Oct 17, 2023·edited Oct 17, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
Coincidentally, I've watched this crazy Russian youtuber on and off for years, and checked in on what he was up to just yesterday. This guy's thing was looking for scrap metal deep in the taiga, leftovers from Soviet gulags, etc. Over half of the content was moreso about wilderness survival alone deep in the woods. Well, he wasn't alone, he had his trusty sidekick Siberian Laika, a hunting dog by the name of "Purga" (snow storm). Anyways, his latest few videos were about trying to find the (remains) of his favorite dog that had been taken by a wolf. He found some scattered remains a week after the dog got taken, including the dog's liver which some crows were fighting over. Reading the comments, there was a common sentiment of "well, you came to the wilderness, and it took something from you." The other common sentiment was "find that fucking wolf and kill it with your bare hands." Related story, my English teacher in 12th grade was an older guy who grew up in rural Ohio. When he was a kid their family dog got killed by "coy dogs" (coyotes that supposedly interbred with runaway dogs). Well, his dad left the kitchen door open with the light on one night and perched up with a 12 gauge shotgun and proceeded to take out a good few of the "coy dogs" when they showed up.
I was "live and let live" with the small squirrels running all over my yard and getting into my shed, until they started to chew on the wiring on my riding mower, then chewed a hole in the plastic gas tank of my pushmower, and the last straw, got into the wiring harness of the ABS on my old suburban that is parked outside. Now I've got a live trap set up and have caught a few, "unfortunately" when a squirrel gets caught in one of these it apparently loses its mind and runs itself to death by exhaustion within a day. Oh well.
When it comes down to damage to the castle and its contents, there can be no negotiation. The animal may not know it has crossed a line, but so it goes. I prefer an air rifle to traps, but both work well.
Oct 17, 2023·edited Oct 17, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
Sort of a semi-solid thump, would you say? Ugh. A blat of air followed by a thump.
I have an old Sheridan Blue Streak that requires pumping 'er up. Makes you work for it. 2-3 pumps for squirrels. 6-7 for a big-ass groundhog. Not the best choice for a groundhog.
Yeah, I'm using brass-tipped .22 pellets in the thing and it sounds like slapping a leather sack filled with water.
Blue Streaks are objectively the finest air guns ever made but the Walther puts out a .22 cal pellet at 1000fps, it's a .460 Weatherby compared to traditional air guns.
Squirrels did about $4,000 worth of damage here after a piece of siding blew off and they started eating into the backing board, exposing the inside of the wall to the elements. Between their chewing and water damage we pretty much had to have a 6' x 8' section of wall rebuilt, including replacing some studs and part of the sill plate.
I have a vintage Crossman 780 pump action repeater BB gun that I occasionally use out my back door to harass the big black "Russian" squirrels that have started to dominate this habitat. Haven't nailed one yet but it does make them scurry.
The plain brown ones here are all of my pears this year, they cleaned the tree so thoroughly I thought the neighbors must have done it... trail cams said no, a single squirrel can take 10 of them in a half hour.
I’ve been to the house used to film “A Christmas Story.” In the Tremont area of Cleveland. Rowley’s Inn, the bar in which the cast hung out after their shooting day was over, is under renovation now, but they have great food there--the bacon-wrapped tater tots are worth the trip all by themselves! 😋
Oct 17, 2023·edited Oct 17, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
Agreed. They squawk like birds and when they're not fighting amongst themselves, they roam the neighborhood in gangs. My former neighbor shot every one he saw with .22 shorts, and I live in a neighborhood where you should not shoot .22 shorts (or air rifles, for that matter). The squirrels are out of control since my neighbor moved.
We have an influx of black squirrels up here. Apparently they are more aggressive than the red, gray, and brown varieties. My coworker's kid calls them "Darnell squirrels." I'm a terrible person so I laughed when he told me.
Bigger, more aggressive, and not as smart. A friend wrote about the invasive species in the Detroit Free Press told me that she was not allowed to describe them by their color but instead had to call them "Russian squirrels".
We had a nesting pair of owls move into the neighborhood last fall that seemed to cut the local fuzzy tailed rodent population by 80-90% this year. Very fond of owls now.
Do you have any crows around? Crows and squirrels are mortal enemies, at least where I live. Encourage the crows (get to know them, feed them table scraps from time to time) and they will help fight the squirrels.
They do. CB caps and BB caps. There’s no powder, just the priming charge. They also make subsonic .22 loads that are pretty quiet out of a rifle-length barrel.
Indeed. I've raised a few orphans from babies and returned them to the wild, but I know they're more nuisance than not for most people and besides they're an easy snack for any and all predators. I still enjoyed the experience, especially because my kids were young when I did it and they got a lot out of it.
there was a wonderful series of small hardcover books in the late, '30s--the 'little indian' series. much native lore. whatever tribe he was in, they thought gray squirrels were friendly and helpful, but red squirrels were man's enemies
2003 Ninja 250R, pulled carbs after it ran on choke and died off choke.
One of the diaphragms was repaired with silicone or rtv and I have a replacement on the way. One side the main jet (?) Cylinder with holes is gummed up so that's a no Brainer. Picking up a cabinet tip screwdriver to get at the other stuff which is buried. Not sure if I should attempt a complete rebuild or just clean and replace what's easily accessed.
Sat for a year after the clutch had a number of problems (friction plates were toast, possibly the old cable was on its way out). It's been a mechanical disaster for my BIL and he hasn't been feeling up to it. Carbs are a big blind spot for me and I know you love 'em.
