Cool, but clear and sunny.
Sunday was another gorgeous day. Comfortable temps, clear and blue sky.
So I did a little work outside, picking up some of my decor. Then did some plumbing (see yesterday’s comments) and then some pressure washing.
Today I’ve got one ebay sale to ship, an auction pickup, pressure washing to finish, more decor to take down and put away, and all the general stuff of the week… We’re supposed to have a couple more dry days so I want to get all the decor in.
The weather is finally nice enough to do some work around the house too, so I have projects moving off the back burner. Naturally, just about the time I’ve worked up a good head of steam, we’ll be driving to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with my mom… I better get some stuff done before that.
I couldn’t really imagine what “election day violence” would look like. I didn’t have to courtesy of BLM and antifa. This is going to be a wild week. Hold on tight and hunker down.
(and keep stacking, although skills and connections might be more practical than shopping this week.)
nick
The weather is finally nice enough to do some work around the house too, so I have projects moving off the back burner. Naturally, just about the time I’ve worked up a good head of steam, we’ll be driving to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with my mom… I better get some stuff done before that.
Be *really* careful in Alabama on I-10. As I noted before, I got bit by a “Move Over Law” trap the weekend before 4th of July. The ticket was ultimately dismissed with my attendance of driving school in Texas, but that didn’t cover court costs. $169.
I didn’t want to press my luck mentioning it earler, but I had the good fortun that the Alabama State Patrol approached my car maskless when they pulled me over the weekend before Alabama’s Covid numbers went crazy, something which the troopers and the court probably didn’t want to discuss in person. I doubt the troopers are that sloppy now.
Also, the Buc-ee’s in Robertsdale, AL is friggin scary. I’m not a big believer in random infections from stores, but that is the one place I simply waited in the car while my family went inside. Hundreds of people, and the company was building overflow parking across the street. It is as if the tourists leaving FL had never seen a breakfast taco before.
(Florida didn’t kiss the ring fast enough to get the Buc-ee’s built on the other side of the border, closer to Pensacola.)
We have the first cases in our little town. They haven’t said how many, just a local notice that some folk are sick and in quarantine. The problem, of course, are those who commute to the cities for work – otherwise, we’re pretty isolated.
We made a major freezer-stocking shopping run today – around $500, including lots of meat. Impulse buy: I picked up a random cut of beef on sale, labelled as “stew meat”. No idea what it is, but I’m going to cook it like a brisket and see what happens. I suppose the three bottles of whisky added to the total as well: two Scottish, one bourbon. We probably drink too much, but after running a whisky business for decades, having a dram in the late evening is part of life. And it really is usually just the one 🙂
Wind forecast Sunday night / Monday morning, so I casually battened down the proverbial hatches before bed, including double checking the moorings for our 8 x 10 fabric shed (new this spring) and our 12 x 20 decrepit currently 3 sided tarp greenhouse.
Short version – wind is powerful and scary and dangerous when angry.
We were woken at 2:30 am by terrible frightening noises – the wind ripped both fabric structures from their moorings and lodged them on opposite sides of the house. What followed was a savage hour of scary struggling to cut the fabric free from the structures so they wouldn’t kill somebody. There was no risk free way to do it, and there was absolutely no ignoring it or calling somebody else to do it.
We minimized our danger as much as we could and tried not to be any stupider than the situation demanded. If we had ignored it there was a near absolute certainty the pipe legs were going through somebody’s window. It was like struggling with a crazed dangerous huge horse with iron shod flailing hooves and immense muscles. My puniness was sharply illustrated against the bucking beast we were trying to bring to bay.
By the time we finished we were exhausted, muscle sore, half deaf from the wind, chilled thru from the 15 Fahrenheit temps and so completely done. I confess, it’s been a while since I was that scared or prayed that hard for divine mercy and intervention. The rabbits and chickens are safe if uncomfortable. One side of wind protection for the rabbits completely failed. I don’t know how fast the winds are but they were shoving me around pretty hard.
I -never- want to live in tornado or hurricane country. Give me an earthquake any day.
Sick-sick or “got a positive result on a test which has a 10% false positive rate”-sick?
I -never- want to live in tornado or hurricane country. Give me an earthquake any day.
Hurricanes are predictable. At least 48 hours out, you know if your area has a chance of being hit and how hard.
Five to six days out? They’re just guessing.
@jenny, glad you got thru ok. I once had to chase down a bunch of pop up canopies that the wind sent rolling across an airport. I whipped out my knife and did the Errol Flynn pirate “jump on the sail” thing. It stopped the tumbleweed-o-canopies (they were tied to each other) but the owner was pissed!
I prefer hurricanes to earthquakes. You can see them coming, and you can hide from them.
n
a local notice that some folk are sick and in quarantine
Forced quarantine by law? Like if they had TB? What a concept!
Huh, I just noticed something.
Know what I DON’T see all over the place this year? I don’t see people wailing, angsting, and lamenting about picking the lessor of two evils, holding their nose to vote, debating the merits of voting, or similar things. In 2016 the webs were full of that sort of thing non-stop.
One person mentioned it here in a comment, but that is pretty much the only one I noticed.
