Sat. May 21, 2022 – home this weekend, plenty to do here

Hot and humid, again.  We’re in that season- summer.  Gonna be kinda monotonous unless there’s a hurry-cane or something… 83F when I went to bed.

Made it home yesterday in time for dinner.   Did a lot of driving for my pickups, and getting something for my non-prepping hobby added a couple of hours and lots of miles as it was an hour south of Houston.  The rest of the stuff was preps or for the BOL.

Got stuff going on today here at home.   D1 had a birthday this week, so we’re doing her thing today.  She mainly wants attention, so we’re going to try mightily to give her some… she wants family game night all day.  I hope I can keep my sanity.

If I can’t, I’ll take it out on shrubberies…   or other stuff in the back yard.   I’ve got quite a long list of stuff to do at home, so I can always take a break from Exploding Kittens ™ and do something.

I’ll be trying to take it a bit easy, as all of yesterday’s loading and unloading, along with 6 hours in the driver’s seat has my back hurting again.  Sucks to get old.  Sucks to be decrepit.   Never thought I’d live this long, or I would have taken better care of myself.   I tell myself that, but I know I wouldn’t have.  NO ONE believes they’ll be old and worn out when they’re young.

Look at your stacks.  Stack more where the stacks are thin.

 

nick

46 Comments and discussion on "Sat. May 21, 2022 – home this weekend, plenty to do here"

  1. Geoff Powell says:

    It’s that time of year again, when I volunteer to do sound reinforcement for a traditional observance. Festivities start at 14:30 with a procession. I have nothing to with that.

    Once the procession returns, I need to be ready with music to play the people onto the field, and then amplify an electric piano and an announcer.

    Once all that’s done, I play recessional music, before packing up, and hopefully being able to join the others of the team for a lid of tea and a bun. Last time (2019, before the covidpocalypse) I didn’t manage that last – I was packing up in the rain.

    Weather forecast looks good this time.

    G.

  2. brad says:

    I guess when you’re the richest man in the world “no” is not in your vocabulary.

    That is quite likely true.

    Still, some skepticism is advisable. Note that it isn’t the woman herself who came forward, but another flight attendant who claims to be a friend. Yes, the friend had some documents to show, but she’s not a directly involved party.

    It’s also interesting timing, coming out during the Twitter adventure.

  3. SteveF says:

    Still, some skepticism is advisable. … It’s also interesting timing, coming out during the Twitter adventure.

    Yah. I’m going to come right out and call BS.

  4. Steve Mac says:

    @Nick

    I started wearing these suspenders and they have saved my back when lifting my elderly mother several times.

    Dickies Men’s Perry… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001VNBAYA?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share&tag=ttgnet-20

  5. mediumwave says:

    Kamala Harris Dishes Out Word Salad, Tells People to Clap For Yellow School Buses (VIDEO)

    Kamala Harris had some inspiring words for the attendees as she announced a new national initiative for electric school buses.

    Hopefully, those school buses won’t be manufactured by the same people who built these

  6. Greg Norton says:

    No movies this weekend. Too much on my plate. Downton Abbey probably not gonna be one I watch. I’m contrarian – series was so popular ill snub the movie -laughter-

    Spoken like the Chicken Lady (watch the video).

    https://vimeo.com/36876238

    Today is “shred day”. I have three years of shredding backlog and a big check ready for the shelter.

    https://roundtherocktx.com/shred-for-a-paws-cause-2.html

  7. drwilliams says:

    @Nick

    I’ll be trying to take it a bit easy, as all of yesterday’s loading and unloading, along with 6 hours in the driver’s seat has my back hurting again.  Sucks to get old.  Sucks to be decrepit.   Never thought I’d live this long, or I would have taken better care of myself.   I tell myself that, but I know I wouldn’t have.  NO ONE believes they’ll be old and worn out when they’re young.

    Yup. Part of the problem is that something wears out first.

    Often it’s not even the parts that are highest mileage. 