Likely has plugged up pilot jets (the smaller ones). Just be VERY careful with extracting those soft brass jets out of the carb bodies. I've had luck warming the jet "towers" of the carb body with a torch (careful not to expose any rubber or plastic parts to heat, then squirt some carb cleaner or penetrating oil and using a correct sized screwdriver that fits the slotted end of the jet well to loosen it.
I have watched coyotes watch me and other aircraft take off and land numerous times, I don’t mind them being around the airport because they keep the mice at bay.
A friend of mine is the daughter of a American colonel and a German Jewish woman who survived the war in Germany by passing as an Aryan. He was apparently some kind of military governor during the post war occupation, having spent four years fighting in North Africa and then in Europe and he wasn't favorably inclined towards Germans. He had a beloved German Shepard he named Sturm, storm in English, that he'd take for walks. As in English, the word can also mean "attack" in German. When Germans civilians would approach the dog to pet it, he'd relish calling it to him by name.
How about Kimball, Daly, and Bourdais? Three Indy drivers I admire who are now rideless.
I still want to know why George Floyd mattered so much to the world, and Makenzi Ridley mattered so little. Small souls indeed. I suppose we have to wait for the next life to see real justice.
As a Minneapolis resident, seeing the fallout personally, the George Floyd death was a wrong place, wrong time event for him (of course), and a right place, right time event for the exploiters, yes. I haven't figured it out yet either. I think the weather was pretty hot out at that time, and maybe people just wanted to walk around outside (and burn shit down).
The older I get, the more I value life, any life that's eked out all too briefly under the unforgiving sun. My wife and I got a 12 week old fox terrier/beagle mix a couple months ago and have enjoyed even the most challenging bits of raising an energetic yet helpless puppy. We are determined to get as many Humane Society dogs as we can, until we ourselves are needful of shelter and sustenance from another living thing.
Anyway, Jack, I hope you continue to be a big softie at heart.
Ha. She's a beautiful, muscular, tenacious little thing with the glossiest coat imaginable. She joins our 6 year old Australian Shepherd mix in our little pack, along with a Cattle Dog and two Husky mixes who live only in memory. When I kick it, my wife will undoubtedly be known as That Crazy Dog Lady, and the house will be overrun.
Oct 17, 2023·edited Oct 17, 2023Liked by Sherman McCoy, Jack Baruth
One of my favorite of your recent pieces, Jack.
I didn't comment on the state of the stack post, but these more philosophical pieces are what keeps me coming back, and increases my respect for your writing talents and Renaissance Man range of interest/skills/knowledge
Surely, one of the great Questions of life is: If Heaven exists, of all the human beings who have ever lived, how many are there? What is the percentage? One in a thousand? One in a million? One in a billion?
And if the path of life truly is narrow, and one must freely choose God over Self in all the ways that matter, what is so profound and important about that choice that God places so much importance on it?
Not sure where you're going with "profound and important". It's a simple choice: you either choose Him, or the alternative. Pascal's Wager and whatnot.
And of course I have no proof, but I think your proportions on who gets in vs. who doesn't are reversed.
Sure, that's the cut-and-dried interpretation, but the waste rate must be appalling.
And we're not talking about packing peanuts or Grade 8 bolts here. For God to accept so much loss among his beloved creations means He values free will and free choice more.
I can only believe that the calculations are beyond our ability to understand, the way we can *talk* about n-dimensional modeling but not really understand it.
That’s a really great point about choice. We are given the ability to think and reason by our Creator. So it’s important to ask questions, debate, and challenge what we see others doing. By the same token, we also need to be able to explain ourselves and what we are doing.
we have free will in 4 dimensions. they are woven into the infinite dimensions of God, though. that's how miracles happen. evil is, for example, (great oversimplification) liking to watch cinderblocks begin to fall, up really close. then they land on your feet
Pardon my ignorance, but could you point me to a primer on Judaism aimed at evangelical Christians? Basic beliefs; differences between denominations, and the like. Or could you sum it up in a few hundred words.
I was under the impression that a large swathe of Jews didn't believe in any afterlife or such, and mostly being the chosen people was based upon tradition.
The best introduction to traditional Judaism that I know of is This Is My God by Herman Wouk, the author of The Caine Mutiny. I prefer my apologetics to be written by actual writers. Come to think of it, most great rabbis have also been competent writers since written responsas to questions of Jewish law is part of the job. A part of traditional Jewish culture is that rabbis are often known by their best known book, for example R. Meir Kagan, the preeminent authority on Jewish law in the 20th century, was known as the Chafetz Chayim (He Who Desires Life), his book about avoiding slander and other sins of speech.
The majority of American Jews are functionally illiterate about Judaism. About 10% are orthodox, a percentage that increases every year because they have large families while Reform and Conservative Jews have small families and intermarry with non-Jews at about 50% and 75% of those couples' kids don't identify as Jews (whether or not they meet orthodox criteria for Jewish status). Of the remaining 90% of American Jews who aren't orthodox, perhaps 10 to 15% live lives seriously informed by Judaism, even if they aren't orthodox in their practices or beliefs.
Speaking of literacy, Joseph Telushkin's book, Jewish Literacy, is a pretty good introduction to Judaism and Jewish culture. It's more than 700 pages long, though.
Simply put, Judaism falls on the works side of faith vs works. Orthodox Jews follow Torah commandments as interpreted by rabbis for the past 2200 years or so.
