One of Those "This and That" Posts

Started the day off yesterday finding out that the coons have continued to outmaneuver us disciplinarians...

They keep changing their "schedule" and continue to avoid a rendezvous with destiny... That's ok... the longer they hold it off... the stiffer their discipline for chicken thieving is gonna be :-/

Editing on "Heart of a Man" is progressing... shooting for 3rd quarter of July release.

Then... the MiFi2200 air card I got back in 2009 has been sinking slowly... the battery was pretty much shot... not to mention that it being a Grandfathered UNLIMITED data plan Verizon was unhappy about... SO... they slammed us back in April and had it knocked down to Dial Up Speed... The Dark Ages of Technology for sure! Try to upload pics or videos at that!

Since I spend some little bit of time online working... something about wanting to eat once in a while :) I HAVE to have a functioning system. Well... yesterday I went down and got the newest and latest Bell Ringing air card... The Jetpack data card by Verizon... a 4g data card that does ever'thing but make coffee... yeah... right... ;)

It is a hell of a lot quicker...'course now that they have me hooked in on another two year plan and no Unlimited Data ... I ain't slammed any more either... Devious buggers... That and 4g... hmmmm... out where we Usually are parked... there is no 4g... not yet... so that isn't gonna be a big advantage... but the battery is replaceable in this one and the antennae seems to maybe function a lil' stonger... so I'm hopeful...

Having had enough "Stuff" in the past few days ... I put the Raider into the mountains yesterday afternoon... When the world is weighing on my head... putting my knees in the breeze is ALWAYS a salve on my wounded spirit.

Poudre Canyon has been off limits and closed for days due to fires as is the country up to Red Feather... The past two days the dry weather has finally broke a bit and they've gotten a handle on the burns... for a little while anyway... there's still a few hundred million acres that are going to burn... though it might could take ten years...

But yesterday... I leaned my way up the Big Thompson River toward Estes Park. There was a little thin smoke... I expect coming from the burn near Boulder... or that down at the springs... but no matter... Running along the river through a light rain the air was freshened and the day was fine.

I managed to time it right so traffic was thin as well. When you're fortunate to hit it right like that; it is a fun canyon to ride. You lean into a right hand curve and as the bike stands back up coming out you continue right over into a left hander... and then back again into a right.

 Back and forth the bike just dances as you sweep up the mountain... THAT... is a sweet ride. Not pushing fast or hard... It's just a rhythmical, dancing movement with that engine rumbling under you, the wind in your face... the scent of the river and the pines.. the cool fresh feel of the rain... The worries of the world fall away and for a time you're in that sweet place that you wish would never end.

All the things that make dogs stick their heads out the window. :-))

All the things that if you "Get It" you understand... if you don't... it can't be explained...

Today we're gonna take another run to Denver... there's a dog "thing" of some sort... but my main mission is a Surgery on the Truck...

Anybody who's been reading here for long knows I've wanted to do a major rebuild/reorganization of our rig for a bit... but dinero... or the lack of it is juuuuust a lil' bit of an obstacle ;) so... as always I'll make do with what I got for a while longer.

To that end, I'm gonna amputate the headache rack off the bed. It doesn't do anything, it's more weight I dont' need to carry around... and... with some changes I'm making on the Raider... I need a few additional inches of clearance. I can gain those if I take off those 2X4 beams of the headache rack...

Removing it will also allow me to modify, improve and simplify how I tie the bike down... all good things.

My son-in-law just got himself a plasma cutter... so I'm gon' give him something to practice on! There'll be pictures eventually... hopefully NOT of the fire that the plasma cutter started in the driveway! :)

Gotta get it done though... we should be moving off the front range again in about 8 or 10 days... 'nuff chores and business done to hold me for a while... maybe come back when I'm 83 or so to do the rest.

Time to roll. The big city awaits... ooooffffff.

Writing, Riding and Cutting
Brian





 

Obsession... The Antidote for the Chains of Conformity

Sweet Obsession.

Have you ever noticed what a bad rap it gets? I mean...When you say "He's Obsessed with it"... the first thing you generally think is; "That's a BAD thing" ... Right? The usual connotation is negative...

"They" tell you to grow up... put that "Stuff" aside and be a "Productive" citizen.

Aw Phooey! I've had a belly full of "Productivity"... Living life like that is like owning a fancy racing bicycle and then never putting your butt in the saddle... just walkin' along pushing it around for thirty years; THINKING about what it can or could do...

I'm for climbing on that sucker... or my Raider ;) and provoke people to just shake their heads... while somewhere deep inside the thought flutters around their brain pans; "I wish I had..."

To hell with what might could go wrong. To hell with the "cost".  I consider the cost if I Don't!!!

One year of LIFE... Lived at full throttle... dwarfs the value of a decade lived wearing your seatbelt, keeping your medical insurance paid, the fire extinguishers charged, your boss happy and your "ice" numbers in your cell phone kept up to date.

