08:45 – Tropical storm Karen is close to being downgraded to a tropical depression. The rainfall forecast has been decreased to maybe 3 inches (7.5 cm) in coastal areas and less inland. Our local forecast now says there’s a 90% chance of rain Monday, but probably only an inch or so versus two or three times that originally. Barbara has guys coming Tuesday or Wednesday to plug and seed the yard, so they should have a nice damp yard to work on.
Kit sales have slowed noticeably. In the last seven calendar days we’ve shipped only 11 kits. If that rate holds up, we’ll ship maybe 50 kits this month. November will probably be slower still, but we should have a big jump in December. The good thing about the slowdown is that it gives me a bit of time to work on designing and prototyping new kits and writing manuals for them.
Surfing around, reading comments on articles about the federal shutdown, I find an amusing contrast: Commenters on articles in the Washington Post are aghast at the shutdown, and full of praise for the long-suffered, mistreated federal workers. Thank goodness that Congress intends to pay the poor sots for the days of the furlough.
Just about anywhere else, people seem mostly annoyed at Obama’s administration for deliberately making things worse – blockading private businesses, telling States to shut parks, etc., etc.. There is essentially no sympathy for federal workers. This in places like Reuters, which ought to have a pretty representative set of comments.
Now that the debt-ceiling issue is getting urgent as well, why heck, maybe the government will really have to shut down.
Wow. Business is picking up for us. I have not really figured it out, but all during the major grip of the Great Recession from 2009 to 2011, we were busy as bees. Only thing I can figure is that lawsuits, once on the books, have a life of their own, and take a couple years to play out, so as the recession took hold, the legal field already had its commitment. Then, from the middle of 2011 until July past, work was sparse—I figure because the lawyers were on a 2 to 3 year delay, not taking on much new work during the height of the recession. But on Thursday, we had our first 3 assignments-in-1-day in at least 2 years. Felt good.
I am driving all over the state, and was in tiny Wabash, IN yesterday. Cruise control quit working. Past time to move on to a new vehicle.
Mount Vernon was mentioned here a couple days ago. My understanding is that Mount Vernon has never been owned by the US government, but yet, they sent out government agents to close that privately held property down to tourists. Next thing we know, they will be closing Walmart, Target, and Ace Hardware because tourists or vets might use them.
Meanwhile, nearly every government website on the planet has been closed, except for Nobama’s precious Nobamacare sign-up. No problem keeping that open. We use FCC databases a lot in our work, but no access—even though the FCC is not furloughing the FCC IT department. Okay, so no new information gets entered, but why shut down anything until it breaks?
Same with my son. He accesses government databases for the work he does, but nearly every one he uses has been shut off. Reminds me of the DC Post Office fire of a couple decades ago. PBS was located in the basement of that building. The operation was an early form of automation, and the techs loaded up about 36 hours worth of advanced programming before they were forced to leave. The thing ran on automatic for almost 2 days, until accumulating water in the basement, finally shorted out the whole electrical system and brought it down. Meanwhile they set up temporary facilities in Virginia, and hardly missed a beat.
Why should website tech stuff that needs no daily supervision, be shut down for everybody, when it could probably run for months with nobody ever touching it?
Oh yeah. Stupid me. This is a Hollywood statement; not the reality of necessity.
Heard a Reuters report on the radio yesterday that enough Republicans in the House have cracked: that if they took a vote, the shutdown would be over. However, Boner is making sure there will be no vote taken on that. (BTW, spell check does not recognize the name of the Speaker of the House, and the above is what it recommends as a substitute.)
Well, if the federal government does default, I hope against hope that they’ll do it right: default on all obligations–debt, US dollar balances, etc.–held by foreign individuals, companies, and governments (other than Australia/NZ, Canada, and the UK), but honor obligations to US citizens and companies. No one will ever lend us money again, which would be a Good Thing. Then we can turn inward, expel the UN, recall all military forces and other US government employees stationed abroad, and become completely isolationist, which is what we should have been all along.
Wait! Won’t those be the LAST people who lose money in this process? Won’t it be us—the American citizens—who lose in the process, while everybody else gets full faith and value?
Yeah, the nonsense with closing private businesses really stinks. What’s particularly offensive is the fact that they can find “essential” personnel to harass private business owners, block public roads and generally do frankly illegal things.
I keep hoping some redneck will just tie em up and haul em down to the local jail. Guess rednecks ain’t what they used to be.
I’m waiting to see what is reported in Coyote Blog: the blogger runs federal parks as a private company, and was ordered to shut them all down on Friday. Someone had planned a wedding for one of his parks on Saturday, and he promised to see the guy get properly married. Hope he has a tale to tell…
http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/04/priests-threatened-with-arrest-if-they-minister-to-military-during-shutdown/
This is the kind of nonsense that starts civil wars.
Yes. That’s why I said “I hope against hope”.
The federal government’s policy is and has for a long time been, “make the people suffer as much as possible for daring to try to stop us from doing what we want to do”.
I don’t doubt that in a default the treasonous sons of bitches would put US citizens and companies dead last in line.
You may be surprised that I agree with you that it’s outrageous. Yet another example of the feds trying desperately to make sure that ordinary people suffer as much as possible.
And, although fed stupidity is expected, it suprises me that even they could be stupid enough to piss off the military.
And as predicted they will be paid for not working.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Government-doors-closed-but-workers-may-get-paid-4871480.php
If this is the case they should be back on the job or be forced to work days off until the time is made up. Essential my ass.
