Should be hot, should be humid. Might rain. Did all that yesterday, except the rain avoided my house. Grass is getting a bit crunchy and the sprinklers must not be running. One more thing to check.
I’ve got some things to say about travel, and my trip, but they’ll have to wait. I’m too tired when I’m writing this, and I’ll be sleeping in.
I’ll also say, buildings collapsing is some third world shite, that isn’t supposed to happen here.
Like sham elections.
And runaway inflation.
Or political prisoners held without bail and in solitary confinement.
Using the army against the citizens isn’t too far down the list.
———————————————————–
Kinda makes you want to have some deep reserves, doesn’t it?
Keep stacking friends, and keep stacking, friends.
n
Now the coal is $3.00 because it comes from Wyoming on Mr. Buffet’s trains and the natural gas is $3.00.
When we lived in Vantucky, near the end of our sentence -er- tenure ~2014, the west bound coal and wheat/corn trains out of Wyoming and Nebraska ran day and night, heading to the docks in Portland and, later, Kalama, the products loaded on barges headed to China.
BNSF. Berkhsire/Buffett.
I’ll also say, buildings collapsing is some third world shite, that isn’t supposed to happen here.
Miami. Pre-Andrew building codes. Built on a sandbar.
In Florida, if nothing man made was on the land 50 years ago and cattle didn’t graze there, a very good question to ask is “Why?”
Plus, you’re kidding yourself if you believe that the residents didn’t know. Even the wealthy get excited at the prospect of a “tenbagger” on Collins Avenue.
https://dnyuz.com/2021/06/26/engineer-warned-of-major-structural-damage-at-florida-condo-complex/
When we headed out to dinner at a local pizza place last night, the sports tournament complex in Round Rock along with the neighboring hotels/restaurants were back to pre-pandemic capacity. Lots of out-of-state plates. No masks.
The whole country is going to be here in Texas and in Florida for the 4th.
Some of the hotels I had never seen open before, short stay business traveler places which were in trouble even pre-pandemic, shuttered for “remodeling” after Dell went private and turned most of their staffing over to Subcontinent body shops.
It really doesn’t take much to reopen those buildings as long as the maintenance gets done. The chain restaurants which were victims of the pandemic also had “Coming Soon” signs up. Labor Day is coming.
I sent a $20 donation to this group after hearing the story in one of the vlogs I follow.
If movie theaters survive, it will be independents and small chains like Alamo. After opening the venue in the 90s, AMC kept the theater shuttered for *12 years* just to drive traffic to their Disney Springs money pit.
https://www.frontporchtheaterinc.com
We’ve made a point of supporting the independent theaters and owners anywhere we’ve lived. The pre-show for “Baby Driver” at Alamo was a very cool piece of work — you could have heard a pin drop in that theater, and that was *before* the main attraction.
I don’t know anything about the movie business today – so much has changed in the past 20 years. I’d be interested to know their strategies for making it work. Back in the 1980s, I kept books for a small independent chain of 3 theaters in a small town (~30,000). The distributors took 90% to 95% of the ticket gross for every new release. AND they would not send first-run blockbusters to us until 6 or 8 or 12 weeks after their openings – after the studio-owned theaters had wrung them dry.
He didn’t start getting a decent cut of the gross until he’d been showing for the 4th week – by which time in a small town there might be 15 people in the audience. Where he made his money was at the drive-in and at specialty matinees, because he could run older lower budget films keeping 50% of the gross and assured of at least 50 ticket sales. (and of course, concessions)
He didn’t start getting a decent cut of the gross until he’d been showing for the 4th week – by which time in a small town there might be 15 people in the audience. Where he made his money was at the drive-in and at specialty matinees, because he could run older lower budget films keeping 50% of the gross and assured of at least 50 ticket sales. (and of course, concessions)
The Celebration theater made money, but not enough for AMC. They hosted a lot of events and retro movies which played well in the area.
Further out from a big city would be tougher on an independent. We used to frequent the Liberty Theater in Camas, WA when we lived in Vantucky, and that owner’s big problem was labor, both the cost and supply.