The waste rate is essentially unfathomable to me most of the time. Sure, with the rapid increase in dangerous and/or oblivious driving within the last three years, to my post-Adam self it makes a little more sense, but that's an incredibly obtuse, ignorant, and arrogant viewpoint when placed against Scripture. Yes, my old Ram's fuel economy is fragile as is its momentum, but we all find God's grace at different times in our life and I am not to wish they never do based upon their poor driving. God is well aware of my own limitations, blind spots, and incompetencies, yet I am a child of His. It is increasingly difficult, in ways, to not view many as Bill Burr's "In the way" people when the obviousness (and general accumulation of experience) of it hits me in the face, but here I am, trying.
I need to sit around a campfire with you guys sometime. I enjoy hearing your perspectives and insights.
I am working at reading through the Bible for a second time this year. It is a humbling, awe-inspiring, challenging, and glorious experience. It has given me new insight into both man and God’s gift of creatures under our stewardship.
Sometimes I wonder if I am getting too soft-hearted as I age. I read Jack’s work and know that I’m not alone.
Oct 17, 2023·edited Oct 17, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
I honestly believe that if you are generally considered by others a good person, you selflessly help others without any expectation of something in return, and you leave things in generally better shape than you found them, you get through the gates.
I'm over-simplifying a bit, but that's the gist of it.
You and me both. I believe in God and the divinity of Jesus, but I do not love my enemies, and until or unless I do, I can't call myself a Christian. I'll see you in Purgatory!
What's profound and important about that choice is that it recognizes God and His place vs. me and my place. I can either stand with the author of Invictus and say to God, "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul," or I can stand with Jesus and say, "... not what I will, but what you will".
If I choose the latter I recognize God's rightful place in the universe, and my rightful place at his foot. Remember the first commandment is to have no other gods before Him; to choose the self and sing with Sinatra that "I did it my way" is to try and put myself above Him.
Cats evolved to be relatively far to the r side on breeding strategy for a larger mammal, and most of them only live a couple years in the wild, but they're also intelligent and characterful enough that the losses really hurt. I just don't understand the people around you who don't feel it.
We're in the city, so we have just one, and she's 100 percent a spoiled pet. But she walks with us, and guards the kids like a dog when they're outside, and responds to commands, and sits on my chest purring whenever we're watching TV, and losing her is going to hurt almost like losing a human family member. She's almost 15, and although she seems ageless now, still jumping our 6-foot fence and catching baby rabbits, I know the clock is ticking.
I don't know if there is an animal on earth that can do more damage per ounce than a feral mama cat protecting her kittens. They really are fully equipped.
We are predators ourselves. We appreciate the beauty in other predators. It's a conditioning so profound that it appears where you least expect it; so much more effort was taken, conscious or unconscious, to make fighter planes "beautiful" while at the same time tacitly allowing the B-24 Liberator to exist.
Sore spot: The B-24 could carry more bombs faster and further than the B-17, and over 40% more of them were built, but what is the bomber you hear the most about, the one lionized in song and story?
Speaking for my self, I admire white sharks and tigers and grizzlies and other animals that can, will, and occasionally do kill humans. I think we need reminders that we are not the be-all, end-all of creation.
Yep. I'm a hunter but the only way I'm killing a large predator is in self defense. No urge to kill any of them. I also deep sea fish and don't understand shark fishing.
Fritz was a cool yellow cat that my wife brought home from a real estate listing. He felt safe enough in the house to fall asleep in the craziest of positions. In the mornings he wanted out right after breakfast, to go next door, pick up Bonzo, their black cat, and head out on their route into the weeds. Fritz failed to report one afternoon, and Bonzo would come and visit me to get his head rubbed every day after that for the couple of years longer that he lived.
I used to think that too. But when it's time you'll know it's the right thing to do... and you'll do it.
That being said, when the time comes make sure you're in the room with the vet when they do it. The animal knows it's the end and doesn't want to die alone. Some (heartless) people claim they "can't deal with it" and have the vet do it in a back room out of sight. [I'm crying as I write this.]
"She's almost 15, and although she seems ageless now, still jumping our 6-foot fence and catching baby rabbits, I know the clock is ticking."
The clock is ticking faster than you think. In my experience the difference between "she's fine but getting old", to "she seems off," to "it's time to put her down" is sometimes only days.
Cats, being both predators and sometimes prey, go to great lengths to hide their pain, illness, and disability. Sometimes you can't tell until it's too late. I had one cat that had "elevated kidney levels" at her March checkup. In August, I have a photo of her wandering the backyard as usual. The next day it was obvious I had to put her down.
Except for certain long lasting breeds, e.g. Siamese, 15 years old is on the far side of the actuarial tables.
Babies/children and (certain) animals I put above adult humans for the reason that the latter are at least cognizant or what’s going on and what’s happening to them. The former have no context.
I occasionally reflect upon why over half my charitable dollars go to animals (mostly cats) when there's so much human suffering in the world. But I realize that hardly anyone watches out for the animals.
This piece got me digging. I've seen pieces pushing for removing ferals from the mother for socialization as early as 4 weeks, ID'ed by being able to walk easily.
Problem with doing that before eight weeks is the level of care required for the critters. Pretty constant and around the clock. Wife and I picked up one about that age five years ago who had been abandoned and run across two lanes of traffic to get to the center turning lane before collapsing in the 90 degree heat. That first month was rough, but she now lives an extremely pampered life.
When I returned to town after a trip earlier this summer, my son said to me, "I have something to tell you." That's not a good intro, ever.
