Fun And Games · oops!

Shoveling Rain

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A comment in response to my “I’m already in favor of globull warmening, you don’t have to sell me!” post, reminded me of a joke.

Once upon a time, an American engineer, a Canadian farmer, and a Taliban were walking along a beach together (don’t ask why…).

The trio came upon a bottle, and the Canadian picked it up. and brushed the sand off of it.

A puff of smoke developed from the bottle, and an enormous djinni materialized.

“You have released the djinni from his bottle! You have three wishes!”, he intoned.

The Canadian, startled, dropped the bottle, and stammered, “Who? Me?”

The djinn turned to the farmer. “Yes. What is your wish?”

The Canadian contemplated for but a moment. “My wish is that Canada will have fertile soil, just enough rainfall, at just the right times, and this will persist until the end of time!”

The djinn paused a moment, snapped his fingers, and intoned, “It is so! Who has the next wish?”

The Taliban stepped around the other two, and announced, “I want my beloved Afghanistan forever free of the polluting influence of the decadent west! Can you surround it with an impervious wall, reaching up to the heavens, settling it’s foundations on the very bedrock of the earth, and completely unable to be penetrated by anything whatsoever!”

The djinni again paused, snapped his fingers, and intoned, “It is so! You!”, he pointed at the American engineer, and demanded, “What is your wish?”

The American asked a question. “So, can you tell me about this wall the Taliban fellow wished for?”

The djinni intoned, “It reaches to the heavens, it is set upon the very bedrock of the earth, it is completely impervious to anything your puny human mind can imagine!”

“Hmm,” mused the American. “Are there any limits on my wish?”

“There are. You cannot wish for anyone to die, you cannot wish for anyone to be brought back to life, you cannot wish for eternal life.”

The American acknowledged the limits. “Got it. Now, about that wall: can you fill it with water?”

cats · Sometimes You Get to Think That You Have Accomplished Something!

The Cat Who Learned To Purr: a (very) short story

Reltney McFee5 Comments

Listen, children, to a story about the cat who learned to purr.

Nearly all children, and grownups as well, like to pet kitties, feeling their soft warm fur flow beneath their fingers. Most kitties enjoy it as well. When they do, the kitties purr, which is their song of contentment, of joy, of trust.

A while ago, two grandparents lived in a small town, sort of away from The City.
One day they noticed that Max the Cat was peering out of one window, running to another and peering out of that one, and then running to a third window and peering out of that one as well.

Grandmother went to the window herself, to see what had Max the Cat so excited. She saw a cat, leading a parade of four tiny kittens around the house.

Grandmother began to leave bowls of cat food out for Momma Kitty, as Grandmother and Grandfather named her, along with bowls of water. Grandmother would sit quietly, a ways away from the food, and softly speak to Momma Kitty, as she, Momma, would cautiously eat and drink.

Soon, Momma Kitty, half wild and very cautious around these “Human” creatures, would allow Grandmother to sit closer, and closer, and closer, until one day when Momma Kitty was on the porch, meowing for Grandmother to fill her food bowl. Grandmother then opened the kitchen door and invited Momma Kitty to come inside and out of the cold.

Both Grandmother and Grandfather were most surprised when Momma Kitty sauntered in, selected a chair in a window, leapt up to it, turned three times, and curled up, looking at the people as if to say, “What? You invited me in, and here I am!”

Grandmother realized that Momma Kitty had her kittens, and those kittens were NOT! In the house. She walked outside, looked around and found the kittens, bringing them inside as well.

Momma was sort of stand offish at first. Which, when you think about it, makes sense: she had been an outdoor cat, not somebody’s cat, and had lived her life away from humans. Probably, some humans had been mean to her, and that would make her even more frightened of people.

But, because Grandfather and Grandmother would feed her, and talk quietly to her, and offer her the opportunity to sniff their hands before slowly moving to pet her (which, after all, is only the proper thing for polite cats to do, don’t you know!), she started to relax, to not run away, to allow the people to pet her once or twice.

