Today is the one year anniversary of the death of Robert Bruce Thompson.
No matter your beliefs or lifestyle, no matter your preps, death comes for all of us in the end. Hold your loved ones. Do the thing you’ve always wanted to do. Learn a new skill. Meet new people. LIVE your life. One day you will leave this life, leave it a better place for your having been there.
I continue to be amazed and humbled by the great people and community Bob built here. Thank you for your support.
Take a moment to remember our absent friends- say a prayer, light a candle, raise a glass, or choose your own way. They live on in our memories, and the way they’ve shaped our lives.
Thanks Bob.
Thanks, indeed. It’s good to be reminded every now and then that we’re all dying – the only real difference is in how quickly.
No matter your beliefs or lifestyle, no matter your preps, death comes for all of us in the end. Hold your loved ones. Do the thing you’ve always wanted to do. Learn a new skill. Meet new people. LIVE your life. One day you will leave this life, leave it a better place for your having been there.
And, once in a while, see your doctor. The decent ones haven’t shrugged … yet.
Not all of the medical profession has gone Prog, and, regardless of political persuasion, they all understand the true implications of Medicare For All — either care will get severely rationed or doctors will be press ganged.
Yes, you can have a decent conversation with most. If you can’t, find a new doctor.
RIP Dr. Bob.
And bless you, Mr. Nick, for keeping the doors open.
Yes indeed, R.I.P. Bob. You left a legacy many can only hope to get close to.
And not to forget Barbara; prayers and wishes for continued strength and comfort.
Medical care as we know it is not long for this country. The cancerous roots of Obuttwad-No-Care cannot be excised. Big hospital, big pharma, and big doc will soon be our only choices. Buried in the Obuttwad-No-Care legislation are clauses and directives that empower gooberment agencies and makes them immune even if the Obuttwad-No-Care legislation is repealed. Also buried is the stipulation that private medical care (like in Canada and the UK) will not be allowed for the common man (take that you toxic masculinity and metoo folks).
Hospitals and clinics will soon only be buildings full of contract employees. All three of the hospitals in the Tri-Cities and their affiliated clinics are only “hiring” contract doctors and nurses now. The ones who are currently employed by the hospital are being allowed to stay, for now. But as they leave or retire, they are being replaced by “contracts.” The hospitals and clinics are also moving away from the “your doctor” paradigm. Our doctor says that he has been assured that he can keep his “regular” patients, for now, but he has to take an increasing load of the “masses,” an increasing number of which are no or low pay.
Don’t worry about the oligarchs though; they will have their own exclusive system.
Rest in Peace, sir.
Thanks, Nick, for keeping it going.
14º and cloudy/snowing right now. We got about a foot, plus a good bit of blowing/drifting overnight, so I had to go around the house from the back door to get to the thrower & get to work on it. It took nearly two hours to clear my drive as well as the neighbor’s driveway. Her husband had a stroke in September and is still recovering, so he can’t run the tractor to clear, so I pop over when I can. They kept an eye on my grandfather when he lived at the house 20 years ago. It’s the least I can do now.
I’m at the 9-5 now, doing some Act! work to get up to speed. Stupid licensing. I had planned to do the upgrade in February on a weekend without Sportsball. But I can’t take a chance that things won’t work when I need them.
And last bit for today – seems the 2×8 joists in my 1st floor ceiling are actually 7″, not 7-1/2″ as I expected. WW2 rationing caused a bit of that sort of thing – shaving dimensional lumber by 1/2″ helped the war effort, or so they say. So I’m going to have to rip a couple down to reinforce some joists that are going to support the top of the stairway I’m putting in. This kind of thing never ends.
Remodeling costs money because “you never know what you are going to find when you open up a wall.” Or in your case, a ceiling.
I’ve got the opposite problem in my master bath, the 50yo dimensional lumber is thicker than today. When I sister in new 2x4s, I need to shim it out, or offset slightly toward the new side of the wall to keep everything in plane.
