It was 42 degrees and raining when I took Colin out at 7:30.
Al went over to see Bob late yesterday afternoon. He was alert and mouthing words Al could understand. His blood count was good, they are giving him iron, and all other vital signs were stable.
HOORAAAYYY! That sounds great!
nick
I dunno. Wouldn’t that depend on what the words were? “Hillary Clinton really won the election, you know.” would be a really really bad sign. Or “There is no Dana, only Zuul!”
Well, if you were looking for a girlfriend that sleeps above the bed, TWO FEET above the bed, that would be ok…..
n
FANTASTIC News !!
We are so glad to hear he is finally on the mend.
My wife spent most of 2014 in hospital, went in for a checkup, had a heart attack in the Dr office, pulled into surgery for a triple bypass, then developed a drug-resistant VRE infection that required two more surgeries and removal of parts of ribs and her sternum. Three times in the year her doctor told me he didn’t think she would survive the week. But today she is almost as vigorous as ever. Hang in there.
Another step in the right direction! Yay!
SteveF – Always an optimist.
The is great! Hang in there, Bob.
@Barbara, awesome on RBT ! Little steps turn into big gains.
I paid the property and liability insurance on my commercial property yesterday. $6,326 for another year starting Friday. The appraisal district say the property is worth $854K. I have the four buildings insured for $858K value. The property tax was $15,885. Owning commercial property is not cheap but the rent more than makes up for that. I have three tenants at the the moment and am thinking about adding another 2,500 ft2 office warehouse in 2018.
Lynn – the new Tax bill should improve your bottom line and make expansion a good investment
I have three tenants at the the moment and am thinking about adding another 2,500 ft2 office warehouse in 2018.
Texas keeps booming, but there are downsides. When I drive home from work, the freeway signs now regularly indicate 100+ minutes to drive from Georgetown to San Marcos on I-35. Last Friday night, the sign indicated 168 minutes … to travel 53 miles!
That kind of growth is not sustainable. Ignoring the infrastructure dependencies, the time it takes to MOVE in that kind of area is nuts. Smaller bedroom communities, where people live near where they work, or where employees telecommute will have to take over. My 1 hour (round trip) commute makes me crazy as it is. That’s 59 minutes I could be doing anything else. I sometimes take the bus just to change it up, but that consumes 40 minutes walking to & from the bus stop.
It looks like Apple is beginning to move on their application plan that began with adopting LLVM compiler tech and forcing their users onto 64 bit platforms.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-20/apple-is-said-to-have-plan-to-combine-iphone-ipad-and-mac-apps
Just replaced my Comcast voice modem with a Netgear CM500V that provides both voice and data. Removed my data modem but kept it on the account as it is my modem. By having two data modems on the account I get 2TB limit on downloads rather than the standard 1TB. Not that I have ever come close to exceeding the limit.
I paid $130.00 for the modem. With Comcast modem rental rates going up to $11.00 a month starting next year the payback is just about one year.
CM500V does not provide wireless which in my case was not a problem as I have my own wireless router.
Installation was easy. Disconnect the data modem and the voice modem, hooked up the CM500V. After a few minutes tried to access the internet and got Comcast’s activation page. Provided my account information and the modem was activated for voice and data. Waited a couple of minutes for the modem to restart and all was good.
Sounds like Bob is turning the corner, at last. All the best.
Good News!
I paid $130.00 for the modem. With Comcast modem rental rates going up to $11.00 a month starting next year the payback is just about one year.
Decent data-only modems are ~ $70. I don’t understand how Comcast thinks they will get away with $11/mo. with so much cord cutting going on right now.
Yay for RBT! We will know he’s *really* on the mend when he starts talking about setting up an anti-Santa SAM site…
Decent data-only modems are ~ $70.
I have owned my own data modem for 7 or 8 years. The problem was voice. Until recently you could not purchase a voice modem for Comcast thus requiring you use a Comcast device. Such device being charged at $10.00 a month. There was no charge for my own data modem. I wanted to eliminate that $10.00 (soon to be $11.00) a month for the voice modem. Charging that much is a ripoff in my opinion and having the voice service for five years I have paid almost $600.00 to Comcast for that modem, a modem Comcast probably paid $50.00 tops.
