Warm and sunny, with a small chance of rain, or hot and sunny, I’m reasonably sure it will be one or the other. It was sunny and warm yesterday, but so humid that puddles in the driveway wouldn’t dry. I was soaked with sweat pretty quickly after going outside. Sunny and beautiful, but not pleasant.
Spent a couple of hours napping. I just felt really wrung out, and was falling asleep in my office chair. Since that hurts my neck, I just went back to bed. I’ve done that more in the last couple of months than in the last couple of years. That is not necessarily a good thing.
The rest of the day was eaten up with small tasks. I got a mounting arm for my last camera cobbled together. I put the mount for the mount in place on the chimney. And I got the camera configured, along with the NVR software. Even though the cam is sitting in my office, I am looking at image from it on my NVR. Since getting that camera in place and working moved to pretty near the top of my list, it felt like a good day.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was devoted to cooking our belated Easter dinner. I was able to use mint and rosemary from the garden to season the lamb. I also used some instant potato packets from 2014. They were a bit orange, as the butter flavor coloring changed with time, but after adding some cream, butter, and bacon crumbles, the mashed potatoes were perfectly fine as an accompaniment to the lamb. I had one box of envelopes that tasted “old” and then this box that is well within acceptable range for taste. Same age, but one got more heat than the other. Heat is the killer of stored food.
I have decided to increase my stored bulk rice and flour beyond where it is now. It’s relatively cheap, and things aren’t looking better world wide, in fact our pResident seems to be actively working to make them worse. (And of course I don’t believe it’s him at all, but whoever is pulling the strings. It’s convenient to blame him, after all he’s sitting in the big chair, and that way I don’t need to type all this every time.) I think when I did the math, if we were eating it every day, one bucket of rice would last one month, and 50 pounds fits in a bucket. I’ll double check later today and update. So, 10-12 buckets of rice at $25-$40/bucket for the year. I haven’t priced bulk rice in a year, and it varies by grade, producer, and availability. If someone here is using rice every day (roughly) please add your usage observations.
Flour is much harder to judge because I do almost nothing with bulk flour. I’m going to guess at 10-12 buckets per year for that too, because it’s cheap, so why not.
I’ll need to add a few gallons of vitamin E stabilized peanut cooking oil too. That will actually be the most expensive part.
Those three things, and some salt, comprise most of the traditional ‘poor people’ food the world over, time without end. Some type of powdered flour, some rice, some cooking oil, some water and salt, and you have basic calories that can be added to with whatever is available. RBT called them “iron rations” and it never seemed very appealing to me. I plan to have lots to add to them, but they are the base load. It’s time to build up the canned storage too.
We’re currently eating canned corn, beans, peas, and a few other things that I panic bought during ebola-14, and the vast majority is as good as when I bought it. There are exceptions. High acid foods don’t survive as long in cans. Pineapple, tomato products, some other fruit, they have swelled up and/or popped. Dry mixes with a high fat content also tend to taste “old” once past their best by date. In our climate, dried food in boxes picks up an “old” taste too soon too– Kraft mac n cheese I’m looking at you.
The way I’m looking at it, maybe we WON’T need enough stuff to stay home for 6 months to a year because of a pandemic…. and maybe we won’t need to supplement our shopping with stored food for a year or two, while the economy and security situation stabilize. But what if we do? Food security is cheap insurance.
So stack it high.
nick
Wife informed me that according to hospice the MIL will most likely not make it past Saturday. Apparently they judge this based on the face. However MIL has missed a couple of hospice deadlines (clever, huh) already so who knows.
@ray, I’m sorry to hear that. At this point, all you can do is support your wife.
n
72F and 78%RH this morning.
n
geez, renter just textd that the fridge/freezer isn’t staying cold enough to keep ice. FFS, when it rains it pours.
Our landlord didn’t supply a refrigerator at the rental we had around the corner. He claimed it was due to some kind of Texas law.
Why any American cares about British royalty is a mystery to me. 1776, baby.
So, 10-12 buckets of rice at $25-$40/bucket for the year. I haven’t priced bulk rice in a year, and it varies by grade, producer, and availability. If someone here is using rice every day (roughly) please add your usage observations.
We use our rice pot 2-3 times a week, 3 180 mL cups each time if I’m measuring, roughly about a pound of dry rice converting to weight IIRC. Four people. Usually there are leftovers which go into a bag for fried rice once every couple of weeks.
Lately, I’ve had to buy a 50 lb bag every three months or so to top off our dry rice storage, but I think my father-in-law’s genetics in my kids’ heads have them half-a**ing the rice measurements so that may not be a normal consumption rate at your household. I’ve noticed a lot more waste being tossed regularly, but I have to pick my battles carefully around here — rice waste is low on the priority list. YMMV.
If you’re doing bulk rice, don’t buy at Costco. Hit H-Mart or Ranch 99. Our late host and I used to debate this point every time it came up, but Kirkland bulk rice develops bugs quickly in my experience.
We buy Thai Jasmine, “Three Ladies” or “Elephant” brand. A handful of bay leaves go into the bin every time I top off to delay insects getting interested in the contents.
If you’re serious about cooking rice in the post-apocalyptic future, buy one of the Korean P/N-brand pressure cooker rice pots at H-Mart and learn to use it. Very low energy requirements, but I still haven’t mastered mine after owning one for nearly a decade.
You will have to scrounge at H-Mart. The pots are $100+ and usually semi-hidden on a high shelf.
Or you may get lucky at an estate sale, especially an immigrant Korean household.
Why any American cares about British royalty is a mystery to me. 1776, baby.
Lately, I’ve begun to wonder if the real power behind the family has been plotting to put one of the bloodline’s own in the White House going back at least a century, especially since the murderous adultering bootlegger Joe Kennedy pulled it off. And “commoner” Irish to boot!
I doubt Prince Harry is as estranged from the old woman on the throne as it seems at the moment. And I don’t immediately dismiss the rumors of running the wife. Lots of men want to have sex with that, and a candidacy isn’t any less of a possibility than Shot Girl’s given the current state of the press in the US.
