On Sinking & Braying

 

On Reacting to Light & X Marks the Spot

 

 

On Transported Back & Too Much Winning

 
I had a wonderful time watching the two hour video Elon posted on X (with 6.8 million views), showing Dragon Freedom and Crew-9's return to earth. I was only intending to check out the splashdown but ended up watching the whole thing, to see all 4 astronauts extracted.  I was impressed to the point of awed by the apparent precision, care and teamwork on display.  I also enjoyed the narrative and info provided by mission control, with the two female voices coming through as crisp and warm, calm, professional and informative.  While present to the current event, I was also was transported back in time, remembering the wonder, and enjoyment I experienced watching the Gemini/Apollo missions unfold.  Only this time around the pictures, voices and information were even better than what Walter and Jules had to offer back then.  The competence and order present in a sea of current event chaos came through as another win.  

Am I the only one

who's wondered if Butch and Suni got a little up there?

Taw Jackson would understand

If you've ever seen the movie The War Wagon, you know Taw Jackson spent 3 years in the clink planning his revenge to the last detail.

Watching all the headlines, I've gotten the feeling The God Emperor of the Cherry Blossom Throne has done much the same.

Consider the reaction to 2 of the Left's GoTo tactics. First is harassment and obstruction in the form of Federal judges wildly overstepping their bounds in  temporary restraining orders. In most cases, these infringe on a President's authority as Chief Executive or Commander-In-Chief. If carried all the way to the Supremes, the Left would lose rather badly. Considering the public's distaste for activist judges ruling out of whole cloth (the penumbras and emanation of Roe v Wade come to mind), The Donald, assuming he saw this coming (and I don't think it's all that impossible; this is how Sarah Palin was run out of public life), has led the loopiest of the Left into his trap.

This is virtue signaling the way the Left loves it. Ruin somebody's life just for the fun of it. 

The other is vandalism to the point of terrorism and intimidation. Firebombing Tesla dealerships we see mostly in Lefty paradises like WA and CO where crime is on the BLM plan. Now we're starting to see individuals being harassed for simply sitting in their vehicle. And, thanks to Elon's outfitting his rides with cameras, several of these would-be Viet Cong are already looking at long terms in max security.

And the American public has voted about 4 to 1 against. We like law and order here, even if it is attached to short rope and a long drop.

And we all know there's a Kyle Rittenhouse in their future.

Some have worried Roberts might be the weak reed in this process. His reported presence at some hoity toity Lefty invite only club means his usefulness may hang on the line The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior (Article III, Section 1). Thus Roberts' sinecure may hang on whose (or who's) interpretation of good behavior counts.

What puts the icing on the cake is that any hate campaign against Musk has to get past the fact he rescued 2 astronauts from being stranded in space when last inmates of the Rainbow House refused to do anything. Even Kirk and Spock never pulled off anything like that. And you have Pete Hegseth telling one of those Lefty judges, "Since 'Judge' Reyes is now a top military planner, she/they can report to Fort Benning at 0600 to instruct our Rangers on how to execute High Value Target Raids…after that, Commander Reyes can dispatch to Fort Bragg to train our Green Berets on counterinsurgency warfare".

What's doing in the Left are all the revelations of money being rendered out of the taxpayers' hides to fund the lavish lifestyles of politicians and their ideological pals. The public likes the. They like that the price of gas, and eggs, are going down in 2 months. They like the idea of getting a break on taxes.

And they like that Trump is getting a hold of foreign policy.

Even Lomax would smile.

On Exercise in Madness & Running on Fumes

 

 

A Short Story About a Pine Bowl

Local wood worker

Mar 15, 2025

I will begin at the beginning. I sawed down my neighbor’s white pine tree. Boy was he surprised.

I dropped that tree by myself.

I carefully sawed pieces out of the log. My objective was to cut short sections of the log where the branch nodes were formed.

I took my dogs over to the site. They were not impressed. But you can see where I made some of the cuts.

I sawed some plain blanks, too. This bowl sold quickly to a longtime friend - she grabbed it up and would not set it down.

But back to the nodes - I have seen bowls made out of Norfolk Island pine - they are attractive and popular. Since I don’t 

live on Norfolk Island I decided to use a local tree as an able substitute - I think having the branches grow out on from the 

same point on the pith of the log is the key to their esthetics. Here are some pictures:

The bowl started out looking like this.

But as I sanded it I discovered that the sap had not set, despite having spent a year drying in the bowl room. Hmm. 

What to do? I read up a bit and learn that heat can help set the sap. So I pop the bowl in my oven and turn the temperature 

up to 140 degrees. A few hours ought to do it, right?

Wrongo! When I put it back on the lathe and resumed sanding it still completely gummed up the sandpaper. 

Back in the oven with you, bowl!

More hours. Ten, twelve, then eventually a whole day. I tested it intermittently and while I was getting there, 

it was still too sticky to sand properly.

More time, more heat! Surely this will work. Cue Leslie Nielsen. The final formula was three days at a bit over 200 degrees. 

Toasty!

The results were worth it. The wood gained a great color and the appearance of the branches became more pronounced.

Another view:

Here another piece I made out of that log:

But back to the baking - an added benefit of cooking a big chunk of white pine in my oven was that the sap ran out and 

coated the inside of the oven. Due to how the range was vented when I turned on a surface burner the wonderful smell 

of pine sap wafted up from the oven into the kitchen. It’s as if the house became piney fresh time after time.

Sadly, after close to 70 years of use the drop-in stove broke down beyond repair - I replaced it and when it departed 

took the pine scent with it.

I’ll close with Bou and my bird bowl.