Splendid Isolation

Monday Funnies

January 4, 2021 Kim du Toit Funny Stuff

Oh yay… the first Monday of 2021. Elsewhere will be a short description of the little bits of bastardy directed at Yours Truly before the last midnight chimes of 2020, but for now, let us just contemplate the four years stretching before us.

Yeah, I know: overstretch to compare the forthcoming Democrat-Socialist presidential term to the Nazi occupation of France in 1940-1944. Let’s see how that turns out.

So to lighten the mood somewhat:

And:

And now, let’s hear it from the other side, the hippies and peaceniks:

One last flashback:

Now let’s get on with 2021… [sigh]

Simple View, Utter Beauty

January 3, 2021 Kim du Toit Travels

At the moment, I’m reading Bill Bryson’s The Road To Little Dribbling, and as always I’m torn between helpless nostalgia and loud laughter — my general reaction to Bryson. But the reading has pushed me into homesickness for Britishland, the feeling all the sharper because under current Chinkvirus restrictions, I can’t go back there and do all the things I love doing, such as driving through the countryside and marveling at the towns and villages as so memorably described by Bryson and embedded in my own memory from countless trips past.

I don’t often do this, but I thought I’d share with you the picture that’s currently my laptop’s wallpaper (right-click to embiggen to its original 1920×1200 size):

I don’t know if I’ve ever driven through this particular village, but I’ve driven through so many like it that it doesn’t matter. Frankly, after a while they all become a blur, another “OMG that’s-so-beautiful-I-want-to-live-here” moment.

Of particular interest, nay even alarm to my Murkin readers would be the fact that despite the single tire-tracks in the road, it is in fact a two-way street which leads itself to moments of sheer panic should you encounter, for example, Bob The Plumber’s oversize Ford van coming the other way. Such a situation requires either

pulling to the side (left) as close as possible to the walls / hedges and hoping that Bob will be able to get past without scraping the side of your (rental) car, or
driving on regardless while hoping that he will squeeze to the side leaving you enough room to get past without scraping the side of your (rental) car, or
pulling into a driveway — which action is inexplicably frowned upon by the householder
or else in the final resort, reversing back towards a “wider” portion of the road so that both you and Bob can pass by each other with a friendly wave from Bob at your patience and good manners.

When Mr. Free Market sets out for a destination outside his own village, he as often as not takes a completely different road each time, just to take in the exquisite countryside. I once asked him if he’s ever got used to, or even bored with the countryside he drives through every day, and his answer was succinct: “Never. Not even close.”

I can see why. Scenery such as the above plays a huge part in my laptop wallpaper selection — I don;t change it because I’m sick of it, only because I hanker after another scene. Here, for your delectation, are a few others (ditto the embiggening):

(that’s a giant pic; allow some time to load)

More, upon request, if like me you’re a fan of the English countryside.

Persuasive Argument

January 2, 2021 Kim du Toit Drive Time

As everyone knows, I love me my old cars more than the modern wind-tunnel designed mass-produced homogenized blobs we see on our roads today. But there’s a problem:

Classic cars are wonderful, wonderful things. They look incredible, smell incredible, and make incredible noises. We will never see vehicles like them roll off production lines ever again.
And this is a good thing, because along with all the good stuff, they’re a massive pain in the arse.
They leak, they break down, they’re inefficient, and they’re not all that quick. You have to be committed to a classic. They need constant love and attention to make sure they run well. You can be their nurse, which requires lots of hardcore knowledge, or you can have a specialist to do it for you. And they’ll be grateful, as you’ll put their kids through college.

All true, and it’s the reason why (apart from the upfront cost) that I’ve never been that keen on getting one of the old cars that I love, e.g. a 1950s-era Jag Xk120:

I have also stated that I won’t drive an electric car.

However, it’s a fool who won’t change his mind when confronted with a different reality, and here’s the reason I could be persuaded to change my mind. (Read this before continuing.)

I foresee great things for this. It might be Lunaz’s climb towards Elon Musk-style wealth, or it could end up being a way for classic car manufacturers to get their foot into the EV market.

So allow me to alter my precious stance on electric cars.

Would I ever drive a Prius? No.

Would I drive an electric, rebuilt Dino Ferrari?

I think we all know the answer to that one. And if Ferrari were too slow to the party, then:

…or:

In Comments, list your top three favorite cars that you would drive as EVs, assuming they were affordable.

Reverse Flow

January 2, 2021 Kim du Toit Bad News

Here’s the background:

The number of Los Angeles residents moving to Dallas and Houston declined in those years, but the number of Angelenos moving to Plano, Texas, tripled.

Or, rendered pictorially:

Yuck. The only Texans in favor of more Californians in the state are people about to sell their houses (and I already sold mine), or Democrat politicians.

Never Mind Hunting

January 2, 2021 Kim du Toit The Gun Thing

Mr. Free Market sends me to an article headlined thus:

America’s Greatest Cartridge

…and to the surprise of precisely nobody in my zip code, he’s not talking about the .30-06 Springfield or the .30-30 WCF, but my favorite cartridge, the venerable (and venerated) .22 Long Rifle.

So much do I love the .22 LR that I think that it should be regarded not as a cartridge, but as a household commodity like salt. Ditto the guns that shoot it should be regarded as household appliances like steam irons or vacuum cleaners — every home should have one: at least one, and if in no other case, more is better. I have several, whether in the role of target rifles, plinkers or whatever, and even though the kids bought me a perfectly-adequate semi-auto Savage 94F for my birthday:

…I still hunger after a CZ 512 because… well, because.

In fact, just for the hell of it, I think I’ll list the .22 rifles I lust after, in no particular order:

Sako Mod 85 Quad Pro Varmint

It is horrendously expensive (don’t ask) but I truly believe that once you have one of these, you would never need another .22 bolt-action rifle, ever. (You can buy more expensive .22 bolties, but you are walking so far up the quality curve that it becomes somewhat pointless.) It is especially true because the Quad series have swappable actions/barrels between .22 LR and .22 Mag.

CZ 452 ZKM

or its more modern replacement, the CZ 457 Lux:

Nobody I know who owns a CZ 452 or 457 has anything bad to say about it, and to a man they say that the rifle is far more accurate than they can shoot it. It’s certainly true in my case, although I’ve never actually owned one.

Now as Longtime Readers will know, I already have two perfectly good .22 bolties, the Marlin 880 SQ / 882 SSV in .22 LR and .22 Mag respectively:

…and they are quite adequate for my needs and skill. But: they have plastic stocks, the triggers are just “good” as opposed to excellent, and the barrels can’t be threaded for a suppressor.

I seek beauty as well as function at this stage of my life, so I’m considering selling them both and replacing them with “better” (i.e. better-looking) guns. If any of you have young sons or grandsons and want to spoil them, drop me a note and we can talk turkey. Anyone who has ever shot these with me will attest to their function. I can sell them as a “matched” pair or individually, and they’d come with spare mags (of course).

I already own the world’s most fun gun to shoot, the pump-action Taurus Mod 62C:

As I’ve said before, when I take people plinking with this gun, I always have to ensure that there’s one more brick of ammo than I think I’ll need, or else they start pouting when the ammo can runs dry.

That said, I wouldn’t mind the longer-barreled Henry version of this gun… just because, and in .22 Mag rather than the LR.