I ramble on about nothing and don't find my keys

I have been looking for my keys for an hour. They seem to have vanished. I think my new pair of GoodWill special coveralls have a hole in one pocket.
I was going to get off to a good start this morning.
The Sun is almost out from behind the fog.
But then I got sidetracked...
I am bidding on a couple Felix the Cat 16 mm movies on eBay. I may have also bought the Gumball Rally movie on three reels.
But what really shut me down was two things.
First, I called a fellow in Washington about a nice LN8000 truck. It has been spoken for, meaning the fellow wants it but didn't bring the money.
And we ended up talking for an hour about old AC crawlers, Model T trucks, and Louisville Ford parts. He has a couple hoods and a set of doors for a LN ford and he was going to check them out for me.
So I went by the local truck shop to talk about my LN8000 with the 670 detroit and putting the hoist I bought from him on the truck.
We had a long discussion about it and then he showed me a mid 1990's Freightliner with a 10 spd and day cab that a fellow had bought for $3,500. It was in really nice shape. This was followed by a lecture on fixing up a 1971 LN8000 with a 671 detroit and a financing plan for a newer and better truck that involved the scrap man and the elimination of five combines and three non-roadworthy old trucks and he didn't even get to my LN8000. He said I should keep it for a flatbed and never spend money on it.
And feeling a bit depressed I went home.
This morning I was setting in my office reading, "Crossing the Line, A bluejacket's odyssey in World War II" by Alvin Kernan, which I think my lovely wife ordered for me for Christmas but it didn't arrive on time, and just about the time when I read the following paragraph,
"...the futility of life lived with old, broken-down equipment, about foolish ideas that have no chance of succeeding. In a world where disaster is always ready to happen, it is best to look for something that has a chance of working." (page 6)
Just as I was reading that paragraph and searching for the bog paper the phone rings. It was the fellow from WA with the truck. He had found a hood and doors.
Um yeah...
Now I am going to the local tire factory store to pick up a blank wheel rim for the New Holland Stacker. The old rim was bent and New Holland wanted $750 for a new one. The local salvage yard wanted $350, lube not included.
So I fixed em all! I found a local fellow who will cut the center out of the old rim and install it in a new blank rim for $175. I bought a blank for $200.
I am quite happy paying $375 for a rim I could have got for $350 because the local salvage yard annoys me so much.
And that I suppose, pretty much explains the whole philosophy of the former Daily Strumpet Irregular Newspaper - Inaccurate news on an irregular basis for irregular folks" and the current incarnation, thedailystrumpet, aka ThelazyFarmer.
Have a nice day...

UPDATE:#$%^&*()#@#$ Felix the Cat, "ASTRONOMEOUS" sold for $66. My snipe of $35 was pathetic. Drat and Dang! I should have sniped it for $100. That was one to add to my collection and I would have liked to see it. I am a worthy cause! Please give me that 1.2 million dollars. I will spend that money on things like lego trains and old cartoons and an excavator and restoring MM tractors and Dynaco and all sorts of really cool and interesting stuff! You could dole it out a bit at a time and make one of the conditions that I write about it on this blog! You would not be disappointed!

I give you, "ASTRONOMEOUS"

The wrong people have all the money!!!

I watch PBS

Last night I watch, "The Most Dangerous Man in America," on PBS. It is the story of the fellow who leaked the infamous pentagon papers. My daughter who is ill was laying on the couch catching up on her reading and she had questions.
In trying to explain the war and the issues surrounding it I made some observations.
1. Being afraid of the Soviets was more real in 1970 than it seems looking back.
2. It is really amazing how closely the events of the past decade mimic the Vietnam era, especially when you look at it in hindsight.
3. The difference between Vietnam and the war on commies who were not in Russia vs the war on Islamics who are not in Iran is interesting.

I suspect the basic difference between the two wars is that in 1965 lots of college professors were of the left leaning sort and there was the draft. Today there is a professional military and not of lot of Islamic college professors.

After watching this program I am going to find an anti-war person who voted for our dear leader and ask that person exactly how they are able to rationalize voting for someone who personally orders the execution of civilians, supports torture, and has prosecuted whistle-blowers within the government.
I will try and phrase it in a non combative way.
I suspect I will get a really good lesson in rationalization.
I suspect the phrase, "but you voted for Bush," will come up.
I will respond with, "I only made that mistake once..."

When I was a kid and read science fiction, I hoped for flying cars and replicon dinners, and trips to the moon. I did not wish for the death star or tracking chips or long for the world of Orwell and Blade Runner. Max Headroom would not be a hero in today's world, because nobody would care!

Have a nice day...

