Sat. July 3, 2021 – no title for you!

Still forecast to be hot and humid with possibility of rain… and yesterday was hot and humid, but sunny too. There was a little overcast, but no rain.

I did some kid chauffeuring, got one quick in person estate sale in on the way home from that, cut my deadbeat neighbor’s grass because I couldn’t look at it any longer, fed kids, ate, and just lived my life.

I did sort through a bin full of medical supplies, and organize them. I still don’t have a good system for storing stuff I’m unlikely to need, but if I do, I’ll need it in a hurry. A lot of my medical stuff is really just to have a deep larder if things go very pear shaped, and as such doesn’t need to be ready to hand, but does need to be safe. As I was sorting this bin I was thinking about just HOW pear shaped things would need to get for some of it to make sense. And then I saw the article about Venezuela knocking 6 zeros off its currency, and I remembered that we got through the very unlikely pandemic without much disruption because I’d taken the chance of a pandemic seriously and prepared for it.

We have been lucky that drug supply lines weren’t more seriously disrupted, and that we didn’t see widespread shortages of critical meds in the US (there were shortages, and some suppliers had to look outside their normal vendors). I don’t want to depend on luck. So I stack stuff that I’m unlikely to need, and that I fervently hope I’ll NEVER use. There’s plenty in the stacks that I do use and that does get rotated too. And as has been pointed out here and elsewhere, wound care, and caring for the sick, will eat through supplies like Rosanne Barr at the Shakee’s pizza buffet. There are alternatives to toilet paper, there are fewer alternatives to meds and medical supplies.

Don’t forget simple soap and AB ointment. They are both cheap and both are literal lifesavers.

Hygiene and cleanliness are topics for whole books, but the short version is – a stitch in time saves nine. Don’t let infection get started, and you won’t be wishing you’d bought some fish meds… or that all the Drs didn’t die off in the first wave of the zombie plague. Ditto for keeping moist areas of the body clean and dry. Kilts were good for that at least, but I don’t see them coming into fashion here… and clean hands will prevent a whole host of ills.

With that cheery thought, I’m off to do more stuff around the house. ‘Cuz it ain’t gonna do itself…

n

(stack something)

69 Comments and discussion on "Sat. July 3, 2021 – no title for you!"

  1. Denis says:

    Is anything worn under the kilt?

    Nae, lassie, it’s all in perfect working order!

    Hurray for bifurcated garments.

  2. brad says:

    I’ve tried to post a comment for the past couple of days, but keep getting an “Internal Server Error”. The message is in Text mode, with some of the supported tags.

    The 500 error message says to report this to webmaster@ttgnet.com, but that address doesn’t exist. This message – with zero formatting – posted fine.

  3. brad says:

    The only important point in my message that won’t post: I have a question for the hive mind. Especially for the IT folk. As of a couple of days ago, my PC refuses to boot from its normal disk (GPT/EFI). However, I created a bootable USB stick (MBR) and added an entry to grub.conf that passes the boot process on to the EFI partition on the normal disk. And that works just fine.

    Seems weird to me: why would it be able to boot after a redirect, but not directly? What am I missing? What should I check?

  4. Denis says:

    Nick, your post yesterday about popular YouTube channels was very interesting. Would you share your favourite subscriptions, please?

    Mine fall mainly into three categories: machining, other crafts, and gunsmithing…

    Machining

    MrPete222 (Tubalcain, Lyle Peterson)

    Keith Fenner

    Oxtoolco (Tom Lipton)

    Abom79 (Adam Booth)

    Stefan Gotteswinter

    Doubleboost (John Mills)

    Joe Pieczynski

    Robin Renzetti

    Vintage Machinery (Keith Rucker)

    Other crafts

    Acorn to Arabella (boatbuilding)

    The Art of Boatbuilding

    Torbjörn Åmann (blacksmith)

    Snadhghus (look for the “Hands” episodes)

    Clickspring (clockmaking)

    University of Guelph Beekeeping

    Bob Ross (painting)

    Gunsmithing

    Arts Gun Shop

    Forgotten Weapons (Ian McCollum)

    Brownells

    Midway USA

    Anvil (Mark Novak)

  5. Greg Norton says:

    The only important point in my message that won’t post: I have a question for the hive mind. Especially for the IT folk. As of a couple of days ago, my PC refuses to boot from its normal disk (GPT/EFI). However, I created a bootable USB stick (MBR) and added an entry to grub.conf that passes the boot process on to the EFI partition on the normal disk. And that works just fine.

    Linux or Windows? Did you do a BIOS update recently?

  6. Greg Norton says:

    It looks like Lord Stanley’s cup will remain in Tampa another year. We’ll see about the Yucs repeating. The Curse of the FuFu Gato may have finally lifted.

    https://www.tampabay.com/sports/lightning/2021/07/02/lightning-one-win-from-clinching-cup-sweeping-canadiens/

    The Yucs have added more good stories to the pile — good stories win Super Bowls — everyone came back for another ring, and Antonio Brown’s legal troubles are confined to civil court this year. Maybe.

    https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports/story/2021-06-29/mr-irrelevant-grant-stuard-roasted-at-lowsman-banquet

    https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/06/14/chris-godwin-bucs-fmia-guest-nfl-peter-king/

  7. Brad says:

    @Greg: the main disk is Win10 with Linus in a second partition. There is a “shim” that sends the boot process to Grub, to let me pick which partition to boot.