    And this whole compute thing with hours in one position in a bad chair staring fixedly at a bad screen at sub-optimal distance, height and tilt–well, we knew that would turn out badly but it still sucks.

  8. drwilliams says:

    Kamala Harris Dishes Out Word Salad. Tells People to Clap

    Probably a word she should avoid

  9. drwilliams says:

    @Greg Norton

    “You Pissed Off the Chicken Lady” would make a good teeshirt.

  10. drwilliams says:

    The media long knives come out for Herschel Walker

    https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022/05/21/the-media-long-knives-come-out-for-herschel-walker-n470979

    Yeah, he has a long way to go before his resume looks like Joe Biden’s. Better get to work on the plagiarism thing right away.

  11. drwilliams says:

    Thanks Greg:

    North Shore Betty

    https://vimeo.com/670790685

    (autoplayed off the Vimeo link)

    WTH? “Elevated skinnies”?

    Pioneer wind surfer, too.

    “Healthy lunches. Let’s just say no one would trade lunches with me.” –Hayden Robbins (son)

  12. Greg Norton says:

    The media long knives come out for Herschel Walker

    Yeah, he has a long way to go before his resume looks like Joe Biden’s. Better get to work on the plagiarism thing right away.

    For the media, Georgia in 2022 isn’t as much about the Senate race as it is preserving Stacy Abrams as a possible Jesus Candidate for President by getting her elected Governor, but, of course, they will take another six years of Raphael Warnock in that seat if they can get it.

    Georgia Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot again.

  13. Greg Norton says:

    “You Pissed Off the Chicken Lady” would make a good teeshirt.

    The only characteristic of the series that the video missed was the way the producers dispose of the characters by killing them off when the actors ask for more money. SNL made the parody early in the series’ run, long before they bumped off “Hot” and “Way Hot”.

  14. Jenny says:

    @greg

    Spoken like the Chicken Lady (watch the video

    That was fun – thank you. 
     

    Getting old and feeling those failing body parts isn’t much fun. Beats the alternative.  
     

    I‘m awake far earlier than I care to. Of the aches and pains I expected from yesterday’s festivities, what woke me was sore feet. Huh. That’s a new one -laughter-

    Another physically active day ahead. Drinking more water. it’s quite warm, 60’s f.

  15. MrAtoz says:

    A couple of articles:

    LOL of course they did:

    Pentagon Clears Itself Of Blame In Syria Strike That Killed ‘Piles’ Of Women & Children

    Monkey Pox may be a STD:

    Monkeypox ‘spreading in sexual networks’

    NYFC is already calling for MAAASSSKKSSS! Condom would be a better bet at this point in time. The LBGTQWERTY Pox.

  16. Greg Norton says:

    NYFC is already calling for MAAASSSKKSSS! Condom would be a better bet at this point in time. The LBGTQWERTY Pox.

    Monkeypox is treatable and a vaccine exists. The widely held theory is that even the Smallpox vaccine is 85% effective.

    Much like AIDS, the secret is to stay out of the bath houses.

  17. lpdbw says:

    @SteveF

    Yah. I’m going to come right out and call BS.

    No evidence!  No evidence!  How dare you apply common sense and a lifetime of pattern recognition to this!  I’m appalled!

  18. drwilliams says:

    Some of the mainstream media organizations that were obsessed with the Russiagate scandal have suddenly decided a trial at the center of the investigation’s origins isn’t worth covering.

    Since May 15, the eve of the trial, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News and MSNBC all ignored the trial on air through Thursday evening, according to a search of transcripts.

    CNN spent less than 10 minutes covering the trial from May 15 through Thursday, and didn’t mention it on air at all on Wednesday or Thursday as testimony intensified. None of CNN’s coverage has come during primetime. …

    “If it had been Republicans doing it to a Democrat, the press would be losing its mind. Problem is, most media bought the Clinton-commissioned lies: The Washington Post and New York Times split a Pulitzer for their obsessive ‘news reporting’ that repeated the lies to the world,” the Post’s editorial board wrote.

