Mon. Oct. 11, 2021 – flying home, probably.

By on October 11th, 2021 in personal, Random Stuff, WuFlu

More great weather in the forecast for Orlando. Yesterday was all I hoped for. Today should be too. Hot in the sun, cool in the shade.

Ended the day yesterday at EPCOT, eating around the world. Then the fireworks/video/water show. Great show.

Today we will go back to HS and catch a couple of rides on fast passes they gave us for messing up our tickets. Then off to the airport and the joys of travel during covid. That is, if I can get our tickets fixed.

Stack up the good times to help get through the bad.

Nick

50 Comments and discussion on "Mon. Oct. 11, 2021 – flying home, probably."

  1. ech says:

    Nov. 24th is the deadline at SWA to be “fully vaccinated”. That means the second shot of Moderna/Pfizer or single J&J had to be in the arm today.

    First shot needs to be Oct 13th for Moderna (Oct 13 shot 1, Nov 10 shot 2, Nov 24 fully vaccinated) One week later for Pfizer. 

     

  2. dkreck says:

    Non indigenous people.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l6nkxMm1tTSX2C6gHlPxSAqnU3IYoume/view?usp=sharing

    Yes I post this in a few places every year. This is last year's shot and I put it up on Friday again. My maternal grand parents both came from northern Italy, around Turin. Since my parents worked I spent many years day at their home located in a rural tract. Small house on a very large double lot. Gardens and trees with chicken houses and other birds raised. Neighbors had the horses and cows and sheep. Grandfather was a cement and brick contractor. Served in the American army in WW1, mostly in France. Spoke Italian, English, French and Spanish but the only time they didn't speak english around us was when they didn't want you to know what they were saying. Grandmother worked hard around the house and yard and cooked, cooked, cooked. Watched her dispatch more than a few chickens.  Had many uncles and aunts that came to America as well. All long gone and good memories left. 

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nvzZwZiimHcfV3VqGQkUYZuRY2J1sMOf/view?usp=sharing

    from about 1932. 5 yo girl was my mother

  3. Ray Thompson says:

    One of our former exchange students wants to come here from Germany for Christmas for a visit and a short trip with one of her friends. She has a split vaccination. First shot from one company, second from another company. Apparently quite common in Germany. But not accepted by the United States. She now has to talk to her doctor about getting a second shot from one of the companies and see if that is good enough for the U.S.

    Went and saw Little House on the Prairie the musical at Cumberland County Playhouse. All the performers wore these clear mask that went over the chin and the mouth. Did not seem to impair the singing. Theatre stated everyone needed to be masked, which was generally ignored by everyone.

    It was an excellent performance. Lot of talent working there for a small theatre.

    I also noticed at all the football games this weekend that the overwhelming majority of people were not wearing masks. I have also notice there have been no surges from people not wearing masks at the sporting events. Such surges predicted by the "experts" who are now strangely quiet on the their predictions.

    I also see where Fauxi has given everyone permission to enjoy Halloween. Every day I get a stronger impression that Fauxi thinks he is lord over everyone and people should do his bidding. That ferret face jerk needs to be knocked off his perch.

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  4. Greg Norton says:

    I also noticed at all the football games this weekend that the overwhelming majority of people were not wearing masks. I have also notice there have been no surges from people not wearing masks at the sporting events. Such surges predicted by the "experts" who are now strangely quiet on the their predictions.

    The football games are outdoors or in big domed stadiums.

    I am surprised the numbers aren't up in Austin due to the people packing the various venues on 6th Street for the post-game bacchanalia.

    OTOH, 6th Street has received national attention for violent events over the last year, and the murder rate in the City of Austin surpassed the all-time previous high in … August? That may have put a chill on the festivities.

    My guess for the next case number surge is Daiwali. This will be blamed on Thanksgiving in the US.

  5. MrAtoz says:

    I wonder if the *Karen* was Amish:

    Man who was pinned to ground as a terrorist at LaGuardia was held after fellow flyer mistook his vintage camera for a bomb

    If this innocent guy sues, he should receive a massive payout.

  6. Greg Norton says:

    I wonder if the *Karen* was Amish:

    Look carefully at the pictures. Find the one captioned "Pictured left: The woman and her kids were seated across from her spouse when she noticed another passenger next to her husband watching videos and pictures of vintage cameras"

     

  7. drwilliams says:

    In a focus group last week, Pennsylvania Democrats one after another articulated the issue vexing top White House aides, party operatives in Virginia and voters in Georgia: Why isn’t President Joe Biden’s diminished job rating rebounding?

