Chilly and damp today, after an absolutely gorgeous afternoon yesterday. Maybe today will come close later on.
I am sick with what feels like a cold, mixed with allergies. So I’m on my tried and true regimen of Airbourne and sleep. I have to stand outside for 10 hours on Saturday, so I really need to be over the worst of this by then. Of course, I have a ton of stuff to do to get ready for the Hamfest, so I’ll be getting less sleep than I’d like.
Squirrels are mating, buds are coming up, my Meyer lemon tree is fully in bloom, it must be spring. I hope we have a LONG spring this year, as summer is miserable.
Time to get serious about the gardens too.
For all of you outside the pestilential swamp, what are you going to do for a garden this year?? TIME TO START climbing the learning curve if you haven’t yet.
n
Fake news. Saw the reports, thought the writing had an odd ‘sound’ to it. Turns out that’s because it was mostly fiction.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-20/after-multiple-reports-about-new-zealanders-turning-guns-guess-how-many-actually
“Out of an estimated 1.2 million registered guns, New Zealand police report that as of Tuesday night, 37 firearms have been surrendered nationwide, according to BuzzFeed. ”
Of course, Zerohedge was blocked by NZ, at least for a while, so there may be motives involved.
n
Airborne? Color me surprised. I’m partial to Nyquil, well the Equate brand. I have to take a ‘short’ dose as I have trouble waking in the morning otherwise. Nothing cures a cold but they make it more bearable. Airborne is assumed to be a placebo.
My Meyer lemon not blooming yet and I still have a large number of the last crop on the tree. Need to get with it.
Cool and some light rain for today.
Placebos work though. I don’t care about the method, I only care that it shortens my symptoms by 3 days at least, and I can usually avoid any other cold medicine while still controlling the runny nose. I’ve long suspected that the real mechanism is the volume of fluid, but I’m not willing to test it.
n
Well if it works for you. Now about those testosterone boosters.
Spring? Hah.
Backyard is under a foot of snow. One corner of the fabric greenhouse is groaning under a lump of snow I’m too short to dislodge. I’m shocked the fabric made it thru the winter, fifth or sixth season? There are micro tears where it crosses the support structure. I’ll be replacing the fabric or building a roof for it this year. The backyard apple saplings are barren sticks with sad brown leaves clinging drunkenly to sagging limbs.
Front yard is enduring “break up” and the sins of winter are emerging. Front walk is the childhood game of lava – skipping from stone to stone to avoid the shoe sucking mud (gleefully created by three no no bad dogs and their ring leader my daughter). Getting the dogs out and back in involves a LOT of towels to wipe down their muddy paws and undercarriages.
The only glimmer of hope lays beneath the front overhang, shielded from doggy predation by a garden fence. Intrepid tulips, daffodil, crocus and snowdrops are emerging. Green whisps of optimism pushing up thru frigid ground. The bleeding heart and other perennials are dormant for another 4-6 weeks. The evergreens are taking on a subtly greener vibrant hue as they wake.
Alaska spring is not for the faint of heart. It can be a singularly miserable experience as the snow rots, melts, and smells. You have to work hard to find the budding pushy willows and bulbs and actively ignore the mud, poop, blackened snow and cavernous pot holes.
Jenny, your vivid description makes me want to move to Alaska, NOT! Reminds me of growing up in Michigan… on steroids.
One can hope the SJWs leading NZ to this over the top reaction have now gone too far for the sensible people.
Never let a crisis go to waste…
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/03/new-zealand-to-broadcast-muslim-call-to-prayer-friday-as-headscarfforharmony-campaign-urges-non-muslim-women-to-wear-hijab/
Nope, all part of the plan in bizzarro world.
where feminists support islam.
n
Some people yearn for the collar and the lash….
n
Airborne is assumed to be a placebo.
Airborne was the subject of a class action lawsuit and, as part of the settlement, had to remove all claims of being a cold remedy from their advertising and packaging under FTC order.