    “It was the most successful disinformation campaign in living memory, and the liberal media were at best willing dupes in that success,” the Post continued. “Maybe it’s not such a surprise they don’t much care to cover the trial that’s beginning to bring it all to light.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/michael-sussmann-trial-abc-nbc-cbs-msnbc-ignore-case-at-center-of-trump-russia-probe/ar-AAXwHBJ

    Fantasy White House Press Conference, January 2025:

    “Yes, Welcome! Welcome! to all you first-time attendees.

    As you can see, we’ve redecorated the place and re-arranged the chairs.

    Our blue-ribbon panel of analysts looked back over the last 25 years of news coverage, and, Surprise! Surprise! found that certain alleged “journalists” have abandoned ethics in favor of yellow-dog support for Democrats. Since they don’t do the job, they don’t get the perks. The NYT, the Washington Post and the alphabet soup channels will have to share a seat gong forward. Unfortunately, the seat is in the toilet and the door is locked–as soon as Hunter sends the key back with a check for a new mirror, they can start participating in the manner they are accustomed.

    So let’s get started! First Question!”

    5
    1
  19. dcp says:

    a lid of tea

    This phrase is new to me.  What does it mean?

  20. Nick Flandrey says:

    well, it’s 98F in the sun.  

    Part of my garden and a whole bunch of my yard died due to no watering.

    I didn’t notice that the sprinklers weren’t running.

    Some investigation finds that someone turned off the water to the sprinkler manifold.   It could just have been the HVAC guys not wanting all their ducts getting wet.   Sucks that they didn’t remember to turn it back on, or to ask ME to turn it off.    Or it could be someone messing with me, although I can’t think why anyone would.

    40$ of potted veg died while I wasn’t looking.

    n

    And something is dead in my garage.   Most likely a poisoned rat.  No idea where.  I guess I’ll ‘follow my nose.’

  21. Geoff Powell says:

    Weather was indeed good – bright sun, and no more than  oktas of cloud.

    I have sympathy for Nick – after lummoxing probably 50 kilos from storage to car, and then setting it all up on a table under a provided gazebo, and then reversing the process after the festivities, I had mild backache, which went away quickly. But it’s foreseeable that such backache will only get worse.

    The traditional observance – Maypole dancing by local kids – went well, although the pianist, who was new to the task but using the old pianist’s electric keyboard, caused me some problems, due to wrongly-set levels, but not beyond the first traditional dance.

    Then I had to pack up, thus creating more backache, before I managed to get into the hall for my lid of tea and my bun. Well, actually, it was fruit juice, in lieu of coffee, and mini sandwiches and cake. None the worse for that. And the committee are going to buy a new keyboard – the existing one is 35 years old, if it’s a day. It still works, but they don’t trust it any more.

    I need to modify my amplifiers, to add fixed speaker sockets (Neutrik Speakons), rather than the hanging-loose-on-flyleads sockets that are currently in use, and perhaps replace the el-cheapo .mp3 player I use – I can’t read its screen in sunlight.

    A bit of a curate’s egg, all-in-all, but I’ll call it a success.

    G.

  22. Brad says:

    WTF? Your daughter disappears, and the police don’t care? She must be a runaway? That’s just bizarre.

    That’s quite the cast of…druggie and general scum. Wouldn’t want to meet any of them in a dark alley. 

  23. Alan says:

    >> Still, some skepticism is advisable.

    Innocent until proven guilty. 

    >> Note that it isn’t the woman herself who came forward, but another flight attendant who claims to be a friend. Yes, the friend had some documents to show, but she’s not a directly involved party.

    I’m sure Tony’s white shoe lawyers made sure the NDA was ironclad. And she decided to take the money, likely because it was the better choice, otherwise one of those #metoo lawyers could have gotten involved. 

