09:17 – It was 55.5F (13C) when I took Colin out at 0700, mostly clear. Lows this week are to be in the 30’s, so our first frost and perhaps a hard freeze isn’t far off.
Barbara is getting ready for a vacation trip. She and a girl friend are driving up to the Finger Lakes region of New York, leaving this Friday and returning on Sunday the 29th. I’m happy that she’ll return well before the antifa Days of Rage, which is scheduled for November 4th and the days following. Not that I seriously expect any major problems, but when a terrorist group announces that they’ve scheduled large-scale, widespread protests (i.e., riots), it’s a good idea to at least keep it in mind.
I’ve watched a lot of the videos that Jaime and Jeremy post on their Guildbrook Farms YouTube channel. Yesterday, Barbara watched several of them with me, and said she enjoyed watching them.
Their “farm” is actually a ranch house sitting on one acre in what used to be an exurban development, but because of urban sprawl has now become suburban. It’s in Davidson, NC, which is the Charlotte metro area. They’re homesteaders and preppers, and they post a lot of videos. I just checked, and they have 157 videos posted in just over one year. Roughly one every other day. There are a few short ones, but most are 12 to 20 minutes long.
May have to take a look and see how they do it; we’re on just under an acre here, with not much sunlight in the warm weather and not the greatest soil. Very windy at times, too, like today so fah; steady at 30 MPH w/gusts of up to 50 MPH. Showers possible, too.
Wife is hurting today, due to the fall last night; trouble walking. I will have to cowboy up and shuffle around here the next few days, looks like. I can move better than she can right now, which ain’t sayin’ much, and it takes me a long time to move around and do stuff. Hope the new med shows up tomorrow, buy me a little more time.
Good luck to you both. Getting old ain’t fun.
But…but….but….I thought that 60 was the new 40!
One thing I’ve noticed in the last few years about peeps in our age bracket and older, just be-bopping around with marathons, skydiving, riding bikes, etc., is that they’re all thin as whippets.
I’m not there yet.
IIRC, by mid-40s, working-class people a century ago were pretty well crippled, couldn’t see, or had chronic illnesses which kept them miserable before they died. So, yah, sounds about right.
Their “farm” is actually a ranch house sitting on one acre in what used to be an exurban development, but because of urban sprawl has now become suburban.
I live in a suburb but work in what can be arguably labelled an “exurb” about an hour from my house.
Last week, in the office, I overheard a management conversation where, in the same breath, one exec bragged about being about to hire 2-3 developers for the same cost as one in Austin or Dallas proper but bemoaned the availability of programmers experienced in [technology X].
Not much is “rural” on I-35 between San Antonio and Dallas anymore. The reality about cost of living hasn’t sunk in with management yet.
Management doesn’t care, assuming they even know. Most corporations will locate to within a five-mile commute for the top dawgs. Everyone else can eat shit.
Buried in the Guildbrook Farm YouTubes is the story of how their homestead hating neighbors have forced them out. They are in the process of looking for some real homesteading property. I am glad that they are continuing to regularly produce videos and are moving forward.
HOAs need to be eliminated, they are unConstitutional, but then again the majority seem to not care or recognize that we are a Constitutional Republic, the fruit of our failed “free” gooberment education system.
“Buried in the Guildbrook Farm YouTubes is the story of how their homestead hating neighbors have forced them out. They are in the process of looking for some real homesteading property.”
Jaime blames themselves. There were deed restrictions they overlooked.
They’re about 85 miles (~ 2 hours) south of us. I suggested they consider this area, but it’s too far for them right now.
Hey, this is like when I was working through BTPPC, off to Fry’s:
http://www.frys.com/ads/view-all-store-ads?site=cemail101517
“Jaime blames themselves. There were deed restrictions they overlooked.”
“Ancient” deed restrictions that were not specifically called out in their closing paperwork, covered by typical catch-all legalese. A lesson for all.
So history does rhyme. How could this possibly go wrong?
n
In Historic Result, 31-Year-Old Wins Austrian Elections
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-15/historic-result-31-year-old-wins-austrian-elections-worst-result-establishment-party
“In another stunning defeat for Europe’s establishment, as previewed earlier this morning Austria’s 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz is assured victory in the Austrian National Council elections, becoming Chancellor with his center-right People’s Party set to take roughly 30.2% of the vote – the best result in almost two decades – according to exit polls by Austrian broadcaster ORF, while just as shocking is that the anti-immigrant, nationalist Freedom Party appears set to top the Social Democrats in 2nd place with 26.8% of the vote: the two parties are expected to form a coalition government. “
“Ancient” deed restrictions that were not specifically called out in their closing paperwork, covered by typical catch-all legalese. A lesson for all.