The opportunity to purchase my own voice and data modem just arrived around October of this year with the introduction of the CM500V, one of the few devices now certified for Comcast voice. Combining a voice and data modem in one device was no big deal and simplifies the number of devices that were being used. The new voice and data modem now sits on my desk close to the router and is on the UPS. Previously the voice modem was in the garage and had no standby power. The battery had died a couple of years ago and Comcast wanted to charge for a new battery, such cost I refused to pay.
I would like to get rid of the home phone entirely but the spousal unit refuses. Does not cost much as part of the triple play, adding only a few dollars over getting TV and internet without phone.
Speeds are as good as my old modem. Only issue will be if there are problems with voice or data. It will now become a pissing contest between Comcast and myself about who has the problem. Comcast will insist it is my equipment. With rented equipment the problem was always with Comcast. I don’t think such issues will arise as my old data modem was solid for many years without issue. I hope this CM500V works out the same. My general feeling and experience is that the voice and data equipment is fairly mature technology and is generally robust with few issues.
I would like to get rid of the home phone entirely but the spousal unit refuses. Does not cost much as part of the triple play, adding only a few dollars over getting TV and internet without phone.
I have land line voice from the Death Star, no DSL or Uverse.
I’m old school phone company, having worked for both sides of the Telecom Co-dominum, and I’d sooner lose a limb than that copper.
I did get DSL for a while in Seattle, but my crash pad apartment was in a building on the Issaquah Highlands, once destined to be Microsoft Campus 2.0, and the DSL service was awesome.
This is excellent news, Barbara. Made my day.
I did get DSL for a while in Seattle, but my crash pad apartment was in a building on the Issaquah Highlands, once destined to be Microsoft Campus 2.0, and the DSL service was awesome.
Before returning to my hometown in 2007 (across town from RBT, pre-move), I lived in Plano, Texas, just north of Dallas. I bought a lot of eBay stuff locally to save shipping. I ended up buying a tower computer from a guy about 2 miles from me. His house was at the far end of his development, just across the fence from the Verizon ‘hut’ for our area, maybe 40 yards between the structures. In making conversation, I asked if he had DSL. His reply, “Oh Yeah!” He said I wouldn’t believe how fast it was.
I asked if he had DSL. His reply, “Oh Yeah!” He said I wouldn’t believe how fast it was.
I have a AT&T DSL 28 mbps line at the house for $60/month. Plus tax.
I have two AT&T DSL 12 mbps lines at the office. I have them multiplexed using a Peplink 30. Each is $60/month plus tax.
My Comcast speeds are 120 mbps down and 10 mbps up. Fairly fast. However, for about $5.00 more a month than what I would pay for just internet service alone, my son is getting 300 mbps down and 300 mbps up. I would never be able to get those download speeds from DSL in my area. The only other choice would be DSL for data from AT&T. Satellite is available obviously but is not an option as far as I am concerned.
AT&T DSL cannot provide TV service in my area due to restrictions on the Comcast franchise agreement with the city. Comcast pays the city so much a month for the right to provide service and that agreement has been in place since I have had service. It started out with Oak Ridge Cable system, @Home, then Comcast absorbed it all. Comcast has locked out all competitors for TV over cable.
AT&T DSL cannot provide TV service in my area due to restrictions on the Comcast franchise agreement with the city. Comcast pays the city so much a month for the right to provide service and that agreement has been in place since I have had service. It started out with Oak Ridge Cable system, @Home, then Comcast absorbed it all. Comcast has locked out all competitors for TV over cable.
The Comcast deal sounds like major antitrust to me.
BTW, AT&T has service in your area using DirecTV satellite which they now own.
