Tag: Heimatkunde
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Life in the Cracks Day (reprint)
From the National Days website: The Festival of Life in the Cracks Day on March 10 celebrates the sprouting of greenery in the cracks of sidewalks and walls to commemorate the coming of springtime. This annual event acknowledges the complexity of the cycle of life and how renewal and rebirth are integral parts of it.…
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Positive signs from the neighborhood (redated)
Jan 13, 2026: For 20 years a vacant apartment building was the worst thing in the neighborhood, constantly squatted and constantly visited by cops who weren’t allowed to do anything. This situation was NOT understandable. The property was owned by an LLC who could afford to fix things if they wanted to. In 2017 the…
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Earbird 2
Taking out the trash this morning, I brushed against the overgrown windbreak. As usual, thought I should try to trim it back. Suddenly noticed I was face to face with a TINY bird in the branches. He didn’t seem bothered by the closeness, just continued walking along the branch. TINY: less than two inches long…
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Why I bought a house
From Spokane News: 900 East Sitka Ave, Assault Reported. Reported male cut a hole through his apartment into another apartment and was caught by the resident in the other apartment. Police arrived and male fought with Police and now detained. The new Facebook explainer bots don’t offer any fake explanations or point-missing fake questions about…
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Same arrangement!
Still trying to find pictures of my St Joe Folly House, I bought a little book assembled by the Museum Hill Historical Society. It doesn’t include THE house, but it does include this one with a tantalizingly similar secret tunnel. Transcribing: An enormous secret tunnel that once led to the Nunning Brewery can still be…
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Never need them again
EnidBuzz features a new clothing store in downtown Enid. I recognized the location instantly. Sears. It’s an awfully big building for a startup clothing store. Sears formerly sold everything but food. Tools were in the basement, so that’s where I shopped in the 70s. Bought a whole lot of metric Craftsman tools, still have most…
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Bad marketing, halfway good idea
Via the local newspaper: Some state legislators want to add “creating a signature” to civics classes. The marketing focuses on John Hancock, but the proposal is somewhat more meaningful than the usual civics crap. It turns out that poor signatures are a real problem for voting officials. Mail ballots require a signature which is checked…
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Distillate?
Thought-provoking observation from Chris Arnade, who knows lots of places: If a foreigner asks me which single US city to visit to understand America, I would say Chicago. LA/SF are coded as an Asian city, NYC/Boston European, Miami Latin America, but Chicago is very much an American city. Caught my attention since I’m thinking about…
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Glamorous?
Somebody on substack said “People think traveling for work is glamorous.” … then showed some of the unglamorous places she traveled to. I never thought it was glamorous. Back in the 70s I traveled for work, mainly driving a 1955 Ford flatbed truck, and went to faraway places with strange-sounding names like Meade and Goltry.…
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Normal Spokane
Spokane has been comparatively quiet for a while, now back to normal…. 24000 East Mission (Liberty Lake), Reported naked male on a balcony threatening to jump. Also reported male is throwing swords off the balcony. I’m curious. How do you organize a sword collection for easy throwing? And how do you store your sword collection…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Winter is here!
Winter is here! Caught me by surprise. Fortunately all the current errands are done.
Polistra's Mill 