Hot and humid. Yep, we’re in that part of the year. This opening paragraph will be an almost unbroken litany of hot and humid that will occasionally be broken by severe weather. Somewhere in the low to mid 90s yesterday, and somewhere in the low to mid 90s today. Humidity in the same range, 75 – 90 %RH. We didn’t get rain yesterday, and there isn’t supposed to be any today, which is a nice change.
Can I just say that I don’t like people in my house, or in my kitchen? I don’t like them moving my stuff around. And if they want to cook, they should frakking cook, not just make a mess and then hand ME stuff to cook. It was tasty, but it took 3 times as long as it should have, and wasn’t what I’d have chosen, given that we ate the same dish just a few days ago. Of course that was a prepared meal from costco and I just had to heat it in the microwave and make some rice to go with it.
I suppose it’s all a matter of perspective. Daughter one did get to spend the day in the kitchen with grandma. Of course because g-ma likes the idea of doing these things more than the actuality of doing them, there was more frustration and yelling than I would have liked. The kicker for me though, this was a recipe from a magazine she’s made once before, not some family treasure. There are family treasures, but I guess we won’t get to learn them…
Puppy was very entertaining. He is learning to play with toys and it’s as cute as it sounds. Got outside in time more than once, so progress is being made with housebreaking too. He goes in for shots and initial checkup this morning.
After that, I have things to pick up. I’ve got the one item from last week, and some hobby and household stuff from this week. There were a lot of things I didn’t bid on this week and a couple I’m still watching. There is a 300w Jackery “generator” and a similar setup at 600w from another company. I’ll never consider a battery and inverter to be a “generator” no matter how it’s packaged. Handy, no doubt about that, but it’s not generating energy. It does look like a good solution for someone that doesn’t want to or can’t ‘roll their own’, and it’s cheaper than the GoalZero. If it goes cheap enough, maybe I’ll win the bid. If not, the inverter and batteries in the garage will have to do.
I will suggest that you get something to turn battery power into 120v, even if it’s just a relatively cheap inverter with alligator clips to attach to your car battery. I’ve got a small one in each vehicle, and several in the stacks. There might come a day when being able to plug in some device becomes critical. And if nothing else, it’s another tool in your box.
With that, I’ve got kids to feed, and doggies to take to the vet, and I better get started with my day.
Stack something!
nick
My goodness, I have 19 years until I am full retirement age, and I already feel that way. I may be in trouble…
I am shooting to retire by 60, however. Actually, I’d like to retire from full time work at 55 and work part time after that. I’m on track to hit that goal, but health insurance coverage will be the sticking point. I wonder how screwed up it will be in another 10 years?
I don’t bother to resist, unless I simply ignore the whole thing. A lot of managers, HR drones, or other self-important fools get butthurt, but not once has any given me a substantive reason for why what they are saying or directing is important, or discussed the cost-benefit comparison, or otherwise provided facts and logic rather than managerial intuition.
I am shooting to retire by 60, however. Actually, I’d like to retire from full time work at 55 and work part time after that. I’m on track to hit that goal, but health insurance coverage will be the sticking point. I wonder how screwed up it will be in another 10 years?
Medicaid for All.
Some of the Chinese relations are currently learning the hard way what it means to be dependent on Medicare without one of the supplements most participants buy or sometimes receive as a retiree benefit if they manage to cling to a job at a big, old school company and accrue enough “points”.
The next reform will finish off private coverage, like the Clintons wanted in 1993. Hillarycare explicity outlawed direct payment for medical services.
The ability to buy added benefits is considered to be a “mistake” among orthodox believers in socialized medicine in Canada and the UK.
Socialized medicine: the next best thing to no medical system at all.
uh, no. That would be the VA lately.
Last Thursday, a week ago, I went to the VA for my knee problem. X-Rays were ordered and done the same day. Monday I had heard nothing so I called and left a message. Tuesday afternoon the facility finally calls me back. They did not know if they had received the X-Rays. Finally found them, contacted the doctor, he said nothing is broken. Well, duh, I knew that. So the VA ordered an appointment with an orthopedic doctor. Wednesday at 4:00 PM I get a call from the scheduling arm of the VA. They indicated they had faxed the order to the local office of the orthopedic center. I heard nothing. So I called this morning. Nope the facility had not received anything. So back to square one on the scheduling. I called the VA scheduling company and they cannot find where the order had been faxed. So lets start again. They cannot find the facility that I was originally told would be used. So on to another facility in Oak Ridge. It has been faxed over this morning and I am supposed to get a call from the orthopedic facility about scheduling. Want to take bets I won’t get any calls today from the facility? I didn’t think so as you don’t want to lose money.
For minor stuff the VA has been OK. Beyond that too many people are involved who drop the ball, get halfway through, go on break, and forget where they left off.
I would have gone to my primary care physician, paid the deductible, but he was booked for a week. I thought the VA would be faster. Bzzzttttt, wrong.
I hear you. I’ve always had a low tolerance for management bullshit, as well. Mostly, I’ve been lucky and had good managers. Here, in fact, my last two immediate managers have both been excellent. Their boss was also ok. Above that? Purely political animals.
What I find galling is the steady increase in administration. It used to be roughly 50-50 admin/instructors. Now it’s more than 60/40 – that’s a 50% increase in admin. Of course, they have to invest in systems to support the administrative staff. Which requires people to manage those systems. Which requires…
It reminds me of that quote by Oscar Wilde: “The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.”
Finally, because there is too much staff with too little actual work to do, they invent crap. Like these “8 cultural elements”. And then insist that we care, by requiring every group in the entire college to discuss the damned things.
Sorry, had to rant. I’ll stop now…
My MIL (wife’s stepmom, so… Step MIL? SMIL?) is similar. She insists we stay at the house. Then she runs out and buys groceries to cover EVERY meal and looks annoyed when you want to try a local restaurant. She does all this without checking what our plans or interests are when visiting. However, when she cooks she slamming cupboard doors and looks pissed at the world (despite our offers to help and always making it a point to clear the table and do dishes). My wife and I exchange glances like “Well, this is fun…” Similar disappointments happen with the bonding activities they have planned with our daughter. It’s like she builds up some fantasy about how family visits are supposed to be based on some Hallmark Channel movie and, of course, reality is vastly different.
The solution to that is more family visits, at both peoples’ houses. When they happen infrequently, the grandparents get too excited, they forget that the grands will be 6 months or a year older than last time and will want to do other things. When the grandparents aren’t at the kids’ home often enough, they don’t get to realize how different the lifestyle is or what favorite foods are or how the grands like to spend their time.