Momma Kitty saw how her kittens enjoyed being petted, and how her kittens would snuggle up with the people, one kitten choosing Grandmother as Her Human, sleeping on Grandmother’s pillow with her at night, the other choosing Grandfather as her human, and sleeping on his feet at night.

Momma Kitty’s kittens would seek out Their Human, and, when Their Human would pick them up, and pet them, and tell them how pretty they were, and how soft and warm they were, the kittens would purr, loudly, because the kittens had never learned that humans could be anything other than kind and loving.

Momma Kitty didn’t purr. She grew to tolerate the petting, she slept on the big bed with the people, and she cuddled with her kittens, she groomed them, they groomed her, and her kittens purred loudly whenever they got their grooming/kitty kisses from their Momma.

That is, Momma Kitty did not purr, until today. While Grandmother was laying in bed thinking about the things she was going to accomplish that day, Momma Kitty crept up to Grandmother’s side, laying down next to her. Grandmother wrapped Momma kitty up in her arms, pulling her in closely.

Momma kitty began to purr! Not a quiet, almost there, can-you-really-hear-it sort of purr, but an honest, loud, full throated purr, that filled the room, and Grandmother’s heart, a purr of trust, of contentment, of finally being in a home, with a family, and being safe and warm.

Momma Kitty was Home.

Check Your Preps · guns · Humility · Pre Planning Your Scene · Uncategorized

Be Prepared! Both Equipment As Well As Training.

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Today, as I write this, 15 people were killed (and one asshole) in Sydney Australia. In addition, in Providence RI, two people were killed and nine injured (lamentably, the asshole has not been reported to be dead/injured).

Then, there is the 20 rounds discharged at a Jewish family’s home, associated with Hanukkah decorations (with fortunately no injuries. There are some indications that this was not a firearm, perhaps an airsoft gun) (Apparently, no assholes were injured. Sadly enough.)

This reminds me of that feat of pistol handling displayed on 07/17/2022, at the Greenwood Park Mall, by Elisjsha Dickens. Mr Dickens, a civilian concealed carrier, produced his Glock handgun, fired ten rounds, striking the asshole with 8 of them, and ended the shooting, reportedly 15 seconds after the asshole initiated shooting. This was a distance of 40 yards.

Miguel Gonzalez, of the Miguel Gonzalez Substack commented on the Sydney (“Bondi Beach”) shooting, estimating it to be a shot of around 60 yards.

Now, *I* am not that good. I am presently not capable of reliably making a 40 yard, let alone 60 yard, shot with a handgun. On the other hand (a) I, reliably, will have a handgun on my person, and (b) I suspect that incoming fire will disturb the assholes’ attack tempo. Perhaps, The Patron Saint Of Good Guys’ Accuracy will guide me to hit one, or both, while they are reloading, and therefore not moving. (And, should Kharma Be A Thing, never moving ever again thereafter!)

Uncategorized

MAN CARD, VALIDATED!

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This is a “rerun”. The Thanksgiving day death of one of two Guardsmen, shot in DC on 26 November 2025, has set me to thinking about Duty, and Manliness.

I was reminded of this, considerably less dramatic, story of Manhood. here you go!

The other day, I was chatting with my MA. I was extolling the virtues of the dealership that I usually patronize, citing their honesty, and times when they had indeed gone over and above to ensure that I, or my family, had been in fact cared for effectively.

She told me a story. Several years ago, she was very, very pregnant with one of her children. Her vehicle had a low tire, that would not hold air. She went to a tire chain in her town, one whose name promised diminutive prices.

Times were hard, at that time, for her family. She requested that the tire be repaired, and she would be on her way.

The tire technician noted sidewall damage, which is unrepairable. The service advisor told her this, and noted that a new tire would cost something on the order of $200. She did not have $200. They informed her that driving on that tire would be terribly hazardous, presenting an ongoing threat of sudden failure.

She told me, “I was on my phone, in the waiting room, talking to my husband, and we were trying to figure out what we were going to do. I was in tears, when the service advisor walked out, handed me a paper, and said, ‘You’re all set, ma’am.”

I asked him how much I owed him, and he told me, “Nothing.” I asked him how could that be.

He told me, “Ma’am, I simply could not let you drive on that tire. I paid for it for you. Have a nice day!”

