Category Archives: Rancho Roly Poly

IRS-enforced Obamacare

Posted on May 19, 2013 | Comments Off on IRS-enforced Obamacare

Notice the hapless fellow getting directions is wearing a medical outfit? Lately, it seems every time I take Mr. B. to the doctor, for a brief illness or a required checkup for summer camp, even the nurses are bemoaning a future of expanded federal supervision.

The paperwork alone will keep them busy-busy hopping to the tune of the latest partisan Democrat in charge of counting lead pencils and rubber erasers. For instance, the IRS woman in charge of targeting the Tea Party, evangelical and pro-Israel groups for harassment audits, is the new director of enforcement for Obamacare.

The usual low-information folks who think Obamacare means free medicals will now discover that time also is a form of money and they will be spending a lot of time waiting. We’ll use the new concierge clinics as long as we can afford them. Then we’ll get in line.

UPDATE:  Meanwhile, as I said before, watch how you vote. You might not get that procedure you need approved in time to save your life.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Obamalot, Rancho Roly Poly, The Economy

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Pols should be required to do their own taxes

Posted on April 19, 2013 | Comments Off on Pols should be required to do their own taxes

If they were required by law to do their own federal income taxes, the rules would be a lot simpler for the rest of us to understand and follow. Although that might diminish the livelihood of accountants like our friend Donnie Greenspan.

Still, as Instapundit says, the current complexity is a human rights violation

Mrs. Charm did our federal taxes fairly quickly again this year because, as usual, we have no deductions. Only had our mortgage interest payments to deduct in the past but they’re too small now to quality because the mortgage, which was low to begin with thanks to our foresight and planning, is almost paid off.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, The Economy

The kolaches of West

Posted on April 19, 2013 | Comments Off on The kolaches of West

You’d expect the daily to go heavy on the fertilizer plant explosion in West, not far up the interstate from the rancho, and they have. Indeed, they even mention the famous Czech kolaches sold there. Famous because so many people buy them, often when enroute to Austin from North Texas.

Mr. B.’s grandmother usually brings us a box when she visits, having stopped in West for a snack on her way down from Fort Worth.

We never thought of West as a location for a disaster of such proportions, with estimates of “around 35” people killed and several times that number injured. Estimates because some homes and buildings were leveled, including a small apartment block across from the plant whose rubble still is being searched.

If we’d known there was a fertilizer plant in West we might have thought differently. Grain elevators can be volatile enough. Fertilizer, of course, was the chief component of McVeigh’s Oklahoma City bomb. Even country icon Willie Nelson is doing a benefit concert this weekend for West. He came up as a boy near there.

As for me and Mrs. Charm, we’re a little numb from all the recent tragedies, in Massachusetts and now closer to home. We’re just glad nothing on those scales has happened here. So we’re selfishly talking about pasteries and hoping grandma will still be able to stop off in West and bring us a box when she visits.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Mrs. Charm, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana

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Cop’s right, veteran’s wrong: open carry is restricted in Texas

Posted on April 17, 2013 | Comments Off on Cop’s right, veteran’s wrong: open carry is restricted in Texas

I admire most of what I find in National Review. There aren’t that many good conservative publications in America which is swamped with Leftist newspapers and magazines that only pretend to be impartial.

But National Review is just as capable of screwing up. And such is NR’s championing of a belligerent veteran who lives near Temple, which is just up the road from the rancho: “Texas Soldier Arrested for Rudely Displaying Weapon.”

Seems to me the self-described soldier is the rude one, smarting off to a cop who questioned his presumed right to carry a loaded AR-15 on a hike with his young son out in the countryside. He reportedly told NR: “I was legally exercising a right, especially in Texas where we have a right to carry weapons openly….”

That is not true and it’s really lazy journalism to publish it unquestioned and base much of a story on it. NR ought to know better than to publish any assertion of law without a simple Google verification.

Open carry is not legal in Texas, except when hunting or in a sporting event or on your own property. And arguing with a cop (legally called a “peace officer” in Texas) is pretty stupid behavior anywhere at any time no matter how dumb or venal the officer seems to be. It sets a really bad example for a child.

Via Instapundit.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Guns, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, The War, Troops

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AT&T games

Posted on April 8, 2013 | Comments Off on AT&T games

Seventy-two hours into intermittent DSL Net connection via AT&T. Have talked to robots, human techs, Googled the various boxes that pop up, and the beat goes on. And off. On and off. When it does work, it’s verryy sloow.

First it was an IP address conflict. Working together Mr. B and I satisfied ourselves there was/is no conflict. The box still pops up whenever the system goes down again. Next possibility was/is defective filters between phone lines and modem causing interference. Plan to buy two new filters today and see if that helps.

Also trying to update the firmware in the Netgear WiFi router, but so far the router can’t connect with its home base on the Web to check for updates. Grrrr.

If this isn’t resolved by tomorrow night, it’s bye-bye AT&T. Hello Time-Warner. Not that I expect one big, impersonal corp to be any better than another, but at least the problems will be new. These old problems are really old.

UPDATE: Two human techs later, the DSL problems have been solved but the landline still won’t take incoming calls. Supposedly a third tech will work on the latter. I hope s/he can fix it without screwing up the DSL.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Rancho Roly Poly, Science/Engineering, Scribbles

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Rancho waterfall

Posted on April 6, 2013 | Comments Off on Rancho waterfall

Had a repeat the other day of last summer’s stone-steps waterfall in the back forty. Last July it took nearly ten inches of rain over several days to form the waterfall.

This week just 2.5 inches of rain did it, concentrated into a downpour of little more than one hour. Just like last time, I used six big ceramic floor tiles (left over from a previous job and stood up against the doors) to divert the stream from the glass doors to the patio. Worked fine, sending the big river curving away in a fish-hook shape. Only had a few soaked towels inside as a result.

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Posted in Blogosphere, Rancho Roly Poly, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Why not San Francisco, Kim?

Posted on March 29, 2013 | Comments Off on Why not San Francisco, Kim?

It’s closer to North Korea, whose idiot dictator apparently has targeted our fair village on the Texas Colorado for the reception of one of his new photoshopped ICBMs.

Perhaps he is enraged at Austin’s recent banning of plastic bags, which might be (unbeknownst to us all) a North Korean product? Presumably they produce something besides bombast, phony photographs and comical military uniforms.

Or is it that our Leftism is sullied by too many military retirees of a conservative bent? Fear not, Jong-un, their electoral power is negligible. In any case, the worm should turn his paper trajectories more to the northwest and bombard the more populated San Francisco. It is even less purely Socialistic, amply demonstrated by its unanimous support of gay marriage, surely a threat to manly Marxist paradises everywhere.

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Posted in Guns, Obsessions, Rancho Roly Poly, Science/Engineering, The War

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