Cool and clear today. Yesterday was awesome. Blue sky. Clear. Shirtsleeves temps. I’m really hoping for more of the same.
Most of the stuff I want to do today is ‘around the house’ kind of stuff and is much easier if it’s clear.
I did get to my client’s house and closed out a couple of notes. I’ve got a couple of things left to do on this project, and then I can start the new maintenance projects.
I didn’t do anything about my storage unit yet, that’s on the list for today too.
And I need to find someone to take all my auction stuff that I thought would go with the previous guy. Or I’ll have to start having yard sales or get a table at the local flea market on the weekend.
—————————————————————————————
Out in the wider world, the authoritarian stuff is getting worse and spreading. The supply chain issues aren’t getting better, and are about to get worse again. The inflation rate continues to rise.
You know one thing you can do, keep stacking…
nick
It doesn't stop with the moron in charge. The entire Dem party and a lot of Republicans.
We've also been busy in Syria under cover of the pandemic.
And, as I've posted before, unlike Fauci, the individual running Syria actually practiced medicine at one time. From all acounts, he was good at it too.
plugs keeps poking the Bear. Our military morale is in the crapper. Perfect time to distract from all his failures. It will only cost the blood of our troops. Do it in the name of Beau…Beau…the great war hero.
Beau was JAG while continuing to grift -er- serve as the Attorney General of Delaware, certainly an achievement but not heroism.
To be fair, Little Marco and Ted Cruz are among those who support continuing to poke the bear.
For a Saturday Time Sink basketball pictures at: http://www.raymondthompsonphotography.com/Coalfield
Today's PC project is replacing the hard drive in my home server.
I assumed that I put in WD Black four years ago, but it turns out that the drive was a Seagate Barracuda, two years past its warranty.
Oops. At least I caught it.
WD Black runs noisy/hot as of late so that's probably why I went with the Seagate.
Waiting for dd to do its magic … and waiting … and waiting …
I still have an account at Wright-Patt Credit Union. No fees, and I need a US account for the piddly amounts of oil money to be paid into. Guess I've now had it for 40 years – wow.
Slept the sleep of … well, slept well anyway. Full 12 hours with only a couple of interruptions. Of course my back is sore which is a consequence of the extra time in bed.
It's winnie the pooh weather out. Very blustery day. 55F 33%RH, and winds gusting 7-10mph. Beautiful clear blue sky and sunshine.
D2's team won their b-ball game this morning.
Did a bit of paperwork for my client job, did some auction stuff. Now to head out into the windy day and get some more of the house stuff done.
n
No Mr. Frog, you are not imagining it. The water IS getting warmer…..
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10404543/America-nanny-state-Freedoms-dwindled-past-20-years-federal-encroachment.html
n
Umm, what the actual F?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10405057/Fed-Ex-proposes-install-laser-based-missile-defense-cargo-planes.html
n
Ah China, you keep doing you….
n
Umm, what the actual F?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10405057/Fed-Ex-proposes-install-laser-based-missile-defense-cargo-planes.html
n
I saw this also. The only reason that I can think of is that FedEx might start flying into places like Iraq, Syria, etc where people might pop a missile off at them for fun.
At the previous previous job, the optical system we used to make ORT work started life as a 3D camera to mount on the tail of aircraft which would track inbound missiles.
Maybe the company finally sold it as a missile camera.
>> The delivery company applied for approval in October 2019 in order to use their aircrafts as a countermeasure against heat-seeking missiles called MANPADS
Geez, and here I thought these were ManPads.
When I went to try to poach another mid-level engineer from my group at the previous previous job, I learned that he already had another gig, having started at Canonical after the first of the year.
That's arguably a better long-term situation than I have now!
Yes, we are looking in my current job, but, in theory, we are going to be back in the office soon so the postings require candidates to be physically located in Austin. Under normal circumstances, the work requires access to lab equipment on a regular basis, and, as I've discovered over the last month, the learning curve for the development environment is too steep to be done effectively over Zoom.
