07:52 – It was 60.0F (16C) when I took Colin out at 0630, partly cloudy.
Barbara is due back from Winston later this morning, at which point we’ll get back to work on building more science kits. We finished building a batch of two dozen of the CK01B chemistry kits yesterday, so we’re in good shape on those for now. Same with biology and forensic kits. But I have four more of the CK01A chemistry kits awaiting pickup by USPS this morning, and we’re down to only three of those in stock. So the next priority is building another two or three dozen of those.
Email from Kathy overnight. She and Mike read the comments yesterday, and Mike has abandoned his plan to build an ad hoc cold storage room in the basement. He told Kathy that, in his defense, he HAD proposed it as a “cunning plan”.
He came up with the idea after seeing what we’d done here with our old refrigerator, re-purposing it to extend the shelf life of canned meats, sauces, dried eggs/butter/cheese, and so on. After reading what the commenters said yesterday, he agreed with Kathy that it was a dumb idea. Oh, well. That’s why the hive mind here is so useful to them (and to me).
I was just thinking about two contrasting views on allies: “If you’re not with me, you’re against me” and “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”. I think we’re seeing a significant shift among pro-freedom people, Normals, from the former to the latter viewpoint.
In the past, even groups that seemed to be natural allies–say libertarians of different camps–fought each as viciously as they fought statists, if not more so. The same with conservatives, or any other groups considered right of center by the current definition of that term. Leftists, on the other hand, made Common Cause, so to speak.
What I see now is the right coalescing into a single group, willing to put up with each others’ different beliefs in the interests of presenting a common front against the statists/progressives.
After Charlottesville, for example, I actually found myself having some sympathy for the neo-Nazis/skinheads, something I would never have believed possible. I still deplore nearly all of their beliefs, and they’re still leftists, but at least they were out there fighting the progressive leftists.
And you see that alliance among the frequent commenters on this blog. We have a wide range of people, from devout Christians to radical atheists, and from traditional conservatives to hard-core libertarians. And yet we all seem to get along pretty well. I know I’d be comfortable with any of these people watching my back, and I’d hope they feel the same. We can beat the leftists first, and only then argue like hell about our differences. But, as they say, we’re at the point where we all hang together or we all hang separately.
So I spent some time watching videos made by a young woman whom, not all that long ago, I wouldn’t have spent any time listening to. She goes by the name of Patriot Nurse, and we have a lot of differences. She’s a traditional conservative, I’m a radical libertarian. She’s devoutly religious (Jewish, although it took me a while to realize that because she so often quotes New Testament scripture) and I’m a committed atheist. She’s an anti-vaxxer and I’m a scientist. She’s an ovo-lacto vegetarian (or perhaps a vegan; she reports her food preferences differently in different videos) and I’m an omnivore tending toward carnivore. She’s into some woo-woo medical stuff, while I insist on evidence-based medicine.
But instead of focusing on our differences while I watched her videos, I focused on what we have in common, which is a love of freedom, a commitment to the Constitution, and sympathy for the anti-Federalists and the Confederate States of America. I found that she’s worth watching.
YouTube put this video in my recommended list, so I watched it, followed by half a dozen more before this one came up.
I have never before sensed the intensity of suppressed rage that I did while watching this video. This is not a woman I’d want to have pissed at me. Her rants are more intense than I’ve ever seen. She lives three hours or so down the road from us, and I suspect there are tens of thousands of others like us between Sparta and Knoxville.
The weather was clear and cool (63f) when I began my commute this morning. Quite a nice change from the hot and muggy mornings of the last week.
I’ve found that if you can get people talking about their interests and away from polotics, we can generaly get along pretty well.
Twenty to Thirty Inches of Rain in Texas?
http://mashable.com/2017/08/23/tropical-storm-harvey-flood-threat-texas-louisiana/#R2.4yLiPZmqA
I hope our friends down there are well prepared.
Holy crap! Talk about a biblical rain. I see that some forecasts are calling for 50″ (!) of rain in some spots. How the hell does anyone deal with more than 4 feet of rain, other than by evacuating?
Most of costal Texas is pretty flat, no high ground so to speak and poor drainage.
I have relatives in Houston and they are packing to leave today. Taking an early vacation in Colorado. Better be safe than sorry.
I wonder if it will push flooding rain up our way (Memphis)?
I checked my Hurricane site (http://flhurricane.com/) this morning and saw the storm is going to be stationary (likely) for a few days. That’s a LOT of water.
I may have to reconsider Flood insurance. I’m OK at 18 inches, but 50? No way!
Prayers and concern for our people down there in the coastal areas of the great Lone Star State. Holy Chit!
Y’all got plans to bail out or hunker down or what? Yikes.
“I’ve found that if you can get people talking about their interests and away from polotics, we can generaly get along pretty well.”
Mostly true but hard to work out in practice; tempers flare almost immediately in our vets group and there’s a fine line: yes, avoid politics, but shit, what they do in Mordor with, say, the VA and its policies, affects us DIRECTLY as veterans. Can we discuss it w/o mentioning whoever is in the WH? Not recently. Maybe now, since we had our “repair” session after that “rupture.” (psych terms). Wife gets annoyed immediately whenever I say chit about The Current Situation politically and shuts right down, usually. She never brings up political stuff anymore; ditto with stuff involving Holy Mother Church; she’s a pseudo-feminist who is still upset and angry over her POV WRT to treatment of women in said Church. So those topics don’t get much traction in this house anymore. Fine by me, we have plenty enough else in common.
