Time and tide wait for no man. Or wo-man.
Supposed to be clear today, with moderate to warm temps. Humidity will probably be Houston normal. I’m going to wish we’d gotten more done in the attic before too long…
And more done on the bathroom, and more done in the garage, and more done with the garden.
Garden is my focus today. I’m really starting to fret over food. I took a good look at the ag extension garden recommendations and I am late for getting the garden in in Houston. I’m on time for the BOL, but both locations would do better with transplants than seeds. I feel like I need to get something in the ground, even though it might not be ideal.
At the lake the area I rototilled is about 20ft x 30ft. It’s on a slight slope and the rows need to be across the slope. Unfortunately, that is 90 degrees to how I’d want them based on the sun. Instead of one row of this and one row of that, I’ll have to change plants as the row goes along, because of height and hours of sunlight. Well, to be optimal for sun I’d have to, but I might just do the rows anyway. It’s gonna come down to what’s tallest and does it block the next row…
Since fencing has gone up to crazy high costs, I’ve been watching my auctions for substitutes or “creative” things I can use. I won two lots of fencing last night. They are 4 foot tall lightweight metal grid panels, and are intended to keep kids out of an in-ground pool. They should work to fence in the garden. I might even just add a wire above the fence to help keep the deer out. I’ll have to keep watching for more to completely fence it in. Until I can get the fence set, I’ll just put metal hardware cloth over the rows to keep the grazers from nibbling, and the diggers from eating the seeds.
I got a quote from the auction to deliver the remainder of my pipes, and I’m taking them up on the offer. It’s almost break even between the trailer and the gas, and it saves me a solid 4 hours of life, and a special trip up there. It pushes the cost of the pipe up, but still FAR less than retail and they are crazy heavy and strong compared to normal fencing. So much to strong that it will be a waste to use them as fence posts but it’s what I have.
Here at home I need to get some transplants into the beds. My wife misunderstood my request and threw out my sprouted heirloom potatoes, so that won’t be going in, unless lowes has some in stock. The rest will probably be beans and peppers in different varieties. Some will be root veg if I can find space. It won’t be enough for more than a few dinners but it is something. And hey, yesterday’s dinner included a pound of collard greens from last year’s plants, which are doing great and have taken over a whole bed. Last year’s asparagus just bolted this year. Not one stalk graced my plate.
It would be nice to re-plant my “window boxes” hanging on the fence, but I might not get to them.
The blueberry bushes are setting leaves and flowers, so I need to get them back under their bird netting.
The potted lime did not come back with spring. The potted grapefruit did though. The apple tree is budding, the peach has leaves coming in. The well established orange, grapefruit, and Meyer lemon were killed by last year’s freeze. I’ve decided not to replant them. Other than the Meyer lemon, they are too hard to keep alive in the cold. I think we’re headed into long term cooling not warming, so planting cold-sensitive citrus is foolish.
Both varieties of grape vine died back to the ground with the big freeze, but both look like they are still alive. The green grape variety has always been stronger and faster to grow, and it is already climbing back up the arbor. The red is not vigorous, so we’ll see what it does this year before the caterpillars come. In any case, no grapes this year no matter how crazy the vines are.
I’ve got some tree pruning to do too. Kids are home today, but wife is at work. We’ll see how much, if any, help I get.
Get your garden started. Get your pantry filled. Get some of it offsite and secret and safe. Stack it high.
nick
Stopped at McDonald’s for lunch on the way to the RV site. Noticed that the Big Mac’s are now smaller than before yet cost the same.
Another indication of shrinkflation.
Taxes are done for the year. We still get some money in a refund even though we had to pay back the JoeBux “advance” on the child credit. I generally try not to get much of a refund and usually paid most years over the last decade until the new personal exemptions kicked in under Trump’s tax deal that capped the SALT deduction.
We still do better under the personal exemption … for now. We’ll see what Apple does to my property taxes next year. And a lot of Tesla employees live up here even though the factory is an hour away in awful traffic.