And, when visits are spread far apart, the grandparents feel pressured to try to pack in everything they hope to do with and for the family into a small time – because there really will never be another chance . That pressure is called “love” even if it ends up being resented/rejected by one side or the other. More frequent short visits will eventually make each visit happier and more relaxed for all concerned.
Hey @Greg, do we take this (somewhat??) seriously, or just buy more popcorn from Costco and pretend we’re watching The Cartoon Network?
Yahoo News: Covid Whistle-blower Rebekah Jones is challenging Rep. Matt Gaetz.
https://news.yahoo.com/covid-whistle-blower-rebekah-jones-201300869.html
What’s $11 million amongst friends?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jbs-ransom-11-million/
Or will the FBI find some of this Bitcoin as well?
You’re describing the best case, Pecancorner. Some people, even grandparents, are narcissists. Some are control freaks. Some are just plain jerks. I’m not weighing in on Chad’s family or in-laws, of course.
Also, some grandparents think they’re the parents and not the grandparents. There’s a line there. Stay on your side.
I’ve never heard that. Good one! Thanks, I’ll be sure to pass it on.
Crazy in the kitchen? Well the MIL is bad enough but when the wife decides to join in…
Trip to HD and purchased two filters for the GE Profile fridge becaus the front panel said so. Saying 8 days overdue and what would happen when anyone comes over an sees that? Really? It doesn’t measure use, just days, and you must buy the official one with the rfid chip or it keeps up the nag. $46 bucks each, cheaper for two than one. Then she reminds me I never changed the one on the old fridge. Why? There was a filter under the sink that fed it. Just a cheap shot at me to help cover her insanity.
At least she’s a good cook.
Hey @Greg, do we take this (somewhat??) seriously, or just buy more popcorn from Costco and pretend we’re watching The Cartoon Network?
FL 1 has been Republican since Contract With America. However, the Republican who took that seat in 1995 was Joe Scarborough.
Rebekah Jones is a loon and doesn’t appear to have much history in Florida beyond her PhD program at FSU and termination from the university for sleeping with a student. OTOH, she’s a pretty white girl who has the “That could be my (misguided) daughter/granddaughter” thing working in her favor.
Lets see her move to the district and file first.
Plus, keep in mind that the district will be redrawn. The Legislature should send up a new map in February of next year if they stick to a similar schedule from 2010. The battles over the last map lasted until 2015, but the Republicans now hold the FL Supreme Court as well as the Legislature and Governors Mansion.
We spent a week in the area last year for the Independence Day holiday. That part of Florida has changed a lot since I was in college and visited in the 80s. Sure, Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach still have the military presence, but Destin looks like Southern California.
And then there’s Mr. Gaetz and his alleged interest in girls of a certain age. (Just sharing what I heard from a friend…)
IIRC the Rebekah Jones whistleblower story was tenuous. She wasn’t in a position to actually change the data, her role was something peripheral. She calls Gaetz a sex trafficker, which may be true (in a legal sense, he hasn’t been accused of doing what people think of as trafficking) but all I’ve seen so far are accusations. If he’s guilty he needs to be in prison.
This one’s for Colin:
“Missing Dog Launched from Vehicle During Car Accident, Found on a Farm Herding Sheep.”
And then there’s Mr. Gaetz and his alleged interest in girls of a certain age. (Just sharing what I heard from a friend…)
The Republicans have to tread carefully there since Gaetz grew up in Niceville (I’m not kidding about the name) as the son of a prominent politician.
Whoever sits in that seat in 2023, I doubt it will be Rebekah Jones. The news cycle is slow again.
As I approach retirement, I find I have less and less tolerance for crap like this. I barely resisted the temptation to tell them off. Another couple of years, and I won’t bother to resist…
My goodness, I have 19 years until I am full retirement age, and I already feel that way. I may be in trouble…
I am shooting to retire by 60, however. Actually, I’d like to retire from full time work at 55 and work part time after that. I’m on track to hit that goal, but health insurance coverage will be the sticking point. I wonder how screwed up it will be in another 10 years?
Read this documentary on the financial failure of the USA in 2028 and you tell me.
https://www.amazon.com/Buck-Out-Ken-Benton/dp/1514666979/?tag=ttgnet-20
We are living in the good old years right now.
I hope this is not true:
BEHIND THE BERET: Battalion Commander Reportedly Tells Troops ‘White People Are Part of the Problem’
If so, the guy can’t be cashiered fast enough. Also, as tRump said, fire all the Joint Chiefs for pushing “climate change” as the biggest threat against our military. Geez.
Climate change must be responsible for those green on blue incidents in the sandbox. And the chinese islands, and their new aircraft carrier, and those russian hypersonic missles…
Wokeness is the biggest threat to our military.
n
Ok furbaby is in good shape. Got his first checkup and shots, more in 3 weeks. Tiny doses for a tiny doggie.
Yep, he did charm the whole office. The receptionist threatened twice to put him in a pocket and take him home… not on my watch sister.
Home sleeping with his girl.
I’m off to pick up some things.
Seared about 15 pounds of chuck roast, vac sealed and tossed in the freezer. One 3# hunk went into the crockpot for dinner tonight. I like to sear it before the slowcooker, so I do all I have before freezing, to make it easier for the next time.
That idea seemed to baffle MIL.
Oh well.
n
I am curious as to what experience with a socialized medical system would make you come to that conclusion? Medicare? I am Canadian, and I like the socialized medical system we have here. It’s not perfect, and I think there are areas that would benefit from allowing private enterprise to provide the service, but overall my experience has been and continues to to be quite good.
Dilbert: Asok Sighs Too Much
https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-06-10
Wow, that is sad.
What @TV said. Definitely true for me over the last 3 years.
Here in UK, the NHS is socialised, but you can “go private”, and pay through the nose, maybe getting better, quicker service in the process. But our “pay through the nose” does not reach anywhere near the rapacity of the US system – there are many fewer insurance company gatekeepers, and they don’t have anywhere near as much power.
I think.
I’ve never had to go private.
G.
Breaking Cat News: Cowcat !
https://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2021/06/10
Today’s news is that a local cowcat is riding the roomba !
” President Trump: “Fauci Likes to Say That He Is ‘Science,’ When in Fact He Is Merely Science Fiction” ”
https://thelibertydaily.com/trump-fauci-likes-to-say-that-he-is-science-when-in-fact-he-is-merely-science-fiction/
Oh yeah, Trump still has it.
