Tues. Nov. 5, 2019 – another day another dollar

By on November 5th, 2019 in Random Stuff

Not so cool, and quite humid. [66F and 98%RH]

Spent yesterday cleaning up part of the garage, digging out some lab gear and electronics I’d meant to sell on ebay. Took the lot to the auction. Treated the concrete slab with mold killer. Today I’ll look at putting bulk buckets where that stuff was stored. Also on the list, getting the metal shelves cleaned, re-arranged, and move my storage food back to the shelves. That will get 2 pallets out of the driveway. I know I’ll have some losses in the pile.

I’ve also got a pickup to do. Black 6 mil poly and stuff to sell online. The rolls of poly have a myriad of day to day, and post-apoc uses. The other stuff seems to be selling well on ebay for a 10x markup from where I bought it. I need something to start selling…. nothing sells between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I also picked up another self inflating life vest for the truck kit. I’ve got one in there already, for high water emergencies. It will be nice to have another for any potential victim.

In international news, they are starting to burn cops in Chile…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7649219/Thousands-march-Chile-govt-says-protests-hit-growth.html

A pretty high percentage of the riot cops seem to be women. Wonder how they’re liking that?

Now, off to do stuff….

n

40 Comments and discussion on "Tues. Nov. 5, 2019 – another day another dollar"

  1. Alan Larson says:

    The Best of Jerry Pournelle has just been released by Bain Books. It is all his best Short Stories. I got mine (Kindle format) on Amazon.

    An editor, John F. Carr, writes a preface to each story. In the introduction, Carr says, “….There was a significant portion of his fandom that disliked him – in part because of his politics and in part because of envy.”

    When writing a review of a liberal author, why do you never see, “Because of his politics?”

  2. Greg Norton says:

    A pretty high percentage of the riot cops seem to be women. Wonder how they’re liking that?

    Please. If they get paid enough and have a pension, they’ll like it just fine. My FL neighbor who conducted the snake tortures at Gitmo was female. Big job with a name consulting firm as cover.

    Male or female, the managers my age at work are generally divorced, and I generally avoid female management because they’re the ones who are the most like the stereotype boss in Dilbert when push comes to shove over things like travel and overtime.

  3. Nick Flandrey says:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7650129/Relatives-say-5-US-citizens-killed-northern-Mexico.html

    “Three US Mormon mothers and six of their children are EXECUTED by drug cartel gunmen in Mexico on way to a wedding anniversary and their bodies left in burned out SUVs as family fear they were also raped in targeted attack

    At least nine U.S. citizens, including six children, who live in the Mexican border state of Sonora were killed in a shooting attack Monday
    Rhonita Maria LeBaron, reportedly died along with her twin 6-month-old babies and her two other children aged 10 and 12
    Also killed were Christina Langford Johnson, Dawna Langford and two of Dawna’s children
    Seventeen family members from the LeBarons and Langford families – who are related – were traveling in a caravan of three cars to a wedding
    According to relatives, drug cartel gunman opened fire and torched vehicles as victims burned to death
    One child tried to run away but was gunned down while others escaped and hid on the nearby roadside
    A boy hid his wounded siblings in the bushes and ran to the nearby town to get help after his mother was shot”

    —there is no way this wasn’t a targeted attack. It was coordinated in multiple locations, and times. WHY still isn’t clear. Regardless of the cartel’s reasons, this is what we are importing in bulk with the illegal alien population.

    n

  4. Greg Norton says:

    —there is no way this wasn’t a targeted attack. It was coordinated in multiple locations, and times. WHY still isn’t clear. Regardless of the cartel’s reasons, this is what we are importing in bulk with the illegal alien population.

    Americans love their fix. That’s the issue behind that story. And I’m not going to assume that no one in the family was involved with the drug trade.

    Legalization beyond pot might fix the cartel problem, but it would do terrible things to society.

  5. DadCooks says:

    Did you forget? Today is election day.

    Not that it matters and this is just the prelude to the next year of false promises and fake news.

