Fri. May 15, 2020 – another week zipped by

By on May 15th, 2020 in ebola, medical, prepping, WuFlu

Warm to hot, sunny and damp.

Yesterday got pretty dang hot, 103F in the driveway. Sunny for most of the day too, when it wasn’t threatening and overcast.

My neck and shoulders were really stiff and sore, so I was moving kinda slow.

Did math with Kid2. She was so frustrated by 3 digit long multiplication, mainly because she wasn’t keeping the columns straight. She thinks long division is easy, but multiplication gets her. Other daughter had trouble with columns running off to the side too, despite gridded paper. Once we got some precision in her writing, it got better. Kid2 does a weird thing, she makes all her numbers moving the pencil backwards. She starts at the end and bottom, and draws the number upwards. They look ok, and she’s FAST, but it’s weird.

Got almost all the medical resupply I ordered. I’m good on bandaids and bandages for a while now. Still waiting for wound wash. Bandaids, tape, and vet wrap will all age out. The adhesive or non-adhesive parts will change and they’ll become much less useful than they were. I can’t recommend stocking cases under normal expectations, because you’ll just never use it. Aesop reminded me that ACE bandages can be washed and reused many times and might be a better choice than Kerlix and tape. Of course, I’ve got some ACE bandages too. The kerlix sure is more comfortable in our climate though.

Did more work in the garage. It’s like playing one of those sliding number games with 15 filled squares out of 16, and to move a number around you have to slide all the other numbers around too. I can see progress, I just can’t quite see the end. I keep finding useful things, so that’s a plus. I’m not pulling much OUT but I’m stacking it and restacking it and at least I have a fresh idea about what’s there. So much stuff that needs to get sold. One long delayed project got done. I’ve been meaning to put together a simple and basic tool kit for each vehicle, not a ‘fix it on the side of the road’ kit, but a couple of tools so you aren’t stuck with nothing if you need to turn a bolt, take the legs off something you bought, or similar. I’ve been collecting the bits, just never put them together. I built two today. A tall tin can with a lid, had Japanese bar mix snacks in it (it’s an inch or so taller than a soda can, and very sturdy tin). 6 in 1 screwdriver, basic wire strippers, small vice grip pliers, disposable knife with the ‘snap off’ blade, small adjustable wrench. Small box of strike anywhere matches, one trash bag-rolled, and six feet of duct tape wrapped around the can. Surprisingly there is still room in the can for a Powerbar or another tool, but I can’t think of much that would be good but not overkill. A small Channelok plier would be nice, but the vise grip should be sufficient. In any case, I don’t have a small Channelok to add to the cans so they’re done for now.

Dinner was frozen pork chops, fresh zucchini saute’d in butter with Parmesan cheese, and stuffing mix from a bag. Meat was from 2019, zukes from the store several weeks ago, and the stuffing was either Thanksgiving or possibly Christmas. Not much from the ‘prepper’ pantry, but you can’t eat out of rusted cans and old cartons every day…

Today I’ll be doing more of the same, and heading over to my secondary with some stuff that I CAN get out of the house and garage. I note that TX has a small uptick in cases about 2 weeks since the first easing of restrictions. I’ll be wearing PPEs if I have to interact with anyone, count on that.

Latin America is starting to show a lot of cases. Can India and Africa be far behind?

Keep working on skills and stacking. Join the other 300M of us going through closets, kids rooms, and garages… you never know what you put away and forgot about.

nick

55 Comments and discussion on "Fri. May 15, 2020 – another week zipped by"

  1. Clayton W. says:

    Governor DeSantis got one thing right on the opening. He warned people that testing was still increasing, so the number of new cases a day is the wrong metric to watch. Instead, look at the test positive rate. If that stays the same, or goes down, then it is likely the opening is not having a bad impact. Of course deaths are deaths, so that metric is valid. We are in this until the herd gets to 70-80% immune, be it through infection or vaccine. With 36 million people loosing their jobs in 2 months, I’d just assume we get there sooner.

    Of course that assumes there is an immunity. If not, well me might as well get there sooner anyway. Infectious disease has always been a major cause of death until recently. The golden times could be over (but I sure hope not).

  2. Greg Norton says:

    Governor DeSantis got one thing right on the opening. He warned people that testing was still increasing, so the number of new cases a day is the wrong metric to watch. Instead, look at the test positive rate.

    DeSantis can’t win in Florida since the media has been against him for two years. Fortunately, Andrew Gillum got caught quarantining that first weekend in a Miami Beach hotel room with his good friend the meth addict, and a male prostitute, sparing the state a situation like in GA with Stacey Abrams as the “true” Governor in the eyes of the media and the dominant demographic in Atlanta.

