neighbors on the edge of the woods behind the shop. My saw was too small for the trunk so a neighbor friend came over with a larger saw to saw it free from the root ball still mostly embedded in the ground. We then chained it to his truck but there was no way we were pulling it down – it stayed hung up in the trees. My next idea was to wait until haying season and try to pull it down with the tractor we hired for that. Since haying season was still months away though, I wasn’t keen about keeping everything away from there. Luckily, the wind dropped the tree to the ground a day later. With the return of high tick season, I tabled further work there and still have plenty to cut up when cooler weather returns in the fall. There is also a nice oak that the pine blew into. It didn’t kill it (yet) but that has a notable lean to it as well and I’ll be harvesting that one for heating wood as the ample pine available is only burned outside in the firepit.

Fun times!

Weird weather (apps)

Our relative remoteness and new “occupation” necessitates keeping a close eye on the sky. However, the outlook from various angles vary widely so we are never sure what to expect.

Here’s the current forecast from this site, using an RSS feed from (I believe) Mountain View, 20 miles to our south – even though I labelled it Hartshorn.

And, here is Weather Undergrounds forecast for the same period.

Our weather radio (that keeps me up at night blaring alarms for RAIN every 20 minutes) sits inches to the left of my office monitor. That will give me the direct NWS forecasts and usually provides a 3rd option of what could happen.

Then, we have the local radio stations providing additional views. Here, I sometimes trip myself up by streaming WDGY or another MN station and the forecast initially startles me until I realize that forecast isn’t for our locale.

Then, we have the ever present YouTube weather porn industry continually forecasting Armageddon for Missouri that rarely materializes. Here, thankfully, the risk skirts just to our north so I guess I should be concerned. Also, Sherry left this morning for MN for a nieces wedding and will be driving directly through the red blob of horror. But, she left early enough that she should easily get through it before everything heats up but I’ll keep praying.

I guess it’s not a big deal. I can just digest it all, take a look outside and usually get a pretty good idea of what will happen and when – and then we plan activities and tasks accordingly.

My BIG hang up right now is having a convertible that doesn’t exactly have a trustworthy hydraulic system for raising/lowering the roof. I’ve got it open now and I think I could close it if needed but am not certain so it ONLY rolls out of the garage if there is NO chance of any rain whatsoever. It looks like it is staying inside today.

Another anti-gun lie fest.

Let’s examine the spectacle of the latest daily train wreck of a speech, (if you can understand him through his stimulant induced haze).

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Let’s review yesterdays litany of BS, shall we?

  • magazines that could carry 200 shells.
  • spoke about teaching jobs he never had.
  • trotted out the lie (again) that no one could own a cannon.
  • you’ll need an F-15 blah, blah, blah… further threatening the people alarmed by his tyranny.
  • he also said that guns kill more children than car accidents or cancer.
  • the gun industry is the only sector protected by a legal shield.

I am sure our resident media expert will provide the rock solid proof on the other points since she is such a stickler for documenting details but we’ll start with cannons since it has been debunked so many times. I am amazed he can keep repeating it. But, I know many who eat it up each and every time.

Prior to the 20th century, there were no federal laws restricting the ownership of cannons in the United States. The Second Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1791, states that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This amendment was understood to apply to the right to own and carry arms, including cannons, for militia purposes.

Early State-Level Restrictions

However, some states had their own laws regulating the ownership and use of cannons. For example, in 1846, the Georgia State Supreme Court ruled in Nunn v. Georgia that the right to keep and bear arms, including cannons, was a fundamental right and that any state or federal law that infringed upon this right was unconstitutional.

National Firearms Act (1934) and Gun Control Act (1968)

The National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 and the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968 introduced federal regulations on the ownership and transfer of certain firearms, including cannons. The NFA required a special tax and registration for the transfer of certain firearms, including machine guns, short-barreled shotguns, and silencers. The GCA expanded these regulations to include other types of firearms, such as handguns and rifles.

Modern Restrictions

Today, the ownership and use of cannons in the United States are regulated by federal and state laws. The National Firearms Act (NFA) and the Gun Control Act (GCA) continue to govern the transfer and possession of certain firearms, including cannons. Additionally, many states have their own laws regulating the ownership and use of cannons, including requirements for permits, licenses, and safety measures.


So, even though they claim confiscation is not their goal, many supporters call for total confiscation as a remedy for all their issues.

That’ll be fun.

Shall NOT be Infringed

This has been in draft form for months and it seems like a good time to roll it out, with Biden’s latest speech (if you could understand it). This post still needs more work but I’ll float it out now.

3 years ago, we never owned any guns. Even then, I’d never advocate that no one else should have them as well. Guns/hunting was just never in my background growing up. The few times I’d “hunted” (if you can call it that) were with HS buddies long ago, where we never had the opportunity to fire our shotguns at anything. Also, with young kids around, I didn’t care to take the chance on any accidents occurring, nor was there much need residing in a very low crime area.