Plus there is the bureaucracy. “Working” from home allows support people to hide from tickets at least until the next business day.
So there I was, just chillin' and I thought, "what is missing from my life?" I've got a great wiafu pillow on my bed, a unicorn pajama set, totally awesome gaming chair….
And then I saw this-
https://hibid.com/lot/110527691/basic-pride-cat-scratch-house—boots-and-barkley/?q=&ref=catalog
n
So there I was, just chillin' and I thought, "what is missing from my life?" I've got a great wiafu pillow on my bed, a unicorn pajama set, totally awesome gaming chair….
I think I last wore pajamas over fifty years ago.
And I have a big ass chair.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WJVB1Q/
My Herman Miller Aaron is hitting 20+ years and still going. A very good buy at Army retirement since I knew my butt would be logging serious time in it.
Living 1 1/2 miles from the beach, I'm under Tsunami warning.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10405333/Tongans-flee-lives-tsunami-smashes-island-nation-underwater-volcano-erupts.html
Stay dry !
Information you won't get from CNN…
The 10 worst provisions in Biden, Schumer's voting rights bills
My son and I hit the range today. Shot a good amount and had fun. I overheard some of the range employees talking. They were talking how not only are they seeing more people at the range, but they are shooting more. Instead of just shooting one box, a lot more people are going back to buy more to shoot.
I replaced some of what we shot, but not all. The 9mm we shot today cost me 6.99 for a box of 50 a few years ago. It’s slightly more expensive now…
Still no 2 L bottles in the soda aisle at the nearby Sam's. One week.
Plenty of $30 Baby Yoda dolls with fake Williams-Sonoma cookies, however.
The voting "rights" bills aren't going through with Biden at 33%.
The Dems' best bet for mitigating midterm losses is to lay low and let people cool off.
You're probably right, but I don't think that's a thing that they can do.
On the local PC mail list the subject of a Pi server for ad blocking came up. I asked if he had any plans to configure and sell to folks like me that can't do shit+r in Linux.
So. For $100 delivered and configured, I now have a Pi-hole. The thing is stupid small, like four Lucky Strikes small.
Oh, the Linux stuff? I bought a Ubiquiti Edge Router. Got about half way through configuring it to use the various ad blockers / host files. It died. Returned it, and had it almost by a hair working and here comes a huge lighting storm. Just some pretty lights, no one at home. Done.
Great fun today fishing a wire through the wall. Yeah, maybe when I moved my PC to the opposite side of the wall, I should have moved the switch. Didn't do that. So stuff a wire in the hole, crawl around under the desk to get to the other side and WTH, it's the unused wire that goes to the back of the TV.
The dogs were VERY helpful.
It seems to be working. So says the Pi-hole admin page.
But part of the instructions said to uncheck "Enable DNS Relay". When I do that, I can't connect to mail or websites.
I suppose if I use DHCP but poke around and set the DNS server on whatever device… but that's just crazy talk.
I think I'm missing something simple. Like put on socks before shoes simple. Deodorant before putting on your shirt.
But… if I tell my router to use the Pi for DNS instead of the ISP's DNS server, that's what the router is going to do…. "hey, here's your IP address and here is the DNS address". So what's the difference between relaying the ISP's DNS stuff versus relaying the DNS stuff from the Pi-hole?
I'm fine if you call me an idiot. I'm just confused.
Oh. And the Roku, turned off, is showing a lot of activity. For some reason.
When you get it figured out, please share. I didn't think about hitting it from the router for DNS and I've got devices that I can't configure manually.
n
The weather today has been OK. Made it up to 47. Nice and sunny. Pretty nice for this time of year. From 75 yesterday. Anyway, the wind is "blow everything down".
Good day to wear a raincoat.
Or cut yourself head and arm holes in a big trash bag. I'm partial to the the 55 gallon drum size bags.
