The clouds prepare for battle
In the dark and brooding silence
Bruised and sullen storm clouds
Have the light of day obscured
Looming low and ominous
In twilight premature
Thunder heads are rumbling
In a distant overture…
All at once, the clouds are parted
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams…
Follow men’s eyes as they look to the skies
The shifting shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams…
Time to leave the beach.
A note on that. A couple years ago we were down at Huntington on one of our bike ride gatherings. It clouded up, and a little rain started. No big deal, right? The Huntington Beach lifeguards immediately closed the beach, and forced an evacuation. Everyone was ordered off the sand, and forced back on the streets because there just might maybe be thunder and lightning, and someone just might maybe get struck by that lightning. The traffic jam this caused was epic. But you know. if it saves one life…
JWM
ghostsniperSeptember 15, 2023, 10:26 AM
I did Huntington one time.
Back in 1980, I saw Return of the Jedi in 70mm.
Wow man, the colors!
Lukes skall, was 40 foot tall.
Little honey oil didn’t hurt….
ghostsniperSeptember 15, 2023, 10:23 AM
Lafi, who voted for Biden in 2020, said her family’s food budget has skyrocketed from $800 to $1,500 a month. “Eggs are ridiculous,” she said, also singling out prices for fruit, vegetables and milk.
Anybody choosing to spend $1500 a month on food for 3 people has no business complaining about the price of that food. That’s $50 a day! Are they eating prime rib?
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Americans had over $1 trillion in credit-card debt in the second quarter of this year, a record high.
So, you get to the day before payday and find out you’ve spent all your money and the solution is to borrow even more?
In 2006 I paid off my credit cards and got rid of them. Didn’t have any credit cards til about 1.5 years ago. I got one from my bank and it had a $500 limit on it. I used it a few times and payed it off each time they sent a bill. Since then they’ve raised the limit 3 times and it is now $10,000. What kind of idiot would borrow $10k on a credit card?
Also, when I got that card last year I started receiving credit card offers in the mail. This past Jan I was wondering how many offers they were sending so I started saving them in a box. I just now counted them up. Since Jan 2023 I have been sent 83 credit card offers. WTF??? And I haven’t checked the mail yet today.
I keep one for emergency stuff, and paypal. When we were having the bathroom remodeled I had my wife put the tile purchase on my card. After the construction was finished we returned the unused tile, and I ended up with a little over $700. credit balance
So my share of the national credit card debt comes to negative 700 over a trillion. Guess I offset it by little bit. My contribution to the problem.
Yer welcome.
JWM
ghostsniperSeptember 15, 2023, 2:49 PM
My wife has had a Chase credit card since the 80’s. 10 years ago she spotted a sweet little 2006 Chevy Equinox for $14k and it only had 30k miles on it and was in “new like” condition. At that time Chase sent her (4) $10,000.00 dollar checks to use as she sees fit and there would be no interest for 1 year. She used 2 of those checks to buy that Equinox and then paid the $14k back to Chase in less than a year. In all the time she has had that card they have never made a cent off of her. Yeah, her credit stays up around 850 all the time. I don’t do credit much so my number isn’t quite as high as hers, somewhere around 790. The only way to raise that number is to go further in debt and I won’t do that. It’s counter intuitive to me. She still has that Equinox and it has less than 50k on it. Together we drive 5k a year at most. We don’t like to stray too far from paradise.
ghostsniperSeptember 15, 2023, 2:54 PM
Cracker Barrel plans to increase spending, market itself to core guests of all ages, and increase advertising of its value menu options like the 20 meals that are all under $12.
Our special recipe Meatloaf with tomatoes, onions and green peppers with hand-rolled Buttermilk Biscuits or Corn Muffins, Two Sides: $11.29
Last ate at Cracker Barrel about 10 years ago. I have no bad image of it but they did seem to have a lot of messicans working there – not that there’s anything wrong with that! Yes, I had that meatloaf dinner and I can assure you it cost nowhere near $11. With prices as they are and the influx of even more “illegal” employees now I will probably never eat there again.
ghostsniperSeptember 15, 2023, 5:19 PM
The trouble with trouble is, it starts out as fun.
ghostsniperSeptember 16, 2023, 4:14 AM
Third world people create third world countries.
So what happens to first world countries when they import massive amounts of third world people?
2 years ago I asked, “At what point does the US become unbearable to live in?”, and some people said they would never leave as this is their home. And, they will fight for their country.
