Category: FWIW

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Choices, Choices. . .

Since I have used and really appreciated a Huskvarna machine in the past (OK, so it was my Wonder Woman’s super capable Huskvarna sewing machine, still. . . ), I am strongly leaning that way for my next chainsaw purchase, but for homeowner use, on a small lot, should the significant price differential between a Husky and, say, a Poulan be a factor in choosing between them? Keep in mind, I will likely also be using a chainsaw mill for much of my use of the new chainsaw (means replacing whatever crosscut chain comes with it with a ripping chain, of course).

This isn’t an immediate concern, since we are awaiting a place in the local reliable tree guy’s schedule to poll some trees and take down others.

Oh, and Stihl is right out of the running, since, though we actually have a local dealer, the prices for Stihls at the local dealer are even more than comparable Huskvarnas. *smh* Apparently one just cannot get the “street prices” HUskys are available for with a Stihl. (Or. . . maybe not. I just noticed the local dealer is having a sale through Fathers Day. . . Hmmm. . . Nah, the only ones at “reduced prices” are unsuitable for my needs.)

Also been needing a small chipper-shredder for a while, now. And then there’re the upgrades I need to make in my charcoal making process. . . and. . . and. . .

Looks like I’ll be too busy for a while to even think about shuffling off this mortal coil. ?

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Why Stable Marriages Are More and More Rarely Depicted as Normative in the Media

An acquaintance’s recent comment about “stable marriages” recalled to mind a conversation with Son&Heir about the Decalogue and the differences between laws that are related to acts that are malum in se (wrong in and of themselves) and those that are merely about acts that are malum prohibitum (offenses ONLY because there is a law prohibiting the acts).

The Decalogue deals only with those things God defined as malum un se. After some discussion, we ended up classifying the prohibitions in the Decalogue into purely relating to God and those that governed relations between humans–number five “honor father & mother” probably leans toward only interpersonal relations. Of the five commandments (the last five “thou shalt nots”) that are clearly in the latter category forbidding murder, false witness, adultery, theft, and lusting after that which belongs to another, one can easily see where each of those acts either directly violates the rights of another person or, as in the last commandment, leads almost inexorably to such violation. Of course, each of these malum in se behaviors is deprecated by our society today. Murder? Abortion is celebrated by many. False witness? Heck, it’s become routine practice among large segments of _law enforcement_. Adultery? *smh* Normalized and even celebrated. Theft? Quotidian practice again for law enforcement (can anyone say “asset forfeiture” absent ANY conviction of a crime?). Envying the possession of others to a degree that qualifies to “lusting after that which belongs to others”? *cough* Bernie Sanders-Occassional Cortex-et al*cough*

It is no wonder at all, at all, that Hollyweird in general, the Mass MEdia Podpeople Hivemind, Academia Nut Fruitcake Bakeries, DC and most local and state governments militate against public display of the Decalogue.

“Stable marriages” are a slap in the face to a society that worships only self. Stable marriages require an honorable committment to one’s vows, freely given, integrity, among other virtues deprecated or openly derided, even rabidly attacked, by those committed to their polar opposites.

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Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.”

Of all the systems devised by humans to deal with ethics and morality, Pragmatism, as a system is IMO, least dependent on emotions and biases, but Pragmatism fails at the point where incomplete, inaccurate human knowledge intersects with partial and faulty understanding of that incomplete and inaccurate knowledge. Other system that are more dependent on preconceptual biases (Pragmatism has some of its own, you know) and that either assume more knowledge than is available or are even more blind to their own misunderstandings are even less appealing that Pragmatism.

Unless one is both omniscient and infinitely wise, the best one can hope for is that one’s own understanding of circumstances and consequences is partial, and one is as likely as not, if one relies only on one’s own knowledge and understanding, to be quite wrong in predicting ultimate outcomes. Short-term outcomes? One might have a better chance, but relying on guidance from Someone who knows juuuuust might be a better idea, hmm?

Oh, for the record, I choose my guidance wrong far more often than I should. *sigh*

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Has It Been THAT Long?

Yes, it has.

I put a new enameled steel roof on TWC Central six years ago, just a year after a neighbor two doors down had a new asphalt shingle roof put on. Our new rood has proven to be a Good Thing: improved energy use, DRY (really solidly improved weather resistance), and–a surprise to us–quieter than the old roof (maybe the insulating gap helps there? *shrugs*).

Oh, and the neighbor with a seven-year-old asphalt shingle roof? Had it replaced this week.

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Food Fun

I’ve been enjoying making meals for my Wonder Woman while I abstain from food for a short while — short 3 day fast. A “keto” regimen really ameliorates any food cravings. extra fun: cleaning out and reorganizing the food pantry and reorganizing the kitchen stores, as well. *heh* I’ve not even been tempted to plan meals from the pantry items.