He said, "We bought two cats." Whew, that's all?! He was smart to rope in his sister in the "we." These cats WERE intended to go with the kids to their university dwellings, but one roommate changed his weaselly mind. Where will the cats stay, everyone wondered? ... except me, of course. I know where things always land when there's a problem.
I watched these 2 numbskulls romp around the house (the kittens, not the kids) until they were old enough to fix, and then I did that. Some $1000+ later, at least that's done, but I still have cats to maintain, entertain, restrain, and complain (about).
I say I don't like cats, but they are nice to have around ... mostly.
If I had to try to catch and spay or neuter random cats at ~$500 apiece that are likely to get eaten in a matter of weeks, I wouldn't bother and couldn't afford it. It is the life of the barn cat, the wild cat, the semi-feral cat, and the only thing that will stop the coyotes is overpopulation!
Good luck in your ongoing cat chronicles. May you continue to care, enough but not too much.
Oct 19, 2023·edited Oct 19, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
You must have a premium vet. Or they did some other services.
Most TNR charities claim it costs them $50 to spay or neuter a cat.
In the case of https://www.FeralCat.com, about once a month a local vet practice turn over their office to them and they do assembly line spaying of about 50 cats on a Saturday. It's quite something. They also get their fur combed; any matted hair is removed, they get flea medicine, and worm medicine, so they can have one healthy month to get back on their feet. Any emergency medical intervention, e.g. amputations, are done as needed. Often times it's the only medical care these cats will get in their entire lives. And their ear tip is clipped so the trappers know that they don't have to go through it again.
The ones that are obvioiusly tame, i.e. abandoned housecats that joined the feral colony, are pulled aside and given to various rescue groups for eventual adoption.
Oct 17, 2023·edited Oct 17, 2023Liked by Jack Baruth
I have two suggestions, Brügger and Thomet since you have the competing German company covered.
“I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around.”
I prefer the SEAL's real motto, the one you won't find in any of the jarhead books they wrote because it doesn't sound... valorous enough. "Never pick a fair fight."
It's rough. I've had a fair number of pets over the years and I've found that as I've gotten older, it gets harder to let go when their time comes. I don't know if that's because my own time is drawing closer each and every year now, that the majority of my life is now behind me and not ahead, or if I've just grown more sentimental with age.
Death isn't very meaningful when you're young. And the plight of feral animals is one that we never really give that much thought to. But for some of us, as we get older, these things gain meaning and they gain weight.
My current pet is a large GSD (over 100 pounds). He's over 12. He's got issues. Dealing with it is hard at times (complicated by the fact that I can't take him to the vet and no don't ask why). He's going to be the last pet I ever have, I've already decided on that. As Jubal said in Stranger in a Strange Land 'I am at that age where I don't know who'll live longer, me or my pet'.
One reason, it seems to me, why people keep pets is to learn how to deal with grief without having to mourn a human's death. It's a rare pet that outlives its owner.
Coincidentally, I've watched this crazy Russian youtuber on and off for years, and checked in on what he was up to just yesterday. This guy's thing was looking for scrap metal deep in the taiga, leftovers from Soviet gulags, etc. Over half of the content was moreso about wilderness survival alone deep in the woods. Well, he wasn't alone, he had his trusty sidekick Siberian Laika, a hunting dog by the name of "Purga" (snow storm). Anyways, his latest few videos were about trying to find the (remains) of his favorite dog that had been taken by a wolf. He found some scattered remains a week after the dog got taken, including the dog's liver which some crows were fighting over. Reading the comments, there was a common sentiment of "well, you came to the wilderness, and it took something from you." The other common sentiment was "find that fucking wolf and kill it with your bare hands." Related story, my English teacher in 12th grade was an older guy who grew up in rural Ohio. When he was a kid their family dog got killed by "coy dogs" (coyotes that supposedly interbred with runaway dogs). Well, his dad left the kitchen door open with the light on one night and perched up with a 12 gauge shotgun and proceeded to take out a good few of the "coy dogs" when they showed up.
If I keep losing kittens, I'll be offering the coyotes a severance package in the fourth quarter.
Purga is a great name for a dog.
I was "live and let live" with the small squirrels running all over my yard and getting into my shed, until they started to chew on the wiring on my riding mower, then chewed a hole in the plastic gas tank of my pushmower, and the last straw, got into the wiring harness of the ABS on my old suburban that is parked outside. Now I've got a live trap set up and have caught a few, "unfortunately" when a squirrel gets caught in one of these it apparently loses its mind and runs itself to death by exhaustion within a day. Oh well.
When it comes down to damage to the castle and its contents, there can be no negotiation. The animal may not know it has crossed a line, but so it goes. I prefer an air rifle to traps, but both work well.
I have a Walther Parrus that works well for that. The worst part is you can hear the pellet hit the animal.
Sort of a semi-solid thump, would you say? Ugh. A blat of air followed by a thump.
I have an old Sheridan Blue Streak that requires pumping 'er up. Makes you work for it. 2-3 pumps for squirrels. 6-7 for a big-ass groundhog. Not the best choice for a groundhog.
Yeah, I'm using brass-tipped .22 pellets in the thing and it sounds like slapping a leather sack filled with water.
Blue Streaks are objectively the finest air guns ever made but the Walther puts out a .22 cal pellet at 1000fps, it's a .460 Weatherby compared to traditional air guns.
Squirrels did about $4,000 worth of damage here after a piece of siding blew off and they started eating into the backing board, exposing the inside of the wall to the elements. Between their chewing and water damage we pretty much had to have a 6' x 8' section of wall rebuilt, including replacing some studs and part of the sill plate.
