Mine’s Bigger
Personal
Politics is more about patronage than ideology
If you turn on the news today, you could be mislead in thinking that politics is mostly about a great ideological fight for the direction of the country. But as I’m reading Robert Caro’s The Power Broker, I’m reminded what government is ultimately about – patronage.
Political parties are groups of people who serve each other’s interests by living off the largesse of taxpayers. People in political parties often don’t agree with each other but they serve each other as they know serving their common goals move themselves and their communities forward.
Often patronage is considered a bad word or a waste of government resources. But it’s how work gets done, it is how coalitions of support are built. Ideology is nice and it might feel good like stroking certain body parts. Yet, nothing was ever built on a common belief. But making sure all supporters are rewarded makes it possible to build great things both for society and the individuals who make up society.
Now the weekend is looking like crap 💩
Especially in Central New York based on the latest forecast. Maybe this won’t be the weekend to go out to Charles Baker though I’m sure by the following weekend the leaves will be mostly gone, especially in the high country outside of Brookfield.
Happy Tuesday to Y’All. 😊 Moving forward, though the week just seems longer as I worked in person yesterday in the office next to the Old City dump. Didn’t smell so much like wastewater treatment plant yesterday, 
and while it sprinkled a bit on the ride home, 🚲 it wasn’t a bad ride both ways to work. I probably could have worked remote on Monday but I’m trying to be in the office more these days, 🏢 maybe it’s just practice for November when it’s back to in person most days.
Went to the laundromat yesterday and the Wi-Fi was broke but my clothes were clean. 👚 I do try to at least wash my clothes every two weeks, as I don’t care how dirty I am when I’m working remote. I just sat in the parking lot working using my phone and playing around watching a bit of YouTube and reading a book on it. 📱I find I need my computer less and less for many things these days, the phone is so much more portable and doesn’t require a lot of power. I do a lot of work just using my phone, and not bothering booting the laptop. Especially when using the laptop involves not only using power but also my limited mobile hotspot.
I bought a new laptop charger for my laptop, 
and it’s still giving me problems charging at times. I am not sure if the battery is going bad, the charge port is shot or there is an issue with overheating. 
I should take it apart again and check on the fan, and see if I can get it work or replace it. And what is involved in repacing the charging port — if it’s like most things on a HP laptop, it’s likely a generic board that can be unplugged and replaced for a few bucks. Truth is at some point this laptop will need to be replaced — it’s 8 years old now — but it still works well, is fast enough, has enough storage and memory for my purposes — and HP parts are cheap and easy to replace. I run Linux on it, so it doesn’t if the OS is out of date on Windows side of things, it still is fine. Maybe if this laptop quits working, I’ll go and buy another one of these machines used, especially if it has Windows 10 installed and it’s eight years old, I can probably get one real cheap — and parts are easy to keep them running. 
Still it’s frustrating that like everything in this world it’s falling apart.
I am not that set against Madison County for the weekend, 
it all depends on how the forecast evolves. The National Weather Service isn’t as nancy negative as Weather Underground though the night going into Columbus Day still looks wet. And I worry if I wait another week, then the leaves will be done at least for the high country in Madison County. 
And Friday and Saturday look beautiful, though Friday will be a remote work, so I can’t ride trail. 
Not sure I got think about it.
Do people actually believe smoking pot is harmless?
I was reading the New York Times article this morning called, As America’s Marijuana Use Grows, So Do the Harms. It’s one of those anti-cannabis articles that makes all pot smokers to be ignorant hillbillies and children who lack brains and smoke lots of pot without ever thinking about any risks of their drug use. To say that people don’t know about the risks of lung damage, heart attack, psychosis, addiction, accidents from driving or operating machinery while high seems rather silly. All you have to do is do a simple google search. Or pick up any book on the topic. You should be informed, and make your own decisions.
As they say, there is no free lunch. Fun things inherently have some danger, be it driving, riding a mountain bike, hunting and shooting guns, or even a solitary walk in the woods. People do get struck by lightening on beautiful days and by city buses crossing the street. Your house could catch fire, and your burned to death. Life has risks, and people are aware of many of them.
