Winning Is A Possibility

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

Listen here: Everything is not crappy. That’s just a lie Big Crap tells you.

The future isn’t written in stone. Or if you prefer there is a strong possibility that, in the words of my generation, “The future is so bright I got to to wear shades.”

Look, it’s not guaranteed. The future never is. And we will have to work a lot and do our best to get there.

But the work might not be as insanely difficult as you’re anticipating right now. And we’re not going to have to be hip deep in blood most of the time or — possibly! — at all. And it’s also likely we won’t be metaphorically speaking walking uphill in snow both ways most of the time (or — possibly — much time at all.) And — hear me out, okay — it’s just possible, just vaguely possible that everything isn’t shit and getting worse. It’s possible that things are going to get better. Are getting better all the time.

Not perfectly better, of course, because we’re human and this is a fallen world, so it’s two steps forward, one step back (I know whence I speak. I said what I mean) but better.

Look, if I were a believer in massive conspiracies, I’d say that we’ve been under a concerted barrage of entertainment/news/propaganda designed to convince us the world is a terrible, dark place; all humans are shitty beings; nothing is worth it; we might as well give up.

Actually I am a believer in conspiracy theories of sorts, by virtue of being a believer. And if you are, you know exactly what that conspiracy is, and who the author of it is. He never did like humans much, and if he can get us to descend to his level, it’s all to the best.

But other than that, and leaving aside woo stuff, it’s not a real conspiracy theory. Though it might be a prospiracy.

You see, under mass media, all the information/entertainment industrial complex was taken over by Marxists (Communists, socialists, the whole damned mess of them, if indeed there is any difference but in speed of implementation. Every socialist I know calls himself a communist when amid fellow travelers) with the idea, way back then, of leading humans to the great glorious communist future.

Except the great glorious communist future never materialized. And in fact all their plans keep turning to ashes and dust. Since they never can figure out it’s the philosophy that’s broken, they keep being disappointed in all the world and everyone in it.

In that way they’re a lot like the crazier Christian sects. They’ve become disillusioned with the world and all in it for refusing to live up to their concept of adamantine perfection. And they know people are doing it on purpose to be difficult, because after all, it’s so easy, “if only everybody.” So people are terrible, the worst, and the world is a place of suffering and punishment. They’re different from the crazy Christian sects (Why do I say that’s crazy? Well, chilluns, because He created the world and “saw that it was good.” Even if the fall made it flawed, some/a lot of the good remains. So kick the black dog and stop spiraling) in that Christians believe in redemption and hope eternal. While the Marxists don’t, so it’s all terrible, it’s always terrible and then you die.

This also combines with a spiteful wish to punish the world and humanity in general for breaking their little red wagon. (I mean what I say and say what I mean.) So, humans are terribad, and they should all die and leave the world to…. termites or bacteria or whatever they deem is far away enough from humans to be untainted today. After all, humans could be perfect and leave in perfect communism “if only everybody” so they’re all horribad, obviously.

This is the mindset behind all the information and entertainment complex, and we drank it with our mothers’ milk, even those of you who were bottle fed, and even those of us on the right and swimming against the current.

So, of course you think everything is bad and getting worse, and everything is dross and horror.

If you let Ian Bruene have five minutes, he’ll rattle off all the improvements in the last fifty years in gun rights. And I can rattle off all the improvements in education — yes, education. I don’t mean public education, cawkers, but education is so much more than that — and access to information and to like minded thinkers in the last twenty years. I can also tell you that not only is it much easier not to be a leftist NOW than in the rest of my life, but ALSO that things are turning, and our star is ascendant. Doesn’t mean we won’t have to eat live frogs for a decade or two, depending, but I’m more convinced than ever that Reagan was right and in the end we win, they lose.

As for humans? No, they’re not perfect, but a majority of humans are just trying to be decent and do the best they can for themselves and those that depend on them. And a good number are willing to extend that kindness to total strangers.

Humans as a whole are not actually evil, if for no other reason that that being utterly evil takes too much effort. And humans as a rule don’t wish for the worst for everyone else. Humans have SOME control over their thoughts, impulses and wrong doing. Humans, as a whole, are individuals. And as individuals they present a fascinating array of behavior and belief that includes the possibility of heroism, kindness and joy.

One of the things responsible for this post is people who have read the three e-arcs of No Man’s Land thanking me for not having pointless evil just show up in characters we care about; not having pointless deaths just to show I’m serious; not taking the whole world to sh*t just to pretend it’s deep. I was shocked at first, and then I realized 40 years ago I’d absolutely had done that, because it’s what I was taught, and it’s the way I’d been taught serious writing should be done.

Which explains the panoply of grey evil ragged blah that has invaded all our entertainment. I’m sick and tired of husband watching something that looks like it will be a fun adventure and fifteen minutes later I look up and realize what I heard wasn’t a mistake. All these people are committing atrocities because THEY CAN even though they’re supposed to be the good guys. (People, the Stanford Prison experiments were fake and a lie. Get them out of your head.)

