O Sapientia

 

Typical Truckery

O Sapientia, O Wisdom, teach us the way. The way being discernment viz a 2018 F150 XL 4x4 V8 5.0 engine. The Waxahachie Ford house "recommended" a new long block, stating that cylinders 5, 6 and 8 were losing compression. Waxahachie stated on the phone that the "block was cracked."

OK, if so, get a new motor or a new truck. But here's the thing. Local mechs have swarmed around and don't see any evidence of a cracked block, of catastrophic engine failure. They do feel there's an oil issue, apparently a thing on 2018-20 F 150 5.0 engines. So Thursday beckons a new diagnosis to find out the root of the problem. 

Kitchen Glocks. Go On, Shoot The Food

Let's see how that goes, it'd be a relief to not have to buy a new, reman, refurb engine; they're pretty pricey. Seriously, new ones come in at around 10k, refurb at 7 and reman at 4. Cheaper than a new new rig, but still. Stand by for further news in this exciting and developing story.

In the meanwhile, here's the O Sapentia antiphon (sing it this evening if you can before and after the Magnificat at Vespers/Evening Prayer):

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,

attingens a fine usque ad finem,

fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:

veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,

reaching from one end to the other mightily,

and sweetly ordering all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence.

Ave,

LSP

It's All Going On In The Country I Tell You

 

One of the things that happens here is I let some of the neighbors park their rigs and vehicles in the grassy pasture that is the Compound's parking lot. They mow the grass and all of that in return. But this beneficent arrangement seemed to come to a crashing end today.

There I was on the back deck, scanning Zerohedge, when up come two men in polo shirts with Glocks on their hips, "Sir, can we have a word?" Of course they could and were welcomed into the rural fastness with a sunny hello, "What's up, guys?"

A Typical Kitchen Glock

Turns out they were from Code Enforcement, yes, we have such a thing, and someone had the literal brazen temerity to make a formal complaint about the vehicles parked up on the grass. It broke the code and couldn't be tolerated because, you see, the area's zoned residential and enormous lifted trucks and everything else have to be parked on "improved ground," such as gravel.

Huh. I assured the officer that it'd be sorted out before tickets had to be issued or any other equivalent nonsense. So that was good, but what about guns. "How are you finding that Glock?" I asked, glancing down at the fella's two-tone 9mm variant.

Behold, Legally Parked on Gravel. FFS

"I like it a lot and shoot pretty good with it and you know, it was weird, when I went to the Police Academy, they asked 'how many of you have shot pistols?' and I was the only one in the class who didn't raise his hand because we never had pistols where I was, just shotguns for quail, pheasant and dove. You know what, I ended the course shooting a lot better than some of those country boys because I was taught right, from the start."

Good call. So we talked Glocks and pistols and became friends and off they went into the pastoral hinterland. Flash forward several hours to me getting back from Walmart and there's D, remonstrating in the car park, not a happy man. Code Enforcement had not been kind to him and he was ticked, having put out for local LE & Co a lot over the years. Someone had made a complaint.

Note, why is his finger on the trigger? Maybe because he's an actor

We speculated on the identity of this malefactor and he asked me if it was OK to spread some gravel and "improve" the parking zone. "Remember I asked you if I could black-top and you said 'no, I don't want that (well said, LSP, Ed.), get gravel, but I need to get the church's permission.' Do I still need to get that?"

I looked at D, who wasn't very happy, and he looked at me, "You have the church's permission, knock yourself out on that gravel. I'll help you spread it, even." But that wasn't needed, "I've got a tractor at the shop and I'll bring it in tomorrow morning with the gravel. Thanks, man." Thanks indeed, "'preciate you, brother. Come to church, it's about time." He agreed and off we went, friends.

I call this installation Casa Blanca, keen-eyed readers will understand

So there you have it. Problem, solution, right here in sunny Texas' North Central Exclusion Zone.

