Summer arrived suddenly Wednesday afternoon, and with it a burst of energy and mood uplift. Yesterday I spent very little time at the computer and lots working in the sun. I prepped for next week’s house projects and completed earlier ones. I cleaned windows, put up screens, and let air into the house. I raked and swept and scoped out the work ahead. Then in the afternoon I stretched out on the lawn swing with a glass of iced tea and enjoyed the kind of relaxation you can really enjoy because you’ve earned it. —– Sometime during all this, FedEx…
20 CommentsMonth: July 2018
Source (Via Never Yet Melted)
7 CommentsCody Wilson — of Defense Distributed and 3D-printed gun fame — has won his multi-year battle with the federal government. The fundamental question is whether making 3D models of gun components available online is covered by the free speech rights granted by the First Amendment. This is a timely but complex conflict because it touches on two themes that happen to be, for many, ethically contradictory. Arguments for tighter restrictions on firearms are, in this case, directly opposed to arguments for the unfettered exchange of information on the internet. It’s hard to advocate for both here: restricting firearms and restricting…
7 CommentsTrump today issued a full pardon to Dwight and Steven Hammond. The Hammonds, father and son, are Oregon ranchers whose original “crime” was that a small part of a controlled burn ran onto adjoining federal land. They served time in prison for that (bad enough). Then after they were released, federal prosecutors appealed and managed to get them thrown back into prison. Because terrorism. Yeah, makes sense. Only if you’re a vengeful fed with a hate-on for western ranchers. Is there any more malicious and ruthless occupational group today than fed prosecutors? The Hammonds’ re-imprisonment led to the ill-considered, ill-planned,…
8 CommentsThe fun part of the summer house projects is over. Next it’s getting up on the gable ends of Ye Olde Wreck to clean, paint, de-rot, and add soffits and fascia boards. For that, The Wandering Monk and I conferred and I ordered this extra-wide scaffolding. The Monk doesn’t want to do weeks of elevated work on one of those 27-inch wide jobbies. Or on one of his own perilously improvised contraptions. On June 8, Home Depot made the mistake of entrusting the shipment to an outfit named Non-Stop Delivery.* I will not say that N**-S*** D******* is so incompetent…
17 CommentsFurrydoc and I spent several hours at a big farmers’ market today. Amid the goat cheeses, fresh fruits, native plants, cannabis therapy creams, craftworks, and artisanal breads, there was also this: The Tsunami Pod, also known as the RescuePod. This puppy comes with two “racing seats,” a personal locator beacon, MREs and water for three days, waste bags, a hose for bailing out any seawater that might get in, and metal loops to enable a helicopter or ship to hoist it out of the ocean or whatever pile of debris it ends up in. Additional upgrades are available for pets,…
17 CommentsFirst, a thank you and an apology I’ve been having trouble keeping life and the universe together lately, putting me behind in some crucial communications. I’m a week overdue to say thank you to SK and D3 (who know why). So thank you, D3 and SK, and I apologize for my belatedness. I also owe quite a few emails, which I may still be a while getting to. Into the woods for berries While working on a prospective writing project today I got a last-minute invitation from Furrydoc to gather early-season ground-creeper blackberries. I usually wait until August for the…
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