Fun With Suits! · geezerhood · Pains in my Fifth Point of Contact

Customer Service, (SPIT!), Again

Reltney McFee3 Comments

For whatever reason, I am a frequent flier at my friendly neighborhood cardiologists’ office. (No, I had this problem before Covid was A Thing)
So, once I noticed that I was having to work harder than I thought was proper, after exertion that I thought was sort of trivial (as in, ascending the stairs with a basket of laundry), I arranged to chat with cardiology.

I saw one of the midlevels in the office, and recounted my present experience, and set that in the context of my previous (atypical presentation) experience with my angina/narrowed cardiac arteries.

That worthy basically said, “Hmm. So, this present experience sort of mirrors your experience with previous cardiac caths, which were associated with significant arterial stenosis. I betcha you would benefit from another cath, which might result in yet another stent to add to your collection!”

And, so was it done.

For those not steeped in The Mysteries Of Cardiac Caths, a long narrow tube (a catheter) is threaded into the left atrium (upper chamber of the heart), and from there into the cardiac arteries (which originate from the left atrium). Once there, x ray contrast dye is injected, and images captured, establishing the free flowing nature of your arteries (or, so one would hope!), or, alternately, the fact of constriction and the degree of that constriction.

Should a sufficient degree of constriction exist, the catheter is threaded into that narrowed portion, and a balloon is inflated (with sterile saline), opening up that part of the artery.

When it works, and the artery remains open, Yahtze! (er, I mean, Score!). The cardiologist moves along to whatever other matter appears to be part of today’s investigation.

If it does not remain open, the doctor will place a stent to keep it open.

By the way, that dye is hard on one’s kidneys. If one is a geezer, as I am, and has marginally performing kidneys, as I do, the doctor has to limit the exposure your kidneys have to this dye. This fact meant that during my Fun! Time! In the Cath lab in August, only the higher problem constrictions were addressed, so as to limit the amount of metaphorical pain my kidneys would experience.

Since there was another artery significantly narrowed, it was medically reasonable and prudent that I have a rematch, once my kidneys had quit (again metaphorically) glowing.

I had that cath, did not require another stent, and we all lived happily ever after.

But, WAIT!

I subsequently, like 6 weeks subsequently, received a letter from my insurance company that asserted that my second stent was NOT “medically necessary”. (as an aside, I am unable to imagine who the frack would have a cardiac cath for giggles. I mean, rilly?!?)

I called the “customer service” number, and the soul who answered me led me to conclude that their call center is located (a) in Bagwanistan, and staffed by (b) retards.

The first chucklehead with whom I spoke, could not grasp the concept that “You assholes told me that my cath was not medically necessary, an opinion not shared by my, oh, gosh, CARDIOLOGIST, who, himself, kind of WENT TO SCHOOL FOR THIS VERY SORT OF DECISION MAKING!

After 10 or 15 minutes of trying to communicate this to Young Bagwanistanian Einstein, I asked to speak to a supervisor. Repeatedly.

Conveniently enough, Einstein’s supervisor was not available, a fact shared with me after several minutes on ignore. Einstein offered to transfer me to “authorizations”, and I requested that he do so.

The next genius made Einstein appear to be a Mensa member. We go to the point of her revealing that her records asserted that I had $2.96 yet to pay on my “individual out of pocket maximum”, and therefore would owe $1789 or some such as my copay for the second, contested, cath.
Ms. Mensa related that we had a family out of pocket maximum of $7,000, and that I had pain $3497 toward deductible and co pays, and The Darling Wife-Mark II had paid $3,500 toward hers.

I asked how it worked that I owed $1789, when my out of pocket maximum was $2.96 short of the contractual amount.

“Well, that is an aggregate amount. Until you have paid your deductible, and your co insurance (read: “co pay”), and the both of you have paid $7,000, you still have to pay your co pay”

I asked Ms. Mensa what the phrase “individual out of pocket maximum” meant? Since My understanding was that I would pay my deductible until my deductible amount had been paid, and thereafter I would pay 20% of the bill, until I had paid my individual out of pocket maximum, which was $3500. At that point, per my explanation of coverage that I received when I signed up for this insurance, I would not pay anything for covered services.