  24. Geoff Powell says:

    @dcp:

    a lid of tea

    North of England colloquialism for “cup of tea”. I picked it up from the late Blaster Bates’ after-dinner speeches, as recorded for Big Ben Records. They are still available, or were a few years ago, and are side-splittingly funny, describing as they do, events in Blaster’s life as a demolition expert. I particularly recommend “A Shower of Sh1t over Cheshire” and “Oulton Park: The Naming of ‘Knicker Brook’”, to name but two.

    G.

    Text transcriptions are available, but you miss Blaster’s delivery.

  25. Nick Flandrey says:

    Well, our neighborhood just went dark.   Could be at 100 F we found the max capacity on a Saturday with everyone at home….

    Outage tracker said back up at 530.   I think I might be doing some generator servicing soon.

  26. drwilliams says:

    5th Circuit Slaps Down Joe Biden’s SEC, Liberals Promptly Lose Their Minds

    By Bonchie | May 21, 2022 11:30 AM ET 

    And that’s the bigger story here. The Democrat Party does not care one iota about individual rights. They see government as a bludgeon to be used in whatever way they please. If that means violating the Fourth and Seventh Amendments, then they are perfectly fine with that–as long as it serves their end goal. That’s not just true at the SEC. It’s true in every single bloated, inefficient government bureaucracy.

    What the 5th Circuit did here is so important because it lays the groundwork for the Supreme Court to fully gut the administrative state and return the power to the people. If Congress wants to do something, they should be made to pass laws, not rely on unelected bureaucrats to do their bidding with no accountability. Never mind the massive taxpayer-funded financial expenditure that is represented. The consternation over a court deciding that people do indeed have rights is astonishing to witness.

    https://redstate.com/bonchie/2022/05/21/5th-circuit-slaps-down-joe-bidens-sec-liberals-promptly-lose-their-minds-n567837

    “fully gut the administrative state”

    Yeah, Verily!

  27. drwilliams says:

    Food for Thought:

    If a citizen started at the age of of 21 (when you can fully exercise your constitutional rights to smoke, drink, cuss, and carry a sidearm, not just vote) to read and understand the U.S. Code, how long would it take?

    Yes, the “understand” part is a wild card, but looking at

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Code

    does not provide an clear answer to “How many pages/words (or other measure of length) is the U.S. Code?”, and the section on ”Number and growth of federal crimes” contains

    “When staff for a task force of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee  asked the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to update its 2008 calculation of criminal offenses in the USC in 2013, the CRS responded that they lack the manpower and resources to accomplish the task.[45]

    I would submit that our country has a problem here.

  28. Brad says:

    I am of the opinion that it should be possible to read all laws and regulations that apply to you, in a reasonable period of time. Say: 250,000 words, like a thick novel, written at no more than a 10th grade level. Want to add more? First, find something to delete.

    This will, of course, never happen. 

  29. MrAtoz says:

    I am of the opinion that it should be possible to read all laws and regulations that apply to you, in a reasonable period of time. Say: 250,000 words, like a thick novel, written at no more than a 10th grade level. Want to add more? First, find something to delete.

    tRump’s 2 for 1 rule.

  30. Rick H says:

    I think I might be doing some generator servicing soon.

    I would have thought that proper prepping would have already done that in advance of an anticipated event. (snicker)…

    Just saying … Hindsight, 20-20, etc.

    My generator is ready for power outages, and getting my little grid back up takes about 5 minutes: pulling the generator to the driveway [5 feet], connecting the 30 foot cord to the bypass panel, starting the generator [three pulls on the starting cord, and remembering to turn on the fuel valve], and flipping switches.  

    Had to do that three times last winter. Don’t expect outages due to heat – there is no ‘heat’ in my part of the Pacific Northwest – although temps are supposed to get in the 80’s this weekend, which the locals define as a ‘heat wave’.  I have 10 gallons of Stabil’d gas ready for use.