And she’s starting to come around to the fact of local criminal activities and the need to at LEAST prepare for storms and power outages. Plus has done a lot of work experimenting with what works and what doesn’t in the back yard garden. And since our dryer crapped out, we’ve both been drying our LOADS of laundry (90% hers) on the clothesline I rigged up out back. Little things, but gotta start somewhere.
Off shortly to run a whole slew of errands and see if we can manage a vets group meeting w/o anyone losing their chit again.
Gorgeous summah day here!
I hope our friends down there are well prepared.
Around Austin, the hipsters living in the flood plain south of downtown are going to have a serious problem, but most of the metro will be okay except for power outages and the occasional flooded road.
Is it possible to add a port to connect a portable propane tank to a gas cooktop in an emergency situation? We have a camp stove with an adapter, but being able to use our standard cooktop would minimize disruption.
“Leftists, on the other hand, made Common Cause, so to speak.”
I was involved in so called “student politics” in Oz in the late Seventies and the infighting amongst the left was something to behold. We (right wingers) would often tactically support the Trots or Maoists against the “orthodox” Communists and Labor Party types. At an Australian Union of Students annual conference in January 1981 I seconded a Maoist motion just to get them and the communists fighting. The Right, on the other hand, were fairy unified, but disorganised.
“Is it possible to add a port to connect a portable propane tank to a gas cooktop in an emergency situation?”
Probably not in practical terms. Cooktops designed for natural gas can’t use propane unless there’s an adapter available to alter the cooktop for the different gas pressure of natural gas versus propane. Many (most?) gas cooktops don’t have adapters available. Also, not all gas cooktops (and no current gas ovens other than expensive commercial models) will function without AC power. If AC power fails, they shut down the gas flow to the burners.
How the hell does anyone deal with more than 4 feet of rain, other than by evacuating?
Backstroke.
Is it possible to add a port to connect a portable propane tank to a gas cooktop in an emergency situation?
Probably against code to have an open fitting without something attached inside a close structure. Any open fittings would require a threaded cap so there is no possibility of a leak. I wouldn’t do it. Gas scares the crap out of me.
I have gas heat but it is a pack unit where everything is outside the house. Good thing because I once had a burner start leaking. When the furnace came on in the morning I heard a loud boom. Later in the day did it again. Shut it down and called the furnace people. Gas was leaking into the enclosure and when enough built up, furnace ignited, the gas in the enclosure also ignited. $6K later and the unit was replaced.
Holy crap! Talk about a biblical rain. I see that some forecasts are calling for 50″ (!) of rain in some spots. How the hell does anyone deal with more than 4 feet of rain, other than by evacuating?
The prediction for Houston is for 10-16 inches or so over four days. That’s about what the systems here can handle, but there will be flooding in underpasses and other low lying areas. I’m getting the gas cans filled, adding a few items to the pantry, gonna throw the plastic chairs into the pool, etc. I’ve got all I need for about a week here at the house, more if I start drawing down on the freezers.
The worst hit areas will be at the edge of the hill country in a triangle formed by Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. There could be some nasty flooding in lower areas like parts of Bastrop, and then downstream to Corpus Christi, Wharton, Victoria, etc.
(My daughter and spouse are heading out to Nebraska on Friday morning for a concert at the state fair there. (Pentatonix – they are about to lose one of their members) and they have “premium” tickets that include a meet and greet. She has dyed, spun, and knitted wool caps for the five of them. We get to take care of the cats. They have to be back Sunday night for Monday classes at UofH.)
Many (most?) gas cooktops don’t have adapters available.
The stove we have can be used with propane, but you have to have it factory installed.
Head for the high ground.
WRT to “Patriot Nurse” and vegans/vegetarians in general:
Not eating meat and fish makes a person angry and somewhat illogical. We need the hormones and enzymes in meat and fish to keep our systems in balance and functioning correctly.
I have watched a few of her videos, but can only take one or two at a time.
Here is another nurse prepper: “preppernurse1”
He seems to be a pretty tough fella, but he has a soft heart as evidenced when he interacts with his kids’ (he is divorced). With him too, one or two videos at a time is about it. He still has a lot to learn about making a good instruction YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/user/preppernurse1/
I understand the “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” impulse with the current protests going on.
However, the Republican party and conservatives in general can’t make any kind of alliance with the Nazis, KKK, and white supremacy groups. Sure, the US and UK partnered with the USSR in WWII, but that was war not protest.
The Republican brand has already been tarnished, probably for years, by Trump and Bannon’s tolerating the “alt-Right” support they had. Trump had an opportunity, several times, to denounce their ideas and every single time didn’t. Did he need their votes? Probably not. He could have simply said that white separatism is against all that the American experiment stands for, that we are a nation that forged a national identity out of many threads from all over, and that he rejects their ideas. But he booted the ball, especially with Charlottesville. Yes, there was violence by the Antifa and their allies. But when you have a young woman dead at the hands of a Nazi, you condemn the Nazi first off. Leave the other for later.
A very entertaining 3 book sf series available on Kindle Unlimited, the “Bobiverse” series. Three books, starts with We Are Legion (We Are Bob). An engineering software company owner sells out to “Terasoft”, signs a contract for cryonic suspension when he dies, then is hit by a car and dies. Complications ensue.
Natural gas to propane. This would be of course manual controls.
http://www.davesrepair.com/DIYhelp/RngNAT-LPconv.htm
Several years old but may still apply to many (and how can a guy named Dave be wrong?)
Stoves that need electric will probably have a very low power draw so a jump pack with 120v outlet might work.