    All nine participants from Tuesday’s session gave Biden C- grades or lower. And their answers circled back to a similar point: The pandemic and the many ways it continues to hinder normal life is souring their views of Biden.

     

    https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2021/10/11/politico-dems-warn-that-the-presidents-decline-is-alarming-n421546

    Perhaps even some Democrats are realizing that they were misled, and voted for a mendacious vegetable that was already well into decline…

    nah  

    The type is irretrievably clueless  

  8. Alan says:

    >>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10078835/Passenger-adjusting-camera-mistaken-bomb-scare-caused-emergency-landing-Queens.html

    "Camera?"… Yet another thing my grandkids will learn about from their history books XXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXX Wikipedia. 

  9. ech says:

    Semi-famous lefty on cancel culture.

    https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/that-one-side-would-like-to-utterly

    The social justice movement is not just incidentally antagonistic to organizing everyone and recognizing all kinds of people as worthy of our compassion and support. That antagonism is existential. When you ask many people within the movement, “what could we do to convert the white working class to our values?,” they will simply tell you that they don’t want to convert them, that they are not worthy of being a part of their movement. They would rather have targets than converts, to lose as an exclusive moral caste than win as a grubby populist coalition.

  10. Greg Norton says:

    Perhaps even some Democrats are realizing that they were misled, and voted for a mendacious vegetable that was already well into decline…

    The meme since January: Yeah, Biden. Trump, tho.

    Gotta spell it t-h-o.

     

  11. MrAtoz says:

    Look carefully at the pictures. Find the one captioned "Pictured left: The woman and her kids were seated across from her spouse when she noticed another passenger next to her husband watching videos and pictures of vintage cameras"

    Oof!

  12. lynn says:

    @brad:

    but nuclear can and should. 

    I agree, but the Great Unwashed (i.e. uneducated) are afraid that a nuclear plant "might blow up and let atoms out". And to an extent, they're right. After all, the two biggest nuclear disasters, at Chernobyl and Fukushima, created exclusion zones due to release of contaminated materials.

    Of course, no-one takes account of the actual facts – for Chernobyl, the reactor design is not stable against thermal runaway under fault conditions (I have seen reports of this but cannot link. Google "positive void coefficient" or similar) and at Fukushima, the reactors are built on the coast (in an earthquake zone. Seriously?). Of course, Japan is a small, crowded country, but even so…

    And then there was Three Mile Island. Not as severe, but…

    G.

    The Japanese did not know that Fukushima was in an earthquake zone when they built it in the 1960s.  Of course, the entire island of Japan is an earthquake zone…

  13. lynn says:

    I wished the Cherokee wife a happy indigenous peoples day today.  Quick as a wink, she asked if the boss was giving her a holiday off ?  I replied no special favors !  But, she has over 100 hours of vacation stashed up so I told her that she can take some of that.  And, we do practice use it or lose it by Dec 31 of each year. Now I think that I am not going to get any special favors…

  14. lynn says:

    We got a couple of inches of rain this morning and it is a very pleasant 75 F at 11am. 

    Winter is coming.

  15. Greg Norton says:

    We got a couple of inches of rain this morning and it is a very pleasant 75 F at 11am. 

    Winter is coming.

    The first serious freeze of the year will be hyped beyond reason in Texas.

    IIRC, the deadline to file to run in the March primary for Governor is 12/13.

  16. drwilliams says:

    @Lynn

    When the Japanese put the backup generator in at Fukishima, they had to know that putting it at the lowest level where it would flood immediately was not good emergency planning. 

    And they were the industrial powerhouse that was going to take over the U,S, Meh. 

  17. Alan says:

    I'm sure Gov. Elder will look to change this…certainly will get him all of the landscaping vote. 

    https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/California-Looks-To-Ban-Gas-Powered-Lawnmowers.html

  18. ~jim says:

    Semi-famous lefty on cancel culture.

    https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/that-one-side-would-like-to-utterly

    I wonder if English is this fellow's native language? I find his composition somewhat awkward and clumsy. I can't quite put my finger on it. Makes a good point though.

  19. lynn says:

    @Lynn

    When the Japanese put the backup generator in at Fukishima, they had to know that putting it at the lowest level where it would flood immediately was not good emergency planning. 

    And they were the industrial powerhouse that was going to take over the U,S, Meh. 

    Worse than that, they put the used fuel rods in "corrals" on top of the reactor domes.  Guess what immediately cracked and leaking the cooling water into the bay when the earthquake / tsunami happened ?

    And yes, putting the diesels in the low point inside the levee was bad site engineering.  Of course, who would have thought that a wall of water was going to come over that 70 foot tall levee ?