Buying a lot in a platted subdivision was just asking for trouble.
The last two housing bubbles have sparked imaginations in a bad way.
Breaking Cat News, “Usually we watch British mysteries at night”
http://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2017/10/15
Heh.
_Shift_ by Hugh Howey
https://www.amazon.com/Shift-Hugh-Howey/dp/0544839641/
Second book in a three book post-apocalyptic series. I read the trade paperback version. I am now reading the third book in the series.
This is a depressing book. The story is what happened to the world that forces the remaining people to live in underground silos of 144 stories each with 10,000 people. The people were born in the silo as they and their forebears have lived in it for almost 300 years. The air outside is toxic, killing almost immediately. Life is cheap in the silo and if you violate the draconian rules, you are sent outside to clean the camera lens. No one ever comes back from a cleaning. At least, no one used to come back.
The story is incredibly rich. There are details about all the variants of life in the silo. And the silos are different with the 1st silo being the command and control and the other 49 silos are for the peons.
But, who poisoned the air of the planet ? What did they use to poison the air ? And why did they poison the air ? You need to read the book to find out as it is a developing story with varying perspectives. And sad.
I have a simple rule about 5 star books. If the book holds me up reading way past lights out, it is a five star book.
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (2,917 reviews)
Wife is hurting today, due to the fall last night; trouble walking. I will have to cowboy up and shuffle around here the next few days, looks like. I can move better than she can right now, which ain’t sayin’ much, and it takes me a long time to move around and do stuff. Hope the new med shows up tomorrow, buy me a little more time.
So is that bedside potty looking any better for a first floor potty ?
https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Medical-Folding-Bedside-Commode/dp/B001HP7AQE/
OK, I just found a ten D-cell package of Energizer Max batteries dated 03-2015.
Use or toss ?
Use or toss
Use, but don’t leave them in the device. Duracell batteries of late have been a leakage problem. I have had to toss three FLASHLIGHTS over the last couple of months where the batteries, all Duracell, leaked and destroyed the light.
USE!
If you have an immediate use. they’ll either work or not. Are they currently leaking?
Don’t put them in something that will sit for a while, as Ray says.
n
If you have an immediate use. they’ll either work or not. Are they currently leaking?
The first four worked. None are leaking. They have been kept in a cool, dry place.
I don’t have any need for batteries in anything that will not sit for a while.
I probably need to roll through all my lanterns and check the batteries for leakage and excessive date-age.
WRT disabled old farts in an old house: I installed the adaptable-height toilet seat thing yesterday, after a huge PITA getting one of the two screws back out, the one hardest to reach that I couldn’t see, except in the prone position next to said toilet. Took me an hour, contorting six-and-a-half feet of disabled human and being messed up the rest of the night. But it’s proven to be a hit here today. Next up: support rails. Then we gotta get the VA grant to put some more stuff in for us.
But I don’t plan on being messed up forever. Losing weight, doing exercises, waiting for the new med, and possible surgery later.
And here is a cherry summary of how the major commie media are losing ground and sinking slowly down the toilet, speaking of toilets:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tr9LEgAwI4&feature=youtu.be
Hip-hip-hooray and good riddance to all these cocksuckers and perverts and commie shitbags.
The first four worked.
Get a ZTS battery tester. That will tell you immediately if a battery is good. Excellent battery tester, highly recommended. Any alkaline battery that tests under 60% gets tossed as leakage problems seem to be worse the lower the capacity left on the cell.
A major and inexcusable prepping FAIL:
https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/10/15/reflections-on-puerto-rico/
Good questions at the end, too, but I don’t have a friggin’ clue right now. Another thing to ramp up on again and like it or not, some time to do it, currently. We don’t live in a hurricane, tornado or earthquake zone, but obviously bad winter storms could knock power out here for days or weeks, or there could be a train derailment or something two miles away, tankers loaded with whatever.
There’s a ham radio club in town, too, and what I should do is hook up with ’em and have somebody kicking my ass to finish the license studies.
Trollin’ like a boss…
I installed the adaptable-height toilet seat thing yesterday
Got URL ? Sounds like a regular toilet seat with a couple of 2x4s duct taped to it.