Impending doom

My daughter is sick.
My 94 year old father coughed on me for an hour last night while I resolved his computer conflicts. I would say the chances of me getting sick or better than me winning $25 at the casino.
Some poor sucker brought us a moisture tester to repair.
A year ago.
It came back and it seems to have been duly catalogued in Dad's computer but there was a problem. Dad couldn't read the hand written name. He thought it was Randy Wauker instead of Randy Walker. This proved to be a problem as he insisted in typing in Randy Wauker into the search function.
When that failed he started a new records under the names Randy Wauker, Randy Waucer, Randy Wanker, Ran ertyuhjnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn (he fell asleep on that one) and (strangely enough) Randy Walker.
He did not try typing in the phone number into the search function.
This was complicated by my Uncle who argued with him about it. I would relate the argument to you but I didn't understand the argument either. It had to do with how you spell "Walker."
I was going to help but got distracted by either someone who bought a John Blue Squeeze pump, someone who wanted hay, or some random farmer who wanted to visit.
Finally I was called in to solve the problem.
It was fortunately a simple problem.
I told Dad he had to go home and go to bed.
He did it.
I think he must be sick.
I suppose I am next.
I am not going to tell my communist neighbor. He will bring me more Wild Turkey and honey. It does taste faintly better than Nyquil but not much. Works very well for congestion. Not so good if you need to run a forklift. I'm not so sure about these home remedies.
Have a nice day!
-NOTE-
I am more worried about my 94 year-old father's health than my own. He will get sick, than I get sick, then I give it back to him. It would be only right that I should retreat to Panama City Beach for the fortnight so that all may recover in peace.

Green Coffee Extract?

I don't really understand what it does for you as I have never made it though an entire fake news article on the substance. I already have read my share of glowing testimonials in the Amway and Conklin newsletters and I tend to lose interest when the testimonials are in the first paragraph.
I keep getting spam emails which appear to be from my wife. They have her name in the "From" section but the email address is not hers. I'm sure the spammers think this is a pretty clever idea. I click on the link she has supposedly sent me and I get an info page about green coffee beans.
Of course when I click to cancel the page I get the box that asks me if I'm sure I want to cancel the stupid script that all those type of pages run.
Then I have to clear my browsing history and/or delete all the cookies.
I have never purchase anything that has been a result of a direct marketing campaign on the internet. No breast enhancer pills, no manhood enhancer pills, I know good and well there are not 100 hot women within 1 mile of me and if there were they do not want to get wild with a balding, grumpy, farmer who has not shaved in a week and smells faintly of hypoid gear oil.
I was briefly tempted by the ink cartridge refills and the girls in pajama's who were having a pillow fight but instead I talked my wife into going to Staples and I watched a rerun of "Hangtime A."
So... I am really not in the market for non-roasted coffee beans that it appears you have to take in suppository form. I don't take the vitamin pills that I am supposed to be taking already.
I guess the concept of hijacking someone's email list to send annoying emails sounds really appealing at the spam emailer's convention but is it really worth the effort.
Why not just advertise on talk radio?

We venture off the farm

One of my faithful followers invited my lovely wife and I to see Bob Newhart at the Spirit Mountain Casino.
The above statement sort of makes me seem like a guru or something but I've actually known him for years and he doesn't actually follow me around, he used to read "The Daily Strumpet" newsletter and he is registered as a follower of this blog.
I think we need to get off the farm more....
My wife signed up as a "Coyote Club," member so we could get $10 of the buffet. I was in favor as you can also ride the gambler's bus to the Casino. I didn't realize this would not be that great a benefit as it only goes from retirement centers to the Casino. You can't get off in Fort Hill or Grande Ronde. Of course I can't really imagine why you would want to get off in Grande Ronde, although there is a really good used bookstore and used plumbing supply store.
But, I digress...
Upon arrival we discovered we had to gamble to activate the card. Neither one of us really understood how to operate the machines and so we decided to have a soda whilst we contemplated how to run a digital slot machine and waited for dH and wife.
We should have waited in the buffet line.
The Pepsi tasted quite strange and it cost $4. It either had been cut with cough syrup or had gone a little flat. For some reason we had a strange compulsion to have another and then gamble.
However, the cigarette smoke, flashing lights, and strange beeping noises that sounded like the planter monitor alarm was starting to make we a little claustrophobic and so we attempted to find dH.
The buffet line was a long wait.
About three quarters of the way though the idea came to me that we should have seen Bob Newhart first and had the buffet last.
But we all had a nice chat. I was happy to see no one from church or the surrounding community.
The buffet was ok. I miss the days of my childhood when my grandparents would take us to the King's Table buffet. They were always amazed at the abundance of food. I liked the medieval motif.
They had very good steak. The ribs were no where near as good as Uncle Jack's BBQ in town.
We did have to rush to see Bob.
Bob was ok. He is getting up there in years. His joke about Jimmy Hoffa being found when they scrubbed off Tammy Faye's makeup was just a touch dated.
He did the skit where he was a driving instructor.
I missed about a quarter of what he said.
I'm not sure how leaning forward in your chair and squinting can make up for poor sound, bad hearing, and terrible acoustics, but I tried.
Which gets me to my objection to the whole thing.
I really hate the casino. (no offense to dH)
I get the once in a lifetime chance to see Bob Newhart before he croaks. You may laugh at this but Bob was one of the defining characters in American comedy. He comes to the casino!
Bob and his opening jazz band would have been incredible in a small venue. Bob at the Elsinore? That would have been amazing.
But the casino has this huge room, completely free of acoustic tile, and with a sound system bought from the same place that supplies airports and gymnasiums and they must pay well.
Either that or it is my hearing...
After the show we realized I had forgotten to turn in the card for the discount for the buffet. So we though we would win it back by gambling. Once again we were stymied by the flashing lights and beeping alarms and not understanding exactly how you are supposed to gamble. I thought Adult Attention Deficit Disorder made you MORE susceptible to gambling?
We spent five dollars and we won back $3.50. Sort of like paying taxes.
I would say that all in all we had a good time. It was nice to see our friends again. Bob was funny. It is nice to see a live comedy show where the humor based mostly on the dropping of F-bombs.
You would think that with all the money the tribe bilks out of the poorest people of Yamhill country they could at least build a decent concert hall. Perhaps the could have taken some of the money they spent on the overpass they built to put the Fastway Gas station and accompanying restaurant out of business and bought a few acoustic tiles.
It was kind of funny that Bob made a few Asian jokes but no Indian jokes. I guess Asian jokes are fine. I would have rolled over laughing if he would have made a comment about smoke signals or wigwams but you can't bite the hand that feeds you!
Have a nice day...