  20. lynn says:

    @lynn, see, you've been on track all along… 

    https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Goldman-Sachs-Hikes-Oil-Price-Forecast-To-90.amp.html

    My forecast was and still is $100 by Memorial Day.  I guess that I am moving from Memorial Day 2021 to Memorial Day 2022 now.

    BTW, the price of world crude is totally controlled by OPEC.  The Saudis and the Iranians (supported by the Chinese) are duking it out for leadership of OPEC right now.

    BTW2, the Saudis claim that they can ramp up from 8 mbpd to 10 mbpd export any time that they want to.  I don't think that they can, too many problems and Ghawhar is in serious decline now with the water to oil ratio running well over 10 to 1.  The day that ratio hits 25 to 1 or 30 to 1, Ghawhar is gone (mostly).

  21. lynn says:

    Ban? Or No Ban??

    https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/white-house-declines-comment-granholm-remark-possible-crude-oil-export-2021-10-06/

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nasdaq.com/articles/u.s.-not-considering-spr-release-crude-export-ban-bloomberg-2021-10-07%3famp

    The USA government would have serious problems trying to ban energy exports.  Our two biggest customers are Canada (clean natural gas from the Dakotas) and Mexico (all the of the Mexican refineries are down due to wildcat strikes so they are buying gasoline and diesel from Texas right now, maybe 2 mbpd).

    The next biggest customer is the 20 bcfd (billion ft3/day) being exported to the world as LNG.  Europe is desperately trying to stock up for winter, South America (Brazil) had a horrible winter with snow constantly on the beaches, Japan is trying to restart 40 of their 56 nukes and having problems, China has three days of coal in country and is begging for Australia to ship more coal, the power grid in Lebanon went down Saturday night, etc, etc, etc. 

    If Biden stops the exports of fuels from the USA (now the worlds largest provider of crude / distillates / natural gas / LNG), everyone will scream at him.  Including the exported in the USA who are making money hand over fist right now.  The USA is shipping well over 10 million equivalent barrels of crude oil/day to the world.  Maybe 12 mbpd.   Shoot, maybe 15 mbpd, I do not have the time to do the research and the calculations.

  22. Greg Norton says:

    China has three days of coal in country and is begging for Australia to ship more coal

    China had a boycott of Australian coal running for a while. The Subcontinent bought up the contracts.

    You Ain’t Got No Ice Cream works both ways. That’s what my inlaws have never really learned either.

  23. lynn says:

    "Tomorrow, When the War Began (The Tomorrow Series #1)" by John Marsden
    https://www.amazon.com/Tomorrow-When-War-Began/dp/0439829100/br?tag=ttgnet-20 />

    Book number one of a seven book young adult action adventure fiction series. I read the well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Scholastic Paperbacks in 2006 that I bought on Amazon. The first book in the series was actually published in 1993. I have ordered books #2, #3, and #4 in the series for future reading. Books #3 and #4 are out of print so I had to order used copies.

    At the middle of their high school senior year in Australia, a group of seven 17 and 18 year old teenagers decide to go camping in the bush for a week before school restarts. They gather up their sleeping bags and supplies and go way out into the bush, actually at the edge of the desert in a place known as Hell. After a difficult trip by Land Rover and a long walk, they camp next to a spring fed stream. Several of them are awakened in the middle of the first night by many low flying airplanes at high speed.

    When they return to Ellie's farm after a week, her family is missing and the farm dogs are dead on their chains. They proceed further in, to another farm, and then to the outskirts of the town. They find out that Australia has been invaded by an Asian nation and that their families are being held captive at the town fairgrounds. The Asian forces have taken the airports first and then the cargo shipping ports. The justification of the invasion is that the Asian nation needs the extensive natural resources of Australia.

    The first book in the series was made into a film of the same name in 2010.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow,_When_the_War_Began_(film)

    My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    Amazon rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars (525 reviews)

  24. lynn says:

    "EIA projects nearly 50% increase in world energy use by 2050"

         http://www.gasprocessingnews.com/news/eia-projects-nearly-50-increase-in-world-energy-use-by-2050.aspx

    That renewables section on the graph tripling over the next 30 years is pure fantasy.  I doubt renewables will more than double.  I would like to see nuclear double though.

  25. Nick Flandrey says:

    Headed home.

    N

  26. EdH says:

    It's a pleasant 62F here in the California High Desert. 
     

    The pleasure is somewhat diminished by winds at 45mph gusting to 55mph… 

  27. Greg Norton says:

    Headed home.

    Are the gas stations near the Orlando airport still price gouging?

