Cool and damp again? Rained yesterday. Had to drive all over town and back in the rain doing my pickups. Didn’t get the violent downpour that the weather liars were predicting, but did get some.
So I did my pickups as soon as they were open and made it back to pick up D2 for some together time. We couldn’t find the stuff for the project she wanted to do in her bedroom, so she taught me how to play chess instead. WEEEELLLLLLLL…… Taught me how to move the pieces anyway. Mom says I played as a young kid, but I don’t have any memory of it. May be that I lost it after one of the blows to the head? Don’t know, can’t worry about it. Had fun. Played two games and she beat me both times. She loved it. D1 got home from school and that was that, but I had her for over an hour, all to myself. Because of holidays from school and the trip up to the lake house, I missed the last couple of weeks. And jeez, I’m happy about a single hour… which is kinda F’ed up when you think too much about it.
Anyway, busier than a one armed paper hanger today. This morning I’m headed to my client’s house. Painters are there, and I need to pull a few TVs down to keep them safe and paint free. Also, they’re having some network issues that I need to look at. Then back to town to finish my pickups. More stuff for the house and for my shop. I got a ‘tombstone’ stick welding machine for about half to one quarter of what they normally go for, and I’ve always wanted one. They are great for heavier steel welding that MIG really isn’t the best choice for. Granted that in the shop I’ve also got a Miller 250 welding machine and it has the capacity to do some pretty heavy welding in steel and even heavy welds in aluminum with the spool gun, the stick welder and some long leads let you do a bunch of stuff that is much harder with the MIG process. Working outside on a fence is just one example, or a dock…
So how to slickly transition to a prepper topic??? Well, I’ve talked before about fixing things, and making things as a valuable skill any time, but especially in hard times. If you can build stuff you can make it for yourself and save money, fix it yourself and save the replacement or repair costs, or make and fix stuff for other people. Here in the oil patch, I’m the least likely guy to bust out a welder and fab up something big, but I’ve made a ton of smaller stuff for myself and occasionally for others. I built the security bar door for my rent house, for example. I made it in a style that complimented the craftsman style of the door and it came out really well. I’ve made furniture for the house, some that we still use every day. I’ve made or modified tools for my workshop, and fixed tools as well.
This new welding machine will just extend capabilities I have, and possibly make some ‘field’ work much easier. Working in metal isn’t any harder than working in wood, but the tools and techniques are different.
Whatever you have an interest or skill in making, or repairing, or building, I encourage you to get the tools and some supplies while you can, if you don’t already have them. It can be as simple as sewing by hand in leather, cloth, or web gear, or as complicated as 3D printing parts that aren’t available any more, due to supply chain or obsolescence. Timber frame construction, and hand wood work might be very useful if things go very far down the slope. There are some really interesting youtubers doing “green wood” or “traditional hand woodworking” or “bodging” that demonstrate the very high levels of functionality you can get in a ‘world built by hand’.
It doesn’t have to cost much. I get leather and cloth at the goodwill and the goodwill surplus for pennies. Purses, leather coats, leather clothes, belts, wallets, even boots, all provide raw materials. So do bed sheets, blankets, and most commonly, curtains and window treatments. A pair of work pants might not fit, but the heavy cotton duck or denim can be used for patching and reinforcing your pants. So many backpacks, book bags, and duffles are in the surplus bins that all can provide donor material for repairs to your gear or customizations. You can salvage buckles, straps, pads, and webbing from them too.
I grab small pieces of wood at thrift stores too. They are usually a walnut serving tray or a piece of teak used as decor, or some other nice but small wooden object. $1.20 per pound, and I’ve got some really nice walnut for small projects. There are a number of things you can reuse the plastic material of cutting boards for, like wear pads, or friction reducing pads. There are almost always plastic and wooden cutting boards at the thrifts.
You need the tools to take advantage of the materials, and the skills to make something useful. It’s not hard though. And if you are working with junk, or something already broken, the cost of failure is low.
Get some tools and try doing some things. While the resources are still abundant.
And stack what you need. Two is one, and one is none.
nick
59F and 99%RH this am. Looks shiny and wet out. Yuck.
n
Nick, good on you both! Knowing how to play chess (in my case, just to move the pieces) can be a lifelong gift. I hadn't played for years, but I recently taught my 7-yo nephew, and we had great fun together.
Enjoy the new-old stick welder. One more in the panoply of tools. We had a professional in to weld some fancy stainless-steel bannisters, and I arranged with him that he will teach me the basics of TIG. Looking forward to that.
Best wishes for your lake house purchase. It sounds like a super project and a stealthy prep too. I am very pleased that we did something similar a couple of years ago. Under the present circumstances, having a property beats having the equivalent money in the bank, and it has been a good COVID-period project and reason to be far away from the madding crowds.