Replacing the power supply capacitors on a Dynaco SCA-80

I own a Dynaco SCA-80 integrated amplifier. I bought it for a couple reasons.

First of all I am more likely to bid on weird crap when I am on eBay very late at night.

Secondly, Dynaco components from the 1960's will fit on a standard bookshelf.

Thirdly, I selectively filtered all the comments made by people on the internet to only include the positive.

So the insulting term, "sand amp" only registered in my head as the SCA-80 is not a tube amp so it won't have those leaky paper capacitors.

The SCA-80 has not been a quiet amp. There was that loud thump when I turned off the power. There was a lot of hiss and this steady hum which would sometimes decrease if I smacked the case sharply. We won't say how I discovered that, we shall just say it was a discovery.

I resorted to emailing Dan at Updatemydynaco.com who did not seem to resent my long rambling questions and comments that showed up in his email late at night. There is not a huge following for the SCA-80 amp, or at least it would seem. Updatemydynaco.com has a lot of information for replacing the huge capacitors found on early amplifiers. One big cap can be replaced with three smaller diameter caps and still fit in the mounting brackets.

Dan suggested the power supply capacitor as well as a couple other suggestions. I tried to pretend that I understood what he was talking about and I even resorted to reading up on electronic theory. Unfortunately my attention span is really short. And I got distracted by hand crank telephones. This occupied several weeks but my ebay sniping program was not working properly and I kept getting outbid on phone generators. This was probably a good thing as the first thing I would have done is try to trick my daughter and her cousins into shocking themselves.

But, I digress...
I decided against building a cluster of capacitors to replace the unobtainable 2200 uF large diameter capacitor which is actually three capacitors in one case, as I am not all that clever. Instead I bought a kit from the ebay seller qua-co.
The kit came with three 1,000 uF caps wired together on a terminal strip and really good instructions.
It sat in the box for quite a while. The amp is hooked up to our TV/dvd/Wii entertainment center and so it is hard to find an hour by myself when the smell of solder and overheated insulation will not disturb the rest of the house.
Two days ago I was left alone for the evening and I broke out the soldering iron. The installation was pretty simple. I can sort of read circuit schematics and so I could double check myself. The hardest part was removing the old solder. I don't have a desoldering tool.
I unsoldered one joint and then soldered the wires to the new capacitor set. There was enough wire length to do this. It kept things more simple.
Here is a photo. I have no idea why I am holding a screwdriver instead of a soldering iron. It is the only photo that is not blurry.

Now the important part.
I plugged the amp in and turned it on.
There was no explosion! The lights did not go out!
I was really amazed at how much replacing this one capacitor set quieted down the amp. The hum went away, and the hiss dropped to the point I can't hear it with the main speakers. Have not tried headphones yet.
I have not tried listening to records as we are working on the living room and the turntable has been removed. I shall see what happens later.
At this point I am quite happy.
And now I shall go to work. It is cold and raining. 

Eagleville Missouri

Are any of my readers farmers near Eagleville Missouri?

Remington 700 in .223

I got a ride from a friend yesterday and he had somewhat of an interesting gun.
I first saw the .223 cartridges on his dash and started to make a joke about the scary guns and idiots but then I saw the Remington 700 on the seat next to me.
The Remington 700 action is a classic American bolt action design. You can get it in a host of different calibers. I've often wondered about the .223 for accurate shooting in a gun less expensive than the precision AR rifles, which basically start at $1,000.
I've shot a Mini-14 and really wish I had one of the newer ones. They are supposedly much more accurate than the older models which earned them a bad reputation.
However, the .223 in a 700 action always seemed like a good idea. High velocity and a light weight bullet so it doesn't go for five miles, it is stopped by trees but yet it has a pretty flat trajectory and transfers that high energy when you hit something. Meaning it would kill the small animal and not just blow chunks out of it like the bigger low velocity calibers. Good for coyotes and grey diggers and crows and thermite and when you line up old paint cans and starting fluid cans next to a bonfire and shoot them. Oh does it make a glorious ball of fire. (Not that I have, or ever would consider such a thing. I don't even have the gun. I just read about it.)
I've shot a .22-250 a little bit (model 700) and I'm amazed at the laser-like trajectory, but there is a lot of powder in the 250 cartridge.
I suppose i am pretty much telling my readers what they already know. I don't do a lot of shooting anymore and don't read any current gun magazines.
I once asked the guy at BiMart if he had anything in .22 Hornet and he laughed at me.
I suppose the .223 is no longer a good choice as the the order has been given to the party faithful to eliminate scary guns and the scary gun caliber and when the dear leader calls the apparatchik fall in line.

