Friday, September 28, 2012

how to watch political news shows

begin by assuming that all the talking heads are lying to you ... the politicians, the media anchors, the analysts ... all of them ... understand that they all receive talking points ... nobody is speaking off the cuff ... they only look like they are thinking ... this is why many responses begin with the word: "so" ... the more they think they know, the more subtle they pretend to be ... and the subject is never addressed directly ...

now, your job is to catch the lie ...

the newbies (irregular guest or novice politicians) are always fun ... they have a tendency to veer off message and to get excited ... saying things that cause looks of alarm from the others ... you will never hear a veteran politician or newspaper correspondent say the phrase "911 was an inside job" ... but you might hear it from an excited newbie ... also, watch multiple networks, both left and right wing shows (ex PBS and FOX), just like you would multiple sports games, and you will still hear the same talking points from both sides ...

it is all a charade ... if you want to know the direction of the country, regardless of which party is in office, simply make a list of all the unspeakable subjects ... those silent answers are the agreed upon path.

see: "no party for you"

Thursday, September 27, 2012

hamburger with salt on dry toast

my two favorite choices for dinner and losing weight are:

1. one 1/3 lb fried or grilled hamburger with salt on dry toast
2. one can of chunky soup with four pieces of dry toast

both choices have low gas/electricity cost for meal preparation, and big hunger satisfaction for low caloric value ... it seems that condiments have always only been there to encourage faster eating and over eating (just like high fructose corn syrup makes you thirstier) ... try a "dry burger" and see if you don't find it juicier and more satisfying than one like you used to eat 'em ...

i ate one of those two choices for dinner, had corn flakes with whole milk for breakfast, and drank ice water, and lost 60 lbs in 8 months ... yes, i was moving furniture at that time, but i really believe that this meal regimen helped as well ... there is no thinking involved, it is easy to stick too, you eat the same thing, all the time, and the portions are controlled for you ... that is the key part ... in much of the world, that would still be living like a king.

if the cows-to-truck ratio falls from 142:1 to 10:1 as mentioned in a previous posting, then that dry burger at home will still cost you $25-$30 ... that might be affordable for some on a friday night, beer drinking, radio jamming, upper-middle class kind of way, but will be devastating for just about everybody else.

be ready and able to run when you have to.

i lost 60, re-gained 20, and aim to lose those 20 again this winter...i will keep you informed.

Monday, September 24, 2012

cows babysitting

it is true. cows will babysit eachother's calves ... one cow will watch a group of calves while the other mothers grab a bite to eat somewhere else ... it is obvious when you see it, and a little unsettling too ...

what i want to know is...is picking the sitter a group decision? ...and do they take turns? or do, like, four cows run and the fifth cow not paying attention gets stuck with all the calves .... hahahahah

i suddenly feel like i am in a farside comic strip ...

well, it turns out that i have been seriouly slacking ... i only just counted the herd today, and i have been back for two weeks ... when in fact i should be counting the herd daily ... [the rancher's wife] says that once i begin counting everybody everyday, i will learn to recognize every animal, and know which calf belongs to which mother, who is missing, and who is the trouble maker, and who are best friends, etc...

i will investigate this cow babysitter selection process and report my findings.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

142 cows / one 2012 pick-up truck

[one local old-timer] told me that in 1949 the price of one pick-up truck with deluxe cab and heater was 10 cows ... he said that his 2012 pick-up truck cost him 142 cows ... imagine, if we were to return to the 10:1 ratio from today's 142:1 ratio, then the cost of beef at the supermarket would increase 14 times over ... that would be $100/lb or more for beef ... most restaurants have a markup of 300%, which would mean a $75-$100 cheeseburger at a fast food joint ... or a stew pot with one pound of beef serving four or more people on a special occasion only ...

today's silver spot price is about $35/oz ... 35x14= $490 which isn't really that far away from my ultimate price target of $599/oz for silver ...

with a shortage of rain, a shortage of hay, and an ocean of quantitative easing by the fed, i expect that we will soon see dramatic commodity price inflation.

