Hot and humid, overcast, sun, and rain in various places. Like yesterday weather, it really depends on where you are in Houston. I missed all the heavy rain at home by being out running errands. I missed the rain in those areas because it happened before I left the house. I never saw more than a mist, some people got a gully washer. It’s a constant and welcome reminder that everyone’s reality is different. Even when only a mile apart.
Did run some errands. Still haven’t made it to Costco and it’s Friday again. Dang. Stopped by my buddy’s gun store and had a nice long chat. It wasn’t busy at all, but he wasn’t worried, he’ll be back to frantic today and tomorrow. He had some pistols in the cabinet, and a few rifles but they were all consignments or used. He’s starting to get some stock in his online portal store. He says the problem is still lack of ammo availability. Some other retailers are starting to have some stock but it’s still crazy expensive.
I watched an estate auction this week and a bunch of guns went unsold. The reserve price was too high. That tells me people’s desperation buying is slowing. PSA has had uppers and lowers in their featured email this week and last, which is a big change. Supply might finally be catching up.
Today I’m going to be helping the Middle School drama teacher pick up some scenery from another school. I’m officially a theater dad. I had fun with my schooling and career, so I will encourage my daughter to explore the field. My wife is less sanguine as her work experience was with education (which she didn’t like) and union touring performances (which she never wanted to do again after a year of it.) It’s been a while since I drove a 26ft commercial truck, but it’s probably just like riding a bike, right?
Keep checking on conditions in your area. Keep working to improve your situation. And keep stacking. ESPECIALLY food.
nick
74F and pouring down rain. Gauge says 0.11 inches so far overnight.
I wish I knew if my pickup of the theater stuff was going to happen. Loading a truck in the rain sucks.
n
I watched these guys when they were riding their motorcycles around china and talking very generally about China. They’ve since fled to the US with family in tow and are (supposedly) safe from the CCP so they are a LOT more free with criticism.
In Vantucky, we had a lot of Mainland Chinese bug out pads in our neighborhood since the airport with direct flights to China was 15 minutes away and the schools were among the best in the state.
Mom, kids, and grandparents lived in the US full time while Dad stayed in China, fingers crossed he would be able to get out when SHTF.
Despite being in the US, it seemed like everyone in that situation was still scared of Chinese spies in the area so no one answered the door and any activity outside was brief.
No doubt we had spies. Heck, they probably worked at HP (across the street) or TSMC (about a mile away) as “day jobs”. HP would even cover a year rent and rental car of choice for an L1 visa holder when they started their final push of printer design jobs to Asia.
Ok, I’m confused. This group *doesn’t* want DeSantis reelected as Governor of Florida?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhqPrEO9xFU
DeSantis comes off as the sanest person in the state.
600,000 invaders in 3 months. Possibly 800 000.
Note that it’s ALREADY 400K for july and aug
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10046943/DHS-fears-400-000-migrants-cross-border-October-Biden-drops-Trump-era-COVID-rule.html
n
The FUSA. plugsy won’t fix this. What difference, at this time, does it make? Every city where these crimmigrants show up will be crushed. No skills, don’t speak English (probably a lot of non Spanish speakers, too). ER’s are their health care. Free school, no body has the spine to check if they are citizens.
Game over, Man, game over!
Weird. I can’t see the submit button on my iPad. It’s there and highlights when I touch it.
Same issue. I using Safari on the iPad. Probably should have tried another browser.
Not surprising. Given that Marvel/Disney had amended contracts with other MCU stars to account for streaming/theater simultaneous releases, there was a framework already in place. It was just about agreeing on the exact amount.
Patience, grasshoppers. Just a couple more tweaks to the new theme, and it will magically show up here.
And then you can all start complaining about new things!
Not surprising. Given that Marvel/Disney had amended contracts with other MCU stars to account for streaming/theater simultaneous releases, there was a framework already in place. It was just about agreeing on the exact amount.
Assuming the comic book movies haven’t run out of audience, recasting Black Widow would be impossible.
No one is ever really dead in sci-fi/fantasy.
I prefer to start early and avoid the rush. 🙂 🙂
Meanwhile, I am looking at getting another FLASHLIGHT. Brighter, naturally. It’s a disease or curse.
Going to be building a new computer system. Son has spec’ed all the components. I9 of course, 3.5 Ghz, High speed memory, 64 gig DDR4-4000, two 2 TB M.2 Western Digital SSDs, water cooled, new modular power supply, new case with USB 3.2, new graphics card with 4 gig, ASRock Z590 ATX motherboard, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Monitor has been ordered from Dell. 27″ ultrasharp 2560×1400 at 60 hz, can display images from two computers at the same time. Display port, HDMI, USB-C
Going to be building a new computer system. Son has spec’ed all the components. I9 of course, 3.5 Ghz, High speed memory, 64 gig DDR4-4000, two 2 TB M.2 Western Digital SSDs, water cooled, new modular power supply, new case with USB 3.2, new graphics card with 4 gig, ASRock Z590 ATX motherboard, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Does the motherboard have all the requirements for Windows 11, including the TPM 2.0 module? Once Windows 11 is out for a while, I doubt
Graphics cards are still insanely overpriced due to resellers and crypto currencies.
I just saw another article about Miami trying to become a player in tech with that scene.
