Chirping

Belle heard a chirping noise int he house we couldn't identify.

Turns out, it was the smoke detector in the front bedroom.

We've lived here 14 years and didn't know that we had a smoke detector in the front bedroom.

That's a pretty good battery.

Privilege

I'm so damn tire of hearing about privilege.

Darlin', there is not a straight guy in the world who could tell you what outfit you wore Wednesday, much less at the last "event".    We're just glad you showed up looking reasonably attractive.

Don't give me "male privilege" crap for societal strictures that are enforced by  women.

Finally Friday

We worked late last  night, so we can take off today.   In truth, I go my 40 hours done sometime yesterday, long before we got off.

But, I like being off on Friday, even if it comes so infrequently.  Being off on Friday lets me get a start on my weekend, getting the chores done so that I can fully enjoy Saturday and Sunday.

This morning I went to the Planning Commission and submitted the plans and drawings for the shop.  Wrote them a check, and I should get the permits in a week or so.

Came home and mowed grass.  The yard looks good and this might be the last time I mow it until Spring.

Started digging in the 'fridge, and found that leftover roast from Sunday.  I know what to do with that, so I cut up some carrots and potatoes, and have it simmering int he pot.

Every time I walk past it this afternoon, I'll give it a stir.  It's smelling good int he kitchen.

Now, to do some piddling chores that I've been putting off.

What A Weazel

Not my words, Ed Driscoll's.  But it appears that Jim Comey had already decided to exonerate Hillary even before the investigation was complete.

WE HAVE THE WORST POLITICAL CLASS IN AMERICAN HISTORY. FBI Confirms: Yes, James Comey Finished His Draft of the Speech Absolving Hillary Clinton Months Before Concluding the Investigation.

You might recall that summer speech where Jim Comey led us down a primrose path, then shut the gates on both ends of the garden.  Until that point, I had a great deal of respect for the man, believing him to be an upstanding individual deserving of admiration.  His performance during the Hillary election cycle revealed him to be just another political hack,

As more and more is revealed, it seems that Comey was neck deep in the action.  Not the crime itself, but certainly drove the cover-up.  And, did it ineptly I might add.  A good cover-up never comes to light.  I am convinced that Jim Comey did more to wreck the credibility and reputation of the FBI than any other director, ever.

I am so contemptuous of Jim Comey that I even have "Comey's Disgrace" as a post tag.  If I ever get the opportunity, I intend to spit directly on his shoes.

So, this guy has been rolling through my parking lot.

Middle aged white male, late model Chevy pickup.  Toneau cover

Fourth pass, I shut him down. "Can I help you find something?"
Inside the cab, I see two cell phones running, and he's wearing a Pokemon Go wristband.

"I'm playing Pokemon, and this parking lot is a hot-spot.  They're everywhere.  I've captured four in the last half-hour."

I was just a little bit amused.  "Okay... Pokemon, hun?"

"Yeah!"  He's animated.  "Am I in any trouble?" 

"No, you're good.  Drive carefully, and watch out for the kids."

I jotted his plate down as he rolled slowly out of the parking lot.

Bribery - Extortion - Corruption

The big story for months was the Dems fixation on some supposed Russian collusion with the Trump camp.

As it turns out, the Russians were colluding all right, but Donald Trump was decidedly out of the loop.  As it turns out, they were colluding with Hillary on a huge corruption scandal.

All of this is mighty curious, and not just a little suspicious. If we’re going full-hysteric on Russian interference and possible collusion, then let’s make sure we’re looking at its full scope — starting with the strange “reset button” from Hillary Clinton in March 2009, the shocking reversal on missile defense in Poland and Czechia in September 2009, and the “more flexibility” comment from Barack Obama to Dmitri Medvedev in 2012 while castigating Mitt Romney for calling Russia our most dangerous geopolitical foe. If the revelations from Solomon and Spann over the last couple of days turn out to be valid, we may find some explanations for some of these odd events.

It's a curious case, with twists and turns, but eventually it should go to a grand jury.  Laws were broken and someone should go to jail.

There's more:

There’s more: Until September 2013, the FBI director was Robert Mueller — who’s now the special counsel probing Russian meddling in the 2016 election. It’s hard to see how he can be trusted in that job unless he explains what he knew about this Obama-era cover-up.

Hillary, you have the right to remain silent.

Pore Ol' Hillary

It's been nearly a year and she still can't believe that she lost.  The list of reasons gets longer and longer.  PJMedia is keeping score.

