Tag: Me Myself I

Personal stuff

Jumping The Gun

Friends and Family

Over at the brilliant Day By Day website, Chris Muir has been forced to bring forward his annual fundraiser because of the current Biden economy…

…and so have I.

I cannot tell you how much the economy — most specifically, Bidenflation — has eaten away at my paltry income.  Over the past two years, the value of my safety net account has dropped by over 70% as New Wife and I have struggled to make ends meet.  And believe me, we’ve pared back on our spending, whether it’s on groceries, clothing or anything else that one needs to keep alive.  Forget luxuries.

I’ve sold all the guns I can, a couple at a loss even, and there’s nothing else left to sell.

The only small consolation is that we’ve managed to keep our credit card balance really low, so as to minimize the monthly payments.

Now we’re at rock bottom, where any kind of unforeseen demand will push us over the edge.  We can’t afford to put any large expenses on a credit card because then we’d be unable to make even the minimum payment.

This website is my only source of income.  Those of you who make a monthly contribution to Patreon have my eternal thanks, because that amount has oftentimes kept us afloat.

Now I’m asking for your help, and I hope everybody can be at least a little generous.  Yes, I’m aware that everyone is under financial pressure, so what I’m asking may be too much.

And yes, it hurts to be so needy, and so desperate.  But there it is.

Support This Website

New Time

Housekeeping

In the past I’ve scheduled my posts to appear just after 6am Central so that people could read them either before or soon after they got to work — which many people have supported.  But several Longtime Brit and Euro Readers recently asked via email whether I could possibly give them the same opportunity, and it’s an easy change to make.

Henceforth, my daily posts will appear soon after midnight Central, i.e. early morning Over There.  (I have no Asian Readers other than a slew of what appears to be Chinese bots, and my ANZAC Readers will just have to deal with it, as the time difference is too extreme for me to do anything to help them.  Sorry.)

Speaking of Brits, Mr. Free Market shared this wonderful take on modern education with me, and I didn’t want it to be submerged amongst all the other cartoons and memes:

Brilliant.  (I know:  “Theorem” not “Theorum”.  Probably written by a Math guy.)

Ten Things That Make Me Proud To Be American

Good Stuff, Patriotism

Inspired by the Brit list, here is mine.

In drawing up my list, I hearkened back to my travels outside the U.S., and asked myself:  what were the things I missed most whilst Over There, and what were the things I was glad to have or see when I returned?

My Top Ten (in order):

  1. the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
  2. the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
  3. the notion that what isn’t expressly forbidden, is allowed
  4. checks and balances on government
  5. the freedom to succeed or to screw up (and then to try again)
  6. a jillion TV channels
  7. huge pickup trucks
  8. restaurant- and other choices
  9. rodeos
  10. interstate highways

The first five on the list are self-evident, especially as they are almost universally absent from foreign countries;  and I’ll talk about that in yet another post because it deserves a longer exposition.

The last five points are personal, but important.

Only when your TV is confined to a few (usually State-controlled) channels do you realize how nice it is to have a choice — even among dreck.

Large pickup trucks are lovely — they are powerful, not really necessary (unless you’re pulling a large trailer or farming) and one of the things that tourists comment on the most.  And the fact that pickup trucks are by far the most popular choice among ordinary Americans says it all.

Drive along a non-U.S. highway with a gnawing hunger and see how hard it is to find a restaurant of any description along the way.  Granted, our choices are often only from the Usual Suspects (the top 30 chains), but at least there’s a choice.  In Yurp, you often have to go into a town to buy food, which is okay if you’re a tourist, but it must suck if you’re a local.

Nothing says “America” like a damn rodeo:  tough people doing a dangerous thing for fun.

It’s only when you’re trying to get from point A to point B without having to go through C, D and E that you appreciate the freedom associated with our highways.  Now, as  rule I myself try to avoid the stupid things as much as possible;  but when you need one, it’s there for you to use.

Conspicuously absent from my list are things that are uniquely American, but that don’t touch me:  the Grand Canyon, the Empire State Building, Broadway shows, the Rocky Mountains, etc. etc.  Landscape features are just things — the Grand Canyon is a large hole in the ground, the Hoover Dam is a chuck of concrete, every country has a Broadway, the Alps are just as stunning as the Rockies, and so on.

But a busy shooting range and gun show (see point #1) are so much more American than anything one may find elsewhere, and ditto all the other related stuff in each point.

Krank-y

Health

My old friend bronchitis has come to visit me again, courtesy of Beloved Granddaughter, who has managed to infect both her father and mother as well — so la famille du Toit is not a Happy Place at the moment, with barking-dog coughs and such all over the place.

New Wife, who works at a preschool, has an immunity system like tempered steel, so she has to do the Florence Nighringale thing for everybody.

Once again, light posting for a day or so… sorry.

Foreign Visitors

Friends and Family

For the next couple weeks we will be hosting New Wife’s son and daughter-in-law as they flee (temporarily) their South African home for springtime in Texas.

None of that matters, because they will be bringing our* precious granddaughter with them:

…so the fortnight will be spent in Grandparent Heaven, and posting may be a little light other than the regular features such as the Caption Competition, Monday Funnies, Art / Culture Saturday and Classic Beauty, which I’ve already pre-loaded.

*I say “our” because my own kids have proven to be completely useless at the Grandchild Production business, so I take them where I can.
There’s another grandchild lurking in the above pic, but we won’t be able to see that one until it’s born in August.