Yooper Has Left Crackerland

Apatheism

2012-01-27T19:38:00.000-05:00

What it boils down to is, I don't know what will happen after I die and I don't give a shit!!

Speaking Well of the Past??

2012-01-27T19:02:00.001-05:00

While listening to NPR report on the FuckingRepublicans in Florida for some reason this song came to mind. Maybe it was all the sound bites of Newt talking about how he and his good buddy St. Ronnie worked together back in the day. Back in the day Newt was a nobody from BFE(Georgia) and was talking all kinds of trash about Ronnie. Now that Ronnie has been anointed, consecrated, declared god of the tax cut (even tho he raised taxes more often than he cut taxes) and everyone is convinced he walked on water, all the FuckingRepublicans have nothing but good things to say about St. Ronnie of Reagan. Of course today St. Ronnie wouldn't make it out of Iowa!!

Maybe I shouldn't have put this song up in this context. I really like the Old Dogs album and would hate for the song to be ruined for me because of the FuckingRepublicans!!!

Another Political Ad

2012-01-25T10:21:00.000-05:00

Here's another ad, this one for Romney-Gekko.

H/T to Crooks and Liars where I found this vid.

Political Ads Have Begun

2012-01-25T08:56:00.001-05:00

I had hoped because we are watching TV online that we would be spared the political ads. No such luck!! Last night while watching a show on Hulu this ad came on. Was wondering about the "Secretive Billionaires" that were running ads against Obama as hadn't seen any ads up to that point.

Then later while still watching the same show, this ad came on. It is financed by the Kochsuckers and full of lies. aWol wanted to fast-track the loans to Solyndra back in 2005, but the loans didn't go through until 2009. There was more money invested by FuckingRepublicans than by Democrats, but why bother mentioning pesky facts like that in this "Post-Truth Era"???

It was bad enough when watching online to have to put up with ads from cable companies, insurance companies("mayhem," the gecko, Flo), Disney etc. Now looks like we will be subjected to political ads too!!

Disconnected Maybe??

2012-01-23T10:38:00.000-05:00

What a Pisser

2012-01-22T11:45:00.000-05:00

Towards the end it mentions hands-free gaming, but that could get messy!!

Ouija Boards

2012-01-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

The End Of The Perry Campaign

2012-01-22T10:30:00.000-05:00

Luckovich on Paula Deen

2012-01-22T10:21:00.000-05:00

I like the stuff behind her like "high fat grease" like there's any other kind!!

Ironic News

2012-01-22T09:51:00.000-05:00

H/T to Crooks and Liars where I found this vid.

New Cell Phones

2012-01-21T19:23:00.001-05:00

Last Monday I ordered new phones for me and The Old Lady. Our old cell phones worked just fine but they were in a plan where we would pay X dollars for Y minutes a month. Any minutes you didn't use were gone at the end of the billing period. No contract and it was reasonable when we were using them more. Lately the only calls I get on my cell phone are either a wrong number or The Old Lady calling me when she was ready to leave Menard's and is wondering where I am. (Menard's is competition for Lowes and Home Depot in the Mid-West) That and I am tired of getting spam texts and my old phone has no way to delete a text without opening it first.

The minutes may cost a little more than our old plan, but we keep all our minutes until we use them. I ordered two phones like the one pictured below. They were $19.99 each and came with a 60 minute card. They will double the minutes each time we add minutes as long as we are using these phones. After activating the phone which gave me 10 minutes and adding the 60 minute card I had 130 minutes and 150 days service. The question I have is, did we get free 60 minute cards when buying the phone, or did we get a free phone when buying the 60 minute card????

Tracfone said we could activate them online, but when I put in the serial number for my phone it said it was already on an account. So I called the toll-free number and activated it that way. Same thing happened to The Old Lady when she went to activate hers.

My old phone was only text or talk. If I was to text each one would cost 10 cents in addition to the monthly bill. I never sent a text with my old phone and that's why it pissed me off to get spam texts as they cost extra. With the Tracfone a text is only a fraction of a minute. Sent my first text to The Kid to let her know we got new phones and it cost me 3tenths of a minute. Have yet to hear back so I would know it went thru, but so it goes!!

My new phone has all kinds of features, bluetooth which I Synced to the car so can talk thru the radio for hands-free if get a call while in the car, and a camera which I may use and send pictures right from the phone. It even has an internet browser, but I think that'll burn up the minutes fast. All in all for a cheap little phone it does much more than my old Nokia, but it was a bottom of the line Nokia and after four years practically an antique!!

House

2012-01-20T19:40:00.000-05:00

Had just finished looking to see if there was a new episode of "House" available to watch online. Then went to a joke site and this was the first thing I saw!!

Prius Camper

2012-01-19T17:50:00.000-05:00

For some reason this just looks obscene.

The Editorial "Should The Times be a Truth Vigilante?" Proves They Are Nothing But Glorified Stenographers!!

2012-01-17T17:43:00.000-05:00

When I first something about this on the intertubes, my first thought was; This has got to be something from The Onion, Right???

