Thursday, November 29, 2012

everybody to new mexico (the hippies are coming)

"A New Mexico Drug Policy Alliance proposal to erase criminal penalties for small-scale possession of marijuana is on the Thursday, Nov. 29, agenda for the Legislature’s interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee."

..."allow adults to possess up to an ounce of marijuana with no repercussions and impose civil fines for up to 8 ounces."

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/112812Pot

... and according to KOB 4 (tom joles), anything more than 8 ounces to infinity would be a misdemeanor with a max penalty of $1000.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

three on the tree (well update)

i heard once that people survived the great depression by working together ... one family might score some meat, and invite the entire building to dinner ... while another family had the only functioning bathroom, so everybody would use the facilities there.

as you know, two weeks ago the well went dry ... today the rancher's brother loaned us a spare pickup truck and his water hauling trailer ... it can suck up 500 gallons of water in 5 minutes ... i can now haul water, myself ... and we can wait until spring to fix the well, if we must.

this also means that i can go cut wood ... the rancher left me his chainsaw the last time he was here ... and now i have a truck too ... it is a late model 4 wheel drive chevy, with a 3-speed manual column shifter ... that is another first for me ... i gave it a try, seems to be fine.

the rancher's wife says she learned to drive with three on the column ... she said if i show up tomorrow at their other residence, i can work in the yard to earn some gas money too.

so there you have it ... all the needs have been met ...
water, cows, wood, house, me.
thanks to the rancher, his wife, and the rancher's brother.
three on the tree.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

new old-timer's phrase (new to me)

"going to see a cat about a dog" means going to take a piss ... hhahaha ... i'm pretty sure ... i need to verify.

whereas, to kill a dog means to take a shit. hahahhh.
who comes up with this stuff?!

Saturday, November 24, 2012

fracking, dripping faucets, and pilot lights

we've all seen those videos where people light on fire the water coming from their kitchen faucet ... blamed on fracking ... well, now we are seeing homes blow-up in the midwest ... and i am wondering  ... are they dripping their faucets? do they have a gas appliance with a pilot light? ... and could the same fumes (methane) which are combustible in those videos accumulate in a home with a dripping faucet?


Methane:
  • the main component of natural gas
  • at room temperature and standard pressure, methane is a colorless, odorless gas.
  • methane is not toxic; however, it is extremely flammable and may form explosive mixtures with air.
  • as a gas it is flammable only over a narrow range of concentrations (5–15%) in air.
  • methane gas explosions are responsible for many deadly mining disasters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane

CAN YOU DO THIS WITH YOUR TAP WATER?
http://youtu.be/U01EK76Sy4A

finding linny boyette

"that black guy in the today show audience."

i think it is hilarious ... it's like find waldo ... only it's linny ... he's probably been there longer than matt lauer.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Linny-Boyette-That-Black-Guy-in-the-Today-Show-Audience/186277367843

Friday, November 23, 2012

the cat preserve, a shared residence

it's twilight ... dusk ... and the cats are enjoying the ranch house yard, like they do every morning and evening ... playing chase, and tag ... doing ninja kicks ... and stalking each other. i have never seen cats this energetic before ... they literally play games ... mama cat will lead the troop to some spot in the yard, and everyone will play there ... maybe, climb a tree ... pick up a rock ... chase your brother ... whoa ... watch out ... her comes mom ...

they were here first ... they are tolerating my presence ... hahahah ... when i sleep in the back room, they are in the room next door, and there is no door between us ... they stay in their cat-pile on their cat bed, watching me go to bed ... just eyes in the dark ... (i use a flashlight) ... then they get up and have a bite to eat, or a drink ... i hear them in the dark ... all pitter-patter ... slurp slurp slurp ... crunch crunch ...

but i aim to win them over ...

yesterday for thanksgiving i gave them three scrambled, uncooked eggs ... just golden, sweet, gooyness ... and, of course, they loved it ...

i thought mama cat was going to lick the color off the plate.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

well went dry

the well collapsed and/or went dry ... it is a very old, uncased well ... and most drilling operations will not touch an old, uncased well ... this one needs to be cased, and then deepened by another 100 ft ... the rancher thinks he has found somebody to do the job, but they cannot come out until next spring ...

for the past week, we've been hauling water for the cows, while trying to dig out the bottom of the well with these contraptions called bailers ... we were not successful ... [the rancher] thinks he will have to sell most, if not all, the livestock ... the rancher's brother is thinking about doing the same thing, but for more general reasons ... too old, too tired, too little rain ...

needless to say, all water at the ranch must now be hauled from the brother's well [X] miles down the road ... and be brought into the house by buckets ... tonight i bathed with water heated in a kettle on a wood burning stove  ...

i hope the rancher can work something out with his brother ... i told him i'd watch all the remaining critters he and his brother keep ... i really feel for him ... this is a terrible situation.

either way, a winter at the ranch without running water, will make this experience more extreme.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

al roker and the christmas star

still working on the well after three days ...

al roker (nbc) was just talking about lighting the star on top of the christmas tree at rockefeller center ... he said ... at 9 o'clock, the star gets lit ... at 9-0-5, i get lit ... hahahah

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

media confession (flavored)

this morning, on nbc's today show, [a journalist] revealed that fruit pieces in popular breakfast cereals, waffles, pancakes, etc ... are fake ... the pieces are in fact flavored balls of sugar and oil ... and whenever you see the word "flavored" it is a magical word which means "true but not true." he highlighted the contrast between the fruit images on the front of the packages versus the ingredients on the back of the packages ... and apparently some of those fruit images are suggested supplements to the cereal ... that you can add ... not what is actually in the box ... hahahhaha ...

that is called a lie ... fresh fruit does not equal sweetened, flavored balls of oil ... but it is legal.

everything is a lie ...

