We’ll start the day normally, hot and humid, chance of rain. We’ll see where it goes from there. Yesterday was sunny and a bit cooler than summer, but still plenty hot in the sun. But then, in the late afternoon, the sun went away and it was uniformly overcast. It cleared briefly for a very pink and orange sunset which was very nice.
I got the yard trimmed and mowed. Weeded the raised beds in the back yard. Moved some stuff around. Filled 4 big water jugs (that I had cleaned after the freeze but never refilled.) Other than that, I took it easy. My back issue was borderline bad all day. I was right at the point where it could get a whole lot worse very quickly, so I didn’t want to strain too much.
WRT to water jugs, one was a Coleman 5 gallon, two were 7 gallon aqua-tainers, and one was a 7 gallon Reliance jug in a more NATO style. One of the ‘tainers was new to me, just picked up last week, the other had been out in the sun. Well, I stacked the new one on the old just to see, and the old split open on the bottom corners, which had been exposed to the sun… I’ve noticed before that the ‘tainers will get brittle from the UV. Keep them in the cool and dark and you will keep them longer… The coleman and the other Reliance jug are much heavier plastic, and a different type. I’m sure they could deteriorate too, but they seem sturdier.
I have replacement caps and vent covers that I bought some time ago for the aqua-tainers. The spigots break and let air and junk into the jug. Fortunately the caps usually don’t, and the thread for the spigot is a standard US NPT pipe thread. I’ve used a hose bib in place of the plastic spigot before, but this time, I just used plastic pipe plugs and removed the spigots that had broken.
To prep the water, I rinse the containers out with straight bleach, empty that out, and then fill with tap water. There is plenty of bleach left to treat the water. I had some treated that way that were still drinkable after 7 years. Bigger containers will need more bleach added. When I use the water, I put it through a Britta filter pitcher just for taste. You can also remove any chlorine taste or smell by aerating the water (pour it back and forth between pitchers a couple of times).
I’ve got lots of water stored, but the 5 and 7 gallon jugs are very convenient for daily use when you don’t have city water. You can easily bring them into the kitchen, or your ‘camp kitchen’ and dispense water as needed. It was past time to get them filled and back into service.
I’m sure there are other aspects of my preps that need a similar review and refresh. One more thing to add to the list… we’ve got time, until we don’t. Time to get cracking on inventory and double checking that everything is still in good order.
Stacking is the easy part. Don’t neglect the other aspects of maintenance and rotation like I’ve been doing.
nick
From Nick’s comment yesterday:
I can heartily recommend https://www.husqvarna.com/us/robotic-lawn-mowers/
I place robot lawnmowers in the same category as washing machines and dishwashers – domestic appliances that substantially reduce drudgery. The Husqy ones are not cheap, but I have had zero trouble with ours, in contrast to others we have owned (Robomow and the Aldi house brand). Turn it on in March, change the blades a couple of times during the growing season, turn it off in November, brush off the detritus and overwinter it indoors.
74F and almost saturated. The little bit of rain we got seems to have dried up, ground looks dry.
Maybe I’ll be able to get some stuff done today after all.
n
The Egregious Frum has found a home at The Atlantic advocating for gun confiscation:
The Atlantic is The Widow Jobs’ personal media outlet, wholly owned. The editors do not really answer to commercial pressures.
–some interesting stuff in the second half of the article.
–not pointed out in this article, the top 4 meat processors are all foreign owned iirc.
n
Prices going up only 3% in the next four months would be a relief from the past 18 months’ price trend.
I don’t usually link to the half naked pix on DM, but this headline reveals the truth. “Cavorts” is truly the correct word, especially in its ‘informal’ usage, and the way those of a certain age will likely associate it with denunciations and church witchhunts.
Megan Fox leaves VERY little to the imagination in a sheer nude slip paired with a glittering G-string as she cavorts with appreciative Machine Gun Kelly on VMAs red carpet in NYC
I’m not prudish, but the unhappy nakedness, and the sexual fetish wear on display are not symptoms of a healthy society.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9984221/Kourtney-Kardashian-oozes-goth-glamour-shares-kiss-boyfriend-Travis-Barker-VMAs.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9984387/Madonna-SHOCKS-2021-VMAs-kicks-BDSM-look-surprise-appearance.html
n
Definitely worth the read.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9980801/UN-chief-World-pivotal-moment-avert-crises.html
They generally tell us straight out what they intend to do…
n
Prices going up only 3% in the next four months would be a relief from the past 18 months’ price trend.