1.Sexism
2.Barack Obama didn't help enough
3.Bernie Sanders was a meanie
4.James Comey wanted to see me lose
5.Women let men tell them how to vote
6.The media (?)
7.Stupid voters
8.Republicans suppressed the vote!
9.Evil, evil Russia
10.Her staff failed her
11.The Democratic National Committee failed her
12.All that deep, dark money (maybe she thinks she didn't get enough of it)
13.Green Party candidate Jill Stein
14.The electoral college (yeah...that damn Constitution gets ya every time)
15.Anthony Weiner's emails
16.Her "basket of deplorables" comment. Yes, but it went over GREAT on the left.

C'mon, Hill.  The reason you lost is because you are the worst candidate that a major party ever ran for president.    You're corrupt, conniving, evil, vile and detestable.  You are also lucky that you are not in prison.  However, if some of the more recent revelations about the Russian uranium deal come to fruition, you might want to hire a good defense attorney and stand on your right to remain silent.

Remaining silent would be a good idea anyway.

Russian Collusion

Everyone looking for Russian collusion need look no further than Bill and Hillary.  Insty reports.

They also obtained an eyewitness account – backed by documents – indicating Russian nuclear officials had routed millions of dollars to the U.S. designed to benefit former President Bill Clinton’s charitable foundation during the time Secretary of State Hillary Clinton served on a government body that provided a favorable decision to Moscow, sources told The Hill.

Read the whole thing, but it looks like Obama was in on it too.

Making Drawings, Getting Permits

I have poured a few slabs in my day.  I've got a picture around here somewhere, my grandfather is coaching me on footings.  I have the shovel, he's supervising.  Twelve inches deep into undisturbed sol.

I helped my Dad pour slabs and build pole-barns.  If anyone had told the old man (either my granpaw or my dad) that they needed a permit to build a shop, or a bran, they'd have shorted and looked at you like you'd lost your mind.   What a man does on his own property is really not the business of government, and if you do something stupid and have your foundation crack, that's not the government's problem.

Several years ago, I put in a swimming pool in the back yard.  Didn't need a permit.  No one asked.  But, when I put in a pool house and told them I was putting a toilet, I had to have a permit.    The permit cost me $35.00  No drawings or nothing.  The whole permitting process went like this.

Me: "They tell me I need a permit to put in a bath house."
Gov't lady:  "It's $35.00.  What's your address?"

Not so much these days.  We have a bureaucratic regulatory infrastructure that bleeds a man dry, oversees every aspect of his life and oversees his every move.

SO, for a project that 50 years ago would have been done properly by family with no government involvement at all, now we're having to ask the government for permission to build a structure on my land.  I consider that an utter confiscation, and I'm going to have to pay a tax (permit fees) based on the square footage of the building.

I am outraged, but I'll channel my frustration until the permits are obtained, the building is complete, then I'm going to start writing hate mail to my elected representatives.  The Founding Fathers would be apoplectic.  The very idea that a confiscatory government can tell a property owner what he can do with his own property is anathema to freedom loving people.

Hillary Opens Her Pie Hole on Sexual Abuse

Hillary can't keep her mouth shut.  She weighed in on the Weinstein scandal.

We Just Elected A President Who Admitted To Sexual Assault, You Know

Yeah, she actually went there.  As if we don't know that Hillary is married to a serial sexual predator who, among other things, abused young interns in the Oval Office.  His sexual exploits as governor of Arkansas are legendary, and Hillary actively assisted in his defense.  If Hillary had any pride, any sense of self-worth, any character at all, she would have left Bill the first time he humiliated her. 

Hillary has none of those traits.  She's simply a conniving Harpy who saw political potential and decided that she would suffer an humiliation as long as she could ride the wave of political power.  Her statements on sexual abuse run the gamut from protecting Bill to accusing other people of misconduct. 

That trait, more than an other prove that she is unfit for political office.  Thank God she wasn't elected to our highest office.

Broken Ground

When Belle and I bought this place, back in 2004, one of the appealing pints was a big open area next to the house.  We've used that open space for everything.  It's a great place for kids to play, it's a great space to run and tumble.  As the grandkids got older, the open space changed several times, but there have been a lot of frisbees and footballs thrown on that open, empty lot.

But, in the back of my mind, I wanted a shop.  A large, enclosed area to enooy.  Sometimes I considered it a pip-dream.  Recently, though, I was able to realize a windfall, and started talking to contractors.  It appears that my shop will become a reality.  I'm applying for permits and doing it right, but this project is moving forward.

My son and I broke ground on Friday.  Just scraping the grass off, and starting to try to see the contour of the land.  I bought a transit, and we'll be getting accurate elevations soon and as soon as we can complete the pad, I have a trusted concrete firm to come in an lay the slab.

