Hot, and humid, because Texas! Well, EAST Texas anyway. Cooler here than Houston, and probably more breeze.
Made it safely to the BOL last night despite the late start. Everything in the back of the truck was still there when I arrived. No one ever died because they put on an extra strap…
Among my pickups yesterday were two big solar panels. They had been dropped and damaged during shipping, so I got them for $5. The glass is shattered, but I’m hoping to salvage some or all of the cells, and the diode or MMTP on the back. First and very cursory glance says I may just be out $5. It’ll be interesting to put them in the sun and see what or if they put anything out. That project is going to have to wait though.
All the normal stuff needs doing up here, and we need to make more progress on livability. The garden needs some attention for sure.
Maybe I’ll taste the nut grass, and if I like it, I’ll just grow a garden of nut grass…. Probably easier that way too. It’s a bit funny that the local electric co-op magazine has an article in it this month about local foraging. They specifically cite grocery shortages and rising costs as reasons people took up foraging, and for more people to start.
Every account of prolonged conflict I’ve read had people eating grass. I’d like to do better than that. I intend to do better than that. But if you need a little extra, NOW is the time to figure out the wild groceries around you, while there is still 911 and medical care 😉
There are lots of references available, and I don’t know one from the other, but if it interests you, there is probably a local expert to help you learn. Just remember, if it was better or more efficient for feeding people, we wouldn’t be farming, and in a long term event, even the grass is eaten to the ground before too long. Don’t count on living off the land——–
Stack up all the things!
n
Wow, just got my May electric bill through June 8. 2,837 kwh for $357.03. Wow !
Just finished paying my home gas and electric bills; ~50% greater than this time last year.
Wow, indeed!
IIRC, the utilities were granted the ability to add a surcharge for the freeze.
This month, I’m at $240 for 1878 kWh with a $76 Oncor delivery charge.
I don’t think we’ve seen the real increases yet in Texas, but the utilities know it is in their best interest for Abbott to be reelected. A deal is coming next Spring, and better to deal with the incumbent than Robert Francis grandstanding to be VP on the ticket in 2024, fresh off a state-wide win in this state.
I get my power from TVA through a local distributer, some hydro, some nuclear, some coal, some natural gas. The power is relatively cheap. My monthly bill is $165.00, even pay amount each month of the year. Works out to less than $2K a year for electric. That includes A/C for the house, A/C for the travel trailer as we keep it powered while parked at the house, and a 1 HP pool pump that runs 14 hours a day.
Temperature rarely gets above 100, hot here is middle 90’s, which are set to arrive this week. Humidity? Well, it’s the south. Numbers above 90% are not unusual. I remember the days in San Antonio when it was above 100 with high humidity. A person did not go outside unless necessary.
I also remember as a youngster about 12 years old living in Victorville. Up to 120 during the day, down to 50 at night. Swamp coolers worked really well. Outside if long sleeves were worn the heat was bearable if lots of water was consumed. A couple of gallons a day consumption was not unusual.
Former exchange student from Norway is arriving in the U.S. tomorrow. Her, along with her mother and sister are making the trip. They will spend a couple of days in New York, then fly to Atlanta for a couple of days, then take Greyhound to Knoxville. I think they will shocked at the heat in Atlanta. The pool here is open so I expect them to spend a lot of time at the pool. They will be staying with us for 10 days.
That was part of our motivation for redoing the basement apartment ceiling. Needed to be done and this was good reason. There is room for three to sleep in the apartment. We also have a bedroom upstairs for one person if they want.
They want to go to Dollywood. Wife and I have season passes and we have four guest passes so it will not cost us much. Will also go to a dinner show in Pigeon Forge one evening, that will cost a couple hundred dollars. The former student is planning a pool party and will invite her friends. It will be a good event for her mother and sister to meet the friends the student had while attending here.
This was the exchange student that wanted to go back home after three hours of arriving. Called her mother and begged to go home. Her mother convinced her to stay two weeks and she agreed. After two weeks the student still wanted to go home and her mother convinced her to stay another month. After that things settled down and she decided to stay through the school year.
We had two exchange students that year and that was a mistake. At the end of December one student decided she did not like our rules. She was used to her mother letting her do anything she wanted in Germany. Not so here as we are responsible for another human’s child and take that responsibility serious. We did not allow a lot of things that may put the child at risk such as going to the park at 11:00 at night.
When that exchange student left the other exchange student (the one arriving Friday) did much better. She was able to get friends, go and do things, and generally just become more outgoing. She has returned to the U.S. twice before so this will be her third trip. We know her family as we have visited Norway three times and met with the family.
