Glorious absence of sophistication, right here, people.

Wow, youtube is really unhappy about letting me embed anything right now. So I will give you the link, and inform you that these people have come up with a better way to put one's pants on. One leg at a time is no fun, and is so last century. Plus, what better way to waste an afternoon than jumping out a second-story window into a pair of Levi's 501s? Maybe have a spare set of pants stashed in case you ever need to climb out the window and hop a fence when her "boyfriend" gets home early. Infinite applications...

Check it out.

Redneck Recipes

I mentioned that we really DO have a lot of uses for bacon grease. One of them is to just leave it in the pan when making scrambled eggs. Makes then ten times better. Another use for bacon grease is lamp fuel. Seriously, I've seen it done. It's a little inefficient, but you have a hell of a lot of grease and not much parrafin when you're a farmer. Think of "backwards" farmers in Missouri. You probably just pictured someone I'm related to, and if they ever find out what you called them, you in for a whuppin'.

Remember, we take pride in our barbeque, and it is a talent handed down from father to son. Then the son comes up with his own way, and repeats. I cook by smell, not time. If it smells right and looks done, it's done. There is a large grey area in the term "right." This is why barbeque is an art. It will take trial and error for you to learn what's "right" for you. Volumes are deliberately vague.

Here's another redneck recipe. Chili. This chili has won chili cookoffs. This chili has fed families for weeks. This chili is MINE.

You'll be needing

• 2 pounds of chuck steak
• some taters
• two big-ass cans of tomato paste
• one normal can of chicken stock
• three big carrots
• an onion
• some Stubb's Smokey Mesquite BBQ sauce (trust me, no substitutes)
• the talent to light and feed a hot, extremely smokey maple fire. NO ACCELERANTS!
• roasted semi-mild peppers-- buy from the dudes by the highway and freeze.

Grill your steak. Chop everything. Put tomato paste, chicken stock in stewpot on grill. Stir. Smokey fire, close lid. Wait a few minutes. Stoke fire. Open lid. Stir. Repeat until 2/3 to 1/2 original volume. Add a glob of BBQ sauce. Stir. Taste. Add more to taste, keep it a little weaker than "it oughta be". Add fixin's. Stir. Stoke fire. Plenty of smoke. close lid (your pot is ALWAYS uncovered). You should have a medium-hot fire. You know your grill, it's thermometer, and the lies it tells. You know what medium-hot look like in the language of thermometer-lie. Keep your smoke going for as long as you have patience for, and ten minutes after that. Taste. Serve. NEVER cover it while it's hot. This'll keep and keep and keep.

You can adjust this recipe. One of my favorite ways is to dump in a bunch of hot bacon grease. Another use for the grease is to mix it with Worstershire suace and marinate your steak in it before grilling. You'll thank me.

You ain't in Washington no more

I got this email the other day... rang so true. Folks, when you go to the South (primarily redneck country), you're not in your element anymore. Don't make fun of 'em, okay? Especially not in front of no 10-year-olds (you'll see why). I ain't from the South, Colorado born and raised, but a lot of this is true all over the country to some degree. I might amend the "four men in a pickup truck" one, though, to also include:

"If you get stuck in a snowstorm anywhere near civilization, don't worry, two or more people (odds are, they're going to be mountain rednecks) will be along with shovels and tow chains. 'Ya'll ain't from aroung here, are ya? See, we don't go uphill this time of the year.' It's what we live for. In the winter, at least. Even if the folks in question only have cars, trust me, they'll get you out of three foot snow. We know what we're doing; don't interfere."


The North and SouthThe North has Bloomingdale's, the South has Dollar General.

The North has coffee houses, the South has Waffle Houses.

The North has dating services, the South has family reunions.

The North has switchblade knives; the South has Lee Press-on Nails.

The North has double last names; the South has double first names.

The North has Indy car races; The South has stock car races.

North has Cream of Wheat, the South has grits.

The North has green salads, the South has collard greens.

The North has lobsters, the South has craw fish.

The North has the rust belt; the South has the Bible Belt.

FOR NORTHERNERS MOVING SOUTH . . . In the South: --If you run your car into a ditch, don't panic. Four men in a four-wheel drive pickup truck with a tow chain will be along shortly. Don't try to help them, just stay out of their way. This is what they live for.

Don't be surprised to find movie rentals and bait in the same store.... do not buy food at this store.

Remember, 'Y'all' is singular, 'all y'all' is plural, and 'all y'all's' is plural possessive.

Get used to hearing 'You ain't from round here, are ya?'

Save all manner of bacon grease. You will be instructed later on how to use it.

(I've been made fun of for this, but it's true. Bacon grease is an excellent foodstuff, and should not be wasted.)

Don't be worried at not understanding what people are saying. They can't understand you either.