Paul, thank you so much for looking into the Pi-Hole issue with your tech savvy acquaintance! I got hands on a new old stock barebones mini-PC (Gigabyte Brix BACE, with a dual-core Intel Celeron N3000 processor https://www.gigabyte.com/Mini-PcSystem), onto which I installed Linux Mint and the Pi-Hole software. I am waiting for a moment when no-one in the house is relying on the internet connection for professional purposes to run a function test, by disabling the DHCP server on the ISP's router and running the Pi-Hole machine as a DHCP server instead. The barebones PC, 8GB RAM and a 240 GB SSD cost me only 135 eurobucks, so not much more in total than I would have to pay here for a mid-range Raspberry Pi, and if it doesn't work satisfactorily, I can easily repurpose the PC, which is perfectly adequate for office tasks, email and surfing the web. I will report here on how the Pi-Hole test goes.
Sorry for the slow replies on these topics. Life intervened, including a COVID-positive parent-in-law…
Got an email from USPS that my “free” Covid tests are arriving today. Some companies, and stockholders are getting rich from all the money the government has spent on this Covid stuff. I suspect Fauxi, Pelosi, and other members of congress have lots of stock in the Covid companies. Have to keep the gravy train rolling.
Move Harris out of the VP chair, and there is a very good chance she would not be replaced until January, eliminating the "tie breaker" until it no longer matters.
Though, I doubt McConnell would be as much of a problem as Pelosi looking at spending the remainder of her term as Speaker sitting one heart beat closer with the Senate Republicans providing cover.
Well, these must be the end times indeed, as Sean Penn is making sense to me.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10461745/Thandiwe-Newton-calls-Sean-Penn-jibbering-FOOL-says-men-quite-feminized.html
Pretty funny article coming from a woman with an unpronounceable name that no one's ever heard of vs a guy with a 50 year career in film.
n
From CNN: ""Well, this is White people doing it to White people, so y'all gonna fight amongst yourselves," Goldberg said, referring to the Holocaust."
If someone else had stated "Well, this is black people doing it to black people, so y'all gonna fight amongst yourselves," referring to inner city crime, the news media and Whoopi would be looking for a lynch mob.
Whoopi Goldberg is a racist pig. Why she continues to be on television, is given any kind of platform, is beyond reason. People like her to need to disappear quietly and live some place where she is ignored.
The media and clowns like Whoopi continue to spread racism and will not let racism pass into a deserving distant memory. Instead people like her, and others like Al Sharpton, Ben Crump and Jesse Jackson, continue to fester and feed the fires of racism. It is how they make a living. Racism was their career choice. They must keep their cash cow alive.
Instead, the ABC TV network continues to keep that disgusting show "The View" on the air which allows Whoopi to spread her vile message. The best people can do is never, ever, watch the view. Tank the ratings. Complain to the advertisers. Demand Whoopi be terminated from the show and all future shows. Let "The View" disappear painfully.
Personally, I avoid watching anything produced by ABC or broadcast by ABC. Even local news shows on ABC are avoided. Until ABC changes their disgusting racist tabloid broadcasting ABC will avoided.
@Nick – Have you verified that the lake house does not have any ancient HOA covenants lying around? If so, how many houses are in the association and what is the margin required to make changes?
We thought we were safe in Florida 20 years ago until Mr. and Mrs. Colonel Bat Guano moved in behind us with tenbagger dreams, eyeing a 2/3 majority of 24 homes to make changes to the rules — easy for a woman who worked for Admiral Poindexter if my Google searches were accurate.
The largest single shareholder of Disney is currently the Widow Jobs, who also owns The Atlantic outright and still controls a sizeable chunk of Apple.
There is an agenda at work. The ratings don't really matter except to the affiliates.
I'll bet they're burning the midnight oil editing "Picard" right now at Paramount.
@greg, we determined that there isn't a mandatory HOA any more. The original plat for the sub-division shows one pipeline easement that doesn't affect our property, and the deed from the developer to the original owner confirms the mineral rights have been separated. That's about it for encumbrances. Still waiting for the Title Company to do its thing.
Wife has done a floorplan in CAD, figured out the furniture placement, and is making a plan to attack the popcorn ceilings, wood paneling (every vertical surface), and wall to wall old carpet.
I'm thinking mainly about drainage and grading issues, dock rebuilding, and infrastructure.
And what tools I'll need to bring up there.
n
The next season of "Westworld" needs the publicity. Evan Rachel Wood has been out making MeToo type accusations about Marilyn Manson, but that wasn't cutting it.
"Licorice Pizza" will get Oscar nominations if not "Best Picture". It has the attention of the Pedo Island crowd in Hollywood. If you don’t know why, watch the trailer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofnXPwUPENo
The Kamel would need some mighty deep dirt to be put up for SCOTUS. That’s not happening.
Another “masks are useless” for COVID article:
Biden's ridiculous free N95 mask offer
I won’t be applying for the free mask (maybe two). I can’t imagine the cost for this boondoggle. If the free COVID tests were reasonably available for a small amount at the drug store, I wouldn’t have ordered the free ones.
Off to Vegas this weekend for a week long conference. Better pack my N94/95s to be compliant.
Even if she had the dirt, Harris lacks the intellectual heft for the Roe seat.
The Dems know that the nominee for that chair will have to write the important minority opinions when Roberts doesn't vote with the liberals.
If Roe was overturned this term, it was because of the foundation of conservative minority opinions in previous challenges that provided the legal roadmap for arguing successfully.
Wow, the splash screen for the vid is NIPPLES!!!!!!!!!!