I have a vintage Crossman 780 pump action repeater BB gun that I occasionally use out my back door to harass the big black "Russian" squirrels that have started to dominate this habitat. Haven't nailed one yet but it does make them scurry.
You, sir, need a better gun.
The plain brown ones here are all of my pears this year, they cleaned the tree so thoroughly I thought the neighbors must have done it... trail cams said no, a single squirrel can take 10 of them in a half hour.
“You’ll shoot your eye out!”
I’ve been to the house used to film “A Christmas Story.” In the Tremont area of Cleveland. Rowley’s Inn, the bar in which the cast hung out after their shooting day was over, is under renovation now, but they have great food there--the bacon-wrapped tater tots are worth the trip all by themselves! 😋
Squirrels are assholes. Those people you don’t like reincarnated. They look nice but noooo. They are assholes.
Agreed. They squawk like birds and when they're not fighting amongst themselves, they roam the neighborhood in gangs. My former neighbor shot every one he saw with .22 shorts, and I live in a neighborhood where you should not shoot .22 shorts (or air rifles, for that matter). The squirrels are out of control since my neighbor moved.
I work with an airgun and trap.
Work is non stop. The neighborhood cats can’t keep up.
We have an influx of black squirrels up here. Apparently they are more aggressive than the red, gray, and brown varieties. My coworker's kid calls them "Darnell squirrels." I'm a terrible person so I laughed when he told me.
Bigger, more aggressive, and not as smart. A friend wrote about the invasive species in the Detroit Free Press told me that she was not allowed to describe them by their color but instead had to call them "Russian squirrels".
We had a nesting pair of owls move into the neighborhood last fall that seemed to cut the local fuzzy tailed rodent population by 80-90% this year. Very fond of owls now.
You lucky bastard .
-Nate
Do you have any crows around? Crows and squirrels are mortal enemies, at least where I live. Encourage the crows (get to know them, feed them table scraps from time to time) and they will help fight the squirrels.
there used to be a .22 smaller than a short--called something like bb caps. about as strong as a good air rifle. i wonder if they still exist
They do. CB caps and BB caps. There’s no powder, just the priming charge. They also make subsonic .22 loads that are pretty quiet out of a rifle-length barrel.
They're _SOOOOO_ cute but .
-Nate
Once they get destructive then they are food for the animals around here.
Indeed. I've raised a few orphans from babies and returned them to the wild, but I know they're more nuisance than not for most people and besides they're an easy snack for any and all predators. I still enjoyed the experience, especially because my kids were young when I did it and they got a lot out of it.
Why wait ? .
You already _KNOW_ there's no real upside to rodents of any sort .
-Nate
We have white squirrels in my neighborhood and they are pretty cool to watch. I do not know if the other squirrels ostracize them.
When they eat pvc vent pipes and siding then it’s time to go
Too many of them around us.
there was a wonderful series of small hardcover books in the late, '30s--the 'little indian' series. much native lore. whatever tribe he was in, they thought gray squirrels were friendly and helpful, but red squirrels were man's enemies
I'm at war with mice in the garage at the moment.
Hey, if I get in over my head on carbs (getting a BIL's bike back to rideable) can I bug you?
Yes! What sort of bike is it? I'm working on reanimating a two seater chinese go kart for a friend.
2003 Ninja 250R, pulled carbs after it ran on choke and died off choke.
One of the diaphragms was repaired with silicone or rtv and I have a replacement on the way. One side the main jet (?) Cylinder with holes is gummed up so that's a no Brainer. Picking up a cabinet tip screwdriver to get at the other stuff which is buried. Not sure if I should attempt a complete rebuild or just clean and replace what's easily accessed.
Sat for a year after the clutch had a number of problems (friction plates were toast, possibly the old cable was on its way out). It's been a mechanical disaster for my BIL and he hasn't been feeling up to it. Carbs are a big blind spot for me and I know you love 'em.
Likely has plugged up pilot jets (the smaller ones). Just be VERY careful with extracting those soft brass jets out of the carb bodies. I've had luck warming the jet "towers" of the carb body with a torch (careful not to expose any rubber or plastic parts to heat, then squirt some carb cleaner or penetrating oil and using a correct sized screwdriver that fits the slotted end of the jet well to loosen it.
at least indoors, I've had surprisingly good success with the basic wooden Victor trap, but that's only been a very few mice over the years.
I use those and some peanut butter as bait.
Seems to do the trick - I'm trying to get things cleaned up. Assuming they find it hospitable because the kids drop crumbs and whatnot
Coyotes exist to be target practice.
I have watched coyotes watch me and other aircraft take off and land numerous times, I don’t mind them being around the airport because they keep the mice at bay.
One of them took a neighbor off his riding mower a few years back. Just keep the propeller between you and them!
One what? Coyote or airplane?
I imagine that both scenarios have happened at some point!
Absolutely, respect them with distance, and be aware of your surroundings.
A friend of mine is the daughter of a American colonel and a German Jewish woman who survived the war in Germany by passing as an Aryan. He was apparently some kind of military governor during the post war occupation, having spent four years fighting in North Africa and then in Europe and he wasn't favorably inclined towards Germans. He had a beloved German Shepard he named Sturm, storm in English, that he'd take for walks. As in English, the word can also mean "attack" in German. When Germans civilians would approach the dog to pet it, he'd relish calling it to him by name.
That was beautifully written, Jack. You will see them again.
How about Kimball, Daly, and Bourdais? Three Indy drivers I admire who are now rideless.