Here's an editor asking if the reporters should report on facts or not. Now we know facts have a nasty tendency to have a liberal bias and that tends to piss off conservatives. Gin and Tacos has an interesting post about this where he sums it up by saying, 'Editors are not editors because they understand journalism particularly well; they are in positions of authority because they understand the publication's need to market itself to the widest possible audience. They are gatekeepers who exist not to enforce the standards of good reporting but to screen every story through the question, "How can we write this story without conservatives getting mad at us?"'
I think that hit the nail on the head!!

For Those That Like Snow

2012-01-16T18:58:00.002-05:00

There's smoke coming out of the chimney so the place must be warm. So far this winter we've been nice and warm, usually in the 70s inside occasionally 80 or higher. The stove is working very well and fairly easy on wood. So far we've burnt about 3 tier of wood. This winter will determine how much firewood I'll have to cut for next winter.

Like I said in the previous post, the snowbanks are a lot higher now than in the picture with the Jeep.

This is a large pulley off some belt-driven machinery. It's a least 3ft in diameter maybe bigger.

Here I am playing in the snow. These pictures were taken on the 14th of Jan. The Old Lady was trying to get a picture of the frost in my beard.

There are many jokes about the seasons UP on the Tundra. The one I like is this: What do they do UP on the Tundra when it's Summer. Ans. If it falls on a Saturday, they have a picnic!!

Addendum: What I call a tier some call a cord, but it is actually a face cord or 1/3 of a cord. It is a pile 4ft high by 8ft long and 16 inches deep. Put three of those together and you have a full cord which is 4ftX4ftX8ft. Unless you are buying a logtruck load of firewood, when they say so much a cord, it is really a face cord or a tier. So I guess I've burnt a full cord of wood so far.

Maintaining a comfortable temp with a wood-burning stove can be tricky. Either you freeze or roast unless you can control the burn, usually by regulating the air. The more air the hotter it burns if you have good dry wood. Right now it's mid-70s inside and 14 outside, so we are doing OK.

It Was a Good News, Bad News Sorta Day

2012-01-16T09:06:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday I bought a new fuel pump for my Jeep plowtruck. Figured the pump may be bad when even tho it is dripping oil wherever it goes the level in the crankcase was up past the full mark. Also had lousy fuel milage altho it's hard to tell as the gas guage doesn't work and haven't really paid attention to the mileage when I'm plowing snow. Anywho, yesterday it got up into the mid-20s, so thought it was warm enough to work on the truck bare-handed. Got the new pump installed and was able to push some snow around. We paid the county for driveway plowing(in this county they still do driveway plowing), so didn't have to worry about being snowed in while the truck was down. I use the truck to plow areas the county doesn't plow like where The Old Lady's car and my pickup are parked. Getting the Jeep running again was the good news even tho it wasn't fun doing the work.

The picture was taken when I plowed the driveway the first time. The snowbanks are much bigger now. Also it's much easier to plow now that things have frozen and it's colder. When I plowed the first time the ground under the snow wasn't frozen and the plow would want to dig in and it was around the freezing point so the snow was very slippery. Got stuck many times where the tires would just spin in place.

Picture taken while plowing snow after the first major snowfall back in Nov.

The bad news was my Packers lost to the Fucking Giants.(Spent several years one summer in New York and can't stand any of their teams because of arrogance of the sportscasters on the New York TV stations!!)

Mitt the Ripper

2012-01-15T11:38:00.001-05:00

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

H/T to Squatlo where I stole this vid!!

Definition of a Tea Party

2012-01-15T10:51:00.001-05:00

Now That's Bad

2012-01-14T09:36:00.000-05:00

Coffee Anyone??

2012-01-13T22:27:00.000-05:00

How's That Possible??

2012-01-13T22:21:00.000-05:00

The Economy is Really Bad When the Price is This Low

2012-01-13T22:18:00.000-05:00

Don't Give a Puck

2012-01-13T19:54:00.002-05:00

Guess This Guy Didn't Make the Cut for the Columbia Ad

2012-01-13T19:33:00.000-05:00

Which is Funnier, The Concept of Eyelashes for Your Car, or The Instructions for the Eyelashes??

2012-01-13T19:30:00.000-05:00

How Dare They??

2012-01-13T19:13:00.002-05:00

A Tebower???

2012-01-12T18:38:00.000-05:00

Which Is It??

2012-01-09T08:49:00.000-05:00

Romney

2012-01-05T10:42:00.000-05:00

That thought balloon pretty much sums up Romney's campaign this go-round, "Money can't buy me love!!"

Pack Your Bags

2012-01-04T10:07:00.001-05:00

There's an old joke about a guy winning the lottery, calling his wife and telling her, "Pack your bags. I won the lottery." She says, "Where are we going? I've always wanted to see London or Paris or Rome. So, where are we going?" He says, "I don't give a fuck where you go. Like I said, pack your bags, I won the lottery!!"

Yesterday I got to tell The Old Lady, "Pack your bags, I won the lottery!!" Which is what I tell her every time I win, altho this time I won only $6.