That all changed when we plunged over the edge of the “progressive” cliff and bans began to surface. Luckily, Mumbles McGoo sent us periodic COVID Relief checks at that time that we used 100% to finance our firearm purchases.

As for the lies that Mumbles is allowed to continuously repeat (because he is never held to account on anything), along with the insanity of others striving for “common sense” gun control, I’ll let this well versed gentleman provide some clarification on all those points that are raised or proposed.

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For those who refuse to consider any information that may contradict their positions, I’ll lay it out below as well.

  • Common Sense measures – means what exactly? You see if refenced often yet never is explained. Maybe a dear reader will comment on what they deem to be “common sense” gun control measures. I am hoping such comments ALSO explain how adding more controls to the already failing existing measures will somehow fix the problem.
  • These next 3 are all related…
    Universal Background checks – in order to be “universal”, there will need to be a list of who needs to be checked. (See next point).
  • National Registry – NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! What could possibly happen when the government has a list of who is armed?
  • Confiscation – Although most claim they are NOT proposing confiscation, reality tells us otherwise. So just ask any society what happens when only the government has the guns. The people of Wounded Knee, SD would be able to tell you, except most were massacred by the government.
  • Cannons – Yes Joe, cannons were allowed. Many privateers routinely outfitted their ships with cannons, among many examples. Restrictions on the kind of weapons you could possess is a recent walk back of 2A rights.
  • Need an F-16 – besides the threatening nature of this claim to have the government turn on it’s own people (reinforcing the need for 2A rights), the people of every conflict since Korea will advise on how to defeat such a great army as ours.
  • State/National Guards – Often forgotten in the threats of using the “Guards” on our own people is that they are made up of your friends and neighbors. I am pretty certain those citizen soldiers will think very hard before fulfilling the demands of a corrupt regime on their own people.
  • Mass shooting statistics – They’ve managed to winnow down the definition of a mass shooting so all of the rampant gang violence and drive by shootings (a situation the woke establishment is responsible for by the way) swells the numbers of mass shootings. Then they use that stat as a justification to go after lawful citizens guns, while “turnstyling” the actual perpetrators of violence back out on the streets for more mayhem.
  • Assault Rifles – Of the 19196 murders in the US in 2022, 541 were committed using any type of rifle which comprises a whopping .028%. The scary black “assault rifle” would be a subset of that number while the majority are committed with handguns.

PolitiFact reinforces those stats but can’t resist their political biases by implying that many of the unknowns (type not stated), could be assault weapons and goes on to include the very few (but widely publicized) incidents where such weapons were used.


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MSNBC: Nothing to see here folks.

This MSNBC hack just denied there is rampant shoplifting happening with stores closing as a result. It’s amazing they think we all adhere to their every word and there is no internet to expose the truth.

The sad thing is, I know some MSNBC fans who will STILL believe everything they say – even when it is later proven to be BS.

Thankfully, the replies to this tweet thoroughly shreds her response. Go see for yourself but you are instructed to NOT believe what you see. Their last resort will be to claim it is AI or a deep fake as they’ve already planted those seeds by blocking the HUR tapes, even though they’ve already released the transcripts.

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UPDATE: 6/10/2024
And for the self appointed media experts out there (comments below), be sure to click on Stephanie Ruhles‘s tweet (which would be about the top 1″ of the post above) since her denial is the point of this post and is where counterpoints flow freely. Below that leads to Acyn’s posts, which has no such rebuttals.

Now, that you’ve learned how to navigate, proceed with your “it’s all AI!” claims.


Clearly, these are not ACs and there aren’t 500 of them so they can be ignored.

UPDATE: 6/12/2024

Just saw these today at the Mountain View Walmart. I picked one up and was no heavier than a microwave oven and most certainly smaller in size.

So much for the standard excuse that ACs are much too big and heavy to be shoplifted. I think those people need to exercise more if this is such a herculean task to complete.

Response to MB on “Guilty”

Except no one knows (even now) what that additional crime was. Care to name it? How can anyone defend against a crime that hasn’t been disclosed?

No, arrogance is someone:

  • who proclaimed we should believe all women – unless they are named Tara Reid or Ashley Biden.
  • someone who said everyone should be vaccinated to stop the spread of COVID and should be excluded from society if they are not.
  • someone who claimed the Hunter laptop story was faked and bought into the 51 intelligence officials letter that it was Russian disinformation.
  • someone who claims the meetings, conversations and transactions disclosed on the laptop (EVIDENCE) didn’t prove Biden did anything illegal.

I could go on but it is obvious you are unable to absorb anything that counters what you have been told by the unconvicted felon.