Bureaucracy. NHS and Obamacare have created a Kafkaesque nightmare from governments “doing good” when the private sector, if left alone, would serve the majority better, faster, and more cheaply.
The poor will always be with us but in India it’s handled by private, charity hospitals at local level. Decent care, decent doctors (I’ve had surgery a couple times in one) and the folks who can pay subsidize those who can’t, pretty much no questions asked.
“Dilbert: Asok Sighs Too Much”
Wow, that is sad.
At GTE 20 years ago, we had a young guy who snored most of the day, but no sighs.
Socialized medicine: the next best thing to no medical system at all.
I took my wife to an Orthopedist Doctor yesterday, Wednesday, at Methodist Sugar Land Orthopedic and Sports injuries. We got the appointment Monday. She turned while washing dishes Sunday night and went to the ground. Turns out she ripped her left knee inside meniscus, it has been bothering her for years. Very painful Sunday night and Monday. He did a full x-ray series yesterday during the appointment and said inconclusive due to soft tissue damage. When he was feeling her knee, she jumped off the chair six inches when he touched her knee at the inside meniscus. He scheduled her for an MRI, the earliest is June 25. He did put her on steroids to reduce the inflammation.
Monday she could not walk at all. She has a terrible time with crutches since her right arm is crippled and cannot take her weight. Tuesday she could walk with the walker. Yesterday she could walk ten feet without the walker. Today she can walk 20 feet without the walker. This getting older thing sucks, she is 63.
Until the MRI, she got fairly fast response. She called our GP Monday and he said ice it and see the Ortho. We could have gone to Urgent Care or the ER but no better outcome. I wonder if Medicare For All ™ will be as good ?
Here in UK, the NHS is socialised, but you can “go private”, and pay through the nose, maybe getting better, quicker service in the process. But our “pay through the nose” does not reach anywhere near the rapacity of the US system – there are many fewer insurance company gatekeepers, and they don’t have anywhere near as much power.
The ability to “go private” in the UK and Canadian systems is viewed as a mistake among the hardcore left pushing for state-run healthcare in this country. If the US ever does go single payer, payment outside the system will be explicitly forbidden by law, just as laid out in Hillarycare.
Obamacare was never designed to actually work. The intent was to deliver something so bad that the population would clamor for an alternative from Obama’s successor, assumed to be a Prog who steamrolled a weak Republican speedbump, most likely Jeb! in that role.
Just getting to this; been busy.
Let me preface my answers by saying that I was simply trying to make improvements that made sense while doing other things. Our starting point was pretty good. We designed this house to be energy efficient, but didn’t do extremes. It was built in 1977-8, and much of what I wanted to do was not yet popular with the trades, or code compliant. There are always compromises. For instance, I considered 2×6” walls but code would have required 16” spacing instead of 24”. The thermal gain was small compared to the losses through windows, so we stuck with 2×4. I wanted to put solid shutters over the windows to be closed at night, but my wife likes to be able to see out; so do I. I considered spray foam insulation, but that would have had other negatives, such as making later mods difficult. Glad I didn’t, but it might have been nice. The house was good enough to be able to get about 80% of its space heat from active solar. I haven’t yet been able to assess whether the changes have affected that, but chasing the last 20% is folly. And so on… Any major gains would have required major redesigns, and we were not going to do that.
Infiltration reduction. We were pretty good to begin with, but did pick up some benefits. Small things help. Didn’t do the blower door measurement. I consider that a nicety. I might pressurize the house and look for leaks, but have done that in the past and already knew where changes needed to be made. Don’t need a blower door; have an evaporative cooler.
Duct leakage. Funny that. When we were building, that was already becoming a ThingTM. The building inspector asked me if I was planning to do it. I pointed out that all ductwork is in conditioned space (basement,) with large leaks (registers) designed in. We had a good laugh. I really don’t know why people don’t consider that when designing a home. I helped a friend design the HVAC for his one story slab on grade house. I sketched ducting in a long hallway. Although he liked it, his wife didn’t like the low ceiling in that hall, so all the ducts went in the attic. That required good sealing and insulation. Anything can be done; it just affects cost.
Our new windows have double glazing, low E, low UV, argon fill, aluminum frames with thermal breaks, and a partridge in a pear tree. Our old ones were double also, and their glass was thicker. Still, we cut the conduction loss in half. We also reduced the size of some of the windows for more gains; our walls conduct about 20% of what the windows do.
The foundation insulation was a compromise. We trenched so we could put insulation down to about 18” below finished grade, but omitted the horizontal component. I agonized over this, but it would have been difficult to do and keep the workflow on track. I finally did some rough calcs. The difference was so small I didn’t keep the scrap of paper I did the calcs on. Our soil is dry and sandy, and its conduction is poor. Probably a good decision.
Radiant barrier. We don’t have any trouble cooling in our climate. Paint, ha! I adhere to the principle that only masonry, glass, and metal should face the weather. I did have to compromise and now have some painted trim. Yeccch. The old trim was natural cedar and redwood, and held up well for 40 years. New stuff is some sort of composite, and is painted. Compromises. For radiant barriers, read on.
As for Cool Roof, I originally wanted a standing seam roof for durability, like our nearby shop building, but too expensive. We have no hail here. Next choice was metal shingles, but nobody here works with those. But, wait. Different climate. I cool the attic with the exhaust air from the living space. It is insulated under the rafters (and in the floor of course.) It is only about five degrees warmer than the living space in the summer. In the winter, it is sealed and unheated, and is only about 10-15 degrees colder than living space. A low heat gain roof would not help in the summer. An absorbent roof would not help much in winter.
Everything on earth is a compromise. Regarding longevity of weather-facing materials, I have to consider that we won’t live too many more years, especially if that asteroid hits next week (kidding.) We were rushed on this project, because I thought materials and labor would be going up. Surprisingly, I was right. Now, we want to do some major work inside, but I want to wait until the next big crash when materials and labor might be cheap. Could I be right twice?
@TV: I think the occasional horror story out of the UK is the source of skepticism. In the UK, there is effectively care rationing, in the sense that you often have to wait several months for non-urgent treatment. What goes unmentioned is that you can get private insurance in the UK, if you don’t like the NHS. It’s even quite affordable. The fact that most people don’t bother, shows that the NHS – on the whole – works reasonably well.
