47F and sunny this am.
Yesterday it must have gotten up to 68F and 37%RH as the weather station is stuck there. I think today will be ‘change the batteries’ day for the weather station….
Child number two has a basketball game later today, so we’ll be headed out for that.
Until then, I’ve got loads to do, and I better get started.
n
Cold here today but it will get much worse come Tuesday and Wednesday. Temperatures are supposed to drop into the single digits after dumping about 4 inches of snow.
Northerners may laugh but that is a major problem here. Cities don’t spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on snow removal equipment that rarely gets used. Drivers are not used to the conditions. The area will be paralyzed as far as transportation. All the schools in the area will be closed. Makes me glad I am retired and don’t have to drive.
Homes here are not designed for sub-zero temperatures. Too costly for such rare events. There will be broken pipes and plumbers will be busy. Many apartment complexes tell the residents to keep a small stream of water running.
As for me my house is OK fairly well insulated. Only issue is the garage where many water pipes run in the joists. Door is wood and thus slow to transfer heat. I run an electric heater in the garage in the winter and things should be OK.
Fortunately the cold generally does not last long in this area. Within three days we will back into the forties.
Spousal unit recovery continues. I was initially told the incision would be 1 inch. Nope, about six inches. Needed to change the bandage and had to get the bandages they use for hip replacement. Those cost $3.50 each.
She is getting around a little better, still keeps up the drama. Oh well. Doctor appointment on Friday to do whatever he needs to accomplish. Wife is not allowed to drive until after that appointment. Sucks having to stay at home. Walmart misses her.
Now in Seattle!
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/26-measles-cases-confirmed-in-washington-outbreak-12-more-suspected/281-1cb98231-cfab-4e8e-8209-7d7f13339d23
Northerners may laugh but that is a major problem here. Cities don’t spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on snow removal equipment that rarely gets used. Drivers are not used to the conditions. The area will be paralyzed as far as transportation. All the schools in the area will be closed. Makes me glad I am retired and don’t have to drive.
When we lived outside Portland on the WA side of the river, then city had snow removal equipment, but I never saw it in operation near where we lived. A couple of inches would paralyze the metro.
We haven’t had frozen streets and black ice in a couple of years, but when we did, it was a mess for hours.
n
This area has salt spreaders and brine trucks. They treat the road before a snow event if there is no rain involved. This system that is supposed to arrive on Tuesday is preceded by rain which makes the brine useless. There will be salt trucks spreading stuff on all the major roads.
My road is not considered major by any means but it is flat so I can get to the main highway. The problem is going anywhere beyond that road, a state highway. To get to Oak Ridge there is a fairly significant hill to the ridge on the north side of Oak Ridge. Get over that ridge the state highway becomes the responsibility of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge does almost nothing to the roads. It may be 10 to 20 hours before Oak Ridge does anything.
Coming into Oak Ridge from the interstate there is also a hill as Oak Ridge sits in a valley. I have seen many vehicles stranded on that hill when there is a snow event.
I suspect the problem with this system is that the rain will arrive and coat the roads, followed quickly by snow which will freeze the ice. The roads will be icy and very slick.
Of course that will not stop some idiot in 4WD thinking they can go anywhere. Going is not the problem, stopping is. And 4WD still has 4 wheel brakes like everyone else. Problem is the 4WD driver thinks they are immune from the laws of physics. Lots of “bubbas” in this area.
Several years ago when I was still commuting to work I was driving on Pellissippi Highway between Oak Ridge and the interstate. Driving about 30 mph, in the right hand land, following existing tire tracks. Some fool in a 4WD comes by in the left lane about 50 MPH. I commented to my passenger that he will soon be in the ditch. Sure enough about three miles later there was his pickup truck in the median, up to it’s axle hubs in mud and snow. It was hard not to laugh, so I did.
I fully expect a lot of crashes, schools closed for a couple of days. They have already rescheduled a basketball game for Tuesday night to Monday night.
Of course that will not stop some idiot in 4WD thinking they can go anywhere. Going is not the problem, stopping is. And 4WD still has 4 wheel brakes like everyone else. Problem is the 4WD driver thinks they are immune from the laws of physics. Lots of “bubbas” in this area.
