09:06 – It was 33.6F (1C) when I took Colin out at 0625. I don’t think it ever got out of the 40’s yesterday. Barbara told me when she called yesterday that Sparta was forecast to have snow flurries yesterday or today. I haven’t seen any snow at all yet, but the weather is definitely getting more winter-like.
When I opened the front door to take Colin out after dinner last night, there were not one but two raccoons at the hanging feeder. I kept him inside and stepped out onto the porch, shining the beam from my 3-C cell flashlight on them. They ignored me standing 8 or 10 feet away. I spoke sternly to them and they still ignored me.
So I stepped back inside, picked up my Colt 1911, verified that it was cocked-and-locked, and went back outside, planning to shoot them if they didn’t back down. This time, as I came out the door they ambled away, over towards the garden.
I walked down the length of the porch because if I decided to shoot I wanted to do so from an elevated position so that I’d have the yard itself as a safe backstop. By the time I got to the end of the porch, they’d already transited the garden and were in the grass behind it. So I came back in, got Colin, and gave him his after-dinner out.
He spent a good half hour sniffing and marking our entire property, while I followed with my flashlight and .45. I may start wearing a headlamp. One hand for the flashlight and one for the pistol didn’t leave me a hand for my cane. I wonder if anyone makes a decent 1,000-lumen LED headlamp for a reasonable price.
1,000 Lumen? How about 5,000 lumen. https://www.amazon.com/Smiling-Shark-Flashlight-Headlight-Rechargeable/dp/B01CG66Q2G/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1509025220&sr=8-4&keywords=1000+lumen+headlamp
Not very expensive and its rechargeable.
Thanks. After I wrote that, I visited Amazon and found a 10,000 lumen unit for $26.99 that I ordered. That’s ten times the light that my 3-C cell flashlight is rated for, so it should light up the yard pretty well. It’ll probably need to be recharged pretty often, though.
A 1911 wouldn’t be my first choice for the environment you have described. As I recall you live on an acre or so with neighbors on at least one flank, a highway on another and a cow pasture behind. Given that, I would be keeping a Remington 870 (or similar) by the door with the first two shells #8 birdshot. With houses and soft targets (cows) so nearby, the chance of #8 doing much unintended damage past 30 meters is lower. At closer quarters, #8 will severely discourage your masked intruders. I was shooting clays at a friends farm once and a bunny jumped up not 10 yards away. I did a snap shot and the rabbit literally exploded. Nothing left but bits of fur and meat. Not what I intended but impressive. My go-to load for my 12 GA is two #8 followed by two #2 and then 00 buck. An escalation of force as you will.
That headlamp looks like a good choice. I have settled on a similar one for my AO and find these better headlamps invaluable when needing two two hands to change a tire or replacing furnace / AC filters in the attic. I keep these in the kitchen everything drawer, garage tool wall and the BOBs in all my vehicles. I was first introduced to high intensity head lamps when coon hunting with my father-in-law in the 90’s. The newer LED units are much lighter and remove the need for heavy, belt mounted, battery packs.
BTW: Coon hunting, if you are unaware, is not about killing the coon but demonstrating the tracking capabilities of the hounds.
Back when I briefly considered a computer vision thesis, I came across this lecture on YouTube. I imagine that the system could be re-trained to recognize raccoons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPgqfnKG_T4
True. I grabbed the 1911 because I can handle it with one hand. With my vertigo, which is much worse in the dark, I can’t afford to use both hands on a shotgun, leaving me with zero for my cane. Also, the recoil of the 12-gauge is likely to make me lose my balance in the dark.
What I should have grabbed was my HS 10-B bullpup riot shotgun. I *can* use it one-handed, and it has a tactical light mounted whose beam corresponds to the shot pattern. The problem with it is that it won’t cycle with anything less than magnum loads.
Low 50s this am. Feels cold to us 🙂
Today I feel like I was beaten up all over. Kidney stones appear to suck really bad. Man that hurt.
Project for the day is pick up a 24″ monitor for my dad’s new computer. Fry’s daily ad has an LG full HD, IPS monitor for $99 with the daily code. $110 without. Only weighs 9 pounds. I’m pairing it with the super mini WIntel pc, running win10 64bit @ $110.