    If Andrew Gillum hadn’t been reenacting “Party At Kitty And Studs” when his friend OD-ed, resulting in Miami Beach cops rolling to the scene, the media would have been going to him daily in Tallahassee for second guessing fun. Gillum graduated Florida A&M (it means something different in the state than it does in Texas) and never bothered with a real job.

  3. Ray Thompson says:

    slow to accelerate when merging onto a highway, it’s slow to slow down

    I learned early on to look way ahead, many cars ahead for issues. I extend my distance between myself and the vehicle in front, until some jerk decides he needs that space. I have more than once driven on the shoulder trying to merge onto the I-State because some idiot refuses to move up or move back intentionally. Changing lanes people see the turn signal and speed up to close the gap requiring me to slow down and hope the vehicle following the jerk will let me move. Many times they don’t and it takes three or vehicles to go by before I can merge. People pull up behind me at a stop light, right lane, no one in the left lane. Then proceed to get ticked off and violently go around me with an angry look because I did not accelerate fast enough.

    It is better here in east TN as probably half the population owns a boat and pulls a trailer. Local roads and highways people are more accommodating. The interstate with out of state jerks is more difficult.

    Right turns many times will cause me to extend way out of my lane to make the corner, same issue as trucks, just not as bad. People flip me off, scream, honk, etc. not realizing I am trying to avoid the curb, people on the sidewalk and other obstacles.

    It is a challenge, but doable. Planning ahead, no sudden starts or stops, time is your friend, alternate routes if the direct route will cause issues.

  4. brad says:

    Kid2 does a weird thing, she makes all her numbers moving the pencil backwards. She starts at the end and bottom, and draws the number upwards. They look ok, and she’s FAST, but it’s weird.

    Hey, if it works, say good things about it. Quirks should be celebrated! Not least because, someday, some kid will give her shit about it. If she responds with pride – because her Dad thinks its cool – the criticism won’t find any traction. And anyway: quirks are cool!

    – – – – –

    With the new puppy in our microscopic, provisional living quarters: we’re getting serious cabin fever. You can’t leave much of anything on the floor, but we don’t have any *space* to put things up. Shoes, for example, are one of his favorite things to chew on. We were supposed to be in the new house by now, but we have another 2-1/2 months to go.

    At least with the warmer weather, we can spend a lot of time outside. Also, for an 12-week old puppy, he is remarkably well behaved, and learning incredibly fast. He comes mostly reliably, he sits and lies down. Also gives you his paw. A few other commands are in progress, some serious, some fun.

    He went for his first “real” walk today – someplace totally away from where we live. Even off the leash, he came back reliably. His leash manners are atrocious, of course: he pulls all the time. We’ll have that sorted in 2-3 weeks, but in the meantime off-leash is better, as long as there’s no traffic or other dogs.

    I’m not sure just how house-broken he is. No accidents for 3 days, but we’re the ones to take him outside, including once during the night. He hasn’t ever told us that he *needs* to go out. This weekend we’re starting to stretch the time between outside trips – fingers crossed…

    – – – – –

    There was a program last night about COVID and Iceland. Among other things, scientists in Iceland have found that they can identify where someone picked up COVID, based on a genetic analysis. This works, because the virus has unique mutations that are prevalent in different places.

    What they didn’t say – but appears to be obvious: COVID does mutate freely, like colds and the flu, so immunity is likely to be short-lived, and vaccinations are unlikely to be reliable.

  5. Nick Flandrey says:

    Herd immunity isn’t immunity. It just means the virus dies out for lack of new victims IN YOUR AREA. Just as we see with measles, no matter if the “herd” has some level of immunity IN TOTO, as soon as that infected outsider gets there, every member of the herd that gets exposed and isn’t PERSONALLY immune gets sick.

    There are going to be a LOT of infected outsiders moving around. It’s how the dang thing was spread initially.

    If you’re counting on herd immunity, you have to have some way to ‘fence’ the herd and know when outsiders come in, for however big your ‘herd’ is. Most of those methods are either ‘draconian’, anti-liberty, or not invented yet.

    n

  6. Nick Flandrey says:

    Man, I like commas and CAPS.

    n

  7. Chad says:

    Kid2 does a weird thing, she makes all her numbers moving the pencil backwards. She starts at the end and bottom, and draws the number upwards. They look ok, and she’s FAST, but it’s weird.

    I’m the same. Well, not as much as when I was a kid. I had an elementary school teacher that was a stickler for your letters and numbers touching the line on the paper. I was so worried about getting marked down for not touching the line that I would start writing my letters and numbers at the line. That way I knew for sure they’d be touching. I sill do it with O’s and 0’s.

