Autoposting, so who knows.
Grey most of yesterday, and forecast was for t-storms all thru Illinois today.
Hopefully I’m on my way already, but if not, I’ll be soon.
Will post a comment or two while underway.
Goal for today is somewhere outside of Memphis.
n
Nah, just do it in one push. All you need is more caffeine.
Being somewhere, anywhere, outside of Memphis is a good goal for any day.
The sun is gone this morning, another day living in a sepia-toned world while walking through a cloud of brown baby powder sized particulate.
I have been washing the washable HEPA filters daily and am amazed at the mud that is running out. Turning off the electrostatic precipitators in the bedrooms at night as the poping is not conducive to sleep. It is a bit of a PITA to remove them and clean them, but I will do that today (remove HEPA filter, eight hex head screws, two electrical connections, and discharge the static). I also changed the prefilter on the HVAC air handler and inspected the HEPA filter. Plenty of spares for each on hand. The wife is finally admitting that my air related preps were not so crazy.
Gotta wonder if Facebook is behind the new groupthink push against Apple’s walled garden.
I carry an iPhone SE for a reason. Back when I carried an Android phone, at one point, WhatsApp refused to delete, and I had to wipe the phone to get rid of that POS.
https://www.wired.com/story/delete-onavo-facebook-vpn-app-security-roundup/
At the green creek rest area on i57 south, open road, and sun came out.
N
The future is in the very best of hands.
Currently reading Joe Ledger 8 “Kill Switch”. Real science fictiony and ball busting action. Dimensional portal, electric null field, plus some ancient mystical stuff.
And I just made the transition from I 57 ip 55 so I can get time beautiful clear weather sunny day
N
Rest stop. I read several of the Joe ledger books but they never completely clicked for me.
Anyway 120 miles tho Memphis, onward
N
Junior Programmer told me last night that he is now interviewing for a Team Leader position in the Google software infrastructure group. In Silicon Valley of course.
I haven’t read any of them, if for no other reason than because I’m bored with stories with a lead who’s former SEAL/Ranger/whatever and then goes on to an action-filled life. (Statistically I know that they’re brighter and more driven than average and a good number go on to found successful companies or otherwise excel after getting out. As a book trope, it’s boring. Also, my own experience with retired SEALs and Green Berets in civilian life is that they blunder from divorce to divorce and from self-imposed problem to self-imposed problem because they don’t turn off and don’t fit into civilian life, but that’s from a very small sample size so it’s not worth much.)
Does anyone know of an action/adventure or suspense series where the protagonist’s main experience with shooting is Call of Duty or Airsoft but he pulls through by his own skills or determination rather than dumb luck or some Ranger team saving the day and without secretly a genetic mod experiment with secret abilities (which is a last-moment reveal qualifying as a deus ex machina) and he’s not a billionaire’s heir with access to resources beyond the norm?
Johnny Rivers “Memphis Tennessee”
More power to Junior Programmer, but I’m with you: you couldn’t pay me enough to live there. Not unless every Californian currently living within 20 miles of the Pacific Ocean were to be bulldozed into the sea. Would 20 miles be enough? Better make it 50.
More travelin’ tunes:
Six Days on the Road Dave Dudley
Dave Dudley – There Ain’t No Easy Run
You’ll want to be careful where you say such a thing. White kkknationalists will use it as a launch point for a rant on racial purity, mudsharking, “send them back to Africa”, and their precious stinking “14 words”.
On a personal basis, as a (mostly) white man with no living children by (entirely) white mothers, I take offense at this.
I hope Junior Programmer has the dough to live there and buy a house. It’s hellishly expensive, so I’m told.
“Better make it 50. ”
Be nice to give Slim a head start…
It’s OK, I’m 1 mile from the beach, but I am fine with it. Bought this house 51 years ago, so it is my cheapest option now.
RIP John McCain.
Rest in Perdition?
Godaddy has increased my Linux hosting fees to $167+ per year.
4 domains – total size less than 2.5 GB – only plan to retain three them
10,000 email addresses – only 20 in use
Any body have a suggestion
@bob sproul
I’ve used BlueHost/JustHost for years, with minimal problems. Unlimited domains, databases, emails, files (as long as you aren’t using it as a backup). Cost is anywhere from $4/mo to 9$/mo for the basic plan (depending on how long you sign up for). Free SSL too (basic OpenSSL).