Among other features, The Liberty hosted retro Christmas movies which were huge. Even “Santa Claus Conquers The Martians” sold out when the US copyright was renewed and a new print circulated the country.
One big problem for Alamo and the other independents currently is Disney putting the Fox retro catalog in “the vault” and throwing away the key. The decor of the local Alamo is “Planet of the Apes”, and the screenings of that series were extremely well attended until the distribution ended.
And “Rocky Horror Picture Show” is Fox.
If you’re bored today, try for six…
https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/06/24/guinness-world-record-stacking-mms-moos-pkg-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/wacky-world-of-jeanne-moos/
Sorry, but after a year plus away, I don’t miss theaters. Plenty happy watching at home on 65″ 4K TV with sound bar and reclining chairs. No 15 minute drive, no searching for parking, no over-priced tickets, no way over-priced popcorn, no rude people talking. Closed captions whenever needed, and most importantly, pause for bathroom breaks (goodbye RunPee).
I have returned to the realm of consciousness…. and am darn glad we scheduled a completely down day at the end of our “vacation”.
Jeez I was tired.
Breakfast, and puppy kisses await.
n
And coffee.
If you were concerned about what was in the Covid vaccines, consider this…
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/06/crispr-injected-blood-treats-genetic-disease-first-time
Sorry, but after a year plus away, I don’t miss theaters. Plenty happy watching at home on 65″ 4K TV with sound bar and reclining chairs. No 15 minute drive, no searching for parking, no over-priced tickets, no way over-priced popcorn, no rude people talking. Closed captions whenever needed, and most importantly, pause for bathroom breaks (goodbye RunPee).
Anymore, AMC doesn’t over anything better than the home theater for first run movies, and the retro flicks are weird looking projected digitally.
Alamo’s value add is the pre-shows. Someone puts serious amounts of time and research into those.
Ugh, 95F at 9am, it’s going to be a scorcher in the California high desert today. They say 110, but I’d be surprised if it didn’t hit 115.
My swamp cooler motor bit the dust Friday – 30yo. I had a replacement on hand…but it’s a different motor frame, so I need a new motor base. Ordered it from Amazon as the local HW stores don’t have it, should arrive…by the 4th.
In the meantime it’ll be “mechanical” window units. Expensive to run, but better in extreme heat anyway.
Set up a mister system for the loaner Chihuahuas, will hand mist the newer trees every hour or so. Bah.
For the right movie, in the right theater, there is a shared human experience that is more than just watching the movie. We’re pack animals and having the pack around and in sync makes a difference.
I don’t go very often any more, but when we do it’s an IMAX sized screen, with recliners and powerful sound.
There are a lot of poorly designed and built, and poorly run theaters out there. Don’t patronize them.
n
loaner Chihuahuas
—mmrrrhh?
n
loaner Chihuahuas
Taking care of, whilst their owners are on vacation.
Greg, thanks for the extra discussion of independent movie theaters, and how they do it, and the new challenges they face. Yep, those kinds of special showings were solid money-makers back then, too. Jeepers, life for an independent owner would be hard without Rocky Horror. People would travel for a hundred miles for a midnight showing of that back in the day, and I imagine it has only gotten bigger as LARPing has grown as a hobby.
HaHa! Loved that! He’s right: there are no flat sides on any M&Ms! 🙂
I have an M&Ms story ….. my sister (20 months younger than me) was born with a partial cleft palate (not visible outside, but an opening inside her mouth). She was two before they did surgery to repair it. For several years after, there was still danger of choking. Of course, back then, they would not have dreamed of depriving a child of candy. So from the time I can remember, they would give me a bag of M&Ms, and I would bite each one in half and give her half of each M&M. I am 63, and I still catch myself biting M&Ms in half. 🙂
@Jenny
“Fortunately the jump is Oracle changing their numbering scheme. 12c is followed immediately by 18, skipping numbers 13-17.”
Thanks for clearing that up.