The Locusts want Miami to happen, but the talent pool just isn’t there to do the actual … you know … work.
My new headlamp:
HU60 by Nitecore.
Nitecore now makes up the bulk of my FLASHLIGHTS! I love the 21700 batteries. Power and last forever. My travel headlamp is a rechargeable with red light mode. You know, for …
Just one monitor?
I looked at prices in the Microcenter weekly ad and while they are discounting on cpu mb combos, there wasn’t a graphics card to be seen.
n
Theater school errand was canceled due to flooding at the pickup site.
Sun is poking thru atm, but ground is still wet. Soil is squishy.
n
Does the motherboard have all the requirements for Windows 11, including the TPM 2.0 module? Once Windows 11 is out for a while, I doubt
Ack. I got distracted with a work thing.
Finishing my thought, once Windows 11 is out for a while, I doubt that the studios’ streaming services will continue to support earlier versions of Windows. The graphics subsystem in Windows is the piracy tool of choice for attacking Disney+ and HBO Max.
Dummy me, just as I was finishing my last sentence, the page crashed. I know I need to compose in an editor.
For now, thanks, Nick, for the “welfare check.” I have been lurking in the background. Nick says I missed a submarine discussion. The search function doesn’t find one though. Any ideas where/when?
@RickH, the site is looking good.
More later…
@dadcooks, glad to see you are fine. The discussion was about the Aussies going with US nuke boats instead of French vaporware…. news cycle is so short, it was ???two??? weeks ago? one??
n
John Ringo looks more like a prophet every day.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/09/muslim-rapes-tortures-lesbian-sister-girlfriends-cuts-permanent-smile-girlfriends-face/
Cold and failed crops followed by starvation are next on the agenda if his book “Centurion” continues to come true.
n
“Solar Update September, 2021”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/09/22/solar-update-september-2021/
“Our planet’s temperature peaked in 2016 and has been in a disciplined decline since. It is in a channel 0.5°C wide with a slope of -0.03°C per annum. The atmosphere had been warming at 0.013°C per annum according to Dr Roy Spencer’s work. If the established cooling trend continues it will only take another decade to get back to the temperatures of the early 1980s. With the cooling trend firmly established, the question is: Can the proximate cause be found in the solar record?”
According to the real scientists, good old Sol has been pumping out extra rays for the last 40 years. Those extra rays stopped in 2016 and Sol has gone back to the normal nuclear fusion reactor output. The world is going nuts right now with snow and ice already all over the northern hemisphere. And the southern hemisphere had a real banger of a winter that is apparently not over yet.
The agricultural scientists has been claiming that we can feed 10 billion people on Earth with Sol pumping out extra rays and all of the CO2 (plant food) in the atmosphere. With Sol declining, I also wonder if we can feed 8 billion people ? The harvesters in Kansas have been cutting the wheat three times a year for the last 40 years. That may go away.
Finishing my thought, once Windows 11 is out for a while, I doubt that the studios’ streaming services will continue to support earlier versions of Windows. The graphics subsystem in Windows is the piracy tool of choice for attacking Disney+ and HBO Max.
My new 16.11 software release has got a complete new cryptographic layer for my friend in Russia who has cracked my software 7 or 8 times now. He has been attacking my security by string analysis in our executables. The security strings are gone now. I have around 5,000 or 7,000 new lines of C++ code in this release just for him.
I will know soon. He usually gets a friend in the USA to pull a demo off our website and send him the password. Then he sends me an email when he is finished cracking it. We have exchanged several emails over the years. Even through VPNs and phantom email servers, I have managed to track him down to a city. He screwed up in 1999 and wrote a paper on cracking software security, he is a CS prof at a Russian university.
Rain gauge says 1.27 inches now.
https://www.ttgnet.com/journal/2015/05/22/friday-22-may-2015/ for some discussion about food storage, and a blast from the past, also flooding in Houston, and the REAL start of Mr. Lynn’s journey…
n
@rick, the site search page has some weird placeholder text and doesn’t work quite the way I expected. Searching for [nick I like to eat] returns every occurrence of the text strings ‘to”eat’ so any post with ‘great’ gets returned as does ‘total’. I thought it used to do whole word only? I was able to find what I was looking for by using a [ ] space before the leading word, and quotes around the phrase but it was weird.
For now, thanks, Nick, for the “welfare check.” I have been lurking in the background. Nick says I missed a submarine discussion. The search function doesn’t find one though. Any ideas where/when?
@RickH, the site is looking good.
More later…
Welcome back ! We missed you in the nuclear submarine conversation. Apparently we, the USA, are selling fast attack boats to the Australians. Some of the technology in the fast attack boats appears to come from the Brits also as they have several of them already.
“Are the US and China Stumbling Toward an ‘Islands War’?”
https://buchanan.org/blog/are-the-us-and-china-stumbling-toward-an-islands-war-158560
“In a diplomatic coup, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a deal last week with the U.K. and U.S. to have those Anglo-American allies help build a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia.
A $66 billion French deal to provide Canberra with diesel electric-powered submarines, among the largest defense contracts Paris had ever negotiated, was blown off.
“A stab in the back!” said Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who had been kept in the dark on the secret talks. “There has been duplicity, contempt and lies.” Le Drian compared President Joe Biden to former President Donald Trump.”
