And now for something COmPLetely Different.

Just an update to a past post. This is me at work on that idea I have had.
I titled it "Mad Engineer at work" LOL If you look a bit on the close side, you will note the Shock Absorber body in pieces next to the notebook. Guess what? Recycling at its finest. Can't reuse the shock but I sure as hell can put it's components into use as something else. Funny thing is, I will reuse the fluid for hardening steel parts in other things. (just put them in that, catch it on fire and the end result is 55-60 on the Rockwell scale which is plenty hard enough for Tool steel for turning aluminum)(granted, that MAY get me in trouble with the EPA but ya know, I could really give 2 shits less about it.)


I am going to use the sleeves from the shocks as my cylinders, They are already made for that use, I just need to come up with the pistons. Casting those may be interesting to say the least.

The wood block is actually a piece I put together to cast the actual block out of. This thing is going to have a displacement of about 10 cu inches and IF my math is right, at 500 degrees on the displacer side, will put out about 1/10 horse at 1500rpm. Not too shabby for something made in a home shop.

Now if I can only get it to work. That's the real challenge. Getting it all done right.

Doing more with less.

When I was a kid, I hated hearing that line. It was a mantra my dad sang quite often. NOW, as an adult, I understand perfectly why he sang it: Fact is, I have to sing it to him now. He doesn't 'get' why I want a small house, or just a 'shed' as he calls it. I DO understand his dilemma though. He tried very hard to raise us kids right, in his mind. He knew what growing up in a depressed economy looked and felt like. He knew what it was like when the only food on the table was what you shot or grew yourself (or could harvest from the woods.). He really wanted us to be successful enough for that large house on the hill, the large fridge stocked full of nummers, and a pantry that was overflowing. That to him was 'success'.
But that mentality is only the bait in the trap that was laid by those in power a long time ago. To get to that point required you to subjugate your values to a life of indebtedness. Debt is slavery. You can look at Debt in two ways. A means to an end, OR, the end to a means. With our economy set up like it was in 1913, it is only a ends to a means. The means in this case are enslavement of the working class. The media has sold this hype quite well, and continue to do so even in times of strife.

I know, I know, Preachin to the choir again.

This brings me to the Unions. (yes, Capital U. They are a force to be reckoned with, therefore, they earn that moniker.) The Unions, originally were established to give the average working man a lever to use in negotiations with unscrupulous business practices. Well, that was the myth anyway. Here in coal country, The unions did some damned good things, at first. You only need to research the term "Redneck" and you will find lots of history of 'evil' coalmine owners, and massive abuse of workers, and work conditions. Heck, my dad was telling me a story about his dad (Rare event, My ears were WIDE open) having to go to the mines for weeks on end, to cut rock, without pay. They were only paid for coal, by the ton, and everything else was on them. If they had to cut rock out of the way to get to the coal, they received NOTHING in return.(I won't even go into the use of Scrip and The Company Store, or the company supplied housing that the miners were charged rent for.)

Ready for the kicker.

This was in the late 1940's. Not some time back in the late 1800's or even pre-WWI. This was AFTER WWII.

It comes as no surprise that my dads dream of "us kids" having a better life than he had is his biggest driving force.

I don't know at what time the Unions started 'round here. Doesn't really matter. The fact that there are still companies that skirt safety issues shows that the Union doesn't really work for the worker any longer but for themselves. That scourge is no longer a cancer in our society but a full grown, separate beast unto itself now. It has transcended being a servant to that of being a master of those in its realm. You only need to look at how un-aware or un-caring those in WI are acting, to see that they are only serving the beast, THAT THEY FEED.(oh, and that we also feed since they are "Public Servants" themselves, being paid with Tax revenues.)

At one time I thought the dividing line would be a bit racial. I had my reasons for that thought, but in hindsight, its going to be Federal vs State again. The key point here being that a vast majority of the racial divide is in the employ of the federal beast.(that whole Affirmative Action thing in play) So, in a round-bout kind of way, it will be racial. Heck, you could even say that the coming conflict is over slavery again. Only now, the slaves have reversed the role and they are the Federal Govt: Demanding that they be taken care of Cradle to Grave.

This conversation can be played out a million times and the end result will be the same. The people that 'want', will twist the tables every turn. If you call them out as the racist, they blast you with apathy. I you try to point out the facts that things aren't sustainable, they blast you with racism. etc etc etc. They don't give a fuck so long as that gravy train continues to roll along.(and yes, I dropped the f-bomb)

And it won't keep rolling, its only a matter of time. God help us when it stops.