Consolidation in Farming

I freely admit to being a bottom feeder.
I admit to an unhealthy level of cynicism.
I also admit that once in college we stole a whole bunch of road signs and attempted to route traffic from 99W through the driveway of the college president. (The plan would have been more effective if we could have found more road signs and it was not 3 a.m.)
With these disclaimers I direct you to an article in The Farm Urinal, "Grain Farms Consolidate," and I offer several comments.
Consolidation is aways bad in the long term. Consolidation means less competition, less profit, less choice, and fewer skilled jobs.
The writer of the article notes the savings of time, money, and energy. He uses an an example, how much less water it takes to grow a pig on a modern factory pig farm as opposed to the old style small pig operation.
American farmers have this idea ingrained into their very psyche, into the core of their being, that they as an individual, are the exception to the rules. They believe that with hard work and being just a little clever they will be the 6,000 acre farmer and with that basis of belief they can natter on about capitalism and free markets and competition and never figure out that it may not actually be capitalism or free markets and that competition is great when you are on the winning side.
I am watching a cycle in the straw business.
There is a lot of grass seed raised in my area. At one time the left over straw was a waste product. Some clever folks figured out you could export that straw to Japan where they have a surplus of protein and a shortage of roughage.
Various economic forces have conspired to push the price of straw to unheard of prices, and the consolidation is in full swing. People like myself with one or two balers have discovered that the price of friendship is whether you will lie about $10 per ton.
The wheeler dealer straw balers who put us out of business are in turn being put out of business by the farmer who is buying his own big baler.
The farmer with the baler thinks he will make a lot of money, but he in turn is up against those who make their business from dealing in commodities.
The price most likely will crash but the farmer with the baler will continue to bale for less money because he can afford to do it. So, the straw price will go back to a previous lower level and the farmer will be making the same amount, or less, from his straw as he did back when someone was baling it for him. The difference is that he now has more work to do and I am out of the straw business.
I can tell you from experience that 20 small baler operators bought a lot more baler twine, baler parts, oil, and nuts and bolts locally and they hired local kids. AND when they sold their tractors and balers it meant bottom feeders like myself could have a great time at auctions and used equipment lots, looking at what they had traded in.
I could continue on this line but I have to go haul some buckwheat. I would make a joke about alfalfa but I suppose that one has been pretty much worn out.
Have a nice day...

Why there are No Trespassing signs on private property

We have a semi-retired wheel line which is a continual nuisance. The tractor that runs it is missing the engine. We have all the parts to put it back together, we just don't get it done.
For those of you who want to know. A wheel line is a long sprinkler line which has big aluminum wagon wheels. Each pipe runs through a big spoked wheel and they are all bolted together. In the middle of the line is a "tractor" which turns the line so that it rolls ahead.
The line we are storing for our neighbor has been taken apart and so the wind tends to blow the pipes around the field. We have them in a ditch so they won't roll but sometimes the wind blows a little harder than usual.
When this happens they blow onto the farm access road. The road doesn't really go anywhere, but there are hunters.
It appears who ever is driving on the road is to lazy to get out and move the lightweight pipe out of the road. So they drive into the field.
Though a ditch into the field.
So you have to think about it.
Two minutes to open the door and move a pipe, or two hours to walk for a tractor or another pickup.
When you think about it they do have a point. I mean, why wipe your butt when you are just going to make it dirty again?

January 19th

Robert E. Lee was born  January 19, 1807. By most reports he was a man of great honor and integrity. Today he represents the evils of slavery to the shrill classes.
Some people see him as a defender of states rights and last stand against pain the arse Yankees in this country.
He did not terrorize his way to Washington DC, burning and destroying everything in his path. He also was not a drunk.
He was not elected president of the USA nor did he go on to terrorize and massacre the American Indian. He does not have a town in Oregon named after him.

I was going to post about politics and a movie and personal freedoms but then I came across this photo.

It is essentially the last weekend of wandering around the farm that my daughter and I had before the rain started.
She is exploring the old big ditch that is supposed to drain our farm. It was built with a dragline in the post steam shovel days. Part of the drainage system was built by Chinese laborers according to local legends. The occasional plum tree along the ditch was left over from their lunches. I've been looking for opium bottles, heh, heh, heh. Of course it was such beautiful country they had no need for opium.
I'm not going to tell the big farmer who takes over our farm, nor will I tell the nice lady cataloguing artifacts. However, I will broadcast it to the entire interwebs.
Today it is chilly and wet. A hint of fog in the atmosphere.
I spent yesterday accumulating ingredients to make feed and getting free firewood. You can never have too much free firewood. (famous last words)
Today I am going to attempt to get the nut that holds the PTO clutch together on the M670 Super not to spin off. But I don't want to pull the PTO. It would be easier to pull the PTO.
If the nut was bigger I would drill sideways through it and insert a set screw. I may try this.
And then I have to decide if I want to tear apart the Planetaries and the CV joints on the 2-155. I do not want to do this. I do not want to keep this tractor for another 10,000 hours.