  8. pecancorner says:

    36 years and one month ago, at about 9:20pm on I 65 northbound, headed toward Merrillville, IN, I did almost exactly what the second guy in the clip does. I flew a bit farther, and the car was facing away from me. No helmet- t shirt, shorts, and sperry topsiders.

    I’ve still got the limp and the scars. But (after 3 months on crutches) I walked away from it. Took my buddy who was driving the bike a year and a lot of hardware implanted to walk again. But he did too. It was pure luck that saved us,

    Thank God for luck,  Re motorcycle accidents: it eventually boils down to speed. Riders hate to admit it, but the reality is unassailable. If a motorcycle is coming down my street at 25mph above the speed limit, I can’t even see him until – maybe – half a second before he crosses in front of our driveway. I never allowed my sons to ride on the street. Off-roading on dirt bikes was all they were allowed. At least hills and trees don’t move… of course they still got hurt, but not killed.

    And the speed problem applies regardless of age. My grandfather bought his first motorcycle at age 60. After his second out-of-town wreck,   caused by <strike> a car in his way</strike> <strike> a car that wouldn’t move over for him </strike> <strike> a bit of gravel on the road  </strike> excess speed …..  my grandmother told him he couldn’t leave the city limits on it any more. He sold the bike within months, because he admitted the reason he owned it was to drive very fast.

    Last month, our adult grandson said he was thinking of buying a motorcycle to get through the Austin traffic with, and my thrill-seeking middle son who is usually a live-and-let-live kind of guy spent two hours trying to convince him “not to get a motorcycle”. I guess my young’un finally outgrew his need for speed….

     

  9. pecancorner says:

    Don’t forget simple soap and AB ointment. They are both cheap and both are literal lifesavers.

    Hygiene and cleanliness are topics for whole books, but the short version is – a stitch in time saves nine. Don’t let infection get started, and you won’t be wishing you’d bought some fish meds… or that all the Drs didn’t die off in the first wave of the zombie plague. Ditto for keeping moist areas of the body clean and dry. Kilts were good for that at least, but I don’t see them coming into fashion here… and clean hands will prevent a whole host of ills.

    “Quoted for truth” as Steve would say! And I’ll chime in from the ladies’ side:
    The reason women always wore skirts had nothing to do with oppression and everything to do with hygiene and physiology and health. Skirts and drawers kept ladies alive and well “back in the day”. And yes, hoop skirts were for comfort and air crculation.

    There’s good Emergency Preparedness course that the University of Pittsburg offers, and I was surprised and glad to see that one of the presenters talks about the use of skirts for female health.

  10. Greg Norton says:

    Hurricane. Schmurricane. I just saw the first customer of the morning in Sloppy Joes, drinks in hand.

    https://sloppyjoes.com/cam-bar/

  11. Greg Norton says:

    @Greg: the main disk is Win10 with Linus in a second partition. There is a “shim” that sends the boot process to Grub, to let me pick which partition to boot.

    Did either the Linux or Windows partitions receive a recent upgrade?

    If you interrupt the normal boot process and select the startup OS from the BIOS boot menu, does the system start normally?

    It sounds like the “Legacy”/”Compatibility” could be incorrect in the BIOS, but that’s strange that the boot process would stop working all of a sudden. What brand of machine?

    If Windows got a recent big upgrade, check to see if the fast startup got reenabled and consider disabling the “feature”. In my experience, Linux/Grub and fast startup do not mix.

  12. Greg Norton says:

    And yes, hoop skirts were for comfort and air crculation.

    The vents on a cheongsam are that high for the same reason. Flashing leg is a side benefit.

    Yes I have. You only live once, and the dress was far less of a problem than the Batman outfit the year before or the cat costume the following year.

    Drunk people know Batman. The cat outfit caught the attention of some Japanese tourists in a really disturbing way — lots of pictures.

  13. Alan says:

    Is anything worn under the kilt?

    Nae, lassie, it’s all in perfect working order!

    Always wondered about those signs on the highway:
    “Seatbelts Must Be Worn”

  14. ech says:

    I’ve said before that I don’t believe I have the mindset to be a safe and successful small airplane pilot.

    When I was working toward private pilot, my first instructor was a former USAF pilot. Flew B-52s and transport planes. He taught me the way they teach military pilots. Keep scanning. All maneuvers to be done precisely. Thorough preflights. Always have a plan.

    It served me well when we had a bird strike while practicing takeoffs over a simulated obstacle at the end of the runway. I got a face full of bird blood and feathers, but kept the plane under control until we got into the pattern and I could hand it off to him, wipe my face, and resume control. We landed, inspected the plane, flew back to base. He signed me off to solo that evening.

