Hot and humid. Got over 100F at my house yesterday and the bright sun was like a laser scorching my eyes and skin. I got soaked in sweat just standing outside my truck talking on the phone.
Spent the morning sleeping. Then did a pickup of some vintage audio gear. Speakers need to be re-foamed, and all the other stuff needs to be tested but there should be some money there. Hit the goodwill outlet on the way home and grabbed most of the Harvard Five Foot Book Shelf books. I think I have 40+ of the 50+ volumes. 50c per book. Depending on the edition they should sell for $150 – 300. I picked them up to sell, but of course, I would like to have them on MY shelf. If I had room on my shelves. Which I don’t. At all. Funny, they are old so the book sellers skipped them completely. They were in the bin for at least an hour… but they don’t have UPC codes to scan so those guys don’t want them.
The goodwill outlet I stopped at is ‘in the hood’. It’s only the second time I’ve been in there. It’s a lot dirtier, with a lot more broken stuff than the outlet in my neighborhood. The other one, also in a ‘bad’ neighborhood (Greenspoint, known locally as ‘Gunspoint’) is dirty and full of broken junk too. I guess location might matter. Management probably does too.
I need to in-process the stuff I got, and get the auction stuff separated and stacked, as well as get back to my secondary and make some more progress there. I’m finally building momentum, so you know what comes next. . . long weekend away from home. Yup. 4 days, plus time to pack, and un-pack. At least it will be at one of the lakes we are looking at for a getaway house. We can drive around and maybe even see a property or two. That part is helpful for long term goals. 4 days off, not so much.
But there is more to life than work and prepping. These are the good old days and I do need to spend them with family.
And hey, maybe I’ll end up with a BOL after all…
(keep stacking)
nick
Rough night last night. Usually is after therapy. Could not get in any position where the knee joint did not hurt badly. Thus making it impossible to sleep. So I caved and took an Oxycodon pill. Within 10 minutes I could feel the pain subsiding. Within 20 minutes the pain was gone and I went to sleep, a good long sleep. I used the pill for what it was intended. A video I saw on knee replacement stated the number 2 reason people have trouble recovering is NOT taking their pain medicine. So I heeded those words of wisdom. Tonight I will avoid the pill if at all possible.
The Little Engine That Could?
Expressway authority delays controversial ruling for Brightline rail route from Orlando to Tampa – Orlando Sentinel
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/transportation/os-ne-brightline-universal-cfx-route-20210720-3d7p4xnxyfenflzkvqa7qvj3dm-story.html
Hang in there, Mr. Ray.
Currently at Grand Prairie ISD, TX. MrsAtoz is keynoting the opening of the new school year. I’m selling books in the lobby. The ISD went through a Speakers Bureau to hire us, so we’re getting a nice payday.
Puppy Obadiah is hanging in there. Very chipper and eating all his food three times a day. We hope to get his weight up over a couple of weeks. Playful and napping like a puppy should. Vet checkup next week.
We hit Brooks ISD for a gig on Thursday. Then four days in Las Cruces next week for a workshop.
I LOVE GOOBERMINT DOLLARS!
Thanks for the camera recommendations. I’m still trying to figure out what I want. Ideally, I’d keep the recordings in-house with only motion events uploaded to “the cloud” for review on an app.
Camera placement is difficult. My house has steps up to the front door. Ideal placement would be a camera low down to capture faces, however this will be rejected by TPTB. Cameras high up are easily defeated by baseball caps. Maybe the solution is a wide angle above the door, and at least one longer lens positioned to grab license plates, which will require careful placement to avoid trees.
Should the cameras be obvious, as a deterrent, or hidden? Or maybe I should just accept occasional thefts. This is the first time, but I have some expensive stuff arriving later this week.
Ah, the VA. Got a bill from the hospital for pre-op lab work. $85.00, not too much. But should have been paid by the VA. Apparently no authorization number. After half a dozen, long, phone calls with the VA I finally wound up back with Murfreesboro where I started. The authorization was supposed to cover everything, pre-op, surgery, hospital, post-op, ekg, and several other items. The pre-op lab was done at another facility that is part of the hospital system, but not really, as they operate as a separate entity.
After multiple calls I got the VA authorization number, the key to the entire process. That has now been provided to the hospital (or unit) that does the pre-op testing. They are going to resubmit with that number.
I was also informed that I should have received a package from the VA with all the information including the authorization number(s). Never received such a package. This is not helping the entire process.
I expect more snafu’s before this is all over.
@mark, placement is key as you already recognize. One of the reasons I like the pro-sumer level speco is the variety of cams.
WRT hidden or visible, I’ve reviewed plenty of video where the perp looked right at the cam. Some it’s gonna deter, some won’t care. Better to deter some than none.
I’ve got cams that are very visible, and some that aren’t.
At my buddy’s store, there are the visible cams (which he bought but I did my best to get good use out of) which a really bad guy managed to almost entirely avoid, and a couple of nest cams at chest level, hidden, so as to defeat the ball cap or hoodie. We ended up with good pix on both but it was a near thing. There are a lot of pro’s out there.
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9856467/PIERS-MORGAN-Free-speech-dying-woke-Google-helping-dig-grave.html
England’s trumpeting sphincter discovers internet censorship and doesn’t like it. Sux when it’s your ox being gored….
n
The Little Engine That Could?
Expressway authority delays controversial ruling for Brightline rail route from Orlando to Tampa – Orlando Sentinel
Not enough payoffs are getting sprayed around. And they haven’t even touched the politics of running the trains to Tampa’s airport, the only endpoint that makes financial sense on the other end of I-4.
