09:59 – It was 44.5F (7C) when I took Colin out at 0645, breezy and damp. We ended up getting 4.3″ (10.9 cm) of rain. Barbara called about 1730 yesterday to tell me that Alleghany County was under a tornado warning (not watch). That’s extraordinarily unusual up here. The county gets probably one F1 tornado every 20 or 30 years.
I had a follow-up doctor appointment yesterday afternoon. Dr. Ambler listened to my chest as I took deep breaths and said I sounded much better than I had. All my vitals were fine: BP 130/70, pulse-ox 97, and so on. I told him I was concerned not just about the insomnia but because I just wasn’t able to eat or drink normally. I was worried that I was getting dehydrated, so he did a skin pinch test and said I wasn’t even slightly dehydrated.
Colin has been driving me nuts, just walking around whining. But usually he’ll settle at bedtime. Not last night. I took him out for the last time around 2200, and went back to bed. For the next four hours, he wandered around the house, whining. I finally got up at about 0200 and took him outside, where I stood on the porch until he finally did a 5-second pee. When we got back inside, he settled for 10 or 15 minutes, and then started whining again. At about 0300, I finally gave up, got dressed, and took him outside again. We were out there for 15 minutes, while he did two complete circuits of the property line, sniffing all the way. He was out of my sight long enough that he may actually have done what he was supposedly out there to do. He finally came trotting up toward the front porch and we went into the house. He didn’t whine the rest of the night, or if he did I was too unconscious to hear him.
Maybe he’s in some kind of pain.
Might Colin have a bladder infection?
No, he’s completely healthy.
Barbara separation anxiety?
Yep.
Our mutt sulks, tears up the trash (if we’ve forgotten to move it outta the kitchen, don’t make that mistake often anymore) and will also drop a load in the house sometimes. Mommy’s Dawg, totally. I will be sad for Mommy when he goes, but otherwise not. Bark security is random and not to be counted on, and we’ll be cleaning up his hair/fur until we croak here.
Cats rule—dogs drool.
Well, here we go again. Lifelock emiled and called the wife yesterday stating that someone had filed a change of address for my father in law. Today, Lifelock called and emailed that two credit cards had been applied for at Home Depot and another unnamed retailer. His Experian credit lock expired recently as they will only lock for six months for fraud.
I told the wife that she needs to go ahead and pay for the $22/month to Experian to permanently lock his credit. My father in law has no need for credit at all as he is 85 years old and living in a nursing home for over three years now.
Regardless, my wife will not pay for any credit cards issued to anyone. My FIL has one credit card and that is under lock and key.
Cats are evil. Even you should know that OFD…
My cats are my little soldiers here, and come when I call them and do what I tell them. Does that make ME evil, too???
Speaking of evil, and evil empires:
https://straightlinelogic.com/2017/10/24/pay-any-price-by-robert-gore/
Very nice summary of our empire’s current position in the world. Camille Paglia says we’re at the late Roman Antiquity stage about now. If that’s true, we would do well to avoid Rome (the Mordor-NYC-Kalifornia Axis) and bide our time usefully in the outer fringes, Hispania, Hibernia, etc. Keep the things that are useful and otherwise make do without the Emperors and their minions as much as we can.
Spending the afternoon with VA medical peeps on the phone and I got Ubuntu Studio loaded on the VA-supplied HP ProBook laptop with 8GB of RAM and a nice little SSD. Now me and the wife can get creative on-the-go, with iPhones and this little bugger. Stay tuned for photos and videos.
Will now tune it up with a raft of security stuff, while waiting for callbacks.
WRT to water heaters: My house is 15 years old, I’m the 2nd owner, and the original electric water heater is still there.
Had a problem with super-hot water, so I replaced both thermostats/things. Minor repair, cost was about $25 for both (I figured if one had died, the other might soon, and too much trouble to figure out which one was bad). All works well now.
We are on municipal-supplied water, so no problems with dirt/sludge in the tank (I’ve drained it once since we moved here 3 years ag0; the water was clear).
Friend of mine of well water had a problem with his, turned out to be an electrode thing, plus he had tons of crud in the bottom of the tank from the well-water. He’ll drain his once yearly now.