Which reminds me – reviewing the property tax assessment, I can appeal around the edges but it still wouldn’t make any difference. Two of the houses are iffy for inclusion, but the other three are solid comparables.
@greg, use one of the lawfirms that splits any savings with you but otherwise doesn’t cost anything to challenge. We got $50 one year doing that (they take all the risk of wasted time.) We usually get some relief when we challenge. The year I tried to do it myself, the adjudicator looked at me, said “you cherry picked those low comps” so I said “you cherry picked the high comps!” She looked back at me an said “it ain’t gonna happen this year.”
We’ve used the lawyers ever since.
n
64F and 89%RH this am. Clear and sunny so far. I hope it stays cool. That would make working outside much more pleasant.
n
I will look at the law firms, but thanks to Apple, I would need comparables of $200k less to make any difference in my assessment increase. All of the houses around here were built within the same decade, and all I can do is pick at things like cul-de-sac location or deep back yard. $20-30k tops. I’m sure the paralegals at the law firms would figure out the same thing.
Of course, 10 year T-bills at ~ 6% would make $200k drop in the market values here happen real fast, but I’m not holding my breath.
Volker-esque 13% 30 year fixed mortgage rates like the 80s? Dare to dream.
OTOH, that’s when people would start shooting each other over “property value” issues. I got death threats about my sod from the Bat Guano neighbors 15 years ago in a 6.5% environment during the early days of the bubble.
@Ray: Hah! I can remember living on the Tuesday $0.19 burgers in school…
Shrinkflation is a thing though. I bought a bag of birdseed and went about refilling my heavy duty bins that I store it in. Usually takes a bin and a half – but this time an entire bag only filled one bin.
When I was in college, we drank $2 pitchers of beer. Now you would be hard pressed to find $2 bottles at a bar.
n
Terror at our border: Agents caught 23 people on US terror watchlist crossing southern border in 2021, including suspects from Saudi Arabia and Yemen
Back from a 5-day leisure visit to Memphis, Tennessee. Good times. Ate lots of BBQ and communed with Elvis.
Looks like Mrs Bieber is recovered from her “emergency brain injury”. Seriously that is a good thing. Fully vaxed 21yo hospitalized with a sudden brain issue is not good no matter who or why. She was missing from the social blurbs on DM for long enough that I noticed it.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10728643/Hailey-Bieber-shows-taut-abs-gray-crop-Kendall-Jenner-dons-shirt-boobs-it.html
n
Nick, regarding your fenceposts and similar needs, consider concrete. I have a friend who needed to fence 17 acres a long time ago. He said homemade concrete posts were about as cheap as he could figure. He made a four cavity mold out of plywood and some lumber. Every day after work, he dumped out the previous day’s posts, mixed some concrete, and poured a new batch. On Saturdays he set the week’s posts. In a year or so, he had the perimeter done.
The posts were 5” square, tapering to 3.5” square, with a single rebar up the middle. They were 8’ long, to allow for a 6’ fence. The fencing was 5’ of wire mesh with two or three strands of barbed wire at the top. He said it was strong enough to keep horses and some cattle. It is still standing after more than forty years.
You might consider concrete stanchions for your dock if it needs fixing-up. Underwater, concrete will be fine, but you will need to protect the steel inside. There are ways. Such things could easily outlast you, in addition to being an inexpensive solution.
With the high cost of lumber, I am thinking I might take a look at casting my own beams for a loft project. Only problem is that they would need a lot of steel, and that is probably expensive. Still, scrap might be suitable. Need to do some thinking. Many ways to skin a cat.
—took ya long enough to notice….
or it became too obvious to hide. Some more people are going to put 2 and 2 together.
Did I mention that article saying Kazakstan halted exports? And that 70 nations rely on Kazakstan for food?
n
@jimb, that’s not a bad idea. In the neighborhood where my rent house is, the original street signs were cast concrete posts with the intersecting street names on the appropriate sides.
