Warmer, perhaps no rain after all.
Ended up with a beautiful and hot day yesterday. Sun came out and everything. It was quite breezy and comfortable in the shade. 101F in the sun. 90F in the shade.
I assembled the can sorters, and moved a bunch of cans around. I am sorting and organizing and finding more food every time I move a box. That’s a good thing, btw.
Second order effects are starting to be seen from covid 19. Food processors are closing. They kept working and their staff kept coming in, and they are developing clusters of infection. It is a model for what would be happening in ALL the businesses if people were coming in to work and school. I know it sucks, but Tyson had ~24 in their cluster, the other place had double that, and that’s just the ones they know so far. That could be YOUR workplace, your co-workers, you.
Breadlines, crime, violence. More 2nd and 3rd order effects.
Things are gonna get tougher before they get better.
Keep thinking about what you need to do if this lasts for a few more months, with the social situation deteriorating the whole time. How long until we see infrastructure failures if the work crews start having the same problems the meat processors are having? Every cop that coughs today will be out for at least 2 and maybe 5 weeks. Then their shift partner will be out too. Think about what a cluster will do to the regional medical center in Bugflock, ID. I’d love to think we’re approaching ‘peak’ but no one has given any indication why they think this is it… other than models that haven’t been accurate yet.
What is the effect of missing the chance to slaughter your animals? Are there other processors? Have you got feed to keep them healthy for another week or month? What about starting next season’s ‘crop’ if you can’t sell this season’s? Will the animals be too big? too old? Can you get enough money to cover the additional expenses? What happens if the answers are “no”?
There are a million ways this whole thing can go sideways, very quickly. Small steps to position ourselves should pay larger dividends later. Figure out what you need to do.
As always, stay in, stay safe!
nick
added- forgot to say, dinner was 5 pound bone on ribeye roast from the freezer (2017- vac sealed and frozen), garlic mashed potatoes (fresh), canned green beans (2016 with added garlic, onion, and bacon crumbles), baked shelf stable bread loaf (costco 3 pack), and for dessert- personal pies (2016 canned dark cherry pie filling, readymade pie crust, baked in little ramekins . I love making the little ‘pies’.
The wife has been bingeing Deep Space Nine all day. The daughter saw this and noted that a friend of hers has decided to model all of her relationships as a Ferengi. All of her relationships are transactional.
I hope “Picard” spends a little time catching up with more of the Stage 8/9 era characters and actors. The Ferengi on Deep Space Nine had their own sub group in the cast and frequently rehearsed together at Armin Shimerman’s (Quark’s) house.
Tyler Durden cowardice, but there might be something “there” there. We don’t make much here anymore. Chloroquine was first synthesized by IG Farben in the 30s. The Nazis (!) considered it too dangerous to use as an antimalarial. If we can’t tell the Indians where to stick their pills and make some of our own, maybe we don’t deserve to continue as a country — we’ve been colonized.
The big problem is that so many of the H1Bs we see in this country are sh*t stupid, and the few who aren’t, typically women, cover for the rest, especially for Number One Sons.
As I’ve said before, forget drywall hangers. Open the borders, and you’ll have 10 million Number One Sons from China and India here in a year, staked by families, waiting for political pressure to give them all work permits. They’ll have rent money, and I’m sure our Congressional district is not the only one being worked by Indian candidates this year.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/india-makes-quid-pro-quo-demand-linked-export-trumps-miracle-coronavirus-drug
Big tip for the Subcontinent — a RINO in a Republican Congressional primary TX may have a liberal stand on weed or consider abortion a “hearts and minds, not legal” issue, but don’t run on what is essentially the Green New Deal until you win the nomination. That’s where you screwed up, forcing me to make a point of going to vote in the primary.
OK, Nick, step back from the catastrophe porn and think about how likely the disaster scenario is to play out. Are you willing to eat your pets to avoid the spread of a disease with something between 0.1% and 2% fatality rate? Do you think millions of business owners will tolerate the loss of 90% of their family wealth because they’re not allowed to operate? Do you think tens of millions of Americans — gun-owning Americans — will remain under house arrest for the indefinite future despite being healthy and having committed no crime? It’s not going to happen. Governor Halfwit of Michigan and all of her ilk will be dragged out and lynched before Fido is butchered.