Back to the conflict I am having with my dad. Yes, he wants more for me than I desire. That is how dads are. (and I should know as I hope for more for my daughter) When he sees that I won't back down, he does back down, but like any good dad, he finds ways of showing his displeasure at his upstart kid. LOL. Maybe I am an empath or something, but I can feel it when he 'ain't happy'.

What brought this up was a recent purchase I decided to make. I found an old, derelict truck camper for dirt cheap. It has all of the hardware in it, but massive water damage. (that old plywood just doesn't hold up long when wet) I don't want it for the camper itself so much as the gear within it. That three burner stove, the 3 way refrigerator, the 12v AC unit ( maybe even the little furnace though I doubt that). All of this can be made to work in my little 'shed' far better than, oh, that $1000 stove that is 4 times the size of the little camper stove. PLUS, picking the unit(the camper) up for $250 means less money spent elsewhere on similar items. Since I want to go with a solar operation instead of grid, any 12v or gas appliance is more of a boon than a curse.(as Spud said in the last post comments:"power ,water And fuel are not a concern for me.") I have been scouring RV/Boating sites to turn up as much information as I can about anything that can be modified for my chosen pathway.

IT may be a shed, but damned if I won't be comfortable in it. And I will be far more comfortable in it on those 'rolling blackout' nights than my neighbors. They may be warm but they are going to have to adjust without Electric to power the stove, fridge, or the glass teat.(And I weaned myself off that teat a few years ago.)

(OH, that brings something up too. For the one that sent an email, afraid to face the comments section I guess: YES, I have an alternative for the lathe. This lathe uses a pulley system and it doesn't take much to convert something to power the lathe other than the 3/4 horse motor on it now. Maybe waterwheel, or even inertia wheel like the old presses used, but no, I won't be without 'power tools' when things get real rough. That was one consideration I took into account when buying it, and that won out over the inability to cut threads with it, I can modify it for thread cutting later.)

Now its just a matter of winning over the Dad to the new "Successful".

Mis disculpas

Wrapped up a rather hectic week at work (12 hours OT Woot!) and was in slight recovery mode Sunday and most of Yesterday. Also received a couple of addendums to the "useful Lunk"(the lathe)
This



and This.


plus a couple of other little odds and ends.

I know that they don't look like much, and yes they are 'cheap chinese crap' but they are small nuggets of gold for the future, to me. Hell, I can't afford the 'real stuff'. IF you can even find them anymore.(nothing that will fit my lathe without MAJOR modification.)


Yes, Dio has a little project in the works, Ain't talkin' a whole lot about it, and its complicated as hell.(has connecting rods and cooling fins, just a hint.) This is not a Forward moving thing so much as a prototype of an idea in my head that I have done only a trivial amount of math to see if viable. Yes, it may apply to future endeavors, no its not something able to be patented (was invented in 1816, another hint) and yes, will require lots of casting, tooling, and skullsweat on my part. Can't think of a better way to allow the world to blow up without me and still accomplish something useful. Who knows, we all may need something like this in the future just to get water uphill. (actually, I know of at least two other methods for moving water uphill that are less complicated and more efficient, but I digress)

I see that Things are still stable though borderline towards gaining momentum in Wisconsin. NO news is still no news. Libya is still a mess and now we are moving warships into the area. (How Clinton-esque can you get? talk about a No substance stance. Personally, let them figure it out and if we don't like it, too damned bad. We can't even get our own house in order so who are we to tell others how to do the same?)

Silver and Gold continue their upward movement. Crude oil is doing its little dance up and down right now but sure as hell isn't falling down.
And those three things mean only one thing to the average person, here and around the world.


Its going to get a lot more expensive to feed yourself and family.

I know that others are saying it, I am going to say it again. If you aren't preparing now, its pretty much too damned late. You can still do it but its going to cost you. And its going to hurt, A LOT.

Now, I heard a little bird this morning that was chirping a tune about a CON-Con.

My blood turned to ice.

I can't say enough negatives about this. I have quite a few expletives about such an idea and even there I run out of invectives long before I run out of steam. If you have any questions as to how that little charade would turn out I highly recommend reading something by Matt Bracken on the subject(if you haven't already. ) Granted its speculative fiction but it doesn't take a creative genius to see the potentials being lined up NOW.

Time to crawl back in the tub and curl up with the dogs for a couple of days.

Maybe it's the weather,

Then again, maybe not.