IDK who that actress is, but she and her nose have a lot of running to do, based on the trailer….
n
Whoopi Cushion is on the front of the Daily Mail trying to back off her Jews comment. A non-apology, apology, because…SHE’S BLACK! Racism at it’s finest.
I wonder what kind of magic they will use on “Picard” to hide her immense weight. Maybe tape her jowls back to make her seem somewhat alive.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33192441/tampa-bay-buccaneers-tom-brady-officially-announces-retirement
and in other football news…
https://whodatdish.com/2022/01/31/saints-jameis-winston-best-free-agent-qb/
The Yucs would be stupid to take another shot at that story. It won't put butts in seats like developing Kyle Trask two hours from Gainesville.
The "Picard" editing room will be burning the midnight oil to minimize her screen time in the next month, but it won’t be as easy as eliminating the rumored flashback demise of Beverly Crusher which was axed from the first season.
Westworld is almost as bad as Stranger Things. It takes them years to produce an 8-episode season. I know several people that have shrugged off the upcoming season of Stranger Things because they're basically "over it."
I know, I know. Pandemic… other commitments… scheduling conflicts… talent shortage… streaming politics…
I watched the first season a few months ago and thought it was good.
I watched the second season and thought it was, um, not as good.
I watched the third season because people said it was good. They were wrong.
ERCOT is putting a fire in every steam boiler they have. I watched them starting Handley 3 in Fort Worth last night, a 400 MW base load drum unit that they only run in the summer time. The winter problem with Handley 3 is that the plant only has 400,000 barrels of diesel storage and Handley 4 and 5 go through diesel at over 100,000 barrels per day. There is no natural gas for the plant when the temp drops below 35 F or so as the residential needs outweigh the plant needs.
I suspect that every wind turbine in Texas is going to coat up with ice Thursday night so they are getting ready as the forecast for north Houston just dropped to 20 F for Thursday night.
BTW, I found out the procedure for adding heaters to the wind turbines. Replace the blades. Like that is going to happen.
WRT popcorn ceilings: We were first owners of our current house built in 1967. With the exception of the garage, wife had all inside popcorn removed years ago.
It will be a long summer for ERCOT if rolling blackouts happen.
The B*TO! "store" on Burnett will be out of yard signs by Sunday night.
I don’t think it is an accident that the new Samsung plant in Taylor is going to be within visible range of ERCOT HQ.
"Texas' record-holding Buc-ee's is about to be dethroned by Tennessee"
https://www.chron.com/culture/article/TX-Bucees-dethroned-by-TN-16817274.php
"In response to the news, the City of New Braunfels posted an appropriately melodramatic TikTok video on Wednesday lamenting the end of their reign as world's biggest Buc-ee's headquarters"
“The Tennessee Buc-ee’s is being built in Sevierville, which is in the eastern part of the state. When construction is through, it will be close to 8,000 square feet larger than the 66,335-square-foot location in New Braunfels, KPRC reported. The Tennessee beaver outpost will also have 120 gas fueling stations and a 250-foot long car wash. According to reports, construction on the 74,000-square-foot convenience store began in September.”
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !
That is bigger than the HEB that I routinely shop at.
It will be a long summer for ERCOT if rolling blackouts happen.
The B*TO! "store" on Burnett will be out of yard signs by Sunday night.
El Paso Bozo is in his favorite furry suit at the local fortune tellers house, throwing the bones. He keeps on coming up snakes eyes.
I watched the first season a few months ago and thought it was good.
I watched the second season and thought it was, um, not as good.
I watched the third season because people said it was good. They were wrong.
But the standoff at the mall was cool !
And yes, it is taking way, way, way too long for the fourth season of "Stranger Things" to come out.
Got an email from USPS that my “free” Covid tests are arriving today. Some companies, and stockholders are getting rich from all the money the government has spent on this Covid stuff. I suspect Fauxi, Pelosi, and other members of congress have lots of stock in the Covid companies. Have to keep the gravy train rolling.
I got my two free Koof tests yesterday via USPS. They were 7 inch by 3 inch by 0.75 inch boxes in a 12 inch by 20 inch bag. Who ordered the huge bags ?
I am now eagerly awaiting my free N95 masks.
Free cheese for all !
Best wishes for your lake house purchase. It sounds like a super project and a stealthy prep too. I am very pleased that we did something similar a couple of years ago. Under the present circumstances, having a property beats having the equivalent money in the bank, and it has been a good COVID-period project and reason to be far away from the madding crowds.
Definitely. Having at least one bug place two hours away from Houston is cool, very cool.
My wife closed on her Garland, TX rent house last Thursday. She already got and deposited the check. And the city of Garland just sent her an electric bill, she may be sending that to the new owner.
The "Picard" editing room will be burning the midnight oil to minimize her screen time in the next month, but it won’t be as easy as eliminating the rumored flashback demise of Beverly Crusher which was axed from the first season.
There is no way that Picard can be as bad as Season 3 of Star Trek Discovery. I cannot even make it through s3e1 without barfing after five minutes.
Arlo and Janis: Stupid Phone !
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2022/02/01
I am with Arlo. The Johnny Cab in the first Total Recall movie, the good one, turned me off self driving cars forever.