When you see the name Jerry Demings, keep in mind that his wife is Val Demings, the most likely Dem challenger to Little Marco next year. A lot of politicians on both sides in Central Florida still want Tampa-Orlando rail to be a public works project with Federal money involved.
Exactly how much kitty litter does one get for a hundred bucks?
Plenty of package lockboxes out there, here is one <a href="https://www.amazon.com/CleverMade-Parcel-LockBox-S100-Construction/dp/B07Y2QR39J/example./a?tag=ttgnet-20 The issue with them is getting the delivery drivers to use them.
ADDED
@RickH – note the mangled URL above, added on Text tab using the Link button.
Plenty of package lockboxes out there, here is one example: https://www.amazon.com/CleverMade-Parcel-LockBox-S100-Construction/dp/B07Y2QR39J/ The issue with them is getting the delivery drivers to use them.
Links entered in text mode may not work correctly. So don’t use text mode for links.
I don’t understand why others use the text mode when entering comments here. Probably the same folks that use VI for coding.
I have had no issues with comments here using Visual mode. No 500 errors. The buttons work fine in Visual for adding fancy stuff to text. I see no reason to use text mode.
Just wondering, if you get excellent video of the perp, do the LEOs ever use it? Do you ever get your stuff back?
Also, some people I know have UPS and other delivery services hold for pickup. I have never done that.
“I just had $100 of kitty litter stolen off my doorstep.”
Exactly how much kitty litter does one get for a hundred bucks?
I paid $12 for 40 lbs the last time I stocked up at Costco.
Who is delivering kitty litter? Didn’t Pets.com go broke trying that?
I have a Pets.com puppet somewhere in my stash, partially as a collectible but mostly as a reminder.
Bingo!
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/08/finally_a_republican_said_what_needed_to_be_said_about_bidens_border.html
Firstly, the whole cat thing is out of my hands. But actually, $100 gets you 6 trays of pretty blue crystals from Amazon that go in a machine that rakes up all the nasty stuff into a little compartment and has almost no smell. If there have to be cats, this is the best way.
Boxes… I can’t even get the delivery guys to deliver properly to the porch, let alone in a secure box. If it’s a smallish box, the 12x4x8 they use a lot, the delivery guy often leaves it precariously balanced on the top step rather than leaving it concealed on the porch, like the delivery instructions say.
I take that back, I checked and my specific delivery instructions are no longer there. In fact, you can’t have specific delivery instructions any more. My instructions were simple – leave packages on the porch behind a planter, so they are out of sight.
I wish they would use the Amazon Key delivery, but that’s not an option for subscribe-and-save.
I suspect the cameras won’t make any difference. The police don’t seem to care about solving that kind of crime anyway. I hope a few visible cameras will be a deterrent.
I see no reason to use text mode.
visual mode–
–right click context menu is for web page instead of text entry until after left clicking or entering text. (this gets me every time despite knowing the work around.)
going back and forth (ie. later edits) mangles html
it does weird things like insert a nbsp when what you typed was CR
it allows/shows stuff that won’t be there when posted, ie. if you link to a picture visual mode will insert the picture with additional html instead of just a link, but the template for the site doesn’t allow pix in comments (and I don’t think we need to reopen that discussion at this point…..)
——————-
my only point is that it does actually do things differently, and some of those things are not what one would expect.
It also seems to generate the 500 error more often than the text entry tab does.
———————
I also wouldn’t spend any more time on it, except chasing that 500 error, as it is ‘good enough’ and we have the option to use the text entry tab.
FWIW, I like having the limited formatting choices. Other sites don’t have them as easily accessible in the comments. They improve readability quite a bit.
n
It’s gourmet kitty litter.
The police don’t seem to care about solving that kind of crime anyway.
–depends on where you are, how big the problem is in your community, and how usable the images are. Also the value of the stolen items. The cops want easy cases that they can upcharge. What dollar value gets a felony charge in your area?
n
Never had problems with editing in visual mode. No mangled codes. No 500 errors. No problems pasting in a link.
As for the 500 errors — there is not an easy way to diagnose those. No entries in the error log (no PHP error info).
The equivalent of “Something happened. Not sure what. Don’t even have anything to write to the error log. A retry of the same thing will probably work.” Sometimes the error might be caused by another site on a shared server. I’ve never figured out a way to determine what caused the 500 error. And the googles/bings/ducks are no help.
Once you get the error with specific text, you will always get the error with that text. Ie. select all, copy post comment, get error, any and every attempt at a new comment with the exact text ie. paste, then post, will get the same error.
added– with the caveat that I’m only willing to try 5 or 6 times.
That tells me it is in the text. Some part of the parsing/fixing/removing that the plug in does is causing the error.
It’s just frustrating in its randomness. Any long comment I’m usually in the habit of ctrl a, ctrl c, then post. if it errors I can paste and then make edits, rinse and repeat.
n
FWIW, I got this in my email today, pasting here because the link has tracking in it.
n
It’s gourmet kitty litter.
–yum
n
I guess it’s key to have enough cameras facing the street to be able to clearly see a license plate for the cops to go on. Otherwise all you have is a typical ballcap/hoodie/sunglasses picture that could be any random Amish guy.
Tastes GREAT!
@Mark W, will they send subscription packages to an Amazon Locker? Though your litter package may be too big.
This is definitely too big.
The irony is that I’m looking at spending $500+ for a single missing $100 package.
Tastes GREAT!
Less filling! 😀
I’m looking at spending $500+
–you’ll get more use than that.