I still want to know why George Floyd mattered so much to the world, and Makenzi Ridley mattered so little. Small souls indeed. I suppose we have to wait for the next life to see real justice.
George Floyd mattered only to his family, and to those who could exploit him for their own selfish ends.
As a Minneapolis resident, seeing the fallout personally, the George Floyd death was a wrong place, wrong time event for him (of course), and a right place, right time event for the exploiters, yes. I haven't figured it out yet either. I think the weather was pretty hot out at that time, and maybe people just wanted to walk around outside (and burn shit down).
The tuxedo tabby I was holding definitely had a Bourdais quality to him!
I saw Mr. Bourdais on Saturday at Petit Le Mans!
He had a pretty good outing!
The older I get, the more I value life, any life that's eked out all too briefly under the unforgiving sun. My wife and I got a 12 week old fox terrier/beagle mix a couple months ago and have enjoyed even the most challenging bits of raising an energetic yet helpless puppy. We are determined to get as many Humane Society dogs as we can, until we ourselves are needful of shelter and sustenance from another living thing.
Anyway, Jack, I hope you continue to be a big softie at heart.
You had me at "beagle mix."
Ha. She's a beautiful, muscular, tenacious little thing with the glossiest coat imaginable. She joins our 6 year old Australian Shepherd mix in our little pack, along with a Cattle Dog and two Husky mixes who live only in memory. When I kick it, my wife will undoubtedly be known as That Crazy Dog Lady, and the house will be overrun.
Go for the senior dogs!
One of my favorite of your recent pieces, Jack.
I didn't comment on the state of the stack post, but these more philosophical pieces are what keeps me coming back, and increases my respect for your writing talents and Renaissance Man range of interest/skills/knowledge
Thank you.
It’s all good! Shows your humanity.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in Tulsa this weekend.
Surely, one of the great Questions of life is: If Heaven exists, of all the human beings who have ever lived, how many are there? What is the percentage? One in a thousand? One in a million? One in a billion?
And if the path of life truly is narrow, and one must freely choose God over Self in all the ways that matter, what is so profound and important about that choice that God places so much importance on it?
What are we not seeing?
'What are we not seeing?'
Lots. And that's part of the point.
Not sure where you're going with "profound and important". It's a simple choice: you either choose Him, or the alternative. Pascal's Wager and whatnot.
And of course I have no proof, but I think your proportions on who gets in vs. who doesn't are reversed.
Sure, that's the cut-and-dried interpretation, but the waste rate must be appalling.
And we're not talking about packing peanuts or Grade 8 bolts here. For God to accept so much loss among his beloved creations means He values free will and free choice more.
I can only believe that the calculations are beyond our ability to understand, the way we can *talk* about n-dimensional modeling but not really understand it.
If you could understand it, you'd be God.
FWIW, that's basically the Catholic understanding. He provides all the help and guidance He can, but ultimately the choice is ours.
There is a neat subplot in "East of Eden" centered around translating an Old Testament word that covers this nicely.
Judaism teaches that everything is in the hands of God except for the awe of God.
In practice, of course, as a works-based faith Judaism is bit less deterministic than that would imply, though.
We have free will and are allowed to mis use and waste it freely .
-Nate
That’s a really great point about choice. We are given the ability to think and reason by our Creator. So it’s important to ask questions, debate, and challenge what we see others doing. By the same token, we also need to be able to explain ourselves and what we are doing.
we have free will in 4 dimensions. they are woven into the infinite dimensions of God, though. that's how miracles happen. evil is, for example, (great oversimplification) liking to watch cinderblocks begin to fall, up really close. then they land on your feet
Pardon my ignorance, but could you point me to a primer on Judaism aimed at evangelical Christians? Basic beliefs; differences between denominations, and the like. Or could you sum it up in a few hundred words.
I was under the impression that a large swathe of Jews didn't believe in any afterlife or such, and mostly being the chosen people was based upon tradition.
The best introduction to traditional Judaism that I know of is This Is My God by Herman Wouk, the author of The Caine Mutiny. I prefer my apologetics to be written by actual writers. Come to think of it, most great rabbis have also been competent writers since written responsas to questions of Jewish law is part of the job. A part of traditional Jewish culture is that rabbis are often known by their best known book, for example R. Meir Kagan, the preeminent authority on Jewish law in the 20th century, was known as the Chafetz Chayim (He Who Desires Life), his book about avoiding slander and other sins of speech.
The majority of American Jews are functionally illiterate about Judaism. About 10% are orthodox, a percentage that increases every year because they have large families while Reform and Conservative Jews have small families and intermarry with non-Jews at about 50% and 75% of those couples' kids don't identify as Jews (whether or not they meet orthodox criteria for Jewish status). Of the remaining 90% of American Jews who aren't orthodox, perhaps 10 to 15% live lives seriously informed by Judaism, even if they aren't orthodox in their practices or beliefs.
Speaking of literacy, Joseph Telushkin's book, Jewish Literacy, is a pretty good introduction to Judaism and Jewish culture. It's more than 700 pages long, though.
Simply put, Judaism falls on the works side of faith vs works. Orthodox Jews follow Torah commandments as interpreted by rabbis for the past 2200 years or so.
The is no true love and respect without the ability to choose to do so. That is why He allows us to be what we are. It's on us.
It's hard to understand, but I'm rather glad we're not all robots.