Re: popcorn ceilings – Sez several sources:
So, testing the popcorn ceiling for asbestos before removing it is useful. Also, look for other possible asbestos locations: linoleum floors, heating duct insulation, pipe insulation.
Getting rid of it is not for the faint of heart – since it must be done by a certified asbestos removal firm. Not a DIY project.
They have test kits that are inexpensive, available at the local big box store. Or the "River": https://www.amazon.com/Testing-Results-Seconds-Suitable-Surfaces/dp/B07NBH7KJJ?keywords=instant+asbestos+test+kit&pd_rd_r=f6ff2d03-ccf3-4fd9-8450-8677bb810d3b&pd_rd_w=IAbn5&pd_rd_wg=JMjPX&pf_rd_p=4fa0e97a-13a4-491b-a127-133a554b4da3&pf_rd_r=Y5FAYCPPKAWQZS70B9CX&qid=1643741872&sr=8-19&linkCode=sl1&linkId=3fc6a24e3a12fc751c6d991d44c626a6&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&tag=ttgnet-20 . That one is a quick test; others require sending samples for anlaysis. I'd try the quick test, then if positive, do a more extensive test.
As for removing popcorn ceilings (assuming it hasn't been painted)- fairly easy. Get a latter, a spray bottle of water (a garden sprayer is handy), wet the ceiling (not too much). With a ladder, bucket, and wide scraper, just scrape off the ceiling into the bucket. (Bucket reduces the mess, if you are careful.
Afterwards, patch any holes, put a skim coat, then paint.
But if the house is older than about 1980, the asbestos testing is a good idea. As is testing for lead paint. https://www.amazon.com/Testing-Results-Seconds-Suitable-Surfaces/dp/B07NBH7KJJ?crid=3K4C4INSZ2BE0&keywords=instant+lead+paint+test+kit&qid=1643742127&sprefix=instant+lead+paint+test+kit%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-4&linkCode=sl1&linkId=58ef2181147d654ab107bc6d9a688f66&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&tag=ttgnet-20 .
"Backblaze Drive Stats for 2021" by Andy Klein
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-drive-stats-for-2021/
"In 2021, Backblaze added 40,460 hard drives and as of December 31, 2021, we had 206,928 drives under management. Of that number, there were 3,760 boot drives and 203,168 data drives. This report will focus on our data drives. We will review the hard drive failure rates for 2021, compare those rates to previous years, and present the lifetime failure statistics for all the hard drive models active in our data center as of the end of 2021. Along the way, we share our observations and insights on the data presented and, as always, we look forward to you doing the same in the comments section at the end of the post."
WDC drives rule baby !
Season One of "Picard" was grim except for the "Nepenthe" episode featuring the reunion with the Riker family.
Ironically, it was not one of the Frakes-directed episodes.
Johnny Cab isn't driving anymore. He went to medical school and joined Starfleet.
Robert Francis might be elected Governor if ERCOT messes up Thursday night.
Texas will also have a new Attorney General.
One of the bigger problems. Three real-world years between S1 and S3 makes for a big change in preteen actors. The younger characters in the show sure grew a lot in 1 1/2 in-world years.
I read the "kids" are working on their Master's Degrees.
I liked S01 of Picard because it showed how old and weak he is. Really feeble.
>> Getting rid of it is not for the faint of heart – since it must be done by a certified asbestos removal firm. Not a DIY project.
Not even if you're wearing one of Uncle Joe's super-special free N95 masks?
The house I grew up in was a two-family in Brooklyn, NYFC, built in 1925. With my paternal grandfather and father, I remember helping with plenty of renovations, with at most a bandana covering your nose and mouth. Who knew better way back then.
Well, there are requirements for proper disposal of asbestos stuff. And you really don't want to breathe it. And there are usually state/local ordinances/laws about the whole thing.
I've seen the clips on "This Old House" of the whole process of set up, removing, and disposing of asbestos in houses they are remodeling.
An N95 mask (from anyone) is a start. Then there is the whole body overalls. And the respirator. And the fan with special filters. And plastic sheeting around the work area. And a decontamination room. And double-bagging removed material. And taking the bags to an approved disposal site. And … etc…
If your an old guy, then DIY is probably OK. I think that damage/cancer from asbestos takes a while to show up. And nothing you can do to fix it after exposure.
Not for me. Even though I am old.
When my friend's house in San Jose came up positive for asbestos, the contractor asked him if he wanted the removal done the affordable way or the 100% compliant way.
It's not a requirement but it's normal to dump it on the front porch of the cranky old bat on the HOA board. There are societal expectations to uphold!
They waited about 15 years too long to do "Picard" IMHO.
Patrick Stewart is 80 … ? … but the character is presented as being in his 90s since the year is 2399 in the context of the series.
John DeLancie looks *great*, however, and with the exception of the drummer from “Scott Pilgrim”, the casting of Picard’s crew is well done.
Ann Magnuson was wasted as the Admiral. Elizabeth Dennehy as Admiral Shelby would have been fun.
The cranky old bat running my HOA board in Florida administered the snake torture at Gitmo for her day job.