The most common thing I use my cams for is a portable window. In other words, I can look at the display and not have to go to the other room to see what is making the noise in the street in front of the house. I have a dedicated monitor, just above my pc monitors, and I glance at it all the time, just like looking out the window.
My customers want to verify their garage door is closed, that no one is using the pool, that service people come and go when they say they will/did, and lastly for “security” issues.
Most of them also are asked by neighbors if their cams saw anything at the neighbor’s house. Me too for that matter.
n
Around here if it’s just theft (not burglary or robbery) then law enforcement couldn’t care less. They’ll take the info so they can give you a copy of the police report to give to your insurance company, but that’s about it. Maybe (big emphasis on maybe) if it’s rampant in a certain area they will do a little investigating and maybe patrol more or even do a sting or two (package traps). However, if there’s no break-in or use of force they don’t care much.
However, if there’s no break-in or use of force they don’t care much.
–which is why our Constable stood up an investigations group. Our deputies will pursue property crimes, when HPD won’t, because they know they serve at our pleasure, and that those small crimes fuel bigger crimes later.
n
Scott Adams think that we are going to live in a permanent pandemic for the rest of our lives. And he thinks that the covid vaccines lose effectiveness quickly over time. And he thinks that we are all going to eventually get the covid.
https://www.scottadamssays.com/2021/08/03/episode-1457-scott-adams-sipping-and-chatting-about-the-latest-national-nonsense/
“* Our new state of permanent pandemic
* Vaccinations quickly lose effectiveness
* We’ll all get COVID eventually”
“NFL team Buffalo Bills reportedly threatens move to Texas”
https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Buffalo-Bills-Texas-Move-16357475.php
“The Buffalo Bills are reportedly looking at Texas as a potential new home.
According to a tweet from a writer at ESPN.com, Seth Wickersham, the National Football League franchise based in Buffalo, New York is considering a move to Austin as a leverage play to get public funding for a new $1.5 billion stadium. The Buffalo News reports team owners are asking taxpayers to pay 100 percent for a new stadium.”
The move is not gonna happen. But the new stadium, $1.5 billion, is a huge amount of money for a 256,000 person city.
Scott Adams think that we are going to live in a permanent pandemic for the rest of our lives. And he thinks that the covid vaccines lose effectiveness quickly over time. And he thinks that we are all going to eventually get the covid.
Adams discounts the possibility of a therapeutic that would work for a large number of people. I don’t doubt the government is aware of several possibilities, but they have to be careful to avoid arbitrage. Americans still have the financial means to dominate the world’s supply of anything and sell it on Amazon/EBay.
Unless sick people with the Wuxu Flu are treated like TB patients and confined to home until cleared by testing, then, yes, we probably will all get Covid at some point.
“A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World” by C. A. Fletcher
https://www.amazon.com/Boy-His-Dog-End-World/dp/0316449431/?tag=ttgnet-20
A standalone young adult speculative fiction apocalyptic book, no prequel, no sequel. I read the well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Orbit in 2019. I will purchase and read any prequels or sequels written by the author.
Griz is just a normal teenage boy with two dogs and a very old sailboat, living on the islands on the northern side of Scotland with his family. But Griz’s future world is not normal as there are less than 10,000 people living on Earth. A hundred years or so ago, women were suddenly unable to get pregnant anymore. Dogs too. Except for a few people who were still able to have children.
And one day a traveler stole one of Griz’s dogs. Griz took off after him in the dangerous waters of northern Scotland, leaving his family far behind in the chase. But what was more dangerous, the dangerous waters or the isolated peoples ?
There are a couple of reveals in the late chapters of the book that some reviewers have complained about. Me, I liked the reveals. And some people have complained about the closeness of the book’s title to Harlan Ellison’s novelette, “A Boy and His Dog”. Tough tookie.
Please note that the author has a website at:
http://www.charliefletcher.com/
My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,886 reviews)
While in NYFC…
N.Y.C. becomes first major U.S. city to mandate vaccination proof for indoor dining, gyms
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nyc-becomes-first-major-u-s-city-mandate-vaccination-proof-n1275807
And in NYFS…
The NYS AG (Letitia James) releases her (scathing) report of her investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo. James has previously made known her desire to be the state’s next Governor.
Cuomo responded with a taped video statement denying all of her findings and made available a point-by-point document with further details. Cuomo has also made known his intent to run for re-election.
This was off the radar for a while but now time to pop some Jiffy-Pop and watch the fireworks.
“My favorite Olympian so far”
https://gunfreezone.net/my-favorite-olympian-so-far/
“America’s Tamyra Mensah-Stock won gold at Tokyo in wrestling:
“I love representing the US. I freakin love living there. I love it and I’m so happy I get to represent U.S.A!””
Neat !
The move is not gonna happen. But the new stadium, $1.5 billion, is a huge amount of money for a 256,000 person city.
The Austin-San Antonio area will get used like Tampa was in MLB circles prior to the expansion that created the Rays. The Toxi-Dome in St. Petersburg now known as Tropicana Field was a bargaining chip for the White Sox, Giants, and Mariners to all get new stadiums.
Thanks to the Raiders, the infrastructure for a pro stadium is in place in San Marcos with an interim facility in the Alamo Dome. However, the Davis family own a large piece of land in the area, and the Raiders have a following in Mexico so the move wouldn’t have been a dice roll like a Bills relocation would be.
I still think the NFL would prefer expansion with Coach Pop in the ownership group.
Don’t forget Katrina. Stadiums double as temporary housing after hurricanes. So, that certainly adds to the value…
I just had $100 of kitty litter stolen off my doorstep.