I know the above sounds like “I told you so” but you must have a titanium blast cover on your echo chamber to continually be wrong about so much and yet feel emboldened to ridicule others who got it right.

Here are just a few avenues for appeal that are probably “news” to you:

  • A handpicked highly partisan “judge” orchestrated for a sure conviction.
  • Nullified change of venue request to keep trial in highly partisan Manhattan where no “jury of YOUR peers” was remotely possible.
  • Jurors NOT sequestered in likely the highest politically charged case heard in a long while.
  • Charged for a minor misdemeanor (where the statute of limitations had long since expired) that was elevated to a felony by being tied to another crime that was never disclosed.
  • All 34 counts for legitimate and legal financial transactions and entries. Only being judged here due to the coupling with the “other” undisclosed crimes that couldn’t be contested by the defense because they were never revealed.
  • Lack of any corroborating witnesses. Prosecution witnesses that did testify soundly refuted the testimony of the primary witness, a known serial liar and convicted felon who even admitted to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the defendant.
  • Defense witnesses censored, harassed, repeatedly threatened with contempt.
  • Former chairman of the Federal Election Commission refused to be allowed to testify. Dismissed as being irrelevant to the case when the subject at question was election law.
  • Yet, a porn star (who owes Trump over half a million dollars) was allowed to articulate her juicy details to the court that had no bearing whatsoever on the financial transactions being questioned.
  • New evidence allowed to be introduced by the prosecution during closing arguments with no recourse for the defense to address or cross examine.
  • Fraudulent jury instructions providing the ability to convict on any additional charge whatsoever. They didn’t have to unanimously agree on what transpired or which laws were allegedly violated.

There are so many issues above that can result in this being thrown out. I just wonder which they will base it on. I also doubt it even needs to reach SCOTUS before it is reversed. Any of the appeals courts below that level could and should end this. All because his name is Donald Trump and he dares to question the idiocy in DC.

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The only positive for the unconvicted felon is that he now has the excuse to slink out of the debates – even though he never had any intention of entertaining us by following through anyway. However, I look forward to Trump and Kennedy following through with an empty suit propped on a vacant chair. Actually, that likely gives the unconvicted felon a better chance than if he would participate.

The negatives are already piling up. Besides, refilling Trumps election coffers with 55 million dollars in 2 days, the first of many polls dropped showing the expected INCREASE in those now voting for Trump. Like Trump articulated, this is no longer about him and many holding their noses and switching their votes recognize what transpired and recognize the real “threat to democracy” in action. Like myself, they can still not care for the person, but realize this was clearly a witch hunt (as Zakaria points out) and are greatly alarmed it was allowed to happen. There WILL be more polls released in the coming days to reinforce that, since it has been the trend throughout this lawfare process.

I just hope all remember this come early next year when the roles are reversed now that the bar has been dropped to the floor. As a commenter recently correctly exclaimed, “clearly, the loser of this election is going to jail”. That’s our new banana republic folks!

So, they’ll continue to play their games by scheduling the next steps to conflict with the campaign as much as possible. You know – interfering in the election to “save democracy“. And when they see THAT is not working as the next polls spike even higher for Trump, they’ll release another virus or orchestrate some other event to suspend constitutional rights so the unconvicted felon is the only choice – just like in Russia!

So, if folks still prefer the unconvicted felon, a Biden victory will mean more wars, crashing the economy and continued encouragement for the godless, depraved Left to drag America into an immoral cesspool while tightening their control over every aspect of our lives.

Guilty? No surprise there.

I have yet to find a legal scholar or expert in any camp that thinks this trial was on the up and up. Most all are troubled by the blatant bending of the rules to arrive where we are today. Even MSM agrees and folks see right through it.

No matter. This will most certainly be thrown out on appeal. The only issue is which blatant offense they base their judgement on. They have their pick of several. What’s not a surprise (except to the cronies applying this “justice”) is this will surely put Trump over the top in the upcoming contest.

As with every other charge or accusation, misrepresented out of context quote or full blown lie declared, it has only made Trump stronger.

I can’t wait for the next polling data.

Perfect Metaphor

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Only the forever gullible among you will be started by these statements:

“Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f–k things up.”
former President B. Obama

“I think he [Biden] has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”
Robert Gates, former defense secretary in the Obama administration

Cicada Serenade

I expected much worse. I envisioned daily sessions with the leaf blower clearing pathways through the swarms of decaying carcasses. I’ve heard some parts of this county ARE experiencing such an infestation but just a minor nuisance for us so far. Luckily, we are on the very western edge of one of the 2 varieties making their presence known, so not as bad as further east of here.

I heard a local entomologist explain that the infestation is directly related to the conditions in that area when they went underground. If there is something favorable for them in that area, they’ll be back when their cycle tells them to emerge. I heard of one farmer a little west of Houston, MO who is inundated with them and the farm across the road (their in-laws), has no such problem.