    Here in WA State, we have a bunch of “Advisory Votes” to “advise” our Legislature to “repeal” or “maintain” tax increases passed during the recent Legislative Session. Mind you, all of these tax increases should have been presented to voters BEFORE passage by the Legislature. None of these tax increases make any sense and are punitive against entities that the “radical state” considers too rich. Us common folks are next.

    We also have an “Initiative Measure” that brings back highly discriminatory “Affirmative Action” in a vial way. Woe is us white folks, white folks who identify as “men” particularly.

    There is also an “Initiative” to reduce our license tabs to just $30.00. We approved this once before but the Legislature then got around it by assessing a bunch of fees so our $30.00 tabs are actually $75.00+. The same will happen with this poorly written initiative.

    Finally, there is a Constitutional Amendment that will allow something to be called a “catastrophic incident” and allow the common man to loose whatever freedoms the “state” deems necessary.

    So my vote is in and I’m probably going to be labeled a “rebel”. You thought your vote was secret? Ha, look at all the bar codes on the ballot. It can, and will, be traced back to you.

    Grammarly says my post is “disapproving” and it is right.

    Have a nice day.

  6. Greg Norton says:

    There is also an “Initiative” to reduce our license tabs to just $30.00. We approved this once before but the Legislature then got around it by assessing a bunch of fees so our $30.00 tabs are actually $75.00+. The same will happen with this poorly written initiative.

    Living up there for four years, it mystified me that the most hated political activist in the state was the guy who got the car tabs reduced in the first place.

    We got heads up yesterday about a bunch of new toll road work in WA State. When we left in 2014, I think there was one.

  7. mediumwave says:

    For those of you who might feel the need to metaphorically flagellate yourselves for your sins: On tonight’s Late Late Show James Corden is hosting Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and Sheryl “one square of toilet paper” Crow.

  8. hcombs says:

    RE: Jerry Pournelle
    I grew up loving his short stories and novels. Then one evening at Comdex in the early 90s, in Vegas, I met him at a Vendors suite. I was doing cutting edge networking development on Switched Ethernet and mentioned this. Jerry then launched into a RANT on how Ethernet was crap and Token Passing protocols were the ONLY way for the future. I would have loved to debate the advantages / disadvantages of network protocols with my literary hero but he wasn’t interested in debate. I still love his stories but found him an opinionated blow-hard in person. On the other hand, a few years later at a PC show in San Francisco, my good friend was trying a very early VR headset when one of the tiny CRTs exploded throwing glass into her eye. Jerry was right there and took control, getting her stabilized while calling for emergency care. She credits his fast action with saving her sight.

  9. Greg Norton says:

    I was doing cutting edge networking development on Switched Ethernet and mentioned this. Jerry then launched into a RANT on how Ethernet was crap and Token Passing protocols were the ONLY way for the future

    I was the last user on the token ring network in our building, a legacy IBM facility, at Death Star Telephone. It was great while it lasted.

    They finally pulled the plug about a dozen years ago.

    I had the chance recently and made a point of getting Cory Doctorow’s autograph on two of his books I previously read for free, downloaded from the Internet. One-on-one, he was extremely nice, gracious, and said some encouraging things to my daughter. However, when he took the stage for his talk at the show later, he toed the Prog line and cited his (honorary) CS PhD as qualifications for several points he made.

  10. Rick Hellewell says:

    @lynn … regarding your server: I vote for a loose power cord where it connects to the back of the unit. Or possibly a loose connection/wire connector between power supply and motherboard. Either causing an interruption in power – just enough for the motherboard to sense a power loss and reset when the connection jiggles back.

    Jerry used to say 90% of computer problems are cables.

  11. nick flandrey says:

    Jerry wasn’t afraid to share his opinions, but they were usually well informed. He is known to millions primarily as a PC columnist…

    I used to turn to his column first or second when I got a new magazine, and was very happy to find him on the web.

    I always liked his books, Larry Niven too, but he was certainly a man of his time. The cold war colored everything he wrote.

    n

    (and talk about a future with ‘russian collusion’, can I get an ‘amen’ for the Co-Dominion?)