Exactly how much kitty litter does one get for a hundred bucks?
Why not just bolt down a stout box for packages? The lid self locks when closed. No messing with cams, software, and all those other pesky problems.
Plenty of package lockboxes out there, here is one <a href="https://www.amazon.com/CleverMade-Parcel-LockBox-S100-Construction/dp/B07Y2QR39J/?tag=ttgnet-20example./a?tag=ttgnet-20 The issue with them is getting the delivery drivers to use them.
ADDED
@RickH – note the mangled URL above, added on Text tab using the Link button.
Plenty of package lockboxes out there, here is one example: https://www.amazon.com/CleverMade-Parcel-LockBox-S100-Construction/dp/B07Y2QR39J/?tag=ttgnet-20 The issue with them is getting the delivery drivers to use them.
I cannot even get the Big River drivers to deliver to my office building. They keep on leaving my stuff at the warehouse and sending me a picture of it. At least I get the picture so I know what nook and cranny they stashed my box(es) in. If one of the doors to the warehouse is open then they walk in and place the box at the warehouse office building (a 800 ft2 two story building inside the warehouse).
The crackers are attacking my software again. A guy / girl in Leon, Mexico fooled my password generator last night and is now cracking away. I would like to send a package to their address. Airmail.
And hey, maybe I’ll end up with a BOL after all…
Bug Out Lake ?
Bug Out Listing ?
Bug Out Laundry ?
Bug Out Location !
“My favorite Olympian so far”
This girl’s story made local news last weekend because she’s UT bound in the Fall.
The good stories still outnumber the bad at the Olympics.
https://sports.yahoo.com/lydia-jacoby-stuns-the-swimming-world-with-gold-in-100-m-breastroke-022527751.html
BOL = Barbecue OutLaw
Yes, because everyone wants a centralized location for assault, robbery, and gang rape following a natural disaster.
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/home-depot-foils-shoplifters-power-tools-require-store-activation
And thereby doubles the value of any tool sold prior to the scheme.
BTW, this is the result of wokeness. They used to keep the tools locked in the “Tool Corral”. You had to pay for anything in there when you exited to the regular store. But since there were stores without cages in Provo or Cheyenne or some other white bread enclave of good manners and low antisocial behaviour, HD was hounded as racist when they put the high theft items in cages, in high theft areas (which are dominated by POCs.)
Unintended consequences. They got ’em good and hard. BTW, my buddy who was working at HD in Receiving quit. The job is too hard, the company sucks, and there aren’t enough workers to do what needs doing. This is a guy who I have worked along side of for years, who is no slacker, and who once worked straight thru from Friday 8am to Monday 1pm without complaint–on his feet running a crew of a hundred in a dozen different departments. NOT a slacker. If he says it is too freaking hard for one guy to do, it’s too hard.
he also said the thieves steal tools out of the receiving area, off the re-stocking carts, and they just walk out, or use the emergency exits. It’s big business.
n
Yes, because everyone wants a centralized location for assault, robbery, and gang rape following a natural disaster.
–isn’t there a Hammer’s Slammers or Falkenburg’s Legion story where they let the riot happen, then ‘allow’ a party in the stadium to attract all the rioters, and then lock the doors and starting at the top of the stadium and working down, just shoot everyone in the place?
That’s the sort of thing you get when there is no faith in rule of law…
n
I think that’s a slur.
Also, how do you know they’re white?
😛
BTW, this is the result of wokeness. They used to keep the tools locked in the “Tool Corral”. You had to pay for anything in there when you exited to the regular store. But since there were stores without cages in Provo or Cheyenne or some other white bread enclave of good manners and low antisocial behaviour, HD was hounded as racist when they put the high theft items in cages, in high theft areas (which are dominated by POCs.)
Just what the world needs — more cr*p broadcasting unique Bluetooth IDs whenever the power is activated.
Ironically, Polk County Florida, home of Sheriff Grady Judd, is a hotbed for that kind of shoplifting activity. Some Hispanics, but mostly white trash looking to score quick cash for Oxy.
It was a lot more rampant about a dozen years ago before the state put a clamp down on the pill mills.
As I’ve noted before, a big pill mill operated openly near Tampa Stadium to the point that off duty TPD would direct traffic between the “clinic” building and the pharmacy filling the prescriptions across the street.
The pill mill was the first place I ever saw an “MRI in a box”, with the machinery packed into a GE-labeled semi trailer parked on the side of the clinic. I used to pass the site every day commuting to/from work.
I was never offended by the Tool Corral. Have you priced drill bits? Little package, easy to slip into a back pocket while “looking at plumbing supplies” on the far far side of the store. It’s just basic inventory control…. like having the register right by the door at a convenience store.
@RickH – note the mangled URL above, added on Text tab using the Link button.
Links entered in text mode may not work correctly. So don’t use text mode for links.
I don’t understand why others use the text mode when entering comments here. Probably the same folks that use VI for coding.
I have had no issues with comments here using Visual mode. No 500 errors. The buttons work fine in Visual for adding fancy stuff to text. I see no reason to use text mode.
I have no problem putting in links in text mode. I prefer it so thanks for the feature.
And yes, I am a vi user. I fact, I just used vi on my FreeBSD web server over the intertubes this afternoon. Vi just works, “good enough” to parrot Jerry Pournelle.
Back in the dark ages, we would hook up several programmers to each unix boxen using a “high speed” serial line, 19K baud, to a 12 inch monitor and a keyboard. The programmer sitting at the console could use emacs or any aberration that they wanted to. The rest of us serial line folks had to use vi to keep our traffic down. So I have the vi commands well memorized.