That is a big change.
n
I have lived through hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes and forest fires. You don’t know terror until you are on the fifth floor of a Holiday Inn being woke from a deep sleep by being thrown out of bed. In a split second after you realize what is happening you wonder if the additional 10 floors above you are about flatten your ass. What is really less than a minute seems like several hours.
No, you do not want an earthquake. They are unpredictable and you cannot control your situation. With hurricanes there is a lot of advance warning, a lot of time to prepare. Same with tornadoes and forest fires. Not so with earthquakes.
I have lived through hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes and forest fires. You don’t know terror until you are on the fifth floor of a Holiday Inn being woke from a deep sleep by being thrown out of bed. In a split second after you realize what is happening you wonder if the additional 10 floors above you are about flatten your ass. What is really less than a minute seems like several hours.
I didn’t like the Marriott at Moscone in San Francisco and avoid it if possible when one of us has conferences in the area. The hotel has the nickname “The Jukebox” due to they way it “shook, rattled, and rolled” during the 1989 earthquake, and the one time we stayed in the building, if I stood in the middle of the room, feet apart, and closed my eyes, I could feel the building swaying slightly in the wind.
After that, we book elsewhere, even if it means a walk.
@Jenny: Scary stuff. Wind can be amazingly powerful. Glad y’all are safe.
@SteveF: No idea, no further information was given.
In European news, the new Berlin airport has opened. Nine (9!) years late and 400% over budget. Insane – the Germans are usually good at building things. And idiots will be idiots: people who have moved into the area over the past few years are now protesting the noise cause by the flight paths. I mean – surprise – what happens when you move next to an airport?
@Nick: Yes, I’m the one who mentioned “the lesser evil”, and I can’t even vote. You’ve hit on the positive: this may be the highest ever voter participation in an election. Involvement in politics is a good thing.
On a vaguely related note: I read a comment a couple of days ago from a liberal, on some conservative blog. Don’t remember exactly when or where. Anyway, the liberal person was surprised – indeed, shocked – at how civil and reasoned the discourse on the conservative blog was. Whereas on liberal sites people are practically frothing at the mouth.
I think part of this is Plugs is just so bad. Plugs is all doom and gloom while tRump is upbeat about MAGA, again.
I read an article about tRump’s giant crowds may not be a “win” indicator, but his online rallies are. Plugs online rallies are in the *10s* to *100s*. Even Obola drew only about 200 in a crowd and people were there for Obola, not Plugs.
I see tRump winning re-election at this point. Biden’s laptop isn’t helping. I wonder why the FBI has been sitting on it for almost a year? Plus a second laptop.
I’ve seen it in a couple of places now, but didn’t note where, that record high voter turnout happened just before the civil war, and just before the end of reconstruction.
Having so many people fired up about something might not be great…
n
Yah. A number of us are wondering…
I look at the rally attendance which is overwhelmingly in the plus column for Trump. I look at people spending their own money on signs, flags, and Trump apparel. I think the tide turned wrt ‘letting your Trump flag fly’ too. I suddenly see LOTS of businesses flying trump flags, or with Trump messages on their signs, or with giant banners. They are not afraid of losing business because of it.
I’m seeing an increase in yard signs too. The enthusiasm gap is huge. One sign for Sniffer/Fluffer per yard. DOZENS of T/P signs, and maybe a flag as well per yard.
Locally, I also see lots of signs in yards for republican Dan Crenshaw, even if there are no other signs. He’s a republican it’s safe to publicly support.
n
My prediction? Ten minutes after a definitive Trump/Pence win there will be a LOT of FBI resignations.
n
I just watched a supercut of Plugs fondling, sniffing and kissing kids. The dude is definitely creepy. I felt uncomfortable just watching it. The kids trying to pull away and he pulls them back would get a FOD to the babymaker from me.
Kids were on skype with the grands last night (in laws are Boston area kennedy democrats with TDS and are convinced they know him better than everyone else because they live 5 hours from NYC I guess….) Daughter 1 is talking about voting (because they are doing mock elections in school) and announces that she’d vote for Trump because “he’s at least trying to look like he loves America, and trying to do good” while Biden is “a tired old man who forgot where he was and who he was running against”… She was pestering the grands about who they will vote for and Grandma declined saying “talking about it would lead to hard feelings.”
Thanks for confirming what I thought MIL. I know it’s not ME who would have the hard feelings, so I guess it must be her.
If you can’t see past your prejudice against Trump to see Biden touching women and girls inappropriately, can’t see how inappropriate his china and ukraine dealings were, how bad his judgement is regarding his son, how ineffective he’s been for 47 years, his racism, if you decide all those things are OK because Trump is so bad for ‘reasons’, I can’t trust you to make good decisions in other areas either.
n
(and I don’t hear anyone who actually articulates why Joe is the better man for the job. He’s just “not Trump”.)
Here’s some more about the story out of philly, where the cops smashed up the SUV and pulled the occupants out, pulled a kid out and took him away….
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8897905/Police-union-accused-using-photo-cop-holding-black-toddler-propaganda.html
n
In European news, the new Berlin airport has opened. Nine (9!) years late and 400% over budget. Insane – the Germans are usually good at building things. And idiots will be idiots: people who have moved into the area over the past few years are now protesting the noise cause by the flight paths. I mean – surprise – what happens when you move next to an airport?
