En I got me a coupla bags o dem cheeze curds, yanno? Da kind dat squeak when ya bite ’em?

And also got to spend some time wiht one of my oldest and dearest friends, and his dog.

Gary and I spend a lot of time on the phone, and I know he lurks here, because we discuss things on the blog.

I figure I hit the blog two hundred times a day, so the other 50 are probably Gary, Shoe, and a couple liberals I’ve banned who come here to get fired up to go to rallys with their sweaty, hairy legged smelly hippie friends.

Anyway, Gary is the recipient of one of the very first CNC machines I ever installed, nearly twenty years ago. He still has it, and it’s still in great condition. I hope to have him make some parts for me in a couple weekends and build my midget dance hall. Gary is one of those guys who has done incredible things wiht almost no resources, and the only pack rat I know who is worse than me. I have not seen him in person for months, perhaps longer, and now have rectified that situation to my great pleasure.

Emerson, his dog, is as awesome as ever, and though the white on his muzzle makes him look like a grizzled old man, he still wags and prances to you like a pup.

Anyway, it was a great visit. Gary and I speak, often, about the difficulties we have daily, and the greater difficulty of staying focussed and positive in the face of the general ignorance of people. Gary used to have a small but profitable business making what is really heirloom quality furniture, and lost the business slowly to China, India, Sears, and Nafta. And employees, suppliers, and customers who abused his good nature at every turn. So now he stays alive doing some small repetitive jobs which require the skill and high precision he is capable of providing, and hopefully, that is enough.

We also talked about our posessions owning us. Few people are capable of owning things and not having those things own us. This is why the oriental philosophies all stressed poverty- it is hard to be able to clear your head of the physical worries of our day to day existence and get anything done, either personally or spiritually. For some people, their posessions constitute an albatross they can never rid themselves of. Better for it all to burn and leave you clean and clear, and start fresh, if you can’t make it happen any other way.

Nice to be back home, though. Note to the state of Wisconsin: If you put a sign that says “Culvers, this exit” you should make sure that the Culver’s in question is, say, within a mile of the exit. And not seventeen miles off the highway.

Got home at two AM. And happy to be here. Actually slept till nine, between bouts of the dog waking me to moisten my face.