Trying to upgrade computer tablet for GPS

Enough about guns. I ain't gonna shoot nobody nohow...
Why can't you buy the perfect computer? Computers have been out for just a few years now!
I need a tablet that will handle 3-D graphics and has an outdoor viewable screen.
What I want:
Faster than 1.5 Ghz, internal Flash type drive (don't exactly have to have that), outdoor viewable screen, decent graphics chip, tablet format, would really like to have a screen brightness button, 10-13inch screen, power cord not on the bottom.
I had a Motion Computing LE1600 which I dropped in a mud puddle. I liked that computer other than it was too bright at night.

Oh, and I want to pay not much more than $350 for it.

Any suggestions would be carefully considered.

No, FarmerGPS will not run on a Commodore 64.

It must run windows. The version of windows doesn't matter. They all suck equally.

It is the Republicans

Who are going to sell you out in the end...

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Gun-Control-Assault-Weapons-Ban-Magazines-Limit-Cuomo-NY-186794151.html

The devil is of course in the detail. Seven round magazines mean your 10/22 is illegal.
Of course the your therapist must report you if they suspect you actually need therapy. This is one of the more evil aspects of 21st century America. There is no chance for redemption. If you feel guilty about being TEMPTED to be sick pre-vert and go to a therapist or a clergyman then they have to report you. If you are a student and confide in a trusted teacher they will have to rat you out. So if you think you might have a problem you would be a fool to ask a professional for help.
So you are feeling depressed cause your wife just left you and go to a therapist and the next thing you know a SWAT team is knocking down your door.

So we were watching Hogan's Heros and my daughter asked what country would torture prisoners of war and I got to tell her, "We do!" It was too hard to explain convoluted 21st century thought so I just told her we were now the Germans as shown in Hogan's Heros and that is why people around the world now hate us.

You want to try and explain it differently for me?

Happy Monday

I actually went to work early today. 

We are expecting our yearly shipment of baler twine. I don't really want to think about the cost. I think it is around $42 for a roll of 6000ft of 280 knot strength twine. The bale is 46" long and 15.5 inches thick and there are three twines per bale. Too complicated for me.

It turns out that the truck is not due until late afternoon which is when all my hay and feed customers are arriving in masse. 

Usually the truck arrives on Sunday night and we unload him Monday morning. So I just assumed... And I was out of propane for the forklift, of course.

It is 24 degrees outside which is pretty cold for Oregon.

Went and helped my niece get her fire going on Sunday. There were complications. Her father is in a lot of pain from back problems so I didn't want to bug him. Plus, he already was there once or twice that day due to a small fire in the chimney...

We could not get her house warm. They do have heaters in the bedrooms but it was barely 40 degrees in the living room.

Finally in frustration I pumped a few gallons of fuel oil into her oil tank. You should never let your oil stove run out of oil! This proved to be a waste of effort as I never did get it to prime and I had no air compressor and it was 24 degrees. 

At last the woodstove really got going and the chimney did not catch on fire again (the quick chimney sweep by her father must have done the trick) and the living room warmed to 50 degrees.

I worry the house is going to catch on fire.

It is a shame her almost-a-husband suddenly self destructed. I actually liked him quite well.

Which puts me onto the subject of drugs.

The most humanitarian thing you could possibly do would be not to use drugs. It would stop crime, save Mexico, and defund the CIA, which brings us to the issue of not using drugs is also the most patriotic thing you could do.

Possible slogans for a publicity campaign:

 "If you are going to get wasted, drink booze!"

"Don't be a Junkie be a Lush!"

"Stay Blitzed, It is better for the environment!"

"If want to be a criminal buy a 80 round drum magazine"

"MD 20/20 is better than crack!"

Perhaps it is not going to catch on... 

Or how about a campaign to increase illegal use of legal substances. The paint and glue industries need a boost in this bad economy. Why not huff instead of puff? Or sniff glue it is worse for you? 

I mean really, is huffin a can of gold krylon any worse for you than meth?

In other news. I just got a text from my sometimes-a-great employee. He needs today off for "personal reasons." Yeah, the one day I could use some help. I told him to take the rest of the week off, I'm going to Florida. He thinks this is a motivational speech and promised to be here every day for the rest of the week. 

yeah, I'll reschedule all the hay for tomorrow...

Have a nice day...

A rant where I alienate my entire blog audience

I’ve been listening to conversations which usually include the lines, “let them come get them,” and “from my cold dead fingers,” and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

I think I’ll start joining these conversations. The problem with joining the conversations is that my opinion is a very unpopular one and it requires holding more than one thought in your head a the same time.

The last straw was a link from Gorgesgrouse went to an article that was exactly what I've been thinking.

I have not come up with a good concise argument. A few words which will lead into my view of the discussion.