“Trollin’ like a boss…”
Oh man, that is so excellent! We need to do the same here with all the commie monuments, some payback…just sayin’….
And for something totally different, for you hard-drive techie fanboyz:
https://gizmodo.com/microwave-tech-could-produce-40-tb-hard-drives-in-the-n-1819457001
“Sounds like a regular toilet seat with a couple of 2x4s duct taped to it.”
Probably what I should have done, but for the splinter hazard. The main hassle was getting one of the two old screws out, on the side I can’t see and is between the unit and the tub, with nit-noy room to work. Blindly. And it just wouldn’t come out for the longest time. Wanna learn humility? That’s one way.
A major and inexcusable prepping FAIL:
https://brushbeater.wordpress.com/2017/10/15/reflections-on-puerto-rico/
But, but, but, the government printed tshirts and handed them to the populace. What else do you want ?
Yeah, they amazingly had the money and the juice to print up t-shirts. I think, sadly, that brushbeater is correct; the island will depopulate and be in a Hobbesian “state of nature” for a while. Maybe a year. And that is my eventual goal here, to be set up with supplies and defense to last us a year. We’ve got barely a month or two so far, and knowing that we’re in better shape than 98% of the North Murkan population is little comfort.
Governments and the peeps they allegedly are in place to serve have had ample warning in modern times to take the necessary prepping precautions in those southeastern FUSA hurricane zones. And it’s become clear that for PR, they willfully and obscenely abdicated that responsibility and should be flogged and then hung. Or would be in a just society.
Oh man, that is so excellent! We need to do the same here with all the commie monuments, some payback…just sayin’….
How about Confederate statues?
And for something totally different, for you hard-drive techie fanboyz:
Those will probably run hot and loud. My last experience with WD Black 2 TB made me wonder about the longevity of the leading edge drive tech, but that doesn’t really matter to Facecrack or Google.
The first four worked.
Get a ZTS battery tester. That will tell you immediately if a battery is good. Excellent battery tester, highly recommended. Any alkaline battery that tests under 60% gets tossed as leakage problems seem to be worse the lower the capacity left on the cell.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&O=&Q=&ap=y&c3api=1876%2C%7Bcreative%7D%2C%7Bkeyword%7D&gclid=CjwKCAjwjozPBRAqEiwA6xTOYLUf0j7d5FNWlZcviwGCpUiBSAG__l1y7YvBywslJq-vx_FBWiYsRhoCAbgQAvD_BwE&is=REG&m=Y&sku=1236864
Sweet, I will tell the wife that I want one of these for Christmas !
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DRJZRJ4/
And for something totally different, for you hard-drive techie fanboyz:
https://gizmodo.com/microwave-tech-could-produce-40-tb-hard-drives-in-the-n-1819457001
Hey I posted this yesterday. It has the new MAMR technology with the new “spin torque oscillator”. Sounds like FUD to me. But, it is probably the real thing.
Lynn who is still waiting on the ten PB holographic cubes that I was promised 20 years ago by IBM.
“Hey I posted this yesterday.”
Whoopsie! I thought it looked familiar but couldn’t recall where; CRS Syndrome again.
“How about Confederate statues?”
Nope, no soldier statues. But what about all their commie monuments? Somebody should do Father Abraham down there in Mordor; plus all the statues of MLK, Lenin, Marx, etc.
The Che statue in NYC could be done up in Captain America colors.
I’d prefer the Joker or one of the hierarchy of demons.
Life seems to be a lottery. You get good or bad genes, but all they do is give you odds. Then the dice start rolling: Breast cancer? Prostate cancer? Heart attack? Whatever your predisposition, you can still get lucky or unlucky. In my case, blood clots with no genetic predisposition – thankfully now under control. In OFD’s case, the spinal problems – hopefully soon to be under control.
I think about my mom as an example: her ancestors mostly lived to very ripe old ages; she died in her early 70s. All of her siblings (including her twin brother) outlived her by a large margin.
It just shows how little we actually understand about our own biology.
—
@DadCooks: I don’t know much about HOAs, so maybe you can explain? If you buy a house in an area with an HOA, I assume you know this, and the current rules, when buying the house? What restrictions exist on the rules they can change and add? What contractual agreement do they have with individual homeowners, that gives them enforcement power?
As long as it’s a voluntary contract, with terms known in advance. I don’t see the problem. If they can change the terms of the contract without your permission, there’s something wrong…
Of course, I know all to well how things can bite you unexpectedly. I wrote here a while back about the land we bought to build on, which has been retroactively declared never to have been residential to begin with. We’re talking to a lawyer about it, and she pointed out: the problem is that the zoning really was illegal when it was done, but the people responsible are probably dead by now. So what are you gonna do?