Fun times coming. After having the heater core replaced and then replacing a couple of heater hoses and then replacing the radiator hoses, the head gasket on the truck’s engine has gone wonky. Computer says something like “low compression cyl 2”.
Nice. I had a couple of hundred miles of not needing to add coolant.
No oil in the coolant. No coolant in the oil. Trucks runs like a sewing machine.
And the a/c is out of freon again. Again.
Ok, it’s a 20 year old truck with a re-man engine. And a sloppy head gasket. But dropping another $7600 for a new engine? No. I’m pretty sure a 20 year old truck isn’t worth $11,000 just to have the transmission to blow up next.
Looking at Rams on-line, yikes. Scratch that.
The Chevy Colorado looks good. I need to look at one. Car and Driver mostly liked it… they said the door panels looked cheap like a ’94 Chevy truck. Shrug. My ’85 Cavalier Type 10 had a lot of plastic and was proud of it.
My used 20 year old truck that seems to constantly have something wrong, is going away. I’ll get a new Colorado and by time it’s an old 20 year old truck, I’ll be just about done driving.
Seems like a plan.
That’s so old school. Now you just order a drill bit set from your favorite online retailer, take all of the drill bits out of it, return it the retailer with the reason being “contained no drill bits”, and then demand a refund instead of a replacement because your [insert relative here]’s birthday was ruined.
Looking at Rams on-line, yikes. Scratch that.
The Chevy Colorado looks good. I need to look at one. Car and Driver mostly liked it… they said the door panels looked cheap like a ’94 Chevy truck. Shrug. My ’85 Cavalier Type 10 had a lot of plastic and was proud of it.
My used 20 year old truck that seems to constantly have something wrong, is going away. I’ll get a new Colorado and by time it’s an old 20 year old truck, I’ll be just about done driving.
Seems like a plan.
How about the new Ford Maverick ? $20K for the base model (plus $1495 destination) with hybrid powertrain (40 mpg city and highway) and a/c. Good luck in finding one for sale until 2022 though, apparently a LOT of them have been ordered already.
https://www.motor1.com/news/524088/ford-maverick-xl-base-pickup/
or
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-maverick-hybrid-pickup-truck-price-specs/
Interesting. Although CVT is a question. And Hybrid means batteries to go bad. Will this vehicle last 20+ years?
Whoa, you can get a seven speed manual in the new Ford Bronco, “Tested: 2021 Ford Bronco Manual Brings the Fun”
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a37183884/2021-ford-bronco-black-diamond-by-the-numbers/
“The $37,545 Black Diamond trim with a turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four and manual transmission strikes us as a sort of sweet spot in the vast lineup. We took one for a bit of trail-riding to see if we’d miss the extra tire and engine displacement offered by the higher trim levels.”
Pricey !
I took my 2019 F-150 4×4 offroad yesterday at the office 14 acre property and ended up in a foot deep mud puddle that I did not know was there since the lawn mowers are a month behind due to the recent heavy rains. I now have mud on the roof of my white pickup. Maybe it will rain during the day when my truck is outside. I have to say that whoever programmed the front to rear 4×4 split on mine did a great job because I did not even know the mud was there until both front wheels started rooster tailing mud.
Yeah. Big hard No for me.
When I had emu egg shells for sale, I had a lady in Canada order four. I had plenty of room in the box and sent six. She filed/contested via PayPal or eBay that I had done a shitty job of packing the egg shells and that all of the shells were just crumbs.
Ok. Emu don’t lay down and slide the egg out. The hens drop them from about 8 inches above the ground. Tough egg shell.
Hey Lady, I sent 6 to allow for breakage. How about some pictures? How about returning the entire package? How about this little nugget… that I’ve mailed a couple of hundred of shells packed just like your order and no one has ever received damaged product?
She withdrew her “wanting a refund” claim.
How about the new Ford Maverick ?
Interesting. Although CVT is a question. And Hybrid means batteries to go bad. Will this vehicle last 20+ years?
The problem with CVT is that the oil needs to be changed every 30,000 miles. Which, for you is about ten years ?
And that is a small battery on that beastie. Of course, the 94 kW electric motor is larger than I expected. Whoa, 27 kW battery on the Ford Maverick Hybrid. I’ll bet that she can go 60 mph on the electric motor alone. For a mile or two only as the stored power is only 1.1 kWh.
https://www.motortrend.com/news/2022-ford-maverick-hybrid-motor-technology/
Gut punch. Just found out a friend is in U of I hospital with herpes meningoencephalitis. Brain swelling and on ventilator. His name is Don and his wife is Nancy. If any of you are on prayer chains, every little bit helps.
What does one do with an emu egg shell? Inquiring-minds-want-to-know!
How about the new Ford Maverick ?
Interesting. Although CVT is a question. And Hybrid means batteries to go bad. Will this vehicle last 20+ years?
More concerning is Hecho en Mexico. Give it a couple of years.
Even Toyota is having issues moving Tacoma production down there. My wife hears about it from her carpool friend whose son is a tech in the San Antonio factory.
Tyler Durden cowardice, but exposing a painful truth.
In Texas, if you are fired for cause like that, you are ineligible for unemployment coverage at the new job for six weeks at 30 hours/week or until you earn six times your weekly projected denied benefit, whichever comes first.
In some states, get fired for cause, and you lose coverage for life. Minnesota?
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/fired-refusing-covid-19-vaccine-you-may-not-receive-unemployment-benefits
I learned about the rules in Texas the hard way. I spent the first month at the new job with my fingers crossed that no one in the management chain started yelling. I’m calling it a career the next time that happens.