So I will try here. A rough draft...

Sell your guns…The battle has been lost.

The war will not be won by any grand last stands because the other side controls the media and thus controls public opinion.

I don’t mean you should give up the fight.  But when you die in a hail of bullets at 3 a.m. and never even get off one shot from your AR-15, with its special rail mounted flashlight, and laser site, and collapsible stock, and your cases of ammo, it is one less vote, and it will be spun into the following headline. Crazy Gun Nut Confronts Cops. “Millions of rounds of Cop Killer Bullets Found along with King James Bible and Dangerous Nail File That Could Bring Down A Jet Airliner.”

The problem with my argument is that I don’t have the answer.

We all know the point of the second amendment had nothing to do with hunting rights. It was to prevent tyranny. The founding fathers were revolutionaries.

There are too many nails already in the coffin.

We accepted the drug war and the violation of the constitutional protection against  unlawful imprisonment and the taking of private property. (Well heck, I'm not a drug dealer. If you can't do the time don't do the crime)

We accepted the Patriot act and a decade of war that we will not win.

We accepted our government torturing prisoners. (Well heck, they are terrorists!)

We accepted our dear leader ordering the targeted executions. (Well heck, that Bin Laden guy blew up the WTC!)

We accepted congress renewing the Patriot Act and the violation of our protections against imprisonment without charges filed. (Well heck, they are mooslim terrorists!)

There are a whole host of regulations and losses of liberties which we have accepted but yet we think that we can maintain some semblance of self determination because we have five AR-15’s and 10,000 rounds of army surplus ammo stashed in the garage?

I'm not going to be the one guy facing down a pack of jumpy kids with submachine guns and body armor!

You tell me where is the resistance leader?

Where is the resistance cell?

You give me the resistance movement?

You say there will be a revolution but who is going to lead it. The head of the NRA?

Perhaps Mitt Romney?

You say you know the local sheriff and he won’t shoot you. You say no American soldier will shoot you?

Your local sheriff would most likely shoot you in the second you became a lawbreaker and resisted arrest. That is what they do. Would your local sheriff not arrest you for drunk driving?

The American soldier that shoots you won't know you or know why you are pointing that AR-15 at him. He will be told you are crazy, on drugs, a terrorist, what ever it takes. Does anyone ever read the news? Do you see what happens at home and around the world?

You think it will be a direct confrontation where somehow going down in flames will make a difference?

I think not. It will be like all other countries. It will come a little at a time. While you are watching the SuperBowl it will all become illegal. Your neighbor will turn you in. Your progressive relative in town will turn you in. (It would be for your own good, for the sake of the Children.)

So you show me the voice of the people clamoring for liberty and you show me the person who will lead the revolution and while I’m not sure I’ll be a lot of help as I don’t believe in killing people, but I’d certainly write plenty of sarcastic articles. Perhaps I’d annoy the progressive grammar police so badly that their heads would explode from frustration.

I don’t see it happening. Look at our presidential candidates, Mitt Romney? John McCain? What has congress done? What about that strange speech from the NRA? Billy Graham would be laughed at. Billy Sunday would be accused of hate crimes.

The revolution was not Televised. Ever read that little speech? Did you ever realize who they are talking about? Ever wonder just how you fit in? They play it on KBOO at least once a week. It is like a prayer to the people that taught the people who teach your kids.

While you were rooting on your public school sports teams and thinking it was a shame we had a winter program instead of a Christmas program your kids got their programming.

That is the issue, plain and simple…

What are you going to do about it?

More on the 2-155 FWA

I got the front hub and axle out last night.

It was a bit of a chore. The steering arms were hard to get apart and I didn't realize the power steering cylinder was mounted with two bushings pulled together by a bolt.

Here is a photo to clarify how to pull the bushing that holds the fiber washer for the kingpin. The bottom is identical to the top. You have to use bolts inserted through the bolting flange on the top of the bushing. There are 8mm threaded holes to use. You can't use a prybar or a pickle fork or chisels as they will mar the mating surfaces. I had to resort to using two chisels on the lower one as it was rusted in. Perhaps I should have used a torch as the kingpin had worn though the bushing into the metal holder anyway.

The lower kingpin is not in very good shape. It is badly pitted. However, it is welded in so I'm thinking I will just put new bushings in and forget about it. There is really no one left to ask about things like this.

Working on the FWA on a 2-155

This is what I've been sort of working on.
I called my local dealer but found that the service manager who knew all about White tractors has retired. His successor offered to look it up in the book but I declined. Didn't see much point as I also have the book.
I then called O'Brien County Implement and the service tech said it had been a long time since he had worked on one but gave me encouragement. "Those kingpins can be hard to get out. Sometimes we use a torch!"
So then I went to see another dealer to look at a baler. On the way I stopped to check out a potential source for straw to bale. He is buying his own big baler. It makes sense for him. I'm tired of baling straw anyway. I really dislike having to fight for a difference of $5 per ton. However, if I do get that 1.2 million dollars I am going to remember who my friends were when I was working my arse off for that $5 per ton.
But, I digress.
At the dealer I bought this special penetrating oil that is supposed to freeze the bolt so the oil can get into the threads when the bolt expands and contracts. And I bought some longer metric bolts so I could use them to pull the caps off the king pins.