  12. Greg Norton says:

    (and talk about a future with ‘russian collusion’, and I get an ‘amen’ for the Co-Dominion?)

    Telecom is definitely headed for a Co-Dominion in the US.

    CenturyLink has a corporate culture I can only describe as “The Old Plantation”, but, sooner or later, one of the two giants will make a bid.

    We’ll have the two big companies and the Frontier dumping ground for the territories and services no one wants anymore.

  13. CowboySlim says:

    Jerry used to say 90% of computer problems are cables.

    As we used to say on this forum’s PC sister: “It’s the cable, always the cable”.

  14. Mark W says:

    However, when he took the stage for his talk at the show later, he toed the Prog line

    Doctorow was on a recent Triangulation episode, in which he spent some time mocking preppers. His theory is that preppers (who are all super rich) will hide in their bunkers, then come out and take over the world.

  15. lynn says:

    Over The Hedge: George can use his arms for something !
    https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2019/11/05

    And his hat came uptime with him.

  16. Ray Thompson says:

    I was the last user on the token ring network in our building

    Token ring was in use at the Credit Union where I was the IT manager. It worked very well. Running Banyan Vines. Biggest issue was cost. A token ring card then was $350.00, an Ethernet card was $30.00. Same stupid pricing and marketing crap with IBM, priced themselves out of the market into oblivion as was practiced earlier with OS/2.

  17. lynn says:

    Good suggestions yesterday from @ItGuy1998 and @SteveF and others:

    @Lynn, heat or memory are definitely possibilities. Also, check event log for any clues.

    I’d suggest a replacement (hey, it’s not my money!) But seriously, get a synology nas (www.synology.com). Buy some good drives to put in it, and Bob’s your uncle. I use an inexpensive one at home, and we use them at work. Rock solid.

    To mostly echo what others have said: power supply or overheating. If you’ve had the case open to pop memory in and out, I’d think you’d have noticed dust bunnies over the air vents or other obvious problems. You might try leaving the case open and setting a desk fan to blowing on the CPU(s) while running a heavy load job. Or go straight to the probable cause and just replace the power supply.

    I’m trying not to spend any money at the office (back pocket time with new used house and new truck). So I am going the fixing route for now. Replacing the power supply sounds good. And I did not notice any dust bunnies when I flipped the memory around earlier.

  18. lynn says:

    And the file server has an Antec 500W power supply in it now. I have an Antec 650W sitting on the shelf next to it so will do that later.

  19. Greg Norton says:

    Doctorow was on a recent Triangulation episode, in which he spent some time mocking preppers. His theory is that preppers (who are all super rich) will hide in their bunkers, then come out and take over the world.

    He believes that the preppers who dream of taking over the world from their bunkers are kidding themselves that “grid down” in advanced societies wouldn’t possibly be an extinction level event for humanity, and everyone should be working towards a solution for the problems rather than a potentially catastrophic reset.

  20. lynn says:

    “Scientists call for ‘population control’ as they declare worldwide climate EMERGENCY and claim failure to act will lead to ‘untold human suffering'”
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7651915/Worldwide-consortium-11-000-scientists-declare-climate-EMERGENCY-predict-untold-suffering.html

    You know, they may be correct about the excessive world population this time. So, how are they going to stop India from having 50 million babies a year ? And yes, that is an exaggeration but it is only 2X or 5X off.

    Of course, we may stop exporting food from the USA in twelve months if the crop failures are as bad as the warnings that I am seeing. That will screw up the world’s food supply.

  21. nick flandrey says:

    “will hide in their bunkers, then come out and take over the world. ”

    –hmm, there’s a fair amount of fiction that deals with this, and some common sense. Basically, NO! Hell NO! The people who make it thru are REALLY unlikely to accept rule by the ones who hid, and anyone tough enough to make it thru isn’t likely to have much ‘milk of human kindness’ left. Only the ruthless are likely to survive.

    n

  22. lynn says:

    In international news, they are starting to burn cops in Chile…
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7649219/Thousands-march-Chile-govt-says-protests-hit-growth.html

    A pretty high percentage of the riot cops seem to be women. Wonder how they’re liking that?

