2/01/2015

Thoughts On A Sunday

This is going to be a somewhat abbreviated Thoughts On A Sunday post as a number of real life events intruded on what would normally be a low-key Sunday.

First, I had to accompany BeezleBub in his search for a new truck. (Well, not 'new' new, but 'used' new.) His Dodge Dakota was getting to the point where the cost of repairs would be more than a truck payment, so after talking with me about his reasoning for replacing it, I said I had to agree.

He knew what it was he wanted, some of which was driven by price. Ironically, a used Ford F150 actually cost more than a comparable F250 or F350. One would think it would be the other way round. He did a lot of online research, both for what was available and read through reviews on Consumer Reports and Edmunds.

A trip to the dealer who happened to have what he was looking for in the price range he could afford was in the offing yesterday, giving him a chance to test drive a few trucks and then putting a deposit down on a 2005, two years newer than his Dakota. I made the trip down with him today, figuring the deal was struck and all that was needed was to fill out the loan application and other sundry paperwork. Yeah. That's what I thought. Just fill out the paperwork.

The problem was the dealer was seriously understaffed, Sunday being a slow day for them usually. But it seems everyone was out trying to buy plow trucks and this dealer had more than a few.

We left The Manse at a bit past 11AM and didn't get back until after 4PM. It took over 3 hours to get all the paperwork done.

However, in the end the deal was struck, the last of the paperwork signed, and we were on our way home with BeezleBub's 'new' truck.

***************

Another thing eating into blogging time today was preparations for the Super Bowl this evening and yet another snowstorm predicted to drop about a foot of new snow here starting some time early Monday morning. I am trying to finish some of the usual Sunday chores before the game. Of course I have absolutely zero chance of completing them in time.

And on top of that, I also am dealing with one heck of a chest cold that has been knocking me for a loop.

All in all it hasn't been a great day.

***************

Mike Hendrix links to a piece about how the Left has become so illiberal.

They used to be champions of free speech; and now they are its most vehement opponents.

They use to be able to give some sort of argument or logical reason for their position, even if an incorrect argument; now they have no argument, none of them, aside from wild and insincere accusations delivered in a mechanical fashion without any hope of being believed, phony as a three-dollar bill.

They used to be firmly on the side of the workingman; now they hate the workingman as a white racist oppressor.

They used to be in favor of free love and the sexual liberation; now they object to rocket scientists wearing shirts with cartoon women printed on them, they object to science fiction magazines showing a scantily clad warrior princess slaying a monster, and they call all sex rape, and demand strict segregation of women and men. On the same day as these protests, they appear in front of the Pope, writhing on the ground naked with crosses and crucifixes inserted into their vaginas. So the Puritan rules apply arbitrarily, without sense or order, to anyone or no one.

The list goes on and on and I agree with every single one of them.

***************

A new paper goes against the CAGW grain, stating that global warming will not cause more extreme weather, but less.

Is this but the first step towards debunking the whole “We're all gonna DIE if we don't stop global warming” meme?

I don't know, but I must admit I do like that there is someone out there openly questioning the meme and raising serious doubts about the suppositions being used to fuel the CAGW hysteria.

***************

And that's the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where it's cold and getting colder, snowy and getting snowier, and where the wood pile is slowly dwindling away.