People who will land on their feet

Mrs ERJ had the pleasure of encountering a mother and her two boys, ages 6 and 9 at the local recycling center.

The Eaton Rapids City recycling center is a passive recycling center. It is comprised of four haul-away gondolas and recyclers are expected to be intelligent enough to separate glass (four compartments, one for each color) from plastic from magnetic metal from aluminum.

When one of the bins gets full, a recycler will call the number on the placard, the wheels turn and somebody shows up to deposit an empty bin and haul away the full one. Recycling, done the Eaton Rapids way, does not justify the employ a single additional municipal worker.

Mrs ERJ found the mother diving into the plastics bin. She was looking for a couple of specific kinds of containers. She had a project that required large Folger's Coffee containers with snap-tops and her daughter (not present) also had a project that required something special.

The boys were exploring on their own. Mrs ERJ learned that they had been "helping" their mother since they were three. They thought dumpster diving was great fun and were not the least bit mortified. They were boys doing what boys do.

One of them announced "Mom! Do you need another kitchen knife?" as he held up the tool.

"Nope. I have plenty. Thanks. Leave it for the next person" his mom boomed back.

Larry Dean Olsen, a person who instructs students in wilderness survival in the Inter-mountain West tells of people who died of thirst next to a flowing stream. Presumably, they chose to not drink the water because it was uncomfortably muddy. He also speaks of necessity being the mother of exalted levels of industry.

I would not bet against this family should the Greater Depression continue to incubate. Stories like this give me hope. We are not all sheep. Not all of us look to Faceborg to fill our lives with "should", "must" and "don't".

“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. 

Listen to the don'ts. 

Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. 

Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... 

Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”   -Shel Silverstein

...shoot the Engineers and go into Production.

There comes a time in every project when it is time to shoot the engineers and go into production.

 

The plan is to go with a 32" high wall of paneling.

Primer on three-of-the-four walls and the ceiling. The hole in the middle of the ceiling is for the ceiling fan.

I am still here

I acquired a new family member at 11:54 last night. Her name is Bijan Nordstrom Prada Eaton. Hey, brand-names sell. Mother and child are both doing well.

My plans for the day got rerouted when Kubota called and asked if I had any work. Mrs ERJ and I were on our daily walk. Of COURSE I have work.

I had him burn the wood Mrs ERJ and I pulled out of the orchard. While he was watching the burn pile I cut and dragged more wood to him.

It burned slowly. Most of the wood was very green.

Kubota decided he needed to leave before it was all burned. I paid him what I figured I owed him. I told him what work I have on-tap for tomorrow if he wants to help and he went on his way. I think he is mourning the fact that he no longer lives here.

I got to sit in a chair and watch wood burn instead of sanding drywall. That was a nice change-of-pace from two standpoints. I was whipped from dragging brush. I had been working steadily for about three hours at that point: A one-hour walk and then a couple of hours of cutting and dragging brush. Also, I would rather be outside than inside getting coated with dust.

One thought I was mulling over is that kids seem to struggle more with the differences between "I live here", "I am a tenant here" and "I am a guest who is visiting here". When I was a young man the different privileges-and-responsibilities that went with each status were clearer.

But then a LOT of statuses were clearer. For example, you were almost certainly married if you were living with a woman...or well on the way toward that goal. The kids in your household were yours or you were their step-father. And so on.

Fine Art Tuesday

 

Jens Erik Carl Rasmussen born 1841 in Denmark. Died 1893 after falling overboard from a ship returning from Greenland. His body was not recovered.

Some countries that are vulnerable to the rising cost of wheat

Country	Kg annual per capita imported wheat
Algeria	170.25
Turkey	122.87
Egypt	111.27
Philippines	57.80
Japan	44.74
Bangladesh	41.99
Mexico	38.81
Indonesia	33.16
Brazil	31.13
Nigeria	28.24

This list is not comprehensive. These are the ten largest net importers of wheat on a gross tonnage basis. The values listed are the average of the last three calendar years. Note that these numbers are for Kilograms per year.

Countries with smaller populations might be more dependent on a per-capita basis but most statistics are gross imports rather than per-capita and I was lazy.

I was surprised that neither China, India or Pakistan were on this list. They have very large populations and eat substantial amounts of wheat. It must be that they experienced favorable weather over the last few years and were able to grow most of what they consumed.

With the exception of Japan which can afford increasing prices, any one of these countries could be a flashpoint for social unrest as food makes up a large percentage of most family's disposable income.

Changes

One of my nieces is currently in Labor and Delivery.

She experienced some health issues three weeks before her due-date. Consequently the team induced labor. "K" is currently dilated to 5cm and is very ready for this to be over.

On a related note, Mrs ERJ will be leaving me, again.

Southern Belle, our daughter in southern Florida is due in the middle of May. Mrs ERJ plans to fly down there (with the benefit of an airplane) about May first and stay for a month.

I was informed that I am expected to put in an appearance. Three days-to-a-week was suggested as about as long as folks can stand me. I expect that to be toward the end of May.

May is actually a decent time for me to be a bachelor. There are tons of things to do around the place so I can stay busy and stay out of trouble.

Meanwhile, Southern Belle is expected up here in about three weeks. That is why we are working on the "guest" bedroom. We expect guests. I am very close to the point of throwing up my hands and saying "Let's paint it. It is about as good as I can get it with my skill level."

Interesting times.

Turf war between competing Crime-families

 

I confess to being cynical and jaded.

The situation in the Ukraine is similar to this six minute segment from The Godfather where murdering, lying scum kills off other murdering, lying scum. It is all over the right to pillage and extort and rape "turf".

In the current scrum, the media would have us believe they are the Church of Truth. Sorry bro, you shredded that costume over the last decade.

I have empathy for the people of the Ukraine and Russia. 

I am not ready to swear fealty to any of the crime-families involved. Nor do I have the stomach to declare any crime-family to be sanctified and righteous.

Do not lift a weight too heavy for you,
or associate with anyone wealthier than you.
How can the clay pot go with the metal cauldron?
When they knock together, the clay pot will be smashed:   -Sirach 13:2