77F and 97%RH this fine am. Probably from the overcast. Got plenty hot yesterday by afternoon.
There are experts who say you can’t ‘catch up’ on sleep. They’re wrong. Oh so wrong.
The dreams were unpleasant, mainly because they involved me doing my old job. I really don’t want to do it again, but I find myself having dreams about it. Bah, the money was terrible when it wasn’t great, the hours were long when they weren’t super short, and you only get ONE chance to get it right each time, but you’ll get another chance tomorrow.
Normal weekend stuff for me today and tomorrow. Some kid stuff involving me as chauffeur, and lots of yard work.
I’ve lollygagged around enough, I better get moving . . .
n
I believe I mentioned coming across a package of AAA batteries while I was at my secondary location, that had all gone fuzzy at the ends, and even swelled so much they broke the packaging… the “Good ’til” date was 2023 on the package. So I took them back to Costco yesterday. They were Kirkland brand, and the date is part of the package. The lady did not want to take them back, pointing out that I bought them years ago (probably ’14 or ’15) but I pointed back at the “good ’til” date. (She never actually said they didn’t want to take them back, just sorta ‘harrumphed’ a bit.)
They gave me a refund.
I hope I don’t find more as I go thru the stuff. I really want to believe they can be stored that long. If not, that’s bad.
n
Great./sarc We finally get a case that could challenge the ‘bump stock’ ban and the guy is an actual certified nutter.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7433255/Justice-Dept-charges-Texas-man-US-bump-stock-ban.html
Not gonna make any headway on the case, and might get ‘precedent’ set.
n
Two faced faithless Sheriff changes his mind when one of the only ones is affected-
“California sheriff slams lax sanctuary city laws in the state after violent illegal immigrant was freed and went on to ‘shoot a deputy’
Guadalupe Lopez-Herrara, 51, is in custody after ‘shooting Merced County sheriff’s deputy’ on Wednesday
Lopez-Herrara ‘led deputies on a high-speed car chase on Thursday’
Deputies sought his arrest for violating a restraining order on Wednesday
But Lopez-Herrara ‘shot one of the deputies while hiding in bushes’
He then stole a struck and fled before being spotted the next day
Lopez-Herrara ‘reached speeds of more than 120mph during chase’ before he was taken into custody
Merced County sheriff says Lopez-Herrara, who has a criminal record, was set free thanks to California’s sanctuary city laws ”
I see a box around the above post?
Now it’s gone.
I broke my own rule about tech more complicated than a router from EBay last week and got burned. A “gently used” laptop intended for a work project arrived with lots of scratches and a lose tray mechanism on the DVD player. The seller now claims I’m scamming him.
I’m going to wait out the week and turn it over to the EBay arbitration process. I have a spotless account record, but EBay drifts back and forth with their policies about whose interests get put first, buyers or sellers. Fortunately, PayPal is now a separate company with their own arbitration process, and the last time EBay decided against me, I took the case over there and got a refund.
Based on my check of Google Maps against the address, my guess is that the seller needs the $100 more than me, but still …
If it’s “not as described” you should prevail.
Sellers have almost no recourse at the moment.
n
If it’s “not as described” you should prevail.
The freshers in customer service parse “not as described” to an exceedingly fine extent. Costume/clothing items are easy, but tech is more nebulous. Unlike staff in the US, a lot of the Indian reps don’t own tech beyond their cell phones and most likely still live at home. This makes for a huge cultural disconnect when attempting to communicate with “service” people whose only understanding of life in the US is what they see on “Friends”.
(Hugely popular on the subcontinent, and the reason the set still stands intact as a tourist attraction at Warner Bros. in Burbank.)
They’re lousy “engineers”, and the resources would be better spent training them as lawyers IMHO. Of course, the legal profession in the US would scream bloody murder if as many visas for lawyers were issued every year as there are for engineers and programmers.
You are correct. I know such a gentleman and I use the term sincerely. He is a brilliant accountant.
There are stronger similarities between accoutants and lawyers than between engineers and either. I know. I am an engineer who, fresh out of school, considered studying contract law. I took one night course. I had a savvy prof who taught me to stay in engineering. Best career decision I made.
Most people should do what they have a passion for. They will learn what they need to know. The reverse seldom works as well.