Texit,

LSP

Easter Monday Cooking With LSP

Birds sing, exotic ducks roost on top of Eduardo's roof and all's well in LSPland, in that balmy springlike way we so love. Alleluia, Christ has risen from the grave and death and Hell have no more dominion over us. 

That in mind, I fixed a G3 monocle on a boneless 6-7 rib roast lurking in the thievish corners of the fridge. Why not cook that beef up, after all, it's Easter Monday. And here's it is, brushed with olive oil and seasoned with pepper and salt, ready to go onto a vegetable trivet and into the oven.

Now, before you say how could you possibly afford that on your miserable stipend, so-called LSP? I'll tell you this little beast was bought at a 50% markdown firesale. Margin calls aside, great result, and here's the plan. 

Roast for 15 minutes at 500* then at 325*for 12 minutes per pound. Test with a meat thermometer at around 50/60 minutes, it should come in at 125-130* for medium rare awesomeness. Next up?

just a kid

Take the life giving beef out of the oven, celebrate your not inconsiderable victory with a glass of the right stuff, cover the meat in foil and let it rest for around 20 or 30 minutes, it'll continue to cook to tender, juicy perfection. 

As it does, fire some potatoes in the oven at 425* along with Yorkshire pudding batter in a preheated tin or skillet(s), boil up carrots or whatever, there's no "rule," and after 20 minutes or so remove from oven. In the meanwhile, and this is key, make gravy from the beef's drippings and remains of the veg trivet (which should include garlic cloves, onion and carrot, which you crush and strain, obvs).

hey now

Strife o'er, cut the beef. Serve the veg alongside. Place several Yorkshires on the plate. Stand askance at the sheer beauty of the thing and add gravy. Then fall upon your scoff like a warrior. Well, that's the projection and let's see how it goes, so far we're at the seasoned beef resting to room temp stage, with YP batter in the fridge, let that rest, important.

Stay Tuned,

LSP

All Hail The Power

 

Two soldiers walked through the door last night and I sent them off into the wild with shotguns and an SKS. They did well, apparently, and today we went out for a shoot. First up, shotguns, a no-name O/U 12 and a CZ SxS. Two guns up on one thrower, how'd it go?

A slow start because everyone was rusty and then we moved into the zone, smoking those clays like so many F 190s over Falaise, result. Next up? An Anderson 7.62 x 39, AR platform, Sov bullets, and it failed to fire TulAmmo consistently. Perhaps a primer issue because the beast shot fine with Federal brass, nice little barker.

Tellingly, a ChiCom SKS swallowed up some nasty TulAmmo like it was going out of fashion, which is good because the cheap and dirty rounds are just that, cheap. Big fun and time to move on from Warsaw Pact tomfoolery to 7.62 NATO. After a few ranging shots we discovered the rifle was pretty much on and lined it up against Tannerite. BOOM, more of that please.

The shoot finished with my eldest's Glock 45 9 and it was pleasing to see my amateur gunsmithery worked out, the RDS didn't fly off, in fact the system performed surprisingly well in the hands of the soldiers. Me? Not bad but not up to their level, rusty you see.

And that was that, a great shoot under a clear blue Texan sky and I was genuinely impressed by the marksmanship of the young 'uns. They shoot front on, curiously and hey, the stance works. The Tannerite was cool too. More. please.

#2A,

LSP

Cooking With LSP - Bread

 

I know, man shall not live on bread alone. That in mind, we notoriously have bodies which need to be fed and the aerogel rubbish which passes for bread in our supermarkets, if you can even find it, doesn't cut the ticket. Problem? Solution. Make it yourself. Here's how. 

Get a mixing bowl and add 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast, and 1 1/2 cups of warm water. Mix that beast around, stir it up, then cover the thing and rest it, covered, somewhere out of reach of animals. And here's the thing.

Let the dough rest and rise overnight++, ignore it, let it do its thing as though it were an errant teen. Then, somewhere before Vespers on Holy Saturday, remove the dough onto a floured surface and form it into a ball. Let it rest some more in a bowl on parchment paper as heavy metal heats up in the oven at 450*.