I have to say, I’m really impressed with the little WIntel Pro.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W2LWQKC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It’s smaller than an eight track tape, comes with win10 64bit, and 32G of ramdisk. I added 64G microSD for program and data install, keys and mouse I had in the junk pile, camera from junk, and a usb hub. If mom and dad didn’t want to use the PC and TV at the same time, I wouldn’t even have to buy a monitor.
It’s designed to connect to an HD TV by HDMI cable and can connect to everything wirelessly (except camera for skype). I like cables so I’m adding the hub. Cables mean you can find the attached peripheral and no batteries to cause random weirdness.
It browses the internet well, plays youtube streams without issues (until I got to the fourth concurrent stream) and seems perfectly suited to a non power user, or use as a bedroom pc, or second pc. And it’s tiny and cheap. If you are running a full pc just to monitor something or connect a weather station or provide remote access, I’d think this would be a better choice…
Recommended.
nick
What’s an eight track tape?
Here’s what FEMA has to say about the recent weather in NC:
Severe Weather – North Carolina – FINAL
Situation
• On October 23, 2017, severe weather impacted SC, NC, VA, and WV
• Preliminary reports of 12 tornado touchdowns and 62 wind reports
• Significant impacts reported in 8 counties in NC
North Carolina Impacts
• 1 storm-related fatality; 3 injuries
• Approximately 500 homes and 8 businesses with some degree of
damage; 19 homes destroyed or with major damage
• Downed trees and power lines; numerous secondary and private roads
blocked by debris and mud; debris removal on-going
• 10.6k customers remain without power statewide*
• 1 shelter open with 9 occupants (ARC Midnight Shelter Count as of 6:10 am EDT)
Response
• NC EOC remains at Normal Operations
• Local state of emergency declared for 6 counties
• Damage assessments estimated to be completed by late Friday,
October 27
• FEMA Region IV RWC remains at Steady State
• No requests for FEMA assistance
No matter where you live, you can be subject to bad weather. Stack it high!
n
For those of us in FL and the rest of the Gulf region, we got us another disturbance forming and possibly headed our way. Currently in the western Caribbean Sea and headed north, 40% chance of turning into something…
n
RBT … I hadn’t taken into consideration the issue of restricted mobility. The HS-10 B looks sweet but as you note, can be sensitive to the load used. I had a nice 18.5 inch barrel coach gun. Easy to manage single handed and worked with even the mini buckshot shells. I like the intimidation factor of the double barrel configuration. I’d much rather scare someone away than blow them away, too much paperwork. Gave that gun to my son a few years back. Looked at a new one last year with synthetic stock and accessory rail for all the goodies. But I had a tight budget so picked up the KelTec Sub 2000 (9mm) instead. I’m sure someone will suggest the “Judge” revolver that handles .410 shells and .45 long colt. I like the idea but found the actual revolver too heavy for me to carry.
The situation in PR is still slowly improving, at least by the numbers. Could be different reality on the ground.
What seems significant to me at this point is how the hospitals keep coming and going from the list. That tells me that the improvements for hospitals are very marginal and they are barely keeping stuff open and working. It’s def not “fix and forget.” I’m guessing the medical situation is still pretty dire.
And in Houston, another person had died from the ‘flesh eating’ bug, related to storm cleanup. A carpenter working in storm affected areas got it and died despite treatment. They speculate he got it from still contaminated water, or more concerningly, off of contaminated MATERIALS. A cautionary tale, that in a disaster, even minor scrapes can kill you if not treated (selco has mentioned this in his situation too.)
n
For those of us in FL and the rest of the Gulf region, we got us another disturbance forming and possibly headed our way. Currently in the western Caribbean Sea and headed north, 40% chance of turning into something…
I’d be surprised if it amounted to much beyond a tropical storm.
Hurricane season continues until the end of November, but the first cold front has swept FL. Highs in Tampa are projected to be in the 60s this weekend under high pressure, and the Gulf is beginning to cool off.
The last significant late season tropical system storm in FL I can recall happened Thanksgiving Week 1988. The March 1993 “No Name” storm you may hear the FL weather geeks talk about was an old fashioned Nor’easter on steroids.
“What’s an eight track tape?”
kids today, shakes head.
n
WRT raccoons, I’d think a 22 target pistol, something like the Mark III or IV would be the ‘go to’ choice, esp. considering recoil and mobility, and the ex-urban environment….
n
Coon hunting, if you are unaware, is not about killing the coon but demonstrating the tracking capabilities of the hounds.
Does the same hold true when in the ghetto?