Most people should do what they have a passion for. They will learn what they need to know. The reverse seldom works as well.
Lots of management my age flunked out of Engineering programs of one kind or another in the 80s, and they still carry the chip on their shoulder after graduating B-school.
Sometimes, I wonder if the outsourcing and H1B nonsense is a kind of payback for the last 30 years.
If you really need long term storage of AA batteries buy lithium batteries. They generally do not leak and have a very real 10 year shelf life. More expensive than alkaline for certain, but not enough to avoid if you really need them. I use lithium AA in all my FLASHLIGHTS as a leak would be very costly damaging the light. For cheap, throwaway lights, alkaline is fine IF you don’t need long term storage.
I was in engineering my first year of college. Decided I’d rather drink beer and chase girls than learn Differential Equations. The weed out courses weeded me out.
Switched to business. Legal Environment of Business class convinced me that lawyers were shifty.
Switched to Theater Production. I saw Cats and discovered that there were adults making their living in theater. Never looked back and it’s given me 3 or 4 (depending on how you count) successful careers.
The irony is that I did more engineering and design work in my last career than creative (artsy) work. More project management too, enough that if the company was supportive, I’d have gotten my PMP.
While I can’t say “follow your passion” for the same reasons that Mike Rowe doesn’t (google that for a more eloquent case than I can make), I will say “find something you’re good at, that people will pay you to do.” That is the key to success in life.
n
The irony is that I did more engineering and design work in my last career than creative (artsy) work. More project management too, enough that if the company was supportive, I’d have gotten my PMP.
The key is that you don’t have what I call “The Chip”.
If you’re old enough to remember Robert Conrad doing the battery commercials during his “Black Sheep Squadron” days, that’s what I picture in my head whenever I encounter a management type who obviously has the same hangup.
Even better. In fact, I also had a few “careers.” I put that in quotes, because the first ones were what I did while going to school for a formal career. They were careers just as much while I was doing them. I sought them out, and they paid well. I needed that, so it worked. I also enjoyed them, so a plus.
For a couple of years after I retired, I would read about something, and think “I could do that,” but I don’t need to do that. I have plenty to keep me busy.
Just watched Mike Rowe’s talk titled “Don’t Follow Your Passion” on the Prager U site. Excellent! I have always enjoyed his eloquence. Look up his background some time. Behind that seeming ease is some good grounding and hard work. Talent, too.
I believe I mentioned coming across a package of AAA batteries while I was at my secondary location, that had all gone fuzzy at the ends, and even swelled so much they broke the packaging… the “Good ’til” date was 2023 on the package. So I took them back to Costco yesterday. They were Kirkland brand, and the date is part of the package. The lady did not want to take them back, pointing out that I bought them years ago (probably ’14 or ’15) but I pointed back at the “good ’til” date. (She never actually said they didn’t want to take them back, just sorta ‘harrumphed’ a bit.)
Did you have the batteries stored in a cool dark place ? I’ve got mine stored in an inside closet (air conditioned). Batteries do not like the heat. Or the cold.
I’ve read that the weirdest thing about Teslas is that people will walk out in the garage and the air conditioning is running in their Tesla to cool the batteries.
Swan Eaters: sassy brooms
https://www.gocomics.com/swan-eaters/2019/09/06
Shades of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice !
@JimB:
18th 2019 Randsburg, Old West Day, 10AM to 4PM
760-977-1416
Lynn, this link is for you:
https://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2019/three-antibiotic-cocktail-clears-persister-lyme-bacteria-in-mouse-study.html
The irony is that I did more engineering and design work in my last career than creative (artsy) work. More project management too, enough that if the company was supportive, I’d have gotten my PMP.
Good project managers are worth their weight in gold. Bad project managers are walking cesspools. I wish that I was a good project manager.
This week has been tough in the software business. We found a really nasty bug in our rigorous thermodynamic flash Wednesday, around 4,000 lines of Fortran. The bug dated back to the writing of that code in 2005. Fixed the bug and now almost a hundred of our 627 benchmarks are failing. Over the years, we had fixed around the bug to make the problem go away, not realizing that was a bug. We have fixed over half of the problem areas but many remain to be fixed. So much for the August release of version 16.00 of our software.