Seriously? Up $20 in less than 24 hours? Did I call it or what on the 'speculators' yesterday.

I saw (heard) this and made a quick change of plans today. I wasn't going to get anymore silver this week, Bbbuuuttttt, Hey, maybe I panicked a bit. SO TFW! It's not like silver is getting devalued or anything right now. Quite the opposite. While I was there, I saw something that gave me a little nudge too. The place I go is right near a major chain grocery store. There was a little old couple there doing their thing. I counted 10 military issue Gerry cans in the bed of the truck, a cooler the size of a Kenmore and they were loading it up. While I was in getting my coins, the old lady came in and got line behind me. While I was walking back towards the front, she pulled out a wad of Hundreds and started pointing at the silver in the case. I am not alone in this area. I wouldn't be surprised if her husband was sitting in the seat of the truck armed to the teeth while waiting for her. If only there were more like this.

But when I returned home, I was thinking. Uh oh: Diogenes thinking and not a dog in sight to keep him grounded.

Yeah, I know, I should take more care when letting the neurons fire at random like that.

Anywho's, I was thinking. Sitting there, beer in hand, cig burning away at my life, staring at the awesome buy I found in Combat boots (IE my feet) when a thought came out clear as a bell.

"we need to mark times like this with a minor celebration. In a few years, we will look back on these times and have a hard time recognizing them as a reality and not dreamscapes."

Think about that. I saw a market trend, as did you, that rocketed up over a simple 'fear' and more than likely a little greed. The process of that caused a marked increase in fuel prices in the same amount of time. Shortly, that increase will be felt in other areas too. Of course those that 'control' this country, won't feel a damned thing. As for the rest of us; We are feeling it now and its only going to get worse. And it may be getting worse faster than ANY of us is prepared for.

Now when I am saying minor celebration, don't go throwing a danged party or anything, but celebrate that which put you on this earth and gave you the sight to see the truth. Even if its only to raise your face to the heavens and give a hearty thank you, or lifting a glass for the same reason; have at it. Remember this time, they are not only going to get further and further apart, but later, they may not even seem real any longer. Remember well those around you that touch your life now, good or bad, as they may not be around much longer.

Maybe it is the weather. While the post is gloomy, the intent is bright.


I need some sunshine.

like a rolling freight train down a mountain.

IT just keeps coming and coming, never slowing down, relentless in the escalation.

Crude hits $100/barrel. due to 'unrest in Libya'. Unhuh, good excuse. Alex, I will take "greedy speculators" for $500 please.

Besides the fact that the peak oil theory is more accurate a picture than greed, I still say in this case, its a matter of "how much can we make before it bursts" mentality.

Even so, due to that fact, I was told at work that I may be interested in trying to find another line of work. We aren't folding my division YET, but if the cost of fuel continues to rise, they will be considering shutting us down.

Can we say I just dropped a gear and slammed the peddle to the floor on some 'projects'. Yes we can and Yes I did. Gonna have to push the limits 'just in case'.

Next up, and in relation. Libya, Hell, pretty much the entire Arabic area, is pretty much up in flames right now. Some areas more than others. I especially found this one amusing. Can't shoot the bastards, buy 'em off. (How do you stop a revolution with American money? Alex.)
Of course China, not being exactly dense in thinking (though I won't say they aren't dangerous) started putting it into high gear also. More than likely to nip in the bud any potential issues. (What is absolute Tyranny? for $1000.)

Hey! I think someone read my mention of Lack of Mention about Greece in one of my last posts. Rioters clash with police. Ooohhh! Funny still little mention of anything about the protests here, but plenty of mention of Deadfish Emanuel getting the seat in Chicago. Hmm, wonder how many strings were pulled seeing how just two weeks ago, he wasn't even in the running. (Chicago politics for $1000, Alex. DING DING DING DING! Daily double. Woot!)

And of course, our Do nothing worthwhile, hopeychangy, rip the core out of the U.S. administration has only this to say.

Nations must speak with one voice.