Personally I’d use an outdoor BBQ when possible. They can be converted easily either way.
Three books, starts with We Are Legion (We Are Bob).
I’m about to start book two. This series was posted here, by Mr. Lynn? a month or two back.
I second ech recomendation of the “Bobiverse” serise.
I listened to them on Audible (audio books) and found the narator was excelent. The stories are perfectly taylored for IT nerds with a SciFi background as knowledge of SciFi books and video enhances the enjoyment. I have heard that this is one of the most popular Audible books series and everyone in my company IT department has read it.
Give it a try folks.
Latest report on Harvey vs Texas
10:08AM CDT 24 August 2017 Update – Per NHC:
Harvey has intensified quickly this morning, and is now forecast to be a major hurricane at landfall, bringing life-threatening storm surge, rainfall, and wind hazards to portions of the Texas coast.
Preparations to protect life and property should be completed by tonight, as tropical-storm-force winds will first arrive in the hurricane and storm surge warning areas on Friday.
A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for much of the Texas coast. Life-threatening storm surge flooding could reach heights of 6 to 10 feet above ground level at the coast between the north entrance of the Padre Island National Seashore and Sargent.
Life-threatening flooding is expected across much of the Texas coast from heavy rainfall of 12 to 20 inches, with isolated amounts as high as 30 inches, from Friday through early next week. Please refer to products from your local National Weather Service office and the NOAA Weather Prediction Center for more information on the flooding hazard.
From B.H. in yesterday’s Fort Bend Herald:
To the ladies:
When a man says that he will fix something, he will fix something.
There is no no need to nag him every six months.
One thing’s been missing from all the discussion of Hurricane Harvey: the declaration that this was caused by Anthropogenic Global Warming (which is REAL!!!) and if Trump hadn’t said anything about the Paris Accords it never would have happened.
here will be flooding in underpasses and other low lying areas
And the usual people stranded in those low water crossings. When I lived in the San Antonio area (Live Oak, next to Universal City which is home to Randolph AFB) there would be torrential rains and the usual low spots would flood. They have water gauges to show the depth of the water. But every storm that flooded those area there were a few idiots that would get caught. Thought they could make it through in their ’74 Pinto with three matching tires and no hubcaps while on their way to get some flour tortillas.
Current Hurricane Harvey storm track prognostication:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT09/refresh/AL092017_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind+png/211729_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind.png
This is why that you just don’t know where these things are really going to go. However, my parents are bugging out to my brother’s farm this afternoon. They live in Port Lavaca which looks like it is going to get slammed. Hard.
The danger side of me is tempted to not fill my truck gas tank this afternoon. I’ve got an 1/8th of a tank right now, what could go wrong ?
Is it possible to add a port to connect a portable propane tank to a gas cooktop in an emergency situation? We have a camp stove with an adapter, but being able to use our standard cooktop would minimize disruption.
Short answer: No !
Long answer: You have to replace the gas nozzles as propane flows different than methane (natural gas is 90 to 95% methane).
Use a propane gas BBQ on your patio. I have two in storage in my garage along with three large bottles of propane and a dozen small bottles.
connect a portable propane tank to a gas cooktop in an emergency situation?
Short answer: No !
I don’t see anywhere in the comments where it is mentioned it is a natural gas stove. Only a gas cooktop. It could already be configured and operating on propane.
I don’t see anywhere in the comments where it is mentioned it is a natural gas stove. Only a gas cooktop. It could already be configured and operating on propane.
Yup, my bad. I assumed again.
Never mind.
“Yup, my bad. I assumed again.”
I made the same assumption, and it’s a reasonable one. If the cooktop is already configured for propane, there’s obviously a large propane tank installed outdoors, so why would he want to fuel his cooktop with 20-pound canisters?
And since our dryer crapped out, we’ve both been drying our LOADS of laundry (90% hers) on the clothesline I rigged up out back. Little things, but gotta start somewhere.
Do you use a baseball bat to break the ice off your wet clothing ?
I have gas heat but it is a pack unit where everything is outside the house. Good thing because I once had a burner start leaking. When the furnace came on in the morning I heard a loud boom. Later in the day did it again. Shut it down and called the furnace people. Gas was leaking into the enclosure and when enough built up, furnace ignited, the gas in the enclosure also ignited. $6K later and the unit was replaced.
I just spent $600 on getting my pool heater fixed. The control panel and the burner control circuit board both shorted out and had to be replaced. This is on a four year old Hayward outside forced draft 400,000 btu/hr pool heater. It would try to light, get a big bang, and smell up the entire back yard with natural gas. I suspect that I will have to replace it in a year or two, $3,000 (including labor).
Seeing as how it’s always 100F down where you are, you must like to keep your pool temperature up around boiling.
Backpacking? A 250gal tank is too big to carry, but a stovetop and 20-pound tank is just right for a day hike. You can use the propane to power the mini-fridge you’re carrying, too, but maybe you’d need a second 20-pound tank.
Seeing as how it’s always 100F down where you are, you must like to keep your pool temperature up around boiling.
Nah, we will drop down in the 80s F in October and so on. January is usually in the 40s around here and the 100 F hot tub feels awesome at that point. Just sitting out under the stars at midnight with all of the lights turned off and contemplating life.
Plus, I am on blood thinners and any pool under 90 F feels cold to me. I tried to run the hot tub the other day when the pool was 87 F and that is when I noted the problems.
I am fascinated by how much maintenance that a pool requires. Somewhere around $300 to $400 per month including electricity and chemicals.