Kentucky governor had the police go to a church and take down all the license plate numbers. These people will then get a visit from the health department and told to quarantine in their home for two weeks or face fines and jail time.
While the people attending church were not the brightest bulbs in the chandelier, it was their choice, not the governments. Additionally the police were trespassing on private property as they had no warrant. The data they collected should be thrown out as inadmissible.
What is troubling to me is that the governors and many majors are stating “by the power and authority granted me…”. I do not remember anywhere that any power was granted to any government official. Authority maybe, but most certainly not power. These people are not our masters, never have, and never should be such. But many have taken their position to a new level. Some of this needs to be challenged in court. The police and government have assumed too much power without judicial oversight.
Meanwhile, I got my stimulus money. Arrived by ACH today, will be in the account tonight. With everything closed I have no place to go to spend the money. Maybe I will go to Home Depot as they are open. Will stock up on light bulbs and extension cords in case the power goes out.
Yesterday started clear and warm.
By 2pm it was storming and the temps were dropping fast. About 6pm the high winds snapped a major limb from a tree in our backyard. The storms moved east spinning up tornadoes and killing many. We have a bit of cleaning up to do around here too.
Ray, some people agree with you that the Kentucky mayor overstepped. No word on charges or lawsuits against the stupid pigs for trespassing, violation of rights.
More people should be up in arms over what local governments are doing. Well, not the governments, but the local governors and mayors. They have taken the authority, not power, of their office and turned it into commands. There is no judicial or legislative oversight. Governors and mayors cannot legislate from their office. They cannot pass laws from their office. They are violation the separation of powers that keep a government under control.
Police in some jurisdictions are pulling people over to ask where the people are going or where they have been. That is absolutely none of the governments business. In fact pulling people over without probable cause is illegal. But the police think they have the authority to do so because some nitwit governor or mayor who has never studied law, is no expert on the law, is only a political flunky, said people cannot travel. Police are even fining people which is illegal. Police can only charge, only a court can assess any kind of fine.
KungFlu has given elected officials “big heads” and they are all overstepping their authority. This event will have done more to destroy democracy and freedoms than any event ever has in the past. People will accept this as the new normal. The next event will impose even more draconian measures and people will accept. The frying pan is slowly getting hotter and the frog is clueless.
I am glad I have about 15 years left on this planet. The next 20 years are going to see extensive loss of liberties and personal freedom. I feel sorry for my kid.
Ah, the good ole days at Star Trek The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. The kids loved eating “tube grubs” (mac ‘n cheese) at Quarks at the bottom of the exhibit/rides. I could spend all day in the museum listening to the nerds argue about warp levels, etc.
I thought I saw a report on Fox News that hospital occupancy rates across the country are really low.
Also, how many people on ventilators for COVID actually recover?
In my state we have less than 400 COVID patients hospitalized statewide. All hospitals here have canceled non-essential operations and occupancy is less than 50%. Resource usage is much lower
than normal, ventilators and most PPEs. People are dying but it could be much worse.
Will stock up on light bulbs and extension cords in case the power goes out.
But, but, what about FLASHLIGHTS?
Anyone know if Greyhound has suspended operations? That’s one place I wouldn’t want to be.
Snicker.
Just noticed that no one’s noticed something: Friday the Thirteenth falls on a Monday this month.
Ah, the good ole days at Star Trek The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. The kids loved eating “tube grubs” (mac ‘n cheese) at Quarks at the bottom of the exhibit/rides. I could spend all day in the museum listening to the nerds argue about warp levels, etc.
It is too bad that the exhibit isn’t around anymore. With all of the Stage 8/9 series airing nightly on H&I, the new series on CBS All Access, and the 20/25th anniversary events and documentaries, interest has probably never been higher.
We went to see the exhibits in 2000. A Klingon “woman” followed me around the museum, periodically sniffing me. I’m not sure if I was more intimidated by the alien makeup/acting or the fact that she was probably a he and much bigger than I am.
I think CBS waited about a decade too long to revive the Stage 8/9 era characters with “Picard”. I understand the need to flush Rick Berman, et al out of the backlot, that production team was a disaster near the end, but five years would have done it. “The Orville” demonstrates that Seth McFarlane could have done the job when he asked for the “Star Trek” franchise keys ~ 2010.