Ray, Ray, Ray… You just lost any sensitivity points you might ever have earned.
“WRT raccoons, I’d think a 22 target pistol, something like the Mark III or IV would be the ‘go to’ choice, esp. considering recoil and mobility, and the ex-urban environment….”
I think I have one or two of those somewhere, unless I lost it/them in the lake.
Does the same hold true when in the ghetto?
Grumpy old man wins internet.
I love my Mark III with 6 inch barrel. All I changed was to paint the sights with Glow-On and now I can put all 10 rounds in the 9 ring easy peasy. However dissasembly is a bitch. Wish I had waited for the Mark IV to come out. Better trigger and dissasembly is a snap. Highly recomended.
You just lost any sensitivity points you might ever have earned.
Yep, all the diversity training just flew out the window and was wasted.
Grumpy old man wins internet.
You got that right. I am pissed off about the medical insurance for my wife and the urologist. Procedures just to generate income, or demanded by the insurance, to get money out of my pocket. Insurance that refuses to pay for procedures they demanded because an out of network doctor got involved. Hospital (she had Shock Wave Lithotripsy) that nickel and dimes you to death except they are dealing with $10 and $20. Demands payment up front and refuses to refund the over payment based on what the insurance said I should pay. Their position is I agreed to the price because I paid regardless of what insurance says I should pay.
This obuttwadcare has made all the providers into assholes and I am going to become the same.
I wonder if anyone makes a decent 1,000-lumen LED headlamp for a reasonable price.
This is the one I travel with. I like it because it has a “red” mode for preserving NV.
Black Diamond Headlamp
I just got this one because a Man cannot have enough FLASHLIGHTS, but really because it uses 18650’s.
Nitecore HC70
I love 18650’s
Free ride at Walmart is over. Their website now shows two prices for each item: a lower in-store price and a much higher price if they ship.
Free ride at Walmart is over. Their website now shows two prices for each item: a lower in-store price and a much higher price if they ship.
Does the in-store price apply if you order online but pick up in the store?
One of the local stores has a new entrance for Internet order pickups. Another one is building an automated grocery pickup out in the parking lot. I’ve also noticed more Murphy Oil gas stations going up at stores where it makes sense.
Yes. Shipping costs are killing Walmart and Amazon.
Backblaze, “Hard Drive Stats for Q3 2017”
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-failure-rates-q3-2017/
“In Q3 2017, Backblaze introduced both 10 TB and 12 TB hard drives into our data centers, we continued to retire 3 TB and 4 TB hard drives to increase storage density, and we added over 59 petabytes of data storage to bring our total storage capacity to 400 petabytes.”
Those Seagate 4 TBs are looking scary.
Free ride at Walmart is over. Their website now shows two prices for each item: a lower in-store price and a much higher price if they ship.
Huh, I am not seeing this. Still the same price with free 2 day shipping if the order is above $35.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Augason-Farms-Buttermilk-Pancake-Mix-3-lbs-4-oz-No-10-Can/22985153
Yes. Shipping costs are killing Walmart and Amazon.
I don’t doubt this at all. And, you should probably add USPS to that list.
Yes. Shipping costs are killing Walmart and Amazon.
Yes, but Walmart and Amazon operate under a different set of expectations on Wall Street … for now.
I still believe we are seeing Peak Amazon. I’m old enough to have seen Peak Sears, Peak K-Mart, and Peak Walmart. Peak Target and Peak JCPenney were in there somewhere, but neither was the #1 retail company in the US at their respective zeniths.
I just ordered the monitor from Frys for instore pickup. I’ll be headed to get it shortly. Same price as free shipping, but I get it now….
n
Added, I don’t mind instore pickup if it arrives promptly and the pickup experience is smooth. Sure it’s nice to just open the front door, but it costs money to move heavy and oversized items. The ‘last mile’ is particularly expensive.
I can see defunct malls turning into showrooms and pickup centers, like the old Service Merchandise stores. Best Buy too. Limited SKUs on display, large warehouse, same day pickup with “pull you order before you get here” service. One or 2 day waits for transfers of unusual or out of stock items. In other words, Grainger, only for consumers.
n
n
Here’s just one example:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Vegetable-Oil-1-gal/10451011?athcpid=10451011&athpgid=athenaHomepage&athcgid=null&athznid=EASYREORDER&athieid=v0&athstid=CS002&athena=true
$3.68 in-store, twice that shipped.
