“He killed him with a PENCIL!?!” and An Odd Gas Station Occurrence

Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
Not gonna lie, tired AF from today. Spent it with the Gran#1, the Nookular Red Head delivering her oh so late Birfday Gifties. As you may recall, her Birfday was a while back. Problem was that for reasons that escape Ye Olde Memorybanks right now, the BIG gifts (x2) didn’t get here on time. Sapper’s gift was also running late, and then ‘other things’ like the cancer diagnosis threw everything out of whack, so this was the first chance to see her and ‘give up the goods’.

I did a last minute edition from the Zon which she went completely nuts for:

“Some assembly required, batteries not included”

Heh. (almost an hour and half to put them together)

Yet again an understatement like you read about. I’ll be the first one to say though, for $25 she absolutely adored them. Even both Gretchen and other GranMom were digging them… guess it’s a chick thing… push a button, the wings light up and flap, and it plays some sort of I dunno? Fairy Music or whatnot? Either way she was in Heaven, and that is what it’s all about.

The biggest pain in the ass was having to thread the LED light wire ALL around the damned thing… but one I got it done, well… the look on her face made it all worth it.

And then, well, I ignored the Ministry of Lies and Propaganda today. Only thing that I did check out was the Twitter feed that WiscoDave sent me this A.M. about that dead CIA Operative Navalny… seems that the “usual suspects” of the various Ministries tried to make it sound like a small memorial in Moscow was packed with people AND the “Putin Double-Secret Police” who were there to ‘clamp down on the pro-democracy protestors and Navalny supporters… a “”huge security presence in Moscow” as they called it…
HOWEVER

4 Cops, 13 People
Sounds massive AF to me…
What say you?

And then they wonder why we no longer listen to them, ignore them, and ridicule them. Some dude over on Reddit the other day on the r/IHateMyJob (I think that’s the name of the group) did a post of how he’s a reporter for a “Big-name New York Newspaper that used to be important.” Seems that now, at social gathering with new people, when he introduces himself, he tells them that he’s self-employed… that even among the “cloud people” in New York Fucking City consider reporters to be right up there with pedophiles and practitioners of bestiality.

As Alf would say “HA!”

Serves the fucker right. Learn to code asshole. Die in a fire preferably. Those assholes are the main reason we’re on a slow ride to Hell. THEY were supposed to be the ones who informed US IF things went sideways so “We The People” could try to ‘adjust things’ to keep everything from going off the rails…

Instead? Well we got what we got, mainly because we didn’t start tar and feathering motherfuckers, never mind hanging them or rolling out “Madame Guillotine”, which at this point they are ALL so richly deserving of. And more if I had my way…

Jes’ Sayin’

So… about the title… been saving this…

Looks like your basic #2 Pencil:

Fairly innocuous right?
That being said, In Reality:

Yep…
It’s made out of G10, a high density fiberglass composite/laminate. It’s practically unbreakable. Sapper got a pair for us at Christmas as a stocking stuffer… Gotta love a fren like that amiright? I’m sure that carrying it is questionable at best, downright illegal at worst. However, that being taken into consideration, as they say I’d rather be “Judged by 12 than carried by 6” in a situation that causes me to need a close-in weapon.

Given that?
It’s still cool as fuck: (go to 2:06)

Plus, you want to talk about camouflaged?
Yeah, no one would realize what you’re carrying.

Ok… now one last thing.
On the way to see the Red Head, we stopped for guzzolean per usual. What I found unusual was the stickers on the pump… on ALL the pumps actually:

Besides the extortionist level of the price, they were out of 89 and 93 octane. Outside of some strange times, and the late 70s, I’ve NEVER seen a BIG station like Racetrack being completely out of two ‘flavors’ of fuel. I asked Sapper about it when I got home, as he works in the industry, and he told me he hasn’t heard anything yet… however, that could change rather quickly… makes me wonder what’s going on?

Y’all seen anything ’round your way? Let me know

Add on the Truckers theoretically not delivering ‘stuff’ to NYFC, and well, that IF they actually do manage to, you know, really not deliver anything to NYFC, well that’d be hilarious!

I mean Grocery Stores here in the ‘Burbs only have 3-4 days worth of ‘stuff’ at any given moment. In New York? Probably far less as they don’t have BIG stores like we do in the ‘Burbs, AND storage space and whatnot must cost a metric fuckload… which means, Nope, they don’t have a lot of leeway, vis-a-vis the JIT (Just In Time) Deliveries and whatnot…

IF and only IF the Truckers ACTUALLY do manage to pull this off, my Bingo Card for March is “Cannibal Niggers Eating Whitey” by the end of the month…

That or the Exodus of them all to New Jersey, which in itself promises to be a “grab the popcorn” moment…

And as a final wrap up for tonight, Gretchen is looking at starting treatment the third week of March. We’re keeping our fingers crossed and praying hard that everything works out… the lack of sleep and stress levels on both of us has been tremendous. TBH, I just want things to be mellow FFS… it’s like I can’t catch a break… although my Best Friend of 40+ years told me that when everything is over and done with, he wants to take Gretchen, me and himself on a Vacation, on his dime. Not sure if it’ll happen, but it -is- nice to have something positive to possibly look forward to… Again, our thanks to ALL y’all for your support.