Powerball is about to jack up the price for a ticket. They are doubling the price from $1 to $2. I've been spending that amount because I pay another buck for the powerplay which increases the payout on the lower amounts by a number drawn after they draw the powerball numbers. I doubt if I'll do the powerplay because all it will do is double the prize. Now the powerplay can be from 2 to 5 times.

Survival Suit

2012-01-04T08:35:00.000-05:00

These must have sold like hotcakes with a lot of people wearing them these days!!

Newt Debates Newt

2012-01-03T09:20:00.000-05:00

Didn't Newt say if you quote what I said, you're lying???

Newt Debates Newt on Climate from Sierra Club National on Vimeo.

Drug Testing

2011-12-31T10:50:00.003-05:00

Found this cartoon that seemed to fit the theme of this post!!

"the fucking bottom feeders on welfare can just damn well do the piss tests."

This comment totally missed the point of my last post!! That post wasn't a rant against drug testing, this one is. The last post was about those that make the rules should also follow those rules. WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER!!!!!! One of the problems in this country is there's two Americas, one for those who have to follow the rules and pay and those to whom the rules are mere suggestions and not really ones they need to obey unless they choose to obey them and to whom stuff is given freely even tho they can more than afford to pay.

Hey, if the president has to piss in a cup(and he does), then a piss-ant congress-critter can too!!!!!!
"
The real issue here is not drugs, but rather the issues of privacy, due process, probable cause, and the fourth amendment. We are dealing with a constitutional issue of the utmost importance. It raises the question of whether or not we understand the overriding principle of the 4th amendment." Ron Paul '97

Now if it's a 4th amendment issue for Congress, it should also be a 4th Amendment issue for all of us. I remember learning when I was in school that in this country a person is innocent until proven guilty, but with the way drug testing is done you are guilty until you prove you're innocent. Totally ass-backwards.

Another reason I am against drug testing willy-nilly is the tests are unreliable. When you are going to do thousands of tests, you go with the low bidder regardless of the results. When there is a false positive, that person will play hell trying to clear their name or may never know the result and will wonder why they are having so much trouble getting a job!! If it's a false negative, then the test is bogus. You haven't accomplished anything with the test and would have had the same result without the test and saved money at the same time. Why don't they report on the inaccuracy of drug testing any more, don't think they've improved, just nobody talks about it anymore!!

When they first started this bullshit of drug testing, the rationale was public safety. Test those that whose jobs could be a hazard to the public, truck drivers, pilots, train operators, and those in sensitive government positions, etc. (The military has their own fucked up rules and really isn't part of this discussion.) Then it became big business to test everyone with a blue collar, pink collar, or no collar, but not white collar!!! I say if you are going to drug test, piss test the suits, they can afford the good drugs!!!

Testing those at the bottom end of the economic scale is a waste. The cartoon in the last post about how only 2% of welfare applicants tested positive is based on fact. Those people probably had the money to buy drugs before they had to sign up for welfare. Once on welfare, who can afford drugs, and if they spend their miserable puny amount of money on drugs, who the fuck cares??? The only ones that benefit from drug testing those on welfare, food stamps, unemployment etc. are the companies that make the tests and those that administer the tests. Also it may give some jollies to the sadistic bastards that think if someone is poor they should suffer as much as possible.

This need to denigrate the poor and those less fortunate seems to cut across all types in society. Religious types, non-religious, well off, and those that are one missed check from having to seek assistance, why this is is a fucking mystery to me. I guess some people just need to be able to look down their noses at someone.

An Idea Whose Time is Way Past Due!!

2011-12-30T12:54:00.000-05:00

Back in the '80s during the time of St. Ronnie of Reagan they started passing laws about drug testing; it wasn't enough to "Just say NO." It probably wasn't long after that that some called for drug testing those that make the laws.

Gingrinch proposes drug testing all who get federal aid. Does that include politicians????

Here is something from 1996 calling for the House to drug test staff. Then in 1997 the House did a rule change calling for drug testing. All that happened was it got sent to a committee to die. In following years there were bills introduced calling for drug testing of the Hous;, they died in committee also. Ron Paul spoke out against drug testing several times when the matter came up. His argument was that it violated the Fourth Amendment, which would apply to all drug testing. Back about this time I wrote to my CongressCritter at the time, Bart Stupak. This was when he had only been in office for a few terms, before he got corrupted by "The Family" on "C Street". I actually got a response that wasn't the usual form letter bullshit. It said that before they can start drug testing they had to set up procedures on how the testing would be done. At the time the House was run by Newt and his FuckingRepublicans who were all in favor of drug testing everyone else!!

This is an idea whose time is way past due. All you have to do is look at what politicians around the country are doing and one explanation is that they are doing some powerful drugs (can you think of a better explanation???). If minimum wage workers have to piss in a cup to get a job as a greeter at Wally-World, then all elected officials should do likewise. I mean, how much can anyone endanger the public by working as a greeter, and how many millions are affected by what the politicians do??? Who does it make more sense to piss test?? Didn't this all start by saying it was a public safety issue?? If that's the case, go after those that can cause the most damage, and from the looks of things, we should have done this right from the start of the drug testing craze. They should have to do a pre-employment test like most of the rest of us!!