When I was scouting for a house in Adelaide in 2013 I wanted a place with a pool. My sister’s kids were enthusiastic but my sister said I’d be nuts. Pools are as expensive as owning horses.
I am fascinated by how much maintenance that a pool requires. Somewhere around $300 to $400 per month including electricity and chemicals.
I figure about $10 a month for electricity and about $20 a month for chemicals and water bags in the fall, new cover every four or five years. I don’t heat my pool and cover it in the winter. The costs are amortized over the entire year.
I am facing a major repair this fall, about $7K to replace the entire edge of the pool. First major repair in 25 years. Cost amortized over all those months works out to about $25 a month. So add on another $25 a month to the regular amount and you have $55 a month amortized over 25 years. A little over $16K total.
And the usual people stranded in those low water crossings.
But Señor, the sign, eet say “Low Water Crossing”.
I think the signs are worded differently now.
I am fascinated by how much maintenance that a pool requires. Somewhere around $300 to $400 per month including electricity and chemicals.
Don’t forget about periodic relinings unless your pool was built in the 70s or earlier, back when they could mix asbestos fibers into the cement.
I figure about $10 a month for electricity and about $20 a month for chemicals and water bags in the fall, new cover every four or five years. I don’t heat my pool and cover it in the winter. The costs are amortized over the entire year.
Do you have a 1/4 hp pump and only use it 2 hours per day ? I have a 1.5 hp pump and run it 10 hours per day. That is $100 of electricity per month.
Plus I have had to replace the pump motor twice in five years at $600 each.
I heat my hot tub with beautiful clean natural gas. I never heat the pool itself, that would be whistling Dixie. The hot tub is 1,000 gallons, the pool is 25,000 gallons.
Don’t forget about periodic relinings unless your pool was built in the 70s or earlier, back when they could mix asbestos fibers into the cement.
My pool is epoxied. No lining replacement needed.
Thought they could make it through in their ’74 Pinto with three matching tires and no hubcaps while on their way to get some flour tortillas.
But Señor, the sign, eet say “Low Water Crossing”.
That is so raycissssss!!! I’m calling the Castro Brothers and reporting you! 50 lashes with a wet noodle, too.
That is so raycissssss!!! I’m calling the Castro Brothers and reporting you! 50 lashes with a wet noodle, too.
The same Castro brothers, scions of La Raza, who No Habla Espanol?
Si, Nein Sprechen.
“But when you have a young woman dead at the hands of a Nazi, you condemn the Nazi first off. Leave the other for later.”
Later information indicates that the driver was/is actually an antifa clown, as was/is the leader who organized the rally in the first place. The commies are outstanding at infiltrating organizations and groups like that. Like half the people at the Malheur Refuge clusterfuck were agents and informers. There may have been a small handful of actual neo-Nazi idiots down there but not so many as to characterize the whole bunch as Nazis.
So it would seem like it was a deliberately provocative act of violence committed by the antifa scum to make it look it was done by someone from the other group. Classic commie tactic, and running people down with a vehicle seems like it would be something they’d do, as with the recent musloid attacks, than any lone actors from the so-called Right.
But we’ll probably never know the exact truth as the alleged perp is in the hands of the authorities now. We can’t trust anything they or the MSM say about those events.
OK now, the predicted hurricane Harvey path is going ashore at Port Lavaca at 1 am on Saturday, heading northwest to Austin, and then heading east to Houston by Tuesday.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT09/refresh/AL092017_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind+png/211729_5day_cone_no_line_and_wind.png
I am just hoping that Austin can keep itself weird during a hurricane strike.
All the gas stations have lines, bread and water are gone from HEB, and people are starting to hunker down. And the hurricane is five days away.
Oh, OFD, the narrative has been set. Do you think facts matter? Your naivete is so cute!
Thanks for the heads up about the bobiverse book 3, now rectified and waiting on my Samsung Tab S Kindle. A great read, also just finished 12 volumes of The Destroyermen series expecting a resolution and ending but its yet another cliff hanger of sorts. The website of Taylor Anderson is not kept up very well so I dont know if there will be more, I will recommend them as well,
The same Castro brothers, scions of La Raza, who No Habla Espanol?
Si, Nein Sprechen.
Using their lack of Espanol against El Hermanos Castro is raycisss!
You’ve been reported. So many micro-aggressions today.
You’ve been reported. So many micro-aggressions today.
Ah ain’t skeerd. I have gubs.
Here is something interesting, some really old math:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/08/24/3700-year-old-babylonian-tablet-rewrites-history-maths-could/
All the gas stations have lines, bread and water are gone from HEB, and people are starting to hunker down. And the hurricane is five days away.
I’ll go fill up later. We have to be at work in Belton on Monday.
Using their lack of Espanol against El Hermanos Castro is raycisss!
You’ve been reported. So many micro-aggressions today.
I may actually watch Univision for the first time just to see Senor Cruz debate whichever El Hermanos Castro is designated as the party’s sacrificial animal in the Texas Senate race next year.
While slightly lost in Hialeah back in March, we stumbled across the Univision HQ complex. It was more Weird Al’s “UHF” than Hollywood. Kinda cool.
I went to the Verizon store with a friend the other day. Out here, AT&T cell service, while not totally sucking, is not very good. Verizon “just works”.