Word has reached me that the last job may have spun quite a tale with TWC and not just filed the termination as being due to the two f-bombs, alleging that I conducted a vicious, personal, profanity-infused attack on our Wally. I’ve worked through the ombudsman level with Texas Workforce and had one of their contract workers suggest contacting the State Rep for my area regarding the appeal.
Attacking Wally types doesn’t really matter. They don’t care, especially the Wally at the last job.
Driving gloves and a tweed hat. Caddy in the parking lot. Get the picture?
“America’s ‘Great Leap Forward’ Into Socialism” by Patrick J. Buchanan
https://buchanan.org/blog/americas-great-leap-forward-into-socialism-149864
“Just seven weeks into his presidency, Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. Among the largest spending bills in history, it was passed without the vote of a single Republican.
The plan sent direct payments of up to $1,400 to most Americans, extended a $300 per week unemployment insurance boost until Sept. 6 and expanded the child tax credit for a year. It also put $350 billion into state, local and tribal relief.
This weekend, a bipartisan group of senators crafted a $1 trillion measure to repair and expand the nation’s roads, bridges, ports, airports and broadband. Last week, this trillion-dollar infrastructure plan got a green light from 17 Republican senators, including Sen. Mitch McConnell.”
“Up next is a $3.5 trillion measure to remake America, which is also to be enacted without GOP support via a process called “reconciliation,” which enables the Senate to pass measures with a simple majority.
This $3.5 trillion measure would expand social and environmental programs, extend the reach of education and health care, tax the rich and take on the challenge of the century — climate change.
Among programs funded are universal prekindergarten for all 3- and 4-year-olds, two years of free community college, clean energy mandates for utilities and lower prescription drug prices. Medicare benefits would be expanded and amnesty extended to millions of illegal migrants.
All that is needed for its enactment into law is a Democrat majority in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s House, the votes of the 50 Democratic senators and the signature of Biden.
After effecting passage of his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, if Biden gets the $1 trillion infrastructure proposal and the $3.5 trillion package, he will have enlarged federal spending by $6 trillion.”
I wonder if those dollar invention machines down at the Fed have got an overdrive gear ?
Tyler Durden cowardice, but exposing a painful truth.
In Texas, if you are fired for cause like that, you are ineligible for unemployment coverage at the new job for six weeks at 30 hours/week or until you earn six times your weekly projected denied benefit, whichever comes first.
In some states, get fired for cause, and you lose coverage for life. Minnesota?
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/fired-refusing-covid-19-vaccine-you-may-not-receive-unemployment-benefits
I learned about the rules in Texas the hard way. I spent the first month at the new job with my fingers crossed that no one in the management chain started yelling. I’m calling it a career the next time that happens.
Word has reached me that the last job may have spun quite a tale with TWC and not just filed the termination as being due to the two f-bombs, alleging that I conducted a vicious, personal, profanity-infused attack on our Wally. I’ve worked through the ombudsman level with Texas Workforce and had one of their contract workers suggest contacting the State Rep for my area regarding the appeal.
You need a copy of the TWC filings. You will get the filings automatically when you file an appeal with the TWC.
Then it sounds like you need a slander / libel employment lawyer.
Good for you Paul. We used to offer refunds for antiques for any reason in the early days of eBay. I don’t sell on eBay any more, too much refund/return abuse. I do have an Etsy store – it’s a different customer base who actually want the items they buy.
I’ve been keeping my eyes open for one or two for when “someday” I take up eggshell carving. I’ve an ostrich egg (and one broken to practice on), various color hen eggs, and quail eggs. And a nice dremel. So I’m all set. All I need is for the free time and inclination to happen concurrently.
https://www.pinterest.com/crazycarole/egg-shell-carving-amazing/
Prayers for your friend Don, drwilliams.
You need a copy of the TWC filings. You will get the filings automatically when you file an appeal with the TWC.
I have an appeal filing confirmation, but never received a hearing date. TWC has been “working” from home in their jammies for a year and a half. My mistake was probably not pressing for a date sooner. I concluded that management was within their rights to terminate for the f-bombs and I got a 30% raise. I wasn’t in a hurry.
State government here definitely needs a shakeup. Head downtown on a weekday afternoon, and the areas around the state, city, and county offices are like a ghost town.
I don’t know if a primary against “All right, all right, all right” would be sufficient, but the Governor and the Republicans need a wake up call. The special session ends Saturday with nothing accomplished.
That reminds me — I need to call the State Rep’s office this month. Abbott vetoed the budget for the staff memebers starting in September.
Saw the movie “Jungle Cruise”, in 3D. Enjoyable movie, silly for certain, but a good movie. The 3D never got in the way of the movie and was well done.
“Backblaze Drive Stats for Q2 2021”
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-drive-stats-for-q2-2021/
“As of June 30, 2021, Backblaze had 181,464 drives spread across four data centers on two continents. Of that number, there were 3,298 boot drives and 178,166 data drives. The boot drives consisted of 1,607 hard drives and 1,691 SSDs. This report will review the quarterly and lifetime failure rates for our data drives, and we’ll compare the failure rates of our HDD and SSD boot drives. Along the way, we’ll share our observations of and insights into the data presented and, as always, we look forward to your comments below.”
“Zero Failures
Three drive models recorded zero failures during Q2, let’s take a look at each.
6TB Seagate (ST6000DX000): The average age of these drives is over six years (74 months) and with one failure over the last year, this drive is aging quite well. The low number of drives (886) and drive days (80,626) means there is some variability in the failure rate, but the lifetime failure rate of 0.92% is solid.
