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Another Revolution around the Glowing Orb

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So we close out another year here at the windy castle on the plateau.  It’s been a big year for the blog.

Last January I switched hosting providers and finished up the rest of the transitions last November.  In June probably the biggest change occurred, I moved from Drupal to WordPress.

Here’s some quick stats though on this year:

I haven’t done a lot of planning for how I want to expand the blog in this next year.   I have a few ideas and I want to grow the video side of the blog as well. 

Some of you have probably noticed I have ads on the blog now.  My goal is to subsidize the cost of the hosting and possibly buy me a lunch from time to time.  I’m trying to make sure that they are where they will generate revenue but also stay out of the way.  Up until last month the blog has been running at a loss for me since I ran it ad free.  There is a nice part of being ad free, but at the same time it’s burning a hole in my pocket and I would rather buy toys and review them or have extra ammo to  train with.

This next year I’ve got a pile of stuff on the plate, including a possible/probable trip to visit a friend.  Neither the wife or I want to deal with the TSA and we need to chat with a travel agent about prices as well for what we’re thinking about doing.

So since it’s New Year’s eve, here’s Auld Lange in probably one of the best versions I’ve heard:

h/t To Caleb on that one.  And you thought I was all rock and violin didn’t you?

More Linkey Less Thinky

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Time for a round up of good stuff I’ve seen elsewhere and haven’t had the time, or just don’t have anything else to add.

Anyone who’s into radio will absolutely love this post I just found.  It is a tour of the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station and it’s down right fascinating.

As has been posted in numerous other places already, Larry Correia did a fantastic piece on gun control, if you haven’t read it go now.

A letter from a mother on her thoughts after the tragedy.

Laws for Thee not for Me!

There’s probably more.  I’m a bit behind on the blog reading, I took the weekend through Christmas off.  I’m trying to get back in the groove but the break felt good!

Merry Christmas Everybody!

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So I woke up this morning and spent the morning cleaning my garage and shop.  The last remainder of some temporary storage left and I was finally able to do the change over on the tractor.

Good timing too because we’ve got a white Christmas this year.

IMAG0464

I blew out the drift at the bottom of my driveway and the turkey is FINALLY in the oven.  With only minor damage to myself and the house I might add.  Nothing aloe and a little spackle wont fix. Open-mouthed smile 

Hopefully that’s the only hiccup for the day.   Hopefully everyone got some cool toys, we still haven’t opened anything under our tree, too busy with food and house prep with friends coming over for dinner tonight.

The World is Not Ending Tomorrow…

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You want to know how I know, it’s quite simple really.  29 years ago tomorrow hell froze over, a blizzard hit the Pacific Northwest and made the Seattle area down right miserable.

In the middle of all that misery I punched through my moms uterus and abdominal wall that I can only hope looked something like this:

Dance and all!

I was born defying all the odds, weighing in at a whopping 4 lbs 2 oz and was 6 weeks early(I was reminded it was actually 6.5).  My mom still refers to me as her gift from god.  I know there are certainly some people in this world who wouldn’t consider me a gift.  Frankly I don’t care, there’s a phrase I’d use to describe it but some would consider it gratuitous in its use of expletives.  The gentler version is “Screw ’em”

So for all of you who think the world ends tomorrow, I hate to break it to you but it wont, at best that process actually began 29 years ago.  For some their political end is at hand, and I will have no heartburn at all if some how my name comes up yet again before them, repeatedly, until they crash into the wall so hard they disappear into the wastebasket of history.

It is kind of nice though that by the age of 28 I became despised and called out, by name, by some of the most despicable people I’ve ever seen or heard of.  Yeah, this year was a good year, now I just need to best it next year.

This is Just Neat

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I’ve known about this for a while but I figured I’d share it since many won’t know about the effort that goes into maintaining transmission lines.

Balls of steel.  That is a maneuver that has a pile of  things that can go wrong at any moment.  Most of those things will likely result in death.  That said it can and is done safely on a regular basis.

For those who don’t understand how attaching a helicopter to a 500 KV line doesn’t result in things failing you just need to remember what matters is a difference in potential.  The helicopter is a floating isolated point.  Since its isolated, its reference to “ground” can be shifted.  In this case as the helicopter approaches they use the wand to tie the helicopter to the same potential.  Once the helicopter at line match, so does everything else on the helicopter, including the people.

Once that connection is broken though the systems start drifting apart again.

And lets not forget if the weather turns there’s now another huge problem since wind can cause the helicopter to collide with the power lines.  The lesson there is a helicopter has 74,000 moving parts, all moving in opposition to each other, each with the common goal to kill you.

Still looks like it would be an interesting job, at least as a pilot anyway.  I have no interest on sitting on top of a 500 KV line, despite my knowledge of how it works.  I also know at 500KV it wouldn’t take much to create the current necessary to kill me should a piece of personal protective equipment fail.

Your Evening Laugh…

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Admit it, you laughed!

Today’s Word of the Day – Ineptocracy

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Ineptocracy,  (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy), noun

  1.  a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

Sample Usage:

With more and more people being reliant on social programs, ineptocracy is taking hold and will not let go.

Honestly I was both laughing and crying as I discovered that and read the definition.  Sadly that word is quite accurate at describing the current state of affairs in the country.