Open Thread - Thurs 02 Jun 2022 - Tirebits, Hoofbits, Tidbits
Tirebits, Hoofbits, Tidbits - Just Some Scattered Ramblings
Tirebits:
Back in 1999 or so, which was not that long ago, or, errr, was it? Anyway, my father was in his mid-60s. He'd spent a lot of his yearly vacations doing crazy things like hiking from Mexico to Canada along the mountains (Sierras and Cascades basically) of the Pacific Coast, and later, along the Rockies, and finally, from Florida up the Appalachians to Canada.
I should explain here, my parents never took vacations together after us 'normal' kids grew up and left home. Because my sister needs 24 hour supervision and care, and can't and won't travel by anything but car, they couldn't do it. So one stayed home and took care of her, and the other went on a vacation, like hiking.
Anyway Dad spent his 1999 vacation, which took over three months (ain't Mom an angel?), riding his bicycle from Maine to the Pacific. He went along the northern US/Canadian border, and into Canada for a bit. Such a great trip.
Looking down the hills of North Dakota. Of course Dad deliberately picked lonesome roads and I think this is one of the lonesomest (Montana has it beat though).
Later on, Dad would do the Oatbran, a ride across Nevada from Tahoe to Utah, even when he started to develop dementia. In the last few years that Dad rode the Oatbran, he needed help, which my husband gladly offered. Dad had to stop doing the ride when he was about 84, 3 years ago. Now, he can't even remember that he did it 
. Dementia sucks!
Hoofbits:
My father's Maine to the Pacific trip sprang to mind when I learned recently about Annie Wilkins and her trip in 1954. What a woman! What a trip! When Annie was 63, in 1954, she undertook an impossible journey, or so it seemed. She'd lost the last of her family, their farm in Maine, and then she found out she only had two years to live (or so the doctor told her). So she said, probably not verbatim, 'Screw this', and decided to fulfill her dream of seeing the Pacific.
She bought a horse (she had a pack horse too) and she and her dog rode (or walked in the case of the dog) along the brand new US highway system from Maine to California. She chronicled her trip with writings and photographs and there's been a few books published about her and her journey. She made California and then went back to Maine and lived to be 88! So much for the doctor's prediction!
I love this pic of Annie, her horses, and her dog.
Here's some links about Annie's story:
From the Minot Maine Historical Society
Find a Grave
The Ride of Her Life (a very recent book)
Last of the Saddle Tramps (her own book about her journey)
Tidbits:
In the Open Thread last Friday, which I unfortunately had to miss, JTC talked about a bird constantly hitting his window. That opened a great conversation about birds visiting, animals telling us things and more (https://caucus99percent.com/content/open-thread-05-27-22-little-bird). I wasn't around to comment so I wanted to note here that we've got a glass greenhouse attached to our house. It faces south. It often, very often, reflects the sky, and the glass is, in effect, invisible. We used to get bird after bird diving into the windows, slamming into them and more. The lucky birds would fall to the grass or the dirt of the beds and I'd pick them up and care for them until they could fly again. The unlucky ones would die on impact. So, we made some cardboard cutouts in the shape of flying raptors. I think the cutouts could basically be in the shape of anything, they are to make the windows visible to the birds, not to be scary. Hung those inside the greenhouse, attached to one window on each side the greenhouse. No more bird collisions. The birds still fly all around the greenhouse windows (the reflected heat is a great magnet for bugs, which attract the birds) but they never hit the windows.
I like usefewersyllables response to the gun crisis in the USA. It's detailed here (https://caucus99percent.com/comment/569264#comment-569264). Basically, if you can't prove you had a good reason to be carrying a gun while committing any type of crime (jaywalking too) you get executed in court. I'm going to start mentioning this every time my friends, family, and acquaintances start on about guns. Might get some to actually THINK.
So, thanks for reading and here's the open thread - and remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!
Comments
Hello!