And how I got to here from electric bills is a mystery.
Where did you stay in Memphis recently?
We are thinking about a run across TN the first week in August, a trip we originally planned to do in Spring 2018 but got postponed when I got the job at the toll road company.
I should have skipped the new job and gone to TN in retrospect. I’m still cleaning up that mess. Recruiters shouldn’t yell at the candidate.
No amount of heat shocks me. Cold would be more surprising/unwelcome.
And Dollywood is on the list. As is Elvis’ house.
D4 and I saw Jurassic World: Dominion yesterday. Good popcorn movie. If you like the series you’ll like this movie. There were dinosaurs in it. We saw it at an Alamo Draft House theater. Their gig is serving food during the movie. And beer. I had the fish and chips and topped it off with a bowl of popcorn tossed with clarified butter. Delicious.
I will admit the CGI and animatronic dinosaurs were more believable than a certain character. Just because you were in the Air Force for a handful of years doesn’t mean you can fly everything. IMHO.
I stayed at Holiday Inn Express Memphis Medical Center Midtown. It was fairly close to Graceland. If I was to make a trip to Memphis again, I would stay at The Big Cypress Lodge. It is in the upper floors of the Pyramid Bass Pro Shop right on the Mississippi. Getting in the hotel is problematic as it is really booked, especially in the summer months. So probably not an option.
Graceland was much better than I thought. Give yourselves a couple hours to go through the museum exhibits. Also do the house tour as that was interesting to see the lower floors (upper floors off limits) and grounds around the house.
If you are going to Dollywood that is only about 60 minutes from my house. I also know a shortcut if traffic is bad. You are welcome to stay in the basement apartment at my house. King size bed, shower only, TV and guest internet. Spend a night, go to Dollywood, spend a night, then move on. You take us out to dinner one night and call it even. Might even go with you as I get free parking and 20% off meals. I have an extra guest pass, can get veteran discount but I have to be with you.
That was your first Alamo experience?
Depending on the movie, the preshow at Alamo can sometimes be more interesting than the feature itself. Try to go early if you can, especially if the movie is “nerd interest”.
Sadly, the chain was so hard into the agenda that they went bankrupt during the early days of the pandemic, staying closed far longer than necessary in Texas. Policies under the new owners are starting to drift towards being just another dinner-n-movie chain.
Yes. The pre show was an awesome series of dinosaur shows from 60s weird Japanese monster movies to Jeff Goldblum commercial for ADH where a raptor will remove you for talking during the movie to a Finnish dinosaur metal band for kids. We laughed our asses off! All dino related.
I do love the Vegas Cinemark XD theaters, though. Big enhanced video and audio for a premium price.
Good Lord, I wouldn’t want to inflict our family circus on you and your wife. If we make it out there, lunch/dinner at a local place we wouldn’t otherwise find would be cool.
A brochure arrived yesterday for a medical conference in San Diego for that week. Kind surprising since it is so last minute, but I’ll bet the show had the hotel booked years ago and wasn’t sure where things were headed.
My wife has been thinking about hitting San Diego again since we saw “Top Gun”.
The big downside of a conference will be that the trip would require plane tickets and, in San Diego, a rental car. The shows always schedule a bunch of credits and any mandatory classes right before checkout on Sunday afternoons.
@Kenneth C Mitchell
The first one starts with an ordinary guy with memory loss, and is pretty engaging. I recall laughing when he gets a classic nightmare in real life–just minding his own business when the stall doors behind him burst open and the assassins attack.
The First five novels were collected in two volumes by the SFBC and were a featured loss leader “teaser” to get people to subscribe. When SFBC did their 50th anniversay collection, it surprized me at first that those were not included, but it made sense upon consideration.
“Doorways in the Sand” is one of Zelazny’s best novels. He was one of the most consistently powerful short story writers in the field.
“Land of the Lost”?
IIRC, Larry Niven wrote for the Krofts during the first season.
Any Edgar Wright flick is a must see at Alamo. He’s very generous with them for the preshow since they helped put “Baby Driver” on the map with the premiere party for the film, saving Wright’s career after being fired from “Ant Man”.
Of course, now, being fired from or passing on a Disney-Marvel movie is a badge of honor, but it wasn’t that way five years ago.
The preshow for “The Florida Project” featured a very cool montage of Burt Reynolds commercial appearances for Florida citrus from the early 80s, not long after the actor had passed.
@Nick
Here, here.
@Brad
If climate is given the commonly accepted definition of a 30-year averaging of weather, then change can be statistically defined. To the climatistas, “change” is pretty much anything different from last season, so yeah, “everything fits”.