I’ve been thinking about using the super heavy galvanized pipes as supports for the dock, and thinking about dumping concrete mix into them. Even if the pipe eventually rusts away (and it surely would last longer than wood in fresh water) the concrete core would remain…
I’m looking for non-traditional means and materials…
n
Eighty years ago today …
I’ve been thinking about using the super heavy galvanized pipes as supports for the dock, and thinking about dumping concrete mix into them. Even if the pipe eventually rusts away (and it surely would last longer than wood in fresh water) the concrete core would remain…
I’m looking for non-traditional means and materials…
IDK how long that sch 80 galvanized pipe would last. There are a lot of variables, and it would be good to see how other installations are holding up. As in your street signposts, it is better to have the concrete on the outside, both for strength and for corrosion resistance. I would suggest encasing the pipe in concrete. You might not need a mold, but it would make the job easier. There are additives to make concrete less permeable to water and protect the inner steel, but I have no experience. IANACE (I am not a Civil Engineer.) 🙂
As for non-traditional means and materials, how about using some appropriate sized thin PVC or other plastic pipe, Support the rebar inside, and fill with a mixture of cement, pea gravel, and sand. Use a little more water in the mix so it flows easily and sticks to the rebar or pipe. The plastic could protect the concrete from water. If you only need, say, a dozen, it could be pretty affordable. I would bet you could find some castoff plastic pipe or tubing cheap.
Stopped at McDonald’s for lunch on the way to the RV site. Noticed that the Big Mac’s are now smaller than before yet cost the same.
Another indication of shrinkflation.
I got a Quarter Pounder With Cheese in Carrollton, TX two weeks ago. They were open after midnight and I was starving. The bill was $5.50, no fries, no drink. Wow !
About time:
Federal judge smacks down Biden admin/CDC mask mandate for airplanes & other public transportation
CDC edicts and Presidential Eos are not laws. Make Congress earn their pay, or take it away.
PLT outrage will start with “hang that judge, she’s raycissss”.
I wonder what malarkey plugs will come up with to challenge the ruling. Take it to SCOTUS ASAP. If they have any spine to deal with it. Unconstitutional, is SCOTUSs bailiwick, is it not?
That was the cost of a Wendy’s single in Austin near the airport pre-pandemic. Drink was $2.25 which put my trips to Wendy’s at $7.75 plus tax.
Wendy’s was $60 for four when we left WA State. I half joke that Vantucky lives 10 years into the future of the US.
In 2014, living the future was 30% real unemployment, 25% of the residents on food stamps, retail consisting of big box stores, and Papa Murphy’s as the dominant pizza chain because they can take EBT cards.
2024 for the rest of the US sounds about right.
“NUKE DANGER: Moment Putin’s nuclear bomber flies close to Ukraine border in major war escalation”
https://www.the-sun.com/news/5145610/putins-sends-nuclear-bomber-close-to-ukraine-border/
After Putin finishes trashing Ukraine and stealing anything of worth, is he going to nuke it ?
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
There is some cool stuff about space weather here…
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/dashboards
n
The US used all of the Strategic Air Command bomber types in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The British papers seem to want WW III today.
Because NOBODY else has ever used a nuclear capable bomber with conventional munitions.
I HATE clickbait.
This is just Putin playing dirty tricks. More, and dirtier, to come. How about covert teams with SAMs sneaking around Poland, etc.?
“Twitter board gets an ‘F’ for dealing with Elon Musk: former SEC chairman”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/twitter-board-gets-an-f-for-dealing-with-elon-musk-former-sec-chairman-163756232.html
The Twitter board does not own the company, that is a bad sign. And Musk now has Jack Dorsey in his corner.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/18/twitters-ex-ceo-criticizes-board-musk-says-they-own-almost-no-shares.html
This is just Putin playing dirty tricks. More, and dirtier, to come. How about covert teams with SAMs sneaking around Poland, etc.?
War is nothing but dirty tricks. If I was Putin, I would be establishing SAM sites on the Ukraine – Polish border and shoot down anything crossing the border. Putin has nothing to lose at this point as his friends in China and India will continue to buy his energy products (at the friends discount !).