@Greg
Not entirely surprising that the condo owners thought they had more time to do repairs. My question is: Was the building inspector in the loop on that engineering report? Seems likely that the occupancy permit would be pulled unless there was some financial support offered for children’s educational expenses.
Not entirely surprising that the condo owners thought they had more time to do repairs.
–and they’d been doing some sort of repairs, epoxy injection something or other… and buildings don’t just fall down, right? So there is always more time to do something.
FWIW, the timing does seem a bit odd, had they started any work?
This incident is going to prove once again that it’s cheaper to do the work right than to pay the lawsuits.
n
“U.S. track-and-field athlete turns back during national anthem”
Years ago I made a small contribution to the construction of the then-new US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
If an athlete joins a team representing the USA, and takes the financial support that goes along with it, then they have an obligation to show respect for the flag. It they don’t want to do that, then they shouldn’t be on the team, and the selection committee should so inform them.
@Nick
Now that the building is down there will be full opportunity for forensic inspection of the materials. I have no doubt that corners were cut. There’s a reason that ASTM standards C1202, C1218, C1709 (all related to chlorides in concrete) exist.
Building owners are going to get hit by some heavy inspection costs after the inevitable laws get passed.
@drwilliams, is that related to the water added to the concrete or to the limestone they mined locally as aggregate? Or shell?
n
Chicago Tribune acquired by hedge-fund, sheds star writers in buy-out
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/06/chicago_tribune_downsizes_their_star_columnist.html
John Kass is mentioned as the inheritor of the Mike Royko position. He already has his own blog, and is quoted as exploring possibilities for radio.
When I started reading the newspapers it was the comics page, and shortly after my dad handed me a paper folded to a column and said “You should start reading the rest of the paper. This is a good place to start.”
I subscribed to newspapers pretty much continuously for almost fifty years. The common belief is that the economic foundations (commercial advertising and classified ads) were eroded by the internet. That’s probably pretty much true, but the local newspaper monopolies were relentless in squeezing every nickel they could, so it was no surprise when people left for cheaper alternatives. Loss of revenue made the exorbitant wages of the pressroom unsupportable and the corner-cutting began.
Not entirely surprising that the condo owners thought they had more time to do repairs. My question is: Was the building inspector in the loop on that engineering report? Seems likely that the occupancy permit would be pulled unless there was some financial support offered for children’s educational expenses.
Again, Miami.
When I had my roof redone in Tampa and the leaks started appearing as soon as the rainy season began later that year, my phone call to the building inspector to complain about the inspection got the following response.
“Well, Jim’s (roofer) a good guy and we thought we could complete the inspection by just taking a look from the road real fast.”
@Greg
11g / 12c to 18 / 19 & That’s quite a time span on releases.
Fortunately the jump is Oracle changing their numbering scheme. 12c is followed immediately by 18, skipping numbers 13-17.
We just jumped from Act! 2012 Premium to Act! 2021 Premium, nine years of changes. I was amazed, no problems, the 1.3 GB backup zip file loaded right in. Several user interface changes though.
Speaking of rain, we’re getting some right now. 0,10 in so far.
(ha, mix euro style delimiter with imperial measure, I’m a cosmopolitan!)
n
Chicago Tribune acquired by hedge-fund, sheds star writers in buy-out
When we visited Chicago in 2019, the Tribune building had been gutted for condos, and the paper was looking to unload the lease on their space across the river. What was left to buy-out? The printing plant?
I imagine more cuts are coming to the Tribune’s Orlando Sentinel subsidiary. Not much is left there, however, besides a few writers and photographers working from home in their jammies. IIRC, even the printing is outsourced, handled by Gannett.
We just jumped from Act! 2012 Premium to Act! 2021 Premium, nine years of changes. I was amazed, no problems, the 1.3 GB backup zip file loaded right in. Several user interface changes though.
A few places still have quality QA with regression testing. It is expensive, however, and testing is an over-40 ghetto at a lot of shops.
I don’t doubt Act! has quality testing.