–yeah this is one of those ‘show me the math’ kind of things. If the top three selling meats are going up 8, 10, 14% and nothing is cheaper than it was, how can the category “meat” only go up 3%?
I’d like to see prices vs 2 years ago, as one year puts us in the depths of the lockdown. Some of the categories were abnormally low during that period.
n
3M has their fingers in almost all the pies.
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/3m-warns-inflation-here-stay-sees-auto-production-tumbling-more-expected
They have pretty good visibility into most of the sectors of the economy and I’m inclined to believe them more than .gov
n
I’m not prudish, but the unhappy nakedness, and the sexual fetish wear on display are not symptoms of a healthy society.
The VMA show has always been an “in your face” event.
Huh, don’t remember seeing so much of it, ever.
n
Then she will complain and gripe about men sexualizing her. They should see her for what see really is as a person and not some sexual object.
I always avoided the VMAs like the plague. Mostly to spite MTV’s incessant advertising of the event.
@Denis: Thanks for the recommendation. That’s something we may well think about. Since normal lectures have resumed, I am away from home most of the week – and my wife is unlikely to be enthusiastic about mowing. I *could* do it on Saturdays, but I’d rather not (normally, with WFH, it’s been something I do as a break from working). So a robot may be in our (lawn’s) future…
Politicians
We have a constitutional amendment that prohibits gender discrimination. The government has taken literally decades to get around to it, but they are finally going to raise women’s retirement age (currently 64) to be the same as men’s (currently 65). The social security payments are the same in both cases, meaning women work one year less, to get the same benefit.
Of course, you can imagine the screams, mostly from the left, and from supposed feminists. As a result, the parliament is considering giving women a higher social security payment after the retirement age has been changed. So, instead of women getting to retire earlier, they will now get a higher payout. From one form of gender discrimination to another, probably more expensive, one.
Question: Do politicians lose their brains after election, or are they born without?
#Brad
Any government mush-brained enough to do that, is mush-brained enough to let you identify as a woman.
The answer to your question is “Yes”.
Hey Uncle Joe, this still what you call “transient”?
Huh, don’t remember seeing so much of it, ever.
The weather is turning colder in the UK, and the DM is playing to the schadenfreude the British seem to enjoy regarding the cultural decline of the US.
It is all about the eyeballs.
“Cloud” humor:
https://programmerhumour.tumblr.com/post/661891055248080896/did-they-just-invent-on-prem-hosting#notes
DM didn’t decide they should all wear bondage fetish gear. And WTF is up with at least two women wearing freaking bondage masks in their normal daily routine? Ok, one is a big-ass-ian and is getting to the point where ‘see, no one cares’… but come on.
n
It appears that Austin will remain on the “dry” side of TS Nicholas.
All of the humidity and gloom but none of the rain. Maybe something tomorrow.
Full summer has broken here in the high desert, temps predicted to just reach the 90’s and then 80’s for the next 10 days.
We usually get a 100F+ heat wave in late September or early October, but only for a day or two at a time, not days and weeks on end.
The tomatoes are finally flowering, if i can keep the hornworms under control I might get a return on my plants.
OTOH, no matter who wins the recall election tomorrow the whispers are (no politician will mention it pre-election) that state will apparently declare water rationing. In that case I’ll have to see if i can afford 10 gallons a day for a few tomatoes.
Weird stuff already coming out of Kalifornia’s recall of Nuisance.
Is there any chance he’ll get recalled? It’s Kali for fcuks sake.
“Cloud” humor:
The place I talked to before Labor Day hosted their own servers, all of the hardware bought off of EBay, mostly discarded beefy Dell systems from big companies racing to The Cloud.
Large amounts of money are still involved, but not as much as new.
Weird stuff already coming out of Kalifornia’s recall of Nuisance.
Is there any chance he’ll get recalled? It’s Kali for fcuks sake.
No. His money people have no one else to run next year. The Lt Governor is different money.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9984831/Woman-kicked-Brooklyn-subway-station-escalator-telling-man-shoved-say-excuse-me.html
-got mouthy with a stranger, ended up kicked in chest, knocked down escalator… Why do people feel the need to interact with people who are intent on breaking the rules of society? Those rules are all that protect you from violence, and the person already expressed a willingness to break them.