As pointed out elsewhere, awarding backpay to everyone even pisses off some federal employees, specifically, the ones who are told to work anyway.
I haven’t quite figured that one out. “Essential” employees have been kept on the job and on the paycheck. “Nonessential” employees have been furloughed. So what’s with the nonessential employees who are being told to work?
This is not stupidity; it is all intentional, the Shutdown Theater has opened its curtains wide and the stage managers are snickering at us as we fall for the obvious bullshit. The actors are on stage now and the situation is reversed; they’re throwing rotten fruit and garbage at us Mundanes in the audience.
As for pissing off the military and veterans; they don’t care. Their attitude toward us is one of even more contempt and loathing. We are just cannon fodder to them, to be used, shit on, abused and dumped and they are very blatant about it, from the station chief’s refusal to even acknowledge salutes, let alone return them, to the shutdown of NFL and MLB broadcasts to the troops overseas, while they leave Camp David open and then wire the gates and fences together in front of those memorials. Meanwhile they’ve told the Border Patrol to stand down and word has it that there are now hordes of illegals crossing our southern border.
This is just the beginning, guys; they’re gonna get a lot nastier and meaner soon.
I like this too: “So Did You Buy Your Vasoline, Obama Voters?”
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=224882
So when do they break out the brown shirts and black armbands?
Kit sales have slowed noticeably.
I blame the government shutdown.
I haven’t quite figured that one out. “Essential” employees have been kept on the job and on the paycheck.
Not all the essentials are being paid. For example, the civil service staff at ISS Mission Control in Houston are working, but not being paid. For contractors, the situation depends on the contract. Some service contracts (like the rent-a-cops that provide security) get upfront money to make payroll for a couple of weeks at a time. When I was on contract there during the last shutdown, we were not allowed to go onsite, and were 2 to 3 days from furloughs.
Obutthead has time to comment on football team names, but not to roll up his sleeves and work with congress. Does anyone really care about the Redskins name? I guess one person is offended so they have to change their name. After all these years:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_REDSKINS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-05-10-21-17
The usual suspects keep bleating about the Redskins but the actual Indians in the country don’t have any problem with it and have said so repeatedly. Atlanta Braves, same damn thing. People with way too much time on their hands; I prescribe hard labor on highway and dam projects for these ass-hats.
What did ol’ Davy tell y’all???
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/nbc-police-remove-vietnam-war-veterans-memorial-wall_759267.html
I think the cops should have busted some heads, stomped these miserable, pesky bastards, and then tased them, before hauling them off for more beat-downs in jail. C’mon you fucking junkie ‘Nam bastards, get over it!
And as we all knew, PAID VACATION:
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/326773-house-approves-back-pay-for-workers-hit-by-the-shutdown
LOL! Which Vets have the bigger balls:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/iwo-jima-memorial-closed-barricades-erected_759277.html
Or which bus driver has the bigger ballz. It would look kinda bad for big beefy cop thugs, male or female, to be manhandling 90-year-old vets but knocking around and shoving a few of us ‘Nam, Gulf and Sandbox vets is a piece of cake. For now.
Brad, has any media outlet run a story quoting someone celebrating the ‘shutdown’? Or am I just hallucinating at the notion of them allowing someone to say “Every day they’re not open is one less day to seize my liberties and money, and one tiny bit closer to actually exercising only their Constitutionally enumerated powers!”
except for Nobama’s precious Nobamacare sign-up. No problem keeping that open.
Open, yes. Working? Only for the most laughable definition; all I’ve seen is a page that says ‘Please wait. We’re really busy.’
default on all obligations–debt, US dollar balances, etc.–held by foreign individuals, companies, and governments (other than Australia/NZ, Canada, and the UK), but honor obligations to US citizens and companies.
I’m guessing that secondary market would develop very quickly, wherein American citizens engage in a reverse auction to buy debt held by people in say Guatemala at so many cents on the dollar.
Oh, they’d have to do it on a snapshot basis.
“has any media outlet run a story quoting someone celebrating the ‘shutdown’? Or am I just hallucinating at the notion of them allowing someone to say “Every day they’re not open is one less day to seize my liberties and money”
You are definitely hallucinating. I’ve seen this sentiment repeatedly in the comments to articles, but never in an article itself. Most of the media still seems to think that Obama can do no wrong. I haven’t looked at Fox or the like, but I imagine the right side of the media spectrum is still in the pocket of the Neocons, which is no better.
Some sites like Reason may have said that sort of thing, but they – like all libertarian sites – hardly count, because so few people read them…
Via /. today: their story is that they got overwhelmed at the Fed healthcare sites; they built them for a projected max of 20-30k simultaneous users and they got 250k. They hadn’t bothered to see how the previous Bush administration set up Part D; building for 250k and only getting 30k at once. So here you can take your pick; was it just stupidity and hubris? Or is it deliberate? i.e., designed to fail and be a major problem.
Their intention is to drive this country into Third World status, strip it for parts, and run the remainder as a Bolshevik satrapy, with some regions under hadji sharia. The masses are right now engrossed in bread and circuses but will wake up kinda annoyed when the Safeway and Walmart shelves go bare and the Grid stutters and flares out.
Ya gotta laugh at libturds crying Obutthead has been negotiating in good faith and offering all kinds of deals. Even when Obutthead says “I will not negotiate”. Maybe Boner found his sack:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/10/06/204429/boehner-house-will-not-pass-bill.html