Oh noes! I’m at Starbucks and they’re playing Mandy…
It was so hot (How hot was it?) in Seattle yesterday that when I went to the bathroom the Tidybowl man offered me a dollar to pee on him.
the Tidybowl man offered me a dollar to pee on him.
OMG, you got me I LOL’d….
n
Another commie takeover. Or possibly spineless, shitty, woke dooshnozzles.
So, you’re getting baked in the high desert?
@Nick
“@drwilliams, is that related to the water added to the concrete or to the limestone they mined locally as aggregate? Or shell?”
Generally speaking, you want to protect the rebar in reinforced concrete from chloride attack. That’s commonly done in three ways:
Coat the rebar. Ever noticed the green coating when they do a bridge deck? Epoxies have been used for fifty years.
Protect the concrete from external sources, particularly saltwater or de-icing chemicals. Asphalt coatings were common forty years ago, but not real effective and easily damage. Modern coatings, including methacrylates, and systems to keep water away from the foundation, are much more effective.
Proper concrete mix design. Concrete is cement, aggregate, and sand. And water added to hydrate the cement.
Most cement is Type I Portland, but there are more than 20 used in construction. Chloride resistance is not typically a function of cement.
Aggregate is the gravel. Composition, shape and grade (size distribution) are key factors. Some aggregates contain chlorides, some are porous.
Sand. Again, composition, shape and grade. Most sand is silica sand. In Florida, silica sand can be pure or contain a lot of non-silica. Most of it is round or sub-round beach sand.
There are standards for all the materials, the proportions, and the way they are mixed. Cement in the right proportion is not an issue in first-world countries (in the third-world it gets stolen and adulterated). Manufacturing cement is an expensive operation, and a lot of it is done in Mexico now due to carbon dioxide regs.
Aggregate and sand are typically sourced locally. Every mile you truck it the cost goes up. Lots of opportunity to cut costs with sub-standard materials. Using unwashed beach sand from a sand dune gives you high chloride levels combined with sub-optimal grade and shape. Weak concrete.
The tendency is always to use excess water to make it easier to place concrete. Excess water increases the pore size in the finished concrete and makes it less resistant to chloride movement. It’s also easy to cut costs by using brackish water in the mix.
During a foundation pour each concrete delivery is tested. The slump test is used as a general indication of water content, mix design, workability, etc. It is fast and immediate–the delivery passes or is rejected. Records are kept. Likewise, retained samples are taken to make cylinders, which go back to the lab, get cured under controlled conditions, and get tested for compressive strength after aging. Mix designs typically yield cylinders with compressive strength far above the requirements.
Deviation from the approved mix design can be determined after the fact. In this case they will take samples, do chemical analysis, microscopic analysis (petrography), cut and break cylinders, and run a host of tests to answer two broad questions: 1) was there anything wrong with the concrete/foundation as-built, and 2) why did it fail?
With potentially 100+ deaths, the stakes are huge. There are dozens of local/regional labs that do concrete testing and forensic analysis, but I expect that the two industry big guns, the Portland Cement Association (Skokie IL) and the American Concrete Institute ( Farmington Hills, MI) are going to be doing testing and producing reports.
It’s going to be a long process, and expensive. Any company or successor company that was involved in the construction had better be checking their insurance coverage and records.
Unrelated to anything else today, I’m still struggling with my NVR software.
It fails roughly every 24 hours, sometimes less. It failed just now witht eh message
Segmentation fault (core dumped)
sometimes it just says “killed”
sometimes there is some other message like “bo>virtual failed”
I updated the software to the current release, but it doesn’t use the recently updated current release of the dotnet stuff for linux.
I started with a linux issue, but stable NVR software, and have ended with unstable software on stable linux.
I might go back to the old linux and try fixing the issue there, since the old nvr ran fine.
OR I can just bite the bullet and by a hardware NVR and repurpose the dell pc the software is running on.