They have more expensive plans depending on your site load, but if it is a small site, then the basic plan will be enough.
Use this link: https://www.justhost.com/track/jh12791/ (Full disclosure: I get an affiliate commission for that, but it doesn’t increase your cost.)
Satisfied with their service, overall.
Holing up for the night outside of little rock arkansas…
Nice drive, sun came out.
Did call 911 on a sleepy trucker who kept drifting onto the shoulder and then swerving back to the lane. Followed him for half hour, never saw a trooper.
Now I’m gonna read a bit, then sleep. 8hrs to home according to the googles.
n
I hope Junior Programmer has the dough to live there and buy a house. It’s hellishly expensive, so I’m told.
He has a 560 ft2 apartment scoped out for $2,000/month. It is luxurious with a dorm fridge and a microwave.
Now I’m gonna read a bit, then sleep. 8hrs to home according to the googles.
Your prostate must not have enlarged yet. I’ve got to stop every two hours at a minimum to drain the bladder. Sometimes every hour. That is probably a ten hour drive for me.
RIP John McCain.
Lets hope Cindy McCain doesn’t end up in that seat. I get this weird feeling that’s the deal cut with the Governor, who used to work for the family’s beer distributorship.
If McCain had resigned before July (?), AZ would have been required to hold an election this November.
I’ve been trying out converting my CDs into a MP3s today. I used a free software called FreeRip. Very easy to use, about two minutes to rip an audio cd. Two down, 200+ to go.
http://www.freerip.com/
I started ripping an audio book that was mp3. It would not rip so I opened it up. Turns out that it is just of bunch of mp3 files, one for each chapter. I’ll try an audio cd book later. I wonder how to rip a cassette audio book ?
So after I told the wife that I was trying out ripping audio cds and books, she had me take her over to our local Toyota dealer. She drove a plain jane white Highlander V6 LE. She liked it and it has a cd player still so my ripping is in vain for now. I had plenty of leg room in the rear seat with my 34 inch inseam (more than my Expy). We almost bought it and then she sat in a XLE and said the leather seats were more comfortable. So, my out the door cost for the LE is maybe $31K but the XLE is $5,500 more. Maybe, the salesman was insistent that he could get the manager to take my offer (snicker !).
RIP John McCain.
I’ve got mixed feelings on John McCain. He was my uncle’s squadron commander in Vietnam and my uncle still hates him for the “fly low and slow” policy. We lost a lot of good pilots in their A4s. But McCain stayed in the Hanoi Hilton for the full term when he could have cursed the USA and left early.
And McCain gave us Sarah Palin in the national picture. Her persecution by the left and the media may have opened the way for Trump. She is still loved in flyover country.
Rick, I finally read* the excerpt of Blinkenlights. The only comment I have from the excerpt is that you switched from the normal story telling tense (“I looked”; generally indistinguishable from past tense) to an inconsistent present tense (“As I look”). Aside from that, the story appears to start with one of the standard sci fi/adventure tropes, by no means a bad thing, but there isn’t enough to judge the plotting and characterization and all the rest of the storyteller’s craft.
* I have no idea what took me so long. The tab has been sitting open in my browser for several days and the little bit took just a few minutes to read, but I didn’t get around to it and didn’t get around to it. The only explanation that comes to mind centers on alcoholism and halitosis. I didn’t say it was a useful explanation.
My 2008 Highlander XE (V6, 4WD) still going strong at about 160K miles. Was a Hertz car, but all works well. The usual oil changes, a set of brakes and rotors (installed myself), and bought a 2nd set of tires.
Wanted to change the sparkies. Took a look at the procedure in a video. Requires removing the intake manifold to get to the back 3 plugs. Not sure I want to try that at my age. About $450 to get a mechanic to do it.
Would like to get a newer model, but we just got it paid off. And the wife hates car payments. Not a big fan of leasing, either.
Have had good luck with Toyotas. We’ve bought many over the years, usually from Hertz, mostly Camrys before. All last about 250K miles with basic maintenance. Got the Highlander because we needed to carry around the power chair.
So, big fan of Highlanders. Comfortable to drive from WA to UT or CA to visit the kids. Taking a trip in October to D-land (driving); will take 2 days for that one.
