Another beautiful day at the lake.
Got here late afternoon yesterday after a day of driving around picking up things. Unloaded the truck and put stuff away.
Then, without a permit or anything, I burned a pile of leaves. F me we’ve fallen so far when that feels extreme. Nice smell and cleaned up the pile.
I’ll probably do a few small things before heading home. Maybe cut and stack some tree limbs. Maybe wash some windows. Maybe install a light fixture. I don’t want to start anything that can go badly wrong, like changing out a toilet.
That would just be tempting fate.
Do not poke the happy fun ball.
Do stack some stuff. Doesn’t matter what, you’ll need it. Most stations out here have diesel fuel prices a dollar or more higher than gasoline. A dollar. Every thing moves by truck. Moving it is getting crazy expensive.
Stack it up.
N
58 F here on the West side of Fort Bend County. The county is roughly split by the Brazos River.
Summer is coming. We got up in the high 80s yesterday.
I do not have a permanent replacement for my Windrose Energy electric provider yet. Our temporary is charging 12 cents/kwh which actually appears to be a good rate now in these enlightened times. But that rate changes every month. I suspect that we will get locked in at 13 or 14 cents/kwh for 12 months soon by http://Www.energyogre.com . It is going to be an interesting summer for ERCOT.
Cut the branches. Replacing an outdoor light fixture at my house turned into an all day project yesterday, and I'm really not happy with the lash up that is the end result.
The neighbor next door came out a couple of times checking progress without saying a word. Nice guy, but he still communicates with the couple who used to own this house, and I'm sure he is aware of how they shortcut everything with regard to maintenance. His brand new AC unit, a budget Carrier, sounds like it has already thrown a bearing.
Sometimes I wonder if the previous owners will make a lowball bid when we put the house up for sale. Gidget-n-geezer, even though Gidget is 50-something now. Geezer was an architect before retiring, with a bug to live in a "historic log cabin" out in Bastrop which didnt work out like he planned.
Gidget had a wedding planner business based here, including weddings at the house.
That will be a long list. Let’s start with War Criminal Albright, posthumously.
Let the arbitrage begin!
I guess making their own knockoffs was one way Omega decided to get around the counterfeiting problem with the "Moon" watch, but they obviously underestimated the potential for "EBay gold" … or did they?
https://hypebeast.com/2022/3/omega-swatch-speedmaster-moonswatch-sparks-buying-frenzies-across-the-world-news
$7000 for a real "Moon" watch?!?
I wear my own mechanical sparingly. It was a generous first anniversary gift from my wife which has sparked a lot of resentment from family (in-laws) and even co-workers over the years despite the purchase price being about as much as I spent on the engagement ring. Plus, the last overhaul from living in a hot/humid climate was as much as the watch cost new.
The latest ST:Picard was chock full of woke idiocy. ICE makes people disappear, POC oppression, homeless shirthole(-r) cities. And GLOBAL WARMING. WHITEYs on a roll.
I almost missed Lea Thompson has directed a couple of Picards and Resident Alien.
plugsy McSpongeBrain’s speeches overseas are bringing us to the brink of war. I imagine the chicken hawks are whispering in his ear: “look at how bad the Russian military is, we could take them in a week.” “He’s never use nukes.”
When the head of a country advocates removing another’s, that is pretty much an act of war. Go ahead, plugs, poke the Bear, see what happens. The only BOL will be the North Pole.
"Picard" giveth and "Picard" taketh away. The episode also teased the involvement of Supervisors, which is the organization for whom Gary Seven worked.
I can't help but believe Whoopi's scenes were reshot with the younger actress recently, the cover being that they were filming Season Three.
If you haven’t seen the “Back to the Future” documentary “Back in Time”, it is worth the effort to find and watch. The film was made for the 30th anniversary. Just about everyone involved who was still alive gave an interview … with one glaring exception.
I gather that you haven't seen the season finale of "Discovery" or you would have commented.
And just wait. Uhura will be on the bridge of the Enterprise in “Strange New Worlds” when that series debuts in May, with the actress promising to emphasize the character’s African heritage.
KurtzmanTrek.
60f and sunny,. Clear skies.
Maybe Africa will rise after European countries bomb each other into rubble. More likely it will fall farther and harder, but hey, who knows?
