BREAKING: $4 is back/ according to GasBuddy data, the national average just hit $4/gal again. 2026 is now the first year ever to reach $4 in two separate surges: once in the spring, now again. not in 2008, not in 2022, not ever. two $4 runs in the same year.

good article and, crucially, a good list at the end of cookware/kitchenware lines that are still quality (and family owned)

Oshkosh going on made me play SkyCards again.

Farmer payments to me for work performed seem much slower than last year. Maybe it’s because I billed more work in June when farmers are cash poor. Still…..feelsbadman when I am putting off paying a couple bills when I have $4,000 in overdue invoices.

There’s a trope that grain farmers plant the crop, maybe do their own herbicide spray, and then fuck off to a lake for the rest of the summer until harvest. Then there’s me, baling hay, spraying other farmers’ crop, harvesting wheat, baling straw, baling more straw, spraying 5000 acres of fungicide

I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to survive this week of mid-90s and a lot of outdoor work

wait WHAT

When someone tells you it has always been this bad, the correct response is to point out that the Voting Rights Act passed with 98 votes in the Senate in 2006 and its main sponsor was a Republican who worked with the ACLU to build a comprehensive record in defense of its most “controversial” parts

There is perhaps some irony in now that I am working on a farm my commute involves really lousy rush-hour traffic

This is what a member of the UN Security Council thinks about the rest of the world.

I do have my criticisms for both the President of Lithuania as well as President of Finland, but at least I can sleep assured neither would come up with some 'Islamic Republic of Japan' at an international event

Well fuck us. Russia has banned diesel exports. Trump wants to go to back to war with Iran…..and apparently all of NATO now too. What even is this world.

I just stumbled across Price’s Law: Price’s Law states that half of the total output or contributions within a specific domain or organization are generated by the square root of the total number of people involved.

The United States 1957 vs. 2026: The same vibe, an innocent black girl surrounded by the same damn problem, white supremacy.

I think I’m going to volunteer at Midwest FurFest this year. For the first time since I left the board in….i don’t remember what year. It’s been a while.

On a long weekend in Galena. Yesterday, we saw a banner for a free performance of a men’s choir from Agen France. It’s something of an exchange program. So we went, not knowing what to expect. We essentially stumbled into one of the best live performances I’ve seen in a while. They were fantastic.

I’ve billed $20k in work this month. But the drone tender truck needs a front axle u-joint fixed. I’ve had two drone lidars just randomly stop working this week. And, today, a drone prop motor quit (or more likely the wiring quit) so it fell out of the sky.

Did not get stuck, although the last two fields were really sketchy. Finished before more rain, yay. Now it can rain and wash all that nitrogen fertilizer into the soil so the plant roots can find it. Perfect.

This field is kind of muddy.

Well. Diesel refills sucked for planting season. But at least driving the drone truck around and filling the generator will be cheaper. And we need a diesel refill at the farm before fall.

When all three people who agreed to work for me on the drone business this summer are unavailable the first time I ask:

I remember being taught that Congress appropriates funds, not the executive. Where is the Ballroom Construction Bill? I guess Republicans just get to do whatever they want. So much for the ‘law and order’ party.

Today was goats. And a graduation party and a bar opening. Tomorrow, Woodstock Pride. I’m always impressed that this modest-sized town in a red county puts on such a large Pride weekend. I might be the straightest man to ever have run a furry convention, but I do enjoy a good Pride parade.

Goat farm dairy breakfast was fun. Rather dissapointed they did it there this year and served no dairy goat products, though.

A selection of goat faces

So. Many. Goats.

A Wisconsin dairy breakfast has to serve an Illinois milk brand. I’m kind of amused. I’m not sure there is a Wisconsin-based brand packaging fluid milk like this any more.

Found some goats. And breakfast.

No goats here. Just millions of bushels of grain storage.

Tomorrow, I’m going to go have breakfast with 600 goats. I am totally serious about this. You’ll see.

I apparently know a lot of words. vocabowl-870366514258.us-west1.run.app

Excellent

I have no idea how this country gets out of this situation.

A quarter-billion dollars in one night is a pretty vivid datapoint for the guns-vs.-butter debate.

So today, we spent $2,000 on our 202,000 mile Mazda 3, rebuilding the front suspension. It reaaaaallllly needed it. And after debating it for literally four months, Jenne convinced me it was better than our other option: buying a newer car.

Drive the Lincoln into the Gulf, then.

July style heat in June does not make me look forward to next month

You should ask yourself why all of the people who are screeching about election fraud on social media are always unwilling to repeat these claims under oath. Let me help you: it’s because they know they’re full of shit. The entire purpose is to keep people angry.

🇺🇦 Zelensky: “We received a message that the Russians are ready to meet only on the condition that Ukraine does what they decided in Anchorage (to give back Donetsk Oblast).” “With all due respect to 🇺🇸US President, you cannot divide our country. Our people decide. This is unacceptable.”

I’ve been looking forward to going to a meeting in Indiana I went to last year. Foolishly, I thought it was at the same location in NW Indiana. No….its south of Indianapolis. I don’t know why I didn’t catch that. 🤷🏻‍♂️🙄 Not doing that drive tomorrow.

We wanted to understand what’s happening with the Strait of Hormuz. So we talked to five raw milk drinkers at an emergency room in Idaho.

Welp

I was donating to this guy when it was just him and his personal PayPal account (that they still use sometimes, because credit card payments to Ukraine can be awkward). And now 6 million dollars later….we still have to donate. Fuck Russia

I just uploaded a video on Dzyga's Paw - I suggest you check it out. It's the journey we took together! www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRk...

Last night, Russia struck the Chornobyl Museum in Kyiv, along with a market, a shopping center, and other civilian sites. Meanwhile, Russia's MoD routinely claimed it hit only Ukrainian army and military intelligence command posts, and denied striking any civilian infrastructure. 📷 Unian

Last nights model run predicted none of this. I’ll take it!

And speaking of no rain….may has had no rain.

Farm update. All crops planted. All soybean acres sprayed with 1st pass herbicide (it may not do much good with no rain to activate the residual herbicide). Oats drone sprayed today with herbicide. I’m taking the rest of the holiday weekend off. Biking and beer tomorrow I think.

Ukrainian diplomacy is blunt bc Ukrainians buried the illusion of “brotherly nations” in mass graves across occupied Ukraine. And Ambassador Melnyk is right: after everything russia did — and continues doing — to our people, there is no “going back to normal.” Ever. #UkrainianView

Trans people have been around your whole life. You’ve been sharing bathrooms with them your whole life. They’ve been in your communities your whole life. They’ve even been playing sport your whole life. And you didn’t care *at all* till a few years ago when every right wing org decided you should