It's going to be a metal building, 40' X 50' (2000 sq ft), all metal construction, with 10 ft eaves.   It will have a 3-on-12 gable roof, with one 12' roll-up and one man door.  I have money in the budget for spray-on closed cell foam insulation and two huge wall-mounted air conditioning units.

We're excited about this, and can't wait to see it move along.

Pot Roast

Pot roast always a Sunday staple at both of my grandparents houses.  My maternal grandmother used a method that I never really nailed.  Her gravy had a corn starch thickener, and although I stood over her shoulder as she worked her magic, I never was able to duplicate her efforts. 

But, my paternal grandfather, who lived two miles away, also cooked a pot roast as a Sunday staple.  One Saturday I asked him "PawPaw, teach me to make a pot roast."  He took the Sunday roast out of the fridge and he walked me through, step by step until it went into the oven.  It's really pretty simple.

It's been a year or so since I cooked one, and yesterday I went over to the local butcher shop and found a nice 8 lb roast.  This one is bottom round, but any will do.  Chuck, shoulder, rump, it really doesn't matter.  Basically, all we're doing is searing a piece of beef, then cooking it in gravy.

POT ROAST

Ingredients

Large roast to fit your pot. 
Vegetable Oil
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Large peeled onion
Celery stalk

Prep

In a large Dutch Oven, heat a little oil, enough to cover the bottom.  Sear your roast on all sides to a medium brown.  Remove from oil.

Make a roux with your flour and the oil in the bottom of the pot.   If you don't know how to make a roux, click on the link.  When the roux is the proper color (I like mine a medium brown, but some like it darker), add water to make a gravy.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Put the seared roast into the gravy, preheat the oven to 350 Peel the onion and drop it whole into the pot.  Likewise that stalk of celery.  Put the lid on the dutch oven and slide the whole thing into that hot oven.  Let it cook at 350 for four hours.

We'll serve this one for lunch today, with mashed potatoes, English peas, and Belle's good yeast rolls.

Bon apetie!

Variables

Variable power scopes, that is.

There is a lot to like in a fixed power scope.  One of my favorites was a Weaver K6 that I had for a while, mounted on my old Savage 110 in .30-06.  A good fixed power scope is a joy, but unless you're searching online, you just don't see them.  I was in the box store yesterday browsing scopes, and I don't believe I saw a classic fixed-power at all on the racks.  I don't know if folks seem to buy variables, so the stores stock them, or if folks buy variables because that's all the stores stock, but the box stores seem to stock a bunch of variables. 

I have an old Burris 2.5X fixed scope on my Marlin 336 in .35 Remington.  It's been on that rifle since about 1980 and it has accounted for its share of venison.

I have a nice little Nikon 4X scope on my .22 rifle.  It's a joy to shoot, never a lick of problem.  And, that Weaver K6 is a real good scope.  But, the fact is that there are a lot more variable scopes on the market than there are fixed scopes, so we've got to learn to live with them.

Anonymous asks in Comments:

What power do you normally keep it set at ? I have a 2.5-8x on my .308 but keep it set at 5x nearly all the time. 

That's a good question.  And, the answer is; it depends.    If I'm still-hunting through the woods, slipping from tree to tree, that scope will be set low.   If I'm in a box stand somewhere, I might set it a little higher for the best view of wherever I expect the game to cross.   If I'm shooting paper or steel on the range, I might crank it all the way up to best see the target.

Back in the day,  a shooter might experience a change of impact while switching the power on a variable.  That was pretty common.  But, things have gotten better lately, and if the POI changes, it's often not enough to matter when your game is minute-of-deer.  The simple fact is that optics are a lot better now than they were when I stated paying attention to them way back in the last century.

The Silent Service

I've never been a sailor-man, instead choosing to serve in the Army, but I have a great deal of respect for the folks who cruise the undersea world.

My stepson, JimBob was an enlisted submariner during his service.  He claims that he toured the world, but saw very little of it.  He mostly lived in a steel tube.  Sometimes, on a dark, still night, the boat would surface and the skipper would allow them some time on the deck, but otherwise he was mostly inside the steel tube.

We all know they're out there, but we don't talk about them much.   Unless we want to send a message.  And, it looks like the Navy is sending a message.

The guided missile submarine USS Michigan will visit the port of Busan this weekend for the second time this year, in what is a clear warning to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

I hope that Fat Boy Kim is paying attention.  The Navy wants him to know that he has guided-missile subs just off the coast. 

And, it will be good for the sailors.  Let them get a little kimchi, some of that good Korean beer, and wander about for a bit before getting back in that steel tube and go silent again.

They're out there, Kim, all the time.  A whole lot closer than you think.