Hope you are having, or have had, a great day! My day is going to be revolving around this bit of advice: If you have an electric or hybrid vehicle, like my parents do, do NOT let it be a home to mice or rats. They will chew the wiring and destroy the battery system! And then your daughter and her husband will have to get it fixed and it will take days (as it should). Just get a cat when you get the car!!!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning...
Several years ago we were drying sweet potato fingerlings on the north deck. They kept disappearing. We later found them under the hood of my better half's car along with chewed wires where a rat had homesteaded...and we did have a cat at the time.
As to dementia...there is hope Dr Dale Bredesen is reversing it in some patients, now numbering in the hundreds. At any rate his protocols might be worth a try with your obviously healthy Dad.
Loved the story about Annie. Thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks for the linke about dementia protocols..
Some might work, some might not. Dad's so old, a few days away from 87, that his dementia is more about age, in a way, than say if it had hit when he was in his 60s or so. I dunno, just dunno.
I don't know why the cats work here, versus other places where they don't. We always adopt ferals from the local animal rescue society. Usually they are from cathoarders. The cats are never friendly, never house cats... at first. Our cats let us pet them now, after living here for 10 years! They are integral to gardening system we have. Since we grow tomatoes and peppers in a hoop house, they are idea food for rodents (and birds). The cats take care of those tom and pep stealing rodents, and anything trying to get into the garage, which is the cats' home.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Saddle tramp
A good story about that spunky lady. Heard about her ventures several years ago in an article published in the Working Waterfront, part of the Island Institute in Maine.
https://www.islandinstitute.org/stories/the-working-waterfront/
Had a similar issue with critters chewing thru wires in a piece of equipment out in the shed.
It is a nightmare to repair. A mechanic friend told me to lay out dryer anti-static sheets in the
cabin and engine space to repel mice. Seems to work.
Thanks for the OT!
Great article, thanks!
Love the idea of dryer sheets. I am going to suggest that to my Mom. I almost vomit at the smell of the rodenticide she's used in the past. Her car stenches with it. Dryer sheets would be so much better!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Rodents and wiring.
Argh. We once had some number of rabbits eat the wiring on our car while were were traveling, and it was left parked in the garage at Denver International Airport for a week. Came back in on the red-eye, hopped in the car, turned the key, and *nothing*. We had it towed to the service center at the airport, where it joined about 10 other cars with chewed-up wiring. Cost a small fortune to get fixed.
It turns out that in an effort to be greener, many car companies are now using wiring with soy-based insulation rather than the older petroleum-based plastics. And the critters just love the taste of it. That shop regarded the airport rabbits as their best moneymaker: pretty much an annuity...
I'm glad that you enjoyed my modest proposal. I've been using it in conversation for a long time, and finally decided to write it down. I have never been a particularly bloodthirsty person, but I've finally come to the conclusion that the best way to have that "well-regulated militia" we've heard so much about is to add teeth to the regulation. Be safe out there!
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Had buddy's internet go down because of squirrels
Chewing up the cable because of the peanut based oil in the wires.
Peanut Oil?
Wow, I never thought of that. I can see how it would attract the rodents.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
I wonder if the wiring taste is part of the problem?
Never thought about it that way. My parents have always had rodent problems in their cars though. They live in the forest, and they don't/won't keep cats, or dogs, or any kind of predator pet. It's too much to do along with caring for my sister.
Years ago, when my Mom was driving a regular, non-hybrid car (a volvo) she, dad and my sister came to my house, about 40 minute drive away. We all had dinner, were probably celebrating Thanksgiving or something and I went out to the garage door to wave them goodbye. I ended up doubled over with laughter as I watched a mouse/wood rat race along behind the tire of her car, wanting to get back into its ride home! It eventually jumped up and got into its seat in the car undercarriage when Mom backed up to turn around. So, even though her rodents like to visit, they don't want to stay here where there's Cats! And Dog! And raptor type predators!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning Sima. Interesting about your folks and their
vacations, but too bad about your dad. The Pacific Crest trail is a bear, I've been on small pieces of it here and there and can't begin to envision actually doing the whole thing. The planning and scheduling alone would be a daunting task in and of itself.
