Yeah, Texas, and summer. Still. It’s hot, even for us. Really hot yesterday and I didn’t get my outdoor stuff done. I spent the day indoors. And cool.
I might do the same today, although I’ve got a bunch of stuff to buy, starting with pex for the BOL, and all the fittings and stub outs. I have a small maintenance issue at my rent house that needs attention too. I completely forgot to do it on Sunday.
I did get some computer work done, mainly involving my NVR and cams. Both are on the list of things to address after some recent crime in the neighborhood, and I’ve made some progress on that.
I’ve got some calls to make and some other indoor stuff I can do. And Costco is air conditioned 🙂
So that’s the plan. Do some stuff around the house, or paper work, or cleaning, or auction stuff. Do some shopping. Stay out of the killer heat.
And of course, find something to stack.
nick
https://redstate.com/alexparker/2022/07/10/an-expert-answers-democrats-most-burning-question-why-does-anyone-need-an-ar-15-n592576
Pretty good summary.
But to emphasize again, the 2A is an enumerated right, not a right granted by the government. Asking the question is akin to asking “Why do you need to vote?” or “Why do you need to be secure from unreasonable search and seizure?”
Robert Francis doesn’t have any solutions.
ERCOT and the generating companies will burn their furniture if necessary to keep the lights on this summer. The bailout for the last two years is coming after the election.
New Aeron chairs for everyone!
We had a power cut on Friday, which resulted in the partial failure of the 16-port Ethernet switch that connects the whole house cabling. Some ports were working, while others were no good. I’ve ordered a new switch, for delivery tomorrow.
I am considering also replacing the five or six wi-fi access points around the house when I am replacing the switch to which they are connected. Does anyone have a make/ model that they are using and liking? Seamless mesh would be nice…
Thanks!
I run this router at home. I haven’t tried the mesh features since it provides plenty of speed.
https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-AC1750-Router-RT-AC66U-B1/dp/B01N08LPPP?tag=ttgnet-20
Asus does a decent job keeping the firmware up to date. The only downside has been that the default AC channel widths were too wide for the RF environment in my neighborhood, and it took some time to figure that out.
I am using ASUS. Main router is RT-AX86U connected to the modem, two access points, RT-AC68U, located in the house. All part of the ASUS Mesh network. It works really well. Adding an access point is really easy. Just a couple of button clicks. Then all the settings for all the access points are controlled by the main router. Have not had a problem in the two years I have been using the system.
One of my access points is wired, the other is via some frequency network thingy that ASUS uses. Cannot tell the difference between the performance. Remote access points can connect devices through a cable. I have my Apple TV hooked to the access point with a cable to the access point that is wireless. Works without issues. Of course Apple TV can be wireless but I had the cable and the port and decided to try it. Works. So I connected the TV and Blu-ray DVD player (player is not wireless) and everything worked.
Firmware updates automatically. 2.5g and 5g running as one SSID and the router lets the device choose the frequency. Three guest networks if needed. Configuration through a webpage on the router or through an app. Much traffic shaping and logging capability. The web page is a little daunting but everything is there with multiple configuration options.
One caveat when creating the mesh network. The router being added must have the latest firmware. This may require hooking that router to the modem, then hook in the computer (wired). Update the firmware then disconnect.
After that a click on a button in the administration web page on the main router, the system searches for the new access point. Keep the new access point close to the main router and powered on. The system will find the router, configure the router, then done. Move the access point to the desired location.
Highly Recommended.
I am lucky in that I see only one other WiFi network in my area. That is the neighbor and they are using some Netgear equipment. I have no issues with interference.
BFYTW
@denis, I use Ubiquiti UAP-AC Pro’s at my client site and they work. They can be configured manually or using an app, or other Ubiquiti gear. They are more of a “pro-sumer” or business solution. They work great once set up. Other than they don’t like lightning.