  8. Chad says:

    Inmates in California appear to be trying to infect themselves with COVID-19. Presumably, to force the state to release more inmates early.
    https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/05/12/california-inmates-jail-coronavirus-spread-eg-orig.cnn

  9. lynn says:

    Heating up in Mexico and Brazil

    https://www.zerohedge.com/health/mexico-cremating-bodies-industrial-scale

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/colombia-militarizes-brazilian-border-covid-deaths-soar

    And maybe in Texas

    Texas Sees Record Jump In COVID-19 Deaths 2 Weeks Into Reopening: Live Update

    We have 1,400 people infected and 40 people have died in Fort Bend County of SARS-COV-2. The county population is 880,000. I wish that I could get those odds in Vegas.

    And each death has been noted to have underlying comorbidities.

    Doesn’t a little over one percent of the population die each year ? If so, we are way under our 1% here in Fort Bend County.

  10. lynn says:

    I am trying to protest the value of my commercial property in Fort Bend County. Their website is down today from all the protests so I have to file a letter. They probably have an old Windows 95 pc running an unpatched version of Apache for their web server.
    http://fbcad.org/

  11. lynn says:

    There was a program last night about COVID and Iceland. Among other things, scientists in Iceland have found that they can identify where someone picked up COVID, based on a genetic analysis. This works, because the virus has unique mutations that are prevalent in different places.

    What they didn’t say – but appears to be obvious: COVID does mutate freely, like colds and the flu, so immunity is likely to be short-lived, and vaccinations are unlikely to be reliable.

    I would be surprised to find out that this is mankind’s first encounter with the Coronavirus. Surely, in our long domain on this planet, we have run into it before. And have some natural immunities towards it. Otherwise EVERYONE would be getting it in New York City where they breathe the same air constantly.

  12. Greg Norton says:

    I am trying to protest the value of my commercial property in Fort Bend County. Their website is down today from all the protests so I have to file a letter. They probably have an old Windows 95 pc running an unpatched version of Apache for their web server.

    FreeBSD 6.2. The hardware is probably more of an issue than the software. Windows client OS limit inbound TCP connections to … 100 simultaneous (?) requests. Apache/XAMPP on desktop Windows isn’t robust for anything but local development, but I’ve seen scripts which attempt to harden the stack for the open Internet.

    Still, I’ve witnessed unpatched Windows 95/98/2000/XP machines crushed within a minute connected to the open Internet. Way too many people are on the hunt for those.

    I know Sears still had WfW 3.11 machines in the stores as part of their network infrastructure when I departed the Death Star … damn … 10 years ago. I wonder if the bolt-on TCP stacks protect whose machines from mischief since most of the standard services are non-existent.

  13. lynn says:

    Dilbert: No Interruptions at Home
    https://dilbert.com/strip/2020-05-15

    Please no !

    And I cannot imagine quarantining at home with Dogbert. That would be cruel.

  14. lynn says:

    Swan Eaters: Medusa Stone vs. Soothsayer Stone
    https://www.gocomics.com/swan-eaters/2020/05/15

    Ok, this is getting weird. Please tell me that Hemlock is not the father of Olwen’s children.

    And his swastika is backwards.

  15. Greg Norton says:

    Latin America is starting to show a lot of cases. Can India and Africa be far behind?

    You assume that India has been honest so far. That’s a dangerous assumption.

  16. lynn says:

    He went for his first “real” walk today – someplace totally away from where we live. Even off the leash, he came back reliably. His leash manners are atrocious, of course: he pulls all the time. We’ll have that sorted in 2-3 weeks, but in the meantime off-leash is better, as long as there’s no traffic or other dogs.

    Our puppy is a year and three months. She still pulls on the leash. She is 25 lbs and pulls way above her weight class, probably 50 lbs. If she sees a june bug flying, she must eat it. Yes, she eats june bugs, crunch, crunch, crunch.

  17. lynn says:

    FreeBSD 6.2. The hardware is probably more of an issue than the software. Windows client OS limit inbound TCP connections to … 100 simultaneous (?) requests. Apache/XAMPP on desktop Windows isn’t robust for anything but local development, but I’ve seen scripts which attempt to harden the stack for the open Internet.

    Still, I’ve witnessed unpatched Windows 95/98/2000/XP machines crushed within a minute connected to the open Internet. Way too many people are on the hunt for those.

    Hey, my web server ran FreeBSD 6 for a long time. It is now running FreeBSD 12.

    I saw a Windows NT 3.5 ??? machine get crushed in five minutes with the default permissions back in 2000 ? over our shared T1 line. Total ownership loss and o/s reinstall, he had to nuke it from orbit.

    And FBCAD is back up.
    https://www.fbcad.org/

    Nope, they are down again.

  18. lynn says:

    Latin America is starting to show a lot of cases. Can India and Africa be far behind?

    You assume that India has been honest so far. That’s a dangerous assumption.