The claim that cannabis users are ignorant of the dangers is the latest tack of anti-drug zealots. But they aren’t motivated about alerting the public about the real danger. What they fear is losing their lucrative business of arresting, prosecuting, fining, jailing and “treating” recreational drug users — somewhat funded by fines but mostly funded by the taxpayer slop bucket. And it’s a disgusting business they’re in, completely contrary to the public interest. I’m not saying, toss all bums in the police departments and rehab clinics on the street — but when their industry is harmful and wastes taxpayer dollars — they should assisted at getting off the public dole, and given the assistance necessary to transfer their skills in the public sector into in-demand jobs in the private sector.
Canaan
Canaan is often used in the bible as a reference to the “Promised Lands” and so-called “Justified invasion of Canaan” was turned into a popular song by Coven with One Tin Solider. Of course, depending on who you ask, Dennis Lambert pretty much turned this biblical verse on it’s head.
Canaan Heights, as the name suggests, is one of the highest elevation locations in West Virigina. It’s not unlike Canaan, NY, which is the highest elevations of the Taconics.
“Canaan Valley in Tucker County can be difficult [to pronounce] especially for people who are familiar with the Bible and are used to the biblical pronunciation KAY-nun. It’s pronounced kuh-NANE here in West Virginia. Canaan Heights and Canaan Valley Resort also put emphasis on the second syllable.”
Listening to Oliver Anthony, Riding My Mountain Bike to Work 🚵♂️
After last night’s rain that didn’t turn out to be too much it wasn’t a bad morning, though I got into the office a bit later then I would have hoped around 8:30 AM. But it’s fine, I cooked down a nice pot of black beans and rice and had some eggs with broccoli and onions.
I do wish I was on my way to West Virginia this year, 
but with work and meetings I am much too busy for that, though I am thinking of heading out to Madison County for the Columbus Day Weekend assuming it’s not too wet. It would be a blast to ride some of the roads and Charles Baker, and also paddle Nine Mile Swamp. 
Probably the colors are pretty good out in the hills of Madison County, they were getting pretty good at elevation in the hilltowns over the weekend. More cows and less coal then West Virigina but still fun. 
I am hopeful next year, especially if I get a new truck and do not get too tighted up in owning a house or being a homesteder. 
That house next to my parents house sold, but it would have been a mess to fix up and had too many neighbors even if it was cheap. You know, I do kind of like the smell of cow shit, and it’s legal to smoke pot in New York and be a stoned poney 
at the State Horse Camp.
It seemed odd that I was home by 3 PM on Sunday, 
but there was just shit to do before it got dark out, and I wanted to unpack and decompress before the week was done. I had a list of data jobs to run down at the library, and I was completely out of food but didn’t want to drive to the grocery store, 
as I am low on fuel and I like biking to the grocery store as it forces me to make choices on what I buy. 
It’s kind of a money saving strategy, I guess, plus it saves on fuel and the risk in getting in a crash. 
But maybe it’s kind of silly. 🤪 I also returned a bunch of beer cans, 
as that needs to be done so I got my $1.70 and it’s not like you can burn the cans.
I was so excited when they had fresh cranberries at Hannaford last night. 
Seems silly but they’re such a seasonal treat. I ran home and made some delicious homemade pancakes with shredded cranberries, whole wheat flower, some stevia, baking powder and salt. 
Lately I’ve been really into pancakes, using whole wheat flower and often hardy ingredients for dinner like chopped frozen vegetables 
and soy sauce. Just like to try new things. Eggs were good for breakfast as was the coffee. 
Mornings are so dark these days. And Friday it’s off to Madison County for the next adventure. 🛻 I’ve been wanting to paddle Nine Mile Swamp for a number years — it was over a decade since I last dun it.
I wish it was easier to have truly creative thoughts, see the world clearer 💭
I wish it was easier to understand the world, have a clear, lucid understanding of the world around me. See things the way they really are, find the deeper meaning. But it’s so darn hard, as most of the time I’m just trapped in the same frame of reference and even when I smoke I get more tired then inspired. I just wish there was something deeper and more profound to life.