12TB HGST (HUH721212ALE600): These drives reside in our Dell storage servers in our Amsterdam data center. After recording a quarterly high of five failures last quarter, they are back on track with zero failures this quarter and a lifetime failure rate of 0.41%.
16TB Western Digital (WUH721816ALE6L0): These drives have only been installed for three months, but no failures in 624 drives is a great start.”
Yup, for spinning drives I go with WDC.
Saw the movie “Jungle Cruise”, in 3D. Enjoyable movie, silly for certain, but a good movie. The 3D never got in the way of the movie and was well done.
Part of the deal for The Rock with “The Jungle Cruise” was a new series on Disney+, “Behind the Attraction”.
Of course, the Jungle Cruise is covered in the first episode, but “The Haunted Mansion” and “Tower of Terror” shows are interesting if a bit light.
I’d hate to see Disney re-do the Twilight Zone theming on the Tower of Terror in Florida. The attention to detail is exquisite, some of the best work the Imagineers have ever done. The “Guardians of the Galaxy” re-do in California looks … weird, a rush job to compete with whatever Universal had opening that Spring.
Unfortunately, “Guardians of the Galaxy” is not covered by the Marvel deal with Universal that keeps The Mouse from using the classic characters in theme parks east of the Mississippi. What I think saves Florida is the very different ride building underneath the facade would require a lot more engineering expense than Disney is willing to pay right now.
The Lilo and Stitch redress of Alien Encounter is one of the worst things I’ve seen an imagineer do. ‘Alf Assed, ends abruptly, whole elaborate preshow area gets missed, and the single creepiest attraction I’ve ever been on was destroyed for a poorly conceived bit of fluff.
n
Last couple of times I was at WDW they had done significant updates to the preshow/maze area of Jungle Cruise. They have been getting flack from the woke crowd about some of the vignettes so they needed an excuse to re-dress the ride that wouldn’t p!ss off the traditionalists like some of the Pirates changes.
And I’m sure they’re hoping for a franchise like Pirates turned out to be.
n
I’d hate to see Disney re-do the Twilight Zone theming on the Tower of Terror in Florida. The attention to detail is exquisite, some of the best work the Imagineers have ever done
–I agree, it’s great. You need a guide book to appreciate most of it though, and with the Fastpass changes you don’t spend much time in the preshow areas anymore.
The Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland had a very detailed preshow/ maze that you probably run right thru now.
fastpass has really changed the immersive aspects of being at the parks, and not in a good way. It has turned it into a game of running across the park to do rides as quickly as possible. Granted, they let in too many people, don’t have a self limiting mechanism for who goes on what, so everyone wants every ride, and right now… so they needed to do something about wait times, but it’s different than it was and less of a special experience.
n
Last couple of times I was at WDW they had done significant updates to the preshow/maze area of Jungle Cruise. They have been getting flack from the woke crowd about some of the vignettes so they needed an excuse to re-dress the ride that wouldn’t p!ss off the traditionalists like some of the Pirates changes.
Trader Vic is definitely gone … after Disney spent a year selling “Trader Vic” souvenirs, including a “shrunken head” purse which now fetches decent cash reselling on EBay.
The big problem with Pirates is that they don’t get punished for their misdeeds anymore. That’s what the wokesters don’t understand about the original brilliance of Marc Davis.
It’s a Falkenberg’s Legion story, based on a real event. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nika_riots
“Big tech companies are at war with employees over remote work”
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/vaccines-reopenings-and-worker-revolts-big-techs-contentious-return-to-the-office/
“CEOs want workers back at their desks. Employees and the virus have other plans.”
Yup. Good luck with the Wallys.
https://dilbert.com/strip/2021-08-02
Trader Vic is definitely gone … after Disney spent a year selling “Trader Vic” souvenirs, including a “shrunken head” purse which now fetches decent cash reselling on EBay.
Doh. Trader Sam is gone.
We do have one of the purses around, but my wife currently carries a Baby Yoda backpack.
Big study of the side effects of Pfizer vaccine on 12-17 yo kids.
Key grafs:
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/08/03/coronavirus-pfizer-teens-side-effects-rare-cdc/3371627961965/
Yup. Good luck with the Wallys.
Our Wally at the last job didn’t turn on his camera and remained muted, claiming poor Internet access despite living in a brand new stucco shack purchased as an investment in a new development filled with hipsters in their starter houses south of Downtown.
His Teams icon also usually indicated he was offline at 4 PM.
“CEOs want workers back at their desks. Employees and the virus have other plans.”
Tim Cook is arguably the best operations manager on the planet even if he doesn’t have “mojo”.
Apple has a *lot* of offices to fill at the new campus here in town.
And sometimes good things happen…
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/03/politics/mark-mccloskey-patricia-mccloskey-pardon/index.html
Not so fast…
SCOTUS who?! Filling in we have ‘Sleepy Joe and the CDC Band!”
The resolution will stop short of another nationwide eviction freeze, but instead will be more limited in scope, targeted to places with high Covid spread.
A source familiar with the effort said the announcement would cover 80% of US counties and 90% of the US population.
Biden’s aides had repeatedly insisted he lacked legal authority to renew the existing moratorium, citing a Supreme Court opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh from late June that said another extension would require congressional approval.
The President said earlier Tuesday the new eviction ban would be different from the previous one. But he openly acknowledged it would likely face legal scrutiny, and said the time it takes for the court process to unfold will allow for emergency rental assistance to reach troubled tenants.
Biden said he’d sought out constitutional scholars to advise him on a path forward after the Supreme Court’s ruling, and said the “bulk” of them warned an eviction moratorium was “not likely to pass constitutional muster.”