    “China may have 640,000 coronavirus cases instead of 84,000, leaked data from country’s military-run university suggests”
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8323419/China-640-000-coronavirus-cases-leaked-data-suggests.html

    China keeps on locking down cities. You don’t do that for no reason.

  19. Greg Norton says:

    Hey, my web server ran FreeBSD 6 for a long time. It is now running FreeBSD 12.

    I saw a Windows NT 3.5 ??? machine get crushed in five minutes with the default permissions back in 2000 ? over our shared T1 line. Total ownership loss and o/s reinstall, he had to nuke it from orbit.

    I said that the hardware was probably the issue, not the software. What would concern me with a Unix flavor of that vintage is the SSH daemon, probably the only other port besides 80 and 443 which was exposed to the Internet.

    The Death Star got bit by an old SSH daemon on the embedded VPN boxes some of our customers ran. The crazy thing is that I warned them but I was blown off because we were a legacy IBM unit and I was the only pure Death Star hire, not a member of the drinking club. Plus I had a diploma from a Florida public university.

    I’m simultaneously surprised/not surprised by IBM’s decline in the last 30 years.

  20. lynn says:

    I’m simultaneously surprised/not surprised by IBM’s decline in the last 30 years.

    My 80 year uncle is a IBM retiree. Never worked anywhere else. He was the last support person for DB2 on OS/2 when they forced him to retire at age 68 or so (they were going to convert the pension retirement plan to a 401K, costing him about 40% lower check a month). The chief usage of DB2 was thousands of bank ATM machines at the time.

    My theory is that IBM was supporting too much crap out there. You just have to walk away from stuff when it drops below a certain percentage of your revenue. This is why I do not support old versions of our software without big bucks. And no one is willing to pay the big bucks.

  21. JimB says:

    We had two dogs, about 55 lb each, collie mix. They pulled on the leash, and I corrected the habit, but it took a long time. I wish I had known this technique I learned by watching Uncle Matty (Matthew Margolis) on TV years later. He simply gets the dog to sit. Then he starts walking at the command Heel. The dog usually zooms ahead. When it does, he simply turns around and walks the other direction. Each time, he reverses he issues the command Heel. This usually works within five minutes. Of course, the dog will forget, so the next time is like starting over. He said it usually takes a few days, and then the dog learns to walk at heel with a slack leash. Disclaimer: I never tried this myself, but I can see that it might be very effective.

    A word about leashes. The only type recommended is a 6′ leather or nylon flat leash with a choker chain. Put the loop in one hand, and take up the slack with the other. Only a very light tension is allowed. Be ready to administer a corrective jerk as soon as needed. In this case, that would be as soon as the leash becomes taut. The jerk does not need to be violent, just enough to get attention. That was the method I used, but I think it takes a lot longer for the dog to master.

    Also, consistency is paramount. NEVER let the dog walk on the leash in a bad way, because it will assume it is OK. Dogs can’t distinguish situations. Also, try to not let anyone else walk the dog while it is in training. After, try to get that person to do as you do.

  22. SteveF says:

    not a member of the drinking club

    Yah, I’ve noticed how the serious consideration of ideas, along with the promotions and pay raises, go to the people who go out drinking after work or who are on the company softball team. Gee, sorry, but I was doing an honest day’s work while doing my Master’s program, unlike several of my coworkers who were also going to grad school but doing the schoolwork during the workday, and on a later job I was a single parent. “Team building exercises” at the bar twice a week wasn’t a real option even if I were inclined.

  23. Greg Norton says:

    My 80 year uncle is a IBM retiree. Never worked anywhere else. He was the last support person for DB ??? on OS/2 when they forced him to retire at age 68 or so (they were going to convert the pension retirement plan to a 401K, costing him about 40% lower check a month).

    All of the legacy IBM employees I worked with had their pensions cashed out. Their bitterness knew no bounds, but the IBM groupthink process that made the company noncompetitive died hard. I was the only one who pushed back when management concocted a scheme to effectively steal our product from the Death Star and create a company to sell it back to them.

  24. Greg Norton says:

    Yah, I’ve noticed how the serious consideration of ideas, along with the promotions and pay raises, go to the people who go out drinking after work or who are on the company softball team.

    It went a lot further with ex-IBM-ers. One of my co-workers, the son of a retired IBM Fellow, shot his brother in law to death in a dispute over their meth selling operation. The Death Star immediately fired him but then put a clamp-down on security in the building out of the legitimate concern that the IBM old guard would let Junior back in the building one night to do whatever.

    The father used to play golf with Florida Governor Rick Scott and used his connections to keep Junior out of prison. The kid literally got away with murder. Of course, the local Sheriff and other law enforcement never forgot, and, eventually, Number One Son did do about 18 months in a minimum security prison after showing up for a probation check-in with a meth pipe in his pocket.