I determined that no matter what, I am getting a refund. So I filed the form 4868 extension as I need to research loss in Sub S corporations and investment basis.
I’m not working Cochella. Could have in previous years. Didn’t even get asked this year.
SO glad…
“F You for objectifying my body, but here’s a picture of my @ss.”
Crazy is either nature or nurture, but it can clearly be passed down.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10727881/Willow-Smith-parties-Coachella-crop-mini-skirt-performing-Revolve-Festival.html
n
Now he’s taking direction from the Easter Bunny.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10729139/Easter-bunny-interrupts-Biden-takes-selfies-kids-starts-discussing-Afghanistan.html
CDC’s latest guidance…
–both my in laws had it two weeks ago. Both fully recovered. Mild symptoms only.
and yep, fully vaxed and still mostly staying home.
n
As long as you paid 90% of any due amount, you are good.
“Willow Smith shows off her daring Coachella look.”
LOL. Not even a D-lister. Why would anybody pay her to “perform”.
Get tested before and after travel. More fat cats getting rich off of goobermint largesse. Tests are free, shots are free, boosters are free…it is just money, print more. It’s almost like plugs is testing of Medicare-For-All.
I’ve seen a picture of Willow Smith. That picture spoke to me. It said, “Train wreck. Daddy issues.”
re the *resident and the Easter Bunny, he probably thought it was just another of his hallucinations.
I’ve yet to see a test kit that wasn’t Hecho en China, “EUA only”, with fine Engrish instructions.
Even the kits my employer sends are pretty much the same as what is available at CVS.
It looks like a guy with MOOBS. I don’t want to see it naked to find out otherwise. I will leave that adventure to Mr. SteveF who has seen worse.
Not to be outdone by The Daily Mail or The Sun in the warmongering department, this dropped from The Mirror today.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/zelensky-warns-russian-nuclear-attack-26730111
Mask Kabuki is done on the airlines and other forms of public transit.
Crotch gropings by the TSA will continue, however.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/18/florida-judge-overturns-cdc-mask-mandate-for-public-transit-planes.html
Harvey!
With the masks off it is now easier to kiss the TSA agents when they grope the nether regions. I do wonder if the TSA agents will continue to wear masks.
Doesn’t that describe “Mr. X” himself?
He left out “weed addicted”.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/apr/18/scientists-hope-to-broadcast-dna-and-earths-location-for-curious-aliens
https://organism.earth/library/document/mr-x
“Treecat Wars (3) (Star Kingdom)” by David Weber and Jane Lindskold
https://www.amazon.com/Treecat-Wars-Star-Kingdom-Weber/dp/1476736634?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number three of a four book young adult space opera series. This series is part of the huge Honorverse series of books, probably approaching thirty books now. I reread the well printed and well bound trade paperback published by Baen in 2014 that I bought in 2014 from Amazon. I will purchase book four when it comes out in paperback.
Fifteen year old Stephanie Harrington has been living on Sphinx in the Manticore binary star system for four Terran years. There are barely two million people living on Sphinx, in part due to the harsh five Terran year cycle around Manticore-A, and the deadly plagues that Stephanie’s mother was brought in to help cure. Stephanie has bonded with a treecat she named Lionheart after they fought and killed a five meter hexapuma together.
Winter is coming to Sphinx. And winter on Sphinx lasts 1.25 Terran years. The long summer dried out the forests and the fires were many, killing many of the treecats and burning their food. And searching for new lands for the damaged clans is dangerous as the path goes through other clans wary of sharing their food.
The animals on Sphinx are quite unusual, all of them are hexapods, six legged. The number one predator on the planet is a very dangerous five meter long feline named the hexapuma. Other predators such as the three meter near bear exist also. And many uncatalogued mammals also.
My review from 2013: “Book number three in a series of three books. I do not know if there will be more books in the series. I like the fact that Baen published this book in trade paperback format with a YA price.
After the great fires across the planet, many of the treecats no longer have a place to live with available food. Finding a place to live without existing treecats is not easy and not all treecats are friendly to clans crossing their land.”