After the metal's hot, about 30 minutes, pull it out and transfer the dough to the pot, parchment paper and all, then cover the thing, put it back in the oven and kick back for 30 minutes. Maybe clean a gun or sharpen a kukri, not that any of you have such things. They were lost at sea. Whatever, your call, no rule.

After 30, uncover the metal and finish off the loaf for around 10 minutes. Result? Behold your delicious, life giving bread and fall upon that scoff, like a warrior.

Song of a Baker,

LSP

Guns

 

"So why do you support the 2nd Amendment?" asked a betasoy reporter from the laughable Dallas Morning Morning News. I replied, quick as a flash, mind like a veritable steel trap, "Because freedom," and off he wandered into the untamed jungle of a gun show.

Truck Gun

Seriously, isn't the ability to defend yourself one of the hallmarks of a free society? Sure, we pass that on to the State and the police, but what happens when they turn against you, which of course has never happened ever in the history of ever.

Just Some Guns

More than that, why should some kind of nanny state be precisely that, a nanny treating its citizens as toddlers in a transsexual kindergarten. No guns for you, infants, you might hurt zhirself! So put on three masks and get vaxxed so you'll be all safe, until you die of a heart attack or worse from an experimental gene serum foisted on you by Big Pharma and agitprop MSM.

Typical Pistols

Likewise, why should we hand over, as though it was a good thing, our existence and well-being to a secular state run by an ultra rich transnational elite which regards us as so many pawns/dirtpeople/untermensch to be sacrificed on the altar of their power. Why indeed.

What's with the fancy coat, so-called "LSP"?

In this country we're blessed by the Founding Fathers who put the right to bear arms into the DNA of America, a very difficult stone to dislodge. And for those attempting to do so, a rifleman behind every blade of grass.

Shoot straight,

LSP

Arkansas Sheriff Says No To Tyranny

 

Arkansas Shriff Chris Brown has refused to mandate COVID vaccinations for his department's employees, accusing the Federal Government of "absolute tyranny." Via Facebook:

Cleburne County Sheriff's Office - Arkansas

September 10, 2021

Re: COVID Vaccine Mandates

Since March of 2020, we have seen much controversy over COVID, mandates, restrictions, lockdowns, vaccines, and a number of other things. We have watched as this topic has divided families, friends, and coworkers. We have seen an unprecedented amount of division, hate, and contention among Americans. With the rollout of the COVID vaccines, that division has become more and more widened, and the vitriol more intense between those who believe in the vaccines, those who don’t, and those who are undecided.

As law enforcement officers, our first duty and what we swear an oath to, is to support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Arkansas. It is in that defense and the defense of individual liberty that the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office has not, and will not mandate the COVID vaccine for any of our employees. Just like with the flu shot, their choice to get vaccinated or not is theirs and theirs alone, and we respect their decisions.

I am not pro-vaccine, and I am not anti-vaccine. I am pro-freedom, and I am for each person’s ability and responsibility to decide for themselves (in conjunction with their doctor) whether or not to get the vaccine.

I am appalled at some of the absolute dictator-like things we are seeing from the Federal Government, and several of the State Governments. It is absolute tyranny, and completely abhorrent. It flies in the face of everything our country has always stood for, and is only furthering the damage and division done to the people of this wonderful nation.

CS Lewis said this: “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

It's time for our politicians and other public servants to stand up and remember that their first responsibility is to protect people’s rights, not to run their lives.

Sheriff Chris Brown

Well said, Sheriff,

LSP

Well Shoot - Another Foray Into The Heart of Southern Darkness

 

Birds sang and the sun shone in the big Texan sky. Yes, it was time to head out to the countryside yet again as part of our ongoing investigation into the scourge of rural systemic racism. And before you could whistle Dixie there I was, in a ranch shop, talking guns.

You know how it is, one thing led to another, a couple of Polaris quads revved up and there we were, slinging skeet and shooting plates. Racist? Well, the guns were black and brown, the plates white and the skeet orange. The quads were green. Hmmm. 