Decreased insolation? This is a catastrophe! An emergency! The only cure to increasing ice coverage will be higher taxes and more government power! We need a Green New Deal to make sure the entire planet doesn’t turn white!
DadCooks, good to hear from you. I was getting concerned. Specifically, I was getting concerned that you were taking time off to build a cybernetic monkey army to commit genocide and take over the world, and that’s my idea. No stealing!
xkcd: “Endangered”
https://xkcd.com/2523/
Who knew that there is a sarcastic endangered species list ? And when the flu does come back, it will probably be with a vengeance.
Kinda explained at:
https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2523:_Endangered
@Lynn:
Sounds like one of those people who break encryption “because it’s there.” It’s an intellectual exercise to them. The question is, does he release the cracked version? Or does he just email you to say, “I’ve cracked version x.xx”. Do you know?
Since he’s an academic, it may just be the intellectual challenge.
G.
Yes, it does meet all the requirements.
For now. There is not enough room on my desk for another monitor. Hopefully moving from a 24″ to a 27″ high resolution will suffice.
@Lynn:
He screwed up in 1999 and wrote a paper on cracking software security, he is a CS prof at a Russian university.
Sounds like one of those people who break encryption “because it’s there.” It’s an intellectual exercise to them. The question is, does he release the cracked version? Or does he just email you to say, “I’ve cracked version x.xx”. Do you know?
Since he’s an academic, it may just be the intellectual challenge.
G.
He passes the cracked versions to a guy in Czechoslovakia who puts it up on a web server. They then have a mailing list that they share the URL at. I will see 20 to 30 new users in the next 48 hours. I reckon that they have cost me a half million dollars over the years as my international sales have dropped in half since then. I have sued two companies in the USA using their crack and won both cases, settling out of court.
Information just wants to free !
Lynn, would it be practical to have different encryption for the demo version and the real version? Not a different key but a different system?
74F and pouring down rain. Gauge says 0.11 inches so far overnight.
We have gotten six to eight inches of rain out here on the west side of Fort Bend County. The ditch in front of my house has four foot of water in it and has spread to the oak trees, about 50 foot wide now. There is a foot deep stream between me and my east neighbor. Looks like our lawn mower will not come today.
Lynn, would it be practical to have different encryption for the demo version and the real version? Not a different key but a different system?
I am close to putting all of the demo users on AWS.
Hadn’t tried search results on the new theme on the test site. Doesn’t work. Get a blank content area.
Hmmm…..
(a few minutes later) Silly rabbit! The templates don’t work unless you upload them onto the site.
Come on now and get your priorities in order!
Meanwhile, I am looking at getting another FLASHLIGHT. Brighter, naturally. It’s a disease or curse.
I have been buying this Rayovac double AA flashlight lately for $15. “RAYOVAC Tactical LED Flashlight, IP67 Waterproof, Super Bright and Durable Metal Body – Built For Camping, Hiking, Outdoor, Emergency, Batteries Included”
https://www.amazon.com/Rayovac-Virtually-Indestructible-Black-Flashlight/dp/B0716D98GQ/?tag=ttgnet-20
“Ack. I got distracted with a work thing.”
Come on now and get your priorities in order!
I’m the one who wants to be back in an office, to the point that I was willing to be jabbed a few weeks ago if I was offered a job in an office in town.
Good to hear from you, DadCooks. Thanks for checking in.
Ray, looks like an impressive new computer, especially the monitor. We have come a long way. My setup has three computers and one monitor. I have another monitor, but no space for it. I am too lazy to rearrange to accommodate the second monitor. I have lots of room, but would hate to get started tearing into everything. Maybe next year… or the one after that.
Been buying lately? Have you been loosing them in the river? At this rate of losses of gubs and flashlights you are going to end up with a dam instead of a river close by…
WRT !!!Flashlights!!!, I recently got an excellent powerful UV flashlight. Talk about showing the unseen.
WRT Australia contracting with the USofA for submarines, it is an intelligent choice. However, since the passing of Admiral Rickover, the contractors and ship workers who built the submarines, our vast quality and technology is nowhere what it was. However, we are still way ahead of the Russians and Chinese. I don’t trust our gooberment to keep our secrets safe from them, though.
When I was building the USS Los Angeles, SSN 688 (first of the class Fast Attack), I was able to get my father-in-law a classified tour of Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company (when they were still not some part of another company). He was able to get this tour because he was a Supervisor of Submarine Overhauls at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. He was astounded by their submarine building process and the glimpse of what was coming with the future boomers and fast attacks. He even met Admiral Rickover (whom he had met many times at Mare Island) and got a “pep-talk.”
Have a great weekend, everyone, and stay safe, healthy, and prepared.
Lynn, since you tracked your hacker down to a city, have you considered asking someone to “make a visit?” I think there might be some here who could advise, especially on discretion and non-attribution.
My roots are showing… 🙂
Getting to be that time of year when I look at FLASHLIGHTS. Haven’t bought one in a few years. Every time I look, I mentally compare with what I have, and decide it isn’t enough more to justify the cost. Of course, every little boy would like a SEARCHLIGHT!! I’m talking something with a foot+ aperture and some serious lumens, probably in excess of 20K. Not very practical, and not very portable, although I don’t need portability to light up things a few miles away. Just dreaming, of course. Such a light could get a person in real trouble. There are a few that are not outrageously expensive, but too much for rare uses.