This week has been tough in the software business. We found a really nasty bug in our rigorous thermodynamic flash Wednesday, around 4,000 lines of Fortran.
I’ve had stability problems with our new project all Summer, and I may have finally resolved the problem by correcting the version of the GNU Fortran library linked from another library developed by our vehicle sensor group. For mature tech, GNU Fortran seems all over the place in terms of quality from release to release.
At least we just find a libgfortran.so.* that works, resolving all the symbols. On Windows, I’d have to worry about the UUID of the MSVCRT used to compile the various DLLs or else pray that memory allocated in one DLL isn’t deallocated in another.
Lets see — A Presidential candidate no one has heard of got the endorsement of the First Mate of the Monkey Business. This will be huge.
https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/sep/06/bennet-picks-up-presidential-backing-of-ex-sen-gary-hart/
Which reminds me that, as of late, I’ve noticed that the media has been attempting revisionist history on Gary Hart before he assumes room temparture, with stories popping up here and there quoting Lee Atwater’s former dirty tricks guy as saying that the Monkey Business was a trap masterminded by the RNC’s key strategist.
Kinda convenient that Lee Atwater has been dead for 28 years. Even if he wasn’t, the Dems don’t want to hear from a relative moderate like Gary Hart, especially since he’s, what, three times as old as the Cocktail Waitress (?).
Crazy to think that Hart is only four years older than Biden.
At least we just find a libgfortran.so.* that works. On Windows, I’d have to worry about the UUID of the MSVCRT used to compile the various DLLs or else pray that memory allocated in one DLL isn’t deallocated in another.
DLL Hell is still with us. I ship our calculation engine as a 10 MB Win32 DLL and a 3 MB Win32 DLL. I have several light Win32 EXE wrappers for them. Our user interface is a Visual Studio 2015 generated 11 MB Win32 EXE. I install the MSVCRT package from the 2015 version as a part of our install package. If that does not install then we can be toast.
We still use the old Open Watcom F77, C, and C++ compiler / linker package for our calculation engine. I put all of the Watcom DLLs straight into our main installation directory for safeties sake. I keep on thinking that I will try Intel’s Visual Fortran again (the third time should be the charm, right ?) but I just do not have the time.
98 F in the Land of Sugar today. Hot, hot, hot !
https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/tx/sugar%20land/77469
DLL Hell is still with us. I ship our calculation engine as a 10 MB Win32 DLL and a 3 MB Win32 DLL. I have several light Win32 EXE wrappers for them. Our user interface is a Visual Studio 2015 generated 11 MB Win32 EXE. I install the MSVCRT package from the 2015 version as a part of our install package. If that does not install then we can be toast.
I used to have the responsibility for keeping our embedded Python up to date at the Death Star.
My manager thought I exaggerated the process … until two years after I left, when he couldn’t put off upgrading from Python 2.4 any longer. One of my former co-workers had to email me for help.
A lot of video games embed Python, but the companies do it badly and then reach back into their binaries with cytpes.py. I think we fielded trouble tickets from Microsoft for just about every vendor’s python.dll except our own.
My recommendation was to embed Tcl since it could be compiled with VC6, the last Microsoft compiler before the UUID mess started. Of course, that wasn’t what the cool kids did — cool kids embedded Python.
I checked, and this event seems to be on 21 Sep 2019. If so, I won’t be able to attend. Sorry. Not sure what that phone number is.
I’ll be away from here, maybe until late evening.
112F in my driveway ATM…
Glad I got the lawn mowed, and the weeds whacked.
Dropped #1 daughter at a sleepover, wife has #2 daughter at a girl scout meeting.
I have one more thing to check outdoors, then I think I’m in for a while. Doing the yard chores had me soaked to the skin from scalp to knees.
n
100 F here. A few clouds would be nice. Oh well, by the end of November we’ll be complaining about the cold.
The dogs go out and look around for a few minutes. Missy wants in soon. Penny takes a while longer because of LIZARDS!!! MUST KILL!!! She doesn’t eat the lizards. Just walks around with their tail hanging out of her mouth. The cat eats the lizards. I have some goofy critters.