It was hard to stop myself admiring a WWII trophy Luger as I reflected on this knotty indigenous peoples justice conundrum, to say nothing of a canned Enhanced Remington 1911. The latter shot well, scoring hits on a plate at around 75 yards, big fun.

Then it was time to visit the Confederate Air Force at an aerodrome not too far from my friend's ranch, DD has a hanger there where he builds and restores airplanes. 

There was a CAF trainer on the tarmac about to get ready for take off. Some of you'll know the make/model but I forget the details.

Regardless, DD was working on a Cessna and the wings of another plane, which he showed us after a delicious snack of poppers, smoked sausage and ice cold beer. What a gentleman, I do not say that lightly. And he still flies, though in his '80s. He'd been in the US Aerobatics team. 

Then it was time to head back to the bucolic haven that is this small farming community in North Central Texas to hear someone's confession. Was this whole experience irredeemably, incurably, insufferably racist?

I can't answer that but I do say this, it was big fun.

Your Pal,

LSP

Burning Ring Of Fire

Johnny Cash Version SOUND ON pic.twitter.com/ZBkQ3VG0Yy

— Robert Philmore (@PhilmoreRobert) September 6, 2020

It's all very well to argue about which is better, Pen or Glock, when you're not not up to the extreme kind of violence needed to use either in self-defense. That said:

LL, who's a solutions provider, recommends a pen that's also a pistol. Good call! Very DLC. Anon, who knows a thing or two, says you need to train, train, train. Listen up:

The mob is acting in the confident knowledge that ‘the law’ (establishment, media, etc.) will allow them free reign. The diners are reluctant (even those too few who are capable) to react offensively in the sure knowledge that ‘they’ will be arrested.

The predictable outcome is that: 1) the mob ‘will’ escalate (as the Stanford experiments demonstrated) until someone is seriously injured or killed ; and/or 2) the victims will contain somebody, or more likely a group, who are both physically and (more importantly) mentally capable and who feel their life (or those of loved ones) are at risk, they have no options left, and who then react.

People, thankfully, are not generally capable of deliberately severely harming others. You need to either be ‘an exception’ (ie. mentally ill) or be ‘conditioned’ to do so (not surprisingly the ‘scrappers’ and ‘brawlers’ of adolescence, “guilty M’Lord”, already partially conditioned are much more easily trained). The mobs are not just working through that conditioning process, but are being allowed, even encouraged, to do so consequence free.

Are you, and all the rest of the ‘normals’ out there, ready and willing to face that demon? Ask any military vet, whose been ‘up close and personal’, and they’ll tell you, you really, really aren’t (yet). (Are you, not just willing, but capable of emulating a particular favourite [and toasted in the mess on more than one occasion] of that Ranger who, in an ultimate life/death struggle, stabbed the insurgent to death with ‘his MRE spoon’? It's not the weapon, it's the man wielding it.).

It’s why young Mr. Rittenhouse impressed me so much. The aplomb, the deliberate assurance of a much more experienced man in a definitive ‘it’s raining a$$holes’ situation, indicates to me he’s one of Heredotus’ 1%. Most will not react even close to so well … without a lot more training.

The aplomb, the deliberate assurance of a much more experienced man in a definitive ‘it’s raining a$$holes’ situation, indicates to me he’s one of Heredotus’ 1%. 

Yes. 

And right on, Anon. (Less brackets, please. Thx. Ed.) Point being, it's very easy to posture and grand stand against iniquity of any sort, but unless you're prepared to work that out at a personal level, and make the protest real, it's worthless, fake.

Your Pal,

LSP

Is The Pen Mightier Than The Glock?

We're just hanging around at the Compound and wondering, is the Pen mightier than the Glock? Good question, let's do a quick thought experiment and see where it takes us.

You're in a restaurant in Rochester New York, enjoying Italian fusion cuisine with a twist, having a good time. Life is good after months of lockdown. Then, suddenly, as if out of the very aether, up comes a mob of rampaging undergraduate Marxists.