The recent history of the sanctuary cities shows first world people leaving in droves to get away from the third world effects of the importation and behavior of third world people. As the importation continues apace eventually there will be no leaving as everywhere will be inundated with third world scourges. Some say, “That’ll never happen here!”, but they are short sighted and haven’t been paying attention.
Once again, at what point does your area become caustic enough that you leave only to find there is no longer any place in the US that hasn’t been hijacked by the political criminals using third world weaponry?
As a mind exercise, what area of the world do you think will never become a third world country, and that you would enjoy living in?
=================
As the number of migrants attempting to cross the southern U.S. border rises, Border Patrol agents have begun releasing them on U.S. streets shortly after they cross from Mexico into California and Arizona.
The number of migrants crossing the border in San Diego and the Tucson Sector of Arizona has been steadily rising, with border agents in the Tucson Sector now apprehending as many as 2,000 a day, according to a Border Patrol official.
Near Nogales, Arizona, agents released 100 to 200 migrants per day into the U.S. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, according to the official.
You think we have it bad?
Look up Lampedusa, Italy. This is nothing less than an act of war. See what the Italians intend to do about it. I’d post my solution, but it would draw the eye of Sauron, and put me on some list or other…
Even so.
JWM
ghostsniperSeptember 16, 2023, 9:33 AM
The solution to securing a country is about the same as securing a house.
Men with guns need to blow some heads.
It’s well known that criminals scatter post haste when suddenly skalls start blowing up all around them. They lay rubber better’n a ’69 Camaro SS 396.
Thing is, the enemy is on 2 fronts at the same time. The criminal invaders on one side and the gov’t facilitators on the other. A standard 12 man squad of Patriots has to have 6 men facing forward, poppin’ the invaders, and 6 facing the rear poppin’ the facilitators. It’ll be hellified if and when it ever goes over the top.
Snakepit KansasSeptember 16, 2023, 4:35 AM
The congested poverty just over the border will spill into the US. Mexico and the rest of the world is not sending their best doctors and engineers. Lawlessness and corruption that you see just south is now spreading north. There is no way to avoid it. I am sure many of the people coming here are good folks, but there are a bunch of bad also. Cartels will be running south Texas and we can no longer stop it.
Snakepit KansasSeptember 16, 2023, 4:39 AM
Everybody gets everything he wants, and I wanted a mission, and for my sins they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service. – Captain Willard
ghostsniperSeptember 16, 2023, 6:48 AM
I love the smell of cordite in the morning.
ghostsniperSeptember 16, 2023, 1:49 PM
This is a pretty clear representation of Multi-Axis Turning.
I’ve done a few of these and you have to keep your wits about you especially when carving the inside out. The first one I did I accidently went too far and pierced through to the outside on the flat areas.
At first I thought I destroyed it and threw it in the corner and forgot about it. A couple weeks later I was cleaning up and saw it laying there and put it back on the lathe and cleaned it up. It ended up being pretty cool and I sold it as an art bowl on Etsy for $90.
Also, this guys pretty sloppy in the glue ups, and you can see it in the center intersections. He needs to pay more attention to the details.
Lastly, smearing the finish oil all over it with his hands is just plain nasty and uncalled for. Otherwise, it’s a good design and decent execution. Sure wish I had the wood supply he has. Look at all that walnut!
My daughter recently started her first year of college. She was talking to me about learning to make 3-D drawings using Catia. One of her other classes is Calculus III. Thank God she got her mom’s brains.
ghostsniperSeptember 17, 2023, 6:51 AM
Just looked up that Catia software, it subscription only, as most of the big guns are these days.
A yearly subscription is $7560.00 = $630 a month. Thats only $70 shy of our house mortgage!!!
I stopped upgrading my autocad a long time ago, and now it’s subscription only too.
FWIW, I can’t imagine learning how to do 3d drawings in a cad program without FIRST knowing how to draw in 3d by hand. If you already know how to do it and understand the underlying principles, then you just have to learn which software commands to use to achieve similar results. Anyway good luck to your daughter!
Snakepit KansasSeptember 17, 2023, 2:04 PM
Thank you sir!
ghostsniperSeptember 16, 2023, 2:59 PM
I went into Circle K this evening.
As I was looking around I noticed this older gentleman kept looking at me.
He was a customer also.
I was waiting for the coffee to finish brewing as he walked up.
He had a tear in his eye and he proceeded to tell me that I looked like his son that was killed in Vietnam.
I told him that I was sorry to hear that.
He talked to me for about 5 minutes.
He told me how he and his son were fighting before he shipped out.
And that he never did say good-bye to him.