The worst aspect of the dishonesty of the global warmists is their total disregard for the integrity of data past and present. Making “adjustments” to data without a rigorous and blind methodology is anathema to everything I was taught, and in lowering past temperatures to exacerbate claims of increases it has demonstrably led to the reductio ad absurdum of adjusted temps below freezing in locations where no freezing occurred.
My understanding from reports was that Geico was not able to appeal because they chose not to represent their insured after summarily denying the claim. A procedural mistake that led to an absurd result. Seems that no further action would be necessary when something is clearly not covered by auto insurance.
OK, your call. We have had worse. The offer is open. The apartment is actually separated from the rest of the basement, my office, by a lockable door. Really not an inconvenience. Sleeps three, four if the kids don’t mind sharing a bed.
Regardless, let me know when you are going to be passing through. Couple of fairly good places to eat.
A question for the brain trust – What are the current regulations with regard to masks/vaccination proof for restaurants and other activities in Southern California?
My wife is vaccinated with one booster, but she’s vowed never again with the jab.
My kids are vaccinated but not boostered.
I’m jab free.
I need some prepper advice. If I store such things as dry beans or flour or masa mix or rice in plain quart canning jars, do I need to vacuum seal them? And if I do vacuum seal them, do I need to put anything else in them such as the bay leaves I usually use to keep weevils out of flour?
My vacuum sealer has an attachment for sealing jars, so I can do that.
I am not planning to do any canning this year, but I have about 24 dozen empty jars, plus I canned so much in prior years that I empty 3 or 4 more each week. I need to either fill them or move them to make room for provisions in tubs or buckets. I also have plenty of large tubs. Just can’t decide which makes the most storage sense for the long run.
I’m skipping a memorial service in LA this weekend because of the issues. Last I noticed it was “mask on” again.
n
Just as a reference point for how long a vacuum seal will last. I vacuumed a Ball jar with flour in it with a FoodSaver and shoved it into the back of the pantry. Three years later, when we were putting the house on the market, I found the jar. it still had a good vacuum on it, no bugs in the flour, and tasted alright.
I imagine beans would store the same way. Anything that emits a gas is a different matter. I use my Vacmaster all the time for jars and bags of coffee beans.
Currently 81F with 90%RH and sunny. Not a huge breeze. Sticky but otherwise nice.
Late night led to late start.
I appreciate the warnings about the ceilings, but will proceed anyway, taking due care.
Thanks for the itch relief suggestions, I will order when I get home. That is something you want standing ready when needed.
Anyone got experience with small sailboats? An aquaintance has a Dolphin Sr for sale. It’s like a Sunfish, 12ft long-ish. Says the transom was repaired, a bit bubba style, and the sail is a Sunfish sail, faded with one small tear treated with sail tape. Comes with a trailer, asking $600. Prices online are all over the place and I have no clue. It isn’t a big spend, he sailed it last season, and he was willing to loan it to me to try out. I can’t see a downside, but hey, it’s a boat and they cost… one way or another. So any thoughts from experience are appreciated.
Time to make the breakfast/lunch/brunch….
n
@Greg
I am in Orange County, the next county north of San Diego County and also on the coast. Currently, we have no governmental mandated mask and vaccination requirements in general. I do use Lyft for rides and some drivers require masks. None of the places that we go to for food and drinks require such.
Sounds like the price is in the ballpark.
Give it a good check for incipient sun damage.
And check the tires and bearings on the boat wheels. If I bought it the first thing I would do is repack the bearings. If it gets backed into water to launch, the bearings will inevitably get contaminated and the smaller wheels spin fast so more likely to fail. If you keep it at the BOL you won’t be worrying about the trailer much, but you have to get it there first. Having a problem with a trailer tire on a weekend can be miserable.
Pecancorner, would it be cost-effective to drop an oxygen absorber into each can and then screw the lid down tight? The absorbers aren’t that expensive, but I never seal up anything as small as a quart so I don’t know if they’d be worthwhile.
I stopped to help with a couple pickup+trailer breakdowns in the past few days, on account of I carry tools, floor jack, fluids, and some repair parts in my van. One guy had a flat trailer tire and no spare. Nope, can’t help you. (I could have driven him to a store to get a replacement but his brother was already taking care of that.) (I also could have dope-smacked him for such an obvious oversight but his brother had already taken care of that, too.)
Major American Retailers Stop Selling Glue Traps for Rodents
https://legalinsurrection.com/2022/06/major-american-retailers-stop-selling-glue-traps-for-rodents/
Vermin have no rights.
Thank you! That was what I wanted to know. It will be a space saver for me if I can use these jars for storage instead of just leaving them empty. And, a quart size package is easier to use while keeping the bulk of the product untouched. Good point on the coffee!