Give iTunes a try. It is free and easily rips CDs. It can also get information from the WEB on many CDs such as track titles and album art. iTunes can also convert to multiple formats. Seems to do a very good job.
We are on our second Highlander, a 2013 Limited AWD, purchased used in 2016. We have really like both Highlanders and would buy another one in a heartbeat.
What I found when searching for my current Highlander is that used Highlanders that are three to four years old are very difficult to locate. There are not many of them in the higher trim level. People seem to hang on to them for a long time.
That is the problem with supply. People know they will last a long time with regular maintenance. In my opinion that is a good thing.
I had a 1994 Camry, bought used with 24K miles. I drove it until it had 150K miles with no issues. Sold it to my best friend on the stipulation that this was a deal between strangers and that if it dies in the first month it should not affect our friendship. He agreed. Said he knew the history and that I maintained my vehicles. He drove it until it had 250K miles and sold it for about what he paid me. Said he got a great deal from me in his opinion.
That seems to be common among a lot of Toyota vehicles. My Avalon was basically the same way. Had to leave the vehicle at the dealer overnight so they could do the change first thing in the morning. Apparently to reach some of the plugs requires going by the exhaust manifold and they mechanics needed the vehicle cold. Takes one or two special tools.
SAE = Society of Asshole Engineers
We almost bought it and then she sat in a XLE and said the leather seats were more comfortable. So, my out the door cost for the LE is maybe $31K but the XLE is $5,500 more. Maybe, the salesman was insistent that he could get the manager to take my offer (snicker !).
If the car will spend daylight hours in Houston sun/heat/humidity, rethink the leather unless you are going to spend time on periodic conditioning. Even then the leather will wear faster than the newer interior upholstery synthetics Toyota buys and puts in the vehicles.
I have first hand experience with our Toyota vehicles in the 2000s.
Give iTunes a try. It is free and easily rips CDs. It can also get information from the WEB on many CDs such as track titles and album art. iTunes can also convert to multiple formats. Seems to do a very good job.
I second iTunes.
I either use iTunes on Windows or similar Linux-based tools with a CDParanoia backend doing the ripping.
Most playback devices understand the default Apple ripping format.
Preference is still a car CD player. Some artists’ music doesn’t sound right compressed. OK Go and Hozier immediately come to mind from my personal collection.
John McCain was a self-absorbed idiot and only was able to stay in the Navy due to his Admiral Father. He was a lousy and irresponsible pilot. The only good thing he ever did was to not accept early release from the Hanoi Hilton. If he had tried to be a submariner he would have gotten a good greasing and a stint in a torpedo tube.
Yes, he needs to spend some time in perdition. Hopefully, his wife follows him soon.
No fair winds and following seas for him.
Arizona’s politics have been ruined for some time to come.
Arizona’s politics have been ruined for some time to come.
McCain’s antics going back to 2000 ultimately ruined the country for some time to come.
Not that Mittens could have done any better against Obama. We saw that in 2012. The Chosen One is *still* off limits to real criticism, and a third of the country wouldn’t hesitate vote to put Moochelle into the office if the Clintons allowed it.
Update: It looks like McCain got his state funeral. Pray it is part of a deal to put a real Republican into his seat for the remainder of his term. Cindy McCain would be another Murkowski, voting purely out of bitterness, and a guaranteed impeachment vote should things advance that far before 2020.
The state funeral was a given, it’s a right of the oligarchs. Personally, I hope the wheels fall off the caisson carrying his casket.
I’ll not be watching or reading any news this week as I cannot stand all the false/shallow accolades that will be spread around.
It will be telling who we see walking/talking locked arm-in-arm (literally and figuratively) this week. No matter what Trump says or does it will be viewed as bad and spiteful. The eulogies by Bush(it) and Obomination are going to be real works of politic. Wear your hip boots.
Is a new Battle of Bunker Hill waiting in the wings?
I’ve been trying out converting my CDs into a MP3s today. I used a free software called FreeRip. Very easy to use, about two minutes to rip an audio cd. Two down, 200+ to go.
Give iTunes a try. It is free and easily rips CDs. It can also get information from the WEB on many CDs such as track titles and album art. iTunes can also convert to multiple formats. Seems to do a very good job.
The FreeRip software picked up all of the song and album information automatically. And I do not want Apple (aka Big Brother) to know what I am doing.