My old phone was a Galaxy s2. Straight Talk and on AT&T. I caught a sale and scored it for $299, $150 off. Sitting in the house I would have 2 bars of E. Once in a while 3 bars of 3G. Using Frost’s banking app simply did not work. Well, I had rooted the s2 with Cyanogen Mod. Nice stuff. In Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, even Marble Falls, the phone was fast. Not here. After a couple of years I got stupid with the idea to update the OS. Bricked it. So, off to Wal-Mart and this time I bought an LG Premier. Straight Talk’s version of the K10. It’s a nice phone, better than the s2 but hey, 6 years newer too. The camera is so-so. I get 2 or 3 bars of 4g on Verizon at the house. Battery life is great.
Back to the Verizon store. He’s trying to activate a Blackberry z10. He ordered the sim online and followed all of the directions and the dang thing will not activate. Oh, and the DeathStar usefully screwed up and “forgot” to release his number. Phone will still not activate. They rummaged around, even in the Donated Phone bin, to find the correct size sim. The phone will not for some reason activate the sim. Meh, there’s $28 down the drain. So I shopped around and a $35 replacement is on the way.
Then a friend came by. He has a Moto or something, on Verizon, with the correct size sim. He pulled his sim, activated the new sim, and everything works. I don’t understand it. Neither do they…. cell phones are a bit different than #5 ESS and Ericsson switches.
It seems to have all worked out.
Other than setting off the theft alarm on most everything I tried to look at, I’m wondering what is so great about the tablets Verizon sells? Any brand. They are all about the same size as my Kindle Fire. But they want $250 to $400 and I don’t see what they do my $45 Fire can’t.
Time to feed the dogs…..
I may actually watch Univision for the first time just to see Senor Cruz debate whichever El Hermanos Castro is designated as the party’s sacrificial animal in the Texas Senate race next year.
We’ve got a lot of Kalifornians and Michiganites living here in Texas now. And they all vote dumbocrat. Someday, maybe soon, the senators may be D’s instead of R’s. BTW, my county, Fort Bend County, the most racially diverse county in the USA (reputedly), voted for hillarity.
My next door neighbors are from Michigan. They say they voted for Trump.
“The same Castro brothers, scions of La Raza, who No Habla Espanol?
Si, Nein Sprechen.”
Si, hablo Español por cierto & sprechen sie Deutsch!
Do you have a 1/4 hp pump and only use it 2 hours per day ? I have a 1.5 hp pump and run it 10 hours per day. That is $100 of electricity per month
1 hp, run it 12 hours a day. Electric bill in the summer is about $200 with A/C running, a lot. If the pump was $100 a month my electric bill would be $300 a month. Electric bill in the winter is $90.00 a month, gas heat. So I figure most of that additional cost is the A/C.
Plus I have had to replace the pump motor twice in five years at $600 each
I have only replaced three pumps in 29 years (only purchased two of them). First pump crapped out and was replaced with a Hayward at a cost of about $350.00. That failed and I bought a new pump and had the old pump rebuilt at a cost of $120.00. Just recently replaced the pump with the rebuilt one I had as a spare. Pump that was removed had a seal leak which I repaired myself at a cost of $30.00 for a complete seal kit. Even with a frozen motor (purchased Hayward pump failure) the rebuild was much cheaper than a new pump.
It helps that my pump is in the garage, out of the weather, and not subject to the heat of the outdoors and the sun.
“Here is something interesting, some really old math…”
I find that kinda stuff fascinating; thanks for the link, Mr. DadCooks! In my spare Sunday study time I’ve been looking at hieroglyphics and Etruscan in between the Latin and Greek. And RC theology. I should have been Indiana Jones.
The Sunday study time may soon supplant watching NFL games, looks like; I plan to watch at least the Patriots games for as long as Brady and Belichick are with them, though. No cold turkey kicking for this; I did that for all my other addictions. Slow and easy….
In my spare Sunday study time I’ve been looking at hieroglyphics and Etruscan in between the Latin and Greek. And RC theology. I should have been Indiana Jones.
For every Indiana Jones there are a thousand guys (and gals) with their head on a stick out in the backwoods somewhere.
It helps that my pump is in the garage, out of the weather, and not subject to the heat of the outdoors and the sun.
Yes, as long as your garage is well ventilated. Motors do not like heat.
It’s naysayers like you who prevent all invention, discovery, and progress.
Yes, thanks, Mr DadCooks.
Though, as we all know, those Babylonians stole those mathematical discoveries from black Africans, who invented it first. Or maybe the Babylonians were black; claims differ. But it doesn’t matter because the Chinese invented everything a thousand years before anyone else. Just ask them.
“Harvey late night: Some final Thursday thoughts”
https://spacecityweather.com/harvey-late-night-some-final-thursday-thoughts/#more-4950
Harvey is going to go where Harvey goes.
No matter what, the Land of Sugar is going to get some 40 mph sustained winds from Friday night to Saturday morning. We’ll be doing a tree check.
Glad some of you enjoyed the “math” link. Getting tired of the SOS all over the place so I find it refreshing when I come across something that stimulates some brain cells.
We have two tractors. One is a Yanmar. The Mule. Three cylinder diesel. The new tractor is a Mahindra Max. An Indian brand. Our Mahindra was made in Japan with a 3 cylinder Mitsubishi diesel. So, being Japanese, I have no clue what a made in India Mahindra tractor is like. It has a 4 feet wide front end loader. /That/ is Indian.
So, two Japanese tractors. Come the SMOD and the included EMP that will trash all electronics, so “they” say, my money is on the Yanmar still running.