Have you also ever noticed the grey, blank, emotionless, dreary, bored... Lost... looks folks without the Blessing of an Obsession have on their faces? As they struggle just to force themselves to breathe in and out... and keep putting one foot in front of the other each day? ... being productive, responsible, obedient lil' serfs?

If you had five minutes left on this earth... What would you do with it?

Obsession... Sweet, Sweet Obsession.

When I'm done with it... I want my life to look like one of those orange rinds you see layin' beside those juice makin' machines... just the shell all squeezed and drained... not a bit of good left in it. Just a dried up, worn out remnant husk of a life of Sweet Obsession.

Obsession. The thing that gets your Heart Pounding when you think of "It". The thing that makes you giggle and puts that "Can I?" evil gleam in your eye! :-))

Sweet Obsession... The thing that puts that High Shine on LIVING! HooYa!

Every several months I seem to go through a period where things stagnate a bit... I start feeling that Sheep Herder creeping up on me that the man sends out... carefully start tryin' to work me back into the fold...

... And I get the irresistible urge to throw off my camouflage and rise up... the Wolf in Sheep's clothing... and bite that herding son-of-a-biscuit right where it'll make him yelp the loudest!

Sweet Obsession... It's what puts the flavor in life. It's the sunrise after a stormy night. That first cool swallow of beer sitting in the shade when you get back to camp after a hot dusty hike.

... or the feel of a fine Motorcycle splitting the Wind over Going to the Sun Road... or the wind in your face standing on the bow of a Ferry running the inside passage up in Alaska!

Obsession... is the BREATH of LIFE.

That other; that grey, dreary, depressed, oblivion of life without it is what it must feel like to a person seconds before they expire from asphyxiation.

You know when I'm the MOST unhappy? ... When MOST of the people around me say; "Smart Choice Brian."

Obsession. Bring it ON!
Brian

Chasing My Tail and Lighting that Sucker Afire!

Too Many Days Like That One... and... KaPOW!

The day started off just fine. I had a long list of stops and errands I had to run. The last was to pick up some remaining plumbing parts to complete the Water Heater replacement on the fifth wheel.

I picked up those parts, without engaging the grey mush twixt my ears. Then, when attempting to assemble those parts into a working water heating system... They FAILED.

I had water leaking where it hadn't been before!

I put the exact same parts (Only fresh ones) into place as Jayco had done eleven years ago when they built the trailer... and had somehow worked for those eleven years... only when I did it... THEY FAILED... JUST AS THEY SHOULD HAVE!

Yup... The morons at Jayco installed COMPRESSION nipples into 1/2" NPT fittings on the water tank. Which... kinda makes me a BIGGER MORON for going to work with my  brain pan in Neutral and repeating their stupidity don't it? Especially considering that THEY made it work? :)

For those not familiar with plumbing; NPT threads are cut on a tapered tube, Compression are the same thread rate but cut into a straight tube... Trying to mix the two is Kinda the proverbial square peg in the round hole sort of a deal. It don't ever work... except for Jayco for the last eleven years... I can't even begin to explain that!

So... once I pulled my head out of that stuffy place where the sun don't shine and got the RIGHT parts (taking two trips for forgotten/overlooked bits)... ~My! Ain't the light bright out here? and the air is so fresh! ;) ~

...I ALMOST got the thing working again... Yeah... Almost. Had to make yet another trip to town to get that one lil' plastic "Tool" that I have around here... somewhere... And just can't find... grrrrr.... to take apart the parts that are designed to come apart easy... and now WON'T... %$#@%#$%% !!!!

In case you aren't aware... that last lil' bit is the international language symbol for Blue Smoke, Bad Names and Dirty Words...

... but now, after three more trips chasing bits and pieces, we've got hot water again... that even stays inside the plumbing!

Well good. Now Z and I can shine the day up ambushing chicken thieving Coons here at my good friends place... as soon as he gets here.

So he arrives with a fancy lil' electronic gizmo the salesman assured him would call in a coon in broad daylight! We turn it on and sit in our comfortable chairs whispering so as not to "Scare" the coons... as this thing squalls and screeches a Racoon Gang Fight across the prairie!

I'd just made the comment that; "Yeah, we'll be sitting here jackin' our jaws and look up and find some big Ol' Boar runnin' past while we're not payin' attention!"

Z stands up and starts walking to his car to get something. He's taken maybe three steps. I glanced at him and caught a movement out of the corner of my eye...

???!!!! Uh... yeah... big Ol' Boar... Runnin' past! Grinnin' and Wavin'... :)  Score is still - Coons 5 Chickens ( I got told they'd taken 5 NOT the 2 I knew about!) and Great White Coon Ambushers? uh... ZERO...

Then Heidi who'd got home from workin' the store, just 'fore Z got here say's; "I'm goin' grocery shopping, see you in a bit."