No less than Dr. Dean Edell helped lead the charge on that one IIRC. Despite being “an old hippie doctor”, he was tough on the supplements industry. Edell *hated* that the “Invented by a teacher” line on Airborne’s packaging because he felt that it made people less skeptical about the product’s claims of medicinal properties.
The FDA does not generally look too closely at supplements unless someone dies. Europe is a lot tougher on the industry.
Can we all agree to end the kale madness now?
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/kale-joins-list-of-dirty-dozen-fruits-and-vegetables-most-likely-to-contain-pesticides-2019-03-20
The indictments must be coming soon for Andrew Gillum.
Florida dodged a bullet. The Dems blew it in the state for at least a decade going for broke with Gillum over Gwen Graham.
https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2019/03/20/gillums-red-flag-plan-to-stop-trump-1m-new-florida-voters-927053
So what’s wrong with bug-free kale?
(actually I dislike the stuff – spinach is better)
Front yard is enduring “break up” and the sins of winter are emerging. Front walk is the childhood game of lava – skipping from stone to stone to avoid the shoe sucking mud (gleefully created by three no no bad dogs and their ring leader my daughter). Getting the dogs out and back in involves a LOT of towels to wipe down their muddy paws and undercarriages.
Ok, that is hilarious. “gleefully created by three no no bad dogs and their ring leader my daughter” is a potent visual image.
“Oliver the African Watusi makes a surprise visit to Atascocita Petco”
https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/atascocita/news/article/Oliver-the-African-Watusi-makes-a-surprise-visit-13704290.php?cmpid=hpctp
Oh, we are still in Texas when somebody brings their one ton pet to Petco in the Houston area. Yes, there is video.
Northern Minnesota seems to be like Alaska this year. About 16 inches of snow still on the ground with the only green showing around the edges of the shoveled sidewalks. I wasn’t going to get Maple sap this year but our youngest son put on snowshoes and made a path to the 25 trees we are going to tap. Our sign of spring is maple sap flowing for the last two days. We will start boiling tomorrow. On a good year we will get about 6 gallons of syrup and about 2 gallons on a bad year.
Still starting plants inside and hope to move some to the outside greenhouse by April 20th.
@MinnesotaDave– DUDE! That is awesome! Maple syrup is the elixir of life! We eat a LOT of maple syrup around here. I consider it to have infinite shelf life (or until the packaging fails), so I don’t mind stocking up. Making my own would ROCK. Of course, I’ve lived where the trees grow, and I’m not going back to that!
n
Announcing the movie of “Bill and Ted 3 – Face The Music”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_x2C4L6quA&feature=youtu.be
No Way Dude !
Be Excellent to One Another !
Ugh.
I went to the PO yesterday for a package. Then to NAPA and O’Rielly’s to see if they rent or loan a battery terminal puller. The Pos term on the truck is crusty and I can’t get the new-fangled lead free clamp off. Though I can wiggle the post. Anyway, no luck. It looks like getting the cable off will destroy the battery. I wouldn’t care much except batteries are not $50 anymore but north of $150.
Then to Walmart. Picked up a Ship to Store item. Dummy here thought the bin door was in the machine and never noticed the lockers off to the right. I thought the whole tower of “Ship to Store” was like a jukebox/PEZ dispenser.
Got a 30 of Miller High Life. On sale? Dunno, but $3 less.
Then to Tractor Supply. Dog food. Cat food. And no, this store doesn’t do 20% off for seniors on the last Tuesday of the month.
I woke up this morning sort of sore all over. Now it kind of hurts to swallow and the whatever is moving up into my ears.
The change over to a new ISP is going fine. Once they finally showed. It’s a small local company, maybe 12 employees as best I can tell by their web site. The new radio is a Ubiquiti something that is a bit bigger than a pack of Marlboro 100s. Their “magic laptop” says it’s connecting at 1.3 GB. My down speed is, er, was until an hour ago, at 11MB. It’s gone up. Not to 25MB but near.