There is a flood array that is stored at our local airport for use in shooting commercials. It is often aimed toward our house, and it casts definite shadows from a distance of 11 miles. It is unmistakable, but not at all scary. Imagine if it had a spot optical system.
When I volunteered for our local concert association, I built a stand for a halogen follow spot we acquired for next to nothing. We assembled it and tested it by shining it down my boss’s street. It had a 360 watt bulb, and a nice mirror optical system. It did not have the throw of traditional xenon lights, but was fun to play with. It worked fine for our stage, with plenty of smooth light of adequate but not excessive intensity. I really liked its color temperature better than the daylight xenons.
His is a good list with the exception of all that Vegetarian Meat Substitute stuff 😉 And there’s lots of good discussion re prepping in the comments, esp about cooking heat source alternatives. I think it is REAL important to learn how to cook over those alternatives – they are a whole different ballgame than using the stove.
Re cooking backups: we use wood heat in the house, and I tested the wood stove last winter for cooking. It works great as a slow-cooker heat source. And of course we could put things into/onto the coals. For heating water, it would take some time: I’d need to keep a big kettle on there all the time. It will never boil. Never.
Outside, we’ve a propane grill with a burner on the side – that burner is what we’d need to boil water. It has a rotisserie that we never use and is in constantly in the way.
We also have a charcoal grill and a charcoal smoker, and I think 10 big bags of Kingsford, so we could cook for a while. The smoker would accept firewood if we wanted. Outdoors, I prefer to cook over charcoal, so those two are what I usually use. Live Fire cooking is fun and I would like to do more of it, but mostly I just pin things on Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/pecancorner/campfire-cooking/
I sift out all the lump charcoal when I empty the wood stove, and save it. I could make my own for cooking very easily if needed. But, if we ran out of charcoal, I have enough of those stones that I could build a firepit if we wanted one… the stones were given to me and I ended up using them as edging rather than a fire pit, but they could quickly be repurposed.
I have been buying this Rayovac double AA flashlight lately for $15.
Been buying lately? Have you been loosing them in the river? At this rate of losses of gubs and flashlights you are going to end up with a dam instead of a river close by…
Between my glaucoma, cataracts, and floaters, my night vision has gone to pot. Shoot, my day vision sucks also. I do have several of the 2 AA Mini Mag flashlights that are slowly dying as the batteries leak inside them. Plus their price has gone up to $36 which is absurd.
https://www.amazon.com/Maglite-2-Cell-Flashlight-Holster-Black/dp/B005UUSAAM/?tag=ttgnet-20
But I like 350 lumens now so the Rayovac is now my preferred flashlight, especially at $15. I leave them all over the place as I cannot see at dusk anymore. I’ll bet that between the office, house, and vehicles, I have at least 20 of the small flashlights floating around the various places. This getting old thing sucks.
https://www.amazon.com/Rayovac-Virtually-Indestructible-Black-Flashlight/dp/B0716D98GQ/?tag=ttgnet-20
BTW, we do not have streetlights or sidewalks in my neighborhood. So if we go out for a walk after dark, I carry two of the Mini Mag LED flashlights and the wife carries one. There goes six AA batteries after 2 or 3 walks. At midnight, it is incredibly dark outside as most of my neighbors turn off EVERY single outside light when they go to bed. Me, I have the two front door LED lights on 24×7.
You should really consider rechargeable batteries. I bought a set when they first came out many years ago and they were weak and did not keep a charge so that ended that experiment back then; but technology does move forward and in some areas quite fast. Recently I decided to give it another go and I am now very satisfied. I have a mouse that eats the AAA batteries as if they were cheese and AAAs are relatively expensive. I bought a set of Eveready rechargeable batteries and a charger and they have worked wonders. So much so that I bought a set of AAs for the other mouse. Give them a try.
Indeed. I told my son when finding components that cost was a secondary factor but keep it within reason. I wanted speed as processing images takes a lot of CPU cycles. My system will be comparable to his. He can install Windows from scratch in 45 seconds. Boot time is less than 5 seconds. However he has two 27” monitors on his system that I won’t have. I suspect it may be the last system that I actually own. My current system is 12 years old, still works. But lacks USB 3, high speed SATA, and other items that are long in tooth. It still works fine. I may donate it to some kid at school.
And in other news the submit button is back using Safari.
And in other news dishwasher quit. Vendor website said to reset the power. Turn off for one minute and restore. What do you know, it worked.
Not for flashlights that are not used regularly. Having a flashlight dead because of lack of charge is not good. For emergency lights I use lithium batteries with a long shelf life.
As for your mouse, get a new one. Batteries should last at least six months.
if you were preparing for a post-America, apocalyptic-type situation, what would you do to do to set yourself up for the most success? buy a generator? btc? precious metals? MREs? ammo?
if you were preparing for a post-America, apocalyptic-type situation, what would you do to do to set yourself up for the most success? buy a generator? btc? precious metals? MREs? ammo?
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/476591/
“Nothing because the government limits me to 90 days of life saving maintenance medication (which I can’t refill until I’m down to 15 days). So my survival plan is a bullet.”
