Cold and a bit less damp. That’s my hope anyway. [39F and 44%RH at 6am, according to my weather station- I need new batteries. It’s ‘see your breath’ out and there was a layer of frost on my wife’s windshield.]
It was pretty chilly yesterday. I got my winter shirts and sweatshirts out of the closet and into the dresser. I hated long sleeve T shirts for years, but I found I really like the ones in a modern fabric. I like how they fit and don’t hang on my arms. And they’re breathable. That lets me layer, which is good in a place where you might run the heat at night, and the AC during the day.
Hmm, so maybe Epstein didn’t hang himself….who’d a thunk it? Besides literally EVERYONE, that is.
The attempted coup continues.
Trump moved out of NY for Fl… not the first high net worth individual to flee NY, won’t be the last.
And Cali is still burning, and dark for some folks. Preps people. You need them.
Lots of auction pickups today. I have my non-prepping hobby quarterly “swapmeet” on Saturday, so I’ve got stuff to get together to sell, and some of the stuff I bought this week, I’m hoping to flip on Saturday. Lots of driving, so checking in will be limited once I leave the house.
Talk amongst yourselves….
n
“gunman” shoots up party at airbnb mansion….outside of Oakland.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7638527/Gunman-opens-fire-multiple-shooting-incident-college-Halloween-party-California-Airbnb.html
Check out the flyer, and tell me what the real cause of the violence probably is…
and the social media- “popp#ssy, not pistols”
“Students” my @ss.
n
42F at 6am. Rather nippy, fall is here. Maybe about 40 kids last night. Big change from the old neighborhood where we had mostly certain groups coming in by the pickup truckload.. Nice well behaved and polite bunch here . Way too much candy left over
My neighborhood is mostly oldies almost ready for assisted living, extremely few children. Not one at door last evening. Well, as different from 30 years ago, I did not buy in bulk of the cheapest, I bought the smallest package of that which I prefer the most, the small Heath bars, and about a month’s worth for me.
@lynn: Love to see your new truck. Sat. after Thanksgiving, we will be in Coyote Canyon sitting in our chairs with our feet in the water of Coyote Creek, N33° 22.4398′, W116° 25.6732′. Oh yeah, we’ll have cold ones in a cooler, PBR’s for me.
Yum, heath bars, drool….
We got our neighborhood kids, mostly babies and toddlers early, then surrounding neighborhoods and apartment complexes after dusk, then kids from farther out. The kids got generally older and darker, as the night wore on. We didn’t get a bunch of teens this year though.
Funny how the kids’ politeness and greed breaks down. Most of them were VERY polite, some took a gentle reminder from a parent to say thanks, but they did so genuinely and sincerely. Some of the older kids were less polite, and a certain group was much more likely to take a handful of candy than one piece. The 3-4 yo kids wanted to grab a handful, but their little hands could only hold one or two pieces anyway 🙂 Some of the older kids who were likely to grab a handful had parents/guardians who were ALSO likely to grab a handful. Mmmm, kids acting like their parents… who knew?
It was also interesting to see the kids take a piece or a toy and then second guess their choice. They were TORN, and you could read the body language so plainly! I usually offered another when I saw that. I want to reward good behaviour.
n
Update on the hearing aid adjustment. Hearing a lot of things I have not heard before, especially in the high frequency range. I did not know that my knee makes a high pitched popping sound when I get out of the recliner. In fact, I am hearing more joints pop than I knew popped. Disturbing, interesting, annoying and bizarre at the same time.
Batteries are going on their fifth day without any signs of becoming week. I have four batteries that came with the hearing aid, VA is supposed to be sending me a 6 month supply.
The devices are really intelligent. I installed the app on my phone and can change some settings from the phone. Each device communicates with the other device, right ear device I can increase the volume for both using one button. To decrease the volume I use a button on the left ear device.
When linked to my phone I can use the cell phone hands free as I can talk and listen with the hearing aids. I have tried but I still prefer just using the phone. That way I don’t look like an idiot talking to myself.
Devices also have a 10 second startup period when the battery door is closed. There is no on/off switch, just the battery opening or closing the battery door to turn the devices off or on. The delay is to avoid feedback and the units beep while in the startup period.
Road noise and crowd noise is not amplified and is apparently ignored by the devices. A far cry from older devices that amplified everything almost equally.
A lot of technology and intelligence is built into a very small device. Amazing technology.
This is not surprising, just depressing. Avoid public schools and vote down any tax.
https://dailycaller.com/2019/10/31/honors-classes-math-racist-activists/
This is not surprising, just depressing. Avoid public schools and vote down any tax.
The local school system tried to sneak out a bond issue election on a Saturday morning. Fortunately, enough people were hip to the scheme and went out to vote ‘no’.