A few minutes later... I decide; "Maybe I should go get my glasses... so I can actually see the sights of that Marlin!"...

... My feet hit the steps of the Fiver when that ugly, liver quivering sensation goes wiggling through my belly... as the vision of my glasses and MY High Dollar SmartPhone, sitting on the bed of the truck where I'd placed 'em when Z pulled in hits me right twixt the eyes.

OOOOOFFFFFFFFFFF!

I jump on the Raider and go thundering down to Walmart... the way I figured her to go... which of course... WAS NOT! :( and found the truck in the parking lot after failing to find the shattered remains of a smartphone along the road.

Would you believe the water glass that I'd set there beside my glasses and phone was still rolling around on the flatbed?... but No Glasses or Cell Phone.

Well gee... the panic that was runnin' though my system had me in the right place. I mean... when you need clean shorts, Walmart is the place to be... right?

I went in and found herself and she'd not seen a thing... but told me the way she'd come. I searched that as best I could in reverse... No Joy... and I go back dejected and wondering about all the passwords and accounts that might be compromised 'cause of my careless lil' action of layin' that phone down as I did.

Well... maybe twenty minutes later She pulls in and asks; "Why didn't you take your phone with you?"

Huh?

"Why did you put your phone on the seat of the truck?"

"I didn't! I laid it on the BED!"

"Then WHY was it on the seat of the truck when I came out? It wasn't there when I drove down here! I would have been sitting on it!"

You know, we're all conditioned... ME TOO... to think that ever'body is a thieving, rapist bent on hell and destruction. So, we're surprised when somebody comes along and their NORMAL behaviour is to do what's right.

That cell and my glasses made it the FEW MILES bouncing on that flatbed, to the Walmart parking lot. Somebody walking past the truck saw them laying there on the bed... Picked them up... and dropped them through the window of the truck that was down maybe two inches.

I wonder how many the good ones Truly are... and how actually few the dirt bags are? and one last thing... You've seen I'm sure the "People of Walmart" photos?... Well... I'm here to say that SOME of the Folks that patronize Walmart are upstanding and Shiny Individuals!

Wheezing and Groaning (and hoping for a bit less aggravation!)
Brian

Back in the Land of Smoke and Internet

 Up at our camp in the Snowies of Wyoming it's a nice cool summer... We ran the Furnace up there! :)

*Along the Trail out of our camp*

 We were up above the smoke from fires to the east...and fires to the south...

*Smoke In the Valley*

 What with Alpine flowers deer and bears... there's plenty of eye candy for a refugee from Soh-sigh-uh-tee...

*Bear Track near Camp*

Then we came down out of the Wyoming High Country yesterday afternoon... To smoke at Cheyenne and hot as we rolled south. Not just hot but HOT!

I had to look at the map to make sure I'd not taken a wrong turn and ran all the way unknowin' to Arizona or Southern Utah or some dang where... When the truck thermometer tells you 122 degrees when you come out of a store... if even only for a minute or two you KNOW something's gone wrong!

That heat and the wind that's been runnin' around here for a few weeks hasn't been helpin' the fire fighters either...

From the flowers of 10,000 feet plus...

*Wyoming Alpine Flowers*

 To the lovely views of 5,000 heated feet along the Front Range...

*North End of the High Park Fire*

The fire made a big run yesterday. They'd had it about 60% contained and now it's down to 45% or so. It jumped the Poudre River and is now established on the north side... which puts it into a fresh supply of heavy timber with heavy beetle kill... They're talking MONTHS before this thing is controlled.

The picture is maybe the north half of the fire from about 20 miles away...

Ah... life in the west.

Made a lot of progress up in the high country. Not only got Novel #3 completed and into the editing phase but went back and re-edited A Matter of Honor... my first book.

A couple of months back I got a private message from Nick Russell of Gypsy Journal and "Big Lake" fame. Now... he's made his living with "words" his whole life as a Newspaper Man. (so his 'critique' Should carry a bit more weight) He'd sent me a "Criticism" of the book. One of those of the "Constructive" variety.

At the time I discounted it... 'cause; That's My Style! ;) Yeah? Well... So much for style.

A week ago, after I'd finished the whittling of Heart of a Man... I went back for the first time in two years to look at what I'd written. That time gave me Fresh Eyes I guess... 'cause what I saw made me say; HUH?!!! What was I thinkin'?!!

Thanks Nick! ;) It appears I may be learning a bit... even at this late date!

And the re-edit began.

It seems I have a habit, that needs to be guarded against, of putting commas where I tend to pause as if I was speaking. Sometimes that don't work out quite so well with the written word. So... Now A Matter of Honor has been re-edited and I'll be uploading a "Fresh" version in the next couple of days now that we're back into internet service for a few days.