I had the idea of looking for a remote control switch gizmo today. That I can control from a web browser or its own program. Plug into power and Ethernet to the device. I want to be able to power cycle the radio that connects to the Internet. “Cable modem” sort of. I can re-boot the router through that web interface.
The prices are a bit more than I want to pay. Stuff in my desired price range somehow connect to your wi-fi and if that goes down will re-boot your router automatically. Not a fan of the idea of something constantly pinging an unknown server. I don’t have much wi-fi where the radio is… maybe 2 bars on the phone. That’s what I need… a gizmo that re-boots the Internet because a cow walks by! Not.
I’d rather spend the money on another Ubiquiti Edge router.
The prices are a bit more than I want to pay. Stuff in my desired price range somehow connect to your wi-fi and if that goes down will re-boot your router automatically. Not a fan of the idea of something constantly pinging an unknown server. I don’t have much wi-fi where the radio is… maybe 2 bars on the phone. That’s what I need… a gizmo that re-boots the Internet because a cow walks by! Not.
I used to have stability problems in the Summer with my cable modem connection until I put the modem, router, and MOCA adapter on a small APC UPS. $50.
We don’t get blackouts, but there is weirdness in the power lines during peak demand times in the late afternoon. I’ll hear the APC UPS for my primary desktop click on at least once if I’m working in the home office on a 100 degree day.
@paul, I think I have a 2 port IP power switch. Let me dig thru the garage before you buy something.
n
Or this one on ebay is $45
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Professional-2-Port-PDU-Remote-Power-Reboot-Switch-Web-GUI-IP-P2-Ambrey/293156760061
or search homedepot.com for outlet app
https://www.homedepot.com/s/outlet%2520app?NCNI-5
There are some really cheap ones there. My concern would be if they use the cloud in any way, or just your local network.
n
That’s something I didn’t know I needed until right now…
Glad to be of service 😉
n
Hey, free air conditioner! Drove by a yard sale and the neighbor had a window unit in the heavy trash pile, so I grabbed it. They’re pretty simple. So I got it out and it had a bad push button switch for the Power button. I shorted the back of the board and it started up and got cold, so I pulled the control board and fixed it.
I didn’t find a replacement switch in my junk box in 1 minute of looking, so I just swapped switches around. I’ll never use the ECO setting, so that switch went to Power. The Timer switch got swapped with Temp UP, as Up was intermittent. I don’t expect I’ll need the timer either, and if I do, I can spend a little more time looking for a replacement.
LOTS of cleaning, and rust stop, and tomorrow I’ll hit it with Appliance White spray paint, and it will be more than good enough as backup for hurricanes or for my garage. I love free. And I love being able to fix things.
n
“Leprosy Could Be The Next Public Health Crisis To Hit Los Angeles”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-09-06/leprosy-could-be-next-public-health-crisis-hit-los-angeles
“Leprosy cases are emerging in Los Angeles County, according to a recent study revealed in a Reuters Health report and its co-author Dr. Maria Teresa Ochoa of Keck Medical Center of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles told Reuters Health that she’s urging the public to “fight the stigma.””
No freaking way !
We may need to start air dropping bleach using fire fighting planes across the entire western seaboard.
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
LOTS of cleaning, and rust stop, and tomorrow I’ll hit it with Appliance White spray paint, and it will be more than good enough as backup for hurricanes or for my garage. I love free. And I love being able to fix things.
Congrats on the win ! Hopefully it is 120 volt so you can use it anywhere.
I love being able to fix things also. It is a great feeling.
Lynn, this link is for you:
https://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2019/three-antibiotic-cocktail-clears-persister-lyme-bacteria-in-mouse-study.html
Nice article. It is probably only good for stage 1 of Lyme disease which is the vast majority of people.
Our daughter has not taken antibiotics for over a year now. The Lyme moved into her bones about that time and the antibiotics made her hurt too much while not doing much. The Lyme in her bones has affected her ability to make red blood cells so we are giving her massive iron supplements. Plus an iron infusion via IV that made her very sick. When that wears off, we will start giving her whole blood transfusions.
Don’t google “Lyme anemia”. It is not pretty. Just the public fighting between government doctors and private practice doctors is scary.