I called Rise to cancel. Aren’t they the sweetest folks? Somehow, I acquired a 2 year contract when they replaced the radio a year ago this past October. They aimed at a different tower and hey, you can get 5mb speed on this tower instead of 3mb speed and $8/month less. Pretty much of no-brainer.
The connection has been iffy for a few months. I’ve spent hours on the phone.* So now, I owe $60 for early termination. And, this is where it gets good, they want me to return the router they insisted I needed (and it’s free!!! and included with my plan!!!). Or pay $55 for a router I would have never bought.
Ok, I can play this game. I downloaded their Return Label. I’ll return their never used router. And maybe print the label a few more times and send scrap wood, rocks, whatever fits in a router sized box.
Gonna nail me for a BS $60 charge? When I’ve been a customer since 2001? Yes, I know, all the local wISPs have been bought up and merged.
Funny. I’m not the one burning bridges here.
And you know what? This is why DirecTV doesn’t want their hardware returned after they hit you with the early cancellation charge.
Bricks, cinder block chunks, yeah. I think I can sort of get my $60 back just by them paying for the postage.
* And by “hours on the phone” I have about 16 hours of talk time on my phone in 3 years. A couple of hours dealing with DirecTv when I canceled and another hour dealing with them when Jerry died last February. Roommate has used the phone when his battery died. Me? At most half an hour. 16 – 3 – 1. About 12 hours talking to my now ex-wISP.
I’m going to go look for drugs in the bathroom.
Then to NAPA and O’Rielly’s to see if they rent or loan a battery terminal puller. The Pos term on the truck is crusty and I can’t get the new-fangled lead free clamp off. Though I can wiggle the post. Anyway, no luck. It looks like getting the cable off will destroy the battery. I wouldn’t care much except batteries are not $50 anymore but north of $150.
Those lead free battery terminal clamps suck dead donkey …
If the battery post wiggles then the battery is toast … terminal. You will get battery acid start leaking all over the place. At least that is what happened to my 2005 Expedition last December. I now have a new positive battery terminal clamp with a home built connection to the wiring harness. Version 3.0 works great ! I don’t want to talk about versions 1.0 and 2.0, they stranded my butt at HEB and the house. I think that I used this battery terminal clamp and performed some surgery on my wiring harness to make it work with the four power lines to the positive battery terminal.
https://www.autozone.com/batteries-starting-and-charging/battery-terminal-end-and-adapter/duralast-battery-terminal-end-and-adapter/96012_0_0
Autozone has $120 truck batteries.
Walmart has $90 truck batteries.
Autozone has $120 truck batteries.
No, they don’t. I just looked under the hood and my battery is a Autozone Duralast Gold. $160. My 2016 battery lasted 23 months before the positive terminal broke and started leaking battery acid so they gave me a new for free. The battery that I bought in 2016 was probably $120 as it was $152 with all of the taxes. Now it is $160 + core charge + taxes.
https://www.autozone.com/batteries-starting-and-charging/battery/duralast-gold-battery/53433_401309_25698
ADD: As far as I can tell, inflation is rampaging through the USA except for energy costs. In fact, energy costs remaining constant and/or dropping are probably masking the rest of the goods in society rising in cost rapidly.
“Beto O’Rourke tried to prank wife with baby poop, report says”
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/beto-orourke-tried-to-prank-wife-with-baby-poop-report-says
“Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke attempted to play a practical joke on his wife by telling her that a turd he plucked from one of their children’s diapers was an avocado, a friend of the couple told The Washington Post.”
Butto / Bozo (Hannity’s pet name for butto) is a jerk.
Hat tip to Rush Limbaugh talking about this today on his radio show.
I no longer fool with auto batteries. I call AAA and they send out a truck with all the stuff and the guy knows what to do.