However, if I was a betting man, I’d put my money on the Harry/Markle offspring to reign with the next generation from William/Kate in the UK.
“2 cups
How Many Cups of Rice in a Pound? There are 2 cups of rice in a pound and each cup of dry rice will yield 3 cups of cooked rice (one pound of dry rice will yield 6 cups of cooked rice).”
–freom the intarwebz, which seems to match Greg’s experience at a first glance.
Or, 50# = 50 days at 3 cups of cooked rice per day.
n
added- although other sources say a bit more..
https://www.howmany.wiki/wv/How-many–cup–of–uncooked+rice–in–1–pound
n
Been a while since we saw these pix…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9452881/Brazils-daily-Covid-death-toll-hits-record-4-249.html
The article and pix could be from 7 months ago, with only the totals changed.
n
If I were the betting type I’d say Obummer and his supporters. This is his third term and he’s never gotton over TRump trying to dismantle his legacy.
supporters – maybe cabal would be the right word
linked as an example of what is possible with minimal investment…
home made injection molding, 1 in3 volume…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoSVPHVESiE
I can think of some small mods, based on a reloading progressive die, and some judicious use of pneumatics
n
“However, if I was a betting man, I’d put my money on the Harry/Markle offspring to reign with the next generation from William/Kate in the UK.”
–supported by a new aristo class composed of wealthy new money and the NGOs.
n
Considering the way he’s been in and out of hospitals I am not surprised. More proof that the statements doctors release about politicians (or royalty in this case) being fine is complete bullshit. They could get admitted to the hospital a half dozen times in a year and each time the physicians will say they’re doing well or on the road to recovery and then they drop dead. I suppose that sounds better than, “He’s 99 with a host of age related health problems. He could go at any minute.”
I always got the impression Prince Phillip was an ass. No TV or movie portrayal of him has ever been flattering. You never see his kids, grandkids, or great grandkids show him any unscripted affection or warmth. Subtract 9 months from the birth of QE2’s last child (Prince Edward) and I’m guess that’s the last time they shared a bed. He was a royal sperm donor and not much else. Then there’s all the conspiracy theories about him offing family enemies (like Diana).
Successful tabloid marketing. They plaster it all over the cover and so Americans think it’s must be news and worth knowing about. My mother and wife being two of those people. Once QE2 is dead I wouldn’t be surprised to see the anti-monarchy movement grow in the UK. It spiked when Diana died, so it’s there just under the surface. QE2 is sort of this rock that’s been there for generations and so she has a lot of loyalty and respect. The next generations not so much. The joke has been that QE2 has kept herself alive and not abdicated because she doesn’t want to hand it over to Charles. I think she is hoping to outlive him (or at least outlive Camilla) and pass the reins (and reign) to William.
added- although other sources say a bit more..
I think it varies on the grain of the rice and how much moisture the rice has gained/lost in storage.
My storage is inside the AC “envelope” at our house, and, at the risk of breaking “op sec”, I don’t have more than six months supply at any given time. Bugs always find a way in eventually.
And I only keep *white* rice. Brown rice is strictly a few pounds at a time purchase, Nishiki brand, since it goes bad quickly and is very energy intensive to cook, even with a fancy lad rice pot using the “brown” setting.
Which reminds me — we’ve had fancy rice pots and simple ones. Simple works, but I understand the appeal of fancy. Should you choose the latter, have a backup Zojirushi with analog controls of the appropriate capacity for your family.
@greg:
Why would we want to? Just for 8 years (max) governing an obstreperous lot like you? We’ve got our own bolshiness to contend with, thank you very much.
<grin>
G.
@Geoff —
It would be one way for the “one world”ers to get their wish… but I agree, I can’t see a point in it.
n
Why would we want to? Just for 8 years (max) governing an obstreperous lot like you? We’ve got our own bolshiness to contend with, thank you very much.
Control of the US Dollar to enrich the family and their cabal. No different than the Clintons or the Obamas, but the plan has been in motion much longer for a bigger payoff.
The Royals don’t simply want a library edifice on Jackson Park in Chicago, private jets, or Bernie-style lake house. Unfortunately, Charles and his brother, Prince “Hugger”, turned out too stupid to involve with the scheme back when the Dollar was still reasonably sound heading into the 70s.
More broadly, why would anyone want to be in charge of anyone else? Unfathomable to me. But I recognize it as a mental defect in most humans, so I ignore it where I can, put up with it if I have to, and kill when the other two options don’t work.
It used to be people who didn’t want to be in charge of others or have others in charge of them could just choose to go live in the wilderness or at least at the edge of the frontier. That’s not much of an option in the 21st century. That reminds me of some saying to the effect of, “At some point every man seriously considers saying “fuck it all” and walking into the woods to live alone off the land.” (That’s probably horribly misquoted.)
Understood, Chad. It’s no longer an option. All we have left now is another quote: Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
Humans need the frontier. They need to be able to head out over the hill.
n
Watch this video for an explanation of the steady, leftward shift of the Overton window.
My wife got hers via Methodist and they were much better organized than Fort Bend County Health, where I got mine.
There is no evidence that he was a bootlegger. A book on Prohibition went into this in some detail. There are no contemporary news accounts about him being in the bootlegging in the US, and plenty of articles on others that were. What he did do was much more mundane. He saw the end of Prohibition coming and used his connections to buy up UK distilleries and make agreements to import booze from there (Dewar’s, Haig & Haig, Gordon’s were among the brands where he had US distribution control). It was sent to Canada and warehoused there in bond, then when repeal happened, he brought it in to the US to bonded warehouses and thus was able to supply it on the day repeal was effective. The bootlegging allegations came up years and years after the end of Prohibition, in the 1960s.
Prince Philip – last public photos, he looked like he had already crossed over, and just forgotten to inform his body. Anyway, BBC has basically totally cancelled their programming: it’s now non-stop “news” about Prince Philip, for hours and hour and hours…
I hate coverage like that. They just repeat themselved endlessly, because – of course – there’s not actually anything to say. It’s not like this was a surprise to anyone. Far better would be a short, dignified “in memorium”.
