So. Friday, we got a bit of snow….not normally a big deal, but this was snow that fell on surfaces that were like 44 degrees at the start of the snow, and the snow was “Lake Effect”…which means that it is feathery and becomes REALLY slippery.  Like snot on glass slippery.

Dude at the airport had found out the hard way that his Jeep’s four wheel drive only helps so much, and 4wd doesn’t help your braking or turning when the coefficient of friction is approaching zero. He slid off the road on a corner…

Not a big deal, he should have been able to back up, except that the ground was a bit soft and he got one wheel stuck in the mud and what with only two wheels on solid ground (the other one was in the air) and they being on different axles, he couldn’t put enough torque to the ground to back the vehicle out of the predicament he was in. (yeah, I know, proper application of brake would likely have solved that problem…I tried to explain but gave up…..)

I stopped (I really had to unless I wanted to go four wheeling) and asked if he had a tow strap. Which he did. Still in the shrink wrap from the factory. He wanted me to just stand on the bumper to tip the jeep instead of using the brand new tow strap for me to pull him out. (It was a high dollar bright green thing that he didn’t want to get dirty….Dude, it’s a TOW STRAP, fer chrissake)….and since he wasn’t willing to get his tow strap dirty I wasn’t gonna offer mine either.

Anyway, not knowing this dude, I didn’t trust him enough to stand on his bumper while he tried to drive out of a bit of mud (He might josle me off and run me over), so I suggested he might use the Hi-Lift jack he had mounted across the hood in some really nice custom looking mounts…That should tip the jeep up and he could simply back away from the jack which would fall away.
His reply? “I don’t know how to use it, it’s just something “Jeep People” have”….He had no idea how useful a Hi-Lift Jack can be. To him, it was  a fashion accessory, not a tool. I suggested he learn WHY “Jeep People” have them…..

Sad.

I then suggested that if he wanted me to pull him out he’s better get that high dollar tow strap dirty or else call a tow truck.

He got it unwrapped and 2 minutes later it was dirty… and I had hooked it to my front bumper with a clevis and 30 seconds later he was free of the slippery mud. I unhooked his strap and went on my way….

I just find it hard to believe that someone would have a $130 dollar jack with another $100 accessory kit with a couple of hundred dollars worth of mounts and have NO IDEA how to use it. Or, really, even what it was for.…

Some people have more money than sense, I guess. I really think that his excursion today was the farthest off road his Jeep had been….

HERE

I mean…wine IS grape juice, right????

So I don’t hear any crying over the quarantine of travelers in general from China, and especially Chinese people coming from China….areas where the Coronavirus is prevalent….until they are proven to be virus free…..Keeping potentially dangerous individuals from entering this country and endangering the citizens of the US….even though there was no proof that they were a danger…..

Yet we heard a terrible shrieking outcry when Donald J Trump wanted essentially the same thing, only when it was Muslims from certain countries, wanted TIME to have them vetted to be sure we weren’t allowing dangerous ideologies and potential terrorists into the country , potentially endangering the citizens of the US.

I guess they simply didn’t think that they could use this current (and equally valid) precaution for the safety of the citizens of the US as a stick to beat the President with….

No surprise as to the outcome. Rational, reasonable human thinkers knew what the outcome would be before the show started.

But what will the Dems whine about now??

What will the press talk about endlessly now that the charge has finally wound down to a full stop? 

Nice, but futile, protest, tearing that speech up.

But hey, class is something you reach for, but never quite grasp, innit? 

So yesterday was the first clear day in 12 days.
The first day without cloud cover below 2000 feet.

I hadn’t flown an Instrument lesson for all that time.

Today was clear below 12,000. Perfect flying weather.
Except.

The winds were at 21 gusting 34 from 270.
58 at 300 feet.
I was scheduled to fly at 11 AM with one instructor. Cancelled that one. Not a chance that I would learn anything trying to hold in those winds.

And another lesson scheduled at 2 PM with another instructor.
We cancelled that one as well. Other flight schools were cutting their flight lessons short due to turbulence.

Maybe today.

This has been an odd winter, weather wise.

Instead, I practiced my draws and pint shooting indoors with my favorite 1911 and the Coolfire trainer.

I should have been studying for my Written test, but my brain is full right now. 

by the whole Spanish-Speaking  latin-centric half time show.
and the preeminence of the Puerto Rican flag.

I understand who the performers were, but still. This is, after all, the USA.
Pepsi is getting less and less American. 

But damn, that Pop-Tart commercial put me off from trying their new product.

I’d be that this is a major marketing fail, really.

Even most gay people I am acquainted with dislike androgynous flamers.

Whatever “woke” ad agency chose this as a marketing theme should return their fees. 

Or at least your culture.

Even those of you that leave the states that are causing the issues in the rest of the country are destroying the culture of all that is good in the places you move to.

You want our (unspecified) help….But we aren’t the ones damaging things. You and your fellow state citizens are. We haven’t voted *yet) for socialists who want to give everyone everything….who are connected and simply seek additional opportunities for graft….who overregulate things and are soft on crime (with historically predictable results.

Screw you.  You and your ilk are the problem. We aren’t the solution to the problems you have created. You still help “Feed the Beast” by living there and paying taxes. And when you move elesewhere, you really want “California Lite” not real freedom.
Coastal States Are in the Fight of Their Lives…Is the Rest of America Listening?
It’s your state. We can’t fix it.
And as it is, you and your state are a cancer in this country. Fix you own problems. We can’t do it for you.

The next time I have a few hours to kill,

I will go to a busy, crowded parking lot, park, leave the car running, in reverse with the brakes on, and see how many people I can piss off as they wait for me to back up…..And how long they will wait until they give up. I may take a Kindle and read for an hour or two….

I mean, folks do it to me all the time….