    Yes, they are legally allowed to do that.

  28. lynn says:

    Headed home.

    Are the gas stations near the Orlando airport still price gouging?

    Yes, they are legally allowed to do that.

    I just put $70 of regular gas in my truck (25.2 US gallons, $2.78/US gallon).

  29. drwilliams says:

    @Lynn

    ”The justification of the invasion is that the Asian nation needs the extensive natural resources of Australia.”

    Cowards overbreeding cowards. Hell is underpopulated and the gates swing wide. 

  30. Kenneth C Mitchell says:

    Lynn said:

    And yes, putting the diesels in the low point inside the levee was bad site engineering.  Of course, who would have thought that a wall of water was going to come over that 70 foot tall levee ?

    There was a mayor of a Japanese town near Fukushima who had worked for much of his life getting the funding for, and then building, a giant seawall and flood gates to protect the town of Fudai. Because he had experienced a giant tsunami in his youth.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1386978/The-Japanese-mayor-laughed-building-huge-sea-wall–village-left-untouched-tsunami.html

    Engineers knew, but apparently discounted, that it could happen again. 

  31. Greg Norton says:

    I just put $70 of regular gas in my truck (25.2 US gallons, $2.78/US gallon).

    The last time I rolled out of the parking garage at the Orlando airport in 2010, the legally-sanctioned gouging stations were at $5.09/gallon while the general prices in the area were ~ $2.79.

  32. Greg Norton says:

    Headed home.

    I should have passed this along earlier, but if you're forced to take an early morning flight out of Tampa, the Hyatt Place on Westshore, a few minutes from the rental return, is safe despite a sketchy neighborhood.

    We just stayed there in March.

    The Tampa Bay Yucs training facility used to sit nearby at the end of the shorter N-S runway at TIA so anyone conducting business with the team stayed at the hotel. My guess is that the sportswriters, exec, NFL brass, etc. still stay there because the current training facility isn't far away.

    Offseason (football) was cheap. Dunno about now. The Yucs are 4-1.

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  33. drwilliams says:

    “I think we are dealing with one of the most corrupt and dangerous times in our nation’s history. ”

    —John Eastman

    I can’t think of another that is in the same league as this one. 

    Anyone?

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  34. Alan says:

    BTW, if you want to get a full new copy of Office 2019 (not the Office 365) version, I’ve bought it at discount from Cheapify. They have 2 copies for $69; single copy $39. It’s a download, but full license. Installed and worked fine. Valid versions.

    https://cheapify.online/products/ms2019proplus2pc . They have many other products. Like a Windows 10 Pro plus Office 2019 Pro Plus for $69 (single copy). Many other deals.

    @Rick H, site seems down, is there an alternate that you've used?

  35. Alan says:

    I should have passed this along earlier, but if you're forced to take an early morning flight out of Tampa, the Hyatt Place on Westshore, a few minutes from the rental return, is safe despite a sketchy neighborhood.

    With the new Midtown Tampa complex only a few blocks away I would expect the neighborhood around Westshore Blvd to start to pick up.

  36. Nightraker says:

    I can’t think of another that is in the same league as this one. 

    The Gilded Age, post Civil War till WW1, is certainly famous for crony capitalism.  Of course, then there was no income tax or central bank and the government's share of GDP was tiny compared to today.

  37. nick flandrey says:

    Home safe.  Picked up puppy from sitter, got one kid directly to bed, the other needed a shower and snack.  School comes awfuly early tomorrow….

    n

  38. Alan says:

    >>https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10081977/Kamala-Harris-hired-child-actors-widely-mocked-NASA-space-video.html

    Too bad they didn't make the Kamel audition as well…would just be something else she couldn't handle. 

  39. nick flandrey says:

    We bought gas for my mom's car on World Dr in the seedy tourist section when I returned my Hertz rental.  It was 50c more than Houston, so not crazy.

     We were able to return on our original itinerary MCO to IAH.   They did break our record up into three, and that's how my youngest ended up on her own itinerary.  I got thru to United this morning and confirmed she had a ticket and a seat.  The ticketing agent at MCO gave me my additional two free checked bags (I get two, and my first companion gets two) even though technically neither wife and D1 nor D2 was on my revised itinerary.  It all worked out.

    Flight was uneventful.

    Hit HS this morning for Slinky Dog rollercoaster.  We got fastpasses for it, and one to use on any attraction because they screwed up our part tickets so badly during their backend switchover a couple weeks ago.   It's a fun ride, but not worth a wait that often is over 1 1/2 hours.  Neither is Snow White and the Dwarves Mine Train, fwiw.  That ride is very underwhelming.