Germans, but who actually built the airport?
Austin-Bergstrom is less than 20 years old but opened too small, probably due to pressure from political concerns connected with DFW and IAH. Now ABI is going to be a 20-30 year pork project, starting with a referendum this year in Austin on “Proposition A” which includes a rail link from Downtown to the airport as well as Tony Stark’s truck factory … if you still believe that will happen.
“Trucks filled with wood are now pulling up in front of businesses to secure them”
NYC businesses are boarding up their windows.
–ayup
n
I have to say that the Daily Mail coverage has been pretty good. They are a tabloid and love a scandal, so they’ve been reporting on the Hunter Biden lappy all along.
But seriously, NOW? NOW? After 70% of people have already voted THIS is your top of page headline?
“The man who could be America’s next president in three days: Obama had to call Biden, 77, THREE times before he finally emerged at Michigan rally, then had to remind him to put his mask on and guide him off stage”
The accompanying photo has “LOST AND CONFUSED” across the bottom quarter.
n
The Complete Harvard Classics on Kindle. All 71 volumes for $1.99!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VWGHR6J/ref=docs-os-doi_0
37,452 pages!
Add me to the list of people who, once again, had to vote ‘against’ someone, rather than ‘for’.
The Complete Harvard Classics on Kindle. All 71 volumes for $1.99!
Is the content different from Project Gutenberg?
Project Gutenberg has offered EPUB and Kindle versions of books for a while.
But seriously, NOW? NOW? After 70% of people have already voted THIS is your top of page headline?
“The man who could be America’s next president in three days: Obama had to call Biden, 77, THREE times before he finally emerged at Michigan rally, then had to remind him to put his mask on and guide him off stage”
The accompanying photo has “LOST AND CONFUSED” across the bottom quarter.
The Daily Mail has a grudge against the President. The publishers had to write the Trump family a large check to settle a slander lawsuit.
Beyond that, Biden will be a failed, divisive Presidency from the moment he takes office, much like Obama, but, unlike The Chosen One, Biden is not off limits for ridicule or scandal reporting.
If you run a UK tabloid, you *want* Biden to win.
Tornadoes have a tiny footprint, rarely even half a mile wide, and nowadays we have pretty good warning.
The Complete Harvard Classics on Kindle. All 71 volumes for $1.99!
…
37,452 pages!
Wow. How much do all those bits weigh? 😉
Seriously, one thing I like about a computer is that I can fill it up with stuff and it stays the same physical size and weight. Will wonders never cease?!!
I was in a similar hotel built around a large atrium in the 1994 Northridge quake in LA. Was thrown out of bed before I realized what was happening. Looking out my 8th floor windows I saw all the light poles in the car park swaying so hard they almost hit the ground. Rembering my childhood training I opened the door looking out on the atrium to be “safe” in a doorway. Looking at the atrium it was easy to see all four walls were flexing wildly back and forth under the shaking. I had been in several LA earthquakes and expected it to stop in moments but the swaying seemed to go on for minutes. I was absolutely amazed that the place didn’t collapse on top of me. Moved that morning to a simple, single story motel. The Kodak warehouse I was automating suffered massive rack damage as the 4 story racking had dominoed.
I was waiting in a parking lot while my wife did some shopping yesterday, a perfect weather day. I couldn’t help notice that all the newer pickups I happened to see were four door models. Yeah, that has been a trend for a while. I remember when it was hard to find them.
Anyway, I watched as a couple unloaded two toddlers from their child seats in the back. It dawned on me that a possible reason for a rear seat might be for child seats. Aren’t they required to be in the back now? No kids, so never had to worry about that.
I was in the office when a sunstantial quake hit in the mid-80s. We were on the top, 2nd floor and a secretary got under her desk.
After, I told her that would be OK if we were on the 1st floor when the next one came. But don’t get under up here, you don’t want the desk riding you down id the send floor gives way.
An early realization of this fact became my fingers crossed resolution to stop buying dead tree books. 30 feet of floor to ceiling shelving is enough. No one volunteers to help me move more than once. Wonder why? 🙂
The accumulated computers and parts has not quite reached critical mass.
I stomped on the buy it button for the Harvard Classics though the green leather bindings over there are so purty. You jokers aren’t helping. 🙂
@Jenny, glad that you all survived the storm. Take some time to heal.
We had a similar experience about 15-years ago, but it was with a metal shed (10×16 feet). Winds were steady at 30mph to 40mph with gusts to 60mph. We were sitting in our dining room and heard approaching roars and booms that sounded like a freight train and bombs. My anemometer pegged and we looked out the window to see the doors of our metal shed blow open and the shed lift straight up, flip, rip through our wood fence, and land upside down. The shed was secured to the ground with the floor screwed into 20 4x4x3 wooden piers sunk into concret. The sides were flapping in the breeze and trying to take off. The wife, son, and I went out and starting ripping the metal sides off and weighing them down with full cinder blocks. Two neighbors ran out to help. Later in the day, the National Weather Service said we got a bunch of “micro-bursts” that exceeded 150mph.
