The Native Iowan

And I be very tired. Almost exhausted. I just slept over 12 hours…

This past week we saw around over 500mm/ almost 2 foot of rain fall. My carpenters showed up Monday, did a shit load of work, then the rains came and the roads closed and they have not managed to get a day’s work in. This morn is dry. And Sunny. They’ll be back in the morn. 

Rebuilding two bathrooms in this old monstrosity of a house. One would think that indoor work is ok in this weather, but the guys cant get here. The roads all aorund us are closed/ compromised. 

Weather for next week is rain… it’s way wet. But today is kinda nice. 

So on Thursday I get a message that the 16yrold in boarding school is sick. The whole school is sick. Sick kids have to stay in their dorm room. Shitty food brought to them from the cafeteria. Hard to get better, me thinks. The school asks parents to come get their kids. 

It’s raining/ storming all around. The school is a bit less than 300ks/ 200 miles away. Roads between here and there are all out, flooded, dangerous. Roads close and reopen daily/ on and off, its hard to know what is open and what is not. 

So I get up and hit the road at 530am, Friday. Drive south a short ways to find my shortest route to the highway closed. Drive north and east an hour and get to the main highway. Drive through rain and water for 2 hours only to get turned around about half hour away from my destination. Bridge on main road flooded. All side roads closed. Turn around.

The kids is disappointed. Sick, wants out of the prison the dorms is. 

Yesterday I was up and on the road by 630 or so. My shortest route to the Hiway still closed but another one has reopened so I’m pretty good. Get to the point where I turned around in a couple hours. I know by listening to reports that a back road around this spot is open, navigable. So I run back a bit, head south and north, around the blocked bridge. I’m driving my 4×4 truck. I drive through a few unmanned “road closed” signs. Get to the kid about 10. 

He’s not well, but better than he was a day ago. Fever has gone down. Sick and no one to care for you is rough. He’s a big baby in ways. Used to having family around. Tho I am an unsympathetic prick when it comes to being sick. I can treat you with essential oils, fill steaming baths, fix good food, without being sympathetic. 

The very act of coming to get him made him feel better. That was sympathy enough. 

The bridge that was closed was open for our return trip. We drive and talk. Its bucketing down. We’re both happy/ relieved that we’re on a homeward trajectory.

Driving in such conditions can be quite taxing. I consider myself a high level driver. Before covid I would do 10s of thousands of miles of road-time annually. Fly to LA, hire a car, and drive the US for 6 weeks/ 15,000 miles. England, Europe, japan… here in Aus I loved heading “out-back” for a couple weeks of touring. QLD, NSW, SouthA, Victoria… bikes or cars. I enjoy and am capable of heaps of time on the road.

But these conditions are tough. Visibility, road conditions, other traffic… it all adds up. Concentration and 360 awareness is on a razor’s edge.

Home by about 1-2pm yesterday. We’d stopped and bought what the kid wanted… sirloin steak, asparagus, and broccoli. (He is a strange guy) so I cook some rice, prepare his meal as he steams in a hot tub of Ttree oil. 

I keep a wide selection of essential oils around. Ive been treating most ailments in my life with oils for decades. So a steaming bath tub with a liberal dose of Ttree… soak for as long as you can stand it… its gotta make you better, no matter what your ailment may be.

Of course, after the hot-tub, he hit his bed and passed out. I call it “doing the noodle”. Get out of the hot-tub, limp and wobbly, wrap up in a blanket to sweat it all out. 

It really, really works. 

After a few days of illness, not keeping much down, his stomach is shrunk and sensitive. Some beast n veggies, a few chocolate cookies, a cup of tea is all he can manage. 

As soon as I got home, after the road trip in the shitty weather, I popped an adult beverage and started sedating myself. As I cook and cater to the kid, as I heat my 3day old pot of beans, as I do what needs to be done, I drink. I want to get comfortably sedated. I want a big night of sleep.

Its rugby season here in Aus. Saturday night, mid season, has some great games on TV. Games start about 5pm and go on until 10. I didnt make it through to the end.

By 9pm I’m nodding off. I dont like sleeping in the chair, so I head to bed. The sedatives worked, I slept through and woke at 6. There is UFC on all day today so I left my bed, wrapped up in a blanket and dozed for  another few hours. Great, dreamy semi conscience dozing with vivid dreams. 

Its 1130am now. I’m having coffee, the sun is out, the rains are absent, not gone, just absent. The UFC has been good. Great bouts of violence and blood. Just what I needed.

Ill watch a couple hours of bloodsports and then go deal my dogs n chickens. They’ve all been suffering in this weather. My place is the bottom of a valley and its basically a mud puddle. Glad I sold-off my cattle. 

And the beat goes on… 

More later…

The rains are back. 130mm/ over 6inches over night. The stream is a river again. I’m ready for things to get dry.