Indeed. Of course, the US used to have the Kennedy clan as a substitute. Plus all the Hollywood types. They serve much the same purpose…
Ewww. Same category as AOC. People keep saying that guys find them attractive, but I sure don’t see it.
This. There’s no reason why the British aristocracy would have any interest in running the US. Too much work, too little gain, too much competition from the local aristocracy, excuse me, political elite.
Out of left field here, but I was reading old comments (circa 2012) and saw a name I haven’t seen around here in a while…
Where’s Chuck Waggoner?
Or, has he been around and I’m just oblivious (happens with increasing regularity).
I hinted around at this a while back (I just didn’t know what I was referencing was called the “Overton window.”) :
“We’re all around to witness a fundamental shift in American society. It’s been teetering on the edge of a knife for years. That’s why we’re strongly divided on every major issue. That deep 49/51 or 51/49 division that has been haunting issues for so long is beginning to tip in favor of the liberal/progressive viewpoint on everything. Soon, it will be 60/40 in favor of the progs and there’s no coming back from that.”
The absence of evidence does not imply the evidence of absence. It could mean that Joe Kennedy killed everyone who knew about him being a bootlegger.
Ewww. Same category as AOC. People keep saying that guys find them attractive, but I sure don’t see it.
I gave up trying to explain it a long time ago, but I don’t deny the appeal for “strange” exists. Maybe it is the perceived possibility of danger tied in with the biological drive to procreate.
At my last job, the fascination among male management was skinny white girls with music-related majors from private colleges in Texas, including a girl who was band director at one of the local high schools in a fancy lad area before the company hired her to be a developer.
Band nerds?
The difference is this time the dems/libs/progs/commies see how they faiied twelve years ago when Obummer only had two years instead of eight. Now they’re going to do it all as fast as they can. Lyin’ Joe keeps talking like there will be unity and healing but there is absolutely none, and never will be.
There will be the peace of the grave.
Ensure that you are on the right side of the grave’s surface.
Mr. Chuck last posted here during Dr. Bob’s memorial. I believe he leans to the liberal side and doesn’t want to waste time with us Neanderthals.
Mr. Chuck’s knowledge of sound and processing it is fantastic.
And sarcastically sneering at him will? Perhaps just a dose of civility might solve a few problems here and there.
The difference is this time the dems/libs/progs/commies see how they faiied twelve years ago when Obummer only had two years instead of eight. Now they’re going to do it all as fast as they can. Lyin’ Joe keeps talking like there will be unity and healing but there is absolutely none, and never will be.
Ted Kennedy died in September of Obama’s first year and was replaced by the underwear model, ending the filibuster-proof majority.
Still, considering how much time they had between Jan. 20 and the Fall, when the Uncle Half-dead Ted could be rolled onto the floor of the Senate for important votes, not much got accomplished.
Biden essentially has until Thanksgiving to get anything done before the parties start gearing up for 2022, with a focus on forcing changes in the Governors’ Mansons in GA, FL, and TX.
Yeah, I don’t get the appeal of AOC or Markle. I’ve never been interested in crazy though I know some people are.
Voting for someone because you want to have sex with them never quite made sense to me, especially when applied to female voters. I never really believed that was a real thing.
It’s very odd to see (someone I cared very little about) someone who was portrayed as a playboy and ‘man about town’ end up with a c list actress, with all her baggage.
It’s interesting in a train wreck sort of way, and it’s a bit concerning when it distracts (and weakens) one of our traditional allies (something that our other allies must be thinking about us right now.)
I have not seen Chuck, or Miles_Teg, or a couple of others in quite a while.
n
Watch this video for an explanation of the steady, leftward shift of the Overton window.
The Left as psychopaths/sociopaths? Confirms what I’ve suspected for years!
I’m not sure how you got that from what I said. I also don’t remember you being around during heated discussions on Social Security, Medicare and how great Germany is. Nobody was sarcastic with him, including me (and just about everybody else posting here on the other side of Mr. Chuck).
Got my new cam up and running but forgot to format the microSD card on board. Now I have to climb back up and get it out. That’ll have to wait though. Out of time for that project today.
n
Mars. NASA will never get us there with their expensive rockets and political control.
geez, renter just textd that the fridge/freezer isn’t staying cold enough to keep ice. FFS, when it rains it pours.
Our landlord didn’t supply a refrigerator at the rental we had around the corner. He claimed it was due to some kind of Texas law.
News to me. We supply refrigerators in four of our five rental properties, all here in Texas.
“EXCLUSIVE: What WASN’T in Hunter Biden’s book: How he got unauthorized Secret Service protection, begged Joe to run for WH to salvage his own reputation and made porn films with prostitutes. Forensic experts prove laptop IS President’s son’s”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9445105/What-Hunter-Biden-left-tell-memoir-revealed.html
Eeeek ! I looked ! I knew that I should not have looked but I looked.
The future is here. Privileged children of politicians running around with all kinds of lowlifes inside and outside of the USA. And, showing off their meth teeth !
Why would anyone buy Hunter’s autobiography ? He is a continuous train wreck.
I am reading Maureen Ohara’s (ne Fitzsimmons’s) autobiography slowly on the side of the other books that I am reading. Now that is an interesting piece of work. I have just gotten to the part where her third husband was assassinated by the CIA for whom he was working for.
https://www.amazon.com/Tis-Herself-Autobiography-Maureen-OHara/dp/0743269160/
Why would anyone buy Hunter’s autobiography ? He is a continuous train wreck.
Who was the publisher? The book publication is a roundabout bribe from the media conglomerate. Most of the copies will end up recalled from bookstores and pulped. Hunter still got an advance check, nice and legal.
If you remember the Legend Of Jeff, Family Guy, Drives A Honda, Wears The Same Shirt To Work Every Day (TM), books were the first Amazon product because, while MacKenzie drove the Bronco over the mountains, Jeff’s research work sitting in the passenger seat led him to the “Eureka” discovery that Ingram and the other distributors still operated on a 30 days same as cash payment model which would allow him to play float games with the customers’ payments until the distributors due dates for either the cash or return of the merchandise.