Ray’s gear sounds like a better choice for most home environments.
n
(for fun I took the switch that lightning killed apart. Some of the ports were working, some not. Internally the electronics are grouped into 4 or 8 port chunks. One of the chunks was all dead, the other ports were fine. I found a black hole where a component should be in the area of the electronics that serviced the dead ports. In other words, the design was modular, and on module suffered a failure. You might want to open yours up and see if it has a similar design, and a visible issue. Just for fun.)
added- I talked about his setup when Bob Sprawl asked the questions a few days ago too.
Ok, we know germans are weird, but WTAF?
Lot of mixed messages and corp speak in this but maybe a counter balance to some other views expressed here.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/increasingly-hungry-world-8-key-takeaways-food-inflation-and-security-symposium
n
@Nick
I’m no expert, but Sri Lanka, The Netherlands, and now Canada are all in the process of destroying their agricultural production in pursuit of yet more commie-backed green bullshiite. Only a matter of time before the vegemite-brained head of the Biden crime family is told to read the new US policy off the teleprompter.
I don’t think it’s too cynical to note that the farmers in every country are typically more conservative than the entitled cities.
Yeah, I generally consider a prominent “diversity” or ESG notice to be in indicator that a business is not a good steward of their owners’ money.
And the idea you should reduce your carbon (originally just a proxy for energy use) by cutting FOOD production is about as anti-human as it gets.
They are setting themselves up as feudal lords, lord of the manor, or Senor of the hacienda, and a vast army of serfs to work the land AFTER they kill a bunch of people with starvation.*
n
*what I think when I have a bad day. I think someone will shoot them or blow up their cars before they get what they want. Won’t keep them from trying.
“A Bad Day for Wind in Texas”
https://www.excellentthought.net/a-bad-day-for-wind-in-texas/
“Well, it is going to be hot today, with temperatures reaching perhaps as high as 108 in parts of the state.”
“But the big problem Texans are facing today is wind energy. As ERCOT explains:”
“Essentially, wind is going to be a no show today:”
If you cannot make power during the tough times then you should not be allowed to make power for the good times.
“The installed wind capacity is 35,162 MW. The expected is 2,698 MW. 8%.
The installed solar capacity is 11,787 MW. The expected is 9,557 MW. 81%.
The installed dispatchable (nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydro, etc) is 80,083 MW. The expected is 67,913 MW. 85%.”
Geez:
Dem attempt to salvage Hispanic vote includes Jill Biden attending ‘Latinx IncluXion Luncheon’
Latinx IncluXion says it all. But I don’t believe polls that say hispanics and blacks are flocking to the GOP because of plugs’ inaction on abortion, gun control, and immigration. November will tell. If there is a GOP red tide, I’d say plugs is truly toast. Long Live The Kamel!
Most hispanics apparently hate the woke X usage.
Should work out well for the dems
n
Well I cut about ¾ of the back yard before the battery died. I had forgotten to pull it, and it will self discharge if in the machine.
So I spent some time getting one of the gas string trimmers running. Did so, but the string head is jacked, so that only worked for a short while. It’s HOT in the sun, 107F atm. I’m going to unload my pickup, shower, and do some pickups of auction stuff.
Hot hot hot.
n
I think the Dems think that Hispanics are single issue voters and that issue is immigration. They seem to have forgotten that most are very devout Catholics and as such are not especially pro-Choice or pro-LGBTQ. All of this progressivism has turn a lot of them off to the Dem party. How does a Dem lose a Hispanic’s vote? Get their child suspended from school for not using a trans student’s preferred pronouns.
Greg, Ray, Nick, many thanks for the Wi-Fi hardware feedback!
I will do a little more online browsing of the latest and greatest from Asus. I was looking at the Ubiquiti line, as I remembered Nick had mentioned them recently, but they indeed seem a bit too high-end for our simple domestic needs. The Ubiquiti APs I can find here also seem to need PoE, which I would rather avoid, as I have no shortage of power outlets and don’t really want to mess with PoE injectors etc.