Just saying. Don't forget a warm sweater.
Paul, have you looked at pages like How do I configure my devices to use Pi-hole as their DNS server? I've never used a Pi-hole but have done similar work. Basically, you're turning off the ads by blocking the ability of the loaded JavaScript to find the ad content when it goes looking. Problem is, that also blocks everything else from finding things.
What you need to do, as shown in the linked page, is set up your Pi to list a bunch of name-IP address pairs, and then set your device to do its lookup from the Pi whenever you want to go to ttgnet.com and duckduckgo.com and whatever. You should be able to pull a big list of approved pairs from the internet and set the Pi-hole to update its list from time to time.
This is the whitelist approach, in which you provide a list of approved domain names your devices can go to. It's safe but can be a nuisance in practice, between not being able to go to sites you want to visit and needing to maintain the list.
I prefer the blacklist approach, blocking specific domains that I don't want to be touching my computer: ad servers, facebook, a number of Chinese sites, and so on. I edit my computers' "hosts" files, directing every attempt to load from acrappyadservice.biz to nowhere. This works for me because I'm not trying to protect any sensitive information, just avoid being annoyed.
In the high 20’s / low 30’s f today. Snow. Slick roads. Nice change of pace. Husband is off with 9 year old and another family to go sledding at Arctic Valley. The sledding hill is a mile long. Smart folks use two cars so you can drive back up hill after each run.
Not going to get the dump run done, that’s ok. Was going to take the bagged dirty straw / poop to dump, hate wasting it like that but I can only compost so much. This time of year people don’t want it. I may see if my farmer friend wants it for their compost, though it means transporting it 60 miles. Not going to get the driveway or stairs shoveled either. I may do the garage roof as I see some ice damming, though I prefer to do that when someone can help if I slip off.
Laid in another 100 lbs of dry carbs and dry protein. Thinking about a Costco run to add fat. Researching alternatives to pellets and hay for the rabbits.
Stacking and stacking.
Our recently (6 months) elected conservative Mayor comprehends the fragility of our port and food supply. He’s busting his hiney to get the 2 billion dollars from the feds / state / etc so it can be repaired. It’s been under repair for 10-15 YEARS but hasn’t had the right combination of I’m not sure what to get it done. There were unethical deals made in the past with predictable outcomes. This Mayor has deep integrity and, if he isn’t stymied by our left assembly that hate him, I believe he can do it. I wouldn’t put it past the nasty nine to cut their noses off to spite their face. They may undermine his efforts for the glee of watching him fail.
All right, enough of the inter tubes. Back at it.
@CowboySlim
We too, are under tsunami warning. The shape of the inlet and geography around us makes tsunami damage unlikely. Most folks ignore it.
@paul
"The dogs were VERY helpful."
GOOD dogs!
I don't think our outside temperature got into the double digits today. Something's just not right with the world when someone 500 miles north has considerable warmer weather.
Hmm. "Something not right with the world". Could it be … Global Warming???
Sometimes, when you have two problems, you can use one to solve the other.
Problem: you have five tons of soiled hay
Problem: you're concerned about falling off the roof and hurting yourself
Solution: pile the soiled hay underneath the roof where you're likely to fall
You know, sometimes my level of genius is almost frightening.
I'll trade you for a pair of teenage girls.
Getting groceries with one loud, overactive teen and one moody teen is even less fun than it sounds. Especially when they're both hungry. (This was on the way home from picking them up from school; normally I go shopping by myself.) The only good to come of it was that several employees were visibly amused by the situation.
Not quite related: Yes, I let them open up some snacks when we got back to the car, so they weren't "starving to death". Once we got home, I suggested a number of options for supper, from burgers to curried chicken and vegetable stir fry. What they unanimously decided on was … chicken nuggets and tater tots. -sigh- Children.