And MacKenzie drove the Bronco …
On and on, day and night …
Buttigieg’s … husband … ? … had a book on the shelf when I was subjected to the Amazon physical bookstore in Austin by my son last week. I could kinda sorta understand Mayor Pete himself … assuming he’s coming clean about his Deep State antics and Truman Center projects … but the … spouse?
Two measuring cups equal one pint (or one pint contains 2 cups). As a very old rule of thumb says:
“A pint’s a pound the world around”
It will vary somewhat, but as a way of guestimating for prepper & cooking purposes, one pint or two cups is usually real close to an actual pound in weight of almost any food or liquid.
Why would anyone buy Hunter’s autobiography ? He is a continuous train wreck.
Who was the publisher? The book publication is a roundabout bribe from the media conglomerate. Most of the copies will end up recalled from bookstores and pulped. Hunter still got an advance check, nice and legal.
Whoever the crap that Gallery Books is.
https://www.amazon.com/Untitled-Nonfiction-AB-Confirmed-Gallery/dp/1982151110/?tag=ttgnet-20
Ah, Gallery Books is Simon & Schuster. Yup, bribe.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sources-say-hunter-biden-likely-paid-big-bucks-for-new-book-deal
Ah, Gallery Books is Simon & Schuster. Yup, bribe.
CBS/Viacom. The same company that just tried to rip Ron DeSantis apart on “60 Minutes” over Publix priority distribution of vaccines, alleging it was tied to a check to DeSantis’ PAC.
We watched “The Last Blockbuster” the other night. One of the bullet points advaned by the filmmakers was the CFO’s theory that the demise of the chain was ultimately due to the inability of management to raise capital to acquire new customers just as Netflix caught fire circa 2008.
Viacom loaded Blockbuster with debt to use the cashflow from the rental business to acquire CBS and the chain was unable to compete in the long run.
The theory ignores Redbox’ rise and Blockbuster’s monopolistic price structure in many towns, but ok. The flick is still a worthwhile watch, and the store manger of the last in the chain is the real star.
“The Amazon Union Vote Is Over: What Investors Need to Know”
https://www.millionacres.com/real-estate-investing/articles/the-amazon-union-vote-is-over-what-investors-need-to-know/
“Most of Amazon’s Bessemer workers voted against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The final count was 1,798 votes against unionizing versus 738 votes in favor of it — about a 71% no vote.”
“Given the pressure Amazon has put on workers to avoid unionizing, this outcome isn’t particularly shocking. It also means Amazon has dodged a major bullet. Now, it can retain control over how its warehouses are run, and it can continue to impose the tough standards workers have come to expect — long hours, aggressive quotas, and, in some cases, cramped conditions.”
Unionizing the Amazon warehouses was not the answer to their problems. And unionizing the warehouses would have hastened the automation of the warehouses.
I got the first Pfizer covid vaccine shot this morning at my local Methodist hospital. They said that they are doing 900 people a day. I was verified and then fed into the assembly line. Very efficient.
My wife got hers via Methodist and they were much better organized than Fort Bend County Health, where I got mine.
I tried to make an appointment at Fort Bend County Health website. I was not smart enough to negotiate that nightmare. And then Methodist sent me a text about an opening the next day.
@Brad:
Yes, it irritates me, too. All same their WuFlu coverage, where they pre-empt a scheduled programme in favour of a “news” programme showing various politicos waffling on about what’s happening, and what they propose to do about it. And it’s always the same programme – one of my favourites.
But it’s better than the description of the broadcast format for a Royal death that I saw in the 70s, while I was working for Auntie. I don’t remember all the details, and I also don’t remember whether it was current policy, or an outdated version, or for that matter whether it’s been amended since, but all programming would have been replaced by a static caption and funereal music – or in extreme cases (ISTR the death of HM the Queen) the funeral tolling of bells, for hours on end. Thus far, we’ve been spared that for Phil the Greek, but be prepared for full-on pageantry when he’s laid to rest in Westminster Abbey.
Be it noted here, I am a Royalist. I think they, as a family, do a lot of good for the country – over and above bringing in a lot of tourists. Although that’s a mixed blessing.
For the younger Royals, the disadvantages probably outweigh the advantages. Like permanent goldfish bowl, and the obsessive attention of the paparazzi. I believe that Meghan, despite being a popular actress, was (at least) ill-prepared for the Royal goldfish bowl, which is a whole new level of intrusiveness. I certainly wouldn’t want to experience it. And don’t, thank $DEITY.
Still waiting on my second Pfizer vaccine shot. It’s due in the next week or so. You will remember that the UK, by political fiat, has extended the interval between the two shots. At the time, we only had Pfizer approved, but now Moderna is available. Whether that extended interval will still apply is unknown to me.
So in an attempt to restock my secondary location, I moved most of my bulk paper products over there weeks ago. And then when I did my costco order, there was no charmin blue. Two orders in a row. So I ran out here at the house. Well, not totally out, and my wife took several rolls with her to girlscout training camp this weekend, but by my standards we’re out.
And so is Costco at the moment. LOTS of kirkland. No charmin. They did have prime top sirloin for $7 so some of that fell into my cart.
Picked up the kid and hit HEB. They had charmin blue last time I was there. None today. They had some red, but I swore “never again” on that. They had about 4 packs of 12 mega rolls of the green – super gentle, so that’s the style we’ll be trying this week.
In extremis, I’d have hit my secondary, but it was a 20 mile round trip and I didn’t really have the time today. Tomorrow, when I visit my renters, I’ll swing by the secondary and pick up a bundle of charmin for the house. Prepper FAIL.
n
Definitely a first world problem.
I have used grass and leaves but not in a septic system. My dad swore by and at the Sears catalog whose last year isse was a staple of his families outhouse. Count your blessings.
>”Prepper FAIL.”
That is a little harsh on yourself. I would say it is more of a misfire.