They always want to fuck with those that can't fight back!!

Now if it's OK for those on welfare, unemployment, food stamps etc. etc. to have to piss in a cup, then those that make those rules should be the first in line to piss in a cup. They should lead by example!!!!

Let's pass this on, feel free to repost this and/or add your own ideas. Let's start using all the social media available to us to shame the bastards into doing the right thing!!! Here is a page on facebook that I found.

What Did Santa Bring You????

2011-12-27T08:05:00.000-05:00

Repukes Remind Me of an Old Joke

2011-12-26T11:20:00.001-05:00

The current crop of FuckingRepublican hopefuls reminds me of an old joke: A new sailor was being shown around the ship back in the days of wooden ships and iron men, back when the ship would be at sea for months, sometimes years at a time. After showing the newbie around the ship they come to a barrel and the newbie is told it is for relieving sexual tensions. "When you feel the need just stick your cock in the bunghole." The newbie asks if he can try it now and is told go for it. He sticks his cock in the bunghole and receives a blowjob. Then the newbie asks how often he can do that and is told anytime except Wednesday. When he asks why not Wednesday??? "That's your turn in the barrel!!!"

Now is Newt's turn in the barrel, who's next?????????????

Here's My Xmas Song

2011-12-24T09:19:00.001-05:00

H/T to Crooks and Liars for the vid.

????

2011-12-21T18:08:00.000-05:00

The Old Lady's fat cat or bloated road kill?? You decide,

Trickle Down Economics Explained

2011-12-21T08:50:00.000-05:00

The Old Lady has always said, "The term 'Trickle Down' should tell you they are pissing on you!!"

Cheetos Pet

2011-12-18T08:20:00.000-05:00

The Dummies Sing 12 Days of Xmas

2011-12-16T09:39:00.000-05:00

From mockthedummy.com

Mindscrews

2011-12-15T19:47:00.000-05:00

The Daily Show Does a Good Rif on the Stupidity Concerning TLC Show "All American Muslim"

2011-12-14T23:23:00.000-05:00

The guy's bitch was that the show didn't show terrorists!!

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Lowes the terrorist's supply store.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

I'm a NFL owner, NO SHIT!!

2011-12-07T09:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday a stock sale for Green Bay Packers stock started. I bought one share which will give me one vote(on what I don't know yet) and no special privileges what-so-ever other than bragging rights!!

Sample illustration of the stock certificate I should receive in a couple of weeks.

They are going to use the money raised from the sale of stock to make improvements to their stadium, which strikes me as a better deal than begging for taxpayer money to build a new stadium or the team will leave like so many other teams have threatened, you know, the ones owned by Billionaires!!!!!! Because the Packers are owned by shareholders in Green Bay and other areas, they can't leave.

Mass Delusion or What??

2011-12-03T09:45:00.001-05:00

I've been wondering lately why most people religious or not have to believe there is a higher power. Whether it (the higher power) is controlling things or just started the ball rolling is irrelevant. Just because Mankind hasn't been able to create life in the lab without adding a few drops of swamp water doesn't mean there has to be a higher power. NO, it just means nobody has hit on the right combination of parts and the right trigger to set it off.

There are various estimates on the number of stars in the universe, anywhere from 9 to 300 sextillion (that's a 1 followed by a shitload of zeros, 21 or 36 take your pick). There are probably billions of planets with the right conditions for life and maybe millions with life, altho' it may not be life as we know it. The thought that we are created special and the only planet with life strikes me as being very conceited.

I go by the theory that we are a fluke of the universe, in that SHIT HAPPENS, sometimes it's good shit, sometimes it's bad shit, but shit nevertheless. The fact that I believe we are a fluke doesn't mean there aren't a lot of other flukes out there.

Ever since I figured out that religion was a big lie, I've had no problem with not believing in a higher power. Hey, shit happens, we're here, deal with it. The older I get and the more I learn, the more I wonder about those that would believe in a deity that would through a matter of good timing allow psychopaths (serial killers, rapists, etc.) a free ride to heaven because just before they die they ask forgiveness and accept HeyZues as their savior, but would send someone who lives a good clean life to Hell to suffer for eternity simply because they don't believe in the deity. What a vindictive bastard!!

I have no problem with most of the Big-Bang theory, but something I read recently had me scratching my ass!! Recently I read something that said the Big-Bang Theory supposedly started with a single atom and some kind of spark or lightning bolt and that atom expanded millions of times a second until in the space of a few minutes or hours all the material in the universe was created. Now that seems as fantastic to me as the story of some old bearded dude sitting around in the dark bored and deciding to create heaven and earth and all the stars (let there be light), all the plants, fishes, and animals. Then from mud creates the first man, first woman from mud is a failure, so makes one from the man's rib. Both the starting from an atom and starting from Adam require taking things on faith of which I am lacking. Both seem to me like flip sides of the same coin and have no currency with me.

I've also heard that there are some who think if they build a telescope powerful enough and point it in the right direction, they can see the actual beginning of time. See the Big-Bang happen. What if the light from that moment passed by us a couple of eons ago???