I’ve never used oxygen absorbers for anything, only the silica gel to keep moisture out. So I would need to buy some. It wouldn’t hurt to try them and see which method I like best. Thanks!
I know that, and I agree intellectually, but the animal lover inside me doesn’t want even vermin to suffer. A quick death by trap, or a fairly quick death by poison, sure. Starving to death while stuck in a trap is too much for me.
But…
All my squeamishness goes away when the subject is disease prevention. In my house, I can choose to be compassionate, as long as it works. But when we’re talking about industrial or commercial settings, or households where you need to expedite vermin removal pronto, you should have every reasonable option.
I’m an animal lover, and most animal rights organizations are stupid. PLT’s, mostly.
(Does that fit the new comment policy?)
A lot of people have stories about learning a new word or usage and then coming across it again in short order.
Bam!
A few days ago @Greg wrote about “whippets” (aka whippits or whip-its) nitrous oxide canisters for making whipped cream.
Thursday night I read half of John Sandford’s Ocean Prey. Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are in Florida, and another agent undercover with Flowers is relating her fictitious use of whippets to embellish her legend.
It wasn’t a vital part of the story, just a minor detail in one line. Pre-internet it would have been “What the heck is that”?”. Post-internet it would have been easy to find on the internet, but the motivation to interrupt and do so is minimal after midnight.
It made me laugh. Thanks, Greg.
Perhaps not perfectly on point but this presentation does include dry goods storage in vacuum packaging mason jars:
https://youtu.be/GY5kiCzaeYc
The rest is good home maker advice on building a deep pantry for tough times.
Everything fits climate change
Isn’t it now “climate emergency”? They keep raising the alarmism, as people get used to the old names.
“Stop telling kids that climate change will destroy their world”
https://www.vox.com/23158406/climate-change-tell-kids-wont-destroy-world
“Some “climate anxiety” is the product of telling kids — falsely — that they have no future.”
“What it won’t do, however, is make the Earth unlivable, or even mean that our children live in a world poorer than the one we grew up in. As many climate scientists have been telling us, the world is a better place to live in — especially for people in lower-income countries — than it has ever been, and climate change isn’t going to make it as bad as it was even in 1950.”
The “kids” think that their world is going to melt down and burn up in just ten years. The climate alarmists, Mann, Gore, etc, have told them for decades that they have no future. We need to stop this. We are raising a generation with no hope.
@lpbdw
Best practice is to check traps daily. But I’d vote for any means possible. Flypaper is a glue trap. The line gets drawn between them today, but the PLT’s game plan would be easily recognizable Zeno: successive one-way compromises until they’re in your end zone..
My favorite scene from Cheaper by the Dozen (original book) has always been Frank Gilbreth’s indignant explosion over corporal punishment, triggered by Lillian’s “Not on the end of the spine, Frank.” More than a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and if I disagree with the destination you ain’t getting that first step.
While I can intellectually understand cruelty to vermin, when it comes to my personal food supply, applying glue to cardboard doesn’t seem at all outlandish. The only trick would be having a supply of strong enough glue on hand.
If you ever get the chance to publicly ask a question:
“If you had the power to do so immediately, would you roll atmospheric carbon dioxide back to pre-industrial levels?”
The consequences of doing so would be lower crop yields and world-wide famine within a year, followed by starvation, death, and a plunge in the world population to levels sustainable by the lower yields.
Think of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the tripling of natural gas prices as a simple two-factor experiment.
ADDED: Isn’t it strange how Democrat policy’s tend to have disproportionate impacts on the POC population? DDT, abortion, open borders to facilitate drug smuggling, revolving doors for drug dealers…
As a coincidence, I read that book recently. I download ebooks at no charge from local public library.
Please explain to this rookie how reducing CO2 would do this. Is it because any CO2-emitting device wouldn’t exist (or be used)? Therefore, no tractors, for example, which would reduce potential crop output per acre (or reduce the number of acres that could be planted/yielded)?
@nightraker, Thank you, she makes a lot of sense. At about the 22:00 mark is where she talks about the vacuum seal. I’ve gone to her blog, and requested access to her Google Docs so that I can get her booklet.
Rick, see https://ceresgs.com/growing-plants-with-carbon-dioxide/ and look for the white-on-blue graphic about halfway down, then the text around there.
Foregoing the use of tractors in farming and the energy-intensive production of fertilizer isn’t the issue. Simply reducing ambient CO2 reduces plant growth.