Heart of a Man should (I hope, I hope, I hope!!!) be ready to publish in another couple of weeks... more and more and MORE CAREFUL editing to be done yet. :)

*#2 in the Jeb Taylor Series*

 But... Today I've got to go out and Replace our RV hot water heater. After ten or eleven years the original has sprung a leak somewhere.

I ordered a replacement from PPL which was delivered to our little store in Fort Collins the other day... Not too bad. Regular cost everywhere else? $600 PLUS! The cost from PPL for this Atwood RV Water Heater? $338 bucks with Free shipping.

Still hurts since that really wasn't anywhere in the budget... and now Peter is cranked off 'cause I took his money to pay PAUL! :)

Now if I can get it installed without creating a propane bomb or sparks I'm pretty sure the overtaxed fire department 'round here will appreciate it...

Maybe once I get the new book published... so that the Jeb Taylor SERIES has two books rather than being a... One Book Series??? ;) The budget will get to being a lil' less anemic!

We'll be down here in the Valley of Heat and Smoke for a couple weeks doing some more chores and Vacation Coverage at the Bead Store... That should give me enough time to find a heat and smokeless place to hide out for a few weeks when we escape once again.

Getting a Refresher Course on City Livin'
Brian

The Second Book in My "Jeb Taylor" Series is FINALLY Written!

I hate to think it's true but apparently hiding from wild fires and losing any cell signal to build posts with is good for writing!

Parked somewhere around 9,000 feet in the Snowy Mountains of Wyoming had me finishing up my third Novel; "Heart of a Man."

Maybe not spending an hour or so carving a blog post near every morning had me saving up the words to string 30,000 of 'em together in a week to finish the book! :) The Movie reel in my head was a singin' and my fingers were flyin' on the keyboard!

I still think "A Pair of Second Chances" is a better tale than "A Matter of Honor"... but... My latest story, Heart of a Man, is every bit its equal. For the folks that like Myra and Ben... and maybe Jeb a little, it takes their story and tribulations a lil' farther down the trail.

I'm already deep into the editing to try and clean things up for publishing and hope to complete that work and publish this latest ebook Western Novel some time by or before mid July.

While I'm doing that editing I'm also planning to go back and do another edit of the first two books as well. There's still a few typos and such hiding in there I want to chase down.

I'm not real unconfident about such things though. We've read quite a few "New York Times Best Sellers" in the last year, and to tell the truth? Those, supposedly "Professhunally" edited and published tomes have more errors and typos than the Indie books like mine that I've read! :) Bald face things like badly misspelled and doubled words ie. "the the" and such things as words totally out of context; as happens when you change a sentence and move words around a bit.

So THAT lil' slap, that I continue to read against Indie Authors and publishers, (made by the old time publishing houses) that they are poorly edited, just don't hold up. It falls on deaf ears. We do our best but those "Big Boys" aren't immune to criticsim or the need to employ improved editing either! ;)

Anyhoo... I figure I'm giving those boys a run for their money. Especially when you look at my $2.99 price compared to their $10 bucks plus! :)

So... before I got that done, we got run out of the FS campground we'd bivouacked in. When we parked we were all alone. A couple folks pulled in the next day but they all dispersed to far corners of the camp that WAS open.

All was good till Thursday afternoon. I knew we was in trouble when two big Identical Vans trailed by a half dozen cars pulled in and a swarm of squealin', hoorawin' teenagers jumped out with two or three "adults"... some sort of  'youth group'...

Well... the adults supervisin' those young ones have a lot to learn there own selves 'bout etiquette and respecting the "Space" of other folks...

When the only way to push any farther into Our Site... with THEIR tents... would have been to ask me to pull  my fiver a bit farther forward... I stuck my fist in my mouth to prevent cursin' and my Ipod buds in my ears with the volume turned up to drown out their racket!

So... next morning, as early as we could I hitched up and I pulled out blowin' as much smoke and makin' as much racket as ~ I ~ could and hauled for the High up AND Lonesome!

*Our Camp the Sunset BEFORE the City "Locusts" Descended*

*Our Driveway into our New Camp*

*And our New Camp*

Ahhhhh.... much much better... still have to drive a few miles huntin' a signal to ship a post... but it'll do!

*High Country Storm Brewing*

*... and I took the road less traveled*

So... I'll find my way back to camp now... and get back to editing!

Tap Tap Tappin Away
Brian

Hiding Out

*Smoke from the High Park fire in Colorado... along Wyoming Hwy 130*

We planned on parking at Vedavu up in Wyoming, west of Cheyenne. When we approached there, the smoke was so heavy it was burning my eyes.

So I kept rolling west through the smoke. We didn't start finding some relief until west of Laramie, bound for the Snowy Mountains. We were rolling along wyoming 130 and managed to drive around the northern tip of the smoke cloud.

It was like an approaching wall... And we got around it... To find, since our last trip here, three years ago that fully half of the timber has succumbed to pine beetle.