The first Southern statement to creep into a transplanted Northerner's vocabulary is the adjective 'big'ol,' truck or 'big'ol' boy. Most Northerners begin their Southern-influenced dialect this way. All of them are in denial about it. The proper pronunciation you learned in school is no longer proper.

Be advised that 'He needed killin.' is a valid defense here.

If you hear a Southerner exclaim, 'Hey, y'all watch this,' you should stay out of the way. These are likely to be the last words he'll ever say.

If there is the prediction of the slightest chance of even the smallest accumulation of snow, your presence is required at the local grocery store. It doesn't matter whether you need anything or not. You just have to go there.

(except here in the Rockies, instead of the HILLS, where if anything less than three feet is predicted, your presence is required at work. Don't worry, we'll dig you out the first few times.)

Do not be surprised to find that 10-year olds own their own shotguns, they are proficient marksmen, and their mammas taught them how to aim.

In the South, we have found that the best way to grow a lush green lawn is to pour gravel on it and call it a driveway.

(Seriously, you want green stuff, act like you don't give a damn about it)

AND REMEMBER: If you do settle in the South and bear children, don't think we will accept them as Southerners. After all, if the cat had kittens in the oven, we wouldn't call 'em biscuits.

Politics? Religion? Oh, yes.

By popular demand, I have started my other blog of half-coherent rambling (which is better than most of politics) and extremely pointed comments. It can be found here. Enjoy.

Mower update

This past weekend I got together with my dad over fixing this dang mower (hopefully two people are less likely to make a dumb mistake), and we set about dismantling the carburetor. A complete caburetor rebuild should fix the issue... right? We know it was fuel or air, and we know that the way it's delivered is the carb. We've seen carb rebuilds fix this before. It took a day and a half to get it all done (including an evening at the Golden Super Cruise eyeballing rare vehicles).

50 combined years of mechanical knowledge. Oh, we should have shorter crabgrass by now. Not.

The mistake we made was to forget the float valve seat. Have you ever had your toilet tank overflow because of a stuck shutoff? That's what happened to us, except it was gasoline, and it was because we left the hole too big. Oh that wasn't embarrassing. Half a gallon of gas everywhere was perfectly safe, too.

Long story short, we found our mistake, fixed it, and apparently put the governor (automatic gas pedal) back on wrong. We didn't need no stinkin' notes on how it was before we took it off.

Now the motor lugs at idle, or sticks at high revs. Think, above redline. Mower blade blowing up by your feet? Nah.

Now it's personal. It'll get fixed, even if we just have to kick it until it behaves.

Global Warning Goddammit!

In other words, it is May, and I have hereby declared it sandal weather. Despite the fact that it is 40 degrees. Fahrenheit. My remedial science knowledge tells me that if our little corner of the world is warming because of emissions, it would be 40 degrees Celsius, and I would have been able to feel my feet today.

Having spent a very fun winter wearing thick and heavy clothing, and gotten sick of it, the warm days of May are the correct time to begin with the redneck fashion disasters we are known all up and down the trailer park for. But please, people, let's not forget that the "I wear it because it's comfotable and if you can't keep your lunch down that's your problem" rule also applies to socks with sandals. It's classic. And I plan on doing it several times in the coming weeks, until it actually is Colorado's fourth season: hot-as-hell. This is not to be confused with Arizona's second season, hot-as-all-hell-and-then-some. The first season being kinda-not-as-hot-but-just-wait.

So, yes, join me in the sandal protest of this cold front. Denial always works... at least I don't believe it doesn't, right? Plus, trust me, unless you really need work boots, you don't want to be caught in workboots when the season strikes.

While I'm on the topic, let me reiterate some of Jeff Foxworthy's redneck fashion tips, as well as add some of my own.

1. If your back is so hairy you have been shot more than twice with a tranquilizer gun, say yes to a shirt. Especially one with sleeves.
2. If your body is the same color as Dracula's, but your arms aren't, stick with a t-shirt.
3. If your stomach blocks your view of your shoes, cover it up!
4. When cuffing your pantlegs, keep them below the tops of your socks. Especially if you're wearing sandals.
5. We all love polished belt buckles, but make sure it won't does not shine sun in people's eyes. But at least they won't be able to punch you for it as long as you face the sun.
6. Tuck your shirt all the way in, or all the way out.
7. Don't wear one-peice jumpsuits unless the warden says you have to.