But he said “several key scholars” told him it might, and he decided it would be worth the risk if it allowed extra time for already-allocated emergency rental funds to reach Americans who need them.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/03/politics/eviction-moratorium-high-covid-spread/index.html
On the eviction ban. It appears, from a few tidbits here and there, that there is money in the pipeline to pay some landlords and stave off evictions. But, any “new” government program is going to take way too long to spin up. Sigh. I have compassion for both sides – those unable to pay rent due to job loss in the lockdown (and now in a hole they may never get out of) and landlords (who have notes to pay and income lost).
How about this for an idea: go ahead and evict anyone who hasn’t been paying their rent. If the newly-homeless are angry about this, let them storm the state capitols and the offices of state and county health departments and lynch the officials who made them unemployed and unable to pay their rent.
Weird gets weirder.
–lotta crazy there.
n
Wow, that got mangled. That was a headline followed by bullet points.
n
n
Same exact paste only in the text tab, hitting the open blockquote button, pasting, then close.
and that is the same process from visual
n
and that is pasting then highlighting and hitting quote
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9857365/Trans-YouTuber-Chris-Chan-faces-incest-charges-involving-79-year-old-dementia-suffering-mom.html
Regarding the eviction ban, it’s an illegal taking. And you could consider it a version of what is banned in the 3A, since it forces landlords to house people they don’t want to, at the order of the government. Lord knows the others have been stretched farther than that.
Divemedic breaks down why the previously offered deal was a bad deal. Any new deal is likely to be as well.
I’m very glad my tenants have been paying.
n
Twice in a row I just got “can’t find that website” try again? Errors. Both times went thru on the second try.
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9856917/Pentagon-lockdown-gunshots-fired-near-Metro.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9856629/Oil-tanker-non-piracy-incident-coast-UAE-just-days-Iranian-strike-Gulf.html
n
I’m gonna go on record early– Aussies are using the army to enforce their lockdown. Stage 2 after giving up your guns.
n
I’m very glad my tenants have been paying.
Me too. The mortgage on the office complex is well over $3,000/month.
The wife is starting the process of selling her three rental properties (only two are rented) and her dads townhome. First she has to get them retitled. Everything legal in this process takes so much time. Her father passed away last September.
When I went to the http://www.DailyMail.co.uk site, my Firefox crashed. I looked at the resources and it was taking about 8 GB of ram. I have been screaming at the Firefox people that their new Rust code with builtin garbage collection is not working but they say just don’t open so many tabs in Firefox. I am looking for a new intertubes browser.
On the eviction ban. It appears, from a few tidbits here and there, that there is money in the pipeline to pay some landlords and stave off evictions. But, any “new” government program is going to take way too long to spin up. Sigh. I have compassion for both sides – those unable to pay rent due to job loss in the lockdown (and now in a hole they may never get out of) and landlords (who have notes to pay and income lost).
I read the government program for the Landlords. There was some really bad stuff in there about giving up your rights in perpetuity. Basically they are extending the fixed income rental program out of New York City to the entire country. No and no and no.
If you like tweaking things to your heart’s content then give Vivaldi a go.
I tweaked mine a lot but you do not have to.
I am also using the new mail beta client that is much better than the Win10 mail app but not as good as Outlook.
I use Notes extensively. One of them contains the link-text of the last articles read on my preferred daily sites and the others are bunches of links on specific topics I may want to refer in the future. That saves me googling\braving\binging time and allows me to close windows without having a ton of favourites to trawl through.
I also use Edge for some things but prefer Vivaldi most.
I assume most folk here probably do this, but: If you look at that list, and try to imagine your loved ones trying to do all that…it’s going to be hard. You can make their lives a lot easier if you make a list of all your important things: what insurances you have, what accounts you have, etc..
Also, since most of us are techies: I include a list of my most important passwords, along with the master password to my password manager (where all the rest are saved). This is all on paper, in a safe at the bank. Which the kids know about, and anyway I have the safe named on another piece of paper, in an easy-to-find spot at home.
The biggest problem is remembering to update this stuff every few years. I am overdue for an update just now.
I mentioned yesterday that, at least here, the populace is ready to accept that. Those who are going to be vaccinated, pretty much have been. Time for everyone to live with their choices.
Shockingly, the government seems to be agreeing with that. Our version of the CDC is screeching in protest, but their arguments are weak (e.g. “vacation travellers may not have been vaccinated”). It looks like the government is going to drop most restrictions by Fall, even in the face of the “delta wave”.
The one mandate that will likely remain, will be masks in public transport. I hope so, anyway, since that will reduce the spread of all sorts of diseases, not just Covid.
I just can’t even imagine. I’ve had one really shitty boss in my life, and even he didn’t raise his voice. Yelling at employees in an office environment? Either I’ve been lucky, or you’ve had some unusually terrible experiences…
Wallys, though, are everywhere. My last commercial job (before I landed my current teaching position), I had a developer on my team with negative productivity (i.e., it took more time to fix his stuff that it would have to write it correctly in the first place). He was friends with the big boss, and also the favorite company rep to one customer, so I had to keep him on the team. The other developers carried his weight.
I suppose it really wasn’t his fault: he’d spent 20 years writing Access programs in VB. He could hack something together that mostly worked, just like lots of office jockeys can hack something together in Excel. He’d apparently made a career of that, but actual, disciplined software development was just beyond his abilities.
I am quite happy with Vivaldi. My wife uses Brave. Both have a lot of built-in privacy, which you can add to with plug-ins.