The waste rate is essentially unfathomable to me most of the time. Sure, with the rapid increase in dangerous and/or oblivious driving within the last three years, to my post-Adam self it makes a little more sense, but that's an incredibly obtuse, ignorant, and arrogant viewpoint when placed against Scripture. Yes, my old Ram's fuel economy is fragile as is its momentum, but we all find God's grace at different times in our life and I am not to wish they never do based upon their poor driving. God is well aware of my own limitations, blind spots, and incompetencies, yet I am a child of His. It is increasingly difficult, in ways, to not view many as Bill Burr's "In the way" people when the obviousness (and general accumulation of experience) of it hits me in the face, but here I am, trying.
I need to sit around a campfire with you guys sometime. I enjoy hearing your perspectives and insights.
I am working at reading through the Bible for a second time this year. It is a humbling, awe-inspiring, challenging, and glorious experience. It has given me new insight into both man and God’s gift of creatures under our stewardship.
Sometimes I wonder if I am getting too soft-hearted as I age. I read Jack’s work and know that I’m not alone.
You're kidding, right?
I only PLAY interesting on the internet.
For the old testament, The Gospels by Sarah Ruden is a simple, down to earth translation.
I think we’ve got another topic for discussion this weekend--if a couple hours will scratch the surface!
I honestly believe that if you are generally considered by others a good person, you selflessly help others without any expectation of something in return, and you leave things in generally better shape than you found them, you get through the gates.
I'm over-simplifying a bit, but that's the gist of it.
Lord I hope this is it .
-Nate
Matthew 19:26 says God grades us on a curve. Thanks be to God.
I hope so. I'm gonna need all the curve I can get.
You and me both. I believe in God and the divinity of Jesus, but I do not love my enemies, and until or unless I do, I can't call myself a Christian. I'll see you in Purgatory!
What's profound and important about that choice is that it recognizes God and His place vs. me and my place. I can either stand with the author of Invictus and say to God, "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul," or I can stand with Jesus and say, "... not what I will, but what you will".
If I choose the latter I recognize God's rightful place in the universe, and my rightful place at his foot. Remember the first commandment is to have no other gods before Him; to choose the self and sing with Sinatra that "I did it my way" is to try and put myself above Him.
I'm not crying, you're crying.
This is a beautiful piece.
Cats evolved to be relatively far to the r side on breeding strategy for a larger mammal, and most of them only live a couple years in the wild, but they're also intelligent and characterful enough that the losses really hurt. I just don't understand the people around you who don't feel it.
We're in the city, so we have just one, and she's 100 percent a spoiled pet. But she walks with us, and guards the kids like a dog when they're outside, and responds to commands, and sits on my chest purring whenever we're watching TV, and losing her is going to hurt almost like losing a human family member. She's almost 15, and although she seems ageless now, still jumping our 6-foot fence and catching baby rabbits, I know the clock is ticking.
A cat will go feral QUICK, in part because it's like a shark, a solitary predator.
Unlike a dog, a cat has everything it needs to hunt within its own body.
Unlike a dog, it doesn't need its boys to back it up.
I don't know if there is an animal on earth that can do more damage per ounce than a feral mama cat protecting her kittens. They really are fully equipped.
Yeah. Humans.
I have always been fascinated by the profound difference in method and result between cats and dogs, especially since they have a common ancestor.
Why do we love vicious predators do much?
We are predators ourselves. We appreciate the beauty in other predators. It's a conditioning so profound that it appears where you least expect it; so much more effort was taken, conscious or unconscious, to make fighter planes "beautiful" while at the same time tacitly allowing the B-24 Liberator to exist.
Lizards with a human cerebral cortex.
Sore spot: The B-24 could carry more bombs faster and further than the B-17, and over 40% more of them were built, but what is the bomber you hear the most about, the one lionized in song and story?
Speaking for my self, I admire white sharks and tigers and grizzlies and other animals that can, will, and occasionally do kill humans. I think we need reminders that we are not the be-all, end-all of creation.
Much good food for thought here .
For serious damage, try taking on a rat someday, you'll be sorry you did .
-much- better to use a spread pattern shotgun at close range and clean up the mess / repair the damage later IMO .
-Nate
Yep. I'm a hunter but the only way I'm killing a large predator is in self defense. No urge to kill any of them. I also deep sea fish and don't understand shark fishing.
Fritz was a cool yellow cat that my wife brought home from a real estate listing. He felt safe enough in the house to fall asleep in the craziest of positions. In the mornings he wanted out right after breakfast, to go next door, pick up Bonzo, their black cat, and head out on their route into the weeds. Fritz failed to report one afternoon, and Bonzo would come and visit me to get his head rubbed every day after that for the couple of years longer that he lived.
Domestic cats are God's perfect killing machine, in a fun-sized package.
And so cute and snuggly to boot!
Unfortunately, they wreak havoc on songbird populations. No slight, we own two.
Even though I’m probably a lifelong bachelor, I don’t want a pet. Because I don’t know if I could make “that decision” someday! 😬🙀
I used to think that too. But when it's time you'll know it's the right thing to do... and you'll do it.
That being said, when the time comes make sure you're in the room with the vet when they do it. The animal knows it's the end and doesn't want to die alone. Some (heartless) people claim they "can't deal with it" and have the vet do it in a back room out of sight. [I'm crying as I write this.]
Get a cat; it will make your life better.
"She's almost 15, and although she seems ageless now, still jumping our 6-foot fence and catching baby rabbits, I know the clock is ticking."
The clock is ticking faster than you think. In my experience the difference between "she's fine but getting old", to "she seems off," to "it's time to put her down" is sometimes only days.
