Cooler, and wet [73F and 99%RH]. Sporadic rain throughout Houston yesterday, but I never saw more than sprinkles. Everywhere I went was either just starting or just finished. Huge thunder and lightning a couple of blocks away, but sunny blue sky overhead is very disconcerting.
We got through another anniversary without a new attack, and for that I’m grateful.
My mood should improve now.
As predicted, Dorian is out of the news and so is the tragedy in the Bahamas [not entirely, yet.] The Epstein story still has legs, but the french procurer has vanished into thin air. Foul play? Or a run for the hills? There was never any mention of concerned family…
I’m going in for some tests this am. Barium is involved and I’m told that ‘could make me want to throw up’. I guess that’s better than an enema? Shouldn’t be anything serious, just some unexplained things that need some ‘splaining. If none is forthcoming, then more tests. Thank [deity of your choice] the grid is still up, money still works, and doctors are still going in to the office. Getting old isn’t for the weak.
I don’t need any prayers yet, but others here do, if you are inclined that way.
More when I get back,
n
@Nick, you may not need prayers but you are going to get some anyway. So there.
Sad news from @TV yesterday. I too hope and pray that the tests find something less serious. In any case, @TV, understand that you are not alone. We have broad shoulders to lean on.
I too am grateful that yesterday was uneventful, let’s keep it that way.
Those prying home security cameras are paying off locally. This week has seen a bunch of apprehensions of gang members tagging and vandalizing. Very clear pictures where the perps faces are easily identified, not too mention the tats. It must be gang initiation time.
DeSantis 2024. The Dems already know that the Cocktail Waitress (if she survives) will not be an immaculation like Obama.
The best the Dems had in Florida last year was DeSantis’ quote about the FL economy, that the Dems would “monkey it up” if Gillum won.
(Next time just say the f-word, Governor.)
https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/09/12/ron-desantis-political-team-planned-25k-golf-games-250k-intimate-gatherings-memos-say/
WRT to engine selection:
1. Drove my grandson’s 2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 3.7L V6, to service and back for oil change.
2. Drove my 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 5.7L V8 Hemi, to local park and back with dogs.
3. If I need a replacement, my next will be 5.7L V8 Hemi, either Jeep Grand Cherokee or Dodge Ram 150.
Good luck on your tests !
3. If I need a replacement, my next will be 5.7L V8 Hemi, either Jeep Grand Cherokee or Dodge Ram 150.
Since Sergio Marchionne died, all bets are off wrt what will happen to Jeep and Dodge at FCA. The engines will probably get smaller as a hedge against Trump not winning, either reelection or the coming showdown with CA over MPGs.
Chrysler’s current model lineup is on the streets as the _250 Mercedes vehicles. Maybe the tooling for big Jeeps will follow Hummer to China.
Sad news from @TV yesterday. I too hope and pray that the tests find something less serious. In any case, @TV, understand that you are not alone. We have broad shoulders to lean on.
Yes, we do. @TV, saying a prayer for your wife.
We closed on the new used house today. We now own two homes. Hopefully the transition will go well and we can sell the old home soon. We are going to replace the windows in the new used home first, then paint and recarpet. Moving will be an adventure with the disabled daughter as she is back in the wheelchair again. She can walk about 40 or 50 ft without the wheelchair though.
We closed on the new used house today.
Congratulations! Now you have something to do. 🙂
@TV: Allow me to add my voice to those hoping that your wife’s diagnosis is less dire than CJD.
We closed on the new used house today. We now own two homes. Hopefully the transition will go well and we can sell the old home soon. We are going to replace the windows in the new used home first, then paint and recarpet.
I got this from our home inspector:
If the previous owners had animals, if you plan to recarpet, go through and find all the places on the old carpet with mystery stains, especially with a brownish/redish tint. Anywhere on the old carpet with a suspect discoloration, cut out the carpet/pad, a piece bigger than the spot, and brush Killz on the concrete/plywood underneath, making sure to cover the whole area.
I also did the corners of each room, cutting about a foot square.
“The rich should get ready for Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-rich-should-get-ready-for-elizabeth-warrens-wealth-tax-165057651.html
You know, this kind of nonsense violates the tenth commandment, you shall not covet your neighbors house, wife, or anything else. And oh yeah, it violates the USA Constitution also. But, when was the last dumbocrat to honor the Constitution ?
And of course, it will start off as a 2% tax on above $50 million in assets. After ten years, it will be a 5% tax on above $100,000 in assets. This is nothing more than a federal property tax on every item in the country.