Mine wanted meat on the bone so we ate pork ribs tonight. I put garlic salt (a bit too much tonight) and chinese oyster sauce on them and bake or grill. Also had a shelf stable loaf of 'just warm it up' bread, baked beans (with added onion and bacon bits), and canned peas. We ate the full rack between us, down to the last bone.
I had to go in the garage to get the baked beans. I seem to have eaten all we had on the shelf without noticing.
The 12yo is being a snot to the 10yo and much sniffly sobbing is happening. I'm staying right the F out of it.
n
Oh, Jenny, "I wish you were here"!!! I've hinted, asked, outright begged, and even offered seriously to come muck out the pens and coops… all to no avail. Even my own father won't share his chicken droppings! 'Course not, he puts it on his own garden! LOL! Meanwhile, I'm stuck having to buy 40lb bags of Black Cow at Home Depot. *pout*
I hear that, and feel for you. At least it isn't cold out when I get up there. My roof shoveling comes for leaves, pecans, and limbs, when they gather up in the valleys and have to be swept/raked off. Usually twice a year.
My Paul is almost as helpful in the enterprise as paul's dogs. He freaks out at the idea of me on a ladder or the roof since he couldn't do anything to help, so he usually calls me 2 or 3 times to ask for something, hoping that if he can get me to come down he can keep me from going back up.
I don't envy either of you with teen girls. One of our step-granddaughters lived with us for a year at 15, because she was so contrary at home, and oh my! She could be a delightful and fun little jewel when she wanted to be… but that "want to" was awfully unpredictable. Gave us a new appreciation for the simplicity of raising boys. 🙂
The gulping sobs have finally subsided along with all the "
you always" and "she always" and "you don't care"….
D2 was up early today to play basketball, and I think the emotions are the result of not getting enough sleep. Contributory at least.
D1 watched a bunch of shows today and that makes both/either of them antisocial in noticeable amounts. It ain't gonna be allowed tomorrow.
n
Which model of Raspberry Pi? What is the memory capacity?
They are fun boards to play with beyond using one as a Pi-hole.
I still have several around from my rejected thesis proposal. I also have a Pi 400, the all-in-one keyboard model.
I also have a Beaglebone Black — similar concept but based on a TI ARM chip and sourced in the US.
The one daughter is more of a PITA than the two sons combined, despite their arguing and complaining that we always took the other's side and blah blah blah. I hesitate to draw broad conclusions from this, but it comports with what I've heard from about 1000 other parents.
(Except for one former coworker, who couldn't let a perceived slight against females go without a rebuttal. "That's not what I've seen. It was my son who always played sick to get out of school." "I've never seen that. In my experience, it's the female programmers who do most of the work." "OK, fine, we get it, Tina. You have very thin skin and a fragile ego and you have to attack furiously whenever you think that any aspect of your self-image has been threatened. Saaaay, you don't suppose that's why your husband left you?" It may shock the reader to learn that that response did not go over well. You can probably see from 1000 miles away how much her outrage bothered me. I'll note that she had a smokin' hot daughter, age 17 or thereabouts. If Tina looked like that when she was younger, she'd probably gotten used to men agreeing with whatever she said and gotten to thinking that was the way the world worked. Once she got older and was no longer a hottie and she no longer got automatic attention and (appearance of) respect, resentment at the newly-discovered injustice of the world would be natural.)
Having Spare Kid around is occasionally a big pain, as above, but mostly helps keep my daughter from being too moody and makes it easier to get her to do things other than sit in her room with the computer or iPad. Plus, she wants to be here as much as her parents will allow, so it works out well across the board.
"‘I couldn’t bring her back’: 16-year-old shot 22 times while walking her dog in SW Houston, police say"
https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2022/01/12/16-year-old-girl-found-shot-to-death-in-southwest-houston-after-walking-the-family-dog-police-say/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=snd&utm_content=kprc2
I used to live a mile from her house. My wife used to live a half mile from her house.
