Sometimes that bear shits in my yard. And then the little asshole trashes my garden. I might buy a tag and shoot the son of a bitch this fall if he keeps it up…

I have a bidet that has the heated seat, heated water spray, and the heated air dryer for your ass crack. Set your temperatures for the ultimate comfort while web browsing!

But yeah, the air dryer gets me dry just fine.

All of them.

You are surprised? We argued over tomatoes being a fruit or vegetable and if they are a vegetable, then ketchup must count as a serving of vegetable. So the argument over tacos and burritos being a sandwich only surprises me in that fact it took so long to argue about it in court.

I have made some soap when my Daughters were younger and still at home. Mostly so they could learn about what “the old days” were like when Dad and Mom were their age. Soap making is kind of expensive to do these days. A lot cheaper and easier to just buy a bar of soap from the store. But they had fun learning.

We taught our Daughters a lot of things that aren’t commonly done these days. But were things we did everyday to have a normal life. Everything from gardening and canning to sewing to soap making to how to raise and kill and butcher an animal.

There is a local woman that makes and sells some home-made goat milk bar soap. She has a small herd of milking goats. It’s quite nice and I buy a few bars from her during the county fair every year.

In a tongue in cheek manor - kind of. If you go actually look at the shelves when you go to buy some soap, you will find all kinds of liquid and foaming soaps/body washes that promise all kinds of things to make you cleaner and more radiant and smell better. And those tend to populate the eye level shelves to make them easier to notice. And the bar soaps are tend to be on the lower shelves. Making them less noticeable and a bit harder to see.

Well, ain’t that old fashioned - bar soap! I can remember my Mother and Grandmother making soap every fall at home. Stuff could take the hide right off you some years, but you got clean for sure. It also made a fine laundry soap too. I can remember watching my Mother shave slivers of it off into the washing machine when I was little.

But thanks for reminding me, I need to put bar soap on my shopping list. I need to also order another puck of shaving soap too.

JFC, walk through ANY grocery store in the US today and pick up an item and look at the label - it’s dual labeled. Look at your speedometer in your vehicle, push a button and get metric. Very few people need to own both SAE and Metric tools anymore. I own 2 JD tractors and a JD skidsteer, a JD Gator ute and 2 Chrysler vehicles, all metric. The ONLY time I reach for the SAE set anymore is when I need to work on my 1941 “H” Farmall tractor or some other farm implement that was built before 2015.

And with all the digital displays on everything today, the metric system is a mere button push away. Push the damn button if you want metric OR US Customary - I do and then get the units I want for the task at hand. Ain’t no one going to care about it. G20/G21, the machines don’t care anymore, why should you.

The dual speed limit signs were a bad idea - they were confusing and hard to read. It was a bad design that caused issues for drivers. But, while it could be done a lot easier today, no one really cares about the miles vs kilometers. All anyone really cares about is “how long will it take to get there”.

The metrication of the US is here and has been for a good while. It’s become common enough you don’t notice it anymore.

That happens to a lot of songs with a a snippet of “socially” frowned upon lyrics. From a “Boy Named Sue to “My Dingaling” to When You Get a Hair Cut” to “Money for Nothin’”. Recording artists often have recorded 2 different versions of some songs - one for people to buy and one that can be played on the radio due to “decency laws” set by the FCC and local ordinances.

It’s been that way since the 1930s in the US.

There is a tiny, tiny kernel of truth in that statement. And by in large, regardless of political beliefs, most people want a strong central government applying top down solutions to their problems. (Which can have it’s own set of unintended issues)

An example might be single payer health care. A majority of voters would really like it. But it’s one thing to say that and get it passed. But it’s another whole ball of worms to create the nuts and bolts of such a system. Everyone has their own ideas about how it should work. And until you can get everyone to agree on the nuts and bolts in a democracy there will be difficulties. So unless you have the outright power, (something not so “democratic”), to say “This is how we are going to do it”, you are going to probably end up with a gridlocked discussion and no healthcare. And if someone does have that power to force the answer - even it you don’t like it - your democracy isn’t what you think it is.

Those touch screens are all a part of the accessories. And I dislike them intensely also. I also find it very disheartening that in some new cars a software up date is needed to make the dock locks work. A friend had to take his mother’s Kia in to rematch the door locks to a new key. They needed to remove the door handles and plug them into a computer to do so.

The last new car I bought, (2015 Jeep Patriot), made me search EVERY car dealer in 2 states before I found one that had manual door locks and manual windows. I often haul dogs around with me and while they are quite good at locking doors and rolling up windows, they really, really suck at rolling them down or unlocking the doors. It took me a couple of months of weekly searching to finally find one for sale.

“Dumb car” is kind of relative. Computer engine controls have been around since the mid 1970’s. And while the first ones were not very good, they have become pretty darned reliable over the intervening years. And as someone who has owned cars and other heavy equipment with mechanical points and down draft and up draft carburetors, you won’t ever see me willingly own a car with any of that anymore.