I can see defunct malls turning into showrooms and pickup centers, like the old Service Merchandise stores.
I worked for Service Merchandise in the 80s. That place was a jewelry store which sold loss leaders in every other category to get customers in the door. Minus the profits from jewelry, the showroom/pickup model was not sustainable, and the company endured huge losses when stores had dishonest warehouse staff members operating mostly out of sight of the public.
The inside legend at Service Merchandise was that the founding family had a handshake agreement with Sam Walton to not compete in each other’s territories for a certain number of years. This expired in the late 80s as Walmart started supplanting K-mart as the top retailer in the US.
“Procedures just to generate income”
I thought I was seeing this yesterday with my ER visit. Dr ordered a blood draw for testing, and they put in an IV. Tech said ‘we always put one in as soon as we get an order for blood or meds.’ Initially I thought that was excessive, but the RN assured me that it saves time if something critical happens, and it saves repeated needle sticks. I’m sure that it is for their protection as well as patient comfort.
The disposable pulse ox finger sensor, and the disposable blood pressure cuff also caught my miser’s eye. The finger sensor is taped in place, making it more accurate, although I was able to see some of the artifacts Aesop talked about in the post I linked a couple of days ago. I imagine they get more trustworthy results from the taped in place sensor. The tech assured me that the BP cuff was for sanitary reasons. Too many people coughing, wiping fluids, and with hygiene or skin issues.
I was surprised when the EMTs did a finger stick glucose level test at my house. I never really thought of that as a first response tool, but with the massive increase in diabetes in the US it makes good sense. It’s cheap, easy, and informative. I’ll get some test strips for one of the readers I picked up, and get some reference material for interpreting the number…
All in all I had a blood draw with tests (IV, with assorted consumables and a bag of saline), a urine sample taken for tests, a CT scan, and used up a PB cuff, pulse ox sensor, blanket, and gown. I got 2 IV drugs, and the saline. I saw a couple of techs, 3 RNs, and a Dr twice. Admin got me admitted with a tablet and about 15 electronic signatures, maybe more. I called 911 at 11:31 am and was discharged with scrips, a referral, the test results and CT reading, and care guidelines printed on paper at 4:30pm.
We’ll see what the costs are over the next few months.
nick
Here’s just one example:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Vegetable-Oil-1-gal/10451011?athcpid=10451011&athpgid=athenaHomepage&athcgid=null&athznid=EASYREORDER&athieid=v0&athstid=CS002&athena=true
$3.68 in-store, twice that shipped.
Huh, I get $7.35. No special price for picking up myself.
“That place was a jewelry store which sold loss leaders in every other category to get customers in the door.”
That makes sense of what I remember, which was a larger jewelry area near the chute you waited at for your merch to come down. Grandma bought me my first real watch there.
n
I get —
$7.35
6.00¢ / fl oz
2-Day Shipping
Sold & shipped by Walmart
Free 2-Day Shipping on orders $35+
Arrives by Oct 30
Orders under $35 ship for $5.99
Free pickup today at
Houston, 10750 Westview Dr
I wonder if the $5.99 is flat for the whole order as long as it’s <$35?
n
Bugger, craigslist flake, flaked. My general rule is “don’t make plans around CL purchasers” which I ignored today, since I felt like sitting home waiting for him anyway. OF COURSE he had other plans and couldn’t make it. Or call.
I’ve got shipping to do.
AFK BRB
n
That makes sense of what I remember, which was a larger jewelry area near the chute you waited at for your merch to come down. Grandma bought me my first real watch there.
I think SM was the first box store to have a deal with Seiko. At one point, they were the largest watch retailer in the US.
Near the end, around Tampa before 9/11, Service Merchandise closed the seedy Wilson’s stores they acquired in the mid-80s and shrunk the purpose-built SM stores down to just the jewelry counters, luggage, and a handful of kitchen items.
Every now and then, you hear about the Zimmerman (founders) family trying to rekindle the brand, but so much time has passed that no one younger than my age even remembers that retail model. I remember at least a half dozen names with similar concepts going in/out of business around Tampa in the 70s/80s.
I bought a Seiko from SM. I also bought a bunch of jewelry items for girls I dated when I was at Fort Drum, NY. A good gift to get good…
“Navy rescues 2 Americans and their dogs who were lost at sea for months”
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/10/26/navy-rescues-2-americans-and-their-dogs-who-were-lost-sea-months/803593001/
“Appel said they survived because they had water purifiers and more than a year’s worth of food — primarily oatmeal, pasta and rice. ”
Now that is prepping.
