Tag: OCF Update

23MAY2022 – OCF Update

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Memorial Day Weekend will be a big family party at “The Compound.”  Yours truly is busy sprucing up the grounds and fighting the forces of entropy that are always at work undermining my efforts.  I’m impatiently awaiting the yearly attack of the deer on my patch of day lilies and irises.  Like clockwork, just as the day lilies bud some moocher with a white tail and hooves swoops down and chews them down to the ground.  Every year I say I will buy some netting and build a fence around them but sloth and an innate sense of the wrongness of deer forcing me to waste my time with such precautions stops me.  So here I am dreading but fascinated by the knowledge that the catastrophe awaits.  The only hope I have is that this particular deer met his fate during the hunting season and is now an antlered bit of taxidermy on the wall of some hunting enthusiast in Dunwich.

I checked the headlines this morning but it was the same old, same old.  You know; pestilence, war, famine, Kardashians.  So, nothing new to write about.  Biden is still in East Asia which effectively raises the average IQ of North America a few points.

I have started to figure out Twitter a little bit.  I finally got some traffic back to OCF from my twitter feed.  The trick is to use some of the better lines from an article as a teaser to pique their interest.  Of course, this isn’t stunning insight but for a social media Neanderthal such as myself it’s tantamount to the invention of the wheel.  I’m actually kind of enjoying it.  I got 300 impressions, 3 likes, 3 comments and 10 clicks on my web site for one of my car show pictures which was a new best personal best.  I haven’t gotten flamed by any progs yet which makes me a little sad.  I assume you aren’t someone until you’ve been attacked on Twitter.

We had two ninety-degree days on Saturday and Sunday.  But now the temperature is back in the sixties and is supposed to stay in the seventies all week.  For the shindig on Sunday that would be optimal.  That way no air conditioning will be needed and people will be more likely to stay outdoors.  It would be a little cool for swimming in the pool.  But with the water only 55 degrees right now most people aren’t hardy enough to stay in that temperature water for long anyway.

The fact that the winner hasn’t been declared in the Pennsylvania Senate primary for the GOP seems to me to mean that voter fraud activities are still in full force in Philadelphia.  I assume the November results in that state will take a month to be reported and will be completely fraudulent.  It should be interesting to see how many states will crack down on the mail voting scam.  That will be a good indicator of whether the Democrats will pull out all the stops and try to steal the mid-terms.

So, the work week begins.  I’ll check in later for anything worthy of comment.

15APR2022 – OCF Update – Good Friday All Around

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Life is good today.  It rained hard last night and now it’s a bright sunny day.  Now that’s the way to arrange the weather!  My thanks to the Man Upstairs for this indulgence.

A beautiful day for a walk in the woods.  A good telecon with a business consultant.  Useful actionable advice.  Progress on all fronts of the business effort.  No new roadblocks appearing.  Domestic tranquility continues.  Plans for the summer Yellowstone trip coalescing nicely  Some books and movies to finish up for reviews. Projects around the house and yard coming along fine.  What can I say?  Life is good today.

Of course, in the larger world, that sleazy dopey wrecker in the White House continues to dismantle the United States of America with alarming speed.  The economy continues to shake itself to pieces with costs soaring into the stratosphere and staple supplies disappearing from store shelves on a random basis.  Disorder stalks the metropolitan areas and international relations are becoming strained even among supposed allies.

But today is Good Friday.  For Christians a time to reflect on the things that are most important in life.  Most fundamentally, on our families and friends.  Jesus spoke mostly of love.  Right now it is paramount that we love and protect those we care about.  Protect them from the coming storms.

But right at this moment we can also share some happy moments with them.  Sunday we’re getting together at the house of one of my daughters.  All of my grandchildren will be there and all but one of my children.  We’ll eat way too much fattening food and I hope we’ll have a chance to throw a baseball around.  But the forecast isn’t promising.  Cold and wet is the forecast.

But that matters not at all.  We’ll talk about what the kids are up to and applaud their sports victories and condole the losses.  We’ll talk about upcoming college admission.  We’ll talk about vacation plans and trips on the new boat that’s in the driveway.  and there will be talk about dinosaurs with my youngest grandson who is a connoisseur of all things saurian.

And I know Camera Girl is going to bake a ricotta cheesecake for the holiday and that is one of my favorites.  And even though I’ve switched from coffee to tea this year I will indulge in some good coffee for the occasion.  And I intend to revel in the chaos of five grandchildren playing (and fighting) all around me.  And I intend to participate in the games of whatever variety they choose.  Last time we got together they had me try out an virtual reality contraption called an Occulus.  I bought this for them a couple of years ago and I was surprised at just how realistic the illusion it produces is.

It’s funny how these holidays provide so much continuity in our lives.  It’s comforting to have these rituals to ground us and those we love in a familiar pattern.  And for me Easter is a pivotal point in the year.  Long New England winters finally release the landscape around Easter and people can go outside and breath a little fresh air.  It’s the beginning of outdoor life.