BTW, look at structural screws and an impact driver rather than 16d nails. It’s MUCH easier to drive them, esp. when toenailing. Use appropriate simpson strongtie bracketry for new joists too. And the correct nails or screws. Screwing is much less disruptive to the old surrounding areas than nailing.
n
OK, this day just took a nasty turn. I got a letter in yesterday’s mail from some law firm claiming to represent the City of Houston. They claim that I got four tickets for failure to have insurance in Houston, 2 in 2017 and 2 in 2018, that I did not bother to show up in court for. The letter demands $1,750 for the four tickets or else they will issue a warrant for my arrest. Plus they will inform the Texas DPS to cancel my drivers license and vehicle registration.
The space for my drivers license number and license plate number is empty. I do not know if this is a scam or what. I have not gotten a ticket in over 20 years. In fact, the last ticket that I got was in Houston in 1996 or so IIRC for speeding.
Looks like I am going to have to hire a lawyer and fight for my good name. This is absolutely freaking crazy.
Sounds like a scam. You should be able to find something online, or with a phone call that will tell you if they are legit. I’d start by googling the law firm though.
n
Write back and inform them you want to see copies of the tickets with the information that indicates it was you. Tell them you need to see the drivers license number, date of offense, and your signature on the ticket. If they cannot produce that information tell them to go pound sand.
Or just completely ignore the letter. Unless it came registered you did not receive the letter.
That alone indicates a scam. If DPS is going to cancel your license they do not need a law firm. Only a judge can cancel a license and will not do so on the whims of some law firm.
My personal opinion it is a scam. The city of Houston would have contacted you directly, not through a law firm.
Happened to my niece. She accidentally (and I believe her) left a package of chapstick under a bag of dog food in the cart while leaving Walmart. They accused her of theft and filled out paperwork. About two months later she got a letter from a legal firm demanding X amount of money otherwise she was going to jail. I told her that unless she got a letter from the court anything from a lawyer is worthless and to ignore the law firm.
My wife was involved in a minor accident, did $700 damage to my van, $300 damage to other car (replace bumper). A month later I got a letter from a law firm demanding $25,000.00 for medical bills and pain and suffering for the driver. I was also informed that the letter was a legal demand for money and unless paid I was going to jail. I wrote back and told the law firm to pound sand as only a court can assess a judgement for money. Talk to my insurance company and any other letters would be considered harassment and the initial demand being extortion which would be presented to a court.
So I think you are being the victim of the same thing. Just another item to give law firms, and lawyers, the scum of the earth tag they deserve.
Sort of the same thing the IRS did to me demanding payment of taxes. The IRS simply mailed the same information to anyone with a matching name. Your letter may be the same thing, a fishing expedition based on matching name.
The letter demands $1,750 for the four tickets or else they will issue a warrant for my arrest. Plus they will inform the Texas DPS to cancel my drivers license and vehicle registration.
Scam.
Call the City of Houston and DPS on Tuesday. I’m sure you’re not the only one who received a letter like that.
See if the “law firm” answers the phone tomorrow (MLK day). If someone picks up and the accent on the other end reeks of curry, you’ll have a fast answer about whether it is a scam.
I would go to town f*cking with them if I got a letter like that and learned it was a “fresher” scheme.
RIP, RBT.
And thanks to Barbara, Rick H, and Nick for keeping this site alive.
Referring back to yesterday’s news, it seems that, somehow, inexplicably, CNN got the Covington Catholic boys’ school story bass-ackwards.
Yeah, it’s a scam.
Like the e-mails wanting bitcoin or else they will reveal your onanism. I’ve had several and guess what? I don’t have a camera on my PC.
RIP, RBT.
And thanks to Barbara, Rick H, and Nick for keeping this site alive.
RIP RBT
Best regards and thanks to everyone keeping this site alive
@paul, funny that you deny having a camera, when confronted with that threat ;-P
n
No camera here! Excuse me while I comb my palms.
On another matter, Robert is remembered. And OFD as well.