"Buttigieg To Usher In Speed Camera Nightmare Across US"
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/buttigieg-usher-speed-camera-nightmare-across-us
USA Transportation Secretary Buttjudger is going to put $17 billion of speed cameras across the USA and send out speeding tickets to motorists everywhere. The $17 billion is coming from the so-called infrastructure bill passed last fall.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10455557/The-speed-camera-nightmare-thats-coming-America.html
Luckily, Texas has banned speed cameras and red light cameras.
The last time I was in Germany, my friend showed me a speed camera that someone had judged. They put an old tire around the camera and filled it full of gasoline, then lit it. The damage to the speed camera was amazing.
My German friend also took me around in his new BMW M1 couple. He got it up to 300 km/hr (186 miles/hr) on the Autobahn. At nighttime. In the fog. Scared the you know what out of me.
Our President, plugsy McSpongeBrain:
President Biden says the Constitution is always evolving, slightly, in terms of adding and curtailing rights
The living bird cage liner, as Mr. OFD would say. Is there any doubt plugs is slowly taking away rights guaranteed by the Constitution?
"An Arctic front is coming to Texas, but questions remain about how cold Houston will get"
https://spacecityweather.com/an-arctic-front-is-coming-to-texas-but-questions-remain-about-how-cold-houston-will-get/
Gonna be real cold all across Texas. A nightmare for ERCOT.
I finished reading Leviathan Falls last night (the last of The Expanse Books). I didn't find it as fulfilling as the previous books. The back-and-forth chapters of different character views was exhausting. The "Interlude" chapters were boring and seemed like an exercise in creative writing that someone was taking. I guessed the ending, but not all the character endings. The short epilogue was better than the last third of the book. You could write a whole new series based on that.
Three stars out of five.
Eisenhower's idea for the Interstate system was a combination of the experience in 1919, the 1941 Louisiana maneuvers, and (most importantly) the autobahns in Germany during WW2. The reason the Interstates were labeled a "defense" system was in part due to constitutional concerns. And as Jerry Pournelle pointed out, all the overpasses were supposed to have fallout shelters built into them. Plus, the routing included most of the large military bases. The "straight and level areas" for landing planes probably has it's origin in a combination WW2 usage of some autobahns as temporary airstrips by the Germans AND explicit design of freeways in Switzerland. Some of the freeways there are set up to be used as airstrips.
When I worked at the post office, ~10 years ago, their official instructions for remediation of lead paint and asbestos flooring were: don't sand the paint, just put a new coat or two of paint over it, and don't remove the tiles, just keep them heavily waxed and, if a new floor was wanted, lay it over the old tiles.
They never mentioned popcorn ceilings, though.
My experience exactly.
But it wasn’t a terrible book, just not A+.
p.s. I emphasize with the plucky humans and gate builders, but who knows what kind of damage the gates were doing to the other side? The enemy seemed dang determined to shut the system down.
All right, all right, all right!
What? He didn't file? Doh!
@Pecancorner – you are correct. If you don't disturb the asbestos, it's not a hazard. Usually.
Some asbestos is found in old house's attic/wall insulation, so that's an issue.
Same with lead paint – don't disturb it, no problems. But still a possible issue, as it can be easily disturbed during remodeling.
It's good to test for asbestos and lead paint in any house older than about 1980. A good home inspection (from a competent home inspector) is helpful in any house purchase. Even new houses.
The last time I was in Germany, my friend showed me a speed camera that someone had judged. They put an old tire around the camera and filled it full of gasoline, then lit it. The damage to the speed camera was amazing.
The US equivalent might be a shot from a rifle at a safe distance. Safe = beyond the range of the camera, or at least off axis. I would not get near one of those things for fear it would steal my soul.
My German friend also took me around in his new BMW M1 couple. He got it up to 300 km/hr (186 miles/hr) on the Autobahn. At nighttime. In the fog. Scared the you know what out of me.
So, you are saying that car is equivalent to a laxative?
I used to like going fast in my youth, but I was also cautious. I know, seeming contradiction in terms, but true. Speed alone is not dangerous, but speed close to slower things like parked cars, trees, bridge abutments, etc., is.
Speed is also relative. My favorite examples involve motorcycles. Over 100 on a really capable road bike can seem slow, but 50 on an old clapped-out junker can seem scary fast. Or, dirt bikes. Going 80 on open terrain can seem comfortable, but going 30 on difficult terrain scary. Going almost any speed on a bicycle, with its narrow tires and high CG, is close to terrifying, especially considering how little body armor is worn by cyclists.
One of my favorite movies is “The World’s Fastest Indian”. Ol’ Bert knew what he was doing, but it was amazing he survived. A favorite scene is on the Nevada highway, where the cop asks him if he knew how fast he was going, and he said about 150 or 160. Honest as the day is long. Old guys rule! And hat tip to Anthony Hopkins for a great performance.
>> They never mentioned popcorn ceilings, though.
Was that Jiffy-Pop or Orville Redenbacher?
>> Speed is also relative. My favorite examples involve motorcycles. Over 100 on a really capable road bike can seem slow, but 50 on an old clapped-out junker can seem scary fast. Or, dirt bikes. Going 80 on open terrain can seem comfortable, but going 30 on difficult terrain scary.