Oh, sure. They drive F150s like Mustangs around here.
84 month car loans and negative interest rates arm the stupid with potential vehicles of mass destruction
“How Flat-Earthers Explain Total Lunar Eclipses”
https://www.space.com/43086-flat-earthers-explain-lunar-eclipses.html
“Although flat-Earthers believe our planet is flat as a pancake, they surprisingly seem to have come to the consensus that the sun and moon are spherical objects. However, these theorists posit that both the sun and the moon orbit Earth’s north pole, hovering directly above the pancake and never passing around to the other side. If that were true, however, lunar eclipses as we know them could not happen, because the moon must be on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun for such an event to happen. So, flat-Earthers fabricated a new explanation for the shadow seen on the moon during an eclipse.”
People are weird.
“People are weird. ”
This is just occurring to you????!!!!??!!!??
J/K!
Also disgusting, selfish, brutal, and lot of other things.
The flat earthers are particularly willful. Spend enough time on youtube and you will eventually be recommended some of their evangelistic or apologetic videos. The crazy runs DEEP.
n
Anchorage warmed above freezing and got a bit of rain. Turned the roads to ice rinks and closed the schools down yesterday. By afternoon the main roads were drivable. I wish it would get cold and stay cold. This ice is nasty and dangerous and really hard on the body when you invariably tumble.
Our lovely homeless population may have set another building on fire. About a month ago a closed restaurant went up in flames. Preliminary reports indicate homeless broke in and built a fire to warm themselves. Burnt it to the ground.
This morning an under construction hotel that had the shell 85% complete burnt to the ground. About two blocks from the restaurant fire and in an area with known homeless in the woods. Not too distant from our house which is how I’m familiar with their endearing habits.
Again, initial speculation is homeless broke in, built a fire for warmth, burnt it down.
What I’d like to do about our homeless (which is largely a drug user or mentally ill problem) population is not implementable. What we are doing about our homeless population appears to be growing it. Not looking good.
Was looking at elementary schools in the local public school district and how they test at the elementary level for math, science, language. Looking at the break down by race and demographics. Also looking at which demographics are growing. I don’t think my city is unique in the results. As I was looking at the information all I could think was, we are so totally screwed.
The movie “Idiocracy” was a documentary.
Open House at kiddos private school today. I really really hope we can pull in a few more families and students. There are only 10 private schools in town compared to over 60 schools under the public umbrella. All of the private schools are down in enrollment compared to two years ago. None of them, with possible one exception, are doing a good job at self promotion.
Even the secular private schools seemed to be embarrassed at their own existence. I think they need to embrace the things that make them amazing and trumpet it.
Start by capitalizing on the public schools recent travesty of a decision to make 45 minutes combined lunch and recess the minimum requirement in a 6.5 hour day for 5 to 18 year olds. All of the private schools do more than that. Science backs us up that more play = better academics. Say YES to recess.
Trump – I sure hope he’s got a plan. I wish he’d fired them when he had a chance. I hope he is as smart and heartlessly tough as I think he is. I couldn’t believe he agreed to the three week thing. Baffled.
Ok. Enough coffee. House to clean. Open house to prepare for. Chili to make. No more interneting.
Trump – I sure hope he’s got a plan. I wish he’d fired them when he had a chance. I hope he is as smart and heartlessly tough as I think he is. I couldn’t believe he agreed to the three week thing. Baffled.
My theory is that he wanted to consult with advisors and let the Super Bowl media cycle to pass without getting heat. Trump knows media and he loves football, having been an USFL owner.
Atlanta airport would have been a trainwreck next week without full TSA staffing, and the sportswriters tend to be liberal. The Super Bowl is already a sore spot in the sportswriters’ favorite basket case of the last decade, New Orleans. I can imagine Peter King’s column a week from Monday if the shutdown had continued, regardless of the outcome of the game.
Dateline: The Ninth Ward …
Three weeks puts the shutdown into the Oscars media cycle. Trump’s already lost that one.
I thought the 30 day firing rule had an exemption for legislative shutdowns. So President Trump can’t RIF the Federal workers out because of the shutdown.