EDIT: My Lake Jackson grandmother had severe food allergies the last 10+ years of her life. Whenever she had an allergy attack, she would return to rice and tuna ONLY for a week. Those bland foods would allow her system to settle down and then go slowly back to a semi-normal diet.
I hope that we hear from our northern correspondent soon with good news. And in OFD’s case, a scheduled surgery would be good news indeed. Or some other serious solution rather than just steroids.
I remember Wilson’s. Airport Blvd next to Highland Mall in Austin. It was an ok place to shop. Then it became Service Merchandise and the attitude of the employees went down the drain.
I bought a set of stoneware dishes at Penny’s. Penney’s wanted almost $50 for the completer set of serving platter, large serving dish, butter and sugar and cream pieces. SM? Right on!!!! Six months later and $23 for the same stuff.
Why, yes, I bought two sets. 🙂
Amazon ain’t hurting, “Amazon shares soar after massive earnings beat”
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/26/amazon-earnings-q3-2017.html
“Revenue: $43.7 billion vs. $42.14 billion, according to Thomson Reuters
EPS: 52 cents vs. 3 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters
AWS revenue: $4.58 billion vs. $4.51 billion, according to Thomson Reuters”
“Revenue increased 34 percent from last year, in part due to the $1.3 billion in sales from Whole Foods, which Amazon acquired in late-August. Analysts were expecting 27 percent growth in revenue.”
I bought this on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/152294475018
I bought two. Not for me, I’m just the guy with an eBay account. Today I received one. Maybe they ship everything in “eaches”. Maybe they just screwed up. The bubble wrap plastic envelope showed no signs of tampering.
It’s supposed to be a sweet plinker of a pistol.
As for coons…. I would set the live trap next to the door into the part of the barn where the chickens roosted. No bait. One summer I “collected” 68 coons. with a .22 tween the eyes. Saved the shells to keep score. It was a morning routine to shoot and dump trap into the wheelbarrow, let the chooks out, and dump the barrow out back. Damn buzzards learned to wait for breakfast.
Which is cool… but 40 of them effers flapping around as you stroll down with their breakfast is spooky.
I caught a few possums and armadillos, more than once per critter. I let them go. And a couple of retarded cats. 🙂
We had an SM locally several decades ago. It became my first source for some items. I bought a handheld CB there for off road activities with my buddies. First one had a flaw and had to return for another after first attempt to use. Like a lot of products, it said in case of a problem, do not return to store. Instead, call them or return to manufacturer. Well, nuts with that, I exchanged it SM.
BTW, I found out the problem that my wife is having representing her father in front of the credit agencies, LifeLock, and a few others. She moved his address to our home two ? years ago to get all of his mail. But his driver’s license has been expired for several years now and he does not have a picture id showing our address on it. She does not want to take him to a driver’s license center to get a new photo id as that is a major event (ambulance, etc).
She is going to try to have a conference call with Lifelock and her dad today to get him to authorize her. I asked why does she not just send them a copy of his POA for her and she does not want to do that with all of the fraud going on. This just becomes more and more work for her.
Amazon ain’t hurting, “Amazon shares soar after massive earnings beat”
PE of 246 still means that it is an insane amount of capital delivering minimal return to the “investors”. Bezos gets a different set of rules. Not as good as Musk’s scam but different none the less.
Amazon ain’t hurting, “Amazon shares soar after massive earnings beat”
PE of 246 still means that it is an insane amount of capital delivering minimal return to the “investors”. Bezos gets a different set of rules.
They are playing a guess that Amazon will continue to be over 50% of online retail sales and that online retail sales will continue to grow absurdly.
“Amazon accounts for 43% of US online retail sales”
http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-accounts-for-43-of-us-online-retail-sales-2017-2
“BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, forecasts that U.S. consumers will spend $385 billion online in 2016. Moreover, BI Intelligence predicts that number will grow to $632 billion in 2020.”
It is an absurd bet by many investors, myself included.