Its impossible to get much done when its so wet. My property is a valley bottom, a drainage area for the land around us. We drain something like 1000 hectares of land. All the rain that falls finds its way down to us. I can hear the rush of the river from where I sit.

And the rains keep coming. The wet gets wetter. My poor dogs are getting tired of it all. I watched Nia try to find comfort in a chair on the patio. She, Nia, is too big for the chair but she tried. Tried to get comfortable. She’s back on her damp bed now. The chair didnt work out.

Its way too wet and muddy to let Nia come inside. Id like to, she’s a good house dog, but the yard is so mushy, so wet, so muddy that its impossible to keep her clean. Kinda sad.

An interesting thing about the weather… I believe it has stressed my dogs to the extent that they are out of sync with their reproductive cycles. I keep track of the dogs’ cycles. I intend to eventually breed my females (all 4 of them), and have one, Bella, lined up with a big guy named Bennie. My records show that Bella last came-on-heat 8 August 2021. She was 2years old on the 27th of July, came-on-heat within a week or so of her bday. Right on schedule, as predicted.

My aim has been to breed Bella after her 2nd bday. Her third cycle. I predicted that she’d be on-cycle again wishing 6months of 8August, February was the logical prediction.

Thus I find it interesting that none of my females here on the farm have come on-heat this year. I would have predicted that Nia would have her first system somewhere around her 1st bday, the 1st of March. Her sister, Quel, cycled in late Jan/ early Feb. She lives in Palmwoods with my son, Paul. Is a house dog. The mamma dog, Penny, should have cycled almost in tandem with Bella. None of my females here on the farm have cycled this year.

I can only think its the rain, the weather. The stress from the wet. Since November we’ve had relentless rains. And I can only attribute the break in the dogs’ cycles to stress caused by the weather.

And the rains continue.

Smiles

More later

Today is my Mother’s 95th birthday.

So, a bit early for the nAmerican time zone but here’s to Mom, Ma, Granny, Zai Olo, she who must be obeyed… and much more.

Where would any of us be if it weren’t for our Mom?

Happy Bday Granny!

Damn, another month shot. Where does the time go? It sure do fly.

Winter heading our way. The mornings are not sunny and bright at 5am. I try to stay in bed until some sunshine hits our valley. in the rain tis easy to stay in bed far too long.

As an offical old fart I don’t really, really have a whole hell of a lot to do every/ any day. I am good at pacing myself. I learned ages ago that a retired old fart has to be careful. If you crank too hard, weak too much, get your work done, you will end up with a few days where there is nothing to do. Thus I target a good sized task every day. Just one. Not two. I get something done every day. Well, er, not everyday…

Last week was a slow, slow week. It rained a lot. I stayed inside. Wrapped up in a granny-blanket watching the bluez and writing. Noting well that everyday I have chores… I feed the dogs every day, I cook for the dogs every couple days, I make my bed everyday, I brush my teeth… these are not counted as “To-Dos”, they are daily chores and don’t get on the list.

Today I have to go down to the coast, pick up a pallet of conduit to run power to the shed. In order to do this I had to get the trailer hooked up to the truck. I collected a few hundred kilos of wire and fittings. Did not take the trailer in with me. Wanted to see what I was collecting, how I would do it. Grabbed a small pallet of copper wire they had ready for me. Used the tractor and forks to unload here.

The conduit is 4meters long, bundled into tidy liftable bundle. My trailer is 3mlong, so there will be a it of overhang. It’ll work.

As soon as the rains abate and the ground dries a bit we will be able to trench for the power to the shed. 150m distance from power to shed. Not a small job.

We are 3 weeks out from the Federal Election. Its rather entertaining, watching the scramble for power.

It has long been my opinion that politicians are all pretty much the same. Will say about anything to get in office. Once in will do about anything to stay in office.

Of course, in the USA, it is campaign time all the time. Watched Trump’s interview with PMorgan. Kinda sad, me thinks, that TheDonald is still the only real candidate the Republicans have. And that UncleJoe is still the only candidate the DNC has.

Where are all the leaders?

And the beat goes on.

More later

The blustery weather continues. The air is quite chilly. Drizzly rain comes and goes. The world here is damp, soggy.

The newz has been full of Solomon Islands. Their recent “deal” with China. It would appear as though most folks are concerned, worried, anxious over it all.

I’m not so sure. I’m not so sure its worth worrying about, or even a big deal. Of course I could be very wrong. It could mean the end of the world as we know it. But I kinda doubt that.

A quick check shows that China has diplomatic ties with 10 of 14 Pacific Nations. I found this interesting: …ten states in Oceania have diplomatic relations with the PRC, and four have diplomatic relations with the ROC. These numbers fluctuate as Pacific Island nations re-evaluate their foreign policies, and occasionally shift diplomatic recognition between Beijing and Taipei.