Re rodents: They foisted the glue traps on people because they outlawed the most effective poisons. I try to buy rat pellets in small town hardware or feed stores, to hopefully get the strongest available. They are not susceptible to pressure from wackos like the big corporate chains are. Such stores will likely continue to carry glue traps too.
Glue traps are also about the only thing other than maybe mesh netting that can catch snakes and keep them out of some places ( I use bird/deer netting on my fruit tree, and have seen several reports of people catching snakes by letting it puddle on the ground after stretching it on the poles).
We haven’t had trouble with mice in several years, UNTIL the other night, I found droppings in our back pantry. I sprinkled rat poison pellets around. Not too many droppings, so he had not been there long, but it means I have to clean out the whole pantry. That’s what started my questions above about the canning jars LOL Most stuff in that pantry is safe as it is in plastic tubs, but not everything, and I want to harden up the storage.
The OTHER thing it means is that somehow the mouse or mice found a way into the house, so I need to do some serious inspection on the roof and eaves, to seal up any little spaces that have occurred, and probably to re-caulk around the foundation outside and the outer baseboards inside.
When we first moved here, there were mice all the time, and I finally managed to get the house sealed against them. Plain old latex caulk has proved to be a first line of defense that works well. All around the exterior baseboards inside, especially. Our house is so old that most rooms don’t have space in the outer walls, but those that do, I have to seal from the outside, too.
@RickH
It’s entirely a function of the CO2 in the air. If you search “carbon dioxide fertilization” you’ll find a wiki article and lots more., but it’s hard to wade through. Experiments have been done in greenhouses to study the effects on crop yields, and some greenhouses routinely add CO2 to increase plant growth.
Plant growth is constrained by CO2 and water (and other things) and fortuitously, increased levels of CO2 also make plants use water more efficiently. Win-win.
Light reading would lead you to believe that 280-320ppm CO2 is the natural and ideal level (pre-industrial ca 100) but the first thing to know is that the CO2 level in the atmosphere has not been stable over time, or even during the Pleistocene/Holocene. At one point the level dropped below 100ppm and was perilously close to being unable to sustain life on earth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_in_Earth%27s_atmosphere
We are currently at about 410 ppm. If you roll it back to 300, crop yields would be reduced with catastrophic effect.
Several years ago, NASA reported that:
And then Carlin said you can say “You can pr!ck your finger” but not “Finger your…”
Brilliant comedic talent.
>> Anyone got experience with small sailboats?
Yeah, speaking from experience, know where the sandbars are when sailing during low tide, especially when you are young and careless and alcohol is involved. Luckily, eventually the tide comes back in.
Made it through the first half of season 4 of “Stranger Things”. Very dark fantasy. Very dark.
>> D4 and I saw Jurassic World: Dominion yesterday. Good popcorn movie. If you like the series you’ll like this movie. There were dinosaurs in it.
Sure, spoil it for everybody.
>> Temperature rarely gets above 100, hot here is middle 90’s, which are set to arrive this week. Humidity? Well, it’s the south. Numbers above 90% are not unusual. I remember the days in San Antonio when it was above 100 with high humidity. A person did not go outside unless necessary.
Currently 105 and 15% RH here in the AZ desert. Not too bad in the shade. Was 111 yesterday. Don’t miss Florida.
It still makes me think the movie is about a session of congress, complete with dinosaurs.
>> One guy had a flat trailer tire and no spare.
Have been on the highway a couple of times when a pick-up ahead of us towing a box trailer had a blowout on the trailer. Both times traffic was light and the driver was able to safely get to the shoulder. Since then I try not to be too close behind anyone with a trailer if I can help it.
Over The Hedge: Black Hole Photo
https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/2022/06/11
That would be unnerving.
I love and hate USPS, UPS, Fedex, DHL, and the rest.
Working on a small car project this weekend. I ordered three parts. One arrived Wed, one Friday.
According to eBay tracking, the other one has been less than ten miles away at a large Fedex facility since Thursday. Along the way a tracking note says it got a new barcode and was replaced. I go to the Fedex site and it doesn’t recognize the old number. I wrote a note to the seller and requested they call Fedex and perform recto-wellington insertion.
Just to add to the frustration, the part delivered Friday from the same vendor ordered the same day came 1000 miles further. The box looked like it lost a fight with Chuck Norris and the part was hanging out one end. Damage was minimal, and it will work after minor repairs.
Mowed the lawn today in the high humidity outside. Skin got a bit damp.
Humidity here today (Olympic Peninsula WA) is at 82%.
Of course, the temp is only 62F.
The other day, I forget where, folks were going on about the potato in chief signing something about adding more alcohol to gasoline. Which seems stupid as the current stuff eats carbs and such on lawn mowers and old cars.