I felt bad for the guy.
He asked me if I would say good-bye to him as he left the store.
I said I would.
As he was going out he yelled “Good-bye son”, I yelled back “Good Bye Dad”.
Well the coffee had just finished and I went up to the counter to pay for it.
The clerk told me the total was $88.65.
I said for a cup of coffee? I think you made a mistake.
She said “No a carton of Marlboro’s and a 6-pack of Bud, your dad said you were getting his”.
NOW my blood is boiling.
I rip out of the store, the old man is just starting to get into his car.
I grabbed him by the arm and tried to lead him back to the store.
He fell to the ground and I got a hold of him and started pulling on his leg.
Kinda like what I am doing to yours right now. 🙂
jdSeptember 17, 2023, 1:32 PM
You got me too, Ghost. I am so gullible.
AnonymousSeptember 16, 2023, 10:29 PM
We have a lovely little lot out in the wilderness. Big ranch next door hires illegal Mexicans. On Thursday I got a phone call from someone speaking about 40% English and the rest was Mexican/Spanish. They were on the property, they new what name my neighbors call me. That person wanted to list my lot.
Was working in the yard today–it’s Saturday no one working on the ranch, but one of their pick up trucks pulled up on the their side of the fence. Guy got out looking over at DH. Guy was pretending to fix a piece of electric wire (?) When DH looked over at him he left. He left so fast that he left the outside gate open.
Any suggestions? BTW the “new rancher” is a very, very, big and powerful owner from Chicago.
ghostsniperSeptember 17, 2023, 4:24 AM
Every 50 feet along all of your property lines install signs that say:
Then, regularly, use said firearms on your property.
Casey KlahnSeptember 18, 2023, 3:45 PM
Notify the sheriff.
Invest in a trail camera that is silent, sees at night, and connects in real time to your cell phone. These are not uncommon and popular with hunters.
Keep a good journal of events and times. Possibly the press in Chicago needs to know what Mr Big & Powerful is up to.
Smaller but useful ideas: improve your property at least a bit, such as a fence and gate, or a solar light. Anything to show it’s not forgotten or unattended. I agree that perhaps a good improvement would be some shooting range facilities there.
Casey KlahnSeptember 18, 2023, 3:48 PM
9/15/23, me pappy was born on the pioneer prairie. 1923, that is. We had a German chocolate cake to celebrate what would’ve been his 100th year.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.

My feet are on the hilltops.

My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of
universal life.

Down in the sounding foam of primal things I
reach my hands and play with pebbles of
destiny.

I have been to hell and back many times.

I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.

I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.

I know the passionate seizure of beauty

And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs
reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive
 in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
The clouds prepare for battle
In the dark and brooding silence
Bruised and sullen storm clouds
Have the light of day obscured
Looming low and ominous
In twilight premature
Thunder heads are rumbling
In a distant overture…
All at once, the clouds are parted
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams…
Follow men’s eyes as they look to the skies
The shifting shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvsw_Jq4UcE
Time to leave the beach.
A note on that. A couple years ago we were down at Huntington on one of our bike ride gatherings. It clouded up, and a little rain started. No big deal, right? The Huntington Beach lifeguards immediately closed the beach, and forced an evacuation. Everyone was ordered off the sand, and forced back on the streets because there just might maybe be thunder and lightning, and someone just might maybe get struck by that lightning. The traffic jam this caused was epic. But you know. if it saves one life…
JWM
I did Huntington one time.
Back in 1980, I saw Return of the Jedi in 70mm.
Wow man, the colors!
Lukes skall, was 40 foot tall.
Little honey oil didn’t hurt….
Lafi, who voted for Biden in 2020, said her family’s food budget has skyrocketed from $800 to $1,500 a month. “Eggs are ridiculous,” she said, also singling out prices for fruit, vegetables and milk.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/09/13/biden-is-selling-an-improving-economy-americans-dont-but-it-it-poll-finds/70729119007/
======================
Anybody choosing to spend $1500 a month on food for 3 people has no business complaining about the price of that food. That’s $50 a day! Are they eating prime rib?
Come on man, that’s not even trying.
The clouds look like they are going to smother the ocean.
CDC Admits ~120,000 Children “DIED SUDDENLY” after COVID-19 “Vaccine” Roll-out
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Americans had over $1 trillion in credit-card debt in the second quarter of this year, a record high.
https://www.businessinsider.com/recession-outlook-economy-consumer-spending-gone-2023-9
================
So, you get to the day before payday and find out you’ve spent all your money and the solution is to borrow even more?