The Boat Shed has been expanded from the original 30 feet long x 18 wide x 15 or so tall. It’s an over sized carport. You see them all over the place… a 20×20 carport for $695 installed. Well, it was for a 25 foot SeaRay Sundancer. We had covered sides added, about 12 feet wide. On each side and across the back. Drill pipe set in concrete and welded. Needless to say, you don’t see the building sway and creak with big wind anymore.
We have room for the Mule with the shredder attached. Max is in front of the Jeep. There is “stuff” in front of the van. BBQ grills, the scary chipper shredder, a small stack of lumber. Everything is out of the sun.
The ground is fairly level except where the van parks. It’s enough that you think the driver’s door will chop your leg off. The Stratus was the same but the detent on the door hinges are different and the Stratus usually caught the detent.
Ok, 4 buckets of road gravel where the van parks. I have a treated 2×6 standing against the original shed’s foundation. Triple D or Dirty D, depending who you are talking to. It’s mostly limestone rocks about the size of a quarter and smaller with some sand mixed in. Makes a nice driveway. Then another bucket full from a pile of larger gravel to fill the dip where the rain drips.
This is all as clear as mud, right?
I finished up and came inside about 3:30. It wasn’t too bad but a bit more breeze would have been nice. I cooled off, went out about 5 to take the garden rake out there and find the hoe. Well, I’m here so let’s spread some gravel. Just putter a bit…
It looks decent. Needs more work to level it out but I can do that while the hurricane is dumping 50 inches of rain. Or whatever.
I pulled something. You ever wake up and your arm is asleep because you were laying on it? That’s my left arm. I have a tender spot near my shoulder blade.
Wow, this getting old stuff…. no wonder old guys are in such a bad mood.
Finally done with the day’s demands.
Had no trouble selling my craigslist gas gennie today! 4 people wanted it. Sat for 2 weeks without any calls. Thank you Harvey!
my wife keeps asking if there isn’t something we need to do. Not really. that’s what being prepped is.
I’ll still do my normal hurricane stuff.
Get out the gennie, fuel it, get the extension cords out. This is because I still don’t have the whole house installed.
Rinse and fill my two new 100L tanks with drinking water. I’ll use the camper hose and the camper filter.
Check and pull an aquatainer or two. Get the britta filter pitchers out.
Clean up the loose stuff in the yard, secure all the tarps and etc.
I may wrap up my slender new apple trees so the little branches don’t whip around. We’ll see.
MAY take down the antennas. Probably will take down the big vertical.
Charge up batteries, see about charging up the big UPS (it’s down for reconfig and possible incorporation into the whole house gennie setup. shoulda moved that up the list a while ago)
Check all the lantern batteries. Charge up the portable tv…. charge all the dewalt tools.
Knock down all the loose branches and rot that is in the trees.
If possible while doing other things, fill up as many as 4 gas cans. I’ve got 3 empty propane tanks too. We’ll see. I’m not waiting in lines.
Drive past rent house and possibly knock branches from trees.
BAKE loaf of bread. Cook pot of stew.
We’re currently scheduled to get ordinary t-storm amounts (4-7in) of rain daily. We’ve had up to 11 inch per hour (iirc) rate and it still cleared from our street and property in the past.
Unless there is a turn to the north in the track I won’t be boarding anything up. We are currently supposed to be on the edge and are under a TS warning not a HS warning.
If it turns, and stays strong, I’ll be scrambling to get the boards up.
It’s a full day of work for sure, even without any panic preparations.
n
Best wishes and prayers and lit joss sticks for all y’all down there in the path of Whatever. I do not envy y’all but hope everybody and their homes are OK.
I’ll take our occasional blizzards and ice storms ANY day.
Well, the thing about hurricanes is you can see them coming in plenty of time…
And most are not as bad as forecast.
And it’s my normal hazard/baseline for prepping and we’ve been there before. I applied those lessons learned (except getting the whole house gennie installed.) I’m sure there will be lessons learned here too.
n
Roger that; always lessons to be learned from events bigger than us.
We get warnings of blizzards and ice storms, too, but in recent years they’ve been overblown by MSM jerkoffs who seem to enjoy panicking the lemmings needlessly. So they’ll tell us we’re getting a foot and we get four inches. Plus we’re in our own little micro-climate here on the lake anyway; I’ve seen it snowing like blue blazes out the front windows and nothing at all out back and vice-versa.
In the summer we get natural A-C from the south breeze off the lake and a hundred yards up the road toward the “city,” it’s sweltering. Of course we get that same breeze in February, too.
WRT the guy hitting people with his car in c-ville. I posted links to video from the scene.
He was on a street with 2 vehicles ahead of him. The street between him and the vehicles was NOT full of people, but he sidewalks were. If he wanted to hit people the sidewalks had plenty. He stayed on the street.
He is struck with a bat in the taillight as he passes someone on the sidewalk, and accelerates then hits the light colored vehicle, pushing it into the maroon minivan, which is pushed into the crowd. It’s possible he accelerated just to get away from the attacker, didn’t realize the cars were stopped by protesters in the cross street, or panicked. He was immediately attacked, even swarmed by protesters armed with bats and sticks, who jumped on his car and started smashing their way in.
He then accelerates back, which throws off and presumably injures the attackers, and he flees.
I have ZERO sympathy for any of the 19 injured who got injured because they were ON TOP OF AND BEATING his car and were thrown off and run over.
In Texas, if you are in fear for your life, or of serious bodily harm, and in a vehicle, the instant they attempt entry or break a window, you are justified to use deadly force. Also everyone in a riot is equally guilty, so if you accidentally use force against someone participating in the riot, but not one who is directly threatening you, your use of force is justified. Granted it’s not TX, and IANAL, but there are probably similar laws that are applicable.