Picked up the kid and hit HEB. They had charmin blue last time I was there. None today. They had some red, but I swore “never again” on that. They had about 4 packs of 12 mega rolls of the green – super gentle, so that’s the style we’ll be trying this week.
Sam’s near us has been well stocked on Charmin “blue” since we returned from Florida.
The strange stock situation as of late is Coke products.
I got the first dose of Moderna vaccine yesterday afternoon. I would have preferred Pfizer, but the search tools were contradictory, and many of the local distributors were listed as being out of all of the vaccines. I just kept the appointment that my daughter had helpfully made for me. My shoulder became sore by evening, and a little worse by 11:00 PM. This morning it had subsided a little, and is almost gone, now. It didn’t bother me. I’ve had no tiredness or other symptoms, yet. I’m taking it easy as far as physical exertion goes.
I have heard a number of stories about getting vaccine left over at the close of the day. I accompanied my wife when she got her Pfizer shot a couple of weeks ago (she was more qualified than I am), and tried for that. In the end, they had only one dose left with six people waiting for it, and I lost the draw. Others have asked to be put on a waiting list and called if there are doses left at the end of the day, and have gotten one that way. I didn’t want to invest that much time and effort. I think my risk level is low.
We should all be wondering, what dirt did Prince Phillip have on Hillary?
“Reddit Traders Send ASO Soaring After-Hours Following Big JPMorgan Block Sale”
“Update (1750ET): After getting clubbed like a bay seal overnight – thanks to JPMorgan’s big block sales after-hours – Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO) spiked after hours tonight following an appearance by Justin Zhen of Thunknum on CNBC’s Fast Money suggesting that the stock had become the newest darling among the Reddit traders.”
I have not been inside Academy in a year. I have been wondering about them surviving. Looks like they are doing well. And I did not know that they IPO’d in 2020.
When I lived in the dorms and ran out of toilet paper I would sit on the toilet and while doing my business I would crumple and uncrumple a sheet of notebook paper. By the time I was done the notebook paper was soft enough to use. 🙂
I can remember sewer workers complaining at the height of the pandemic toilet paper shortages that people were cutting up old shirts and sheets to use as toilet paper and the sewer system was never intended for that.
You could bypass the problem almost entirely with a bidet, but they’re wildly unpopular in the US (though, getting more popular every year).
I suppose your ass is like most other skin on your body. Use rough enough toilet paper for long enough and it’ll get calloused to the point you can wipe with anything. lol
Final disgusting note on this topic… Saw a funny on a message board years ago that said, “I shit in the shower and stomp it down the drain like a boss!” lol
On my way back from china, suffering from gasto-intestinal distress, I had a layover in Japan. I spent almost all of it on the toilet.
I REALLY don’t like the japanese toilets. That water spray is super gross, the fan just blows the stink around, and you don’t know you’re actually clean without the paper anyway. No thanks.
n
Picked up the kid and hit HEB. They had Charmin blue last time I was there. None today. They had some red, but I swore “never again” on that. They had about 4 packs of 12 mega rolls of the green – super gentle, so that’s the style we’ll be trying this week.
I bought a 24 pack of Charmin Blue at my HEB last Wednesday night. They had about a dozen of the 24 packs then but people still seem to be arbitraging Charmin Blue. I’ll bet that more than a few garages are stuffed full of it still.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-9454591/Georgia-clinic-FOURTH-halt-J-J-vaccinations-three-days.html
-=-the detail is from the other site, no info released on the reactions this time. I had the same reactions but two days later.
n
He’s a gun grabbing scumbag who took a trophy photo on the grave of 76 innocent men women and children. And he’s Biden’s pick to head the ATF, an agency that shot a woman in cold blood, killing her while she held her baby, over a 1/2 inch modification to a shot gun.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9454603/Biden-ATF-nominee-anti-gun-lobbyist-Waco-lied-cult-shooting-helicopters.html
And he’s a liar, whose lies are self aggrandizing.
Both Ruby Ridge and the attack on the Branch Davidians were enabled by the FBI and the National Firearms Act of 1934. MOST of the time, ATF is busy trying to get people on paperwork errors, or entice them into breaking a law that was influenced by movie lies.
Shotguns are not more dangerous or deadly at 17 1/2 inches instead of 18 1/2 inches. Suppressors are not silencers, and even if they were, that doesn’t make them more deadly or dangerous. There are countries where they are REQUIRED for civilian hunting.
NFA should be repealed. the follow on laws in 65 and 86 should be too.
n
Let’s not forget that Sleepy Joe has not released any additional medical records since December 2019.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-replace-white-house-doctor-long-time-physician/story?id=75456901
And of course he’s from…wait for it…YES…Florida…
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-ethics-committee-opens-investigation-rep-matt-gaetz/story?id=76981572
@JimB:
In Borrego Springs, ele. 750 ft, temp. mid ’90s.
And of course he’s from…wait for it…YES…Florida…
The media has been waiting for a Republican equivalent of Andrew Gillum to come along in Florida.
“First look at the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane season”
https://spacecityweather.com/first-look-at-the-2021-atlantic-hurricane-season/
“Good morning. The most reputable hurricane season forecasting service, led by Phil Klotzbach at Colorado State University, has released its first outlook for the 2021 Atlantic season. The forecast calls for above normal activity (see table below) with 17 named storms instead of the more typical 12; eight hurricanes instead of six; and about 50 percent total more activity, in terms of the duration and intensity of tropical systems, as measured by accumulated cyclone energy.”
Keep on stacking, looks like we are going to have both Ike and Harvey this year.
If you are not at high ground, know where it is and how to get to it.
MIL has become comatose, does not respond to anything. Hospice says hearing is the last sensory function to cease so she apparently can still hear. The condition is caused by the drugs to keep her comfortable and her body shutting down. I remember my aunt in the same condition, basically a shell of a person. The wife is there with her and may be with her mother when the golden bridge is crossed. I expect I will be leaving tomorrow for the long drive to San Antonio. Hospice nurses are apparently fairly good at predicting the demise based on much experience with the death process from natural causes.