There goes me. I cannot live without my blood pressure medication. I tried and had a heart attack.
“Panama official tells U.S. another 60,000 Haitians are on the way”
https://prather2022.com/articles/panama-official-tells-u-s-another-60-000-haitians-are-on-the-way
You have got to be kidding me.
@lynn:
In my case, my GP will not write a script for more than 56 days at a time. Albeit, my meds are not as vital – I can survive without them (for at least 2 days, ask me how I know)
G.
@lynn:
the government limits me to 90 days of life saving maintenance medication
In my case, my GP will not write a script for more than 56 days at a time. Albeit, my meds are not as vital – I can survive without them (for at least 2 days, ask me how I know)
G.
I am kinda looking for a new cardiologist. I ran out of bp meds before my recent visit with him and he would not prescribe me more meds. I had to use my backup stash in the freezer for a week. Not good at all. His nurse said that the insurance company is watching their prescriptions like a hawk.
“Best Science Fiction Books Published Since This Blog Started”
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-books-published-since-this-blog-started/
I have read “The Collapsing Empire”, “We Are Legion (We Are Bob)”, “Dark Matter”, “The Girl With All the Gifts” out of the 22 books. The list needs a few books like “A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World: A Novel”
https://www.amazon.com/Boy-His-Dog-End-World/dp/0316449431?tag=ttgnet-20
and “48 Hours: A Novel”
https://www.amazon.com/48-Hours-William-R-Forstchen/dp/0765397935?tag=ttgnet-20
and “Lost and Found”
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Found-Orson-Scott-Card/dp/1982613416?tag=ttgnet-20
I have seen the “Annihilation” movie. Good and real strange.
That is exactly when I would make my hobby of yelling at every single person you can at your insurance provider your hourly hobby.
I speak from experience. My wife went into pre-term labor at 32 weeks. She was hospitalized and the labor was stopped. Her OBGYN wanted her to stay in the hospital on strict bed rest. The insurance company wanted to discharge her. I was in the room when the OBGYN was getting very vocal with my insurance. I immediately called up the insurance company and explained that if ANYTHING out of the ordinary happened, I would sue the insurance company. I also stated i would individually sue any person in the entire decision making process, from phone jockey on up. I then noted that i would also be all over the news stations drumming up as much coverage as possible.
I honestly don’t know if it helped, but they let her be admitted. She was in for 3 weeks, until she hit the magical 35 weeks. The morning of her scheduled discharge, she went into labor. Never even got dressed. Everything turned out fine.
https://www.axios.com/gop-mayor-race-hispanic-mcallen-texas-democrats-51da98f1-1e49-45e1-904b-24723dc8a47a.html
Your doctor does not work for you. He works for the insurance company or the government.
@lynn
I know the exact day I lost all remaining respect for the medical profession. Totally indefensible conduct, and so is this.
Find a new cardiologist. Tell him that you want a six-month minimum supply of meds in your freezer, and ask for any suggestions he might have is getting it done legally, if skirting insurance. Canada? Mexico?
Our Dr gave us an extra 90 day prescription for essential medicines (water pills, thyroid, not pain relievers) several years ago, to bring us to 6 months supply. BUT we had to pay for them ourselves. Insurance and Medicare would not pay for the extra, so it was all out of pocket.
I can’t say I blame the insurance for not being willing to pay for extra, but we were glad our Dr agreed that we needed it. He said at that time … 7 or so years ago… that his big worry was a dock-worker’s strike. We had to explain to the pharmacy to fill them at our expense, because they also originally balked due to insurance limits.
What Medicare does pay for extra of is Lantis, for diabetes. We have to buy a whole box at a time. In Paul’s case, that is about 6 month supply.
@ITGuy1998
Take no prisoners.
Salt the earth where they stood, and irradiate it.
Make it clear that personal means personal.
I haven’t purchased an alkaline battery for well over a decade. Eneloops or equivalent in AA, AAA, C, D and 9 volt plus the lithium 18650s power FLASHLIGHTS, mouse/keyboard, remotes and any other blessed thing that eats batteries. The lithiums hold a charge for a LONG, LONG time.
Nitecore makes some real nice chargers that will work with most any rechargeable chemistry. My favorites, however are:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UNPM3M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=ttgnet-20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HYI7I2Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=ttgnet-20
For absurdly inexpensive, bright, small FLASHLIGHT that runs on either the preferred 14500 lithium or any AA:
https://www.amazon.com/UltraFire-Flashlights-Adjustable-Tactical-Flashlight/dp/B07BDGD8KR/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1JFCIJ0IOSHUT&dchild=1&keywords=mini+cree+led+flashlight+torch+adjustable+focus+light+lamp&qid=1633132763&sprefix=mini+cree+led+%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-7&tag=ttgnet-20
I’m a sucker for Fenix, Nitecore, Olight, Sunwayman, etc. etc. etc. too. USB charging in the light is the cat’s whiskers.
One time I was driving from Yuma to San Diego and I stopped at a place called Los Algodones, which I’m told translates as “the cottons”. I parked in the U.S. side at an indian casino, and walked through the border into Mexico. No guards, just a one-way turnstile.