I urge anyone who has an opinion on this subject to watch the video with their own eyes.
n
WRT ‘enemy of my enemy’ etc. I was heartened that SOMEONE- ANYONE was standing up. That it’s socialists vs socialists is ironic and bizarre. The alt-Right is NOT another word for white supremicists/KKK/ or neo nazis. It is FAR more than that, and to allow them to spin and message, and alter; to limit it and tar everyone with the same brush, is something we have to fight back against.
If I was running the fight, I’d be announcing rallies in every big city, send 12-20 hearty souls, use up the cop resources and keep the lefties in the streets. Look at those pics from Boston. THAT’S asymmetrical warfare baby. 20 people tied up 10’s of thousands if you believe the press. (and tied their panties into knots!)
Let’s have boston every week in 3 cities or more.
nick
I urge anyone who has an opinion on this subject to watch the video with their own eyes.
I watched some of the videos. The driver was not trying to ram anyone. His car was attacked, and thus he was attacked. He probably wanted to reverse out quickly but instead hit the gas thinking he was in reverse. After the crash and others started really attacking his vehicle his only option was to reverse quickly.
The protesters that attacked his vehicle are guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and should be put on trial. The driver, in my opinion, was defending himself against the lawless scum. I would do the same only with my F-150 I would have taken out a couple more protesters, and deservedly so.
Were I on his jury trial I would find him not guilty.
Based on the video evidence, and with the smallest ability on the part of his lawyer, I’d acquit.
“Were I on his jury trial I would find him not guilty.”
n
Re: The Destroyermen series
I loved the first few books but by book 10 or 11 the cast of characters has grown so large I began to feel it’s too much work to trying to keep straight.
I agree with Mr. Nick on the video footage and thought that myself; that he panicked and was trying to GTFO as fast as he could. But there is still a major question as to just whose side he was/is on. Also another question about him being on very strong prescription psych meds. Which seems to be a common denominator with our homegrown loner types.
I demonstrated my car defense infrastructure WRT firearms for several of my fellow vets today in the parking lot outside the building; at least two of them are also gun nuts, including the former Army infantry officer. They were digging it. As did a cop colleague of my wife who was driving him around a few months ago when they had a gig here in northern Vermont for a change.
A smartypants phone I could get behind:
https://www.cyberciti.biz/linux-news/the-librem-5-your-ultimate-gnulinux-floss-smartphone/
More info (funding and timeline):
https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/
And…. ….. …… we’ve got lightning. Off in the direction of the Gulf.
Pretty still and a bit cooler than normal too.
Thought I had a beef chuck roast in the freezer. Nope. Dang, and it’s $2.50 / lb this week. I’m not going into a store tomorrow if I can help it.
n
Anyone want to bet on whether this is one of the benefits of diversity?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4820754/24-cases-tuberculosis-identified-Texas-high-school.html
n
I mentioned before that one of the reasons I like UK Daily Mail as online media is their ‘follow ups’ for almost all of their headline stories.
This story stunk like dead fish from the first read thru, and now we see that it was in fact stinky.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4820458/Fatal-shooting-gender-reveal-party-drug-related.html
n
And one more on the joys of diversity:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4820304/9-students-arrested-high-school-brawl-Alabama.html
n
Diversity is our vibrancy.
Diversity makes us stronger.
Off to the Land of Nod now; gotta be up early for another airport run and assorted errands and chores thereafter.
Pax vobiscum; et semper paratus; tempus fugit
Nodding off, roger.
n
So, two Japanese tractors. Come the SMOD and the included EMP that will trash all electronics, so “they” say, my money is on the Yanmar still running.
I am envious, I want a tractor with a front end loader. And air conditioning. And a stereo.
SMOD = sequential modular objective distillation ?
Well, the thing about hurricanes is you can see them coming in plenty of time…
Uh, not if TSHTF. Read “Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History”, a novel about the 1900 Cat 5 hurricane that hit Galveston island.
https://www.amazon.com/Isaacs-Storm-Deadliest-Hurricane-History/dp/0375708278/
Highly recommended. A story where everything that could go wrong, did.
Syphilitic Monkey Overlord Defenestration?
Meh, I could come up with more, but I don’t think I’m going to top that.
Anyway SMOD usually means Sweet Meteor of Death.
Other than setting off the theft alarm on most everything I tried to look at, I’m wondering what is so great about the tablets Verizon sells? Any brand. They are all about the same size as my Kindle Fire. But they want $250 to $400 and I don’t see what they do my $45 Fire can’t.
Verizon’s tablets have SIM cards and can access the internet anywhere a phone can. For $100, I can get a Galaxy Tab A and run it off a hotspot when I need internet access on it. (In fact, I do.) A phone hotspot works as well. If they were priced reasonably (say, 20% markup), I would probably get one, as it’s convenient, even with the $10/month access fee. But 100% to 250% markup is not reasonable.
As far as Samsung versus the Kindle fire – I just like Alphabet’s ecosystem better, and the build quality of the tablets is better. Also, when I need to repair one of the Samsungs, repair parts are easy to find, and relatively cheap. My BIL’s Kindle fire? Not so easy to find the parts. At least, his.
If they were priced reasonably (say, 20% markup), I would probably get one, as it’s convenient, even with the $10/month access fee
Got the wife a new iPhone 5SE back in June at the Verizon store. They were offering a free tablet with the purchase of the phone. I declined as I did not want to pay the $10.00 a month. If I need to access the WEB with my tablets (iPads) I will just turn on the tethering on one of the iPhones and get the same access.