Cats, being both predators and sometimes prey, go to great lengths to hide their pain, illness, and disability. Sometimes you can't tell until it's too late. I had one cat that had "elevated kidney levels" at her March checkup. In August, I have a photo of her wandering the backyard as usual. The next day it was obvious I had to put her down.
Except for certain long lasting breeds, e.g. Siamese, 15 years old is on the far side of the actuarial tables.
I watched my black tortie behave perfectly until the moment she lost control of her legs and basically died.
Yeah, every day with her is a gift at this point.
My friend's big black tom lived to be 22, and I have similar hopes for her, but I know it's a lottery I'm likely to lose.
Shit. You done (and continue to do) good. Somebody failed those poor cats— it wasn’t you.
Easy for animals to tug on the heartstrings more than humans. Animals are just trying to survive, humans can act with malice.
That's it, right? Animals are without sin.
No matter what happens to any of us, we arguably "have it coming", if only because we are descended from Eve (or the equivalent).
Babies/children and (certain) animals I put above adult humans for the reason that the latter are at least cognizant or what’s going on and what’s happening to them. The former have no context.
I occasionally reflect upon why over half my charitable dollars go to animals (mostly cats) when there's so much human suffering in the world. But I realize that hardly anyone watches out for the animals.
Country life. We TnR’ed 15 cats/kittens a couple of years ago and the kittens got homed so everything is under control for the time being
This piece got me digging. I've seen pieces pushing for removing ferals from the mother for socialization as early as 4 weeks, ID'ed by being able to walk easily.
Problem with doing that before eight weeks is the level of care required for the critters. Pretty constant and around the clock. Wife and I picked up one about that age five years ago who had been abandoned and run across two lanes of traffic to get to the center turning lane before collapsing in the 90 degree heat. That first month was rough, but she now lives an extremely pampered life.
Yeah I did that with an abandoned kitten about 20 years ago. Really was a full time job.
When I returned to town after a trip earlier this summer, my son said to me, "I have something to tell you." That's not a good intro, ever.
He said, "We bought two cats." Whew, that's all?! He was smart to rope in his sister in the "we." These cats WERE intended to go with the kids to their university dwellings, but one roommate changed his weaselly mind. Where will the cats stay, everyone wondered? ... except me, of course. I know where things always land when there's a problem.
I watched these 2 numbskulls romp around the house (the kittens, not the kids) until they were old enough to fix, and then I did that. Some $1000+ later, at least that's done, but I still have cats to maintain, entertain, restrain, and complain (about).
I say I don't like cats, but they are nice to have around ... mostly.
If I had to try to catch and spay or neuter random cats at ~$500 apiece that are likely to get eaten in a matter of weeks, I wouldn't bother and couldn't afford it. It is the life of the barn cat, the wild cat, the semi-feral cat, and the only thing that will stop the coyotes is overpopulation!
Good luck in your ongoing cat chronicles. May you continue to care, enough but not too much.
I'm not sure where you live that spay/neuter costs $500, but a lot of vets or clinics will do this for TnR work at a very discounted rate
You must have a premium vet. Or they did some other services.
Most TNR charities claim it costs them $50 to spay or neuter a cat.
In the case of https://www.FeralCat.com, about once a month a local vet practice turn over their office to them and they do assembly line spaying of about 50 cats on a Saturday. It's quite something. They also get their fur combed; any matted hair is removed, they get flea medicine, and worm medicine, so they can have one healthy month to get back on their feet. Any emergency medical intervention, e.g. amputations, are done as needed. Often times it's the only medical care these cats will get in their entire lives. And their ear tip is clipped so the trappers know that they don't have to go through it again.
The ones that are obvioiusly tame, i.e. abandoned housecats that joined the feral colony, are pulled aside and given to various rescue groups for eventual adoption.
All this for about $50 each.
I have two suggestions, Brügger and Thomet since you have the competing German company covered.
“I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around.”
I prefer the SEAL's real motto, the one you won't find in any of the jarhead books they wrote because it doesn't sound... valorous enough. "Never pick a fair fight."
I thought the SEALs' motto was, "We're not that good, it's just that everyone else sucks."
I believe the Green Berets would have a competing argument to that.
Simply put : whenever possible choose your battles carefully .
That kinda leaves the Seals and Marines out of it because they're whom we call when things go sideways .
-Nate
It's rough. I've had a fair number of pets over the years and I've found that as I've gotten older, it gets harder to let go when their time comes. I don't know if that's because my own time is drawing closer each and every year now, that the majority of my life is now behind me and not ahead, or if I've just grown more sentimental with age.
Death isn't very meaningful when you're young. And the plight of feral animals is one that we never really give that much thought to. But for some of us, as we get older, these things gain meaning and they gain weight.
My current pet is a large GSD (over 100 pounds). He's over 12. He's got issues. Dealing with it is hard at times (complicated by the fact that I can't take him to the vet and no don't ask why). He's going to be the last pet I ever have, I've already decided on that. As Jubal said in Stranger in a Strange Land 'I am at that age where I don't know who'll live longer, me or my pet'.
If you change your mind at some point, I have cats who have been trained to avoid a mechanical keyboard, and by "avoid" I mean "attack"
One reason, it seems to me, why people keep pets is to learn how to deal with grief without having to mourn a human's death. It's a rare pet that outlives its owner.
Parrots. It will outlive you, your children, your grandchildren.
Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria
Nice. They might come back and they might not. Whatever happened, they're remembered.
Exactly!
White supremacist settler colonizers!
You say that like it's a _bad_ thing ronnie .
-Nate
ruined my day
thanks jack
gonna go cry about kittens now