It's official.

My boss just asked me over to talk. Things really are hurting him right now. Banks not loaning money etc. He isn't broke but he is hurting and so we as a group are taking a backseat while things stabilize. I will be able to get a few days here and there but not what I was. While this is disappointing its not a surprise. I saw the writing on the wall a few weeks ago and then had is mildly confirmed by my landlord(his partner) a couple of days ago. Full confirmation tonight to say the least.

So where does this leave Diogenes?

I have thought about getting a parttime job at a local car parts place but that would remove me from the roles of the unemployed. Not that I would mind coming off the roles but,, Well maybe its time to stop scamming the .Gov and actually work for my money. It would have been nice to keep the train rolling long enough to get an RV out of the fun but I am a realist when it comes to getting by. I will figure something out.

Still looking for that special deal when it comes to an RV/Camper. I don't need much. Somewhere to get out of the weather to cook/crap and snooze. Other than that I wouldn't mind being outside as much as possible. Heck, if I do find something I will probably only be moving it about 300 miles and then parking it for a couple of years while I build my house. Park it on a pad and build a little deck next to it so that I can sit outside and read or plink the squirrels. LOL It wouldn't be that much different than where I am now except for lower crime rates and fewer people to deal with. (those go pretty much hand in hand don't they?) I would have my tools on the truck same as I do now so work wouldn't be an issue As long as the RV/Camper is set up in a permanent position I should be able to get an address listed for the property.

Lots more research in my future I see. Funny how I stay flexible enough that even little things like this don't get me down. So plans need to change enough to extend my time in this armpit of a town. Oh well. I have been here for the last 17 years, one more isn't going to kill me. Even if I don't get an RV, I am always ready to roll if the conditions call for it.

Going 4X4 Part 1.3

Well after a 5 hour endeavor with Dan and lots of greasy fingers and cursing(I think that the cars like verbal abuse LOL) I now have the Tahoe axles in place. I still have some detail stuff to take care of, like hooking up the P-brake lines and some wiring that needs repaired but currently the S-10 is up and running and I have engaged the 4X4 package to insure that things are working properly.


Next up is either an RV or Tow Camper.

Looking but I don't have the funds yet so I don't see that happening anytime soon. My boss is running low on funds and hours are getting cut.(yet one more way the 'stimulus' is stimulating me.) I am the only person getting hours at this moment due to my transportation status and the fact that I provide my own tools. ON THAT NOTE: I am noting parallels to Ayn Rands book "Atlas shrugged". Many people in the service industry just not caring that much anymore. Attitudes and pessimism abound. People aren't giving like they would if the returns were better. There isn't any one thing I can really put my finger on to illustrate this but I feel it daily. Every once in awhile you run across a shining star that hasn't been infected with the poison yet and your day is lit up for a short time. Yet for the most part there is a growing illness in this country. Like guys expecting work but not investing in the tools to do the job. Or working at such a pace to draw out the work indefinitely instead of doing a bangup job and getting kudos for it towards the next piece of work. Even I have noted that this poison is affecting me in some ways. I have the hardest time working with anyone from this area anymore. My boss has gone out of his way to give me solo projects because I hammer them out quick with minimal fuss(usually over materials but thats another story.) and he knows that the work is done right. I have been bouncing around to his many different properties doing maintenance stuff and security improvements because he knows that I won't dicker with the tenants and the job is done when I am packing up my tools, not dragged out to the next day. In some ways this is a positive since I know that he will keep coming back to me with work. In others though it hurts me since I am getting things done so timely that I am not getting a full week out of what he has. I guess its better to have some work and struggle than no work and begging.

Can't wait to get that trailer and get out of this dying town.

Itching to get to a range too. It has been a few weeks since I shot something.

Going 4X4 Part 1.2

To start the story off, I picked up a Chevy S-10 earlier this year to replace the Honda that was my Daughters car. For $500.00 I picked up this beast that was far more redneck than myself. LOL

Well the guy I had bought her from had "done some work" on her that was not really up to my levels of perfection. He had replaced the rear axle on her (and did that well enough) but with the wrong Gear ratios. This throws the whole system out of whack. Wrong speed indications are the least of those issues. (the speedo reads 45 when I am doing 55-60) I haven't even began to figure out the fuel economy to any finite degree because of that. Worst of it though is I am hauling around about 400 lbs of useless metal in the transfer case and front axle because I can't engage the 4X4 due to mismatched axles.

Not anymore.

I now have the axles out of the Tahoe (matched pair) ready to install in my truck. I will still have the Speedo issues but I can live with that: that's what GPS is for. It will really be nice to have working 4X4 during the hated winter season around here.
On that note though. I think that I have taken every single working part that I could off of that Tahoe and installed it or am ready to install it on my little truck. Pretty good deal for a vehicle I received for a song. Easily one of the best things that has happened to me in the last 2 years.

I am still being surprised by my little truck on a daily basis though. For being 22 years old with 200,000 miles on her, she still gets up everyday and does her job. She has done things that I would never thought possible (towing the Tahoe for one) and now that the 4X4 package is being fixed I can see her doing even more. Going to be an interesting winter to say the least.

Sometimes ya have to wonder.

I freely admit I am a child of the late 80's and early 90's. I grew up listening to 'HairBands' and metal.

Today while going through my collection I ran across an album I hadn't listened to in a few years. I sat and listened to the lyrics again. Funny how predictive it was then. Guess things really haven't changed for the better in 15-20 years.

Here are the lyrics for one of the songs.