–yes, this. That’s what I mean. What does the world look like before 30 or 40K people show up to storm the Governor’s mansion? Cuz it’s gonna take a mob. Think about what that would look like. What does that mean for trucking? Think the state cops will just arm wave as you roll thru? How about freedom of movement AFTER the ‘domestic terror attacks’? Think the NG or Army won’t be deployed by the other 49 Governors to keep their own skins intact?
Think the power mad overreaching Governors WON’T act to punish the people who burn down the local Mayor and City Council? There will be IDs required and coupon books just to get in the doors of the store. We’ve seen how this stuff plays out in the past in other places.
I don’t know what gun ownership was like in the original great depression, but people took it. They stood in line. They packed their stuff in cars and moved to where they hoped there might be something better. They lived out of their cars, and in shacks and shantytowns. Woodpile Report has had lots of photos in the last year.
Some people didn’t take it and built a Hooverville in DC, iirc. Then they got bulldozed.
Venezuelans ate Fido. Not their own pets, but someone’s pets. And zoo animals. And rats and cats. Last year. And this year. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/venezuela-economy-continues-collapse-pressure-socialism-covid19-pandemic/
Is Joe the former tax accountant, or Jose the punch press operator going to risk their family’s only access to food (at the government supplied store) over anything?
You want doom porn, think about how bad it would have to be to incite general public violence against local/state/county .gov, and then think about how bad the over-reaction would be afterwards.
n
@ray, I encourage you to read the emergency proclamations, follow the links to the law, and then you will see.
Is it all likely unconstitutional? Yes. Much like the 50K+ gun control laws on the books that were VOTED, APPROVED, SIGNED and ENACTED by federal state and local .govs. You were never asked. You never had a chance to say yea or nay, but the laws are there. Same with the emergency powers that .gov legislated for themselves.
It’s all ‘legal’. They have sweeping powers once that “State of Emergency” is declared. That isn’t just them saying there is an emergency, it’s the legal “open sesame” for tyranny and oppression. They can do whatever they want, with very few limits. READ THE STATUTES. Written by lawyers. Reviewed by lawyers. One third of the congress is a lawyer and at state level it’s probably higher. (that’s down btw, it was a lot more in the past)
These guys have been working quietly behind the scenes to build what they’ve wanted, unchecked for longer than I’ve been alive. It’s just that most of the time, it’s not your ox that’s being gored.
n
@nick
Have you read “The Bonus Army”?
It’s been over a decade since I read it, and I don’t recall many details, but my impression at the time (with what I knew then, yada yada) was it was well written. And infuriating.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/895979.The_Bonus_Army
Alaska has slowed our doubling rate to 12 days. We have 25 cases fewer than my honky hack Excel chart predicted for Easter. The schools are ordered closed for the remainder of the academic year. Many of our local businesses are closed / closing / likely to close before the damage is done. I see calls now to “crush the curve” because “flatten the curve” isn’t enough.
Any pushback from the hoi polloi is subject to the same mathematical phenomena as curve flattening. It’s a hot pan but froggy don’t mind.
This is what Mark Levin calls a “soft tyranny.” The first response should be to sue the pants off of every goobermint. Make the SCOTUS work for a living, too.
I prefer my frog legs fried to boiled…
We are seeing slowdowns in doubling in a lot of places. I’m hopeful that the number collection and reporting is consistent and can be used to continue to make decisions. Not accurate, but consistency is enough.
Note that doubling is still happening. It won’t seem like as much of a crisis though, with it taking longer.
n
“This is what Mark Levin calls a “soft tyranny.” The first response should be to sue the pants off of every goobermint. Make the SCOTUS work for a living, too. ”
–yes, absolutely.
n
Tornadoes kill at least 22 across the South leaving 1.3million without power as Alabama and Mississippi open shelters despite lockdown orders because ‘storm risk is greater than COVID-19’
Tornadoes kill at least 22 across the South leaving 1.3million without power as Alabama and Mississippi open shelters despite lockdown orders because ‘storm risk is greater than COVID-19’
Early Sunday morning, awakened by a tornado warning on my phone, I watched the local TV station’s radar as a rotating cell headed straight towards us across the Balcones Canyonlands and then dissipated before getting close to town. That could have been ugly if it had reached the population center.
fun times getting going in Cali
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8214061/Six-people-injured-gunmen-sprayed-nearly-100-bullets-California-house-party.html
-hmm, I wonder what group would be out and about on Friday? Must have been right wing christian gangs, oh, no, if it was they’d have put that in the headlines. Puzzling.
n
Chilly this am, with gusting winds and sunshine. But my weather station is stuck on yesterday’s high of 101F. Maybe time to put up one of the backup stations.
n
added- the new display has an icon for low battery. I guess I’ll try that first.