The "while committing any crime" part of the gun solution is problematic since cops can and often do create "crimes" out of thin air, beyond the fact that it is difficult to get through the day without arguably actually committing at least one real one. However, it doesn't really matter because, in the US, it willnever be more than a talking point.
Meanwhile, another busy day scheduled here, and I'm, of course, already behing, so time to get getting.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Pacific Crest Trail
It took Dad three years to do that. He did about 1/2 of CA, then the rest of CA and a bit of Oregon, then Oregon and WA. So it wasn't a fast journey, that's for sure.
Maybe the gun law should be that the cop has to prove that you've actually committed a crime or the cop gets offed. I dunno. I can think of all kinds of crazy things to add to that law :).
Hope your busy day went well. Mine was ok, spent a lot of time getting the rodent car from the repair place!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Mass shootings in the U.S.
Wheres Waco? Shouldn't that be up top? Actually, I
think Ludlow and a few others easily beat that. There's tons more in the labor history and a few among anti-glbt riots too. A mass shooting is a mass shooting, whether it's lone wolves, pinkertons, other private armies or militias, cops or whomever doing the killing.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Don't forget
Kent State.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Kent State, South Carolina State, Jackson State,
and it's really surprising that there weren't more deaths.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
In 1968, I wanted to go to Rice Univ.
Then, some man raped and killed some women in their dorm rooms. Parents said no. Then, the shooter at UT in Austin changed their minds about be going there. Tx A & M is very close, but they didn't allow women students. Another nix.
I wound up going to Baylor. horrible experience, and I left after 1 semester. Constant Bible classes and 5 mornings a week sermons. I did a war protest, and an environmental protest to protect some crawfish. They gave me a warning. I gave them the finger.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Baylor? Gah
Glad you gave them the finger. I would have too. Surprisingly, I went to a Jesuit college, Santa Clara University. It was great. Didn't have to go to church, didn't have to be Christian (or Catholic), didn't have to do anything religious, not even a class on it. Great engineering school as an undergrad and close to San Fran and Berzerkley, so I could visit night clubs all week and get my music fix taken care of. I was a punk/goth and they let me do that too, even though I didn't fit in with the other students!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
I'm not surprised they are on the rise...
It seems our society is breaking down, in many ways. I wonder how our shootings compare to other countries'? I wonder if those countries would even register on the chart?
And.. at least four of those 10 ten are schools? What the heck does that say about this society? In so many ways. (Bad schools, poor support for teachers, bad mental health care, bad gun laws, weird acceptance of shooting as a way to protest..., I dunno)
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Sima, your parents sound remarkable! All the best to your Dad.
I once put my car in a shop. The mechanic got sick, and it took him longer than anticipated to do the repairs. Well, mice got under the hood, and I wound up just selling the damn car to a friend for him to repair. Good news is that his new wife drove it for several years.
I drove long, lonesome roads all over the US. I kept my horse back riding to 10 to 12 miles here and there. I doubt what that crazy and incredible woman could ever be done in this country today. It is just too dangerous.
While the gun solution of death penalty sounds good in theory, it is pretty good, but in practice, it would get innocent people killed. It is EXTREMELY easy to plant a gun on someone.
Cops do it. So do co-defenders. I have tried cases to juries with both events being a factor in the cases.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
10 or 12 miles is a good distance
for a horse ride. We had horses when I was young. In fact, the first journeys my Dad did up the crest trails were on horseback with my brother. Me, I love horses, and loved our horses when I was a kid. I since got infatuated with draft horses and learned how to drive them. Never got any though, and now I think I'm too old.
I agree about the reality of usefewersyllables' (and now my) idea. But it makes a great argument to get people thinking! :).
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so