Here is an official blurb from the CCP… https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjb_663304/zwjg_665342/zwbd_665378/202203/t20220311_10650946.html

So Im trolling for discussion on this topic, and find a bunch worthy of attention. Its not a new topic. And has “blown up” in recent months. I found this a good read… https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/3/10/riots-and-snubs-in-pacific-islands-a-growing-wariness-of-china

Little blurbs like this mean a lot: … Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Fiji in February — the first trip by the top US diplomat in 37 years — and, among other things, announced that the US would set up an embassy in the Solomon Islands even as the country recovers from the recent violence.

Too little, too late????

I hold the opinion that the “West”, the US, UK, Aus, France, et al, have overlooked the Pacific far too long. Have treated the Pacific Islands’ leadership (as they often act) like a bunch of children. Have been disdainful, arrogant, and parental in their relationships. I know from personal experience that The West and its diplomatic corps and greasy aid-organisations look down upon the islanders, and those who immigrated, resettled, made lives in the islands.

I hit the Solomons in January 1981. Made it my home, settled in, started a family, built a life, a business, a career. After the coup in 2000, as the Regional Assistance Mission Solomon Islands kicked into gear, I interacted with and became friendly with many of the folks that came as advisors, changers, operatives. As these “operatives” came and started “projects” and did what they thought best, I was perplexed as to why these operatives did not listen more to “The People On The Ground”. Those who were living through and with the situation at hand.

One of these people, operatives, and I got socially friendly. Spent a fair amount of time together, shared our lives. It was an eve of BBQ and beer at my house, a number of folks were there. Island style, with kids of all ages, and noise and food and my dogs, and laughter and tears. We’re sitting under my sago-leaf verandah, talking, being friends, I decide to ask “…why you RAMSI folks don’t talk and listen more to the “locals”… why the general expatriate and Solomon business houses are not engaged more?”… His answer was simple: “… we don’t trust them…” he said, “… you guys are part of the problem…”.

I was a bit stunned by this, and I didn’t pursue it then, but later we discussed this deeper and I found that The Operatives, The Diplomats, The highly paid project managers that were coming to save us, Those Who Knew Best, WHO KNEW BETTER than those who called the Solomons “Home”, view the Residents, The Locals as being too stupid, too immature, too incapable, and TOO CORRUPT to contribute much by way of fixing what ever problems needed fixing.

And this mindset was taught to the operatives before they arrived to “help”. They arrived with their prejudices in place. It was part of their portfolio. A part of their assignment… don’t listen to the locals, they can’t be trusted.

And, sadly, in many ways they were right. Not 100%, but enough to carry weight. The 2000 coup was a result of a newly elected administration trying to “clean things up”, to change a lot of corrupt practices. And they were walking the talk… The coup was funded by players that wanted to maintain a less than positive business model of corrupt pay to play. Many of the players involved came from the logging industry, came from the Chinese community. So my old buddy, Bart, got ousted as PM, and Soga and Smiling Charlie and Co. came to power by force of arms. Only to be recognised and supported by The West/ Aus.

In fact, RAMSI was brought in to quash a “civil war”, and by doing so propped up an illegitimate administration.

Its interesting that The West/ Aus has kept Soga in power through a couple riots, a couple feeble coups. Noting well Soga has no great love for The West/ Aus.

One big mistake The West/Aus made can be studied within the Julian Mote affair. I won’t go into it all here but Australia broke the rules, played the parent in charge, broke laws, made their choices when they “arrested”, some say kidnapped, Julian Mote and repatriated him to Aus.

There has been a long-time “kids in the candy shop” attitude. A neo-colonial concept of “they will fail without help”. A concept not completely unfounded.

Similar can be said about leaving your teenaged kids (grandkids) with the house for a week. There shall be a party, or two. There shall be messes made, chores left undone, and lesson learned. Making mistakes is part of growing. getting hut is part of growing, learning.

Does a Nation grow up? Does a Nation build its own identity?

Like my teenagers?

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day. I get ANZAC Day. Lest we forget. I get it. And I get why its a big thing in an Aussie Identity.

Manasseh Sogavare is an interesting guy. I know him, have worked with him, he and my wife are distant relatives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manasseh_Sogavare

This whole situation, this entire topic has heaps to do with “Uncle Soga”.

Soga is no fool, smart in may ways, experienced as a politician. His political career is interesting and over 2decades long. He’s loving the attention. The press, the spot light.

What does China own in Aus???? The answer is “HEAPS!!!!”. The Answer is, “what don’t they have a finger in”…

Important note… the CCP, the Government Of China, is a shareholder in all Chinese businesses. To do business with a Chinese business is to do business with the Chinese Government, The CCP.