    You know, at some point the riot cops will switch to real guns.

  23. Greg Norton says:

    Of course, we may stop exporting food from the USA in twelve months if the crop failures are as bad as the warnings that I am seeing.

    They’ll all simply move here when the Progs decriminalize entering the country illegally.

    At a minimum, anyone currently unemployed or underemployed on the subcontinent who can bluff their way through a DBA or C# developer interview will be here trying their luck, staked by their families.

  24. dkreck says:

    No matter what occurs, here or elsewhere, overpopulation is selfcorrecting.

  25. SteveF says:

    stop India from having 50 million babies a year ? And yes, that is an exaggeration but it is only 2X or 5X off.

    You’re exaggerating by a factor of 2.

    The real problem is that India’s population is increasing at more than 1% per year, more than 17 million per year.

  26. dkreck says:

    Best Buy to turn off their home automation.

    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/11/05/best_buy_iot/

    How’s that IOT workin’ out for ya? Dangers of third party control of anything.

  27. lynn says:

    –hmm, there’s a fair amount of fiction that deals with this, and some common sense. Basically, NO! Hell NO! The people who make it thru are REALLY unlikely to accept rule by the ones who hid, and anyone tough enough to make it thru isn’t likely to have much ‘milk of human kindness’ left. Only the ruthless are likely to survive.

    A lot of people look down at Farnham’s Freehold by Heinlein due to the cannibalism discussed within. But I always liked the ending where Farnham built a kill zone leading into his trading post.
    https://www.amazon.com/Farnhams-Freehold-Robert-Heinlein/dp/143913443X/

  28. lynn says:

    The real problem is that India’s population is increasing at more than 1% per year, more than 17 million per year.

    So is ours, the USA. But most of ours is legal and illegal immigration. And ours may be closer to 2% per year.

  29. lynn says:

    @lynn … regarding your server: I vote for a loose power cord where it connects to the back of the unit. Or possibly a loose connection/wire connector between power supply and motherboard. Either causing an interruption in power – just enough for the motherboard to sense a power loss and reset when the connection jiggles back.

    Jerry used to say 90% of computer problems are cables.

    And he was right. But this is that 10% of the time as it is load related. I have written over 50,000 files to it today so far without any troubles (that I know of).

  30. Greg Norton says:

    It is interesting as to who lines up in opposition to reducing car tab fees in WA. I often said that the entire state is full of church ladies without churches to occupy their attention.

    We pay $70 in Texas. The fees were $30-something in Vantucky IIRC.

    I never saw a snow plow in our neighborhood when we lived in WA. In theory, the county had them, but I couldn’t begin to describe color/size/etc. The highway medians were also never mowed, even once a year, and looked like the special sections of road in GA which were maintained “wild” for shooting “The Walking Dead” and “Zombieland”.

    The medians and shoulders of the county roads around our area of Austin do get mowed once a year.

    I believe the WA tab fees benefit the Puget Sound region more than other areas of the state. As for the light rail surcharge, riding the bus home from my job in Seattle one evening, I overheard a consultant for WSDOT describe how the light rail project push to the Eastside was going to be a “gravy train for life”.

    No disrespect for those of you who still live there, but I still wonder what we were thinking.

    https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/nov/05/30-car-tabs-washington-voters-to-decide/

  31. brad says:

    Crazy-busy lately, between work, kids and the new house. Got the younger son moved out over the weekend, along with my stuff for where I’m staying temporarily. I won’t be moving that furniture ever again – I’ll pay someone. One cabinet (inherited from my mother) was at the absolute limits of what we three could move together. To the fourth floor – too big for the elevator, so up the stairs. Oof…

    @Ray/@Nick: Can confirm. Varta is a decent brand. One of the big consumer brands in Germany (and probably in Europe).

    Amazon, Amazon. Dunno how it is in the US, but we use the German site. I find the marketplace annoying. How does it help me to know that I can get the same product from 20-30 different places. Prices vary, but don’t include shipping – often the cheapest price has the most expensive shipping. Then, some of them are scams – especially in electronics, so you have to check the reviews carefully. It’s a PITA to sort out.

