It was somewhat boring, walking along U.S. Route 50 at night. Every night was much the same. The chicken had gone ahead and reported back that when we got to Anderson Ferry Road, we would want to turn left and head up to the top of the plateau. How she could figure this out, I have no idea.

I was underwater and gasping for air. I had been asleep on the banks of the Miami River and must have rolled over into the water. Unfortunately, at that point a boat came close and pushed me underwater. Not only did I need air, but I also need to avoid the boat’s propeller.  

Next, we decided to slow down a bit. The last few weeks had been exciting, to say the least.  

We got out on U.S. 27 headed toward the Great Miami River, on the west side of Cincinnati. Now I ran and the chicken flew. She kept looking back to see if the rats had followed us.   

Well, we may have been a few minutes north of Ivy Hill Drive as the chicken flies, but when you are a short-legged beagle like I am, that is not the case.

AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) claimed this week that no one can earn $ 1 billion, proving she is no polymath (an individual whose expertise spans multiple, diverse fields, often combining profound knowledge in areas like science, art and philosophy to solve complex problems). Hey, AOC, give me a call, and I will tell you about the billionaires I have known.  

It was the longest day of my life. The truck would drive along for 15 or 20 minutes, then dump another load nearly on top of me. I learned to scurry to the back corners and then get on top of the load after it dumped. In this way, I kept rising in the truck. This routine went on for a very long time.

Yes, I know I am nearly 76 years old and of the “get off my grass” age. But somehow, we have got to get across to the younger generations that work is honorable.  

I hadn’t figured out what that was about before I heard a big heavy truck engine. The truck came around the building and seemed to be near the container I was in. Next, I heard kind of a squeaky, fluid sound. Then the container I was in lifted off the ground.

The basic conundrum is this. Rural lands do not consume electricity nor need data centers to the extent the cities do. Why bring this blight out to the country? Put it where it is used.

We stayed on Route 50, which was our objective. We went through several small towns and then came to a larger one. I glimpsed at the sign – Owensville – even though it was dark and still raining. The chicken jumped aboard to give her wings a rest.

When I was a little boy, my dad snookered me into lawn mowing by suggesting this is an activity “big boys do.”  

The plan was that I would climb the tree she had selected and wait. She would go to the edge of town and watch for a boat and car that fit our needs. The car could really be anything but the boat must not have a cover on it so I could get in and be lower than the sides.

Artemis II was kicked off around 2017 and carries a tab of $4 billion. The California high-speed rail project was kicked off around 1996, has not laid one foot of track yet, and is now estimated to cost $126 billion. Obviously, if they have not laid any track, they have not carried any passengers.

The chicken and I got together by the truck scrap pile behind Corky’s. The chicken spoke first.