Don’t do it.
n
If Newsom is not recalled, are the vote totals that were cast for who would have replaced him made public? I’ve googled around some but haven’t found an answer.
In that part of Brooklyn after dark she’s lucky getting kicked was the only thing that she got in the chest.
Before clicking the link I was betting that the “stranger” was Amish … and I was right!
Went to our local HEB store to get topped up. It was crowded but not crazy busy. They did have every single checkout stand open and there were long lines at each one. Lots of people with full carts but lots of people with only a few items too.
The price of bacon finally increased. the one I buy went from $0.24 per ounce to $0.36 per ounce. That’s a 50% increase overnight.
On the other hand they had center cut pork chops on sale for less than three bucks a pound. And best of all they had a huge pile of prime top sirloin and it was seven bucks a pound. For prime beef. Why yes I did fill my cart. It was getting short time for sale but I don’t care because I’m just going to freeze it .
Of course the normal pre-hurricane things were sold out. No water no toilet paper, bread was being restocked as I was there and there were some surprising gaps too. Soda was decimated. Chips were wiped out.
In the end because of the yellow tag shelf coupons and the markdown meat i ended up saving $73 on a $300 tab.
I love that.
N
We need the ghost of Paul Kersey about now. Maybe SteveF is available.
Mowing the lawn…
I *could* do it on Saturdays, but I’d rather not…
Here in sunny Belgium, I rate the chances of getting a dry Saturday about 1 in 2. Miss mowing, two Saturdays in a row because of rain, and the grass is well on the way to needing a scythe or a strimmer, rather than a lawnmower. We may not run motor tools on Sundays, and I work weekdays. Add to that that mowing exacerbates my hayfever, and the robot is a lifesaver.
Just one thing, do program your robot to operate only during daylight hours, otherwise there is a good chance of killing or wounding hedgehogs, who are useful little beasts and the gardener’s friend.
Haha:
Top earning New Yorkers and Californians could face 60% combined tax rate, while the top rate of corporate tax would be raised to 26.5% – higher than communist China – under House Democrats’ bill to fund $3.5trillion spending plans
The ProgLibTurds probably think this is a good idea to fund a $3.5 trillion boondoggle.
Of course the normal pre-hurricane things were sold out. No water no toilet paper, bread was being restocked as I was there and there were some surprising gaps too. Soda was decimated. Chips were wiped out.
Beyond the storm, the NFL started for real yesterday, and summer vacation season ended for the stragglers who took last week off.
The local UHaul was down to one propane *canister* yesterday, but they had plenty of propane if you already owned a canister and simply needed a refill.
Nothing to worry about with green energy, right??
Energy Prices in Europe Hit Records After Wind Stops Blowing
Heavy reliance on wind power, coupled with a shortage of natural gas, has led to a spike in energy prices
https://www.wsj.com/articles/energy-prices-in-europe-hit-records-after-wind-stops-blowing-11631528258
Funny you should put it that way. When I was about 20 I saw Death Wish and thought, What a good idea!
Nope, no need to worry. Their smug self-righteousness will keep them warm in the winter.
Definitely worth the read.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9980801/UN-chief-World-pivotal-moment-avert-crises.html
They generally tell us straight out what they intend to do…
n
Mr. Socialist UN Chief can kiss my grits.
How many cars does he have in his Rolls Royce collection now ?
Nothing to worry about with green energy, right??
Nope, no need to worry. Their smug self-righteousness will keep them warm in the winter.
I’ve tried that. Don’t work below 25 F.
That just means that you weren’t smug enough or self-righteous enough, Lynn. Try harder next time.
Nothing to worry about with green energy, right??
Energy Prices in Europe Hit Records After Wind Stops Blowing
Heavy reliance on wind power, coupled with a shortage of natural gas, has led to a spike in energy prices
https://www.wsj.com/articles/energy-prices-in-europe-hit-records-after-wind-stops-blowing-11631528258
Our natural gas price here in Texas has risen to $5/mmbtu since the deep freeze in Texas last Feb when it was $3. Our regional natural gas and electric distribution supplier, Centerpoint Energy, is apparently working on a 100% natural gas price increase in the next month or so. They bought a boatload of spot market gas during the deep freeze for $600 and resold to us customers at $3. They are gonna get their money back no matter what. The screaming will be loud.