They're overturning tables, screaming, bullhorn in your face. Yes, you, you systemic racist Nazi, are guilty of eating out while white. So what do you do? Pull out your Glock and shoot the nearest Bolshevik or, and here's the rub, pick up the pen your lefty waiter's ironically delivered to you and stab the commie in the neck?

I'd argue that the Pen, in this instance, is paradoxically mightier than the Glock, even though it's an ostensibly lesser weapon. Granted, more bloodthirsty than a pistol, but seemingly less so. More to the point, you might not have a Glock or even be allowed one in Rochester. Different story with a Pen. Every restaurant has one, delivered right to your table, unlike pistols, which aren't.

In similar vein, you may have noticed that 45's banned racist critical race theory training in the federal alphabet. No longer, we hope, will Marxist 5th Columnists be paid on the taxpayer dime to teach government employees that they're guilty of "whiteness," and have to be "dismantled" along with the country they serve. No more racism masquerading as tolerance, by Executive Order.

Trump did this at the stroke of a Pen, without firing a single shot. I rest my case, feel free to disagree.

Gun Rights, 

LSP

Memorial Day Remembrance

Sirens, pounding rain, people driving their rigs off of I35 and up the verge of the highway onto service roads, a car on fire on the median, one pickup flipped over, an Escalade smashed all to hell, a couple of broken sedans, fire trucks, squad cars, mayhem. 

It was like Wiking's retreat to the Oder, but no, this was just the road into Dallas on Memorial Day weekend.

Highway to Hell notwithstanding, we had a good party at Ma LSP's in Dallas. Burgers, hot dogs, patriotic cake and all the rest.  Great fun, and I foolishly stayed up into the early hours talking with the aged P.

The next day dawned high and bright, a whole new world replete with tiny dragons, a Heeler, Glocks, flags, leftover burgers and various chores. It felt good and off we went, Blue Scout and LSP, back to the bucolic haven that is the Compound.

All this in mind, it was the first time since March that I'd been to a party, or even the Metrosprawl itself. What was it like? I'll tell you, way more fearful of the Red Death than anything I'd been used to in the country. 

Company at Ma LSP's house excepted, it's all about these weird little masks, shut shops and rules posted on filling station doors, Wear Your Dorky Mask! That said, no one was, at least at the local QT, and neither were we on Memorial Day, along with everyone else on their porches.

Were people dropping like flies with the plague? No, they were not, and my guess is that they won't any time soon. Unless of course we go to war with China, which changes everything. You might pray that doesn't happen.

In the meanwhile, hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend and prayed for all who gave their lives that we can be vaguely free.  Hold that thought, how free are we? 

Free from the State recording all your calls and internet posts? Free to not get microchipped and wear a mask in some kind of dystopian neo-feudalism? Free to say anything that doesn't go against the will and power of your elite, multi-billionaire overlords? Such freedom. And note this, it hates Christianity.

Whatever, respect to those who gave their lives. May they rest in peace and rise in glory.

Your Friend,

LSP

Weapon Of Choice

So what's your weapon of choice, 1911, Glock, SIG? Some kind of wheel gun, maybe a .357 Magnum Colt Python? Levers, ARs, SovCom,  shotguns in all their awesomeness, and on. Hey, the sky's the limit but this is how it's turned out for me. Scoff if you like, or not.

My weapon of choice is three weapons. A custom 5.56 AR carbine, a Glock 21 .45ACP (thx RHSM), and a 20 gauge SxS CZ. OK, fine, but why?

Just turned out that way, but probably because they cover all my bases at this moment in time and I can afford them. It'd be an expensive hassle, for example, to focus on No.4 Mk.1 Lee Enfields, much as I love them. 

But there's no rule, what's your real-world weapon of choice?

#2A,

LSP

Cooking With LSP - Striper

Yeah, 'cooking with LSP.' Some kind of joke? On the contrary, here's how it's done. Today's the Feast of St. John Chrysostom but it's also a Friday, which means you can't eat meat. Problem. Solution? Cook up some fish, obviously. Watch my tracer.