Now I would certainly be asking for proof of illness for anyone required to work and didn’t. Especially the yahoos at the TSA!
Trump – I sure hope he’s got a plan. I wish he’d fired them when he had a chance. I hope he is as smart and heartlessly tough as I think he is. I couldn’t believe he agreed to the three week thing. Baffled.
I am hoping that Trump is giving Pelosi one last chance to hang herself. Pelosi thinks that she has 100% control of the House. There may be several dumbocrats whom she is pushing to their last inch. Or not, I am unsure of just how unstable the dumbocrats really are. I cannot believe that all of them are as radical as Pelosi and AOC. If they all are then wow, we are screwed.
One of them thought an island would flip over if we removed our base, iirc…. so yeah, we’re screwed.
n
I’m a bit worried. Progs always project their own thoughts onto others, so I’m worried when Crazy Nancy accuses Trump of being blackmailed by Russia. After all, the Democrats are the party of sexual deviancy, and they’ve all been in bed with Russia… and closer to home, Jeffy Epstein…
Dadgumit, the cords on my new 150 watt outside LED light fixtures for the warehouse are too short. They are almost two feet long. They are probably ok for the three canopy lights as the junction box is right next to the light fixture. But the four outside corner light fixtures need to have four to five foot cords to their junction boxes.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077ZK6Q26/
I only bought two of the light fixtures to start with so I may just use these on the canopy lights. Of course, I can use the existing fixture cords to extend the existing cords if need be.
I only bought two of the light fixtures to start with so I may just use these on the canopy lights.
Looks like good stuff. Any particular reason to chose that model/brand?
If the travel trailer ever goes away (half paid for, though) I want to add lights to the boat shed. I have several 300 watt halogen fixtures in the barn. I used them on dimmers as heat lamps for baby emu. But 300 watts… I think LEDs would be better.
One 300 watt unit mounted high in the boat shed and aimed to bounce off of the ceiling would be more than enough to be able to see enough to walk. Maybe enough to be able to check the oil and tire pressure on cars.
My ISP is being dense.
There was a cable cut a couple/three weeks ago. Bubba and backhoes generally do not mix well with fiber cables.
They fixed it. But since then my pretty solid 5mb connection has been spotty and mostly slower than 2mb with lots of “just turning off”. Not so great for Sling TV.
I called and grumped. “Oh, so sorry, I’ll give you a credit on your bill.” Er, I didn’t call for a credit, I called to tell you to fix your network.
They poked around and it was better for a couple of days.
And then, back to a 500k download speed.
I called again. After being on hold the tech wanted me to connect a PC directly to the radio. Yes, I understand why, to rule out my stuff being the problem. But I’m not going out there to do this at 9:30PM. “Well, I can’t help you.” Well, yeah, I would have an hour and a half ago….
The other evening I figured out my wiring (I really need to tag the wires with different colors) and connected moa directly to the radio. And then had to trash my existing. network settings to connect to the ‘net. No improvement in speed. Ok, it’s not my router and it’s not the switch moa connects to. I called. Same song and dance of “your radio is fine, the tower is fine”.
400 to 600 k speeds. Using their speedtest site. I put my network back together and in the house on this PC, same speeds.
Today I received and e-mail from the ISP.
“Dear Customer,
Your case #3943990 for Slow Speeds has been updated. Our networking teams have identified and corrected the issue that had caused the degradation of service. Your connection should now be active and stable.
If you have not seen your speeds or connection return to normal, please power down all your equipment for 10 minutes and power back on to re-sync equipment.
If the connection doesn’t return to normal, please give our technical support department a call at [redacted]”
Ok, I did the ten minute thing. Seems to work as well as the 45 second thing, but what the heck. No change. So I replied to their e-mail with test results. No reply after three hours.
I’m calling tomorrow. With a full charge on the battery. 🙂
Dirt on the connector. The ATT installer told me that is their biggest problem, and the cabling trade magazine seems to agree. They’re always running articles on cleaning the fiber and the connectors, and patch, an test set….
Spent all afternoon doing yard work. Mostly cutting branches. It’s crepe murder time, and we have green waste pickup this week, so perfect timing. Not on my list, but when it needs to be done, the list gets scrapped. We got a couple of light sprinkles while I was working, but I pushed through.