Friday, September 21, 2012

200 bales of hay

today i helped load and unload 200 two-string 70 # bales of alfalfa hay...

for the loading, it was me and [the rancher's stepson] on top of the trailer while the alfalfa farmer's worker used a tractor with a hay grapple attachment (or hay bale stacker) to lift 6 bales at a time to us ... we simply repositioned the bales on each level and built our way up 6 levels ... the first level had 38 bales turned up on their side, and then each of the next 5 levels had 32 bales, regular way, and criss-crossing each level, for a total of 198 bales sewn together on one twenty foot trailer ... it wasn't bad ... but i cringed when i heard that those hay stackers are a new gizmo and that [the rancher's stepson] has in the past done this same job by hand ...

the unloading was equally cherry ... a best case scenario ... there were three of us for unloading at the first location ... and four of us at the second location ... the fourth guy was a new friend of [the rancher's stepson], and had just moved to town from connecticut ... he learned today why ranchers wear long sleeve shits after he scraped and poked his arms with the hay ... i understood quickly after i arrived here that the long sleeves are protection from things that can poke you and protection from the sun ... the hat is additional skin cancer prevention ... or simply, to keep you from burning your neck and ears ...

i grew up in florida ... land of sun and beaches ... and yet i never really used sunglasses until i moved out here ... you've got to have a hat, sunglasses, and at least 30 spf sunscreen or else you will cook.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

divining a horse's age

materials: one gold ring (ex. man's wedding band), one strand of hair from the horse, either mane or tail (preferably with root), one glass of water filled halfway.

procedure: thread the horse hair through the gold ring and hold from the top allowing the ring to rest at the bottom of the loop of hair...lower the ring into the half-filled glass and suspend about one inch above the water ... remain as still as you can ... the ring will begin to swing ... count the number of times the ring hits the side of the glass for equivalent years of age for the horse.

i have been told that witching for water, either for waterlines or well placement, is fact and not fiction around here ... witching a horse's age?  i might need to see it a few more times ...

salt and water

two things you've probably never heard of:

1. dowsing for a grave site
2. putting salt on watermelon

and yet, somehow, i'm the strange one out here.
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below are two excerpts to consider.

"Dowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites,[1] and many other objects and materials, as well as so-called currents of earth radiation (Ley lines), without the use of scientific apparatus. Dowsing is also known as divining (especially in reference to interpretation of results), [2] doodlebugging[3] (particularly in the United States, in searching for petroleum[4]) or (when searching specifically for water) water finding, water witching or water dowsing.[5] There is no accepted scientific rationale behind dowsing, and there is no scientific evidence that it is ffective."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing

"The first time that I had a slice of watermelon with salt on it, I was skeptical. At the time, an acquaintance of mine insisted that it would make the watermelon sweeter, better. I gave it a try and I was an instant convert to salting my melon. I’ll eat watermelon (and other melons) without that pinch of salt, of course, but my friend was right: watermelon is better with salt."
http://bakingbites.com/2011/08/does-salt-make-watermelon-sweeter/
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i say, regarding the dowsing, a lot of people here swear by it ... ranchers dowsing waterlines ... i have heard one oldtimer claim his grandson can dowse grave sites ... supposedly, the d.o.t. uses it too ... i will let you know when i experience it first hand ... same with salting watermelon.

trust silence

i noticed a while back that, out here, i snap to the sound of a vehicle before i see it ...
the silence is so vast, the sound of a motor really stands out ...

i thought about that one night when i was feeling a little apprehensive ... alone at the
ranch, in the dark, miles from neighbors ... but then i remembered the truck example ...
and i thought, why be afraid of seeing something that i have not yet heard or felt? ...

silence is like a web of motion detectors ... trusting silence is the opposite of fearing
darkness

Rule 1 - trust silence...you are safe in silence
Rule 2 - when there is noise, listen, don't look

this attitude helps when you find yourself in vast darkness ...