Fastest I've been in a car that I recall was 120. Still amazes me when I see NASCAR drivers, especially on the super-speedway tracks, (Daytona and Talladega) driving with 'bumpers' touching, and no brake lights, at 200+ MPH. Then there's Top Fuel dragsters, at 330+ MPH (~500 ft/sec) you're the bullet.
There are several types of commercially used asbestos, and some are more toxic than others. Of course, with the blunt tool of government, all are banned. Probably a good idea, though.
Not often mentioned is that asbestos exposure combined with smoking is dramatically more toxic than asbestos alone. There are some recent studies that show even higher synergistic effects than was believed. Not my area of expertise.
Remediation has been covered here. Probably the best is to simply leave it alone if it is not crumbling. Covering with paints is a good precaution. Removal is only needed in the case of floor tiles, but heavy wax coatings are probably good enough. If insulation must be removed, the simple expedient of keeping it wet is effective.
All right, all right, all right!
What? He didn't file? Doh!
He did not want to take a $30 million/year pay cut. Yet.
Still amazes me when I see NASCAR drivers, especially on the super-speedway tracks, (Daytona and Talladega) driving with 'bumpers' touching, and no brake lights, at 200+ MPH. Then there's Top Fuel dragsters, at 330+ MPH (~500 ft/sec) you're the bullet.
I agree, especially on those oval tracks. Some say they get used to it, but it would only take a slight mishap to bring back the pucker. Nerves of steel help. Humans are fragile.
As for dragsters, I have it on good authority that focus eliminates most of the fear. Wouldn’t for me. I had a friend who campaigned a gas rail. Trap speeds were a little over 200. He said it wasn’t a bit scary. He looked pretty ordinary to me. To be fair, bad accidents in the lower levels of drag racing are pretty rare.
I have been in some pretty fast accelerating cars on the street, and it does not seem scary. Top speeds are usually low. A friend who was a veteran of Woodward Avenue drag racing in the 1960s said his only scary moments were when the cops came out. He was never pulled over. Michigan State Police were pretty tolerant, but local yokels were not.
>> Speed is also relative. My favorite examples involve motorcycles. Over 100 on a really capable road bike can seem slow, but 50 on an old clapped-out junker can seem scary fast. Or, dirt bikes. Going 80 on open terrain can seem comfortable, but going 30 on difficult terrain scary.
Fastest I've been in a car that I recall was 120. Still amazes me when I see NASCAR drivers, especially on the super-speedway tracks, (Daytona and Talladega) driving with 'bumpers' touching, and no brake lights, at 200+ MPH. Then there's Top Fuel dragsters, at 330+ MPH (~500 ft/sec) you're the bullet.
I had an Audi Sportwagen with a wound up turbodiesel and a 5 speed in Germany about 23 years ago. I was running 230 km/hr (143 mile/hr) (redline in 5th gear) from Frankfurt to Denmark on the Autobahn when I did not have speed limits. I got north of Hamburg and a couple of turbo Porsches passed me going well over 300 km/hr, playing tag at about ten feet apart. They blew me off the Autobahn onto the shoulder, waking up the wife. I could hear those big turbos for a long time once they passed me. Then I went into Denmark with their national speed limit of 110 km/hr (68 mile/hr). Felt like I was creeping along to Esberg where it started snowing on me in May.
I had a neighbor in Spokane who was an aircraft mechanic and his bonding time with his son was spent building, tinkering with, and racing a dragster. The son was the driver.
I asked him about the experience, and he said the most frightening part is the first few seconds when all the blood leaves your retina and you're blind.
No thanks.
I've had literal years of asbestos exposure. Theatrical lighting instruments used to have cordsets covered in it that we handled daily, even tying them in knots. The fire retardant sprayed on all the iron work in the theater, that we crawled over daily contained it.
I'm not concerned about wet popcorn ceilings. Dry scraping on the other hand, is contraindicated for several reasons.
Wrt floor tile, it's in the mastic not the tiles, iirc, and not an issue unless the floor is removed.
It's also present in drywall mud from certain eras, exterior wall shingles, and some insulation. It was a miracle material in its time and was used in everything. Everyone reading this has been exposed to it in multiple places and times.
The people with real health issues from it typically worked directly with it, for years, hands on and in their faces. I'm not saying it shouldn't be avoided, but the concern is way overblown. The generation that has the most issues with it also tended to smoke a pack of lucky strike no filters while they worked without washing hands, cramming the fibers into their lungs with every drag.
FFS, one of the buildings I worked in, the RETURN AIR PLENUM was lined with the spray on fire insulation, and everyone in the building breathed asbestos fibers for hours at a time. That was a city owned building, and they were aware of the issue, in California. And did nothing.
This building is typical, btw. Millions just like it, with people in them all day long. No epidemic of asbestos caused illness in The gen pop.
Again, avoid it if possible, but it's not like cyanide….
N
>> As for dragsters, I have it on good authority that focus eliminates most of the fear. Wouldn’t for me. I had a friend who campaigned a gas rail. Trap speeds were a little over 200. He said it wasn’t a bit scary. He looked pretty ordinary to me. To be fair, bad accidents in the lower levels of drag racing are pretty rare.