    Bypass circuits hooked up to freezer, fridge, oxygen concentrator, TV, DirecTV box, and cable modem, along with an assortment of LED lights everywhere, plus the CPAP machine if the outage is at night. Many FLASHLIGHTS stashed around the house (and I even know where they are). 

    And an extra propane tank ready for the outdoor grill if needed.

  31. Paul Hampson says:

    Stacking.  Wife came to me yesterday and asked if we have enough flour for the next year.  It’s been a gradual process but I do believe she is on board now.  I’ve maintained a little more than 125 lbs of flour on hand of mixed types and make nearly all of the bread stuffs I eat, not a large amount as I’m diabetic, and a substantial portion of what she eats.  Other stocks, of the things we actually use are similar.  We’ve been here (OR) nearly seven years and I still haven’t adjusted to the later/shorter growing season, moving 600 mi north does make a difference.  This year seems to be lagging behind normal, but the first things in the garden are underway.  Never thought of myself as a prepper, but then I never thought of myself as a hippie either because I always had a job. 

  32. drwilliams says:

    Can you stack sanity for when you need it?

    Only one of the reasons to think about what could go “poof” and never be around again.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcvIO1-2e00

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY0AAVKIMPI

    Look at the view numbers for these gems:

    https://duckduckgo.com/?q=terry+canup+video&t=ffab&iax=videos&ia=videos

  33. SteveF says:

    I think I have enough food for daughter and self for a year. I think it’d be a lean year with likely vitamin deficiencies by the end, but we wouldn’t starve to death. Half a year if Spare Kid is with us* and I decide to feed my wife and her mother. We have bandages and toothpaste and soap for most of a year.

    What we don’t have is an independent water supply or a way to heat the house without electricity. This piece of crap house is entirely dependent on electricity: no heat, no cooking, no sewer drainage without electricity. I’ve given up on figuring out what to do about it in the face of spousal opposition. Instead I’ve arranged to go to kin’s house, which is close enough that I can make three round trips if I start with a full tank. Take the kid(s), food, and guns on the first trip, clothes and whatever on the second and third trips.

    That’s in case of complete collapse, of course. If it’s just a matter of supply chain problems and shortages and price inflation, we’ll be fine.

    * When she saw me carrying another crate (maybe three cubic feet) of food to throw on the pile a while ago, she asked and I talked about “just in case things fall apart”. She asked if I’d come and get her if that happened, as her family’s house has only food until next weekend’s grocery run and I can protect her if she needs it. Poor kid. I feel bad that a teen can’t count on her parents in a crisis, but I can’t say she’s wrong, either.

  34. SteveF says:

    How dare you apply common sense and a lifetime of pattern recognition to this!  I’m appalled!

    You forgot to mention #BelieveAllWomen

  35. Greg Norton says:

    Well, our neighborhood just went dark.   Could be at 100 F we found the max capacity on a Saturday with everyone at home….

    How many EVs in the neighborhood?

    Just wait until next Summer. Definitely 2024.

  36. Greg Norton says:

    Making a Sam’s run today, I pulled up behind a flat bed hauling a Tesla Model X.

    The vehicle was definitely not brand new, but it didn’t look that old. It appeared that the driver’s side window had been pried when we pulled up to the next light and I got a better look. Gotta wonder what happened there.

    The flat bed was probably headed to the service facility out on 183.

  37. lynn says:

    https://redstate.com/bonchie/2022/05/21/5th-circuit-slaps-down-joe-bidens-sec-liberals-promptly-lose-their-minds-n567837

    “fully gut the administrative state”

    Yeah, Verily!

    Yeah, I posted on this yesterday.  No more kangaroo courts in federal agencies !

    The 7th amendment is very clear and powerful.  “In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.”

    That means that they cannot just fine you, they must have a jury trial in a real court with a real judge.  And to me, that means all of these so-called civil forfeitures are unconstitutional also.