Anywho, thinking you are powerless and there has to be a higher power to explain how shit happens is to me the epitome of low-esteem. Once when I said the Groucho Marx line, "Any group that would have me as a member, I don't want to join." Someone said I must have a low opinion of myself. I said, "No, I have a high opinon of myself, just a low opinion of others, especially groups."

Xmas Lights

2011-12-02T18:12:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season!!

Fan With No Visible Power Source

2011-11-29T09:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we received our new fan in the mail. There are no batteries and no power cord. It uses the heat from the stove to generate enough electricity to power the motor that spins the fan. When the stove reaches about 250 degrees it starts to spin. The hotter the stove the faster it spins. When it slows to the point where you can see the fan blade and think you can count the revolutions, it's time to throw another log on the fire.

There are several reasons I like this fan. It sits on top of the stove and moves the hot air right from the source. It uses the heat of the stove to work, so doesn't cost anything to run. Also it only works when the stove is putting out some heat; when the stove cools down, it stops.

How this works had me scratching my ass ever since I first saw one. Did a quick Google search this morning and came to the conclusion that it is powered by a thermocouple.

The first one I saw had a price tag of $180 and I thought it was a neat idea, but not $180 neat. This one was a hundred bucks less.

Got My Boat Back

2011-11-28T12:40:00.000-05:00

Friday I went and got my boat back. About 6 yrs ago I gave it to the son-in-law. He used it for a few years and then lost interest in it. The registration expired in '08.

As it looked Friday morning.

After sitting in the back yard for several years, the boat was not looking too good. I took the cover and the plastic sheet under the cover off and put them in the trashcan. Next summer I'll have something to occupy my time fixing the boat up. Now I'll have a chance to do the things I originally planned on doing to the boat. Like new seats and building a seat across the back with the battery and gas tanks underneath. Also finish stripping the paint off and repainting it. I think the white paint on it is the paint used for painting lines in parking lots!! When I first got it there were several cans of parking lot marking paint in the boat.

The worst of the flat tires.

All the tires were flat, this picture shows the worst of them. Tried to air it up using an air tank and a strap around the tire to get the bead back on the rim. Wouldn't hold air enough to seat the bead, had to take it to a tire shop and had them put bead sealer on it and then air it up. The other tire looked like it was just low, but had to take it to the tire shop for bead sealer too. The spare wouldn't take air, but by then I figured I was done playing with tires.

Parked for the winter.

Spent Saturday afternoon getting it ready for winter. Blocked up the trailer to take the weight off the wheels and springs. Made a roof over the open part of the boat and put a tarp over it. We seem to have a lull between snowstorms which allowed me to go get the boat and create an area to park the boat out of the way. Come next May I'll be able to take the tarp off and start get it ready for summer.

Ages

2011-11-22T09:50:00.000-05:00

'Tis The Season

2011-11-22T08:03:00.001-05:00

Libya, Labia, Same Thing, Right????????????

2011-11-16T07:54:00.000-05:00

How About We Starve This Beast??

2011-11-16T07:47:00.000-05:00

Doh!!

2011-11-14T08:59:00.000-05:00

Update: After the Storm

2011-11-10T18:44:00.001-05:00

This morning we woke up to over a foot of snow on the ground. Shortly after we got up the lights went out. They had gone out several times during the evening yesterday, so it was no surprise.

Old school light.

We lit the kerosene lamp and started melting snow for toilet flushing. The one drawback of no electricity is the water pump won't run which means no water until the power comes back.

Melting snow in case we need water to flush the toilet.

The one thing we didn't have to worry about with the power out was getting cold. The woodstove puts out plenty of heat, at times too much.

The pumphouse has block walls 3 blocks high and the snow is halfway up the wall. The ground slopes away from the pumphouse, so this shot shows that we got at least a foot of snow.

My Jeep in action.

Finally got the plow going. First I had to find where I left the battery. Then when I got it started, it ran out of gas. Thought about asking the neighbor to plow us out, but found out he wasn't home. Didn't have any gas as I hadn't filled my gas cans. Fired up my other old truck and parked it in the field out of the way, siphoned out 5 gal of gas and put it in the Jeep. Then I had to drive it to where the plow was and hook up the plow. After all that I was able to plow the driveway. We paid the county road commission to plow out driveway, but they don't plow private drives until the road freezes. That's one of the reason I bought this old Jeep and worked on fixing it up so I could plow with it.

First Real Snow

2011-11-09T17:38:00.000-05:00

Today we got our first real snow of the season. Reminds me of this snow story. I doubt if what happened to the guy in the story will happen to me. When it comes to snow, I've had tadpoles before.

Snow on vehicles.

Just looked out and the snow is almost up to the rocker panels on the car. We don't have to go anywhere in the next day or so, so no worries.

Apple tree with snow on branches.

Snow on my four-wheeler.

Tomorrow I'll see how my four-wheeler goes in the snow. Should have fun playing in the white stuff. I think I'll unhook the trailer first.

Another apple tree with snow on it.

This apple tree is just outside the back door and the picture also shows that we've gotten about 5 inches going by what's on the pumphouse.