Not eating meals, snacking, etc., has also freed up time to do more things like working on the food pantry. Another thing about doing this coming off a keto regimen is that I have no “sugar lows” and activity–like some exercise in addition to climbing up and down a stepladder to rearrange dry goods and canned goods *heh*–levels remain easy to maintain. . . so far (a little over halfway through my selected time frame). In fact, the keto regimen has apparently been really helpful in moderating my blood sugar levels (at least according to both my last labs and amelioration — more like elimination, actually — of symptoms such as occasional dizziness, headaches, or unusual tiredness after going without food for a while). Regarding blood sugar issues: a couple of years ago, my doctor expressed concern about elevated levels of fasting blood sugar — not diabetic levels, sort of pre-pre-diabetic levels. The keto regimen is one of the things I adopted to deal with that issue (on my own; I represented it to my doctor as “eliminating bread, potatoes, etc. from my diet. *heh* I know the bias my doctor has expressed about dietary fats — another story where my choices have born results that contradict “received wisdom” *heh*).

Anywho. . . Enjoying the time being “foodless” a lot more than in past times I chose to do this.

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Drive-By Food Post

Our oldest cat, something like 17-18 years old (a very young cat when he showed up and demanded to be let in to become a part of our household) has become more and more finicky about what he eats, lately. I’ve finally found an expensive dry cat food (he’s even been known to turn his nose up at canned cat food he previously ate with relish) that is clamed to have no grains, etc, etc., that he finds irresistible. Each time I dish some out for him, I am tempted to try some. Yes. It does smell delicious.

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Autocorrect

Was out and about earlier this AM, and at one point needed to navigate on foot past a guy using a leaf blower, so pulled out my ear plugs, inserted them, and walked on by. I noticed as I passed that the 30-something leaf blower dude was wearing absolutely no hearing protection whatsoever. Damaging his own hearing much? “Well, that problem won’t last long,” I thought to myself.

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All Night Long. . .

All night long, it seemed my Wonder Woman’s phone just would not stop with that annoying weather alert. *heh* Constant warnings to “seek shelter,” etc. “Stop it! We’re sheltered already!” 😉

HEAVY rainfall over almost all of America’s Third World County™ yesterday resulted in many of the back roads being flooded out overnight, fords washed out, and even some state roads rendered impassable as roadways collapsed (largely because of poor initial construction, poorly-maintained, IMO). Rural schools with more than half their students coming in from areas closed off from safe travel resulted in countywide school closings. Rescues of contenders for Darwin Awards weren’t many, but a few Darwin Award aspirants did decide to drive into raging waters. Silly puppies.

Some folks around TWC Central measured 5” in their rain guages. I can believe it. Our street was flooded and the recently-covered public works excavation replacing their leaking water line needs to be repacked. We didn’t even try to measure, because at least half of our precipitation seemed to be in the form of hail. 100% coverage of our lawn to the extent that it looked more like snowfall. Really beat up our impatiens. *shrugs* They’ll live or they won’t. Short power outages, no biggie, throughout the county. Touchdown of two funnels juuuust over the county line to the east.

Fun times.

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Florida Man: Gator Toss

I can see that. I did something similar (though, sadly, harsher), a couple of decades ago, with an American Pit Bull Terrier (whose owner rightly should have been shot) when it had been “sicced” onto my son’s dog. Turns out, choking out a PBT can cause them to release (glad it had a very stout collar on, though). PBT survived. Son’s dog–a large Lab/Shepherd mix–was all, “So, what was that all about, anyway?”–injuries minor. Really calm, almost phlegmatic dog.

(Even sadder, the owner continued to be irresponsible and someone else ended up shooting the dog. . . though not the owner.)

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“Type 1” Bureaucrats Only Want to Do Their Jobs

Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people”:

First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.

Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.

The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.

For the last three years, contacts with the public works department here at Third World County™ Central have been rather. . . pleasant, ever since the new director of public works has come on board. It’s exceedingly pleasant to deal with a member of ANY government bureaucracy who just wants to do what his job description asks of him and actually behave as a public servant. Heck, I’ve seen the guy actually get down and use a shovel himself to help get things done faster. Shocking, I know!

Kicker: he’s available, and pleasant to deal with even on a Sunday, and even via his personal cell phone. (And a good thing, too, because the one remaining sore point–poor funding for public works–means that public works has had to keep patching a water line that should be replaced. False economy, of course, because multiple calls for water leaks on public works’ own supply line have ended up costing more than replacing the line once would have been. That’s not on the public works director. It’s on cirty government and its other, non-infrastructure priorities.)

 

Note: None of the above addresses the issue of whether any given bureaucracy has a legitimate reason for existence. That’s a whole different critter.