So More Later
Big Country

26 thoughts on ““He killed him with a PENCIL!?!” and An Odd Gas Station Occurrence”

  2. Fellow I knew (he passed about 8 years ago) had kicked around in Vietnam with a few side trips to Laos and Cambodia and finished his adventure traveling in Afghanistan back in the late 79s was a big proponent of bringing a couple of pencils along when flying, just in case he had to take some notes or jot a quick memo.
    Wife an I had a quick trip down to the Caribbean last month. No pencils or pens please. Happened last fall on a trip to California as well…

    Glad you could give the young lady those wonderful memories.

    We’ve been praying for your lady

    Coelacanth

  3. Not sure if its the same down south but our gas stations usually only have 2 tanks, 87 and 91/92 octane. If you pick mid grade its feeding you a blend from both tanks.
    Back in 2020 our local station could only sell 87 because a pump failed and they couldn’t draw from the high grade tank.

    If you see it in more than one station its a problem otherwise likely local to that one station.

    1. My local station run by some Indian subcontinent types was out of regular a month or so ago, all they had was high octane because “the truck was late”. I assume this is a similar issue.

      1. I drive the truck. If they don’t order it we don’t bring it. Our chain of stores monitors tank levels with a system that I can access in the truck in real time. Non branded customers have to call in an order. As mentioned above, mid grade is blended at the pump. Running out of either of the other two leaves only one of three.

    1. I can attest. I’ve got a long fuse, but when the asshole in shop class stole my pencil for the 100th odd time, I had enough and went after it. Shocked the hell out of him, and shocked the hell out of the school’s nurse and administrators that I’d managed to *just* miss his jugular when I stabbed him in the neck with said pencil. I guess that’s what happens when you’re holding a pencil in your fist during a round-house punch. It affected the aim, more than expected. I was shootin’ for his temple. 😉

      Anyway – the general collection of assholes that as a matter of course made my life a living hell – gave me a very wide berth for quite some time after that. Until their (weed induced) shortened long-term memory led to another altercation in the school’s cafeteria. Yeah, being the quiet skinny geek in school was rather like having a target on my back. EVENTUALLY, the one(s) that picked on me too much found out just how explosive pent up frustration can be. 😉

      1. Believe it or not Brian, I was a complete and utter geek alllll the way thru Junior High. Like serious D&D no-pussy-for-you dork. I should talk about that some night… it’s part of why I’m so fucked up/broken, and why I went so “hard” in the DotMil, and continued to go waaaay beyond the “norm” as one would say. Jr. High was literal torture for me…

        I also had certain ‘incidents’ where my torturers realized that they shouldn’t fuck around with the geek anymore… I believe the quote of the time after one memorable fight was “Watch out, the Geek grew fangs!” This after almost chewing a fuckers finger clean off… Maybe have to do a full confession… I wasn’t always a BIG guy that I am now…

        More like short, fat, attitudinal and zit covered LOL
        Hence why I’m utterly without mercy on people who get off on persecuting the weak.
        I. HATE. BULLIES. period fucking dot

  5. In a novel I read while still in high school 50 some years ago, #2 sharpened pencils were recommended to be carried as one of the covert weapons to be used against Occupying Allied troops in post war Germany. These were supposed to be SS troops hiding amongst the people to continue the war. Razor blade in your cap brim for the throat, or a pencil through the ear and stir. There were a few other hide in plain sight ideas but time has taken its toll on my memory. I might be mistaken but it might have been the “Ipcress File”. That one, “The Dogs of War”, “Day of the Jackal” , all fun reads for me back then ,but then again I was considered a strange kid as I always seemed to have a knife on or near at hand, even in school. As the Boy Scout Motto says ” Be Prepared”.
    Prayers to you and yours and hope that they caught it early enough.

    1. “Dogs of War” was one of my favorite movies from when I was a Kid…
      Walken doing his ‘thing’ and that wild assed MM-1 “Mixed Fruit Launcher” I think is what they called it… 40mm with a 12 round rotating drum mag…

  6. 4 Cops, 13 People
    Sounds massive AF to me…
    What say you?