Obamacare seems to combine the worst features of all systems. It seems to me that the solution for the US is to go with Medicare-for-all, and simultaneously to deregulate the private insurance market. If you want just basic stuff, and are willing to wait for treatment, it’s there and free. If you want faster treatment and more flexibility, you can pay for private insurance, which would be affordable, since it (a) would be freed from most regulation and (b) wouldn’t be subsidizing the underclass, drug seekers, and everyone else.
I just got off the phone with the orthopedic office where the VA is sending me. The office got the referral. I was told it could be as long as two weeks until I can get an appointment to see a doctor or get an MRI. That puts me very close to the June 25 date you acquired. Seems to be the system. People can limp, make the problem worse, then suffer the consequences.
I have half a mind (careful SteveF, that is not an opening) to see if I can get in the VA hospital in Nashville. Yeh, a 320 mile round trip drive but close to the son’s house. And the VA will pay me mileage, 320 miles at $0.41 a mile. Your tax dollars at work.
I am hoping for an appointment sometime next week. My hopes are not high.
Until the MRI, she got fairly fast response. She called our GP Monday and he said ice it and see the Ortho. We could have gone to Urgent Care or the ER but no better outcome. I wonder if Medicare For All ™ will be as good ?
One of the local hospitals runs a storefront radiology chain with fairly short appointment waits, but the last time I went to them for an MRI, the out-of-pocket on my high deductible plan was $800 before about half of that eventually came back once the insurance negotiated a more reasonable number.
Too bad Oxy pill mills aren’t a thing anymore. The one set up near my job in Tampa had a portable MRI truck out back, rented from GE. I don’t know what that racket charged for a scan, but I’m guessing it was all cash and, judging from the clientele and their cars, not that pricey. That place ran 24/7 for the better part of a year. Off duty Tampa PD even directed traffic to allow paitents to cross to the pharmacy on the other side of the street.
Free enterprise. 🙂
When we lived in Vantucky, IIRC, there were only a handful of orthos in WA State who would take Medicare without supplemental coverage. The one my wife referred to was up in Seattle at UW, a three hour drive from Portland.
Medicaid for All will essentially be bare Medicare. The VA system is actually a step up from what that will be like day-to-day.
In theory, the VA has specialists like orthos on the payroll, but they were slow to return to the office over the last year, continuing to telework after the GPs went back to the office three weeks out of every four not long after Labor Day.
There are doctors here in the private practice that have a subscription system. Pay $xxx.00 a month and get all the care a person wants. Referrals will go to other doctors for which private insurance (or Medicare) will take over. The doctors provide fairly comprehensive coverage. Surgery and specialty stuff gets the referrals. Normal ailments, stitches, stuff of that nature is handled by the doctor. Like the country doctors of old.
One thing is certain, or at least I feel that way. The medical system in the U.S. is broken badly. The medical treatment itself is excellent. It is the billing, getting treatment that is the real issue.
I know one lady, on Medicaid and TNCare (medical welfare), that goes the ER six or seven times a month. Doctors won’t see her or her family because they are abusers of the system. The ER cannot turn them away. Child gets the sniffles, off to the ER. Mother gets a sliver, off to the ER. Scrapes are almost ambulance material. Of course the pay nothing. As Pournelle stated “the demand for free good is infinite” and this lady and her family follow that rule. Additionally the family is always suffering from some medical condition where they ask for sympathy on Facebook.
In Canada, you can’t “go private” as anything that is covered by the health care system can only be provided within the system. It is illegal for a doctor to charge privately, or to ask for a top-up fee, for any medical service/treatment that is covered. The doctor bills the province at the prescribed rate. (I will note that billing is way simpler than in the US, which I imagine to be an administrative nightmare). We are the only first-world country that does this so we are the extreme end of the socialized / private health system. Most countries have a mixed system. Of course there are things that are “health-care” that fall outside the system. Dental is private. Eye exams and devices are outside the system. (Essential eye surgery is inside – laser corrective surgery is private). Cosmetic surgery is outside (no boob jobs via tax dollars unless this is a required due to something like breast cancer). All drugs purchased outside a hospital are at your cost. All drugs administered within a hospital are covered. Physiotherapy, orthopedic devices, etc… are outside the system. Because you can’t go private there is an element of rationing by queuing (rather than by price). For non-urgent but complex surgery, such as knee and hip replacement, the waiting list can be over a year, and much worse in poorer provinces. It is for such items that I wish a private option was available, but so far, allowing any such options is deemed the very devil itself – why, “…we will transform into that awful private US health-care system instantly were we to allow a single exception.” That paraphrase is the orthodox view of the staunchest defenders of the current system, and no one has been able to beat any sense into them yet.
In prison…or in Congress…hmmm, I don’t think the latter provides three free meals seven days a week…tough choice. And in prison they’d be fighting to get such a good looking guy as their roomie.
Important because some MDs (what used to be an SVP) with their eyes on the C-suite thought it up (okay, found it on Google and copied it) and pushed it. part of what they count on these days is the employee turnover. Fewer and fewer people have been there for the long haul (me, 37 years) and haven;t been exposed to the prior iterations of the same thing just in different flavors.
re socialized medicine: How much does the UK spend on pharma research? Looks like under US$500M per year. Contrast with more than $80B per year in the US. (Numbers may not be directly comparable but they’re the best I could find.) Non-pharma medical research seems to be even more lopsided, with the same caveat about comparability.
According to The Guardian (not a reputable source but it roughly agreed with others) several thousand people die per year at the A&E, waiting for treatment. Not dying in the ambulance on the way there or dying despite best efforts while being treated but dying while waiting for staff, beds, or equipment to be available. That would scale to ten thousand per year in the US. I couldn’t find comparable numbers for the US, but considering the stink that is raised every time a single individual dies while waiting for care, I doubt it’s as high as one hundred per year.
I could go on, but the topic isn’t worth more of my time. I’m not going to change any minds. One constant that I’ve seen is that those subject to socialized medicine systems vehemently defend them, no matter what.
The US system is craptastic because of the way it’s funded, but if nothing else it funds the research for the rest of the world.
(And I’ll note that the craptastic insurance system in the US is almost entirely a government creation, going back to Fascist Delano Roosevelt’s wage freezes if not before and continuing through today’s Obamacare, tax code, and the sweetheart deals the states make with the insurers.)
Not to worry. I actually think fairly well of you. Unlike, say, Miles_Teg, who a) thought Hillary was one hawt babe back in the day and b) hasn’t checked in in ages.