Artist: Queensryche Album: Operation Mindcrime Title: Revolution Calling

For a price i'd do about anything
Except pull the trigger
For that i'd need a pretty good cause
Then i heard of dr. x
The man with the cure
Just watch the television
Yeah, you'll see there's something going on

Got no love for politicians
Or that crazy scene in d.c.
It's just a power mad town
But the time is ripe for changes
There's a growing feeling
That taking a chance on a new kind of vision is due

I used to trust the media
To tell me the truth, tell us the truth
But now i've seen the payoffs
Everywhere i look
Who do you trust when everyone's a crook?

Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Revolution calling you
[there's a] revolution calling
Revolution calling
Gotta make a change
Gotta push, gotta push it on through

I'm tired of all this bullshit
They keep selling me on t.v.
About the communist plan
And all the shady preachers
Begging for my cash
Swiss bank accounts while giving their
Secretaries the slam

They're all in penthouse now
Or playboy magazine, million dollar stories to tell
I guess warhol wasn't wrong
Fame fifteen minutes long
Everyone's using everybody, making the sale

I used to think
That only america's way, way was right
But now the holy dollar rules everybody's lives
Gotta make a million doesn't matter who dies

Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Revolution calling you
[there's a] revolution calling
Revolution calling
Gotta make a change
Gotta push, gotta push it on through

I used to trust the media
To tell me the truth, tell us the truth
But now i've seen the payoffs
Everywhere i look
Who do you trust when everyone's a crook?

Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Revolution calling you
[there's a] revolution calling
Revolution calling
Gotta make a change
Gotta push, gotta push it on through



Makes me wonder when we will see resolution to all of this crap. I would hope in my lifetime and not that of my grandchildren.

Going Mobile (part 2)

Been looking into a camper or RV on Craigslist. Nothing fancy but something that I can either tow with my truck or tow my truck with. I am not even that concerned about condition so long as its complete, with a head. During my looking and research into campers and rv's and the like, I have ran into some Truly interesting reading material from a group called "vandwellers".

At one point my sis and her husband would take off for the summer and triapse around the country in a little RV. These people do it 24/7 and even make a living doing it by hosting camp sites on Federal land(among other jobs).

Interesting to me.

Where I become conflicted is with wanting a garden and having my Grandbehbie growing up. I really would like a yard where I could grow my own food and have a workshop. Still the allure of not having a permanent address is quite appealing. Especially with all of the current events in our increasingly facist Federal government. Much harder to track down a "Right Wing Extremist" if they don't have any ties to a permanent address. (and yes I have been looking into that little detail too. Like how to maintain licensing and insurance on the 'hicles while not living with an address. tricky but doable) The freedom to up and move on a whim is VERY inticing. Now if there were someway that I could convince my daughter to come along with the baby I could have the best of both worlds. Freedom to roam and the ability to protect and educate my family. (my holding back on my freedom of being single again is because I 1) want to see my grandbehbie growing up and 2) I want to help educate her the way I know is right and not the way the public schools do now.

Time enough to decide and make sure that No matter what why I go I am making the right choice.

A little delimma

I am teaching a new shooter and have a slight problem. This is something outside of my experience and I am kind of hoping that someone stumbles across this blog that may have an answer (Google isn't cutting the mustard on this one.)


The problem is Eye dominance. He is a right handed shooter but left eye dominant. No problems with his pistol shooting but he wants to learn rifle shooting too. Normally I would try to teach him to shoot left handed since his dominant eye is the left but that presents a problem too. He fights the position and ends up switching back to struggling with the right. His form is fine but he is trying to sight in with his left eye and that puts the bridge of his nose right into the butt of the rifle.

We haven't taken him to the range yet for rifle since I am not that comfortable with his form. We have been working with him on dryfire exercises till I feel confident that he isn't going to walk away completely frustrated or with a broken nose.

I will continue looking online but I am hoping that someone has had a similar situation and can help out.

My take on the news.

I have been listening to both sides of the story as best as possible for the last couple of months. The talk radio seems to carry the story better since they aren't 'spinning' the story. Seems to me that the people that want the truth tend to be able to handle it better than those that just want the next movie listing or traffic report.

Still when you are seeing several major powers coming together to 'find' a better way of transacting business for Energy supplies; Well you have to watch what the FedGov's response is. So far what we are seeing is the basic ineptitude of a deer in headlights. No response from the hill other than some denials of the facts(like our unemployment rates. Spin that all you want. The street shows a different story)

We

Are

FUCKED.

Thats my take on it.

Anyone care to refute it? I could use some good news.



Guess I plan on making the hump to Dayton in two weeks to pick up more ammo. We may not see these plans pan out for another year or two but I think that when the PTB in other countries start to make the move, the rest are going to follow suit so fast the Dollar is going to crash, hard. It will hit so hard as to leave a crater.(right where the Federal treasury is today)


So how is that Hope and Change working for you? I know it sucks in this neck of the woods. We sure are getting the change and HOPING that it isn't going to blow up TOO soon. I still have preparations in the works. Not to say that I can't up and leave at the drop of the first sign of trouble but comfort levels may not be where I would like to have them.

Rule 1) Be prepared to leave your bags on the dock when the SHTF.
Rule 2) All sales are final.

On a good note though; Having free rein to get my work done this week while the boss is out of town is a good thing. Lowered stress levels to say the least. I will be picking up the Dragunov soon. My daughter has a car again( so I don't have to chauffeur her around and cut into my working hours.)(down side though, I don't see my granbehbie as much. Prolly for the better right now as she keeps giving me all of these damned colds. LOL)