IMHO, only three things can fail on an electric water heater: thermostat things, heater elements, and the anode. Or the tank leaks, or the sacrificial anode. Wait, that’s five things. But three of those things are easy to check: heater elements with a ohmmeter, thermostats (which will cause overheating, so just replace them). Tank leaks are easy to know about (puddles…), and the sacrificial anode replacement.
So, although the advertised life of a water heater might be 6-10 years, I’ll go with repairing until an actual fail. The tank is in the garage, so not worried about water damage if the tank fails. If on well-water, a drain/flush yearly is a good idea.
That’s been my experience over the last 40+ years of owning 6 houses of varying ages. Haven’t had to replace a water heater yet (knock on wood) even though many were past their advertised life.
YMMV.
$22/month? Just do a credit freeze with each of the Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs). As there has already been attempted fraud, in most states it’s free to place the freeze on the CRA account. Otherwise, it’s a small fee (about $10) to freeze and another fee every time you “thaw” the freeze. I have done it three times in ten years. The last thing I need is more credit cards. Two is enough.
I seldom use Google Maps. Just haven’t needed it other than driving around on the acreage next door looking for the longhorn. It’s crazy over there. I sorta of know which way to go to where the cows hang out but coming back spins my compass and I get lost. Have no fear! Just follow the fence line. Once you find it.
That was with the previous phone. I could use the Garmin III Plus but, the thing with a charged battery is the thing to use. What’s the best camera? The one in your pocket!
The project was to tweak and double check the location of the driveway alert transmitter to the receiver. I started Google Maps at the house. And a compass app. Google Maps shows a blue cone from my location towards North. The cone agrees with the digital compass. Kind of cool. I walked up the driveway to the transmitter and watcha ya know? From transmitter to house is West. I moved the transmitter a quarter around the tree it is attached to. Sure, its range is 2600 feet but I might as well put it on the house side of the tree.
West? The driveway twists so much… West makes sense only if you can see the power-lines.
Water heaters? I’ve replaced a few. The gas heater in the Austin house started to leak. It was about 16 years old.
This house? Electric. The original was full of limestone. I caught a sell out at McCoys and it was a good heater. Lots of insulation… I had pretty warm water (enough for face washing and a wet wash rag for the rest) at the kitchen sink when the power was out for over a week. Draining it a couple of times a year wasn’t enough. Now I have a GE. And then a second GE after five years. AND I have a water softener now. That makes a huge difference.
$22/month? Just do a credit freeze with each of the Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs). As there has already been attempted fraud, in most states it’s free to place the freeze on the CRA account. Otherwise, it’s a small fee (about $10) to freeze and another fee every time you “thaw” the freeze. I have done it three times in ten years. The last thing I need is more credit cards. Two is enough.
Experian unfroze his credit a couple of weeks ago on their own. They want $22/month to keep it frozen. They will not do a freeze here in Texas without a monthly payment. I am getting this all second hand from the wife though. And on their website, they do state that they will freeze an account forever for $10 plus tax.
https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education/preventing-fraud/security-freeze/texas/
All Hallows Eve again….
http://takimag.com/article/trick_or_treat_hear_them_bleat_david_cole/print#axzz4wOT0AQop
We offend by our mere existence now. There is no appeasing the shitbags, they’ll just keep whining and demanding and threatening. Best thing is to ridicule them publicly.
only three things can fail on an electric water heater: thermostat things
There are actually three devices that have to do with thermostats. There is the lower thermostat which controls the lower element. The lower element gets the most use because that is where the colder water is located. The upper thermostat controls the upper element. That element generally only gets used when a large chunk of the hot water gets depleted. There is also a high temperature cutout. If the temperature of the tank gets too high that device will trip shutting down all power to the water heater. When replacing one, replace all three devices. Not much more effort.
Newer water heaters have the cold water flow into the bottom in a swirl tube that mixes up the water, and sediment, in the bottom of the tank. This cuts down on the need to drain the tank.