Umm, yeah,

Hey Mr. President. It may behoove you to actually do something petty for a minute and call up some experts. I will give you a list of three, you can choose the persons but you need, and I mean NEED, an anthropologist with at least 10 years field work under their belt; A former Mercenary with at least 3 campaigns under the booney cap, and third but definitely not least, an honest to God Homeless Vet from a prior war. (I know of three from the Gulf War #1 that would love a chance to 'bend your ear' )

Why those three, you ask.
An Anthropologist to explain to you that people form Governments to keep 'the others' at bay (basic human nature and NOT really able to be 'bred' out.). NOT to allow themselves to be enslaved.(granted that always seems to happen anyway, but)
The Mercenary to explain to you that Talking is over! Period, end of discussion.
and the Homeless vet to explain to you that you're WALKING ALL OVER YOUR OWN PEOPLE AND GETTING READY TO START SOME SHIT YOU CAN'T FINISH!!!!!! (only question here is: Is Obammy a natural born citizen? for $50, Alex. (for the record, I no longer give a shit if he or isn't. As far as I am concerned, he may be but he sure acts like something else. He isn't a red blooded American simply due to his own actions and decision making habits.))

As it stands now, I don't see any of this ending well. The escalation is ramping up fast. It doesn't really matter any longer what laws are passed, how much theft is taking place from on high, or even how they intend to 'keep control'. Fact is, they haven't had control for some time and are only able to keep it under wraps with a hearty tip of the hat to the MSM's.

There is no reason to even acknowledge their positions since they have shown beyond the shadow of a doubt that most 5th graders have better understanding of HUMAN politics. A 5th grader KNOWS that when you push the little kid around too much; he eventually is gonna turn around and kick you in the balls. He also knows that you can only get away with stealing the milk money for so long before someone is going to rat you out, or catch up to you and want some too.

Yeah, all that high fallutin edumacat'un you got is doing a lot of good now isn't it?

Maybe its time to shit or get off the pot. If you are clueless as to what to do, ask someone. Don't be shy, there are plenty of people that are willing to give you advice if only you are willing to listen and not shove it down our throats that " I won, get over it". Your being a narcissist, I kinda doubt that will ever happen though, $1 says I am right, wanna bet?

comfy chair, BRIGHT lights, and it wasn't an interogation.

I know that we have all seen it, heard it, watched it, whatever. Today I witnessed another plank in the destruction of America. Sadly, it was the morning news.

The Planks of Destruction as I see them.

The Department of Education: as fomented by Dewey and the other socialists in the beginning of the last century.

The Public Media: as in pretty much 90% of the current media trends in the U.S.

The ever Expanding Entitlement Programs of the Progressive Era: IE SSI, Welfare,

A Federally(? Not! The Fed is as much a part of the Federal GOV as Fed Ex is) managed Finance system that is symbiotic with the World Banking organizations.

AND of course

A never ending stream of Career Politicians that work for their own future far and above the actual job description of 'Public Servant'.

Let me expand on the opening sentence first. Watching the news.

About 1:30 was spent on the increasing firestorm of the ME and North Africa. (the protests)
About 2:00 was spent on the Earthquake in New Zealand.
Then they spent a grand total of 15 friggin minutes on the “royal wedding” and the another 6:20 on just the damned wedding dress and its designer.

W

T

F!!!!!!!!!!?????????????

oh yeah, extremely little mention of ANYTHING about the protests here in the U.S.

Hell, if even one mainstream media outlet would spend 50% of that “indepth reporting” on actual issues in this country, we might actually see people wake up and ask “WTF? “.

Oh, my bad, that is EXACTLY why they don't report the truth, just the trappings of interests.

They don't want the people to be awake. Awake and aware slaves revolt, the sleepers are the ones that keep filling the trough. Of course TPTB are very happy to leave things 'just the way they are' so they can continue the rape and pillage of this country. Having a group that you can pin "whatever" on is helpful too. (damned *******!(insert whatever group will fit) )


Its that level of intensity of NOTHINGNESS in the news that exasperates the hell out of me some days. I am not a lazy person by any means, but having to spend as much time as I do digging out the truth, or what nuggets I can find, is tiring. I have a life to live outside of that. The reason we have/had news organizations, was to collate the information so we didn't have to dig for it. People payed good money for that service. (and the papers wonder why they are going down LOL )

Well they say times are a changing and, oh yeah, they are. FAST too.

I made a comment on this blog of “better figure it out yesterday” about knowing what and when you are willing to sacrifice. We are all going to have to make sacrifices here soon. Some easy (as in NO choice) and some not so easy. Lets get into an easy one. Energy. That can be electric, fuel (you name it) or even just storage of energy. Everything is going to see exponential increases in cost here shortly. We are seeing the beginning escalation now. $3.00/gallon gas is nothing: Yet! Trying to find a deep cycle battery for under $100: good luck (at least not a good one.) Yes, we will have to resort to using handsaws and auger bits work wood. Yes we will have to resort to axes and splitting mauls for splitting fire wood. (quick note: the sound of an ax splitting wood is almost as noisy as using a gas splitter. A tree falling in the woods is just as noisy if you cut it by chainsaw or jacksaw. Don't count on the old tools for tactical advantage on that note.) Hell, we may even end up using Mules and Horses for power yet again. (as Spud put it, IF we don't end up using them for food first.)