     

  15. JimB says:

    Keep scanning.

    I believe that would be my problem. I am not, nor will ever be, a pilot. I have enough trouble in two dimensions. My wife was a licensed pilot many years ago, and she is much better at scanning. Has better reflexes, too. She really enjoyed flying, but I did not. I found it boring, which is a recipe for disaster. I really enjoy anything on two wheels, and she does not. Differences.

    I knew a guy who had a Pitts Special, and did aerobatics. I might enjoy that, but it would be waaay above my limitations. OTOH, I enjoyed being a mechanic within the limits of the rules. We had an A&P who would sign me off on routine stuff. Worked with him to remove the engine on our 150. The engine support bracket (mount) had been repaired when we bought the plane, and it cracked. Replacing it was easy once the engine was out.

  16. SteveF says:

    The reason women always wore skirts had nothing to do with oppression and everything to do with hygiene and physiology and health.

    Your comment is rejected because it does not fit the narrative.

  17. JimB says:

    Cable TV is dead.

    We have moved away from four places just before cable became available. Been here 40+ years, and cable is a half mile away. We are told it will *never* be extended to us because density is too low. That’s why I am hoping Starlink will be a success. Should know in a few months.

    If Starlink is not successful, I might try to get cable to a vacant parcel we have and beam it to our house. A lot of work and expense.

    Someone mentioned the latency of Starlink. It is definitely lower than fiber over very long distances, such as from New York to London. The reason is that the speed in fiber is something like 70% of the speed of light, while the satellites are in the vacuum of space where signals propagate very close to the speed of light. There was an article that I can’t find right now that explained just how much and showed the math. Meanwhile, this will be a decent explanation:

    https://machmetrics.com/speed-blog/spacex-elon-musk-spending-10-billion-to-make-the-internet-20-milliseconds-faster/

    Elsewhere, it was pointed out that multiple fiber optics cable networks can provide a lot more bandwidth, but that is not the point.

  18. Nick Flandrey says:

    @ denis, there is a lot of overlap in our lists! Alot of overlap in the gunsmithing/home machining/restoration/clockmaking worlds too.

    Machining

    MrPete222 (Tubalcain, Lyle Peterson)
    —like him but don’t sub, only watched an episode or two

    Keith Fenner
    —bugs me somehow, watched 2x

    Oxtoolco (Tom Lipton)
    —same thing

    Abom79 (Adam Booth)
    —like watching Abom. Love the giant work he does.

    Stefan Gotteswinter
    —watched couple times, will watch if he comes up in my recommended, no sub though

    Doubleboost (John Mills)—?

    Joe Pieczynski —?

    Robin Renzetti —?

    Vintage Machinery (Keith Rucker)
    — of course Keith. He has a real community, massive number of subs, but oddly his per episode views are less than a mechanic in northern Illinois working on cars, Watch Wes Work…. Keith’s work with preserving and scanning old paper is a national treasure. I have to watch him on 1.5x speed though.

    ———machining/restoration/mechanical stuff ———–
    — poroldchap – old brit in his shed fixing stuff
    — watchweswork – mechanic, some machine repair, occasional viewer
    — hand tool rescue – restoration vids
    — I C Weld — big welding repairs, watch occasionally
    — mustie1 – great small engine repair, art bikes, great guy living his dream
    — the post apocalyptic inventor – german guy building and fixing stuff

    Other crafts

    Acorn to Arabella (boatbuilding)

    The Art of Boatbuilding

    Torbjörn Åmann (blacksmith)
    — yes every ep. show him to the kids when they think Forged in Fire on TV is good.

    Snadhghus (look for the “Hands” episodes)

    Clickspring (clockmaking)
    — oh yes, every ep. waiting for more.

    University of Guelph Beekeeping

    Bob Ross (painting)
    —watched on PBS, very similar to scenic painting for theatre, love it but haven’t watched in years.

    —– my other crafts ——
    –twoodfrd — guitar repair very soothing – watch in bed, and I’m out like a light
    –bedo’s Leatherworks — shoes and handbags and other leather repair, love it.
    –Baumgartner Restoration — fine art restoration. soothing. watch every ep.
    –harry rogers – leather work, green wood ‘bodging’, old crafts
    –Black Magic Craft — table top gaming modeling on the cheap
    –Real Terrain Hobbies — high end table top gaming modeling
    –4thecraft – cool acrylic resin modeling
    –Thalasso Hobbyer – resin and clay modeling, super cool
    –Luke Towan -model RR and diorama modeling – one of the best
    –Martin Scherer – porcelain and china repair

    Gunsmithing

    Arts Gun Shop — ?