  25. Greg Norton says:

    Please, God, why did it have to be Austin.

    https://electrek.co/2020/05/15/tesla-factory-austin-texas/

    Still, I’ll believe it when I see the first car roll out of the factory. The city lacks the rail infrastructure to support a car plant unless they are thinking of building the plant on the site of one of the quarry operations around Round Rock. One comes to mind immediately.

    UPDATE: https://goo.gl/maps/Mn8RvmLpCCVcnsGBA

    Something has been in the works here since I started working at CGI in 2017, with a new overpass connecting the north end of the property to 35 at the Inner Space Caverns. Still, as things currently stand, the neighbors aren’t happy about the 2-3 times a week the trains roll out with the quarry products.

  26. Ray Thompson says:

    Please, God, why did it have to be Austin.

    I wonder how much money or incentives Austin and the state of Texas are providing to Tesla? I suspect it is a lot of money. Including building the necessary rail structure and roads to support the plant at no cost to Tesla. States do this claiming the economic advantage, according to their studies, will reclaim the money spent. I have never seen a study 10 years, or even 5 years later, that show the actual economic impact and how much NEW tax revenue was generated. And was this NEW generation in line with the study and did the revenue match, or exceed, the cost to the state.

    TN pulled this crap when trying to lure Mercedes into the state. They lost to Georgia. TN was able to secure the VW plant in Chattanooga but a significant economic impact was also enjoyed by Georgia. Lot of road changes and infrastructure improvements in the area to support the plant. Whether the tax revenue was worth it I don’t know. Certainly a lot more traffic at shift changes and portions of the I-State cannot handle the increased traffic.

    Georgia is also trying to get the state boundary between GA and TN moved north a couple of miles. That would put part of the TN river in the state of GA. At which point GA would quickly build a pipeline from the north part of GA to Atlanta. TN is so far standing their ground and giving GA a huge volunteer middle finger.

    UPDATE: https://goo.gl/maps/Mn8RvmLpCCVcnsGBA

    Update: My nephew lives close to that area. Takes a car to bus terminal and takes the bus into his work in Austin. I wonder how he will be affected? He worked in supply and logistics while in the Army. Tesla my want his skill set at the factory.

  27. Greg Norton says:

    Update: My nephew lives close to that area. Takes a car to bus terminal and takes the bus into his work in Austin. I wonder how he will be affected? He worked in supply and logistics while in the Army. Tesla my want his skill set at the factory.

    I’m just speculating on location, but serious site prep for something has been ongoing in and around that property for about three years, a lot more upgrades than a quarry would require.

  28. lynn says:

    My 80 year uncle is a IBM retiree. Never worked anywhere else. He was the last support person for DB ??? on OS/2 when they forced him to retire at age 68 or so (they were going to convert the pension retirement plan to a 401K, costing him about 40% lower check a month).

    All of the legacy IBM employees I worked with had their pensions cashed out. Their bitterness knew no bounds, but the IBM groupthink process that made the company noncompetitive died hard. I was the only one who pushed back when management concocted a scheme to effectively steal our product from the Death Star and create a company to sell it back to them.

    I have no idea what he did with his pension. He and my aunt have never lived high on the hog. I just know that the conversion from a pension to a 401K was going to cost him 40% so he bailed with 45+ years at IBM.

    He knew Ross Perot at the old IBM and did not like him very much. Although he admits that Perot drove IBM sales in areas that they never thought possible.

  29. lynn says:

    Please, God, why did it have to be Austin.

    https://electrek.co/2020/05/15/tesla-factory-austin-texas/

    Still, I’ll believe it when I see the first car roll out of the factory. The city lacks the rail infrastructure to support a car plant unless they are thinking of building the plant on the site of one of the quarry operations around Round Rock. One comes to mind immediately.

    You knew it was coming. I am surprised that the plant is that close to Austin though. I would put the plant out in Smithville or somewhere like that. A good 40 miles away from the crazies in Austin.

  30. lynn says:

    “Obama Caught Collaborating with FBI to Create the Russia Collusion Narrative” by Rush Limbaugh
    https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2020/05/11/discombobulated-obama-got-caught-creating-the-russia-collusion-narrative/

    “Now in the news all of a sudden, Barack Hussein O. And Barack Hussein O is in the news for what? (interruption) He’s trashing Trump on corona. He’s blaming Trump for coronavirus. He’s blaming him for the virus. He’s blaming him for the he reaction to the virus. He’s blaming him for the chaotic set of circumstances in the lockdown.”

    “Why is Barack Hussein O doing this? Because it has been revealed that Barack Obama collaborated with the FBI to invent the Russia collusion scandal. We knew this. I mean, grab sound bite number 1. This is February 14th, Valentine’s Day 2017. Listen to this.”

    What did Obola know and when did he know it ?