It explains the crapification of our culture.

And then this morning my husband told me, out of the blue, apropos nothing: Everything is not crappy. That’s just a lie Big Crap tells you.

He has no idea why he said that. It just struck him out of the blue. But it’s true.

They’re in a big depressive pet, rolling on the cultural floor and throwing a fit.

It doesn’t mean you have to give them mind space. In fact you absolutely shouldn’t.

Like the Lady of Shallot’s their mirror has cracked from side to side, and their doom is coming upon them.

But their doom is not ours. Us? We’re going to the stars. We have only just begun. And our future’s so bright we’re going to have to invent better shades.

Go forth and build and create. The future can be better than you imagine. It can be better than you can imagine.

And it’s up to us.

121 thoughts on “Winning Is A Possibility”

  6. The FBI raided John Bolton’s home and is resuming an investigation Trump #1 had initiated and Biden cancelled. These are not the actions of a retreating army fighting a desperate battle for survival. Admit it, we’re winning and it’s addictive!

    Liked by 5 people

      1. They raided his office, too. Related to an investigation from Trump 45 and Bolton “liberating,” classified documents used to write his memoirs. Then he pontificated about how awful Trump is for….keeping classified documents.

        Liked by 2 people

          1. I haven’t had a chance to use this line in years, but “His karma ran over his dogma.”

            Life is good, even if DC juries will acquit because Bad Orange Man. (Can’t see a change in venue unless the ‘stace was really stupid.)

            Like

    2. Yup… It also looks like the whole Epstein thing is starting to simply fall apart. The ‘left’ and doomsayers still crowing about this and that are getting less traction every day. I keep seeing supposed ‘brilliant’ statements from the likes of Gov. Newsom and other Democrat stars and the disconnect from reality is really stunning.

      I also reflect that it’s been barely a half year since the Trump administration took office and the social, political, economic, etc. impact is beyond anything I’ve ever seen or knew about from history. We should, and will, hang in there as the winning is happening and we should anticipate more! No, it isn’t going to be nice and smooth but winning it will be.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. It feels like so much longer because of what Trump #47 has gotten done. He’ll have everything promised, and more, done before the mid terms. Depending on how the midterms go, he’ll come up with more. Oh heck, he’ll come up with more just to hear the demorats screech even if he can’t get it forced through as laws. Executive orders, that the demorats usual suspects will strike down and get overruled, but something that can be overturned by another executive order, eventually.

        Liked by 1 person

          1. The abrupt “DC Cleanup” with the NG deployed, plus scores of Feds, makes me wonder if there is a conga line of indictments about to drop.

            Be still my heart.

            Would be funny as heck to watch the usual cosplay revolutionaries getting scooped up and “processed” by MPs instead of LEOs. Then told they are facing Insurrection charges and court martial.

            Ah well. Probably not. A man can dream, yes?

            Liked by 1 person

  7. On the humans are Evil Front, in the SF Movie Species (1995) there was a comment that the aliens aren’t going to invade because (with no FTL), it’d be impossible for them to invade.

    Then at the end of the movie, there was a comment that the aliens wanted to prevent us from endangering them.

    If they can’t invade because of the vast distance, then how can humans endanger them? [Crazy Grin]

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    1. The discrepancy is presumably not explained in the movie, but there are possible rational explanations. For example, if the principles of hyperspace travel are understood, and a drive can be created, but the aliens’ own physiology presents them from safely using that form of travel, then their actions and claimed motivations make sense.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Or it could just be hack writing.

      Most likely one scene was from one draft script, the other was from a different draft, all of which were unshootable without more work, so they ended up just pulling stuff together at random and handing it to the director, “Here. I know. Look, it’s just a horror movie, we’re paying you, just shoot it.”

      There’s only one writer credited on that film, but rewrites and “polishing” happen uncredited all the time for various reasons.

      Liked by 1 person

    3. A Relativistic Kill Vehicle doesn’t weigh much, is nearly impossible to intercept, and can wipe a world clean of all life in a single hit.

      A planetary scale invasion force costs millions of times the energy and mass of a single RKV.

      I doubt the writers understood any of this, but they were accidentally right.

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  8. “And our future’s so bright we’re going to have to invent better shades.”

    Why re-invent the wheel?

    Use welding goggle lenses.

    On to the next step in improvement!

    Liked by 1 person

  10. The Stanford Prison experiments were fake and a lie.

    And so was the rat experiment, and so is the New Ice Age™ followed by Global Warming™ followed by Catastrophic Climate Change™ (shortened to Climate Change to hide the lie) so was The Population Bomb.

    Just call them on their insanity and laugh.