I finally figured out where I wanted to put my solar motion lights. I’ve got one set behind the garage, and bought a replacement set when they were on sale at costco. Then I fixed the original set (new battery) and put the new on the shelf.. . and forgot about them. Saw them while I was working on my food area, and figured out where I want them. So add that to the list…
And I need to get the 50# of rice into buckets, discretely.
n
This has seemed like a strange winter. It’s had lows of 15F. Which is pretty cold for here.
But generally in the low-thirties to mid-sixties. And a bit of rain. Half an inch last night. That was enough to get the “creek” natural drainage ditch to make noise. Though maybe I was hearing the heat pump running. It was sprinkling enough a few minutes ago to get the deck wet.
So a month past Christmas or Winter Solstice and while we have had some Winter, and we complain, it has been worse.
Oh. Wait. I had the frozen pipe under the house fun in February.
I have a few daffodils around the Arizona ash tree. They seem to get by, I see a flower or two a year. The soil here isn’t right for a huge patch of daffys. Today I spotted a few three inch leaves. 🙂 Odds are the dang emu will eat them.
Some of the Live Oaks are starting to shed leaves. Seems early to me.
And I need to get the 50# of rice into buckets, discretely.
Vacuumed into smaller units? For bug control.
Totally understand the “discretely” part.
Edit. As in “just how much TP and soap and paper towels do we need?” “A couple of years worth” isn’t the desired answered.
Just to share. Out tonight drinking and eating with friends. At the restaurant, on adjacent table was the leader of the local council (political boss man of the area). When I became aware, I approached his table and offered to buy a drink, which was politely declined. He is ‘left wing’ by party but in my opinion has adopted a sensible pragmatic approach to the development of the community which he seeks to lead. I choose to celebrate those whom I regard as ‘good people’ even if I might not agree with their politics. Just an observation.
I only bought two of the light fixtures to start with so I may just use these on the canopy lights.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077ZK6Q26/?tag=ttgnet-20
Looks like good stuff. Any particular reason to chose that model/brand?
Luck of the draw and several good ratings. I did see the short cord mentioned in a rating. There are so many led outside light fixtures for sale on Amazon that it was hard making a choice. And all of it is made in China.
My warehouse has umpteen metal halide lights in it and outside it. There are three 300 watt lights in the outside canopy (2 are dead). There is a 400 watt light at each corner (2 are dead). There are fifteen 800 watt lights hanging from the ceiling inside (3 are dead).
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.5360427,-95.6668284,40m/data=!3m1!1e3
The problem is that the outside canopy lights are 14 ft off the ground. The outside corner lights are 17 ft off the ground. The inside lights are 20 ft off the ground. The tenant has a 12 ft aframe ladder that I can use for the outside canopy lights. The other outside lights, I may need to rent a bucket lift to work on with. The inside lights, I have no idea if and when I will convert them to LED.
“just how much TP and soap and paper towels do we need?”
I was asked this with the implication that we had too much. So I asked, how much do we use, and how long does it last? Since neither wife nor child could answer that question, I asked, so how much would be too much, and how would you know if you don’t know what we use normally?
That was the end of that. Literally, as they both turned and left the bathroom.
FWIW, we use about a roll of Charmin every day in the main bathroom, and one a week in the other bathroom, more on weekends. Paper towels, about a roll of selectasize every week. Big package of TP is about a month, big package of paper towel then is about 3 months. The paper towel goes MUCH quicker though if you have a spill, or need to clean up after a pet, so better to have more. We also use paper napkins at every meal. I buy at Costco when on sale. I do not buy at full price.
Currently restocked the bathrooms, so we have 3 months TP and 6 months paper towels. I have several months more at my offsite storage. I usually have 4-6 months of TP here. I have been running down stocks to get more room in my storage area. I’ll be building that back up with the costco sale this month.
n
@paulthemanc,
our local city councilmember does a great job, lives in our neighborhood, and I see her at all the civic meetings. No idea of her politics. Unfortunately, she’s term-limited out for good this time, after 20+ years. I hope she finds another place in the .gov where she can serve.