The author has an excellent website at:
http://www.davidweber.net/
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (470 reviews)
What is the story with Sun Chips ? The original Sun Chips have not been in the stores for quite a while, maybe months. They did have the Sun Chips Salsa but the wife and daughter do not like those.
I should have known better than to make plans. Wife had a list for me, ‘cuz “day off”.
At least a few things are a bit cleaner.
n
For many years, I’ve known some experienced petroleum geologists who have noticed this in their fields, and have been saying, privately, that they think the earth is still making oil in large quantities.
It is weird the things that have gone missing. Dollar General only has their brand of corn chips in the Chili Cheese flavor. No plain ones. They taste exactly like Fritos, but at a third the price.
King’s Hawaiian Bread is no longer being made in loaves, only in buns. The little Methodist church we’ve been going to (two blocks away) used to use the loaves for their communion. One of the members has begun baking a sweet loaf to replace it. He makes good bread! And they tear off a big piece, so there’s a lot of chewing at communion! 🙂
Blame Guy Fieri for that change.
Forget days off, my wife and mother-in-law cannot get it through their heads that when I’m at my work desk during the day, I’m working. You know, the thing that brings in 65% of the household’s gross income? The thing that provides about 125% of the household’s discretionary funds? (Meaning that my wife’s after-tax income is lower than her spending. The vacation that she, the daughter, and some friends are on now is necessary and important. It’s for the family! Never mind that she doesn’t have the money to pay the utility bill!) It gets tiresome, every now and again.
Just searched for King’s Hawaiian Bread, and it is available in lots of places, but only sliced that I could find. I remember when it was new to me. It was a novelty, but too sweet and soft. I favor Italian breads: hearty inside and crusty outside. Second is good French bread, but too hard on the inside.
The supermarket shortage which bugs me the most is juice boxes. Two-liter bottles are plentiful and in decent variety, if not quite as good as a couple years ago, but the boxes are hard to come by. I’m talking about 100% juice; HFCS garbage is readily available but I won’t buy that.
Before you ask, yes, the girls are a bit old to be needing juice boxes. A portion of the boxes are for some younger kids whom I let come over to give their mom a break (this is the family whose dad picked up some flesh-eating crud in the hospital but who officially died of the Chinese bioweapon) and otherwise juice boxes are convenient in the car when I’m driving four or five teens home from school and they’re dying, literally dying, of thirst because they just finished two hours of sports practice. I’d just as soon buy half-liter bottles of juice or even pour from 2L bottles into water bottles or flasks for use in the car, but the former aren’t available and the latter don’t seem to work out for a variety of reasons. (Reasons mainly involving teens having about the same ability to plan ahead as a dog. And I’m not talking about a smart dog, either, but a shih-tsu or some similar embarrassment to the species.)
I love Kings Hawaiian bread in the little dinner rolls. Costco has the big two pack, but I can get a smaller single tray at HEB. They even have their own store brand version (but it isn’t as good.)
They are just not for everything. I will sometimes put 4-6 in a foil pouch and warm them in the oven as actual dinner rolls. Super good. But mainly I was using them for D2’s lunch sandwiches. She likes the little ‘sliders’.
If I’ve had the package open for a bit too long and there are still some left, I toast them (by laying each half ACROSS the opening of the toaster slot) and have them with my eggs for breakfast.
They keep very well in the freezer, just pop the original packaging in there. Take them out the night before you need them.
n
The little Methodist church we’ve been going to (two blocks away) used to use the loaves for their communion.
– I thought Methodists only did Communion on special feast days? That’s what I remember from my summer bible study classes at our local Methodist church, but that was a LONG time ago…
n
>> They were 8’ long, to allow for a 6’ fence.
@JimB, that’s a lot of two foot holes to dig. Do you know how many posts were required for the entire fence?
>> Stopped at McDonald’s for lunch on the way to the RV site. Noticed that the Big Mac’s are now smaller than before yet cost the same.
And the “Dollar Menu” is now the $1 / $2 / $3 menu and not much left in the $1 category.