If you really want to minimize the electronics as much as possible, look at 1990’s to no later than 2010 models.

Though to be fair, much of the problems with cars are caused by the accessories like power windows, door locks, air conditioning, and power seats. Those are far more problematic than the basic car itself.

I did not say you shouldn’t play video games at all. But you miss the total picture of an activity like bird watching. Bird watching involves actually getting up, getting dressed, getting you gear and camera ready, and getting out into the “real world” to do. Often with groups of other like minded people enjoying the hobby. And not sitting on your ass in a room alone for hours on end.

It’s about being involved with the outside world and the physical effort interacting with other real in-person humans that matters. As a medic I was paged out at times to people who were lonely and just wanted someone - anyone - to actually be with and talk to. Sometimes they would even have a suitcase packed and ready for the trip to a hospital. Playing a video game online won’t give you the same social interaction as someone actually being there with you.

And now being old myself, I understand even more just how important it is to have regular physical social interaction for good mental health. And just like sitting alone on a bench in a shopping mall, a video game lobby or team match isn’t quite the same thing.

I’m well old enough to be your daddy. Here are some things you should pay attention to.

Have a reason to get up every day you can breathe. Because if you have no reason to, you will wither and die. I’ve seen it happen and it ain’t pretty.

Time will seem to accelerate. You will slowly start to notice that the “past” gets farther behind you quicker and the “now” flies by to become that “past” and the “future” gets here far too soon.

Like it or not, you are getting closer every day to dying rather than living no matter what you do. Make your peace with that concept because no one gets out alive.

Buy a nice suit. You will probably be going to the weddings of the children of your friends or your own children. And far more sadly, the funerals of family and friends. And at some point in time, the funerals will out number the weddings.

Start doing things for society. Get involved in your community. Help build a park or two or three, teach kids something - I spent 4 years tutoring/teaching math to kids in a small rural school during COVID. It did cost me some health, (Thanks! long COVID), but it was worth everything it cost and I would do it all over again. Those kids did more for me than I could do for them.

Physical exercise is great but don’t forget to exercise the mind also. Because if you don’t, you will lose cognition and the ability to think perhaps faster than your physical health - and this is my greatest fear. Cultivate hobbies that stimulate mental challenges. And a diet of video games ain’t it. Go fishing, bird watching, gardening, do art. Something, anything, that challenges the mind to solve problems and be creative. I design and build metal model steam engines and 3D printed items to try and keep my mind sharp. I try to learn new skills every chance I get.

As much as it might be fun to travel the world and see new places and people, there is a whole world to explore right outside your door. Go explore it and really learn the details of it. It will surprise you with it’s beauty and complexity. You don’t need to be rich to explore the world.

Teach something to someone. You know things - pass it on to others. Do not let the knowledge die with you.

Learn to laugh at yourself - do not fear looking silly. It can help make people feel more comfortable with you and with themselves.

And finally, live a good life. Be kind and be there for the world when it needs you. Leave a legacy for others to remember you by - even if it was only a kind word at the right time. The memory of you is all the world will have - leave your mark on it.

Good Luck! We all need it!

So swaive vs suave or deboner vs debonair? Maybe 'fisticated vs sophisticated? You could be a swaive, deboner, 'fisticated urbane 'burban urbanite.

Personally, I blame the French for the short comings of the English language, just because I randomly can.

If you want to do some reading, google the Minnesota Department of Transportation - MnDOT - is known nationally and internationally for it’s testing of materials and construction of roads over a long term. There are some test sections dating back to 1973 that are still being monitored and studied. What make MnDOT studies valuable to other states, (and even other countries), is the wide temperature swings in the state. Temperatures can swing from -40F to over 100F in the course of one year.

A simplistic view - What damages road surfaces that happen over the winter and spring is the tiny cracks that are cause by the thermal expansion and contraction of the road surface that traps moisture which then repeatedly freezes and thaws. Freezing water expands creating a bit larger crack which traps more moisture - wash rinse and repeat over time and the surface flakes away causing potholes and broken roads. Add in the flexing of the road with heavy traffic, and roads will tend to break up and become rough. But there a a bunch of other considerations from subsurface prep to the general geology of where you want to build your road that all add to the life expectancy of the road itself.

Very generally, for heavy high speed traffic all weather roads, concrete roads seem to be gaining favor as the mixes get better additives.

Not a waste of ink - it got you and a bunch of to read and react to it.

And thar’s gold in them eyeballs…

I know it’s edgy and popular to blame farmers for a large number of things. But there aren’t enough farmers to buy that many pickup trucks to sustain the sheer number of of them produced.

Look inward young urbane urbanite.

Need to add:

Crash certified bumpers to 5mph Engineered crumple zones Re-enforced A and B pillars Re-enforced doors Air bags

And I’m quite sure I’ve forgotten more than one other thing they would need to add Kei style trucks to make them roadworthy in many states. And once you make those upgrades, plus the cost of all the federal testing that would be needed, how much do you think one of those little trucks would cost?