Before returning to my hometown in 2007 (across town from RBT, pre-move), I lived in Plano, Texas, just north of Dallas. I bought a lot of eBay stuff locally to save shipping. I ended up buying a tower computer from a guy about 2 miles from me. His house was at the far end of his development, just across the fence from the Verizon ‘hut’ for our area, maybe 40 yards between the structures
That’s legacy GTE. They may be Frontier now (Shudder).
In theory Frontier is going to install DSL at my new place. I say in theory because they never showed on Friday last. Since the new roof and termite work is running late I don’t really care, I haven’t moved in and there’s no reason to start the clock yet. If it’s like my neighbors it’ll be 8 down and 1 up, for $60/mo.
Meanwhile I’m living in a derelict RV with just 110v for utilities.
The Comcast deal sounds like major antitrust to me.
Anyone else is welcome to come in to the city. However they cannot use existing poles, add new poles, or lay any underground lines that cause any disturbance to existing utilities or roads. The Comcast franchise forbids the sharing of poles and the city will not allow new poles or disturbance of existing infrastructure.
BTW, AT&T has service in your area using DirecTV satellite which they now own.
But no TV, I checked. The speed is also much slower and has significant ping times. Not really what I want. Besides I did some checking and after the promotion rate to get the services I currently have the cost is about the same. And I change one set of problems for another.
I have no real complaints about the Comcast service. Generally rock solid. Support is good from the physical tech as my son went to school with him. Last time I had a problem he arrived, knew who I was, and quickly stated the problem is probably somewhere on the poles. Also installed an amplifier at no charge although technically there was supposed to be a charge. He used to come to my house when my son lived here, along with about a dozen friends, and they would play games that required LAN access, a LAN party. So the tech knew my stuff was fairly solid.
Outages are few and far between. Speed is always good. Cost is too high but there are not a lot of choices unfortunately. One of the disadvantages of living in a small town.
Looks like it may be a summer of blackouts in Texas in 2018, “Merry Christmas, Texas Power! Love, Texas Power”
https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2017-12-20/ercot-reserve-margin-texas-power-s-gift-to-itself
The great-grandchild, Vistra Energy, of my old employer, TXU Electric, is getting ready to shutdown three coal (actually mixed lignite and coal) power plants in January for a total of 3,850 MW. Big Brown (2 units), Sandow (2 units, I have a really nasty name for that place), and Monticello (3 units). The ERCOT reserve power margin is now forecast to be 9.3% in the summer of 2018. That may be … interesting.
I have no real complaints about the Comcast service. Generally rock solid. Support is good from the physical tech as my son went to school with him.
Keep the sales receipts around for any modem you buy and attach to the Comcast network.
When we escaped WA State, Comcast tried to claim ownership of my cable modem even though it wasn’t one they normally issued to their customers.
Looks like it may be a summer of blackouts in Texas in 2018
You think I’m kidding when I say that I hope Austin is *not* Amazon’s choice for HQ2.
I still believe Bezos will go to South Florida. The Magic Leap complex will be available for redevelopment by this time next year.
https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/features/lightwear-introducing-magic-leaps-mixed-reality-goggles-w514479
Keep the sales receipts around for any modem you buy and attach to the Comcast network.
I have. Also for any equipment that I have returned such as the recent voice modem of Comcast’s. Clerk asked where the battery was and I told him the battery had been returned and I purchased my own replacement and Comcast was not entitled to that battery. That battery eventually died and I never replaced the battery, thus no battery in the modem.
I also have to scan all the receipts as they are on thermal paper. Over time the printing disappears and is not readable. I think it is intentional on Comcast’s part.
I have fought the battle with Comcast before. Equipment I turned in was not removed from my account. I eventually was able to get the equipment removed and was glad I had the receipts.
I will be watching my bill closely to make certain that the $10.00 a month charge for the modem is not still on the bill.
BTW, AT&T has service in your area using DirecTV satellite which they now own.
But no TV, I checked. The speed is also much slower and has significant ping times. Not really what I want. Besides I did some checking and after the promotion rate to get the services I currently have the cost is about the same. And I change one set of problems for another.
http://www.directv.com, an AT&T subsidiary, has about 15 tv quadrillion channels via satellite. I’ve been using DirecTV since 1998 or so.