I looked in my owner’s manual to see what Nissan says. Not much other than if the vehicle is rated for E15 there will be a sticker inside the gas door. I don’t have a sticker. That answers my question.
In other news, I’m going to car hell for abuse. I saved the Carfax from when i bought the truck. 24,026 miles. It sat on the lot for almost two months and had about 6 miles more when I bought in near the end of August. Yeah, perhaps the price was high. (It was.) Perhaps no one goes to a Chevy dealer to buy a used Nissan. Today, going to the mail box, the odo says 24,962. That’s just wrong. Haven’t gone anywhere… other than to Fort Worth for Thanksgiving and to Marble Falls for Tractor Supply and Walmart and the big HEB.
I need to go somewhere. I have a great little truck.
It is only 100F here, with 24% humidity. Supposed to be 104 on Monday.
The difference is, while we are on the dry side of Texas, we aren’t in the desert. 🙁 Our “climate” is the “Humid Subtropical” aka “Warm Temperate”.
Sometimes there’s a big difference between reading a new book in 1968 and reading it fifty years on, having read the five decades after. Not a problem with TMiaHM, but perhaps a problem with LoL, and certainly a problem with the uncut version of Stranger. With regards to the latter, the original was started in the early fifties by a man who was adult in the 30’s and 40’s and used the common background of that time liberally. Much of it was lost in the editing, and since I didn’t have that backgound when I read the book the first time, I found that it didn’t add anything and in fact detracted from my enjoyment thirty years later.
TMiaHM is one of my twenty+ top ten books.
The new light switch for my almost 40 year old fridge arrived today. Pretty much of an anti-climax. Look at the new switch, press the tab in with a screwdriver, pull the wires off of the old switch and snap the new switch in. Oh, and plug the fridge in.
Not complaining. I was kinda skeered this was going to be a retarded routine of removing the door and hinges and half of the interior plus who knows what.
I expect the entire machine to puke and die soon.
It is 100 F with 43% humidity at my house now at 3:48pm according to one of the official temperature registers. Very warm for 30 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico. ERCOT is predicting that they will set a new peak high for Texas in the next hour. The previous peak is 74,820 MW in August 2019.
https://www.ercot.com/
@Lynn
I omitted to note, as I usually do in any Heinlein discussion, that the editing of The Puppet Masters had a totally different result. IMO the uncut version is better. I fervently wish that there had been more discussion about releasing other uncut versions.
@Paul
Have you replaced any other parts? The compressor in that machine would be a beast compared to modern versions underpowered for higher efficiency*. If you’ve replaced other minor parts it might be worthwhile to inspect them and consider laying in spares.
My parents had a bottom-freezer GE for 30+ years. They kept it going because it was not only in great shape, but the bottom freezer options were scarce for years.
As memory serves, it went through about 3 each of door seals and defrost heaters. Probably some other minor parts, too.
*Efficiency and longevity are tradeoffs in refrigerators. See “LG refrigerator nightmare” for the cautionary tale of a new non-computer technology rolled out too soon.
“$3,374,629,000,000: Federal Tax Collections Set Record Through May”
https://www.cnsnews.com/article/washington/terence-p-jeffrey/3374629000000-federal-tax-collections-set-record-through-may
“Before this year, the largest October-through-May federal tax collections came in fiscal 2021, when the Treasury collected $2,833,846,070,000 in total taxes in inflation-adjusted May 2022 dollars.”
“This fiscal year’s October-through-May tax collections of $3,374,629,000,000 are $540,782,930,000 (or 19.08 percent) more than that.”
Trump predicted this.
Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/
I omitted to note, as I usually do in any Heinlein discussion, that the editing of The Puppet Masters had a totally different result. IMO the uncut version is better. I fervently wish that there had been more discussion about releasing other uncut versions.
Before the 1970s, Heinlein’s books were frequently edited to have different, more socially acceptable endings. The modern “Podkayne of Mars” has two endings in it.
The right person, the right place, and the right time:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CehVuU7DAem/
scroll down for more.
Thank you Robert Brantley.
And to the person that dumped 13 kittens by the side of a road: I hope you are never in a position to harm another living thing ever again.
@Lynn
I’ve recommended Heinlein’s “Grumbles from the Grave” before. He details his battles with his editor at Scribners. After the success of Stranger (published by Putnam) there was less editing. Some of his late books would probably have benefited from more editing, but they would have benefited more if his health had been better after 1970.
“There will be a Sriracha shortage this summer”
https://dnyuz.com/2022/06/11/there-will-be-a-sriracha-shortage-this-summer/
“Hot sauce lovers may soon find themselves in hot water as a looming shortage of Sriracha may soon leave grocery store shelves barren of the popular condiment.”