Prepared, vigilant, ready…
I was waiting in a parking lot while my wife did some shopping yesterday, a perfect weather day. I couldn’t help notice that all the newer pickups I happened to see were four door models. Yeah, that has been a trend for a while. I remember when it was hard to find them.
Anyway, I watched as a couple unloaded two toddlers from their child seats in the back. It dawned on me that a possible reason for a rear seat might be for child seats. Aren’t they required to be in the back now? No kids, so never had to worry about that.
Soccer Mom appeal is part of it, but four door pickups also have bigger price tags for not a lot of added manufacturing cost. Gotta justify $50,000 for the pickup somehow.
“Beater” small pickups like the late 90s/early 00s Ford Ranger, Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma have a bullseye on them in the next round of “Cash for Clunkers”, similar to how the last round wiped out the early-mid 90s Cherokees and Explorers in favor of the (then) new car-based crossovers which are less durable.
I see tRump winning re-election at this point. Biden’s laptop isn’t helping. I wonder why the FBI has been sitting on it for almost a year? Plus a second laptop.
The general consensus is that the FBI was going to use the laptop to blackmail Joe Biden once he was president.
Is the content different from Project Gutenberg?
I believe the (editable and deletable) ebook version is Ministry of Truth approved.
“Trucks filled with wood are now pulling up in front of businesses to secure them”
NYC businesses are boarding up their windows.
Don’t come around my place. I believe in positive reactions using lead at high velocities.
Soccer Mom appeal is part of it, but four door pickups also have bigger price tags for not a lot of added manufacturing cost. Gotta justify $50,000 for the pickup somehow.
The MSRP on my 2019 F-150 4×4 XLT crew cab (four doors) was $54K but the drive out price was $40K plus TTL (tax, title, and license). Can barely get it in the garage with a 10 ft wide door. Going to the Houston Med Center will be interesting some day.
Dilbert: Boss Ear Piece
https://dilbert.com/strip/2020-11-02
Oh man, this is gonna be a hoot.
Over The Hedge: The Critter Shed
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2020/11/02
Yup, I always thought that painting was a little creepy.
I was in downtown Santa Cruz, a couple miles from the epicenter, during the ’89 Lomo Prieta quake. Ford’ s department store collapsed 100 yards up Pacific Avenue and there was screaming within. It posed an interesting moral dilemma: do I attempt aid even at the risk of an aftershock, or save my own skin and skulk away? I chose the latter, but it still bothers me.
I was waiting in a parking lot while my wife did some shopping yesterday, a perfect weather day. I couldn’t help notice that all the newer pickups I happened to see were four door models. Yeah, that has been a trend for a while. I remember when it was hard to find them.
Anyway, I watched as a couple unloaded two toddlers from their child seats in the back. It dawned on me that a possible reason for a rear seat might be for child seats. Aren’t they required to be in the back now? No kids, so never had to worry about that.
The rear seat in my 2019 F-150 4×4 XLT crew cab (four doors) is split 60 / 40. The 60% seat is always up and provides a enclosed secure area for my store runs. The 40% seat is for that third passenger that I have occasionally. The son rode back there when we went mudding for two miles a couple of weeks ago. He was really complaining. Of course, he was worried about walking home to Dad’s house.
Oh man, this is gonna be a hoot.
If you haven’t seen the “Bob Bastard” episode of the “Dilbert” TV show, the Dogbert story thread is pure evil.
Dogbert. Laser. Space Shuttle. What’s the worst that could happen?
Probably not but for $2, I got lazy.
Unfortunately, true. I need to download more PG books.
We were woken at 2:30 am by terrible frightening noises – the wind ripped both fabric structures from their moorings and lodged them on opposite sides of the house. What followed was a savage hour of scary struggling to cut the fabric free from the structures so they wouldn’t kill somebody. There was no risk free way to do it, and there was absolutely no ignoring it or calling somebody else to do it.
We minimized our danger as much as we could and tried not to be any stupider than the situation demanded. If we had ignored it there was a near absolute certainty the pipe legs were going through somebody’s window. It was like struggling with a crazed dangerous huge horse with iron shod flailing hooves and immense muscles. My puniness was sharply illustrated against the bucking beast we were trying to bring to bay.
By the time we finished we were exhausted, muscle sore, half deaf from the wind, chilled thru from the 15 Fahrenheit temps and so completely done. I confess, it’s been a while since I was that scared or prayed that hard for divine mercy and intervention. The rabbits and chickens are safe if uncomfortable. One side of wind protection for the rabbits completely failed. I don’t know how fast the winds are but they were shoving me around pretty hard.
I am still forecasting a spicey winter in these parts. We’ve been running the heat in the north side of the house for four nights now. I don’t remember having the heat on in south Texas in October in the last several decades.
I did a freeze survey at the new used house and the commercial property over the weekend. The new used house is fine. Ok, mostly fine. The office is not fine, the weedeaters took out my insulation of the well house well pump piping again. I opened up the well house and peeked inside. Had to push six inches of fire ant bed out of the way. I did not go inside the 10 foot by 10 ft building, the fire ants were going nuts for about three feet in all directions. I am going to give them some Amdro this afternoon.
Does it show in a Kindle as a single book?
“Soccer Mom appeal is part of it, but four door pickups also have bigger price tags for not a lot of added manufacturing cost. Gotta justify $50,000 for the pickup somehow.”