Unless the army was drafting 10 year olds, something about this stinks…
“New Jersey man, 20, admits shooting dead his 61-year-old ex-Marine Vietnam veteran neighbor during Halloween robbery”
n
Paul, I recommend the Walmart EverStart MAXX top of the line battery. I bought one several years ago, and it was still going strong almost seven years later when I sold the pickup. Yes, I actually SOLD a car! About a year and a half ago, I was researching batteries, and the prevailing opinion was the “South” or warm climate version still had a good reputation. My general contractor friend uses lots of them, and concurs. Good life under his demanding conditions, and easy adjustments if anything goes wrong early in their life.
I also read good things about Interstate, even after Johnson Controls bought the brand name. (Johnson also makes the Walmart batteries, and lots of other names.) Silly me, I bought one from Costco. Much cheaper than the Walmart battery, but unimpressive so far. No problems, but its fully charged open circuit voltage is a bit low. Sometimes this is OK, but it often means something is not up to snuff.
So, I recommend the Walmart top line battery. It is only a few $ more than the second tier one. Don’t bother with their el cheapo ones, they are junk. If you want a slightly better battery at a really impressive (high) price, get the Sears Die Hard Gold or something like that. They are pretty good, but I would only use one if I was stuck with a small space and demanding service. YMMV.
Regarding lead free terminals, I didn’t think much of them when I first saw them years ago, but my new (2006) car has them, and they are admirable. They appear to be made of nickel plated hard copper, and are corrosion free originals. I just disassembled them, dunked in baking soda solution, dried, and coated everything with silicone grease. They even have stainless steel bolts. They should last the life of the car. I also like that the cables have lugs that attach to the clamps, which means the clamps are easily replaceable. If I bought a car with this kind of clamps that were corroded, I could just remove the bolts and peel the clamps off the battery terminals, no puller necessary. Yours must be different. But then, I have seen some of the weird stuff on other cars. Once I clean and grease battery terminals, I never see corrosion here in the desert, but then I am meticulous about electrical connections, having grown up in the rust belt.
Heh ! I’ve been emailing back and forth with a customer this afternoon and tonight. He lives in Garland, Texas which he is calling Corned Beef, Texas.
Slim, I have bought cars that were “serviced” by folks like AAA. The first thing I do is replace the overtightened, cracked, mangled #$@@!! battery terminals. Of course, these have been the old fashioned lead ones, which require care in tightening. But, those cretins probably have figured out a way to f up the better ones.
EXCEPTION: My new (2006) car has a AAA labeled battery. Might have been installed by someone from AAA, although we can buy such batteries over the counter here, so… Still convinced that a high percentage of “mechanics” are knuckle draggers. In fairness, it is not a job I would want to do, especially on the newer cars. AND, I really do admire the good mechanics, especially with the caliber of customers these days.
Regarding lead free terminals, I didn’t think much of them when I first saw them years ago, but my new (2006) car has them, and they are admirable. They appear to be made of nickel plated hard copper, and are corrosion free originals. I just disassembled them, dunked in baking soda solution, dried, and coated everything with silicone grease. They even have stainless steel bolts. They should last the life of the car.
My hard copper battery positive terminal clamp only lasted 200,000 miles. I fixed mine with a variation on this fix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1iWUTpzN2A&t=147s
Huh? I do like corned beef, but what is the connection with Garland?
Saw that before. Looks good. I have one car that has 191k on it with the original battery cables and clamps. They weren’t too bad when I bought it. Cleaned up well. I still have my clamp and post reamer and clamp spreader pliers. Also, some gentle bending and forming, and the clamps were as good as new. I also often put washers under the clamp nuts where they have bitten into the soft lead.
Those new ones in my 2006 (finally, a car with a model year that begins with a “2”) look so good that I might put that design or a variation on some of my older cars.
I’ve been emailing back and forth with a customer this afternoon and tonight. He lives in Garland, Texas which he is calling Corned Beef, Texas.