“Leprosy Could Be The Next Public Health Crisis To Hit Los Angeles”
Nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
FORMAT LA: /Y???forgot the /s (silent)
n
Yep, window unit is small, so will run on the portable gennie. 120v. Which is the fallback if the whole house gennie never gets installed….
n
No freaking way !
We may need to start air dropping bleach using fire fighting planes across the entire western seaboard.
Leprosy never really went away. There is a colony on an island in the Mississippi River in … LA? MS? My wife knows. Up until recently, the disease was rare but controllable using antibiotics with colonies reserved for the hardcore cases who don’t want to be seen.
What is unthinkable in this day and age is that the medical community has centuries of experience successfully fighting Leprosy, most of that time without antibiotics, but the old school ways — colonies, quarantines — are not politically palatable.
AIDS followed by Jocelyn Elders (remember her?) were a 1-2 gut punch to public health in this country. Even though every medical license comes with the possibility of conscription into the Public Health Service in an emergency, I doubt the Feds could successfully “rally the troops” if faced with a crisis like truly communicable Ebola. Too much damage from Progs and p*ss poor administration.
What do you see when you look at a clip on the news of the Surgeon General speaking?
Who is Trump’s Sugeon General? Do you know?
See what I mean?
Wow, Trump has had two surgeon-generals.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgeon_General_of_the_United_States
Who knew ?
Who cares ?
There are experts who say you can’t ‘catch up’ on sleep. They’re wrong. Oh so wrong.
I know that they are wrong. I got four hours of sleep last night. I will make it up tonight. Or maybe next week.
Who knew ?
Who cares ?
If @Nick’s nightmares ever come true about Ebola coming across the border evolved with a long enough incubation period that it truly became a communicable disease outside of “sh*thole” countries, the Surgeon General would be in charge of coordinating the response of the Public Health Service, conscripting the necessary medical talent and marshalling resources.
You don’t want the military in charge of the response. The Public Health Service was created to prevent that situation, despite the military-like structure. I speak from experience with the neighbors in Tampa that the torturers, killers, and (most dangerous) REMF officers frequently don’t have an “off” switch, and a true pandemic would require a different mindset, not destroying yet another civilization as we’ve done with our armed forces for most of the last 20 years.
That looks great. Thank you!
I’ll wait for you to dig in the garage.
While after twenty years of service, working on many CENTCOM deployments, you don’t know what you are talking about. Just because your neighbors didn’t like youR grass, doesn’t mean you know anything about them or what they do. What civilizations are you talking about?
While after twenty years of service, working on many CENTCOM deployments, you don’t know what you are talking about. Just because your neighbors didn’t like youR grass, doesn’t mean you know anything about them or what they do. What civilizations are you talking about?
Directly? Iraq, Libya. Indirectly? Quite a list with Venezuela on deck
Afghanistan wasn’t much of a civilization, but the case could actually be made for taking out the Taliban unlike most of the other Pentagon antics since 9/11.
I’ve stated many times that IMHO Centcom needs to be moved out of Tampa and back to DC. Beyond my experiences with neighbors, lots of shenanigans happen with those commands at MacDill that need closer DoD scrutnity.
OTOH, I think I got a pretty good taste of what goes on there from the neighbors, starting with this guy, one of Centcom’s leading Korea experts if I understand correctly. When the stalking charge got serious, they spirited him out of the country and had the records sealed. God bless the Interwebs and private enterprise.
https://www.mugshotsonline.com/florida/brandon/glen-nagy/2147862
On a larger scale, I think the Jill Kelly (nee Khawan)/Petraeus scandal was the tip of the iceberg at MacDill. The place needs an enema.
These were all on the way to destruction by themselves. Including ISIS/ISIL erasing the *civilization* in Iraq. Throw in the Brits and Soviets and there was not much left for the US. Whatever civilization was in Venezuela was destroyed by the Spanish invasion and various dictators. Not much left for the US. I don’t think we should have/had a presence in any of those, but US Military didn’t destroy them. I give exception to Gulf War I since we considered Kuwait an *ally* (LOL). Bush I wimped out on finishing it leading to more involvement.
Petraeus was already honorably retired when he whipped it out. Who cares.
I know plenty of people who serve/served in CENTCOM. They aren’t a bunch of alcoholic, druggies having orgies. I won’t speak for the three-letter agencys.