I have had good results until now with these cheap and cheerful tiny little Wavlink Access Points / Repeaters, using them in AP mode. They have the nice feature of two RJ45 sockets on the unit, so I can feed the cabled network in and still connect another device too.
https://wavlink.com/en_us/product/WL-WN575A3.html
Nick, indeed, that seems to have been the failure mode of our switch. One of two banks of eight ports appears to have survived the power incident. It is a good old (expensive at the time) D-Link unit that gave sterling service for well over a decade, so I am not complaining. I’ll perform an autopsy on the innards when the new one arrives (should be tomorrow) and is installed.
It never rains… but it pours. My wife is complaining of a sore throat and general fatigue. We spent the weekend at a family birthday function. Perhaps someone brought an unexpected gift. COVID self-test is negative – so far. Will see if it stays that way.
NICK: My name is Bob Sprowl, pronounced as in superbowl.
The installation quick guide for the Ubiquiti Nano requires that they not be near an eve or in the direct rain. I was planning on putting them up against a eve and they would be in the wind blown rain.
The UAP-AC-PRO quick Start guide does suggest if be put under an eve so this higher priced is required I guess.
I want to add cameras later. In study this I learned what PoE means. I assumed any wired camera could get power over the ethernet link but found that is not common.
Thanks
They also do not speak Latin although the MSMs refer to them as Latinx, Latino, or Latina. Also, the Roman Catholic priests do not speak Latin nowadays,
@ bob, sorry I didn’t look back to check the spelling. I had it right the first time, and changed it because it looked weird. The ‘a’ didn’t look right either, but I was in a hurry. Mea culpa.
PoE is very handy. Like any new toy*, they are abusing it. You can get commercial lighting that is powered by PoE, and doesn’t even use the network aspect. There is also some that incorporates other sensors that are on the network. So now, even lights can spy.
n
*the basic standard is years old but they keep expanding it to PoE+ now, that supports something like 90w? iirc. That’s enough to run the cam, and a heater in the enclosure, and pan/tilt motors. You can even get workstations and monitors that are PoE and don’t even plug into an AC socket at all.
I make mistakes so you don’t have to.
The bees inhabiting the hive our friend placed in our large overgrown backyard have very nice manners. It is not our hive and we have no hive responsibilities.
I was tackling overgrowth along the fence and in the area by the bees. Battery powered mower, quiet machine. The number of bees circling the hive increased slightly. I kept an eye as I worked closer. When I was within 10′ I got 6-10 bee thumps about my head but no stings. I backed off and they stopped thumping at about 15′. I backed off 25′ and worked farther away. When they settled I went back in. At 12′ I got two thumps and a sting to the forehead. I backed off fast. They followed me about 20′ with more thumps but no stings. First time I’ve agitated them, usually they take no notice of humans nest their hive.
Benadryl and precautionary ice pack. Hardly any pain or swelling. Last time I was stung was 40 years ago. I remember it as being far more dramatic
Got what I deserved for not minding my manners after they asked so politely that I get out.
Big headlines on CNN. As if Sponge Brain really had anything to do with the telescope. All carefully planned I am certain to make the idiots think he really is “Johnny on the spot” with technology and science. Sponge Brain probably does not even know what compromises a telescope. Give him binoculars and he will look in the wrong end.
“New Covid variant warning as BA.5 strain can reinfect you after just FOUR weeks”
https://www.the-sun.com/health/5748412/new-covid-variant-warning-strain-triggers-rapid-reinfections/
“PEOPLE who have already had Omicron are at risk of catching it again just four weeks after getting the bug, experts have warned.”
“Omicron BA.5 is believed to be more resistant to antibodies, meaning prior infection won’t protect you.”
We are all going to die !
Hat tip to:
https://www.drudgereport.com/
“Battery prices to rise for first time since 2010, slowing EV adoption: BNEF”
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/battery-prices-to-rise-for-first-time-since-2010-slowing-ev-adoption-bnef/626919/
“Global battery prices for electric vehicles and storage are expected to rise slightly this year, to an average of $135/kWh, due to supply chain issues and the rising cost of metals like lithium, cobalt and nickel, according to a July 5 report from BloombergNEF.”