It isn’t as much Moochelle’s organization as it is Valerie Jarrett’s.
What was really unfortunate about what Roseanne Barr’s meltdown is that she was right about Valerie Jarrett even if the language was inappropriate. A conversation about the real power behind the Obama throne is long overdue.
https://www.axios.com/michelle-obama-vote-2020-election-coronavirus-3be64987-6b86-41e5-acbe-8a9eeda8f7e9.html
Gold is hitting new highs today.
IIRC 1703 was pretty good resistance.
https://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif
Speaking of new highs, if you accept the high average of normal flu deaths in the US is 40K PER YEAR, consider that NYC has had 10K covid deaths in the last month and a half, and is consistently UNDER reporting by not counting any ‘at home’ deaths even if the symptoms are consistent with covid (while at the same time, diagnosing covid by symptoms alone in hospitals.)
1/4 of flu’s total in just one city, in essentially one month.
n
xkcd: RIP John Conway
https://xkcd.com/2293/
I first played the game of Life on a mainframe (Univac 1108) operator terminal using a roll of paper (old teletype machine) in 1972 ???.
Explained at :
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2293:_RIP_John_Conway
Gold is hitting new highs today.
IIRC 1703 was pretty good resistance.
Physical gold has been higher for a while. Three weeks ago, a lot of popular negotiable forms were Unobtainium, but the situation is better now if you are willing to pay a premium.
Just remember, Roosevelt outlawed private gold ownership once, shortly after taking office in 1933, and the prohibition remained in place for over 40 years until Ford unilaterally lifted the order in 1977. No other authority forced Ford’s hand, and nothing would prevent a reinstatement of the ban by Executive Order under the Trading With Foreign Powers Act.
“Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting*”
https://forge.medium.com/prepare-for-the-ultimate-gaslighting-6a8ce3f0a0e0
“You are not crazy, my friends”
“*Gaslighting, if you don’t know the word, is defined as manipulation into doubting your own sanity; as in, Carl made Mary think she was crazy, even though she clearly caught him cheating. He gaslit her.”
“Pretty soon, as the country begins to figure out how we “open back up” and move forward, very powerful forces will try to convince us all to get back to normal. (That never happened. What are you talking about?) Billions of dollars will be spent on advertising, messaging, and television and media content to make you feel comfortable again. It will come in the traditional forms — a billboard here, a hundred commercials there — and in new-media forms: a 2020–2021 generation of memes to remind you that what you want again is normalcy. In truth, you want the feeling of normalcy, and we all want it. We want desperately to feel good again, to get back to the routines of life, to not lie in bed at night wondering how we’re going to afford our rent and bills, to not wake to an endless scroll of human tragedy on our phones, to have a cup of perfectly brewed coffee and simply leave the house for work. The need for comfort will be real, and it will be strong. And every brand in America will come to your rescue, dear consumer, to help take away that darkness and get life back to the way it was before the crisis. I urge you to be well aware of what is coming.”
Yes, we are crazy to do this to ourselves.
Tyler Durden cowardice, but there might be something “there” there. We don’t make much here anymore. Chloroquine was first synthesized by IG Farben in the 30s. The Nazis (!) considered it too dangerous to use as an antimalarial. If we can’t tell the Indians where to stick their pills and make some of our own, maybe we don’t deserve to continue as a country — we’ve been colonized.
Dr. Oz says that every Lupus patient in the country is on Hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic. He further says that he has not been able to find a Lupus patient with SARS-2, COVID-19.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/dr-oz-hydroxychloroquine-shows-real-promise-against-coronavirus
Yes, we are crazy to do this to ourselves.
