Jack Manassas and Company

I really shouldn’t be telling you about this.  It’s probably top secret--But since it’s probably some other government’s secret, I guess it will be OK.   You know where the Donkey Hotel* is?  That place where old donkeys go to eat grass and live out their retirement years in peace?  That’s where it started, almost a month ago.  Bob Livingston* was taking the donkeys out to pasture that Sunday morning, when a black limo appeared, a black horse trailer in tow.  I say ‘appeared’ because Bob didn’t hear it drive up.  He was forking hay or something, looked down for a while, and when he looked up, there it was.  The trailer had some sort of gold emblem on the front.  Bob couldn’t quite make it out, and was squinting at it when he noticed three men in dark suits and sunglasses, standing a couple of meters away from him.   How they got there without him noticing, he couldn’t say, but there they were, just looking at him with their han...

In the darkening twilight, a lone individual  presses onward, ever onward, in a relentless search for fresh talent that has not been fired yet, nor driven into retirement.   He pauses for reflection, he pools his resources.  He knows he has a lot of green somewhere, but this can't be it.  He is hungry for something, on a never-ending search for...

 Generally, the new planter box was a big success!  The soil depth (about 18 inches) caused no problems, and even though the wire hardware-cloth lining the bottom was only overlapped with the sides, there was no evidence of moles or voles inside the planter box.  Deer stayed out-- Even the raccoons left it alone!   The tomatoes really took off, but they crowded into the front left corner of the planter box.  There are two fir trees to the South of the planter box-- I will have to see if I can get them removed before Spring.   Even with shading at the back of the box, I still got a fair yield of green beans, lettuce and kale, and a lot of Tulsi Basil! Time to stew the tomatoes-- Gotta go! ;-)

 "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.