    The real question is, will SCOTUS stand behind the 5th Circuit decision ?

    10
  38. lpdbw says:

    You forgot to mention #BelieveAllWomen

    Sorry, at least 11% of the Supreme Court can’t decide what is and is not a woman.  So who can I believe?

    4
    1
  39. Alan says:

    Maybe she’ll hire a biologist to have on her staff. That said, does she(?) even know her(?) own gender? 

  40. ITGuy1998 says:

    Is there a pit bull epidemic? I’ve been browsing area shelters, and a great majority are some sort of pit mix. It’s close to ¾ if you count the other dogs that look like a pit mix, but aren’t called that.  

  41. Alan says:

    >> Is there a pit bull epidemic? I’ve been browsing area shelters, and a great majority are some sort of pit mix. It’s close to ¾ if you count the other dogs that look like a pit mix, but aren’t called that.  

    In the fifteen or so years that we’ve had dogs (in NYFC, FL, AZ and all shelter adoptions) I’d say that pitties/pit mixes most always make up at least 50-75% of the shelter dogs. It seems a lot taken in outside the shelter system are person to  person and aren’t fixed and continue to breed.

  42. Nick Flandrey says:

    Well, we  got power back an hour early, but I was elbow deep in gennie so I just kept on.

    Hurricane season is coming so “get the gennies ready” was on the list.   They can’t just sit in this climate.  Not empty or full.

    I pulled the Honda EU3000 out, switched it on and turned the key… and it spun but didn’t start.   I opened the drain on the float bowl and nothing came out.   Bad sign.   Fuel tank was full, but there was tell tale rust on the filler neck.   Since last use, the  thermal cycling pulled in enough moist air to condense one inch of water into the tank.    Bugger.

    The bottom of the tank was rusted, the whole fuel system was buggered.   The float bowl was solid with rust.

    I spent the afternoon cleaning all that out, cleaning the float bowl, the hoses, the two sediment traps, etc.    Got it all ready to go, grabbed the nearest can of fuel….. and that was full of rust and water too.    MellonFarming  EPA and their sh!tty cans and vented caps.

    So I will get some fresh gas and test my cleaning tomorrow.   

    Rotating and inspecting my stored gas was on the list, as getting ready for hurricane season.   I’ve got a jump on it this year I guess.  I expect some maintenance but this was ridiculous.

    Storing it empty doesn’t solve the issue either, as it still pumps air in and condenses moisture into the tank and float bowl.   On the honda, there is a bowl drain cock I can leave open, and I’ll try that next time.  Then any water that condenses should just drain out.  It will also mean that stuff might rust though.  Maybe leave it full of gas, but drain the water from the float bowl periodically…

    PITA is what it was, and I didn’t get to the other gennie yet.

    No info on what took our neighborhood out, but the surrounding area stayed up, so it was probably misadventure and not heat related.

     On the plus side, by moving stuff to get to the gennie, I found my stored LP gas regulators and hoses so I can get my grill and smoker sorted out.   I also found the hose bib sprinkler controller that I wanted to use at the BOL garden.   I  won one in today’s auction, so I’m covered now two ways.

    n

  43. Nick Flandrey says:

    Cops are working street racers again this weekend.

    Wish they’d spend as much effort on prostitution, or robbery.

    n

  44. JimB says:

    I’m surprised generators have bare steel fuel tanks and fuel system components. Asking for trouble in a humid climate. Not a problem here. I have jerry cans with bare steel insides, but the caps are not vented. No rust in over 40 years service. Same for old motorcycle gas tanks.

    When I lived in the rust belt, some would add a few ounces of oil to gasoline tanks each fill. Not necessary back then, because steel tanks were terne coated. Now, all (?) auto tanks are plastic.

  45. Nightraker says:

    Now, all (?) auto tanks are plastic”

    Probably true at retail locations.  However:

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XB2XUL0?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_J6S8C0XA7N1ZKY7197G7&tag=ttgnet-20

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