Also, other warm-weather redneck fun & safety tips:

1. Warm gas is vaporous gas. Light up your cigaratte after you fill up.
2. Waterskiing is ALWAYS a good idea. Unless it's not.
3. Your car really WILL run on moonshine or other hard liqour, but only if it's carbeurated or FlexFuel. Don't bet your buddies on it until you've proved in your driveway that you won't be the only one running on Jim Beam, though.
4. Running an engine on alcohol will shorten the life of your beloved truck, lawnmower, motorcycle, outboard, skateboard, go-kart, small airplane, weedwhacker, chainsaw, helicopter, toothbrush, or whatever else you happen to try it in.
5. Always check the slope for barbed wire BEFORE going running down it at full tilt. Even if it's your property, there might be some there, and it leaves large holes.
6. And most of all, CHECK TWICE, SAVE A LIFE. MOTORCYCLES ARE EVERYWHERE!

The Last Honest Place in America

Have you ever gotten a wrong-number phone call from a pharmacy saying your prescription is ready? Did you call them back and inform them that you don't have a prescription there, and they have the wrong number? Why?

How about when you got your photos back from the one-hour-photo place; have you ever gotten someone else's by mistake? Even if you had all of yours, did you go back and tell the people at the photo shop? Did you try and find the person and inform them that you had their photos and were giving them to the photo place until they can come pick them up? Did that person call you back and thank you? That took effort, why'd ya'll do it?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, might it be because you know that whatever you had really meant something to somebody?

See, like all ya'll rednecks already know, we were raised to know right from wrong, and to always do the right thing. Sometimes we slip and do some evil, but when it comes to hurting someone we don't know just by being lazy, we can't really live with ourselves until we set things right. The "well, the other person might be an asshole and deserve it" theory doesn't really hold water. When you do the right thing, you'll meet good people.

Recently, I accidentally received an envelope of another lady's photos when I went to get my latest batch developed. Rather than ignore them, or do the easy thing and throw them away like she expected whoever had them would do, I made a point of returning them to Costco's photodesk and calling her and letting her know that I had gotten the photos and returned them to the photodesk. She was so glad she called and thanked me profusely, but that's not the point. The point is, she had photos of her son she thought she'd never see again, and my conscience is no longer nagging me, "Hurry up, don't just ignore them, they mean something to someone. That's what you'd want."

Turns out she is a very nice lady, and didn't think modern big-city people would help her. Apparently, though, she has lost jewelry at that same Costco before, and it was returned to the lost and found promptly. Who'd have thunk? We rednecks do like to look out for each other.

Do a good deed, accept a good deed, pay it forward.

Politics? Religion?

Folks, as I'm sure you're all aware, this year is a major turning point in history, and will turn out to be marked as a major turn for the worse or better for the United States and the world given time. I have done my best to keep politics and religion out of this blog, being"serious" issues that don't necessarily fit with the lighthearted, entertainment tone and atmosphere I'm going for. Being a politics junkie who is fond of waxing philosophic about the role of religion in our society, though, that has been tough, and I have a lot to say about things. Before I get started soapboxing, though, I want to ask my readers' opinions on whether I should include my commentary and somewhat cynical notes in this blog, not at all, or start a secondary blog in which I post all that. Please give feedback in email or comment form, and, as always, keep on rockin' the redneck way, ya'll!


Note: I know they're kind of buried, but I do have two new posts right below this one, so scrolliing would be good right about now.

Redneck lawns

Speaking of lawns, let's talk about the sort of lawn your avrage redneck maintains.

The average redneck lets his property grow wild, except when that means that there's something in his way. Then he takes quick, decisive action to solve the problem.

Oftentimes, the problem is that to maintain the suburban grass that came with his house, the redneck will have to water it. A lot. Who needs that?
"Normal" Solution: Water a lot, stress about grass, replant yearly.
Redneck Solution: Don't water it and hope something local moves in.
Effort involved: none.
Payoff: Lower water bill, wildflowers sometimes (for the missus), no maintenance.
Drawback: Neighbors complain (solution: ignore them)

Another issue is that the local grass, such as crabgrass or the scrubgrass which likes to grow by the side of the highway, grows a lot, and if it gets too long, one can't stand barefoot in one's own front yard.
"Normal" Solution: Poison it and plant non-local grass, bust butt trying to make it grow, stress
Redneck Solution: Mow occasionally.
Effort involved: Low to moderate, unless one loves using the lawnmower, or can ride it (even a self-propelled push-mower is good for this)
Payoff: No cut feet
Drawback: Must mow

Suppose you own a larger chunk of property, and just letting it grow wild won't do. For example, you want to turn the field into a dirtbike park.
"Normal" Solution: Spend much money excavating, bringing in soil, getting rid of soil, stress over maintenance
Redneck Solution: Ride dirtbike on it until it gets the hint
Effort involved: None, you just get to ride a bike
Payoff: Dirtbike park, no cost
Drawback: No large jumps

Suppose you own a larger chunk of property, and don't want to mow it all, but don't want the scrub to get thick.
"Normal" Solution: Expensive landscape work
Redneck Solution: Apply gasoline and burn occasionally
Effort involved: Minimal when done often enough, must dig firebreak at edge of burn
Payoff: Fire. Rich local grass, no scrub, no mowing
Drawback: Fire. Can get out of hand. Yuppie neighbors that just bought farm next door call county fire department.