Ive written on this before. Here’s a piece from a couple years ago…

So, my thought is that Uncle Soga is enjoying the game. He has China and Australia raising the ante to play his game. The US is paying homage. He is using the Aussie election to his advantage. Im unsure if what he is doing is “good” for the Solomons, but no doubt it’s good for Uncle Soga.

And the beat goes on…

more later

Thinking of old friends, on a wet, chilled Saturday.

Thinking of one old buddy who has been living under doctor’s care for some time. The diagnosis is terminal, yet the prognosis is good. Meds and regular visits to the medicos keep the terminal side of things away. Though the meds are tough, life aint what it was, time is a good thing.

Another dear compadre is starting the “chemo-trail” to well-being. Loss of hair, huge weight loss, pain and discomfort to come.

One of my oldest drinking buddies is coming good after a series of negative diagnosis. Negative but not the end of the world. Life changing, indeed restrictive. Daily meds, monthly Dr visits.

I guess its an age thing.

I visit the Dr every 6 months. Always looking for a “pass” when I go for annual tests. My next visit is in a month’s time.

The biggest thing I experience as I age is that I am a bunch slower than before. Remember when you could burn the candle at both ends… and in the middle? When you’ take your liver and drag it in the dirt? Beat your kidneys with a sledge hammer? Clog your lungs with tar?

When you healed quickly and completely? Er, almost completely. My healing nowadays is slow, very, very slow. Glacial.

Youth… so attractive. So destructive.

And I would not change a single thing. It’s been a great, great parade. I like my oldfart seat on the sidelines these days.

Tho slow, and tiring easily, I’m still pretty tough. I still crank and wank pretty hard. My little farm and my business ventures keep me awake, aware and sleeping sound, I think one of the big things I have managed well is my stress levels, or lack thereof. I simply dont get too involved in too many venues anymore.

Being and old fart is pretty cool.

I was sitting in the Point Cruz Yacht Club 10 or more years ago. After 5pm, the business crowd was ensconced at “Table One”. A dozen or so of the bankers and wankers and business owners and managers.

I sat and listened to my peers, most of whom I had known for years, talk about life. Complain about life. Most were by nature stressed beings. Business and life in general in the islands can indeed be stressful. (Life and business anywhere is suppose to be stressful) That particular eve the discussion was more negative than positive. I nursed my drink and quietly listened as the table talked.

I eventually got a bit cranky… “… for fucksake, guys, you’re all here moaning and groaning…”, I said.

“… there was a time when we’d sit here and talk about boats, cars, women, wine…”, I pounded on the table. “…we’d laugh and argue and get merrily drunk on our ways home from work…”, “… nowadays all you bastards talk about is your next Doctor’s appointment!”.

Half the guys at the table that day are now dead. The other half are undoubtedly under Doctor’s care. My self included.

I guess its an age thing.

Like a dog thats been kicked too many times, the rains make me nervous.

Should I get my standby generators out? Make sure the house is “ready”?

Or should I sit here under my grannyblanket? Listen to the rain, watch the bluez,

Here in The Land of Aus we are in electionmania mode. I find it shameful the BS and prevarication we experience at these times. The promises made, the rhetoric poured about, the BullShit spewed.

The finances squandered.

It’s the same world wide.

No single Nation holds any special claim on political BULLSHIT and Lies.

Had to call the US this morn, sort some bank business out. 930am my time, 430pm AZ time. Got a positive gal at the other side, she was very helpful, sorted my needs out nicely. While talking to her I noted that I had not been in the USA since late in 2018. Going on 4 years. Damn long time.

There are times I get itchy about visiting the USA, again. Of course, top on my list is visiting my Mother. Fronting up with a bunch of flowers. Sitting and letting her talk. Spending a couple days in her shadow. I could easily get sad thinking about how long its been. Too long. June 2018 was my last trip to Iowa.

But I shant be jumping on a jet any time soon. I have too much going on here. The best I could possibly manage would be a short trip. An over n back trip. Where I really want to have a month or so. I enjoy driving across the US. Visiting old friends. Checking the pulse of the USA as I travel cross country, stay in different towns, eat in different restaurants. It’s been way too long.

I know, I’m being selfish.

Ill end with a picture from my suburban backyard…

And the beat goez on…

More later

Election mania time here in the land of OZ. The election has been called. 

Once “called”, the election is 40 days away. The incumbent government/ administration gets to call the election, basically choose the date of the next election to suit their needs. 

Most folks don’t understand the various forms of democracy. Of course, the US is stuck in ever repeating  2 – 4 – 6 year cycles. Here we never really know when the next election will be. Noting well that an incumbent government must “call” the election within a set period of time. 