William Gibson wrote some short stories where India replaced the west as world dominant power, after a disease spread by beef wipes out western civ.
Gorgeous day.
N
The *book* "World War Z" envisions Cuba as a first world nation in the recovery following the zombie apocalypse, due to the country's highly regarded (at least among US liberals) community healthcare initiatives and infrastructure combined with isolation, allowing early zombie virus cases to be identified and dealt with appropriately, preserving the pre-apocalypse infrastructure
The counter argument is "Juan of the Dead", made by people who live there within the last decade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhcIBEqczpg
OTOH, “Juan” is an argument to eliminate the embargo. Once a culture makes quality zombie comedy, the decadent West has won IMHO. Someone saw at least one Pournelle “Cultural Weapon of Mass Destruction” … many times.
I have my own copy. “Juan of the Dead” is very entertaining and surprisingly non-PC.
I did. Why, I don't know. It is getting as bad as "Batwoman". I made it through 3 episodes.
ST:D is just a woke love fest these days. If there is another season (doubtful), I won't watch it.
The conventional wisdom is that "Picard" and "Discovery" are done after one more season each.
The air came out of "Discovery" once Michelle Yeoh left, and Paramount is now realizing that they made a mistake delaying her series.
In between the Amish shootouts and shots of Pappy Reserve at SxSW, the crowd was sober enough to make this flick the big hit to emerge out of the festival, similar to "Baby Driver".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxN1T1uxQ2g
All of the screenings at Alamo here are sold out this weekend.
:greg:
Uh. Isn't "Strange New Worlds" a prequel to TOS? How could Uhura appear on the bridge, unless they recast the role. And then it wouldn't be Uhura.
Not that I’ve followed Trek since “Enterprise”.
G.
Added: She is recast. But I bet the female uniforms are more up-to-date.
I watched about two minutes of the first episode of Discovery. That was enough for me.
The latest ep of Picard was way overboard with the wokeness. I'm almost done with that series too.
My wife and I finally watched Shang Chi and the Ten Rings last night. Meh. A few funny lines. Predictable story, predictable cgi action that went on too long. Glad I didn't pay to see it on the big screen. I don't know if I even want to attempt Eternals.
I made an exception last year for “Debris”—my normal rule of thumb is not to watch any new television unless it is highly recommended.
Reading here saved me from ST Picard and Discovery, although I did watch one episode of the latter.
I watched ‘The Adam Project” last night on @Lynn’s recommendation. Very enjoyable, despite the many gaps (WTH are they doing on the missions back in time?) in the storyline.
I was in the room while D1 watched the Adam Project. I liked what I saw.
And a strong male character, how refreshing. Although he did have to be saved by his@ss kicking grrl wife.
N
Arrived at church this morning to multiple problems in the media department. I am no longer in charge having given up that job. Apparently I am the only that can solve problems.
1. The graphics (scriptures, lyrics) are not appearing on the screen. Due to two problems. An input on a monitor had been switched to a secondary input. A cable was disconnected from the matrix switch. The pastor had some new cables run to new monitors in the foyer, terminated and connected the cables himself. In the process of connecting to the matrix switch the pastor did not use the special tool and knocked another cable loose.
2. None of the lower thirds graphics were loaded into the switcher. Who, or what deleted those items is unknown. Required loading a backup of the switcher settings from a couple of weeks in the past.
3. Powerpoint for pre-service graphics were not advancing. I asked the person if they set the pages to auto advance. The answer was yes. I restarted Powerpoint, started the show, and the slides advanced until stopping on one slide. I checked that slide and sure enough auto-advance was not checked. I fixed all the slides, saved the show and restarted.
4. The Powerpoint show was not set for presenter's view. Thus the slides only displayed on the monitor, not on the HDMI output used to send the pages to the video switcher. I had to reconfigure Powerpoint. This was caused by the clods in the IT company hired by the church to maintain the computers. They messed up the video configuration which I had to reconfigure properly.
5. The monitors installed in the foyer don't work. The pastor is the one that terminated the connections and did not do the job properly. Wednesday I need to go in to the church and properly terminate all the cables. I will have eight connections to redo I suspect. Naturally the pastor did not label the cables properly so I also have to locate the proper cables and label those cables.