Oh, no, Ms. Mensa corrected me. “Out of pocket maximum” was aggregate, and we would have to pay $7,000, before the “no more out of pocket costs” coverage would begin.

I asked her to tell me what the phrase “Individual out of pocket maximum” meant? And, if there was no non aggregate out of pocket maximum coverage, why would your attorneys include such confusing language?

“Let me place you on a brief hold”.

SEVERAL minutes later, she came back on the line. “That out of pocket maximum is an aggregate. You have to have paid $7,000 for the two of you before your out of pocket maximun applies”.

So, The Darling Wife Mark II got to see That Face When You get to school the insurance lady, on a not particularly obtuse item of insurance coverage, which even the cardiologists’ office as well as the hospital at which my cath took place, are able to understand.

Like the difference between “individual” and “family”, and the different out-of-pocket maximums that contractually apply.

geezerhood · Humility · Life in Da City!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!

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Ladies and Gentlemen! Please strive to live by these six Rules For Living. Endeavor to surround yourself with folks who live by these rules, themselves.

Again, I invoke the Bagwan Rajneesh Farnum’s Aphorism Of The Stupids:  Do not go Stupid places, with Stupid people, to do Stupid things, at Stupid times of day.  Don’t act Stupid, and try not to look Stupid.

IYKYK. Otherwise, please consider it a suggestion.

Myself, I believe I do pretty well. Perhaps, I could improve in the “Don’t act Stupid” part, although geezer level stupid, and young buck level stupid are altogether different.

Duty · Gratitude · Humility · Protect and Serve

THANKSGIVING

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I read on Thanksgiving day that one of two National Guard members shot on 26 November 2025 in DC, died today. She was 20 years old.

The news report that I read today (11/27), asserted that an Guard officer making rounds on his troops, was nearby, and attacked the shooter, ARMED WITH A POCKET KNIFE.

Consider that for a moment. Yeah, why the fenomenon did that officer not have a sidearm? That aside, what sort of full on balls does it take to attack an armed asshole, who had just shot two armed Guardsmen, when you only have a pocket knife?

Takes the turn of phrase, “bringing a knife to a gunfight”, to a entirely new level.

And, decisively stopping the shooting. Well done, sir!

It caused me to consider that, for her family, “Thanksgiving” will never, ever, have the same meaning as it once had.

For me, it reminds me of General Patton’s statement, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”

In this context, Thank you God, for the officer who attacked a GUNMAN with a knife. Thank you, God, for folks who stand, take the oath, and say, in whatever words, “You! Evil! Halt! Yeah, YOU! *I* am going to stop you! You are NOT getting past me! I may live, I may die, but, I swear, YOU are stopping, HERE!”

Thank you, God, for families who raise MEN (and, today, WOMEN) who are willing to stand, to hold, to make sure that evil is halted before it can harm the vulnerable.

These three: that Specialist, that Sergeant, that Major, took that stand today. Others, law enforcement, firefighters, medics, soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guardsmen, are standing today.

God, Thank you for all of them. God, please protect them. God, please give comfort to their families, today and everyday.

And, in that context, all my stupid little stories, pale.

Duty · Fun With Suits! · Pains in my Fifth Point of Contact

Artificial “Intelligence”. RRiigghhtt!

Reltney McFee1 Comment

I have been reading about “artificial intelligence”, and how it will supplant human knowledge workers (think law, and medicine, among others). I have my doubts.

There are several reasons for this. First of all, “artificial intelligence” is based upon “large language models”, wherein the developers feed into their databases tremendous amounts of, well, data. I have read that this takes the form of essentially sweeping up information from the internet (remember this part: it will be relevant) and programming their “AI” to address this information to provide a response to a query.

I have read that long, long ago, in galaxies far, far away, there was a Programmers Axiom, which went “GIGO”, or, Garbage In, Garbage Out. As I understand it, your computer output will not be of higher quality that that which you use to program it. If your program’s assumptions are bullshit, your output will be bullshit as well.