Our last Federal election cycle was in 2019. I feel that Aus as a Nation dodged a big bullet then. The Labour/ Green/ liberal-left side of things was pushing hard and heavy on the looney left agenda. If they had won that election, Aus would be in a similar pickle that the US is in now.

I stress the importance of Policy, or the lack thereof, in elections. I enjoy watching and listening to the politicians spew rhetoric…. Without expounding a dribble of policy…

Carbon-Neutral by… everything “Renewable” (what ever that means). The idea that the government will create jobs for people. Everyone deserves a living-wage. 

All is rhetoric. 

I think of the “nutty professor” Bernie Saunders… print more money and give it away. Destroy the middle classes and make everyone equally impoverished… except, of course, the ruling Elite.

Policy deals with the basics… Education, Medical care, Social security, Public safety, National security, Infrastructure…

Waffling on about the “hope” that hydrogen will be the next great saviour of mankind is meaningless. Declaring that people must buy electric vehicles by 2025, killing off a thriving carbon based transport industry, without a hope in hell, or a viable forward plan, is just plain stupid. Its all rhetoric, unless someone has a solid plan. Without a plan it all becomes waffle.

I really can’t see how anyone can stand back and applaud the “progress” of the Biden Government. If they think the current administration is making positive gains they are either blind or drunk.

We all drink a particular political koolaid… if your favourite tipple makes you stupid, perhaps you should find an alternative. 

Have had a positive win here… my 7yrold pup, Lucky13, has mastered the art of off-roading on the little quad. Two wheels next time…

More later

Sunday the 10th. Slow, cool, relaxed morning. Have some good UFC coming up. It should be a relaxed, quiet day… but the lil girls are here. so a relaxed noisy day?

Damn they can be noisy. Everything is punctuated with loud screeches. Like nails across a black board. They can be hard to endure.

Note the Masters is on, and that olTiger is back, giving it a good go. Looks like he is still in the play. Has not been cut. Good for him.

Here in The Land of Aus, we have an election coming up. It’s a good case study of modern-day politics, in that Aus is a smallish country, a stable country, perhaps a predictable country… the two party system here offers the “Liberal” party, and the “Labour” party. Of course there are the standard greens and orange and purple parties, but for all practical purposes we have power being consistently concentrated in one of the two main parties.

Current state of affairs, the status quo if you will, is that neither of the two dominant parties has held sufficient sway to form a non-coalition government for ages and ages. What this means is each of the two main parties, Liberal and Labour, must entice players from the minor parties, in order to have the numbers required to form Government. And, interestingly, the one or two seats required can hold the coalition ransom. Make their policies dominant, even though they represent such a small % of the electorate.

Recently the “Greens” have been good at being the one or two seats required to form a government. And, who ever caters to the Green Party Line gets the votes. The result is policy can be dominated by the needs of the minority party(s).

The tyranny of the minorities?

The good thing about Aus is that elections are “called” by the party in power. This means that, within a given time frame, the Prime Minster can set the date for the federal election. He can try to use momentum and positive results to try to time things to be in his favour. There is no real set schedule for election, like in the USA.

Of course, like everywhere, Aus has its scandals and rumours and mud slinging. And, like most other modern lands, elections have little to do about policy and forward planning. It’s about personalities, promises and pimp juice. It’s a lot more of a beauty contest than an important democracy ballot being cast.

Big issues, as I see them?

China and the threat they pose and the slack they have been given is huge on my list. Solomon Islands recent closeness with China is a good example of the shadow China wishes to cast over the region.

Of course the whole “carbon” thang is important. If we continue on the path of foolish, wishful thinking we shall be broke before we reach woke.

A government is elected to “manage” aspects of our society like… Health Care, Education, Infrastructure, National Security, Immigration, Law and Order… Free needles (as in Melbourne) and free crack pipes (as in the US) may be on the list but down quite a ways from the top.

And the beat goes on…

More later

From comms with a friend…

Sad thing, as I see it, is the decent ones never go too far and too long. I cant think of names right now but, damn, its been ages since we have had an honest, decent candidate.

Some lie to us, trick us, prey on our need to be saved… JFK was one of those. Almost saint like in person but dark and twisted in reality. Carter was, again, a face you could trust. A polished voice that relaxed us. But had no substance. Obama. He was suppose to be an alternative, a difference to the polished politico players.

Fuck! We have a cohort to entrenched senators and representatives that have been in business, er, in office for many decades. It becomes their business. 

As near as I can tell, its all about power, control, money… in that order.

And the beat goes on…

Smiles

Have two granddaughters hanging around for a few days… 7 n 5 yrs old. Kinda OK, they cab wipe their arses unaided, which makes them almost human, but are noisy, always moving n jumping, singing and shouting, are too cute and too much like girls. They screeaach.

Luckily I send them to the basement where they can do all they want and not annoy me.