“The higher prices could slow the adoption of EVs globally, said Kwasi Ampofo, BNEF head of metals and mining and a co-author of the report. “Our EV adoption model relies heavily on electric vehicles becoming cheaper than internal combustion engines,” Ampofo said. The firm now expects price parity between the two types of vehicles to be reached in 2026, rather than 2023.”
“Inflation is also impacting generation, according to BNEF data. The cost to build new onshore wind facilities has risen 7% year-over-year and fixed-axis solar prices have jumped 14%, according to separate research published June 30.”
ALL prices are jumping due to Biden’s excessive spending.
And I would only buy an electric truck if it had a 1,000 kwh battery (I read the report about the guys towing a trailer running out of electricity in 84 miles). Which would cost $135,000 just for the battery. In which case, I would just buy a plain old gasoline F-150. At least I can buy gasoline still until Biden shuts that down.
“With Polar Satellite Launches, SpaceX’s Starlink Eyes Global Coverage”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/with-polar-satellite-launches-spacexs-starlink-eyes-global-coverage
“The new satellites should help Starlink serve users in Alaska and northern Canada next year.”
Hey where are my new satellites here in Fort Bend County ? The only people these new satellites are going to cover is five guys in an igloo.
Jury duty was a bust. We sat there for almost two hours and then the judge had something else come up. Fill out this sheet for your $10. Call the number on the postcard next Sunday.
Yay fun. I sure hope I don’t get picked. It’s supposed to be a two weak deal. Buddy barks and carries on the entire time I’m away. Just for me, he doesn’t care about anyone else. Maybe it’s a beagle thing.
Still waiting for UPS to deliver the new a/c. The old one is set to 80f and the building is 91+ f. It’s currently 105f in the shade. Beats 35f any day.
The 30″ fan laying on top of the outside a/c unit works. It spins the fan fast enough that the fan starts on its own. Beats using a stick to push start. Repair is coming Thursday. They say.
LOL:
Biden spox lets us know upcoming inflation numbers will seem ‘highly elevated’ (but the economy’s great and the WH doesn’t pay attention to polls)
plugs’ spokesQWERTY is the worst!
Double LOL:
Reuters reports that abortion bans are ‘forcing’ US students to rethink their college plans
Hey, look at it this way, you are so stupid you shouldn’t go to college and get wimminz studies degree. Think of the money you will save your parents.
Uh, can’t she take a road trip like the 10 year kid?
“Overall, the upper Texas coast just experienced its warmest July day in nearly 150 years of records”
https://spacecityweather.com/overall-the-upper-texas-coast-just-experienced-its-warmest-july-day-in-nearly-150-years-of-records/
“I realize that some readers get twitchy when we write about about climate change. This is a weather site, not a climate site, and that’s our focus. But here’s the reality. Houston experienced an extremely hot and dry summer in 2011, just 11 years ago. At the time, it seemed historic. Also, as someone who lived through it, I can attest that it was miserable. But now 2022 may be on course to match or exceed it, at least in terms of heat. This is not normal. People can have reasonable debates about the precise causes of this excess heat, and what to do about it. But Sunday’s weather was atrocious, and not a future I particularly want to leave to my children.”
It was 113 F on Labor Day, 1999 in Sugar Land, TX. There is nothing new about hot weather in Texas.
I finally figured out who is adding the new natural gas fired gas turbines in the Houston area. They just put six in of the 48 MW (60,000 hp) beasties about five miles away from my house, next to the old Parish power plant which is now almost 4 GW (4,000 MW). Those are severely updated Boeing 747 jet engines with ceramic combustion pots and power turbines blades with an amazing 34.6% simple cycle efficiency, GE LM6000. No heat recovery steam boilers that take four hours to startup, they are for peaking only.
https://www.wattbridge.info/projects/ercot/
They are getting the units (2 GW to date in the Houston area !) permitted using the 10% max capacity factor rule with eventual conversion to 100% hydrogen via Texas pipelines. Natural gas is 40% hydrogen so they are claiming that also. The units also have seven days of diesel fuel backup for extreme winter conditions. Nice, that is the way that I would build them.
Agreed. Texas’s hot temperature records are just like Texas’s 100 year flood records. We have one of each somewhere almost every single year. It’s a big state, and both our geography and our climate are perfect for all of it.