As I've noted before, if you are a "Next Generation" fan, the "Nepthene" episode of "Picard" is pure fan service without a lot of cr*p and rates as a "must see" on the same level as "Nemesis". Heck, you'll even see decent acting out of Marina Sirtis in an episode for the first time in 35 years.
The biggest problem with "Picard" IMHO is that they waited too long and everybody got old. Really old and not just 80s era movies with the original cast old.
Your consultant's fee should be high. Very high. Even if it is not in cash. High enough that they are motivated to learn, and to do better in the future. They should fear to need your help.
Almost a month now without Amazon Prime, and life has not ended. I still get “free” shipping, just slower now, and have to consolidate orders. Some things even arrive as quickly as they did with Prime. I ordered an Apple Watch and it arrived in 3 days instead of 5.
I thought it sucked.
I liked the series. I'm not sure why. I also liked "Fringe". Maybe due to John Noble.
"Wild Sign (Alpha and Omega)" by Patricia Briggs
https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Alpha-Omega-Patricia-Briggs/dp/0440001609?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number six of the six book Alpha and Omega fantasy series. The series is a spinoff of the excellent Mercy Thompson series. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Ace in 2022. I will read any future books in either of the series.
200 years ago, Bran (the Wolf who rules) rescued Leah his current mate, from an evil being who was trying to ascend themselves to being a god in Northern California. Today, a small back to nature group is living in the area on Leah's land that she still owns. And the group of people are now missing.
BTW, Coyote joins the story near the end and explains what Mercy Thompson is.
My rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (10,423 reviews)
I just setup Calibre on my M1 MacBook. I keep the library on Dropbox. Now to get the Apprentice Alf DRM plugin, just in case.
Small asteroid detected, would impact Earth. Here's the info.
https://scitechdaily.com/chance-of-impact-100-fifth-asteroid-ever-discovered-before-impact/
Just a little guy, and not much advance warning of impact. Impact was somewhere north of Iceland. Nobody was able to film the impact, but it was verified.
Meet 'Scot', the 1,600-pound great white shark swimming off Florida's coast.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/27/us/great-white-shark-florida-scn-trnd/index.html
Let's be careful out there.
May he live long, and prosper.
I got a package from a USPS Ford Transit van today. I suspect that USPS is ordering all the Oshkosh delivery vans so they can get the same vehicles everywhere. A mechanic in one place will have common training, etc.
What training?
Ford will supply the engines and transmissions for the Oshkosh vans, but they aren't going to be stock Transit. EcoBoost would be a maintenance nightmare, and overdrive transmissions are pointless at USPS vehicle speeds.
Modern 8 and 10 speed OD transmissions are also pointless if the Feds return the Interstate speed limits to 55 MPH. Things that make you say “Hmmm….”
Check for burn bans if you are west/north of town. https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/TexasBurnBans/
That's what it seems like to me too. The PO has been moving our rural carriers from private vehicles into official postal-provided ones. They already have contracts with local garages – whether a dealership or an independent – for all the maintenance.
This will be a HUGE help to keep substitute carriers on the payroll. "Career" rural carriers earn so much between wages and mileage (depending on route size, not unusual on a long route to clear 6 figures when all is said and done) that several out here drive new-bought high end vehicles such as Jeep Saharas and very nice, heavy, diesel pickups to deliver the mail. Their subs, tho, don't make but a pittance per hour with few hours guaranteed while required to be available without notice to run the route if the carrier calls in sick. So subs in small towns often drive rattletrap old vehicles because they can't afford better. Having a company van will make a world of difference to them!
I don't know about carriers driving official postal vehicles, but the mail trucks that run on the highways bringing mail from the regional sorting centers to all the small towns, have to drive 55 mph, regardless. Most of them even have governors on them.
With the residential delivery vehicles, the issue is constant starting and stopping at every house. They don't have much chance to get up to speed, except when travelling from the PO to the first neighborhood of their route.
Something is rotten in Denver:
https://kdvr.com/news/local/71-year-old-released-from-jail-after-marking-pickleball-court/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark
https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/trending/mayor-pickleball-denver-accused-causing-10k-damages-court/6AC5YERSTRB5HGBGX5HDF5RI6A/
Two observations:
1) A rec room floor is not used and maintained at a high enough level to warrant completely refinishing the floor to take out a few spots. In particular, if people are allowed to walk on that floor with street shoes, a countersuit for malicious prosecution is in order.