I think what he objects to is:
1. In many/most HOA’s, rules can be added by simple majority vote, retroactively adding restrictions you did not agree to.
2. Apparently, in some states a neighborhood can hold a vote to create a new HOA, and your property can be made part of the HOA without your agreement or even over your active opposition.
1. In many/most HOA’s, rules can be added by simple majority vote, retroactively adding restrictions you did not agree to.
Rule of thumb — your realtor did a poor job if they got you into an HOA where rules can be changed with less than 3/4 vote of the homeowners.
When we lived in FL, I regretted getting into a situation where the rules could be changed with 2/3 vote in a neighborhood filled with military retirees and JB MacDill freak show contractors who had a peculiar groupthink regarding St. Augustine grass.
2. Apparently, in some states a neighborhood can hold a vote to create a new HOA, and your property can be made part of the HOA without your agreement or even over your active opposition.
YMMV, but FL requires unanimous vote of the homeowners in a given area.
If you are in the market and your state law says anything less, you need to move out of state or rent until the current price bubble pops. My guess is that the people on the homestead near Charlotte have bankster neighbors who work for Bank of America. Bankers and lawyers have very active imaginations fueling delusions about their property values right now.
BTW – I didn’t watch more than a couple of the videos, but I trust the homesteading wife’s “ink” was a youthful indiscretion. That’s a couple thousand dollars of work on her right arm, minimum, and it set off alarm bells in my head.
Maybe, I lived in Portland too long.
Life seems to be a lottery. You get good or bad genes
I feel quite fortunate in that regard. I still have all my joints, my brothers do not. I have no real health problems, hypertension that is under control. I have no problems getting around and am still somewhat active physically. I have not been to the doctor for anything other than a physical for the last three years. I still have my hair although more is growing in spots that I wish it wouldn’t.
Reading about OFD’s mobility issues, who is slightly younger than me, and RBT’s vertigo issues, makes me more thankful every day that I am still able to do what I am able to do.
Of course I may wake up one morning and find out I slammed into a wall and am now worm food. Sudden demise. Which is actually the way I prefer to slip out of this world. However with the dementia that is my family, and thus in my genes, I may have about 15 more years until the brain starts turning into rotted bananas. I hope the genes from my father’s side diluted or overpowered the crap from my mother’s side.
“BTW – I didn’t watch more than a couple of the videos, but I trust the homesteading wife’s “ink” was a youthful indiscretion. That’s a couple thousand dollars of work on her right arm, minimum, and it set off alarm bells in my head.”
Yeah, me too. Fortunately, I’d watched several of her videos where she was wearing long sleeves before I saw all the ink.
Her background is interesting. She’s of Amish Dutch ancestry and grew up poor in a remote mountain town in the Pennsylvania Appalachian Mountains. Since then, she’s traveled a lot and held various tech jobs. ISTR that she has undergrad and masters degrees in biology.
@brad, I am not an HOA expert but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express once or twice.
Our area, fortunately for now, does not have an active HOA but there is the legal structure for one in the restrictive covenants that cover our “subdivision”. It could rear its ugly head at the whim of who knows who (actually controlled by some carpet bagging douche bag lawyer/realtor in Seattle). I doubt that there is any area in any but the most rural area that is not under the yoke of restrictive covenants and/or HOAs.
Anyone who thinks they own the land their building sits on is living a delusion. You do not have the water or mineral rights for anything under you. There are easements, defined or imagined, that allow any “service” to go through any part of your property (even through the middle of your building if they want).
How did we get into this situation? Laziness and lack of vigilance, a typical camel’s nose under the tent situation.
How do we get out of this situation? It ain’t going to be pretty. Revolution and restoration of the original intent of the Constitution.
When this country was founded we were the only place in the world that allowed the real, true private ownership of property. We have allowed that to slip away. People have forgotten that our Revolution was not just about “taxation without representation”, but also property rights. The Crown owns everything; the land (and everything under it and above it), the buildings, the forests, the wildlife, and whatever else they want. You are allowed to exist and use these things at the “pleasure” of the Crown.
FWIW, I had an ancestor in Jolly Ol’ England who gained the favor of Queen Victoria (for what exactly is lost to history, but the family story is that it was a cake). She granted our family the “right” to “take” one (and only one) of the Royal Swans each year. Very few of non-Royalty have been granted that privilege.