If nothing else, you invented the fart bomb, and that deserves an honorable mention in the annals (note the spelling – important) of history.
+1000
The whole world mocks US big pharma and what they see as a cruel private healthcare system, but the whole world reaps its benefits and uses its drugs. You’re welcome.
Exactly why I still retain my relationship with my concierge PC physician. Always a same day appointment for anything urgent (min. 30 minutes) and either same or next day for anything else. Has relationships with imaging labs and can get you in the same day on a ‘stat’ request.
Maybe she’s watching Lifetime, not Hallmark. The movies on the former are a bit more bloody…
As I approach retirement, I find I have less and less tolerance for crap like this. I barely resisted the temptation to tell them off. Another couple of years, and I won’t bother to resist…
I have 19 years until I am full retirement age, and I already feel that way. I may be in trouble…
I hear you. I’ve always had a low tolerance for management bulls***, as well. Mostly, I’ve been lucky and had good managers. Here, in fact, my last two immediate managers have both been excellent. Their boss was also ok. Above that? Purely political animals.
What I find galling is the steady increase in administration. It used to be roughly 50-50 admin/instructors. Now it’s more than 60/40 – that’s a 50% increase in admin. Of course, they have to invest in systems to support the administrative staff. Which requires people to manage those systems. Which requires…
It reminds me of that quote by Oscar Wilde: “The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.”
Finally, because there is too much staff with too little actual work to do, they invent crap. Like these “8 cultural elements”. And then insist that we care, by requiring every group in the entire college to discuss the damned things.
Sorry, had to rant. I’ll stop now…
The problem is, you want to be a teacher. The administrators want to administer, they do not want to be teachers and could care less in fact. It is a downward spiral. See Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle#Pournelle's_iron_law_of_bureaucracy
What’s $11 million amongst friends?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jbs-ransom-11-million/
Or will the FBI find some of this Bitcoin as well?
The only way to stop this is to isolate the USA internet from Russia. And other bad actors.
The problem is, you want to be a teacher. The administrators want to administer, they do not want to be teachers and could care less in fact. It is a downward spiral. See Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy.
That’s ok. The students don’t really want to learn, at least not in the typical US CS program. They simply want the credential.
The only way to stop this is to isolate the USA internet from Russia. And other bad actors.
Take away Administrator access on every corporate-owned desktop running inside the building 24/7. No more ad hoc installs of TeamViewer, RDP, or PPTP to enable “working” from home for people who shouldn’t be at home.
He scheduled her for an MRI, the earliest is June 25
I just got off the phone with the orthopedic office where the VA is sending me. The office got the referral. I was told it could be as long as two weeks until I can get an appointment to see a doctor or get an MRI. That puts me very close to the June 25 date you acquired. Seems to be the system. People can limp, make the problem worse, then suffer the consequences.
I have half a mind (careful SteveF, that is not an opening) to see if I can get in the VA hospital in Nashville. Yeh, a 320 mile round trip drive but close to the son’s house. And the VA will pay me mileage, 320 miles at $0.41 a mile. Your tax dollars at work.
I am hoping for an appointment sometime next week. My hopes are not high.
People and Doctors delayed a lot of stuff in 2020. Now people are seeing their doctors and getting a lot of tests. Surprise, the tests are backed up !
@stevef:
You’re right, you aren’t going to change minds. After all, those who, arguably, benefit from socialised medicine are not going to want to lose those benefits (limited though they may be) in favour of an “all the traffic will bear” regime, like that in the US, where you pay through the nose for insurance cover, and then find the largest part of your care is “out of network”, and pay through the nose again.
I’ll stop now.
G.
My experience was that in the UK, non-urgent issues had a wait time of months for every step. Specialist (Consultant), scan, specialist again, scheduling surgery. Each takes months.
In the US, I got a scan the same day I went to see the doctor, and the surgery was less than a month after that.
OTOH, life-threatening issues are handled well and quickly in the UK and everything is “free”.
On the gripping hand, the money in the US system pays for much of the world’s medical research.
Aw, c’mon. You were just getting started.
I actually agree with you. Have you noticed that when there is “change,” all the charges remain, but the benefits are taken away? Can’t call that a trend because it seems as if it has always been that way. We never learn.
“Shell to step up energy transition after landmark court ruling”
https://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/news/2021/06/shell-to-step-up-energy-transition-after-landmark-court-ruling
“Royal Dutch Shell will seek ways to accelerate its energy transition strategy and deepen carbon emission cuts following a landmark Dutch court ruling last month, CEO Ben van Beurden said on Wednesday, a move that will likely lead to a dramatic shrinking of its oil and gas business.
Shell plans to appeal the May 26 court ruling that ordered it to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels, significantly faster than its current plans.
But the court ruling applies immediately and cannot be suspended before the appeal, van Beurden said.”
Folks, if you think that the global warming crazies are not going to affect your lives, here is another step in the wrong direction. As far as I can tell, Shell is leaving the USA. They have sold two refineries in the USA now and are headed away. Shell is a major employer in the USA with high paying jobs and produces over 10% of the world’s crude oil.
The only way to stop this is to isolate the USA internet from Russia. And other bad actors.
Take away Administrator access on every corporate-owned desktop running inside the building 24/7. No more ad hoc installs of TeamViewer, RDP, or PPTP to enable “working” from home for people who shouldn’t be at home.
Methodist suspended a bunch of people today who refused to get vaccinated. I wonder how many of them were working from home.
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/over-170-houston-hospital-employees-suspended-without-pay-refusing-covid-19-vaccine
and
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-9668979/More-170-employees-Houston-Methodist-Hospital-suspended-refusing-vaccine.html
“Not Windows 11? New Windows 10 name scheme hinted in Microsoft docs”
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/not-windows-11-new-windows-10-name-scheme-hinted-in-microsoft-docs/
“Regardless of the name, we know that the next major version of Windows 10 is currently codenamed ‘Sun Valley .’ Unlike the past few feature updates, it is a massive release with new modern features and an updated user interface.”
“Not Windows 11? New Windows 10 name scheme hinted in Microsoft docs”
It wouldn’t surprise me if they were running into another version numbering problem similar to the reason they couldn’t use ‘9’ as the major version due to the conflict with testing for 95/98 in some legacy API calls.
Windows 1.1 wasn’t commonly deployed, but I saw it running on PCs in the 80s. We used Windows 2.1 at the Egghead Discount Ponzi. Since 3.0 was the big release, version number testing in programs excluding 1 (major) and 1 (minor) from running would certainly be possible.