Ok, Ok, There was a point to all of this. It actually started with news but accumulated with my Dentist visit. The clueless walk amongst us. I am looking for a new dentist now due to that fact. She wanted to do LOTS of cosmetic work but not actually fix the issue. When I mentioned that I don't want a lot of overhead or debt involved she looked at me funny, almost dazed. I said “ I don't expect things to stay stable much longer and I would rather not deal with a lot of stuff that requires HIGH maintenance to upkeep. I don't think I would be able to find a dentist that can do a ceramic crown in 2 or 3 years if something goes wrong.”

her “Oh, thats not a problem, this is common stuff that EVERYBODY has access to. “ (yeah, IF the current system holds together.)
She completely missed what I was saying. I would imagine that this woman is so far into debt trying to keep her business alive that she is blinded to the fact that she is spending more for less. Of course, its a progressive disease: Until shit falls apart this woman will continue feeding the monkeys, wondering why things aren't all that she dreamed.

As will a lot of others that refuse to actually understand what the accountants are printing up every quarter. (other than to raise their prices)

Yup, better figure it all out yesterday, spend the remaining time trying to get what you can together. Time has a way of creeping up on you then blowing your doors off when you least expect it. (something my daughter is finding out )

Thugs, Bugs, and cartwheels

That pretty much brings my entire day up to speed. And that is just before noon. The remainder of the day was pretty 'meh' otherwise.

Started off working on the truckster. Replaced shocks. (gotta love getting 20% off at work for parts. Especially when I have a truck that has one tire on the scrap heap. I love my truck though. Rather looks a bit like this one.
Without the tow rig of course. LOL


Once that was done, I had to purchase the harness to fix a friends ATV. (big hint: if your headlights are blowing a 10A fuse, sticking a 30A in its stead is recipe for MUCH bigger issues. to the tune of $300 bucks in parts.) and I subjected myself to the Preachin/rants/pleading/pitchman GB. Thats where the thug part comes in. Sadly, nothing new. SEIU is doin its thing. The Prez is showing just how little he understands what being Prez is about by coaching his daughters soccer team today (I won't even go into that one. ) Of course, there are more fires started or already burning in the ME and N. Africa. Things will only spread. These dictators may try to quell 'disturbances' with force but with the speed of communication (most specifically the Net) its only a matter of time before things will fail for them. Yup, same old world I turned my back on last Friday.

I also stopped by the coinstore to up my savings account. Of course, I checked the markets before going as I don't like surprises when a budget comes into effect. Silver is still on the uptick. $1.25 today. Of course that means I bought fewer coins than I had planned BUT that also means that what I already have is worth that much more. A little conversation with the owner was interesting too. He rhetorically asked a question by I had an answer.

O "I wonder where the top of this mess is. It hasn't stopped moving in 2 years."
D " Probably top out when these (holding a $20) will be cheaper to use for Toilet paper than TP is."
O "Ya might be right. Heard a rumor that we may eventually see silver at 10:1 with gold by this time next year."

Think about that. 10:1 with gold. At todays prices, that would make a silver dollar worth $130. (coinage is only .900 silver) Of course, by then, we may not be using greenbacks any longer either.

except as toilet paper.

But on to the 'bugs'.

Finished hauling all the wood I cut up last Friday and split it up. Came up to one cord. Not too shabby for 5 trees. A mix of white and red oak; Good hard stuff that burns a long time. Its now stacked in the woodshed to season. Still have 1 1/2 cords left over from this year so We are good to go. Still have that large stack up near my lot that is curing up yet. Not going to be hurting when it comes time to fire up heat anytime soon. Granted, today we 'cheated' by using the log splitter. Only used about a quart of gas but the labor saving was immense. Ever tried to split Green hardwood with an ax? No fun, I can tell you. There may be a day yet when we are reduced to that method but till then,,,, Occasionally breaking out the ax and using it 'to stay in shape' is ok, but when you are looking at a pile of wood taller than you and wider than three trucks: the idea of using an ax is pretty heartbreaking.