So, should you assume that the temperature observations recorded since the invention of the thermometer (Fahrenheit invented the mercury thermometer around 1714. according to worldhistory.org) reflect the planet’s temperature baseline, then you would notice, with alarm, the warming documented by such readings. Of course, should you factor in the Maunder Minimum, and The Year Without A Summer (1816 ), along with the historical record of Roman occupiers of Brittania growing grapes for wine (a feat not currently A Thing in 21st century England, due to the coolness of the present climate), you might come to different conclusions.

Adding in reports that present “AI” appear to some observers to have a left wing bias (feel free to define that however you want), well, impartiality does not seem to be A Thing.

I have read reports of attorneys presenting legal filings in court that have been written by, or with “assistance” of AI. To my point, it has been reported that these filings have been found to contain case citations that refer to cases that DO NOT EXIST. In addition, upon occasion, case citations refer to cases in support of one legal point or another, said citations that do exist, may DIRECTLY CONTRADICT THE POINT THE ATTORNEY IS ATTEMPTING TO MAKE.

I m certain that legal clients everywhere are filled with confidence at that thought.

To my internet point: Is there anyone of us who, coming across some gem of information on the internet, concerning some topic with which we have some familiarity, shake our heads with how ignorant and ill informed this foolishness is? How many of us have this response every day? Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce the Gell-Man Amnesia Effect?

So, if I am creating an artificial intelligence, and populating that dataset with “information” from the internet, well, exactly what outcome should I expect? Again, GIGO. Bullshit in, Bullshit out.

Finally, speaking of medicine, a topic with which I have some familiarity, even assuming that the “AI” which takes my job KNOWS ALL with regard to Evidence Based Medicine, there is the issue that some patients did not read the evidence, and might not present with their (let us say) heart attack, in accordance with The Evidence. What will AI make of the relatively fit 60 year old man who complains of a sore throat for weeks on end, worsened by activity? Or the diabetic black woman who complains of tooth pain?

Will the AI inspect her teeth, and, finding them sound appearing, order a troponin and EKG?

After all, what evidence exists that a test for heart muscle injury will reveal information relevant to a dental complaint? Or that a recording of the electrical impulses of one’s heart, will assist in diagnosing and treating their dental disorder?

Finally, “evidence based medicine” assumes (veterans: care to chime in with what happens when we “ass-u-me”?) that all the relevant information-the studies-have, indeed, been published.

How is “AI” to know that studies exist, unpublished, that demonstrate findings contrary to The Narrative?

Should you wonder what that might look like, consider how JAMA and the British Medical Journal had been positively FILLED! with scholarly articles documenting the adverse reactions, contraindications, and adverse drug interactions of the mRNA covid vaccines!

I kid! I kid! Any such studies were unpublished. Perhaps they were erroneous, perhaps they contained facts that prudent clinicians might have wanted to know prior to recommending mRNA vaccines. We will never know, because THOSE studies never saw daylight, and therefore were never subjected to criticism, and scrutiny, and opportunities to be re examined in light of discovery of weaknesses in methodology or technique, so that the truth (NOT ‘my truth”, not “your truth”, but real, objective, third-person-verifiable truth) could be established and documented.

All this to point out that, in my view, “Artificial Intelligence” is NOT ready for prime time. Hell, it ain’t ready for Off Broadway. Indeed, in a show business metaphor, AI likely is not ready for High School Play Competition. (and, I mean no insult to high school thespians: some of their productions are smooth, engaging and entertaining.)

So, I sleep easily, considering that AI appears to be poised to have a significant role in national defense, in medicine, in law.

And, by “sleep easily”, I mean “sleep as if my cold wet bed had been filled with shards of broken glass soaked in pepper spray”, easily.

Duty · Pains in my Fifth Point of Contact

Covid And Why Nobody Listens To “Experts” Anymore

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I read a blurb, recently, for a story on a website. I’ve abstracted some portions, here:

“…nursing became a calling. The meaning and purpose in life were to look after others. In times of trouble, Covid comes to mind, we clapped and cheered for the nurses who put their lives on the line for us. But at the end of the pandemic, nurses demanded more hands at the bedside and higher wages. So much for our dream of a selfless calling. Nurses work for a paycheck, and It feels like many are just in it for the money. …”

My response follows

“Of course, nurses are in it for a paycheck: if nurses do not need a paycheck to support themselves and their families, who on earth would subject themselves to illness, grotesque injuries, and the fact that 9 out of ten people are assholes? (not that I am cynical, or something….)