We still find bugs (dead or still alive but dormant) everywhere. I had one land on my bare back and sort of creeped me out when I brushed it away and it was the size of my thumb. Overall though, they are quite docile – just waiting to die. However, now it appears that even the chickens have had their fill of them.

Even though they are not swarming everywhere, they are still plentiful. This young tree across the driveway exploded in fleeing bugs when my errant frisbee shot disturbed them. A huge cloud took flight and then returned to the tree. Notice the little holes? Once they have mated, they’ll find such a tree and embed their eggs in the holes. They keep digging and burying eggs in such a way spiraling up the tree until they are empty. Then, they find a quiet place to die – which are the ones we see on the buildings or any other place to perch.

What is measurable however is the noise. I previously heard that it will be deafening but it took us a while to recognize it. I expected the high pitched buzzing noise we’d hear high in the trees late in the summer in MN. But this is more of a frog sounding chirp you’d normally hear in the evening but this blares all day long. It’s similar to the tinnitus we are adjusting to in our advanced years – just much louder. And it dies down at sunset – opposite of the frog chirping. (We’ve learned the frogs “peep” down here – unlike MNs ribbit or croaking).

Here is an example of the din from our morning walk with the dogs. This is along the front edge of our back woods and sadly the phone video doesn’t do it justice. Turn it UP! For perspective, you’ll hear Sherry calling the dogs towards the end of the clip.

What is drastically different from normal is the cicadas drone on all day long but quiet down at sundown. That’s when you can hear the actual crickets and frogs.

But, in a few more weeks, we’ll be done with them. The new generation (larvae) will be burrowing into the ground for the next several years before it is their turn to emerge for their final 2 weeks of fun.

The Swimmin’ Hole

As I mentioned earlier, We are filling our pool using rainwater this year.

Rainwater collection for the pool.

I have also tied in the back of the house since this picture.

The good?

  • Natural (ample over time) water source.
  • Doesn’t tax the well and pump.
  • Water is naturally softened and balanced in PH/alkali content.

The bad?

  • Until the pool is nearly full and the pump/filtration can be activated, the untreated collected water is stagnating in the sun. In the interim, I set up a simple sump pump to run through the filter system to keep the water moving during this filling stage.
  • Collected water is (or quickly turns) greenish brown. Much appears to be sediment that can be brushed/swept away. Once the level reaches the filter basket and the main pump is active, a thorough vacuuming of all pool surfaces should greatly clear up the murkiness and the chemicals should do the rest.

Update 20240518: With the pool now full (mostly pump/well at 1″ per hour – as the forecasted deluges never materialized), I am switching into clean up mode. The problem is it appears our 1 year old pump is now bad. After a few weeks of collecting stagnant untreated water, it was quite putrid originally. Once I realized our pump wasn’t pumping, I swapped in a sump pump I had on hand and forced that through the pump/filter housing. After a few hours, the water cleared up considerable. However, what I really need to do is thoroughly vacuum every surface to get all of the pollen and other sediments that landed in the pool along with the seeds from the various trees. However, I can’t do that until I have a working pump running from the debris basket to the pump/filter and that won’t be delivered for a few days yet.

Damn. And we’ll be getting close to 90 tomorrow.

UPDATE 20240616:
The completed pool project is working wonderfully. Here is my final solution.

Besides making MacGyver insanely jealous, there is a method to the madness. All rainwater from the gutters flows into the pool via the elevated pipe in the middle. It is elevated because that is a regular walking path. Then, starting on the far right, that gray object beneath the ladder is where the water is supposed to flow back into the pool after the pump. However, it wasn’t until the pool was filled that I discovered this was plugged (maybe a mud dauber) so I bypassed this and have the hose from the pump (white hose beneath ladder) flowing directly into the pool. I then installed a valve below the new filter basket so I can work on pump/filter issues without the pool draining down to the bottom of the basket. The nearly horizontal hose traversing right to left is for when we flush (backwash) the sand filter and discharges close to the ground. The little “U” shape hose in the middle does nothing. This pool came with multiple options and this could be used for a heater but we don’t need it so we simple ran a hose from one connection to the other. I could also simply plug each one but haven’t found anything suitable. The hose coming from the left is another “option” that wasn’t used. However, now with rainwater pouring in during storms, this keeps the pool from overflowing and the water depth can be adjusted simply by turning this fitting to the desired level. All overflow water flows out the same discharge as the backwash/rinse modes of the sand filter. On forecasts of heavy storms or rain, I’ll hook up our RV drain hose to that discharge so the flood flows downhill away from the yard.

I know that is more than anyone cares to know but just know this set up is working “swimmingly”. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist).

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