    Liked by 2 people

          1. Yet, oddly, the climate “experts” insist all that water vapor blasted all the way up into the stratosphere will totes not impact climate, or even weather, at all, apparently because it’s not anthropogenic and thus can’t be used for communism or fundraising, even though water vapor is a vastly more powerful greenhouse gas than that plant food one:

            Liked by 3 people

  11. So the world is NOT quite the 2001 world I saw and longed for at 8. No Pan Am flights (No pan am, although if they put one guy on a hypersonic SSTO no wonder they went out of business) to a Vob Braun style ring station. No Space Hilton or Howard Johnson’s (no really there is a sign in the background for a HoJo’s Earthview lounge as we first arrive at the station). No Moon base nor the ability to support one. Eight year old me would be disappointed. That said we didn’t get Soylent Green, Rollerball, 1984 (well mostly, England is trying REAL hard to be Airstrip One), Logan’s Run, Brave New World (though for a while were and are trying real hard to go there) or Blade Runner or a thousand other dystopic nightmares Hollywood foisted off as Sci Fi.

    On the good side there is health. That 8 year old me was an asthmatic who pretty much lived indoors through much of the summer as living downwind from NYC meant 20+ days a summer of dangerous air pollution and maybe another 10 to 20 of bad days. Cold Wintyer air was NOT a win. Either of which might trigger me to need an emergency dose of Adrenaline (applied via suppository, no it wasn’t pleasant) or ultimately to get sent 20-30 miles to a hospital to get an adrenaline injection and put in an oxygen tent. Air pollution (even where I lived ) is far reduced (I think we had 2 bad days this summer, Mostly due to Canadian wildfires) and the rescue inhalers and basic treatments mean I rarely notice the asthma. At my current age my mother who had similar issues (sleep apnea, High Blood pressure, type 2 diabetes) had been deceased for a year. This is again due to far better medications and far better care (and adherence to said care). In my 50’s a biologic medicine developed from recombinant DNA helped me survive lymphoma.

    And there are things that are far beyond what we foresaw. Although our computers are NOT quite HAL 9000 (thank the Author) their interconnection and ubiquity is far beyond what folks imagined until the early 90’s . We complain about cars but I drive around in an IC based car that regularly gets 30 +MPG city with an engine providing 189 HP. It will easily live 100000 miles and likely well beyond that. As much as we lionize 60’s cars they were often cranky, needed constant tune ups (especially 4 bbl carbs) and 13-15 MPG was an economy car, life expectancy was 3years or 30K miles IF you were lucky other than a few oddballs (e.g. VW beetles). Even lower class folks have living conditions that even 150 years ago would have exceeded all but the very upper crusts living standards (and if we get the modern equivalent of Protean Pete having things done by robot servants may push us past even them).

    Is Everything rosy? In a word, no, in fact, hell no. A large portion of our populace (30-40+%) wish to commit cultural suicide and don’t seem to be bright enough or aware enough to see this as an issue. Once great Members of the Anglophone alliance such as the UK, Australia and Canada (and New Zealand although their population would put them 25th by population and 37th or so by GDP if they were a US state) are trying very hard to LARP 1984 or Brave New World. Much of Western Europe has lost control of its borders and cities and is trying real hard to wander into Col. Kratman’s Caliphate . Russia is trying one last gasp at being relevant, China has a huge population of military age males without good employment or prospect of families due to side effects of the 1 child policy and a government that seems to be losing it’s grip on the populace and its Mandate from Heaven.

    To paraphrase from a favorite movie

    “Do you think they’ll make it?”

    “It would take a miracle.”

    But don’t count us out yet we already got one miracle last July 13. That led to another one November 6th 2024. At this point we might as well let the bet ride and see where we end up.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. A huge male population of military age who got beaten like drum by the Indians in their last border skirmish 5-7 years ago, supposedly using nothing more advanced than stones and lathi sticks (billy clubs). Much less concerned about PRC infantry than about some other branches of their military.

      Liked by 2 people

      2. All of their branches are looking a bit ineffective right now. Did you see the video of the collision between the PLAN destroyer and the PRC coast guard ship while they were attempting to harass a Philippines coast guard ship in the latter’s territorial waters? Quite the sloppy bit of maritime maneuvers, and both ships were badly damaged.

        Liked by 3 people

          1. Note the two CCG guys on the Chinese cutter’s bow trying to rig a fender. I bet they didn’t make it.

            And the PLAN DD never made any move to stop to render aid or assist in any man overboard search, just kept up their game.

            I imagine the zampolit on that DD’s bridge was very insistent.

            Liked by 3 people

      4. Remember – in Western militaries, the highest prestige is in the combat arms, the more lilely you are to get shot at, the better. In the PLA, prestige is in the business units. Consider what that different means in terms of where the competent people go

        Liked by 1 person

        1. And we have a -long- history of demonstrating whay we are hard to one-punch, and why we do some of our best fighting when someone tries it.