I went into the pharmacy and showed them a handwritten paper with my requested drug names and dosages, and got a 90 day supply of my 5 prescriptions: Blood pressure, gout prevention, gout flareup treatment, high dosage naproxen for arthritis, and megadose niacin, also for blood pressure, I think.
I also picked up a bottle of good tequila at the liquor store around the corner.
I walked back through customs into the U.S. The agent looked at my passport and glanced into the pharmacy bag and bottle, and waved me through. It happens hundreds of times each day.
I had to pay for the drugs, no insurance, but the cost was similar to my co-pay at the time.
Writing this out, I’m happy to say I’ve lost 60 pounds and I’m down to 2 prescriptions now, at lower dosages. Still have more weight to lose.
No one says you can’t stay overnight at the casino and go back the next day.
Now I’m wondering if they have Ivermectin and HCQ.
I run eneloops in my EDC Pelican 1920. 2x AAA. When they fade quickly, I swap them for the pair in the charger. When traveling I put Kirkland AAAs in as replacements and throw the discharged eneloops in my bag for later.
I have a LOT of eneloops. For a year or more, every time Costco had them on sale, I grabbed a pack. They have self discharged I’ve had them so long. I did run all of them thru the charger before covid, but I’ve been on the same 4 in my FLASHLIGHT for 2 years. One more thing for the list….
I used to run NIMH in my xbox controllers. Now I run wired controllers so I can find them when the kids have been playing.
I’ve converted most of my legacy Maglites to LED either with their kit or cheap china copies. I also find I use a headlamp for anything serious involving temporary additional lighting. The lamp I like the best is made by one of the climbing companies? Petzl? Can’t remember. It’s small and works well.
n
Our Dr gave us an extra 90 day prescription for essential medicines (water pills, thyroid, not pain relievers) several years ago, to bring us to 6 months supply. BUT we had to pay for them ourselves. Insurance and Medicare would not pay for the extra, so it was all out of pocket.
I can’t say I blame the insurance for not being willing to pay for extra, but we were glad our Dr agreed that we needed it. He said at that time … 7 or so years ago… that his big worry was a dock-worker’s strike. We had to explain to the pharmacy to fill them at our expense, because they also originally balked due to insurance limits.
Somehow, the health insurance companies have gotten into every nook and cranny of our health. It is not good. In my case, we have BCBS. I guarantee you that they do not care what you think about them.
There goes six AA batteries after 2 or 3 walks.
You should really consider rechargeable batteries. I bought a set when they first came out many years ago and they were weak and did not keep a charge so that ended that experiment back then; but technology does move forward and in some areas quite fast. Recently I decided to give it another go and I am now very satisfied. I have a mouse that eats the AAA batteries as if they were cheese and AAAs are relatively expensive. I bought a set of Eveready rechargeable batteries and a charger and they have worked wonders. So much so that I bought a set of AAs for the other mouse. Give them a try.
Two problems. One, I had a bad experience with rechargeables. Ruined some equipment when the batteries leaked. Although, I did have some rechargables hooked up to a solar panel at my four foot by eight foot business sign at the front of my office property. I just noticed that the system died after nine years so I have got to fix that (one more thing …).
https://www.winsim.com/media/winsim_sign.jpg
from
https://www.winsim.com/contact.html
Secondly, I keep ten packs of 48 AA batteries at the house. After all, rechargables do not recharge in an apocalypse. Using the batteries in my walking flashlights allows me to use the old batteries and buy a new 48 pack every six months or so.
https://www.samsclub.com/p/energizer-aa-48pk-batteries/prod24620468?xid=plp_product_1
You don’t have a small solar panel and battery box?
I have a small battery box, about the size of a car booster battery but lithium. It can be charged by an 110V AC power supply, by any USB-C source, or by any DC source that can feed the little round input plug. Output is 110V AC, 12V DC via cigarette lighter plug, USB square plug, or USB-C. Significantly, the DC input can be 5V-20V or thereabouts, so a small to medium solar panel will charge it.
Normally I’d say that I have a solar panel, but I don’t seem to be able to find one. (As the saying goes, I hardly ever lose things, but when I do my wife had something to do with it.)
I have a small battery box, about the size of a car booster battery but lithium. It can be charged by an 110V AC power supply, by any USB-C source, or by any DC source that can feed the little round input plug. Output is 110V AC, 12V DC via cigarette lighter plug, USB square plug, or USB-C. Significantly, the DC input can be 5V-20V or thereabouts, so a small to medium solar panel will charge it.
I did have a small battery box powered by 120 volt AC (don’t remember if it had a DC feed also). A freaking rechargable battery melted in it, probably 30 years ago (could have been 35 years ago). That is when I walked away from rechargables for the house.
BTW, the wife has sold and closed on one rent house (in Abilene, TX). She even has the check. Three more to go !
She did the entire sale remotely using the agent who managed the house for her. She had to sign a bunch of paperwork as the executor (no docusign for the title company) and fedex it back to them. I am proud of her !
I tried to get my cousin to buy the house in Carrollton, TX but he did not bite. Too rich for his blood even though it is an easily rentable 4/3/2 townhouse.
Now I’m wondering if they have Ivermectin and HCQ.
Probably, but the Border Patrol would double check that you had a “personal” quantity.