Haha:
Top earning New Yorkers and Californians could face 60% combined tax rate, while the top rate of corporate tax would be raised to 26.5% – higher than communist China – under House Democrats’ bill to fund $3.5trillion spending plans
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/article-9985809/U-S-House-Democrats-seek-corporate-tax-increase-26-5-percent.html
The ProgLibTurds probably think this is a good idea to fund a $3.5 trillion boondoggle.
Yes, you always raise income tax rates when the economy is struggling. That way you hit everyone when they are down.
And of course, the dumbrocrats in the House are ignoring the Senate. Senators Manchin (WV) and Sinema (AZ, who is facing a tough election in 2024) are screaming no, no , no. “Manchin: I will not vote for $3.5 trillion bill”
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/12/politics/joe-manchin-democratic-bill-3-trillion-climate-provisions/index.html
To quote myself:
That doesn’t mean it can’t be 97F, with 25mph winds, and 4% humidity…
Weird stuff already coming out of Kalifornia’s recall of Nuisance.
Yep. People showing up to vote and being told that they already voted…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-9985907/Nursing-home-COVID-outbreak-95-vaccination-rate-17-cases-1-death-unvaccinated.html
–16 of 70 vaccinated, and they got alpha not delta. Granted that outcomes were generally good, and they were old to begin with, but 16/70 = 23% Call it 1 in 4 have the vax but get sick anyway, and some get REALLY sick.
Can anyone name me another “vaccine” or treatment that is mandated people have, with similar efficacy?
n
And NOT the flu shot, as its efficacy depends on someone guessing which variants will be prevalent. It’s very good against the variants included in the shot.
All depending on what Manchin (or Sinema) want in exchange for their vote. Or is Joe (M.) really gonna make a stand to cut this down to only $1.5 trillion?
Weird stuff already coming out of Kalifornia’s recall of Nuisance.
Yep. People showing up to vote and being told that they already voted…
Yes, and those people who supposedly already voted are Republicans. Stinks, doesn’t it ?
“California requests permit to allow gas plants to run at maximum”
http://gasprocessingnews.com/news/california-requests-permit-to-allow-gas-plants-to-run-at-maximum.aspx
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !
Pigs don’t fly and neither do these old smoky gas turbines.
Whoa, Biden did it ! “U.S. grants California request to boost gas power to keep lights on”
http://gasprocessingnews.com/news/us-grants-california-request-to-boost-gas-power-to-keep-lights-on.aspx
And of course, the dumbrocrats in the House are ignoring the Senate. Senators Manchin (WV) and Sinema (AZ, who is facing a tough election in 2024) are screaming no, no , no. “Manchin: I will not vote for $3.5 trillion bill”
Mark Kelly is up before Sinema in Arizona, and Meghan McCain resigned from “The View” earlier this year.
The McCain family considers that seat to be theirs so they didn’t support the appointed Republican last year. If Mark Kelly squeezes out another win on sympathy, Sinema is in serious trouble.
And of course, the dumbrocrats in the House are ignoring the Senate. Senators Manchin (WV) and Sinema (AZ, who is facing a tough election in 2024) are screaming no, no , no. “Manchin: I will not vote for $3.5 trillion bill”
Mark Kelly is up before Sinema in Arizona, and Meghan McCain resigned from “The View” earlier this year.
The McCain family considers that seat to be theirs so they didn’t support the appointed Republican last year.
So you think that Meghan McCain is going to run for the Senate seat ? She will get zero support from the national party. I guess that Mom can loan her a $100 million or so.
So you think that Meghan McCain is going to run for the Senate seat ? She will get zero support from the national party. I guess that Mom can loan her a $100 million or so.
Hensley Beverage is the Republican party in Arizona.
–not kidding. If you will be ordering Christmas presents, the smart and the prepared will do it sooner, rather than later. I’ve got a couple things for each kid already. Still need to get stuff for my wife’s birthday (looming) and Christmas.
n
–I know OFD would have some things to say about when female cops find themselves in this situation… What is supposed to save them is that they aren’t alone, but this one’s partner was F’ing useless.
n
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pentagon-researching-microbe-mining-rare-earth-minerals-cut-reliance-china
–yeah, I can’t think of anything that could go wrong with engineering bugs to eat rare earths…… /sarc
n
Mutant 59-RE
Two far-left activists convicted of interfering with track control systems in Washington
John Sexton Sep 13, 2021 7:20 PM ET
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2021/09/13/two-far-left-activists-convicted-of-interfering-with-track-control-systems-in-washington-n415596
The last time they stepped in front of a game camera and got located at exactly the point were a spurious signal was going on and off.