Where the commendable part comes into the discussion, is that nurses do, indeed, address all those things, and (nearly all of the time) agitate for enough personnel “on the floor” to provide the care that those injured/ill folks require.

Unless, of course, you are speaking of all the individuals who fought their way to the front of the line, to work night shifts, holidays, to care for folks who, we all were told at the time, had a highly transmissible, highly lethal disease? For free? And, of course, had no regard for the possibility that that very transmissible/lethal disease could be brought home to their families?

Every one of THOSE volunteers, you mean?

(BTW, were YOU one of them?)

I was (and am) in daily, in person, in contact, patient care. I was, in 2020, and subsequently. (and for decades prior).

Want to get more nurses? This one weird trick solves your nursing staffing woes: PAY THEM! And, staff your hospitals adequately. (OK: so, that’s Two! Weird! Tricks!)”

Yep, I was snarky. I was irritated.

In contrast, the original author replied, and was graceful, and did respond to my actual points. He related that he, himself, was in “the sick people business”, and had been for quite some time. He was articulating the whipsaw effect of changing from “Nurses are heroes!”, to “How dare they want money! And staffing!” He was commenting on one of the things that sets my own nerves on edge.

Another website spoke of the death of our susceptibility to the opinions of “experts”, who, now we know, had No. Fucking. Clue. of what they were doing, whether what they were straight facedly assuring us was lifesaving, or not, and promulgated unprecedented totalitarian controls on nearly every basic human right, including most of those enumerated in The Bill of Rights.

Years later, this website (actually a substack) recounted how surprising maladies (heart disease in young and presumably healthy folks, for only one example) could ONLY! be due to infection from the covid virus.

My comment follows.

“If they received the COVID shot, which we were ASSURED would prevent COVID (shortly before we were ASSURED that that COVID shot would mean we’d got COVID, but less, shortly before we were ASSURED we’d get COVID, but couldn’t transmit it, which was shortly before we were ASSURED … I’ve lost track!), so, if they had received the COVID shot, how could their symptoms be due to COVID? 

Didn’t All The Very Smartest People (because they told us that they were) guarantee that this was impossible?”

By this point (of covid’s emergence) I had held a license as an RN for approaching 40 years. I had been licensed as a midlevel for 10 years. I knew me a few things about “vaccines”, and “medications”, and (pay attention to this last bit) medication package product inserts.

Real vaccines (with a couple of exceptions: like yellow fever, or influenza, although for different reasons) actually PREVENT you developing the disease against which they are targeted. I present tetanus immunization as an example.

Medications arrive at the pharmacy in a box (isn’t THAT surprising!), containing the medication as well as a (large!) piece of paper documenting the brand name, generic name, chemical name (that poly syllabic Greek appearing mess, that tells an organic chemist what the molecule looks like) (Tylenol is  N-acetyl-para-aminophenol). It continues to recount the indications, means of action, particular (generally liver) enzymes that break it down, drug interaction, contraindications (why would you not want to prescribe this medication, and who might be the individual you would not want to prescribe it for).

In short, an awful lot of information, in very small type, on one sheet of paper.

I hunted down, and secured, a copy of the product insert for the Moderna MRNA vaccine.

On the one side, in the middle, were the words, “This Side Intentionally Left Blank”.

On the other side, in the middle, were the words, “This Side Intentionally Left Blank”.

Not another word.

When Covid was at the peak of it’s “popularity”, my medical director briefed me on the benefits of the (mrna) vaccine. I asked her about side effects? I was told that “it was safe”.

I asked about long term adverse effects. I was told, “there are none”

I asked her how anyone could know that about a vaccine that had been in existence for, at that point, something like a year?

I reminded her of the notorious history of Thalidomide (look it up. Awful story), in the context of “no long term side effects” assertion.

I received no answer.