Looks like ERCOT peaked at a new record today, 78,379 MW today at a little after 4pm. The wind turbines provided 4,000 MW and the solar provided 9,000 MW of that demand.
https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards
The wind turbines had dropped to less than 1,000 MW over lunchtime. Amazing.
Just watched the man who never was (1956). Really enjoyed it. Copyright wasn’t renewed, so you can find a nice copy at https://www.bitchute.com/video/960Cg0Ds2aFy/
Might want to check out an old Brit Sci-fi, _Unearthly Stranger_ (1963) while you’re at it.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/NQEZJrMi492N/
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0057623/
I think he is now in the Oval Office, napping.
@Lynn
I disbelieve any claims about “hottest”, “record” “warmest” unless they are accompanied by data on the instrumentation used, siting, and the current CRN rating of the site.
A huge chunk of that electric usage is used to move heat from inside to outside, where it is typically dissipated into a UHI environment that is already artificially heated by construction. It not only becomes hotter, but retains heat better than rural settings. So it doesn’t cool off as much, and starts the next day warmer.
Three headlines.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11002053/Monkeypox-30-TIMES-deadly-originally-stated.html
– that’s thirty times LESS deadly…
Assassination is definitely back on the table.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11000767/Brazil-party-official-shot-dead-pre-election-political-violence-escalates.html
But but but that only happens in America….
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11001709/Mass-shooting-Argentinian-football-match-leaves-teenager-fighting-life.html
n
My house AC failed Thursday morning. The York AC was original to the house and 32 years old. The new Carrier unit matches the old one in capacity – 3.5 BTUs and steps the seer rating from 9 to 14.
I doubt if it will cut my electric bill in half as the salesman claims. Since I moved in 2-½ years ago the bill averages about $140 per month in my all electric 1630 square foot house.
The new unit goes Thursday.
OK27, groomer27.
My house AC failed Thursday morning. The York AC was original to the house and 32 years old. The new Carrier unit matches the old one in capacity – 3.5 BTUs and steps the seer rating from 9 to 14.
I doubt if it will cut my electric bill in half as the salesman claims. Since I moved in 2-½ years ago the bill averages about $140 per month in my all electric 1630 square foot house.
The new unit goes Thursday.
If it cuts your electric bill by a quarter, I would be happy.
Curb weight of the F150 Lightning is 6500 lbs with the 131 kWh battery weighing ~2000 lbs. Imagine what 1000 kWh would weigh.
As always, I agree with lynn as also I am a professional thermodynamicist.
>> If it cuts your electric bill by a quarter, I would be happy.
I’d hold out for 30 cents.
A 25% reduction would be nice. We’ll know in a month or two.
Curb weight of the F150 Lightning is 6500 lbs with the 131 kWh battery weighing ~2000 lbs. Imagine what 1000 kWh would weigh.
The Tesla Semi comes with four 250 kwh batteries for a total of 1,000 kwh. Reputedly, it uses 2 kwh/mile towing 50,000 lbs of batteries from the Nevada factory to the vehicle factories. That is a range of 500 miles. Sounds like the Ford electric Lightning gets almost the same mileage towing if it gets 87 miles for 131 kwh = 1.5 kwh/mile.
It is 1,690 miles from the Tesla Nevada battery plant to the Tesla Austin, TX. That is three recharges along the way for the Tesla Semi. And three recharges going back deadheading. That is a lot of recharges.
I am guessing that the 250 kwh battery weighs 3,500 lbs. Four of those bad boys would be 14,000 lbs. Plus 4,500 lbs for the truck motors, chassis, and cab. 18,500 lbs for a properly equipped electric F-150.
That dog don’t hunt.
Typical electric bill has so much lard in the form of monthly fees that it’s not possible to cut a bill in half with any efficiency improvement…
Unless you excavate a huge hole, insulate the bottom and sides, lay heat transfer coils in the bottom, fill it with compacted snow and ice in the winter, and then cover it with a thermal lid.
scribble, scribble, scribble…
Sigh. Probobly not.