The MSRP on my 2019 F-150 4×4 XLT crew cab (four doors) was $54K but the drive out price was $40K plus TTL (tax, title, and license). Can barely get it in the garage with a 10 ft wide door. Going to the Houston Med Center will be interesting some day.
I wonder what the real invoice read on that truck.
I had the real invoice on my 93 Probe purchased under the Ford Employee plan. $13,900. Sticker was $17,900.
Quite a deal, but the car was done in about eight years, turning into a endless money pit mechanically Plus, the rear end was never right after I got hit hard about a year before I unloaded the vehicle.
“Something Happened at Trump’s Rally Last Night that Should Single-Handedly Win Him the Election”
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2020/11/02/something-happened-at-trumps-rally-last-night-that-should-single-handedly-win-him-the-election-n273631
“Ok, I’ve decided. I don’t want Fauci’s politically motivated “science” anywhere near making decisions for my family. I believe most of the country agrees, as the appetite for more lock downs and useless mandates is clearly not there among a majority of the citizenry. That Joe Biden is promoting to make Fauci the top dog on this issue if he wins should absolutely seal the deal for Trump. I’m not saying it will, and I’m a natural cynic, but anyone voting for that should seriously reconsider everything about their political viewpoints. This country can not survive another months long lock down that does nothing but delay the inevitable. Europe is already making that mistake and they will once again pay the price. We should not follow suit.”
Looks like Fauci gonna be looking for a new job after the election.
The MSRP on my 2019 F-150 4×4 XLT crew cab (four doors) was $54K but the drive out price was $40K plus TTL (tax, title, and license). Can barely get it in the garage with a 10 ft wide door. Going to the Houston Med Center will be interesting some day.
I wonder what the real invoice read on that truck.
I am fairly sure that Ford made money on the truck. That was just one of a million trucks that they sold in 2019.
At some point, Ford is going to have to break the UAW. The $25/manhour charge for retired employee medical is killing them, GM, and Chrysler. As it is, that charge is forcing Ford to automate like crazy.
Yes, each of the 71 books is a chapter inside the kindle “book”.
I think I paid almost 18K for my 91 Probe GT, Xmas of 1990.
I drove it for 287K or so – the odometer got a little iffy towards the end. I blew two spark plugs out of the head, at different times, but other than that it was mechanically excellent. I think I replaced the radiator thermostat and a couple of recall items.
They were mostly easy miles, commuting to work about 45 miles each way, and a monthly trip to check up on my parents, 385 miles each way (running on fumes on arrival, but just one tank of gas!).
But, after going off the road and over some railroad tracks, late at night on a very poorly marked
“S” curve, the suspension was never quite the same. I had it tested, and they claimed the body was straight, but it ate tires about every 35K after that.
I should add: It ate a rod in 2016, it’s now sitting out in the back of the property, next to the 1998 Explorer. Really I should junk them…
Looks like Fauci gonna be looking for a new job after the election.
Faucci and FBI Director Christopher Wray, especially if Trump loses.
“Trucks filled with wood are now pulling up in front of businesses to secure them”
NYC businesses are boarding up their windows.
Now, why would they need to do that if Biden is going to win?
Because deep down in their hearts they suspect that he won’t and Antifa/BLM/the radical Left is going to absolutely lose their shit and riot to a degree that no American city as seen yet.
Portland, Seattle, previous riots in NYC, Chicago, and other cities have just been a dress rehearsal for the real #Resistancec if Trump wins.
People confident in Biden’s winning poll numbers wouldn’t be preparing for the city to come under siege.
The reality is that the wealthy elite and business owners are prepping like it’s the opening credits for The Purge.
–ayup
n
“CNN’s Stelter, Blitzer Lament Boarding up of Buildings, Get Smacked With Reality Check on Why It’s Happening”
https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2020/11/02/cnns-stelter-blitzer-lament-boarding-up-of-buildings-get-smacked-with-reality-check-on-why-its-happening-n273744
We are going to have to do something about the Antifa. They are are not going to go away easily in either case. The Trumper has the Insurrection Act in his back pocket, just like a football umpire with his yellow flag.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurrection_Act_of_1807
I would advise members of the Antifa to stay out of military tribunals. They have been very harsh over the years to rioters. Firing squads are still legal ….
Men don’t get rid of anything until their wives threaten divorce over it. 🙂
I bought my Expy instead of a new four door pickup for exactly that reason, they want the kids in the back. Even with airbags and modern restraints, the front passenger seat is the most deadly.
I have been grabbing the Harvard classics for a buck a book at goodwill. I’ve got about a three foot stack in storage. I jumped on the kindle version.
I’ve read several guttenburg books, but the scan to text can suck royally, especially for numbers and fractions, and the illustrations are lost. Picture captions are handled very strangely by the conversion. I hope the kindle version isn’t a repackaging of the gutenburg by some rando like all those pamphlets and other works that were clogging up search results for a while.
Done with power washing, off to mail two sales and do my pickup.
n
I’ve read several guttenburg books, but the scan to text can suck royally, especially for numbers and fractions, and the illustrations are lost. Picture captions are handled very strangely by the conversion. I hope the kindle version isn’t a repackaging of the gutenburg by some rando like all those pamphlets and other works that were clogging up search results for a while.