“Huy Fong Inc., the Southern California-based manufacturer of Sriracha, confirmed that due to a global shortage of chili peppers, it will be suspending the sale of its iconic condiments, The Guardian reported.”
From NaN;
WHEW! Twenty some years ago RBT appointed me as one of the Super Administrators of this and the technical forum. Consequently, I did have, but no longer, the authority to delete and redact comments from both forums. If I still had that authority, NaN would be very unhappy with me not not doing such.
I’ve made some minor changes to the Comment Guidelines (were Comment “Policies”).
These minor changes to the guidelines include that the administrators (me, Nick, and the other person who prefers not to be named) may decide to remove or redact a comment that we determine don’t abide by the Guidelines.
We may also decide to ignore those comments from people that are trying to ‘bait’ (troll) others here. By ignoring them, all can see that a commenter’s true colors. Responding to such comments only encourages them to continue their trolling.
Play nice. Or don’t participate.
QFT
plugs on the run…plugs on the RUN…
Should Biden Run in 2024? Democratic Whispers of ‘No’ Start to Rise.David Axelrod: Biden’s age ‘major’ problem for future political viability
If ole SnakeHead chimes in: game over, man, game over.
“Hot sauce lovers may soon find themselves in hot water as a looming shortage of Sriracha may soon leave grocery store shelves barren of the popular condiment.”
Already there.
From me:
Well, my mistake about feelings, he is still very unhappy with me.
Sam’s run today. Chicken drumsticks haven’t cracked the $0.99/lb barrier, but wings went from $2.49 to $2.99/lb. Thighs were unobtainium.
We also went to Dillards to check Father’s Day stock on their private label khakis, which I wear to work under normal circumstances. Really thin inventory levels on everything in the store, but I found one pair of pants in my size.
More interesting was Dillards carrying a new line of second hand high end handbags. Pricey, but guaranteed authentic. I guess that’s one way the chain uses their reputation to do something Amazon and EBay cannot.
The mall has a lot of weird stores these days. Sadly, the locally-owned second hand video game store didn’t survive the pandemic, much to my son’s disappointment.
>> I love and hate USPS, UPS, Fedex, DHL, and the rest.
One of the reasons why Amazon wants to control their deliveries through the ‘last mile.’
Sigh, well at least I have somewhat of a life.
I am returning my Homepod Mini. My six year old Creative Labs speaker sounds better, is portable (battery), and doesn’t go into LaLa land. The HomePod speaker starting playing from my iTunes library rather than my phone. I was no longer able to select the music I wanted to play. No amount of coaxing could change the behavior. Not worth my time to find the issue which has something to do with Syncing my library through iCloud.
As in most Apple ecosystems it is very easy to make it work, or almost impossible to figure out why it doesn’t work.
I have ripped almost all my music from CDs that I own using iTunes. Some music I ripped from CDs that I borrowed. Some music was download using Limewire. Some music is taken from Youtube using software that extracts the music. The big problem has been acquiring the album art.
My CDs I was able to download most of the art and those I could not I scanned my CD cover sheets. The problem with many of those is that they are part of Time Life music. I subscribed to several collections. The album art for several artists are the same, the cover of the Time Life CD. I have been going through and changing many of them to individual albums. A tedious process. Changes I make in iTunes are reflected on my iPad, iPhone and Macbook. So in some way syncing is a good thing.
A project for this winter is digitizing all my albums. A really tedious process. Once that is done I will sell the albums. Probably sell my CDs while I am selling the albums.
@Ray Thompson
If you have trouble finding a particular album cover, I would be willing to check my collection and scan it if I have it. I have a few thousand (ok, more than a few and probably less than ten) CD’s, mostly in the rock, blues, and country genres up to 2000 or so. Not much in folk or thrash metal and nothing in rap or hip-hop.
I have not digitized most of the CD’s and none of the vinyl. I’ve come to the tentative conclusion that the only way to start is to be selective and digitize the works that I am most likely to listen too. As I haven’t started yet I don’t know if it’s going to work. In some cases the decision is easy: digitize all of it. In other it’s equally easy: just do the best compilation (i.e., the “essential” 20 songs in the 70-minute Rhino collection vs. the 10-song “best of” 38-minute collection). It’s the bands in-between with 20 albums and some are 100% good tracks and some are mostly filler that pose a problem.
Having recently done some listening along those lines, my own taste is such than I’m not going to listen to one band or artist for a full day or two days, any more than I would sit down and watch all of Bogart’s films back-to-back. So I think my starting point is going to be to rip a couple hundred albums I want to have available in the rotation.
