The New Normal

 This last snowstorm wouldn't have been bad if the ice storm hadn't preceded it.  It was nothing like the big one we got last spring when our power was out for almost ten days, but it still wasn't much fun.  This time we only lost our power for seven hours, although I understand that some areas south of us lost theirs for several days. The worst part for me was that the windshield wipers on the pickup got entombed in ice.   I'm not talking about just the blades, I'm talking about the mechanism that drives the arms.  I don't believe I've ever seen that happen before.  I was out there chipping away at it today after letting the truck idle for an hour.  I made a good dent in it, but I haven't reached bottom yet.

I have gotten too old and infirm to plow my own driveway, so we have engaged the services of a much younger man for this season.  I'm not sure that we will still be here next season.  Some sort of old age facility is in the cards, but we are trying to hold out as long as we can.  

I seem to remember that we discussed this topic in the past, but I don't think we ever got to the bottom of it:

   Lead Pipes Explained                      

bar talk

 So glad to see Old Dog posting.  Every morning one of the first things I do is go to The Institute to see whazup and for all of December and parts of November and January nothing was up.  I know that Old Dog fancies these long silences but it saps my willingness to post if I know that I will have to wait like a month to get a response and by that time any threads I was hoping to spark have died.

There are topics that I'm still pondering, not sure if I am able to bring light to the issues or am just prolonging pointless arguments.  We three are very different and I think it best to keep my mouth shut most of the time.

I don't mind pointless arguments.  Back in the day of Ten Cat seminars Old Dog was a big fan of Bar Talk or bullshit sessions, where you just ramble on, first thing that pops into your mind and you don't mind if others disagree or when the topic changes.  Nothing wrong with ratholes, it's about the journey and not the destination.  

But we have discussed this many times.  

I am wondering where Old Dog has been watching No Other Choice.  It's not available to stream though I know that Old Dog knows certain internet shortcuts. 

But I am a big fan of the director, Park Chan-wook.  Loved Oldboy and the other two Vengeance Trilogy movies before and after Oldboy.  Now there are movies.

Speaking of movies I saw The Wild Bunch a week or so ago and it holds up very well.  Nothing but outlaws and the good guys are not much better than the bad guys, but you root for them anyway. 

We are having a cold snap here lately, but major storms, of which we seem to have a lot lately (or is just media hype, very photogenic these storms), but they seem to hit south (snowstorms) or north (really cold snaps).  This last one went to the north and smacked Cheyboygan pretty hard and I thought of Beagles out there way north and way out in the country.  Hope that Beagles got through that ok.  I have been dipping into the Cheyboygan Daily Tribune lately and they did not seem to think the storm was such a big deal.  Hardy folk, unlike us down south who tremble at a few inches of snow.

Save Trump for last is the way we anti Trumpers do things because if you start too early that is all you talk about the whole night, best to save it for the last beer.  One thing I used to think of Trump was at least he wasn't getting us into any wars, you would think he is the kind of guy who would like to wear a military hat and a chestful of bogus medals, but now he is rattling the saber to beat the band.

Turning the page

Happy New Year, gents!  My summary of the past 12 months is simple: Yikes!

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Sure has been quiet in the Institute lately but I don't think it's a big deal.  I don't think blogs on this site ever die; I'm still waiting to read the follow up on Merino socks from one of Uncle Ken's original blogs.  Patience is a singular virtue of mine and I can wait longer, which is why I seldom post.  There are topics that I'm still pondering, not sure if I am able to bring light to the issues or am just prolonging pointless arguments.  We three are very different and I think it best to keep my mouth shut most of the time.

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I know Uncle Ken is a big fan of Louis Sullivan, but how about other architects?  There is a local guy that teaches at Circle (is it still called that?), Stewart Hicks, and he has a YouTube channel that gets into many aspects of architecture.  Good stuff, especially in the context of urban design, another favorite rabbit hole of mine.

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My rabbit holes seem to have their own rabbit holes; I keep finding interesting movies to watch online.  One of the latest is No Other Choice, "a 2025 South Korean satirical black comedy thriller film."  The main guy works in a paper mill, maybe a bigger one than Mr. Beagles is familiar with.  The film looks good so far as long as you don't mind subtitles.

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Okay, that's all I've got for now.  Keep your powder dry.

Lawful Disobedience

 It is not only permissible to disobey an unlawful order, it is your duty.  I believe that precedent was established at the Nurnberg War Crimes Trials, if not sooner.  The sticky part is, how do you know whether or not an order is unlawful?  The rule of thumb is, when in doubt, obey the order under protest and report it to a higher authority.  The exception is, if obeying the order would result in death or bodily harm to an obviously innocent person.  Then you can disobey the order outright but realize that you might have to prove your case in a court of law later.  

Okay, that's the theory, but it seldom works that way in real life.  What usually happens is both the person issuing the unlawful order and the person obeying it keep their mouths shut and try cover for each other if somebody makes a fuss about it later.  Personally, I prefer the theoretical approach, which is why I never achieved greatness in the military or corporate world.  That's okay, I never went to jail either.  Not everybody can say that.

I don't know what to think about gerrymandering.  Michigan changed their system to where a bi-partisan committee of carefully selected volunteers draws up the map instead of the legislature.  At least one lawsuit was filed by two previously Black districts who lost their dominance in the process.  I never heard how that came out.  Last I heard, the committee members were saying that they couldn't be sued because the committee no longer exists, having disbanded itself after its work was completed.  

As for Trump, we have already agreed that he is an asshole, so there's not much I can add on that subject.

burning issues

 University of Illinois is a land grant college and because of that all freshmen coming in had to take two years of ROTC.