And here is where Amazon is going next, “Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in multiple states ”
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/amazon-gains-wholesale-pharmacy-licenses-in-multiple-states/article_4e77a39f-e644-5c22-b5e6-e613a9ed2512.html
Pharmacy is a high volume, low profit business though. My pharmacist friend dropped out of the business recently to become a real estate agent. The pharmacy where she worked at was closed by the DEA so she was going to have to start over from the bottom at another pharmacy.
Finally some people are moving forward with this change in doctrine and training. Maybe we can learn this lesson without a bunch of kids having to die.
nick
From one of the documents referenced above, which are behind a registration wall….
Something I’ve been harping on for a while:
“Survivability
What we’ve learned after myriad exercise debriefings, actual operations and after-action reports is that members of law enforcement and fire/EMS recognized the delay in getting trained fire/EMS to the injured. Many victims of survivable blasts injuries and/or gunshot wounds have died at the point of wounding without rapid emergency care and extrication to a medical care center.
Linear, department-centric response models are not always effective in the current ASHE environment and the traditional development of incident objectives. Eliminating the threat at an ASHE is always priority number one, but getting care to the injured should occur before making a structure secure. Time equates to victim survivability.
The time frame from incident initiation, point of injury, call receipt, dispatch, stage, Unified Command to deploy an RTF is 12-15 minutes on an agency’s best day.”
flip side of this is you are on your own for at LEAST 12 minutes, and people around you will die if you don’t act.
n
*active shooter and mass casualty events (hereinafter ASHE, MCI or ASHE/MCI)
This section agrees well with the training and philosophy I got during my recent 3 hr First Aid for Gunshot and trauma class:
“Civilian Responders
Civilians are often the true first responders – the immediate responders. They are often caught in the middle of an ASHE/MCI, they are also in the best position to make an immediate impact on the survivability of victims as seen during the Boston Marathon and Las Vegas events.
We must train these immediate responders in basic trauma skills such as those outlined in the Stop the Bleed Campaign. RTF proponents need to advocate for immediate responder training for establishing trauma kits in the public space like the now omnipresent AEDs.
ASHE/MCI preparedness must include a whole community approach. Just as full-scale exercises that involve multiple jurisdictions are critical for ASHE/MCI preparedness, training that includes civilians as responders is equally critical. Training civilians will enhance community resiliency.”
Every ‘prepper’ and concerned citizen should be pushing for their local agencies to start moving toward this more modern and effective approach. –n
Pharmacy is a high volume, low profit business though. My pharmacist friend dropped out of the business recently to become a real estate agent. The pharmacy where she worked at was closed by the DEA so she was going to have to start over from the bottom at another pharmacy.
Pill mill?
I watched one develop in Tampa on my commuting route over the course of a year. At the peak, you could find cars in the parking lot from any state within 24 hour driving distance of Florida, and I assume the NE plates were redistributing west from Omaha, a 24 hour drive from Seattle. The Tampa cops looked the other way until sweeps started and it was a slow news day at one of the local TV stations.
Houston would be a good location for a mill, but Texas has a shadow DEA that is tougher than the Federal equivalent, as I’m sure your friend can attest.
They are playing a guess that Amazon will continue to be over 50% of online retail sales and that online retail sales will continue to grow absurdly.
50% of online sales wouldn’t surprise me, but, personally, I use them as a last resort and don’t maintain a Prime membership.
One of the books I have in progress is “Nomadland”, ironically on a surplus Kindle. Definitely worth the read if you have a bunch of money in the stock.
That reminds me — after five months, I finally figured out how to sign up for the 401(k) at work today. The company would prefer us to buy their stock through the employee purchase plan, but I do the minimum with that program to avoid a political problem.
Something I’ve been harping on for a while:
Duh and double duh from the military.
See MASH from the 1950’s to todays military forward hospitals. When I was just a second looey, the Army was already training certain members of Infantry squads in advance lifesaving. This has been standard practice in the military for decades. The civvies are reinventing the wheel.
Even in the military training and doctrine changed, apparently around 2003. Tactical Combat Casualty Care, buddy care, and self care have all evolved, as has the gear carried in the ‘blow out kit’ vs the IFAK. Blow out kit is 2 vented chest seals, modern TQ, modern combat dressing, clotting agent, gauze, and a nasopharangeal airway. Supposedly can be jammed into an M4 Mag pouch.
n
Nothing from OFD today?
n
Houston would be a good location for a mill, but Texas has a shadow DEA that is tougher than the Federal equivalent, as I’m sure your friend can attest.
She warned her boss, the owner, but he would not listen to her.
