Sour Grapes

 Congressional Democrats really showed their asses last night.  During Donald Trump's address to the joint session, they couldn't stand up and applaud for cancer patients,  or the Riley family.  Rep Al Green was ejected from the floor for causing a disruption. The entire display was simply sullen and juvenile. They hate the President, so no one else should be happy, either.  It's quite disingenuous.

I didn't watch the speech, only catching highlights on the morning news, but it seems as if the Dems are a sullen lot. If I have time later this week, I'll write my Dem congress-critter a note, telling him to remove his head from his ass and start representing the people 

In the meantime I have life to live, so I'd best get on with it.

Milking Goats

 Having an afternoon cocktail, and surfing YouTube, I was watching Mike Rowe milk goats, and I was reminded of the time I milked goats for a few months.  Well, one goat, at least.

When the kids were small, we had a hobby farm, and with the cows, and later the horses, we had a few goats, mainly to control the brush.  Goats are hell on brush, especially the kind of brush that has stickers. For example, a goat will eat a rose bush right down to the roots.  Ask me how I know that.

Anyway, during what I call our Earth Mother stage, we had a few goats.  One of them, a sweet little doe with floppy ears.  A nubian.  Someone told us that she would make a great milk goat.  So, we bred her for milk.  About that same time, an infant was born down the bayou who did not tolerate cows milk.   We arranged a swap with the parents so that we would trade one days supply of goat milk for one days supply of cows milk.  They were milking a nice Jersey cow.  This worked out for a while, and we were overloaded with milk.  The infant thrived, and we did too.

If you have never made biscuits with milk straight off the doe, you don't know what you are missing.  Goat milk is naturally homogenized, that is, the bitter fat does not separate from the milk.  Anytime you make biscuits with 20% butterfat, the biscuits are magical. So are the pancakes, and any other bread you might like to bake.

Mardi Gras

 It's Tuesday, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, Mardi Gras.  Across Louisiana, couriers are roaming the countryside, begging for chickens, rice and veggies to make a big gumbo. In New Orleans, the festivities are ramping up to a fever pitch that will culminate at midnight, when the parties will be over and the Lenten season will begin.

Heavy weather across much of Louisiana night dampen the parades, but it certainly will not dampen the festivities.

Belle and I will stay, for the most part, on our little acre today.  We will leave the reveling for the younger set. Even though we don't participate, we are with them in spirit.

SSA

 I was in town this morning and head to swing by the Social Security office to take care of a little business.  What a clusterfuck.  Evidently, you need an appointment to get anything resembling prompt service.  The office had eighteen (18) numbered windows for customer service, and there were no more than a dozen of us waiting.  They were using exactly two (2) of those windows for customer service.  After an hour-and-a-half, I simply left.  Had other things to do.

I'm busy the rest of the week, but I'll call them when things calm down and make an appointment.

I ought to DOGE their asses.  

Finding OUt

 There is a lot of finding-out going on today. Ukraine President Zelenskey came to the White House today. He found out that Trump does not suffer fools lightly. A while new chapter in US diplomacy began today. FAFO.  I think it is encouraging.  Encouraging Zelenskey to get his head out of his ass, and 

I also did a little finding-out today, in the liquor store.  For a couple of years, my go-to house bottle was Evan Williams Bottled in Bond.  It's an altogether workman-like whiskey, just what you would expect from a four-year-old bourbon.

Decades ago, I drank Benchmark, the economy brand of Buffalo Trace.  Today in the liquor store, I was perusing bottles and saw a Benchmark Single Barrel.  The hell you say. At $25 and 95 proof, that may not be a bid idea.

We will crack that one open tonight and see how it fares.  I doubt I'll be disappointed.

Carnival

 It's Mardi Gras season in Louisiana, and the final days are upon us. Ash Wednesday is next week and so is Fat Tuesday.

Belle decided to make a King cake for lunch. King Cakes are normally sweet pastries, but Belle decided to make this one savory.  She used canned crescent rolls as her dough, then stuffed it with a mixture of boudin and cheese.  Gave it an egg wash, then put it in the oven.  When it came out, she topped it with red pepper jelly and topped that with bacon bits.

Sweet and savory in the same bite, it was a nice lunch.

I heard a pundit today call the Democrats the Party of Government Excess (POGE).  They are a bunch of poges, and I need to write my Dem congressman.  He needs to do a better job of representing me.

Doxxing ICE

 I'm sure by now, you have all seen the outrage over the ICE agents pictures being circulated and tacked to telephone poles.  It's tacky.  And, it may be illegal, I don't know.

I worked in small -town law enforcement for 37 years.  And, before you consider it like Mayberry RFD, consider that I carried three of my buddies to their graves.  Small-town law enforcement is still dangerous. There was no reason to doxx us, everyone in town who cared knew who we were.  It was no secret, our wives, our children, out homes.  Not a secret.

Sometimes my kids would wonder why I didn't have their pictures on my desk.  I had to explain that I didn't want to make it easy for the bad guys.  It was no secret, but there is no sense making it easy.

I do have the feeling that today's law enforcement is too scared.  I know the job is tough, but it is the job.  If the doxxing is illegal, charge the ones who do it. Simply cite the law, get a warrant, and put their asses in jail. Then, get on with doing the job.

Landman

 Have y'all be watching the series Landman? Billy Bob Thornton plays a landman in the Permian Basin.  A lot of it is drama and bullshit, but some of it is pretty good.  Hard truths.

There is a great clip here about alternative energy.  It's something to think about.

Accountability

 Watching the federal workers freak out over basic accountability is both amusing and disheartening.

This ain't that hard, folks.  When I was a cop, I had to fill out a patrol log every day.  I got my screwing-off time like everyone else, but I had to account for my time.  In my plain-clothes assignment, I was still accountable for the miles I put on a vehicle and to keep my supervisor off my back.

Even in the military, as an enlisted soldier, I had to keep my sergeant happy.  As an officer, I had to keep the colonel happy and supervise the sergeants. I didn't have to be an asshole, but I knew how to be when it was necessary.

The idea that federal employees are unable to provide basic accountability is both amusing and an indictment of their supervisors. Federal employment is not an entitlement program. This ain't hard, folks.  Earn your paycheck.