I think Microsoft even snuck a 1.2 out at some point. Windows 12 is out too.
wth does that mean? What features and where would anyone have seen them? ie who are they copying them from?
Whole new GUI to learn? Oh JOY. If it looks like tiles I’ll pass, a pc is NOT a phone.
n
They should name it Bob. “Microsoft Bob” has a nice sound to it, don’t you think?
They should name it Bob. “Microsoft Bob” has a nice sound to it, don’t you think?
Melinda Gates (nee French) was product manager on Bob.
Even using their crooked numbers they think it’s up record amounts. The Fed insists that it’s all price inflation and not monetary inflation… and that it will decrease and return to normal. If it IS partly monetary inflation, and how could it not be? then the Fed is wrong and their actions will be wrong.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9672595/Inflation-jumps-5-April-quickest-rise-2008.html
n
Folks, if you think that the global warming crazies are not going to affect your lives, here is another step in the wrong direction. As far as I can tell, Shell is leaving the USA. They have sold two refineries in the USA now and are headed away. Shell is a major employer in the USA with high paying jobs and produces over 10% of the world’s crude oil.
Bad things will happen when the EV push falls flat.
Some people need a quick trial and a short sharp drop. There will be Nuremberg style crimes against humanity trials if this keeps up. After the revolution.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9671029/Hydroxychloroquine-zinc-increase-COVID-19-survival-rates-nearly-200.html
If it ain’t broke Micro$oft still gotta fix it so they have something to show to the CIOs to keep the corporate dollars flowing in to the till.
@dkrech
“Trip to HD and purchased two filters for the GE Profile fridge becaus the front panel said so. Saying 8 days overdue and what would happen when anyone comes over an sees that? Really? It doesn’t measure use, just days, and you must buy the official one with the rfid chip or it keeps up the nag. $46 bucks each, cheaper for two than one. Then she reminds me I never changed the one on the old fridge. Why? There was a filter under the sink that fed it. Just a cheap shot at me to help cover her insanity.”
nope, nope, nope
I grew up with GE. They used to build appliances that lasted for decades, and had warranties that are science fiction in today’s world. My first house was GE–kitchen, laundry, a/c, etc. Then the flock-tard Jack Welch took over and mentored a bunch of company-destroying copycats that had little on their minds beyond their own perks, like “can we put a heliport on this building so I can fly in and avoid the traffic?”
First water filter I built when I was twelve was a cut-off from a golf club organizer filled with GAC (granular activated charcoal). De-colorized and de-flavored orange Koolaid, let the sugar pass. They’re selling the same thing made in China with a landed cost in Lala under a buck, if they’re honest about the accounting, which they are not, and charging you $46?
true story:
Surgeons did a colon resection for a family member. Two-person team. Procedure lasted better part of six hours. Success by all measures.
Surgeon A had done the very difficult removal of a polyp. Lab test came back as benign, but the polyp came back in 60 days, hence the surgery. Tell me the definition of cancer again?
That was the last procedure for Surgeon A in this city. Seems there was an engagement to a doctor on the East Coast who was a legal immigrant with a green card. Said immigrant had been denied permission by the government of the United States to move inland to marry and get a job.
Parse that coarsely: doctor with green card is told that he cannot move to another state, whereas illegal invaders have carte blanche to move anywhere and their benefits follow.
Even using their crooked numbers they think it’s up record amounts. The Fed insists that it’s all price inflation and not monetary inflation… and that it will decrease and return to normal. If it IS partly monetary inflation, and how could it not be? then the Fed is wrong and their actions will be wrong.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9672595/Inflation-jumps-5-April-quickest-rise-2008.html
n
Shadowstats says the inflation is 9% now.
http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts
Stuck in moderation:
The only way to stop this is to isolate the USA internet from Russia. And other bad actors.
Take away Administrator access on every corporate-owned desktop running inside the building 24/7. No more ad hoc installs of TeamViewer, RDP, or PPTP to enable “working” from home for people who shouldn’t be at home.
Methodist suspended a bunch of people today who refused to get vaccinated. I wonder how many of them were working from home.
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/over-170-houston-hospital-employees-suspended-without-pay-refusing-covid-19-vaccine
and
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-9668979/More-170-employees-Houston-Methodist-Hospital-suspended-refusing-vaccine.html
@JimB
Thanks for the reply. No criticism intended. Asking questions to elicit more info for general enlightenment. Lot’s of folks haven’t gone through the process with a sharp pencil.
2×6 16oc is a no brainer if the latitude is high enough. Compromise would have been putting 6″ fiberglass in the 4″ cavity.
There are a lot of window manufacturers late to the party with thermal breaks. Criminal in Zone 5 and northwards.
Did the house your friend built use trusses? Nowdays a modified storage truss would be the answer, but that’s only w/in the last ten years or so when custom trusses became more commonplace.
Radiant barrier paint = inside, not out.
Some people need a quick trial and a short sharp drop. There will be Nuremberg style crimes against humanity trials if this keeps up. After the revolution.
It would have been worse for Trump if, early on, the drug was shown to be effective in a large percentage of patients and the world supply went unobtainium last summer.
@SteveF
The U.S. is the cash cow that funds pharma–both development and obscenely high scrip costs.
I wonder if the Founders ever contemplated a world in which it was not legal to pay cash for a service, or if you did, you paid full list without discounts?
The guy who commented here about a week ago, at my invitation, was in the IT department. Had no contact with patients. Had been working from home for the past year. Had not been anywhere near any coworkers in the past year. Was laid off last Tuesday and will be fired in a week or two.
re: National Health Care in Canada
Not a scientific sample, but from the few people I know from Canada, it seems like a disproportionate number have come to the U.S. to get procedures done in a timely fashion.
Knee replacement 12-24 months in the future, and in the meantime it’s bone-on bone? Please explain to me how that works? Does it take months to get a water pump for a car, and meanwhile you park it? Put a charcoal bazier in the living room when the furnace goes out? Seems to me that the calculation is: fund at 100-x%, then figure out what the delay needs to be to have x% die off.
And the commissars wait just as long, comrade?
Methodist suspended a bunch of people today who refused to get vaccinated. I wonder how many of them were working from home.
The hospital is playing with fire if the employees are not in patient contact positions.
The building picture reminded me — my wife’s Prog associate in Vantucky did her residency at Methodist San Jacinto Baytown.