2) If a supervisor can't get Sharpie off the floor without destroying the finish, they need a new supervisor. A new purchasing department, too, as the floor finish either wasn't spec'ed properly, or they didn't get what they ordered.
@Greg Norton
Thanks for the recommendation, but aside from highlights, not a fan. I watched 95% of ST:NG when originally aired, and picked up the missed episodes on second broadcast where possible. A lot of the writing was trite and tiresome at the time, and has not aged well. It’s rare that I will watch an episode on H&I.
Segueing to other TV shows, I have a question about Highlander (The Immortal). The multi-national financing and filming location split between Vancouver and Paris was unique for the time, and led to the U.S. audience getting the shaft in the form of missing 4 minutes per episode as compared to the Euro release.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103442/
I have the complete VHS series which includes the missing 4 minutes. When it was released to DVD was the 4 minutes included? Seems there would be an answer without comparing copies in hand, but I haven't found it.
The counter argument is "Juan of the Dead", made by people who live there within the last decade.
If you like that movie then try "He Never Died" on Netflix. Hint: "he" is mentioned in the Bible. And not in a good way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyWralJ2pkk
Warning: “He” is a part time cannibal.
I was speaking in general terms. If that idea is actually implemented, all of the manufacturer's plans to deal with 54 MPG CAFE in 2025 go straight into the dumpster.
That's probably the point of Mayor Pete floating the trial balloon.
@Ray
Be conscious as to the choices you are making. Your life, your choices. You can be too nice.
That's what it seems like to me too. The PO has been moving our rural carriers from private vehicles into official postal-provided ones. They already have contracts with local garages – whether a dealership or an independent – for all the maintenance.
This will be a HUGE help to keep substitute carriers on the payroll. "Career" rural carriers earn so much between wages and mileage (depending on route size, not unusual on a long route to clear 6 figures when all is said and done) that several out here drive new-bought high end vehicles such as Jeep Saharas and very nice, heavy, diesel pickups to deliver the mail. Their subs, tho, don't make but a pittance per hour with few hours guaranteed while required to be available without notice to run the route if the carrier calls in sick. So subs in small towns often drive rattletrap old vehicles because they can't afford better. Having a company van will make a world of difference to them!
Our RFD carrier at the house retired last year and took her four door right hand drive Jeep with her. She had a neat rotating yellow light on the roof. Some of the replacement carriers use their own vehicles but others have been using USPS vehicles. The old USPS Jeeps are really getting ratty.
Our RFD carrier at the office drives a five year old black Chevy truck. He pulls the entire 20+ mile route that we are on. Probably 500 or 600 houses and businesses. When he is gone, our mail delivery sucks. The replacements skip our mailbox constantly, both picking up and dropping off. I have often wondered what they do when they get to the end of the road and have our mail leftover. Since the end of the road is the Brazos River, they could just throw it in the river.
And the pseudo-sequel "She Never Died". I haven't seen either, but have both on my Apple server.
Along with the gubs that have been tossed.
I don't mind helping, I just don't want to be in charge. I want to be able to leave for a couple of weeks without issue. I don't want to stream funerals and weddings. I don't want to have to chase down camera operators each Sunday. I don't want to hear complaints when stuff does not work.
Silly you. Tell that to my wife and the kids I take cell phones from while in school.
@ec, ech? neat map. The county isn't under a burn ban thankfully. There are signs on the roadside showing fire risk as 'moderate' today, although I'll admit just going by what the neighbors said, not checking with official sources. There were lots of other burns going on on the route up there.
Smoke was heavy in the air on my trip up.
Met some more neighbors. Tactical shorts, clip knife in front pocket. Mentioned taking down his Trump 2024 sign flag.
And met some today that live a few blocks from us here in Houston… and are also neighbors at the lake. Not as 'small world' as it might be, given our friend who alerted us also lives near us in Houston. Some of the families up there are on the second generation in the house, headed for the third.
n
@Lynn, I deleted my comment because after posting, I discovered I had totally missed the point that you were talking about carriers in two different locations.
I think I will back away from the keyboard until I resume being able to read LOL
That hasn't stopped other commenters here from posting … so you might be in (good?) company.