We wanted to check out the medical/dental tourism scene in Nuevo Progresso when we were in South Texas in July, but returning across the border seemed like it would be a hassle.
Contrary to popular belief, an *American* with a US Passport or Passport Card can return freely without quarantine, but the lines are probably long.
I am kinda looking for a new cardiologist. I ran out of bp meds before my recent visit with him and he would not prescribe me more meds. I had to use my backup stash in the freezer for a week. Not good at all. His nurse said that the insurance company is watching their prescriptions like a hawk.
That’s a weird excuse. Are you on something crazy expensive?
I always carry the high deductible plan with HSA at our house. If the insurance company kicks something back at the pharmacy, we pay it out of HSA within reason.
Testing of the new theme is completed. All pieces are in place in the test site: https://www.cellarweb.com/fstraptest/ .
Should look fine on all devices. Happy with fonts, spacing, and styling. May be a slight tweak to the post heading (when viewing the post, not on the main page).
I even like the header image on the test site, although that may not be the final image used when I move the theme to the Daynotes Journal page.
All pages are operational. The posts that you see are just test pages, but fully functional.
Comments invited here or on the test site. (Click on the post title to view entire post and add comments.)
I am kinda looking for a new cardiologist. I ran out of bp meds before my recent visit with him and he would not prescribe me more meds. I had to use my backup stash in the freezer for a week. Not good at all. His nurse said that the insurance company is watching their prescriptions like a hawk.
That’s a weird excuse. Are you on something crazy expensive?
I always carry the high deductible plan with HSA at our house. If the insurance company kicks something back at the pharmacy, we pay it out of HSA within reason.
Nope, just 50 mg/day of Metoprolol.
https://www.drugs.com/metoprolol.html
I think that the cardio dude thought I was not going to show up for the appt.
The agricultural scientists has been claiming that we can feed 10 billion people on Earth with Sol pumping out extra rays and all of the CO2 (plant food) in the atmosphere. With Sol declining, I also wonder if we can feed 8 billion people ? The harvesters in Kansas have been cutting the wheat three times a year for the last 40 years. That may go away.
I forgot to mention the other crazy thing that we are doing here in Texas. We now have three solar farms in Fort Bend County, two 140 MW and one 300 MW. Each MW uses one acre of farm land which was previously growing cotton, corn, maze, etc. The solar farms are reputedly paying the landowner $1,250/acre/year. That is much more than cattle or farming pays so the farmers are lining up.
Had a visit with my cardio dudette this week. Took me off metroprolol, said it was making my heart rate too low (I was in the high 40’s). Already removed me from Flecanide. Changed me over to amiodarone (phased in over a week). That got rid of some very slight afib.
EKG’s (two in the last month) all showed normal. Stress test normal. Chest xray normal – done for a baseline, since amiodarone tends to build up slightly/slowly in a few spots, so the baseline will let her keep an eye on that.
Didn’t have any major reactions to switching to amiodarone. Maybe some slight tummy upset, but that went away.
Lithium Ion (and LiPo) rechargeables stay (mostly) charged for years. I have a 3-month reminder to recharge all my 18650s and power packs. If I think there’s a situation coming like in February, I charge up some large LiPos too.
I also just picked up this on ‘zon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071G4CQSR?tag=ttgnet-20
4A USB output. It was on sale for $32 earlier this week. It’s very sturdy for a folding panel. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet though.
Can anyone compare the subjective side effect profiles of propranolol vs. metoprolol?
I take a low dose of propranolol a couple times a day for some weird tachycardia but it makes me tired. I’ve been thinking of trying metoprolol, well, just to try it. Be curious if anyone has tried both and can contrast them head-to-head.
One difference I can find is that Propanolol Hydrochloride 40mg-blister card is available for cash if you know where to look.
I used to live in San Diego and cross the border to the farmacia to get the meds I couldn’t afford in the US. I had prescriptions but they were mostly not needed. The only issue I had was coming back border patrol said the pills were made in india and likely counterfeit. I could return them or have them confiscated. I went back to the farmacia and WTF are you trying to pull? They had suggested the indian version to save money. She just shrugged and gave me the US version. Shering Plough, made in NY. Customs was fine with that.
n
@jim
Sure. Be your own doctor. You don’t need all of that training. Heck, just ask the Internet. Or people here. They don’t need medical training either.
Seriously. Get a heart doctor. I’ve had afib for decades. Medication from my heart doctors (several of them as I have moved around) has been changed over the years. I was on Flecanide and Metoprolol. Was told to discontinue both – they were slowing down my heart rate (in the 40’s), and I was still having some afib issues (not all the time – a couple times a month, but didn’t last long).
See above for the latest info. But I am not a cardiologist. Everyone is different. Meds will be different for everyone.
But, nevermind. Just ask around for advice from anyone you meet. Or even if you don’t meet them. They certainly know more than a cardiologist.
@ DadCooks. Happy to hear you are still around and lurking.. 🙂
I posted the bit about submarines in OZ. One question that has been raised is it appears an increase in crew is required for maintaining a N submarine vs diesel/electric version. Also Oz are looking to go from a 3 watch to a 4 watch schedule which might also be the reason for an increase in crew numbers.
Watchkeeping appears to differ by vessel and country, and seems to this landlubber, to be quite complex. 😀
Can anyone compare the subjective side effect profiles of propranolol vs. metoprolol?
