Rev. Joe Dirt, Author at Curmudgeon Alley

2019/08/282019/09/09

¿Tienes tú vergüenza de tu presidente?

I was doing my Spanish lesson via Skype with the young man in Guatemala, Manolo Castillo. He is not big on talking politics which is fine by me. I need a break from being so angry about our current political situation. However, tonight he was telling me about a story he had read about DJT and he asked me “¿Tienes tú vergüenza de tu presidente?” Are you not ashamed/embarrassed of your president. All I could say was, “Claro que sí, mucho.” Of course, a lot.’

The whole damn world knows he is a nut case except for the rednecks in the red states of this fine country.

2019/08/262022/09/19

Rolling Stone Article: U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending

From the article:

“The United States has spent more subsidizing fossil fuels in recent years than it has on defense spending, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF found that direct and indirect subsidies for coal, oil and gas in the U.S. reached $649 billion in 2015. Pentagon spending that same year was $599 billion.”

We do so many things wrong headed. And why are the Republicans NOT willing to trust market forces on this one?

Click link below for full Rolling Stone article.

Study: U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon Spending

2019/08/252019/08/25

How I Became My Own Worst Nightmare | Yonason Goldson

2019/07/17

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 7,676

yeah I know you did not ask!

I was telling my wife something the other day that was true, but she was having a hard believing it to be so. After all a bit she said to me, “I suppose it could be true, after all if Trump is our president any absurdity is possible.”

2019/07/03

Plumbing 101

I had a minor plumbing repair to do in our bathroom under the sink and within the vanity. For part of the operation I needed a second pair of hands so I enlisted my wife, the esteemed Señora Robin. She came into the bathroom and sees tools scattered around, the contents of the vanity stacked untidily in a corner, and me with my head stuck under the sink.

With barely a pause as she walks in she says, “You cannot possibly know what you are doing.”

This brings me out of the depths of my plumbing cave with a quizzical look on my ruggedly handsome face.

She continues, “I see no butt crack. It is a job requirement.”

I worked for some plumbers one summer in college. They told me there were only three things that I really must know: water does not run up hill; you get paid on Friday; and never chew your nails after a job. Apparently there are four.

2019/07/012019/07/01

Mother Nature had the last laugh

We own three vehicles between the two of us. My wife drives a Subaru Outback. I have a Toyota Tacoma as my primary vehicle, and a Mazda MX-5 Miata that I just drive when the weather is nice. It is generally the car I take to the golf course.

I generally do a good cleaning of my vehicles twice a year. I do one cleaning in the spring after winter, and another sometime in the autumn before we go into the yucky months of winter. This year with my wife’s health problems combined with the abnormally frequent rains we have had this spring; my spring cleaning has been delayed. Here it is the end of June and I am now just doing it.

I do need to mention that I retired at the end of January. This means that I am not driving my Tacoma as a daily commuter. Typically when we go somewhere as couple we take the Outback. We occasionally will take the Miata if the weather is nice and there will not be any imbibing of alcohol. My wife refuses to learn how to drive a stick shift, and I have no desire to receive a DWI. When I take out the Miata I have to move the Tacoma. I keep the convertible in the garage and the truck in the driveway. I mention this to say that the Tacoma is not sitting idle even when I am driving the Miata frequently. All of which brings me to my surprise of the other day.

Part of my cleaning regime is to pop the hood and give the engine a good wash down, check the fluids, etc. When I did so, I discovered this amazing nest in the corner of the engine compartment next to the brake fluid reservoir.