In 2006 I paid off my credit cards and got rid of them. Didn’t have any credit cards til about 1.5 years ago. I got one from my bank and it had a $500 limit on it. I used it a few times and payed it off each time they sent a bill. Since then they’ve raised the limit 3 times and it is now $10,000. What kind of idiot would borrow $10k on a credit card?
Also, when I got that card last year I started receiving credit card offers in the mail. This past Jan I was wondering how many offers they were sending so I started saving them in a box. I just now counted them up. Since Jan 2023 I have been sent 83 credit card offers. WTF??? And I haven’t checked the mail yet today.
I keep one for emergency stuff, and paypal. When we were having the bathroom remodeled I had my wife put the tile purchase on my card. After the construction was finished we returned the unused tile, and I ended up with a little over $700. credit balance
So my share of the national credit card debt comes to negative 700 over a trillion. Guess I offset it by little bit. My contribution to the problem.
Yer welcome.
JWM
My wife has had a Chase credit card since the 80’s. 10 years ago she spotted a sweet little 2006 Chevy Equinox for $14k and it only had 30k miles on it and was in “new like” condition. At that time Chase sent her (4) $10,000.00 dollar checks to use as she sees fit and there would be no interest for 1 year. She used 2 of those checks to buy that Equinox and then paid the $14k back to Chase in less than a year. In all the time she has had that card they have never made a cent off of her. Yeah, her credit stays up around 850 all the time. I don’t do credit much so my number isn’t quite as high as hers, somewhere around 790. The only way to raise that number is to go further in debt and I won’t do that. It’s counter intuitive to me. She still has that Equinox and it has less than 50k on it. Together we drive 5k a year at most. We don’t like to stray too far from paradise.
Cracker Barrel plans to increase spending, market itself to core guests of all ages, and increase advertising of its value menu options like the 20 meals that are all under $12.
Our special recipe Meatloaf with tomatoes, onions and green peppers with hand-rolled Buttermilk Biscuits or Corn Muffins, Two Sides: $11.29
https://www.eatthis.com/cracker-barrel-losing-customers-quarter-4-2023/
Last ate at Cracker Barrel about 10 years ago. I have no bad image of it but they did seem to have a lot of messicans working there – not that there’s anything wrong with that! Yes, I had that meatloaf dinner and I can assure you it cost nowhere near $11. With prices as they are and the influx of even more “illegal” employees now I will probably never eat there again.
The trouble with trouble is, it starts out as fun.
Third world people create third world countries.
So what happens to first world countries when they import massive amounts of third world people?
2 years ago I asked, “At what point does the US become unbearable to live in?”, and some people said they would never leave as this is their home. And, they will fight for their country.
The recent history of the sanctuary cities shows first world people leaving in droves to get away from the third world effects of the importation and behavior of third world people. As the importation continues apace eventually there will be no leaving as everywhere will be inundated with third world scourges. Some say, “That’ll never happen here!”, but they are short sighted and haven’t been paying attention.
Once again, at what point does your area become caustic enough that you leave only to find there is no longer any place in the US that hasn’t been hijacked by the political criminals using third world weaponry?
As a mind exercise, what area of the world do you think will never become a third world country, and that you would enjoy living in?
=================
As the number of migrants attempting to cross the southern U.S. border rises, Border Patrol agents have begun releasing them on U.S. streets shortly after they cross from Mexico into California and Arizona.
The number of migrants crossing the border in San Diego and the Tucson Sector of Arizona has been steadily rising, with border agents in the Tucson Sector now apprehending as many as 2,000 a day, according to a Border Patrol official.
Near Nogales, Arizona, agents released 100 to 200 migrants per day into the U.S. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, according to the official.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/border-patrol-releases-migrants-city-streets-arizona-california-rcna105308
You think we have it bad?
Look up Lampedusa, Italy. This is nothing less than an act of war. See what the Italians intend to do about it. I’d post my solution, but it would draw the eye of Sauron, and put me on some list or other…
Even so.
JWM
The solution to securing a country is about the same as securing a house.
Men with guns need to blow some heads.
It’s well known that criminals scatter post haste when suddenly skalls start blowing up all around them. They lay rubber better’n a ’69 Camaro SS 396.
Thing is, the enemy is on 2 fronts at the same time. The criminal invaders on one side and the gov’t facilitators on the other. A standard 12 man squad of Patriots has to have 6 men facing forward, poppin’ the invaders, and 6 facing the rear poppin’ the facilitators. It’ll be hellified if and when it ever goes over the top.