And of course Trump spoke on this today. “Trump declares opioid epidemic a national public health emergency”
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/26/politics/donald-trump-opioid-epidemic/index.html
And it is none of the governments business as usual. Even though 64,000 people died in 2016 from opioid overdose.
One of the books I have in progress is “Nomadland”, ironically on a surplus Kindle. Definitely worth the read if you have a bunch of money in the stock.
“Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century”
https://www.amazon.com/Nomadland-Surviving-America-Twenty-First-Century/dp/039324931X/
Yup, property taxes are going to run us off our properties as we retire. I am never going to retire.
And I own 20 shares of AMZN. Not a lot.
“Nothing from OFD today?”
He was having an ambulance pickup to the ER this morning. Mentioned it in late yesterday’s comments.
Hope they do him some good!
“And I own 20 shares of AMZN. Not a lot.”
AMZN has a tough row to hoe. And I say so as one who has spent a huge portion of my discretionary funds with them. Between the 1.) sales tax conundrum they got away with for a l-o-n-g time and 2.) efforts to both speedup and avoid or improve upon USPS, UPS, FedEx distribution and 3.) broadening their offerings ad infinitum, how they ever actually turn a profit is beyond me. Reselling data farms seems to be the only profit center.
The wife had a very productive day with Lifelock and her dad. She and her dad conference called with a Fraud Specialist at Lifelock. Her dad was able to convince the specialist that he was who he said and he gave a verbal ok for the wife to POA him.
The Lifelock specialist then conferenced in a Fraud Specialist at Home Depot. The two specialists talked and got that credit card application canceled. Then the Lifelock specialist conferenced in a Fraud Specialist at Lowes. The two specialists talked and got that credit card application canceled. Her dad was exhausted after the first deal and bowed out when he started coughing.
The entire process took about 45 minutes. Lifelock obviously has back doors into all of these credit card people and know how to work with them. The Fraud Specialists were calling each other by their first names and very friendly. Interesting.
And we had a pc casualty today. One of my programmers was working on a project and his computer died. He restarted it and it died again. He popped the side of the case and discovered that his cpu fan was not running. Luckily we had a spare cpu fan. All is back to normal. Except the smell of burnt cpu fan throughout the office. I had to open the front and back doors and a kitchen window for a couple of hours.
Yah, that makes sense in terms of keeping more victims alive.
But you know what I hear? I hear them saying “Even though you pay a crushing portion of your income in exchange for our promise to take care of you from cradle to grave and to stop bad things from happening, we’re going to put more of that ‘care’ load on you without reducing your taxes.”
Yup, property taxes are going to run us off our properties as we retire. I am never going to retire.
Among the more interesting insights from “Nomadland” are the stories about the temp employees interactions with the Kiva robots. A lot of work at AMZN is still hard, physical labor.
And I own 20 shares of AMZN. Not a lot.
If you are in cheap, might as well enjoy the ride.
I see where Stockton wants to give low income people $500 a month for doing nothing.
Here is the link to the story.
Wonder where he thinks the money will continue to come from. Oh, wait I know. From people who really want to work for a living.
In the story he states: ‘”My constituents in Stockton are incredibly resourceful, intelligent and hardworking,” he says. “And oftentimes all they need is an opportunity.”‘
I disagree. I have been to Stockton. It is full of lazy welfare leaches who speak in afro-babble, never worked a day in their life, shuffle along with pants half way down their butts, have no idea who their father is, consider listening to (c)rap music the epitome of culture on their stolen iPhone and somehow have enough money for 24” rims on their Cadillac with the ratty interior which they drive with the seat as far back and tilted back as far as it will go.
“and tilted back as far as it will go.”
While smoking dope rolled in big fat ‘blunts’ with clouds of fragrant smoke puffing out at every stop light. But it’s all racial profiling when they get pulled over… and ‘man, I dindu nothin’…
That story needs line by line fisking, but I don’t care enough to spend my life energy doing it.
Sweet holy hell, you KNOW something is f’d up when I am on the same side as Joe Biden…
n
Just starting to get the EOB’s for my wife’s kidney stone Lithotripsy. Hospital billed insurance $16,000+. Some of the stuff is amazing. $327.00 for general supplies, another $185.00 for sterile supplies. All I know for the general supplies was that stupid hospital robe, a couple packages of crackers, a tiny can of Sprite and maybe some adhesive tape. The IV was $283.00. I have no idea what else was sterile. $296.00 was for “RX REQ DET CODING” itemized four different times whatever the hell that is. The Lithotripsy procedure itself was $10,698.00. Of that $10K for the Lithotripsy I wonder how much is a royalty paid to the maker of the machine for each use? Medical costs in this country are completely out of control.
