Self-Sufficient Steward

On the other side of the equation from the previous post regarding the inevitable end of life…..a later observation today of the longstanding myth of invincibility of youth…..currently compounded by their widespread self-absorption as reflected by the ’smart’ phone.

Yeah, I’m ranting. But this just blew me away. I’m second in line at a stoplight on a busy city street, behind a pickup truck with its right turn signal on. The light turns green and the truck begins to turn. But he is slowed by the presence of a young woman totally absorbed in her smart phone. She is standing. In the street. The truck stops because he literally cannot complete the turn without running over the twit in question. For ten seconds the truck is motionless. For ten seconds the girl is clueless, despite the fact that the truck is less than a foot away. Finally, the driver rolls down the passenger window and speaks to the girl. She looks up, blankly, and steps back one foot onto the curb. From the developing expression on her face, she is irritated.

I see a future pHD thesis being written: “The Impact of Natural Selection on Cell Phone Usage”.

Posted on August 27th, 2010 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Rants and Musings | 5 Comments »

Fishing is ALL about preparation, and you NEVER calculate the price per pound of any fish you might be lucky enough to catch. But at least we’ll get one dinner out of the hours I spent painting the trailer and putting in new hub bearings, or those spent tackle sorting, reel rigging, etc. Not to mention the actual two hundred and fifty miles towing the jonboat up here to the Chesapeake. But now that we* caught fish, it’s all worthwhile.

Dinner tonight will be croaker

and white perch

but no weakfish

we threw them back along with the shad and the blue crab determined to eat our lures.

* Oh yeah, the girl in my boat caught two fish to each one of mine, including the first six straight. If I hadn’t thrown her rod overboard and kept fishing, I’d have been skunked completely….

Regardless, it beats the BoSU hands down.

Posted on August 19th, 2010 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Leisure Projects, Meat, Eggs, etc. | 7 Comments »

Yes, he’s back.

We thought he was a goner about six weeks ago when a large tree fell on him, toppling him into our small fish pond. As is usually the case, it was my fault. We’ve had an issue for years with pine trees in our woods becoming infested with pine bark beetles. A number of the trees have come down by themselves, and I had prophylactically removed another dozen and a half of them near the house in recent years before they could do any real damage. (Bet you never thought you’d hear the word ‘prophylactic’ associated with a chainsaw….) But there remained a dozen plus large trees that were beyond my abilities, so I hired some tree guys to take them out using a bucket truck. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten about the cherub next to the pool at the base of one of them. I immediately remembered about him when a large section of trunk knocked him into the pool.

I felt awful because the cherub originally graced my wife’s grandparents’ property, and was a cherished childhood memory. So, I pulled the two-foot tall victim from the pool and was astonished to find him unscathed. In gratitude, I dug him a small new pool, located in a more prominent part of the flower garden. Plumbed him with a new solar-powered pump and he’s back…..

As for me, I suppose I’m back too. As I briefly noted back in the Fall, I wound up having to focus on my day job like a crackhead on his habit. All consuming, considering that it’s not a life-or-death kind of occupation. But the effort (and more importantly the efforts of new co-workers) paid off, and the course concluded pretty successfully at the end of May. Unfortunately, another course geared up a week later, running through June….and then there was the building project seen below which is still unfinished.

This is a 24′x24′ extension of my shed/workshop. It replaces a smaller, rickety structure; part of which temporarily remains underneath the new roof. Once the new gutters are attached, this will complete the collection area for the rainwater system. Once that is finished, an inch of rainfall should provide us with ~960 gallons of water for drinking, etc. Numerous older posts on this topic can be found under ‘rainwater’.

So, apologies for dropping this little blog to focus on more tangible responsibilities, and I’m hoping to spend more time here in the months to come.

Posted on August 4th, 2010 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Family Life, Rainwater Collection | 6 Comments »

Yes, you were, Allis Ray. And we will miss you very much.

When Allis came into our lives in 1998, we had just unexpectedly lost another dog, probably the smartest dog we ever owned. That particular adjective would not apply to Allis, but a dozen other favorable ones would. She was a sweet companion, who is already sorely missed. Her spot on the kitchen floor is conspicuously empty as the evening begins to fall.

Fortunately, despite declining health, her last few months were mostly positive and the end this morning was a quick and peaceful one. Both were due to the skill and judgment of my veterinarian wife. Allis never had to leave the place she loved, drifting off in our arms as the sun was breaking the tree line. By eight this morning, she had taken her well-earned place in our animal cemetery, next to her father, her marker already prepared some months back.

As an energetic puppy, her early years of ‘terrorizing’ her father, chewing his ears, etc. earned her the sound-alike nickname of “Oh Mom I Been Rotten” at least a year before the real terrorist became a household name (at which point we dropped it). Much later, when Allis became the matriarch of our pack, I would give voice to her assurance: “I’ve been a good girl all my life!” Well, yes. for the most part. Better than most of us for sure.

So, sleep well, Allis. May you continue to chase the rabbits of your dreams.

Thank you for all the joy you brought into our lives. We love you.

Posted on July 30th, 2010 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Family Life | 7 Comments »

If you listen to the network talking heads, the inside the D.C. beltway pundits and especially to Republicans, President Obama has made one fiscal mistake after another since taking office. There are the bank bailouts, the auto industry bailouts, the stimulus package, the attempt at health care overhaul, etc., etc. It’s a wonder that we’re all not on the street corner selling pencils. But then listen to what the economy is REALLY saying in the form of deeds rather than words:

- S&P’s 500 Index has risen more than 41 percent since Obama took office.
- The gross domestic product grew at a 5.9 percent annual pace in the fourth quarter of last year, compared with a forecast of 2.0 percent a week before Obama’s inauguration.
- And the forecast for continued GDP growth this year is 3.0 percent, versus 2.1 percent in the survey taken 13 months earlier.
- Monthly job losses have abated, from 779,000 during the month Obama took office to 36,000 last month. That’s a 95% decline.
- Corporate profits have grown; among 491 companies in the S&P 500 that reported fourth-quarter earnings, profits rose 180 percent from a year ago.
- Durable goods orders in January were up 9.3 percent from a year earlier.
- Inflation is tame, and long-term interest rates remain low.

The details from Bloomberg’s are here.

But for those who will take any opportunity to heap blame and withhold credit from this President:

Posted on March 10th, 2010 by jack-of-all-thumbs
Filed under: Rants and Musings | 5 Comments »