09:52 – We left here yesterday morning for Winston. We dropped Colin off at the house and headed out to do errands. Barbara dropped me off at the dentist to get my fangs cleaned and sharpened, and then drove over to get her hair cut. She swung past the dentist’s office and picked me up to do a Costco run. Then it was back home to pack up the Trooper and head back up to Sparta. We got home about 4:00.
There was an interesting front-page article in the WS paper yesterday about North Carolina electric power utilities fighting a constant stream of cyberattacks: Duke Energy, the biggest US electric company, battling steady cyberattacks
One of the people quoted said that he didn’t want to incite panic, but the threat was very real. I don’t think he needs to worry about inciting panic. The panic will occur if/when the grid shuts down, and not before. Most people are oblivious, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. People generally remind me of Scarlett O’Hara, “I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow.” But by the time they deign to think about it, it’ll be too late. We live in a world where a lot of people hate us and are in a position to do something about it. Burying one’s head in the sand isn’t helpful.
One of the comments yesterday asked about antiparasitics. In my lay opinion, the best option is to lay in a supply of agricultural ivermectin, which is a broad spectrum antiparasitic, effective on most internal parasites other than tapeworms.
Another commenter suggested that I steer clear of offering medical advice, which I agree with completely. I’m not offering medical advice: I’m offering suggestions about various drugs that I think are good to have on hand just in case. I have no intention of practicing medicine other than in a severe emergency when there are no qualified medical personnel available and the only options are to watch someone die or try to do something about the problem. And even if you are lucky enough to have a physician in your group, he won’t be able to do much about dangerous infections without access to antibiotics, and chances are he’s not carrying a pharmacy along with him.
We’re working this week on getting the science kit stuff organized so that we can build more kits as needed.
There was an interesting front-page article in the WS paper yesterday about North Carolina electric power utilities fighting a constant stream of cyberattacks: Duke Energy, the biggest US electric company, battling steady cyberattacks
When I was was an engineer (junior – staff – senior) for TXU in 1980s, we had our own private network to all 50+ of our power plants using a microwave network. It was both voice and data with full command and control (dispatch, over and close circuits, voltage control using auto-transformers). We supplied about 40% of the electricity to the Great State of Texas.
At some point since then, the people appear to moved these private networks onto the internet. Why? The cost savings was probably minimal.
Another commenter suggested that I steer clear of offering medical advice, which I agree with completely. I’m not offering medical advice: I’m offering suggestions about various drugs that I think are good to have on hand just in case.
Gotcha. Somehow in the 1990s, I forgot that I had a allergic reaction to Keflex in the 1980s and took it again. I got huge hives on me with the first dose and discontinued it immediately. My doctor gave me a long lecture in a tightly controlled voice about allergies. Apparently had I died, he would have been responsible even though I was the idiot.
Cross sensitivity between the penicillins and the cephalosporins is pretty common.
Add these two VA douchebags and anybody who wouldn’t prosecute them to OFD’s “list”.
A pair of Department of Veterans Affairs officials who defrauded the VA for $400,000 will not face any criminal charges, despite an inspector general’s request that they both face a criminal investigation.
In an inspector general report made public in September, Diana Rubens and Kimberly Graves were both accused of manipulating a VA program meant to ease the strain of moving agency employees between cities. The watchdog referred the matter to the Department of Justice for a criminal inquiry.
My late mother was allergic to sulfa. She had her appendix removed around 1936. Recently I realized that when she had her appendix out, she was allergic to the world’s only known antibiotic.
I have no intention of practicing medicine other than in a severe emergency when there are no qualified medical personnel available and the only options are to watch someone die or try to do something about the problem.
I watched the latest episode of “The Last Man on Earth” the other day. This show is normally a very light hearted look at a die-off of 99.999% of the population due to a disease. The survivors are about two years in and they are starting to have serious problems due to lack of upkeep by armies of people continuously fixing stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Man_on_Earth_%28TV_series%29
* * * S P O I L E R * * *
There are now eight people living together in a very large Malibu mansion. They are the last people living in North America to their knowledge. One of them develops appendicitis. One of the other survivors tries to operate on him and the show ends with him flat-lining during the procedure.