Huh? I do like corned beef, but what is the connection with Garland?
Uh oh, I done got myself in trouble again. Sorry, my weird sense of humor is acting up again.
Ever been to Garland, Texas ? It is a very nice blue collar town nestled up real close to Dallas. Corned Beef and cabbage is reputedly a food staple of the lower income bracket. So …, I just found it funny. Of course, he was throwing puns at me and that one stuck.
There must be a power in ignorance, or dupliciousness.. SINCE THERE ARE MORE SCHOOL AGE KIDS THAN COPS.
At least they are relatively honest about the numbers of black kids, but they somehow forget to mention who was doing the shooting, hint-it was other black kids. GANG members primarily.
Nope, no agenda there…
n
I still have my clamp and post reamer and clamp spreader pliers. Also, some gentle bending and forming, and the clamps were as good as new. I also often put washers under the clamp nuts where they have bitten into the soft lead.
BTW, I used my steel sheers with the strength multiplier for cutting the hard copper bands on my wiring harness. Those cut right like that hard copper was butter. I was a little nervous since I was cutting a $500 engine wiring harness but it all worked out. I figured that I could fix it if things went bad with more wire and more clamps.
https://www.amazon.com/Straight-Aviation-Scissors-Cutting-Meterial/dp/B076GG9WWR/?tag=ttgnet-20
STILL can’t face reality–
“ALICE training is an ‘options-based’ approach that encourages students and teachers to be proactive in their response to active shooter incidents. Some of the tactics include rushing a shooter, in extreme situations. “
JEBUS H CRIMINY, it’s an ACTIVE SHOOTER. That is the very definition of “extreme situation.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6836053/It-hurt-bad-Indiana-teachers-shot-plastic-pellets-active-shooter-training.html
shaking my head….
n
my somewhat achy and quite stuffed up head, so I’m off to bed. Taking old Ben’s advice, I’d settle for one of three at the moment.
n
No Way Dude !
Be Excellent to One Another !
Whenever a young’n asks about 80s suburban mall culture, I always refer them to the first “Bill & Ted” movie over any of the Hughes “brat pack” flicks.
80s high school? “Freaks & Geeks” nails it.
I’m hoping to see John Francis Daley and Martin Starr tomorrow at C2E2. I have my “Freaks & Geeks” box set book if autographs aren’t outrageous.
@Lynn — It won’t feel right seeing “Bill & Ted” without Carlin and Bernie Casey.
I sat on the “Wayne’s World” set the other day at the SNL exhibit at the Museum of Broadcasting. I got Wayne’s chair, and my son took Garth’s spot on the couch.
The museum also has Russert’s set from “Meet The Depressed”, but I couldn’t sit in that chair.
Ever been to Garland, Texas ? It is a very nice blue collar town nestled up real close to Dallas. Corned Beef and cabbage is reputedly a food staple of the lower income bracket. So …, I just found it funny. Of course, he was throwing puns at me and that one stuck.
Garland was home to ServAir when I interned at E-Systems in 1989.
If the name isn’t familiar, their products certainly are. They outfit (or at least used to) head of state aircraft, including Air Force One.
The cost overruns on outfitting the two current 747s were beyond outrageous. Trump was right to have the contract for the next two looked at again.
Unless the army was drafting 10 year olds, something about this stinks…
Diplomatic relations with Vietnam were reestablished in 1995. The embassy reopened soon afterwards, and the deceased could have been one of the Marine guards.
Unless the army was drafting 10 year olds, something about this stinks…
Nowadays your typical “reporter” is 27 years old and knows nothing.
Oh yeah, those are good for a lot of uses. I occasionally do some sheet metal work, and have right and left cut also. Essential.
Tools, oooh! I can’t resist passing along these:
(link)
I have a no-name version, and they won’t cut what you described, but will cut so many other things. The blade looks fragile, but isn’t. If you have never tried these, do. You’re welcome.