In any case, an NVR that won’t run forever unattended isn’t a usable product.
n
During a foundation pour each concrete delivery is tested. The slump test is used as a general indication of water content, mix design, workability, etc. It is fast and immediate–the delivery passes or is rejected. Records are kept. Likewise, retained samples are taken to make cylinders, which go back to the lab, get cured under controlled conditions, and get tested for compressive strength after aging. Mix designs typically yield cylinders with compressive strength far above the requirements.
Deviation from the approved mix design can be determined after the fact. In this case they will take samples, do chemical analysis, microscopic analysis (petrography), cut and break cylinders, and run a host of tests to answer two broad questions: 1) was there anything wrong with the concrete/foundation as-built, and 2) why did it fail?
A new house around the corner from me did not make the 3,500 psi spec (was 2,500 psi or 3,000 psi IIRC). The builder had already framed the foundation. They removed the framing and ripped out the foundation. Then they poured a new foundation which did meet the spec. Set the home owner back six months, he had to rent another house for his family. I talked to him a couple of months back, he is still upset. But he did use the home builder to build him a new 20 foot by 50 foot garage with dual RV (12 foot wide by 14 foot tall) doors so he did not blame him.
40 years later? “Cousin Vinny’s Concrete” is long gone and any paper trail likely gone cold.
40 years ago was the go go 80s and also the era of the cocaine cowboys. Wanna bet the building had sketchy financing or ownership? And that corners were cut in the interest of time or money savings?
I’ve worked in buildings in Houston from the same time, and I’ve got some stories…
In one, the floor slabs were 4″ thick instead of the specified and presumably paid for 6″. That’s a 1/3 savings on cost and materials…..
In another, the floor dropped 2 inches so it either got 2 inches thinner 20ft from the edge of the building, or it was sagging that much….
The Enron building is MANY inches out of plumb, and some of the floors are up to 18 inches out of level across the whole building, and it was put up in the 90s…but there was a HUGE rush to get done and paid before it all fell apart…
LOTS of sketchy construction in the US, but buildings rarely fall down.
n
(see also the Cline Ave Extension collapse in the Chicago area)
The Enron building is MANY inches out of plumb, and some of the floors are up to 18 inches out of level across the whole building, and it was put up in the 90s…but there was a HUGE rush to get done and paid before it all fell apart…
Kenny Boy!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9730275/Crowdsourcing-app-called-Premise-turning-unwitting-users-paid-SPIES.html
— ha hah
n
“Blackouts Loom In California As Electricity Prices Are “Absolutely Exploding””
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/blackouts-loom-california-electricity-prices-are-absolutely-exploding
“CAISO’s warning of impending electricity shortages heralds another blackout-riddled summer at the same time California’s electricity prices are skyrocketing.
In 2020, California’s electricity prices jumped by 7.5%, making it the biggest price increase of any state in the country last year and nearly seven times the increase that was seen in the United States as a whole. According to data from the Energy Information Administration, the all-sector price of electricity in California last year jumped to 18.15 cents per kilowatt-hour, which means that Californians are now paying about 70% more for their electricity than the U.S. average all-sector rate of 10.66 cents per kWh. Even more worrisome: California’s electricity rates are expected to soar over the next decade. (More on that in a moment.)”
I guess all that solar is not working out well for them.
I guess all that solar is not working out well for them.
That and Tonymobile mandates.
Coming soon to Texas. Imagine this out in, say, Fredericksburg … with constitutional carry.
Line jumpers will be shot!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFSXDhBXUQg
I saw an iD4 VW commercial on the TV at the pizza place last night.
Maybe more windmills?
But what did they expect after not letting the electric companies keep the brush cleared on the right of ways and then making them pay damages when it all burns up?
My ISP is a little local outfit. They send e-mails once in a while that, well, actually should be sat on and then edited when everyone is awake. Instead of sending at 3 AM.
The latest went on about new radios between Here and There and Yonder with much more bandwidth. Good stuff. So…. Everyone needs to power-cycle everything. Radio, router, TVs, Roku, phones, Alexa gizmos, all of it… unplug everything for a least five minutes. To reset something or another.