Pay attention to everything the Supervisor of Elections mails to your house.
@RickH, today with the site I’m getting repeated 12002 errors in my RSS Reader (FeedDemon) and very slow loads when I try to access it directly. Must be cobwebs.
We had a grand total of nine goblins last night. Seven were teenagers, with good homemade costumes, and just two little kids, with mom and dad watching from a respectful distance. There were a lot of Trunk or Treats, Truck or Treats, merchant/strip mall/mall treats, and the Police and Fire Departments in all of the cities had functions/parties. So this generation looks like they are too lazy to go door to door anymore.
My Ring Neighborhood was busy last night with punks stealing candy (bowls left out for help yourself) and damaging decorations, most with a very clear view of faces. There was one property theft where the skel tried to steal the camera before stealing tools from a locked work truck. Great face shot. An update just awhile ago stated some other Ring Neighbors recognized the skel and the Police arrested him at home, with stolen property in his possession.
I did a couple of years of university math. Integrating matrices and all that fun stuff. I don’t remember ever oppressing anyone with math. Or at all.
@Ray: That sounds great! Question: what degree of hearing loss do you officially have?
I’ll be heading towards hearing aids in a couple of years, no doubt. While my doc says that overall I have only about 12% hearing loss, that’s deceptive. Lower frequencies are nearly normal, but it’s a lot worse in the higher ranges. Women’s voices are a challenge, especially if it’s noisy.
OTOH I remember an uncle of mine: when he got his hearing aids, he threw them away. The world was too damned noisy. He was used to not hearing dishes rattling, birds tweeting, crickets chirping, etc..
High frequencies is “profound” whatever that means in percentage I have no idea. I had trouble with female voices, TV shows many times, probably about what you are experiencing.
Yes, I am hearing a lot of things that I was not hearing. Doctor said it will take a couple of months for the brain to readjust. Apparently the brain attempts to substitute the missing sounds. When the sounds are restored the brain is overreacting and needs to relearn.
Long gone are the days where hearing aids are just amplifiers. Well, the cheap ones still are just dumb amplifiers. State of the art stuff has ambient noise rejection, amplification curve can be adjusted, streaming (although music sucks, will stick to my Bose), hands free calling, long battery life measured in days (typically 5 to 7 days), easier maintenance, really high tech stuff.
Only issue is the cost. My aids would have bee $7,000 retail. I suppose they could be found cheaper, Costco comes to mind, but I would wager still above $5K. NFW they should cost that much except they are prescription and the makers can charge what they want. Certainly a cell phone is more complicated, and cheaper.
Size is the differentiation factor. Mine are less 1 inch long, half of that battery, narrow less tan 1/4 inch, barely more than the width of the battery. Tube runs into the ear. At the end of that tube is the speaker, about the size of a grain of rice. Has to be complicated and difficult to make. To cram an amplifier, digital, CPU, Bluetooth, microphone, into that space is remarkable. I suspect part of the limit on how small they can make the units is battery limits.
That’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
From @Marcelo yesterday:
… buttons surrounding that knob that I have no idea … I have no idea how to figure that out yet. …
Oh, well, take your poison: RTFM.
Heh, the truck came with a real printed manual ! It is my understanding a lot of vehicles come with a CD or DVD nowadays.
And one of the buttons is for the bed light / tailgate light. Yes, she has a tailgate light.
And BTW, the tailgate automatically locks when the truck locks. That is awesome, my brother living inside 610 (the inner ring of Houston) has had two tailgates stolen in his 2015 F-150. He does not have room inside the garage to park his F-150.
And Cali is still burning, and dark for some folks. Preps people. You need them.
Rush Limbaugh made the point today that none of the Cali delegation to Congress and the Senate went home to comfort the burned out people. They are all dumbocrats just wanting to impeach the Trumper rather than comforting their people. Shows you what their priorities are.
The tailgate on my Dodge has a decent dent in it. I doubt anyone is going to steal it.
Note about site response and unavailability today:
Dreamhost (hosting place here) had an issue with some of their shared servers and databases. They have identified the issue, and are working on it.
It’s possible that that issue has been the cause of slow response and ‘500’ errors the past few days.
Freefall: explaining radiation
http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff3400/fc03351.htm
I like the modulating voice idea for explaining wavelengths. Be sure to see the following scene to read about the super villains.
Stick a fork in Robert Francis …
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/01/beto-orourke-is-dropping-out-of-the-2020-presidential-race.html
I still think he’s a player in running mate calculus for the current group of front runners if they want to have a prayer of winning TX next year.
As the media is giddily reporting today, Trump established himself as the ultimate “Florida Man”, establishing residency in the state. Let them enjoy the laugh; the reality of the 2020 electorial calculus will sink in soon enough. After that, 2022 planning post redistricting. 2024. 2026. 2028 …
“How many state-wide offices do we hold in FL? … Which one? … Doh!”