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

starring cats

back in august i found some cats down in the basement...after i cleaned the basement, they
moved upstairs to the shop...i have not yet cleaned the shop...so they are "hiding out" there...

but i did clean the freezer room...which i have a direct view of from the kitchen window ...
it goes:  kitchen...shop...freezer room...so, whenever i am standing at the kitchen sink i can
see through the shop to the freezer room...and to all the activities going on there...

you see, now that it is clean, there is space to play, bounce, frolic, and do what kittens
do...and i placed a cat bed in direct eye shot of the window (what i really need to do is
to put up streaming video from a webcam or something)....it is quite entertaining ... there
are four kittens and one mama cat...they are mostly feral, with a cat bed ... caught
between two realities...one of crunchies, fresh water and a litter box...the other, self-
sufficiency... hunt, kill, eat...reality...

yesterday i saw mama cat carrying a large grasshopper in her mouth outside...she took it
inside to the kittens...the four of them were playing in the cat bed...when she gave them
the grasshopper, three of them went into action, became killers, eating it...but one just
stretched out in the bed...looked lazily over at the others...couldn't care less ...hahhahaha
...you gotta think that mama cat thinks i've corrupted her child ... hahahha

pack and bag

last weekend i purchased a Teton Elk Hunter -35F sleeping bag...it rocks...and a hiker's
backpack...the Kelty Redcloud 90 which features the CloudLock 2 adjustable suspension ...
hahhahah....i never even thought about backpacks and bags before this past summer...i did
one tour with the forest service fighting wildland fires and know that you gotta have that
waistbelt and back support...you would die without it....

i've been sleeping in the bag every night since i got it...figured, i now don't need to
worry about finding enough blankets...half tempted to pack my new backpack, and everything
that doesn't fit throwing out...i hate having more stuff than i can move by myself in one trip...

t-shirts and jeans from a vending machine...then what would we need? just barracks and a
smartphone?...that would be ideal, i just don't want big brother

i spent five or six weeks out here at the ranch last winter...but last winter was very
mild...my gut said so then, and i saw a meteorologist explaining why a couple of days
ago...

the year before last, 2 years ago, it registered -34F and was colder than anchorage alaska
that day...

i should probably still get some insulated boots...when i purchased the pack and bag, [the
rancher] thought i should get boots before the pack...i chose the pack first because i do
still have some nice redwings i used with the forest service...figured, i could
double/triple sock it ... but they might not be exactly water proof for snow...hmmm

Saturday, September 15, 2012

no party for you

You are not welcome in either the republican or democratic party if you are:

against dhs
against tsa
against patriot act i, ii
against ndaa 2012
against iraq war
against afghanistan war
against guantanamo
against abu ghraib
against bush
against obama
against public-private partnerships
against israel
against fascism
against communism
against religion
against drones
against federalizing police
against warmongering
against attacking iran
against antagonizing russia
against antagonizing china
against antagonizing venezula
against antagonizing north korea
against sacrificing our troops
believe 911 was an inside job

Monday, September 10, 2012

long overdue visit

wow...so, i started with going to visit the grandparents...it'd been more than 20 years, sorry to say...i caught their 66th wedding anniversary...had the mono-a-mono talk with grand-dad...he reminded me that our first family ancestor in america arrived in 1630 and that every first son since then has had a first son...for something like fourteen generations...and that i am holding up progress...

it was very green...misty, foggy over the mountain in the mornings...or "ridge" as my grandmother has apparently said... and wet, even when sunny...trees everywhere...college town...i ate and drank well..i watched the republican national convention...i stayed at my step-mother's...argued about politics and the future price of silver (100 then 599)...saw my uncle and his wife too...listened to him and my grandfather discuss military medal clusters that are available if you call the dealer at home on sunday...

i then got to visit my mom and brother...watched the democratic national convention...watched down by law and the rum diaries...swam in the atlantic during heavy surf...got treated to a bunch of free over the top pampering...ate well, drank well..saw my mom, who never drinks, get wasted...which was a first...she giggles a whole lot...

just got back...i stopped at walmart and bought 60 or so cans of soup...then visited with [the rancher and his wife] before coming out to the ranch...yes, i enjoyed the visit very much...i am now grooving  to infidels, man of peace...got a hot cup of coffee...think i'll light some incense...