Bambis

2011-11-06T08:14:00.001-05:00

Had some visitors yesterday. These two fawns and their mother. I didn't get any pictures of the doe as when I saw them, she had moved to where there were trees between me and her. She spent most of the time standing guard while the fawns ate. Took these pictures through the living room window.

Looks like this summer's fawn, might be a young buck.

Close-up on the one I think is a young buck.

Fawn eating Canadian thistle, that they can eat all they want. The Old Lady gets pissed when they eat her flowers.

Different Season, Different Birds

2011-11-05T09:22:00.001-04:00

Chickadees attacking suet/seed cakes.

Took down the hummingbird feeder after Labor Day as they seemed to be gone for the year. Put up the suet feeder for the chickadees. Last year I did the suet feeder in a tree earlier in the year(summer) and the jays(Blue and Canadian a.k.a. Camp Robber Jays) destroyed the suet in a couple of days. Now it is hanging from the eave of the house and although a jay tried to land on the feeder, it didn't stay on it.

They Lie

2011-11-05T08:49:00.000-04:00

The only way you can optimize your fuel economy is if you can come up with a way to move the truck without starting the engine!!! Eight miles to the gallon is not fuel economy!!

Back Home Again

2011-11-02T07:37:00.001-04:00

Video showing me arriving UP on the Tundra.

Any day now the scene in the video could look like the picture in the header of this blog.

Shaved Beaver

2011-10-25T11:27:00.000-04:00

Scrap the Cap

2011-10-24T10:04:00.000-04:00

H/T to jadedj at Banquet of Consequences.

Cash is no Longer Legal Tender in Louisiana

2011-10-21T10:22:00.001-04:00

Law says you can't pay cash for used items. How fucking stupid is that??????

H/T to Crooks and Liars for the link to the video.

My First Pumpkin Pie

2011-10-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

Made my first pumpkin pie yesterday. This ain't my first rodeo(pie making), just my first ride in this event. In the process used up the shortening we had on hand and the salt. Only salt left is in the salt shakers. Also used a can of pumpkin and a can of evaporated milk. Less stuff to pack and move next week.

In the words of The Old Lady, "It's edible."

Calvin and Hobbes on Capitalism

2011-10-19T09:45:00.000-04:00

H/T to Skippy for the link.

I May Join Whoever This is Next Month

2011-10-18T10:33:00.002-04:00

Who's Gonna Feed Them Hogs??

2011-10-18T09:39:00.000-04:00

The Old Lady's brother-in-law has a few hogs and has discovered that when you have animals you are tied down by them. The fact that he was only able to bring his wife here to the airport and then had to head home again brought this song to mind. This song is for you Tracy.

Next Month

2011-10-17T11:12:00.000-04:00

Next month I'll probably need to change the title of this blog as I'll no longer be in Crackerland and have no plans to return to Crackerland except maybe to visit, but that's highly unlikely. On the first of next month we should be unloading the U-Haul(or is it Y'all-Haul down here in Crackerland??) into the storage unit UP on the Tundra. I rented a storage unit to put all of our stuff into and the stuff will stay in the storage unit until it's been cold enough, long enough, to kill any critters that hitch a ride with our stuff.

I have been kicking around several ideas for a new blog title: Yooper No Longer in Crackerland; Yooper Has Left Crackerland; Crackerland, This Yooper Not There; Yooper Has Said Goodbye to Crackerland......

I thought I had the "Paddle faster" thing stored on this confuser, but when I went looking for it, couldn't find it(too much guano), had to google it. The Old Lady will be pissed that I used it before she got a chance to do it.

The Difference Between Tea-Baggers and OccupyWallStreet

2011-10-15T09:09:00.000-04:00

This Old Fart is making a lot of sense, unlike the Tea-Baggers.

More commentaries by Old Fart Rants.
H/T to Crooks and Liars for the link to this video.

They're Still Fighting the DIRTY FUCKING HIPPIES After All These Years

2011-10-14T10:49:00.000-04:00

It took the corporate media almost a month to start reporting on the protests going on around the country. When the media did have anything on OccupyWallStreet, the comments I heard from most of the pundunce (that is the plural for pundit, ain't it??) were things like they need some deodorant(DIRTY), stop making love(FUCKING), and they need to get a job(HIPPIES). That tells me they are still fighting the DIRTY FUCKING HIPPIES long after most of the hippies went mainstream and are now part of the establishment!!

Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com

You do have to admire an idea or philosophy that has had the establishment shitting bricks for fifty years. There has always been a small percentage of every generation that has believed in some of the ideals of the hippies. The ideals have changed or evolved(no wonder conservatives hate them) thru the years. Some of these ideals have been around longer than the hippies, if fact, that's part of what the Declaration of Independence was about in 1776.

Instead of reforming Wall Street or creating jobs they want to kill PBS and NPR and pass bills that oppress women.

The pundunce also have been saying they don't know what the protesters want. The name OccupyWallStreet should have been a huge clue. They want economic justice, they've seen Wall Street get bailed out while all the rest of the streets paid for it. Instead of those who caused the financial mess being put in jail, they got multi-million dollar bonuses. The pundunce also say the protesters hate capitalism, NO, THEY HATE THE OVERT FUCKING GREED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally An Illustration that Shows Trickle Down in Action

2011-10-13T11:24:00.000-04:00

The Old Lady has always said the name Trickle Down tells you they are pissing on you!!