The Swan Eaters: Medusa Stone
https://www.gocomics.com/swan-eaters/2019/11/01
That is just wrong.
The afternoon drive host in San Antonio had a caller discussing a Gov. Newsom recall.
Is it for real?
Yes, I know, it worked once with The Governator, but if you watch “The Smartest Guys In The Room”, you can fill in the blanks presented without comment at the end of that flick. Real money and power was involved in removing Grey-out Davis.
@lynn: Love to see your new truck. Sat. after Thanksgiving, we will be in Coyote Canyon sitting in our chairs with our feet in the water of Coyote Creek, N33° 22.4398′, W116° 25.6732′. Oh yeah, we’ll have cold ones in a cooler, PBR’s for me.
That sounds like a blast. However, is a 21 hour drive each way for me, too dadgum far for now.
Here is a front side picture of the new truck:
https://www.winsim.com/F150-side.jpg
Here is a front side picture of the new truck:
https://www.winsim.com/F150-side.jpg
Purty. Most of the automakers are turning out really nice hardware as of late.
I may look at a base Mustang if the Camry continues to be a struggle for commuting.
Earlier this week, Toyota told me that I would be on my own if the currently-iffy front camera totally fails out of warranty. The added irritation is that the rep on the phone seemed annoyed that I knew the cost ($1200) of the part retail.
“Elizabeth Warren Finally Says How She’ll Pay for Medicare for All”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elizabeth-warren-finally-says-shell-125139104.html
“Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Elizabeth Warren rolled out a wide-ranging menu Friday to fund her multitrillion-dollar Medicare for All plan, a defining moment that fleshes out her vision to remake one-fifth of the U.S. economy.”
“The plan would redirect most employer-based health care spending to the government so it can put all Americans into Medicare, while slapping a wave of taxes on large corporations and the wealthy, cracking down on tax evasion, reducing defense spending and putting newly legalized immigrants on the tax rolls.”
“Her advisers also lowered the estimate of Medicare for All’s price-tag to $20.5 trillion over 10 years from the $34 trillion the Urban Institute predicted, by using the new Medicare-for-All negotiating power to slash administrative spending, drug prices and provider payments.”
Sounds like a witches brew to me with a boat paddle as a stirrer.
I may look at a base Mustang if the Camry continues to be a struggle for commuting.
What is wrong with your new Camry ?
My son is thinking about buying one. Somebody ran into the front of his 2004 Chevy truck and ran. He only has liability insurance. He duct taped the front grill and headlights back together for now. I’ve been telling him that he needs a new truck.
What is wrong with your new Camry ?
Acceleration is a chronic problem on the 2018s. I suspect this is a software issue which Toyota will eventually fix, but not before they see how the political winds blow next year and what happens with CA’s lawsuit against Trump.
My 2018 has also developed an intermittent front camera fault in which the camera cuts off for a few minutes randomly. This causes the icons to light up for failures in the safety systems and a message to appear informing me of the situation. Toyota and the dealers won’t touch replacement absent a total failure because the part is $1200 *without* labor.
I could kinda-sorta live with the acceleration problem and just wait out getting the car paid off before replacing it, but a camera failure out of warranty before payoff would mean that I’m stuck with an unsellable vehicle unless I coughed up $1500-2000 for the repair with labor. Plus, I’m wondering if I can get a vehicle through even the quickie inspection place with warning icons and messages about the failure.
The trucks are probably a much different story than the Camry. I’m sure Toyota is reluctant to do anything with the software accelerator becasue, as is, the average MPG I see is dead in the center of the current CAFE standard of 36 MPG, and the best-selling car in the country needs to stay that way.
Also, I have an SE. From what I understand, the XSE with “sport” mode offers much better acceleration.
Also, I have an SE. From what I understand, the XSE with “sport” mode offers much better acceleration.
The wife’s 2019 Highlander that I bought her for Christmas is an LE with the V6. Zero to 60 mph in 7 seconds. No front camera that I know of. It does have front radar for cruise and crash avoidance which my truck does not have.
The wife’s 2019 Highlander that I bought her for Christmas is an LE with the V6. Zero to 60 mph in 7 seconds. No front camera that I know of. It does have front radar for cruise and crash avoidance which my truck does not have.
If the Highlander has Lane Assist, look for a black box at the base of the mount for the rear view camera. The Collision Avoidance system also depends on this camera if present.
Fortunately, Toyota did not go completely stupid and integrate the camera into the windshield like some manufacturers, making replacement of the glass a $2000 job beyond the scope of Safelite to handle (probably deliberately).