I take a low dose of propranolol a couple times a day for some weird tachycardia but it makes me tired. I’ve been thinking of trying metoprolol, well, just to try it. Be curious if anyone has tried both and can contrast them head-to-head.
I have been taking metoprolol, aka LowPressor in pill form, since I had a heart incident in 2009. Makes me feel like I am in a fog. Then I started having afib with tachycardia in 2013. Heart beating 200 to 250 beats a minute. They gave me LowPressor in an IV, the max amount, 10 mg. Stopped my afib and tachycardia after a couple of hours. But you cannot take that much LowPressor as my heartbeat dropped in the 30s.
So I checked myself out of the hospital and went to see my regular cardio dude. He put me on Coumadin (Wafarin), blood thinner to keep me from having a blood clot in the heart leading to a stroke. And he wanted to put me on Rythmol but I refused. My afib / tachycardia came back the next year so I started taking Rythmol, half the max amount. Took a stress test the next day, passed it. 15% of people who take Rythmol react backwards to it and die in a week. I was not one of those people. Turned my guts into molasses though as Rythmol depresses all long muscles in your body, including your short and long intestines.
After a year the Rythmol stopped working. So we cranked it to the max. After 4 ? 5 ? years that stopped working so they did a heart ablation on me, both sides of the heart. That was three years ago. I still have afib occasionally but it lasts only 3 to 5 seconds. Plus I have an extra heart beat once a minute or so. Freaks me out but is just a genetic anomaly, does not hurt anything.
My point is, we are all different. Not very people get tachycardia with afib, I did. Don’t take drugs without somebody monitoring you and making sure that the drug works for you, does not kill you. These drugs all react differently to different people.
BTW, metoprolol works by depressing the adrenal gland. If your adrenal gland has an anomaly (tumor), metoprolol can really mess you up. One of my second cousins just died of adrenal cancer a couple of years ago, he was about 5 years older than me.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10050657/Keeping-older-vehicles-longer-instead-trading-electric-models-REDUCES-emissions.html
–hah hah.
Embodied costs. Nice to see someone recognize the issue, even if they place the cause in the wrong place.
On the other hand, there is this thing called ‘battlespace preparation’ and ‘moving the Overton window.”
“Keep your car longer, don’t buy a new one.” “Live in a van with no fixed address.” “A tiny home is a great lifestyle.” “You’ll own nothing and you’ll love it.”
We used to call people living in vans homeless. Prisoners and slaves own nothing although I doubt they love it.
Crazy times here in bizarro world.
n
Perhaps. The thing is, there’s a longer trend that’s then not accounted for: the centuries-long warming since the Little Ice Age. What is driving that? There are all sort of interacting cycles, likely including ones that we don’t understand.
Regardless, the last year has seen a lot of information that is just quietly being ignored by the climate alarmists. Remember all the panic about the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef? According to the latest official Australian stats, the reef is doing just fine in 2021. Somehow, that doesn’t make the news.
And 2021 is being touted as one of the “hottest” on record for Europe, which certain comes as a surprise to anyone actually living in Europe. It was blipping *cold* through July, August was more or less normal. September was mild, but not exceptionally so. They must be twisting their temperature data into pretzels, but they are hitting the limits of believability.
Anyway, it will be fascinating to see how “global warming” which became “climate change” will be recast into “global cooling”. And how the climate alarmists will try to rewrite the past, in order to say “see, we were right all along.”
@Lynn: I know it would be a massive effort, but still I wonder: If the software were running on *your* servers (in the cloud), and customers only saw the interface via remote-desktop, they couldn’t crack the software (as easily).
That’s nuts. I always kept a year’s supply of my blood pressure meds on hand. “Kept” because I just went through a thorough exam by a cardiologist, and he decided I could drop them.
While things are a bit borderline, I expect my blood pressure problems were driven by a horribly messy project back in 2014/2015. And after that it never occurred to me to wonder if I should stay on the meds, until my doc asked the question this year.
Aric Hausknecht, M.D. July 30, 2017
Why would Dr. Hausknecht, a New York neurologist and pain management specialist, say this? Taken out of context, such a sweeping statement may seem to be hyperbolic. The most dangerous drug ever made? I asked him to elaborate. He did:
https://www.acsh.org/news/2017/09/11/tylenol-far-most-dangerous-drug-ever-made-11711
The hysteria over self-medicating for Kungflu is usually absent any context in addition to being full of leftist propaganda and lies (repetitive, I know). The above article presents some information very succinctly, but would benefit from a wider discussion. To comprehend the risk of liver damage, you need to know that the combination with alcohol approximately doubles the toxicity.
I was in an ICU waiting room some years ago when a young man’s family came in . College football player came home from a night of drinking and took too many acetaminophen to pretreat the expected hangover. His liver died. I do not know if they found a transplant for him in time.
Trump did really well in South Texas border areas among Hispanics. Biden won the area by 11 in 2020, vs. Clinton by 44 in 2016. The Tejano vote there is trending red because of the border problems. It’s going to be hard to dislodge the local state and federal reps there due to name recognition, but with proper campaign strategy, they can flip voters for statewide races – keep the Senate seats, governor, lt. governor, etc.