So you take the front wheel off. You take the bolts out of the caps over the kingpins.

Then you pull two bolts off of the wheel hub cover and thread them into the 10mm holes in the kingpin bearing holder.

Then you pray it will come out. I used a lot of penetrating oil. The freeze stuff didn't really work. ATF and acetone works the best.
The bushing/bearing is a non greaseable fiber insert. It seems to have glued itself to the kingpin. I have no idea what this means.
I also have no idea if I should completely pull the wheel hubs apart or just put new bushings in it and sell it and then buy a 185 with a cummins or quit farming or go blind.
Of course the bottom bushing is stuck. I ruined the threads in one puller hole. I am going to try tapping the hole today. This will not end well.
I should try tapping the admiral instead.
I will feel like tapping the admiral after I go out to the shop and attempt to help my father sell a hay core sampler probe. I wish my brother would do it for me. He should be consumed with guilt after taking a month off and then driving truck all week.
I hate people with real jobs.  People with real jobs slightly annoy me.
Have a nice day...

I overheard a conversation about the infamous "Christmas Tree" bomber. It sounds like he is finally going to trial and so is in the news again.
I didn't get involved in the discussion as I had work to do and did not want to get in an argument with people who had not looked or listened past the story teaser on KXL.
They were quite upset that the lawyers were claiming entrapment by the FBI. Many people would just like to do away with the trial and throw him in jail for life.
I think I would tend to agree if an average citizen had found him depressing the plunger or winding an alarm clock with wires coming out of it and it all came as a total surprise to the FBI.
However, it did not come as a surprise to the FBI as they in fact set it all up. The lawyers are arguing entrapment because it was entrapment.
The fellow came to the attention of the FBI because his father contacted them because his father was worried about his son being interested in becoming a terrorist. So, the FBI groomed him to become a terrorist so they could come in a the last moment and arrest him. Sure it is a fine line which the general public is apparently too stupid to comprehend, unless it just happens it is their relatives being set up for a meth bust...
A link: FBI Considered Making Pitch to Suspect in 2009
Making a pitch? As in recruiting him?

And of course there is a missing tape. There is always a missing tape in these set ups. I can't find the story where this was mentioned but it is in one of the earlier stories. All the meetings with the guy were taped except for the first one where he was recruited.

I found this link to the complaint.

And this commentary about jury selection. You get out of the jury pool if you distrust the government.

Now heres the deal...
Terrorists should be arrested and prosecuted.
Stupid and crazy people should not be recruited for elaborate crime plots by law enforcement. It is immoral. It is also probably counter productive. However, it gets the stupid people and the ill informed full of patriotic excitement.

A few years ago when I got my tools stolen by the local methhead who turned out to be a police informant, the local law enforcement really wanted to know about his employer who they suspected of having a meth lab. They were pretty low key and polite about it but it was pretty obvious what was going on. Now obviously I was not going to rat out my neighbor, who just happened to owe us $30,000 but I got excellent insights into how "the system" works.

So the earnest recent immigrant to the US calls up the FBI because he somehow believes they will keep his son from becoming a terrorist. Next thing he knows his son is going to Jihad school, a private FBI sponsored Jihad school...

So the earnest African prince calls up the CIA because he is worried about his son becoming a terrorist. Next thing he knows, his son has burnt off his wiener trying to explode a jet airliner.

So a couple good ole boys down south are discussing the overthrow of the gubment in Denny's... Next thing you know... (The link is to the press release generated story, can't find the anti-climatic follow up where it turns out they were just trying to sell a city fool castor beans)

And then there is the first world trade center bombing where if you listened to the news during the trial you discovered that the people involved were all known to the FBI and there were questions raised that the FBI was going to arrest them at the last moment. The only reference I could find with a quick search was to the conspiracy sites and so I didn't provide a link.

And then there was Flight 800 and the live witness reports of a rocket hitting the plane which I heard on the radio while driving around in circles on a tractor.

And then there was the "Fast and Furious" scheme.

Not to be a skeptic or anything... But, perhaps we should look at things with just a bit more of a critical eye. Don't look for the crazy conspiracies with the CFR and the Jewish conspiracy or what ever is currently popular. I'm saying that taking into account your experiences with local government, stupid high school kids, the teachers you had in high school, the idiots on the local city council, the episodes of Hogan's Heroes, and any time you read an article in the News Resistor and realize the news event did not happen that way, what do you think is really the truth...

After inspiring Zeta Woof to buy new shoes...

I have truly discovered that the power of the pen is mighty, or rather the keyboard after five cups of MuddyValley coffee.
With this in mind I also forgot to mention that people who don't bring fresh roasted coffee beans or pie or cookies to the Lazy Farmer are also most likely communists but if they hit that donate button then it will all be forgotten.

A nice winter drive

This is what I did last weekend. A nice drive in the country. The fact that I spent much of my time driving in circles in a 30 acre field is beside the point.