    Forgotten Weapons (Ian McCollum)
    — don’t care for the vids

    Brownells
    –ok for specific howto

    Midway USA
    –ok for specific howto

    Anvil (Mark Novak)
    –LOVE watching Mark work. Very cool stuff

    ———model RR——————-
    –EverardJunction

    ———electronics—————
    –Mr Carlson’s Lab — VERY thorough, soporific, but great vac tube repair
    –12voltVids – old electronics repair
    –AvE BoTR – profane and scatalogical tool repair, teardowns, machines, engineering
    –bigClivedotcom – teardowns, fixes, humor
    –the 8-bit guy – retro computing
    –Louis Rossmann – NYC apple repair, component level electronics repair, conservative in NYC, young business owner
    –TRX Lab – ham radio repair

    ————other maker/woodworker/etc——————–
    –Wesley Treat – props, cool stuff
    –W&M Levsha – cool tiny stuff
    –Tommy Jobson – clocks
    –Fleets Wood Shop – not much content but an incredible shop
    –Grandpa Amu – traditional chinese woodworking, hand crafts, in his yard- recommended

    ———-other hobby —————-
    –Herons Bonsai
    –Toy Polloi – vintage toy, action figure repair
    –baremetalHW — hot wheels repair, modeling, modding
    –Simple Little Life – homesteading. Mostly knifemaking

    ——- out in the woods ———
    –Simon, a bloke in the woods
    –Joe Robinet

    —— entertainment ———–
    –Rick Beato — music
    –The Hoof GP — hoof trimming, scotland
    –Xiaomanyc – one puffy faced geek, SO MANY languages
    –Mike The Scavenger – scrapper, trash picker, 300K subs, just fun to watch
    –Man + River – older vids are more fun. Getting kinda famous and does less work.
    –Hobo Shoestring – guy’s younger than me, austere living, infrastructure
    –Nekkid Watchmaker – watch repair
    –Frog Leap Studios – one man band, heavy metal covers of pop music
    –Marty’s Matchbox Makeovers – more mugging for the camera than his older stuff
    — Epic Workshop – woodworking, making, nordic/celtic/fantasy gaming influence
    –Pask Makes – wood and metal work, super nice work from minimal beginning

    That’s most of my subs list, in no particular order.

    n

  19. Nick Flandrey says:

    Morning started sunny but it’s 91F and overcast now with rumbling in the distance.
    n

  20. Nick Flandrey says:

    Rumbling turned to downpour. We got 0,61 inches in a very short time.

    n

  21. JimB says:

    Wow, so many YT sites, so little time. Thanks for sharing. As long as we are on the subject, here is my short list, also in no particular order:

    Essential Craftsman

    Uncle Tony’s Garage

    Car Wizard

    Technology Connections

    Project Farm

    This Old Tony

    Lehto’s Law

    Lots more, but I think these might be of interest to readers here.

  22. Nick Flandrey says:

    Technology Connections – yes, but he’s annoying to listen to. His explanation of brown light is the best I’ve ever heard or seen.

    This Old Tony- a fixture in machining circles but turns out I’ve never watched a vid…

    n

  23. brad says:

    @Greg: Thanks for the suggestions and questions. Nope, no recent system changes. Well, Windows updates, but the usual effect of those is to boot into Windows, completely hiding my Linux install. That wasn’t the case this time, so I don’t think that was the cause. (Foreshadowing: past tense, because I think the problem is solved.)

    I did some reading on GPT and EFI, to better understand the process. What I never realized before is that the boot entries that actually exist (as displayed by efibootmgr) may be displayed differently (or not at all) by the BIOS. And that seems to be the case here.

    In any case, the boot order displayed by efibootmgr included two entries that simply did not exist. One of which was for my main operating system. Ahem, that kind of explains things – although it’s then unclear how I was able to boot from USB.

    Maybe this was some random alpha particle hitting the NVRAM. Or maybe it’s Ubuntu’s fault. I installed Xubuntu 20.04 on a test partition some time ago, and recently booted it. It did have an entry in the boot menu, called “ubuntu”, which is the same name that my main Xubuntu 18.04 installation uses. So the second explanation is that the ancient BIOS in this machine didn’t like having two entries in the boot menu with the same name, and deleted one of them. I’m not quite sure if the BIOS would be allowed to do that, but…maybe?

    Long story, short solution: I restored the boot entry for my main OS. Also, to be safe, I turned off the MBR compatibility mode, since it shouldn’t be needed. One test boot was successful, so I hope that resolved the issue.

    I’m undecided whether to update the BIOS. The Acer site has some strange notes on later versions that make me unsure if they are compatible with my machine. Probably won’t risk it…

    What I don’t understand, but perhaps you do: all of the operating systems on the same disk apparently drop their boot loaders into the same directory in the EFI partition. What happens if there is some naming conflict? For example, if you had multiple instances of the same OS – would they be able to share a single bootloader (since the EFI menu entry says which partition to boot), or would there be a problem?

    @Everyone else: Sorry for boring y’all with something so stupidly technical…

  24. lynn says:

    filled my Expy’s tank yesterday.

    No reminder needed. I filled my PU’s 35 gal tank in January… of 2020. I have driven it 78 miles since. I call it hot storage.

    Nowhere close to a personal record. I drove my old PU for something like seven years on less than one 20 gal tank of gasoline. Supposedly 10% ethanol, no added preservatives, no problems. Both tanks are vented through charcoal canisters. The old one was parked outdoors; the new one indoors. Low humidity.