Just silly. It’s like calling Rise to gripe about slow to nothing speed and the first thing every freaking time is “re-boot everything”. Like I didn’t try that three times before calling? Oh, and connect your PC directly to the radio’s output. Ok, time to get out the old laptop.
Everything goes through my router. Router does DHCP with the ISP. They control the radio. At most, that’s all I need to re-boot.
Do other ISPs do this?
I made some stew last night. A 28oz can of Keystone Beef. A little mini can of corn, drained. A couple of tablespoons of tomato paste to finish the can. Three cans of drained, rinsed, cut up canned potatoes. From HEB, they taste good and not weird like whatever brand my Mom would buy when I was a kid. Two cans of water. Four tablespoons of Fiesta Carne Guisada mix. Black pepper. A tablespoon or so of beef broth/bouillon, hard to tell, it’s all a lump and you have to chisel it out of the container.
Let it all simmer for a while and then added about a half cup of instant mashed potatoes to thicken.
It turned out pretty good. Hopefully it will be better tonight.
If I’m stocking for the MZA, I need to practice cooking the stuff.
Comcast does, AT&T does, Spectrum does. Standard for all of them. Even though I have been through all the reboots, direct connect, etc., they demand I do it again.
One time with Comcast I was told by the “tech” that they could see my modem was OK. I asked how since I had unplugged the power. Tech said they can still see modems with no power. Yeh, right. So I told the tech to wait while I checked the connection. Actually I completely disconnected the modem from power and coax. I then asked the tech if that helped. He said that was better as my signal levels were showing stronger and now within range. I asked how since the modem was laying on the floor with no power or coax connected. He hung up.
My ISP is a little local outfit. They send e-mails once in a while that, well, actually should be sat on and then edited when everyone is awake. Instead of sending at 3 AM.
The latest went on about new radios between Here and There and Yonder with much more bandwidth. Good stuff. So…. Everyone needs to power-cycle everything. Radio, router, TVs, Roku, phones, Alexa gizmos, all of it… unplug everything for a least five minutes. To reset something or another.
Just silly. It’s like calling Rise to gripe about slow to nothing speed and the first thing every freaking time is “re-boot everything”. Like I didn’t try that three times before calling? Oh, and connect your PC directly to the radio’s output. Ok, time to get out the old laptop.
Everything goes through my router. Router does DHCP with the ISP. They control the radio. At most, that’s all I need to re-boot.
Do other ISPs do this?
Comcast reboots everything in our area at 1am on Sunday nights. The minimum down time is 15 minutes. Sometimes an hour. And then sometimes I have to reboot our router to get back up. No email warnings here.
We just jumped from Act! 2012 Premium to Act! 2021 Premium, nine years of changes. I was amazed, no problems, the 1.3 GB backup zip file loaded right in. Several user interface changes though.
A few places still have quality QA with regression testing. It is expensive, however, and testing is an over-40 ghetto at a lot of shops.
I don’t doubt Act! has quality testing.
For our user interface on Windows, I test load 650+ flowsheets (our binary file) from various eras of our software dating back to 1989. Then I test run a dialog and save the resulting flowsheet to our source code file server. You too can cause software crashes …
For our calculation engine, I test run 600+ flowsheet input files dating back to 1978 ?.
Then I test load every flowsheet sent by a customer to us. Over 16,000 to date.
We call this benchmarking. All run through scripts. When things run well, the entire set of scripts takes a week to run. But things never run well because Windows memory management sucks.
I guess all that solar is not working out well for them.
Maybe more windmills?
But what did they expect after not letting the electric companies keep the brush cleared on the right of ways and then making them pay damages when it all burns up?
Wait until they shut down the last two nuclear units, Diablo Canyon, in 2025. That will be interesting.
In the pen and paper stage of concrete structural engineering, the calculations have a safety factor of “3” built in. The tiny lo-rez pictures of the deterioration and half arsed repairs I saw for the Miami building would be *very* concerning. Shades of Building 7, but not at all the same thing.