I no-tilled Geotze Wheat into perennial ryegrass sod at an approximate depth of 1 inch and a seeding rate of 120lbs per acre. I did not get stuck. I did leave huge ruts on the corner by the farmer's living room window when I turned around and the ground turned to mush. But, though judicious shifting of gears and application of the throttle, differential lock, and adjustment of the drill height all at the same time,  I was able to not bury the tractor. It is most fortunate that I was not also chewing gum.

We go back to the Blue Goat...and enjoy it!

I have changed my perspective. 

I was always a little worried that living in wine country I would take to wearing short pants and sandals with socks, but I am not really sure what my new uniform will be.

You see I have a confession...or two.

I've been listening to funk.

We now have a (working) hot tub.

I realize that this is a digression from what you would expect from the title of this blog post but I wonder if it has not in some way changed my personal bias.

Those who have followed this blog may have noticed my fondness for old country western music and The Legendary Stardust cowboy. That has not changed as much as, shall we say evolved.

It all started when I bought a whole pile of albums on eBay. I wanted Jimi Hendrix, “Electric Ladyland,” and in the process I also won the CCR Country Album, a Marshall Crenshaw album- (I always liked the song “Cynical Girl” and have been trying to learn the chords for “Mary Anne”), plus, Jimmy McGriff's Friday the 13th Concert at the Cook County Jail, and a Barry White album. Barry White just because I figured everyone who has a Hi-Fi and a hot tub should have a Barry White album.

Anyway, there was a mix-up in the shipping and eBay's invoicing system and the seller just threw in a whole pile of other albums instead of giving me a refund. I was not so happy about the Bee Gees album, but have been listening to Junior Walker and the All Stars, and Tower of Power, “Bump City” on a regular basis.

I was in fact humming “Psychedelic Shack” to myself as the wife and I skipped into the Blue Goat last night for a night out on the town.

Actually, we were on our way to the infamous Blue Moon in McMinnville for the two steaks for $20 special, but we have wanted to give the Blue Goat a third chance and it was on the way. (Click here to read of my previous visit-which has generated a steady stream of traffic to this blog. Traffic which generally clicks through as they are really not the sort to care about the grumpy lowbrow comments of perpetually annoyed farmers.)

We were met at the door by a cheerful waitress, and as most of the tables were full we opted to share the long table with a group that was almost ready to leave.

We got our menus right away and despite our long standing bet that they would be out of our first choices we were pleasantly surprised to find they did in fact have what we wanted.

Much to our surprise the next group though the door was the only guy in our neighborhood who still has his Obama bumper sticker. He also brought his lovely wife and stepdaughter, who is a bit of a world traveler.

Despite the fact that I have in fact hid from him on several occasions when I did not feel like discussing politics, and I have had to explain that it will take more than the offer of one beer to get me in a hot tub with him as I do fear a reach-around, we invited them to sit with us.

We had a nice time. We discussed the daughter's world travels, the food was good and the prices are really not bad for a dinner menu.

I had as close to a steak as I could get. I was a little critical as we have just had some pretty incredible home grown beef but I am not complaining.

My wife had something resembling a tamale, but the corn husk was mostly for decoration. The black beans that came with it were very good. They sparked a discussion of the injustice of Mexican restaurants serving that nasty brown bean mush that comes from the ACME Restaurant supply store but I suppose that is a bit off topic.

The dessert was wonderful. I can’t hear half the time, and I didn’t actually look at the desert menu, and I’m sort of a Philistine, so I don’t know exactly what I had, but it had chocolate and caramel and it was really good caramel and we had good strong coffee to go with it.

Now I do see that I have blathered on long enough to lose most of my readers and I kind of lost the whole train of thought that started with my acquisition of a pile of worn out Funk records so I must wrap this up.

The Blue Goat has survived the first year. The food has improved, (they actually have food an hour from closing time), I was able to get my dessert, the coffee was good, it is not terribly expensive (in today’s world), it is clean, the waitress was nice and knew what she was doing, and I no longer feel any guilt about not eating at Ashes Café. In fact Ashes is no longer Ashes, it is now a beer and broasted chicken joint and I have no temptation to give it a try. 

But I do have to tell you what I find quite amusing about small town sophistication.

When ever I have been at the Blue Goat or talk about the Blue Goat someone always comments on the people who are, “not from around here.” It is the hallmark of the small town Nouveau-Winesnob to think they are the only clever and sophisticated person in town. It is also the hallmark of most grumpy farmers to assume that anyone not wearing Romeo's and a flannel shirt is a communist. 

The fact is that in rural Oregon there are plenty of educated and clever sorts, not all of them sip wine, not all are annoying, (but some are), but many people have made a conscious decision to not live in the city. They are generally communists but that whole world domination thing seems to be less worrisome these days than it once was.
Again, I digress...

I just want to conclude with my opinion. 
I think it is nice to have a place where you can have an interesting dinner and sip a glass if you so desire, or have a good cup of coffee if you do not.

I suspect the Blue Goat will fill that niche.

However for lunch on Monday, I’m going to Uncle Jack’s BBQ for a Brisket Sandwich!
And I do miss Ashes cafe, and the Mexican place across from the bank. Well, I also miss J & J's restaurant but that was a couple years back.