  32. lynn says:

    And he was right. But this is that 10% of the time as it is load related. I have written over 50,000 files to it today so far without any troubles (that I know of).

    And it has rebooted twice (at least) in the last hour. Grrrr! Definitely load related.

  33. MrAtoz says:

    Of course, we may stop exporting food from the USA in twelve months if the crop failures are as bad as the warnings that I am seeing.

    They’ll all simply move here when the Progs decriminalize entering the country illegally.

    At a minimum, anyone currently unemployed or underemployed on the subcontinent who can bluff their way through a DBA or C# developer interview will be here trying their luck, staked by their families.

    Start building the PRCs* NOW!!

    *PRC – Public Residence Cluster (Frontlines)

  34. paul says:

    Prices vary, but don’t include shipping – often the cheapest price has the most expensive shipping.

    Even if they call it “free shipping”, you’re still paying for shipping.

  35. lynn says:

    “Trump makes it official: U.S. will withdraw from the Paris climate accord”
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/11/04/trump-makes-it-official-us-will-withdraw-paris-climate-accord/

    “The Trump administration notified the international community Monday that it plans to officially withdraw from the Paris climate accord next fall, a move that will leave the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases as the only nation to abandon the global effort to combat climate change.”

    I love it when a politician keeps his promises.

    BTW, the USA never joined the Paris Climate Accord. The USA Constitution is very clear on what a treaty is and is not. Obola never submitted the Paris Climate Accord to the USA Senate for Advice and Consent so, we never really joined it.

  36. lynn says:

    “‘Do your job and print his name’: Rand Paul demands media identify the whistleblower”
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/05/rand-paul-whistleblower-rally-kentucky-trump/

    “Addressing a packed arena in Lexington, Ky., Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) claimed on Monday night that he knows the identity of the whistleblower whose complaint is at the center of the impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Then, Paul delivered a pointed message to the media.”

    ““Do your job and print his name!” the senator yelled, prompting the crowd to raucously chant, “Do your job!” ”

    Rand Paul is guaranteeing that the Fake News Media will not do their job.

    BTW, Rush Limbaugh believes that there are several more of these fake whistle blowers throughout the administration.

  37. paul says:

    And for the “economical” folks here, a neighbor dropped in the other day.

    We keep most of the patio chairs stacked. Out of the way, easier to walk around, they stay a little cleaner. Pulled a chair off the stack and it looked like a weld joining the seat to the leg broke. Ok, set it aside and get another chair.

    Steel frame, mesh seating. Chinese, of course. Maybe $18 after employee discount. 10% isn’t huge but it covers sales tax.

    I looked at the broken chair yesterday. Ok, I can fix this by drilling a hole and running a bolt through. Wait. Screw threads? I looked around and found the missing bolt.

    Then I went through all of the chairs and each had a few loose bolts. Can’t complain, I bought the chairs at HEB 14 or 15 years ago. They are showing their age but meh, I’ll get another 10 years or more out of them.

  38. lynn says:

    No matter what occurs, here or elsewhere, overpopulation is selfcorrecting.

    Yes, painfully in the extreme case. Or is that brutally ?

  39. Nick Flandrey says:

    Tuning around the bands tonight. Lots of noise but some signals getting thru on 80M, Ohio, Alabama, Louisiana, others.

    Shortwave is good on 40 but no hams.

    Lots of digital on 20M.

    n

  40. ayj says:

    Always I rread here and find a lot of common sense, (not me course), a lot of laugh at Dilbertian corporate crap.
    But, I fail to understand 1 week rebooting server on a software company, if this happens at some 3 letters and hairy pointed, ok, but, saving on coffe, chips and copies when 1 hour of development is a lot more expensive than a power supply? a 2 hours? 3? 4?

    Yes, I understand, anyone know his businees and fix your country bla, but really I dont understand, surely its me

    PS Course female police officers, dont you know a thing named press?

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