If the previous owners had animals, if you plan to recarpet, go through and find all the places on the old carpet with mystery stains, especially with a brownish/redish tint. Anywhere on the old carpet with a suspect discoloration, cut out the carpet/pad, a piece bigger than the spot, and brush Killz on the concrete/plywood underneath, making sure to cover the whole area.
I am going to put in Stainmaster carpet, the pet version. And, I am going to put in the thick pet padding. Both have enzymes mixed in them to neutralize pet pee and vomit. The installed cost is about $6/ft2. We have a 7 month old puppy, Lily. She still has “accidents” but is doing better.
Yes, i concur with the congratulations.
OTOH, I can’t imagine such for myself. We bought from the builder as first owners 53 years ago. I’m staying until my daughter drags me out for assisted living. Of course, I’ll hate it, they all do. We had to put my MIL in one and everybody there hated it.
Dogs are funny. Missy runs on Solar time.
A month ago, she’s chuffing at me at 5:30 to get my lazy backside out of bed. The last couple of weeks? Almost 7. Clouds skews the times.
Well, it’s coming up on 5 pm. She’s looking at me but hasn’t decided it is time for her pre-dinner dog cookie. Yesterday was cloudy and oh, yeah, 4:15 and where is my cookie!?
It’s fun to watch. Or I’m easily amused. Your call.
I have a few kittens that are a few months old. From a litter of four. Of course when I found the kits, she had to move them. One was a calico. She vanished. The black and white cat is skittish. But has no problem with my putting food in the dish. The two yellows are coming along and have strong purr motors. Not quite climbing into my lap but almost.
I hope to get them to the Vet. Yeah, I have broken my rule and I have named them. Because…. “X” Bear is the theme.
We had a white cat that had a touch of Siamese color. My Sister and her kids were living here and I never saw Polarbear walk… hand carried everywhere. That cat was a trip.
After Honeybear was Blackbear. One tiny white spot on his snout that was all of 5 hairs. A touch of a Sharpie…
Now we have Honeybear. He leaves wounded lizards on the doormat. Which is “exciting” if you don’t notice before having a wiggling lizard between your toes.
You see the color theme… Yes? The two kits are going to be Yellowbear and Turtlebear. That’s the plan.
I have a few kittens that are a few months old. From a litter of four. Of course when I found the kits, she had to move them. One was a calico. She vanished. The black and white cat is skittish. But has no problem with my putting food in the dish. The two yellows are coming along and have strong purr motors. Not quite climbing into my lap but almost.
Hopefully the dogs and the cats are getting along. The 7 month puppy is about 20 lbs now. We think that she is a cross between a Min Pinscher and a Schnauzer. But, she has a loving temperament and is terribly excited about life. She gets her freak on and starts running about the house or yard at 30+ mph.
The 10 year old Siamese cat is starting to tolerate her after three months. He is 12 lbs and considers himself above her. But she keeps on approaching him and seems to be saying “lets play chase !”. He just hisses and watches her very closely. Outside is ok between them but inside is not good at all, one of them has to be put up somewhere.
“A.F. Branco Cartoon – Unholy Alliance”
https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-unholy-alliance/
“Sarsour and Berni find common ground, both hate America and Israel. Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2019.”
I thought that the love affair between Bernie and the Squad was ridiculous myself. I sure would like to gossip about the bunch with OFD.
CowboySlim, just how big are your dogs that you need that much engine to haul them to the park?
Congrats, Lynn.
Best wishes, TV and Nick.
OTOH, I can’t imagine such for myself. We bought from the builder as first owners 53 years ago. I’m staying until my daughter drags me out for assisted living. Of course, I’ll hate it, they all do. We had to put my MIL in one and everybody there hated it.
My parents are trying to figure where they are going to live when Mom gets out of the hospital rehab next week or week after next. BTW, Mom has been in the hospital since April 2. Four surgeries and five infections. The latest was cellulitis in the non operated leg.
Mom has been in rehab for a couple of weeks now. She can now get up with only one person’s assistance. But she needs a person to steady her while standing or walking. The blessed item is that she is free from pain in the hip that was apparently broken last Christmas day. The pain from last Christmas day to after the fourth surgery was killing her.
Dad is considering moving them into some sort of independent living around here for now until Mom gets stronger (they live 110 miles down the coast in Port Lavaca). Somewhere that he can call a nurse to help get Mom up, I am not sure if that requires assisted living instead. And a full ADA place. Their house was built in 1961, it is the anti-ADA place.