I suspect I will be dealing with this mess for a couple of months. What I pay to the hospital was determined by the hospital in advance and was based on me satisfying my deductible. But there were other doctor visits between the time I had to pay the hospital in advance and when the procedure was done which would add to my deductible and decrease what I have to pay to the hospital.
But the hospital is refusing to budge on the reduced amount that insurance says I have to pay the hospital. Their stance is that I agreed to the cost because I paid in advance. Problem is the hospital made me pay in advance. I may have to get the insurance company involved as the hospital is under contract with the insurance company. The hospital has my money which sort of puts them in the driver’s seat. I suspect the hospital will add charges to the bill to make up the overpayment and thus not have to refund any money.
My next step is to get an itemized bill from the hospital and start trying to eliminate what I can. Standard charges the hospital always applies even though they did not apply for this procedure.
I may be just spitting in the wind, stomping on Superman’s cape, pulling the mask off the Lone Ranger, and messing around with Jim.
it’s all racial profiling when they get pulled over
Any time a black is confronted by a white police officer it is racial profiling regardless of the circumstances. Racial profiling is the new motto a segment of the population is using as stick to get out of trouble or file a lawsuit. You can blame Jesse and Al for that nonsense. It is also used in any situation where the person claiming profiling can benefit over someone else.
At some point it is all going to backfire when people have had enough. Everyone, regardless of skin color, should be equal. Everything should be color blind. Blindfold me and start talking in afro-babble and I know immediately I will not like you. Nothing to do with skin color. Blindfold me and then cut in line in front of me, I immediately know I don’t like you. Walk in front of me with a hoody and gloves so I cannot see your skin color but have your pants half way down your butt I know immediately I don’t like you.
And the joys of diversity in Pittsburgh
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5022591/Video-shows-bystanders-taking-photos-unconscious-woman.html
Note the “bystander” stealing her phone…
From lessons learned, SITUATIONAL AWARENESS, get some.
here’s a nice example of media bias- note the differences in reporting and headlines between these two sources:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5022399/Man-drives-California-immigration-rally-minor-injuries.html
http://thegatewaypundit.com/2017/10/video-man-car-surrounded-menacing-immigration-protesters-slowly-drives-mob-gets-arrested/
besides the skewed coverage, look at the assumption that the protestors have a right to block the road, that jumping up on the car and hitting it with stuff isn’t apparently a crime. NOTE that the UNION is busy advocating for cheap illegals to displace native born workers, not evil capitalists or republican political leaders.
note too the gratuitous smear – someone immediately did a records search on the driver, and released the pedophile comment, without, I note, any disclaimers like ‘someone with the same name’.
n
And we had a pc casualty today. One of my programmers was working on a project and his computer died. He restarted it and it died again. He popped the side of the case and discovered that his cpu fan was not running. Luckily we had a spare cpu fan. All is back to normal. Except the smell of burnt cpu fan throughout the office. I had to open the front and back doors and a kitchen window for a couple of hours.
You are fortunate that Intel shuts down. An AMD CPU will fry itself.
I keep a close eye on my new A6-9500E, but so far, so good.
My main desktop runs a Q6600 with a Zalman CPU fan/heatsink the size of a salad plate. The motor is still whisper quiet after a decade.
Note the “bystander” stealing her phone…
Hmm. That looks like a WHITEY! Woman assaulted by and surrounded by Negroes. She was obviously a hooker holding out on her pimp.
But of course, she MADE him do it, walking around like she belonged there…
You are fortunate that Intel shuts down. An AMD CPU will fry itself.
Been there, fried that. The loud snap sound was amazing. I have bought my last AMD cpu.
Among the more interesting insights from “Nomadland” are the stories about the temp employees interactions with the Kiva robots. A lot of work at AMZN is still hard, physical labor.
I would prefer not to have any interactions with any robots. Robots tend to be stronger and less brittle than humans.
I am going shop frequently at Amazon. I usually order something from them twice a week or so. And once a month from the office. But I get our office consumables from Sams Club since they are cheaper but do charge shipping.