    Meh,,it’s a matter of perspective. Take a Biden rally,
    Then, yeah, that many people would require additional security.
    Yuge numbers!

  7. Just filled the wife’s car tank at our neighborhood Sam’s Club pumps. All good, two (or is it three?) grades of petrol plus one diesel.

  8. The whole Navalny thing is super astroturfed bullshit. Plus I just don’t care about political prisoners in Russia when we have so many political prisoners in America.

  9. I got the same fairy wings for my granddaughter on her birthday. Added a princess dress with little fairy lights that look like Queen Elsa would wear and she was in hog heaven. Took her to the Renaissance Festival and she fit right in at Lord Mayor Bullfrog’s Fairy Tea.

    I loved the book and movie Dogs of War back in the day. They had some good movies of that genre back in the 70’s. Dark of the Sun, The Wild Geese, Dogs of War. There’s something missing from action movies today that those old movies had. They are missed.

  10. I’ve seen the Sold Out sign here in this small oceanfront town in Washington state (Commiefornia North). Your gas is a dollar a gallon cheaper though.

  11. Coming home last night to my small East Tennessee town, had been pushing it to get home, so was down to my last quarter tank of fuel. Pulled in to the Shitgo on the edge of town, only to see the same thing, stickers on the mid grade and the high test. Went up the street a mile and had no issues. But it’s a bit of an odd coincidence.

  12. Buccees at the edge of town (sounds like a song title) has 87, 89 and 93 with ethanol for less that the price of your 87. They also carry no ethanol 87 and 93 and Diesel. Gotta love capitalism. Might want to get a few 5 gallon jugs for a small get out and about stash if things go pear shape in your AO. One of the reasons I chose the F150 is that you can get a 36 gallon tank, enough to go 700+ miles at 70 mph.

    Spin;

    PS: Prayers for Gretch!

  13. There’s a couple of things going on. Finally I can talk about something useful. Normally my science nerd ass has to hope and pray someone else is REALLLY into neurochemistry, guns or cooking but I do drive the oil ice cream truck, so…

    gasoline is really only made in 2 flavors, RBOB and CARBOB. Rbob is the regular. Now, the state of Sodom, what you call California, has their own gas, called CARBOB (California Air Resources Board Oxygenated Blend, the dickbags who named it named it after themselves) It’s gas that has had some oxygen forcefully glued onto the hydrocarbon’s backbone molecules. Rbob (Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenated Blends) is the shit the rest of us use. Adding more octane makes RBOB into PBOB, Premium shit. RBOB and PBOB is what goes in the tanks of your vehicles and gas powered industrial sex toys.
    So the midwest has really limited refining capacity. Generally their gas is made down south and barged up the Mississippi and western rivers, then pumped to shore storage tanks for distribution, BUT there is a refinery in Indiana. and while it’s not big, it’s THE local source for RBOB… and the lights went out there last week by accident, and the distribution infrastructure is haywire, sufficient that pbob, which is not a big seller, is suddenly in demand because people like when they have gas and will buy PBOB if there’s no RBOB.
    Also, we’re coming into the final 1/3 of winter, which means refineries will be wanting to swap over recipes to make summer gasoline (gasoline has regional and seasonal varieties, like Sam Adams beer), and there’s so little storage capacity in the US, nobody wants to be saddled with winter gasoline when summer season starts, so that’s an issue, too.
    Finally, there’s the branding. So, the oil majors charge a licensing fee to put their brand on your gas station. Most gas stations are independently owned, even when they have the logo of an oil major on the sign. As part of the licensing deal, the owner has to agree to only buy the oil major’s brand of gasoline for ONE of their grades of fuel for sale. Usually the premium, because they sell a lot less of it. All other grades are generic fuel bought on the global market. Maybe from the oil major, maybe not. Maybe from the oil major’s refinery, even, but lacking the proprietary blend of additives the allow a company to label a gasoline as a proprietary blend.
    Is there a difference between generic and branded gasoline? Only on PBOB will you notice if there is or isn’t. 99% of the time if you use 87 grade, you will never know if you’re getting generic or branded gas.
    Anyhow, RaceTrac is 100% generic. My guess is that they had to do battle at the marketplace and weren’t willing to pay up the ass for branded premium when their generic supply was suddenly being eye-banged by some square state pickle sniffer. Just a guess though.

    1. All of this and more, very good job laying it out Paulb. Shortages aren’t always a conspiracy, mechanical failure and human incompetence are in play as well.

    1. Got it BC! Many thanks… can’t talk about ‘alterative things’ w/out getting buttfucked, but appreciate the intel and am acting accordingly

  15. Here, in the fifth circle of Dante’s hell, diesel was unobtanium for like 10 days this winter. Wierd.

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