Things got better (safer) for the drivers when the moved the sometimes violently exploding motor from in front of to behind them.
>> I asked him about the experience, and he said the most frightening part is the first few seconds when all the blood leaves your retina and you're blind.
Average during a run is 4g with maximum about 5.6g. 0 to 100 is usually just under one second. (Beat that Tony.)
>> This building is typical, btw. Millions just like it, with people in them all day long. No epidemic of asbestos caused illness in The gen pop.
Nor epidemics of the Crud.
A good friend of mine died in 2016 from lung cancer due to mesothelioma (exposure to asbestos). He joined the Navy after getting a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas in 1956. He was made an Ensign on Admiral Rickover's staff. One of his jobs was to monitor the progress of the five nuclear submarines that they were building at Newport News after the USS Thresher failure. Once a week, he would go through each submarine from stem to stern, validating that the through hull penetrations were in the correct place and not obscured like the two inch penetration the Thresher had that failed at a great depth. He said that there was so much asbestos in the air that it looked like it was snowing inside the submarines. So his exposure was from 1956 to 1961 and he developed lung cancer (he was never a smoker) in 2016. Well over 60 years later. He was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in March and passed away in December.
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/katy-tx/gary-fisher-7197393
My Dad and my other partner worked with Gary from 1969 to 2009. I worked with Gary from 1975 to 2009, I begged him not to retire but he had had it. I managed to keep him around from his first retirement in 1995 to 2009 where we had a lot of mammoth programming sessions fixing our software and improving it. And lots of friendly arguments about how to write engineering software (in Fortran of course using two character variable names).
"Winter storm impacts expected all across Texas"
https://spacecityweather.com/winter-storm-impacts-expected-all-across-texas/
"Eric has been keeping you apprised on local impacts due to the upcoming cold snap and winter storm, which at this time appear to be relatively minor. We often get asked about weather across other portions of Texas, as people plan travel or have friends and relatives elsewhere. In this post, we’ll talk a bit more about what is expected weather-wise across the Lone Star State from this significant winter storm. It’s important to again underscore that this is not a February 2021 repeat, even elsewhere in Texas. All events have unique impacts. It’s not a reason to take events like this lightly, as this one will cause some significant problems I am sure, particularly related to travel. But it’s important for us to provide some context for you, and that context is that this is a not a February 2021-type event virtually anywhere in Texas."
One to three inches of sleet and snow across central and west Texas. No thank you, been there, done that many times.
@Pecancorner, you may be in single digits on Friday.
Just a possible data point regarding electric cars. There is a Segway in one of my auctions, "needs new battery" and it's currently $100. This is probably because a set of new batteries from Segway is $2400.
Scale that up to millions of EVs…
n
WRT asbestos abatement, anytime you see a whole industry spring up, especially after a legislative or regulatory change, and then claims they are the "only ones" who can do something safely, that was done for decades prior, you should be skeptical.
Just my 2c, and use your own judgement. Don't say "some guy on the internet said it was ok" but also don't say "some guy in a magazine said it was deadly" either…
n
ding-ding-ding!
Our weather is down there, drunk and disorderly and causing trouble.
my two cents on asbestos:
If it was truly deadly then every mechanic that pulled a wheel and blew the dust off with the air hose from 1930-1980, as well as everyone within range of that settling dust, should have died of mesothelioma or asbestosis. Most of them were surely smokers. But maybe twangy country music was an antidote?
The cautionary tale is Zonolite vermiculite insulation and all the other vermiculite products from the mine in Libby, Montana.
Don't use a test kit for anything that you have to send away for analysis, unless you want the property in a database. You can get instant-read tests for lead. Not radon. Asbestos? Asbestos is a family of six silicate minerals characterized by a needle-like crystalline structure that agglomerates into fibrous threads. 90% of the earth's crust is silicate minerals and many of them have the same chemistry as asbestos. The only reliable test is a trained technician and a microscope in a certified lab.
Asbestos was (and still is) a great additive for concrete and stucco–fiber reinforcement, troweling aid and water-reducer all in one. If you do demolition or cut new materials, wear a properly fitted N95 respirator–asbestos isn't the only thing bad for your lungs.
@Lynn
"in Fortran of course using two character variable names"
That would be Fortran IV. None of your sissy Fortran 77 "improvements".
Think about a dragster engine turning 9,000 RPM, really pushed to the limits for 4 seconds. That engine only has to turn 600 revolutions at full power during the run. Of course that does not count the burn out which lasts about a second so add 150 revolutions at power. The most dangerous exploding components are the blower and the transmission. Lot of air pressure in the blower and a lot of torque in the transmission.
The life of a dragster engine is probably less than 5,000 revolutions for its entire life.
Ah, Fortran IV. Watfor was my first programming language in college in about 1973.
I remember coming to the dorm from the bookstore with the textbook and reading it cover-to-cover before the class even started. We also learned PL/1 that semester.
Two semesters later I switched my major from EE to Computer Science, after taking assembler language (on a PDP/11). I was well and truly hooked.
Years later, I actually got paid to write assembler on a VAX while I worked for Digital Equipment Corp. I made some VMS operating system modifications for a major aerospace corporation's in-house flight simulator to make it more real-time. That was the second-best job I ever had. Pity management p*ssed away the company.