Accleration of the 2018 Camry is good when it gets going, even my 4 cyl. 2.5 L, but the car hesitates at the worst times, typically when flooring it right after deceleration. I notice it the most driving the 183 mess over near Austin-Bergstrom.
(You’ll see it the next time you drive out 71 for the annual convention downtown.)
Toyota has more leeway letting the Highlander’s mileage take a hit for better response to the pedal. CAFE is all about sales volume. The Camry sits dead center in the current standard, and the Prius can *almost* meet the proposed CA insanity which Trump voided at the Federal level … for now.
I have a love-hate thing for the Camry because out on the open road, it is a nice ride with 40 MPG not uncommon, 500 miles to a tank of gas, and nice handling. AC blows *cold*, and I’ve learned to live without the CD player.
Nice hardware for the most part. Lousy software. Wonder how many Freshers Toyota has working on the software up in Dallas. GM is loaded up with Freshers here at their development center in Austin.
My son is thinking about buying one. Somebody ran into the front of his 2004 Chevy truck and ran. He only has liability insurance. He duct taped the front grill and headlights back together for now. I’ve been telling him that he needs a new truck.
Sorry about your son’s truck. How much paint is involved?
Paint is the killer anymore. Even with an older paint system, the environmental hazard fees add up. New paint — fuggedaboudit. I got a quote for $3500 to fix a dent someone put into my wife’s Exploder which creased the paint. Fortunately, Dentworks in Austin made the removal look decent with an airbrushing for $200.
If he likes the truck and it runs well, I’d at least get a quote from a paintless shop and think about it.
I’ve never had cars collect mystery dents in parking lots like we’ve experienced since moving to Texas. Third world standards.
If he likes the truck and it runs well, I’d at least get a quote from a paintless shop and think about it.
Nah, the electrical system is dying and he does not want to find the electrical grounds. He ran the entire summer without a blower for his a/c. But he only has 150K miles on it. Chevy = junk.
Nah, the electrical system is dying and he does not want to find the electrical grounds. He ran the entire summer without a blower for his a/c. But he only has 150K miles on it. Chevy = junk.
I’d skip the Camry in favor of a Tacoma even though it will be more money.
If the worst happens, he can always find a job even if it isn’t a great job … like mine! He shouldn’t base his prospects on the Google experience.
Toyota does not screw around with the output of the truck plant in San Antonio. Learning that market has cost them a lot of time and money, and the plant has only been running all shifts for the last couple of years.
Elon is going to get spanked in trucks. Unlike GM, however, he can’t unload to rental fleets.
Really? Obviously, I don’t keep up. And, yes, I do understand throttle by wire. You made me just a little happier with my “older” fleet, which gives the driver full throttle authority under all conditions.
A few months ago, a friend had me drive his Tesla Model 3 for about 40 miles of two lane highways. At his insistance, we did a few wide open accelerations from a stop, and I pointed out that it didn’t produce max acceleration until approx 20 mph. He said it was set to the most aggressive setting, so I guess burnouts are not possible. 🙂
I was impressed with the overall driving experience, especially dynamics in all vector directions. It is a very stable, yet responsive car, whose limits are high. It is a good compromise between comfort and handling. And Lynn, it is (of course) not the dual motor model, but you knew that.
I like some of the characteristics of electric cars, but think hybrids have the potential to be practical. I’m a hot rodder at heart, and the thought of a couple hundred electric hp on top of the gasoline engine’s output is attractive. Also, none of the fuss of nitrous. Now, THAT’S impractical!
And Lynn, it is (of course) not the dual motor model, but you knew that.
And now there is a three motor version of the Model S. For those people who, you know, just can. They’ve been playing with it at Nurburgring.
https://www.motor1.com/news/377432/mean-tesla-model-s-nurburgring/
I will wait for any all-electric car to complete the Le Mans 24 hour race.
Seriously though, Teslas have already done some impressive showings in drag racing. And, look at Chip Yates’s electric airplane:
“https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Yates”
I think the Pikes Peak Hill Climb is owned by electric. Of course it is not a endurance race and only lasts about 8 minutes, A/C not required nor lights. All energy to the motors. The high altitude which adversely affects aspirated engines is not a problem for electric.
I have driven that road, three times, before it was paved. An intimidating experience at a normal pace. Hard to imagine making the run in less than 8 minutes.
With a BS and MS in Maths, I nominate myself as Grand Wizard of Mathematical Racery.
I nominate you as Grand Poobah of Faux-British Pretentiousness.
I had enough math electives to get a minor in math when I got my BS in EE, but the college charged extra to add the minor to your degree and I could barely scratch up the money to pay the diploma fee. (Yes, RPI was one of the leaders in screwing the students at every turn. But that’s OK. Since I graduated, RPI has dropped to being barely in the top 50 engineering schools in the US. Value!)