I don’t think the big problem will be lack of available jobs. We have a critical mass of people in the country who are now content to sit at home, play video games, and watch Baby Yoda.
I will be the first to tell you that I found working in a manufacturing facility to be beyond tediuos, and I worked hard to get out as soon as I could. I didn’t like being unemployed.
The same thing was true for me at CGI, but the lack of respect was a too way street in that situation. I always suspected that CGI hired me to give my manager an experience counseling and ultimately firing for subpar performance.
something that might tempt me out of isolation
https://hibid.com/catalog/207646/astronergy-305-watt-solar-panels-houston-tx/
These panels are $500 each new. Even with 5-6 years of use, they are still nominally 285w panels. 36v is possibly an issue, don’t know enough about solar.
Reserve prices are not something buyers like. The one lot that met the reserve suggests that they want $60/panel minimum. That seems reasonable to me….
n
I spent a couple of months doing ‘factory’ work, running a machine reprocessing scrap sheet steel into salable sheets and strips. I had a 40K pound daily goal, and every single pound needed to be moved by hand a sheet at a time into the machine…
I actually hit the goal a few days, when I had long runs and didn’t have to either get more material to cut or do a bunch of machine changeovers. There is something a bit like playing an instrument to getting good fast results from a machine with a lot of manual input. Still, don’t want to go back to it… and most of the guys there drank and smoked dope on the job because they were the kind of people who would be doing that all day anyway, and it was tedious if you didn’t have the right mindset.
n
Yesterday started clear and warm.
By 2pm it was storming and the temps were dropping fast. About 6pm the high winds snapped a major limb from a tree in our backyard. The storms moved east spinning up tornadoes and killing many. We have a bit of cleaning up to do around here too.
I had a 20 ft long branch break on the 60 ft tall Maple ??? tree in the front. It was hanging about 8 ft off the ground so I jumped up, grabbed it, and swung a few times back and forth. Great fun ! Then it broke off at the bottom of the swing and I landed on my backside with the branch on top of me. I laughed like a crazy man and then got up very slowly.
I showed my conquest to the wife when we went out for a walk, described the method of detachment, and yes, got the “you know you are an idiot, right ?”. I replied yes ! And yes, I am bruised. But I did not have to climb up 30 ft on my ladder and saw off the limb which was very dangerously hanging, win !
I will be the first to tell you that I found working in a manufacturing facility to be beyond tediuos, and I worked hard to get out as soon as I could. I didn’t like being unemployed.
But people with iq’s below 90 ??? (SWAG) do not find working in a manufacturing facility to be beyond tedious. They want a highly structured world.
“I will be the first to tell you that I found working in a manufacturing facility to be beyond tediuos, and I worked hard to get out as soon as I could. I didn’t like being unemployed.”
But people with iq’s below 90 ??? (SWAG) do not find working in a manufacturing facility to be beyond tedious. They want a highly structured world.
“In Circuit” Test Engineer in a circuit board manufacturing facility is not low IQ work, but it was tedious since the job is mostly about running down outliers in tolerances exposed by applying current across passive components using a special test fixture and software. Are the outliers caused by the test tolerances or the manufacturer sending cr*p?
Adding to the difficulty at the time was the VMS shell and line-oriented editor used on the minicomputer running the tests. Unix was still fairly new, Windows a non-preemptive OS, and Linus Torvalds was still coding in his closet in Helsinki.
Never, and I mean never, do that again. Unless someone is videoing, then do it. Put it on America’s Funniest Home Videos. Would be much better to watch than some annoying snotty rug rat that get’s chosen for the money.
Without links.
They finally acknowledged that CV is present on floors, and can be tracked around on shoes. I believe we had that figured out here some weeks ago. Disinfect your shoes, wear shoe covers, leave them outside if you go out to play in this.
Also there is at least one case where the woman claims to have kept herself isolated but got it anyway, and blames the grocery delivery. Which makes sense. If it can live on surfaces and be picked up and transferred to your face/eyes/mouth/nose, why WOULDN’T it be present on groceries or other deliveries?
————-
The US had almost 20K new cases overnight. And deaths are 23K. Flu deaths by year range, but the lowest one I found was 20K. So, already worse than a ‘good’ flu year, and only really a month and a half, into it. Half a million active cases still to resolve.