So they’re convicted and can get up to 20 years. BFD. Any decent investigation would have backtracked their phones to try to co-locate them with other incidents. Let’s hope they get 20, and the investigation is still going on.
Top earning New Yorkers and Californians could face 60% combined tax rate, while the top rate of corporate tax would be raised to 26.5% – higher than communist China – under House Democrats’ bill to fund $3.5trillion spending plans
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/ushome/article-9985809/U-S-House-Democrats-seek-corporate-tax-increase-26-5-percent.html
All depending on what Manchin (or Sinema) want in exchange for their vote. Or is Joe (M.) really gonna make a stand to cut this down to only $1.5 trillion?
BTW, this bill cuts the jump-up in inherited property tax values by 50%. Be sure to keep good records !
FWIW, au gratin potatoes in a box are NOT good 5 years past best by….
Fortunately for my dinner plans, there were plenty of newer boxes to choose from and I only found two that were that old. Not because I ate them or rotated properly but because some time ago I lost a whole black bin of them to mold when it got damp inside.
It’s pretty quiet outside at the moment, some very light drizzle, and the wind is variable and gusty but not particularly strong yet. I did take down a sun shade when I noticed it flapping around in the breeze.
District has closed all the schools tomorrow, so kids are at home. Wife will be WFH too. I guess I won’t be getting much done.
n
“Nicholas becomes a hurricane, will batter coast, and bring heavy rains south of Houston tonight”
https://spacecityweather.com/nicholas-becomes-a-hurricane-will-batter-coast-and-bring-heavy-rains-south-of-houston-tonight/
“Alas, Nicholas is here. And he’s bringing lumps of coal for all. So we’d better discuss the forecast.
As of 10 pm CT, the National Hurricane Center says Nicholas has become a hurricane with 75-mph winds. Its center is presently located 20 miles southeast of Matagorda, Texas. The storm is moving to the north-northeast at 10 mph, and should come ashore the upper Texas coast later tonight, possibly near Sargent, Texas. No additional strengthening is anticipated, the hurricane center says. The storm is expected to cross the Houston region on Tuesday morning and then move into southeastern Louisiana and essentially stall before dissipating by Thursday or so.”
My parents decided not to run from Port Lavaca to my brother’s farm outside Luling. They will be alright. They have stayed through a Cat 3 before, but they will not do that again.
Port Lavaca is about 20 miles inland from Indianola. Indianola was a thriving community back in 1875 when a Cat 5 hurricane came through and the storm surge went 20 miles inland. 600 of the 5,000 people in Indianola died. The rest left. Even the lighthouses were swept away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianola,_Texas
BTW, this bill cuts the jump-up in inherited property tax values by 50%. Be sure to keep good records !
What about repealing the SALT deduction cap?
No repeal, and they might as well kiss Virginia’s Governor’s Mansion goodbye.
OTOH, I don’t think many people are thrilled with McAuliffe returning to the office, including a lot of Dems
Whoops. Power went out and apparently I didn’t have my new UPS set correctly as my computers went down too.
Poor design.
n
BTW, this bill cuts the jump-up in inherited property tax values by 50%. Be sure to keep good records !
What about repealing the SALT deduction cap?
No repeal, and they might as well kiss Virginia’s Governor’s Mansion goodbye.
OTOH, I don’t think many people are thrilled with McAuliffe returning to the office, including a lot of Dems
I read that they are raising the SALT cap from $10,000 to $20,000. I got hit by that cap in 2019 and 2020 also.
A lot of repuglicans in VA don’t like dumbrocrat governors also. The government guys cutting up the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond with a chain saw did not go very well with much of the populace last week.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/08/statue-confederate-robert-e-lee-510422
Freaking giant russian hovercraft looks like something out of science fiction…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9986291/Vladimir-Putin-oversees-huge-military-exercises-striking-distance-Europe.html
Pretty aggressive putting on an exercise right there and right now….
n
Thunderbirds are go!
Re robot mowers, this has peaked my interest. No border wires etc.. Uses GPS and magic Fusion stuff..
Just waiting for a few long term reviews to surface..
https://navimow.segway.com/
Aside from the bad English, I believe the correct term is “braking”. Writers should know the basics of the language.
Happened to me months ago. Had plugged into the surge ports, not the battery backup port.