Just silly. It’s like calling Rise to gripe about slow to nothing speed and the first thing every freaking time is “re-boot everything”. Like I didn’t try that three times before calling? Oh, and connect your PC directly to the radio’s output. Ok, time to get out the old laptop.
Everything goes through my router. Router does DHCP with the ISP. They control the radio. At most, that’s all I need to re-boot.
Spectrum controls my cable modem, including firmware upgrades. The external address and DNS is assigned via DHCP.
The modem and the router are on a single UPS along with the MOCA adapter that feeds my home office via an unused chunk of coax. Whenever I have problems, before contacting Spectrum, the first thing I do is cycle the power via the switch on the UPS.
Before the UPS, I would have intermittent problems with the modem in the summertime.
Is it really “spying” if all the photos can be taken from public property?
Anyway, really what’s funny is how many people would do this for what they (supposedly) get paid.
If the screenshots from here are accurate they pay 10 cents for a three to four minute task.
First article that I have read with a considered view of why TPM 2 would be mandatory for Win 11:
https://www.neowin.net/news/some-thoughts-on-microsofts-requirement-for-a-tpm-module-in-windows-11/
Sounds reasonable to me. Unfortunately, it will mean that my day-to-day laptops will not migrate. 🙁
And they try to close some doors with security requirements but open a few others. Sigh:
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/06/microsofts-windows-subsystem-for-android-sounds-a-lot-like-chrome-os/
So, Android apps from Amazon store for which you need an Amazon id? Thanks, but no thanks. No Google, no Amazon.
Ahhh, but you will be able to sideload apps. Great, but what about security?!
Got most of the grass cut. It was very heavy so the battery didn’t quite make it thru the job. I have about 5 minutes left in the front yard. Probably won’t get it tonight before dark, as it’s hot and the battery takes longer to charge when hot. I guess I could move it indoors for the night. Why not start in the front yard and have any left to do in the back? Well, the back was a LOT longer… and I didn’t want to wait a day…
Puppy learned a lot from the other dogs at his vacation spot. He waited by the door to go out and do his business… and that is awesome. He also learned that not everyone likes to be nipped on the ears and to play with puppies, especially old dogs.
Kids are moping around. 12 yo going on 15… so much drama.
I need to wrangle something for dinner and just don’t feel like it at all. We ordered chinese last night, and I’m thinking I can have delicious pizza in 20 minutes, or instant cheeseburgers in 5… hm, cheeseburgers it is.
n
@paul, I like the canned potatoes too. They’re fine as a side with butter and salt.
At the home user end of the spectrum, yes. If your carrier-level gear needs a reboot after every config change, something isn’t right.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/06/gunman-fully-automatic-rifle-opens-fire-chicago-traffic-broad-daylight-video/
Only a three round burst so it COULD have been some sort of trigger accessory… then the mag drops out. In this case it’s a freaking BETA MAG! I’ve seen a lot of shooting videos where the mag drops out after the first couple of shots. I don’t know if it wasn’t seated, or if people are squeezing the grip so hard they hit the mag release with the pistols…
And the shooter with the rifle looks like a female to me.
n
I always try to start in the back, then do the alley and off-side, then the front and areas visible from the street last. That principle of “hate it worst, eat it first” applies to maintenance jobs, and keeps me incented to complete the task. Otherwise, I’d neglect the back and alley. I know this because I used to do just that. Getting more responsible with age I guess. LOL
Nice helpers mowed for me a couple times this summer …. and neither of them mowed the alley. LOL! When I finally got my new mower (Toro gas-powered mulching self-propelled walk-behind), the alley grass and weeds were 12″ tall. But the mower powered through it all with nary a cough or splutter.
This is the same mower I had before, but they have improved it: now, all four wheels are free turning at all times, so the propel mechanism is not required to mow, and it is easy to push back to the shed when turned off. Also, no oil changes ever – just check it and add as needed.
The old engine was still good after 14 years, and still started on one pull, but the self-propel mechanism was beyond repair and the front wheels won’t turn without it, and it needed a new blade (my brother in law said “the old one is dangerous – it has holes in it”).