CowboySlim, just how big are your dogs that you need that much engine to haul them to the park?
https://www.amazon.com/Clifford-Big-Red-Dog-8×8/dp/0545215781/?tag=ttgnet-20
Weeellll, that was the shortest time I’ve spent in a CT scanner. Usually I have time to fall asleep. The barium drink wasn’t bad, nor was it difficult to drink. If the reception people were competent, I’d have gotten the drink AS I was filling out paperwork. Instead, I had to wait an extra 45 minutes because I didn’t start drinking it until my paperwork was almost done.
And it was paper, because their IT consultant and form designer is almost criminally incompetent. Possibly criminal, as HIPPA violations are probably possible. They handed me an iPad, but I was able to exit their app and mess around in the settings page, poke at wifi, use other apps. I was shocked to find form fields autosuggesting my name after the first time… that should be turned off, as should spelling correction. I didn’t want to break the law, but I could have tried autosuggestion on other common names… The freaking spelling correction changed the name my medicine in my history. I caught that and then I started getting angry. Didn’t help that I had no food or caffeine. So I shut down their app, handed the thing back to them, bitched, and she printed me the forms, and handed me a pen. When I was done, she scanned it in, and it was clear that it was not uncommon to do so. Freaking form designer was incompetent too.
SO much fail. How about clicking on the red sentence to get the yes and no choices, which aren’t buttons, but have to be scrolled to and then you touch “done” while the “yes” or “no” choice is highlighted, but only very subtly with black and white… with most of the text in 6 point type, and very confusing wording. No pinch zoom either. Wanted a full medical history, typed with two fingers on the virtual keyboard. F that for a game of soldiers.
The actual scan was less than 5 minutes, and could have been shorter but I got “contrast” too. That was very odd. Warm iodine in the arm, a flush all over, and the sudden need to pee, and then it was done. Why the need to pee?
Anyway, I got an email an hour ago with a link to all the imagery. I can scroll up and down thru my body like I’m Adam (the living man) without all the painful 1mm destructive slicing… No actual results yet, or interpretation, but I do get to keep the imaging. Since it was of my groin, it’s NSFW 🙂 The detail level makes me wonder why they covered me with a towel. They got an eyeful in glorious black and white anyway… It’s pretty cool, and I wish I could anonymize it and post a link. The tech involved, from the imaging to the way I can just click a link and SEE it is amazing.
Again, hopefully the images will point to something fixable, and minor, and probably involving blasts of ultrasound, but I don’t know. That’s why we test I guess.
n
Um. How are y’all putting your network stuff in the attic? My attic before the new roof was hitting 140F before the exhaust fan kicked in.
Nick, seems you had a fun day. The towel? Make you comfortable.
And it was paper, because their IT consultant and form designer is almost criminally incompetent. Possibly criminal, as HIPPA violations are probably possible. … So I shut down their app, handed the thing back to them, bitched, and she printed me the forms, and handed me a pen. When I was done, she scanned it in, and it was clear that it was not uncommon to do so. Freaking form designer was incompetent too.
Nothing’s going to change until somebody–or, more likely, a bunch of somebodies–dies.
Yep. Fortunately, from a narrow perspective, the day nears when a lot of executives, bureaucrats, and faceless myrmidons will be strung up.
“World’s largest reverse osmosis desalination project”
https://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/news/2019/09/world-s-largest-reverse-osmosis-desalination-project
“Abu Dhabi, – Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), a leading company in the coordination of planning, purchasing and supply of water and electricity across the UAE, has signed a water purchase agreement, with ACWA Power, a leading Saudi-based developer, investor and operator of power generation and desalinated water plants. The deal will enable the development of over 900,000 cubic meters per day desalination facility in Taweelah – sufficient to meet the demand of water for over 350,000 households. Approximately 45 KM north of Abu Dhabi city, the project will use reverse osmosis technology to desalinate seawater and will be one of the largest, most cost and energy efficient plants in the world.”
That is a lot of clean water.
I’ll bet that they are not going to use solar power or windmill power.
The company I used to work for performed IT consulting. We had quite a few medical practices as customers. Our owner kept trying to come up with schemes to sell services to them to make them HIPPA compliant. What she failed to understand, is that they didn’t care. The general attitude was “we will do some token security and only really do something if someone actually gets sued.”
Tomorrow, Friday the 13th falls on a Friday this month.
Tomorrow is also a full moon.
You have been warned.
I would stay clear of the moors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_American_Werewolf_in_London
Uh, @SteveF? I was thinking more along the lines of innocent patients killed as a result of corrupted medical info, but dead IT management types et al works for me also. 😉
“Another Interstellar Visitor Is Headed Our Way”
https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/possible-interstellar-comet-headed-our-way/
and
https://www.space.com/possible-interstellar-comet-identified.html
All I want to know is, is it going to hit the Earth ?