Suppose you own more motor vehicles than you have garage space for.
"Normal" Solution: Sell some.
Redneck Solution: Park on lawn.
Effort involved: None
Payoff: Can keep vehicles, hold paintball/airsoft in yard if large enough and not attached enough to vehicles to keep non-technicolor
Drawback: Neighbors tend to complain. Dunno why.

If you have a lot of trees on your property, especially large fruit trees and at least one hardwood, you have a lot of trimmings, fallings, and fruit.
"Normal" Solution: Eat fruit, let much rot, throw away wood
Redneck Solution: Eat fruit, throw parties and give away fruit on good years, Make preserves. Let wood lay around and decorate the place as it ages, when properly seasoned, use as fuel for cookfire. Use large branches from occasional major trimmings to decorate, make items to sell.
Effort involved: None, unless you make preserves or dislike using chainsaws every five or so years
Payoff: More firewood than you can burn, delicious food
Drawback: Crapload of wood, fruit, tough to use at proper pace to avoid large woodpiles

'Tis the Season

That's right! It is spring, and we all know what that means. You guessed it, dusting off the old lawnmower and cutting that there grass. This is, of course, if you happen to live in the city, where you can't do the normal redneck thing and burn your grass first thing in the spring like we do way out in the sticks. It helps it grow real fertile, but I'm pretty sure the neighbors wouldn't be too crazy about it.

Is it really true that out of all our modern technology, the best tool for troubleshooting a squirrely lawnmower is to poke it with a stick? Apparently. We had a lawnmower that we got used out of a large-item-pickup pile that just needed a little tweaking and it ran fine for over a decade. It might have taken a little bit of effort to get it to turn over in the spring, but it worked every time. Finally, a couple of years ago, it died once more, and rather than re-gap the plugs (that was the issue), we decided to buy one of them newfangled bagger models so we didn't have to rake all the clippings. Craftsman. Tools of champions, right? Not so much.

The first thing it did was shake to spark plug wire clean off, right out of the box. With that fixed, it gave us a year and a half of faithful service. This year, nada. Zip. Major air intake and fuel delivery issues, all made worse by a malfunctioning governor.

We decided to elect a new one.

After a combined fifty years of mechanical knowledge examined and troubleshooted the critter, we came to the studied conclusion that we need to call Craftsman. We've never messed with a centrifugal governor before. But that's not my point. Unless I get a redneck on the other end of the line when I call, that doesn't matter. What matters is the way we troubleshot it.

When priming and pulling didn't work, I let it rest to let any fuel evaporate out of the chamber, and repeated. Still nothing. Gas tank's just been filled. Oil tank's dry. Close examination discloses a gas spot and an oil spot right where the mower sat in the shed. No tools used yet.

With the oil tank topped off with straight 30-weight, she's all lubed and runs for a few seconds and quits. Maybe it's a fuel delivery issue-- gas turns to goo in fuel lines, carbs, and anywhere where a gooey substance can pobbily cause you sorrow over even a few months. But it wasn't an issue for a decade... so maybe it's the air side of things. That one's easy.

You take off the filter cover, check the filter. It's almost solid mud. Good lord, how'd this thing ever run? You've got a garage full of mechanic's tools. How do you clean it? A stick. It gets in between the filter pleats better than a finger, and a few solid whacks get all the dust out that'll move. While the filter's off, you notice an odd lever, caked in... you guessed it, mud. How do you clean it? Same stick. Scrapes the mud off just fine. At this point, you get some twine to tie the safety, put the air cleaner back on, prime, and pull. It runs for a few seconds, then quits. You try again, this time holding the lever you noticed earlier fully open with... you guessed it: a stick. This doesn't solve your issue, but it helps smooth the rough idle a little. You toggle the lever again, and decide that must be the lever working the governor, which is that dohickey you've never thought about before on top of you carb. Motor vehicles don't have governors.

You're stumped. You decide to stare at it and see what it does as the motor idles rough and dies again. Turns out it is fluctuating wildly, and pulling shut at the wrong time. AHA! Now you need to hold it open and see if that fixes things. If so, you've found your problem. You have a very specialized tool to control the position of the lever in question: a stick. Poking it with a stick reveals that while it's part of your problem, it's not the main problem.

Total times that you've used a stick as a tool: at least four distinct tasks, multiple times.
Total times that a stick wasn't the best tool for the job: 0

Apparently, when troubleshooting a machine such as a lawnmower, a stick really is still the best tool for the job.

Problem: Fuel delivery, air (new filter needed), governor.
Solution: Poke it with a stick until it works or you know what you need to take apart.