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      1. Spending a good part of my time at SAC bases and other high priority targets, I really did not expect to live long enough to retire from the military. We were going to rumble, it was just a question of when and how many kilotons.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. I lived close to GFAFB. There was a late summer night being awakened by the unmistakable swelling roar of a B52 overhead very low. A few minutes later, the same roar again. And again. And again. Now why would B52s be being vectored out low over the city? Like maybe they were trying to get them off the ground as fast as possible (and hang the FAA regs) Perhaps I should turn on the radio and see if anything is going on. A colleague at work thought the same and called her sister who lived in a community next to the Base to ask the same question. Turned out to be a single B52 with mechanical issues burning off fuel before trying to land.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. $SPOUSE lived on the flight path to/from Moffett NAS back in the day. One night, helicopters swarming kept her awake, but nothing on the news that morning. OTOH, a bit later, Grenada had been invaded.

            Later on, folks mentioned seeing some interesting northbound convoys from Fort Ord, a bit north of Monterey.

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          2. June 1980 I was in AFROTC Field Training at Dyess AFB. We had what we thought was a fire alarm go off at Oh Dark Early and we responded as trained (athletic gear with raincoats over) evacuated and assembled in the parking lot of our dorm building.

            Turns out our dorm was an old Alert Facility building, and the alarm was actually the alert Klaxon that had never been disconnected. We could hear the birds in the the nearby alert parking area fire up their engines and some start to taxi. Uh Oh.

            They held short of the runway and were apparently starting to shut some down when we were ordered back into the dorm and back to bed.

            This was one of the times when a computer glitch erroneously reported an incoming ICBM attack.

            Liked by 1 person

          1. I was staying with my folks in Jacksonville, FL (about 30 miles from Mayport, much closer to NAS Jax) when ABC ran, “The Day After.” Next morning, a brilliant flash of light followed by a God-awful roar….and then I realized it was a thunderstorm.

            And it could have been worse. Your mom could have read, “On the Beach.”

            Liked by 2 people

    3. Hon, it’s not 30 to 40%. It’s probably around 20% which is normal for mentally unhinged and out of touch.
      If there were that many, the cheating wouldn’t be so ingrained and they wouldn’t be defending it that hard.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hmm I suspect I tend to overestimate as I live just outside the 128 belt in what is normally considered suburban Boston (due to the number of commuters to the city). Here that number runs upwards of 60% in some areas.

        On average I suspect you are correct and the active idiots count closer to 20-25%. But there are a few folks who are fellow travellers because they can’t stand Trump, or are afraid to actually have to depend on themselves, or feel that the “system” has wronged them. They’re not prone to smear feces on things like the Antifa types and the Zizzians, but are far worse. They’re the true 5th column. They look sane and seem innocuous and yet are far more destructive as they act like sand in the gears of the system. You can tell the Antifa types and Mamdani/The Squad are insane if you’ve got two brain cells to rub together. But the more sedate types are doing far more damage as they seem reasonable.

        Luckily lately though that sweet old lady archetype have been taking their masks off and letting their freak flag fly (witness the recent hoorah against Winsome Sears in Virginia). Something about the nature of Trump and his willingness to use their own rules against them sends them off the deep end in a fashion that the more establishment (i.e. surrender monkey) Republicans of yore did not.

        20% or 40% its too many and dangerous. Modern societies are complex and delicate and folks throwing shoes and sand into the machinery are a problem. Ultimately, we need far more resilient political structures. Still, I’m at a loss to figure out a way to make that work without descending into far more authoritarian pathways than I prefer.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. There really aren’t a lot of fellow travelers because they can’t stand Trump. A lot of people make mouth noises, but they don’t actually vote that way. It’s all signalign all the way down.

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  12. Speaking of conspiracy theories and Christian sects, I brain-farted a movie plot where uber rich were harvesting Amish for their vax-free blood.

    I could call it “Zebadiah and Ezekiel Strike Back”. Maybe cast Sydney Seeney and Lena Micullek as a pair of gun slingers that help them out.

    “If you can move a barn, you can move the world to find your loved ones…”

    Like

    1. I like your movie idea! At the local ‘gun show’ earlier this month the local Amish had a booth with pies, cookies and such. Great stuff. The women took care of the selling and the men were working the aisles getting deals on ammo and the occasional long arm. I think old Zeb may have more bark already.

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        1. Amish are hunters. They often use firearms for such, also bows, crossbows, etc. As in many things, they prefer the old ways, so blackpowder muzzleloaders are common for such who care to. Some use more modern hunting arms. They do not tend to use guns to resolve personal matters.

          Humans, being human, can rationalize some fairly significant change, given the correct stimulus.