Balls Out Jeans

2011-10-12T16:01:00.000-04:00

"Balls Out" Jeans - watch more funny videos

Watch all the way to the end.

Another GIF

2011-10-12T10:11:00.000-04:00

Food???

2011-10-12T10:07:00.000-04:00

Is this the best of both worlds or what???

I can't see chewing meatball flavored gum.

Can't Go Home Again???

2011-10-06T07:28:00.000-04:00

???

2011-10-02T08:37:00.000-04:00

H/T to Dumb Perignon where I stole this.

Pie??

2011-10-02T05:59:00.000-04:00

H/T to BBC who sent this in a comment.

Video on How to Touch Yourself

2011-09-29T10:05:00.000-04:00

When she pulls the nutsack out of her panties, my first thought was this is so wrong!!

This Makes as much Sense as He Does During the Debates

2011-09-29T09:42:00.000-04:00

H/T to Crooks and Liars where I found this vid.

Checking to See If Toes Are Still There

2011-09-28T09:49:00.000-04:00

see more Gifs

Perry's Replacement

2011-09-28T06:22:00.000-04:00

Jon Stewart Takes On the Whiny Ass Rich

2011-09-22T19:02:00.001-04:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Moneybrawl - The Extinction of Subway, Bill O'Reilly & the Super Rich

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

The Daily Show on Facebook

The rich may soon be an endangered species if they are forced to pay more taxes.

Tech Terms Xplained

2011-09-22T09:12:00.000-04:00

Found this at Geezer Planet after seeing a cartoon from there at The Future Was Yesterday.

Hopefully DADT Is Now History

2011-09-21T09:01:00.001-04:00

I got out of the military over 20yrs before Don't Ask Don't Tell was enacted so have no experience with it personally. I've worked with ex-military that served during DADT and judging by the homophobia displayed by some, it must have been hell to be gay in the military. Seemed like the more religious, the more homophobic. One theme that kept coming up was their not wanting to have to shower with gays(a secret fantasy maybe??)

Anywho, like I said, I wasn't in during DADT. When I was in being gay was a way to get out of the military and during 'Nam that was something to be desired. Of course, proving one was gay was not easy, one almost had to get down on his knees and blow someone. There were enough guys trying to get out that it was hard for anyone to get discharged before their hitch was up. It was easier to get discharged because of a mental problem. One guy I knew went to the doctor and complained about not being able to sleep and got sleeping pills. They caused him to oversleep and be a couple hours late to work. After several months of him being late a number of times and even being reassigned to a job with a later start time, he was finally discharged.

If I Knew You Were Coming, I'd Have Baked a Cake

2011-09-18T16:16:00.000-04:00

But nobody came so I baked a pie.

Homemade Apple Pie

It was a dreary day with rain off and on and there were several trees loaded with apples.

Memory Lapse or Willful Ignorance??

2011-09-18T10:07:00.000-04:00

For several months now I've heard various people on TV saying Obama has been in office for 3yrs. Makes me wish I could reach into the TV and dope-slap them upside the head and say, "Look FUCKWAD, he wasn't even fucking elected 3yrs ago!!" I can almost understand the Reich-WingNut apologists saying that because it probably seems even longer for them, but I've heard some so-called "journalists" say the same thing. Maybe it's because they heard it somewhere, OH, that's right, the propagandists for the Reich-Wing have been saying that since last spring.

Whoever wrote "lamestream media" on Palin's hand with crayon got it right even if it was unintentional. It was meant to be more 'librul' media bashing and I'm sure there are those that take it as such. I however think the media no longer does journalism, they just puke back what they've been fed, which IMHO makes them pretty fucking lame!!

Time to Take Down the Feeder

2011-09-16T07:59:00.000-04:00

Looked out this morning and saw there was ice in the hummingbird feeder. Guess it's time to take it down and put it away until next year.

Work and Taxes

2011-09-14T10:50:00.001-04:00

Recently saw a comment on facebook that was a snide remark about how Obama was going to tax the rich and give it all to the workers. It was obvious the guy had bought into the Reich-WingNut bullshit about how it doesn't do any good to tax the rich. The irony is that if they don't get more money from those that can afford to pay taxes, he is in a group that is the easiest in the country to get more taxes from. He works for a company at an hourly wage, and if the government decides to raise his taxes, the employer will automatically suck it out of his paycheck and there's nothing he can do about it.

I left a snide remark about how I was glad he enjoyed paying a higher percentage of his income in taxes than the super rich. Also gave an example of how once back in the late 90s the Senator of the state I was working in at the time released his tax return. He made over 10 times what The Old Lady and I did the previous year and paid less than half of what we did. This was not percentages but actual FUCKING DOLLARS!!

As sometimes happens, this kept popping up in my mind most of the day. When I figured out the percentages, I got pissed. We paid 10% of our income(which shows how fucking little we made) in federal tax, the Senator paid less than half a percent!!! Based on percentages, we paid over 20 times as much of our income than the Senator!!!