Just under 2 Million cases world wide atm.
n
Just under 2 Million cases world wide atm.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
That is probably under by a factor of ten. People with headaches, light fevers, and the sniffles do not go to the doctor (now closed !) or the ER ($500 copay !). The Germans randomly tested a thousand people in a small town in Germany and found that 15% already had the antibodies.
https://spectator.us/covid-antibody-test-german-town-shows-15-percent-infection-rate/
This thing has been with us much longer than six months. Probably six years. Or more.
And does not compare with the worldwide H1N1 (swine flu) infection in 2009 of 1 billion people and death rate of 280,000. Yet. And we treated that as snoozefest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_swine_flu_pandemic
Shhh. Don’t let our Overlords know that we know.
I jumped up, grabbed it, and swung a few times back and forth
Never, and I mean never, do that again.
Good to know that you agree with the wife. I did judge that getting my 24 ft ladder, fully extending it against the tree, and climbing up the ladder as much more dangerous. Of course, I could have called my tree surgeon and paid him $1,000 to cut the limb off. Or, I could have rented a boom lift today for $350 and cut the limb off myself. Sigh, so many choices !
Bernie kissed Plugs’ ring today. What did the guy who basically has everything get? A condo in Moscow? A Gulfstream? A Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card for his wife? Just like in 2016, his worker bees are screeching about it. What did they expect for a Commie. First chance he gets, he goes for the money.
@lynn, or get one of these
https://www.amazon.com/Kutir-Inch-High-Reach-Chain/dp/B07JQ2658J?tag=ttgnet-20
or a different make, I have a craftsman branded one.
It does tend to come down right on top of you, so you have to be attentive, and the dust ends up in your eyes, so wear glasses.
n
Diagnoses, not cases. We’re not measuring the people who have been infected with the virus or even the people sickened by the virus. We’re measuring the people who’ve been tested and the tests processed and the results reported.
Testing like the random sample of 1000 in Germany is the only way to get an idea of how widespread the virus is, and how widespread the sickness is. Absent that, all numbers are made-up numbers, leaving us helots nothing but guesses.
You’ve mentioned several times the alleged undercounting of deaths in NYC because of dying at home. You haven’t mentioned the overcounting, in which the Chinese bioweapon is to be listed as cause of death if it’s even suspected without having been tested for. That’s straight from CDC guidelines, as I linked here a few days ago. There are also multiple reports of the doc attending a death enters some cause of death and then a hospital administrator changing that to the Chinese bioweapon. (These claims, though coming from several people, some of whom give their (alleged) names, should of course be viewed skeptically until evidence beyond a tweet or a screenshot of a phone text is provided.)
Bottom line, we helots don’t know what’s happening. All we know is that we’re being lied to. And that politicians and others are scurrying so they don’t let the crisis go to waste.
Lynn, you live in Texas, don’t you? Why didn’t you just get out your boomstick and shoot the branch down. Aside from that, I agree with Ray: pics or it didn’t happen.
There are also multiple reports of the doc attending a death enters some cause of death and then a hospital administrator changing that to the Chinese bioweapon. (These claims, though coming from several people, some of whom give their (alleged) names, should of course be viewed skeptically until evidence beyond a tweet or a screenshot of a phone text is provided.)
BTW, Medicare is paying hospitals $13,000 for each SARS-2 patient who is Medicare eligible. If the patient goes on a ventilator then the payment balloons to $39,000. No encouragement there !
“Roman Authorities Investigating Jesus For Violating Stay-In-Tomb Order”
https://babylonbee.com/news/roman-authorities-investigating-jesus-for-violating-stay-in-tomb-order
“JERUSALEM—Roman authorities are investigating controversial religious leader Jesus of Nazareth for violating the Empire’s clear “stay in tomb” order. After crucifying him and laying him in the tomb, Roman guards put Him under strict orders to stay there and not come back, rising victorious over sin and death.”
Heh.
Lynn, you live in Texas, don’t you? Why didn’t you just get out your boomstick and shoot the branch down. Aside from that, I agree with Ray: pics or it didn’t happen.
Eight inch branch at the base. I am fairly sure that none of my boomsticks would work with that. And I have a real serious problem with shooting into the sky. And2, I did not think of it. Maybe I will post a pic of the branch later. Probably not.