          Liked by 1 person

  13. Sarah; since no emojis, : Hearts and Hugs!!

    And to tregonsee314 ; you must have had REALLY bad luck with cars (And a Bug lasting over 100K ? Where?) I don’t know if my Dad or Grampa ever had a car last LESS than 100K. My second thru fifth car all exceeded 100,000; (and were all built in the 60s) of course, the first two both STARTED at 90,000, and cost me less than $200. Having mechanical skill and a Dad who had been a successful race car driver helped in that. The fifth was a 67 Oldsmobile that ALSO got 23 mpg on the highway, reliably. My third, a six cylinder Dodge Dart occasionally managed 30. Of course, my CURRENT car averages 50, and will hit 100K, soon. My previous, a Volvo, did 33 highway and had 120K when I traded it in. As the famous saying goes, you mileage may vary!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I knew someone who had TWO Bugs that were well over 100K.

      Mind you, it was usually only one working at a time, since he would pull over needed parts while other parts were on months-long order paths, but he still kept them going. ;)

      Like

      1. I have heard of it happening (but TWO!) just not seen one. But my buddy had a VW ‘bus’ that was running poorly. I could TELL it was out of adjustment, but didn’t have any of my tune up tools with me. Tried to do it ‘by ear’ the way my Pop did, but I’m not nearly as good. But did make SOME improvement. We could get it up to fifty, going downhill! Drove it to my folks place, and dad brings out his kit. First couple of checks, and his reaction was “How is this thing even RUNNING??” I told him it had been worse. Anyway, after a FULL tune up, it was like a new engine. I made sure to pack up my tuning gear; I had been depending on the base auto shop when I wanted to tweak things a bit on MY car. But the main lesson was ‘it is AMAZING how forgiving the VW engine was!’ If MY engine had been that far off proper timing, it wouldn’t have even STARTED!

        Liked by 1 person

        1. The Reader’s favorite VW story (squareback, not bug) was being out on a date in his teens and having the engine not start after a school dance. The Reader looked at his date and asked her to open the glove compartment and take out the emery board. The Reader took it, opened the engine compartment, popped the distributor cap, and gently filed the points. The engine started fine after that.

          Liked by 2 people

    2. 1 = 150k

      2 = 190k

      3 = 360k

      All were still operable when I traded.

      4 now at 14k on the Durango.

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      1. My brother’s Durango is coming up on 300K. His 65 Olds F85 only has 490K on it; It was his first car! (I think it had about 85K when he got it; $80. But that’s an even LONGER story!)

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    3. My uncle drove a bug well into this century that had a very faded Nixon/Lodge sticker on the back. I don’t know how many miles he had on it, but it was quite a lot. He might still have it, though if he does I’m pretty sure it’s not drivable.

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    4. Cars I have Known (or owned)

      Ford Mach I 1972 4 speed Manual – Friends in College. Not sure what MPG was, I think he had the lower grade 302 not the 351 Cleveland. Extraordinarily hard start in Worcester winters. Retired 1983 with perhaps 50K miles, succumbed to frame damage from rust

      1974 Gold Duster with 225 slant six – Owned Constant starter issues (ultimately the ballast resistor for the starter/ignition system was the issue). 40K ish miles was prematurely ended by a little old lady driving a Ford Grenada running a red light at 35 MPH. Simlar to your Dart (though lighter). I was lucky to see 18-19 MPG although at gas prices in the $.50-.75 a gallon range no one much cared. I mostly drove city in traffic in Worcester so nothing got great mileage there. Friend had a ’75 with the V8 and a 4 spd manual. That ran into the mid 80’s

      1963 SAAB 95 (family) – This was a bizarre beast 3 Cylinder, 2 cycle (oil with the gas!?!). Ran pretty well. Went 100K plus with the family (rolled the 5 digit odometer). Sold for a song to an older cousin. He ran it for 40K more before he dozed off coming home from college in a snowstorm. Car hit a bridge abutment at 45+ MPH. He walked away unhurt (SAAB specialty), the car didn’t make it :-( .

      1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass – Owned Small block 8 (260 cu In I think) 3sp auto. This was the vehicular equivalent of the really hot girl with the crazy eyes. I can not recount the number of times and different ways this broke down including coolant issues, fuel pump issues, power steering issues, a tendency to wander out of alignment and eat tires, yadda yadda yaddda. MPG in the 15-18 range

      1972 SAAB 99 – Four speed manual 4 cylinder 4 cycle. This was a mixed bag. That period 99 used a Triumph engine and the electrics were (wait for it) Lucas Prince of Darkness. A bit of a hangar queen due to the electrics and the early injection. Done in when a drunk driving idiot T Boned my Dad and I while he was driving too fast. Totaled his Cadillac, and our SAAB. We walked away shaken. He had minor injuries (banged head on steering wheel).