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

wpa-solar nm

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student loans, gone.
auto loans, gone.
home mortgage, gone.
payday loans, gone.
delinquent taxes, gone.

also gone: all personal possessions (car, home, clothes, etc.)

we will train you, clothe you, shelter you, insure you, feed you.
you will learn and labor.
no pay for 4 years.

... but at the end you will be well positioned for the future we build today ... and you will have earned the fresh start you crave.

we are seeking 250,000 enlistees to join wpa-solar nm ... oceans of solar in new mexico, baby!

that's the future i see.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

first snow 2012

winter is here ... last night's low was 20F, and it snowed ... about 1/4" ...

i moved my subzero sleeping bag to the couch, next to the wood burning stove ... i needed to check on the fire during the night any way, and why not? ... i was pretty comfortable ...

i think i got up three times to tend to the fire and check that the faucets were still dripping ... though i don't know what i would do if they weren't ... look for a hair dryer real quick, maybe ...

winter came on real quick ... last week it was 70 or 80F and now it is wood burning stove, dripping faucets weather ... i still need to go get wood ... a neighbor/relation to [the rancher] has offered to take me with him the next time he goes to cut wood ... i'll certainly take him up on that ... my little four-banger wouldn't hold much ...

it's strange when you move to the country and see only pickup trucks ... and there you are zinging along in a city vehicle ... with city tires ... and city ground clearance ... just an accident waiting to happen, right?

i helped move the rest of the rancher's winter hay today ... it was me, the rancher's stepson, the rancher, the hay guy, his son, and his grandson. since the rancher is currently without a truck due to those elk, the hay guy came through with delivery of the hay ... very generous of him and all his ... they even helped us unload and stack it ... the job was done very quickly, which was good since it was rather cool out.

the hay guy had a ford f-250 diesel with a 120 gal tank ... yep, 120 ... he said he could go 2000 miles between fill ups ... now that is country.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

biden's notes

today (8nov12) on inside edition they discussed brittney spears and her role as a judge on some singing show ... the hosts were asking whether or not she had an earpiece and was being told what to say ...

funny thing is ... [my brother] thought he could see an earpiece on both obama and romney during the third debate ... and remember biden's notes? ... (oct 11, 2012; vice presidential debate) ... was he actually taking notes from somebody in his ear?

and [my mom] thought she could see something in obama's ears during the dnc ... some strange bumps on the ears.

does everybody now have an earpiece and a handler?

















links my brother sent:

Third presidential debate (Part 3): America's role
http://youtu.be/VE7Z7-aztOw
strange bumps left ear

Obama's ear piece in the 3rd debate and his head scar ( = brain surgery?)
http://youtu.be/mIdxclx0b0s

growing a story (PR)

a press release is fake news that is pushed to become real ... it is written by a pr agent or the subject itself ... it is an attempt to seed the news or to cultivate an interest ... a pr agent will often write the article, distribute the article, and nurture its acceptance through a network of personal contacts ... it is growing a lie.

"Churnalism is a form of journalism in which press releases, wire stories and other forms of pre-packaged material are used to create articles in newspapers and other news media."

"The decline of original journalism has been associated with a corresponding rise in public relations."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churnalism

Where are you on the spectrum?

subject / pr agent / reporter / journalist / analyst / activist / leader

a consumer?

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

roadkill-elk

a couple of weeks ago [the rancher] went elk hunting with one of his stepsons ... sounds like they had a really good time ... lots of bonding stuff ... but no elk.

then this past weekend [the rancher] was headed out here, to the ranch, for his nearby deer hunt ... and on the way he runs into two elk ... literally ... may have totaled his truck ... was able to limp it back to his other residence with two elk in the bed, but it died there.

[the rancher] kept the larger of the elk, and gave the other away ... the one that i helped him dress and quarter took us all day ... then we brought it out to the ranch the following morning ... it was probably a 600 lb cow (female) and yielded 150 lb of meat ... we ate the neck last night ... [rancher's wife] cooked it in a an electric roaster of some sort ... it was damn good.

the only store nearby (about 10 miles) has elk jerky for sale... it is $8.25 for 1.825 oz ... or $4.52/oz.

it was the first time i have ever helped dress any animal ... the skinning takes quite a while ... the gutting, less ... but it was the weight of the animal, as with everything on a ranch, that was the persistent issue.

Friday, November 2, 2012

a proper host

al roker on nbc is such a riot ... today they were showcasing the star buck's  coffee cup design for the holidays ... they were asking whether or not it was too early to roll out the holiday decor ... one male co-host said that christmas decor was acceptable beginning the first day following halloween ... the female hosts were saying there wasn't enough cream and sugar for their display/samples ... al roker was saying that a real friend would have added a shot of rum to the coffee display/samples ... hahahha.

According to Wikipedia:
A Carajillo is a Spanish drink combining coffee with brandy or rum.
There are many different ways of making a carajillo, ranging from black coffee with the spirit simply poured in, to heating the spirit with lemon, sugar and cinnamon and adding the coffee last.
A similar Italian drink is known as caffè corretto.
The American version of a Spanish Coffee uses a heated sugar rimmed Spanish coffee mug 3/4oz rum and 1/2oz triple sec. The drink is then flamed to carmalize the sugar. 2oz coffee liquour is then added which puts out the flame, and then it is topped off with 3-4oz of coffee, and whipped cream.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carajillo

mmm ... i think al was right.