@Lynn
Q: Where does an F-150 with a 1000kw battry park?
A: Anywhere it want, including right on top of the 600-lb grilla.
Actually I would not be surprised by 25% in the hot summer months. A/C is a major load. When I replaced my unit, not nearly as old as yours, I got a 20% reduction. Might have been weather as we came from some record heat the prior year. Savings have been fairly consistent in the following years.
As for compromises, auto correct and a small virtual keyboard morphed composes into something different. When I am perfect and can rise to the error free capabilities of some, all I can do is try. Trying being a better option than becoming a ……..
Mystery theme post:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLYDomDEwt5j4AQI2YMzx14sd488p683k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g4zXepHASM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6cGaunoZ3E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sAMykZ3BR0
Must. Not. Say. Your mom!
The reason I get along well with teens … and preteens … and preschoolers is that I’m at about the same level of emotional maturity.
Life imitates “South Park”.
She’s so lifelike. The eyes even blink.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/we-are-not-tacos-hispanic-association-slams-jill-biden-comparing-latinos-breakfast-tacos
San Antonio Breakfast Taco?
Is that a Hunter Hooker or a cereal?
When we still talked to her, my mother probably weighed 100 lbs wet.
Nowadays, after losing a lung and a large chunk of her large intestine to her coffee and cigarettes diet, she probably weighs much less.
Kids, cigarettes are bad. M’kay?
The CDC is breaking trust in childhood vaccination
Bienen, Hoeg Jul 10, 2022 9:40 AM ET
https://hotair.com/headlines/2022/07/10/the-cdc-is-breaking-trust-in-childhood-vaccination-n481686
expedited pathways do not always benefit people, but they always benefit companies and Fauci
FIFY
You could take that on as your next homework assignment after you complete the one your gave yourself last week.
Clocksatickin
@Greg Norton
Artificial creamer?
Yeah. Coffee Mate. “That’s a Bingo!”
One of the Lost Commandments is rumored to be:
“Thou shalt not partially hydrogenate vegetable oil, no matter how good the Oreos taste.”
Although aversion to cis-trans isomerism sounds suspiciously like something that would get overwhelmingly rejected by a poll on a woke college campus, it is based on sound science, even better than “Don’t go to gay raves”.
When we still talked to her, my mother probably weighed 100 lbs wet.
Nowadays, after losing a lung and a large chunk of her large intestine to her coffee and cigarettes diet, she probably weighs much less.
Kids, cigarettes are bad. M’kay?
Greg claims that this is his mother:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvdMz27PF9w
There is no way that any one could be that horrible.
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaOvqVFcIrM
“Taco flavored keeesssseeeess for my Ben….” or “bi-den”….
n
Secret theme, the 70s??
I had a good number of those toys, but I didn’t recognize any of the cereal until the closing segment just before the end.
And oh my goodness the 70s were ugly looking. Except the girls. They were blond, and healthy.
n
Watch the eyes on the “puppet” the next time you see the episode.
War Baby generation. Anyone within a couple of years of my age got it when they saw that performance unless their early Boomer parents had kids young. “Ferris Bueller” class of 1986. Lyman Ward and Cindy Pickett portraying Ferris’ parents were as much John Hughes fantasies as Kelly LeBrock in “Weird Science”.
The Oscar was well-deserved even if no one wants to talk about why.
Tonya Harding came up in the mid 80s. She’s two years younger than me.
The movie is set in Portland, but the buildings and skating rinks are much nicer than what actually exist in the metro since all of the location shoots took place in and around Atlanta, including the Lenox Square mall standing in for the Lloyd Center.
Of course, Atlanta proper in the last decade isn’t looking so hot either with the exception of Buckhead.
The early-mid 80s are a tough nut for current filmmakers and production design people. It wasn’t the 70s, but the money from the PC industry really didn’t start rolling until Reagan signed the changes to the depreciation rules for computers in 1986. Most of the malls have either been rennovated to 90s colors like the one in “Stranger Things” or went under the wrecking ball in the last 15 years.