    The first son has a 2003 Ford F-150 supercab parked in front of my business for about five years now. No airbags (they got deployed when he rear ended a car turning left), but the V6 still worked and the 5 speed manual still shifted. 160K miles. His grandfather gave him his 2005 Chevy Silverado with 130K miles on which he drove for 50K miles and now has a dead electrical system.

    Anyway, he tried to resurrect the 2003 F-150 back in the spring. He and his buddy pulled the fuel pump out of the gas tank and replaced it. Then the fuel line promptly collapsed at which point they walked away. I am about to call the wrecker guys.

  25. Denis says:

    Nick, thank you for the great YT list. I am not so surprised that there is quite some overlap, after all, I have been a daily reader of Robert’s blog, now with your voice, since the 1990’s I think. I think Bob had the pre-Duncan collie, whose name I have forgotten, along with not recalling did I find Jerry Pournelle via Robert, or vice versa. Giants, both of them!

    I am amazed you manage to run this place, a family, work and stack, and still have time to watch YT. There is so much excellent content, that I don’t understand why anyone would watch old-style TV anymore.

    Thanks for all you do.

     

  26. Nick Flandrey says:

    Thanks for all you do.

    –thank you and everyone else who amazes me by still coming by and participating in the discussion…

    I don’t understand why anyone would watch old-style TV anymore.

    –I don’t either, except for scripted drama. And I haven’t watched any TV at all (except the Times Square ball drop, and that via streaming) in several years. I finally let one of my TiVos expire this month. I use the other for youtube in the bedroom. We dropped the cable a couple of years ago when ATT fiber became available. I have an OTA antenna hooked to the living room tv, but that is solely for emergency use during a disaster, or if grandpa wants to watch sportsball while visiting.

    n

  27. lynn says:

    OK, this morning I realized that I had not pulled the Creative Soundblaster card from my ten year old home Windows 10 Pro x64 PC. So I pulled it and booted. Of course it started up. So the Soundblaster card has now fried itself.

    I still have a boatload of parts coming my way with a new Be Quiet case, an MSI motherboard, 16 GB ram, a Coolermaster cpu fan, and a Intel I5-9600K. Amazon says that it is going to show up before 10 pm today.
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N7PGIPS/?tag=ttgnet-20
    and
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J6Z9KJ2/?tag=ttgnet-20
    and
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HHLX1R8/?tag=ttgnet-20

    I have a Intel I5-2500K with a Gigabyte motherboard in my present PC. Definitely looking for a place to lay down and die. That ten gallons of water was not good for it two years ago.

  28. paul says:

    Last month, our adult grandson said he was thinking of buying a motorcycle to get through the Austin traffic

    Just no no no no no! Austin traffic is insane. Add the much needed f-word in desired quantities.

    It’s one thing to have Jose rear-end your Plymouth Volare enough to make stuff on the front seat move briskly to the floor. And the grill on his Mustang is crumbled, including headlights, in the street. But not a mark on my car other than the bumper shocks flexed 3/8 of an inch.

    On a bike you have nothing to protect you from being crushed like an overripe tomato. Wear all the leather (in Summer? in Texas?) you want, it might help with the clean up versus wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

    I did the flying over a car motorcycle wreck. An 83 year old lady turned left in front of me. I had the choice of hitting the side of her car or going head on into a Ford pickup truck.
    Hated it. Almost a year on crutches. Although the Demerol was sort of fun. I kept the cracked helmet for several years. I still have the pins in my thigh bone. And I wonder sometimes if I’m brain damaged. Pretty much screwed up the going to college thing.

  29. paul says:

    did I find Jerry Pournelle via Robert, or vice versa.

    I don’t remember.  I stumbled across Tom Syroid somehow.  What happened to him?  That lead to Daynotes.  Which led to reading about the House of Steel in Tasmania.  And then looking at other links on the Daynotes page where I found JerryP and RBT.

    Way back in the days when a 56k modem was “hot shit” (and expensive) but then best I could get was 26.8.    1995-ish.

     
    Oh, and somehow the folks at the hospital could tell when “demerol is fun” and Nope, no more, you get Tylenol now. 🙂

  30. Nick Flandrey says:

    I am amazed you manage to run this place

    –rick keeps it running, I just feed in the ice cream…
    n

  31. Ray+Thompson says:

    I wonder sometimes if I’m brain damaged

    If you have to wonder, you are. At least that is what my wife tells me.

  32. paul says:

    Well, broken leg, cracked helmet, one knee swelled up to small watermelon size… yeah, and couldn’t concentrate on much of anything for almost a year.  Addled for sure.

  33. Nick Flandrey says:

    Addled for sure.

    –any major injury or serious accident makes real changes to your brains. Some are permanent, some just take time.

    Anger and mean-ness seem to be very common side effects of serious injuries too.

    n

  34. drwilliams says:

    Salute to all who survived their moments with momentum.

    And prayers for all of our friends that didn’t..RIP.