All the boondock camps we knew of were taken... So we went looking for a FS camp. To find most of them are closed for safety... All the dead trees are falling over. :( Finally found a spot in part of one camp that was open...

Had to come down to Centennial to check on things and send out a post...

Hiding from the fires
Brian

The Mountains Continue to Burn

Late yesterday afternoon, the Sun shone through the smoke like it was bloody... where we sit... some 25 miles or so east of the fire.

The High Park Fire they're calling it now is raging with no effort at controlling it. It grew from 2 to 8,000 acres Saturday. By Sunday night it blew up to 20,000. (8:30a.m. edit; 36,900+ acres - nearly doubled overnight)

At this point the only efforts being made are to protect and evacuate people and attempt to save structures. The wind has been too high to allow commanders to put anyone in front of it to fight it directly.

The fire has been Jumping ahead large distances from the wind. If a fire fighter was caught behind one of those "Jumps"... well... that's why they can't fight it much yet.

*High Park Fire*

 Though we're parked many miles east... the smoke here has been at times as if the house across the road was on fire. Some time yesterday the beast jumped Highway 14 I'm told and is or was racing toward the ranch we lived on for many years. Highway 287 going that way is, or was the last we've heard, closed.

We were going to move up to Red Feather Lakes for the next couple of weeks... but with this fire bearing down on that area, and just one road in... and the same road the only way out... that's not gonna happen. It's a bit of a ways up there... but... this ugly beast could be there this afternoon if it took a mind to...

Heidi talked to a rancher and his wife yesterday. They're having to sell off most of their cattle this year. The drought this winter has been pretty tough.

He's ranched for 15 years and from everything I heard, he's done it right.

In frustration, he called one of the "Old Timers". A rancher that was a neighbor to the place we were on. His family is third or fourth generation on his place I believe.

When asked what they could do in years like this he replied; "I don't know. I've never seen it this bad. Ed is in his 80's I believe.

Momma Nature... Like I said... has got her shorts in a knot and is making things right... in the Savage Imbalance I've spoke of...

You know... Managing these lands, which is our responsibility... is like, Riding a Motorcycle through the weather of the Yukon and Alaska.

If you fight it, if you contest it... The weather there will eat you alive. You have to embrace it. Learn its ways and go with it. This land is the same. Defy it, defile it, get arrogant in thinking you can force it to your will... and it will crush you. You have to work with it. Get into its rhythm, learn its ways and flow with its force. Do that and you can achieve great things. Fight it and the land will be here when you are but ashes in the wind.

Like the roof vent caps I replaced yesterday... They're put up there to close out the weather... right? Yeah well... fighting this land and trying to impose the silly idea of "Natural Balance" instead of working with it is just like those vents... The flimsy plastic efforts of man didn't fare too well against the rage of Momma Nature... did they? How is the "Natural Balanced Eco System" mentality working?

Maybe it's time we moved to intelligent husbandry of our forests... and away from the foolish Bambi and Smokey the Bear inspired "Save a Tree" baloney that abrogates our responsibility and is devastating those Forests.

Hunting for a Smoke Free Camp
Brian

Momma Nature Imposes One More Lesson...

... In her effort to get folks to wake up and learn something... and to put away the Walt Disney/Bambi perverted fantasies of "Natural". I'm not holding my breath that she'll meet any more success this time around...

Well Golly... from the swirling waters and thundering hail... into the smoky fire! The Northern Front Range is takin' a whuppin'!

I'd been doing work on the bike at the kids place in Denver the day before. Had my laptop in the garage so I could pull up the Yamaha service manual I have loaded on it... If I got lost. ;) ... and when I left in the evening... I left my laptop, sitting in the garage!

Then... When Heidi left... with the truck to do some Bead Cache work... I failed to pull the tools out of it I'd need to replace the two roof vents that got busted in the hail storm...

So... 'thout any way to do any work... Might as well climb on the Raider for a ride! ... Right? :)

Got to the end of the driveway where we're parked and this was the view that came out from behind the windbreak... I'd not even known there was a fire

*Paradise Valley Fire*

This started as a couple of acres in the morning and had seared over 8,000 acres by mid evening.

*Evening on the Paradise Valley Fire*

This morning I woke to the smell of a campfire... and a sky that looked overcast... only there's not a cloud in the sky... just smoke.

That there kids is just one more example of what happens when you mix; prohibiting ALL fire for a hundred years, prohibit logging (to save the precious trees) to at least clear out the overgrown forest that would have been cleared by natural fire... and then compound that with drought conditions...

What do ya'll think happens when you cause, by misguided, feel good witch doctor Tree Hugging, the forest population to multiply by a factor of... oh... six or seven? So that you've got 80 trees trying to live where there used to only be 10? and they ALL have to exist on the same Water and nutrients...

Yup... weakened, insect vulnerable, dried up FUEL.

Kind of the same thoughtless, willfully ignorant mentality that brought the wolf back the way they did that.

