Skills By Observing

I've never built stairs. In theory, I knew how the risers are cut, but never had to cut any. For porches, I'd buy the pre-cuts and make them work. However, my wife doesn't care for the 7 1/2 inch step height, which I understand. The less you have to step up, the more comfortable is walking up the steps. I'd seen risers cut, so I decided to build them myself.

The problem with pre-cuts is the standard height of the steps. To take care of my wife, I decided on a 6 inch tread height for some steps I added on the side of the porch. With our new dog, she wanted a small yard for him to be safe if we can't watch him. So placing new steps, adding some fence, and placing a small gate at the front steps will give him and area for outside, without worrying if he decides to chase the UPS truck. 

I found a site on the web with a calculator for the steps. I knew the rise, and the run didn't matter, since that was a flexible distance. Placing my figures, seeing what was necessary, buying the materials and careful measuring with a framing square, soon yielded the risers. Placing two deck boards beside each other gave me the tread width I needed. The fence is started, and I hung the gate on the two 4 by 4's I concreted in the other day.  

So, the steps are in, without the handrails. That's tomorrows task, if it doesn't rain. Truthfully, I wouldn't mind if it did. Not working like I once did revealed some muscles I forgot. A little Acetaminophen helps, but rest is probably best. I have some more post holes to dig for the fence, and that's not my favorite task.

What Won't Happen

As bizarre as it may seem, and with the backing of those that obfuscate for hire, we won't see a debate between Trump and Biden. To a society that is intuitive, focused on what's right, and suspicious of those that become politicians, it would be more than necessary to decide on who receives their vote. Politicians usually only promise what they can't deliver, and know their time in office will be short if they can't show they have the leadership skills to do what's right; even if it requires cutting the waste of government spending. 

Biden is demented. Medically, that's "loss of cognitive functioning", and it's apparent. In a debate, the event would be a tragic, cruel event, showing the deceit of his acquiring the office of President of the United States. He didn't win the office legally, and regardless of his past, it's now obvious those so willing to sell their country out are using an old, feeble man to continue their criminal activities. While Biden should be punished for his past, his handlers should be punished for his present position. He isn't in charge, and those that are have spit on every U.S. citizen with impunity. 

So, we won't see a debate, and the efforts of those that handle Biden will be a macabre show of deceit. They don't care of the damage they caused. Those at the top will hope to escape prosecution (and probably will), and those at the bottom will become collateral damage. May justice be swift for those involved, and may the United States return to the constitution directed country as designed.

It's Not What It Seems

Anyone paying attention realizes there are tons of medication commercials on television. They show how "helpful" they can be, the importance of discussing your possible need for the medication with your doctor, and the professional commercials are obviously expensive. I've been suspicious for years; especially after the illegal, and immoral, actions of big pharmacy were allowed by government officials during the Covid debacle. This article gives insight into how the only best interests are the monetary gain, power, and continuation of both by those we are supposed to trust. 

When the Bad Weather Isn't

 During the year (especially when cold fronts threaten) we can get what I call "dicey" weather. When the storms are really bad, the thump when the first gust of wind hits the house, it leaves a few moments of panic. That, and when you can read a book by the lightning, or the rumble of thunder is like a twenty mile long string of loaded dump trucks passing by, there's no doubt the weather will be "dicey". The worst can bring power outages, and depending on how many trees fall on the lines, how long that lasts can be a crap shoot.

The weather folks (bless their hearts) predicted we had the possibility of some severe thunderstorms overnight. They weren't really really sure if they would reach our area (in fact they were betting they wouldn't) but wanted to keep the possibility open for their general CYA protocol requirements. This, to me, guarantees light sleeping, and a general feeling of anxiety. 

So, with my radar link handy on my phone, I watched television until late, watched a line of really strong storms develop, and decided to go to bed, since it would be hours before the storms arrived. The storms looked like they were losing their punch, and maybe the weather folks were right. 

I didn't sleep long. A low rumble of thunder woke me, and I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. Within a few moments, I could hear heavy rain falling, which indicated to me the weather was about to get dicey. A quick glance at my phone showed a line of storms with heavy rain, and the white in the middle of the storms made it clear there was either very heavy rain, or some severe weather about to arrive. 

I got up, fixed a cup of coffee, and went out on the porch. The heavy rain had stopped, and there was only an occasional bolt of lightning in the distance. Looking at the weather map, there was some severe weather about twenty miles to the south, and it was looking as though the line of storms in my area weren't severe, although we were about to get some really heavy rain. It soon arrived, passed in a few minutes and only left some steady rain. That was good, but according to the original forecast, there would be two rounds of storms, and the second would happen when the wind shift arrived. 

Now, it's still raining, and the radar is showing round two will arrive sometime in the next few hours. It looks like it will be either bad, really heavy rain, or both. I won't know until arrives. Hopefully the severe stuff will stay away, but I'm not counting on it. I'll go make another cup of coffee, cook some sausage, and make breakfast. If the power goes out, at least I had a good breakfast. 

The Point Where It Is Obvious

My years in construction supervision gave me the knowledge to immediately discern if an employee, or subcontractor, were competent. I had to know such things, or those I worked for would immediately know they made a mistake in hiring me, or allowing me to supervise a project beyond my capabilities. In the honest world, which only judges on skills, it determines who survives, or not, and in many situations, guarantees a critical structure is safe.

After thinking about the news I read daily, I realized the "experts" and "tenured professors" have reached the point they're so incompetent, they have no idea how incompetent they are. To make things worse, governments have hired what should be culls, and they are in positions that allow them to arbitrarily ignore all laws, or legal precedence. Meanwhile, a huge amount of the "journalists" turned out by these ivory towers of ignorance not only have no idea of their real purpose, they have no clue how their pandering, and repeating of the narratives now being ignored, made them useless. 

So, here we are. Those that should be have the most knowledge, and wisdom, are showing daily they not only can't be trusted, their sacred halls of education are becoming as important the dew claws on dogs. The country is full of people with degrees and no education. It's a sad situation, and with the removal of important knowledge for critical responsibilities, we've reached the point where the blind are leading the blind.