Nuts n bits of carrot n snacks are littered around the floor in the basement. Paper n books n crayons n crafty type shit make the floor dangerous. Stepping on a lego or a broken crayon is almost deadly for an old fart.

Grace loves having them around.

Teenager home from boarding school so working too much to pay attention to the world very much. I see earth shattering and long overdue legislation about lynching that got pushed through by huge partisan effort. Will change the world, no doubt. Ive been waiting for that insightful move for a long time.

What little I watch the more I despair. 

Fucking Supreme court justice candidate cant explain what a woman is. Blokes are setting records in women’s sport. Women no longer able to complete in their own sport because gender is being cancelled. If I say “I am a woman” no one can argue (discriminate). 

Fucking insanity.

Putin is slipping. I fear he shall get quite dangerous. A cornered dog always bites. 

Uncle Joe is stepping on his dick every time he opens his mouth. Heels-up Harris is cute when she giggles, but as “next in line” she is as attractive as dengue fever.

It’s both frightening, saddening and hilarious but… Trump is gaining steam. The current situation of stupidity and ineptitude is sending people back in time, back to some sad safe place… A Trump Place…

Is there no adequate, capable, sensible, marketable person on the team… either/ any team, that can be a leader?

So sad…

Damn.

I say damn. 

Now, one could sensibly argue that Trump’s mean tweets are a fair trade for shit-for-brains policy. For what appears to be intentional sabotage of the society. Some could argue such if there were no other alternative.

I feel the pendulum swinging. 

Smiles

Running behind schedule here.

Weather is busy outside.

I am a fan of April fools day and should have written, but, again, and again… very occupied.

I recall a clever April Fool’s Prank from high school… A couple kids set up times and people who they went to and said, “The Principle wants to see you in his office”. Of course they go up to the Principle’s office (no secretary then, a small school), knock on the door and ask what he wanted. Every half hour, a different kids knocks on the Principle’s door. The Principle was not happy.

Have 16yrold Mendoza home from school for 3weeks. The time will be used cleaning up the downed fences and damage caused by the floods. We’ve been at it a few days running now. Making fine progress. I am sleeping very well. Almost over being sore. Feels gud.

Watching the world spin. My old pard, W.E., called it, “Headlines from the “Sidelines”…

I fear the Ukraine biz is not going to end well. Old Vlad.P. is in a corner. He has no way out. He has been weakened by the past few weeks of war. I am certain his paranoia is at a very high level. I think him very dangerous.

Stupidity still rulz the political landscape in the US… heard one impotent idiot state, “rather have 20$ per gallon fuel, rather than Trump in office”. Fucking idiot! What about the folks that are struggling to make ends meet.

I got my electricity bill and note that my solar feed-in tariff got knocked back by 20%. My bill is quite high, and my expensive PV array just got it’s financial sense-ability kicked in the groin.

Interesting thing to note, and I advise all to heavily question the propaganda and bullshit being purveyed about, but… 10 years ago a barrel of oil on the world markets (the “spot price”) was 180+ per barrel. The retail price never got close to what we are seeing now. Today’s price per barrel is right on 100$.

What has changed, I ask… who is reaping the windfalls involved with all this?

Its dangerous and sad… Its the war, its the war…

No its not. Even during the two “Gulf Wars” fuel never hit more than 100+.

You, we, all of us are being zoomed.

Smiles

more later

Times flies.

Maybe Putin thinks it is standing still?

Watching Uncle Joe Biden step on his aged dick is a distraction.

It’s a fudgedup world.

Weather is kinda cooperating… got to mow some today. Grass grows where it’s muddy too.

Speaking of mud… got a new vroom-buggy. makes me giggle like a kid…

Struggling to post the vids…

So there you go, a day late..

Smiles

End week here in the valley. Been dry enough for us to get caught up cleaning up from the floods and mowing. The ground is still very wet, very muddy ion some places, but we’re getting caught up. The fences are a huge job. Waiting for Mendoza to come home from school so we can seriously clean up the ravaged fence-lines. They are stretched all over the low lying areas. Bigger job than me by myself.

Ukraine is into the 3rd week. Damn they be tuff som’bitches. Aussies would call the “fair dinkum”.

I believe the West is dithering. Nothing of substance me-sees coming from Brussels.

Watch Taiwan. See what happens there.

The Solomons has moved closer to China.

https://theconversation.com/saying-china-bought-a-military-base-in-the-solomons-is-simplistic-and-shows-how-little-australia-understands-power-in-the-pacific-180020

Aus is rushing to decide what to do next.

It is a long, long, confused story. Which I feel is going to get lost in the coming Federal Election, here in Aus.

Watch what happens next. Look toward Taiwan.

Smiles

More later

Kinda sucks. I miss the cattle. But such it is. It is what it is.