It may well be a repackaging of Gutenberg.
A paid copy from Amazon is not a guarantee of quality, professional work. Ever seen the official Kindle version of “Atlas Shrugged” that the estate shills for $17.95? Most Gutenberg conversions are much better.
Kindle book “source code” is just a flavor of XML/HTML, and a “book” is really easy to put together from raw text like Gutenberg supplies.
In grad school, for some classes, I used to paste together 500 page reports from source code and output which no human actually read using LaTeX, enscript, and ps2pdf. Table of contents too — all ready for binding if it ever came to that. The first thing I learned early is that Word is not up to the task when the documents get that big, but raw text is real easy to handle from a batch process.
I would advise members of the Antifa to stay out of military tribunals. They have been very harsh over the years to rioters. Firing squads are still legal ….
If Portland asks for Federal help, Antifa will get rounded up and hauled out to the Air National Guard base at the Portland Airport, not far from the FBI/Homeland compound, and after 24 hours of bedwetting, they’ll be arranged with Daddy’s lawyer posting bail.
Have you seen that Andrew Cuomo has written a book on what an awesome job he did during the pandemic?
https://www.amazon.com/American-Crisis-Leadership-COVID-19-Pandemic/dp/0593239261/?tag=ttgnet-20
Have you seen that Andrew Cuomo has written a book on what an awesome job he did during the pandemic?
If Biden wins and the cycle of 1994 repeats, which I believe it will, Cuomo is done, no fourth term and no White House run, just like Daddy miscalculated by not running in 1992.
Despair is a sin. Who would have predicted that “Don’t Stop Thinkin’ ‘Bout Tomorrow” would be over by 1995?
@all:
I can see this in UK, but there’s no “Buy” link, so it may be region-blocked. Would someone do me the favour of checking? TIA,
G.
@Geoff try https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harvard-Classics-Eliots-Five-Shelf-ebook/dp/B07LDYZ38Y/ref=sr_1_?tag=ttgnet-20
I took a quick look through it… It’s well indexed. Each book is a chapter and begins with a linked list of chapters in that book. Page turning works well and none of the books I checked are images of the original pages.
Definitely worth $2.
@TG:
That worked, thanks.
Now to get it onto a computer I control, and point Calibre and the DeDRM plugin at it.
G.
I drove it for 287K or so – the odometer got a little iffy towards the end. I blew two spark plugs out of the head, at different times, but other than that it was mechanically excellent. I think I replaced the radiator thermostat and a couple of recall items.
They were mostly easy miles, commuting to work about 45 miles each way, and a monthly trip to check up on my parents, 385 miles each way (running on fumes on arrival, but just one tank of gas!).
I had a second generation. 1993 was the first year. You don’t see many around anymore mostly because Ford cheaped out on the rubber trim pieces and had horrible oxidation problems.
I don’t think mechanically that the car was any worse than average, but the parts were really expensive since most of them were imported from Japan instead of sourced domestically. Ford only supplied a body and interior on the Probe.
“A.F. Branco Cartoon – The Color of Doom”
https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-the-color-of-doom/
“Biden says if he’s elected there will be no Red or Blue states, but we know what color they will be. Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2020.”
Yup. All you Yankees will go shiver in your homes because there will not be any heating oil or natural gas. We will shiver down here in south Texas too.
“The Young Joe Biden of 1974: Horny, Greedy, Lying, Two-Timing, Tempted by Corruption (And Wasn’t There a Felony?)”
https://www.lenorathompsonwriter.com/beyondnarcissism/the-young-joe-biden-of-1974-horny-greedy-lying-two-timing-tempted-by-corruption-and-wasnt-there-a-felony
“”I’d come back [from campaigning] too tired to talk to [my wife, Neilia],” freshman Senator Joe Biden bragged to Kitty Kelley in a 1974 interview. “I might satisfy her in bed but I didn’t have much time for anything else.” Because every woman just loves silent wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am.”
Oh my !
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
Yeah, for that price I admit I one-clicked it myself, and i really need to do the Calibre thing. One of these days…
“TRUMP Campaign Manager Releases Internal Swing State Numbers — AND THEY WILL SEND DEMOCRATS OFF THE CLIFF”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/11/trump-campaign-manager-releases-internal-swing-state-numbers-will-send-democrats-off-cliff/
“The final StatesPoll on Monday before election day predicts a Donald Trump win with 312 electoral votes.”
https://statespoll.com/
One can only hope and vote.
“Now to get it onto a computer I control, and point Calibre and the DeDRM plugin at it.”
Yeah, for that price I admit I one-clicked it myself, and i really need to do the Calibre thing. One of these days…
I’ve long suspected Amazon does additional watermarking of the purchased books to prevent sharing. Calibre isn’t a secret.
Re: Amazon product/book links for outside US:
If you replace the first part of the url (amazon.com) with your country’s Amazon URL (in UK: amazon.co.uk ), you should be able to find the product.
Alternatively, you can use my Universal Book Link site (https://www.bklnk.com ) and tack on the product (ASIN) code.