Surprising how fast MIL went downhill. Three months ago she was living on her own, driving, fixing her own meals. The last couple of diagnosis’ from the doctors I think mentally put her on the slide. The heart problems and cancer are certainly part of the issue. I firmly believe that once the will to live leaves, the body quickly obliges. MIL decided a couple of weeks ago she was done and ready to move on. She is deeply religious and takes some satisfaction that she will find something better. Believe what you will but having something to look forward to, real or imagined, helps in the final process.
MIL is going out on her own choice, did not spend a lot of time in a vegetative condition. My aunt spent 4 years that way and it is no way to live. Dying is a part of living, the last part, always unavoidable.
Keep on stacking, looks like we are going to have both Ike and Harvey this year.
If you are not at high ground, know where it is and how to get to it.
The Gulf was still fairly cold where the currents wrap around SW Florida’s barrier islands when we were there three weeks ago.
I never went in the water and we were in jeans in Tampa the last two days of the trip.
We went to the same places in March 2017, before Harvey, and the Gulf was already warm. I only wore jeans on the plane.
Strictly anecdotal.
On my way back from china, suffering from gasto-intestinal distress, I had a layover in Japan. I spent almost all of it on the toilet.
I REALLY don’t like the japanese toilets. That water spray is super gross, the fan just blows the stink around, and you don’t know you’re actually clean without the paper anyway. No thanks.
n
That is the Chevrolet of Japanese toilets with the water wand. There are Yugos at the train stations. I ate some sashimi for lunch and then went to the train station. The sashimi decided to exit south so I hurried into the mens. There was a machine selling toilet paper so I bought some for a few yen and paid a ten ??? yen coin to get into the toilet. There was a floor level trough with running water and a hole at the end. I was wearing a suit ! So I removed my suit pants and underwear and squatted over the trough. When I exited the mens, my buddy was yelling at me to run as the train had just started pulling away.
The wife used a toilet in the Emperor’s Tokyo palace grounds. Just a six inch diameter hole in the ground, no running water, no toilet paper. The pages in the guide book are acceptable toilet paper according to her. We learned to carry toilet paper everywhere.
Sam’s Club Members Mark Thai Hom Mal Jasmine Rice, 7.6 oz per cup by measurement. 25# bag has been open for a while. Never had a bug problem.
InstaPot is the simplest and best rice cooker in my book. x cups rice, x cups water, put the lid on and hit the “Rice” button.
My favorite beer stop keeps a cart at the checkout with assorted singles 99-cents each. Today they had Left Hand Milk Stout, two beers from Bell’s, and one from Lagunitas.
And the grocery had some nice-looking asparagus for $1.99 a pound.
Shaping up to be a good weekend to fire the grill.
@CowboySlim
In Channel Islands Harbor, ele. 0.0 ft, temp. mid ’60s.
“What Google’s API copyright win over Oracle means”
https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-googles-api-copyright-win-over-oracle-means/
“The experts agree this Supreme Court decision was a victory for developers and open-source software.”
This is the article that I have been waiting for. Not too deep but deep enough to see that it was a major decision and a good decision for computer software.
@Ray
Thoughts and prayers for you and your family.
Be careful on them roads. Let us know if the trip turns bad and you need bail money. 😉
“And now, a message from the President of the United States”
https://www.iceagenow.info/and-now-a-message-from-the-president-of-the-united-states/#more-35238
“Video from Jeff Dunham.”
Sam’s Club Members Mark Thai Hom Mal Jasmine Rice, 7.6 oz per cup by measurement. 25# bag has been open for a while. Never had a bug problem.
I’ve never tried Sam’s Club’s rice. Costco’s Kirkland Jasmine always develops bugs quickly in my experience.
“Contrary to popular belief, sea ice at both poles is growing, not shrinking”
https://www.iceagenow.info/contrary-to-popular-belief-sea-ice-at-both-poles-is-growing-not-shrinking/
“The latest data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) shows that sea ice at the South Pole has been on overdrive this season, climbing some 500,000 sq km above the mean, comfortably outstripping all four multidecadal averages: 1979 to 1990, 1991 to 2000, 2001 to 2010, and 2011 to 2020.”
“Four years ago, during late-March of 2017, Antarctic sea ice measured 3 million sq km, and now, at the end of March 2021, measurements have reached 5+ million sq km. This should be an impossibility under the global warming theory, yet here we are – an increase of 2 million sq km.”
“The COLD TIMES are returning, the mid-latitudes are REFREEZING in line with the great conjunction, historically low solar activity, cloud-nucleating Cosmic Rays, and a meridional jet stream flow (among other forcings).”
“Both NOAA and NASA appear to agree, if you read between the lines, with NOAA saying we’re entering a ‘full-blown’ Grand Solar Minimum in the late-2020s, and NASA seeing this upcoming solar cycle (25) as “the weakest of the past 200 years”, with the agency correlating previous solar shutdowns to prolonged periods of global cooling here.”
“It’s a cycle, it’s a cycle, it’s a cycle, and we (humans) have absolutely no control in the matter.”
I wore long underwear in south Texas from Feb 15 to Feb 18, 2021. I have not worn long underwear in south Texas since the deep freeze of 1989. Looks like the whole planet is in a deep freeze.
This is the article that I have been waiting for. Not too deep but deep enough to see that it was a major decision and a good decision for computer software.
The computer industry would have been reduced to AT&T, IBM, and HP (through ownership of DEC’s IP) if the decision had gone the other way.
@Lynn
Google has been riding roughshod over copyright law for years. This just looks like another instance of the Roberts Court deciding according to what they think the law should be, not what it is.
What happens when Google decides to lift 10,000 lines of subroutines out of your code? “Gee judge, 10,000 lines out of half a million is just fair use.” Does it matter that those 10,000 lines took a dozen man-years to write and refine, and pilfering them saved Google megabux in development time and time-to-market?
@ drwilliams
wrap some bacon around those asparagus spears and throw them on the grill.
I had it that way in Disneyland, outside of the Jungle Cruise or the Indiana Jones ride… oh so many years ago.