Everyone enjoy the day especially those who are religious.  And get a little air and sun if it’s around.

14APR2022 – OCF Update-Camera Girl Finally Frees the Slaves

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Winter, Sony A7 III, Voigtlander 10mm f\5.6 lens, 22APR2021 – Photo of the Day

Today was a day of toil.  About a week ago Camera Girl was  in her garden, supposedly turning the soil with a pitchfork.  I say supposedly because after ten or fifteen minutes of effort the pitchfork was still stuck in the ground and the ground was having the best of the argument.

Finally she gave up and complained bitterly of her fate.  Being the gentlemanly parfait knight that I am, I mocked her.  I said, “Sure women are always saying how they can do anything a man can but apparently that doesn’t apply to pitchforks.”  She sot me a look that seemed to imply something about the quality of that night’s dinner.  So I displayed magnanimity.  I said, “You poor weak creature, I will turn the soil for you, only not today.

Well, apparently “not today” was today.  So I went out to the west field and starting singing road gang spirituals.  And to be honest, between the matted weed roots and the stupid liner that someone put in the soil was incredibly tough and heavy to turn.  But three hours of working like a hired field hand got it done.  About half way through it occurred to me that I could have rented a rototiller.  But by the end I was so satisfied with myself that it was worth it.  I showed up afterward in the kitchen drenched in sweat and covered with dirt but extremely pleased with myself.

I preened in front of Camera Girl and lectured on the difference between man’s work and woman’s work.  I mentioned that I left some clean up of weeds and liner next to the garden.  And that she should get that squared away as soon as possible.  She mumbled something under her breath but I pretended not to hear her.  Then I headed up for a well deserved shower.

Remarkably shortly after i finished working the skies opened up and it poured to beat the band.  Probably some of the seedling I put in this week may be washed away.  But some of them will make it and I ‘ve got more for next week too.  As long as we don’t have a repeat of last spring when it rained for forty days and forty nights, things will be fine in the garden.

This year we intend to grow a lot of butternut squash because Camera girl makes a great chicken soup with it.  And we’ll grow lots of zucchini and eggplant.  This year we’ll put in some thorn-less raspberries and I might move my blueberry bushes to make it easier to protect them from the birds.  Most years they get more than I do.  And I have to remember to put out the egg cases that the praying mantis laid over the winter.   I sure don’t want them hatching in the house.

So it was a work day but I’ll be sure to find something to be outraged about in the news when I check it out.  Enjoy your Thursday night.

02APR2022 – OCF Update – A Nice Quiet Day

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This morning’s post was kind of depressing.  Talking about the awful situation we’re in is always grim.  But today was a beautiful day.  Chilly for sure, but bright sunlight and reasonable breeze.

Camera Girl and I took our morning walk in the woods.  She was a little feistier than usual but being a man of even temper and enlightened disposition I resisted the impulse to cut a switch and administer a husbandly correction as is my right by biblical pronouncement.  But it was a close thing.  Instead I gave her a lecture on the mistakes of allowing women to vote, wear shoes, learn how to read or talk back to their fathers and husbands.  She was sullenly silent but I’m pretty sure I got through to her.

There were lots of folks out fishing from the shore and on boats on the pond and on the lake.  There was some kind of public service sign asking fishermen to catch and release the stocked trout.  Well, this seemed kind of silly.  Sure, some people do this.  But the people who want to eat fish are going to keep them.  After all, they’ve paid their license fee and go through all the hoops needed to have the tackle and bait and drive to the lake and maybe own a boat and all that entails.  And then they have to read how the fish are filled with lead and mercury and probably viruses only known to Lord Fauci.  But then they still have to be harangued by tree-huggers because they want a fish dinner.

When I saw a guy throwing a pretty small fish into his bucket I gave him the OK sign and a conspiratorial smile.  He looked perplexed and maybe slightly annoyed.  Well some people are slow.  On the walk back to the car I opined at considerable length about this fishing do-goodery to Camera Girl.  She didn’t seem to hear me.  Probably some hearing loss going on there.

So today was a good day to take care of some annoying paperwork that needs doing.  And I planted some seeds in an indoor planting tray contraption.  We watched a tv show (an episode of Amazon’s Jack Ryan series) and listened to some music.  All in all a quiet but satisfying day.  And not once did I worry about that moron in Washington and the awful stuff he’s working on.  I took care of my own life and enjoyed the beautiful world that God gave us all day.

There’s plenty of time to fret and bellyache about the pod people next week.  For now I’m living large and enjoying the good life.  Have a good Saturday night.

31MAR2022 – OCF Update – This’N’That

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Today was a down day.  Camera Girl and I were out and about on errands.  She needed to buy a replacement hamster and I needed to get some angle iron for temporary fence supports.

A few months ago our intrepid hamster Jellybean left this mortal coil.  Because he was an especial favorite of Princess Sack of Potatoes Camera girl told her that Jellybean was sick and had to go to the hospital for medical care.  And in due time he was apparently forgotten.