    @ech

    Thanks for the story. My uncle would have approved. He was ex-military and an aero engr. Not sure if he actually wrote part of the book or just commented it out, but when you flew with him you knew it was absolutely right.

  35. paul says:

    Anger and mean-ness seem to be very common side effects of serious injuries too.

    Looking back at some folks I knew, and knowing I get very grouchy when the weather is changing and my leg is throbbing, something hurts. They didn’t seem to know what hurt but “grumpy” is a mild term.
    I know what hurts on my body and can gritch it and get over it.

  36. EdH says:

    I gave up on street bikes when I moved to LA in 81.   Just too insane, even then, and far far worse now.

    My brother rode for a couple of years in the 90s, and I went with with him a time or two, watched someone pass me and merge right into him.  Fortunately he wasn’t hurt, but he gave it up a while later.

    My back can’t take off road, so that’s out.

    ——-

    It’s getting sporty out there.  Lots of craziness AND stupidity. Got stuck behind someone merging onto the 80mph heavy holiday freeway traffic at 40mph.  When I went around him it was a middle aged male, cell phone to his ear…

  37. EdH says:

    The old Daynotes. Syroid , and the House of Steel guy (don’t get sideways with the only plumber in your town in Tasmania because DIY is ILLEGAL!).

    Man, I’d forgotten that stuff. J. Duntemann is still around, one of the others.

  38. lynn says:

    The only important point in my message that won’t post: I have a question for the hive mind. Especially for the IT folk. As of a couple of days ago, my PC refuses to boot from its normal disk (GPT/EFI). However, I created a bootable USB stick (MBR) and added an entry to grub.conf that passes the boot process on to the EFI partition on the normal disk. And that works just fine.

    Seems weird to me: why would it be able to boot after a redirect, but not directly? What am I missing? What should I check?

    Damage in the boot record area ?

    Download the freeware version of HDTune (version 2.55) and check it out.
    https://www.hdtune.com/download.html

  39. lynn says:

    “Texas AK wielding protester shooter getting charged”
    https://gunfreezone.net/texas-ak-wielding-protester-shooter-getting-charged/

    “First Cavalry Division Sgt. Daniel Perry, who shot and killed a protester at a Black Lives Matter protest in June 2020, in Austin, was released after a posting a $300,000 bond following his indictment Thursday in Travis County for murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.”

    “According to Perry, foster motioned for him to lower his window then raised his rifle to point it at Perry, while other protesters banged on his car.”

    Gosh, like most Texans, I hate Austin. A very clear case of self defense.

    If you point a gun at me, I will defend myself.

  40. Jenny says:

    Goal this weekend – gain some understanding of Always On Availability Groups for Windows SQL on Windows Core. The environment is stable however I have zero experience with AAOG and I don’t know what I don’t know. I’m thrilled with my new work.

    Running errands with my daughter so husband can rest. Hay and straw for the rabbits. A $10 wood interior door from HfH for the under stairs come pantry. Museum because she asked nicely and we haven’t done any of that. Later a wing nut for the chicken feeder because the hens threw a rave and broke their feeder apart, losing parts in the process. Tomorrow a parade and church.

    Five years ago I had time and energy to herd sheep for fun with my Cardigan Welsh Corgis. I’ve got energy and brain for it again, however time has been an issue. I’m going to get out there next Saturday, I hope. My new pup should take to it well, she’s got four double champions (herding and beauty show) in her first three generations.
    Here’s my boy Roscoe at about nine months, first time at a trial and being a real nerd. He did NOT want to fo a Go Bye (clockwise around the sheep). He hated city life and I wound up giving him to a friend in a quieter community where he spent most of his time hiking and hunting. He met with misfortune at a young age. After taking on a bear and coming away with only claw marks, he was killed by a car months later on a seldom traveled dead end dirt road. Poor bugger. He lived a great life though it was short.
    http://youtu.be/QRblycWE7Uc

  41. JimB says:

    Technology Connections – yes, but he’s annoying to listen to. His explanation of brown light is the best I’ve ever heard or seen.

    I don’t find him annoying, but I hate his music at the end. Easy to skip or mute. I guess his delivery is a matter of style. I have endured so many poor speakers in my career that I seem to be immune. Not that I was ever a great speaker – just good enough to get my point across.

    I had not heard of the color brown video, so just watched it. Pretty good. I’ll have to think about it some more, especially his comments on languages related to color. I have seen this before, but have not thought about it. Interesting.

  42. Nick Flandrey says:

    https://www.theorganicprepper.com/survive-collapsed-economy/

    Interesting. I think it’s the same ‘jose’ that she talked into occasional posts a couple of years ago.

    n

  43. Nick Flandrey says:

    @jenny, I know it’s so much less than he is but all I could think watching was “HE”S SO FLUFFY!!!!!!! 11 1 1 1 111 1 !!!” /kid from Dispicable Me voice.