Methodist suspended a bunch of people today who refused to get vaccinated. I wonder how many of them were working from home.
The hospital is playing with fire if the employees are not in patient contact positions.
Even if it is a uniform policy across all employees ? Texas is a strong employer rights state, I doubt that any employee suit will prevail. Especially with Methodist being a hospital system.
Methodist wants to be able to say that ALL employees are vaccinated. That will sound good to a judge.
ADD: I see that the case was moved to federal court. You may see the feddies jump into this on the employer side.
https://thetexan.news/houston-hospital-nurses-stage-walkout-over-vaccine-mandate/
Maybe. If the assigned judge doesn’t feel it’s his right and his duty to legislate the progressive agenda from the bench.
Are they required to have other vax? Others on an emergency approval?
Someone will be willing to lead the suit.
n
@Nick
“Some people need a quick trial and a short sharp drop.”
My standard is “pith ’em like a frog and hang them on the bobwire fence.”
Fauci. Every one of the “doctors” that published and withdrew, opined for the cameras, etc. Every one of the journos who don’t know science from a bowl of corn flakes. Bill Nye on general principles, because he wouldn’t know science if it bit him in the arse.
But most especially, every one of the pale sweaty billionaires that conspired to cut off any public discussion. Bozos lied and millions died.
“ADD: I see that the case was moved to federal court. You may see the feddies jump into this on the employer side.”
Going to be interesting if they do. They’ll have to tap dance right hard and purty if there isn’t an exception for natural immunity (aka, folks who have had the Wuhan flu) AND testing to identify the people who have been vaccinated and not developed sufficient antibodies.
Methodist suspended a bunch of people today who refused to get vaccinated. I wonder how many of them were working from home.
The hospital is playing with fire if the employees are not in patient contact positions.
I can tell you this, Methodist is still mandating mask usage in their hospitals and clinics even though they are 99% vaccinated. I made the mistake of running up a flight of stairs yesterday in the bone clinic wearing a mask and ran out of breath near the top. I thought that I was going to have to sit down on a step for a minute. Normally I can run two flights of stairs without running out of breath, that dadgum mask really cuts my air as I do not have any reserves due to the heart ablation surgery.
Texas allows you to skip vax of kids for religious reasons. Surely an employer must as well.
n
Texas allows you to skip vax of kids for religious reasons. Surely an employer must as well.
n
They state that Methodist supports religious and ADA exemptions in the article. For instance, pregnant women are not required to get the vaccine.
https://thetexan.news/houston-hospital-nurses-stage-walkout-over-vaccine-mandate/
“Hospital management later specified that employees not vaccinated by the deadline would be placed on a fourteen-day suspension without pay and then terminated. Workers were told they could apply for an exemption for pregnancy or “religious” exceptions.”
“ADD: I see that the case was moved to federal court. You may see the feddies jump into this on the employer side.”
Going to be interesting if they do. They’ll have to tap dance right hard and purty if there isn’t an exception for natural immunity (aka, folks who have had the Wuhan flu) AND testing to identify the people who have been vaccinated and not developed sufficient antibodies.
Question: Can an employer force you to take the flu shot ?
So, you walk into a Methodist facility after they have fired everyone refusing to get the vaccine. They check temperature and masks to everyone coming in despite good scientific studies showing that both these measures are as effective as throwing salt over the shoulder.
You get Wuhan flu from your visit to Methodist.
Do you have a basis for legal action when the hospital has made three ineffective practices the linchpins of their anti-Wuhan protocols?
Am I the only person seeing indications that Trump is considering running for Congress from Florida in 2022 and running for Speaker of the House ?
You get Wuhan flu from your visit to Methodist.
How do you know where you got the Wuhan Flu from ?
@Lynn
“Question: Can an employer force you to take the flu shot ?”
Not being an attorney of any kind, much less one licensed in Texas, I have no legal opinion.
From a layman’s standpoint, I would think that the question is one of goals.
If the goal is to prevent employees from spreading the dread Wuhan virus to patients, then if would seem that following the science would be to test everyone for antibodies as a first step. That would show if an individual has the potential to incubate and spread the virus.
Can vaccination be required if an individual already has sufficient antibodies?
Is the hospital legally responsible for transmission from an individual who is vaccinated but there is not follow-up to determine if a sufficient level of antibodies resulted?
“How do you know where you got the Wuhan Flu from ? “
You picked up a strain that just emerged as a mutation in the executive offices of Methodist Hospitals.
Something’s not right about this. GC holders, or Lawful Permanent Residents, as the government likes to call us, can move freely. If you have a non-resident visa you can travel but not change employer without, effectively, the government’s approval, as you have to apply to move your visa to the new employer.
Judging by the apparent state of the Maricopa recount and news from other locations, he will jump right back into the Whitehouse this year.
Followed by large scale civil unrest.
@Lynn
The IG’s report on Lafayette Park shows that the media narrative pushed for the past year is a bunch of swill. The progs are already pushing back, with the real success of anyone pushing on a rope, but the new narrative will doubtless be that the debunking is “questionable” .
So why, in the first place, would you give any creedance to anything the msm reports about Trump?
And why, in the second place, would you not expect that Trump will do everything he can to play them like the small rough fish that they are?
@Mark W
“If you have a non-resident visa you can travel but not change employer without, effectively, the government’s approval, as you have to apply to move your visa to the new employer. “
It has been almost ten years, so I may have gotten this detail wrong, and the situation you cited may be the correct one.
Doesn’t make a whit of difference. Obama’s auntie was in the country illegally, got benefits, and had no restrictions on her movements that were ever discussed. That was then, now we have the feds putting people on planes and moving them to states that have declined to participate in any such relocation. Seems like soldiers (alien invaders) being thrust by our government into the homes of the people. Third Amendment, anyone?
@Lynn
The IG’s report on Lafayette Park shows that the media narrative pushed for the past year is a bunch of swill. The progs are already pushing back, with the real success of anyone pushing on a rope, but the new narrative will doubtless be that the debunking is “questionable” .
So why, in the first place, would you give any creedance to anything the msm reports about Trump?
And why, in the second place, would you not expect that Trump will do everything he can to play them like the small rough fish that they are?
I rarely read the MSM. Just enough of the Houston Chronicle to see how the Astros are doing, and the local headlines. I have even given up on Fox News.
I got the impression of Trump running for Congress from http://www.gunfreezone.net and https://www.westernjournal.com/ . Neither of these would qualify for MSM in a heartbeat.