The Mayor of Houston lives about 4 miles from me. He’s black and a Democrat. He did a great job during the flooding and in general is doing a great job as mayor. He’s no nonsense, and is willing to say No, and tell people that they just can’t get what they want. I’d never have voted for him based on his party and platform, but the reality of his term has been such that unless he screws something up, I’ll vote for him next time, even across party lines. (Texas is generally Republican, with Democratic mayors in the big cities.)
The Trump election crystallized the notion that there are only politicians and that the two parties are just different sides of the same coin. Trump was the coin landing on edge, and that’s got the establishment freaking out. The really fun part is that Trump has spent his whole adult life in the company and social circle of Democrats, and I think he’s personally more aligned with Democratic values. That he ran as a Republican is astounding.
n
@paul, it’s a great idea to repack the bulk into smaller packets. That def helps with contamination issues, and spoilage once opened. Unlike RBT, I don’t have the patience or time to repack much. I might do one bucket with vac sealed bags, and leave the other as bulk. I consider my bulk buckets to be SHTF insurance and not part of my normal rotation anyway. If I lose a bucket to rats, say, I’m out the $15 but I was planning to lose it anyway when the flour aged out (rather than store hard wheat berries long term.)
Bulk is just so cheap, I can’t justify the time when my list is so long.
n
“I may need to rent a bucket lift to work on with”
The towable Genie boom lift is easy to use and move. Not super expensive to rent either, but you might just want to call an electrician. You’ll save real money and get better light with the high bay leds than you do now, and they should last a long time.
n
The towable Genie boom lift is easy to use and move. Not super expensive to rent either, but you might just want to call an electrician. You’ll save real money and get better light with the high bay leds than you do now, and they should last a long time.
I don’t pay the electric bill in the warehouse, that is the responsibility of the tenant. That said, the metal halide lights are slowly dying and take ten minutes to get to full strength.
I think that I found a towable bucket lift for $300/day when I looked before. Not sure what brand it was. The warehouse tenant rents scissor lifts regularly, he prefers those since they can move themselves.
I got a quote from an electrician. $4,300 to replace the seven outside light fixtures (including the new fixtures). Not gonna happen when I can do it myself for $1,000 to $1,200.
Wow, they saw your fat wallet!
That is a good time to save some money. Couple thousand is real money.
n
I had a 30 amp circuit installed with an exterior outlet so I can keep the travel trailer plugged in all the time. Electrician cost me $270.00 for what was little more 18″ of 10 gauge wire, one 30 ampere breaker. Drill through the cinder block and exterior brick, elbow in the breaker panel, and the exterior box. Total parts about $40.00. I wanted to do it myself but the cost to get a masonry drill and the necessary hammer drill more than exceeded the cost of the electrician. And the drill and bit I would probably never use again.
Sometimes you have to pay as the person doing the job already has the correct tools.
I am hoping that Trump is giving Pelosi one last chance to hang herself. Pelosi thinks that she has 100% control of the House. There may be several dumbocrats whom she is pushing to their last inch. Or not, I am unsure of just how unstable the dumbocrats really are. I cannot believe that all of them are as radical as Pelosi and AOC. If they all are then wow, we are screwed.
Except for the Ocasio-Cortez trainwreck and a few others, the freshman Dems are quickly learning that they will have to bring home the pork to keep the seat. Fundraising for 2020 is already underway.
MJ Hegar is back in the C suite at Dell because she didn’t understand that aspect of the job when she started talking about doors last year. There are a lot of really nice doors at the VA complex in Temple, one of our stiff Congressman’s ongoing pork projects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi6v4CYNSIQ
As for Pelosi, whatever neurological problem she has going on seems to be accelerating.
And the Ocasio-Cortez sugar daddy story will be a blockbuster when it breaks.
They won a round. Big deal.
Our stiff Congressman’s only 2018 commercial, reminding the district of who brings home the pork instead of “opening doors”. He won.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxf8ZhFmp1k
Sometimes you have to pay as the person doing the job already has the correct tools.
Yup. Today a welder replaced my 12 foot corroded metal fence for $725. He supplied the metal, paint, and everything.