Boat

First step, catch the fish. Get in a boat and surge out into the lake, then put your rod over the side and haul in amazing Striper. Keep doing that till you've caught your limit and head back to shore, job well done. Watch in amazement as the guide cleans the fish in a fraction of the time it'd take you to do. 

News

Second step, cook the fish. How? Here's one method and it's as easy as the DNC blocking Tulsi Gabbard. Wash a monster Striper filet in the sink, pat it dry, salt the fish, and congratulate yourself on sticking to mission while you have a glass of the right stuff. 

Shoot the Fish?

Maybe that's water, maybe it's not, your call. Whatever, don't waste time, cut the filet in half with a sharp knife, sharp as a clean Brexit from the EU.

Pan Sear

Well done, you've gone far, but there's still a way to go. Put some olive oil and butter in a frying pan and heat it up, medium high. As the oil begins to smoke like an Inspector General's report ready to go critical, add the fish to the pan. Listen in wonder as it sizzles.

Not Perfect But Tasty As You Like

Fry for about four minutes a side depending on the thickness of the filet, your goal is a crispy, golden brown exterior and firm, succulent, flaky interior. That achieved or approximated to, crack some pepper over the fish and serve with lemon and some kind of vegetable. Don't say Beto.

Third step. Fall on your scoff like a warrior.

Fish on,

LSP

Cooking With LSP -- Cyber Monday Pie

"Oh, cooking with LSP, where's that on the spectrum?" Good question. First things first, get a gun and put it on the table, I use a Glock 21 but that's just me. You might prefer a revolver, a Sig, a CZ or a Beretta. Up to you.

Next, boil up leftover beef bones or beef ends, the fatty, gristly stuff you don't want to eat. Add salt and pepper, you're making stock. Let it boil then reduce to a simmer for around an hour or so until the fat's rendering. You'll want around 2 cups worth.

While the stock's doing its thing, chop up an onion, a leek, a carrot or two and peel 4 or 5 cloves of garlic. Don't crush or mince the garlic, this isn't some kind of Macronite, faux Napoleon, globalist assault on traditional value. 

No, throw the whole cloves into the tin with the rest of the veg. Add olive oil and a few tablespoons of butter. Pour a cup+ of beef stock over the veg, then put that bad boy in the oven at 400* to roast. Why?

Because it'll taste good, trust me. Let the veg roast for around an hour, 'til it's starting to char, In the meanwhile, cube up some leftover roast beef, as much as you like, set it aside. 

Boil up a couple of carrots and set them aside, slice some mushrooms in half or leave 'em whole if they're small. Set them aside too. Well done, you're nearly there, so have a glass of wine or seltzer water, your choice. I chose wine.

Thirst assuaged, make a poor man's roux. I use 4 tbls of butter, flour, salt and pepper and a cup of milk+. Cook it up and behold the roux magically thicken, then pour in 1 1/2 cups of stock. Add more stock if needed, up to you.

Stir it 'round like a champion. Add the roast veg, beef, and mushrooms, stir and let simmer for a good 30 minutes. You'll see the roux change color from cream to brown. Such is cooking.

While the beast's simmering away and consolidating like a battle group about to go over the start line, roll out some pasty. I cheat and use pre-made and here's the orthodoxy; don't use puff pastry in a beef pie, use the other sort. But I like the rainbow riding puff, it tastes better. Whatever, your call.

Pastry rolled, pour the simmering awesomeness of beef and veg into a deep pie dish. Stand back and consider the completion of this phase of the advance. Perhaps play some baroque fanfares, up to you. Chivalric reverie over, don't say Agincourt, place the rolled out dough over the mix.

Decorate the in potentia pie crust with leftover dough, then glaze with egg white and put the whole thing in the oven at 375* for as long as it takes, around an hour.

Take it out, let it rest, and eat your scoff like...

A King,

LSP