My church (actually me) ordered AT&T internet service to get public WIFI in the church for members and guests. We already run WIFI through Comcast for the staff and that was not going to be used by anyone else as I tightly control access. Thus needed another service.
Comcast wanted $120.00 a month for an additional service because it is a business address. Basically told them to stuff it. AT&T was $52.00 a month for the service. Installed that instead of Comcast. (We need to keep Comcast as we transmit our broadcast on their cable).
Along with the AT&T service they provided us with two tablets. Both have SIM cards and thus can access the internet through the phone data network. They can also function as phones but are too large to be practical. What is interesting is that NO ONE that is a staff member wants them. Too large to carry when their phone does the same thing.
Thus tablets with internet access are basically worthless. There are other methods to gain internet access that are just as effective and don’t come with the space and size issue. No wonder AT&T is giving them away.
The value of the tablets for me is that I provide race directors with results for awards ceremonies. I already have results on a big TV for the runners. TV & tablet saves me a lot of paper. What I find really appealing is that updates to results can be reloaded by the presenter without printing & running them out.
I’m not a unique case, but clearly it’s different enough to be notable. In my case, the hotspot + WiFi tablet were cheaper to buy than a SIM enabled tablet. AND my hotspot can carry 10-15 devices, depending on load. Still, if the SIM tablets were cheaper, I would consider, as it’s just one device instead of two.
Vertical markets have always been the use case for tablets and handheld computing.
n
Anyone want to bet on whether this is one of the benefits of diversity?
Yup, and many times, the TB is drug resistant thanks to the migrant farm workers’ underground pharmacias.
I saw scary stats about drug resistant TB in Tampa 20 years ago. I can’t imagine what the numbers look like today. Maybe I don’t want to know.
There’s no such thing as race. Just get rid of the directors, ditch the judges (and isn’t that a judgemental word?), and give everyone a participation ribbon so they go home happy and don’t riot.
Naw. Sometimes winning matters. When it does, they call me.
I quit directing the local half-marathon because I got tired of arguing about finishers’ medals. You DO NOT get a medal for a half-marathon. If you want a medal for doing something, do the whole marathon. I don’t do participation awards.
I’m a judgemental SOB lately.
re drug-resistant TB, yah, about 20 years ago I first heard about it, with accompanying warnings about how this could be a Really Big Thing. It got my attention again a few years ago so I tried to look into whether it had been on a steady rise or a new drug was working on it or the original prognostications of doom were greatly overblown. I found nothing in the way of hard numbers, only qualitative warnings of doom and gloom.
Whether the numbers are out there and I just didn’t find them or they’re deliberately being kept quiet because of racial/ethnic/nation of origin concerns is anyone’s guess. I’d hope it was the former, but the CDC has already played fast and loose with statistics and priorities.
Eeeeeeeek! Heresy! I need a safe space!
But they want $250 to $400 and I don’t see what they do my $45 Fire can’t.
The Verizon tablets have 4G cell data connections, the Fire doesn’t. The Verizon tablets also have GPS for location services. The Fire uses “wi-fi” location, which is of no use if you aren’t near a wi-fi signal and isn’t that accurate.
Anyway SMOD usually means Sweet Meteor of Death.
Thanks, I had no idea. Of course, I may have heard this term a hundred times but, every day is a new day for me nowadays.
Whether the numbers are out there and I just didn’t find them or they’re deliberately being kept quiet because of racial/ethnic/nation of origin concerns is anyone’s guess. I’d hope it was the former, but the CDC has already played fast and loose with statistics and priorities.
Just remember, the CDC is a bio-weapons lab. Everything else is secondary.
Ok, thanks for all of the info about tablets. Repairing? I’ve had my Fire for a couple of years with no problems.
Amazon had a deal where if you bought 6 the price worked out to $45 each. A guy on the local computer club list bought a six pack. I bought one from him.
I liked it so I bought the six pack, too. I sold three at cost, gave two for Christmas, and I have an un-opened spare. For the price, if you drop and smash it, no big deal.
After almost 2 years, they are all still working.
Yeah, the Amazon sandbox is sometimes not friendly. It’s dumbed down.
You can pay an extra $15 to remove the lock screen ad. I don’t know if that lets me get rid of programs on the Kindle I do not want. What do you want for $45? You can read books, surf the web, do e-mail, and play some games. It’s just wi-fi, no 4g, etc.
I can do mail and web on my phone. The Kindle is easier to use because the screen is larger.
I understand that folks want their tablet to have internet away from home. I don’t have that need. All I need is to hotspot my phone.
I’ve had two Kindle Fires for several years now with nearly zero complaints. I’ve hooked them up to keyboards and Bluetooth speakers and side-loaded apps to them from desktops and laptops. I have a pile of books on each one and can also get to emails on them. My phone is a friggin’ phone; used for calls and occasionally looking chit up and that’s about it. Although it has a bunch of prepper- and IT-related apps on it. Can also get the email on it.
Like Mr. paul, the price was right and I have no need to run a phone off them and it won’t be the end of the world if they get busted.
and everyone knows I’ve got piles of kindles… I like my fire, fire hd, the other fire, both of the ‘kid’ fires for the girls, etc. I don’t mess with them. I just read, and sometimes web browse or watch a youtube…. kids play games, netflix, all kindsa stuff. Theirs are actually better than mine, with sd card slot and more memory.
For straight reading, with a backlight the paperwhite rocks. Any of the classics work in well lit use. Fire is not so good in sunlight.
n