One ignorant, lame brained thing after another.

Sure, in the late 1800's and early 1900's there was some logging that was done improperly. So the answer was to fix that by going IMPROPERLY to the opposite extreme? ... Really Smart thinking.

Intelligent, Husbanding of the forests, like you do a garden was the answer and still is... How many let the weeds overrun their gardens? You pull 'em, you thin the crop and produce a healthy garden right? Well Gee... is the Forest really so much different?

One of the HUGE fallacies about Forest Management is the foolishness about "Balanced Eco Systems". There is NO "System"... There is no Balance. If you want Natural you had better accept that NATURE is a world of Savage IMBALANCE.

So, we can do nothing and pretend the twisted, facetious and Non-Existant idea of Natural Balance will produce the world we want... or simply IMPOSE the good Forest Husbandry Of A Rancher/Gardner that promotes the best and most productive use of the land for ALL its inhabitants... even... GASP!... People!

From an economic standpoint... Wouldn't it be much better to restore the logging towns and the resulting employment and community that would create; that the Sierra Club/Wilderness Society Cabal destroyed... and Properly manage the Forests in the bargain... while people make a good living, doing a good job... rather than pouring the millions, if not billions into the impotent and failing effort at fire fighting on these continuous, out of control, far more intense and damaging than they would have been, fires?

The thing is... Momma Nature won't be denied. Either we can do our job... Accept our responsibilities for the land that we live on... or Momma Nature will! :) and kids... She's got her undies in a knot and her discipline is a comin'! The overgrown forests mismanaged at the insistence of, and as the result of lawsuits by the Sierra Club, Wilderness Society and all the others, are going to be "Fixed", whether the Bambi Believers like it or not... the result being a whole lot of anguish, ashes and wasted resources.

*Thank You Sierra Club... Your Foolishness is Working so Well*

So... in the morning... we're moving on up to a camp about 20 miles or so north of the flames. Planning on a ten day camp or so... until Heidi has to return to do two weeks covering the store for a manager vacation.

Guess I'll keep an eye open to the south huh?

Just Shakin' My Head at Some "Ideas"
 Brian

A Bit of a Storm and then; The Second Part of My Tirade Continued...There IS No Tomorrow

So... There was a bit of excitement on the Colorado Plains last night...

*Baby Colorado Hailstone*

 

Living in a Fiver... can sometimes get loud. Heidi's eyes had run together... looked kinda like a pizza. The dogs were squirmin' like cut worms, and it was like living inside a drum! ;) I got to admit... The bangin' on the walls and windows was makin' me think; "Boy, am I glad I ain't Night Ridin' on the Bike... THIS night!" 

I thought we'd come through unscathed 'till she got ready to climb into bed... "Why are the blankets all wet?...'cause there's a hole in the roof!"

*Hail Broken RV Vent Cap*

 So... in the dark and the pounding rain I'm clamberin' 'round on the roof wrapping a garbage bag 'round the busted vent cap thinking; "This is 'bout when that Murphy b@$#%&d! would send a fresh wave of hailstones for a visit!" ;)

Haven't yet climbed up this morning, but near as I could tell with my cap light in the dark, the damage was limited to that cap. The solar panels seemed to have weathered the storm just fine.

Friends just 6 or 7 miles north of where we're parked weren't so lucky. They had their place pounded to splinters by hail the size of baseballs... skylights, siding, roofing, trees... and their New Truck, just two weeks new to them... sitting in the driveway... counting my good fortune! All I got to repair is one RV roof Vent.