  31. lynn says:

    BTW, be careful out there ! My son lives just outside of I-610 in Houston. His house is only ten years old and his neighborhood does not flood making it very desireable. I guaranteed his mortgage for him when he bought the house new. I am now getting phone calls and texts almost daily wanting to buy his house and pay cash for it, basically wanting to steal it.

    He had a realtor call the other day and tell him that they were getting ready to foreclose on his house. He hung up on the guy and start calling around. The County did not know anything which was his first clue, they told him to call his mortgage lender. He called them and they said that he was all paid up, especially since they pay the taxes and such. So the realtor lied to him, trying to buy his house.

    I told him that he should report the realtor to the Real Estate Commission here in Texas. He does not want to screw with it since it would be his word against the realtor.

  32. Greg Norton says:

    You knew it was coming. I am surprised that the plant is that close to Austin though. I would put the plant out in Smithville or somewhere like that. A good 40 miles away from the crazies in Austin.

    I’m speculating on the site at this point, but people want to partake in the bacchanalia that passes for “culture” in Austin. HEB just put a big IT shop in town despite having plenty of land and talent in San Antonio, and the other 1/2 of the Bucee’s partnership works out of a building near downtown while The Beaver himself stays in Lake Jackson.

    Again, though, I’ll believe it when I see the first truck roll out of the factory. I still have my doubts about that truck even happening. Despite making a decent full-size truck, Toyota had a really hard time learning the market and building up San Antonio to the point that they’re even close to being competitive with Ford and Ram.

  33. lynn says:

    “Why Has Covid-19 Hit Seniors So Hard?”
    https://www.wired.com/story/why-has-covid-19-hit-seniors-so-hard/

    “It’s not one thing, it’s everything. Older people are more likely to catch the disease, to suffer from it more severely, and to have a tougher recovery.”

  34. Greg Norton says:

    He had a realtor call the other day and tell him that they were getting ready to foreclose on his house. He hung up on the guy and start calling around. The County did not know anything which was his first clue, they told him to call his mortgage lender. He called them and they said that he was all paid up, especially since they pay the taxes and such. So the realtor lied to him, trying to buy his house.

    One of the things I miss about Florida is the open public records. I could read my neighbors mortgages … and, more importantly, their forclosure process paperwork … usually within a day of filing unless it happened on a Friday.

  35. lynn says:

    Again, though, I’ll believe it when I see the first truck roll out of the factory. I still have my doubts about that truck even happening. Despite making a decent full-size truck, Toyota had a really hard time learning the market and building up San Antonio to the point that they’re even close to being competitive with Ford and Ram.

    I saw a video of the Tesla Truck with Musk driving it around Kali. It is a lot bigger than I thought, about the size of my F-150.
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7769871/Elon-Musk-takes-Cybertruck-spin-Malibu-dines-Nobu-Grimes-Ed-Norton.html

    Also, don’t forget about the Tesla Semi. Tesla has several of these running around the place now. They come with two 250 kwh battery packs and have places for two more. Lots and lots of batteries. And four plugs at the charging station. And 20 seconds to 60 mph with a 80,000 total truck and load is a big deal. 2 kwh/mile with four battery packs is a 500 mile range. $180,000 with the four battery packs is a good price too when you count the diesel cost versus electricity.
    https://www.tesla.com/semi

  36. Ray Thompson says:

    He does not want to screw with it since it would be his word against the realtor.

    Enough people complain and the license will be pulled. We were lied to by the real estate agent from which we bought our house. I filed a complaint with the real estate commission. I had notes, things written down. Sent all that information with the complaint. The home office of the real estate company was also notified. They terminated the agent’s service. Shortly after her real estate license was yanked. Apparently I was not the first person to complain. I personally think she should have been tortured for a couple of hours.

  37. Greg Norton says:

    I saw a video of the Tesla Truck with Musk driving it around Kali. It is a lot bigger than I thought, about the size of my F-150.

    We’ll see.

    I think they erred by not taking on the Honda Ridgeline class truck first. Or a modern BRAT — even Reagan had one of those at his ranch.

  38. lynn says:

    I think they erred by not taking on the Honda Ridgeline class truck first. Or a modern BRAT — even Reagan had one of those at his ranch.

    Always go after the King, never one of the outliers.

  39. paul says:

    I would put the plant out in Smithville or somewhere like that. A good 40 miles away from the crazies in Austin.

    On the far side of Austin from me. Good.

    Actually, it’s a stupid idea. Put the plant in SA or west of Fort Worth. On either I-10 or I-20. In the Austin metro everything goes on I-35 and that’s been a cluster from south Austin to the split north of Hillsboro since I moved to Austin in 1980.