I cannot believe that I, and others like myself, remain the only readers of history. I must assume that many people, all over, on booths sides of any fence, read and understand the past.

There needs to be more…

Reference 1950 when the US Administration did not believe that NKorea was preparing to invade SKorea. The USSecofState gave a speech saying, basically, SKorea was not the concern of the US.

In hind sight, many see this as the green light KimSr needed to pull his plug.

It’s an interesting fact that neither China or USSR believed KimSr would make the move.

But he did.

And PrezTruman acted quickly and decisively.

Which no one expected.

It’s a big, short story. Only lasted 3 long, bloody years. Well worth a bit of research-time.

Busy today with domestic maintenance and dogs.

Dogs are good…

Smiles

Its always nice, after ages and ages of weather, to see some reversal of the trend. After weeks and weeks of weather, way too much weather, the sun is out and there is no appreciable rainfall on the horizon.

Now I got to get the place here cleaned up. Its a big job. Will take a bit of time. And all of that is ok. 

With my cattle gone I am going to open the fences up and turn the place into 100acres of dirt tracks. I have 3 dirt bikes and 2 quads. Looking to buy a couple shit-box old cars and a 4×4. My buddies that run the local motorcycle shop are dealers for very cool 4×4 buggies. Trying to get them engaged so they use the place here as their proving ground. 

Of course I like the idea of a lot of noise and nuance for my shitty neighbours. I’ll put the track as close to their house as possible, and pull the baffles out of all the exhaust systems. Premeditated “good neighbour” stuff, eh?

Watching as Ukrainians get beaten and battered, but do not give up or give in. Tough bastards, they be. 

Of course, Putin has miscalculated by a huge degree. How long will he last, as-is? A long time would be my guess. Will someone in the upper tiers of Russian administration “take him out”? It’d be a one way ticket. Either make it happen or watch your entire life be brutally destroyed. 

I still believe the Western leadership are a pack of fucking pussies. But then there is nothing new there. 

Sorta like living next door to a domestic abuse situation… the father/ husband is beating the shit outta the dog, raping the children, whoring out the wife, and everyone knows and watches, but says little or nothing.

Until when… Our sanctimonious BS attitudes and platitudes only go so far. And that’s not very far at all.

Of course, Putin emboldens other would be territorial grabs. Taiwan will be next??? Will the US and Japan push China back when they “make their move”? We have not really thought much about Korea recently. And Iran. Empowering authoritarianism is what is happening. 

And the beat goes on.

Smiles

More later

It’s a big topic. If not the biggest topic.

The meaning of life.

The measuring of life.

A friend used to speak of “life’s rich pageant”.

Today is a clean up-after sorta day. Many projects on the go, many maintenance items dangling from the to-do list.

Tractor and buggy and bush fires and mowers (yes, plural) and jobs little and big. Life as an ol’fart is pretty bizzy.

I tend to use the mornings for busy time. It’s cooler, I’m stronger. One thing I find as I age is I do tire reasonably quickly. I do though have stamina and can often carry on longer than is really good for me. As my mother has said, “Getting old aint for sissies”.

The weather has been “heavy”. Very heavy. The clean-up is huge. It’ll take a while. And thats OK. No herd on the grass means no need for fences, which means better sleep.

How many out there have been on small vessels (or large vessels) when the chain drags? Its a one-of-a-kind “thing”. The sensation plus sound (or lack ther-off) can be spooky. Many of an ol’ swabby wakes in their sleep, in a sound bed, on land, to the horror of the anchor dragging.

I hear thunder in the distance. I know a storm cell flew by and hit south and east of us. But we were left unmolested.

Somewhere in my past, somewhere in my memories, I hear a voice telling me that … “…the meaning of life is collecting stories…”. What did the voice mean, then, as it was said? Who was it? Sounds like Wally Sanger, but I could be wrong.

My memories can be blurred. I need to work to find clear memories, and if you were with Wally Sanger, way back when, your memory was impaired by association.

And the beat goes on…

Big smiles

It’s a pleasant Sunday here. A blood sport Sunday. A good UFC card starting. Gotta luv bloodsports

More rain predicted later today.

We’ve had enough. the system(s) have been over-burdened by the hydrostatic forces we’ve experienced over the past several days. The house is damp and getting mouldy. The dogs need to be dry for a bit. The outside area of the house, the underneath is quite muddy. The inside is not terribly clean. The yards on the property are all a jungle. Will need a hay baler to mow them.

The region is cleaning itself up. The roads. The power grid. The bridges and culverts have all been stressed. Severely stressed.

I am impressed. After living in a developing country for decades, I find the response of the service providers to be impressive. Sure. One might complain about having power off for 3 days. About road closures and associated inconveniences.

But my decades in the land of developing nations has shown me how lucky I am now.