But you are correct. Trump plays the media like a Stradivarius. I forgot that again. I blame my attention span of a gnat.
I did that for my daughter. Not because we’re anti-vaxxers or because our religion forbids it. She’s had ALL of her immunizations. I did it because all it takes is a signature at the school office and that’s much less hassle than getting her immunizations from the state we had just moved from and bringing all that paperwork in. So, when you see statistics on the number of kids enrolled in public school with a religious exemption for immunizations just remember those stats are skewed by people like me because we’re lazy and they made it easier to sign a religious waiver than to provide proof of immunizations.
Pat Michaels has a good review of a new paper on the cesspool of academia:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/06/10/death-spiral-of-american-academia/
Absolute de facto proof of viewpoint discrimination.
And later:
Both the states and the fed fund the institutions and the students. Either one can stop the flow of funds to an institution that discriminates. A concerted effort to show the more-or-less evenly divided public that the institutions are being run by progs, for progs, and to damage anyone else is likely to engender support for change.
And while they are at it, they can legislate the removal of “science” or [corrected] any similar term of art from any discipline that ain’t STEM.
Am I the only person seeing indications that Trump is considering running for Congress from Florida in 2022 and running for Speaker of the House ?
The Speaker of the House does not have to be a sitting member of Congress. The Constitution only requires the members to choose their Speaker.
“The hospital is playing with fire if the employees are not in patient contact positions.”
Even if it is a uniform policy across all employees ? Texas is a strong employer rights state, I doubt that any employee suit will prevail. Especially with Methodist being a hospital system.
Terminate with cause, and every single one of the employees gets at least one appeal with TWC followed by an opportunity to appeal that decision and then finally a court option with a jury.
Plus, termination with cause opens a very wide time window for consideration of possible EEOC-related violations of law, starting with city statutes before moving up, and provides a demonstrable financial loss for civil court purposes.
And God help the hospital if something is amiss with the shots even with a small percentage of the population. The CDC already has an emergency meeting scheduled next week for heart inflammation issues with the shots and young males, and OSHA considers shot side effects “reportable”.
First, though, I’d have to ask if the hospital knows for certain that every single one of the “vaccinated” actually received a shot and didn’t just get someone to stamp the card. Did Methodist give every single one of the shots?
I have been avoiding any reporting on the recounts, because it doesn’t matter.
I have been avoiding even thinking about what Trump might do, beyond moving to an island with his personal and hand picked security, only to be killed anyway with the blame placed on the right, some nut who felt ‘betrayed’.
I avoid any article that mentions Russia in any way other than as the source of pale skinned and un-tattooed ‘cam girls’ and good vodka.
I can’t influence anything wrt those items. My prepping won’t change based on what the articles say. I’ll light a candle when they finally get the Donald, and they will, if he looks like he has a serious chance of doing anything serious to them. Hillarity is still walking the earth, as are almost all the major players in Epstein’s perversions.
Instead—
Did my pickup. Everything looks fine, although it’s a generation I don’t love. I need a couple of aftermarket convenience things and to check it out, but it would be fine if I don’t get them. Cleaning is called for.
Didn’t win either of the lithium battery pack inverters, nor the big berkey that sold for $75. RBT spelled out why he didn’t like them, I trust his research and conclusions on that, and at $75 there isn’t enough left to flip it. At $54 I was willing to try.
I did win a lantern, looks like a big one, in shiny chrome. That could be very interesting. More on that later.
n
@drwilliams I should have written non-immigrant, not non-resident. It’s been a long time since I had one of those. Very restrictive, an H1B deliberately ties you to one employer. Agree on Obama’s auntie. It would have been a major scandal had Trump done that.
@Nick Trump will be a major target if the election is overturned. He’ll be lucky to make it through.
President of Methodist Hospital said in an interview that existing policy requires all employees to get annual flu vaccination. Penalties for non-compliance are the same (suspension then dismissal). No mention of any exemptions (religious or full-time WFH). If nothing else I give him credit for taking a stand and not giving in.
So who would be BUYING the gold?????
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/frances-macron-urges-g-7-sell-gold-reserves-fund-bailout-africa
And why exactly should the G7 bail out africa, again?
n
None taken. I wrote that while waking up. Maybe I should re-read it, but it is too late and I am slowing down.
My latitude is 35.6 degrees, so pretty far south. Our normal winter lows are around freezing, highs in the 50s. We have some of the highest insolation in the continental US. That said, insulation is always good. The house has a full basement, but part has walls at grade with some windows and an exit. The basement has a large open stairwell, so is not separately zoned for heating or cooling, but it seems to need little of either. It serves as thermal mass for the upstairs to moderate the large diurnal temperature shifts. I always wanted to build an underground house, but that is another story. I am very comfortable underground. Our water table is probably 300’ down, so the soil is normally dry. Our 3” annual rain only penetrates a few inches. You can see that this climate is different from most of the US.
The new garage is an experiment in trying to make a slab on grade building work well. It is just under 20’ high at the roof peak, so it needs 2×8″ walls 16″ OC. The roof is 16″ TJI rafters 24″ OC, no trusses. The whole thing is just a simple unobstructed box with a sloping roof. It has 8″ of unfaced fiberglass batt insulation everywhere. Good air sealing. Slab is around 300k lbs, so it has a lot of thermal mass. It was my experiment in good thermal design without spending much or going to extremes. It “works” very well.
When we moved here in the 1970s, the first thing I noticed was that many houses were designed for a coastal climate. They were moderately hard to heat, and especially hard to cool. Their insulation was poor, and window area was excessive. I wanted to do something different. I had help from two friends who did some experiments. One modified an underground test structure and experimented with heating and cooling it. He was my inspiration. We learned a lot. All three of us didn’t like some of the “solar” trends, especially their extravagant costs.
My friend’s house was built 25 years ago, and used locally built trusses. It was quite far along when I came into the picture. After the lowered hall ceiling was rejected, we considered a box in the attic for the ducting. This could have worked well, but it was cheaper to simply use commodity insulated ducts. The family is happy.
I will consider radiant barrier paint, but my friend with the underground structure has argued against this idea for a long time. It may be moot, because my wife wants to apply some kind of decorative shiplap surface to the ceilings and some of the walls. I do the environmental stuff, and she does the decorating. Works for us.
Getting late.
I have been avoiding any reporting on the recounts, because it doesn’t matter.
yup.