      1975 SAAB 99 – four speed 4 cylinder carbeurated with manual choke. Another tough car although quirky, ran 150K + miles before traded in. Pretty dependeable although I did have a slave cylinder for the clutch go as I was getting off the highway. Glided it to a stop in a convenient parking lot (with a pay phone bless the Author) across from the off ramp.

      Asstd pre 1967 Beetles – These were owned by friends, Could be had for $100-200 in decent condition. They were one of the favored cars of high school kids as they were cheap to buy, really cheap to fuel and relatively cheap to insure (I mean how much rat racing can you do in a VW bug?) Almost none had less than 50K when bought I knew several that had rolled the 5 digit odometers. Easy and cheap to maintain thanks to Dr Porsche’s air cooled engine and their narrow wheels and rear engine build made them very sure footed in snow.

      1982 Pontiac Phoenix – (was my moms) Remember the Cutlass that was the crazy hot girlfriend? This one is not hot… well, except when it caught fire. GM post early 70’s was absolute trash as far as I could tell. Enough said.

      Asstd Honda Accords and Civics – (owned) Except for a flaky 1995 Accord these have been rock solid, all have gone 160K+ with a 1984 just shy of 200k. They’re not spectacular, just a dependable car that just runs.

      1989 Ford Mustang – owned 302 V8 5 spd manual. Honestly, this car was pretty darn good. 189K miles (that 302 is tough, just keep its oil full). But as it aged it got more rattles than its Honda compatriots and suffered more breakdowns. And honestly as I got into my 30’s slogging a 5 speed manual in stop and go traffic with a clutch that could handle 300ft lb of tourque or driving a powerful rear engine car in a snow storm (I did a 720 in it one time, almost needed clean undies) got old. Every once and a while I look at the modern Mustangs with 400+ BHP from the 4.6 liter 8 and drool, but then my brain engages and realizes the 225 BHP had a 20 something skilled driver right at his limits. Maybe I can get one as a rental for a week in summer somewhere.

      Here in New England rust from Road Salt was your big opposition, Most late 60’s hardware was good for 3-5 winters. Volvo and SAAB did better though even they had issues as Sweden tended to use less salt than New England. The road salt also could be hell on electrics making for odd shorts, and most mechanics were only so so at diagnosing electric issues especially transient ones.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Not sure which way you were going on the Dodge Dart/Duster weight; my 65 was definitely the lighter. But if you were driving mostly city, then about right; I only got really good mileage on highway trips. My only real complaint about the car is that it was apparently INVISIBLE to girls my age. Little old ladies would smile and wave, but teenage girls? Forget it! ( I was 17 at the time)

        Saabs were quite interesting ; I considered buying one several times. Looked to be a bear to work on, though. Best compliment I ever got on my 78 Honda 5-speed was from a Saab salesman I was friends with. He was all excited they had just gotten in a new Saab Turbo. Then he said “Oh, that’s right, you have that hot Honda, you might not be as impressed!” I cracked up. It was a hoot in it’s own way; the turbo took a bit to spool up, and then suddenly, it was THERE, and you were off! My Volvo C30 (2007) turbo was much better managed, and by then, Volvo had gone FWD as well.

        American car makers pretty much lost their way between 72-74. Didn’t start coming back till about 78, but still weren’t much on their previous reputation. Grandfather had a Corvair that was just bulletproof. But he and my Dad (SiL to PopPop) were big Oldsmobile fans. Obviously, I can’t follow that tradition NOW! It is interesting to see what has survived, though. Given your locale, I’m surprised you never had a Subaru. (Yes, they ARE owned by people other than Lesbians!) They really are great in the snow, and at least in PA, resist the road salt pretty well.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I know am the proud owner of a 2023 Subaru Crosstrek. Very Nice car. Honda seems to have lost its way with its HV/CRV bloating and all the engines shrinking. had a 2017 CRV I loved but tried the 2022/2023 and hated them and the HRV, just too stinking big.

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          1. Yeah; had a 1st gen CRV; that thing was great! It followed a Subaru XT6 that was an absolute HOOT. They were both my wife’s cars, at the time. She smoked the clutch on the XT6 because her stick shift skills had started to degrade; we had the CRV for MANY years.

            My 2019 Insight is ‘kinda’ large for a ‘designed as’ Hybrid, but it gets GREAT mileage, and the size and styling were what sold me on it, since it was easier to pack for trips than a Prius or Ioniq. And it has better handling than either, as well. It’s only at 78K so for; I expect to run it past 100K. Don’t know what I’ll replace it with yet; I expect it hasn’t been created yet!

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          2. We ran into the same with Dodge Durango 2020, then later with the Santa Fe 2019 and 2020 (yes, we have two). Durango went to the size of a Suburban. Santa Fe 2021 is now the size of the old Santa Fe XL. Not looking for awhile now, at least another 4+ years, or longer (given an actual say, knock on wood, etc.). Both are paid for. The 2020 with hit 100k before the 2019, hubby drives it further weekly. Even when the 2019 is the one we put 5K+ on our vacation runs.