Funny (to me) story there: I'm signing up to finally receive my pension from Digital. Well, actually, from HP, since they bought Compaq after Compaq bought Digital. So I'll be drawing an HP pension and I never worked for them.
Speaking of inflation: About 10 years ago a deluxe 1 year freeze dried food supply came to $4400 and 222 #10 cans from "Emergency Essentials".
Happened to take a peek at today's prices from the same vendor. They don't sell #10 can year supplies anymore, just 1 month. That comes to ~$5700 for 13 "months" (365/28 days) and 169 cans.
~50 fewer cans for $1300 more buckskis. 🙁
nadda databse:
https://www.ammoland.com/2022/01/atf-keeping-920-million-searchable-firearm-records/#axzz7JaJcyXKb
Not just dragsters. I lived a block from a lake from 1954-66. There were small outboard powered hydroplane boat races on that lake once a year. Those outboards were souped-up two cylinder two-strokes, with megaphone (not expansion chamber) exhausts, and could be heard for miles. They turned serious rpm. One year, a flywheel disintegrated, and a chunk hit a boy standing on shore, what looked like a quarter mile from the boat. Hit him in the head, and he died instantly. I don’t know if scatter shields were made mandatory after that, but they should have been. Different times.
See also: British Leyland.
"America's national debt surpasses $30 trillion for the first time"
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/01/economy/national-debt-30-trillion/index.html
"Total public debt outstanding is now above $30 trillion, according to Treasury Department data published Tuesday."
"Government borrowing accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic as Washington spent aggressively to cushion the economic blow from the crisis. The national debt has surged by about $7 trillion since the end of 2019."
"The federal government now owes almost $8 trillion to foreign and international investors, led by Japan and China. Eventually, that will need to be paid back, with interest."
"The $30 trillion national debt figure is somewhat inflated by the fact that a chunk of the money is owed by the government to itself. This is debt held in Social Security and other government trust funds. So-called intragovernmental holdings total more than $6 trillion."
That is a lot of interest. Be a shame if somebody increased the interest rates.
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
No one cares right now. The Jesus truck shall deliver us …
Dadgumit, I just moderated myself again ! I cannot count to four anymore.
"The View: Whoopi Goldberg Suspended for Two Weeks for Holocaust Remarks"
https://tvline.com/2022/02/01/whoopi-goldberg-suspended-the-view-holocaust-comments/
Wow, somebody listens to Whoopi. I am shocked, shocked I tell you.
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
I'm going to get a Verizon pension, but I was never on their payroll. I quit GTE just ahead of the merger being approved, and my division was subsequently spun off into a fiasco called Syniverse in Tampa.
My friends had their pensions cashed out for 33 cents on the dollar into 401(k)s. I thought my account was vapor until Verizon caught up with me a few years ago.
Funny (to me) story there: I'm signing up to finally receive my pension from Digital. Well, actually, from HP, since they bought Compaq after Compaq bought Digital. So I'll be drawing an HP pension and I never worked for them.
I will be getting my pension from my first engineering job in 3.4 years. $248/month. TESCO -> TU Electric -> TXU -> Vistra. They went bankrupt a few years back and dumped the entire pension into Fidelity so I am fairly sure that I will get it. Of course, what will $248/month be worth then ?
DIY upgrades for your base Ford Maverick…
Add cruise control (and mods for other vehicles):
https://www.rostra.com/2022-ford-maverick-how-to-add-cruise-control.php
Digital dash cluster:
https://jalopnik.com/owner-plugs-ford-escape-dash-into-base-maverick-and-it-1848460178
Sometimes living in the mountains… We were supposed to have about 40cm of snow this week. So far what we've had has been horizontal…stuff. Some snow, some sleet, some rain. All gross.
I'm almost glad I have to physically pick up some exams down in the lowlands, where it's only overcast.
On which subject: Now that life has been driven a big step online, from which it will not entirely return, there has got to be a better solution for exams. The school that I mainly teach at, still does physical exams. Their nod to the electronic future is to offer some exams on tablets, but those are very restrictive, and certainly don't fit my courses.
The school I help out at some, offers online exams where the students can sit at home. The problem there is trust: they try to use technology to ensure that the actual students are sitting at the computer, that no one else is in the room, that the students are looking to the side at some second screen, etc, etc.. All-in-all it's ugly, and it cannot be that hard to bypass. For example, replace a live camera with a video of yourself sitting at you computer – put it on a loop – and then do whatever you want. Virtual cameras exist, this can't be hard.
Cheating is a perennial problem, and I suppose there is no nice solution. It's just a shame that the few cheaters in the world make everyone else's lives more difficult.
Even most Germans consider that to be idiotic. Autobahns without speed limits are great, in the daytime, with little or no traffic. Anything else is just stupid.
The worst is when you are a normal driver, doing a normal overtake. The Autobahn is generally only two lanes, so you obviously have to move to the fast lane. Your check to the rear before moving over is nearly useless: If someone is coming up at 180mph, the slightest rise or curve, and they will not even be visible. Plus, braking at that speed covers a *looong* distance.