The congested poverty just over the border will spill into the US. Mexico and the rest of the world is not sending their best doctors and engineers. Lawlessness and corruption that you see just south is now spreading north. There is no way to avoid it. I am sure many of the people coming here are good folks, but there are a bunch of bad also. Cartels will be running south Texas and we can no longer stop it.
Everybody gets everything he wants, and I wanted a mission, and for my sins they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service. – Captain Willard
I love the smell of cordite in the morning.
This is a pretty clear representation of Multi-Axis Turning.
I’ve done a few of these and you have to keep your wits about you especially when carving the inside out. The first one I did I accidently went too far and pierced through to the outside on the flat areas.
At first I thought I destroyed it and threw it in the corner and forgot about it. A couple weeks later I was cleaning up and saw it laying there and put it back on the lathe and cleaned it up. It ended up being pretty cool and I sold it as an art bowl on Etsy for $90.
Also, this guys pretty sloppy in the glue ups, and you can see it in the center intersections. He needs to pay more attention to the details.
Lastly, smearing the finish oil all over it with his hands is just plain nasty and uncalled for. Otherwise, it’s a good design and decent execution. Sure wish I had the wood supply he has. Look at all that walnut!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RMc7q7TXr0
My daughter recently started her first year of college. She was talking to me about learning to make 3-D drawings using Catia. One of her other classes is Calculus III. Thank God she got her mom’s brains.
Just looked up that Catia software, it subscription only, as most of the big guns are these days.
A yearly subscription is $7560.00 = $630 a month. Thats only $70 shy of our house mortgage!!!
I stopped upgrading my autocad a long time ago, and now it’s subscription only too.
FWIW, I can’t imagine learning how to do 3d drawings in a cad program without FIRST knowing how to draw in 3d by hand. If you already know how to do it and understand the underlying principles, then you just have to learn which software commands to use to achieve similar results. Anyway good luck to your daughter!
Thank you sir!
I went into Circle K this evening.
As I was looking around I noticed this older gentleman kept looking at me.
He was a customer also.
I was waiting for the coffee to finish brewing as he walked up.
He had a tear in his eye and he proceeded to tell me that I looked like his son that was killed in Vietnam.
I told him that I was sorry to hear that.
He talked to me for about 5 minutes.
He told me how he and his son were fighting before he shipped out.
And that he never did say good-bye to him.
I felt bad for the guy.
He asked me if I would say good-bye to him as he left the store.
I said I would.
As he was going out he yelled “Good-bye son”, I yelled back “Good Bye Dad”.
Well the coffee had just finished and I went up to the counter to pay for it.
The clerk told me the total was $88.65.
I said for a cup of coffee? I think you made a mistake.
She said “No a carton of Marlboro’s and a 6-pack of Bud, your dad said you were getting his”.
NOW my blood is boiling.
I rip out of the store, the old man is just starting to get into his car.
I grabbed him by the arm and tried to lead him back to the store.
He fell to the ground and I got a hold of him and started pulling on his leg.
Kinda like what I am doing to yours right now. 🙂
You got me too, Ghost. I am so gullible.
We have a lovely little lot out in the wilderness. Big ranch next door hires illegal Mexicans. On Thursday I got a phone call from someone speaking about 40% English and the rest was Mexican/Spanish. They were on the property, they new what name my neighbors call me. That person wanted to list my lot.
Was working in the yard today–it’s Saturday no one working on the ranch, but one of their pick up trucks pulled up on the their side of the fence. Guy got out looking over at DH. Guy was pretending to fix a piece of electric wire (?) When DH looked over at him he left. He left so fast that he left the outside gate open.
Any suggestions? BTW the “new rancher” is a very, very, big and powerful owner from Chicago.
Every 50 feet along all of your property lines install signs that say:
WARNING
NO TRESPASSING
FIREARMS IN USE
KEEP OUT
Here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0089OYASM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Then, regularly, use said firearms on your property.
Notify the sheriff.
Invest in a trail camera that is silent, sees at night, and connects in real time to your cell phone. These are not uncommon and popular with hunters.
Keep a good journal of events and times. Possibly the press in Chicago needs to know what Mr Big & Powerful is up to.
Smaller but useful ideas: improve your property at least a bit, such as a fence and gate, or a solar light. Anything to show it’s not forgotten or unattended. I agree that perhaps a good improvement would be some shooting range facilities there.
9/15/23, me pappy was born on the pioneer prairie. 1923, that is. We had a German chocolate cake to celebrate what would’ve been his 100th year.