    HEB just put a big IT shop in town despite having plenty of land and talent in San Antonio,

    This is illogical. But HEB started getting “odd” a few years back when Management types started talking about “touching base”. As in, “do this and touch base when done”. Yeah, it’s English….

  40. lynn says:

    “Will Congress Bankrupt The Mom-And-Pop Landlord With This Socialist New Bill?”
    https://www.zerohedge.com/bailout/will-congress-bankrupt-mom-and-pop-landlord-socialist-new-bill

    “Requirements – Landlords who receive relief funds through the HUD program must agree to the following fair renting terms for a period of 5 years:
    i. a rent freeze;
    ii. just-cause evictions;
    iii. mandatory documentation with any just-cause eviction;
    iv. no source of income discrimination;
    v. coordination with local housing authorities to make new vacancies eligible to voucher holders;
    vi. provision of 10 percent equity to tenants; and,
    vii. no admissions restrictions on the basis of:
    sexual identity or orientation,
    gender identity or expression,
    conviction or arrest record,
    credit history, or
    immigration status.”

    I hope and pray that Congress, the Senate, and Prez do not pass this socialist piece of trash.

    And I love the “vi. provision of 10 percent equity to tenants;” to the tenants WHO AREN’T PAYING THEIR RENT.

    Apparently this comes from AOC and her squad.

  41. Ray Thompson says:

    everything goes on I-35 and that’s been a cluster from south Austin to the split north of Hillsboro

    everything goes on I-35 and that’s been a cluster from San Antonio to the split north of Hillsboro.

    Fixed it for you.

  42. Mark W says:

    Put the plant in SA or west of Fort Worth.

    There’s plenty of flat land to the south of SA and plenty of people who’d love a good job in the plant.

    Austin seems like a bad choice for a company trying to get away from the CA craziness, Austin is mini-CA in TX. San Antonio is better, for now. The city council passed a resolution against terms like “Kung Flu” last week. It’s hard to understand the mentality that believes making a trivial political point is the most important thing to do in these circumstances.

  43. Greg Norton says:

    I saw a video of the Tesla Truck with Musk driving it around Kali. It is a lot bigger than I thought, about the size of my F-150.
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7769871/Elon-Musk-takes-Cybertruck-spin-Malibu-dines-Nobu-Grimes-Ed-Norton.html

    Those pictures will come back to haunt Musk at the shareholder class action.

  44. MrAtoz says:

    What took so long, CBS?

    Indeed. Loved Anson Mount as Pike.

  45. Ray Thompson says:

    It’s hard to understand the mentality that believes making a trivial political point is the most important thing to do in these circumstances.

    They’re politicians. To them nothing is trivial if it can get their name in the public records. Most are clueless dolts who have never had a real job. Suddenly have become experts on everything. Putting themselves in the position of emperor to us mere serfs.

  46. Marcelo says:

    I do not understand why quite a few in here do not seem to like Elon. What he has done with SpaceX is incredible. Tesla has done what no other established car company has done in terms of sales of electric cars, assisted automated driving systems and establishing charging stations. The Boring company has just finished the Las Vegas tunnel. The batteries he installed in South Australia -in record time- have more than paid for themselves in grid assistance and lowering peak time issues along with the pricing of electricity. He stopped with the loop into diversifying into even more industries. One man. That many endeavours. He put his money in. He accepts and even encourages mistakes and learning from them. Spaceship is based on that. Try often and move forward FAST.

    What’s not to like? He shoots his mouth once in a while? Give me a break. He IS the real Tony Stark.

  47. Greg Norton says:

    I do not understand why quite a few in here do not seem to like Elon. What he has done with SpaceX is incredible.

    Gwynne Shotwell runs SpaceX except for whatever goes on in Boca Chica.

  48. lynn says:

    I do not understand why quite a few in here do not seem to like Elon. What he has done with SpaceX is incredible. Tesla has done what no other established car company has done in terms of sales of electric cars, assisted automated driving systems and establishing charging stations. The Boring company has just finished the Las Vegas tunnel. The batteries he installed in South Australia -in record time- have more than paid for themselves in grid assistance and lowering peak time issues along with the pricing of electricity. He stopped with the loop into diversifying into even more industries. One man. That many endeavours. He put his money in. He accepts and even encourages mistakes and learning from them. Spaceship is based on that. Try often and move forward FAST.

    What’s not to like? He shoots his mouth once in a while? Give me a break. He IS the real Tony Stark.

    I am totally impressed by Elon Musk. To me, he is the real D. D. Harriman.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delos_D._Harriman

    And his new Starlink internet sounds ambitious if they can get it to work.

    SpaceX is freaking awesome. And Tesla cars are simply amazing, my cousin loves his Telsa 3 with the dual motors and big battery.

