Tag: Heimatkunde
-
Raking record
Time to start the roof-raking record for this winter. As always, this should be in my private daily worklog, but I started doing it here, so I’ll continue the tradition. = = = = Last winter started late and needed only one raking. First raking this year Jan 8. Depth was 3″, not necessarily enough…
-
Book didn’t disappoint
Somebody on substack recommended ‘A Field Guide to American Houses’ by McAlester. Recommended books are often disappointing but this one turned out to be splendid, just right for repeated browsing. It’s packed with actual lived-in houses, not architectural dreams. The ‘field guide’ classifies all American houses, starting with the huts and tipis of the old…
-
Year end shit for 2025
I guess I’ll turn this 2014 reprint into the annual Year End Shit. It’s a heartfelt piece expressing how I feel about the world, and has some up-to-date resonance. Normally I try to reprint or link my best tech history piece or my best blog writing. This year I’ve been tired and distracted by external…
-
Winter is here!
Winter is here! Caught me by surprise. Fortunately all the current errands are done.
-
Less urban
Random observation spawned by looking closely at towns in Massachusetts for my next tech history item. The downtown areas in smaller Mass towns look much less urban than the downtowns in Kansas and Oklahoma small towns. In Mass, industrial buildings and stores are mixed randomly among houses and apartments. In the plains, stores are grouped…
-
400 year sync
Evan Barker’s podcast on the NYC win by Mamdani accidentally creates a 400 year resonance. One of her guests is smoking the modern vape version of an old Dutch long pipe. Strange as it Seems was the best of the 1930s human interest podcasts. My favorite episode dramatizes New Amsterdam’s governor Willem Keeft, a petty…
-
Not entirely predictable
This is one of the EXTREMELY RARE cases where journalists actually work both ways. Via Nieman, journalists have universally derided Trump’s Napoleonic effort to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. This, of course, is more predictable than gravity. Journalists NEVER go along with anything ordered by Official Wrong Party. Locally, journalists…
-
Followup
Nice followup to previous item. The Spokesman lists results of a survey conducted for several years. = = = = = START QUOTE: About 70% of survey takers said they lacked confidence in their local government to effectively address their concerns, still better than 80% in the last survey in April. Respondents rated their quality…
-
More Democrat campaigners for Trump
Deadpan reporting from SpokaneNews: 22300 East Appleway Ave, caller reports a naked male in the parking lot. Reported the male has entered the business and is refusing to leave. Stating he had a venomous snake thrown on him One in custody = = = = = If this is “democracy”, we need a king.
-
Speaking truth to Zappone
Spokane COUNTY has issued an official tonguelashing to the CITY idiots (mayor and council) who insist loudly that they can’t possibly control crime and homelessness because “the jail is full”. Idiot Zappone has been among the loudest supporters of crime. The county’s press release is worth a long quote. = = = = = START…
-
Aphid Day 2025
Aphid Day is Oct 9, 2025. I’ve been seeing a few aphids in previous days. Today they gave a nice clear signal that summer is over, swarming as soon as the sun came over the horizon. I’m especially glad to see them. This summer wasn’t hotter than average but it was harder than average on…
-
If they really wanted….
NiemanLab cites a new survey that accurately pins down what people want from local news. We want LOCAL reporting of WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE. Crime, troubles, power outages, fires. We do not want “investigative pieces” that always just happen to “investigate” Repooflicans while celebrating Democrats who commit exactly the same crimes. This pattern is constant from…
-
Streetpecker
Last night’s big rain must have pushed some bugs and critters to the surface. Squirrels and birds are busy on the soil today. One bird seemed unusual. It was brown with a chevron marking on its chest, and its beak was long and straight. It was pecking FAST in the crack between the curb and…
-
Sorting out
Spokane News asked if people feel safe downtown. Sorting out the usual FB cacophony: People who are accustomed to dealing with violence feel safe there. Others don’t feel safe. There’s a GENUINE change in the last few years. I’m not tough at all, but I used to enjoy being downtown. I worked downtown in the…
-
Regrowth
From RealClear, an article with hopeful signs. The article misses the former strength of smaller cities. It mocks the NYC bigotry but basically agrees with NYC that the universe ends at the Hudson River. The term “flyover country” was not just a snobbish put-down but a reality as a handful of core cities – New…
Polistra's Mill 