Bernie kissed Plugs’ ring today. What did the guy who basically has everything get? A condo in Moscow? A Gulfstream? A Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card for his wife? Just like in 2016, his worker bees are screeching about it. What did they expect for a Commie. First chance he gets, he goes for the money.
The Get-out-of-jail-free card always has to be on the table. When FBI investigated the college failure, IIRC, Mrs. Bernie was classified an unindicted co-conspirator in the by the US Attorney in Burlington. They can always reopen the case without double jeopardy.
We finally just had our first showing of the old house for sale. Finally after 24 days !
https://www.har.com/homedetail/2007-starlite-field-dr-sugar-land-tx-77479/11317583
I am resigned to converting the house into another rental property if I need to. I’ve done it before. And this one is just five miles away instead of 300. But with the pain of doing my taxes with three tenants and a large commercial property, I am not interested.
And the wife just got her first check for April rent which was $100 short. Not good. And nothing for the other two rental properties yet.
That is probably under by a factor of ten. People with headaches, light fevers, and the sniffles do not go to the doctor (now closed !) or the ER ($500 copay !).
Baylor Scott and White outpatient clinics charge a $300 facilities fee which the CGI insurance doesn’t pick up. I don’t think my current job’s cheapest plan covers it either.
The idea is that the employees are responsible enough to build HSAs to cover the fees and deductbles, but that doesn’t happen with the snowflakes or hardcore lefties who are programmed to hate HSAs.
A lot of employers even match HSA contributions. CGI didn’t, but my current job does.
We finally just had our first showing of the old house for sale. Finally after 24 days !
Are realtors exempt from shelter-in-place?
Can you afford to see what happens Memorial Day Weekend?
Who is the big employer out there? Exxon?
We finally just had our first showing of the old house for sale. Finally after 24 days !
Are realtors exempt from shelter-in-place?
Can you afford to see what happens Memorial Day Weekend?
Who is the big employer out there? Exxon?
I don’t know if the realtors are exempt from shelter-in-place. But they are not exempt from the gatherings of ten or more so open houses are not allowed.
My listing contract runs through June 30, 2020. But it should be obvious before then what will happen. My cost is about $3,000/month with mortgage, taxes, insurance, and utilities. If I do not sell the house then I will need to come up with a plan to pay my property taxes in November.
The school district on the east side of the Brazos River is the biggest employer in Fort Bend County. The next biggest is Lamar Consolidated ISD. The next biggest employer is Schlumberger who is laying off 30% of their staff. The next is Katy ISD. Fort Bend County is 850,000 people, lots of kids.
Exxon is on the Northeast side of Houston by the Woodlands.
Day 24: How Bad is It? 🙂
Another tragic victim of the Chinese flu was announced today. Colonel Sanders has kicked the bucket. He’ll be cremated until extra crispy and scattered along with 13 herbs and spices.
“BTW, Medicare is paying hospitals $13,000 for each SARS-2 patient who is Medicare eligible. ”
–according to my buddy who is a senior C-suite guy with one of the big hospital orgs in the south, they lose money on every Medicare patient with wuflu. They have NO incentive to take or treat wuflu as it shuts down all their electives which are all that generates profit. The only bonus is the reduction in ER visits by all the numbnuts who aren’t getting hurt or using the ER as primary care. That helps with the bleeding in the ED.
n
Almost all the lots in the solar panel auction I linked went unsold. One lot of 60 sold with one bid. Buyers HATE reserves. Pro buyers most of all.
And the reserves were too high. You can get new for the same cost as the degraded panels and get a warranty.
I sent the seller an email asking if he’d consider offers since it all went unsold. I’ll see if I hear back.
Group buy!!!! !!111 ! !1
n
employees are responsible enough to build HSAs
We opted for the high deductible / HSA plan this year. I accessed the last several years of health expenditures, including pharmacy. I built an Excel spreadsheet that showed what we would pay out of pocket for entire 2020 based off what we had done previous years, for each health option.
My employer contributes to my HSA. More importantly, the high deductible plan with HSA costs significantly less, and doesn’t have to cost me anything out of pocket. It also gave us a way to potentially protect income.
Anyway, by the time I was done running numbers and playing worse case / best case, we came out ahead by several thousand dollars. The first quarter was going to suck -shrug- that’s fine.