“New York, New York, big city of dreams, but every thing in New York ain’t always what is seems. You might get fooled if ya come from out of town, but I’m down by law and I know my way around… Too much. Too many people, too much. Too much. Too many people, too much.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/06/innocent-bystander-shot-times-square-outside-marriott-hotel-broad-daylight/
n
And the shooter with the rifle looks like a female to me.
Ditto.
“And Huber makes his getaway as he inhales a sigh of relief.”
Good trick if he can actually do it. Your typical human can only sigh when EXHALING. News people are functional illiterates.
Who you callin’ a pedant? 😀
Watched a couple of amazon returns and store overstock auctions close today. Prices are definitely down from a month ago on a lot of items that have been available that long. One seller had a bunch of “no sale” items, which could be because his opening bids were too high, but they looked reasonable to me. Buyers HATE opening bids and reserves though so it could just be buyers punishing him. I don’t think he’s going to make it as a reseller. This is not the first auction he’s had a lot of items unsold. If his open is what he needs to make money, his expenses are too high to make it.
I also noticed that there are several new auction sellers that I have not seen in months. Either they didn’t make enough, or they can’t get source items. There have been a lot of new sellers lately, and the competition for source items is steep.
n
he inhales
I think the desire to play off him taking a drag on the cigarette overwhelmed any knowledge of the physical world.
n
–or it could be that your relentless self focus, standoffishness, and your mental illness combine with your distrust of your coworkers to make you someone really toxic in the workplace.
n
Or shoving their lifestyle in coworkers faces and expecting them to endorse.
Live how you want. Just don’t stick it in my face and then complain when you don’t get a high five.
lower short wave bands are alive tonight. 5mhz, 6mhz both filled with stations and not much noise. 5mhz has several US religious broadcasts, and 6mhz is filled with cuban stations. 6.165mhz Radio Havana english language news has just started.
n
“First article that I have read with a considered view of why TPM 2 would be mandatory for Win 11:”
https://www.neowin.net/news/some-thoughts-on-microsofts-requirement-for-a-tpm-module-in-windows-11/
There is no way this side of hell that I would give Microsoft–or Apple or Google or any of the pale sweaty billionaires–that much control over my computers. And if any of them has that control, they WILL put their little pink butts up in the air on command and hand everything over to the government.
Methinks it is past time to start stacking away a few computers, printers, and copiers. I can see a time fast approaching where the requirement will be that everything is connected to the internet 24/7.
Replace a hard drive? So sorry. Activation to “insecure system” refused.
Print document? Please to login firstly.
Watch movie? Ditto above.
I just had to do another put-the-freaking plug reboot on this Win10 POS. And then step on all the MS crap, including Teams, that wanted to run. What’s next, Bil Gates testifying that Teams is an integral part of the OS?
I haven’t found any reason to watch Dr Who in the last five years and I don’t think I’ll be introducing my kids to the franchise any time soon either.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9729169/Olly-Alexander-set-new-Doctor-gay-actor-play-Time-Lord.html
That is a freak. Well outside the norms for society.
n
I had enjoyed watching Dr. Who up until they changed to Jodie. It seems I will not be returning until the next change or, given their trends, never.
A shame, really.
They should then change the Tardis colour to 7 select colours …
No reason not to intro the kids to Dr. Who. Lot’s of great material in the classic years up to and including Colin Baker as Doctor. Also lot’s of good stuff in the reboot with Eccleston and Tenant.
Just explain that the franchise is periodically ruined by ashwipes with no talent, just as the Marvel Universe is being destroyed by same.
Lot’s of good classic movies to fill in the holes. Try Auntie Mame.
that much control over
my computersyour licensed computers.FIFY
“Sadly Robert Felix, who ran the Ice Age Now website, passed away a couple of weeks ago.”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/06/27/robert-felix-of-ice-age-now-sadly-passes-away/
I loved his website. His 8,000 year graph is awesome.
https://www.iceagenow.info/
and
https://www.iceagenow.info/temperatures-have-been-falling-for-the-past-8000-years/