~and now on to the finish of yesterdays speechafyin'~ 

~~~

Let it be known that this is how ~I~ view the world. 

Your Opinions are likely some different than mine.

I freely admit that I reside in a minority and that many of a calmer and more peaceful nature think me to be eccentric to the point of insanity. I'd just like to say that; I resemble that remark!

 The rest of my story... or... How I See It.

You don't have tomorrow. Tomorrow is but a dream. 

You might not even have this afternoon.

You only have Right Now.

If you sacrifice today in pursuit of the wispy promise of tomorrow's security... You are likely to lose both.

If the events of the most recent burp in the phony "economy", over the last 7 or 8 years, haven't taught everyone the reality that Security resides only in the imagination; I have no way to force that lesson.

As times seem to get spookier and more uncertain... and the talking heads drum ever louder trying to pump up the fears of the toiling masses, it can get harder and harder to keep on. You get lost in the drumbeats of fear.

Until... you turn off their propaganda transmitter and look around you.

The sun still rises in the east... as it always has. The rivers still flow. The Eagles still fly. Motorcycles still roll :) No matter what doom and gloom those fear mongers try to burden you with in their insatiable hunt for your Liberty... LIFE goes on!

... and once you stop listening to and being "worked" by their fear mongering... it goes on pretty damn Fine!

I challenge all to live as a soldier. They don't know for sure that they'll be breathing ten minutes from now... let alone tomorrow! If they sat and worried about how much longer they've got or all that could happen... they'd be driven insane! They live for now... this moment... this breath. Their priority is what is... not what might be.

You can't see what's down the road. You can imagine, but you can't SEE. No one can. No matter how wise they claim to be... all they or YOU can see...is Today.

Live Today; To be as Strong and as Happy as you can be ~ Today.

What strength you build into this day, will carry over into tomorrow ~ If it comes. (which is to say... you don't ignore tomorrow... it's just NOT the #1 priority)

Tomorrow will come when it gets here. You'll take care of it... just like you took care of Today. How are you going to get the tasks of today done... if all your energy is consumed worrying about tomorrow?

But what if? What if you consume today, tomorrow and the day after that... working, building what you perceive to be Security. But... on the afternoon of the; "Day after that" you keel over with the "Big One"?

Your imagined Security was all for nothing and you lost your fleeting and precious Todays in the bargain.

How many have expended their entire lives constructing that imaginary security... and now, thinking they'd live those fabled Golden Years have had those years stolen by the frailty of life or the parasites on Wall Street and in D.C.?

My old man worked that way. His heart attack took him out of the game at 49. I was a late comer and at 3 years old; Never knew him. I've watched others... too many others... torn from this life; Never to make 21... and all of 'em struggling against the wind to reach a secure tomorrow.

... and Tomorrow Never Came.

To Steal a line from Patrick Henry; "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

I can only see Today. Yesterday is gone... Tomorrow is but a Dream...
Today is all I am

Brian

Is Finding the Perfect RV...The Meaning of Life?

Ahhhh... I'm feeling a big wind comin' up... this is likely to take two posts to flesh out my complete thought... ;)

For someone... Someone like ME... Hunting, searching, building, finding, acquiring the Perfect RV... Well... That's kind of a contradiction in terms ain't it? Almost a betrayal of everything I've sermonized on and about?

I admit it. I too fall prey, often, to such things.

The perfect RV... When I'm honest with myself, I see that as the scar that reminds me of the "Treadmill" days... enriching the man. It's the last lil' bit of that materialistic mentality (that I have to consciously resist) where the acquisition of things is the primary goal of LIFE, and not, what I believe Life should be about...

The Acquisition of LIFE.

Lately, I've been deliberately reminding myself that the perfect RV is only the one that keeps the rain off my head and that shelters me from the wind and the cold. All else is simply a matter of which color do you prefer? Once the function of shelter is taken care of, the rest is mere aesthetics and economics. Buying what you can't afford is the trick of that Ol' Con Man; To keep you indentured to the Man.

Don't get me wrong, material things are necessary to human beings. I need clothes... or at least... YOU need me to need clothes. ;) To get where I go, I need a vee-hickle... and I fully admit that the big Red Motorcycle I ride contributes HUGE to the smile I occasionally manage to hang on my face. But, in the end, things are only the tools we use to help build the experiences of LIVING.

So, finding the perfect RV isn't ~ The Meaning of Life ~ If not that... what? Is it to work and slave and stack up Security? And what is "Security" anyway?

Security is Nothing. Security doesn't exist.

How many Millions have seen their imagined Security vanish in a mist of manipulated numbers in the last decade? If it was Secure... where did it go? How many times over the generations has this replayed?

It's my belief that Security is the Pure Fantasy spun out of thin air ~ to provide the tool to produce fear in those who don't have it. That fear is then used by those who lust for power to con folks into surrendering to the "Solutions" offered by the Fantasy spinners. So... you're taught to Fear Not Having ~ What doesn't Exist.

Most measure their Security by the size of their bank accounts. They measure their safety by how much green paper they have. Paper that only has value because "Someone" claims it does... The premier con.

I for one believe it is largely a fantasy spun by the nobility of old, who found the perfect way to reclaim their power. (since folks seem to have discovered that they were Not in fact emissaries of God) If you Control money you control the people. Eliminate real money (gold and silver) and replace it with fiat phuny money that YOU the con man control.

In modern times Security is generally defined as a pension plan, or a stock portfolio with a lot of zeros... but what, exactly is THAT?