    Wife and I used our extra passes for Rock 'n Roller coaster, the kids rode Tower of Terror.  It was SUPER hot in the sun in HS, and it's MOSTLY sunny.  RNR coaster is a great ride.

    Then we went back to the hotel, got our bags from Bell Services, and rode the Magical Express to the airport.  a snack in the United Club, and a short 2 hour 17minute flight and we were back in Houston.

    I'll do some collected observations and thoughts in the next day or so, but not tomorrow.   I'm going to finish unpacking and go to bed.

    n

  40. Greg Norton says:

    Wife and I used our extra passes for Rock 'n Roller coaster, the kids rode Tower of Terror.  It was SUPER hot in the sun in HS, and it's MOSTLY sunny.  RNR coaster is a great ride.

    Rock 'n Roler Coaster. Illeana Douglas!

     

  41. lynn says:

    Hit HS this morning for Slinky Dog rollercoaster.  We got fastpasses for it, and one to use on any attraction because they screwed up our part tickets so badly during their backend switchover a couple weeks ago.   It's a fun ride, but not worth a wait that often is over 1 1/2 hours.  Neither is Snow White and the Dwarves Mine Train, fwiw.  That ride is very underwhelming.

    What is HS ?

  42. Greg Norton says:

    With the new Midtown Tampa complex only a few blocks away I would expect the neighborhood around Westshore Blvd to start to pick up.

    The CHUDs still come out at night down there.

    I posted a link to an article earlier this year about the McDonalds just across from Midtown Tampa going begging for applicants at an insane hourly rate since they couldn’t get anyone to take the night shift.

    Friends ask us about whether we would return to Florida. Yeah, it is definitely something we think about, but Tampa is out. Not much has really changed there in 12 years, and the tech job market is still tied to Verizon and the freak show activities at the base supporting the “wars”.

    Citibank and Capital one are Subcontient shops.

  43. drwilliams says:

    Newsom signs law to eventually ban gas-powered lawn equipment in California

    Local news by: Associated Press Posted: Oct 10, 2021 / 07:08 AM PDT / Updated: Oct 10, 2021 / 07:08 AM PDT

    California will soon ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers, a move aimed at curbing emissions from a category of small engines on pace to produce more pollution each year than passenger vehicles. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law on Saturday that orders state regulators to ban the sale of new gas-powered equipment using small off-road engines, a broad category that includes generators, lawn equipment and pressure washers.

    https://ktla.com/news/local-news/newsom-signs-law-to-eventually-ban-gas-powered-lawn-equipment-in-california/

    It's past time to start seriously thinking about what goes on the credit card.

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  44. Alan says:

    >>Friends ask us about whether we would return to Florida. Yeah, it is definitely something we think about, but Tampa is out. Not much has really changed there in 12 years, and the tech job market is still tied to Verizon and the freak show activities at the base supporting the “wars”.

    Citibank and Capital one are Subcontient shops.

    What changed is the population explosion (which quickly diluted the number of not rude people) and the constant traffic jams. The hurricanes are still not fun. Irma was bad but one day there will be one much worse. Consider the desert southwest, especially if you can find a permanent jammies job. DTCC and Chase also have campuses there. 

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  45. lynn says:

    Newsom signs law to eventually ban gas-powered lawn equipment in California

    Local news by: Associated Press Posted: Oct 10, 2021 / 07:08 AM PDT / Updated: Oct 10, 2021 / 07:08 AM PDT

    California will soon ban the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers, a move aimed at curbing emissions from a category of small engines on pace to produce more pollution each year than passenger vehicles. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law on Saturday that orders state regulators to ban the sale of new gas-powered equipment using small off-road engines, a broad category that includes generators, lawn equipment and pressure washers.

    https://ktla.com/news/local-news/newsom-signs-law-to-eventually-ban-gas-powered-lawn-equipment-in-california/

    It's past time to start seriously thinking about what goes on the credit card.

    But we were born free !

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  46. Alan says:

    Run Greg Run!

    "He knows which the way the wind is blowing. He knows conservative Republican voters are tired of the vaccine mandates and tired of him being a failed leader," Huffines tweeted.

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bans COVID-19 vaccine mandates by private businesses.

    https://www.npr.org/2021/10/11/1045142578/texas-governor-greg-abbott-ban-covid-vaccine-mandates

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  47. Nick Flandrey says:

    HS is short for Hollywood Studios, the Disney park that used to be called Disney MGM Studios.

    Some people here might have been born free, but at 55 the best I can say was I was born "free-er".

    n

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