RBT would know this.
You know, this kind of nonsense violates the tenth commandment, you shall not covet your neighbors house, wife, or anything else. And oh yeah, it violates the USA Constitution also. But, when was the last dumbocrat to honor the Constitution ?
The current interest rate environment is a de facto wealth tax, perfectly legal and enabled by the Federal Reserve Act. Trump is its biggest cheerleader.
As for what is constitutional, the size of the Supreme Court is a simple act of Congress. If the Progs get another supermajority and a Dem President, they’re not going to waste any time like 2009.
Even without a supermajority to pass a bill to pack the Court, I’ve heard a Prog school of thought that the Senate could file suit claiming that the last act setting the number was unconstitutional, seat Justices on the Court through the confirmation process and wait for the states to convene a convention to finally set a number once and for all via amendment, ruling on cases in the mean time.
That may also be you someday.
Links please. Asking for a friend who works in the TSA.
She still has “accidents” but is doing better.
That may also be you someday.
Who says that it is not now ?
You know, this kind of nonsense violates the tenth commandment, you shall not covet your neighbors house, wife, or anything else. And oh yeah, it violates the USA Constitution also. But, when was the last dumbocrat to honor the Constitution ?
The current interest rate environment is a de facto wealth tax, perfectly legal and enabled by the Federal Reserve Act. Trump is its biggest cheerleader.
I failed to mention that I got a 30 year mortgage on the new used house at 4.000%.
Hah, TSA doesn’t get the same pix as I refuse the naked scanner. Weiner went to jail for showing his weiner, but millions are forced to show theirs at airports daily. I’m sure that not ALL of the screeners want to look at d!ckpics all day… must be traumatizing to some of them. At least I didn’t have to remove any metal objects before the procedure…
n
They are both 20 – 24 lb Boston Terriers.
I have been using 4WD SUVs since 1973 for sightseeing and camping in the Mojave Desert and mountains in CA, UT, and AZ. JimB and dkreck know where I go. But, in 2006 when I needed a new Jeep, I figured it would be the last one that I would ever buy, so I went for the Hemi.
Don’t tell AlGore and AOC how much gas I use. And, oh yeah, I’ve driven by and seen all the solar energy frauds in the Mohave Desert from Lancaster,CA to Ivanpah Lake, CA.
Actually, I did the thermal analysis for the fraud at Daggett, CA.
One white guy getting culturally enriched by the diversity in MN…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7456963/Videos-shows-gang-beat-stomp-ride-man-bike.html
n
A Houston train wreck that ISN”T a democratic party dog and pony show….
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7458105/Terrifying-moment-womans-car-gets-hit-train-split-half-running-red-light.html
She survives, but the video is harrowing. Watch for the flash of light in the cabin that looks like a cell phone…
n
Cody Wilson cut a deal.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7458707/Founder-3D-printed-guns-company-gets-seven-years-probation-having-sex-underage-girl.html
I thought at the time that it looked like a honey trap, but I guess it was just him looking for love in all the wrong places. What sucks, and seems to me to be a gross injustice, is that SHE took positive action by signing up, and then meeting him, and she lied when she joined the site. What is someone really supposed to do, ask for proof of age? And iirc, she took the money and it was some time before she changed her mind and dropped a dime on him.
F’d up all around.
n
Bernie Goetz smiles.
Cowboy Slim, a 5.7L V8 Hemi seems like a good choice. Didn’t know Jeeps had those. Of course, I tend to know more about ’60s and earlier. I do have a ’94 Ram 1500, but it has the small block Magnum 360 that is the replacement for the LA series. Don’t know what that is in litres/quarts/gallons, but rumor has it it is somewhere around 5.9 😉 That year was also the first year for the rather interesting 488 cu in V10; yup EIGHT litres. Not many of those were made. Chrysler wanted something big, but the big block had long been discontinued, so they simply added a cylinder to each bank of the new Magnum, increased the displacement of each cylinder a little, and had a pretty good truck engine. It was all cast iron, and a different engine than the one in the Viper, which was all aluminum.
Neither the 360 nor the V10 has as much power as the newer third generation hemi in your Jeep, although the Viper engine eventually made about 640 hp in production trim. There are race and hot rodded examples that are considerably more powerful. Now you know.
I failed to mention that I got a 30 year mortgage on the new used house at 4.000%.
There is your wealth tax. Where did the money for the loan come from?
This must have been a fun traffic afternoon in Houston.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greenpeace-activists-protest-hanging-from-fred-hartman-bridge-in-houston-today-2019-09-12/