Less common, but another surprisingly useful tool is https://www.amazon.com/Gates-91143-Large-Hose-Cutter/dp/B001CI8DVC/ref=sr_1_7?hvadid=153739759413&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9031792&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=2635686036020909320&hvtargid=kwd-1255332514&keywords=hose+cutter&qid=1553223093&s=gateway&sr=8-7&tag=ttgnet-20
which cuts hose beautifully. If you ever have more than a small number of hose cuts to make, get one of these. Highly recommended.
BTW, there are fancier ones made of metal, but this plastic one works fine for me. I have cut some seriously stiff and thick hose with it. A minor secret is to use some spray silicone if you have some sticky hose. Makes me want to go out to the shop and cut some hose. Really!
I sure botched those links. They work, but look bad, and I can’t seem to edit them. No web design for me.
@JimB – fixed the link for you.
Not sure how you did it, but there was a missing ending ‘a’ tag which caused the problem.
I usually just copy the link as text, then let WP ‘linkify’ it. The ‘edit’ button has some limitations with editing non-text (HTML) stuff. I suppose I could try to find a better one…
Thanks. Been a long time since I played (emphasis on play) around with HTML. I leave it to the experts.
I wonder how many folks on this site look back a day or two earlier. I used to post on the older day just to keep with the original subject, but didn’t get much attention, so now I mostly post on the current page.
This is the best site I have found, and I really admire the people who keep it going, both technically (you) and from a subject standpoint. I originally found it from Jerry’s site, and lurked for quite a while before I ever posted. I still don’t post much, because I sometimes have to read a few days to catch up. By then, the topic is usually well covered.
@JimB
I usually use the comment links on the right sidebar to pick up on comments where I left off. That means that I might miss a comment from several days before that was entered today. Sometimes I notice an ‘older’ comment mixed in with the new ones on the list, but not often.
So my practice is to just tack on my comments on something at the end of the current day, even though it might reference a discussion from previous days.
YMMV. But thanks for the nice words. The discussion here is quite varied. And, if it gets ‘quiet’, there’s always FLASHLIGHTS.
I wonder how many folks on this site look back a day or two earlier.
I look back. My reason is there is a tendency here to keep a thread together. “Tendency”. We seem to be sliding into carrying past days into the current day. No problem with that other than if we are all FLASHLIGHTS about something, added comments on the subject get lost if posted a few days later. shrug
I like the on-going conversation.
BTW, I used my steel sheers with the strength multiplier for cutting the hard copper bands on my wiring harness.
Tin snips. I have a set that cut Left, Center, and Right. I didn’t pay $16 for the set. 🙂
If you want to have fun cutting sheet metal, get a pair(?) of pneumatic shears. I paid $100 at Tractor Supply. Amazon has a lower price. https://www.amazon.com/AVGDeals-Professional-Pneumatic-Shearer-Nibbler/dp/B07MY72D13 for a picture of the business end. It cuts out a strip an eight of an inch wide.
Ditto, I also found this place through JerryP.
I try to watch for comments on previous days, like this. Sometimes, though, things get busy and I know I miss comments. Anyhow, it’s a good group, and good discussions…
I think I found this place through Jonathon Sturm, The Pompous Git. Or through Tom Syroid. Then I found Daynotes and Jerry’s site and then here.
I always scan the ‘comments’ section on the right for new entries on old days. I like to keep the comments together, and I see a real benefit to it when I link back to older posts and comments.
Whatever works for folks, but I too noticed that more frequently comments on an older post or thread get posted on the current day.
My biggest ‘missed comment’ issue is when we are all typing comments, and I hit post, and miss the three that ended up between my comment and the upthread comment that I was responding to. Lately too, I’ve notice that someone revises an earlier comment, and I don’t see the revision until it’s quoted later down thread. Then I think, “when did he say THAT?”
nothing to be done about it, except to stay alerts, and my self imposed need is different from most reader/commenters.
n