I’ve gotten letters like Mr. Lynn’s in the past. None came registered and went right through the shredder. Definitely a scam or Lynn’s doppelgänger.
I had a Logitech camera. It even did color. A ball that sat in a cradle. But that was way back when a p90 and WinMe (blech) was “good stuff”. A tiny 240xwhatever video.
I forget exactly but I think it needed a parallel port. Way before USB anyway.
Then there was another camera. Clunky. Yeah, it was puked into the trash can when XP happened for lack of drivers.
Hairy palms? I dunno. Might be fun just for the friction. 🙂
RIP RBT.
And oddly, today is also my parents 62nd wedding anniversary. Well, would be if Dad was still alive. Me? I good with being a Honeymoon Baby.
Hah, my cousin was “two months premature” at 9 pounds….. ah the good old days.
Does anyone have an alternative to iTunes, running on windows but managing ipods? I’m looking for something free. I want to be able to move music on and off without installing itunes at all.
I see several when I search but they all have caveats.
n
Kind thoughts for RBT, Roberta, and Colin – and others who have wandered off …
(I also posted over on Barbara’s journal — here’s the link for those that need it: https://www.fritchman.com/journal/?p=5677 )
Squeeze Server works for me. But… the getting into anything Apple is an unknown pile of cow droppings as far as I concerned.
I’ve have to wipe too many hard drives and re-install Windows when Apple software pukes the OS. Quicktime? Anyone?
Apple stuff is not supported here beyond connecting to the wi-fi.
I think Media Monkey will do that. At least for MP3 players, dunno about Ipods.
My uncle was conceived before wedlock, circa 1915. Grandparents hid the pregnancy until they married. After he was born apparently it was kept quiet. They celebrated his birthday after four months after the real date. Even he was clueless. When WWII started he went to enlist and had to get a copy of his birth certificate. He almost got in trouble for not registering for service on his birthdate. Even after it was known of his actual birthdate everyone continued to celebrate on the fictional date.
My grandmother also had a fourth child that was still born. Apparently she knew the child was dead for some time before delivery. This was only found out when she died in 1984 and records were acquired. Stunned the rest of the family.
When my aunt died was placed in assisted living I was cleaning out her house and going through papers. Turns out her husband had been married before and the girls parents had the marriage annulled. This information was necessary as it might be important for estate settlement. The annulment basically denied this person a claim on anything but had to be accounted for in the legal world. This was unknown to anyone in the family. I guess his wife knew but I cannot be certain.
A lot of stuff hidden in closets back then.
Yep, my aunt went to all the trouble of counterfeiting a birth certificate. When my cousin had to get one for a passport, she found out.
I see and hear of lots of skeletons being brought out into the light with the rise of home genetic testing. Personally, I’d rather not find out. I like my world the way it is.
n
Media monkey is one that was listed. It’s described as “complicated”. Also $25…
I could just wipe and use the wife’s iTunes to sync, but I’d like to get us all out of that garden. We only have about 6 songs purchased from iTunes anyway, all the thousands more are ripped in mp3 from discs we own.
n
I think I was “right on time”. Wedding on Jan 20 and a very very cute me on Oct 30.
They dated for a couple of weeks before getting married.
Sounds like a scam. You should be able to find something online, or with a phone call that will tell you if they are legit. I’d start by googling the law firm though.
Note to self: do not name my second son, should I have ever have one, with my first name and middle initial. The first one has given me enough grief on this planet.
It turns out that City of Houston considers a note in the mail proper service that you have been served with a citation. Turns out that “MINIMUM STANDARDS RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNERS” refers to a residence, not a vehicle. Turns out that my son has been having a disagreement with a Houston city inspector about mowing his back yard. He got one notice, the other four over two years were “lost in the mail”. He thinks this, we do not know for sure until Tuesday when the municipal courts open back up.
The real question is, why did the collection agency (legit), send the notice to me ? I am not on his deed. I have even moved since he bought his house so they had to find my new address. I did guarantee his mortgage nine years ago when he bought his house.