But this week she remembered ans seemed very sad that he hadn’t returned from the hospital.  Feeling terrible for the little girl, Camera Girl told her that he’d be returning very soon.  But after checking with her animal seller she was unable to obtain one of the same color.  Jellybean was black and the only available replacements were brown and white.

The discrepancy will be explained thus.  The new hamster is Jellybean’s cousin and because he has no home, Jellybean has agreed to switch places with him and go back with his family.

Then to move the process along we asked her to name the new hanster and she quickly settled on Terret.  At least that’s how I’m spelling it.  It sounded like it rhymed with ferret so Terret it is.  I told Camera girl that I will field any additional questions concerning Jeelybean and Terret going forward.  Camera Girl is just not a convincing liar and I am something of a natural born storyteller.

So angle iron is a lot more expensive than I remember it.  A four foot length of 18 gauge angle was twenty two bucks!  But I bought a couple and I’ll see if it’ll do the trick.  The first semi-decent day I’ll go out with the angle, a sledge hammer and some screws and put an end to one of the broken posts on the fence.  Ah, the joys of home ownership.

So I hear Dopey Joe is going to release a million barrels of oil from the strategic reserve every day until the election.  What a genius!  Next thing I guess he’ll release a million cows a day and ten million chickens a day from the strategic livestock reserve.  And to finish it off he’ll be releasing a million tons of wheat a day from the strategic grain reserve.  We really deserve a better grade of psychopaths from our ruling class.  Well, you get what you pay for.

Anyway, I’ll get back to work now and pound out some high quality outrage.  Enjoy the night.

18MAR2022 – OCF Update

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So today Camera Girl’s getting taken out for her birthday.  I’ll tag along for the free food so I’ll be negligent on the site until later on.  Seems like a slow news day but I’ll think of something to rant about later.

The photo of the day will be pictures that I took at that auto show last Sunday.  I’ve got about a hundred shots so I may have to mix in other things so as not to bore non-auto-enthusiasts.

Today we’ll hit 70 degrees and there’ll be sun so it’s a pretty good day to be out in the world.  I hope everyone who’s footloose and fancy free today gets out and gets some air.

Talk to you soon.

16MAR2022 – OCF Update

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I think I’ve said enough about the Ukraine for a while.  That mess is going to stew for weeks and nothing I’ll say will change a damn thing about it.  I hope everyone involved finds a way to exit out of it with the least amount of damage possible even though that seems highly unlikely.  If something of value occurs to me I’ll write it but currently most of what is said is posturing and propaganda.  The results will be written in human misery and boundaries moving on maps.

Walked around the yard yesterday and then took a walk with Camera Girl at the state forest.  Although there is still ice and snow, spring has sprung.  There were frog eggs in a vernal pond and the birds are feeling their oats.  Life is good.  I’m sure there will be another snowstorm and it might be a doozy but that will just be winter’s death throes.  photog is reborn!

I don’t know what I’ll write about today.  I have some podcasts to listen to and some work to do on my book but I’ll check in later with something.  Meanwhile Princess Sack of Potatoes needs the Angry Polar Bear to chase her around the house now so away I go.

 

 

13MAR2022 – OCF Update – Car Show

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This morning Camera Girl and I are headed out to the car show.  As her name implies Camera Girl will serve as my native bearer, a sort of female photographic Sherpa carrying my gear and also acting as a body guard, ready to throw herself at any danger giving me the chance to flee for my life.  She feels it is her duty and a great honor.  Look I don’t make the rules I just follow them!

For that reason there will be a lull in my responses.  But I shall return!

Winter Returns to Dunwich, Again!

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There’s something ironic about the weather around here.  My snowblower is broken, my snow shovel is broken and now my sense of humor is broken too.  The forecast said “scattered light snow showers leaving less than a dusting of snow.”  I went out with my broken shovel and cleared the driveway and by the time I finished it the snow had recovered the ground even deeper.

Man, I hate this place.  I took some pictures of daffodil sprouts pushing through the mud three days ago.  I made plans to go to a car show this Sunday.  And now this crap.

Sure, I know this is probably the last real snow of the season and next week it’ll be in the sixties but this place sucks.  It’s probably the reason the people here are so weird.  The weather has left its mark on the soul of the inhabitants.  They’re scarred by the perverse, malignant foibles of the climate here.

Alright, I got that out of my system.  So this isn’t going to be that big a deal.  I’ll go out again tomorrow morning and shovel it away with my broken shovel and before you know it this will just be a dim memory receding behind me.

There!  All better.  So I really enjoyed making fun of Dementia Joe in that last post.  I think I’ll do more of that.  He really deserves it and there are plenty of other dimwits in his administration that deserve to get their 15 minutes of fame too.

After the debacle of the Polish MiG fighters I wonder what new brilliance will hatch out of the State Department.  Hearing about the bioweapons labs that they sponsored in the Ukraine I wouldn’t be surprised if smallpox reappears in our lives.  There really isn’t any limit to the imbecility that rises out of our government.  But as someone recently commented, the American people are getting what they voted for.  The only question remaining is have they had enough?