  49. lynn says:

    “SBA provides safe harbor for PPP loans under $2 million”
    https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2020/may/sba-safe-harbor-for-ppp-loans-under-2-million.html

    “Businesses that together with their affiliates accepted Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds of less than $2 million will be assumed to have performed the required certification concerning the necessity of their loan requests in good faith, according to guidance posted by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on Wednesday.”

    Excellent, excellent. I was really worried about documenting this and spending the money correctly and properly. I have been documenting the expenses in a spreadsheet, zeroxing the checks, and moving the money from a PPP account to our regular account by the expense. I am still going to do that but the weight is off my shoulders now. Of course, we still have to pass the loan forgiveness part.

  50. Marcelo says:

    Gwynne Shotwell runs SpaceX except for whatever goes on in Boca Chica.

    So, he also knows how to pick good people to run the enterprises, backs them up and spends enormous amount of time when things are not going the way they should.

    I am totally impressed by Elon Musk. To me, he is the real D. D. Harriman.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delos_D._Harriman

    And his new Starlink internet sounds ambitious if they can get it to work.

    Forgot about Starlink. That is just a “minor” spinoff that allows him to reuse his Falcons and check faster for reusability and any issues that creep-up.

    In a very short timeframe he has placed SpaceX as a company that has gone from zero to being the preferred company by NASA to take people back to the moon at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the time that the established guys -that ridiculed him- can ever dream to achieve.

    I just hope he does not go to Mars. It is a very long trip, it is risky and the companies’ he pioneered will miss him.

    And I know that quite a few do not like Gates either. I remember playing with Z80 Sinclairs that were just toys but the initial personal computers and being paid to being Systems Programmer on mainframes when Gates hit the scene. If we would have followed IBMs lead we would still be waiting for an affordable real personal computer…

    To me, they are the two biggest disruptors in the technology area in recent times and the effect of implementing their visions have changed society immensely for the latest generations.

  51. Greg Norton says:

    What’s not to like? He shoots his mouth once in a while? Give me a break. He IS the real Tony Stark.

    We’ll see. I’m patient. If a Tesla rolls of an Austin assembly line before the end of the year, I’ll admit Musk won a battle. The war is a different story.

  52. Nick Flandrey says:

    I haven’t paid much attention to Musk, but what I have seen of him personally, he seems like a jerk. And I’m old enough that I can’t take a dope smoker seriously. I believe the main effect of cannabis is to rob you of your ‘will’ or ‘drive’, so I can’t think of him as much of a world beater, despite his accomplishments. My problem, not his.

    Anyone heard from Kamen recently? Wasn’t one of his inventions supposed to change everything about the world and society we live in?

    n

    (and from my defense industry trade mags, the reason Musk has been allowed to F up the night sky is that the Pentagon wants to use the ‘commercial provider’ for satellite comms. No way a private citizen would be allowed to mess with every single astronomer on the planet, if he didn’t have the big boys behind him. Same same with space launch capability, someone decided they needed real launch capability, didn’t want to be beholden to a resurgent Russia, and knew NASA was sclerotic; and Musk has been winning that round-with again, big boys behind him.)

  53. lynn says:

    (and from my defense industry trade mags, the reason Musk has been allowed to F up the night sky is that the Pentagon wants to use the ‘commercial provider’ for satellite comms. No way a private citizen would be allowed to mess with every single astronomer on the planet, if he didn’t have the big boys behind him. Same same with space launch capability, someone decided they needed real launch capability, didn’t want to be beholden to a resurgent Russia, and knew NASA was sclerotic; and Musk has been winning that round-with again, big boys behind him.)

    Musk has an impressive resume:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk

    And for Starlink, it will be difficult to shoot down thousands of satellites should things get sporty some day.

    Can you imagine NASA trying to build Starlink ? They would still be at the conceptual phase in 2030. SpaceX is just throwing the satellites up there and not worrying about how they all will work together. That is the problem when they all get up there.

    All of his companies are built using the try it and fix it philosophy. That is the way engineering used to be done. Just don’t die when it all falls apart.

    BTW, Starlink will be the third satellite provider that DOD will use. The first two have serious bandwidth issues.

  54. Greg Norton says:

    Can you imagine NASA trying to build Starlink ? They would still be at the conceptual phase in 2030. SpaceX is just throwing the satellites up there and not worrying about how they all will work together. That is the problem when they all get up there.

    I saw another story about SLS being delayed again within the last few days. Late 2021. Maybe.

    After the single flight, NASA will get another 3-4 years of full employment at Kennedy removing the tooling from the three high bays they retained in the VAB and dismantling the the launch towers (plural). That’s all that really matters.

    Mesh networking is a well-understood concept. The problem for SpaceX will be providing the promised bandwidth. The Wall Street guys will probably still have to depend on the company Internet and TeamViewer for the secure lunchtime sessions with the dominatrix.

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