Lynn
this happened all around the world, CFOs stating why we are spending on private links, Internet is free!!!
and, how much energy are generating/delivering! I need to see at home on real time, send it thru Internet, is free!!
and we need to trade energy, send the info thru? yes Internet, is free!!!
the maintenance contract of our turbines states that they need always a port open thru?Internet
the monitor the health of turbines always, thru? Internet!!!
who signs the contracts? guess, CFOs, Internet is free!! and our suppliers delivers extra services free!! Control Software maintained thru Internet!!!
add spare parts stocks shared between buyers, so, the vendor needs to know on real time the spares available, how, Internet!!
and so on
What could be wrong?
What could be wrong?
Sounds like you are living the dream already.
I would not want to be in the situation of having my control system open to the internet, even through a VPN. They could not drive past the limits but, between those limits is a whole lot of space.
When I was at TXU, we usually had only 40 to 60 of our 125 power units online. Of those 40 to 60, most would be on hand control just making power at a verbally requested level by system dispatch. Maybe only 10 units would be on system control chasing load, voltage, and frequency. I doubt that they are much different today even though dispatch is run through ERCOT now.
What ayjblog said.
(Though I’d have said it more grammatically.)
well, English is my third language, so, forgive my grammar, I learnt it when the books said thou and thee as second person, lot of time ago.
No, I was in the transition, I moved from Radio to Telco to Scada to IT to SAP to railways, the later is waiting such disaster, yet.
As example, Germany is on trials moving ETCS 2 from GSM R (private radio band exclusive for railways) to LTE.
In US with positive control act (or someting named similar) is going to be, surely, exposed to Internet!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_train_control
No problem, I was just messing around. I mess around with everyone. I’d pants Obama if I had the chance, except that I don’t want to get momjeans all over me. Not to mention camel semen or whatever he’s likely to have on the back of his trousers.
“Add these two VA douchebags and anybody who wouldn’t prosecute them to OFD’s “list”.”
Done. The list grows longer, and it’s pretty much mainly for the worst scum, too. Must be millions of them, or at least a few hundred thousand.
“’I’d pants Obama if I had the chance…”
He’d like that. G-Grandma wanted to watch the Kennedy Center Honors show tonight so I put it on for her, while making snide and nasty comments about the media rumpswabs drooling over Barry and Moochelle and “lovingly caressing them with their camera lenses all through the program…” but I was ignored. I sat and watched it and as usual noted that they just HAD to have at least as many Other Than White awardees as White awardees and even for the White awardees, made sure to lard up the performances with as many Other Than White stuff as they possibly could. A Martian watching would have to conclude that maybe a third of all performers from whatever fields of endeavor, but usually musical and entertainment-oriented, are White, while the vast majority are Afrikan, Asian and Hispanic.
Wondered under my breath as to where our own John Wilkes Booth might be in the crowd behind Barry, and if he came out could he also do my distant cousin Lurch.
Was apprehensive when Mount Aretha dumped her fur coat and it looked like she might shed the rest of her tentmaker sack; I was prepared to rush to the bathroom and hurl my guts out.
Fantasized some more about what a few well-thrown grenades could do for the country…
Then watched the late evening nooz for a couple of minutes; three people evidently beheaded on the mountain access road intersection with Route 4 at Killington (big ski resort) due to a tractor trailer sliding sideways across the ice and them hitting it in their SUV at speed. Winner: tractor trailer, with driver up from Georgia, maybe not used to our icy mountain roads, ya think? Idiots in SUV going too fast? Heads you lose.
Couple of shootings in downtown Burlap in the last few days; gangbangers from NYC; one DOA from fellow gangsta and other one DOA from cops. Busy downtown shopping area, too.
Sounds like fun, so I might have to hang out there more often.
“The Prepper’s Guide to Caches: How to Bury, Hide, and Stash Guns and Gear”
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1939473365/
Wow. I wonder what would drive a man to writing a book about this?
I see stuff like this, “Obama’s Four-Point Gun Confiscation Plan”, and think that this is a civil war in the making. The gun confiscation will not go past a couple of streets.
http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/12/obamas-four-point-gun-confiscation-plan/
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