The other choice is to substitute money for time and set up a machine with an autoloader.
The full size original Homepod we have sounds decent, but that one is no longer on the market.
I minimize the amount of things I put on iCloud and send the audio direct to the speaker from my laptop.
The Homepod is in the family room, however. For my primary desktop setup, I have a pair of $30 speakers from Parts Express and a true TriPath TA2020 chip T-amp which was $20 on clearance at another online vendor. Sound is very good from that combination.
Things change, things remain the same.
The wheel turns:
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/67706.html#more-67706
Someone failed to read my comment yesterday or failed to believe it.
As I said, I will not tolerate attempts to use the comment policy against the blog, the admins, other commentors, the estate or anyone. The comment enforcement mechanism is from US to YOU not the other way around.
For any genuine concerns about any comment far worse than any I’ve ever seen posted to this point, use the contact form to alert the admin contact.
Snitches get stitches.
I’m under no obligation to be or do anything, and I don’t care what someone has to say about that.
As I said, the free icecream is free. If you don’t like the taste, don’t eat it. No one cares if you don’t like it.
nick
That has not been an issue. Even some obscure stuff (Solo Flight by Cat) has been found.
I just did all of the CDs. iTunes did a really good job, was quick and accurate. The albums will be tedious as I need to manually record then separate tracks. I know there is software that can do that task but I have found less than good results. May have improved since years ago.
My mistake was turning on sync, as required by Apple support due to one of my purchases being AWOL. That apparently affects the HomePod and I could not find a way to disable syncing for the HomePod. My phone could no longer connect to the HomePod in spite of a reset. Rather mud wrestle with a pig, I am just returning the device.
quoting myself:
Just to clarify, “living thing” is too broad. As stated above, I really don’t care much about vermin. Cats came on board after dogs because we started farming and harvesting, and their end of the bargain was vermin control.
People that mistreat dogs deserve to be mistreated. Small rusty cages for the puppy mill owners–filthy water, rancid food, and a clear sightline to see the wind coming in from Abilene. The Vicks, father and son, should have been wired to the same pole that they used for dog fighting, and let the dogs handle it.
People that mistreat children should get their humanity license revoked. Open season.
Elected officials that violate their sacred oath to the country cannot be “denigrated” beyond what they have already done to themselves.
Biden in particular: serial plagiarist, liar, thief, and worse, before he lost his mental capacity. The people who propped him up, and the institutions that helped put him in office, are worse. To all the Secret Service, FBI, and other federal agents who have covered up for Hunter, my fond hope is that your wives, sons, daughter, and grandchildren are in the right place at the right time and in the right frame of mind to take part in the activities.
Tonight’s final observation: If Paul Pelosi crashes his car, blows over the limit, gets booked into jail and walks why should anyone consider the legal covenant of the United States of America still in force?
WRT ripping CDs, just start. Make a convenient pile next to your computer, and feed the beast as you sit there. It will go quicker than you think. I’ve got thousands ripped at this point. I am retaining the media to remain scrupulously legal.
I found myself actually listening to my collection again, since it was so easy. Throw a couple thousand on a thumbdrive and take it in your car, never suffer thru NPR again.
I have been doing the same with DVDs, until I ran out of disk space. Once I get my storage sorted, I’ll start archiving again. The quality is ‘good enough’ and I’m actually watching stuff instead of just having it fill drawers. And it’s very convenient to grab a portable drive with 400+ movies on it when heading out the door on vacation.
n
>> And it’s very convenient to grab a portable drive with 400+ movies on it when heading out the door on vacation.
Stopped with DVDs when I realized we’ll never catch up with all the content that the streaming services put out that we want to watch.
In a similar vein, I always bug my wife about her ever-growing TBR stacks ever since our visit to the Library of Congress where she found out that they house about 39 million books and that she needs to read faster.
Just finished Season 1 of Yellowstone (Paramount Plus – stars Kevin Costner). Better than I expected, good summer evening entertainment.
Firepit and shortwave, with a tasty beverage. Good band conditions.
Night cooled off and got a lot less sticky.
Nighttime for nick
>> Elected officials that violate their sacred oath to the country cannot be “denigrated” beyond what they have already done to themselves.
You sure you’re not letting them off too easily? Those ‘rusty cages’ come to mind.
I found that if I don’t connect to the device at least once a week, the HomePod can go off into the weeds requiring a hard reset.
I don’t know if Apple knows what they want to do with the HomePod. It seemed like a knee-jerk response to Sonos deal with Ikea but featuring better aesthetics.