So we signed up in 2019 for the 2020 health plan to be high deductible with HSA.
Mom died and split her IRA amongst us. Turns out an inherited IRA can do a single life time transfer into an HSA, following the standard rules of not exceeding the annual allowed contributions (factor in employer contributions). After doing a lot of reading and research on different ways an inherited IRA may be protected from taxes, transferring a portion into our HSA was a good usage.
Long story longer, our HSA is fully funded (less employer contributions for 2020 which will stretch out until December) for 2020.
The HSA and high deductible plan have, in this instance, been a true boon and very good thing for our family in our particular situation. I’m glad we did it, and I’m glad we were able to so unexpectedly fund it early in the year.
If I die (unlikely) and the world doesn’t end immediately (highly unlikely), I want to be cremated. But first I’m going to eat a couple pounds of unpopped popcorn kernels.
We opted for the high deductible / HSA plan this year.
I have bought my employees and myself a high deductible plan for several years now. No HSA. HSAs are expensive for small employers (gotta get a trustee) and money is tight. I did not seek the high deductible plan, they just keep on doubling the deductibles each year.
I got tired of the hassles of landlording and have Berkshire Hathaway manage my rentals. No midnight calls for clogged toilets or dealing with late payments or evictions. Ten percent of the rent is worth it to me and they give me a nice statement quarterly.
The Judge who issued the stay-at-home order in our county is the subject of a criminal complaint for violating his own order.
These orders aren’t going to stand.
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/criminal-complaint-filed-against-wilco-judge-for-violating-stay-home-order
Cops are on the scanner tonight running surveillance again. They found their target, have him on camera, and are watching a bunch of people meeting up and moving. No idea what they’re watching for. Great that they’re still working major crimes though.
n
Oof, I think my thesis of ‘herd immunity’ is screwed:
https://komonews.com/amp/news/coronavirus/seattle-researcher-debunks-theory-covid-19-spread-in-calif-in-november
I remember the volunteer guys at the Light Rail station sampling for flu virus back in December or January. I had a good chat with the volunteers but I didn’t qualify ’cause my sniffles weren’t bad enough. Heh, I just wanted to chat with them…
I could still be right if his antibody test was inaccurate oh, but I doubt it.
Lotta wishful thinking going on out there. No one wants what could be coming to be true.
n
I was just reading a couple of posts on reddit. People who lost their jobs to COVID, and were stating their intent to stretch out any benefits as long as absolutely possible, because they don’t want to actually have to work.
It’s a mentality I just don’t understand. Speaking for myself, I need to feel useful. Which, for me, means having a job. Granted, I like my job, but I didn’t feel any differently when I had jobs I disliked. If someone offered to pay me to sit around and do nothing, I would go quietly nuts.
I’m enjoying the Freehold books. There’s this one point where a load of refugees from earth land, expecting to get social handouts. They are told “work or starve”. A bit harsh, perhaps, but someone able to work certainly should be expected and required to do so, if they expect to receive any payment.
Of course, the progs of the world are trying to use COVID to push UBI. Heck, I just read that the Pope is calling for UBI. Notably, he didn’t offer to open up the church coffers to pay for it.
Oof, I think my thesis of ‘herd immunity’ is screwed:
https://komonews.com/amp/news/coronavirus/seattle-researcher-debunks-theory-covid-19-spread-in-calif-in-november
Antibodies in 15% of the humans is not enough for herd immunity. I suspect that herd immunity requires at least 50 to 60%.
I am assuming that 98% of the human population is susceptible to SARS-2, COVID-19. If that number is only 15% then I don’t believe it. Some people will be naturally immune but, not many.
I’m enjoying the Freehold books. There’s this one point where a load of refugees from earth land, expecting to get social handouts. They are told “work or starve”. A bit harsh, perhaps, but someone able to work certainly should be expected and required to do so, if they expect to receive any payment.
That was the USA a 100 years ago. My great grandparents came over from Belgium in 1905 or so. My great grandfather had friends and a job lined up in Illinois at the Allis Chalmers water pump plant. He was an interpreter since he was fluent in five languages and the plant had over 2,000 immigrant workers.
The first Freehold book is a six stars out of five stars book. The other five or eight (not sure), not so much.