My Reservation-Work Story

 Early in my Air Force career, I worked in civil engineering and was assigned to McChord AFB, WA.  Around the 3rd month, it came up that the fence 'line' on the reservation (not the base) was rusted up and they wanted a team to run around 5,000 ft of security fencing (fresh new wire, posts).   None of us had ever been out to this area (it was off the base by a quarter mile.....to the entrance).

So Monday came, and a civilian in our shop led me and two airmen.  We started at 7:30 AM to gather tools required, and had a vehicle ready by 7:45.  Then we drove.  

You had to exit the base and drive about a mile on some public road....to a gate with a lock.  We had the key....we entered.  From that point, it took 45 minutes to reach this 'end' of the reservation.  

The journey?  As urban as Tacoma was....this was like some 'lost' situation.  We'd come to a fork in the road, and the civilian would say 'turn-here'.  There were probably 20 of these forks.  By the end, I had no reference in my head.  

Gravel/dirt trail.  No signs.  You could never get above 20 mph because of trail conditions.  

So it's about 8:55 AM when we arrive at the site, and yes.....it's probably 1940s fencing there.  Dirt-motorcyclists had discovered the reservation and illegally used it.  It made sense to replace the fencing and put up 'forbidden' signs.  But I looked at the immense journey it took to get there.   

The dozer guy cleared the whole path for us to put up the new fence.  

But the issue is....we basically work from 9 AM to 10:45 AM....then leave for chow, return at 1:15 PM...to work until 3:30 PM....for a grand total of 4 hours of actual work a day.  

Whatever the planning people had suggested for four weeks of work, would never be resolved with four people pulling with only 16 man-hours a day.   We were wasting half the work-day in driving out to this remote site.  

After two weeks of working on this, I was shaking my head.  I was sitting in a marginal Chevy 1.5 ton seat for about 4 hours a day.  Nothing much on the fence was advancing.  So I begged off the crew and just said give me the worst job left in the shop....tar-crew for base streets.   

I suspect that the fence crew was still working the issue three months later. 

The reservation thing comes up the year after I left McChord.  One of the guys from our crew sent me a note (with a pic) over a new 'adventure'.  This reservation thing attracted his attention, and he convinced his GF, and another airman couple....to do a camping trip out into the reservation.  

They camped for a whole weekend....somewhere near a stream.  Whole place was full of mosquitoes.  He sent me a picture of the four (at the conclusion of the trip).....each person had at least 100 mosquito bites.  

My Humble Thoughts Over Michelle Obama Running (The Rumor)?

 For about four months, there's been persistent rumors of Michelle Obama getting into the primary of 2024, and running because of Joe Biden's 'problems'. 

Frankly, I see the story as BS. 

My four observations?

1.  She's never held an elected office...ever.  Not even a mayor job (like Mayor-Pete).

2.  Speech-wise.....she has probably given forty-odd speeches but there's nothing remarkable.

3.  If you did ask her any foreign affairs questions.....I don't think she can much of anything beyond pointing to the location on a map.

4.  If she's the 'sole' person for the primary, beyond RFK who never gets mentioned....what's that say about the depth of the party for big-time players?  Note, from this past week, Governor Newsom said 'NO' that he's not running.  

So I see this as a lame PR thing that some journalists are hyping her for President, when the odds are heavily against her.  

But let me add two unusual factors.  First, selling her to the black community won't be that easy because they see her as having 'status' (wealth,  college).  Black guys will even bring up this Obama drug-stuff and gay rumor.....to say she didn't see all of this happening.  

Second, she's never really encountered a debate.  Donald versus Michelle?    

It's a curious BS story, but it just isn't a likely thing.  

18 Observations About Modern Mankind

 1.  People generally want 'something' to be true, or 'something' to be false.  Whether it is true, or false....doesn't matter.

2.  A store that is losing $10,000 a day on theft....probably has a ticking 'end'.  You can't make up the losses by charging $3 for a stick of gum, or $21 for a cheap $7 Mexican-made t-shirt.

3. The statistics for death-by-flu (going back over 40 years)....mostly resembles the death-by-Covid (going back over four years).   It's just that we never seemed to talk much about doom/gloom of flu.

4.  Turning politics into a Jesus-versus-Satan situation....probably does religion an injustice.  

5.  If you paid some college $100,000 over four years, and you haven't expanded your intellect or comprehension....you've wasted four years of your life on top of the $100k debt.  

6.  You can't make low-IQ people (those with 80 or less) any smarter than what they already are.  Even if you promote them into management....to get rid of them from one situation....you simply make the low-IQ guy think he's capable when he isn't.

7.  If you bring up Covid 'contact' via eyeballs with a guy wearing a KN-95 mask.....the odds are that he won't believe you.  

8.  At present pace, I expect legal challenges to occur shortly where a 9-year-old kid says he's smart enough and doesn't want any additional schooling. 

9.  If you had 500,000 new migrants show up....none speaking English, or showing a trade-craft situation....what exactly do you think they will be doing for the next three or four years while you house them in a $75-a-night hotel room?  

10.  The amount of RISKS that you encounter from getting up and laying down at night.....are probably 100 times the level of what people in the 1960s faced.  

11.  On 'trust', I would imagine that half of the general public has lost a fair amount of trust in their doctor, their minister, and their school officials.  Skeptical nature is at a all-time level.

12.  If you randomly asked 100 people (18 or over) if they've read the book '1984'....I doubt if you find more than 15 of them who admit this.

13.  I'd estimate that one-quarter of the general public has delusionary problems, but are quiet happy to remain in this sort of mind (like that Elwood P. Dowd character in Harvey).  You shouldn't try to bring them back into reality.

