An Amtrak train, making an inaugural run along a new, “improved” route between Seattle and Portland, has derailed onto the I-5 freeway during this morning’s commute.
Month: December 2017
When last we spoke, I couldn’t brain because I had the dumb. I decided to take the weekend off from blogging — and in fact from every sort of pressure or expectation for myself. That’s harder to do than to decide to do. It began nicely. Friday evening — softly drizzly, but peaceful — Ava and I wandered the town enjoying Christmas lights. Then I stopped into the grocery store to pick up ingredients for beef stew, my favorite fall comfort food. The old family recipe I adapted requires Kitchen Bouquet, a condiment from Mom’s day that I’m always surprised…
I could not make myself sit down at the computer yesterday. At least not long enough to blog anything brilliant. Had Jim Bovard not sent me a couple of links and a laugh, I’d have had nothing but blank pages for you. I did manage to use My Bad Brain Day to finish applying the tongue-and-groove pine to the ceiling of the bedroom-to-be. Well, mostly finish. Several edge pieces will require tricky cuts; I’ll try those later. Then I’ll turn them over to The Wandering Monk and his friend’s well-equipped shop if I make a mess. Still, getting that far…
FREE today and tomorrow, after that, $3.00: Jim Bovard’s new book Freedom Fauds: Hard Lessons in American Liberty. This is a collection of essays. Jim assures me he’s been told that “the first essay alone is worth the price of the book — as long as it’s free.” You be the judge. But Jim received even more enthusiastic accolades for a recent article at The Hill. His topic there: The FBI as America’s secret police. Praise from Hill readers included, “kook, lunatic, Russian agent, sick, delusional, shill” — and that was just for starters.
Email to creators, just arrived. Patreon will not be rolling out the fee change that caused what one creator called the “Patreonpocalypse” (H/T MJ): Dear creators, From the bottom of our hearts, we’re truly sorry. Last week’s service fee announcement caused a tough week for you, your patrons, and your teams. We were trying to solve a problem for creators and, in turn, caused more problems for you and your patrons. You’ve spoken loud and clear. We’re not going to rollout the changes to our payments system that we announced last week, and are currently assessing other options. They followed…
Astronomers are taking a closer look at interstellar space object Oumuamua. Might it really be a probe from … out there? I usually dismiss such claims as media and true-believer overreaction, but this is definitely an odd one. Like Wendy McElroy, I’m glad Roy Moore lost yesterday. Whether he’s a pedo-predator remains unproven. That he’s a theocratic demagogue is fact. A Vice investigation reveals that shootings by cop are far more common than previously reported. Now it’s a matter of distinguishing righteous shootings from the activities of Officer Thug and Officer I Am Scared. How “smart” do you want your…
Home improvement marathon yesterday after a slow start. (The Wandering Monk does not do either mornings or Mondays.) In two sweaty hours we insulated the attic above the kitchen and living room — me running up and down the ladder with 12-inch thick fiberglass batts and the Monk putting them in place. Normally my lungs and throat object to fiberglass even when I’m properly masked. But for some reason both the Monk and I both did okay. Any day I can handle insulation without hacking and gagging is a good day. It’s noticeably warmer in here already. After insulating, we…
You know how Joel writes so entertainingly over at TUAK about those days when everything goes haywire? When mad bulls charge into his yard while he’s lying in the mud fixing busted plumbing and his homemade bread is in the house caving in while packrats are eating the wiring on his Jeep? Those days. Joel days. So I closed the computer earlyish this morning, pledging to work on the new RebelFire story. But of course I can’t write until the house is clean. So I start cleaning. And organizing. Which reminds me that since my second backup heat source is…