    It looks like a fun way to be outside when he’s working well, and absolute frustration when he’s not! 🙂

    @Jim B — I’d heard the discussion about language and color previously regarding the color blue, and found it hard to believe. ‘hoomans have had plenty of ways to describe color that didn’t involve a word for it, like “the color of new spring leaves”, or “the deep blue-green of the pine needles”. Just because I didn’t know what “teal” described until 1983, doesn’t mean I couldn’t see teal. I could still say “that bluish color opposite orange on Auntie’s new Santa Fe apartment…”

    I can usually separate the message from the messenger, but sometimes I don’t find it to be worthwhile. I think Dave Jones (of EEVBlog) changed the face of youtube back in the day, and enjoy his energy and enthusiasm, but I don’t regularly watch his channel because he’s got such a distinctive voice.

    n

  44. RickH says:

    Re: Daynotes and Tom Syroid – I always liked reading his posts way back in the olden times.

    He stopped blogging a long time ago. A quick google search finds him (I think) at https://500px.com/p/tsyroid?view=photos .

    A few other “Daynoters” are also MIA (I guess that also includes me, as I don’t update my blog often).  John Dominik was one I enjoyed – haven’t been able to find him over the years.

    An old list of the Daynoters (and the Daynote Widows) is here: http://seto.org/mirror.html . Didn’t check how many on that list are still active.

  45. ayjblog says:

    well I arrived here with a 56k modem afetr reading Pournelle, 95 or 96 guess

    Nick, when I was young I fixed a lot of vac equipment, think of KWT6 or 618T classes, Carlson is somehow nice to see, but fixing a vac is 99% valves, my 2 cents

     

  46. JimB says:

    Street bikes and traffic. Some of it is situational awareness, and some just luck. I ride for pleasure now, but used to commute in Iowa, Illinois, Florida, and California. Florida was the worst for crazy drivers. In all cases, I was able to choose routes that avoided many threats, but there is still dumb luck.

    I am getting a bit fragile for the dirt, but still like it. Started it later in life than street. Still want to get a mountain bicycle, which should help with conditioning and maybe fragility.

    As for dumb luck, I have had close calls with ladders. A couple times due to stupidity, but once I was doing everything right, and had an aluminum step ladder buckle. I managed to dismount just fine, and landed upright, but I realized that I could have fallen and hit my head or neck on the edge of an open steel garbage can nearby. That could have killed me.

    We have all heard about someone who did something outrageous and came out fine, and others who slipped, fell, and died while being reasonably careful. Life has risks.

  47. Nick Flandrey says:

    I fell 12 feet into auditorium seats and broke a vertebra, 27 years ago. I got lucky in so many ways during that accident, it doesn’t seem possible. It was another accident that would have killed me if I’d been inches different in any regard.

    The big bike accident changed my life in ways it took year to understand. Saved my life in the long run.

    n

  48. JimB says:

    Tom Syroid has some absolutely gorgeous pictures.

  49. lynn says:

    Street bikes and traffic. Some of it is situational awareness, and some just luck. I ride for pleasure now, but used to commute in Iowa, Illinois, Florida, and California. Florida was the worst for crazy drivers. In all cases, I was able to choose routes that avoided many threats, but there is still dumb luck.

    A rule of thumb for motorcycles is that cars cause 80% of motorcycle wrecks. Ride accordingly. Yes, they are out to get you.

    I stopped riding when I had my first heart attack in 2009. Turning my head to look over my shoulder causes me to get dizzy sometimes. That is not compatible with motorcycles.

    I would like to get a small bike (< 750 cc) to ride around my neighborhood at lower than 30 mph. Maybe some day. Shoot, maybe even a 350 like my first two bikes.

  50. lynn says:

    I signed up for http://www.fubotv.com today to watch my Houston Astros.  $70/month !  We will see if I keep it after July.

  51. Jenny says:

    @nick

    Fluffy and herding

    Yep, his adult coat hadn’t grown in. His pants were super fluffy until about 18 months then his harsh outer coat came in and he became respectable. Herding is humbling. You know far less than the dog, and if you’re competing in AKC you’re trying to get sheep mice in straight lines and right angles. Pro tip – stock doesn’t do that. When you and the dog are in the zone, it’s a huge high.

  52. pecancorner says:

    Here’s my boy Roscoe at about nine months, first time at a trial

    Aw what a cutie! Those sheep knew who their shepherdess was, though. 😀 I love watching herding dogs (and cutting horses) in action. Such super-hero reflexes they have!

    Babe is one of my favorite movies, and I think part of it is because it’s such fun to watch the dogs work the sheep. 😀   That is another place where YouTube really comes in handy… just binge-watching the various trials and herding videos.

  53. Greg Norton says:

    Last month, our adult grandson said he was thinking of buying a motorcycle to get through the Austin traffic with, and my thrill-seeking middle son who is usually a live-and-let-live kind of guy spent two hours trying to convince him “not to get a motorcycle”. I guess my young’un finally outgrew his need for speed….

    A co-worker at my last job regularly used a motorcycle to commute to the office near the Austin-Bergstrom airport until he was struck and nearly killed by a driver using their cell phone to text while driving.

    Austin. Typical

    When the co-worker shared his x-rays, I let my wife take a look, and she commented that she had never seen an arm bone fractured that way in 23+ years of practicing.