Lots of recipes online, but all I ever do is wrap and grill, lower heat, but you need the bacon to crisp up, while not ruining the asparagus.
n
I guess I shouldn’t mention we use the Scott 1000 sheet rolls…
What happens when Google decides to lift 10,000 lines of subroutines out of your code? “Gee judge, 10,000 lines out of half a million is just fair use.” Does it matter that those 10,000 lines took a dozen man-years to write and refine, and pilfering them saved Google megabux in development time and time-to-market?
Google copied the API, the function specifications, not the subroutines themselves. That is a long computer science tradition. Oracle’s founding database product cribbed the SQL API from IBM, and everyone’s C compiler cribs from the “K&R” book. Java itself cribs its syntax from C++ as documented in Stroustrup’s book with the Death Star logo still on the copyright page in the latest edition.
At the last job, one of our interview questions gave the function specification for strcpy(), the API, and asked the candidate to fill in the functionality.
10,000 lines of code for the core API sounds about right considering how friggin’ wordy Java gets in practical use. Just reading a file typically requires instantiation of three nested objects that I always equate to the Russian dolls.
Oracle’s consulting arm was thoroughly discredited during the Obamacare rollout in several states, and their database product is no longer a Hot Skillz. About the best thing that can be said about the company’s core lineup is that the training is standardized, and, if nothing else, anyone holding one of their certificates can certainly type scott/tiger, more than can be said for a lot of corporate education.
I had it that way in Disneyland, outside of the Jungle Cruise or the Indiana Jones ride… oh so many years ago.
Disney removed Trader Sam from the Jungle Cruise in Orlando this week. Ironic since, pre-Covid, they made a huge pile of money selling Trader Sam gear to the faithful, including a shrunken head handbag which we have one of around here somewhere.
I think the Trader Sam’s bar is still open at the Polynesian Resort, but we’ll see if that survives the remodel currently underway.
@Nick
When I do asparagus, I take the bases off at the natural “snap” point, throw it in a large bowl, drizzle a small amount of canola or other neutral oil, and give it salt and pepper. I grill it as the third round, the first being steak, the second burgers, and the third asparagus or whatever benefits from the coals being a bit tamer. Young asparagus has about a thirty-second window as it starts to turn black at the tips. Tragically, about half never makes it into the house. What does benefits from a bit of grated parm or asiago.
I used to do new potatoes and onions in a grill basket as a first round, starting when the coals were still in the chimney. Gave that up. Too much work, the convection oven or air fryer does it better, and giving the potatoes 5-7 minutes before the much thinner onions go in makes for better balance.
But is so happens I have half a pound* of uncooked applewood smoked bacon from last weekend, so I will try your method and report back.
*out of a 3-lb package
@Greg
Sorry, wasn’t clear. The example wasn’t specifically referring to the case at hand. In the context of my reply to @Lynn, “your code” was intended to mean specifically his ChemE code.
“Fair use” has restrictions. Pretty broad at the caricature end, but narrows down when the result is a short cut that made someone money. Steam tables and Clausius-Clapeyron were not invented by @Lynn, but the devil is in the details, and I’m sure his implementations represent a lot of sweat equity and would save someone else same if they were freely ripped off.
So the first question in the case at hand is whether there was a violation of the law as written. I’ll go with Justice Thomas on that one.
The second is two-fold: a) are these API’s building blocks of the universe and can’t be expressed in another way, or 2) did Google steal them because it saved them money and time and they are sweaty pasty-faced liars with enough lawyers to make a 100-fold good start at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean?
JP wrote several times about copyright laws, Victor Hugo, and Sonny Bono. I doubt that any case law in copyrights has done anything to advance the commons and the limited concept as the founders intended since the First Sale Doctrine ca. 1908.
Sorry, wasn’t clear. The example wasn’t specifically referring to the case at hand. In the context of my reply to @Lynn, “your code” was intended to mean specifically his ChemE code.
“Fair use” has restrictions. Pretty broad at the caricature end, but narrows down when the result is a short cut that made someone money. Steam tables and Clausius-Clapeyron were not invented by @Lynn, but the devil is in the details, and I’m sure his implementations represent a lot of sweat equity and would save someone else same if they were freely ripped off.
All of our code is Fortran 77 and C++ that has been compiled into executables. It is very difficult to convert machine language back into the source code. If we were Java then I would be concerned with “fair use” and use a transmogrifyer tool. But our algorithms are too verbose and slow for Java, our main thermodynamic flash is almost 400,000 lines of F77 / C++ with an outer loop and many inner loops.
Our problem has been that people have hacked into our code using a machine language debugger and removed or modified our password controlling mechanism. In fact, we have as many users of the hacked versions as we do that are paying us for the usage so we can feed our families. It is quite disappointing and frustrating. We have even had magazine articles written using hacked versions of our software in places that our software is not allowed.
We moved to private key / public key 1024 bit cryptography quite a while back. So now they replace our public key in our software using their own private key. Actually quite brilliant and caused us to smack our foreheads in utter disbelief. We have means of detecting that intrusion and are contemplating new means of security.
We pack our Basmadi rice in 4 cup vacuum sealed bags with oxygen absorbers to eliminate bugs.
I keep our staple storage, rice, flour, and dry beans, in the bunker under the garage. Steady 58f temperature and I have a ventilation fan running a couple of hours a day to keep the humidity down.
Watch this video for an explanation of the steady, leftward shift of the Overton window.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EImwXQbsP40
Ok, he is right, you cannot bargain with a sociopath. I have no idea how to stop it from happening.
Death and privation, the ultimate mind changers.
Ok, he is right, you cannot bargain with a sociopath. I have no idea how to stop it from happening.
Death and privation, the ultimate mind changers.
I should have said, I have no idea how to stop it from happening without going to extremes.
And we are probably heading to extremes.
And sleepy Joe is a sociopath masquerading as a caring for all and anything person.
Change the other guy’s mind first.
That video hit home. Holy cow, you can see it in everything if you look.