In a word? Wishful Thinking... ok... I can't count... two words... but it is still largely fantasy. Does the name Enron mean anything to you? Are you really believing your Paper Security is secure? When that paper is controlled and manipulated by those men of high integrity on Wall Street?

When you buy into a con... you are at the con man's mercy...

There was a time I thought I'd build my family some security. I figured then that I'd bust hump and build, using as much of my own labor as possible, a fine property. That if I put in enough of my own sweat I'd have the equity to create a sweet "nest egg". Long time readers here know how that worked out.

The phony money system stole that equity by appraising my "Property" at 25% below the cost of building it. They told of how they were losing money and then reported PROFITS in the BILLIONS... and none of 'em are in jail... well, maybe one or two token sacrifices.

That is the fantasy of putting trust in anything valued in Fiat Phuny Money. The powers that be, any time they can see a way to squeeze a few more Liberties out of you... will devalue your Property and your MONEY...

In fear the majority of folks jump up and down hollering for the con man to save them. Now, of course, the con man says; "I can do that. I just need a liiiitle more power to do that job." and of course that Power comes from you surrendering a bit more of your Liberty.... and the King reclaims another chunk of his lost supremacy.

I've come up with a few solutions. The Best Solutions... For ME. I emphasize, this is what I Do for ME. What I am comfortable with. For me Liberty is Premier, and security is but a dream.  

What you do is what You Must Do.

My answers for Me are;

#1; What Security a person can have comes from learning, building skills, and having Faith in himself. Faith in his ingenuity, his talent, his knowledge, his perceptions and his perseverance.

#2; I own little that can be seized for lack of property tax payment to the King or painfully devalued. Or even be attractive to any of his asset grabbing minions. What I have would cost 'em more to take than they'd get.

#3; Rather than having converted a great part of my life to a pile of fiat paper to be scammed away by the system or devalued in an effort to promote the decline of Liberties. I now produce my subsistence as I go. What that does is, there's no "account" or "Portfolio" to be manipulated and stolen. My income is produced at whatever the new "Inflated" rate is, as I need it. Kind of an automatic adjustment. If there is ANY real security in this world (doubtful) it is to have some control/ownership of the production of your subsistence income.

#4; I have faced my mortality... more than once. They will not enslave me with this fear. I consciously address the fact that no matter how skilled a medical system might could be... They have never saved a life. They have only, ever, postponed the end. Increasingly, at astronomical cost. So the only real choice there is how you check out, and how much of today you siphon off in a vain attempt to hold off eternity... forever. I for one will not bankrupt my children's children, or anyone else, in the vain attempt to be the first to achieve immortality. Quite simply, I will live until I die... and I intend to die with dignity and courage.

I'll close this lil' tirade with some more Cowboy Philosophizin' on the morrow!
Brian

Lil' Bits... Pink Fishing Poles... and Motorcycles in the Rain

The Eagle's been perched over to the east side of Fort Collins. We've been sallyin' out of here, almost daily. Heidi worked the store for a few days for the emergency trip by our manager gal... and we've fit in a couple of Denver runs to see the kids.

Took the Jillian and her brother to the zoo one day, but timed it wrong. They've been building a whole new section at the Denver zoo for quite a while; something like a 20% increase in area. It's just recently been completed, so we thought we'd go see it.

Yeah well... Not so much. Our timing is impeccable. We managed to arrive on that one, single, day between the "Sneak Preview" for Zoo Members (we paid for an annual a while back to save over multiple visits) and the grand opening... That one single day... when the New Section was closed!

*Father - Daughter Fishing Lessons*

Then Heidi took off to an Agility Competition in Albuquerque Friday... So Saturday morning I climbed on the Raider and run on back down to Denver.

Lil' Miss Jillian was doin' a Fishing Derby. I thought it might be fun to see her catch her first fish...

 ... and it probably will be... whenever that lil' blond redneck diva ever manages to git-r-dun!

So far it's Fish - 2 & Miss Jillian - 0.

ah well... there's lots of lakes and rivers and she's not exactly over aged yet... so there's time.

So... now I'm down in Denver... on the Raider... It's still mid morning and I can hear it...

Yooooo Hoooo... Briiiiiiiiiannnnn!

:) Uh Huh!

yup... the road she was a callin' my name...

From just 'bout anywhere in Denver, or anywhere 'long the Front Range for that matter... if you raise your eyes off the ground and look west you'll see the High Lonesome.

I could've just pointed the Yamaha back up the Super slab and race on "home", but where's the fun in that?

So to get North... I went west!

That way, I could make the run up the face of the Front Range from Boulder to Estes Park and avoid the Interstate.

Now... normally... that's a purty good lil' roll. Mostly 'cause when I usually do it... it's mid day of the mid week... NOT on a Saturday when a few thousand texting cagers have the very same idea! :)

and then Momma Nature has her own ideas of kickin' up the "Interest" factor...

*Should I put on Rain Gear? ... Nahhhh!*

It's always fun to be rollin' up the road and see the clouds building above you... and wonderin' about rain gear... Should I or Shouldn't I? ...

More often than not I choose Not... and Not it was this time. I made it to Mickey D's in Estes park warm and dry to wait out the storm... almost.

Yeah... It had one dump left as I left that shelter and started down the canyon... But... since I ain't no witch... I didn't melt! Though some might argue that I do smell better now. ;)

Ridin' in the rain and Grinning about it... one of the things that makes normal folks just look... and shake their heads in sympathy for the poor senile old puss gut... who ain't got sense enough to come in out of the rain.

Just a normal day Rain Ridin' 
Brian