When the Noise of Hard Times is Loudest... Look Sharp

 ... That's when the Shining Lights of Opportunities are the Brightest!

The past several months seems like it's been nothing but repairs and maintenance! Put together with the "Fun" work of improving my motorcycle it's been a summer of mechanicin'. Don't know if I said it before... but mechanicin' really don't shine much for me. It's usually just one of those necessary evils.

I enjoy cowboy engineering and fabrication of new ideas... but fixing greasy, rusty, dirty, cobbled up, confused and worn out old junk? not so much! :)

Late last winter was the water pump... I started the summer with the hail shattered vent caps, then the water heater, then broke the clutch master cylinder and the trailer suspension. Then, when we got here last week the window regulator on the truck crapped out again. That was a touch of an ordeal. You have to ask is it the $75 switch? or the $75 motor?

Took me most of a day to figure out how/where to get that diagnosed... And it was close. Alllllmost bought a switch... only to figger out it was the re-manufactured motor I put in a year ago! arrrrrrgggghhhh.

Then it's a case of double jointed, twisting gymnastics bordering on masochism... figuring out how to run a flopping, multi-jointed, motorized octopus of a two foot long window mechanism, through a six inch hole and bolt it in place. :)

But... I got the window working again... and then tackled a pair of leaking nipples on the new water heater. I'd failed to wrench 'em down tight enough when I installed the heater earlier in the summer. Screwing pvc nipples into an aluminum tank is kinda dicey for a "plumber" like me. I'm always worried 'bout over tightening stuff... so I wimped out and didn't get 'em sealed down proper.

But to fix it means you gotta empty the whole tank again... to pull the pipes apart and redo. When water is scarce in a mountain camp you kinda avoid that... and keep a pan under the dripping pipe. :) Well, sitting here with a hose available, I conjured up the idea that I'd get that done right this time.

... almost did too... grrrrrrrrrrrrr... I put in a pair of new schedule 80 nipples. They gotta be pvc 'cause the tank is aluminum. Put in steel or brass and I'd have bad electrolysis corrosion on a HOT water tank especially.

So anyhoo I swap the nipples and the top one is sealed up tight. No Drips...

The bottom one, teflon taped strong and good, wrenched down till my knees were quiverin' thinkin' another tweak and it'll strip... and NO drips... for an hour or two... and then the tiniest of seeps... I may just consider that dang drip pan to be a part of the plumbing! :)

As I'm scrapin' my knuckles and feelin' sorry for myself doin' all these repairs, I got to thinkin' 'bout Hard Times. For one, I'm bettin' that considerin' the major part of My current world; Livin' in open and far country 'bout 98% of the time... Free as a bird... even if it's a bird with raggedy feathers and no bird seed for new ones, ;) there's likely to be quite a number of folks that'd trade places with me in an instant.

Uh... No thanks! :) I'll keep my sorry lil' outfit and Shining Times! :)

So... Hard Times. You know what those really are? Opportunities. Yes Sir! Great big huge Shining Opportunities.

Truly! Think of it this way. If you're broke... If you are down to not much... How much do you have to lose? I mean truly? That opens up a lot! Most folks have an idea and see an opportunity... but just can't screw up their courage to take the leap and chase it...  Fear stops 'em cold; 'cause they figger to have so much to lose if they fail.

and so... in the end they DO fail anyway.  'cause never trying is the Worst kind of failure. With hard times knockin' 'em down, that "something to lose" is often taken right out of the picture leaving them a clear road to Shining Times. Now, they don't have the excuse of something to lose blockin' the way! ;)

There's another angle on this to boot.

From personal experience with a couple of lil' businesses, I can tell you, the second if not the Biggest obstacle to taking off on your own string chasing a dream, or an idea or whatever you want to call it, is Gov't interference, parasitism, and arbitrary regulation. Fees, licenses, permits, EIS reports, taxes, regulations, restrictions, prohibitions... without end...

You get wore out trying to find the way 'round it's foolishness as it works to block the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness... it was supposed to guard, as it seeks ever greater power and control.

How-some-ever, hidden in there, if you look close, is your Opportunity! With government's growing family of dependent serfs feeding on the wide variety of public largesse gov't extorts from those who produce ... when Hard Times hit and there's less to extort... it has difficulty meeting the swelling demands from its dependents for; "where's mine?" (the truth that "Theirs" resides in sweat, and work and responsibility has been trained out of them in converting them to obedient serfs.)

All those folks who can't do simple math stand around having pubic protests squalling for the "Rich" to pay more. So they (the serfs) don't have to pay.  ??? Can they not add 2+2?

Sadly they're unable to do the simple math a $3 walmart calculator can. If they could, they'd know that even if those "Rich" were taxed at 70% their combined taxes wouldn't add up to a small dent in the deficits required to keep their freebie trough full with its extorted treasures.

So, they stand around squalling their demands for their freebies to continue and be protected... tying up and consuming the masters resources and energy as he frets about how to keep them under control and placated. (which he must do because they're slavery is the foundation of his power)

THAT is your opportunity! Yes Sir!

Think of it this way. You're camped in the High Up and Lonesome. Your family is gathered 'round and you have a table filled with a great feast... But here comes the Beast... a big, ugly, stinking thug of a Grizzly. He comes waddling across the meadow headed straight for your camp... Damn!

Except... He's been doin' a poor job of keeping the coyotes fed. 'cause, being coyotes and having plenty of time on their paws they've been busy... makin' more coyotes! and all those parasites want more! As he gets to the center of the meadow, a great pack of 'em descend on the Beast; howling and yipping and snappin' at his heels. "FEED US! GIVE US MORE! WE WANT IT NOW!"

He's so busy fending off their assault that he doesn't have time, or energy left over to devote any to watching you! Which gives YOU The opportunity to slip away! Ha Ha! :) and leave him with the cannibalistic horde he created! When he looks up... You're gone! Now what's he gonna do... ;)

Now is the Time. Not tomorrow. Not next week or next month. Now... Today... pick your foot up and make the first step of your journey... Today!

If not today ~ When? The beast is busy. Opportunity is waiting. You've nothing left to lose... In fact, you never DID have anything worth enough to let it consume your life! 

Tomorrow we haul back up into the high up and lonesome... Though considering it's Labor day coming up... Lonesome is likely to be gettin' a lil' crowded for a few days! :)

Opportuinizin' on the Road!
Brian