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  14. Is it just me, or does the hilly background landscape in the leader-picture actually look like a standard-issue hillside on a thoroughly terraformed Mars? (Just as a closer look at yesterday’s picture made it all seem somehow retro-French, and more specifically some Jules Verne timeline plus about half a century.)

    I can even tell what (much or most of) the clue-in is: it’s all the reds and yellows, which is pretty much on-point (especially the reds, of course) with actual right-now Mars imagery.

    Either way, that Coat of Many Colors looks pretty dang future-chic to me, too.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. So terrible…

    “Hey, this stuff coming from the ground burns. We don’t have to risk people hunting whales now! (Who “Saved the Whales”? Standard Oil.)

    “Say, these E-M waves look like they go about the speed of light! Do you suppose?”

    “All those annoying deaths from hidden infections in the Great War, just when things seemed to be looking up. Say, could we see if any of our dyes might maybe help?”

    “A couple metals stacked just so do what? Say, that might be useful.”

    “I banged up my knee terribly at the jag, but didn’t feel a thing. Hang on!”

    Sure a lot of hit and miss and random pure luck and all that, fits and starts and all, clawing out a better future as things get noticed. Keep minds open. Ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!

    Sure, humans are insane – in the best way.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. …and let’s not forget…

      “We have to re-adjust all our selenium resistors every single time the sun goes up or down. What’s up with that?”

      “Rats, heavy bread mold contamination all over my culture plates, have to throw… wait, what?”

      There’s an old saying, about luck being when preparation meets opportunity…

      Liked by 2 people

  16. “you know exactly what that conspiracy is, and who the author of it is. He never did like humans much, and if he can get us to descend to his level, it’s all to the best.”

    Leading us down to his level was the end game all along. It’s why I try to restrain my urge to hate his minions even half as much as they’ve earned.

    I’m a ‘practicing’ Christian…haven’t gotten it right yet.

    Liked by 1 person

  17.  …thanking me for not having pointless evil just show up in characters we care about; not having pointless deaths just to show I’m serious; not taking the whole world to sh*t just to pretend it’s deep.

    IOW thanks for not being George RR Martin

    Liked by 4 people

    3. When I heard that Martin had been hired to write (some of) the lore on Elden Ring, I did not see that as a positive. But then, the Dark Souls series had always had depressing world and a glass-is-completely-empty setting, so I figured it wouldn’t change much. It didn’t; watching people play Elden Ring, I can’t tell which part of the writing was Martin and which part was Fromsoft.

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    4. “ IOW thanks for not being George RR Martin”

      Or Kathleen Kennedy. Or JarJar Abrams. Or Alex Kurtzman. The list goes on and on…

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  18. The central message of No Man’s Land:

    Life is hard, but worth it.

    I’m trying to keep that in mind for myself. We’ve talked about how the various events of the last several years (especially 2020-21) have broken a lot of brains. I really think part of the result in me is that I have a hard time feeling confident in anything long-term. We’re just going to be forced to cancel all our plans anyway, right? I know it’s pathological and often doesn’t make any sense at all, but it’s hard to fight out of. I’m trying my best. I have an adorable little boy and he needs a strong mama.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. I hear that. Sometimes it feels like every day I have to persuade myself to get up, get the bills paid, and keep writing. Even if it’s only a little bit. 400 words is still a page, and enough of those make a book.

      42K into White Cat’s Bluff, and we’re heading into the scene where the Khan makes it absolutely clear he is a Bad Guy. In case the whole trying to conquer the world bit didn’t clue people in.

      (I’m going to need all the tissues after I get this done. Going through a fair amount already….)

      Liked by 1 person

    2. -That- child is a -beautiful- long term plan. Focus on that.

      As to other plans, have a plan, have a backup plan, have an “Oh crap!” Plan, and have a “it all went to blazes” plan.

      In other words, be adaptable, through forseeing opportunity and adversity.

      It’s a mental discipline, often immensely satisfying.

      And -anyone- can do it.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I’m definitely trying. We’re not exactly where we want to be yet, but working on it. I think all the economic stress of being young people, newly married, trying to start building something together right when all the governments and institutions say stop that, no building has set us back a few years relative to where we would be. However, that doesn’t mean we’re a lost cause. We’ll catch up, and by the time the boy is old enough to have clear memories, he probably won’t even know how broke we were.

        Liked by 3 people

  19. “There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men. We’re trying to teach you to be dangerous — to the enemy. Dangerous even without a knife. Deadly as long as you still have one hand or one foot and are still alive.”

    God knows there are days I want to lie down and give up.