When replacing a water heater get a new high pressure (and temperature) release. That little nozzle at the top of the tank will release the pressure if it gets too high and will also release on too high a temperature. Water heaters are really quite safe and unless someone deliberately disables the safety devices the chance of explosion is effectively zero. As Mythbusters proved many times the breaking point of most water heaters is about 300 PSI. That is a lot of pressure, and energy.
state that they will freeze an account forever for $10
I froze my information at all three credit reporting agencies about 20 years ago. Paid my money (don’t remember how much it was) and have never paid again. Information is still frozen. Caused me a hassle when I bought the truck as my credit could not be pulled by the dealer. Had to do a two day “unfreeze” that was at no cost. You should be able to freeze everything for your dad’s account at no cost as he was the victim of fraud. From their website “If you are a victim of identity theft and submit a valid investigative or incident report, complaint with a law enforcement agency or the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the fee will be waived”. Hold their feet to the fire.
“Census Bureau: 44.6% in California Don’t Speak English at Home; 35.6% in Texas; 34.5% in NM; 31.7% in NJ; 31.0% in NY”
https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/census-bureau-446-california-dont-speak-english-home-356-texas-345-nm
Oh boy. Look who is second on the list. We need a break, no more immigration for a generation or two.
Hat tip to: Rush Limbaugh and Drudge
https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2017/10/24/shocking-stat-45-of-californians-dont-speak-english-at-home/
http://drudgereport.com/
Wind blowing off the Mojave Desert today and out to sea. 100°F here today (1 1/2 miles off the coast).
WRT to credit cards and scams: I don’t bother with prevention. If any thing criminal happens to me, I’ll just tell them they will not collect a penny from me, I will also tell them not to bother with a bill collector as they have no contract with me that carries my signature.
CowboySlim, who is neither intimidated by credit card companies nor bill collectors.
“We need a break, no more immigration for a generation or two.”
You’re too easy, Mr. Lynn. Not only that, we need to send about twenty or thirty million back where they came from. Close the foreign bases, like in Niger and Germany and Guam, and bring the troops home to do this gig. May take a couple of years, and then meanwhile seal off the southern border as Mr. RBT recommends.
Future immigration only from northwest European countries. And of course the former English colonies around the world. Even Oz.
“You’re too easy, Mr. Lynn. Not only that, we need to send about twenty or thirty million back where they came from.” YUUUP, Roger that, OFD!!
Local liburturd politicians continually complain about cost and shortage of housing, particularly for the poverty types as they pass more sanctuary legislation.
Huuuh, is that not a contradiction in goals? Send 2 million illegal aliens, crimmigrants back to Central America and there will plenty of cheap housing.
CowboySlim, who knows the second law of thermodynamics but speculates that the second law of economics is “Supply and Demand”.
Ray, could you drop me a line at steven dot furlong at gmail dot com? Thanks.
could you drop me a line
You buying the drinks if it is a good enough pickup line?
Ditto for the schools. our 85MUSD budget would go a lot further is 80% of the kids went back south… grades and test scores would go up too. ‘course we’d need fewer teachers, but we could pay the remaining ones double. Or just do one on one tutors…
n
course we’d need fewer teachers
Try subbing. The system is worse than I would have ever imagined. Classes to teach you how to take the ACT test. Abysmal English skills, especially for the jocks. Math skills that fail to teach except how to use a calculator and students have no concept if their answer is reasonable. Reading skills that I would been flunked for in third grade. Spelling? Ha, only learned on a texting device. There are bright spots in a few kids but the masses are pretty much doomed. The system is designed to shuffle them along as to leave someone back a year is a black mark on the school. Even if the kid is incredibly dumb. Easier to make it a problem for the next set of teachers.
“Try subbing. The system is worse than I would have ever imagined.”
10-4, Roger that! I agree with everything that Ray says. For several years I was a volunteer in my daughter’s class, second grade and 100% children of illegal immigrants from Mexico. Free breakfasts and lunches for all as why bother asking the parents to fill out forms and then processing them.
I did freshman English teaching at two colleges in NJ a quarter-century ago in between my own graduate programs as a TA in MA and NJ. Then it was roughly half and half minorities and working-class white kids, half remedial, 8th-grade-level English, at best, and half were ESL from all over the planet. Maybe one or two bright kids in each class over the total of four years that I did those gigs. At least they all sat there as captive audiences and they had to write papers that I unfortunately had to read and comment on, to the tune, at one point, of a hundred of them per week for a whole semester. No one was a disciplinary problem out of all of them that I had. I felt kinda sorry for them; they really didn’t wanna be there and most of them weren’t gonna go anywhere great in life. But who knows, really?