The real problem is, they are threatening my arrest here without proper service. They are threatening cancellation of my driver’s license without proper service. They are threatening cancelling registration of my vehicles without proper service.
These people do not screw around. They are going to blacklist me with the Texas DPS if I do not get this cleared up. And, they can do it.
What happened to due process in this country ?
Yep, my aunt went to all the trouble of counterfeiting a birth certificate. When my cousin had to get one for a passport, she found out.
My Mom found that she was adopted when she applied for SS. They would not open the records for her. Never mind every one was dead for at least 10 years.
So…. here I sit. My Mom was an only child. Her “Dad” died when she was just out of HS. Grandmama passed in ’83. Aunt Jessie died around ’72 and her son died about 10 years later. But noooooo…. you can’t see the adoption papers. Because “privacy”.
Oddly enough, when we all got passports in 1970, her birth cert was just fine.
It turns out that City of Houston considers a note in the mail proper service that you have been served with a citation.
I just don’t know. I do know that I did get a “gotta go sign at the Post Office” letter from the county for a jury summons.
Judge asked why didn’t I show up? Well, why doesn’t the sheriff and the Post Office give a rat’s ass about our mail boxes being smashed and mail tossed out in the street? Smashing mail boxes is a federal crime, right? We have complained. Everyone acts like “not my problem”.
Anyway, the judge was happy with my answer.
The real question is, why did the collection agency (legit), send the notice to me ? I am not on his deed. I have even moved since he bought his house so they had to find my new address.
I think they are fishing. I’ve had had mail delivered here for folks that have NEVER lived here. Relatives of relatives. I had one a month or so ago for Alice (my last name) and if she is still alive she has to be 105 years old and she has never lived in Texas.
It’s a holiday weekend. Wait until Wednesday…. don’t stroke out on us!
It’s a holiday weekend. Wait until Wednesday…. don’t stroke out on us!
My son thinks that there are at least two failure to appear warrants out for him or me already since the first citations were in Feb 2017. Two years ago. We do not know if paying the $1,800 on the courts website will automatically dismiss the failure to appear warrants. That would really suck to pay those off and still have to fight multiple failure to appear warrants.
I bailed my youngest brother out of jail for the last time in Wilmer, Texas about 23 years ago. He had 3 or 4 failure to appear warrants, 1 or 2 in Houston and a couple from the DPS. It cost me $1,100 in CASH if I remember correctly. No checks, no credit cards at the Wilmer, Texas jail. They pulled him over for speeding and arrested him for multiple failure to appear warrants. I had to play several ATM machines to get that much cash, I finally figured that one brand of ATM machines reset at 3pm and got the rest of the cash I needed. BTW, the city jail was a double wide with bars on the windows and a bulletproof cashier’s booth that any check cashing place would be proud of.
I am talking a day off tomorrow and driving down to Port Lavaca to spend the day with my parents. The last thing that I want is to be pulled over in Kendleton, Texas and spend a day in the city jail with the city’s finest citizens while the wife hustles $2,000 over there to get me out.
We are watching the lunar eclipse. The skies are clear. It is 4 f. Light pollution meh but can’t overpower the beauty of Luna.
Read excerpts from Astronomy Hacks over dinner tonight and raised a toast to RBT.
I have a daughter who will grow up loving the night sky and science, in part due to RBTs influence. What a lot of lives he surely similarly influenced.
I think I was “right on time”. Wedding on Jan 20 and a very very cute me on Oct 30.
They dated for a couple of weeks before getting married.
My folks were married in July and had me the next June. They dated for three years before getting married. Mom was 17 and Dad was 20 when they got married. They tried to talk Mom’s parents into a year earlier and letting Mom finish high school in College Station. Papo would not even talk with Dad after Dad made his request. He just lit another cigarette off the current one. Mimo said “no way !’. They will be married for 60 years this summer after I turn 59.
We are watching the lunar eclipse. The skies are clear. It is 4 f. Light pollution meh but can’t overpower the beauty of Luna.
