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Life in the Empire

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Was everyone a Lincoln clone during Lincoln's time? Tad is almost a dead ringer.

I like the name, The 'Know Nothing' Party. Show's that maybe peeps around that time, had a cynic's sense of humor. Example: Mark Twain. So, what is it about living in the south that turns people into giant asshats? Must be the heat. 

"The origin of the "Know Nothing" term was in the semi-secret organization of the party. When a member was asked about its activities, he was supposed to reply, "I know nothing." Outsiders called them "Know-Nothings", and the name stuck. In 1855, the Know-Nothings first entered politics under the American Party label."

Kurt Vonnegut diagrams the shapes of stories.

The truth is, we know so little about life, we don’t really know what the good news is and what the bad news is.

Then there was Maggie Palm.  (and the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention of 1838)... thanks to Alan Hosteter... who seems to be just as mired in the story as I am.  I don't see it as a Broadway Musical yet... but maybe I should.  

It's time to clear the browsers and restart fresh so crunch the data for the last class.  Slipcraft prototype is sidelined for now because finances are dire now.  Just ran out of beer money.  Only got cigarette and coffee money now.  Food money has been gone for a month.  

Rosa waits patiently.  As as I stop wrangling with filthy lucre, she comes with Nacht and Nebel.  Now Maggie too?  And Thad has got to be in there somewhere...  

He was the last apostle called by Jesus.  

One of Rosie's five daughters?  Already there.  

Utzi hatte einen Kupfer ax !

Legen Sie es in einen Sack .

Wir helfen Ihnen, sich zu verstecken.

Kommen wieder ein anderer Tag.

 

 

or...  

Utzi hatte einen Kupfer ax !
Und ihr es in einen Sack .
wir helfen du gehen verloren
Aber nicht gestorben!  

(Utzi had a copper ax !

And your IT in a bag.
We help you lost
but not died.)

THIS was designed to be read as a text message.   

Damn Jeb, that is beautiful.  And so is Robin's response.  I hate that you are going through this but love that you are able to create something beautiful from it.

Eighteen years ago I was talking to Sean Greene who was adjunct faculty at UC Irvine.  This guy was somebody once.  He was the cover boy for Dance Magazine.  He still was a beautiful dancer.  He was, by far, the best choreographer on faculty.  He was assigned one class per semester and only rarely was allowed to choreograph.  He was a frequent flyer cobbling together a living by driving the freeways to different institutions to teach the one or two classes they would deign to give him.  He was complimenting me on my latest work and I responded about how both of us were treated like shit.  He said something about how that shit is what inspires the work and I responded that I was willing to take the chance at having the inspiration for the work dry up if it meant being treated decently for awhile.....I still would like to risk it.

"Damn Jeb, that is beautiful.  And so is Robin's response."

Yep. Both have left me speechless. 

What's cool about the internet?  Missed areas of scholarship getting uncovered.  For example: the Sharps Military Carbine... the "coffee grinder" model.   Corn and wheat?  My ass.  It was for grinding gunpowder.  Why would you hang a kitchen utensil on a carbine?  

I think it was for grinding powder.  Why?  So the same charge would produce less smoke.  Or... you could load a whop-ass charge of FFF and kill at 600 yards.  With a carbine.  If you know how to shoot it.  

Henry's first big order was for Beecher Bibles... <(read the corn-pone comments section here and learn how the Civil War was all about high taxes and big government)  The real story is much more interesting.  

Our Henry's gig was selling the finest firearms in the world.  That is brought what him over from Hesse.  Well... that and Elizabeth... but that was a side-show.  That's what took him out to St. Lous to meet the Hawken brothers.  

Henry was using his Hawken rifle to bring down elk and pronghorn half-mile away... and that's when he met Jacob Waltz out in Apache Junction.  That is where he got his grub-stake to ship a dozen Hawken rifles to Germany.  

Henry was returning with his fortune when he met old man Sharps.  This was little doubt who made the finest firearms in the world.  Sharps was a good gunsmith... but an even better salesman.

Every tool has a sweet spot.  Yeah, the Hawken had the power and range.  Far better craftsmanship as well.  But even if you shoot a rifle all day, you handle and carry it even more.  

Nothing handles and carries better than a Sharps carbine.   Henry learned the Indian Way out west.  Henry made friends by showing the Indians his Ghillie... a secret Henry kept through the war.  

 

Yeah, history is where it's at. Even shit designed to kill people way back when, had more soul in it than your average wall street banker does today. Too bad about the indians though.

I may be done watching Time Team episodes. I know every thing I ever wanted to know about anglican history. Like getting killed by a musket is probably way better than dieing a slow(er) death by sword. Lord don't let me die a slow death. When the big war starts, let's hope all them nukes get put to good use. Quick and painless.

Having fun with wiring today. Gotta a few overloaded circuits in da house. Plus, fixing some bad wiring -- done by me during my working years when I didn't have time to do shit right. Funny how one job turns into three others. Crossing my fingers I live through it all.

Oh, and speaking of quality. Man, the stuff they're selling to consumers is crap. Used to be manufacturers would error on the side of overbuilding stuff so if consumers screwed up they'd be covered. Now, the shit they sell is dangerous as hell. Barely meeting specs and poorly designed. Surprised more new houses aren't burning down. 

It's all about 'price-point' now. Fuck quality, here's your shit now go kill yourself.

If they didn't have ground-fault wiring, most new houses probably would burn down.  

Think I had another "cardiac event" yesterday.  Went temporarily blind.  Thought I wasn't going to wake up today.  But I did... feeling somewhat better.   Last place you want to go is to the insurance "hospital" and get nickel and dimed with co-payments to reduce the doctors' "exposure."  

Wait for it... for-profit "fire departments."  

Full circle. Didn't all fire departments start out as for profit entities? Thought that, way back when, you had to have one of those metal placks on your house otherwise the fire service would let your house burn down.

Glad you're still with us, Jeb. You've enriched the lives of all of us here. Please don't check out of this hotel without our permission.

Not a doctor, but temporary blindness sounds more like a brain malfunction than cardiacial -- unless your blood pressure has dropped so low you were at the point of passing out. Then again, WTF do I know?

Hope to hear you've checked in with your doc. Do it for us gippers.

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