14.   If you start counting at 6 AM with local news and pay attention throughout the day....the word 'crisis' probably gets uttered at least thirty times.  If you ask people to define crisis....it'll come out like some PhD-level chatter that makes no sense.

15.  Life is mostly about theatrics....presenting an image or brand or message.  You already start with this gimmick by the end of 1st grade.

16.  Generally, if you wake up and suddenly realize you are in the middle of a cult....it's best to say very little, and show minimal 'fret' or worry as you exit the mess. 

17.  You need PhD-level people to think about problems.  You don't want a PhD-level person to run your office or company, or city/state.  

18.  There is no such thing as cheap electricity.  Maybe it existed in the 1960s/1970s.....but it's long gone now.

Poverty Stimulation?

 I was sitting and reading this piece over Highland Park (the city in Illinois).  Apparently, someone in the city gov't had this idea.

They wanted the public there (30k residents) to get some idea about poverty.  No one says why this was necessary.....just that they could 'teach' you.

So a “poverty simulation event” was arranged where well-off people (don't know how they figured the dividing line)....would get some play-action to pretend being poor for 2.5 hours.

Then the story goes....this was to be done at some local well-to-do country club.

Now, I'm from the rural region of Alabama and will admit that I've never been to a country club.  I did work with a lady in the 1990s, and she would get into these discussions about her growing up in Ohio, and her family had some membership in a country club (primarily for golf reasons).  So I have an idea how they function.

Looking over this....I don't really grasp how 2.5  man-hours can be spent....pretending to be poor.  I'd probably show up at the event and order a $14 cocktail right before I entered the poverty-room.  

I'd mingle with other folks from the club....occasionally sneaking back out to freshen up my cocktail (three or four times).  By the end of the 2.5 hours.....I probably wouldn't remember that much.

The problem with this silly game is that you end up with stupid city management people (an IQ of 80 or below but they have a college degree).....who are engaging you to be as stupid as they are.  

Without a drink, I probably would have engaged in this, and told each poverty person....lets get ahead.  There's work over at such-and-such place, and we can work a second-shift at the hammer-factory.  I'd show them the light of work, money and missing out on poverty.

Yeah, I would have been kicked out of the poverty pretend-stuff, and the club might have suspended me for 7 days for bad-boy behavior.  

Here in the end of my summary....I just kinda wonder....how many people did show up for the poverty pretend deal at the country club?  Five.....ten? 

My Thoughts On Tucker Carlson Interviewing The Gay Guy Who Hooked-Up With Obama

 Five observations:

1.  This all occurred in 1999....so the guy says.  At this point, Obama had been married 6 to 7 years.  

2.  Getting off crack is awful hard, and usually you spend 90 days in some rehab center.  If Obama did get clean....where did he disappear to for 90 days?

3.  Based on the way the story was told.....there must be a minimum of 1,000 Chicago folks (mostly guys) who knew the sexual habits and drug preference of Obama.  

4.  All this guy-to-guy sex and no news source picked up on this for 20 years?

5.  A totally invented character....running for President, where no one ever dug into his history?  News media has ruined their reputation for a whole generation.

Five Things About Epstein I Believe

 1.  As a kid, we'd go to a flea-market operation that had this guy in a truck, and he'd be there getting a crowd all in a frenzy....to sell each person a box (something like a $1 in cost) and that one person out of forty might have something of value (say $20), while the rest had something worthless.  There would  always be fifty-odd people to participate.  He'd run the game three or four times during the day.....then leave shortly after lunch.  

I think Epstein was doing this at a global scale....convincing people to come to the island to party-up, booze-up, and chatter with other wannabe VIP-idiots.  One person out of forty got something of value.....the rest just had a crazy weekend with a lot of booze (and drugs probably).

2.  From all this chatter of young girls (say age 13 to 16) as party-favors for guests.....you just don't have much true evidence of this.  I suspect that he'd introduce some 19-year young-looking gal to some dimwit older guy and say she's 'Wanda'....a 13-year old.  These guys were stupid enough to believe that, and the fantasy simply took over.

3.  If you figured a weekend of twenty-odd guests, with hidden cameras and microphones....there's 500 man-hours of tapes to glean through and figure out valuable information.  But you'd need at least ten people sitting....analyzing minute after minute....to package this for the 'boss' (the guys above Epstein).

4.  There's zero evidence that Epstein was ultra-rich.  He acted that way, but what did he actually own?  An island?  A jet or two?  

5.  No one talks about women showing up on the island....VIP-types, but they were also there.  Oddly, each time the island comes up....they only discuss men being there.  Hillary Clinton went.  

This Tucker Carlson-Putin 'Thing'

 So quietly, Carlson went out and asked an associate about getting an interview with Putin (in Russia).  Couple of days pass.....Putin says 'yes'.  Day or two passes, and some US gov't intelligence guy calls Carlson and says....we know about your email, and would like to have a chat.

The emphasis of this?  Well....as a minimum, the US would like to ask questions of Carlson upon his return to US soil. To be honest, since Covid....I doubt if a single American has come face-to-face with Putin.  

They'd probably like a health assessment.  I would question this because Carlson might respond that Putin is in better health than Biden, McConnell, or Pelosi....and you wouldn't really want to tell the intelligence guys this.

A curious meeting?  Well...no Russian journalist is allowed total freedom on questions if they did get 15 minutes with Putin.  

My humble belief....Carlson will probably get forty-odd minutes and maybe 15 questions.   

The Washington intel guys sitting around and shocked how easy this was?  I would imagine they've poured a few shots of booze and trying to imagine the questions that Tucker would ask.  

My final thought?  In the middle of this interview....it would not shock me if Putin pulls out a box of Burisma tapes, and starts playing Biden conversations that imply a 'deal'.  Then with a grin....he tells Tucker there's over 200 conversations of Joe and some deal-guy.