Sweet and Neat ! Thanks for reminding us ! We are about 1/3rd of the way through the eclipse here in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area with a little bit of light pollution and zero haze (unusual !). We are 42 F and the wife and I are getting ready for a mile+ walk.
fyep, just popped in to remind about the eclipse. Got a campfire going, and woke the 9yo to look through the binos. Spotter scope is too hard to line up.
Pretty good conditions, some haze, nice orange and yellow edges
n
Over The Hedge: documentaries
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2019/01/20
Never believe the documentaries, they never edit out the crazy.
Pretty good conditions, some haze, nice orange and yellow edges
The wife says it looks like the moon is covered in camo.
Media Monkey has a “free” version that works well enough for what I need. YMMV. I don’t find it complicated except when editing metadata.
Couldn’t find the Moon w. binoculars. Griffith Observatory has a fine, live, magnified view on Youtube. It is ~ 0 degrees here, so didn’t spend much time admiring Moon on Fire.
Just came in. Let the little fire die down. Smoked a cigar in memory of absent friends. 8 acquaintances, friends, or family in the last 8 years. The nicotine sharpens my vision up tremendously. No halos or doubles. It was nice watching the changes. 9yo worked the binos and saw it. Not super impressed. Went back to bed at totality. The 7yo was too sleepy to come out. Wife and I had a nice time.
COLD though. Must be low 40s or high 30s.
Now it’s time for bed.
MLK day tomorrow, kids are home from school but everyone else works. I’ll be working my list…
‘nite all.
n
Hard to believe that a year has passed.
My thanks also to Nick, Rick and Barbara for keeping this journal going….
RIP RBT… You are missed.
RIP Bob. You are missed. Hope you are having lively discussions with OFD.
COLD though. Must be low 40s or high 30s.
Thanks for a giggle. Cold is relative. High 30s sounds toasty.
We’ve dipped below 0 Fahrenheit this evening. My nose hairs were freezing as we watched the eclipse. The ground squeaks as you walk and things snap unexpectedly.
I’m glad RBTs page is still alive. It matters. Thank you, all.
I’ve also read of lots of surprises from genetic testing.
On the other hand, it turns out that the testing itself is kind of random – there was a article a while back, where several sets of identical twins sent samples to all of the major testing agencies – none of the services returned identical results for any of the twins.
The results are also sometimes influenced by the people processing the results. In another case I read, the people processing somehow knew that the person wanted to establish pure European ancestry. So they deliberately added “< 1% African" to the results. Which was strictly true, since 0 < 1, but it was done with malicious intent.
i miss RBT too, his informed comments on astronomy, chemistry and guns, and his quirky sense of humour.
Turns out that my son has been having a disagreement with a Houston city inspector about mowing his back yard. He got one notice, the other four over two years were “lost in the mail”. He thinks this, we do not know for sure until Tuesday when the municipal courts open back up.
One of the neighbors keeps complaining to code enforcement?
That was a non-stop issue with our vacant lot in Florida. Much like with our HOA, the problem stemmed from military retirees, but the lot didn’t have deed restrictions beyond the county code. The calls to Code Enforcement were constant, starting as soon as the grass got above ankle high.
I did guarantee his mortgage nine years ago when he bought his house.
If the letter is legit, that’s the problem.
The legalese in the mortgage documents require the borrower(s) to maintain the collateral in reasonable condition, meeting the requirements of HOAs, CDDs, and city/county codes. You’re partially responsible for protecting the bank’s interests since your signature appears in the documents guaranteeing that your son will fulfill his end of the bargain.
That was a non-stop issue with our vacant lot in Florida. Much like with our HOA, the problem stemmed from military retirees, but the lot didn’t have deed restrictions beyond the county code. The calls to Code Enforcement were constant, starting as soon as the grass got above ankle high.
He never used to cut the grass in his 500 ft2 backyard. He would just go out there with a machete occasionally. I told him that he should pave the entire thing.