Something something, glass house, something something, stones, yards yadda.
found this at https://www.securityinfowatch.com/ces/article/21252325/tech-notes-from-day-1-of-ces-2022
n
so you might be in (good?) company.
— the BEST company!
n
You heard it here first.
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/musk-said-russia-would-need-fire-lot-anti-satellite-missiles-take-out-starlink
— yup
n
Ya don't need missiles to take out Starlink or other LEO satellites. Lasers are sufficient, and can be fired many times for low cost… once the laser is built. Guess who *might* have such lasers?
"Will Smith Strikes Chris Rock At Academy Awards After He Joked His Wife Looks Like G.I. Jane"
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/03/27/will_smith_punches_chris_rock_at_academy_award.html
You know, making jokes about your wife's disease is just about as low as one can go.
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
@ray
Boundaries are good. They force people to step up. Church is full of sinners, including pastors. A little humbling is good for the soul. Any of these things going wrong I suspect will mostly impact other people’s pride. Those watching from home may experience some aggravation. Being human is messy. People will learn from their mistakes if they’re allowed to suffer the consequences.
You have a great deal of justifiable pride in what you’ve accomplished. You’ve documented the work and set a high work ethic. You’ve made it appear effortless and it’s ok for folks to struggle into the realization it was anything but effortless.
Christian love, I think, doesn’t preclude this church suffering a few embarrassing missteps with their video production.
You have been a good and faithful servant.
That's a shame. I really enjoyed the first season, haven't decided about the second yet. That's a vote against. OTOH, what TV we watch is now almost all BBC and Swiss, and almost entirely non-fiction.
It's fun, having a new property 🙂 Adds more to the "to do" list, but that's life.
We just took over the small apartment we bought, mostly to use for guests. Lots of little stuff to do there, as well. Whoever installed the ceiling lights (which we dislike), did the usual amateur trick of painting _around_ the bases. I'm going to try to match the paint color, to avoid complete repainting, but you know how that's likely to go…
And Alaska is being whacky again. A beloved 60+ year festival got renamed to some generic Anytown woke name and the community and surrounding areas unleashed a fury of condemnation on the instigators. Four of them resigned and they took it all back. Reading between the lines they’ll still do the name change but this time with community feedback.
Also, Alaska had the questionable honor of falling under the gimlet gaze of Gateway Pundit. Our politics are an embarrassment to any thinking human.
Wiped out from yesterday’s volunteering gig at the science fair. Learned some interesting stuff and have no criticism of the team for the things that went wretchedly wrong. That they pulled it off at all is a miracle of intestinal fortitude and brute determination. Effectively six people (four from same family) did all of the considerable work in the weeks/months lead up. Scores of people turned out day of fair to make it happen. The kids I think had little awareness of the turbulence just under the surface.
Next year will be better. And I’m officially sucked in. This fair is worth saving, -especially- because our local school district has refused to encourage participation or aid. Our school district ruins everything it touches.
It was a fantastic experience. The core team is without ego. Lots of practicing Christians actively involved in the volunteer work. I think the left in Anchorage would have you believe a practicing Christian is a superstitious meat head lacking any concept of scientific method or desire to be analytical. Not the case.
Family dinner tonight. Lots of conversation about the fair and volunteer work. Good stuff. We are in spring thaw, colloquially called ‘breakup’, and the road in front of our house is a strut busting disaster. 24” ruts on sheer sheets of ice. I got out with my Mini. Barely. I very much want to do the 2” lift kit.
We are in spring thaw, colloquially called ‘breakup’, and the road in front of our house is a strut busting disaster. 24” ruts on sheer sheets of ice. I got out with my Mini. Barely. I very much want to do the 2” lift kit.
You sure you don’t want a 2’ lift kit? 24” ruts are killers.
Yikes! A lifted Mini would look strange. Winter is hard on cars. I am glad I live where it is mostly dry.
Organizing events like that is a thankless task. The participants have no idea of the hours that have to be invested and the endless details that you need to get right. And at the end – what goes totally unseen by the general public: there's just as much clean-up as there was set-up. Respect to anyone who manages to pull one of these events off.
Off to work just now (sitting in the train). I may have volunteered to supervise too many student projects – you should see my schedule of meetings for the next two weeks. It's nuts. Thankfully, most companies are still happy to do virtual meetings, or I'd be spending my life in the train…