I hope, really hope, that the informal meaning of that word is “to kill a wild animal”, not “to have possibly nonconsentual sex with”.
@SteveF, yes to kill and eat. The relatives who did otherwise were sent to Australia.
There are easements, defined or imagined, that allow any “service” to go through any part of your property
Well, sort of.
I have an easement across my property for the power company. Comcast was using the poles and had a large bundle of cables that was hanging too low. One day I came home and found a Comcast contractor string another cable. I told them to cease as the had no permission to cross my property. They continued so I called the police who informed the contractor that if they continued they would be arrested for trespassing. The contractor left.
Next day Comcast calls me and says they have a right to cross my property as they are using power company poles. Power company only leases space and cannot lease easements. Comcast said they would continue they line and there was nothing I could do. They were wrong.
I did some research. I sent Comcast a certified letter stating they had 30 days to get their cables off my property or I was removing the lines myself and sending them a bill for the removal. It was legal and followed the law.
Comcast threatened to put a new pole in the city easement in front of my window. City denied their request.
Comcast threatened to move the cable and deny me service.. They can’t remove service they already existed because they move a cable as is against state and city franchise rules.
Comcast eventually rerouted the entire cable bundle at a cost of $25K. I also forced the phone company off my property but with less hassle.
Know your rights and the rules. An easement for one utility does not automatically grant rights for others. Especially when dealing with power poles and aerial easements. A lot of people could really shaft Comcast if they knew the rules.
And for something totally different, for you hard-drive techie fanboyz:
Those will probably run hot and loud. My last experience with WD Black 2 TB made me wonder about the longevity of the leading edge drive tech, but that doesn’t really matter to Facecrack or Google.
I’ve got two WD Black 2 TB drives here in the shop. Both run quiet and fast. Not as fast as an SSD though. One of them is running 41 C today but it is the primary drive for one of our file servers and fairly busy.
I’ve got about six of the WD 8 TB helium drives now. Fast and quiet also. The one running as a internal backup drive is 36 C but it is just spinning until the backup starts at 10 pm.
@Ray, I agree, an easement for one is not an easement for all. However most people will not stand their ground as you do and that is why these Big SOB Companies get away with things.
I had a couple of similar confrontations when we moved in 38 years ago. All of our utilities are underground, so any backhoe that comes into this neighborhood gets a visit from me and a couple of other ol’ farts. I keep an up-to-date platt map so I know all the legal easements.
an easement for one is not an easement for all
Even Comcast did not know the rules. They insisted they had a right to use the easement because they leased space on the poles. A call to the utility company confirmed the lease arrangement but also confirmed that lease does not cover easements.
Comcast also thought they could just put in their own pole wherever they thought they could. Turns out the city has to approve any pole placement and the city indicated they would deny Comcast’s intended location.
When I told Comcast I was going to cut the cable Comcast said I would get charged a felony for destruction of their property. I found out that all that was necessary was for me to send a certified letter informing Comcast of their trespass and notice of pending removal of equipment. It was also in the law that I could charge Comcast for the cost of removing the cable.
Comcast also thought they could move the cable one road over and then deny me service, a service I already had. Turns out that was a violation of state and city franchises as once a company provides service and they reroute lines all existing service must still be provided.
Comcast may have truly known the rules and just wanted to see how far I would take the challenge or they were truly ignorant. Regardless after my letter, 25 days later, Comcast was out rerouting the cable off my property, dozens of cables in a bundle that involved some splicing and installation of amplifiers because of the splice.
I did offer Comcast an easement in exchange for any service they offered, including premium channels, internet, phone, etc. for life, for the princely sum of $0.00 per month. Comcast declined. So the war was waged and I think Comcast lost.
This was not the first issue with the cable company and their cable although the first was not technically their fault. The original cable company (Oak Ridge Cable before being bought by Comcast) were running a new cable, along the same bundle, and had the new cable hanging on pulleys. Sometime in the night someone stole some of the pulleys and the cable was now hanging so low across my driveway that I had to lift the cable to get my truck out of the driveway.
I drove the eight miles to their office before they were open. I banged on the door and some lady came to door and said they were not open. I told the lady there was a cable across my driveway. I was going straight home and was going to enter my driveway. If my truck damaged their cable, tough. If my truck was damaged by their cable they were responsible. I left the office. I don’t know how they did it but there were three trucks at my house raising the cable before I got home.