I am exaggerating a little.
BTW, I would not use the internet access over the satellite (Hughesnet ?). Too dadgum slow.
BTW, I would not use the internet access over the satellite (Hughesnet ?). Too dadgum slow.
Satellite Internet was not designed for the era of “HTTPS Everywhere”. The transponder uplink from the user prioritizes compressible data, and my theory is that Hughes massages plaintext web traffic and graphics at the uplink from the Internet back to the user.
Back when I worked on the IBM VPN software, I used to regularly get email complaints from remote users on mountaintops running Hughesnet griping about latency. IPComp inside the tunnel helped some, but Telnet still tended to generate one packet per symbol at the typing speed of most humans.
Lynn – the new Tax bill should improve your bottom line and make expansion a good investment
We will see. There is a lot of devils in those details. I don’t have much trust in these RINO’s tax plans.
It looks like Apple is beginning to move on their application plan that began with adopting LLVM compiler tech and forcing their users onto 64 bit platforms.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-20/apple-is-said-to-have-plan-to-combine-iphone-ipad-and-mac-apps
Sounds like a lot of FUD at the moment. One commentator said that the app will be two executables in one file and detect the machine at run time to run the proper app. Surely not.
BTW, I would not use the internet access over the satellite (Hughesnet ?). Too dadgum slow.
Satellite Internet was not designed for the era of “HTTPS Everywhere”. The transponder uplink from the user prioritizes compressible data, and my theory is that Hughes massages plaintext web traffic and graphics at the uplink from the Internet back to the user.
My buddy that lives on 10+ acres about 20 miles outside of Smithville, TX uses satellite internet. His quote – “you have to be patient”. When his four kids were teenagers, they would get him byte limited every afternoon about an hour after they got home from school by running youtube videos.
Sounds like a lot of FUD at the moment. One commentator said that the app will be two executables in one file and detect the machine at run time to run the proper app. Surely not.
Apple could do it by distributing LLVM bytecode and optimizing either at installation or during execution.
How soon? When does Chris Lattner’s non-compete with Tesla expire?
Regarding RickH starting a daily post….
Since I live on the west coast, others usually post the daily entry here by the time I get to the site (about 1030am PST). I did post once, though.
But, glad to hear that RBT appears to be making some progress.
I’m a DirecTV fan from way back – 15+ years, I think. Happy as a clam, although it can get a bit expensive. But like (and am used) to their interface. Use Wave Broadband for web access. Used their free cable modem for a year, then returned it after I bought my own.
Modens/Firewalls/Routers: I’m not looking forward to it, but I’m going to have to tackle this soon. First, my beloved router/firewall is too old: IPv4 only, which has got to change. Second, the wireless is a mishmash of devices from three different manufacturers, and they don’t play well together. Probably next Spring or Summer I need to do a complete re-think. The hard part, I think, will be getting new devices that are *not* IoT – i.e., *don’t* offer configuration via app, *don’t* phone home all the time, etc, etc.
So, what’s the tl;dr on the new tax bill? Is it actually a good thing? A simplification? Or just a way of shuffling money into the right pockets? All we hear outside the US is the usual braindead view: “if Trump wants it, it must be bad”. The MSM here is just as prog/lib as in the US.
Sounds like a lot of FUD at the moment. One commentator said that the app will be two executables in one file and detect the machine at run time to run the proper app. Surely not.
As I recall, Apple did this with OSX ‘way back. Universal binaries would run on OS9 or OSX, making the determination at runtime. It’s not a bad way to get things done.
WRT the tax bill – I don’t really know yet. The final bill just went to Trump’s desk for signature. Once he’s signed it I’ll read it. I hate reading legalese. I’ll do it because I’m going to be informed when I do talk about it.
My opinion on the matter is this: If it makes taxes simpler, I’ll be happy. Getting the tax code from 90,000 pages down to 70,000 pages would be a good start. I don’t know how far this one goes. I would be HAPPIEST with a flat tax rate (or even a progressive table) with no deductions.