I did not like it.  Shining shoes, polishing brass, marching.  Mostly I did not like saluting.  If you passed an officer and you were in uniform you had to salute them.  If you were looking off the other way and didn't see him they generally let it pass.  But one time some clown that I had been looking the other way on a few times called me out on it.  Chewed me out a bit.  Fucker.  I changed my route so that I never passed him again but still.  Fucker.

Anyway in the early days of the blog Beagles and I frequently debated the Vietnam war and I was going on about My Lai or something about being ordered to shoot people and Beagles said you didn't have to obey an unlawful order.

What?  I had never heard of that.  I admit that I was a little skeptical, like is Sarge going to let you get away with that, but Beagles said if he didn't like it you could appeal it all the way up.

Well I was still skeptical but just the fact that there was such a rule and that rank and file enlisted men were told about it impressed me quite a bit.

And now we have had a group of vets making a statement to our soldiers that they do not have to obey an unlawful order.

And the prez is saying that it's treason and reminding us that death is the penalty for treason, and his toadies are all lining up to back him up on his bold threat.

Fuckers.

So did you hear that the Texas gerrymander was given the thumbs down by the judiciary?  

Okay every state gerrymanders, some more, some less.  We have a census every ten years and then according to that data new districts are mapped out.  Of course most states cheat but that is the rules.

But at Trump's behest Texas did it at the halfway mark.  Dirty pool.  In response California has voted to join in the dirty pooling, you know, to make things nice and even like.

But now Texas' map has been thrown out.  So will California drop their remap.  Not bloody likely.  Well you know that would be complicated because a lot of changes will have to be made and that will cost money and maybe be unconstitutional and time is short and they may not be able to make the change before the election and because those Republican fuckers have been punching below the belt for a long time and it's time they got a taste of their own medicine.

But should California drop their map.  Absolutely.  One man, one vote is like basic Man.  Gerrymandering fucks with that, makes it so that the votes of the many are meaningless and discourages people from taking part in the democracy.

If it were up to me I am a little sorry to admit that I would let the California remap stay, because well I know if that if the shoe was on the other foot the Republican's would go all in for gerrymandering.

But that's me.  I admit I am pretty partisan.  But how do the American people feel about this?

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/21/poll-redistricting-partisan-gerrymandering-midterms-00663612

A majority of Americans support partisan map-drawing

Percentage of Americans who support redrawing congressional districts to neutralize the other party — and those who support doing so to gain a midterm advantage.

A stacked bar chart showing the percentage of Americans in both parties who support redrawing congressional districts to neutralize the other party — 68% of Democrats and 57% of Republicans — and the percent who support doing so to also gain an advantage in midterms — 54% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans.

Neutralize other party

answer

Support or strongly support

Oppose or strongly oppose

No position

Democrats

68%

6%

27%

Republicans

57%

10%

33%

Gain advantage in midterms

answer

Support or strongly support

Oppose or strongly oppose

No position

Democrats

54%

10%

36%

Republicans

52%

12%

                       35%

So what do you think about that?

Weather or not

Shitty summer, indeed; I don't envy you guys.  I'm a pretty regular guy most of the time but I seem to be more sensitive to certain foods, just got to keep an eye on things.  Had a visit from a nurse practitioner recently, courtesy of the health insurance provider, and things were fine.  I think it's more to check up on us geezers to make sure we still have our marbles, don't have any mobility issues, and to answer any questions we may have.  So far so good, but I sometimes get bamboozled by all the health information available these days, some of which is useful, but not much.  Consider the source, I say.  Everybody is selling something, it seems, and thank Zeus for ad blockers.

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There's a lot to be said about our current socio-political reality but I ain't gonna say it.  I'm not saying that I don't trust the bots, AIs, or algorithms but I don't want to be flagged because of certain words taken out of context.  It's like that old joke about a guy seeing an old friend on an airplane and he yells, "Hi, Jack!"  Maybe more on this, later.

Winter is icumen in.

 First off, in response to Beagles' summer report, I would like to say, without going into details that I am sure nobody wants to hear, I had a problem like the one Beagles had this summer too.

And the solution was Metamucil, one rounded teaspoon once a day at approximately the same time.  Anymore I am as regular as Big Ben.

I never did get around to telling the story of  my hundred buck visit to see the fabulous Gilliann Welch at the fabulous Auditorium, the product of the fabulous architect Louis Sullivan late this September.

It was fabulous.  I have listened to Gilliann often while I am painting in the morning, and of course she is always fabulous.  But because I am painting I am only listening with half an ear, and also I only hear the version that is on the CD, I am missing the whole experience.  

I have to say the Gilliann Welch band includes her partner David Rawlings.  I think he plays and sings melody so that he makes her sound better but it's hard to hear his individual voice and picking.  Well I don't understand the mechanics of music, perhaps Beagles could explain it.

But what I wanted to say was you don't hear that much of him on her CDs but in person he was a lot more prominent, and I wanted to say that he was, wait for it, fabulous.

And of course they played the tunes differently than they did on the  CD, and I had a nice seat in the front of the balcony, and it was just the two of them in a small rectangle of light in the middle of the huge stage.

I really should get out more often.

Big week ahead of me.  A visit to the Arboretum to see the fall colors and the general browning of flora as the clump, clump, clump, of Old Man Winter's icy boots echoes from the north.

Then the Twelfth Annual Punkin Palooza here in the towers which I always fret about attendance at, but which generally draws a large and happy crowd.

And then my improv group has an hour long show at the Cultural Center, which never draws much of a crowd, but hey, the show must go on.

And then November colder but, so far with a nice empty calendar and thus plenty of those beloved days where I wake up and there is nothing I have to do except eat and nap.

Happy Winter to the two of you.