In the Islands, we all had our own standby power. Our own water supplies.

Here on the farm we live on tank water, so that was never an issue. But, butttt… we depend on electric pumps to move our water. To flush the toilets. A flawed self sufficiency, indeed.

I shall rebuild the systems here. Re-wire and re-plumb a few things to create a plug-n-play backup system.

For the next time.

I need to shout out to my neighbours and friends on Belvedere Farm. Nick showed up with a little Honda Genset that made things so much better. The 2kva gennnie powered my water pump, my refrigerator and my TV. So I maintained personal hygiene, cold beer, and TV entertainment throughout the power outage. Big thanks!

Also need to shout out to Nick and Salome in Lismore. They got evacuated as their house went under on the 28th. Nick hitched a ride back to their house within 3 days, started cleaning. As of yesterday they were back in their house, with their two teen aged kids, getting things all cleaned up. What a great example of positive energy. My very best wishes go to them as they continue to dig out of the damage.

I hear some rumbling in the skies. Rain is predicted, promised for this afternoon.

Have got everything I can open to the outside, open, to help dry out the inside. I need to not get distracted. Distracted as I write and watch the fights. Probably wont be hanging the laundry on the line.

Ran and closed it all. The rains came quickly.

Blood Sport Show has been gooood. Worth the price of entry.

And the beast goez on

More later

Big smiles

I have figger’d it all out. My little valley is experiencing Climate Change.

The climate in my valley has changed.

Gone is my bug bull, Hank, and his harem of big arsed mammas. Gone are the frolicking babies, the calves, the teat suckers

Gone are the fences.

More weather last night and the running water, the hydrostatic forces, burst their banks bigger and badder and took more fences down. The running water was quite close to the big-house.

So, I am now convinced. The climate of my little valley has irrevocably changed.

I shall turn it into an off-road motorsports park. Dirt bikes and 4x4s, and light buggies.

It’ll be a blast.

I think I kinda like Climate Change.

Smiles

More later

Yep, just when you think its over. Just when you think its going to dry out a bit. Just when you think you are going to get some work done… You get hit harder than ever before.

Huge weather system ran through between 3 and 6am. Lighting, big, loud, cracking, crashing lighting. Rolling thunder. Wind. And rain. Another 100mm/ 4inches of rain. On top of the rainfall we have had in the past week, this becomes the straw that breaks the camel’s back…

Power off for the first time in ages. Roads all around us closed. our little stream, that becomes a river, has reached new heights, new levels. Actually getting damn close to the house.

The weatherpersons tell us we’re in for more of the same…

So we settle in for a couple hours of “watch and see”.

Our farm is basic/ rustic in many ways. We live off our water tanks. All water in the house depends on an electric pump. And, of course, most folks dont think about it and get up and use the toilet and flush it and then sue it again to find there is no water for the second flush. No running water for dishes, or to wash my face and brush my teeth. Battery power on devices shall become a premium.

One hack I learned long ago is that you laptop is a spare battery. We all, all modern folks, have a phone and a laptop. The phone has a Simm card but most laptops dont. So by default our phones become our main computer in times like this. The power is down so the household wifi is dead, thus computer not very useful. But it has a big battery, and can keep you phone alive for a couple days if used judiciously.

I should really have a little generator, but I dont. My neighbour is a chicken/ egg farmer and depends heavily on refrigeration, so he has a number of little gennies, and has graciously offer to loan one, if needed.

I’ll hangout for a couple hours, see if the power comes back. Ive checked on line and see they dont think power will be back until tomorrow, so I may just take up my neighbours offer. But one can be optimistic, even when its stupid.

Again, I note there are folks that have been hit a lot worse than we. Nick and Salome in Lismore have been terribly effected. What for us is inconvenience is for them detestation.

And the beat goes on. A wet beat, but still marching forward.

Smiles

New month. New war.

Or is it, another month, another war?

My 19 year old grandson asked me, “… so there’s war now…”, and I answered, “… there is always war…”.

Unless it isn’t war. I note that the Viet Nam ‘war” was not a war.

go figure…

Recovering from the floods. Yes, there was more than one. Tho it did at times appear to be continuous.

Have been cleaning up around the place. Yesterday was a full, busy day. Putting things back together where possible, mediating any negative results of damage,

This morn I shipped my cattle out. Sad to see them go but I don’t have the capacity to maintain them properly. A huge % of my fences are terribly compromised. Tho sad to see them go, it is a relief, to not be worried about their care and well being. Was going to keep a couple calves but, at the end, decided they all go. I’m aiming to restock in the future, once we rebuild the fence lines. Its very nice to have stock around.

And the beat goes on… My very most positive thoughts go to Nick n Salome and their family, in Lismore. And all the others who suffered much more terribly than we have.

May the hydrostatic forces be with you

more later