If you give 10% to your church, bully for you. No deduction. If you spend $100,000 on a new machine, congratulations on the new machine. Taxes are still owed. Govt gets their 10% (or whatever) and you get to do whatever you want with the rest.
I can dream, can’t I?
90000 pages, geez… I suppose you aren’t kidding, either.
My naive dream is that it should be possible for an individual to read all laws that apply to him, in plain English, and in a reasonable amount of time. Say, the length of a Michener novel, 1000 pages or so. The tax code would have to fit in there next to traffic laws, criminal laws, and everything else. Allow another book, same size, for additional business regulations.
Hopelessly naive, of course. Why should you be able to actually know all the laws and regulations that you are subject to? That would diminish government power.
90,000 was from 2005 or so. I don’t know the current count. But 90,000 or 120,000 are the same for our purpose.
There’s a saying that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Yet everyone (including the lawmakers) must be ignorant of the law, as the full law is unknowable. It should be knowable. A 1000 page code could be an excellent start. It would, at least, be knowable by people willing to educate themselves.
It would help if we could feed a data set in (income, sources, etc.) and get one (and only one) result out. Right now, there are multiple answers depending on who does the processing. Every one of them can be provably correct.
A 1000 page code could be an excellent start
A 10 page code would be an excellent start. Tax when you spend, done. Flat rate, no exemptions for anyone or any entity. All POS terminals can collect sales tax, just add in for the federal. You spend, you pay. Only exception would be for food or medical as people with lower income tend to spend the same on food as rich folk. Thus a tax on food would be very regressive and require more of a poor person’s income than a rich person.
TN taxes food and I think it is crappy tax that should be eliminated. TN has no sales tax but has that nasty Hall tax on dividends and earnings. I am exempt this year as I am over 65 and had less than $68K of income from all sources. But it still sucks as it penalizes retirees that have saved for retirement.
there are multiple answers depending on who does the processing
Even the IRS will give you different answers thus proving even they don’t understand their own rules. I have experienced this in person when dealing with the local IRS office.
Using TurboTax helps a lot as you can explore different scenarios.
In my case I am rather pissed off at the affordable care act. My income is very close to what I stated it would be when I applied for my wife. Turns out my subsidy was too high and I owe the IRS $3K. Premiums are $917 with a subsidy of about $450. Nope not enough.
For 2018 I used the exact same income numbers. Premiums are $1200 a month. The subsidy is $1196.00 a month. How in the hell was I short last year but have an even higher subsidy this year using the same income numbers?
I cannot use higher numbers for income as that would be lying on a federal form. Thus opening up myself for a federal crime if the government so chooses. Thus the options are to lie, or owe a lot at the end of the year. I will also get hit with penalties for not having enough withheld from my meager pay or making quarterly payments. But there is no way I can find out how much I am supposed to pay if I file quarterly.
The system is designed to screw you over to the benefit of the government.
So, what’s the tl;dr on the new tax bill? Is it actually a good thing? A simplification? Or just a way of shuffling money into the right pockets?
It’s got good and bad features. One bad feature: in order to pass it via reconciliation, which gets past the filibuster rule in the Senate, it had to be “revenue neutral” over 10 years, so all the provisions sunset in 9 years or so.
Another bad feature: it will drive up the deficit unless growth takes off.
Good feature: it cuts the corporate tax rate to levels more in tune with the rest of the industrial world.
Good feature: it increases the estate tax threshold. Most small businesses and farms can now be left to your heirs without taxes due.
Good feature: it cuts a lot of deductions, but not all
Unknown feature: the regulations on “pass through” firms (sole proprietors, closely held corporations) have changed a bunch, are complicated, and the effects will depend on the exact wording and regulation.
As for the length of the tax code, the 70k plus pages is not the actual code, but a compilation of the code, tax court cases, and other commentatry. The code appears to be about 2600 pages. And most of that is for business, which is where most of the real complexity of the tax code is. For the vast majority of taxpayers, there’s not a lot that applies to them.