Have you not heard of an appliance dolly?
Recently bought a new refrigerator. Had it delivered. Weighs about 370 pounds. Two delivery guys. Had straps they put under the refrigerator, put the straps over their shoulders, straightened their legs, and carried that refrigerator up a small rise, three steps, and into the house. Did the same when they hauled away the old refrigerator. Apparently carts have lost favor to the delivery straps. Safer, easier to use, easier to handle the appliance, less strain on the delivery people as there are two people handling the appliance. They are called shoulder dollys. The delivery guys made it look easy.
@Ray – sorry I moved the post about dollys to Monday which is where I meant to post it.
Multi-tabs open. Sorry confusing everyone myself especially.
At least with the old dolly most of the weight is on the wheels unless going up stairs. If very heavy two or more men may be required but even then some of the weight in on the treads. At my age the shoulder one would be about useless.
At least with the old dolly most of the weight in on the wheels unless going up stairs.
You also need a fairly smooth and level surface. Transporting that refrigerator over the lawn on a hand dolly would have been difficult. Much more so than using the straps.
I got a set of those weight-carrying straps to use for us here, takes two, IIRC, and they’re out in the porch mess somewhere now. Another cleanup job I didn’t get to yet. Was looking forward to trying them out. Not this week, I reckon.
Wife keeps getting recognized as having been on “Jeopardy” back in July. Big celeb now, no time for old effed up hubby, haha.
That’s the problem right there. I’ve come to the unavoidable* conclusion that there is no one I can rely on except myself. People who are willing and able to help and who won’t flake out or just fail to carry out promises are mighty thin on the ground. If I hire someone, they’ll probably have their own gear. If I just ask a neighbor to help, I might as well just plan on doing it myself.
I have a furniture (aka appliance) dolly because I can use it myself. Rated for 800 pounds (when new; probably less than that 20-whatever years later) and I was able to move a 700-pound filing cabinet by myself. Not up stairs — I’m strong, but let’s be reasonable here — but from an office, through several doorways and halls, and out to where a truck waited. Yah, I could have taken the drawers out, but that would have meant five trips and would have meant exposing possibly sensitive material where I couldn’t keep an eye on it. I could move 700 pounds, so I did.
* I suppose I could avoid the conclusion if I went through life the way most people do, seeing what I want to see. No thanks. I try to see with eyes** unclouded.
** Well, eye.
It’s pretty amazing, actually, that we can move weight around like that with the right gear all by our lonesomes.
I’ve got a two-wheeler and one of those Gorilla Cart wagons, both of which have come in mighty handy this past year, not so much the last few weeks, though. For me, anyway; wife has used the cart a lot.
Best to see with eye/s open all the time these days and watch our sixes.
Hah, I just today moved a multi thousand pound laser sintering 3d printer, by my self. With the right trailer, straps, a pallet jack, and PATIENCE, you can do it.
I moved a 2400 pound metal lathe 25 feet by myself with nothing but pry bar and 1″ black pipe rollers. 1″ at a time. Long day.
n
You effin RULE, Mr. nick!!!!!
Hah, I just today moved a multi thousand pound laser sintering 3d printer, by my self. With the right trailer, straps, a pallet jack, and PATIENCE, you can do it.
What are you going to do with this ?
Rule the world!
(Beyond that, details are confidential. I’m sure you understand.)
He can now manufacture howitzers at home!
Depending on the laser, and if I can get the powder, this one will make metal parts….
Hmmmm. Has a working volume slightly bigger than 1 cu ft.
It came with barrels of polymer powder so I’ll have something to play with.
Needs water and N2 for cooling, it’s a beast. Glad I have a friend with some time, and room in his shop….