    But the Lieutenant wouldn’t like that.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. And every time, every single time we don’t go down for the count, we don’t fall in line with the things we’re “supposed to” think or unthinkingly do, we don’t take the easy downward slope (down to where someone’s made it far easier for us to go) — we’re a micro-psyop all our own.

      Sometimes the rain and the storm… can be a beautiful day, after all.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Absolutely, and there is an even chance if I’m very good I’ll meet him after death in that great convention that goes on forever. And I don’t want him to tell me “Sarah? What the heck?”

      Liked by 1 person

    3. If everything goes completely to shit, and all seems lost, I will head-butt my hangman.

      Thus I may die, but undefeated.

      Liked by 1 person

  21. Dang it! I am more than halfway through with a book that says that.

    Not as eloquently (I’m not a Great Writer), and not as succinctly (I am voluble, loquacious, long-winded, and garrulous); but I’ll be, God-willing, publishing it on Kindle some time before I get the PETscan that tells me if my cancer came back after 8 years or it’s something else.

    Do you have some sort of listening device on my network?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Might be more you’re both “listening” on the same network, creatively speaking.

      Reference: J. Rudyard Kipling, “Wireless” — and no, I’m not kidding at all. Go read it, could explain a lot of things about creativity, and especially about “gateway” whatever.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. A short excerpt: Truth in a work of mostly fiction…
          —-
          I couldn’t see then that the “real me” wasn’t hidden—it was already on display. A boy who coasted, who avoided effort, who relied on others to set the pace. That boy was about to walk into freedom, and freedom would not cure him. It would expose him.
          —-

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  23. I was recommending No Man’s Land to a friend, and said it was Sarah’s answer to Left Hand of Darkness. “Left Hand of Darkness wasn’t really my thing,” she said. “I liked it when I first read it, but not on re-reading.”

    Me: “The subject matter is similar, but the difference is No Man’s Land is great, glorious, galloping FUN!”

    Friend: “Oh, so no underlying theme of how humanity is awful?”

    Me: “Exactly.”

    (Of course, there are bad guys. But…and this is huge…there are also good guys.)

    Liked by 3 people

  24. The doomsayers are always with us, and religion is no panacea, as witness the number of apocalyptic predictions that have failed to come to pass. It seems to be a facet of human nature to want end times, always. The Seventh Day Adventists arose out of the Great Disappointment in 1844, when the world failed to end on time. There was a UFO cult in the 1950s that had two or three predicted ends of the world, documented in When Prophecy Fails.

    But you’re right. Things keep getting better. Exponentially better, and to some, incomprensibly better. Exploding out to the stars, and slipping free of the shackles of bureaucratic over-government, will only make things more so.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Millenialism (the premise that you are living in the Last Days) is, at its root, a simple appeal to abandon saving, working, and planning for the future to squander it all on today. It’s vice disguised as virtue.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. And absolutely proscribed in Scripture in, for example, 2 Thess 3:10 (ESV) states, “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”

        American culture got twisted and confused and for over 40 years has paid healthy people to not work… insert very sad face here…

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    2. How many times over the last 2,000 years has the world failed to end as predicted? You’d think people would eventually catch on to how ridiculous it all is…

      Like [Global Warming!] er, [Climate Change!]. For 30 years they’ve been predicting The End Of The World!!, over and over and over again, and they’re still batting 0.

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Do those who say, lo here or lo there are the signs of his coming, think to be too keen for him, and spy his approach? When he tells them to watch lest he find them neglecting their work, they stare this way and that, and watch lest he should succeed in coming like a thief! George MacDonald

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I’ve heard it said that we should live as if He’d come today and that we should live as if He’d come a hundred years from now.

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  25. A very interesting take, and I see that. But even the millennial prophecies note a desperation for survival as we cross from every day life to the millennial period. If you aren’t willing to prepare and plan for surviving the tribulations and you believe we’re about to hit the end times…

    Let’s just say I shake my head in sorrow at people who take out debt to prepare for the future.

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  26. A very interesting take, and I see that. But even the millennial prophecies note a desperation for survival as we cross from every day life to the millennial period. If you aren’t willing to prepare and plan for surviving the tribulations and you believe we’re about to hit the end times…

    Let’s just say I shake my head in sorrow at people who take out debt to prepare for the future.

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  27. Look at it this way. Fifty years ago there is no way Trump would have been elected. The media and the Democrats (but I repeat) would have called him a racist, a fascist etc just as they now except everyone would have believed them. There was no easy way to check anything the media said and even if you realized Walter Cronkite was a liar, it wasn’t nearly so easy to connect with others outside your immediate circle.

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Look at it this way. Fifty years ago there is no way Trump would have been elected. The media and the Democrats (but I repeat) would have called him a racist, a fascist etc just as they now except everyone would have believed them. There was no easy way to check anything the media said and even if you realized Walter Cronkite was a liar, it wasn’t nearly so easy to connect with others outside your immediate circle.

    Like

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