  54. lynn says:

    “To Stop Climate Crisis (scam), Americans Must Reduce Their Energy Use By 90%”
    https://www.thepiratescove.us/2021/07/03/to-stop-climate-crisis-scam-americans-must-reduce-their-energy-use-by-90/

    “To Stop Climate Change Americans Must Cut Energy Use by 90 Percent, Live in 640 Square Feet, and Fly Only Once Every 3 Years, Says Study”

    “You’re down with all this in your own lives, right, Warmists? You’re happy to comply, right?”

    “In addition, food consumption per capita would vary depending on age and other conditions, but the average would be 2,100 calories per day.”

    I am fairly sure that all of the warmists are cutting back their lifestyles and appetites right now, right Al Gore ?

    Hat tip to:
    https://thelibertydaily.com/

  55. Greg Norton says:

    In any case, the boot order displayed by efibootmgr included two entries that simply did not exist. One of which was for my main operating system. Ahem, that kind of explains things – although it’s then unclear how I was able to boot from USB.

    Efibootmgr. Doh! Didn’t think about that.

    My primary desktop and home server still boot via BIOS so my EFI experience is limited to my Thinkpad and Ye Olde MacBooks. Only the Thinkpad has anything close to a modern EFI.

  56. Greg Norton says:

    Anyway, he tried to resurrect the 2003 F-150 back in the spring. He and his buddy pulled the fuel pump out of the gas tank and replaced it. Then the fuel line promptly collapsed at which point they walked away. I am about to call the wrecker guys.

    Someone will buy the F150 and get it running if the engine isn’t turbo charged. Extra bonus points if the transmission is manual.

    I’m thinking Cash for Clunkers will try to take the 20-25 year old beater pickups off the road in return for a tax credit to buy a Tonytruck.

    If one is ever produced …

  57. Greg Norton says:

    We are down on the South Texas coast for the holiday. It seems like the whole country is here.

    Trying something different. My preference would be Florida, but the drive kills a whole day even going to Pensacola area.

  58. drwilliams says:

    Hand Tool Rescue

    Fractal Vise Restoration

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBeOgGt_oWU

    31 d.o.f.

    So many videos, so little time.

  59. drwilliams says:

    @Lynn

    A rule of thumb for motorcycles is that cars cause 80% of motorcycle wrecks. Ride accordingly. Yes, they are out to get you.

    Seems like a lot of that 80% is car drivers not anticipating that the motorcyclist would do something stupid, with the most popular being frequent high-speed lane changes.

  60. SteveF says:

    “You’re down with all this in your own lives, right, Warmists? You’re happy to comply, right?”

    You first, warmenists. After you’ve lived with your scheme for a few years, the rest of us can see how sustainable [sic] it is.

    There’s no hurry for the rest of us to join you. We’ve blown past so many “ten years before it’s too late” deadlines that either the Earth is already doomed or your forecasts aren’t worth anything.

  61. Nick Flandrey says:

    @dr williams, yeah that vise is really cool. And enough people needed one that it was commercially viable to produce it. For a while anyway.
    n

  62. lynn says:

    My neighbors are warming up for tomorrow night. Lots and lots of firecrackers. Plus a few heavy mortars.

    I can tell that I will be sweeping firework debris off the driveway and back patio on Monday.

  63. Nick Flandrey says:

    Use the leaf blower!

    n

    2
    1
  64. Nick Flandrey says:

    Surprisingly quiet here. Usually we get a lot of pre- and post- celebration. Kind of eerie really.

    Watching the Hobbit movies with the family, just started the third one.

    n

  65. drwilliams says:

    Use a JATO unit at 6AM.

  66. drwilliams says:

    Got sucked into a video string and watched a couple of demonstrations of questionable judgement.

    One guy spent what was probably a full days worth of time removing the copper from a couple of small refrigerator compressors, melting it, and casting a bar. He added some aluminum to make aluminum bronze, then sanded it and shaped it with a grinder before giving it a mirror polish. He’s about halfway to his goal of having 1000 kg of melted and cast metal stacked.

    Another guy was making his second try at making transparent wood based on a Japanese paper published in 2016. With a few thousand dollars in lab equipment, a couple hundred dollars in reagents and some 1/8″x3/4″x3/4″ pieces of balsa, he failed again. What got me was the alleged motivation for the original research was to replace window glass with something stronger. YGTBFKM.

     

  67. Nick Flandrey says:

    The guys stacking copper always make me go “Huh???”

    It’s not rare at all.

    The metal recovery almost always takes longer, and yields less than taking it to the scrapyard, but I guess it’s not the point.

    n

  68. lynn says:

    Another guy was making his second try at making transparent wood based on a Japanese paper published in 2016. With a few thousand dollars in lab equipment, a couple hundred dollars in reagents and some 1/8″x3/4″x3/4″ pieces of balsa, he failed again. What got me was the alleged motivation for the original research was to replace window glass with something stronger. YGTBFKM.

    I would prefer Transparent Aluminum.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride

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