Jack Manassas and Company

 "Wanamaker?  He's a trouble-maker!"   This, my wife told me, not once but many times.  Did I listen?  No, but I should have.   Wanamaker is a deep thinker.  He is philosophically opposed to driving, so he sticks mostly to our town and rides his bicycle everywhere.  Even in Winter.  Even in snow.   A couple of days ago, he came into the store.  It was blazing hot outside, and while he is philosophically opposed to Air Conditioning, his convictions do not prevent him from coming into my store to cool down. "I have made an important advance in Political Science," he told me, interrupting my work. "OK.  What is it now?" I asked, against my better judgement. He pulled out a piece of paper with a cartoon on it; "It's a happy elephant," I said.  "Where is its rear-end?" "Not important," continued Wanamaker.  "Now what does a picture of an Elephant remind you of?" "The zoo?" I asked. "No, no!" he...

“Never a horse that couldn’t be rode, Never a rider that couldn’t be throwed.” –Cowboy Proverb I had an old, neglected planter box in my yard.  It was full of weeds, and the last couple of times I have tried to plant something in it, the voles took out the roots of my plants, and the deer and raccoons took out the tops.   When we had tree cutters take down a dead cedar tree, they cut the trunk into 16 inch logs.  I had an idea about using them to revitalize the planter and discourage the critters from eating everything.  There was no guarantee that this idea would work, or will work for every critter– But, worth a try! Here’s the planter, somewhat before renovation: The borders of the old box were nearly rotted into mulch; The old box was 4 x 8 feet.  It had good soil inside it, although full of weeds and roots.    1) Strain the soil. I laid down a blue tarp and put a piece of metal hardware cloth on top of it.  I shoveled dirt from the plant...

 For a couple of years, when I drive in my Chrysler Town and Country, I get a message from my phone that interrupts music, radio and audiobooks.  It even comes out of the speakers when the radio is turned off;   "U Connect Text Message available.  Press U - Connect Phone Button to read the text message." I have stopped the car and checked my phone.  No text message.  When I press the U-Connect Phone button, it reads a text message that is just a string of phone numbers with '+' between them.  Very annoying. The fix: Problem is in the Cell Phone. In my Android Phone, go to Settings Notifications App Notifications  "Choose which apps are allowed to send you notifications." I turned off 'Android Auto'  (and a bunch of other apps that were annoying me with notifications). Betcha that fixes it.

 I was locking up the shop after work the other day, and found this resume' tucked to one side of the front doors.  Someone was clearly looking for a job.  I guess he lost his nerve when he got to the door...

  The supporters of Donald Trump have a lot to say about him.  Much of it is mystifying– Kayleigh McEnany: “And the lesson is this: Maybe Trump is not trying to take Gaza. Maybe this is a grand part of a negotiation to get Iran to come to the table, to get Iran to hold back the proxies, to get Iran to stop its nuclear warfare on the world. Maybe that’s it,”  she concluded. “My lesson to the media, this one line I wish they would take: President Trump is playing four dimensional chess, you all are playing checkers. Internet Comment:  The Other Owen, Feb 26 2025 >Trump seems to be dismantling the American Empire and alienating US allies “That empire will get dismantled with or without him. In some ways, they’re in a desperate race to throw as much ballast overboard before the balloon hits the ground. They don’t really want to publicize this, might spook the herd into doing things. But it’s a choice between hit the ground and have everything in the basket splatter al...