“one bad apple spoils the whole bunch”
“If you want to be rich, hang out with rich people”
“Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas”
when continental airlines and united merged I was pretty sure the continental people would sink to the level of the united people. It’s easier to fall down than climb up. And I was right, thankfully not entirely. There were plenty of good people that just wanted the opportunity to rise.
but yeah, you can see the one person lower a whole group everywhere you look for it.
n
Ok, he is right, you cannot bargain with a sociopath. I have no idea how to stop it from happening.
Death and privation, the ultimate mind changers.
Change the other guy’s mind first.
That was the point of author / narrator in the video. You cannot change their mind as they do not have that capability. They are sociopaths.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EImwXQbsP40
when continental airlines and united merged I was pretty sure the continental people would sink to the level of the united people. It’s easier to fall down than climb up. And I was right, thankfully not entirely. There were plenty of good people that just wanted the opportunity to rise.
When they put merged headquarters in Chicago was the telling point to me. It was going to be a merged United organization, not a Continental organization.
“@JimB: In Borrego Springs, ele. 750 ft, temp. mid ’90s.”
Have a good time. I look forward to your GPS post later.
Ray, condolences. Losing the will to live can be dramatic and fast, but we both know of exceptions. Relief will come soon. Hospice people are usually good at their observations, if things go naturally. As you said, death is a process. Your wife will need your emotional support.
I guess I am not a TP connoisseur. When I traveled quite a bit I found a variety, and that was just domestically. All were good, some better than others. I do remember way back in grade school, there were little single sheet dispensers with some stuff that was very thin and shiny. That was the worst, but mostly because of the individual sheets.
Yesterday, on the way home, Costco had the 30 roll bundles of Kirkland for $15, $1.50 off the normal price. They had what looked like double the usual stock, with extra pallets in an area near the usual place. There was a limit of one bundle per customer, and that has been in effect for months. Wife and I each buy one, and that is sufficient.
Oh, after years of travel and living in hotels, working in theaters, convention centers, and hotels, I’ll use whatever is there. But I prefer charmin blue. My family does too.
And no matter what a good chunk of corporate America thinks, toilet paper should NOT look like tracing paper.
n
added- the remodel of our local costco continues. About half the store has been reorganized and I think they got rid of the photo processing department completely.
Oh, so you’re hiring SteveF as WinSim Head of Enforcement?
Oh, after years of travel and living in hotels, working in theaters, convention centers, and hotels, I’ll use whatever is there. But I prefer charmin blue. My family does too.
And no matter what a good chunk of corporate America thinks, toilet paper should NOT look like tracing paper.
My experience is that women are much more particular about toilet paper. Men just hope that the leaves are not poison ivy.
Well, some men. On the other hand, in the early ’80’s I remember a discussion of TP with several RAF airmen on TD in Cold Lake AB about their appreciation of what we considered second-rate TP used in the barracks and the mess. They referred to it as ‘comfy-bum’, and as I recall managed to pretty much clean out the barracks they were staying in on departure.
ITGuy1998, you might like to know some of the history of the retractable hardtop.
Most people know the first production retractable hard top by an American automaker was the 1957 Ford Fairlane Skyliner. I wondered what might have preceded it, so looked it up. Wikipedia says the first production retractable hardtop was available on a 1935 Peugeot. It was power operated. A few hundred were made. Ford made over 48,000 in 1957-59. Wikipedia misses the one on the Lincoln Continental. If you watch the first of the two videos linked below, there is commentary that Ford wanted the top for the Lincoln Continental, but the production numbers, and therefore the potential return on investment, was considered too low. Instead, Ford did something rarely seen; they introduced it on a high volume car, and it paid off. There’s more, but watch the videos.
57 Ford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=FE22T1E_wyU
64 Continental: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=CgpQDUiV93Q
Yes, troublesome and probably crude by today’s standards, but heady stuff in 1957 and 64.
My cousin owned a very nice 1964 Lincoln Continental. It was a four door convertible with a soft (not hard) top. Like the Ford, the top was operated by several electric motors, limit switches, and relays. There were no electronics or hydraulics. There was only one switch, and operation was entirely automated. It was a joy to watch, with the rear windows first lowering about an inch to prevent interference. Then, the “eyebrow” anchors atop the windshield frame unscrewed, and so on. The second video shows it pretty well. Some called it the parade car because it was the best looking convertible when it had its top down. Everything was hidden. The suicide doors were also a nice touch. Sadly, he sold it when he lost garage space.
The Chrysler Sebring was a semi-automated convertible introduced in the late 1990s. It required the eyebrow latches to be manually released, then one switch. It also had a manual cover that could be used when the top was down. I rented these a few times for business travel. Everyone wanted to ride with me for lunch on nice days.
I had a dealer loaner convertible for two weeks once. I learned that living with one was not practical for me. Besides, I preferred a motorcycle for that wind in face experience. I still like bicycles and motorcycles, and will never own a convertible of any sort.
The second is two-fold: a) are these API’s building blocks of the universe and can’t be expressed in another way, or 2) did Google steal them because it saved them money and time and they are sweaty pasty-faced liars with enough lawyers to make a 100-fold good start at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean?
The Java decision with regard to Android predated Google acquiring the project. Andy Rubin had already launched one OS, the Danger platform, with Java APIs free of any interference from Sun, the original copyright holder of Java.
Who needs a retractable hard top with all the extra complicated machinery taking up space in the boot? My wife’s 1994 Honda Del Sol has a removable hard top that slips easily into a carrier in the back that still leaves a huge space for luggage or groceries. Its quick and simple to install / remove and even my 65 yr old wife could do it.
Interesting – thanks!
Oh, I agree. This is the wife’s dream car, I could make it happen, so sometimes you just say to heck with it and take a chance. We found a good one, got it for half price from new. It is a 2013 with 8700 miles. I have all the consumables in now, so I’m going to change all the filters and fluids tomorrow. I’ll take a closer look at the hoses to to make sure nothing needs to be replaced.
I almost got a Del Sol back in 1995, but I went with the Civic EX coupe instead.