Supposedly was working when removed from service. We’ll see.
n
I’ve mentioned before that one of the problems with returning to a 1900s level of technology is that none of the infrastructure is there. This video is an example-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JVcE8gho4k
Just making wheels for industrial scale wagons is daunting. There used to be a whole industry there to support this.
n
http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/25/news/companies/naacp-travel-advisory-american-airlines/index.html
The lady demanded her stroller be retrieved from the baggage hold before she left the plane. She was demanding special treatment because she was, uh, black. What is next, complaining they don’t get first class seats when they paid for coach just because whitey has a first class seat?
At some point this is going to backfire, big time. People of all colors that have earned and obtained what they have because of their effort are going to push back against those who demand the same with no effort. Basing anything on skin color is racist. But apparently black people don’t see it that way.
Didn’t you know Ray? Only white people can be racist because only white people are in a position of power, and it takes power over people to turn your beliefs into Racism.
n
Now go abase yourself…
What if I get a transfusion of a quart of blood from a black, will that make me a non-racist?
Didn’t you know Ray?
Apparently I don’t as I am not in a position of power.
I know several black people who have succeeded well on their own without using race. These successful people are intelligent, resourceful, committed, respectful. It must surely get on their nerves to see the lazy others trying to achieve the same level of success without really doing anything to achieve that level except scream racism.
What if I get a transfusion of a quart of blood from a black, will that make me a non-racist?
Only if the color of your skin changes in the process. Apparently just being a white male makes me a racist. I am automatically assumed to not like black people and will do everything I can to oppress them just because I am white.
The biggest racists on the planet are the people who are scream racism. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have a career based on racism. They cannot afford to let that die and will do everything they can to stir the pot and keep it boiling.
Depending on the laser, and if I can get the powder, this one will make metal parts….
Cool ! I figured that you were going to part it out and recycle the entire machine.
The guy said they left the control pc intact so the proprietary software would be there to run the machine. That’s a good sign. If not, nice laser for home brew laser engraver, lots of controls and motors. I can double the money just selling the dust collector. And hundreds of pounds of aluminum….
No way to lose with this one.
N
http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/25/news/companies/naacp-travel-advisory-american-airlines/index.html
The lady demanded her stroller be retrieved from the baggage hold before she left the plane. She was demanding special treatment because she was, uh, black. What is next, complaining they don’t get first class seats when they paid for coach just because whitey has a first class seat?
At some point this is going to backfire, big time. People of all colors that have earned and obtained what they have because of their effort are going to push back against those who demand the same with no effort. Basing anything on skin color is racist. But apparently black people don’t see it that way.
This is just a shakedown. We will soon hear about American Airlines contributing X million dollars to the NAACP.
This is just a shakedown. We will soon hear about American Airlines contributing X million dollars to the NAACP.
Or the united negro college fund or some black university or some diversity studies. I hope it is not going to become a trend. Claim racism but will quietly go away for a few thousand dollars.
I think the NFL and NBA should be the targets of lawsuits claiming racial inequality because there are not enough white players. The teams are not diverse enough. Should be at least one Chinese midget on each team to be ethnically balanced. The fact that he cannot play ball is irrelevant.
These successful people are intelligent, resourceful, committed, respectful.
Probably speak English, and not Ebonics.
Should be at least one Chinese midget on each team to be ethnically balanced.
Geez, Mr. Ray, can’t even go one post with a rayciss comment! How about a trigger warning next time. Unless it is a female nude Chinese midget reading tentacle porn.
Speaking of White Privilege.
‘What’s next?’ College professor says math reinforces white privilege
“math reinforces white privilege”
Yesterday I got up at 5:15am, did some house work, put left-overs in a bag for lunch, left the house at 7:30am, drove for one hour in rain and heavy traffic to my job where I did math and chemistry all day, drove an hour in rain and heavy traffic getting home at 7:30pm. Today will be the same. Exactly how is this a privilege?
Because as a white man, you’re 100 to 1,000 times more likely than a diversity to have the intelligence necessary to do what you do?
Bob earns 10 lashes with the NdGT whip for using truth instead of popular culture.
Just making wheels for industrial scale wagons is daunting. There used to be a whole industry there to support this.
And we will need buggy whips also !
dkreck is exactly right: RBT spoke Truth rather than Sensitivity, and must be punished for it.