King’s Hawaiian Bread is no longer being made in loaves, only in buns. The little Methodist church we’ve been going to (two blocks away) used to use the loaves for their communion. One of the members has begun baking a sweet loaf to replace it. He makes good bread! And they tear off a big piece, so there’s a lot of chewing at communion!
Have the Methodists always used leavened bread ? I thought that only the Greek Orthodox used leavened bread. Do you rip off your own piece ?
The Church of Christ uses unleavened bread (unsalted crackers). We used to pass a big cracker around in a tray and you broke off a corner. Then we had trays passed around with individual open juice cups. But since the Koof started, we have little individual packets that you grab on the way in. We celebrate an open communion every Sunday.
https://www.amazon.com/Celebration-Cup-Prefilled-Communion-Juice/dp/B002TOB1JY?tag=ttgnet-20/
I bought a better brand of communion cups for the wife and I to bring in for ourselves. One of my friends found it.
https://www.amazon.com/TrueVine-Chalice-Prefilled-Communion-Wafer/dp/B08DL8T73H?tag=ttgnet-20/
>> As for non-traditional means and materials, how about using some appropriate sized thin PVC or other plastic pipe, Support the rebar inside, and fill with a mixture of cement, pea gravel, and sand. Use a little more water in the mix so it flows easily and sticks to the rebar or pipe. The plastic could protect the concrete from water. If you only need, say, a dozen, it could be pretty affordable. I would bet you could find some castoff plastic pipe or tubing cheap.
IIRC white PVC (plumbing) pipe is not UV resistant vs gray PVC (electrical) conduit which is. Not sure how much UV penetrates the water but something to consider.
>> And I’m not talking about a smart dog, either, but a shih-tsu or some similar embarrassment to the species.
Ohh, those are dogs? I thought they were just some of those extra-large NYFC rats.
Dust mops, but they are cute from a distance…
n
And my little guy HATES possums, which is unfortunate as we seem to be suffering from an excess of them at the moment.
n
>> And my little guy HATES possums, which is unfortunate as we seem to be suffering from an excess of them at the moment.
Catch em, clean em and can em for the stacks. They taste like chicken, right??
@JimB, that’s a lot of two foot holes to dig. Do you know how many posts were required for the entire fence?
I am guessing about 350. He had a small tractor with a boom mounted auger to dig the holes. He also had a low-boy trailer to move the posts, which probably weighed about 100 pounds each. He rigged a way to pick them up with the front bucket on the tractor. All-in-all, there was not much heavy physical work involved until he had to string the mesh and the wire. Our soil makes for nice holes and easy backfilling.
I didn’t mention that he also made guard posts that were 8” square and 8’ long, buried about 4’. These protected his corners and gates from stray cars. Some folks only respect large immovable objects that their cars bounce off. The guard posts had four pieces of rebar in them. None ever broke, despite some scars.
He is another of people I say do not sleep. He finished that fence in about a year working alone. It is impressive what one person can do if they work steadily.
The Twitter board is elected by the shareholders. Of course, that is often a special kind of game: I elect you to this board, you elect me to that board. Often it’s a payola kind of position as well: lots of money for attending a few meetings.
Adopting a poison-pill, because they don’t like Musk’s politics? Or because they fear for their lucrative board seats? It is entirely likely they have opened the door to personal liability suits, for failing to promote the interests of the shareholders.
Of course it is – I mean, the process is understood. Time, heat, pressure. Still, it’s a geological process. It is unlikely that existing fields would replenish at any noticable rate – more probably the field is simply more extensive than originally expected, and oil is flowing in from other parts of the deposit.
I’m somewhat familiar with the soil. A cousin of mine in Texas used to be a general contractor. He did amazing work, for everyone but himself. On his own property, he put in a fence in that good Texas soil: Dig hole, set post in hole, toss in a dab of cement. Then came a dry year, the soil shrank, the holes opened, and the fence fell over.
I usually dig wide holes, with flat bottoms. Add enough cement to make a stable “foot” for the post. A lot more work, but imho worth it.