Looking back(hindsight being 20-20 and all), that was what probably caused me to lose any and all enthusiasm for working. I'd never had much enthusiasm for working, usually worked when I had to to survive, but after that I had more "quality time" in my work history. I guess in the back of my mind(??) I was thinking, why bother busting my ass to make more money when all it would mean is paying more taxes to subsidize the rich bastards who paid little or no taxes. I would never get to the point where I could reduce my tax burden like the Senator did. We have never been able to reduce our taxes with deductions, the standard deduction was always greater than our itemized deductions even though we have had mortgages and paid hefty interest on them.

This is all water under the bridge so to speak, shoulda, coulda, woulda!! I'm retired now, but if I had worked more, I'd get a few more dollars each month in Social Security.

Quite the Comparision

2011-09-10T08:58:00.001-04:00

H/T to PENolan who posted this video on facebook.

They're Growing Billboards

2011-09-09T11:17:00.000-04:00

H/T to Skippy for the link.

Test Driving the New Woodstove

2011-09-09T10:22:00.002-04:00

Got the new woodstove Wednesday. Reading the owners manual, I discovered it needs to be broken in. This is the first time I've seen anything about having to break in a stove. Had to buy a thermometer so could do the break in properly. Wasn't really cool this morning(70 degrees in the house), but thought I'd start the break in process now so can use it when the weather gets cold enough to use the stove.

On the first firing, you only bring the temperature of the stove up to 200 degrees F. Hold it for an hour and let it cool to room temp. Second firing, bring it up to 300F, hold for an hour and cool. Third firing, bring it up to 400F for an hour and cool. Then it should be broken in and can be used as needed.

Having a learning curve on firing this stove. It is so air-tight that it took me 3 tries to get a fire going. Finally figured out I had to leave the door open a little for it to get enough air to start burning good. The little air vent in the door doesn't provide enough air when starting a fire.

Cast into the front of the stove is a Norwegian saying, "I built me a flame late one night. When day is done, God will my flame never die." Question is which God, Thor or Odin??

Happy Camper

2011-09-09T09:33:00.001-04:00

Last night I was able to watch the Packer game online. It was livestreamed on nbc.com and because I have my TV hooked up to the confuser, I was able to watch the game comfortably from my recliner. Have to see if that will work for other games on Fox or CBS.

It kept saying it was Sunday Night Football or SNF, but wasn't last night Thursday????

New Voter ID Law

2011-09-08T09:46:00.001-04:00

Flowchart of GOP Candidates

2011-09-08T07:38:00.000-04:00

From MoveOn.org.

Life UP on the Tundra

2011-09-07T07:45:00.000-04:00

CALUMET - A beaver cut through a fiber optic cable 2 miles south of Calumet, causing 911 service outage today in northern Houghton County and all of Keweenaw County, along with additional problems for AT&T landline customers in the 337 and 289 prefix telephone exchanges.

Article in The Daily Mining Gazette.

Same thing happened a couple of years ago.

Car Ads

2011-09-04T08:22:00.000-04:00

Noticed a couple of things while watching ads on TV lately. It is not just the FuckingRepublican politicians that think geezers have money, that's why they want to make cuts to their Social Security and Medicare.

The other thing I noticed in these ads is how fucking lame their kids are!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chainsaws

2011-09-04T08:05:00.001-04:00

A few days ago I was going to cut up some trees I had cut down. On the first cut my saw started making a weird noise. I bought the saw 14yrs ago and can't figure out why it would give me trouble now after all those years of good service??

Husqvarna 51

Wanted to get the wood cut, so went to my back-up saw, a Stihl 015. That little saw cut a lot of firewood when I first bought it. It was my only saw for several years before I bought a larger saw, a Stihl 029. Then 14yrs ago I bought the Husky 51 because The Kid wouldn't use either of my saws because they didn't have chain brakes.

Stihl 015

Realized again how much more work it was to cut with the smaller saw. Once when I was cutting with the 029, the muffler came loose. Decided to finish cutting firewood with the 015 until I had a load. After several cuts in some large wood, I packed it in and went home to fix the 029 as cutting with the 015 was much more work. The 015 is good for trimming and cutting small brush, but is a lot of work when it comes to cutting large wood.

The cause of the weird noise, broken clutch spring.

When I took the side cover off, I found the cause of the noise. The clutch spring had broken.

New spring installed.

The next day I when to town and bought a new spring for the clutch. Cost all of $2.99. Took a number of attempts to get the ends of the spring hooked together.

Seat Warmer Use in L.A.

2011-09-01T10:24:00.000-04:00

The talking heads on KTLA Morning News this morning were talking about using their seat warmers on their morning commute this morning. In L.A.?? WTF??

TeaBagger and Plutocrat

2011-09-01T09:36:00.000-04:00

Looks Like The Taxpayers Are The Ones Paying Them The BIG BUCKS!!

2011-08-31T17:43:00.000-04:00

Brits Are Using Hemp

2011-08-29T06:58:00.001-04:00