The plugin I wrote that is used to convert all Amazon links doesn’t take into account the proper Amazon store for your country. The BKLNK site does do that via a geocode of your IP address (for ‘normal’ people, not for those that obscure their IP address), and sends you to the proper Zon store for that item. That’s the intent of Universal Book Links.
As a side note, the BKLNK site adds my Zon affiliate code (or the author’s, if they sign up for a free account) to the proper country store URL. Affiliate revenue lets me do the API lookup of the product code and apply the affiliate code.
Don’t make a lot of $$ on all (not just here) affiliate sales (usually around US$50/month), but it does help pay for hosting. Self-published authors like the free tools on the BKLNK site. Some have even used the ‘donate’ button!
“Watch: National Guard Troops Arrive In Multiple US Cities Ahead Of Election Night Chaos”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-national-guard-troops-arrive-multiple-us-cities-ahead-election-night-chaos
“In preparation for any emergencies, including widespread social unrest following election results on Tuesday night, the National Guard has been deployed in several states.”
“Fears of election night chaos have gripped state governments for the last month, forcing Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts on Monday to “activate” 1,000 Massachusetts National Guard members.”
“And in Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown, for the second time in two months, declared a state of emergency for the Portland metro area, citing potential social unrest surrounding the election.”
“Governors have also mobilized Guard forces in Texas, Alabama, and Arizona to major cities in their respective states in anticipation of violence.”
Do you think that they have rubber bullets in their guns ?
Special Forces UTVs ?
I just read a story in our local press (AP or UP, I forgot) that they are erecting an “unscaleable fence” around the White House in preparations for tomorrow’s election day riots. The article also mentioned that schools and businesses should take a “flex-day post-election day off”. I guess to provide more bodies for the riots, which of course are Trump’s fault (NOT).
My daughter just came back from having a “required” COVID test. Her job as a Medical Coder is under the umbrella of Providence Medical and all employees have to take on an online COVID test every day, even those working from home as she is. Today she had a sore throat and was feeling blah. So she failed the online test and had to go in for a COVID test (nose probe all the way to behind her eyeball, so she related). Now the wait…
Getting ready to “bunker down”.
Which is totally unforeseeable at this time of year.
Nice:
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/11/spacex-starlink-beta-tester-takes-user-terminal-into-forest-gets-120mbps/
Our district is fully learn from home tomorrow. My polling place is in the High School auditorium.
So, they either want the kids away from the possibly sick general public, or they want the kids away from any trouble, or embrace the power of AND….
n
Microcenter started their “black friday” sale today. FFS.
n
/Politically Incorrect On/ Can only Black people shop on Friday? /Politically Incorrect Off/ Note: the word black must be capitalized in this case.
Just wait, this IS going to become an issue.
“‘Non-scalable’ fencing erected around White House, stores boarded up in anticipation of election protests”
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/scalable-fencing-erected-white-house-stores-boarded-anticipation/story?id=73977184
Ain’t no fence built that some idiot can’t scale. And when they are profiled against the fence, sniper.
One wonders how many crew served weapons that they have at the White House.
One hopes that they do not have to use them.
No, DadCooks, you have it totally wrong. Black Friday is the only day when it’s legal to buy black people.
You want politically incorrect? I’ll give you politically incorrect.
I don’t want to buy a black people. Because then I have to feed them.
Although, I see from various movies that whips are fun.
But, no. I’m too cheap to buy a black people.
n
No, DadCooks, you have it totally wrong. Black Friday is the only day when it’s legal to buy black people.
You want politically incorrect? I’ll give you politically incorrect.
Note to self: It is time to read “Citizen of the Galaxy” again.
https://www.amazon.com/Citizen-Galaxy-Heinleins-Juveniles-Book-ebook/dp/B005OLRPI0/?tag=ttgnet-20
I’ve got an old Del Rey MMPB stashed here at the Bug Out site.
The description of the slave auction is beyond words. Especially when the young dandy has to give Baslim the beggar more coinage to pay the slave tax. One wonders if Heinlein actually attended a slave auction in his world travels.
“Wargaming the Electoral College: Crunch Time”
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2020/11/02/wargaming-the-electoral-college-crunch-time-n1116421
So before the six battleground states, Trump has 260 and Biden has 212 from 44 states and DC. So to reach the magic 270 electoral votes, Trump has to take 10 electoral votes of Pennsylvania (20), New Hampshire (4), Wisconsin (10), Minnesota (10), Michigan (16), and/or Nevada (6).
Gonna be a long day Tuesday.
The good news is that the repuglicans are probably going to retain the Senate. Taking the House back is long stretch. But maybe we can take out stretch …
Probably. However, comments indicate that it is well formatted. On of the PG books I downloaded to my Kindle was a mess.
The good news is that the repuglicans are probably going to retain the Senate. Taking the House back is long stretch. But maybe we can take out stretch …
Redistricting next year with Republican Governors and Legislatures in Florida and Texas. Florida also has the state’s Supreme Court in Republican hands.
God help us if Abbott chooses to chase Ann Richards’ ghost again and cuts deals for votes on more anti-abortion nonsense. The Progs got the upper hand two years ago, and Austin’s homeless policy is one end result.
Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve read several of the gutenburg books, Darwin’s Origin, and Voyage, a couple of machinist manuals, some victorian “how stuff works” and “cool stuff you can make at home” books, and a couple on British industry. All my reading is on kindle or dead tree, so these were kindle. In general, the text comes thru ok. Figures, numbers, illustration captions, anything that’s not a dictionary word, well, ya payz yor money and ya takez yor chances.
n
Given my habits and eyesight, I’m really glad to have the classics in a zoomable format, with a backlight, and weighing the same for one as 30…..
I see that WalMart is discontinuing the use of robots to scan for grocery shelf stock.
I always wondered why they would do that. If they have a basic inventory of the store by product number (bar code, etc), and the bar code is used at the checkout, why can’t the checkout system report back to the inventory system? If x items are sold, and inventory count is known, then a level of y would cause an order, when that happens, order more of the product?
Yes, some shrinkage involved. But the stocker could update the current number of items when he fills up the shelf. (“There are 10 items on the shelf at this moment. Punch that into my handheld scanner, scan the shelf bar code. Scan the box that I am about to open to refill that shelf. Inventory system is updated with ‘existing count’ + ‘count in box’.”
And, that might require that the stocker takes a bit more time to stock that item.
When I was on the grocery stocking crew many decades ago, before bar codes, we had to put prices on each item as we stocked the shelves. And we were required to do 30-40 cases an hour. The stocking crew manager would always tell us “I only want to see A**holes and Elbows!”
And in those olden days, the Head Clerk would walk around with a handheld device and punch in the item # to reorder a case. They had to have a good knowledge of the sales volume for an item. I tried it once, and ordered way too many cases of items for the sales volume.
“Kyle Rittenhouse Reportedly Held On $2 Million Bail After 1st Court Hearing”
https://dailycaller.com/2020/11/02/kyle-rittenhouse-two-million-dollar-bail-kenosha-wisconsin-shooting-death-court-hearing/
““The charges are incredibly serious and again, if a conviction occurs there would be a likelihood of an imposition of a mandatory life sentence or at least significant amounts of time, likely decades of a period of incarceration,” the judge said, per the Post. “I believe that there’s a reasonable basis to flee.””
Good night !
Where are they going to find 12 people to convict him after viewing the video ?
As my constable said, “you’ll be judged by a jury of the dead guy’s peers…”
Any reasonable person would watch the video that the defense put together and find him not guilty. At least he has competent defense. The driver in Charlottesville had a hack and he’s paying the price.
nn
“Michigan Governor: Up To Six Months In Prison If Businesses Don’t Surveil Customers For Contact Tracing”
https://thefederalist.com/2020/11/01/michigan-governor-up-to-six-months-in-prison-if-businesses-dont-surveil-customers-for-contact-tracing/
“Ihre papiere, bitte” (“Your papers, please”).
These two guys are loaded for bear.
https://gunfreezone.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/IMG_3146.jpg
“The US Secret Service has entered “fuck around and find out” mode.”
–I think that about sums it up.
n
These two guys are loaded for bear.
https://gunfreezone.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/IMG_3146.jpg
“The US Secret Service has entered “f*** around and find out” mode.”
–I think that about sums it up.
n
I think the smaller rifle is the old Marine Corp favorite, the M40 in 7.62×51 mm. Or a Mk 13. Either will rip a hole about 4 inches across in you up to a 1,000 yards away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M40_rifle
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mk_13_rifle
The huge rifle is a Barrett .50 cal. Kiss your ass goodbye. It also appears to have a thermal imager at the back of the stock. If you could buy one right now (ultra high demand), they are $8,000 each without attachments.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrett_M82
I have a semi-auto Browning in .308. It is a knock-down weapon. I doubt I will ever shoot it again, it is a real man’s weapon. My shoulder is just not in good enough shape anymore.
I just realized, that is a standard Marine Corps sniper team, spotter and shooter.
And the gun free website says the smaller rifle is a 7mm magnum.
And I am stuck in moderation.
These two guys are loaded for bear.
https://gunfreezone.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/IMG_3146.jpg
“The US Secret Service has entered “f*** around and find out” mode.”
–I think that about sums it up.
n
The former USMC son says that I am full of crap. The regular rifle is a plain old M16 that has been modified. The sniper rifle is a 7.62×51 mm MK11 with a foot long suppressor on it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight%27s_Armament_Company_SR-25
I got ya out.
n
Take a good look at some of their other gear. M16 has one radio and a headset. BigGun has two radios, both with speaker mics. He’s not worried about anyone hearing the noise of the speakers, and he’s probably mostly listening and not talking. BIG binos. Interesting how the mags, their phones, and some other things, notebooks? , are arranged. Scuffed knees, they’ve been kneeling or prone already.
n
Scuffed knees, they’ve been kneeling or prone already.
They have been sighting in on the fence line around the White House.
I think that the smaller rifle is more than a standard M16 with an aftermarket foregrip…
The mag well is too smooth, and the mag looks very square instead of rectangular. Something bigger and longer than 556 anyway. Don’t be fooled by the 60s era stock. It’s a flattop (no handle to match the stock), doesn’t have a forward assist, has very smooth upper. Really long barrel, and nothing at the end, no flashhider, nothing.
Compare it to the M4 the solo guy in the next picture is holding. It’s about twice as long….
n