What the hell is going on ?
@SteveF
"You can probably see from 1000 miles away how much her outrage bothered me."
The Hubble may have some open slots coming up…
I bought a Hecho en China Covid-19 test at CVS tonight when I went out to buy Nyquil and noticed the store had a supply of tests.
Negative. Sinus infection most likely. Whatever it is, I’ve had it for nearly two weeks. Maybe I waited too long to test?!?
BTW, I bought the last Nyquil bottle on the shelf. Even the CVS brand was gone.
Okay, after this holiday weekend, can everyone get back to work?
Really work. No more “working” from home.
@paul I've never set up a pi-hole but I'd expect you set the PC's DNS to pi-hole, then turn on DNS relay in the pi-hole. Hopefully then it will not relay for the advertising sites.
Okay, after this holiday weekend, can everyone get back to work?
Really work. No more “working” from home.
The traffic around here has been atrocious lately. I cannot imagine what it will be like when everyone goes back to work.
>> BTW, I bought the last Nyquil bottle on the shelf. Even the CVS brand was gone.
Okay, after this holiday weekend, can everyone get back to work?
It's down to only 20 proof iirc, must really be sick people buying it.
@lynn, what's going on is a gang war spilling into the street. probably.
n
Scanner has the popo working street racers again. Not much happening atm because they're all sitting around eating and hanging out.
I think they may be rounding some known guys up since they were talking about the SRG, or Special Response Group (houston's riot cops.)
n
I stocked up on OTC meds at the start of the wuflu shutdown. Still have them because we’ve been very healthy in general.
n
used to be this time of year was known as the ‘winter cold and flu’ season.
500error
Costco was stripped. There was food, less variety, far far less quantity. None of our normal bacon. No peppers, no tomatoes, no celery, cucumbers were slimy. A couple cases romaine, no iceberg, couple cases ready to eat bagged salad. No green beans or mushrooms or squash. Grim.
dairy was about 1/3 full. Meat cases were under filled. Meat prices have gone up another buck a pound for most products. Pork butt was $2/lb so I bought smallest one (little freezer room), plus an overpriced corned beef. Added a couple bags frozen veg based off state of cooler. Picked up three varieties of liquid fat calories, and based off what I saw in other carts, another 100 lb of carbs and dry protein.
grim grim grim
The windstorm earlier this month blew one of the Anchorage bound barges off course, public has been told that equates to a week delay. Most if our food is barged. I don’t know what food if any comes in by semi this time of year – the Alcan is a brute at best if times, covid + winter I wouldn’t expect it to be a regular route.
We are at the end of a long vulnerable food chain, and antics of our politicians hasn’t helped, as evidenced by what I’ve seen shopping this month.
I confess to being concerned.
I -really- hope my doe kindles this week. I’d like confirmation that my buck isn’t shooting blanks snd that the does are fertile.
Yep, there are women like that. It requires a certain lack of self-awareness. The women I knew back in my salad days, who were competent programmers, did not exploit their looks or femininity. The women I knew who exploited their looks or gender, were not competent.
FWIW, this is a US-specific problem. I have noticed zero difference in either the retail or the wholesale food outlets here. The US doesn't import all that much food, so any supply-chain problems are local. The farmers still exist, so…why are there shortages?
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. 32MB Micro SDHC SD card.
Software:
Raspios Bullseye Lite, 2021-10-30.
Pi-Hole v5.8.1
SSH is enabled
IP Address is 192.168.0.24
Part of the directions say "On the page for Static IP address for the Internet Connection, you need to specify the Pi IP address for the Primary DNS Server, 192.168.0.24. The Secondary DNS Server should be blank. On the page for Network Settings, uncheck the "Enable DNS Relay" option."
Easy enough. That's about all I know.
I'll look at the link SteveF sent. I'll look in the Pi settings for DNS Relay as Mark W suggests.
I might even learn something.